#i wasn't going to do anything for arden

[messenger-of-stupidity]

As a bisexual with a raging hand fetish, when men, women, and everyone in between or outside of wear rings, it is something glorious.

But as much as I would adore every character wearing rings, I just don't personally believe they all do. Could they all pull it off? Abso-fucking-lutely.

But here's my opinions that no one asked for but people are getting regardless. Starting off strong with the Shaw Pack. (I'll do the listeners in part two)

David - I'm sorry but the only ring he wears and is going to wear is his engagement/wedding ring. No matter how much Angel wishes he would wear others.

Asher: no rings, but his nails are always manicured. He loves getting designs done. (Besides wedding ring ofc)

Milo - thumb rings. That's all I have to say. He wears a promise ring on his thumb since he doesn't want people to think he's married since he and Sweetheart agreed that marriage wasn't for them.

Christian - he likes wearing rings on his middle fingers and pinkies.

Arden - nah.

Amanda - she gives off bracelet vibes.

DAMN SQUAD (+ Cam) -

Gavin - he's got the rings that have chains to connect it to the bracelet. He knows he has nice hands and likes to accentuate it in whatever ways possible.

Lasko - he had a fidget ring on his thumb of his non dominant hand so whenever he is talking someone he can spin that bitch like a record player

Damien - I wanna say yes, but he wouldn't. The metal would take longer to cool off and it would just be a pain. He doesn't know when he's going to have high emotions that raise his temp.

Huxley - no. The rings would get dirty if he was digging in the dirt and he doesn't want to dirty them because that "like, not very cool to do ya know dude?"

Caelum - Freelancer once tied a piece of string around his finger and he shows it off everywhere he goes because it's his favorite piece of jewelry.

Cam - yes. He wears fidget rings but they only exist to gift to his more anxious charges so he can help them. It's easier to keep them on hand for when needed. (Haha get it?)

Sovereign-related storylines (+ Hush) -

Elliot - yes. I can't really explain why but he gives like twisted metal delicate ring vibes. He definitely has pinkie rings, if not others.

Blake - as much as I want to say yes because I adore him... No. he doesn't. 😭 He feels it would get in the way of him tracing the designs on his listeners skin. Plus if he's touching them, he doesn't want anything between him and them, rings included.

Avior - Yes. Very much yes. Yes bark bark grrr woof bark awoo

Vega - considering he doesn't really care for human materialism, I don't see him wearing rings. Unfortunately. Fingers crossed that Warden convinces him to.

Brachium - yet another I wish was true but he hasn't ever been to the mortal realm in person so he's never had the opportunity to try rings. I think he would look nice in them though. 👉👈

Hush - he seems to be having an interest in humanity, so I can see him exploring it. He figured out rope knots so he obviously been researching. So yeah, I could see him playing with rings.

Unempowered (+ Morgan for organization) -

Aaron - No he doesn't. I can't explain why but he doesn't give me that vibe.

Ollie - yes. But for one reason. Erik said Ollie is most like himself and Erik wears rings. (Does that make me simp for his hands? Perhaps. but that doesn't matter nor is it something I will ever put where he will see it.)

Guy - I'm going to say yes. He consistently takes them off and tries to use them as currency to Honey so he can have the hoodie. He takes them off before going to work since he works with his hands (ehhhn)

Ivan - sometimes. It's not a habitual wearing, but rather needs a reason.

Geordi - he used to. Then they felt like they weighed his hands down too much. He talks with his hands a lot, he's very expressive.

Morgan - No. Another that doesn't give me that vibe.

Vampires -

Vincent - Yes. He was the reason I made this post because I wanted to talk about how fucking amazing he would look in rings. 🤤🤤🤤

Sam - He doesn't seem much of a ring person for some reason. He would look good in one, especially when driving.

William - Yes. He likes to buy one at each turn of a half century. He has favorite ones he wears all the time. They have big jewels and are older than most vampires in his clan.

Adam - he only lost his head, not his hands. He was wearing spooooky rings when he died. (Plus he liked the way Lovely shuddered ever so slightly when the cold metal of his rings dug into their skin just before he bit them. ... God I'm a simp)

Quinn - yes. Just... Yes. He also had those full finger rings. The ones that have claw at the end, you know what I mean. He wears those to draw blood from his victims needlessly. It only serves to bring them pain. (I'm going to hell for this thirst)

Alexis - yes. It makes her feel superior to have pretty things.

Edit:

James - he only really wants to wear his wedding ring. He only wears other rings to make people believe all his rings are decoration and people don't go looking for his partner.

Marcus - no. I don't know why but no

Anton - also no. He could look nice in them though I think.

Brian - his wedding ring. That's it.

Xavier - before he died, he wore rings when he wasn't playing. He didn't mind the cold material.

[sorencd]

hii idk if u are taking request (if you're not ignore this lmao) but could you write some todd anderson fluff? my sister moved away and im feeling kinda sad :( idk if you write for todd either lol anyways love ur account!!

1:05

pairing: todd anderson x reader

summary: a silly little game of tickle fight with todd.

word count: 1.1k

a/n: ofc! <3 i was supposed to keep this short but i'm an absolute sucker for fluff so i went a little overboard hhfhhfhefdfr i hope u like it!

masterlist

it was starting to get repetitive. the few episodes you watched earlier were somewhat more entertaining, or shall you say as entertaining as watching a lawyer defend their client gets. there were moments where it really got you and todd riled up, but after that it'll just be another line of the guy on screen describing to you what a public defender is.

'the court is adjourned!' the voice of the guy on screen shouted as he banged his gavel on the wooden sound block, signalling that the aired episode was over.

"i'm starting to get sick of this bart matthew guy's face. how long have we been watching?" you asked, leaning your head further into todd's body until it was on his lap.

"i think it we started at season 1, we've been at it for a while." todd said as he reached for the remote controller, "do you want me to switch the channel, love?"

"okay, maybe that show my mom watches is on. the eve garden something?" you sat up and pondered with a hand on your chin. 

"it's eve arden, i've seen bits of it a few times."

you hastily laid back down and yawned as you shook your head in understanding, moving on your side to watch todd fiddle with the remote controller in search for a good show. sunday afternoons were usually like this, rather than going out and doing activities that would require human interaction, todd would instead show up at your front door to spend time with you, saving you both the time and effort of socialising─ which you knew todd preferred. for the next few hours, you'd both be huddled in bed or on the couch in each other's arms, reading each other silly poems and stories you'd make up, or watch tv until the sun goes down. to some it might be boring, yes, but nothing's boring when it's with todd.

"hey todd?"

he hummed as he moved his focus away from the television and onto you, who was staring up at him with an all too familiar look on your face. you were about to crack a bad joke.

"what is it called-"

"please make it a good joke this time."

"it is! i guarantee you that you'll laugh your knickers off!"

he once again hummed as he raised his eyebrows with a skeptical look, he knew the joke would be so stupid that it wasn't the joke he's laughing at─ but the sheer stupidity of it is what makes him snicker. he let's it slide though, since he gets to see that bright smile of yours every time. 

"alright so, what is it called when the doctor has to tickle you to see if you're conscious?"

todd shook his head, he has no idea what it could be. it could be anything! "i don't know, what?"

"a test tickle." you let out an obnoxious laugh with a slap to the knee as you cackled at your own joke. he on the other hand can't help but wonder where do you get all these jokes from? 

"that was a bad joke." 

"no it's not! i made you laugh, you're laughing right now!"

"you can hardly consider this laughing!"

an idea came to your mind as soon as the words left your lover's mouth. his face contorted in worry when he saw you move back a little on your side of the couch, and you had this... mischievous expression on. you were up to something.

"hmm... it wouldn't be laughing if i did this then?" you suddenly jumped onto him and started tickling his sides, earning yourself a loud snort from todd.

"w-wait- this isn't- this isn't fair!" his face was turning red with how hard he was laughing. you weren't prepared though when abruptly he flipped you on your back, effectively halting you of your attack and giving you a taste of your own medicine.

the only thing that could be heard in your living room was the sound of you and todd cackling like maniacs. to the people outside your house, they could've easily mistaken it as two children playing. in the middle of your tickle-fighting, todd tried to escape from your unforgiving grasp and tried to make a run from it. you attempted grabbing onto his torso to prevent him from leaving your clutches, but instead of successfully being able to pull him back─ you instead got a hold of his pajamas that he was wearing that day and pulled down. accidentally revealing what was he was wearing that day. in your terms he technically he did laugh his underwear off, except it was his pants.

"h-hey you can't do that!" todd stuttered as his laughed grew even louder. he scrambled to pull his pants back up and almost fell over in the process. your stomach was starting to hurt, and your eyes were welling with tears as you caught a glimpse of his boxers, he had the superman ones that you gave him as joke on his birthday on.

after he got a good distance between the two of you, and after he successfully pulled his pajamas back up, he calmed down to catch his breath which was ragged from all the laughing. you, who was on the couch, were lying on your stomach, you hushed snickers muffled by the couch as you watched him. the memory of his boxers that were now covered by his pants still lingering in your mind. 

to control your own breathing, since you were also out of breath, you momentarily closed your eyes with a tired smile on. you forgot how draining tickle fights were. "i must say, what manly boxers you have, mr. anderson." 

unbeknownst to you, your boyfriend was slowly creeping his way behind the couch on his tippy toes. it looks like the war wasn't over. when you didn't hear from him, you lifted your head up to check if he was still where you last saw him before you closed your eyes.

"todd?-"

suddenly, you felt something very heavy being pressed onto your entire body─ causing you to shriek in surprise. it was todd. he was laying on top of you with his arms wrapping your body, like he was giving you a bear hug. in that position, he could easily tickle both of your sides. making him the winner of today's tickle fight. and tickle you he did.

"t-todd- i-" you were being cut off by your own uncontrollable laughter, squirming and writhing in his embrace. "you win! you win!"

he instantly let go of you, his lips curled into a huge victorious grin as he sat there, towering over you triumphantly. his hair was all ruffled and he still looked like he just finished running a marathon. you smiled him, your entirety overflowing with happiness, and he shyly smiled back in return before cheering in a hushed manner and whisper shouting like he was an announcer on the sports channel.

"and the crowd goes wild! todd anderson takes home the trophy for today's match!" 

you giggled and swiftly wrapped your arms around his neck to pull him down and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“i will have my revenge, you!”

© sorencd . 2023 ─ do not copy, repost, translate or claim any of my works as your own.

[natlacentral]

Netflix Avatar Star Gets Candid on the Show’s Critical Reviews (Exclusive)

One of the stars behind Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender got honest about some of the reviews critics gave the show.

Fans were extremely excited ahead of the live-action series' release, especially since everything about the project looked so accurate to the original series.

Sadly, when Avatar finally aired, the reception to it was lukewarm. Critics were vocally disappointed by many aspects of it—though parts of it got constant praise, such as the performances from Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Dallas Liu as Uncle Iroh and Zuko.

The show currently sits at a 60% critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 73% audience score.

[ Avatar Netflix Season 2: Dallas Liu Reveals His Big Hopes for Upcoming Episodes (Exclusive) ]

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Gets Honest About Critical Reception

Avatar: The Last Airbender star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee shared his honest thoughts with The Direct at Paleyfest 2024 about the reviews the Netflix series received when it was released.

Lee admitted he "was actually really surprised at how critical some of the outlets were towards it:"

"That's a really good question. There was the gamut of responses that I was expecting, like, I was hoping that fans would really dig it. I was actually surprised at how critical some of the outlets were towards it. It was almost like--and I'm biased, I'm biased, because you know, I'm part of it."

"It looked like some of those reviewers just had already made up their minds beforehand," the actor continued:

"But from my point of view, it looked like some of these reviewers just had already made up their minds beforehand, based on everything that they heard instead of the actual, like actually watching the show. And they were ready to just pick it apart. Whereas the fans really sort of embraced it. And were like, I don't know about this, I'm cautiously optimistic. But the majority of them really enjoyed it."

Lee explained how people should "approach different things with different sets of expectations," a mentality "that’s good for anything in real life:"

"And I think that's what we need to do is just sort of approach different things with different sets of expectations, in a sense, and not to prejudge and make up our minds before you have a chance to view anything. And I think that's good for anything in real life, is to really have an open mind, go in, experience it, instead of going, 'I'm going to judge this,' instead of, 'I'm going to watch this, and I'll see.' And then I will be critical or I will, you know, be judgmental, or whatever. But that's all you ask for in life. It's like not to be judged before the work is shown."

"It’s one of those things that have to grow," Lee noted, adding that it’s "very rare that something is pitch-perfect right out of the gates:"

"And I'm really impressed with the fan community for doing and embracing that. It was really kind of going well; it wasn't perfect, but we really did enjoy it. And then, at the end of the day, that's all you want. And we're learning, too. So, it's one of those things where things have to grow. It's very, very rare that something is pitch-perfect right out of the gates, right?"

When it comes to fan reception, Dallas Liu told The Direct how he "love[s] seeing just how stoked everyone is on the bending effects:"

"I'd say, like, I love seeing just how stoked everyone is about the bending effects in our show. I think Jabbar [Raisani] and his team really nailed that part of like, what everyone loves about the original."

Producer Jabbar Raisani revealed it is "the fan reception to the show" he's most proud of:

"I mean, really, the fan reception to the show, right? Like, we tried to make this thing that felt like the animated series, had the heart and soul of the animated series, but lived in breath in a live-action world and people responded to that. That was a very challenging thing to actually do."

Arden Cho, the actress who plays June, shares how she has been "really happy to see everyone enjoying and loving the show:"

"I think I'm really happy to see everyone enjoying and loving the show. And there's just so many different things that are being noticed. And yeah, I think I knew people would love this because everybody's working hard on it. And it's such a loved story to begin with. I'm so excited to be a part of it. But yeah, I think what I'm enjoying the most is sort of seeing the response to all the kids and everything and just the world [of Avatar]. I love the world... The world is so fun; it's so fun to be a part of it."

[ Avatar Star Dallas Liu Explains Zuko & Katara's Rivalry In Live-Action Show (Exclusive) ]

Letting Avatar: The Last Airbender Find Its Footing

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee has a point—countless shows have grown exponentially in quality as they went on. Some just take time to find their footing.

With Season 1 in the wild and audiences giving plenty of feedback, the creative team has every chance to improve upon the foundation they’ve already built. They don't even need to worry about whether they will be able to finish the story.

If Netflix can knock the next two seasons out of the park, there is a good chance fans can expect even more stories to be told in that universe. Maybe one of the upcoming new adult Aang movies could get an adaptation or even the Legend of Korra.

[tookishcombeferre]

Metamorphosis & Mutation: A Cedric the Sorcerer Playlist

My hand slipped and made a 2+ hour playlist. My challenge for myself was that I was not allowed to use *any* of the songs from the series.

If you know how much I love music, you know I love a good challenge. There are one or two songs that cuss in them. (Only one "f-bomb" from a Passenger song, but it's worth it because the song "Fairytales and Firesides" is beautiful. The line "We are bitter losers, snarling through our smiles" was just too perfect to pass up.)

"The Incident" and its immediate aftermath is represented by "The Sacrifice of Faramir" for ... reasons. It just felt perfect. Any LotR fans will likely understand that and where my mind was going with that one. (Surprising number of parallels between Sofia and Pippin, Cedric and Faramir, and Goodwyn and Denethor. Might make a post about this eventually. Due to the casting in movies, which don't get me wrong, overall I love, very few people remember (or know) that, in the novels, Pippin was 28 at the beginning of the book and turns 29 in Gondor near the end of the trilogy. Hobbits don't reach full cultural maturity, and are considered minors, until 33. Billy Boyd was actually the oldest of the hobbit actors. So, most people forget that/ don't know that fact. But, now you know! :D) (I may or may not have spent four years of my life researching these books and relationships in almost monastic levels of isolation except for when my [now] spouse and our mutual friends would drag me out my dorm room to ensure I ate and hydrated myself. The sad thing is I am only kind of hyperbolizing.) A note on the song "I Found" by Amber Run - that is meant platonically/ paternally. If people read anything else into that DON'T. Just DON'T. (For people who have read "In the Flares of the Sun," and continue to read it, this song will hit different. The whole idea of "I found love where it wasn't supposed to be, right in front of me, talk some sense to me." is just ... it hits. Platonically. It hits from two directions for folks who have read the chapter "First, Do No Harm." Honestly, this song has always given me *deep friendship* vibes more than anything else anyway. The first playlist I ever used it on was an adopted mother-daughter relationship in a dystopian novel I was writing. It was used right alongside "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan. So, if you want to know the vibes I get from this song, now you know. The kid was based on Thomas Paine so it was actually a "Common Sense" pun. ;D) "Show Me" by Idina Menzel is also intended platonically. I first heard that song on an Anna and Elsa tribute video so I've always thought of that song platonically. But, if you're gonna weird about either of those songs, just don't. With that out of the way, there are some very "me" choices in here. "This is the Moment" from Jekyll and Hyde was my *jam* in middle school. I almost broke my CD of the "dream cast album" with Anthony Warlow as Jekyll/Hyde playing it so many times on my CD player before I got an iPod. (I NEVER claimed I was not old, y'all. Also, I'm actually auditioning for the role of Jekyll/Hyde in December. XD) The fact that there is both Jason Robert Brown and Marianas Trench on this playlist is a very "me" choice. Also, yes, I did put two songs from the new Hunchback of Notre Dame with Michael Arden as Quasimodo on here. Don't *judge* me. (Made of Stone is a perfect song for Cedric, COME ON!) Also, if I chose to set Cedric's rant to Roland as "If It's True" from Hadestown. It is *my* prerogative to give my sad trash-panda this beautiful rant. If I wanna play that pre-dungeon moment as a little more justified because it felt a little more true than not ... it's *my* playlist. (Hadestown is based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The song "If It's True" is set just after Orpheus has just gotten his butt whooped by Hades and told that he's worthless, that he's basically lower than dirt, and that music and love are meaningless.) (1. I'm absolutely setting this playlist in the universe of "In the Flares of the Sun." So, mild spoiler, in the first verse of this song, for backstory about something that has only been implied so far, but is coming up in a future chapter. The spoiler is very blink and you'll miss it. It's like a line and a half of the song. But, it's there, and I did choose the song intentionally because of the backstory I built in the world of that fic/ other fics I'm planning for future. So, you'll get a brief glimpse into my brain. 2. But, let's be real:

"'Cause the ones who tell the lies/ Are the solemnest to swear/ And the ones who load the dice/ Always say the toss is fair/ And the ones who deal the cards/ Are the ones who take the tricks/ With their hands over their hearts/ While we play the game they fix/ And the ones who speak the words/ Always say it is the last/ And no answer will be heard/ To the question no one asks" Mmmmm ... so perfect. So angry. Also that: "Tell me what to do" - so many different characters that could be directed towards.) But, this is also why I put the world's best anti-villain anthem that sounds like a Disney-princess "I want song" right before it. It's about the *juxtaposition.* It's about the *nuance.* (Cedric basically is Dr. Jekyll. Okay? It's probably why I love him. Jekyll/Hyde has long been a favorite character of mine.) Also, I'm obsessed with Collabro. Their covers are so good, and the story of how they came together is so supremely weird and serendipitous. Look them up. They do not disappoint. Also, "Chosen Family" is one of my favorite songs ever. I used the one where Rina Sawayama and Elton John sing together. Though, Rina Sawayama is the original writer. I love both versions, but I also just love Elton John so much, and I love the version where he sings with her. I hope y'all enjoy it too. I will spread the gospel of this song forever because I just love it. And, I had to end with the credit's song of "The Tigger Movie" - "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" - because that movie destroys me every single time I watch it. The end. That's my notes on this. There are a whole bunch of other songs I didn't cover. But, yeah. These are the ones I wanted to make notes on. This got really long. If you can't tell music is something of a special interest of mine. I managed to refrain from putting full blown oprea on here. You're welcome. I'm not sure exactly where I would have gone if I *had* decided to put opera on here. But, it's not an impossibility or something I wouldn't do, or haven't done, for other character playlists in the past. XD

[orangepanic]

50 Random Character Asks: Asami Sato

You're lucky I love her.

1. Canon I outright reject

That she and Korra are soulmates. I think that was in a comic? Anyway no, after a few months of trying out a relationship in their early 20s they realize they want different things and break up more or less amicably.

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on

Asami is actually bad at stuff! She's not perfect at everything all the time!

3. Obscure headcanon

As fearless and caring as she is Asami is also a bit squeamish and is not great with sick people because she's a sympathy vomiter.

4. Favorite line

"Why would there be fence posts but no fence?" Girl for a genius you were so close.

5. Best personality trait

Selfless without being a doormat.

6. Worst personality trait

Gets angry when she's hurt instead of admitting how she really feels.

7. Age/height/weight headcanon

She's 18-22 in canon, 5'9", 140lbs or thereabouts mostly because she's tall and all muscle.

8. Unpopular opinion about them

She's interesting and loveable all by herself without being Korra's girlfriend. She went four seasons without dating Korra but most of the fandom is only interested in her as part of a pairing that wasn't even in the original material. If you ever look up "facts about Asami" more than half of it is about her dating Korra. It's infuriating. She's a person on her own! I hate that the franchise and the fandom have reduced her to the "and girlfriend" tag along of the main character when she has so much to give just as herself.

9. Scene that first made me love (or hate) the character

Her standing up to her dad in The Aftermath. As someone who also idolized a dad who turned out to be a misguided asshole I can tell you that shit is hard. She should get a medal and a hug.

10. Best moment on screen (or in the book)

I love everything about this.

11. Faceclaim for the role

Arden Cho

12. Crack headcanon

Asami is a slob. She might look put together but her house is a mess and she's always losing stuff amid the jumble of things in her handbag. She grew up with a cleaning service and it shows.

13. Dumbest thing they’ve ever done

Trying to get with Mako again in Book 2. No. What were you thinking? You're so awesome, go find somebody, anybody who isn't the guy who ghost-dumped you for his "friend" six months ago! (eh HEM I even have a suggestion)

14. Most heroic moment

I was going to say standing up to her father in B1 or flying a biplane in combat conditions in B2 or kicking people in the face on top of a moving train or flying a basically untested piece of mecha onto a robot colossus, but I actually think it's this:

It's really hard to forgive someone.

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

Nothing, Asami has never done anything wrong in her life and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.

kissing Mako in B2

16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves

Asami is scared that she won't know how to be a mother when the time comes because she didn't really have one. Her dad mostly had staff to do the childcare parts of being a father but she doesn't want that for her family. Asami does want kids, she's pretty sure, but she never quite knows what to do with them and has no idea how she'll balance that with her own interests and ambitions. She's not interested in a stay at home role and finds herself attracted to people who are also as ambitious and dedicated to their interests as she is. She looks at people like Pema or even Korra who seem like such natural moms and then at people like Lin who are all about their career and doesn't see herself in any of them. Asami is desperate for a role model of a strong career woman with a loving family who can tell her how to have it all. Izumi

17. Quotes, songs, poems, etc. that I associate with them.

18. What they’d go to see a therapist about

Having her mother murdered at home. Having her father and idol try to kill her before being sent to prison for treason for funding and then leading an effort to overthrow the government right under her nose, then being murdered after she decides to try to forgive him and have a relationship again. Always coming in second place after the thing the person she loves loves more than her, and always being relied upon to put her own needs aside for the greater good. Being treated as a hot chick by everyone who meets her but rarely engaged intellectually. Asami Sato, half ATM, half meat slab.

I think Asami needs a lot of therapy tbh.

19. Vices/bad habits

She drinks too much when she's sad.

20. Scars

One on her collarbone from when she broke it riding her motorbike at 16.

21. Drink of choice (not just alcoholic)

I think she'd be into flavored fizzy waters.

22. Best physical feature

Um, all of her? Have you seen this girl? But if you ask her she'd say her hair.

23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?

Lavender and engine oil.

24. Most annoying habit

She chews on the ends of pens whether they're her pens or not.

25. 3 things they’d want to take with them if they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere

Utility knife, a bunch of snacks, duct tape. She'd be fine.

26. What they would do if stuck in an elevator with [insert character of your choice from the same fandom]

It doesn't matter who she's stuck with because she fixes the elevator.

27. Their guilty pleasure

Sneaking chocolate into the spa so she can eat it while soaking in the hot pool.

28. How they feel about [insert character of your choice from the same fandom]

Can't answer this without a victim but Asami generally likes anyone unless they've crossed her, in which case watch the fuck out.

29. Eating habits

Asami cannot cook to save her life but generally tries to keep it healthy, which means a combination of salads, instant soup, and takeout. These are all things she can make. She finds it weird to keep a cook just for herself. Once she's married she happily lets her partner or hired help do the cooking.

30. Sleeping habits

Night owl, heavy sleeper, stomach sleeper under a big pile of blankets. Her partner sometimes checks to make sure she's still breathing.

31. If the had a tumblr what would it look like?

Just pictures of hot cars and the occasional Taylor Swift quote. I think she's more of a gamer geek than a fandom geek.

32. Something guaranteed to make them smile/laugh

Asami's feet are quite ticklish. Tickle her feet and she'll laugh whether she wants to or not.

33. Something guaranteed to make them cry

Being dumped.

34. How they react when they are feeling X emotion (sad, angry, excited, scared, etc.—can specify as many as you like)

For a very social person Asami saves her strongest emotions for more private moments. She gets a big smile and will do group hugs when she's excited but in canon we almost always see her turning away or leaving the room when she's upset or scared rather than seeking comfort. The only exception I think is in book 1 where she opens up to Mako about her mom. So I think if she was in a loving relationship she might get a cuddle if she's sad.

35. Their idea of a perfect day

At the beach with a group of close friends, alternating between swimming, games, and sitting under an umbrella with her sketch pad and a pretty little fruity drink. At some point there are massages. She magically doesn't get sunburned. She ends the day tired and happy and feeling loved and relaxed.

36. Their favorite season

Summer. It's the best season for racing and cute outfits.

37. What they really think about themselves

Asami knows that she's pretty and smart and successful. There's no false modesty there. But sometimes she wonders if that will ever be enough for someone or if there's something wrong with her because she keeps being left behind all the same. It takes a lot of steady unflinching love to get her over that final insecurity.

38. Favorite holiday

All of them! Asami loves holidays and celebrations of all kinds. Especially the ones that come with cookies.

39. Favorite game

Assuming auto racing is not a game, kuai ball. She would have said pai sho but she beats most opponents so fast that the only people she really enjoys playing with are Commander Bumi and General Iroh. She and Bumi have a standing game the first Sunday of the month right up until his death.

40. Favorite book

Asami doesn't have a single favorite book and rarely re-reads, but she's very partial to the kind of edge-of-your-seat gory sci-fi thriller that usually involves a lot of people being eaten. I also peg her as a horror movie fan; the more ridiculous and bloody the better.

41. If they could have lunch with anyone in the world (living or dead, from any fictional universe or the real world), who would it be?

The easy answer is her mom. Barring that, everyone tells her she would have loved Sokka so I think she'd be curious to meet him.

42. 3 comfort items

Warm food, warm blankets, and the smell of her workshop.

43. 3 favorite foods and 3 they despise

Love: sesame sticks, pork and chive dumplings, pistachio ice cream. Despise: Gommu's street gruel, tomato carrots, anything served with the head still on it.

44. Their happiest memory

Asami still vividly remembers her first pro-bending championship game. Her team won and she screamed herself hoarse before going to get victory ice cream with her friends.

45. Their favorite celebrity

Korra

46. The person they most admire

I think she'd really admire female world leaders like Suyin or Firelord Izumi. Maybe even Kuvira up until she decided not to step down.

47. Their dream job

Stock car racer or pro-bender.

48. Scariest moment of their life

Being ejected from the hummingbird suit.

49. Favorite toy as a child

She had a doll named Yina who she took everywhere. Yina wasn't her baby but rather her pretend sister.

50. A memory they’ve blocked out

Asami was home when her mother was killed. She called the police using the number her parents had shown her but she doesn't remember it.

50 Character Asks

[dimaviks]

°•°•° rhysand's son x reader

°•°•° orpheus helps his mate with their heat sm//ut

When Violet Vanserra winnowed to his front door, her cheeks flushed as red as her hair, Orpheus knew something was wrong. With what, he didn't know and he didn't exactly care. Not when he could feel the start of burning in his stomach, the agitation that made him want to throttle everyone. His rut would start within the upcoming days. He tried to find a pretty female. Had hoped that one would smell right. None had. Which, regretfully, meant he'd be spending the entire week locked away in the cool depths of Hewn City while he fisted his knot ruined cock in his hand.

Violet and Orpheus had never gotten along. She was too stubborn and would take the slightest wrong choice of words as an insult. Once that happened, nothing could be done to change her opinion of you. That distrust in her eyes, red bangs freshly trimmed to keep from falling in them, as she hesitated to tell him what she wanted at this hour had nearly sent him slamming the door in her face.

"Leave," He sneered before adding, "Do they know you've returned?"

Violet left the second she reached age of majority and never looked back. Their family had never gotten over it entirely. Had she not been mated to the now King of Vallahan, she would be right here in Velaris. There was no gentle pushing from Elain, no forceful pushing from Morrigan, who'd remembered the kind of male that Evander had been whilst she was an emissary.

She doesn't answer that. They both know what he really wants to ask. They both know that he won't. He wouldn't let Violet know he thought about his mate — and Violet had no intention of telling him anything about you.

"Y/n needs you," She speaks slowly, hoping for him to catch on. It does nothing but send heat curling in his throat. He swallows the irritation. The bond had been silent. Though, that could've been distance. It could've been lots of things. He can't help the stilling, how he curls his fingers, "What happened to her?"

Violet shifted on her feet, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that no one could hear. "I think she started her heat,"

Now, Orpheus truly laughed. Cursed or blessed by the Cauldron, Orpheus still wasn't sure, you were human. Humans didn't have heats. Humans didn't feel the mating bond like fae had, either. If the news of your heat was true, it would open all sorts of questions. He wondered what it would mean for the future if more bonds had come about, if human women could experience heats.

There was nothing better than knotting a female. He'd been compatible, once, and spent it with two fae — Arden and Marcella. The fact alone was he was wallowing in his own misery. They were on the other side of the city, waiting for his anger to break. It would, one day. It just wasn't today. It wasn't today. It wouldn't be this year, either.

Not even this decade.

"She's human,"

"But you aren't. Before I came here, I stopped by Dawn. There's a Seraphim there that mated with a human during the war. He—He said that the magic would trigger it, that it would be torturous for the woman to go through. The magic can't sort it out the right way. The only way to get it to stop is by her mate helping her through it,"

Bad news for him. He tried to ignore you just as much as you ignored him. Meddling as always, his father routinely sent him to Vallahan. One of the only humans, Violet nearly kept you under lock and key. It was an arrangement neither of you seemed to mind. "The mating bond is a wonderful thing, Orpheus. She's human, why waste time? You're too foolish to see it now." Rhysand shrugged after Orpheus had snapped at him.

He figured that Rhysand was currently looking for a way to make you immortal, to fix some long forgotten mistake he had made. Maybe, he was attempting to help him find some peace. While each of the Inner Circle that had been alive during the War with Hybern had recovered, Orpheus hadn't. Things had been good between them for a while. Until the day peace was declared and Orpheus disappeared into the vicious Hewn City to establish residency and rule, taking the mountain from Kier.

That, too, was something Rhysand hadn't fought.

Orpheus spent the first nineteen years of his life under that mountain. He had been denied a loving childhood, the ability to fly if he ever attempted to form some wings, and a decent mother and father. Rhysand would be damned if he failed him again.

Which, in the grand scheme of things, did not help matters in the slightest. Not as Orpheus had been allowed to run wild. Hosting orgies after orgies, turning the throne room of Hewn City practically into a night club.

If he were human, and females could easily reproduce, he was sure that he might have a few bastards down here. Alas, he made sure they drank the tonic.

He could feel the air shift, his scent change. The full force of his rut would hit him. If only out of being difficult, he nearly said no. It would be torturous for him, too, no doubt, but he could handle it.

It was the thought of you, nearly insane from lack of touch, as your body burned and cramped so fierce that you weren't sure you'd survive it.

And then he thought of your body beneath him, fucking you as hard as he could. He'd make you keep your eyes on his, would chart down your every reaction. "Take me to her," he says. One and done. He would help you through this, would know what it's like for him to have you, and then he was going to let you go. He would go hide out in Day for a couple decades until you were dead and he would be free.

That thought alone left his heart beating angrily in his chest.

Maybe he would go to Day.

Maybe he'd take you with him. The beaches there were beautiful. So were the homes along the coastline. Perfect for a fam—

He wouldn't let himself finish that thought.

This was his rut speaking.

But, at the same time, no thought had ever been so clear, had seemed so right.

He hadn't ever put much thought into what your bedroom looked like. He tried not to think of you most days. Which, just led to it being all he thought about. Green decorated the room, on blankets and painted walls. Against his will, he felt himself soften at the way your fingers curled into the sheets, teeth digging into a pillow. Your body trembled and shook.

"Y/n," He said simply. You turned to look at him, eyes wide and shining with tears. There was a bit of fear there, too. Not at him — the only relief towards him had been hope, relief, and joy. His heart warmed in his chest — but at the uncertainty of it all. With Marcella, and other fae, the heat was enjoyable. At least after it got started. She hadn't had full clarity, hadn't even really remembered any of it. Neither had he. Just the flashes of Arden fucking her ass while he drove into her pussy until she was a mess. Then, he thought of you, sitting on Arden's face while he licked at you, your fingers tugging on his hair. As wicked as Arden could be to both Orpheus and Marcella, he was likely to have you edged for hours, his tongue, cock, and fingers keeping you on the brink for hours.

The more primal part of him had wanted you to himself.

"It hurts," You murmured, voice muffled by a pillow. Shyly, face burning a bright red, you said, "Vi said you could help me," Orpheus guessed that was as close as he would get to you saying the words.

He didn't think you would be like the others, on their knees with their mouths open. There was a level of shame and shyness on your face as you rolled onto your back, throwing the blankets off your body. The material was thin and sheer, likely put on by you to wade off some of the unnatural heat coming off your skin.

His voice doesn't sound like his own, "I can,"

There's only a nod from you, your body relaxing as he shed himself of his clothes until he was standing bare. He usually tried to drag this part out, would have them ride his clothed thigh until they came. Your thighs parted immediately, letting him rest between then. Your hands ran over his chest, through his hair, pulled you closer to him as you kissed whatever you could reach. Light kisses ghosted his ribs, chest, shoulders, arms, and neck. Orpheus shuttered. He nearly came on the outside of your pussy.

His cock was red and hard, his instincts riding him harder than ever before. His hands curl around your hips, jerking you towards him. No panties, no bra. He pulled the dress over your head, caging your body in his as he kissed you gently. He'd thought about this moment more times than he could count. He takes one of your nipples into his mouth.

Nothing compared to it.

His fingers found your pussy, knuckles and fingers sliding between your lips. You bucked into him, would've ground against him if his body weight wasn't keeping you pinned to the bed. What burned and ached before was gone, settled by peace down to your bones. You let him straddle you, eyes closed and a soft smile on your lips. "I didn't think you'd come," Your eyes flickered open, finding him. His hands kneaded the flesh of your stomach, right above your womb. His hands are warm and he remains silent, considering what to say. He means for it to be a snide remark, meant to tell you that this would be the last and only time this happened. Later, after he made it home and your touch is long burned into his memory, he denies ever saying it, "I'll always come for you,"

Orpheus was not the kind of male to make those promises. He was not the kind of male that kept defenseless humans safe. Sounding like his father, he thinks, That's not a human. That is your mate.

To fae, the mating bond was capable of turning humans into things they worshipped. Day by day, the bond convoluted his thoughts, had made him more sympathetic to your delicate human nature.

Orpheus gasped when you sunk your teeth into his shoulder. His spell had been broken, turned back to the present with a need to fuck you go strong he thought he might just curl over and die.

He pulled his fingers out of your pussy, lining up his cock. Prepared well, there was no resistance. Not as you tightened and clamped around him. Not as he bred you, as he knotted you. He made promises against your flesh, you made your own as he ripped orgasm after orgasm out of you. He healed and broke you, loved you and ruined you. Time ceased to move. For six days, it had gone on, Orpheus fucking his come into you for hours before bringing you food and drink. It had been fun and wonderful and then it was over.

Returning home on the seventh morning, he was met by his father. He opened his mouth several times, not quite finding the words. Never had he seen his father like that. Only, when it came to you. Orpheus interrupts him, "Could Azriel get her out?"

His eyebrow lifts. "You want to steal Y/n from Vallahan?" For Violet, Evander would go to war. Orpheus wasn't sure of what kind of friendship stood between you and the king but as her best, and closest friend, Evander wouldn't just let him take you. Part of the reason you were still thousands of miles away from him. Had it been the Night Court's choice, you would've ended up there the night the bond clicked. Part of the reason Violet wasn't around. Unless a valued member of the Inner Circle, your thoughts and feelings weren't always taken into account.

Scared of the world since the war, you were more than content to spend the rest of your life in Evander and Violet's private wing of the castle.

"Yes. She's my mate. Why shouldn't she live with me?"

Selfishness was a trait clearly inherited. Something akin to pride shone in Rhysand's eyes. "I'll give the order in the morning,"

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Chapter 13 - My Most Precious Treasure

"FIRE!!!" the wails from the residents of the Violet Wolf dormitory resounded through the whole courtyard, as dark smoke and blazing fire was slowly but surely beginning to engulf the place.

"Everyone, seek refuge outside!" Cheslock guided the students. "Hurry!"

"Sebastian, find Derek!" Ciel ordered his demon butler as the two were hiding away and watching the chaos unfold before their very eyes. "Did he come out?" Ciel watched the tens and hundreds of students of all ages rush out in waves, but to no avail.

"Not yet." the demon informed, also surprised at the missing student.

"Room leaders, do a roll-call and report to the prefect!" they could hear the instruction from up the hill.

"Violet - Raymond is missing!" Cheslock and Violet shared a look of terror, looking at the terrifying flames before rushing inside the house.

"VIOLET! CHESLOCK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET BACK HERE - IT'S DANGEROUS!" Ciel gasped at what he heard - Why hadn't Katrina left already?

"Sebastian, go save her!" the boy ordered, only to see the three students manage to stumble out of the burning building, covered in soot and ashes. Though Ciel couldn't see well the small figures, the demon could - Katrina was struggling to breathe, coughing  desperately and stumbling on her feet.

"I can't... I can't... Breathe..." he could see her small form falling to the ground in violent fits of coughs, before blood emerged from her mouth - He wasn't sure if it was caused by the smoke inhalation and she had a respiratory problem, or it only worsened her mysterious underlying condition that made her vomit blood once getting hit during cricket. Either way, she was in a bad shape. 

"Hang in there. Come on, look at me. Easy. Try to breathe - Slow and steady." Violet cupped her face trying to even her erratic breathing while Cheslock tried to shield them away from the public eye, putting his coat over the lady. 

"You have to get better. We can't get you to do the doctors unless you want them to tell on you for being a lady." the fag reminded her, taking a ribbon out to tie away her gorgeous and long hair that was getting in the way like a crimson cascade of flames.

"I-I'm good. I'm... I'm good. Thanks, you two." once her breathing got a little better, she struggled to get up. Aided by the two, they went to a safer place, continuing to keep her away from the other students.

With Violet confirming that everyone was present and accounted for, Ciel realised that Derek Arden, nor the other transfer students, were ever inside the Purple House to begin with. What's more, he watched the other Prefects and Fags gather around Violet and Cheslock, fussing over them, and over the lady especially, and trying to make sure everything was alright.  With the way they were shushing around, the P4 were definitely hiding something important about the people of concern.

Thanks to the common effort of the four Houses working together, and Michaelis using Soma's elephant, they were able to put out the fire in record time. Though Violet desperately tried to keep them from getting inside the house, Prince Soma gave a rather impressive speech about protecting people over keeping your pride. How very interesting, Katrina thought, keeping the coat tightly around her body. She wish she could help, but she feared she would actually get dizzy and faint from the smoke and effort... So she just... Sat down on the grass and watched the flames unfolding.

She knew who did this. It was no doubt about it. No incident like this ever happened to Weston. It was the Dog's hand.

With a few days passing, Ciel realised there was no way to find anything through the students, and Sebastian mentioned Katrina's off-comment about not being able to find Derek; So the only way of solving this mystery was by meeting the principal - And the only way of doing so was by being so intriguing that the principal would choose him for the Midnight party. He did want to win the tournament, yes, though he was well aware not only was he in terrible physical condition compared to the Green and Red houses, but so were the rest of the Sapphire Owl students. No matter - He was going to use his cunning to win not only the Cricket tournament, but the principal's favour also.

And thus, June 3rd came by, and it was time for the first day of the event, which was sort of a formal ball. When she was little, her brother had her attend these balls with Edgar and the Viscount - And once Edgar was accepted into Weston, she would attend as his partner. Now, however, she was a part of the House of Weirdos, and had a lot of fun dressing up, doing her make up and taking care of all the special effects, the purple smoke and what not.

Come evening, the Large dining hall was packed to the brim with people, all of them acquaintances or relatives of the very many students attending the courses of the prestigious Weston College. "I'm sorry to disturb your talk. Everyone - I welcome you to the opening ceremony of the traditional 4th of June Cricket Tournament." began the vice-president's speech. I am glad we are able to open the tournament safely again this year. Please enjoy this night-before-feast." everyone was waiting for this event more than anything in their entire life. "Now then! Will the dormitory's presenting players come forward!!" Agares called out loudly.

The rumbling of the dining hall seemed to get people cheering excitedly, knowing very well that the Green Lion house was going to present themselves. "They never let any of the other dorms overtake them in overwhelming physical ability or team effort!" the Vice-President called out the Green House, and the disciplined players, all garbed in knight-like armor and weapons pranced forward in a military position. "TOP OF THE WORLD - GREEN LION!" all of them had hard and stern expressions on their faces; Greenhill held the flamed torch of the Lions, whilst Edward, right behind, held the flag. 

Suddenly, it started flowing around with red rose petals, and people started cheering for the most beautiful and elegant House. "They charm the visitors with their beautiful play." all of them wore regal outfits fitting for kings, expensive furs, heavy gold and royal velvets, all of them holding rose. "BRILLIANT EDEN - SCARLET FOX!" Edgar was holding the ornate three-armed chandelier, while little Harcourt was bearing the stindard. All the ladies were swooning over their grace and gallancy.

The lights turned off, frightening everyone to the core. Purple smoke filled the room like a mystical miasma, and spots of purple fire announced the appearance of the eccentric artists of the purple house. "They confuse their opponents with their unforeseeable tricky play." so tricky, in fact, that they didn't even use the door to enter the dining hall. All of them had heavy, dark make up and their nails painted dark and purple, their faces white like ghost, emulating the deathly look of a necromantic hermit. "GHOST LEGION - VIOLET WOLF!" Violet was leading, holding a wolf-skull staff holding a purple-fire lantern in its maw; Cheslock was holding the flag, and Katrina's own staff was flowing the violet miasma of death into the room, and she, with the rest of the players, with their hoods up, were cackling creepily for the added horror effect.

With the lights being lit up again, the hall was filled with the gentle hoots of the owl flying around, announcing the presence of the last House. "They aim for an opening to win with their game-making strategies." looking like the most illustrious scholars, the Sapphire Owl players stepped forward, raising their elbows up so the birds would perch up on their arms. "GOD ONLY KNOWS - SAPPHIRE OWL!" though they mostly looked the same, Bluewer was holding the beautiful lantern with the golden owl handle, with Clayton carrying the flag of their house. Unfortunately, nobody really cared for the ultimate loser team.

The four Prefect went to the goblet. "Light the flame of Saint George!" exclaimed the vice-principal.

"All of us, players-" Herman began.

"Vow to keep..." Lawrence continued.

"To the tradition of Weston College..." Edgar went on.

"And fight fair and square until the end." finished Gregory. Together, they lit up the large Goblet of Fire, beginning the competition. "With this I declare the 1889 school year's dormitory Cricket Tournament open!!"

As the Vice-Principal ended his speech, he fell down the stairs, bloodying himself. Katrina eyed him suspiciously - She always did think there was something wrong with him. She was sure Herman killed him - So how the hell was he alive? Her only suspicion was that, when Edgar went to Aleister for help, he used Agares as some kind of Bizarre Doll experiment; But if that were the case, why is he different than those undead freaks on Campania? Moreover, he has been around the College for quite a while, and she doesn't remember the Undertaker ever working on his corpse before. But if Agares was actually a Bizarre Doll... Was Derek Arden in the same state?

Everything around the Dining Hall was quite the mess, with the Wolves keeping to themselves, Bluewer being the center of attention thanks to his seven sisters, Herman telling everyone to take care and be strong, and Edgar and Aleister being as charming as ever. Prince Soma also became one of the Red House's most important and talented player, and Kat had to admit, the boy was in perfect physical shape and had his whole life to have fun and practice cricket, which was his favourite sport. It was going to be a tough game against the Scarlet Fox.

With not much to do, Katrina went over to the group and took her hood off, smiling casually with a casual peace sign. It was now clear, with Sebastian also there, that the Lady was also there on some kind of official business - Though it did take a bit of effort to stop Lizzy from squealing in glee at seeing her friend - Yet she wasn't happy with her clothes. So uncute.

Thanks to Lizzy's dad, they were told the story of the Blue Miracle, the only time in very long that the Blue House actually won the tournament - the Marquis was Diedrich's Fag at the time, in Green Lion - And Diedrich was always so angry with Vincent and his carefree nature, so much so that Phantomhive baited him into making a deal over who wins the tournament; Thus, the German gentleman became Vincent's Fag for life. Hilarious story.

"We will now decide the competition roster by drawing lots." Agares threw four cards into a hat, calling the four Dormitory Supervisors forward. Without a doubt, the matches were going to go exactly at Ciels wants, judging by that smile on the demon's face.

And that was how, Scarlet Fox and Sapphire Owl were going to fight in the first round, with Violet Wolf and Green Lion in the second. It was going to be a lot of fun, Kat thought to herself, leaning on her staff. The smoke already depleted. "Good luck, everyone. And have fun~." with one last smile, Kat threw her hood back one, playing around like an old hermit and returning to her House.

"Good luck, pretty boy." Kat sneaked a quick peck on Edgar's cheek before they went to his team. By now, even Soma new who she was - And though he often mistakes her name, they manage through somehow. Everyone got used to her being mistaken for a girl. Shocker.

"We don't need luck, Ka-- Uhm, Adrian!" Soma grinned confidently. "We've got it in the bag!"

"Glad to hear!" she gave them a thumbs up. "I still don't fully get this game - But it's fun at least."

Without hindering them any further, Kat went to her team, watching the game unfold. The coinflip decided the Red House will bat first, and the Blue house wears the vest. Each match comprises of 2 innings and 20 overs.

Scarlet Fox chose the Prince, or rather, the Elephant King as they call him, to throw the ball first; Kat couldn't help but gasp in admiration as Soma's throw was fantastically powerful and fast - What a lad! Poor Bluewer couldn't even see the ball, let alone hit it.  Soma's next ball was hit up into the air by Clayton, only to be leisurely caught by Redmond. "Nice fly~💖." two out.  The third hit also ended in a run out. It was quite tragic to watch, even for someone like Kat, who never bothered understanding the rules properly. The Blue House players were going out hella fast.

With 10 overs, the Blue house was barely able to score 21 points overall. 

Finally, it was Edgar's time to play. Kat was always mesmerised by his beauty, and how he could play a sport so well while maintaining his natural elegance; And now, with his hair neatly tied up in a high ponytail, she couldn't help but blush softly and smile at the young man with the half-unbuttoned shirt, showing his charm off. Edgar and Soma were Scarlet Fox's greatest assets. She wondered how Ciel was going to scheme a win. 

Despite the Blue House's meekly thrown ball, Edgar understood the strategy and took an unusual stance - He twirled into a Crimson Tornado technique, looking as though he's dancing and scoring a Boundary 6. Gorgeous as always.  Somewhere a little behind the stance, Kat noticed a crowd, and realising what was going on, she had to stifle a laugh; Law was there with all his pretty ladies, and entertaining his Gambling booth. Business-orientated as always. 

10 Runs, 3 Wickets. Blue still had 21 points, and Red 80. And thus, the 2-hours break commenced. As a member and player of the Purple House, she wasn't allowed to collude with the other dormitory lounge spaces, so she just lazied around, watching Violet sketch something in his sketchbook and leaning her head on his shoulder while humming absent-mindedly a tune.

The bottom half of the 2nd innings began, and Harcourt and Phantomhive were facing each other in an amical game. With Joanne being the bowler, he threw a spin-ball that surprised Ciel, unable to predict any of his throws --

Until all Scarlet Fox players, save Soma, fell to the ground, in deep agony, complaining of deep stomach pain. That evil little brat filled the meat pie with super strong laxatives. Due to Scarlet Fox's inability to continue the match, it was considered a forfeit, and the Sapphire Owl won. 

Thus, while some enjoyed the break, others went to watch the interesting match between the Wolves and the Lions. Of course, nobody expected the artsy people to defeat those powerhouses. With nothing to do for the moment, Sebastian watched the match with amusement. Katrina had her hair up in a similar style as her fiance's, and she only wore a white shirt, with two buttons undone, and her sleeves up. Clearly, she had no care in the world and was crouching about with Violet while Cheslock was doing his absolute best scoring points with his Purple Burnout powermove.

At the same time though, despite not quite knowing the rules, she wanted to play - It was a game, wasn't it? And games with no stakes were supposed to be fun. Her throws were weaker but with a spin to them, the way Chelock though her, as a fellow musician; Her bat was much better, at least; Though it couldn't quite compare to Herman's paddling, she thought she did pretty damn well for herself, scoring points for her team.

Her forte was sprinting though, and she was pride in her ability to run - Though her endurance was lacking, especially after getting injured, her short-distance sprints were still top notch, and she would slide to the ground with such grace and ease that it earned cheers from the ladies watching. It only amused the Lady, who decided to show off a little, winking at them and what not, just about what Edgar usually does.

Yet what was supposed to be a fun and dandy game almost sent her into the grave, for she ended up being a ball catcher when Herman was the batter. Him, a step in the back, and she, a step in the front. With the impossible strength of his, he did a spin, hit, and in its, wake, when Kat tried to shield herself from the imminent impact, she ended up getting hit in the stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs. "D-Damn." Greenhill looked at the woman spitting blood on the ground, all because of his monstrous force and focus on the game. He knows Violet warned him this happened before during practice, but that was from over-exertion, not from getting blunt trauma and shock to such a sensitive area of the body.

The Violet Wolf house flocked around her as she struggled to get up on her knees and catch her breathing. "Wh-When are you going to stop being so strong, Herman." she chuckled lightly, only to cough a little more blood.

"Get on the bleachers. You're out." Violet helped drag her up, only to see that stupidly bright grin of hers. This girl was damn trouble.

"Thanks for the concern, but I'm fine!" she used the handkerchief in her pants pocket to wipe away the blood from her hands and chin. "Greenhill, don't worry about me, really, I'm fine!" she also turned to the worried Green Lion Prefect - She knew he would be eaten away with guilt for injuring anyone. "Let's finish this in grand style!" she winked at the Prefect, who didn't need to be told what she meant. Stupid girl doing reckless things.

"Stop sparkling, dumbass."

And true to their words, by the time the match was over, the two managed to tassle the grass under their feet so well, that the most beautiful Violet Wolf was displayed for all to see. This was the Purple House's true win.

With their game ending in 120 points for the Purple House and 213 for the Green one, it was finally time for a short break before the Grand Finale begun. This time, she joined Ciel's gang in cheering for the boy.

First, the Blue House took the Offense - And Sebastian cheered on them by conducting an orchestra. It was peculiar, yes - But Kat realised what he was doing as soon as she realised the batters had their eyes closed. They were following the beat of the music. How shrewd, Ciel truly is a force to be reckoned with when he wants to - Which only means, he truly wants that Midnight Party invitation to meet with the principal. Bad news, because at this rate, the Blue Miracle will be passed on from Father to Son.

From the Green House, only Edward picked up on the witty music trick - And he didn't want to ruin Greenhill's innocent trust in people. Instead, decided to go forward with the next throw and thwart Phantomhive's strategy. With perfect precision, Edward managed to imitate Cheslock's Purple Burnout move, earning a Bowl out. He had to work very hard to achieve everything he did - He was an ordinary person, surrounded by true geniuses, beginning with his little sister who was a Fencing genius, and continuing with the Prefects of Weston - He had enough people to look up to and learn from; It wasn't jealousy, but respect and admiration, and through hardwork and determination, Edward became the very thing that he always dreamt of being. A true genius. 

"Great job, Edward!" Katrina found herself cheering on him, earning a sheepish smile from the boy who was very proud of himself.

Another peculiar thing happened, with Sebastian running away in the middle of the match - What was her after, being in such a rush? She couldn't understand that far. Did he see something? Was it another one of Ciel's orders for a new trick? She couldn't tell.  

With 10 outs and 3 wickets, the Blue side had 60 points, and they had to change sides - All of a sudden, the Green hitters seemed to be slacking off big time - Why? How did they get weakened like that, all of a sudden? Even Edward fumbled - Were they getting strained and emotional? Following Edward's gaze, she realised why his face was beet red. Lau was casually sitting on the ground, Ran Mao on his lap, and around them, gorgeous ladies wearing the shortest Cheongsam dresses that barely reached low enough to cover their behinds - Flawless beauty, big bossoms, long legs, sultry smiles and enticing poses - Katrina was pretty sure this devilish plot was Sebastian's doing; She doubted Ciel was able to think that something like this would work on the Green Lions, but... With how sheltered their life is, it's no surprise, truly. Even she found herself heavily distracted by those beautiful ladies, she could understand those poor men. Undoubtly they were all... Heavily inexperienced.

But to think this strategy worked the best of Herman - Shocking, but also hilarious. If Undertaker were here, a volcano might have erupted from his laughter. Unfortunately, the Chinese group was kicked from the arena for wearing indecent clothes, and the score became 60-52.

With the start of the second round, Bluewer held the paddle, only to be criticised for holding it with a reverse grip. Interesting strategy, it seemed to be a defensive one, in Kat's mind. Protecting the wicket with the bat entirely, without swinging it. It was a strategy that would only work on the Green house, who threw balls at the maximum amount on power, thus, it would ricochet nicely. The sword in the stone. How witty. Clayton and the others, with the same technique, managed to score 105 points until the 10 overs, when they had to change sides. Very effective strategies, what a smart brat. 

105-52 in Blue's advantage, and there was only Green's offense left. What will happen now, she wondered. In no time, the Green House got 8 over and 6 out - There were only 2 Overs left until the end of the game, and the Lions were heavily gaining on them, upping their game until the score almost evened, with 105-92.

Kat was excited to see Ciel bowling, and with a smirk, he made a signal, and the outfield crowded around the batsman. Ciel threw a slow ball, but it surprised the hitter as it hit the ground, and then up at his face - Instinctively, he shielded himself, and the ball ricocheted down, into Clayton's hands. Unfortunately, it was considered a Dot and had to be redone. Again and again, until people started complaining that his strategy was cheating, and not fair in Cricket. Even the audience started booing, only for Herman, with his loud, booming voice, to silence everyone. 

"I won't have you lot booing during our sacred match!" his authoritarian voice made everyone shiver. "And Phantomhive, unfair? Can you all see this?" Greenhill grabbed Ciel's wrist, showing off his battered had, all bruised and injured from his excessive hard work. "This hand tells us everything - About his efforts, his commitment. Precisely throwing towards the batsman's face - Saying it is easy, but doing it is hard. He must have done some heavy training to get this far. That small boy from the physically weak Blue House would come this far - Do you understand what that means?!" Kat couldn't help but grin in joy and admiration. "The owl came to hunt the lion in earnest!" he declared, letting go of Ciel. "Is Green House so frail that we would lose over one simple trap?" no sir, his teammates shouted. "Then let's give it our all and smash them!" yes, sir! Even Kat felt motivated by his speech. "I'm glad I can see you go all out before graduating, Bluewer!" Herman smiled at his friend.

"Thank you... Me too, Greenhill." Lawrence smiled, blushing softly at the respect he was given.

With the Green paddlers thinking Ciel would use the same strategy, he surprised them with an offside low ball - Such a nasty Cliff tactic - If you defend, it'll be caught, and if you attack, it'll be bowled. Wonderful, little man. Wonderful indeed. Ciel kept them scoreless and got two out - There was only one bowl left, against Edward, who scored 6 points. Ciel managed to keep the score at 105-97, it was incredibly. "Well done, Phantomhive. Leave the rest to me." Lawrence pat Ciel on the head like he was his little brother, before rolling up his sleeves. With incredible determination and a ton of practice to back him up, Bluewer threw the ball straight up into the sky, away from anyone's sight. Ciel truly motivated him to do his best - After only tasting last place in the tournament, it was Ciel, someone younger and significantly weaker than him, who showed him that even grail bookworms can win, if they're smart enough and prepare their strategies well and in advance. Ciel's strategy, his determination, his amazing studying skills, his analysis, his tactics, his tireless energy and hard work, all by a child - Bluewer had to step up, as the Prefect of Sapphire Owl, and prove that even his House can win. Even he wants to win, after all!

Thanks to his perfect schemes and calculations, the ball he threw out of sight ended up falling perfectly down, on the wickets, shocking everyone. He was really cool, that Law! The hunter in the dark - The Sapphire Owl, Lawrence Bluewer! What a man!

But the last batter was Greenhill, and that was a huge problem. Even against Bluewer's amazing throw, he managed to score a Boundary 6, and now the score is almost even, with 105-103. This musclehead who only ever knew sports was using that paddle as if it was a sword, or a claymore, above his head - Just like how Undertaker managed to stab Sebastian that night. Herman's Sword Excalibur was undefeated. 

With one last team-encouraging, Bluewer and Greenhill both engaged in their secret techniques - Yet, once again, Herman's strength and positioning ended up injuring another player, that being, Ciel got a paddle to the head that slammed him onto the ground. While the players were running around to continue the game, Herman tried to check on Ciel - Only to see him crawling to the ball and throwing it into the wickets, making them fall. 

Blue House won by a single point. The Blue Miracle returned and everyone cheered, especially the Owls and everyone supporting them.  As Ciel was being thrown in the air by his team, Michaelis came out of nowhere, rescuing him. He did miss quite a lot of the match. The boy was in a tragic medical condition, but his butler was going to rescue him, clearly. With very, very great care... To sting. Not even in his room, was he safe from the congratulatory party - But it was fine. He was all free now, and Sebastian was getting a great lough out of it. 

The main event of the Cricket Tournament was the winner's boat parade, for the Queen to see. As nobody was actually going to pay attention to one member of the Violet Wolves missing, Kat ran back at the dormitory and changed into a pretty dress, wiping off the make up and letting her hair flow in pretty waves of fire.

As the losing teams lit up paper lanterns in Saint George's name, Kat couldn't help but smile at the magnificent display of colours, the dark night illuminated by so many pretty colours, and... Those poor Owls, falling into the water, as they couldn't keep their balance. They didn't think they could actually win, so nobody rehearsed for the parade even a single time. It was adorable. And everyone seemed to be wearing smiles on their faces. 

A single tear went down her face, looking up into the sky and seeing the gorgeous display of fireworks. She wanted to share this moment with someone dear - At this single moment, not only war Kat's heart bursting with mirth, but also... Everyone was dear to her. However, someone touched her hand, intertwining his fingers with her own. Edgar Redmond, her fiance, was smiling down at her. Bewitched by the magical moment, Kat let the moment flow as it wished, becoming malleable, prey to his own emotions. "You are gorgeous as always, honey." with a tender smile, full of love, the blond boy gently cupped her face, looking with adoration into her sparkling green eyes, just like two precious gems. "I'm always happiest when I see you smile." he said, sharing their first true kiss. "I can't wait to finally marry you."

"Yeah..." she breathed out, enchanted by his gallancy. "I am also excited to be your wife." she confessed, whispering against his lips, placing her hands over his own, and leaning in to kiss the inside of his wrist. 

Throughout the night, at the festival, everyone had fun with everyone - And Kat danced with just about everyone, including Soma and Lawrence, Herman, Ciel, Cheslok, Joanne and Clayton. She danced with Bard and Finny, even with Lizzy and Mey-Rin; With Edward also, though he was a little awkward, poor dear. At the end, she finally managed to coerce her Prefect into dancing with her, to which he reluctantly agreed. Grumpy boy. Yet not once did she have the time to dance with Sebastian - Not that she could, considering how she had so much fun with everyone around.

Thanks to a coat and being about the last to leave, Kat managed to sneak inside the Purple House without much trouble - Only to be shocked at what she saw on her bed. "They say that when a beautiful flower blooms under the moon at midnight, they'll come for you." Violet grumbled softly. "You've been chosen to attend the Midnight Party." shit.

"I suppose I have to change back." Kat sighed - Somehow, she knew there was something bad going on in the middle of this mess.

Regardless, come midnight, Katrina was dressed in her uniform, her make up done worthy of the most eccentric house, and she followed the Prefect and the Fag to the meeting room. Soon, Bluewer came over with Ciel. The two shared a look - Yes, this Midnight Party was going to be huge trouble. "Welcome, Phantomhive, to the elegant -" Edgar began the introduction.

"Traditional." Bluewer said.

"High class." Herman continued.

"Bizarre." Violet ended.

"Midnight Tea Party." was it too late to run away?

She knew very well, only a student was supposed to be chosen, yet there she was also. Ciel deserved to be here. Why did the principal choose her? Was it to expel her before she could graduate? Or did he know about the Derek situation? At the long table, Ciel on the opposite ends with the Principal, the Prefects and Katrina on one side, with the Fag on the other. The Vice-Principal was standing by the principal's side. They were supposed to raise their tea cups and toast - But Ciel stopped it all. He was dead serious and not beating around the bush anymore. There it goes.

"There's something worrying me. It's about Derek Arden and his friends." he said. "I can't toast until I've met them." one side of the table was tense, while the other was simply confused. "Mr. Principal, will you hear my story?" though rude, Ciel incurred the 15th rule, about sharing your heart with your friends, and Bluewer was rendered silent.

Derek Arden, Greenson, Hardy, Isaac, Thewlis - None returned home, he said. He said he was told to persuade them to go home, but wasn't able to meet them. They transferred to the Purple house, but during the fire, they weren't there. He was pointing out Violet's choice of words, saying everyone was safe - But Derek and the rest weren't present. Was it deliberate, or a mistake?

"Violet was concerned for my well being. He ran to rescue me from the fire and took care of me despite my bad health. It is not easy for someone to care for another who can't breathe properly and is coughing copious amounts of blood." Katrina tried to defend Gregory, who just looked down, silent and afraid. 

"I would rather say - They weren't in the Purple House at all. Five people have disappeared from a strictly supervised public school - This is obviously quite strange!" clearly, the principal-excuse can't work anymore. "There's a big chance that they've become involved in some large incident. Mr. Principal, I'd like you to call in the Yard!"

"That will not be necessary." Agares cut him off, pointing behind him. "That's because - They are right here. Look." 

As if on cue, the door opened, and Derek Arden, looking very much alive, stepped in front of them, wearing the Violet Wolf sigil and the Midnight Tea Party flower. "The tea smells really good." he spoke, making Kat raise to her feet as well - She looked in horror at the young man who was approaching her, though his eyes were empty, devoid of any emotion. And worst of all, he was stinking. It wasn't a strong odor, but for someone like Kat who was so used to the faint perfume of death, she knew. "Ciel." Kat whimpered. "He's dead." she gulped, and in an act of counter-initiative, she threw herself at the table to grab a knife just as Derek's corpse grabbed her and sunk his teeth into her shoulder. "Die already!" she slammed the knife deep into his head, throwing him off and clinging on her shoulder. "He's a freak like those corpses on Campania. Look." everything had to be revealed now, it was no turning back. She knew it was all over, so she grabbed Arden's head, showing the autopsy scar on his forehead, as Ciel called Sebastian immediately. 

"Are you okay?!" they tried to approach her, but she stopped them, keeping her hand over her bleeding shoulder.

"I'm fine. I stopped him before he could actually munch on me." she grumbled, looking at the concerned look of Sebastian. He could practically smell the guilt and bitterness radiating from her.

Ciel explained that Michaelis was actually his butler, and he got into Weston to find out what happened to Derek and the rest. He pointed his gun at the principal, who hadn't moved a single inch.

"Spit it out! What did you do to Derek?"

"I killed him." Kat rose her head, releasing her hair from the ribbon. "I killed him, when the year started."

"You killed him?" Ciel's eyebrow rose, not believing her.

"Yes. It was my fault. I instigated everyone's death, and all this mess started with me." she huffed, leaning back on the wall. "Why do you think I didn't want to tell you anything? I would have incriminated myself. I already have few months left to live - Do you think I wanted to spend all that in jail, with the Queen's hatred?" 

"It wasn't your fault." Edgar spoke stepping next to her. "Derek was my fag. I should have seen what he was doing. It was my fault for not solving the issue sooner - Just like with Cole."

"And I should have noticed that the abuse inflicted on students of my own house." Violet also came to her defense. 

"In the end, it was I who killed him - Because we wanted to protect." Herman sighed, looking down in shame. "The Saint that symbolises the school, Saint George - He defeated a dragon to protect the country."

"In other words, if you don't cut it off from the source, you won't be able to run from disaster. We obeyed those teachings." Bluewer continued his explanation.

"That's why we set out to kill Derek."

There was no other choice. The Prefects explained the whole murder plot and how Edgar, as Kat suspected, made contact with Druitt's associate. The Aurora Society. "I see, now everything falls in place." Sebastian grinned devilishly.

"You got it too, didn't you?" the woman looked at the demon, who only grinned. She sighed, taking the locket chain attacked to her belt, clenching her grip around it. "I, also wondered - Why would someone bother to claim they care so, so much for you. Offer you a chance to live, a shelter, take you under their wing, care for you, teach you their craft, become their most trusted person, offer countless opportunities of all kinds..." she stepped right next to the principal. "Only to end up betraying and abandoning them on the streets, homeless, alone, and without any money and support." she hissed angrily at him. "You really are the worst of the worst, breaking my heart like that, you know?" she slapped his stupid hat off, revealing his silver hair gracefully reflecting into the moonlight. "Adrian Crevan. My namesake. Undertaker."

"Aww, darling, and I really liked this job." the Shinigami grinned wickedly as always. "It was truly pleasant to watch your struggle from the grand tier. You've offered me the best laughs." he giggled lightly. "Hello, Earl. You're as tiny as ever, but I'm pleased to see you're doing well." he played around with the hat, gripping Kat's hand. "Did you enjoy your first experience with group life?"

"I was wondering where you disappeared to after closing up the shop. To think you started working at a school, of all places." Sebastian seemed relatively amused.

"Only temporarily though." Undertaker replied, playing idly with the girl's fingers.

"My, my, it seems our investigation got a little out of hand." the demon turned to the Prefects. "You five assassinated Lord Derek and then requested his resuscitation from the Aurora Society. What was so important to protect that you would resort to such means?" 

"I'll tell you what, butler." the Undertaker grinned, pulling Kat into his lap and grabbing her face like she was a doll. "What they treasure most, of course."

They explained how the four of them became Prefect, and how Kat came soon, trying to hard to blend in, her thirst for knowledge and ambition admirable. Redmond vouched for her, integrating her in their little group, and together, the five of them became close friends and protectors of justice, in a way. Derek, however, was a reliable young man from the Marquis line, a cheerful personality, overflowing talent in everything he was doing - And because of this dazzle, they didn't see the dark show that his light cast until it was too late. For weeks on end, Derek was doing everything, all by himself, yet no progress was made on the bullying case, and they continued to receive letters and complaints --

That is, until Edgar read the poem dedicated to the Prefects, and deciphered it through the difference in ink colour and word symbolism - And when they reached the place they were supposed to find, they saw Derek Arden and his bully friends beating up on students. Katrina was also their victim of abuse and blackmail, and based on the ravished state of her closed, they must have known her secret. 

Redmond thus understood the meaning of - Deprived by light - With all of his results being fake. He took other's talents through despicable means and used them to make himself shine, for four entire years. This corruption was so deep that the Vice-Principal was also involved. Not only was he blatantly overlooking this clear problem, but he wanted to expel Katrina.  With desperation filling him, only multiplied by Derek's comment of becoming Prefect the next year, Herman snapped and hit him over the head with his cricket bat. As long as the corruption remained in the school, the school's tradition will continue to crumble. That couldn't happen. Tradition was everything.

With Kat and Violet blocking the exits, Redmond and Bluewer holding down Agares, Herman killed them all. When it came to putting the blame on someone, they all united - They were Prefects. All four of them. They were in this together. They tried to defend Katrina, saying it wasn't her fault she was bullied like that - She had every right to defend herself and her honour, moreover, she didn't touch the murder weapon - Though even through this, she was a clear accomplice for almost a whole year. Still, she had no idea that they were going to retort to the Aurora Society.

"Our actions are inexcusable to our relatives, but there was nothing else we could do to protect our traditional order. We didn't want to stir things up and damage the school's good name. You understand, don't you, Phantomhive?" whilst the Fags were petrified at the story being told, Undertaker was doubling over with laughter. Even the demon seemed amused. 

"I was asked to investigate this incident by a certain high-ranking individual. They won't sit by and do nothing after hearing the truth of this matter - However - I'll ask them to consider the circumstances." Ciel grinned - What a liar. "Well then - That just leaves you."

"How did you evolve Derek?" Kat asked, ripping herself away from the mortician. "How did you temper with the Records this time?"

"You're wrong, dearie, but very close~!" he grinned. "What's driving them now is their yearning for a future. In their dying moments, human review their past life, and these images come and go. At the same time, they crave the future they were supposed to have - They're fragmentary, of course, but those fragments are the episodes. These are like a predictive map of the future. My self-created memories are nothing compared to these future memories - So if we stuck these to the record - Wouldn't it become complete?" Undertaker shrugged carelessly. "Well, the success rate is still pretty low. It's dependant on the quality and quantity of the episodes."

"I don't understand - Why would you do that?! What purpose does bringing back the dead serve?!" Ciel yelled at him, pointing his gun at his head.

"I just want to see what comes after the pre-determined end." the mortician explained, throwing his arms in the sky. "You've never thought about it? There might be an interesting development lurking behind the ending credits."

"That's where we differ. Exactly because Death is such a hopeless and definite End - It is beautiful." Sebastian smirked back at the Shinigami.

"THERE'S NOTHING BEAUTIFUL IN DYING!" Katrina's desperate cry rung painfully through the garden. "THE ONLY BEINGS WHO CAN AFFORD TO SAY THAT ARE YOU, IMMORTAL FREAKS, WHO ARE TIRED OF LIVING! BUT I'M NOT READY TO DIE! TO HELL WITH ALL OF YOU AND YOUR ARROGANCE!"

"Are you going to tell that to this pretty little kitten, when she draws her last breath in your arms?" Undertaker grinned, satisfied with the surprised look in the demon's eyes. "You know, don't you? Did she tell you? She's going to die a most horrendous death, you see." he cackled, getting up from the chair. "I just want to give her another chance at living, you see. You can't defy the time of death written in the Book - But perhaps there is a way to give it another go."

"Accepting what's written in the Book is akin to just accepting fate can't be changed. That's boring, is it not?" the demon refuted, only to watch the mortician turn his back at them ready to leave.

Sebastian hurried to capture the Shinigami, only to be stopped by Agares - Seems Sebastian hadn't paid attention to their story. A masterpiece filled with many episodes. All the others rose up from nowhere - Derek's friends were ready to kill them. "RUN! GET OUT OF THE GARDEN, QUICK!" Agares kept messing with the demon who was carefully eying the mortician, sitting casually on the top of the back seat of the chair. As Sebastian realised he couldn't protect Ciel, he ran at him, with Katrina going after the Undertaker.

"YOU DON'T GET TO RUN AGAIN, YOU JERK! YOU'VE GOT SOME EXPLAINING TO DO! GET BACK HERE!" sprinting, Kat leapt on the table and used the very top of the seat to propel her to jump higher and hopefully catch the mortician's ankle as he sprung away - But it was for naught. She was so close, yet so far. Again. "COME BACK! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME LIKE THIS, ALL ALONE!"

"But you're not truly alone, are you, dearie~?" he grinned from the top of the wall. "See ya~!" he disappeared into the night.

With Sebastian killing all the monsters, Ciel was discussing ways of explaining this mess to the Queen. Clearly, saying the truth would make no sense - A corpse-reviving Shinigami? Ridiculous.  Kat's legs gave up and she crouched down, looking up at the starry skies, grinning. What an awful, awful night. Everything was ruined, just before graduation. How very awful. "Everyone's been safely evacuated!" Edward returned to the vacant garden, his sword tight in his grasp. The young man looked at the mess on the ground, and frowned, realising his own misdeeds. "Ciel... I'm scared. If this had continued, I might have become like these Prefects... The kind of person that mistakes the sin of murder for justice."

"Don't worry. As long as you're afraid of that, you're still normal." the boy turned his gaze as the woman. "Unlike us." she was all kinds of screwed up, just like him. Thus were those who dwelled in the darkness.

"Kat. Are you alright?" Edward's gentle voice, soft and unsure, was almost missed by the red head who was deeply lost in her thoughts. Were it not for him kneeling next to her, she might have missed him completely.

"I wrote the poem." she confessed for all three to hear. "I couldn't stand it anymore. I was weak." her blank expression drew an empty smile. "If I knew this would happen by reporting the corruption, I would let them beat me to death. I was weak. I should have just dropped out - Alas, I am a stubborn woman with far too many dreams for the little time I have left." he shoulders started shaking, small tears falling down as an amused rumble of chuckles erupted. "I'm the worst, aren't I?" she laughed, standing up on her feet. "Because of my selfishness, I got all four of them into this mess." just like in the boat, her grin was painfully wide, and she was tugging at her hair. "I only needed a few more weeks to graduate, to marry and get out of this mess that my parents made for me. Ahhhh, how annoying!" she turned her gaze to Ciel - She was gone. Far, far gone. "See you in hell, Ciel... If people like us afford even something like that, anyway."

With a peace sign, Katrina also exited the garden and went to the flower garden. She wanted to be all alone. To sing and dance, one last time. If the sentence is jail-time, if she gets reported, then she is going to take matters into her own hands and end it all.  It didn't matter to her that her shoulder was still bleeding and in pain - She returned to the flower garden where she first talked with Edgar, since she came here. When she found her happiness, her freedom. Here, it will also be taken back from her. With eccentric moves holding her grace, Katrina began to sing the only poem that she was ever capable of writing herself. And it sucked, of course. It wasn't tragic - It was outright depressing. 

I fall 'cause I've let go The net below has rot away So, my eyes seek reality And my fingers seek my veins

Knowing there would be no one to catch her, or scold her for anything, she cried out to the skies, as loud as her weak lungs could hold her. 

PLEASE FORGIVE ME!

"My, what a sad song you're singing there, My Lady." the demon watched the woman with the empty smile allow herself to fall down on the flower bed. "Rather fitting."

"Have you come to say goodbye, Sebastian?" she hummed, getting comfortable amongst the flowers. Should she just end it all, right here, in this pretty place? Now THAT would be fitting.

"On the contrary." he knelt by her side, offering her his hand. "I am here to take you home."

"Home?" the girl laughed in his face. "What home? I have no home, Sebastian. I'm homeless. I don't have anything. Nothing at all. Not even a single coin. I only have some clothes to sell, though I'm not sure how long I can afford food and shelter with that alone."

"That may be so, indeed." he smirked mischievously. "But the Young Master is giving you a choice." Kat rose her eyebrow at him. "You can choose to fall prey to destiny and accept your death." his eyes flashed alluringly. "Or you can get another chance."

"What do you mean? When the Queen hears I killed her cousin's son, I'm done for in absolutely every way possible. There's no second chance from that." she retorted immediately.

"Not 'When'. 'If'." despite the excruciating pain in her shoulder, Kat shot up in a sitting position.

"No way."

"The Young Master intends to tell the Queen that you contributed heavily in uncovering the mystery, and having you return to work." the shocked expression on her face was so precious. "So, what do you choose, My Lady?" It didn't take long for Kat to get over her shock and throw her arms around his neck. "I told you to stop the formalities when we're alone, didn't I?"

"I will not forget again."

As punishment for what happened, the P4 were expelled, rather than serving jail time, because for them, who valued tradition above all, it was a far worse punishment. With one last month and a half remaining of the school year, Katrina remained as the Violet House Prefect with Cheslock as her Fag, and got the opportunity to graduate - But at what cost, and under what name? Was all this mess even going to be worth, in the end? She couldn't know.

It was announced that Derek and his friends died in a boat accident and had their bodies buried in secret - The four Fags were sworn into secrecy, and had to begin their last year at Weston, as Prefects, with dread plaguing their hearts. 

In the end, Ciel did tell the Queen about the resuscitation of the dead ploy, and forged up some kind of story about Katrina's involvement into all this - Of course, they weren't lies, she did do all that, in a way - Thus, the Queen's Fox was back in business. How she would be able to perform going further, she wasn't sure. No school to go to, no Undertaker, no mortician work - It was going to be weird. 

Katrina was laying on her bed one evening, bored out of her mind, but keeping herself occupied with a medical text she found recently. There wasn't much to do, and most of Ciel's lessons were just old stories for her. Perhaps she should ask Sebastian to tutor her also, or her mind's going to fracture itself from boredom. She was wasting time for no reason.

The room was dead silent and rather eerie, were it not for the candle light by the nightstand and the light of the moon peeking through the window. It must be getting late, she thought, though there was no way she could fall asleep any time soon. Thankfully, her door opened, revealing the demon. "Done for today, huh?" she snapped the book shut and scooted over to the edge of the bed, patting the spot next to her.

"Yes. Thankfully, although I have overindulged him with sugary desserts, he was able to sleep faster than expected." the butler hummed, blowing candles off. "But the Young Master is still just a child. You do not seem to be anywhere close to attempting to sleep."

"What can I say. I have a hard time sleeping." she shrugged, placing the book on the nightstand and getting comfortable. "Well, what is it? Do you want to have a conversation? Or are you just going to stand there and stare at me through the darkness - Again."

"Forgive me for making you uncomfortable." the demon chuckled, placing the lumiere onto the table before taking off his blazer, neatly placing it on the chair. "I did have a curiosity, if you do not mind me asking." he continued, discarding his vest and gloves also, receiving a hum of approval to go on. "You mentioned wishing to marry Master Redmond. Was that true?" he approached the bed, sitting on the edge of it.

"Yes, sort of." she answered after a few seconds of pondering. "I know I do not look the type, considering my haughtiness, but... I am a woman, like many others, and I also dreamt of falling in love and marrying one day." she admitted lightly. "I don't care for children, though I know that's an unfortunate must in a noble family." she scoffed, looking out at the moon. "I don't know if it's a teaching from the family out of society's need to manipulate everyone into obeying, or it is just something that girls do since they are little... But I think you would be very amused to know that I and Lizzy, although we behave differently, are alike in many ways."

"I would have never guessed." the demon looked at her in intrigue, enticed by the way the sheer material of her white gown revealed her alluring silhouette through the silver moon. Kat smirked tenderly, turning on her side to look at him - She looked like a masterfully painted masterpiece, Sebastian thought, drinking her in. "There is a little difference between Lizzy and myself though - And that is the circumstances of us loving our fiance." she chuckled lightly.

"Lizzy and Ciel are cousins. They knew each other since they were children. They have always been close, yes - But do they love each other, in the true, romantic sense of way? I am not sure. I always suspected that they just found this situationship very convenient and turned this cousin-love into a marriage. Lizzy took it seriously thought - She's hell-bent on protecting Ciel, you saw that yourself, didn't you. But that's the thing. She doesn't have a reason why she loves him - She just does. It's pure and innocent, and very much induced." she explained, reaching out her fingers to touch his own.

"That means you have a reason for the feelings you have for Master Redmond?" she hummed in approval.

"He indulged all of my whims, ever since we were children, you see. I fell for him because he saw me for who I was, and he accepted me like this. I never felt a complexed for being better or worse than him at something. I didn't feel bad that I wasn't always wearing high heels, doing my make up or wearing overly cute clothes. He didn't scold me for being interested in science instead of coquettery. And he made me love all the arts that my parents made me despise. He showed me beauty and gentleness where there was only ugliness and hatred." she rose up slowly, holding his hand in her own, playing idly with his fingers.

"If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been able to get in the Purple House through my talent. I wouldn't have had a safe haven where I could see that painting wasn't evil, that performing music wasn't tainted and that embroidery wasn't corrupted. I ended up loving all the things that I hated, and more." she looked up at the demon, a smile so beautiful and bright, pure, and so loving, that Sebastian thought he saw a Seraph glowing not from the moon, but from her own divine aura. "He helped me love myself."

"I see. That is quite the feat. I long since suspected Master Redmond was nothing like his uncle, and that only reinforces that thought." he hummed, still pondering over this human emotion displayed so raw in front of him, yet he wasn't sure what to do with it, nor could he properly process it. "Then, I wish you a happy marriage, My Lady."

"Silly demon. Are you jealous?" the girl teased him softly. "We both know I'm not going to get my wedding after what happened." she said, kneeling behind him on the bed, whispering in his ear.

"With Edgar's expulsion, mother broke off the engagement. She most likely realised there will come no good business deal from selling me off to a disgraced son." she kissed his temple. "Oh, right, I asked you before if you were jealous, didn't I? And you replied - You said you were... Territorial - Right?"

"You have quite the golden memory, Kitten, though I cannot help but wonder at your intentions." the demon turned around, pinning her to the bed - It seems he played into her wishes, for she looked rather smug.

"My intentions, you say? You already know that, also." she replied shamelessly. "I want everything." she stated simply. "You see I only ever liked four men in this life, but only one was ever in the romantic sense." she teased, like the innocent little thing she was. "I loved Undertaker for being my mentor, my confidant. He took care of me when nobody else did." she said, intertwining her fingers with his own.

"I loved Edgar for showing me tenderness, when I only knew discipline. For showing me that I should love and cherish myself." she reached out her hand to cup his face. "I loved Lau for how carefree he was, yet even though he doesn't show it, there is a lot to learn from him, a rich culture, and a lot of fun on the way." gently caressing his cheek, she trailed up into his raven hair. "But Sebastian, you were always different. Was it because you're a demon? Or simply, who you are? I'm not sure." she said softly. "I tried, for months, to understand what I felt for you, and to this day, I don't know what it is - Yet, even in my confusion, there is one thing I am certain of."

"And what is that, My Kitten?" holding her hand over her head, the butler placed his arm under her, holding her body against his own, in the most intimate way.

"I am happy whenever I see you." 

The demon's eyes widened slightly at her comment - It was completely genuine, and so angelic, that he couldn't resist; She was simply such a beautiful specimen, so human, so true to who she was, and filled with every possible emotion existing, many that even he was unaware of. In turn, whether he knew so or not, Sebastian also had a smile most mellow and precious; A smile so ethereal that probably nobody ever witnessed such grace before. He leaned down, capturing her lips into a loving kiss, so tender and soft, yet filled with so much care and worship. Women he seduced, he only ever knew one thing, and that was bringing their high and extorting information out of them - He, himself, needn't anything else. Humans weren't all that interesting nor satisfying to toy with, for the most part - They break too easily, there's hardly anything to do with them, after all.

Yet now, he didn't think of such a thing. Somehow, though tainted, he wanted to worship and preserve the bright light of her soul, to show her the gates of heaven, only to hold her back in his arms. Every twitch of her body was a miracle, and every thrill of her voice was a blessing. That glazed expression of her, lost in pleasure in delight, was everything he needed, and nothing less. "I always thought that there were few things more precious than seeing a woman's pleasure." his sinful words as his hand gently trailed up her neck made her gasp, gripping onto him, her head leaned down from the intense pleasure reaching its peak. "Now I know." he cradled her body carefully in his own, drinking in her sweet cry as she comes undone. "Your smile of joy is my most precious treasure."

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[silyabeeodess]

What headcannons do you have on Derrick Arden? I saw your post while back. What would've happened in an AU, everything is the same, except Derrick lives? What would he do after graduation? Both as a job and in private?

Been a long time since I've talked about anything Kuroshitsuji related! Sadly, with the amount of pull Derrick has at school, I just don't see him changing if he survived. More than likely, he'll follow a victim mentality where he'd think he's completely innocent and would ignore all the abuse he himself has done to other students leading up to Greenhill attacking him and the vice headmaster. The reason Derrick was able to get away with everything he has throughout his life is because he's never had to face any true consequences for his actions up until that point. His only consequences prior were responsibilities he did not earn and then just passed on to other people. Moreover, however strict his family his, they've apparently never caught Derrick in his lies, so not even his parents will punish him properly. They'll more than likely just back Derrick as "their poor son attacked by four prefects gone mad."

The thing is though, despite what all of these students, and people like them in the real world, think... School isn't everything. It's a closed environment that means absolutely nothing except what you take with you once you step out of it. I once had bully who ruled over my first elementary school because her mom was a teacher. Everyone followed her like a bunch of mindless sheep, but the instant we got to high school, those connections broke. At this same school, I had a lunch monitor that was so vile she wouldn't let anyone, not even a student with Down Syndrome, get up from their table to get a fork if they forgot it: We were basically told to eat with our hands or starve. She was eventually fired, not for those actions, but (according to rumor anyway) because she refused to help a student who needed to use a urinary catheter (which she legally could not do). She had to work at a gas station after that, along with receiving some other karma that is so dark a fate that I don't feel comfortable sharing it online. In a school's hierarchy, people like those two women, or Derrick and the vice headmaster, get on a power trip, but the instant they step away from that environment... they're nobody.

What would Derrick take with him when he'd graduate? Knowledge? He never put any effort into his studies. Connections? He's got his small circle of nobles, but the prefects and Derrick's victims are a much bigger one--not to mention they're a part of other powerful families like the Druitts that could both figuratively and literally bury him without anyone batting an eye. The prefects would more than likely end up expelled after the event, but all that free time would just give them plenty of opportunities to build up a grudge and cook up revenge. And when things get tough, chances are, those so-called friends of Derrick's that are just as morally bankrupt and follow him around for money are going to kick him to the side.

Derrick's a noble and the family heir at that, so it's unlikely he'd go for a traditional job. More than likely, as soon as he got out of Weston, his family would start pushing him into more adult social circles and prepare him to take over as the next Marques. Here though is where the true consequences of his actions would take over. Because with the prefects expelled, they'll have likely already been in those same circles. Even if his social standing wasn't destroyed, barring him and potentially his family as a whole from things like business deals or marriages... Derrick would by no means be fit to run his family's household. He'd either drag his entire family to ruin; end up revealing his lies to his parents, who'd then strip him of his status as the heir; or both. Even if his family still keeps him afloat with their wealth, if he doesn't know how to manage it, he'll still end up destitute or dead.

Could he grow after that? Maybe. People can change. However, given how many people he's hurt and the severity of his actions, it's not easy to say that others would be willing to give him a second chance.

[scmoobly]

T.V | David Shaw

I'll be in denial at least for a little while, what about the plans we made?

Warning: [cheating] [language]

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO @mileysmileysstuff FOR GIVING ME THE IDEA TO WRITE ABOUT DAVID VOTED LEAST LIKELY TO CHEAT. I was listening to TV by Billie eillish and was so sad so everyone else must be sad too 🫶

Something had changed in your relationship with David. You couldn't pinpoint to one thing specifically because sometimes it felt like everything was a mess.

You hadn't seen much of him the past few days and when you brought up the subject he'd always brush it off as being busy with pack stuff.

You knew in your heart that it wasn't the reason. He used to carve out time for you, do whatever he could to always have you in his line of sight. But lately he seemed to be doing the exact opposite.

"David are you going to be home late again?" You asked even though you already knew the answer. "Likely, have dinner without me."

And that's it. He was already out the door and gone before you could say anything else. Something inside you was breaking in half and you didn't know how to make it stop. You wanted to talk through this but he never seemed to listen anymore. Or even be around.

A solitary tear ran down your cheek as you abandoned the work you were doing on your laptop.

You needed a breather and you needed it that minute. While rummaging through the closet you heard the familiar notification ping of David's phone. He must've left it in a hurry. You picked up the device and noticed the text message from Arden, one of his pack members that you had met at the solstice party.

Are you here yet?

Since it was a text from Arden you assumed David was on his way to the pack house. Another meeting perhaps? He used to tell you when he would go to pack meetings and even asked if you wanted to tag along, fully aware that you loved meeting Milo and Ashers mates.

You decided that you'd bring his phone and go about your day. If he didn't tell you about the meeting maybe it didn't involve you and you were okay with that. You just wished he didn't completely leave you in the dark.

Regardless of all the mixed feelings in your chest you thought you'd do something nice for him and it would give you an excuse to go see him.

It was cold outside so you grabbed one of David's jackets to keep you warm. It was a lot bigger and thicker then your jackets. And it smelled like him. Another thing you missed.

You drove down to the pack house and parked your car where you always did. Right next to David's. It was one of your inside jokes with him.

"You need to re-learn your parking skills." He says matter of fact-ly as you lay on his chest with his arms around you, the free one messing with your hair. "Why do you say that?"

He scoffed and pulled on your cheek gently. "Because you blocked my car in. It took forever to get it out of the garage."

You tightened your grip around his body and hid your face in his shirt. "Who cares, I'll park next to you forever." He tickled your waist knowing that was your weakest spot and you melted like ice on a sunny day, giggling and kicking your feet. "Oh is that right you little snot-"

You were infront of the double doors leading into the house. You hesitated for a second, wondering if it was rude of you to be intruding on a private pack meeting.

You made up your mind to at least hand him his phone before you left since you had already come all that way.

The halls were silent, much to your surprise. You expected the booming voices of the loud pack members to travel through walls. That's when you heard it. David. He was inside the meeting room.

"David."

With someone else?

The door was conveniently a crack open, giving you the chance to assess your environment before you went in.

But you wished you hadn't, you wished you had never gone there. You wished you had never gotten in your car. You wished you had never found his phone.

Arden was sitting on the table and infront of her was David, holding her face in his hands and kissing her. You held your hands to your mouth, afraid of letting out even a single noise, the tears infiltrating your eyes finally. You were holding your breath as if the only way for you to live was by staying as quiet as possible.

Backing away you crept away from the door, from the house and back into your car where you finally started to cry once you were safe inside the walls that would muffle your voice. You didn't hold back anymore. You were screaming and letting out all the tears that had been building up inside you.

How could he? Why? Fuck WHY???

You started the engine, still bawling your eyes out but trying your best to keep you tears at bay enough to drive away from there.

You went back home. That's not right. It wasn't home anymore. It was just a skeleton of a house made of cement and bricks.

You pulled out all your clothes from the closet, all your books and DVD's from the shelfs and all the gifts he'd given you over time. Instead of putting those in the suitcase you had prepared, you put them in the trash can.

You made sure to wipe away every reminder of you from that house. As if you never existed in his life in the first place.

Before leaving you made sure to leave his jacket neatly folded on the bed and his phone on top of it.

You put your belongings in your car and called Milos Mate, asking them if they could let you stay over for awhile. They didn't hesitate to agree and you were on your way over when you started to cry again. Everything was sinking in.

Everything was making sense and you hated to imagine it but it kept popping in your head. The way he held her close. The way he used to hold you.

"FUCK!!" You screamed

When you reached their house they welcomed you with a hug, helping you carry your bags in. It wasn't long before you spilled your guts to them and they comforted you the best they could.

That night when David got back home he was shocked to say the least. It was like everything related to you had just disappeared. He called you throughout the night which you didn't answer of course. Why should you?

"Angel where are you?"

"Please answer me, tell me you're okay." His voice mails would read.

He sent texts upon texts.

Angel. Please answer my call just once.

I just want to know you're okay.

He didn't seem to care as much the weeks leading up to everything. Why was he bothering now. You thought to yourself as you tucked yourself deeper into the bed, crying yourself to sleep again.

It had been weeks since you last talked to David and you weren't doing very well but you promised yourself you'd hold out. The image of David kissing someone else was what motivated you.

Needless to say, Milo's mate was extremely worried about you. You weren't eating well. You weren't doing anything except sleeping. You called a few days off work and had stayed cooped up in your room.

Out of concern they told Milo that you had been staying at their house. Milo not knowing the full story, ended up telling David where you were and that night when you were stepping out to get rid of the trash in your room there he was infront of you.

"Angel-"

Your jaw clenched.

"Don't you dare call me that.."

You hadn't been talking to anyone so your voice came out hoarse and quiet.

"Angel I-"

"I said don't fucking call me that David-!!" You yelled.

You were seeing red. Seeing him infront of you acting like he didn't completely fuck you over.

"Why the fuck are you here?? What do you fucking want from me??" You tried you hardest not to but the tears started streaming down your cheeks. "Do you want to gloat in my face? Is that what will satisfy you?!" You were screaming and crying all at the same time and it felt like you would pass out any second.

"Listen to me please, I can explain- please Angel just let me-" He tried to get closer to you but you found the nearest object to throw at him, stopping him in his tracks but unfortunately missing.

"How long?"

"What-?"

"HOW FUCKING LONG DAVID-"

"A month.."

Shit- You wished you didn't ask.

"I'm not your little fucking Angel anymore David." You cried, clutching onto your chest. "Why did you do this to me?... what did I do to deserve this?" You whimpered, barely able to keep yourself up.

"You didn't do anything and You didn't deserve any of what I did. It was a stupid mistake- she meant nothing to me!"

Ofcourse you didn't deserve this.

"I loved you so much David. So fucking much. And everyday I went to bed thinking what did I do wrong. Was it my fault? Did you just not love me anymore?"

"Angel please.."

"Shut up-"

You pointed to the door. "And get out of here."

David looked at you with a grief struck expression on his face. "No.."

"I don't ever want to see your face again."

"No please- please don't do this-" he begged.

"Angel I love you so much please don't leave me-"

That was when Milo and his mate intercepted the situation, finally aware of what he had done to you.

"David, just leave" Milo looked disappointed in his Alpha while his mate helped you back into your room.

"No I can't leave- angel don't do this I can't live without you-"

You looked back at him.

"I hope you can't, I hope you suffer as much as I did."

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 36: Worldwide Mayhem

Fandom: Harry Potter (Hogwarts years 1-7) Pairing: Draco x OFC

taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog  @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic @kmc1989

​​​​Story Masterlist // Romina’s Masterlist

Fanfic • Ao3 • Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know

Romina wasn't ashamed to say that she liked the act of revenge...but she also hated karma. Because karma now made it so that instead of getting letters from Draco constantly begging her to change her mind about their bet, he was now sending her letters of him boasting about his triumph over her. She owed him a favor and he was making sure that she remembered. Romina hated his guts and wished she could see him again just to smack him. She didn't stay silent, no way. She responded to each of his letters with her own comebacks and promises that she would get him back for all this mess.

Arden saw some of those letters one afternoon in Romina's bedroom. Romina was going around packing a few things in a suitcase while Arden laid on the former's bed reading the letters like they were hers.

"You guys are so competitive, truly not well for your health," she remarked.

Romina scoffed. "Stop reading those, they're not yours."

"Au contraire, mon cheri," Arden said, raising her head for a moment to flash a smirk at Romina. "Like my French?" Romina rolled her eyes and returned to her closet.

Figured I should learn some since you're French now."

"Technically speaking, I've always been French, I just didn't know about it. Now would you please put those letters away? If aunt Sage or uncle Lyonel see them, they'll find out about everything."

Arden figured Romina was right and folded the letters again. "So what have you been telling them since these letters started showing up so often now?" She slid the envelopes underneath Romina's pillows.

"Nothing specific. Lots of people write to me so it's not like they suspect anything." Romina came back to the suitcase on the foot of her bed and slipped in another pair of jeans. "The only owl they recognize are my grandparents', Rolf's and the Weasley's."

"Ooh, better for us, I guess. We'd be dead if they figured out what we made Draco do. But I guess the punishment came with it, huh?" Arden let out a dramatic sigh. "We can never tell anyone about it. Harry would've loved it."

Romina nodded but, unlike Arden, she wasn't that sad they couldn't tell Harry about it. Harry would have had a field day with the idea of Draco being forced to spend an hour in the muggle world. It was just best to keep the animosity between him and Draco as low as possible.

"So, when are you leaving then?" Arden said as she peeked inside Romina's suitcase. "Are you and Harry going together to Ron's?"

"Er, no," Romina gave a shake of her head. She left her packing and walked over to her window that gave a view into the street. She couldn't of course get a good sight of Harry's house but she still tried. "Ron's dad is coming to pick him up at the Dursleys'."

"What?" Arden made a face, confused. "Why?"

"Well, the Dursleys are already on the fence about all the magic stuff so aunt Sage and aunt Lyonel want to stay out of it. Better for me to quietly make my way to the Weasleys'."

"Guess that makes sense," shrugged Arden.

"So I'll be leaving tomorrow morning instead, stay with them for a few days and then come back home. Harry'll stay at the Burrow until school starts again."

"Oh, good for him," Arden nodded. "Make sure to tell me how it goes then."

"Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"Nah! Just have fun and definitely stay away from Pansy Parkinson if you see her."

Romina laughed.

~ 0 ~

It was too early. Way too damn early.

Why'd I even say I was coming? The same thoughts ran through Romina's head while she mindlessly ate her breakfast at the crack of dawn. You don't even like Quidditch that much! Why'd you say you were coming? She barely registered aunt Sage telling her to be on her best behavior before she was shuffled into the fireplace. It was just so early.

Yawning and with her eyes half shut, she stepped into the Weasley's overwhelming living room and right into another mess of people being woken up and yelled at by Mrs. Weasley. Apparently, a lot of the others were thinking like her in that it was too early to be doing anything. It also sounded like the twins were already up to something.

When Mrs. Weasley saw Romina standing in front of the fireplace half asleep, she greeted the girl with a tight hug and guided her to the kitchen where the others were.

"When'd you get here!?" Harry said excitedly.

"Uuh, couple...minutes ago..." Romina yawned and languidly sat down in an empty chair. "Remind me again why we have to be awake so early? I hate you for making me come."

Across the table, the twins scoffed and reminded her that she'd chosen to come.

"Shut up," Romina then said and thanked Mr. Weasley, who sat at the head of the table, for inviting her over. "I just don't like mornings...or dawn..." She said after, making the adults chuckle.

Since she had already eaten breakfast, she got to lay her head on the table and take a short nap while the others finished. She was rudely awoken when Mrs. Weasley started yelling at the twins again about some things she pulled out of them with her wand.

"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted indignantly as the little things, which looked a lot like candy to Romina, went flying straight into the trash bin.

"Oh a fine way to spend six months!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!"

"I'm confused, what were those?" Romina said, standing up as the others were doing the same around the table.

"We'll tell you later," Hermione said as she quickly pulled Romina with her.

They grabbed their rucksacks and headed out. Romina tugged her sweater closer around her because the air was still ever so cold. They had just made it over the crest of a hill when someone called for Mr. Weasley.

"Arthur! It's about time, son!"

"Amos!" Mr. Weasley greeted as he led the group towards another man waving at them. "This is Amos Diggory, everyone. He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric, right?"

"Hi," Cedric greeted them all with a kind smile. His eyes landed on Romina specifically, to which the girl smiled right back. She still remembered his kind words about her from the last time they'd spoken. Unlike the rest of the school, he didn't look at her name, just her.

"Long walk, Arthur?" Mr. Diggory asked as Mr. Weasley.

"Not too bad," said Mr. Weasley. "We live just on the other side of the village there. You?"

"Had to get up at two, didn't we, Ced? I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still . . . not complaining . . . Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons — and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy. . . ." Mr. Diggory took a look at the crowd of teenagers around Mr. Weasley. "All these yours, Arthur?"

"Oh no, only the redheads," said Mr. Weasley, pointing out his children. "This is Hermione and Romina, friends of Ron's — and Harry, another friend—"

"Merlin's beard," Mr. Diggory's eyes widened as they landed on the brunette in question. "Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Er — yeah," said Harry, shifting on his feet. Oh, how he adored being the center of everyone's attention...

"Ced's talked about you, of course. Told us all about playing against you last year. . . . I said to him, I said — Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will. ... You beat Harry Potter!"

"Harry fell off his broom, Dad," said Cedric, who looked slightly embarrassed. "I told you...it was an accident..."

"Yes, but you didn't fall off, did you? Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman . . . but the best man won, I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

Cedric looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here right now.

"Think we should keep going or something," Romina cut into the conversation and tapped a finger against her non-existing watch on her wrist. It prompted the two grown men to keep leading them towards the portkey.

"Life saver," Cedric mumbled to her as he walked alongside her.

"You're welcome. You can pay me back later," she chuckled.

They eventually came to the spot of the portkey, which turned out to be an old boot.

"You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do—" Mr. Weasley started explaining to them as they gathered around it.

Even then, with all the focus in the world, their landings were less than graceful. A full cake of grass met most of their faces. But, at last, they were a massive field that stretched God knew how long. Tents by the thousands were already standing in place.

"You alright?" Cedric, who had landed on the ground perfectly like his father and Mr. Weasley, held a hand out to Romina on the ground.

"Oh yeah, no way better to start the day than with a face full of dirt..." Romina grabbed Cedric's hand and was promptly pulled up to her feet. "Does wonders for my skin. Muggles pay for that, you know."

Cedric chuckled. "No they don't."

"Yes, they do. It's called a mud mask."

Their conversation was cut short as they were once again shuffled towards some way by the adults. As they reached some cottage, the Diggorys parted ways with them. It was then that Hermione and Ginny came to flank Romina.

"Uuh, when and how did you manage to pull that?" Ginny's voice was sharp with curiosity as they watched the Diggorys' figures disappear in the distance.

"Excuse you, he's like 4 years older than you," Romina snorted. "Down, Ginny." The redhead rolled her eyes. "And it's not like that. Cedric's very nice and he was still like that while almost everyone else was making fun of me for my name."

"Yeah, but I bet it's always a pleasure to spend time with a guy like that," Hermione smirked. "You were walking very close to each other, and the whole time too!"

Romina rolled her eyes. "You couldn't be more wrong. He's cute but that's about it."

"Oh please," they heard one of the twins scoff up ahead.

"Don't start," Ginny warned them, "You're just mad that Cedric beat Harry in that Quidditch game at school."

"It wasn't a clear win and everybody knows it!" George said with a huff.

"Well, as long as you're not bitter about it," Romina muttered.

After meeting with some poor obliviated Muggle by the name of Mr. Roberts, they were set to find their rented tent in the fields. Everyone who was already there was clearly in the party mood. Music played loudly in the air, people flew back and forth above them on brooms, and there was a strong scent of various foods being prepared.

The inside of their tent turned out to be far bigger than what it appeared on the outside. It was a splash of color everywhere, almost like the entire rainbow had thrown up inside. Mismatched furniture adorned the area but it all looked incredibly comfortable.

"Girls. Choose a bunk and unpack," Mr. Weasley instructed them. "Ron, get out of the kitchen we're all hungry!"

The twins had made themselves comfortable at the kitchen table, feet propped up and arms behind their heads. "Yeah get out of the kitchen Ron!" They chorused together.

Mr. Weasley walked past them, motioning to their feet. "Feet off the table!"

"Feet off the table!" They repeated, pulling their feet off until their father left.

"I love magic," Harry remarked with a light chuckle.

"Harry!" Ron called as he made his way to the other side of the tent. "You can sleep over here!"

Harry nodded and made his way to the bunk to unpack what he had brought. From their spot, he and Ron could hear the endless giggles of the girls not too far from them.

"Listen to them," Ron said, crinkling his nose, "Bet they're going on about Diggory."

"Sheesh, Ron, didn't know you could be that jealous..." Romina had come out of their side to smirk at the ginger.

"It's not jealousy, it's annoyance," said Ron in a mutter.

"Don't know about what since Cedric's literally never done anything to you. Is there any dinner yet? I'm starving!" And with that, Romina headed into the kitchen.

In the next half hour, the rest of them came to join for some makeshift dinner. It was there that they decided to nitpick the latest news they had discovered, which, unfortunately, meant Romina had to answer a lot more questions about her new family.

"So does this mean you're going to get snooty now that you have more class, Aline?" Fred asked and before Romina knew it,George was at her side, feigning a dramatic bow.

Romina sighed heavily. "Knock it off!" She shoved George away from her and ignored their collective laugh."Shut it, both of you," Ginny told the twins and ordered them to sit down already.

"In reality, we're very happy for you, Romina," Hermione smiled at the girl. "It must be wonderful to have more family. You even have cousins now!"

"Yeah, Rolf is really great," Romina nodded. "I'm excited for this year. We get to see each other all the time and we might even make plans to visit each other at our homes. Rolf wants to see the neighborhood."

"Just keep him away from our block," warned Harry. "Dudley's a menace."

"Yeah, well, I'm a bigger one," Romina said promptly and with a wide smirk. "Besides, maybe with a little help from two certain entrepreneurs, I might get my hands on some enlargement toffees or something...?"

The twins smirked on the spot and declared that it would be their pleasure to assist her in any future plans she had.

~ 0 ~

Many things had happened by the next day's morning. For one, they had all met Ludo Bagman, aka the man who had given Mr. Weasley the extra tickets that allowed them to come. He wasn't very impressive, at least not to the girls who thought it was a waste of time placing bets and all on the outcome of the game. Since the twins had placed almost, if not all, their winnings, they promptly told the girls to mind their business. Ron's older brothers had come to join them by lunchtime. Bill and Charlie were very much cool and fascinating to the teenagers, save for Percy of course. He was still a stickler as ever.

They had also met Barty Crouch, Percy's boss. Harry had quietly made the joke to the others that Mr. Crouch looked like his uncle Vernon in the suit he was in. Before Percy could get at any of them, Mr. Crouch had called him forward, albeit by the name of Weatherby, which then made all of them, but no one more than the twins, cackle.

Once it was finally time to go, the group got themselves ready and headed out. Every other wizard on site was heading in the same direction, making an absolute chaos. The closer they got to the stadium, the more excitement could be felt in the air. Wizards were laughing, joking, and cheering all around.

Romina was momentarily drawn to the pretty lights in the air that, if anyone asked her, resembled a lot like the twins' fireworks they had talked about earlier. She wondered if they had managed to sneak those in from home. In her distraction, she'd been bumped into by several of the other guests.

"Eughl, watch it!" she scowled at the rude group of teenage girls who, as pretty as they were, seemed like the biggest bunch of—

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?"

Romina recognized the voice before she turned around. She couldn't miss the bright blonde hair hair in the midst of the crowd. "Hey," she greeted Draco with a deadpanning look.

"Lost, Oswell?"

"I know exactly where I am, thank you very much. I'm at the World Cup, aren't I?"

Draco rolled his eyes but he still had a cocky little smile on his face. "I see we're still a little, uh, pressed about that thing that happened?"

"No, I'm totally fine. I was actually heading up with my friends—"

"What a coincidence, so was I," Draco said and a few seconds later, Romina heard someone else through the crowd.

"Malfoy, what the fuck? You left me behind and for what?" Theodore Nott was quite literally pushing his way through the crowd until he spotted Draco and Romina. "Oh, Oswell, what a surprise."

"Hi," Romina gave him a weak wave. She hadn't seen him at all through break but like the rest of the boys, he'd also grown several inches over the break. "Am I to expect Blaise and Angel too?"

"Nah, Angel's gone for Brazil and Blaise couldn't come," said Theodore. "Our families were invited by Cornelius Fudge," he gestured between himself and Draco.

"Congrats?" Romina said questioningly.

"Don't be sarcastic now, I'm not your enemy," Theodore said with a smug smirk.

Romina figured Draco must have already told everyone by know about their second bet.

"But trust me, I'm your biggest fan," Theodore said, bringing a hand over his chest. "Getting Malfoy over here to actually go to your muggle neighborhood was gold. Truly never letting that go."

And just like that, Romina liked Theodore again. "Well, it was one of my finest moments..."

Draco glared at them both. "Shut it," he ordered them. "Before my parents hear—"

But just like before, Romina couldn't not spot the same bright blondes in the crowd growing closer. "If you want things to stay quiet I suggest you stop talking," she told Draco quickly before his parents caught up with them. It wasn't just them, though. Romina spotted another man walking with them — tall and with a familiar complexion. It had to be Theodore's father.

"There you are," a woman whom Romina presumed was Draco's mother said to him and Theodore. "You got too far ahead."

"Sorry mother, we just saw a friend of ours," Draco said and motioned to Romina who, for some reason, was flushing. He gave her an odd look for it but didn't point it out.

"Hello," Romina greeted the woman, and the rest of the adults for that matter. "Romina Oswell, nice to meet you, ma'am." Her eyes flickered to Theodore's father and gave him an acknowledging nod.

"Yes, we've of course heard of you," Draco's mother smiled politely at the girl. "Narcissa Malfoy, my husband Lucius and our good friend Mr. Theodore Nott."

Romina's eyebrows raised at young Theodore and just as her lips quirked upwards, she felt the subtle nudge of Draco's elbow beside her. Better not make a comment, she reminded herself. At least not until we're alone. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Nice to see you again as well," said Mr. Malfoy, with a strange smile. "I heard you're associating yourself with a new family? We didn't know you were part of the Scamander family."

"Truthfully, neither did I," Romina said nervously. She wondered exactly how far this news was reaching.

"Well, a word of advice, I would be careful where you shop," Mr. Malfoy's strange smile grew wider. "The Scamander family is renowned for its heroic acts. Unfortunately, I don't believe they would be as understanding as we are."

"Definitely not," agreed Mr. Nott. "It's about agility, Miss Oswell. Something you have yet to master."

Romina couldn't help but gulp. She looked at Draco accusingly.

Mrs. Malfoy suggested they start heading up towards the stairs with the rest of the crowd. While the adults took the lead, the teenagers lingered a few feet behind them.

Romina could only wait so long before she threw her accusations out loud. "You git—you told?"

"Don't look at me Oswell," Draco was quick to say. "I didn't know you decided to make conversation with the actual owners of Borgin and Burkes! Who does that?"

Romina pursed her lips. That may have not been her best idea, she could see that now. "But you didn't have to tell!"

"I didn't!"

"Nobody had to," Theodore said, making Romina's head flip in his direction. "Our parents do trade with the owner. He's a chatty old man."

"So he's blabbing that I went in!?"

"Well, it's not like any of your crew ever go in there, right? Nobody's ever gonna know."

"Yeah, lighten up, Oswell," said Draco. "Everyone upheld their end of the deal. Enjoy the game already. Even from where you're probably gonna watch it. You know you could've just asked, right?"

Romina didn't care much for his smirk and picked up her pace. "I've actually got a great seat. And I should catch up; I've wasted enough of my time with the likes of you." With a huff and her nose in the air, she walked faster up ahead until she was lost in the crowd.

"Does she even know where she's going?" asked Theodore curiously. "I doubt she's ever been to something like this."

Draco shrugged. "Let her get lost."

"Oh, please," scoffed Theodore, "I'm sure there'll be somebody more than willing to help her find her way again." At Draco's questioning glance, Theodore just shrugged. "She looks different, don't you think?"

"I think she looks the bloody same," Draco said flatly. "Definitely the same type of annoying."

"Well, I think Angel would agree with me," Theodore said with a knowing laugh.

Draco did not laugh, nor did he say anything else on the matter.

~ 0 ~

When Romina caught up with the rest of her friends, they were already sitting down on the first row of the top box. Mr. Weasley expressed his concern for her lack of prescence when they had first arrived, and she apologized for getting distracted.

"Please just make sure to stick with one of us, alright?" he made her promise that she would for future moments.

She scooted towards the end where Harry, Hermione and Ron were. They were as concerned as Mr. Weasley had been, curious of where she'd gotten to. Romina glossed over it and soon noticed that there was another house elf sitting at the top of the box with her hands covering her face. It sure helped move things along because Hermione started raging again about how insensitive it was to force a house elf afraid of heights to sit on the highest box in the stadium. Winky, was the elf's name, and she was adamant that she was a good elf who followed orders, unlike one Dobby who, apparently, was demanding he be paid for his service. Romina thought it was funny but didn't dare say it out loud in front of Hermione.

The box was nearly filled, amongst them with the Minister of Magic himself Cornelius Fudge, and the Bulgarian minister as well (who didn't speak English). Romina soon saw problems when the Malfoys and Notts arrived at the same box. It seemed like Fudge was oblivious to the tension between Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy as he addressed them both in casual greetings.

It was a tense stand-off between them as Fudge showed them to their seats which, of course, happened to be behind theirs. Romina looked over her shoulder as both Draco and Theodore sat down behind her.

"This is going to be a long night," she murmured.

"I'll say, your big head's in the way," she heard Theodore remark behind her, followed by the distinctive sound of Draco snickering.

She shot them both a contemptuous look then flipped her head again to face the field. She felt Hermione's hand come over hers on her lap; she was offering Romina a kind smile. It definitely helped.

The game started promptly with Ludo Bagman's arrival. The whole stadium erupted at his introduction, making it a colorful array of flags throughout the whole place. ""And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce . . . the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

"I wonder what they've brought," Mr. Weasley wondered curiously and leaned forward in his seat. "Aaah!" He suddenly pulled off his glasses and gave them a good polish with his robes. "Veela!"

At his exclaim, the teenagers saw what seemed like a hundred of these "veela" glide out into the field. Most of them had never seen "veela" before but they turned out to be very pretty women with white-gold hair and shining skin. A sweet melody started playing with their entrance.

"Woah, what the fuck are you doing, Harry Potter?" Romina didn't hesitate to rip the brunette away from the wall of the box and right back into his seat. He seemed to be transfixed by the sight of the dancing veela.

"They're so pretty Rom..." He said much too eagerly.

Romina exchanged glances with Hermione and Ginny who seemed about the only ones out of their group not to be losing their minds. Ron looked ready to make a dive into the field as well. The twins had the same stupid dreamy grins on their faces. Romina looked back at Draco and Theodore and saw them leaned forward with similar dazed faces.

"Honestly!" Hermione shook her head at them all.

Romina decided to flip her hair over her shoulders in such a dramatic way that it slapped both Draco and Theodore in their faces. "Oops!"

"What was that for?" Theodore leaned back in his seat with the biggest scowl on his face.

"Oswell being dramatic, I'm sure," Draco said and matched Romina's glare with his own. "We were having a good time, you know."

"Oh, we know," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Idiots, all of you," she murmured and fixed herself in her seat. She was very glad when the veela left the field.

"And now, kindly put your wands in the air . . . for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

Fortunately, the Irish did not have any Veela as part of their introductions. They had lovely green and gold comets zooming around the stadium that hurtled towards the goal posts. A rainbow appared to connect them and soon disappeared, leaving a great shimmering shamrock in the sky.

"Excellent!" Ron cried as the shamrock rained gold coins down on them.

The closer the shamrock was to them, the more clearly they could see that it was actually comprised of leprechauns. Everyone around the stadium scrambled to pick up the golden coins being left behind, including Ron who gave Harry a fistful of them and cried about a christmas present or something.

"Here Oswell," Draco dropped some of the coins over Romina's shoulder. "Maybe you could buy yourself one of those little dried fruits you like so much. Or maybe you could buy one for your Weasley group. They might need it more."

Romina grabbed the coin and tossed it over her shoulder, hitting him in the face with it. She could hear Harry and Ron snickering beside her. "I think I only need one coin to make 'em laugh, so thanks. Theodore, you want one too?"

"I'm good, thanks," said Theodore with his hands in front of him.

"Smart." Romina then held up another coin for Draco to see and raised an eyebrow, silently asking if he wanted another one to his face.

His response was a deep glare.

Ludo started introducing the Bulgarian team now. Ron was very happy about his favorite player, Viktor Krum. He was over the moon really. After the Irish team was brought on, Ludo introduced the referee who then officially started the game.

Though Romina wasn't a huge fan of the sport, she knew a good game when she saw one. These players were clearly professionals as they literally zoomed by after the balls, dodging them and throwing them. They were fast.

The Irish made a goal first. The leprechauns happily rose into the air again and formed a glittering shamrock for their team.

Later, the Iris had made two more goals, leaving the Bulgarians to race to catch up. And soon, they scored their own goal too.

"Fingers in your ears!" Mr. Weasley warned the group as the veela started to dance in the air.

This time, most of the boys stayed bright as ever now that they knew the veelas' tricks. Romina laughed as Harry re-opened his eyes; she supposed it was a good way to ensure that he didn't fall under the veelas' charms.

The bulgarians stayed in control of the quaffle, but now it seemed like the teams' seekers had spotted the snitch. Krum and Lynch zoomed after it like they were diving. Hermione screamed that they were going to crash down on the field. Krum pulled out at the last second, but Lynch went straight down.

It's time-out!" yelled Bagman over the stadium, "as trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!"

It was a lot of back and forth for a while, with many more fast-paced tricks from both teams. It got to the point where the referee intervened, which then caused more problems that brought on both sides' mascots. A battle enraged between them involving not so kind words from the leprechauns and more charming dances from the veela.

Romina and Hermione, and Ginny, were not impressed by the sight.

When the game was finally started again, the teams were more furious than ever with their attempts to score. Romina was sure there was a lot more foul play now than anything else. The mascots started again, with the leprechauns forming one giant hand that was very keen on showiing its middle finger.

This time, Romina couldn't help but laugh.

The veelas lost it and went straight for the attack, throwing fire at the leprechauns. Their beautiful figures morphed into very nonhuman features with cruel-beaked bird heads and scaly wings bursting from their shoulders.

While Ministry wizards tried breaking apart the mascot fight below, the game was still going on above. Back and forth went the quaffle, scores being made on both sides. However, with more foul play, one bludge slamming right into Krum's face and breaking his nose. Even then, the game still went on. At some point, the irish seeker Lynch had spotted the snitch and took a nose dive for it. Krum went after him and somehow, Lynch managed to crash into the field yet again only this time since the Veela were still around, they stampeded around him. Krum took possession of the Snitch, but the Irish had still won the game.

"KRUM GETS THE SNITCH — BUT IRELAND WINS — good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!" Bagman said what most of them were thinking.

"What did he catch the Snitch for?" Ron said in the midst of his excited bouncing with applause. "He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!"

"He knew they were never going to catch up!" Harry had to shout to be heard amongst the applause of the stadium. "The Irish Chasers were too good...he wanted to end it on his terms, that's all!"

"He was very brave, wasn't he?" Hermione leaned forward and watched Krum land to be surrounded by mediwizards. "He looks a terrible mess. . . ."

"This was the most chaotic game I have ever seen," Romina remarked with all the tude of someone unimpressed.

"It's the only game you've seen," came Draco's remark from behind.

Romina spun around that time and swiped some golden coins off the ground to chuck at his face. With all the buzz and excitement of cheers, nobody really noticed her antics. It wasn't until Bagman started re-introducing the teams that Romina gave up and turned back with her friends to continue clapping.

And of course, once the game was truly over, and Bagman was no longer talking to the stadium, Fred and George Weasley were scrambling to his seat with wiggling fingers and wide grins.

~ 0 ~

Later on in the evening, celebrations were still going strong in almost every part of the tents. In the Weasley Tent, the twins were dancing ridiculously in the middle while Ron went on about Krum to the others.

"There's no one like Krum. He's like a bird the way he rides the wind. He's more than an athlete, he's an artist!"

"Think you're in love Ron?" Ginny snickered when Ron hopped onto a chair to make his words better heard.

The twins started mocking him with their version of a song. "Viktor I love you! Viktor!" Even Harry joined in.

"When we're apart my heart beats only for youuu!"

Hermione and Romina shook their heads disapprovingly but nobody could take away their laughter, not when Ron looked so heated.

"Sounds like the irish have got their pride on," Fred remarked after a particularly loud burst from outside.

Mr. Weasley suddenly came running into the tent looking quite frantic. "Stop! Stop it. It's not the irish. We've gotta get out of here. Now!"

The group all looked at each other in concern and with a bit of fright. What could be happening at a time like this? The more they listened, the clearer things got. It no longer sounded like cheering and singing outside. Romina heard distinct sounds of horrific screaming.

Mr. Weasley was quick to get everyone out as he threw out a handful of instructions. "Stick together. Fred, George...Ginny is your responsibility!"

"But what's happening!?" Each of them would ask until they were shoved outside and could see for themselves.

The air was filled with smoke from ongoing fires. People were running all over the place, screaming, as one identifiable group in pointed hoods and flaming torches wrecked the place.

"What are they doing?" Romina was horrified when she saw four bodies in the air being controlled by the same group. She recognized the man as the same muggle they encountered yesterday — Mr. Roberts. With him was a woman and two small children, all with the same terrified faces.

Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie and Percy emerged behind them from the tent, wands at the ready. "We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley told the teenagers. "You lot — get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"

"Romina, let's go!" Hermione called frantically, trying to tug Romina's arm.

"But—it's a family!" Romina bit on her bottom lip so hard she drew blood in a matter of seconds. The family were muggles, so the hooded group had to be…

"ROMINA!" Hermione finally screamed and yanked Romina with her in a hasty run.

Romina swallowed hard and focused on the rhythm of her running. She couldn't afford to fall and get trampled on. But with so many people doing the same thing, she was bumped and crashed into so many times it was a miracle she hadn't already fallen. She grew alarmed when she no longer saw bright red hair ahead of her anymore.

"Hermione, where are the others!?" she shrieked.

Hermione seemed to be making the same realizations as her face grew more and more pale. "I don't know!"

"What about Harry and Ron? Where are they!?"

"I don't know!"

"Great! So we don't know anything!"

"I know one thing—we need to get out of here!"

Romina would give her that point. They ran into the closest opening of the forest they could find. At least there they would have a chance of hiding and thinking of where to find the others. Though with the darkness around them, it would be hard finding anybody.

"Crazy to think that right now I would really rather be feeding my grandfather's graphorn right now," Romina said to Hermione. With the darkness, she couldn't see the odd look Hermione was sending her.

"Why? So you can complain about it later on like before?" drawled a familiar voice behind the pair.

Romina could laugh at the dumb luck they had. "Oh for God's sake—Lumos!" Her wand illuminated the immediate area and when she, and Hermione, turned around they saw Draco and Theodore leaning against a tree opposite of them. "Bit calm there, aren't we?"

They were pretty much relaxed when there was literal chaos in the area. Draco shrugged, leaning off the tree. "Not sure you're making the right choice again, Oswell. Out of everybody you've ran off with, you chose her." He made a nod in Hermione's direction.

The brunette, in return, glared. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Have you taken a look out there, Granger? Those are Muggles. What do you think I meant?"

Romina peered around the tree. She swallowed hard. The field was much too crowded to identify anyone but she could definitely see the figures in the air. She felt sick to her stomach. "They're...they're death eaters, aren't they?" Her voice shook a bit.

"Yes," Theodore answered her, making her look back at them. "So the smart choice would be to ditch your little friend before you get caught up in this mess."

"Bet you're a little happy you didn't bring King along, though," Draco said, knowing that despite her heavy annoyance she knew that he had a point. He smirked.

Romina air strangled him with her free hand. "Where the hell are your parents?"

"I got a feeling I know where," she heard Hermione mumble.

"Lost them in the run," Draco said quite calmly. "What about you? Weasleys leave you to your own luck?"

"No," Hermione snapped. "We got split up but don't worry, we'll be finding them." She grabbed hold of Romina's arm, dragging the dark haired girl a few steps away when a strong explosion rocked them all on their feet.

"Might be a little hard, Hermione," Romina admitted.

"You're better off splitting up, Oswell!" Draco called to them.

"Shut it!" Romina snapped. She racked her mind for some good options which, admittedly, weren't very many. "Draco," she called suddenly, "Where were you guys going to go?"

"What?" Both he and Hermione sent her the exact same horrific looks.

Theodore looked between with bemusement. "We're not bringing you anywhere."

"Oh, be quiet, Nott," Romina waved him off, "And get real. You two were definitely going to go somewhere—where?"

Even Hermione wasn't all for Romina's plan. She would much rather take her chances in the forest. "Romina, we don't need them!"

"Right now, we need to take anything we can get," Romina said sharply and faced the boys again, more precisely Draco. "C'mon," she sighed, putting her hands together as she walked up to Draco, "For once, just stop being a jerk and help us out. We could die out here. Would you really let that happen?"

"Not you," Draco said with all the ease in the world.

Romina glared incredulously at him. "Oh, how special I feel right now! You idiot!" Without warning, she punched his arm with all her might.

Hermione blinked in surprise while Draco stumbled back, arm clutching what was sure to be bruised later on. Theodore's eyes widened as well but he downright laughed.

"Shut the fuck up, Nott!" Draco said lividly before his eyes landed on Romina. "Who the hell do you think you are—?"

Romina had enough and shoved him away from her. "I can't believe I ever thought you had a shred of decency! Don't you ever talk to me again!" She yelled furiously at him then ran back to where Hermione was, grabbing her hand, and continuing their run together.

Neither girl wanted to admit that they had no idea where they were going but they did agree (silently) that it was going to be better than the field. They held onto each other's hands as tightly as possible because the last thing they were going to do was lose each other amongst the chaos. They bumped into all sorts of people running as well, among those Beauxbaton students who didn't speak a drop of English. They even caught Ludo Bagman who, up until that moment, had no idea what was going on out in the campsite.

Eventually, fate took pity on them and they found—crashed face first—with Harry and Ron.

"What happened to you two!?" Harry hugged Romina tightly. "We were going mad trying to find you!"

"Yeah, where'd you get into!?" Ron was about to hug Hermione but for some reason he decided not to in the end.

"Got lost, that's all," Romina said quickly, making it clear to Hermione that they were going to leave out the small moment they had with Draco. That was fine with Hermione.

"Where are the twins and Ginny?" Hermione asked, looking around the immediate area. There was no one else but them.

"Got the foggiest," Ron said. "We're hoping we can find them when this dies down."

"How is this ever going to die down?" Romina made a gesture towards the noise of the field. "The entire Ministry is probably out there trying to get this—"

They stopped when a particular noise was just too close to them. Uneven steps were definitely close to their area. It turned out to be Winky who, despite wanting to escape the chaos, seemed to be struggling greatly to do so. It got Hermione riled up again about house elves again. They kept running, although Harry was a little slower on account of him trying to find his missing wand. They came to a small clearing that for the time being seemed safe. It was very shortlived as they thought they heard more steps.

"Who's there?" Harry called, bringing both Romina and Hermione behind him and Ron.

Nobody answered him directly. Instead, they all heard a loud scream ring through the clearing. "MORSMORDRE!"

A streak of green energy beamed to the sky. It seemed to glitter in the sky when it exploded to create a shape. They were like dancing emerald stars forming a serpent protruding from its mouth.

"What the hell…?" Romina gulped, taking a step back as if the serpent would come down for them at that very moment.

New screams erupted from the forest. Wherever it was that people had been hiding themselves was gone now.

"What? What is it!? What's going on now?" Harry looked around to make sure his friends were still with him. They were. And they were just as frightened as the others.

"Harry, it's the Dark Mark!" Hermione exclaimed. "You Know Who's sign!"

"RUN! RUN!" was all Ron's head could think of so it was the first thing that came out of his mouth. 'It didn't help that wizards were apparating only a short distance from them, each one with their wand out and aimed right at them.

Harry cried 'duck!' seconds before the wizards yelled 'stupifey!'.

Lights flashed above them, ricocheting from every angle—how none of them had yet to be struck by the lights was beyond Harry.

"STOP! That's my son!"

At the voice of Mr. Weasley, the firing stopped. The man emerged from group of wizards, looking worse for wear as he came up to group to make sure they were alright.

"Out of the way, Arthur," Barty Crouch strode up to them, wand still clasped in his hand. "Which one of you did it?" He demanded from them. "Which one of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

"You're joking!" Romina snapped out of her fear-induced trance. "We were running for our lives and you think we did that!?" She raised a finger high above her head to point at the sky. "You're out of your mind!"

"Do not lie!" Crouch said, eyes blazing with anger for the lack of the response he was searching for and for being spoken to like that by a young girl. "You've been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Where did the Mark come from, you four?" Mr. Weasley asked much gentler, and of course without the intention of blaming them.

"Over there!" Hermione pointed to their left. "There was someone behind the trees! They're the ones who shouted an-an incantation!"

Mr. Crouch still wasn't convinced. However, he was the only one because the group of wizards behind him didn't exactly believe four fourteen year old kids were responsible for the massive mark tainting their sky.

"You know who did it,' Romina spoke again, ignoring Mr. Weasley's look that practically begged her not to keep going. "We all do."

Crouch met her eye with nothing but disdain for her. "Oh, really?"

"I would know what that mark is—my parents had it. That's the mark of the Death Eaters. They're responsible for it, not some Hogwarts students." Romina folded her arms, mustering enough courage to keep staring at the man until he either agreed and let them go...

She would waver from a lot of things but not this. There were many pictures of Elora and Caplan around and in many of them they had the same mark tattooed on their arms. Whoever was behind all this was a Death Eater wearing the same damn mark.

The stand-off was interrupted by Cedric's father, Mr. Diggory, who in a matter of minutes managed to acquire a stunned "culprit" not too far from them. Of course when he returned with the culprit, things made even less sense. It was Winky, Mr. Crouch's house elf. And to top it off, she had a wand.

After being brought back, Mr. Diggory started questioning her.

"I — I — I is not doing it, sir!" Winky said. "I is not knowing how, sir!"

"You were found with a wand in your hand!" Mr. Diggory held the wand in question at her.

"Hey," frowned Harry as he recognized the wand, "That's mine!"

Everything stopped. All eyes turned on him.

"I dropped it!" Harry said.

"You dropped it?" Mr. Diggory said in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"

"Amos, think who you're talking to!" Mr. Weasley cut in angrily. "Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"

Thankfully, Mr. Diggory gathered his bearings and realized how unlikely that was. "Er — of course not. Sorry . . . carried away . . ."

"I didn't drop it there, anyway," Harry said, jerking his thumb behind them. "I missed it right after we got into the wood."

So," Mr. Diggory, turned to look at Winky again, "You found this wand, eh, elf ? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"

"We're not really thinking the elf did it, are we?" Romina was not quiet at all with her scoff. "Look at her! She's scared out of her wits!"

"Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper!" Hermione added for support. "It was a human voice."

"And a man too," Romina crossed her arms. "A grown man."

Mr. Diggory didn't look very impressed by the two girls. "Well, we'll soon see. There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"

"Oh, for the love of..." Romina shook her head, "Guess Cedric didn't get his smarts from his dad..." She mumbled under her breath.

Mr. Diggory performed the spell on Harry's wand and to everyone's shock, the same skull from the sky billowed out from Harry's wand like a ghost.

"I is not doing it!" Winky cried with absolute terror. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"

"You've been caught red-handed, elf !" Mr. Diggory roared. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!"

Winky cried about her innocence until Mr. Crouch stepped in and twisted the accusation. If Winky was the accused, then so was he and that could not be. Mr. Diggory had no choice but to let go of his accusation. Winky told the group where she had found Harry's wand which wasn't too far from them. They soon believed that whoever had used the wand had merely found it like Winky had and took advantage of it.

Mr. Crouch requested he be the one to punish Winky for her "crimes", which was not following his orders. "Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible. I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. This means clothes."

Winky started sobbing.

"But she was frightened!" Hermione said angrily at the same time Romina said, in a calmer manner, 'You're so delusional'.

While Mr. Crouch wasn't that bothered by Hermione's outburst, he threw a hard look in Romina's direction. "Watch your language, young lady."

"But she was literally stuck in the middle of an attack and you want to fire her?" Romina scowled. "If she had stayed back there, she would've been killed. So a dead house elf is better than this?"

"I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me," he said coldly.

"Romina's right! You'd rather a dead house elf!" Hermione exclaimed. "Your elf 's scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way!"

But Mr. Crouch was not swayed by either girl. In the end, Mr. Weasley stepped in to retrieve Harry's wand and get them all out of there. Though angry, Romina and Hermione followed them, leaving behind the sobbing elf and wizards. Romina gazed up at the dark sky and saw the remnants of the Dark Mark still present. She swallowed hard; she had done a great job not thinking about Elora and Caplan this summer. She should have known it would never last.

[pantherlover]

Sleep No More Reaction

Holy SHIT guys, this book was AMAZING. I read it so fast I have a book-hangover. I'm very happy that the next book doesn't come out until the end of October, because I'm going to need at least that long to recover emotionally from this one.

Spoilers under the cut!

In no particular order, here are my thoughts:

Quentin is going to have a ROUGH time in book 19. I think he was the person who was least like himself in Titania's world - October was pretty different too, and Sylvester also wasn't having a great time, but there were still pieces of Toby that peeked out and Sylvester's *been* the Mad Duke before; it would've been unpleasant but not unfamiliar. Quentin never had the chance to be that person because Toby got to him first, and it must be pretty sobering for him to realize how bad he could've been.

I wanted to smack Etienne when he showed up and I'm glad Chelsea gave him an earful after she got her memories back.

I'm really glad we're getting a book from Tybalt's perspective, because he was not doing so good in this one.

I really feel like Team Original!Faerie could've gotten Toby on board a lot faster if they'd told her Titania was hurting kids. Toby was hesitant to help them fully even up to finding Luidaeg; the SECOND she met Raysel and Dean in Blind Michael's lands, she started back-talking Luidaeg and investigating things herself.

I'm so glad I re-read An Artificial Night before I read this book; I picked up so many things about the Ride I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

Speaking of An Artificial Night, I was SO happy when Dame Altair popped back up; Seanan McGurie is So. Good. At callbacks and bringing back characters. I do hope we get to meet her in Real!Faerie; I feel this wasn't the best situation to judge her character.

Jessicaaaaaaaaa. She still calls Toby Aunt Birdie!

Grianne! I've loved Grianne since Late Eclipses, and I was so happy that she had such a big part in the book.

I honestly really loved August here? Growing up with someone clearly did a lot to cut through her mother's influence. I'm glad she got to keep her Lorden siblings *and* Toby.

The further we get in the series, the more I realize how much of a failure Amandine is; she fails as a wife she fails as a mother, she fails as a hero, I would even argue she fails herself because she can't seem to understand how to get the things that would make her happy.

Arden and Nolan's AU childhood was amazing and I hope a million fics come out of it (honestly I hope a ton of fics come out of Titania's AU in general; it's such a fun What If? scenario to play with).

Chrysanthe and Theron were awesome! I hope we see them again in another book.

So the baby's going to be named after a month, right? My bet would be June for May (and maybe Gillian?), but like - it has to be *one* of the months, right? (No one's popped up named after a month in AGES I'm dyyiiiiinnnnnggggg please please PLEASE let the baby be the next one!)

Literally the only complaint I had was that May didn't show up; I'm hoping she has a big part in Tybalt's book.

There's probably a bunch more things, but it's all I can think of off the top of my head. Maybe I'll add more if I think of anything. Anyways, if anyone loved the book as much as I did PLEASE come talk to me about it I'm losing my MIND!

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia,

Behind-the-scenes-fic-ask, number 21 and falling falling stars please ❤️

21. What is something you didn't expect people to notice or gravitate towards in this fic?

Ooooo, okay, actually quite a few things!

So the biggest one is that I just never expected to have Dr Gary be anything more than an extremely minor character that Efnisien mostly reflected on. I never planned to write whole sessions, and the first one was only a section of a chapter rather than a whole chapter, because I thought readers would hate it.

I actually really hate reading a lot of fictional therapy sessions, especially when that's not the focus of the fic. Most fictional therapy sessions read like 'therapist is narrating pop psychology and telling this character everything they want to hear and they're subbing in for a kind parental figure' at best.

There are exceptions to that, but for the most part, I find that boring - it feels like a kind of writing that is not quite lazy, but a bit 'there are other more interesting ways to share this.' Therapists don't feel like real people in those circumstances, with their own motives, thoughts, intentions and drives. They feel like an extended part of the character's brain, or they feel like an empty function.

But Dr Gary was like, was a hit. I was getting a lot of asks about him, a lot of interest about him in the comments, and in the first few chapters, me and my beta actually kind of shipped him and Efnisien together before he met Arden (that's how we ended up with Underline the Black lol).

So yeah, that's the biggest one!!! And that one is a pretty big one. :D

Otherwise, I was also surprised by (but maybe shouldn't have been) how many Kadek/Efnisien shippers there are and Kadek/Efnisien/Arden shippers. I was like...hmm...how can I put this - Kadek has darker brown skin, and in those cases some readers don't really go for that chemistry. He's also 20~ years older than Efnisien, though he doesn't act like it, lol. Like, I personally shipped them even though I wasn't going to write them into the main story, but I was very reserved/aware that people might not want that. Especially with how confrontational and sometimes even mean Kadek can be.

Honestly that was like, probably the nicest surprise. It wasn't that I expected people to be awful, often I try and go in with fairly open expectations, it was more like I was prepared for people to not feel/see what I was feeling/seeing about a character. And I was okay with that, because he's a side character. But we got way, way more scenes with Kadek because of how people responded to him.

This story really couldn't have been what it became without the readers! The best part about not planning a story is I can follow the kind of momentum of readers. I don't believe in caving to fanservicey stuff, but I do believe in 'oh you're open to this? I can give you more of this!' or 'oh you like him!!! Yay!! I do too! Let's experiment with a whole therapy session chapter and see how y'all feel about it.'

:D That's my favourite part of writing, honestly. I actually kind of feel bad for the people who don't read fics as they go like this, and just read it all when it's completed at the end. Because they miss this kind of alive creation of this ongoing story, and they miss being a part of it. And obviously they also miss the agony of waiting for chapters, but as someone who reads WIPs myself, idk there's something very cool about seeing something come to life - especially like, if say early on you are like 'I love this character so much' and then a bunch of other people say it, and then the author is like 'well this character can make the story stronger so good news everyone, I'm putting him in more because you all love him so much.'

That's... like... *chef's kiss*

~

From this meme!

[likeabxrdinflight]

episodes five and six need to be talked about together, I think, because they're very much a two-parter.

so this contains...a lot. we've got "winter solstice", zuko's half of "the storm", "the blue spirit", and a very bizarre mish-mash of koh's part of "the siege of the north" with, of all things, the fog of lost souls from the legend of korra.

it's...we're getting major deviations from the animated version here. first and foremost, it's not the worst change in the world, but splitting the backstories from "the storm" and presenting them in entirely different contexts completely removes the parallels from aang and zuko in a way that...it doesn't butcher their arcs but I do still miss the original version. that episode was top tier and here it's just...average.

meanwhile roku has been completely butchered. there's no way around it. I want to say something positive but I really don't think I can. this is the "HARRY DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIYAH" of avatar. bad choices all around here.

anyways, the plot is kind of...running away from itself, I think. the spirit world stuff was all recognizable, but they've made some changes that don't make a ton of sense. seeing wan shi tong was kinda cool, but also why? then koh shows up but he doesn't steal your face for making an expression anymore, he find them in the fog of lost souls and puts them in little cocoons to eat...whenever he feels like it? it's just a weird change, I guess. the entire purpose of this was to fridge katara and sokka to set up for "the blue spirit" which...sure, I guess they needed to raise the stakes a little higher than "my friends need frozen frogs" in this version.

of course katara and sokka both have visions in the spirit world while they're trapped in the fog of lost souls before koh captures them. katara's I know is her real memory because they show her mother's death and it's very close to the original version. sokka's...god I hope it's not a memory, but it probably is since katara's was. massive L for hakoda if so. not thrilled about that. at what point was hakoda ever disappointed in sokka? sokka always feared letting him down, but that wasn't because hakoda ever said anything so blatantly unkind- it's because the war left the weight of expectation on sokka's shoulders. his father left and he was the only "man" remaining. it had nothing to do with hakoda himself, just the impact of his absence.

it lacks subtlety. (also was the fox sokka saw yue? I feel like it was yue)

anyways this is ultimatley just the set up for aang needing to run to find roku at his temple, learn some shit that roku did to piss koh off and nothing at all about the comet (we knew that already tho), and then go try to correct it only to get captured by june who was hired by zuko and iroh but then actually no wait zhao comes takes him instead. this then lets "the blue spirit" play out as an almost one-to-one remake. which is fascinating because so little else has been preserved identically.

...arden cho was perfect as june btw. 10/10 casting.

interspersed with all this was zuko's backstory. and.......I knew they were gonna do this, I knew they were gonna have zuko fight back. there was too much indication in the trailers. and it just misses the damn point. the point is that he doesn't fight back, he refuses to fight his father out of loyalty and love, and ozai burns him for it. at the very least, ozai does still burn him intentionally, it is very clear that it was not an accident, and he still does it because zuko held back. but the impact is neutered a bit, the cruelty feels a little less. and there's no matching the mood of this shot:

(though azula doesn't smile evil-y in this version because she's just so EVIL so thank god for that)

focusing in on ozai does let daniel do some interesting things with his face in that scene, though. I know a lot of people are going to be upset that ozai isn't quite the same menacing, saturday-morning-cartoon villain he was in the original. but oh this guy is still a monster. "I burned and banished you because I love you" seems to be the vibe we're going for. I'm not against this at all, ozai's still a piece of shit, just a piece of shit who acts like a human being. the worst abusers justify their behavior as acts of love.

ummm what else. azula had a side plot in episode five and there is some fascinating stuff here. this adaptation is blowing up the golden child/scapegoat thing that the original had going on and honestly? kinda here for it. this azula is not secure in her position as ozai's favorite and she is gonna work her ass off to get that position if it fucking kills her.

...and we know how this ends for her. they're setting her up for her eventual fall. I think it's going to be much harder to watch this azula break. she looks so young, and they're showing her vulnerabilities so much sooner. the shots of her firebending late into the night while mai and ty lee sleep is so. sad??? and gyatso has a voiceover here that's just. someone please hug this child.

(also yeah aang gets to meet with gyatso in the spirit world and it is so so sad my heart T_T)

lots happened in these two episodes, some good, some bad, some just kinda strange. I also knew season one needed the most work when it came to adapting it into a serialized format but wow. they have really frankensteined this even more than I expected. it's...different. I still think it's worth watching though, but these two episodes didn't quite hit the highs of three and four.

[sunshinepixels]

EVERYTHING WRONG WITH THE TEEN WOLF MOVIE

bc I hate it more than I've ever hated anything in my life 😭

Allison is back from the dead and somehow stays alive by the end of the movie as if that's not unnatural af !!! Like she's a human? how is that a thing? why did they do this? I love Allison, I really do but her coming back to life and not being laid back to rest by the end of the movie was so psycho and bizarre. Idk why they made that choice but I hated it

Derek apparently had a child 15 years ago and Allison died 15 years ago so somehow he had a child in season 3? When? When would he have time to do that? He was literally with Jennifer that season 🤨 so when did he make this kid who he seemed to have always been in the life of ? the math isn't mathing. ik teen wolf math sometimes doesn't make sense but I excused it bc I like the show but since I hate this fucking movie I will not excuse it. Jeff Davis tell me how the fuck Derek somehow had a kid in season 3!?

Who is the mother of Derek's child? (We all know that Stiles is the other parent) but fr why is she not mentioned at fucking all??? like it felt so unnatural, like they were specifically talking around it or some shit. I swear Eli never even says the word mom once!! how? why do they act like she doesn't exist? at this point I'm gonna assume Derek made this child asexually through budding or some shit cus wtf

IK Dylan O didn't want to be in the movie but they didn't have to do everything in their power to pretend Stiles didn't exist. The only references to him were the Jeep and Lydia's dumb dream. It made it seem like Stiles doesn't keep up with them anymore and that they don't keep up with him, and that's including his fucking dad. It's so unnatural and ew. I'm also very sad that Kira wasn't here but ik why Arden didn't want to do it. Fuck Jeff tbh. Kira was barely mentioned also, I don't think they EVER said anything about her at all. It's giving Jeff is bitter or smth.

This movie dragged so bad, it was boring as shit and I struggled to get to the 2 hour mark. It was actually painful for me to watch . I wanted to skip through every scene basically, trying to get to SOMETHING interesting, but it was rare that anything like that was going on

Some of the style choices were weird. The clothes they had Deaton in weren't right, it didn't feel like something he'd wear at all. Also so weird to see Chris in a turtleneck, idk if he's worn one before but it looked weird. Peter ate though, I have to give them that.

WHY WOULD MASON BE A FUCKING COP? What about him screams cop? 😐 He should be working with Melissa at the hospital or doing LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE.

Parrish and Malia 😐 disgusting. He knew her as a teen!!! like hello?? that's weird af! I already hated him and Lydia, bc why is he going after a freshly turned 18 y/o and I was hoping that the writers would know better by now then to do this weird shit but obviously they didn't

What exactly was Harris back for? He barely explained what happened to him or what he knew? It was dumb. If they left him out, I don't think it would've impacted the movie or what we know about Harris at all. Also, I don't remember if they explained but why was he alive anyway?

Abolish Eichen House

Some of the sets were very ugg and didn't feel like teen wolf at all

Peter sniffing the ground like a dog ☠️☠️☠️ SO UGLY 😭 but so hilarious, best scene hands down

Curse count: 9 Shits and 2 Motherfuckers (both from Chris which is funny asf)

The movie was not fun, it didn't have the fun vibes of the original show, all the jokes were meh and didn't live up to the source material.

who tf is Eli's mom 😐 I'm serious

why did former best friends Mason and Liam barely say one word to each other 😐😐😐😐 idc if they had no time, they should've been hugging and crying in the background or some shit

Why did they decide to make Derek burn???? LIKE HUH??? That was sick ! The worse possible death they could've given him! Like that's TRAUMATIC!!! Like were we meant to think this was poetic or smth?? cus I don't. I just think it's sick and weird. Not only that but they made him leave his kid. at this point why'd they even give him a kid just to kill him off. it also kind of felt like they exchanged a dead person for an alive person

the way Liam and Hikari pronounced I love you in Japanese was so bad. im not a language expert but that didn't sound right at all. truly horrendous, get a language coach on set or smth cus that ain't it

them having Allison come back and go back to dating Scott felt very character regressiony for him. like ik he loved allison but so what? you don't need to always end up with your first love. he literally was able to move past her death and get in other relationships. it didn't feel like he was holding a torch for her, it felt like he was able to get past it but now it doesn't. idk it's weird

seeing clips from the tv show made me wanna take the shit off my screen and put on the real show

and lastly this movie didn't need to exist and is not canon in my head

[brightbeautifulthings]

Dark Waters by Katherine Arden

"He could make a hard decision; he could do a dangerous thing. He could keep going even though he was afraid. That wasn't nothing."

Year Read: 2023

Rating: 4/5

About: Brian, Ollie, and Coco have spent the winter holed up reading ghost stories and looking for clues about how to defeat the Smiling Man. He's already come for them twice, and it's only a matter of time before he tries again. When a weekend getaway opportunity comes up, they all jump at the chance to hop aboard a boat and go sailing on the lake, far out of reach of anything sinister that's coming for them or their families. But when something huge and with a lot of teeth attacks the boat and leaves them stranded on a haunted island, they realize there's nowhere the Smiling Man can't reach-- and they're going to have to be brave and clever to escape him again. Trigger warnings: minor character death, drowning, severe injury, poisoning, threats.

Thoughts: I accidentally read this in a day, but in my defense, it has chapters from the previous books at the end, so it looks about forty pages longer than it is. With that in mind, I'm having a bit of trouble gauging the pace. My sense was that the ending was rather quick, but I can't tell whether that's because it needed to be developed more or because I was simply expecting it to be longer. Regardless, however, it's a middle grade novel, so brevity is probably a blessing there. There's a plot twist near the end that is definitely under-explained, but I'm hoping we get to see that in more detail in the next book.

While this isn't quite on the level of Small Spaces for me, I liked it so much more than Dead Voices. You know me; I love a good water monster, and while this one's biology is a bit unusual (for spoilery reasons I can't explain), it works. As expected, Brian gets a chance to shine here as the lead character, and I'm always impressed by the cleverness and resilience of this group of characters. Even as an adult, I'd have probably been dead a long time ago. This is less water horror than abandoned island horror, but I expect that will appeal to the target audience. There's also a truly beautiful gay pirates subplot that I would read a whole novel about, and it really strikes an emotional chord at the end of the book. As a warning, it leaves off on quite an intense cliffhanger, and I'd probably be more bothered by that if I didn't have Empty Smiles sitting in my to-read pile.

[princeescaluswords]

It’s an awfully complicated plan for a profit-driven entity like MTV to gamble on when the proven formula has been to cast conventionally attractive white men. There are plenty of other white-privilege-driven explanations for the examples you cited, like benefiting from the optics of diverse casting despite a lack of interest in exploring it meaningfully on the show or making up excuses to overlook deeper story beats for minority characters that the writers are less interested in. 3/4

Oh, I am sure there are other explanations, but then there's this.

I think it's disingenuous to believe that audience response had zero impact on the behavior of the production or the network. The show did react to the overwhelming fandom engagement in Sterek, when it absolutely did not have to. I have three pieces of evidence for this that come directly to mind. I am sure I could find more, even if I exclude instances of really strange narrative choices in later seasons.

The Famous Ship Photoshoot, from above. While the Teen Wolf cast is notoriously affectionate with each other and prone to unscripted goofiness, I don't feel that I'm going too far to say this was staged. The powers that be planned this, and it is a direct reference to the Sterek phenomenon. This wasn't the only time they did this. Just like certain elements on the show, they wanted to harness the energy of the fandom by implying things that were never going to happen. Some audience members called it queerbaiting. I don't know if it was a mistake by the production caused by misunderstanding that Sterek was predicated on making white male characters the primary focus of the show or if they cynically noted it and didn't care, but they did encourage it.

The reaction to Poseygate. You must have heard of the outrage when Tyler Posey, the lead actor of the show, dismissed the fandom fixation on Sterek as something that didn't have anything to do with the show. What you may not have heard is that the official MTV social media sites responded with a flood of pro-Sterek memes. They didn't issue an official correction; they didn't deny what Posey said; they didn't instruct him to apologize. But they also didn't say he was wrong. For Hollywood? That's a very precise non-action.

The mistreatment of Arden Cho. For a show in this particular genre, Kira's relationship with the other characters, especially the lead protagonist, was incredibly significant. Yet, the elimination of her scenes in 5B, the nature of her dismissal from Season 6, and the situation in the movie all point to a production confident that the metaphorical equivalent of dropping Cho and her character off a cliff wouldn't be a critical mistake. I think that it's pretty safe to say that fandom disinterest in Kira, who was referred in such terms as "placeholder, rebound, useless" played right into that.

None of this behavior is fundamental proof, but added together, it shows a production empowered in their choices by seeing fandom dismissal of characters of color. When you add in all the narrative decisions that don't make any sense -- such as the argument in Season 6 that they need Theo for Josh's power because Kira couldn't handle a lightning bolt when we saw her blank out the entire city in Season 3B -- then you get the idea that racist fandom behavior had a significant impact on the show.