#justin of ingary

[nadiajustbe]

Underrated HMC moments I've never seen anyone talking about part 1

Martha canonically teaching Sophie to swear

Fanny getting girls to talk about their fate not only after the funeral, but RIGHT after it. They didn't even got to change their clothes

Fanny and ms. Fairfax being old school friends, just as Fanny is the only one calling Fairfax by her first name.

Justin cannonically visiting Market Chipping shortly after Ben was taken by the Witch, being "in disguise"

Michael saying he always wanted a dog!

Howl going up and down the stairs while working with important stuff to look out of the window of his room. Sophie suggested that he's doing something very sinister, but he probably just wanted to see his nephews playing something like hide-and-seek in the yard.

Howls books being described as "queer-looking" (lol), suggesting he sneaks his library from Wales

Howl joking with ms. Pentstemmon's servants and overall acting completely relaxed in her presence

Sophie laying both of her hands on the stick, trying to mimic ms. Pentstemmon's behavoiur in order to feel more confident (it didn't work)

Sophie wishing to HIT KING'S HEAD with said stick instead of kissing his hand after she failed to blacken Howl's name

ms. Pentstemmon being the only person in Ingary who calls both Howell Jenkins and Benjamin Sullivan by their legal names

Bonus: Howl arranging old hat shop's house the way it would resemble his old mentor's chessboard-like floor pattern.

Howl violently waving his hand both to Michael and then Sophie while trying to act as gracefully as possible.

Howl's clothes having a whole winx-like animation, with blurring and merging into sparkles when changing from his suits to his jersey

Michael absolutely HATING jeans and being physically unable to walk with them on

Sophie thinking than no one's on the streets of Wales because of the rain. On the streets of WALES. Because of the RAIN.

Howl having his own set of keys from Megan's house

Megan knowing how to knit

Sophie being absolutely amazed by amount of carpets in Meg's house, probably because in medieval-like Ingary good carpets were pretty expensive

Neil and his friends swearing with the words "Sophie thought even Martha didn't know"

Michael and Sophie thinking that Howl wanted to kill his nephew by plugging his video-game off

HOWL MAKING A WHOLE GAME BASED ON HIS OWN MOVING CASTLE

Meg shouting that Mari shouldn't seat on the wet swing

Gareth (Megan's husband) playing baseball with Neil

Howl swearing he hasn't preformed a single spell in his life "with his hand on his heart". What heart.

Alternatively: ms. Angorian saying she "feels in her heart" that Ben is alive. whAT HEART, WITCH OF THE WASTE'S???

ms. Angorian getting all her actor skills to act confused as If she sees Ingary for a fist time. "Oh, what a strange-looking town!" "Oh, what a strange-looking people!"

Ben loving his guitar so much he apparenly took it with him on his mission on the Wastes

(this guitar being the only thing we know Ben took from Wales)

Percival being given the said giutar as a baby being given a rattle

Percival processing to play the said guitar for about three hours trying "to teach himself how to play" and adjusting it immideatly

Sophie swearing for about a page straight after meeting the king.

[callonpeevesie]

justiman enjoyers please accept my humble offering. inspired by @nadiajustbe's post about ben's guitar

putting this under the cut because i don't want the caption to get too long.

i Do Not know why justin looks like oscar wilde, i swear it was an accident. i Did draw the green carnation on purpose, and only later realised that green carnations being a symbol of homosexuality is a thing of our world and wouldn't be known in ingary. ....which means ben grew the flowers and gave that to justin Knowing the symbolism. dork.

most of the descriptions in the book are super vague so i just made up the designs. while ben canonically has ginger hair, i don't remember if justin's hair colour was ever mentioned in the books (his blue eyes Were mentioned in cita) but the strangian soldier had grey hair so i was going for dark grey. but the markers i used make everything too dark so it looks black now. not that i'm complaining.

justin's uniform is my design with some inspiration from these. all that was mentioned in hmc were green uniform and long shiny boots, and the green uniform was his disguise according to lettie so ??? i have no idea what he wears when he's not in disguise so have this i guess.

the guitar is mostly based on this. for ben's outfit i went for a cloak-ish thing to make him look wizardly but kept the shirt and pants casual since ben seems to me like the type to wear practical clothes in contrast with howl's flamboyance.

[nadiajustbe]

THANK YOU FOR TAGGING ME LMAO THIS POST IS *GOLD*. I always found it funny that two main factors of Justin running away and being cursed in all two books he's in is the following:

1) To literally lay his head for his best and closest friend, who were also assumed to be dead for weeks, while everyone INCLUDING his brother asked him not to do it, because the country needed him in a face of a war.

2) Because he didn't want to marry a random woman even though it was an only way to maintain peace between the counties. He couldn't give a single damn about world piece, BEING A GENERAL, because he didn't want to marry.

This is just. Outwardly hilarious.

honestly prince justin had to be like. a little bit gay bc he left the safety of the palace and royal life to go on a suicide mission to the wastes to go find his bestie everyone (basically correctly) assumed was dead. like he knew he had like no means of going up against the witch of the waste or anything and he just. did it anyways,,, all for his bestie ben suliman.

[tossawary]

Rewatched the Howl's Moving Castle movie (fantastic animated movie, definitely inspired by more than an adaptation of the book) while doing something else and I was struck this time by the fact that the Prince (Turniphead the Scarecrow) says that he intends to go tell his king to call off the war, but THEN he intends on COMING BACK to Ingary to shoot his shot with Sophie again because (as he says to the flirtatious Witch of the Wastes) "hearts change".

And maybe he will come back to make Sophie an offer of marriage and then leave again when he's turned down, but I imagined for a moment that the Prince (who is possibly the movie's version of Prince Justin, so let's call him Justin) might just... move back into Howl's house without asking and stay there. There are several cases of precedent for this. Also, as Turniphead, he's shown several times helping Sophie with laundry, or playing with Markl, or helping the Witch of the Wastes move around, and Sophie deserves that kind of help around the house! Howl isn't going to reliably do chores.

And you know what? I think Howl would be into that shit. There's something very Wynne-Jonesian about it all still. It's tempting to write a post-canon fic about this situation from the movie with an extra dash of flavoring from the books. Like:

This is the infamous wizard Howl Pendragon/Jenkins, a vain draft-dodging flirt who likes to build moving castles to evade taxes too. The beautifully angry young woman with the silver hair over there is his wife, Sophie Hatter, who may or may not be an extremely powerful witch, but right now she's dusting and do not get in her way. This is Calcifer, the fire demon who used to have Howl's heart and is arguably his other life partner and also might be in love with Sophie, and this is arguably kind of actually his house. The old lady smoking a cigar over there is Howl's ex-girlfriend and former nemesis, the Witch of the Wastes, who now lives in their house. This is Markl, Howl's apprentice, kind of his kid, and there is no explanation of where he comes from or what happened to his parents. The dog used to be(?) the Royal Wizard's spy (Howl used to be her apprentice and potential successor) but now he also just lives here. And that's Prince Justin of Strangia, Sophie's house-boyfriend. Don't listen to the propaganda, he wasn't kidnapped by a heart-eating wizard; he used to be a cursed scarecrow and now he wants to be here to help Sophie do laundry. He's trying to homewreck and Howl thinks it's both funny and hot.

[bibliotecamagia]

𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒏𝒂̄𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒄̧𝒂𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎 𝒖𝒎𝒂 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂 𝒖𝒎 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂... 𝑽𝒆𝒋𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒔 𝒖𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒓𝒐𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒔.

𝑶 𝑪𝑨𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑳𝑶 𝑨𝑵𝒊𝑴𝑨𝑫𝑶

Na terra de Ingary, onde botas de sete-léguas e casacos da invisibilidade existem, é muita falta de sorte ser a primeira de três filhas. Todos sabem que essa vai ser a que vai falhar antes, e pior, quando as três saírem fazer fortuna.

Esse foi o caso de Sophie e ela já havia se resignado a ser o fracasso da família quando atrai a atenção indesejada da Bruxa das Terras Desoladas que a transforma em uma velha.

Determinada a acabar com a maldição Sophie vai ao único lugar onde pode conseguir ajuda - o castelo que fica perambulando pelos montes próximos. Esse castelo pertence ao famoso Mago Howl cujo apetite, dizem, é satisfeito somente com o coração de belas moças.

Sophie faz um acordo com Calcifer, o demônio do fogo que reside na lareira do castelo: Se Sophie desfizer o pacto que o une a Howl ele quebraria a maldição da bruxa. Calcifer não pode dar os detalhes mas dá dicas indiretas para que Sophie adivinhe o contrato do pacto.

Sophie logo nota que os boatos sobre Howl são criados por ele mesmo para que fiquem a distancia dele. Na verdade ele é um homem charmoso e inteligente, mas tem muito orgulho de sua aparência e é muito cabeça-dura. Howl gosta de dar um jeitinho de se livrar das situações desconfortáveis, freqüentemente de modos cômicos.

Mas surge um problema do qual ele não consegue se livrar! Príncipe Justin saiu em busca do desaparecido Mago Suliman e quando este também desaparece Howl é enviado pelo rei para procurar os dois e derrotar a Bruxa das Terras Desoladas, suspeita de ser responsável pela desaparição dos dois.

Howl quer evitar um encontro com a bruxa, uma antiga amante que por ciúme jogou uma maldição nele, então Howl tenta se livrar da missão pedindo para Sophie, que finge ser sua mãe, fazer uma petição para que ele não tenha que cumprir as ordens, mas sem sucesso.

Howl na verdade está enfrentando a bruxa enquanto finge que está desinteressado. Mas a bruxa não é um oponente fácil de enganar pois ela é uma feiticeira poderosa e também tem um demônio do fogo!

𝐕𝐎𝐂𝐄̂ 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐒?

✦𝐌𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄 𝐔𝐌 𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐐𝐔𝐄 𝐄𝐔 𝐃𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐎 𝐎 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐑𝐎

✦ 𝐢𝐠𝐛𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐚@𝐠𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝐦 📩📭

[writerthatcannotwrite]

Yall. I just finished reading "Castle in the Air" and it was SO GOOD!!!

(Spoilers)

Like Howl is the genie, Sophie was Midnight, CALCIFER WAS THE CARPET, and I just Loved the cameos!

And little Valeria 😭 She just kept screaming, and it was HILARIOUS when all the princesses were like, "Go on girlie, bawl, weep, scream, cry, KEEP MAKING NOISE!" And by goodness, did Valeria SCREAM

And the Strangian soldier was Prince Justin??? Bro just can't catch a break 😭

And little Morgan---he didn't appreciate being a human baby after being a kitten, poor guy. And HOWL CALLED HIM UGLY it was GREAT

And the way the king of Ingary just made two new positions for Abdullah and Flower-in-the-Night is great!

King of Zanzib: I want to kill Abdullah for marrying my daughter!! 😡😡

King of Ingary: oh no no no no no, my good sir! He now has a position on my royal court!

And the way the princesses planned to show Abdullah to Hazruel 😭😭

I can only imagine it went like:

Beatrice, princess of Strangia: okay dude, so you need to take your clothes off--

Flower-in-the-Night: hey now that's only for me--

Princess of Tsapfan, covering Valeria's ears: there are LITTLE EARS in the room!!!!!!

Abdullah, very Confused: I need to take my clothes off????????????????

And Sohpie was describing Howl and Abdullah was like, "why would you say those things about him???" And Sohpie was like, "bro I'm DESCRIBING him, that's just how he is."

Like all in all, 10/10, very good! I love Dianna Wynne Jones's writing style!

[penddraig]

brother’s grimm-esque adaptation of hmc where the witch’s curse is an actual, tangible, terrifying threat with horrific consequences. no one can tell me it wouldn’t fit when everyone was always losing body parts and gaining body parts and changing shape and possessing inanimate objects in every chapter. nothing is ever set in stone in the books. the witch wanting to chop howl’s head just to put it on her frankensteined wizard suliman-prince justin-wizard pendragon “king of ingary” abomination is truly horrific actually 💕

[thunder-jolt]

Varus' Moving Castle (A Crossover Parody of Howl's Moving Castle)

Viego as Sophie (League of Legends)

Varus as Howl (League of Legends)

Kirby as Markel (Kirby games)

Fire Spirit Cookie as Calcifer (Cookie Run)

Tunip as Turnip Head *Scarecrow* (Octonauts)

Sable Prince as Turnip Head *Prince* A.K.A Prince Justin (Naeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru/Smash Bros.)

Yuga as The Witch of The Wastes (Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past)

Raziel (Vampire) as Lettie (Legacy of Kain)

Kain as Miss Honey (Legacy of Kain)

Kain’s Lieutenants as themselves/Sophie’s Sisters (Legacy of Kain)

Awoofy as Heen (Kirby games)

Mora, the Prophet’s Apprentice as Lady Suliman (League of Legends OC)

Akshan, the Rogue Sentinel as King of Ingary (League of Legends)

Sarafan Guards as Themselves/Ingary’s Guardsmen (Legacy of Kain)

- - - - -

And you know what? How about I give you guys a hint? Perhaps a hint at another recast, maybe? Anyways, here you go!

👸🌆💋

Could you guess what movie it is? Let me add another hint: The Princess is the main character, the city is the setting, and the kiss mark is the beginning musical number.

- - - - -

Also, thank you @sundove88 for helping me with some of the cast members.

Now... Could anyone guess what the hint is? 

[milkyetoile]

suddenly reviving this fic from more than 10 years ago because why not?

TITLE: is it worth it, honey, being hurt by love? FANDOM: Howl's Moving Castle (book-verse) RATING: General Audiences CHAPTER: 1 of 2 WORD COUNT: 2,742 TAGS: Sophie Hatter/Howl Pendragon, Sophie Hatter/Justin of Ingary, Michael Fisher/Martha Hatter, Sophie Hatter, Howl Pendragon, Calcifer, Michael Fisher, Justin of Ingary, bookverse, post book 1, Banter, Jealousy, Angst with a Happy Ending SYNOPSIS: Howl promised Sophie a hair-raising happily ever after. She should have known hair-raising wasn’t entirely pleasant, especially with an impossible man like him.

[randomshenaniganery]

Differences in Howl’s Moving Castle book and movie characters

Most of the characters are not themselves anymore

Sophie is not outspoken and she only gets emotionally in like particularly stressful moments. She’s very calm and for some reason is like immediately into Howl lol

Book Sophie although she was very shy and timid when she lost her inhibitions because of the curse she went all the fucking way. Like that one guy I was too shy to talk to I will now scream at because he’s a mess and I’m a mess too. She has no awareness you’d have to hit her with a brick to understand a hint, she has magic and uses it without knowing about it constantly, talks to things to relieve stress

Mikael (i hate the spelling but for some reason its like this???) he’s pretty meh, a child literally. 

Michael Fisher, a love struck hard working stressed out foil of Howl. He’s doing his best okay be careful of the pure bean.

Howl Pendragon/Jenkins this guy is like very chill and dramatic but in a super low key way which is why the hair scene was so weird for me even when I didn’t read the books yet because it just felt out of place. 

Howell Jenkins (howl pendragon) you know from the fucking start that he is THE dramatic hoe and he does not hide it. He never broke character and he never tried to be the cool guy in front of sophie because in a way he was honest about his personality instead of pretending to look better. 

Witch of the waste a standard ghibli villain ngl she turned good? or just old at the end idk

Witch of the waste (book) oh yeah no she died, she’s super smart pretended to be a teacher and all that, gloated about killing someone that the book had introduced earlier, put on red hair after they cursed sophie

Wizard Suliman?? Pentstemon?? they merged suliman and ms pentstemon into one character. I hate it. 

Bejamin Sullivan (wizard Suliman) is pretty strong, a good boi, kinda whipped for lettie but who can blame him? rip he was either a dog or part of a decapitated body for most of the book

Ms Pentstemon Ben’s and Howell’s teacher, the person who revealed sophie had powers lol, also revealed that sophie put a spell on howl’s clothes, she died RIP

The dog he’s just a dog Percival (The dog); Is a mix of the prince of Ingary and Wizard Suliman (also I love how Howl is a fanboy of the arthurian legends he gave himself the last name of king arthur and he named his kid morgan and the dog percival i love this stupid dork) 

Lettie Hatter a blonde in a shop that has like what three minutes or screen time??

Lettie Hatter a talented smart witch with a sharp tongue, long dark hair and very ambitious goes against societal expectations, worries over sophie, technically fell in love with a dog but also a man thats a mix of two different people so there’s that, scams a prince at some point as well

Martha Hatter also smitten but smart about it, strong minded, she sus her own mother, wants to have ten children, worries over sophie, a cinnamon bun yeah no they didn’t include her in the movie

Franny Hatter, was worried about sophie briefly, wore a hat, never appeared again

Franny Hatter, single mom of three, was accused of using sophie for money but never was talked about again, is pretty happy with how things turned out, broke what do i do marry the rich duh

calcifer is pretty much the same but he develops less, may your bacon burn

calcifer arms and a heart seeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, stop bullying me, hint hint he doesnt have a heart, give me food, I hope your bacon burns

The King; war hero, outgoing was like in one scene

The King of Ingary; stressed (tm), has like one daughter being threatened, my brother is missing, my royal wizard is probably dead, the candidate for the next royal wizard is trying to fucking escape, I’m at war with another country, i need sleep

Turnip Head prince; is magic and was cursed got cured by sophie, blonde twink

Prince Justin; part of him was in Percival, part of him was in a decapitated body prepared by the witch, was a simp for Lettie ngl, bromance with Sullivan maybe u v u, brother how dare u let my totally not bf go to the wastes im LEAVINg

Turnip head scarecrow; was a spell from Benjamin, is absolutely terrifying, has strong magicks, was an antagonist for a bit, gave sophie a turn, absorbed a skull and started talking, hardcore af

[nadiajustbe]

A little post about the parallels between Sophie and Howl and Justin and Suliman because I cannot be the only one seeing this

Fist of all — and I've already mentioned this in one of my older posts but it's worth mentioning again — Witch of the Waste is apparently rather repetitive in her plans, because she took Ben as "a bait to fetch Justin" the same way she has to get Sophie in order to catch Howl.

And the fact they were both very adamant about it: the loser Howell went to search for Sophie looking like a SCARECROW and Justin was arguing with his brother for month without changing the topic before he just RUN AWAY TO FIND BEN ANYWAY.

They say lovers are crazy, after all.

Second of all, whatever is happening here. I mean, I get it, Sophie is too happy too look away from her horrible husband but THESE TO GUYS DOING BASICALLY THE SAME THING THEY'RE DOING TEN STEPS AWAY FROM THEM? (Except they weren't holding hands, but well, there was no chance of happening anyway).

And the fact that there's no dialogue — all of these guys are basically just looking at one another in silence for some amount of time.

(I do not now how to comment this third quote. Besties seemed to be really happy to see eachother as this shaking hands-hugging stuff happened immediately after the horror that was Percival)

Third of all — and there's probably more but I'll stop on these one cause it needs context and one of my favs — this small moments in CITA hinting on both soldier's and the genie's real identities through Ben and Sophie accordingly.

This becomes even funnier when you remember that Howl and Justin were affected by the same kind of spell (although Justin's were lighter) and these two were a bit desperate to notice something familiar, anyway.

(Also I find it especially funny how Ben still stands on his take of knowing the solider even when Abdullah told him pretty clearly that's a random guy from Strangia. "Then he reminds me of someone who I know" HE LOOKS LIKE HE HAS BEEN THROUGH TEN WARS, HAS A DIFFERENT HAIRCUT, UNIFORM, HASN'T SHOWERED PROPERLY IN SOME TIME AND YOU LOOK AT HIM THROUGH DUSTY MIRROR?? These gives me Sophie's "what genie" vibes)

[thatfoolsophie]

hmctober day 28: headless man (except really prince justin)

since i forgot to put prince justin on the calendar and the headless man’s distinguishing feature is justin’s uniform, i thought i’d multitask! also, i just read the scene where justin & suliman are unspelled and it says suliman’s ginger, but percival was ginger, and percival must have had justin’s head bc suliman’s skull was sitting on howl’s shelf, which implies that both justin AND suliman were redheads, in addition to 2/3 our series protagonists (sophie and charmain) having red hair, and even howl had his hair dyed temporarily ginger, why does everyone have red hair, miss jones please, i’m cutting you off,

[pndrgwn]

fun  &  fresh  lil  tag  drop  !

[hollythius]

dearly detested ; howl jenkins-pendragon x reader

have i ever written enemies to lovers before? no. wait actually this is more rivals to lovers oops. also canon divergence i think. mix of the book + movie. female reader is implied but i use they/them pronouns.

also michael = markl. michael is howl’s apprentice, and is like…15. he’s just the book version of markl. (and also i like him way more than markl lmao).

rivals to lovers > enemies to lovers. there i said it.

hmm. it appears that the man upstairs gave me the ability to write angst. there’s some hurt/comfort mixed in there.

tw; blood, howl is a lot crueler i think, slight gore?, howl kinda kidnaps reader but they could leave if they wanted, non-sexual nudity, howl and the reader definitely have history, y/n is emotionally constipated, they take a bath together, you can cut the tension with a knife.

there was not one person you hated more in the entirety of ingary. everything about howl made you see red. every time his name crossed your ears, you bit back with doglike rage.

there was a time not too long ago where you felt differently, perhaps with even the slightest crush on the young wizard. but that was years ago, when you were still a student. now you were a full-fledged witch who saw through howl’s trickery. how could any respectable user of magic be such a dirty coward?

you sighed, the black masses fizzling away after leaving you bloodied. the witch of the waste was still on the prowl, and as sanctioned by the king, you were expected to rid of her. your dearly hated howl, however; was tasked with finding the king’s brother, prince justin.

his victory would surely trump your own, which of course angered you like nothing else. everyone would forget about the witch of the waste once the prince was found. so you decided to take your time with your contract. but now that you were rendered almost defenseless in the valley of the waste, the familiar puffing of the castle was once again something that stirred nostalgia and not hatred.

you lumbered closer to the castle, clutching your wounded side. the huge hunk of metal chugged closer to you, though you were sure that was coincidence. howl most certainly was not home. if he was, you would’ve ran back up into the waste.

you slung yourself at the back door, shoving it open with your shoulder. howl’s apprentice stood there, wide-eyed with a half finished spell on the table in front of him.

“m-master pendragon isn’t here right now,” michael stuttered. his wide eyes blew wider when they reached the deep gash in your middle.

“good.” you responded harshly, heading for the shelves of ingredients. your plan was to make a quick salve to stave off infection, but the creaking of the door made you freeze.

“oh? and what did the cat bring in this time, michael?”

his voice sent a chill down your spine. you dropped the vial you were holding, the glass breaking on the floor.

“and what manner of rodent may you be, my dear?” your rigid body turned around to find the horrible blond grinning down at you. his fingers traced your side, your body flinching as he flicked your blood off of them. “my, my, y/n. what in ingary has the king been making you do?”

you scoffed at his false curiosity. “i suppose you wouldn’t know,” you spat. he was only concerned with himself. “how has your contract been going?”

howl chuckled, and you had half a mind to punch his lights out. bang up that pretty face of his. “almost as well as yours, by the looks of it,” he said.

howl folded his arms, raising a brow. you knew what he meant. why had you come here, of all places? he was well aware of your loathing of him.

“it was close. i was sure you weren’t home.”

“so it was your intention to steal from me and then leave? calcifer would have told me everything,” he smirked. you narrowed your eyes.

“of course. but would you have sought me out? made me pay for whatever i had taken?”

howl’s face was stern, but you’d won. as you stared into his cold eyes, they finally darted away. you stopped the grin that pulled at your lips. howl turned to face the fireplace.

“prepare a hot bath. and lock the doors, calcifer. we can’t have our rat escaping just yet.” your heart dropped. “it appears they’re injured,” he sang, running a hand down your side. this time he didn’t bother flicking the blood off his fingers.

“i wouldn’t call them a rat, howl,” calcifer bit back before flaring up and doing his assigned tasks.

howl shoved your cloak off your shoulders. “michael, wash that for me. and you,” he turned and faced you, “accompany me to the bathroom, would you?”

you followed howl up the stairs, watching as his bloody hand trailed up the banister. he held open the bathroom door and steam fell out in thick tufts. “after you, my dear.”

you scowled. you stepped in, sitting atop the toilet seat. “so now what? going to watch me bathe, jenkins?”

“it’s nothing foreign, love,” he breathed, tipping salts into the bath water. “i’d rather not have poor michael be forced to supervise you.”

howl shrugged off his overcoat, letting it fall to the floor. he stretched his arms over his head, shoulders popping. he was left in a loose white shirt.

“i suppose you’re right, howl,” you sighed, finally giving in. “now, am i right in assuming that you have no intention of letting me leave until i heal?”

“would it please you if i said you are indeed correct in your assumption?”

you let a dry chuckle escape your pursed lips. your eye wandered, seeing all of howl’s beauty products. how many women had he charmed using these? immediately the homely aura returned to one of forced intimacy.

“of course it would,” you sang bitterly. howl laughed as he kneeled down to untie your bootlace.

“don’t play like that, my dear. i’m well aware of your…complicated feelings towards me.”

“what about them do you find complicated, oh great wizard of ingary?” you teased. however no amusement was in it, and none was found in his annoyance at the title you’d given him.

“i realize that i am a coward, there’s no reason to rub it in, dear,” his voice came out strained, and his eyes were shifting around.

you hummed. “i’m glad you’re self aware, howl. perhaps that fact brings you up a notch.”

“do you want my help or not, y/n?” he snapped. “or are you just here to berate me?”

you froze. he’d scared you many times before, but never once had howl jenkins ever raised his voice at you.

“i- howl, i didn’t mean it like that,” you sighed.

“of course you didn’t,” he sang, mocking you. his focus returned to your boots, swiftly pulling them off along with your stockings. the look in his eyes was distant. his hands edged towards your bloody blouse. “with your permission, my dear.”

“you know my answer, howl.” he seemed to lighten up at that. he did know the answer, which would always be yes.

soon your blouse was discarded on the floor along with your boots and trousers. you dabbed at your wound with a cloth howl had handed you.

“be grateful this gash wasn’t so deep that you needed stitches. i can fix this with magic.”

“go ahead,” you replied. howl’s hand moved to cusp your side, the warmth being replaced with the hot sensation of magic.

“this’ll leave a nasty scar, my dear,” howl said. but you weren’t paying any attention to him. your eyes focused on the thin flesh of his lips, pink and barely there. “though it doesn’t seem like you mind much.” his other hand grabbed your waist, pulling you atop him.

“i miss you, howl. every day,” you whimpered, burying yourself in his shoulder.

“then stay here. masking your longing with anger must be tiring.”

“i…can’t. not after how i’ve treated you,” you whispered.

“my dear, i know you only said those things to cope. it was the only way you knew how.”

the burning in your eyes ceased when you finally let your tears flow onto howl’s shoulder. he flinched when he felt your body quiver against him.

“howl,” your shaky voice barely audible as you gripped at the blond’s back. “i-”

“shhh. i know, my love. relax yourself.”

the two of you spent the next hour in the tub together, simply enjoying one another. howl calmed your shaky breaths, and made you feel like the only one in the world. you missed this. you missed him.

howl magicked up sleepwear, dressing himself and leaving you to sift through the pile of overzealous fabric until you found something suitable. you end up in something a tad too large for your figure, but you don’t mind. the softness of the silk garment is enough to make you even sleepier than before.

“howl?”

“yes, my dear, i know you’re tired. but please, let me speak for a moment?” he breathed, his blond hair brushing against your forehead. you respond with a sighed yes, and howl pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“never stray away from me again, my dear. it’s not good to keep things like this pent up for so long.”

your hands grasp at his back, and his lips make contact with your own. “i know, howl.”

howl’s lips parted in a kind smile, and he let out a small chuckle. he pressed his forehead against yours. “i love you, my dear.”

you answered him with a kiss on the lips. i love you too.

[daffodil--lament]

top five prince justin momence:

1) at the end of castle in the air when everyone is talking about what happened and tying up loose ends and justin is sitting curled up in the corner silently with a cloth over his head because he's just realized that he's supposed to be the kindly respectable prince of ingary and instead he's been running around conning people and being an overall massive bitch who hates ingary for the last two months

[spoondrifts]

ben suliman coming to ingary and immediately being like your calendars make no fucking sense why do you mark your days like this why do you have two new years and an entire month dedicated to some holiday about a king who died one thousand years ago why do your day counts start at NOON and justin is like bestie.