#once upon most magical unicorn mirror

[wellnesscard]

mir'res of my kittchen

[u5an5]

Of things obtained: Once Upon a Witchlight Ep. 7 | Tainted Love

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.

! Fair warning, this post contains SPOILERS. If you don't want to be spoiled, STOP READING !

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Gricko

Languages: Common, Goblin

In possession from beginning:

Primal totems (gorilla, basilisk-esque creature; ep.1)

Alarm whistle (ep.1)

Glue dropper bottle (ep.3)

Eyedrops bottle (ep.3)

Items acquired:

Bag of 457 gold pieces (couldn't find it; ep.1)

+146 gold pieces from winning staring contest

Cloak of Displacement (ep.1)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (ep.1) 0/8 (taken away with last punch)

Sycamore seed 4 (ep.2; +1d4 for ability check until dawn)

Games Prize 6 - Magic Face Paint resembling mouse (Disguise Self 1h; ep.6)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (gained due Fey Pact) 6/8

Games Prize 4 - Bottle of Witchlight wine

While the bottle is uncorked, it plays calliope music until the bottle is emptied of wine.

Clothes:

Regular clothes (left by costume chest)

Comically too big cloth butterfly wings (ep.2; blue-red)

Really small Tentacle Chad T-shirt (ep.3)

Outfit 94 - A taxidermied mouse (ep.6)

Pacts/contracts:

No ticket - after giving away his ticket to Gideon, due to The Rule of Reciprocity, his most prized possession (Hootsie) was taken away from him by Sowpig (ep.5)

Fey Pact 4 - You can no longer talk about your favorite thing; Interpreted as you don't remember (Hootsie). Once the Witchlight Monarch is crowned, all pacts made fade then, and only then.

Hootsie (kidnapped by Sowpig; ep.5)

Status: ???

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Gideon

In possession from beginning:

Engineered manacles (ep.5)

Items acquired:

3 letters from Mr. Roslov (ep.1)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (ep.1; taken away with last punch) 0/8

Sycamore seed 5 (ep.2; +1d8 for ability check until next dawn)

x5 Magical Invisibility Cupcakes (ep.3)

20 gold pieces (from bet with Gricko; ep.5)

+142 gold pieces (from winning staring contest)

Games Prize 2 - Wooden wand (Prestidigitation 8/8; ep.6)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (gained due Fey Pact) 6/8

Games Prize 7 - Cuddly toy spider

As an action, you can stroke the spider to gain the benefit of a spider climb spell that lasts for 1 hour. Once used, the toy turns into a real spider and crawls away.

Clothes:

Regular clothes (left by costume chest)

Comically too small cloth butterfly wings (ep.2; red with orange rinds)

Cake Chad T-shirt at least five sizes too small (ep.3)

Outfit 15 - Go-go dancer outfit that is designed to look like a very flamboyant peacock that is size too small (ep.6)

Flower crown

Pacts/contracts:

Fey Pact 2 - Was given a flower crown. You must wear this flower crown, but you have to water it every hour and you can't take it off. Once the Witchlight Monarch is crowned, all pacts made fade then, and only then.

Clown kill manslaughter count:

Chuckles the Clown - after being punched in body laughed himself to death (supposedly he was already dead by this time due crippling alcoholism; before the campaign)

Klutzy the Clown - got hit by Gideon throwing Impossibal at incredible speeds directly into his face. The actual supposed cause of death was deadly allergy to unspecified ingredient/s in this processed not-meat sludge (ep.6)

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Kremy

Languages: Common, Draconic

In possession from beginning:

Tophat

Skull Cane

2 gold pieces (ep.1)

at least 2 handkerchiefs (ep.3)

Compact mirror (ep.4)

Frying pan (ep.4)

Knife (ep.4)

Items acquired:

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (ep.1; misplaced it)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (gained due Fey Pact; ep.2) -1/8 (?? idk if two takes of one game count as separate punches; if not then either way, he's out of punches)

Satchel with Carnival map and Three Rules of Feywild (ep.2)

Sycamore seed 1 (trait "I am easily amused" until dawn; ep.2)

Games Prize 3 - packet of pixie dust

Stuffed Almiraj plushie from Gideon (Minor Illusion 3/day)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (gained due Fey Pact) 6/8

58 gold pieces (from winning staring contest)

Games Prize 4 5 - A replica unicorn horn filled with candy

Clothes:

Regural clothes (left by costume chest)

Cloth butterfly wings (ep.2; purple)

Outfit 78 - A costume of woman who's been recently murdered (ep.6)

A replica unicorn horn filled with candy strapped to his forehead (after candy melted down he gave it to Gideon to lick the remaining candies out of it and when Gideon was done he put it back on)

Pacts/contracts:

Due possessing unspecified knowledge he didn't pay for when he "abandoned his station" has to deliver 100,000 gold pieces to Mr. Garou by the end of the month (in next 19 days) as recompensation. If he's no longer able to do so by dying, the rest of the Krew is obligated to pay it (ep.1)

Fey Pact 8: You must declare your love for unicorns at every opportunity. Once the Witchlight Monarch is crowned, all pacts made fade then, and only then (ep.2)

Fey Pact 1: You cannot tell a lie knowingly. Once the Witchlight Monarch is crowned, all pacts made fade then, and only then.

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Frost (unavailable, on meeting with Mr. Light)

Languages: Common, Celestial, Elvish

In possession from beginning:

Backpack (ep.2)

Glue (totally not related to horses; ep.3)

Tambourine (ep.3)

Water skin (ep.3)

Small dagger (ep.4)

Items acquired:

Letter to Zybilna by Madrik Roslov (ep.1)

Bag of Beans (ep.1)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (ep.1) 2/8

Sycamore seed 7 (ep.2; it turns into:)

1 gold piece

Dandelion (ep.2; reward for catching Red's interest; blown away while making a wish)

Clothes:

Cloth butterfly wings (ep.2; jade with yellow eyes)

Pacts/contracts:

?

Torbek

Languages: Common, Goblin

In possession from beginning:

Application papers in crayon

Witchlight Carnival ticket 3/8

Items acquired:

Games Prize 2 - Wooden wand (Prestidigitation 8/8; ep.6)

Games Prize 6 - Magic Face Paint resembling frog (Disguise Self 1h; ep.6)

Clothes:

Regular clothes (predistigated away)

Outfit 58 - Playboy bunny outfit with very large ears, fishtights, cufflinks (ep.6)

Pacts/contracts:

. .

Krew (The Party)

In possession from beginning:

2 gold pieces (ep.1)

Items acquired:

5 gold pieces (ep.2; for street-performing)

Pacts/contracts:

With Madrik Roslov: In exchange for checking if Zybilna is alright, and if true, giving her the letter he wrote, Party will get what is left from his possessions once he passes away (ep.1)

With Diana Cloppington - In exchange for riddle concerning Prismeer, with knowledge and information she was able to store about current state of it in it, Party promises to, at least, attempt to help her return to human and be reunited with Sir Cloppington; Not really Fey Pact but on their rules (ep.2)

Altered states:

Pixie magic: Riadah Flagh

(Torbek) 14 - You grow two gigantic bucked teeth - [8:00 - 1:03:33]

40 - stench of goblin piss emanates from you [10:17 - 1:03:33]

? - You shrink until you're the size of a pixie [24:35 - 1:03:33]

? - You can fly like a pixie [26:55 - 1:03:33]

Twist of Fate curses:

(Frost) 2x66 - The concept of death is unbearably sad. You burst into tears whenever it comes up and you can't stop thinking about it. [ep.5 - ??]

(Gideon) 37 - The voice of the last person you killed tells you things about their life no one wants to know (changed due Derek not being available) You can hear with supernatural precision. So much so, you can hear into The Veil (Chuckles) [prev. ep -

(Gricko) 94 - You are enamored with Gideon. He's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen, you want him to bear your children (yes, this is exact quote of what Nikkie said) [1:19:06 -

15 - You believe you're being followed around by a corpse [2:07:17 -

(Gideon) 41 - Your eyes turn into eyes of person you're looking at (while in staring contest with cyclops) [1:30:32 -

(Kremy) 98 84 - You're now double your age (84) [2:09:47 -

Pixie chariots bets (ep.5):

(Frost) - 1 gold piece on Red

(Gricko) - 40 electrum pieces/20 gold pieces on Blue

(Gideon & Kremy) - ?? on Red

Red wins. The Party gets ?? (they didn't got to collect the prize yet)

Cyclops games:

(Gricko) won 146 gold pieces

(Kremy) won 58 gold pieces

(Gideon) won 142 gold pieces

(Torbek) won 192 gold pieces

They won 538 gold pieces in total

To-do list:

Get the 100,00 gold pieces by the end of the month (ep.1)

Find out why Madrik Roslovs patron, Zybilna, stopped answering his calls for 15 years so he can die in peace, knowing her fate (ep.1)

Get to the Witchlight Carnival before it ends and find the only available entrance to Prismeer, Zybilnas domain (ep.1)

Try to become Witchlight Monarch (ep.1)

Find out who was the man that cut off Lexi Pott's wings, why he did that and what happened with them (ep.1)

Find a way to reunite Diana Cloppington with her with her horse, Sir Cloppington and return them to their previous forms (ep.2)

Win Cake Eating contest (ep.3; completed)

Find a way to return Candlefoots voice (ep.4)

Find some clothes for Torbek (ep.6; completed)

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Time

3rd day of Campaign, 4 hours till Coronation - much less than supposed to due Mr. Witch slowing it down

9th of the month (19 days until The Debt deadline)

Happiness Meter

-2 - went down when Torbek stood the pixie up (ep.6)

Random Info

Man whose name Lexi Pott's was unable to say was going to "wake her" and she was very scared for Party meeting him. When they mentioned name Zybilna, she said they "already were too deep" (ep.1)

After Lexi Pott died, Party was surrounded by Fairy Ring made up from mushrooms (ep.1)

Tasha and Iggwilv The Witch Queen are the same person (ep.4)

Kenku that has been terrorising the Carnival is a Warlock and her patron is Zybilna (ep.5)

Chuckles said Gideon will join clowns in Hell and become Eighth Clown Lord of Crazy Eights

Total money: no more than 1022 gold pieces (idk how much Kremy and Gideon bet)

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[ask-healthy-light]

Although both Celestia and Luna were confident that they could send a substantial pile of what they had baked whither they wanted, and they were willing to try it to ease Spike's heart, they admitted that they did not know if it was such a wise idea; so they politely asked the Young Dragon for some time, and promised to let him know before lunch, when they had found and enchanted the two mirrors.

With a quiet sigh, Spike nodded to the Princesses, as he understood that he would know in due time, and he followed them and Stygian as they trotted around the Palace, looking in every Hall for a big mirror, his mind focused solely on their friends' well-being; but when Twilight noticed his pensive looks, she sweetly lifted him on her and Solar's back, and asked him if they could help in any way.

After some hesitation, Spike admitted that his mind was burdened with worries for the others, since he knew how treacherous the Dragon Lands could be, and he feared that they had left the Empire with far too little time to prepare; and as he turned away in shame, he said that he should have offered to guide them, even if only to the Dragons' lair, from whence they could travel onward to the East.

The courage in his heart and his words far outshone the shame he felt over not helping, and as they gently brushed his cheek with their wing, Eclipse told Spike that he should not see himself in such a bad light; for while he might believe he had let down the others, they promised that nopony would fault him for it, as he still clearly wanted to help out by sending them their freshly baked goods.

As Spike looked up at them again, both Solar and Twilight smiled warmly in return, before they told him that if they could not send them anything, they would find a way to preserve everything that he and Stygian had made for them; and when they could receive magically translocated items once again, they would make sure their package was the first thing they got, even if it exhausted them in turn.

To their relief, a smile grew upon Spike's face again, and he thanked Eclipse for their kind words, to which they merely nuzzled his nose, when Stygian trotted into a Hall they passed, and asked them to wait for a moment; and he gestured for them to enter, as he wanted to see if the mirror in front of him was large enough, but he already confirmed that it was before they even made it to his side.

When Celestia and Luna walked up to stand next to Stygian, they found they could only see the upper edge of the mirror when they looked up as well, and they nodded to each other, and thanked the Grey Unicorn for his keen eye; and as Stygian started to blush, he chuckled, and told the two Princesses he was joyous to hear they were content with the mirror, before asking them what the next step was.

After Luna gave her Sister the small mirror, Celestia told him there was little more they could do, as her spell was easy to cast, even though she had never before cast it on any mirror of this size; the hardest part, she added, was to make sure that the mirror was teleported to Ponyville without a scratch, for which she kindly asked them for their help, but that of Eclipse and Spike most of all.

Both the Two-Headed Alicorn and the Dragon on their back were caught off-guard by Celestia's words, but after they managed to get their thoughts in order, they asked her how they could help her, only to be politely asked in return what Eclipse had told the Pillars in their letter; for they knew the Palace in Ponyville better than anybody, and she wanted them to think of the Hall they wrote about.

Fortunately for Celestia, as she cast her Speculis Spell on the two mirrors, Eclipse said that they asked the Pillars to go to the Hall with the Map of Friendship, to which she briefly nodded, before she walked away; but Celestia scared the others when she suddenly appeared in the Mirror, for which she apologised, whereafter she asked Luna to hold the small Mirror, and Eclipse and Spike to focus.

As Eclipse and Spike thought about the Hall, the others closed their eyes, and their horns glowed.

At that moment, they noticed a slight feeling of homesickness grow within them…

(Thanks for reading! And if you enjoyed, please reblog! Thanks in advance!)

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Featuring: Solar Eclipse and Twilight Sparkle as Twilight Eclipse from @asktwilighteclipse

[ofcommonrooms]

" angels would damn themselves for me "

( renée rapp, 19, cis woman, she&her ) hey, is that NARCISSA BLACK wandering the halls without a companion? the FIFTH YEAR is getting bold. and here I thought the SLYTHERIN was always more confident, intelligent, & protective. but then they are also known to be conceited, self-centered, & aloof, so maybe that makes sense. these hard times are enough to change anybody, I suppose. and did you hear people are saying they’re in THE KNIGHTS? rumors fly when people are cooped up.  here, I’ll show you — NARCISSA always reminded me of the glimmer of sun reflecting off a mirror, black patent stilettos, powder on the end of a brush, earl grey tea, vanilla beans, pressed flowers, a music box with a squeaky hinge charmed to be perfect, the scent of an old book, French music, Latin books, tulle skirts, starry nights, satin dresses, pressed flowers, a silver dagger hidden a garter belt and I’ve heard THAT VAPID PERSONALITY SHE WEARS SO WELL IS A FACADE. let’s hope the PUREBLOOD doesn’t get attacked by the beast. or let’s at least hope that rumor doesn’t get back to them before they do.

------ graphic credit | @sorberts [ HERE ]

CONTENT WARNING(S) FOR THIS SECTION: SNAKES

full name ;; narcissa irma black

age ;; 19

house ;; slytherin

boggart ;; narcissa would love to say that it was something almighty and selfless, but her boggart takes the shape of herself, in absolutely deplorable conditions. ratty hair, dirt on her nose, clothing in pieces. she's worked her entire life to cling to her family's fortune - nothing scared her more than losing it.

patronus ;; on the exceedingly rare occasion that she produces a Patronus, it takes the form of a snake.

favorite spell ;; Petrificus Totalus - a relatively consequence free way of getting the last word. Just petrify them! However, she's also a fan of passing notes in class using Aparecium.

amortentia ;; a field of daffodils, the air of the Amalfi Coast and Lucius' cologne 'the pasta her nanny made when she was a child.'

wand ;; 

—- wood ; elm wood | Elm wands prefer owners with presence, magical dexterity and a certain native dignity. Of all wand woods, elm, in my experience, produces the fewest accidents, the least foolish errors, and the most elegant charms and spells; these are sophisticated wands, capable of highly advanced magic in the right hands (which makes it highly desirable to those who espouse the pure blood philosophy).

—- core ; phoenix tail feather | This is one of the rarest core types. Phoenix feathers are capable of the greatest range of magic, though they may take longer than either unicorn hair or dragon heartstring cores to reveal this. They show the most initiative, sometimes acting of their own accord, a quality that many witches and wizards dislike.

—- length ; 10 inches

playlist ;; [ HERE ]

pinboard ;; [ HERE ]

Content Warnings for this Section: PARENTAL CONFLICT / ARRANGED MARRIAGE / SEXISM

It was cold the day Narcissa Irma Black was brought into the world. It seemed prophetic, almost, noting the icy heart the girl would grow to have. She came out quietly, without too many cries and even as the Healers washed her off gently she was soft. Soft in her appearance - surprising blonde hair which was a stark difference to that of her sisters and parents and cheeks that held a blush of their own and would for the years to come. Soft in her expression - equal parts afraid and curious at once. Soft in her noises - small baby coos passed her plump pink lips as the last of the blood was wiped off of her body. Upon the announcement that Druella Black had given birth to another girl, Cygnus chose to turn the other way, storming towards his office rather than in to meet his daughter. Yet Druella held Narcissa Black in her arms, staring at her with a plan sparkling behind her eyes. She could barely even open her own eyes by the time her mother was planning the future her little girl would have. Because power, overt and strong like that which Cygnus so desperately wanted, was important. But an understated power - the kind that came with being underestimated while simultaneously being placed on a pedestal - that was what the dark-haired woman saw when she looked into the soft eyes of her daughter. 

And that was exactly what Narcissa Black became. Molding herself into the strict and unbending expectations her mother had for her. She sat there while her hair was curled and allowed her outfits to be chosen for her. She curtsied and nodded as was deemed necessary and as her mother had predicted, the pedestal she built for her youngest daughter seemed as high as she'd hoped it would be. The problem with being held up so high is that there is a very long way to fall, and while the Pureblood society practically idolized the gorgeous girl, many were waiting for her to crumble. But there were many conversations between Druella and her prodigal daughter. Conversations where she continued drilling into her how good she was. How she was perfect and beautiful and that the world wasn't going to be ready for the powerhouse she could be beneath curled eyelashes and pretty pink polished nails.

As she entered Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat exclaimed "SLYTHERIN" before being placed on her head. And she knew, of course she knew that's where she'd be. Everyone in Hogwarts knew that's where she'd be. What they didn't know, what nobody knew, was the monster of a girl she hid behind her demure facade. The girl inside knew how much she was worth and she knew that if she used her strengths as well as her mother had taught her to she would be unstoppable. And her mother had taught her well. So well, in fact, that Cygnus Black himself stood impressed before his daughter at times, listening as she spoke clearly and concisely, reaching points with a kind of precision that was hard to find even in skilled politicians and socialites. Being the youngest daughter brought no extra praise from the man, but having the skills he would have valued in a son did earn at least a bit of his respect. So she tried and tried and kept trying. Her sisters, Bellatrix and Andromeda, were the two most important things in her life and the reason she tried so hard. It was the only way she could think of to protect the two of them, because if she met every standard Druella tried pushing on her, perhaps that would keep her from pushing those impossible pressures onto Narcissa's sisters. And maybe she wasn't strong in a lot of ways but she'd always been strong in that way, not only meeting but exceeding the dreams Druella had for her. 

It came as a surprise to no one when it was announced she would be marrying Lucius Malfoy. Since birth they'd known, honestly. The two beautiful well-mannered Purebloods whose children would be beautiful - why wouldn't they end up together? Why would she be able to make her own decisions when she never had before? But Narcissa had always given her all to the things she was told to do, following the rules she was given without a second thought. She never stopped to think of the impact it may have on her future, because of her mother told her to do it she would do it. So she abandoned the ideas of the fairytales she'd hidden beneath her floorboard as a child. Abandoned the idea that she might be the princess who gets her prince one day. After all, she told herself every morning as she slid her lip gloss on, she was already a princess. At least that's what everyone told her she was. 

O N E ;; In evenings of utmost desperation, Narcissa sometimes delves into her collection of Muggle fairytales. She hides them in a box beneath a blanket beneath a hex that hides it from sight, beneath her floorboards. She wasn't sure growing up whether she would ever have a happy ending, so filling that void with imaginary tales of Cinderella and Rapunzel made that an easier truth to swallow.

T W O ;; Narcissa can speak 6 different languages, and understand 10. Growing up, Druella instructed her that men don't like smart women, society will always underestimate you, let them, stand idly by in rooms where conversations are being held and listen, because they won't see you as enough of a threat or concern to hold their tongues. So, while she may consciously fail an answer or two in History of Magic, she has spent her entire life learning languages to eavesdrop on conversations that important people assumed her too daft to digest.

T H R E E ;; When things start to become harrowing, Narcissa studies Healing in secret. I've always imagined that the Malfoy Manor becomes somewhat of a safe house for the side of the Purebloods, and have a vivid image of one of the Knights of Walpurgis lying injured on one of their kitchen counters as Narcissa Heals them, due to her steadfast loyalty to her friends, and streak of protectiveness.

F O U R ;; Narcissa is incredibly skilled at Occlumency, and has been practicing since she was a First Year. While she's not as good at Legilimency, she's starting to study that. This HC is based off of the fact that on multiple occasions it's implied that her mind was unable to be breached by Voldemort.

F I V E ;; Narcissa has been a ballet dancer since she was young - another obligation Druella pushed her into (it's distinguished, Narcissa, it's impressive, it's something that wealthy families pride themselves on), but this was one that Narcissa dearly loved. After a particularly impressive recital, Druella gifted her a music box with a ballerina in it that's charmed to dance independently whenever the box is opened, and "sleeps" whenever the box is shut.

LUCIUS ;; The pair has been 'betrothed' since childhood. A match made in heaven for the couple's parents, surely. Growing up, the visual of her parents' marriage was loveless at best, so Narcissa braced herself for a future just the same. However, Narcissa nursed a schoolgirl crush on the boy as a child, unsure if it was genuine, or manifested out of wishful thinking. As time has gone by, Narcissa can confidently say - not due to any desperation to actually love the man she was set to marry - she'd fallen hard. Until Draco is born, he's the most important person in her life.

BELLATRIX & ANDROMEDA ;; Dynamics tbd !

BEST FRIEND ;; A close confidant, someone to paint her nails with in their dorm and gossip about other people until late into the night. She's very guarded, and likely wouldn't bare all of her qualms to this person, but she still feels closer to them than most.

PROTECTORS ;; I always imagine that some of the other Knights of Walpurgis are somewhat protective of Narcissa? When you earn her loyalty, it's truly undying, so if there are any Knights who want to be a little guard dog, please know you will also be receiving Very Mean Chihuahua Narcissa who's ready to pounce on anyone who wrongs you, as well (though sometimes that's exactly what gets her in these situations where she needs a little backup)

ARCH NEMESIS ;; Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, but the pair bickers nonstop - this person probably bests Narcissa in just about every subject and might just hold that over her head, which causes Narcissa to steam because she's 'so much smarter than any of these stupid people even realize' - drama and pettiness ensures

[monstermaster13]

Corey and Oats in:

Chom-Chom The Chubby and Adorable Unicorn

----------------------------------

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a chubby unicorn named Chom-Chom. He had a round and fluffy body and a big, friendly smile on his face, he had pink fur with a rainbow tint and big wide eyes that were a baby blue color and those eyes sparkled, and he had a pink mane and tail and a soft squishy body, he loved to show off his body and wasn’t afraid to admit he has built differently, he was born with a magical condition that made it so he could taste dreams. His horn was a magnificent shade of violet and glittered as he moved, and also could generate waves of magical energy.

He was a very special unicorn with a lovable persona, he was very positive about his body and despite being larger than the other unicorns in his tribe, he was genuinely a kind and loving creature. Chom-Chom lived in a forest full of trees and flowers, and he loved exploring the woods and discovering new things.

He had never seen anything like the forest before, and it filled him with wonder and excitement, and full of opportunities to make new friends. One day, as Chom-Chom was wandering through the woods, he stumbled upon a small pond. He saw his reflection in the water and was surprised by how chubby he looked. He had never seen himself from that angle before - although he had seen himself in the mirror countless time and he had thought he had seen another unicorn when he looked into the mirror, and it made him realize that he was different from the other unicorns but that made him happy, he didn’t mind being who he was and happily shaked his equine butt, showing off how his dance moves.

Just then as he walked around he saw a creature that was round and red with yellow spikes, it was a covid microbe, the covid microbe introduced himself as Corey and with him was a horse…the most beautiful horse he had ever seen.

The horse had brown fur and a white muzzle and was wearing a dress with a butterfly on it and the word ‘Oskosh’ above it as well. The horse’s name was Oats. Oats didn’t know what Oskosh meant but he knew it had something to do with clothes. Chom-Chom whinnied as he galloped over to Oats, he thought Oats was sooo pretty and he wanted to be adopted by him. ‘Will you adopt me? My name is Chom-Chom and I’d love you to be my mommy.’ ‘Do you really want me to be your mommy?’ ‘Yes.’

“Corey, look..i’ve got a new family member.”

“I am so happy for you, Oatsie.”

“Hurray.”

The chubby unicorn bounced into Oats’s arms as Corey watched, he also did a bit of a dance as he twerked and showed off his beautiful plus sized equine body…’Look, he does a dance like your unicorn family members do.’ ‘Oh yeah, he certainly does.’ It was then Oats knew he had to adopt Chom-Chom as he galloped around and whinnied, he picked the chubby unicorn and took him with him as the duo went through the fields, and explored the candy floss forest. Chom-Chom floated around up to a tree that had valentine’s day love candies in the flowers blooming, he looked over at the valentine’s day candies and he tried some of them.

Oats chuckled as he admired his new family member and he gave him a cuddle and told him a story. Corey played some happy songs for the unicorn to sing along to, Chom-Chom had a really good voice as well..’How would you like to be part of karaoke night when we arrive at Nile Road?’ ‘That sounds awesome, but what is this Nile Road?’ ‘Our home, our castle.’

“Why yes i’d love to come and live in your castle.”

For a couple of hours the duo played with their new unicorn friend, and Mel told them about how she loved unicorns and loved sharing her joy with others, Chom-Chom really got to know his new friends. They played around in the forest and met all sorts of magical friends and they shared stories and songs.

An hour later Mel gestured to the duo it was time to go home to their home in Nile Road, which she did using a special spell that transported them there, just in time for afternoon tea.

The new unicorn trotted around his new home as he looked over at his new friends and hugged them, they played around and Corey told his microbial buddies all about their adventure and their new best friend. Chom-Chom cuddled Oats and played with him, happily being a good and adorable unicorn boy.

Once more after that they had dinner, and after dinner they shared their adventure will Jill via emails and had a karaoke contest. Chom-Chom even got to play some music and sing along with them. And when the karaoke contest was finished, they went into the bedroom and relaxed. Corey put on his bat pajamas as Oats put on his frilly nightgown and got out his flower sleep-mask, he got out a special pair of pjs in Chom-Chom’s size as he helped Chom-Chom getting into them, they brushed their teeth in the bathroom and said goodnight to their friends the staff members, and they said goodnight to Zara.

They picked up some buddies to sleep with for the night, and Aiyido the beholder offered to be an extra sleepover buddy to keep them safe. They accepted his offer and they all snuggled up together in their pegasus bed, Oats hugged Mel and Corey as he yawned and closed his eyes, their bed guiding them into the magical world of dreams.

And so our story ends for tonight but stay tuned for more throughout this year.

[rosielovemore]

The Founders of Nyxwings

In the depths of wizarding history, there exist two extraordinary individuals who played a pivotal role in the founding of Nyxwings School. Allow me to introduce Marcel Manehorn and Chanelle Chanteurose, two renowned wizards of their time, whose unlikely friendship forged a legacy that continues to shape the wizarding world.

Marcel Manehorn

Marcel Manehorn, a figure whose imposing stature belied his sharp intellect, possessed a distinctive horn upon his forehead reminiscent of a unicorn's. His physical appearance owed itself to his mother's involvement with potions, though the details surrounding her addiction remain shrouded in mystery. Marcel defied stereotypes associated with his brawny physique, dedicating himself to scholarly pursuits across various disciplines.

Marcel Manehorn, a towering presence with luscious blonde locks and an elegant unicorn horn, emerged as one of the foremost scholars of his era. Famed for his bravery and intelligence, he valiantly challenged preconceived notions about brutes. He even delved into the arts of metalworking and jewelcrafting, crafting two exceptional heirlooms for the school: the Manehorn Grimoire and the Dragonsoar Circlet. The Grimoire is said to amplify the wearer's adept skills and channel magic, while the Circlet is a safeguard against perilous magical forces, but only once. Marcel's son, deeply honoring his father's legacy, dedicated his life to protecting these precious artifacts, donning them during castle attacks.

Chanelle Chanteurose

Chanelle Chanteurose, a captivating half-Divae with tales etched upon her skin in the form of tattoos, possessed both mesmerizing beauty and unwavering strength. Rumored to be the offspring of a mermaid and a Divae, she earned her reputation as the First Mate to the notorious Pirate Captain Hat Hood. Their crew, bound by an oath to protect the innocent and aid the destitute, became legendary figures akin to Robin Hood. Despite her fierce reputation, Chanelle's kind heart shone through, with children eagerly greeting her ship's arrival in harbor.

Chanteurose, renowned as one of the greatest wizarding pirates of her age, showcased exceptional abilities, particularly in Empasthesia. Among her cherished heirlooms was the Jeweled Sword, a dazzling cutlass adorned with multicolored diamonds, passed down through her family. While traditionally an heirloom, it found its sanctuary within Nyxwings for safekeeping. The sword enhances its wielder's magical strength and even allows spellcasting. Another precious heirloom was the Faeryfluff Choker, a gift from Captain Hat Hood. This enchanting necklace adjusts its size to fit the wearer and bestows a calm and composed demeanor, vital in dire situations.

Following the tumultuous War of the Grand Court, where the era's most formidable wizards clashed, Marcel and Chanelle united their shared vision and founded the illustrious School of Nyxwings. Their unwavering commitment aimed to provide future generations with unparalleled education and protection. Together, they made the Covens or student communities within Nyxwings, which embodied their respective ideals: Manehorn and Dragonsoar, born from Marcel's imagination, and Chanteurose and Faeryfluff, inspired by Chanelle's aspirations. In remembrance of their fallen friends who sacrificed their lives to end the war, they established the fifth coven—Wingguardia.

The Heirloom of Wingguardia, shrouded in mystery, remains a well-guarded secret within Nyxwings Castle. Legends suggest it takes the form of a hand mirror, a collaborative creation by Marcel and Chanelle, enchanted to grant three wishes. Yet, two wishes have already been expended, leaving only one remaining. This precious artifact has been concealed and its true identity remains a tantalizing secret. Rumors persist that the mirror holds a unique magical ability or effect, attainable only once all three wishes have been fulfilled.

[andyet-here-we-are]

I Would Get Into Millions of Accidents Just to See You, Chapter 3 (aka Nurse Geralt AU)

(Check the pinned post for the first two chapters please~)

The next day flows by in a blur for Geralt. He wakes up, takes a shower, prepares a quick but nutritious breakfast for Ciri, and makes oatmeal for himself.

On his way to the hospital, he thinks about Jaskier and wonders if he should call him now. He almost does that, but then he decides against it because he knows that Jaskier is busy having his fourth dream right now probably. It's too early to call him as much as he wants to do so. 

His mind wanders on how cute Jaskier sounds when he is sleepy—when he has just woken up.

Cute, but also usually a bit grumpy even though he denies it with every inch of his being.

***

"That shouldn't be legal," is what Geralt thinks when he steps into the hospital room, unable to take his eyes off Jaskier's sleeping figure. "I can't believe I'm supposed to do that. God, have some mercy on me. I love my job, I really do, but it sucks big time sometimes. Why should I suffer this way?"

A moment later, he is well aware of how dramatic he is being, and how hard he frowns, making a source face. It's not like him to act like this at all.

Damn.

"That dramatic son of a flower must be rubbing off on me," annoyed at himself, he mumbles before he coughs as if that alone is enough to wake the musician up. 

"Good morning," he tries when Jaskier doesn't wake up and slightly turns to the other side of his bed instead.

"Mr. Pankratz, it's your medicine time."

Jaskier slightly opens his eyes just to look at him this time, and the first thing he mumbles is: "What happened to your ears?" before closing his eyes again. 

"What are you talking about?" The nurse questions, checking his ears with his free hand that isn't holding the medicine tray, wondering what he meant by that.

"Are you still asleep?"

"Yes... No. Maybe?" Jaskier mumbles again, half asleep as he rubs his eyes, trying to make sleepiness go away.

"You will have to pick one of them."

The musician opens his eyes after a while and smiles at Geralt.

"Morning. God, what a sight to wake up to."

Geralt must be used at this by now. Because whenever Geralt has to wake him up, no matter how much Jaskier complains at first most of the time, he always utters the same words eventually.

"What a sight to wake up to."

Yet, every time he does that, Geralt's heart flutters in his chest.

"You didn't sound too happy with my ears, though. What was that about?"

"Ah, about that. I had a dream that— promise you won't laugh?"

"Can't do."

"Anyway," Jaskier yawns and explains: "I had a dream that you were an... elf."

"I was a— what?" Geralt laughs.

"Hey! You said you wouldn't laugh!" The musician stares at him like he is ready to kill him. 

"I never said that," Geralt forces himself to stop laughing. "Well, that explains everything."

"Shh, stop interrupting me. It's mean."

"Sorry, I'm all ears. Not elf ears, though, sorry to disappoint you."

"Don't sweat it. Bad guys were trying to steal Mrs. Ansley's—who was a fairy, speaking of which—cookie recipe, which was also the key of a parallel universe, somehow. You were trying to protect the recipe, then puff. Some gingerbread men came out of nowhere to help you, but you tried to... eat them? Well, not just tried actually. You managed to eat their leader. Therefore they decided to join the dark side. Can't blame you, though. They looked pretty yummy. I was about to hop on my unicorn for help when you woke me up. A unicorn wearing a pasta costume. Pink pasta costume. Yeah, yeah, I know, that makes no sense, is there even a pink pasta costume?" He asks sleepily, raising an eyebrow. "Also, I had a magical lute, I think."

"You think that your whole dream makes sense, but just the pink pasta costume doesn't?"

"I've never seen a pink pasta costume, so..."

"Oh, sorry, right. I forgot you have seen everything else but that. The elf version of me, alive gingerbreads and all. My bad."

He chuckles at that lightly.

"Still more possible than a pink pasta costume."

"The most ridiculous dream you had this week might be this one so far."

Jaskier seemed to have taken it upon himself to tell Geralt about his dreams. This was the eighth dream he talked about this week, and it wasn't even Friday yet.

"It was like," he opens his arms wide as if he is presenting the name of his new song to the whole world, " 'Geralt and Jaskier in Wonderland' I blame the medicines. And you," he points at the nurse. "I also blame you. For looking like... " he then gestures at everything, "this."

"You blame me?" The other man snorts, amused. "If anything, you should blame yourself for having the wrong dream. Have you ever looked at yourself? You would make a good elf, not me. You are as bea— I mean, anyway, medicine time."

"I am what now? Wait, wait, wait, were you about to call me beautiful?"

"I was about to call you bearable, but then I thought that would be mean."

"I think you were about to call me beautiful, but then you thought 'That wouldn't be professional, you are his nurse,' or something along these lines. Also, that's not even how you start when you're about to say 'bearable' they are not even pronounced the— "

"That's not what happened."

"Nahh, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what happened, but eh, whatever helps you sleep at night, love."

"You're probably thinking you're still in 'Geralt and Jaskier in Wonderland', go back to sleep, you're delusional."

"I am so not! And that would be your problem even if I was. Wanna check my fever?" He says, giving the nurse a once-over, "I feel hot, suddenly."

"Well, that explains why you're delusional, doesn't it?" Geralt teases. "Take your medicine and you will be just fine."

Jaskier sighs and does as he is told.

"Geralt," Jaskier says before Geralt is about to leave, a grin on his face "I think you are 'bearable', too. "

***

Geralt means to call Jaskier.

He really does.

Yet, whenever he is about to call him, something comes up, and eventually, he just accepts that he is going to have to wait for his shift to be over. 

For some reason, he doesn't want to call him and get interrupted after a minute.

And he doesn't want to send him a text, because he prefers hearing his angelic voice instead.

So, yeah. He is kind of stuck there for now.

***

Geralt finds Ciri laughing at her own joke as she watches The Office when he gets home, and this reminds him of Jaskier since that's something they both have in common. Once again, he finds himself thinking about the musician.

***

“Shit, it hurts,” Jaskier says, holding his chest.

“Maybe it’s the universe’s way to tell you to stop laughing at your own jokes.”

“Oh shut up, the universe can kiss my ass.”

“Seems like it prefers to kick your ass instead.”

That draws an annoyed laugh out of him, which makes him hiss in pain.

“It wouldn’t send me here if it was trying to kick my ass, Mr. Should Have Been A Model But Became A Nurse For Some Reason.”

“I can't believe you still keep using that silly nickname unironically. Don’t you think that it is a bit long?”

“You may be right. Hmm, I’ll just call you ‘Mr. Handsome Nurse,’ from now on.”

“Please don’t. No.”

“How about just ‘Handsome’ ?”

“Still no.”

“Why not? It’s just a fact. You wouldn’t get mad at someone if they would point at a yellow wall and call it a ‘yellow wall’ would you?”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“I see no differences.”

“Then you better get your eyes checked.” 

“Speaking of which—” Jaskier reaches for his scratch book standing on the bedside table “can I borrow your eyes for a second?”

Geralt frowns, wondering what the musician is up to this time.

Jaskier opens his scratch book and stares in his eyes intently for a while and as he scribbles something. "Thanks," he says, "I just needed an accurate model of the stars."

"You know," the nurse shakes his head and answers smoothly: "you could just ask for a mirror."

Geralt can't help but smirk at his open-mouthed speechlessness. 

***

He hears a familiar voice singing, and for a moment he is sure that he has finally gone insane. 

Drying his hands on a washcloth, Geralt makes his way to the source of the voice, thinking "That must how Jerry feels when he follows the smell of a piece of cheese Tom tries to fool him with."

Jaskier's voice is irresistible to him, just like how cheese is irresistible to Jerry.

Absolutely irresistible, and hard to miss.

He could distinguish Jaskier's voice among all the rest if he heard it in a room filled with millions of men singing a song together.

This voice is coming from their living room. To be more specific, from Ciri's laptop—which she was supposed to use for searching her homework topic, but that can wait for now—

"Or I shall die," he hears Jaskier singing oh so sincerely and dramatically "or I shall die!"

"Dad! Please don't be mad, I swear to God I was going to start doing my homework, but—"

The first thing he does when he sits on the couch next to his daughter is grabbing the laptop and rewinding the video to the start. He then checks if the volume is at maximum.

"Shhh," he gestures, all of his attention is on the video he is watching.

He doesn't even realize that he takes a deep breath as soon as he sees the musician's face appear in front of him on the screen before Jaskier even starts singing.

He is as beautiful as ever in his ridiculous mint green shirt that he left the first four buttons undone.

It has cactus patterns on it.

Geralt can't help but wonder if Jaskier wearing this shirt is actually some kind of a secret message to him and him only.

Didn't he say that Geralt was just like a cactus?

"...prickly on the outside sometimes, but soft on the inside? A cactus in the desert.”

His words. Not Geralt's.

What does that even mean then? Something like "I wanna wear you on me like a shirt?"

Okay, he should probably stop because he is reading too much into this and—

"Anyway, so, this song goes to the cruel man who made me want to buy this shirt because it reminded me of him. You know who you are,"

Geralt's breath hitches.

He is not reading too much into this.

If anything, it's vice versa, because Jaskier dedicated a song to him.

Jaskier is thinking about him, too.

Thinking about him too much that he has decided he should dedicate a song to him.

The scene splits into five and one of the boxes on the screen shows Jaskier playing the piano, while in the other he plays the lute occasionally, violin in another one, and accordion in the other one. And in the other, he sings.

Good God. Is there anything this man cannot do?—Besides picking names for babies maybe, since picking names is definitely isn't his strong suit.—

"I tell myself what's done is done

I tell myself don't be a fool

Play the field have a lot of fun

It's easy when you play it cool"

"Does this mean he gave up on me because he got fed up with waiting for my call?" he thinks. But then again, why would he sing a song for him if he gave up?

While watching the video, Geralt is well aware of the fact that he will watch this video again and again and will take special care of each Jaskier— making sure not to miss even the tiniest of the mimic and gesture he does.

"I tell myself don't be a chump

Who cares, let him stay away

That's when the phone rings and I jump

And as I grab the phone I pray

Let it please be him, oh dear God

It must be him or I shall die

Or I shall die"

He was right, this isn't a song that screams: "I'm giving up." Thank God it isn't. Jaskier puts his hand on his chest as he sings, and Ciri sighs next to Geralt, resting her head on his shoulder as she watches the video with him. 

"Oh hello, hello my dear God

It must be him but it's not him

And then I die

That's when I die"

That dramatic son of a flower actually flings himself into an armchair.

"After a while, I'm myself again

I take the pieces off the floor

Put my heart on the shelf again

You'll never hurt me anymore"

While he sings the "put my heart on the shelf again" he puts a heart sculpture on his bookshelf with a serious look and frown on his face. He might have got this heart sculpture just for this video for all Geralt knows.

"I'm not a puppet on a string,"

At this point, Geralt wouldn't be surprised to see actual strings attached to the musician's body just so he could cut the strings. He really wouldn’t be surprised, at all.

Because Jaskier is that extra most of the time.

And Geralt loves that about him.

"I'll find somebody else someday

That's when the phone rings, and once again

I start to pray

Let it please be him, oh dear God

It must be him, it must be him

or I shall die, or I shall die"

The musician's voice goes up effortlessly into an unreachable octave as he sings the last part, and it's impossible not to be impressed. 

But then again, the man puts his heart into everything he does, therefore even doing something like folding a simple frog origami seems impressive when he is the one who's doing it, let alone singing as perfectly as this.

He then slowly walks towards the camera as the other boxes disappear and that one takes over the screen.

"Seriously though," he makes an aggressive 'call me' gesture, and the scene fades to black after that.

"Whoever keeps Jaskier waiting must be crazy," Ciri comments and gave a snort of disapproval and frustration. "He must care about this idiot of a guy a lot if he sings for him like this. What a jabroni. It would take him only a minute to call him."

"Ciri!"

"What? I'm right."

"That's not a nice thing to say," Geralt warns as he hands the laptop back to his daughter.

"I'm surprised that you watched the full thing, by the way. Actually, you don't seem too annoyed with me watching his videos nowadays, and you seemed quite interested in this one."

"I just love Vikki Carr," Geralt says. He has seen the title of the video, after all, so he knew this was a cover of her song. "I've wondered how he sang this song."

"Name five Vikki Carr songs then."

Geralt doesn't know five Vikki Carr songs— he can't even name two, let alone five.

"Okay, I think that's enough fun for you today," the nurse pretends not to have heard his daughter. "Do your homework while I go out to get some milk."

"We have milk at home."

"No, we don't."

"I put it in the fridge myself just this morning, so yeah, we do."

"We're out of these cookies you love, though."

"I thought you said they consumed way too much sugar so we were going to come up with a healthy and as I've read from your invisible subtitles, also probably boring recipe we can make together this weekend?"

"I— God, you ask a lot of questions today." Geralt whispers tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting Ciri's "boring recipe" comment slide.

Fuck him for not saying "I'm gonna go get some groceries," instead.

"I just asked one question, but okay. So? You changed your mind?"

"Yeah, I changed my mind, just for one more week, you can have it."

"Really?! Thanks!"

"Anything you want, pumpkin. Alright, I'm off!"

Geralt ruffles her hair before he grabs his wallet, keys, and most importantly, his phone.

Just before he closes the door, he can hear Jaskier's voice coming from the living room once again.

He cannot blame Ciri at all.

***

"If this is another spam call and not the important call I've been waiting for I swear on all my lute strings that I'll crush that damn phone on the ground and dance upon its bloody ruins! Actually, no, wait, that would mean the possibility of missing the call I've been waiting for, but you got my point."

As soon as Jaskier answers his call and starts talking, he feels like all the tiredness of the day disappears. Jaskier's voice manages to do that even when he is simply busy telling him off, having no idea who he is talking to. 

He can see that Ciri was right. He is an idiot for waiting for the right time.

"I'm seriously so sick of—"

Geralt finally cuts him off by saying: "Wow, I wouldn't wanna be a scammer or something right now, you aggressive Dandelion."

"Wait a second, this voice— Geralt?! Is that really you? Oh my God, you finally ca— I mean—"

Jaskier coughs as if he tries not to sound too excited, "Heey, the best nurse in the existence," Geralt can almost see his flirty frowning, yes, he manages to make even frowning look flirty for crying out loud, "How's it hanging?" he asks, his voice sounds deep, lazy, and dare he say, sensual.

"I should be asking you the same question. Are you still praying by the phone?"

"Someone does stalk me on social media, I see."

"And someone sings a song and makes a pretty impressive video clip for me, I see. My daughter was watching it, and that's how I found out about it. Just for your information."

"So you're not the one who stalks me online. It's Ciri," Jaskier says, and the fact that he remembers Ciri's name warms up Geralt's heart if he's being honest. "Sweet. Cool. Cool. I'm not hurt by that at all."

"Well..."

"Would you die if you let me be happy for just a moment? Not that I'm not happy to know that your daughter still watches my videos, but it would be nice to hear that you were the one who checked my account willingly."

"I'm sure I would see your video today anyway. Maybe it wouldn't be that soon, I admit, but I would see it."

"Is that so?"

"It is so."

Silence.

But it isn't an uncomfortable one.

"Did you really find it impressive?" Jaskier asks, his voice is full of hope and happiness.

"Well—" 

"Nah, I know it's impressive, forget that I asked," he lets out a long sigh, "If I knew making a video clip for you would make you call me right away, I would do that earlier. Were you playing 'hard to get' or something? You know... I find it kinda cruel to make someone who just got out of the hospital keep waiting on the phone for so long. For your information, that 'kinda' is kinda unnecessary here maybe. I call it 'the polite kinda'. Or 'the unnecessary kinda'. " 

The next moment, Jaskier's playful tone leaves its place to a caring, worried one as he keeps talking: "If something is going wrong with your life, I take it back though. Ignore everything I said in that case. Is everything okay? Are you okay?"

"Ah, about that— Don't worry, everything is alright," Geralt replies, "I was thinking about calling you today, but I couldn't quite find the time. I know that's not an excuse, and I know I could call you earlier, but I didn't want to call you only to say 'I have to hang up,' a minute later."

"I’m happy to hear that nothing is wrong. And well, even that would be better than leaving me hanging. Or a simple 'Hey, the best patient ever' text would do. You took so long that I would be lying if I said I didn't think about getting involved in another accident."

"I'd rather you didn't."

"I would get into millions of accidents just to see you, Geralt. Provided that I could have you as my nurse every time, of course. What's the point otherwise? I'm not a masochist."

"Such a flatterer you are, Mr. Pan—"

"I'm not trying to flatter you. Cross my heart and hope do die, I'm just scattering the facts around like they are glitters. Or cake sprinkles."

"God forbid! Accidents, death... Aren't we gonna talk about nice things at all?"

"I've been waiting for you to call me forever. I have every right to be bitter about it."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise. How about I start making up to you, starting now?" 

"Sounds like you have something in your mind, Mr. Handsome Nurse." 

"I do, indeed. Have you had dinner yet?" 

"Does strawberry yogurt count as dinner?"

"I highly doubt it. You were complaining about hospital food, and yet that's what you choose to have for dinner?"

"I've never said I count yogurt as quality dinner, but it's still better than the things you dare to serve people as 'food', I should admit, I thought you already came to terms with—"

"Maybe you should come over so I can show you how a proper, nice dinner looks like. I'm not half bad at cooking."

Jaskier is silent on the other end of the line.

"Are you still there?" Geralt asks finally, "I'm sorry if this was too forward of me or too soon, I just thought it could be nice. You could meet Ciri too, that way." 

"No! Yeah! I mean—" if Geralt didn't imagine it, Jaskier sighs and murmurs an angry 'get it together you dumbass,' to himself before he continues talking. "Yes, I'm still here. No, this wasn't too forward of you. I was just taken aback a little bit, sorry. I mean, not every day a handsome nurse who I've been waiting for his call for a decade calls and invites me over for dinner. I'd love that, Geralt."

"I'll send you the address, then." Geralt checks his watch, it's nearly 6 p.m. "Is eight okay for you?"

"Sure, that should be fine. Hey, Ciri still doesn't know, right?"

"I don't think I need to answer that."

"Huh? Why is that?"

"Don't you think she would just grab my phone and call you herself if she knew? Or reaching out to you on every social media possible? Shouting from the rooftops, even?"

"She really likes me that much?"

"She just called me, I quote, an 'idiot', 'crazy', and 'jabroni' after watching your video, so..."

"She did what?!"

"I mean, not directly at me since she doesn't know I'm the 'him' in the 'it must be him', but still." 

"Seems to me like you're in big trouble here."

"Don't even remind me about it."

"I'd be lying if I said that doesn't put some pressure on me though. I mean... What if she doesn't like me?"

"Wha— Ciri already adores you. She adores you so much that it's annoying sometimes."

"It's impossible not to like you," is on the tip of his langue.

"They say never meet your heroes. What if when she actually meets me, she goes 'Meh, that's it?' What if I disappoint her somehow?"

"Worrying about earth getting invaded by the aliens in pink pasta costumes and tutus would much more sense compared to this. Believe me."

Jaskier laughs at that, but Geralt can still sense that he is not completely convinced.

"If you say so."

"I know so, Jaskier. I know so."

[rosesloveletters]

Self-Shipping Reference.

I have been debating on creating a self-shipping reference for these two, but since I am certain of our dynamic at this point, I wanted to delve right in; I love Will and Jakob so very much and I wanted to create a little collection of our relationship like I’ve done before in the past. Most of all, this is for me so that I can have it as a reference, so there is absolutely no obligation to interact with this post. If you do, thank you for showing us so much love and care, I really appreciate it more than anything. This community is so welcoming of self-shipping and that means a lot to me<3.

last updated: June 17, 2021

please do not read if you are not interested in or comfortable with self-shipping.

word count: 2,908

Ship name?

Our collective ship name is Grimmrose, for obvious reasons (my poly heart can hardly take it😭✨💛) 

I do not feel I should need to say this (as it should already be implied), but since I do not want angry anons in my ask box about this, I will state: Will and Jakob are not romantically involved in our dynamic; the love they have for each other is familial only. They both share me, but that is as far as it goes. There is absolutely no incestuous aspects of our relationship. 

Date you got together?

Jakob: May 26, 2021. The open honesty and security within our vulnerabilities were what prompted Jakob and I to jump in headfirst. We knew how we felt almost immediately; Jakob believes in love at first sight and I value that sentiment. It was a mutual understanding that the two of us were meant to be together (even if I hadn’t already known, the darling would have convinced me - he is extremely persuasive and given to a dreamer’s mindset.) The two of us easily came to an agreement on beginning a relationship because of how similar we have found ourselves to be. It was not difficult to access what each other was thinking and how we chose to approach those thoughts and feelings. Jakob is driven by those, after all, and his bright spirit and general interest in the things that cannot be so easily explained drew me to him. 

Will: 

Platonic:  May 26, 2021.

 Romantic: June 14, 2021. 

Will was, to my surprise, not as difficult to access as I expected. He has a much different personality to Jakob’s; the two are near opposite ends of the spectrum. Will’s mission has been to protect Jakob, mostly from himself, but Jakob does not understand that the reason Will is so hard on him is because Will feels helpless around him. Jakob’s mind is so bright and open, while Will does not understand how to compete with that nor how to understand or fit into Jakob’s world of folklore and mythical, magical beings. He feels weak in comparison to Jakob’s spirit; Will values my ability to cross those lines and connect with both him and Jakob. Will has never known another to be so well-suited for his brother and he is respectful of how we interact, since until now he has been the only one who has been able to reach Jakob. We were platonic for several weeks out of respect for Jakob, but soon entered into a mutual agreement to share the love that we all have for each other; the brothers agreed to share me since they have both developed such strong feelings. 

Favorite personality trait?

Jakob: His sense of security within vulnerabilities. Jakob is more given to childlike excitement and the thrill of action whenever it is of a magical quality. He fidgets, has a distinct nervous energy/uncomfortable body language, a clear mind but one that fancies fiction over reality. Whenever he drinks, he’s giddy and excited; the only one who can get through to him in these moments are Will and I. The thing is, Jakob has never tried to be anybody but himself. He is aware that these qualities are not valued by the vast majority and are perhaps seen as weaknesses or even are simply frowned upon (much of this he experienced as a result of the way Will treated him over the years), but even all of that has never caused his personality to shift or made him close himself off. Jakob has always found security within who he is, regardless of whether those around like it or not.

Will: His protective commitment to those who he loves. Even though Will canonically admitted his frustrations over Jakob and how he “hates” his younger bother, stating how Jakob “drives him mad”, he is fiercely protective of him and committed to maintaining their relationship in spite of any disagreements or arguments. Will does not give up on those he loves. Even though it would have made sense for him to toss Jakob into the streets and leave him if he truly hates him, but Will does not. Despite his confession, he has never actually hated his brother; Jakob makes him feel weak, helpless and inferior because Jakob’s comprehension of things beyond Will’s understanding or compulsion to understand or look beyond what is right in front of him is too different and unusual to him. 

Favorite physical trait?

Jakob: His eyes. Jakob’s eyes are so expressive; they sparkle in the light and his irises twinkle. His soul appears as if it were made from stardust and every bit of him glows. His eyes reflect the innocence and playful mischief bound within him; he is a dreamer at heart and his eyes mirror that. 

Will: His smile. There is a scene when Jakob and Will first arrive at Marbaden and they are confronted by the townspeople with weapons, uncertain of who these two strangers are, and when Will tries to explain who they are his smile is simply dazzling. I believe that was the moment I found myself in love with him; I have not seen a smile so bright in a long time. Here’s a screenshot of his smile (Jakob’s expression in the background is so funny😂):

Couple song

We do not have a couple song yet; we have couple albums. 

Taylor Swift’s albums Folklore and Evermore are sister albums, so it only makes sense that they are representative of the two brothers respectively: Folklore for Jakob and Evermore for Will. 

Both albums are suited to the three of us; the feelings provoked from both establish the tone of our relationship. 

Pet peeves…

There is only one: their constant bickering/arguing and fights. It is natural for siblings to fight, but the longer I spend with these two, the more consistently they seem to fight in front of me. I do not believe the fighting affects their relationship as perhaps it did in the past; they seem very content, even after they’ve been fighting a while, and neither of them holds a grudge anymore. 

Favorite outfit on them?

I will share photos since it would take some time to explain in enough detail; I am a sucker for older/medieval clothing (perhaps this is why this movie spoke to me in such a way?)

These are my favorite outfits of theirs:

their armor is a close second, because it really makes me laugh:

Favorite meal?

Jakob: This bit is indicative of all of us and I was the one who introduced the brothers to this meal - vegetable soup; beef/broth, noodles, peas, carrots, tomatoes, corn, green beans, potatoes. The brothers are used to eating whatever is being served them at the pubs they visit and the inns at each town they stay and, needless to say, are not often prepared a meal especially one to their specific tastes. The first time I made this for them, they ate heartily and it has been their favorite since. 

Will: This is less of a specific meal and more of a eating habit of his, but Will is partial to sweet treats and desserts of all kind. His favorite treat is soft bread with a sticky, sugary glaze (wait until I tell him about glazed donuts😂) 

Early bird or night owl?

Neither of the Grimms are particularly one or the other. They both have been known to stay awake all hours of the night for one reason or another; Jakob stays up writing most nights when brand new ideas flood his mind and prevent sleep. He works whenever inspiration strikes and if that is the middle of the night, then Will or I will find him hunched over his desk, pen scratching away across the page as he squints to read what he has written under the low candlelight. 

Will stays awake late born out of a habit he has yet to change. He does not like to sleep very soundly until he knows that Jakob and I are either asleep or keeping each other company; Will takes responsibility of us quite seriously. Since we’ve begun a relationship, they do not go out as much as they once had and when we do, they are awake nearly the entire night and whenever they crash, they are both out cold. 

If I wake up throughout the night, Jakob sleeps so soundly that he would not know (he wears earplugs if we’re staying at an inn because the noise bothers him.) Will always wakes up whenever I do; the shifting around wakes him, but he does not usually open his eyes or speak to me until I come back to bed and he settles me back into my spot. 

Snorer or sleep talker?

Jakob: SLEEP TALKER! Jakob talks in his sleep nearly every night, most especially if he has had something to drink beforehand or if Will has gotten under his skin about something. Stress/anxiety also trigger it; I don’t hear him often, because he only does it in a deep sleep which is usually whenever I’ve already fallen asleep. 

Will: Will does not snore or talk in his sleep; he is unusually quiet, however, he will groan or mumble softly if he’s turning over or something like that. He does not move a lot when he’s sleeping either. 

Do you have any pets together?

No, our lifestyle is not suited to pets, unless horses used for transportation count. 

Pet names! (Both from them and yours for them)

Will’s for me: little one/little girl, peanut

Jakob’s for me: sweetheart, darling, lover

Mine for Jakob: Jakey, Beanstalk (turning Will’s mean comments into something sweet💕), Dreamer, Sweetie/Sweet One/Sweet Baby

Mine for Will: Blondie, Prince Charming (only in certain scenarios)

Ones Jakob and Will use collectively for me: Briar Rose, Rosebud, Unicorn, Beauty/Belle (a play off my favorite fairytale), Princess

Ones I use collectively for Jakob & Will: Grimmy

How often do you fight? What starts fights?

I have yet to have any fights with either of the brothers (though I have had mild disagreements with Will over the way he speaks to Jakob.)

Jakob and Will fight often and about everything, but more often than not, the source of the argument is their personality difference. Their interests clash significantly and they find it difficult to coexist at times because Will feels he must fill the role of Jakob’s caretaker, while Jakob simply wants Will to be his brother and believe in him. 

I usually do not get involved in their squabbles unless Will speaks out of turn. He can be somewhat hateful in the remarks he makes to his brother and I am not afraid to set the record straight. Jakob has gotten much better at standing up for himself; he is not afraid to get physical if things escalate to that point, though I have yet to see them lay a hand on each other. Jakob knows that one swift punch is all that he needs to deliver for Will to fall in line and understand that he is serious; he saves them for when he needs them and has only punched Will outright one time, that I am aware of. 

Who apologizes first?

This depends on who feels they are “wrong”. Will does not like to apologize, so usually it is Jakob who initiates the apology. Occasionally, neither will apologize and it is implied that they both have and things will continue on like normal as if nothing ever happened (this is best case scenario.) 

I have not known them to simply not apologize to each other for wrongdoing; Will has apologized to Jakob on a number of occasions where I have been present. If Will apologizes, it is usually for speaking too harshly to Jakob or bringing up the “magic beans” he has terrorized Jakob with for years. 

Big spoon or little spoon?

Jakob: Jakob adores being the little spoon. Even though he likes to hold onto me at night, nothing seems to compare to being held. Jakob has gone the majority of his life without being shown affection and tender love; he is so touch-starved that he asks to be held almost every night. 

Will: Will is the only F/O (aside from J) who I allow to be the big spoon on a regular basis. I trust him implicitly and know that he will keep me safe; he likes to hold onto me while we sleep so that he knows and can feel he isn’t alone. He does not like to sleep whenever it is too cold and he wants a warm body pressed against him. 

Dom or sub?

Jakob: Submissive.

Will: Dominant.

Will has had his misgivings over Jakob and I, both being submissives, entering into a relationship together, but it has not presented an issue so far. Most of the time, Jakob and I love all over each other so it doesn’t matter one way or another😂 It is rare for Jakob and I to be sexually intimate. 

Will takes on the more dominant role, since he has been so with Jakob over the years of their lives before they’d met me. Will is the nurturer and takes care of us both; he remains protective of us despite certain insecurities and fears. Will takes on more of the sexual responsibilities of their relationship with me because of his experience with women.

What are their kisses like?

Jakob: Jakob’s kisses begin as achingly shy, reverential ones that develop into slowly sensual, spontaneous or exploratory ones. Jakob likes to hold my hands when we kiss and I like the way his facial hair pleasantly scratches my face; he is always extremely gentle and never oversteps. I especially love when he kisses me with such eager impulsivity that our cheeks turn red and we laugh when it’s over. 

Will: Will’s kisses can either be covetous and greedy, fervent, and deeply passionate or chaste and flirtatious. He always cups my cheeks, chin or tangles his fingers in my hair at the back of my head while kissing me; his lips often taste sweet or sugary from how often he indulges on sweets. My favorite of Will’s kisses are the languid, open-mouthed ones when he uses his tongue. 

What do they smell like?

Jakob: Parchment, books and ink, candlewax, earth just after it has rained, sweet basil, a vaguely sweet musk, warm skin.

Will: Warm sugar, sweat/spicy musk, pine, flame. 

What are their hugs like?

Jakob: Bear-like, full-bodied, fiercely affectionate and warm. 

Will: Long, tight, unexpectedly powerful and almost needy. 

Who is more protective?

Will. 

Both brothers are fiercely protective of me and I know that, in spite of their differences, neither would ever let anything happen to me. As long as they are facing danger together, they would willingly take on any enemy (Jakob would never let Will face danger alone and vice versa.)

Interested in children?

No. Will says that Jakob and I are enough like children as it stands😂

Who needs the most TLC when sick?

Will AND Jakob. They are both huge babies whenever they are sick and all they want is to be taken care of. Surprisingly, they bicker a lot more whenever they’re sick; mainly, they fight over who gets to cuddle me first.

Whenever I am sick, I tend to react the same way and the brothers are more than obliged to take care of me in any way they are able. Will takes the more ‘hands-on’ work like fetching me a drink, food, blankets, etc. and helping me move about as I need. Jakob does not like to leave my side and he will not do so unless instructed by Will and he will fetch me whatever is needed and then return to cuddle with me. 

Who says ‘I love you’ first?

I was the first one to say ‘I love you’ to either of the brothers. I told Jakob first; we nearly admitted it at the same time. We knew how we both felt upon the first of our meetings. 

It took me a while to say ‘I love you’ to Will. Our relationship began platonically; I did not feel comfortable saying so to him until I spoke with Jakob about it first. Intuitive of human emotions is he and he was already well-aware of how we felt about each other and, with his blessing and consent, the brothers agreed to share the love and, well, me. 

Which of you is more accident prone?

I bet you’re thinking either me or Jakob. WRONG! It’s Will. Jakob and I are very steady on our feet because we are full of rambunctious energy; Will is more laid back than either of us and he gets more indignant whenever he does accidentally hurt himself. 

Bed hog?

Jakob is more of a bed hog than Will or I. He is consistently moving around in his sleep, talking, etc. There is one unspoken rule: Jakob sleeps on the left side of the mattress, I am in the middle and Will is on the right. Both use me as a barrier and do not cross to the other’s side of the bed at any point and they each take turns cuddling with me until we all fall asleep. 

Who loves the other the most?

As if it even needs to be said, we all love each other equally, but in different ways. Jakob’s and Will’s relationship and love for each other is strictly familial, while the brothers’ relationships with me are both romantic. 

Will understands and accepts that my relationship with Jakob takes priority, as we began ours first and I am unspokenly Jakob’s above all else. Any and all major decisions are made between Jakob and I; we of course always consider Will’s emotions, well-being, etc. but Jakob prefers to take the reins in terms of calling the shots, in spite of Will being the dominant and more protective one. He feels like Will owes him this and Will is happy to allow his brother this courtesy, considering this is Jakob’s first true relationship. 

[bitchfitch]

Conall woke to the smell of cinnamon and burning hair. His nose scrunched and his lips curled in a silent snarl he wasn't awake enough to suppress as he sat up in the bed he kept trying to escape. 

His every bone protested as he stood, and his muscles shook, with the aftermath of another full moon spent hunting through the woods like a common beast after being twisted into the shape of one by this stupid fucking curse. He managed to get his feet steady under him as he sought out the absolute bastard that kept dragging him back here. 

Arlo was where he always was, sat in front of the vanity in one of the bedrooms with his fingers combing through his stupidly long hair. He huffed as a greeting, not even bothering to look at Conall as he picked at a few strands and started the work of braiding it all into a manageable length. 

One of these days Conall was going to take a pair of shears to it all. Just to be cruel, just to stoop to Arlo's level.

"Why am I here," Conall demanded, "I left, I told you I had no interest in staying," 

"Yes well you see, I didn't bring you back here," Arlo retorted, "You crawled back all on your own, and collapsed on my doorstep like you do every damm month," 

"You know full well its your stupid curse that keeps brainwashing me back here," Conall stormed up to his side and was step away from grabbing him before that stupid curse twinged and forced any ideas of hurting the stupid unicorn out of his skull with a painful snap, 

"It's not a curse, Its not My curse, and there's nothing to do about it that I Haven't already done," 

"I'm sorry, do you just expect me to believe you have nothing to do with the curse that makes me want to protect you? That turns me into a dog everytime you are at your most powerful? You Truly believe I'm that stupid?"

"I believe you're that stupid, because you can't see that that's the truth, I didn't give you this blessing, I didn't make it. I didn't even know it was still kicking around until I Saved your sister from it," he spat,

"Fucking Explain it then, Explain why you are such a fucking liar," Conall had to swallow down bile as Arlo's hurt bumped up against the stupid curse.

"Im Not A Liar. And it's a long fucking story," Arlo snapped at him, 

"Then get fucking talking," Conall didn't care that he was scraping gouges in the wooden floor as he dragged a chair closer and dropped into it with a heavy huff. 

Arlo rolled his eyes and sneered as he started, his tone that of someone telling a bed time story to a brat they didn't particularly like, "Once upon a time, there was a queen who ruled an expansive and beautiful kingdom. She was perfect, and regal, and swelteringly kind, and most of all she was devoted to making sure her people Thrived no matter the cost.

So, one day, she gathered her kingdoms most powerful sorcerers, calling them each by name as she beheaded them and drained them of every drop of blood they had to give before rending the meat from their bones so that those may be used too.

When she was done she poured it all into her cauldron, and preyed and chanted and sang as she cut her own heart from her chest and dropped it into her brew.

The blood boiled around this offering so willingly and lovingly given, and the magic found her soul and bound it back together as the first of her children rose from the pot with her mounted on his back. 

He was a bull, white like the clouds above and as thick around the middle an entire chariot was wide, with golden hooves and single horn jutting from his forhead as he galloped and pranced with the reborn queen laughing on his back. 

The second was a similarly single horned war horse, white and gold but smaller than the bull that came before him. Still, he was stunning as he joined the joyful parade with blood clinging to his coat. 

The donkey was next, again with one horn growing from the center of his skull like a stake. Short and lean but powerful as he charged along with his brothers and their perfect mother. 

Then the deer burst forth, his single horn forked as he bounded so proudly around the room, leaping and prancing over the ruined remains of their imperfect fathers and other mothers. 

Finally a goat clambered out after them all, bleating and struggling to keep pace with his long legged family. He was the runt, the weakest, made from the dregs of the sorcerers' magic. 

The queen saw her runt and opened her arms to him and carried him on his brother's back. None of her children would ever be forgotten, or allowed to be trampled as long as she was there to protect them.

The family, complete and beautiful and perfect burst from the chamber and into their palace, the joyful cries of the people echoing through the halls at the sight of their reborn queen. They screamed and screamed as they welcomed her children into their court by offering up a feast of a first meal for their hungry mouths. 

The Queen's already prosperous land Flourished as though spring had finally hit after a year of winter. Her beloved and perfect and powerful children served their people with joy in their hearts. No one in the entire land ever went hungry, no field was ever blighted with rot, no wound left un-mended nor was even a single disease allowed to spread. The coffers were full and gold paved the streets, the water of their rivers and lakes ran crystal clear and sweet like honey.

The Perfect Queen and her Perfect children were worshiped by their people, but such beautiful perfection bred vile envy. 

A vile and selfish little human crept into the children's rooms one night. A lasso in one hand and a dagger in the other as it hunted through the corridors, looking for which one it would steal away from its family. 

But oh that silly little thing, weak and stupid as it was. It found the children curled up together with their mother watching over them. 

The Queen cought it before it could even take a single step, her wings beat as she dragged it out the window with her, her claws digging into its soft body threatening to destroy it completely. But in her divine mercy, she lifted it higher and higher and higher, twisting and bending its imperfect shape into something even more grotesque. 

She landed with it held in her arms and she called to her children, who of course always headed their mother's call.  

She laid the creature at their feet and told them that it would protect them now, that it was their pet and that they should look after it, that they should love it so that it would love them. 

That was the first werewolf, it stood guard over their rooms and when others like what it had been came close it would tear into them and spread its gift. They would turn too then, and join it in its guarding. 

Though, the children only ever loved the first of their precious dogs. The rest were too much fun to not play with. So, long as at least one lived, they could do whatever they pleased with the others. So they did. They tore them apart and painted their rooms in their blood and takes their hides with their brains and the children made their mother necklaces and crowns and bracelets and rings and every other little bobble they could from those precious wolves' bones.

The children loved their mother, so of course they wanted to lavish her with every gift they could. She had already given them so much, it was only fair.

The perfect family and their perfect pets weren't allowed to be happy forever though. A man, A king, their mother told the children to call him that, came into their home and soon their mother was heavy with his imperfect children. 

She assured her eldests that this was only a means to an end, that she needed an heir. Someone who would look after her perfect children when she was gone. She told them that while the children the king gave her would never be perfect, she would make them so. Just like she made herself perfect, just like she made all of them perfect, she would make these new lives perfect too.

To prove her devotion to the children born from the blood of her heart instead of the water of her womb, she gave the first of the king's imperfect offspring to them.

Oh how the king sobbed as they ripped it to shreds. Its awful little body not even worth being made into a gift for their mother.

The second was allowed to grow. Their mother would bring him to her perfect children every day and have each of them lay a blessing on him until he too was perfect. 

Only then did they welcome him as a brother. Only then did they begin to follow his orders like they did their mother's.

Oh how foolish those perfect children were.

Death came for their mother one night, her blood stained the long dead king's son's hands. 

Were he anyone else, they would have destroyed him just like they did that first child the king gave their mother. But their own blessings made him immune to their curses and their powerful bodies. Their mothers own blood protected him even when it hadn't protected her.

The Queen's perfect children cried and shrieked their mourning, and refused to lay their gifts on any of the cruel and selfish humans. It was their blood that ran in their littlest and most vile brother's veins, why should they serve any that would dare to share a history with him?

The new King did not have the patience for his perfect siblings. So he stole away their hounds and sent them to war, all but the one they loved, he killed that one in front of them and made them watch as it begged and suffered. 

Then, when they continued to refuse to obey him, he took everything they had. He took their hair and their eyes and their horns, and the skin off of their flesh, then the flesh off of their bones and then he took those too. And he took until there was nothing left and those perfect siblings of his were gone,"

Arlo looked back to his mirror his shoulders tense and his hands shaking with ancient grief, "Then, one day many years later, when the Perfect Queen and her perfect children were only whispered myths, a pair of witches gathered all of their magic and the corpse of their beloved sister. 

They went to the place that the Perfect Queen's castel had once stood and called on the fragments of her children, They pulled the goat, the weakest of his siblings from the aether and begged for him to revive their sister. 

He looked at the humans, and saw only their selfish ways. But he could not return to his rest. No, they held him there and demanded he do what they asked. Said they would never let him go if he didn't. Said they would damn all of his brothers to that horrid… inbetweenness of not being fully alive and not fully dead while being all to aware of it.

So, he looked them in the eye and made them a deal, Their sister's heart would beat and her body would walk again, but they must never attempt to summon his brothers. 

They were stupid, and agreed.

The goat took the dead sister's body as his. Her heart beat, and she walked and talked, but it was him who was in control.

He damned himself to this existence, knowing the witches had no way of killing him, nor did they have a way to summon his brothers while the body was being used. 

Years passed again, now with the goat alone in the palace he had shared with his perfect family. Unable to leave because if he did some other ungrateful and selfish human might try to take from him again. They might not care about destroying the body he wore like the witches did, and if the body was destroyed, the witches might try to summon and damn his brothers. 

So the goat lived in the buried castle and watched the world above through his mirror, and eventually he began talking to the witches, he was so dreadfully lonely that even their vile company held value. 

Other horrid little humans would stumble close sometimes. He'd kill them on sight, Or curse them until their blood boiled in their veins, or he'd give them something that looked like a blessing just so they would lead more to him. It was the only fun he could have without risking his physical body being known. 

But then the witches finally promised the goat a kindness. They told him that the wolves his mother had made for her perfect children still spread their blessings, but that with the unicorns dead and gone they had turned to vile beasts as they desperately searched for their charges. 

The goats heart ached but then it soared when the witches told him that there was one being brought to him.

A little girl, they told him it was, a child so young that if he loved and cared for it it would grow up to love and care for him in return. He remembered the precious wolf he shared with his brothers and Gladly accepted the offer for them to let him care for it.

Offering them a loc of his hair and blood from his veins. He knew how to not be selfish, unlike the humans, he knew that you always offer something in return.

They took what he gave, but when they brought him his pup, she was in the arms of a strange man. 

He collapsed onto his knees and begged for his sister to be cured tears staining his..."

Arlo hesitates, looking at Conall and picking his next words carefully, 

"His face, that the goat had initially found repulsive but no longer minds. The goat was about to kill the awful and pathetic creature, about to take his precious pup to show her to the room the goat had put together just for her. But then the man's words registered.

He wasn't begging, he wasn't asking to take. He was offering everything he had for the goat to save his sister from a perceived suffering. 

And the goat didn't see the witches making cruel demands and threats. He didn’t see that monster of a half brother demanding he and his perfect brothers work for the creature that killed their mother. 

He saw himself, and he saw his perfect brothers, and their mother. He saw his family always looking out and protecting eachother. 

The man asked for the goat to cure his sister of her blessing, and in return he would give everything he could. 

The goat's heart broke. He wanted, truly wanted, to help a human for the first time since his mother's passing. But he couldn't do what the man asked. His mother was far more powerful, and even now centuries after her death and many many generations removed, her blessing still held stronger than the goat could ever hope to be able t overpower. 

So he made the man, the pure and clever human who knew not to take without giving something in return, an offer. 

The goat couldn't destroy the blessing, but if the man could offer up another to take his sister's place, the goat could transfer it to them." 

Arlo looked back to his mirror, where he saw only Conall's reflection, as he finished the last braid, "I think you know the rest," 

A long moment passed as Conall tried to reconcile the story he was just told with the monster- no, the man, he sat across from.

"Were you really going to take care of Asena?" Conall asked, his voice low and quiet, as though speaking too loudly would break the careful peace between them, 

"I was going to raise her as though she were my own. I was so excited to teach her magic, and to give her all the blessings I could... I guess the witches are doing that now though," He leaned forward against the worn wood of his vanity and rested his chin on his folded arms, "I was going to have a family again," he wiped at his eyes before the tears could spill,

"I'm sorry, Conall," he sighed

"Why?" Conall tried not to sound surprised at such a genuine sounding apology,

"I know those weren't the answers you wanted. I know you wanted me to tell you that it had all been a trick and I could just snap my fingers and cure you of my mother's blessing," 

"No, those weren't the answers I wanted but..." Conall didn't know what to say next, so he said nothing and just settled a hand on one of Arlo's thin shoulders. He squeezed it softly as he felt Arlo go rigid under his touch for just a moment before practically melting beneath his palm. 

Conall had the sinking realization that this might very well be the first time anyone has touched Arlo since his entire family was killed. 

Conall had the sinking realization that the same might be true for himself.

"Please," Arlo whimpered burrying his face in the crook of his arm, "Please, I don't want you to feel trapped here, but please stay, I'll offer whatever I can, but Conall please stop leaving me alone here," 

"I..." he tried to swallow down the words before they could damn them both, but he was so much weaker than The Perfect Queen's blessing,

"Of course,"

[originalhybridnik]

harry potter: why it’s not “just for kids.”

the other day, this girl i know told me, “why the hell are you reading harry potter? it’s for kids only.” i’m 17, and, well, close to adulthood. i don’t reply to her, because, often, when someone asks me something like this, i have a huge explanation, lasting for a long time, and people don’t like it. so, i’m gonna give my explanation here.

harry potter. the boy who lived. the whole series is loved by millions of people in the world, from different age groups and from different parts of the world. it’d be an understatement to say that i love the series. i’ve read the books, seen the movies, even read the supplementary books, as well as harry potter and the cursed child. i’ve seen the fantastic beasts movies as well. and i’ve read the books not once, not twice, not even thrice. i’ve read the series 8 times. 

here are the reasons as to why harry potter isn’t for any specific age group.

(spoiler alert to everyone out there) trigger warnings: foul language, death, slavery, discrimination.

1. harry potter, the kid who was orphaned at the age of one, the boy who had no family but his nasty muggle uncle, aunt and cousin, the name known to every wizard and witch, the one-year-old who weakened voldemort to the brink of death. this boy has gone through more pain, sorrow and grief than any fictional character i’ve read of. provided, it doesn’t seem so. but, take it from someone who has read the series as much as i have, he isn’t what he apparently seems to be. j.k. rowling gives us a glimpse of his life before hogwarts, just a mere glimpse. this small portion shows us the amount of bullying he has to go through. he has absolutely no friends, and his cousin’s gang was always behind him. his aunt and uncle starve him for the tinniest of mistakes and he did not even know the real cause of his parents’ death. he has no one to talk to, or be with. he lives in a cupboard under the stairs. his aunt and uncle are certain to “bash out” the magic in him by keeping him away from the wizarding world. he is constantly treated like trash, and he has to do all of the dursleys’ work whether he wanted to or not.

2. he gets a letter from hogwarts, and he isn’t allowed to read it. he keeps getting more and more of them, and he still isn’t allowed to read them. the letters arrive at such a pace that uncle vernon decides to move into a small hut on a rock in the middle of a sea. he then gets his letter hand delivered by hagrid, the keeper of keys at hogwarts. he finally catches a break, and goes to hogwarts, the prized boy who apparently killed voldemort. during his first year at hogwarts, he and his closest friends, ron and hermione embark on a quest to keep the philosopher’s stone from voldemort’s reach. the three 11-year-olds have to get past a three headed dog, past the devil’s snare, one of the deadliest plants in the wizarding world, past a door that could be opened only by catching a flying key scattered across many other flying keys, play on a life size board of wizard’s chess-where ron sacrifices himself so that harry could continue, which almost kills ron, past a room with 7 containers of potions which could kill them if they weren’t smart, and finally to a room where harry meets professor quirell who has provided his body as a refuge for voldemort, who manifests on the back of his head. harry faces the man who killed his parents before he could even speak, and he almost gets possessed by voldemort, because he’s probably the only one who could have the stone, as the mirror of erised could give it only to the person who wanted the stone, but not for a selfish reason. he kills quirell, but voldemort gets away. you see, this shows how deep the first book is. i mean, as a kid, i never understood the sacrifices made, by any of the characters. but, as i read the book again, i understood why what happened happened. it became obvious to me. this shows that we can enjoy the book as a child, without realizing the deepness, and as teens and adults, we get the sacrifices made, the blood shed, the connections forged, and most importantly, how important it is to recognize the values left behind, and, for once, try understanding that this series, even if written for kids, is suitable, and, important for older readers as well.

3. ronald weasely, the sixth child in a relatively poor, and commonplace wizarding family that turns out to be the most loyal, brave and worthy wizarding families ever. he grew up as a wizard and knew a lot about the wizarding world, especially it’s prejudices. he’s the perfect example of a trustworthy, loyal and brave friend. he deserves a lot more than the unnecessary hate he gets. he befriends harry potter, a famous kid that didn’t know anything about his true self, and sticks with him forever. throughout the series, we see this brave boy sacrifice a lot for his best friend. book 1, he sacrifices himself, AN ELEVEN YEAR OLD, for a boy that he knew for less than a year. book 2, he’s ready to walk into a forest, following his WORST fear, spiders, into their fucking home. book 3, he’s ready to follow a mass murderer(not really a mass murderer, but yeah) to help his best friends. book 4, even though he gets jealous and stops talking to harry for a while, we totally get what he was gong through. book 5, he fucking walks breaks into the ministry of magic with his best friends to fight the most feared group of dark wizards and witches ever. book 6, he’s ready to fight anYone for his best friends. book 7, HE’S READY TO RUN AWAY AND FIGHT THE MOST FEARED WIZARD EVER, for his best friend.

all of this, ALL OF THIS, just shows how mature he is, how much we can learn from him, and, most importantly, how wrong it is to title this series as one “for kids”. we see a mere boy sacrifice himself, put his life in danger, time and again, for his best friends. if that isn’t something every human being should be exposed to, then what is?

4. hermione granger, another important character, throughout the series, born into a muggle family, living her life as a smart, bookworm, one day, gets a letter, getting accepted into the best wizarding institution, and, unlike the dursleys, her parents are proud of her and she’s all set for this magical experience. she never anticipates the hate or the prejudice that, is shown towards her and children like her, born into a muggle family. “mudblood,” they call them, exactly the kind of discrimination imminent to THIS DAY all over the world. whether it’s on an international standard, or within a country, whether it is race, caste, gender or preferences, whether it’s against a group or an individual, it’s exactly like this. the whole concept of blood status shows us how deep the books are. it shows us how mature we need to be to understand this. it shows us how we need to think more about this and implement this in real life. a kid from a “pureblood” family, namely, draco malfoy, is the first person to use this, in book 2. it just shows us how parents like his encourage their kids to discriminate people based on their lineage. i won’t point to a specific issue but all of us know of examples, whether we’re the offenders or the offended.

5. slavery is a very important issue touched upon in the series. even though we see harry free dobby from the malfoys, there’s very little importance given to the base, the root cause of what dobby went through. he was a slave to a rich family that considered itself above anyone without “pure blood.” but, we see this very issue taken up in a book 4. we see hermione take a stand against the improper and infuriating treatment of house elves, by organizing a committee called S.P.E.W(society for the promotion of elfish welfare). we see her force people into taking part in this, and even though it’s by force, we all see where she came from. if you don’t know, house elves believed they had only one true purpose in life, to slave around for their owners, without being respected or treated well, and no matter what. we see winky, another elf, previously working(for lack of a better word, cuz that wasn’t working) for bartemius crouch, who’s absolutely against the idea of being paid or even being free. despite seeing dobby and how he enjoyed freedom, she was absolutely against it. again, we see how such an important and deep issue was addressed in a way that makes use all understand, despite our age, that EVERYONE is equal, no matter what. if you STILL think it’s a book for kids only, please continue reading.(continue anyways)

6. can we talk about how the magic-folk have had to live in hiding forever because people are afraid of them? they’re treated like they’re inhuman, trash and most importantly, like they deserve to die for being born with a power for magic? 

7. as long as we’re talking about discrimination, we can also look into the fact that, squibs(non-magic folk born into magical families) are looked down upon? they’re tortured, and they receive as much hate, if not more, as “mudbloods.”

8. a special trigger warning for this: TW /death. THROUGHOUT the series, we see some of our most beloved characters die. spoiler alert: in book 1, we see how james and lily were ruthlessly killed by voldemort, orphaning a one year old boy that’d be famous for something he never knew he did. honestly, it wasn’t even his doing. in the same book, we see the killing of unicorns, the consequences of killing a unicorn and drinking it’s blood, AND the killing of professor quirell/voldemort, and even though he/they were the bad person, it deserves to be a part of this list. book 2, we see a young tom riddle get killed in the end, we see how young myrtle got killed, we see students getting fucking petrified by a monster, an inch away from death. book 3, we see how sirius black apparently killed 13 people and was an accomplice to his best friend’s murder. book 4, we see cedric die as a direct affect from the killing curse. we see harry get tortured by the cruciatus curse. we see the most feared wizard reborn, and, not to mention, we see his weakened form in the movie. book 5, we see the rampage that voldemort causes, killing more and more people, muggles and magic-folk alike. more importantly, we see harry’s godfather, sirius black die. we see the pain harry goes through. book 6, again, we see not only voldemort’s actions, but the use of sectumsempra by harry on draco, and how snape killed dumbledore. book 7, we see SO MUCH death. from alastor (mad-eye) moody to fred weasely, from severus snape to remus lupin and nymphadora tonks, so many fucking deaths. we see harry potter die.

9. can we talk about the phrase “lamb for slaughter”? most of us have heard of this phrase at least once. i cannot think of another explanation of this than the way it’s shown in these books. albus dumbledore literally prepares and protets harry for seventeen fucking years just so he can get get killed by voldemort in the end. this teaches an important lesson to everyone that, sometimes, you need to do what you think is right. even if an adult cares about you more than anything, sometimes they do things they believe in and end up hurting kids.

10. can we talk about how bill weasely got bit in the face by an untransformed werewolf and got deformed for life? even after this, fleur didn’t leave him. if this isn’t a lesson to us about what true love is, then, what is?

11. let’s talk about love. firstly, about how much harry, hermione and ron love each other. they’re the true example of best friends. they were together through everything, there for each other in the worst of times, and for the happiest of moments, and will probably be together until they die. secondly, can we talk about how when people are truly in love, they don’t care about appearances. all they care about is what’s on the inside. this is clearly shown by fleur(check point 10). ALSO, we see tonks sacrifice herself with remus, in the final battle. we see dumbledore care about harry so much, love him so much, despite everything else. we see the love family has. we see harry and hermione become a part of the weasleys. we see harry and ginny fall in love. we even see snape’s love for lily. we see so much love. now, this is something very important for all of us. whether we’re raised in that way, or we are exposed to it later in life, we need to learn that love is important in life.

12. can we talk about the torture neville’s parents, among countless others, went through? because of voldemort? and his death eaters? do you still think these books are for kids?

13. can we talk about how a group of 15 year-olds form a group to learn how to fight in the real world, because of a careless ministry of magic and a cruel teacher? it shows us values of leadership, team work, and most of all, how important friendship is. we see a part of this group march into a battle against death eaters, and, possibly, even voldemort himself, without fear of death. for one moment, look at how brave one is when one is with one’s true friends. this teaches us so much.

14. CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW A CRUEL TEACHER MAKES A 15-YEAR OLD BOY SCAR HIMSELF WITH THE WORDS “I WILL NOT TELL LIES” JUST BECAUSE SHE WAS TOO ADAMENT TO BELIEVE THE TRUTH? do you still fucking think this series is for kids?

15. can we talk about how all the magical creatures are treated cruelly? from elves to centaurs, it’s cruelty at it’s finest. are you still convinced it’s a book for kids just because it has magic?

16. can we talk about how much trauma a reader experiences throughout the series? i mean, i’m absolutely grateful that i went through this trauma, because i came out as a better person, in not one, but, multiple ways. we journey through seven years of happiness, sorrow, pain, love, and so much more. we see our favorites get killed, we see how sometimes, people are misunderstood. we see how everyone is born good, but it’s our childhood and the way we’re raised that makes us bad. this is not something all kids understand. an older person can read this series, go through all of this, and will come out as a better human being.

17. how many of you remember the way snape was treated as a kid? huh? by harry’s own father and his friends. this is a shout out to all the bullies out there that think they can do whatever they want and not care about consequences just because they’re stronger, or more famous, or more good-looking. this fucking teaches kids to NOT bully anyone.

this is more than just a series for me. it let me into this new universe where i experienced so fucking much.

if this wasn’t enough for you to at least consider the fact that these books are not “just for kids,” i’m sorry, but you’re just being morons. you don’t wanna even consider something that goes against what you say and that’s your problem, not ours. so, STOP HATING ON THE WIZARDING WORLD COMMUNITY AND GET A FUCKING JOB.

[bansheeoftheforest]

OC Masterlist

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Welcome to my OC masterlist! I have a lot of ocs! I hoard them like a goblin and I will never stop! SO!!! OCS!!!! So far we got two collections of OCS; The O’Jekylls, which is Dr. Jekyll’s fam, and my very own DND character who I turned into a Lodger! <3

All OCS can be found under the tag #Banshees OCS!

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               --Lodgers--

——————Humans——————

Cederic Beumont

Cederic Beumont is a French artist (and prostitute) turned mad scientist throughout multiple events happening in his early adulthood. He is the oldest twin out of him and his sister, Cassandra, and the two of them were raised by their single father in a small village in France. After the death of their father by the age of twenty, Cederic and his sister travel around Europe until they move to America, where they lived for five years. During those five years, Cederic and Cassandra-- previously inseparable-- have a falling out which ends in Cederic storming out and leaving Cassandra to run the hotel they had set up on the coast of Florida. The falling out, combined with a lot of other stressful and dramatic things happening around him, manages to make Cederic’s mental health crumble until he practically goes insane. Previously an artist, Cederic turns to science in hopes of being able to achieve something that would make him “more” than his sister, who always has been the “smarter” one out of the two of them, which ends up in him studying Frankenstein’s life like the Holy Bible. He gets obsessed with the study of lightning and he gets obsessed with the idea to one-up God, as he previously had been born and raised Catholic, and he feels like he would be able to do everything that Frankenstein failed to do (take care of Creature, own up to the responsibilities, keep the innocent safe, etc) despite having no proof of him being able to do everything differently.

With the help of his boyfriend, Wilhelm, and Wilhelm's biology studying friends, he manages to continue his experiments. He moves between calling himself a Fulminologic Necromancer and a Necromantic Fulminologist, depending on the people he surrounds himself with, as he studies lightning as a whole and applies the knowledge to necromancy. His early experiments involves reviving dead animals with the use of electricity, although he does dabble in alchemy and chemistry when it’s needed.

Around the time he is 30 years old, he hears the word upon the street about the Society For Arcane Sciences in London, England. His boyfriend helps him scrap in enough money for a one-way ticket to London on the promise that they will still hold contact, to which Cederic immediately agrees. He travels to London by ship and marvels over how fantastically dirty and gross the entire city is, there is slums everywhere! So many animals and mythical creatures!! The moment he is within the city walls, he manages to find Sergeant Enoch Brokenshire and pleads for him to show Cederic the way to the Society. Brokenshire is, of course, very put off by this hyper-energetic bastard he can barely hear over his (normally trained away) french accent, but Brokenshire does not get paid enough to care. He basically just grabs Cederic by the collar and drags him like a stray cat over to the Society and to Dr. Henry Jekyll’s office, to which he basically dumps him on the doorstep and leaves. As Jekyll practically collects scientists, and as they already have a necromancer in the Society, Jekyll welcomes Cederic with open arms and shows him around, unaware how Cederic... is an actual mad scientist, not just using that word as a moniker.

Cederic quickly becomes friends with Sinnett and Luckett, all three of them having a knack to blow things up and play with fire. Cederic also loves to harass Tanis, the local necromancer, as he loves that they practically study the same thing and did you know this and that and wouldn’t it be cool to blow up a corpse? You know Moreau might actually have been onto something with the animals and yadeyadeyada-- Tanis does not like Cederic. Cederic thinks that they are best friends.

Cederic joins the Society sometime before the events of TGS, however, immediately jumps all over both Jasper and Frankenstein like a yappy dog excited to have new friends. He is absolutely in love with Frankenstein, much like everyone else, but quickly has a change of heart as he feels she is a wimp, because he could do this and that so much better and why would you do x y and z when you could have done a b c instead. He has a massive ‘R.I.P to them but I’m different’ complex and feels like Frankenstein can’t own up to her work and her legendary image like she should. He thinks he can one-up her, and basically tries to snatch her stuff and studies when she isn’t looking. Creature would very much like to bonk him over the head with a frying pan.

Cederic also has a pet ghost cat-- or more or less spirit cat as she has never actually been alive-- that he has had since he was a baby. He named her Adelaide-Antoinette because he is french and extra like that, and the two of them are actually inseparable, as Adelaide is connected to Cederic through a bunch of magical hijinx. Adelaide can talk to Cederic, however, no one else can hear or see her, making most people think that Cederic is genuinely insane as he is not afraid to walk around talking to himself. The only one who knows about Adelaide is Maijabi, who saw her in one of his ghost mirrors one time, but he thinks its fun to see the other Lodgers thinking that Cederic is insane, so he doesn’t say anything.

Random Trivia: Cederic is originally my DND character, played in a specific type of campaign called Scion. It takes place in the real life world, and our campaign is set during the 1960′s if WW2 had never ended. Cederic and Cassandra were originally forced to flee by the outbreak of the war and the invasions of France. Scion is also based on mythologies, were the player characters (the Scions) are children of the ancient gods. Cassandra and Cederic are children of the egyptian god Bastet, ergo, the ghost cats.

Tags: #Banshees Cederic

Art of Cederic / Original Info dump on Lodger!Cederic

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——————Animals——————

Adelaide-Antoinette

Adelaide-Antoinette is a spirit and companion cat connected to Cederic. She has been by Cederic’s side for as long as he can remember and her, her sass, and her snobbishness were many of the core influences that shaped Cederic into the person he was before his mental breakdown he is today.

Adelaide is a Birman and lives up to the snobbish reputations of such breeds. When she is particularly feisty, she likes to sit on top of Cederic’s head and use him as her steed, and also loves to call him a peasant. She is also very territorial, and very protective of Cederic too. She is basically the epitome of “No one is allowed to bully him but me”. She is also very vocal and loves to have Cederic seem like he is talking to himself. Cederic has a knack to recite Hamlet and other Shakespeare plays to her, and while it’s fun for him, Adelaide wish she could bite his tongue off after the 10th recitation. After so many years, the recites might be up in the thousands.

Adelaide also did not like all the other creatures in the Society immediately, but quickly realized that it was either them or Cederic forever, to which she quickly began to force herself to warm up to them. Her favourite is Jasper’s unicorn, who most likely share her snobbishness, but a close second is Zosi and Griffin’s cat. When she is particularly mad at Cederic, as he tends to neglect her a little once he gets caught up in his work, she likes to hang around Maijabi as he is the only other living person who can see her. Cederic also uses her to spy on the others sometimes, as she can go through walls and can’t be seen.

Tags: -

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        --The O’Jekylls--

——————Humans——————

Collin O’Jekyll

Collin O’Jekyll is Henry Jekyll’s “paternal uncle” and also his make-shift father. Collin and Henry loved each other from day one and the two of them often spend most of their free time in the pastures with Collin’s horses. Collin is an artist, who dabbles in both writing and art, but mainly breeds and sells horses for income, despite not really needing it due to his inheritance. He has always been supportive of Henry’s scientific interests and was the one to take him out to all of the scientific plays that Henry watched as a child, as his parents were less than supportive of the boy’s interests.  While mainly breeding and raising horses, Collin also buys and takes care of every animal he can get his hands on. One of his oldest pets is a male calico Maine Coon named Paddington, who got dumped by his breeder for being male. All of Collin’s animals seem to hate everyone but him, and of course, Henry. Collin also bred and gifted Henry his own horse once he turned 15; a dapple grey Clydesdale named Mayhem, named after her fiery temper. Much like Paddington, she hates everyone but her owner.

Random Trivia: Collin has a very weak immune system and therefore always wears a scarf, no matter the season or weather. He also knows how to sword fight and taught Henry a few tricks before he left Scotland. He is mainly a very cheerful and optimistic guy but won’t hesitate to throw hands if you try to hurt those he loves.

Tags: #Banshees Collin, #Collin O’Jekyll

Art of Collin / Art of Collin and Paddington

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Douglas O’Jekyll

Douglas O’Jekyll is Henry’s “biological” father and Collin’s older brother, but dislikes his role as both father and brother. He is a policeman and known for his ruthlessness and hatred for those he deems have done wrong, and he also has a massive superiority complex. He has always disliked Collin greatly and the two of them have always had a rivalry between them, however, that rivalry got to it’s boiling point when Douglas and Collin were in an accident as kids, mainly caused by Collin unintentionally during a riding trip in the Highlands, which made Douglas earn some of his scars and bred the resentment between the two of them even more. Douglas has always been disapproving of Henry’s... Well, he has always been majorly disapproving with anything that comes to Henry. He dislikes Henry’s love for his uncle, his scientific interests, Henry’s friends, his wish to become a doctor... Douglas dislikes pretty much everything with Henry, which might have its grounds in Henry looking like and taking after a lot from his uncle. As Henry grows older, Douglas’ dislike for both him and Collin grows stronger, and Douglas starts getting outspoken of his hatred for Henry. He also gets physical every once in a while, which was one of the reasons for why Henry left Scotland completely despite Collin doing his best to protect him.

Random Trivia: His scars are either from the Accident, from his work as a policeman and also from many of Collin’s animals. He has a family pedant made out of emerald with a ‘J’ for Jekyll in it, as he is the first born and the heir of the family. He has always felt like Collin was the favourite with everything, both by their parents and by the fact that Douglas’ own son and wife likes Collin more than him, which just bred his resentment for his younger brother even more.

Tags: #Banshees Douglas, #Douglas O’Jekyll.

Digital art of Douglas / Traditional art of Douglas

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Abigail O’Jekyll (Née O’Haggins)

Abigail is Henry’s mother and Douglas’ wife. She comes from a long line of Scottish non-aristocratic nobles and she is the oldest out of six sisters, making her the main heir of the O’Haggins as she has no brothers. In her youth, she was very sought after by many bachelors, and met the O’Jekyll brothers during a ball hosted by her parents. She immediately took a liking to Collin and during the dances, they fell quite in love. However, as the first born, she was forced to marry Douglas instead due to pressuring from her parents who deemed Douglas more worthy than Collin, but she and Collin continued their relationship in secret. Both Douglas and Abigail knows that neither really loves the other all that much but they play their parts due to societal expectations, even if that doesn’t make Douglas any happier when the suspicion of Abigail’s and Collin’s relationships arise. Abigail is, too, not very supportive of Henry’s scientific interests due to all of its stigma and consequences that it can bear, not to mention that she is quite afraid of Douglas’ reactions to Henry’s continuous love for science, but she allows Henry to pursue non-harmful studies in secret to keep him happy, as his happiness is the most important thing for her. She does her best to be a good mother and succeeds in that, although everyone has their bad moments. Random Trivia: While Henry looks more like Douglas and Collin, Hyde takes after Abigail’s side of the family. She wears a locket with an ‘A’ on it with a picture of Collin and Henry inside, which needs a lock to be opened (mostly to keep Douglas from discovering the photo). While she is indifferent to most animals, she loves cats (that are well behaved, which rules out all of Collin’s cats) and she likes horses, although she will never, ever ride one ever again after she fell into a hay bail when Collin tried to get her to ride one of his horses. Tags: #Banshees Abigail, #Abigail O’Haggins.  Old Art of Abigail / Updated Art of Abigail

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——————Animals——————

Paddington

Paddington is one of Collin’s most beloved cats. He is a male, calico coated Maine Coon that got dumped by his breeder for being a male calico (therefore, sterile). He lived in the streets for a while until Collin found and adopted him, to which Paddington immediately became a little diva who hates everyone but Collin and Henry. He is the cause of some of Douglas’ scars and have torn more than one of Abigail’s dresses, but is as good as gold to Collin and Henry.

Tags: #Banshees Paddington

Art of Collin and Paddington / Written description of Paddington

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Mayhem

Mayhem is Henry’s own horse that Collin bred and helped Henry to raise. She is a dapple grey Clydesdale named after her fiery temper and knack for chaos, much like most animals that Collin has been responsible for. She is quite spoiled but very well behaved when needed to be, and she often thinks that she is the mother of those she likes, such as Henry, Paddington, Zosi and Collin. Once Henry left Scotland, she was one of the few things he took with him, and he still owns her to this day; allowing her to live her best, destruction-bringing life in London, striking terror in every stable boy in the entire city.

Tags: #Banshees Mayhem.

Written description of Mayhem

[u5an5]

Of things obtained: Once Upon a Witchlight Ep. 5 | Big Top Bop

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! Fair warning, this post contains SPOILERS. If you don't want to be spoiled, STOP READING !

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Gricko

In possession from beginning:

Primal totems (gorilla, basilisk-esque creature; ep.1)

Alarm whistle (ep.1)

Glue dropper bottle (ep.3)

Eyedrops bottle (ep.3)

Items acquired:

Bag of 497 gold pieces (ep.1)

- way more than 10 gold pieces/20 electrum pieces (I'm gonna say 20 gold pieces for sake of brevity)

Cloak of Displacement (ep.1)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (ep.1) 2/8 (gave it away with IOU written on it to Gideon but got it back few minutes later when they've realised what happened)

Sycamore seed 4 (ep.2; +1d4 for ability check until dawn)

Hootsie's pumpkin

Clothes:

Comically too big cloth butterfly wings (ep.2; blue-red)

Really small Tentacle Chad T-shirt (ep.3)

Pacts/contracts:

No ticket - after giving away his ticket to Gideon, due to The Rule of Reciprocity, his most prized possession (Hootsie) was taken away from him by Sowpig

Hootsie (kidnapped by Sowpig)

Status: ???

Items acquired:

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (gained due Fey Pact; ep.2) 3/8

Clothes:

Cloth butterfly wings (pink; ep.2)

Pacts/contracts

Fey Pact 5: You must carry around a small pumpkin as though it were a precious egg (she holds it on her head). Once the Witchlight Monarch is crowned, all pacts made fade, and only then. (ep.2)

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Gideon

In possession from beginning:

Engineered manacles

Items acquired:

3 letters from Mr. Roslov (ep.1)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (ep.1) 2/8

Sycamore seed 5 (ep.2; +1d8 for ability check until next dawn)

x5 Magical Invisibility Cupcakes (ep.3)

IOU written by Gricko on his Carnival ticket (gave it back as soon as he saw the consequences it had)

20 gold pieces (from bet with Gricko)

Clothes:

Comically too small cloth butterfly wings (ep.2; red with orange rinds)

Cake Chad T-shirt at least five sizes too small (ep.3)

Pacts/contracts:

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Kremy

Languages: Common, Draconic

In possession from beginning:

Tophat

Skull Cane

2 gold pieces (ep.1)

at least 2 handkerchiefs (ep.3)

Compact mirror (ep.4)

Frying pan (ep.4)

Knife (ep.4)

Items acquired:

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (ep.1; misplaced it)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (gained due Fey Pact; ep.2) 2/8

Satchel with Carnival map and Three Rules of Feywild (ep.2)

Sycamore seed 1 (trait "I am easily amused" until dawn; ep.2)

Clothes:

Cloth butterfly wings (ep.2; purple)

Pacts/contracts:

Due possessing unspecified knowledge he didn't pay for when he "abandoned his station" has to deliver 100,000 gold pieces to Mr. Garou by the end of the month (in next 19 days) as recompensation. If he's no longer able to do so by dying, the rest of the Krew is obligated to pay it (ep.1)

Fey Pact 8: You must declare your love for unicorns at every opportunity. Once the Witchlight Monarch is crowned, all pacts made fade then, and only then (ep.2)

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Frost

Languages: Common, Celestial, Elvish

In possession from beginning:

Backpack (ep.2)

Glue (totally not related to horses; ep.3)

Glue antidote (got all used up to remove glue from Gricko; ep.3)

Tambourine (ep.3)

Water skin (ep.3)

Small dagger (ep.4)

Items acquired:

Letter to Zybilna by Madrik Roslov (ep.1)

Bag of Beans (ep.1)

1 ticket to Witchlight Carnival (ep.1) 2/8

Sycamore seed 7 (ep.2; it turns into:)

1 gold piece

Dandelion (ep.2; reward for catching Red's interest; blown away while making a wish)

Clothes:

Cloth butterfly wings (ep.2; jade with yellow eyes)

Pacts/contracts:

. .

Krew (The Party)

In possession from beginning:

2 gold pieces (ep.1)

Items aquired:

5 gold pieces (ep.2; for street-performing)

Pacts/contracts:

With Madrik Roslov: In exchange for checking if Zybilna is alright, and if true, giving her the letter he wrote, Party will get what is left from his possessions once he passes away (ep.1)

With Diana Cloppington - In exchange for riddle concerning Prismeer, with knowledge and information she was able to store about current state of it in it, Party promises to, at least, attempt to help her return to human and be reunited with Sir Cloppington; Not really Fey Pact but on their rules (ep.2)

Altered states:

Twist of Fate curses:

(Gricko) 57 - You cannot say the beginning of any word.

(Frost) 2x66 - The concept of death is unbearably sad. You burst into tears whenever it comes up and you can't stop thinking about it. [2:44:55 -

(Gideon) - 43 - Your skin now becomes hot pink (instead of red) [2:56:32 -

63 - All water tastes oily [2:56:32 -

83 66 75 - You hate all children and animals [2:56:32 -

Pixie chariots bets:

(Frost) - 1 gold piece on Red

(Gricko) - 40 electrum pieces/20 gold pieces on Blue

(Gideon & Kremy) - ?? on Red

Red wins. The Party gets ?? (they didn't got to collect the prize yet)

To-do list:

Get the 100,00 gold pieces by the end of the month (ep.1)

Find out why Madrik Roslovs patron, Zybilna, stopped answering his calls for 15 years so he can die in peace, knowing her fate (ep.1)

Get to the Witchlight Carnival before it ends and find the only available entrance to Prismeer, Zybilnas domain (ep.1)

Try to become Witchlight Monarch (ep.1)

Find out who was the man that cut off Lexi Pott's wings, why he did that and what happened with them (ep.1)

Find a way to reunite Diana Cloppington with her with her horse, Sir Cloppington and return them to their previous forms (ep.2)

Win Cake Eating contest (ep.3; complete)

Find a way to return Candlefoots voice (ep.4)

.

Time

3rd day of Campaign, less than 7 hours till Coronation - same day, 4 hours till Coronation

9th of the month (19 days until The Debt deadline)

Happiness Meter

+1 - Party absolutely smashing competition in Cake Eating Contest

0 - went down after Gideon accidentally manslaughtered Klutzy in front of children

+1 - Mr. Light is pleased with Party's reaction to winning a bet; he clearly heard about them and it seems they catched his interest

+2 - Gricko's impressive juggling routine with Witchlight jugglers immensely pleases Mr. Light

0 - went down when Frost asked Mr. Light about "someone he lost" and showed it to the audience

Random Info

Man whose name Lexi Pott's was unable to say was going to "wake her" and she was very scared for Party meeting him. When they mentioned name Zybilna, she said they "already were too deep" (ep.1)

After Lexi Pott died, Party was surounded by Fairy Ring made up from mushrooms (ep.1)

Tasha and Iggwilv The Witch Queen are the same person (ep.4)

Kenku that has been terrorising the Carnival is a Warlock and her patron is Zybilna

Total money: no more than 484 gold pieces (idk how much Kremy and Gideon bet)

.

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[xalicefortescuex]

ALICE FORTESCUTE.

cat mom. bookworm. tea aficionado.protective lioness. quirky playfulness. tough as nails. bounces back like a boomerang. hopeless romantic on sly. blinding boldness and brightness. popcorn during the shining. pillow forts. tightest bear hugs and cuddles. unparalleled loyalty and bravery.

DETAILS.

FULL NAME: alice charlotte fortescue. NICKNAMES: al. ally. alley cat. DOB: october 1st. AGE: nineteen. GENDER: cis female. PRONOUNS: she/her.  ORIENTATION: queer.

HEIGHT: 5’7”. EYE COLOR: brown. HAIR COLOR: black. DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: tattoo of alice from alice in wonderland falling into the rabbit hole on her right ribcage. OCCUPATION: auror. ALLEGIANCE: the order.

FC: samantha logan.

WIZARD THINGS.

BLOOD STATUS: pureblood. HOUSE: gryffindor. WAND:

length: 10 3/4”

wand flexibility: slightly supple.

wood: pear;; the golden-toned wood produces wands of splendid magical powers, which give of their best in the hands of the warm-hearted, the generous and the wise. possessors of pear wands are usually popular and well-respected. there’s been no single instance where a pear wand has been discovered in the possession of a dark witch or wizard. pear wands are among the most resilient, and it’s been observed that they may still present a remarkable appearance of newness, even after many years of hard use.

core: unicorn hair;; unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the dark arts. they are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard.

BIO.

trigger warning: infertility.

alice fortescue was a shining star from the moment she entered the world in that tiny french hospital. she was magnetic but was the kind unable to see the magnitude of her magnetism. growing up an only child, alice had all of her parent’s attention, she had everything at her tiny fingertips but even as a small child she didn’t want for much. all alice cared about was running through the fields with her father, florean.

but france would not be forever. florean moved the small family to london for work. shockingly, her magical skills became pronounced upon the family’s move. tufts of grass and dandelions trailed her as she walked, mere copycats of her garden in france. this quickly turned into alice touching the ground outside the fortescue knoll which quickly turned into a maze of shrubbery with orchids, sunflowers and baby’s breath poking their heads through the manicured brush.

coming from france, alice would be the first fortescue to attend hogwarts. she bubbled with pride at starting a new journey for her family. once there the sorting hat yelled “gryffindor!” the blonde stood up, smile shining and danced her way to her house’s table introducing herself on the spot. her electric personality that first night would be a mirror of alice’s time in school.

alice was a star in her own right but never saw it as anything special. she was herself. this made not only her housemates flock to her but others too. if something needed to be done, alice was front and center. it found her in a bit of trouble but her intentions were generally good. she was even a prefect during her fifth year. though fifth year would begin a harsh adult reality.

alice had been having abdominal pains and nothing would help. even madame pomfrey couldn’t do anything for her. she was sent to saint mungo’s and was told that as her body was changing, tests showed she was infertile. this breaks her completely. although she was young, a dream of hers was to become a mother. she didn’t want anyone knowing she was “defective” (her words) and kept the depression to herself, through letters to her parents and by having regular meetings with madame pomfrey. all the while she kept up good grades but did become even more flirtations and life of the party more than she already was. 

when graduation came alice had to make the choice to live. she needed to live as an adult. as a woman. and though she may not have been able to have her own children, every child brought into the world deserved a good life, not one of fear and persecution ultimately pointing her to the order.

LINKS.

HEADCANONS | MIRROR | INSPO | AESTHETICS | TAGS | CONNECTIONS

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

Fragmentation Fanfic

Title: Fragmentation

Summary: Once Upon a Time, a Bold-and-Boisterous Prince sits on a throne. A Bold-and-Boisterous Prince has a great fall. A Hallowed Heart finds him in pieces and a Studious Scholar puts the Prince back together again. Or. 

A broken crown lies in an empty throne room. A Shrewd Snake and a Shy Spiderling enter the throne room. Only there isn’t just a broken crown awaiting them, there’s a broken boy. All the words and all the actions can’t put the boy back together again, but a listening ear and a comforting embrace softens the pain. Or.

If a mirror shatters into two pieces, which one is the original piece?

Word-Count: 2.9k

Pairings: Platonic Moralogince, Platonic Anxceitmus

Warnings: Angst, Crying, Panic, Murder Mention, Death Mention, Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet Ending Kinda?, No Unsympathetic Sides At Worst Morally Grey

Hi, anyone remember the random ficlet I posted in pieces months back that ended all happily? Well, I expanded upon it and here we are. Or in other news, here’s my take on a Split Fic, and it’s not your typical take in my humble opinion.

-

A clatter echoed in the throne room. A golden crown laid cracked in two. A soft thud followed it as a red sash carelessly engulfed the crown. An exhale, long and strained. Silence. Then a sob as a prince fell to the ground, shattering.

A battered and beaten Heart came along searching for the Prince. He called out his name, searching the castle high and low. But the Prince did not answer nor did the Heart catch a glimpse of him. When the Heart entered the throne room, he kept his gaze on the empty throne. It was not until his foot caught on something that he drew his attention to the marble floor.

“Oh my!” the Heart gaped, eyes watering, “Oh dear!”

Lying at the Heart’s feet, was the fragmented remains of the once bold and boisterous Prince. The Heart touched a piece, a chill pulsing through him at its cold, ceramic touch.

Great globs of tears fell down the Heart’s face as he toppled to the floor in anguish.

He gathered the pieces close to his chest, trying to put the beloved Prince back together again. But for all the Heart’s earnest efforts, the pieces only fractured and splintered into more.

The Heart placed his head into his hands, shaking. He was not good enough to save the Prince. Worse than that, he not only failed but he had damaged the Prince further. He could feel his insides growing frayed, threatening to unravel and come unmade like the Prince himself.

But with a breath of air, he held it together. He may not have the ability to put back together the Prince, but perhaps the Scholar could.

The Scholar was smart. His idea of fun afternoon involved delving into complex, convoluted math theorems. Out of anyone in the realm of Thomas, the Heart trusted him most in solving the matter of the broken Prince.

Lifting a hand away from his face, the Heart summoned him. The Scholar arrived, completely oblivious. His eyes closed, hands tightly clasped around his bowtie. “Welcome to the Jungle, it’s so exciting--” the Scholar recited, in a spoken monotone measure.

The Heart pulled incessantly on the Scholar’s pants leg to grab his attention. This caused the Scholar to jump back, startled. His eyes flew open, trailing down at the Heart and then to the porcelain remains of the Prince.

Usually, the Scholar was never one at a loss for words. He was always the first to ask questions, to seek knowledge to better equip himself and others. But he kept staring at the scene before him, seemingly having lost the capability of speech.

Then a strange stifled noise came from the Scholar. As if there was a blockage in his lungs, a spear that punctured all the air out of them. But of course, there was no spear sticking out of his chest. No logical reason for such a noise to occur. With a face devoid of all emotion, the Scholar knelt down beside the Heart.

He picked up a piece, examining it with an analytical touch, short of licking it. Licking things was a very scientific tool. A tool he refrained from deploying at this moment.

“It’s him isn’t it?” The Scholar said at last, frowning, “But how? It does not make logical sense.”

“No, it doesn’t,” The Heart piped up, “but his realm doesn’t tend to follow the rules of reality. But you can fix this, right? Undo wh–whatever this is?”

The Scholar frowned, eyeing the ceramic shards carefully. 

“It is always easier to destroy than to create,” He began, “Or recreate in this instance. However, that does not mean it is improbable.”

A spark of hope ignited in Heart. So you can do it?!”

“I can try,” The Scholar amended, “There is, of course, a possibility it will not work at all.”

The Scholar placed the piece in his hand on the floor along with the rest. Then he stood up, outstretching a hand.

 “You should get back.” He advised. The Heart nodded, scampering a few feet back for good measure.

Satisfied with this, the Scholar’s eyes glowed indigo as he called forth his power. Nonsensical, really, but it was how the Prince’s dominion interpreted him; a wizened wizard with a terrifying amount of power. The Scholar restored sensibility to its whimsy. He could reduce a magical unicorn to an average horse.

Something similar could be applied in this situation. He would take the shattered statue and return its original completely whole flesh-and-blood state. He just had to focus and recall every factual evidence he knew of the Prince. Chips and chunks of ceramic floated in the air, swirling as they came together again. At first the shape was ambiguous. 

But as more and more pieces flew up, it became more apparent. A graceful swoop of auburn hair. A chiseled perfectly-formed jaw. A white tunic with a red sash spilling across the chest.

 Bit by bit, their treasured prince was returning to them at last.

As the last piece fell into place, a bright light burst forth, filling up the entirety of the throne room. Both the Heart and the Scholar were knocked to the ground by its force. As quickly as it came, it faded. 

“Ouch.” Heart murmured, still keeping a hand over his stinging eyes. The Scholar tried forcing his eyes open, but a wave of nausea hit him. He slumped back down, drained from the massive amount of energy he’d expended.

The sound of strutting boots reached both their ears, growing louder as it neared. Then it stopped. 

“Helloooo?”

The Heart opened his eyes. Through his burning, black-spot riddled vision, the Prince’s befuddled face greeted him. Whole and complete with no signs of cracked lines running across his sun-kissed skin.

“Prince!” The Heart exclaimed, jumping to his feet to embrace him, “You’re okay!”

“Whoa!” The Prince said, holding out his arms for balance. He nearly collapsed regardless when a second set of arms engulfed him. Despite being adamant against physical touch, the Scholar was also…hugging him?

“Not that I don’t appreciate being lavished with displays of affection, I must ask–what in Walt Disney’s name is going on?” 

“We thought we lost you!” The Heart wailed, “and that you wouldn’t ever be coming back!”

“Indeed, th-the possibility of you returning to your full stature was low.” The Scholar said, leaning heavily on the other two for support.

“Well that’s preposterous!” The Prince declared, bringing his arms around his friends, “You should know that a hero like myself could never die.”

“Pompous as always.” The Scholar snorted, but there was no true malice to it.

“Are you feeling alright?” The Heart queried.

“I’m right as rain!” The Prince said with a wide smile, “I admit, I’m very fuzzy on what happened, but I feel much better now.”

“That would make sense, seeing as we found you in actual pieces.” 

The Heart sniffled, burying his head into the Prince’s tunic. “I love you two so much, you know that right?”

“Of course we know, you tell us this every day,” The Scholar responded. Neither Heart nor Scholar saw the hesitation dancing in the Prince’s eyes before it was overswept by a glimmering gleam.

“And we love you very much, Heart,” The Prince said, “Why, I’d fight a thousand dragons to keep you safe!”

The Heart giggled at this. Then wailed, leaving wet spots in the Prince’s pristine clothing. “Th--that’s lovely, but all I want is to cuddle with you and Scholar watching Disney movies and never ever ever let go!”

“That’s ridiculous,” Scholar said, “you’d have to let go at some point--”

“Scholar,” The Prince said, holding up a hand, “Not the time.”

The Prince then massaged the Heart’s scalp, carefully untangling his locks of hair. “My Dear Heart, I apologize. I didn't mean to distress you or the Scholar so. If that’s what you wish for me to do with you two for the rest of the night, I shall do that.”

“I would not be opposed to that.” The Scholar agreed, “As long as we go to bed at an appropriate time--”

“Then it’s settled!” The Prince exclaimed, “Come on, let us build the most magnificent blanket fort!”

With a snap of his fingers, the three vanished. 

The throne room stood silent once more, absent of any apparent sentient life. All that remained was a dusty floor and a crown broken in two. It remained this way only just mere moments. For a Snake came slithering around, forked tongue sniffing the air. Scuttling after him came a Spiderling. All eyes and legs and not much else.

“Snake, why are we here?” The Spiderling asked, “This is the Prince’s domain! He won’t be happy if he finds us here!”

“Shush, Spiderling. Everything will be fineee.” Snake reassured, picking up the broken halves of the Prince’s golden crown. He examined them closely with a careful eye.

“Just because you say that doesn’t make it true!” Spiderling scowled, stomping a leg.

“If you’re so worried, you didn’t have to come.”

Spiderling mumbled something. The Snake raised an eyebrow, “Come again?”

“I came because I wanna protect you from getting hurt!” The Spiderling burst out, face flushing red.

“Aww, I despise you too,” The Snake cooed, ruffling Spiderling’s hair. The latter let out a shriek, hands flying to fix his hair at once.

“But you know I am totally a damsel-in-distress. Completely incapable of defending myself. Besides, surely you felt it too--the Disturbance.”

The Spiderling nodded, grimacing, “I felt Prince...he...is that his crown?!”

“Yes. Just like him to leave such a beloved possession broken and abandoned on the floor, hm?”

“Let me touch it,” The Spiderling pleaded. For he could draw the slightest hint of misery into himself with a simple touch. And with that misery, perhaps a glimpse into what tragedy befell the prince.

The Snake hesitated, before nodding his head. The Spiderling then stood up on the tippy-toes of his numerous legs, tracing one of his fingers on the remains of the crown lying in the Snake’s hands. A spark of anguish jolted the Spiderling at once.

He experienced a pounding, excruciating headache. A mind torn in two, attempting to entertain two polarizing ideas at once. Anger, sadness, frustration crashed down upon the Spiderling wave after wave. It sought to overwhelm, drive him to self-destruction like it had the young Prince.

The Spiderling cried out in pain, his hands cradling his face as he dropped to the floor. A series of metallic clangs followed and then the Snake was at his side.

“Spider!” The Snake cried, laying a cool hand on top of the Spiderling’s, “You’re okay, you’re fine, everything’s fineeeee.”

The Spiderling’s eyes glowed gold for a second, his face relaxing completely. Slowly, the gold left his eyes and he dug his face into the Snake’s satin vest with a whimper.

“I knew it, I knew I shouldn’t have allowed you to touch it,” The Snake said, stroking the other’s unruly mop of hair in a soothing manner.

“I’m okay,” The Spiderling grumbled, “Dealt with worse.”

“Lie.” 

“M-maybe, but Prince, he’s--” The Spiderling hesitated, tears gathering in his eyes, “I think he’s dead!”

“I’m not!” A voice said, hauntingly cheery, “but I wish I was!” 

Both Snake and Spiderling froze, each gazing at the throne room every which way. But besides themselves, there was no one else there.

The Snake’s slitted eye narrowed, “Who are you?”

“I’m the Prince!” The voice claimed, “Or at least, I was. Still am? It’s very unclear. I’m the pieces they forgot, the pieces nobody knew about! Hiding away, like an axe murderer hiding in a closet to kill you in your sleep!”

The Spiderling shuddered at the simile, both sets of arms clinging to Snake for dear life. He was very much content to allow Snake to do the talking for the two of them.

“What do you mean?” The Snake asked.

“Well, you see, I--the Prince--again, very confusing like that weird nightmare Thomas had about eating chocolate-covered teeth--had an argument with himself, ourselves? And his--my head hurt, like it was gonna explode! And so we did! Into itty bitty pieces of confetti and blood and guts!”

The Disturbance. The Snake’s blood ran cold at this. All this time the Prince was dealing with something on the levels of this, and he had no idea? How could the Snake not sense this hidden turmoil? 

That was what the Snake was best at--knowing the jagged truths behind brightly-painted facades. If he’d known--he could’ve possibly helped--well, it didn’t matter now.

Out loud, the Snake simply deadpanned, “Delightful.” 

“Isn’t it?!” The voice shrieked, two green eyes bulging with excitement, “Anywho, that’s when Mr. No Fun showed up and started boo-hooing. He tried to fix it, but he just made it worse! So that’s when he invited Smartypants to join the party.”

“Heart and Scholar?” 

“Winner, winner, chicken-weiner!” Two hands abruptly appeared, clapping, “Now I like Smartypants, but like I said, he’s a Smartypants, thinks he knows everything there is to know and hates when we--I make things up just because!”

“I feel your pain.” 

“Do you?” A several sets of needle-thin, sharp teeth jutted out.

The Snake waved a hand, “Not literally. I don’t presume to know what your pain feels like because I am not you. But I’ve had my run-ins with the Scholar and while an...useful asset to Thomas, I agree he can be difficult to deal with.”

Something green and sticky coiled around the Snake’s bottom reptilian half, entangling the end of his tail. “Ooh I like you!”

Another green-and-sticky something attached to the Spiderling, who did his very best to stay still and not freak. “And I also like you, even though you haven’t said much! What’s your favorite Disney villain?”

“M-maleficient.” The Spiderling said in a hoarse whisper.

“Ooh, sick. I like Ursula because she has two pet eels and when I--we--Thomas grows up, I think we should totally get two pet moray eels and we can feed people we don’t like to them--”

“That’s very nice and you can tell us that wonderful idea later,” The Snake cut in, “but what happened with Scholar and Heart?”

“Oh, alright,” A black boot stomped in mild irritation, “So you know Humpty Dumpty? He’s always depicted as an egg, but it never says that in the rhyme! It’s kinda like that. Smartypants tried putting him--me--us back together again but he got it all wrong!”

A translucent head appeared, shaking side to side in indignation. 

“Y’see, when he put the Prince back together again, he based it off of what he remembered the Prince being. All the pieces he thinks makes who me--him--the Prince is. All. The. Pieces. That. Aren’t. ME!” The fiery flash in the green eyes was the only warning the two received before the physical glimpses dissipated completely. 

“P-prince?” The Snake called out, uncharacteristically hesitant, “Are you still with us?” 

“Don’t! Don’t call me that.”

“Well, what can we call you then?” The Snake amended, withholding a sigh of relief.

“Can I...can I be called the Kraken?”

“Of course, you can be called whatever you’d like.”

An ear-splitting screech sounded in the throne room, causing the Snake to slightly regret his statement. Only slightly, because it was very clearly a joyous screech.

There was a green shimmer in the air and then within a blink, a boy. A boy who looked remarkably similar to the beloved Prince, but not quite. The green tentacles attached to his back was the most glaringly obvious difference. 

But there were more subtle ones. Half-healed scrapes and faded scars. Something the Prince would never allow to blemish his skin. A white strand of hair nestled among the boy’s auburn locks of hair. A black raggedy shirt and a pair of green pants that looked closer to a pirate’s garb than a prince’s attire. 

“I’m the Kraken! Not a stinky loser prince!” The boy whooped and with a running start, crashed into the Snake and the Spiderling. His tentacles surrounded them and the Snake was certain it’d be hard to escape their suction-cup grip anytime soon. 

He was worried that the Spiderling would panic and sink his fangs into the Kraken. Instead, the Spiderling comfortingly stroked the Kraken’s hair just like the Snake had previously done for him. 

The Snake repressed a smile at this. “Kraken, what would you like to do?”

“Cry, I think.” The Kraken responded, promptly bursting into tears. The Spiderling joined him, the poor thing, soaking in the Kraken’s fear and grief. 

“Shh, my dears, it’ll be alright,” The Snake promised, “Forget the others, the three of us can be our own little family. How does that sound?”

“S-sounds good,” The Kraken hiccuped, “Don’t know why I--we--him were so mean to you two, I’m--I’m s-s-s-sorry--”

“Shhh, it’s okay,” The Snake said, “don’t force yourself to talk, let it all out.”

The Kraken obliged, wailing as if the world had ended and all that remained was a trillion bits of space dust. Which, in a way, it felt that way for him. Have you ever been torn in two? Literally? It was an anguish that any amount of words regardless of language would fail to adequately capture.

It was a wound that wouldn’t, couldn’t, ever fully heal. There were some days, he wasn’t fully there, in mind or in body. Sometimes just a flash of needle-thin teeth. A warm breath behind your ears. A shadow in the corner of your eyes. 

But regardless of whatever remnant of him was coherent, he had a family who loved whichever remnant that was there. And for a long, long while, things were happyish. 

[dark-strangeson-virgil]

Having Pride

Words: 4.5k

Summary: Remy and Emile take their younger friends to pride for the first time, and the boys get to experience a full day of pride and being unapologetically themselves.

Remy chuckled lightly to himself as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He had switched out his usual sunglasses for a pair of multi-chrome aviators. He eventually decided on wearing a white muscle shirt with a rainbow mouth graphic on the front, along with some grey acid wash shorts that reached his knees and simple black converse. On his wrist sat a simple rainbow bracelet, which made him smile at his reflection. He could hear the chaos of his friends in the background, all trying to get ready themselves. Remy was ecstatic. It was June, his favorite month of year solely because it was pride month. He had been out since middle school, and he had gone to his first Pride Parade the previous year with Emile, so he was excited to bring his younger friends to experience the magic along with him. 

He looked around at each of his friends, admiring all of their outfits. 

Patton looked absolutely adorable as usual. He had a pastel rainbow skater skirt swishing around his legs, paired with a simple flowy white tank top with a single sunflower in the center. A rainbow flower crown sat atop his head, as well as a small rainbow striped heart pin on his shirt and simple white sneakers. It was sweet and clearly showed his pride but could also be worn as a more casual outfit in other circumstances (minus the flower crown, that might seem a bit out of the ordinary for everyday attire). The finishing touch to his look was a nice amount of blush scattered across his face and nose. 

Patton was currently having an excited conversation with Roman, both boys sporting huge grins across their faces. As Remy glanced over to the other boy he noticed he was dressed much more extravagantly than usual, which made Remy smile. Roman truly did love being eccentric and bold, but his anxieties and fears of judgement often prevented him from expressing himself how he wanted to. It made Remy happy to see that he was making some progress on his confidence, especially on a day that was focused on having pride in yourself.

Roman had bleached his hair and temporarily dyed it rainbow (he planned on dyeing it back afterwards, but he liked the look of dyed hair and was considering changing his hair color again in the future). His shirt was a tank top which read the word “King” with a crown atop it in rainbow lettering. His shorts were a bit more simplistic, simple white athletic shorts with a small rainbow stripe down the side. On his feet he wore white converse with rainbows and clouds scattered across him, and he had gotten Virgil to do his makeup so that one eye was a circular rainbow that extended to the edge of his face and a red liquid lipstick on his lips.. (When he had finished Virgil had stared at Roman in awe for a moment. Roman assumed it was just Virgil admiring his own work but he actually just thought Roman looked absolutely stunning, causing a bright blush to adorn his cheeks.)

Speaking of Virgil, Remy turned his head slightly to look at the emo boy in question. After finishing Roman’s makeup (and being a flustered dumb gay for a moment) he had moved on to his own, doing a natural look with eye shadow and then creating an intricate rainbow pattern with eyeliner that covered the sides of his face. He wore a pastel rainbow tie-dye-esque t-shirt which read “I Can’t Think Straight”, in cheesy horror movie font. Above the shirt lay a simple necklace with a rainbow line down the center. His shorts were a plain black denim that reached his knees, and he ended up choosing simple black vans with rainbow soles as his finishing touch. It was a nice outfit but one that Virgil felt comfortable in, which was the best of both worlds in Remy’s opinion. He sat on Remy’s couch, scrolling through his phone and occasionally tilting it towards Janus to show him a funny meme. Janus would rarely show any more of a reaction than a smirk, but that was enough to satisfy Virgil.

As for Janus, he had also chosen a more “all-out” approach. He was sporting a truly killer rainbow vertical striped halter jumpsuit, which made him look quite elegant when paired with the solid black sun hat he wore atop his head. He had a casual rainbow eyeliner wing on his eyelids and plain black sandals. He had clearly put effort into his outfit, yet he managed to look effortlessly casual while wearing it. When he had walked in Patton had nearly choked on the pink lemonade he had been drinking, immediately running over and engulfing Janus in a hug while squealing out, “Oh my gosh you look amazing! Where did you get that jumpsuit?” While Janus’s stomach was busy swarming with butterflies the others had complimented him, quickly returning to their previous conversations. After a moment Patton had returned to his drink, making sure to tell Janus one more time that he looked spectacular.

Currently Remus was creeping over to Janus and Virgil, planting himself directly in between the two to show them some video about the “World’s Oldest Octopus” he had found on YouTube. Remus’s laugh had almost gotten an actual laugh out of Remy upon first sight, simply because it fit him so well. He had on a pair of light-was denim overall shorts with frayed edges and a rainbow on the chest, as well as literal PLATFORM rainbow sneakers (Yes, Roman tried to warn him those were impractical for him to wear all day at a parade, No Remus did not care or change). The true gem that clearly said this outfit fit Remus perfectly, however, was his hat. It was a baseball cap which read, “I’m so gay I shit RAINBOWS”. Though it was truly a shock at first, everybody immediately agreed that Remus’s outfit was perfect.

As Remy continued to observe Remus’s attire a scream of “FALSEHOOD!” burst through the room, startling everybody and drawing their attention to the corner where Roman and Patton stood with a now blushing Logan. He swiftly cleared his throat before addressing the room. “My apologies for the sudden outburst. Patton and I had a minor disagreement, seeing as he believes squirrels are ‘adorable’ while they are in fact quite dangerous. Please continue with whatever activities you were engaging in prior to my, uh, surge of enthusiasm.” As he turned back to the pair, Remy took a moment to glance at Logan. He had a rainbow striped button-down tucked into the longer black skirt Patton had convinced him to wear. Initially he had been hesitant, but eventually had agreed as long as the skirt could extend slightly past his knees. He had a pair of converse that seemed to be dripping rainbow paint, giving him a more relaxed look than most had ever seen him in. It suited him, honestly.

Returning to his reflection once more Remy began to adjust his hair in the mirror for a moment before feeling gentle arms wrap around his waist from behind as a soft kiss was pressed to the back of his neck. Smiling, he turned around and found himself face-to-face with Emile, his lovely boyfriend. In Remy’s eyes Emile looked absolutely adorable in his outfit (Actually, Emile always looked like absolute perfection according to Remy, but today was a special day). He had switched his usual frames for his glasses out for rainbow ones, as well as an absolutely precious pair of rainbow suspenders. His shirt had a unicorn on the chest, along with the word “PRIDE”, and he wore a pair of light-wash mom jeans. As Remy reached for his hand he saw the bracelet Emile wore on his wrist, matching the one Remy wore on his own. Suddenly filled to the brim with love for his boyfriend, he pressed a quick kiss to Emile’s lips before engulfing him in a hug. They both took a moment to just breathe, relax before all the inevitable excitement they would experience throughout the day. Being in one another’s presence was always soothing, even if they didn’t say anything.

After a minute of just standing in each other’s arms, they separated. “You look amazing. Ready to go?” Emile whispered softly, looking up at Remy.

“Yeah, I think so. Come on, boys! It’s time we head out, especially since we still have to stop at Starbucks on the way!” Like a wave the young boys all ran out to the minivan Remy would be borrowing from his mom for the day, grabbing a mini pride flag each on the way out. Remy was the last to exit, locking the door as he did so.

--

Roman felt like he was about to burst. This was all so exciting! In school he always felt more like a subdued version of himself, his anxieties pressing down on him. But here with his closest friends at an event where having pride in who you are is encouraged, he felt weightless. Like he could truly be himself. He had dyed his hair rainbow for god’s sake! And he loved it! As he walked through the street with his friends in search of a decent food vendor, he turned to Remy and Emile. The two noticed and turned to look at the younger boy, who was sporting one of the widest grins they’d ever seen.

“Thank you both so much for bringing us here today! It’s absolutely amazing!” Roman gushed, feeling brighter with every word that left his mouth. The two older boys looked at the boy fondly.

“Of course, Ro! Glad you like it!” Emile replied, with more of a soft cheeriness. Remy nodded in agreement, leaving Roman to return to observing around him. Pride flags of many sorts were hung in many windows of nearby apartments, as well as people sporting their own flags along the streets. There were small booths with vendors selling all sorts of pride merchandise. As he continued to admire the sights around him, Roman was caught off-guard by a girl walking past him, stopping him quickly. 

“Oh my god, I love your hair!” The girl had a dark brown pixie cut, as well as a pan flag tied like a cape around her shoulders. Her makeup truly stole the show, however. It was a beautiful design that had clearly taken a lot of time and effort, and was done in the ace colors. It matched her shirt, which also had the ace flag across it. On her shirt sat a small pin, listing that her preferred pronouns were she/her. Roman beamed at the compliment, turning to look at the girl.

“Thank you so much! I adore your makeup!” He gladly responded with a compliment of his own.

“Thanks!” With that the girl walked in the opposite direction with her friends. Roman could feel the newfound confidence bubbling within him. Such a small interaction somehow meant so much to him. Maybe it was because of how genuine and sweet the girl had been with her compliment, or maybe it was just that a stranger had taken the time out of their day to talk to him. Either way, he found himself giggling as he practically bounced over to Logan and Virgil.

“Isn’t this wonderful! Everybody here is so sweet! And the streets are FILLED with rainbows! It’s all so beautiful!” As Roman practically sang with glee he threw his arms around his friends’ shoulders, with Virgil to his left and Logan to his right.

“Yes, it is actually quite a lovely and welcoming environment.” Logan was definitely more relaxed than his friend, but you could clearly hear by his tone that he was genuinely excited to be there.

“Yeah, Princey. It’s pretty chill.” Virgil offered a small smirk, which softened into a more genuine smile when he saw the look of pure glee on Roman’s face. ‘God, how does this boy make me so soft?’ he thought to himself, though he found he didn’t really care as long as he got to see that pure joy on Roman’s face as often as possible.

“Oh, I think I see a hot dog stand in the corner. I can go order food for all of us quickly, what would each of you like?” Logan looked back at his friends.

The two boys each voiced their orders, Roman reaching into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. Logan swiftly put a hand on his wrist, stopping him.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about expenses. I can pay for all of us.” Logan stated plainly. Roman and Virgil both eyed him with something akin to wonder. 

“You sure about that, specs? None of us mind paying for ourselves.” Roman responded in a softer tone than he had spoken in practically all day.

“Of course, I really don’t mind. All I ask is that you all remain here until I return, that way I don’t find myself lost trying to find you.” Logan’s kind offer, though a small gesture, only served to further brighten the mood of the group.

“Thanks, Lo. You’re the best” Virgil piped up, with Roman quickly nodding in agreement. With a small smile of his own in response, Logan took off in the direction of the food stand, skirt swishing with the breeze and leaving Roman and Virgil on the outskirts of their small group of friends.

“Hey, Ro?” Virgil said after a moment of silence.

“Yes, stormcloud?” Roman easily returned, expecting their usual lighthearted banter or possibly a comment about the scenery.

“Now don’t get all super cheesy on me or anything, but it’s, like, nice to see you so happy here.” Virgil had begun mumbling more than actually talking about halfway through his sentence, but Roman heard him clearly.

“What do you mean?” Roman could feel his heart swelling, though he was slightly confused by what Virgil had meant.

“It’s just, you seem so worried about what people are thinking sometimes. And don’t get me wrong, so am I. Anxious thoughts are a bitch.” This got both boys to laugh for a moment before Virgil returned to speaking, his voice a bit firmer and clearer this time. “But  you seem, like, happy here. Like you’re not so worried. And it’s nice to see you like that, or whatever.” he finished his sentence, scratching the back of his neck as he began to wonder if he had been overly emotional. When he met Roman’s eye, however, he found him staring back with gentle, wide eyes and his mouth formed into a small, “o” shape.

Meanwhile, Roman’s heart felt as though it were close to explosion. His friends cared! Virgil cared, and he wanted Roman to be happy! That was so sweet! 

“Thanks, V.” Roman suddenly got the urge to hug the boy in front of him. Before he could talk himself out of it, he reached over and wrapped his arms around Virgil’s shoulders. Virgil froze for a small moment, before wrapping his own arms around Roman. They stood like that for a moment before Roman realized his face had begun to burn, gently pulling away.

“So, where’d you get your shirt? It fits your vibe very well for how bright and colorful it is.” Roman changed the subject easily, though he still felt a warmness within him. 

“Hot topic of course. Would you expect anything else from me?” the two quickly fell into their usual antics, with their playful teasing clearly present. As Logan returned (with Remus in tow, who had offered to help him carry the food) a knowing grin crossed his face, clearly noticing the slight red tint across each of his friends’ cheeks as they continued with their banter.

--

Patton finished off the last bite of his meal, squishing the paper the hot dog came wrapped in up into a ball. He began scanning the area around him, hoping to find a trash can. After a moment of looking he spotted one, next to a booth. The booth itself looked very pastel and cute, easily catching Patton’s attention.

“Hey guys! We should go look at that booth, it seems nice!” He chirped as he began skipping over, skirt flowing around him as he did. Logan was the quickest to follow, ever alert and watching, and soon all of the boys were standing in front of the adorable pastel booth.

As Patton reached the front of the booth, he noticed that most of the items sold there were smaller accessories. They seemed to have pins, patches and stickers of many assortments (all LGBTQ+ related though, of course), as well as a few rainbows and dad caps. He could hear as his friends approached and began looking along with him, continuing to scan through the items. Almost immediately he heard a gasp from Remus, followed by a shout of, “Oh, I HAVE to get this.”

Patton turned to look at Remus and saw him holding up a hat  in a very similar style to what he was currently wearing, only this one was white and had the words “Love whoever the fuck you want” embroidered in rainbow thread. 

“Dear god please no.” Could be heard from Roman, which overlapped with Logan’s comment of,

“That would suit you quite nicely. It is very much your style.” Remus grinned at Logan’s response, quickly turning back to his brother.

“I’m getting it, brother dearest! LOGAN said it looked hot!” Remus cackled. He failed to notice the way Logan’s face immediately resembled a tomato, or his quiet utterance of “Those weren’t my EXACT words.”, as he handed the person running the stand a ten dollar bill. While they counted his change Patton returned his gaze to the patches in front of him, smiling and winking at Logan after noticing his current state.

‘Oh, all of these are so cute!’ Patton observed. He thought of the light-wash denim jacket he had at home, and realized it would look quite nice with a few patches added on. Plus it would allow his jacket to become gayer. As Patton knew well, everything could always be at least a little bit gayer.

The first patch he picked up had two pastel rainbow cherries with adorable smiles, which Patton immediately knew he needed. Directly next to the cherries he noticed a decent-sized rainbow lightning bolt, which immediately made him think of Virgil. ‘If I get one of these I’ll be able to remember my best friend every time I wear my jacket! That’s amazing!’ The lightning bolt joined the cherries in Patton’s hand.

After assessing his options for a moment Patton found himself with five total patches in his hand. He had the lightning bolt and the cherries, as well as an absolutely adorable-looking unicorn with a rainbow mane, a simple rainbow with clouds around it and the word “PRIDE” written in rainbow lettering. It wasn’t a huge amount, but he was happy with what he had. He could always find more patches to iron on online. He grabbed a small pin stating that he used he/him pronouns last minute before approaching the register.

The person running the stand clearly appeared to be older, with their gray hair cut into a bob. They had warm brown eyes that seemed to overflow with kindness and a gentle smile. Their shirt displayed the nonbinary flag across the front, along with the pronouns they/them. ‘It’s nice to see the older generations showing their support and being able to embrace their identities.’ Patton thought as he fished in his wallet, handing his money over to the person. They tried to give Patton his change, but he insisted they keep it as a thank you for showing support and pride and helping give LGBTQ+ people a safe and welcoming space. That was something that the older generations didn’t always understand but was so crucial and helpful in improving the mental health of LGBTQ+ teens especially, and he knew that very well.

The group stayed at the booth for around five more minutes before finally deciding it was time to leave, knowing they needed to head over to the stage that was set up nearby if they wanted to make it to the show being performed by a local drag queen in fifteen minutes. Patton secured his pin onto the front of his shirt, dropping his patches into his skirt pocket before following Remy, who was leading the way.

--

Patton felt exhausted, but in the best way possible. The sun was just beginning to set, signalling that it was time for the boys to start walking back to their van and head home. His feet felt heavy from the weight of walking around all day, and he could feel his eyelids slowly weighing down. Though he was tired, he still felt his happiness from how well the day had gone glowing within him. His first pride had been so lovely! And he had gotten to spend the entire day with his bestest friends in the entire world! And earlier on a group of kids that seemed to be around his age had complimented his outfit and said he looked adorable! All in all it had been one of the best experiences of Patton’s life.

In his daze he felt a hand lightly tap the back of his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. Janus then moved to stand within his view as they continued walking in the direction of the car, looking almost… shy?

 “Hey, Jan. What’s up? Wasn’t today amazing?!” Patton found himself gushing even through his exhaustion, partially because he was just so filled with excitement and partially to calm his friend’s apparent nerves.

“Yeah, I guess it was quite… nice.” Janus seemed to relax for a second, smiling at the memory of the wonderful day he had experienced with his closest friends, before the worry crept back into his face like an infection. Patton opened his mouth to ask if he was alright but found himself stopping short as he noticed Janus reaching into his pockets, eyes cast to the street. Patton watched as Janus pulled three small items from his pockets, grasping them tightly in his hands. Patton’s face quickly morphed into one of puzzlement, confused as to what Janus was doing.

“While we were at that booth earlier I, uhm, noticed a few items that reminded me of you. You didn’t seem to notice them, so after you paid I decided to get them for you. It’s totally no big deal or anything.” Janus tacked on his signature sarcasm at the end, Patton immediately seeing through it and knowing it was a defense mechanism to hide Janus’s nerves but choosing not to mention it.

He opened his palm and Janus dropped the patches into it, with Patton almost immediately bringing them in front of his glasses to expect the items.

The first one had a truly precious shiba inu dog with a pride flag in his mouth, immediately causing Patton to coo out a small, “That’s so cute!” As he looked over to the next one he saw a beautiful blue rose, with the words “Pretty Boy” in rainbow lettering surrounding the flower. That brought a tinge of blood to Patton’s cheeks. ‘He thinks I’m pretty?’

“Oh, this flower is gorgeous!” He tried to cover up how a silly patch managed to fluster him. Janus didn’t seem to notice, so he looked over to the last of the patches in his hand. It was an adorable cartoon frog wearing rainbow overalls and the sweetest smile he had ever seen. Frogs were his favorite animal, and it made Patton happy that Janus had remembered such a small detail. He felt himself tearing up at the kind gesture from his generally more closed-off friend. He looked back up to Janus, finding the shorter boy staring at him with a look of clear false confidence masking his worry.

“I love these! You remembered my favorite animal! These will go perfect with the other patches I got once I iron them onto my denim jacket!” Janus’ eyes brightened at the praise, one of his more rare genuine smiles gracing Patton. “Thank you so much for thinking of me!” Patton reached over to give the other boy a quick hug, with the smaller boy burying his face into Patton’s shoulder for the briefest of seconds before they both pulled away.

“Oh, it was truly such a problem. It’s not like I care about you or anything.” Janus was back with his usual smirk and attitude, drawing a giggle from Patton’s throat that Janus would describe as nothing short of precious.

“Come on boys, we can’t spend all day out here!” Remy chided, prompting Patton to reach for Janus’s hand as he pulled them along the last few steps to the car.

--

Once everybody was situated in the minivan Remy paused to look back at his friends through the rear-view mirror. Patton was eagerly showing Virgil his lightning patch, with Virgil giggling along to something he had said. Roman, Remus and Janus seemed to be sharing stories about their day (it didn’t matter that they had spent practically the entire day together, those three were easily the most dramatic and any remotely special moment they had they wanted to share with each other), and Logan and Emile seemed to be in some sort of discussion about psychology. Of course those two would be able to jump right back into regular conversation, enjoying being able to talk about a shared passion for knowledge in the area of psychology together. One similarity between them all was that each of his friends looked truly happy and content, including Remy himself. 

Despite still being a teenager himself, his status as one of the oldest in the group led him to be more protective and caring over his younger friends. He had really been trying to make sure their first experience with pride was amazing and unforgettable, and from the looks on his friends faces he could clearly tell he succeeded. He felt his heart swell with love for his friends (not that he’d ever mention this, he had a reputation to upkeep for god’s sake).

“Alright everyone! We need one last picture together before we head out. Lean in bitches, all 8 of us need to fit!” Remy shouted in the car, his friends quickly attempting to find a position where they could all be seen. It took a moment (there were 8 teenage boys in a minivan all trying to fit into the frame), but eventually they got a decent picture. Remy sent it off to their group chat before stuffing his phone into his pocket and throwing his keys into the ignition, starting the journey home with a smile across his face. He reached across the enter console and used his right hand to grab a hold of his boyfriend’s, keeping his left hand firmly on the wheel and his eyes on the road. 

(A/N: Hi again! As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and any comments are much appreciated! I had a bit of help from some people explaining their personal experiences but I’ve never actually been to Pride, so if it’s not completely accurate I’m sorry, I tried my best to do as realistic of an interpretation as I could. I’ve been planning this for all of Pride month, and I’m really just thankful I managed to finish it before the month ended lol. Remember, your identity is ALWAYS valid and you deserve to feel proud of who you are. If you ever need to talk, my messages are open. <3 Happy pride everyone!)

Here’s a link to all of their outfits btw! Also I almost forgot but I said I’d tag you once this was finished so @aegis-the-ace !

[thdorkmagnet]

Chapter 41: Baby (Preview)

Summary: His whole life Marco Diaz has been raised by monsters, living under the cruel rule of their leader, Toffee. But one day Marco escapes into Mewni where he meets a magical princess and Mewman like himself, who begins teaching him all about her world. Together they will learn about life, love, and the lights within each of them, as they change their world forever.

Chapter Synopsis: The time has come for Star’s magic performance review to test her knowledge and growth as the wielder of the wand. Although Star is nervous her and Marco have done all they can to prepare her for the test and they are confident she will pass. But when Baby arrives things don’t exactly go the way they planned...

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Index

Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.

“Okay concentrate, Star. You can do this,” Marco said in an encouraging tone, making sure to keep a supportive smile on his face as he watched his girlfriend cross her arm into an 'x' symbol, the wand held tightly in her left palm, pulsing with pink magic just waiting to be set free.

Star closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath, before muttering softly to herself, “I can do this.” The girl then began an intricate series of steps, the wand waving around as her body gracefully danced through each technique with practiced ease, Marco completely awestruck by his girlfriend's movements no matter how many times he had seen it in the last few days. The way Star owned every flick of her wrist or turn of her hip left Marco speechless, her body moving with the grace and poise of a professional ballerina. Her feet were always in the correct position and her arms were always kept at just the right angle, the wand leaving trails of magic sprinkling to the ground with each new gesture.

Finally Star held the wand aloft, shouting in a clear, calm voice, “Warnicorn Stampede!” There was a burst of pink magic in front of the blond royal, before a single, tiny unicorn appeared in front of them, looking completely harmless and adorable. “Aww,” Marco cooed, unable to resist fawning over the cute creature his girlfriend had just created. The little unicorn let out an adorable neigh before trotting forward right into a head-on collision with Star's couch.

Star face-palmed, groaning in annoyance and disappointment, before loudly exclaiming, “Ugh, what am I doing wrong? Why can't I figure out this lousy spell?!”

“Well it is the hardest spell in the book,” Marco pointed out, as he flipped through page after page of Star's spell book, trying not to get lost in the intriguing and dense knowledge this book contained. “Glossaryk said most queens can take years to learn it.”

“Yeah well if I don't get this down soon, I'm gonna fail the magic exam for sure,” Star retorted, crossing her arms bitterly in front of her chest.

Marco thought over his reply for a moment, trying to come up with the best way to comfort his friend. He knew Star had been stressing ever since the Magic High Commission first announced Star have a magic performance review to see how far her abilities with the wand had come. They had given Star only a week to prepare for the upcoming exam and since then Marco had spent hours upon hours helping to get Star ready for the test. And now, on the day of said exam, he knew she was more than ready for anything her examiner could throw at her. But it was Star who needed the convincing, second guessing herself as she failed the one spell in the book she had yet to master. Not that he blamed her, the pressure had to be unbearable for her, failing would  mean proving to the world that she was unfit to wield the wand and Marco knew how terrified Star was of being seen that way.

Failure was simply not an option. Especially since both Star and Marco suspected the whole exam was just another scheme by the MHC to sabotage their commission. Star seemed to have no doubt that if she didn't pass the MHC would disband their commission so that Star could 'focus on her studies', which only added to the pressure the blond royal was feeling. Finally, the hooded teen spoke up in the most reassuring tone he could, “You aren't going to fail, Star. We've been practicing all week, you've read the Book of Spells top to bottom, you know every spell including the ones that were removed from the book, you're more than ready.”

“Except for the one spell I can't get right,” Star reminded him, gesturing over to the little unicorn who was now chewing on Star's couch cushion. “If Baby asks me to cast Warnicorn Stampede I'm totally dead.”

“Well remember what Glossaryk said, your emotions effect your magic, that's probably why you can't cast it,” Marco pointed out, still flipping through pages of the spell book. “I'm sure you'll get it down in time.” He cringed as he came across a page covered in chains with a large skull on it, quickly flipping to a different page. When he had first come across that he had asked Star about it and all she had told him was that it was a forbidden chapter and that no one was allowed to look in it. Marco had steered clear of that section of the book ever since. Though he did wonder why Glossaryk hadn't removed it with the rest of the dangerous spells.

“Yeah, you're right,” the blond replied, letting out a breath of relief, her hands fiddling with the handle of her wand. “I guess I'm just nervous, is all.”

Marco closed the book before going over to his girlfriend and pulling her into a comforting hug. “Hey, I believe in you. I know you're gonna pass this test with flying colors,” he whispered into her shoulder. He could feel Star's body relaxing in his grip as she let out a deep sigh, finally untensing for the first time in hours, maybe even days.

“Thanks, Marco,” the girl said, before finally pulling out of the hug, a bright grin on her pretty face. “What would I do without you?”

Marco shrugged. “Don't know, though you'd probably get a lot less hugs,” the boy said playfully.

Star laughed before giving him a friendly shove, chuckling, “I'm serious!” The two shared a laugh together before the blond gave him a shy grin, the gentle look in her crystal blue eyes sending goosebumps down Marco's spine. “Thanks though, Marco. Really, I mean it. You have no idea how much you've helped out this week and I don't just mean helping me get ready for the test. If it weren't for you I'd probably be a jittery mess by now.”

“Ah, I doubt that,” Marco replied, his cheeks flushing some. “You're way braver than I am, Star.”

“Hey, don't sell yourself short,” Star retorted, cupping his face in her hand while giving her boyfriend a loving smile. “You're just as brave as I am, maybe even more. The only reason I'm so brave is because of you, when I see you facing whatever makes you afraid it makes me want to do the same.” The girl then leaned forward giving her boyfriend a tender kiss on the lips. Marco closed his eyes letting the moment wash over him, the two besties sharing a blissful moment as one, their heartbeat once again beating in time together.

Finally the two parted, giving each other goofy but incredibly happy looks, their cheeks painted pink as Marco finally said, “Well I'm glad I could help.” The girl laughed before pressing her forehead to his. “You always are.”

“So you think you're ready to try that spell again, Star?” Marco asked, giving her an encouraging smile. He felt Star's body tense up just slightly but the hooded teen could now see the resolve in her eyes as she nodded.

“Yeah, let's do it,” the girl said with unwavering determination.

Marco stood back as Star crossed her arms again, taking a few smooth breaths before beginning the incantation dance once again. Her body moved as fluidly as before, every step perfect and on point as she went through the motions just like every time beforehand, but to Marco's surprise Star's wand was now glowing white instead of the typical pink and her hearts were glowing brighter than ever. Finally the girl finished her spin before holding the wand overhead and shouting, “Warnicorn Stampede!”

Marco watched slack-jawed as at least a dozen warnicorns appeared behind her in a puff of smoke, neighing loudly as they galloped through Star's room in a wild herd, knocking over anything they came close to and impaling objects with their sharp horns. Star undid the spell quickly, leaving her room a tattered mess but she didn't seem to care as she began jumping up and down in joy shouting, “I did it! Marco I did it! I just pulled off my very first Warnicorn Stampede!”

“Oh Star I'm so happy for you!” Marco shouted as Star pulled him into an excited hug. She lifted him off the ground spinning him around in a circle as the two laughed and cheered for the blond's success. Once Marco was on his feet again, the boy declared, “I knew you could do it!”

“Thank, Marco, guess you believing in me was all I needed,” Star said, her bright grin incapable of vanishing, her eyes gleaming with self-pride and it made Marco's own heart leap at the sight. He couldn't think of the last time he saw Star this happy with herself and it made him swell with pride knowing he had been partially responsible for his girlfriend's positive change in attitude.

But a ringing from Star's phone drew their attention away from all the celebrating as Star ran over and picked up her mirror, flipping it open to read the new message. Her eyes widened before she turned to Marco and said, “Looks like I figured it out just in time, too. Baby's on her way now. Shawn just gave me the head's up.”

“Wait, since when do you and Shawn talk to each other?” Marco asked in confusion.

“Since I bribed him with some of our super awesome nachos, no creature can resist those,” Star replied, shooting her boyfriend a wink.

Marco smiled before focusing on the task at hand, asking, “Okay so how long do we have?”

Star shrugged. “Not long, she could be here any minute,” the blond replied, biting her lip as her anxiety returned once more.

“Okay well I'll go check on the food, you stay here and... clean up,” Marco said. The two cringed at they looked around at Star's destroyed room.

“Good idea,” the blond replied, putting her mirror phone away before starting to work repairing her room back to his normal state.

“Back in a few,” Marco said as he ran for the door, wanting to hurry and not leave his girlfriend alone for too long. He needed to be there when Baby arrived to help keep Star calm. Besides he was beyond curious who this Baby was after a week long build up.

“Okay,” Star called after him, pushing out any troubling thoughts as she just focused on her task, thankful for something to do to keep her mind off everything. The last thing she needed now was to psych herself out.