#i'm not even going to begin to wonder what anne must have had going on in her personal life to create this monstrosity

[licncourt]

pls elaborate on your latest post??? it's so interesting

Of course!! I think about it a normal amount. For sure.

Basically I just think that's it's very interesting how both Louis and Lestat get the Bad Woman/slutTM treatment in regards to their turnings throughout the books, especially as AR starts to get Weirder about things. We all know that blood drinking = sex, and in context that translates to Lestat’s turning being a sexual assault and Louis' turning being kind of an impulsive, drunken hook-up.

In TotBT, that's a very gross and Bad scene where Lestat and David make pointed comments about how Good, Strong Vampires are made by force (raped) and how that builds character basically. The only other vampire who's involved in all this is Louis, so obviously the implication is that he's morally and mentally weak for asking for and consenting to turning (sex).

With the turning = sex comparison and how weird AR is about being misogynistic (????) towards Louis at every opportunity anyway (my complaints about that here), you get a very distinct image of Louis as the stereotype of the slut who didn't keep her legs, a loose woman basically, which is especially interesting given his background as a Catholic. In this scene he's disparaged but later on, he kind of receives a "punishment" for it.

I think his mind controlled turning of Merrick and romantic relationship with her (both things he's very upset by to the point of contributing to his suicide attempt) mirror the societal idea that "a whore gets what she has coming" eventually and, like in the book Merrick, those voyeurs (AR) sort of revel in it. At the very least it's seen as expected or fair. Even if it wasn't intended this way, I can't help linking the two.

As for Lestat, you get a different story that takes a little longer to come to fruition. The initial "rape" by Magnus is handled in a very sympathetic manner. Magnus is a predator who seeks out beautiful blonde boys and attacks them, and Lestat was innocent in this, stolen from his bed by a monster and violated.

This changes later though, the narrative shifting in Magnus' favor with Lestat saying things like his turning was a "gift" before things come to a head in RoA. In this book, AR actually says through Lestat that he was "asking for it" and that he "seduced Magnus", ostensibly by flaunting his looks and talent on stage and seeking attention. Essentially, it's framed as if he was tempting fate somehow, and Magnus' abduction was the natural result, something he secretly wanted even.

Later in the book, he goes so far as to kiss Magnus, lauding him as an almost divine creature rather than the monster he'd always been described as. That kiss between them feels reminiscent of a hypersexual trauma response, a victim coping by idealizing their abuser, but AR frames it as Lestat’s realization that he was indeed "asking for it" and could accept that now and be grateful. Gross.

As awful and the implications of these things are because of the lack of irony and self awareness (thanks Anne), it really adds to the richness of Louis and Lestat as narrative foils, really two sides of the same coin in so many ways. Like I said in my original post, Louis the Whore Opened Her Legs and Lestat the Slut Who Was Asking For It. Neither of them can win in the world AR created that mirrors our own.

Louis and Lestat both have very prominent aspects of female coding (my thoughts on Louis' here, but this one is maybe the most interesting to me.

[zkaus]

At the back of my copy of The Vampire Armand, there's an old interview with Anne Rice talking about creating that novel. I've never forgotten her answer to one of the questions... It haunted me for years.

It gives incredible insight into how and why she wrote such beautiful, brutal and broken characters, and what she endured in the creation process.

BUT before you read this, I'm going to STRONGLY warn you, it goes to very very DARK places

Q: What are your work habits for a novel?

A: Once I truly begin to write, I work obsessively, in twelve-hour days, punctuated by days of long sleep and vivid dreaming. Starting time and ending time are no longer important. I might begin at 9 A.M., or after noon or at eight in the evening. I go from there. I turn on the computer and write, write, write.

My room is a mess. Notes are scribbled on the walls so that I can look up at them at the appropriate moments and insert the date, the name, whatever, when I need it. Books are stacked so high that people have to search for me when they come into the room. Opened books with marked-up pages are stacked on top of one another.

I become suicidal. I go through a horrid despair some time or other before the final page, during which everything seems meaningless—from the dawn of history to the very hour in which I am writing.

I’m intolerable to live with. But I spread myself thin over a number of loved ones and staff members so that no one person has to put up with how intense, hysterical, and miserable I am.

When I get elated and talk fast and furiously about wonderful aspects of history or the characters, or good developments in the story, people run away from me. I don’t blame them.

While the novel is being written, I try to avoid dressing for outdoors. No one can make you go out if you don’t have shoes on. Not even in the south. I wear long velvet robes and soft velvet slippers. I refuse to go out. All food is brought in. I eat hamburgers because they are easy to hold with one hand while reading and holding the book with the other hand.

In the middle of the night I read, sometimes on the carpeted floor of the bathroom, just because it’s warm. I am wretched. I don’t care anymore about being abnormal. Writing is everything. Everything. It seems impossible to write the book. It seems impossible to lift a hairbrush to brush my hair. But I do it. I put on mascara every day that I write.

This period of intense work lasts about six weeks. It’s best that way. My imagination is overheated, and my memory clogged with data of varying importance. If I go over six weeks, I begin to forget things; I feel the loss of intensity and information and I become all the more self-destructive and obsessed.

The end of the book is a big event for me. A big event. I start screaming. I put the hour and the date at the end of the last page. I expect everybody to understand, at least a little. It’s a triumph! The darkness of destiny has been driven back for a brief while. I celebrate. I scream, eat chocolate, and sleep.

Right near the end of writing The Vampire Armand, I realized I had to return to Italy, especially to Florence, and at once I began to make preparations for the trip. As soon as the novel was finished and off to the publisher’s, as soon as it could be accomplished, I flew to Italy. That gave me hope, a way out of a life threatening darkness that often follows the climax of a book. But I still ate chocolate and screamed.

While writing, I don’t want to rest. I don’t want to sleep. Why sleep? It seems stupid, except when weariness overcomes me like a giant cloud of poisonous vapor. Then I sleep fifteen to twenty hours. I tell people to go in and out of the bedroom and ignore me lying there, as if I were dead. I won’t talk on the phone. I won’t open my eyes if I don’t have to. I dream terrible, upsetting dreams.

I want to kill myself. But I can’t. I can’t do it to other people, and I have work that must be done, novels that must be written. So I don’t kill myself. Besides, I don’t think it’s good to kill oneself. It’s a horrible idea. It has a horrible effect even on acquaintances.

I think a lot about people I loved who are dead. I think of how dead they are, year after year, ever more dead.

[slightlyslytherinthings]

Since when...

Warnings: Light Smut. Sebastian touching himself thinking of Y/N.

Description: Of course all aged up. There are two segments the first one is more an introduction and the secound one a light smut. Last year of the school. Sebastian being the narrator of this ff.

Please give me some feedback it is my first writing, I would love to know where I could improve. And maybe write a next part to it.

🖤🤍💚

Starting a new year and also the last year at hogwarts felt great, knowing that less than 365 days are apart until I can start a career, maybe traveling for awhile or just staying with my dearest twin Anne and with my lovely friends Ominis and Y/N. I wonder how their summer break went?

Speaking of I just seeing them standing at the great hall, "Hey Ominis! Y/N!". "There you are Sebastian, good to hear you again. Hopefully with less trouble than the last years", said Ominis, being cocky as ever. "Hey Sebastian good to see you again, totally missed you on my adventures.", as Y/N greeted me she put her arms around me to hug me thight for a moment.

Even after I spoke the death curse against my own uncle, and Ominis being mad at me, which was understandable, Y/N could manage to make him speak to me again. Not only him, she also convinced Anne to send me owls, she might even want to see me soon again. Y/N was really a true friend, after all I put her through and even after cursing that damned cruciatus curse to get out of the scriptorium, she still kept up with me and my problems. I should give it to her back somehow. Pleading of liking having friends in my debt, I'm surely forever in her debt.

Speaking of feeling her hug I noticed something different, it felt more softer and wasn't she usually bit closer? Merlin. It is her wider chest, which puts us apart, she definitely didn't had them the last two years, what was she drinking- STOP IT! I shouldn't think so inappropriate about her like that. I love her, as a friend, maybe even like a sister or even like a brother since she acts sometimes like one, maybe it was our influence, tho.

But still I shan't think of her like that, even if she truly grew more mature. Who am I to ask her out? She would be definitely better off with someone like Ominis. I must admit the thought of it feels off. Even if both of them deserved to be happy.

I gently got off of her hug, "We should go to the table, shall we?" She smiled at me with a wide grin as she went forward to the end of the slytherin table. Ominis and I followed her, he placed himself next to her and I sat towards her. Unfortunately Imelda Reyes joined us, placed her gossiping ass right next to me. Merlin help me to survive her annoying being. I always wondered how Y/N can be so friendly with her, but thinking of it since she also has no problem with my sorry ass, it might be even a greater superpower to keep up with difficult people than the thing with ancient magic itself.

➽───────────────❥

As the three of us sat outside, waiting for the transfiguration class to begin, a sudden dark cloud rain above us. I actually enjoyed the water drops running down my face, but I noticed the couple of Ominis and Y/n moving fast under the stone roof right before the classroom. "Sebastian please join us under the roof before you're getting a cold, my dear." her softly well sounding voice filled with concern rang through my ears and I followed them, like she was a siren calling a sailor of his boat.

"Are you getting cold? Your clothes are soaking wet.", she asked. "Don't worry, I just know the right spell to dry myself up." I used the hot air charm on myself. "That is a nice spell, do you mind drying my clothes too?"

Even tho she wasn't staying long in the rain, her blouse got a bucket or two full water on her and I could see her skin through it- damn it. Feeling the blood rushing to my cheeks and some other part, I also cast that spell towards her and maybe a bit to much than it needed to be. But it even made it worse, since her blouse got more pressed against her, which defined her gorgeous body even more. Merlin. Would she ever think like that of me too?

The class started and we sat- of course she had to sit next to me. It made it somehow worse, I think Ominis could start to tell that I was all over for her.

"Professor Weasley?", I raised my hand. "Ah yes, Mr. Sallow.", as she answered. I asked, "May you excuse me? I need to go to the toilet right now." - "Mr. Sallow the class just started.", she sighed. "But before an accident happeneds you're dismissed."

I stand up slowly hiding something with my cloak as much possible, I needed to go out of here, these thoughts of her wet skin... these silky fabric touching her nice silhouette, where I deeply wished she would want me to touch her- Merlin, since when had I developed such a desire for her?

I went of to a toilet stall, as fast as I shut the door and locked it. I began to unbotton my trousers and grab my little devil, starting to rubbing it. I pictured every inch of Y/n, her lips oh her sweet shaped lips.. imaging her to bite them because she would see something at me she also desired for so long. Her doe eyes which innocently hide her true nature of being a freak in the sheets.. I bet she isn't innocent at all. And Merlin these breast, what I would give to just get another glimpse. I moved my hand faster as I got more and more scenarios of her, like her blouse get lose and I could see her shoulders, she definitely would get aroused and start moaning if I could kiss them until she get bruises, enough bruises so that anyone knows she enjoys me, only me. I pressed my right hand against the door, thinking of how she would loved being pinned at it while her legs would perfect wrap around me, she would scream my name while I thrust my devil inside of her warm, wet witchhood until she can't walk or even say a word anymore. I would love to see her face while she comes, knowing that I could do that to her- "Merlin, Fuck. Y/N!"

I groaned her name a bit too loudly for a public toilet as I came in my hand. I have luck that no one was around. I cleaned myself in exhaustion and walked back to class. Y/N grin at me, when I rejoined the class.

Merlin, stop smiling at me like that again.

[thetidemice]

Do ya ever think about Andy and Annie's dance during "Rag Dolly" and feel like watching that specific scene on loop AND sorta feeling like doing their little dance with someone at the same time 'cause hhhhh I love it and those sibs a bunch, it's just the somftest and adorablest dance to a likewise comfy song made more so by Andy's singing and I get a genuine burst of serotonin revisiting it (and lowkey that scene/song alone was what got me to watch the musical for the first time a couple years back :> if ya also have knowledge on who animated their dance or any part of Rag Dolly for that matter that'd be cool to learn about too! but I understand if that might end up being a lot to share :0)

AAAH i love love love that sequence so much!! its the cutest dance it has so much character and Andy's voice becoming so gentle and sweet right after singing No Girl's Toy is just the best thing ever. he doesn't even like Babette he's just helping his sister make a good impression.

analysis under the readmore:

what's crazy is looking through this whole book - i'm talking about The Animated Raggedy Ann  & Andy - An Intimate Look at the Art of Animation Its History, Techniques, and Artists by John Canemaker (the linked version has no pictures D-:) - Rag Dolly isn't really mentioned that much, despite being essentially the main theme music.

i would love to tell you more for a fact, but i just can't say for sure who animated it, as a lot of scenes aren't credited individually.

for some songs, like Richard Williams doing No Girl's Toy, Tissa David doing Candy Hearts, Art Babbitt doing Blue, and Emery Hawkins doing Never Get Enough, the artists get a section dedicated to them and the main chunk of animation work they contributed. in the credits of the film, Art Babbitt animates the Camel, Emery Hawkins animates the Greedy, etc etc - they were generally in charge of those character-centric scenes, along with a team of inbetweeners, painters, etc.

there isn't one for Rag Dolly, since it's relatively short and bounces between characters. so basically TAKE ALL OF THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!!!

the ONLY expertise i have is that 1. ive flipped thru john canemaker's book and 2. i love this movie so much

what i CAN do is make wild guesses ^_^ and this first little verse as Ann fidgets with her dress and apron just SCREAMS Tissa David to me. here's a pose from that sequence side-by-side with one of her famous (and one of my favourite) Raggedy Ann drawings.

here's something she notes about Ann's first action sequence of falling off the chair (she was set to work on candy hearts before anything else, to really get to know the characters):

and here's a fantastically convenient gifset from Rag Dolly. EVERYTHING!!! her hair falling in her face, the movement of the fabric, the wonderful sense of timing. also note the lack of eyelashes, which isnt exclusive to one artist or anything, but does pop up in David's drawings:

now to go on a tangent about an artist who could well have worked on that scene, and whom i wish there was some more info about!!!

"The only thing that Disney never understood is that to animate girls, one must be a girl!" - Tissa David believed (along with pretty much the rest of the team) that herself and Chrystal Russell (whose work is woefully sparse in the book but very much present in the movie) were the best animators of 'little Annie'. she also worked on Fern Gully; you can find her credits under her married name, Chrystal Klabunde! she supported Tissa as the primary actor for Raggedy Ann, and her style appears as this distinctive, adorable, muppet-y look throughout the film. these pics are examples of, if not her own drawings, then her stylistic influence in these scenes:

she's credited as animating the playroom dolls, but you can notice her influence in Annie come through from the beginning ('I Look, and What Do I See?') to the end ('Home') of the whole thing. like i said, the credits are never too specific, but if i had to GUESS, then this looks like her stuff. we also know for a fact she worked on the first song because of this lovely set of drawings in the book!

here's the sweetest photo of Didi Conn (Ann's voice) and Chrystal together with some clean-up sheets of a shot right before Rag Dolly - when Ann introduces herself to Babette, 'my name is Raggedy Ann, and this is my brother, Raggedy Andy,' (i still can't confirm whether they're her drawings but i wouldn't be surprised!):

anyway tl;dr: i have no way of knowing for sure who was in charge of it, and no doubt a whole team of artists were involved, (and i'm in no way trying to discredit anyone if i'm wrong) but my best guess is you can thank Tissa David for the first part, and Chrystal Russell (now Chrystal Klabunde) for their dance together - the animation changes subtley between those shots. i wish i had more artists/resources to look at, or god forbid a full breakdown of that scene, but at this point i would bet money on David's part in Annie's little introduction.

also some final appreciation for this silly slide to the ground that Andy finishes with:

anyway i'm SO sorry for going on such a long rant in response to this lovely ask!! and i'm sorry it took so long! it took so long, in fact, that i was actually accepted into university halfway through writing it the other day! so thank you!

i had so much fun playing amateur detective so double thank you!!! again i'm probably wrong about ALL of this but it was a blast to reread sections of the book and rewatch different bits of the movie to sleuth around for clues. i hope whatever i have come up with is of some interest to you, and i hope someone learned something about the wonderful artists behind this movie :-D

chrystal and raggedy ann ^_^

[savagewildnerness]

Part 2 of VII Ancient Magic, Ancient Mysteries - from chapter 9…

Random TVL thoughts time again....

QUESTIONS:

P441 Q So are vampires’ emotions amplified actually due to the demon in their blood, who so desired to FEEL?  Are there further implications to this?

P465 What do you think Lestat thinks about Vampires as pagan Gods, meeting out justice and drinking evildoers’ blood?  I can’t decide if he’d find something morally fitting in it or find it repellant, and he doesn’t say….

I cringe at how Anne describes Eastern philosophy in this section, but I wonder if the TV show might use the differences between Eastern and Western world views in a more nuanced way?

P468 “"I am immortal," he said, "truly immortal. To be perfectly honest, I do not know what can kill me now, if anything. But that isn't the point. I want to go on. I do not even think of it. I am a continual awareness unto myself, the intelligence I longed for years and years ago when I was alive, and I'm in love as I've always been with the great progress of mankind. I want to see what will happen now that the world has come round again to questioning its gods. Why, I couldn't be persuaded now to close my eyes for any reason.”” - Has Marius ever felt TRULY hopeless?  Well, he will in the future… we know…

P469 Marius tells Lestat he needs to live out a mortal lifetime in order to endure… but on TV he is made 14 years later.  34 is not young.  Mozart died at 35.  Marius says Gabrielle is fine (p471) and can endure as she has lived a life, despite her life being a dismal prison in 99% of ways… so Lestat has lived a life on TV… and so he will not *need* to live out a lifetime in New Orleans as Marius tells him he needs to here.�� This seems as though it alters a lot, especially considering Lestat’s Father is also not a motivation for him to go to New Orleans.  Will it merely be as he must get far away from Akasha and Enkil that Lestat will need to go to New Orleans on the show?  Lestat might not even have wandered as a roaming outsider as Marius says if he Nicki lives less time and Lestat goes into The Earth?  So the change is even more striking…

P477 What exactly ought Lestat to learn from watching mortals die?  The cruelty and senselessness of The Savage Garden?

P492 “She and I were walking down a hallway together -- not here but in a place I knew. I think it was a palace in Germany where Haydn wrote his music -- and she spoke casually as she had a thousand times to me. But tell me about all this, what do the people believe, what turns the wheels inside of them, what are these marvelous inventions ... She wore a fashionable black hat with a great white plume on its broad brim and a white veil tied round the top of it and under her chin, and her face was merely beginning, merely young.” - what are the implications of this?  Akasha has planted herself in Lestat’s own memories… It’s very invasive… also Akasha has seen and felt all Lestat has known, loved and experienced, this implies to me…?

Notes:

Bonkers to imagine Alexandria as being only 300 years old!

Immediately when Marius arrives in Alexandria, a “curious feeling” comes over him.  In this section, elders appear to him and Akasha puts thoughts in his mind.  He knows how capable Akasha is to do this with Lestat…

If Marius is turned by Teskhamen, made by Akasha in the first brood - why is he more burned than the elder vampire Marius encounters here, who says he is only 1000 years old (p444) so WAY younger… yet way less burned….?????

Even the old ones question existentially if more vampires ought be made.

P433 Marius talks of feeling the elder’s thoughts, but not being able to hear them - all ties in with TV lore and Madeleine’s words in S2E6.

I didn’t write a huge amount of notes on the first part, but I wrote “Lestattian” over and over again.  Sometimes I worry Marius is *too* like Lestat in how he thinks/. Will this be retained on TV?  Or does Marius need to be more different?

P446 Vampires can hear each other and find each other due to the web/vine of the spirit-blood that connects them… how could this be used on the show?

So many visually striking images of Akasha with Marius and then Lestat!

Why the elder out TWMBK in the sun: “" 'To free myself! To say, "I will keep you no longer. Move. Speak." To see if it was true, the old story, and if it was true, then let us all die in flames.’” P455 & p468 - compare 

“I saw the two possibilities as seductive suddenly -- rousing them or destroying them. Both tempted the mind. I wanted to pierce them and commune with them, and yet I understood the irresistible madness of trying to destroy them. Of going out in a blaze of light with them that would take all our doomed species with it.

Both attitudes had to do with power. And some triumph over the passage of time. "Aren't you ever tempted to do it?" I asked, and my voice had pain in it. I wondered if down in their chapel they heard.”

Interesting that Marius describes that as a mortal he did not know how to kill any living thing… unlike our wolfkiller, Lestat..!

Marius telling the elder he is free reminds me of Lestat telling Armand similar…

They could make Akasha and Enkil so creepy and HORROR vibes, particularly with their existentially terrifying slow movements with time itself passing differently to them; like they are out of time.

Some of Marius’ story feels way more ‘action’ than the ‘existentialism’ of much of TVL.

Pandora knowing what Marius is (p464), is very like Lestat’s dream, (p338) “I’d imagine friendship, conversation, intimacy that we could never have. In some magical and imaginary moment I would say: "But you see what I am," and this human being, in supreme spiritual understanding, would say: "Yes, I see. I understand.””

Love this quote: “"All the stories I have told you are finally as useless as all ancient knowledge is to man and to us. Its images and its poetry can be beautiful; it can make us shiver with the recognition of things we have always suspected or felt. It can draw us back to times when the earth was new to man, and wondrous. But always we come back to the way the earth is now.

"And in this world the vampire is only a Dark God. He is a Child of Darkness. He can't be anything else. And if he wields any lovely power upon the minds of men, it is only because the human imagination is a secret place of primitive memories and unconfessed desires. The mind of each man is a Savage Garden, to use your phrase, in which all manner of creatures rise and fall, and anthems are sung and things imagined that must finally be condemned and disavowed.

"Yet men love us when they come to know us. They love us even now. The Paris crowds love what they see on the stage of the Theater of the Vampires. And those who have seen your like walking through the ballrooms of the world, the pale and deadly lord in the velvet cloak, have worshiped in their own way at your feet.

"They thrill at the possibility of immortality, at the possibility that a grand and beautiful being could be utterly evil, that he could feel and know all things yet choose willfully to feed his dark appetite. Maybe they wish they could be that lusciously evil creature. How simple it all seems. And it is the simplicity of it that they want.

"But give them the Dark Gift and only one in a multitude will not be as miserable as you are.

"What can I say finally that will not confirm your worst fears? I have lived over eighteen hundred years, and I tell you life does not need us. I have never had a true purpose. We have no place.””

Lestat is the very first vampire to go to America, and Louis, the first American vampire!  (Although, Bruce exists on TV, so….)      

I imagined Sam and Rufus Sewell doing these scenes and they were sexy: “"Then come now, with me!" Ah, painful echo of Armand. And of the vain plea from Gabrielle ten years after.

"It's a more tempting invitation than you know," he answered, "but I'd do you a great disservice if I came with you. I'd stand between you and the world. I couldn't help it."

I shook my head and looked away, full of bitterness.

"Do you want to continue?" he asked. "Or do you want Gabrielle's predictions to come true?"

"I want to continue," I said.

"Then you must go," he said. "A century from now, maybe less, we'll meet again. I won't be on this island. I will have taken Those Who Must Be Kept to another place. But wherever I am and wherever you are, I'll find you. And then I'll be the one who will not want you to leave me. I'll be the one who begs you remain. I'll fall in love with your company, your conversation, the mere sight of you, your stamina and your recklessness, and your lack of belief in anything -- all the things about you I already love rather too strongly."

I could scarcely listen to this without breaking down. I wanted to beg him to let me remain.”

#EverydayRomanSexism, Marius on Marius’ views on women *eyeballs to eternity* (p471/2… I shan’t quote it, thanks!)

Quite a few quotes on this section relating to “vampire loneliness”

Interesting that Lestat instantly knows he wants to drink Akasha’s blood to make himself even more immortal… and has just arrived at Marius’ following feeling suicidal (and he shall feel this way again!)

P476 makes me imagine Lestat must be proud on some level when Louis writes the first public account of the vampires, as he has always wanted!

P478 This is why Marius didn’t tell Armand of TWMBK and all of his story “Besides, if these fledglings are children of the Christian god, if they are poisoned as Nicolas was with the Christian notion of Original Sin and guilt, they will only be maddened and disappointed by these old tales. It will all be a horror to them that they cannot accept. Accidents, pagan gods they don't believe in, customs they cannot understand. One has to be ready for this knowledge, meager as it may be. Rather listen hard to their questions and tell them what you must to make them contented. And if you find you cannot lie to them, don't tell them anything at all. Try to make them strong as godless men today are strong. But mark my words, the old legends never. Those are mine and mine alone to tell.””

P480 “We are evil things finally. We are killers. Better that those who unite on this earth be mortal and that they unite for the good.” The show could use this… both comparing to Akahsa and to where they end if they go to the end of all of the books…?

I enjoy how in taking the violin to Akasha, Lestat kind of brings Nicolas to Akasha.  I hate that the violin is broken and crushed and part of me can never forgive Lestat for it… but I also wonder whether in the violin’s destruction…. Does it enable Lestat to let Nicolas go?  (Also, OBVIOUSLY this whole section is Akasha drawing Lestat to her - not Lestat’s action, no matter how guilty he feels.) [Sidenote… if Lestat can play violin so effortlessly… why can’t S2 Louis be The Best Photographer Ever? I mean…. It’s so silly that Lestat could play instantly!]

“And I lifted the violin to my shoulder, braced it under my chin, and lifted the bow. I closed my eyes and I remembered music, Nicki's music, the way that his body had moved with it and his fingers came down with the pressure of hammers and he let the message travel to his fingers from his soul.” Beautifully poetic, if also daft!

Akasha’s mouth is a perfect O which reminds me of Lestat’s first existential crisis in the inn with Nicki “Oh, Oh, Oh!” P56/7

P487 - “I felt the unmistakable sensation of her fangs going into my neck.

Out of every zinging vessel my blood was suddenly drawn into her, even as hers was being drawn into me.

I saw it, the shimmering circuit, and more divinely I felt it because nothing else existed but our mouths locked to each other's throats and the relentless pounding path of the blood. There were no dreams, there were no visions, there was just this, this -- gorgeous and deafening and heated -- and nothing mattered, absolutely nothing, except that this never stop. The world of all things that had weight and filled space and interrupted the flow of light was gone.”

Why don’t vampires make this circuit of mutual blood-drinking more often?  It’s so sexy and feels transcendental… wouldn’t you do it all the time???!?!?

This whole section is such a lovely mix of beauty and horror and will be SO good on TV!!!

P489 “Her presence was all over me like a fragrance, only she had had no fragrance, except that of the incense and the flowers that must have somehow managed to permeate her hard white skin. How strangely fragile she had seemed in spite of that hardness.” - Like Akasha has crawled inside Lestat’s soul…

Lestat apologises over and over, but Akasha made Lestat do this… and Marius knew that this was possible from his own past… and may be part of why he brought Lestat here, no?

The scene where Lestat looks in the mirror I can really imagine on telly…

“I knew that I had come to the most forsaken outpost of the Savage Garden, and that this was my country and I would remain in New Orleans, if New Orleans could only manage to remain. Whatever I suffered should be lessened in this lawless place, whatever I craved should give me more pleasure once I had it in my grasp.

And there were moments on that first night in this fetid little paradise when I prayed that in spite of all my secret power, I was somehow kin to every mortal man. Maybe I was not the exotic outcast that I imagined, but merely the dim magnification of every human soul.

Odd truths and ancient magic, revolution and invention, all conspire to distract us from the passion that in one way or another defeats us all.

And weary finally of this complexity, we dream of that long ago time when we sat upon our mother's knee and each kiss was the perfect consummation of desire. What can we do but reach for the embrace that must now contain both heaven and hell: our doom again and again and again.”

I love this ending and the New Orleans part is also very “I am she, she is me” (or whatever way round that is!)

Also, I think Lestat *is* the (LUMINOUS!) magnification of all our human souls, right…?

[jazlynriddle]

Welcome to your life - Pt 2:

Acting On Your Best Behaviour Ch 27:

Summary:

They'd seen it in their fellow orphans often enough to recognise the pattern and were now forced to admit, despite their hopes to the contrary, that Isidora had likely suffered similar side effects.

No… they'd always known she had. The Keeper had just wanted the power that Ranrok had, enough to convince themselves that they would be able to handle it better than that naive woman.

With the start of the Keeper’s sixth-year in Hogwarts, comes a whole slew of headache-inducing challenges from the most unexpected of places. Between insignificant pests throwing wrenches into their plans and tedious teenage drama, that the Keeper is entirely unprepared for, they wonder if they'll make it to their NEWTs without losing their sanity.

Or worse, Ominis or Sebastian.

Warnings: Sebastian x MC x Ominis! Drug Addiction! Spoilers! Slow-burn corruption! Dark content! Fucked up 1800s orphanages! MC has no love for Anne or Solomon! Dubious happy ending (it's happy for MC, Seb and Ominis at least).

You can also read on AO3! (chapter specific warnings below)

Notes:

Warnings: If you thought last chapter was violent, hoo boy =D we're going pure torture in this one!

And we're in the final stretch peeps! Next chapter will be the last chapter of this instalment in the series, bit of an epilogue bridge to the next part, so it'll be a little shorter than the last few chapters, apologies in advance!

Also, I hope you guys like the art, I'll upload several variations of it in a separate post right here. So, if you're interested in seeing it without blood or without colour or with blood coloured only (which looks really creepy, I found that out by accident and decided to share it too xD), feel free to check them out when the post goes up!

You can also view all variations of the artwork in HD for free on my Patreon page!

“Please, Sallow, I'm sorry! I know we went a little far, but we get it, you guys are better than us!” Macnair's words melded with the choked spluttering coming from the neighbouring cell as Tynx force-fed Selwyn wiggenweld potion. Macnair’s face was ashen, no doubt terrified by the sounds he'd heard from his friend's cell.

“Should've figured that out earlier, shouldn't you.” Sebastian smirked as he drew his wand and flicked it. “Wingardium Leviosa.”

With an ungainly yelp, Macnair was wrenched over to the wall where the shackles, hanging from the wall's rods, immediately clamped themselves snugly around the boy's wrists and ankles.

“Look, we have no quarrel with you, Sallow, just let us go, and we won't tell anyone about this!” Macnair sobbed, tugging uselessly at his restraints.

“Ha! Fat chance, though, I suppose I'll give that you aren't quite as stupid as Selbitch next door.” Sebastian scoffed as he pressed his thumb against the cell door's lock, waiting for a moment for the lock to disengage, before pushing the door open.

Leisurely strolling into the cell, Sebastian unslung the pack from his shoulder, and dropped it onto the floor. Standing before the restrained boy, he hummed thoughtfully, considering where to start first. Honestly, Sebastian was glad they'd brought a change of clothes, he hadn't even started, and his pants were already in need of a change from Ominis’ earlier display. Merlin’s balls, that had been quite something indeed.

After almost a year of hating these two boys’ guts, he was tempted to jump straight into a good old cruciatus, but considering how fast Macnair had begun begging, he doubted that weak mind would last very long. Well, in that case, Sebastian tucked his wand away safely in his pocket.

“Let's see… well, I suppose we could begin with something more traditional.” Sebastian's grin split his face in what must have been a terrifying expression, from the fear in Macnair’s eyes, as he slammed his fist into the boy's cheek without further preamble.

“Gah!” Macnair's body was thrown to the side from the force of Sebastian’s punch, his weight pulling on the restraints and making the cuffs dig into his wrists.

Without giving him a moment's respite, Sebastian grabbed him by the shirt, hoisting Macnair back up for another swing that made him spray blood across Sebastian's pant leg.

Again.

And again.

Again. Again. Again.

Againagainagainagainagain-

Until the boy's face was broken and bloody, his cheeks swelling as purple bruises began to darken his skin. A tooth had flown to the floor at some point, a few actually, Sebastian wasn't sure when that was, but as he leaned back to admire his handiwork, he supposed it didn't particularly matter.

Sebastian laughed, savouring the sight of Macnair’s ugly mug covered in a mess of blood and snot, as he panted from the exertion. His knuckles hurt and he had no idea how much time had passed, but by Merlin did he not care. After months of this stupid bastard being the biggest thorn in his side, after everything these boys had done to both his lovers, even that burn was satisfying.

Breathing heavily, Sebastian flexed his bloodstained hand, stretching the sore joints idly as he took a step back to catch his breath. While Macnair wheezed for air through his broken nose, his partially dislocated jaw hanging open at an angle as a mix of blood, snot and saliva dribbled from his chin.

As his breathing evened out, Sebastian stooped to rummage through the pack he'd left by the door, absently noting that a fair amount of blood had made its way onto himself, he'd probably need to wash his face too before going back to school. Oh well, a matter for later.

“Next... I distinctly remember the two of you fracturing their ribs during your first go at them.” Sebastian huffed as he straightened, pulling a Quidditch bat from the pack. “Ominis might prefer the elegance of magic, but I feel like the personal touch deserves some recognition.”

“Wai’ wai’ wai-” Macnair's words were barely legible as he babbled in a panic, before turning into a screech of pain when Sebastian swung the bat with full force, its head slamming into his ribcage.

Sebastian grinned viciously as he felt the distinct crunch of bones giving way under his bat, the spikes on its side ripping past cloth and digging into meat. At which point, he dragged the bat along Macnair’s torso with a flourish, proceeding to shred the flesh along the boy’s left side with ease.

“Whoo!” Sebastian hefted the gore covered bat onto his shoulder with an exaggerated cheer. “Never played Quidditch, but I'm pretty sure that would've knocked someone off a broom.”

At this point, Macnair was hanging by his wrists, only held upright by the restraints, and shuddering from the immense pain.

The sound of clapping came from the open door, and Sebastian turned to the side to see the Keeper strolling towards the cell, their voice amused. “Ten points to Slytherin, Black would probably finally reinstate Quidditch for such a splendid goal.”

As they stepped into the cell, the reverberating taps of their measured footsteps seemed to strike a fresh wave of fear into Macnair, because he began to whimper, trembling and shrinking into himself.

“Why thank you!” Sebastian beamed brightly, before pausing. “Wait, I thought you didn't know how to play?”

“I don't, but I'm certain I'd enjoy watching you play with anything.” The Keeper chuckled, leaning forward to place a kiss on Sebastian's cheek, unconcerned by the splatters of blood on his freckled skin.

“I see what you did there.” Sebastian snickered.

“And I see that you've been having fun.” The Keeper purred as they took in his artwork.

“Plenty, though I hadn't gotten to his arms yet, didn't think you'd be joining me.” Sebastian shrugged and he could hear the shackles clatter against the rods as Macnair made a futile attempt to draw his arms closer to himself.

“Just as well, I had some ideas for that.” The Keeper leaned down to dig through the pack as well.

“How's Ominis?” Sebastian asked with some concern.

“Probably cuddling with the girls in the greenhouse, he sent me to keep you from accidentally killing one of our first test subjects.” The Keeper stood, clutching five thin, pointed, needle-esque wooden stakes, in their grip and a vial of wiggenweld.

“Come on, I'm not that bad.” Sebastian protested.

“Sure.” The Keeper gave him a small smirk, their eyes pointedly roving over the copious amounts of blood on his person and covering the floor. Sebastian huffed, looking away sulkily as they walked over to Macnair.

The restrained boy tried to shrink away, his back pressing against the wall in his futile endeavour and the Keeper snorted in amusement at the fear in his puffy eyes when they put away their wand. Without much fanfare, they unstoppered the bottle of wiggenweld and grabbed a fistful of Macnair’s hair, yanking his head back and jamming the vial into his mouth.

“Be glad I’m giving you something to stop you from bleeding out right here and now.” The Keeper muttered as he hurriedly swallowed to clear his windpipe for much needed air. At least the stupid boy seemed to realise what the potion was, and drank it with visible relief, though it certainly didn’t last long in the face of their dark sadistic grin.

“Sebastian, put the bat down and give me a hand.” The Keeper gestured for Sebastian to join them as Macnair finished the bottle, gasping for air as his bleeding began to stem.

“Sure.” Sebastian agreed easily, pausing to take the empty vial that the Keeper handed to him as he passed by, dropping both items into the pack, before rejoining them in front of Macnair.

“Hold his hand in place.” The Keeper instructed with a small jerk of their chin.

With a silent nod, Sebastian obediently took Macnair’s right hand, holding it in place with a firm grip. Immediately, the boy whimpered in fear and struggled to tighten his fist defensively. Prying his fingers loose, the Keeper took his index finger and placed the stake's pointed tip under Macnair’s fingernail, before sliding it into the flesh, wedging the stick between his fingernail and his phalanges.

The shriek of pain that left Macnair’s throat was ear shattering, and the Keeper considered investing in a gag. For now, at least, Macnair’s partially dislocated jaw was preventing him from biting his own tongue off by accident.

Sebastian whistled with raised eyebrows as the Keeper slid the thin wood all the way through the second joint of Macnair’s finger, till it touched his knuckles, before snapping the excess wood off, and then bending his finger backwards, leaving the broken wood stuck inside a broken finger that would never bend again. At least not on its own and not without a great deal of pain.

Speaking of pain, the Keeper glared at Macnair, drawing their wand with a roll of their eyes. “Really? Wake up ya puss! Rennervate.”

With a gasp, Macnair was dragged back into consciousness and immediately began hyperventilating from the sheer agony that he had reawoken to. With a snicker, Sebastian promptly backhanded the panicking boy to snap him out of it.

“Welcome back to the land of the living.” Sebastian grinned widely as awareness returned to Macnair’s eyes. “For now.”

Macnair whimpered, trembling as blood dripped from the tip of his finger, struggling to keep the digit still, despite the pain forcing his muscles to spasm, for every minute twitch resulted in even more stabs of shooting pain.

“What are those anyway?” Sebastian asked to distract himself, as the Keeper moved on to the next finger, his stupid horny brain happily substituting the elegant way their slender fingers slid the wood in with something very different.

“Garden stakes, Ominis uses these to support seedlings.” The Keeper glanced at Macnair’s face, amused by the way his eyes rolled up into his head as they worked.

“Guessing you didn't clean these.” Sebastian chuckled, watching them stab another dirt crusted stake in with a raised eyebrow.

“For these dirty purists? Why would I?” The Keeper asked airily as they snapped the last stake, completing the set and dropping his thoroughly broken fingers. “Well, fancy that, now you won't be able to attack my elves, you piece of shite.”

Taking a step back, the Keeper kicked Macnair in the shin, jostling him from his pain clouded haze and drawing another whimper from him.

“Oh? I don’t get to do the other one?” Sebastian asked curiously, releasing his grip on Macnair’s hand as well, letting it drop into its shackle, and making the boy’s breath wheeze through his broken nose as he struggled to stop his arm from tensing up.

“And force my elves to feed him? Too much trouble, he can have his non-dominant hand just for that.” The Keeper snorted with a wave of their hand.

“Oh well, suppose there’s always Selwyn.” Sebastian snickered, following the Keeper to their side, and giving Macnair’s stiff fingers a casual flick as he passed, getting a strangled cry for his trouble.

“So, what's next?” Sebastian asked, his voice warm in the Keeper's ear as he dropped his chin onto their shoulder, wrapping his arms around their waist, and nuzzling against the crook of their neck like a contented puppy. The sharp and familiar scent of blood followed him like a cloak, and they found it suited their lover quite fine.

“This.” The Keeper drew their wand and gave it a swish, opening Macnair’s shackles and dropping the boy onto the ground.

The sensation of falling made him instinctively raise his hands to catch himself and, naturally, the moment his right hand hit the floor, Macnair released a shrill scream. Immediately he collapsed onto his left side to take the weight off his hand, which then bent his broken ribs under his body, and a high-pitched wheeze whistled from his nose as he cradled his hand to his chest.

“Well, that looked painful.” Sebastian commented blithely, peering down at the boy's shuddering body with a mildly bemused expression.

“That hurt, ya toff?” The Keeper jeered mockingly, their old street urchin drawl unconsciously slipping back into their speech as they ground their heel into the side of Macnair’s head.

Sebastian blinked in surprise, his grip on them loosening, and he gazed curiously at his partner as they lifted their foot from Macnair’s head, before slipping from Sebastian's embrace.

He hadn't heard them speak like that before, which was saying something considering everything they'd been through together. There was a surprising roughness to their voice, although, thinking about it now, it should have been expected, considering their background. Had they been masking their accent this whole time?

“Oi, pay attention.” The Keeper crouched in front of Macnair, grabbing a fistful of his hair with a disgusted sneer and raising his head to look up at them with tears in his eyes. “Now, listen here, ya meater, cos I'm only gonna say this once. If ya want me to remove ‘em stakes, prove it. Beg.”

Sebastian felt his throat go dry as the Keeper dropped the boy’s head, wiped their hand off on the back of his shirt, and stood once more, clearing their throat.

Whatever the case, the Keeper's unrefined timbre and haughty manner was doing all sorts of things to Sebastian. What was up with his preferences anyway? Aristocratic, elegant Ominis and barbaric, savage Keeper, those were on two very different ends of the spectrum. Then again, cold-blooded, violent Ominis had been great too.

Or maybe he just liked anything from his lovers, that probably made more sense.

“...pl- please- it- it hurs-” Macnair rasped, reaching his bloody hand towards them, his words coming out strangely through his missing teeth and askew jaw.

The Keeper's expression was unimpressed. “I rate that a P for pathetic, you'll have to try harder than that. Convince me that you understand your place at my feet.”

Macnair looked like he was struggling to think through the pain. “I- I'm... sorry. We- we were wrong, w- we shouldn't, shouldn't have attacked- you. Y- you're... better... than- than us.”

The Keeper barked a laugh, his face was hilarious, scrunching up further and further with disgust with every word from his trembling lips. Completely not believable, but that was alright, it was entertaining enough simply making him say things so contradictory to his reality. He'd come to mean it eventually.

“Not good enough, what exactly are you apologising for?” The Keeper's smirk was wide and taunting, and Sebastian curiously noted that their accent had returned to normal. Had they noticed their slip?

“F- for, ah, for the st- stairs, a- and the um, the spells, poison a- and traps- and... and um, the melt powder-” Macnair was clearly struggling to recall what he'd even done, perhaps expected from someone so lacking in understanding of consequences, however...

“Melt powder?” The Keeper blinked in confusion.

“Was there something like that?” Sebastian echoed.

“Where'd you two put it?” The Keeper asked the heap at their feet.

“Er- um, the chair you u- usually s- sit on... in t- the Three Broomsticks-” Macnair stammered.

“...I'm guessing Melt powder melts anything it comes into contact with?” The Keeper grinned.

“Y- yes? We- put it after... after some customers left..." He replied, his breath shaky and laboured.

“You do realise that Sirona cleans her tables manually, right?” The Keeper snickered in amusement. “She would easily have noticed the chair beginning to corrode and replaced or cleaned it while clearing the table, before the next set of customers sat in it.”

“Wow, you guys really wanted to be a pain in the arse, eh?” Sebastian snickered and the Keeper shot him a bemused glance, before he cleared his throat and shook his head. “Sometimes I find it amazing that you guys did any damage to us at all.”

“Well, if one has a one percent chance of succeeding, and throws out a hundred bad ideas, one of them would succeed, that's probability.” The Keeper shrugged. “Their advantage was the sheer length of time they'd had to attack us. And the fact that they have no life and nothing better to do.”

Macnair shot them a glare at their words and the Keeper smirked broadly, inviting him to retort, pleased when he cowed before it.

“Anyway, that's besides the point.” The Keeper shook their head, eyeing Macnair expectantly. “You're still missing your latest and most severe transgression.”

Macnair frowned in confusion, his eyes darting about as he mentally searched for what they might be referring to. Sebastian rolled his eyes when Macnair’s glanced towards the cell door, where Tynx was silently standing, and then promptly slid away without registering the elf's existence.

“I- the... trying to- to p- punch you?” Macnair tried.

“Close, you tried to damage something of mine yesterday. I would have your apology for that.” The Keeper's eyes narrowed when their hint saw no light of recognition in his eyes, their patience beginning to thin. “My elf.”

They'd even mentioned it before, and the little purist still didn't consider violence against their elves as an insult to the Keeper. Truly spoiled rotten. They were beyond relieved that Ominis hadn't turned out like this one.

“...Elf?" Macnair’s expression was so bewildered, it would almost be comical if it didn't piss the Keeper off so badly. “You- ...why? I- it's a house elf..."

“And that elf is still my property. Insult and harm to anything of mine is an insult to me. So, apologise.” The Keeper growled.

“I- ...to an elf? Wha- you're crazy..." Macnair shook his head drunkenly, clearly having mistaken Tynx for Tibsy.

Bloody shite couldn't even tell the differences between elves, the Keeper sneered, this whole thing was just making them increasingly disgusted with this boy.

“Sebastian.” The Keeper said instead, glaring down at Macnair with disdain. “You can have the other hand.”

Sebastian's face lit up, and the sound of his footsteps encroaching seemed to remind the battered boy of the situation he was in.

“N- no no! I-” He cast Sebastian a fearful glance before swallowing, his face scrunched up with discomfort as he forced the words out. “I'm- I'm s- sorry for- for... I think- throwing a- a tray... at- at your elf..."

The Keeper snorted, clever, apologising to them rather than to the elf, though they supposed that was indeed what they'd demanded.

“Still terrible, but it'll do I suppose. Very well, I'll remove them.” The Keeper sighed as they drew their wand, Macnair’s expression lightening with relief at their words.

Sebastian hummed curiously from where he'd stopped beside the boy. “How are you going to take the stakes out, love? They're broken off inside.”

The Keeper raised an eyebrow at him. “Take them out? That's impossible, silly.”

“Huh? But you said..." Sebastian looked about as bewildered as Macnair did.

“I said I'd remove the stakes, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.” The Keeper grinned, enjoying the look of dawning horror on Macnair’s face at their words. Stepping onto his wrist and pinning his hand, splayed out on the floor, they pointed their wand down. “Diffindo.”

Macnair shrieked in pain as the Keeper's spell sliced off his thumb, and the severed finger rolled away from the force of the blood spraying from it. The swollen digit wrapped around a wooden stake, almost looked like a juicy sausage on a skewer, slathered in ketchup and ready to be roasted over a fire.

Sebastian burst into laughter as the Keeper systematically severed each joint, one at a time, until Macnair finally passed out from the pain.

“Alright, that was a good one.” Sebastian wheezed as he collected himself with a satisfied sigh.

“Why thank you.” The Keeper chuckled as they lifted their foot and glanced towards the cell door. “Yes, Tynx?”

After a wary glance at Macnair’s crumpled form, Tynx bowed his head towards them apologetically. “I'm sorry Master, but even after the two vials, I don't think the brown-haired boy will survive the night.”

“I see. It's fine, I'll take a look at him.” The Keeper frowned and gestured at Macnair. “Just drop this one on the cot and then clean this mess up.”

Tynx nodded as the Keeper stepped over Macnair’s back and left without a second glance.

Stopping to grab his pack, Sebastian quickly slung it over his shoulder and followed them into the other cell. Finding the Keeper crouched by Selwyn's twisted form, his body resembling that first layer of wilted lettuce that everyone throws away, and his breath whistling like a kettle.

“Hm, I somehow doubt an Emendo would fix him up enough. Even if the rib goes back in, his lung's still punctured.” The Keeper frowned thoughtfully as they examined his injuries.

“I suppose it's not surprising, Blainey did say that you were in real danger… that time.” Sebastian grimaced at the memory. Honestly, if Ominis hadn't fucked Selwyn up for what he'd said, Sebastian would have done it himself. “Can't say I care if he dies from these injuries, it'd serve him right.”

“That would be fairly poetic.” The Keeper agreed with a chuckle, heaving a sigh as they stood.

“However, I'd rather have him alive than not. One sample does not a hypothesis make.” The Keeper sardonically quoted an old friend. “Only having one test subject until we have time to hunt down another would be inconvenient.”

“We could ask Ominis to heal him, he's been studying under Blainey for a month now, perhaps he might know a way to keep this one alive.” Sebastian suggested.

The Keeper frowned, recalling how affected Ominis had seemed. They wouldn't want to push him too far out of his comfort zone too fast and undo all the progress they'd made. While they would love to have him work alongside them, it brought them no joy to see their lover suffer.

“No, I don't want to push him to do anything he's not comfortable with, and he might force himself to, if we asked.” The Keeper shook their head and folded their arms.

“Good point.” Sebastian sighed, remembering how Ominis had forced himself to follow them into the catacombs, understanding now how much that must have pained him to do.

“I don't suppose you remember any of the spells Blainey cast on me?” The Keeper asked hopefully.

“Sadly no, I was a little distracted.” Sebastian snorted dryly, before blinking. “Oh, I do remember watching Blainey teach Ominis the Diagnostic Charm though, I think I should be able to cast it.”

Sebastian pulled out his wand and flicked it at the unconscious boy. “Diagnosa.”

The Keeper watched him expectantly for a few moments, before asking. “Well? Did it work?”

“Well... yes, it did work, and there's a lot of words-” Sebastian gave them a chagrined smile. “But I have not a single clue what they mean.”

The Keeper rolled their eyes, about to speak when they heard footsteps and a sigh.

“Diagnosa.” Ominis voice preceded him as he stepped out from behind the wall, looping around into the cell, his wand pointed at Selwyn's crumpled form. “He's got a Pulmonary Edema, a fractured humerus, a dislocated knee, as well as several assorted abrasions and contusions.”

“Pulmonary Edema?” The Keeper asked curiously.

“It's when the lungs fill with blood from broken vessels and other fluids.” Ominis explained as he stepped forward to stand beside them. “That's the one that will kill him within several hours.”

“Imagine there's a lot he'd like to get off his chest right about now.” Sebastian grinned.

At the terrible joke, the Keeper snorted, and Ominis sighed once more.

“So, how long were you eavesdropping this time?” The Keeper asked with an amused and knowing smile, eyeing their nosy lover fondly.

“...Selwyn will die if I don't help him and that's bad. But you don't want to force me to heal him.” Ominis chuckled sheepishly, trying, and failing, to smother the gratitude softening his smile.

It had made him happy to hear their consideration of his feelings, even at the expense of their progress. Being put before a goal was quite a novel experience for Ominis and it was starting to sink in that, despite their pragmatic personality, the Keeper genuinely prioritised both him and Sebastian ahead of everything else, to a baffling extent.

Something Sebastian hadn’t done for him when searching for a cure for Anne last year and something his parents would never do, for their lineage was worth more to them then Ominis himself. At least Sebastian had the death of a close sibling on the line when his best friend trampled on Ominis’ feelings. It was a bittersweet joy to have such unconditional love from someone who had known him for a mere two years, instead of his family.

“Honestly, I'll never understand how you can move so silently.” Sebastian shook his head, rousing Ominis from his thoughts and he smiled wryly.

“You'd make a great assassin.” The Keeper chuckled, bumping shoulders with him casually, reminding themselves never to let Garreth discover Ominis’ talent. The redhead might end up dead if he tried too hard to drag Ominis into pranking.

Ominis shook his head. “No thanks, I think I'll stick to being your resident Healer for- ...for test subjects.”

This time, it was Sebastian and the Keeper who were staring at him in shock.

“Wait, what!?” Sebastian exclaimed.

“Are you certain? What brought this on?” The Keeper scrutinised him warily. “I meant it when I said that I don't want you to force yourself.”

Ominis smiled softly, reaching a hand towards them, and feeling the Keeper's slip into it. “I was honestly already feeling like I wanted to contribute, but still didn't want to really join in on the... experimentation. This way, I get to help, and practise my healing.”

He left out the part where he felt like reducing the duration of the subjects’ pain, would probably make him feel better about looking the other way while people were being hurt. As well as the even more shameful desire to prolong Selwyn's suffering, this was too little punishment for the scum to rest in peace.

“I see. I'm glad to hear that.” The Keeper smiled, pressing a kiss to his knuckles, things couldn't possibly be going any better. They enjoyed the sight of his cheeks flushing for a moment, before tentatively asking. “Do you know how to heal Selwyn's injuries?”

“Yes, healing a Pulmonary Edema was one of the first things I asked Blainey to teach me.” Ominis nodded with a tremble to his smile. “I never want to feel that helpless again.”

The Keeper's eyes softened, tugging him into their arms, and feeling his fingers grasp their robes for comfort as they held him. They still felt bad for making their boys feel that way, even if it wasn't exactly their fault. They knew that they wouldn’t have been able to handle being in their lovers’ position if something like that happened to one of the two.

“Between the two of you, I'm starting to feel left out.” Sebastian placed a hand on his hip with a sigh, and the Keeper felt Ominis chuckle against their collar, loosening their grip around his shoulders upon feeling him pull away.

They smiled in amusement when Sebastian yelped as Ominis swiftly turned towards him, took him by the lapels, pulled him closer, and pressed their lips together, all in one smooth motion. Sebastian released a muffled sound of surprise, before closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around Ominis’ waist.

After a few moments, Ominis pulled back to breathe, flashing a teasing smile. “You know, if you want something, you can just ask for it.”

Sebastian's cheeks were bright pink as he blinked in a bit of a daze, nodding mutely, before murmuring. “Mm. Then, I want another kiss.”

With that, Sebastian pulled Ominis back in, tilting his head to the side to deepen the kiss and running his hands up along Ominis' back, pressing their chests together, and threading his fingers into those neat blond strands. Merlin, he loved messing up Ominis’ meticulously combed hair, loved that he could do so without fear of death.

The Keeper watched them for a moment, before smiling wryly. “Um, guys, Selwyn is still dying over here.”

The large doors to the Three Broomsticks creaked as the Keeper pushed them open, relieved to be out of the encroaching summer heat. Glancing around, they noted how empty the bar was, with only a handful of regulars who lived in the village seated sparsely about the room, likely due to exams being a mere two weeks away, most students would probably be in the library or study rooms on a Sunday.

“Natty.” The Keeper nodded in greeting as they spotted her, taking a few steps to the right and seating themselves beside their friend.

“Hey there, looks like a quiet day for Sirona, doesn't it?” Natty tilted her head towards the inner region of the bar.

“Yeah, exams right around the corner.” The Keeper leaned back against their chair with a sigh.

“I imagine it's a relief to be unbothered whilst studying.” She smiled wryly as she folded her arms on the table comfortably.

“Oh, you don't say.” The Keeper replied with a dry grin.

At this moment, in barrelled Garreth, with an arm around Amit's shoulder, followed by Poppy with a sheepish grin. Spotting the two seated, Garreth released Amit and raised a bottle he’d apparently been holding in his hands.

“My friends! We have achieved our goal! Today is a day of celebration!” Garreth proclaimed grandly.

The Keeper snorted as the three took their seats. “I suppose so.”

“Come on, we chased off those two bullies, you can be a little enthusiastic about something for once.” Garreth grinned as he set his bottle on the table. “But do not fret my socially stunted friend, I have something that'll put the spring in your step!”

The Keeper eyed the bottle warily. “Do I even want to know what's in there?”

“That, my friend, is our celebration drink! I've finally finished development of my Fizzing Whizzbrew!” Garreth proudly presented the bottle with a flourish, as though it were fine wine.

“If you think anyone in their right mind would try that with exams right around the corner, you're barmy.” Natty shook her head exasperatedly.

“Aw, come on!” Garreth protested.

The Keeper glanced at Natty with a bemused expression. “Fancy that, you're picking up our lingo.”

Natty paused, before smiling sheepishly. “Ah, I suppose so, I have been studying with Poppy for our exams after all.”

“You have, have you.” The Keeper grinned, their gaze sliding over to Poppy who cleared her throat.

“Well, I'm sure you've been spending your time studying with Ominis and Sebastian.” Poppy retaliated with a knowing smile.

The Keeper gave a rare full bellied laugh, finding themselves rather relieved that Poppy had recovered enough to tease them. “I suppose I can't deny that.”

“Hm, now that you mention it..." Garreth's eyes flicked back and forth between his friends, humming thoughtfully, before asking in a half-joking tone. “You do spend a lot of time with those two, you guys going out or something?”

“Oh, come on.” Amit shook his head, his expression making it clear how likely he thought that was, while Natty and Poppy glanced at each other.

The Keeper blinked, surprised that Garreth had caught on so quickly, they'd have to be careful with that one. Though, they supposed they wouldn't be shaking this group of friends any time soon and said friends had proven that they could keep secrets within their circle just fine. It’d probably be better to make things clear, to prevent something unexpected from happening again.

With a grin and a shrug, the Keeper nodded. “Good guess.”

There was a moment of silence, that passed as Garreth and Amit stared at the Keeper in shock.

“Wait, really?” Garreth exclaimed. “I was just joking around! Wait, which one?”

“Both of them.” The Keeper chuckled, propping their elbow on the table, and resting their chin against their knuckles.

Garreth whistled with a teasing grin. “Damn, you're a greedy one, ain't ya?”

“Any reason why I shouldn't be?” The Keeper shot back daringly, and he laughed loudly.

“Absolutely none, grats mate!” Garreth chortled, slapping them on the back with enough enthusiasm to knock the Keeper’s chin off their arm.

“Merlin, two partners.” Amit shook his head. “I feel like one would already be so exhausting.”

“It's not so bad, it does take more energy, but it's... nice.” The Keeper smiled, unable to restrain the softness in their voice as they spoke. Poppy giggled at the adorable expression, while Natty sighed, wondering how on earth she'd mistaken that as the Keeper having feelings for Poppy.

“I'll take your word for it my friend, but I'll stick to my stars, for those need only be gazed upon, for their beauty to move hearts and sway souls.” Amit sighed dreamily.

Natty glanced at Poppy, before murmuring to herself. “...there are people like that too...”

“Hm? Did you say something?” Poppy asked, peering at Natty, confused when her friend looked away.

“It's nothing.” Natty shook her head, clearing her throat and trying to remember the topic they’d been on before this detour, when her eyes landed on the bottle still on the table. “A- anyway, while I think we're all happy to have successfully chased off the bullies, we should save the drink for after our exams.”

Garreth groaned, dropping his head on the table. “Come on, it's freshly brewed and all!”

“I'm sure a high-class brewer like yourself can find a means of keeping it fresh for a month.” Amit eyed Garreth flatly, his voice dry and goading.

“Ack- of course I can! And I will!” Garreth exclaimed, lifting his head to glare defiantly at Amit. “You'll see, this brew will knock you right off your feet!”

Poppy giggled, patting Amit on the shoulder. “Well done, I'm very impressed.”

“A skill honed upon repeated trauma, I'm afraid.” Amit sighed long-sufferingly. “I think I’ve lost half my lifespan in the last two years.”

“I do wonder what actually happened to those two bullies though. There's so many rumours, I'm not sure which to believe.” Poppy mused.

“Didn't Macnair attack our friend after reading a letter?” Garreth rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I'd put more stock in the rumours that he was going to be disowned, so they got drunk and ran away.”

“Hopefully, wherever they went, they'll think twice before hurting others again.” Natty nodded, folding her arms with a satisfied air about her.

The Keeper snorted, thinking of Tibsy. “Knowing them, they'd still need to learn that the hard way again, because they're stupid.”

“True, it took so long to drive them off, they're probably really stubborn.” Poppy sighed.

“Well, we won in the end, whatever happens to those two from this point forward isn't our problem anymore.” Natty smiled, patting Poppy on the shoulder. “Now we can focus on our exa-”

“And that's worth celebrating!” Garreth cut her off with a wide grin, slapping a hand on the Keeper's shoulder. “In fact, we should invite this one's boyfriends to join our celebration too!”

Poppy's eyes widened. “Oh, that's true, wasn't Ominis getting targeted by those two as well?”

“...That's actually rather thoughtful of you, Garreth.” Natty's eyebrows raised in surprise.

Amit eyed the redhead, shaking his head and muttering quietly. “I don't think that's..."

“Of course! The more people who get to try my Fizzing Whizzbrew, the better!” Garreth grinned proudly and Amit sighed.

“And here I thought well of you for a moment there.” Natty gave a long-suffering groan as she rubbed her forehead.

“It's not a bad idea though, it'd be nice to get to know the two boys better, perhaps you could invite them for us?” Poppy asked, giving the Keeper a small smile.

“If you guys are really alright with that?” The Keeper asked, glancing around the table, and receiving several nods, before scrutinising Poppy. Finding no hesitation, the Keeper nodded. “Sure, I'll pass it on.”

Poppy giggled. “It'll be fun to see how the three of you are like together.”

The Keeper smiled wryly. “I doubt we're that much different.”

Poppy flashed a knowing smile. “Oh, I'm not sure about that.”

Raising their eyebrow, the Keeper was still wondering what she was up to, when Natty, who had been staring at Garreth with narrowed eyes while the Keeper and Poppy talked, spoke. “You know... this is the third time you've directed the conversation away from our exams, Garreth.”

Immediately Garreth let out a loud laugh and shook his head. “I have no idea what you're talking about, Natty!”

“Uhuh.” Natty tipped her chin up disbelievingly. “Then you wouldn't mind if I asked how your studies are coming along, considering that you apparently only just finished developing that drink.”

Garreth's grin became strained as he waved a hand dismissively. “O- of course I wouldn't mind! It's, well, I was just working on my Whizzbrew in-between studying, you know, it's bad to overstress your body by being tense for very long and a little recreation can do wonders for one's focus and attention spa-”

“So, which chapter of Planning Plant Planters have you been studying for Herbology?” Natty asked, derailing his ramble with a direct question.

“Er- that is, well, of- of course, I have been studying... chapter..." Garreth's eyes darted about anxiously, and the Keeper was amused by how similar he was behaving to the way Macnair had yesterday, before he was forced to finish his sentence with a hopeful. “Te- twelve?”

The table was silent for several moments.

“Garreth.” Amit spoke with his eyes closed, before reaching a hand out and placing it on Garreth's shoulder, looking the redhead dead in the eyes. “...there's only eight chapters in that book.”

“Ah... aha ha... of- of course, I knew that, I- I just, I meant-” Garreth tried, glancing at the stony faces around the table, slumping over in defeat for several breaths, before lifting his head with a defiant glare. “Look. Grades aren't everything, did I learn how to make this amazing drink in class?”

He held up his bottle emphatically. “No. I figured that out on my own. Did professors teach me how to craft the perfect prank? Did school teach me how to read behavioural patterns and spot the right time to steal things? No, that was all me!”

“You say that like anything you just described was a good thing.” Natty commented in a deadpan voice.

“You haven't even tried it!” Garreth protested, hugging his bottle protectively, as though its feelings would be hurt by her words.

“Alright then, I guess we'll meet up to celebrate on the Sunday after our exams?” Amit asked as he pushed his chair back in preparation to stand.

“Yeah, that works.” Natty nodded.

“Sounds good.” Poppy laughed cheerfully.

“Sure.” The Keeper smiled in amusement.

“Very good, then let's go.” Amit nodded and took Garreth by his upper arm to drag him from his chair.

“Wait- where-” Garreth asked in confusion.

“The Library.” Amit flashed a dark grin that would have been more at home on Sebastian's face.

“Wha- see, I actually already happen to have an appointment wit-” Garreth backed away in fear.

“Oh no you don't. It's my turn.” Amit smiled innocently as he grabbed Garreth by the hood of his robes and dragged him towards the door with a parting wave at the group. “See you guys in class tomorrow!”

“All the best, Amit.” Natty flashed a wry smile.

“Bye Amit!” Poppy giggled with a small wave. “Have fun!”

“Good luck, Garreth.” The Keeper sniggered as Amit pushed open the door and dragged Garreth through, protesting all the way.

Peaceful silence returned to the atmosphere as the doors swung lightly, gradually returning to rest together.

“Guess I'll go find Sebastian and Ominis, then.” The Keeper hummed, giving the girls a questioning look.

“Sure, Natty and I will probably study here since it's pretty quiet today.” Poppy nodded while Natty pulled a few books from her bag.

“Say hi to the boys for us?” Natty asked tentatively.

“And don't forget to invite them to the after-exam party!” Poppy added.

“Yeah, I will. See you two tomorrow then.” The Keeper nodded as they stood, giving the girls a parting wave as they left the establishment.

An after-exam party, eh? The Keeper mused to themselves, it'd be interesting to see their boys interact with their friends, hopefully the two would agree to join them.

Notes:

Ominis: Gah! Sebastian! Is that blood on your face!? Sebastian: You didn't notice? Ominis: The whole bloody cell smells like blood, of course I didn't notice! Sebastian: Hey, you kissed me without warning, it's not my fault. Ominis: That's- well, I suppose you've got a point. ...I smell awful. Sebastian: Shall we take a bath in the lake before heading back? Keeper: Now you're just looking for an excuse to see him naked. Sebastian: Guilty as charged. Ominis: Ugh, let's just get this healing over with so I can be clean again. *Selwyn screaming* Sebastian: Ouch, that looks painful. Keeper whispering: Just be glad he didn't realise there's blood in his hair. Ominis: There is what in my hair!? Sebastian: And he heard you. Thanks. Keeper: ...sorry.

Credits to always_drarry for the ‘Selbitch’ idea! xD

The Keeper's accent is something I felt would slip out in a scenario more reminiscent of their childhood world and would probably slip out when in such an physically aggressive state rather than magically aggressive. Hopefully it didn't feel too jarring xD

By the way, am I the only one who thinks Quidditch bats look like great torture implements? No? Oh okay... ahem, yeah the Keeper doesn't know much about Quidditch since it was on hiatus when they enrolled xD

Also, Amit is celestialsexual, change my mind.

Man, I always thought I was a little messed in the head, but some of these torture ideas my partner has been giving me, hoo- It's great for writing but I feel like I can't say I'm messed in the head anymore. They pretty much came up with 70% of the torture methods in this chapter, the wooden skewers, wow.

And of course, vigilante justice should also be a last resort, as it is here. And while I believe that "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" should be legally available to everyone if they seek it, the Keeper is definitely going over what would be considered as equal renumeration. Misdirected vengeance for previous injustices will do that to a person, so while it's understandable and that's why I'm writing it, I'm obviously not advocating such behaviour unchecked in reality.

[legends-of-time]

Amelia’s Story (BBC Merlin Story)

Chapter 31: The Last Dragonlord

Masterlist

Anne's POV

Anne hasn't had time to think about the loss of Amelia. She does not like describing it as a loss as it implies that Amelia had died and she has not. Merlin had freed the Dragon, holding up to his promise, but the Dragon, upset with what Uther had done to him, proceeded to attack Camelot in revenge. Despite only going through the attacks by the Dragon a couple of nights so far, Anne feels it has been much longer than this.

She can hear the people in the Square screaming as she works with Gaius and Gwen in the Infirmary that they had set up. They are overwhelmed by the injured and Anne can see that the people are mentally, as well as physically exhausted, from the attacks.

"I don't think people can suffer a third night of this." Anne hears Gwen say as she passes with a bowl of water.

"We must trust in Arthur," Anne replies. And Merlin, she adds in her head.

"I do," Gwen argues. "But even he has little chance."

Anne does not know what to say to her.

——

"We have no clean water left," Anne notes to Gaius and Gwen after checking their supply.

"I know, but it's too dangerous to go out there," Gaius replies. Gwen heads for the door anyway.

"Gwen! Don't!" Gaius yells.

"I'll go after her," Anne says and runs after Gwen. She cannot leave Gwen out there on her own. She thinks she hears Gaius yell after her.

She catches up with Gwen and the two of them take a bucket each to the well in the Square, stepping over the rubble while everyone else flees. Anne looks up fearfully as she sees the Dragon flying overhead. They begin to draw from the well.

"Guinevere! Anne!" Anne hears Arthur yell over the noise. She and Gwen turn and see the Dragon heading in for another attack in their direction. They run with Arthur running just behind. The Dragon swoops and catches Arthur, who cries out in pain, causing them to fall. Arthur grabs Gwen's hand and they run for cover but Anne lingers knowing that where Arthur is, Merlin cannot be far behind. Merlin jogs out into the Square and Anne sighs in relief at the sight of him.

"Flēogé! Gar!" Merlin chants and throws a magical spear at the Dragon. It glances off the Dragon. Anne's hopes dash at the lack of injury that has done.

"Do not imagine that your petty magic can harm me!" The Dragon growls and then flies off.

"Why are you doing this?! You're killing innocent people!" Merlin yells after him.

"Merlin!" Anne yells. He looks at her and she gestures for him to follow her inside.

——

Anne and Merlin approach Gaius. Anne spots Gwen and Arthur gazing at one another and smiles to herself.

"Are either of you hurt?" Gaius asks them. Anne shakes her head.

"There's nothing I can do. My magic is no good. It doesn't work." Merlin tells him quietly.

"Which means I'm no help either," Anne adds irritably.

"Dragons aren't monsters. They're creatures of wonder and magic." Gaius explains. "You must realise that they're immune to your powers."

Anne shakes her head. What are they going to do?

——

Arthur, Uther, Knights, and advisors meet the next day. Anne stands next to Gaius and Merlin at the side of the room.

"The dead number 49 men, 27 women, a further 18 women and children are unaccounted for," Arthur reports sombrely. "Most of last night's fires are now out. The Castle walls, in particular, the western section is near to collapse, I could go on."

"Do we have any further idea on how the beast escaped?" Uther asks.

"I regret to say, Sire, we don't." Sir Leon replies. Anne glances at the guilty look on Merlin's face and has to fight the urge to comfort him.

"There must be some way to rid ourselves of this aberration." Uther declares, looking out a window before glancing around the room while Arthur plonks himself down in a chair. "Gaius?"

"We need a Dragonlord, Sire," Gaius replies. Anne looks at him surprised. It sounds a bit too magical for Uther's liking.

"You know very well that's not an option." Uther dismisses.

"Sire, what if... there was, indeed, one last Dragonlord left." Gaius continues slowly.

"That's not possible."

"But if there was."

"What are you saying?" Uther demands as he slowly walks towards Gaius before stopping halfway.

"It may just be a rumour," Gaius admits.

"Go on."

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think his name is Balinor," Gaius says. Anne feels like Gaius knows more than what he's saying.

"Balinor?"

"Where does he live?" Arthur asks.

"He was last seen in Cenred's Kingdom in the border town of Enged, but that was many years ago," Gaius replies.

Arthur stands. "If this man still exists, then it is our duty to find him."

"Our treaty with Cenred no longer holds. We are at war. If they discovered you beyond our border, they would kill you." Uther argues.

"I will go alone..." Arthur declares.

"No." Uther denies.

"...that way I will not be detected."

"No, Arthur. It is too dangerous." Uther insists.

"More dangerous than staying here?" Arthur counters. "I'll not stand by and watch my men die when I have the chance to save them."

"I have given you my orders." Uther persists.

"Do not make this a test of wills, Father." Arthur urges.

"I'm not talking to you as a father, I'm talking to you as a King!"

"I will ride immediately." Arthur declares, walking past his father.

"My concern is for you," Uther says, causing Arthur to stop.

"Mine is for Camelot. I'll send word when I've found him." Arthur turns to Merlin. "Prepare the horses." Merlin bows to Uther and follows Arthur out.

——

Anne gathers with Merlin and Gaius in the latter's Chambers as the former packs for his trip at one of the tables. She frowns as she watches Gaius pace.

"Who were the Dragonlords?" Merlin asks. At first, Gaius does not respond. "Gaius?" This pulls Gaius out of his contemplative pacing.

"There were once men who could talk to the Dragons, tame them," Gaius explains.

"What happened to them?" Anne asks curiously.

"Uther believed that the art of the Dragonlord was too close to magic. So he had them all rounded up and slaughtered." Anne shudders at Gaius' last sentence. She hates thinking back to the brutality of the Great Purge, particularly her parents' deaths.

"But one survived." Merlin points out. "How did you know?"

"I helped him escape."

"Gaius." Anne chuckles. The way he had done this for so many still sometimes shocks her.

Gaius looks cautious as he walks to stand on the opposite side of the table to stand directly across from Merlin. "Merlin, you've never heard the name Balinor?"

"No." Merlin simply replies while Anne watches curiously.

"Your mother never mentioned him?"

"My mother?" Merlin asks in surprise, probably wondering how she is involved in this. Anne is thinking the same.

"She took him in," Gaius replies, walking to the side of the table.

"She stood up against Uther?" Anne asks.

"Yes."

"She was brave." Merlin remarks in shock.

"Must run in the family." Anne remarks. Merlin gives her a warm smile.

"When Uther discovered where Balinor was," Gaius continues, "he sent Knights to the Ealdor to hunt him down. He was forced to flee."

"Why didn't my mother tell me any of this?" Merlin questions.

"Merlin, I promised her I would never speak of these things," Gaius replies instead as he walks to stand in front of Merlin. Anne gets nervous about what he might say.

"Of what?"

"I've always treated you as my son, but that is not what you are. The man you are going to look for is your father." Gaius reveals. Anne gapes in shock.

Merlin sucks in a breath and begins to breathe heavily as he tries to process this new piece of information. "My father?"

"Yes."

"He was a Dragonlord? Why did no one ever tell me?!" Merlin exclaims.

"I wanted to. Your mother feared it would be too dangerous." Gaius defends.

"I had a right to know!" Merlin replies.

"She wanted to protect you."

"Merlin—" Anne tries.

"No." Merlin interrupts, shaking his head. "I had a right to know."

——

Anne and Gaius approach Merlin in the Main Square as Merlin prepares his horse.

"You got everything you need?" Gaius asks.

Merlin nods, not looking directly at them before changing his mind. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"We know that," Anne tells him.

"Come on, Merlin," Arthur says as he walks over to them.

"You're ready?" Merlin asks.

Arthur gets on his horse. "No thanks to you." He cringes from his wound. Anne looks at him worried.

"You okay?" Merlin asks.

"It's just a scratch." Arthur dismisses but that does not alleviate Anne's concern. Merlin climbs on his horse and Arthur trots off.

"Merlin," Gaius says, drawing Merlin's attention before he leaves, "whatever happens, you must not let Arthur know who this man is. Uther would view the son of a Dragonlord with the deepest suspicion." Merlin nods.

"Good luck," Anne says with a strained smile. Merlin smiles back before following Arthur.

——

The Dragon attacks again that night. Once again when morning comes, everyone goes through the same process of cleaning up as they had the previous three mornings.

Anne stands with Gwen on the battlements as they gaze across Camelot with tear-stained cheeks. Anne's mind is full of worry about the future attacks and for Merlin and Amelia. She hears movement to her left and sees Gaius joining them.

"Are you two missing Morgana and Amelia?" He asks.

"Among other things," Anne replies.

"They're stronger than people think. I believe that, wherever they are, they'll be alright." Gaius replies.

"And Arthur?" Gwen asks. Anne's head jerks towards her.

"You care a lot for him, don't you?" Gaius asks rhetorically. Anne remembers her and Amelia's plan to help Arthur and Gwen be together and it feels forever ago.

"Everyone does." Gwen dismisses. Anne lets out a snort.

"I think he cares the same way about you." Gwen looks at him in alarm and then looks at Anne as if to ask if she knows and Anne simply smiles at her.

"It's alright, I won't tell anyone," Gaius reassures.

"I know we can never be," Gwen admits. Anne knows about the feelings between Arthur and Gwen but to hear Gwen voice her own feelings surprises her.

"Oh... the world's a strange place, Guinevere," Gaius argues. "Never underestimate the power of love. I've seen it change many things."

Is there hope for her and Merlin? Sometimes Anne thinks he feels the same way about her but she can never be sure.

——

Merlin and Arthur return the next day. Everyone gathers to wait for the news. Uther and his advisors stand as Arthur and Merlin enter the room.

"I'm sorry, Father. I failed you. The last Dragonlord is dead." Arthur announces. Anne's stomach drops. She looks at Merlin who tries not to cry. Anne lowers her head sombrely.

Uther leans on his table at the news. "There are many years where I might've wished for that news."

"All is not lost, Father." Arthur declares. "We have to fight the monster ourselves. So let us ride out and fight on our own terms: on open ground, on horseback, where we can manoeuvre better."

"There is no point," Uther argues.

"So what? We stand here, watch Camelot fall." Arthur counters.

Uther nods. "You have my blessing."

Arthur turns to the room. "I need a dozen Knights! Those who do not wish to fight can do so without stain on their character. For those brave enough to volunteer should know, the chances of returning are slim." Sir Leon's the first to step forward. Twelve other Knights step forward and form a circle around Arthur.

——

Merlin sitting on his bed and crying over a Dragon figurine is how Anne and Gaius find him.

"Merlin, what happened?" Gaius asks.

"I couldn't save him." Merlin sniffs.

"Oh, Merlin." Anne sits next to him and pulls him towards her with an arm so he can place his head on her shoulder.

"He said the Dragonlord's gift is passed from father to son." Merlin continues.

"That is true," Gaius says.

"When I faced the Great Dragon, my magic was useless," Merlin argues.

Gaius sits down on his other side. "Your father wasn't dead. It's only then you can inherit his powers."

"Do you think I'm strong enough to stand up to him?" Merlin asks.

"Only time will tell."

"But we believe you can Merlin." Anne proclaims.

A short while later, Gaius and Anne watch from the battlements as the Dragon slayer party rides out of Camelot.

——

Anne sees Merlin and Arthur return, crossing the Drawbridge, and rushes to meet them along with Gaius and Gwen.

Gwen runs to Arthur and hugs him and they cling to one another. Merlin pushes past them and Anne flings herself at him.

"Oh, you're okay." She gasps in relief.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Merlin murmurs back.

Anne pulls away. "I was so worried about you, though I knew you could do it."

Merlin smiles at her. Anne vaguely notices Arthur and Gwen leave but she cannot look away as she and Merlin gaze into each other's eyes. Anne realises that they are getting closer.

"Merlin?"

Merlin smiles wider and hesitates over her lips. The sight of him being nervous fills Anne with confidence, and she stands on her tiptoes and closes the gap between them. She sighs in relief as their lips touch. She has been dreaming of this.

They only pull apart when someone clears their throat and says, "I think it's my turn." Anne looks to Gaius, who is smiling at them, and blushes as she steps to the side to let the two of them hug.

"My boy." Gaius laughs in relief as the two hug.

"I felt him there with me, Gaius," Merlin says after they pull away.

"He'll always be with you." Gaius comforts.

"I hope so."

"Merlin, I know I can never compare with your father, but for what it's worth, you've still got me." Gaius heartens.

"Well, I suppose I'll just have to make do," Merlin remarks. Gaius laughs and Anne joins in as the three of them walk together.

——

A/N: Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

Merlin will return

[rsogirlgetsmarried]

Trunk Show!

We got a date. The next New York Trunk Show was going to be in October of 2022. If you want to track the Mooshki march to take over the US (or just find out when you can expect their next trunk show), go here. There's also a form for contact that you can fill out. I guarantee that you'll hear back.

I sent inquiries beginning in April, attended the try-on and fitting in October, and I received my dress almost exactly a year to the day from my first inquiry. I just realized that. Six months isn't long for ordering a work of art from the UK.

We made reservations at the Westhouse Hotel because that was where Mooshki's Vikki and Anne were setting up shop and we figured it would be nice to be able to meet them for a drink afterward. We met them the morning of our appointment and they were absolutely lovely, and funny. A lot of bridal consultants treat the experience like it's deadly serious and this was the opposite of that.

I had Lady Farva with me and Little Red, my two Best Bitches and bridesmaids, my Girl Child (24) who is serving as my Maid of Honor, and my 30-year best friend Snaps who is going to be our officiant. I must include some pictures because it was magnificent. (I can thank Lady Farva for making us the shirts)

I tried on a bunch of the dresses with my "Ladies in Waiting" in attendance and my mom on FaceTime. The gowns were of wonderful quality and they felt really good on. Vikki kept reassuring me that if there was anything that I didn't like about any of the dresses that it could most likely be changed, which was wonderful.

Here are some of the ones I tried on.

Different necklines. Some with sleeves, some without. I loved them all to one extent or another, but then I tried on Alice.

My first concern of course was to ask if I could get it in tea length, and the resounding answer was, "YES!" The detail on the illusion neckline was so lovely, and the little cap sleeves were so flattering...and you can't see it, but there's a full longline bra built in there. With the boning and the bra, no need for anything else on the top half, and I'm fairly busty. I was thrilled.

Here's the other great thing: The gown on its own was going to be about $2700US. With a petticoat added in and the exorbitant cost of shipping to the US, it topped out at a little over three grand. It was a touch over what I'd planned to spend, but in every single way, it was totally worth it, even before I got it out of the box.

I received the dress this week and tried it on and get this: It needs no alterations. No, seriously. What other bridal gown have you ever heard of that can say that? Alterations with someone who knows what they're doing can easily run $400-600, so I am saved that money. That puts it squarely back into budget for me.

Coincidentally, House of Mooshki featured a tea-length Alice on their Instagram page this week:

So there's that. I have the dress, it's magnificent and I'm thrilled. If you can possibly do the Trunk Show technique and have Vikki herself measure you for what ends up being a bespoke wedding dress (!), absolutely do it.

[watchyourbluesturngolden]

the shrooms cafe

part 1- watermelon tea with strawberry boba

hello everyone 🥺 this is the first series i've ever done so i'm a little nervous but i'm so excited because I really like this story!!!

this is the first part, and I have literally no idea how long it will be because I don't have a solid plan/outline yet! so feel free to send little concepts or things you would like to see included 🥺 i can't guarantee they will be added but i'll definitely try my best :)

shrooms cafe masterlist

my masterlist

warnings: none

word count: 2k

"Stella, we have to leave in 10 minutes!" You called up the stairs. "Come down so you can eat breakfast!" "Yeah Stella, hurry up!" Seraphina yelled from her spot at the dining table. She was finishing up her fruit loops with a grin on her face. "You're going to make us late!" As the youngest, she often liked to bother her sisters. She was only five, just starting kindergarten, but she was already a master at getting under their skin.

"Sera, don't antagonize your sister, please," you reminded her. "She's not going to make us late." Sophie rolled her eyes. "Seraphina, you're so immature." Despite only being 11, Sophie was clearly the mother hen. You sometimes joked that the girls didn't even need you; Sophie would take on the role of their mother with no problem. "Besides, you were the one who made us late yesterday." "It's not my fault I couldn't find my purple socks. What was I supposed to do?" "Maybe wear different socks?" Sophie suggested smugly. "You know I need my purple socks, otherwise I can't write my words!" Sophie rolled her eyes again. "You don't need a certain color socks to write." "Yes I do!" You smiled to yourself, turning back to the fridge as the two bickered. You pulled out the ingredients you would need to make their lunches, then reached up on your tiptoes to get their lunch bags from the top of fridge. "Okay girls, what kind of sandwiches do you want today?" "Peanut butter and jelly!" Seraphina said excitedly. "Why did I even ask?" You smiled. "And Sophie?" "Turkey please, but I can make it myself," She said, sliding off her chair and bringing the breakfast dishes to the sink. "Thank you, love," you said, leaning over to kiss the top of her head. "You are such a big help in the mornings, I don't know what I would do without you." "You would have a real handful dealing with those two," She said matter-of-factly. "That I would," you laughed, handing her a butter knife. "Stella!" you called again. The 8 year old came running down the stairs, carrying her backpack and another bag. "Did you forget I have dance today?" "I did not forget," you reassured her. She liked to plan things, and got worried quickly if she wasn't kept in the loop. "I'll pick you up at the door by the playground, does that work?" "Actually, I was wondering if I could walk today? A bunch of my friends do, and I feel kind of weird having my mom drop me off." "That should be fine," You nodded. "But stay with the group, don't go off by yourself." "I won't," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "You're so overprotective." "Oh yes, I'm so sorry for trying to keep you safe," you laughed. "Now what do you want for lunch?" Once everything was ready, the four of you made your way out to the car. Stella climbed into the back, and Sophie helped Seraphina get buckled. Even though the three of them bickered a lot (as sisters often do) it wasn't hard to see how much they loved each other. "Everybody buckled?" You asked, looking behind you. When you heard a chorus of confirmation, you started your playlist and smiled when the opening notes of Adore You filtered through the speakers. It was easily one of your favorite songs, and the girls liked it just as much as you did. It wasn't a long drive to the cafe; it took about 15 minutes if traffic was good. The girls' school bus stopped about a block away, so they walked there together every morning. Then after school, they would come back to the shop and read books or finish homework until it was time to close up and go home. You parked in the lot behind the shop, helping the girls out of the car and making sure they had all their things. Seraphina held out her hand, and Stella grabbed it to help her jump over a puddle on the sidewalk. Sophie gasped excitedly. "I think that was the biggest jump you've ever done!" The girls promptly launched into a discussion about who could jump farther as you unlocked the door. As soon as it was open, they made their way over to the mushrooms to find some books for the day. Their voices filled the shop as they chatted about school and the cute boy Stella liked and the kitten they had seen outside their house the other day. You went about your morning duties, flipping on the lights and starting up the coffee machine. You also turned on the oven, preparing to bake the muffins. (They were frozen- who has the time to bake them fresh? Certainly not a mother of 3.) Once the kitchen was ready, you went over to the radio and tuned it to a familiar station, the soft

music adding some pleasant background noise. "Okay girls, it's time to get to the bus stop," you said, leaning over the counter to speak to them. "Don't forget, I'm walking to dance," Stella said, pointing at you as she walked to the door. "I won't forget," you said, pointing back at her. "Have a good day!" "Bye mom," Seraphina waved her small hand at you. "Bye honey, bye Sophia," You smiled, blowing a kiss to the three of them. "See you later!" Once the three of them were gone, you went around to the shelves and straightened up, getting ready for your first customers.

-----

After the lunch rush had dwindled down and the shop was nearly empty again, you were getting ready to go on your lunch break. You had just leaned down to grab a sandwich from the deli case when the bell above the door jingled, alerting you that a new customer had come in. You straightened up, your eyes going wide when you realized who it was, but you quickly fixed your face and smiled. "Welcome to the Shrooms Cafe!" "Hello," the man smiled back, speaking in a deep British accent. "I saw your sign for boba tea, and I've been looking everywhere to find some. You're the third shop I've been to today, so I'm really hoping you're not sold out like everywhere else," he grinned, coming closer to the counter. "No, we're not out! What kind did you want?" You asked. "Um... probably should have thought about that before I came in," he laughed nervously, looking at the menu above your head. "Oh, don't worry about it, we're not busy right now," you said reassuringly. “Take all the time you need.” He smiled gratefully, stepping off to the side while he read the menu. Meanwhile, you fidgeted with towels and wiped off the work surfaces and tried to pretend you weren’t staring at him. Who could blame you, really? Harry Styles had just walked into your coffee shop. Who wouldn’t stare? “I think…” he spoke again, breaking you out of your trance. “I’ll do the watermelon tea, with strawberry boba, please.” You nodded, laughing lightly. He quirked one eyebrow, smiling along with you. “What’s funny?” “Oh, no, it’s just… of course you would order the one with watermelon.” “Oh,” he smiled, and you thought you detected a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “I guess I do have a bit of a reputation with fruit, don’t I?” “Just a little,” you grinned. “One watermelon tea with strawberry boba, coming right up.” After ringing up the order, you quickly got to work. Instead of his real name, you wrote “watermelon man” on the sticker on the cup. Hopefully he would appreciate your little joke. “Here you are,” you smiled. “I hope it’s good, seeing as you worked so hard to find some.” “I’m sure it’ll be amazing,” he laughed, grabbing a straw from beside the cash register. You also noticed he had dropped a generous tip into the jar, probably while you had been busy making the drink. “Have a nice day,” you smiled. “You as well,” he said with a small wave before he made his way out the door, sipping his drink as he went. You sighed, shaking your head with a small grin as you grabbed the sandwich from earlier and went to a table for your lunch break.

-----

“Hi mom!” Sophie yelled, holding open the door for Seraphina. “Hi girls!” You called from the back corner of the shop. “I’m by the mushrooms!” The girls quickly found you, Seraphia hugging you and Sophie situating herself on one of the short stools. “How was your day?” You asked. “Good! I gave my report on monarch butterflies and guess what Mrs. Wilson said?” Sophie asked, leaning forward. “What did she say?” “She said it was the best report she had heard all day. She waited until the other kids left so they wouldn’t feel bad, but still,” she said proudly. “Oh wow! I’m so proud of you,” you said, moving over to hug her. “What did I tell you? You can do anything you put your mind to,” you smiled. “Including writing the best report in the whole class, hmm?” She nodded happily before turning away from you to pull a book off the shelf closest to her. “Which one are you starting now?” You asked, leaning over her shoulder to see the book she had. “Anne of Green Gables,” she said. “Oh, I loved those books when I was your age,” you smiled. “I think you’ll really like them.”

She nodded, already immersed in the book. You turned back to Seraphina, who was pulling her folder out of her backpack. “And how was your day, miss Seraphina?” “It was so good, look!” She handed you a paper with two gold stars at the top. “My teacher gave me two gold stars. She said my writing was very good!"

"All that practicing we did must have worked, then!" you said, beaming as you looked at her letters. They were still wobbly, but a huge improvement over how they had been at the beginning of the school year.

She nodded. "And then I colored this picture for you!” She handed you another page. This one had a drawing of you holding hands with her, Sophie, and Stella. The three of you had big smiles and lots of adorable little details. Stella had her hair in a bun and was wearing ballet shoes. Sophie was holding a book in her free hand. Seraphina had drawn herself wearing a shirt with a cat (her favorite animal) on it, and she was wearing her purple socks. Lastly, there was you, holding a cup of coffee and wearing a shirt with a big red heart on it. “Since you like coffee so much,” she explained. “It's beautiful,” you smiled, hugging her. “We’ll hang it on the fridge when we get home, okay?” “Okay,” she agreed. “Why don’t you find a book and read with Sophie for a little bit? We have just over an hour, then we have to go get Stella from dance.” She nodded, handing you the papers and her backpack before running over to the shelves. She grabbed a picture book, settling into the red cushion in the tree and beginning to flip through the pages.

----- “Alright girls, it’s time to pick up Stella,” you said as you wiped off the counter one last time. You had already turned off all the machines and packed up everything else for the day. You flipped the lights off on the way out, smiling a bit when you saw the hand painted sign for boba tea in the window. Harry came into your mind again, with his easy smile, his kind words, and his blushing laugh. You really hoped you would see him again, even though you knew you probably wouldn't. Your shop wasn't very big or well known. How likely was it for him to come to the same little shop in the middle of London again? Still, it didn’t hurt to hope. Maybe he would decide to try the other flavors and stop in again. Your smile spread even further when you started your playlist and Lights Up was the first song to come on. Apparently, it was going to be hard to forget about him.

[lee-scribbles-and-doodles]

My Top Ten Overlooked Movies With Female Leads In No Particular Order

Note: When you see this emoji (⚠️) I will be talking about things people may find triggering, which are spoilery more often then not. I mention things that I think may count as triggers so that people with them will be aware before going in to watch any of these.

Edited: 3/16/21

Hanna (2011)

So, before I get into why you should watch this movie, I just want to take a moment to say why it's near and dear to my heart. Growing up as a queer kid in the early 2000s, seeing portrayals of people like or similar to myself on anything was rare at best. It was mostly in more "adult" movies or shows that my parents would occasionally let me watch with them that I'd see any lgbtq+ rep at all. Often times they were either walking stereotypes, designed to be buried, evil, or all three.

Then here comes this PG-13 action thriller with a wonderfully written main female lead who, at the time, was close to my age, and who got to kiss another girl (her very first friend, Sophie) on screen in an extremely tender and heartwarming scene. To say the least, it was a life changing moment for me personally.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, Hanna is a suspenseful movie about a child super-soldier named, you guessed it, Hanna (played by Saoirse Ronan) and her adoptive (?) father Erik Heller (played by Eric Bana) exiting the snowy and isolated wilderness of their home and taking on the shadowy CIA operative, Marissa Wiegler (played by Cate Blanchette) who wants Erik dead and Hanna for herself for mysterious reasons.

It also has an amazing soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers, great action scenes, and it has an over arching fairytale motif, which I'm always a sucker for.

⚠️ Mild blood effects, some painful looking strikes, various character deaths, and child endangerment all feature in this film. However, given its PG-13 rating, a majority of viewers are presumably able to handle this one. Still, be aware of these going in.

Sidenote: It's recently gotten a TV adaptation on Amazon TV, although I have not watched it, and do not know if Hanna and Sophie's romantic/semi-romantic relationship has transferred over.

A Simple Favor

A Simple Favor is a "black-comedy mystery thriller" centered entirely around the relationship between two mothers, the reclusive, rich, mysterious, and regal Emily (played by Blake Lively), and the local recently widowed but plucky mommy blogger, Stephanie (played by Anna Kendrick). When Emily suddenly goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to find out what happened to her new best friend.

It's a fantastic and entertaining movie throughout, with fun, flawed and interesting characters. The relationship between the two female leads is also implied to be at least somewhat romantic in nature, and they even share a kiss.

⚠️ The only major warnings I can think of is that the movie contains an instance of incest and one of the main plotlines revolves around child abuse, although both of these potentially triggering topics are not connected to each other, so there is thankfully no csa going on.

Edit: I legitimately forgot there was drug use in this movie until now. So, yeah, if that's a trigger, be careful of that.

I Am Mother

I became mildly obsessed with this movie when it came out. I Am Mother is a sci-fi film that centers entirely around a cast of two woman, and a female-adjacent robot who is brought to life on screen with absolutely amazing practical effects.

The plot is such, after an extinction-level event, a lone robot known only as Mother tasks herself with replenishing the human race via artifical means. She begins with the film's main protagonist, Daughter. Years go by as Mother raises her human child and the two prepare for Daughter's first sibling (a brother) to be born. However, on Daughter's 16th birthday, the arrival of an outsider known only as Woman shakes Daughter's entire world view. She begins to question Mother's very nature, as well as what's really going on outside the bunker she and her caretaker call home.

⚠️ This movie features child endangerment and reference to child death.

Lilo and Stitch

When I decided to add a single Disney film to this list I initially thought it was going to be hard but almost immediately my brain went to Lilo and Stitch, and specifically about the relationship between Lilo and Nani.

On the surface, this film is about a lonely little girl accidentally adopting a fugitive alien creature as a "dog," but underneath that the story is also about two orphaned sisters and the older sister's attempts to not let social services tear them apart by stepping up as the younger sister's primary guardian. Despite its seemingly goofy premise, Lilo and Stitch has a very emotional and thoughtful center. It's little wonder how this movie managed to spawn an entire franchise.

Despite the franchise it spawned (or possibly because of it), I often find that Lilo and Stitch is overlooked and many people only remember it for the "little girl adopts an alien as a pet" portion of its plot, and I very rarely see it on people's top 10 Disney lists.

⚠️ This movie could be potentially triggering to people who were separated from their siblings or other family members due to social service intervention. There's also a bit of child endangerment, including a scene where Lilo and Stitch both almost drown.

Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind

Unlike the above entry, I did struggle a little bit with picking a single Studio Ghibli film. Most media of the Ghibli catalogue have strong, well-written, unique, and interesting female leads so selecting just one seemed like quite the task.

However, I eventually settled on this particular film. In recent months, Princess Nausicaä has become my absolute favorite Ghibli protagonist and I'm absolutely enchanted by the world she lives in.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world overun by giant insects and under threat of a toxic forest and its poisoness spores, Nausicaä must try to protect the Valley of the Wind from invaders as she also tries to understand the science behind the toxic forest and attempts to bridge the gap between the insects and the humans.

For those who have never seen the film, I think Nausicaä's personality can best be described as being similar to OT Luke Skywalker. Both are caring, compassionate, and gentle souls who are able to see the best in nearly anyone or anything. She's an absolutely enthralling protagonist and after rewatching the film again for the first time in well over a decade she has easily become one of my all time favorite protagonists.

Whenever I see people talk about Ghibli films, they rarely mention this one, and when they do mention it, it's often in passing. In my opinion it's a must watch.

⚠️ This movie contains some blood, and the folks who either don't like insects or who have entomophobia may not appreciate the giant bugs running about throughout the movie. (Although most insects do not directly relate to real life bugs, and are fantasy creatures).

A Silent Voice

A Silent Voice is an animated movie adaptation of a manga of the same name. While I've never had the pleasure to read the manga, the movie is phenomenal. It covers topics such a bullying, living in the world with a disability, the desire for atonement, social anxiety, and depression in a well thought out manner that ties itself together through the progression of the relationship between its two leads, Shoya and Shouko. It's also beautifully animated. Although very popular among anime viewers, I've noticed that it's often overlooked by people who watch little to no anime. So I suppose this is me urging non-anime viewers to give this film a chance.

⚠️ As mentioned above, the movie deals with bullying, anxiety, and depression (with this last one including suicidal thoughts and behaviour). If discussion of those topics are triggering to you, than you may want to proceed with caution or skip this movie all together.

In This Corner of The World

Another manga adaptation, this one taking place during WWII-era Japan. In This Corner of The World follows the life of a civilian Japanese woman, Suzu Urano, as she navigates simply living and her new marriage as the wartime invades nearly all aspects of everyday life. I think this movie is a good representation of what it must be like to be living as civilian in a country at war where the fight is sometimes fought on one's own soil. It was also an interesting look into pre-50s Japanese culture in my opinion. It's also beautifully animated featuring an art style I don't see often.

Despite it being well known among anime fans, I never really see it be brought up, even among said anime fans themselves.

Side note: I've seen many WWII dramas centering around civilians but they've almost always been about American or UK civilians. This was the first movie I'd seen that features the perspective of a Japanese civilain.

⚠️ Features the death of a child and limb loss. There's also a disturbing scene featuring a victim of one of the atomic bombs near the end.

Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki

This film follows Hana, a Japan-native woman who fell in love with a magical shape-shifting wolf-man, and her trials with raising their children, who can also magically shape-shift into wolves, on her own. It's a very heartfelt movie about a mother's love and the struggles of doing right by your children when you have limited resources to actively guide and care for them. All the characters feel unique and alive in my opinion. Also, the animation is so good that my sister and I initially mistook it for a Ghibli film.

Again, like the previous two anime entries, I don't see it ever brought up outside of anime circles.

⚠️ There's some child endangerment present in the film, although none of it is the fault of Hana as far as I can remember.

Roman Holiday

Roman Holiday is about the fictional Princess Ann (played by Audrey Hepburn), who while on a whirlwind tour of Europe, finally reaches her breaking point over having her entire life be one big schedule and all her words and actions being rehearsed. In the spur of the moment, she runs away in hopes of experiencing what life is like for other women. Unfortunately, she was previously given a sedative, meaning she doesn't get too far before it takes effect. Fortunately, she is found by the kind reporter Joe Bradley (played by Gregory Peck). Believing her to be drunk and unable to get an address from her (because she has none) he ends up taking her home for safety's sake and allows her to sleep off her suppose drunken stupor. The next day, he realizes who she is, and decides to take her on a fun sight seeing trip across Rome in hopes of getting the big scoop. Along the way, they begin to fall for each other.

This is my favorite black and white, old romance film. I think the relationship between the main characters is absolutely beautiful and I have a lot of fun watching it.

⚠️ I'm not entirely sure what kind of warning this film would need. However, it was released in 1953, so values dissonance will probably be at play for many viewers to at least some extent. For example, early in the film Ann is given sedation drugs by her doctor for her behavior, something that is very unlikely to happen today. Also, Mr Bradley deciding to take Ann home to keep her safe rather than call the police or an ambulance is a very pre-90s decision in my opinion.

[indimlights]

✨Merry christmas Cille✨

To: @birthdaysentiment 💛

-> From: @indimlights (Rodrigo)

Hi Cille! I guess it's up to me to kick off this "little" surprise but I don't even know where to start...

I remember really well the first time I saw a post of yours, I was still lurking back then and the moment I read it I felt so many things, things I don't know how to describe and that I never thought words could make me feel and I knew, I just knew that I had to see more. Fast-forward a couple of hours I knew your blog by heart, I had looked at so many of your posts and every single one was as amazing as the first one, as touching as the first one and as deep as the first one.

The meaning you put on words still gets to me every single day, you have such a way into them and don't even get me started on your music analysis. The moment I read the first one I was mind-blown! The things you catch, the connections you make between the music and the scene, the way you describe the scenes, it makes me go back, relive the moment and feel everything I felt the first time I watched it and all this just by... reading your words! If that doesn't tell me how amazing you are with them I don't know what will.

From that day I always wished I could talk to you, get to know the person behind the words, behind the masterpieces, behind the blog because you seemed like such a sweet person and now... After some time, I got that chance and I'm so happy I got it. You are everything I thought you would be and 1000x more, you are sweet, caring, smart, loving, wise, joyful and so supportive to me and to everyone in this community! You always spread love and that's so important and so nice of you to do, the way you write essays in the tags for everyone's posts just shows that! It's such a simple thing but means so much.

And I'm not even mentioning how talented you are with non-written posts because those are on another level aswell, I mean you always surprise me with your ideas and creativity and just knowing that whenever I come here I will have some sort of attack waiting for me just keeps me going and I love everything you do so much.

I'll never be able to thank you enough for being so welcoming when I barely knew anyone and for making me feel so much more comfortable here! Getting to know you better and to share this experience with someone like you has been a blessing and I wouldn't change any second of it, thank you for everything you have done and for always being so sweet to me. I don't understand what I did to deserve all that but that just shows again how wonderful you are.

I'm wishing you a merry christmas! Surrounded by everyone you love and that makes you happy because you deserve that and so much more, please never change, never stop being like this, a special and wonderful person. I hope you enjoy this surprise :) Have a wonderful day Cille 💛

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-> From: @remy3010 (Remy)

Hihi Cille❤ I love your blog so much especially music analysis! I just fall in love with your music analysis since your first posts.

For me whose mother tongue is not English, it takes a while to read but I'd love to. Because these articles deserve more people to see (including me)！

I have read every article of yours, the content touches me all the time. (Sometimes I have a lot of words want to tell you, But I don’t know how to speak in English..sorry🥺so I give❤ and reblog)

Anyway, thank you for writing beautiful words and sharing with us! I hope you can keep this passion forever, and everything go well. May you have wonderful days my friend ❤

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-> From: @franboos (Francine)

hi bb cille,

wanted to tell u that i love u blog and the time u put into analyzing stuff is shhshdhdhdhd. queen shit. u seen so genuine to talk to idk, i get those nice, non judgmental, relaxed and cool vibes from u. lmao. pls stay on tumblr for as long as u can cuz i love ur posts. u notice such little things in clips from wtfock, like u have a very detailed eye miss hehe. i really want to get to know u more cuz i really think we could vibe v well together, and that’s on perioood 😌. i hope u have a great great day while reading this queen. never stop what you’re doing cuz ur great at it. i love you !!

many kusjes and knuffels*,

fran

(*knuffels means hugs but also stuffed animal in dutch, did u know that? otherwise now u do, nice isn’t it)

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-> From: @dagcutie (Pauline)

hey hey cille!!

I must admit i’m very much a fan of you and your blog

first of all, your posts? chefs kiss!! i mean your music analysis are amazing and so on point, your photo edits are always perfect and the colorings are so beautiful, your long text posts 'drabble/headcanon style' are so cute and always makes me so soft and emotional...

your love for black and white? that’s a big yes!! anyways everything you do is perfect!!

also can we take a moment to appreciate your person? i think we can and we must do it..

you’re always so supportive and kind, all the nice tags you let under peoples creations are so sweet!! I also could cry about how cute you are always leaving lovely messages to people inbox or coming randomly to them to say something nice.. you’re the most beautiful soul and a blessing for this fandom!! please never stop being you!! ily a lot, sending you all my love and i wish you an amazing day<3

knus og kys til dig💛✨

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-> From: @allee-sander (Tanya)

Cille, you are an amazing person. you are so kind and loving. every time i see you on my dash, my face lights up. you are a literal angel. you are loved and appreciated, never forget that.

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-> From: @tsjernobyl (Emma)

Cille, you are a genuinely kind and loving soul who's just on this site to talk about the things you love and spread a little joy and everyone can tell that the moment they go onto your blog. i've seen you be nothing but lovely to everyone you interact with and it's a real honor to be mutuals with you and interact from time to time. You are always one of the sweetest and most supportive people here, and i hope you feel that love flowing back to you at all times because you always have my warmest wishes and love!!!!!

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-> From: @dreamaur (Ann)

How does it feel to be so cool and sweet and supportive??? I love you and your mind and how you see so many details and capture them so well with words,,,queen keep going with your top tier analysis and text posts that make me emotional everything single time

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-> From: @annonymannonym (Alice)

Where do I even begin ummm ... well words may not be enough to describe such angelic human being that Cille is but today is about her *about you Cille* !♡! Honestly I’m so so happy and honoured and so grateful to have meet and know you and come along your blog and your amazing posts and edits , let’s s not forget about the masterpiece that your analysis is cuz I live for every single one of them ! Always so on point and touchy and so so emotionally, they give you a whole new perspective and point of view and helps you connect with the person that goes throught those feelings , helping you understand so much deeper the feelings and the emotions he experience in that right moment( so thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking your time and writing these it really shows how much passion and love you put on making these! they absolute helped me to understand and feel much more the meaning behind all these little moments you captured so so well and wonderful ! ) You’re always such a blessing here so lovely friendly so goodhearted and sooo on ... < insert here all the good compliments in the world > cuz they all applies to you ! Know that you’re so special and such a light a sunshine wherever you are and go , you always spread so much positivity and good energy and love and compassion and you support every single people your way comes along with and you shown so much respect and love and understanding ! Always with a wise and thoughtful mind and with the right words at you using them with so much care and mining fullness ! And your blog i love love love it the b&w aesthetic and your love for it owns my heart !! I adore your posts so much ( or ramblings or thoughts as you may call them but know they are so so much more than that its a way of yours to express yourself and open up and pour every feeling you experience and many people found themselves and feel with you , I find myself in them and resonate with them every time ! ahh and your tags that you write in every post are sooo sweet and cute i could read them all day long just coming on your blog and read them makes my day so much better ) they are such a good way to brighten your day and they put a smile on my face whenever i see you on my dash truly a blessing to have you here! Never forget how unique and special human being you are and every one who has you in their lives are very blessed to have you ! Never change being this beautiful inside and out but most importantly inside ! literally a tresure your soul is and must be protected at all cost so take very good care of it ! Don’t forget to always do what makes you happy and gives joy and peace and just you know that good feeling you have in your chest and heart whenever you do something you love and like with passion and joy. I could say so much more but maybe I’ll repeat myself cuz there are never enough compliments to say about how wonderful person you are! you deserve every single one of them ! I really meant every word i said from the bottom of my heart and know that i really apreciate and love all you do and I’ll be here to support you anytime! You deserve the absolute world and more!! love you Cille! ♡ Okey bye✿

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-> From: @robbesdriesen (Bianca)

Cille ~ such a lovely presence to see on my dash always!! Your support towards everyone in the fandom is more than appreciated and so is your love that you continuously aim to spread <3

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-> From: @happilyinsane (Dharaa)

Hey Cille 💕

Just wanted to say that I think you are really sweet and lovely. I see you everywhere on the tumblr. Wanna thank you for keeping this fandom alive during the drought and keep us entertained. I see your tags on people's posts and I always feel like you are so kind and sweet to spend your time appreciating people's work. Doesn't matter if its a photo or an edit or whatever. You are so nice to pay attention to everyone individually. You are such a good friend/mutual, always appreciating and sliding into their asks and just making their day a lil bit better. You definitely bring so many smiles on our faces. I am sure everyone is very thankful to have you in this fandom, I know I am.

I know we haven't interacted that much but thank you for sliding into my asks and giving me an opportunity to interact with you. You are the sweetest, baby. And I hope you like this whole thing that Rodrigo is doing, because you definitely deserve it. Keep lighting up our dashes with your posts, pls. Ilysm 💕

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-> From: @alwaysaneverland (Sarah)

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-> From: @theflowerisblue (Lola)

Cille! You’re such a present part of the tag! You’re always interacting and posting and I love reading what you have to say. Your music analysis are so interesting and I also think you’re really funny! I love your black and white aesthetic and most of all I love how supportive and positive you’re towards everyone!

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-> From: @fvae (Fae)

hi cille!! I'm really glad to have met you through this fandom and I hope you like the surprise!! I loved to read your song analysis because they're always on point and well thought of👌 💯  and your edits!! *chef's kiss*

sending you lots of love and hugs 💕💖💫

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-> From: @embeddedinmybrain (Tasfia)

Hi Cille! You are just a ray of sunshine!! And you are the sweetest and kindest person here. I loved following through with your wtfock music analysis posts bc everything you felt is exactly what I felt. They made me really emotional!! And of course I (and Sarah and Fae) appreciate your tags for moyo season so much. We wait for them and we read them to each other and we just love seeing your reactions to it. Your edits are incredibly amazing too and I love the colouring in them. You are just an amazing sweetheart and I’m so glad to know you 🥺🥺🥺💕💕💕

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-> From: @veerledejaegers (Soph)

Cille, you are very friendly and sweet, always insightful and seem like an incredibly lovely person that i hope i can get to know better ❤️(also love the black and white aesthetic)

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-> From: @sanderxrobbee (Semri)

Cilleeeeeeeeeeee loml!!!! Merry Christmas to you! I genuinely wish you all the best and I hope you get to spend all the holidays in the best way possible! You’re such a blessing to this fandom because you’re talented in every single way, whether it’s your writing or your godly Photoshop skills, oh and let’s not forget your dedication because you’re there all the time to brighten our days and make us smile. I haven’t known you for long, but I truly love and appreciate all you do and I’m grateful that you always take the time to compliment everything and everyone. You have no idea how much it makes me smile when you say my gifs are good because I’ve yet to learn a lot, but you are seriously one of the biggest reasons I haven’t given up the second something got too complicated. Where am I going with this? No idea. Anyway, I adore the fuck out of you and I’m happy to take part in this “project” because you really deserve all the love in the world. Once again, happy holidays!

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-> From: @hopelessromanticvirgo (Elene)

Talking about you Cille is making me always so emotional but I will try my best not to burst out from love and emotions. You’re one of the sweetest person here and I will never get tired of saying that.

We haven’t talked that much directly but I don’t need that to know you’re one of the greatest person here, I just know that for sure. I’m also sure about it because I can see the way you treat people? Even speaking about your tags? Like you take the time out of your day to make sure everybody gets love and everybody gets attention. You make all of us smile and I adore your tags on my stories. You can’t even imagine how many times I have reread your posts about it, like I crave it, I’m in love with it, it makes me feel so happy and so loved and I’m certain that everybody else feels the same way too. You always know how to make everybody’s day better and how to make them feel special.

And please, don’t even get me started on your posts! Your song analysis. Like I know I’ve told you this thousands of times before but I don’t care, I’m saying it again! The way you pictured and described all those songs and scenes!!! Like wow! I’d always reread your posts about that one specific scene after rewatching the season countless of times. (And you also did so many scenes!! I’m in awe and I’m emo from just thinking about it)

Watching clips were different but reading them with lyrics were a whole other thing. I just felt so connected with the whole story and scenes when I’d ready your posts. And connect scenes with the music and it was the best thing ever. Sometimes I still go back and reread some of my favorite posts of yours. I never get tired of it.

And you’re so kind and so sweet that I could write essays about it! Such a blessing to this world! I just love you a lot okay? Everybody needs somebody like you, somebody who shines from kindness and love and people around you must be so lucky who get to meet you everyday and talk to you!

Thank you so much for everything you do, for being you and for making my day better and making me smile every time you reblog my posts or every time I just see your username on my dashboard! It’s such a small gesture but means so much!

Thank you for existing, babe! I hope you’re gonna have a wonderful day! And I’m sending you the biggest hug and my positive vibes! I hope a smile never leaves your face! And I only wish the best things up onto you! I love you! ❤️❤️❤️

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-> From: @itubainaretro (Esther)

Cille, my queen!!! Hi, sweetheart! Just dropping by to say that I hope you’re having a good day, despite the situation that the world is in, and that you’re feeling happy, loved, cherished and warm today, because you’re you and you deserve to feel all the best feelings in the world! I wish you all the happiness in the world and that all your wishes come true too, because you sure deserve it! Thank you for being this amazing, inspiring, talented and sweet person that you are and that I’ve come to know a little bit in the past few months! I know we don’t exactly talk that much, but I want you to know that I love seeing you, your beautiful edits and your extremely heart warming “moments that live in my head rent free” posts on my dash daily! They all really make my days! Thank you for sharing your posts with us and making this fandom (and the world, honestly) a better place! You’re amazing and I’m really glad I pressed the follow button the day I did when I started following you! I hope this little message makes you smile today, babe! Best wishes and lots and lots of love,

Esther (itubainaretro) ♥️

PS: don’t forget to hydrate yourself, wear a mask and stay safe haha xxxx.

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-> From: @driesendotkom (Marie)

Dear cille,

the reason i‘m writing this is to simply say thank you. thank you for being such a stable part of the fandom. every time i go into the tag i know i will see you there and it makes me smile every time. i can’t tell you how many hours i spent reading every one of your song analysis. even now a year after season 3 ended i find myself going back to them now and then to reminisce and relive those moments all over again.

i also want to say thank you for being such a kind and welcoming person. you care so much about the people you are close to. you are so easy to talk to and you make the people around you feel comfortable instantly. you brought a little bit of hygge into my life and one more time i want to say thank you 💛

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-> From: @driesenrobbe (Becca)

my dear, sweet, cille! you never fail to make me smile and im beyond happy that we became mutuals! im sure i’ve already said this a million times before but you really do have the biggest heart and i couldn’t thank you enough for all the love and support you constantly share to everybody in the wtfock fandom. plus the talent you possess... girllllll i love seeing your edits and reading your posts (honestly your mind is just wowowowow, it’s on a whole other level of incredible and i hope you know just how wonderful you are). also the way you always write entire essays in the tags of other posts... like you really do take the time to make everyone feel so welcomed and loved, and I’m sending you an infinite amount of love and appreciation in return! you really are the sweetest, most caring person who deserves all the happiness in the world, an actual ray of sunshine! i hope you know how loved and cherished you are, and that good vibes are always being sent your way. Many hugs and kusjes, ilysm!!!! <3

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-> From: @mijnlief (Eline)

Dear Cille,

This year has been a weird one, but I do know that it has also been one of the best because of meeting you. In such a short time we became so close, and I am so grateful to have met you during these weird times. We are so alike in many ways and I love that so much. Our Skype conversations are my favorite and the essays you send me about my writing and just about me being me always make me feel happy and loved. You are the kindest and most generous person ever. I hope you know how special you are. I am so proud of you for everything you have achieved this year and for choosing yourself in situations where it got hard to make a choice in the first place. I know I tell you that everyday, but it doesn’t hurt to say it again right here. I hope this post makes you smile, because you deserve that so much for just being who you are. You bring happiness to all of my days and I can’t wait to hug you one day soon when everything in the world calms down again. I love you lots! 🧡 Eline

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-> From: @onzeziggy (Laurien)

My sweetest Cille, where do I even begin? I suggest we should just begin from the very beginning and I’m sorry in advance if this is going to be a long, sappy text! But now that I have the chance (shout out to Rodrigo) for saying everything I want, I’m not able to tell you how long this will take.

So Cille, I still remember very clearly the first time I saw your account appearing on my dash. It was a music analysis from one of the songs from season 3. I was so amazed by it, because I could imagine how much time it takes to make it and observe every little detail in a single clip. I immediately fell in love with the concept of it and one week later, when you posted another one, my mouth dropped to the floor. Another music analysis? From the same person? Who is she and how do I become her friend? After that second post, I immediately started following you and became your little fangirl. I don’t lie when I say I was waiting every week for a new update of your incredible music analysis nor when I say I loved every single one of them (and still do). I know I already said this a million times, but your words of telling what was going on in every clip, about the emotions present in them, and how the music blended all of it together… No one, and I mean no one could have done it any better! I will forever be grateful for those posts and I want to thank you once again for wanting to share them and your talent with us!

After the music analysis adventure, your picture edits catched my eye. I love them so so much and I also took some creation of it for making some myself. Still, I was this little fangirl, knowing your name is Cille, but also wanting to know so much more about the person behind one of my favorite blogs. And now, during this hiatus, I can say I’ve got to know you and I couldn’t be any happier about it! Starting with little comments in each other’s tags, having little chats in the comment sections to screaming about a possible drawing of Robbe from Sander on their one year anniversary. And look at us now, reblogging almost every post and writing essays in each other’s tags hahah! Honestly, it keeps me alive during these times and I’m so glad I can do this together with you! I live for your attacks! Aaaah now that I’m talking about an attack, the fact that you have a dimples post ready is making me so excited and I think about it every day! We both know what’s important in love and life and that’s Robbe’s dimples! But this right here shows once again what an amazing sweet person you are! No one on here has ever done anything like this for me before, so I can’t thank you enough for this and all the other things you did and still do for me! And the privilege I have to be able to call you my friend warms my heart <33

I’m going to end this with a little quote Robbe wrote in one of his Instagram posts. When I read it again a couple of days ago, I immediately thought of you and what we’ve been through together the last few weeks :’)) Once again, thank you so much for everything you do for me and for everyone here in this fandom and being the amazing person you are! You deserve the whole world for it!

“Sometimes it’s like we just met yesterday, but other days it seems like I already know you my whole life, I love you Cille!” <33

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I hope you enjoyed this💛 If you didn't know this community loved you yet (and I don't think that was possible), now you definetly do.

Extra: I'd like to thank once again everyone that took part it this surprise, you are all the sweetest for taking some time to write this and to help me with it! Thank you so so much✨

[i-am-ironic]

Daminette arranged mariage au part 7

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Damian arrived right on time as usual, to pick Marinette up for dinner. In the car they went over the plan one last time.

"So the plan right now is just to tell your brothers that we are dating until the papers go through confirming you are Xander's father, right?" Marinette said watching the city fly by.

"It shouldn't take long." Damien replied, "Rich families tend to get things done faster then anyone else. Everything should be in order before the end of dinner."

"But what about when they start asking questions?"

"We avoid the questions until the paperwork goes through, then we can tell them the whole story." He Paused thinking back. "When I got back I didn't talk about what happened. I didn't tell anyone so they should be interested enough in the story to leave their questions till the end."

"This might not go well dames," Marinette started Fidgeting with her bracelet, "what if they don't like me? Or they think I'm helping your mother? Or what if-"

"No, mari." He said, his voice bringing her away from her anxious thoughts, "it will be fine. i promise. they will love you and once we explain, everything will be fine. We are here are you ready?"

She nodded and stepped out of the car. The manor was even more extravagant then she had imagined. She was going to need to come back to sckech just the doorway not to mention the rest of the house. Thinking about the architecture helped to calm her nerves.

"Here we go" she said stepping up to the door. It opened before dhe even had the chance to knock. Behind the door was an elderly man in a suite.

"Hello Ms my name is Alfred, I am the Wayne's butler and your name is?"

"Just call me marinette.”

“I must insist it wouldn't be proper to call you anything but your last name.” Alfred said.

“Just marinette for now but you will probably know my last name by the end of the night.” he looked at her curiously, why didn’t she want him to know her name yet?

“Very well ms marinette,” he said before turning to damian, “master damian your family is waiting for you in The sitting room.”

the two of them walked into the room and marinette was expecting a lot of things, but not this. damian just looked so done with his family. 

“Ahem.”he said drawing attention to himself.  “Marinette these are my brothers Dick is the one hanging from the chandelier” she waved at the familiar man. “Tim is the one drinking straight from the pot of coffee and Jason is the one throwing knifes at Dick. Oh and cass is the only normal one sitting on the couch.”

“Hey!” the boys all yelled in unison.

“Its a pleasure to see you again marinette.” bruse said before the boys could start arguing “I presume that our other guest will be here after dinner?”

“That is correct Mr Wayne.”

“Its Bruce as I have told you.”

marinette rooled her eyes smiling. She wasn't going to call him Bruce

“Hold on what other guest?” Jason said confused.

“Dinner is served.” alfrid said from the doorway as he lead the group out of the room.

“Damian wait!” Dick said reaching out for his little brother. Damian turned glancing at marinette who nodded.

“What do you want Grayson?” he siad eager to get back to marinette. 

“I don't think you should be seeing marinette you know how dangerous our 'job' is and-”

“She can take care of herself” he cut his brother off turning to follow were the rest of the group had gone. 

Dick grabbed Damian’s arm makeing him stay this was importent.“I'm sure she can but she has a 2 year old son who can't take care of himself and I don't think-”

“Richard.” that got his attention damian never called anyone by their first name.

“Yes?”

“Xander is my son.” that took a moment to Process before-

“WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE IS YOUR SON!”

without answering Damian walked out of the room. Dick folowed him into the dining room, where evryone looked at the two.

“Dick whats wrong? we heard yelling and you look like you saw a ghost.” Cass said conserned. 

“Its nothing,” Damian replied sharing a meningful look with marinette. “I'm sure Grayson is fine. so marinette do I need to take any of my brothers to the garden”

evryone looked shocked at the implicashons but marinette just giggled.

“No they have all been wonderful. besids you know i can handle your brothers.”she smiled. 

“Listen, marinette, if damian kidnapped you blink twice.” jason said in a sereous tone.

she gigaled again, “He didn't kidnap me besides we both know I can beat damian in a fight.”

“take that back! i have beaten you plenty of times before.” this made the boys and cass very intrested, if damian was defending himself he must have actualy tried to beat her, and falled.

“Dames I beat you 68% of the time.” interesting. 

“so you admit i have beaten you before!” he said triumfently.

“Yeah when I let you win.” damians mouth fell open in legitament showk. he looked over at his father, who nodded, before making a statment that would change this family forever.

“Marinette Anne dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne you take that back right this minute!”

the reactions were very mixed. Dick was shocked. not only did his baby brother have a child but it apered that he was marred. Jason didnt know what to think. he had begun to coneckt the dots, marinette had foud the father of her chiled, she then showed up with his brother and she had the same last name as him. $#*! Tim alerdy knew about all this from his reserch and cass decided to wait for an explanation.

“No.” marinette said scrunching up her noes playfully. "I refuse to take it back."

there was silence for a moment before Bruce spoke.

“Maybe we should continue this discussion in the sitting room”

“So would you like to explain why marinette has the same last name as you?” cass said once they reached the other room. 

“Not really but-”

“dames be nice, we knew we were going to explain when we came here tonight. I'll text luka.” 

.”Who's Luka?” Tim said, he hadn't read anythig about a ‘Luka’.

“Its a long story so let's start from the beginning,” marinette started.

“Three and a half years ago I was walking back to my family's house after hanging out at a friend's house. Before I got home I saw a man who needed help, so I went over to help. him i cant remember what he was doing but when I got there I felt a prick in the back of my neck. I pulled the dart out before I hit the ground. The next thing I knew I was in a room laying on a coute. the door was locked and I could hear yelling from someone else in the building. I could tell it was a man but I couldn't make out what he was saying. it wasn't in french I later found out he was speaking Arabic. After the yelling stopped i heard the door unlock and got ready to run but when the door opened a woman was standing there with two big men behind her. She walked in and because of the two men I couldn't run. She started speaking to me in french she said 'my name it Talia. I need you to put on this ceremonial dress.' To which I replied as any sane person would that I wasn't going to put on the dress and they needed to take me back home. She asked 'did you hear that man yelling a moment ago?' 'Yes?' I said though I wasn't sure what that had to do with anything. 'if you don't put it on and do what I say I will kill him.' So I put on the dress. They tied my hands behind my back and blindfolded me before leading me out of the cell I was in. When they took the blindfold off I was kneeling at an alter. Talia began speaking in french so I could understand. She was saying things about the strongest bond known to man, and a queen for the future king. I didn't understand what she meant until I turned to see a boy my age bound and kneeling next to me. Thats when it hit me we were getting married. She made us drink something from a chalice before we were ushered into a different room. We were both untied and left alone. the door locked behind us. The only thing in the room was a bed. The boy introduced himself as damian and said that he wasn't sure why his mother made us get married but that he was going to get some answers. He looked pretty cute when he said that.”

Damian blushed at her compliment.  

“Anyway Talia's explanation was that damian was 16 and for the league that meant he was a man and had to get married. And I had the great honor to be the one he married. I, was pissed. She said that as such a powerful magic user i was worthy to marry the future king of the league of assassins. I was even more pissed. She had the audacity to say that getting married, AT 16, to someone you had never met was a good thing. That little-”

“Alright mari I'll take over.” Damian said resting a hand on her sholder. “Anyway she said that after a year of mari training with the league we could go back to our normal lifes until we turned 18, at which point if we didn't at least move in together they would kill one of us. best mom ever. After that we were left alone to talk. Every day we trained and talked and worked hard. Once a month they would move us to a different compound and give us a huge array of blood tests. We became good friends. it was us against everyone else. Since we were already married we decided to give this whole romantic thing a try. But after six months I was sent to meeting with Talia she said I was going home and knocked me out sending me back to you. I searched and searched but I couldn't find any sign of marinette. so I had to asume Talia killed her. I couldn't think about France without thinking about her so I blocked all news from France. I didn't say anything to anyone for a month. And evrey year for one day I couldn’t speak, the anniversary of the last day I saw her alive.”

“I wasn't dead incase you were wondering.” marinette said picking up where damian left off,” I was sent to the med bay. No one would tell me what was happening or were damian was until Talia came in and said damian had fulfilled his usefulness. she exsplaned The only reason i was there was because damian had spent to much time with his father and had gone soft. The league needed a new heir to the throne. They picked me to be the mother of that heir. I was stuck there for months. I knew they weren't going to let me go. After the baby was born they were going to kill me. One day something big happened, I don't know what but it was big enough no one was watching me. I escaped. I hiched rides to France and snuck across borders. When I finally got back i saw a doctor as soon as I could. I didn't know if the baby was ok. He was born when I was 17.” she turned to the door where a young man stood holdng a toddler who scrambled down and ran over to his parints. “Everyone I would like you to meet Xander Thomas dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne.”

“Damian you have a son.” cass said wide eyed.

“I'm aware” damian said handing the boy his phone with a game already opened up. 

“Xander is my nephew??????” Dick said staring at the boy like he had grown a secend head.

“Yes.” marinette said simply.” It took a year to defeat Paris' villain. After that I moved here to find damian and tell him about Xander.”

“Dang. So you know about Robin then?”

“Yep”

“Why didn't you say anything??? I've known you for over a year and you said nothing????” the betrayed jason said.

“I didn't want to explain anything until I could tell damian. i thought He should be the first to know about his son.”

“We have a break in at gatham museum.” alfered said over the intorcom

“We are not done with this conversation.” Bruce said. 

“Suite up!” called Tim.

“Marinette do you want to come?”

she smiled at her husband “I wouldn't miss it for the world.”

************

I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter I've ever written yay me. Pro tip if you see a centipede in your house DON'T TUCH IT it can and will sting you and it will hurt, my little brother just got stung by one. Anyway im glad so many of you like this story thanks for all the love! If you want to be tagged please let me know you can ether message me or reply to this. And if anyone can explain how to link things the pretty way with just "here" underlined that would be great. if you asked to be tagged and you weren't then ask again and ill put you on the list.

@thestressmademedoit

@abrx2002

@depressedrainbowcake

@myazael

@toodaloo-kangaroo

@bisha43rbs

@ur-average-reader

@crystalangelluna

@animezodiac707

@thenillabean

[villainousshakespeare]

Just one bed fluff with a character of your choosing, if it isn't taken yet?! I'm partial to Loki and Tom, but whoever floats your boat in the moment! Congratulations on 200 followers! You deserve them and more, sweetheart!

Sorry this took so long my dear! Hope it was worth the wait. I decided to do Tom for this. :-)

Kicked Out

Rated T - alcohol use, kissing, implied smut

Lots of fluff!

Tom Hiddleston/Reader

The music pulsed around you too loud for the small space. Mechanically you sipped your watered down margarita, trying to push down the depression that threatened to overcome you. If your friends back home could see you now they would be laughing at how excited you had been. Here you were, sitting alone at a hotel bar. This was not how you had envisioned things at all.

It had not all been bad of course. You loved the play you were acting in. Well, of course you did! It was Shakespeare! Even though you had only a bit role you were understudying Desdemona. And the cast was all first rate. You had already learned so much in just a few weeks! The upgrade in quality from your scrappy theater company where it was a struggle to get male performers who came anywhere near the talent level of the women such as yourself to an internationally renowned ensemble boasting genuine stars more than made up for going from playing the lead to a glorified extra.

If only you didn't find yourself feeling so cursedly shy. You had always had a bit of social anxiety, but until this tour it had never been an issue with castmates before. The theater was the one place you had always felt in your element, confident in yourself and able to mingle with everyone. You wished that were the case now. 

Being assigned to room with Tisha had seemed like a wonderful stroke of luck at first. Like you she was on her first international tour, and was therefore playing several smaller parts in the ensemble. She was bubbly, outgoing, and talented, immediately drawing the attention of everyone around her. Unfortunately for you, that everyone included Michael, the actor playing Othello. He had become visibly smitten with her during the first read through, ignoring everyone else to shamelessly flirt with her whenever the opportunity presented itself. You would have been happy for her if he wasn't married with a child. The situation didn't seem to bother Tisha, who carelessly told you that she saw the whole thing more as a career move than a real relationship. What happened on the road, she breezily said, didn't effect real life, except for possibly leading to bigger roles down the line when he recommended her for future shows.

It was none of your concern, you had told yourself. They were grown adults and for all you knew he had an understanding with his wife. The problem had begun tonight, when they decided to take their relationship to the next, inevitable level. You had assumed that when this occurred, as you had guessed from the start it would, they would avail themselves of his room. After all, as one of the stars of the production he had a large room all to himself. Unfortunately for you, this did not turn out to be the case. As a married celebrity, Tisha had explained to you in hushed tones, Michael's meant had to be careful in situations such as this. He could never be seen having a woman enter his room, much less stay over night! Of course you wouldn't mind vacating your room for a while, would you? She had pleaded with big puppy eyes in a tone that clearly said she did not expect you to say no, and had somehow ushered you out the door, blithely commenting that you should be able to come back in a few hours, just knock before entering to be sure. The door shutting in your face had been cruel and final.

So here you were, sitting by yourself at the hotel bar with a bartender who looked like he would dearly love to cash you out and head home. You could have found one of the other actors to let you crash wish them, but you didn't really know anyone that well yet. The insecurity that flooded you when you thought of knocking on a virtual stranger's door and asking to sleep on their floor was too overwhelming.

"Trouble sleeping?" a voice like melted caramel asked from just over your shoulder.

You choked on your drink, splashing a bit of it onto your lap and the bar in front of you. You would have recognized that voice anywhere. You heard it often enough in your fantasies. But though it had been three weeks since you had begun working with him you still could not believe that you were now hearing it in person as well. Never in your wildest dreams had you believed that you would actually book a show with Tom Hiddleston.

Turning on your stool you saw the man himself standing behind you. He was so attractive it made you want to cry sometimes. You had come into contact with other celebrities over the years, and in almost every case seeing them up close and personal had somehow ruined the fantasy of them. In real life they had each just seemed... ordinary. With Tom, it was the exact opposite. He was handsome on screen or in pictures, in real life he was literally breathtaking. From the top of his burnished gold curls to the soles of his well worn grey boots and everywhere in between he was perfect. 

"You could say that," you laughed uneasily, face turning crimson. You had never spoken to him alone before, and never anything other than vague platitudes at the end of rehearsals or addressed to a group at large. 

"Me too," he said, giving you a half grin. "Would you mind if I joined you?"

What could you do but shake your head and gesture to the seat next to you. Pulling out the bar stool he folded his long, lean frame onto it, stretching his legs out. Your feet dangled like a child's from the stool, but his reached the floor with ease you noticed. Damn, but his legs were long!

"I'm always nervous before opening in a new city," he admitted, signaling for the bartender to come over. He ordered a single malt scotch and another daiquiri for you, requesting that the waiter make it with top shelf tequila.

"Still?" you asked, surprised that he would get nervous given his lengthy resume.

"Of course," he shrugged. "Never trust an actor that tells you he's not nervous. He's either lying or not pushing himself hard enough. The day my nerves go is the day I pack it in. The challenge is everything."

"Well, it's good to know it's not just me," you said quietly with a soft smile. You were nervous of course, even if that wasn't why you were there now.

"This is your first professional show, isn't it?" he asked.

You nodded, surprised that he knew. Was your acting that clunky that your lack of experience showed in just your few scenes?

"I watched your audition tape," he told you, grabbing a handful of bar nuts and arranging them on a napkin. "I wanted to come to the auditions, but Ken thought it might make people nervous. I made sure to watch all the tapes though. You were very good. The passion you put into Lady Anne was remarkable."

You blinked at him, all words deserting you. He had seen that? You were quite proud of your Lady Anne, but he was right. It was hard enough to have Kenneth Branagh watching you audition. If Tom had been in the room, you doubt you would have been able to do it.

"Thank you," you said at last after a long pause while he snacked on peanuts. "I had no idea."

"I like having a say in things like that," he shrugged. "When you're doing a show that's this intense, who you're on stage with is a big deal. Also, both Ken and I are firm believers in giving new talent an oppertunity. After all, him taking a chance on me is how I ended up with my career. What kind of person would I be if I didn't pass on the favor. I was the one who pushed for you to be Desdemona's understudy, by the way."

"Really?" you wished the word didn't come out like a squeak.

"Mhm. In fact, I thought you could have played the part. Producers wanted a name though, and I guess you can't blame them. Have to make their money back. Still, you were quite impressive."

You were saved the trouble of responding by the arrival of your drinks. Tom thanked the bartender and asked to have the drinks, including the one you had had before, charged to his room before leaving a large tip on the bar.

"Thank you again," you said, sipping on your new and much stronger drink.

"No need," he waved it off. "Othello was my big break, you know. I played Cassio in a production with Chewitel Eijifor and Ewan McGregor. It was fantastic, but I always wanted to do Iago. I try not to make dream part lists, I'm a bit superstitious that way, but now that I'm actually doing it I can admit it."

"I would think it would be on any actor's list!" you said, trying to hide the fact that of course you knew about his previous Othello, along with every other part on his lengthy cv. "I would like to tackle it myself some day."

"I would love to see that," he smiled, looking sincere. "You have a great facility with the language. And there is no reason why Iago should have to be male. I must say that I greatly appreciate that we live in a time where the gender barriers for such superb parts are beginning to break down. What other roles do you dream of tackling? I promise I won't tell a soul!"

You weren't sure whether it was the alcohol warming you or the way he smiled and listened to you like you were the only person in the world, but you soon found yourself engaged in a long discussion of Shakespeare that ranged from contentious - you would never agree on who the ultimate Richard III was, with you preferring Ian McKellan and Tom being loyal to his good friend Benedict - to the ridiculous. He had you in stitches when he recounted the story of an actor (he refused to name them) who had so completely missed an entrance on press night for Much Ado that Tom and his scene partner had to improve in verse for three minutes. When the poor man had made it onto stage, he had not had time to put his shoes back on. The review in Time Out the next day had gone on for two paragraphs about the social commentary of having a barefooted Don Pedro. By that point you were on your third drink and laughing like old friends, hunched over and shaking with mirth.

"Oh! Yes!" Tom said suddenly, pulling himself up to standing and holding out his hand to you. "Come on!"

"What?" you asked, totally confused.

"This song!" he replied, enthusiasm shining from his face. 

"It's a good song," you agreed, listening to Michael Jackson's Beat It blaring out from the speakers.

"Well then?"

"What?"

"Dance with me!"

"Tom..."

"I refuse to take no for an answer," he insisted, dragging you to your feet and onto the dance floor.

Tom's energy was infectious, there was no avoiding it. Abandoning the last shreds of your dignity you surrendered to the music and the exuberance of the man spinning you around the floor. He was good of course, you had seen it on videos often enough, but he made you actually feel like you could dance as well. Michael Jackson turned into Prince and then Tina Turner as the two of you made idiots of yourselves in the empty bar.

"Last call," the beleaguered bar tender called, ruining the vibe. 

Looking around you realized that he had put up all of the chairs and wiped down the bar. As tempting as it was to order another drink and prolong the fun, you knew that it was not fair to the poor server. Still, you didn't know what to do with yourself now. Would Tisha and Michael be finished with whatever they were doing? Had it been long enough to go up?

As Tom helped put up the remaining bar stools and finished off his scotch you collected your purse. You stared at your phone, trying to decide whether or not to text Trisha.

"Okay, out with it," Tom said, looking at you with an unwavering stare.

"With what?" you evaded.

"The truth. Why were you down in the bar by yourself? And don't say nerves. I've talked to you enough now to know that you are not the sort to drown your anxiety in alcohol."

"You did," you said, not believing your audacity.

"I came down for tea," he said.

"Tea?" you parroted.

"There was no earl grey in my room. I like to have a cup in the morning while I get ready."

"But you had a scotch! Two of them!"

"Well, I would hardly be a gentleman if I let a lovely lady drink alone," he shrugged. "So. Spill it. What brought you down here all by yourself?"

"Um... it was just... a little crowded in my room," you tried to sound as noncommittal as possible.

"Ah, I see," his quick brain filled in the pieces. "You're rooming with Tisha, aren't you?"

"Yes," you answered slowly.

"So Michael has made his move has he?"

"You know?" you asked, somewhere between mortified and relieved.

"Well, they haven't exactly been subtle," he said with a wry laugh. "Also, he has a bit of a reputation. I had hoped it was just rumor, God knows there are enough of those about me, but it appears in this case there was some truth behind it. Don't tell me they kicked you out?"

"They told me I could come back later," you said quickly, trying for some reason to make them look not quite as selfish and failing miserably.

"Why couldn't they just have gone to his room? No, never mind. Foolish question. You poor thing. I am so sorry you have to deal with this. Would you like me to check with the front desk and get you another room?"

"Oh, no, that's really not necessary!" you said. You could only imagine the talk if that were to happen, trying to explain to the tour manager why there was an additional expense on the invoice. True, it was Tisha and Michael who should be made uncomfortable by it, but you just knew you would be the one to squirm from the scrutiny.

"Well, there is only one thing for it," he said, placing his large hand on the small of your back and ushering you out of the bar. "You shall stay with me."

"What?" for the second time your voice, pride of your acting arsenal, was rendered little more than a dog whistle.

"It's no problem," he shrugged, walking towards the elevator and taking you with him. "I have a large single room all to myself. I'm sure it will be much more comfortable than breaking up whatever your roommate and Michael have going on."

You looked away and bit your lip, trying to decide what to do. It was such a tempting offer. Not that you would ever get any sleep in the same room with this man, but at least you wouldn't have to face the love birds.

"Darling," Tom said, gently turning your face to look you in the eye, "you have no reason to worry. I am not Michael. I would never take advantage of a costar. I just want you to have a comfortable place to get a good night's rest before your performance."

"I never thought... Of course you wouldn't take advantage!" you said with a laugh. As if someone like Tom would try to take advantage of you, you thought. It would be hilarious if he wasn't standing there looking like an overly attentive angel.

"Good, then it's settled," Tom's smile beamed at you. "Come on."

And just like that you found yourself in the unbelievable position of movie star Tom Hiddleston showing you into a large corner hotel room on the top floor. The comparison to your small shared double was insane. You were fairly sure your whole room would fit into his en suite.

"Oh," you gasped, not intending it to be audible.

"What's wrong?" he asked, turning to you all solicitous.

"Nothing," you said miserably, trying not to stare at the giant king size bed. You didn't know why you had expected there to be two beds. He had told you it was a single room. As it was there was not even a couch for you to sleep on. Two large over stuffed chairs took up space on the other side of the room, and hard backed ones surrounded the table near floor to ceiling the windows.

"Ah," he said, perceptively following your thoughts. "Yes. One bed. If you like I can sleep in the chair."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" you blurted out.

"I assure you, I have suffered much worse," he smiled. "If you feel uncomfortable sharing, I will gladly curl up in the armchair."

"No, that's just silly," you said, swallowing around the lump in your throat. "After all, the bed is so big you could fit five people in it. As long as you don't mind, that is."

"Not a bit," he said rubbing the back of his neck. "Now, let me find you something to sleep in."

To no surprise you soon found yourself in a pair of long running shorts and a Legend t-shirt. You surreptitiously pinched yourself to make sure this was real. To be dressed in one of the patented Hiddleston outfits was surreal to say the least. 

You walked out of the bathroom to find Tom sitting on the edge of the bed in his own pair of jogging shorts, glorious broad chest bare. Trying desperately not to stare, you shyly walked around to the other side of the bed.

"Left side alright for you?" he asked, always the gentleman.

You nodded and quickly got yourself under the covers, pulling the blankets up to your chin. Tom turned off the light and got himself situated, leaving the bedding down at his waist. In the dim light you could just make out the whirl of hair on his chest as he curled onto his side facing you. Your fingers itched to reach out and feel it, but you managed to keep them to yourself. You could feel the heat radiating from him, like a live fire warming your body. He reached out gently and touched your face with the backs of his fingers, still staying to his side of the wide mattress.

"It was lovely getting to know you, darling," he said quietly. "Rest well."

You smothered the whimper threatening to erupt and rolled onto your side, facing the window as far away from him as you could get without hanging off the edge. Attempting to ignore the pooling desire in your center you settled in for what was sure to be a long, sleepless night.

When the alarm went off you almost jumped out of your skin. Blearily you tried to sit up, but a strong arm around you kept you anchored to the bed. A murmured curse sounded behind you and the beeping stopped. A face buried itself in your hair as you were pulled closer to the wall of chest at your back.

Oh sweet lord! you thought, as awareness of your location flooded into your brain. Gingerly you opened one eye just enough to confirm that you were half way across the bed in the center of the mattress. You must have rolled over in your sleep, you realized. Which of course meant that Tom had also drifted to the middle of the bed to meet you in what could only be described as he the most comfortable and simultaneously uncomfortable embrace of your life.

He felt divine. He body was all pliant skin over hard muscle, Warm and soft and deliciously scented. His obscenely large hand splayed across your waist, just below your breasts, to rest against the stripe of bare flesh where your borrowed t-shirt had ridden up in your sleep. His legs, those impossibly long limbs you had admired in the bar last night, were pressed against you, one rising up to hook over your own. It was heaven. If only it was intentional. Silently as you lay in his embrace your mind cringed awaiting the moment he woke the rest of the way and realized that the woman in his arms was only you, a pathetic cast mate he had taken pity on when she was cast out of her own room.

When you could bear it no longer, you tried to gently pull away from him. Once again his arm tightened around you, holding you close to him. You closed your eyes and tried to think of a way to delicately extricate yourself. That was when you heard your name, mumbled in his honey warm voice made rough by sleep into your hair.

"Stay," he said, snuggling further into you. "Please."

Well, when he asked so nicely! Really, you decided, when would you ever have such a chance again. Surrendering to the bliss, you allowed yourself to sink back against him. You would soak up these moments, you decided. Save them for when you were feeling lonely, or needed a happy memory to see you through a hard time. After all, what could be better than being held in Tom Hiddleston's strong arms?

It was too short a time before the alarm went off again. Tom swore, lifting his arm from around your body to turn it off. You felt him, more fully awake this time, realize the situation you found yourselves in. His body stiffened and his leg quickly slid off of yours.

"I am so sorry," he said, pulling his head from where it had lain in the top of your hair. "Please, darling, forgive me. I didn't mean to take advantage."

"No need to apologize," you assured him, trying to sound as though this sort of thing happened to you every day. "After all, we were both asleep."

"It's just been so long since I've had a beautiful woman in my bed," he sighed, arm rising to cover his eyes. "My body just reacted instinctually."

"Beautiful?" you heard yourself say, a note of disbelief in your voice.

"Can you doubt it?" he asked, sounding surprised himself. 

"Generally speaking," you laughed, thinking that this man calling anyone beautiful was like the sun calling a lightning bug bright.

"My darling, you are stunning," he said, rising up on his elbow to look at you. "You are also intelligent, funny, and delightful. I thought I had a crush on you before I got to know you last night, but now..."

"You have - a crush?" 

"Damn," he said quietly. "Forgive me. I should not have said that."

Slowly, not daring to believe what you had just heard, you rolled over so that you were facing him. Hair mussed and eyes slightly unfocused Tom looked even more devastating than usual. A light growth of stubble shadowed his jaw, and in the dawn light his freckles stood out against his pale skin.

"Did you mean it?" you asked, stunned.

"There are few things as attractive... as sexy as talent," he said quietly, not meeting your eye. "When I saw you act, well, I could scarce keep my eyes off of you."

"You do realize that you are the most talented person I have ever seen," you told him, shock bringing out your candid side.

"You are very kind," he blushed.

"I am very honest," you answered. "You really think of me like that?"

"I think of you all the time," he replied, looking at you at last. "Often like that. I have spent the last three weeks trying to work up the courage to speak with you. When I saw you sitting alone in the bar last night, I thought someone must have heard my prayers."

"I am in a dream," you said. "I am in a dream and any moment now I will wake up and be back in the small black box theater performing for ten people."

"If you are in a dream than I am too," he smiled. "Darling, I understand if you want to leave. Things with me are never simple. It is an unfortunate side effect of the career I have chosen. But if you are willing to try, I would love to court you."

"Court me?" you grinned at his archaic turn of phrase. "Like with flowers and poems and such?"

"If you would like," he said, surprising you once more. "I have written a poem or two in my day, though I am more adept at songs. They are more forgiving. For now, we could perhaps start with breakfast?"

"Breakfast sound wonderful," you said, realizing suddenly that you were in fact hungry.

"I will order room service then," he nodded. "But first, sweetheart, would it be too forward of me... may I kiss you?"

Unable to speak you nodded your head once. Tom smiled, and reached down to grasp your chin gently between his thumb and finger. With an aching tenderness he brought his lips to yours. The kiss was soft and sweet and full of promise. You felt it all the way down to your toes in ways that far more invasive kisses had never moved you. Your back arched and you molded yourself to him, his free arm encircling you to hold you close. Emboldened by the embrace, you let your own hands find their way around him and to his back where they slid down the naked skin in a caress. With a quiet moan he pulled away, and you briefly felt his arousal brush against your let as he let you go.

"The things you do to me," he sighed, fingers lightly tracing your face. 

"I know what you mean," you breathed, feeling light headed from the kiss.

"I started this leg of the tour irritated at Michael," he confided. "Now I am tempted to send him a thank you gift. What do you thing? Champagne? Chocolates?"

"If we give them all that, won't it just encourage them the next night?" you giggled.

"Ah, now you see my clever plan," he teased. "How else can I hope to get you back in my bed?"

"Tom," you spoke seriously, "clever plans are not needed. All you need do is ask."

"Hmm," he grinned, pulling you close once again. "I am suddenly more happy than I can say that they forgot my tea."

"So am I," you smiled, nestling in against him. "You have no idea."

"Well then," he said. "You will just have to show me. Fortunately, we have months to go, and I for one have never been so happy to start a tour."

As you burrowed back together under the covers you could not help but agree.

@yespolkadotkitty @hopelessromanticspoonie @nonsensicalobsessions @hiddlesholic

[dorkzilla-exe]

Zim, Dib, and Seven Smeets

A ZaDr series: Ep 1, Hatching Day

Dib: Zim, will you come down.

Zim: *sitting on top of the fridge* DO NOT DISTURB ME WHILE I'M IN MY PANIC SPOT!

Dib: Im just-

Zim: *crying* DIBBERSON, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, I'LL BE DOWN IN A MINUTE!

Dib: you said that an hour ago, I've got everything set up for the celebration, so at least be down before 3, ok?

Zim: wait, you did the decorating? You did EVERYTHING?! ON YOUR OWN?!

Dib: *smiles sinisterly* yes, yes I did, all on my own, probably made some mistakes in color arrangement-

Zim: LET ME SEE! YOU BETTER NOT HAVE MESSED ANYTHING UP!! *jumps down from the fridge and scurries into the living room*

Dib: works every time...

Zim: Dib, you didn't actually mess any of the decorations!?

Dib: I studied hard when you were decorating for Gaz's birthday, so I applied your decoration tactics to this room and... well... ta-daa!

Zim: you really are amazing, Dib. You know that, right?

Dib: I got the hint the day you gave me a ring-pop and asked for my hand in marriage.

Zim: I swear I didn't know it was candy, the person who sold it to me said it was worth 5,000$ and would sell it to me for 4,900...

Dib: I really didn't care about being proposed to with a candy ring, a ring is a ring to me, wether it's candy or not. Although, it is very concerning how someone managed to sell you a ring-pop for that much.

Zim: don't remind me...

Dib: would you believe me when I say I still have it?

Zim: no, I actually wouldn't.

Dib: well I do, I had it dipped in resin so it wouldn't deteriorate.

Zim: wow, how have I not noticed it?

Dib: remember that box I where keep stuff like pendants and pins? That's where the ring is.

Zim: that's sweet.

Dib: wait a minute, I just remembered we've got one more thing to do...

Zim: The Smeet's play-pen! We've gotta decorate that! Get the streamers! I've got some decorating to do!

[About an hour later]

Dib: alright, living room decorated, snacks and cake ready, little gift bags customized for every guest, flowers and other table decorations, and Zim's in the play-pen with the eggs. We are ready for the guests to arrive and it isn't even-

[Knocking from the front door]

Dib: right on cue, must be dad cause he's been early to ever other party. *answers the door* hey- uh...

Tallest Red: hello there, you must be Dib

Tallest Purple: How has Zim been? We haven't heard too much from him since he layed the eggs.

Dib: uhhhh... Hi I'm Dib Membrane, Zim's husband. Zim's been doing wonderfully, aside from the random anxiety attacks and his weekends of depression. Please come in! We have plenty of Irken friendly food and drinks ready, but remember to save some for the other guests. You two apparently aren't the only alien guests on our list.

Tallest Red: Thank you Mr. Membrane, we appreciate your hospitality. *enters with Tallest Purple*

Zim: My Tallest! I didn't expect you to be here until 10 minutes later.

Tallest Purple: see, I told you we were too early!

Tallest Red: EUGH, we could've brought the little ones Paks...

Dib: actually, we already thought of that. My Dad works at Membrane labs and designed him "Membrane Paks". They are designed to make it easier for them to identify us in a crowd, immediately begin healing if injured, ward off any diseases and illnesses, higher pain tolerance, and give them a longer life.

Zim: the only major differences are the Designs and application process. Instead of implanting electonics in abruptly, we will apply them more delicately, carefully and less painfully.

Tallest Red: hmm, I see, it would also be much easier to identify them if they ever decided to work for the Irken Empire.

Zim: i mean, you're not wrong. But I also invited here to ask for permission to retire.

Tallest Purple: retire?

Tallest Red: eumm... sure? Why not?

[1 hour later]

Dib: Dad, Gaz, the tallest, Skoodge, Tak, Tenn, Keef, Z, Zita, Clembrane, Prisinor 777 and his kids.

Dib: that seems to be about everyone, all we're missing are-

Anne: *annoyingly beating on Dib's Door* DIBDIBDIBDIBDIBDIBDIBDIBDIB!

Dib: Anne and Flish...

Dib: *opens the door, making Anne fall into the house*

Anne: Crikey, you've grown! You're 'bout as tall as Flishey now!

Flish: howdy, Dib. Sorry we couldn't make it to yer wedding last year.

Dib: it's ok, come on in you two.

Tallest Purple: oh yeah... we banished HER here too...

Tallest Red: I feel like Zim isn't our biggest concern anymore.

Anne: My Tallest! It's been YEARS! how've ya been!

Tallest Purple: good~

Anne: *gasp* OH MY GOSH! The eggs! Aw, they're absolutely precious! Zim, you oughta call yourself lucky! 'Lotta Irkens can't lay eggs y'know.

Zim: eheh, I know. Which is why I didn't fully expect it.

Dib: you should've seen him, he cried his eyes out the whole time and more.

Flish: Heha! sounds like Zim a'right. But don'cha get all concerned and stuff. It's completely normal to cry during egg laying. Er, from what I've heard at least.

Dib: it's official, everyone's here.

Tallest Purple: great!... Now what?

Dib: Um, we talk.

Tallest Purple: sounds boring.

Gaz: I have Videogames.

Tallest Purple: Ooo, sounds intriguing! What do you do?

Professor Membrane: son, may I speak with you for a moment?

Dib: sure.

Professor Membrane: let's go into the other room, ok.

Dib: *nods and walks into the bedroom*

Professor Membrane: something is wrong and I can tell.

Dib: *walks over to the bad, grabs a pillow, and screams in it*

Professor Membrane: I know your stressed, but everything will be just fine. I'm sure you and Zim will be great-

Dib: But what if we arent?! I work weekends at a coffee shop and Zim works at a clothing store in a mall. We can't provide for SEVEN babies! It took a lot of saving to get this party set up! I rarely get any tips and the one tip I got last weekend was from Gaz and it was a penny.

Professor Membrane: Ok, now that's just sad.

Dib: I don't know what to do! It's hard for me to get a different job, a barista was the closest I could do because I apparently make really good lattes. *sob*

Professor Membrane: have you ever considered working with me in the labs? You already know everyone there and know the place well. Plus, I could adjust your schedule so you don't have to come every day and you get paid just for being there.

Dib: you'd do that for me?

Professor Membrane: of course! You really do need the money, I could have you work as a lab assistant, but that's a little dangerous. I could put you in the mailing room? Or-

Dib: what about food service? I can cook, I can make coffee, tea, and plenty of different desserts.

Professor Membrane: that's a wonderful idea! I could make you work down at the cafeteria so your talent isn't wasted on Lattes!

Dib: Consider me hired! Ill be there tomorrow evening-

Professor Membrane: no no, you should stay home for a few days.

Dib: but dad, I-

Professor Membrane: Dibberson, I know you want to help out as soon as you can, but right now, Zim and your children need you here. Besides, it's hard to bond with a child while you're away, right?

Dib: I guess it is.

Anne: *Bursts through the door* Dib! It's about to happen! One of the eggs moved!

Dib: bwha?! Already?! I didn't think it would be this early! *runs to the living room*

Zim: Dib! There you are! Hurry over here, you don't want to miss this!

Dib: *looks over the pen* which one moved?

Zim: This one right here. *puts egg in lap*

Dib: When will they-

Zim: any moment now...

Dib: *puts hand on egg, feeling for any movement*

Zim: Dib, can I admit something before they hatch?

Dib: go ahead.

Zim: I knew about the eggs since the first day they began developing.

Dib: wanna know something? The 4 months before I helped you with the eggs, I was suspicious that you might've been pregnant. I was kinda right.

Zim: yes, yes you were. AH! DIB, IT'S HATCHING!

Dib: *removes hand, watching both the eggs hatch and his family grow before his eyes*

Zim: thank you, Dib

Dib: hm?

Zim: thank you for everything. I'll love you forever and on.

Dib: *pure panic* wait, you dont die after the eggs hatch, do you?

Zim: No, no I don't, but I'll love you longer than you'll ever know. And that's a promise.

From then and on, Zib and Dib lived a happy and eventful life with 7 beautiful Human-Irken Smeets.

The End

Zim: Or is it?

Dib: Not really, but for now, yes.

[smileyoongle]

Deception (A Kim Namjoon Mafia AU)

Summary: A damsel in distress and a lonely mafia leader. Different but not too different. The two worlds collide on a rainy night when Kim Namjoon, a renowned Mafia leader is called for an emergency and Y/N Y/L/N is on the run from her abusive father. Feelings stir and he rescues her. But one of them is a liar. And the other's life is on the line. It's only a matter of time until all secrets are out in the open.

Will love be born? Or will death conquer?

chαptєr ηïηε: Betrayal and Longing

Character Count: 12,084

Pairing: Namjoon×Reader (Appearances by the whole of BTS)

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

Wrap me in the softest love I have ever known, show me that I'm not alone.

- Christy Ann Martine

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

"She's heading to Club Delirium tonight. I eavesdropped on a conversation she was secretly having so don't ask me how I know." Rex announced, entering the conference room with a shit-eating grin on his face. Even after not having gotten enough sleep the previous night, he felt energetic and excited. All the credit belonged to Hana and her secret, of course.

Who knew a mafia leader's best friend was gonna be an undercover cop?

Namjoon sat with his head buried in his hands, his brain still trying to process everything. It wasn't just him though, every single person in the room was just as shocked as him. How did they not know? All the questions they had regarding Hana's disappearance had just been answered and no one was happy about it. Namjoon was affected, yes, but so was Jungkook.

The latter's eyes were bloodshot, his lips pale and his hands clenched as if he would knock out the next person who spoke. He felt so betrayed and lost. At first, when Rex had told him that the guy Hana met was Nelson Shaw, he had no idea who that was. But later on, as he was fed all the information, he began to connect the dots. The guy who had broken into Namjoon's house was Nelson Shaw, the same guy who Hana met and worked with. His so called sister like friend, was a police officer, trying her best to bring them down.

Jungkook slammed his fist on the table, making Rex flinch while the others didn't react at all. Rex's eyes were wide, wondering why no one else moved a muscle because Jungkook was definitely scary when angry. They were probably used to it.

"We'll get her red handed then. Alert the bouncers at the club." Yoongi voiced, earning a nod from Taehyung who quickly walked out of the room to carry out the task.

Namjoon couldn't even begin to express how mad he was. There were still questions that he wanted answers to, but he didn't even wanna look at her anymore. It was early in the morning when he had gotten a call from Hoseok, asking him to come over for an emergency. The dull tone of hoseok's voice was definitely concerning but Namjoon wasn't expecting this. That's why Shaw broke into his house. To find dirt on him and turn him in. Well, too bad. Hana was out of the game now.

Jimin chuckled bitterly, all eyes turning to him questioningly. Namjoon slowly looked up, glaring at Jimin as if to ask what was so funny. Rex raised an eyebrow, eyes flickering over to Namjoon. He could smell drama already and he wished he had popcorn. Even though he knew you-

"Tell us, Namjoon. Did you know about this?"

Jimin asked, a bitter smile planted on his lips. Namjoon frowned, tilting his head to convey that he had no idea what Jimin was trying to say. Jin sighed, closing his eyes momentarily to keep himself in check. "Jimin, just because Hana was his best friend-"

"Forget it. Let's just get over with this Hana bullshit first." Jimin interrupted, standing up abruptly and rushing out of the room. Namjoon made a mental note to talk to Jimin about this later, standing up and proceeding to go home for a while. He placed a hand on Jungkook's shoulder, squeezing it tightly to let him know that he understood what it felt like. Jungkook glanced up at his elder, nodding absentmindedly. Jungkook still wanted to ask Namjoon about you but he figured this wasn't the right time, no matter how angry he was about being left in the dark.

"Delirium at 9. I'll see you all then." Namjoon said, glancing at everyone before leaving to go back to you.

_____________________________________________

You eyed the man in the kitchen, watching his every move as he cleaned the counters passionately. You had woken up in the morning to find Namjoon gone and this new butler in the house. It was quite amusing how there was a new butler already, Walter having left just the previous night. Namjoon must be really superior, you concluded, sipping on your cup of coffee.

Your fingers grazed the bandage on your forehead, memories from last night still burning in your mind. You missed Namjoon and the way he had held you. It was as if he was trying to shield you from everything bad in the world. You couldn't understand what was going on but you certainly liked him. And now that you thought about it, it seemed inevitable. A man like him surely had many admirers. You were just another one in the crowd.

You heard the front door slam shut, your body flinching in surprise as you turned around in your seat. Namjoon entered the living room, his eyes glaring at everything that came in his way. Work must have been hard on him.

"You came back early, today." You said, smiling at him softly when he looked at you with slightly wide eyes. His expression changed within a second, the frown on his eyebrows now smoothed out completely and his lips flashing you a small smile. His legs dragged him towards you and he sat beside you, glancing at the new butler.

Sangmin was here on Rex's recommendation. According to the boy, Sangmin was as skilled as a man his age could be. Due to the urgency, Namjoon decided to take him in. Hopefully, you'd be in better hands whenever Namjoon wasn't at home.

Namjoon sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head on the backrest. He was stressed and anxious, the upcoming events wearing him out completely. He wasn't ready to know why Hana was doing what she was doing. Did 16 years of friendship suddenly mean nothing to her? Did she forget everything that she had promised him?

"Namjoon, have you ever danced?" Your voice ran in his ears, making him immediately look at you as if you were an alien. He slowly registered your words in his brain, wondering why you would ask something like that out of the blue?

"Danced? Does head banging when I was home alone at the age of 9 count?"

You ended up throwing your head back and laughing, almost imagining what it would look like. Namjoon grinned, satisfied with the response he got from you, his heart melting at the way your eyes closed shut and crinkled. For sometime, he completely forgot the situation he was currently in. He didn't care that Hana betrayed him. He didn't care that he had lost a best friend. He just didn't care.

You stood up and proceeded to place your empty coffee cup in the kitchen, running back out and stretching your hand out to Namjoon. Namjoon frowned, eyes flickering between your face and your hand. He hesitantly placed his hand on yours, only to have you push it away.

"As much as I like your hands, I actually want your phone." You stated, shaking your hand to make him hurry up. Namjoon pulled out his phone and handed it to you after unlocking it. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and watching you as you stuck your tongue out and connected his phone to the music player at the corner of the room.

You were only trying to distract Namjoon from whatever was bothering him. Namjoon wasn't very good at hiding his despair and you understood that. His shoulders would always sulk and his smile would never quite reach his eyes. It felt bad to see him sad, knowing that you were of no help at all. So here you were, searching up a song and pressing the play button before leaving it on top of the music player. With a deep inhale, you turned around and slowly walked towards Namjoon, stretching your hand out again.

"May I have this dance, Mr Kim?" Namjoon chuckled, standing up and shaking his head. From what he had seen in movies, he knew he was supposed to be the one asking. So he bowed in front of you and placed his palm forward, glancing up at you with all the affection he could gather. Your heart fluttered, a shy smile dancing on your lips as you gently placed your hand in his. If you thought that was the best thing Namjoon could have done, then you were wrong because the next thing you knew, his lips were pressed against the back of your hand.

Keep your cool, Y/N.

You told yourself, ignoring the way Namjoon's eyes gazed at you. So much attention was surely gonna be the death of you. You bit your lip harshly to stop the grin from showing itself, Namjoon's hands finding their way to your waist. You were definitely shocked at how much Namjoon already knew.

The silence of the room had been replaced by the soft chords of a guitar, your eyes lighting up when a male voice filled your ears. This was one song that you used to listen to whenever you felt lonely and lost, pretending that you did have someone who loved you. That was far from reality when your life was all about being used like a rag but it was different now. Perhaps you could find someone who really loved you.

Maybe that person was right in front of you.

You swayed with your arms around Namjoon's neck, his feet moving in sync with yours.

Settle down with me, cover me up, cuddle me in.

Lie down with me and hold me, in your arms.

Namjoon swore his heart was being too fuzzy now. He hadn't felt this way before. Not even when he had a crush on Hana. It was so intense that Namjoon had to convince himself that he wasn't in love. At least not yet. But was he even being honest with himself?

And your heart's against my chest, your lips pressed to my neck.

I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet.

Your body was pressed against Namjoon's, your heart pounding in your chest. Your cheeks were too warm now and you felt dizzy. The air was thick, but not in an uncomfortable way. You could feel Namjoon's breath on your face, your eyes stuck on his. Life hated you, yes, but you weren't so sure anymore. After surviving your entire childhood, you were finally living. With a man who had a kind heart and was willing to do a lot for you. There was no way you would ever be able to repay him for everything he had done for you so far. At least not in this life.

And with a feeling I'll forget, I'm in love now.

Namjoon leaned closer, every ounce of self control having been lost. All he could think about now was how perfect you were. His eyes were now fixed on your lips, already thinking how good they would feel against his. He promised himself that he wasn't gonna let you go, no matter how many more lies he was gonna have to spew. No matter how many secrets he was gonna have to hide. Because you belonged with him. You were saving him and you didn't know that.

Kiss me like you wanna be loved

You wanna be loved. You wanna be loved.

You took in a shaky breath when Namjoon's hand cupped your cheek, tucking your hair behind your ear. Your hands tightly held on to each other behind his neck, your chest heaving in nervousness. You wanted this. You wanted him to kiss you. You wanted him to show you that you weren't broken. You moved your hands to the back of his head, your fingers tangling in his hair as you hesitantly pulled him towards you. You closed your eyes, his lips barely an inch away from yours. Just as Namjoon was about to close the little distance that remained, a loud clang echoed through the room, making you both flinch and pull away.

Your head whipped towards the kitchen, your eyes falling on the utensil that lay on the ground. Namjoon cursed under his breath, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. So damn close.

He clenched his jaw and walked towards the kitchen, glaring at Sangmin as you followed behind. "Sorry, Mr Kim. It slipped from my fingers." The man bowed, your head shaking in response to his apology. It was a mistake and nothing had been damaged anyway.

"That's okay. Don't worry about it. It's time for me to leave for work so I'll go get ready." You stated, turning on your heels and rushing towards your room. Your cheeks were hot and your breathing was uneven. You tapped your cheeks to pull yourself back to reality, scowling at your heart which was uncontrollably fluttering in your chest.

You closed the door to your room, leaning your back against it and sighing in relief. You weren't gonna deny the fact that you were disappointed, your work uniform mocking you from your bed. Things could have happened but here you were, dragging yourself to work without letting Namjoon know anything about your job. You pursed your lips and pulled your hair up, getting ready to go and cover your shift at Club Delirium.

Taglist: @uwunamjoon @shadowstark @all-fandoms-rise @tzuyyyuuu @stressedinmedschool247 @ifellinluvwithdorks @min-t-posts @floofwrites @pretty-in-pink-just-because @bts-d-onut @fangirllbookworm @mystical-writer @it-is-dana @ximaginx @kpopgirlbtssvt @pearylove @anothermisspark @annoyingpessimist @motivation-idontknowher @atwoodscott @soundofwonderland @btsarmysvtcarat @i-am-supermerwholoked221b @bunnymaknaereacts @iamcrazyforkdramas @ddaeing @basicallyanothernotebook @btsxdoll @spike-meowsters

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-XX

[terfslying]

This question may seem a little silly, so I'm sorry. I've heard a lot about terfs erasing lgbt history (butch/femme dynamics particularly), but since reading the ask about bi women, I was wondering if erasing it is rooted in trying to make themselves "pure" and force a villain/predatory role onto bi women of "invading" spaces for "pure lesbians only". I understand that's not the only reason, might not even be a major one, but it was a connection I've made and I was wondering your thoughts on it?

I’m going to paraphrase your question to what I think you’re saying, because I’m not 100% sure if I’m interpreting you right:

Is the habit of TERFs erasing lgbt history (and butch/femme dynamics) rooted in trying to make themselves “pure lesbians” and paint bi women as an invading predatory role?

My thoughts:

I think it definitely is used for the purpose of making themselves the pure, original lesbians in their narrative. But a lot of the individual arguments pre-dated being used for that narrative.  Anne Koedt’s 1971 pamphlet details a lot of the thoughts from the time on this:

“The agreement that there is nothing innately sick about persons having sex with someone of their own sex does not mean that therefore all gay behaviour is healthy in feminist terms. […] All role playing is sick, be it “simulated” or “authentic” - according to society’s terms.“

She also had a section on bisexuality where she specifically talks about the idea of “women-identified woman” from the manifesto of the same name, which argued that lesbians (and from context I can only presume bisexual wlw) were at the forefront of feminism:

“Feminists must […] reject any new definition of [womanhood] which offers a woman her identity by virtue of the fact that she may love of sleep with a women. […] [The term ‘women-identified woman’] seems to mix up the biological definition of woman with the political term. […] One we begin to discuss persons and persons (a word which doesn’t ask the sex of an individual) even the word “bisexuality” may eventually be dropped, since implicit in its use is still an eagerness to inform you that it is both sexes.”

So early rejection of bisexuality by political lesbians, much like early rejection of butch/femme dynamics, was generally based in the idea that “this supports the idea of distinction between the sexes and gender roles, and thus should be destroyed, fuck the consequences”.

But at this stage, in general, this was directed to all lesbians - this was before the “we are the real pure true lesbians and that’s why we have feminist authority” phase. In Koedt’s conclusion about lesbianism as a whole, she says:

“It must be kept in mind that while homosexuality does contain an implicit threat to sexist ideology, it is, at best, only a small part of the whole fight to bring down the sex role system. (Indeed, if the gay movement were to be seen as only the demand for the right of making role transfers within society, for example, it would work against feminism by supporting a reformed version of the sex role system.)”

So the biphobia and lgbt history erasure pre-dated the claims of being the one true pure group of Homosexual Women, but they were definitely pulled into that claim and enhanced by it as well. The biphobia/predatory lesbian-faking bisexual ideas came in after that.