#i will defend unicorn dog always

[lohotine]

https://www.tumblr.com/shmolish/750251834196852736/so-not-sure-on-the-limit-for-characters-but-feel?source=share

Hey I got inspiration from this other anon's ask and...gotta ask:

Same traits question...but for...well Royal margarine, clotted cream, shining glitter, cherry blossom, dark choco (after he redeemed himself), butter roll, red velvet, Caramel arrow and finally...cream unicorn.

If it's too many cookies at once...surprise me with who you choose from the List lol! (Sorry for so many...I simp for a LOT of cookies! Just picked a few from the list of cookies I Simp for.)

AN: I don't know some of these characters that well, so sorry if they seem a bit wonky-

Multiple x Reader CRK

Headcanons

Warning: Some of these characters may be OOC, not proof read

Royal Margarine

First and foremost, Buttercream has to like you

If they don't, you're automatically out (sorry)

It shouldn't be that much of an issue as long as you are a halfway decent person

Since he's kind of a wimp, he'd definitely appreciate someone who can fight rly well

A person to take care of him when he's drunk

Oh, and you have to be able to handle his constant flirting

And he probably won't mind someone who flirts back as well

Starts blushing and kicking his feet at the thought /hj

So, someone outgoing and bold

Clotted Cream

Knowing his profession and all, his day to day life is very stressful!!!

Therefore, I think he'd like someone who can help him wind down a bit

Someone who is always put together and organized

Like housewife vibes, even if that's a bit stereotypical

A person to just help his life become a little easier and a little less dull

So, someone detail oriented and calm

Shining Glitter

Since music is such a big thing in her life, she'd enjoy someone who can create music with her

Or even just dancing along to her own would be enough

Someone who appreciates everyone's art

A person who never gives up on their dreams

Or a person with a lot of ambition and ideas

Since it reminds her of herself <3

So, someone determined and creative

Cherry Blossom

100% you need to go on picnics with her daily

Bonus points if you know proper tea-party etiquette

She gives off nice aunt vibes but gossips a lot

Probably enjoys someone who she can gossip with

Not only that, but I'm sure someone who can bake would do her some good

After all, you must bring plenty of snacks to a picnic

So, someone who always listens and is easy to talk to

Dark Choco

Enjoys a person who will always love and accept him, despite his past

It would be a sun an moon kind of relationship

He seems rather touch starved, so a cuddly partner will definitely serve him well

So, someone understanding and kind

Butter Roll

He'd like someone who appreciates and is interested in his work

A person who always listens to his rants and what-not

An upbeat person to match his sunny personality

And perhaps someone who can notice small details and point them out

Someone who's dedicated to their craft

So, someone focused and upbeat

Red Velvet

I think he'd be interested in someone who is very kind and gentle

Since he has a lot of dogs, (cakes?) He would appreciate someone who can help him take care of them

Not only that, but I think he'd enjoy someone who he can just rant to

I don't know why, but I feel like he has a lot to say

So, someone gentle and caring

Caramel Arrow

She would be attracted to a person who always looks out for others

A person who fights to defend those who can't defend themselves

Even if they have to defy authority

You two would share that struggle

So, someone who looks out for others and has integrity

Cream Unicorn

Though they are very kind, they are actually rather calm

Therefore, I think they'd need someone a lot more extroverted to be with

A person who always tells them about their day

They just find you so interesting

A person who is kind to everyone

Someone with lots of energy

So, someone who is energetic and loves to talk

[trashlama]

How about future mikey and leo trying to get with reader and there "ha bitch i get her first!" And reader in the background "man they are great *friend*"

A Mikey and Leo rivalry? I can work with that.

Knowing these two this would probably end up being in a situation like the Jupiter Jim sidekick competition episode/or the Mafia Boss Dinner episode.

Both instances the brothers bumped heads to gain favor. Willing to pull whatever to gain an advantage over the opposing brother. Vying for the approval of their idol and table.

Though instead of Space Points and unicorns this two-man competition's prize was your affections. And were they determined to win it. By any means necessary.

Because of this pretty broad concept I conjured up a couple scenarios. One that is pretty long(wouldn't call it a drabble but, I guess it could be), and the rest are pretty short and sweet.

Sorry if these are pretty fluffy!

Enjoy!

1.) Mikey and Leo budding heads over who would their newly acquired yokai friend would prefer romantically.

It was obvious you liked them. You visited their home all the time. Polite and friendly. Always happy to lend a hand when needed.

A darling Oni that has been relentlessly plaguing Mikey and Leo's thoughts since their first encounter with you on a trip to the Mystic City market. Lost in the sea of merchants and patrons your light shined the brightest amongst the populace they swam through. Memorized by your character they found themselves hooked. They needed more of you in their lives. They just couldn't get enough. You were too addictive. Like a good slice of pizza that demanded seconds. They craved more.

It wouldn't take long until a disagreement sparked between them because of Leo's arrogance and lack of self-control. Mikey although capable of choosing his battles would not stand for Leo's blatant antagonism. Defending that he too was just as capable of obtaining your attention as his older blue color coded sibling . After some back and forth bickering the two would arrive at an agreement.

They'd settle this just like everything else they both wanted. Compete for it.

And the prize? You and the bragging rights that came with.

With a handshake the match was set.

And so let the games begin!

The following weeks when visiting the Mad Dog's Lair a ceaseless competition between the red eared slider and box turtle. Given the opportunity the two wild child Hamatos would one-up each other. Both in their own unique way of trying to woo you.

Leo being the showoff that we all love and snicker at would approach this with all the swagger in the world. Bombarding you with compliments and grand gestures. Surprising you with sentiments of affection and trips all around the metropolis. Showboating his skills on the court and in a match. Pulling out all the stops to make sure every time you guys hung out was memorable. After all he's got a girl and bragging rights to win.

Mikey would just try to play it cool in his own Mikey-ish way. And by cool, I mean over the top. Using equally cringy pick-up lines and gestures that anyone else that wasn't you, would've recognized right away for their romantic undertones. Attentive and sweet constantly whipping up snacks and treats just so he could gift them to you. Encouraging you to join the box turtle playing games and other extracurricular activities. Doing anything to get you alone with him. He wasn't losing you to Leo! Not on his watch.

Meanwhile you found the whole charade fun. Finding humor in the way the color coded brothers would squabble as they butted heads over what most would consider little things.

Since the encounter that introduced you to the turtles the grass was a little greener on your side. Finding acceptance amongst the family of mutated Hamatos despite your lineage. Being a kijo wasn't an easy life for a yoaki. So finding someone let alone a whole group of similarly fated individuals who didn't immediately shun you was a blessing. To the Hamato clan you were just another friend. And for someone like you that was a tough commodity to come by. So of course when the turtles— especially a pair of blue and orange bandana wearing brothers wanted to invite you all over the place. Who were you to deny such an opportunity?

You were just glad to have such great friends.

2.) A friend of April's that they both found interest in and compete to woo their s/o. Ooonnllly for the reader to be into Raph/or Donnie. Naive s/o just thought she's making a great first impression with her crush's family. Not realizing instead you further stoked the fire between the red eared slider and box shell.

3.) Human s/o convinced by Mikey and Leo to visit the Mystic City with them. The two using the excursion as a way to settle who you would prefer to date out of the two of them by putting you through wild ass obstacles. Such as them taking out to eat to see who could pick out the best dish for you, taking you down to the mystic market to see who could pick out the best gift, even going as far as taking a detour so they could purposely run into trouble so they both could 'save' you. To only find out later after all of this once they return you home that you already had a human boyfriend. Welp guess they're going to have to team up to take out the real competition.

4.) A newly mutated s/o who Mikey and Leo try to woo as they try to 'help' you adjust to your new form. Taking advantage that you mutated into a turtle so that they can get closer to you. Claiming that because their turtles too that they would be able to help with the transition process. S/o just thinks they're great friends meanwhile in the background Leo and Mikey bumping heads over who will get to be with you when spring comes.

Annnnd that's all for now folks!

I probably could've come up with more but, I suck.

Here's a little author's note in regards to requests↓

Sorry about slackin' on the request! I'm also sorry about the requests not being posted in the order that may have been requested in. They don't really have dates next to them so I kinda've been pickin' and choosin' the ones I can get out quickly. I suck I know. Buuuuttt, the reason others that may be older is also because I want them to come out good. Everything I make may it be writin' or drawin' I always try to work on soemthin' until I'm satisfied with it. I hate creating something that I don't like. I like for all my stuff to be on some level unique, personal. I make these for you guys so I want you guys to feel like I actually gave a damn rather than just throwin' somethin' together and saying tada. Once again sorry about this long ass message. I haven't abandoned these requests. I'm just slow due to some outside forces and my own personal stuff.

Thank you guys for bearing with me and I hope you guys enjoyed these!

I hope you guys have a great day!

Here's some memes I came across while at work.

Sorry this is long↓ I don't own these memes. I've never claimed to do so. I just come across them on Pinterest when I'm on break at work and think they're funny so I like to share them. If I mistakenly put one on here that I shouldn't have please let me know! I like to respect people's wishes. And if you could add the creator names too that would be great so the same mistake isn't made twice. Sorry for the inconvenience that my sharing may cause. I hope you have a good day.

[resident-idiot-simp]

I love the Black dog idea so much!!! And it doesn’t go against the premise at all. Imagine Simon’s human his whole life and thinks Mythics are just lazy spoiled princesses only to become one himself also gaining his new name Ghost. The symbolism between life and death with Soap and Ghost and how opposites can attract and balance each other vs Farah and Hadir where the opposites can tear people apart instead.

People absorb magic their whole lives and while it’s most common to hybridise as a small child if an adult needs to absorb a lot of magic quickly to survive a dangerous situation it’s possible they will also hybridise. In cases like those the area, type of danger, internal magic they’ve absorb in there life and the persons desires would affect the creature they became ie wanting to survive vs wanting revenge would affect the outcome. Being English and being buried alive in an unmarked grave plus wanting revenge = a very pissed black dog hybrid!!!!

In this universe wendigos are a thing with all the magic around but they’re not hybrids they are full creatures. The American military tried using them but they couldn’t control them they had no intelligence beyond hunting for food and couldn’t distinguish between allies or foes.

Fae and a bunch of other creatures are also a present, them returning to the world is what brought back the magic. Soap being a unicorn is fae adjacent and he gets along with the fair folk surprisingly well (the fae courts also completely disregard human royalty (Soap finds this hilarious Ghost doesn’t)).

Roba was also a mythic he was an “old coyote” trickster and used his power to torment people. Hey got away with it so long because mythics are basically above the law in most cases. They will always be treated better than a regular hybrid even one like Ghost. People are lerry of of death affiliated hybrids like vulters or ravens and there are a few nasty stereotypes floating about. Alex probably gets called dumb a couple times a month and the amount of freedom jokes Graves cops a beyond count. Nick’s viewed as a violent brute stuff like that.

Valeria almost died on the mission where she usurped the previous cartel leader and became a regular hybrid to survive. She was unarmed, injured, and surrounded by enemies. She need a way to defend herself and she found one (she’s super venomous).

SOAP GOT HIS NAME FROM SOAPWART because when he uses his magic that shit starts growing everywhere and when Ghost uses his it kills them off. The only reason their home isn’t overgrown with it is because Ghost keeps it incheck.

Ok that's good I'm glad it works because it really feels like it works. I see so in a moment of desperation or dire situation they can transform to survive, it makes sense. The symbolism between Soap and Ghost is amazing an it feels important honestly because it can also delude the godly nature of the Mythics. Them being opposite of Farah and Hadir works so well.

That explanation works well I man after all who wants to fuck with pissed a black dog?

heheheheh Wendigos that makes a lot of sense honestly you can also have it to where they are just smart enough to know they want NO part in the military BS. However I still have the question of what can and can't be a hybrid. Dragons can but not Wendigos, Black dogs but not fae. What is the deciding factor of what can and can't be a hybrid?

I love the idea that Soap and the Fae are just besties and Ghost is just there. ALSO FAE COURT! (poor Ghost)

OLD COYOTE TRICKSTER ROBA IS SO SMART! I like the negative stereotypes it makes the world feel more real and honestly I think it is necessary. The Jokes made at everyone expense is absolutely something that would happen.

Valeria backstory is perfect for her character I love it so much!

I LOVE THAT THEY ARE PERFICT FOR EACHOTHER!

[potionboy3]

character profile

► basics:

Full name: Maritza Krum

Meaning of name:

Nickname: Mari

Pronouns: She/her

Sexual Orientation: Straight until proven otherwise

Nationality: Bulgarian

Birth date: 5th of April 1894

Zodiac sign: Aries

Those born on April 5th are loyal individuals with the ability to learn and rapidly resolve various challenges in life. They are creative and imaginative with your approach to life. You are known for your adaptability and restlessness. They are known to be active and always eager to learn new things.

► Physical appearance:

Faceclaim: Daniela Nieves Height: 155cm Eye colour: Hazel Hair colour: Dark brown/Brown

► Personality:

Positive traits: kind, charismatic, insightful, fair, caring, practical, loyal, curious, quick, flexible

Negative traits: over-emotional, anxious, nervous, sometimes insecure, can be desperate in situatations, lonely, a little bit childish

Personality type: ENFJ

Character’s greatest joy in life: Her dog Bela, Safety of Linus

Fears: The war itself but specially Linus or Bela getting hurt during the war, something bad happening to her parents, TOWER

Priorities: People she loves, her wealth, her looks

Character’s soft spot: Linus, Bela

Is this soft spot obvious to others? Yes

Greatest vulnerability or weakness: She fears the war and it sometimes weakens her judgement

Secrets of the character: Her job during the war times

Does anyone else know? The people she works with, later TOWER

Drives and motivations: Her career and possible future

► Past

Hometown: Sofia, Bulgaria

Type of childhood: Maritza and her family were wealthy during her childhood and she was close with her parents. She lived in a large house and was quite spoiled.

Religion: Not religious

Dream job: Something related to fashion

► Present

Occupation: Maritza was hired by the French Ministry of Magic as a double agent because of her background. She's a socialite who's often sent to events to spy on the muggle and enemy plans as well as delivering messages from the French Ministry to other Ministries such as the British Ministry of Magic. She doesn't take part in fighting but is sometimes caught in between because of her dangerous position.

Currently living in: During the war Maritza lives with her dog in a small apartment in Paris. She often feels lonely and she isn't used to her new lifestyle. Pets: Cocker Spaniel called Bela that she adores and always worries over.

► Magical info

Blood Status: Pureblood

Education: Durmstrang Wand: Red Oak wood with a unicorn hair core, 10 ¼ and quite flexible flexibility

Garrick Ollivander noted: "You will often hear the ignorant say that red oak is an infallible sign of its owner's hot temper. In fact, the true match for a red oak wand is possessed of unusually fast reactions, making it a perfect duelling wand. Less common than English oak, I have found that its ideal master is light of touch, quick-witted and adaptable, often the creator of distinctive, trademark spells, and a good man or woman to have beside one in a fight. Red oak wands are, in my opinion, among the most handsome. Patronus: Mink Minks are very territorial animals. Patronus minks do not take kindly to attacks on their casters. Resourceful animals that thrive near freshwater, they will go to any ends to protect the witch or wizard who cast them. Keen-eyed and quick-witted, Dementors don’t stand a chance against these ferocious fellows! Patronus Memory: A perfect Christmas day from her childhood (she loves Christmas), later hugging Linus for way too long. Boggart: Bela suffering in front of her, Getting a letter that Linus has died Specialized/Favourite Spells: Defensive spells and practical spells as well as spells concerning beauty Favourite subject in school: Maritza didn't enjoy her school years that much with Durmstrang being more of a warrior school, but she did what was told and was in fact very good at gymnastics as well as defending herself during duels. She enjoyed Charms class as long as the spells were to her liking and also enjoyed herbology.

► Family Mother: Daimary Krum Face claim: -

Relationship with them: Daimary is a Venezuelan witch who married into the Krum family. Maritza looks a lot like her mother and she is the blame of her more vain side. Daimary was the one to teach her about fashion and aesthetic. She didn't like the idea of Maritza attending Durmstrang but gave in as it was a tradition with the Krum's.

Father: Vasil Krum Face claim: - Relationship with them: Maritza was close with her father who adored his daughter and always wanted the best for her. The family was faced with money problems due to Vasil's financial mistakes and problems with the law during Maritza's teenage years and she had to move to France and try to make it on her own after graduating. It distanced her from both of her parents, specially after neither took little to know interest in the on going war. Her parents did stay in her life and later she forgave her father and the two became closer again later in her life.

► Love interests

Linus Sullivan @unfortunate-arrow Faceclaim: Joseph Mazzello

Relationship to them:

Maritza and Linus first came across each other when Linus arrived to France. Maritza happened to be at the docs that day due to her work. They only saw each other quick but locked eyes. They came across each other the second time during Battle of Somme where again they didn't speak, but Linus witnessed Maritza escaping by appareting away from the situation. The first time they actually met was during Linus's leave in Paris. After finally meeting each other the two spent his leave together quickly getting attached to each other. Maritza gave Linus her necklace as gift with a wish of him coming back to her. After the war the two were reunited and married.

►Enemies TOWER

Maritza witnessed the horrors of the dark wizard organization TOWER during her time working for the French Ministry of Magic, during the war she even became a target for the group.

Relationship to them:

► Relationships with others

Friends: Ares Gaunt @gaygryffindorgal, Alexej Kavinsky eventually *up for more*

Person character goes to for advice: Her father, later Linus Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: Linus Person character feels shy or awkward around: Ares Gaunt Person character openly admires: Her father

► Habits Spending habits: Somewhat wasteful with money but is learning to do better Smokes: No Drinks: Sometimes Other drugs: No Extremely skilled at: Fashion & makeup, dancing, taking care of people, calming other people down Extremely unskilled at: Calming herself down

►Traits

How he feels about herself: Maritza is a positive person who has good and bad days but she knows her own worth and wants to show off her beauty.

How do other people perceive him: Kind and understanding mostly, She's easy to like and people admire her style.

Style:

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME. wednesday we did voy's "deadlock" and last night we did ds9's "rules of engagement" and voy's "innocence."

deadlock (voy):

this one was soooo fun and exciting. harry kim is now the wrong harry, just like o'brien is 30 minutes from the future. not the same guy we started with in both cases. why is this stuff always happening to harry, also. please give him a break

also, i cannot believe they killed that baby. yes we have an alternate baby from the other ship but STILL.

janeway talking to janeway was a real another earth moment. god i'm fucking obsessed with her. imagine just chit chatting with yourself like that. they really were gonna let both crews live on one voyager too no "you guys aren't the REAL voyager crew" here. just like john crichton and his different shirts......

that question of whether any given character would fight their clone or fuck them. janeway would fuck her clone. kes would too possibly. it's really too bad we couldn't get tuvok on tuvok action in this episode

it really was the cutest baby, is the thing. take a little baby and stick tiny horns on its forehead and go it's a space baby for star trek!! :D like putting that dog in the unicorn costume and calling it an alien on tos. girl, if this was my baby, i would be reminding them for the rest of their LIFE that they were the baby on star trek.

that said, there is a huge logistical problem of how this baby was born. if a human mother is giving birth to a half-alien baby with, say, tiny adorable spikes on its tiny adorable head that would potentially adorably rip through all her uterine tissue (which iirc WAS the complication suffered), would we not consider: a c-section? like, they acted like beaming the baby out was a last resort, because it's, you know, a baby. i get that. i'm willing to roll with that, because they had to do something to it after which didn't even WORK on one of the ships, killing said baby, because beaming the baby out was a bad and risky business. do you know what's not a bad and risky business? a c-section. we've been doing those since shakespeare was alive. it's OLD old school.

this is my problem with voyager. i enjoy it a lot most of the time but they just don't pay attention to the DETAILS. it has a better way with character interaction than tng did, the cast is way more loveable, but the plot is like swiss fucking cheese

rules of engagement (ds9):

this episode was by and large quite dry. i do love worf's struggle with like am i klingon or am i human bc it's very spocklike and i'm a sucker for little guys who can't seem to find anywhere to fit in, BUT

worf never really gets to land anywhere with this. i really, really, REALLY hate to come out defending tng over ds9, but in tng he was quite literally one of the only characters, besides data, to have a series-long arc: he fell from grace, and then was restored to it. was it good or interesting to watch? ehhh. but it WAS an arc, in a series that desperately lacked them. and then ds9...took him back to square one? i want to trust the process, but i have been spoiled re: some alexander plots and also that thing with his brother...i don't think he's returning to grace bro. i feel like he's really not too different from season 1 worf, except he's older and a dad now.

furthermore, most of the episodes asking whether or not worf is a klingon or a human usually involve some klingons going "hey has living among humans made you a fucking pussy? it has, hasn't it?" and then worf beats their asses (sometimes metaphorically, but often literally) and they back off. to ds9's credit, this isn't EXACTLY what happened here, but it's pretty close. and, continually, it is a little racist to be like "yeah the defining trait of klingons, who are almost always played by black actors, is that they're unrestrained savages on the battlefield." give us some depth!!! i know there's more to klingon culture than that because we get to see characters like dax and kor explore it. in fact, the only time we ever got to see worf HIMSELF explore it was when he was trying to teach it to alexander, who thought it was stupid because his mom thought it was stupid. i wonder what makes dax and kor and alexander and his mom so different than worf 🤔 think hard.

THAT SAID. the end of this episode, after worf won, and everybody was like yay worf won :D and sisko and worf went to worf's quarters on the ship and worf was like yeah no actually. i should NOT have fired on that ship. that was fucking stupid. and sisko's like you're damn right it was stupid and gave worf a whole ass lecture after HAVING HIS BACK all episode. that's loyalty. sisko had some excellent fucking scenes in this ep. i love when he gets really mad but i also love that when he threatens people, it's with a smile. i'd like to think he picked that up from kira.

speaking of loyalty, also, wtf is up with o'brien. bro, just lie. "yeah i would have taken the shot" JUST LIE. you know the trial is a farce anyway. you guys were bros on tng. JUST LIE! YOU CAN LIE TO COPS

finally, speaking of cops, i did NOT enjoy odo calling himself a police officer in this episode. he's NOT a cop he's a SECURITY GUARD there is a DIFFERENCE

innocence:

why does every single episode with tuvok go so hard...

firstly, did you guys know he has 4 babies. he has 4 babies and he breeds orchids and he has been married for 68 slutty, slutty years. AND HE CAN SING! he plays the lute and he can sing and he used to sing his babies to sleep. every time he talks about his family i take maximum psychic damage and need to lie down for 1000000 business years

like, fatherhood mode activated. vulcan childred are more well-behaved but he still knows how to raise. children. oh god

they were such adorable kids, too. on tos every child was so offputting but all the tng kids and so far all the voyager kids have been so fucking cute, it's unreal. like OBVIOUSLY you wanna tuck them in and sing them to sleep and OBVIOUSLY tuvok indulged them even though he's a logical vulcan

"they are part of my identity i am incomplete without them" AAAAAGHHH

also, tuvok trying to teach these little kids emotional control and vulcan meditation techniques. it's so cute but also such a kind look into vulcan culture. like, all we got from vulcan culture before now was filtered through spock's eyes, and this culture rejected him to the point where he never felt at home on his own planet. which means that they obviously have some problems, but fast-forward a century and change and let us see it from the perspective of a long-suffering vulcan dad who has already raised 4 babies and you DO see the kindness in treating children like little people ie being honest with them, respecting what they say, teaching them to control their emotions. spock basically got slapped with a rolled-up newspaper every time his face twitched but tuvok showed a lot of patience in teaching these kids to identify their emotions and then PRACTICE letting them go. in was really cathartic in a way

the twist about the age was VERY shocking but mostly because it shows up in the animated series, except in that the enterprise travels to a world where everything is backwards, including the aging processes. i don't really think you could have wrapped it up any other way though

final note janeway being so excited about first contact. nerd. she reminds me SO much of kirk <3

NEXT TIME: ds9's "hard time" and "shattered mirror" so that should be one hell of an evening

[sunphroggy]

sbi headcanons but it's mostly Tommy, Wilbur and Techno

-Wilbur and Techno are twins. Techno is older by five minutes and never fails to mention that when he and Will are arguing. This pisses Wilbur off to the extent where he starts throwing shit.

-"You can't just come in to my room and steal my shit!" "Yes I can I'm older than you." "We're twins!" "You need to learn to respect your elders."

-They're both naturally blonde but got annoyed when people kept mixing them up with the other, so they dyed their hair pink and brown respectively.

-Wilbur is the one that will constantly bully Technoblade, but the moment someone else does it he'll rush in to defend his brother by force.

-That being said, ever fight always ends with Wilbur calling for Techno's help. And Techno always floors a bitch.

-They both did ballet. Techno is the only one that stuck to it though. Wilbur gravitated more to music.

-Wilbur tried so hard to teach Techno to play the guitar but he kept snapping the strings.

-Tommy is adopted. He was only a baby when Phil adopted him and it was a closed adoption so he doesn't remember much about his birth family.

-Sometimes, when he misses them, he'll make up stories about them in his head. His personal favourite is that his mother is an astronaut named Clara that had to go up for a mission and that's the reason she gave him up for adoption, but her ship got stranded in space and now she just floats among the planets.

-He told this to Phil once, when he was only six and made a drawing of Clara the Astronaut. Phil put up on the fridge right next to Wilbur's report card and a flyer for Techno's ballet recital.

-Wilbur was ecstatic when he found out he was getting a younger brother so he could pull the 'I'm older card' on someone for once.

-Technoblade (though he will never, ever admit it, not on his life) was extremely fond of Tommy from the moment Phil brought him home and was often the one actively playing with him all the time.

-The two of them used to play a game they called 'Warriors' where they would wrap sheets around their shoulders, carry around sticks from the backyard like swords and pretend to take down corrupt goverments. It's a special thing, just between them.

-Phil thought that Tommy was a bit young to be taking down corrupt governments.

-"You can never be too young to convert to anarchy, dad"

-Wilbur tried to get in on this game once. He was cast as the evil king they had to kill and it ended with Will covered in mud and dirt. He never asked to play again.

-This game is where Techno is given the nickname 'The Blade' by Tommy. (He had the dopeyest smile on his face while Tommy's back was turned)

-No one else is allowed to call Techno The Blade. Only Tommy. Techno will not respond to it if you do.

-Techno is also the first person Tommy goes to when he needs anything. Especially help with homework. This is because Techno can't say no to Tommy. Ever.

-Of course, Tommy exploits this. Especially when he and Will are arguing.

-There has been many "No please don't tell dad I didn't mean it I didn't mean look hit me back just hit me back" moments

-None of the boys knows what Phil does for a living. The man's life is a mystery to them each time he steps out the door for work.

-Board games are a big thing in the family. They have game night every week. Winner picks what they have for dinner.

-Monopoly isn't that competitive. They don't play it often because Techno wins after ten rounds and Wilbur gives long dramatic speechs about the world of capitalism and the economy. Tommy is always the racecar.

-But pictionary??

-Now that's their shit.

-None of them have any artistic talent (apart from Phil, who can draw dogs pretty well) and it usually results in threats of pencils being stabbed on one's eye and sheets of paper forcefully ripped up and, on Tommy's part, eaten.

-This happens most when Wilbur and Tommy are teamed up together.

-"What the fuck even it that? A headless chicken? Oh! A three legged dog! Uh, uh, a unicorn!" "The answer was chocolate chip cookie, Wilbur you blind fuck."

-For one of Techno's recitals, Wilbur and Tommy made a giant ass sign that said 'DANCE YOU PINK HAIRED FUCKER DANCE' in huge glittery writing.

-the spacing was all off though, like that one John mulaney bit.

-Techno pretended he didn't know them afterwards. The stubborn bastard walked home.

[heynikkiyousofine]

The Fairy Princess and The Hanyou Prince

First things firsts, this story is my first muti-chapter fic, but as always, an inukag story. I’m still really knew at writing, so bear with me, haha. Inspired by so many people in the fandom, let me know what you think! I’m still writing this story, but I’ll be updating it pretty quickly. 

@keichanz @neutronstarchild

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there resided four kingdoms, whom all lived in harmony with each other. The northern kingdom, King Toga, an incredibly powerful dog demon, and Queen Izayoi, an equally incredibly beautiful human, ruled with grace and fairness, along with their hanyou prince, Prince Inuyasha. The west, King Sesshomaru, King Toga’s first born, and his queen, Kagura, a powerful wind demon, ruled at a distance, but peaceful. To the south, King Koga an arrogant wolf demon, and Queen Ayame, a sassy, but strong wolf demon, ruled with laughter, promises and joy. The final kingdom, to the east, ruled King Suikotsu, a kind, strong fairy, and Queen Kikyo, a fairy as well, ruled with grace, beauty and love for all things, for they themselves were beings of the earth. In these kingdoms lived a variety of people, demons, humans, hanyous, even mythical creatures, such as gnomes, elves, fairies, unicorns, mermaids, even ghouls and trolls. Everyone lived in harmony and tranquility for hundred of years.

One spring evening, the kingdoms united together to celebrate the birth of the new princess, Princess Kagome. A huge celebration was in order, with treats, gifts, music and dancing and everyone throughout the land traveled to the eastern lands to rejoice in the new birth. They knew with happiness in their hearts, the peace would continue throughout the lands with the birth of this new child. 

“Mama, there’s a baby.” Inuyasha pointed, looking up at his mother.

“Yes dear, that’s the new princess.” A woman with long, silky black hair told him.

“Why does she have wings?” He asked, tilting his head, his ears perking up straight, like the cute puppy he was.

Laughing softly, Queen Izayoi picked him up and spoke softly to him. “She is a fairy, baby. Fairies are wonderful, extravagant, beautiful creatures, who spread love, joy and happiness wherever they go. Fairies have wings when they are born and grown into them as they become big and strong, like a certain hanyou I know.” She spoke, nuzzling his cheek.

“Mamaaaaaa, stop.” Inuyasha laughed, pushing gently on her chest, trying to get away from the kisses. He wanted to go take closer look at the new princess. “Can I go say hi, please?”

“Let’s go together.” A baritone voice came from behind.

“Okay papa!” Izayoi let her son down to his feet and gracefully turned to her handsome husband, smiling softly, and took his outstretched arm. Together, the three of them approached the dais, where the new parents sat.

“King Toga, Queen Izayoi, we are overjoyed you could make it. My my, Prince Inuyasha, you have grown since we’ve last seen you.” King Suikotsu exclaimed, laughing loudly, standing to welcome the northern royalty.

“I’m two now!” Inuyasha said excitedly, holding up two small clawed fingers, jumping from foot to foot, in anticipation of the new princess.

“Well, you are growing strong everyday kind sir, did you want to say hi to the new princess?” He gestured to his left.

Suddenly shy, he nodded and turned to face his parents, unsure of what to do. Softly pushing him forward, Toga smiled softly for his pup. Inuyasha took a deep breath, stepping up towards the queen, whose large, blue wings glittered like the ocean in the sunshine. The queen knelt down, holding a soft bundle to her chest and smiled warmly, beckoning him forward with her manicured fingers. Inuyasha took another small step forward and looked down.

What he saw made him gasp in awe. There in her arms, was a smiling little baby girl with the bluest of eyes he had ever seen, gazing at him. They seem to match her mother’s wings in color and shimmered so brightly. Taking a sniff, he smiled softly. She smelled like wildflowers in a meadow and sunshine. Her small wings, gold and silver twirling throughout, shifted to open upon seeing him. The little girl laughed, reaching her small hands out, as if she were trying to reach his ears. Blushing a little, Inuyasha reached his hand out and Kagome grabbed onto his fingers and laughed a little more, her laugh like a tinkering of bells in the wintertime. “She smells pretty.” He whispered to himself, unaware of his father’s hearing, who just smiled upon hearing this.

“Her name is Kagome.” The fairy queen in red spoke to the young prince.

“Hi, Kagome, I’m Inuyasha.” Kagome squealed at his words and smiled at him once more, before yawning, bringing her fists towards her mouth. Laughing quietly, Queen Kikyo stood again, “She’s getting sleepy. Dear, let me put her down for a little bit, while you get the celebration going. The Southern Kingdom can’t be quite loud during celebrations.”

Agreeing with a chuckle, Suikotsu kissed his wife’s forehead and steered towards the door. Suikotsu then turned and announced the feast was about to begin, while Inuyasha skipped towards his parents with a grin on his face. As Kikyo walked Kagome to other room to lay her down, Inuyasha gripped on his mother’s pale blue skirt and couldn’t help but watch her leave and smile excitedly, knowing he had a new friend. 

The kingdoms rejoiced for days for the new brith and all was well in the kingdom for a few months. Four fortnights had passed since the celebration and Kagome was beginning to grow into the beautiful child, with the most loving parents. Little did they know, an evil hanyou with a wicked plan would destroy everything. One warm summer evening, as Queen Kikyo put the child down to sleep in her bassinet, she heard some cries come from the meadow outside the castle. Rushing into the room, King Suikotsu shut the door quickly, turning towards his family with fear in his deep blue eyes.

“Naraku is here.” “No!” Kikyo gasped. She knew he would come, had heard of the man who hunted creatures, but not this soon, not with Kagome so young. “What do we do?!” She cried, tears beginning to form along her lids.

“Pack a bag, we’ve got to run, the other kingdoms know what is happening. I sent a carrier to each kingdom a day ago to let them know Naraku was coming. I’ve told everyone to help evacuate the castle, get to the villages safely, try and travel to any of our neighboring kingdoms for safety. They will welcome them with open arms.” He explained, his voice wavering, reaching for a bag near the door.

Before Kikyo could reply, there was pounding and slamming against the large wooden door, followed by loud screaming. Kikyo picked up Kagome, who still sound asleep, curled into her mother’s arms. Knowing exactly what to do, she ran to her jewelry chest, a small black opaque box, and picked up three necklaces. Each with the symbol of the fairy kingdom. She infused her power to the first one and lifted it over her head, changing her appearance, removing her wings completely. She said a soft chant, the second pendant, a blue similar to the sky, began to glow and she wrapped it around her bundled up child. Kagome’s wings disappeared instantly, her aura changing to that of a human. Infusing the last, Kikyo turned towards her husband, just as the door burst open.

Naraku strolled through the doorway, sword in hand, with blood coating his chestnut coat, and before Suikotsu could take a step forward to defend his family, Naraku plunged the steel blade into his chest with a sinister grin on his face. Crimson eyes watched as the  fairy king fell to the floor with shattered breaths, blood pooling around his wings and turned towards the queen with the small child in her arms blood coating the weapon. Dropping the third necklace quickly, Kikyo covered her daughter with both hands, closed her eyes and softly chanted a spell. Naraku took a step forward, raised his sword and slashed, catching Kikyo’s shoulder, slicing a wing in the process, just as she disappeared into twinkling dust. Enraged, Naraku, knelt down and grabbed  at Suikotsu’s chin, snarling, “Where did she take her?”

“You’ll never find her.” “You’ll die before seeing either of them again and your kingdom will be mine.” “Go to hell.” Suikotsu sputtered, blood begin to spill from his mouth. Chuckling softly, Naraku used his sword to slice the king’s neck. The sword began to glow brightly, absorbing the fairy king’s power. Standing and calling to his men, he instructed them to dispose of the body. However, before his henchman took a step, the king’s body disappeared into gold dust, leaving only the large pool of deep red blood on the floor. Snarling softly, Naraku sheathed his sword turning to head out of the room. Catching his attention, he noticed the remaining necklace, glowing softly with Kikyo’s concealment charm, Naraku smiled and picked up, clutching it in his hands, knowing he would one day find the princess and make her his.

Kikyo stumbled through the trees, gasping for breath, blood covering her right arm. She tried to stop and use the leaves from the trees to stop her bleeding, to heal her, but she was fading fast. Taking another step forward, she looked up to the full moon and prayed for help, for her and her child. Breathing deeply, she pushed through the underbrush, trying to go north to King Toga’s kingdom, knowing he could protect her child. Tears streaming down her face, whether from the pain or the situation or her daughter’s future, she wasn’t quite sure, Kikyo sobbed, holing the still sleeping Kagome to her breast. Stop to catch her breath, Kikyo looked down to Kagome, looking like a normal human, no sparkle to her skin in the moonlight and kissed her on the forehead. “My little girl, one day you will be strongest and most beautiful fairy. You will be the answer. I love you.” Sighing and squaring her shoulders, Kikyo used the last of her energy to walk into a small meadow, near a stream, where she spotted a cottage along the water. Pushing herself even more, she stepped towards the doorway, when the reed mat swung open to reveal a woman around her age, wearing an eye patch, with a startled look across her features.

“Child, are you alright?” The women asked, taking a step towards the wounded mother.

“Please, help me. Take my child.”

“Child?” It was then, the woman in red hakama and a white kosode, looked down towards the bundle in her arms, noticing the blood dripping along the ground beside the queen. “Come inside. Let me help you.” She urgently requested.

“Please protect her. She is special, she will save our kingdom. This necklace will keep her hidden from harm. Her name is Kagome.” With that, Kikyo sank to her knees, Kaede catching her, to keep her from dropping Kagome and falling in the dirt herself. As Kaede took the sleeping child, she locked eyes with the queen, unbeknownst to her, that the queen was dying. As Kaede began to reach out towards Kikyo to help her stand, KIkyo gasped, holding her right shoulder, and fell, disappearing into twinkling dust as she passed. 

Not knowing exactly what just happened, Kaede looked down to the sleeping babe, who had began to fuss, knowing she would protect this child at all costs and sensing a great power beneath the concealment charm. Standing and turning towards her little, but warm cottage, she looked up at the full moon and prayed for all the help in the world with this child.

Not too far away, in the northern kingdom, King Toga held his wife a little closer at his side, watching the eastern kingdom fall, with the rise of an evil ruler, knowing the time of peace had ended.

20 years have passed since that eventful night, but Kaede kept her promise to Kikyo in keeping the princess safe. Naraku began to become even more powerful, catching any creature he could, and absorbing their power with his sword. He became unforgiving, creating a ruthless reputation for beheading his servants. The southern wolf kingdom locked down their borders, not allowing anyone in or out without protection. Sesshomaru merely didn’t change anything, as if he didn’t care. Toga welcomed anyone who needed help with open arms, aiding his villages in support and creating a strong army in defense. Demons, mythical creatures, and humans feared Naraku, many fleeing the eastern kingdom and seeking protection among each of the kingdoms. Families were separated, lost to each other and the King and Queen of the eastern kingdom lost to its people. Many mythical creatures almost became extinct, many of the remaining hiding from the evil.

However, in a small cottage, at the border of the northern and eastern kingdoms, Kagome grew into a lovely young woman, with her powers growing exponentially everyday. She loved gardening, growing different kinds of flowers, herbs and vegetables. She loved the feeling of the soil in her fingers, learning new remedies and recipes from her mother, Mother Kaede as well as her neighbor, a friendly half-demon, Jineji helped her with her garden and always accompanied her on her walks to the neighboring villages. Her hair, a long, almost black, ran to her waist, curling slightly at the bottom and her eyes the bluest of blues, like the ocean. Her small waist almost always had a basket of flowers perched against it, and her smile never seem to left her face. The nearby villages praised her kindness and beauty, while fearing her temper on some occasions.

A bright spring morning, Kaede and Kagome were beginning their day with breakfast. “Child, I think today would be a good day to gather some flowers, while taking these herbs and remedies to the fox family down the road. Shippo’s mother just gave birth and needs a few things.”

“Okay Mother Kaede! I would love to see Shippo too, he loves my snack cakes that I make, almost as much as you do. There are a few left, may I take them with me?” Kagome asked brightly, giggling softly.

“Of course my dear. Please be careful, if you should need help, call for Jineji if you are near his home. DO you have your dagger?”

“Always! I can’t wait to see all the flowers in the fields, I wonder if the tulips have sprung yet….” Kagome began to talk to herself, as she packed her knapsack. 

Laughing quietly, knowing just how much Kagome loved the wildflower field on a warm day, Kaede helped her with her cream cloak, buttoning it along her right shoulder. “Do you have your pendant? As well my child?”

“Yes Mother!” Kagome huffed, grabbing her basket with the herbs and began to step through the door. Breathing deeply, she smiled, knowing today would be a wonderful day.

Following the green path, she spent a good hour walking towards the fox hut Letting go of the pendant she was fingering around her neck, she stopped to hear voices inside, along with a laughing squeal. Jumping out front doorway, Shippo waved at Kagome and hurried towards her, with the biggest shit eating grin on his face “Kagome! Kagome! Can we go play in the wild flower fields today?”

Smiling even brighter than she was, eyes glimmering in the sunshine, Kagome laughed along.”Of course! I brought these for your mother from Mother Kaede. It’s for your brother and sisters too.” Sniffling at the package, Shippo jumped onto her shoulder as they headed inside the hut. “Now, what did you do? I know that smile.” Kagome asked, ticking Shippo’s rounding belly.

Not too far away, Prince Inuyasha, followed by his closest friends, began their hunt. It was near the end of the deer season and he wanted to catch one more for the dinner table tonight. He wanted to show his father how good he was at catching game and as they travel toward the thick forest, Inuyasha began to daydream as he rode his horse. Something about gold and silver wings and the smell of wildflowers. Hearing a slap against skin, he sighed, shaking his thoughts from his head, and turned, looking at his friends. “Serves you right Monk, you should know by now Sango will hit you every time.” He snickered at the couple.

“It’s the hand! I swear this thing is cursed.” Miroku responded, his left cheek sporting a bright pink hand print, raising his own hands in the air.

“No, you’re just a pervert!” The brunette beside him cried loudly, pulling the reins, slowing them to stop.

“Okay you two, hush, while we hunt for game. I smelt a steed not too far from here. Sango, close are we to the border?” Inuyasha turned toward the demon slayer, his companion being in charge of the maps.

“Not too far. There is a village a little ways that way, the one where the hanyou horse resides, who helps with herbs in this area. After that, you’ve reached the border.” Sango pointed, stating.

Nodding his head, Inuyasha began the dismount from his horse, grabbing his crossbow and arrows, his sword bouncing along his leather clad thigh. Stopping suddenly, his ear twitched and turned toward the wildflower meadow he knew was near here. He could hear soft giggling and a small child talking. Miroku and Sango climbed down from their horse, squabbling at each other again. Taking a step towards the sounds, he left his friends behind at the horses and followed the sounds. When he approached the edge of the meadow, he stopped in his tracks.

[nyssaalghul124]

The Menegarie

Mark knew there was something up with, Ethan, the new kid. He was always on the verge of being late, he always looked like he didn’t sleep, and he was constantly carrying around a briefcase. Mark wouldn’t think much of this, if not for the day the teacher demanded he open it.

Ethan had showed up right as the bell rang. The teacher glared at him, but Ethan simply murmured an apology and sat at the far corner in the back. He put the briefcase down, only for it to start rattling. The teacher stared right at him, but Ethan smiled nervously. She walked up to him. “Mr. Nestor, please open the briefcase.”

Ethan paled. When he didn’t react, the teacher tapped her foot impatiently. “Today, Mr. Nestor.”

“Of course,” he muttered, going to unlatch the suitcase. Mark and Sean exchanged glances, but neither of them said anything, simply reverting their attention to the boy nervously fiddling with the latches. The briefcase rattled again, but Ethan didn’t seem to notice as he opened up the briefcase for everyone to see.

It was a normal briefcase. It has some textbooks, folders, a jacket and a scarf. It looked completely ordinary. The teacher glared at him suspiciously, but said nothing.

Mark and Sean explained the entire thing to their friends, but they simply said that they were being paranoid and stalker-ish.

That was when Mark actually started observing Ethan. And he found some troubling results. Ethan was constantly looking around, as though he could hear something they couldn’t. He snuck out of the dorms every night, snuck food into his bag during meals, and seemed to be constantly injured, as well as sleep deprived. Ethan had somehow lucked out and gotten a room to himself, so Mark didn’t even have a roommate he could interrogate. Sean noticed everything, too, but neither of them did anything about it.

They finally decided to when Ethan showed up to class heavily favoring his right leg. He was practically hopping. The teacher noticed, and demanded Ethan show her the leg. Ethan had sighed, but reluctantly rolled up his jeans to reveal the huge wound on his leg. It looked like something bit him, but no animal had jaws that big. The teacher gawked for a second, before shakily demanding that he see the nurse. Ethan waved off help and limped out of the classroom.

Sean and Mark finally had enough. They planned to follow him today. When he came back with the cane, they knew it would be a lot easier. When classes let out, both boys purposely waited until Ethan was ahead of him, briefcase in tow. Both followed, forcing small talk so as to not be suspicious. They both finished all their homework in a rush, making sure to keep an ear out for when Ethan snuck out in the night. They both finished around the time for dinner, almost scrambling out of the room when they heard Ethan’s door open.

They followed Ethan to the dining hall. Ethan sat alone in a corner, as usual, but Mark and Sean were both careful to sit close by to keep an eye on him. Ethan seemed more nervous than usual, his eyes constantly flitting around the room.

Mark and Sean both got back to their room about a half hour later, when Ethan left. They both were pacing, excited to find out the weird boy’s secret.

They stayed awake until midnight, when they finally heard Ethan’s door open, and started. Sean held a finger up for them to wait, and they waited until they could no longer hear the cane on the ground, when they finally strayed out of the room. “How far d’you think he’ll go with the cane?” Mark muttered to Sean.

Sean shrugged. “Hopefully not very. For both our sakes and his.”

They followed him until they reached the back entrance of the school, Ethan slowly slipping out. They waited a moment, before following him. They followed him into the woods.

“Hey!” Ethan yelled. He had taken out a steak from their dinner and was waving it around animatedly. “I know you’re out there.”

“What is he doing?” Sean muttered. Mark simply shrugged.

“Is he talking to us?” Sean hissed. Mark made a shut up motion and they went back to watching Ethan wave around the steak, still leaning heavily on the cane. “C’mon, buddy, that chunk you took out of me couldn’t be enough. You have to still be hungry.”

Mark and Sean exchanged panicked looks. Something did bite him! Ethan was still waving around the beef. Something rustled in front of Ethan. Sean and Mark both froze. Ethan, however, had no such qualms, and walked towards the rustling. “That’s it,” he murmured.

Nothing happened. Then, a huge dragon slowly walked out. Mark and Sean were both frozen in terror. It looked as though it could rip them apart on a whim. “Is the plan to grab him and bolt?” Sean hissed.

“Yep,” Mark hissed back. They both prepared to grab the young boy, when Ethan held out his hands to the dragon. The dragon gazed at him warily, before settling on it’s haunches in front of him.

“Hey there, beautiful,” Ethan murmured. “I knew you’d come to me.” The dragon seemed to purr when Ethan leaned to scratch the bottom of its neck soothingly. “Here, you must be starving.” Ethan reached into his briefcase and pulled out what looked like enlarged dog treats. The dragon puffed, making Mark and Sean tense, but they relaxed when it seemed to nuzzle Ethan affectionately. Ethan giggled at that. “You’re just a big ole softy, aren’t you?” He cooed.

Mark and Sean both washed in fascination as Ethan fed the dragon, still cooing at it. “I need to pick a name for you, don’t I?” Ethan mused. “How about Spencer?” Spencer snorted, letting out some smoke from its nose. Ethan grinned. “Spencer it is!”

Ethan finally stood up and opened the briefcase. “Now, I hate to ask this of you, but I need you to shrink down so you can join everyone else.”

The dragon tilted its head, before starting to glow and shrink to about the size of a German Shepherd. “That’s it!” Ethan enthused. He pointed to the briefcase. “In you get, Spence!”

“What the hell?” Sean muttered. Mark couldn’t agree more. How the hell was that going to fit in a briefcase that size. Spencer dove in, and Sean and Mark gawked when he seemed to sink like he was in water. Ethan stepped into the case and sunk, too.

Sean and Mark were dumbfounded. “Wanna follow him?” Mark finally asked.

“Hell yeah,” Sean half screamed, sprinting at the case at full speed. He hesitated, before stepping into it. He gasped when he started to sink. Mark hastily follows suit.

They were both spit out into what looked like a zoo. There were dozens of huge enclosures, all housing different creatures. Creatures they thought to be mythical. Ethan was showing Spencer to a rocky habitat. Mark and Sean both had to stop themselves from being seen by Ethan. “Is that a unicorn?” Mark hissed, pointing at a grassy enclosure

“I think it is,” Sean whispered back, his jaw slack with amazement. Mark wasn’t much better.

“I haven’t forgotten about you, little buddy,” Ethan muttered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out what looked like a fairy. “Hey, Blank.”

“The twins are hungry,” Blank said back.

“Ethan!” Two voices shouted. Ethan hastily went into his bag and grabbed more food from dinner and approached what looked like an aquarium. Marla and Sean gawked at two mermen glancing at Ethan.

“Mike, Heapass, I haven’t forgotten you two,” Ethan said to them, giving them dinner.

“You got the dragon!” Mike cheered.

“Not after it took a bite out of him,” Blank muttered under his breath.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” Ethan said quickly.

The mermen looked hesitant, but didn’t seem to be in the mood to push.

Ethan put Blank on his shoulder and walked away, the twins chattering happily in the background. “Updates, Blank?”

“You need to feed Chica,” the fairy replied sadly.

“Lighten up, Blank!” Ethan said cheerfully as he grabbed what looked like an entire chicken from a storage room and approached what appeared to be a chimera. Mark’s jaw was wide open with astonishment, and Sean was not much better. “You’re not the one with a cane.”

“I already yelled at you yesterday,” Blank grumbled. “There’s two unidentified life forms in the Menagerie.”

Ethan laughed softly. “Nah, I knew they were there. They’re not very good at sneaking.” Ethan raised his voice at the end, turning to Mark and Sean, cocking his hip pointedly. They both stepped out sheepishly, trying to look at Ethan instead of the other mythical creatures in the room.

“Sorry,” Mark said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “We didn’t mean to intrude.”

“You’ve been stalking me for months,” Ethan said, snickering. “Blank knew it instantly.” Blank had flown up to Ethan’s shoulder, where he nodded at them smugly. The two mermen gazed at them curiously.

“We were just concerned,” Sean tried to defend.

“It’s fine,” Ethan said, smirking. “I’d be investigating me, too, if I saw someone as suspicious as me“

“What is this place?” Mark asked.

“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to end you,” Ethan said, his voice going lower at the end. Mark and Sean both froze.

The mermen suddenly started laughing. “Their faces,” the pink and blue one wheezed.

Blank was sniggering, too, flying over to perch near the mermen and pout when they playfully splashed him.

“No, I’m just messing with you,” Ethan giggled. “I call it my menagerie.”

“Are they mermen?” Sean blurted our, pointing at the aquarium.

“The technical term is nanaid.” The brunette answered. “I’m Heapass, and that’s my brother, Mike. The fae up there sulking is Blank.”

“I’m not sulking,” Blank grumbled. “Sup?”

“You guys can’t tell anyone,” Ethan said to Mark and Sean. “They’ll get taken away from me, and that can’t happen.”

Mark and Sean exchanged glances, before looking at Ethan. “It’ll cost you,” Sean said, putting a hand on his hip.

Ethan sighed and pulled out a wad of cash. “This enough?”

“What? No, no, not money,” Sean said.

“You take us with you when you visit,” Mark finished.

Ethan gaped. “I go every night.”

“You show up to class injured and tired a lot,” Mark said. “Let us help you.“

“We can help feed these guys,” Sean said eagerly, running over to the unicorn and petting it.

“That’s Gizmo,” Ethan said, laughing at Sean’s excitement.

“So what do you say?” Mark asked, holding his hand out. “Partners?”

Ethan looked at Sean as he practically skipped over. “Yeah, Eef, what do you say?”

Ethan paused, glancing at them. Then, he sighed and shook Mark‘s hand. “Deal.” He stepped back and grinned. “Welcome to the Menagerie.”

[mushroommushy]

Monster au

Stormy Weather

- Aurore is a monster as well in this Au

- Her fascination with the weather is linked to her monster form and ability

- She is a Raijū, a monster from Japanese myth

- Except she is not a myth

- A Raijū is a companion of the Shinto god of lightning, Raijin

- They can take forms of animals made of lightning or even just balls of light

- Her animal is a deer

- A little bit more rare as most Raijū are wolves or dogs

- Aurore does occasionally visit him but she eventually became curios

- She ended up really loving Earth

- She stays to study more people

- And eventually became friends with another “human”, Mireille who she absolutely adores

- Occasionally she’ll even ask Raijin to change the weather if Mireille is uncomfortable because she just wants to spoil her rotten

- Aurore at the same time was also; Wtf wtf human pretty???

- She was feeling bad, as the news stations kept repeatedly getting the weather predictions wrong

- She was also mad because it means her plans with Mireille would get cancelled a lot

- Her and Mireille had taken the weather girl contest together

- Simply a friendly competition for the two of them

- Aurore also was helping Mireille calm down because she was anxious about the competition in general

- It was very much outside of her comfort zone

- Mari nearly cried when Manon said she wanted to be a fashion designer

Manon: I wanna be like you! The best fashion designer ever!!

Marinette, literally sobbing: Oh my god,,

- Nadja was a family friend of Sabine and Tom, so that’s why she would always get so many favors

- Marinette and Manon are both monsters that will be talked about in different posts

- Manon nearly broke the hat because of the sewing ripping

- Marinette swears that Manon is some sort of ghost with how she moves so quick

- She’s a clever little squirt

- Thats actually what Marinette calls her

- Manon sees Mari like a big sister

- Marinette was planning to vote for Mireille in the first place, since she didn’t know the details but knew her family struggled to pay rent

- Aka Theo literally working 4 plus jobs to keep a house up and him being exhausted

- So she just wanted to help her out

- Then Alya showed up, ranting about Adrien being at a photo shoot in the park

- And also this

Alya: Ok, ok. Hear me out but. I’m pretty sure there’s a lesbian rival romance between Mireille and Aurore

Mari; ??? They are friends??

Alya: Irreverent.

- Marinette is not a complete creep in this Au either

- Because it makes me highly uncomfortable with her behavior (Great example is Puppeteer 2.0)

- So it’s more of a, “Why don’t we go say hi and maybe drop off some food for him if he needs it?”

- But she also doesn’t wanna leave Manon alone with Alya

- Even though Alya says she’s good at babysitting from watching over Etta and Ella who are an entire wrecking ball

- No, Alya is not a unicorn in this

- Alya throwing Manon around like she’s a plane

- Mari low key (high key) panicking

- So Mari grabbed some croissants (Adrien x croissants is end game) and went out with Alya and Manon

- Aurore was genuinely happy for her crush best friend

- But Alec was being a dick about it

- Mireille was just

Mireille: I am this close to punching you on live TV

Alec: Your fingers are touching.

Mireille, punching him: I know.

Aurore: *Gay panic*

- Mireille knows how to defend herself because Theo was very much worried about his sis

- The votes for Mireille also seemed way too high to be realistic for a simply weather girl selection

- That’s when Mireille found out the votes were rigged and Aurore ran off

- And she was not happy with Alec

- He got punched again on live TV and exposed for rigging votes

- Mireille broke his nose and Aurore would later be very satisfied seeing it

- Mireille ran off to find Aurore but she was already akumatized from her anger

- Mireille had quite the gay panic at Stormy Weather

- Stormy Weather referred to Mireille as her sun

- That very much made her flustered

- Stormy Weather looks a bit more different

- Her skin almost seems to crackle with electricity and it bounces off her

- Lights turn off around her like a power outage

- The sky seems outraged as soon as she was akumatized from Raijin’s anger of her being taken advantage of

- The god was not happy with Hawkmoth and Alec

- Mireille had a ray of sunshine around her at all times though

- Wind avoided her directly

- Stormy Weather didn’t want a hair on her head hurt and would ignore Hawkmoth if he tried to make her hurt her

- Adrien is just..so tired with the photoshoot

- He loves Vincent but he really just wants Alix to knock him out with a sleep spell

Vincent: Show me the smile when your mom brings in the spaghetti!

Adrien: …My moms dead.

Vincent: …

- The boy lit up like a firework when Marinette brought him cookies on his break

- Manon pestering Mari about the balloon and eventually just buying it for her

- Mari was also worried about Aurore since it was even more clear the votes were rigged

- The contest had just ended and there were only Mireille balloons

- He also adopted Manon on sight because he does not know how much of a devil she is

- Meanwhile Stormy Weather reeking havoc on the staff and having a lot of fun doing so

- The weather outside getting worse and worse as Raijin was increasingly upset about his follower

- Adrien was also happy about the shoot being cancelled from the weather

- Until he realized it was akuma related and made a bullshit excuse to Vincent before sprinting off

- Manon and Alya were trapped in the ice

- But strangely, both them and everyone else in the carousel were completely warm despite the below freezing temperatures

- It was concluded magic was at work, probably by Ladybug but that wasn’t the case

- Mari did hide somewhere besides a park bench because that was horrible

- She still wasn’t able to free Manon and Alya but both were fine thankfully due to the mysterious magic

- Alya was also sus of ladybug a lil bit with her excuse for knowing Manon

- Chat getting flung across Paris like a baseball

- Ladybug’s skin is always warm

- Chat loves kissing her hands for a reason

- She’s like a walking heater and he cuddles up to her on cold nights

- Which was especially nice for this fight since Ladybug wasn’t even feeling the cold

- Chats just kinda numb to cold but loves warmth

- Mireille desperately following Stormy in an attempt to calm her down

- But she’s drowned out by all the wind and she can’t hear her

- Chat and Ladybug were like rag dolls

- Instead of destroying Mireille’s signs, she’s hitting signs of Alec

- If she does see Mireille stuff she just smiles with love

- Mireille was doing her best to help the hero’s but it was a little hard

- Chat got yoinked by the tail and yelped

- Ladybug actually made her wrist sore when spinning the yo-yo hard enough to cut glass

- Chat would later find a bruise from the yo-yo’s velocity hitting him in the head

- When the ice in the carousel was getting lower, it suddenly started melting from heat and it got much warmer inside

- Stormy actually did her forecast with Mireille because she really wants to be a weather girl with her

- Chat and Ladybug then realized it was Aurore

- They found Alec in a block of ice frozen solid

- And very much dead

- He deserves it though

- Ladybug still couldn’t see shit in the dark and walked straight into a wall

- Mireille was picked up bridal style by Stormy and she’s just screaming in gay

- Marinette was like: Yay my third concussion! When she got smacked by the fire hydrant

- Mireille being placed on a cloud that Stormy somehow made solid enough to hold her weight

- It was very soft and she nearly fell asleep

- Stormy’s power was not all from hawkmoth

- A lot of it came from her Raijū abilities

- Thankfully for her, Hawkmoth is too stupid to realize

- But Ladybug and Chat sweat dropped at the storm around them

- Ladybug being really touched at how quick Chat jumped into action

- Mireille was busy recording Stormy so she can send it to Alya ask her brother to make a statue of her

- Their plan managed to work

- With Mireille being high key impressed with their teamwork

- Aurore was deakumatized and Mireille actually fell on top of her from the cloud

- Aurore felt horrible about what she did

- Minus killing Alec

- Mireille got Alec to make them weather girls together

- Their first time on TV together?

- That’s when Aurore gave Mireille a kiss on the cheek and she was a flustered wreck

- Paris loves their lesbian weather girls and would die for them

- Theo did threaten Aurore about breaking Mireille’s heart though

- But Aurore loves him anyway

- Marinette’s just laughing whenever she watches it

- Alya screaming that she knew it and called it

- Also both laughing when Manon did the photoshoot with Adrien because it was pure

- Aurore is a little nervous about telling Mireille she’s a Raijū though

- But her god was happy she was ok

[cicinicole-14]

Hi for the ship thing and headcanons, please do jolex 🥰

Who is a night owl:

dont get me wrong, they both most definitely will stay up late together or both pass out before 9pm on a Friday night, but some days when the depression hits, its jsut different and Jo is definitely more of the night owl. Alex is more of a morning person and Jo would rather sleep like the dead. 

Who is a morning person:

as we’ve discovered, more so Alex esp when they have kiddos. Alex is the one to get up with them early and let Jo sleep, he makes breakfast with the kids’ help and keeps their room quiet for jo to get some extra sleep but will unleash their evil spawns when he deems she’s slept in long enough. 

Are they cuddlers:

some days, yes, mostly. jo definitely loves the affection from someone who genuinely loves and wants her back. but there are days where she literally is like “do not come near me with your (temperature) hot body Alexander Michael Karev, you are a heater and I am already too warm” 

Who is the big spoon and who is the little spoon:

Alex is def the big spoon. Jo likes cuddling into him because sh feels safe, he feels like home. but she def has big spooned him too it’s a 50/50 relationship we have equal roles people

What is their favourite sleeping position:

no lie, both spread out like starfish in their bed. 

Who steals all the blankets: 

Jo. Alex is a space heater and doesnt need blankets she freezes and likes being snuggled up and warm

What they wear to bed:

I mean some nights, nothing, but like jo def loves Alex’s old Iowa state shirts or his wrestling shirts from HS that smell like him. an old worn in t-shirt, anything with a pair of booty shorts or his boxers even. and Alex will just wear a t-shirt and boxers or flannels in the winter. 

Who likes seeing the other wearing their t-shirt:

Alex wholeheartedly loves when jo wears his shirts unless its his favorite flannel and she steals it “come on, jo. you know that’s my favorite one. I wear it all the time.” its exactly why she takes it. 

Who falls asleep mid-conversation:

jo, unintentionally. sometimes the insomnia hits and she won’t have slept for a couple days so when life catches back up to her she will fall asleep randomly. even more so while pregnant and right after their daughter is born. she just “night night Josephine” 

Who wakes up in the middle of the night with nightmares:

they both have their fair share of horrid nightmares. Alex’s deal a lot with his trauma of growing up. his mom pulling various knives on his siblings and dad attacking them. even nightmares of jo leaving him like Izzie did and he wakes up without her. 

jo’s are terrifying as well. she dreams that Paul’s death was just an illusion and that hes still out there and he’ll still come and get her. she wakes up drenched in a cold sweat and Alex holds her and they pull up his death certificate on the gsm database to prove it. she also has nightmares about being abandoned again. dreams of herself as a baby, dreams of her mother leaving her at that firestation. horrid nightmares. and Alex just holds her. she also has many nightmares about Alex abandoning her too just like her mother abandoned her but he’s never done that he’s always there when she wakes up and everything is okay again

Who accidentally punched the other in their sleep:

jo is an absolute horrible bed partner. she does NOT sleep still. she will move around so much during sleep its dangerous. yes, Alex did wake up with a bruise across his cheek one night from an elbow to the face...

Who can’t keep their hands to themself:

both of them. theyre notorious horndogs no autocorrect they are not corndogs please stop correcting me when you’re wrong 

and just because, im throwing in the parenting meme one too bc my heart melts

packs the lunches

Alex. he gets up with the kids in the mornings and also we do not trust jo to make their children food. she’d feed them boxed Mac n cheese and take out the entirety of their lives. and while they love that and Alex wouldn’t care if it was jsut them, their kids need real food. he packs them lunchables and uncrustables but at least its a little more of a variety. 

blows raspberries while cuddling

jo, more so. they both do, but jo LOVES a good chunky baby belly she can blow raspberries onto. and yes she leaves maroon lipstick marks on chubby cheeks and bellies. 

is the tickle monster

Alex. and she runs to mommy to save her from daddy! “oh, now you want mommy, huh? as soon as daddy is the tickle monster all you want is mommy? not when I wanted cuddles, or we picked you up from daycare or I dont know, I gave birth to you and wanted snuggles you cry and want daddy but now hes the tickle monster you want me?” and jo scoops her up and tries saving her but ultimately they lose and get attacked in their very large bed by the tickle monster. 

gives life lesson speeches

they both do just depending on the situations. 

when the girls start dating, jo sits them all down separately, and explains to them a bit of her past. letting them know that no man should ever lay hands on them. she teaches them how to defend themselves and Alex ofc shows them in example how women should be treated. Alex makes it clear that if a guy or girl ever should treat his daughters or his son in any other way than he treats jo, that he needs to know and gOD forbiD one of them lay a finger on one of his children there WILL be hell to pay. jo obviously consoles him in front of her children but tells him “u already have a record. if anyone lays hands on our children I will be putting them in the ground not you”

kisses the boo-boos

Alex he is a pushover and 100% makes sure all boo-boos are kissed and even when the kids are way too old for having their boo-boos kissed, he makes sure the bandaids that are no longer avengers or dinosaur or unicorn or princess themed, have been properly kissed. even through protests of “dad, im not five anymore I dont need my bandaids kissed” “how do you expect them to heal, then, CJ? you’re my most clumsy kid, and I have had to kiss all your boo-boos and never once have I not. thats why you’re still in once piece” 

breaks the bad news

jo makes Alex do it most times. she claims she’s the fun parent and tries to stay the fun parent by making Alex break bad news like “we cannot get another dog” she blames it on Alex but then brings home a puppy the following week. 

joins the PTA

listen. LISTEN. when Greyson started big kid school, in kindergarten, they placed her in private school to give her everything they didnt have growing up. jo was determined to make sure she gave her daughter everything made sure she felt loved and was spoiled it was terrible. so jo, of course, sent her to Seattle Elementary academy and was not paying attention when she signed some forms signing up to be in the PTA. she loathed it so much and “Alex im sorry I cant do this. I know we wanted to give Gracie everything we didnt have growing up but I cant take it I cant take the private school. the volunteer hours the strict dress code violations? she is FIVE. I also have to volunteer FORTY HOURS this year alone. no! I am a surgeon, a mother of two and im pregnant! I do not have time for this! all these PTA moms are stay at home moms who have nothing better to do than gossip about their neighbors and drink wine. and I swear to god if I have to hear about Jessica’s fucking essential oils pyramid scheme one more time I will shove those oils so far up her a––” “Jo! Look, Ali, mommy’s here!” Alex interrupts her just in time. he doesnt blame her. those private school moms are quiet the handful. every time, one of them has the nerve to hit on him. “and I swear, if one more of those moms hits on you in front of me, im going to backhand her with my engagement ring on. no hate to most of them, but theyre too much” they end up ending Gracie, and Ali and the rest of the kids to public school just like they had grown up in and did just fine. 

crashes sleepovers with embarrassing stories

oh one hundred and ten percent Alexander Michael Karev. he will find any moment to break out embarrassing stories and photos. hell, even when Zola, Bailey, ellis, Sofia, Harriet, scout, any of the bunch come over he’ll embarrass them too!  

gives the crazy nicknames

not really either of them (that ive figured out in the moment) (the kkc kids do not have crazy nicknames yet) (we jsut have Gracie for Greyson, Ali for Alice, and CJ for Cristina Jo. Alexis goes by Sissy because of Alexis and Alexa and Eli usually goes by bubba seeing as how that’s what the twins have called each other growing up with Izzie and that stuck) 

thank you so much for these! I loved loved loved doing them! even threw in some KKC universe things so if yall have questions about that feel free to ask I will share! tho there is yet to have a fic out about them yet… its been a bit difficult with writers block /: 

[shintorikhazumi]

I Have Two Sisters?! Chapter 3: Three Sisters, Many Scars, and A Day Out

A/N: Warning! Long? Longer than usual? Chapter? I already split it into 2, mind you. Wasn’t able to hold back. Haha. Sorry bout that. Sorry if this took too long as well. Some of you may have seen my crazy activity in LWA recently. I also have college starting up again so… really, many apologies.

I like to think Claudine is very sweet and gentle with Diana, but very cheeky with Weiss. And Weiss is soft and awkward with Diana, and is almost always fondly annoyed with Claudine. And Diana just loves them both because her younger sisters are so pretty and nice to her and they make her breakfast, and they aren’t anything like the cold, abusive people her old family was like.

I don’t drink coffee so I had to google, “coffee maker parts” for this chapter, though I doubt I used that knowledge lmao.

Their house kind of has a kitchen connected to the living room. Kind of like… the Starlight dorm’s? Wait I don’t remember.

This also got  delayed coz my dog died a while ago during the time I wrote this, and I felt like shit. So. Yep. But it’s alright now!

Also, I know I said love interests maybe at chapter 3, but this was getting too long so I had to move it to the next chapter which is already half done and will be up shortly after this one! Maybe by tomorrow or within next week, hopefully, because a storm is coming to our area. Might have no power. But for sure the three silly (in their own way) brunettes will be there. Definitely!

NOT BETA’D AS ALWAYS! :> I’m… I’m shy about asking for betas.

Enjoy?

~Shintori Khazumi

School.

Right. That was a thing.

And it was going to start in about two to barely three weeks from now. It was enrollment season for many, and that did not exclude the university Claudine and Weiss were to attend soon. They had been discussing this in the kitchen as they prepared breakfast, Diana still deep in slumber. The girl seemed to sleep in often these days, but well… that was mostly the fault of the two younger sisters.

During one of their chats, they had learned that Diana had always been overworked as a child (just like a certain someone Claudine knew), and had rarely had the chance to rest. They took this opportunity of freedom to give her just that. Even if that freedom basically spelled out how little their father cared about them. So long as they were still alive, he’d have many cases lay off his back. Well, they didn’t care for him either, so it was more advantageous for them to have little to worry about with many things provided for them without strings attached. Being able to do what they wanted was a perk they were willing to make the most out of.

Still, it was nearing school time and they had realized that they were yet to hear of Diana’s plans in terms of studying. Weiss and Claudine had already been enrolled by their father in the aforementioned university which specialized in the arts; the man had done his research on Claudine, it seemed. But as for Diana, the pair had no clue of her status in terms of going to school again, nor could they recall her mentioning any course she was interested in- other than their limited knowledge of her relationship with medicine from articles they’d seen, and stories they’d heard from the girl herself. But was that still an option at this point? What did Diana want to do; she hadn’t mentioned any plans to continue pursuing it, had she?

Huh. That was odd. Considering all the talking they had done these past few days, attempts at getting to know each other better, it seems they had yet to know enough about their housemates.

As if summoned by their silent inquiries, Diana appeared on the threshold to the connected living room and kitchen, rubbing drowsiness away from her tired-looking eyes. On an odd sense of instinct, Claudine walked over to the sleep-addled woman still stuck by the doorway, blinking in confusion, as if wondering about where she was, what she was doing, and why there were two ladies cooking what looked to be breakfast for her.

“That’s because we are cooking breakfast for you. And for us too.” Claudine giggled softly at Diana speaking her thoughts out loud; taking the latter’s hand, she patted a few difficult strands of curly hair down with the other, and began righting Diana’s appearance- her shirt and cardigan slipping off her shoulder while her slippers were on the wrong feet- and the former heiress quite liked that, being pampered. She never really was despite having so many maids in her previous home. She also liked this person who was guiding her to take a seat at this nice wooden table, and this equally nice person had given her a cup of some very nice coffee. “I hope this will wake you up some. You truly are an odd child.”

Diana nodded her thanks, taking a sip from the mug that had her name on it (she really liked that) and a regal picture of a unicorn because Diana Cavendish was not that childish. It was a little sweet, and she liked that too. Very unlike all the bitterness she’d forced down her throat as she toiled nights away for the sake of her family. This was a nice change.

But who were these ladies?

“You know, you’ve asked us the same question almost every morning when you wake up.” Weiss sighed fondly, already accustomed to Diana’s odd habit of speaking her mind, as well as being so lost to the world in the mornings. The first time it had happened, Claudine and Weiss had thought that Diana was talking to them. Apparently, that was not the case. “At this point, we’ll have lived together for twenty or so years and you’d probably still ask.” The silver-haired girl made her way to the table, placing down some pancakes as Claudine followed suit with some eggs and bacon.

“Maybe there’s nothing quite memorable about you, then.” The golden-blonde teased, biting back a hiss as Weiss smacked her shoulder. “Brutal…”

“You’re brutal.” Weiss flipped her hair over her shoulder, before taking one of Diana and Claudine’s hands in each of her own. “The other day-”

“That was one time! And that man was committing theft. Were we supposed to let him run away?” Claudine defended, slightly offended.

“Well, I didn’t expect you to be capable of smashing through concrete-“ Weiss was cut off by the soft, sleepy voice that was Diana, along with a grumbling stomach from the now-blushing girl.

“G-grace…” She reminded, and the two halted their bickering, smiling at Diana while rolling their eyes at one another playfully.

After saying grace for their meal, they dug in, the younger sisters secretly enjoying the many emotions that passed through Diana’s face every meal. It reminded them of when they had gotten burgers for the first time. Weiss admitted she was the same before Winter had snuck in some of the world’s greatest (and unhealthiest) fast-food delicacies, but did she really look like this at the time? Diana never having tasted cheap bacon was preposterous!

But they reminded themselves not to go overboard with junk food and cheap meats. They had health to consider after all, as pleasant as it was to spoil their older sister.

The meal went on as it always did in this household, a few chats here and there, some random inquiries, Diana booting up her awareness as the sleepiness slowly faded away, remembering that she now had two siblings to live her life with each day until who knows when. A wonderful affair as always.

Finishing her breakfast first, Diana stood up to take her plate to the sink for washing. Still feeling slightly out of it, she spotted the coffee maker still half-full with coffee and thought it would probably do her some good to have another cup.

Placing her dishes in the sink, she reached over to grab the carafe, overhearing her sisters’ chatter and turning around to watch them as she poured the liquid into her mug, she felt familiar tremors in her right hand, a warning siren going off in her head as the pain that immediately shot through it caused her to hiss and drop both her mug and the glass jug containing relatively hot coffee, both items crashing into pieces against the kitchen isle floor. Such a loud racket alerted her siblings who rushed to her side in a split second.

“DIANA?!”

“Are you okay? What happened?”

Diana felt her whole body shake along with her hands, but mostly out of fear than anything else. She’d messed up again. She’d broken something that wasn’t hers, she’d made a mess on the floor, and she’d ruined the adorable pony slippers Claudine had been nice enough to secretly get her after she stared at them for nearly twenty minutes on a department store shelf. They were probably mad. Claudine and Weiss. They would no longer be kind to her after her mistake. And after a mistake… a punishment. That’s what was next. Always. Diana knew this in her very soul.

“S-s-sorry…” Stuttering out an apology, she bent down to pick up the broken shards, ready to clean up before she was beaten; maybe if she fixed her own messes and prostrate before them, she’d receive their mercy-

“DON’T TOUCH IT, YOU IDIOT!” She saw the hand come quick, her eyes bracing themselves shut, waiting for the hit to come…

…but it never did. Weiss held her hand up carefully, pulling her out of her slightly crouched position she had subconsciously gotten into.

“Claudine, could you like, take her to the sofa before she gets hurt even more? I’ll do the clearing.”

“Can a princess do something like that?” The youngest still teased, but worry was interlaced into her tone. Weiss scoffed at that.

“If you have time to entertain me with your jokes, make sure Diana is fine instead.” Weiss playfully kicked Claudine’s butt, getting her to move along, pushing Diana in front of her with careful guidance.

Once the trembling girl had been situated on their couch, Claudine began checking for any visible injuries on her elder sister’s hands and feet, sighing in relief when she had found none. “Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere? Burns? Cuts?” She asked for good measure. Seeing Diana shake her head no, Claudine gave a sigh of relief, turning around to tell Weiss that all was well, and that she’d be going to draw a bath for Diana and get her a change of clothes and wash the soiled garments and slippers.

Before she could leave, a hand caught the edge of her shirt, still quivering lightly. Her heart clenched at the quiet, broken voice, and equally broken question. “You’re not going to hurt me?”

It looked like Weiss had heard the question too considering the sounds of running tap water from the kitchen suddenly stopped.

A frown came over the actress’ features, and that seemed to have scared Diana even more. Claudine immediately noticed, switching to a softer but still worried question as she crouched down in front of the sad girl, hands rubbing gently over her knees before taking shaky hands in hers.

“Why would we?” She asked in a whisper. Weiss may not have been able to hear them, but she continued to watch the exchange, leaning back against the sink, arms crossed, brows furrowed. If anything were to happen or she was needed, she’d rush right over. For now, she’d let her younger sibling deal with it as she seemed to be better at these things.

“Because… I made a mistake… I broke things… and the slippers…” Tears welled up in Diana’s eyes, and two hearts clenched in painful sympathy.

“No, no, no. Sweetheart. That was an accident, that wasn’t your fault.” Claudine frantically wiped away the running tears, signaling to Weiss for some tissues. “Okay? Okay? You can keep crying if it makes you feel better, but we’d rather you calm down and take a bath now so that you can relax and not have to think about any bad things, okay?”

The younger girls did not know what the hell Diana’s family had put her through, but they’d wreak havoc and bring that hell right back to them if they had to. This was outright abuse! For such a lovely lady like Diana to be scarred this deeply, both physically and psychologically, it was just so wrong in many ways.

Keeping their fury reigned in, they gently coaxed Diana into taking the much-needed bath, closing the door with a reminder to call for either one of them should anything come up. With the assurance that Diana could take care of herself for a few minutes, they made their way back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up.

“I swear, I’ll be put in prison for murder one of these days.” Weiss muttered, squeezing the sponge a bit too tightly, froth covering her hand.

“If you’re going to kill someone for Diana’s sake, at least don’t get caught.” Claudine shot back, though the nails digging into her palm spoke a lot about how much she agreed with Weiss’ sentiments.

With everything in place, and the accident laid to rest, the pair plopped on to the couch, sighing out their internal tension.

“I wonder… about what else happened with Diana… Now that I think about it, we never really got to know much about her.” Weiss mused, referring to the incident many nights ago, on their first day together, when Diana had that nightmare. “Cavendish…” Weiss recalled to the time when they had checked the woman’s identification after she’d fainted at their door. Really. All her first memories with Diana weren’t the greatest. Though she could probably say that it was the same for all of them towards one another.

“I did some research on that.” Claudine shared, pulling out her phone and showing it to the silver-haired woman. “Cavendish Medical. Diana did say that her family was of the elite type.” A short groan escaped before the woman continued. “But one of the largest medical chains internationally at that, somehow I can now see why Diana ended up like that. I also somehow get why her face isn’t so well-known despite this fact.”

Weiss moaned out her frustrated pain as well, understanding where this was getting at. “It’s that shitty old man, isn’t it? Because she’s an illegitimate child and all that jazz?” Slapping her knee, she stood up in irritation. “Couldn’t they have just, like, adopted her or something then? And she isn’t completely Unrelated to them. What the hell.”

“I can see that the two of you have certainly been through that. ‘Heiress’ stuff and all.” Claudine made a random circular motion in the air. “Schnee Digital Corporation.”

“Can we not talk about this?”

“Sure.”

“…”

“How rare of you not to continue your taunts.”

“I know how stressed one can get in the presence of an infuriating woman.”

Weiss laughed at that, not really getting it, but she felt like she would in the near future. It never hurt to ask anyway, though. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I know how to shut up when I have to.” Claudine laughed along, shaking her thoughts clear of a certain regular intruder in her mind.

As the two slumped against their couch in comfortable silence, they heard the muffled sound of a voice from behind a door interrupting their hush. “I… I think my hair got s-stuck.” And that was enough reason for them to get up and walk over to the bathroom, only to see Diana struggling with the shower head, hair tangled about it while she sat in the tub. How that happened, they had no clue.

“Just what are you up to?” Weiss muttered under her breath, moving towards Diana anyway, gently detaching light-green curls from metal.

“I’m sorry…”

With an affectionate sigh, Claudine sat herself on a stool by the tub, taking the showerhead from Weiss. “Come on, let us help you finish. We don’t want any more mishaps.”

“I- I can… bathe myself.”

“We know you can. But we want to help.”

“B-but!” And they felt the girl in their hands tense, curling into herself just as she did many times before, as if to hide herself. And as their sight registered why, with clarity, their hearts bled.

They hadn’t noticed it as clearly before, but now there was nothing to cover the many scars that littered over the surface of ivory skin. There were a few bruises that were beginning to heal, and they couldn’t help but wonder if those were inflicted right before Diana escaped to the peace they now lived in. With clenched teeth, Weiss grabbed a bottle of conditioner, channeling her anger to her fingers as she squeezed the bottles contents into her hand and tenderly ran her fingers through curled locks.

Diana’s hair smelled of the scent of the shampoo they bought from a local mart, but her hair, as nice as it was, didn’t have that certain slippery-smooth feel. So Weiss believed this was the next step the girl was about to do.

Claudine reached for the shower setting knob, spraying her hand with water as she adjusted the temperature to the perfect degree of comfort before rinsing the soap off her older sister’s back. She grimaced at the sight of more scars. They were a vast variety. Long, short, wide, thin… it made her sick to know that people truly could lack the heart to be able to inflict so much pain on an individual.

They worked in careful silence, the younger sisters working their hands gently and efficiently. Diana would occasionally jolt, wince, or whimper, and the pair would have to force their frowns away as to not cause the eldest further anxiety.

As the last drop of water fell into the tub, they stood Diana up and helped her dry off, covering her body with a bathrobe as they moved to the girl’s bedroom to get her hair dried completely, and get her changed into comfortable wear.

Diana was grateful for their help. Really she was, but as she changed, she could feel the two worried gazes scanning nearly every patch of skin visible to their eyes as she slowly covered it up with her attire for the day. It unnerved her, it felt like she was back to being strictly monitored.

They must have realized her discomfort as they eased off, Weiss picking a brush up by the vanity, and Claudine sitting her down in front of it. “How about we fix you up? We have plans to go out for today, so maybe you could join us?” The latter proposed as both grinned, Weiss looking up hairstyles that would suit Diana’s choice of clothing for today.

“I- um... okay.” At first hesitant, but eventually relenting, the white-haired heiress got to work, trying her best to mimic the guide on her phone.

It was a silent affair, almost torturous for the eldest as she dared not look into the mirror lest she meet Claudine’s eyes, ever observant and watching over her. Soon enough, however, the ticking of the clock and the feel of the brush smoothing over her waves soothed Diana little-by-little, her breathing slowing as if she were being lulled to sleep.

And then that silence broke.

“Diana… “ It was soft, nearly a whisper, but not quite that. It was a shy call, something rare from the ever-confident Claudine that Diana had come to know. Then again, this was also the incredibly tender blonde she’s lived with the past few days. In that sense, she was very familiar.

“Y-yes?”

Kneeling down next to her vanity’s stool, Diana held a hand, still looking at Diana through the mirror. There was a secret twitch of nervousness on her hand, then a barely audible deep breath, as if the youngest was preparing her heart for a deep confession. Diana felt herself tense. “Diana... Could you tell us about your family? About you?” A shaky breath. “...a-about... your scars.”

She must’ve reacted in a worrisome way, as there was an immediate follow-up to that.

“Oh! You don’t have to force yourself if you don’t want to! If it hurts to talk about it then we can drop this.” Claudine frantically spat out, the touch of her skin feeling a bit warmer. “You don’t have to do it against your will. We were just worried and... those kinds of.. marks are definitely not normal- oh but we’d understand if they are too traumatizing that you’d rather not even recall them, much less speak of them-” She rambled on.

They were kind. So kind. Weiss hadn’t said anything yet, but Diana just knew she was the same. It was warm. Maybe she could trust them. If it were them... surely...

“Diana?”

Shaking her head to ease their anxieties, she flipped her hand over, palm meeting Claudine’s as she clasped her hand tighter than she planned.

“It’s... I... I want to. I want to tell you... because maybe... maybe you can... assist me.”

Two heads nodded, indicating that they were all ears. Feeling their sincerity, a smile grew on Diana’s face. With a deep intake of air, she began her story.

She had been borne healthy and full of potential, an intelligent baby, it seemed. However, potential or talent did not matter. Not to a family as traditional and tight-laced as the renown Cavendish House. A pregnancy out of wedlock was shame to the family, regardless of who the opposite party was, how rich, or how powerfully influential they were.

Why would such large figures care about money and frivolous social stances when they had their own more-than-fair share? Not to mention, Jacques Schnee was infamous despite all accolades. He was never a pleasing prospect to their great family.

And then one day, he pulled away, severing all ties to Diana and her mother. This had complicated their relationship to the main family even more, and hence they were sent to the branch house in Japan, living the rest of their days there. Until now.

“Do you... know how your parents met?” Weiss asked. Diana shook her head, no. She had never had the chance to really ask her mother as she had died when she was quite young, young enough to not have sense of the world yet; too young to comprehend her unfavorable situation.

Claudine couldn’t imagine how Diana felt. Though on the brink of losing her, she still had her mother, and had had the pleasure of being raised by the wonderful woman that she was; nurtured into what she was today. But Diana... Oh, Diana.

“After my mother passed, my aunt and cousins moved into the same house. My aunt claimed that she had been sent by the main family to... ‘rear’ me into the Cavendish I was expected to become.” A flash of fear passed blue irises, the speaker’s breath hastening noticeably. “Then the... scars. Their story. She...”

Unable to handle it any longer, Claudine lunged forward, wrapping the trembling girl in her arms, shushing her and soothing her, telling her it was enough. That she could stop if it hurt too much. Still, Diana wanted to carry on. She had finally found her voice to speak. She did not want to lose this chance. She wanted these people, ones she’d known less than her own similar-named kin, to understand. Because she knew that they would. That they would try. She wanted to try as well.

“When I turned fourteen, I had a grown slightly aware of my situation. I overheard maids gossip that my aunt, she had loathed my mother for years as the latter was more favored as the next matriarchal head. When the whole fiasco happened, she jumped at the chance to attain her most desired wish. Unfortunately for her, she still was not deemed good enough. And I... I was.”

A pause.

“...She took it all out on me. She defended that it was simply discipline. She claimed that she was refining me through the harshest challenges so I would be prepared for how the world truly worked. But all of that was clearly masked-”

“Abuse.” The pair responded, hearts heavy.

“Yes. But I was so deep in submission and mindless obedience that I could do nothing.” Then her eyes went steely cold. “One night, she had gotten herself intoxicated. She had apparently gone back to the main manor to ask for their reconsideration, but was vehemently rejected. I had taken an important mock exam that day, but had one single mistake... She said it wasn’t good enough. She went mad. She said... she’d teach me that perfection-it was the only way I’d ever attain what I wanted the most.”

Diana frowned.

“I now know that she actually meant, what she wanted the most. I’d rather have no part in it. But it was too late.” Squeezing her eyes shut, Diana saw the vivid flames of the fireplace, the dark room; she could smell the awful stench of cheap wine and burning papers. Worst of all, she could almost feel it again. “The metal whip she would constantly beat me with... on that night, she had heated it in the coals... she was deeply lost. Dreadfully so. She took my hand and said...

‘I hope this mark haunts you ‘til the day you die. That you’ll never be what you were destined to be.’”

Diana’s eyes fluttered open, cold as they were when they closed, face hardened and emotionless. She was now numb. There was no longer any pain to hold her back from divulging her deep darkness within.

“Father...” The word was so distasteful, they all cringed deep down. So unfamiliar and... wrong. “He knew about my... condition.” Two pairs of eyes saw that scarred hand go knuckles-white with their grip. “He said so in the letter, and he told me that... there wasn’t much use in re-enrolling me in a medical school  if my own family threw me away after finding out.”

“Finding out?”

“As you saw earlier, my hands have the tendency to suddenly shake, and my right...” Diana stared into her open palm in depression, clenching it into a fist frustratedly. “-the doctors said that my aunt had destroyed nerves needed for the finer motor functions of my hand. The tremors are no good. My family wanted me to become a surgeon for whatever field. I... can’t do that.” She smiled through a grimace.

“Diana...”

“So he told me to do whatever I wanted. The money was... there and all.”

Weiss grit her teeth, fury stirring up within her at the man’s utter lack of delicacy and consideration. It was cruel, how he threw Diana’s pains right at her face, thinking it could be solved with money and she’d feel chipper about it right away. He was always like that.

It wasn’t because their father ever cared about Diana’s background or family affairs that he gave her the freedom of choice; so probably by hearing rumors about Diana and her hand, he couldn’t be bothered to even help her out, leaving her to decide in her lost, unknowing state. How could everyone leave her to choose for herself after controlling her every action, thought, and future? And all of a sudden, as she became useless to them, drop her like a rag doll to do what she wanted. She no longer even knew what she wanted, much less know how to desire something, most likely!

“That’s it.” Weiss bit. “That’s enough, Diana.” She placed the brush down with a light thud. The sound must have scared the poor girl as she apologized profusely right away.

“S-sorry! You must not have liked my story; it must have been burdensome to hear something as depressing as that. I won’t speak a word of it ever again!”

“Diana.” Claudine called, cradling scarred hands in her own. “I don’t believe Weiss meant that in any mean way towards you. She just can’t bear to hear how hurt you are anymore, not right now. But we promise, we will continue to listen to you if you want to open up.” She ran her thumbs gently over fading lines, studying them intensely, before looking up to meet Diana’s eyes. “But right now, we think you need a break. Some fresh air.”

Diana nodded, finally noticing the sweat trickling down her brow, how her breathing was a little labored, and how flushed she felt.

“You’re shaking. Diana.” Claudine said sadly, reaching up to brush stray strands of hair away from Diana’s forehead. “Let’s have a change of pace.” Claudine smiled. “Weiss?”

They heard an audible huff come from the girl, before she nodded. “Fifteen minutes, then we can go.”

Claudine nodded back in agreement, rising up and pulling Diana along with her, getting ready to lead her to the hall. “We’ll go get our shoes on.”

“Great, you do that while I call for a car.” Weiss responded with a wave of her hand, phone already to her ear.

“…”

“...car?”

//-//-//-//-//

Impressive. Weiss’ car was.

Diana wasn’t one to be interested in such things, but staring at the pristine silvery white with royal to dark blue accents, she would say it was beautiful. Did people call cars beautiful? Or was Diana just odd, as she always was?

She heard Claudine whistle appreciatively. Maybe it was normal.

“How did you even get this here?”

“Had a worker bring it over.”

“From where??? So fast?!”

“Look, I don’t know the details, but this is just another way our… dude… squanders his money. He wants his children to, at least, look the part of being supported publicly. Stupid, but I’m grateful I have a car. Not to him, but to the universe or whatever.”

Claudine chuckled. “You really hate him, don’t you.”

“Absolutely.”

“Same.”

They shared a grin, before the French guided the eldest into the back seat, closing the car door securely before riding shotgun next to a Weiss tinkering with the stereo. Just as she clicked the seatbelt lock in place, Weiss chose her song and the car revved to life.

“This one goes to that bastard old man!” She yelled out her window. “FUCK YOU!”

“Th-there was an existing song with a title such as that?” Diana muttered from the back.

“Is that an appropriate song in this context?” Claudine laughed harder, amused by how crazy a driver Weiss was.

“Who cares? I just wanna flip him off.”

“Totally understandable.”

And they were off.

//-//-//-//-//

Claudine and Weiss knew they were supposed to head off to school right away to finalize some enrollment details, and pick up a few things besides their uniforms, but with the topic floating around earlier, and with Diana not knowing what direction to take academic-wise, they decided they could spend a little bit of time at the mall to divert her attention from all the bad things, then maybe over lunch, attempt a more pleasant discussion regarding school plans.

Also, something had been bothering the pair after they’d gone through Diana’s closet earlier in search of her outfit for the day. While she certainly wasn’t lacking wardrobe, the variety of clothes she had left much to be desired.

They were mostly formal clothes- gowns and dresses, some sleeping wear, a few blouses and dress shirts that didn’t seem like they’d be very breathable on a regular day out,  and a few slacks and pants. A few meaning… two pairs each.

It was almost as if Diana only ever got dressed to meet important people, and to attend lavish events. Probably not too far from the truth. Thus, she might not have needed anything akin to ‘party’ or ‘casual’, or even ‘sporty’ wear. They had found a few jogging pants in the far back, but they seemed worse for wear and only to be used for exercising and/or sleeping.

They were lucky enough to get her dressed in a loose-fitting pale blue button up, sleeves rolled up, because, “No Diana, you will not be buttoning up your cuffs and choking yourself with a damn thick tie, and you don’t need to wear a suit everywhere you go. You’re not going out for an interview.” , paired with one of her two pairs of jeans- a dark denim.

That would have to do. To top it- or bottom? Or round it all off, They had her wear some open-toed shoes, sandals with a little wedged heel at the back.

She was pretty. It worked. Even a sack of rice would have worked for someone as beautiful as Diana.

They would never make her try that though.

So after Weiss had dragged a completely bewildered Diana through all twelve of her favorite shops, they were now sat in a small cafe on the second floor, enjoying their slightly-late lunch.

Diana sipped on her tea like the little miss that she was, delicately placing the cup back down before cutting into her meal with all the grace and poise of some great medieval aristocrat that probably ate up all the etiquette books. Her back was ramrod straight, but somehow managing to look relaxed. She was this picture of elegance, and Claudine had already ran out of fingers to count how many people had stopped and done a double-take as they passed by their group’s table.

Weiss, as fiery and at times uncouth as she was with her language, and some mannerisms, proved to have some semblance of the same type of upbringing. And while Claudine grew up learning all these manners as well, the knowledge of them important for events at Seishou, she could not deny how stifling it all felt.

Should she have ordered something more… ‘graceful’  than her tuna panini?

“Um…” Immediately, she caught both girl’s attention, their eyes focused on her. “So…”

“So?” Weiss parroted, placing her fork down.

‘Huh? Wait a second, Claudine Saijou, what were you supposed to be doing, again?’  What had she wanted to say again? Or did she not really want to say anything, and simply wanted to escape this awkward atmosphere? Why were they in this situation? Why were they having lunch at the mall? Why were they outside? Why…

“Ah-”

“Ah.” Diana repeated this time. “Ah?”

School. They were supposed to be out today to attend to matters for school. School that was starting very soon.

“School.”

“School.” The pair mimicked.

“School!” Claudine raised her hands up, fork still in one of them and dropping a portion of her pastry on the table.

Weiss was about to scold her, before her eyes widened in realization. “SCHOOL!”

“School?” Diana was still confused, but seeing her sisters hurriedly finish their lunch pressured her to do the same, even if she didn’t have much to finish.

“Oh my god, I got too carried away. What time is it, Claudine?” Weiss mumbled, polishing off her plate, and still dabbing her face with a napkin like the true lady she was.

Claudine took a peek at her wristwatch. “Eh, uh.. umm, huh? Wait… it’s almost three?! Weiss! Office hours end soon! And we still have to get to the school!”

“We’ll get there!” Weiss replied, calling for the check, and rummaging through her bag for her wallet. Placing just enough bills to cover their expenses and leaving the change as a tip, the three girls rushed to the car-or well, two girls rushed to a car, dragging a third, clueless one behind them.

Weiss got her engine roaring to life and speeding down the highway (at an acceptable pace, because they were in a rush, not criminals), and managed to get to their school supposedly twenty minutes away, in under fifteen.

Claudine thought she would die with how Weiss drove in their mad run to make it to the university.

“We… we-” She wheezed, hand clutching at her chest. “We could have… I thought I died.” She knelt on the ground, as if praying. “Devil driver.”

“Shut it! You try chasing after time while in that kind of traffic.”

Claudine just waved her off with a hand, breathing still labored. “N-Never again. Never get distracted again.”

“Agreed.” Weiss huffed, locking the car with a click.

Diana stood there, hair slightly frazzled, but still looking the picture of dignity and grace. Weiss had a few wrinkles in her blouse, but otherwise was sparkling perfect. Claudine wondered how the hell they managed that after such a wild ride, at the same time hoping she didn’t look like the mess she felt she was in comparison to the two’s appearances. Really, what was it with heiresses and their impossible-to-ruin looks.

“Okay, children, chop-chop. It’s just about three-fifteen, and we can only guess what kind of terrible lines enrollment season summons. I do not want to find myself standing for an hour amongst seas of people.”

“Chil-” Claudine was about to protest, but decided against wasting more time, getting up and grabbing Diana by the hand and leading her behind Weiss.

This day wasn’t turning out quite as they had planned. Or didn’t plan.

//-//-//-//-//

So they had forgotten one little detail. Well, not little. More like… universal.

“Sorry, li’l ladies; but offices are closed for today. It’s Sunday, my dears.” The old gatekeeper chuckled at the surprised faces of girls who looked like they were just told that all their efforts of rushing had been in vain because… all their efforts of rushing had been in vain. “I wouldn’t blame you, however. Y’all look like you aren’t from around here, fancy-looking hair colors and all. I don’t know if it works different from where you come from, but over here, we don’t usually come to the office on a Sunday.”

Claudine just panted, making an incoherent sound of surprise. Was there really such a thing? She’d always walked into Seishou any day of the week, without rest- ah. Maybe she was just a crazy workaholic, then.

“Well, some schools prob’ly allow students to pick things up, but as for transactions and in-person meet-ups, I don’t think you little ladies have much luck. The headmaster of this school, at least, made sure that workers get Sundays with their families. Policy thing and all. It’s on somethin’ called a ‘webpage’? My granddaughter showed me yesterday, most bizarre thing I’ve seen.”

“Ah, yes. Of course.” Weiss, ever the spokeswoman of the group, nodded, taking note to look up said school’s webpage. They should have done so sooner.

“Sorry, girls.”

“O-oh, no, not at all. We don’t mind. We were… we actually- we were supposed to know this, yes.” Weiss stammered out. “We simply forgot is all.”

“Haha! Well, that’s all right, happens. You’re free to come back tomorrow, though. Although I advise you to come at a time waaay earlier than right now.” He winked.

“Thank you. We’ll remember that.” Weiss replied with a professional smile in place to end the conversation, just like she’d been taught in interaction. It may have seemed a little cold, but that was just something she was used to doing. She did enjoy the man’s quirky sweetness, though she’d never let it show.

The three made their slow walk back to car, no longer rushing for anything in particular. It was the low one experienced after the adrenaline rush. Well, it was time to head home anyway. They could afford to be a little relaxed.

“Weiss?” Claudine called as the car beeped unlock.

“Hmm?”

“Can you drive better this time?”

“…”

“Now listen here-”

//-//-//-//-//

Home.

They were finally home.

Right away, Weiss had sunk into the welcoming softness of their couch, subsequently switching on the television once she’d found the remote. Laying on her back, with legs hanging over one of the armrests, she listened to- more than watched- the steady drone of some random channel while hearing Claudine chopping away in the kitchen in the background.

Diana had gone straight to the bedroom to drop off her ‘spoils of war’, as Weiss had put it. For a rich girl, she was good at talking down prices to a bargain. It was truly a horrific war that reoccurred in each shop they visited, Diana’s feet sore and tired, and all she’d done was walk after Weiss.

For a few hours.

Returning to the common room, Diana spotted Claudine stirring what appeared to be a soup. It smelled amazing, and Diana felt her mouth water. She’d never really been excited for food back at her old home- er… houses, regardless of how extravagant every meal was. Here, however, the simplest grilled cheese had her taste buds squealing in delight, pleasured by the flavors and sensations of even the simplest dish.

Dishes made with tenderness, love, and care.

While waiting, Diana decided to take a seat on the sofa, joining Weiss in her... staring at the TV. They weren’t viewing anything in particular, not really paying attention. Weiss had begun to flip through the channels, Diana listening to the audible clicks of remote buttons. Boring shows, corny jokes, generated laughter were presented in entertainment and comedy channels. They both jolted in their spots as Weiss had jumped to an action channel that had just had some loud explosion go off, the volume up high enough to feel that sound blast through their entire body.

A few more button clicks, many more channels browsed; Weiss and Diana were growing more and more bored. Was Claudine done with dinner yet? Nothing interesting was showing anymore-

[“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”]

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

“A-A-AAAAHHHH!”

Three ear-shattering screeches filled the room in succession, making Claudine drop her ladel, whipping her head to check if all was alright. “Diana?! Weiss?!” She called, walking around the isle towards the couch. Then she saw two figures glued to one another in tight embrace, crouching into each other. That did not look comfortable. Turning her eyes to the TV playing some generic horror music of violin murder to accompany the scene of a bloodied, toothless woman, and it all clicked.

And she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pfft-” She attempted to cover her mouth, but to no avail. “AHA-pfff- I- I know I shouldn’t laugh, but-ha...ha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, what are you two doing?!” Claudine wiped a tear from her eye, walking the last few steps to stand behind the couch, patting two shivering heads. “Got scared?” She grinned, voice teasing while waiting for that spiteful response from one Weiss Schnee.

“S-scared?! No! N-no, I’m not s-scared! Says who? Huh? Come fight me!”

She got exactly what she desired, giggling in amusement as she stared back in challenge, right into glaring icy blues that could cut. She was beginning to ask herself if this was how a certain partner of hers always felt when messing with her. It made a little more sense. Wasn’t any less infuriating, though.

They held their gazes for a time, before Weiss sighed, backing off as she felt the trembling bundle still in her arms. Claudine also turned her attention there, worried. She picked up the remote from its fallen spot on the floor, switching to a shopping channel with elevator music. Great. The most boring of all channels. Hopefully it would be calming and uneventful enough. They had had enough surprises for one night.

“I’ll get back to cooking. You got her?” Claudine asked softly. Weiss nodded in response, and the youngest went off to finish her task; hopefully dinner would shift their gears for the night.

While she did that, Weiss had settled her back against the couch, Diana still quivering in her hold. She opted to rub comforting circles onto the poor girl’s back, hoping she’d feel better soon.

“You okay?”

A nod.

“You sure?”

Another nod.

“Don’t deal well with horror?”

“...It’s not that.” Diana separated herself from Weiss, now leaning against the backrest as well, staring blankly at the glowing screen. Weiss took note of how Diana’s hand was tucked safely in hers, and felt her lips tip up in a smile. “There was just so much blood.”

“Hmm… but weren’t you going to be a surgeon?” Weiss regretted the reminder as she felt the hand in hers flinch, along with the next words that left Diana’s lips.

“The blood just… reminded me of my own…”

They could hear something metallic dropping on the floor from the kitchen, along with a soft mumbled apology.

Weiss didn’t want to dwell on this topic any longer, not wanting Diana to remember more hurtful memories, simply humming and ending that particular conversation right there. The pair ended up watching a salesman trying to convince them that brooms weren’t made for sweeping, only flying, and since no one could fly, brooms were irrelevant, thus one should buy a vacuum cleaner instead for the home.

“That logic is stupid!” Claudine yelled from the kitchen, revealing that she had been casually listening to all that was going on in the living room. It was her way of looking out for the two in case something happened. While she trusted them that they were no longer going to enter any screaming sessions, one could never be too careful.

Silence reigned over them once more as more products were revealed in the show. The occasional scoff would be heard from Weiss or Claudine about ridiculous prices, or fake specs, but other than those sounds there wasn’t much.

Eventually, Diana had taken control over the remote and flipped to a children’s cartoon; some low-budget show, maybe? ‘Shiny Chariot and The Mystical Bear’, the episode’s title flashed across the screen. Weiss was about to comment on how bad the show might turn out to be, but sealed her mouth shut as she noticed Diana’s eyes glued to the screen, almost sparkling. Did she like things like this?

Hmm…

Time ticked past bit by bit, the occasional flash from the television would throw splashes of the shows vibrant colors onto parts of the room, then fade. Each time, Diana would gasp, and her hands would move, almost as if she were about to clap. It was adorable, Weiss thought. But she was also thinking of something else. A thought that had never left her mind for even a single moment that day.

“Hey, Diana?”

“Yes?” The girl responded, eyes never leaving the screen.

“What about you?”

Diana stole her attention away from the blaring display, turning down the volume with the remote in her good hand, tilting her head to the side in confusion at the question. “What about me?”

“Well,” Weiss exchanged a glance with Claudine who was ever aware, and all-ears on this conversation. They had to ask eventually, right? Hopefully it wasn’t a bad time, nor a sensitive topic.

“Weiss?”

With a slow intake of air, Weiss met similar-colored eyes, trying to look as gentle as possible, voice equally soft. “School. Studies. What do you want to do about it?” Weiss asked. She didn’t know if it was something Diana wanted to be talking about, or if the topic would bring her hurt, trauma and all. Claudine and Weiss really wanted to be careful.

But they just wanted, needed to know. “We’re not pressuring or forcing you to attend school or anything, if you don’t want to.” Weiss clarified. “It’s just that… we don’t feel comfortable leaving you here on your own in the day, coming home at who knows what time at night. I think Claudine and I both agree that we’d feel a little more secure knowing that we can see you around during the daytime, and possibly be together when we can.”

It was almost as if they were talking about watching over a child, not that Diana was one in any way. There was just this sense of desire to protect her from any more agony than she’d already experienced. Everything the younger pair had learned about Diana so far was so sad and painful, it made them the slightest bit anxious that something may happen to add to that, and they wouldn’t be around to be able to help.

“It’s not that we don’t trust you or anything, by the way.” Claudine added, closing the lid on the pot, finally done with the soup. “We’re…” She looked to the side, searching for the right words to pull out of thin air, before meeting Diana’s eyes. “We’re just worried, is all.”

Weiss bit her lip in concern. Were they being too overbearing? Towards someone they’d only been housemates with for a few weeks, and not having known one another before then; were they too intrusive into Diana’s private life? There was a chance Diana would be scared off, but it felt... necessary. To be able to lay this out on the table. After all, weren’t they family now?

Contrary to Claudine and Weiss’s troubles, Diana had found herself speechlessly touched. She’d never really had anyone show her concern, not after her mother passed. Her own direct bloodline rejected her with so much disdain and contempt, she truly felt unworthy of any love for something she didn’t even do. But this... It made her feel all warm, and her heart light to know that such kind people were now a part of her family. A real one, this time around.

That brought a small smile to her lips, thinking of where they would go from now. Despite knowing them  for as short a time as she did, Diana admired and cherished her two new sisters with all heart. She vowed she’d do anything to do better for them, to help them up as much as they did for her, and more.

Her mind continued treading happy thoughts, completely forgetting about the conversation they were having, and unknowingly increasing the anxiety of her waiting companions.

“D-Diana? Um…”

Right. Weiss and Claudine. They asked her something, and were still anticipating her reply. What had they been talking about? Ah, school.

School… huh.

Diana turned back to the TV, leaning against the couch. Enrolling. School. Studying. Diana had been prepared to study medicine all her life, but now that she couldn’t become the surgeon her mother’s family wanted her to be, she didn’t…. quite know what to do.

Of course, there were other options in the medical field, but she didn’t fancy said options at the moment because it only served to feed her now-recognized trauma. Medicine, it reminded her. Reminded her of so many things, both pleasant and… not. She still liked growing herbs and medicinal plants in their little garden that Claudine had helped her set up. It reminded her of her mother. That thought was both a joy, and sadness in and of itself. She had enough medical knowledge to possibly become a different kind of doctor, not necessarily a surgeon; but the history behind how she accumulated all of it was not the best experience.

She realized now that maybe, just maybe, she wanted to take a rest from it. What her whole life had been built to be.

Regardless, this didn’t make her thoughts any clearer, or give her a definite direction for a decision. She sighed, finally easing the growing tension that had settled in the air from all the silence and waiting, the only thing breaking the stillness first being the padding of Claudine’s feet as she made her way to the sitting area, taking her place at the other end of the couch, opposite Weiss.

“I never thought of this until now.” Diana confessed after long moments of ponder, finally speaking her mind.

Weiss and Claudine listened with all attentiveness.

“My life had been planned out for me; from beginning to end. What I would do, where I would go, when I would do this, how I’d do that. I’ve never…” She closed her eyes, picturing herself back then, a simple puppet, stringed along to the will of her handler. “-I haven’t really thought of wanting to do much else than obey and survive… and hopefully gain the love of my family.” She lifted her knees onto the couch, hugging them close to her chest. “A foolish wish on my part.”

“It’s not foolish.” Claudine interjected quickly. “Wanting to be loved isn’t foolish. It’s natural. Everyone wants to be cherished, and supported, and seen as they are. Understood. It’s not foolish.” She move closer to Diana’s side, taking a hand. “Never think that it is.” She squeezed. “Okay?”

Diana felt tears welling up in her eyes; not trusting in her verbal ability to reply, she opted to just nod. Claudine noticed the emotion leaking from her eyes, wiping them away ever gently, as gentle as she always was.

Weiss watched over the interaction fondly, before eventually sighing. Diana’s reply was welcome and all, but it didn’t answer much of their original question of what she planned to do now.

“Diana, do you still want to study medicine?” Weiss asked the important question directly, gaining the attention of the pair beside her. She received a shake of the head, no. “Well, um… do you have any other options? Or something else you wished you could’ve done before you were told that you had to be a doctor?”

Another shake of the head.

“Hmm…” This only drew more of a blank than anything. “Ah.” Suddenly she had a thought.

“Weiss? Did you come up with anything?”

“Sort of.” She shrugged. “Well, what are your thoughts on a change of pace?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Claudine and I go to the same school.” She pointed out, matter-of-factly. “If the worry was not being able to see Diana during the day, then wouldn’t it make sense to just… go to school together? All of us?” She directed the question more to Claudine.

“Weiss… we go to an arts school.” Claudine replied, confused. “That’s like… the furthest Diana could be from being a doctor.” As far as she knew her, Weiss wasn’t one for suggestions that were so left field, usually quite realistic, but maybe she was onto something.

“And? As someone who grew up in an environment quite like Diana’s, heiress things and all that,” She explained with a twirl of a finger through the air, “I can say that by experience, you’re made to learn all the most useless showy things.”

Claudine laughed at that. Well, maybe that was a valid point.

“I’ve known enough people to know that you have something like that up your sleeve.” She turned to Diana. “I’m sure you’ve had other interests besides studying medicine, right? Nothing like a job, or anything. A hobby?”

Diana thought long and hard. As she came into her last two years of high school, she had been made to focus completely on preparing to get into a good medicine-related program, and dropped anything unrelated to that goal. But before that, what had she been doing?

“Ah.”

“See? There is something.” Weiss smiled.

“Well… I remember my guardians signing me up to do painting and photography just as I entered my teen years. They even hired tutors and all.” Diana fished through her vague memories of the past, actually wondering if her camera from back then was alive and well. “It...was a hobby I actually grew to love. Possibly the first from all the other skills that had been pushed onto me.”

Diana continued to explain that as she was immersed deeper into the medium, the more she enjoyed. The Cavendish’s hadn’t minded it at the time as it brought some sort of prestige to their family. She also mentioned having played the piano since childhood to entertain guests in the event that she was invited by the main house to show off their genius charge, despite not finding use for her outside such functions.

“They had me stop eventually, however, as they weren’t the skills a doctor needed.”

Talk about tossing something away once it held no use or value anymore. It was really frustrating to know just how sad Diana’s background was before they’d met.

Weiss shook her head. This wasn’t the time for this. No more. They would be building a new present for Diana, and for themselves. Together. She wasn’t sure why she was so comfortable with the prospect of supporting one another with these people. Truly, it hadn’t been long since they’d met; and yet there was this sense of camaraderie and familiarity that they had possibly always wanted from a family that they’d found in each other. Maybe it was that.

Possibly the thought of starting with someone on a blank slate, with no preconceived expectations and assumptions despite knowing the terrors of their pasts. Or maybe it was because of that that they got along so well. Who knows.

What she did know was that she had the back of these people with her in this room, at this time, and she trusted that they’d have hers. They were family like that. Solving problems together. And speaking of problems, they just found out how to deal with their latest.

“Sounds like we can get you in.” Weiss nodded in assessment, taking in the latest information Diana had shared. This could work.

“Weiss,” Claudine turned to her, sighing. “Even so, this school is quite demanding. I’m not doubting our older sister’s abilities and-or experience, but…” As far as she knew, this was a special institute with students from all over the globe, coming to perfect years-worth of craft. Although their father had been the one to enroll them, Claudine knew from the letters and documents she’d received from him that her recommendations from high school played a huge roll in getting into a school that didn’t accept just anyone.

“Then we get a recommendation from her previous schools.” So Weiss could read minds now, apparently.

“That still isn’t a guarantee…” Claudine sighed again, but was slowly beginning to accept this inevitable plan of action. It seemed as though a motivated Weiss was an unstoppable Weiss. She should’ve taken the hint from the shopping and driving.

“Come on, Miss Actress. Where’s your thirst for flair? For adventure and beating the odds? Where’s the passion? On the stage? The world is your stage and all that jazz.” Weiss exclaimed dramatically, so unlike her. Almost as if she was playing a role.

Claudine rolled her eyes, smiling nonetheless. “This actress just got a reality check, thank you very much. And so many odds. I have enough to beat already.” She chuckled, thinking on everything that had occurred over the course of such a short time. Finding out who her true father was, hearing about her mother’s illness, discovering she shared the same blood in her veins as two equally unfortunate- or really, more unfortunate souls. “But I suppose, there’s always room for some excitement and a challenge.” She’d never let one bring her down. She always did love a good challenge.

“Perfect! So your on board.” Weiss cheered, turning to the most important piece of their plan. “And what about you Diana?” She asked, softer, kinder. “Do you want to maybe try this out? With us? We know we might not seem all that trustworthy, and you haven’t known us lo-”

“I trust you more than you know.” Diana cut her off with a smile. “Thank you. For all you’ve been doing for me. You truly have yet to understand the depth of my gratefulness towards you both. Thank you.”

Her sincerity pierced through their hearts, melting them as Diana always did. Weiss actually thought she’d cry. A time and place for everything, though.

“Well!” She exclaimed, getting up from the couch. With a shrug, she commented offhandedly, “If all else fails, guess old moneybags might just be good for something.”

“WEISS!” Claudine gasped. “Are you suggesting we bribe the school? This honorable institution?!” Despite her words, she was smiling, almost laughing. Whether Weiss was serious or joking, it was absurd… and incredibly plausible.

“I know they might not accept Cash, okay. Calm down.” Weiss flipped her hair over her shoulder. “That’s why I said, ‘if all else fails’.” She spoke with air quotes. “I’d rather not do it either, y’know? Dirty our hands like that old man. Though I would love to drag him through the mud with rumors since we will indeed use his oh-so-good name,” Diana actually giggled at that one. “I’d rather we not get the same backlash.”

Claudine folded her arms in front of her, processing it all. It sounded so unrealistic. School was going to begin in just about two weeks, need she remind them! Would they have enough time to get everything ready? But then, this was the same Weiss who had a luxury car delivered to their door in a mere fifteen minutes.

“Oh Claudine, Dear Claudine, why do you fret?” Weiss laughed, putting on an obnoxious facade in Claudine’s very honest opinion, like one of those irritating rich girls back in France. “Trust in me and the power of connections.”

“Thought you hated those connections.”

“They’re useful.” Weiss shrugged, confident in their plan. There was also Diana’s family name to consider. From what they’d known so far, they were quite famous and surely had a pull of power somehow. She was sure that it would be of value as well.

“Scary. You people are scary. Heiresses are scary.” Claudine muttered, resigning to this decision. “Whatever. I’ll help out with what I can.”

“Perfect!” Weiss clapped, hand already typing away on her phone.

“Guess this means we won’t be meeting that old man tomorrow, huh? Claudine mused, thinking back to the gatekeeper they’d met earlier in the day. After all, they needed to prepare for Diana’s enrollment. Their business was simple enough and could wait until the same day. “I wonder if he’ll actually remember us and wait for the three foolish little girls to come back earlier.” Claudine looked to her sisters for their thoughts.

Diana simply shrugged.

Weiss actually thought about it for a moment, pausing her actions, a finger tapping against her cheek.

“Nah.”

A/N: As always, I welcome any and all feedback! It really helps with the motivation and like… my personal growth. Thank you for reading and til next time!

~Shintori Khazumi

[inkribbon796]

Egotober Day 25: Cobwebs and Cardboard

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Prompt: Haunted

Summary: Kay goes with some of the guys to a haunted house, one of those Halloween attraction ones.

Warnings: none

With Halloween so close, Egoton was in a bit of a mood and there were more than a couple attractions and haunted houses we’re going up.

The plan was for Ethan and Randall to take Eric but one thing led to another and the two were with Eric, and Illinois, and King. The latter had heard Illinois had tagged along with Eric and wanted to be there “just in case”.

The five of them were standing in front of what Ethan had found was the best rated haunted house in town.

Eric was hiding behind Illinois, looking up at it nervously, he was clutching his hand.

“What’s wrong, leoncito, you’ve faced scarier,” Illinois smiled at him.

“There’s people in there,” Eric complained into Illinois’s back.

Illinois’s smile fell and he wrapped and arm around Eric, “You don’t have to go in. We can stay outside, try to win some prizes or something.”

“You make out in the bushes and I’m getting a crow to throw food at you Ills,” King warned.

“Hey, come on, what did I do to you?” Illinois demanded.

“Really?” King stared at him. “I’ve been keeping track. You want my list, asshat?”

Illinois rolled his eyes, and quickly bent down to carry Eric over his shoulder, but Eric went about as straight as a board so the result was Eric bracing his hands on Illinois’s shoulders. Eric’s face went beet red and Illinois had this huge smile on his face.

“What’ll it be dulcito? The fake haunted house or do I get a head start on that huge stuffed unicorn at the front?”

Eric went impossibly redder, just staring at Illinois.

Illinois chuckled.

“I think his brain shut down,” Ethan teased.

“Yeah?” Illinois carefully put Eric back on his feet, “fine, I’ll put the pretty boy down.”

He bent his knees a little and inclined his head so that their eyes were level. “Let those thoughts in that pretty head come back up.” Then he winked.

“Oi, we’re still here,” King shouted at him. “How about you do that away from me.”

“Illy!” Eric squeaked out, covering his face.

“Okay, okay,” Illinois stood up straight again. “I’ll stop. So what’ll it be sweetheart. Haunted house or cute games?”

“Y-Y-ou wa-nna go,” Eric looked away, still flustered but clearly uncomfortable.

“Any fun I could have isn’t worth it if you’re not okay,” Illinois reminded. “So are we going to counter-scam a carnie or go into the haunted house?”

Eric was quiet for a long time, looking uneasy and playing with his hands a bit. Illinois just waited trying to look as calm and patient as possible.

It took a bit but Eric worried his lower lips with his teeth, looking away. “We . . . uh, um . . . can go into the h-ouse.”

“You sure?” Illinois asked. “We don’t have to.”

“I-I w-want to,” Eric looked more determined.

Illinois kissed Eric’s cheek, “If you ever want to leave, just give me a sign and I’ll take you back out, even if we’re about to finish.”

“I wi-ll,” Eric promised.

“Okay,” Illinois kissed Eric’s forehead and passed him a couple twenties. “Go with the boys get us three tickets.”

“I can pay for myself,” King told him.

“아빠 would never let me hear the end of it,” Illinois told King.

Eric nodded and walked off with Ethan and Randall to a ticket stall outside the haunted house. Leaving Illinois and King standing away from them.

“So, you tell the Old Man yet?” King asked as the two of them just watched the former apprentices getting tickets.

“He knows I’ve got a new travel partner,” Illinois admitted. “The invoices show there are two people on his bills so I could just lie about that.”

“Why not tell him?” King said. “You’re obviously over the moon about him.”

“Don’t want my luck to run out,” Illinois defended, looking at Eric. “The long I wait, the longer my luck holds out.”

King frowned, “Haven’t you found some amulet that counteracts it by now?”

Illinois sighed, “There is no counter-curse, no spell, no lucky charm that is enough when my luck finally runs out. I can only hope that when it runs out again that Eric isn’t with me.”

“Do you think it ran out when I was sent to watch Artie?” King voiced a question he had for a while now.

“Dark and Host don’t blame me, but I do,” Illinois answered.

King was quiet for a second or two before tugging on his arm, “It wasn’t, your fault. There was nothing you could have done.”

Then before Illinois could argue further, King shoved him a bit, “Come on, let’s catch up with the guys, before they get themselves into trouble.”

Illinois smiled and they walked over to the others.

“Keep taking care of Eric and we won’t have any problems,” King told Illinois, “he’s a nice kid.”

“Huh, what was that?” Ethan said, looking over them.

“I said Illy’s a piece of shit,” King corrected. “Long may he reign, the prince of assholes.”

Illinois chuckled, rolling his eyes. The adventurer wrapped an arm around Eric’s back and leaned in. “Had fun at the ticket booth, dulcito?”

Eric just shrugged, staring at Illinois.

They headed into the haunted house, the result was that Eric stayed clutched to Illinois’s side for most of the time, almost stumbling as he was startled. Illinois asking if he wanted to leave a couple of times, but Eric just clung to him and insisted on continuing. Illinois did wind up picking him and carrying him halfway through, promising to protect him.

Ethan and Randall were having fun, giggling and chuckling the whole way through. King was the only one who didn’t have a noticeable reaction for most of it. He occasionally jumped and there was a room that Illinois and King stared into the room in surprise and with a bit of trepidation. It was a room with a mad doctor and slabs of meat and realistic fake skeletons. They glanced between each other and just sprinted into the next room.

But the group walked out the other side and Illinois raced for a bench to put Eric down, trying to calm him down. Thankfully he wasn’t in a panic attack. The two were talking between each other quietly and there was a gentle promise that Eric would not go to another haunted house.

They went to go get some corn dogs after Eric felt like walking again.

“Sorry you didn’t have fun,” Ethan apologized to King.

“What?” King asked in confusion, munching on the contents of a bag of popcorn.

“At the haunted house,” Ethan clarified.

“Oh,” King realized. “Nah, I had fun, it was alright.”

“Yeah, but yah didn’t get scared,” Randall reminded.

King shrugged, “There’s nothing really scary about a fake haunted house. Yeah I got startled a couple of times, and that effect with the fake organs did make me do a double take but it’s all cobwebs and cardboard.”

“We technically lived in a haunted house anyways,” Illinois told them, tipping his hat up.

“Wait you lived in the Manor, man?” Randall asked.

“Yep,” Illinois popped the “p” on the end. “It got freaky at night. Never had to have a curfew.”

“How bad was it?” Ethan asked leaning forward.

King glared at Illinois, “Usually nothing happened except for the changing hallways, it took forever for me to find the bathroom at night when I first got there. It’s really easy to find the back porch, impossible to find anything else.”

Illinois tapped King’s arm with the back of his hand, “What about that time in the attic?”

“Which time in the attic?” King asked.

“You know when you and Yan came crying down the stairs?” Illinois told him.

“Ohhhh,” King remembered, and smiled. “Huddle up.”

Randall dropped his elbows on the table, Ethan had a huge smile on his face.

“Okay, how old were we, Ills,” King started.

“It must have been about a year and some change since we were adopted,” Illinois waived his hand. Eric was halfway onto his lap, trying to cuddle up next to Illinois.

“So I was about six, Yan was about five, and it was hot as balls in the middle of the summer. It was that one year with the heat wave and it was so hot that even the Manor was overheating. So Yan and I were up in attic, because we can’t go in the basement.”

“Why?” Eric managed to ask.

King sighed, “Because Dark kills people down there, it’s like Wil’s set couch, we just don’t go there unless you’re helping kill people, so I never went in the basement. Anyways we’re we’re fucking around in the attic and Yan was in Bim’s old crib and I was checking out this broken cursed looking mirror when I look over and I see Dark standing in a corner of the attic watching us. He’s in this nice red tux and he’s smiling at me. Except his smile is kinda freaking me out.”

King’s smile faded. “So I call out, ‘Mr. Dark?’ ‘Cause I used to be formal with him. And down the stairs I hear footsteps and Dark calls out, ‘What is it Kay?’ I look back at ‘Dark’ and he’s gone. The real Dark is walking up the stairs. After I asked him about it, we’re taken out of the attic and he locked us out of the attic for a month. He spent the rest of the day watching us like a hawk and the next time I went up with Illy, the attic is clear of ghosts”

“So what was it?” Randall asked.

King shrugged.

“Yanc called him ‘the Shadow Man’ cause he has all this black smoke around him,” Illinois answered. “Dark always got super protective when he was around so we always assumed he was one of those bad spirits.”

“Like Dark?” Ethan asked.

Illinois made a scoffing sound, “Dark’s a demon, big difference. Spirits can’t affect their environments, demons are way more dangerous. Either way whenever the Shadow Man was in a part of the house Dark would throw a barrier up and we couldn’t go in that part of the house until Dark deemed it safe. Once we were barred from going outside without him watching over us for a month. Artie and Bim went insane, it was fun to watch.”

“For you,” King grumbled.

“So is that thing still around the Manor?” Ethan asked.

“Don’t know why he wouldn’t be,” King answered. “Maybe Dark pissed him off and he’s haunting Dark. I don’t know, I’ve tried looking into him and so far I’ve found nothing. But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up.”

“So has he done anything to you guys, stood over your bed as you slept, or fucked with the lights?” Ethan asked.

“Not to us,” King reported. “I haven’t seen or heard anything to suggest it’s a demon or a poltergeist. Glad I moved out, that mess is your problem.” He nudged Illinois.

“No,” Illinois smiled. “I don’t get the cursed mansion, I get the cursed lake house. Big difference. The Shadow Man doesn’t live there. Bim gets to deal with the cursed mansion, I don’t want anything to do with that cursed house besides my stuff. Bim can have the house.”

“B-im in-herits the M-Manor?” Eric asked. “But Da-rk can’t die?”

Illinois shrugged, “Didn’t stop him from making a will, I think he does it to make himself feel better, or maybe the Old Man’s gonna skip town for a hundred years to add some pizazz to his life, I don’t know.”

“Weird,” Ethan commented.

“That will isn’t getting used anytime soon,” Illinois excused. He stood up and held out an elbow for Eric. “Now if you’ll excuse us, boys, we have some carnival games to win.”

Eric blush returned as he grabbed onto Illinois’s arm. Illinois helped him up and they walked away.

The other three watched them walk away. Ethan getting up, “Well I’m gonna have fun on some of those rides.”

“Wanna go stalk an’ torment the lovebirds?” Randall smiled at King.

“Why do you think I’m here?” King smiled, they split ways to enjoy the rest of the festivities.

[mxbitters]

Can you post photos of the stuffed animals? 🥺 Or at least your favorites?

bro you’re in luck you get to see ALL OF THEM(or at least everything i can see without getting out of bed yet). this is gonna be EXTENSIVE. names if applicable and lore will be under the photos :)

simba!! this dudes 10 years older than me but he’s just vibing, this dudes probably the oldest stuffed animal i have and like the longest time ive had one but it never occurred to me til now!

i’ll go left to right top to bottom here.

1. batman aka the only dude i ever won at an amusement park. it was six flags and that game where you spray water at the target by the way

2. you can’t see him but he’s a panda my friend got me two years ago, he doesn’t have a name yet because im bad at names. you wouldn’t think he’s newer though because i hug that one a lot so he’s been very loved :)

3. this dude’s name is applefur :’) i’ll just leave it at i lowkey had a warrior cats phase as a kid. he’s one of the dudes i had back when like. i was a kid playing with toys,, he has a very happy personality i love him very much

4. (first on bottom) patti, a mysterious friend of mysterious origins. no seriously i can’t remember where i got them. a thrift store maybe????? they’re a friend though. what i like about beanie babies (and certain webkinz like applefur) is that they can fit in a big pocket so you can take them on adventures :)

5. bucky!!! we went on vacation to new hampshire one year, everybody hated it except me! i’d pick new england mountains over any fuckin beach any day. i love it. anyway that being said his name was in honor of a different vacation moment. last summer we went to virginia, this specific place was like crawling with deer (which was wonderful!!! the only thing i liked!! well ok the arcade too but..) and i had a moment getting really close to a deer. like within a few feet.. i heard someone yell and thought i was in trouble but the dude gave me a carrot. this deer’s name was bucky and he was a regular, people just fed the dude. of course i had to put it on the ground for him to pick up but it was still super nice :) bucky is a good friend

6. i don’t think this dude has a name?? i’m pretty sure he too was a thrift friend. mysterious lad but another pocket adventurer if i’m wearing my super big denim jacket :)

same arrangement as last?? i guess??

1. i’ll sometimes call this dude mumble like in happy feet but i don’t think any name’s specifically stuck?? they’re such a joyful penguin though.. :) 🖤

2. i. i don’t know their name. an insurance company gave my middle school a bunch of stuffed dogs with their logo on it so i just. got two? i don’t know where the other dude went.. :( my edgy “i hate everything and i don’t respect stuffed animals” phase was in 7th/8th grade and i am not fucking proud of it. he’ll turn up though..

3. ehh since they’re so tall LOLA! my slightly possessed friend here makes an excellent pocket buddy and they’re v soft like a lil kitten and sometimes i will just. deadass talk to them as i go through my thought processes which is fun.. i love lola :)

4. this friend i believe was a gift from my gramma, she’s got a big hole near her foot though so i need to patch that up :(

5. he doesn’t have a name either (y’all are welcome to suggest names for my nameless friends by the way!!!) but was a gift from my sister a few years back :)

6. tracker! i literally do NOT know where he came from he just turned up in the house one day and nobody claimed him so of course i adopted the lad,, sometimes i still wonder though,,,,,

this is a really bad picture but everybody was falling!!!

1. sammy! like samson because the wild was a movie i really liked growing up, i’m,,,,using him like a pillow as i do this :’)

2. (horse friend) i think i started calling him rusty because of this horse i met who was lovely handsome and stepped on my foot once?? wait shit my writing teacher named him....oh fuck i forgot the name i’ll get back to this......this dude was totally my stuffed unicorns boyfriend.. where is that unicorn i gotta find them so they can reunite 🖤

3. beagle hidden behind everyone! i sometimes would call her jessie because growing up i had a beagle named jessie and she was like a mama dog,, she’d always look out for me. but like i don’t think they should have the same names so bear with me and offer suggestions if you want I guess??

4. chip! a lovely cat friend with those ghibli cat ears ☺️ i can almost guarantee she’s a thrift friend

5. (polar bear 1) fritz! my writing teacher named him, he’s just vibing out man,, v good pocket friend as well

6. (polar bear 2?) never named them, they got a heart they’re holding though and were a gift in a middle school secret santa from a friend who i guess might have liked me?????? we were weird kids who knows

7. scooby doo but you can’t see him :’) his origin is another mystery on our hands

8. (another horse friend) i guess his names oklahoma?? my dad used to go on a lot of business trips so would sometimes get souvenirs for us. this dude was mine,, he held my phone while watching the g interview yesterday, he’s nice :)

9. cinders! fell in love w him at a fair once and couldn’t leave without him his face is the epitome of joy!!!!

(pardon my homosexual posters)

easily we got cheer bear, who was collectors edition but too soft to keep in the box, and funshine! funshine here was based off this movie which in retrospect was slightly traumatizing, he can still sing a song from the movie if i turn his box thing on though! it’s called “all i wanna do is make ‘em laugh” or something like that!! the full movies on youtube if you want that experience

the owl doesn’t have a name, i’ve only had them for like 5 months (short time when the days fly by ok??) but they’re a generous defender. then there’s swiftheart rabbit but they’re my mom’s and i don’t want to damage them even though it hurts :( oh! also g masterfully displaying his creation— jumba style!!!

this pug friend doesn’t have a name, he was also a gift from my sister though! he barks if you squeeze him! it’s given me many heart attacks at night. and then this reindeer lad.. his name miiight be dasher which is a nod to my emotional support gerard way song??? but i can’t remember and don’t wanna guess..

OH also rainbow dash :)

—

anyway that’s everyone i can see right now but i hope you weren’t bored to death i enjoyed this almost hour talking about these friends and will proceed to actually get up now :D thank you for asking!!!!!!

[televinita]

Top 100 Books*

(*As apparently determined by me years ago at age 19, the last age at which I could possibly have determined such a list, in whatever order I thought of them. It is very subjective and based entirely on my personal favorite 5-star books up to that point. It has no rules about how many times an author can appear, and “100″ is a loose guideline, given that sequels and sometimes even series books are counted under 1 number. Not all of the books on this list have held up, but a surprising number of them have.)

1. Black Beauty --Anna Sewell 2. The Incredible Journey --Sheila Burnford 3. San Domingo: Medicine Hat Stallion--Marguerite Henry) 4. X-Files novel: Ruins --Kevin Anderson (2020 note: YEAH THAT'S RIGHT. I will defend its inclusion still, tbh) 5. Harry Potter (whole series) -- J.K. Rowling 6. Firebringer -- John Clement-Davies 7. The Sight -- John Clement-Davies 8. The Mystery of Pony Hollow (& sequel The Mystery of Pony Hollow Panda) -- Lynn Hall 9. Wild Magic (quartet) -- Tamora Pierce 10. Final Grades -- Anita Heyman 11. Golden Sovereign -- Dorothy Lyons 12. Wild Horse Summer -- Hope Ryden 13. The Best Little Girl in the World -- Steven Levenkron 14. The Ark (& sequel, Rowan Farm) -- Margot Benery-Isbert 15. Shadow Horse -- Allison Hart 16. Wild Animals I Have Known -- Ernest Thompson Seton 17. Beautiful Joe -- (Margaret) Marshall Saunders 18. Jane Eyre -- Charlotte Bronte 19. Charlotte's Web -- EB White 20. Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) -- Antoine de Saint Exupery 21. Little Women -- Louisa May Alcott 22. The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) -- Roald Dahl 23. Touching Spirit Bear -- Ben Mikaelsen 24. A Horse Called Dragon (& sequels) -- Lynn Hall 25. Silver Chief: Dog of the North - Jack O'Brien 26. Snow Dog - Jim Kjelgaard 27. Buff: A Collie -- Albert Payson Terhune 28. Julie of the Wolves -- Jean Craighead-George 29. Vulpes the Red Fox -- Jean Craighead-George 30. The Perilous Gard -- Elizabeth Marie Pope 31. Summer Pony -- Jean Slaughter Doty 32. The Boxcar Children (series) - Gertrude Chandler Warner 33. The Bear -- James Oliver Curwood 34. Moccasin Trail -- Eloise Jarvis McGraw 35. Quest for Courage -- Stormy Rodolph 36. Lad: A Dog -- Albert Payson Terhune 37. Dog of the High Sierras -- Albert Payson Terhune 38. Sign of the Beaver -- Elizabeth George Speare 39. Little House on the Prairie (series) -- Laura Ingalls Wilder 40. Nop's Trials -- Donald McCaig 41. Bel Ria -- Sheila Burnford 42. The Scarlet Letter -- Nathaniel Hawthorne 43. Comanche of the Seventh  - Margaret Leighton 44. Whinny of the Wild Horses --Amy C. Laundrie 45. Multiple Choice -- Janet Tashjian 46. Black Unicorn -- Tanith Lee 47. Broken Chords -- Barbara Snow Gilbert 48. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic -- Betty McDonald 49. Shamrock Queen (Always Reddy) -- Marguerite Henry 50. Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West -- Marguerite Henry 51. Black Gold -- Marguerite Henry 52. Brighty of the Grand Canyon -- Marguerite Henry 53. White Fang -- Jack London 54. Call of the Wild -- Jack London 55. Gentle Ben -- Walt Morey 56. Bambi -- Felix Salten 57. Shiloh -- Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 58. The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams Biano 59. The Last Unicorn -- Peter S. Beale 60. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Elizabeth George Speare 61. Dr. Dolittle - Hugh Lofting 62. Outlaw Red -- Jim Kjelgaard 63. Island of the Blue Dolphins -- Scott O'Dell 64. Anne of Green Gables -- Anne M. Montgomery 65. Heidi - Johanna Spyri 66. Wuthering Heights -- Emily Bronte 67. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew -- Margaret Sidney 68. Peter Pan -- J.M. Barrie 69. All Creatures Great and Small (quartet) - James Herriot 70. The Little White Horse -- Elizabeth Goudge 71. Tomorrow, When the War Began -- John Marsden 72. Candy - Kevin Brooks (2020 Me: but...literally why?) 73. After - Francine Prose 74. What Happened to Lani Garver - Carol Plum-Ucci 75. A Girl of the Limberlost - Gene Stratton Porter 76. A Rose for Melinda - Lurlene McDaniel (2020 Me: *SCREECHING*) 77. Briar Rose - Jane Yolen 78. Go Ask Alice - anonymous (2020 Me: *SCREECHING INTENSIFIES*) 79. The White Horse - Cynthia D. Grant 80. Goodbye, Mr. Chips - James Hilton 81. Lord of the Kill - Theodore Taylor 82. Leaving Fishers - Margaret Peterson Haddix 83. Pop Princess - Rachel Cohn 84. Make Lemonade - Virginia Euwer Wolff 85. Catwings - Ursula K. Le Guin 86. Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey - Margaret Peterson Haddix 87. The Hunger Scream - Ivy Ruckman 88. Blind Beauty - K.M. Peyton 89. The Pig-Out Blues - Jan Greenberg 90. It All Began With Jane Eyre - Sheila Greenwald 91. The Great Pony Hassle - Nancy Springer 92. Thunderwith - Libby Hawthorn 93. Smoky the Cow Horse - Will James 94. Wait Till Helen Comes - Mary Downing Hahn 95. When The Dolls Woke - Marjorie Filley Stover 96. The Cat Who Went to Heaven - Elizabeth Coatsworth 97. Golden Dog - Mary Elwyn Pratchett 98. The Seventh One - Elizabeth Yates 99. 101 Dalmatians - Dodie Smith 100. A Northern Light - Jennifer Donnelly

[vampiricsheep]

Oh before i go to sleep i just remembered the story/daydream i fell asleep to last night and wanted to share bc it could be an idea for a future dnd campaign (hahhh nobdy plays 3.5 tho which is the only system that doesnt need homebrew for it)

But basically a stray horse wandered into the woods (lost its rider? Jumped a fence? Idk) and drank from a pond that turned out to not really be a pond but more of a spirit

And the spirit, too week to guard what was a failing domain with the encroachment of lumberers, imbued the horse with the duty and drive to defend the forest, and it was marked with a horn that represented that absorbed magic (so, unicorn. The horn could only be seen by someone who knew what to look for or was imbued with wild or fey magic.) And that magic let it shapeshift into whatever form was convenient for this duty, whether it be to intimidate encroaching lumberers or to lead people away in the form of a lost human

Anyways something came to raze the forest and the spirit, panicked, urged the horse(?) to flee carrying a stone (it was about the size and shape of an ostrich egg but opalescent) imbued with the spirit's lifeforce and to take it somewhere safe where it could establish a new haven

Another important detail was with each transformation the horse absorbed a little more of that form's traits and thoughts and instincts, so it gradually grew more and more sentient. Returning to its horse (unicorn) state required concentrating on what it was supposed to be, but losing itself in some of those thoughts meant it couldnt always shift fully back, resulting in its hide rippling with shifting colors and patterns

The stone was carried in sort of saddlebag harness

Oh one other detail is the clothes in any one form stayed with that form when it shifted instead of being stuck in the material plane and around the new form

So since this stone was very important and secret when it's traveling along a path north in its search and hears a group of travelers coming up on it it assumes the first form it can think of that wont be hunted, killed after being seen as a threat, or interrogated. This ends up being a hound dog. That the group adopts. The longer it stays in the form the harder it is to remember who it is, and it finay breaks out of this conundrum when it jumps in front of an arrow to defend one of the group, which returns it (unharmed, but rattled) to its unicorn true form.

panicking and needing to think quickly to hide the truth, it turns into the form of a maiden and ends up making some story up about being on its way north for something, but the group is now suspicious and it ends up having to stick with them out of fear its identity will be leaked to the wrong parties if it's not around. Eventually it leaves them behind and takes that risk knowing the longer it does the moee urgent things get

Oh and the spirit in the stone can talk to it psychically but only when it's present, so when it was stuck in the harness on the unicorn form when the unicorn was shifted it couldnt reach it. Very harrowing for the spirit when it was stuck in dog shape for so long, started wondering if its fate was to be trapped in this prison of its own making

In 3.5 this would be like. The shifter prestige class that druid can take, with a talking/cursed magic item. The unicorn thing would need to be discussed with any dm fjdjsksk

Im. Considering plopping this idea onto a gw2 character for the time being :0

[rodolphus-lestranges]

rod lestrange [basic info]

full name: rodolphus aubrey lestrange

birthday: november 3 – scorpio. scorpio’s seek the truth and rod will stop at nothing to find out the facts which can make him passionate about certain areas of life. despite the fact that he’s following the path that his parents always wanted him to, rod cares deeply about his job. he’s determined to achieve a win each time he stands up to defend a client – even if the client is in the wrong. many people wouldn’t be able to put aside their personal opinions to take on this career path, but rodolphus is able to separate his feelings. as the boy got older and realized he was surrounded by certain people who thought it was fine to lie, rodolphus is a man who hates dishonesty and has no problem with confronting those who do so. he is about truth. he is about facts. perhaps it was growing up with a mother who cared intensely about him and the french language he and rabastan had to learn, but rodolphus is also an emotional person. be warned – he may display them differently than many others would. along with his passion, comes a hopeless romantic buried deep within. rodolphus hasn’t had many relationships in his life. he’s been with a few men and women, but nobody has stuck. he dreams about that one person. that one person who knows you so well that it’s like you’ve known one another forever. 

wand: black walnut with a unicorn hair core, 14.5 inches, hard flexibility – rodolphus’ instincts are well in play. if they weren’t, his wouldn’t be where he is now. he may have already been with bellatrix black if he hadn’t caught on to her violent tendencies early on in their hogwarts years. a black walnut wand can easily sense if the owner possesses inner turmoil. there have been times when rod and his wand didn’t get along, mainly during his hogwarts years. the man has come to understand himself more throughout the years and the once rocky relationship with his wand has smoothed out. 

amortentia: 

lemon verbena tea – during those years of afternoon garden teas, this was his favorite. rodolphus had it almost daily and often comforts him and helps him think clearly when working on a tough case. 

broomstick polish – rod made the slytherin quidditch team early on in his hogwarts career. sometimes, there was nothing he looked forward to more than practice on the pitch and the looming game ahead of them. he never lost his copy of “do-it-yourself broomcare” and made sure his comet 220 was always in sparkling condition for his role as chaser. even though most of his time is spent being consumed by work, he tries to get out every so often and remember the feeling of freedom on a quidditch pitch. 

marie’s (his mother) perfume – coffee beans, cocoa, vanilla, and chestnut rolled into one smell. as her firstborn, rodolphus has always been very close with his mother. she’s the one he goes to when he needs a moment to collect his thoughts and perhaps get a second opinion on the situation he’s found himself in. 

boggart:  the form becomes a battered, broken body and it’s hard to tell who it is if you’re not familiar with him. rodolphus knows exactly who it is with one glance – rabastan. he was meant to take care of his little brother. that’s what his mother always told him. “you’re responsible for rabastan. you are his older brother. look after him when i can’t.” those words replay through rodolphus’ head as he tries to slow his heart rate, the blood rushing in his ears, refusing to feel what the boggart is forcing onto him. it takes time, maybe too much, before he can utter the words “riddikulus.” 

patronus: rottweiler – these dogs are seen as intelligent, protective, calm, and confident. rodolphus cherishes those who are in their inner circle and will do what he can to protect those he loves. whenever he’s the one who needs protecting, the rottweiler is fierce and terrifies the danger before returning and waiting until he needs protection once more. 

mirror of erised: as rodolphus gazes into the mirror, six forms take their place in front of him. he sees himself with andromeda at his side (this surprises him – he didn’t realize his feelings for her had developed this deeply. a slight blush creeps across his cheeks). is that four kids? three girls and a boy. one girl is the spitting image of andromeda and rod’s facial expression softens. the boy is blonde with dark brown eyes to match his father’s, but features that resemble his mother. the remaining two girls look to be twins with dark brown hair, green eyes to match their grandmother – it’s not hard to tell they belong to the lestrange family. rodolphus only has one question: is it family he truly desires or is it a family with andromeda?