#it's nice to have Frederick feel good about himself

[bvckbiter]

Psst psst psst favourite thing to explore in smartwatermagic dynamic?

hm... i think the main thing about this ship that compels me is how each of them deal with their guilt and trauma- it's basically my #1 question to answer when thinking about how they perceive and interact with each other, and from that comes a lot of parallels but also areas where they basically fulfill each other's lack/need.

i think annabeth in particular is a very good example of this; it's well-established in canon that she's faced a lifetime of her most beloved people letting her down (frederick and luke), abandoning her (athena), or ultimately turning her away for something they think is for the better (thalia). this is why she's very territorial of the people she considers as hers, as per chiron, and percy slots in very nicely into that gap with his (purported) flaw of personal loyalty. percy i think with his very human upbringing is a cornerstone for annabeth continuing to believe in family and love.

so you have percy kind of being there to pick annabeth up after the Luke Betrayal (yes, luke is an inextricable pivoting point in this relationship). alabaster as the only remaining living demigod still loyal to the TA's cause throws an interesting wrench in the percabeth dynamic, because if you hc that alabaster was in camp for a reasonably long time and was at some point acquainted/friends with annabeth, then you can have this shred of annabeth's pre-Luke Betrayal past coming back to haunt her, and her having to decide if alabaster's still worth clinging onto. i can imagine annabeth being unable to help herself and getting drawn to al one way or the other, especially with her mindset that her perfect world/life is hers to make. plus also in general the two of them getting more closure about Why Luke Was Like That lmao

percy on the other hand is Fighting His Own Demons because plainly put, i think he's the type of person that tries to ignore problems for as long as he can, especially if he knows that he's the root of the problem (see: Rachel Elizabeth Dare). not out of cowardice, but more of a "this (referring to himself) should not even be a matter thats wasted time on, it (referring to himself) should fix itself." so where he might be anxious over annabaster is also complicated by thoughts of "do i have the right to feel this way, i should try to be understanding." and then on top of that of course is the righteous rage he'd feel for al and his situation... and we all know percy is very protective of people he feels responsible for. (it's an interesting complementary to annabeth's personal/emotional possessiveness wink wink)

meanwhile al here is just. struggling. at large he naturally blames the olympians for his situation; but he's also putting a lot of pressure on himself for failing expectations. he's angry about his exile but also he doesn't treat himself well, almost like a method of self-flagellation. in a weird way, i also think that the expectations he perceives of himself as having failed are almost... imaginary? or exaggerated, because we know from Son of Magic that hecate cares about him simply because he is her son, regardless of what he has accomplished or failed. basically i love alabaster making his internal turmoil more complicated than it really is/has to be; and what better way to self-flagellate into the void of confusion by embracing two of olympus' foremost heroes when they offer it lolololol

this was a longer post than i expected, but oml this was a difficult yet very interesting ask to tackle. smartwatermagic's dynamic is very very very complicated and i dont think i could ever write enough words about it.

[charlesdesvoeux]

excuse to talk about immediate aftermath of carnivale, regarding stanley and charles frederick, should you want one? hope you are having a wonderful day or night or afternoon! :)

hiiii sorry I didn't get to it sooner it's iwtv finale day so that briefly took over my life. i think charles was just. wrecked by the events at carnivale, and while he was never a particularly good/nice person it was like... a line was crossed, and he can never go back mentally and emotionally to who he was before that. i think it was something that pushed him to become worse and worse (and he was already pretty nasty before).

(this got way too long so. gonna put a cut here)

i see des voeux as a person who initially hedged his bets on the order and structure of the royal navy bc he was pretty much guaranteed to ascend within it, and above all des voeux is for des voeux. he liked it bc he was good at it, at doing the maths and following the orders and whatever it was that a mate did (i have to look into the duties etc of the different officers in the navy bc i still dont know too much on that). he was already upper class, well-connected (in my hcs, idk about real life), and a very good officer-- I would say, more of an officer than a "human being" at that point. but seeing Stanley-- someone so disciplined, ordered and structured-- break so horrifically also shook his faith in the possibility that sticking to that order would save his life, and for someone who had essentially placed all his eggs in that basket... it was bad. which is one of the reasons why he was so receptive to mutiny later (in addition to the racism, not trusting crozier's decisionmaking, and BEING PASSED OVER FOR PROMOTION DUE TO LIEUT JOP which I think pissed him off to no end).

also imo just... the image of stanley. burning with his arms outstretched walking towards them as if wanting to embrace them. his charred flesh in the aftermath. i think it haunted him to his grave. i'm imagining he helped with counting the bodies but also at one moment he just knelt beside whatever remained of stanley and stayed there. and looked at it, made himself look straight at it even if he wanted to look away. there were no tears in that specific moment, he was too shocked, but afterwards-- when he was back in his cabin at the ship after they finished up with the bodies-- i think he wept. wept like a child. just once. and i think afterwards stanley was in his mind a lot. maybe he wonders-- i think they weren't really speaking to one another when it happened-- he wonders if maybe, just maybe, if they had been in better terms. if it could have been prevented. he quickly decides "no, us being on good terms at the time wouldn't have made a difference bc he did not really care about me, i was just someone to fuck"* but EVEN if he couldn't have prevented it. just for his own peace of mind he wishes that they had been on good terms before stanley died.

*that's not true btw. stanley did in fact have feelings for him beyond just "person i fuck". in fact i think his (eventual) actual genuine affection for des voeux was something which downright frightened him. and when he thought about everyone eating the poisoned food and wasting away slowly but surely-- he thought SPECIFICALLY "i don't want to see this happen to him". which motivated him to do the carnivale fire as "a mercy".

[bethanydelleman]

Northanger Abbey Readthrough Ch 20

This line is so sweet:

Mr. and Mrs. Allen were sorry to lose their young friend, whose good humour and cheerfulness had made her a valuable companion, and in the promotion of whose enjoyment their own had been gently increased.

Catherine is fun to be around! She's nice, she's joyful, she's sweet! It's no wonder Henry Tilney wants to know her better! But also, the Allens derived joy from making Catherine happy! What a lovely friendship they have with her. This whole thing is beautiful.

Now we have a very awkward family breakfast, where the Tilney children are doing their best to make Catherine feel welcome, but General Tilney, in trying to do the same is achieving the opposite.

His anxiety for her comfort—his continual solicitations that she would eat, and his often-expressed fears of her seeing nothing to her taste—though never in her life before had she beheld half such variety on a breakfast-table—made it impossible for her to forget for a moment that she was a visitor.

Such a relatable sentiment!

And then in the most awkward moment ever, General Tilney reams out Frederick for being late for breakfast right in front of Catherine, but also makes it clear that it is Frederick's insult to Catherine that he is the most angry about. Honestly, I would have just died of embarrassment in Catherine's place.

Catherine's attributes Captain Tilney not defending himself or replying to his father's screed to him not being able to sleep properly because of guilt. Sorry Catherine, I'd bet it's just because replying would have made it worse. Again, General Tilney making his children silent, the only thing he says before they leave is, "How glad I shall be when you are all off.”

Again, we see that General Tilney has a troubling anger management problem, which is likely why his kids get to quiet around him. He has a very short fuse, Catherine hardly manages to keep him from throwing her writing desk onto the street (I wonder if any of Eleanor's things were thrown out) and he's terrible to staff, "with his discontent at whatever the inn afforded, and his angry impatience at the waiters" Poor Eleanor! Having to live full time with this horrible man.

Catherine grow every moment more in awe of him

Meaning drift. The word "awe" here is more of a synonym with "fear". We use "awe" today in a positive sense; it used to be more like "inspire with fear or dread". Those familiar with the Bible will known that fear/awe are often used to describe what people feel about God. Anyway, this is not a positive feeling, Catherine is becoming wary of General Tilney. This is important to point out because a lot of people laugh at Catherine's eventual conclusion that General Tilney murdered his wife, but if you were to only judge by this chapter, General Tilney really does not come off well. Short temper, terrible to staff, screams at his children for minor slights...

Anyway, things get better! Catherine switches from Eleanor to Henry and he tells her a gothic horror story off the top of his head which Catherine LOVES. Until he cannot continue because he's laughing too hard, "But Henry was too much amused by the interest he had raised to be able to carry it farther; he could no longer command solemnity either of subject or voice, and was obliged to entreat her to use her own fancy in the perusal of Matilda’s woes."

Also, if you weren't convinced yet that Henry is far superior to Thorpe:

Henry drove so well—so quietly—without making any disturbance, without parading to her, or swearing at them: so different from the only gentleman-coachman whom it was in her power to compare him with!

I did not get this the first time I read it, but a big part of the humour of this section of Northanger Abbey is that the Abbey looks really clean and modern inside, much to Catherine's disappointment.

The windows, to which she looked with peculiar dependence, from having heard the general talk of his preserving them in their Gothic form with reverential care, were yet less what her fancy had portrayed. To be sure, the pointed arch was preserved—the form of them was Gothic—they might be even casements—but every pane was so large, so clear, so light!

Like come on! Catherine was hoping for a dungeon and she got a mansion. And then General Tilney starts to ramble on about all the money that he's spent doing the exact opposite of what Catherine was hoping for. She's in this beautiful house but is not impressed at all.

Also, this is hilarious:

The breeze had not seemed to waft the sighs of the murdered to her

Darn those non-murder breezes!

Then General Tilney announces that it's almost dinner time and Eleanor books it with Catherine to get changed.

[cursed-princess-club]

Do you think Frederick's inner child will appear again in the CPC? I have high hope for that chance because I feel it's also related to the way of Frederick mental issue could be healed (I noticed that 'him' appear in two most important life part of Frederick, the first when he realizes what he wants [ep70] and the second when he realizes that he hurts Gwen [ep132]). Frederick is the only CPC character that depicted to have inner child, and that usually symbolizing one's innocence getting hurts in the past but not healed until the present time. I love your positivity in the CPC fandom, and interested with how you analyzes about everything in the series..

So, please give me what you thought about 'him' ! ^^

i would LOVE to see frederick's inner child appear one more time... as a little treat... maybe a little closure thing where frederick does the meditation again at the ending of cpc and we get to see him update little frederick on his life... in general seeing frederick talk to his mind?? dope shit. I HAVE A GOOD FEELING IT'LL BE REFERENCED AGAIN FINGERS CROSSED!! since we HAVE seen him do the meditation, so it could be implied that he visits himself but just offscreen... ALSO THANK YOU SO MUCH :D CPC GETS ME TOTALLY PUMPED!! one thing i could imagine about frederick's inner child is that like, every time frederick meditates and gives him a visit, he maybe has his own room that he gets to decorate with all the books and model ships and memories that he wants...and i think that's very neat and nice. little frederick how ya holdin up in there

[protect-daniel-james]

WIP asks: what is your oldest? What is the one you will probably never finish?

Omg, do unfinished chaptered fics count?

AO3 tells me the oldest non-finished chaptered fic is Silent Freeway, an Alex Turner/Miles Kane fic from ancient times. I am kinda ashamed of it now, because ultimately it was too much for me to write about - I chose the light topics of mental health and psychosis with my poor English skills, and obviously it was a pain in the ass to write in the end. I wasn't brave enough to go back and read it but I can imagine the shit I wrote back in 2016 in English. It was too much drama for the sake of drama, no characterisation, no reasonable behavior... I will definitely never finish that one. I'm not that much into Milex, and the whole story seems childish today.

Fun fact - it has over 11 000 words making up 11 chapters. Yes, 11 chapters. Which means about 1 000 words per chapter (I was so proud of it back then, lmao). Good old days. Nowaydays I write a 11 000 word fic about Inzaghi brothers fucking.

WIP which I might actually finish one day is definitely Let's fade together, let's fade forever. No football. Historical Figures RPF combining two of my favorite fruity couples from late 18th century, Alex Hamilton/John Laurens and Frederick II/Hans Hermann von Katte. As the tag says, I imagine Heaven as a waiting room. A waiting room where Laurens and von Katte meet and talk and wait for their loved ones. I think it was a nice lil' idea, a fic that became known as "sad gays in heaven". Yeah, it is still rather naive and silly looking back, but I am still quite proud of that one. It's literally missing one chapter.

My problem is I get too excited about a new thing, and I am able to produce quite quickly a new fic when I am excited. A planned out multichaptered fic even. But then, the excitement fades - either because I find a more interesting new thing, or because the response is non-existent, and I see that something I was excited about and cared about isn't really interesting "to the outside". Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one to count kudos and comments because I know that the ships and themes I write about are very niche (I am well aware that if I write a Pedri/Gavi fic, it would get to 200-300 kudos, if I write a Grizione fic, it would be around 50, but if I write about Unai Emery, there will be like 5) - but even with this awareness, if a fic I truly was excited about doesn't really get a response, I just don't feel motivated to prioritise it, work on the next chapter, or write something about the pairing again (unless it's Unai and Football, because those fics I take as a form of experience, exploration, and almost academic work so I don't care if y'all aren't reading those; they are for me to explore the unexplored. although it's nice when people read and comment on them, and want to discuss its topics, obviously).

When it comes to unpublished WIPs, I don't really have many of those because I tend to start my WIPs when excited and then I usually work quickly (unless it's literally a 10 000+ words fic like the yacht fic or like the Inzaghicest one might be). One that I promised to do was a Henderson/Stevie G in Saudi Arabia engaging in bad, sleazy, desperate sex because they have no clue what they are doing there, but I haven't really started to work on that.

I started working on a Mourinho/Abramovich fic (with a flavour of Abramovich/Sheva).

"Mr. Abramovich - " José made a significant pause, spread out his hands over the edge of the desk that separated him from the addressed man. "I know you like him. Is easy to see." For a moment not a single muscle in Abramovich's face moved. Then, his eyebrows rose up, and he tilted his head, smiling; not just smiling but amused at such a simple yet daring statement. "Is it?" he asked, although José wasn't completely sure about the wording. It might have been just a simple, bemused repetition of the word he himself used to describe his reading of the situation - easy.

I think it's now the oldest actual draft that I have, but it's only 2 months old lmao. As I said, I finish my fics pretty quickly (after all, I usually write directly in AO3 - believe me, I did regret it a few times), and the one month due date on drafts works miracles.

[cornus27florida]

Frederick Appreciation Post!

Sorry in the mess kinda style and born from various emotions tbh - the goal is to feel better towards thinking him as the best boi tbh ^^

As in, thinking more about him - Frederick! ~

Him being the Green Plaid Prince ultimately makes him the green flag too - there's so many examples but only in Gwen's dinner arc alone he keeps helping people that he knows care about him and being very supportive to Gwen <3

His character is so complex, the pioneer of the redemption trio - as he indeed make mistake that basically the trigger of the story unfold with unintentionally making Gwen hurts and then she meets the CPC. But it's not coincidence, as giving ultimate breaker for his father's evil plan. He indeed jerk and sassy and judgemental on early appearance but I know LambCat has stuff in store to gives layers for him and that's turn out right! Dark troubled past that's relatable but very capable of goodness - he just need an angel of the fortune (Gwen) to guides him to the light path and have mutual "special" relationship in form of respect and cares to each other = relationship goal, totally! This what healthy (love) should be! And he totally capable of goodness like what his sudden surprise! mentor at the street when wants to meet Gwen, Whitney, that later on becomes part of the CPC says - his pain although "subtle" is valid so he shouldn't belittle his own as 'insignificant' but he didn't need to wallow too long as once he feels ready - He could change his story, ultimately changes story roles. First part he painted as unaware villain, then later we learn how he could be a very nice supporter as simple a friend to Gwen. He's judgemental but that's his defense mechanism, and yet at the same time he isn't afraid to admit his mistaken opinion-ask forgiveness-and totally making amends out of it.. He just need to be pointed out gently about where his mistake!

Serious "Dark Comedy" 'Fun' corner

This give ultimate debate regarding topic about gaslighting, too eager 'To die' or passive suicidal ideation - one thing that I could say: mental disaster blonde, someone (or multiple) people please save him! This clear sign of "self-harm"

Frederick, and the cliffs - symbol of "death"

Sorry for ping there @randomgentlefolk but I remember your talk at episode 158 about Frederick and the cliffs at the Pastel Kingdoms

He never actively jumping to the cliff but somehow falling a lot too - and in the real world rational thinking...The height of the cliff are all abnormal (one of funny yet also concerning is when he accidentally fell down to the CPC as isn't like several meters? People could fall to death depending on many factors, but I feel if ordinary people (unlike him who has ridiculous Plaid genetics that makes him physically strong deep down) fall from the cliff like him-they die

And when i am rereading balcony serenade arc

The first event as the catalyst that make sure for Frederick that at least Gwen as his fiancee care-

^ the comment section pointing out: if Gwen let go, what happened to you?! You just fall from the cliff then? Maybe in the CPC for Frederick's case he somehow 'magically' surviving all the falling from cliff incidents but Frederick himself knows that "pushing someone from the cliff"=murder

That's the whole reason why he mistaken Gwen with Monika thus thinking Gwen as immortal witch after all - he so scared 'kills' Gwen

But why he feels totally OK if himself the one that falling? The nonchalant exclaim "I fall a lot" seems not bodes with me - if not adding the unwritten fact that if Pastel siblings are like fairy tale with superpower abilities each.. Then Plaids has fairytale resiliency and ridiculous power. Leland could rip a coffee mug in half. Make dull knife a lethal weapon. Frederick that supposed to be "the weakest" could carry 200 kilograms llama, and his resilience over falling from the cliff seems the nods for that. Blaine in physical power not clear but in swordsmanship skill he so excel. Now only need to see Lance that dubbed as the strongest plaid prince can do! It's established as he can make someone flying with a slap

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC CHAPTER 161 + 162 + 163

*rises from the dead* what...what year is this...?

Look, the only thing I can say as an opening to these chapters is DAMN

Okay yeah Lorena would say this lmao.

Nahh I'm guessing Prez in her spider form does not know about Whitney apologizing and all? Because she's mainly looking at Whitney, and it looks like she took a moment to recognize who he is.

Man, Whitney really hasn't forgive himself. But at the same time I can't really blame him, y'know? I think I would have a hard time forgiving myself either if I was in his position. But! I do hope he can forgive himself and improve himself more and more. His past may be bad, but I'm sure he's looking up to a better future.

CURTIS TO THE RESCUE!!

Dang that's one way to open a big ahh door lmao XD

OH HECK NAH I HOPE MOLLY WILL BE ALRIGHT. The blood coming out of her mouth is worrying me...

Finally!! The Pastel Princesses are showing their powers! May I say Lorena's weapons are SICK. THE THORNY VINES AROUND COLONEL SNUGGLES?? SUZIE'S SWORD?? LORENA'S UHH... KUSARIGAMA?? I'm not sure what lorena's weapon is, but it reminds me of Michaelangelo's weapon from tmnt 2012.

Maria calling her animal troop HECK YEAH. The animals attacking Leland is so satisfying. Leland is lucky Maria didn't call a tiger or smth.

OH GOODNESS GRACIOUS HECK NO. Ugh I can imagine the cracking sound from Aurelia's leg. Y'know i didn't expect this ship (whether romantic or platonic) was gonna happen, but i'm not unwelcome to it.

Dangg Frederick, you go gymnastic king XD

Hah! His chanting actually made me smile XD yes frederick, you are the tiniest prince....you are the tiniest prin–

YOOOOOOO Leelathae's portrait???? I am really convinced now that Leelathae is in Gwen's dream!! I hope she's going to protect Gwen from Leland somehow, but i'm sure now that she will help realize who Gwen's true love is. Which, I'm fairly sure by now, is Gwen herself. I mean, it fits with the theme of the comic soooo

With the mix of modern and traditional technologies in cpc, i do now wonder why they don't build an elevator inside castles considering the amount of floors there are. I'm thinking...Steampunk styled elevator?

•●•

INTOOOOO LEELATHAE'S BACKSTORY!!

-> Sheesh! Leelathae's reflection is getting worse and worse... Perhaps it's because she doesn't love herself because of herself anymore? Well now that that's in mind, Gwen is kind of repeating history.

I just wanna say I love how Jack is gonna make the wedding fits both his and Leelathae's liking. I know that is an average kindess act for marriage but it's still pretty heartwarming for me.

Ngl I'm curious what Leland and Isolde's wedding was like. I hope we'll get at least a picture!

Aw, this interaction is adorable. Look at how Isolde is smiling! I hope we will get her smiling like this in the present time..

WOAH WOAH WOAH. I mean, I was sure Jack would eventually confront his parents, but dang. Actually, it makes sense how Helena and Jesse starts seeing their reflection wrong too. I think with how much they talk about their beauty, they don't love their inner self (their personality) and instead too focused on their outward beauty. So I'm guessing here that what triggers the reflection problem on people, is personal hurtful words? First with Gwen, Frederick calling her ugly. Leelathae, Helena and Jesse calling her ugly. And now with Helena and Jesse, Jack called them hideous.

But y'know what? I am so glad Jack confronted his parents. It feels SO good. He loves Leelathae so much, it's so heartwarming.

So happy that Helena and Jesse are running away on their own. Let's hope they never come back...

....huh.

I genuinely dunno how to feel about flashback Leland now. Is he being genuine? I don't know. But it's nice that he's at least trying to comfort Jack. Too bad he regrets it now tho lmao XD sucks to be you Leland hahahah.

Since Leland is comforting Jack...Um, Isolde and Leelathae moment? Lambcat? I really wanna see them just having conversation together because last time Isolde thought Leelathae was stealing her food xd

Leelathae's wedding dress!! It matches Gwen's!!! I guess Leland really remembered that lmao. Damn Leland crying and Isolde just stared with concern XD (i would've added Gwen's wedding dress photo but Tumblr's max pictures :( )

Okay can we talk about how majestic Jack's hair is??? Like dang pop off king. Now I know why Maria's hair is so beautiful.

It's sweet how Jack would do anything to Leelathae aww.

Uh, yeah, no, I am not going to talk about that uhh "diagram" the doctor gave to Leelathae. Nope. Nu uh.

•●•

Back to the present let's gooooo!!

A for effort, Miss Agatha. A for effort....

HAHAH GOOD LUCK LELAND GOOD LUCK LMAO. I nearly forgot about the thorns covering Gwen. Honestly I wonder how no one from the Plaid kingdom (beside Frederick, Leopold and iirc Isolde who already knew) questions about the fact that she has not got woken up from a literal war that's happening in her palace.

Hah! I live for Frederick and Aurelia bickering. I especially love how Frederick is being argumentative. Usually he can be pretty uh..pushover? Actually the correct words would be he doesn't have any moment to stand up for himself :')

Yep! Confirmed once again! Leland is the serpent!

YOU GO CURTIS!! HECK YEA!!

Jamie is a mood with that speech. And the fact that he has not only 1, but 2 ultimate flashbang??? DAMN JAMIE.

Ohoho what am I sensing here? What did you write Leopold?? I can hear the Leomie shippers screaming right now lol.

HECK NO??? WTF DO U MEAN YOU'RE GONNA CRUSH HER??? NO NO NO????

LANCE!!! MY BOY!!! I LOVE HIM!!! LANCE!!!

Okay those are ALL of the chapters lmao that was long! Uh, what have I been doing to the point I post 3 chapters late? Ahaha....u see... i actually have not excuse. I apologize.

That's all for now!!

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thought)

[cemetery-irises]

Okay so:

Emil: towards others it's Words of affirmation and Gift giving (he likes making small things for people! And he's generally pretty open about his feelings (which is usually love towards people)). For himself it's definitely physical touch. (He feels safe and loved when he's held and he's also definitely touchstarved too.)

Andrew: Towards others it's minorly quality time (although it usually has to be initiated by someone else, he loves spending time with people!!) and MAJORLY acts of service. (His whole servant-like demeanour thing really shines through here. If there's something you even hint you want done and it's clear you're not against him doing it, he's running to do it as soon as it's mentioned.) Towards himself it's also likely acts of service as well as words of affirmation. (He'd adore you forever if you did something for him, and he really likes praise even if he doesn't quite show it because he likes knowing he's doing a good job!)

Luca: Towards others it's Gifts and touch. (He loves making, why not make for others! And he's generally pretty touchy in general. It's just kind of a habit of his, but he does feel more confident in his hands than his brain.) For himself it's definitely acts of service. (He's not the best at you know... The whole living outside of prison thing. It's really sweet to him if you choose to check up on him and help him with certain things!) Also situationally words of affirmation can be great for him. (He dislikes/brushes off praise a lot because it just reminds him of what he could have been, but words of love towards him, not his invention skills, can move him to tears I think. It's nice to feel loved again after so long.)

Norton: Towards others it's quality time and gifts. (He's always got a listening ear if you need it and he'll try to help as best as he can. He's also not very good at actually showing love, so gifts are a pretty good way to get the message across in his experience.) Directed at himself he... doesn't really have much of a preference, honestly, but gifts are always neat. He likes Stuff.

Frederick: towards others are Gifts for the same reason as Norton, and acts of service. (He's never really had someone to do things for him, and while he doesn't really want that now, he understands that it can be a huge help to people. Especially if you're struggling, like most of his friends are.) Towards himself quality time and touch are probably the best. (They feel the least transactional. While he'd be a bit confused as to what the hell you were doing if you started giving him affection, he wouldn't really mind. And being with him for him is really important because he feels like less of a Kreiburg and more... just Frederick. For that reason he very much dislikes words of affirmation except for specific contexts.)

Orpheus: for others it's Words of affirmation and Gift giving. (Oh you bet this man has words for you, even if they may sometimes only be written ones. It goes hand in hand with the gifts, honestly. He sends so many letters that Victor once started checking in with him to ask if he had letters to send, much to his embarrassment.). For himself he likes touch. (He hasn't really been able to do that with people before. So it fascinates him. He likes seeing people as ideas and stories, even if he unintentionally forgets they're their own humans with thoughts and feelings sometimes.)

Victor: For others it's habitually acts of service. (He hasn't really had relationships with people other than The Mailman or having a gun pointed at his head by the mob. Doing things for people is kind of the only thing he knows how to do. For the same reason gifts could also apply.) For himself he loves gifts back!! Especially if they're enclosed within letters! (Just maybe don't mail things to him in suspicious packaging. He's been traumatised before by packages that turned out to contain... Bad things.) (He also notably dislikes quality time if he's alone with someone. If it's a group and the focus is spread throughout that's fine.)

i did not get a moment to see this until now (science lecture :() but THIS!!! core character concepts. i will consume them. (guarenteed masterlist post)

[bronze-bell]

Frederick needs a moment to shut the bathroom door, to simply comprehend. Surely there were reasons, of course. He knew better than to assume there weren't. But at the same time, it felt like it came out of nowhere, it felt like he was so, so unprepared, more than he thought he could be. Laying down, his back against the cool floor, he stared at the ceiling, mind making a futile attempt to catch up with any sort of thing that had happened, to make sense of it all, to figure out how he could be a decent authority figure when he was sure the other two had seen so much worse than he ever had.

He shouldn't take this long. But he could hear the silence from the other room, and here he was, trying to contain shaky breaths as he worried over what he could begin to do. If he could be anything close to enough. Of course he wasn't. He didn't understand the way Aesop could. Why would he be needed here? Still, this was his room. Still, Victor had disclosed a good amount to him. So, eventually, he pushed himself upwards, completely forgetting the errand he had assigned himself, the bathroom light clicking off as he approached the two once more.

He wants to be close. He doesn't know how close he should be, but he starts approaching Aesop and Victor, slowly, nervously. Maybe Frederick is pulled in faster than he expects to be. The outcome remains the same, as he all but slumps, arms around the other two's backs. He didn't want to be alone. He had their backs, just as he knew they would have his. His two new friends had blood on their hands in a way he didn't, and yet he felt a need to protect them all the same. This sanctuary wasn't only his anymore.

Victor's gaze follows the pianist as he returns, fiddling with glasses of water as he seemingly realises placing them on the floor next to the pair would probably lead to them being knocked over.

Instead Frederick offers the glasses one at a time to the two of them, and Victor is too distracted with not spilling his own as he drinks it that he doesn't know if Aesop took one either. Due to the placement of his stitches, he's never really been good at drinking things from glasses, and as such quite a bit gets on his clothes despite his efforts, but he gets enough down to soothe his throat.

The glasses (one Victor knows is now empty) are placed on the night stand, but Frederick still hovers in front of the pair, seemingly not quite sure how to approach their intertwined form. Victor jumps at the chance to reach out for him, snagging his necktie before readjusting to grab his arm as he's pulled closer with a startled but fond noise of confusion.

There's a bit of shifting as Frederick wraps himself around the two, but soon they are all knit together and safe once again. It's within that safety that Victor can find it in himself to relax, the mission of putting them all together like safe little puzzle pieces thoroughly accomplished. He leans against the other two, head still spinning but feeling much better now that all three of them have been combined into one whole.

Like this, they are okay. Like this they are safe. They are safe. ....It's the first time he's felt like this, he realises. This all-encompassing warmth and comfort pressing into him on all sides, keeping him tucked into its hold like a child, like something worthy of protecting.

He doesn't understand why or how everything has led to this in the last two days, but he's so, so glad it has. His only fear right now is for when the embrace will end, when he will be cold and alone once again but now with a craving for more like an addict as he goes about his work again...

He doesn't notice the tears streaming down his face until they're wiped away, the other two knowing more about him in this moment than he knows himself. For the first time, it's a nice feeling.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Not-Magic

A JSE Fanfic

Septics Inverted AU

First IRIS Chapter | Previous

(Heyyyy, what's upppp, it's meeee. Back with another chapter after so long. Seriously. So long. This has been the longest gap between IRIS Inverted chapters yet, I think. Tbh that's because I started writing Many Roads Diverge. A CYOA-style fic takes a LOT of work. But here we are now! Jackie and Frederick continue their investigation into IRIS by visiting other magicians. Meanwhile, Jack is having some trouble. Then Jackie makes a phone call. Enjoy!)

- - - - - - - - - -

Jackie couldn’t sit still for the rest of the car ride. He wanted to jump out and run until he found Chase. One of his best friends had just been basically kidnapped by a shady semi-magical organization, and he was just supposed to stay in the car after that? What the fuck? But Frederick was right, they had a limited window of time to meet up with the rest of the magicians. And Jackie needed more information about this IRIS, information that they could help him with.

The safe house was in Mirygale, which naturally made Jackie nervous. He was still technically a wanted criminal in this city. But he told himself that nobody would see him, as they were just going straight to the house. Not like they were walking around where a crowd of people could see his face. And even if they did, most people probably wouldn’t recognize Jackie, anyway. He’d changed a lot since his arrest and escape.

“Is this it?” Jackie asked as Frederick parked on the side of the road in a residential neighborhood. “Doesn’t look like much.”

“Good, that’s the point.” Frederick turned the car off. “We’re going in that one.” He pointed at a brown brick townhouse, identical to the rest of the brown brick townhouses around it.

“Alright, let’s go then.” The sooner they could talk to the magicians about IRIS, the sooner they could track them down, and the sooner Jackie could beat the shit out of them for taking Chase.

The two of them left the car behind and walked up the steps to the front door. Jackie hung back a bit, allowing Frederick to take the lead. Which he did, knocking on the door. And the door opened almost instantly. “Ah, I was wondering where you two were.”

“Hey, Eve.” Frederick grinned. “Sorry, we got, uh... delayed a bit.”

Jackie leaned around him. “Hi, Yvonne.”

“Hey, Jackie.” Yvonne gave him a nod. She was wearing a casual brown suit—dressed for work, clearly, as that wasn’t her usual style. But her hair was as vibrant as ever, cut short and dyed in blues and purples. “Come on in, Briony’s beside herself.”

Frederick sighed. “I know. Let’s go.”

The interior of the house was pretty normal. The front door led to a short hallway with a staircase for second-floor access. “That’s where we’re keeping all the magical stuff,” Yvonne said to Jackie, gesturing up the staircase. “But Briony and Nick are just in the living room here.”

“And it’s just them? I thought you guys had a whole team?” Jackie asked.

“Not everyone could make it right now,” Yvonne explained. “But the other four will be here later today if you want to hang around.”

“No, that’s fine.” Jackie shook his head.

“We do have a bit of a drive back,” Frederick added. “Let’s just... hurry along.”

Yvonne nodded. “Over here, then.” She walked over to an arch leading into a wide living room. “Hey guys, they’re here.”

Two others were in the living room. A dark-skinned man with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, and a woman with blonde frizzy hair and glasses. He was sitting in the room’s singular armchair while she was pacing back and forth in front of the window. They both wore similar casual suits to Yvonne—the ABIM must’ve had a dress code. That certainly made Jackie feel self-conscious in his favorite hoodie (black with red patches, he’d had it for ages now.) Frederick wasn’t wearing this suit uniform either, but his usual way of dressing was nice enough that he didn’t look too out of place.

“There you are!” The pacing woman whirled around to see them. “I swear, Frederick, you’re never—oh my god!” Her eyes had locked onto Jackie. Specifically, Jackie’s face.

“Briony,” the man said in a warning tone.

Frederick casually took a step closer to Jackie. “Sorry about that,” he said quickly. “We got delayed for a bit, but we did find out something that... well, I don’t know if it will help with the investigation, but it is some new information. Briony, Nick, this is Jackie, I’ve told you about. Jackie, Briony and Nick.”

“Hi.” Jackie forced himself to smile.

“Lovely to meet you,” Nick said, standing up. “So sorry about Briony, she has no social tact.”

“Wh—hey!” Briony said, glaring at him. She turned back to Jackie with a guilty expression. “I’m so sorry about that, I just didn’t expect—I-I didn’t mean any offense. I’ve never seen—I’m so sorry. Truly.”

“It’s fine.” It wasn’t, but Jackie could get over it. His scars and eye-patch usually got stares. He looked at Frederick. “So, I’m guessing you didn’t tell them everything about me.”

“I told them everything important,” Frederick said. “And everything I thought you wouldn’t mind.”

“Hah.” Jackie gave him a small smile. “That’s, uh... yeah. Good.” He leaned a bit closer to him.

“Let’s not waste any time, shall we?” Yvonne said, hurriedly jumping in. “The camera we got is still in the detection box.”

“Right. Time to go take it out.” Nick checked a watch on his wrist. “Head on upstairs, everyone.”

The group left the living room and went up the stairs. And it’s here that the resemblance to a normal house faded away. There were symbols painted on the walls. Runes, drawn in lines, squares, and circles. Jackie vaguely recognized some of them. They were geared towards protection and containment. As they walked past, Briony tapped some of the runes, little zaps of mauve magic leaving her hands and causing the runes to glow the same color. Were these the wards?

“So, Jackie, Frederick said you met while on a case?” Nick asked, trying for some casual conversation.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. There was this guy I knew, he was a magician. A fucking evil one. H-he went all crazy one day and attacked me and my friends. Frederick and Yvonne were on that case, so they showed up to help us.”

“Then you guys stole my car,” Frederick added.

“You got it back eventually,” Jackie said defensively, making Frederick laugh.

“That’s the same guy who burned Frederick’s hand off, right?” Briony asked.

“Well that’s a light way of putting it,” Frederick said. “But yes.”

“That’s... where all this came from.” Jackie gestured at his face. “The magic lingered for a while until Frederick found me and healed me.” He shook his head. “So glad that guy’s in jail now. Hope he rots.”

The group walked into the last room down the hall, a medium-sized room that could’ve been a bedroom in an actual house, but was instead filled with tables that held all sorts of strange objects. Crystal spheres of many colors, mirrors and painting with abstract designs, feathers and bottles and thin wands of wood and metal. In the center of the room was a table with a box the size of a printer. The box was made of a silvery metal. Its surface shifted with faint designs, like sunlight passing through ocean waves.

Briony tapped the side of the silver box. The designs stopped, shifting to form a phrase: OBJECT READY. REMOVE OBJECT. “Right,” she said. “Nick?” Nick nodded and walked over to join her. Each of them put their hands on two corners of the box. They whispered something in unison, their eyes glowing together—Briony’s that same mauve color, Nick’s a brighter yellow-green—and then lifted the top of the box off. They set the lid on the table next to it and Nick reached inside, pulling out... another box. This one was made of a coppery metal instead of silver.

“So, I’m guessing that’s the detection box,” Jackie said, pointing at the big silver box. “What’s that, then? Doesn’t look like a camera.”

Briony smiled a little. “We keep unknown magical items in these. They muffle all magical waves and signals.”

“Here, come look,” Nick said, sitting the box on the table. Jackie hesitated, but when Frederick and Yvonne walked over he did as well.

The top of the box was transparent, like glass. Inside was what looked like an old-fashioned security camera made of white plastic and metal. On the side of the camera was a symbol in black. Like an eye with three pupils. “Hmm. Looks pretty normal,” Jackie said, aware of how unhelpful that was.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Yvonne agreed. “That’s what the detection box is for. Picking up stuff that is abnormal. Now where’re the results?”

“Briony puts the paper actually in the box, remember?” Frederick said.

“I don’t want to lose it!” Briony said defensively, already reaching back into the detection box. After a couple seconds, she pulled out an ordinary piece of printer paper and slapped it down on the table next to the camera. “Here we are.”

On the paper was silvery writing, like someone had used a metallic glitter pen to record the results. Magic signature detected, it said. Combat: none. Divination: none. Soul: none. Necromancy: none. Health: none. Transformation: none. Conjuration: none. Illusory: none. Mental: none. And it kept going like that. Jackie skimmed the list to the bottom, where something was finally different. Light magic object. Black magic object.

“That’s... weird,” Yvonne said.

“There are several things wrong with this,” Frederick agreed. Nick and Briony just looked concerned.

“And what are those several things?” Jackie asked.

“Well, it’s not supposed to list out every branch of magic like this,” Frederick explained. “It’s just supposed to tell you if the object is light magic or black magic, and what branch of magic it is, not all the ones it isn’t. And, of course, it’s supposed to tell you what the object can do.”

“So... the camera short-circuited your magical detection device,” Jackie summed up.

“Pretty much,” Nick agreed.

“Frederick, you didn’t mention this.” Briony pointed at the two phrases at the end. “It’s impossible for a single object to use both light and black magic.”

“What?” Jackie blinked, confused. “But... magicians can use light and black magic, can’t they? I mean, I’m told black magic has side effects, but using it doesn’t somehow close you off from using light magic. It’s like a spectrum, right?”

Frederick gave him a small, proud smile. “It is. But it’s different with objects. Objects can’t choose to use magic, they can only do what the person intended them to. And once you imbue an object with a purpose that leans more to the light or the dark, then any attempts to put the opposite end of the spectrum into the enchantment don’t work. They fizzle out if you’re lucky and literally blow up if you’re not.”

Jackie nodded slowly. “Alright. So that’s super weird for the camera, right?”

“So weird,” Nick muttered.

“What if you put something that’s not magic in the detection box?” Jackie asked. “Like... a regular pen or something.”

Briony shrugs. “Then the detection won’t work. The cycle will cut short if there’s no magical signature. And before you ask, the containment box is built to work with the detection, the detection will go right through it.”

Jackie went quiet for a moment. “What if it emits a different type of signature?”

Frederick tilted his head. “Like what?”

“I dunno. Radiation, or something.”

Yvonne raised an eyebrow. “Why and how would we have something radioactive to put in the detection box?”

“I don’t know! I’m just asking!” Jackie said defensively. “People are stupid and curious, surely someone in the history of magicians has tried to put fucking... plutonium or whatever into the magic box.”

Frederick leaned back against a nearby table. “Are you saying the camera is radioactive?”

“No, I’m just...” Jackie shook his head.

“No, keep going,” Frederick said. “I think I know where you’re going. It’s about the weird magical signature IRIS locations give off, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Jackie nodded, relieved. “What if that’s not really magic? But something else? Not radiation, obviously, otherwise people would know, but... something like it?”

Briony’s eyes lit up. “Something similar to magic that isn’t actually magic? That... that would make sense, actually. It’d be close enough that we can pick it up, but different enough that we couldn’t actually identify it.”

“If we’re opening up the possibility, what if IRIS has just invented a new branch of magic?” Nick asked.

“Well, we’d have to think about what IRIS could do with a new branch of magic,” Yvonne said. “This camera—it’s called a WTCHR camera, remember? And we’ve all read the description and instructions that came in the box.” As she said this, she walked over to a table by the door and picked up a manual, looking just like any other instruction booklet that came with any other electronic product. “Most of it is just a really good camera, but it claims it can identify emotions and whether or not someone’s telling the truth. That’s the odd part, and that could be accomplished with scrying magic or mental magic. IRIS wouldn’t need to invent something new.”

“But what if it’s not magic?” Frederick pointed out. 

“It would definitely explain why your fucking... magic box got error’ed out,” Jackie said.

Nick frowned, doubtful. “We can keep it in mind. Talk about it with the others. In the meantime, what do we do with the camera?”

In unison, they all looked at it. “I guess we just keep it,” Briony said. “Run it through a couple tests, maybe? I’m wondering if there are any other unusual properties it has.”

“What sort of tests?” Jackie asked, intrigued.

“Oh, you know. See how durable it is, see if it retains its weird magic signature after taking parts off, see if we can make it do stuff that it’s not supposed to.” Briony looked excited listing off these ideas.

“But, uh, we don’t need to be here for that,” Yvonne said. “Just the wizards. That’s... sort of their specialty. Learning about magic stuff.”

“Should we leave, then?” Frederick asked.

“Seems a waste to ask you guys to drive all the way out here and then send you right back,” Nick said. “Besides, didn’t you say something about new information, Rick?”

Frederick winced, irritated. “Frederick. Or Fengge.”

“Sorry.”

Frederick gave Jackie a long-suffering look that said this wasn’t the first time Nick had pulled something like that, then looked back at the others. “Yeah. We, uh... do you want to talk about it, Jackie?”

Jackie nodded. He and Frederick had discussed it in the car, and Jackie had agreed the others needed to know. He took a deep breath, preparing himself. “We’re, uh... We were... Part of the reason we were a bit late was because I wanted to go visit a friend of mine while I was already out. But when I got there, I was told that he was... moved somewhere else. Somewhere IRIS has control of.”

The others all instantly sharpened their attention. “You... you mean Chase, right?” Yvonne asked.

“Yeah.” Jackie asked.

“IRIS is kidnapping people?” Nick asked, shocked.

“Well, no, not—I mean, it is basically kidnapping, but...” Jackie paused, conjuring up his pre-prepared vague explanation. “Chase was living in a, uh, facility, of sorts. I-I don’t want to give out too many details if I don’t have to, it’s his business, but basically, it’s a place where it’s not weird to get transferred somewhere else. And they transferred him to IRIS.”

“A government-run facility?” Briony asked.

“...Basically.”

“Those are not good implications,” Nick said darkly.

“We know,” Frederick said. “It means that IRIS is able to freely contact the government and make demands of them. And it means that they want people for something.”

“Your friend... Chase, was it?” Nick asked. Jackie nodded to confirm his name. “Has he had any exposure to magic? Like you have?”

“Yeah, we both knew the same magician,” Jackie said. “Marvin Moore.”

“Moore hurt Chase, but his wounds were tended to immediately,” Frederick added. “There was no time for the magic to fester. But he spent a long time in contact with Moore. It’s possible that some magic traces linger. Very faint traces.”

Yvonne frowned. “I doubt that. It’s been, what, a year since those two had contact? I think the traces would’ve faded by now. Maybe... maybe IRIS grabbed Chase randomly.”

“If they were grabbing random people, they would’ve grabbed someone with no connections,” Jackie said. “Chase has connections. I visit him, his kids sometimes visit him, and people—people know who he is. They’d notice if he vanished. Case in point, I noticed when it happened! No, i-it has to be something else.”

“I suppose IRIS could’ve somehow... heard about Marvin Moore and realized Chase was connected,” Briony said reluctantly. “But that means that they were aware of us before we were aware of them.”

“It would also mean you could be in danger,” Nick said, looking at Jackie.

Frederick straightened. “They wouldn’t go for him. We live together. It’s too dangerous to try and grab him.” There was a hard edge to his voice that Jackie rarely heard but which made his face redden a little.

“Is there something special about Chase?” Yvonne asked. “Besides his location being easier to reach? Because I would argue that it would be quite difficult to get him out of there. Did Chase go through something you didn’t? Magically-related?”

Jackie thought about it. “Um... it’s not magic, but... he was in a coma for a while. About two months.”

Frederick’s eyes widened slightly. “Wait, if I’m remembering right, wasn’t that coma caused by Anti?”

Jackie gritted his teeth. “Yeah. It was.” Fucking bitch... you don’t just put people in comas no matter how much you hate them.

“You know... Anti isn’t magic,” Frederick said slowly. “But he can do things that seem like it.”

Jackie stared at him. “Are you saying... IRIS is like Anti?”

“Um...” Briony raised her hand. “Who’s Anti?”

Jackie sighed, already feeling exhausted at the idea of explaining all this. “Anti is Anti. He’s not human. He’s not a demon. He’s not a spirit. He’s something else. One of a kind.” He paused. “He’s also an asshole, but he’s not like... evil. He doesn’t hurt people.” Or at least, people who don’t deserve it.

“Didn’t you just say he caused your friend’s coma?” Briony asked.

“Long story. The point is Frederick thinks that IRIS’s not-magic could be like what Anti does.”

“Maybe not exactly, but it’s a good starting point,” Frederick said.

“Can you guys contact this... Anti?” Nick asked.

Jackie frowned. “I don’t know... It’s kind of hard to reach something like him. We could try to track down Jack—that’s a friend of his, he���s human. But, uh... don’t know if it would look that good coming from me. Jack and I... have a rough history.”

“Then we’ll do it,” Yvonne said, gesturing at herself and the other magicians. “We have ways of tracking down people.”

“You make it sound menacing when you say it like that, Eve,” Frederick said, a faint smile on his face.

“I... guess you guys can try,” Jackie said slowly. “Even just getting close to Jack will probably cause Anti to react. Jack is... sensitive.” That was a mild way of saying ‘traumatized by being kidnapped multiple times.’ “But I can’t be involved in this. Not until you explain the situation to Anti. We don’t exactly like each other.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be careful,” Yvonne assured him. 

“Please do be.” Jackie didn’t like the idea of Anti getting involved, but if he could help... Maybe he would recognize the greater evil of IRIS. An organization that secretly takes people couldn’t have good intentions, regardless of what those people had done.

- - - - - - - - - -

Jack pulled the blinds on the window back a little bit, looking down at the street below. It was empty. But he didn’t trust that.

Static fizzled next to his ear. “Are they gone?” Anti asked.

“I don’t see them anymore,” Jack said slowly. “But I don’t think they would’ve just left.” All morning, there’d been a white car parked on the street below. Not unusual in and of itself. But who would park in this tiny side street in between apartment buildings? Combined with IRIS’s repeated phone calls, it made Jack nervous.

Anti’s form fizzled a little bit. “They didn’t,” he reported. “I just checked the building’s security cameras. The car moved to the front. I don’t know if we’re still in range of their equipment, but they’re definitely not going anywhere.” When Jack had pointed out the car to Anti, he confirmed that—as normal as it looked from the outside—it belonged to IRIS. He could sense some of their equipment inside.

Jack shut the blinds. Sam flew over and nuzzled against his face, telling him not to worry. “No, I’m going to worry,” Jack said. “How the fuck am I supposed to not worry about this? People have never shown up at my house! Even the crazier fans haven’t gone that far yet. And even if they had, they’re just one or two people, not a whole fucking organization!”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Anti said firmly. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Jack sighed, pressing his head against the window. “Do we have to move? I don’t want to move. I don’t want to go on the fucking run again.”

Anti hesitated. “I’m sorry. But... we might... have to.”

“It just... everything was finally working out,” Jack mumbled.

“I’m sorry,” Anti said quietly.

“No, don’t be, it’s not your fault.”

“It really is,” Anti admitted. “IRIS is after me. They’re only going after you to get to me. Maybe... maybe if I leave for a while—”

“No don’t!” Jack said hurriedly. Sam jumped up into the air, bobbing up and down in agreement with him. “I-I don’t—If something happens—B-besides, that’d just mean they win, wouldn’t it?”

Anti blinked. Then grinned. “I guess it would.”

“Y-yeah.” Jack gave him a weak smile. “Uh... I’m going to... try and keep my mind off this. Try and do something to relax. Maybe I have a game that I can... Uh, I-I’ll be in the other room. Tell me if anything happens with them.”

“I will,” Anti promised.

“Great.” Jack smiled again and turned around, heading deeper into the apartment.

Sam stayed where they were, watching him go. {Anti.}

Anti jumped a little. Even though Sam could talk to him, they usually didn’t, so it always surprised him when they decided to. “What is it?”

{You stay here.} Sam flew closer, pressing against his chest and looking up at him, pupil dilated wide. {Bad things might happen.}

Anti looked down at them. “Anything... specific?”

{No. But there’s a bad feeling. You should stay here. Don’t leave.}

“A bad feeling, huh?” Anti nodded slowly. He’d known Sam long enough to trust their feelings. They had an uncanny ability to know what people should and shouldn’t do. “Alright. I won’t leave. And I’ll... be prepared.” His hand glitched, turning into pixels, and he showed Sam the knife he’d conjured. “If you know what I mean.”

{Uh-huh.} Sam backed away, bobbing up and down in a nodding gesture. {Jack be safe.}

“He’ll be safe. I’m ready for anything.”

{Yay!} And with that, Sam bopped against his shoulder, then flew down the hallway after Jack.

Anti watched them go with a faint smile. Then he thought about IRIS again, and the smile faded. If he was stuck in Jack’s apartment, he wouldn’t be able to hack IRIS’s servers, backdoor or not. They were very secure, and he needed to be close by to access them. But... it was a small price to pay to keep Jack safe. And if disaster was averted, he might be able to return to the servers later.

He put the knife away, letting it vanish into pixels, and jumped back into the building’s outside security cameras. The car was still there.

And it would stay there for another hour before finally driving off.

- - - - - - - - - -

Dadalada-dadalada— “Hello?”

“Wait, you’re actually awake?! Isn’t it like five in the morning over there?!”

Schneep glanced out the bedroom window at the early morning sky. “The ringtone woke me up,” he lied.

“Mm-hmm.” Jackie hummed. “So if I FaceTime you, you’ll be in bed.”

“Absolutely.” Schneep hurriedly got up from the desk chair in the corner of his room and sat down on the bed instead.

“Okay, I’ll do it, then.”

“Fine, do it.”

Jackie hung up the call, but a few seconds later Schneep’s phone began ringing again—Dadalada-dadalada—with the Caller ID screen now identifying a video call. Schneep accepted it. Jackie was clearly in a car, as evident by the headrest and seat belt. There was afternoon light coming from the windows. “There you are,” Jackie said. He narrowed his eyes. “If I woke you up, why are you wearing your glasses?”

Shit. “I put them on when you said you would video call,” Schneep said.

“Oh, okay. And you combed your hair, too?”

Schneep hesitated. Then groaned. “God damn it, Jackie, how do you fucking know what my bed hair looks like?”

“We lived together for, like, four years! What do you mean ‘how do I know’? The question is how I wouldn’t. And why are you up at five in the morning?”

“Why are you calling me at five in the morning?”

“I didn’t think you would answer! I was going to leave a message!”

“Text me instead, you dunkoff.”

“Uh, can you two get back on track?” A voice called from off screen on Jackie’s end. “Don’t you have important stuff to talk about?”

“Hello Frederick,” Schneep said, giving a little wave as Jackie turned the phone to show Frederick in the driver’s seat of the car.

“Hi.” Frederick smiled at the screen, not taking his hands off the wheel as he drove.

“What sort of ‘important stuff’ are you two calling about?” Schneep asked.

“Uh, well...” Jackie hesitated, the worry clear on his face. “I went to see Chase today... You know what, I’ll work up to that. Start at the beginning. There’s a sort of investigation going on...”

As Jackie talked, Schneep sat there, eyes growing wider with every sentence. But he stayed quiet until the end. At which point, he immediately started shouting. “What the fuck do they want with Chase?! Chase has not done anything in his l—well, no, he has done quite a lot, but he was already where he should be! And where he wanted to be, I will add. What the fuck! They cannot just—just grab people! Especially not him!”

“Right? Right?!” Jackie cried. “What the fuck are they doing?!”

“Clearly nothing good!” Schneep growled, then took a moment to breathe, calming down. This was not the time to get carried away in anger. He punched the pillow a couple times and then was fine. “Jackie. I believe I have something relevant.”

“Oh?” Jackie asked, already intrigued.

“Anti was here yesterday,” Schneep said. 

“Last night, I was going to bed—”

“At what time?”

“A perfectly reasonable one, please not now.” It was 2 am. “But while I was heading there, the House did its twisty thing and I ended up somewhere else. Anti was speaking with Dark. I was curious why he was here, so I listened in. Your suspicion about Anti and IRIS is right; he has some sort of history with them. And now this organization is going after Jack. Possibly to get to Anti.”

Jackie’s expression hardened. “So they probably did take Chase because of Anti. What, does he still have traces of Anti’s power in his system after the coma?”

“It’s possible,” Frederick added. “I’m not sure how Anti’s power works in comparison to magic.”

“If you and your magicians are looking for Jack, you should keep that in mind,” Schneep continued. “You may have to beat IRIS to him.”

Jackie sighed. “This would’ve been good to know before we left the house.”

“You’re the one who didn’t want to call your friend while we were there,” Frederick said calmly.

“I am, I just—ugh.”

“It’s okay, I’ll call Yvonne about it when we get home.”

“That’ll work. In the meantime,” Jackie turned his attention back to the call. “Schneep, seriously, why are you up at five am?”

Schneep sighed. “Because I still have fucking insomnia.”

“I thought you were going to ask about sleep aids.”

“I am, but it is hard to find ones that work with my other medications.” Schneep glanced at the collection of pill bottles on the nightstand. 

“Oh.” Jackie’s voice was soft. “Well... that sucks. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, I am sure Peter can find something,” Schneep said, referring to his psychiatrist. “He is very good at what he does. I just have to wait until then. Is fine. I do not mind being up so late. I am not the only one awake in the House at night.”

“That sounds a bit ominous,” Jackie muttered.

“No, I find it comforting. Though if any of them tried to actually talk to me during this time, I am sure I would be annoyed the second it happens.”

Jackie laughed. “God, you would, wouldn’t you? Well... do you want me to stay and chat, or do you think that wouldn’t help?”

“In all honesty, it would not help,” Schneep said. “I have to be very awake to keep up with your energy, and this is not the time for that.”

“Alright, I’ll head off, then. Maybe I’ll call you later, when it’s evening here?”

“If you want. Or you could wait until tomorrow, that would be fine, too.”

“I’ll wait, then. See you, Schneep. Frederick, say goodbye to Schneep.”

“Bye, Henrik!” Frederick added.

“Goodbye, you two,” Schneep said, laughing a little.

“Bye!” Jackie waved for the camera. “Sleep well.” And with that, he ended the call. 

Schneep closed out of the video call app on his phone and instead returned to what he’d been doing before Jackie called. He re-opened the phone’s browser. It had a couple different tabs open... all relating to this IRIS organization. Their website, their social medias, any page or article he could find about them.

He’d been curious about them ever since he overheard Anti’s conversation. No, more than curious. If they were really looking for Jack, he wanted to at least know as much as he could. Even if Jack probably wouldn’t appreciate his help. But now it was different. Now IRIS had Chase. He couldn’t just sit by while Jackie and those magicians handled this! God damn it, Chase was his friend, too! Though, there wasn’t much he could do while he was halfway across the world...

Wasn’t IRIS an American company first?

Schneep went back to their website, scrolling around for information. Yes, this lists their “hometown”—the place they were founded—as somewhere called Kronolle, California. Yes, Anti mentioned that, too. With that established, Schneep closed the browser and opened the GPS, searching up the town. Yes, it was there. North of Los Angeles, with the driving time listed as 2-3 hours depending on traffic. That was a long way to go. Especially for someone who couldn’t drive.

...It was late. This wasn’t the time. Schneep sighed and turned off his phone. When it was this late, it was probably better to lie down and close your eyes. That was more restful than sitting up and doing stuff. He got up, closed the window’s blinds, and got ready to change for bed. He’d think more on this in the morning.

Maybe there was something he could do to help Chase even all the way out here.

[cartoonicle]

Random CPC future art

‘Mom, why don’t I look like you?’

Mariana is always mistaken to be her aunt Maria’s daughter, because of her blonde hair and her green eyes; every time someone would that mistake she would point out that Gwen’s her mom not Maria this would get worst over the years eventually she would start getting annoyed with these mistakes and instead of calmly explaining she’s not Maria’s daughter she would get mad. She’s so upset that she looks beautiful like every other human but she doesn’t look extraordinary like her mom and grandma.

‘A Father and his Son’

Frederick is definitely a better father to his son than Leland was to him and his brothers, he does everything in his power to make his son feel loved and cherished always taking his kids to school, giving him the time of day, always listening to his worries and giving him advice and never playing favorites. Frederick has loved Brandon and Mariana since they were born.

Frederick is just as loving and protective towards his son as Miles Morales dad, plus he would never send his kids to a military school because he cares about them, wants them to be happy also to keep them to himself

‘Frederick’s Decent’

Back when I made my first CPC post, I drew this picture of Frederick seemingly losing a fight either between his brother or his father. In the beginning of the fight he was hesitant to fight still his hold self but just nearing the end of the battle all the pain built up and the crimson blood drenching him caused a mixture of hatred and anger to build up losing his old self and started to enjoy what pain brought him it powered him up through the rest of the battle causing him to win.

‘Mariana the Ugly Witch’

She named herself the ugly witch to spite her pastel family heritage and everyone who thinks outer beauty is what matters most. She believes that beauty is a curse and she’s the most cursed woman in the world because of the Beauty Alchemy.

Her overall plot is to make a spell to make the form reflect what’s in their hearts if you wish to be beautiful you have to have a beautiful heart, but if your heart is evil than your body will reflect the worse possible version of yourself there is.

Mariana is already part way free from her curse she lost her glow in sparkles all she has to do is get rid of her outer beauty.

‘Hello kids, it’s me your no good, cowardly uncle that loves you very much’

Lance: Always be nice to each other and never grow up to hate each other for your differences

Lance always wanted to have kids but he’s too scared that he either might turn out like his father or he’s too much of a coward to protect them. Sometimes he is scared to death that Leland would come back and seriously hurt the Twins worst than him and his brothers

‘Gorgeous in Green!’

Since their father wears green and their mother is green they have always loved the color green it’s their favorite color they wear these colored clothing to every fancy party or outing they have. Mariana makes sure she matches with her brother to let everyone know she and him are connected.

These two love the color green so much that sometimes they playfully suggest that they should rename their kingdom the Green Kingdom.

Links to the Base Art

[alexandersimpleton]

Au idea:

So, Frederick does eventually end up warming up to Gwen and trusting her, like in the original series, but doesn't actually have any character development. He's still a bit of a brat with a superiority and inferiority complex, he just thinks that Gwen is the only good thing in this world. Essentially, his trauma effecting him way more and way deeper than it does in cannon, in a way that he can't just shake off.

So, Frederick goes on through the series, slowly warming up to Gwen as she, at first starts to realize he kind of sucks, but then realizes that there is something very wrong. Either Frederick doesn't want to change, and is unwavering about his views, or Frederick does want to change but fails, trying to push all his anger down (because Healthy isn't a word in the plaid kingdom) only leads to him blowing up, and he tries so hard to be nice to people, and to trust people like Gwen, but can't. I'm still undecided.

Either way, it eventually leads to Prez and Whitney confronting him about it. Telling Frederick he can change and be better and all these other things, but it doesn't work. Frederick doesn't feel inspired, he feels angry. "Just change" everyone tells him "it's not that hard to be a good person" they say "just stop being so angry all the time, just stop being so scared" and his emotions all come out

"that's easy for you guys to say! When you change, you change for the better. When I change, I change for the WORSE!

I used to just be not good, Enough! Just not good, Enough, for father! Just not good Enough, for Blaine! But now?...

Now!...

I'M NOT GOOD AT ALL!" (he's meant to be putting verbal emphasis on the Enoughs btw. Couldn't get italics to work)

And Frederick's walls, that he spent years putting up to protect himself from the horror around him, all came crashing down, the true, scared, broken mess of a soul laid bare for everyone to see.

"heh...

Hehe, that's so.. funny, right?...

Why am I even doing this? Why does it hurt so bad? Why do I want to hurt you so bad? I just wanted to be a friend..."

And now here he was. Kneeling on the floor of a building he didn't recognize, surrounded by strangers. Trapped in a maze, not designed by the bullies that put him there, not by the family that kept him there, but by his own brain.

He wanted to be loved, included, to be normal like everyone else. He didn't want this. He didn't want to have flashbacks whenever he heard certain words anymore, he didn't want to be so angry all the time, Frederick didn't- he didn't want this.

But Frederick's words hadn't been done rant that he hadn't meant a word of. Gwen deserved someone like freshly baked cookies. Sweet, and loving, that could love her just as much as she loved him. Spoil her with the sweetest of flowers, and the most delectable chocolate.

Frederick wasn't that. Maybe he had been that, some time in the past. He wasn't that now. He was burned to a crisp. An unsalvageable mess that's only fate was to be thrown away.

But the CPC still talked to him anyways. Gwen loves him anyways. And after a while, Frederick came to see that maybe he was burnt.

A little burnt, but still good

[the-one-where-casey-watches-tv]

Frasier episode 3.13 "Moon Dance"

I came to the 90’s sitcom scene for Friends, but I stayed for Frasier. More specifically, I stayed for Dr. Niles Crane. The best episodes of Frasier are the ones that open with Kelsey Grammer casually ducking out to visit Frederick for a few days, not to be seen for the next half hour while Niles quite literally trips over himself for Daphne. I don’t dislike Frasier as a character, but he’s a lot. He’s yelly and condescending and he’s been around for so long that it’s nice to have a breather from him every now and then. And the rest of the Crane clan has no problem holding their own. The sign of a truly well-rounded cast of characters, when Frasier returns to bookend these episodes, I find myself thinking that I can’t believe how much has happened since he left.

             “Moon Dance” is one of these episodes. I’ve seen it more times than I could count, and every time I find myself shocked that it’s only 22 minutes long; it really is an emotional rollercoaster. Frasier deftly ducks out to take Frederick to Williamsburg in the cold open, yet it doesn’t feel at all offbeat to find Niles in his apartment in his absence- in fact, he’s here to bemoan his lack of a social life. Niles and Maris have separated, and he’s become privy to rumors and photos of Maris seeing other men. Martin, honestly an adorably patient dad, suggests Niles put himself out there and have some more self-confidence.

            The next day punctuates Niles’ extremely social circle: he’s already in the living room when Martin, Daphne, and Eddie return from a walk. He’s practically giddy when he asks his dad if he’s free on Saturday.  Martin can barely get out his “yeah, why?” before Niles blurts out “well I’m not, I have a date!”. He’s taking an acquaintance, Marjorie, out to their social club’s annual dance (“rumors persist about her husband’s death, but hey, a date’s a date!”). Considering it’s the catalyst of the entire episode, the subject of dancing comes up incredibly naturally- of course it would never consider to Niles that he might actually have to dance at this dance (“Maris always hated public displays of rhythm”), and of course Daphne would offer to give him some lessons. Everything that happens in this episode makes for great TV and it’s also really just exactly what all of these people would do.

David Hyde Pierce has said that he didn’t expect anyone to like Niles, but he just has that extra ounce of innocence and integrity that earns him my sympathy when Frasier doesn’t. The dancing lessons start out harmlessly, not that Niles could be anything but. At first, he’s not even having that good a time: “this is boring, yet difficult” (the one-liners just keep coming and they’re too good not to highlight). But of course, after a couple drinks he can’t get enough of this quality time with Daphne. While she runs off to get another CD, Marjorie calls, cancelling their date. Martin apologizes to his son but heads off to bed before he can see Niles, tempted by the close contact of the samba, neglect to tell Daphne that he no longer needs the lessons.

The next day Martin is properly confused, then concerned, when Niles has bought several new CDs for that night’s dancing lessons. In a quick aside, Martin tells Niles that he’s “sticking a fork in the toaster” by spending this intimate time with Daphne, which is instantly met with “well my muffin’s stuck!”. But when Daphne is back in earshot, Niles does the right thing and tells her about the cancelled date. Of course, his strength can only hold out for so long when Daphne offers to go to the ball with him herself. There’s no dishonesty in the situation anymore, and besides, she says she would have a great time.

Cue Frasier’s timely return from his visit with Frederick on the night of the dance. He’s his usual unpleasant self, announcing to Martin that he’s still on vacation and doesn’t want to hear a word from his family until tomorrow. The good news: he’s the butt of this joke, as the doorbell rings and Daphne, dressed to the nines, runs to answer it, excitedly declaring that her date has arrived. Of course, it’s Niles and the two head out, arm in arm, with Frasier’s jaw on the floor. Who could explain the situation? Certainly not Martin, who’s been forbidden to speak to him for the night.

At this point in the story, we’ve had some fun with Niles and Daphne, and Frasier has returned to bookend the episode. It could end here, and I’d feel satisfied, but we still have to go to the dance! This is when the silly and whimsical takes a turn for the emotional and poignant. Niles and Daphne arrive at the dance to many an apologetic look and anecdote about who has recently seen Maris where and with which attractive man. But soon, Daphne pulls Niles onto the dance floor and the fruit of their labor is on full display.

They take it one step further by attempting a tango, something they never worked on at home, but which Daphne insists Niles will love- after all, their bodies have to touch the entire time. Caught up in the heat of the moment, Niles declares that he adores Daphne as he twists and spins her around the dance floor, which at this point is all theirs. He claps a hand over his mouth as soon as he says it, but Daphne responds that she adores him too. Shocked but clearly elated, Daphne and Niles finish what has become an award-winning dance, and even share a kiss on the lips before landing in their final pose. This must be it, right? They danced, they shared some powerful words, they kissed, and it all happened so naturally.

Niles is visibly blown away from the electricity of the moment, sitting down and barely even able to get a word out. They talk giddily about how everyone there was watching them, when Daphne revels over the fact that not only is Niles a great dancer, he’s also an impressive actor. The wind is kicked right back out of Niles’ sails as Daphne explains that they were doing a bit, going the extra mile to get Niles his street cred back amongst his peers. Niles lets this sink in, then, physically and emotionally drained by the most loaded tango I’ve ever seen, decides that it’s time to go.

When Daphne makes a quick run to the bathroom, a female acquaintance approaches Niles and gives him her card- in case he ever wants to go dancing again. Niles is very civil with her and is flattered by the offer, but when Daphne returns, he leaves the card on the table with no intention of taking it with him. Yet, as they make for the door, Daphne praises Niles for stepping out of his comfort zone tonight: “and to think you almost didn’t come. It’s a shame when people let fear stop them from trying something new.” Niles is struck by this, and excuses himself to return to their table and put the woman’s business card in his jacket pocket. In a layered closing line, Niles holds his arm out to Daphne; “I’m ready now”.

I think of this episode so fondly, and it is such a sound reminder that sitcoms can have depth, substance, and heart. And it did it all without its title character! Any time I want to think, laugh, and feel, all in 22 minutes, Frasier is my go-to. And I haven’t even gotten to say anything about the queer undertones that impact the entire show without ever being brought to the surface, so I’m sure I’ll be back another time with much more Frasier.  

[maguro13-2]

Son of the Ink Demon Preview 2 ~

"Real World AU has been the most important place where humans and fictional characters co-exists, the real world itself is also a universe to itself and Unlike the Ohkuboverse, it feels like that the place is connected to the Shadow Realm, and I bet it was all just a cover up for Demon Vibe's long life dream of galactic conquest."

"But not like the rest of Real World AU, the only place to live in this one place I'd like about very much it's a place called Emmitsburg and it's right located in Frederick, the northernmost county in a state called Maryland."

"My name is Tamaki Kotatsu, I was born at Tokyo in the year 1999 before my parents got rid of me by abandoning me in the state at age 4 in 2002."

"Here's one thing that they don't know about me, I was the kid that never got back to Japan and I never got to go to grade school. Founded and raised by Nuns called the Sisters of Emmitsburg that worships at the National Shrine and spent my days and nights as a little orphan nun and well as a casual person to help me do some academics and give my blessings to make people believe in their selve Real World's creator God himself."

"But then on my 13th Birthday, my Pyrokinetic powers were brought back by blowing up a silo in Middletown Valley, luckily I survived and went on to my long rejuvenation."

"So at the age of 15, I finally stopped the resurrection of King of the Ink Demons himself, the father of the toon Bendy with the help of the heroes and son of Inky Albarn herself. Everything went well and peace has been restored. That is until when i turned 17... everything changed when I met a mysterious demon made of ink."

Tamaki : Huh? Hello? Who's there? Anybody in here? Hey, what's that?

Inky : Uhhh, Hello, birthday girl.

Tamaki : (screams in horror)

*Inferno by Hiroyuki Sawano plays*

From Maguro13-2 : Creator of Miku.EXE and Origins of the Ink Demon"

Tamaki : Who are you and how did you get here?!

Inky Jr. : I am Inky Jr, the son of the Ink Demon. And Inky Albarn is my mother.

Tamaki : Your mother!?

"Meet son of the Ink Demon himself!"

Inky Jr : With your help of finding mother, I will become the next King of the Ink Demons, and Victory shall be mine!

"Prepare for a wild and inky journey!

Tamaki : So with your help, we can go on a journey to find your mother. But there's more where that came from. I got so many friends to help me out! And they will help you too!

Inky Jr : Friends are those is what you called are indeed of help, they bring efforts to teamwork in order to join our journey to restore the Royal Bloodline."

"To find the demon's mother!"

Haumea : So you're having trouble with the Ink Demon finding his mommy, you'll never find out about the Ohkuboverse's dark secrets.

Shinra : We'll see about that!

"Inkify to fight against the forces of true evil."

Sammy Lawrence : With the help of us, we can uncover the Ohkuboverse's lies from Demon Vibe and put an end to his dream of conquest for good riddance!

"And uncover the secrets of the Ohkuboverse."

Tamaki : If the Ohkuboverse is really a facade, can this be Shadow Realm?

Maka : Then what kind of universe have we been living in!?

Demon Vibe : Nice to see you all, prisoners of the Ohkuboverse!

Inky Albarn : Please, Jr. I beg to you save me! PLEASE, I BEG OF YOUUUU!

Inky : MOTHEEEEEER!!!

"SON OF THE INK DEMON"

Tamaki : Come on, Inky. Let's go on a journey.

Inky : ....?

Tamaki : A journey to find your mother now, let's show the real world what it means to be a demon.

~ COMING THIS WINTER, 2024 ~

[kennan73888]

Modish Living 

“Am I still forbid from going anywhere?”

Frederick was upset while holding back his anger since that question didn’t resonate with Junta and continued ignoring him. Stuck in this tiny cottage for the past few days is killing Frederick for nothing to do. Unable to give in, he kept persuading Junta throughout. One room, then to the next one as they went.

Benvolio and Chael, a raven, were also present, sitting and waiting patiently while witnessing the entered-the-room situation. They glanced at each other and wondered how long it would take.

���It’s understandable why you refuse me after interrupting your guests in an important meeting. That doesn’t mean I had to stay and trap here like a prisoner. You and everyone are overdoing it too much on me.”

Junta heard his main issues, stopped, and said, “Listen closely, Frederick. Forget about the meeting because it isn’t yours to worry, since it’s mine to deal with. It’s hard to explain the situation as time being.” That, however, didn’t ease Frederick’s anxiety with his boredom, which kept rising. Junta then added, “After I’m done with this…damn, idiotic mess. You could do whatever you like. For now, be patient.”

“Hmm…” Frederick glanced outside through a window, bright and sunny. “Would be nice to have a picnic or maybe start a garden.”

“I didn’t mean staying inside forever during the process,” Junta sighed frustratedly, shaking his head. There’s some doubt in Frederick at believing his words and scuffed at it, loud enough for him to have heard. It annoyed Junta, but he contained himself and continued, “Just around the cottage. Hope that isn’t too difficult to follow, Frederick.”

“No, but — “

“Good, then no complaining.”

Without letting Frederick finish as Junta scowled away but soon being followed again, which irritated him when footsteps were heard from behind. They were insync with his, and surely enough, he began walking faster into the kitchen, part of the living room, where he was greeted by Benvolio and Chael. The crunchiness Junta picking up from these two had him knowing they were eating, maybe crackers or cookies. Frederick later appeared from behind as Junta swiftly stepped further from him and headed toward a seat beside Benvolio.

Benvolio expected letting Junta handle it would go smoothly like usual because they’re close, but she saw Frederick wasn’t willing. Their businesses supposedly checked and relayed a few updates on their circumstances.

Frederick stood there, fidgeting before adjusting himself when Benvolio said, “Going outside would be nice for a change of pace. We don’t want to relocate you, Milord, because it isn’t an easy arrangement. Junta and I are busy taking care, you know what. Unless we could have the other vassals, but they’re not fit.”

“Maybe, okay, you’re right,” Frederick reluctantly agreed while feeling down.

A satisfying receiving answer caused Benvolio to glance at Junta, who was now stroking the bird gently while also listening to their conversation. Junta noted that things had settled, so he tapped on the table and got Benvolio’s attention. He signaled his comrade to move closer as she scooted over for him to whisper a few words. Low enough that Frederick and Chael couldn’t eavesdrop.

Didn’t last long when Benvolio grimaced and tilted her head backward, resisting but having no option to hear more. Every nod she gives on understanding whatever coming, essential or not.

Due the disheartening result that Frederick received made him uninterested in their whispering, whether taking a short walk since he was permitted to go outside. Before stepping out, there’s something caught his eye beneath the trees. Frederick peeked back inside cautiously, then quietly closed the door, afraid, letting his vassals know.

Frederick went step by step, nearer as he saw it clearly to be an unconscious person. Peer at the face then immediately Frederick recognized this person, the butler of an old friend, but soon noticed his arms wrapped around something that happened to be a little girl. They were wet and shivering, so Frederick wondered how he would bring them in without alarming anyone. A plan began forming and thought landed on a window leading to the second-floor bedroom. That’s what Frederick aims excitedly, within himself, when tiny lights shine throughout his surroundings.

[convxction]

[ TOWEL ] "That did not appear intentional..."

The sky looked clear but after a half hour, the clouds gathered and a shower of rain came forth. That what Chrom had not accounted for when he went out to investigate the path ahead with a couple of the men. It would spill danger if they were caught in this weather by ruffians or worse, risens so they made it back to the camp quickly.

Back on camp, everyone was busy securing the weapons and items from getting socked wet. "I'm good, go check on the others!" he dismissed Maribelle's concerns and walked into the closet tent--the mass tent. There, Erin was helping out when she noticed the captain's wet hair so she threw a towel over his head, pointing to the bench nearby.

"Uh ... not really. The weather looked perfect for scouting but then again, mother nature is not an easy to predict her whims. Thank you... " he sat down and was about to dry his own hair and when told him he can leave it to her. Honestly, he...didn't like it. He tried to politely decline but Erin was a good heart person and wanted to help. Continuous decline would be impolite ... so he sighed and thanked her again for her help. Even if someone did walk on them, no one would be start a silly rumor; what he didn't like that it reminded him of the things he hate about being of noble blood--people doing things for him. There is a reason why he started to dress on his own from an early age. The only aid he had was with his armor and only by Frederick, Phila occasionally.

Chrom kept quiet to himself as she carefully dried his hair. But to be honest ...it feels nice ... he could shut his eyes and feel his mind slip away. mm ... this is just like how Emmeryn would have had done it from him when he was a kid. He ..misses it.

hair prompts | no longer accepting | @driftingjazzbard

[ TOWEL ]:          the sender uses a towel to carefully dry the receiver’s hair.