#of course if :re is ending we'll get some kind of part 3

[nalyra-dreaming]

"Worried about the Nicki/TVL content" here for clarification. I apologize, that came off like I didn't want to see TVL/Nicki. I'm excited to see Louis' journey through Europe and very excited for the theatre des vampires. I'm also very excited to see Lestat's backstory, including Nicki's part in it. What I meant is I'm worried that the showrunner might have been worried they weren't getting a season 3 so they packed in TVL and Nicki into season 2 so audiences got the backstory for Louis, Armand, and the theatre and how that ties to Lestat because they didn't want to leave questions because they may not get a season 3.

I want them to take their time with each major plot point and i wondered if cramming so much in was a hint that there was not going to be a renewal. But your response to my first ask was reassuring. I just really need to see the entire story play out before they end the show and I panicked so much advertisement of TVL in season 2 was an indication that this would be the only time we see it. Does that make sense?

Also, what plot points or storylines do you think we will see in season 3 in addition to TVL because the show always has more than one book or storyline going?

Ah ok :) It does make sense, but I honestly wouldn't worry too much.

For example Rolin talked about Lestat and Gabrielle at the SDCC '22 panel and so far there is no hint of Gabrielle - which makes sense, because Armand does not particularly like her... he probably omits her in his retelling of what happened.

But I don't think Rolin is going to omit her :) ... pass on the possibility to ... dip into that mess, too^^

And Rolin has already talked about Lestat's turning (and it being the literal worst of all the vampires' turnings) in the podcast back then, too. TVL is why Rolin wanted to do the show.

So. I wouldn't worry too much. AMC is financially out of the woods, the modus operandi seems to be the same as last season, and they are ramping up promotion, they are still developing the other shows, too. They said they are in for the long run, and there was once talk of 10 seasons... now I am not optimistic enough to hope for that much *laughs*, but... I'd love it :)) Definitely. Supposedly Sam was signed for 5 seasons though (off the bat). We'll see.

As per story lines... well, I mean, they will need to keep Dubai fresh, so that will develop further, and then, of course, in Lestat's past there is a lot they can hook into as well.

Magnus shows up as a ghost in the later books, too, so who knows, they might explore that aspect already (and there maybe the origins of the Talamasca???) in some kind of fashion. It would serve to introduce Benedict and Rhoshamandes here, too, given the later arcs. Marius' arc, of course, though if the rumor re Justin Kirk holds then they are going towards Marius' story and TWMBK (and possibly QotD) in s4 and s5. Gabrielle could be introduced in Dubai, and maybe bring in Sevraine, I mean Fareed is already there, the ancient vampires are there already, somewhere, out of sight, but there is a lot of possibility :)

And, of course, if they actually bring in Fareed again (which might be needed, given Daniel's health status), then Seth cannot be that far, and through Seth we could get an introduction to Gregory and Mekare, and Maharet, and Khayman, and... whoever else.

The Dubai TL is mixed up already, and I for one love it, because it allows for so much.

For example the piano music in the show... I would have loved it if that had been a live stream, of Sybille playing (for example). You know? Little things.

Sam said that there would be (more/other) cameo's coming in s2, so... I fully expect there to be more vampires, probably only apparent to those who know^^. (Just like last time^^)

Also: by now I do think we will get yet another revisit of episode 5 in s3. From Lestat's POV.

Because there is something there that I have touched on, that @cbrownjc has touched on... namely that we will now get to that the fight was more an actual "fight" downstairs, but even more interestingly, we will in all likelihood see why the fight rekindled upstairs. And... here comes something Lestat says in episode 6 into play, namely: "I don't know what possessed me that night."

Now, anyone who has read the last books (which Rolin as stated takes from) knows that Amel's awakening is bloody, drawn to violence, and that he takes over sometimes. He also likes to be in Lestat.

If the basic structure of the fight stays as it is there has to be a reason why that fight rekindled upstairs, and why it continued then with such a drastic power-imbalance, and why Lestat went on about his "nature", something which I have always found weird.

However, if they are already setting up Amel... I have theorized before that they might combine Akasha and Amel, since the actual threats (the burnings) are quite similar and it would be too repetitive for the show.

IF they are, indeed, already setting up Amel, then we will see the "reason" why it all went shit in Louis' POV next season, and then get the personal account of what happened there in s3. Louis won't be able to make much sense of it yet, neither will Armand, nor Daniel, and not even Marius (in all likelihood). But as these lines have not been come into play yet (and this show does not waste lines) I fully expect them to come back.

And then, if Lestat recounts the possession that story line can segue into s4 and s5 of Akasha/Amel rising, they'll probably skip the "core" going to Mekare first, I think Lestat will take it directly, maybe with the threat of Rhoshamandes thrown in or after, depending.

As I said before, I think they know how they want to do the first 5 or so seasons, and this... this is how I think it might come together :))

Obviously this is the "rough cut" - the details will be the most interesting thing.

What did Louis say in the trailer?

"We should get every detail right."

Indeed.

[writtenx]

Finding You - azngami

(part 1)

Hey guys!!! This is my first fanfic on Ryan, it will be in parts. I'm a somewhat new, but like re-new star if that makes sense. I knew of NSB (Ryan first) in 2022 and then there was like this random fallout, but we backkk and better than ever!

The idea for this fic just randomly came to me. I kind of imagine this as like black haired long hair Ryan, so an example would be like, how he looked in the "Opening ALL OF YOUR GIFTS From Tour" video, like the most recent one he did from that series. (There's the picture by the title of what I imagine the hair to look for this, but you can imagine him however you like to)

Just some warnings before we begin:

1. I don't write smut at all. I'm not comfortable writing it so this fanfic but also all my works will not have smut in it, you're never gonna find it here!

2. I don't cuss. But I know the guys do a lot lol, and so for this, there are words there, but i put this sign: (') in replacement for some letters, but it's enough for you all to still get what I'm trying to say. An example would be "No b'tches"- you see?? It's not that bad

3. This fanfic is in "You" pov. No y/n or anything like that, just you. But it is a split Pov between you and Ryan, but for Ryan's it will be in 3rd person. So this fic is 2nd and 3rd person.

I hope you enjoy this ahhhh I'm so excited and we'll keep updating parts as we go along!!

Happy reading!!! <3333

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a super foggy day out, your favorite type of weather. You were currently getting out of your car, glancing at your handwritten grocery list. This may have been an unpopular opinion, but you loved errand day. Of course, not at the expense of overly priced items that you sometimes complained about in your head but bought anyway, but more so the taking off part. You liked to think about when you were a kid and going with your parents, eyeing everything a shop could offer while your mom would constantly look back from the aisles to the list in her hand. Now at 23, you were the one becoming an adult, doing all the things necessary but being responsible.

Your younger sister Diana who was two years younger than you, knew your love for the going to get groceries, so she left that for you to do, while she would wait for you to come back and make dinner. You appreciated that, because you didn't cook much. Even if there were days you wanted to help your sister out, she would kick you out of the kitchen (quite literally, if you were honest).

Speaking of your sister...

Your phone started ringing just as you were walking to the local Whole Foods not far from your house when you looked at the caller ID and then pressed talk, putting your phone to your ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, while you're out there can you get onions real quick? We don't have any left."

You did a quick scan down your paper as you walked, looking for what you thought you had written. You were right, it turned out. You did remember the onions.

"Yeah, I have it on my list."

"And-"

"Garlic's on there too, don't worry." You interrupted. You knew your sister by now.

Diana paused abruptly, the silence on the other end of the phone concluding your assumption that she was about to say garlic.

"Well shoot, that's about it. Thanks."

You chuckled and then said your goodbyes before hanging up. Then you walked in to the store.

The cold of the store ran a shiver through your back and you folded your arms over your shoulder walking in. You grabbed a small cart because you weren't getting a lot of items, and then you started your shopping.

Everything was great. You were finding everything that you needed from the list, and tossed a treat-yourself snack in the cart. You did have a habit of treating yourself even when there was no great reason or it.

After a good ten minutes of covering the list, it was by the time you were wrapping up that you realized you needed to go to the produce section once more to get some basil. As you walked back to the fresh green area, you spotted just one guy at the produce section.

He wore all black, the hood of his hoodie over his head, but there were black strands by the sides of his face. He also had silver headphones on his hood (however that worked). He wore glasses and a dog tag necklace over his black shirt. He stood, hands in his pocket, and was completely unbothered eyeing the Bok Choy. Of course, you weren't trying to stare at the lone guy, but he did stop you in a somewhat trance. He looked like he could model, and had pretty features, and seeing him almost reminded you of a guy you used to like in high school named Ryan.

Ryan was a smart and attentive guy, but very too himself and quiet (which was exactly your type). The two of you would talk if you had a project together or to compare test answers, and you'd see him some weekends at the recreational center he'd volunteer for as coaching the basketball team that your little cousin was a part of. (Which was the CUTEST thing ever). You often wondered how Ryan was now, since last you heard he left for LA. You didn't have any social media and you both weren't the closest people in high school so the years had passed and the only thing you could do was wish him well wherever he was.

You couldn't help but look back at the guy in the store. He reminded you so much of Ryan. As you went back to your own grocery shopping, there were thrown looks back and forth between the greens and the guy. At one point as he walked over to get a plastic bag which was near where you were, he looked over at you and your eyes locked.

You couldn't look away, now that you were both looking at each other. You should've probably looked away, but for some strange reason you couldn't.

The corner of his lip lifted in a small and awkward half smile before he continued his shopping, passing you by. You smiled back, shyly and then grabbed the basil you needed before bolting out the store. In your errands routine, the chances of running into someone cute never happened, so you weren't going to forget this.

Especially if he looked like that guy you really liked back in high school.

...

By the time you got home, you were greeted by the sound of Diana's loud singing. She did that usually over music, but this time it was in the air. She was a silly person, never took too much seriously and you admired her for it.

"Hello!" You called, placing the grocery bags on the floor.

"When it comes to you, there's no criiiiiime!"

You made a face. "Hello? Diana?"

"Let's take both of our souls and intertwiiiine!" Before you could say anything else, your younger sister Diana emerged from the kitchen, holding up a wooden spoon like it was a microphone.

"When it comes to you," She pointed over at you, making her way towards where you were. You laughed and shook your head as Diana danced to the grocery bags, picking them up while still managing to sing a Justin Bieber throwback.

"Don't be blind, let me speak from my heart when it..." Diana looked up at you and gave a look, holding the silverware microphone to you face.

You rolled your eyes. This happened every day.

"C'mon, you gotta sing it, all of MSG is waiting!" Diana joked, gesturing to the audience members.

You laughed. "Oh, is that where we are now?"

Diana laughed with you and the two of you headed to the kitchen, the song dispelling its echoes into thin air.

"Thanks for getting the groceries. I think it's spaghetti today." Diana said. You followed her to the counter, unpacking.

"No worries. You know errands stops are my favorite."

"And I'll never understand why. Seriously, you're quieter than me. What part of going out to shop makes you happy to indulge in?" Diana asked.

You shrugged, trying to think of the question. "I don't know. It's my own time even if it's surrounded by people. If that makes sense. I don't know, you'd think you'd like it, you're all outgoing and everything." You said.

Diana scoffed. "Yeah, that's the problem. I can't even go to Whole Foods without being recognized. Some days I don't want to be social. Plus, it can be a chore." She said.

You nodded, understanding where she was coming from. It did make sense. You could see where Diana and even your parents were coming from, and even though they didn't understand your joy, they left you with that responsibility.

You clapped your hands as you remembered your time just spent looking into a beautiful stranger's eyes.

"Oh! Speaking of Whole Foods, I have to tell you something." You said.

Your sister was eyeing the basil, tilting her head to the side. You at first were scared, hoping that it was the right thing, but then was relieved to see her place it on the counter and turn to the other items to examine.

"What's up?"

"I saw this really cute guy at the store," You started.

Diana flashed a proud smile as she checked the ingredients. "Okay, okayyyy"

You started to feel yourself blushing.

"Chill, nothing happened." You needed to clarify. That was your sister. She always hyped up the littlest things making them seem bigger than what they actually were.

"But while we were in the produce section, I was grabbing basil and he was getting I think some Bok Choy, and as we were passing by, he smiled at me and it was so cute." You said, allowing the girlhood of yourself to bask in delusion that it was a big deal. Only for a second though.

"Okayyy!! Cute!!" Diana exclaimed as she was put everything from the bags away. She was very good and indulging in conversation at the same time be in the zone when it came to cooking.

"But the thing is..." You started, thinking back to the black haired beauty in the produce aisle.

"He reminds me so much of- do you remember Ryan, that guy I liked all of high school?" You asked, turning to look at your sister.

She set her tomato paste can down and looked up at the ceiling in thought. Then she nodded.

"He was like, what, really smart, kinda cute but in like a nerdy way? Glasses? Quiet guy Ryan?"

You nodded. That sounded like your lover alright. (Well, unrequited lover anyway).

"Yeah, I remember you were obsessed with that dude." Diana said.

That caused you to smile shyly. "Yeah, then after graduation he moved to LA and that was the last time I saw him. And, with no social media, it's not like I can find him either." You muttered the last sentence to yourself.

Diana chuckled. "You made that decision."

"I know. And it's a good one, I don't regret that." You said as you walked over to the small table-for-two by the corner. You sat in one of the chairs, fully aware that you would be ranting to your sister in the middle of a cooking session.

You sighed. "I guess for these past five years, crushes would come and go, whatever, but...he would always be in the back of my mind. I just wondered what it would be like if I was to see him again." You spoke your mind.

Diana nodded and hummed. Her back was to you as she started her work, but she was listening.

"But...the guy that I saw at Whole Foods today, he reminded me so much of Ryan. But he looks different, they're not the same guy, he just...just looking at him to me back to a place that made me extremely happy and nostalgic." You said.

"Aww. Maybe it's Ryan's twin brother?" Diana suggested.

You shook your head. "Hello? Obsessive, remember? If Ryan had a pet dog I would've found out the name, origin, favorites snacks and everything else. I think I would know if he had a twin brother."

"Sooooo maybe it was Ryan is what I'm hearing?"

You groaned. "Ugh. Imagine."

You shook your head and gave a small smile. "I'm gonna go upstairs and change. Be right back."

"Okay! See yaaaa!" Diana waved to you and you waved back before going up the stairs.

When you got to your room you made a beeline straight for your dresser. You searched until you found your senior yeearbook, flipping through the pages where everyone signed. And then looking at Ryan's message you smiled, the feeling of how it was receiving his short but sweet well wishes coming back to you just like it was for the first time.

i'm gonna miss science and math class with you, thank you for all the memories :)

wishing you all the best in university and beyond!

- ryan

Then you went through the yearbook, taking a walk down memory lane of your life five years ago. Occasionally in the sports section, you saw pictures of Ryan, and when you got to the graduation photos, he was there too. It was just like you remembered. He was cute and pretty, but for some strange reason, his eyes reminded you of that guy in Whole Foods.

Your mind went back and forth. It wasn't like it absolutely couldn't happen at all. Sure, Ryan moved to LA and that was the last you heard of him, but maybe he was back in town for family or something else.

But when were you so lucky in life, that you got a chance to see your really serious crush five years later? Did that really happen in life?

Even then, it didn't really matter, considering the fact that you didn't speak to him. So, it probably wasn't him to begin with.

You looked back down at the Ryan's graduation photo in your yearbook. He kind of shared the same features. You didn't have time to make out all of his face, but there was something similar. You just didn't know.

Was that or was that not Ryan Nguyen from high school?

....

~ Ryan ~

It never bothered Ryan to walk into a house filled with cameras.

It became second nature. He had been in this house for 3 years now, and where bills needed to be paid, content needed to be made. There was only one problem with that.

To walk into a house with cameras meant that there was always the risk of being in them. Ryan was usually caught off guard and gave this low hating-everyone vibe that the stars were accustomed to and grown to love. There were people who made videos like "Ryan being done with NSB for 6 minutes" on YouTube, or little moments that could be used for a short or tiktok. They were used to his nonchalant tone. He read a comment last week where some stars crowned him their "Side-Eyed King".

Normally, he wouldn't have minded. Ryan would be more concerned if he didn't walk into a noisy house filled with laughs or arguments across the room. He just wished that there would be a slight freedom in this moment as he stepped inside, where he could just slip into his room and stay there for the rest of the day without interruptions.

But that freedom wasn't for today.

It was Sebastian that greeted him first, and Ryan looked right into the lens, trying hard not to look obvious that something was actually wrong. Recording meant vlogging (or pranking, whichever one in this house), and either or meant editing, and then editing meant posting. For the eyes of the public.

"Well, look who it is. If it isn't, the real Azngami! How you doing, sexy sir?" Seb stated, coming right at him.

Ryan averted his eyes to the ground. Even if it was a normal day, there would still be the expectation of the weird look. Which Ryan gave.

"What do you want, man?" Ryan finally asked, his voice dropping low.

"Nothing, just..." Seb laughed as he pointed the camera to Ryan's grocery bags.

"It was Ryan's turn to get the groceries." He told the internet. "I'm actually surprised you did it." Seb said.

Ryan narrowed his eyes as Seb laughed, bringing the camera back to Ryan's face.

"What, like I've never bought my own groceries before? Get lost, dude." Ryan started to walk away from the camera. "I ain't never seen your broke 'ss buy a f'ckin vegetable bro, I know you not talkin'".

"C'mon, why you gotta be mean? Look, I'll take the groceries for you." Seb reached over while holding up the camera.

"See guys?" Seb talked to the frame. "I'm a very nice, very demure person." He said.

Ryan closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "What is this, yo? Try not to cringe for 24 hours?" He asked.

Seb stuck his bottom lip out to the camera and pouted as he placed his free hand on his heart. "You wound me, Ryan. You wound me. And here I thought you actually had a heart." He said.

Ryan stood with his hands in his pockets for a second, just looking at Seb. When Seb noticed Ryan wasn't giving a big reaction, he turned back and looked over at Ryan, laughing.

"Dude, what's wrong?" He asked.

"What do you want from me? Go bother Darren, dude." Ryan requested.

"Dude I already did!"

"Okay, so go down the list. There's 6 other people in this group so...I'm going to my room. And take the groceries out of the bag please instead of just leaving them on the counter!" Ryan called, turning his back on Seb and walked towards his room.

He didn't really care if Seb caught that all on camera, or would even post it. For some strange reason, everyone found Ryan's moods to be funny and relatable.

But when Oliver heard the commotion from the living room, he waited until Ryan was in his room before walking over.

..

Ryan's door was closed, of course. If he had it his way, he'd have his door locked. But there were no locks in the house and Ryan had to suffer for it. At least right now, he could suffer in peace. Though it wasn't really suffering. Today wasn't the worst day in the world.

No, today just happened to be the day where he saw a girl he thought he would never see again.

You.

You burned in his mind like something hot, and even though it had been years, the feeling was the same. How you grew, with your beautiful eyes and shy smile. Ryan wondered if you knew that it was him, but probably not. You both haven't spoken in a long time. Last Ryan checked, you didn't even have any socials.

Ryan scratched his head and then grabbed his phone as he sat on the edge of his bed. He knew this was quite childish, but there he was entering your name on the search bar. He tried your first and last name, then Minnesota, but that brought him to other people. Why did so many people share your name, anyway?

There was a knock on the door and Ryan sighed.

"What?"

"Ryan, it's me Oli, can I come in?"

Ryan paused. At least it wasn't Darren.

Ryan ran fingers through his hair and then leaned back in his seat, staring at the wall in front of him.

"Yeah."

The door opened slowly and Ryan saw in the corner of his eye that Oli emerged. He stayed by the door, but closed it behind him.

"Hey, I couldn't help but notice you and Seb. Was wondering if everything's alright." Oli spoke.

"I meaaannn..." Ryan's voice trailed in thought as he looked at Oli. Then he shrugged.

"It's cool. Just some stuff happening at Whole Foods, bro." Ryan answered, his gaze now zeroed in on his PC set.

"What kinda stuff? Do you wanna talk about it?" Oliver asked.

To be fair, Ryan didn't want to talk about it. Not fully. But, there was a small part of him deep down that knew that if anyone genuinely cared enough, it was Oliver. He didn't want to add onto stress, so Ryan figured he would just say it bluntly.

"It's nothing big man, I just bumped into someone who I may have had feelings for in high school. I don't think she recognized me though. I was going to say hi, but then...I don't know, I just backed off."

Oliver nodded. "Do you regret not talking to her?"

Ryan shrugged. "I mean, it's not bothering me so much, but I mean...maybe. I haven't seen her in like, five years. I would have liked to maybe catch up with each other but that's not happening." He said.

Oliver stood for a few seconds to himself. Then after a few seconds he looked back at Ryan.

"Have you tried looking for her? Like on IG, Tiktok, anything?"

"Nah, she doesn't have social media. I've been trying to just Google her, but that's not getting me anywhere." Ryan said.

Oli pulled out his phone. "What's her name?" He asked.

"What's whose name?" The door suddenly opened and the rest of the guys came in. All except for Seb who was hopefully getting the groceries unpacked, and Reggie, who was probably sleeping.

Ryan closed his eyes and tried to focus on his breathing. Never in any way would he be telling all of them what was happening.

"You've gotta be freakin kidding me." Ryan said under his breath. When he looked up, seeing Darren, Justin, and Kane in view made him want to punch something. But Ryan didn't. He just remained as calm as he could try.

"Ain't y'all got your own rooms and sh't, the f'ck you gotta be in mine for?" Ryan said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch who you're speaking to." Justin said with a laugh.

"Ryan, take deep breaths." Kane suggested, recreating some type of yoga pose.

"See? This is exactly what I'm talking about bro, you're so ungrateful. We literally all came together to check up on you, and this is how you treat us." Darren said, moving over to try and sling his arm on Ryan, but Ryan stood up immediately and walked to the corner of the room.

"Don't touch me."

"We decided to come here, y'know, be here for you, and look at you. You're acting up." Darren said.

"So ungrateful, Ryan." Justin retorted.

Ryan could feel annoyance coming on. Actually, he's been annoyed on his drive to the house.

"Okay, so then leave, hello? No one asked you to come over". He sassed.

"No, see, I'm not like you Ryan. Despite the need to hate on my fellow brother, I would never leave them in a time of need. You need us." Darren said (or more like gaslight- Justin's been influencing him).

Oh. My. Gosh. I can never win in this household, Ryan thought.

"Ryan, we're not trying to bother you, Seb just said that you were crankier than usual. If you need your alone time, we can go, we just wanted to let you know that we're here for you no matter what it is. Okay?" Kane finally broke the ice.

Ryan didn't say anything for a few seconds. He was acting like this was a huge deal even though it wasn't worth anything hating the boys for. He would never let a girl come between the brotherhood he formed with these crazy bunch these last three years.

The thing was, Ryan didn't owe them the story, but he didn't want to place this as such a high thing. He wasn't meant to talk to you, he guessed. That was all.

So Ryan ended up talking to the boys about the situation and how frustrated he got because of it. He listened to their opinions and advice, which all sort of tallied towards trying to find anything of you and reaching out, or just letting it go entirely. And that's what Ryan said he would do.

It was later in the night when Ryan sat next to Justin and Darren who, yes, had overstayed their welcome in his room, but luckily they were both kind of doing their own thing and wasn't bothering Ryan as much.

Ryan laid down at the side of the bed going on instagram, when a thought just entered his mind. He remember that you had a sister named Diana and quickly searched her up on instagram. The first two people were not her at all, he could tell, but the third profile made Ryan sit up in his seat. As he clicked on her page, he felt like thanking God that it was public. And he was even more thankful when he saw one of her recent posts being a birthday post about you.

Ryan smiled as he carefully clicked on the picture, not wanting to like it or do anything that would notify on your sister's phone. And this picture was a few months ago.

You were in a park, right under a tree, smiling at the camera. There was collection photos of you with different poses, and then the last photo being a selfie with Diana and you. You were so pretty in Ryan's eyes. Definitely grown into a woman. He wondered how the last five years have been for you and what you were doing now.

"Yo, did you see the video I sent you?" Darren broke the silence in the room, Ryan almost forgot they were still there.

Because Darren and Justin were sitting closed to each other, Ryan just assumed Darren was talking to Justin.

"Me or Ryan?" Justin asked slowly.

Ryan didn't say anything as he scrolled through Diana's page, finding you every so often. That was until he felt a kick in his back. Ryan's head shot up quickly.

"What are you doing?" He interrogated Darren.

"Dude, I sent you a video, look at it!"

Ryan looked back on his phone. "I'll watch, just give me a second."

"No, watch it now!" Darren said with a smile. When Ryan gave a death glare at him, Darren rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, baby. Is there something more important than me?" He asked.

Ryan wished for the day when Darren talked to him without referring to him as his baby for once. It made Ryan feel weird but mostly annoyed.

"Yes, there are a lot of things more important than what you send me." Ryan said.

At that, Justin's head shot up from where he rested by the pillows. "Like what? You're all blushing and sh't, what are you looking at?"

Darren started to go over to where Ryan was sitting, trying to reach for his phone. "Is it that Whole Foods high school crush? Did you find her?"

Ryan smacked Darren's hand away and moved his phone out of reach before Darren could see anything.

"Dude, don't f'king touch my sh't, yo."

Justin laughed. "Oh, it's definitely her. He found her." Justin sat up. Ryan backed away and stood up before the two of them could have a chance.

"Can you guys just get out of my room? Like, Oli and Kane left a long time ago, why don't you leave?"

"Relax, peanut." Darren said.

"I don't know bruh, I kinda like this bed." Justin said, fully lying back down again.

"Okay," Ryan set his phone down on the counter. "Enough of this sh't-"

Before Darren and Justin could blink, they were both dragged and kicked out of the room. To Ryan's surprise, they didn't come back to bother him for the rest of the night.

Ryan stayed looking at more pictures, the feeling of memories coming in to warm him. He didn't stay long however, as the content of his find allowed him to crash into a deep sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading this chapterrr<333

....

[fenimores-book-nook]

Day 13 of self care writing :)

December 11th, 2023, Monday 6:27 pm In my living room under a cozy blanket :)

Good evening, but not too late this time! Also, it's crazy to me that soon I won't be putting "2023" on these posts anymore. It's gonna be 2024 in like three weeks...that's insane. Being in December already makes it feel like this year has gone by really fast but looking back, I think I felt the opposite. It did feel crazy that I graduated from high school when I did in May and yeah, it felt super quick, but I think in those moments, I didn't feel that way. I guess it's just the weird way that time feels.

Christmas tree in my church's lobby area that I just really liked the vibe of with the sun pouring inside. :)

This past weekend has been pretty good, I think. Apart from kinda ahckjjds feelings, I think it was good. Today was a pretty good day too! It was my relaxing Monday but I wanted to be productive too. So I did some things around the house and finished up some Christmas gifts for friends! I'm big on homemade gifts, so for my close friend group, we're doing secret santa but I wanted to give a lil' something to all of them anyways, so I made these silly little hearts for them all.

Plus one for myself 'cause who wouldn't want a matching stuffed heart with a silly face on it with your friends? And for my secret santa, I have almost all the things I need for them, I'm planning on getting two more little things at my work tomorrow and then we'll be good! We're getting together this weekend and I'm very excited! I always love hanging out with my friendos. Some days it's literally all I need to be around them, and my mood goes from one to ten. <3

Staying on the topic of friends, I just performed in a community choir with some of them! Our concert was last night and I'm not going to lie, I was wanting to get it over and done with but I actually really did love being in it. It 100% helped that some of my old high school friends did it with me, including my close friends. Just look how snazzy we looked:

It was a lot of fun! :) There were for sure some parts during the practices where I really just wanted to go home; it's a community choir with a lot of people not in my age group and I think it was just harder to connect with people like I did in my high school choir. But I am glad that I got to do it with my friends and my old choir teacher AND my old band teacher. It was sort of a reunion!

And now, just because I have a need that I have to talk about books in every single post...I'm going strong in Iron Flame!! I think I finally got past the draggy beginning parts and I have, maybe 100-150ish pages to go? So, super close! (maybe I'm farther than that but oh well) It's crazy and amazing. Along with that, I've been re-reading the Heartstopper series because one: they're a comfort series for me and I love them with all my heart, and two: the fifth book is coming out soon and I thought it was a good time to have the past books events fresh in my mind! I've pre-ordered the fifth book and it says it should be delivering to me the day before I leave for Canada to visit family. Let's just hope it's right because I NEED TO READ THAT BOOK. And it would be awful if it got delivered and it just sat outside my house just waiting for me to come and open those new book smelling pages for a week. So, anyways. Love that series.

~ Self care writingsssss ~

(questions found on pinterest, of course)

What inspired me today? The fact that my friend group and I are meeting at the end of the week for our Christmas hang out and I still need to get gifts together, so I did some creating! Also, me wanting to be more *CreATivE* so I just went for it. (wrapping gifts is actually quite fun but I am not the best at it) (I also feel like I am not a creative enough person when in reality I am a very creative person and I just need to remember that)

Where am I putting my energy? I feel like this is kind of a hard question to answer simply because I'm not sure. I think maybe I could be putting more of my energy into some things but that's not the question. A lot of my energy goes towards my love for books, I think. And trying to think of ways to create art that I love and that I enjoy doing. Also, to my friends too, I think sometimes I focus too much of my energy on that, though, and it becomes something not good for me. But hey, it's something I'm working on and that's what matters!

Three highlights of my day. One, finishing up the last of my friends' gifts! At least, for this weekend. ;) Two, putting my own lil' silly stuffed heart I made as a tree topper for my baby Christmas tree. It looks so freaking cute. :3 Three, texting one of my besties that I missed her and we just chatted for a bit. <3

Someone I'm grateful for. My kitty cat, Delilah. :)) She can be a bit of a turd sometimes, like today how she knocked down one of my books on display and I couldn't get it back to how it was. But it's okayyyy. I love her and she always sits with me and gives me comfort. <3

One thing I did today that I'm proud of. Creating. I lack motivation for creating art a lot but I think maybe it's partly because I'm afraid that what I make, no one else will appreciate it like I do. But that doesn't really matter, does it? It's how I feel when I make it. So, I did some of that unique type of creating that I do today and I loved it. :)

This is an accurate representation of how happy I feel when I look at my books. :))))

Until next time lovely,

Thalia <3

[paradoxhamartia]

*proceeds to open his dashboard for a split second*

*sees pain and despair spreading like a disease*

*understands that apparently :re should end in 3 chapters*

[turnaroundroundround]

Morimyu in Classical reference

So, as for the fact that music in Morimyu Op. 3 resembles classical music in both progression and musical technicality, it's interesting how it's possible to keep coming up with different interpretations after re-watching the musical again and again.

I've made a thread on twitter about this before, but 1) word limitations and thread will never be enough to list all that I have to say lol 2) I'd prefer to have a fuller version noted down, especially one that I can edit and keep coming back over and over again when ever I come up with something new.

Either way, I am still (lol) not a pro in music theory and music history as well. All that is written here are based on my very very basic knowledge on music as well as something that I've picked up (and discussed) with my friends after watching Op. 3.

What's the point of this?

Why is it important? Lol I always need this to keep myself from writing off-topic but anyways. Why do the music sound good (except for the fact that because it does lol), and what do they represent? Surely there must be, and there always are, other things that are implied not only through the lyrics but also the music, and the flow in general.

Apart from the lyrics and the lines, it's also quite interesting to have a close look at the music - melody and harmony itself - to see how they portray the stories.

Most importantly, the continuality. How did Morimyu manage to insert so many songs and still managing to connect them as a whole? And how did they use music to go beyond what's on the pages? That's the most important thing about musicals - beyond the pages. We don't see stage or anime doing so very often, as they mainly focus on what's already there, bringing them to life as close as possible to how we imagine things might happen.

As for musical, they have the music. They have the arias and the songs. At some point, a character starts singing, and other characters followed suit. They have their very unique way of expressing the plot, and they have the orchestra, the arias where characters get their solo song, and the duets between characters with strong relationships, and the ensemble which emphasizes the plot, and so on.

A funny thing about duets in classical opera, they're often meant to show lovers' relationship because of the harmony but can also use opposition and all to show enemies' relationship. And in SherLiam's duet it's just both of them at the same time - thoughts connected while engaging in a chase, a hide and seek game of mystery. We'll go into that later.

Back to the topic. Morimyu follows the main plot strictly, but also uses their advantage with music to add all the side details that wasn't told in the manga to create a "complete" view of the plot. It is always available for musicals to do something unexpected (like how we never expected Lestrade's puppet show to be a whole 5 mins long piece lol). And where they did that they added arias and duets, they allowed moments where characters express and developed their emotions as well as going with the plan (yes Albert yessss). Of course there's both a good and bad side to this all the while.

💛 The good thing is they went all the way to show us sides of emotions that we don't see much in the manga or stage, the sides of the story that all of them have kept hidden while focusing on their grand plan. 💛 But then it does get too emotional at some point, especially those who came for the plot and the mind games behind all of it (like me - although I won't deny that I had a lot of fun picking out all the emotions behind the music here lol).

Musicals can always go beyond what we knew. As for Morimyu, their music is heavily influenced by opera and classical music, and it's shown quite clear. There is live music playing (instead of the entire orchestra we have a violin and piano duet), and they have distinctive arias and recitatives throughout.

So thanks to that, it's also possible to use a reference from classical music to interpret their songs.

A Sonata formation - The Narrative Series of SherLiam

Yes, songs arranged and analysed with reference to a Sonata formation, especially in the way they progress through the play.

Some notes before getting into the point

1 - Sonata = a piece of music consisting of several movements - very often 3, sometimes 4. First movement-Allegro: With the quick tempo, introducing the theme of the entire Sonata Second movement-Adagio/Largo: Slow tempo, can be emotional sometimes, as well as leading more towards the final movement Third movement-Rondo Vivace: The ending, quick-paced and vigorous, leading the Sonata to a close. A Sonata always has a general theme, a topic. The theme that I chose to write about is Mystery - the Hide and Seek game between the Detective and Lord of Crime

2 - Aria and Recitative = different types of songs used in an opera Recitative: Lines within a song that happens like a real conversation, as the characters sing they are also talking to each other Aria: A solo section where everything else is a freeze frame, while one actor remains and sing their own song about their thoughts, feelings, etc. In this post we're mainly discussing the arias of Sherlock and Liam, and the duet between them. But there's also some mention of recitatives here and there.

3 - Videos used To make it easier to understand which songs I'm talking about, I also arranged them in piano. And also to have a listen at how they might connect. Just in case the videos beneath don't work (they didn't work on my phone), the three songs discussed are Nazo, Liam's solo, Kokoro no Rondo, all piano arrangements.

All of the songs noted in this section are arias and duets from Op. 3 - the Ghost of the Whitechapel. The additional "series" that Morimyu has added spreading throughout the play, Sherlock and Liam's narratives, which portrays both their emotions and the chase between the detective and the Lord of Crime.

First Movement - Allegro: Nazo(謎) song

Starting from Lestrade's exit after his puppetshow and proceed to the scene, Sherlock's aria introduces the theme of the imaginary hide and seek game that the Lord of Crime has started. The song repeats the word (mystery) over and over again with a continuous rhythm.

Ends with Sherlock just mumbling the word Nazo (mystery) and exiting the stage - no conclusions, just like a mystery that leads into further mysteries with no answer.

♛♛♛ In regards to a Sonata formation, this is the beginning of the entire piece. Quick in tempo, written in 3/4 time and introduces the theme of the entire piece - Mystery.

Uso ka Shinjitsu ka - Lie or Truth song

Starting after Sherlock learns the truth behind Jack the Ripper, wondering if Lord of Crime is a good person after all.

Now I had a really hard time thinking whether this piece should be included or not. For one, it's not an aria. It can be viewed as a Da capo Aria, a development section of the Nazo song, repeating the theme that is introduced, coming and going rather quickly. So, for continuality.

It also does not fit into the series as a whole, being 1) a recitative. The lyrics focus entirely on Sherlock's deduction and whether he should expose the truth or not, etc. so on. 2) The lines in here, unlike the other arias, are taken directly from the manga, so it's not entirely an 'added' element to this chase. 3) Also because if we compare this to a Sonata form, this doesn't really fit anywhere

However, among Sherlock's arias, this song can also be seen as an interesting development as I have mentioned above, so I've decided to have it here, still.

There's another thing about almost all of Sherlock's arias throughout the 2 stages - they never have a conclusive end. The detective's mind is always running, mysteries after mysteries.

Most of the other characters' songs ends with some kind of closing lines, and piano continues to conclude the piece with a strong end, and then goes on to start another piece. All of their problems in the songs are concluded. They made up their minds in some ways.

But Sherlock, his songs always end with him repeating the melody, a capella, and exiting the stage. Piano waits for him to exit, then starts a new song. Or in Op. 2's Mindgame case going straight into the next conversation. We never get to know how Sherlock's songs end, because they didn't really end at those points. There's a hanging sense of waiting for a resolution, a conclusion. Sherlock never seems to have his problems solved within the songs, they just go on and on.

An idea initiates, then something happens and he is once again in the dark. And he spins around within his own mind.

Screenshot from Op. 2. Even if we look back to his aria Mindgames from Op. 2, this song doesn't really have a conclusive ending as well. He just starts singing, the music stops and he starts shooting and going on, resuming the play. It kind of has been a thing for Sherlock's arias?

Second Movement - Adagio/Largo: Liam's solo

♛♛♛ The "second movement" - the 'slower' piece - of the series, Liam's aria lol but actually the piano part of this song isn't slow at all but ok. The other side of this hide and seek game. The "development" section of the sonata series, where we see things in a much more emotional way.

This aria is much richer in harmony and melody. Not only Liam's melody, but also the piano's part which plays a beautiful melody in harmony.

I recall an interview where the stage director mentions how the "orchestra" - piano and violin are representations for Liam and Sherlock. It kind of applies here, where his music is created mostly by piano.

There is modulation, emotions rising and elevating quickly and strongly. But the harmony is beautiful, overflowing and rich with emotions. The song repeats certain lines, emphasizing aspects within Liam's thoughts.

Unlike Sherlock's train of thoughts that circles with no destination, Liam's solo has a definite ending in harmony -> Even with all his emotions in mind, Liam still has a goal already set before him. He has a brief moment of slowing down, pausing and sung about his feeling, before resuming the story.

Leading us to the final stage - Kokoro no Rondo.

Third Movement - Rondo Vivace: Kokoro no Rondo

Rondo formation: Rondo is a type of dance that revolves around a pattern, often ABA, ABACA, or ABACABA - where A is the ritournello ("meguri - kimi ni omou - meguru kokoro no rondo" section) that is repeated over and over with B, C parts in between. Rondo can also be combined with sonata form - this case applies to this song which begins with a key other than the tonic (Fm) before resolving to the tonic key (Fm) to put an end to the entire sonata series. For reference purposes, the last movement of Beethoven's Pathetique or the very typical Fur Elise is also written in a similar format. I also referred to Pathetique quite a lot when brainstorming this post.

♛♛♛ The "final movement" of this Sonata, the final scene of their "Hide and Seek" game. The song's tempo is vibrant and rapid, combining with the dancing sense, all the while strictly following the structure of a Rondo as mentioned above.

This is the stage where Liam and Sherlock's line interacts and reply to each other, as if in a real conversation - just like how the connection between them are now much stronger than what they had before.

In the ritournello, we have Liam and Sherlock's lines intertwining and chasing after one another, emphasizing the "Hide and Seek" element between the two of them.

The song comes to a definite ending, concluding with a strong tonic (Fm) chord. At this stage, there is no more question to be left open, for Sherlock at this point has already made up his mind to take the next step into solving the mysteries regarding the Lord of Crime.

Their imaginary game of Hide and Seek is coming to an end, as Sherlock came to a decision to take the next step - going to Durham.

That's the end of my first draft.

So far that is some of my thoughts noted down right after watching Op. 3 stream a while ago, with some edition made just now.

On the side note, at some point during my discussion with a friend, we also came up with the idea that a Suite may be a better reference. A Suite consists of 4 parts and a prelude, each of them having their specific characteristic. But we didn't go all the way analysing that idea, as 1) we couldn't find a 5th piece that can be added into the series. 2) Even if we did, the Truth or Lie song still would not really fit into the "aria" vibe of this series, as mentioned above.

But then quite interestingly, after a while, I've found another interesting fact that should have been quite obvious but I've missed for (lol) like ages.

The game of Hide and Seek between the detective and the Lord of Crime has begun ever since after Hope's case - that being said, ever since the end of Op. 1

And what is it that we have in Op. 2? "The Mind games of the Lord of Crime". The one where Sherlock went maniac rapping about all the thoughts he has and end up shooting randomly into the wall.

At first it begins like another recitative, but in the later half, the harmony starts to become more harmonious, written in 3/4 time flowing like a dance.

In that section, the melody of the piano and violin part resembles the one we have in Kokoro no Rondo, the Ritournello section, only that the melody of the violin in Op. 2 and the melody that SherLiam sung in Op. 3 are kind of reversed.

Coincidence much?

So now we have a collection of songs from both Opus, it becomes tricky. How do we connect them? And what's the story?

At this point, all these recitatives, aria and duets all in the theme of the Hide and Seek game. And they all connect to each other through harmony, progressions in harmony.

We know that the Mind games of the Lord of Crime has begun from ever since the end of Op. 1. We know that Sherlock keeps wondering about that in Op. 2, and then he wonders even further after he has been tested by the Lord of Crime. "また俺だけのメッセージなのか?" - Is this a message just for me?, as he wondered in the Truth or Lie song. We knew all of that. But Morimyu didn't let that stop them from emphasizing on this subplot even further.

They didn't let the gap between Op. 2 and Op. 3 stop them from making a smooth flow in plot either.

Correction, they didn't simply create a flow. They established a connection, all the while showing a strong progression of Sherlock's thoughts that goes on from Op. 2 straight onto Op. 3.

Very often, what makes a good plot is how their plots and sub-plots intertwine with each other. Morimyu has a main plot that follows Moriarty gang in the plan of changing society. And they have a smaller plot told from Sherlock's side of things. And they have this sub-plot told by harmony of how Sherlock is connected to Liam, or the Lord of Crime, by an invisible thread. A connection that is only expressed that clearly in Morimyu.

We have so many things going on, so many songs throughout the play. But each of those elements are all connected to something else, creating a sub-plot that enriches the main plot.

There is no loose connections. For everything that connects to the main plot, they're also linked to other elements. Each scene and every song has their own meaning not only in regards to other songs, but also to the plot as a whole.

Also, did I mention how Morimyu feels like a grand piece of music?

Opus -> What classical songs had that basically shows the order in which they are written. Morimyu - a title piece itself - has 3 Opus, 3 different parts with the same theme.

Classical music very often had all the different elements in it -> Morimyu had an overture, the song they sing just before the main theme song, just before introducing the stage. Then arias, ensembles and choruses. All of them are connected by similar harmony.

Classical music always had a big general theme, with each section having a smaller sequence connecting to each other. Subplots within a big plots. A Sonata piece has 3 movements, each having their own "sections" of development - expositions, development, recapitulation. -> Morimyu does the same to their plot and subplots, as discussed above.

Also, Opera reference

While Opus 2 used an opera reference to tell the story, I feel like Opus 3 has become an Opera itself. During Op. 2 the arias were mostly very loyal to the manga, taking their lines from the original work, like the Mind Games song. Their story progresses steadily but logically.

However starting from Op. 3, the aria became more independent. They developed and expressed even further what wasn't said in the manga. For instance, the 3 songs mentioned in the "Sonata" above. And there's also Albert's solo, and Patterson's solo and Milverton, which I haven't got the chance to discuss all.

But either way, they spring out of the original story, adding more emotions and "colours" to the characters. The aria became more original, all the while also much more expressive. We get to see new sides of the characters that we haven't seen anywhere before.

Anyways, it's probably time to go back to the main question: How Morimyu used music to go beyond what's on the pages.

-> Musicals aren't simply about music added to acting. The characters on stage don't just simply starts singing for no reason. All the songs are meant to express something, and while they do they also establish various connections to the plot's progression.

We don't get to see much of the characters' emotions in the manga. And we don't see much of the side story, the finer details behind each arc. Every time, Morimyu adds something original to enrich their plot. They express and develop what's already known to all the viewers, especially regarding the emotional and motivational side of the characters.

-> The manga shows us the entire plot, with details related, back stories that lead to the present, and all. But it doesn't give a lot of hint into how characters might feel. Surely, reading between the lines, it's up to the readers to interpret them.

But Morimyu gives us all of that, and they leave it to us to read between the music.

And even if we didn't, that's fine. Then the purpose of all of them linking together would be to create a performance where everything is connected harmoniously, allowing us to be emerged in the world of Yuumori.

-> The purpose of having a stage, primarily, is to allow the audience to engage in, experience and feel the emotions along with the characters they see on stage. The point of having a live stage, a plot, and the music, are all to let us emphasize with the characters on stage.

In Morimyu, we aren't just watching a plot between our favourite characters happening as we know it from the manga. We see a combination of mysteries unveiling slowly, the stories on the side of each characters as they slowly progress forward, as well as emphasising with their emotions in the story.

That's what I really like about Morimyu.

So, WHAT'S THE POINT OF THIS?

So I had to scroll back to the top (lol) to quote this and make sure I haven't gone too far from the main theme.

Regarding musical Yuumori, there's always so many things I'd like to talk about. And if I start going on about it then it only gets harder to focus on one single topic.

Since the topic here is Morimyu and their music, especially in classical reference, I've tried to keep everything I've discussed relevant. But whenever I start on something, there would always be something that comes to mind. Like how other songs might also have certain connections, or how they used stage directions and lightings, etc. I really want to look more into stage directions in Morimyu as well, but that would have to wait...

Anyways, I tried to keep this as simple as possible. When I sent the first version of this to my friends, I keep having the feeling that I got too technical with all the theories about harmony and structure lol

And once again, this is only some of my own interpretation of the series that I've picked up.

If something else came to mind... well. Either way, for the purpose of engaging in their wonderful music or for the purpose of watching a beautiful stage just for enjoyment, Morimyu definitely is worth watching. And to watch over and over again. I've said this for Op. 2 but I'll say this ten times as much for Op. 3. Truly magnificent.

And, that's pretty much it that I have for today, I guess.

Thanks a lot to all my friends who gave me lots of inspiration and motivation to complete this ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ Lots of love to @rikaaki as well ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

[starfallskitter]

The Guardian Alya Theory

Hi! Didn't expect to be writing Miraculous theory again so quickly, but I have an idea in my head that I needed to get out there. So hear me out.

Warning: major spoilers for Season 4 all throughout this theory. Specifically Gang of Secrets, Optigami, Truth, Furious Fu, Mr Pigeon 72... just, most of them.

In short, the theory is this: Marinette will discover that she can't be both Ladybug and the Guardian at the same time, and will make Alya the Guardian. Marinette's memory will be wiped and she will spend a few episodes re-learning how to be Ladybug, and re-learning Chat Noir, which will obviously change their relationship.

This means Alya will know who Chat Noir is. And I think, for a brief time before her memory is wiped, Marinette will know as well. Meaning: temporary one-sided reveal!

Now, here's all the evidence, below the cut.

There's a fundamental problem with Ladybug and the Guardian being the same person. There's the stress it places on Marinette, sure, and the Guardian certainly can have a Miraculous and use it, but the problem is right here:

Someone has to be the link between civilian identities, and right now Plagg and Tikki are the only ones who know- and that's useless when both heros are transformed. The Guardian needs to know the identity of both Ladybug and Chat Noir. And if there's one thing that the show has absolutely beaten into us by now...

It's that they can't know each others.

So, there's a fundamental tension here. Marinette is currently putting all of her focus on being the Guardian, on working with the kwamis and figuring things out about the Miracle Box; and as her plans increasingly involve her role as Guardian, using kwamis or the fact that Alya knows her civilian identity, she's not quite being Ladybug properly. She's not doing right by Chat Noir, because now, as her plans are increasingly involving things she as Marinette and/or she as the Guardian have access to, and Chat Noir is not knowingly included in either of those, he is being ousted. It turns out she still needs him (or Plagg, in Mr Pigeon 72) for her plans, but her relationship with him is suffering.

He says in Truth that he doesn't mind her being the Guardian as long as it doesn't change things between them:

Except it is changing, and it has been bothering him. Just look at his face when he realises (or more accurately, assumes) the akuma has been defeated without him in Optigami:

He is not happy.

I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone at this point that Ladybug is ousting Chat Noir and he's upset by it. At this point in the series he's doing okay about it, still managing to keep up a front and hoping this is temporary. Which, according to this theory, it is. Honestly, no matter how this goes, it's not going to make Chat happy, because in this theory, the ending won't please him. We'll get to that.

So Marinette can't be Guardian and Ladybug at the same time. So, she has to give one up.

She may try to give up being Ladybug, but I'm not convinced this will happen. She may try to give over guardianship to Su Han, but I'm also not convinced by this- it's not narratively interesting and seems to contradict the conclusion of Furious Fu. So, what might she do?

Well, there's a clear answer. Someone who's already helping figure out important features of the Miraculouses, who was able to figure out a whole new power of the Ladybug Miraculous:

And who has good investigative powers to reveal more secrets? Who is already heavily invested in the superheros? Who already knows that Marinette is Ladybug and is already helping her?

And who has Marinette possibly already said she's training up to be Guardian?

Now, whether she's reffering to being Ladybug or being the Guardian here is unclear. I've seen most interpretations suggesting she means Ladybug, and from the wording in this case it honestly seems like both; but it could definitely be either. And in the context of this theory, if we assume she means Guardian, then it's clear that Marinette is already noticing that Alya would make a good Guardian.

So, let's put the pieces together.

Premise: Ladybug and Chat Noir cannot know each other's identity until this Hawkmoth is defeated. Premise: The Guardian must know both Ladybug and Chat Noir's identity. Conclusion: Ladybug and the Guardian cannot be the same person at this point in time. (Chat Noir can't be either).

Premise: Ladybug and the Guardian cannot be the same person at this point in time. Premise: Alya would be a good Guardian. Premise: Marinette either will not, or should not, give up being Ladybug. Conclusion: Marinette will make Alya the Guardian.

There are two complications with this plan. One is in Alya being the Guardian, and one is in Marinette giving it up.

The complication with Alya being the guardian is that Hawkmoth knows her identity. He knows she's Rena Rouge, and as of Optigami knows that Rena Rouge is special as opposed to the other holders. This appears to not be stopping Marinette giving her the Miraculous, but obviously, based on the events of late season 3, it's more of a complication in her being the Guardian. She has, like, parents, and can't hide like Master Fu could.

A possible solution is some kind of trickery, in which they make it look like Alya has lost her miraculous, and make it seem like Ladybug's still the Guardian. I mean, Alya's miraculous is illusion-based, and this could be interesting if it's post one-sided reveal discussed below. I'm sure there are other solutions as well, but off the top of my head I'd assume that would be the plan. Perhaps the Box is camoflaged such that finding out what of Alya's is the Miracle Box at all would be a challenge. There's a lot of possibility.

The other complication: Marinette would lose all memory of the Miraculouses.

Now, it's presumed here that the way the memory loss works is that it happens every time (and it's not like the appearance of the box, or kwamis being in/out of it, in that it's a factor of what the owner believes), and that the memory loss only applies to the Miraculouses and the kwamis and all of that, and doesn't affect other memories- which seems to be Fu's experience of it, after all. He doesn't remember Marinette because he only ever knew her as Ladybug, but he seemed to remember the unrelated Marianne fine.

This means that if Marinette loses guardianship, she'll remember Alya, Adrien, her family, etc... but nothing about Ladybug, Chat Noir, Hawkmoth, Tikki, any of that.

Which means:

-She'll have to spend some amount of time re-learning how to be Ladybug, who Chat Noir is, etc. all of that. Chat Noir will probably be able to fill her in on all of this, and so will Alya and Tikki, so it won't take so long.

-She gets a total reset on her relationship with Chat Noir. Which I highly doubt he'll be happy with- but it might change her view of him. I say it might change her view of him because mainly, while their relationship has been pretty consistent, she definitely is starting to like him more in this season, seeing him differently- and I largely think that that's due to a change in circumstance, as Marinette can only trust so many people in her life:

But I think an important part of Adrien's character recently is that we've seen less dichotomy between Adrien and Chat Noir. His true personality is a little of both, but he puts both on to play various roles; but honestly, I've noticed some more of Adrien in Chat Noir, and some more of Chat Noir in Adrien. He's being more honest with himself around some people, the self we only really see him being with Plagg, which he was trying to be with Kagami and is increasingly being with Marinette. It's hard to provide specific examples, though.

But if Marinette's first impressions of Chat Noir are just a touch more Adrien-like than they were, perhaps her feelings towards him will change- without losing that aspect of trust. I know I'm being very vague here, but there's a lot of potential and it'll take a lot more episodes of this season than we've seen to predict how this might go.

It's also possible that Marinette will remember Chat Noir when she met him as Marinette. Then we might get some great Marichat, or her only having knowledge of him as that boy who came to her ledge or she fake-dated. Which would be interesting. It's not totally clear how this will work if it occurs, so it's up to the writers really.

So that situation provides a lot of angst: Ladybug forgetting Chat Noir. But what comes before her forgetting Chat Noir could be something really interesting. After all, if the Guardian must know Chat Noir's identity, perhaps Marinette will try that first. Adrien will, of course, trust her completely.

Cue at least one episode where Marinette knows that Chat Noir and Adrien are the same person (while Adrien not knowing the reverse). Cue Ladrien. And, right after that, an episode that revolves around Ladybug erasing those memories. While Alya knows everything that just happened. And that Chat Noir is Adrien. And she can't tell Marinette this as she has to re-teach her how to be Ladybug. Honestly, if any character knows what we as the audience know about the Love Square, it makes perfect sense that it's Alya.

In conclusion: angsty season finale that ends with Alya knowing everything, Chat Noir Very Upset, Ladybug getting a memory reset, and just generally everything changing? It's more likely than you think.

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Getting To I Do, pt. 5 of 5

In a few days we’ve all got a very important wedding to (virtually) attend!  I thought it might be appropriate to “re-release” Getting To I Do, my collection of one-shots dealing with the trials and tribulations Emma and Killian go through while trying to plan their wedding amid a town full of friends and family who all have their own ideas about how the wedding of the century should go.  This story was originally written during 3b, and it is the sequel, of sorts, to my first long MC, A Wish Your Heart Makes.  As such, it diverges from canon as of 3x11.  It’s not necessary to read AWYHM to understand what’s going on, but if you want to check it out as a bit of “background reading”, you can find it here.

Missed the beginning? Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Chapter 9: The Bachelorette Party

"Perhaps we were a mite hasty in executing our plan, mate," Killian said from his perch on the cot in the Storybrooke jail cell.

Charming stopped his pacing near the bars that held him prisoner and turned a jaundiced eye to Killian. "You think?" he asked sarcastically. "Why I ever agreed to this crazy plan of yours is beyond me, pirate!"

"Pirate, is it?" Killian said in frustration. "I seem to remember merely suggesting a plan of action. You, mate, were the one who insisted we put it into practice."

Charming blew out a long breath. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter who's to blame. The real question is how long will it take Emma and Snow to forgive us and let us out?"

"I'm not as familiar with your lovely wife's disposition, Dave," Killian said wryly, " but I fear my Emma will leave me languishing in this brig until we've celebrated the tenth anniversary of our nuptials."

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Earlier that day

Killian swaggered into the sheriff's station, reveling in the absolute, complete happiness he felt. It was a beautiful June morning, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, he was in love and he would be marrying his true love in a mere three days. Life couldn't be better.

Emma was sitting at her desk, busily scribbling at something that apparently absorbed her full attention. Killian lazily leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, one boot crossed over the other. He just looked at her. She was so beautiful, so vibrant. Sometimes he still found it difficult to believe his good fortune. How had he managed to win this woman's heart?

"From the frown draping your lovely features, darling," Killian drawled, "I'd wager you're none too pleased with the object of that paperwork"

Emma jumped, and then brought her hand to her chest. "Killian! You scared the hell out of me!"

Killian strode forward, leaned down and kissed her soundly. "Hardly the effect I was going for, love."

Emma looked up at him in confusion. "Did I forget something? Was I supposed to meet you…or go somewhere with you…or..I don't know? This wedding's got me so crazy I can't even remember my own name."

"I can help you with that," Killian said with a teasing smile. "Your name is currently Emma Swan, but in a mere three days, it will be changed to Emma Jones."

"Only three days!" Emma said with a grin. "I am so excited, I can barely contain myself. Just think, Killian, all we have to do is survive three more days of insanity and then we'll never have to plan our wedding again as long as we live!"

He shook his head, pasting a wounded expression on his face. "Come now, Swan, you cut me to the heart! Here I've been pining for you for what seems like an eternity, and all you are excited about is the ceasing of wedding planning!"

A pleasing pink hue suffused her cheeks. "Maybe that's not all I'm excited about. Maybe I'm a little anxious to be your wife."

Killian leaned over and kissed her once again. Long, deep, passionately. When he pulled back, they were both breathing hard. "Just a small preview of things to come, love."

Emma dragged a hand through her blonde hair. "So you never answered my question," she said in a voice that was not quite steady. "What brings you to the sheriff's station…besides attempting to seduce me away from my work?"

"Does a man need a reason to call on the woman he loves?" Kilian asked with a lazy grin. She evidently found no reason to answer that question, so Killian continued. "As it happens, I've come to ask you to come away with me."

"Tempting as that sounds," Emma answered, "I'm stuck here at work for the next eight hours or so."

"Oh, I wasn't suggesting you neglect your duties, love," Killian said. "I merely wished to…what's the phrase used in this realm?...ask you on a date. I'd be honored if you would join me for dinner on the Jolly this evening. Your mother has monopolized far too much of your time over the past week. I do believe I saw more of you before we began courting than I do now."

"Killian, I'd love to," Emma said, "but I can't tonight. Ruby's throwing me a bachelorette party, and I can't exactly skip it."

"A bachelorette party?" Killian asked. "I'd wager that's another wedding tradition of this realm?"

"Yeah," Emma answered. "One last thing I need to do before all the wedding festivities really get started."

Killian sighed theatrically. "Well, then, I suppose I must resign myself to pining for yet another night. I will eat my lonely dinner alone and dream of our honeymoon."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Killian sat at the bar at Granny's and bit into the delectable creation Granny called a club sandwich. Whatever else might be said about those in this realm, they certainly knew the art of putting food items together to create a harmonious product. Out of the corner of his eye, Killian saw someone sit next to him. Turning, he found himself face to face with Dr. Whale.

Killian and Whale were on pleasant enough terms, but Killian had never had many dealings with the other man.

"Looks like we're both on our own tonight," the doctor commented.

"Aye, that it does," Killian answered. Whale had been courting the wolf-girl rather casually for some time.

"This was supposed to be date night," Whale continued, "but you know how Ruby is. She was bound and determined to give Emma a bachelorette party she would remember."

"That is kind of her," Killian said absently.

Whale shot him a sly look. "You seem to be taking it well," he said casually. "I'd have pegged you for the jealous type. Now me? I don't care if Ruby has her fun…just as long as she comes home to me in the end."

Killian froze, his bottle of beer halfway to his lips. Slowly, deliberately he lowered the beverage back to the counter and turned to face his companion. "Why precisely should I be jealous of a gathering of ladies?"

Whale laughed. "You've never heard of a bachelorette party before? Let me tell you; there's stuff that goes down in those kind of things that you wouldn't believe…and with Ruby planning it, well, it will be no holds barred."

"Suppose you enlighten me as to exactly what stuff occurs at a bachelorette party."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"Charming!" Killian thundered as he took the steps to the flat two at a time. "Are you in?"

The door opened just as Killian raised his prosthetic hand to knock.

"What's up, Killian?" Charming asked, a look of alarm on his face. "Something wrong?"

"I'd say there is, mate!" Killian said, pacing the living room restlessly. "Have you any idea where our ladies are this evening?"

Charming's brow furrowed. "Um…yeah. They went to Emma's bachelorette party."

"And have you any idea what happens at bachelorette parties?"

"Well, I've never been to one myself, seeing as I've never been a bachelorette."

"I just had a very enlightening conversation with Dr. Whale, mate," Killian said stopping his pacing and fixed his blue gaze on his future father-in-law. "It would seem these parties can get rather racy. Whale mentioned celebrating one's last few days of freedom, copious amounts of alcohol, and…entertainment. According to Whale, it is not unheard of for ladies to hire handsome men to parade before them unclothed!"

Charming laughed. "Yeah, Dr. Whale runs with an entirely different crowd, that's for sure!"

Killian shot him an incredulous look. "This is your wife and daughter we're talking about, mate! You have no apprehension of them engaging in…that?"

Charming walked forward and clapped Killian on the shoulder. "Relax, Killian. I trust Snow, and I know Emma's unswervingly faithful to you. Don't worry. If I know my wife, if there's even the hint of something risqué about to take place, she'll shut it down."

"Are you daft?" Killian thundered. "Consider who is hosting the party! Ruby's middle name might as well be risqué! And though I trust my Emma implicitly…who knows what may transpire once enough spirits have been consumed."

Killian watched with satisfaction as an uneasy look crossed the prince's face. It was about time the man see the seriousness of the situation.

"Well, you do have a point about Ruby," Charming said slowly. "And, of course, Snow won't drink with the baby and everything, but likely everyone else will. Will Snow really be able to keep control?"

Killian nodded firmly. "You've seen the predicament at long last."

"Yeah," Charming said, beginning to pace himself. "I think maybe I have. So what precisely do you suggest we do about it?"

"Well mate," Killian said, "as I see it we need to observe what is actually happening at the party. Here's what I propose..."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Emma put in her favorite pair of small hoop earrings and then surveyed the finished product. The red dress looked good; she looked like she was ready for a night on the town. She only wished it was going to be with Killian rather than the ladies of the town. Not that she disliked spending time with them; they were rapidly becoming the best friends she'd ever had in her life—not that that was saying much considering the life she'd led. It was just…well, who knows what Ruby might have up her sleeve for tonight. Things could get really awkward really fast.

"You about ready, Emma?" Mary Margaret called up the stairs.

"Just a second, Mary Margaret," Emma called down. She put the finishing touches on her hair and then joined her mother at the flat door.

"You look nice, Emma," Mary Margaret mentioned, looking her over critically, "but your expression! You look like we're going to your execution, not your party!"

They stepped out the door and Mary Margaret turned back to lock the door.

"It's nice of Ruby to throw me a bachelorette party and everything," Emma said carefully, "but…I mean it's Ruby. Who knows what we're about to walk into."

"Don't worry, Emma," Mary Margaret said, patting her on the arm, "I've already talked to Ruby. She's promised to keep tonight's events tame."

The pair walked out of the apartment building and down the street. "No offense, Mary Margaret," Emma said skeptically, "but I'm pretty sure your definition of 'tame' is about one hundred eighty degrees off from Ruby's."

"I already thought of that," Mary Margaret said. "That's why I insisted in being involved in the planning stages. Like I said; don't worry. This'll be no more embarrassing than your average, run-of-the-mill bridal shower!"

If only that would have proven to be true.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"Killian, what do you see?" Charming asked in an insistent whisper.

"Not bloody much," Killian responded, repositioning his spyglass to his eye. The pair stood in the shadows across the street from Granny's. It was the perfect night for espionage. There was no moon and the night was black as pitch. Killian glanced through the glass again. "They appear to be merely talking."

"Here, let me see," Charming said taking the glass from Killian's hand. "Wait! They're leaving! They're going into the parlor!"

"What?" Killian hissed. "How the bloody hell are we to keep track of their movements if they're no longer in our line of sight?"

Charming shot him an exasperated look. "Why are you asking me? You're the pirate. Keeping an eye on a room full of high spirited ladies should be a piece of cake for you!"

Killian thought for a moment. A small, rational part of his brain shouted at him to give up the venture. After all, any further movement on their part was sure to be deadly dangerous. Besides that, he had a sneaking suspicion the lass would be less than pleased were she to know his current occupation. But, as usual the rash, impetuous portion of his brain won out.

"We must find a way to infiltrate," Killian said.

"Are you crazy?" Charming whispered loudly. "What are we going to do? Walk in the door and say 'Hi. We were just wondering if you ladies were entertaining male strippers'. How well do you think that would go over?"

Killian rolled his eyes. "Have you no faith at all in me? As you've said yourself, I am the pirate!"

"Okay," Charming said, "so what's your brilliant pirate plan?"

"Clearly using either of the doors is out," Killian said, "the women would hear us immediately."

"So, if we don't use the doors, how do we get in?"

Killian pointed to a window on the second floor. "Do you see that vine that climbs the building? It is easily strong enough to bear your weight and mine as well. I propose we climb the vine, sneak in through yonder window, and make our way to the utility room situated directly above the parlor."

"What good will that do us?"

Killian shook his head derisively. "Must I explain everything to you? The air vents are quite porous in the floor. From our perch in the utility room, we will be well able to see and hear everything that is happening at the party. From that respect, it will be a far superior set up to our original plan where we merely saw the lasses through the spyglass."

Charming looked skeptical. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Have you a better one?"

As it seemed he did not, they put Killian's plan into action. The first phase went swimmingly. With minimal effort Killian and Charming managed to gain entrance to the bed and breakfast. As luck would have it, the window they entered happened to be attached to an unoccupied room. They made their way with extreme stealth to the utility room and dropped to the ground.

"You see anything?" Charming whispered.

Killian felt the tiles give beneath his weight as he peered through the vent. "They appear to be presenting Emma with gifts."

"What kind of gifts?"

"We thought you might need some help packing for your honeymoon," Ruby's voice carried from below. "Here are a few things that both you and Killian can enjoy!"

"Oh…I like that!" Killian said with an appreciative chuckle as he watched Emma pull a tiny scarlet negligee from the bag. "I like that indeed."

"What?" Charming asked. "What do you like?"

Killian shot him a wicked grin. "Have a look for yourself."

"Ugh!" Charming said after a moment. I do not need to have those images in my mind!"

"What exactly is the point of this little number?" Killian heard Emma say laughingly. "I might as well just be naked."

"I'm sure Killian wouldn't complain either way!" Ruby said cheekily.

"Budge up, mate!" Killian said, elbowing Charming.

"Not a chance, 'mate'," Charming replied. "You have no business seeing that either on or off my daughter until you're married." "Oh come off it Dave!" Killian said shoving again. "You are aware I've seen women's undergarments before?"

Charming shoved back, but not before Killian got a glimpse of the current item Emma was holding up. Tiny enough to cover virtually nothing and as see-through as glass. Aye he could appreciate this!

"Look," Charming said in a loud whisper, "we've seen what we need to see. There's nothing going on here we need to be worried about. Let's go before they find out what we've done!"

"Not a chance!" Killian said. "In for a penny; in for a doubloon. We took the trouble to secure access to this establishment; I say we take advantage of it!"

"Let's go, pirate!" Charming demanded, pulling at Killian's arm. A scuffle ensued. The sagging floor tile sagged more and more…and finally gave way altogether. A moment later Charming and Killian found themselves sitting among the rubble of the utility room floor, face to face with a room full of women who were definitely not amused.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"Next time you have a brilliant idea, remind me to run," Charming said, pacing the jail cell.

After Emma had gotten over her shock, she'd marched over to the two of them, pulled out two sets of handcuffs and perp-marched them both to the jail. She hadn't said a word as she locked them in, but her face left no doubt that eventually she would be saying quite a lot. Still refusing to speak, the lass had walked back out of the sheriff station and had yet to return two hours later.

The door opened and Emma stepped forward, furious scowl still draping her face. Killian hastily got to his feet and rushed to the cell door.

"Emma, love, I…"

"Save it, Hook!" she growled.

"As you wish." The lass was bloody furious. Emma stepped up to the jail cell and fumbled with her keys. Killian surged forward. She fixed him with a glare that surely had the power to kill, and he hastily stepped back.

"You, get back!" she hissed pointing a finger in his direction. Then she turned toward Charming. "You, come out!"

Charming meekly obeyed. He started apologizing as soon as he'd exited the cell.

"I'm sorry, Emma, we just got carried away." She merely raised a hand. "Mary Margaret wants to deal with you at home."

Charming grimaced. Killian couldn't blame the man. The princess was a force to be reckoned with when she was angry.

"Well, I guess I better go home and face the music," Charming finally said ruefully as he stepped from the station.

Killian watched his mate until he was out of sight and then turned to his own beautiful force to be reckoned with. She was glaring at him, arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently.

"You look lovely lass," he said, affecting a cocky air, "Positively radiant. Is that a new dress?"

"Oh no you don't!" she said, shaking her head slowly, "Not gonna work, buddy. You're not charming your way out of this one!"

He sighed and sat back on the cot. "I thought not, but you cannot blame a man for trying."

"What the hell were you and David doing in that utility room?"

"Behaving as absolute and unmitigated asses."

She snorted, the amused sound giving him hope. "Well, at least you admit it. Aside from being asses, what brought you to that room?"

"Ingenuity and physical prowess."

The glare she shot him could have curdled milk.

"Oh very well, love," he said on a sigh. "After a conversation with Dr. Whale, I became concerned about just what these 'bachelorette parties' entailed. Some of his conjectures—particularly related to male entertainment Ruby might hire—had me more than a little concerned. Your father and I were…merely trying to ensure you weren't subjected to…anything unsavory."

She merely looked at him. And then she was seated beside him on the cot. Her hands came up and cradled his face, bringing it down to hers. This kiss was pure passion and need. The lass was ravenous. Almost unconsciously, his hand came up and cradled the back of her head, the silky feel of her hair and the heat of her lips driving him slowly mad.

She opened her mouth above his, her moan urging him to do the same. He obeyed with alacrity, eager to let her in, eager to join her.

Her hands dropped from his face and settled within the open vee of his shirt, her fingers tangling in his chest hair.

"Emma!" he moaned, wrenching his mouth from hers, unable to stop himself from pressing burning kisses down her jaw, behind her ear, into the nape of her neck. He had to stop this! He had to pull back or he would have his way with her right here on the jail cell cot.

She pushed him, and he hastily moved away. She was breathing hard, her eyes still slightly unfocussed. He saw a slight trimmer in her hands. Whatever she'd intended, it was clear the kiss had not left her unaffected. It left him with a fierce feeling of satisfaction.

"You, Killian Jones, are an idiot," she said in a slightly husky voice.

"Aye, lass, that I am." He would have probably agreed to anything the lass said after the kiss she'd just given him.

A grin flitted across her face. "You are the only man I want to kiss like that…or do anything else that might one day logically follow from a kiss like that. You are the man I choose for the rest of my life."

"Oh, Emma, love…" he said, reaching for her once more.

She evaded his grasp, raising her hand in a gesture to stop him "But you behave like you did today again—you know, like a paranoid, jealous fool—and you better just savor the memory of that last kiss, because it'll be a long time till you get another."

A sheepish grin settled on his lips. "I'm sorry, Swan," he said simply. "I am a fool. I'll not let my impetuous nature get the better of me again. Am I forgiven?"

She leaned forward and pecked him once more on the lips.

"Yeah. I guess so," she said taking his hand and leading him from the cell, "but now you really have to face the music. Granny's sustained a good deal of damage, and she's angry enough to spit nails."

"Ouch," he said with a wince, "perhaps I'd best remain locked in the brig."

She laughed, pulling him on. "Baby."

"Guilty as charged," he good-naturedly agreed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 10: The Rehearsal Dinner

The bell rang as Killian stepped into Granny's. He scanned the diner and found her in her usual booth, a cold beverage in hand. Killian nervously adjusted his prosthetic hand, asking himself for the hundredth time what had possessed him to request a lunch meeting with Swan's mother.

"Your Majesty," he said bowing formally when he reached the table.

"Killian, she said with a smile, "That's a bit formal, don't you think, considering we'll be family in two days."

Killian slid into his side of the booth and signaled to the wolf-girl that he wished to order.

"Well," he said with a grin, "I don't wish to be presumptuous. After all, we didn't start on the best footing."

Snow laughed again and took a sip of her water. "That's an understatement! Not surprising, though, considering you were actively trying to deceive my daughter and me while working for one of the nastiest witches around."

"Aye, that's true," Killian agreed with a chagrinned grimace, "Cora was indeed quite the piece of work. But if it's any consolation, I had no allegiance to the woman. I was just mercenary enough to align myself with anyone who could further my goal of seeking vengeance on the Crocodile. I was quite sincere in assuring Emma I would have far preferred making an alliance with you."

Snow looked at him reflectively, and he patiently bore her scrutiny. "If you don't mind me asking," she said slowly, "what exactly happened on that beanstalk. Emma was…different when she came back.

Killian smiled as he remembered the first adventure he'd gone through with the woman he loved more than life itself. "We discovered, much to our mutual surprise, I think, that we make quite the team."

"Yeah," she said. "You do, though it took me a long time to see it."

"You wished the best for your daughter," Killian said with a self-deprecating little shrug, "and I was, after all, a pirate."

"You know, Killian," Snow said slowly, "I think you're selling yourself short. You've always been more than just a pirate, although it took some of us longer than others to realize it."

"Thank you, My Lady," Killian said, feeling a warm surge of pleasure wash over him at the princess's praise.

Snow took a large bite of her hamburger and grinned. "You're welcome," she said after she'd swallowed, "but 'My Lady' is still way too formal. Why don't you call me Snow or Mary Margaret?"

Killian smiled. "How about we split the difference? I'll call you 'Lady Snow'."

She reached a slender hand across the table and clasped his. "Deal," she said.

They ate in silence for several minutes. Snow consumed her hamburger and fries in record time. Before Killian had finished half of his sandwich, she'd ordered a second serving of fries and a large milk shake.

"This baby's making me ravenous!" she said between bites. "At the rate I'm going, I'm going to be as big as a house by the time he's born!"

Killian grinned mischievously. "I'm fairly certain, Lady Snow, that it would be in my best interest not to comment upon that."

She swatted his arm and he laughed. It surprised him; he was actually having a good time with Swan's mother. He and her father had formed a fast friendship, but it had never been so with Snow White. She'd never afforded him more than a grudging tolerance when it became apparent that his relationship with Emma was to be permanent.

"I'm glad you asked to meet me today, Killian," she said once she'd sobered.

"Aye?" he asked curiously. "For what reason, if I might ask?"

"I wanted to thank you for all you've done for Emma."

He felt the embarrassment creep up his neck. Ducking his head, he began scratching behind his ear. It had never been easy to receive praise or thanks; it was so much easier to be written off as a filthy pirate."

"It wasn't so much," he mumbled. "She's done far more for me."

"That might be," Snow insisted, "but it doesn't take away from what you've done for her. You've brought her the kind of love and happiness I've been wanting for my daughter from the moment I knew I was carrying her."

"I can promise you," Killian said earnestly, "that she will never want for my love, and I will do all in my power to ensure her happiness."

She laid her hand upon his good one. "I know. When I see you looking at her, I see the same expression my husband wears when looking at me. True love never fades."

"No, it does not."

"So, Killian," Snow said after a moment. "Why did you invite me to lunch with you today?"

Killian took another bite of his sandwich, chewed thoroughly, and swallowed before answering. "As it happens, I wished to thank you as well."

Surprise entered her eyes. "What for?"

"You've worked tirelessly on this wedding," he said, "and I'm truly thankful for your thoughtfulness, as is Emma."

"Really?" Snow asked. "Emma seems to hate all the fuss and ceremony. I thought I was just annoying her."

Killian laughed. "Aye, she has little patience for the pomp and circumstance," he conceded, "but she's craved a mother's love all her life. I can tell you with absolute certainty that the fact that her mother is going to such lengths to make her wedding beautiful, touches her deeply. She appreciates you more than she can probably ever tell you."

Tears pooled in the princess's brown eyes, and she resolutely blinked them away. "Thank you for telling me that," she said in a slightly thick voice. "I never know how well I'm succeeding at the whole mom thing."

Killian smiled gently. "Just love her, and you can't help but succeed."

They sat in silence for several moments merely sipping at their nearly empty drinks. Finally Snow spoke again. "So that was it? You just wanted to thank me?"

"Not entirely," he conceded. "You have done wonders with the wedding preparations, but I wondered if I might be permitted to add to the festivities following the wedding rehearsal."

"Sure," Snow said with surprise. "What did you have in mind?"

"There is an ancient custom in my land," Killian said, "called the presentation of the dowry."

"The presentation of the dowry?" Snow said with a raised eyebrow. Emma had given him that very look on multiple occasions…whenever she felt he was acting as a complete fool. "You want David and me to give you a dowry for marrying Emma?"

"No!" Killian said quickly. "Certainly not! Emma is more than treasure enough for me. What I was speaking of was the second part of the dowry ceremony. It's customary once the bride's family has presented the groom with the dowry, for the groom to present the bride with gifts of his own. It shows his love and gratitude for her."

"And you want to follow that tradition?" Her voice had become soft and gentle.

"Aye," Killian said. "I can never repay Emma for the gifts she gives me every day, but maybe in this way, I can show her a small measure of my devotion to her."

"Killian," she said with a smile, "I think the dowry ceremony sounds like a perfect addition to the rehearsal dinner."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Alright people! Dinner's over!" Grumpy said with a scowl. "Big day tomorrow; time to get your beauty sleep. Some of you desperately need it!"

Emma rolled her eyes from where she sat with Killian at the "head table" at Granny's diner. She leaned over to her fiancé. "Is it just me, or are we getting bossed around way too much at our rehearsal dinner?"

He grinned down at her. "Relax, love. One more day, and then we've run the entire wedding gamut. We must manfully endeavor to allow the cantankerous dwarf his moment of glory, and then our reward will be heaven itself."

"Remind me again who it was who thought it was a brilliant idea to have Leroy as our wedding coordinator."

"That would be your mother, lass," he said with a smirk. "Given the wedding is at the convent, she thought it would give Grumpy an opportunity to rendezvous with the lovely Nova."

Emma rolled her eyes again. "I should have known! My mother and her matchmaking!"

The day had been interesting, to say the least. Grumpy had peppered the entire wedding rehearsal with a steady stream of surliness.

"Come on sister! Get down the aisle while we're all still young!"

("Technically speaking," Killian whispered once she did get down the aisle, "I'm more than three hundred years old, so perhaps 'young' doesn't apply.")

"Ruby! There's no flirting on the way down the aisle!"

"Snow! For the love of the Dark One's sparkly golden face paint! Get ahold of yourself! This is the rehearsal! There's no crying in the rehearsal!"

"Marco, this is a marriage not a funeral! Can you at least try to play the Bridal Chorus with a little more…I don't know…life?"

"Granny, put down the knitting! There's no knitting during a wedding!"

("Charming Junior's baby afghan isn't going to knit itself," Granny said irritably, earning her a glare potent enough to kill).

"Regina! This is a happy occasion! Wipe that scowl off your face before I come over there and wipe it off for you!"

("Oh yeah?" she snarled, "try it and I'll find a nasty curse with your name on it dwarf!)

"Hook! Stop screwing around! This is no time to kiss your fiancée like that! Save it for the wedding night."

(Never one to follow directions, Killian had merely grinned wickedly and proceeded to kiss her again, about ten times more passionately than before).

Somehow, Emma wasn't sure she'd ever know how, they'd made it through the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner.

"Well, I guess we'd better follow Mr. Surly's directions, then," Emma said, preparing to stand. Killian stopped her with a hand to her shoulder.

"A moment more, if you don't mind," he said loudly. Those who had already gotten up and begun moving toward the door stopped and turned back to the man of the hour.

Grumpy glared.

"Your pardon, Leroy. I apologize for the interruption," Killian said, sounding anything but repentant, "but there is one more item on tonight's agenda."

There is?

"Uh, no!" Grumpy said, scowling, "as the wedding coordinator, I have the agenda and every item's been checked off."

"It's okay, Leroy," Snow said, placing a hand on his arm, "Killian talked to me. This is all part of the plan."

Emma looked up at Killian, more than a few questions in her eyes. He smiled down at her tenderly, the skin around his eyes crinkling. Reaching down, he lightly squeezed her shoulder.

"Fine!" Grumpy growled, crossing his arms and plopping into a booth in the corner, "I've just been working my ass off trying to make this wedding perfect. What do I care if you change the agenda at literally the last minute?" He went on to mutter something about pirates.

"I'm pleased to find you so accommodating," Killian said, tongue affixed firmly in cheek. Emma laughed; she couldn't help it. Then she caught Leroy's glare. He looked like he would relish murdering her, slowly. Probably the only thing keeping her alive was the fact that weddings don't tend to go well when the bride's dead.

"To begin," Killian said smoothly, "I'd like to thank the Lady Snow and Leroy for all the work they've attended to to make this wedding the kind of splendid event my Emma so desperately deserves."

There was a smattering of applause as Storybrooke residents returned to their seats, curious as to what Killian planned.

"I, however, have one item that I would like to contribute to the festivities," Killian continued. "There is a custom in my land that on the night before the nuptials, the groom presents his bride with a gift signifying his love, commitment and thankfulness that she has consented to accept his hand. I wished to continue that tradition."

He looked down at her, and the adoration in his blue eyes warmed her to the very soul.

"But I quickly found myself unfit for the task," he said, eyes still fixed on her. "Try as I might, I found myself utterly unable to fix upon a gift that even came close to expressing my love for you, Emma. You've given me the greatest gift a man could ever receive, your love, your friendship, your acceptance. You turned me from a bitter, angry man fixed on vengeance into the man of honor I was all those years ago. You make me want to be a better man."

Emma felt the tears pool in her eyes. He was doing it again—being all eloquent and romantic—and it was going to make her ball like a baby. She hated it when he did this to her! Oh, who was she kidding? She loved it when he got romantic!

"So, I've chosen to modify the ritual," he continued. "Rather than one grandiose gift, I've chosen to procure several mementos of the time we've spent together."

Killian broke eye contact and dug into his satchel, rummaging around until he was holding something small and round.

"The first moment I saw Emma Swan, I knew I was in trouble. She was a beautiful avenging angel 'rescuing' me from the rubble under which I was buried. My heart raced in a way it hadn't since I was a youth fancying my first lass."

"And then I put a knife to your throat and reality came crashing back in", Emma said with a smirk.

"Aye," Killian grinned, "But I couldn't for the life of me understand why I didn't take you down right then and there."

"You could have tried," Emma taunted.

"But," Killian continued as if Emma hadn't spoken, "it wasn't until we climbed that bloody beanstalk together that I knew that spark I felt toward you was something beyond anything I'd ever experienced. And so, Emma, my first gift to you is the giant's magic compass. Had I but known it then, the compass points me true north…right to you."

Killian set the golden instrument on the table before her, and she touched it slowly, almost reverently. Killian turned away and reached back in the satchel. He withdrew a necklace. Emma looked at it closely and noticed its pendant was an exact replica of a magic bean.

"After the beanstalk adventure, love" Killian continued, walking behind her to place the necklace around her neck. How he managed to work the clasp with only one hand, I'll never know! "We were at odds for many weeks. We were enemies, though it was a position in which I never wanted to be. I shoved down my attraction, my dawning love for you because I loved my vengeance more. And then you did something that turned my entire world on its side."

"What was that?" Emma asked, caressing the smooth porcelain of her new pendant.

"You believed in me," he said softly. "When all the world of Storybrooke was crashing down around us, when the bloody failsafe was about to detonate, you offered me the chance to be a part of something—to join you for a higher purpose."

"And, as I recall," Emma said, smiling to take the sting from her words, "you still used some sleight of hand and stole the bean."

"Aye," he said with a grimace, "I was a right nasty git."

"You'll get no argument from me, dearie," Rumple spoke from his table near the door. Belle shot him a reproving look.

"Emma," Hook said, turning back to her after shooting Rumple an exasperated glare. Those two would never be friends; that was clear. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't sail away from you, sentencing you to what I believed was your death. I had to come back—and it was the best decision I ever made."

Killian turned back to his bag and came back with a small, plastic replica of a palm tree. Emma laughed; she couldn't help it. It was so cheap and ridiculous!

"And what exactly is that supposed to be?" Regina asked sarcastically.

"A palm tree, of course," Killian said, presenting the item to Emma with a flourish worthy of the Dark One himself, "to commemorate our adventures on Neverland. It was a place of darkness and danger, but to me, it was a beacon of light."

"How so?" David asked from his place at the next table. Killian looked around in surprise, as though he'd forgotten anyone else was in the room.

"Not sure you want to hear this part, Dave," he said with a wicked grin. "It involves your daughter and kissing. Passionate kissing."

The look on Charming's face was priceless. It was as though he couldn't decide whether to chuckle or scowl.

"Well, just try to spare us the gory details," Charming said.

"Yeah, Killian," Henry said with a grin. "We did just eat, after all."

Killian turned toward Emma and winked, the gesture forcing so much heat into her cheeks she hoped the fire extinguisher was nearby. "Aye," he said with his old pirate swagger, "perhaps the 'gory' details had best be kept between your lovely daughter and myself."

His face became serious, his eyes boring into hers. "That kiss, that astounding kiss was for me the moment of truth. I knew as soon as your lips touched mine that I loved you with a love so pure, so true, that there would never be another woman for me but you. I'd spent three hundred years trying to bury my pain in rum and vengeance, but suddenly the only person in the world, the only remedy for my loneliness was you."

The tears were back, threatening to spill over. Overcome with emotion, Emma reached for his hand. Threading her fingers with his, she brought his hand to her lips and showed him as best she could what his words meant to her.

Emma didn't realize how long they stayed there, staring into each other's eyes until Grumpy cleared his throat. "Well, that was….kind of sickening, but if you're finished, let's break this party up!"

Killian gently disentangled his fingers from hers and held his hand up. "Just a few more minutes, Leroy," he said. "I've but three gifts left to present."

Grumpy threw his hands in the air and rolled his eyes. "Why not? My perfect schedules already blown all to hell anyway."

"Leroy!" Snow chided.

"Well, it is, sister," he grumbled, shooting her a sideways look.

"I shall be quick," Killian assured. "I'd hate to be accused of causing a dwarf to suffer apoplexy due to the destruction of his 'schedule'."

Emma saw the twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Life with this man would certainly never be dull.

Turning back to his satchel once more, Killian drew out a small model of a knight in full chainmail armor.

"Following our successful return from Neverland," Killian said, "and a torturous year of separation, my lass and I were thrust into yet another adventure that led us from the Enchanted Forest to Camelot and back. Emma, love, my love for you grew by leaps and bounds as we worked together to defeat Morgana Le Fay and the Wicked Witch of the West."

"They were certainly first class bitches," Emma agreed.

"Indeed," Killian said with a grin, "but with you by my side, with a prophecy stating that our true love would win the victory, there wasn't a person in any realm I would have envied."

Emma grinned. "Aside from the evil villainesses, the arrow wound that nearly took my life, the fact that Morgana made you convince me you had no feelings for me, evil flying monkeys and my family's lives on the line, it was really the perfect little vacation."

His grin was pure mischief. "Indeed it was, lass."

"Mom," Henry whined, "you still haven't told me that whole story, and it didn't even end up in the book!"

"Patience lad," Killian said, grinning at him. "It's a harrowing tale I'll spin for you in due time. For now, I'm busy sweeping your mother off her feet with my debonair, romantic charm."

Emma swatted at his arm, but couldn't contain the giggle that broke free.

"Emma, love," Killian said, sobering once more, "it was on that adventure you first told me you loved me. The words were the sweetest sound I'd ever heard—particularly coming from lips that only moments before I'd feared would never speak again. But it was more than your love you gave me. You gave me back my father. Was it not for our adventures in Camelot, I would have never learned that my father never left me willingly, but was stolen and imprisoned by Morgana. I feel as though you've given me back my life."

Turning aside once more, Killian drew forth a perfect miniature replica of the Jolly Roger. "And now I present to you my ship," he said, placing the vessel in her hands. "The Jolly has been my home and my family for low these many centuries. She stood beside me when no one else would. I have priceless memories of Liam and Milah, and even young Bae upon her deck. But I tell you right now, Emma, I would trade her away in a heartbeat if it meant coming to your aid. You are my home now. You are my whole world. There is no sacrifice I wouldn't make for you."

Emma stopped fighting the battle and let the tears spill down her cheeks. Killian reached out a gentle hand and swiped at her tears. His face was infinitely tender. She saw it in her eyes. She was the most precious thing in the world to him. She hoped he could see the same reality shining out of her own eyes.

"Killian, that was beautiful," Snow gushed softly.

"Thank you, my lady," Killian said with a bow. "But lest I'm hauled from the premises bodily by a certain ill-tempered dwarf, I'd best speed this along."

Emma laughed.

"I've one last gift to give you, love," Killian said gently withdrawing a heart from his satchel…not a real heart thankfully. You never knew in this town!

"I contemplated having Regina rip out my own heart," he said, teasing glint in his eyes, "but I gathered that would be altogether too dramatic."

"Yeah," Emma said, "not to mention gross!"

"Just so," he nodded. "None the less, this symbolizes a far greater reality. Emma, my love, you are now, and ever shall be the possessor of my heart. It is wholly yours. Never will it stray. Never will you have cause to doubt me. I will stay with you forever regardless of what fate…or fairytale villains throw our way. I will love you to the last beat of this organ, and long, long beyond."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was nearing midnight when Emma made her way down the docks and onto the Jolly Roger. She looked stealthily from side to side, checking to make absolute sure no one was observing her. She grinned to herself as she made her way below decks. She suddenly felt like a teenager breaking curfew. If her parents or Grumpy knew she was here….they'd kill her. Her mother, because it was bad luck for the bride to see the groom after the rehearsal dinner. Her father, because…well, she was making her way to the pirate's bedroom in the middle of the night. And Grumpy, because she was missing out on her beauty sleep.

Emma rolled her eyes as she knocked on the door to the captain's quarters. Sometimes it was easier when she was on her own! Not often, but sometimes.

"Aye?" came the muffled voice from the other side of the door.

Emma opened the door and slipped inside. Killian sat in his chair, his boots crossed on the desk, a book lying open in his lap.

"Swan!" he said, abruptly getting to his feet and letting the book crash unceremoniously to the floor. "Is something the matter?"

She rushed over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "No," she said, burying her face in the soft hair covering his chest, "I just needed to see you, that's all."

She felt his chin rub against the top of her hair. "We've nearly made it, love. This time tomorrow we'll be man and wife."

"Yeah," she said, smiling into his chest, "and then we can try out some…activities…that might give my father a heart attack."

She felt the deep rumble of his appreciative laugh. "That is something I've been waiting for since the moment my eyes first met yours in the Enchanted Forest."

She laughed again, and then stilled, looking up at him. "Killian, I wanted to thank you."

"What for, lass?"

"For being my rock, my unfailing support ever since you came back for us with that bean that took us to Neverland. I never could have survived Neverland or Camelot or the Enchanted Forest without you."

"It was the right thing to do, Swan," he said simply. He didn't like praise; she'd learned that about him early on.

"Yeah, but there are lots of people who wouldn't have done it."

"They would for the woman they love more than life."

She smiled and cradled his face in her hands. She brought it down for a slow, sweet kiss. When they pulled away, she rested her forehead against his. She doubted she would ever tire of kissing this man.

"Killian, those gifts today," she said, uncomfortably, "those things you said. Thank you. They mean a lot."

"It was my pleasure, love," he said, running a hand through her wavy hair. It was the most relaxing sensation she'd ever felt.

"I'm not, you know, good with words and stuff like you are," she stuttered out, "but I wanted to let you know…well…how I feel too."

His smile turned, if possible, even gentler. "No need love," he said. "Open book, remember? I know how you feel for me."

She smiled back letting her thumb caress his lower lip. "I know, but..I still want to say it."

"I'm all ears," he said, catching her hand and placing a burning kiss on her palm.

"Killian, you say I saved you, that I made you a better person, but I want you to know that it goes both ways. You tore down my walls and healed the wounded little girl that hid inside. You showed me that I do matter to someone, that I am worthy of love. You brought a rainbow of color into my gray world. And I love you more than I will ever be able to tell you or show you."

He pecked her softly on the lips. "You'll have a lifetime to try, lass."

"Yeah."

The kiss this time was long and tinged with passion and need. She wished she could stay with him, here in his arms tonight. Reluctantly she pulled back a fraction of an inch. "I should go," she whispered finally, "if my mother finds out I was here…well the consequences could be too terrible to mention."

"Aye," he grinned, "and I'd hate to face the wrath of Grumpy."

With one last, lingering kiss goodnight, Emma walked up the steps, onto the docks and over to her waiting bug. One more night. She needed to wait only one more night, and then she would finally get to "I do."

The End!