#i mean there’s like no way it’ll ever end with a fairytale happy ending. obviously. but the clarity? the purpose? the relief?

[euelios]

thinking about kid feeding the puppy and sita telling him not to “give her hope”

and then the rest of the film shows you that hope is the point. maybe it doesn’t immediately change things, or even save you entirely. but hope keeps you going.

hope is what it’s all for, no matter if, when , or how it ends

[too-scared-to-do-this]

Prestige

Chapter twelve - No

Sanders side fanfiction

Idea by: @hestianerd1

Wordcount: 3490

Pairings: Prinxiety (as always)

TW: cursing and a bunch of friendly competition, also there is this thing about being forced to wear clothes that they are not totally comfortable wearing... I feel like that’s all, but as always, do let me know if anything bothers you :3

The summery of the whole story: Prestige. Such a simple construct. All you have to do is act the way you want people to perceive you, keep up the image, wear a big proud smile and never ever dare make a mistake. That’s why Weltingston Heights University is such a well known school. Everybody knows that anyone who got in must have some prestige tied to their name. Educational records, family history, or even literal fame. So why not treat students the same way? Because what’s a little more pressure on their young and strong bones?

But prestige and image are precious things. You slip up even the tiniest bit, step out of the line you drew for yourself and it’s all gone. So now that the pressure is on, and everyone already knows their place in this small circle of society, only one question remains. How far are they willing to go to keep the false image up?

(Or: Very over-dramatically with a noticeable amount of sarcastic undertone: "Oh my god! They were roommates!")

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Chapter twelve - No

“No.”

“Come on maaan. You can keep the hoodie for all I care. Just put it on.” Cassie sighed exasperatedly. They were currently standing in her room, Virgil staring at the clothing hanging from her hands.

“What even makes you think that it’ll fit me?” Virgil razed an eyebrow and pointed at the material with a doubtful finger.

Cass looked at it, then back at him with a confident smile. “Well. You’re like my height. Skinnier than me, so… It’ll probably hang a little, though.”

V’s eyebrows knitted together in whatever emotion he was currently feeling. Not even he could tell what that was, but it wasn’t excitement. Turning to the mirror by his side he eyed the make-up Ro’s little sister already forced up on him. Not anything too much, just some mascara, shades an eyeliner. She even went with the emo look he was sporting thanks to his deep eye bags. (Let it be known, that they’ve gotten a little better since he’s been living with the Velez’s. A few good nights of sleep next to Ro and they suddenly seem to be disappearing. Who would have thought.)

To be honest, he kind of liked it - the make-up, he means. Cass was really great with a brush for someone who hadn’t warn make-up once since they met (which wasn’t that long, to be fair). Even the tiny details she did - the magical way the liner curled; not in a ‘normal’ way, but rather in a what seemed like a teeny-tiny butterfly wind. And of course, the glitter. The small amount of glitter she used did it for Virgil. He’s eyelids freaking sparkled!

He looked back at her with lowered lids. “I’m not doing it.”

“Seriously?” her shoulders sunk. Expression all ‘I’m so going to force you into this if you don’t wear it willingly and I so don’t feel like doing that…’.

Honestly, our boy should have been shitting his pants at this point. Because he knew she would go through with it. There is not a single person scarier than Cassandra Velez when she wants something. And believe me, she will get it. No matter the cost. But our boy was just as much stubborn as stupid. So he set his jaw and said: “No.”

The almost taller girl pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly. Then looked up at V, sad resignation in her eyes. “You’re choice dude.”

There’s no way to describe what went down in the next ten minutes… Virgil had no idea what was coming his way.

He ended up standing perfectly still, eyes wide with full on terror, in front of the mirror, as Cass perfected the hem of the dress and some random details on him. Whistling and smiling as if a fifteen-year-old girl force-dressing a twenty-three-year-old man into a dress was a normal part of her day.

He didn’t even dare to speak after all the horror that just went down…

Cass stood up, grinning widely. “Great! My work here is done.” she dusted of her hands as if there was actually something on them. Virgil was pretty sure there wasn’t. “What do you think?”

She stepped away and for the first time Virgil saw himself in a dress. A very fancy rufly dress, might he add. He swallowed. “Ahm… I think it’s… nice?”

“I do too.” The girl nodded proudly. But then her eyes fixated on something above his face. Another wave of fear run down V’s back. He froze as she slowly walked over to him and wordlessly played around with his purple locks.

She pulled her hand way and smiled. “Now your perfect.” she nodded to herself. “I’ll go announce the beginning, stay here until I call your name, got it?”

V bit his glossed lips and nodded obediently. Cass did too and walked over to the door. Pulled it open, stepped out and just before the wood would fully fall closed, she peaked her head back in. “Oh and one more thing.” she looked straight at V, look as seriously (and menacing) as before. “Don’t you dare fuck up my work.” And with that she threw a giggly smile, as innocent as a six-year-old and with an ‘Okay, bye.’ left.

Virgil stood there for a long while until his heart finally stopped trying to murder him by escaping through his chest.

Meanwhile both brothers were in they separate rooms doing all the stuff they needed to feel as beautiful as possible. Not that Remus cared how he looked, but this was a competition after all. And who would pass up a chance to crush Roman’s massive ego a little?

Roman was more focused on getting his liner right. He was ready half an hour ago, but then he noticed that his right eye had a thicker red line then his left. And all hell broke loose.

Makeup-wipes all over the ground, brushes and liners and lipsticks and shadows all around the place. Literally. They even ended up on the ceiling-lamp (don’t ask Roman how that happened).

So when Cassie called out for everyone to gather, he was just so-so done. He told her off and asked for five more seconds, but the little annoying monster barged in - no regards for privacy - and literally dragged him away from his make-shift make-up station. He just barely managed to pull out the line (thankfully perfectly) and drop the closed bottle of liquid-liner onto his bed.

His little sister dragged him out into the living room, instructions being, everybody ways with closed eyes. Because we love dramatics in this family, don’t we? Oh and, V still wasn’t allowed out of her room, obviously.

But now, that they were all here, Cass stepped aside, sitting down at the bar and grinned. “Let the games begin.”

Both opened their eyes, surveying the competition, before sitting down on the prepared stools.

The self-acclaimed judge walked into the middle of the room (questioning why the hell did she sit down in the first place) and gave a big grin. Holding onto a hair-brush she gave an expert TV grin. “I welcome you to the fifth annual Velez fashion show! Another wonderful year has passed and here we are gathering again on the beautiful occasion.”

Roman looked around a little nervously, trying to find his roommate. But he had no idea where he was… His shoulders sagged a little, but this was a competition. He could let anybody know he was off his game.

“Today are competitors are the always charming, always smiling fairytale-like prince, Roman Velez!” she called out, pointing to her brother, who stood up with a big TV-grin of his own and waved at no one. Remus clapped enthusiastically, following Cassie’s lead.

“And give a warm welcome to our next competitor! You know him, you love him! It’s the murder-driven always laughing crazy green monstrosity, Remus Velez!”

Roman clapped a slow dramatic clap. Remus turned a playful glare at him.

Cass just smiled at this even more. She knew what was coming next, but they didn’t. And that power was something she lowed immensely. “But that’s not all that we have for today, ladies and gentleman and everyone above! No.” she shook her head seriously. “Today, on our yearly show, we have a special guest. He’s always broody, always moody, loves his hoodie and purple - give a big applause for our special guest, Virgil Riet!!!”

 That’s when the door to Cassie’s door opened and a very self-conscious Virgil stepped into the living-room light. Ro’s hoodie pulled tight around his chest to cover him up as much as possible.

Roman’s eyes widened. he didn’t expect V to look that great in a dress. He didn’t even expect him to be wearing a dress let alone a full face of make-up! his tiny form fully swallowed in his hoodie, the bottom of cases dress peaking out. Stocking covering his slim legs. And the make-up. the make-up! (He wondered if v was scared for life from that experience…)

“Come in, come in! Sit down with us.” Cass ushered him to his prepared seat. “You’re our special guest today, boy, don’t shy away from attention. Our show will begin shortly.”

V pulled hard on the zipper-lines of his new-found-favorite-hoodie ad walked over to sit between the staring twins.

“You look like a hooker!” Remus observed with a happy grin.

“No he doesn’t!” the remaining siblings piped up, both a tad bit too defensive. One because this was her work Rem was insulting and the other because this was his friend/roommate/possibly-giant-crush he was insulting.  

And Virgil just shrunk into himself even more. He didn’t even dare to look up. Otherwise, he would see that both boys looked just as much fancy as he did. There was no need to be ashamed.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen and everyone above! First up is our lovely nut-job, Remus. Show us what you got.”

rem immediately got up, walking the space of the living room as if it was a runway.

“Our beloved green monster, never seems to not surprise! This special day he went with his signature color-combo, wearing a black spiked leather jacked over a purposefully torn dark-green V-neck. Chains are a must with this man, hanging from his neck just as from his bedazzled black-washed torn jeans. Combat-boots to top it off. And let’s no forget the plethora of leather bracelets and of course the make-up he is sporting.” Cass commented.

Remus did a pirouette, meant as a mockery of Roman, obviously and bowed deeply, signature grin not missing.

“Great round today, Remus. I loved all the details - the drumstick in you pocked especially. You get an eight from me. Virgil, our guest judge -“ she turned to him. “-what do you say?”

Virgil blinked a little, trying to figure out what role he was playing in this insanity. “Ehrm…” he cleared his throat. “Seven…?”

“Aaaalright! You, Rem, gained fifteen points! Great job! Let’s see out next competitor.”

Rem sat down proudly, smirking at his brother. “Top this bro-Ro.”

“Oh, just wait and see.” he smirked back a little too confident compared to how he felt inside. he was about to go parade his ass in front of Virgil. His Virgil. this was going to be the end of him…

“Roman Velez, come up here, dude! Let’s see what you’ve got!” Cass stepped aside.

He stood up, as graceful as ever and glided over to the big carped - the designated cat-walk.

“Oooh, nice. Today our fairy prince came up with the perfect outfit to represent him. Dress as flowy as ever, red like his fierce fiery eyeliner! And the white stilts! Love the boa Ro, but that was the winners two years ago - are you recycling ideas, bro?”

Ro gave a triumphant grin and stretched his leg out from the thigh-slit that run ap his long sparkly dress. “Not at all, Cass. No angels today. We’re playing dirty.”

“I see, I see. The devil today then, hah?” she grinned at the fishnets that pocked out. On the sidelines, Virgil went completely red.

Ro ran a hand through his perfectly stilled hair to reveal small horns and grinned at the judge. “Full-on, sis.”

“Nice touch. I like it.”

Ro did a fancy stop, posed, and blew a kiss at Virgil. Very much feeling himself in the element. The poor short guy almost fainted at the sight. You have no idea the confidence that radiated off of Roman. The happiness. And Virgil reveled in it all, trying to swallow as much of it as possible.

“Alright people. Time for judging! I love you Roman, but today was a little disappointing. Although I loved the never-before seen make-up on you and the fishnet twist, I just don’t see you winning today, I’m sorry. I give you six points.”

“Thank you judge Cassandra.” Roman nodded solemnly. It gnawed at him a little.

“But don’t sweat it, dear, because there’s one more judge waiting for his turn.” Cass winked at V. He was a little (a lot) out of it, jaw almost literally slack open. “So, what do you say? tell me, what did you like about this contestant?”

“I-“ he swallowed. “I liked the slit…”

Jesus! did he just say that?!

Remus burst out laughing next to him, cackling his ass off.

Red as a bell-pepper Virgil shrunk back into his seat. “Nine.”

“Uuh, look at this, ladies and gentlemen and everyone above! For the first time in years, we have a tie!” Cass stepped back into the middle, moderating the whole thing as before. She would be an excellent moderator, Virgil though.

“I congratulate both contestants! they both did a great job! But don’t go anywhere, people, because we have our guest here to show off my stilling job! Come up here, Virge. Let’s see what the contestants have to say!”

Roman was already gone the moment he walked into the room. But seeing V take a deep breath and standing up onto the ‘runway’ in his loose jacked draped over a black sport-dress with a white strip on the sides and his black sneakers he might have just died right on the spot.

“Today, our lovely college boy sports my favorite tube dress, hugging him in all the right places. I’m literally jealous how good it looks on him! Better on him then me! Unfair! But look at his gorgeous face and the black butterfly-winged liner. I even stilled your hoodie in, Ro.” she winked at him.

Ro just wordlessly nodded, ogling V with big dreamy eyes. “I…can see…”

“Also, notice the earrings. I want praise for that, because getting those on him was a fight!”

“Oh my fuck! Did she pull the whole thing on you?” Remus burst out laughing once again.

V was already opening his mouth to deny all of it, but the little snitch beat him to it: “Yes. Yes, I did.” His head fell low, cheeks pricking red. This was too embarrassing…

Cass cackled at the sigh, as the witch she was and turned back to their audience. “Alright boys, our shy contestant won’t stand much longer. Show him some love - how many points would you give him?”

Remus leaned in, hands on knees. Eyes thin as slits, running over every Cassie-made detail of his attire. He then looked at the expectant designer/moderator and leaned back all un-Remus-like (all serious and shit). Twirled his mustache between two fingers. “You look like a bitch.”

“That’s what I was going for, thank you.” Cass smiled. “Points?”

“Nine.”

Little sister literally jumped up with a happy fist in the air. This was her best outfit by far. And she was too happy to dwell on the fact that it looked way better on his tiny ass then it ever would on her.

Don’t get her wrong, she was almost as skinny as Virgil, but as curvy as humanly possible. And although the dress looked good on her, this kind of combo just wouldn’t. And that made her sad. But then again, she wouldn’t pull of her brothers’ outfits either. You needed that personality for those. And boobs. She didn’t have those either. (Not that the boys had any…)

Roman sat in his chair too scared to even open his mouth. Blatantly standing at the slowly crumbling V. He could see the tiny rapid movements of his fingers even through the fabric layer of Ro’s hoodie. And the evading looks he gave everything else but the ‘judges’.

He wondered what he was thinking. Because Roman sure as hell wasn’t thinking straight. No PG13 thought in his head.

But he couldn’t say that out loud now, could he? So, he decided to do the best thing he could - act. He leaned back just as his brother did, legs and arms crossed, a surveying look on his face. “You did well today, sis. But I feel like those shoes could have goon a different way…”

Not really. he liked them a lot. He wished V would wear dresses more often. It really looked good on him.

“None of mine fit him! this man has impossibly small feet!” the designer protested exasperatedly. Virgil turned a deep red at that. She was right… She made him try on he heals but they ended up being a bit too big…

“Hon, we both know it’s not his feet that’s the problem. Your elephant shoes wouldn’t even fit me.” Remus chimed in as always. His comment very appreciated.

“Go to hell, Remus! My feet aren’t that big!” Cassie glared at her brother.

Roman just smirked. “Alright. Otherwise, I like your combination. I give you a nine as well.”

“Oh my god, ladies and gentleman and everyone above! I guess we have a winner then! For the first time in three years, our humble moderator wins the annual Velez fashion show, placing her design at a towering eighteen points!” She grinned at no-one in-particular. then she turned back to her brothers and smirked. “You can suck it losers! Ha!”

By the time she was doing her little victory dance, Virgil had scrambled back into his seat, folding back into himself.

“And this is why we never let her win.” Roman grumbled to himself, watching his little sister dance around like a maniac.

“She get’s it from you.” V shrugged.

“What?” Ro turned on him with wide, fake-surprised, fake-offended eyes.

But the darkling just shrugged. “You heard me.”

It wasn’t long after that the four had shared a trophy ice-cream bowl (Cass didn’t want to share, but she was still the youngest and didn’t have much choice). Now they were all in their respective rooms, trying to get rid of the make-up and all the unnecessary layers of clothing.

Virgil was pacing around Ro’s room, too hopped up on nervous energy and embarrassment to sit down. Already out of the dress, but still in Ro’s oversized hoodie and comfy joggings (also Ro’s, by the way - they scrunched up at the bottom in the most adorable way). He was barefoot so every step was audible on the hardwood floor.

Roman was at his little make-shift station washing off the make-up. Virgil had already done so - even though it was done kind of shitty-ly.

“You looked really grate today.” Ro commented, smearing the beautiful liner he worked so hard on.

His roommate froze in his tracks. Cheeks pink. “You think so?”

“Very much. You should wear dresses more often. And make-up suits you, though I think your face is pretty enough without it.”

He just threw that out there, while looking like a panda from the smudges. As if this wasn’t one of the nicest things a human being has ever said to V. The guy couldn’t even wait to be finished with what he was doing!

Virgil stood there, shell shocked, face redder than a tomato for the hundredth time today. “Thanks… I guess…?”

“Oh, you’re very welcome!” Ro turned around in his stool, grinning brightly. And that’s when he noticed the very obvious smudges that were still on V’s pretty little face. He bit back a snickered. “Come over hear.”

Virgil immediately went even redder and that made Ro laugh. “Oh, don’t be stupid. Just come here.”

The shorter did as he was told, carefully walking over to his friend. Ro patted the bed next to him and v sat down obediently. “You obviously never wore make-up before.” he snickered.

V didn’t even dare as much as take a breath. Because Ro’s hand was inching towards his face. A cotton swab in his hand. And suddenly he was holding his chin so delicately, washing off the remains of his black mascara and liner.

Electricity sprung from the pales their skin connected. And Virgil couldn’t help but stare at those beautiful green eyes that were so focused on his hands.

His gaze slipped from them to the dark, lipstick bit lips, caught between Ro’s teeth. He was chewing on them subconsciously, the way he always was when he was focused.

It scared Virgil how much he waned to taste those lips. To ease the pain they were in with his own. And it also scared him how much of his attention he wanted the moment he walked out on the make-shift stage. How his focus was solely on his words and face and eyes and expression and what he thought about him.

Oh, how it drove him crazy, the thought that Roman could like him in a dress. And that he thought his face was more beautiful without make-up.

How easy it would be just to lean in and steal that sweet kiss. How easy it would be to just place his hand on his, stopping the careful motion and take what he’s been wanted for weeks now.

How easy would be to just-

Virgil’s lips collided with Roman’s and everything around him ceased to exist.

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Oooooooooooh! Thins are going downnnnnn!!!! (About time after twelve chaps XD)

I won’t even apologize because this disappearing will be somewhat normal from now on. (School’s kicking my ass...) Let’s just be happy I finished this chap :D But as compensation, I’m making art for this one. Three pieces of (hopefully) colored art, so stay tuned ;D

But I do hope you enjoyed this mostly meaningless chap XD <3 

Read ya <3 ;*

Tag list:

@a-formless-entity

@cirishere

@ray-does-stuff

@lovelivingmydreams

@mothman-juicy-ass

@akatsuki-no-katira

[ddaengyoonmin]

Chapter 10

Pairing: Jungkook x reader, Taehyung x reader, Jimin x reader, Namjoon x Reader, Jin x Reader  eventual Ot7 x reader in later chapters

Genre: Angst, Smut (in previous, and in chapters to come)

Theme: Based kinda on sword art online a lot of similar ideas and themes kinda combining the idea of them trapped in the game, but the world is closer to ALFheim online

Warnings: Blood, injury, excessive feels. 😭 guys I’m sorry don’t hate me.

Word count: 2k

Next -> Chapter 11 

The next morning Namjoon and Jungkook had decided that looking for the dragon’s lair was far too dangerous after what he had witnessed the day before.

You had tried to talk to Jungkook first thing when you woke up, the weight of everything that had happened the day before still heavy in your chest.  Jungkook had seemed to be still avoiding you, brushing you off to talk to Taehyung or Namjoon instantly if you tried to speak a word to him.

It was frustrating but you couldn’t blame him for how hurt he was at your actions.

  Once it was time to leave the cave Jungkook spoke out to the group.

“Okay so we are heading back to town now.  I really think having a party of six is now going to give us an even greater chance of defeating the boss, so that should be our main focus.”

Everyone agreed and you all headed off back towards Midgard.  

Jungkook flew in the lead with Namjoon, Jin and Taehyung flew side by side behind them, leaving you in the back flying with Jimin.  

Jungkook wasn’t necessarily trying not to talk to you, it was more that he just couldn’t.  He didn’t know what to say, and he still couldn’t get the image of you and Jimin out of his mind, every time he looked at you he felt he’d burst into tears.  You said you wished you could take it back but did you really mean it?  He noticed that contstantly averting from you had now currently caused you to end up flying next to Jimin. Maybe that made you happy.  Maybe his avoidance of you was going to cause you to grow even closer to Jimin, and that made him feel sick.  He wished he could just get over it, but he couldn’t.

---------------------------------------------

The winds were getting warmer the nearer to Midgard you flew, the snow stopped falling and there was green grass beneath you again.  

Almost to town the six of you descended and landed in a small clearing in the woods below to recharge your wings.  

Namjoon, Jin and Taehyung were deep in a conversation about the best attack to use to take on one of the games giant fanged rabbits.  Taehyung had reasoned that if he put it to sleep first with his Lullaby spell and then used one of his Whirlwind attack spells that it was the safest option.  Namjoon had countered that his Blow Torch spell had enough range that he could drain its HP before it even got close enough to cause their team any damage.  Jin’s input was that he could use a Beast Tame spell and just make it run away and leave them alone.  To which both of Taehyung and Namjoon objected that Jin’s idea was ridiculous because then no one would get any experience points or loot from it.  

Jimin laid down in the tall, flower speckled grass by himself, staring up at the clouds. His lips were turned down, and he appeared to be lost in a deep thought.  

Jungkook was leaning against a tree, checking out how close he was to upgrading to the next skill level in his sneak skills.  You saw your chance to try and talk with him.

You stepped carefully and cautiously, as if he was a small bird and you didn’t want to spook him, like even the smallest movement could go wrong and he’d go flying away.  You needed to tell him, you needed him to know.

You didn’t say a word once you got to him, simply pressing your back to the tree beside him.  The silence hanging in between you like a glass wall just waiting to be shattered, needing to be be broken, but neither of you wanting to throw the first stone through it.

Jungkook sighed.  You looked at him, all the sorrow that you felt displayed on your features as you did.  He exited out of the screen he had been focused on and tossed his head back onto the bark of the tree, his eyes gazing up towards it’s branches.

Time to throw the first stone.  “Jungkook...I-”

He shook his head and interrupted you, “Yeah yeah, you’re sorry” he mumbled.  “I’m sorry too.  I’m sorry I wasn’t what you wanted.  I thought you liked me…” he choked out.  “I thought you felt what I felt.”

Guilt and pain stabbed into your chest at his words.  “That's not-” you stuttered “Jungkook that's not it”

Jungkook turned you you holding back burning tears.

“What else could it possibly be.  If you gave a shit about me…” He paused “I know you knew how I felt.  It’d be different if we hadn’t kissed already, I know we aren’t like...together-together but, you knew.  You let me kiss you and you let me feel like I was loved” he stopped suddenly “I mean-I didn’t mean…” he tried to backtrack after blurting out the L-word.  He hadn’t meant to throw that word out, but there it was.

“Jungkook that's what I wanted to tell you.  I do love you.  I don’t think I’ve ever loved someone before like I love you”

Jungkook’s eyes grew wide in surprise then switching to confusion.  “Then-” he shook his head at you, his expression no longer hurt but angry “Then this is how you treat the people you love?” he spat out, pulling his back from the tree and starting to stomp away.  

You ran forward and grabbed his arm.  He tried to brush you off but you held tighter. Shaking with rage he spun around to face you, bringing his face only inches from yours. Your hand fell from his arm.

“I can’t look at you without picturing it” he hissed through clenched teeth “I love you too. I love you too much” he grabbed your face between his hands, holding you still. “I love you too much” He repeated “But I don’t know how to forgive you because I don’t know if I can ever forget” he dropped his hands and took a step back. “I still just need more time” he finished and stormed away.

You stood still in the spot he’d left you.  He loved you.  He loved you back, but you’d broken him. You had no idea how to do this,  you’d never had a boyfriend before let alone been in love.  This was all new and you’d fucked it up before it even had a chance to begin.

Out of nowhere you felt a hand on your shoulder.  You whipped around ready to slap the owner of the hand in the face, thinking it was Jimin, who was the last person you needed to see right now.  

Instead your wrist was stopped, clenched by Taehyung’s gentle hand.  

“Oh shit. I’m sorry” You stammered.

 Taehyung released your hand and shrugged.  

“It’s fine, that obviously wasn't meant for me” he chuckled.

“It wasn’t, I thought you were-”

“Jimin?” Tae smirked.  “Yeah, I know the feeling”

You let out a long sigh, “Are you mad at me?”

Taehyung shook his head slightly, “I wouldn’t say mad.  I think you’re stupid for what you did. I’m not really happy with what you did to Jungkook, I mean...He is my best friend, but” he paused “I’ve actually been where you’ve been y/n.”

“Really?” Your eyes big and curious, “Did she ever forgive you?” you wondered

Taehyung grimaced “Well...actually I’m single now so if that answers that for you”

“Oh…” you winced.

“But everyone is different.  I know Jungkook well, and he cares about you.  More than I’ve seen him care for anyone.  He actually has never really had a girlfriend, it was strange to me when I saw him with you.” he let out a low laugh

“I actually had told him before we dove into Faerie Realm together that maybe this was his chance to find someone.  He’s usually really shy and awkward, I don’t think I’d ever seen him so much as approach a woman without getting so nervous that he just left in the middle of their conversation.  So when I saw the way he was with you, more confident and more...himself, the way that I know him, it just seemed right.  Like you really were the one for him.” he bit his lip. “Not to make things weird, but I actually kinda liked you too at first.  But the more I saw Jungkook with you, I could tell how much he cared for you, I didn’t want to get in the way of that.  When we walked in on that whole…”

He thought on how to phrase it without hurting your feelings “...situation in the caves.  I did hate you for a second.  But, like I said, I’ve been where you’ve been, and I wanted nothing more than to take it back, than to turn back the clock and I would’ve done anything to make it up to her if I could’ve.  I assume you feel the same”

Your eyes were downcast and you tugged lightly on the hem of your dress.   “I would do anything.  I really do love Jungkook.  Taehyung do you think I’ve ruined it all?”

Taehyung dragged a hand through his mint green hair “He might come around.  It’ll be tough since Jimin is still here.  Just, keep trying okay y/n.” He pulled you into a tight bear hug. “Don’t give up”

In that moment a loud yell pierced through the air.  Taehyung dropped his arms and both of your heads snapped towards the direction of the noise. Jin and Namjoon were still in the clearing, also looking confused and worried.  Jimin had shot up from where he laid whipping his head back and forth.  The only one missing was…

No.  It couldn’t be.

You moved through the trees in the direction of the sound faster than you’d known was possible.  Begging whatever powers that may be to answers your prayers that when you arrived that he would be okay.

Then.  You saw him.

Laying on the ground, blood coming out of his nose and with a large gash ripped across his chest.  His health bar was going down faster than you could register. No. No. NO.

“JUNGKOOK” you screamed.

Your current tunnel vision you were experiencing due to your panic hadn’t allowed you to notice Taehyung had been right by you the whole time until now. “Heal him!” he gasped out “Y/N fucking hurry. I’ll take care of the monster”

Your hands were shaking as you hurriedly pressed buttons on your screen to find your strongest healing spell.

Taehyung ran towards the large grey furry monster with his hands outstretched and palms out, activating his sleep spell. It  looked like it was straight out of a fairytale.  It stood tall on two feet like a man, but with the face looking somewhat like a tiger. Its claws were long and razor sharp, and it was towering directly over Jungkook slashing at his chest.  

From where you stood you tried your hardest to heal Jungkook, yet somehow his health wasn’t going up as fast as it was going down.  The monster continued its attack on Jungkook as let out chilling screams, blood now spilling from his mouth. “Y/N...” Jungkook coughed out, his eyes directly meeting yours with tears pouring down his cheeks. His health was dangerously low

“It’s not fucking working, it's only slowing it down. Taehyung! What do I do!”

“It won’t go to sleep! My spell isn’t strong enough to put it to sleep” Taehyung cried “Oh my god. Jungkook no!”

Jungkook was now unmoving, his eyes fluttering shut and his clothing in tatters from the assault on his body.  

To your horror the creature paused, reeling back one clawed arm above its head, a blue glowing light surrounding its fist.  A power attack.  A final blow.

“JUNGKOOK!” you screeched, you felt your heart shattering in your chest as you fell to your knees, your hands still outstretched putting every ounce of power you could muster into the spell you were casting. No, not like this, he can’t die like this, don’t let him die...

[msjr0119]

Hold On

Part 24 - A little ceremony amongst friends.

Nobody got injured at the Homecoming ball, they all get separated into different safe houses- for safety.

Riley and Drake had confirmed that they had feelings for each other, however Drake believed Riley should be with Liam. Heartbroken, she moves back to New York. Only keeping in touch with Hana, Maxwell and Olivia.

Riley meets lawyer, Nate Cooper and begins a relationship with him. In Cordonia, Drake begins to court Kiara.

Nine months after Riley had left Cordonia- there is a reunion, but not the reunion the friends had hoped for.

*Characters belong to Pixelberry*

If you are under 18 please do not read this series. If you do you are consenting that you are over the age.

Series warnings: Suicide, domestic abuse, swearing, stabbing, smut🍋 If any of these triggers affect you do not read!

Tags- @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415

******

We look forward to seeing Lady Riley as our new Queen....

Queen. Queen. Queen. I’m going to be Queen. I’m carrying the heir. I’m marrying King Liam of Cordonia. Is this a dream of reality?

Riley woken up dazed from her reoccurring thoughts. Streaks of sunlight penetrated through the window and blinds, blocking her vision. Hearing Maxwell’s snoring, she laughed. She had asked Max and Hana to stay over with her, obviously she wished that Liam could have stayed the night- but it is after all bad luck to see the bride on your wedding day. Knowing it was only a little ceremony- she was still nervous as hell. Liam’s mothers engagement ring mimicked the suns shine. Slowly sitting up, she rubbed her knuckles over her eyes, removing the remainder of sleep. Stretching her arms, Riley couldn’t prevent the large yawn, that was slowly yet gradually occurring. Making herself a cup of steaming coffee, she went to sit on the balcony- she had limited herself to one cup of coffee a day due to the pregnancy. The sky was a clear blue, the sunshine on this day brought a healthy glow to the foliage, the grass, to every exotic bloom. Birds were tweeting in a rhythmic melody. Today was the day.

******

It was early morning, Liam and Leo were already dressed in their regal wear. Leo could tell that Liam was nervous, the pacing up and down the study began to annoy him slightly- so he offered him a scotch.

“Sit down please, Li. Here, this will help with the nerves little brother.”

Liam forced a smile, grateful that his older brother knew exactly what was needed.

“I love her Leo, more than words could possibly explain. But I have this reoccurring subconscious thought that she may change her mind.”

“Don’t be silly. She’s wearing Eleanor’s ring. She’s yours. She’s carrying our heir. Why would she change her mind?”

“Everything that we’ve been through... Madeleine. Drake. Kiara. Nate. The baby she lost. I don’t know...”

“That’s all in the past, Li. The future is you and Riley and my nephew or niece, today is going to be the best day of your lives. Then when the heir is born, you will have a second wedding including the baby and the country. Cordonia is thrilled. Why did you chose the maze by the way?”

“Well I proposed there. The first night she came to Cordonia we had a moment in the maze. It’s now like our place. It just feels right. Thank you looking after her in New York by the way.”

“Ah I see. Let’s get going then, Beth is going to deliver your gift. Then it’ll be time to see your beautiful bride. No problem. It was hard, but shes your responsibility now- your responsibility to protect her.” Leo pat his brother on the shoulder, he had never seen Liam this nerve wrecked. Maybe it was due to the past rejection- but now everything was different.

*******

Between Maxwell and Hana they made Riley look fit for a Queen. Hana styled her hair, in a neat chignon with some stray curls elegantly leaned against her ears. They kept her make up neutral- with waterproof mascara just in case, she broke down emotionally. Hormones were coming in thick and fast, one minute Riley was emotional, the next minute she believed she didn’t look beautiful enough and was frustrated.

“You are so beautiful Little blossom, I’m so proud of you.” Maxwell pulled his ‘sister’ in for a tight hug- he admired how elegant she was looking on this special day.

“Thanks Maxwell. I just feel fat. And I don’t know if I can do this? What if Liam realises this is a huge mistake? I haven’t exactly been Queen material recently have I? Court case. Abused. Suicidal. What does he see in me?”

Riley replied with a defeated tone of voice- feeling unworthy. Tears began spilling down her face, her lip uncontrollably trembling. Maxwell wrapped his arms around her, with sorrow in his eyes. He didn’t like to see his sister feel this way- she meant the world to him, and everyone else for that matter.

“Good morning!”

Beth said in a cheery voice before running over to Riley who was crying in Maxwell’s arms. Confused as to why she would be this emotional- it was supposed to be a happy day.

“Ri, we all make mistakes. We all have our down days. But Liam has always loved you. Always. And he will continue that for the rest of his life. You didn’t see him at the hospital, in New York. The way he spoke to you....it was love at first sight when we first met you.”

“Max is right. I’ve got a gift from the groom. He’s waiting for you- don’t keep him too long babe. I’ll leave you to finish getting ready. Love you, Ri. See you soon Mrs Rhys/ Queen of Cordonia.”

Good morning beautiful. I missed holding you last night. After all this time, I still can’t believe that we’ve finally made it. I have loved you since the night I laid my eyes on you- I know all this time it hasn’t been easy. But I promise you now, I am going to protect you and love you unconditionally for the rest of my life as well as our child. You mean everything to me Riley Brooks. We are now a family. Don’t keep me waiting. I can’t wait to call you my wife. I hope you love the gifts, I have given you. If I could give you the world I would...

I love you, Li xo

Riley began sobbing again, at Liam’s words. Feeling her stomach churning - she wasn’t sure if it was nerves or morning sickness returning with vengeance. Opening the velvet box, there was a diamanté tiara along with a necklace.

Maxwell gently placed the necklace around her neck, Riley’s fingers gently hovered over it. He then delicately placed the tiara on her head, trying not to ruin Hana’s masterpiece chignon. Beautiful, he whispered.

*******

The palace staff had decorated the maze, there was a riot of colours from the bouquets that were placed surrounding the area. In the middle of the maze, near the swing- there were flower covered arches proving the sweet aroma of roses. Liam knew it would be a tight squeeze, but he wanted to do his nuptials here. As it was a quick ceremony the guests would stand throughout.

Liam stood nervously next to Drake, his best man. When he asked Drake to do this honour he felt awkward, due to the previous love triangle. But he knew deep down he couldn’t ask anyone else- Drake was his best childhood friend, his brother.

“Li, if you ever needed to use a stoic expression that time would be now.” Drake sarcastically said, trying to calm down the King.

“Im sorry. I’m trying, I truly am....”

“Liam, she chose you. This is your special day and we are all so happy for you both. She will be here soon.”

“Thank you for being so supportive. I hope she will be.”

“No problems. She always deserved you and you deserved her.”

Leo interrupted the two gentlemen, with a smirk on his face.

“Li, your bride is on her way. Hana’s just arrived.” Leo handed the men his flask filled with whiskey, before whispering- To calm the last nerves.

******

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you’d please rise for your bride.”

I wandered through the maze, Bertrand on my left side, Maxwell on the right. I couldn’t decide which of the brothers should walk me down the ‘aisle’. Maxwell instigated this fairytale becoming reality and Bertrand was an arsehole to me at the beginning. But they welcomed me into their house- I will always be grateful for everything they have helped me achieve. I was still feeling nauseous- but I am pregnant, a good excuse I kept telling myself. I am now marrying Liam- the love of my life. It hasn’t been easy, but we have come full circle and I couldn’t be any happier. I am grateful that he has so much love for me even with my past flaws and mistakes. I am truly, one lucky girl.

Slowly the three of us, walked down the ‘aisle’- both men in my arms were emotional even if they deny it. They looked overjoyed. I am glad that I have done them proud eventually. They deserve the positive reputation for their house. Our tiny group of close friends are waving and smiling at us.

My eyes fixated on Liam as we arrived at the end of the ‘aisle’. I softly smile at Drake- who returns the gesture. I’m glad he agreed to be Liam’s best man considering our past situation. Even if mine and Drake’s love story didn’t work out- I am still happy to have him in my life as my best friend. Liam’s eyes began to glisten. This is it, I’m becoming Queen.

******

Why am I so nervous? It’s just Riley- the Queen of my heart. She always has been, ever since the night I met her. Her adventurous spirit, her fearless spirit, her attitude to life, her natural beauty made me fall in love instantly.

After all that she has been through, I still see that old Riley- showing us how strong she truly is. My country will love her as Queen, she is friendly and caring. I hope they don’t love her more than me- although that probably would become reality. She had won over so many hearts in the time she spent here in Cordonia.

The Beaumont’s look as if they are going to emotionally break down- she has become like their sister. I know they must be feeling over the moon right now.

I must thank Hana and Max for making her look incredible and beautiful just like a goddess. I wipe a tear away- I hope I can contain my emotions. She is beautiful. She is going to become my wife. She is going to become Queen. I am so relieved and lucky that she chose me.

*****

“Riley, you are so beautiful.”

“Thank you my King. You look handsome as always.”

Liam cupped her cheek and kissed her gently, before moving down to her stomach mimicking his previous gesture. This was his way of informing Ana and Donnie that the Queen to be was carrying their heir. Leo coughed, ending the sentimental moment. Liam stood up slowly, gently holding his fiancées hands, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. Their sparkly matching baby blues fixated on each other lovingly.

“So because this is basically a ‘shot gun wedding’- sorry guys. I’m not going to go through the usual Cordonian nuptial introduction- we will save that for the cathedral wedding.”

Everyone began laughing- Leo really had no filter. Ana and Donnie nodded politely towards Liam and Riley now having their suspicions confirmed.

“In my time in New York, I became close to Riley and I classed her as my little sister. Secretly I was hoping that these two stubborn ass’s would reunite. I know the circumstances weren’t really what we imagined- but you both found love and happiness again. And I for one, are so thrilled to now officially call you my sister- unless you run off. But please don’t run off.”

“Don’t worry Li, I’m not running anywhere. Leo’s just being Leo.”

Riley whispered, whilst squeezing his hands tighter- feeling him become less tense and seeing his lips curl upwards.

“So, we will begin the vows and start with you, your Majesty.” Leo gestured for Liam to begin. Liam gulped hard, before beginning his speech.

“Riley, what can I say? Without you I am nothing- with you I am more myself. Our love is unique. Together you and I make something that has never been seen before. I will always protect you from harm to stand against your troubles. If you grow weak, I’ll be there to fight your battles for you. I’ll help you with your responsibilities and make your problems my own in order to spread the weight a bit more evenly. I love and cherish you, secure in the knowledge that you are my best friend, my love, my kind and adoring wife, Queen and mother to my child. You look so beautiful to me today, you always look beautiful to me and will always be this beautiful to me, tomorrow, and the next day and the next. I will only love you more and more each day of our marriage. There is still a part of me today that cannot believe that I’m the one who gets to marry you. You make me a better man, and a better King. I love you, Riley Brooks.”

Liam felt relieved that he had finally confessed how much love he had for Riley. Smiling at his fiancée, he took another moment to drink in the sight of her. He noticed tears running down her cheeks, softly caressing her cheeks- wiping away the tears, she was still gorgeous.

“Thank you Liam, Riley I believe it’s your turn now...”

“You have made me feel more loved than I ever thought was possible, even with my past decisions. I am so grateful that we have come full circle and are in each other’s arms again. Today, I give you all that I am, and all that I have. Just as I give you my hand to hold today, I give you my heart- my whole life. I choose you today. And I would choose you again tomorrow. I would go on choosing you the day after, and every day for the rest of our lives. You are my life. I love you and I will always carry you in my heart, as I’ve always done. Thank you for all your support and love you have provided me, I feel so lucky that myself and our baby have you in our lives. I love you Liam, my King.”

“Do you, King Liam Rhys of Cordonia take Riley Brooks to be your partner in life and sharing your path; equal in love, a mirror for your true self, promising to honor and cherish, through the good times and the bad, until death do you part?"

“I do.”

"Do you, Riley Brooks take King Liam Rhys of Cordonia to be your partner in life and sharing your path; equal in love, a mirror for your true self, promising to honor and cherish, through the good times and the bad, until death do you part?"

“I do.”

“By the power vested in me by the kingdom of Cordonia, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. The King and Queen Of Cordonia. May this blessed union be sealed with a kiss.”

Liam cupped Riley’s cheeks, placing a soft kiss on her lips- hearing the cheers from their friends encouraged Liam to deepen it into a more passionate kiss.

“You’re my wife!”

“You’re my husband! We both love you...”

“I love you both too. Mrs Rhys, My Queen. And you too my little Prince or Princess.”

Intertwining their fingers together, they joined their friends. Congratulations echoed throughout the maze. Ana and Donnie, had taken some picturesque photos of the newlyweds, before they bid their goodbyes.

“So after brunch, I assume the King and Queen will want some aloneeee time.... But who’s ready for the real party? As it’s a Beaumont wedding- well sort of. You’re all cordially invited to the after party at House Beaumont later tonight, to celebrate our sister getting married!”

[superleeleehipster]

I haven’t said much in regards to recent spoilers and what will happen tonight during the finale b/c, if I’m honest, everybody has basically said exactly what I think about this new development and what it could possibly mean about our favorite couple.

But before the episode airs (I know it was leaked but I’m just going to wait until it airs tonight to watch it b/c my wifi sucks), I just figured I’d throw in my two cents into this already blazing inferno that is now the Caryl fandom once again.

Spoilers and thoughts on thangs below the cut...

From what I’ve heard both from TSDF as well as the folks who’ve already watched it, I’m actually very excited about this episode and what it’ll mean for Caryl. I know I wouldn’t be the only one to admit that, when the Carzekiel spoilers first came out, I was pissed off and much of my hope for Angela K to bring my favorite show back was shot down (not all of it, but quite a bit of it). Now with what is going to happen in the finale, I see now that it was supposed to be written this way because it was supposed to come full circle.

And I will humbly admit, that it seems to be one of the best written arcs/circles between two characters I’ve ever seen in this show...

Now in regards to the Carzekiel relationship, after recent spoilers, it pretty much confirmed to me all of the arguments that we have been saying all this time. That relationship was safe, it was convenient, it was normal, things that Carol had wanted for a while. But the catalyst of that relationship has always been Henry. Henry helped Carol through her self torture from the last few seasons by showing her that she can keep him safe and that he is worth trying to save. That she shouldn’t turn a blind eye and push him away. She couldn’t help but fall in love with that kid, so she moved to the Kingdom after Henry had asked if she could move there. And with the motherly bond she had made with Henry, it was a no brainer to allow a relationship to form between her and Ezekiel b/c he’s Henry’s adopted father.

In the early part of this season, we saw how Carol wasn’t really into the idea of marrying Zeke. But it is only when, after she glances at Henry, that she decides to put the ring on her finger. She doesn’t do it for herself and Ezekiel, she does it for Henry more than anything. She wanted to give Henry what she couldn’t give Sophia, and that was a loving family with a good life. She did what she sought to do with Tobin, which was create as normal of a life as you could in the zombie apocalypse by playing house and raising a child with a loving husband and father. That was the dream she had that I’m sure she had wanted for Sophia but her biological father was nothing more than a sperm donor who abused her mother. With Henry, she was able to live that dream for the both of them. 

Was she ever in love with Ezekiel? I’m sure she was in some way, but I don’t think it was a soulmate kind of love, especially with what will happen in 9x16. I think she wanted to fulfill that dream within herself of wanting the normal life she never had, and give it to Henry b/c Sophia never got it. I also think she in some ways became secondary to Ezekiel b/c she just wanted to make him happy. The Carol we knew wouldn’t waste time, energy, or ppl over a lightbulb for a movie, but she did it b/c she knew it was Ezekiel’s positivity and dream that was at stake. She changed some of herself to accommodate his dreams, and she settled as well. So that’s why it’s not so much of a shocker that the moment Henry was killed, it popped their blissfully ignorant bubble that Carzekiel had created for themselves. It was an extremely heavy dose of reality, and because of the loss of that catalyst, their marriage crumbled very quickly. 

Now keep in mind I’m not saying that the death of the child equals the death of the marriage, far from it. I personally know real life couples who’ve lost kids via miscarriages, stillbirths, or accidents past the womb, and every single one of them had held each other up and became stronger with each other. In Carzekiel’s case, however, we can see partially why their relationship in particular had disintegrated. 

Carol wasn’t confiding in Ezekiel, and instead, confiding in the man whom she would deem as her best friend. Some could argue it was b/c she didn’t want to put even more pain on Ezekiel b/c he was the coparent in all this, and some could say it’s because she didn’t feel comfortable enough talking to him about it. We may never know for certain. But considering how jealous Ezekiel seems to be about Carol confiding in Daryl instead of him makes me question why she wouldn’t go to Ezekiel in the first place. Obviously the man wants her to talk to him but she’s not, so it does make you wonder if she trusts him or feels comfortable enough to do so. Which brings a whole new list of questions as to how strong their relationship was IN GENERAL b/c you would think she would feel confident enough to talk to him after being together with the man for 7 years, but hey, I’m no relationship expert...

Anyways, I find it interesting that Carol would rather speak to Daryl about her woes, and I find it very interesting the differences in how both men interact/react in regards to Carol. Ezekiel has always been a bit forceful when it comes to Carol. Not in a horrible abusive/Ed kind of way, just more of a manipulative way. He never let her be in S7 even when she asked him not to come, and kept hounding her to marry him even when she said no initially. In 9x16, he apparently speaks for her as he’s telling Daryl that he shouldn’t stay in Hilltop, that he’d rather spend some alone time with Carol. That manipulative tendency comes out full force when he tries to use Daryl’s own emotions against him to try and convince him to not stay at Hilltop.

Daryl on the other hand, questioned him immediately and asked “is that what Carol wants?”. Same situation when Daryl and Carol spoke at the Sanctuary, where Daryl (that amazingly selfless and precious man) wants whatever Carol wants to happen, happen. Her happiness is above his, first and foremost. If she tells him she wants to stay in Hilltop and he needs to leave ASZ so she could work on her marriage, you bet your ass Daryl would swallow his pride and do it because that’s what kind of man he is. He loves her unconditionally, which means he will do anything for her in spite of his own personal pain. That’s the amazing difference between the two men that Carol could see right away. Daryl will do anything for her happiness, and Ezekiel will do anything for his own happiness. 

So Carol decides to end things with Ezekiel because 1) he was being an ass to her best friend, and 2) she knew that she needed to do some healing and she couldn’t do it with Ezekiel. That latter reason is very significant to me b/c of that conversation she had with Zeke in S8. How she credited the ppl she was with for saving her after Sophia died and that she could come back again and again if she had to. But her decision to end things with Ezekiel tells me she knows she might not come back if she stays with him. All the same that she knows that she could heal and recuperate from this recent trauma by staying with Daryl and TF. She chose Daryl over Ezekiel b/c she knows that it will help her in the end. They may not be canon yet but holy jesus that speaks for itself how strong the Carzekiel ship itself actually was. 

I know someone else had mentioned this before (I think it was you @silversundown2) that it is more powerful that Carol had ended the relationship instead of finding Ezekiel’s head on the pike b/c she ended that relationship willingly instead of a death, and I have to agree. What happens in 9x16 feels like both Daryl and Carol come to a full circle. The beginning of the season you find Carol living in her fairytale with Ezekiel, describing it as “really nice” comparatively to her relationship with Ed. Yet she was still hesitant to marry him. It wasn’t until she decided for Henry’s sake to say yes. On the other hand, Daryl was still reeling over the effects of what happened with the Saviors. He didn’t trust them at all, and just wanted to get away and go back to how it was before. Daryl and Carol even had a conversation at the Sanctuary about their woes. 

Fast track to 9x16, and Caryl has another conversation at the Sanctuary, where Carol realizes that what’s best for her is to stay with Daryl and TF at Alexandria, not Ezekiel. And Daryl is going to stay with Lydia b/c he’s taken it upon himself to make sure that she’s okay and to take care of her by going to ASZ w/ TF. Both Daryl and Carol are wanting to take care of Lydia b/c they recognize themselves in her from their own past, and of course she reminds at least Carol of Sophia. Instead of running away from their demons (Carol) or taking out their anger on everything else in a vengeful irrationality (Daryl), we see them decide to go back to where they believe is the best place for both of them to heal, and to help Lydia heal from her traumas as well... 

A FULL CIRCLE

I can go on and on about how this development has basically destroyed all other paths like Miley Cyrus’s wrecking ball and left only one way to go from here, but I think I’ll save that for another post b/c this one is already long enough. 

Caryl on my loves, and enjoy tonight’s episode!!

Gif credit to @lapicesypantones. If you don’t follow her PLEASE DO BECAUSE HER ARTWORK IS BALLS TO THE WALLS AMAZING!!

[taexual]

MONSTA X / Vacation with their S/O

ANON REQUEST: MONSTA X MONSTA X MONSTA X please let me request one where their girlfriend has never been out of the country before, so they suprise her and take her on a weekend getaway?

OTHER VERSIONS: EXO

Shownu

Hyunwoo had spent the past three months planning this so, naturally, he was extremely frustrated when Hoseok spoiled the surprise by bursting into the dorm room – when you were visiting – and asking you if you were excited for your upcoming weekend trip to Thailand.

“I’m not going to Thailand,” you replied. Bless your sweet, difficult-to-catch-up self. “I’ve never even been out of the country before. What are you talking about?”

“But Hyunwoo is—” Hoseok started to say but then stopped after catching the older member’s glare. “Oh. Well. Yeah, you know, maybe you’ll go one day! I’ll leave now.”

As soon as the door slammed shut with Hoseok’s hasty exit, you gave your boyfriend a look. He looked utterly disappointed and that confused you even more.

“W-what was Hoseok—”

“I planned a trip for us,” Hyunwoo admitted, sighing. “It was supposed to be a surprise. I know you have a few days off next month, so I figured I’d take you somewhere you could rest. A-and Hoseok just—”

You jumped to your feet so suddenly, he lost his train of thought. For a moment, you weren’t sure what you were so eager to say to him, so you just watched his disappointed expression for a while. He was truly disheartened that his surprise didn’t work out and yet every fiber of your being insisted that it did. You were absolutely not expecting this.

“You planned a trip for us,” you said, your voice soft and full of admiration. “I-I love you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know,” Hyunwoo said, sighing. “But I wanted to.”

There wasn’t much you could have said to him – and even less you could have done, with Hoseok somewhere nearby – so you chose to close the distance by wrapping your arms around his neck and resting your head against his shoulder as you whispered, “the surprise wasn’t ruined. Thank you so much.”

You couldn’t see the wide smile on Hyunwoo’s face as he responded to your hug and already began to plan the itinerary for your first trip together, feeling a little more confident after listening to your assurances. If Hoseok couldn’t ruin this, then no one could.

Wonho

Hoseok had forgotten to consider sleep as a part of your itinerary when he was coming up with the details of your trip to Switzerland. He’d heard you mention always having a dream of going skiing in Europe when you were on the phone with a friend – he was only eavesdropping with the intention of overhearing what you might have wanted to get for Christmas – and he couldn’t have been happier to make this dream come true.

You were overjoyed when he took you to the airport and announced where you were going, but Hoseok might have been even more cheerful than you were. Each of your smiles sent him into a giggly frenzy. He was so happy to see you happy.

However, all of that sort of dissolved when your plane landed in Zurich, and both of you realized that, not only did you survive one of the longest connecting flights of your life, but you also only had two hours before you had to meet your ski instructors for your first session.

“I’m not a great planner, apparently,” Hoseok admitted sheepishly. “It’s just a five-day trip so I wanted to include as many activities as possible and, well—”

“It’s fine,” you told him. His wish to make your dream come true was worth the lack of sleep you were about to experience here. “I’m sure we can handle five days with little to no sleep. The excitement of being here will be worth it.”

“Are you sure?” he questioned. “I don’t want you falling asleep on the slopes. Maybe we can miss today’s session and just get some rest before—”

“What, are you kidding? We’re not missing anything!” you disagreed, not letting him finish. “We’re experiencing as much as we can here.”

Your enthusiasm finally got him to smile and he took your hand into his. This trip was already great for him because you were here with him. The genuine joy in your voice calmed his worries down, though. He was going to do everything to make this holiday the best one for you as well.

“Well, let’s go then,” Hoseok said, nodding his head towards the bus that was meant to take you to the cottage you’d be staying at. “I can’t wait to beat you at a snowboard race.”

Minhyuk

You watched the scenery outside the airplane window, shaking your head in disbelief. It was early spring and you had arrived at the airport in Seoul all wet because of the pouring rain outside, but there you were now, about to land in the Philippines, sunshine and warmth all around you.

“Do you like the view?” Minhyuk asked from the airplane seat next to you. He must have noticed that you were unable to tear your eyes away from the window.

“Yes. It’s beautiful,” you nodded, a wide smile not leaving your face. “I can’t believe we’re actually here.”

The trip to Manila wasn’t exactly a surprise since Minhyuk had talked about wanting to travel here ever since your first Valentine’s Day date when you commented how “cute” you found the fact that one of your friend’s fiance drove them for five hours so they could celebrate this day on the beach. You didn’t mean to drop any sort of hints and yet a metaphorical lightbulb lit up above Minhyuk’s head immediately.

“I’ll take you somewhere, too,” he’d said then, ignoring all twenty-five of your gentle protests. “No, no, really. I want to. It’s about time we traveled somewhere together.”

Minhyuk usually kept his word and this time, obviously, wasn’t an exception. He did manage to surprise you by choosing a foreign country as your travel destination instead of just a different city, though. But, then again, you should have seen it coming. He always went all out when it came to you.

“I can’t wait to hit the beach,” Minhyuk said to you as the plane prepared to land in Manila. “Oh! And did you know there are bamboo bikes here? We’re trying those. There’s also a dessert museum. Oh, right, and we’re definitely getting massages at the hotel. I hear there are ones for couples.”

You laughed as you finally turned away from your window. “You really thought this through, haven’t you?”

“Absolutely,” he nodded, proud. “But don’t think I came to Manila to sightsee. I’m here to spend all of my time with you.”

Kihyun

Dating Kihyun was already an adventure and a dream-come-true in one and yet he did everything he could to turn your life into an even bigger fairytale than it already was. The biggest proof of this was your scenery right now as the two of you walked past the Trevi fountain in Rome, the sun slowly setting behind the buildings around you two.

The sightseeing didn’t work out very well because you had come to Italy at the same time as seemingly millions of other people, so whenever you went, you were stuck in a perpetual crowd. Eventually, you and Kihyun decided to sightsee on your own and, this way, you ended up visiting so many underappreciated cafés and other spots that weren’t as popular, but were just as memorable.

In the end, the feeling of Kihyun holding your hand as you strolled down the streets – even if there were people walking and taking pictures all around you – was what made this trip so magical.

“I’ve had the best time here,” you said to him, watching a smile spread across his face as soon as you did. “Thank you so much for making this trip happen.”

“Oh, it should be me thanking you for coming here with me,” he said. “I’d have been bored in Italy all by myself.”

Raising your eyebrows, you asked in an amused tone, “ah, so you planned this trip for yourself and just allowed me to tag along?”

“Yes,” Kihyun answered without missing a beat – a wide smile on his face – and then looked at you to check your reaction.

“Oh, how nice of you,” you said and he couldn’t hold his laughter anymore.

Within seconds, both of you were giggling as you crossed the street to grab few last cups of coffee at a café that had become your favorite after ten days here. You were flying home tomorrow morning and you couldn’t help but feel melancholic as the Italian waitresses greeted you with their usual polite smiles.

“I’ll miss this,” you commented then, your blissful voice returning the bittersweet mood from before.

“I won’t,” Kihyun countered and proceeded to explain after you gave him a questionable look, “I enjoyed this trip so much because you were with me. And, because I know this isn’t the last time we’re traveling together, I won’t waste my time missing this. I’ll spend it planning our next destination instead.”

Hyungwon

You didn’t really know where you wanted to go on a holiday when Hyungwon offered traveling, so, technically, going to Egypt was his choice. Although, you were sure that if you hadn’t accidentally stayed up late watching a documentary about the Pyramids with him the night before, his choice might have been different.

But no matter the reasons for this trip, you were already in your hotel in downtown Cairo, choosing your outfits for tomorrow’s day trip to see the Pyramids. Your tour guide had given you loose instructions and you chose the first simple – yet comfortable – clothes you’d found in your suitcase. But not your boyfriend. Oh, no, Hyungwon was preparing three different outfits for himself as if he was planning to meet Cleopatra herself.

“Don’t wear black,” you told him as you plopped down on the bed next to his laid-out clothes, a water bottle in your hand. “It’ll be hot—”

“Oh, but I had just bought that black shirt before we left, remember?” Hyungwon sighed as he dug into his suitcase again. “I think it would have looked great with those gray shorts if also paired with—”

“It’s not a fashion show, Won,” you said carefully. “Wear something you’ll be comfortable in. You’ll look good no matter what.”

“No, no,” he stopped to look up at you. “You’ll look good no matter what. I have to try to make an impression so no one ends up stealing you away from me. They have camels here! They could just offer you a ride and whisk you away from me.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” you asked. “Seriously, I promise you, no amount of camels can replace you to me.”

Hyungwon – always pleased to hear your words of affection – grinned after you said this. “Really? You love me more?”

“Yes. More than anything,” you confirmed and watched his grin widen. “So, please, don’t put on a model show tomorrow. That will just pressure me to dress well, too.”

“You always dress well,” he said, walking around the bed to reach you. You had assumed he had come here to kiss you – or that’s what “normal” boyfriends would have done anyway – but he just threw himself on top of you, nearly squeezing you with his body. “I love you.”

Struggling to breathe under his weight as he cuddled into you, you mumbled an annoyed, “I’m s-suffocating from your love, Won,” but he still didn’t bother pulling away from you.

Jooheon

You and Jooheon had planned your trip to England together, each making your additions to the itinerary – as long as the other one was okay with them – and slowly, coming up with your perfect travel plan.

It didn’t even feel real at first; it felt more like the two of you were just daydreaming about seeing the Westminster Abbey and randomly running into David Beckham on the street. But then, a month later, when your plane actually landed at Heathrow and the two of you hailed a cab to get to your hotel, both of you understood just how real this was.

“We forgot to add so many things to our schedule,” Jooheon commented, worried. “Somehow, I didn’t think it would have been fun to see a Shakespeare play, but now that we’re here, I feel like I’ve changed my mind.”

You laughed. “I offered to go to the Globe theater, remember? You said no.”

“I’m not good at making serious decisions in advance,” he said. “Can we still make time for it? For example, right after we visit the Emirates Stadium tomorrow?”

“We—did you change the itinerary without my consent?”

“I just added a few things,” he shrugged. “We can’t skip on the stadium. Arsenal plays there, maybe we’ll run into them.”

You groaned. “You can’t make changes without talking to me first! We’ll never have enough time to visit the stadium and the theater both. You’ll have to make a choice: football or Shakespeare.”

Jooheon didn’t even hesitate. “I choose you.”

“You choose me?” you frowned, feeling your heartbeat speed up, but not quite understanding him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means exactly what I said,” he explained poorly. “I’m doing whatever you want to do. At the end of the day, I came here to get a chance to spend more time with you, so I guess I don’t care what we’re doing as long as we’re together.”

Blinking your eyes at the unexpected softness in his words – it wasn’t often that Jooheon was this sappy – you asked, “did you rehearse this speech?”

“No, it just came naturally to me,” he answered, grinning. “Good, wasn’t it? I should write it down somewhere so I could put it in a song. Can you quote me word-for-word so I could—”

“Ugh, you’re too much,” you groaned, cutting him off and hitting his shoulder with your palm. You should have known he would make a joke out of it since he kept on laughing as he pulled away from you to avoid your punches. “You’re lucky I love you.”

I.M

“If you could go anywhere in the world,” Changkyun had asked you during your first date, “where would you go?”

“I’ve never been anywhere,” you’d admitted to him then. “But I’ve always wanted to visit a country with a rich and diverse culture. Like India, for example.”

Changkyun smiled at the memory as he watched the printer in the studio print the tickets to New Delhi ahead of your second anniversary. It was still two weeks away but he wanted to plan in advance, especially since he’d wanted to take you to India last year but then, right before your anniversary, you caught a nasty flu and he had to cancel the tickets, never having told you about the trip.

He wasn’t going to let the opportunity of making your dream come true slip this year, though. You thought he was going to take you out to get dinner at some sort of overly expensive restaurant that both of you lowkey hated – and you were right about that part; Changkyun had a reservation already – but you would have never guessed that he’d remember something seemingly so irrelevant that you’d said exactly two years ago.

And that – you, underestimating Changkyun’s love for you – was exactly why you almost burst into tears when he pulled out a New Delhi travel guide mid-dinner, announcing that the two of you were leaving in three days so you had to start packing tonight.

“How did you—why is—oh my God,” you had a hard time finding what to say as you stared at the travel guide. “You remembered what I said?”

“Of course,” he replied, his heart fluttering in joy, following the awe in your voice. “Are you excited?”

“I’m… I’m a lot of things,” you replied, chuckling. “Most of all, I think I’m just in love with you. N-not because you planned this trip, but because you didn’t forget. It means so much to me.”

Changkyun was hoping for your happiness but he must have miscalculated just how important this was to you as he saw tears glitter in your eyes.

“I want to make you happy,” he said. “And in order to do that, I have to listen to everything you say to me.”

“You make me happy just by being with me.”

“Yeah, well, I want you to be twice as happy by being with me in India,” Changkyun countered. “And after this holiday ends, I want you to be happy with me in every other part of the world, too.”

masterlist / ask (requests are closed)

[so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed]

TNFIF Timestamps

I’ve decided to write some timestamps for There’s No Fair In Farewell. Once I’ve written a few more I might post them on AO3, but for now, have a timestamp of what happens after the fic ends. Obviously, spoilers for the entire fic!

Just like they have lived their lives together, so do they pass on. It’s been a long life, a happy life, filled with love and, eventually, a new family. Their daughter is named Johanna Anne, in honor of both their mums. Their adopted son, of course, is named after Niall (and Nick, and Louis really only grumbled about it for old time’s sake), and Louis often calls him their lucky charm when he’s young. Their kids grow up to have kids, and by the time they’re both in their eighties they’ve left a lasting imprint on earth. Their lives, having been cut short decades ago, have finally been allowed to play out the way they were always meant to.

Now, eighty two (like he would have been when he’d gone back to earth in 2017, had he not originally died), Louis is old and content, ready for the next adventure. He knows the end is coming soon, and he’s made his peace with it, has had ample time to say goodbye to his children, promising his grandchildren that he’ll always watch over them. They’ve grown up with the fairytales he’s told them, of Fates and Cupids and while Louis isn’t sure it’ll comfort them in their time of grief he knows that they’ll never truly be alone.

As sad as he is at the prospect of leaving his family, he knows what he has to look forward to. And, as he’d told Harry once (or a million times), there’s nowhere he can go that Louis won’t follow. He knows the same goes for Harry. Even if there might be a bit of time between when the two of them pass, he knows they’ll have eternity together to look forward to.

Eternity. In Heaven. With the rest of their family.

It’s been so long since Louis has seen them, and even the memories have faded somewhat with old age. There’s siblings he’s only remembered as little children, and then siblings he hasn’t even met, but that he knows he’ll see once he passes over. There’s his mum, his stepdad, and the man she married after, the one that she grew old with. Their extended family, because although Louis had never contacted his siblings he did find out that most of them had gotten married and had children of their own.

Just as importantly, there’s Niall.

When he finally passes, it’s not much of a shock to find Harry right next to him, the moment he appears at the entrance to Heaven. Old, gnarled hands tangle the way that they used to so often, wrinkled thumbs brushing over rough knuckles.

“Alright?” Louis asks softly. Harry, lovely eighty-year-old green-eyed Harry, whose hair is now thin as whisps and grey, but who still looks like the most beautiful man Louis has ever laid eyes on, nods. Smiles, with thin cracked lips, that Louis still can’t resist pressing a kiss to.

He had thought of Heaven often, had wondered what it would look like, and oddly enough, it’s both exactly how he expected it and nothing like it. There are no pearly gates, no clouds and, most importantly, there is no Saint Peter or God to judge whether or not they’ll be allowed entrance. There’s just a door, translucent and shimmery, one that opens just as soon as they’ve turned towards it.

Louis’ throat closes up the moment he spots them. Names come easily, the recognition there even though his family looks nothing like the one in his memories. They’re all old, his age or similar, but he only has to look at them to know who they are. There’s Lottie, silver haired and short, and Phoebe and Daisy, a little taller and unmistakably twins. There’s what must be Ernie and Doris, standing a few steps behind two women who look so similar that it takes Louis a moment to realize who is who. Having both passed at old age, Fizzy and his mum could pass as twins, but that’s before she takes a step forward, her eyes shimmery with tears.

“Lou.”

She barely has time to open her arms before Louis has caught up to her, wrapping his own arms around her. And although technically he is older than her now, in her arms he feels just as much a little boy as he did when he was alive. He feels safe, sheltered, in a way he’s only ever felt with Harry.

“Mum.” It’s soft, pained, but the arms around him are holding him together. He can faintly hear Harry, notices his trembling voice as he greets his own family. But this moment, this is just for him.

There’s a soft kiss dropped to his head, worn hands that cup his cheeks as she pulls away just enough to look at him. “My boy. I’ve thought about you so often. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long.”

His mother shakes her head, brings him in closer, soothingly rocking him from side to side. “Nevermind that now, love. You’re here. You’re home.”

**

They stand there for what feels like eternity, hugging each other, until Louis can no longer tell whose arms he is in. He’s hugged Lottie and Fizzy, the first of which has punched him in the arm, telling him about time, before dissolving into tears and shaking apart in his arms. There’s been hugs from both sets of twins, and kind eyes that Louis remembers belonging to his stepfather before he is wrapped up in a hug by him too.

Time no longer has any meaning, much like it did when he was a Cupid, but all that comes to a halt at a soft cough, followed by a voice Louis hasn’t heard in sixty odd years.

“Welcome back, Lou.”

There’s tears in his eyes before he’s even turned around. And there he is. Not a day older than when Louis last saw him. Looking young, and ageless at the same time. Same cheeky grin, though there’s tears in his eyes too, Louis can tell.

“Niall.”

Arms go around each other, one pair old and weathered, the other pair young and strong, so much so that Louis nearly wheezes with the force of the hug. But he sinks into it, into the arms of his best friend, of one of the best huggers in the world. “Niall.” He repeats it, having no other word to express his emotion other than just that. Just Niall.

He’d be embarrassed about crying but Niall’s right there with him, shaking quietly in his arms. Louis can faintly hear his family shuffle back, giving them some space, and he is grateful for it. The only person that he wouldn’t mind seeing this moment is Harry, because Harry’s the only one that would understand. The only person that has gone through the things that Louis has.

“You named your kid after me.” Niall hiccups into his hair, and Louis feels fresh tears welling up in his eyes. “Can’t believe it. Never knew you were such a sap.”

Louis snorts. “Lies. You knew. You fucking knew.”

(The fact that he can hear his mum somewhere behind him, faintly murmuring language absolutely does not make him cry)

“Of course I did. Watched you every chance I could, didn’t I? Promised I’d always keep an eye on you.” He had promised that, once upon a time, but it’s still hard to believe that it’s been sixty years and Niall has never broken that promise. Time moves differently, up here, and a few decades is nothing, but at the same time, it says so much about their friendship, about the loss Niall must have felt.

“I’m sorry,” Louis whispers softly. “I’m sorry for leaving you.”

“I’m not. And you’re not. I’ve seen you. You were happy.”

Louis smiles at that. “I was. I am. Life’s been - well, you’ve seen it.”

Niall nods. “It’s been everything I wished for, for you. Me and Nick both. He made me promise not to tell you, but he bawled like a baby the day you brought your son home from the hospital.”

Little Niall Nicholas. His baby boy, who was now well in his fifties. With children of his own, Louis’ grandkids who he had doted on, watched Harry be enamoured with, the way he’d so often seen him in Heaven. He finally had gotten to count all their fingers and toes in person. Louis smiles. “I’m taking you did the same thing.”

Niall just shrugs, completely unembarrassed. “I mean. It’s your kid. Of course I cried. And that was even before I heard the name. Good name though. Good lad.” He’s quiet for a moment. “I was honored to find him on my board, once he grew up. They’re soulmates, did you know? Him and his wife? They fought over who got to set them up. Perrie and Cara eventually compromised, worked together. We’ve all been looking out for you. Rooting for you.”

Louis swallows. He’d wondered, as his children grew up, if anything had changed in Heaven. If anyone else had gone down, if they’d even known what had happened to him and Harry or if it had been made out to be a cautionary tale. Hearing that they still remembered them, still took an interest in their lives - it felt nice, to have been watched over. To know that even if he hadn’t seen them for so long, he was still never alone.

“I missed you guys.” He says softly. “I missed - I was happy, you know I was. But I still missed you. Just, hanging out, having a beer. Playing games.”

“Playing football.” Niall chuckles. “You know, you still owe me a rematch.”

Louis arches a white eyebrow, looking at him. Looking at himself, then up at Niall’s face, that is unreadable for a moment, before it cracks, a cheeky grin rapidly appearing. “Can’t blame me for trying,” Niall tells him, giving Louis’ shoulder a light squeeze. “I figured, maybe this way, I can finally win for a change.”

[hopeduckling13]

Find My Way Back To You: Chapter 26

Last Chapter for today.

Summary:  Hope Swan-Jones is the product of the product of true love and her true love, so her having very powerful magic was always in the cards. Luckily she lives in a town where everyone is very familiar with magic, so nothing can go wrong, can it?

Or so everyone thought, but then one day as a newborn Hope accidently travels back in time with her mother Emma.

How will the past population of Storybrooke react to their Savior having another kid and being married? And more importantly will the Savior and her baby daughter find a way back home to all of their loved ones?

- - -

Catch Up:

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14857127/chapters/34395467

FF.NET: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12964592/1/Find-My-Way-Back-To-You

Tumblr: [Prologue] [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13] [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15] [Chapter 16] [Chapter 17] [Chapter 18] [Chapter 19] [Chapter 20] [Chapter 21] [Chapter 22] [Chapter 23] [Chapter 24] [Chapter 25]

Reblog to be tagged in future chapters

--- PAST EMMA’S POV ---

 It’s another slow day at the station due to most crimes being related to magic in this town. In those cases, there’s hardly ever anything to do for us. I mean it would be nice, if we could just put Gold into one of those two prison cells and all our problems would be fixed, but that’s never going to happen. It would be a dream if it was that easy.

Maybe David should rebuild that weird cell Gold was trapped in back in…well fairytale land, I suppose. That might be the only way to get rid of him. Then, I’d only have to deal with Regina’s tantrums since I can’t get rid of her – I’d love to do so, but it would make Henry sad and he’s my biggest priority. I’d never do anything to hurt him, even if it would make my life easier. I already knew that, when he was just the size of a peanut. I was always aware of the fact, that keeping him would be selfish. So, I gave him up for adoption, which hurt a lot since I never thought, I was ever going to be able to meet him.

But eventually I did meet him, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it. That’s why I never left Storybrooke – getting to spend to time with Henry, even if it would only be a second every other week, is worth having to live in this crazy small town.

Because for Henry, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make him happy.

Speaking of Henry, he should get home from school soon. He’s probably going straight to the loft to hang out some more with Hope. He seems to like her a lot. I never knew, he could get so excited over a new sibling, but apparently, he still has a way to surprise me – just like baby Hope.

I never thought, that I ever wanted a kid again. But I obviously will in the future. And since her arrival, I’ve kind of thought about having another kid in the far future again. I blame her cuteness for it.

Actually, I should visit her now and give her the present – the little Swan plushie for my tiny Swan. I do miss her after all and there’s no work to do here. David’s so absorbed in his paperwork, that he won’t notice I’m gone anway.

“I think I’ll go now, okay?” I say and look at David.

“Ok.” He says. I get up instantly, but David still has to be inquisitive. Why are both him and Mary Margret annoying like that? Can’t they ever just give me space? “Where are you going? Do you need me to go with you?” He crosses his arms in front of his chest.

“No, David. I’m fine.” With that I leave without ever giving him an explanation on my plans.

I know it’s rude, but it’s just what I’m used to. No one ever really cared about my whereabouts in the past, so now I just find it unnecessary for anyone to know where I’m going. It’s nobody’s business.

So, what if I’m planning to go to the loft, so I can give Hope her new toy? It’s nothing that matters to David or includes him in any way.

 I get to the loft in record time and when I walk in Mary Margret instantly gets noisy, too. They really are the perfect couple, I suppose. Always teaming up against me like this, which they probably aren’t even trying to do, but it still feels a lot like it.

“Emma? You are back early. Is everything alright at the station? Why are you here?” she asks very quickly, not being able to await the answer.

“Everything’s fine, Mary Margret.” Her face falls a little like every time I call her Mary Margret. It’s her name, right, so she should be okay with me calling her that.

I know she wants me to call her mom, but I just can’t do that. I didn’t have parents for 28 years. I always lived with the knowledge that my parents abandoned me, and they kind of did. Sure, it was for a good reason – to help the whole town and all that. Me being supposed to break the curse, but that doesn’t change the fact, that I was all alone. With no one to love me for so long. They put everyone else before me, which might be a great quality for a leader, but it’s an awful quality for a parent.

David isn’t capable of looking at me without pitying me at the same time, which just kind of depresses me. I hate being pitied.

And Mary Margret kind of expects me to be okay with it and just get over it already because now the curse is broken. She just expects us to be a family – as if the last 28 years didn’t happen. Like the didn’t abandon me to help everyone else. But I can’t do that.

I can’t just forget all those years, that I was on my own – especially not in a matter of a few seconds like everyone expects me to. I’m not even sure, if I ever will.

I mean I probably will since my future self seems close to Mary Margret and David – she does call them mom and dad after all – but knowing it’ll happen, doesn’t really explain to me why I give them a second chance. As of right now I can’t imagine to ever truly forgive them, so I really wonder how the hell I gave in.

I’d ask Emma about it, but to be honest I’m too scared to know the answer.

I don’t want to feel pressured once Emma finds a way home to live towards certain things in my life. I suppose I won’t since she’ll find some forgetting potion, but who knows if that’ll work out.

I just can’t get my hopes up right now – or ever really. It’ll just break my heart in the end. For me, hope usually leads to disappointment, which is weird since I’ll apparently call my daughter after it. I must really be doing better than I ever was.

But still, deep down I doubt the future will remain the same, if I for some reason keep my memories. I know I’ll mess it up. I always do. And it’ll be my fault completely this time. I’ll have nothing to keep my guilt away.

It’s why I find it weird, that I’m supposed to be the Savior. Why does everyone expect me to save them, when I can’t even save myself?

[tinkdw]

13x15: the moral of the story

I am so happy because I was struggling with the point of some of the negative stuff going on this season so far... So, this episode was just one big confirmation of my meta of 13x14 and how it was addressing morality very heavily this season with their choices leading either to an upwards or downwards finale and addressing the underlying theme of morality since the pilot. 

To have it addressed as a point purposefully made and a whole episode dedicated to it to make us think about it is frankly a relief! 

It’s on purpose, it’s for a reason! 

Good :)

Morality has always been an underlying foundation of the show. The themes, the plots are family, love, faith etc but under it all, as with most stories we have the foundation of morality, that good things happen to good people, that doing things for the right reasons is important.

It’s been consistent that when they do things for others they win, when they do things that put others in danger out of desperation for each other (ie 8x23 and 10x23) bad things happen.

This is consistent and this is a very common narrative, see this post where I mention very quickly the hugely blatant ones of Star Wars, Harry Potter and Buffy just off the top of my head, because stories don’t just exist in a random void, there is always a moral to a story, usually that it’s always better to be good and heroes are selfless.

Anyway, this episode gave us many meta points. In itself I wasn’t totally enamoured with the semi-noir genre attempt, I was very interested by the boys’ interaction with the story but I was a bit bored by way too much going into peripheral people’s stories etc and it could have been done in a more fun, blatantly emotive way, but the meta side and the side that was clearly making a point I loved.

1. Dean is worried for Cas dodging bullets in Syria. Now I have to watch what I say here as I already had antis using my mentioning Syria as an excuse to send me shit, but there’s a reason they chose Syria as Cas’ location out of any country in that region which could be relevant to the spell’s ingredients. I didn’t do this. The show did. For a reason. Syria is a place where currently immoral awful things are happening to good people. It is a horrific situation. Some people are doing awful things to other people in the name of religion. People are doing bad things for bad reasons and framing it as good reasons, this does not take away from the fact that it is incomprehensibly immoral and abhorrent. This was not an accident given the theme of morality in this same episode.

2. Separately to this, Dean is worried about Cas (as usual). Dean is shown as using two established coping mechanisms in this worry. Food (the pizza) and a Woman (the girl in the coffee shop). This is the same old coping mechanism when Cas is in danger / missing / dead.

3. Sam doesn’t know Dean. This is something that we see a lot in the earlier seasons and then sporadically since, but I love that this is coming back given we’ve had quite a few moments so far this season (and last) that have shown Dean is tired of keeping up the facade:

Dean: “you’re like a Boy Scout, always prepared!” Sam: “you’re like... I don’t know what you’re like.”

No shit Sam! The idea that Sam doesn’t actually know who Dean really is (because Dean sublimates and hides so much, particularly around Sam) is consistent and I can’t wait to have this explored textually.

4. Father Lucca giving us some lovely Dean/Cas faith material:

On the skull: “It means everything to my congregation. Imagine you woke up one morning and this thing you loved (...) was just gone, what would you do?”

Sam: “try to get it back”, looks at Dean.

*insert gif of Dean trying to get Cas back whilst saying he’s everything*

I mean?!

5. Father Lucca giving us some lovely morality lessons and exactly referencing Dean’s earlier comment and saying this is bad:

Dean: “Look this isn’t a perfect world we’re trying to save okay? And if I’m not perfect trying to save it, so be it”

Father Lucca: “Change it (...) the world’s not perfect but do you use that as an excuse? Do us use that to excuse your own sins? The world will never be perfect. If good men do good things it can be better” 

Dean looks awkward but Sam is convinced to help him.

I mean this is a blatant No, Dean, that’s not what good men do, you need to find yourself again, this isn’t you or what you really stand for (see every time Dean wants to focus on saving one person with less regard of the bigger picture because it’s the right thing to do since the pilot).

Good men doing good things - not doing bad things for the right reasons, doing good things for the right reasons. Ie. in this episode’s instance getting the skull back for the priest is the right thing to do.

Father Lucca to Dean about Sam later: “ All good things beget good things and what you’re brother is doing is a good thing”

Now morally without knowing the outcome yet I thought hey! this should lead to something good for the boys as this is always the case, they did the right thing even though it didn’t benefit them and they should be rewarded, because it’s the standard heroes reward in every story.

Oh, look, in the end Father Lucca turns out to be the Holy Man that they were after the blood of in the first place so they get the reward by doing the right thing! Such accident! Much coincidence!

*Tink stares into the camera*

As an aside, @amwritingmeta reminded me of just how many Disney / fairytale stories they’ve been referencing recently too and these always have a moral to the story. Just saying.

Now, Sam clearly is fully on this path of wanting to do the right thing (he said it clearly in 11x01 that they had to change and he’s been trying hard ever since). Dean has been also doing this (eg 11x23) but he is very iffy in this episode and has been all season, see Dean being framed as bad when he threatened Kaia to save Mary for example, in this episode he has a real reticence re the main plot and not wanting to give up their goal to help Lucca for nothing, but also that whole I would murder someone who stole the impala bit, that wasn’t for jokes, that is... ick. This is supposed to be bad. Sam know’s it’s bad, his reaction is telling us we should see this as troublesome. Cas also last episode showed he is shady, unfortunately set on doing bad things for the right reasons etc and I know, I KNOW this was the “lesser of evils” concept but look my dudes it’s framed as bad, it’s framed as morally questionable and then this episode came straight afterwards begging us to consider these things. That is NO accident. Of course it’s not saying Dean and Cas are evil, it’s just, well, are they soon going to decide to take the ends don’t justify the means attitude or will it be after they’ve fucked up and released the next big bad, ie. opened the rift most likely. No matter what, it’ll end well, obviously, they’re heroes, it’s just a case of timing and dragging out the story. Whatever happens short term, clearly this theme is hella important.

Anyway, the final scene is just one big metaphor of morality.

Father Lucca is moral, he refuses to lie and still distracts the guy enough. He tries throughout the episode to do the right thing and ends up “miraculously” only being grazed instead of likely killed if the shot was 5cm to the left.

Bad: Margaret is greedy. She dies. The others are all greedy, avaricious, immoral and end up shooting each other. All the baddies end up killing each other in a huge lesson of repercussions of your shitty actions.

Good: Meanwhile, as per the above, the boys did the right thing for the right reason, they took the moral high ground and helped Father Lucca because it was the right thing to do even though it went against their own aims and they got rewarded for it by getting what they sought in the first place and getting it in a positive way.

Grey are: Not assuming that anyone is good or bad or anything until they prove themselves either way. Just because the bad guys all seemed OK to start with doesn’t mean they’re not all morally reprehensible, just because Lucca seemed bad to start with doesn’t mean he’s not the good guy and the most Holy Man etc. etc. etc.

=> Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Don’t go headstrong into a plan without thinking about the consequences on others. Do good things for good reasons and get rewarded for them.

*Tink couldn't stare into the camera any more than I am already*

Bonus: Dean now has faith and is helping Sam with his in a direct flip of earlier in the season. I wonder what changed! We just don’t know!

So yeah, honestly it wasn’t fun, uplighting, romantic or particularly characterful, but as an episode helping me, who had read the past episodes as very morally iffy and thinking about why they decided to frame these questions and make us think about it, why there was such a twitter/tumblr wank fest over Cas’ choices last episode, as to why they are doing this overall throughout the season and where this is leading...for all that, this episode was fantastic.

It told us so much about the structure of the season, why it’s been like this, what their point is, where it is going, why it is going that way and that is just great :)

[writingpaperghost]

I Would Offer It Happy With a Smile On My Face (Chapter 29)

Chapter 29: Past the Distant Sky, I See a World Where Lives Collide

Everything has to end eventually. It might hurt, but it'll happen.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24860734/chapters/65176882

There is a peculiar feeling that one might experience, a feeling that could best be describe as an often inexplicable expectation that something might soon come to an end. A feeling that occurred almost randomly, seemingly unprompted. It might appear as though something was ending, though there was often little indication that anything was, nor that anything was significantly changing. It was a feeling that said something would happen, something would end, despite nothing truly making it seem that way.

It wasn’t something that could be helped, it happened unbidden. Often, it meant nothing, having no reason for its existence, simply happening. Yet sometimes, it overwhelmingly felt as though it meant something. That something was going to end, something would be ending soon. It was near impossible to dismiss, no matter how much one might tell themselves they should.

That was the feeling that Asahi felt, one cloudy Tuesday morning. She awoke with it, unable to pinpoint the source, what might have caused it. It felt like something major would happen, what she was unsure. Though she attempted to dismiss the feeling, little she could do would take her mind off it for long. Yet, it was harder to pretend it meant nothing then it was to pretend that her subconscious might have been trying to tell her something.

On the TV off to her side, the news played, currently on the weather. Cloud today, the man said, with rain later. He told that if luck was on everyone’s side, by sunset it might clear up, allowing the remaining rays of light to find their way to the eyes of all those looking. It wasn’t all that interesting, not something that Asahi particularly cared about. All she gleamed from it was that she needed to bring her umbrella if she went out, as she had little desire to get wet.

The feeling didn’t horribly distract her from what had occurred the week before, from the person who chose to pretend to be her. The one who had sent King Joe, who most likely had some connection to Kenshin. There was much on her mind, things that the strange feeling that something might end couldn’t distract her from. She knew she couldn’t let it distract her, for there were other matters far too important.

Asahi held a pencil in hand, a piece of note paper resting on the table. She found herself writing, nothing in particular, just thoughts. About everything that had happened since she came to Kurokita. About Tomomi and KPaRS, her Kaijus, Kenshin, everyone she’d met since arriving. It was almost like a letter, though there was no one in particular it was addressed to. She let her thoughts flow, occasionally erasing a word or phrase. She had no true intention, she simply wrote what came to her.

They’re all wonderful people, I can’t imagine what it would have been like to come to Kurokita without even one of them. If it wasn’t for Tomomi, everything would have been, at best, so much harder. At worst, I might not have even managed to make it this far. All of KPaRS seem so kind – and they are. They care about the Kaiju, but they also recognize that they have a duty to protect everyone in the city.

She stopped, reading what she had just wrote, smiling. It was still hard for her to truly realize that everything had actually happened. Ever since she came to Kurokita, it was like a strange story, more than anything else. Maybe it was because she was detached from everything she’d known before. She’d left her family in Ayaka, coming to Kurokita with no connections, knowing little of what was going on.

It was like she was in a crazy book or something. But despite how surreal it was, she still knew, somehow, that it was all real. Maybe that was what seemed to be ending. The surreal feeling of being in some kind of fairytale, the feeling that she might be the protagonist who could fix the world and be on her way to a happy ending. Yet, the Fake Grigio she fought before, it made her wonder. Would there be a happy ending? Would any of this end?

She wasn’t sure what prompted the train of thought, but it most certainly existed. Would she ever return to Ayaka and her family? She hadn’t a way to know, but she liked to think it was possible. Some part of her insisted it was, that one day she’d see her family and her home again. All she knew for sure was that if she ever did, she would not be the same person, much like the change she experienced over the time she’d known Saki.

Asahi set the pencil down, glancing over at the TV. It had changed from the news to something else, a children’s show of a heroes who both befriended their enemies and fought them. The heroes were colorful, coming in many colors, kind and happy for they knew their lives were what they wished it to be. Asahi didn’t watch many shows like it, she had vague memories that said she had, but she knew they hadn’t truly occurred. She was never a child, she simply had a false memories of one, memories that lacked detail and seemed as unknown as the depths of space.

Yet there was something about the show that made her smile. Perhaps it was the personalities of the heroes, or maybe it was the actions of the heroes. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but she decided that it wasn’t important. She picked up the piece of paper, folding it and placing it into her pocket.

Though it was dreary weather, though she knew it would probably rain, Asahi wanted to see her friends at KPaRS. It was an unusual desire, especially given the impending rain, but she didn’t mind. She grabbed an umbrella before leaving, so that she might have it on hand if – or rather when – it began to rain.

Was there a particular reason she wished to see them? No, but it didn’t matter, she needed no reason to see her friends. She wasn’t used to being around so many at a time, throughout her life she only ever spent time around a few at any given moment. It was a choice, she certainly had friends, but it was always hard to gather them all up at once. And at the time before she had arrived in Kurokita, many of her friends had become much more busy, or had left Ayaka entirely.

---

Tomomi wasn’t actually working today, but he didn’t tell Asahi that. Because though he wasn’t working on a piece in the way he normally did – and truly he wasn’t supposed to be working on anything at all – He still was doing some research. Given everything that had been happening, he had a peculiar inspiration, his focus on KPaRS. It wasn’t like he hadn’t written articles about them before, he had a few times. But he wanted people to realize how much work KPaRS has been putting in since the Kaijus had began to rampage.

He knew how Asahi could be, so he purposely didn’t mention his current project. Besides, there was a lot of things he still needed to do before he’d be ready to even write it. And… He had a feeling Grigio was probably going to creep her way into it, but that was on him.

So he made his way to where he was supposed meet with Matsuoka – to talk about a variety of things, some of which may have had little to do with his newest project. Upon entering, he found Matsuoka frowning at some papers. It wasn’t really odd, Tomomi could have sworn that Matsuoka frowned at nearly every piece of paper work he was handed.

Matsuoka looked up, giving Tomomi a smile, “I almost didn’t hear you,”

“Well that’s not my fault, I wasn’t trying to be quiet,” Tomomi laughed. He sits down across from Matsuoka, glancing at the papers. “What’s got you frowning now?”

Matsuoka sets the papers face down, a habit he’d had for years. He sighed, “Our Kaiju expert has decided to quit, citing health issues brought on by stress.” Drumming his fingers on the table, he continues, “Obviously that means we’ll have to look for someone else.”

Tomomi gives him a reassuring smile, “I’m sure you’ll find someone.” Then he frowns, “Though I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t expect a job here to be stressful…”

“It really wasn’t though. At least before the Kaiju rampages and Grigio.”

Flipping through the pages of his notepad, Tomomi responds, “I suppose you’re right…” He jots a note on the pad, sudden rise in work due to Kaiju attacks. The notes were simple, serving only the purpose of reminding him when he went to write. One ought to give KPaRS credit for managing to continue to do their job, despite the fact that they were understaffed for the large amount of monster attacks that had began to occur. “Bet finding someone will be really fun.”

Matsuoka responded with a smile and a laugh, nodding. It wasn’t exactly like those well versed in Kaiju studies were hard to find, but they sometimes were a bit… eccentric. Not to mention that despite KPaRS being what it was, there never was a lot of people jumping to join. It was often considered a sleepy job, though opinions might have changed in light of recent events.

Maybe it wouldn’t be that hard to find someone, but it would still probably be an interesting process. Either there will be many applicants, or there will be few, as it would have been before. It would probably be the latter though. As soon as things began to calm down, whenever that may be, Kurokita and everyone else would quickly forget everything. It’d be a mark, maybe something mentioned in some news articles, but it would be moved past as quickly as many other things.

What will Asahi do when everything’s calmed down? If Kenshin is defeated, then would Asahi even have a way home? It wasn’t something that could really be answered right now. Or maybe some of it could be. Asahi would want to go home, and maybe she had a way, maybe she didn’t. Somehow, Tomomi figured it would probably work out, if only because that’s the sort of thing that seemed to happen.

He decided he should probably get to why he was actually here in the first place. “So, aside from that, how have things been going?”

---

Akimitsu had a very interesting project assigned today – or at least he thought so. Write an essay about someone who inspires you. He was so excited for it, which was an odd thing to say, because who was ever excited for a school assignment, especially an essay. He even knew exactly who he was going to write it on!

If any of his classmates, friends – or anyone who knows him – were surprised at who he was doing it on, then they clearly weren’t paying attention to him. Because he talked about Grigio a lot, he had since she appeared. He always knew that Grigio was a hero and now that he had even met her, he knew she was someone who inspired him.

She could work with Kaijus to protect everyone, even actively befriending them. When Grigio fought, she often chose to pacify Kaijus instead of destroying them. She was a hero who he knew wasn’t perfect, Asahi had shown that. But no one was, and her was more than willing to find a way to write that in his essay.

Although… Given the appearance of that other Grigio, even if one of them was clearly fake, some people wouldn’t agree with him. But he knew what he believed! That Fake Grigio just wanted people not to trust the real one! But the opinions of other people might be different. That was fine, people were allowed to have their opinions, he just wasn’t going to agree with them. Which was fine. Though given how clear it was that one of those Grigios were fake, he didn’t understand how anyone could still think that way.

But maybe they were simply looking for a reason not to like her, Akimitsu knew that some people did that. So when the Fake Grigio appeared, they just jumped at having some reason to say she was bad. Or something like that.

He gets home from school, surprised to see Hiroko home. She was reorganizing one of the bookshelves in the living room, a stack of books, small boxes, and various small things on the table. It probably needed it, but it was still strange to see.

“You’re home?”

Hiroko looks up, giving him a smile, “I have today off, remember?” She picks up one of the books, flipping through the pages, a small smile on her face. If he recalled correctly, that was one of their picture books. “I know I’m working a lot, but…”

He sets his bag down, grinning, “No, it’s fine!” He rushes up to her and gives her a hug, “You’re just doing your best.”

She laughs, “Okay, alright!” She ruffles his hair, “How was school?”

“As school usually goes,” Akimitsu replied, sitting down on the couch, “Oh! We got a really fun assignment today!”

“Oh really?” Hiroko responds, closing the book and returning it to the shelf. She picks up a small box, filled with small little things. “That’s surprising.”

With a shrug, he replied, “Well, we have to write an essay about someone who inspires us.”

The knowing look she gave told him that she had a good idea as to why he was excited about the essay and who he was going to write about. Still, she inquired, “Who are you going to write the essay on?”

Akimitsu grins, “Grigio, of course.”

In response, Hiroko laughed, “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Well! Grigio’s really cool!”

She nodded, “I suppose you have a point,” Akimitsu couldn’t tell if she was joking and poking fun at him or not. “Well, I hope you have fun writing it.”

“Oh, I will,” He said, “I’m already thinking about what I’ll write.” He picks up a little card he made as a part of a school project several years before. He had given it to Hiroko, who proudly displayed it on the shelf. Choko had a similar one, which she kept on her desk.

“Of course you are,” Hiroko returned a few more books to the shelf.

“It’ll be great!”

“Knowing how passionate you are about Grigio,” She comments, “I’m positive it will be.”

---

Asahi’s feeling, it hasn’t gone away. It still felt like something was going to happen, though she still didn’t know what. It was odd, but she could ignore it easily. She was watching as Chikako and Katsuhito worked on something, not that she was sure what.

She had some distance between her and the two, mostly because she wanted to be away from them in case whatever they were working on blew up. Given Chikako was working on it, it was a very real possibility. The two were always working on something, it felt like. Maybe it was because there was always something that they needed to fix.

“What are you two working on today?” She called to the two.

Katsuhito simply glanced over his shoulder and smiled, while Chikako turns around and waves with a huge grin. Chikako was the one who responded, “Fixin’ up our net!” She waved a screwdriver around, “Hopefully we can get it so it works twice as fast!”

With a sigh, Katsuhito nodded, clearly not surprised by Chikako’s enthusiasm. He rolled his eyes and added, “If we can get it to be more effective…” He paused, tilting his head, “Well, I guess it won’t do that much. But it might be helpful.”

“Anything that can help,” Asahi nodded, “It could make a difference.”

“Exactly!” Cheered Chikako, who now spun back to the table, causing Katsuhito to move slightly, trying to avoid getting hit one of her wayward limbs. “So we gotta make it better!”

Katsuhito raised an eyebrow, “Isn’t that what you say about everything?”

“Eh, maybe. Probably.”

Though she didn’t sound horribly sure, it was also a very Chikako answer. Asahi really wouldn’t be surprised if Katsuhito was right and that was what Chikako said about everything. The only response Katsuhito gave was an eyeroll and a small smile.

Asahi pushed herself off the table she was leaning against. While watching the two work reminded her of Isami and their mom, it was only interesting for so long. So she was going to go talk with someone else, especially since Chikako and Katsuhito were busy working. She didn’t want to interrupt them, so it wasn’t like she was going to continue trying to distract them.

So she made her way to where everyone else was, figuring that even if everyone was too busy to talk, she could still look out the window. When she entered the room, she realized that though Jun, Fuyuko, Rin, and Hisoka were there, someone was still missing. Oddly, Matsuoka wasn’t at his desk, only strange because of all of them, he was the one who was at his desk the most.

Fuyuko noticed Asahi gaze curiously at the empty desk and said, “Captain’s busy right now. Not sure what, but he should be back soon enough.”

“Ah,” Came Asahi, who just walked to sit down, “Anything interesting happen?”

Rin shakes their head, “Nope,” They scribble something on a piece of paper, “Boring as it ought to be.”

“Always good when nothing happens,” Jun adds, shuffling some papers with a bored look on her face.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Asahi leans back in the chair, “Still I… I guess I just have a weird feeling.”

Rin looks up, frowning slightly, “What kind of feeling?”

Asahi tilts her head back, thinking. She was trying to think of the best way to describe the feeling, because it wasn’t something easy to describe. “I guess it’s that weird feeling you get when it seems like something’s going to end even though you have no reason to think that.” She wasn’t sure if that was the best way to describe it, but it was the best she could do. “Does that make sense?”

Drumming her fingers against her desk, Fuyuko responds, “I think so,”

“Sure,” Jun shrugged, “I mean, I think we all know the feeling.”

“Who knows,” Rin wondered aloud, “Maybe it means something.”

Asahi shrugged, “I hope not,” She looked out the window, “I’m honestly afraid of what it might mean if it does.”

Everyone returned to their tasks, leaving Asahi to her thoughts, staring out the window. She hoped that Rin wasn’t right, that the feeling she had meant nothing. But at the same time, maybe if it meant something, that something could be important. It was hard for her to decide what she’d prefer. Maybe she didn’t prefer either.

This feeling of ending or large change, made her think. What would she do once Kenshin was gone – if he was ever gone? It was hard to say what exactly Kenshin would do, so the idea that he might eventually go away was still hard to imagine. But if Kenshin was ever gone, she’d like to go home, it wasn’t like Kurokita would need her at that point. Not that she was sure how she’d get home in the first place. But she really was missing her family.

Maybe that return would be less sudden than her arrival to Kurokita. Maybe it wouldn’t be, she wasn’t really sure. She had a feeling that either way, she’d miss everyone here. They were her friends, she didn’t really want to say goodbye, even though she knew that she eventually would have to. But one day it would happen and she’d just have to do it.

It wasn’t like there was much going on that day, though Asahi spent much of it expecting something, at least in the back of her mind. A boring day could easily change, simply from one thing happening, and she wasn’t going to put it past the sort of odd things that tended to happen. Of course, if something happened, it would probably be a Kaiju attack. But if that happened, she was ready, be it a monster or the Fake Grigio.

Asahi pulled the piece of notepaper from earlier out of her pocket, pencil in hand. She began to write, nothing in particular, once more. Maybe she could write about her Kaijus? Hm… No… Something else, then. There was just so much she could write about, so much. From Ayaka to Kurokita, there were so many amazing people and amazing things that have happened.

After a while, Matsuoka returned, giving her a wave. He sat at his desk and began to get to work on all his paperwork. She didn’t pay him much mind, though she waved in response. He had his paperwork to do, she had her random writings. At this point she had already filled out the front page of the piece of notepaper. She’d even started little doodles in the margins, her Kaijus, Grigio, things like that.

“Everyone,” Hisoka announced at some point, sounding rather tired, “Guess who just decided to show up.” He shows them the video of what was going on, no one particularly surprised to see the Fake Grigio standing about the city. They didn’t seem to be doing much this time, but as far as they knew, it was only a matter of time before that changed.

“The Fake Grigio, again,” Rin noted, their tone dry.

Jun stands looking thoroughly unimpressed, “Well, they don’t have King Joe to fall back on, so at least they probably won’t run away.” She then looks to Matsuoka, “What’s the plan, Captain?”

“We need to stop the Fake Grigio,” He responds, “Everyone knows their duties.”

Everyone nods, then rushes to what they needed to do. Asahi knows she’ll get there first, but that was fine. She had her Kaijus and it seemed like Fake Grigio didn’t have that power, so she should be at an advantage. The only thing she really needed to worry about was the Fake Grigio running away again. And like Jun said, they probably wouldn’t run away without King Joe, at least if they have some kind of goal.

She transformed, landing in front of the Fake Grigio, not summoning her Kaijus or her weapon yet. She was hoping to be able to simply convince Fake Grigio to leave, and since they weren’t armed, she was hesitant to get her own. “I don’t know why you’re here or what exactly you’re trying to accomplish,” She began, carefully watching Fake Grigio. “You can just leave and we can settle this without a fight.”

Fake Grigio laughs – something that’s so unsettling – and shrugs, “I can’t do that!” It’s like their mocking Asahi’s personality with their cheerful response. Then they summoned their bow, “I have a job to do.”

Asahi wasn’t surprised by the response, she’d been more or less expecting it. So, she summoned her sword, immediately dodging out of the way of multiple oncoming arrows. Out of the way, she decides to call on Regina and Bemstar to help her. She could always rely on Regina and Bemstar would be useful for a large amount of the Fake Grigio’s powers.

Dodging the way out of a barrage of arrows, Asahi dashes towards Fake Grigio, sword in hand. She has to continue to dodge the arrows until she’s finally close enough to stab at them. Though Fake Grigio managed to dodge out of the way of the initial stab, Asahi was able to slash at them from there. Attack caused Fake Grigio to stumble back slightly, though they shot an arrow at her. She wasn’t able to dodge the arrow due to how close it was, though it didn’t hurt her too much.

In response to Fake Grigio’s attack, Regina roared, launching her missiles. Fake Grigio was able to destroy a few of the missiles with arrows and able to dodge out of the way of several more. Ultimately, only a few missiles actually hit them. Fake Grigio fires a Grigio Shot, prompting Regina to grab Asahi and pull her away. Bemstar moves in the way of the attack, swallowing it in his second mouth. Then, he threw the attack back at it.

Regina blew her fire breath at Fake Grigio after they were hit by the countered beam. After this barrage of attacks, Fake Grigio’s form shifted, no longer appearing as Grigio. Now there stood a gold and black Alien with orange hair, with spikes on his shoulders and arms. Apparently, they had done enough damage to knock away the alien’s illusion.

The alien stumbled back, grunting. When he realized that his appearance had returned to normal, he growls, “Oh, come on!” Then he tries to straighten up, grimacing, “Tch. Whatever.”

Asahi stumbles back as a flurry of dark magenta feathers fly by, soon taking form off to the side of the alien, revealing Kenshin. Kenshin seemed to be slightly annoyed, crossing his arms, tilting his head in the alien’s direction. “I thought you said you had it handled.” Then he reaches with his foot to spin around and face the alien, “Or is one brat too much trouble for you?”

Well, that answered why the alien was here. It was because of Kenshin, unsurprisingly. Given how annoyed Kenshin sounded, it only added to the idea that he had something to do with it.

The alien huffed, “You’re the one who keeps insisting it would be easy.” Then he scoffs, “Actually, if you think it’s so easy, do it yourself.”

The alien turns, then leaves, barely giving Asahi time to register what had happened. She blinks. Then Kenshin growls, sounding unbelievably annoyed. He spins to face Asahi, giving off the feeling of very murderous intent.

“You’ve caused a lot of trouble, you know that Grigio?” There seemed to be almost a shift in personality when he spoke. He wasn’t as he had been, he sounded far more dangerous. He slowly takes a step forward, “I think it’s time we end this.”

Asahi took a deep breath, steadying herself. “I think so too.”

[beet-rootesoupevodkabanya]

Post-apocalypse military AU.

The beginning of the end XD. Of course nobody died for real. As a true fairytale it’ll end up fine. Actually it’s still raw... FML. I never stayed up at night even for exames or anything... Snow King can be proud. For his bday I do. X3

Sound of shooting stops accidentally. But now tinkling silence isn't an evidence of the end of the battle or at least of a break. It means only that one more line is over. Nothing to hope on. They are locked here. Not so many. Less the 200 people. Last examples of experienced fighters. Of the 1st breed. Ones who still remember and realize the world before the catastrophe. Enemies could never do it by themselves. But... No connection to other Bases or Safe Zones. Blocked channels. Blocked information supports for using air armor. Emergency ways to escape locked from outside... It's too obvious. Safe Zone thrown them away. To die and let the piece agreement happen. Снежный Король sits on the windowsill. Video security system allows to watch what's going on on other floors. He clicks the lighter and inhales the smoke. The stream of death... General widens the picture. Koshey team. All dead. Through blurred monitor it's still rather obvious. They all did as decided on a short urgent meeting in the beginning of this fight. Killed as many attackers as they could until ran out of cartridges. And left 4 bullets. One for every teammate. Nobody here is going to get captured anyway. Red cloud on the floor. She tried to grow up her hair because her lover always had long and was curious. Now it's almost beautiful. They lay on the floor hugging each other. Bloody carpet is a continuation of Mila's locks. The 4 of them are tangled in her red cloak. The Black Shark could be enough to win even in this unpleasant situation. But it was found broken badly. Traitors weren't able to make it work. This weird thing was unspeakably moody. And could literally kill anyone but Sara who ever tried to drive it. So they simply torn away and took with them some parts. All vans and other heavy technique were out of patrol.

[Good work, fucking piecemakers. Now wait until they invade and ruin that fragile illusion that U call stable daily life.]

Yuuri rushes in. Stupidly giggling and shrugging the blood away from his sword. The ceremonial weapon that isn't supposed to be used in battles... Shere Khan smirks licking the blade of the knife. What are they so agitated about?.. It wasn't even necessary to get into this (meaningless according to the situation) close combat. Werewolf (actually werebear if to be exact) reads his usual cards on the table. No, not tactical. Tarot cards. He frowns and raises eyes on commander. In normally calm beastly depth burns silent panic. It's not a fear of things that happen here. It's about something he reads on the desk. - Sir... They can't say anything. Or better to admit - they can but... I'm unable to read it. I see... But don't understand. - And I don't understand this... - the voice of Snow King is quiet. He wipes the wall with a white bandage. The air around is gloomy because of terminal fire and explosions. The bandage stays clean. General's statement could seem inopportune. But his subordinate knows too well they both are talking about the same phenomenon. - Ask them... - General closes eyes for a moment in strange hopeless hope. - Is it possible we all are dead or something... And the world around us is an illusion. Lieutenant Altyin looks at cards and bitterly waves his head. - Then only one explanation... The physical characteristics of our world had changed. I mean globally. In planetary measures. Or even more... Well... I guess it's better to die without seeing what other gameplays the ecosystem prepared for us... - Victor shrugs shoulders, smiling with a kind of lost expression. He has not enough reasons for this theory. But he feels it, knows by blood and cells. Like he knew where to step and when to shoot in a battle. The knowledge that became sharper day by day. Yuuri leans to his Snow King from behind. His blood-stained hands sneak under the t-shirt. He doesn't ask questions but the black, half-blind abyss of his eyes radiates excitement. As if he is in hurry to share as much happiness with his Yuki no Kami as it's possible for the rest short time. - Sir... - Werewolf's intonations are almost begging. - Sir, promise me... Promise us. U will be...careful... - Eh?! Something funny about our old man there? - Major Plisetsky sits near, wrapping an arm on Beka's shoulders. He snorts but they all know he is worried. Capitan looks in green eyes, intertwining their fingers. Then turns to commander: - Cards say U are surrounded by the love. U're loved, admired... U're the chosen one always. And in our situation this is the last thing that is logical to appear in a prediction. But damn it... I don't even see the death in your future... I see the throne of the world. And I understand nothing... Yuuri sneaks under commander's arm, clinging to him with a puppy-like sound. He doesn't say anything but Snow King knows his sudden fear too well. He caresses boy's lips with a thumb: - We will die together. Today. Here. He explains it reassuringly and a bit tiredly. As an adult talking a child not to be scared of the thunderstorm. Yuuri nods and nuzzles Snow King's shoulder giggling.

The explosion chain is very close.

Снежный leaves the monitor. It's not important anymore. The four of them are the last experienced martials able to go on line. But whatever will happen to the Safe Zone isn't their problem now. He smiles at his teammates. Shortly and bitterly: - Time to go... General takes out the glock. The only one that keeps 4 sacred bullets. No right for a mistake. He nods to Angry Kitty. It's like a selfi. One click and a moment will be kept for the eternity. No time to say a lot to each other. And no need to. Deep inside they all know. Shere Khan grins and winks to Snow King while Beka is suddenly distracted with something on his cards left on the table. (Is it even important what's said there?) Grabs his collar and pulls his friend and partner for a kiss. First real one for them both. Оборотень falls into thin but unexpectedly strong arms staring in green ponds and trying to say something through the tight lean of warm lips.

Bang.

Bang.

Snow King drops the hand with the gun. - Always in vanguard... Шустрый засранец. / Fast little shit. - He mutters it with a short snort. These two had no time to fall on the floor. Yuuri catches them both and puts on the sofa. (He is fast. He became faster during years here.) They lay the way they often did. The way nobody would believe if to say or show a domestic picture. Beka laying on Yurio's shoulder. Kitty always was more a protective and Beka - a supportive one in their tandem. Snow King often laughed at Yurio that they're kicked out from an another fairytale - Beauty and the Beast. And the Beast here is of course Shere Khan. Kitty fizzed and hissed but obviously liked the idea until Оборотень began to mutter that he isn't a decent Beauty even if he is ready to wear a golden dress for his precious Beast. "But it will cause blood from your eyes, believe me..." And Yurio bit and kicked him and yelled: "U are beautiful, fuck my life! I fucking know better." Beka himself mostly laughed that they are more like a forest Witch and Ivan-tsarevich who was tamed by her. Victor often corrected: "Not just tsarevich. More like Иван-дурак/Ivan the dumb..." And Kitty yelled and sniffed until one day he finally resoluted: - Yes, tsarevich, because the son of the King. Yes, дурак, потому что весь в мать/ because like mother, like son." Yuuri fell on the floor laughing first. After some time Beka began to giggle. And only in the evening the realization hit their King too. And he set on the balcony with a cigarette muttering: - Сообразил бля, пизденыш... / What an idea, little shit...

Bullets went through heads but the blood streams down from the wounds, soaking the coach. It's not obvious yet. And seems as if they can wake up any moment. Снежный gets up, walks close and touches the pulse. It's not necessary, but he can't leave it unchecked. Even if everything is obvious. Yurio seems aggressively glad even in his death. He is still short and thin like a girl. He always cursed and promised to grow taller then his commander. He won't. They won't get to know if he would grow tall for real or would stay being this tiny grace. Yuuri cups General's face and smiles. Gently and possessively. Like noone but him ever could: - We'll keep up with them. Snow King sloppily nods pulling his boy closer. The unclear thought is tossing somewhere deep into the brain. But all that hurry, explosions and endless shit don't leave it a chance to be formed. Is it something Beka wanted to say? Anyway there's no time to think about it anymore. He caresses Yuuri's cheek, looks into black abyss and forgets everything. They have less then a couple of minutes. - I'm sorry, малыш... What else to say?... The boy clings to his General with a happy laugh. Rises head looking from beneath and smiles. Mischievously. And playfully. He wants to say he was happy for all these years with him. He was overwhelmed with love to this man since early childhood. Since the first time he saw this the most beautiful face ever. He admired the winter seeing him in every snowflake. Снежный Король filled his entire existence with the meaning and multiple colors even if for others it seemed to the monotonous white. Kay knows better than anyone: only the white keeps all other spectrums and shades. Only in arms of his King and in the middle of the winter desert he felt on the right place. Of course the boy has no time or even suitable words to express it. But Snow King will understand. He always reads it through touches. Yuuri hungrily leans to these soft and tender lips: - I love U. I always wanted to die with U and from your hand. What's more can I wish for? - Stupid kid... - sighs General. It's not obvious from the side but this patronizing tone is flirty. Yuuri, his shy, anxious, naive berserk always was weirdly protective. But not of that annoying type of countless fans who dreamed to see him broken to have a chance to pity him. No. It always was a different protectiveness. Reliable and loyal like walls of your own home. He became the Ivory Tower locking his Sow King in a trap he would rather die then leave. The boy clings closer and deepens the kiss, sneaking under the t-shirt. Sly sparkles in a black abyss become only brighter: - What I really regret - that we don't have time to make love now. I'd be happy to die like this. Victor smiles, digging fingers into dark silk and bites his lip. Yuuri moans, scratching his back under black fabric. Splinters of the northern sky are sad. But tender: - I love U, Kay. Cold steel touches boy's temple. Yuuri smiles leaning to it with that very euphoric expression he always had melting in Snow King's caress.

Frosted finger slowly presses the trigger.

So familiar, so loved body turns into a heavy doll falling into arms of it's master. Victor slowly lays his boy on the floor near the windowsill. They often set there in winter hugging each other and sharing one cigarette in a stupid hope the smoke will be blown away into the open window. Legs are heavy... Too heavy to go with Yuuri to the better place. And... It's fine like this. The entire world drowns into a crimson mist. It begins from boy's temple and wraps his King and everything around into the tightest embrace without a way to set yourself free. But he never ever wanted to get out of it anyway. General Snow King checks up the heartbeat in Yuuri's chest. Silent. He leans to still warm but motionless lips, blindly turns on the final countdown on a self-destruction system. And presses the trigger, aiming into silver locks. Snow King falls on the chest of his Kay. Blood stained lips of the boy still keep a shadow of a smile.

[ctrl-shift-esc]

“The greatest gift you could ever give me is , consistency.” - Veronica 

Spoil Her with Consistent Quality Time 

Good morning from my living room, 

which is now, not as empty as it used to be. This place is filling up quicker than I thought!

It feels good to be getting the furniture we need, and decorating it to feel like home. I’m all about nesting…

I’m currently recuperating from 3 weeks of full time work on set. As a reward I’ve allowed myself to take the following 4 days off. Can’t say it’s been easy to refuse work, and commit to my time off. Who knew! (anyway, that’s a future post to come). For now, I am finally going to write about the little getaway to Victoria BC, Eric and I decided to take a few weeks back!

[ ferry ride to Victoria Bc. ]

With Eric’s job, we don’t get to see each other everyday, we don’t even get the weekends together. We go a straight 20, or now , 14 days without seeing each other, consistently… Not to mention that when he does come home, he’s more often than not, tired from working 14 to 20 days straight 12 hours a day, understandably.

On my end, I take as many days of work as I can while he’s gone. So that when he’s home I press on the breaks a little bit to be able to soak up as much time as I can with him. A luxury I get from making my own schedule. That being said, sometimes life happens. Things come up; weddings, friends or family visiting, or plain old responsibilities. Yes, being with each other should technically be enough. But sometimes it’s not. We all like to think that living our day to day lives together is enough to upkeep a romantic connection. But I’m afraid to say, that it might not be. Eventually the relationship can feel strenuous. Sure enough, it did. 

Life happened and we were (or I was ) feeling more and more tired. Feeling exhausted, and becoming short with one another. We were spending his time off dealing with responsibilities and attending to other people (which isn’t, by any means, lack of fun!) but we, in consequence, put quality time for ourselves on the back burner. It can be easier to forgive, for a relationship with a regular schedule. However, only having one week a month together, doesn’t allow for that kind of leeway. Rest assured though, it’s nothing a little Quality Time can’t fix! 

So we did just that, recently, many of my friends had been talking about Victoria, and Eric and I had been saying , we should go “One day”. Well “One Day” doesn’t make shit happen. I’ve learned that you need to set a definitive “By When” for things to start moving. Even if it’s in a year from now, at least the plan is made, you’re now working towards something. A week prior, we decided we we’re going to Victoria BC. for 1 night. Quality time doesn’t have to be the four seasons, Fairmont or Sandals resort to make you feel like you’re living a fairytale. It can be simple, quaint, and on the DL. 

Sure the pressure is on, to have an over the top romantic getaway, like you see in Rom Coms. Especially when you’re parched, and dehydrated from the lack of romance the past few months. Take it from someone like me; who has slight control issues & often needs / wants everything to be perfect. It’s easy for me to get ahead of myself. I’m not going to lie, I was originally looking at hotels like the Fairmont, and the Hilton. But then I opted for a quaint hotel right on Douglas st.; The Strathcona. 

[ picture credit: strathconahotel.com - Google, images ]

We got lucky, the Strathcona is actually surrounded by a few party places. Which we only found out about, when we got there. Since we had decided to go on a Sunday, we missed the noise and drunk people by one day. Phew! I’m not mad about it. It was indeed a quaint and cute place to spend the night. It reminded me of the Audrey Hepburn days (as if I know what those were like…). Fine, it reminded me of Old Movies. Made me want to dress shabby chic and walk the streets! 

We hurried upstairs to drop our bags, then, hurried right back down to go for a nice car ride along the water. I think, this was the highlight of the trip. To drive around, on a fall day with my love, by the ocean. Looking at beautiful houses that make you daydream about your best (future) life. Pit stopping to get coffees and hot chocolates along the way. It really allowed us to reconnect. To forget about the “Have To’s” and the “Must’s”. And to simply be present in the “Now”. 

That night was date night. I’d been recommended a lovely restaurant by a customer at work - Il Terrazzo. A hidden Italian restaurant & this lady swore by it! So obviously, we had to visit! It was everything I was craving. If you know me, you know; I’m all about those “hole in the wall”, quaint, cozy, rustic, ambient, places. And this was just that. It’s not a secret place, it’s actually quite known, but it’s also, quite literally, a hole in the wall. 

[ picture credit: waymarking.com - Google, images ]

You turn into an alley and the front entrance is off into a corner. The food was majestic, and the service was great. The ambiance, was perfect. I can’t wait to go back. Brick walls, large windows, wooden chairs and accent wooden  beams, were the main decor. They had multiple art displays, candle lit lighting. It was definitely romantic to say the least. 

In just a short 8 hours away with Eric, I already felt refreshed. I felt like I could breathe again. This, is what Quality Time does. It is so very important in a relationship. 

The next day was about spending our time exploring. Walking around, trying new restaurants. I had heard of Fan Tan Alley, by one of my friends who used to be a local. Although Fan Tan alley isn’t just visited by Victoria residents, it’s known to be quite the tourist attraction. And now, ‘twas on my radar to track down. 

[ Fan Tan Alley, Victoria BC ]

It’s an alley way, between two very close buildings. Which somehow holds space for several little artisan shops. I Am So In My Element! Not only have we found that Victoria is by nature the cutest - coziest little town, I was with my best friend, my boyfriend, exploring everything new. I’m happy. 

You might recognize the famous entrance way to Fan Tan Alley below -  Instagram seems to have taken the utmost liking to it…

We spent our day laughing, eating and shopping. 

And … Bickering. Yes. that’s a reality. When you’ve reached a point in your relationship where you’re both thirsty for quality time, there’s possibly a resentment build up. As I like to say, you’re no longer calibrated. Also, in our case, we only have so many days where we can talk things through properly. It unfortunately happens to be when we’re physically together… 

If there’s one thing I need to remind myself, it’s that; it takes the bickering, the fighting, the talking at each other, the eye rolling, and the time-outs, to get to an understanding. Unless you’ve mastered your communication, then you’ll inevitably have misunderstandings and long talks about your feelings. Especially if you’re trying to change or better anything in your relationship. 

Even though there were the small cringing moments, the memory I have of that weekend, is the way I felt spending undivided time with Eric. It was worth every minute. The good and the Not so good. 

[ me being creepy, in Fan Tan Alley ]

between all the laughing and bickering we tried this lovely seafood place called Finn’s. 

Another, cozy/ rustic place, by the water. 

I opted for the lobster lunch, which was surprisingly not as expensive as I thought it deserved. Its prices were equivalent to Bridges on Granville Island, in Vancouver, yet served bigger portions . The food was once again v tasty. See for yourself. 

[ now I’m hungry again… great ]

I recommend to any couple to go spend a day getaway in Victoria BC, or anywhere for that matter – any day!

It was nothing short of a breath of fresh air! Quality time, seems to replenish a withered connection with ease. Spending so much time apart can make you forget the little things that brought you together in the first place. It takes those times to rekindle and be reminded who you are as a couple. And I promise you it’ll feel good. Why do you think we always hear stories about how people fell in love on vacation? Because there’s something about being away, & forgetting about your To Do list, that is magical. 

The best present you could offer anyone in a relationship - I believe, (among other things ( like communication, loyalty, respect))- is consistent quality time. The effort, and the willingness to keep at it. 

So there it is.

A little quality time goes a long way - spoil her with consistency.

Until next time - enjoy the next few pics of our trip! 

[ The ferry ride was a windy ride ]

[ I look at you when you don’t know I am. ]

[ One of Eric’s favorite things to do, is to take Very awkward pictures of me… ]

[ Victoria BC. ]

On that note

Ctrl+Shift+ couples who travel together stay together - where are you guys going next?

[eloarei]

Tagged by @chocochipbiscuit to post my current WIPs. Thanks, Choco! (lol this is going to be self-indulgent and painful XD;)  (As with Choco, I also have more bits and blobs and ideas than I know what to do with, but I’ll focus on the ones that have a remote chance of ever getting finished.)  Active WIPS (I have at least opened the document in the past month and I honestly intend to finish them this year.)  In order of recently modified: OP CM BB -- "One Piece, Cobymeppo, Beauty&Beast" I mean, it's kind of what it says on the tin: it's vaguely a Beauty and the Beast AU. (Factoid: this is at least the 3rd or 4th fanfic I've written based on friggin' B&B. It's my favorite fairytale and I'm weak.) Currently at 12.5k (when did that happen?!) out of, I dunno, 18k? I honestly never intended to write this. It just sort of happened-- and kept happening, which is the weird part. I'm liking it though. Factoid #2: there are a lot of dogs in this fic. JD LLW -- "Jak and Daxter, Love Like Winter" 100% inspired by the AFI song, I won't lie. I've been meaning to write this for at least 7 years. I have a lot of thoughts and headcanons about the Jak and Daxter series, and this incorporates my hardcore favorite: Daxter is a Precursor. It also uses a couple tropes I love: reincarnation cycles, and fated lovers. As with any song, I can't say what it's actually supposed to be about, but I always heard it as the story of, well, reincarnation and fated lovers. "I met my love before I was born", and then switching between he, she, and then back to he. The story became very vibrant in my head! And this format especially allows me the opportunity to explore Jak/Keira as well as Jak/Daxter, because while I'm not a huge fan of Jak/Keira, I don't like just ignoring canon if I can avoid it. Currently at 7k out of... maybe 20k? It was supposed to be a lot shorter, but I'm only on chapter 1 out of 3, so less than 15k is probably not happening. Factoid: I think a lot of people only know this series second-hand, so I feel the need to mention that Daxter does, in fact, have a human form. XD FO4NV -- "Fallout 4, Nick Valentine" A very creative document name! XD; The story will probably eventually be titled "Same Heart" unless I come up with something better. It's a Fallout4 AU(ish) centering around Nick having been recaptured by the Institute, getting a memory wipe, and then living there during the years when Shaun is being raised there. Eventually, he and kid-Shaun break out to explore the Commonwealth and try to find Shaun's parents. I swear it'll be a Nick/Nora story if I ever friggin' get to that part, but right now it's mostly a Nick&Shaun story. Currently at 30k out of, I dunno, 70k to 100k? It's on chapter 7 out of 17, I think. I have this one planned out pretty well chapter-by-chapter, so of all my fics it has the best chance of actually happening. (Aside from the length, which sort of counts against it. It was supposed to be shorter, but I apparently couldn't shut up.) I'm thinking about focusing on this one for my NaNoWriMo, since it has about 50k left to it. Factoid: I get more emotional about parental relationships than I do about romantic ones, despite the fact that I LOVE romance. Stories I write about parent-child relationships always end up being my favorite. BttF On Track -- "Back to the Future, On Track" The only one I've actually started posting. I feel bad because I meant to continue writing this through December and January, but I got lazy and distracted, so it didn't happen. The season is just about right to jump back into it though (Fall is a more BttF season for me), so I HOPE to finish it this year. Currently at 18k (holy shit, seriously?) out of probably 30k. Chapter 3 (out of 6 well-planned chapters) is aaalmost done, but I might have to go reread some of IrisBleuFics stuff to get back into the mood of it. (Or maybe Rae's or Edgebug's.) Factoid (actually a question) : does anyone else have seasonal fandoms? Inactive WIPs (there are lots of these, so I'll put them under a cut for you. Still, these are only the ones I’ve worked on in the past year. Again, from most- to least-recent.) 

HP GOtG -- A silly Harry Potter/Guardians of the Galaxy fic I have like a page of. I was mentally explaining the concept of fanfic to someone and this... happened.

HPCM Ways to Live -- Another One Piece Cobymeppo fic, and AU (or UA) about if Luffy had never met Coby in ep.1 and skipped right over to kick Morgan's ass in Shells Town. tldr Coby and Helmeppo become pirates.

FFXV parents AU -- I was REALLY into this one for a while, got a couple thousand words and a good plot outline on it. It's Final Fantasy 15 AU (or, as usual, a UA) in which Noctis is only a baby when the empire attacks, and teenage Ignis and Gladio have to run away with him, and end up raising him on their own. I 100% intend to finish this one, but it's not top priority at the moment.

A modern prometheus -- A magical-world retelling of Frankenstein. Probably gay.

FO4 WFM-- "Fallout 4, Waiting for magic" On the day the bombs drop, Nora's husband is still at war, while she's several months pregnant and working on her legal cases from home. Her friend Nick Valentine has come to give her some documents and check on her when they're suddenly ushered into the vault and frozen. AKA the romantic adventures of Nick and a heavily pregnant Nora out in the Commonwealth. (Inspired by an Ace of Bass song)

Fo4 Sky-- "Fallout 4, Skyrim" Basically a riff off the previous story, but not the same at all, somehow. Set in Skyrim, Nora is essentially sleeping beauty. Wait. Snow white? Er, yeah. Magically frozen in a coffin, yeah. 

MEA Avi -- "Mass Effect Andromeda, Avi: a sci-fi ghost story" REALLY thought I was gonna finish this one, but I got distracted from MEA altogether. The story of Avitus Rix and his SAM unit, which has begun to think it is the late Macen Barro, its previous owner/partner, and Avitus' longtime boyfriend. Still can't decide how sad I want it, but it'll be pretty gloomy even if I go with a happy ending.

DCo side story AU -- A modern mini-fic about my DamselCo characters going on a double date, except Addisson and Hunter are both late so it's just Ellery and Isabelle being kind of awkward.

FFXV Dear Fellow Traveler -- AU, Prompto was raised in Niflheim and meets Noctis and the others on their (very long, winding) trip to Noct's engagement. Promptis, no war.

FFXV mermaid AU -- More Promptis. Noctis fishes up mer-person Prompto. They have adventures. Ignis has to go looking for Noctis later and meets mer-person Gladio.

OW Sagittarius  -- Eheh, posted the first chapter of this in January and then just gave up. XD;;;; I feel so bad. An Overwatch teenage McHanzo AU, where Jesse is a centaur sold into slavery to the yakuza. Trained by the Shimada clan, he falls in love with the heir, Hanzo, who then helps him escape. Many years later, they meet again in Overwatch. I have a GOOD plot outline for this, so I really have no excuse for not finishing it. It's on the to-do list after the first few.

FFXV Firstborn son -- Question: is a person still consider a trans-person if they're born female, but both raised as and identify as male (because patriarchal bullshit)? If so: trans-Noctis, Promptis fic.

FFXV Mirror Sword Shield -- Yet another FFXV AU, obviously inspired by that one Coldplay song that I love. Hundreds of years ago, Noctis defeated the darkness, but was sealed away inside the crystal, only to return when he needed to do it again. Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio have trained as his guardians all their lives, for the slim chance that he does return. (I really like this idea, but if I write this one, it'll only be after I finish the other FFXV fics.)

OW BB -- Guess what? Another "Beauty and the Beast" fic, Overwatch flavored. Except it's really more like, "the beast and also another beast". McHanzo, of course, featuring a snarky dragon spirit that constantly taunts Hanzo about his guilt.

BttF Ashes -- Hot damn I gotta write this fic some day. I have a GREAT plot outline for it, following a chiptune song called Ashes. I love it, it makes me cry. It's a Back to the Future AU, about Doc dying when his house burns down. Years later, ghost-Doc teams up with Marty to finish the time machine, and then (spoiler alert) Marty goes back in time and saves Doc, pulling his corporeal self into the future ala The Mediator and they live happily ever after the end. XD

PacRim Redefined -- Another one I feel bad about, because I have posted most of what I have written, but I don't know if I'll ever finish it. It's a far-future semi-AU about Newt and Hermann. TBH it's one of my favorite fics I've ever written, but I'm a loser and can never finish anything. Hopefully next year??? I've got much of a plot outline, so.

Bttf Dino prompt -- Braincoins prompted me last year to write a fic about Marty and a dinosaur, and I started to! But then I had no idea where I was going with it, so I stopped a few pages in. ^^; I'd like to figure out an ending to it that isn't both boring and bleak.

Bttf Solving for X -- A series of short AUs about if either Doc or Marty (or both) were women. I'd like to maybe work on this one again sometime.

HxH AU Laughter Lines -- A Hunter x Hunter fic that makes me cry when I think about it XDXDXD Based on the Bastille song of the same name, it's an AU in which Gon is like... a tree nymph. A little hard to explain, it's a sad little Killugon fic, and it should be pretty short, so I ought to just sit down and write it one day.

BttF Thirst for Romance -- I love this idea! Why haven't I written it?! In his 30's or 40's, Marty is a nurse at a convalescent home/ hospice, where he meets Doc, who loves to tell wild stories. He tells Marty stories about adventures that the two of them had in the 80's and with time travel. Everyone assumes Doc is just very creative and lonely, and they love his stories. He and Marty become close, and when Doc passes away, he leaves his meager possessions to Marty, including a mysterious set of keys which unlock his old garage, and a strange old car inside... (Really want to write this one eventually!) (Based on the song of the same name.)

BttF Hell Valley -- A sad AU, taking place in the Hell Valley timeline from movie 2. Marty has run away from his abusive step-dad and finds himself living in Doc's garage. They're just two broken people trying to get by. Marty wants Doc to run away with him, someplace far away, but Doc has a better idea, if he can get it to work. (Inspired by the song Fast Car, the sad-sounding Jonas Blue version. "You got a fast car. Is it fast enough so we could fly away?")

BttF SG fusion -- and last and possibly least, yet another BttF AU, but a fusion with Steins;Gate, because time travel is not complicated ENOUGH, I have to make it WORSE. In this story, Marty is raised in the dystopian future with the goal of going back to the past to kill Doc Brown before he can create time travel. I liked the idea a lot, but to be honest I think I even confused myself with it. I'd sort of like to keep writing it, but it'll take a lot more effort than I can foresee me wanting to put in any time soon. Tagging: (if I can remember which of my friends write) um... @braincoins, @nomadsky, and, uh... I know that more of you are writers, so just... take it and pretend I tagged you! 

[jlynnhiddles-blog]

Chapter Two: The Living Daylights

Set in the present, this is a fairytale about a girl making her own way in the world whose work leads her to the man she’d cast as her Prince Charming. Will she try on those glass slippers or will she find out she’s met The Beast? Can two people from different realms risk everything to make it across The Bifrost? Can endings ever be happy? Join me on this adventure, send me a message or a poisoned apple and enjoy!

She thought it was impossible to be more embarrassed. Quickly, she prayed for a hole to open under her or an asteroid to crash down from space. Heck, she'd take a Chitauri invasion. Instead, with what she hoped was a convincing voice, she said, "I just like the suit.”

Tom nodded at her, his lips smiling almost shyly. Was he embarrassed? He must be used to things like that. But Jamie saw the faintest hint of red creeping up his neck.

"Shall we get to work?" he asked her, rubbing his large hands over his thighs, seemingly happy to change the subject.

"Yes, of course, Mr. Hiddleston."

"Tom. Please. You're going to have your fingers in me in a moment so we don't need to be formal."

There it was again! As he realized what he'd said, the red crept further up to behind his ears. Jamie turned her face away as to not reveal what she saw and opened her kit.

"First of all, if you don't mind brushing your teeth and rinsing well. That'll make sure I get the best shade match."

She handed him a zip top bag with a boxed toothbrush, travel sized toothpaste and a small cup.

"I actually have my own toothbrush here, but thank you,” he replied.

"Of course you do. Sorry. I always see patients at my office and they obviously don’t. I'll just get a few things ready. Wait, isn't someone from Dr. Kline's office supposed to be here as well?" She quickly glanced around the room despite knowing they were alone.

"I believe there was some sort of emergency. I'm sorry, I thought you had been made aware. Are you able to do your portion without them?"

"Yeah, I think I’ve got everything. Strictly speaking, I'm not allowed to do any medical work on you. I'm not licensed. But, I don't think that I will actually have to. I will have to touch you quite a bit more that I'd planned. It’s completely fine if you’re not comfortable with that. No hard feelings.”

"I'm sure I'm safe in your hands. I'll be right back." He nodded at her and walked out.

Jamie moved one of the chairs to face a window and pulled a small table in front of it. She filled a bowl with warm water from the kitchen and grabbed a roll of paper towels. She’d been hoping not to have to do this part.

Tom returned as she was getting out a bag of powder.

"The ashes of fallen Avengers?" he asked blandly. Half of the superheros had been turned to dust and blown away at the end of the last film.

"How many people made you take pictures with dead Avengers in plastic bags last weekend?" she asked, her eyes on what she was doing as she pulled on neoprene gloves.

"Seb and the other Tom had the worst of it by far. Bags with their own ashes in them. At least Loki didn’t..." His voice trailed off.

"That is just morbid and unkind," she replied. “But what I have here is impression material I'm hydrating. Have you ever had a mold taken of your mouth?"

Tom's blue eyes crinkled as he thought.

"Yes, for 'Lovers' when they made my vampire fangs."

Jamie already knew that. Only Lovers Left Alive was one of her favorite movies.

"This'll be the same. Have a seat. Normally, the dentist would do this, but I'm naturally overprepared so I brought impression materials just in case. She gloped the thick paste into the mold and gestured towards him. “Any allergies or other ways I could easily accidentally kill you right now?”

He laughed. “I’m fairly hearty, but thank you for your concern.”

"Is it okay if I put this in your mouth?"

Tom nodded and opened widely to accommodate her. She tried to keep her hands from shaking as she fit the mold against his teeth.

"Now, bite down completely. Okay, great. It'll take about an hour to set up, so just relax."

His eyes widened in panic and she couldn’t help but laugh loudly at his expression.

"Kidding! It'll be like three minutes and I already spent thirty seconds of them scaring the living daylights out of you."

She checked the time on her Fitbit and sat down across from him, gloved hands clasped. He looked absolutely ridiculous with the plastic form in his beautiful mouth. He glared at her but she knew it was without malice.

"Silver tongue betraying you?" she asked, lightly. Loki was known for his use of words.

He rolled his eyes. Jamie leaned forward and checked the edges of the material.

"I think it's ready. I'm going to pull it out. It won't hurt but it'll feel weird."

Gently, she pried down on the handle and it pulled free. She held it up to the sunlight and, with an expert eye, saw that it was an excellent impression.

"I guess I should have told you that I've never actually done that to anyone besides myself.”

"Well, I survived. Excuse me while I rinse that taste out."

Jamie sprayed the tray in the kitchen sink and wrapped it in damp paper towels and then in plastic. She put it back in her bag and pulled out her shade kit, loops and flashlight.

Tom returned and sat back in the chair.

"I'm afraid we're going to be even more intimate for this part," Jamie said, as she scooted her chair closer. "Actually, you're still much taller than me. I'll need to stand over you. My office has a proper dental chair that leans back so I don't usually need to be in the patient's...lap. Sorry."

"It's fine," he replied. "You're the one being put out by having to come here. Remember, I'm used to people doing hair and makeup and costumes for me. I don't have much of a sense of personal space. Even for a Brit."

She pulled her magnifying glasses over her eyes and clicked her flashlight.

"Please open your mouth and turn so you're looking at my left ear. Relax your jaw. Excellent. Just like that."

With a practiced eye, she examined the chipping on his tooth. Her initial treatment plan would work.

"I'm just going to take few very close pictures. I'm almost done."

Tom made an agreeable noise in his throat as she still had one hand on his mouth. She took just a moment to appreciate the situation. She was currently straddling one of Tom Hiddleston's very long legs and she was touching his face. This was the weirdest day of her life.

"You'll just need a small veneer to replace the chipped portion. Actually. Your dentist should have been able just to bond the chip back in place. It wouldn't last forever but you wouldn't need a replacement yet." She frowned a bit down into his handsome face, appreciating the angle.

"Actually, I don't have the broken part. I, uh, swallowed it."

"Oh, well that happens all the time. I can't tell you how many crowns we need to replace because the patient swallows them while they're being put on."

Tom chuckled and she felt it in her body because of how close they were.

"Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better. When should it be completed?"

"I can fabricate it over the weekend and have it on Monday for you."

"That fast?" he asked. "Do you normally work on the weekends?"

"Well, no, but I don't mind taking care of it for you. Some of it is just time in the oven. I'll do the design and shading by hand. It's really not a challenging fit."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. Monday would be wonderful. Will you be coming back to put it in?"

Jamie blinked at him. Do this again? Assuming she survived this time?

"That's something the dentist should really do. They'll be able to pick it up from me."

"If it's all the same to you--and you said it's easy. I'd be more comfortable if you did it. I mean, what if they send someone here and she's this Hiddlestoner who climbs in my lap and takes pictures of the inside of my mouth?"

"Hey buddy, those were for me to get the shade right."

“Then why are you still in my lap?”

“Oh. Right. Sorry. Yes, of course I'll do what I can to get you fixed up,” she said, stepping back from him. She began to pack up her tools.

"Excellent. What's next?" he asked her.

"I'm actually done with my part. Everything else I'll do at the lab. Or at home. I really can't tell you how much I appreciate your being so kind when I'm obviously completely a bag of cats."

"You were completely professional and only scared me slightly. Luckily for you, I don't scare easily. I'll grab Luke and we'll get you a ride back. Excuse me."

As he walked out of the room, Jamie sank into an armchair. She was almost out of here. She'd just barely managed to escape with some dignity.

Jamie stood as both men walked back into the room.

"Would you mind terribly if I rode back with you?” Tom asked, putting his hands together in prayer. “I'm getting stir crazy in the hotel and it's not like I can just pop out to the pub. But a drive would be just the thing."

"Sure. Yes. Of course," she said, hoping her voice sounded convincing. "I'd like that a lot. Do you mind if I freshen up before we go?"

"Right through there," Tom pointed behind her to another room. “Take your time.”

She nodded and walked through the door into the next bedroom and into the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the tub and put her head between her knees. Pull yourself together, Birch. He was just another guy. Yes, so, he was the guy of her dreams. But it's not like he would ever see her like that. I’m just here to do a job and he's being nice to the help. After smoothing down her hair and rinsing out her own dry mouth, she returned to Tom, who was standing by the elevator. Her two bags were slung over his broad shoulder. He'd put on a leather jacket and black ball cap, a loose curl peeking out behind his ear. It took all of her willpower not to tuck it back in.

"You're sure you don't mind?" he asked again, noticing the glossy gaze that had come over her eyes, before pushing the button on the elevator.

Jamie stepped in as the doors opened.

"C'mon," she said. "Maybe we'll see some dolphins."

This trip in the elevator wasn't back to the lobby, but to the basement garage. The doors opened and Bruce was waiting with the Navigator. This portion of the garage was sectioned off with its own set of doors. One additional black Navigator was parked behind the one waiting for them.

"Hiya, Bruce!" Jamie greeted him like an old friend.

"Miss Birch." He nodded.

Tom opened the rear door and offered her a hand to help her up and passed her her bags. She put them at her feet then leaned over to push open his door. Her eyes caught the surprise in his to find her arm out over towards his side.

Bruce slid in to the driver's seat and checked the mirrors.

"We're good to go, sir, if you're ready."

"Yes, thank you. Back to your office, right Jamie?"

She looked at her watch. This whole thing had taken up the afternoon and it would be early evening by the time they got back.

"Yes, please. I'm sure everyone is gone by now but I need to get some stone material so I can make molds from the impression. I'll just do it at home tonight."

"Do you work from home a lot?" Tom asked, leaning back as they pulled into downtown traffic.

"No, not really. Most of my work needs to bake in specialty ovens so I can't do that part. I don't usually do the designs but I'll be doing yours. That's easy enough do at home. I'm happy to, really. I'll pour the stone models and they can dry overnight and boy this is incredibly boring and yet I keep going on about the process. Sorry." Her voice trailed off.

"No, please don't apologize. I asked. I'm genuinely interested. I'm going to sound like a tosser, but I always have to talk about myself. It's really nice just to...honestly just listen to your voice." There was the redness creeping up his neck again.

She turned to face him. "I listen to your narration of Octopussy and The Living Daylights a few times a week. I love how you voice James Bond. So, I guess it's fair for you to listen to me for a change."

His face slightly downward, he looked up at her through his long eyelashes. "And High-Rise?"

She sighed. "And High-Rise."

"Good," he said firmly.

As Tom watched Jamie point out things over the water, including a lucky sighting of a pod of dolphins, he couldn’t help but hear his own voice, as Bond, in his head. Somewhere, within easy reach, that girl lived. Was she married? Did she have a lover? Anyway, to hell with it. She was not for him.

Bruce brought them back to the lab. Dusk had fallen and the security lights  illuminated the building. No cars were in the parking lot. The place always cleared out early on Fridays. Tom got out and walked around to her door. She said her thank yous to Bruce and took Tom's hand as he helped her out.

"Are you sure you'll be okay here, alone?" he asked, looking around.

"Oh yeah, absolutely. I work late plenty of nights. I like to be alone."

Still looking around, he frowned.

"Where's your car?"

"Oh. Yeah well I only live across the street so I walk."

"Nope."

"Nope?" she asked, incredulous. "Yep. I walk. It's a safe neighborhood. I like the time to think."

"There's no way I'm leaving you here alone and then letting you walk home in the dark just because you were late helping me. Bruce and I will drive you. When you're ready." He closed the door behind her with finality.

There was no point fighting about it. She wasn't worried about walking home at night but it would be nice to spend a few more minutes with him.

"Okay, I only need about five minutes to grab some things."

"There’s no rush. May I come in with you?" Tom asked her.

"I'll be perfectly safe!" she replied, not hiding her exasperation.

"I'm sure you are. I just wanted to see it. I've never been in a dental laboratory."

Internally, she swooned at his pronunciation of laboratory. Externally, she nodded and dug through her bag, feeling for her badge. Pulling it out by the lanyard, she touched it to the keypad on the door. She heard it unlock and Tom reached past her to pull it open. In her hand, he saw himself in miniature. She followed his eyes and grinned sheepishly. There was a small, plastic keychain cartoon version of Loki, daggers drawn, on her lanyard.

"You like that suit, too?"

She shrugged. "Gold, for his mother," she replied, factually.

He nodded approvingly. They walked through the dimly lit lab and she pointed out this and that. She grabbed a container of stone model mix, a few plastic bowls and an electric handpiece.

"Where's your desk?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't need anything from there. Just this stuff."

"Maybe I want to see it," he replied. So they walked over to her little corner. It had some succulents and a few pictures taped the window. He ran his fingertips over the counter where she sat, as if to memorize the space.

"The ovens are back here. Be careful not to touch anything because some of them may be hot."

The warm room hummed loudly. Usually there was an overnight staff, but not always on Fridays. Jamie was happy for this because he seemed to be enjoying the tour. He watched her mouth as she explained the dull details of the lab and he'd gently brushed her back with his hand a couple of times as they'd walked. She thought it was her imagination when she felt his gaze on her while she slid her timecard through the timeclock.

"Okay, we're ready," she said brightly. She'd caught him looking at her. Probably making sure that I don't knock him out and keep him prisoner here, she thought. But secretly, she was flattered and flustered.

Tom opened the lab door and then her car door, helping her up again. She told Bruce how to get across the road to her apartment and they were there in a few minutes.

"See, I told you it was close," she said reproachfully as Tom opened her door yet again.

"But thank you for the ride, Bruce. Maybe I'll see you on Monday?"

"If not sooner," he said quietly, turning back to wink at her.

"I'll let my boss know to let your...people know to set things up for Monday,” she said to Tom as she grasped his hand.

He helped her down, took her bags from her and started to walk the path to her apartment.

"You don't need to walk me up!" she said, trailing after him. He didn't slow down. Climbing the concrete stairs two at a time with his impossibly long legs, he held open the screen door for her. She pulled her keys from her bag on his shoulder and reached out to take the bags he carried. He didn't move.

"Have dinner with me." He'd meant to say it more elegantly. He'd meant to ask.

"I--what? You can't go out.” She didn't really know what to say, but it wasn’t that. She knew, though, for absolutely certain, he could not come inside her apartment. Nope. Not happening.

"No, I can't and I'm sorry for that. I just don't want to go back to my hotel and eat with my team again, as much as I enjoy them. I wouldn’t be fair to drag you back across town. So, do you think maybe we can get a takeaway and eat it here? I really can't believe I'm saying this out loud because you don't know me and it's terribly inappropriate but I just--I don't want to leave you." He sighed. "It was a long weekend in Seattle and working again now when I thought I was done. I love my job. I just want to continue this normal conversation with you. And I'm hungry."

She stared into his blue eyes. He really did look like a sad golden retriever.

"Listen, Tom. I want you to understand completely. If you come in. We will not have sex."

He laughed loudly and brushed her hair back from her ear. He couldn't help himself.

"Can we have pizza instead?"

She could hear her cats meowing on the other side of the door. He took her keys from her and turned the lock. They bounded out and then right back in when they saw the stranger.

"I thought for sure they'd recognize me!" he said, laughing at his own joke.

"Not without the horned helmet!" she threw back.

He hung her keys on the hook next to the door as if he did it every day.

"Where can I put these?" he asked, gesturing with her bags.

"Kitchen counter, please," she replied.

"Alexa, we're home" she said to the speaker.

"Welcome home. I hope you're having a good day." Alexa replied.

From the moment Tom took her keys, Jamie knew she was completely screwed. He'd see her apartment and he would nope out of there, probably not even making a polite excuse. This had been fun, but it was over. His dentist would put in the crown and she'd never see him again. He might pursue legal action preventing it.

Tom set the bags on the counter next to the black refrigerator. It had the usual magnets and take out menus. And his face. He mouthed the words, quoting himself.

"Well, do you?" he asked her.

"Do I what?" Her voice was shaking.

"Do you like potatoes?"

She turned to him, her face now fiery red. Tears swam in her eyes.

"I am so, so sorry."

She covered her face with her hands. It was one thing to have a sexy picture of a celebrity on your phone. But to have a silly screenshot printed out and on her fridge from a video he’d made about potatoes for UNICEF? Like he was a friend.

She didn't hear him close the distance between them. She felt his strong arms around her.

"Shhhhhhhh," he whispered, rubbing her back as he held her tight. "Please, don't cry. Please. It's a happy day.”

"You're here and on my fridge and on my walls and you just can't be and I'm sorry,” she said, her shaking voice muffled through her hands and his chest. “I've been trying so hard to be cool and calm since I saw Luke in the lobby but I'm not. I'm sorry."

"Hey. Look at me."

He leaned back and forced her chin up to meet his gaze. Her face was red hot with embarrassment and tears.

"Is there a shrine with candles and locks of my hair purchased from eBay?"

She shook her head.

"Is there a life sized nude painting of me hanging in your bedroom?"

"Not...nude." she sniffled, half a smile coming up.

He beamed at her.

"Let's get some food and we can talk about my work, if you want. Or any other topic. Or I can go. This is your home."

"Stay."

[zesty-zestiria]

An AU about. . . I don't know what if they found some fairy tail book and somehow got sucked into it and have to get back together due to the fact they somehow got separated. . . Or a Disney AU?

Admin @soymilkheaven here!  Sorry about the wait, anon, since we all sat around and discussed for a bit which fairytale would be best, and in the end …

Little Mermaid AU won out, as a mixture of both the Disney movie version and the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale.  (You’ll see, anon, I’ll even drabble the ending out for you for extra feels.)  I mean, yes, everyone’s done Merman Mikleo but, let’s face it, Part of Your World is basically Mikleo’s image song for the early-mid game, especially with how often he talks about how he’s not sure he’s experiencing the world the same way Sorey does, since he’s a Seraph and Sorey’s human, and … really, Water Seraph, Merman, the similarity is there.

So who’s who?  Here it is (behind a cut because this is *super* long):

Also warnings for the post fairy tale epilogue drabble: Major Character Death, lots of feels, and I damned near cried writing parts of it.

Mikleo is our little Merman.  Personally, I like Epileo for this mostly so I can have all the mental pictures of Merman Mikleo floating in the sea with his gorgeous hair floating all around him.  Also, I envision this scene where Prince Sorey goes out to walk on the beach at night, under a full moon, and hears a lovely voice humming, and sees Merman Mikleo sitting on a rock … brushing his hair with a fork.  But alas, despite the Obvious Misuse of a Fork, Sorey still thinks Mikleo with his gorgeous long hair and violet eyes, and pretty blue tail is the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen … right up until Mikleo sees him and splashes into the water again because, well Mermen Aren’t Supposed To Be Seen.  Of course, what Prince Sorey doesn’t realize is that Mikleo surfaces right after and hides behind said rock to observe Sorey - who Mikleo thinks has the brightest green eyes he’s ever seen, better than any jewel he’s found in any shipwreck on the ocean floor, and he just adores Sorey’s smile.

Also, in keeping with the Hans Christian Anderson version of the tale, Mikleo is more of a magical sea creature granted the ability to walk and breathe air - first, painfully via his deal with Symonne, later, pain-free as part of Zenrus blessing their union.  However, this also means that Mikleo is still Not Human, and therefore has no eternal soul.  It also means he ages super slowly compared to Sorey too.  Keep this in mind for the ending/epilogue drabble at the end.

Sorey is our Prince Eric.  Obviously.  Like in the Disney animated movie canon, Mikleo saves him when he gets shipwrecked in a storm, and that’s how they finally meet face to face.  Sorey’s shocked when he catches a glimpse of his savior (as Mikleo’s hauling his fishtailed ass back into the water since he’s directly disobeying Gramps by doing this) and thinks he sees a fish tail, but he chalks it up, at first, to him seeing things as he was half-drowned at the time.  Until he sees the aforementioned Merman Mikleo humming and combing his hair in the moonlight scene, that is.

Gramps as King Triton.  He’s aware of human, and, like his game and Disney canon counterparts, he’s not a huge fan of interaction with humans.  Here, it’s not so much Because Humans Are A Source of Malevolence as much as Humans Tend to Kill Things They Don’t Understand.  Still, he does give Mikleo his blessing in the end, especially when he sees how much his grandson adores this human.

Symonne as Ursula.  I mean, as much as it would kind of make sense for Ursula to be Heldalf and all that, Ursula has an element of manipulative dealmaker that Heldalf really doesn’t strike me as having - but Symonne, as an illusionist, does.  That said, I’m more inclined to leave out the Disney version’s Adaptational Villainy and give her more of a Be Careful What You Wish For deal.

Edna as Flounder.  A really, really, really snarky Flounder, who can’t believe Meebo is totally falling head over tail fin for This Boring Human.  But alas, even she can see how sad Meebo is when Gramps forbids Mikleo to go up to the surface to Prince Sorey, and there’s Nothing Worse than Mopeyleo, so yes, she’ll go with him to see the Sea Witch Symonne.

Lailah as Sebastian.  A really really really huge Shipper On Deck Sebastian, and she’s the one who talks Gramps into relenting in the end and letting Mikleo leave the sea, with legs, so he can be happy with his one true love.  Even if both of them know that it’ll only be for Just This One Lifetime, because Gramps, while powerful, isn’t powerful enough to grant Mikleo a soul, which he lacks as a magical creature.

Dezel and Zaveid as Those Two Seagulls, or, in which soymilkheaven splits Scuttle the Seagull into two separate characters.  They both claim to be experts on humans and their culture … when they’re anything but.  Yeaaaaaaaaaah, you know someone had to have told Mikleo a fork was used to comb their hair.  Yes that might have been Zaveid, lol.

Alisha as Sorey’s best friend from a neighboring kingdom (and fellow believer of magical sea creatures).  Not sure if there is an equivalent in either the Disney animated movie (it’s been at least a decade since I’ve last seen the Little Mermaid and a few years since I last read the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale), but she is also familiar with the folklore and tales surrounding magical sea creatures … and tries to help Sorey woo Mikleo.  There are … varying degrees of success, but the fact that Sorey is trying (once he figures out that Mikleo really is a Merman-turned-human) makes Mikleo love him more.

Rose as Sorey’s genius economics advisor and bodyguard, probably another soymilkheaven original for this AU.  She’s not too familiar with the folktales and myths like Alisha is, but she also wants Sorey to be happy, and if courting/pursuing this Prince of the Sea (which Mikleo totally is) is what makes Sorey happy, then so be it.  Besides, there might even be a side benefit of ensuring safety for their country’s boats at sea out of that marriage, and that’s 100% icing on the (wedding) cake as far as Rose the Economic Advisor’s concerned.

Heldalf … may or may not appear in this fairytale?  But if he were to, he’d be some conquering warlord in a neighboring country out to take over Sorey’s country, which Sorey and Mikleo are Having None Of.

And now, the promised ending/epilogue drabble, because while pretty much everything happens as planned, there’s still that tiny detail from the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale where magical sea creatures don’t have a soul.  In the original, it meant that the Little Mermaid couldn’t go to heaven and be with her beloved.  And while Together In Death is a fun trope, I personally love a slightly different one:

When Prince Sorey died at the positively ripe old age of 95, people across the country mourned.  He had been a great king, a wise and fair leader, and had done much to ensure the prosperity of his people.  His funeral had been a grand affair - Mikleo, as Chief Consort, had seen to that.  In keeping with Sorey’s final wishes, while a token gravestone was erected in the royal family graveyard, his body was interred on a cliff overlooking the sea, the beautiful ocean that was the homeland of his one and only.

A pair of dark crimson roses flanked the gravestone, while the hill itself was positively smothered in pink carnations, red chrysanthemums, daffodils, forget-me-nots, primroses, and marigolds.  At the foot of the hill, a small grove of orange trees marked the entryway to the beloved prince’s true final resting place.

Mikleo knelt in front of that gravestone now, looking barely a day older since the day they’d met - Zenrus was powerful, yes, but even his magic had only been enough to grant Mikleo the legs and the ability to breathe air so he could live outside of the ocean, beside his beloved.  His hands brushed against the gravestone, and tears came to his eyes, unbidden.  A pair of seagulls landed beside him, eyes full of worry.

“Was this what Gramps was trying to warn me about?”

“Mikleo … man, we’re-”

“That I’d only get a short amount of time with him?”

He laid down in the grass, among the flowers, each one flourishing, despite their getting watered only by the occasional rain shower and his own tears.  A gentle wind rustled across the hills, rustling his hair and cloak.  Hair that Sorey had played with many a quiet evening in their shared chambers.  Tears continued to fall - just how many days had it been since he’d last heard Sorey’s laughter?  Seen his bright green eyes that never dulled, even as he grew into a wizened old man?  That smile that never failed to brighten his day?

He fell asleep, lying amidst the flowers in the field, each one a tiny fraction of the feelings he held for the human he loved so, so, dearly in life.

Zaveid turned as Dezel returned, Lailah perched on his back.  She looked sadly at Mikleo, at the snow-white and blue hair that was in stark contrast to the dark cloak he woe, knowing that his happiness had a great cost attached to it.  She wished, with all her heart, that something more could be done - that, even though Mikleo was a magical sea creature, he could have happiness with Sorey beyond death.

She sighed, “I wish there was something more we could do for him.  Lord Zenrus’s magic is powerful, yes, but to grant a soul, that’s …”

A bright white light came into being in front of them then, stopping to hover over the gravestone.  Mikleo stirred, and sat upright, a hand in front of his face to shield his eyes from the brightness.  The being seemingly had no form, although if Lailah squinted hard enough, she thought she could make out a pair of leathery wings.

“Young prince of the seas,” the voice intoned, “I have watched you from afar for many years.  Your love for this human, and your desire to be with him always, and his reciprocation of those very feelings, has touched us all in the heavens.  To grant you a soul … that requires magics beyond even my ability, but should you wish to earn one, that, perhaps, we could arrange.”

For the first time in the months since Sorey’s passing, Lailah thought she saw the glimmer of hope and the beginnings of a smile on Mikleo’s face.  Wiping away his tears he bowed his head, as though in prayer, a single question falling from his lips.

“What would you have me do?”

Three hundred years later, Mikleo opened his eyes to find himself on a hillside, no longer a benevolent spirit of the seas, but human once more.  Examining himself, he noticed a single red string tied around his finger, and he followed it along the path, where he saw a familiar and beloved face sitting on a rock in front of a strange wheel.

“Sorey!”  Mikleo ran, arms spread wide and melting in to the firm embrace of the one he’d loved so dearly for so long.

“MIkleo!”  There was no mistaking the voice, or the way his shoulder was quickly become moist with tears.  “I missed you.”

“Me, too.”  They held each other for what seemed like an eternity, and perhaps it was.  When they finally parted, Mikleo looked up at the giant water wheel turning in the sky behind them.  “What is this place?”

“This is the Wheel of Reincarnation,” Sorey explained.  “Where you go to be reborn.  But, when I saw the red string on my finger, I’d prayed, hoped, even, that you would be on the other end. So I waited.  Waited, so we could go together.”

“Then let us go now.  Together.”

EDIT: I can’t believe I forgot to mention the meanings of the flowers on the hill for Sorey’s grave, taken from this website:

Pink Carnation – I’ll Never ForgetYou

Red Chrysanthemum – I Love You

Daffodil - Regard, Unequalled Love,You’re the Only One, The Sun is Always Shining When I’m with You

Forget-Me-Not - True Love, Memories

Marigold - Cruelty, Grief, Jealousy(Grief is the intended meaning here)

Orange Blossom - Innocence, EternalLove, Marriage and Fruitfulness (Eternal Love is the one I’d chosen it for)

Primrose - I Can’t Live without You

Dark Crimson Rose - Mourning

[squid-inspiration]

this is all excellent analysis!

another thing that, to me, stands out about flint’s grief over miranda’s death, is the dream sequence in which he says “i am ruined over you”.

now, i’m not a fan of trying to set direct comparisons between relationships, so i’ll leave that aside for another post (one day i might get around to writing that meta about comparisons within black sails, and how sometimes the show flounders a bit btwn its writing and its overall message), but what always always always gets me is this line:

“I was mistress to you when you needed love. Wife when you needed understanding. But first and before all, I was mother.”

there is SO MUCH wrapped up in this line. let’s remember first that this is his subconscious speaking. it’s not miranda’s ghost, it’s flint himself. that means that on some level, flint himself thinks of miranda as not only his friend/parter, but his mother and his wife. setting aside his sexuality (bc i don’t feel like getting hate-mail again, and i am perfectly happy w either bi or gay flint, so hold your insults pls), i think this line is remarkable.

it really portrays just how difficult and plain jawdroppingly complex their relationship is. i am firmly of the opinion that during flint’s formative years he had no sginificant or lasting female presence in his life, as evidenced by his string of unfortunate father figures: the man he calls the closest thing to a father is his superior officer, not his grandfather that raised him or his biological father that sired him. considering that he probably entered the male-dominated navy young, i assume he had few relationships with women in any significant capacity.

ofc this is a bit of wild conjecture on my part, but i hold to it bc it means that miranda is remarkable and important to him in multiple ways: she occupies the places that multiple women would otherwise have held throughout his life. he never had a mother, mistress, wife, and thus, with her strong presence in his life and her role in shaping him (which is significant!)  she somehow naturally comes to provide for him all these things, without ever being confined to one. i don’t think it’s as simple as “mother & mistress & wife? does that mean he wants to fuck his mother figure? has odysseus become oedipus???” bc eh. too simplistic. we know black sails routinely does better than that.

again, i think this is something that is largely independent from the question of flint’s sexuality, bc throughout history queer ppl have married ppl incompatible w their orientation for all sorts of reasons (but then again, it also runs w a bi interpretation, so everyone can be happy), but i think it’s also important to acknowledge that this is how flint thinks of her, personally, in the heart of his heart: mistress, wife, mother.

i love flint and thomas’ relationship for how simple it is. yes, there’s lots of societal bullshit surrounding them that makes things hard, and if you think they never had fallings-out or difficulties then i think you’re terribly wrong, but at the same time, these two are the most straightforward example of star-crossed lovers on this show. they hit it off right away, they’re so obviously meant to be it’s almost ridiculous, and in the end even imprisonment and torture and mortal danger and war can’t keep them apart forever. that’s some fairytale stuff right here.

i love flint and miranda’s relationship for how complicated and real it is, and how i will never, as long as i live, be able to really define it or wrap my brain around it. it’ll forever be a scab i’ll keep picking at, and just like that it’ll forever be kinda painful but immensely, weirdly satisfying.

... i’m so sorry for hijacking your post, op. i hope you don’t mind me spilling my feelings everywhere.

Miranda’s role as Flint’s partner

re: this post about rewatching Black Sails, Miranda’s role in season 1 also makes me love one of my favourite Flint speeches EVEN MORE. her relationship with Flint is way more public than i remembered, in a way that ties into the persona he constructs around himself. spoilers up to 3x01 under the cut!

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