#i’m so sick. i’m not even done with legacy yet cause i had to go to bed

[elvhenmage]

bethany telling anders in act one that he reminds her of malcolm is something that has stuck with me for weeks so playing legacy in act two with a romanced anders and listening as he calls hawke “love” and malcom’s memory calls leandra “love” is making me sick to my stomach

[timemachineyeah]

Oh totally. There’s not one version of this, even among Mormons.

I was lucky to never go to the temple (left at 18/19, before they lowered the mission ages). I left before learning a lot of the history things that cause many Mormons to leave - I just couldn’t make sense of the theology any more and it wasn’t making me happy. The longer I spent trying to get wisdom from it, the more apparent it became that it was just one of many made up theologies, just the one I’d happened to be born into.

I was bound and determined to not be an “angry ex Mormon who can’t leave the church alone” so I tried to leave in as polite and respectful way as possible and yet still was treated terribly for it. Months later I finally got curious enough to look up what the actual ceremony entailed.

This was before there were videos online, but there were reputably sourced transcripts of the entire scripted ceremony and I remember the depiction of Eve made me feel sick. I’d already left. Was already leaning atheist. It should have meant nothing to me, but it contradicted the story I’d been taught so thoroughly - painted Eve in the same light I’d criticized Evangelicalism and Catholicism for. I’m so glad I never went through that ceremony. So glad I didn’t walk into that unawares and expecting divine wisdom, only to get some of the oldest cruelest misogyny in myth. I don’t know what I would have done, but given how strongly it affected me when I knew it wasn’t actually divinely inspired, I can’t imagine what my reaction would have been if I’d been present, there, dressed in white with everyone in my family watching me, fully expecting to receive the greatest of Heavenly Father’s secret wisdom. I think I genuinely might have had some kind of mental break.

My family were big fans of Carol Lynn Pearson (who wrote the musical above), noted Mormon feminist and poet. On the one hand, one could criticize her for the way her theological philosophy made Mormonism more palatable and probably contributed to thousands of women staying, on the other hand she was always ahead of the curve within the church, advocating AIDs research and against homophobia. She has such a compassion to her worldview, elevating the role of Heavenly Mother and openly criticizing the leadership. When lots of people didn’t have the option or could not think to leave, she explained and modeled a way to be Mormon without being a conservative reactionary asshole.

Given her friendship with John Dehlin and increasingly open criticism of the leadership over the years, I have to assume to only reason she hasn’t been excommunicated at this point is because she was such a force of hope and joy for Mormon women in the 70s - 90s (I think her books are still in print) that if she were excommunicated they’d lose a HUGE chunk of membership in her wake. And the membership they would lose would all be faithful women who, let’s be honest, do the VAST majority of the logistical work that keeps the entire machine running. They’re probably just waiting for her die so they can rewrite her legacy.

But yeah, I probably got the most feminist version of the Mormon Eve story possible because of her impact.

ETA: also omg Sunday school teachers who hate you for genuine questions is such a mood, omfg. I used to say the reason I left was because I took “search, ponder, and pray” seriously and wasn’t actually supposed to

I really, really need you to elaborate on this note you left on a post. I'm fascinated.

If you don't I'm sure I'll survive but this is an absolutely intriguing concept.

Whoooo, yeah, let's talk about Mormon theology and cosmology!!!

In response to me saying that this is basically Mormon theology, because it absolutely is

(I swear, being raised Mormon, and especially the studious and serious kind, and then leaving the church is like that bit in the first episode of The Office where they think they might be getting shut down and Jim says something like, "I know so much about paper. What I am supposed to do with all this knowledge if I don't work here any more." Like I never got very far in The Office, but I think about that feeling all the time.)

From the book of Mormon, 2nd Nephi Chapter 2:

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. 23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. 24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. 25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

Also worth noting that Mormons are so opposed to original sin that it's actually the second of the 13 Articles of Faith, which I had to memorize in grade school. The only article that comes before it is the one saying we believe in God, Jesus, and The Holy Ghost.

"2 We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression."

And stealing from the church's official current website on the topic

President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) said: “I never speak of the part Eve took in this fall as a sin, nor do I accuse Adam of a sin. … This was a transgression of the law, but not a sin … for it was something that Adam and Eve had to do!”

Adam's fall is considered an unequivocal good to Mormons. So this whole take on theology taps into two very import Mormon principles.

The first is "agency", "free agency", or "free will". This basically boils down to: you can't grow, your actions can't matter, if you don't have a choice. The ability to choose is power, and we are here specifically to experience that freedom and to learn how to use it.

This was actually the basis of a premortal war (don't ask how folks without bodies who can't die do a war, I've no idea) between Lucifer and Jesus, because Lucifer wanted to guarantee everyone's salvation by eliminating the ability to choose wrong. The losing side was cast out of heaven and that's where Satan and demons come from!

Here have a musical number about from a VHS I used to watch constantly (in case the link malfunctions, relevant song starts at 10:55)

The second is, "opposition". Basically, things can only exist in contrast. You can only truly recognize something in comparison to something else. Ergo, a world without suffering or sin is also a world without joy or virtue. It is a nothing world. Here, a worse song from the same musical! (starts at 8:57)

By this principle, the Garden of Eden, while wonderful from the outside in retrospect, was not wonderful from within, because Adam and Eve had no frame of reference for it. To them it was just Existence, and as an existence was fairly bland.

Another thing to understand here is that Mormons believe in a premortal existence. We are all, spiritually, as ancient as God is. We've all always existed. Another Mormon principle is one of "Eternal Progress" - the idea that we are always on a journey to improve, and are capable of improving to even the state of Heavenly Father.

I remember asking once if Heavenly Father was done progressing, and told we can't possibly know, but it's possible that even He has more progress to make. But if so, we can't possibly comprehend what he is progressing towards and it's not relevant to us now.

It's important to realize that "As man is, God once was. As God is, man might become" is, like, central to Mormon theology. We aren't lesser things than God, just not as far progressed. He's among the first caterpillars to figure out how to make a chrysalis and become a butterfly and he's trying to show us how to do the same.

Regardless, a necessary step to this progress, to growth, is to live a mortal physical life in a body. A body is so important that Mormons believe at the second coming everyone who ever lived will be resurrected into "perfect" eternal immortal bodies. (This ALL creates MANY logistical and theological problems but we don't have time for all that!)

Other necessary steps include compulsive heterosexuality, marriage, and having children. Because of course.

But if God's power is not innate, but rather something he has gained by being Perfectly Good And Noble - which is like the Force or something - then he isn't truly omnipotent. He is so powerful and omniscient that to us mere mortals the distinction is meaningless, but God cannot endorse harm or cruelty without potentially losing his Godhood. Godhood is conditional upon good behavior. Morality is a natural force in the universe that can be utilized, but! See above about opposition! And free will! To utilize it, you have to be capable of knowingly being bad and choose good anyway!

This puts God in kind of a bind when it comes to guiding humanity.

He needs people to have knowledge of good and evil, but if he gives it to them directly, he'd kinda be doing a bad thing? Like, he'd be causing suffering to just force knowledge of good and evil upon us. The suffering can't be something inflicted upon humanity, it has to be a product of human choice. And choice is essential, but to learn to make choices, first you must be presented with simple ones.

Like Adam and Eve are immortal, physical, useless baby adults who cannot progress. They need to progress, and they also need to get to boning or else all the other spirit children waiting in heaven to be born will not have bodies.

So God sets up a little trap. A little trick. Just a fun little -just a fun little game.

He puts a tree in the garden and he's like, "Just leaving this over here. Don't touch it. But it's right here. See it? Right here. Just making sure you saw it. Yeah, don't touch it. In fact, two commandments for you.

Go have kids

Don't eat that fruit"

And Adam and Eve are like, "cool, great, awesome."

And God is like, really loudly in front of Lucifer/The Snake like, "Oh noooooooo. I sure hope they don't eat from this treeeeee. That would be terrrrrrible! They'd learn about SIN and BECOME MORTAL." and Satan is like "tehehehe I have a great idea!"

Meanwhile Eve, who is currently a metaphysical biological immortal, does not know what sex is and has no sex drive. She's like, "Sooooo? The kids part? How that?"

And the snake is like "You can find out, but you gotta eat this fruit" (true! this is Eden, it is still free from sin. The snake cannot lie here, yet. Because folk Mormon theology - Satan can't lie! That's a fun fact about him. He twists and manipulates truths, but lying is a Mortal gift we got from the whole Fruit thing that Eve is about to do)

And Eve is like, "Yeah, sure, I want babies. God told me to have them so...." and eats the fruit exactly as God intended her to, tempted by the snake exactly as God planned. And she was like, "Oh! I WANNA BONE ADAM. ADAM EAT THIS SO YOU KNOW WHAT BONING IS SO I CAN BONE YOU."

But then they were materially and metaphysically changed, so they couldn't stay in the Garden anymore. Less about casting out, more about God having to follow the Moral Metaphysical Laws that give him his power.

I was even taught it's not even that childbirth/periods/menstrual pain were punishments from God. They are just natural results of sexual reproduction and the part where God says that's gonna happen now isn't him giving Eve a curse, just kinda God giving Eve some sex ed. Since she'll need it.

Basically, God couldn't tell Adam and Eve to eat the fruit, and in fact was morally obligated to tell them not to, because doing so would cause suffering and death. But the suffering and death aren't a punishment from God, they're just facts about the world that become real when you know about them, but you have to know about them and experience them in order to know and experience good things also, and become closer to being a god yourself, and God wanted us to have good things, so he wanted us to eat that fruit. Which is why he put it there.

So very much like leaving water out for a cat who thinks they're being naughty but actually you just want your cat to be hydrated.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles observed: “This suggested contrast between a sin and a transgression reminds us of the careful wording in the second article of faith: ‘We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression’ (emphasis added). It also echoes a familiar distinction in the law. Some acts, like murder, are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin—inherently wrong—but a transgression—wrong because it was formally prohibited. These words are not always used to denote something different, but this distinction seems meaningful in the circumstances of the Fall.”

And before any baby Mormons come in here like, "nuh uh!" about any part of this, your "eternal truths" have been so watered down in the past several decades by leadership trying to seem mainstream and cling to hemorrhaging membership. Y'all don't even know your theology anymore half the time, and what's worse is it's just as toxic as ever but like 200% less interesting. I like Mormonism better when they're proudly declaring Bigfoot is Cain and talking about how John the Beloved already has an immortal body and has been wandering the world for 2000 years and confidently claiming he was the stranger who helped them fix a tire that one time.

[robininthelabyrinth]

A-Yuan wasn’t the only child among the Wen Remnants, just the youngest.

Children's Day - ao3

Lan Wangji carefully scooped up the boy out of his hiding place, tucked beneath a pile of stones, sick with fever and fast asleep.

It was a good hiding place. If Lan Wangji hadn’t played Inquiry and demanded to know if there were any living beings around in this cursed place of death, he would never have found the small child.

He remembered him – this was little A-Yuan, who Wei Wuxian had taken down into town to play, the one Lan Wangji had bought all those toys for in his confusion, the one who called him rich-gege. Barely more than two years old, having never known anything but war.

He was all that was left, now. There was nothing else left in the battlefield.

No one else left.

Lan Wangji closed his eyes in pain.

I’ll care for him for you, he promised Wei Wuxian’s ghost, wherever it might be now. Now that you cannot.

I’ll take him back to Gusu to raise as my own – wishing you were by my side.

-

-Earlier-

“Sect Leader!” one of his aides cried out when he staggered back into camp. “What – who’s that?”

Jiang Cheng looked down at the girl in his arms. She was – four, maybe? Five? He had no idea.

She looked a bit like Wen Qing.

“I found her hiding in the corner of the battlefield when she made a noise,” he said hoarsely. “The Wen sect remnants…by the time I got there, they were almost all dead already, all her family. She’s – she’s young. It didn’t seem right.”

Wei Wuxian always liked children, he thought vaguely to himself as he looked down at her. It wasn’t so much of a surprise that he would keep one there…in fact, if he thought back to that horrible meeting they’d had that one time he’d come to the Burial Mounds to try to talk to Wei Wuxian, he thought he remembered there being a small child there. This must be her.

She was bigger than he remembered, but that was what happened with small children, wasn’t it?

“Her surname is Wen?”

“No,” Jiang Cheng snapped automatically, and his aide took a step back from his vehemence. “The Wen sect is dead, you understand? All of them. The cultivation world refused to allow them to live, that much is obvious enough. Her surname…”

He looked down at her.

I failed Wei Wuxian, he thought grimly. I won’t fail his legacy.

“Her surname will be Jiang.”

-

-Earlier-

“We found this child hiding in the Demon Subduing Cave,” one of the guards reported, looking nervous. “Lianfeng-zun – what do we do with them?”

Jin Guangyao frowned down at the child, judging the child’s age to be about five or six – maybe seven, considering the likelihood of malnutrition at the Burial Mounds. If they were any younger, he would’ve said that the child ought to just execute them as useless; any older, and he would’ve had no choice but to declare them an enemy combatant, and thereby order them executed.

At this age, though…they were still young enough to be taught to forget their current surname, and to learn new loyalties, and yet old enough to perhaps remember a little of what they had learned, living as they had for a few years with the inventor of demonic cultivation.

Jin Guangyao glanced at the papers in his hands, full of barely legible scribbles, laying out powerful new spells and interesting ideas. They would help Xue Yang with his work – but not as much as a helper would, and naturally they’d just brutally executed all the other ‘helpers’ that might have been available.

Not exactly Jin Guangyao’s personal preference, but he wasn’t the one leading the Jin sect army.

Still, his father, who had been the one leading, had retired to his tent, and now Jin Guangyao was the one with the power, left to be in charge of mopping up. That, in turn, gave him a little more leeway, which meant he could implement his own thoughts, rather than badly thought out instructions.

“Put the child in my tent,” he said, and smiled. “The poor thing must have gotten lost and entered the battlefield – after we arrived. You understand?”

The guard saluted deeply. “Lianfeng-zun is kind and beneficent,” he said, and his expression was worshipful. “I will tell the others that the child is from some distant Jin branch.”

Jin Guangyao hadn’t intended for him to do that, but – well, he couldn’t exactly refute it now, could he, and anyway there were worse things to happen. Everyone would know that he had kindly taken in some orphaned child of war, which would be good for his reputation.

He smiled and nodded, and thought of the future.

-

-Earlier-

“Well, shit,” Nie Mingjue said, staring at the trio of children: nine or ten years old, he thought, maybe a little older, two girls and a boy. They stared back at him, wide-eyed and terrified – they were very clearly trying to sneak off the Burial Mounds down the back way.

Nie Mingjue rubbed his face, glad that he’d insisted on doing the forward scout work before the attack tomorrow morning himself rather than let it go to someone else. He hadn’t wanted to come to this blasted place in the first place, being that he still wasn’t sure exactly what had gone down with Wei Wuxian, who’d been a good man once. But good Nie cultivators had died at Lanling City at Wen Ning’s hands, the Jin sect claiming that that brutal attack was at Wei Wuxian’s instigation, and at the Nightless City at Wei Wuxian’s hands directly, and he didn’t have any evidence to exculpate the man, either; he had no grounds to look the families of those Nie cultivators in the eye and tell them not to pursue vengeance against the man who had slaughtered their brothers and fathers and sons, sisters and mothers and daughters, like they meant nothing.

They deserved vengeance.

Just as he had, for his father.

But at the same time…

“You’re all surnamed Wen, I take it?” he asked, and they slowly nodded. “Dafan Wen?”

Another nod.

“Wrong answer,” he said, making a snap decision. This wasn’t like his father at all, not really; he had wanted to kill Wen Ruohan, who had done the deed himself, while these children clearly hadn’t done anything. “Swear to me here and now that you won’t seek revenge for your sect or family, and you can be surnamed Nie instead.”

They looked at each other.

“Your family didn’t send you to run away because they wanted you to take revenge,” he said. It was a guess, but he could tell from the way their shoulders sagged that he was right. “They wanted you to live. Well?”

They swore.

He took them home.

-

-Earlier-

She tripped and fell flat on her face.

“Hey, girl!”

She looked up, eyes wide with terror – she hadn’t expected to be caught so soon – but the cultivator in front of her didn’t strike her down. He was a young man, just a few years older than her, and he looked nice, kneeling to help her up.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “Did you get lost?”

Lost? From where would she get lost, exactly?

Despite that, she nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Here isn’t a good place, though – we’re going to have a battle tomorrow…can you tell me where you’re from?” He frowned. “Or – can’t you speak?”

An idea suddenly came to mind, and she shook her head, lifting up her hands to mime signs like the ones she’d seen Lady Wen and her brother use sometimes when they needed to talk without disturbing others.

“Doesn’t talk,” he murmured to himself. “Clothing of white, ripped all to ribbons –”

She’d torn out any trace of the red sun. White was a common color, but she was old enough to know that she couldn’t let anyone know she was surnamed Wen.

“Oh, I’ve read about this before! Are you a bird yao that’s cultivated to humanity?”

What?

She’d been thinking of trying to pass as a traumatized war veteran, but she was only fourteen, after all; it wasn’t very believable. Of course, it was a lot more believable that bird yao – who would leap to that conclusion?

“My surname is Ouyang,” the man said, smiling brightly at her. “You should come back with me – I can teach you to speak, and we can give you a name…how about ‘Luo’ as a surname? That has to do with birds. Or we could surname you Bai, instead, since your clothing is white! Or maybe -”

She smiled helplessly at his nonsense. What a silly, cheerful man! Maybe she’d overestimated his age, he couldn’t be more than two or three years older, at most, and his brain was clearly not in the right place, filled up to the brim with romantic stories and adventure tales instead of facts.

It was a nice change, actually.

She accepted his hand as she stood.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

-

-Earlier-

Lan Wangji had returned home and submitted to a dreadful punishment. The elders he had injured on Wei Wuxian’s behalf were either in treatment or recovering.

As for the rest that had been at the Nightless City…

Many were dead.

Lan Qiren landed in the Burial Mounds, lips pressed tightly together.

He knew he was taking a risk in coming here to Wei Wuxian’s lair – no matter what Lan Wangji thought, whatever good points he’d had in the past, the man was now little better than a mad dog. He’d caused the death of three thousand people just the day before, three thousand innocents that hadn’t had anything to do with anything; why would he hesitate to attack his old teacher?

There was already talk of a siege – Jiang Cheng himself had promised to lead it, to wipe off the stain on the Jiang sect’s record, and the Jin sect had been right behind him. Even Nie Mingjue had been dragged in against his will, suborned by his sect members’ need for vengeance. As for the Lan Sect…Lan Xichen had looked so stricken by the thought that Lan Qiren had volunteered for the grim duty, despite Lan Qiren having never been much of a fighter and even less of a general. He intended to take only the smallest possible contingent, and to limit their work as much as possible to cleansing the dead rather than killing those who remained there – that much, at least, he could do for his nephew.

Either way, though, no matter his powers, Wei Wuxian would not live out the week.

If Lan Qiren desired vengeance, he need only wait.

And yet, here he was.

Alone, practically unarmed – and here nonetheless.

An old woman came out from the cave and squinted at him.

“It’s over,” she said sadly. “Isn’t it?”

Lan Qiren looked at her. One of the Wen remnants that Wei Wuxian had surrounded himself with, he assumed; the ones he’d given up his comfortable life for, claiming he was only acting as a righteous man ought. Perhaps he even had thought he was, back then.

Perhaps he really had been, back then.

“Yes,” Lan Qiren said, and cleared his throat. “After what he did at the Nightless City – the verdict is unquestionably death. But the rest of you…there are armies coming, and armies are not known for their leniency, especially not on passerby with the wrong surname. But they’re not here yet. There’s still time to flee – if you go now, you could take on a new surname and find some quiet place to live on.”

Lan Wangji had said they were civilians. Civilian life was to be prioritized above all else.

Lan Qiren was only doing what he must.

Despite his well-meant warnings, however, the old lady shook her head.

“There’s nowhere to go, and we won’t give up our surname,” she said, polite but stubborn to the last. “But thank you for taking the time to come here to tell us.”

“Wangji said that there were children here,” Lan Qiren insisted, ignoring her refusal. “If you won’t flee with them, at least send those that are old enough out on their own, and hide the younger ones. Tell them to forget their surnames – most people won’t rampantly murder children, so there’s a chance they’ll make it through, and live. Can you deny them that, just for pride?”

That gave the old woman pause.

“We’ll do what we can,” she said, and then eyed him. “How good are you at medicine?”

Lan Qiren frowned. “I can’t provide care –”

“She’s already dead. Come help anyway.”

The woman in question was not already dead, but dying – she was in her late teens, seventeen or eighteen at most, and she was in labor. From the glassiness of her eyes, the redness of her cheeks, and the threadiness of her pulse, it was clear that infection had long ago set in. It was not an exaggeration to say she was dead, little better than a corpse.

She was little more than a child.

“I don’t want her to die alone,” the old woman said. “But if you stay with her, I can use the time to try to take care of the rest. You’re not wrong, I suppose – the children, at least, deserve a chance to live on, even if it means leaving our surname behind.”

Lan Qiren looked down at the woman, unconscious already and unlikely to ever wake, and yet still whimpering. “And her child?”

The old woman looked surprised. “Can a child born like this still live?”

Lan Qiren had almost no medical training beyond the most superficial basics that were the necessity for any battlefield or night-hunt, with one sole exception: he had supervised the births of both his nephews by himself with little aid – his brother’s wife hadn’t wanted anyone else to be present, possibly in an attempt to prematurely enter her grave, possibly just out of spite. He had studied very hard in the days leading up to those births, and knew far more on the subject than most men did.

“It’s possible,” he said. “Unlikely, but – possible.”

He hesitated for a long moment.

“I can take the baby,” he finally said. “Pass him off as some war-orphan child of distant Lan cousins, sent to me on account of their deaths. I could raise him, or else give him to my cousin to raise; he’s got a large enough family that no one would question it.”

“Why would you do that?”

Lan Qiren looked at the woman who was dying, little more than a child herself. “Because of the children I can’t help.”

The old woman was quiet for a little while.

“Very well,” she said, and leaned forward to whisper the name the young woman had thought about for her child into his ear. “That works with Lan as a surname, wouldn’t it? That’s not bad.”

“Not bad at all,” Lan Qiren agreed, and rolled up his sleeves, settling down beside the girl. “Not bad at all.”

[mystic-shadows42]

Legitimate Heir

A/N: The story doesn’t flow as nicely as I hoped.

Pairing: Ivar x reader

Warnings: None...maybe some angst

Summary: The reader has a surprise for Ivar leaving Freydis to become mad with jealousy.

You laid on your side, in bed, next to a sleeping Ivar. You couldn’t help but admire him and gaze at his beautiful face.

It was nights like this that you couldn’t help but think. After you and Ivar were done being tangled in the sheets, you would always feel guilty.

Guilty for sleeping with a married man. Yes, you are the other woman that you promised yourself you wouldn’t be. All of this wasn’t planned or done with deceit.

You never thought of Ivar as more than your king. Your first conversation with Ivar ended up not being the last. It was when you touched hands that you both gasped at the connection.

It was as if your encounter was meant to be. You remember there being a spark in Ivar’s eyes when you both looked from where you touched then to each other’s faces.

There was a lingering feeling of being scared. Ways of love were unknown to you. Especially with a king no less.

‘Nothing would come of it’ was what you used to tell yourself whenever you thought of Ivar.

A king had no time or use for a random woman living in Kattegat. He was far too busy plotting and planning his next move. He already had a beautiful wife that he seemed to adore to no end.

Whenever you’d have to enter the great halls you’d try to keep your head down though you always found yourself peering past others to get a glimpse of Ivar. He’d always be slouched in his seat.

He always seemed to be deep in thought and far away from everybody else who appeared to be talking to him.

You knew that you couldn’t avoid him forever. You were a cook. The finest that Kattegat had to offer, so to speak by others who’ve told you so.

You remember telling that thralls to take the food out. You were quite nervous even though Ivar never even got to know your name.

A loud sound resonated throughout the whole hall and everybody grew quiet. You peeked behind the door to the kitchen and watched Ivar looking down at his food angrily.

“I am sick and tired of having fish. Why must I keep seeing it on my table when I am the King of Kattegat! Do I not protect you all and share my wealth? The cooks could at least serve me something more fitting for a king to eat.”

At Ivar’s huffing and puffing, Freydis placed her hand on his clenched one. You couldn’t help but feel jealous at the subtle touch.

You wondered if her touch was anything compared to the one you and Ivar shared. Did she feel the sparks with him too?

“My love, we are coming into our winter months. It’ll be hard raising any cattle at all let alone having options of meats.”

He pulled his hand away from hers in an abrupt manner making her sit back in her seat with what seemed to be embarrassment in front of others.

“I don’t care. I’ve already made up my mind. I must speak with the kitchen staff immediately.”

He moved quickly with his crutches, letting his frustration fuel his energy to walk hastily. You backed away and warned the others that the king was making his way over.

Everyone was scrambling to tidy themselves before they grouped up for his appearance. As much as you wanted to hide in the back of the kitchen staff, you didn’t.

You were the main cook so you had to take responsibility and whatever repercussions he would give you. Ivar had come in through the doors with narrowed brows and clenched fists.

“Who’s in charge of preparing my food?”

“We all are, my king.” One of the staff members spoke with their head bowed.

Ivar was about to say something when you approached in front of the staff and in his view.

“If there is any issue with your food, my king then you may deal with me. I’m the one who wanted to serve you fish.”

The anger on his face quickly dissipated when he recognized you. Now there would be no more hiding. He knows of your status and could find you wherever if he even wanted to.

After that, Ivar never let a day go by without making an excuse to see you. He’d sneak in subtle touches and leave sweet little notes behind.

The rest all seemed to be a distant memory compared to now. 

You traced Ivar’s jawline as he caressed your bare arms.

“I must tell you something Ivar.”

He briefly glanced at you and gestured with his hand to continue. 

“Speak freely, my love.”

You rolled to your side in bed and whispered in his ear. 

“I carry your child. Our child.”

You felt giddy on the inside, full of nerves but excited at the same time. When Ivar turned over in bed and looked at you with his eyes filled with hope, you knew nothing else mattered.

“Have the gods truly blessed us? I thought it was impossible for me.” He was lost in thought as he remembered what being crippled meant. No heirs to further his legacy.

Though now, he had hope. You placed your hand delicately on the side of his cheek so he could look at you.

“The gods have blessed us. Blessed our relationship. We must tell everyone there’s an heir to be welcomed.”

Ivar was beyond excited. He planted your entire face with kisses.

Later that night you dressed in one of your finest dresses that Ivar gifted you. You were among the people of Kattegat in the great hall waiting for Ivar to share the exciting news.

There was a permanent smile on your face just waiting in anticipation. You felt like you were glowing when Ivar appeared staring out at everyone.

“People of Kattegat, I bring exciting news!” His blue eyes seemed to light up the entire room. It was a look you wish he always had on. “I’m going to be a father!”

Cheers erupted and pleasantries were yelled out in the excitement. You would’ve covered your ears if it didn’t involve you.

“Come up here my love. Wherever you are.”

You made your way through the crowd with your eyes only trained on Ivar the whole time. Your heart was racing erratically, the cheers only fueling your pace to reach Ivar.

Though Freydis was the one who made it to the front before you did. Perhaps Ivar didn’t reveal your pregnancy to her yet. Ivar placed his hand on Freydis’ stomach.

“Your queen is pregnant!”

It felt as if all the air had been sucked out of you. It couldn’t be. Ivar had always spent his time with you. He gave her a kiss and you had to look away. 

It was then that you were reminded of your place. Ivar was never yours. You were just a mistress and Freydis his wife.

After their display of affection, Ivar scanned the crowd until he found you. He saw your tear-streaked face and made a move to you but Freydis stopped him. She glanced over to you and spoke to him.

His eyes never left yours but once Freydis was done saying what she had to say, he shook his head at you.

There was no fight in you tonight. You were drained beyond belief at this sudden news. You wanted to be angry, but couldn’t. At the end of the day, Freydis was his.

You believed yourself to be naive when it came to him. He told you he hadn’t touched her. That he’d leave her for you. Now you knew it was all lies.

You fell back into the crowd letting everyone else surpass you. Something had happened between earlier and now. Ivar hadn’t faked his excitement. For now, you just wanted to be alone.

One of the thralls had her head bowed to you and opened the door that you shared with Ivar but you walked past it. This wasn’t your home, it never was.

What everyone didn’t know was that Freydis had found out about your pregnancy and panicked which caused her to lie because she knew you carried Ivar’s legitimate heir.

Tagged: @belovedcherry​ @lordsexmachine​ @lol-haha-joke​ @mariaenchanted​ @ethereallysimple​ @bababasti​ @ir-abelas-telanadas​ @soleil-dor​ @youbloodymadgenius​

[lannasroleplaymemes]

FFXIV Quote Sentence Starters

From here. Tweak If Necessary!

"The seas part for we alone!" "I shall free you from your hate!" "Wild and pure and forever free!" "SLOPPY!" "A smile suits better a hero..." "He that holdeth fast unto his convictions shall never count betrayal amongst his crimes, though all the world may call him villain." "This I believe with all my heart." "She did things with her tongue you wouldn't believe. I'll introduce you if you like." "SICKNESS MUST BE PURGED." "Hello my fellow antediluvians!" ""We did everything right! Everything that was asked of us, and still... still things came to this!" "We brought our world to the brink of destruction, and now we must save it." "Listen to my voice. Listen to our heartbeat. Listen..." "I'm your rolanberry." "Perhaps you do not hail from this lands, but your forefathers did. You do them honor to carry on their legacy this day." "Your music is bad and you should feel bad!" "But enough exposition! Now we fight like men! And ladies! And ladies who dress like men!" "I said I'd come for you, and I did! I'm here...I'm here...I'm here... Say something, please." "There I stood, a god among men." "Here I am, a man amongst gods." "In your darkest hour, in the blackest night... think of me, and I will be with you. Always. For where else could I go? Who else could I love but you?" "But if I must destroy my dearest friend to defeat my direst foe, I will not FLINCH in my duties!" "I doubt I will ever be able to thank you enough. But I damn well mean to try." "Woe betide the man who stands opposed to the weapon of light, for death will be his reward." "Woe betide the man who stands with the weapon of light, for death will be his reward." "Still the hatred within our hearts and and bless us with eternal grace!" "Do not seek forgiveness, for it will not ease the burden. It weighs as it should." "Which one of you sprung the obvious trap?" "Go and pick up the damn rocks." "Hmph. Trickery is thy shield. This frail, ignoble creature is not gifted...But chosen." "Quiet, the adults are thinking." "People like us will never know peace." "Every moment brings us closer to death - those of our enemies, our loved ones, and yes...our very own." "The fear of death is what keeps most men alive." "May the gods have mercy on your soul." "I'll rip off your pom-poms and shove them down your godsdamned throats." "Spare us the hyperbole. 'Tis not for praise that we fight." "You would mock her? THEN MOCK HER FROM HELL!" "I love her. From the moment I laid eyes on her, she had holmganged my heart. "I've sins aplenty, aye, but regrets? Not so much." You might try to look a little disappointed! Or do you mean to give me another one of your stoic nods? You do, don't you?" "Hmm.. Even as 'bit players' they show such passion, such fervor! Oh, what I wouldn't give to be a bit player too-- or better yet, play with their--" "Thy final verse is sung!" "Much blood has been spilled in my name, and for what? For a false cause that I created for want of the warmth of companionship." "Seeds know no borders; they will sprout wheresoever the earth embraces them." "May they provide for your children and theirs after them for a thousand years to come." "Though we've come a long way, we still have far to go." "I have fought tooth and nail for the people I hold dear—done everything in my power to save them... and I have failed. Learn to live with it. I have." "You gifted my people a thousand years of suffering. Now I gift you an eternity in darkness!" "How right I was to spare your life." "What the Kupo do you think you're doing?!" "Chocobos are prohibited in the Supreme Sacred Tribunal of Halonic Inquisitory Doctrine!" "Your steed must remain outside!" "It's hotter than Ifrit's arse after eating a peck of dragon peppers." "Know that I'll kill your god if I have to. Maybe even if I don't."

[crownedrebel]

New Ever After High fanfic! check it out if y’all want

Title: Truth Behind the Crown

Chapter 1 - Reunited

Apple White is known as the princess with the marvelous fairytale of all Ever After. As the next Snow White, she was raised like how her Mother expected her to be when the time comes for her to take over the throne as Queen of the land. Kind, courageous, passionate, smart, Perfect.

As she grew older, Apple was taught that following her parents' footsteps will lead her to the right path, to her Happily ever after. marrying her pre-destined prince who will wake her up in her sleep when the Evil Queen poisoned her, run the kingdom together, build a family, and their family tradition shall continue. everything and anything her mother taught her were the things she carried on her shoulders, reassuring her that only in her fairytale, safety is promised. her safety will be guaranteed. as a girl who was almost killed at a younger age, Apple was terrified. by then she realized that going against the story would be terrible and dangerous.

The future Snow White carries a lot of expectations, but is she that determined to be the next Queen? the next ruler of all land? one bite from the poisoned apple and her fairytale will be perfect. perfect in everyone's eyes, perfect in her mother's eyes.

She knows in herself that she needs to be the fairest one of all, as her mother always says. picture-perfect princess adored by many, envied by the most on the female population, loved by the most male population. But is she really happy? is this the life she wanted? what would happen if her deep secret were revealed?

Will her friends stay? will her family disown her? is she still going to be the next Snow White? or a big disappointment and disgrace in all history of Ever After?

xxxxxxx

Moonlight shines through the halls of Ever After High, students are already suited in their dorm rooms after a long day of school. everything seems back to normal after the big battle against the Evil Queen. A week has passed after the dragon games incident where the whole school battled the Evil Queen who escaped from the mirror prison. the reimprisonment was successful with the help of no other than the daughters of the most rivaled individuals on the Snow White fairytale, Raven Queen and Apple White. peace has befallen on the land of Ever After once again.

inside the biggest dorm room among the whole school resides Raven and Apple who happens to be awake at the late hour of the night. the dark-haired princess is on her mirrorpad, tapping lightly on the screen to whatever activity she's doing because the sleep doesn't seem to visit her system yet. on the other side of the room, the blonde princess laying on her bed, eyes on the ceiling as she let out a sigh. it comes out as a frustrated sigh. she rolled on her side where she faces her roommate's side of the room.

Apple and Raven's friendship was tainted during the week of dragon games. the blonde made terrible mistakes which caused chaos in all Ever After. she was the one who brought everyone in danger- the future Snow White no less. the blonde made a sincere public apology to the entire school, admitting her mistakes caused by her selfish desires. selfish enough to drove her dear friend Raven away by pushing her to follow their fairytale religiously which caused a big scar on their friendship. Apple knew from Legacy Day that Raven will be her biggest challenge. the said dark-haired girl who is supposed to be the next Evil Queen rebels against her destiny. their destiny. Apple tried to persuade her into evil, for the sake of her own happily ever after. if she's going to think this through, she was indeed selfish. she proved that she'll do whatever it takes even against her dear friend's will just to fulfill her destiny. and that was horrible. she was horrible. a rotten apple.

it's been a week but the guilt won't just leave Apple's system. her bond with her roommate changed after a week for obvious reasons. she did apologize to her for the way she acted before and how selfish she was, Raven accepted the apology, but it seems like the witch grew more distant away from her. though she should be glad since this is what she's been aiming for. she wanted Raven to hate her, curse her, fight her, poison her. but now? it doesn't feel right. the thought of Raven hating her and avoiding any contact with her pains her like a hundred knives stabbed in her chest. it feels heavy and foreign. she hates it and it makes her cry in her sleep every night.

She let out another shaky sigh, gripping on her pillow lightly, still facing Raven's side of the room. the dark-haired girl's spot is dark, only the light from the girl's mirrorpad is the only light that flickers. she can't read Raven's face right now, her blurry vision isn't helping either.

she wanted to stand up and walk towards her roommate's spot, talk to her, hug her, like the way they used to, but she's afraid Raven would distant herself more.

"It's my fault anyway", she mumbled. closing her lids to prevent her tears to fall. she wanted to talk to Raven so bad that it hurts her chest even more. even though she sees Raven every day, she misses her. she misses her laugh, her silly jokes, her smile, everything. she wished she could turn back time to right her wrongs but no. deep inside her, she knows that everything happens for a reason. and whatever the reason is, it sucks big time. if the outcome of it is her and Raven's relationship will go on like this forever, she's already suffering.

Apple took a deep breath, shaking her head lightly as she makes up her mind, "I don't want this to go on forever". she knew what she needed to do- talk to Raven. She doesn't have any idea right now if Raven will talk to her or completely ignore her, but nothing will happen if she's not going to try.

"Alright, it's now or never", she muttered under her breath. she stood up from her bed, slowly she approached Raven's side of the room, gulping as she reached near the dark-haired girl's bed. the witch seems to notice her presence, slightly startled Raven slowly put her mirrorpad away from her as she eyed the blonde. Apple cleared her throat, putting a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Oh, Uhm, Hey Apple" Raven started awkwardly with a light chuckle.

"Hey" the blonde princess responds, her words seem to melt away, her chest is hammering violently. 'I'm an idiot' she mentally facepalmed herself.

"Uhh, What's up? do you need anything?" the dark-haired princess asked in a light tone. she noticed that Apple is fidgeting, her lips are parting but no words are coming out. she wonders why Apple is approaching her right now in the middle of the night because she knows that it's unlikely for the blonde to stay up late.

"Can I sit with you? and maybe talk to you for a while?" finally Apple managed to say as she eyed the raven-haired girl for any signs of disapproval, but Raven smiled and nodded her head. Apple's insides feel oddly giddy for a moment but it quickly changed to anxiousness. she settled herself on Raven's side of the bed, her posture is still stiff as she fidgets her fingers.

"What's wrong? what do you want to talk about?" Raven started slowly, not wanting to rush the blonde.

The raven-haired princess is slightly concerned because of the way Apple is acting right now. 'is she sick? did something happened again?' she thought silently until the blonde took a deep breath and their eyes met. Raven didn't know how much she misses those pair of baby blue orbs and somehow, the twinkle in the blonde's eyes is dull.

"Raven? I...I know that you have already forgiven me for what I've done" Apple paused, there's a building lump in her throat as she gulped and speak again.

"But I know that something has changed between us. I know how terrible I was. For how I treated you ever since you refused to sign the Storybook of Legends, I pushed you to do something evil for the sake of my own happily ever after. I never listened to you. I was a horrible friend"

Her voice broke, her tears are forming on the corners of her eyes. Raven remained silent, she can't read the expression she's wearing right now. 'Hah, I knew it. she's still mad' she thought.

"Again, I'm so sorry, and-," Apple shook her head, squeezing her lids shut, avoiding her tears to fall. "-I really don't like how we are right now. everything has changed. I know I deserved it, But Raven-"

Apple can't hold it back any longer as she put both hands in her face. her voice is shaking as she spoke, tears are streaming down her pale cheeks. this hurts more than she can ever imagine. she tried to calm herself down as she wiped her tears away. she looked at Raven, locking her gaze in those deep lavender eyes that she adored the most.

"I miss you"

"I see you every day, we had some little talks, but you feel so far away. this newfound distance between us is killing me, Raven. I miss everything about us. I want this wedge between us to disappear. I miss you so much and it hurts"

Apple wiped her tears again, her voice is becoming hoarse as she swallowed the thick lump on her throat. she didn't know what to say anymore but her heart is still hammering violently in her chest. she looks pathetic, not so princess-y with all this ugly crying, but she doesn't care. she wants Raven back. she is also aware that Raven might not trust her again for what she did and that hurts like a brick, but she is more willing to win her dear friend back.

"I just can't hold this any longer, it feels heavy and it sucks. I know that you won't forgive me wholely, and I know you won't trust me anymore, but I want you to know that I'll do anything to win you back, Raven. You're-special to me. you're my friend and I...I can't lose you" Apple feels so small at this point, but she means everything she said.

the blonde princess was about to say something again when she feels something shifted in the bed, before she can even speak, she was already enveloped in a tight hug.

Raven is hugging her. and it seems like the raven-haired girl didn't want to let her go for any moment now.

"R-Raven?"

Raven has scooted closer to wrap Apple in a tight hug, hot tears are swelling on the corners of her eyes as she let out a sigh. she may be ignoring the blonde most of the time but she can't deny forever that she misses her too. seeing her roommate like this broke her heart, she had never seen Apple this vulnerable and small before.

"Apple, I'm sorry"

"Why are you apologizing? Raven, you did nothing wrong" Apple loosens herself from the hug to look straight at Raven's eyes, the gap between them is just inches away. she raised her right hand and placed it lightly on the witch's pale cheek. Raven stared back, blinking her tears away. she took a deep breath as she touched the blonde's hand.

"I'm sorry if I set this distance between us. I was hurt, Apple. I needed time to heal. But you know what? I can't just drive you away from me forever because...you're my friend. I know we had a rough relationship before, but that's all in the past now. Yes, I already forgave you, but I thought I still need a little time for me to refresh that's why I avoided you… most of the time"

Apple feels like crying again. her lips are quivering as she opens her mouth to say something, but no words coming out. she just wanted to cry right now. She can't believe that Raven is apologizing to her for the fact that she did nothing wrong. 'Raven is too good to be like her mother'. she thought silently.

She once stated before when they were trapped in Wonderland for the first time, where Raven fully inherited her mother's dark powers, she saw how powerful Raven can be if she'll follow her mother's evil path. and there she realized that the young witch's heart is too good to be evil.

"You don't deserve to be treated like this, Apple. I know you made mistakes, even though you were so selfish before, I was still hoping that one day you'll change and you'll finally understand me. and I saw that you already did. I'm happy about that"

the witch didn't break their eye contact, her lips curled into a small smile as she put a loose strand of blonde hair behind Apple's ear.

"I miss you too, Apple"

Raven pulled the blonde princess again for another hug, stroking the soft blonde tresses as she inhaled Apple's sweet cinnamon scent. Apple starts to sob in their hug, the witch rubbed her back soothingly, cooing sweet words to the sobbing blonde.

"Thank you, Raven. this means so much to me" Apple said between her sobs as she buried her face to the dark-haired girl's chest. Raven placed her chin on top of the blonde's head, smiling. they both missed each other's company. the warmth of each other's body, the affection they shared in their friendship. somehow Raven wondered before if there will be a day where she can wrap her arms around her favorite blonde again, and here they are now, finally in each other's arms.

"Do you still want me to be your friend, Raven?"

"Of course, silly. we will always be friends forever after"

the future Snow White faced the young witch again, now beaming a wide smile, happy tears are still present on her pale cheeks. She wants to stay like this forever, enveloped in her favorite witch's warm hugs and never let go.

"Thank you, Raven. I promised to change for the better and I won't let you down again"

xxxxx

[zephyoongist]

Jeon Jeongguk was just an acquaintance. The child of a family friend.

That is, until our parents decide to get us engaged.

One night, and a few glasses of champagne too many, Mr. Jeon made a slip of tongue. Something about “telling you two when you’re older” and “but they’ve been getting along so well, haven’t they?” and finally, “we didn’t need to worry about the breaking the news of the engagement.”

Powerless as we were, only at the age of barely 18, we decided we’d go along with it.

If only to part ways somewhere along the line after we’ve got enough recognition. Enough power to go on without the other’s support and without clinging onto our parents’ influence.

Now, at the age of 25, one succeeded the family business and the other flying from one country to another in chase of strengthening her connections.

Yet at the age of 25, we still couldn’t shake off our family’s influence.

“Should we just get married?” Jeongguk suggests, twirling the glass of deep red wine in his hand - he looks absolutely handsome with the first two buttons of his shirt undone, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and disheveled hair that telltales a run of fingers over them one too many times before he arrived here.

At our supposed matrimonial home.

Our parents gifted us a penthouse when they found out we were dating. It was for show but this house has become our safe haven. A place for only him and I. A space where we can just be.

“At this point, it doesn’t sound half bad - getting married to you,” I pull on the shawl wrapped around my nightgown adorned body, lifting the glass of whiskey and clinking it with his when he raised it to me, “I’ve given up on the notion of love after my parents screamed divorce for like, the hundredth time.”

“We won’t be like them,” it’s so easy for Jeongguk to proclaim those words.

A surety that we wouldn’t turn out like our progenitors.

“At least, we’re friends,” which is to say we never had such strong feelings for each other in the first place.

Passion breeds love and love leads to hate once all the excitement and fire shimmers down. Our parents’ only known the high life - we’re different, Jeongguk and I, we’ve adamant about hiding our family backgrounds. Choosing to go to public schools and university - of course at the expanse of promising to go together.

“Alright then, let’s get married,” he sets the glass down, its contents barely touched before he pushes himself up, hand outstretched to me.

“Wha-” I’m sure I look like a fool, staring at him with round eyes and slacked jaw but it’s not a face Jeongguk’s never seen. If I were in love with him, I’d be a little more concerned about my appearance.

But I’m not.

And once I recover from that shocking proposal, I take his hand.

By the age of 26, we’re pressured for a child. An heir to the family that will carry on the legacy on his back like we did our whole lives.

To say Jeongguk and I have never consummated our marriage would be a lie. Attraction shouldn’t be equated to romantic feelings. We know that and we fucked knowing that this means nothing more than a way to relief our stresses.

But lately, Jeongguk’s been rather... odd.

I find his hand on my waist or grasping mine even when we’ve stepped out of the crowded hall where the main event was held. Those forehead kisses whenever he comes home and I’m around - aren’t so bad. If at all. He tells me to stay in bed while he makes us breakfast but we end up going out for brunch with empty stomachs and suit cases in the car - the renovation to fix the burned walls will take about 3 months.

We use that as an excuse to drop off the face of the earth and spend it in a private island gifted to us by our parents upon the news of our elopement. 

So to say we didn’t love each other would be a lie. But to say we have romantic feelings for each other would be as ambiguous.

It’s too easy.

Far too effortless to be together compared to the relationships I’ve seen lifted up and burned to ashes.

Our friends and family asks how we keep from ripping our hair out for whatever reason at certain points of our relationship.

We say it’s because we adore each other so much.

Truth is, we’re just not as romantically involved to feel such frustrations.

“Do you want to have sex on the beach?” Jeongguk suggests one fine evening as we’re having steak on the balcony with the curtains swaying with the coming wind.

It’s so sudden - just like our impromptus marriage, I almost choked.

“Wh-what-” and just like that night, I must have looked like a bigger fool to be flustered and embarrassed at his uncannily direct proposition.

I don’t know what’s going on - these days, I get flustered too easily.

Jeongguk shoulder line shifts as he shrugs, my embarrassment causing his cheeks to redden too, “just thought we should try it. It’s okay if you’re not com-”

“I- I wouldn’t mind that,” I say, eyes casted down, cheeks growing hotter when I hear the silence and the ‘o-oh’ a second later, as if he didn’t expect me to agree.

As if he knew me like the back of his hand.

I thought I knew him too.

The next day, accompanied with the breeze of the ocean and feeling of sand on my skin as Jeongguk groans into my shoulder - I thought I’d go insane.

And insane I went, for ever since then, I couldn’t even look at him in the eye without having my heart race and the cheeks heat up. And yet, he keeps coming home with flowers every two weeks until my room smells like spring. He keeps kissing me on the forehead when he hands me the bouquet.

At the age of 27, I throw the bouquet he brought back. It hits his chest and crashes against the ground in between his feet.

“How long has it been going on?!” I don’t know why my heart feels like it’s being crushed into a million pieces.

It’s not as if Jeongguk’s line of work saves him from all the stunningly beautiful women - it’s just that I didn’t care back then.

So why - why did it break me so when I see him with his hand around another woman’s waist as they walk to his car in broad daylight. 

“What do you mean-” his rich brown eyes are clouded with confusion, those pink lips parted without a sound, hands freeze in the air as if he’s trying to reach for me but stops halfway.

Perhaps because he knows his faults.

That night, I climb into bed with tear stained face after crying my eyes out in the bathtub.

But that night, Jeongguk came to me, a knock on the door and a “can I come in?” I didn’t answer but I feel the dip of the bed a second later before familiar, strong arms wrap around me from behind. A warm breath on my shoulder as he mumbles into my skin, “she’s the wife of the CEO whose company we’re negotiating with. She was feeling sick so I helped her to the car. Doesn’t excuse what I did but I called and broke off the deal.”

We fall asleep in each other’s for the first time since that night at the private island.

And at the age of 28, as I watch him play with my cousin’s toddler, I realize that I want a family with him. Not because we’re obligated to continue the bloodline at some point.

But because, perhaps, all this time -

“I may have loved you all along,” I murmur as I share my feelings with him that night, cuddled up in my bed - he’s been coming to sleep with me, his own room now feeling scarce of life as his belongings begin to fill up the spots in my space.

And for the first time since I’ve known Jeon Jeongguk, he hiccups - pressing his hand to his lips as his eyes brim with tears.

“Fuck,” he laughs, wiping the tears away with the back of his hand, “this is so uncool - come on, close your eyes - I’ll tell you when I stop bawling like an idiot.”

“I don’t want to - I’m done running away from the things that I fear would happen if I fall in love,” my hands frame around his face, “I want to face you with my whole heart - I... I want to be your wife, your lover, your support... your everything, Jeongguk as you are mine.”

The waterworks comes in full force, Jeongguk’s hiccupping and sniffling as his eyes bore into mine, my hands are damp from wiping his tears so he wouldn’t rub his eyes red in his fervor.

That night, we fall asleep in each other’s arms, knowing tomorrow will be a different, much brighter day.

x

note. ok so ionno what i did lol but hope it’s enjoyable.

[filmsmakkari]

Congratulations

Wordcount- 1.7k

Hamilton!Tom Holland x Angelica!Reader

Tom Holland x Princess!Reader

I would recommend listening to the song here!

Full Series Masterlist

Your time in Hasnaa was joyous. You wished you could have stayed there forever, but you most unfortunately had to return to your husband, and your disastrous marriage in London. With him, the days were drab and dull. It felt as if every day dragged on longer than the last, but drag on they did, and before you knew it, five years had passed.

You were sitting at the end of the table what felt like miles away from your husband, when a servant entered with a letter in her hand.

“It’s from Prince Phillip, your grace.” The servant girl curtsied before exiting.

“Thank you,” you said as you opened the letter.

It read:

My Dear Aunt,

Cold is my heart as I reckon with the affects my father’s whims have had on our family name. I’m not sure if word has yet reached you there in London, but I must most regretfully inform you that our dear Duke of Saataun has had a most unfortunate affair with the young Countess Nadia Renoylds. Apparently, it took place when we were visiting grandfather at the Fadar da Hasnaa, a considerable time indeed. He also had the privity and connivance of the count, whom he paid off to not tell mother. Apparently, the entire affair was an elaborate scheme on the Renoylds’ part. Their most intricate plan was for the countess to seduce father into an affair, and then blackmail him. If father did not find himself in a prosperous enough position to put wealth into their pockets, they would tell mother of the affair. Of course, this all took place many years ago, and father did pay the count off. None of this would have come to light if those vultures Anthony Monroe, Christopher Jefferson, and Aaron Blackwell hadn’t accused father of embezzlement. To prove his innocence, father published an essay entitled “The Reynolds Pamphlet”in which he admits the truth of his affair, and how he did not in fact embezzle money, but rather used it to pay off his mistress’s husband. In truth it isn’t much better, but he committed no crimes. He might have mortally wounded his prospects, but his papers are orderly, that is a fact none can deny. I have attached a copy of The Reynolds Pamphlet with this letter so that you may read it yourself. Tis no surprise that my mother is outraged. She has father sleeping in his office, and last night as I was passing her cracked bedroom door, I saw her setting fire to all the hundreds of letters he’s written to her. I know it is much to ask of you, seeing as you are the ruler of a large realm, but if you could journey here to see her, I’m sure it would be much consolation. With our dear Peggy sick in Paris, you are the only of her sisters with the ability to make the journey. Please consider.

Votre neveu le plus adorant et le plus vrai,

Prince Phillip of Saataun

Your heart sank as you read your nephew’s words. You quickly took the “Reynolds Pamphlet” from under his letter and read it.

It Read:

I owe perhaps to my friends an apology for condescending to give a public explanation. A just pride with reluctance stoops to a formal vindication against so despicable a contrivance and is inclined rather to oppose to it the uniform evidence of an upright character.

The charge against me is a connection with one Anthony Reynolds. For purposes of improper speculation, my real crime is an amorous connection with his wife, for a considerable time with his knowing consent, if not originally brought on by a combination between the husband and wife with the design to extort money from me. I had frequent meetings with her, most of them in my own house, the Duchess with our children being absent on a visit to the King.

This confession is not made without a blush. I cannot be the apologist of any vice because the ardour of passion may have made it mine. I can never cease to condemn myself for the pang, which it may inflict in a bosom eminently intitled to all my gratitude, fidelity and love. But that bosom will approve, that even at so great an expence, I should effectually wipe away a more serious stain from a name, which it cherishes with no less elevation than tenderness. The public too will I trust excuse the confession. The necessity of it to my defence against a more heinous charge could alone have extorted from me so painful an indecorum.

The essay went on for several more paragraphs, but you could not bear to read any more. Your heart felt as if it was cracking as you thought of your dear Eliza. Oh, all the pain she must have been in. How could Thomas, your Thomas have done such a thing? How could he have hurt your sister in such a way? The anger must have been clear in your eyes, as your husband suddenly spoke.

“What is it?” his monotone voice asked. He barely even looked up from his newspaper.

“My dear sister, Eliza, and our brother, Thomas seem to have been involved in a scandal. I must return home immediately.”

“Oh, well you do that. I shall remain here.”

Oh, of course, he was. You held back an eye roll as you stood and went to your quarters to begin packing.

You booked passage on a ship that was heading for Saataun the next day and quickly made your way home. Your carriage was awaiting your arrival when you stepped off the docks, and you immediately directed him to Eliza’s palace. When you knocked on the door, to your surprise, it was answered by your nephew, Phillip, now fourteen years old. You hugged him tightly.

“Where is your mother, Phillip?” you asked as you released the boy.

“At the store, I believe. But father’s just upstairs, in his office.”

You thanked the young boy before rushing up the stairs and into Thomas’s office.

His eyes widened at the sight of you. “(Y/N)?”

“I came as soon as I heard,” you said flatly.

“Oh, (Y/N), thank God,” he rose and walked towards you, taking your hands and trying to kiss it “someone who understands what I’m struggling here to do-” he paused as you snatched your hand away from him.

“(Y/N)?”

“Congratulations, Thomas.”

He looked at you confused.

“You have invented a new kind of stupid! A damage you could never undo kind of stupid, an open all the cages in the zoo kind of stupid! Truly, you didn’t think this through, did you?”

You gestured with your hands as you spoke. “Let's review, shall we? You two a rumor a few-what was it, three- people knew and refuted it by sharing an affair of which no one has accused you!” You got close to his face, saying, “Thomas, I begged you to take a break and you refused to.”

Now you were pacing and speaking loudly. “You’re so scared of what your enemies will do to you when in reality you’re the only enemy you ever seem to lose to! Do you know why Jefferson can do as he pleases? He doesn’t dignify schoolyard taunts with a response! So yes, congratulations, Thomas.”

“(Y/N)...”

“You’ve redefined your legacy. No, really! Congratulations,” you said, walking out.

“It was an act of political sacrifice!” he exclaimed.

You stopped in your tracks, looking back at him bewildered. “Sacrifice? Thomas Holland, you know nothing of sacrifice.”

“What does that mean?”

“Thomas, I languished in a loveless marriage in London, I lived only to read your letters. I look at you and think “God, what have we done with our lives, and what did it get us?” It doesn’t wipe all the years or all my tears away, but I’ve returned to Larione, and this time I’m here to stay. Do you know what I’m here to do, Thomas?”

“(Y/N)...” he said, coming close to you and cupping your face.

As much as it pained you to do so, you grabbed his hand, tearing it from your face, and saying, “I’m not here for you.”

Thomas sighed, tears burning in his eyes.

You felt the anger begin to rise again as you spoke, “I know my sister like I know my own mind! You will meet a more gentle, kind, trusting soul. I love my sister more than anything in this life! If it comes to choosing between her happiness and mine, I will choose hers every time! Yelizaveta is the best person in our lives, so never again make the mistake of forgetting that you have been blessed with the best wife! For the rest of your life, every sacrifice you make is for my sister, you be sure to give her the best life!”

You raised your hand and slapped him as hard as humanly possible and turned to leave. You paused in the doorframe, turning back to him. “Putting what we had aside, I’m going to find my sister and I am going to stand by her side. I already know “you could never be satisfied.” God, I hope you’re satisfied.” And with that, you were gone.

Your night was spent whispering comforting words to your younger sister, remarking to her “Oh, my dear Eliza, I fear you have married an Icarus. He has flown too close to the sun.”

You did in fact stay in Larione, just as you had told Thomas you would, choosing to relocate to the Fadar da Zuri. It was frowned upon by the public that you, the Empress of Jimbaari, were staying in a palace outside of your country without a husband or some other guardian, but you didn’t care. Your sister and her happiness were all that mattered to you. You prayed for your sister’s happiness. You also prayed that she’d forgive Thomas. Not, in fact, because of your love for Thomas, but rather as you didn’t want anything weighing on your sister’s gentle soul.

As for your ever most complicated relationship with Thomas, you barely interacted with him, not speaking to him when at their home and not writing to him. Though sometimes, you would catch him staring at you with such deep longing that it made your heart ache. And it pained you so deeply, because you knew you couldn’t have been more in love with him- even after his betrayal. So, pray you did. Prayed for your sister’s inner peace, and your own, prayed for the well being of the children, and prayed begging the lord why in all his goodness, he would cause you the utmost pain by bringing that foolish soldier Thomas Holland into their lives.

[mandoalorian]

Seduction with Maxwell Lord (SMUT)

DAY FOUR: Seduction with Maxwell Lord [Requested by @luvzoria]

Taglist (let me know if you want to be added!)

Permanent: @supernaturalgirl @phoenixhalliwell @ah-callie @luvzoria @stardust-galaxies @wickedfrsgrl @goth-topic @nerdypinupcrystal @wonderfulfluffer @kiwi-the-first @pedroepascal

December Writing Challenge: @mandos-blaster @silent-and-resigned @valentinasubmarina

December Writing Challenge Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Warnings: Dom!Max/Sub!Reader, exhibitionism, major degradation, unprotected p in v, very rough, f!ngering.

Word count: 2.5k

Rating: 18

People warned you. They said, if Maxwell Lord IV wanted something, Maxwell Lord got it. It didn't matter what it was. He had the charm, he had the power, the fame, the wealth and the fortune. He had everything. And what he needed tonight at this charity gala, was you and your investment in his company.

You were levelheaded though. You were strong, and as you fastened your diamond earrings, you promised yourself with certainty that you would not let Maxwell Lord use you like he used everyone else in the business sector. You weren't going to be one of his playthings. His toys. If he wanted your investment, he was going to have to earn it.

You had climbed the business ladder from the bottom to the top and you had done it all by yourself. You were well respected in the industry, liked and loved by many, something Maxwell Lord couldn't exactly relate to. He had everything handed to him on a silver plate. His father was a CEO, and his grandfather, and his great grandfather… and no doubt, if the universe was cursed with the prospect of future Maxwell Lord V, he would lead in his father's footsteps. The Lord's had a legacy to uphold.

"I've seen you watching me all night," Maxwell leaned in and whispered in your ear, a shiver racing down your spine as his large hand rested on the small of your back. "Caught you red handed." he muttered, licking his lower lip as he drank in your appearance.

"Is that so?" you responded, trying to shimmy up any remaining confidence you might have.

"Mm," Maxwell folded his arms over his chest. "Let's talk business. I assume you'll be making a donation to Black Gold Cooperative tonight?"

"I considered it but… see, the oil industry isn't something I can really support. You're practically stealing land that doesn't belong to you. It's immoral. Your whole company feeds off lies, and the suffering of others."

"You don't know shit about my company," Maxwell snarled and you raised an eyebrow, liking the reaction you were swindling out of him. "You come to my charity gala and choose not to make a donation? How impolite."

"Impolite is stealing the land belonging to innocents," You bit back.

"I change lives." Maxwell hissed angrily and you rolled your eyes.

"Okay, sure, Mr Lord. You change lives." you imitated him, and you tried to hold back stifled laughter as a scowl crossed his face. Even still, he looked devishly handsome.

"You know I'm not leaving until I get what I want." Maxwell persisted and you sighed, reading the time on your wristwatch.

"Well then, looks like you're going to be here all night," you shrugged casually. "You can't seduce me, Mr Lord."

You were still, subconsciously holding your breath as his hand dipped further down your body, landing on the curve of your ass and giving it a comforting squeeze. "I must admit, you do look exquisite in that dress. Fits you perfectly." You swallowed the lump in your throat and composed yourself. "What is it baby, you shy?" Maxwell pouted, turning to face you. His dark brown eyes held a mischievous glint and they were completely lust-blown… you could already feel the arousal gather between your legs.

"N-no, I'm not shy." you replied, your voice barely above a timid whisper as you fluttered your eyelashes. Maxwell smiled, giving you a small spank causing you to let out a surprised yelp.

"Hm," Maxwell nodded, raising an eyebrow and glancing down the empty corridor behind you. "I'd like to put that to the test." 

You hated him. You hated the slimy, smarmy, snakey, sexy businessman. You were strong, you were a ruthless businesswoman yourself but you knew once Maxwell turned on his charm, you were putty in his hands. He had that effect on everyone and he knew it.

"What do you mean, Mr Lord?" you beckoned, your voice laced with honey and innocence. If you were going to play along with his game, you weren't going to make it easy for him. Your tone only spurred Maxwell on as he felt his hardening cock beginning to throb in his tailored dress pants.

You looked around the ballroom— it was bustling. There must have been hundreds of people surrounding you both, and yet, all you could focus on was Maxwell Lord in his dumb expensive suit and his perfect hair.

"Follow me." he demanded, leading you out of the ballroom and along the empty corridor. As you walked further down, the music began to quieten down and the chattering became distanced and muffled. When he had decided you were far enough away, he pushed you into the wall. "Turn around, hands pressed against the wall and bend over. Show me your pretty ass." Maxwell growled. You nodded obediently, following his instruction. You heard Maxwell's footsteps as he paced around, examining your body and the way you were spread out for him. "Such a good girl." he praised, peeling your dress up your ass revealing your lace panties. "Open your legs for me," he said, leaning into you. "Now." he reprimanded sternly after your brief moment of hesitation.

You obliged, slowly opening your shaky legs. You bunched your hand into a fist as he glided his index finger over your dripping cunt, feeling your dampness through the thin material that was between your skin and his. "Mm, Max," you mewled, closing your eyes as he rubbed over your clit. "Someone could see."

"That would be embarrassing for you, wouldn't it?" he chuckled and you felt your cheeks heat up. "Or would you like it? Would you like someone to walk in on you like this, spread against the wall with your ass in the air? Oh baby, you're already so wet."

Wasting no time, he pulled down your panties and smacked your bare ass— the noise echoing through the empty hallway. You whimpered as the coolness of his rings hit your warm skin and you knew his actions would do no less than leave a mark on you. But that's exactly what he wanted. He reattached his fingers as he rubbed in between your glistening folds and you shuddered under his touch. He was good. 

"You want my cock?" he purred in your ear. "Of course you do, you little brat. But first I need to prep you."

Maxwell teased the tip of his index finger at your entrance before pushing it straight in. After only two or three thrusts, he inserted his middle finger, stretching you out completely.

"Such a needy little thing," Maxwell groaned in your neck as you quivered beneath him. He thrusted his fingers deeper into you, knuckle deep, so the ridges of his rings grazed your walls, and the tips of his digits pushing against your sweet spot. You were a mess, your knees weak. You were thankful for his strong steady arm wrapped around your stomach, holding you up. As he pumped his hand inside of you, the obscene wet noises filled the hallway and you screamed, feeling your cunt clench around his hand.

"I'm gonna cum," you gasped and he chuckled, increasing his speed. You yelled his name and his free hand slapped over your mouth, muffling your noises.

"Shut up," he spat. "Do you want people to hear? You dirty fucking girl." Maxwell grunted. He pushed in a third finger and you bit down on his hand as the intensity flushed over you. "Fuck...look at you," he cooed as you squeezed your eyes shut. "You're so greedy, aren't you? All this just from my fingers." he laughed, nuzzling his head in the crook of your neck and nibbling the skin. "You want to cum sweetheart?" he asked gently, his thumb raising to swirl at your clit as he thrusted his thick fingers into you.

"Y-yes please," you nodded, tears pricking your eyes, but your voice was muffled, his hand still covering your mouth.

"Can't hear you," he sung teasingly and you could practically feel his smirk just from his tone of voice. "Do you think you deserve to cum?"

"I- I do," you whimpered, the tears now streaming down your face. "Please Mr Lord, pl-please."

He couldn't even reply, you were already coming undone beneath him, drenching his hands in your juices. He gasped, removing his hand and grabbing your waist, twisting you around so your back was against the wall and you were now facing him. "Did you just fucking cum on my hand?" he growled. "Did I tell you you could cum?" 

"N-no, I mean, yes, I mean, I-" you were a shivering mess as he brought his hand to your lips.

"Clean yourself up you slut," he said, pushing his fingers into your mouth, forcing you to taste your own arousal as you licked your juices from him. He watched you intently as you wrapped your lips around his fingers, looking up at him through your eyelashes and still looking as innocent as ever. Once he was satisfied, he pulled his fingers from your lips and slapped your face. "See what happens when you misbehave?" Just then, you heard voices. Footsteps. Maxwell grabbed your panties and shoved them in his pocket and pulled your dress down. "Compose yourself." he hissed.

"Ah, Mr Lord, we were looking for you," Mr Lodge, one of the gala's investors beamed. "Didn't expect to see you here with Miss Y/L/N, that's for sure." You offered Mr Lodge a polite smile, conscious that your lipstick was probably smeared and your eyeshadow tear stained.

"Is everything alright, Mr Lodge?" Maxwell asked, tilting his head with concern and looking down the corridor back into the party.

"I could ask her the same thing," Mr Lodge turned back at you and frowned. "Have you been crying?"

"She's fine," Maxwell snapped. "Home sick. I took her away from the crowds so she could calm down." Maxwell lied. You nodded slowly, agreeing with his story.

"Oh, well Maxwell, you are such a gentleman. No wonder the ladies throw themselves at you," Mr Lodge grinned, his pearly white teeth sparkling. "Has Mr Lord been taking care of you?"

"Oh yes," you replied, nodding your head eagerly.

"I hope you consider investing into his company then, he truly is such a generous man." Mr Lodge concluded before turning back to Maxwell. "I am excited to hear your speech. Do hurry back."

Maxwell nodded with a charming smile as Mr Lodge padded down the corridor. When he was out of sight, Maxwell grabbed your hand and pulled you into the elevator. "Wh- where are we going?" you asked him. As the doors closed, he pressed his body onto yours, sliding his tongue over your lower lip, begging for entry. His kiss was long, passionate and you could taste the liqueur on his lips. You let your hands get tangled into his hair as grinded over the bulge in his pants.

"My office." he replied, pulling away for breath when the elevator pinged and the door slid open. "We'll finish in my office." Within minutes you were naked, standing in the middle of his outlandishly big office. Maxwell pulled off his how tie and rolled up his sleeves, exposing his tan forearms and gold Cartier watch. "Still wet for me?" He whispered, pulling out his hard cock and rubbing it over your folds. "Fuck you're dripping." he gasped. He had you bent over his desk, your elbows pressing into the oakwood as he lined himself up with your entrance.

"Ngh-, stop teasing," you whimpered. He wrapped his arms around your chest, squeezing your breasts like they were stress balls and bit down on your shoulder.

"I think you'll find I call the shots," Maxwell grunted. You expected more teasing from him, but just then, in one swift motion, he pushed his long thick length inside of you and nestled himself into your cunt. You screamed wantonly, throwing your head back as he held himself inside of you. "Shit," he cursed, whispering your name under his breath. "So tight."

"M-move," you begged as he steadied himself. He pulled you into his chest and began to massage your clit as your walls clenched around him.

"Beg for it." he whispered harshly.

"M-Mr Lord," you groaned, your eyes rolling back as his girth filled you.

"Call me Max," he commanded, his hands leaving your pussy and steadying on your hips.

"Max please," you cried.

"Please what? What do you want, baby?" 

"I want you to fuck me hard, I want to feel you fill me up with your cum," you wailed and he smiled ruthlessly.

"If I do that, will you sign the check to Black Gold Cooperative? Will you invest in us?" he snarled.

"Y-yes I will, I promise," you moaned. "Please Max. Fuck, please-"

And with that, he moved. You found yourself screaming, writhing in front of him as he pushed into you in one rough motion. You clutched onto the sides of his desk so hard you were sure your knuckles might have turned white as he relentlessly pounded into you.

Maxwell's hand found your throat as his thrusts became sloppy, his hips snapping deeper and deeper. "Oh yeah baby, you take me so well." he grunted, giving your neck a small squeeze, the gold signet ring on his thumb grazing your skin. "Your cunt feels so good. So- ah, you're so fucking pretty princess."

Your heart was racing. "Don't stop," you cried. "Max I'm close, don't stop. Please."

"I'm close, fuck," his vision became hazy and his words became jumbled as he whispered sweet nothings into your ear about how beautiful you looked wrapped around him. He grabbed your ass and increased his speed significantly. "Tell me you love me," he whispered.

"Wh-what?" you asked, tears spilling from your glazed eyes.

"Fucking tell me you love me!" Maxwell yelled.

"I- I love you!" you gasped. Maxwell whined, his short fingernails digging into your skin as he spilled his seed inside of you without warning.

The feeling of his cum splaying against your walls pushed you over the edge and your pussy clamped down on his cock, milking him entirely. He softened inside of you, eventually pulling out and tucking himself back into his tailored pants. You were left, a shaking mess, bent over on his desk as he slid into his office chair with a sigh. He ran his fingers through his hair, regaining his breath before opening his drawer and throwing you one of his gold company pens.

"Write the check." he ordered, a wicked smile gracing his lips.

What they said was true. Whatever Maxwell Lord wanted, Maxwell Lord got.

[vxlkyrie]

bittersweet - iii

pairing: spencer reid x reader, jay halstead x reader, sonny carisi x reader

genre: angst, fluff

warning: cursing, violence, graphic crime details, mentions of rape, mentions of death, fighting, mentions of kidnapping, mentions of alcohol

word count: 4.2k

summary: a huge case calls for the bau, intelligence, and special victims, causing you to cross paths with your ex – that no one in your team knew about

other parts: one, two

a/n: ahhh it’s the final part! again, thank you to everyone who has supported this mini series (and all of the asks i’ve gotten about bittersweet has me hollering). also, i used one part of this fic from another one of my fics – how unoriginal of me but idc lol i hope you guys like this ending! 

“i have to go after him!”

“i know you do sweetie,” penelope held your arms, trying to calm you down. “but this is urgent. i promise you can talk to spencer soon.”

“but-” you cried.

“y/n, he’ll be fine.” olivia said, patting your shoulder. you breathed in, trying to slow down your anxious heart.

spencer walked back into the squadroom a few moments later. you tried to approach him as everyone gathered around penelope, but was met with a cold glance from him as he distanced himself from you. you exhaled, turning your attention to the tech analyst.

“go ahead garcia.” hank said.

“i did some research on the 10 girls and nothing came up. they all continued on with their lives or went through recruitment again and happily joined other chapters. they’re all model citizens.” penelope explained.

“okay, go on.”

“and so i did some digging on the sororities themselves, and apparently one of the chapter’s presidents was kicked out a few years ago after being caught hazing new members and was even arrested.” she said, pulling up the article.

you grimaced, thinking of what horrible thing she could’ve possibly done to those girls.

“melanie clarkson, sigma phi kappa.” emily read out loud from penelope’s screen.

“what did she do to the new members?” olivia asked, penelope’s eyes quickly skimming through the article.

“oh god. she laced their drinks with small doses of rat poison and later sodomized them.” penelope said. you were starting to get a sick feeling in your stomach. jj and kim rushed over to you, rubbing your back in order to calm you down.

“so she’s our unsub.” rossi stated.

“she’s had most of her m.o. already before she escalated to killing.” jay stated.

“what’s the connection between her and the other two chapters?” sonny asked as penelope typed away.

“her two younger sisters,” she said, pulling up several files. “lea and hailey clarkson, both 20. they went to two different colleges – one in richmond and one in chicago.” she gulped.

“let me guess, kappa alpha delta and delta xi?” hotch asked for confirmation.

“bingo. there’s medical records going back two years ago of the two sisters coming in the er, both reported to have been raped. sodomized to be specific.”

everyone sighed. you especially cringed to yourself.

“you okay?” emily whispered to you, patting your back.

“yeah,” you weakly nodded. “i can’t believe that these women would do that to each other. it’s so fucking cruel. sororities are supposed to be about sisterhood – not trying to hurt each other.”

“and you are definitely not one of those girls, y/n.” jj reassured you.

you nodded at her, thanking her for her empathy.

“it looks like they were the only ones from their sororities to report the rapes.” penelope continued.

“so they were probably the only ones who were raped?” kevin questioned.

“the news of a melanie being arrested ruined her sisters’ legacy of joining sigma phi kappa so they joined different chapters,” you thought out loud. “everyone must’ve heard about what she did to them, so they targeted her younger sisters as payback.”

“did the sisters file a police report?” olivia asked.

“yes,” penelope answered. “it said that their chapter executive board were in on the attacks.”

suddenly, a light turned on in your head.

“wait, can you pull up everything you have on our past victims?” you asked.

“why?”

“the president from sigma phi kappa told me that our two recent victims were on their exec board.” you explained.

“all of the victims were on their chapter’s executive boards during their last year.” penelope clarified.

“there’s our victimology.” rossi chirped.

“where is melanie now?” derek asked.

“she’s 25 now. released on good behavior after serving for two years and got off probation a year ago.” penelope said.

“her sisters’ attacks were the stressor. waited until she was off probation and then started killing throughout this year.” jj added.

“her financials show that she flew to chicago and richmond during the times of the murders.” penelope called out.

“good job babygirl.” derek patted her back.

“anything else you can get on her, give it to carisi.” hotch ordered, penelope quickly nodding as she continued typing.

“hey guys!” one of the officers shouted, catching everyone’s attention. “we got a call about an intruder at the sigma phi kappa house at hudson.”

“it must be melanie,” hotch clarified. “alright everyone, let’s go.”

everyone prepared, strapping on their vests.

“burgess, ruzek, prentiss, you’ll ride with me.” hank stated.

“rollins, reid, and morgan, you’re with me.” olivia ordered.

“l/n, jj, halstead, looks like you’re riding with me.” hotch said.

“the rest of you are riding with me.” fin called out.

everyone nodded their heads.

as soon as you got yourself ready, you walked up to spencer.

“spencer, can we talk about this?” you pleaded, his eyes not meeting yours. “spence, please-”

before you could even finish, he walked away, joining the others as he walked out. you bit back tears as you took a deep breath. jay gave you a sad smile and a light pat on your shoulder.

now’s not the time, get your head in the fucking game.

-

you stared straight ahead of you as hotch drove to the house. you felt a hand grab yours. you turned your head to see jj giving you a sympathetic smile.

“everything’s going to be fine, y/n,” she said. “spencer loves you too much just to give up on you two because of a misunderstanding. you remember last time that happened.”

you and spencer walked back to your apartment in silence.

“y/n?” he said, pulling his hand away from yours.

“yeah babe?” you tilted your head at him. he visibly swallowed.

“are, are you cheating on me?” spencer croaked. you raised your eyebrows at him.

“what? babe, no! where did you get that from?” you shook your head.

“you’ve been sneaking off and being quiet lately. you won’t even let me into your apartment for the past couple of weeks. please be honest with me y/n, are you cheating on me?” his eyes became glossy.

“i’m not! it’s not what you think.” you tried to explain to him.

“y/n, please spare me the pain and just break up with me if you don’t love me anymore.”

“spencer!” you yelled. “i love you and only you, okay? i’m sorry i’ve been secretive lately, but it’s definitely not because i’ve been cheating on you.”

“i-it’s not?” spencer blushed, feeling guilty for accusing you of such a horrible act.

“no.” you said, grabbing his hand and quickly walked to your front door.

the moment you two entered your dark apartment, the lights turned on, revealing the rest of your team.

“happy birthday spencer!” they cheered. spencer’s jaw dropped.

this explains everything. shit-

“happy birthday spence.” you sadly smiled at him, looking at your feet. spencer scooped your into his arms, holding you tightly.

“oh my god i’m so, so, so sorry y/n. i should’ve trusted you. i can’t believe i would even think for a second that you would do such a thing. i know you would never do that to me. i’m so sorry-” he cried in the crook of your neck.

“spencer! it’s okay! i forgive you!” you exclaimed. he pulled away from you, looking into your eyes. he then quickly leaned in, practically smashing his lips onto yours. you immediately kissed back, molding your lips together.

“whoa there kids, there are people here!” derek shouted as the rest of the team screamed.

you laughed as you both let go of each other.

“i love you.”

“i love you too.”

you chuckled at the memory.

“yeah.” you whispered.

moments later, you felt the car being put into park.

as soon as everyone arrived, hotch chatted with the responding officer.

“what do we have?”

“no gunshots reported yet, door’s been broken into, there must be at least 50 girls in that house with the intruder.”

“okay, everyone listen up,” hotch shouted, gathering everyone’s attention as they were arming up. “benson and voight, your groups will get as many people as you can out of the house. those who rode with me, we will go in and find melanie. l/n, you will try to talk her down.” he ordered.

you nodded your head at him.

your group entered the house first, the others soon following and silently walking throughout the house and scattered into the different halls.

you watched as girls exited their rooms in a panicked manner, the team leading them out the front door.

where the hell is she?

you suddenly remembered the room maria showed you when you and jay asked for their rosters. your feet found themselves picking up the pace as you walked towards the study, the rest of your group trailing behind you. you noticed the door had already been opened, immediately walking in gun first.

you entered to see a woman holding a gun to maria’s head. the woman’s eyes filled with anger.

“melanie clarkson, fbi! drop your weapon.” you shouted as everyone aimed their weapons at her.

“these girls have ruined my life! they ruined my sisters’ lives!”

“no, melanie. you ruined your lives when you decided to hurt those girls.”

“is this your way of talking down someone?” melanie spat.

“is this your way of getting revenge for lea and hailey? maria didn’t hurt your sisters. let her go.”

“she didn’t, but she hurt me.” melanie cried.

“how did she hurt you?” you calmly asked.

“she-she was the one who had me arrested! she made me lose my position just for her to take it years later!” she shouted.

“i’m sorry!” maria yelled as tears ran down her face.

“shut up, bitch!” melanie pressed the gun further into her temple.

“melanie! put the gun down! think of your sisters – think of lea and hailey. they just got you back.”

“it doesn’t matter, i’m going back anyways.” melanie scowled.

“would you rather go back or be dead?” you asked.

melanie glared at you, removing the gun from maria’s head to aim at you.

“i don’t know, what do you think, madam president?” melanie snarled. you gave her a confused look. “don’t give me that look. i saw you in an article and did my research on you. y/n l/n – alpha chi delta alumnae. i was proud to see successful women who were in greek life. then i read that you were the president your last year.”

“what does that have to do with anything?” you furrowed your eyebrows.

“tell me, how did you haze your new members?” she smirked, placing her finger on the trigger. you mirrored her actions, ready to fire at her if necessary.

“i didn’t.” you stated.

“is that so?”

“yes. i’m not some psychopath who enjoys torturing innocent people. is that what gets you off? poisoning them and then sexually assaulting them?” you spat back.

“you bitch.”

-

the rest of the team stayed back as soon as they had the girls outside of the house.

“do we have everyone?” olivia asked the big group of girls who were shivering from the cold.

“no! where’s maria?!” one girl shouted, catching the captain’s attention.

“we have one girl missing.” olivia spoke into her radio.

“visual on suspect. she’s holding a girl at gunpoint. we have y/n talking to her right now.” vanessa responded.

the mention of y/n over the radio caught both derek and spencer’s attention, snapping their heads up as they looked at each other.

“i gotta get back in there.” spencer said.

“you can’t. they’re gonna be fine.”

“what if something happens to her?” he furrowed his eyebrows in worry.

“y/n will be fine. let her do her job.” morgan said as he placed his hands on his friend’s shoulders, trying to hold him still.

spencer breathed in and out slowly, but can’t fight the horrible feeling of something happening to his fiance – and he wasn’t able to do anything about it.

bang! bang!

spencer’s breath hitched as he saw the medics ran passed him. he tried running into the house, but was pulled back by derek.

“let me go!” spencer yelled as he tried to fight out of derek’s arms.

“take it easy kid!” the older man shouted.

“y/n!” he cried.

“i feel cold.” you whispered as spencer pressed his hand onto your chest, trying to stop the bleeding.

“shhh, be quiet, you’re gonna be fine.” he said, letting out a small sigh of relief when he saw the medics run in. he pulled away as they worked on you.

“hey kid, she’s gonna be fine. she’s a fighter.” rossi said.

the bleeding looks really bad. he thought to himself as he bit his lip.

“i know she is. i can’t help it, you know? what happens if she doesn’t?” spencer sighed.

“spencer! spencer help! help!” he heard you yell as the medics try to hold you down. he rushed over to you, a terrified look painting his face as he saw you thrashing around.

“y/n?!”

“spencer! spencer! spencer!” your shouts grew louder. he jumped back to see everyone looking at him, shouting his name over and over again.

he felt his body shaking.

“spencer!”

his eyes suddenly opened as he quickly sat up, gasping loudly.

“spencer!”

he turned his head to see you looking at him with worry. he pulled you towards him, circling his arms around your middle.

“oh thank god, you’re okay.” he cried into your neck. your arms wrapped around him, rubbing circles on his back with one hand.

“shhh, i’m right here. everything’s okay. i’m okay.” you whispered, running your other hand through his hair.

spencer pulled away, cradling your face with his big hands.

“y-you were bleeding out on the floor and t-the medics couldn��t do anything. you were yelling. you were in pain.” he spoke as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“it was just a nightmare sweetie,” you said as your thumbs wiped his face clean. “i’m right here. i’m never leaving your side, ever.” you reassured.

“promise?”

“promise.”

“y/n!” spencer cried out once more, choking on his sobs. he saw most of your group walk out – but there was no sighting of you.

no, not like this. please.

he saw a gurney with a body bag on top being wheeled out of the house and thought his heart stopped beating.

“where is she?!” spencer roared. derek’s grip on him loosened. he hurried past several people towards the front door, only to stop in his tracks.

there you were, walking down the steps as you wrapped a jacket around maria.

he loudly sighed in relief, placing his hands on his knees as he tried to keep himself up.

you walked maria to one of the ambulances.

“i’m sorry it had to end this way,” you apologized. “no one should have to go through this.”

“i thought i did the right thing years ago. did i cause this?” maria asked as a medic checked up on her.

“you did the right thing, maria,” you emphasized. “you did not cause this. melanie chose to murder those women.” you comforted her.

“thank you.” she smiled at you.

“i still meant what i said earlier. if you need anything, call me.” you smiled back, patting her shoulder as you walked away.

you approached everyone as they were all conversing with each other.

“great work today l/n.” hotch nodded at you, olivia and hank smiling at you.

“let’s all go out for dinner!” adam exclaimed.

“i’m down for anything that isn’t chinese takeout.” kevin quipped, high fiving adam as everyone else shouted in agreement.

“thank god you’re okay, y/n,” rollins hugged you. “you had us worried once we heard those gunshots.”

“yeah, melanie shot at me. luckily, she missed,” you let out a sigh. “where’s spencer?”

“he’s sitting by one of the ambulances.” adam answered.

“why? what happened? is he okay?” you articulated quickly.

“calm down kid, he’s fine,” derek laughed. “he was the most worried out of all us when we heard shots. he’s just catching his breath.”

you felt a wave of relief rushing through you.

“go talk to him,” emily said. “he might’ve been pissed earlier, but he still loves you, you know?”

you nodded as you broke away from the group.

you carefully walked up to spencer who had his head down.

“spencer?” you quietly called out to him. he locked eyes with you, jumping up and wrapping his arms around you. you melt under his touch.

“i’m sorry, y/n. i’m so fucking sorry.” he sniffed as he placed his head on your shoulder.

“it’s okay, i’m sorry too.” you said, crying as you held him in your arms.

“i saw you and jay hugging and i just lost it. i know you wouldn’t cheat on me or ever do anything to ruin our relationship, but i couldn’t help but feel broken at the thought of losing you. then you went and tried to talk down melanie. when i heard shots being fired, i thought the earth had stopped spinning. i thought that i lost you forever and the last memory you had of me was me acting like a jerk to you. i should’ve trusted you more. i’m so fucking sorry.” spencer rambled quickly.

even after all of these years of hearing him talk, you still managed to catch every word that left his mouth.

“baby, it’s okay, you have nothing to be sorry for,” you cooed, cradling his face in your hands as you wiped his tears away. “i’m the one who should be sorry for ever making you doubt our relationship. that hug between me and jay could’ve been interpreted differently to anyone. but i swear to you, it was just a friendly hug after he apologized for everything. i can assure you, nothing will ever happen between me and him. he’s finally moved on.”

“god, i love you so much y/n.” he smiled at you.

“i love you too spence.” you smiled back.

spencer pulled you in for a deep kiss, leaving you dizzy afterwards. everything felt right again.

“come on,” you smiled, grabbing spencer’s hand and dragging him away from the ambulance. “i heard we’re having a big dinner tonight.”

-

after getting ready at the hotel, you and spencer arrived at the restaurant. you were escorted to the patio, walking up to the long table hand-in-hand under the small lights that decorated the exterior.

“our couple is back, and better than ever i may say!” rossi shouted as he raised his glass. cheers erupted from everyone, even jay was clapping with joy.

you and spencer blushed as you two walked to your seats that was placed between emily and jay. you assumed the seat next to jay was yours, until you see your fiance sitting next to him.

“hey jay.” he started.

“hey man.” the other said, facing him.

“i just wanted to apologize for earlier. i went too far and was an asshole to you. i don’t think you’re an egotistical, meat-headed, jealous ass.” spencer recalled, making jay chuckle. you, along with the rest of the table, had shock painted all over your faces.

“don’t sweat it. i’m sorry for being an asshole too,” jay laughed. “i acted out of jealousy, but now i realize that she’s moved on, and i have to move on as well. i can see you make her very happy.”

“thank you. i accept your apology.”

“yours as well, and congratulations on the engagement you two,” jay gave you both a smile. spencer nodded, giving him an awkward smile in response. “come on, bring it in man.” jay smirked, pulling spencer in for a hug.

“kid, that’s not how you give a bro hug!” derek exclaimed, causing everyone to laugh.

dinner continued as normal. everyone shared their own stories, talked to you and spencer about wedding details, and even making toasts to you two.

soon, everyone fell into their own worlds, having their own separate conversations.

amanda turned to sonny who was looking at you as you leaned on spencer’s chest.

“that could’ve been you, you know?” she mumbled to him. sonny lightly jumped at her voice.

“what?” he turned to her.

“come on, we all know you liked her right before she started dating halstead.” amanda smirked.

“was it that obvious?” he asked, earning a nod from the blonde. he looked down. “i messed up years ago.”

“i know.” amanda sighed.

“have you asked out y/n yet?” amanda, smirked, leaning on sonny’s desk as he went through his paperwork.

“uh, no.” he shook his head.

“and why not?”

“because i told her i liked you so she didn’t think i had a crush on her.” sonny muttered softly, not making eye contact with amanda.

“you what?!” she exclaimed.

“i-i told her i liked you.” he spoke a little louder.

“and why would you do that?” amanda’s eyes widened.

“because she doesn’t like me like that? she’s way out of my league.” sonny exclaimed.

“that doesn’t even make any sense! are you an idiot? she’s had feelings for you for the longest time.” amanda rubbed a hand against her forehead.

“she does?” sonny furrowed his eyebrows.

“yes! when did you tell her that?”

“like a few weeks ago.”

 “no wonder she didn’t feel like hanging out with us during that time,” she sighed. “she’s been trying to get over her crush on you.”

“well, what am i supposed to do now?”

“tell her how you really feel when she comes in.” amanda said, giving the tall man a stern look.

as if on cue, you walked in with a smile on your face.

“someone’s unusually happy this morning,” fin chirped. “care to share with the class?” he said, making you laugh.

“well, you know that one detective, jay halstead?” you raised an eyebrow.

“that one hot guy from chicago intelligence? yeah, what about him?” amanda asked.

“we went on a date last night.”

“oh?” amanda chirped, giving a quick look at sonny.

“h-how did it go?” he asked, trying to act normal.

“it was magical. he asked me to be his girlfriend.” you beamed at him, ignoring the blush that tinted your cheeks.

“oh my god, congratulations!” sonny laughed, hopefully the sound of his cheers covered the sound of his breaking heart.

-

sonny pulled out his phone as soon as he heard it rang.

y/n calling facetime...

he happily pressed the accept button, watching your face pop up.

“sonny!” you grinned.

“y/n! how’s it going in d.c.?” he asked.

you would facetime sonny and the rest of special victims any time you had some free time after working on multiple cases. he was there to comfort you when you broke up with jay, and even flew out to d.c. with you to help you settle into your new apartment.

“it’s great! everyone here is so nice.” you said as you told your best friend about the different people of the bau.

“they all sound amazing! is that everyone in the bau?” sonny asked.

“there’s one more! uh, spencer reid.” you smiled to yourself.

“what’s with that face y/n?” he teased.

“nothing! it’s nothing.”

“tell me about spencer.” sonny pushed.

you inhaled.

“well, spencer, he’s really smart and kind. he can be a bit awkward sometimes, put that’s part of his charm.” you chuckled.

“it sounds like you have a little crush.” he smirked.

“yeah, about that,” you nervously scratched the back of your neck. sonny raised an eyebrow at you. “i’m dating him – i’ve been for a few months already, actually.” you confessed.

“what?!” sonny almost yelled, jumping from his seat. “and you didn’t tell me?”

“i’m sorry! i’ve been busy!” you blushed.

“even a text saying ‘hey best friend, just wanted to tell you, i’m dating someone’ would’ve been fine.”

“i know! i’m sorry! i just wanted to facetime you when i told you, but then i kept getting called in for cases and you know how i tend to forget things-” you pouted.

“i’m just teasing you y/n,” sonny laughed. “i’m happy for you.”

“really?” you said, eyes filled with hope.

“yes, you deserve to find love after jay.”

“aw, thank you sonny, that means a l-” you said, suddenly stopping when you got a notification.

“another case?” sonny asked.

“unfortunately,” you frowned. “i’m so sorry.”

“don’t be, it’s your job. we’ll call again when you can, okay?” he said, earning a nod from you. “and tell that spencer guy i said hi.”

“of course. i love you sonny!” you said goodbye. sonny nodded, knowing that you meant it platonically.

“i love you too y/n, stay safe!” he smiled back, hoping that it didn’t falter as you hung up – your face suddenly disappearing.

“guess i was just too late.” sonny shrugged.

“i’m sorry.” amanda said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“it’s fine. as long as she’s happy, i’m happy. and that’s all that matters to me.” sonny sighed, taking a sip of his drink as he watched you slapped spencer’s chest, laughing at something he said.

hopefully the alcohol that burned his throat distracted him from that bittersweet feeling.

[isagrimorie]

I have just a few thoughts about Legacies.

Aww, Hope. Acting her most Mikaelson yet! Pushing, manipulating, and putting people in danger for her own agenda, and for someone she considered family.

I’m sad that its put her relationship with everyone especially the Saltzman twins into troubled water, especially with Lizzie tbh. And MG wasn’t exactly wrong (but lazy writing there, writers)!

In the end, Hope doesn’t even need to go all out like that, if she talked to Cleo at all she would have realized there was another way.

Also, I am both amused and chagrined at fandom’s reaction to Hope being moderately a Mikaelson. In league of sins her family has done this was a baby Mikaelson move, not to say not to call her out on it. In fact I fully expect there to be blow back, as there should be!

But the same people calling for Dark Hope or be more Mikaelson seems to be the same people out for her blood. (I know its the Landon of it all that people have a thing about, I also am not a fan but also, again, for a Mikaelson, it’s a feature not a bug to be so obsessive).

It’s not even an exclusively Klaus Mikaelson thing she did but a very Mikaelsonian attitude. The kind of attitude that gets her family classified as villains and/or violently deposed out of New Orleans.

(People should be terrified when she does go full Klaus Mikaelson on the people she loves -- hurting them to protect them ‘for their own good’ would be the classic Klaus move).

If Vincent Griffith heard about this shenanigans, that’s almost but not quite the same league as what Freya did to Davina, and what Elijah did to Marcel.

source by @milkovichsnoel

I wish there was someone in this cast who can pull off Vincent’s castigation of both Freya and Elijah. Because honestly, right now, Hope needs a wake-up call. Hayley would both understand but won’t ever give her a free pass for bad behavior because Hayley’s North star when it comes to Hope is to do better by and for her.

I have a theory about Cleo, one I’m sure won’t even pan out -- but what if Cleo is from the Future and the reason why her sisters are dead because in the Bad Future something happened with Hope that resulted in the post-apocalyptic Earth that we saw?

And it all hinged on Hope’s near obsession with Landon?

I’m 100% this isn’t the case because this show doesn’t do time travel, but still the way Cleo’s been trying to help Hope move forward or get Landon back to Hope? In another show, it could be a possibility.

----

PS.

I’m reminded again how much Yusuf Gatewood brought to The Originals, the moment he arrived and assumed the personality of Vincent Griffith, The Originals finally became the Shakespearean Greek tragedy it always wanted to be. 

Yusuf Gatewood had such quiet dignity about him that he can pull off so many great monologues, particularly the one he did challenging Marcel on the night took the New Orleans ‘kingship’ again.

Vincent is the true last righteous man of New Orleans.

Remember the time he told Elijah he had no virtue and no value whatsoever?

Be-👏cause 👏 I 👏 do!👏

In fact, let’s watch it all together!

I love him so much. Vincent would very much understand MG and take MG under his wing just like he told Marcel, he would be a sanctuary for anyone who was “sick and tired of the same old, same old that you and your pathetic [Mikaelson] family are ‘Always and Forever-ing’ about.” 

[jokertrap-ran]

(时空中的绘旅人—For All Time—) Clarence Route Translations (Chapter 15-1 水镜: Water Mirror)

*For All Time Master-list / Clarence’s Personal Master-list *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Maintaining Si Lan’s name as Clarence *Route Tag is #Chapter of Legacy

The Ice Butterflies were eliminated, but Aurora collapsed on the ground.

The little girl clutched at her stomach, rolling on the ground in agony. Those Purge Guards, all high and mighty, only looked at her from afar, not daring to step any closer as it is.

Soldier: What an evil creature; no one knows when it'll go out of control.

I heard them whispering to each other.

They all hate Mages. Mages protect Yemsaiel, but everyone relies on and fears them at the same time.

I stride forwards, gathering Aurora up into my arms and carrying her back into the carriage. She might be a "glutton", but her body was very light; so light, that even someone like me could pick her up with ease.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

But Aurora only clung tightly into me, bawling loudly.

Aurora: Aurora likes to eat them… But eating them makes my tummy hurt… Ughh…

Aurora: It hurts, big sis, it really does… I'm gonna die from the pain…

Her small hand nearly drew blood from my hand when she clamped down on it; and all I could do was to find and use the gentlest and most comforting words I had in my dictionary to soothe the little girl.

It was only until she had passed out from the sheer amount of pain, that I let go of the breath that I didn't know I had been holding.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

I carried her unconscious form out of the carriage. The sun was setting when I bumped into Alkaid outside the Mage Tower.

Alkaid: Goddess, Your Highness, did you manage to make any progress in your investigation today?

Alkaid's single sentence served as a reminder that made me realize that I'd spent the entire day with Aurora and had technically not accomplished anything at all.

Clarence: I think she hasn't done anything but watch over Aurora the entire day today. An emotional little girl like her will never amount to much.

Clarence: It’s not like I counted on her anyway...

Alkaid: Master Clarence, I don’t see it that way. The fact that (Y/n) was able to care so deeply about a little girl she’s only just met proves to show that she’s a gentle person at heart.

Alkaid: I feel that if anyone stands a chance against the death sentence that Yemsaiel faces, then it’d be no one other than her.

Alkaid: She has the gentlest heart and the strongest, unwavering conviction. And there’s no one among the strongest of us in Yemsaiel who possesses both of these qualities at the same time; that includes you, Master Clarence.

Alkaid: Please give (Y/n) some time, Master Clarence. I believe— That she’ll surprise us.

I thanked Alkaid and couldn't care less about retorting back to Clarence, carrying Aurora back into the Mage Tower.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

I placed Aurora down on the bed as she remained unconscious.

Brushing my hand over her forehead, I came to a startling realization. Aurora wasn't running a fever like how ordinary people would when they were sick, instead, her forehead was as cold as ice!

No, it wasn’t only her forehead; her entire body emitted cold air that made me involuntarily shiver.

And right now, there was the sound of an even colder person breathing behind me; one, whose killing intent I was absolutely familiar with.

MC: What are you doing back here again, Clarence? —What are you trying to do!?

I'd unconsciously stepped in front of Aurora's unconscious form as she was sound asleep; because I could sense how Clarence's killing intent wasn't targeted at me this time…

Clarence: Relax, I won't do anything yet. Aurora still has an important mission to carry out.

Clarence: But I’ll remind you again, that you shouldn’t be investing your feelings in her.

Clarence: Aurora is going to go berserk soon. And all Mages who’ve lost control over themselves will have to be eliminated.

Clarence: This is the fate that Mages are destined to. Even the strongest of the Mage Tower, the “Nine Seats”, are of no exception. This child has already held on for what can be considered a pretty long time now… She’ll be the third last of my “Nine Seats” to fall.

I suddenly came to the realization, that in the many times I've travelled here, the only High Mages I'd seen had been Alkaid, Holles and Aurora… I see, so the rest of the "Nine Seats" had already died just like Celene.

MC: Do you intend to kill her off yourself? To execute the people of your Mage Tower by your own hand… 

Clarence fell silent, his breathing light and steady. Looks like this isn't the first time he has had to carry out such an act of observation and precise execution...

...It was just like how he had watched those youths drink the potion to become Mages. He stood there to the side, almost as if he was standing by an endless river, forced to get used to everything that he saw.

MC: If that's your intention, then feel free to see yourself out. I'll take first watch over her.

MC: She's only asleep now; she hasn't yet lost control. It'll be just fine for me to stay by her side.

I shifted my gaze away from him as I said so. I held onto Aurora's small icy-cold hand hoping that it'd provide her with some comfort and support.

Aurora: How warm… I’m scared of the cold...

She was still groggy, but she'd consciously tightened her grip on my hand.

I hugged her small body to myself, lying against the bed together with her. I shot Clarence a look. It's he wants to attack her, then he'll have to hit both of us.

Clarence sighed. His fingertips flashing blue and dissipating some of the coldness that emanated from Aurora's body.

Aurora: Mmngh… Don't feel so cold anymore…

Clarence: How foolish. She doesn’t have much longer to live; and yet I’m wasting my Mana to do equally foolish things with you.

With those as his parting words, Clarence turned and left Aurora's room.

Clarence's spell quickly went into effect, causing Aurora's breathing to stabilize as she fell into her sweet dreams.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Seeing as she was sleeping peacefully, I left the room to eat my dinner.

After dinner, I realized that the Mage Tower was a rather stifling place to be, and that the only place with any sort of life and vibrancy to it would be the Red Maple Tree that stood at the entrance. Hence, I walked over.

Unexpectedly enough, I saw Clarence standing under the tree, gazing upwards at its red canopy of leaves.

He gave a slight nod of acknowledgement when he noticed me.

I realized that Clarence was always in a pretty good mood whenever he was below this Maple Tree.

I casually made small talk with him.

MC: There are lots of meanings behind Maple Trees back in my world. Some say that it stands for perseverance, some say it stands for innocence. Some say it stands for the cycle of time; for yesterday, today and tomorrow. And some say it stands for loneliness.

MC: I'm just a little curious. But what do the leaves of a Maple Tree stand for, in your eyes?

He pondered over it for a while before replying.

Clarence: A promise.

Clarence: It’s a promise I made to someone.

Clarence: There’s a very important person in my life. I might never be able to wait enough for them, but I will still carry on waiting.

Clarence: But this is really something personal and has absolutely nothing to do with saving Yemsaiel.

Clarence: There’s no need for you to be probing about my personal feelings. Speaking of which, you must be very tired since you were with Aurora the entire day; you should turn in earlier.

I was a little surprised. He had actually said something compassionate.

He really was a little...softer, when under this Maple Tree.

Whoever Clarence was waiting for, they must be someone really compassionate and warm, to be able to melt that icy heart of him.

MC: Goodnight, Clarence; you should turn in early too. I'm really thankful that you're willing to give Aurora and me more time.

Clarence nodded and turned to leave.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

I returned to Aurora's room and slept by her bedside.

I couldn't help but to worry about Aurora. Clarence was always cool and unyielding; and who knew how long this hidden compassion of his would last for.

Aurora was at risk of losing control at any moment in time, which means that there was the possibility of her getting eliminated by Clarence.

I reached out, taking her hand into my own before drifting off to sleep.

I know about some of Clarence's personal matters, the secret if the Mage Tower, and even got to know Aurora; but it wasn't enough. As of right now, it is still insufficient to change the future.

What lies at the end of the road for Clarence and the Mages here is a dead end… If that's the future that fate decreed; then, should I stay with everyone in the Mage Tower?

...I’ve been so busy for the whole day; I should rest first.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥Chapter of Legacy✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Previous Part: (Chapter 13-2) | Next Part: (Chapter 15-2)

[darkskyatnight]

Achilles, achilles, achilles come down

Takes place at the end of Season 5

Achilles, achilles, achilles come down,

Won’t you get up off,

Get up off the roof?

Daisy stood on the ledge. Her dad was gone, her mother shut down. Her hair had gone back to its brown, and her face streaked with grime and tears. How could he be gone? The man who meant everything to her and the woman who sheltered her? The man who made her believe in everything, and the woman who helped her protect that everything?

You’re scaring us, and all of us,

Some of us,

Love you, Achilles, it’s not much, but it’s true.

Her team wasn’t much of a team. She could barely look at Fitz without wanting to throw up. Jemma was out of her goddamn mind with stress, and Elena had turned into a smug, panicky wreck.

She wasn’t a leader, she was a soldier, a shield like her father before her. She missed him, so much.

You crazy ass cosmonaut,

Remember your virtue,

Redemption lies plainly in truth.

They’d been to space and back, and her dad should have left her there, she’d wanted it so badly, she couldn’t be the reason to destroy the Earth. He’d ICED her, and brought her back. She was reminded how much she was loved, and how many would miss her. But would they?

Just humour us, Achilles,

Achilles come down, won’t you get up off,

Get up off the roof?

It was a long way down, and vaguely she could hear her mother, pleading with her. It drowned out in her agony, her fists clenching the rails so hard they turned pale. The weight of the world shook with caged tears, a burden heavier than man. She wanted it gone.

The support she’d gotten after coming out of that chrysalis was stifling, she’d killed her friend by going down there, and what had she gotten but paranoia and suspicion, worry and fear from the woman she considered a sister. A team split because of her, patched back through months of regaining trust.

Achilles, Achilles, Achilles come down,

Won’t you get up off,

Get up off the roof?

She turned to her mother and shattered, the weight of the world crushing her back as she fell, clutching the woman who made her. She’d been through so much, yet she’d stuck to Daisy like glue, piecing her back together. The woman who’d taught her to protect and fight, who’d raised her.

The self is not so weightless,

Nor whole and unbroken,

Remember the pact of our youth.

They’d been so young when they joined SHIELD. The trio of troublemakers, the fun-loving Fitz, now dead under a pile of rubble, a man she couldn’t reconcile with who he’d been, the one who’d torn into Daisy’s neck, the feeling of powerlessness, her ribs and lungs contracting in terror as she wailed.

Jemma, the upbeat scientist eager to learn now a ruthless agent toughened by trauma and anger directed at the right people, but nurtured to a sickened blade that cut those around her.

Where you go I’m going,

So jump and I’m jumping,

Since there is no me without you,

The promise whispered between parent and child held them together, Daisy ever the follower latched to her for comfort and security. May the one who’d pulled herself together for Daisy’s sake, now a warrior broken in the safety of her little girl, held strong and tight in each other’s arms.

Soldier on Achilles,

Achilles come down, won’t you get up off,

Get up off the roof?

She’d been expected to hold everyone together at the peak of their terror, the peak of the apocalypse, and expected to lead when the team was falling apart, pulled back from a precipice only to be thrown to the wolves, free-falling into hell over and over, just barely kept from death, only to be saved moments before.

Love the way they light candles in Rome,

But love the sweet air of the votives,

Hurt and grieve but don’t suffer alone,

Engage with the pain as a motive.

It had been an adventure at the start, missions that were full of wonder and mystery and action and urgency. Then the Agency came crashing down around them and with not much left to salvage she’d been shown how to harness her anger, her pain and focus it at the ones who deserved it. She’d been Skye then, the one to roam the clouds, now chained to earth.

Today, of all days, see,

How the most dangerous thing is to love,

How you will heal when you’ll rise above.

How could she tape herself back together again, paint it over with a sleek glaze and pretend? The bandaid would come off sooner or later, and the pain would come flooding back, the dam irreparable.

She’d get through it with the help of those who loved her, despite her keeping them at arms length for a long, long time, they’d wormed their way in.

She’d come back stronger, but for now she agonised.

Achilles, Achilles, Achilles jump now,

You are absent of cause or excuse,

So self indulgent and self referential, no audience could ever want you.

“We didn’t choose you!” The words reverberated through her, her memories of Hive forced to the surface, Daisy’s memories clear as day, the shatter of Mack’s ribs, the blood she’d had drained, the weakness and the sickness, and how she begged to be taken back by Hive.

Now, the words seemed rougher than ever. People looked at her like she’d break, her or them they didn’t know, not that she cared, the intent was the same.

Her friends now hated her, the brother and the sister she’d made in Fitz and Simmons changed from how they were. It made her chest ache, and she wanted to stop the tears rolling down her face, vaguely aware of the swollen soreness in her throat.

You crave the applause but hate the attention,

Then miss it, your act is a ruse.

It is empty, Achilles, so end it all now.

It’s a pointless resistance for you.

She’d been so eager to please people. Her parents most. Being a legacy was hard for her, she wanted so desperately to be worth what her parents are, what the other agents saw them as. She just wanted to be accomplished like them.

The ledge looked so inviting, its whispers crooning to her, pulling her towards a spinning, everlasting darkness, twisted and wrong. It wanted her dead, it wanted her to jump.

“You’re okay, Dais.” May whispered softly.

Achilles, Achilles, just put down the bottle,

Don’t listen to what you consume,

It’s chaos, confusion, and wholly unworthy,

Of feeding and its wholly untrue.

Hive had been an addiction she’d found so hard to cleanse from her veins, her lungs, even on her lips. She felt dirty with how she was used, her body sickened and dirty from his touch, and his awful obsession. She’d hurt so many, lashed out harshly, saved by her own uncle before his death. She felt his sacrifice was in vain so many times, the void screaming at her, trying to dig its claws in.

You may feel no purpose nor point for existing,

It’s all just conjecture and gloom,

There may not be meaning, so find one and seize it,

Do not waste yourself on this roof.

A good amount of her days were a painful numb sensation, time dragged out before her, spent mourning Lincoln, every time she’d see him in the bright smile of a child being helped by a nurse, she’d see him in the lights of the bay as they shone, and the mountains as snow fell down them.

She’d given herself a mission with the Watchdogs. She could save her people, stop a genocide waiting to happen, and her anger would be her blade she’d drive into the sharp structure of their militia, shattering them apart.

Hear those bells ring deep in the soul,

Chiming away for a moment,

Feel your breath course frankly below,

And see life as a worthy opponent.

Her return to SHIELD during her mission had been fraught with tears and apologies, nestled deep in her parents’ arms. The quiet of the evening as they cleaned the scabs on her arms, the soft pain of their embrace she allowed herself to be pulled into, the promise on her lips that she’d stop destroying herself.

Today of all days, see,

How the most dangerous thing’s to love,

How you will heal and you’ll rise above,

Crowned by an overture bold and beyond,

It’s more courageous to overcome,

Throwing herself into the arms of Hell itself had been a job, the obsession AIDA had with Fitz, and yet the love she still had, that good part of her, and how distraught Fitz had been, the HYDRA world the robot bitch had created out of love and admiration for their team turned twisted from regrets, how they healed from their pasts, and how that world ended, not with a bang, but a whimper.

You want the acclaim, the mother of mothers,

(It’s not worth it, Daisy)

More poignant than fame or the taste of another,

(Don’t listen, Daisy)

But be real and jump, you dense motherfucker,

(You’re worth more, Daisy)

You will not be more than a rat in the gutter,

(You’re so much more than a rat)

She felt the warm grip of him around her shoulders, a shield wrapped around her back, the brunt of the dark hissing against her back, but he kept it away, his protection over her lasted even after he was gone, he’d always be with her.

“I can feel him,” she sobbed into her mom’s shoulder. Daisy held her tighter as May laughed wetly. “Me too, me too.”

You want my opinion, my opinion you’ve got,

(No one asked your opinion)

You asked for my counsel, I gave you my thoughts,

(No-one asked for your thoughts)

Be done with this now, and jump off the roof,

(Be done with this now, and get off the roof)

Can you hear me, Daisy? I’m talking to you!

Daisy felt herself pulled up, safe and whole, led away from the ledge, her legs quaking nervously, but as close as she got to the door, she felt herself getting stronger, happier, lighter. May opened the door as the roars got louder. Daisy looked back with a sad smile, and she swore she could see him, the same dopey grin he’d give her, wearing his Cap t-shirt, and a drop splashed on the pavement before, she turned, away, away.

I’m talking to you,

I’m talking to you,

I’m talking to you,

Daisy come down,

Oh, Daisy come down…

The stairs were safe, the stairs were strong. Each floor was a distance lower, a stretch from the rooftop, and a guided hand taking her towards her life, a life she refused to leave, no matter how it called to her. Daisy and Melinda held strong, grimy and sad, but together.

The whispers grew fainter, more desperate, the tentacles on her mind slipping away, the dusted sensation fading into the air.

Throw yourself into the unknown,

With a pace and a fury defiant,

Clothe yourself in beauty untold,

And see life as a means to triumph,

She slipped her jacket on, it still smelled like the day he bought it for her. Standing over the sink, looking into the mirror, she grabbed the scissors and began.

With her outfit made, her hair cut just shorter, she stepped out into the street. Time to thrive.

Today of all days, see,

How the most dangerous thing’s to love,

How you will heal and you’ll rise above,

Crowned by an overture bold and beyond,

Ah, it’s more courageous to overcome….

I love you, Daisy…

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.21

Tense. Things at home were tense. Lance had muttered about needing to go shopping, then left. Keith knew when to bite his tongue, and this was definitely a time for tongue biting. Wanting to do something helpful Keith put his mind to cleaning. Not like in-depth cleaning, but enough to be counted as an effort around the house. That meant first he had to find everything, then he had to argue with the washing machine as he tried to figure the damn thing out as he didn’t know if sheets were washed on the same cycle setting as clothes... if they weren’t before, they were now. Blue had acted like it was the end of the world once the vacuum cleaner went on, dramatically running from the living room so fast she skidded. Adam would have been proud of him. As was every foster family he’d never fit in with. Sure, he had anger issues, but he wouldn’t have anger issues if people stopped making him angry.

Keith got less done than he’d set out to accomplish. Barely finishing the first floor before there was the sound of a car horn out the front, the approach drowned out by Lance’s ancient vacuum that would have been tossed out long ago if Adam had seen the device. Adam really did have the one functioning brain cell between him, Shiro and Keith. The hunter knew it was unhealthy to hold onto things, Adam had died over a year ago now, but he and Shiro together had been the best family Keith had ever had. Shiro never treated him like a legacy. The child of a hunter who’s name carried far too much weight. Since being accepted into the Order and beginning his training as a cadet, he’d lived in the shadow of the great werewolf hunter Krolia. He understood why she had to leave him, why she did fought as she did, but... Shiro and Adam felt more like family to him than she did. Krolia was... she was... it was heavy to think about her accomplishments. Stowing the vacuum back in the laundry, Keith rushed back through the house, trying not to appear like he cared whether Lance was alright or not... because he didn’t.

Heading out, Lance was standing at the back of his bronco, trunk door open

“Help me carry stuff”

Lance wasn’t supposed to be doing anything exerting like carrying in the whole damn shop from the look of it

“Did we really need so much stuff?”

“Not supposed to go out, remember. So I stocked up. Before you bite my head off, I didn’t go shopping alone. I found my phone in the car and shot Hunk a message”

“You... talked to Hunk?”

“Am I not allowed?!”

The snappiness in Lance’s tone kind of hurt, as did the fact Lance had talked to Hunk before they’d had a chance to talk about their situation

“I’m not saying that. I’m just wondering what... It’s none of my business”

“It’s fine. I shouldn’t have snapped. I told him Mami had a fall, well, Miriam had a fall and I was in Platt due to it. He went a little crazy shopping”

“So you’re blaming Hunk for this?”

They needed a whole army to eat the amount of food in the back of the bronco. Lance sighed as he passed Keith the first bag

“He’s a good man. I really do think he and Pidge are both interested in you, as in being friends. Sorry, can we save talking until we’re back inside. I want to wallow a little longer”

“Alright... but don’t think you’re getting out of this”

“I wouldn’t dream of it”

*

People were exhausting. Hunk was one of those people. He was a natural born worrier who’d worried the moment he showed up. Lance was pulled into a tight hug, hiding his discomfort as he was. Normally he loved Hunk’s hug, but he couldn’t tell him the truth and it sucked big hair testicles. Repeatedly trying to redirect the conversation from him, Hunk kept bringing up how unwell Lance looked and how he needed to eat more. Yeah. He did. But looking at all the food in the supermarket isles made him sick. It fed the knot of anxiety that’d settled in his gut. He was changing for the worse, and there was no way to back out of it now. When Matt came, everything would change again. Pidge would be over the moon to see her brother again, while Matt would be terrified of one wrong move exposing his secret. Secrets sucked. They festered like wounds. Growing and spreading that infection until you felt physically ill.

Settling down with a cup of coffee, like a normal human would, Lance stared into the cup as Keith put things away. Lance wanted to take control, he wanted to take back some kind of order in his life, yet with Keith living there, he needed to loosen up. Keith needed to know where things went and how to navigate his kitchen beyond how to use the coffee machine. Keith really seemed to like his coffee. He wasn’t so fond of broccoli, or corn for that matter, but he also never really complained about eating anymore... provided he could hover while Lance he cooked, still kind of paranoid Lance was going to poison him or something. If he was going to do that, he would taken care of Keith the second Shiro was clear of the picture.

“You look pale. Do you need blood?”

Keith’s question took Lance by surprise. He never hid his drinking blood from his friends, but they thought he was simply indulging in red wine. Keith had seen him drink, and extremely embarrassingly vulnerable. He’d swallowed down that blood bag at VOLTRON with no worries thanks to how hungry he was... So why was it now he was feeling self conscious thanks to Keith asking? And why were his teeth almost throbbing at the idea? It would be a blood bag like the rest of the times he fed, having Keith there was not his ticket to a fresh meal because he didn’t want a fresh meal. That’d mean only submitting to his vampire way

“Not yet”

“Coran said you need to keep your strength up”

“Since when did you care?”

Keith placed down the box of cereal he’d been trying to find a home for

“Since I don’t run away from mistakes I’ve made”

Ouch. Yeah. Keith had fucked up, but he was kind of trying... but only because he felt obligated too. Obligations sucked. Lance knew he was only a job to Keith, but “mistake” struck like a bullet to the heart

“Dude, ouch”

“I... I mean. I take responsibility for my actions. You’re changing because of me. We can’t ignore it”

“I can try”

Keith slammed his plan down on the kitchen bench with enough anger that Lance felt himself jump

“Why?! Why do you that? You said nothing to Luis. You didn’t try defending yourself. You didn’t ask to be turned”

He really hadn’t. He’d been such a lonely kid, he always seemed to have plenty of people around him, but he’d always felt so filled with faults that he kept messing up his friendships. Every month he seemed to have a new best friend who’d leave him to play with someone cooler and smarter than he was. Someone who better at games, and didn’t have problems with English as Spanish was the spoken language at home. He’d been alright with his siblings until they all started to grow older... then they’d all sort of... given up on their little brother

“Luis gave into his fear long ago”

“That doesn’t make it right. He tried to have you hunted”

“I know he did. Look, I’m way too sober for that conversation. But you’d be right if you thought I ruined our family. No one knew how to handle a kid with flashbacks, nightmares and all the things that come with being a vampire. I’m happy they all got out and had a life...”

“The rest of your family’s like that? Like, Luis?”

“It’s complicated. They don’t understand why I’m the way I am. Why I don’t drive a car in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, why I live in a house that’s a cross between farmhouse and plantation. Why I work so cheaply when I could be earning more. They all think I sponge off Mami, and stay with her so I have control over her. It’s easier to pick your battles and the way I see it, Mami won’t live forever. I’ve caused her enough pain that shouldn’t have to see me fighting with my siblings. Fuck... I really am way too sober”

Taking off his glasses, Lance leaned back in his chair, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his palms. Keith didn’t know his life outside of whatever he’d read. He didn’t know how hard it was in the house to have a blood sucker. He didn’t know how many times Lance had made things hard for their family. How he’d cost them all this extra money to keep him fed and safe. Then there was therapy. Him changing schools. Him dealing with his mental health while trying to deal with puberty and nightmares. And God knew how hard it was. How hard it was for his parents, how exhausted they were. How his condition was kind of taboo, and no one was allowed to make a joke about it lest his Mami heard and you’d get smacked across your arse with her pink slipper. Keith picked up the box of cereal again, Lance could hear his moves. The way the contents of the box shook, and the way his clothes rustled. The tiny shift of his footing as he stood on tiptoe to find a space in the cupboard

“I think you were wrong not to stand up for yourself”

Of course “Crusader Keith” thought he needed to stand up for himself, he’d been trained by “Shiro the Hero”

“Tried that, doesn’t work”

He always sent cards, via Mami who knew their address

“Even if Shiro turned, I don’t think I could ever give up on him”

“That’s because you’re far more emotionally mature that my siblings were when they had to deal with a messed up little brother. I’m going to get a bottle of red. Fuck being sober, I’m going to wallow the patheticness out my system, then hopefully I won’t be such a grumpy dick”

“I don’t think you’re being too grumpy. You’re still a bit of a dick”

Lance snorted, placing down his cup of coffee

“That might just be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me”

“Don’t get used to it”

Lance’s lips turned upwards, the ghosting of a smile. Keith was a total dick, and had no place in Lance’s life, but he wasn’t as obnoxious as he’d been when they first met

“Have a look in the blue bag, down the bottom. I got you something while I was out”

*

“Have a look in the blue bag, down the bottom. I got you something while I was out”

Keith didn’t get Lance at all. He’d been moping, now he was kind of smiling, or grimacing, Keith wasn’t completely sure, but the fact Lance had bought him something seemed kind of like a trap

“You got me something?”

“Yep. Blue bag is all yours”

His? Wasn’t the food because he was human? What else did he need?

“Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why did you get me something?”

“Because when I saw it, I thought of you. Don’t make this weird”

It was already weird. All of this was weird as fuck. Peaking in the first blue bag there was a whole heal of vegetables, including broccoli which he hated, Lance snorted at him

“Not that one. The other one”

“You could have told me that”

“Coulda, woulda, shoulda”

Whatever that meant. Grabbing the second blue bag, Keith pulled it forward by the handles

“Milk?”

“Lactose free. Actually, all the milk I’ve been buying lately to feed your coffee addictions been lactose free, so you’re welcome over that. I said in the bottom. You know, under everything else”

“Shut up. It just looked like bottles of milk”

“On the top, maybe. I’ll give you that”

Keith sighed to himself mentally. How was he supposed to put up with Lance for another two weeks when he had nothing to do. He couldn’t work out, Coran had benched Lance from teaching him anything physical. Sitting around and doing nothing didn’t agree with him. Lifting out the two bottles of milk, he was annoyed that Lance had something nice. He wasn’t strictly like allergic to lactose, but some brands definitely upset his stomach more than others. At the bottom of the bag was a wrapped box, the paper slightly wet from the condensation off the milk bottles

“It’s a box?”

“Wow, I bet those powers of observation are what makes you a great hunter. Open the box, dummy”

Grumpily Keith took the box out of the bag, mumbling as he did

“You didn’t need to buy me anything”

“You’re really bad at accepting gifts aren’t you?”

“Shut up”

Inside the box was a red digital camera. Keith had always loved the colour red, he also indulged in a little photography thanks to Shiro. It wasn’t as fancy as his camera at home, but it wasn’t bottom of the range either

“You got me a camera?”

“Yep. If you’re going to be sticking around, I figured you might want one to keep up the pretence of having left it here”

This would have easily cost Lance a couple of hundred. Didn’t the vampire have better things to spend his money on?

“Why...?”

“Not this again. Fine, I’ll play along. Why, what?”

“Why did you spend money on me?”

“Because you’re stuck here and I thought that it might be nice to have something of your own. It’s also an apology for all the shit I put you through by turning into a bat. Just make sure you get a few photos of the house, I told the others you were taking photos to help me renovate. Accept the damn gift”

Lance seemed as bad at giving gifts as Keith was at receiving them. Not that the camera was a bad gift, the vampire seemed embarrassed that he was making a fuss over it all. Big gifts like this were shaved for birthdays or Christmas, no one went around simply buying things for other people, unless it was Shiro. Shiro had absolutely awful impulse control, Keith’s not that much better. His savings only went as far as saving for what he wanted, buying it, then looking at his abysmally empty bank balance sadly. There was no reason to really save when any mission could see him dead...

“Thanks. I’m not used to things like this”

“I can tell. Just... the camera isn’t me trying to buy your apology. Just so you know, I wanted to do something nice for you, with like, no strings attached... and now that this has gotten even more awkward, I’m off to get that red”

As Lance pushed his chair back, curiosity struck, Keith tilting the box in Lance’s direction

“Hey, Lance... Do you show up in these things?”

“Really? Photos, videos and mirrors... People wish they’d looked as good as I do dead. I mean, otherwise it’d be super suspicious when I didn’t show up in Pidge’s videos, when I let her film me”

“Oh... I hadn’t thought about that”

Lance snorted at him

“Some vampire hunter you are. Please don’t destroy my kitchen while I’m gone. Also, I grabbed some stuff so we can make pizza for dinner... I assume you don’t mind pizza and beer?”

Keith wrinkled his nose. That sounded like he was going to be cooking... and if the piece of shit toaster Lance used to have was anything to go by, then maybe that wouldn’t be the best idea. Lance was already walking towards the kitchen door

“I don’t know how to make pizza”

Raising his hand, the vampire waved his concerns off

“Then prepared to do the learn. Man, I’m going to have to teach you everything, aren’t I?”

“About vampires?”

“Nope. First you learn to do the human, then you’ll learn how to do the dead human. Don’t forget, I’ll hear you if you try breaking my kitchen... ow, fuck...”

Walking straight into the door frame, Lance rubbed at his forehead. Keith had no idea how Lance managed to walk into so many things and be so absolutely uncoordinated while in his own house. He wore glasses, shouldn’t that like help him see? Shouldn’t he have some kind of sense when he was getting too close to something? What kind of a vampire needed glasses? Lance didn’t make sense at all.

[fishball-and-sweet-potato]

MLQC SongFic - Sweet Night (Gavin x MC/Reader)

Hello again! Recently, I'm hooked on this song, it was sung by my precious Kim Taehyung as OST of Itaewon Class! (even though I haven't watched it, but Park Seojoon makes me consider it lol) He's already been my bias in BTS since I was still in high school 😊. Bcs TaeTae and Gavin deserve so much love from me (hehe), I made them a collab xD. Hope you like it!

Words : 1,080

Genre : fluff, comfort

Warning : cheesy af, a bit swearing, childish MC

"Boss!!!" Kiki called me, "you know what, our show's latest episode is the most trending topic in Loveland City again!"

I looked at the news and social media portals she showed me, and I couldn't help but jumped from my chair excitedly. All the crews went to a group hug.

"Are you guys free tonight? Let's have a feast..." I exclaimed. The crews hesitated a bit, oh I almost forgot it's Friday afternoon. "...at Delicioso. Count it all on me." They cheered again. Oh my, they're really something.

Thanks to Anna's car, all of us arrived safely even after encountered a quite heavy traffic. The great thing at Delicioso was, the new buffet section had just opened. Luckily, we entered at 'Happy Hour' period, you could eat as you wish without worrying about the time limit. Happy tummy, happy money.

The atmosphere was full of joy, people chit-chatted and laughed. I just eagerly ate more and more. Until some time, my stomach felt full, but only void that surrounded my head and heart. At this point, I didn't know what to do.

"You okay?" Willow asked me, bringing back my consciousness.

"Ah, yes. I'm just really full," I replied while plastering a smile on my face.

"You haven't had a good sleep last night," Minor reminded me. Oh damn it, but this show was so important, and our hard work finally paid off!

I was just about to encourage my crews to eat more, but Anna interrupted my thought first, "we need some rest, after all. This should be enough, then." All the crews nodded in agreement. I paid for the food and was driven back home. I felt grateful having them by my side.

I intended to sleep immediately, but my mind kept reminiscing about the show. I wanted a distinctive, yet meaningful approach for this episode. The theme was about self-love, and we decided to name it 'Let Yourself Shine'. I hoped after this episode had been aired, it would raise people's awareness about consequences of bullying and people didn't need to live a life that was overshadowed by others' expectations. Bringing this theme up to the surface, I finally had a courage to tell my dad in heaven that I had done well this far and his legacy were relived. I didn't realize the tears fell to my cheek. When I opened my eyes, the ginkgo bracelet was the first thing I saw. It told me about who I should thank the most.

"Does he think about me too? Does he get hurt there?" I thought. Tonight he was supposed to finish his mission. A day before his mission started, he still helped me to be this episode's guest star. I got up from my bed, looking back and forth through the door and the window, searching for hopeful answers.

On my pillow

Can’t get me tired

Sharing my fragile truth

That I still hope the door is open

’Cause the window opened one time with you and me

Now my forever’s falling down

Wondering if you’d want me now

I didn't know for how long my mind was running wild, and finally I felt gentle wind drying my tears. The person knocked my window lightly. I ran to open the window. After a moment of confirmation, we pulled each other into a warm embrace.

"Gavin! I thought there's something terrible happened to you!" I said, pouring all my emotions to hitting him softly.

Gavin only chuckled. I was worried sick of him and here he was, teasing me, "I told you, I would always come back to you, safe and sound." He looked at me, concern filled his amber eyes, "you must be sleep-deprived."

I was embarrassed he would paid attention to that, "yes, I was too ecstatic about the show. But I'm happy it becomes a big hit!"

He smiled and responded, "I'm happy for my girl."

"Also, thank you for being our guest. I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow," I said.

"No need. Tomorrow I would just have my me time with you," he said pinching my cheek. I was rubbing his forearm, suddenly shock and sadness came to me again.

"Gavin, you promised me that you won't get hurt, right?" I asked, full of doubt. I waited for a week not to see him hurt like this.

"This isn't a big deal, really. The most important thing is, I'm finally here with you anyway," he tried to assure me, but I could only cried while rubbing his wound, hoping it would fade away soon.

How could I know

One day I’d wake up feeling more

But I had already reached the shore

Guess we were ships in the night

Gavin consoled me and I finally calmed down. He told me about his mission.

"You are the only one who comes up to my mind when I thought of my purpose to finish this thing ASAP. I'm afraid that you don't look for yourself properly, you're getting sad and I'm not able to be there to comfort you... I... I'm sorry..." He hugged me, his voice full of guilt.

"I understand. But I just... can't stop worrying about you. I'm sorry for being childish earlier," I said, hugging him back.

Gavin laughed lightly, then whispered to my ear, "you're cute." He looked at the clock. "It's late, you should go to sleep."

"Fine, but can I ask you a favour?" I asked timidly. Seeing Gavin's nod, I continued, "please stay with me tonight."

"Okay, I'll be on the sofa," he answered without hesitation.

I tugged his shirt, "I mean, accompany me here," I pointed at my bed.

Gavin was confused. "Would it be alright for you?"

"I just want to hold my precious person in the world and get away from bad dreams, are you happy now?" I explained while pretending to be angry.

I’m wondering are you my best friend

Feels like a river’s rushing through my mind

I wanna ask you if this is all just in my head

My heart is pounding tonight I wonder

If you are too good to be true

And would it be alright if I

Pulled you closer

Gavin smiled brightly. We laid down facing toward each other, feeling content at last. Gavin's left hand held my body, his other hand caressed my hair as if he sang me a lullaby. I heard his steady heartbeat clearly.

"Good night, Gavin," I said shyly.

"Good night, love."

[just-dreaming-marvel]

SIXTY SIX - VISITNG HOME

LEGACY: A Tony Stark Daughter Story

MASTERLIST

< previous

Word Count: 1,350ish

Summary: Bailey goes to the Tower to visit Pepper.

 “I—I—I’m going to have to call you back,” Pepper stuttered. She was definitely surprised. I walked in and she hung up the phone. “Bailey!” She hurried over and hugged me. “Are you okay? Where have you been? You promised to keep in touch.”

“I know and I’m sorry. I’m fine though.” I squeezed her before pulling apart. 

“Tony and I have been worried sick. After a few weeks of no response from you, I told him that I had let you go with you promising to stay in contact.”

“I’m really sorry, Pep. I just… I just couldn’t… I still can’t… deal with it all.”

“Tony can’t either…”

“Are you and Tony… Are you back together?”

“Yes, we are. We’ve been so worried. We’ve talked a lot, both been getting help. It brought us closer, reminded us why we feel in love.” I nodded as silence engulfed us and I nervously looked around the room. “Where have you been Bailey?"

I gave her the side eye. “You know I can’t tell you.”

“Bailey—“

“I just came to visit. Not to actually come back. I’m not ready for that yet. I just really needed to see you.” Pepper sat down at her desk and I sat on the chair in front of it. “Where’s Tony?”

“He’s on his way back from India. You know that he got notified that you’re here, right? He’s probably making his way back even faster now.”

“I know… Anything new or interesting happen since I’ve been away?”

“Tony’s selling the Tower.”

My eyes went wide. “He’s what?” 

“He’s selling the Tower. We’ve bought a penthouse here in the city, but the upstate Avengers facility will be our main home and the main headquarters of the Avengers from now on.”

“Wow. I’m…” I glanced around the room again. “I’m going to miss this place.”

“He’s also been remodeling the facility. You should stop by, check it out. I know he’d really like to hear your input.”

“Maybe, someday…”

“Tony’s already emptied your room here. He’s moved all the stuff you left into the penthouse…” She sighed. “He calls you everyday Bailey. Can’t you just pick up the phone and answer him? Just let him know that you’re okay. He loves you.” I looked away from her. “The guilt is eating away at him. You know how he gets… He pretends that he doesn’t have a fragile heart, but his heart breaks so easily.”

“I know, that’s why I feel okay with the guilt eating at him a bit longer. I’m done with him getting so angry that he says the meanest things and then expects me to quickly forgive. He’s hurt me too many times now.”

Pepper took a deep breath. I could tell that she didn’t want to fight me on this, especially right now since I willingly showed up to see her. So she moved on. “Have you been sleeping well?”

I should have put makeup on. “I’ve been sleeping fine.”

“Are you sure? Your—“

“I’ve been sleeping fine, Pep!” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “I’m sorry. I just really don’t want to talk about that right now… Can we move on?”

"You’ve gotten a few letters from colleges over the past couple weeks. They’re at the facility. Tony’s keeping the growing pile on his desk.”

I laughed. “I forgot that I had applied to colleges. With everything that’s happened, it’s just sort of taken the back seat.”

“What exactly have you been up to?”

“Training. Lots and lots of training.”

“Have… Have you looked for Captain Rogers at all?”

My heart stopped for a moment. I hadn’t thought about Steve much, unless he haunted my dreams. I was ignoring him, ignoring my heart break. I didn’t want to deal with it. “No. No, I haven’t.”

“Ms. Potts,” FRIDAY interrupted, “Mr. Stark has just landed.”

I quickly stood up. “I have to go.”

Pepper ran around the desk quickly and grabbed my hand. “Please, let him see that you’re okay.” I pulled away and ran to the elevator. “Bailey!” Pepper yelled. The elevator took me to the main level and I ran out to my car. I hurried and started it.

“Bailey!” Tony had hacked into my bluetooth system in the car. “Wait, please. I just want to see you. Bailey… Please.” I could hear the heart break in his voice. I turned off the car. I did miss him. 

I sighed. “I’ll come back inside. But absolutely no trying to convince me to stay! No locking me in the building! If you even try, I will take the whole building down! Do you understand?”

“I understand…. I’ll be on the main living floor.”

I got out of the car and reentered the building. I slowly walked to the elevator and pressed the correct floor number. The elevator started going up. It was moving faster than it had before. Tony probably changed the settings quickly after I agreed to come back in. I started to get nervous. The doors opened and there he was. 

“Bailey..” He said, almost in a wishful sense. I couldn’t make myself move. He took a step forward and I took a step back. His eyes grew sadder than they had been. Seeing him and the main floor caused the scenes of that last fight to flash through my mind.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, tears coming to my eyes. “I can’t… I’m not ready…” I shook my head. “I can’t do this.” 

I pushed the down button. As the doors closed, I saw Tony’s eyes fill with tears as well. The elevator made it to the first floor and I ran out crying. I got into my car and quickly drove away. I drove back to the apartment and cried on my bed all night. I missed Tony. But I had hurt him as much as he had hurt me. And I wasn’t ready to forgive him. In the morning, I went running. I ran and ran until I could barely move. Which took a few hours because of the super strength and healing. I went back to the apartment and still spent about an hour punching the punching bag. I took a shower, made food, and then repeated. 

For the next week, I ran, punched, showered, ate, repeated. Peter and Ned came back from Washington DC and I ignored their phone calls. Until one afternoon, Peter knocked on my door. I was going at it with the punching bag. I ignored the knock. Peter knew I was home so he just walked in.

“Why haven’t you been answering my phone calls?” Peter asked.

“I’ve been busy,” I answered, concentrating on the punching bag. 

“I can see that,” He looked around the apartment. The place was a mess. “I came to talk to you about what happened in DC.”

“I already know about DC.”

“Well, I don’t think you know the whole story… Especially since I took the tracker out of my suit and found out I have my own AI.” I kept on punching. That was obviously not the reaction he was thinking he’d get. “Aren’t you mad, about the tracker?”

I stopped and looked at him. “I’m not mad. You didn’t take my tracker off, you only took Mr. Stark’s tracker off.”

“What?! There’s two different trackers on my suit?”

“Mr. Stark is smart, but he doesn’t remember what it’s like to be a teenager. So of course I put another tracker in the suit.” I took off the wrap on my fists. 

“Wow… So you know about everything?”

“Everything. But don’t worry, I haven’t reported anything to Mr. Stark. Is that all you wanted Peter?” 

“No, it’s not. A weapons deal is about to go down on a Staten Island Ferry and I’m going to go stop it.” He revealed that he was wearing his suit underneath his clothes. “An additional hand might be nice.” He took off his street clothes and put on his mask. “You in?”

“I’m in.”

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