#one time i spent almost 30 minutes fighting a dragon in dai

[crows-of-buckets]

Playing dao on hard mode is both extremely frustrating and insanely fun. I am getting my ass kicked and have reloaded a save five times in a row but I refuse to give up I will clear this game and all the dlc on hard mode I swear it

[susannaius]

On the new Netflix YYH live action series...

Okay, so cramming two seasons worth of anime (52 episodes) into just 5 hours of live action (5 x 60 minutes) is just WILD. It was obviously possible, but it was wild. They made some bold editing choices on the way to make it happen, but they made an overall good job of it (well, as good as anything can get when you cram 52 episodes into 5 hours...). Anyway. Spoilers ahead.

My overall impression is that I had fun. They made this series a lot more edgy and dark than the anime, but they kept a lot of its goofiness, and managed to find a good balance. The visuals were also fantastic. I honestly did not expect the drawings to translate well into film, but the animation / FX crew did a great job. I have some minor qualms against how everyone looks like (like Kurama's hair or Hiei's turtleneck, who came up with those???), but they did not matter to me that much overall.

What I really missed was something I'm not sure how they could have reproduced in just 5 hours, and this is the sense of accomplishment and stakes. How long does the first two seasons take in the anime? Half a year, maybe? (Yusuke spends the summer break training with Genkai, then there are another 2 months (?) before the Dark Tournament.) So there is a lot more time both for bonding and level-upping.

There are a lot more steps, and those are a lot smaller, progress is a lot more gradual, and each step leads to the next a lot more organically. Here, this is somewhat compensated by the editing choices, like Kuwabara following Yusuke around (I especially liked the "slice the boulder" trope), or by Hiei wanting the dagger in the first place so he can find Yukina. But this way we end up on our very first joint mission fighting Karasu and Bui as well as the Toguros, in Kurama's yokai form and with the Black Dragon. Which is again, WILD, if we consider that as far as we know Kurama has not really used his yokai powers over the last 17 years, and Hiei has just made the Jagan eye for himself (which he did not even end up using that much).

Which is all... not necessarily relevant if someone has not seen the anime and accepts that okay, these boys have a lot more in them than what we were shown at first glance. They are yokai, after all, and we are shown very little of their stories. But I still miss how in the anime we were able to follow how Kurama hones his plant magic to artistic levels and how he learns to combine the strengths of Shuchi and Kurama, or how Hiei very slowly becomes domesticated, or how Kuwabara chills down and becomes a reliable ally.

And then there is Yusuke. They really managed to capture the essence of the character, and I loved them for it. At the wake, his picture was a really nice touch, I loved that face saying "Why do I have to smile for the camera? Please leave me alone?" Or how gentle he can be when he is not ordered around. They got his priorities right, and the steps that make him who he is were all there.

But again, time was VERY short. I mean, he was training for about 3 weeks with Genkai, and for the first two weeks he was mostly slacking. How am I supposed to believe that this is enough to defeat fucking Toguro, who was one of the strongest men to start with, then sold his soul for power, and spent the last 50 years becoming stronger and stronger, to the point when not even the scariest monsters currently available in the human world could satisfy him? Yes, Yusuke got the "orb", but consider that in the anime at that point he had been fighting and training almost constantly for half a year, receiving the orb still almost killed him, and then he had to sleep it off for several days. I am just... not convinced, sorry.

If anything, I think the live action series is a good gateway to the anime. Like, if someone is new or even not yet into the "fight and level-up" anime genre, this can be a great motivation for them to check it out. YYH is almost 30 years old, after all, so there might (might!) be people who have not yet come across it, even though they would probably enjoy it.

TLDR: I think the Netflix YYH Live Action series is fun, it is gorgeous, it has some solid editing choices that help it cram fifty-fucking-two episodes of anime in just five hours of film, and if it helps some newcomers find and enjoy the anime (or even the manga, which I don't know), I'm only happier for it.

[lorspolairepeluche]

3, 14, and 23 from the 30 rook questions :)

3) Race and subclass?

Rio: Human (elf-blooded), spellblade! Candy: Dwarf (also elf-blooded), assassin. Korbl: Dwarf, slayer. Irri: Qunari, Veil Ranger. Whit: Human, Champion. Kyr: Elf, evoker.

14) What hobbies does your Rook have?

answered here!

23: What do they do after an absolute crisis? (answered via examples)

After [why can't i do spoiler bars on here it's 2024 come on people], once everyone was assured they were going to be okay, Rio disappeared. For a few hours, not a single one of the Veilguard could find them, not even the other Rooks. Lucanis finally cautiously ventured into Rio's bedroom further than sticking his head in. His soft call of, "Rook?" was answered by a minute shift in a pile of blankets and a soft noise. After some careful, gentle digging, he found them burrowed beneath, curled around a pillow, eyes red from crying. They dissolved into tears again almost immediately, burying their face in the pillow and managing, through sobs and hitching breath, "I thought -- I thought I'd be trapped there forever. I thought I'd never see a-any of you, ever again."

After Treviso, after fighting off a blighted dragon, Candy had drunk three people under the table in the worst bar left standing in the city before Viago found her. By the time Rio found her at Viago's instruction ("She refused to leave with me. I was called some very creative names before I retreated. Perhaps you will have better luck"), she had nearly drunk herself under the table, and still she snarled at them.

After returning from Blackthorne Manor once again, Korbl immediately headed to Neve's office. He locked the door, went right to her, pulled her down by the lapels, and kissed her soundly. Then he pushed her back to sit on her desk, knelt, pulled down her leggings, and -- Well. He showed her a very good time, didn't he? (Later, he wrote his mum a letter, and he spent some time alone in the eluvian room, since it was the lowest room in the Lighthouse and lit gently by the mirror's glow.)

After killing the Butcher in Treviso, Taash was the one to find Irri when they smelled someone drenched in fear. They found him in the midst of a panic attack, hardly able to breathe. They'd seen stuff like this with Karash before, when he thought too much about the war. They worked to talk him down as gently as they could. They'd have gone to get someone better at this, but they thought he shouldn't be left alone. He finally started to come down from it, but before he was fully calm, he blurted, "If it touches me, you have to kill me. Before I become that. I won't. I can't become that. Promise me you'll kill me if the blight gets in me. Promise." (They promised.)

After Weisshaupt, Whit wasn’t seen or heard for a while, save for the impacts of their fists on the punching bag in their bedroom. Anyone who tried to check on them (Irri first, then Rio, and finally Taash) was met with a curt, “Fuck off. I’m dealing with it.” (Taash stayed anyway, quietly doing push-ups and sit-ups until Whit asked to box them, and after that, bandaging their knuckles. Taash never asked Whit to talk about it.)

After fighting the blighted dragon off from Minrathous, Kyr stayed behind. It wasn’t until they were back at the Lighthouse that the others realized she wasn’t with them (which, since Kyrie Mercar is a woman who makes her presence known, was extremely odd). Instead, she hurried frantically through Shadow Dragon hideouts in a more panicked version of what she’d always done after a hard fight or getting bad news or getting hurt. She looked for Thais. (Thankfully, Kyr found her. Thais was badly wounded, but Kyr managed to get her to the Lighthouse and beg the other mages for help healing her. Though Thais would never see out of her right eye again, she stayed with the Veilguard, and Kyr continued to seek out her sister after bad days and crises.)

rook questionnaire

[thegeminisage]

birthday meta for the birthday boy <3

[this version of the meta is behind a cut. if you’d prefer the no-cut version, it’s here.]

a fun little fanon from Ye Olde Days of spn (when seasons 1-5 were airing) was that sam always had the absolute worst birthdays. a big part of this is because sam’s birthday is in may. supernatural tends to align itself with “real time,” meaning that they like to use either the date the episode was filmed or the date it aired as the in-universe date, even when two canon dates conflict each other. (they’re so intent on doing this that they pretended the gap years between s5 & s6 and s7 & s8 right out of existence - season openers also usually tend to pick up right after season finales in-universe but still somehow be set several months later.) that means sam’s birthday tends to line up with the airdates on either season finales or episodes right before the finales, which means that every time sam gets a year old, shit hits the fan. 

here’s a list of things that did happen or could have happened on some of sam's birthdays:

0-22: we don’t have much in the way as far as concrete dates go for preseries stuff, but it’s perfectly possible sam walked out all that bullshit the day he turned 18, even if i prefer to think he left at age 19 as that aligns rather tragically with some adam-related canon.

23: we don’t have any dates for the end of s1/opening of s2 either, but it’s likely that sam’s birthday took place between 1.20 (dead man’s blood) and 2.01 (in my time of dying). he could have been doing anything from hunting vampires to saving one of YED’s special children to almost shooting his possessed father to getting hit by a semi to using a ouija board to talk to his not-quite-dead brother.

24: here’s where the real fun starts >:) sam died in cold oak in 2.21 (all breaks loose pt 1) and in the episode he says he’s 23. but according to the lore (extra-canonical material), dean made the deal to bring him back on his 24th birthday...

25: ...which means that on his 25th birthday, he was forced to watch dean get dragged to hell...

25b: ...except that sam had TWO 25th birthdays, because mystery spot took place in february, and sam lived in an alternate timeline where dean stayed dead for 6 months, putting him well past may 2nd. which meant that the first time he turned 25, he was actually getting tortured by gabriel. while his brother was getting tortured (or torturing someone else) in hell.

26: 4.20 (the rapture) took place in very late april/very early may (the wiki says may 3, but that’s just a guess), and 4.21 (when the levee breaks) picks up immediately where it left off. so it’s not only plausible but EXTREMELY LIKELY that sam was locked up in the panic room suffering withdrawals when he turned 26, dude

26b: ...except that in 11.17 (safe house), bobby and rufus’s half of the episode presumably takes place at the same time during season 4, and he mentions sam and dean are in reno?? so you know they could have been doing that instead.

27: we have no hard and fast dates for the end of season 5, but it’s my personal headcanon that sam’s birthday took place during 5.22 (swan song), and he beat the devil and leapt into hell on the day he turned 27 - because at this point, why not. however, his birthday could also have taken place during either 5.20 (the devil you know) or 5.21 (two minutes to midnight), meaning he was reconfronting his old college pal who turned out to be a demon brady, or helping bobby and a human cas destroy the factory with the croatoan virus.

28: there’s a gap year between s5 and s6, so sam’s 28th birthday took place while he was soulless, hunting with the campbell family...

28b: ...except spn likes to say “a year passed” without adding one to the calendar, so sam ALSO had a 28th birthday during the airing of s6. there’s some conflicting information about s6′s timeline, so this could have happened anywhere from 6.18 (frontierland) to 6.21 (let it bleed). sam could have been doing anything from time traveling to fighting eve to grappling with cas going dark side to rescuing lisa and ben.

29: sam’s 29th birthday almost definitely took place during 7.20 (the girl with the dungeons and dragons tattoo), during which he met charlie. in case you’ve forgotten, that was actually a great day for him - in a moment of true little brother antics and justifiable homophobia, he got to laugh at dean gay flirting with the security guard.

30: there was another gap year between s7 and s8, which means that sam spent the big three-oh with amelia richardson while dean and cas were in purgatory. he got to have a picnic!

30b: ...but since spn ignores gap years, sam ALSO had a 30th birthday during s8 (a big season for him). there isn’t an exact date for the episodes leading up to the finale, which takes place in late may, after sam’s birthday, so his birthday could have taken place in either 8.21 (the great escapist), where he nearly died of his trial-induced fever and confessed to dean that he always felt unclean, or during 8.22 (clip show), where he met sarah blake again after nearly a decade, only to have her die right in front of him.

31: the s9 timeline is pretty vague, but the best guess for this one is 9.18 (meta fiction), in which sam finally gets to confront gadreel, the angel who possessed him and killed kevin with his hands

32: the s10 timeline is also short on dates, so sam’s birthday could have taken place anywhere between 10.16 (paint it black) and 10.21 (dark dynasty). a few possible things sam could have been doing: dealing with a hunt involving soulless people, helping cas and bobby break metatron out of heaven’s prison, catching up with charlie and giving rowena the book of the damned, battling the cursed werther house (don’t click that unless you’ve seen the episode, the twist is TOO good), reuniting claire with her mom, or building charlie’s pyre.

33: the last quarter or so of s11 happens really quickly sequentially, every episode picking up soon after the last one left off, which means that sam’s birthday either took place at the very end of the season or the beginning of s12. it’s most likely he turned 33 either the day dean saved the sun and sam himself got shot and kidnapped by toni bevell, or a few days later when he was being held captive and tortured in her basement.

34: unfortunately, sam’s 34th birthday almost definitely took place during 12.21 (there’s something about mary). i was really hoping it’d be 12.22 so he could be kicking the bmol’s asses, learning lucifer was back, and hugging mary, but no...instead he was mostly likely learning that ketch had had eileen killed. 

35: because of some weird canon, the timeline for season 13 is actually batshit insane and makes no sense whatsoever, which means sam’s birthday is really early this season - either during 13.17 (the thing) where he rescues his brother from a frisky tentacle monster or 13.18 (bring ‘em back alive) where he hangs out with gabriel and cas in the bunker. since that’s garbage, you’d be forgiven for ignoring canon and pretending sam’s birthday fell on one of the following episodes - 13.19 (funeralia) is very touching, as he and rowena clash and then make up with each other; 13.21 (beat the devil) has sam capturing lucifer, then dying and getting revived and captured by him; 13.22 has sam getting a little revenge by leaving lucifer for dead; 13.23, of course, has lucifer finally dying for good.

36: there’s no dates whatsoever on the back half of s14, so theoretically sam’s birthday could take place in any episode after 14.13 (lebanon). the likeliest and COOLEST candidate is for sam to turn 36 during 14.20, in which he shoots god himself point blank. other admittedly inferior  scenarios include his stint as justin the 50s househusband, mary’s death, or putting jack in the ma’lak box.

37: we saw this birthday happen onscreen during 15.14 (last holiday) at a party thrown by mrs. butters. unfortunately, not too long after that, she wound up torturing him by pulling out his fingernails.

38: that’s this year! because the timeline of s15 is also so weird and vague, partially fucked up by covid changing the shooting/airing times, and because sam’s birthday is SO early in s15, it’s possible that he has another one this season, right at the end, or maybe post-canon, which means............................................

...................................................that he’s spending it with dean and jack and the newly revived eileen and cas, in the bunker or somewhere else he feels safe and loved :)

happy birthday, sam winchester <3 after all the unhappy ones...u deserve it

[spn masterpost]

[howtoeatworms]

Fairy Tail: The Celestial Journey

                              Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

It’s been one month since the war with tartaros. Magnolia has been busy rebuilding and with help from the generous amount of jewel the king has given to all those affected, almost a quarter of the town has been rebuilt.

The guild on the other hand was rebuilt in under five days thanks to the insane workload Erza forced on everyone. The craziest thing wasn’t even that. The master thought of disbanding the guild, the idea almost gave me a heart attack, But I’m glad Master changed his mind after he realized how sad everyone would be if that happened.

Everyone seems to be going back to their daily routines but some wounds are too deep to heal. It’s just not the same even now. But I’m sure things will get better soon.

I love you mama. I will talk again soon.

Lucy then put the finishing touches on the letter and put it away for safekeeping inside one of her top cabinets opposite her bed.

After having a nice warm shower Lucy was having a hard time deciding what to wear.

“I know, He can help me. Open! Gate of the little dog! Plue!” Lucy chanted as she pointed her key in the air.

In a puff of smoke what looked like to be a short, carrot nosed dog puffed into existence.

“Hmm. I haven’t worn this one in a long time, what do you think Plue?” She asked her little celestial spirit.  The small little creature walked over to over a dozen outfits sitting on her bed and pointed to a blue and white outfit.

Lucy looked at the outfit Plue had chosen and gave him a big hug saying; “I knew you could help me. Thank you Plue.” Shortly after in another puff of smoke the spirit was gone.

Lucy was walking down the road to the newly rebuilt guild hall wearing a blue shirt, a short, white skirt, long brown leggings and a black sleeve with her hair tied into a long ponytail.

Before she knew it Lucy was already at the guild hall. She pushed the doors open to find the usual scenes. People drinking merrily, some checking the request board and fiends chatting.

Lucy went to sit down at an empty table right near the entrance. She smiled at all the commotion around her. Thinking of better times.

“Oh Lucy! It’s so nice to see you at the guild again. You haven’t been here for weeks.” Mirajane said as she walked over to lucy’s table.

“Yeah, it’s good to be back.” Lucy murmured looking down at the table.

“Is there anything I can order for you, Lucy?” Mirajane asked.

Lucy murmured “No thanks, mira.”

“Well, if you need anything just call.” Mirajane said as she walked off to serve another person.

Lucy looked around the guild for Natsu and Happy hoping that they could go on a mission together.

“It’s just been so long.” She said to herself. Suddenly, something caught her attention in the corner of her eye.

    “Erza! We’ve been waiting 30 minutes for our beer and it’s still not here! You’re a worse waitress than Kinana!” Wakaba shouted in a semi drunken state.

“Uh, bud I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Macao replied to his long-time friend.

Just hearing the remarks by Wakaba, Erza rushed over to the table where he was seated, and like a tiger killing its prey Erza instantly jumped Wakaba.

“If it’s alcohol you want then it’s alcohol you’ll get!” Erza said as she started to force down a whole barrel of alcohol down his throat.

Lucy watched on in confusion and worry, glad to be sitting a few tables back.

“Erza being a waitress is a pretty scary thing.” Lucy nervously thought to herself.

Getting tired of sitting around Lucy got up from her seat and walked over to the request board.

“Even if I can’t go on missions with Natsu and Happy, I still need to pay rent.”

Lucy scanned the request board looking for a job suitable for both herself and her spirits. Unfortunately, she could only find dangerous jobs that would require a three-person team.

Suddenly a familiar flying, blue cat flew into the guild hall and grabbed a handful of flyers.

Lucy looked up above in surprise. “Happy it’s you! I haven’t seen you and Natsu in ages. How has he been?”

Happy looked down to see Lucy staring up at him. “I can’t talk now, Lucy! Got work to do!”

Lucy murmured, looking at the floor. “Of course, you do.”

  Hours later, Lucy was working on the finishing touches on another two pages of her novel. Feeling tired, she stretched her arms and decided it was time to go to bed.

Lucy signed, lying in bed. “I spent a whole day at the guild and I didn’t even get a single job, and Rent is coming up soon too. Maybe tomorrow I might find something.”

As Lucy slept in her bed, a dream started to form in her mind.

“Puny human, no mortal can stand up to the might of the four Celestial Gods.”

“I don’t care! I need to do this so I can save my family.”

“Draco! Deal with this pest for me.”

“Yes, my lord.”

A hulking monster appeared as if out of nowhere, standing down Natsu.

“So, you’re the Celestial god everyone’s been talking about, huh?” Natsu said in a sarcastic tone.

“Natsu! Get away, you’ll die!” Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs.  

The creature simply attacked, paying no attention to Lucy’s words.

“Celestial God Dragon… Roar!”

In a split second a wave of fire that felt as hot as the sun engulfed Natsu, and a split second later there was nothing left but ash.

Suddenly Lucy shot awake, she looked around, realizing she was safe in her own bed.

“It was just a dream, then?”

Lucy realized her body was shaking in fear, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Natsu…”

  Lucy was sitting by the bar, drinking a coffee to try to keep herself awake. She didn’t get much sleep after she awoke from her nightmare.

“Oi Lucy! Watcha doing?” Natsu said as he draped his arm around lucy’s neck and chest, a little too close for comfort.

Lucy turned around and saw Natsu. “Natsu, it’s been so long. What have you been doing?”  

Natsu looked Lucy in her eyes and said; “Oh nothing! Just missions and stuff. I need to get stronger and stronger!”

Lucy’s face lit up, and an idea popped into her head. “Since you’re here, how about we go on a mission together?”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

“Happy! Find a flyer for Lucy and us.” Natsu yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Aye sir!” Happy replied.

A large shard of ice suddenly shot through the air and hit Natsu in the head.

“What the hell was that?” Natsu yelled.

“Hey, flame brain! Leave a few jobs for the rest of us will ya!” Gray yelled.

“Huh?” Natsu grunted.

“You’re taking all the damn jobs in the guild, soon enough there won’t be any left.” Gray replied.

Natsu jumped up from his seat and yelled; “Ya got a problem with that, popsicle man!”

Gray was starting to get visibly annoyed at Natsu’s ignorance. “You know I do, weren’t you listening, dumbass.”

Natsu then suddenly punched Gray and the force of the impact destroyed a table.

“Oh, it’s on now, Natsu!” Gray yelled.

Soon enough the entire guild was their battleground, getting other wizards caught up in their brawl.

Lucy looked at them both and murmured; “They never learn, do they?”

“I feel so tired.” Lucy said as she started to yawn. “I think I’ll just rest here for a bit, Mira.”

“Don’t sleep too long.” Mira replied.

Lucy started to drift off to sleep, the guild’s noise acting as a lullaby to her.

Lucy suddenly found herself in a very familiar place. It was her father’s old mansion. She started to stroll through the lovely garden out front when suddenly she was pulled away and dragged into a terrible memory.

It was raining.

Everyone was dressed in black.

Suddenly, Lucy knew what the memory was.

It was her mother’s funeral. When Lucy looked around, she realized she was her child like self again. Small and defenseless. The wails of pain and agony were a chorus of tears Lucy wished she never had to remember again.

Then, suddenly, the dream changed. Lucy was standing in shallow water, now an adult again.

“Fix the keys… the land of the spirits.”

Lucy heard a familiar voice.

“Who are you? Why do you sound like my…”?

A figure appeared in the distance. Lucy ran to it. It was Layla.

“Mum?” Lucy murmured.

The figure turned its head to reveal a half rotting corpse, a small smile etched on its face.

  “AAAHHH!!”

Lucy suddenly shot awake and her scream stopped the guild, as if everyone was frozen.

Natsu and Gray stopped fighting, Erza stopped eating her cake, all to look at Lucy.

Natsu ran over to Lucy as fast as he could, with Happy flying behind him, he ran over to the stool Lucy was sitting on.

“Mama?” Lucy said as she looked at Natsu, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Oi Lucy! Are you alright?” Natsu asked, shocked at her scream.

Lucy looked at Natsu and Happy.

She murmured; “I’m fine, I just… had a dream.

“You had us all worried sick. Are you sure you’ll alright?” Natsu questioned.

“I’m fine, really I am.” Lucy said.

Happy was floating above Lucy’s head. “Was it about tasty fish?”

Lucy slightly laughed. “No happy, it’s not about tasty fish.”

“Oh! I betcha it was about Fighting.” Natsu yelled.

“No, fish!” happy replied.

“Fighting!”

“Fish!”

Lucy walked over to master, who was sitting on one of the tables nearby.

“I’m sorry master. I’m sorry everyone. I didn’t mean to worry you all.” Lucy said sadly.

Makarov looked at Lucy with a worried look.

“There’s no need to worry, my child. We all have bad days, but the important thing is to always remember that tomorrow will be better. So, keep your head held high, for that is the Fairy Tail way.” Makarov said.

Lucy looked at the ground, not able to look master in the face. Whether that was out of shame or cowardice she didn’t know.

Moments after Makarov’s talk the guild started to liven up again, becoming its old rowdy self.

“I think I need to go home.” Lucy said.

Makarov watched Lucy walk out of the guild with concern plastered on his face. Lucy looked like she was in a haze.

 Lucy barely made it home to her apartment. Walking home in a daze.

As soon Lucy entered her home, she started to undress.

“I need a hot shower… I’ll fell bet…”

She suddenly collapsed on the floor.

Lucy awoke in the same void of shallow water as before. She saw the same thing parading around as her mother.

“Who are you? Answer me! Lucy shouted nervously at the figure.

The figure moved and as it turned its head, Lucy anticipated the horrific figure from earlier. But it never came. All she saw was the beautiful face of her mother.

“Lucy, I have not seen you in years. You have grown so much since I last saw you.” Layla said.

“I don’t understand any of this, what’s going on?” Lucy asked her mother.

Layla looked at Lucy with sadness on her face.

I have been trying to contact you, I have a mission for you, a way to save Aquarius.

Lucy was shocked, she couldn’t believe what she heard.

“Let me explain, my daughter.” Layla said.

“In the northern continent, in ancient times a meteor hit and devastated the landscape, however since that day, that place has become a wellspring of power for celestial spirit wizards. Go to the celestial steppe and you will find a blacksmith that can fix any key, even celestial keys.” Layla Stated.

Lucy tried to run closer to her mother but no matter how close she got Layla would always be out of reach. “How do you know all this? Can I even trust you?”

Layla looked at her daughter with sad eyes.

“Of course, you can trust me, I’m your mother. All will be explained soon, just know that I love you, lucky Lucy.” Layla smiled and then disappeared.

Lucy woke up from her dream, determined to make it a reality.

“I’ll be with you soon, Aquarius. Just hold on a little more.” Said Lucy.  

  The next day Happy and Natsu were standing by the request board in the guild. They had found the perfect job for Lucy.

“I’m sure Lucy would loooove this one!” Happy yelled, with the flyer in his paws.

“I wouldn’t miss seeing Lucy looking like that for the world.” Natsu said as he grinned mischievously.

Natsu ran out the guild’s doors as fast as he could with Happy flying not far too behind.  

“Hey Lucy! Me and Happy found a job that you’d really like. It pays well.” Natsu Yelled outside Lucy’s apartment window. The flyer moving in the wind.

There was a silence for a moment.

“Is Lucy not home?” happy asked.

“Nah, she’s just ignoring me. Watch.” Natsu said as he jumped from the ground to the window sill outside Lucy’s window.

Natsu pulled the wooden frame up and hoped inside, with happy flying in after him.

“She’s not here.” Said Happy, looking around.

“Well, she’s gotta be. Let’s have a look around.” Natsu told Happy.

“She’s not in here.” Happy said as he lifted up the lid for a cookie jar.

Natsu grinned. “I know where you are. I’m coming in!” Natsu ripped the shower curtain off its rod expecting to see a naked Lucy.

“Huh, she’s not even here?”

Happy flew right into Natsu’s arms with tears in his eyes. “I looked around everywhere and Lucy isn’t here. Is she okay?”

“I dunno, bud.” Natsu replied. “But something is wrong.”

“Master!”

Natsu burst through the guild hall as loud as a bull and ran up to Makarov, who was sitting on the bar top.

“What is it my boy.” Makarov asked.

Everyone looked at Natsu in confusion. Breathing heavily from running to the guild, Natsu and Happy were trying to regain their breath. “It’s…Lucy…she’s… gone!”

“Hmm, what do you mean by that Natsu.” Makarov said.

“Lucy was here and then she was gone and I can’t find her anywhere.” Natsu said quickly, panicking.

“Calm down first Natsu.” Erza replied, who was standing to the right of Makarov.

After waiting a minute for Natsu to catch his breath, he finally spoke;

“I went to Lucy’s place to tell her me and Happy had a job for her to do, But I couldn’t find her anywhere. Then we looked around Magnola hoping to find her scent, but nothing. It’s like she just disappeared.”

“Well, this is troubling.” The master said.

“This is not like Lucy at all. She can be clumsy but she wouldn’t just leave like that.” Erza said.

“Could this be an enemy targeting Lucy?” Juvia chimed in.

“It’s a possibility. After what we went through fighting Tartaros I wouldn’t be shocked if someone wanted revenge.” Gray pondered.

For a moment Makarov closed his eyes and meditated on the news.

“We’ll send out a search party to look for Lucy. Natsu, Gray, Erza, Juvia and Wendy, you all will form a search party and look for Lucy. Also, we will use your telepathy, Warren to try and locate her as well.” Master Makarov announced.

Natsu was grinding his teeth and had his fists clenched, an aura of anger surrounding him.

“Don’t worry Lucy, we’ll get you back for sure. You can count on it.”

  It was one whole week after Lucy disappeared and everyone was low on spirits. The guild was as busy as ever, but it had a tinge of sadness in the air.

One whole week of searching all over Fiore and nothing showed up, not even a single hint.

Suddenly a strange, fat woman walked in the guild hall wearing Lucy’s old outfits with a wagon filled with boxes of clothes and other items.

“Isn’t that the landlady Lucy rented from?” Gray asked, pointing to the guild’s doors.

“The Landlady, why would she be here? Erza questioned.

“Is this the place where Lucy Heartfilia works?” The woman yelled.

“Yes, why?” Gray Asked.

“That brat went up and left, not even paying the rent she owes me, she left all her crap at my apartment too, So I’m dumping it here.” The woman ranted.

Natsu walked up to the landlady, looking at her with disgust. “Lucy always paid her rent on time. She always panicked about getting kicked out. This isn’t like her.”

“Well, your friend doesn’t give a crap anymore, that’s for sure.” The landlady said as she pushed all of Lucy’s belongings off the wagon and onto the floor.

Natsu stood there, clenching his fists in anger.

As the landlady started to walk out the door, she threw a letter on the ground.

“Oh, and she left this too.”

“A letter?” Natsu said as he picked it up and opened it.

Natsu couldn’t believe what he read. His hands started to shake.

“Natsu, please read aloud the letter, for all of us.” Erza said.

Dear Natsu.

“It saddens me to say this but, I’m leaving on a journey, one that is more important to me than you could ever imagine. I don’t know how long I will be gone; it could be a month or it could be a year or two.

I wish I could have stayed in the guild longer, but don’t worry, I will always be in your hearts and I will always be a member of Fairy Tail.

If you’re reading this, Natsu, then it means that I have already crossed the borders of Fiore. I will be sending this letter to my apartment, so if you ever break in be sure to read it.

Sincerely,

Lucy.

  A horse drawn carriage pulled up to a stop on near the edge of a mountain. The driver rubbing his cold hands together to try to heat them.

“I’m sorry miss, but this is as far as I can take you. The blizzard is just too strong.”

A slender, young woman jumped out of the carriage and said; “It’s okay, thank you for taking me this far.” She threw a bag filled with jewel to the driver.

“Nice doing business with ya!” The driver said as he directed his horse the way they came.

Lucy fixed her scarf closer to her neck for warmth. She looked off over into the distance, everything was a flurry of white.

“I’ve finally made it to the northern continent. It looks like my journey starts now.”

[ideasihadbutdontlike]

Lost In Time (2)

SUMMARY: This is the prelude to Lost in Time, answering the question, How did the Avengers lose one of their own? 

Word Count: 2,224

The italics is present day for the Avengers. Also this picture is my background lmao. 

Accepting that you were supposed to work with the Avengers was mind boggling. It was weird, and yet not totally out of your element. In a weird way you felt at home here. There were people who could do crazy things, the same way you and others at Camp could.

Right now you were following Strange, Steve, and Tony to the common room. Taking in the advancement in technology made your head hurt. And you wondered if you would remember this when you were sent back. 

"So how exactly did you "lose" me?" You asked, sitting on one of the chairs in the common room. 

"Well," Tony started, stopping to collect himself. The room grew tense with silence. Steve looked angry and sad, and all of that left you feeling uneasy. 

You were so excited; it was your first day off in months. Being an Avenger was extremely time consuming. 

You were practically bouncing off the walls of the compound, you were so excited. You had made plans with Annabeth to go visit Chiron at Camp Half-Blood. Between being a demigod and an Avenger, the Avengers got 98% of your time. It’s not like you were complaining, you were so over being the gods little pawn. Still, you missed your friends and the sentiment of Camp. 

You said a quick farewell to your team as you stepped into the elevator with Annabeth, “Don't get in too much trouble without me!” You called as the doors closed. 

The ride to Long Island was full of laughter and catching up. You haven't really talked to anyone outside of your mom and the Avengers in almost a year. Anyway, Percy and Annabeth decided they were going to get married despite Hera. And you, well you were in New York fighting the battles so no one else had to. Approaching Half-Blood Hill you pulled the car off to the side of the road.

After greeting your old friend Peleus (The dragon that guards the fleece), you stepped through the barrier. The smell of the strawberry fields, the warmth of the sun, the sound of arrows hitting their targets, and swords clashing, kids laughing. It all brought you right back to being a 17 year old half-blood, when nothing was more important than making the most of the summer. The faint music from Apollo cabin drew you in for a second. Looking over at the cabins made your chest bubble with pride. You and your friends, your family even, fought so hard for this. For once, you felt truly at peace standing next to those strawberry fields. You were home, you grew up here, and all at once the weight of your influence stole your breath. You helped rebuild this place, and against all odds you were alive at 30 to appreciate it. 

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Annabeth said, standing next to you. She was doing the same thing. Reminiscing, allowing her walls to come down in the safe place that is Camp Half-Blood. 

“Yeah,” you laughed breathlessly. “This is amazing.” You looked at her. “Let’s go see Chiron.” You and Annabeth made your way over to the Big House, where Chiron was standing talking to some campers. You guys stood back until he was finished, but their constant glances your way made him turn. 

“Annabeth, Y/N,” He said with a huge smile. “Welcome back!” He turned his attention back to the campers. “Michael, Kya, give these two the full tour. Then bring them to Cabin 11” Chiron said, The two older kids, whom you assimes were counselors, nodded, leading the two smaller boys away. 

“Is it just me or do they look strikingly like Percy?” You whispered to Annabeth. She nodded, looking just as perplexed as you felt. You figured Poseidon was no longer under oath, but you actually weren't expecting him to have any more demigod children. Meanwhile, a glance over at Cabins 1 had you biting your tongue. New campers poured in and  out of Zeus’ cabin which was pretty on brand for Zeus, you thought. 

“Walk with me ladies,” Chiron said. “A lot has changed since you’ve been gone.” So, the two of you walked with Chiron through the mess hall, where dozens of new tables stood. When you walked over to admire the renovated cabins, a boy, not much older than 12 maybe 13 ran up to you. 

“You’re Y/F/N Y/L/N right?” He asked. The kid had sandy brown hair and excited blue eyes.

“I am,” you smiled at him. 

“No way! I’m Dean, I’m in Apollo cabin. You’re like a legend! And you’re an Avenger! That’s so cool.” Figures. Most of these kids were from New York, and the majority of them knew who the Avengers were. 

“Nice to meet you Dean. Listen, I’ll swing by the archery range later, the hour before dinner. Maybe I’ll see you there.” You ruffled his hair and nudged him along. 

The time flew by, and before you knew it, it was time for Dinner. You were walking with the Apollo cabin over to the Dining pavilion. The day was spent with Annabeth and Chiron walking around camp, meeting and training campers, and hanging out with the Apollo kids. Lacy Partick was head counselor these days, nice girl. As you sat for your last meal at Camp, you were with Chiron and Annabeth. Your phone rang, interrupting your conversation. 

“Work calls?” Chiron asked. 

“I don’t know, Excuse me for a second.” You said, walking away from the noise of the pavilion. 

“Hello?” You answered. The call was from an unknown number. 

“Y/N?” A woman called from the phone. 

“Speaking, who is this?”

“My name Is Jenna McAllister, I work with S.H.I.E.L.D. We need you to come in ASAP.” She said, the urgency in her voice made you tense with worry. 

“Okay. Give me a minute,” You said, putting her on hold. You ran back to Annabeth. “I have to go, I’m so sorry.” You said. Luckily, being an Avenger meant these things happen, and being a demigod/demigod trainer Annabeth and Chiron were more than familiar with last minute quests. 

“Go,” Annabeth said, “I’ll call Percy.” You nodded and looked at Chiron.

“It was great to see you, Chiron. The Camp is absolutely amazing. I’ll be back soon, I swear” You said. 

Chiron laughed, “I’ll hold you to that dear. Go.” he said, waving you off. So you ran. You ran down the hill into your car. Starting the car you took Jenna off hold. 

“Alright McAllister, what’s going on?” 

“Our sources are telling us the Avengers are being held captive somewhere in Boston.” 

“Hold on, you mean to tell me every one of them is out of commission?” You asked, in disbelief. 

“That’s what we think. None of them are responding, it’s been hours.” She said. No, no, no, no, nonono, you thought. No them, not your family. “We’re sending in a team, we were hoping you would lead it.” 

“Of course, have a jet ready, I’ll be there in 20.” 

“Yes ma’am.” She said, “We’ll have all of your weapons ready to go as well.

“Thank you,” You said. The call was over, but your mind raced as you took the fastest way to the compound. Speeding through New York might not have been your best choice, but at this point it was all you could do. You had managed to reach the compound in 15 minutes, going 90 through the city and on the rural roads leading up to the building. 

You were met in the hangar with a team dressed in combat gear, guns strapped and ready to go. 

“Y/N!” You recognized Fury’s voice. Your suit and weapons are all on board. You have a team of 14 of our top agents. There’s a box on top of your suit, it’s an earpiece in it. Wear it. You’re in charge, Bring 'em' home, whatever it takes.” You nodded. 

“See you soon boss,” You said, waving the team into the jet. 

Landing in Boston you were suited up and ready to go. You were going to split the team in two, enter the building from both entrances and meet in the middle. The “Building” was an inconspicuous Brown Stone in the middle of Boston. That meant you had to walk to the building as discreetly as possible in an attempt to attract as little attention as possible. 

Your half of the team was going in through the front door, the other was going through the side. Kicking in the door you cleared the first three rooms as quickly as you could. Looking for any signs of the Avengers.

It wasn’t long before you came across the disaster that was the basement. There were holes in the walls from Clint's arrows, repulson beams, Steve’s shield, bullets, everything you could think of marked these walls. The blood splattering the walls and floor was what got to you. Who or What had the power to take down the Avengers. Hand on your comms you asked the other team how it was going. The “Captain” of that team had nothing but family pictures and soccer schedules. “Come down to the basement. We’re searching every inch of this place until we get an answer.” “Spread out, take pictures, document everything. Then Fuck it up. Push on the walls, look for anything unusual and run with it. You find ANYTHING, you let me know. Got it?” You said in your most commanding voice. You were trained for this, but this was the most high stake mission you’d ever been on. 

Surveying the room, you noticed a faint glow behind one of the bricks. It was a faint golden hue, much like that of Celestial Bronze. Reaching toward the brick you pushed it. To your amazement, the surrounding bricks pulled apart harmoniously to reveal a pathway. It was buried into the ground, and had to be about 10 feet deep, but at the end the golden hue was brighter.

 “Okay,” You whispered. “Whatever’s down there is not going to be friendly. We need to be quiet. Our main goal is to get in, find the team, get them out. Who wants to come?” No one raised their hand. And you couldn't blame them. You didn’t want to go down the tunnel either but your friends were down there. 

“Alright, you three, you’re staging here to cover us. Anything goes down, or comes up, deal with it. The rest of you follow me.” You turned, putting your bow on your back and pulling out your knife of Celestial bronze. Leading the team through the tunnel you listened for any signs of monsters. You had a bad feeling about this. This was pure “Mythology” and you weren't happy about it. Reaching the end of the tunnel you caught sight of Steve’s shield. Peeking around the corner, you saw the team, in a cage of whatever was strong enough to keep them there. Signaling the S.H.I.E.L.D. team to wait for you, you went over to the Avengers.

 “Y/N,” Nat whispered. 

“Hey guys, what are we dealing with?” You asked. 

“It’s some kind of dragon,” Tony said. “Nothing we threw at it worked. And it’s got little minions.”

You had an idea of who they were talking about. One of Apollo’s greatest enemies was Python. A dragonesque snake. In the last war against Gaia you had slain Python again and again, until he finally stayed dead. 

“I think he wants me.” You said. 

“Y/N, whatever you're thinking, stop it.” Natasha said. 

You had grown closer to Natasha than most of the other Avengers. She was like a sister to you, and that’s why it was so easy for you to make the decision. 

“I’m sorry Nat,” you whispered. 

“Python!” you yelled. “Come out here. Let’s make a bargain.” You said, looking at Natasha the whole time. 

“Y/N stop it!” She yelled. The booming footsteps alerted you of Python’s presence. 

“We meet again.” Python said. He spoke in a combination of a hiss and a growl. It was unnerving to say the least. 

“Python, release these people.” You demanded. 

 Python laughed, a bone chilling sound that you swore on your life you never wanted to hear again. 

“Why would I do that?” He asked. 

“Because you can have me. Release them and you can do whatever you want with me. They have nothing to do with this.” You said, glancing at the team behind him still in the tunnel. 

Python laughed again, “Very Well.” Reaching out, he grabbed you in one of his giant claws. Moving over to the cage he wiggled you in front of them. Natasha covered her mouth to contain her sob. Steve, Tony and Clint looked at Python with searing rage. “One wrong move and she dies tonight.”  He opened the cage and walked away with you to the depths of his lair. 

Taking their confiscated weapons, the Avengers met the S.H.I.E.L.D. team in the tunnel. On their way up they heard the sound of chains, and your screams. But they knew there was nothing they could do right then. They just had to move quickly. 

“You saved us,” Steve said. His head down. “You saved all of us.”

[borealis-strange]

Chapter 3: Spells, potions and books

Summary.

Finally Franco and rRegina embark on an adventure. Their first stop is The Silver, a city known for its enchanted books. While exploring the city they find a girl who has had her things stolen and Regina decides to help her

Notes:

Before we start:

An Ignatio is humanoid species made out of fire.

And an amphibian is species that has the hability to breath under water and walk on earth (Brianna in an amphibian)

The song Franco sings is Triumph for my magic steel by Rhapsody. And the fragment he sings is minute 3:38

And the song Vandal sings its "El libro de las sombras by Mago de Oz"

Tag-list:  @freesiafields @bambirexwrites @whitequeen-ofwillowgreen @vaeya @sirenlovesqueen @moreofthatqueen @eileen-crys​

If someone wants to be added or removed from the tag-list just tell me :}

I couldn't even sleep well that night because of the excitement and anxiety I felt. I packed the most important stuff and went over and over again that I had everything I needed. A few changes of clothes, all the money I had saved and a small notebook to write down everything important.

 During the night I spent tossing and turning in bed, thinking about what I could do in different places; I could explore the most remote areas of the Empire, fight with the wildest beasts or even tame a dragon, perhaps not the latter but still I could try it another time.

As soon as the first rays of the sun came out, I put on my armor and went downstairs to have breakfast.

 Sarinha was in the kitchen, going back and forth to finish preparing food.

 — Good morning Regina! — Sarinha greeted with great emotion — Franco told me you were going to travel — She said while she finished serving the breakfasts.

 — Yes! — I exclaimed — We will travel through the middle of Farfania before reaching the Tree City. And I'll see if I can convince him to go to The Shelter  later. My uncle has wanted to meet him for a long time —

 — I see both of you are quite excited. Even Franco stopped being so grumpy. Although ... I wonder how you did it — Sarinha commented with a small laugh.

 I looked at her confused.

 — Excuse me? Do what? — I asked .

 — I mean… for thirty years I insisted Franco to go out of Step of the king and you; you did it in one night. —

 — Why did you want Franco to leave Paso del Rey? I mean… it's nice to be here —

 —I always figured it would do him good to get some fresh air. Before your arrival, he kept locked up in his room. You managed to get him to go to the forest and now he will travel again —

 —The truth, I do not know how I did it, I suppose I am very insistent or he accepted to stop bothering him — I said with a small laugh.

 — I'm almost sure he did it because he also wanted to explore a little, to remember those days when he was a knight. I'm glad for you. I would love to go with you you but I have to attend the tavern —

 — When we return, we could attend the tavern — I said amused — So you can travel! —

 Sarinha laughed at my proposal.

 — I'll keep it in mind —

 I went out to the dining room, and surprisingly, Franco was already there, quietly drinking  a coffee.

I put the plates on the table and we began to eat in silence.

Something in me told me that Franco was going to regret it at the last minute, maybe he was going to use some of his usual excuses. Although I was doubting that that was going to happen. I had to say that Franco also looked excited about our trip, although it seemed that he wanted to repress it.

 — Are you ready to go? — Franco said once we finished eating.

 I nodded with great emotion.

Franco took his backpack and we headed to the exit.

 — Have a good trip and do not forget to write to me whenever you can — Sarinha said goodbye.

 We said goodbye to her and promised to return in a couple of weeks.

 We went through the town in complete silence. It was strange to see the town so empty, in a way I had gotten used to seeing people at all hours.

I hoped that at any moment Franco would say that he already wanted to return, it was something he had to keep in mind. But that moment never came, maybe it would come later.

 We walked for an hour along the path that took you to Paladium city.

 We found a traveler who was driving a cart, apparently he was a recurring customer at Sarinha's tavern and knew Franco, although I could not recognize him.

 And so we started our journey, on the back of a full wagon. It was different from what he expected but that did not take away the charm of it.

 After an hour of travel the familiar forest began to change. It was quite beautiful. It was the same as four years ago, when I arrived at Step of the king by this same road.

 In this area, the trees were more widely spaced, revealing part of the sky, which did not have a single cloud. Even in some areas you could see the high mountains with snow in the distance.

For someone who passed here every day it could be a common landscape but for me it was impressive, or at least different. I had grown up in the darkness of The Shelter and later in the colorful trees of Step of the king. It was just beautiful to see how everything changed as we progressed.

When he turned to see Franco, he seemed to be just as fascinated with the road, he smiled and looked around him like a young traveler on his first adventure. To tell the truth, it was the first time I had seen him this happy.

 — Why do you smile? — I asked.

 — I remembered the old days — Franco said calmly.

 — The old days? — I asked amused.

 — Yes — He answered now with a bigger smile — I remember how I traveled throughout the Empire with my friends. On the way we would always sing the classic chivalric songs and tell bad jokes. The trips of hours seemed only minutes —

 — Chivalric songs? Like which? —

 — I'm not going to be singing - Franco said —I've never been good at singing and even less after so many years —

 — Please — I begged —I have never heard of those songs -

 Franco sighed heavily.

 — Ok — He accepted — But only a part and also I don't want you to complain about my voice and don't say I didn't warn you —

 “Steel all around for the king and his crown

Winds of the dawn are caressing us all ...

Ancelot smiles at the knights' epic cry

Thanks to the old and their emerald sword ”

 His voice was husky when singing, even more than he already had it, but he had a certain magic.

 — It's a very nice song — I commented once he finished singing.

 — Well ... it wasn't the best song of all. There was a Pagan Party, they loved that one. Whenever we set up camp we would dance and sing that song around the campfire until our feet hurt. It was fantastic  —

 Pagan party? I had heard that it was quite a popular dance but had never had a chance to dance it.

 — And were any of your friends a Netherite knight? — I dared to ask

 — Not all my friends were knights. In fact, I was the only one — Franco said with a certain air of pride.

 — Seriously? I thought you were in the royal guard — I said somewhat puzzled.

 — Yes, I was in the royal guard. I met many knights throughout my life but I never… felt very comfortable with them. They are a bit smug —

 I laughed a little at the latter.

 — And what were your friends like? And if they weren't knights what were they? —

 — They were very extravagant. In our little group there was an Ignatio, a shapeshifter, a few animals, and the most powerful wizard I have ever met. They were great and brave. Many times I felt that they were too much for me but we still worked very well together. More than my friends, I came to consider them my family — Franco's smile disappeared from his face — Those were good morning —

 — And what happened? — I asked.

 — What happened was the fall of Farfania. — He said darkly — That bastard Netherite knight ruined my life. He left this mark on me — He said as he pointed to his face — And he took away all the good in my life. That is why I could never go back to the royal guard ... and I could never see family again —

 — That's why you don't talk about it — I said in a whisper.

 — Yes ... it was ... the worst thing that ever happened to me and since then I have not been able to recover from that. —

 I wanted to ask him why he could no longer see his family but I preferred to abstain. It was clear that it was a bitter memory that he still couldn't get over, even after 30 years.

 We didn't talk about it again for the rest of the trip, although he did tell me about his adventures, again. I always believed he was a lone wolf in his youth but this time he did mention his family which made the story more interesting. Now that I thought about it, it was strange that he hadn't mentioned them until now but I didn't give it much thought. Maybe they only brought back bad memories after Farfania's fall, even though so many good times they passed together.

___________________

 The cart stopped in what appeared to be a city after a couple of hours of travel.

I jumped out and helped Franco down.

 — Well guys — Said the boy in the cart — I'm going to make a stop here to rest. Are you going to stay here or are you going to go to Paladium? —

 — We will stay a few days — Franco replied — Thank you very much for the trip —

 — No problem and good luck with your trip —

 We say goodbye to the traveler and continue we our journey.

 — And here is ...? —  I asked.

 — The Silver, known as the best place to get enchanted books —

 — Like the ice walker? — I asked excitedly.

 — Better than that. Fire protection, bane of arthropods, even channeling if you have a trident—

 — Have you already come? - I asked.

 — Countless times. Here I got the books for my armor —

 I felt a bit out of place in the city. I just wanted to stop and appreciate things but people seemed to not have time for those things; They were rushing everywhere and if you stopped for a second they would start to push you.

 Franco had to guide me through the streets so that I would not be left behind.

 It was quite different from The Shelter and Step of the king. Here the buildings were even more impressive in the city center. They were about three stories tall and maintained a certain symmetry in their windows and crooked columns. Something that caught my attention was the integration of painting inthe architecture, in addition to the towers and domes that were used.

 Franco checked us into a hostel to stay for the next two days. He said he wanted to teach me a little bit about enchantments, how to choose the best ones and all that stuff. It would be good for me in the future, although at the moment we couldn't buy any books as we didn't have enough money. (The best books could cost up to 64 gold coins)

 After that, Franco insisted that we go out a bit, that he wanted to see how the city had changed and mainly to find where the enchanted books were sold.

 We walked all over the city and I was lost. Although the buildings did change a little on each street, there were not enough differences to be located; or at least I had not yet recorded them in my memory. I was confident that Franco knew where we had to go even though it seemed that he was lost too or simply his memory of the city was a bit rusty.

 After half an hour of walking around, we found the street where the books were sold. The street was wider than the others and was made of stone. The shops were small with large decorative elements like plants to give life to the monotonous city. This street was much quieter than the rest of the city, with only a few people browsing the shops.

This time I was able to appreciate the stores better. Each of them specialize in different things; some sold books for armor, some for swords, some even for pickaxes and axes. It was fascinating in a way, and I had never really seen so many enchanted books.

 As I continued to look at the books and leaf through a few of them. I heard a scream from across the street.

 “Stop!”

 It was a girl asking for help and surprisingly no one came up with her when she screamed.

 I ran to get to her side.

The window of her store was smashed, and the interior of the store was a mess; bookcases on the floor, book pages everywhere and pieces of glass all over the floor. It seems that a whirlpool had passed through here.

 — Finally! — The girl exclaimed when she saw me — Someone from the royal guard —

 She was about to tell him that she was not from the royal guard, but I held back.

 — What happened? — I asked politely.

 — A boy came in and stole everything! — Exclaimed the frustrated girl — I need you to help me get things back. They are various magical artifacts that are very rare —

 The truth was I was not a good detective but the girl looked frustrated and sad about what happened. The least she could do was try to find the culprit. Although I doubt it's going to be easy.

 — Of course, miss ... —

 —Joanna — she said with a small smile.

 Suddenly, Franco grabbed my arm and dragged me roughly.

 — I'm sorry miss but she can't help you — Franco said seriously as we walked away a bit.

 We walked a couple of meters away and the girl looked at us confused.

 — What's wrong with you? — I said annoyed once I managed to get out of Franco's grip.

 — We came to train and study. Not to ... do social work — Franco said annoyed. — I know you want to help but this is not the right time. You'll do it later — he said calmer this time.

 Yes, but then I won't be able to get the girl's things back.

 — Come on Franco, she is a poor girl who had her things stolen from her. Isn't it the work of a knight? Help people when they need it most — I looked at him with pleading eyes.

 Franco just stared at me with his rough expression.

 — It could be used for training. He's just a boy, how hard can it be? —

 Franco sighed heavily.

 — Okay — He gave up—- But if things go wrong, I want you to come back immediately —

 I rolled my eyes before approaching Joanna again.

 — I'm sorry about what happened — I said with a nervous smile — I'm Regina and I've come to help her — I made a small bow.

 — Thank you —

 — So what happened? To ... give me an idea —

 — That ... vandal, he came and crashed with his giant spider, then stole everything he could before leaving —

 — Alright. Is not too much. Didn't you see where she went? —

 —He had to continue down this street and it's the only thing I have — Joanna lamented.

 This… will be very difficult, impossible I would dare to say, but I was not going to turn down this opportunity. Besides, no one had come to help her, it was the least she could do.

 We scoured the city from one side to the other looking for a clue, rather Joanna guided me through the city. We tried to ask several people about the boy, unfortunately most did not want to answer us or simply did not know.

 We found a tavern. We weren't entirely sure we were going to find too much help but there weren't too many options.

The place was half empty and had a strong smell of cheap alcohol. It didn't seem to be a seedy tavern though. We approached the bar, where an Ignatio was attending, I could notice even more the heat that his body emitted.

 — Good afternoon — I greeted Ignatio — We are looking for someone—

 Ignatio adjusted his glasses carefully.

 — Aha. And what does that "someone" look like? — The ignatio leaned over the bar.

 I opened my mouth to say it when I realized I had no idea. The boy was already gone when I arrived.

 — He was around 25 years old — Joanna came to the rescue — with dark short hair. He was wearing leather armor and his height was more or less like this — She pointed with her hand a little below my head — Ah! And he had a pet spider —

 The man put his hand on his chin while he thought for a bit.

 — Mmm. I think I've seen him. Someone passed through this street like a madman riding a spider. He did a little bit of damage — Ignatio said calmly.

 — Is him! — I exclaimed — By chance did you not see where he went —

 — He probably went north if he continued down this street. If he was going at that speed it was most likely that he wanted to get out of the city —

 — Perfect. Thank you very much for your help! —

 We continued on our way, asking different people to make sure we were on the right track.

 — Why would a boy like him want so many books? — I said while he kicked some stones.

 — I don't know. Most likely he intended to resell them — Joanna recriminated — He has been doing this for months. —

 — Months? —

 — Yes ... And not just me. Also to others who sell similar objects. I’m sure he makes a lot of money selling these things —Joanna complained.

 — What other things has he stolen? — I asked.

 — In addition to books; potions, food, elytras, armor, swords, even tridents —

 — Where does he get the tridents? —

 — There is an amphibian that sells them. He says they hurt a lot because he has a hard time getting them and this vandal comes to steal them —

 Something in me told me that he not only sold the things, those were too many objects and I doubted that he would sell them quickly to steal again in a few days. There must be something else behind it.

 — And how far does this street go? —

 — If you follow it straight it simply takes you to the forest —

 After a few minutes we reached the path that took you out of the city, just as deserted as the one I arrived on.

The forest was quiet but it was clear that the boy had passed through here, leaving mangled branches and bushes in the way. At least we already had a more consistent track.

 The boy was careless enough to leave a trail of him in the woods. Or just the spider was too big. I shuddered at that idea. I didn't want to fight with that huge thing.

 We walked through the forest following the few tracks we have (it would surely lead us to nowhere) I was surprised that Joanna wanted to continue after hours of walking; either she was too persistent or the books were too good to let go.

 In the distance, something was out of place. It was someone whistling, no, it was someone singing

 — Did you hear that? — I asked in a low voice.

 — To hear that? —

 I placed a finger on my lips to indicate silence. In the complete silence you could hear the light sound of the wind against the leaves of the trees, a few birds flapping and ... Someone singing! I was right!

 We carefully approached the source of the sound, hiding among bushes and bouquets. It didn't take long to find the vandal.

 The boy was on his spider singing calmly. On his back he had another sack with things, although they didn't sound like books, it sounded like metal, they must be swords or armor. How was he so fast to rob different stores in one day? Or worst case, because no one had stopped him already?

 The boy walked through a part of the forest with his big spider.

We continued to follow him until he came to a cave, well, more than a cave it looked like a hole in a small hill.

 The boy got off his spider and entered the cave.

 When I lost sight of him, I got up from our hiding place but Joanna took my arm.

She pulled me a little to get back to hide.

 — What do you think you're doing? — Joanna asked quietly.

 I crouched down again to be level with her.

 — What do you think I'm doing? I'm going to face him — I snapped annoyed. I didn't want to waste any more time.

 —We can't go for things now, much less hit him — Joanna replied.

 — Why not? He stole your things and many other people’s things —

 Joanna rolled her eyes.

 — Because I said so. We're going to stay here and wait for him to come out — Joanna said with annoyance.

 Reluctantly I agreed. Why did she want to do it the hard way? We go in there, we face him and voila! We have the things. The boy was quite scrawny, it would be an easy battle if he tries to defend himself. We just need to give him a scare.

The only problem could be the spider, but that was the least of it. So we could just distract it but no, the lady wanted to sit down and waste her time.

 After a couple of minutes (which seemed like hours) Joanna got up from the floor. She took a couple of steps in front of her and raised her hands in the air. She started making strange movements.

 — What are you doing? — I asked for.

 — A spell — she answered without turning to see me.

 A kind of bubble enveloped us and then disappeared in small blue lights.

 — For what? —

 — It's an invisibility spell. That way the boy won't know we're here and we can continue with the plan. Besides that we can make a bonfire if it starts to get very cold —

 —So… we'll just stay here all night — I said bored.

 —That's the plan — Joanna said with a slightly malicious smile.

 Out of respect for Joanna, I didn’t complain. I didn't even have time to tell Franco that I was going to spend the whole night camping with a stranger. He will surely yell at me when he sees me again.

 Every minute I peeked over the bushes waiting to get back to the boy.

 Joanna started telling me about the books that had been stolen from her, mostly books for swords. She even had Sweeping Edge and Efficiency V for pickaxes and axes.

 Enchanting books and selling them was a family business decades ago. She was learning to use the enchantment table, which was much more complicated than it appeared.

I had never used an enchantment table, maybe one time I had seen them out of the corner of my eye. It was an obsidian table with gold and diamond accents on the edges, and in the center was the book that enchanted things. The only thing Joanna knew was that one had to learn an ancient language in order to know what you were enchanted with.

 We lasted there until the sun went down. How much could the boy do in there? He sure got tired of stealing so many things like the little bastard he is.

The truth is, I was also falling asleep a bit, not so much from fatigue but from boredom.

 In the dark, the forest was ten times more gloomy. The only source of natural light was the moon. In addition to the campfire that we had lit, and that casted long, terrifying shadows.

Truth be told, my uncle's castle scared me more, at least when I was little. There was no sunlight coming in there, and there were large paintings of ancient kings in all the corridors.

My uncle said that the paintings moved and I naturally spent hours observing them. They never moved an inch, so I guess he just said it to get me to stop bothering him or to do something other than try to get out of the castle.

Now that I remember, there was a painting of my uncle with the other kings. There was the Netherite knight, in his black armor and imposing white eyes. It was the only image I knew of the knight.

 —I know you're not from the royal guard — Joanna said out of nowhere.

 That took me completely out of my memories and I was completely off guard.

 — W ... what? That’s not true — I said defensively.

 —You are not — Joanna said again with a malicious smile.

 I felt my face start to boil. How much could I deny it? Also, how did she find out? Because of my armor or inexperience. I was taking too long to answer, it was so obvious.

 — How do you know? — I asked after a minute.

 — I knew it from the beginning, well ... since you told me your name —

 I had no words. My name had no relation to the other, did it?

Joanna must have read the expression on my face.

 —Never say your name to a fairy — She said with a smug smile.

 Oh gods. Now she's going to curse me!

 — Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. I'm not that kind of fairy — She said in a whisper.

 I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

 —Why did you lie in the first place? -—She did not sound angry, although I could not decipher her intentions.

 I shrugged.

 — I don't know — I said turning to see the fire — I thought you didn't want my help if I told you the truth —

 — Well ... you were the only one who came to my call — Joanna pointed out — From there I assumed you were from the guard. And when you told me your name, I was surprised. You are a good girl Regina ... but you must think things better before jumping into action —

 I laughed at the latter, I was told that a few times before, mainly my uncle and Franco.

We didn't do much the rest of the night. More than anything we struggled not to fall asleep. I even suggested that we go now that the boy was asleep but Joanna refused, she said it was a bad idea. Which was true but I didn't want to stay the rest of the night in the middle of the forest, besides Franco didn't know where I was.

 — And how old are you? — I said to break the ice and to stay awake longer.

 — Sixteen…. years old — Joanna said in the middle of a yawn.

 — You’re 16?! — I exclaimed louder than I had planned.

 — Yes? What's wrong with it? —Joanna asked, raising an eyebrow.

 — Nothing ... it's just that I thought you were older — She said lowering her voice.

 — Why? —

 — Because ... well ... you already have your own book store and because ... you were able to cross half the city by yourself —

 — The store belongs to my parents — Joanna corrected — And crossing half the city is because I can't lose those books. My mother had a hard time finding the enchantments -

 — I understand — I said while I yawned — I would do that if I were in your place —

 — You did it and that you had nothing to do with this —

 —I suppose it is my duty as future knight — I said mockingly.

 We tried to continue the conversation but Joanna couldn't hold out long.

I continued to struggle with the inevitable. Each time my eyes grew heavier until eventually I fell asleep as well.

 _____________________

 — Regina — Joanna shook my arm slightly — Regina, wake up —

 I slowly opened my eyes to meet Joanna's freckled face. At what time had it dawned?

 — What's going on? — It was the only thing I managed to articulate while I stretched a little.

 — The boy is gone — Joanna said in a low voice — I saw how he left the cavern —

 — So let's go — I said jumping up, completely forgetting about the fatigue.

 We left the bushes making as little noise as possible.

 Outside the cavern was the huge spider sleeping, it was the size of a horse. It was even more disgusting up close, you could see all its hairs and its twisted legs. In addition to giving off a smell like rotten fruit, I had to put up with the urge to vomit.

We walked carefully around it so as not to wake it up.

 We entered the cavern, it was smaller than I had expected. It was barely tall enough to walk upright, although Joanna did have to bend down a bit.

 The cavern was full of various stolen items that barely left room to walk, just as Joanna had said; there were books, swords, tridents, even various pieces of gold. How was it that someone like him had stolen so much? Truth be told, he did not seem very skilled in the arts of combat and it did not appear that he was a wizard either. He must have been very lucky I guess.

 — Look — Joanna called my attention in a low voice — Here are all the books — She said as she pointed to a disorganized pile.

 — Fast. Before he returns —

 We both walked over and started putting the books away in a bag. While doing that, I saw something that caught my attention, it was a dark green glass sphere with small shades.

 — What is this? — I asked as she showed it to Joanna.

 — It is an Ender pearl — Joanna answered without stopping what she was doing.

 — Ender what? —

 — Pearl. It is used to teleport. You throw it and where it falls it will take you — Explained Joanna

 The boy was a thief, if I took something from him, it wasn't something bad, was it? Without thinking much about it, I put it in the bag, you never know when you need it to get out of a hurry.

 — Are these all the books? — I asked.

 — Yes, but then we should go back for the other things. We should have brought help — Joanna regretted.

 We close the bags.

 — WHAT ARE YoOU DOING!? - A shout from the other side of the cavern alerted us. The vandal had arrived.

 We looked at each other before running to the exit.

 — Stop! — I heard the vandal yelling as we ran.

 We ran as fast as we could back to town.

Looking back I saw how the boy was riding on his spider at full speed.

I tried to run even faster but the weight of the books prevented it.

The boy passed us and stood in front of us with his spider to block our way.

 — Give me my things back! — the boy yelled

 — These are not your things. You stole them —

 — I just borrowed them. Then I was going to return them — Said the boy with a smile.

 — Well fight with me if you want the books back — I said feigning security as I pulled my sword out of its sheath.

 — Oh! A challenge — Said the boy with emotion as he got down from his spider — You will see that he will defeat you easily — The boy took out his iron axe, it did not have any enchantment. We were on an equal ground. — A god long ago emptied his soul into him. With letters of pain and oceans of love. Wrapped in it, they sleep rich in power. Recipes to live and spells to die —

 Was the boy ... singing?

I turned to see Joanna and she was just as confused as I was. I waited for the boy to make his first move but he continued with his song.

 I snorted loudly. I didn't have time for this.

 I approached him and punched him in the face. The boy took a couple of steps back from the impact and placed a hand where I had hit him.

 — What's wrong with you? — The boy whimpered — I haven’t finished yet —

 — Well, you were taking too long — I argued.

 — Whatever. I'm ready to fight — Said the boy with a smile. — Close combat. Whoever falls first loses ... — He said as he put away his axe and I did the same with my sword.

 I placed my arms in front of me in defense. The boy was still doing nothing, he didn't know how to fight hand to hand either.

I threw a punch to his face that he barely dodged.

I tried to hit him a couple more times but he managed to dodge them all. He was more agile than I expected.

 Until I finally managed to hit one in the middle of his face. The boy took a couple of steps back before touching his face where I had hit him. 

 The boy recoiled in fear and climbed onto his spider.

 — This will not be the last time we see each other! — Whimpered the boy as he moved away in his spider in the opposite direction to his lair.

 What a… anticlimactic fight, I would say. I couldn't expect too much from the boy, though. Well, maybe some other time I will have a chance for a more exciting fight.

 Joanna picked something up from the floor and studied it for a moment.

 —Vandal — Joanna said with surprise — What an interesting name.— She said while she handed me what she had collected.

 It was a small metal plate, it had the boy's face and his name engraved on it. All in all, it was an interesting and somewhat odd name.

 — The important thing is that we get things back — I exclaimed raising my arms in the air.

 — We will have to return for the rest of the stuff. Before he comes back with his friends. If he has — Joanna said with a small laugh.

 We returned carefully the same way, in case Vandal wanted to ambush us again.

 We found the small entrance but surprisingly, the cave was empty, as if no one had been there in the first place.

 — That’s strange — I said while looking for any clue or trace of someone.

 There was nothing, not even ashes from some campfire or shoe marks before us.

 — It seems that at the end of the day if he was a magician — Joanna commented

 — Or someone helped him — I suggested.

 —  Whatever. We better get back — 

 Joanna guided me back to the city, since I had no idea where we were. The road was long as expected; and my feet ached as did my back from carrying the books.

 We arrived at Joanna's store, where the window had already been repaired and the bookshelves were in their place, as if nothing had happened.

 Joanna asked me to help rearrange the books in their respective places. I accepted.

 After a few minutes, the store was perfect, at least in my opinion. And Joanna looked quite happy with the work that we had done so it was a success for me.

 — Here — Joanna said handing me a book and a small bag of coins — It's a ... reward for helping me get things back — She said with a smile.

 Pick up the book with shaking hands. It was made of purple leather and had some strange symbols on the covers; plus it looked like it glowed slightly.

 — What is it? —  I asked.

 — It is a book enchanted with Sharpness II. For your sword — Joanna replied.

 -—And where do I put it on my sword? —

 — There is a blacksmith in town who will be happy to do it. He does not charge anything —

 My first spell for the sword. I never believed it was such a good one, or that he would get it this way.

 — Thank you very much—- I said even without being able to believe it.

 — Oh! I also have this for you — She said as she rummaged in one of her pockets. She handed me a small notebook and a white feather tied in a small bottle of ink — You write anything down there and I can read it and answer it. It's in case you need something or… you just want to talk to a friend — Joanna said with a big smile.

 A friend. I smiled at that thought.

 We said goodbye and I left the store. Franco must have been worried about me, or angry.

After walking around the city, and asking several people, I finally managed to get to the hostel where we had stayed.

 Franco was in the restaurant of the hostel, eating quietly. That reminded me that he had practically not eaten in an entire day.

 — Where did you been all day? You said you would arrive yesterday — Franco asked as soon as he saw me enter. Surprisingly, it didn't sound angry.

 —I was getting this — I said proudly as I tossed the little sack of coins on the table. — And this — I put the enchanted book on the table and sat in front of him.

 Franco took the book to see it better.

 — Sharpness II — Franco was surprised — Not bad —

 — Can you read those symbols? — I asked as he took the book and put it back in my backpack.

 — Of course I know — Franco said as if it were very obvious — I had to enchant my armor and sword on my own —

 — Seriously?! — I exclaimed.

 — Yes, it's a kind of tradition when you get a new rank in the guard. I still remember that sword. I had called it "The Soul Extractor" a name that inspired terror among my enemies. It had Sharpness V and Fire Aspect. — Franco said wistfully. — In addition to other spells that I do not remember —

 — What happened to it? — I asked leaning over the table.

 — Nothing. I still have it — Franco said shrugging — Right here —

 From inside his coat, he took out a small sphere with a golden chain. The sphere was black with a few green swirls dancing inside it.

 It was an Ender chest, one could store anything there without having to worry about space, probably he also had this armor stored there.

 I was realizing how little I knew about Franco.

 — Can I see it? — I asked excitedly.

 — No! — Franco exclaimed and put it back in his coat — I don't want you to put your hands on an object as valuable as that —

I returned to my seat somewhat disappointed.

— I'm not five, you know? — I said sadly.

— I will show you when you are older — Franco said.

I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but smile a little.

__________________

 Vandal hated that… that flying machine. He didn't know why his boss had chosen it, it was horrible, and noisy.

 Vandal walked down the corridors until he found the large metal doors that led to the main room. After some effort, he managed to open them.

Inside the room it was even hotter. Vandal didn't know if it was because of his nerves or because of all the humidity in the air.

 His boss was bent over his desk, analyzing a map. He didn't even bother to look up at Vandal's arrival.

 — S... sir — Vandal spoke with a small voice.

 — I hope it is something important, Vandal. You know that there are still preparations for the new attack — Said his boss severely without looking up.

 — I know sir. Unfortunately, I didn't get the books or anything like that — his boss looked up — Some girls recovered the things, but they didn't get everything, I still have the armor and the swords —

 His boss looked at him sternly with his white eyes.

 — We need the books! — His boss yelled frustrated as he hit the table — What's the use of having so many things if we can't enchant them? —

 — For nothing, sir. B... but I found something better. — His boss turned to look at him curiously — I know where the niece of King Silithur is — Vandal stammered, trembling more and more.

 His boss rubbed her temples in frustration.

 — That's not important. She is not even the heir to the throne — Said his boss frustrated as he returned his sight to the map.

 — The girl she was accompanied by... Franco — Vandal said the name in a low voice as if it were a curse.

 His boss glanced at him and approached him. Vandal cringed even more in anticipation of some scolding.

 — Wow, that is good, very good indeed. Good job Vandal — The man patted the boy on the back. — Until you finally do something right —

 His boss headed for the door.

 — Where are you going sir? — Vandal asked.

 — We will have to make a little visit to an old friend —

[b-listbadboy]

Castlevania Season 3 was disappointing

(Spoilers for Castlevania Season 3, if you haven’t seen it yet it’s out now on Netflix. I suggest watching that first before reading this review)

I won’t say it was an awful season by any stretch of the imagination but man was it a drag to get through.

Almost nothing of significance happens for the majority of the season and the things that did happen felt extremely off and weird. 10 episodes, 25 to 30 minutes each, and every single one except for the fucking TWO LAST EPISODES were spent dicking around with a mystery that had little to do with anything from season 2 beyond a really out there twist that I’m sort of iffy on. Top that off with a lackluster arguably stupid ending to leave us off on a needless cliffhanger, and that’s the magic remedy that will leave me feeling pretty damn frustrated.

The best parts, in my opinion, were with Isaac’s massive undead crusade he was waging throughout his journey for revenge, and Trevor and Syph’s interactions with each other as well as with the little villagers. Isaac’s arc going from a servant of Dracula to slowing evolving into the master of the damned felt genuine, intriguing, and badass! I really wish he was the next main villain instead as it makes sense thematically. He carries out Dracula’s nihilistic views of humanity in a similar but now more direct way and that can lead into something really intriguing. However, for some reason, this season left him and his whole journey on a back burner, and virtually everything else that is implemented into main villain role fell flat on its face execution wise.

For example; The new vampires of this season are Camilla’s three other empress sisters, and while they do have a plethora of personality at the very least, that kind of comes at a cost of the main threat being extremely diluted. We go from this hurting sympathetic undead overlord with the power of an anchent GOD, to a couple of wicked sassy sisters who just wanna eat people forever? It’s a bit lame of a progression from what we once had, we know Vampires like to eat people that’s nothing new or exciting. There’s no real twist to it besides it being “led by women in the dark ages” and granted that makes sense here since it IS the dark ages, but come on we literally just had arguably the BEST adaptation of friggin’ Dracula! This shouldn’t be all they got moving forward from that.

Now, I have ZERO issue with the main antagonists being female or even two of the four sisters (not by blood don’t worry) being a lesbian couple. I hate that I have to emphasize this, hell I often defend Cinder Fall in RWBY more than anyone in the fandom at all despite her issues as a complex and sometimes flat out badly written character. However, The four of them in this season have the most basic of plans that it seems arbitrary status quote fluff at best. It felt like just because it’s Castlevania, we HAVE to have the vampires as the villains. Even though in the games the Belmont’s were literally fighting werewolves, dragons, skeletons, and the GRIMM REAPER??

Therefore, the sense of urgency and tense calculating plans of ‘survival vs extinction’ is completely gone. And yknow in a way, I can kinda initially SEE that working in a sort of “Empire Strikes Back” esque plot. Yknow, with Alucard and the gang go around cleaning up Dracula’s leftover horde only for Isaac or even Camilla to have this huge vengeful comeback of dominance? But there’s no one exactly “striking back” or even taking any kind of immediate initiative after Dracula’s death. It’s been MONTHS after the whole event and no one seems like they really care about that world changing event from the last two season’s. Everything is fine and dandy, no one has a single worry in the world! How enthralling...I miss Godbrand 😑

Besides the plan the four empresses have as well as Issac’s revenge, which I hope will both be more explored in season 4, no one really has any goal to warrant THAT kind of length of a season. This is more of a Netflix problem that I have with most of their shows and it’s one of the reasons why I don’t like watching them. Almost every singe show Netflix produces now, feels the need to overstuff itself with needless filler that gets us really nowhere until the very end where it SUDDENLY all comes together. But because of the nature of binge watching and considering how Netflix wants to desperately keep their subscriptions in fear of intimidating competition, they make these shows 12 episodes long with HALF HOUR OR MORE amount of filler content that’s supposed to satisfy us cause it’s “cute”?! No, stop this shit! Granted, Castlevania wasn’t nearly AS bad as the live action shows, but honestly, what exactly was shown to us that couldn’t have been reduced to like 5 solidly paced episodes focused on one or two plot lines ONLY like before? It worked perfectly back then, why change what ain’t broke?

As much as I don’t like the immediate rush of Trevor and Syph’s out of nowhere sexual relationship, I didn’t overall mind it too much since they still somewhat felt consistent. Their characteristics play off very nicely with one another and it’s pretty easy to see the chemistry between the two....HOWEVER I’M STILL GONNA COMPLAIN ABOUT IT SO HERE WE GO!

I get that they were setting them up as an endgame ship of the series, there’s no denying that, but they start fucking for what feels like (to the audience) two days after and I think that’s a bit ridiculous! Even if Alucard states that it’s been at the very least a month worth of time since the events of Season 2, there’s no real physical signs showing that statement to be true. Hell, Trevor’s beard and hair remains the same despite a HUGE passage of time where it would naturally grow out to indicate said time passing by. But both him, Syph, Alucard, and damn near everyone else looks the exact same as last season. So for all I know it could have been like a week since Season 2 and that to me doesn’t feel exactly earned. The Season 2 finale didn’t explicitly leave off Trevor and Syph officially a couple, they felt more like partners in crime more than anything else. Not to say that there wasn’t any chemistry there to develope INTO a relationship GRADUALLY, but going from a little spark of interest to the immediate jump of them sleeping together naked all comfortably as if they’re a goddamn married couple is a STRETCH! Even Trevor himself thinks so too so don’t jump down my throat about not being immediately swooned by the shipping fanservice given to us. I don’t dislike them as a couple at all, in fact I think their dynamic is cute! However, I would have also liked to have this couple feel natural and earned. They most certainly do not feel earned this way, at least to me.

Oh god, then there’s this out of nowhere sexual tension between Alucard and his new two recruits from another region hinted at in the previous season? Mind you, Alucard was doing literally NOTHING throughout the entirety of Season 3. Yep, literally the ONE DUDE WHO BASICALLY KILLED DRACULA gets about fuck all story progression afterwards out of the three. But what they DO give him are these two new vampire hunting student’s who look identical to one another (no racial they just literally look like fraternal twins) so I assumed they were either siblings or a couple, which makes it REALLY WEIRD WHEN THEY BOTH FUCK ALUCARD OUT OF NOWHERE?! I’m NOT making this shit up I promise! What makes even less sense is that it was really just a ploy for them to steal the Belmont knowledge of killing vampires to show to their people who have been enslaved. Which of course ends with them being killed so it really makes this entire conflict in his character damn near pointless besides “sad vibes check”, but here’s the thing...why didn’t they just keep doing training with Alucard?? There were virtually no downsides to having him teach you how to kill Vampires to save your village from being enslaved, he was teaching you both very well and gave you like the eternal knowledge of how to kill literally EVERY MONSTER and even let you live in the castle FOR FREE, food and wine included! What was the turning point for them to want to kill him all of the sudden? Cause he’s a vampire?? THEY FUCKING KNEW THAT ALREADY!!! Why was is suddenly not a problem at first but then coincidentally a problem now? If they wanted to use this to somehow depict this notion of “Oh my dad/Dracula was right humans are the worst” mindset, trust me, it was better conveyed with Isaac. These twins side plot not only made no sense, but also felt unjustified for Alucard to be an emo boi. I get that it’s supposed to be symbolic of him going through the same issues that both of his parents went through, but none of that really showed how bad human’s are. Just that those two twins didn’t think things through apparently. So the point of Alucard having this odd character convenience shift feels by the numbers cliché, and most importantly CHEAP.

It really makes no sense to me why they’re adding so much of this filler for such a long time, especially with some of this filler being oddly sexual. I don’t mind honest depiction of sex between consenting adults of course, but it just felt so misplaced and awkward at parts where it showed itself. I felt like I was reading a mediocre fanfic of Castlevania instead of the actual show itself! Granted, Season 2 had somewhat of a similar dilemma but the lull in between was still showing the character specifically doing things to further the story along. Towards the end, it gave us a way more satisfactory closure of that saga with Dracula that felt natural and well earned. This season however, felt like they were scrambling with different ideas here and there and didn’t know which to go with. Alucard training new recruits in his castle, Trevor and Syph figuring out an estranged (and BORING/GENERIC) cult of Dracula’s plan, Camilla setting up an army with her fellow sisterhood of evil vampires to gain ultimate power, Hector surviving captivity by using his wit and charm, Isaac raising up the dead for revenge on his deceased master, a new character introducing an all new world to the lore of Castlevania as we know it, all of these interesting concepts and ideas that could easily make up for a good season alone! And instead of focusing on one or two ideas to develope into something natural, they ended up saying “FUCK IT! Fucking I dunno what to- WE’RE DOING ALL OF IT I DUNNO!” and mixed the whole thing in a blender of different flavors that don’t necessarily blend together well enough for a tasty satisfactory meal. It just ends up being a mesh of okay at best, and gross at worst.

IN CONCLUSION, Castlevania Season 3 had a rocky start, an okay middle, and a kind of cool end. There was definitely some cool and exciting ideas implemented in here, but not enough to warrant that lengthy amount of time that Netflix seems to love to give to most of their TV shows. Sometimes less is more, and all that shiny cool glitter isn’t necessarily going to turn out to be gold. I’ll give this season a 5/10. It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen but it certainly could’ve been a lot better.

P.S. “Who Do Ya Voodoo” from Dead Island is Isaac’s new theme song, you can’t convince me otherwise.

[bangtann-bangdamn]

The Very Best

<OT7>

Jeon Jungkook wants to be the new Pokemon Champion. But first, he must defeat 5 Gym Leaders before he can ever hope to challenge the Champion.

Warnings: Absolutely none.

Word count: 2k

AN: I honestly don’t know where this came from other than I love BTS and I love Pokemon.

Jungkook had dreamt of this day: the day he and his small team of pokemon were finally ready for the ultimate journey. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, that he would most likely fail. But he was determined to be the greatest Pokemon Champion the world had ever known, and the first step to his journey was in the next town over. 

The water gym. It was supposedly the easiest gym of the 5 he was to face. Mostly because of its kind gym leader who was the only one who allowed for do-overs. Despite this, many still failed to collect its badge and progress through the challenge. But Jungkook was determined. He didn’t care how many attempts it was going to take him; he was going to beat Jung Hoseok. 

Jung Hoseok was often referred to as the reincarnation of Poseidon himself. With his strong bond with his water-type Pokemon and extravagant knowledge of water type attacks, Hoseok was known to give trainers a good run for their money. Like most gym leaders, Hoseok was not only famous for his mastery on the field but for his  Pokemon and Me work out classes he when the gym was otherwise unoccupied. 

Despite his cold appearance during a match, Hoseok was also the kindest as he always made sure that no trainer left his gym feeling too downtrodden and always welcomed them back with open arms and advice on how to improve. Whilst he enjoyed winning, he simply enjoyed helping trainers improve more.   

The first time Jungkook battled Hoseok, Jungkook had barely weakened Hoseok’s Vaporeon, his first pokemon, and all of Jungkook’s pokemon were quickly taken out. Jungkook barely lasted 30 minutes on the field. It was humiliating and it would have been easy to give up then and there. After all, Jungkook had spent years crafting his team. All those hours researching instead of doing his homework to find out the weaknesses for every type of Pokemon he was to face and he still failed. 

Hoseok placed his hand on Jungkook’s shoulder, stopping Jungkook from leaving. 

“Think about the order of your line-up. You did well.” Hoseok smiled, squeezing Jungkook’s shoulder before letting him leave.

Jungkook took a few days to mull over Hoseok’s advice. When he returned, he planned on sending out his pokemon in a different order. He analysed his pokemon’s strengths and thought that this attempt would be his.

It was not. Although he managed to defeat the first 3 of Hoseok’s pokemon, Jungkook was wiped out by the fourth. 

“You’re great with your commands and your pokemon are quick with how they respond to you. That takes a lot of trust. But you need to think about the battle and not just which of your pokemon are your strongest.”

That night, as Jungkook and his pokemon rested at the local Pokemon Centre, he let Hoseok’s words tumble through his mind. It was a difficult problem and it wasn’t often that Jungkook found himself struggling. He knew these battles would be hard - even anticipated it. But he hadn’t expected them to be this challenging in this way. He had never considered that the way he sent out his pokemon could affect the outcome of the battle itself.

As dawn broke over the horizon, Jungkook knew what he needed to do. He was waiting for Hoseok the moment the gym opened.

“I want another rematch!” Jungkook bowed his head as he smiled at Hoseok.

Hoseok was surprised as he walked Jungkook back through his gym. He had never seen a trainer return so quickly after a defeat. It sent a spike of excitement as he faced the younger man.

Jungkook let Hoseok’s previous advice wash over him. To consider his line up; to anticipate the battle. As Hoseok sent out his first pokemon, so did Jungkook. But this time, as the battle progressed, he switched out his pokemon. He didn’t think in terms of which pokemon were better suited against Hoseok’s, he thought about their moves. He thought about keeping Hoseok on his toes and never letting him keep the upper hand.

Jungkook easily took out all of Hoseok’s pokemon without any of his pokemon being defeated.

Hoseok smiled. “You did well, Jungkook. Truly one of the best pokemon battles I have ever had. It is an honour to hand you this.”

Hoseok bowed as he presented Jungkook with his badge.

But Jungkook knew that this was only the beginning. Each battle he faced was only going to be harder. And if he lost at any point, he would be forced to start again.

The next gym was further away than the first, taking Jungkook miles away from his home and into the forest. 

Whilst the gym was in a remote location, the path to it was well-trodden. After all, Park Jimin was a renowned grass and poison Gym Leader whose gym also acted as one of the best pokemon retreats in the world. It was frequently visited by trainers and patrons alike to seek escape in the tranquil landscape.

Jimin was a formidable foe. All of his pokemon were trained to use heal, making landing a hit almost impossible. But Jungkook persisted. He combined attacks in quick succession, cheered for his pokemon when they landed a successful move. 

By the time Jungkook took out the last of Jimin’s pokemon, both he and his team were exhausted. Jimin handed over his badge with a brilliant smile and offered Jungkook room and board for winning, to which he and his pokemon enjoyed. 

Min Yoongi’s gym was, of all places, on the side of an active volcano. Jungkook knew he shouldn’t have been surprised, considering Yoongi was the leader of a fire and dark type gym, but he still found himself awed as he took in the building. 

Unlike the previous gym leaders, Yoongi offered a few words before the battle. He was surprisingly cold for a man surrounded by fire, and yet Jungkook found comfort in that. There was something about the quiet disposition of the gym leader that helped Jungkook relax. When the battle finally began, Jungkook was ready.

It was by no means an easy battle. Jungkook’s win was by the skin of his teeth. Most of his pokemon were eliminated and it resulted in a 1 on 1 showdown. But he had succeeded. 

Yoongi smiled at Jungkook for the first time, shaking his hand before offering Jungkook his badge.

As Jungkook took the badge, Yoongi laughed.

“Now the easy part is over. Good luck.” 

Jungkook had no idea how to take that. If anything, his journey so far had been far from easy. But the moment he had stepped into Kim Taehyung’s gym he understood. 

Kim Taehyung was eccentric. Renown for his fairy and dragon-type pokemon, he had settled his gym on a quiet mountain top underneath the aurora borealis. And whilst his whimsical personality had Jungkook believing he was in for an easy battle, he was quickly proven wrong.

Taehyung was a beast. As soon as the battle began, his focus zeroed in on Jungkook. Dragon types were notoriously difficult to beat, and Jungkook quickly found himself going toe to toe with Dragonite. As if it wasn’t enough to contend with, Taehyung proved to be a quick study. He quickly learned Jungkook’s battle strategy, applying the pressure until Jungkook was certain he was going to lose.

But somehow Jungkook managed. When Taehyung awarded Jungkook his badge, Jungkook began to doubt his strength as a trainer. After all, Yoongi was right. Jungkook had just come close to losing it all. 

But Jungkook couldn’t give up now. He had to forge ahead. After all, the next battle was his last before he faced the Champion. 

Fortunately, the next gym was exactly what Jungkook needed. The largest library in all the world was where Kim Namjoon housed his psychic type gym. 

Namjoon smiled when Jungkook declined his battle invitation, instead deciding to use his time researching in the library. He spent a few days refreshing his mind on strategies, past champions, pokemon types, and attacks in the hopes of finding inspiration. But the further he dug, the more lost he felt.

By the time Jungkook stood opposite Namjoon, he felt like he had already lost. But he wasn’t prepared to go without a fight.

Unlike his previous battles where Jungkook had thought without an audience, this time he had attracted a crowd. News of a new trainer successfully making his way through the gyms had spread, but Jungkook had never really noticed his popularity until that moment. The few days of research had been enough for the word to spread, and now, as he grabbed his first pokemon ball, the crowd was hushed into silence. 

What Jungkook didn’t expect was for a quick battle. With his research still fresh in his mind, Jungkook made quick work of eliminating Namjoon’s pokemon. 

When Namjoon handed over his badge, Jungkook couldn’t hide his surprise.

“You earned it.” Namjoon clasped Jungkook’s shoulder and smiled. “Never underestimate the power of research.”

Jungkook bowed his head.

Now he only had to face the champion. Unlike the remote locations many of the gyms were housed, the Champion was found at the stadium in the city. It had been a while since anyone had made it this far in the championship, so Jungkook found himself greeted with a procession. Even the gym leaders Jungkook had faced had made the journey to see his battle. All the music and cheers warmed him up for a moment, but he was quick to remind himself of the upcoming battle. He wouldn’t allow himself to bask in the celebratory atmosphere until he had truly won.

Kim Seokjin was, after all, the best and nobody had come close to beating him since he took up the mantle of Champion. But Jungkook was unaware of just what he was about to face.

Seokjin was a chaotic force of nature and, as such, was known to change his line-up of pokemon frequently. No two pokemon battles were the same with Seokjin, which made researching effective strategies near impossible. 

Even so, Jungkook still found himself surprised when Seokjin spent most of their battle cracking jokes in between moves. 

“What did one Geodude say to the other Geodude? Let’s rock!”

“Why was Hypno so energetic? He wasn’t Drowzee anymore.”

“Why can’t you blindfold a Pokemon? Because it’s going to Pikachu!”

And after each of his disastrous pun came his cackling laugh. Jungkook tried to drown him out, to focus on the battle, but to no avail. He was down to his last 2 pokemon, whilst Seokjin still had 3 at his disposal. 

As Seokjin cracked another ghastly pun, Jungkook groaned, “Would you stop, they’re not that funny!”

Seokjin gasped. “Not funny? NOT FUNNY!?” He glared at Jungkook. “My jokes are world-class! Pikachu use iron tail!”

Jungkook barely got his pokemon out of the way in time. But Jungkook’s words had hit home. Seokjin was no longer cracking jokes, his attention solely on the match. Which, for anyone else, would have spelt disaster. But not for Jungkook. 

With his attention on the battle, Seokjin’s battle strategy shifted. No longer were his commands as chaotic as the man himself leaving Jungkook scrabbling to keep up; they were precise. Focused.

And that meant Jungkook could strategise. 

By the time Jungkook was lowering his head for the championship medal to be placed around his neck, he could hardly believe himself. He had done it.

He was the new Pokemon Champion.

Seokjin glared at Jungkook. “Enjoy it whilst it lasts, I will reclaim my throne.” 

Jungkook laughed. “I’ll look forward to the rematch.”

“You’re not supposed to laugh! You’re supposed to be intimidated!”

“By you?” Jungkook shook his head, unable to contain his happiness. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Why you-” Seokjin collected himself, releasing a levelled breath. “Just you wait, punk.” 

Seokjin kept his eye contact as he backed away.

“He means it, you know,” Yoongi announced as he shook Jungkook’s hand. “He will be back for a rematch.”

Jimin groaned as he joined them. “Oh man, I was enjoying the peace. Jin’s going to bring the full procession again, isn’t he?”

Taehyung shrugged as he slapped Jungkook’s back. “Eh, it’s not so bad. At least he brings food.”

One by one, the gym leaders approached Jungkook to congratulate him on his win and to welcome him to the family. 

It was more than he could have ever dreamed of.

[captaincorpse]

@badthingshappenbingo

Hi anon! I don’t know if this is what you wanted, but I tried my best. In this case the sister is the faux-affectionate villain but I don’t think I did it right? Not sure but either way, enjoy! Also the capitalization of She and Her for Will is intentional mostly to show how highly he regards his sister.

CW: incestuous thoughts, overprotectiveness, overprotective brother, divorced parents, loneliness, running away from home, alcoholic mother, intrusive thoughts.

Squares: Faux-Affectionate Villain, Big Brother Instinct.

His little dove.

Will knew he had to see Her, his dove. He wanted to see Her, he missed Lucy so much.

He only had 30 minutes left until he could leave.

Keeping thoughts of his beloved in his mind was enough to get through all the excruciating and tedious interactions with all those awful people. Will hated that he had to waste his words and fake pleasantries with people who didn’t deserve it. None of them would ever be as perfect as Her.

He couldn’t wait to see Her smile when he returned home.

“Hey Will, what’s the rush today?” His coworker Holly raised an eyebrow at how quickly he went to leave as soon as his shift was finished.

A breath caught in his throat at her question, and he coughed a little, looking away.

“Just a cold, it’s not a big deal. I’ll be fine by Monday. See you.”

Why does this bitch care so much about my personal life anyway? I’ll always have somewhere better to be if I’m away from my princess.

Not wasting any more time in her presence, Will sped out the door as soon as the words left his mouth.

She smiled brightly at his entrance, looking up at him from her spot on the couch, drawings and pencils littered throughout.

Wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tightly, he whispered into her hair “I missed you so much, my dove.”

Lucy didn’t try to pull away from him, instead she only hugged him tighter “I missed you too..but, um, I’m kinda busy right now if you don’t mind, Will.”

Of course, of course. How terrible of Will to disturb Her. How could he be such an awful brother? She must hate him now.

He had decided against his better intentions to cheer Her up, obviously She needed space to heal from that embrace he had forced upon Her while she was so extremely busy. Will decided to go to his room and reflect.

Fuckin’ hell, just once I wish he’d stay at work later. I can’t stand having him breathing on my neck every second of the day. I was happy when he got a job so maybe I could have some privacy for once but no.

It had been over a month since Lucy had last sent that to her friend, she knew that it’d be better to stay somewhere else but it was hard. Even when she went to band camp last year, he kept trying to get in contact with her to no avail, until he went to the campgrounds himself.

Oh well, at least she still had her online friends, thank god for burner phones and thank god he wasn’t obsessive enough to go through her stuff, he thought he had her wrapped around his thumb, Will thought that he could trust her not to lie.

He spent the next few hours agonizing over his decision, why couldn’t he have just left Her alone? What if he held Her too tightly and hurt Her? God, his poor, fragile, darling. It was all his fault, how could he do this? How could he leave her all alone to cook by herself? How could he leave her so lonely while he was forced to work? She could barely take care of herself without his help. He was horrible, he was a horrible person.

It took him even longer to calm down, it was 12:32 AM by the time he had thought he’d better apologize.

Lucy wasn’t in her room. Impossible, where would She go? He kept the house under lock and key, literally. Will was sure he’d heard Her go upstairs to Her room. No, no matter, maybe She had gone to get some water or She was in the bathroom. He knew She had to be somewhere, and why would she want to be anywhere besides home, with him? The world outside was much too dangerous for a girl like Lucy, she needed him.

She wouldn’t survive out there alone.

Tying her sneakers and preparing to head out the door, Lucy wondered..how long had it been since she’d gone somewhere without Will? No, she shouldn’t think about him right now. The only way she could go was forward, there was no need to think about the past.

For once she was lucky he’d gotten in one of his weird moods, the ones where he cried alone in his room if he thought she was hurt in any way because of him. It kept him busy at least.

With her heart beating at an intensity she didn’t know was possible, she ran. It didn’t matter where she went as long as she was safe and it wasn’t here.

12:30 already? Thanks to his carelessness, how badly he wanted to see her, she took the keys out of his jacket the second he’d left the room and planned her escape. She wondered when he’d realize that she’d been gone for an hour already.

Escape, huh? Is that what it was? A princess escaping from the horrible dragon that had locked her up, all in the name of his good intentions.

After looking everywhere in the house She might be, Will was starting to lose hope. There weren’t many places She could have gone and She didn’t have any friends and She had no reason to want to leave. He had to calm down, if Lucy saw him like this, She could get scared. That was the last thing he wanted, to have Her hate him forever. They only had each other.

They weren’t related by blood, Will’s parents had gotten divorced and remarried to Lucy’s mother. He was against being separated from his Mother but sadly his father had gotten custody due to her alcoholism. He was against the divorce and rebelled, he hung out with a bad crowd, he’d smoked and drank, anything to show his disapproval. Lucy was the only one that was kind to him, if She wasn’t around then he’d be all alone. It was why it was his sole purpose to make Her happy, after all She’d done for him.

It’d taken him a while to convince his parents to let Lucy stay with him while She finished high school and he started college, but his father and his second wife had been fighting often and it was affecting poor Lucy. Her mother was hit by his father recently, what if she was next? It was only for a few days, just until things calmed down. Days turned to weeks which turned to months.

She couldn’t be very far, she couldn’t.

Lucy was gone for days, then weeks, then months.

Will had almost given up hope, almost. He’d called his parents and asked if She was there, no, she wasn’t. Was something wrong, Will? He said no, he didn’t need those nuisances involved in their life together.

Was she with a friend? No, she had no one besides him. Did someone take her?

Where was she? Why wasn’t she coming home?

Was she dead?

He had to keep hoping that she’d come home, even if she wasn’t safe right now.

Oh, little dove..he should have clipped her wings sooner, then she wouldn’t have left the nest.

Until that day came, the only place he would be happy was in his fantasies.

[jaynnie-jane]

 As a child I was taught to fear the world. My earliest memories of walking down alley ways with my Mum are all the same “don’t ever walk down here alone because it’s dangerous” she would say, that message never left me. When I wanted to visit my friend that lived 10 houses down, she would walk me down there, right up to the age of 10. Why? Because it was dangerous, “you might get raped and murdered”. I learned this crazy instinctive fear of lane ways, and to a lesser degree walking by myself anywhere right up to my mid twenties. 

Our house was somewhat of a fortress. Every external door had two locks on them, some had three! It wasn’t even a particularly bad neighborhood. Every night there was the ritual of checking the three locks on the front door, checking every dead lock along the glass sliding doors (that were reinforced or something) then locking the communicating door to that part of the house. I remember the number of times I was scared doing it, the number of times I would be alone in the computer room as a 14 year old and hearing the tree outside brushing against the roof and me freaking out so hard that I would be in a slight panic state for hours. I remember checking the front door was locked then walking the 5 meter long hallway, checking every one of the six locks on the glass and the 2 on the mesh. Glass that looks out into a dark backyard on one side and the sunken, dark games room with the bar and table tennis table I couldn’t see behind on the other. Countless times I would have to turn the lights on out of fear. Many more times I refused to turn the lights on to check for an intruder because I was so sure someone was there, watching me and if I saw them they would kill me. This fear stayed with my until we moved from that house when I was 23. As a 10 year old, I remember having escape routes plotted in my head. I remember thinking if they come in this way, I go that way. I remember the number of times I double checked that I could definitely crawl out my window without making a sound, and depending on where the intruders came from I would climb into one of the four neighboring yards to safety. I developed the same plans when I stayed at friend places over night, the house layout and which walls could be climbed to get to safety. I was 10 and nothing had ever actually happened in my life to instill this level of fear in me, just my Mum. That level of paranoia stayed the same until my early twenties. Meanwhile, my brother was allowed to go riding with his friends from an early age, mostly because he always used to when he stayed at one particular friends house and my Mum had no knowledge. This allowed him to test how dangerous the world really wasn’t for himself. He is one of the most fearless people I know, fearless without being reckless or dumb... any more.

The first person I ever kissed (properly) was when I was 14 and he was 16. We always used to see each other at the dog park and a little baby relationship grew, nothing serious as I was sure I had feelings for someone else, which I talked to him about too. I was forbidden to see him again because he was too old and not to be trusted when really, he was a decent dude and was patient and kind to me at a time when I felt like an ugly outcast. As a 14 year old who falls in love with her best friend, but is terrified my parents will forbid me from seeing her, just like they did with my first kiss I suddenly felt like there was no safe place in the world. I couldn’t talk to them and I was taught not to trust other people (and learned this by being a bit of a social outcast at the same school for 10 years). The basic lesson I learned is everything is scary, everything will murder you and everyone can’t be trusted. So when shit was hard at home and I wanted so hard to establish myself as my own person, or needed to go for a walk to just get away from everything, I didn’t think I could. Every fiber of me told me it was unsafe and dangerous. It did change, slowly, mostly because I just stopped telling my parents the truth about where I was going because I knew they would say no. I was still terrified of alleyways and avoided them at all costs, even if it meant walking past a house that was dodgy or walking a road that had lots less people on it. I remember wanting to see my girlfriend really badly one day because I had a fight with Mum. I knew she wasn’t going to drive me there and I knew there was no way in hell she would let me walk there. I told my Mum I needed to clear my head and when she insisted I take the dog for protection I told her I just really couldn’t handle it right now, plus I might go see Jonnie if I was feeling better on my way home. Jonnie of course was a trusted family friend who I had known from birth so hanging out with him was no issue. I walked the 5km there, well aware that my curfew was in 2.5 hours before she would worry or just randomly pop in at Jonnie’s place for a cuppa. It taking an hour to get there and an hour back, meant I only had half an hour with my girl, but it was enough. The entire way there I was thinking I was going to get jumped. I was so sure of this that by the time I got there I was almost in tears at the stress of it.  To say I am miraculously hyper vigilant is an understatement. Growing up, I had no clue how much I was being protected because I honestly believed that the times I went out and nothing happened it was because I was being very careful. The times I cut across the park or went down a lane way that made my stomach knot, without harm coming to me were just because this time I was lucky. It wan’t until I had a little more freedom that I was able to start questioning the “wisdom” of my parents. When I was 17, I had my own car and a decent group of friends my parents knew, and knew I would crash with them. This meant that I practically lived out of my car, always told my parents where I would be and who I would be with and pretty much only go home to do my washing or if I had an early shift at work. This had been going well for a year until I wanted to see someone my parents had never met. I told my parents I would be late home which means no latter than 10 pm but I did not specify when, nor did I restate who I was seeing because I had told Mum a few days ago that I was looking forward to catching up with this friend again. I had gone straight to this friends house after work to have dinner and watch a movie. Mum was aware that this guy lived with his girlfriend and was an old acquaintance I had bumped into at university and had reconnected with. Neither of my parents had met him or his girlfriend.

At about 8 pm I realised my phone probably needed recharging so I went and grabbed my phone to put it on charge, only to find I had never put the ringer on after it being on silent at work. At least five missed calls from home since 7 pm. I panicked, I thought someone had died. My parents never called me so many times while I was out. I dial as Home starts calling again so I answer immediately but do that awkward pause when you’re not really expecting to accept an incoming call. “Hello? Hello?!” I sound panicked because I was, I thought something bad had happened. Everything was fine. Dad had expected me home for dinner because he didn’t ask Mum where I was. He had called to find out where I was, then getting no answer proceeded to freak out. He grilled my mother for information on this guy, to which she had to say I only knew him from my goth days, that yes he was three years older and that while he has a girlfriend, she wasn’t there tonight. The fact that I didn’t answer my phone made everything worse. My Dad is a worrier and I never realised until that night that more than half of the fear my mother had inflicted on me was actually from my father. After a less than 5 minute argument on the phone with him, it was decided he was coming to pick me up. I think he had decided he was going to come get me around 7:30 but didn’t know the address. I was beside myself. I was so embarrassed that my Dad was forcing me to come home and upset that I had to abandon my evening. I burst into tears. Now my friend is concerned. He and I had spent a long time chatting back when we were younger so I think he had always felt pretty darn protective of me. He gives me a hug, asks if I’m going to be okay and reassures me that we can still do this another time. In that moment I remember being angry with my Dad for thinking that this guy would ever hurt me. Dad gets to the house that has a couple of goth looking things out the front like a skull candle holder and I think a dragon on the door or something. He knocks on the door with his chest puffed out, not ready to fight, he’s not like that but he was trying to posture this guy that was in his mind probably taking advantage of his daughter. The issue here is that my friend was no slouch. A couple of piercings, visible tattoo, strong jaw and broad shoulders. My friend wasn’t trying to be imposing, I think he was trying to be helpful and apologetic, while also feeling protective of me because this bloke he doesn’t know just made his friend cry. It was pretty obvious that if it came to fisticuffs, my dad was going down pretty quick. Of course now, 12 years later I do look on what he did that night lovingly, at the time it was embarrassing and a little sad. Dad bundled me up into his car, leaving Patryick (my car) behind. He wouldn’t even let me drive home. I think he knew he was very much in the wrong, but we never spoke of it again. I did my best to distract myself the next morning at 8 am when Dad drove me back to get my car, knowing full well I had to open at work that morning. I was so insanely protected and taught to fear the world that eventually, I did. I never wanted to run away because the world was scary and I never wanted to do anything that remotely upset my parents because I didn’t want to have to live through that same experience again. So then, how did I become the person I am now? That’s an even darker story for next time I guess.

[fierypen37]

The Oasis: Chapter 13

Another chapter up!

There was nothing like hot sausage pizza with plenty of garlic sauce and dragon peppers at four in the morning. The cheap soda was good too. Beer would have been better, but there was no way in hell he’d risk running the gauntlet while anything less than fighting-sharp. The meal was even better with a half-naked Daenerys Targaryen sitting cross-legged in bed. Pure decadence.

He watched in awe as Dany ate the peppers by the handful. The woman had a stronger stomach than Tormund. Jon leaned back against the headboard, replete. Wiping sauce from his face with a napkin, he admired her in greedy, glancing looks. Falling asleep in her arms after making love felt so . . . right. ‘Making love,’ the phrase seemed trite, but there was no other word for it. Kinky power games swept to wayside in a tide of yearning. That last mutual climax felt like his soul was pouring from his body. Cartoon hearts, starlight, and fireworks, all those clichés were true.

“So what’s the plan?” she asked, combing her hair behind her ear. Mm, that sexy hint of hoarseness in her voice from moaning in pleasure. The blanket draped on her shoulders slipped, giving Jon a tantalizing glimpse of her breast. Jon was lost for a moment admiring the grace knit into her bones as she took a sip from her drink. Every movement smooth and measured, like a dancer.

I am well and truly fucked. It would only get worse. The lake house north was private, cozy. Romantic. Gods. Next, he’d be feeding her chocolate covered strawberries or offering his services as a love slave forever. A thousand rationalizations told him why it wouldn’t, couldn’t work between them. But there it was all the same, so real it hurt. Jon coughed, realizing he’d spaced out staring at her.      

“Uh, our train will take us north . . . to the Cailin Canal. From there, we board another train to Torrhen’s Square. Silver Lake is about a 30-minute drive from there.” A frown line appeared between her brows.

“And why not Winterfell? Isn’t that where you grew up?” Jon raked his fingers through his hair.

“Aye, but the goal is to find a place that the bastards wouldn’t expect. If they find out it’s me helping you, Winterfell will be the first place they look. Not to mention my brothers and sister are there.” Daenerys gave a solemn nod.

“Of course. I would never risk endangering your family,” she said. Her fingers picked restlessly at the hem of the blanket.

“I’d love to meet them, once all this is over,” she said, not meeting his eye.

Jon lost himself in imagining it. Robb and Margaery would insist on hosting them for dinner. Barbeque and beer. Sansa—if she was home from uni—would be a gracious hostess. Arya would pepper her with insightful (and probably embarrassing and invasive) questions, Bran would ogle her and dazzle her with his encyclopedic knowledge of Targaryens, Rickon would be too shy to do more than peek at her from Mrs. Stark’s leg. The image of them eating and laughing on the patio under a big northern sky was so tangible, he could almost taste it. Jon swallowed hard.

“I’d like that too.” The silence that followed was a pleasant one, broken by Daenerys’ jaw-cracking yawn.

“Let’s get some sleep,” Jon suggested.

The food dealt with, there was a degree of shyness as Daenerys curled up, the blankets folded back in invitation. Jon pressed a glancing kiss on her forehead and tucked in behind her. One arm around her, snug and possessive. A statement. Daenerys settled into his embrace with a soft sound. So sweet and trusting. Jon flicked off the lamp. Sleep hung leaden on him, but he spent some time listening to her breathe. He turned the precious gift over in his mind, puzzling at it, admiring it. Three days, maybe four in her presence and voila, here he was, in love. And it scared him shitless.

                                                       ~

 Jon was in a strange mood. Quieter. But not the broody, seething energy of the night before. She’d grown used to the tenor of his silences, but this one she couldn’t put her finger on. He was already up when she woke, dressed and gathering what little they had. Breakfast was cold pizza, and they donned the same filthy clothes—washed as best as cold water and cheap bar soap could manage. Daenerys puzzled as she stuffed her hair under the ball cap. Maybe talking to his family had spooked him? Making plans, setting up a future . . . that should be off-limits.

Despite her girlish crush (and it was a crush, she insisted fiercely), there was no guarantee of tomorrow with them. After all she’d put him through, maybe he was trying to gently disengage. That was it. The sex got too intense. The whole godsdamned situation was too intense. Boundaries were good. The smart thing. The mature thing. Daenerys choked down the knot in her throat. Why did that thought make her so miserable?

The PA announced the departure of their train promptly at six a.m. Jon’s hand was warm against the small of her back.

“Ready?” he asked, his first words beyond ‘good morning.’ Daenerys nodded, slipping into the narrow cabin. Her stomach churned, a nervous acid roil. She chose a pair of seats midway back in the car. There were few other commuters. An older couple sipping tea, a square-jawed business type staring into his computer screen, a middle-aged woman reading a book. No goons, or potential goons, that she could see. Daenerys exhaled a breath as she sat. The Harpies weren’t all powerful. They could get away safe. The press of Jon’s gaze drew her from her thoughts. Gods, even this garish lighting and little sleep didn’t diminish how gorgeous he was. Jet black curls yanked back into submission, his dark eyes magnified by the lenses of his glasses. Daenerys managed a wan smile.

“We can relax, Dany. We bought our tickets with cash, we switched routes and drivers several times.”

Daenerys nodded.

“The farther we get from King’s Landing, the better I’ll feel,” she said. Jon took her hand and Daenerys was so grateful for the contact, she nearly melted.

“Me too. I think you’ll like the cabin. The lake is beautiful. No internet though, or fancy tea.” Daenerys snorted at his half-hearted attempt at teasing.

“I think I can rough it for a while. I’m sure we’ll find something to occupy our time,” she said, lightly stroking the inner curve of his thumb with her own. Jon gulped visibly. Whatever his silence had been about, it relaxed as the train lurched from the station. Talk flowed easily as the tangle of low concrete buildings and narrow streets abruptly gave way to rolling fields and thick forest.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been north. The last time was Bran’s nameday three months ago. I bought him some climbing gear.”

“Climbing? Like rock climbing?” Jon’s smile was quick.        

“Aye. Bran’s been climbing since he could walk. A lot of magazines wrote articles on him; he was the youngest one to climb the Wall. He had an accident some years back. One of his anchors broke, he fell some one hundred feet before the harness caught him.” Dany tightened her hand around his.

“Gods! Was he hurt?” Jon gave a grim nod.

“Broke his pelvis, three ribs and a hairline fracture of his spine. If he’d fallen even a foot farther, the doc said he could have been paralyzed.” Daenerys squeezed his hand.

“How old was he?”

“Ten.”

“I’m so sorry.” Jon raked his hand through his hair, tearing out the tie. His wild hair fell around his face.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet, off-hand: “That’s why I learned massage. He had terrible muscle spasms in his legs and back during rehab.” In the words, she heard a wealth of love and care. Daenerys swallowed the lump in her throat. A contemplative moment passed in comfortable silence.

“I found out I liked it. It’s soothing, not really like work. Except with you.” A hot flash arched through her at the words. She couldn’t bite back a startled smile.

“With me?” A hint of color crept up Jon’s neck. He glanced out the window at the blur of sun-dappled greenery flying by.

“I told you that,” he said, shoulders hunched.

“Told me what?” Daenerys stifled a giggle. She felt giddy, intensely female. Teasing him was such fun! Jon gave her a sharp look, and noticed the humor dancing in her expression. He relaxed. The curve of his lips hinted at all manner of depravity.

“During our session at The Oasis, just the feel of your hair and the way you smelled made me hard,” he whispered, his thumb tracing distracting circles on the tender skin of her wrist.

“I felt like such an ass, perving on an innocent client.”

“I wanted you too,” Daenerys whispered. Despite the armrest between them, Jon loomed close, his breath a phantom caress on her cheek. Just barely she could smell him, musky and male. She chewed on her lower lip. The look in his eyes made a shiver race through her.

“You did?”

“I was so embarrassed. You just rubbing my shoulders made me so . . .”

“What?” Jon pressed. His expression was intent, dark eyes alight with hunger. Daenerys licked her lips.

“So . . . aroused,” she said. Jon’s eyebrow arched.  

“‘Aroused?’ So clinical. Tell me how you felt.”

Daenerys cast a nervous glance around. The near-deserted car was quiet, save for the hum of the train itself. The rows around them were empty. Her heart thudded. Something as mundane as a commute was fun and sexy with Jon. The first air-soft kiss behind her ear made her shudder. Jon nuzzled her hair with his nose.  

“It’s ok, baby,” he purred in her ear, “No one can hear. Just me. You know how I love it when you say those filthy words.” His hand crept beneath the shirt draped over her lap. Daenerys bit back a whimper as he petted the inner seam of her jeans. A kiss, a few sexy words, and here she was, panting and yearning for whatever he wanted.

“Do you want to stop?” Jon said, his eyes searching her face. In answer, she kissed him. Soft, lingering. When she pulled back, Jon looked a little dazed.

“It was the first time. When—when you rubbed my back, I . . . gods, it felt so good. I was wet. Aching.” Gods, that look. Avid, lips parted. And his eyes, that fierce glow.

“The first time?” His fingers plucked at the button of her jeans, worming beneath her panties. Daenerys bit her lip to stifle a whimper, arching her hips to give him better access.

“Yes. Oh yes. It was even w—worse the second time. Pure erotic torture. I thought I was going crazy.” Jon’s fingers parted her folds, finding her hot and slick. He cursed softly under his breath. Daenerys measured her breathing, fingers white-knuckled on the armrests. The first soft touch on her clit worsened the hot ache.

“Is this what you wanted? You wanted me here?” a gentle, circling rhythm. Slick and secret. Gods, yes that gentle circling. Both soothing the ache and making it worse. Letting the pleasure build and burn. Good. So fucking good. Daenerys squirmed in her seat.

“Jon, faster. Please.” His ragged breathing was warm in her ear, his fingers driving her towards sweet relief. Daenerys clenched her thighs around his hand, tense around that delicious rising tide of pleasure.

“Tell me, baby.” His accent was thick, his voice rough.

“Gods, yes. I wanted you. If you’d asked, I would have let you.” Daenerys clenched her hand over his as the pleasure burst behind her eyes. A hot, delicious wave drowning her. When the roar in her ears receded, she was slouched in her chair. Jon’s fingers lazily stroked, setting off sweet, shivery echoes.

“Fuck, Dany. That was beautiful,” Jon said, kissing her neck. Daenerys hummed.

“What about you?” she asked, glancing down. His erection strained against his jeans. Jon shrugged.

“No help for it right now. No biggie. Can I keep my hand here? I love touching you like this.” Daenerys blushed, embarrassed by how wet she was. At this rate, she’d soak through her underwear. Worth it, though.  

“It feels wonderful. Gentle, though. I’m a bit sensitive.” Jon grinned, leaning against her shoulder.

“Of course. I can’t think of a better way to pass the time.”

                                                          ~

 The feel of her hot and slick around his fingers kept him perpetually hard for the next two hours. And probably would until the end of time. Jon didn’t particularly care. Seeing her squirm and whimper under his touch was potently erotic. In between easy conversation and working on a crossword, Jon made her come. Watching her unravel was pure bliss, even more so when she tried so hard to keep it together.

The best part was when the snack cart rolled by, and Jon feigned sleep against her shoulder. He listened as she calmly ordered with two of his fingers deep inside her. Sexy as hell. If the bored attendant looked closer, she would have noticed the sheen of sweat on her face.

Jon sadly pulled back before their food arrived. The rich smell of her wafted from his fingers. He checked the impulse to lick them clean. He tucked into his turkey sub and chips with relish. Through lunch he imagined licking her into a frenzy while she was in a board meeting or something. Yeah. He liked the fantasy. He’d take care of her. Make her dinner. Fetch her dry cleaning. Make her come. Trot after her like a loyal hound, panting and wagging. Forever. Gods, he was fucked.

The train to Cailin Canal flew by. With a certain smug male satisfaction, he noticed Daenerys’ slightly wobbly gait as they disembarked. Jon dragged in a breath of fresh air through his nose. Hundreds of years ago, the Neck had all been swampland. If he remembered right, it was another Daenerys who had ordered to bridge the Neck to connect the Sunset and Narrow Seas. The locks had been widened and modernized since.

“I’ve never been this far north,” Daenerys said, casually tucking her hand into his. Jon managed to knock his big idiotic grin down a few notches.

“We have about half an hour until our next train. Let’s go see the locks,” Jon said.

The air was rich with the smell of water and fried food. Crowds were thin on a weekday, mostly confined to a few couples and the occasional tourist. Jon led Dany to the railing along the lock, peering down to the waterway below. Layers of green slime coated the metal walls, and in the grey-blue water below they passed the time pointing out seals and turtles and the occasional duck. Dany towed him by their entwined hands to the educational plaques, her face alight with curiosity.  

“How does it work? I see the doors, but I wonder how many ships can go through at a time? The Sunset Sea is several degrees warmer than the Narrow Sea. Does that effect the wildlife?” Daenerys asked. Jon checked the impulse to drag her close for a kiss. Smiling in the sunshine, all worry or stress hundreds of miles away, she was the most radiant thing he’d ever seen. It took a minute to restart his short-circuiting brain.

“I—I’m not sure. They have guided tours, but not on weekdays,” Jon said. He glanced at the clock.

“Damn, we have to rush if we want to make our train!”    

Jon would have happily resumed the sexy teasing on the next leg of their journey, but the train leaving Cailin Canal for Torrhen Square was packed. Commuters and families alike. He and Daenerys wedged their way into a middle and aisle seat two rows from the head in the back of the car. Despite that, soon after the train lurched from the station, Daenerys nestled against his shoulder.

“Is this ok? I need to shut my eyes for a minute,” she asked, those limpid violet eyes trained on him.

“Of course. Make yourself comfortable,” Jon said, wadding the spare shirt as a makeshift pillow. Even awkwardly draped across the armrest, she was soon fast asleep. Jon’s heart thudded in his chest. Jon breathed in the smell of cheap soap in her hair along with her own underlying sweetness. Restless fingers toyed with flyaway strands of her hair. He loved having her close.

One of the attendants flicked the aisle TV on. The channels flicked by, an informercial, a vacation channel detailing the wonders of the Summer Isles, an old rugby match, the news . . . Jon’s ears perked up at the mention of Daenerys’ name. Even this far north, the main news stream came in from the capital.

“Government officials and local law enforcement are searching for suspects in the shootout on Loom Street late yesterday evening. This attack is thought to be linked to an attempt on the life of King’s Landing CEO Daenerys Targaryen. The motives are yet unclear, and Miss Targaryen hasn’t been seen since the attack. If you have any information on possible suspects, call the number on your screen.” Jon squeezed her closer, as if to shield her. So strange to hear some of the worst moments of her life pared down to bloodless facts.

The report droned on. Barry and Rakharo were still in intensive care. Daenerys’ brother Viserys appeared on screen. They were similar in coloring and build, but there was a hawkishness in the nose and narrow violet eyes that Jon distrusted.

“Turn the game back on!” a couple passengers grumbled. The attendant obliged before Jon could hear Viserys’ statement.

Jon leaned his head back on the headrest and sank into a thin doze. No matter how tired he was, he could never really fall asleep while traveling . . . He and Dany were walking on the beach hand in hand. Jon closed his eyes and listened to the crash of the surf and let the warm sunshine sink into his bones. Then her hand was gone. He opened his eyes and she was gone, the beach was gone, the sun was black and lifeless. Gone, gone, gone. He ran, shouting her name. They had her. They had her and he didn’t know where . . .

“Jon? Jon, can you hear me?” Dany’s voice woke him. Jon swallowed hard, blinking back to reality. The train had stopped, and passengers were shuffling about, gathering luggage, swilling the last of their drinks.

“Yeah, yeah. Just dozed off. Let’s go.” Jon shook off the dregs of the dream and grabbed her hand.  

The clock in the terminal read six o’ clock. It took some time to wade through the crowd of commuters to the car rental desk. Thanks to Robb, there was a small SUV ready for them. Dinner was a brief detour at a greasy spoon diner. Torrhen Square was a lakeside town, full of kitschy shops, hostels, fishing stores. It took maybe ten minutes to wend their way to the edge of town.  

“If you need to make a call, best do it now. There’s no much reception out at the cabin,” Jon said when they pulled over to fill up on gas. Daenerys gave him a tired smile and dug for the burner phone.

“Good idea. I should call Vis. I’m glad Barry and Rakharo are ok, but it would be nice to know if they’d heard from Missy or Shae.”

Jon nodded, stifling a yawn as he attached the gas hose. He scrubbed his face with his hands. Almost there. They could finally get some decent rest at the cabin. The pump ticker clicked rhythmically. Through the cracked window, he could hear the soft music of Daenerys’ voice. A cold breeze ruffled his hair. Beyond the sharp smell of petrol, he could smell the lake. Open water and plant life. With it came a flood of childhood memories. All of them piling into a van, snacking and joking as they drove.

“What?” It was the sharpness in her voice that drew Jon from his wool-gathering. Jon peered through the window. Her face was pale, stricken. Jon’s belly clenched. What now?

“What is it?” he hissed. Daenerys waved him off, clinging to the phone with a claw-like hand. Jon bit back a rush of irritation. Don’t mind me, I’m just following you around, sheltering you, falling ass over head in love with you--

“And Rakharo, did he--?” Jon cursed under his breath. Whatever his problems, at the end of the day, the harpies were trying their level best to rape and murder her. Besides that, the body count was rising, for which she blamed herself. He had little room to complain after all that.

Jon finished with the gas and slid into the cab. Tense, he jerked the car in gear and focused on speed and negotiating turns as he listened to half of a very heated conversation. Not with the brother. The detective guy then. The fuckers had made another move. 

Daenerys hung up. Silence was as thin and sharp as a blade of glass. Her tears shone in the eerie glow of the dashboard.

“Dany?” Jon said, trying to keep his voice even and calm.

“Barry’s dead. They tried to repair the damage, but he died on the table.”  

[insp1rationalx]

Spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8 episode 5 below

Just as a warning I did not enjoy this episode, and this post is going to be very negative. I have very few good things to say about this episode so if you genuinely enjoyed it then this probably isn’t the post for you. I don’t want to taint anybody’s perceptions if they enjoyed it, I hate spoiling the fun for others. On the other hand, if you like reading more negative (and maybe overly harsh) reviews or you just want a hot take then feel free to read on. 

Honestly, I really hate to say this, but this episode was by far my least favorite of the entire series for many reasons; the main reason that I’m going to complain about is the fact that the writing was not good at all in my opinion. This 1 hour and 20 minutes episode did not need to be this long. There was so much unnecessary editing and prolonged shots on the characters making shocked faces with no real purpose or meaning. Just a bunch of “Oh my gosh look at Daenerys! Oh my gosh look at the burning people!” Like yes we get it. No need to show each character doing it 10 times. I feel like this episode could have shaved off 20 minutes or even 30 minutes. There were so many moments during this episode where I realized I was just bored and unimpressed, and that’s horrifying to me because I have never felt that way before when watching Game of Thrones. There have been moments that I don’t find as captivating or interesting, but I would never go so far as to say I was bored and just excited for the episode to be over. It didn’t feel epic, or badass, or shocking, or tense. Just a whole lot of blah for me. 

I feel like the whole bit with Daenerys looking like she is going to show mercy when she hears the bells but then deciding to burn anybody anyway was pointless. The audience and characters already know Daenerys’ mental state isn’t great at the moment, and that the horrors of her life and immense pressure she is under are messing with her head. But Daenerys has never been one to go back on her word or her promises. She agreed to spare the people if she heard the bells, then did the exact opposite. It would have made far more sense for her to tell Tyrion immediately that she wasn’t going to listen to him and that she would just do what she felt is right. Tyrion had no reason to be shocked and mortified when Daenerys burned everybody. She is The Dragon, she is the Queen, and she has killed thousands before without hesitation. She views it as a sacrifice for the greater good which will come when she has secured the iron throne; he knows this better than anyone as her adviser. And Tyrion is incredibly intelligent. So why do I feel like he was so stupid this episode? There was no reason for him to help Jaime escape. Cersei has been nothing but cruel to him and Tyrion has no desire to help Cersei, and releasing Jaime was a guaranteed death sentence. Tyrion should have known his escape plan was destined to fail and that it wasn’t going to be an easy in-and-out secret operation. Its like a huge part of his character was completely forgotten. 

Jon Snow dealt with the same thing that Tyrion dealt with. Huge emotional shock and dismay at Daenerys killing people but again, Jon Snow, you already knew this! You saw the destructive power and iron fist she rules with. You know how she gains power. You know that she will slaughter, readily, easily, for the sake of the millions across Westeros and Esteros. So why do you look so surprised? I understand that there’s this ongoing theme with Jon Snow wanting to see the best in people and then being surprised when he sees their true colors, but this one was even more blatantly obvious than all the others!

Jaime spent 8 seasons building and developing his character, both individually and alongside Brienne of Tarth. For all of that development and change to be discarded in the span of one episode, for the sake of a love that was mutually abusive and downright evil with how Cersei has treated him, is such a slap in the face to all the writers and producers/directors who did genuinely try to make his character multidimensional. And what did this ending for him accomplish? It just tells us that Jaime will always go back to his old ways -- except we as an audience already know that he doesn’t. This change in his character was so sudden and it came out of nowhere, with weird timing. In a show that tries to tell us that people aren’t always as they appear, that even horrible people are capable of great change, and that forgiveness can be given to anybody who seeks it, they did a great job a making a character who neglects to take part in any of that in the end. What a waste of potential. Even if he didn’t end up with Brienne, its still a waste. 

And now Arya and the Hound. Well done Arya, you make it all the way to King’s Landing to kill Cersei and you turn and run as soon as the Hound tells you to. Since when do you take orders from him? Since when did you abandon the will to follow your own path? If she and the Hound faced Cersei and the Mountain together maybe they each would have survived, and Jaime could have gotten the fuck out of there without getting trapped in some dingy, dusty basement. Maybe the Hound wouldn’t have had to waste his strength and ultimately his life to take down an enemy that wasn’t even concerned with him at that point, because Arya would have been there to help him. Instead they think a slow-paced, anticlimactic fight is the way to go. Seeing them both go over the edge and into the flames was a relief because it meant I didn’t have to watch that pathetic fight any longer.

Also, Arya did nothing this episode except run around helplessly like the weak little girl we know she is NOT! Scared face after scared face, just her getting progressively grosser and weaker. Trying to help people even though its pointless and they aren’t going to do as she says. There was no point in her being in this episode if this is what we were going to get. She was so great at Winterfell! There was no need to taint her great victory against the Night King with this pathetic show. 

Cersei Lannister is a great character, although I do not like her in the slightest. But I will admit, she is crafty, manipulative, and ultimately very rational. She makes calm and informed decisions, and always has a game plan ready to be put into action. Instead we were given a weak and quivering Cersei, who is in denial about the fact that King’s Landing will fall and she will lose this battle. This would have been a great opportunity to showcase these abilities and skills of hers. Instead she is just degraded and the essence of her character is lost. It would have been believable if we saw a slow deterioration into this shell of herself, but instead we were thrust into it and expected to believe it. 

Yara’s part in the story was apparently forgotten. I guess shes just not relevant, so I don’t know why we wasted so much time on her. I would have really liked for her to ride in and face Euron but eh. Also, I’m glad Euron was killed, but I wish he wasn’t killed by Jaime. It just makes Jaime look like the jilted ex lover. 

Overall I felt no sense of urgency, stress, fear, anticipation, or tension in this episode. Even when all those scorpions were pointed at Drogon I did not care after the first few seconds because it was so obvious exactly what direction this episode was going to go. That paired with the shallow portrayal of grieving for Missandei that we were so graciously gifted put a bad taste in my mouth immediately. I wanted and expected far more from this episode. I feel as though this was a pathetic climax (or near climax) for such a great and intense show. I feel as though my time has been wasted. If the last episode follows in the footsteps of this one then I do not have high hopes for my enjoyment of it, which is terribly concerning because other than this episode, I do quite like this show and its characters. But hey, I’m just a fan. At the end of the day the writers and producers are free to create whatever they see fit, and I have little to no right to make demands. I’m just disappointed. I want to like it but I just couldn’t. 

Things I enjoyed in this episode

- Daenerys/Emilia Clarke is a goddess in my eyes

- Beautiful flying lizard breathes fire

- Cersei and Euron died

- ???? 

It means a lot when I say I disliked this episode almost as much as I disliked Avengers: Endgame. Because honestly... I don’t think I liked Endgame. Yikes. 

I’ll add more to this post if I think of anything else

[genuinelydecimated]

Take It All (Drarry)

Hi! I just wrote my first complete drarry fanfic. I was having a writer’s block/creative hiatus and I decided to go onto random word generator and random number generators. I ended up with writing a drarry fanfic that had to be 2631 words long (It ended up being almost twice as long), and have the words “Routine,” “Take,” and “Brush” in it. 

I hope you enjoy :D here’s the link for ao3 too 

Summary: It's been 5 years since the war, and Draco is finally living instead of just surviving. But when Harry Potter saunters into his workplace looking like he missed his own funeral, Draco's life turns upside down. Suddenly, everything Draco knew is changing.

Or

Draco works with potions for his past, and paints the Malfoy Manor for the present. Here comes Harry Potter, and maybe Draco falls for him for the future

The 5 years after the war ended were not kind to Draco.

The first year after the war was taken up by his 8th year in Hogwarts. He spent it clinging onto Pansy and hiding in the library until his NEWT’s were given with all outstanding grades.

The second year, Draco’s worst to say the least, was spent finding a job. Someplace to have a steady source of income for him and his mother to stay alive. Especially, after the Wizengamot decided to put Narcissa on house arrest and take away 99% of the Malfoy bank account.

The third year, he finally found a job in an apothecary were a gentleman, named Nile Rizer, took him in, hearing about his knack for potions from Minerva McGonagall herself.

Now every year since then has been a steady ascent from surviving to living.

Draco’s day was normal. This routine held so close to his heart as it left him feeling like a normal human being living their life, as if his past never happened. All he had to do was wake up, get dressed, get to work, create potions, sell them, close up, go home, paint, then sleep. To be honest, Draco didn’t know which part of the day was his favourite.

Creating potions brought him back to before the war. The elegance in reaching over the cauldron, the gentle plops and sizzles from putting ingredients in them, and the smoothness of mixing grounded him back then. When Mr Rizer tested his potions making, he was astounded and amazed, and a surge of pride ran through Draco. His potions brought the Rizer’s Apothecary to one of the five main shops for St Mungo’s to get their potions from.

Wearing his work robes, a dark neutral grey, almost black, with white linings, he kissed his mother’s cheek goodbye and apparated to the front of the store. As his breath swirled from his sigh, he unlocked the shop. The candles immediately lit themselves, and the bells of the door jingled. He felt at peace.

Checking that all the shelves were stocked up and the cauldrons for sale were clean was muscle memory by now. The brightness of the inside of the shop put dark memories deeply hidden. Rizer entered as he finished checking the dragon’s blood shelf.

“Good morning, sir.” Draco greeted.

“Indeed it is, Malfoy. All the checks in order?” Rizer asked as he hung his coat up beside the register.

“Yes. Everything is set for the day.” Draco smiled as he waved his wand and the sign at the front door changed itself to ‘OPEN.’ “I’ll be in the back.”

As Draco headed off, the familiar jingle of the bells and a greeting from Rizer to the customer was heard.

~~~~~~~

The hours passed as quickly as they always did. Before he knew it, 5 batches of dreamless sleep were brewing in the back, 3 cauldrons were brewing halfway done hangover potions, and his own experiment with wolfsbane was busy simmering away in the corner. As the day started to turn into night, he put the safety alarms on each one (just in case something went wrong).

Mr Rizer had popped in about 30 minutes ago to tell him he’ll be heading off home.

Draco enjoyed closing up the shop. The candles seem to burn brighter, dancing across the shelves like children playing hide and seek. As soon as the thought came through, it left, being pushed away by Draco’s defense mechanisms to not think about childhood.

He closed the door, and watched as the candles flickered off. Smiling, he spun on his heel and apparated home.

Narcissa greeted him with the same open arms he always fell into after coming home from work. He realised a long time ago they needed each other if they were to, not only survive, but live.

“Welcome home, Draco. Ippsy cooked your favourite as a thank you.” Narcissa said as they sauntered towards the dining room.

Draco stared at the meal in front of them in awe, Ippsy smiling gracefully beside Narcissa’s seat.

“A thank you? What magnificent thing have I done for Ippsy to thank me with beef bourguignon,” Ippsy snapped her fingers and a tower of macarons appeared. “ And a macaron tower?”

“The kitchen is brighter now, Master Draco, sir! Ippsy is very happy to cook when she can see the outside, yes. Thank you, Master Draco.” Ippsy said, her happiness radiating.

Draco couldn’t forget his latest painting. It sat on the kitchen walls. Green bushes and shops filled the place, a mix of the best parts of the backyard garden and Diagon Alley. Draco heard Ippsy talk to Narcissa once about how she loved going out to shops for us, so he painted exactly that in the place Ippsy spent most of her time in.

“Thank you for this, Ippsy. I’m happy you like the painting.” Draco sat down, and began eating.

Conversation was stilted, but that was okay. The clanking of silver on porcelain filled the silences. As Draco bit into his third macaron, feeling the sugar coursing through his veins, his mother spoke up.

“Your paintings are beautiful, Draco. I’m glad you found a good hobby.”

Draco smiled softly at his mother. “Thank you. I am too.”

Narcissa smiled back and left the room, dismissing herself from the table.

After dinner, Draco walked around the Manor, looking for his next canvas. It ranged from room doors to ceilings. Hallways too. Sometimes an idea would hit him out of nowhere as his gaze landed on a blank space.

If potions grounded him before the war, reminding him of how innocent he was, then painting grounded him after the war, telling him he hasn’t lost his childlike wonder. His painting was done by magic, but they rarely ever moved. He’d been so careful to keep them stagnant and unmoving, without a life of its own. He only ever made painted candles flicker.

He wandered into a spare bedroom, the first place he ever painted. The ceiling looked like an explosion, the broken chandelier hanging in the middle added to the effect. It was an explosion of everything, the green of avada kedavra, the reds of crucio, electricity crackling all around it, unmoving but pulsing, with mixes of dull greys and harsh colours behind it. It was a scream.

In the corner, written in small cursive handwriting was “DM.” His mother’s idea, really. To sign his works. As if someone would see them and wonder who it belonged to. That’s not why he did it though. It was for him. To name it, brand it, show that it was him, not his.

He signed every painting after that.

Feeling sleepy, and no motivation or inspiration hitting him. He crawled into bed and drifted off.

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

The next day, as he was talking to Rizer about St Mungo’s orders for more dreamless sleep, the front door chimed. Out of all the people to walk through those doors, he hadn’t expected Harry Potter. Draco took a moment, pushing back every bad thought of the war that accompanied the presence of the Chosen One.

Who definitely looked like death itself.

“Merlin, Potter, what happened?” Malfoy asked, ignoring the eyebrow raise from Rizer.

“Oh, Malfoy. I didn’t know you worked here.” Potter replied.

“How did you hear of Rizer’s Apothecary?” Curiosity got the better of Rizer.

“It was on the list of shops that St Mungo’s got their potions from.”  Rizer grinned brightly, the pride looked to swell in his soul.

“What do you need, Mr Potter?” Rizer asked, still beaming.

“I need vials of dreamless sleep.”

The smile faltered on Rizer’s face, and Draco’s eyes narrowed slightly. They couldn’t give him, or anyone, dreamless sleep without permission from at least 2 mediwitches. After the war, dreamless sleep and calming draught addiction became epidemic, and for at least 4 months, dreamless sleep overdose was in the top ten witch and wizard killers list.

“Mr Potter, I’m afraid we-” Rizer started carefully.

“Please.” Harry cut him off, desperate.

Draco sighed, looking at Rizer. Rizer was a good guy, empathetic and understanding, but his ability to say no was not as strong as it should be. Desperate pleas of help were his weakness.

“Sir, if I could handle this customer?” Draco asked Rizer gently.

Rizer understood, and nodded. He moved swiftly to the back to watch over the potions brewing.

“Potter, you understand we can’t sell dreamless sleep anymore unless you have signed permission from mediwitches.” Draco treaded carefully.

“I know, but I don’t have that. They wouldn’t sign anything even after they checked me.” Potter moved forward slowly, exhaustion seeming to take over as he leaned on the desk. “Can’t you tell I need it?”

Draco assessed the situation. Harry Potter, a normal auror, not the head like Weasley, looked like a gust of wind would knock him over. He had the dark bags under his eyes, and he was fidgeting with his hands. Looking into his eyes, he realised Harry was assessing him too.

“Potter, I’m sorry. I am, but I can’t sell it to you, even if you weren’t an auror.” Draco spoke firmly, ready for a fight.

But none came.

“Okay. I’m sorry.” Potter’s eyes looked directly into Dracos. He held his breath. The candles seemed to flicker at just the right time. Potter’s green eyes were tired, but still so green. The light of defiance was gone, yes. But they were still so green .

“I can only give you a 50mL vial of calming draught. It might help you.” He reached under the desk, and unlocked the drawer of calming draughts. “Please use it sparingly, I won’t be able to sell it to you again for a week.”

Potter nodded, mouth slightly agape. “Thank you, Malfoy.”

“Potter, don’t thank me. You’re a customer, I’d do this for anyone who came into the store looking like they crawled out of a grave.”

Potter half smiled at the jibe, and placed, with shaking hands, some galleons on the desk. Before Draco could give him the change, the front door bell chimed followed by the familiar crack of apparition, then Harry was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Good work today,” Rizer said, as he closed shop.

“You too.” He replied, just before apparating back home.

He snacked on leftover macarons as he stared at the empty library wall. It was calling him. To do what, he wasn’t sure, but it was a call all the same. Carefully taking his wand out, he painted the wall midnight blue. The painting spell had been used so often, he could wordlessly cast it. But something, despite knowing midnight blue was right, seemed off. Then an idea popped into his head.

“Ippsy.” Draco called, never taking his eyes off the dark wall.

“Yes, Master Draco?”

“Do you know anywhere that sells muggle paint brushes and paints to wizards?” He asked, tilting his head as more ideas flooded his mind.

“Yes, there is a small shop on Diagon Alley that sells those. Is Master Malfoy wanting some?”

“Yes, Ippsy. I’m thinking I should use muggle painting for this wall.”

“Ippsy will get the paint and paintbrushes for Master Malfoy. Ippsy will be back.”

Before Draco could specify what equipment he would need, Ippsy disappeared with a snap of her fingers. Then reappeared 10 seconds later, holding a big bag filled with everything.

“Thank you, Ippsy. You may go.”

“Ippsy is excited to see what you will paint on this wall, Master Draco. Ippsy knows it must mean a lot to Master, as Master Draco loves the library.” Ippsy said before she disappeared.

As he mixed the paints carefully, creating leafy greens, he spent a small moment hoping Potter was taking care of himself.

The news took the break up of Harry Potter and Ginerva Weasley like the last piece of chocolate cake. Until Harry Potter’s coming out as bisexual article, 6 months later, became talk of the town.

However, that press was 4 years ago, there was no reason for Potter to lose sleep like he was. No. Not at all.

~~~~~~~~

“Potter, I can’t give you dreamless sleep or a calming draught.” Draco said as he was putting his newly brewed hangover potions on the shelves.

“I know.” Potter replied.

Draco turned and assessed him again. He looked a bit better. Like he could punch the wind at least two times before it would knock him over.

“Slept well, last night?” He asked casually, counting the overall stock of hangover potions and how many sold last week.

“The fact I slept at all is the miracle here.” Potter mumbled.

Draco snorted a laugh and turned to smile at Potter. “Feeling better?”

Potter smiled in response. “Yeah, I am.”

“May I ask a question, Potter?” Draco said sweetly, smile never leaving his face.

“Sure.”

“Why are you here?” Draco’s smile left and his voice was neutral.

“Oh, um,” Potter stopped, then furrowed his eyebrows as he looked down. “Actually, I’m not sure.”

Draco rolled his eyes and headed back to the register desk. The bell chimed at the front, as a group of customers walked in.

“Excuse me, Potter. I have work to do.”

Potter nodded, still slightly confused. Draco pretended not to feel Potter’s stare as he helped the customers find the ingredients and potions they were looking for, or the fact that Potter didn’t leave until hours later.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Potter, I really don’t see why you’re here again today.” Draco started, head poking from the curtain in the back.

Before Potter could reply, Draco disappeared back behind the curtain for a few seconds. When he emerged from the back, Potter was still standing where he was before.

“Potter, are you okay?” Draco asked, noting Harry’s fidgeting hands and apologetic look on his face.

“I’m sorry.”

When Potter didn’t continue, Draco spoke up. “For what?”

Potter opened his mouth to reply, but then a flash blinded him. Blinking away the spots in his vision, he looked to the front store. There were cameras and people pushing and shoving each other. Customers in the store looked out in a mix of horror and amazement.

“Did you bring the paparazzi here, Potter?” He spat accusingly.

“No, god no. Of course not.” Potter scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “They’ve been following me, and since I’ve come here 3 days in a row�� They’ll likely not leave until something newspaper worthy happens.”

The shouts of the crowd outside grew louder, and Rizer emerged from his office behind the register desk. “Malfoy, what’s going- Oh, hello again, Mr Potter.”

Potter smiled back. “Hello, Mr Rizer. I’m sorry for the paparazzi outside the store. It grew bigger since the last time I saw them.”

Rizer turned to look at the front and his eyebrows raised so high, Draco thought they would actually come off.

“Mr Potter, are they here for you or for the store?” Rizer asked carefully, slowly turning from the crowd outside to Potter.

Draco tended to the woman looking to buy a jar of lacewing flies. As she started to leave, he hoped the crowd would move for her. Once the door opened, bell chimed, and her entire body was out of the store, cameras flashed and people gathered around her.

One loud booming voice took over all the others. “Is this shop really wonderful enough to grab the attention of Harry Potter?”

No one in the shop heard her response, but whatever she said made the crowd shout louder. Some looking into the shop with amazement.

“They like the store, I guess.” Potter said, giving a dopey smile to Draco and Rizer.

Draco just stared at Potter in both fear and amazement as a few of the people outside worked their way inside and bought pretty much anything they could put their hands on.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next month and a half were dreadful. Though talking to Potter turned from a hassle to something he might have enjoyed. Slightly. Even with the rise in customers, Potter found a way to converse with Draco about anything and everything. The weird part was how Potter looked like he genuinely enjoyed himself when they spoke to each other. The weirdest part was how Draco was happy about that.

But despite that, he had a big problem.

His routine might as well have been chucked out the window. Sales were growing rapidly, making Draco spend a few hours longer brewing potions to keep stock up. Rizer had even opened his potions station up again in his office to help. Draco was grateful, and admired how calm Rizer was even though he would occasionally bounce off the walls when he looked at the statistics of his shop growing.

However, because Draco had to spend more time in the shop, his painting of the library was not going as quickly as planned. The midnight sky was finished, the Draco constellation in the middle. Trees lined the bottom half, different greens mixing together above a bed of brown. But it had taken much too long to reach this point, even with muggle painting methods.

Draco knew it was petty to blame it on Potter. But he did. He blamed Potter.

So when the front door bell chimed and Potter walked through, looking healthier than he ever had in the past 2 months, Draco dragged him to the back.

“Potter.”

“Malfoy, are you okay?” Potter asked, eyes filled with worry.

Draco breathed in to steady himself. Focusing on the sound of Rizer welcoming another rush of customers.

“You can’t… You can’t just do this, Potter.” Draco started, hoping his voice wasn’t as unsteady as he was feeling.

“Do what?” Potter asked as he walked around the room, touching nothing but looking at the cauldrons bubbling away and the labels above each one.

“Take this,” Gesturing to all around him as Potter stopped moving and stared at him. “From me.”

“Malfoy, what am I taking away?”

“My routine.” Draco breathed in slowly, and silently thanked Potter for being patient. “I knew what I was doing before, but now… Ever since you walked through that door, everything has changed.”

“What has changed?”

Suddenly, Potter was in front of him, within arms reach. Eyes reading Draco like an open book, scanning for an answer amongst paragraphs of nonsense. Draco opened his mouth to answer.

“Malfoy, I need to help me out here. There’s too many people.” Rizer shouted on the other side of the curtain.

“I have to go, Potter. Goodbye.” Draco said, not looking at Potter as he moved swiftly across the room to leave.

Before the curtain dropped all the way, the crack of apparition bounced off his eardrums. “ Everything has changed, Potter. The customers, Rizer, even my mother has been asking about you, who knows what else. ”

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

“Malfoy, I haven’t seen you smile that wide since I employed you. Something happen with Potter today?” Rizer said nonchalantly as he counted the stock of lacewing flies.

“Hm? No, nothing. Why would I be smiling over him?” Draco asked from the other side of the store, scourgifying the cauldrons behind the glass.

“Oh, okay. I’m sorry, I just assumed,” Rizer cleared his throat awkwardly. “I thought you fancied Potter.”

Draco froze, dropping a pewter cauldron just a few millimetres from his feet. “ Oh,” he thought to himself as he placed a hand gently over his pounding heart, and noting the fluttery feeling in his gut. Even realising how his cheek muscles hurt from smiling so wide and for so long too. “That’s changed too.”

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

A few hours later, in the Malfoy library, gentle brush strokes of silver and light blue on the wall calmed Draco down from his realisation. When he arrived home, his mother commented on his smile too.

“Draco, dear, you’re beaming. Did something happen today?” She cooed.

“I just realised something.”

“Must be something great to make you smile like you did when you were a child.”

“Oh, it’s not. It’s terrible.”

“Did Potter accidentally spill a potion on himself today?” She asked, laughing to herself.

Draco laughed too. “Something like that.”

Now here he was, painting a stag of silver and blue wisps in between the trees of the forest. Even if Draco couldn’t produce his own patronus, at least he could paint one.

“Draco?” Narcissa’s voice whispered.

“Yes, mother?” He asked, setting his brush down gently on the desk beside him.

“Invite Potter to dinner tomorrow. I’d like to talk to him about something important.”

Draco opened his mouth to protest.

“It has nothing to do with you. No need to worry. It’s… something about the war.” Narcissa treaded carefully with those words, but despite that care, Draco’s blood ran cold.

“Please, Draco.”

He could only nod in reply.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Potter, my mother wants you to visit for dinner tonight.”

Potter hadn’t even walked through the door. “Sure, okay. I’ll just wait until you close shop.”

“Don’t you work as an auror, by the way? How do you find time almost everyday to visit?”

“They put me off 3 months ago. Told me I had to take care of myself before going in on missions.” Potter’s voice was low.

Draco thanked Merlin that there were no customers in the store. The way Potter confessed that insinuated that no one else had known about his work issues. Then it clicked into Draco’s mind. That’s why he came those 2 months ago, looking like death and begging for sleep.

“So, did you see the Quidditch scores for Chudley Cannons against Puddlemere last night?” Potter asked, slipping into their daily conversations. Draco took the hint, and didn’t ask anymore questions about it. Afterall, he has time later to ask.

As the easy conversation and playful banter continued, Draco didn’t realise his heart was soaring the whole time until it landed on Harry’s shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Welcome to Malfoy Manor. May your time here be better than last time.” Draco said, half-joking half-serious as he let go of Harry’s elbow, letting the feel of apparition leave his body.

“Thank you, Malfoy.” Harry smiled softly at him. Draco’s breath caught in his throat.

They walked in, greeted by Ippsy and Narcissa. The greeting was awkward to say the least. Thankfully, dinner saved the day. As it always does. Silence was an opponent defeated by the sounds of dinner, chewing and munching, crunching and sipping, and the welcoming sound of silver on porcelain.

Before Draco put his last spoonful of treacle tart into his mouth, Narcissa asked him to leave her and Harry alone for a while.

“Mother, are you sure?” Draco asked, putting his spoon down.

“Of course, dear. Potter won’t hurt me, and I certainly won’t hurt him. It’s a private conversation.”

Harry looked worriedly at Draco, then nodded, telling him he would be okay. Draco got up slowly, never leaving Harry’s gaze.

“I’ll be in the library when you’re done, Harry.” Draco said just before leaving the dining room, not realising what he’d said.

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

Draco didn’t hear the footsteps that stopped just outside the door. He was too focused on the slow confident strokes of his brushes, creating the wispy smokey look of the patronus. Then he’d put that brush down and pick up the one filled with light green, touching it to the wall as the glow of the stag began to grow with each stroke.

He picked up his wand moments later, pointing it to the stag. Breathing in, focusing and feeling his magic run through him, he exhaled, transferring his breath of life into the painting in front of him. The stag’s head turned, facing at the sky and the Draco constellation in the middle. This is the most amount of magic Draco had ever put into a painting. To breath life into it, to give it a life of its own, both terrified and amazed him.

That’s when Draco heard the footsteps approaching him.

“It’s beautiful.” Harry’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Thank you.”

That’s all he could say. The painting was so different from the ones before. Draco groaned internally as he realised even his painting style had changed. How many things can change just by Harry being back in his life?

“I thought you only use a painting spell for these?” Harry said, gesturing to the painting.

“Usually. But, this one, it seemed to call out for more than just magic.”

Draco didn’t know if Harry understood, but it didn’t matter because Draco did. His eyes glazed over the painting, the wall was magnificent. The perfect mix of muggle and magic.

“What changed your painting method?” Harry asked, turning to face Draco.

Draco snorted a laugh, and turned to face him. “You did, Harry.”

Despite just coming to the realisation of his feelings only yesterday, Draco realised even more things at that moment. Like how Harry was suddenly really close and his face was slightly red. And how Draco said “Harry” instead of “Potter” without noticing. And how Draco suddenly really wanted to kiss him. And how Harry seemed to look at him with such hope and admiration.

He reached out, and cupped Harry’s cheek gently, rubbing his thumb across the soft skin beneath his eyes. Draco sucked in a breath when Harry put his hand over Draco’s.

“It might not be routine, and everything will change after this,” Harry never looked away from Draco. “But can I kiss you?”

He nodded softly, a small smile playing on his lips as he leaned down to press his lips against Harry’s.

It was a quick kiss, over in a second. But it held eternity.

Then Draco pulled Harry into a hug, holding him tightly as he hide his face in the crook of Harry’s neck. Then he started laughing, quiet at first then grew as it shook his entire body.

“What?” Harry asked, pulling back slightly.

“You took my routine,” Draco said between laughs. “Now you’re taking my heart too.”

~~~~~~~~4 Years Later~~~~~~~~

The wedding was quiet. Only specific people were invited, close friends, family. It was beautiful. Draco decorated the Malfoy great hall for the reception, painting white doves on the ceiling surrounded by wispy clouds. The walls were painted with flower filled trees, wind blowing petals to dance across the room.

It was glorious.

As the days passed and the celebrations finally begun to die down, Draco and Harry walked around the Manor, taking in all the old and new paintings that had brightened the place. Draco showed Harry his lowest point, the spare bedroom explosion, to his highest, the library. They reminisced over Hogwarts Quidditch games as they walked down the hallway painted with figures on brooms zooming around, and the places they visited together as they walked past the Eiffel Tower painting on the door of Draco’s old bedroom.

Perhaps it was their love for each other that made them not realise it, but they’re both quite oblivious at the best of times. The signatures on each painting, “DM”, hidden in the corner of each wall, ceiling, hallway, door, window, and staircase had changed. Now, “DM-P” shone brightly.

“You’ve got absolutely everything, right, Draco?” Harry asked, eyes sweeping over the empty room.

“Of course, I do, Harry.” He held Harry’s hand and lifted it up to kiss it. “I have you.”

[selenecrawford]

Selene Crawford: The Lady, the stapler and the Snake

Thank you for the comments and likes. Im taking my time making this story but Im happy is going well. As always I hope you like it ^^

Warnings: mild cursing.

“Selene this is the fourth stapler lost. We can't buy anymore. Will you take care of this issue?” said Hideoyoshi in a somber tone.

It's been now almost four months since Selene joined the firm. Due to her performance her status changed, as a permanent one, including a new title as executive assistant. She practically, run the office on her own with the full trust of Nobunaga and Hideoyoshi. Selene was happy with her progress and promotion. She managed to settle herself and get a good apartment near her job which let her walk without problems. She enjoyed early mornings walks or taking the bus. The car was a bit old, with certain repairs needed to be done. If her luck will keep at that level she will managed to get on her goal and start saving to go college.

Once Hideoyoshi went back to his office, Selene took her tablet and wireless headset and walk to the kitchen. It was time to set the table for breakfast and prepare a bit of Miso soup with some tofu. If her instincts didn't fail her two hangovers will be appearing soon adding to the grumpiness of the office. Multitasking was as easy as breathing for her. Calls came in while she prepare the miso, the agenda was full until the next so it was just a matter of playing chess between re-schedules, court appointments and other activities. The agendas were  now organized on a stand on the wall representing all the members of the firm plus the mysterious sixth one. Selene tried to ask who that belong to but no one offered an explanation. Not even Mitsurani who shared a brotherly love with her. As far, as Selene was concerned it was forbidden and yet Nobunaga almost bit her head off the day she suggested put it away on storage.

The miso was done and the smell soon drift away, from the kitchen. Setting the plates on the table, little by little the men started drifting to the table. The first ones to appear were Nobunaga and Mitsurani. The second like a robot and with a report on his table was reading while Selene keep taking things away in order to prevent him from falling. Nobunaga, took a cup of coffee and went to get his oatmeal cookies. Only two this time since Hideoyoshi was watching his sugar intake. Still Selene managed from time to time slide some Kopentiko to his office while Hideoyoshi was away in order to keep her boss happy. Yeah, she needed to make alliances since Hideoyoshi was Mother of all of them including her. Her modesty and virtue were saved with him. While, Masamune keep asking her out all the time and she evading giving an answer. At the moment, he only smiled and make jokes but from time to time they bump into each other and the sparks were flying everywhere. He was direct and sincere, Selene appreciated that. But she also understood how unstable he was. Sometimes, he was hanging with a different woman every week. His limit had been 3 weeks. Besides bumping into at the hallway from time to time Masamune also tried to feed her. She always had to take a break for lunch or he will be upset. He even recruit the rest of the men in his quest to make her gain a couple of pounds since he thought she was not eating properly or enough. She didn't mind the pampering, it was the first time in her life this many people care for her well being. At the same time a weird feeling of caution started to grow in her. Selene didn't want to admit that she wanted to be with someone. It was too soon, she said for herself. The wound was still open. And yet, she sometimes will hug herself desperate to feel something that will make feel warm and at peace.

The click on the door let her know the missing two were about to enter. Masamune, arrived with a set of sunglasses while Mitsuhide was squinting his eyes and holding his neck with his right arm. The plates with hot miso soups were already on the table with 2 aspirins and some cold compresses.

“Gentlemen enjoy the breakfast I will be going to deliver the agendas to your offices.” with this Selene took the exit and went to give the agendas an update with all the activities they needed to work out.

“So, what's new with you two?” said Nobunaga breaking the ice.

“Well, my date was a complete disaster. Spent the rest of the night watching movies and fell asleep at the sofa.” said Masamune gulping the pills down then taking a sip of the hot miso soup. “Damn the Lass improves every time she makes it.”

“Well, my investigation is going well, I just need some information from the docks, but they won't let inside their circle.” said Mitsuhide in a nonchalant way. What he didn't tell is that after giving the rounds he always goes to check on Selene. The woman is pretty but she also is sharp, perhaps too much for a simple archivist. He knows a fellow comrade when he sees it and that woman really is more than meets the eye.

With a smug smile the snake decided to poke the tiger and see what bites.

“Well, I don't know you guys but I think I might ask Selene out. The girl seems decent, even adorable with that scar on her nose.” Mitsuhide laid the bait and waited.

“And do what? She is not your type.” Masamune didn't wait long to bark a response.

Mitsurani uncharacteristically from him responded without taking his eyes from his tablet. “She likes to go out during the week. Weekends are too stressful for her. Also there is a new martial arts movie you should take her there but again make sure its a time where there is not many people or too crowded.”

The table seemed to stop in time. Nobunaga, Masamune and Mitsuhide looked dumbfounded at Mitsurani without giving credit to what they heard.

“Wait, how do you know that?” asked Masamune.

“We hang out sometimes, she is cool and a very intelligent woman. We even went to the museum last week and sometimes go for some ice cream.” responded Mitsurani. After that he stood up and with a polite goodbye he left still not taking his eyes from the tablet.

“Well I'll be dammed.” said Nobunaga with a chuckle. “I never thought the day we will be defeated by Mitsurani of all people.” crossing his arms he looked at Masamune's and Mitsuhide's reaction. As always Masamune was an open book. But Mitsuhide just gave a smug half smile and kept slurping the soup until it finished it.

Mitsuhide took his leave to get a change of clothes at his office. The doll was quicker than he thought. Years of experience taught him that sometimes even the most pure thing could be corrupted. And he thought Selene was not the exception. She was in that world, the question was how bloody her hands were.

Meanwhile Masamune kept silent while Nobunaga took his coffee calmly . The Devil looked at the Dragon and saw many emotions on his face. He knew Masamune, he might be loud but sometimes the man might keep to himself. And it was on those times that it was wise to keep an eye on him.

“Oi, what's wrong boss?” Masamune couldn't stay quiet it was not his style at all.

“Nothing, I just wonder when are you going to stop wasting your time. You might fool everyone but not me. You like her don't you?” said Nobunaga with a smirk.

“Well everyone seemed to had taken a turn to get her.” Masamune regretted saying the moment he let it out of mouth.

“That's bullshit and you know that. It might be a short time but that woman is not weak, useless or stupid. Plus, she might like you. Not your mask, but who you really are Date. Stop playing around. Who knows she might be the one?” said Nobunaga taking his leave before Masamune could respond.

Masamune sighed feeling exhausted. Everyone felt entitled to tell him what to do. Yeah, he will change and just like that she will fall at his feet, right. Everyone had might seen different sides of her. But what he feels every time he sees those emerald eyes is a deep pain and sadness.  He knows that look all too well. During the passed months she had been eating his food and that had given him some hope aside from leaving her notes and food nothing else changed. Not even the intentional bump had work.  She needs time to heal. Closing his eyes for a moment he felt the faint fragrance of lavender and knew she was near. For a moment he let himself believe she was hugging him. Until the vibration of the cellphone took him out of his fantasy.

“Date.” sounding harsher than usual.

“It's me Kojuro. We have something you might want to see down at the station. Can you come right away?”

“Sure, give me 30 minutes?” said Masamune turning into his detective persona.

Masamune stood up and cleaned the kitchen. On his way out, he let Selene know where he was going.

Selene smiled hiding her worry when Masamune left. When the men started talking about their night it was her cue to leave and also her opportunity to check Mitsuhide's offices. She had a suspicions that the resident snake was the culprit but she needed proof. She took a look around at the office and found one of the latest staplers behind some books. The back of her hair went up and she knew that, he was already in the room.

“Well I guess the place now have a little infestation.” taking a seat behind his desk Mitsuhide gave Selene a smug smile.

Selene hold her right arm and tried not to shudder at Mitsuhide's attitude. Meanwhile something stirred inside her. Something she thought was dead but given the circumstances it was still inside buried and fighting to get out once again. Not trusting herself , she could only take a a notepad and scribble some words before throwing them to Mitsuhide and leave the office in a hurry. Mitsuhide frown at her reaction, that was not what he as expecting. Taking the notepad he look at the note and raising one brow in amusement he took the note and tucked it on his wallet.

“So the plot thickens uh?” a sly smile appeared while Mitsuhide started working on his case.

Taking her purse Selene looked for her phone and went to roof of the building. Making sure she was completely alone she dialed the number and waited for the answer.

“Hi it's me, tell me everything you know about Mitsuhide Akechi. Please.”

@datemasamunemaiwaifu @colivara @masa-little-kitten @elievalentine @epicdragonlady @yeshasays @unstoppablelinda @mikamiw @ikesenhell

[blundergato]

I feel like being angry today, so here’s a shitty tweet with a shitty screencap from the shitty Dragon Ball Super manga.

I hate this fandom’s collective amnesia over Goku’s bonds with his family, especially Gohan and their incredibly overblown opinions on Vegeta’s “character growth.”

Piccolo’s sacrifice and supposed year of bonding time with Gohan is always brought up even though A. Goku died protecting Gohan in the first place and B. 6 months of that year Gohan was alone and the other 6 was just Piccolo beating the shit out of Gohan. 

Yes, it’s sweet that Piccolo had real character growth here, but people (including the people writing modern Dragon Ball) take that is blow it completely out of proportion. I like Piccolo’s relationship with Gohan, but has Piccolo spent more time with Gohan than Goku? No, he hasn’t. Is Piccolo the one taking Gohan out fishing and camping? No. Is Piccolo the one that trained Gohan and got him to unlock the most of his power? No.

Did Piccolo raise Gohan in the years after Goku’s death in the Cell games? No, that was definitely Chi Chi (the most forgotten part of this entire stupid conversation).

The next 2 tweets just show that at least SOME people remember that Goku cares about people outside of fighting and that yes, even Super forgets this shit.

And also, Vegeta murdered countless people and never really paid for his crimes. The manga is just now getting around to his senseless murder of Namekians, including children and it’s ONLY because they happen to be on Namek again. I mean, 20 years too late I think, christ. Vegeta’s character growth is really played up and overblown because his growth mostly happened in Super and it wasn’t earned. Vegeta acted like a monstrous shithead throughout all of Z up until the very end of the series.

People will say “but he sacrificed himself against Boo!” Yea, HE CAUSED THAT PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE (along with being the cause for Cell becoming Perfect; everything is Vegeta’s fault). He sold himself over because he wanted to fight Goku and he also murdered hundreds/thousands of people in the process and in the end, Boo ended up killing almost everyone on the planet and that is Vegeta’s fault entirely. The fact that he sacrifices himself to try (and fail) to fix his gigantic mistake isn’t some huge piece of character growth. Everything was his fault and he died trying to fix parts of it and no matter how you slice it, Vegeta was going to die against Boo no matter what, so it wasn’t some sort of heroic thing he did.

Also, he mistreated Trunks for the first 7 years of his life, didn’t hug him until he was 7, and then he died. Vegeta in Super is trying to be a better father, but that doesn’t somehow erase all the years of him being a raging douchebag. 

Goku wasn’t there for Goten’s birth probably because he didn’t know about it. I mean, they never go into it, but it’s safe to assume that Goku doesn’t have constant contact with his family from the afterlife and King Kai has been shown to not pay attention to earth for extremely long periods of time.

You think Vegeta was there for Trunks birth? And he didn’t have the excuse of being dead. And if people think that Vegeta would use his one day back on Earth for the birth of Bulla, I don’t know what to tell you. Toyotaro would probably write that into existence because he’s obsessed with Vegeta and shitting on Goku, but Toyotaro is a terrible writer.

Anyways, I really wish Twitter wouldn’t tell me who other people follow by showing me garbage ass tweets like the first one here, because then I sit at my computer for 30 minutes writing the same shit I’ve written 100 times before to get it out of my system before I go berserker mode like Broly.