#people always talk about 'oh prince/princess/royalty & dragon'

[oosleepyfaeoo]

Royalty Fucked

Baelon Targaryen x Maid!Reader x Alyssa Targaryen

Summary: You catch the eye of a certain couple.

Warning: 18+| SMUT, Reader is a female, threesome, p in v, oral sex (f/receiving), fingering, creampie

Words: 2k

A/N: English is not my first language.

You were one of Prince Baelon and Princess Alyssa's servants. You start working in the Red Keep after your parent's death, leaving you with your two little brothers to raise. 

Since you had skills in caring for babes and children, you quickly became a nursemaid for the royal couple's children. Taking care of sweet Prince Viserys and the little demon prince Daemon was quite an easy and peaceful task, not to mention that their majesties let your little brothers play with their children. Make it easy for you to keep a close eye on your sweet brothers while working. 

The first day you laid your (e/c) eyes on the royal couple, you were completely in awe of their love for each other and how kind and humorous they were. Always riding the skies together on the back of their dragons or sparring in the training yard, laughing freely and throwing silly jokes at each other.  

Some people look at them with judgment, thinking how inappropriate the royal couple's actions were. Some look at them with eyes full of jealousy, wishing to have the same love and freedom that they have.  

But you look at them with admiration in your eyes, delighted to see your Lord and Lady happy. 

//// 

“Some day, you will fly with me on Meleys’s back.” Alyssa’s words made you stop, looking at her with wide eyes as she entered the bathtub.  

Prince Viserys and Prince Daemon were already tucked in their beds, so you were helping your lady bathe. 

“I-I... That would be unfitting of me, my Lady.” You say quietly as you begin combing her hair, untangling the knots that form when she rides Meleys. “People would talk.”  

She let out a flashy laugh, her mismatching eyes looking at you with mischief. “Do I look like I give a shit about what people would say?” She says with a smirk. “Let them talk.” 

As you were about to answer, Prince Baelon walks in. You quickly stood up and bow gently to him.  

“My Prince.” You court him softly. 

He nods and kneels beside the tub, giving Alyssa a quick kiss. “How’s my lady wife and my best maid doing?”  

You blush faintly at his words as you resume your work on Alyssa’s hair.  

“Good.” She says while playing gently with one of his long silver locks that escaped his braid. “I’m trying to convince Y/n to fly with me.”  

“Oh! That’s an excellent idea, my sweet wife.”  Baelon smirks, eyeing you as you comb his wife's hair. “I assume you would let me join you both, right?”  

Alyssa chuckles. The two shared a look between them which made you frown in confusion. “Of course, Husband.” The smirk on her lips widens as she pulls him into a passionate kiss. “What kind of wife would I be if I didn’t let you join us.”  

Baelon hums, letting his wife thrust her tongue into his mouth. He moves his hand to cup her neck gently which made her purr in delight.  

You try to ignore the show before you, focusing on your work but you found it hard when you notice Baelon’s hand slowly going down Alyssa’s body. Observing how his large hand kneaded her breast gently, gradually moving down to cup her core.  

Alyssa lets out a pornographic moan as his fingers thrust inside her.  

You made the mistake of looking at Baelon, gasping in shock when you lock eyes with him. His lilac eyes burned with lust and desire. His gaze goes down, locking on your parted lips, and then meets your eyes again. Sending you a sensual wink as he grabs Alyssa’s hair, his fingers lingering around yours. 

Quickly standing up, you put the brush down and bow. “M-My work here is done... I will leave you be, my Lord and my Lady.” You whisper, your cheeks burning from embarrassment and desire.  

The evidence of your lust running down your thighs and your hard nipples peeking through your simple dress. 

Not wanting to give them time to reply, you ran off.  

/// 

Since that night, you can barely meet Baelon and Alyssa's eyes. Feeling ashamed for your acts when you finally got your room. Lying down on your small bed, legs spread apart with your hand between them. Trying to imagine that Alyssa and Baelon are touching you, whispering praises in your ear while they make you fall apart. 

“Y/n! Y/n! Look what I did during my class with maester!” Viserys runs to you as you walk into the room, coming to collect him and his brother Daemon.  

You smile and kneel down to see the small wooden dragon figure in his little hand. “It’s beautiful, my prince! You’re talent.” You say while kissing his head. 

“Thank you! It’s Balerion!” He gives you a cheeky smile, a tooth missing in the front. “One day, I will be his rider!”  

Taking his hand in yours, you pick up Daemon and walk toward the room. “I’m sure you will, my sweet prince.”  

In the room, you give them a bath and dress them in their sleeping clothes.  

As you were helping them eat their dinner, Alyssa and her husband walk in, hand in hand. 

“My sweet children! How was your day?” Alyssa goes and picks up Daemon, filling his face with kisses, and making the boy giggle. 

Viserys jumps from his chair and runs toward his parents with his dragon figure in his hands. Both Baelon and Alyssa bend down to look in awe at their son's work, praising him vastly.  

You stood there awkwardly, eyes fixed on your fingers as the family laughed in joy at in being each other company.  

Grabbing the empty trays, you walk to the door but a large hand stops you. Looking back, you were met by the same lilac eyes from the other night.  

“Astrid, can you put the children to bed? I need Y/n's help to bathe.” Alyssa says while she hugs her husband from behind, her mismatching eyes shining with excitement while her husband gives you a smirk that almost made your knees give out. 

“Of course, my Lady.” Astrid grabs the children and took them to their chambers.  

The three of you stood there in silence, you afraid to meet their predatorial gaze while Alyssa walks towards the fireplace and Baelon stood behind you, studying carefully your curvy form. 

“S-Should I start the bath, my Lady?” Your voice trembles a little, making Alyssa’s gaze soften. 

She walks to you and cups your cheeks gently, making you look at her. “There’s no need to fear us, little flame.” Her thumbs move softly against your skin, forcing a shiver to run down your spine. “We only wish to please you.”  

Your face twisted in confusion, not knowing what in seven hells it was happening. “P-Pleasure?”  

You feel Baelon pull you into his front, wrapping his strong arms around your waist. “Yes, sweet little maid.” He mutters against your ear and coerces a whimper from your lips. “It seems our little show might have fright you a little but be reassured that we won’t force you into anything you don’t want.”  

Are they asking you what you think they are?! They want you to join them in they festivities?!  

Alyssa push forward and gently press her lips against yours, kissing you like you were made of glass. “Please say yes.” She murmurs against your lips. 

You look into her eyes, seeing them burning with extreme lust. You knew this was inappropriate. That someone like you, a low-born, shouldn’t indulge in royal affairs. If the King or the Queen found out, you would probably get fired and forced to go back to the streets. Doing works that would only bring you shame.  

But your body betrayed you, not listening to your morals as you crash your lips against Alyssa. Whimpering as she bites your lower lip, her firm hands grabbing gently your breast. Your body felt like it was on fire, your core already dripping from arousal.  

Baelon’s lips found your neck, kissing and nipping on your sensitive skin. His hands begin to undo your dress, letting the cheap material fall down, pooling around your feet. 

Alyssa pulls back, her eyes ranking down your naked body. “A true beauty.” She looks at her husband and nodded towards their shared chambers. “Let’s continue this in our bed, shall we?”  

With that, Baelon picks you up and strolls to their chambers. Alyssa is hot in his heels. He throws you into the bed, making you yelp in surprise. Alyssa starts to undo Baelon’s clothes, kissing every spot of his body.  

Your eyes widen when he finally gets fully naked, your mouth watering at the sight of his perfectly muscular body. Alyssa stood beside him, gently stroking his massive erection.  

“It seems someone likes you, Husband.” She says with a smirk, giving a small squeeze at the base of his cock.  

Baelon chuckles and moves toward you, his lilac gaze focus on your flushed naked body. “It seems so... and I intend to show her how much I also like her.” He growls. 

You suck a deep breath when he pulls you to the end of the bed, spreading your legs apart. Shivering in anticipation, your pussy spasms around nothing. Wanting nothing more than be filled by his massive cock. 

Baelon spits down to your core, makes you jump in surprise, and brought his fingers down to your needy clit. Rubbing gently on it while his other fingers play with your entrance.  

“So wet already.” He groans, slipping his long fingers in and out of you. Loving your lewd moans. “Who owns this pussy?”  

You gasp in shock as he slaps your cunt when you don’t reply. “You, your Grace!” You whimper pathetically.  

He bends downs, capturing your lips with his. The kiss was completely the opposite of what you shared with Alyssa. His kiss was full of passion, teeth and tongue clashing against each other. 

He rubs the tip of his large member against your entrance, coating it with your own arousal.  

“Ready?” He asks. 

Biting your lower lip, you nod. Eyes widened as he thrust fully into you, the sting of his rough intrusion creating tears in the corner of your eyes.  

“Relax, sweetie” Alyssa appears on your side, fully naked. She puts her hand on one of your breasts, slowly pitching your nipple between her slim fingers. “I know he’s big but you will get used to it.” She gives Baelon a wink. 

Baelon groans lowly as he gave a first thrust, his beautiful face twisting in pleasure from how tight you felt around him. “Shit! You’re so tight.”  

Alyssa takes your nipple into her hot mouth, sucking it harshly, while her hand moves down on your body. Her finger rubbed lazily on your clit.  

Your back arched in ecstasy, mewl as Baelon’s cock brushed against a spot that made you see stars. 

“Gods!” you cry “I-It feels so good!”  

Alyssa hums, the vibrations making you moan loudly. You move your hand down her body, your fingers finding her needy pearl. She pulls away from your nipple and captures your lips with hers, drinking all your moans.  

Baelon smirked and gave a rather rough thrust, making you both jump. “What a lovely view.” He growls. 

Grabbing your hips, he pulls you up, making you straddle him while he lies down on the bed. He kisses Alyssa as he starts driving furiously into you. 

“Sit on my face, my love.” He snarls at his wife, making her giggle. 

“Who am I to say no to that?” She straddles his face, her front facing your way, and sat on his face. Sighing in delight when he begins licking and sucking her cunt. 

Grabbing your neck, she pulls you into another passionate kiss.  

The familiar feeling of pure bliss begins to form on your lower parts, whimpering and mewling into Alyssa’s lips. Your walls squeeze tightly around Baelon’s cock, yearning you a rough slap on your ass. 

“Close already?” He chuckles beneath Alyssa. “You want to come on my cock? Want to soak my cock with your lovely nectar, sweetheart?”  

You nod quickly. “Y-yes! Oh God... Please! I want to come!” You cry. 

Baelon’s grip on your hips tightened as he set a brutal pass, forcing a loud wail from your bruised lips.  

“Come for me, little maid.” He growls, making Alyssa moan as he eats her cunt like a starving man.  

Your eyes roll back as you finally come on his cock, your body tensing as waves of ecstasy roll through you. Tears run down freely from your eyes.  

Baelon nipped Alyssa’s clit, triggering her own orgasm as he comes inside you. Painting your walls with his seed. 

You rest your head on Alyssa’s chest, nuzzling your face into her breast. Baelon pets your hips gently while he kisses Alyssa’s inner thighs. 

She grabs your chin and gives you a gentle kiss. “Congratulations, little flame. You finally rode a dragon.”  

Giggling, you both fell on the bed beside Baelon, who pulls you two into his arms. Your eyes begin to fall shut, feeling suddenly tired after all the adrenaline and ecstasy start fading away.  

But you quickly woke up as Alyssa pitched your nipples, giving you a wicked smirk.  

“Do you think it’s over, little flame?” she mused. “The night is still young. Let us enjoy it until both of us are carrying little dragons inside us.” 

.

.

Main Tag List: @cryptid-l0ver @saelwen @saelwen-shy-elf @papichulo120627

[airplanelanding]

hello! popping in for the WIP tag thingy!! I have so many of yours I’m curious about akdjksd

I’d love to see snippets/hear ab all of these, but if you’re otherwise occupied (or just don’t want to be w this all day) feel free to just do a few! no obligation either way <3

anywho, the ones I’m curious of are The Filth in my Bones, A Forgotten Art, Discovering Immortality, Three's a Crowd, A Rose By Any Other Name, Brothers in...Beans?, and Hold Me, Darling, Things Are Changing

these titles are sO PRETTY SERIOUSLY (and the Brothers in... Beans? one just has me all “what does this entail??”)

how do I always manage to talk so much akdjksjd sorry!!

OH MY GODS AUGUST IM SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE AJKSDHFKAJD IM SO SORRY!!!!

shit shit shit okay okay so ahahha fuck kshjdfhsdlkjfa first of all never apologize for talking!!! love your rambles <3

um also okay onto the fics.

The Filth in my Bones

this is a summary fic, and the basic rundown is that Merlin is feeling a sense of guilt from the things he has done--whether good or not, it all takes it's toll on a person.

The fic follows Arthur comforting Merlin and reassuring him that it's unrealistic to hold himself to such high standards when he doesn't hold others to those same standards, and that no man is strictly good or bad. Helps him deal with the guilt and worries.

A forgotten art

a snippet:

"There is a forgotten art," Merlin murmured, laying back against the damp grass beside Arthur.

He stared at the dark, clouded night sky with tired eyes. "A beautiful art... Lost to history—to the genocide of a whole people..."

Arthur shifted where he lay beside him, before folding his arms over his chest. "If it is forgotten how do you know of it?"

There was a beat of silence, a hesitation, before Merlin let out a long, quiet breath. He closed his eyes as they melted to a brilliant gold, unwanting of Arthur to see the colour.

"One family survived, hid, for centuries..." He whispered, waiting for the magic within him to settle and his eyes to fade to their usual colour before opening them once more.

"My family."

Discovering Immortality

This is the second part of a series I started that is mostly crack but like treated seriously. Arthur is a vampire, Merlin is immortal, and they are boyfriends. it is a modern era series.

the first part was merlin getting arthur to admit he is a vampire, and it was fun--it is called Red Smile.

this installment follows Merlin telling Arthur how he found out he was immortal--a fun story, really.

Three's a Crowd

This is a soft moment with married Merlin & Arthur being dragon dads.

Arthur and Merlin wake up in the morning and Arthur immediately goes for some morning love, which Merlin quickly nopes away from because he spots Aithusa.

the summary is

Aithusa just wanted to visit the Kings! She didn’t mean to interrupt, or disrupt anything, really! Luckily, the Kings were very forgiving men. Especially when it came to their favourite little dragon.

A Rose By Any Other Name

This is a Modern Royalty AU! With Gardener Merlin!

Prince Arthur is meant to be marrying the Princess of a small, unknown country, at his father’s orders. He doesn’t want to, but he knows he has to. Unfortunately, Arthur can’t seem to keep his eyes of the new mysterious gardener, Merlin… Fortunately, It seems Merlin can’t keep his eyes off Arthur, either.

Hold Me, Darling, Things Are Changing

This is the next installment of my Harry Potter crossover! This is really just a soft fluff one shot.

Merlin and Arthur sit out by the lake in the night, just talking and spending time together.

Brothers in...Beans?

aaand last but not least!!! This is an immortal leon fic with Merlin & Arthur friendship, and established Merthur! Oh! It is also an Arthur returns fic!!!

the summary!

Leon and Merlin have spent 1500 years alone together. In the most recent century they decided they needed something to keep busy. So, posing as brothers, they open a coffee shop together to pass time until Arthur's return (imagine his surprise, rising from the dead to find his husband and first knight brothers.)

again omg i am so so so sorry this took so long to answer!!

[rip-a-dip-dip-you-potato-chip]

what have I created?

idk if yall like this, but they just exist not i guess :/

ok the the first one is Royalty AU

first things first, when I say Royalty AU, I don't mean the classic shit we've all become accustomed to. Im talking about the good old Chinese royalty! And I want to emphasize that these guys will/should be dressed in century appropriate attire. As someone thats read a handful of 'marinette, princess of china' fics from the ML Fandom, I've noticed a common trend. Marinette wouldn't be in the culturally appropriate clothes, always ballgowns. Not that there's something wrong with it, its just most of if not all these fic are set in China, so I'd expect Chinese royalty to dress as THERE dress code calls for. And since this AU takes place far in the past like, it won't make sense for any of the characters to be in royal clothing that wasn't from there region. I'm not trying to white knight/gatekeeping. Im Guyanese not Chinese. But since JTTW and Monkie Kid take place in China, it's only right. In my opinion that it. You don't have to outright agree with me.

With out of the way, it's time for that good old AU crack

- Wukong is the king of the Flower Fruit kingdom(or a different one if you'd like, again I'm only familiar with what western culture has taught me, but I'll try my hardest) 

- he’s single but rumor has it he used to/still is dating the Vigilante/thief The Six Eared Macaque

- *chants ShadowPeach violently* 

- no one know whether it true or not

- On of his wanders around the kingdom he finds an abandoned baby in a basket. 

- and no shit sherlock it's fucking baby Xiaotian 

- I think we all know where this is going because i'm a simp for Monkey Dad & Monkie Son shenanigans

- Xiaotian becomes prince

Shit, ill be referring to Xiaotian as Mk from now on, I mentioned this before in a fic I wrote for lmk that Mk's a nickname for Xiaotian for some reason- wait i don't have to explain my self to you people!

- Sun loves his son

- MK is treated differently by staff and others because he's not blood related to the king

- no one mistreats MK per say, because there King loved his adopted son, but words are said behind his back

- Sometimes MK hears what’s said, and he feels as if he won't live up to his dad’s legacy.

- He meets Mei during a festival

- Mei is from a noble family, that wouldn't mind if they got a connection into the royal family.

- but it becomes hella clear to Mei’s family very fast that the two are just friends, and will always will be. but hey there daughter is bffs with the prince so that's a plus.       

_

- the Demon Bull Family is rules a kingdom as well, I dont/am not creative enough to think of a name I leave that to you.

- It's a common misconception that DBK is a tyrant, when he’s not. 

- most of the time...

- they have been at war with the Monkey King for some time now and settled for a peace agreement.

- that agreement being there sons to marry

- oooo original i know

- MK and Red Son are roughly the same age, Mk being 20 and RS 22

- RS is revolted/disgusted at the idea of being wed to the Monkey Kings child, even more so when he realizes MK is adopted,

- but, that all changes the second he meets MK while he meets him by accident when he gets kinda lost in the palace when he and his parents go to discuss the arrangements.

- the second he looks at MK, he's instantly in love. MK less so, he's nervous and honestly kinda bummed he's not marrying someone he loves but it's for the good of his ppl, and he'll do anything for them.

- RS isn't even aware that MK is Suns adopted son until MK walks him back to the meeting room.

"Oh There you are MK! I was about to have a servant go fetch you!" Sun Wukong says, gesturing for his boy to come sit with him.

"S-sorry for keeping you waiting I got caught up in my lessons with Mr. Tang" MK responds, sitting next to his father. Red Son looked gobsmacked. The beautiful young man he had bumped into, was the prince of this land? Damn, life truly blessed him. Or cursed him depending on how you looked at it.

- the two are left alone in a separate room for a while.

- And MK straight up tells RS why he's agreeing to this union.

"Look Red Son. I've dreamed about meeting my one true love for a while. And I would give almost anything for that dram to be real. But I wouldn't ever dare give up my people, for as there price they mean more to me. I'm doing this for them, no other reason" MK says, his back straight and hands folded neatly in his lap. The look in his eyes was a mix of sadness, but that was drowned out by loyalty and determination. It just made Red Son fall for him even harder. Clearing his throat Red spoke.

"I understand, for im doing this for the betterment of my people to. But I propose a wager"

"A wager?"

"Yes, if i can make you fall in love with me by years end, before our marriage, we can live together like in the fairy tales from far away. But if I fail, in a years time afterwards you will be permitted to find your own path in life" Red Son stated. MK took a moment to process what was happening.

"So, if you succeed in making me fall in love with you, before our marriage we can live happily ever after?" Red Son nodded in response, letting the younger continue.

"And if I shouldn't fall for you, in a years time after our union, im free to leave?" Red Son nodded once more.

"So, what do you say?"

...

"Deal"

In the end, your free to choose their fate, should Red Son win the hart of Mk? Will he fail? Or will he let him go, and let him travel the country, after all Mk's a free spirit and keeping him trapped in a big house is like keeping a cannery trapped in a cage only for its song, only for it to dul. Or will the unthinkable happen and will both boys find their freedom? together or appart? I don't know, because that's all up to you 😉

personally, I’m partial to where MK and Red Son both find freedom together. Like they straight up run away together to somewhere far away and just live out there lives together. 

this could also be genderbent thing as well. MK or Red as their respective counterparts. Again it doesn't have to be, but it’s whatever bro. im just spitting out the idea. 

Also, there is a main side plot that they fight the WBS throughout the year as well, along with other shenanigans you wanna throw in.

____

The second is a My Hero Academia/BNH/MHA AU

truth be told i'm not a big fan of MHA i think it to over hyped(this is also coming from the same person that’s a Fairy Tail fan lol), and the fandom i don't even know how to describe that mess, but I will admit not the whole of its toxic since every fandom has some toxic members, some even more so. 

I just sometimes find myself enjoying MHA AUs like the Fullmetal Alchemist, Danny Phantom, Evil!Deuk AU and several others. 

to make it clear I don't see this AU taking place the same time as the main plot of the actual Anime/Manga. This could be either like 6-10 years before or after the plot idk bro. But i’ll do this after the main story plot of MHA, so keep that in mind ya? another thing, the gang is still in China, the top hero school in the world just so happens to be in Japan, and it’s only ever mentioned by Sun wukong and other pro heros. So MK never attended AU. in short it’s only ever mention/ reference.  

_

- Mk was considered Quirkless as a kid. 

- he was just a late blumer, i swear  

- Mai’s Quirk is called Dragon. 

- it pretty much works the same way as it does in the show(duh)

- Tang’s got a knowledge Quirk, 

- my man can retain information and he’s basically an archive of information drawback being his personality lol 

- Piggsy is a Animal that gained a Quirk

- in cannon to my current knowledge, there are two other characters that can confirm animals can become sentient. the characters being Fumikage Tokoyami, & Nezu the principal at the school UA.  

- Sandy is just Conner Kent, aka he like superman but can't fly, or shoot lasers from his eyes. And blue.  

I have two scenarios for Macaque and Wukong  

*- The first one is that, Sun Wukong & Macaque are brothers. twins to be exact. 

- they where legit people, but have mutation quirks that made them too like monkeys. 

- the added powers were just a boues. 

- Sun and Mac are close growing up, like there brothers but also best friends.

- the draw back to there quirks could honestly be whatever you want bro idk, same with the others tbh. Personally I like to think Sun just has lack of motivation, and Macaque needs to draw on other people's energy.

- Sun is a hero, Monkey KIng and Mac is a villain Six Eared.

- Sun was always treated has the golden child in the family, Mac always resented that, but there shitty up bring didn’t stop the two from being good brothers to one another.

- soon tho the resentment became hatred when Sun was able to attend UA in Japan, while Mac didn't.

- Mac be angy 

- so he became a villain, and joined the Chinese branch of the LOV(league of villains)

- Sun doesn't know this till he finds out during the all out war during the main story. and by that time he’s a full on hero with is own agency(The Flower Fruit agency)    

- when the hero's ultimately win and Mac is arrested 

- This ultimately hurts Sun a lot, his brother was in jail now, arrested for his involvement and wrong doings, he knew nothing about this! this brother, his blood. A bad guy? why? he hadn't seen his brother since he left for UA, he hadn’t seen him when he came home, and started his agency. 

- this just puts Sun into a funk so he’s not as active as he used to be, and he starts thinking he might need a successor 

*- The second one is that they were two separate people that had similar quirks and both attended UA but Sun ended up in the hero corse. so 1A.

- Both Macaque and Sun have similar quirks, Sun’s is obviously more light based while Macaque’s is more shadow based(this applies to the first one as well)    

- Macaque was placed in class 1B, U.A.’s High's Heroics Department, I believe, you can correct me. 

- In cannon Class 1A and 1B both went to the training camp. I can see the teachers pinning Sun and Macaque against each other to hone their skills. 

- And because of that they become great friends    

- In fact when they graduate they both co-found there hero agency together in China and are a duo.

- But due to Monkey King’s popularity and Six Eared's association with shadows(people sometimes saying he has more of a villains quirk than a heros) the public see’s Macaque as Sun’s sidekick when thats far from the truth. 

- now it’s up to you whether you think that Wukong and Macaque would be in a relationship together, but knowing how cooked we all are, ShadowPeach is a thing here more than likely. 

- If you do or don���t support/ like the ShadowPeach aspect, the two would be living together regardless since its more cost efficient. 

- They my be heroes but living costs are expensive!   

- I would imagine there would have been a huge fight/argument between the two in privet of course, at there home.(or in there shared office if you want the extra angst of the other people they work with hearing them fight)   

- If the two are dating, then this would either lead to an out right breakup, or Macaque just up and leaving with Wukong thinking he’ll come back once he’s cooled off. But after a week, with no sign of his partner, or him answering texts or calls, not even coming into work. Wukong gets worried that something might have happened to him. so there wouldn't be a confirmation if they were still a thing or not. 

- But Wukong remains hopeful, despite the nagging at the back of his head, and gut telling him to go find Macaque, or atleast make a public statement, or even just tell another pro hero about it.   

- on the not so shippy side, Macaque and Wukong still have there argument, and much like the ShadowPeach esc side, Macaque up and leaves, and isn't seen for weeks. the only difference here is that when Wukong comes home one night to there flat, most if not all of Macaques stuff is gone. 

- where as if this was the ShadowPeach side, Macaque leaves all of his possession in the flat he and wukong share. for the simple reason being, he still loves him and wants to go back, but Macaque being Macaque can’t bring himself to do it, especially after seeing just how hurt Wukong looked when he yelled at him just before he left.  

- in other words, ANGST DIALED UP TO A 10 BABY  

- in either case, its a news report that confirms Wukong's suspicions that he desperately didn’t want to believe, and that is Macaque turning into a villain.

- much like if the two were brothers, Wukong just can’t take it and is no longer as active as he once was, and is thinking about, either A) Retirement  B) Saying, “Fuck Society, Be Gay Do Crime” and join Macaque as a villain himself, or C) find a successor, and a way to bring Macaque back to there side, but most importantly, back to him.    

- also extra points if you're after people's hearts and want to make them suffer;  - If there dating, Wukong curle’s up in the bed he and Macaque shared, holding/wearing something of great value to Macaque and just crying himself to sleep, where as Macaque is getting wasted on alcohol, as he stumbles out of the bar he’s in, he either see’s something that reminds him of Wukong or while he’s trying to put his wallet back into his pocket, a photo of them on their first date fall’s out. and Macaque just cries in a nearby alley way. And it’s there where he gets indoctrinated into the League.

       - If there just friends, macaque heads to the nearest forest and just levels it, where as Wukong just gets engrossed into his work, trying not to think about it. you could add you own spin on this, again i'm just spitballing.             

- NOW BACK TO MK! :D     

- Obviously MK is a huge Monkey King fan     

- at Twenty MK has come to terms he's quirkless (HE���S NOT)

-for ANGST reasons MKs fokes kicked him out at this realization at 13.

- he works at Piggsy's Noodle shop, and has been since he was 14.

- don't need a quirk to drive or cook!

- the boy lives a content life with his new family, till DBK happens :D

- DBK runs a Mafia(in conjunction with TLOV) and has been in jail for like 5 years thanks to Monkey King, PIF and RS brake him out one night when MK's out making a late night delivery since Piggsy had the bright idea to go 24/7 service!

- one thing leads to another and Mk somehow manifest what looks like the Monkey King's staff, but its not, it’s MKs powers, it just so happens to be the same power the Monkey King has. And it practically goes down the same way in the pilot. 

- but unlike the pilot Mk and Mei go straight to the FF Agency, after making a panicked call to Pigsy and Tang.

- one way or another Mk are lead into Wukongs office. Mei being forced to stay in the lobby.

- they have there convo, butterfly monkey squishing included.

- "And so, I want you do be my success-" BOOM 💥

- from there they rush downstairs and see that the lobby has been infiltrated by the DB fam, and you know fight.

- once the DB family seems like there down, PIF wisks them away. Much to Monkey King’s displeasure.

From there stuff kind plays out like cannon, the calabash ep is just a conjoint quirk the Demon bros have. As for EP9, ill have to script that one out myself lol. I'll get onto it as soon as my will to commit stabs me in the face. Till then have a dancing Kermit the frog.

Now if you'll excuse me, am about to Kermit a felony :D

(For legal reasons thats a joke)

Psst @writingamongther0ses its done

[herwonderland7]

CHAPTER 38 ― GIVING

SUMMARY ― Aera has always been giving to her people, even till the day before she had to go.

CHARACTERS ― Princess Riana Aera, Princess Aretha Anthia, Princess Ariane Aurelia, Kim Doyoung, Lee Taeyong, King Morian, Lim Jaebeom, Lim Leon Juno, Park Jinyoung

GENRE ― fantasy, got7!as!princes, got7!royalty, nct!prince, nct!royalty, nct!as!vampires, nct!as!wolves

WARNINGS/AUTHOR’S NOTE ― Just Aera visiting her loved ones and her old friend. Fluff and Slight Angst!

WORDS ― 3098

“Breakfast, everyone!” Anthia yelled as loud as she could, in a happy tone of course. It didn’t take a minute to hear loud footsteps and giggles coming from the stairs - revealing her own twins.

They sat on their stools, “Good morning, mummy!” They greeted each other in unison and Anthia smiled, while holding both pans in her hands.

“Good morning, Minhyung. Good morning, Royoung. So, care to tell me what got the two of you giggling?” Anthia raised her brows while putting each pancake on their little plates.

Kim Minhyung Noah, who was born a minute earlier began his story telling - on how he helped the generals on dispatching an army to find a dragon.

This was Anthia’s every morning routine, and she wouldn’t ask anything more - although she wasn’t fond of kids back then, but ever since her own children were born, Anthia started to like kids.

“..Oh and Royoung helped to throw rocks at the enemies. It works!” Minhyung added, smiling proudly towards his younger twin who was busy stuffing himself with the pancakes.

Kim Royoung Daniel, obviously the younger twin, he is the naughty one compared to the older one and sometimes, Anthia can’t help but see a similarity with her younger sister, Aurelia.

Both of them are known for pranks.

“Are your sisters still sleeping? Should we wake them up?” Anthia began to make more pancakes, with the mention of the girls - her precious two girls. They usually slept in, knowing they were still young.

“Maybe not, they looked like sleeping princesses and we do not want to disturb sleeping princesses.” Royoung added, while shaking his head - and of course Minhyung agreed with the other twin.

Anthia could only chuckle at their comments, and so that’s how Anthia spent her morning - Doyoung had left to his school, he had documents to settle and he sadly had to miss breakfast with his family.

Royoung was about to take his fifth plate of pancakes when a figure caught his eyes - he saw a very familiar individual who sometimes dressed up in red, and sometimes she would visit his mother.

This time, the figure in red appeared with a very magical looking red portal - even Minhyung saw this.

“Mummy, Scarlet Witch is here,” Minhyung said and Anthia raised her brows.

“Scarlet Witch? You mean Auntie Aera? That can’t be, she is busy– Oh, you are right.” Anthia quickly turned to where the twins were gazing at while waving, seeing Aera walking towards their house through their kitchen window.

“Maybe she wants to join us for breakfast? We still have a lot of pancakes…” Royoung added, earning a warm smile from Anthia - before going towards the main door to welcome her sister.

“Why didn’t you tell me about your arrival, Aera?” As soon as Anthia opened the door, Aera already changed to her normal outfit, along with her hair turning to a normal brown.

Aera had her head peeked in, seeing the twins basically waving towards their auntie at the same time stuffing themselves with pancakes. “Well, I know your morning routines. So..” Aera shrugged, seeing Anthia rolling her eyes while making Aera enter the house with a hug.

“..Since I am here, can I have a slice of the pancake?”

Anthia was watching Aera, she was talking with the twins animatedly and that made the twins giggle.

It was a good thing Aera was here, Anthia could do the dishes peacefully - and knowing Aera is good with kids whenever it is about storytelling.

But Anthia can’t help but suspiciously eye Aera.

She doesn’t come and visit Anthia for fun.

She wouldn’t have the time, since she is busy helping Jaehyun in Neo City.

“Okay, boys. Time to go up! Let your Auntie Aera have her own moment,” Anthia instructed and the boys didn’t refuse - well, maybe Royoung but Minhyung pulled his other twin, convincing him that they had to finish their colouring book.

Once the twins went up, Anthia used her powers to clean the dishes - they magically started to wash on their own.

Anthia turned towards Aera, “So, what is it?”

Aera frowned while forking a piece of her own pancake, “What what?” Aera innocently said, and Anthia's face slightly fell after Aera let her thoughts open for Anthia to read.

“It’s not about who is going to take care of them, mother! I can’t bear to see them growing without their mother! I can’t just leave them behind like that!”

“...Then do you prefer them to know that you are dead? Or do you prefer them to know that you are returning back to your home because your physical body is left uncared for?”

“You are leaving?” Anthia whispered sadly, seeing Aera smiling slightly. “Tomorrow.”

Anthia gulped the lump on her throat, “You could have told me three months earlier, Aera. You are lucky I am understanding, unlike Aurelia. Speaking of her, have you–

“No. I didn’t have the courage to tell her. You know her, she is going to throw a tantrum.” Aera sighs, playing with the pancake using her powers - red streams were seen on her pancake.

Anthia turned towards her sister, and for some reason there were tears welling in her eyes. “Please tell me you will come back, Aera. Please.” She begged. Aera’s pancake suddenly dropped on its own, that’s because she was flustered.

By now, the tears on Anthia’s eyes rolled on her cheeks, “Hey, hey.” Aera went towards her, cupping her cheeks while peering onto her face. “Of course I will. I will come back before you know it,”

Aera wouldn’t have thought Anthia would cry, well she wasn’t the type of sister to cry with this type of conversation. Aera thought she would understand but she didn’t think that Anthia would shed tears.

“Come here,” Aera whispered, before pulling Anthia in her arms tightly - before hearing more quiet sobs on her back, and Aera holding to her own tears.

She stepped out of the portal, as soon as she had a sight on where her younger sister could be.

Of course she would be led to the back garden of Aerina’s palace, Aurelia would always spend her days in the back garden - tending to the random plants and the garden animals or bugs.

Aera looked around and somehow, it was rather peaceful compared to the other days. Well, whenever Aera visited her, Aurelia’s voice would always be heard from far and sometimes, the fairy would be chasing another flying animal out of the garden.

This was different, it was too quiet and peaceful for Aera.

‘There was no way Aurelia would let the garden be this peaceful, like come on,’

Aera looked around, everything was normal, the trees seemed pretty calm and everything was in place, everything was normal - but where is Aurelia?

She walked forward, deep into the garden where the lake was - and surprisingly, Aera could hear a few sniffles and little sobs as she entered the short maze.

Aera knew whose sniffles and sobs belonged to, and she was right as soon as she saw the figure sitting on the grass, and cutely, there was a duck and little ducklings beside her.

It looks like Aurelia is ranting towards the ducks, that Aera could hear her clearly - because of her loud voice. “He is being extremely… Urgh! I don’t know! I don’t know why he is being insecure…. No.. There is no way he would think that way! I have been in love with him for too long that–

Her words were cut off as soon as she turned around and caught Aera’s eyes. The other sister was leaning against the tree, brows raising after hearing what the younger sister had said.

Aera quickly made her way towards where the blonde hair is, taking a seat beside the ducklings who looked pretty comfortable. “Don’t… Don’t tell me that I am weird. I mean, I can talk to friendly animals here.” Aurelia glanced towards her sister who could only look at her with raised brows as she nodded.

And so the two sisters sat there comfortably, yet quietly - only silence fills up the morning, well not so.

The birds chirping and the ducks basically having their own fun in the lake.

The five minutes silence somehow broke with Aurelia sighing loudly. “Okay, fine. I had a fight with Taeyong.” She confessed.

Aera turned to her, smiling slightly.

“He will come around.”

Aurelia sighed. “How do you know?”

“Of course I know, everyone knows. He loves you, Aurelia.” Aera stared at her eyes, she was capturing her younger sister’s face unknowingly opening her thoughts.

That was the moment Aurelia heard and saw everything.

The corners of her lips curved up slightly, shaking her head in amazement. “..Unbelievable. You’re leaving without even telling us.” Aurelia said in a whispery breath.

Aera’s eyes then turned towards the lake, knowing her body was probably drowning somewhere on the other side.

Aurelia reads her sister, eyes searching onto her slightly frowning face. “You’re worried.”

“....I’m scared about what my children will think of me in the future when I come back. They will probably think I abandoned them.” Aera said softly. This was all Aera thinks, her mind was occupied with those thoughts, even Aurelia could hear easily.

“No, they won’t think of you that way.” Aurelia strongly disagrees. “They won’t understand now if you tell them the truth. But in the future, they will.” Aurelia explained, reaching out for Aera’s hand, making her look towards Aurelia who was smiling.

Aera was lucky, she was lucky she had understanding sisters - they are one of a kind.

“Although I wished you could stay longer,” Aurelia said with a disappointed voice, “..Stay longer until I get married…. Although it would take longer since Taeyong isn’t confident enough…”

Aera’s eyes widened, it was her turn to read Aurelia’s thoughts.

“Taeyong said that? But why?” Aera shakes her head slowly, “He is a great guy… Why does he think that way?”

Aurelia shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“I believe he will marry you, trust me. He will, but it will just take time.”

Aurelia chuckled slightly, nodding to her sister’s words. She believed Taeyong was the one for him, but it looks like she had to wait for him.

But Aurelia’s words shifted to what Aera had said.

‘….but it will just take time…..’

Time, oh time. It can be wonderful and cruel.

“Time..” Aurelia whispered, earning a soft hum from Aera.

Aurelia fully turned towards her, her eyes looking deeply into Aera’s before searching onto her face.

She didn’t want to say goodbye, because she knows they will meet again, in the future.

Aurelia doesn't know when, but she just knows it would be some day.

One day.

Tucking onto Aera’s brown strand of hair, Aurelia smiled.

“Time, what a wonderful and cruel being.”

‘Now the last place.’

Aera looks around, noticing how quiet Morian’s castle is.

She swore she could hear her father’s voice, but he suddenly disappeared - instead, now she could hear very familiar voices from far away.

“You don’t love me! You love her more than me!”

“Juno! Don’t say that!”

“I hate you, especially you!”

“Juno! Wait!”

It was far alright, Aera was at the front gate of the castle while their voices were somewhere in the castle.

Just as she was to take a step forward, the main entrance gates opened widely, revealing a boy followed by the owner of the voices.

Aera’s eyes met with the boy, and a few seconds ago he looked like he was about to run away. Well, Aera read his thoughts.

As soon as he made eye contact with the Queen, his body stood frozen, causing the two adults at the back to follow where the boy was looking at.

“Aera.” Jinyoung voiced at, seeing his old friend walking forward - it was rare to see the Queen of Aerina’s Kingdom who is also known as the protector of the magical beings coming to visit Morian, although she would be seen time to time with the old King Morian.

Jaebeom quickly steps forward, taking a hold of the boy while the little one snatches his hands away from the adult.

Aera was about to question more, when the boy surprisingly ran towards her, hiding behind her legs - his hands tightly gripping onto her black pants.

She looked towards Jaebeom before making eye contact with the little one.

“Who might you be?” Aera crouched down, smiling towards the boy and Jinyoung turned towards Jaebeom, giving him the side eye.

“My name is Juno, Lim Leon Juno.” He said quietly, and Aera took her hand out. “Nice to meet you, Juno. My name is Aera.”

‘Lim,’

“I know you.”

“Oh, you do?”

The boy timidly turned towards the two men, before facing Aera. “You are the Queen.”

Aera amusedly nodded. “....You are not wrong.”

“...Do I have to call you, your majesty?” Juno questioned and there was a sigh coming from Jaebeom - he should have taught the little one some manners, he thought.

“..If you want to, but you don’t need to.” Aera turned towards Jaebeom and Jinyoung. “My nephews and nieces don’t call me that.”

Juno had a small smile, “...Do they become your friend?”

Jaebeom knew what the boy was going to ask next, causing him to step in. “Juno. Don’t be rude. You don’t make friends with her highness.”

“Jaebeom.” Jinyoung called, rather firmly and Aera definitely read Jinyoung’s thought, the father is being too strict to him ever since he was little.

Juno quickly looked down. “Forgive me, your majesty.” The boy sadly said and Aera quickly gave Jaebeom a disapproving look.

“It’s okay, Jinyoung.” Aera shakes her head, giving the frustrated man a small nod before turning towards Juno as she stands up.

“So, Juno… Do you want to have a cup of hot chocolate with me?” Aera offered and there was an amused look coming from Juno. He looks amused and at the same time surprised. A Queen offering a boy for hot chocolate?

That’s rare.

“...If father will let me…” Juno glanced towards Jaebeom.

“He will. Well, if he doesn't, it is considered as disobeying me, the Queen. So..” Aera said with a smile, holding out her hand to Juno. “Will you come with me?”

There was something in Juno to trust her, well she is the Queen and his Uncles have read him so many war stories about Queen Aera.

He is start-struck but at the same time the sight of his father and his uncle in front of him gave him insecurities.

“Okay.” Juno took her hand.

Aera smiled softly, before turning towards the two men.

“I’ll see the two of you later,” Aera waved, and there went the two of them, hand in hand, leaving the speechless Jaebeom and Jinyoung.

“You shouldn’t have been too harsh on him ever since he was young.” Jinyoung turned towards the father, giving him a slight glare.

He didn’t even bother to wait for Jaebeom’s reply, as he walked away from him, as always.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Prince Juno.” Aera bowed, as the young one followed her actions - the two of them began to giggle, as Juno began to tell her more stories regarding his adventures with his Uncles.

Aera learned that he is actually a wolf-shifter, she wasn’t surprised that he is a wolf-shifter since his father is one.

But she couldn’t get to see a mother figure in his life, when she tried to read him. All she could see was Jinyoung, followed by the other six.

Aera didn’t want to ask him directly, she thought it was too brutal to ask a young boy, knowing something happened to his biological mother.

“..Uncle Jinyoung seems to love you.” Juno out of nowhere said, turning towards her.

Aera frowned slightly, giving him an awkward laugh.

“But Juno, he has a girlfriend.”

“I know.” The boy shrugs, “Lady Miriana is nice,” He paused slightly before turning towards the confused Aera, followed by a smile. “I don’t know! Uncle Jinyoung loves you, like a friend!”

Aera can’t help but sigh in relief, it would be bad if he said other things.

“Aera!”

A knowing voice called her from far, she looked towards where the voice came from to see King Morian with Jinyoung and Jaebeom.

Before she went towards them, Aera crouched down to Juno’s eye level.

“Hey.” Aera whispered, holding onto the boy’s shoulder.

There was so much adoration in Aera’s eyes.

She couldn’t say goodbye to Juno, she just gained his friendship and trust. She can’t break his heart that way.

“I enjoyed our time together, Juno. I hope you did too.” Aera pinched his cheeks, causing him to blush. “....I sadly may have to go, I have to speak to my father and your uncles about matters.”

Juno’s face fell in disappointment, which Aera softly grabbed his chin to face her. “We will see each other again. I promise, one day.”

“One day?” Juno repeated and Aera nodded enthusiastically.

“I’ll tell you more stories when I come back.” Aera let out her pinkie and Juno was surprised she knew that kind of gesture.

The first time he did it to his father’s wife, who he wasn’t so fond of now, judged him for being childish.

Juno linked his pinkie with hers, smiling widely.

“Oh– I have a gift too!” Aera quickly let out her clenched fist, but once she showed her palm, there was a necklace - specifically a red wolf necklace.

“Is this for me?” Juno pointed and Aera nodded. “Of course it is. Do you want to wear it?”

“Yes please.”

With his acknowledgement, Aera quickly put the necklace for him.

“Now, Juno.” Aera called, “This is a special necklace. It’s only for you.” She pointed. “..No one is able to take it out, unless it’s you, willingly. It’s more of a protection necklace, no one is able to hurt you.”

Juno blinked at her explanation.

“Okay…Thank you.” Juno muttered, although he looked confused yet he is thankful - he gave a hug to the Queen, after sensing the adults are coming towards their way.

Juno quickly waved towards Aera, before running towards the opposite direction of where the three men came from.

Aera smiled, she looked satisfied, knowing she is giving more to others before she left.

King Morian stood in front of Aera, finally meeting his daughter after a few months.

But it seems he is fast to catch onto Aera, he knows her well.

“..It’s too fast for you to return back.”

𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 ⤄ 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

[buckthegrump]

Enchanted

Summary: Balls bore you half to death. And the suitors that come from across the lands seeking your hand in marriage all seem to have forgotten about human decency. Until one day it doesn’t seem so bleak. Bucky Barnes x F!Reader

Warnings: legit pure fluff, swearing but what else is new

Word Count: 2029

A/n: I wrote this au a million years ago and now @sunmoonandbucky​ demanded that i post it rude so here it is.

The only thing you hated about being royalty were balls. Well, not the only thing, but they were at the top of the shortlist. They were always the same old thing. You were forced to dance with diplomats and princes from all different lands, some of them cute, but all of them had the same stick up their ass. Assuming that you would fall head over heels for them because they seemed to forget that you were in line for your own thrown and didn’t need theirs.

So you expected tonight to be the same; only today, your father was insisting that you find someone with whom you could at the very least tolerate. It was your mother’s birthday ball, and the two of them were getting worried because they didn’t think that any one person should rule on their own. They seemed to forget that they had gotten lucky when they found each other and almost instantly fell in love.

A ruler should have someone who knew them better than anyone else, someone who could help them see every aspect of their decision, someone who understood what they were going through. That and it was customary for a kingdom to have two rulers in fear that if only one person ruled, they would become a tyrant.

They had a point, but damn, every one of the “suitable” suitors made you want to volunteer to go dragon hunting. 

“But mama,” you protested as you walked behind her. She was telling you that your father was right and that if you didn’t find someone tonight that you could at least live with, they would choose for you.

“No, Y/n, I have heard the last of your protests.” She stopped walking abruptly and turned towards you. “Now I have invited new kingdoms from even further away. None of the boys coming tonight are in line for their own throne, so you can literally pick any of them.”

“The fact that you called them boys just now makes me apprehensive about this whole thing,” you said, and your mother sighed heavily.

“Fine, none of the MEN coming tonight are in line for their own throne. Now please put your father's mind at ease and just pick one.” She turned and began walking again.

“What if they are all the worst people in the world, and not even papa likes them?” You challenged, and she stopped and turned again this time with slightly more rage.

“Fine, if by some act of the universe every single one of the men,” she stressed that last word for you. “Is no better than that Duke of-”

“Troutdale?” You finished, and your mother audibly gags, a very unqueenly gesture, but no one but yourself was paying attention to her.

“Oh, don’t even say it.” She rolled her eyes. “Then yes, you can put off finding someone until the next ball, but you are running out of time, child.” 

You smiled as she stormed out of the grand hall. The servants were hard at work, rushing around getting everything done in time for the ball. You turned knowing that you can easily convince your father that every suitor that comes tonight was no good. It was your mother that you had to be more mindful of.

/

The ball was in full swing, and your mother looked less than pleased with you. You had turned away every single suitor that had come forward so far, which was somewhere around 10. Your father was still hopeful. He looked like he had a secret that he was hiding from you.

“Y/n, there’s someone I want you to meet,” He said, and you quickly found an excuse to get out of it.

“In a minute papa, I am famished.” You turned and rushed towards the food. You made it to the table and grabbed a goblet of wine and quickly down it. You turned, and from across the room, you see a man with bright blue eyes and even brighter smile who was laughing at something someone was saying.

The two of you locked eyes for a moment, and he gave you a nod to acknowledge he saw you and turned back to the conversation he was having.

“Did someone catch your eye?” You turned to see Taylor, your best friend, smirking at you.

“Oh hush now,” you glared. “He was just laughing, I’ve never seen anyone laugh at a ball before.”

“Well, that’s because you are never looking.” She laughed. “You’re always trying to run off every suitor that comes knocking at your door.”

She paused, and you grabbed another goblet of wine. “Go talk to him.”

You choked, and wine almost came out your nose. “Excuse me?”

“Go speak to him.” She took the goblet and whispered into your ear. “You might miss your chance.”

“Chance at what?”

“Just go,” She ordered as she walked away with your wine.

“Taylor,” you halfheartedly called after her. “That’s my wine.”

When you looked back to where he was standing, he was gone. You sighed, grab some food, and head back to your father to meet the next boy. Your mother had been wrong so far, all of the ‘men’ she promised had turned out to be spoiled boys.

“You are a very hard woman to track down,” Someone said behind you, and you turned to see the blue-eyed man.

“Am I an elk?” Your question seemed to shock him.

“Pardon?”

“Well, you said I was difficult to track down. Are you comparing me to the game that you hunt wherever you’re from?”

“Forgive me, allow me to introduce myself,” He bowed slightly. “Bucky.”

“Y/n.” You curtsied. “So, what brings you here?”

“My father is on business here, trying to get me to take up his trade.” He smiled and cocked an eyebrow. “And you?”

“My mother is trying to marry me off.”

“You don’t seem like the kind of lady who will be married off.”

“Not easily, no, much to her disappointment.” A prideful smile came across your face.

“Would you like to get out of here?” He stepped closer. “Just for a moment?”

You think for a second and glanced over to your parents who are queueing up the next suitors. “Yes.” You breathed.

Bucky offered you his arm, and you took it. He led you through the crowd and out of the hall.

“Where are you going?” Taylor asked you just as you were about to walk out the door. “Should I be concerned?”

“Just cover for me, ok? I’ll be back soon.” You pleaded.

“Fine, but don’t do anything stupid.” She said, letting you go.

/

“So, this is the first time out of your home country?” You asked him as the two of you walked down the moonlit path in the garden.

“Yes, until recently, my family was concerned,” he chose his words carefully. “They thought that if we left, then we would fall ill and never recover. How about you, is this your first time to Rosedale?”

“No, I live here.”

“Would you ever move away?” He looked at you.

“That’s not really an option for me. Would you leave your home?” You took a turn that led you to a swing where you take a seat, and Bucky remained standing.

“Well, I might, but that’s not really up to me either.” He smiled sadly.

“If you could stay, would you?”

“No, I would just like a say in the matter is all.”

“Ok, let’s talk about something else. What is the royal family like where you’re from?”

“Oh well,” he blew out air. “They are very kind for the most part. They have odd quirks about them that not everyone understands. And the King and Queen are rather paranoid, although there’s no real good reason as to why. What about here? What are they like?”

“Oh well, the King and Queen are fair enough. They try their best to make sure that everything is fair and equal, but that’s not always what people think it is.” You looked at him from the side of your eye. “But the princess is something else. She is very stubborn and rather impossible if you ask me or anyone for that matter.”

“That’s not what I heard.” 

You looked at him. Trying to keep your demeanor neutral. “What did you hear?”

“Well, I heard that she is very kind to those whom she trusts and likes. And that she isn’t impossible, she’s just protective of the ones she loves and herself.”

“You’ve been here a very short time to know so much.” You stood. “Shows you’re resourceful.”

“Well, I find that if you ask servants about the people they work for, they are quite honest. If you give them the right amount of money.” In the distance, the bells could be heard ringing marking the start of a new hour. 

“We should be getting back,” You said, he offered you his arm again, and you took it. 

The two of you walked back to the ball, occasionally talking about something or another. When you got back, Bucky dropped your arm and faced you.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight. It was enchanting to meet you.” He lightly kissed your hand and disappeared into the crowd.

Taylor rushed up beside you and grabbed your arm. She started ushering you back towards your parents. “They kept asking me where you were, so I told them that you went to tend to a matter in the kitchen. I didn’t come up with the actual situation, so if they ask, that’s up to you. But they have a whole line of men for you to meet. None of them are as nearly as cute or charming as the one you were just with, so put on a brave face and shoot them all down.” She patted your hand. “You’re good at that.”

“Thanks, Taylor,” you deadpanned and walked back to your parents. 

“Ah, there you are Y/n,” your father held out an arm to you, and you walked towards him. “I trust that the situation in the kitchen has been dealt with?”

“Of course, father.” You plastered the fakest smile you can manage. 

“Great, because I have more people I want you to meet.” He gestured over to the line, and you at that moment, wanted to die just a little bit.

/

Your already dwindling patient was vanishing very quickly due to the amount of bullshit that was being said by the suitors your father was introducing, and much to your surprise, your mother, was agreeing with you.

“Truly Travis, the men you have chosen are abominable,” your mother said, not so quietly in between men.

“Well, Gladis, I doubt you could’ve done any better with the selection that we have tonight.” Your father tried to defend himself.

“You invited all of these families. I, however, only invited one, and I’ve known the mother since childhood.” Your mother smiled.

“Oh yes, well, not all of us had outgoing and charming parents,” your father said bitterly.

“Don’t I know it.” You blurt, earning a glare from your parents. “So mother, when is your ‘perfect fit’ going to introduce himself.”

“Soon,” she said with the look of glee still present on her face. “Very soon.”

You went through way too many suitors in the next half hour. Some of them weren’t even eligible, you were pretty sure your father was just grasping at a dream he wasn’t sure he could have any more. 

“Ahh, yes, here they come,” your mother said.

“Your grace, King, and Queen Barnes from Artendale.” 

“Gladis,” Mrs. Barnes said. “It’s been a long time.”

“Hopefully, next time will be in the near future,” You caught your mother winking at her.

“Shall we introduce our son?” The King asked. “James Barnes, Prince of Artendale.”

To your surprise, Bucky came into view, and you were at a loss for words. He smiled at you, and you return it.

“Princess,” Bucky said, and it almost sounded like a question.

“Prince James.” You could feel the pride radiating off of your mother. You hated to admit it, but she might have been right.

[peterspideyy]

chapter 4 - partners in crime

series masterlist

————

you walked into yours and tom’s shared apart, laughing at a comment tom said as he followed behind. it was nice. actually talking to tom. you forgot about all your past with him. it was like he’s never changed. something you think could never happen. but, here you were, laughing at one of tom’s classic sarcastic remarks. which was one of the many reason’s you fell in love with tom.

you see, after you both...broke up, it was terrible. not only did you loose your boyfriend, but your best friend too. you and tom have known each other for years, and of course once you grew older, you started to fall head over heels for each other.

you were the first to fall in love with the holland. you were around 8, while tom was 10. in your head, at that age, you didn’t truly understand what it meant by ‘love’. you thought love was like royalty, based off all the princess films and books you watched. the prince, was always strong. but, most importantly, he will always try and impress the princess. no matter the cost. so, when little old tom was showing off his drawing to you, you froze. tom was your prince. and so you fell in love with him. well, rather the act he put it for you.

however, when you moved into high school, you still didn’t know what ‘love’ truly means. of course, you gained some knowledge on the subject, but you thought all ‘love’ meant was sex and selfies for social media. you thought the idea of love, was to impress other people, not yourself. so, when you and tom had your first kiss (for a whole 10 seconds) you really thought you found your soulmate. or rather the idea of your soulmate

now when you and tom grew up into adults, both of you realised what ‘love’ actually means. it’s not for social media. or your friends. it’s not trying to impress the other person. it’s not intimacy. it’s not the fancy dates, to show the world how much money you’ve got.

true love, is having a shoulder to cry on. a shoulder to vent to, about anything without feeling scared or embarrassed. true love is the person who supports you the most. true love is looking after each other, when they’re too drunk to remember their own name. so, as an adult you finally realise what true love means. and realise how tom has been your true prince, since the start.

but, since you broke up, you felt too upset. too angry to speak to tom. it caused you to fall apart from each other. in a intimate way and a friendly way.

it was easy. moving from being best friends, to a couple. but, since breaking up as a couple, you also broke up as friends. and it hurt you both.

“well, what’s the plan now with the case.” you sighed, pouring you and tom a cup of coffee.

tom laughed, “well since i barged in on them, which will help, trust me, we now know what there exact plan is. without taking it from a computer screen.”

“i’m not going to lie tom,” you spoke, picking up the two steamy cups, and walking over to the table tom was sat on, placing them on the countertop and sitting opposite him, “you could of at least warned me you were going to go, instead of just well...leaving the apartment.”

tom rolled his eyes, playfully, “y/n, i always do stuff on my own remember, so i’m sorry if i forget to tell you that i’m leaving.”

“it could of became 10 times worse!”

“but did it?” tom winked, sipping his coffee, before making a face as it was too hot still.

“touché.” you shrugged. you were only looking out for him.

“so,” tom spoke, breaking the silence, “how have you been?”

“what do you mean?”

“well, i haven’t spoke to you since we you know, so how have you been?”

“oh,” you shrugged, “i’m good. just focusing on work, that’s all what’s happening with me.”

tom laughed, “of course, you’re main priority is work.”

“and that’s a bad thing?”

“no,” tom looked at you, “i didn’t say that, it’s good. you always put other people in front of you, one of the reasons i love you.”

you froze. love. not loved. love. he still loves you?

“i-i mean why i fell in love with you.”

“how are you?” you asked, changing the subject quickly.

“oh erm it’s fine. nothing really exciting going on in my life at the moment. how’s your brother?”

“max is good, he’s getting married next year to amelia.” you replied, blowing on your coffee.

you didn’t mind tom asking about your family. even though, your brother hates tom’s guts after he broke up with you, he will always have a soft spot for tom. they both practically grew up together.

“that’s sweet. i knew they would always end up together.”

you couldn’t help but cause your heat to clench at his words. that’s what people said about you two. but, of course life happens.

“mum asks about you, you know,” he carried on, “she misses you.”

guilt rose in you at what tom was saying. because tom grew close to your family, you grew close to him. his family was like yours. but, you lost contact in them all since the break up.

“she misses your outings to get coffee.” he added.

you and nikki have always been close, so every two weeks you would go out, just you two, to different cafe’s to eat, drink and talk each other’s ears off. it was super nice and soon became a tradition between the two of you. a tradition, that has stopped.

“same.” you frowned slightly, skimming your finger over the top of the coffee mug, remembering all the laughs you both had. tom sensed how guilty you felt, immediately regretting bringing up each other’s families.

“erm,” he coughed, awkwardly, “have you told carson what’s happened?”

“yeah, i texted him quickly on the way up.” you nodded, hating how awkward it got so quickly. tom nodded back, unsure on how to respond. or if he should respond.

“right, thanks to our new friends, we now have a better chance at getting our score.” keith spoke through the computer to one of the men, finally breaking the awkward silence in the apartment. you smiled slightly at tom, him returning the gesture, before you both got up to go over to the screen.

“isn’t there something else we can get? like a million dollars or something?”

keith laughed, “that’s what all the mob groups go for, but we’re different, yes? we’re going for the best score. and thanks to our fbi friend, we know have more entail, so get to work and sort out another meeting with our new friends, okay?”

“yes sir.” the man replied, walking away before keith left with his bodyguards.

your eyes went wide. fbi friend? who’s working with the red dragons?

“what?” tom whispered, thinking the same as you.

you looked at tom, to lock with his as you both stared at each other.

“is there a mole in the agency?” you mumbled, not believing what you were saying.

tom shook his head, “i don’t know. i don’t know who could do something like this. i-i don’t know who betray us like this.”

“who has access to the fbi database, especially about the red dragons?”

“erm, me, you, carson, harrison, peter-“

“wait, harrison?”

“no, it couldn’t be him. i trust him with my life.”

you looked at him, before turning around to log onto the fbi website. clicking numerous of buttons, you went onto the red dragons recent log ins, to see how harrison was only logged in a few minutes ago. showing tom the computer screen, he shook his head.

“we can’t just believe it’s him, after what a log in? anyone could have done it!”

“tom, i can’t believe it either, but he has worked on the red dragons before, maybe he’s decided to work with them?”

“no, y/n, i can’t believe your judging him based off this!”

“i’m only judging on what is there, tom. harrison has logged in, a few minutes ago which is when we found out about the mole in the first place. a coincidence? i think not!” you screeched.

tom groaned, “i-i can’t belive you. harrison is my best friend. he was yours as well.”

“well, things change.” you growled.

you and tom gave each other a hard stare, before you breathed out heavily, walking away into your room, locking the door behind you. you leaned against the door, sighing loudly.

so much for you and tom being friends again.

————

a/n- hey guys! sorry for taking agesss to update this story. this is quite a short chapter, but trust me it will get longer ahah. hope your all okay :)

--

tags:

@averyfosterthoughts @cyrusandhiscollaredahirts @hayleeharling @youhavemyfantasticbeasts @hollands-osterfield @coveredinthemessimade @deathofmissjackson @itsjusttor @chaoticpete @dreamofaprilsblog @iamaunicorn4704 @parkeret @loveforthor @aevoit @supernaturalwriter24 @spiderbibby

[ionlyeatcomfortfood]

The Selection: Sander Side Style- Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, so I know I said the next writing would be the third part of A Boy Worth Fighting For, but I’ve been struggling to write that, but I FINALLY FINISHED CHAPTER THREE FOR THIS BAD BITCH SO I’M POSTING IT! Hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 1965 (oh my gosh I wrote so much)

Pairings: Logince, Moxiety

Warnings: Homophobia, Kicked Out, negative talk towards Roman, sympathetic Remus, cursing.

Chapter 1  | Chapter 2

-----

He had done it. Roman had done it. He turned in an application against his mother’s wishes. Holy shit.

He had never done anything like this before. Remus was the bad boy, the one who didn’t follow the rules. Roman was a golden boy. He always did what his parents said, ‘cause parents know best. At least that’s what he thought.

But when his mom exploded, Roman just knew he couldn’t listen to her anymore. If she was going to so vehemently deny who Roman was, even if she didn’t know it, how could Roman listen?

So he had done what he wanted for once. He wanted to be apart of the Selection, so he applied. It had been about a week since he had sent in an application, and tonight was the night they would announce the Selection contestants. Roman was equally parts excited and scared. But he was ready.

Or so he thought.

He had to beg his mom to watch it. Lyssa did not want anything to do with the broadcast, but a glance at Roman’s puppy eyes did the trick. They sat down on the couch to watch the king announce the Selection contestants.

“We have Patton Foster, Four. Delcan Rose, Two.”

Come on, come on.

“Emile Picani, Three. Remy Zephyr, Four.”

Come on. Please.

“Roman Prince, Five.”

The king continued down the list of names, but no one in the Prince household was listening. The television wasn’t turned off, it just sorta became background noise.

“You put in an application. After I specifically told you not to?” Lyssa was silently fuming. Remus and Carlos were waiting behind her, quiet.

“Yes.”

“Why? You’d have to be crazy! Or… no,” Lyssa shook her head. “No, no, no. Y-you can’t be a…”

“A homosexual, Mom? Is that the word you’re looking for? Yes, Mom.” Roman spat the words out. He wouldn’t have been able to get them out of his head otherwise.

Lyssa was quiet for a moment for she said “Get out.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Get out of my house, you monster! Get out!” Lyssa screamed.

Roman knew she was going to react harshly, but he hadn’t been expecting this. He just thought she would give him the silent treatment until it was time for him to go to the palace. He didn’t expect her to kick him out.

“Mom, please-”

“You’re no son of mine! I did not raise my kid to be a homosexual! SO GET OUT!”

Roman turned to his father and brother. His father’s face was impassive, but Remus was actually a little sympathetic. “Dad.”

“You heard your mother,” Carlos’s voice was ice cold. “Out.”

“Rem. Please.”

Remus looked at his parents, fire and ice, and walked over to Roman. Roman sighed.

“I’m not leaving you, Roman.”

“What? Remus, you can’t be thinking about going with this imbecile!” Lyssa said.

“Mom. I can do what I want. Besides, if you must know, I also put my name in the drawing, because I am a raging homosexual.” Remus didn’t even bat an eye when Lyssa went fucking ballistic.

“You as well! What went wrong? What is going on?”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, we have places to be,” Remus said, dragging Roman out the door. “Oh, and if you did love us, at some point, would please direct any palace officials to the Redwood’s household?” 

And with that, Remus slammed the door, leaving a dumbfounded pair left in the Prince household, TV still blaring.

xxxxx

The next couple days were insane for Roman. Their parents had done what Remus had requested and directed palace officials to the Redwood’s house. Remus was an old friend of the eldest Redwood, Maxon, so the Redwoods welcomed them in and congratulated Roman on his success.

Tailors came and measured him for suits, manner coaches talked to him about where he was, manner was (quite adept), and just plain government workers who explained how this would all work a million times over.

They would arrive at the palace, along with thirty-four other guys, in which the prince would pick and choose guys he liked and go on dates with them. At a certain point, the prince picks his Elite, ten guys that have the best shot of being the prince’s spouse (they always used ‘spouse’, not husband). Then from there, the prince chooses who he will marry.

They had also mentioned how his family would get paid every week he was still in the Selection, which he had made a few inquires about.

“So, this family is not my birth family,” Roman said while the tailor maneuvered around him.

The official that was there that day, Ms. Potts, glanced up from the magazine she was reading. “Are you adopted?”

“No. But my parents kicked me out when I was announced a winner, so I was wondering if the money could come to this family?”

“No can do, sir,” Potts said. “Only the families of the contestants can receive the money.”

“What about my brother?” Roman asked.

Potts looked over to where Remus was chasing around the younger kids and sighed. “How old is he?”

“He’s my twin, and we turn 18 in three months.” Roman said as the tailor finished his measurements.

Potts thought for a moment, before saying “We could probably transfer the funds to him. We would just need to get your written consent that you’re okay with that.”

Roman nodded. “Of course.”

“Well, with that out of the way, we should get going. Come along Bartholomew,” Potts said to the tailor. He packed up his supplies and they were off.

“So, is that all the fancy prep you have for today?” Remus asked, the younger Redwood children, Ravyon and Celie, hanging off his legs.

“Yeah. Until tomorrow, that is.”

“So, do you think we could go visit the children?” Remus smiled.

Roman nodded. ‘The children’ Remus were referring to were the kids down in the orphanage. It was the one thing the twins had always done together. They would visit the orphanage and tell stories, play with the kids, and help deal with temper tantrums and nasty diapers. They hadn’t gone in some while, especially since Remus had his accident.

“I’d love to.” Roman said, and with that, the two left the Redwoods with a goodbye and a promise to bring back some bread.

xxxxx

When they entered the orphanage, they were greeted by a flurry of young children crowding them. Every child was shouting, and it was really quite a sight.

“Roman! Do you have another story?”

“Remus! Look what I drew!”

“You’re back!”

“Woah, everybody, take a breather,” Roman said, hugging all the kids that were holding onto him. “I know you guys are excited, but we’re only two people, and there are twenty of you.”

“Twenty-one now,” One of the older kids, Lace, said. “There’s a new kid, but they don’t wanna come out of there room.”

“Oh. Well in that case, I’ll go talk to them, see if I can get them to join us. Remus, would you mind telling these rascals a fairy tale?” Roman asked, already slipping away from the crowd.

“My pleasure. Say, how many of you have heard the story of Cinderella?”

Roman walked down the hallway to see a door closed. He knew from previous visits that the door was usually open because there was no child to occupy it. The new kid must be in there.

Roman knocked on the door and waited till he heard a small little ‘come in’ before entering.

“Hello, little one. What’s your name?” Roman asked the small child curled up on the edge of their bed.

“I’m Mo,” The little one whispered, curling more into themselves.

“Hey, your okay. There’s no reason to be nervous.” Roman crouched next to Mo and smiled. “So, are you a little prince or princess?”

“I’m neither,” Mo said.

“Alright, then you are tiny but mighty royalty!” Roman exclaimed, striking a dramatic pose. Just as he intended, he got a little giggle out of the child.

“Would you like to hear a story, Mo?” Mo nodded. “Alrighty. Have you heard of the Princess and the Dragon?” Mo shook their head. “Well, here it goes.”

Roman recounted the story, waving his hands around, making different voices for all the characters, and just being his normal goofy self. Mo was laughing, gasping, and yelling, and it made Roman’s heart warm. From just one story, he had gotten this shy child to laugh. He was good at this, and it made him proud to be him.

“So, did you like that story?” Roman asked as he wrapped up the tale.

Mo nodded excitedly. “Can you tell me another one?”

Roman glanced at the time. “I’m sorry, but me and my brother have to get going.” 

“Oh. Can you come next week?”

“Again, no. I’m going to be at the castle.”

Mo’s eyes widened. “The castle? What for?”

“I’m part of the Selection.”

Mo’s eyes got even wider. “Really?”

“Mhmm.”

“Woah, that’s so cool!” 

“I know.”

“Hey!” Mo jumped up from the bed to grab a sheet of paper. “How about when your in the castle, you write me letters!” Mo wrote the address of the orphanage on the sheet of paper and handed it to Roman. “Please?”

“Of course, tiny but mighty royalty!” Roman smiled, giving the kid a quick hug before going to find his brother.

xxxxx

The last few days before he left for the palace rushed by Roman, leaving him breathless. He could barely keep up with everything that was happening. And before he knew it, it was the day he had been waiting for. The day they traveled to the palace.

Ms. Potts was back to escort Roman to the car, since there was already a hoard of press waiting outside to bombard him with questions. He had said all his goodbyes except for one: Remus.

Roman stood before his brother. Remus, despite all his buffoonery, was a good person underneath. He was just a little misguided. He placed a hand on Remus’s shoulder.

“Okay. I had them direct the money the families get weekly to you. But do not blow it on yourself. Give some to the Redwoods, since they’re going to be hosting you for awhile.”

Remus shrugged off Roman’s hand. “I know. I was already planning on it.”

“Remus. Seriously. Be smart about this.”

“Geez, Dad, I already told you I would. Okay? I’m okay now.”

Roman looked at his twin. They were so different, but they were still brothers. And Roman still loved him.

Roman pulled Remus into a hug. “Thank you for leaving with me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“You’d probably be wandering on the streets.” Remus joked. “But in all seriousness, I wouldn’t have stayed with those witches anyway. I would gladly do it again.”

The brothers hugged, then it was time for Roman to be off.

“Farewell, all. I shall see you in another life.”

“You’re leaving for a couple months. We’ll see you soon enough.” Remus said, and it was the last thing Roman heard before he was whisked away.

xxxxx

Roman got situated on the plane, when a voice joined his thoughts.

“Hello! I’m Patton! It’s nice to meet you!” A blonde boy was sitting next to him, freckles adorning his face and a permanent smile on his face.

“I’m Roman Prince. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Prince? Well that’s no fair, you already have an advantage!” Patton joked.

“Well, you must use every advantage you have, my dear Patton.” Roman joked back.

“I can tell we are going to be royal friends.” Patton smiled.

Roman smiled back. Maybe there was more to look forward to than just the prince in the Selection.

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Click here to read the fairy tale Roman told Mo.

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TAGLIST (let me know if you want to be added)

@redistooviolent

@jellopuffs

@loginceismyjam

@a-trans-ghost

@hekking-happy-nonsense

@chaotic-sinnabun

@steampunkicarus

@theoddkidnextdoor

@stop-it-anxiety

[obsidiancreates]

Here’s how I would have written the questline in which the player fucking CHOOSES to be evil:

You go get the bow, all that shit, but you don’t decide “Ehhhh I’ve been loyal to Harkon for a good while now but fuck it this one quest changed my mind.” 

And you go give him the bow, no confrontation, just “Hey. Brought that bow you wanted M’Lord.” And he’s like “Oh shit. I kinda thought you would have tried to betray me or something. Whoa.” And everything’s chill between him and the player.

He asks Serana for her blood, and she’s all like “No you bastard,” and the fight is with her.

Again, chose to be evil. If I, in a game, choose to be evil, I’m gonna be evil.

Maybe there could be a thing where you can surrender to Serana and like then fight Harkon or whatever if you’re a little bitch who can’t follow through with some fictional evildoing (I just woke up and for some reason I woke up very aggressive in my stance on the subject of being allowed to be evil in this questline, I’m sorry).

Anyway, you fight Serana and get some of her blood on the arrows by doing so. Then Harkon is like “My daughter, how could you, boo-hoo clearly evil yet also self-pitying monologue.” And Serana is like “Fuck you, and fuck you too player.” and she’s taken off to a dungeon and Harkon is like “Eh. She’ll come around. She’s just in her rebellious phase, I’ll put her in time-out and then just ground her to the Castle grounds for a hundred years or so.”

And then Harkon is like “Wow, you know I really didn’t expect you to be this loyal. Hey uh, my daughter just tried to kill me, and you’re like, the only other Vampire Lord around... I have these old crowns and I wanted me and Serana to wear them while we blotted out the sun together but um... do you wanna wear hers instead?”

Like basically he crowns you a vampire Prince/Princess and adopts you, which make the castle into a player home the same way that killing him in the actual DLC does. But now you have a sweet villain crown, probably red and with a fang theme, and a parent, which must be pretty cool for the player character. Started out by waking up having been arrested for unknown reason, with amnesia just wiping clean any memory of who you are except for your name, then finds out dragons are back and they’re the Dragonborn and they gotta deal with that bullshit, but like, hey, now they have a parent and really strong vampire powers and life is lookin’ up.

Anyway, he gives you the crown and you put it on, and then go with him to some special location in the Castle (although since it’s Skyrim the place would probably actually be stupid far away but shhhhhh I’m making this up and Todd can kiss my ass) and he’s like “Would you like to do the honors?”

And it doesn’t matter if you say yes or no, either you fire the arrow or he does.

And then BAM! Sun’s blotted out forever. Vampires can run free. Also I would give the vampire’s automatic night vision, because... duh. It’s... really dumb that they don’t have that, honestly. Let me see in the dark, dammit, I’m tired of waiting and torches and shit. I’m a vampire for fuck’s sake.

And yeah. You’re vampire royalty, Harkon is always real nice to you and either refers to you as “my son” or “my daughter” as one of the idle dialogue things, and you can just chat with him and get little mini-quests like the ones you can get from Jarls. “There’s a rouge vampire group in so-and-so cave, go take care of them my child.” or “There’s some Dawnguard who have set up a camp nearby, go deal with them.” and stuff like that.

Serana can be visited, she’s in the dungeon for a few weeks and then one day she’s walking around the Castle halls. Either way, when you first speak with her after blotting out the sun she says something like, “So you really did it. I hope you know the consequences of what you’ve done.” because it was an evil thing to do so like someone’s gotta berate you for it. And then you can talk more, and one of the options is telling her about how Harkon adopted you, and you can snarkily call her “sister” and she’ll go “Wow I hate you.”

And then you can just walk around, not worrying about burning up in the sun, and the people of Skyrim are frankly oblivious idiots except for some idle dialogue comments like “It’s been really dark lately.” “I wonder what’s happened to the sky...” “I miss sunlight. What’s happened to it?” and stuff like that.

And yeah. That’s how I would have the vampire alignment in Skyrim go. Come on, it’s way better than the “Oh you have to be good, no other options, sorry,” bullshit.

[carameloveskook]

Hello! Can i request Yoongi is a prince? And the reader is painting his portrait... while he admires her.

Paint Strokes

pairing: min yoongi x reader

warnings: -

requested by: @mary-the-wise 💜

caramel: I love this request because it’s cute! I was about to go to bed until I saw this and I just had to write about it right away \(^0^)/ also like in my namjoon fic, yoongi will also be bolded

———————————————————————

Seeing the skyline above the mountains always fascinated the quiet boy every morning. The sun rising from the northeast, peeking from the mountains before unveiling itself to show the world its power. A knock can be heard behind him, looking away, Yoongi turns to look at his wooden door. ‘Another day, another heartbreak’ he thought, his father has been looking for a suitor for him throughout the nation but none of them were able to warm his cold heart. Taking in the view of the landscape one more time, he sighs before opening the door revealing the maid behind the wooden door. 

“Good morning your highness!”

She gave him a flirty smile before looking around the room for an excuse to spend time with him. Before Yoongi could say anything, she enters uninvited and heads towards his bed. Removing the covers, the maid bends over a little too much and stares at him with a smirk on her face. He heads over to her, catching her off guard, however, her fantasies were cut short after the blonde prince passes her without a glance. He heads over to his wardrobe and knocks over a few clothes before facing her. 

“This needs to be organized by the end of the day. If not, I’ll have you sent to the dungeon for that pathetic attempt of flirting with me.” 

The maid immediately regains her posture before mumbling a “yes sir” as she quickly heads over to the closet. Satisfied, Yoongi heads towards the entrance of his bedroom and grabs the doorknob. Twisting it open, he hears the maid call out to him however, he leaves before she has time to finish her sentence. With an annoyed expression placed on his features, he heads towards the banquet hall to get a better view of the sky. Seeing the pretty colors created by nature always fascinated him, he had undying respect for people who had the ability to replicate an image from their mind or what’s placed before them. Yoongi always wanted to learn how to paint but he never had the time seeing that his father forced him on multiple dates with multiple princesses that only liked him for his looks. “They’re too shallow. They’re too easy. They just like me for my looks.” Yoongi would tell his father right after each date making him frustrated and feel hopeless for the future of the kingdom. He just said the truth and it didn’t hurt anybody, well except the girls that would hear his insights on them from his father. Looking out at the landscape of the kingdom, he contemplates whether if he is truly ready to run a kingdom much less with a woman he might not even be able to choose at this rate. Seeing all the lives that work hard in order to survive below him, people carrying heavy crates, maintaining horses or even delivering packages from door to door, he felt insecure about his future rule. ‘How could they have so much faith in him when they don’t even know him that well?’ For Yoongi, he would have questions for the future king before he rules the kingdom for the rest of his life.

He looks down to the castle gates and leans over to see the guards greeting a petite woman with a smile. From his view, he is only able to see the top of her head and her large bag on her side. She didn’t look like a princess, no gown or anything, the guards seemed flustered as the girl cocks her head to the side and points to the large bag. The guards immediately grab the bag and look at each other with rivalry. Yoongi facepalms when he notices that they played rock-paper-scissors to determine who picks this woman’s bag. He frowns at them, wondering why they wanted her attention. They just met her. Moving away from the view, he heads towards the throne room to meet the daily line of hopeful princesses. Once he was there, he was met with only one girl, who he assumes was the one at the entrance. She glanced at him with acknowledgment before moving past him to enter the throne room. Even though it sounds really cocky for him to say, he was surprised that she didn’t try to make a move on him. He watches her go inside the throne room, posture straight and her features were calm as she faces his father. In his opinion, she looked more intimidating than his father. 

“Hello, sir.”

“Ah, y/n! It’s about time you got here! Yoongi, come here at once!”

The two turn to face the prince and Yoongi’s gaze heads towards the girl. Hues of whites, purples, and blues stain her skin and clothes as she stares at him with a smile on her face. Keeping his composure, he goes towards his father and bows before glancing at the girl once more. Her attention is no longer on him, and on his father. Her face was slender, but it was dirty with all the paint strokes all over her face. Her clothes were raggy and tattered but he didn’t think of her any less, all he knew was that he wanted to get to know her better. Shifting his attention to the king, Yoongi lets out a sigh of relief. There was no sight of any snobby princesses around the room waiting to jump on him for a way to the throne. It was just this girl, his father and him in the room. The girl suddenly turns to face Yoongi and brings out her hand. Confused, he looks towards his father who displays a disappointing look in his eyes.

“Yoongi. Were you listening?”

“Well, I-”

“Excuse me, your highness? We should really start painting your son if you want the portrait done by this week.”

His father looks at the girl and sighs. Before Yoongi realizes, he’s in the courtyard with her as she pulls out a large canvas from her bag. She points towards a stone bench and gestures him to sit down. Yoongi stares at her and notices that her arms were struggling to pull up her easel. Contemplating on whether he should help her or not, by the time he decided to, the girl finally adjusted it to her liking. 

“Can you pick a pose please for the portrait, something good because we can’t change it once I start painting.”

“Um…is this ok?”

“You want to be known as a grumpy king throughout history?”

“I’m not a king.”

“You will be someday, so I suggest you should at lead give a tiny smile.”

Staring at her, he attempts to put on a casual smile and maintain his posture. Looking satisfied, she begins to start sketching onto her canvas. Her eyebrows furrowed as she concentrates on various details such as his eyes and lips. Yoongi observed that when she was frustrated with a minor detail, she would bite the bottom of her mouth. Although he would never admit it, it was very sexy whenever she would do so. Finally, the structure of his portrait was finished, by the end, Yoongi let out a sigh of relief once the girl announced that they should take a break. Getting up to leave, the girl spoke.

“So what’s it like, being a prince?”

“What?”

“Being royalty, what is that like?”

“Aren’t we on break?”

“Oh, you are a grump aren’t ya? Well, if you want to make this process boring and long, be grumpy.”

The prince was caught off guard, no one, much less a woman would talk to him in such matter. It was brand new, and it intrigued him. Moving away, the girl looked towards her oil paints seemingly choosing what colors to use for painting.

“What’s your name?”

“You didn’t answer my question, why should I answer yours?”

“I hate being a prince, what’s your name?”

“Woah, Woah, Woah. You don’t like being a prince? Why not?”

“You didn’t answer my question. I have the right to not answer yours.”

“Touché, my name is y/n. Now, why don’t you want to be a prince?”

She begins to apply colors on the canvas and gestures him to pose once more. Yoongi looks down, before facing her. Seeing the various colors she had placed before her, she had used his arm to match up his skin tone using paint strokes on his wrist. An hour has gone by, and it was nothing but silence between the two. Yoongi was still contemplating on whether or not he would answer y/n’s question. However, he got distracted once the said girl pulled her hair up into a ponytail revealing her dangling silver earrings. They were miniature 3-D dragons with scaly skin, he was able to see them closely every time she would face him to ensure that she was using the right color before placing it on the canvas. Despite having only a few shared conversations, Yoongi was drawn towards the girl. Not once did she try to flirt with him nor subtly hint of a future romance. He was intrigued by her focus and how she was able to get the job done. He respected that and admired her for it. 

“I don’t think I would be a good ruler.”

The poor girl was caught off guard and nearly messed up on her portrait. Removing her focus from the canvas, she turns to face the prince. He breaks his pose and places a hand on his neck to massage the strains from being still for so long. She stretches as she lets down her hair and sits next to Yoongi. 

“What do you mean? I’m pretty sure you’ll do great.”

“This morning, I looked out towards the kingdom and saw how many lives that are depended on me without a say.”

“It’s because they trust you.”

“Why should they, they don’t know me on a personal level. They don’t know if I have bad intentions, not that I do anyway.”

“Prince Yoongi right? The fact that you are wondering these things shows how determined you are to please your future subjects. Plus, I highly doubt your father would allow you to lead the kingdom without being prepared.”

“If being prepared means finding an absent-minded queen then I’m nowhere close to ruling a kingdom.” 

“Why do you need an absent-minded queen? Wouldn’t you rather have someone who knows what she wants?”

“I would love one, but all the ones my father chooses are just power-hungry or just lustful.”

“You sound so cocky right now.”

Yoongi laughs at her remark, ‘she would be a perfect queen’ he thought. 

[do-your-socks-have-holes-in-them]

Til the End of the Night / Ch1: In which Roman phones a friend

Masterpost / Next 

Summary:  While Thomas is asleep, Roman dreams himself into a predicament he can't get out of alone. Fortunately, he has three friends who are eager to... er, willing... look, at least they're going, alright? It's quest time!

Warnings: imprisonment, fantasy violence/non-graphic injury

A/N: finally starting to crosspost this fic! yay!

Read on AO3

Roman may have been slightly trapped in a tower. It was a long story, which did not refer to its actual length so much as to the fact that he didn’t want to tell it. He would hate to have to admit to anyone that he’d climbed up here to rescue a princess, as one does, only she’d told him there was wifi in there and then, when he’d joined her inside to partake of the free internet, vanished completely.  In the moments it had taken him to look around and realize she’d been an illusion all along, magical vines had grown to almost completely cover the only window, impervious to his sword and his inventive curses alike.  This had to be the work of that foul sorceress, the Dragon Witch.  He’d said as much out loud, not that anyone was around to hear him.

He needed to get out of here.  He couldn’t see anything lying around that would be of use, although he couldn’t see much of anything at all with the vines blocking all but a few slivers of light.  Of course, he still had his creative powers- the world around him was in story-mode at the moment, so he couldn’t do anything too unreasonable, but he was able to pull a lantern from thin air and light it with a wave of his hand.

Taking a better look revealed only that, just as he’d thought, the room was pretty much empty.  These tower scenarios weren’t exactly designed for convenience of escape. How would he ever get to save anyone if they went and left on their own before he got there, after all?  That wouldn’t be any fun.  It had never been an issue before, given that those inconvenienced were never real people... unlike now.  He threw the lantern at the window in a combination of anger and hope that it might do something.  Flames splashed over the vines only to die out a moment later, extinguished by a dark flash of magic.  The barrier was warded against every attack he could come up with, even the ones he was stretching the rules to even be able to try, and tossing an arcane explosive at a wall showed that the whole room was just as indestructible.  And the force sent him flying across the room, which hurt.  And he had to make a new lantern now.

“What have I ever done to deserve this?” he demanded of the ceiling, gesturing to the overall situation with his free hand.  It didn’t answer.  He sighed loudly and collapsed to the floor, sitting against the back wall. He couldn’t stand feeling useless like this, coming up against a challenge he couldn’t dance around or make a way out of- and in his own realm, too, the place he came to get rid of frustration.  While he’d been looking for a way out and coming up empty, what little light made it in had dimmed to nothing, and noticing that made him also notice how tired he was.  As much as he hated to give up on… anything ever, really… there was no part of him that wanted to move right now.  Time worked differently here and sleeping through the night would only take a minute of real-world time, so he might as well just put the lantern out and… close his eyes...

When Roman woke up, it was still about eleven at night back in reality, and he was about eleven different types of sore.  It seemed his body wasn’t a fan of getting knocked into walls and then falling asleep on a stone floor, who knew?  Which was hypocritical, because it hadn’t been his brain’s idea to pass out like that.  When he got up and bit back a groan, however, it wasn’t because of the protests from his muscles, but because of what he saw.

The tower room was furnished now.  There was a bed, a chest in which he could see folded clothes, and a small table holding an array of food and the lantern, which had been mysteriously lighted again.  It bordered on cozy, which wasn’t a problem in and of itself- he liked cozy- but what it meant most definitely was. The world was expecting him to be staying here for quite a while.  It was official: in the terms of the story that was now unfolding, his role was no longer that of an adventuring prince, but a witch’s prisoner locked in a tower, and that meant the very laws of this reality would make sure he couldn’t escape on his own, even if he thought of something that would normally work.  There was nothing else to be done: as much as he would hate it, he was going to have to call for help.

Fortunately, the tower really did have wifi, because he certainly wasn’t going to have good reception out here.  He sat on the bed, which was decently comfortable, opened the list of contacts on his phone and looked over them for a brief moment. Easy decision, really- two out of three would immediately make fun of him for getting himself into this situation in the first place.  He called Patton.

Patton was half-asleep on the couch in a pile of blankets, midway through a TV show he was no longer paying attention to, when the ringing of his phone jolted him back to consciousness.  He turned the TV off and answered at the last second before it would have gone to voicemail.  “Hello?”

“Hello,” Roman said on the other end.  He didn’t usually wait to be prompted to start talking about whatever he called for, that was odd.

“Roman!”  He sounded awake now.  “I thought you were busy with one of your adventures in the Imagination right now? Fighting bad guys and saving various royalty and stuff?  Not that I’m not happy to hear from you, of course!”

“Er, about that, it’s-- you have to promise not to laugh,” he interrupted himself.

“Of course, I would never laugh at you!  Unless you were making a joke, because then it wouldn’t be very nice not to…”  That train of thought was getting off track, he realized.  “What’s wrong?”

“Well… It seems that this time, I’ve become the royalty in need of rescuing.”  He explained recent events, or at least a slightly edited version of them that made him sound cooler, and paused at appropriate moments for a reaction.  Patton did not disappoint.

“Oh, no!” he gasped.  “What are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure,” Roman said, which was mostly true.  “This has all been rather confusing.”

“We’ve got to figure something out…”

Patton was too busy fretting to notice Logan rise up in front of him until he spoke.  “I don’t mean to intrude on… whatever’s happening here, but if you two need help figuring something out, I’d be happy to contribute a more rational perspective. What’s the problem this time?”

“Roman is--” Patton interrupted himself with a surprised squeak as Virgil appeared as well, balanced on the arm of the couch.

“Patton, are you okay?  I felt...”  He trailed off slightly and looked between the two of them, fidgeting with the hood of his jacket as if he expected to need it up soon.  “Somebody tell me what’s going on.”

Logan started telling him what he knew, despite the fact that he knew pretty much nothing. Virgil quickly realized this and responded sarcastically, starting an argument over whether Logan should be saying anything at all right now, and meanwhile Roman was talking into Patton’s ear asking what was happening over there, and there were so many freakin’ words he couldn’t process any of it.

“Guys,” he tried to interrupt.  “Hello?”  They didn’t seem to hear him.  He cleared his throat and mustered his sternest voice, which wasn’t very stern, really, but they would know it meant he was serious.  “Logan!  Virgil! Quit it!”  They stopped bickering and turned back in his direction, looking sheepish.

“Sorry.”

“I apologize, that was- immature.  Please continue.”

“Alright, well, Roman- you know what, I should just put him on speakerphone.  I’m putting you on speakerphone, Roman, okay?  Can you tell Logan and Virgil what you just told me?”

Patton set his phone on the table, and the first thing they all heard from Roman was an annoyed sigh.  “If I must,” he said reluctantly. Virgil muffled a laugh with his sleeve- he could just hear the pout in his voice.  “This is so embarrassing,” he muttered.  “I was tricked… by a very cunning witch… and now I am unfortunately, er, stuck, in a tower, in a story.  I would, uh… greatly appreciate some assistance, honestly.”

Logan blinked.  “Well, that’s simple enough to fix.  All we need to do is wake Thomas up and--”

“No!”  Roman coughed.  “I mean- he does need to be well rested to face the day’s challenges, you know how erratic his sleeping habits can be- we shouldn’t resort to disturbing him unless there are truly no other options.  ...And have I mentioned that this is very embarrassing?  It’s bad enough that you all know now, I’m not telling Thomas as well!”  And if Thomas knew something, everyone did, or could if they chose, at least.  Some of those “dark” sides would never let Roman live this down if they heard.

“Okay, so you need someone to get you out.” Surprisingly, or maybe not all that surprisingly, Logan knew a bit about the technicalities of the Imagination. Once he’d found out technicalities existed, he couldn’t resist asking questions until Roman yelled at him to stop killing his fun by trying to dissect how it worked. “Why not just conjure up a hero with those fanciful mind-powers of yours?”

“I… can’t.  Not without being part of the action myself.  I can’t move the focus of the story to anyone who isn’t real.”

“What do you mean you can’t?”  Virgil dropped onto the couch beside Patton, legs folded under himself, the better to yell into the phone.  “It’s your world, you literally created it, what even- what does that even mean? Just tell it to stop, or whatever.”

“It’s not always that easy,” Roman snapped back.  “I can’t just do whatever I want- I mean, I can, but… look, I didn’t want it to be that easy, alright?  I need a challenge sometimes if I want to improve!  Anyway, I’m sure your room is so much more manageable,” he added seconds before wondering if this was going too far, “what with how it nearly made Patton cry after being there for ten minutes and all.  I suppose that was all entirely on purpose.”

“My room is a room, Roman, and you’re in an infinite world with way more dangerous stuff in it that I had kind of assumed you could always control, but okay, fine. Figures your realm would make everything have to be about you.  What’s your plan, if none of ours are good enough?”

“We-ell…”  A slight pause.  “It doesn’t have to be about me, thank you very much, Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Even-More-Dark.  In theory, if someone else, another person who exists in some real sense, were to enter the realm, and take on the role of a traveling hero…”

“Oh!  That sounds fun!” Patton exclaimed, at the same moment as Virgil said, “Absolutely not.” Logan just shook his head skeptically.

“Pleeease?” Roman and Patton said in unison.  Patton was even giving them his best puppy-dog eyes. How did they sync up like that without being able to see each other?  Why was it almost working?

“Roman just said he lost control of his stupid realm, and now you want to skip on in there after him and probably get eaten by a rogue dragon or something?”

“I thought the dragon was a witch, not a rogue…”

That got a snort of laughter from Virgil despite himself, and a pained sigh from Logan.  Virgil tried to regain his look of “why are you even considering this,” but before he could quite get there Roman was talking again.

“Guys, it’s completely safe, I promise.  On my honor as a prince, which, in here, I actually am. Nothing in this realm has ever so much as scratched me unless I decided it could, and I’m not going to tell anything it can hurt any of you. Like Patton said, it will be fun!  Just a quick walk through the Imagination- which is beautiful, I designed the landscape myself- I can give you a proper tour once you get me down, and we’ll all be back long before Thomas wakes up.” There was a muffled noise and a distant curse-substitute as he almost knocked the lantern over with the gestures they couldn’t see him making.

“Yes!”  Patton was practically bouncing in his seat.  “Can we go?  Logan? Virgil?  Please?  I really wanna go and it wouldn’t be as fun by myself, please?”

Logan considered it.  “I still think it would be much easier to just inform Thomas of the situation-”

“Thank you,” Virgil sighed.

“-but if Roman doesn’t want to be summoned-”

“-which I don’t-”

“-he can choose to ignore it.  Knowing how stubborn he can be, it might in fact be less hassle to just go along with his plan.”

“You’re actually agreeing to this?  Are you serious?”

Logan pointed silently to his necktie.

“Ugh, fine.” Virgil threw his hands up in defeat. “But if anything bad happens, it won’t be my fault.”

Patton touched Virgil’s knee softly, trying not to startle him with limited success.  “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, you know.  If you’d rather stay here and wait for us to get back, that’s completely fine.”

“No, I’m going.”  He looked sideways at Patton with the ghost of a teasing smile on his face. “I mean, somebody has to keep the rest of you out of trouble, you’re not getting away from me that easily.”

“We wouldn’t want to,” Patton assured him, while Logan breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn’t be left to corral the rather impulsive emotional side by himself.

Roman’s slightly tinny voice broke in.  “Are you coming, then?”  He was trying not to sound like he cared very much, which was revealing in itself.

Patton grinned.  “Yep! Just as soon as we get ready!  Ooh-” he turned to the other two in the room- “can I say something?”

Logan shared a confused glance with Virgil.  “...I would assume so?”

Patton didn’t bother to clarify, just grabbed one of their hands each, throwing them up above all their heads as he cheered.  “Who’s ready for an ADVENTURE?!”

[konekoryuugamine]

Chaos Critic’s Top 10 Disliked Anime

Oh man I am going to get SO much flack for this one . . . I know, I know" so many anime are out there, and so many are like this, and yadda yadda - Look, I wanna do this, I wanna help people steer clear of these shows, and if someone likes these shows, more power to ya, but I don't like them, this is only opinion, and I prefer that no one calls me a liar or a jerk for saying something about an anime that is all speculation and varied per person. Anyways, I don't own these animes, and please read and enjoy, no flames, thanks a bunch.    Let me say this now: not all anime rock.    I have been an avid anime watcher since I was in the 5th grade, and when I realized anime were released every year, in the hundreds, I was flipping over in cartwheels. Vampires, dragons, wizards, ninjas, rock and roll - all of those in my favorite animation style that is pretty much SO flipping awesome in so many ways - made me so happy.    I ended up binging anime on Toonami, (still do), and joined several anime sites to get the latest anime dishes and series that I could muster up enough free time to watch. My parents grew concerned about me watching so much of it to the point where I would have been addicted, but then I ended up telling them it was where my heart laid, and they accepted, it with somewhat unwilling protectiveness.        After all these years of watching anime and reading manga, I ended up developing tastes that ranged from very horroreqsue anime with suspense and mystery to ridiculous comedy with great puns on words.    'Bakemonogatari', everyone.

   However, with these tastes and genres came some of the weird and strangest animes I have ever seen, and am currently watching. Does this mean I think all 'weird' anime are bad? Heck no - 'Bobobo-Bobobobo', "Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt" and "FLCL" are some of my favorites, although I consider Bobobo a guilty pleasure.    I did run into some strange and bad anime, however, and it made me wonder whether or not getting into anime at all was a good or bad idea. It even made me think that these were the animes that gave other great ones bad wraps - hence the stereotype of Japanese anime always being about ten-year-old girls and tentacles.    No idea why, honestly.    The more I do think about it, however, I do feel there are some pretty bad anime out there on the internet, and if you ask any anime fan, they will list some anime that are bad, their favorites, and even one they watch when they choose to. Many a conversation I had often resulted in me talking about the ones I liked more than the ones I hated, to my relief.    But otherwise, I feel these anime I'm about to list carry their ideas a bit too far, go too far with anime as a format, or are just overhyped and bad as heck . . . just because an anime is weird, strange, badly dubbed or whatever else does not mean I have to hate it.    I have my reasons.    So, without fault, here's my top ten anime I dislike more than others. Keep in mind that these are the anime I dislike for certain reasons, and if someone out there does like these, and calls me out for hating them, then I accept it. Just because I hate something doesn't mean you can make me like it.

   And here they are. NUMBER 10: " Lil' Pri"        I thought this series would be cute to watch for a while, and I decided to watch a few episodes. I ended up binging the whole series and started thinking too much about it.    Then I realized it wasn't really that good.    Ringo Yukimori, a young girl who enjoys Snow White's stories, literally bumps into two other girls at a concert for a super famous singer named Wish. The other girls, Leila Takashiro and Natsuki Sasahara, also enjoy the stories of Princess Kaguya and Cinderella. The suddenly then run into three adorable talking animals, Sei, Dai and Ryoku, (a bird, a squirrel and a dragon), who are looking for their princesses in the human world.    The main idea behind this series is that the three girls turn into older versions of themselves with the embedded spirits of Snow White, Cinderella, and Princess Kaguya to help bring human happiness, "happiness tones", to Fairyland and save it. Humans' happiness and believe in the fairytales has dwindled, decreasing the happiness tones. So, the girls agree to help retrieve those, and along the way, they figure out Wish is the Queen's 'long-lost' son, who can turn into a rabbit . . .    Yeah see where I'm going here?    The anime is, for all intents and purposes, as straightforward as a magical girl series can get. There are no hidden meanings to Ringo, Leila or Natsuki, and their names pretty much are dead giveaways to what stories they enjoy most. Prince Chris, a.k.a. Wish, is immediately given focus at the beginning of the series, and there are no real surprises until the last few episodes of the series when the girls give up their magic, hint-hint, and leave Fairyland after retrieving all the happiness tones.    Let me tell you, that can get kind of boring . . .    The main problem I have with this series overall is how bland it is and how it seems to take ideas from several other little girls' magical shows, such as Ojamajo Do-re-mi or Pretty Cure. The concepts of having normal girls become heroes to save other lands, rescue royalty and adapt to their situation are something I've heard before and seen more excellently done, in other shows. The fact the girls also become idols onstage is an interesting quirk, but it reminds me too much of the Witchlings' maid outfit changes from the fourth season of Ojamajo. 

   It doesn’t help the CGI in the anime comes off as awkward, leaving the concert scenes clunky and hard to watch. Their movements are stiff, and their voices are not exactly the best. They do get better in vocals as the series progresses, but everything else stays the same.    When I also state how bland the series is, I'm also referring to Ringo, Leila, and Natsuki, reluctantly. The audience is told and can understand the heroines well enough to the point where we wish they had more depth. They all love Wish, they love fairytales, Ringo loves apples and has seven brothers, Leila is half Italian, Natsuki loves sports - we get it.    The problem is that they have no other depth than being cardboard cutouts of anime heroines.    We are never given any character conflicts, they never have issues that expand over the series, they never really get the kind of development other series like Sailor Moon receive for magical girl heroines. I know I may get flack for mentioning that, but I have seen development of Usagi Tsukino in both the manga and the new anime adaption of the series. The girls don't really receive any development here, aside from the minor mentioning of growing up and accepting happiness as it comes rather than forcing it on others.    The reason this one ranks so low on my list is because I do still enjoy the cuter designs of the characters, and give it points for trying to come up with a good driving plot that does bring to mind the idea of growing up and being happy. It’s a cookie cutter style idol show but it has heart to it. It tries to overstep its bounds, but never gets the chance to.     At the same time, I also think Show By Rock!! and Zombieland Saga did the “idol concept with a twist” take much better, what with one being a Sanrio based product that combines an isekai with an idol show, and an idol show about zombie girls that satirizes the entire idol industry.  NUMBER 9: " Full Metal Alchemist"    I am going to get SO much flack for this one . . .   Before someone eats my liver, let me say I love the series as a whole, but compared to Brotherhood, this series has become something that both baffles me and makes me confused.    The series revolves around Edward and Alphonse Elric, who try to bring their mother back from the dead using the practice of alchemy. Strictly taboo, and stricken with grief, they decide to bring her back and return to their happiness. However, something goes horribly wrong and Alphonse's body is taken as compensation for their mother, who doesn't truly return. Ed sacrifices his arm and leg to save his brother and bring him back in a suit of armor. After the incident, in the anime, Ed decides to join the military of Risembool and hunt down the Philosopher's Stone, which is implied heavily to be something that can work real miracles.    I enjoyed watching the series, and I empathized with both Edward and Alphonse. They lost everything, tried to get it back, and lost more in return. Their tackling of the philosophy of equivalent exchange and getting something for nothing is truly moving, and the deep symbolization of The Philosopher's Stone being hope and realization is something that I know I will never see duplication of.    Then . . . I saw the ending episodes of the first series.    And I got mad.    I expected an epic climax, much like what happened in "Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood". I wanted Ed to get his limbs back, Al to get his body back, Ed to marry Winrey, Hoenheim to die and accept his flaws, for the Philosopher stone to dissolve, and for Scar to repent himself . . .    Instead, we got something that felt rushed, confusing and strange to me. Something that throws the entire series out of whack because of it.    The leader of the Homunculi, who had been chasing Ed and Al all over the place until they reached Liore again, were being led by Dante. The old lady who taught Izumi, their teacher. The old lady who was killed by Greed in episode 33. Who had an assistant who had that strange alchemic tablet.    Dante, as it turns out, was a lover of Hoenheim, much to everyone's shock, and when Hoenheim and she gave up their souls for the stone, they created something that they could use to swap their bodies and minds, intelligence included, into other beings, sort of like the plot of "Quantum Leap" without the randomness and depth. She was jilted because Hoenheim left her, (reasonably succumbing to his guilt over killing so many people to make the stone), and she decided to make and use the Homunculi to chase down HIS sons and make a new stone.    In other words, she ended up wanting to make another stone, and her real motives for why are never explained, although her anger over Hoenheim leaving her for another woman, then using HIS KIDS to make a new stone, is petty in terms of evil levels. She toyed with the Elrics, taunted them throughout the series, and ended up controlling things to make a new Philosopher's stone.    That part, however, is hard for me to buy.    Dante being the villain behind everything, including the making of the second Philosopher's stone, and bringing back Rose for no other reason than to use her as a 'figurehead' then possess her, is hard for me to take in. This would mean she'd have to have tabs on the Elrics at all times, be involved in the Risembool military, use more than one person at one point or another, display that she knew about the war and probably was the one who started it in the first place.    There were no indications to me that Dante was the villain all along through the series, as the Homunculi were given more screen time than her, her assistant and later body double Lyra was shown twice and was bland as other minor characters, and things don't connect well for me to buy it logically.    If she was the one behind everything, and she was supposed to have been fake-killed by Greed, then when did she successfully possess Lyra? How long has she kept tabs on the Elrics? Was she involved somehow in Trisha's illness, that kickstarted the entire flipping hunt for the Philosopher's Stone? If she was also involved, why drag Rose into the battle to just tick off Edward?    And furthermore, if Hoenheim knew if she was behind everything, and knew he'd be killed otherwise, then why didn't he just come right out and explain everything to the brothers when they first got involved with the Homunculi? Was he just afraid of dying? Of killing others?

   The more confusing thing is how this ending was created. Anime depends on the manga in most cases to flesh out the story. If the manga is over several volumes, like One Piece or Bleach, episodes will be released and designated in arcs and storylines. If the manga is ahead of the anime, then the writing process for the episodes can be ad-libbed thanks to the story that’s already present.

   When the manga halts or goes on hiatus, the anime must do something to fill in the extra space while the mangaka continues their work. Hence “filler arcs”. Like the extra few filler arcs in Bleach that involve the new captain or the Bounts, or the filler arcs in Naruto that everyone wishes didn’t exist. They exist to not only extend the anime’s lifespan but to try and flesh out the worlds of these series to make them feel more alive. 

   In this case, this was a filler ending for the Full Metal Alchemist anime series. The manga had gone on hiatus and they had nothing to conclude the show with, so they had to deal with what they had. I wanted to like it, but after looking at everything, I just find that nothing fits.    Either way, the ending of the original anime just befuddled me with an antagonist who was barely connected to the story to me, and the threads that bound her fingers to her puppets were about as thin as fishing line to me.      . . . Not to mention I'm still wondering how the anime connected itself to the 'parallel-world' of 'Germany' and how Edward was stuck there through the movie "Conqueror of Shamballa", but that movie did try to tie up the original anime series with a bow.

   Of course, this leads me to say why I dislike it so much: because Full Metal  Alchemist: Brotherhood exists. It’s an amendment to the series that aims to follow every detail of the manga. We see more progressive action and character development from start to finish, and we see an expansive world that was never given to us in the original anime. Fans of the show were rewarded with Ed and Al getting what they wished for, intense and awesome animation, and a marriage proposal that is adorable no matter which way you put it.

   However, I will say the first 10 to 13 episodes of the original anime are far better introductory episodes than the first few episodes of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. We see the Elrics grow and reach their respective early goals quick, and we actually get to know Alexander and Nina before Shou Tucker fucks things up. We also get deeper motivation for Ed’s reasons to become a State Alchemist. 

   If I did have to recommend this series to people who’d never seen it, I’d say go watch the first 10 episodes of the first FMA series, then watch Brotherhood in its entirety. Get the context and emotional development first, then come back in for what else is in store.    And now I'm gonna put on this football helmet while I wait for the hate mail. NUMBER 8: " Ghost Hound"    This one is a special case of bad to me.    There was a point where I got hooked on the anime "Serial Experiments Lain" and I got into the idea that many anime were deeper than they seemed. Lain was a dimensional protagonist who I felt much in common with, and developed a sense of what I wanted to know about ESP. I decided to get into shows involving the subject, and later developed a taste in supernatural shows and law dramas. Or anything that often touted lighter themes of horror.    I found this anime on accident one day when I was looking up scary anime. And after finding out it was done by Production I.G. and Shirow Masamune, I was ecstatic.     I was disappointed when I watched it.    The entire story revolves around a boy named Taro, who was kidnapped with his younger sister Mizuka on September 22nd, 1996. His sister died, but he survived the horrific situation. Since then, he's been seeing a therapist and has horrible PTSD-induced nightmares involving the situation. He also develops the ability to astral project himself into The Unseen World, which is the space between the living and the dead, and he uses his ability to better himself and his friends Makoto and Masayuki, who have also suffered similar traumatic childhood situations. They are led on this journey by their psychologist, who has his own agenda on the matter, but wants to help solve the supernatural insanity in the boys’ lives due to his own interactions with The Unseen World.     On its own, this idea is rather interesting, and you feel it can be done well over the course of 13 episodes, with an added OVA of how the entire conflict is resolved with death being a part of life, how having a power means it comes with greater responsibility and how everyone has issues they must come to terms with. And in the case of Masamune’s anime, delve deeper into the human understanding and structure of the conscious and unconscious mind.    However, the anime takes a rather . . . interesting, turn in its story. And when I say interesting, I mean something that may or may not work, depending on who you ask.    When the boys get together and go after the one who kidnapped Taro and his sister, they come across Miyako Komagusu, who has spiritual powers thanks to her miko line. She chooses to help them and Taro soon becomes fixated on Miyako due to her appearance, which is eerily similar to his sister. 

   Soon, the whole kidnapping element is thrown out the window, same with the title of the anime being only Makoto's astral-projection form, and comes in with a religious sect underneath Makoto's family and the fact his grandmother tries to make Miyako the new head after her father is hospitalized.    And it's later revealed that the Ogami Religious Cult has ties to an underground group of illegal drugs, medical enhancements, MUTANTS, and child kidnappings . . .    At this point, I was saying "why?"    On the one hand, it's a dark turn for an anime that started out with ESP, traumatic incidents, and they do save Miyako from the group of psychos. Whether or not the group remained standing was unclear to me, and the more I thought about how deep this went, the further I ended up in mental spirals of how logic had to be invoked.    On the other hand, it's a mish-mash of every cliche involving some evil mastermind group I can think of: the bad guy actually did this to such and such, who became the main guy's best friend, and now they want the girl who the main character has a connection with, and they all have supernatural powers, and they get others who betrayed the bad guys to help them.    This overlay of genres, and the fact the ESP is forgotten at about halfway through the anime for my liking, (along with there not even being MUCH of the supposed 'ghost hound'), there is also a stunning issue I had with the design of the characters not fitting the backgrounds. Whereas the designs were simple, the backgrounds were overly lush, too detailed, too mesmerizing.    Not like in "Over the Garden Wall", but still.    All in all, 'Ghost Hound' is a mixed bag to me. It does provide some good food for thought and an interesting storyline, but the second half ruins the story and eliminates the ESP the story was embedded into. NUMBER 7: " School Days"    I am aware this will be on others' hate lists, but hear me out . . . yeah, it's that bad in the anime form.    "School Days" is based on a visual novel game of the same name by Overflow, and has quickly garnered a reputation. The series involves this character, Makoto, as he makes his way into high school and develops a crush on adorable and shy Kotonoha. At the same time, depending on which way the player goes, he'll also fall for his best friend, his best friend's cousin, the other girls IN his class - well, you get where I'm going with this.    But before I get to the anime, let me explain a bit more about the game itself.    It incorporated motion and sound into the visual touch, making it look like you were playing an interactive anime, which wasn't that bad of an idea. There were also numerous cut scenes, (including graphic content might I add), that depicted the characters, and something that made the series very popular online: the death scenes.    What made this game unique from others is that it included graphic and detailed executions of main characters in several gorey fashions, along with some of the worst bad ends that can ever be imagined when it comes to one main character screwing over someone else. One death scene in particular involved Kotonoha committing suicide from a tall building in front of Makoto and Sekai, and you can HEAR THE CRUNK AND BUBBLE OF HER BODY AS SHE HITS THE PAVEMENT.    THAT ALONE TELLS YOU WHAT IS AT STAKE IN THIS GAME IF YOU SCREW UP.    But, because of how varied the main character's answers can get, and how many cut scenes are available at the time of the first go-around, someone will have to play the game multiple times before a Good ending is unlocked, like the super-rare harem-esque relationship between Makoto, Satonaka and Kotonoha. (Apparently, it's impossible to get because of how many things you can say, but I digress).    Now, to explain how the game became an anime . . . and I really don't want to . . .    The anime adapts the storyline of the game, following Makoto in high school, and he tries to get Kotonoha to fall for him, and Sekai tries to help him, then she falls for him. In short, it's a typical anime that depicts a three-way love triangle.    Until about the fourth or fifth episode.    After he gets Kotonoha as a girlfriend, he dates Sekai, with the knowledge of everyone, and LIES about breaking up with Kotonoha, AND HAS SEX WITH SEKAI, for the purpose of making things better with Kotonoha. He then goes around and sleeps with OTHER GIRLS IN HIS CLASS and AVOIDS KOTONOHA to keep up this whole thing.    That is called "sleeping around" and "being a jerk".    The reasons why people list this anime on their worst list is mostly because of the annoying voices, or because of the stilted and bland colors in the background, but to me and numerous others, it's because of Makoto Ito being a two-timing jerk who also has sex with numerous girls while still having one intimate girlfriend.    No, what also cements it for me, are the last three episodes: Sekai announces she's pregnant to the class, Makoto is reasonably cut off from his friends, Kotonoha, who had been RAPED, is devastated, and Makoto blames Sekai for ruining his life when he was JUST as much at fault in the first place. He goes out with Kotonoha, and right as he gets home, Sekai, reasonably ticked off, stabs him brutally with a butcher knife, and Kotonoha kills her and affirms she was lying about her pregnancy, then takes Makoto's head and sails off.    This was about the only way I could have expected this entire mess to conclude. Someone had to die, Makoto had to be given his karmic payback for sleeping with so many women, and for cheating and leaving Kotonoha to be raped and blaming Sekai for everything when he had his own faults, and Kotonoha had to take revenge or grow a backbone because of how everything bad happened to her for some reason.    In other words, the conclusion is more satisfying to me than the show itself, and that actually saved it a few places on my list. Watching it from start to finish is terrible, and the way you know about Makoto's sleeping around makes you want to slap some sense into him.    Or stab him with a knife, but I digress. NUMBER 6: " Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan"    AND now we get to something that's both bad and comedic.    And for once I'm not talking about Spongebob.    "Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan" is an anime that combines hentai and comedy, and as for the brand of humor, it relies on what is known as the continuous running gag. To understand what I mean, let me give you a few examples of continuous anime running gags: Team Rocket blasting off in every episode of "Pokemon" and doing some kind of farfetched scheme to capture Pikachu, how Joey Wheeler is also denoted as being immature or a punk, and as of more recent anime I've seen, how Tsukune is subjected to being fought over by Moka and the other girls.    The reason I'm bringing this up is that these are the gags I've seen being used in shows that quickly got stale . . . and were still being used as the show went along. 'Pokemon' is still the biggest offender of this since Pokemon Co. got a hold of the dubbing and anime creations in both Japan and America. The gag of Team Rocket blasting off is okay for a season or so, but seeing them just get pounded again and again makes me feel sorry for them, and makes me want to slap them and say "Stop blowing yourselves up all the time!", thinking they'd learn.    But hey, I can dream can't I?        The issue with that is the issue with this anime completely.    "Bokotatsu-Tenshi Dokuro-Chan", or "Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan" is an anime that focuses on a boy named Sakura Kusanabe, who is a normal boy going to school and having a crush on his classmate. Apparently, 20 years into the future, he invents a machine that prevents the aging process on women after the age of 13, making them . . . physically younger.    They literally call this in the anime a "pedophile's dream world".    So, God, in the future, sends an angel, Dokuro, to go and assassinate him so he can't make this crazy machine . . . if you are laughing right now, I was too.    The plot is ridiculous, as par for how it's supposed to be a comedy, but the manner of ridiculous ends there and it becomes more mindbogglingly annoying with each passing episode. Dokuro, when she gets to Sakura, decides to live with him and convince him to not build the machine, and in the process, does so with her rambunctious energy, super-human strength, her annoying voice, and often times, KILLS HIM WITH HER KANABO CLUB CALLED EXCALIBOLT.    That is the gist of the entire show. He tries to impress a girl, he 'insults' the over-sensitive Dokuro, she kills him, she brings him back to life. He tries to make some friends, she gets offended, she kills him, she brings him back to life. And so on and so forth.    For about thirteen episodes.    I ended up watching the series with my younger sister when I was about 15, and I couldn't help but laugh ad how dumb it was. And because I knew I couldn't change the videos because of my younger sister saying "Show me more, show me more! I wanna see him die again!"    . . . I felt a part of my soul die. (I also learned never to show my sister that kind of anime again . . . until she watched "Attack on Titan"). so, Anyways!    The entire anime, dub or sub, is annoying, high pitched, and the characters are all flat as boards. Dokuro's entire character is her crush on Sakura and the fact she wants to help him while never learning she accidentally causes his deaths. Sakura is a perverted young boy who is trying to get by, and ends up falling for Dokuro in a stereotypical fashion. There's also other angel characters, such as one who uses a  . . . cattle prod, and she has ram horns . . . and one who is a  . . . transvestite punk goblin?    To be honest, I never bothered to remember their names because I forgot about them after another two episodes. Same with Dokuro's sister. The only reason I remember her was because the show made her look hot for a 7-year-old, and she used a wet towel as a weapon.    And everyone in the school thought she was hot.    . . . I'm gonna stop on this one now before I get angry again and say that this anime isn't very good, but it does do a good job in setting up something that is both hilarious in context and causing some of the better memes in AMV Hell 3. NUMBER 5: " Sonic X"    From contrived and humorous to awkward and strange.    I first watched this show, much like others, on the Fox Box, (among other anime that were terribly dubbed by 4Kids). It was . . . strange, to see a talking hedgehog with blue quills run about with a two-tailed yellow kitsune, and on Earth no less. I had to change the channel every few seconds or so because I felt so strange watching them. I ended up feeling the same thing when I was watching 'Sonic Underground'.    I know now that the feeling was 'awkwardness'.    The story follows Sonic and his friends from the planet Mobius as they get transported to Earth because of some unintended calculations from Sonic screwing with Dr. Eggman's machine. Because they don't how it happened, and they don't know how to go back, they have to adjust on Earth, and they do just that. In the process, Sonic befriends a human, Chris, whose father is a scientist.    And the wacky adventures are supposed to continue from there . . .    I'll go ahead and say this now: combining humans in a world of anthropomorphic animals has to either be done well or not at all. I'm cool with anthropomorphism being talking animals, like Bubbie from 'Flapjack', or like Fred the horse or Beatrice from 'Over the Garden Wall'. I also don't mind if they have only the humanistic approach, and cannot talk, like the animals from 'Wicked'.    But if it's full anthropomorphism, like Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry, then it has to make sense as to why they are there and how they can fit in with the environment. It comes down to three basic things: environment, history and art style. If the environment is okay, and the history of there being anthropomorphism is established, and the art style is in turn okay, then it is okay in the long run.    This is why I enjoy "The Looney Tunes Show". The environment is more modern and bent to match reality, the history of the characters is established early on and build on episode by episode, (and there's the references that add to it with Looney Tunes jokes from previous shorts from the 60's), and there are confirmed humans in the show who don't notice the anthropomorphism, and the art style blends it all together in a clean swipe of hilarity and animation brilliance.    This is also why I enjoy the movie "Cats Don't Dance": it takes anthropomorphism of animals and turns it into a metaphor for racism in 1940's Hollywood. It combined a relative environment of a historical timepiece, added the necessary elements of anthropomorphism with its own rich metamorphic history and the art style made all of it look like it was a classic cartoon.    If the environment works, and the history is laid down, and the art style manages to work it together, then anthropomorphism in shows is alright and well done in my book. But, (and I do have to be honest when I say this), if even one of these is never touched on, or brought too much into focus, then questions will be raised and things can be turned awkward.    This is what I feel happened when I watched 'Sonic X'.    The environment was Earth and all humans, with no mentions of Sonic being real before, and then out of the blue Sonic and his friends fall to Earth, "like Magic". The art style made it harder for me to watch because of how cartoonish Sonic and his friends looked compared to the humans and Eggman. It also could have been because every line looked SO SMOOTH, and there were no detailed areas or specifics, but I could have been wrong.    To me, this series started off awkward, and continued to get more awkward with the introduction of Shadow, Eggman's schemes and the later part of season one. The conclusion of season one was, and I'll say it lightly, okay. Chris saying goodbye to Sonic and his friends at the expense of never seeing them again was heartfelt, and he did act reasonably when it came to seeing them leave.    (Although the CGI could have been better for their transition back).    THEN . . . season two happened . . . then season two happened . . .    Just like how I feel with "Sword Art Online", I feel season two of 'Sonic X' is weaker than the first. Chris coming back because he longed for Sonic all these years and building a machine to send him to Mobius, and he happens to turn into a kid again because of the time differences on planets?    Sure, I'll buy that, albeit it sounds like Sonic 06 to me.    And Cosmo being the key of life for an evil overlord, and later performs a sacrifice of herself to save everyone and Tails is left in the Friend Zone?    Cliche, painful to watch, predictable and overall weaker than the previous season.    I don't want to spend too much on this season either because the plot and Chris made it weaker than when we witnessed Sonic and his friends adapting to Earth and humanity. Introducing an annoying character again and adding a character who becomes the key for hope is something I feel has been done better before. I hate feeling this way because I watch "Sonic Boom" now, but I feel that one is better than this . . .    I hate to feel that way, but I do. NUMBER 4: " Eiken"    Stop me if you've heard this before: a new male student to a school, desperate to make friends, ends up tripping and falling, literally, for a busty babe who is perfect. Then he has to do something insane, meet her friends, and tries to hook up with her only to be shut down as lucky, a pervert or a complete loser.    If you answered me with "That's the opening plotline for Rosario+Vampire", then you're close. I also would have accepted "Stop talking, that sounds like every hentai anime out there", but fair enough.    This is also, word for word, the opening scenes of the OVA series "Eiken".    THIS one is BAD.    Originally an 18 volume manga series, "Eiken" involves a boy named Densuke Mifune, who transfers to Zashono Academy at the start of a new year. He accidentally gropes one of the school's most attractive girls, Chiharu Shinonome, and gets drafted into the Eiken Club, which is run by her friend, the lively and flirtatious Kirika Misono. He is then subjugated to being tortured by the club members while he tries to get Chiharu to like him.    . . . there is a catch to this one aside from being stereotypically harem/hentai anime.    "Eiken" has become infamous in the anime community for having female characters possess pronounced, er . . . "tracts of land".    Yeah, I said it.    The entire manga and two-episode OVA series follow hentai taken to ridiculous extremes, involving large boobs.    I don't know how the joke came about, or how people come to know about this, (probably in the same manner that people know about Boku no Pico), but dang it, I hate that I know about this one. The only reason this isn't my number one pick is that I found other clips on AMV Hell about it, and decided to check it out.    Now, I bet you're wondering: why would a straight-laced, highly intelligent young woman like myself watch a two-episode OVA involving girls with 'humorously' large breasts and a perverted boy who day-dreams of bondaging his crush in measuring tape?    I'll let Alucard get channeled here for that reason. Ally? (Alucard: Fuck you, that's how.)    Thanks, ya fuck-mothering vampire.    Aside from hitting all the earmarks of cliche and hentai moments in the book, the OVA adds to it by adding as much fanservice as physically and mentally possible, such as the bananas, the table dresses, the bondage day-dreams, etc. If someone wanted to make a hentai porn, those already exist. This is trying too hard to be something like porn without being it.    And kind of doing it poorly.    The games of the academy also are involved in some kind of rigging, which is contrived and makes no sense whatsoever, and Chiharu is involved with the bad guy, who is also cliche and makes no sense, and the entire resolution is easily predictable. It's dull, and only served to make me angry when I watched the OVA to see what the frick it was about.    I really do regret it.    I cannot stress how much hatred and pity I have for those who read this and actually enjoy it. If you do, more power to you; but just remember something.    THEY GAVE A 10-YEAR OLD BOOBS THE SIZE OF BASKETBALLS. NUMBER 3: " Black Butler II"    Before ANYONE says anything, YES I consider the second season of "Black Butler" to be another anime entirely.   Makes separating the two much easier.   For the record, nothing is wrong with "Black Butler". The series is wonderful, the pacing is perfect, the storylines between the manga and the show differ greatly, but either way the conclusions are perfect, the artstyle and metaphoric coloring is syched, the voicing acting is awesome - shall I go on?    So, when I finish the first season and see the second one, I decide to watch it.    I really, really, REALLY wish I hadn't.    The first season was, in all definitions of the words, "a work of art". The second season too it, and decimated every last loose end that was tied up in the first season finale.    Why am I being so hard on this series?    For a couple of reasons.    First of all, the plot.    The second series picks up with a new young blond gentleman, Alois Trancy, who has recently been found by his family after a kidnapping incident. Because of his trauma, he's become a bit of a jerk and often harms others. At his side is a handsome and elegant butler, Claude, who looks eerily closer to Sebastian than I can stand. They take the mansion over, and Alois goes about his merry way to be happy, albeit in the worst of ways, by torturing his female maid Hannah and the triplet servants.    If this is starting to sound like a warped Ciel Phantomhive to you, then you are feeling the exact same thing I felt when I first watched it. Of course, the first episode delves right into these two firsthand, how Alois is a bit of a prick, (the fact he wears booty shorts), and how he is not above hurting others to get what he wants. 

   Something I don't remember Ciel ever wanting to do or exhibit.    So, in episode one, a strange man with a large suitcase comes to the door and Alois lets him in. The man is later revealed to be Sebastian Michaelis, who was searching for something. In the suitcase is Ciel Phantomhive's soulless body, and Sebastian leaves the mansion with a tea box, holding a familiar blue ring. Alois is ticked, Claude is pissed and Ciel comes back from the dead.    The reason for this is pretty much left obvious for the viewers through flashbacks: in the first series finale, Sebastian was about to take Ciel's soul, when a contrived demon spider, Claude, swiped his delectable soul away from the raven demon. Sebastian, reasonably ticked off, went after him and gave him his soul back, but now Ciel's memories of the previous season are gone, he has lost his revenge sought, and doesn't remember how he helped to save London.    There's a reason I hate this anime.    Claude stealing Ciel's soul and him having amnesia are just more contrivances that serve nothing more than to force the plot of there being another demon-master team for Sebastian and Ciel to go up against. Rather than build up to something in the previous season, everything in this one is left readily explained, and it just hurts to see how everything goes swiftly to dog poop.     The second reason, the behavior of Claude and Alois Trancy. I've seen several worst anime character lists over the web, and Alois Trancy often dominates because of his smarmy attitude, his devastating contrasts to Ciel and how he harms others and begs to be saved by Claude at every instant notion of danger. 

   And, I can see why. Alois was, without a doubt, raised in a hellish environment, and all he had to look forward to was his 'brother', who is actually a saving grace for the anime and the blond. However, the severe deaths and mass village murders that took place because of his brother's pact with Hannah the Demon just wrecked everything for him.    If the writers wanted to make Alois more relatable, like Ciel, then more emotional touching could have been done. Instead, Alois is often shown not regretting his actions, causing trouble and damage at every beck and call, and like in one episode, begs for help from Claude. I can tell he's supposed to be a contrast to Ciel, but it's too far.    Especially when you count in how he also has three servants and Claude.    As for Claude, he's not off the hook either. His mannerisms are more unique than Sebastian, but aside from that, he's the same dandy as Sebastian. All he does differently is be more cold-hearted and go back on his bargain made with Sebastian in the second episode. And to explain that in further detail, he and Sebastian ended up making a blood pact using roses and their own blood to see who would get Ciel Phantomhive's soul: a who would win kind of scenario with a yaoi prize going to the winner. Claude was the one who suggested it, and he was the jerk who broke it. Sebastian even pointed this OUT, and still, Claude wanted Ciel's soul.    Not . . . to mention when Ciel and Alois' souls combined, he acted a bit . . . creepy around Ciel. (Dude kisses his leg . . . pedophilia there.)    Three, the introduction of Hannah and her role in the story. Hannah is literally the Deus-ex-machina in this story, and I will not lie when I say I genuinely believe it. The maid, Hannah, later in the episodes, is revealed to be a demoness, (whom Sebastian never noticed before, even when Clyde used her as a sword sheath), and was never brought into full use as a demoness and user of magic until the final three episodes. She is given a very cliche and bland personality at first, which gives way to how she was putting on a facade to get close to Alois, because she felt what his brother felt when he made the pact with her.    As much as I feel Hannah is a saving grace of the anime, I have to ding some points off because of how she exposites her role in Alois' past to him, in Ciel's body no less, and ends up performing a final act, that should not be possible, until she dies with Clyde and Alois. She could have been a better part of the story if she was given more of a stronger personality when Alois was being cruel, without going too sappy.    Not much else about her makes me want to hate her as much as hug her. She does has a reason to be near Alois, she does care about him unlike Clyde, and does win him over in the end. But in all cases, she was a little bit of a good thing in a large bad thing.    And as for the fourth reason, the flipping ending of the second series.    Oh . . . MY GOD . . .    Here's what happens as a recap, and stay with me here. 

   Ciel and Alois' souls are combined so he can be used by Claude as a last-ditch effort to win over Sebastian, and Sebastian gets reasonably ticked. Claude acts creepy, Ciel and Alois fight over Ciel's body and a maze is conjured that is fixed by Alois to let Claude win and take Ciel's soul away. Sebastian and Claude fight in the maze, Grell is there for no reason, Hannah is trying to talk to Alois who is in control, and Ciel's will takes over and changes the maze again. Alois finds out Claude lied and did want Ciel's soul, and Alois is ticked. The butlers complete the maze, and see Hannah over a passed out Ciel/Alois, and now with a new mark on him. The butlers are then escorted by Hannah to a demonic isle where they fight, and Alois' final contract with Hannah is revealed: he decided if Ciel's soul was so valuable, then he didn't want anyone to have or love it. So he wished that Ciel was a demon.    Ciel Phantomhive becomes a demon, and his last command to Sebastian before this happened was to follow his order and help him.    . . . The slap mark on my forehead is red.    Alois, being jealous of Ciel, wished him into a demonic being, and now Sebastian, who ended up with a happy ending in the first series, is now stuck with Ciel for all eternity. And as a bonus punishment, Ciel is immortal and has to retreat with Sebastian to the demon world and never return.    I was so angry when I watched this episode that I threw my phone across the room in a rage. Thank god for the Otterbox, or else it surely would have broken.    There are several problems I have here with this ending, one of the most obvious being how Hannah could get Alois to get another contract in when he was already in one with Clyde, and how Ciel's body could handle THREE contract pressures at once and not feel any kind of soul degeneration, or something by then. But no, the largest problem is how and why the writers turned Ciel into a demon.    The point of 'Black Butler" was to become associated with the concept of revenge and learn that it is not often what others are searching for. It's to be accepted that people will do bad things, and often get away with it. It doesn't mean taking revenge is the best option. While it is fulfilling, oftentimes it's not.    Here, the concept of revenge is taken to the extreme with Alois turning Ciel into a demon because he was jealous. There's nothing in the lines of retribution here, aside from the fact he sacrificed his life to save Ciel's and Sebastian's. All that he did he did for petty jealousy. Ciel never did anything wrong in this series, so it was as if Alois was the torturer and Ciel was the poor dude strung along on the wall. The revenge within this series was also manipulated and forced between Ciel and Alois, compared to how Ciel had to sleuth out who to kill in the first series.    Forced elements are never good. They always end badly.    And this series is just proof of it.    Having Hannah use her power to turn Ciel into a demon is also a stretch, as it is never implied she could do something like that before. I blame it more on the writers going "This is a good idea' and inserting it into the anime for kicks.    . . . or to create a 'hint-hint-yaoi-hint-hint' product to establish a new fanbase.    BUT, that just about sums up this one: contrived, bad characters, and ruining the first season of what made it good.    And now I will put on a helmet . . . because the second one is going to make SO many people angry at me . . . NUMBER 2: " Sword Art Online"        I can feel the fury from much hate-mail coming my direction, but let me explain my piece before someone goes all out and eats my liver.    I like sci-fi tech stories in anime. .Hack//Sign is one of my favorite anime, and it still stays as one of the better examples of video games in anime, next to "No Game No Life" and "Log Horizon". It takes gaming into another level and gives you a video game world you want to participate in, and characters you want to root for.    Yet this anime is where I draw the line when it comes to intense immersion. Aside from the stunning artwork and the stellar designs of the characters and worlds, I don't know much else I can commend about this anime, aside from the fact that it was also a fanfiction that became a thing.    (Remind you of anything?)    Now, back to what I was saying.        SAO follows a boy, Kazuto Kirigata, or as he goes in the game(s) "Kirito". In the first arc of the anime and stories, he gets stuck in a game called "Sword Art Online", along with about a thousand other players. The mastermind behind it, one of the creators of the game, got them stuck there, and to leave, the players have to reach level 100 of the entire game and defeat him. And they can’t be forcefully removed from the game system due to it being hooked to their nervous system.     Sure, it's a good idea, and sure I thought it was okay, but a part of me instantly disliked this idea because the same instance occurred in '.Hack//Sign', except the main character was the only one stuck in the game, it was psychological aspects with less action and the main character was a male avatar with a female body in the real world.    I just thought it was a rip-off of the series, and when I decided to watch the rest . . . I had to nope out.     About two to three episodes into the series, the players of SAO start to think the beta-testers for the game are beating everyone else easily because they know the mechanics and grinding points. So they try to force beta-testers to help them get information about the game and everything that entails it. And of course, no good comes from it because someone has to be the sacrificial lamb. This also spawns the term “beaters”, beta-testers who are ‘cheating’ in the game because of their foreknowledge.

   Kirito then gets the idea that since he was a beta-tester for the game, and knows the details of the game and knows everyone hates his ass now, he can beat the game himself. So, he gives a shortwinded diatribe about being “The Guy” and goes it alone. This is given the fact he also seems to have no motivational aspects for this, nor does he TRY to reach out to other members of the SAO player communities that are stuck in the game, but the other players treat him and other beta-testers of the game as jackwagons.    Beta-testers of games are beta-testers for a reason; they OK a game and game-play for little to no money, or much, and most of the time are good gamers.    And the nicest people. I should know; I know a dude who beta-tested Destiny.    Here, they're treated like jack-wagons, and Kirito just enforces the whole idea by acting like a jackwagon and walking away from other players to continue the game because why not.    Aside from that, Kirito's personality is one of disinterest and expressionless pity. He wants to get out, but he continues alone until he meets Asuna, who for all intents and purposes, is the BEST character in Part I. Their relationship is easily one of the better things in this anime, albeit ham-fisted and later turned to sludge in the second and third parts, but still.    Seeing them happy was a GOOD thing midway through this anime of darkness. It did give Kirito and Asuna something to fight for, but it never really fleshed either of them out for me. Skewer me later, I have a LOT more to point out.    AS the show progresses, the plot becomes more and more linear, it never forks, Asuna is later RAPED IN THE SECOND PART, IN GRAPHIC DETAIL, and Kirito's flat sister comes into play as well. My disinterest in the characters and hatred of the second villain of the anime was enough to make me switch to something else.    I'll be finishing this anime up for a full in-depth analysis later, but for now, I'll go ahead and say my piece here and leave it at that.    I know people like this anime, and it makes me happy to see they like something collectively. I may not like it, like how I may not like One Piece as much as I used to, but for people to come together about an anime is okay.    It's just I don't like this anime, and I don't mind others liking it.      The pacing of the story measures out for almost an eternity, Kirito's ambitions and goals and behaviors are never really justified, the second part's villain made NO flipping sense, Asuna was degraded as a character and as an archetype, Kirito is in desperate need of development, reasons are needed for how they can be so OP in many parts, and I want some more answers on how his sister came into the picture.    And . . . for the love of god . . . I want a redo on this anime's second half.    . . . and I think most people do as well.    . . . I don't think I can continue this part until I can get the FINAL and WORST anime I have ever seen out of my system.    And believe me when I say . . . it's BAD. NUMBER 1: " Pupa"    This anime.    This . . . anime . . .    I found this anime after scrolling around on Crunchyroll for something to watch in the Summer of 2014. I was interested in the genre and cover of the anime and decided to give it a try.    . . . I want to erase it from my brain.    Utsutsu Hasegawa and his little sister, Yume, are exposed to a rare and monstrous virus called 'Pupa'. Yume becomes a vicious man-eating monster, while Utsutsu gains regenerative powers. They are then approached, almost as if by magic, by a researcher who wants to contain Yume and Utsutsu and use them as guinea pigs for research. Utsutsu allows it, saying he'll do anything for his sister, and decides to become his sister's food source so she can assume a normal life.    While the concept is golden and has the potential for deeper symbolic meaning, like how it used the teddy bears as the shattering of Yume's humanity and innocence, and how Utsutsu's relationship with his sister was put to the ultimate test, it becomes . . . hard to watch. In more ways than one.

   The anime episodes are 4 minutes long each, leaving the entire series at a binge-able time of 1 hour. There’s not much to do with that much time, and it can’t be a fast-paced comedy like Hetalia. It’s a horror series. Horror series need to work quickly but have context and depth, or else the deeper meaning is lost. Since this is also animation, it means the drawings and backgrounds need to be visually appealing or eyecatching so the viewer can keep watching without problem. 

   Artistically speaking, the characters are well designed, but in animation terms, their movements are as bad as an early Studio Deen production. 

   And that’s where the praise ends. 

   There is an episode of the anime, each being five minutes long, of Yume just eating her brother, and saying "Utsutsu" over, and over, AND OVER again . . .    If you get the idea of where I am going with this, then you know exactly WHY I do not like this anime.    The concept itself is the driving force for the anime, and after that, NOTHING HAPPENS. Yume is kidnapped and experimented on, like Utsutsu, but he saves her and still decides to be her food source. She feeds on him, they love each other, they live normal lives, yadda yadda.    Nothing. Conventional. Or concrete. Happens.    Characters are introduced, but they come and go and are never touched on again unless the plot calls for them to make an appearance. Utsutsu and Yume's mother is cold and sees Yume as a monster, which may or may not be her delusions given how she was also abused by the kids' father, who is ALSO never developed outside of being a wife-beater, and both are who I consider to be the worst parents of all time.    Yume and Utsutsu, for all purposes of the anime, are the most developed and touched on characters. But, they never do much outside of adapting to their own hellish nightmare. Never do they ask Maria the scientist for a cure, never do they try to escape or move along with their lives.    They just get stuck in their nightmare, forever to be mad.    I hate it when animes like this come around. It introduces an interesting scenario, only to forget plot and context in favor of showing more and more grotesque imagery and disturbing content. I know it's rated M, but in all honesty, the incest insinuations and the fact that no one helps these kids out of this problem is enough to make me mad.    I will say it has beautiful designs. 

   I will say it had an interesting idea.    I will not say it's a good anime.    And, now you know why.    Well, there you have it. Those are the top ten anime I personally dislike, and in a few cases, hate to the core. But, just because I hate these anime doesn't mean that others can't enjoy them.    That's the power of the internet and personal opinion.    Now . . . I'm gonna go back to writing MLP reviews . . . I've been getting rusty, and I feel like I'm gonna get so much flack for these . . .

[cedricthedork]

Does Sofia have too much on her plate and is she putting too much pressure on herself ?

I apologise in advice for this post being so long. I tried to make it as short as possible while still getting my points across but this was the best I could do. On with the post :)

I think a common complaint about the show is that Sofia has been given too much responsibility for someone of her age. If she was older I don’t think fans would complain so much but because she’s the age that she is , people consider this a little bit too much for a kid to handle all at once.

Between the ages of 8 to 11 , her three main occupations have been her being a Princess , a story keeper and a Protector. 

Other occupations she has had are her being a buttercup scout , a member of a the Merry band of helping hands , a flying derby racer for Royal Prep , Cedric’s apprentice and a member of the princess adventure club. 

All these occupations fit Sofia’s character quite well but because of her role as a princess, a story keeper and a protector, it’s surprising how Sofia is able to do all these things without feeling burned out or frustrated with all that she has to do. She has however put a lot of pressure on herself to be the best that she can be and has kept her role as a story keeper and a protector a secret. This is what I want to talk about :)

I believe the reason why Sofia has kept these two occupations a secret is because she has put too much pressure upon herself. But I also believe its because she’s being too protective.  

Protectiveness

The secret of Avalor -When Sofia is sent to Avalor by the secret library to free Elena, Amber asks Sofia why she won’t tell them the reason they need to hide. Sofia however responds back by saying “Its for your own good, trust me”. Later though , Sofia’s family end up being captured and Sofia hopes there all okay in her absence. 

Later , their all freed and Miranda tells Sofia that she should have told them what was going on. Sofia responds back with “I know, I just wanted to keep you all out of trouble”.  

This shows that Sofia just wanted to keep her family safe and out of the situation as much as possible.

Even though Sofia has kept her family out of the storybook missions before this one, I believe the events that took place in Avalor made Sofia believe even more that she shouldn’t let her family get involved.

Tale of the Eternal torch - When Sofia finds out that James was in the trunk of her carriage to the Blazing Palisades without her knowing , she was not too happy by the fact that he tagged along.

And when James says he will be a big help , Sofia doesn’t respond to this and just looks worried.

A few moment later , James and Sofia spot the sea monsters and while James is enthused by this , Sofia is more focused on how dangerous this all might be.

James - “Dragons and sea monsters , oh this is getting better by the minute.”

Sofia - “And more dangerous. I have to warn the dragons about the sea monsters”

James again offers to help but Sofia sighs and reluctantly tells him – “I guess it’s too late to take you back now”. 

The mystic isles – When Amber discovers the secret library , Sofia is pretty persistent on her going back but Amber puts her foot down and goes with Sofia to the library anyway. After the library tells them that Sofia needs to go to the Mystic isles , Amber wants to come along too but one of the reasons Sofia gives Amber not to go Is that it could be dangerous. 

Sofia obviously doesn’t like getting her family involved in storybook missions due to how dangerous they may be but even as a protector , she chooses not to tell them about the wicked nine or how she is now the protector of the ever realm because she is still being protective. Again, Sofia doesn’t want the people she cares about to get involved.

In Cedric we trust – After they all encounter shots of lighting from Prisma and Cedric risks his own safety for Sofia , Cedric asks both Roland and Sofia who that woman was but instead of confessing all that she knows about Prisma , she keeps quiet and looks happy when Roland confesses he doesn’t know who she is and leaves it at that. She then later privately speaks to the protectors without them knowing. 

Even though Sofia learned that its sometimes best to let the people you care about aware of what’s really going on so they don’t get into even more danger in the episode “The secret of Avalor”  , Sofia’s protectiveness over her family and friends is still keeping her from getting them involved in her missions.

Too much pressure upon herself

While I have no problem with any of the occupations that Sofia has had , it is a bit concerning that Sofia puts so much pressure upon herself and doesn’t let others know what she is going through. What makes things more difficult for Sofia is that her three main occupations of being a princess , a storykeeper and a Protector , have all been things that have been placed upon her.

She never wanted to be a princess but because of her sudden change of lifestyle she knew she had to try her best to adapt to this new lifestyle weather she liked it or not.

As story keeper , it was something Tilly asked her to be just like Orion asked Sofia to be a protector. That’s not to say that Sofia didn’t agree to be either of these things, but it wasn’t like they were future careers she had been longing to have. She accepted these occupations more so out of the goodness of her heart and because she wanted to help people.

But by her accepting all these reasonability’s in a short time frame, she’s only been putting more and more pressure upon herself.

Princess

When Miranda married King Roland , Sofia became a princess and there wasn’t anything she could really do about it. Once she got to the castle , Sofia didn’t feel ready to be a princess , she thought it was all too much and as time went on she felt like being a princess was really hard. The only thing Miranda could really do in the situation was advise her to just do her best and tell her that it’s not her problem if stuffy dukes and duchesses don’t think what she does is good enough. Miranda even tries to give Sofia something she’s familiar with by inviting Ruby and Jade over to cheer her up.

And even though things worked out as well as they could for Sofia by the end of the movie , its shown in the episode “Moms the word” that she still misses her old life in the village where it was just her and her mum and that in the episode “The princess test”, Sofia still sometimes felt like she wasn’t a proper princess and that she had to keep on proving that she belonged because she wasn’t born into royalty.

Sofia : “A proper princess would have done the polite thing and let you go first”

Higgins : “Oh don’t be silly , you are a proper princess”

Sofia : “Not really. At least , I don’t always feel that way”

Higgins : “Why what do you mean ?”

Sofia : “I wasn’t born a princess. And sometimes I feel like I have to keep proving I belong”

Even though season one primarily demonstrates Sofia’s need to fit in as a princess more than the other seasons, in season 3 she still states that she’s still getting used to being one , showing deep down she still needs adjusting. Which is fair enough as when Sofia first became a princess , she had a lot of changes she needed to adjust to such as moving house , becoming apart of a new family , going to a new school ,making new friends , living in a higher society and taken on the responsibilities of a princess.

But as far as I’m aware , I believe the reason Sofia felt like she didn’t belong with royalty was more so out of her own insecurities. Apart from Amber in the episode Once upon a princess where she didn’t want Sofia around for insecure reasons , no one has discriminated Sofia for being born in the village and not having royal blood.

Story keeper

When Tilly says it’s up to Sofia to save Mazzimo and help him get to Wildwing Valley , Sofia isn’t sure if she can do it. Tilly understands that being story keeper isn’t easy but tries to reassure Sofia that she can do it while stating its more about if she will do it than if she can do it.

Sofia : “I’m not sure I can do this”

Tilly :  “I know , being storybook keepr is not easy” But you can do it Sofia , or you wouldn’t be here. So the real question isn’t can you do it , its will you do it ?

Sofia thinks it over a little but ultimately decides that she will do it. Tilly however can still sense that Sofia isn’t confident in herself to do it all by herself so she decides to tag along this one time to help her get started. 

During the mission , Mazzimo and Minimus get captured by Prince Roderick and they lose Tilly’s bag. Sofia tries to find it but soon tells her self that she’s no story book keeper, making it clear to the audience that she doesn’t think she’s good enough to be one.

Sofia : “ Oh I can’t do this, I cant do any of this. I’m no story keeper”

Merida then gets summoned by the amulet to tell Sofia that she can save them herself but Sofia confesses that she’s still getting used to being a princess and that if she can’t even finish this story then there’s no chance she can finish the rest in the library.

Merida : “What you need can only be found with in you”

Sofia : “What’s that ? ”

Merida : “The belief that you can save them yourself”

Sofia : “That’s just it. I’m still getting used to being a princess, how am I supposed to finish all those stories in the library if I cant even finish this one”  

At this point in the series Sofia doubts that she’s even good enough for the job and thinks she isn’t ready to take on the responsibility. Being asked to be the story keeper might have been a bit too much for Sofia to handle at this stage in her life. Which is pretty understandable considering her age and what pressure she has already put herself through as a princess.

When Tilly became Story keeper , she was older than sixteen whereas Sofia was given the job as a child. 

It doesn’t really seem fair on Sofia that Tilly was much older than she was when starting out but at the end of the day Sofia chooses to carry on being the story keeper and decides to keep it a secret from her family.

Protector

So far Sofia has the responsibilities of being a princess and a story keeper but now that she has excepted the occupation of a protector, that’s even more responsibility that Sofia has to deal with. 

The fact that the protectors ask a 11 year old to protect the entire Ever realm is quite absurd considering their all adults and they have a number of protectors protecting the Mystic isles but if Sofia is already putting pressure on herself to be a good princess and a good story keeper , deep down Sofia is probably putting pressure on herself to be a good protector too. Being a protector is something she takes very seriously and the fact that she’s the first non-magical creature to become a protector will only fuel Sofia’s self-pressure even more.  

But why is Sofia putting all this pressure upon herself ? Well , as a character Craig describes Sofia as a striver , someone who is worried about doing a great job and someone who wonders if their good enough. 

But Sofia also tends to want to please others and to fit in. These reasons would certainly explain why she puts so much pressure on herself to be a good princess but what are the reasons behind her putting so much pressure on herself as a story keeper.

I think its because of the fact that Sofia has been led to believe that she is the only one who is capable of saving the day and that there is some unknown reason as to why the amulet has chosen her rather than anyone else.

Tilly makes out that being the story keeper is Sofia’s destiny and that because the amulet led Sofia to the library , that’s why she had been chosen.

And while Merida gave Sofia good advice , Sofia might have gotten the wrong end of the stick when Merida told her “The belief that you can save them yourself” as Sofia might have interpreted this as that she has to do it herself.  This in turn makes Sofia sing the words “I’m the one that has to save the day” after she had been motivated to carry on being the story keeper. 

Sofia believing there is an unknown reason as to why the amulet chose her to have this role is later explored In the episode the Mystic isles where she is tells Amber that she isn’t sure why the amulet chose her.

Sofia – “Somehow my amulet decided that I was to become the story keeper, now it’s my job to make sure the stories in the secret library get a happy ending.”

Amber – “So your amulet glows and leads you here to this secret library which is filled with stories that you need to finish”

Sofia – “I don’t know why , it just happened”

She then later shoots down Amber’s request to go with her by saying she’s the story book keeper and not Amber.

Sofia - “Amber you cant go with me”

Amber – “Why not”

Sofia – “Because I’m the story keeper , not you” 

This shows that Sofia has really accepted the idea that this is her destiny and that this role of hers is something that she should bear the responsibility with herself and not put on other’s.

So all in all , Sofia puts too much on her shoulders , puts too much pressure upon herself and needs to be less secretive.

I believe her role as story keeper and a protector will be relieved in the final “Forever Royal” but if there was one person that could show Sofia the error of her ways and can relate to Sofia’s ordeal the most , it would be Cedric. Hear me out :)

Before the incident Cedric felt pressure to be a great sorcerer like his father and after the incident , everyone put a lot of pressure on him to be something great. Like Sofia , Cedric has felt pressure to be the best at what he is meant to be from an early age and has put pressure on himself to prove people wrong. 

Cedric is also a tad secretive like Sofia as he didn’t express enough what he was going through emotionally and kept his intention on taking over the kingdom a secret but once all was revealed , things have been getting better and better for him thanks to Sofia’s help.

Keeping this in mind Cedric could ultimately be the one to show Sofia that its not good to put so much pressure on yourself and that it will benefit her much more if she is more honest and less secretive about what she is up too :) 

But those are just my thoughts. What do you guys think about how many roles Sofia has had or how much pressure she has been under :)

[violetlunette]

Ten Tropes/Cliches I Love

So while we all like to talk about tropes/cliches we hate, I don’t see enough lists where we talk about tropes/cliches we like, so I decided to make a list of ten Tropes/Cliches that I love in story telling. This isn’t a top ten list as these are out of order and I know that when I post this I’ll remember something I like better than these, so this is just a list of ten things I like, not top ten, but ten. Anywho, let’s begin!

Ten Tropes/Cliches I Love

Hero from a mundane world tossed into a magical one / Average Joe: Oddly enough this is my favorite trope; I love a hero from the mundane world being tossed into a world or strange oddities and whatnot. I then like to see how they react—do they excitedly embrace the magic, scared of it, determined to ignore it, etc. The issue I have is that the mundane hero is usually displayed as useless and just follows their companions around. Naturally the hero would—and should be overwhelmed, but they should have growth throughout the story and should have some skills that could be helpful, or a new way of looking at things.

Royalty / Chosen One: Everyone harps on these two, but I kinda like them—if done right. I admit they’ve been done to death, but it’s a guilty pleasure I suppose.

The idea of being someone special appeals to a lot of people and honestly I like seeing people react differently to their destiny, whatever it is. Some are like “oh hell nah!” or “YAY! I’m special—oh shit, is that blood?!” or just “WTF” and I like seeing them all.

And I like princesses. I like Queens too, but as a kid I liked princesses more because to child me princess= child ruler with power while Queen = dead parents and/or adult. Back then all princess were to me were just kid Queens who would become Queens after they were crowned and the parents were dead / unable to rule, or the whole journey was to become a queen. (Sort of a metaphor for going from a kid to an adult.)

There’s an argument princesses are anti-femenist, but I disagree. While there are a lot of mediums in the media that shows princesses as useless damsels there’s even more where the Princess is a leader who does just as much, if not more, as a hero. The only reason they’re not Queens is because a) they’re in a middle of a war so there’s no time for a coronation to officially crown them or b) a king or Queen is still alive. Sometimes they’re evil, but still they’re the rulers. Hell, if you ask me it the other royals who get a worse hand.

Think about it; Queens are dead, evil/insane, or not mentioned, kings are useless idiots, dead, or evil, and princes are just the reward who swoops in at the end and hardly even get a name. Princesses at least have a variety and are more well rounded than the rest.

Also I like pretty dresses and crowns (yes, I’m that girl. I like pretty outfits. There will be a list eventually).

Suave/charming eccentric sidekick/mentor: I just love suave, charming characters like Jack Sparrow (Pirates Of The Caribbean) and RGB (Property of Hate)—however I hesitate to make them the focus of a story due to the 4&5th of POTC (I don’t care for them). Nonetheless I like seeing these characters as a mentor and friend who helps the hero adapt to a new world. They’re fun to watch and they’re an entertaining way to show us the world and how they work.

Family plays a Role in the Story: I love stories were family members are actually apart of the story (and not just they died, or are basically back ground filler.). I mean, they don’t have to be apart of the main cast, but I like them to be apart of the story.

Sadly, story lines like this are usually put on back burner or background in favor of “romance” or large fight scenes.

OUAT did this great at first where Emma doesn’t know how to react to her parents and was even mad that they chose to send her away to play hero (even though I just thought they did that to save her, destiny be damned). I especially loved how she had to build relationship with them and how they address the tragedy of how the Charmings didn’t get to be apart of Emma’s childhood.

However, this plot got sidelined by the romance arcs in later seasons, and not just Emma’s. (Btw, is it just me or did Snow grow distant from Emma once baby Neal was born?)

I also like seeing siblings work together, step, twins, etc—except younger siblings. Stories do not treat younger siblings well. They’re usually brats, antagonists, or hostages for later.

Magical world and creatures: Not much to say about this; I love dragons, unicorns, fae, and monsters and I like seeing new magical worlds like Wonderland, Oz, Narnia, and the Harry Potter world. Our world is boring. Unless Urban fantasy is involved and even then it’s the magical creatures that make it fun.

Villains that are actually villains and know it: Everyone hates villains who are just evil for the sake of being evil, but to me I actually LOVE these villains much better than the “gray” villains. The reason being is that they’re allowed to have FUN being evil and therefore memorable. My favorite Disney villains are Maleficent, Ursula, Hook, Jafar and Dr. Falcifer. Why? Because they’re allowed to be bad. They didn’t need a tragic backstory or complicated political views, they had power and they knew it. They embraced it and allowed themselves to have fun and be flamboyant. Hell. It even made villains like Maleficent more frightening because she had so much power she wanted to use she actively sought out excuses to use it for her own entertainment, such as not getting invited to a party.

I know it’s unrealistic and can make a character feel flat, but when a story gives a baddie a backstory it spends a lot of time trying to make us feel bad for the baddie instead of enjoying them AS the baddie.

Knight in Shining Armor: Guilty pleasure. But I like the drama of the Main character being captured, but being saved by their loved ones. And I know others do too because whenever someone starts a head canon blog one of the most common questions are, “what would the Ros do if their SO was kidnapped?” So don’t try to play that, ‘it’s not empowering’ card with me!

That being said, I only like it when the scenario is done right; Like, I don’t like how Mario always has to save Peach because we’ve seen her pawn Bowser so many times and she gets kidnapped often enough where she should get the hint to A) Get better security or B) Lock Bowser up for multiple kidnappings and conquest. I mean I like Peach, but still. That being said I do find it heartwarming to see how for Mario goes to save the ones he cares about and that’s why I like this trope. I love seeing how much the hero loves the person they’re saving and the lengths they go to make sure they’re safe.

The Masquerade: I like the idea of there being a secret hidden world under our noses and seeing how the magic people hide it. There’s also the appeal of being in on the secret. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel a lot of the fun’s gone from a story when the secret’s out.

Power McGuffin: I like shiny things like necklaces, rings, etc. And magic items? Gimmie! The best example is the One Ring from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I love the lore and how it has a will of it’s own and how it manipulates minds—it’s just a ring, yet it’s also a conniving villain as well. Oh, and the power of invisibility and possibly more helps.

The Mystery/Journey plots: I like stories that ether have a mystery or a quest in them. Mysteries because of the feel they give and the pride when you solve it (unless the writer cheats), and the Quest as the journey is more about the character building and their relationships.

And those are ten (not top ten) Cliches/Tropes I like! I may do another in the future, but for now let me know your favorites tropes cliches/or what you think about this.

[mandapandamar]

Currently Untitled Poetry Smash Drabble

Context, because this is a weird AU that only I asked for: I play Dungeons and Dragons with some friends, and my DM let me make a few things happen. The first was that I based my character, an elven druid, off of Jehan. I've wanted to mess around with Jehan for a while and druid seemed like a really good choice for them: magic and nature. They also, of course, have an interest in the flute and poetry writing. Because Jehan.

The second thing was making Poetry Smash happen. In this realm, Bahorel is an elven barbarian. He's not as ostracized as other barbarians tend to be; in fact, he plays a very important role in their community.

The relationship at this point is already established!

That said, I'm extremely nervous about this, because godDAMN the Les Mis fandom is super talented but I have been persuaded so here it is!

“Where are we going, Baz?”

“You'll see.”

Two figures made their way down a familiar trail in the woods. The dirt had been tamped down over years of foot travel, beaten by explorers and locals alike. Trees lined the path on either side, extending higher than the eye could see, seemingly vanishing into the Heavens above. The lush canopy blocked out most of the light from the full moon above, and had it not been for the taller of the two holding a lantern, vision would have been impossible.

Both of these creatures were elves, members of the eladrin clan native to this area, but the similarities stopped there. One was abnormally tall for an elf, about six and a half feet tall. He was stocky, with broad shoulders and defined muscles. His skin had been bronzed by the sun and heavily tattooed with his war stories. His long brown hair was tied back in intricate braids, effectively keeping it out of his angular face. This was Bahorel. Bahorel had been chosen by the elders to be a provider and protector of the village, citing his strength, bravery--though some would call it recklessness--and his heightened fighting skills. All these things earned Bahorel the respect of his fellow villagers, and while some feared meeting him alone at night, others viewed him as a gentle giant. He could be just as warm and kind as he could be cold and savage, and what side people got to see was typically dependent on how they treated him.

One such person who got to see his gentler side was walking beside him, their hand gently intertwined with his. They were much shorter than Bahorel, only coming up to about his shoulder, and much smaller in frame. They were delicate and their skin was fair, speckled with tiny flecks of brown that looked as though the gods themselves had dipped their brushes in pigment and meticulously painted each individual dot on their skin. Their hair seemed crafted of fine strands of the purest copper and was often woven with flowers or adorned with trinkets they found in the woods. Their name was Jehan, and they were as intrepid as they were beautiful.

Jehan shared a strong bond with nature. Flowers seemed to bloom wherever they walked. Animals that were normally frightened of humanoid creatures were not alarmed in their presence. Jehan frequently attributed this to the idea that animals could sense when someone was kind and of no threat. But the reality was that Jehan was blessed with a potent magical gift, one that they often tried to down-play out of modesty.

It was this gift that landed Jehan with an incredibly important title. Each decade in their home land of Elestrisia, King Galajen selected five individuals gifted with especially strong magical abilities. Those five were given the title of either a Prince or Princess of Elestrisia, though Jehan preferred to use the term “royal.” These five royals would serve as guardians of the land, each given a special responsibility in the process. Jehan's duty was to reinforce the world, to be sturdy yet gentle, stalwart and forgiving, protective and supportive. It was a tall order, but Jehan could handle it, though they remained a bit nervous.

Jehan was set to depart for the castle the following day. They had an obligation to attend to after ten years, in which they would get to see their fellow royals again. Bahorel was insistent on Jehan meeting him in the woods the night prior, but why, Jehan had no idea.

Bahorel led Jehan through the wood to a clearing. Jehan was familiar with this spot; it was where they had met one another some four years ago, when Jehan happened across an injured Bahorel…

Bahorel's voice brought Jehan out of their thoughts. “Remember the first thing you said to me?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Yes. I told you that you were lucky I'd prepared a healing spell that morning.”

“Otherwise I'd be a goner, yeah.”

“I stand by that,” Jehan chided. “And now I have a healing spell prepared every morning, just in case.”

“See? I helped.” Bahorel smiled and wrapped his arm around Jehan's shoulders.

The pair gazed around the glade. With the thick canopy of the sequoia gone, the full moon shone brightly and illuminated their surroundings. To the right was a small stream that cut through the wood. Further back, there was a waterfall that one could hear if they were quiet enough. To the left was a small shrine that the ancients must have used; it had long since been overtaken by nature, moss clinging to its stone facade and life sprouting from its base in the form of tiny mushrooms and wild grass. In front of them, more wood extended as far as the eye could see before fading into shadow and mist. The slightest breeze made the grass in the foreground dance. It was peaceful, calm, and Jehan often came out here to write or think. Sometimes Bahorel would come along and provide...certain distractions.

“You were sitting with your feet in the water when I met you,” Bahorel reminisced.

“I was resting; it's a long walk out here and the water soothed any aches I had. My feet weren't so tough back then.”

“Ah, yes. I always forget the spirit of the forest refuses to wear shoes.”

Jehan elbowed their companion in the side lightly, earning a laugh. “Hey,” Bahorel defended, “give me a break! You have to go do important royalty stuff starting tomorrow and I'm gonna be all alone. I have to get my fix in before you go!”

Jehan chuckled. “I'll only be gone a little while.”

“I know. I'm still going to miss you.”

A blush tinted Jehan's usually pale cheeks. “Is that why you've brought me here? So I have a longer trip back home before I leave in the morning?”

“No,” Bahorel said simply, turning to face Jehan. He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled, almost nervous. Bahorel never got nervous, so why now?

“I actually brought you here because I have something important I need to give you and it can't wait. I don't want you leaving without it.”

Jehan raised a brow. “Oh? What is it?”

Bahorel let out another anxious breath. He'd been involved with Jehan for a while now and knew as well as anyone that Jehan was a true romantic. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that Jehan had planned out their perfect proposal and Bahorel didn't want to fall short of those expectations.

“We've been together for a while now, you and I. And in that time, I like to think we've made each other pretty happy, right?”

Jehan smiled. “Yes.”

“And the other day as you were braiding my hair, you were talking about how the full moon is a really auspicious time, how you had a good feeling about your trip and this moon in general. You mentioned how things are at their peak and it's a time to celebrate, a time to turn your desires into realities.”

Jehan nodded, still smiling as Bahorel took their hands. They were completely clueless as to where Bahorel was going with all of this, but hell if he wasn't fiercely passionate about the whole thing.

“And I realized something. I realized what I desire more than anything else. What I want. And that's you. All of you. Everything you are and everything you do, I want all of it. I want all of you, the good and the parts you don't like so much, every day, for forever.”

Bahorel sank to a knee, gazing up at Jehan with love in his eyes. “What do you say, Jehan? Will you marry me?”

To say Jehan teared up was an understatement. The entire time Bahorel was speaking, Jehan was blubbering. He'd never been a wordsmith; Bahorel tended to let his actions speak for him in situations such as this. And yet, he put together the most beautiful string of words Jehan had ever heard. Beautiful words that Jehan couldn't have written better if they'd tried.

“Yes. Yes, of course I'll marry you!”

They wiped their eyes as they caught sight of the ring Bahorel held out. It was delicate and pretty, a golden band with wildflowers etched into the metal. It fit perfectly on their hand, surrounded by druidic symbols and words inked into their skin. Jehan looked at it for only a split second before tugging Bahorel to his feet and pulling him into a kiss.

As they separated, Bahorel brushed a strand of copper hair from Jehan's face, his eyes fixed on the beauty of his betrothed. “I love you, Jehan.”

“I love you more, Baz.”

Bahorel grinned and scooped Jehan into his arms, carrying them off to a special spot only the two of them knew. They'd have to get up pretty early if Jehan wanted to leave for the castle on time, but deadlines be damned. Tonight was just for them.

[thetravelerwrites]

The Bargain: Genus

Rating: Teen Relationships: Female Human x Male Demon/Elf Additional Tags: Arranged Marriage, Marriage, Demons, Elves, Princes, Princesses, Monster Boyfriend, Monster Husband, Monster Lover Words: 6901

Based on “The Princes” series of shorts written by tumblr user @your-monster-romance, with her permission. Read the Original Shorts Here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Previous Chapters: Prologue, Pallidus, Viribus Following Chapters: Gale (NSFW), Fawn (NSFW), Tyria (NSFW), Epilogue

The third brother, Genus, finally meets his betrothed, Gale. Gale rejects the planned wedding outright and is determined to escape, even if she has to ask her so-called future husband for help. Please reblog and leave feedback!

All Gale remembered was getting up from the garden table to look for her sisters, who were taking their sweet time returning to her birthday luncheon, when she stumbled out into the open meadow beyond the castle’s rose garden and fell after stubbing her toe against something solid.

Looking back, she saw that she had tripped over a glittering rose, pink and transparent, that appeared to have been sculpted from crystal. She had never seen anything like it before. It was the kind of thing that would be the jewel of any dragon’s treasure hoard or in a display case of a grand art collection. It looked incredibly out of place, standing straight up out of the ground surrounded by waving grass.

Thinking to show it to her father, who had been acting rather odd lately, she took hold of the seaglass-green stem and attempted to pull it up. It was anchored pretty solidly, so she yanked and ended up snapping the stem from whatever held it beneath the earth with a soft tink!

Then, it was like a small explosion went off all around her. The grass and flowers of the meadow kicked up and swirled around her so fast, it was if she were in a hurricane. She closed her eyes and shielded her face, certain she would open them again to find her gown shredded and cuts all over her skin, but when the deafening noise finally died away, she saw no such thing. She was completely unruffled.

“It’s you!” A voice called suddenly from across the long, dark hallway in which she found herself. A young… man… scurried up to her, dropping a tall stack of enormous books in his haste. He took her hand in both of his, exclaiming, “I can’t believe your finally here! I was giving up hope you’d ever come! I’m so happy to see you!”

“Unhand me! Who are you? What are you?” Gale shouted, her heart pounding, as she wrenched her hand from the grip of the shortish, grey skinned man. If he could be called a man.

He wore spectacles, seemingly an academic type judging by the ink smudges on his hands and the smell of old books that permeated from his skin and clothing. He had on a simple, plain white shirt and natural linen trousers, with his curly black hair hanging down his back in a messy braid. He was mostly clean and pressed, but had the slightly mussed-up, unkempt look of a person not overly concerned with their appearance.

He was rather stout but not muscular, and Gale suspected this was a fellow who spent most of his time sitting down. He was, in fact, rather squishy looking. Although, judging from the enormous stack of books he had been carrying, he possessed considerable strength.

Despite somehow looking like a history professor, his body was quite animalistic in nature. In place of feet, he had cloven hooves like a goat or a deer, and his legs were double jointed and covered in soft black fur from the reverse knee joint down. He had short antlers on his head and a thin tail swinging behind him. His head was just level with Gale’s, perhaps a hair shorter, but his antlers made him appear taller.

His ears were small but pointed and twitched slightly when he smiled. He could also apparently move them backwards and forwards, sticking them out or flattening them against his head like a small creature listening for predators. The whites and irises of his eyes were solid red with small black pupils as their only distinguishing characteristic. It was an odd juxtaposition of features.

He had rushed up to Gale before she had even had the chance to open her eyes, taking her hand and shaking it vigorously, going on about how please he was to finally see her in person as though they were lifelong penpals or some such. His enthusiasm was daunting, and the strangeness of his appearance did nothing to reassure her.

“My name is Genus, my Lady,” He said, bowing. “I’m so happy you’ve come! It’s truly an honor to meet you!” He was practically jumping up and down in excitement. She backed away from him in alarm.

“Gale!”

Gale turned and saw her sister Fawn dashing up, followed by an absolute giant of a man. The giant had similar features as this short, chubby man, except the taller of the two had solid black eyes, a darker skin tone, no tail, and ram’s horns rather than antlers. He trailed after Fawn, who was maybe three-fifths his height, like a lovesick puppy.

Fawn flung herself onto Gale, crying. “I’m so happy you’re here! We missed you so much!”

“What? We? What are you talking about?” Gale asked a little hysterically. “Where is here?”

Instead of answering, Fawn took the giant by the hand and pulled. He knelt down so that she could whisper in his ear. After listening for a moment, he nodded in agreement and she smiled at him, laying a hand on his right cheek and kissing the left. Reluctantly, he slipped out of her grasp, then stood and trotted off.

“He’s going to get Tyria,” Fawn said. She glanced at Genus, who was shifting from foot to foot, with no small amount of sympathy. “We need to talk.”

After a moment or two, Tyria walked up on the arm of another impossible man, this one hauntingly thin and gaunt, with horns spiraling high out of the top of his head decorated with delicate silver chains. He was dressed very rich in green silk and emeralds at his neck and ears. His hair was long and black, and he walked with a graceful swagger. A bit haughty for Gale’s taste, but Tyria seemed quite taken with him. She fussed and picked at his tunic, and he smiled at her fondly.

The giant returned as well, reaching out for Fawn. Gale’s middle sister stepped into the safety of his embrace without hesitation, placing her hands on his chest, her eyes dewy as they looked up at him. He gazed down at her as if she were the only thing that deserved his attention.

Gale looked at both of her sisters as if they, too, had grown horns. “What is going on here? I feel like there’s a joke that everyone is in on except for me.”

“Not much of a joke, I’m afraid,” The tall, gaunt one said. His voice was quite musical. “Although I’m sure my father finds this all rather amusing. He always did have an odd sense of humor.”

“And your father is?”

“Zinzo, the Demon King.”

Gale’s head rocked back. “Uh… what exactly does the Demon King want with my sisters and me?”

Tyria and Fawn shared a look between them that made Gale very nervous.

“Now, you mustn’t get upset, Gale,” Tyria began.

“I’m already upset, Ty, just tell me what’s going on!”

Tyria took a deep breath and, with Fawn’s help, carefully explain the situation with the betrothal, trying their best to convey that the brothers were not in control of the situation and that Gale shouldn’t hold it against them.

“Are. You. Serious?” Gale said through gritted teeth as they concluded the explanation.

“I’m afraid so,” Fawn replied. “Father made the deal before he even knew he’d be having daughters, before he even married Mother. He thought, at the time, that he would never have to make good on his promise.”

“So… what? We’re literally just collateral for Suida? That’s the only reason we exist at all? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“I know it’s hard to accept, Gale,” Tyria said. “It’s not ideal in any sense. Trust me, I was plenty angry at Father when I first arrived. But it’s really not so bad here once you get used to it.”

Gale massaged her temples, trying to wrap her head around the day’s events. Genus fidgeted and watched her apprehensively, with his brothers standing at his shoulders in support. Her sisters stood on either side, creating a wall of insanity she couldn’t penetrate.

“Well,” Gale said. “It was nice to meet you all. I’m leaving.”

Her sisters and the brothers exchanged uneasy looks.

“I’m afraid you can’t leave,” Genus said woefully.

“The hell I can’t,” Gale retorted. “I don’t really care what promises my father made, I don’t recall signing any contracts. I am an adult and I want to leave.”

“No, Gale, you don’t understand,” Tyria said. “None of us can leave, not even Zinzo’s sons. There’s a protective barrier around the kingdom that prevents anyone from entering and exiting without Zinzo’s permission.”

“Then take me to the Demon King and I’ll make him release us.”

Again, Fawn and Tyria exchanged glances.

“What?” Gale fairly snarled.

“Well…” Fawn said in a small voice. “I’m not sure what Tyria wants to do, but… I don’t want to leave.”

“Why?” Gale asked venomously.

“Well…” She said again, reaching back to take the giant’s hand in hers. “Just before you arrived, I agreed to marry Viribus.”

There was a joyous exclamation between the five of them, congratulating Fawn and her massive groom-to-be as they grinned sheepishly. Gale watched them in horror.

“You can’t be serious!” Gale said. “You’re really going to marry that monster?”

Viribus flinched, and Fawn’s eyes widened in offense.

“Gale!” Tyria said reproachfully. “This is a special day for Fawn and Viri. Don’t you dare spoil it for them.”

“Oh, my gods, am I the only sane one here?!” Gale shouted. “How can you both be all right with this? It’s ludicrous! We are not commodities to be bartered! We are people! Royalty! We have rights!”

“As royalty,” Tyria said, her voice shaking a little as she went to lay her hands on Fawn and Viribus’ arms. Fawn was visibly upset and Viribus was holding her with his head hanging. “We are servants of our people. Their safety and prosperity is our primary concern. Father made this deal with his people in mind, knowing he might have to make a terrible sacrifice. His methods may have been deplorable, but above all, he did it for his people, his country. We can aspire to do no greater than that.”

A faint half smile drifted across Pallidus’s face.

Gale shook her head. “You have either lost your mind or been brainwashed. Either way, I’m not sticking around long enough for either of those things to happen to me.” She addressed the tall man standing with Tyria. “Take me to your father. This nonsense ends now.”

She left Genus and Viribus, looking stricken, and a weeping Fawn behind her, not sparing a backwards glance.

Zinzo sat at his desk in the grand sitting room, reading a message from an outer province. He smiled as Tyria, Pallidus, and Gale entered the room.

“Well, well,” He said, standing. “It’s about time. I assume Fawn and Viribus have good news, if she has come at last.”

“We shall let them make the announcements at the appropriate time,” Pallidus said.

“Wise,” Zinzo replied. He turned his attention to Gale. “Now, I assume you have questions.”

“No, I don’t,” Gale replied a little hostilely. “I understand the situation well enough.”

“Ah. Well, that’s good. Tyria here need quite a lot of explanation and assurance. So, you--”

“I’m not here to make nice. I’m here to demand our release.”

Zinzo’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh?”

“You’re holding us against our will. We’re hostages. There are laws against that sort of thing.”

“Perhaps in your kingdom. The rules are different here.”

“I don’t care what the rules are here. I’m telling you I’m not going to play your game with you. Let us leave.”

“Gale!” Tyria hissed warningly.

“No, Princess,” Zinzo said lazily. “This should be interesting.”

Gale crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the king, who looked at her with a smug grin on his face.

“Tyria told me that when you made the deal with my father, the only son you had was Pallidus, and he was but a babe in swaddling.”

“That’s so,” Zinzo said.

“So how did you know you’d have two more sons? How did you know you’d need three brides?”

Zinzo quirked his head at her. “How do you think I knew?”

Gale looked him up and down with a scowl. “I think you’re a seer, or otherwise capable of divination.”

“Very astute,” Zinzo replied, to Tyria’s shock. Pallidus looked guilty but unsurprised.

“So you tricked my father into agreeing to your deal,” Gale said.

“No,” Zinzo replied calmly. “I merely used my foresight to my advantage. It’s a common tactical strategy. Both your father and I had a problem on our hands, so we made an exchange that was mutually beneficial. He just didn’t realize I knew more than he did about the matter. That doesn’t make it a trick. If anything, it could be argued he was attempting to take advantage of me, he just couldn’t see the entire picture.”

“Even if that’s true, I still doesn’t mean I’ll agree to it, and there’s nothing you can do to change my mind.”

“Perhaps so,” Zinzo said. “But you should try anyway.”

Gale frowned and huffed. “Use your foresight. Does this ploy work out for you?”

Zinzo grinned wickedly. “Spoilers.”

Genus was waiting for them anxiously when they came out of Zinzo’s sitting room. Fawn and Viribus were absent.

“I’ll take you to your room,” He said.

“No,” Gale said coldly. “Tyria will.”

He lowered his eyes. “Very well.”

Tyria glared at Gale and put a comforting hand on Genus’s shoulder as she passed. “I’ll come to the library later,” She said to Pallidus, who nodded, putting an arm around Genus and leading him away. As if he was the one who needed assurance.

Gale stomped down the hallway with her arms folded forbiddingly over her chest. Tyria sighed in annoyance.

“You’re being quite unreasonable,” Tyria said.

“I’m being unreasonable?” Gale retorted. “Have you actually gone insane? How can you expect me to just be all right with this?”

“I don’t, Gale,” Tyria said irritatedly. “But I do expect you to be polite. Genus has seen your your every possible need. He’s a good man, if a little quiet. He loves books just as much as we do. You should let him show you the library. It’s breathtaking.”

“I would rather gouge out my own eyes,” Gale grumbled.

Tyria rolled her eyes. “Well, the least you can do is apologize to Fawn and Viribus. They’re both very upset. You ruined their announcement.”

“Sure, I’ll get right on that,” Gale replied sarcastically.

Tyria grabbed Gale by the shoulders and stopped her roughly. “That’s enough. I understand you’re angry, but that’s no reason to take it out on people who have no control over your circumstances and are trying to make the best of this situation.”

Gale shook her off. “You’re not Mother. Stop telling me what I should do and how I should feel.”

Tyria shook her head in disappointment and agitation. “This is your room,” She said, motioning to a door with constellations carved into it. “It’s next to Fawn’s, and mine is the next door down. Maybe you should spend some time alone and think about things.”

“It’s not going to change my mind,” Gale said stubbornly. “I’m going to get out of here. It’s only a matter of time. And if I have to leave without you, I will.”

Tyria’s jaw worked in frustration. She opened her mouth to vent at Gale, thought the better of it, and said instead: “Dinner is in an hour. You will be there.”

She turned on her heel and walked away.

During dinner, Gale refused to sit with Genus, instead sitting in the seat next to Tyria ordinarily reserved for Pallidus. Tyria huffed in aggravation, but assured Pallidus it would only be for the evening.

“We’ll see about that,” Gale said obstinately. Tyria growled and didn’t speak to Gale for the remainder of the meal.

After the main course had been served, Viribus and Fawn stood, announcing their engagement to the delight of everyone in the room. The best wine in the castle was cracked open and a celebration was conducted. Gale sat in silence, refusing to participate. The table collectively ignored her.

That evening, she went to her room without speaking to anyone and plopped down on her new bed, groaning in frustration. What was wrong with the people here? What was wrong with her sisters? Was it something in the water?

She stared at the ceiling, her gaze unfocused on the mural of the night sky meticulously painted above her. Her thoughts chased themselves round and round, consuming her to the point where it took her several seconds to see the hidden wonder of the mural. Furrowing her brow, she peered at the ceiling through narrowed eyes.

“How did they pull this off?” She breathed in astonishment. After examining the mural closely for what felt like hours, she fell into an uneasy sleep, determined to asked about it in the morning.

She woke late the next morning, nearly missing breakfast. She refrained from speaking during the meal, resolving to seek out the person who made the mural and ask them directly.

After eating, her sisters and the princes disappeared, leaving her to wander on her own. Eventually, she made her way to the library. She had no idea where it was, but she always seemed to feel a pull toward any large collection of books in any place. She just naturally gravitated to spaces of learning and wisdom.

Once there, she reached out and grasped the handle, but before she could turn it, she heard her sisters talking with Genus and the other men behind the closed door. She leaned against the door and listened to the voices within.

“She hates me!” Genus cried, his voice muffled as though his head were in his hands.

“That’s not true, Gene,” Tyria said. “She doesn’t know you yet. She scared and confused and angry. I know how she feels. It’s exactly how I felt when I first got here. You were the one to finally change my mind and got me to talk to Pallidus. Remember that?”

Genus didn’t answer.

“Don’t worry, brother,” Fawn said. “Just give her time. She’s a willful girl, she always has been. You know that.”

Genus sighed. “Yes, I know. It’s one of the things I like about her. She’s never been afraid to speak her mind. I’ve always envied that.”

Fawn scoffed. “It’s not so much that she isn’t afraid as it is she doesn’t know when to keep her trap shut.”

She was clearly still angry at Gale. Gale felt a twinge of guilt, but not enough to convince her to apologize. She stood by what she said. For Fawn to marry that hulking giant was just absurd, as absurd as it was for Tyria to marry that prissy dandy, or for her to marry that short, excitable bookworm.

Gale heard the rumble of the large man muttering, possibly comforting Fawn, but she couldn’t make out his words. There was a lull in the conversation, during which Gale knocked on the door. It opened, revealing Genus’s pale, surprised face.

“Oh!” He exclaimed. “I… I didn’t expect to see you. Please come in. You don’t need to knock, you know. It’s a public library. Anyone in the palace is permitted to use it.”

“Then you should keep the door open,” Gale said.

Genus blushed and flung the door wide. “Would you like to come in?”

“No, I had a question.” Gale could see his brothers and her sisters looking at the pair of them with matching hopeful expressions. She scowled at them.

“The mural of a star map that’s painted above my bed. The constellations, they’re correct down to the spacing. How did you do that? Who painted it?”

“Oh, Viribus did,” Genus said, motioning back at the giant, who smiled tentatively. “He’s a very talented artist, even though he’d never admit it. I mapped it out for him, though.”

“How did you manage that if you’ve never seen the night sky for yourself?” Gale asked.

“I have star charts.” He pointed at the desk. “They’re a few centuries old, but they worked well enough.”

“A star chart from three hundred years ago would be different than the current sky map,” Gale said skeptically.

“Yes, that’s true,” He said. “I used grafts and calculations to determine how much they would have shifted and based the resulting positions on my equations. I’m pleased to learn my math was correct.”

“That’s… impressive.” Gale had to admit, it was. “And labor intensive. It must have taken weeks to plot it out correctly. Not to mention the patience involved in mapping it out above your head. Why did you go to so much trouble?”

“For you,” Genus said simply. “I wanted to do something nice for you. I know you love astronomy and have your own observatory at home. I regret that I cannot give you an observatory, so I did the closest thing I could think of. Did you like it?”

It was Gale’s turn to blush. “I… yes, it’s very lovely. And factual, which is the important thing.”

Genus laughed, a gentle, boyish sound. “I thought you’d approve. Viribus wanted to take artistic license with it, make it a bit grander, but I figured you would appreciate the accuracy.”

“You were right,” Gale said begrudgingly. “Are you interested in astronomy, as well?”

“Oh, extremely. I’ve always wanted to see the sky. It’s my dearest wish.”

“So why don’t you just go out?” Gale asked bluntly.

“I can’t leave,” Genus said, shaking his head. “Father would never permit it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s dangerous for us on the surface world. He worries for our safety.”

“But if you--”

“Gale,” Tyria said sharply. “Let it go.”

Gale scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. I just wanted to ask about the mural.” She turned on her heel and stormed off.

“Wait!” She heard Genus called. She didn’t stop walking but she did slow down enough to allow him to catch up with her, his hooves clacking noisily against the dark marble floor.

“I nearly forgot,” Genus said, reaching into his satchel and retrieving a wrapped gift. “Happy birthday.”

Gale, surprised, took it hesitantly, carefully tugging the item inside from it’s paper wrapping. It was a book on elvish astronomy.

“Elves have different constellations that humans, did you know? This book has a list of them as well as how to identify them and the elvish names for the stars in each one.”

“Wow,” Gale said. “I always assumed the constellations were universal.”

Genus laughed. “Yes. Humans tend to do that.”

Gale looked up at Genus’s smiling face and was struck by how… genuine he seemed, despite his odd appearance. Like it had never once occurred to him to tell a lie in all his life. He had a childlike openness about his demeanor that, she hated to admit, was intriguing. His default state of being was curiosity.

“Thanks,” Gale said. “For the book. It’s nice.”

Genus grinned and bowed. “Well, I’ll leave you be for now. I know this is hard for you; I don’t want to make you feel any more trapped than you already do.” He turned to go back to the library, calling over his shoulder, “But please, should you need anything, don’t hesitate to send for me. I’d be happy to assist you.”

“Thank you,” She replied. He waved a hand and disappeared back into the library.

“She liked the book! She actually talked to me!” He told the others excitedly. The purity of the happiness in his voice made her blush return. All right. So maybe her sisters weren’t as crazy as she first thought.

It didn’t matter. Having nice jailers didn’t make this place any less of a prison. She was still determined to escape.

Gale spent every waking moment over the next couple of weeks in the library, pouring over books about the Demon Kingdom of Cavernae. As it’s name would suggest, the vast majority of it existed in caverns and caves deep beneath the earth and that only a tiny portion of it was present on the surface. Gale had often wondered why, in the entire history of the Cavernae Empire, the reigning monarch had never tried to conquer another kingdom, but reading the history of the Demons, Gale realized it was because they didn’t need to.

Cavernae was everywhere. It spanned the whole continent, underneath the feet of all the kingdoms and countries. It was a few hundred feet at it’s shallowest, and over seven miles down at it’s deepest. It never ended. Gale didn’t know how to feel about the fact that there was a kingdom full of people underneath her own all this time that she never knew about.

Genus was often in the library with her. At first, he merely smiled when he saw Gale and left her alone, unless she asked him to help her, which he was happy to do. He found her books on any subject she could think of, seemingly pleased that she had taken interest his home. He proved to be a treasure trove of useful information about it and more often then not, she turned to him with her questions rather than a book.

She had been careful, asking pointedly vague questions in hopes of gleaning the information she needed to make her escape without arousing suspicion. He didn’t seem to notice, prattling on willingly about the barrier, where the portals were, where they currently were in relation to your castle in Suida. Gale were surprised to learn that the palace was actually straddling the line between Suida and Gale’s grandfather’s empire.

Finally, he gave Gale the information she was after. There was a portal in the palace. He told her that Viribus used it to bring materials from the outside world, and that it only opened at certain times, during the full moon and the new moon. Those were the only days Viribus was permitted to go out, and even then, he was to be no longer than thirty minutes. It was unguarded because it didn’t need to be; everyone in Cavernae knew the risks when it came to the outside world, and none of them were willing to risk their safety or the Demon King’s ire.

But Gale wasn’t a demon, and she wasn’t answerable to Zinzo.

She waited for the perfect moment. She couldn’t go when Viribus did; he’d catch her and bring her back. She learned he sometimes did errand running for the palace because of his immense size. Fawn would often accompany him to the markets outside of the palace. She was apparently beloved by the people there, and they delighted in seeing her out, so their visits were often, sometimes bringing Tyria and Pallidus with them. The only time Viribus missing his outing to the surface world was on days when he had been to the markets with Fawn.

Gale began to subtly plant the idea of going to the surface with Genus in his mind so that he could see the stars. She tried her best to insist that it would he for his benefit, not hers. At first, he was complete opposed to the idea, not wanting to anger his father, but also concerned about what could happen to him up there.

After a few months of incessant hounding, he began to soften. When he finally agreed, she did your best to hide your triumphant smile.

The next full moon, Viribus and Fawn had been out at the markets all day and were exhausted, going to bed right after dinner. This it it, Gale thought. This is my chance.

That night, she had talked Genus into meeting her in the library and he would lead her to the portal room. She decided not to take anything with her for fear that Genus would become suspicious, but her eyes fell on the book Genus had given her for her birthday and found she couldn’t leave it. She tucked it into her dress, trying her best to conceal it, and ran to the library.

“I don’t feel good about this,” Genus whispered, trying his best to move quietly, though his hooves made that impossible. It was very early in the morning, though, so most everyone in the palace was sleeping.

“Don’t worry,” Gale said reassuringly. “We’ll just pop our heads out and come right back.”

“But we don’t know where the portal will empty out,” he said a little desperately. “What if we stumble into some poor fellow’s garden? We’ll give him a fright.”

“It’s the middle of the night, Gene, any sensible person would be sleeping,” Gale replied.

“The implication being that we aren’t sensible?”

She grinned at him cheekily as they hurried down the corridor. She stopped in front of the large door. There was a strange looking lock on it.

“You won’t be able to open it,” He said, putting one of his fingers over his razor sharp canines and biting down. Blood immediately welled from it. “This lock only responds to the blood of the royal family.”

He dripped a drop or two of blood into a tiny reservoir at the lock’s base, and the filaments that extended out of it to hold the door shut retracted. He pulled the handle, and the door swing open.

There up on a dais, was a glittering doorway formed of branches and vines, similar in color to the rose bushes in the underground garden. In the middle was a bright, swirling light, and beyond was a forest.

“Come on!” She urged him, grabbing his hand. He groaned in reluctance, but allowed himself to be pulled forward. Standing before the portal, he hesitated, and Gale found herself unable to shift him.

“What’s wrong?”

He stared into the portal at the forest outside. “I’ve never been surface side before. I’m… nervous. We really shouldn’t be doing this.”

“When are you going to get another chance, Genus? Come on, we’ll just go in and out. Ten minutes, I promise.”

He grimaced at her and swallowed.

Gale took his hand again. “Come on, Gene. You know you want to see the stars.”

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, knocking his spectacles askance. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

Her grin widened and she started forward into the barrier. This time, he stepped forward with her. When he opened his eyes again, they had passed through and were standing in the forest they had seen reflected in the portal.

He opened his eyes and stared around them at the tall trees. “I’ve never seen real trees before! They’re everywhere!”

“It gets better,” Gale promised. “Ready to see the sky?”

For the first time that day, he forgot his misgivings and grinned at her in excitement.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Gale took his hand and led him to where she saw the trees begin to thin out, and with a few seconds, they were standing in an open meadow, flowers everywhere in the ankle-high grass. He stared down at them all with a joyful expression.

“There are so many!” He said happily.

“Genus,” Gale said, laughing. “Look up.”

He did, and the smile faded into wide-eyed, open-mouthed wonder.

They couldn’t have picked a better night for this. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the stars shone as bright and clear as if they were fireflies in a jar, winking and glittering above them. The dark blues and purples swirled overhead, painting a picture more beautiful than any mortal hand could produce.

“Gods below,” He breathed. “The books do them no justice.” He reached up, hand spread, as if to touch them. “What miracles. What treasures.”

Gale watched him, a soft smile on her face. His open awe was more than a little endearing in a painfully naive way. It almost hurt to look directly at him, so she turned away to stare down at the horizon and froze in shock.

There, just beyond the meadow, was a castle. She recognized the spires, the towers, the observatory on the roof. The rose garden. Tyria’s rose garden.

This was Gale’s castle. She was home.

Her heart began to beat as if trying to propel itself out her her chest. She turned to look at Genus, who was still captivated by the night sky and not paying attention. She could run now. She doubted he’d be able to catch her, not on this terrain.

Just as she had turned slowly and lifted her foot to sprint, she heard Genus say, “They’re disappearing.”

She turned back to look, and he had a frown on his face.

“What’s happening?” He asked in confusion, looking around you. His gaze focused on the crest of a nearby hill and he stopped, his eyes widening with apprehension. “Oh.”

She followed his gaze and saw that the sky on the horizon was turning blue and brightening. Dawn was coming.

He began to back away toward the safety of the woods. “I shouldn’t stay out. The sun is dangerous.”

“Maybe not,” She said, grabbing his arm to keep him from retreating. “You’re half elf, aren’t you? Fawn said it might be possible that you didn’t inherit the sun allergy, like other demons have. You could be perfectly safe out here.”

“But…” He said, still trying to pull away, though Gale held him fast. “But I… Father said…”

“Don’t you want to see the sunrise?” Gale insisted.

“Of course I do,” Genus whined. “But…”

“Stay,” Gale said. “Stay and see. Isn’t a couple of little blisters worth a once in a lifetime experience?”

He grimaced, his eyes darting to the horizon, where the sky was progressively getting brighter, and back to Gale's face several times. “Gale… I don’t know about this…”

“Look,” Gale said, taking his hands in hers and pulling him close. “I won’t force you to stay if you’re determined to go back, but you know as well as I that this may be the only chance you have of seeing this. Do you really want to pass it up?”

His brow furrowed and he looked back and forth between the sky and her eyes.

“You’ll stay with me?” He asked.

“Yes, I will.” She said, surprising herself by realizing she was actually being sincere.

“You promise?”

“Of course. Do you trust me?”

He narrowed his eyes at her but responded with a slow, “Yes.”

She squeezed his hands reassuringly. “Then trust me.”

He puffed an explosive breath out through his pursed lips and nodded. Looking once more at the crest of the hill, where a golden light was beginning to form, he faced her and closed his eyes, waiting.

In a few moments, the sun began to break over the hill, sending light and shadows across the sleepy meadow and over the two of them. Gale paid close attention to Genus’s skin, looking for any sign of puckering or burning. When the sun was a quarter of the way up, she realized he was indeed immune.

Smiling, she squeezed his hands again.

“Genus, open your eyes. It’s safe.”

He did, looking in the direction of the sunlight, and inhaled a long gasp. The sun had painted the sky in blues and golds and reds. The rays filtered over the trees, casting long, lazy patterns over the fields. A gentle breeze blew through the grass and flowers, making the shadows and light dance together, like birds on water. It was breathtaking, even for Gale, who had seen her fair share of lovely mornings.

“The colors,” He said reverently, staring out over the field and crouching, as if the force of the beauty he was witnessing was preventing him from standing upright.

Looking at him, staring at the sunlight with the eyes of someone brand new to the world, she felt a stab of guilt. This was such a simple pleasure, one any person who lived on the surface would be privileged to from birth, but for Genus and his brothers, a joy that was out of reach. There was nothing fair about that. No more than being abducted and forced into an arranged marriage had been.

That’s when she realized, she couldn’t leave. Genus was just as trapped as she was. She had to help him and her brothers. There must be a way to free them as well as her sisters. She would find a way.

Gale looked distantly at her home, feeling as if her heart was being pulled in two directions, and sighed deeply. “We should go. Our absence will be noticed,” She said reluctantly.

“What?” Genus said, standing back up and looking at her with a frown on his face. “But… aren’t you going home?” He motioned at the castle looming darkly in the light of the rising sun.

Gale’s heart leapt into her throat. “I… wha… What do you mean?” Gale stuttered.

Genus let out his breath in a mirthless huff. “Gods, you must really think I’m stupid, don’t you?”

She shook her head, unable to speak.

“You think I don’t know who’s castle that is? I’ve looked at it every day my whole life. I know it backwards and forwards. You think I didn’t notice it when we came out of the forest? I’m surprised you didn’t just take off running as soon as we got here.”

“Genus, I…”

“Did you think I didn’t realize what you were trying to do, asking all those questions about the portal? I knew you were trying to escape. You said you would on day one and I never believed you had just given it up. I knew you’d find a way.” He nodded his head toward the castle. “So get going.”

Gale shook her head in disbelief. “Why did you help me, if you knew?”

“Because I love you, Gale,” He said simply, as if it should have been obvious. “I’ve always loved you. I just want you to be happy. If you can’t be happy in Cavernae, then that’s not where you’re meant to be. You should go where you happiest, even if that’s not with me. And hey, I figured if I helped you, at the very least I’d get to see the stars.”

Gale’s throat tightened. She could feel tears coming to her eyes. “But your father…”

“Oh, don’t you worry about him,” Genus said, waving a hand dismissively. “I’ll talk to him. He can be reasonable at times. I’m sure he won’t like it much, but I’ll smooth it out. Don’t worry.”

“Genus,” she said, tears beginning to fall. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” He said gently, cupping her cheek with his hand and wiping the tears away with his thumb. “Just be safe. Be happy. For me.”

A stone lodged itself in her heart. She stepped close and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His arms went around her waist and squeezed, his nose buried in her hair, breathing in deeply. He was so warm, she found, and she enjoyed the feeling of his hands on her back, his thumbs rubbing softly. She loved how he smelled, like books and leather and ink. His kindness and selflessness broke her heart. She knew that doing this for her could cost him dearly. The idea of him paying any price for helping her made her ill.

Though he made no effort to step away, he said, “You should go. I have to get back to the palace. The portal will be closing soon.” His hand tangled itself in her curls.

Taking a breath, Gale replied, “You’re right. We should get back.”

He did step back at that, narrowing his eyes at her, his hands stilled on her waist and hair. “But, aren’t you going home?” he repeated.

“Yes, I am,” She said. “With you.”

He continued to frown with confusion, opening his mouth to speak but no sound came out.

Gale took his face in her hands, pulled him toward her, and kissed his lips. He immediately kissed back, as if hungry for it, his hands putting themselves on her hips and drawing her as close as possible. When she pulled away, she wasn’t the only one with tears in their eyes.

“Are you sure?” He asked her, his forehead resting on hers and his hands gliding up her back.

“Yes,” She replied. “Let’s go home.”

He gave a watery laugh of relief. Gale took his hand and led him back to the portal. He cast a wistful glance back at the brightening sky and followed.

Before stepping into it, Gale stopped short and looked back through the trees for one last glimpse of her family home, knowing she may never see it again. She bid a silent apology to her mother, father, and brother, hoping that they were all right and that they’d understand.

Genus squeezed her fingers gently, not wanting to rush her but reminding her the portal would be closing presently.

She turned back to him and smiled, laying a kiss on his cheek to make him grin, his sharp teeth flashing in the sunlight. Together, they traveled back through the veil into Cavernae. The portal sealed itself just seconds later.

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My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

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Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 28:  Eddafication

Part 27

Welcome back to FEIV! For those who have been following us all this way, you’re about to be rewarded. Last week we avenged Seliph’s dad, and this week we get to avenge his mother and save his sister (PLATONICALLY).  That’s right, the invasion of Grannvale is about to come to its inevitable conclusion with the Second Battle of Belhalla. Seliph vs. Julius, prince vs. prince, brother vs. brother (though Julius would insist we say ‘alleged brother’). Without further ado, let’s rock this!

His army’s victories are a beacon of hope to the Empire’s victims, and a wave of further rebellions sweeps across Jugdral.  First, Silesse was wrestled back from Imperial control by its citizens, and soon after Agustria’s people flocked to arms, burning to fight for their country.

(Convenient!)

But Grannvale itself yet stands.

(If you’re having trouble keeping track, and I don’t blame you, Dozel is the house of Lex, Johan, and good old dead Langbalt. Brian here is Johan’s oldest brother and the current holder of their house’s Holy Weapon, the Helswath axe.)

(Oh God, not these idiots again.  Yes, Scorpius is the son of good old uber-douche Andre, making him cousin to Patty, Faval, Lana, and Lester.)  

… and the capital. Belhalla itself is shrouded under and eerie silence,

(It says something that I’ve beaten Ishtar without any problems twice now, and yet my stomach still falls at the sight of her.  As for the Deadlords, they’re a recurring FE miniboss squad; twelve undead warriors animated to serve the cult of the week. I believe this is their first appearance. They’ll be dropping in this map to make Julius just that much more of a bastard.)

Over a year has passed since the fateful first battle in Isaach. The tragic struggle pitting kin against kin wears on, splitting the heirs of the Twelve Crusaders between the light and dark…

So begins the final holy war.

Julius: Feh. I almost feel sorry for him. All his life he was your tool, Manfroy, only to be thrown away so casually.

(I agree. Arvis was definitely a tool.)

Manfroy: All in your empire’s name, Your Majesty. Arvis was a lost cause. To think he, a man of Loptyr’s bloodline, dared to challenge the revival of your empire! The heart of the Crusader Vala burned too fiercely within him. It was only a matter of time until he turned on you.

Julius: I know, I know… now then, I hear those rebels have stumbled as far as Chalphy. Are our defenses really that pathetic?

Manfroy: Rest assured. I’ve already tasked Edda’s Bishop Rodan and Brian of Dozel with purging Chalphy of those vermin. You’ve no need to worry, Your Majesty.

Julius: Don’t I, now.  

(Julius stands strong in the absolute contempt he holds for his own minions, at least.)

Julius:  Now, where is Julia?

Manfroy: She awaits your whim in the dungeon… you there! Bring us Princess Julia!

Julius: Oho! So you do remember me! I can hardly believe seven long years have passed since you slipped away.

Julia: I… that night is seared in my memory now, as if it was only yesterday.

Julius: Fehehehe… good. I trust you remember your mother’s final kindness as well?

Julia: Who… no what are you? That night… the night Manfroy came bearing that eerie black tome… nothing was ever the same again. My brother, the kind and caring boy I loved so, died that night. In his place stood a demon of terrifying power… my brother in name only. You… you monster… you’ve taken my mother and my brother from me!  Who are you? WHAT are you?!  Why… why do you torment us all so?!

Julius: I am the heir to Loptyr’s blood, and the inheritor of his limitless power. This world rightfully belongs to me.

(Remember this moment, because it’s very, very important.)

Julius: Using Naga’s power to serve me? Interesting. Very interesting! Very well. I must return to Belhalla, Julia is yours, Manfroy. But be warned. Be extremely careful! Even a single mistake with her could cost me dearly.

Bishop Disposable: Cavalry unit, move in on Chalphy! Reclaim our land from the rebels!

Lewyn: That’s what this is. Julius is descended from Loptyrian royalty, and he’s been working to revive the dark empire. No matter what, we must stop him.

Seliph: It feels as if you know everything, Lewyn. I’m beginning to feel left out… please, what in the world are you talking about?

(Well, about ten chapters too late, but he at least finally asked.)

Lewyn: Yeah, sorry about that, Seliph. I know there’s a lot I haven’t been telling you.

(“And what I do tell you tends to be rambling and obnoxious.”)

Lewyn: I’ve spent over a decade on a journey to figure out the truth behind all this, and I’m finally onto a hidden bigger picture here.

Seliph: The bigger picture…?

Lewyn: The founder of the old Loptyr Empire, Bishop Galle, dedicated his youth to a world-exploring voyage across the sea. He desired nothing less than to drink the blood of a legendary beast. Even a single drop, he believed, would bestow upon any human limitless power.

(How… … … … evil?)

Seliph: Do… do you mean the dragonkin of old? It couldn’t be… is that not a myth?

(“I mean, dark gods and holy weapons of divinity, sure, but dragons? Let’s not get weird here, Lewyn.”)

Lewyn: I thought so too, but… when Galle returned home, he bore bizarre powers nobody else understood. With these powers, he set to work swaying youths across the land to aid his ambitions.

(Wait, he swayed them? He didn’t kill them for funsies? Because that doesn’t sound like Loptyr.)

Lewyn: Before anyone realized, he’d raised a fell legion unflinchingly loyal to his cause.

(Okay, that sounds like Loptyr.)

Seliph: Where, then, does Loptyr enter the tale?

(………… It’s so frustrating to always be twenty steps ahead of the main character in following the plot.)

Lewyn: I believe that Loptyr is the dragon Galle bonded with. All of his heirs since then have inherited the dragon’s blood, and the dark powers Loptyr’s kin command are nothing more than the dragonkin’s powers.

Seliph: And what of the Crusaders?

Lewyn: You know the legend. The gods descended upon twelve warriors of the old liberators at the fortress of Darna. But…

Seliph: But?

Lewyn: Sorry, Seliph, but this will have to wait. The enemy’s approaching.

(LEWYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYN!)

All right.  Since Lewyn couldn’t take ten more seconds to finish up the story, and since I’m gonna guess you can probably make some safe assumptions as to where this is going.  Let’s deal with the whole ‘war’ thing first. First, of course, it’s time to see who makes the cut. This is probably the hardest chapter in the game, so dead weight will not be tolerated. Anyone who disappoints me in the arena is fucking out, you guys. You get to stay in the castle with Hannibal, hiding while the awesome people solve the problems. Do not fail me.

Seliph: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Strength, +1 Speed, +1 Magic, +1 Luck, +1 Resistance

Shanan:  Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Magic, +1 Luck, +2 Defense

Oifey: Six wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +2 Luck, +1 Defense. Hmmm… not amazing, but also not bad. And when I gave you a pass last week you surprised me with quality, so hey, I’ll allow it. You can always defend a different castle if you don’t pan out.

Ulster: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Speed, +2 Defense

Larcei: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Speed, +1 Luck, +2 Defense

Lana: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +2 Skill, +2 Luck

Lester: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +2 Skill, +1 Magic

Dermott: Seven wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Luck, +1 Defense, +2 Resistance

Nanna: Seven wins, gained one level: +1 HP, +1 Luck, +1 Defense, +1 Resistance

Fee: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Skill, +2 Strength, +1 Magic, +1 Luck, +1 Defense

Ced: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +2 Skill

Arthur: Seven wins, gained three levels: +4 HP, +1 Luck, +1 Defense

Tinni: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Luck

Patty: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Magic, +1 Luck, +1 Defense, +1 Resistance

Faval: Seven wins, gained two levels: +4 HP, +2 Luck, +1 Resistance

Leif: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Speed, +1 Luck

Altena: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP.  Altena, if you didn’t already have generally great stats and a golden spear of the gods, I would drop you right now.  

Johan: Five wins, gained one level: +1 HP. Yeah, see, Johan? The difference between you and Altena is that she’s amazing and you’re just kind of okay. You’re benched, and Leif is going to put that Brave Axe to better use than you literally ever have.  

Finn: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Luck, +1 Defense

Ares: Seven wins, gained one level: +1 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Luck

Hannibal: Six wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Strength. Oh, Hannibal.  I honestly am rather shocked you did better than Johan, but I’m afraid you didn’t do better enough.  Patty and Ulster will enjoy your swords quite a bit.

Welp, those weren’t great levels in many unfortunate cases, but we’re approaching the point a lot of people can’t get good levels anymore, I guess. Let’s take a look at the map!

It’s a big one, but we’re locked out of a large chunk of it, as usual. We start off in Chalphy on the far south, and our final goal will be Belhalla to the far north; the reason the map looks different from our last assault on Belhalla is that we’re approaching it from the opposite direction.  For right now, we can only proceed east from our starting location to Edda (formerly the duchy run by our old buddy Bishop Claude). Let’s try and give it to his kids!  But before that, we start off with Loptyrian dark mages on the cliffs above us on both sides, armed with siege tomes and our old friend status effect staves. There’s two villages on the map and I think no bandits ever go for them, so no need to rush anywhere; let’s make ourselves safe above all else.  

Good start. Of the eight mages surrounding us, we killed six, severely hurting their ability to bombard us. In particular I got all the staff users, meaning it will all be nicely healable damage, and I’ve got like seven high-tier healers running at this point. End turn!

Not bad again! Fee cripples another mage on the counterattack, and Lester somehow dodges an infinite blue void. The Edda cavalry force also comes close to us, but we aren’t in anyone’s range on their end, and we are in a great position to make them regret approaching us. First step, though, is to clear out the last two mages.

… I can’t reach the last one. I’m a dumbass, I should have sent one flier to each group of mages, but I didn’t. Altena runs over in his direction to break him in half next turn, while everyone else takes their shot at the main enemy army.  

…. Shit.  Finn, what was that, exactly? *sigh* Ares, clean up his mess.

I hate you, Ares.

Okay, not great. Finn is in serious trouble here, and while I have him surrounded, I do think there’s someone who can take a shot at him.  God, if I have to reset on the second turn I will be so ticked off, Finn. I will send you to the bench and give your lance to Altena, Finn. She’s a beautiful flying death machine.

End turn.

*phew*

I always love watching someone dodge a siege tome. They’re just this huge screen-filling doom effect and the target just kind of lightly steps back, and then they miss.

Now then, time to end this before Finn can fail me again. Guys, finish off the first wave!

Larcei, if you’re going to get a completely weird unlikely stat, make it Resistance instead of Magic. You can actually use Resistance.

Still, Edda is now open to attack. Of course it has its own issues, in the form of just… just every fuckin’ mage.

God, just look at that mess. And the worst part is that every single one of those magical jerks? Has a long distance option, either a siege tome or a… ugh… sleep staff. So really, the best strategy I have is to send Ares and Seliph in to be anti-magic gods and shrug off magic whilst killing the staff guys.  Fee could go in without worrying about magic too, but those three snipers in the front row who could shoot her down like a stray duck have other ideas.  Oh, and Nanna gains a staff level to top her off at 30.

Yeah, that’s about what I expect from her. I am not sure but I suspect her strength, defense, and speed at her cap, at least. Maybe? I should look that up but I’m tired and I’d rather just end my turn and destroy the enemy.

And after that, insert about fifteen more shots of people missing Ares with siege tomes. Ares gives precisely zero shits about your Bolting, guys.  Everyone takes the shot and nobody comes close. It’s almost sad. Almost.

On my turn, I have the Horse Boys move slightly up and kill two of the snipers, with eventual intent to let Fee help their dumb horse faces out.

Seliph also got one but I wasn’t paying attention and saved over it, whoops. So one archer left to deal with next turn. I also have Cairpre start moving up, and he wakes Ulster up so he can move back. Then Lene dances her brother to send him another run forward to join in too.

End turn! Enjoy some more scenes of Ares and Seliph just rocking the shit out for awhile.

… Who even are you…?

Well, nobody threatening, anyway.  

*Insert 20 shots of horses lightly backstepping out of the way of fireballs and lightning bolts*

That was nice. Now, Seliph moves up and takes out one of the staff guys, Fee and Patty step up to clear out things for our air force, and Ares kills whats-his-name.  

…. Wait, what?

FUCK. Reset.  

Okay. This ass is way more dangerous than I remembered or gave him credit for, clearly. So let’s try the cautious approach. Lana, care to spend some of your boyfriend’s money?

See, that’s a little more what I was aiming for. Honestly, hiding a Swordmaster with Sol, Pursuit, Critical, and Adept in among everyone else? That’s just mean.  

… In other words, I feel like I’m playing Fire Emblem again!  The last few maps were just too nice, barring Julius’s crazy psycho games and Arvis being Arvis. Fun times. Cairpre runs up and grabs Patty out of horrible murder range with his Rescue staff, and: end turn!

Yeah, Ares, you better succeed here. You’re on thin ice, buddy.

At this point, the staff dudes are mostly in range, so it’s time to start moving up a little and purging them.

Be-au-ti-ful!  Though like, half of them are still alive, even if I took away some leadership stars by removing Bishop Not Paying Attention to Morals. I may regret this. *sob* End turn…

Well, that was ugly, but nobody died. Still quite a few people have taken heavy hits… shame there’s not like, a huge HP reset button that can undo it all immediately.

Hehehehehehehe.

Okee dokee!  That’s the first army down. There’s…. *sigh* there’s more armies.  This is gonna get worse before it gets better, folks, so let’s just take Edda and end-a the update. (And I’m not just cutting this short because Red Dead 2 and Hitman 2 came out back to back, why would you even say that.  … Also this wasn’t actually very short, between the six-thousand enemies and Ares getting mangled.)

*sob*

Lewyn: Oh, of course. Cairpre and Lene. They’re going to be great rulers for Edda.

(… … … Are they?)

Lewyn: And after all they’ve been through, I know that’ll bring a smile to the people’s faces.

(Well, Lene is basically a stripper, so that part is probably true.)

All right, Homeland One, liberated! Join us next week when we continue our tour of the nation with Dozel and Freege, homeland of some of Grannvale’s greatest and most beloved nobles.

Yeah, it may be best to just burn those ones down.  

See you next week!  

Total Resets: 28. And I was doing so well, damn it.

Part 29