#saw her holding a pony in that one scene and had to draw her with ponies

[beastyboo22boolyboo]

yay ponies! she looks so happy :)

[class-1b-bull]

Ayo you're back!! Awesome!! Could I perhaps ask for how each of them are when they're chronically sleep deprived? Like "I've lived off of caffeine for the past two weeks and I am currently communing with the microwave via love bites" kind of sleep deprived (and maybe what the others do to get them to fucking bed)?

Not proofread we die like men

Awase - he already casually drinks energy drinks so no one really noticed he was as tired as he was until they tried talking to him. Bro can not understand a word being said to him at any given moment. Not to mention he sounds like the dyslexic scene from the ghost stories dub. Rin or someone probably throws him onto his bed only for him to almost instantly pass out lmao.

Sen - everyone knew he was lacking sleep when the saw him poor an energy drink into black coffee and say sorry to a wall for walking into it. He eventually falls asleep on the common areas couch and his classmates just leave him there undisturbed. (Monoma did draw on his face with a sharpie thought)

Kamakiri - it takes so long for people to find out hes lacking sleep. Him cussing at objects and drinking 12 black coffees in five minutes or less is considered normal for some reason. They only realize hes desperately needs rest when he doesn't immediately try to fight tetsu when he asks to train his quirk. He probably just ends up falling asleep on his own since he dosent let his classmates in his room anyways.

Kuroiro - bro is always sleep deprived so nothings new. He goes on average 2-3 days without sleep. So him walking into class with a bag full of energy drinks and a large black coffee extra espresso in hand no ones really surprised.

Kendo - shes pretty good at keeping a good sleep schedule but because of that kendo losing only a few hours of sleep can really mess with her head. So a full all nighter has her seeing stars and stuff. Everyone can instantly tell shes exhausted and all it takes is for someone to ask her to go take a nap and she does just that no problem.

Kodai - when shes sleep deprived she actually becomes more talkative but shes yawning in the middle of every sentence and constantly losing her train of thought (not to mention she poured an entire pot of coffee onto the floor before realizing she missed her cup completely.) Komori or kendo probably takes her to bed lmao

Komori - shes a very loving person so when shes sleep deprived its probably because she struggles sleeping without someone near her. Shes probably used to sleepovers with the other girls (mostly pony and setsuna) so once the girls see komori bite into a piece of tree bark she found on the ground they decided to hold a small sleepover to help her out.

Shiozaki - its really hard for her to become tired much less sleep deprived since she can absorb a little energy from the sun with her vine hair (at least thats what the wiki said) but since shes used to the sun giving her a little boost she quickly becomes tired during long periods of clouds and rain with little sunlight. She starts to doze off while standing and kendo has had to carry her to her room more than once during this.

Shishida - once he starts getting tired he takes less care of his hair(fur?) And it quickly starts getting tangled and matted. He unintentionally starts sounding like an old man thats fought both world wars. Idk its just his tired tone of voice lmao. He probably doesn't drink energy drinks so when hes sleep deprived there isnt a moment where there isnt a black coffee in his hand. He probably ends up falling asleep sitting up in a chair.

Shoda - if hes lacking too much sleep and the coffee and energy drinks arnt helping anymore he will simply fall asleep at his desk for a few minutes at a time or in the common area. If hes that sleep deprived he will catch up on sleep through little naps throughout the day instead of just going to bed normally. (Which arguably makes his sleep deprivation worse)

Pony - when shes sleep deprived she dosent bother with brushing her hair in the mornings or things like that so as she gets less and less sleep she looks more and more like a zombie. She probably is a lot like komori and needs one of the girls to help her sleep a bit.

Tsubaraba - hes always sleep deprived. It gives charachter. He'll go for days without sleep and not even notice until one of his classmates point out how hes taking to his own shadow. Rin and awase got him to go to bed. (It took welding him down but if it works it works)

Tetsutetsu - not getting proper sleep isnt manly in his opinion, so he tries his best to take good care of his sleep schedule. So on the rare times where he is lacking sleep hes not sure what to do. He ends up falling asleep in class and staying asleep until schools over pretty much. Other than being really tired and barely being able to form a coherent sentence hes not as bad sleep deprived as ya think.

Tokage - she will say absolutely anything and everything she thinks of when shes tired and she will be immediately forget what she said. Its not anything mean or remotely understandable for that matter, but she will say it. She seems the type to get more tired from things like coffee and energy drinks so those dont help. The only way she gets any sleep is either from the girls sleepover or by actually collapsing

Manga - pulling 4 all nighters in a row just to draw was not his smartest moment. Doing that during exam season was an even dumber move. He pulled up to class without a pencil or book of any kind but he had a black coffee with triple espresso. He dosent like coffee but he forgot until he was already half way done with his coffee and the bitter taste hit him like a truck. After that he slept for like 2 and a half days straight.

Honenuki - he can go 4 or 5 days without sleep but in those final few hours on the last day he loses all grip on sanity lmaoo. He'll be fine and then suddenly he'll be drinking 12 energy drinks in one sitting and forgetting his own name. Hes pretty good at getting himself to sleep at that point tho.

Bondo - no one can tell hes sleep deprived until he falls asleep standing up. He starts moving all sluggish like and is constantly yawning but other than that not much of a difference despite how tired he is. He probably ends up falling asleep in the common area.

Monoma - he loses an hour of sleep and he'll look like he hasn't slept in months. So even one all nighter causes him to get the biggest eye bags youve ever seen. He can only stay awake thanks to the multiple energy drinks he has. He finally gets some sleep after kendo knocked him out.

Reiko - she usually stays up later than the rest of the class so shes used to having a bit less sleep than some of her classmates but the second she starts walking into walls because she can barely keep her eyes open she knows its time for bed. When she gets like this she can sleep for almost a full day and a half and still be tired when she wakes up. Becoming sleep deprived is how she knows its bed time.

Rin - the only reason he would ever lose sleep is if he stayed up all night studying or some nerdy thing like that lmao. Day of the test he walks in with the biggest eye bags and 12 energy drinks in his bag only to pass out the second it starts and not wake up all day. He refuses to pull all nighters after his final grade dropped 20% from that.

Gifs anime - dungeon meshi

[ogravensimp]

She is a Constantine

The one day this shitty hotel decided to have an out of order elevator', Zed cursed as she looked up to only see a beige trenchcoat coat fluttering like a flag as it raced up the far too many flights this overpriced building had installed.

"John! Aren't you just being paranoid?" Zed shouted after the man in front of her as she attempted to keep up with him, as well, also trying to get answers out of him—which is a hard enough task as it is when she actually has his attention.

They were supposed to focus on purging some low-level demons set loose when a couple of civilians somehow managed to dig up the original copy of the highly dangerous, "Grimorium Verum". Well, they managed to get the book, but they also attracted the attention of John's good ol' friend, Papa Midnite; who has been giving them quite a hard time but John managed to knock him out.

Zed believed that they did quite well against him but somehow he said something before he fell that set John running without a word back to the hotel room they rented.

"John!", she called out once again as they finally reached the floor they were staying on, but she only saw the tail of his trenchcoat as he took a sharp turn around the corner, "seriously, you are being very-"

She cut herself off when she also reached the room they were staying in, only to find the door thrown off the hinges,"-...paranoid."

John was already inside, his back to her as he worryingly looked around at the ransacked room that had been perfectly fine when they left. Zed knew it wasn't the mess that had him anxious, it was the lack of a certain half-demon whom they had left watching some pony cartoon on the now overturned couch. The show was even still playing, but not even a tuft of the girl's purplish hair to be found.

"I should have known he'd just trace the magic back here, how could I just live her alone with the one thing Papa Midnite will kill for!" While it seemed John was talking to her, Zed knew he was actually berating himself, "Fuck, if he touched even a hair on her head I swear-"

"John," Zed softly approached him, wanting to calm the magician before he jumps so far to a conclusion that she or common sense won't be able to reach him anymore, "Papa hates your guts, yes but you and I know he'll never kill a child."

"What about his goons? Midnite distracted us and sent them here and I'm sure his goons would do anything not to fail him. ", John retorted as he began to scratch his hair with enough force it's as if he actually wanted to rip it out.

"She might still be here."

John finally turned to face her and Zed could now fully see the panic on his face. To a normal person, John looked irritated at most but Zed has been around him long enough to start to see the cracks in his poker face of sarcasm, "Look around Zed! If she was here, I'd fucking sense her!"

Zed felt a bit offended at his outburst, she didn't even know John had left the grimoire here! She thought the whole reason Papa was hexing them to next week was to get it off John but this seemed to be another of Constantine's genius plans gone wrong.

Putting her hands on her hips, she stood her ground, "And who's fault is that John? How could you just leave one of the most sacred dark-magic books with a child who thinks a show on the magic of friendship is the pique of entertainment?!"

John was never one to admit he was too blame chose to fight back, "I didn't know! I'm not fucking omnipresent! That's why I put up the bloody wards!"

"And look what good those did," Zed huffed as she folded her hands, "now they have the grimoire and have done god knows what with Raven."

"um..."

"Think I don't know that Zed because newsflash, I do!"

"Well, how do you plan to fix it!"

"...actually..."

John moved towards what was left of his books on the table and picked up a piece of chalk, "I don't know, fuck, I can try to trace her magic. She has a naturally high amount of it, it'll be easy to find."

Zed followed after him, her anger now replaced with worry, "Maybe if I'm near something of her's I can get a vision, where's that teddy of her's that she's always with? The one that Nun made?"

A small pair of hands held out the purple bear in question, "here you go Zed."

Zed accepted it gratefully, "Thank you, Raven."

And then there was silence in the room.

Zed looked at the doll in her hand and then at the small face looking up at her and then back at the doll, then back at the face and this charade continued for a while till she shouted, "Raven!", causing the little girl in question to giggle.

This sound alerted John who looked up from the symbols he had already begun drawing on the floor. Before Zed could even move, John had rushed past her in a beige coloured blur and had the half-demon up in his arms in a well-deserved hugged.

"Oh my sweet blackbird, I'm so glad your ok,", John yelled while he spun Raven around and pressed warm kisses to her small cheek causing more giggles to escape Raven's throat.

This was an odd scene for Zed who was quite used to the silent little girl who hexes old ladies that try to pinch her cheek or pat her head.

In fact, the first time Raven allowed physical contact with Zed was when she held her hand in a crowded street one time, and while Zed knew it was only so the tiny demon wouldn't get lost in the much taller crowd, she still felt like some chosen saviour.

So Zed just really couldn't help the tinge of jealousy she felt knowing that John is an exception to this 'no-touch' rule whenever he pleases while she can only relish in the crumbs.

Raven must have sensed her feelings cause she turned to her and smiled— an expression Zed felt fit her angelic features more than the usual deadpan expression.

Giving a soft smile back herself, she placed a hand on the girl's soft face(which fortunately went unhexed), in a tender gesture and asked, "Rae you gave us a heart attack, where were you?"

The dark-haired girl just tilted her in confusion before replying with a simple, "the closet." and pointed in the direction of said object.

Both Zed and John looked at the small cabinet that she was implying and couldn't help but be entertained as it was such a childish yet genius choice of hiding.

But the entertainment didn't last long as they realized something would have had to cause her to go into hiding.

Setting her down on the table, John and Zed immediately began to check her pallid skin for any injuries and to their relief, there was nothing major. The only damage to her delicate skin was a bruise on her knee but that was enough for John to demand a full breakdown of what exactly happened so he can know how many bones of Midnite he needs to break.

After 10 minutes, Zed and John had the full story of what happened while Raven nibbled on a chocolate bar she rightfully earned.

"So let me get this straight, you sensed about four guys approaching here and before they arrive, you grabbed Mr Teddy here, ran into the cabinet and stayed there till you heard us arguing, and you only bruised your knee cause you bumped yourself when crawling in?" John confirmed.

"Yep."

"You should've grabbed a phone and called us or something,", Zed muttered as she rubbed a chocolate stain off the girl's chubby cheek, "what if they saw you? Next time teleport to me and John immediately, got it."

Looking down, Raven softly replied, "Yes Zed."

"Oi, lay off her," John joked as he placed a big hand on her head, lightly messing up her dark-purple locks much to Zed's annoyance cause she is the one that combs her hair out every morning but before she can complain, John sighs, "Shit, Midnite still has the Grimoire, just great."

Zed was going to sigh with him when Raven let out a sheepish, "well...", reaching for the toy that Zed had been holding onto, she wrapped her hands around it and after some muttering, a ray of purple surrounded its form and it transformed into the exact tome that John and Zed had worked so hard to find and keep safe, "...I had been practising glamour spells before the guys arrived and thought this would be a great time to test it and I guess it worked."

Her wide violet eyes looked up at them as if looking for praise and they really did want to give it to her but they were just so shocked by her to speak.

John was the first to react and a wide grin broke out on his face, "You are a Constantine!"

He relaunched his attack of hugs and kisses to Raven's temple, this time Raven acted annoyed and tried to push him away but her blooming blush and the sound of a few lamps exploding betrayed her and showed her real emotions.

Zed still only looked at the book in her hand, remembering how it had felt and weighed the exact same you'd expect a knit teddy bear too. She just couldn't wrap her head around how such a young girl was already so talented with magic that it would put some adults to shame but before she could stay on the topic the sounds of Raven's voice brought her back.

"Ew, let go of me!" She whined as she used her small hand to try and push John's face away but that would not deter him and instead, he laid a lick to her palm which only infuriated her more as the window near them cracked, "GROSS!"

Zed couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. Those two were really something. Dropping the book on the table, she went to go save her little Raven away by pulling her away before she ends up blasting John through a room— so maybe she's actually saving John.

As for her previous question, the answer was simple:

She's a Constantine.

____________________________________

"Now, what's the meaning of this?" Papa Midnite's voice was deep and loud to achieve its purpose in causing shivers to run down his lackey's spine as he held up a purple, knitted bear with different sized buttons for eyes.

One of them managed to gain some confidence and he dropped to the floor at Midnite's feet to plead for himself and his brethren, "Papa, I swear, it was definitely the book you asked for, we don't know what happened!"

Papa growled, "I know that, I'm wondering how all you managed to get tricked. Not even by Constantine himself but by a child!"

"But there was no kid there we checked everywhere, honest Papa!"

Midnite just sighed as he fell back onto his seta, rubbing the bridge between his nose as he contemplated whether to get better men or if he simply was the only one capable of doing things right around here.

As he grumbled, the purple toy in his hands caught his eyes.

He thought it was just the supernatural world being bored when he heard that the John Constantine adopted a little girl but this doll proved the rumours through.

If this child was also as terrifying as the rumours say, it was best Papa met her soon before another card to Constatine's deck is added in which he cannot compete with.

part 2 soon? probably but only cause I wanna right midnite & raven interaction

[missymurphy1985]

Nobody's Perfect (part10)

Warnings - mentions of baby loss / smut

Taglist @queenshelby @margoo0 @being-worthy @peakyscillian @ntmynouis @janelongxox @elenavampire21 @noctvrnalmoth @ysmmsy @cloudofdisney @lauren-raines-x @namelesslosers

The following days of filming were tense to say the least. Helen had tried talking to Cillian but refused. He also refused to come back to your room, having booked himself his own in a different hotel. You'd tried talking to him onset but he kept his distance from you as much as possible, having arranged with Steve to push back his scenes with you until a later date. Steve hadn't asked questions, fortunately.

You had the weekend off, and had planned for the two of you to spend it with your sister and her husband in Liverpool. As you were packing your bag on the Friday afternoon, you heard your hotel door open. Turning round, you saw Cillian, bag over his shoulder.

"Hey..." You almost whispered, choking up at the sight of him. He looked like he hadn't slept for days.

"Hey. Listen - " you stopped him.

"No, you listen. I never should have said those things Cillian.. I never should have shouted at you. I never should have shut you out.. I just didn't know what to say! All the hurt, and pain.. just bottled up inside me and I couldn't keep it in any longer.. being Clara again, knowing she was having a baby, it broke my heart... I'm sorry.. I'm so fucking sorry..." He put his bag on the floor and took you in his arms, holding you as you cried for the first time in front of him. You could feel his body shake as he cried too. Months of pain and anguish came crashing out of you both as you sunk to the floor together. He hadn't realised he'd left the door open, and Helen rushed in to you in a panic, finding you kneeling on the floor together in pieces and wrapped her arms round you both, shutting the door so as not to alert anyone else. You both fell into her, as she calmed you both and stood you up.

"Now listen to me, both of you. No one deserves what you're going through, no one.. but I can't watch you both destroy yourselves over it any longer. What are your plans this weekend?" You wiped your eyes and told her you were going to your sisters for the weekend.

"Well you better let me call her, because you're not going." You both looked at her, confused. "Here's my keys. This is my and Damien's holiday home in the Lake District. Completely private, no neighbours for miles. It's yours for the weekend. Fully kitted out, groceries already bought. The girls and I have it all taken care of."

"But my sister - "

"Will understand when I call her and explain what's happening. We have every weekend off now, you can go to your sisters next weekend?" You looked at Cillian and he smiled.

"Maybe it's not such a bad idea y/n?"

"Your sister's the one I met at the premiere, right? Tall, blond, drinks like a fish?" You laughed, remembering how well Helen and your sister had got on that night doing tequila slammers and dancing like maniacs to the Macarena. "It's only about an hour away from here. If you leave now, you'll be there in time to watch the sun set over the hills. Turn your phone's off, and reconnect. Talk. And change the sheets before you leave." She smirked, before Cillian pulled her close for a hug.

"Love you Helen. You always know what to do..."

"Aunt Pol knows everything. Give me your sisters number y/n and get out of here!"

Hand in hand, you walked into the cottage and instantly blown away. It was simply beautiful. Rustic yet elegant, olde worlde yet stylish.. it screamed Helen McCrory and you both loved it. Setting your bags in the living room, Cillian made his way over to the record player in the corner and chose a record he knew you loved. Putting it on, he held out his hand. You giggled, taking it, as he pulled you close, swaying with you to the music. No words exchanged, they weren't needed.

As the song drew to a close, he lifted your chin up and leaned in, his lips meeting yours for the first time in nearly a week. Your arms pulled him closer, as your tongues met, and he slowly pushed you over to the sofa. You pulled his jacket off his shoulders before he lifted your t-shirt over your head, puling back to admire you. Reaching behind you, unclasping your bra with one hand, his eyes and hands roamed slowly over your chest and shoulders like it was the first time he'd ever seen or felt them.

He slowly unbuttoned your jeans, letting them fall to the floor along with your underwear. As you stood completely bare in front of him, you felt slightly self-conscious, and covered yourself a little.

"Don't. Let me look at you. You're beautiful, don't you know that?"

"I haven't felt it for a while."

"And that's my fault. Let me make you feel beautiful?" You nodded as he guided you to the bedroom down the hall. Walking in, you both saw rose petals over the fresh bedsheets, as well as a bottle of champagne on ice with two glasses.

"They went all out didn't they?" You smiled as he lay you down onto the bed. His lips carefully caressed over your neck, down your collarbone and over your breasts as you arched your back at his touch, sending tingles down your spine.

He kissed over your belly, down to your hips, and parted your legs slowly. He blew softly against your core, making you shudder, as his tongue lapped from the bottom up to your clit, circling it gently. You were panting now, desperate for release. His fingers brushed over your thighs and into your groin, before easing two fingers inside you, sliding in effortlessly as if they were made for this purpose alone. His mouth was torture on you, you could feel your orgasm building.

"Please... Cillian..." You begged, raising your hips to meet his tongue. He responded perfectly - upping the pressure and speed of his tongue as he drove you over the edge, you came crying his name. With one more gentle kiss to your clit, he stood up, once again admiring you silently. You sat up and pulled at the zipper on his jeans. Pulling them down with his boxer shorts and taking his hard cock in your hand. Giving it a few gentle pumps, watching his mouth fall open slightly, you smirked as your mouth took him in, he gasped when he felt the back of your throat. Licking up the shaft and over the head, you swallowed him down again, his hand on the back of your head, pulling the pony tail out so he could grip your hair. You groaned into his cock, feeling it twitch in your mouth as he pulled your hair, you could hear him groaning above you, spurring you on.

"Y/n.. I'm gonna come..." You bobbed your mouth faster, and felt him cum deep down your throat, swallowing every drop down.

"Fuck woman... Your mouth is incredible..." He pushed you back onto the bed and lined himself up against you.

For a man over 40, he had the libido of a 25 year old around you, it wasn't long until he was ready to go again.

Pushing you back, he lined himself up against your entrance and pushed in slowly, savouring each second feeling you clench your muscles around him.

"Missed this.." you gasped as he bottomed out, and he kissed you again, moving his hips back and forth easily. A steady rhythm, his forehead against yours as you breathed heavily against each other, looking into each others eyes. Your legs wrapped around his body as high as you could get them, he hooked one of your knees up with his elbow and thrust a little harder, sending you spiralling again. A few more strokes and you came together, you held him tight against you until he'd softened completely, not wanting to let him go.

You'd talked most of the night about everything, in-between more love-making and drawing pleasurable moans from each other, before falling asleep finally around 2am. The following morning, you were making him breakfast in the large kitchen area when he came through wearing his boxer shorts and stood watching you from the doorway.

"You know, I was gonna head to Ireland last night before Helen came in," he confessed.

"I know. I saw the plane ticket on our online banking app. I thought you were leaving me..."

"No, I just needed space. But now I know it isn't space I need, it's you. Only you. I'm sorry I've put you through this y/n..." You turned the hob down and made your way over to him, linking your body against his.

"You know I've never once blamed you, for any of this? I thought we were a team?"

"We are, but you're not the one who's infertile y/n."

"WE are going through this - not ME. We. We have one more round of IVF to go, and if that doesn't work then we'll work it out - okay?"

"I'm worried you'll end up leaving me.."

"Shut up Murphy for the love of God!" You laughed slapping his chest. "Nothing would make me leave you, okay? I could have 100 babies with anyone, but I want one with YOU, and only you. No more talk of leaving, deal?" You booped your nose against his and grinned.

"Deal."

[the-pontiac-bandit]

If you're still answering tortall prompts, how about Raoul + family?

wow why NOT write 2000 words of blatant, shameless fluff about families you make for yourself??? inspired by this quote from tammy: “[Raoul and Buri] have glorious sex under trees, in tents, in lakes…. In carriages. I think at some point they’ll probably adopt. By the time they’re attached Buri’s getting a little old to have any of her own. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of orphans around.”

As Raoul stretched out, trying to make himself comfortable in his too-hard, too-small desk chair, he savored the warm feeling filling his chest and threatening to spill out and take physical form in front of him. In the midst of the most head-spinning, headache-inducing, sleep-sapping, joy-filled week he’d ever experienced, he’d had precious little time to slow down and simply exist within his new reality. He thought to close his eyes, the better to feel everything, but they only stayed shut for a moment before they forced themselves back open. He couldn’t stop looking at the scene in front of him for long.

Buri lounged cross-legged on their bed, far more relaxed than he had been at any point this week. Kel sat next to her, her back straight and her long legs carefully hanging off one side so as not to get dust from the practice courts on their bedding. Both had just returned from a full morning of training, sweaty despite a change of clothes and coated in dust despite a thorough washing, courtesy of a long, hot summer that had refused to give them rain.

Between them was the baby.

His son, he reminded himself. He thought the words a few extra times, even mouthing them once, as he had a thousand times in the last five days, as if forming them on his lips might make them feel more real.

None of this felt real to him yet. He supposed most people had nine months to get used to the idea before seven pounds of screaming chaos turned their lives upside down. He’d had exactly fifty-three days—he’d counted on Tuesday—so he supposed he still had some catching up to do. His mind was still reeling from the conversation that had led them here, and he wasn’t sure yet that he’d ever catch up.

He’d been sitting in this chair and pretending to read reports while mostly thinking about his right knee, which had been bothering him despite Duke Baird’s best efforts. He wasn’t sure why he remembered so specifically, since his days were nearly as certain to contain aches and bruises as they were to contain a sunrise. Buri had returned from a meeting with Thayet and Onua, although really, the word meeting conferred far too much dignity on what was more likely a combination of trick riding and palace gossip. They’d settled into the evening routine they’d shared for nearly a decade, working in comfortable silence with candles lit between them.

“Do you want children?” she’d asked, breaking the quiet spell of paperwork that gripped their nights.

“I think it’s a little late for that,” he’d replied with a snort.

She’d thrown a pillow at him. He had caught it and thrown it back without even looking up from the thick stack of papers in his lap, with a rude hand gesture following behind.

“You know what I meant. Did you want children? Before?”

Something in her voice had shifted. He’d finally looked up to find her eyes already trained on him. Her face had been so unexpectedly earnest that he’d actually taken a pause, had slowed the speed of their consistently paced banter, to think.

“I suppose I hadn’t given it much thought. There were friends, and then there was drinking, and then there was the Own, and then there was you,” he’d told her with a shrug. “I do like children, but I’m perfectly happy where I am.”

She’d chewed on her lip for a moment. He remembered being surprised by that. After nearly thirty years of friendship, she rarely took the time to think before she spoke with him anymore.

“Spit it out.”

“Do you want children?”

“And we’re back to the start,” he’d said with a grin.

“I spat it out. Now you answer it.”

“Hypothetically, sure, I’d enjoy a child. Now can I ask why you’re asking at all?”

“I’ve been thinking,” she’d started. She’d paused for a moment, holding her breath as though she was trying to decide whether she should speak at all. And then she’d let it all spill out at once. “I’ve been thinking it might be nice to have one. A child, I mean.”

She’d held up a hand and made a face before Raoul could even begin to formulate a joke about her monthlies or her aching hips or what they might do to make that happen. “Not like that. Thayet was telling us today about homes they’re opening in Corus, for children without parents. We were thinking about the children we traveled with back in Sarain, when Alanna found us all those years ago. Gods, it was terrifying, having Thayet and an infant to protect, especially when Thayet was ready to throw her life away for the infant. And I started thinking—we have money, and safety, and love, and there are all these children who have none of those things, and—”

She’d been speaking faster and faster, but she’d cut herself off abruptly at the look on Raoul’s face. “Never mind, you can forget—”

Raoul had smiled back at her, straightening up in his chair and marking his spot in the report on his lap before putting it aside. “So you want a child.”

The weeks that followed had been ones filled with paperwork and inquiries at the palace records about the process of appointing a common-born heir to a noble house and at the magistrate’s about drawing up paperwork for adoption. There had been careful planning and hushed discussions with only their closest friends about the best way to proceed. Buri had insisted on an older child, maybe eight or nine, saying that the few diapers she’d changed on the road to Rachia were enough for a lifetime.

Instead, five days ago, Buri had entered their rooms carrying a squalling mess of blankets with an air of forced nonchalance that had told him immediately what she’d done. Instead of clarifying, or teasing her, or asking if it was the smallest eight-year-old he’d ever seen, he’d simply held his arms out. While Buri had supplied endless explanations about Thayet ambushing her with a baby, he’d stared at the squirming mess of baby in his lap, blankets already coming undone, absolutely entranced.  

“He’s tiny,” he’d commented. His voice sounded like it was coming from someone else’s body. The baby was only just too large for him to hold in one hand, although he’d never try to prove it. The fragility of the life sitting in his lap was overwhelming.

“His mother died yesterday. Childbed fever, caught too late to help. The priestesses at the Goddess’ Temple were worried he might need more than the homes could give.”

Raoul had nodded, only half listening. The baby’s eyes were screwed shut while he wailed. His fine hair was dark, his skin tanned like that of the Bazhir babies Raoul had seen in his year in the Great Southern Desert. One of the baby’s hands had broken free of its blanket. It had waved in the air, keeping pace with his cries, which were far louder than he’d have believed such a tiny body could produce. He’d intercepted the hand with one finger and then watched in wonder as the baby had grasped it.

“Does he have a name?”

“Pathom,” she’d answered definitively, before belatedly remembering that names were the sort of thing parents might choose together. “That is, if—”

“Pathom of Goldenlake,” he’d cut her off with a smile.

The days that followed had been a blur. Thayet had found a wet-nurse and supplied an endless stream of goods that they’d have never known a baby required. Alanna had ridden in from Pirate’s Swoop at full speed to pronounce in a gruff voice that the infant was in perfect health. Gary had gifted them a bassinet and more blankets than any human child could possibly need. Dom had found a way to convert a standard-issue burnoose into an excellent baby sling, while Evin had given them a congratulatory note from George, who complained that Alanna had left before he could finish writing, and a cheerful promise that he’d never touch a soiled diaper. Onua had given them a set of unimaginably soft stuffed ponies, perfect replicas of the horses that roamed the highlands of Sarain where she and Buri had learned to ride.

Kel, away on business with Second Company at the Gallan border, had to wait almost a full week to learn she had a new godsson. He’d met the company when they’d arrived back at the palace long past dark the night before. They’d groomed Hoshi and Sparrow together while he thanked the gods for perhaps the hundredth time that her “testy pony” had finally found his way out of the Own stables and into a pleasant retirement.

Finally, when the last of the men had trudged towards the barracks and a well-earned nights’ sleep, she’d turned to him.

“Well?”

“There’s someone important I want you to meet,” he’d said, shoving his hands in his pockets with a smile that was equal parts nervous and eager.

“Sir, I’ve already met your wife.”

Raoul had let out a hearty chuckle. “But you haven’t met my son.”

Kel had frozen. Her face fell back into perfect stillness, the way it did when her mind was working its fastest.

After a second that felt like an eternity, she replied, “Sir, I saw Buri five weeks ago. If you’re telling me you’ve managed to grow a baby since then—”

“We didn’t, but someone else did. We adopted him from the Temple after his mother died in childbirth.”

Understanding flashed in Kel’s eyes while her face broke into a rare broad grin. She’d wrapped her arms around him in a fast, tight hug accompanied by enthusiastic congratulations that had gone suddenly silent in surprise when he’d added, a wicked glint in his eyes, “You really should come by tomorrow to meet your godsson.”

Buri had intercepted Kel on the practice courts the following morning with the dual goals of keeping her own skills sharp and ensuring that Kel would not be too polite to visit. And so now, he watched as Kel bounced his son with the brisk certainty of someone who had held a baby a thousand times. He could hear her cooing quietly at Pathom, softening her consonants while she told him all about forest campaigns in hill country. He knew he should ask her to speak up—if she was going to give her report verbally, she could at least give it at a volume he could hear—but he found he wasn’t particularly interested in the intricacies of the Second’s bowstring supplies. Buri made eye contact with him behind Kel’s back, laughter in her eyes. Buri could laugh if she wanted, but he was taking notes on Kel’s tactics. He would have sworn this was the quietest he’d heard his son in the entirety of his hundred-and-twenty-odd hours in the palace.

As his son stared wide-eyed at his former squire, Raoul was reminded of a comment he’d heard as they’d left Turomot’s offices the other day with paperwork making Pathom officially their own. “Well, that feckless Goldenlake dolt’s managed to start a family, even if it was too late to do the thing properly,” the Lord of Genlith had muttered at their backs as they’d left. Buri had elbowed him and whispered a quick “Feckless? I’ll show him feckless,” but her heart wasn’t in it. Before she’d even finished the thought, her eyes were back on Pathom, squirming against her chest in the burnoose that bound him to her.

And now, Raoul watched his son, passed between his wife and the woman who had been like his daughter long before any papers said he was a father. Stuffed Saren ponies lined the shelf above an intricately carved bassinet filled with beautifully embroidered blankets. A protection charm had been pulled from Alanna’s packs to hang at the head, while twin leather circles bearing the insignias of the Riders and the Own, no doubt carefully cut by mischievous commanders from the saddle packs of some unprepared trainees, was secured carefully at the foot. Raoul had to smile for a moment at Genlith’s ignorance—he’d begun his family right on time.

[floral-and-fine]

Linger part 1

Beorn x female human reader

Summary: Beorn worries about the reader's safety shortly after meeting her and the company.

A/n: This idea is based on that deleted scene where Gandalf introduces the company to Beorn. I just love that scene so much! I'll probably write another part to this. And thank you @luna-xial​ for the help!

You jumped every time you heard the loud hollow thud the ax made as it connected to the tree trunk. Peeking through the window, you saw a beast of a man. He was taller than anyone you had ever seen before, with long wild hair.

With seemingly minimal effort, he swung the large ax again, splitting another log straight through the middle like it was made of butter.

Your body shivered, imagining how he could easily make quick work of the company if he chose. Not to mention, if last night was any kind of example, it would seem he wasn’t too keen on any of you.

The rest of the company were bickering about what to do next. They were all rather cautious or afraid of the skin-changer, and they had reason to be. The bear all of you encountered last night was large, fast, and fearsome. The man seemed to be the same.

It was no use listening to them though, they all talked over one another and they were getting louder by the second.

Instead, you focused on watching your mysterious host chop firewood without pause. Your face began to heat up as you noted the way his back muscles tensed as he lifted the ax again, preparing for another swing.

“There’s no point in arguing,” Gandalf spoke up, silencing everyone. With all eyes on him, the wizard explained that the company needed Beorn’s assistance.

“Now this will require some delicate handling. We must tread very carefully the last person to have startled him was torn to shreds,” he explained heading towards the door. All eyes followed Gandalf, especially at the mention of being torn to shreds.  “I will go first, and Bilbo, you’ll come with me.”

No one was envious of poor Bilbo as they all made room for him to get to the door.

“Is-is this a good idea?” Bilbo stuttered, his hesitation obvious about joining Gandalf outside.

“Yes,” Gandalf answered firmly. “Now the rest of you wait here,” he instructed. “Only come out in pairs, well Bombur you count as two, so come out alone.”

Just as he was about to head out through the door, he paused and turned back around. “Oh and Ms. Y/n, you will be the last to come out,” He added, facing you.

Your eyes went wide, but you nodded.

“Yes… That should be fine,” Gandalf muttered mostly to himself.

“Should?” You squeaked, but he didn’t hear you. He was far too preoccupied worrying about greeting your host.

“Remember, wait for the signal,” Gandalf warned one last time before heading out.

…

The rest of the company filed out, leaving you and Thorin as the last ones to exit.

Beorn didn’t hide his distaste as he stared down all the dwarves before him. A snarl practically formed on his face as his eyes reached the end of the line. However, his features immediately softened as soon as he spotted you.

Gandalf noticed the immediate change in their host’s expression. “Ah, and that’s Miss y/n,” he spoke up. “She’s one of our companions as well.”

You waved shyly at the skin-changer. Who slowly lowered his ax, setting it down beside him.

The giant man sighed, wringing his hands together. Beorn’s eyes flickered from you to the dwarves then back to you again. He was obviously mulling things over, trying to decide what to do with his unexpected house guests.

With a drawn-out sigh, Beorn walked past Gandalf and approached the company.

“You must be hungry,” He said looking directly at you.

“Oh, we’re starving,” one of the dwarves chimed in, but Beorn chose to ignore your companions. His focus solely remained on you, patiently awaiting an answer.

“A little,” you admitted with a shrug, feeling rather bashful over the attention.

With a curt nod, he ushered you forward, back into his home. Beorn gestured for you to take a seat at the table.

“Your home is beautiful,” you complimented, admiring the beautiful details carved in the wood. You didn’t get a chance last night or this morning to really take in the craftsmanship. There were a lot of fine details that must have taken a lot of time and skill to complete.

He gave you a soft smile but it only lingered for a brief second and was replaced with a frown as soon your companions started taking their seats beside you and around the table.

Beorn started placing food out, everything looked so delicious. There were various cheeses, fruits, nuts, and types of bread.

Your host made sure that your plate was full first, not trusting that the greedy dwarves would be considerate of someone as soft-spoken and kind as yourself.

He didn’t understand how you were a part of this company, how someone as well mannered and delicate was associated with such loud brutes. You didn’t appear to be a warrior of any sort, and you weren’t a dwarf, so why were you assisting them at all?

You observed Beorn carefully as he towered over you, despite his great stature and strength, he was cautious of his movements, and despite his obvious dislike of dwarves, he was still fairly hospitable. Being in his presence had you feeling quite small, not in a bad way, necessarily, in fact, almost as if you were made of glass with the way he treated you so attentively.

Holding a large pitcher, he poured milk in your cup first giving you a generous amount which you doubted you would be able to finish.

“Thank you,” you murmured as he moved on to the next cup.

After making his way around the table and back to you, he held the pitcher in both hands, looking down pensively as he shared what had happened to him and his people.

His story made your heartache, much like it did when your companions shared their story. Without thinking, you reached out placing your hand on his forearm in an effort to comfort him. You couldn’t imagine what he had gone through, what he had to do to survive, or how it felt to be the last of his kind.

When he offered his assistance to Thorin, you were honestly surprised.

Beorn provided provisions and ponies to the company in order to get all of you to the forest in time.

…

As the company started preparing the ponies for travel, you couldn’t help but notice Beorn acting apprehensively. He was pacing about, double checking things, and kept asking Gandalf if they needed anything else.

You approached him quietly clearing your throat to draw his attention towards you.

“Thank you for everything,” you said, smiling sweetly at him. “I know it’s not easy, dwarves might seem unappreciative and careless but I do think they’re grateful.”

Beorn sighed, taking your hand in his, his thumb caressing lightly over your knuckles.

“Must you leave with them?” He asked, his voice sounding rather defeated.

“I made a promise.”

“It’s not safe,” Beorn whispered, feeling how delicate the bones of your hand were and soft your skin. “I know what Azog is capable of…”

Beorn wasn’t quite sure why, but he cared for you, and he truly feared what might happen to you on this journey. He hasn’t known anyone like yourself to encounter an orc in which the outcome wasn’t death. He frowned at the idea, the unsettling image of the hand he was holding lifeless and limp appearing in his mind.  

Tilting your head you whispered his name, he had gone quiet but appeared to have something else to say.

He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, shaking his head slightly. “Is there nothing I can say to change your mind?” He asked, almost on the verge of begging.

“I’m afraid not,” you said, giving his hand a slight squeeze.

His expression conveyed his disappointment, but he nodded, accepting that you had to leave and finally dropping the subject. Slowly, Beorn led you back to where the ponies were and reluctantly released your hand.

Without another word, he walked back towards his home. He wasn’t good at saying goodbye and was struggling with the fact that you were leaving. He felt like he was allowing you to walk straight to your death.

Before mounting your pony, you took a deep breath and looked around one last time, really taking in the scenery, before leaving. This place really was beautiful, so serene and peaceful. Might be the last time you’re at a place like this, who knows what you might encounter next.

As your pony slowly started trodding along, you turned back to see Beorn, who was standing by his garden with a solemn expression, you wondered if he felt lonely out here alone with just his animals.

You wouldn’t mind visiting him again after this was all over, maybe spend a longer visit here, perhaps even help him out with the garden or the animals.

You waved goodbye, a small sad smile on your lips. He gave you a small nod in response watching as you and the company disappeared past the horizon.

He fought every urge he had to go after you. Trying to convince himself that you would be fine. You had managed to get this far more or less unscathed.

Beorn stayed outside, working on the fields and tending to his animals until his ponies finally returned. He led them back to the barn, making sure they were all accounted for. Lingering by the pony you rode, he ran his hand through its mane.

“I wish she had stayed,” he admitted, regretting that he let you go or didn’t offer to join the company in order to protect you. He gave the pony another good pat before heading into his home.

[randomly-a-fan]

Malon's First Time At The Hospital Pt. 3

Pt. 1

Pt. 2

At the hospital in Haddonfield, Malon was having her light breakfast before she has her temperature and blood pressure checked. Jason was looking out the window far out from the horizon, thinking about his home; he senses that something is wrong. He wanted to go out there and check, but he has no way to get there, and he didn’t want to leave Malon behind while she’s still recovering.

Malon’s coughs were getting less painful, so the medicine that the doctors gave her are working great. Just then, MJ came in with a ‘Get Well Soon’ balloon. “Hi, sweetie... How are you feeling?” MJ asked in a gentle tone while approaching her. “Hi mom... I’m starting to get less coughs, and my chest is starting to hurt less,” Malon answered. “But I still have to stay in the hospital for another night.” Malon said sadly. “I know you missed being home, but you’ll be going home soon; the doctor told me that you’re making a speedy recovery, and that we might go home tomorrow night if you get your appetite back.” MJ explained. Malon smiled to hear the good news.

*** 

Back at Camp Crystal Lake, Aquarius took her kids to check the Voorhees’ cabin, to see if there are any plants that needed to be watered. But as Aquarius entered in, she was shocked to see the blood on the walls and the couch. “What the Hel-- hel... hel--li--coptors...” Aquarius didn’t want to cuss in front of her kids, even though Archie has heard worse cusses than Hell, but she didn’t want Kandy to know the word since she’s only a baby. “Archie... Take your sister home... There’s something I got to do.” Aquarius ordered. Archie was shocked by his mom’s reaction, however, he was more surprised by the mess and how loud the music was. “Come on, Kandy, lets go home to daddy.” Archie said to his baby sister.

After Archie took Kandy home, Aquarius decided to clean the place up while observing the cause for this disruption. She was going to clean the couch until her cellphone rang. 

“Hello?” Aquarius answered.

It was MJ that was on the phone from the hospital. “Hi Star, I’m just calling to ask you a favor, would you or Pennywise mind checking on Camp Crystal Lake, Jason was having the senses that something is wrong.” MJ explained.

Aquarius didn’t want MJ or Jason to know about the mess in the cabin, since she knew it might infuriate the family, especially Jason. “Of course I will, well heck, I’ll even clean up the place if you liked me to.” Aquarius offered.

While being unaware, Michael approaches the cabin and saw what he thought to be a ‘trespasser’, so he took out his knife and approach to her slowly with his knife raised. Aquarius senses someone’s presence so she had to cut the conversation short. “I love chatting with you, but I must go now, bye.” Aquarius hung up the phone and quickly did the spin attack on her still-on roller-skates; she may have dodged the knife, but the ‘stalker’ did not get knocked out. So she pounced on him. Michael tried to choke Aquarius to death, but she was quick thinking and grabbed a knife that he dropped and stabbed his arm. However, Michael was not affected by the knife stab; which worried her since she’s in a deadly position. 

Aquarius tried to remove his hand, but his grip is too strong. As she was slowly perishing, his grip loosened as he was being grabbed. Pennywise came at a nick of time; the truth is that Jason called Pennywise’s place earlier back at the hospital and answered it. MJ called from Aquarius’s cell, so it was strangely ironic. Pennywise lifted Michael in the air with a mad glare. “No one strangles my wife... except me!” Pennywise scolded. Michael did not show any reaction as usual, but whatever Michael is saying in his mind made Pennywise put him down. “You’re an acquaintance of Jason Voorhees?” Pennywise asked while still holding him by the shoulder. Aquarius finished coughing out blood before she spoke up severely. “Ask him why he trashed the place! There better be a promising explanation for his behavior, or else I’ll eat off his face...” Aquarius threatened. “You’re going to want to answer that question, because she’s a sin-muncher, and I’m sensing that you’re responsible for a full amount of sins.” Pennywise said. Michael was surprised that he can read his mind, so if he can read his mind, he can explain his reasons for this mess.

***

At the hospital, Malon was eating her lunch, a lot more than usual; which is a good sign that she’s hungry because it means that she’s starting to get better. “My goodness, Malon, you ate up all of your food like a vacuum.” MJ joked. “Well I was hungry... I’m starting to feel a little bit better each time.” Malon explained. Just then, nurse Linda came in. “Hello Malon, I just thought I come up to see how you are doing; I see you’ve eaten all of your lunch.” Linda assumes. Malon nodded with a smile. “Since you’re getting better, I thought I take you over to the play area; we have a special guest coming today.” Linda explained. “Can I mom?” Malon asked her mom. “Of course you can, and I’m sure daddy will let you as well.” MJ said while smiling at her husband. Jason nodded as he accepts the idea of Malon playing with the other kids, so she wouldn’t have to be cooped up on her bed.

Back at Camp Crystal Lake, Aquarius frustratedly scrubbed the floors while Michael watches. “Michael, will you please stop staring at me? it’s annoying because I can sense you!” Aquarius said in a grumble. “Don’t be a corpse in the weeds Pretty-Blue, at least what Michael told me about him getting rid of the trespassers that broke-in was pretty noble.” Pennywise said. “You know what, that’s great, maybe we can give him a treat; or even better, let’s keep him; Archie has been asking for a pet this morning, Michael would be perfect, we just have to take him to the vet and have him neutered!” Aquarius said in a sarcastic and sassy tone. Pennywise just chuckles and crawled towards her to comfort her. “Don’t be so dramatic, I know what’s best for everyone; no subconscious mind tells a lie.” Pennywise reassures before he kissed Aquarius passionately. 

Without realizing, they noticed Michael actually wiping the couch, almost as if there’s something within him that is so toxic and disgusting to his character. “Let’s keep cleaning the place up for the Voorhees, then we shall do something together as a family with our kids.” Pennywise suggested. Aquarius nodded and agreed, even though Pennywise is not the kind of being that likes to do chores, but he does get a lot of TLC afterwards.

***

When Malon was being taken to the Play Area, Jason wrote a note to MJ about what he wanted to do. “I’m thinking of going back home to check on the place, is that alright with you?” Jason wrote. MJ frowned, she thought that her calling Aquarius would calm Jason’s nerves, she even heard from Malon that her dad also called the Gray’s place. However, she can’t really tell him what he can or can not do, but she did gave him a reasonable response. “I can’t really stop you, since it’s my turn to spend the night with Malon anyway, but you should ask Malon and see what she thinks.” MJ suggested. Jason nodded and decided to take her advice.

Jason walked over to the play area to see Malon with the question that he have wrote for her. He was watching Malon drawing and coloring, he tried to get her attention until he saw what she was drawing. “What’s that you coloring?” The little sick girl asked. “That’s me and daddy; he was always there for me whenever I needed him...” Then Malon noticed her daddy and waved at him happily. Jason waved back at his daughter with a tearful smile; he looked at the note and then back at Malon, he decided to not worry about his cabin, his family comes first, especially Malon’s, so he tared up the paper and threw it into the recycling bin. Jason was going to go back to her room, until he spotted a Shetland Pony heading towards the play area, he assumes that the pony was the ‘special guest’ that Linda was talking about.

Malon and the rest of the young patients went out to meet the little pony, Malon has never seen a little pony so tiny that Malon teared up over cuteness. She was going to pet it until the man grabbed her by the wrist to stop her. “Don’t touch him, the sign said to not touch.” The man said, he didn’t mean any harm, but Malon is still tearing up, so she decided to go back to her room. Only to realize that she doesn’t remember where she came from or how to get back to her room; the nurse was preoccupied that she wasn’t paying attention to Malon.

Luckily, her dad was close by, so he caught up to her and gently lay a hand on her. Malon turned around and hugged her daddy while tearing up. “I want to go back to my room!” Malon mumbled into his shirt. Jason rubbed her back to comfort her, he saw the whole situation with the man and his Shetland Pony; if he weren’t in a public place, he’d kill him in a instant for making his daughter cry, but he has to hold himself back and not make a scene. Eventually, Jason guided her to her room and put her up to her bed. “You’re back quickly, everything okay?” MJ asked. Malon shook her head and decided to sleep it through from her depression. Jason wrote a note to his wife and explained to her about what happened. “Aww... That’s not fair... Service animals were supposed to be used for little kids to cuddle, like dogs and puppies... Did she cry?” MJ asked. Jason nodded sadly as he almost cried himself. 

MJ got up and walked towards Malon and gave her a lingering kiss by the cheek, which gave Malon a half smile with a dimple; just like when she was a baby. Even though Jason is sad over Malon’s disappointing opportunity, he’s glad he didn’t decide on leaving for home, or else Malon would have gotten herself lost from wandering through the hospital. He’s grateful for listening to his own family instincts and not think too much about his home.

To Be Continued

[cosmiciaria]

Assassin’s Creed Unity Review/honest thoughts/discussion - SPOILERS (long post)

So I decided to finally settle on a proper review – although this one is going to be more of what here in Argentina we call a "sincericidio": basically I will spit my guts out and cry in one corner, while being completely honest about my feelings. I will try to keep most spoilers at bay, like I always do, but there's just one thing I cannot not talk about which is THE spoiler so – I want you to be considered warned.

Before I start, I should state, since this is my review and reviews are quite personal actually, why this game is so important to me and why I wanted to play it so bad. There's a combination of factors, and obviously this game isn't going to strike the same chords with everyone, so bear in mind that this is strictly subjective and, right now, personal.

First factor and I think the most important one: I like writing. Wait, don't leave the review just yet. I like writing and creating characters. I have many. Lately I've been revisiting a character that had a very sad backstory and added quite long happy ending for him. I made him fall in love again. He's black haired, wears a short pony tail… his new love interest is a redhead with wavy hair… ok, you get me now, don't you? And what's worse, is that their story takes place in a fictional world that resembles quite much Europe of 1800's. So clothes and ballrooms and palaces and big, fluffy dresses are a thing in this story of mine. I think that, if you've ever created a character, to find another fictional, similar character in any medium is going to draw your attention to that product right away. It did happen to me with Cal Kestis from SW Jedi: Fallen Order, I have another redhead baby boy that needs to be protected at all costs. It's a way for us to 'see', let's say, or imagine our characters being brought to life.

Second factor: I love Paris. I visited Versailles and Paris back in late 2018, and I went there with zero expectations, only to fall in love with France. I love the Château de Versailles. I love palaces. I love the Seine. I love the Louvre. I love it. All of it. If I could, I'd live there. Sadly, I'm poor and speak little to no French at all.

Third Factor: I'm learning French! I dream with the day I can speak like five languages as well as I speak English (I studied it for ten years so… it kinda makes sense that I feel comfortable with it). I'm still struggling with French, but I will get there someday. I will. Because I love it. I love the language. Oui.

Fourth factor: I also really really, really like the French Revolution, and I've never, much to my surprise, watched or played any series, videogame, movie or anything that takes place in such a context (if you have recommendations, please drop them right away!). And I say "to my surprise" because I really like that part of History! So, to live in almost first person how the French Revolution unfolded – to hear the chansons and to see people gathered in crowds at every corner, listening to a liberty preacher wielding the French flag – that was glorious.

Fifth and yeah we're done: I love Les Misérables. I know it happens way later than the French Revolution, but since this musical (and the 2012 movie) became my 'home', I can't help but feel a stronger connection with everything I said above. I can watch that movie over and over and I will still sing Empty chairs and empty tables with tears in my eyes, despite its flaws.

I had like every reason to play this game. And it paid off.

Before plunging into it, I did read the novelization. Sadly, it was only to satisfy my soon-to-be-fulfilled obsession with the game, since I don't think the quality of the narration was, uhm, that good – it felt like you needed to have played the game before reading it. And I get it, it's a videogame adaptation, that's fine, but when you look at it as standalone book, it doesn't stand alone that good. What disappointed me, though, wasn't the narration, which was what I totally expected it to be, nor the dialogues or the ending – it was Élise. I was bit weary about this because she came across as completely different character than what I had in mind about her, and I didn't like her. At all. In the book, at least. I didn't like her because she had a few comments and took some decisions that made her look like she was stupid and/or selfish. I can understand the selfish part; I do not want to even believe that she's stupid. So that's why the book was a bit of a letdown for me. I recommend it, though, if you're a fan, because there's a book exclusive character that really gets the plot moving and he's endearing: Mr. Weatherall. Oh, what a man.

Now, regarding the game itself – it shouldn't come as a surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed it. As I've stated in another post, this game is barely an Assassin's Creed, since you delve like zero into the AC lore, and it's just an excuse for your character – Arno – to know parkour. Which in fact he knows before becoming an assassin, so it begs the question, why is this game even in this franchise? I digress. It's an AC game at the end of the day and that won't change.

But do not jump into this game expecting it be your average AC story. I firmly believe that the creators wanted to convey a different story here. For starters, Arno is no hero. Arno doesn't want to save the world. Arno doesn't care about any artifact or magic or creed. Arno only wants to discover who's the man behind De La Serre's death. That's his main driving force. And behind that, there's this undeniable and yet quite destructive feeling that pulls him forward: Élise.

Élise and Arno's relationship goes deeper into this story than it's noticeable at first glance. When you look back upon the plot, you discover that without their love 'subplot', there's no plot at all. If I may be so bold, I would even argue that Arno's story is a tragic love story. All the assassin's lore, all the betrayals, the first few assassinations, it all falls back into the background when Élise returns to the stage almost halfway through the game. And even though they only share like one kiss or two during the 40 hours of gameplay, there's still this latent, persistent motivation behind each of Arno's actions, that he wouldn't be doing what he's doing if it wasn't for Élise.

And it all comes down to that one line: What I wanted was you.

I cannot stress enough how much I loved all of the drunkard memory of Versailles. I think it embodies Arno's perfect character development. The constant rain and the bluish filter on every framerate added to the overall depressing atmosphere. I felt miserable while playing those quests, and the moment he steps out into the entrance of the Château de Versailles and reflects on his past decisions – decisions that have been stolen from him, because he could never defend himself nor change the course of actions on his own accord – that exact moment that he sits down and cries, I cried too.

Because all the game, all the memories, all the dialogues go in a crescendo only to crumble into this abyss. And this, in turn, creates a fleshed-out character, with a believable development, believable feelings, believable motivations. I can feel for Arno, I can understand him, I pity him, and I want to hug him. The whole game reaches its peak in its main character's worst moment: when he realizes that he's screwed everything up.

And not always do we get a story where the main character doesn't win. He just doesn't. Underneath its revolutionary streets, this story reeks of inexorability and fatality. You know it, you know it in the back of your head, but you push that thought apart because you want to enjoy jumping over rooftops and finding the best strategy to kill that man. There's this underlying, looming melancholy in every memory that you play in, and that's why the end doesn't surprise us.

It makes us cry, of course, but it didn't come as a surprise at all. If you're shocked about the end, then you haven't been paying enough attention to Élise's dialogues, to the tone of the story, to her letters, to where this plot was going. Because, like I said, the story is about Arno and Élise's relationship, it isn't about defeating the bad guy. And there was only one way that story could end.

*cries in French*

*Je pleure beaucoup*

I know the game has been panned by players for its performance. And being the 2020 year of our lord, I cannot say I reject those allegations, since it's been 6 years since the game was released. I hope enough patches were implemented to salvage the bugs. I only came across one bug in my entire playthrough which bothered me a little: some NPC's would sometimes pop into cutscenes and phase through the characters like nothing. At first it was funny, but then towards the end it happened two more times, in important cutscenes with our lovely couple, which kinda destroyed all immersion, if you know what I mean. The rest was fine: it never crashed on me, I didn't encounter the infamous, horrendous bug that unleashed memes in internet, never a T-pose or something that rendered the game unplayable – nothing, only that funny bug I mentioned. I did see the drop in framerates, specially in very crowded areas – but to be honest I never saw a game with so many NPC's together in the same place, like, hundreds of them, each with unique animations and varied models. I only come from playing Syndicate, and even there the number of NPC's was lower. Here is jarringly unreal, I didn't know the French Revolution was THIS jam-packed with people!

On a graphical department, this 2014 game still holds up. Very well. I think it even looks better in some scenes than some of its successors. The cutscenes were sometimes very cinematographic, with close ups, zoom outs, certain angles, with quite real lighting and shadows. I know it's not Naughty Dog and it doesn't have the whole Sony battalion behind, but damn if some of the character's expressions were really good. It didn't happen often, so when one of them had this very specific face I was like *insert surprised pikachu meme*.

I also enjoyed the music a lot. I don't know why but the one from the main menu stuck with me for a while. All of the songs have this Versailles, aristocratic tone to it which put me in the mood.

I have only one minor complaint and its entirely optional, let's say – I want to platinum this game. But I don't own PS plus, because it's, uhhh, expensive in my country (do not want to indulge in dollar exchange rates right now). And there are like two trophies only obtainable through multiplayer, which renders my trophy hunt useless. But, alas, I knew this before buying the game. I think that games shouldn't come with multiplayer trophies for the platinum. If you have to pay extra for something, it must be completely optional. And so should be the trophies related to it. It's a bit disappointing, though, because after finishing this game I want so bad to return to it, but if I can't platinum, I don't see myself coming back to it soon. Either way, I could still earn the rest of the trophies, but that would only enrage me more when the last 3% is going to be locked forever *cries again*.

All in all, my major question at the end is: why does this game receive so much hate? I guess if I came from a hardcore fan standpoint I could understand it more. If I had played all its predecessors before this one, I would also feel that the gameplay and the objectives are repetitive. That the challenges are bs. But the stealth aspect has been improved, the parkour has been redesigned and adapted, and as of now, bugs aren't a problem anymore. I want to believe that when a remaster for the PS5 comes out or, I don't know, if someone by divine grace has an epiphany in the near future regarding this game, people will change their mind on this one and will appreciate more what it wanted to be, than what they made it to be. After all, this is Arno's story. Arno's tragic love story.

Also this game is beautiful JUST LOOK AT IT LOOK AT IT!!! 

Sorry couldn’t help myself

[thepartingglassofthorin]

Of Rememberance

The day was brisk and bright! Songbirds sang as the fillies ran about the pastures, playing with friends and siblings. Not unlike the children of the Farmhouse.

Marlos sat at his table, looking out at his children and grandchildren playing. Not so long ago it seemed, there had only been two little scoundrels he had to watch after. Now there were at least seven, one more on the way, he wondered how on Arda the other families were able to house, feed and raise more than two!

His eyes followed one particular child. Raven locks pulled back into a beautiful braid whipped around as she turned to face her 'enemies', green eyes much too similar to his own sparkled with glee as her nephew ran at her, stick brandished high. As the mock battle continued, Marlos watched, curious to see the outcome. Rutty's skill far surpassed that of her brother's children, her being older than Brodrik by at least four years. Yet the gentle way she fought with them showed her heart, that this wasn't some obligated child's play she was forced to partake in. She thoroughly enjoyed it, and made sure to let her nephews have a few victories.

Marlos thought back at what her blood father had told him, back when Rutty was only toddler. His gaze turned from the scene beyond the window to the papers on the table in front of him. She hadn't found her heart yet, he was sure of it. None of the hands had taken her to fancy, and she hadn't taken a fancy either, as far as he knew...

Letters and invoices, two plates and more then one cup lay across the large table, all within his arm's reach however. His mind's eye scanned through each letter, their plea or request, and which took most importance.

"Have you figured out which ones you'd like to part with?" Marlos' wife, Natalia, sat next to him, scanning the papers in front of her husband. One particular letter sat atop the rest. The lettering was wide and the ink was thick.

Marlos shook his head as Natalia took the letter, reading it's contents.

"War ponies?!" She looked up at her husband, shock etched on her face and dread in the pit of her stomach. "What if it's near-"

Marlos shook his head again. "Not for here love, and they'd be more like pack animals, I should hope." He took her hand as she lowered the letter, rubbing her aging knuckles gently with his calloused thumb. "The Master will explain more when he arrives, I'm sure. He wished to keep much from this, should it fall into his enemy's hands."

The two sat in silence for more then a moment, staring at the letter as if it would burst into flames at any second. Natalia didn't like the idea, sending some poor animal to their door. She knew her husband well, however, and also knew he wouldn't trade lives for gold unlike a few men she had acquainted, even if they were animal's lives.

"Papa!" The door flung open, in rushed all seven children at once, some giggling and others hiding behind sly half smiles. Natalia and Marlos turned to look at their prosperity, the letter forgotten for just a moment.

"We found a little one!" The small crowd parted as two the two youngest children walked forward, their chests puffed out with pride, their hands held forward, clasping the small item within their grasp.

"That looks like more then one, Chandry," Natalia chuckled, holding out her own hands to let the two set their own in hers. The small sweaty fists opened to reveal small sprouting seeds, growing out of acorns. The bright green leaves stood proud and strong, much like the two children who placed them in her hand.

"Would you look at that," She marveled, pulling the children closer. "You can see where they've cracked the shell and everything!" Standing upright, slightly saddened that she wouldn't be able to speak more with Marlos, she gave back the seeds and lead the children back out the door, instructing them how to properly plant their seedlings.

He watched her and the parade of children walk, or waddle, out the door. He followed to shut the door, much more gently then the way it had been opened. The Master took a moment in the doorway to take in the view. On either side of him were open pastures, all the way down the lane until the trees of the forest obscured his vision, dotted with horses, ponies, mules, goats and sheep. The Lane continued up the hill and to the left, eventually connecting with the main road that traveled from the Blue Mountains through the Shire and through Bree, then becoming apart of the Great East Road. About halfway down the lane and to the left, hidden by the hill if you came down from the main road was the farm hand's quarters, connected to the stables.

Marlos stepped off his porch and started his way there, taking a good look at each animal as he passed. More then one hand wished him a good morning as he walked by, he watched as they worked for a moment. He saw the joy that they had in their work, and the gentle care they gave the animals. Content with the care they gave his property, he continued on.

He ducked into the stables, staying close to the wall as one of the hands walked by with milking supplies. Down to the far end, at the last stall, lay a small pony, one that was nearing the end of her life. As such, she had been placed within the spacious stall so as to better tend to her. She was going to throw many more foals, being only five years old when she came into their possession, but an illness had taken most of her zeal, and left her a shell of her excitable self. This pony knew no name, but was loved by all who came within her knicker, and Marlos knew it would be a sad day when her illness finally took her last breath.

The Pony knickered gently and slowly approached the gate, her velvety muzzle meeting Marlos' outstretched hand. He rubbed her face gently.

"Looks like it's just me and you, old one," He said, looking into her eyes. She leaned into his touch, glad to not have children with sharp fingers finding their way into her stall for a change. "Do you mind if I tell you something?" She didn't shy away, so Marlos continued.

"I'm worried," He told her, stroking her neck and rubbing her ears, all the while taking in her condition. "These dwarves are being secretive, and I'm unsure of their reason to come all the way out here, when there are many more liveries suited to their needs within the lands between Bree and the Trollshaws..."

She nickered again, gently tossing her head, as if she was finished with his attention.

Marlos grinned. "Oh, so you don't want to hear my stories," He mocked sweetly. "Then I guess these aren't for you..." He turned away and drew from a bucket on the wall behind him, pulling a sugar cube from to set it on his tongue, all the while watching the pony through a sidelong glance. She stared at him as if to say she would never forgive him. With a quiet chuckle, he conceded and gave her one, which she happily took from him, albeit with much slobber.

Sorrow entered his heart again as he watched her munch her sweet. "I don't know what to do," He mumbled, setting his forehead against hers, as if she would think his answer and he would be able to know it through their touch. In all his seventy three years, he had never been as conflicted as he was now.

"The Master has promised much treasure," He told the lady, gently holding her head and stroking her cheeks. "But if I do give them the ponies, I'm worried that-"

"Worried that what?"

Marlos turned suddenly to see Rutty standing in the hall. She held a brush and fly comb in one hand, and a pitchfork in the other. Marlos had forgotten he had tasked her with the pony's care.

With a rough sigh he pulled away from the animal, giving her a gentle pat on her snout.

"I'm worried about how much attention it could draw here," He told her, stepping away from the stall's gate. He stopped in front of Rutty, taking the brush and comb from her. Together they went to the stall and began to tend to their friend.

"Would it not be a good thin'," She asked, taking some grain and dumping it into the pony's tough as Marlos began to brush out her mane. "Many families in the land have their steeds and working animals, and those that do not have no need. Do we not need the... growth?"

Marlos hesitated with his stroke, another sigh escaped him as he finished. "Do you remember the family legend?"

"The one of the Elf general and his weddin'?" Rutty began to shovel the soiled hay into one corner.

"Correct. Do you also remember the conclusion?"

Rutty stopped, recalling the famed legend. An Elf General and his Bride had tasked the farm with their wedding feast, many great years ago. The Ancestor, his name long forgotten, agreed, and pulled out all the stops. However, the night before the Wedding, which was to be held at dawn, the Bride went missing. The General searched furiously, but to no avail. When he left, disheartened and grieved, his enemies descended upon the farm. They left only the Ancestor's immediate family alive, and one building, supposedly the stable which they stood in now.

"What does that have to do with our business," Rutty asked as she leaned on her pitch fork, her brows drawn together in confusion. Marlos turned to watch her as he explained.

"People of War bring things with them," He began, gently untangling the Pony's mane. Rutty began again, slow enough to hear her Father's words, but not as to prolong her task. "Enemies, more likely then not. Say I were to give these people their wish, fourteen ponies fit for a war. Say they were more then pleased with their performance-"

"They will be," She said, taking slight offense at his words, more then a little on guard at his mention of war.

"Of course they will be." He raised his hands in defense, catching an annoyed look from her as she furiously brought the soiled hay out of the stall. "My hands are the best out there, I have no doubt. In turn, these horses, ponies and mules we've raised are more likely then not the best that a Man can buy this side of Bree."

He began to stroke the pony's side with the brush, his eyes glazed over as he continued. "But if these war hounds go around and tell their other war friends of our high quality horses, more then likely demand would raise for a war animal."

Rutty returned to the stall's gate, her face pale as the realization dawned on her face. "We would not be sellin'-"

"-Animals that would live beyond their expected life time," Marlos finished, stopping his hands atop the pony's spine to better look at Rutty. "We might as well be running a butchery." He sighed and looked down at the Pony's hooves. He stood up and went back towards the door, and in turn towards the supply closet. Rutty was close behind, her task forgotten in her worry.

"Then deny them our ponies," She hissed, fury obvious in her voice. "Tell them we will not have any until the next spring time-"

"That's a down right lie and you know it," He grumbled at her, wondering how to giver her comfort as her heart broke.

"Why did ye even have the idea of givin' them me prizes?!"

Marlos' anger rose, not because his little Rutabaga was being disrespectful, but because she couldn't understand yet. He couldn't help her see, not yet. He inhaled slowly and watched as her face fell.

"My darling, I do not wish to see these beautiful creatures die," He began slowly, knowing each word he spoke could be used to bring Natalia down upon him as well. Rutty opened her mouth to argue, but he held up the awl again, silently asking her to wait. "I do not believe these men to be of ill intent, despite their wish to go to war. I invited them here for two reasons." Rutty's mouth fell open at his words. He invited them?!

"The first is to see what their character is," He began, tending to the pony's hoof as he spoke. "You know I will no sell my animals to people who will not deserve them. You also know how hard it is to tell what someone is like through a letter." Here he looked up at her, finding her scoffing at his remark.

She remembered when Brodrik spoke, through a letter, of his wife to be, and how little Rutty thought of her, at the time.

"They will stay as long as I need them to so that we may test their character."

Rutty opened her mouth again, but Marlos interrupted.

"That I might test their character," He corrected, a sly but playful look at her set her more at ease. He worked on the hoof for a while in silence, Rutty's fingers played in the pony's mane absently, but her mind flew with questions and statements. Of course her father would test them, but that didn't mean she couldn't have a little fun with them either!

"What of the second reason," She asked, twisting the mane together into a rose braid.

Marlos grumbled, then cried out in pain. His hand had slipped and caught on a rougher part of the hoof, ripping it open. The Pony began to stamp as the area lost it's calm atmosphere. Two hands rushed into the stable, having been taking a pipe break nearby.

Once they had taken care of their master and his daughter, they took the task over, being as gentle and loving as Marlos and Rutty had been. The Father and Daughter walked back to the home to better clean up his hand, but Rutty couldn't help but gaze back at the stable. She hoped that the pony wouldn't kick at them, she had done so previously when someone wasn't as gentle, but the loving knickers that called out calmed Rutty's heart. With a sigh of content, she took her father's elbow tightly and strode with him.

"Ohh, you fancy someone within," He asked cautiously, another sly grin on his aged face. Rutty frowned up at him, shaking her head furiously.

"No, much too young," She said through her nose. "I could easily be their great aunt!"

Marlos laughed as they stepped through the door, his hearty laugh echoed through the home as they made their way to the wash sink. Marlos sat down on the chair he had abandoned earlier, while Rutty drew some water. As the bowl filled, she gathered some rags and the jar of salve Natalia kept for deeper cuts, worried she might need it. She ignored Marlos' scoff as she sat next to him, taking the damp rag to his bloody hand. The Patient's face was tight, but whether it was from hidden pain or some other reason, Rutty knew not.

She worked in silence for a good long while, being sure to poke and prod at the wound so nothing was in there that wasn't supposed to be. As she began to apply the salve, Marlos finally spoke.

"The second reason I invited these strangers is because they are dwarves." Rutty's eyes quickly found his and the locked for more then a moment. Her hands stilled in their work, her mouth began to flap as she tried to find words.

"I thought ye said ye did not like-"

"I'm not a racist, Rutty," He warned, giving her look that made her mouth shut. "I might be a bigot at times, but I try not to judge others based on their ancestors." She began to slowly bandage his hand again. "I haven't let my livestock go to the dwarves because I was worried about what they might think of us."

Rutty's brows came together again, but she didn't stop her task this time.

"I was worried they might try to take you away from your Mother and I," He continued, looking at his hand as she thoughtfully wound the bandage. She was almost finished. "Your circumstance is not normal, no matter how you put it. Dwarves usually don't abandon their little ones."

"No one in their right mind would," She grumbled, pulling the knot tight, not noticing Marlos's grimace.

"The dwarf that left you with us was more concerned for your safekeeping then your heritage, and your mother and I thought it was best that you stay with us until you could decide for yourself," He said. His eyes were glazed over as he poured over the memory of that winter night. She watched his face intently, wondering if he would say anything he hadn't before. She knew he wasn't telling her everything, and anytime she would ask Natalia, she would tell her it wasn't her story to tell.

His mind returned from the past and he stared intently at his first child.

"We believe you are that age now. We will not let the dwarves know of your heritage, but from what Netar says- you remember him, don't you?"

"Is he Mum's nephew from the Blue Mountains?"

"Yes, he lives in a settlement filled with dwarves. By his reckoning, you are able the age where they young ones go out and start doing things on their own."

Rutty remembered when Brodrik was of age, she didn't understand why he had to go away to Bree with a few hands, or why he had suddenly grown twice her height in less than four months! Natalia explained it to her after he had left, after her own tears were mostly spent. Although the farm could support them all, it was important for him to decide what he wanted to do, before he became too old for others to apprentice him.

"Why not tell them," She asked. "What if they wanted to teach me?"

"These dwarves are going to war, Rutty, and I wouldn't want you involved if I can avoid it. And I can, and I will," He finished harshly. Rutty's mouth pulled to one side as she thought, her eyes falling away from her father and to the papers on the table. A house cat had settled on them, lazily sleeping away.

Marlos scowled at the cat, shooing him away as he gathered papers.

"Now, they should be arriving tomorrow, and the guest quarters need cleaned up. Would you be able to help Marta with that?" Rutty grumbled, she disliked the guest quarters, it had never sat well with her. Marlos looked at her over the tops of his papers, hiding an amused smile behind them.

"Who all is comin," She asked.

"I'm not sure... He did mention he would have an escort, but he didn't mention how many."

"Sounds like someone is scared," She mumbled under her breath, thankfully Marlos hadn't caught it, or he chose to ignore it.

"He did, however, mention he would be bringing his scribe." Rutty's face perked up at this, Marlos knew letting her know that seemingly minor detail would be the death of him. Rutty had always wanted to know more about her heritage, and rumor said the dwarves were meticulous about keeping lineage records...

"I know what you're thinking," Marlos said, taking his pencil from the table and wagging it at her. "I know how excited you are, and I am too. However, we can not be too careful."

"What?!"

"After we greet our guests, I would like you to watch your nieces and nephews while they are here," He continued, swiping the last of the breakfast crumbs off his papers and off the table.

"Not more babysittin' duty," She whined, scooting her chair back as he moved to grab the broom. Her eyes followed him to the pantry, boring into the back of his skull. "Not now!"

"We will have another chance," He assured her as he went about his task. "I am sure of it. I know we will keep in correspondence after this, He's already said that his bill will need to be a credit."

Rutty had been ready to fly into a rage, defend what she thought was her last chance at learning more about herself to her dying breath, but her father's words calmed her. She moved to stand up and make her way to the guest house, but a firm grip on her shoulder willed her to stay seated in the chair.

Marlos lowered himself to her eye's level, hoping that his hand on her shoulder would help convey the worry digging at the pit of his stomach. He still didn't know what the dwarves might do if they found her. They might drag her back to their settlement, they could condemn her to never enter their eyesight again. He unfortunately didn't know that much about them, never having grown up around them, or their traditions, curse their secrets! Once his little one had come to him, he had tried, in vain, to find more about them. Every hall he went to, barred him access, or informed him they had no such record. He tried to teach her what he did know, but as she grew she seemed to know somewhat more than he did...

"Please, try to stay out of their way," He pleaded.

Rutty frowned. "How do you mean?"

"I mean make sure the children don't-"

"Interrupt yer meetin's, be a noisey lot, the normal," She rambled. Marlos shook his head, she didn't understand her father's worry. It was alright, he would let it be, for now. With a brief smile, Marlos took the dustpan and walked to the window, throwing the contents to the breeze. He paused, the calm scene before him a stark contrast to the torment he felt inside.

"Are ye alright?" Rutty came up on his right side, sneaking under his arm and hugging him tightly. Marlos smiled at her, rubbing her arm as he returned the embrace.

"I know everything will be..."

The next morning was overcast, a very different feeling fell over the farm and it's lands. Closer to midday than dawn, a party of seven came down the lane. Each dwarf carried a weapon, and didn't appear very regal. Marlos knew better however. He kept the dwarrow's name a secret from his family, as the name carried a weight with it, and an outrageous temper.

Thrain, Son of Thror, New King of Durin's Folk slid off the saddle of his aged pony, inspecting the farm and it's buildings with scrutiny, thankfully paying no mind to the large family in front of the larger homestead. His weapon was a large war hammer, still strapped to his pony's side.

"Welcome Master Thrain," Marlos said, taking a step forward with his arms spread wide. He paid no mind to the uneasy ripple that passed through his family. The short dwarrow looked up at the tall man, the scrutinizing gaze turned now on his frame. If this man wasn't so tall, Thrain thought, He could pass for a dwarf! He had broad shoulders, a full head of once bright red hair with a matching trimmed beard, and bright eyes. He wore a green noble man's tunic, bordered at the neck with a lighter colored fabric, if Thrain's past years hadn't been so fabulously well off, he might have mistaken it for a golden trim.

Marlos deeply bowed once he reached an acceptable distance, his right hand over his chest while his left flourished above him. Thrain waited until he was upright again, then bowed to him, a stiff, unaccustomed bow, but that of respect. Thrain's old eyes scanned over the large family at last, and he felt a small bit of relief. Each one smiled, some more bright than the others, but it seemed none of them held him, or his escort, any ill will.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me on such... terms," Thrain said, stroking his beard as a farm hand gently came up and took his pony's reigns. He had kept much from this man, for fear of disagreement and possible betrayal, but was pleasantly surprised to find a welcoming situation, although it wasn't shown on his face.

Marlos grinned, waving away the old dwarf's stuffy atmosphere. "Come now, I've had a feud or two pass through my land more than once, I understand discretion when there's some to be had."

Thrain harrumphed. "Well, I thank you again." He turned and gestured to his entourage. They all dismounted, hands came and took their steed's reigns as they came to stand by their King. Each one wore a simple tunic, a cloak and hood, and thick, sturdy boots. The style and simple embellishments differed for each person, as did their weapons, but they looked like a very sturdy bunch.

"These are my personal guard," Thrain said, stepping back and gesturing to them. Three puffed their chests out, the first was a younger looking dwarf, his red hair almost rivaled Marlos's hair at one point in life, but now far out shined it. His nose was large, and the small clasps on his beard made his hair stick out in funny directions, but somehow completed the dwarf. He stood tall, his eyes were shining with pride under his thick eyebrows, his cloak was stained, but it had once been white, his hands held behind his back as he rocked back and forth on his feet.

The second dwarf was just a hair shorter then the first, but his hair was more tamed then the first as well. Maybe they were actually the same height... His, correction, her beard was only there on the sides, braided tightly against her jaw and falling down closely to her strong chin, silver beads dangled at the ends. Green eyes held mirth and just a hint of suspicion, darting around to better look at her surroundings. Her hand rested on her sword, hidden just under her green cloak.

The last dwarf had an even larger nose then the first did, but he looked very caring. His red cloak was well taken care of, and he watched the scenery around him, not suspicious or paranoid, simply curious and hopeful. His beard was starting to become silver already, and it had no clasps, beads or ornamentation, it was only forked at the end.

"Gloin, Bragar, and Balin," Thrain finished as the three bowed deeply, Gloin copied Thrain's stiff bow, while Balin and Bragar gave a more cheerful bow.

"At your service," They said, each voice deep and strong.

"This is my scribe, Fundin," Thrain continued, moving down the line. He thankfully missed the excited look Gloin gave when he walked by, else he may have sent the young one home.

Fundin held a messenger's bag close to his side, although the strap was slung across his body. His cloak was also red, although a deeper color than Balin's. His beard was white, and so were his eyebrows. His crown was clear of any hair, safe for a few growing out of a small mole towards the back. If it hadn't been such a long, curling bunch of hairs, Marlos would have missed it entirely. With a quick bow, Fundin reached forward and shook Marlos's hand, a bright, cheery smile on his aged face. "At your service!"

Marlos returned the gesture, quickly being pulled further to the last two dwarves. He could see Thrain's chest swell with pride, standing on their backside.

"These are my heirs, Thorin and Frerin," He said as they bowed, less rigid than Thrain's, and a little more deep, but just as full of respect as Thrain's had been. Thorin's beard was short, as was Frerin's, and these two could have been night and day, their color's were so striking! Thorin's hair was black, and Marlos was sure it would have been shining with blue had it been sunny out. Frerin's hair somehow managed to pull it off, and blew gently in the oncoming breeze.

Marlos felt a strange feeling in his heart then, as he watched these two young princes bow, a sudden sadness that overwhelmed him.

He fell forward suddenly, Frerin and Fundin caught him, Natalia rushed off the porch, not caring if the dwarves could see her underskirts as she ran.

The lady of the house pulled her husband off the two dwarves, Marlo’s held his hand to his head, a throbbing headache had begun, the deepening sorrow still aches in his chest.

”My good man, are you alright,” Fundin asked, adjusting his glasses on his nose, stepping forward and to the side, to better observe him.

Natalia answered for him. “I’m sure he’s quite alright, Master Dwarf,” She hurried. “He hasn’t been very sure on his feet as of late.”

”Must have tripped up on my own big toe,” Marlos joked, finally setting himself aright. He laced his arm around his Wife’s waist, a loving gesture, but frankly he didn’t trust his own two feet right now.

Fundin hummed to himself, tapping his chin as he thought.

”Well, if you insist..."

The night was swiftly come, and Marlos had no more scares of that sort. The pack of dwarves were ushered around the stables, a quick tour around the farm before Thrain politely insisted they prepare for dinner. Three hands lead the troupe to the guest quarters, freshly cleaned and ready for the strangers hopefully short stay.

The toddler grumpily watched the same strangers across his table. No one was normal, and he scowled at them for it. He didn't quite understand why they were there, or why he was stuck in a stuffy shirt. The shoulders were itchy and he couldn’t breathe in it! But Mother said, so away Rolund went with the stuffy, itchy all around awful shirt.

Auna Rutty lifted a spoon of food to his mouth, Rolund reluctantly opened his mouth. This was awful too. Mother had said Auna Rutty would help him eat, which normally wouldn’t have been bad. The problem tonight was Rutty said he wouldn’t make a mess! Not that he would, but no one wanted to let him feed himself, because ‘That was messy.’

Stupid grown ups, stupid guests, stupid stupid stupid! He wanted to run away from the table right that second!

Laughter brought the child's frustrated mind back to the table, he glared at the darker of the two young dwarves. Once he realized he was being watched, he scowled back. Rolund sunk in his seat away from his steely gaze, and also away from Auna Rutty's awaiting spoon of soup.

"Come now," She said, her voice tight with frustration. She lifted the fussy child up and sat him properly in his seat again, having returned the spoon and soup back to the bowl. "Your food is gettin' cold, and I know you have not eaten all day," She said quietly, fixing his collar and tilting his chin up. She smiled at him as her hand took the spoon again, blowing gently at it.

Her mind wandered as her ears followed her Father's conversation at the end of the table. They began to discuss which ponies might be sold out, her eyes glanced up for a moment.

"Ahhh!" Rolund shouted out in surprise more then pain. Hot soup poured down his shirt, and his chin, she had barely missed.

All eyes fell upon Rutty and Rolund as she quickly went to clean her nephew up, her cheeks blushing a deep scarlet. She muttered under her breath some choice words, finally deciding to pick the child up and carry him away. Too much had spilled on his shirt to be presentable in present company.

As she carried the child out with a quick apology towards The Master, Thorin and Frerin cast a curious glance at her speedy exit, then towards each other. As dinner and the business continued, the two Heirs of Durin took up a different conversation.

"Funny how she knows those..." Frerin spun his fork in his hand, twisting his food on the plate as he looked for the right word. "Choice, words...."

"Indeed..." Thorin looked at his own food, finding it not nearly as appetizing, although it truly was delicious, much better then the hardtack they had eaten on the way here.

Silence fell between the two for a moment, wondering how she could know those specific words, especially when they weren't.... kind words that a lady might have know.

"Maybe she heard them from a market's smithy," Frerin suggested, taking another bite of food.

"That must be it," He agreed, tucking into his food again.

The thought nagged at the back of their minds, both knew the other wouldn't leave it be, but they both decided to not argue the topic further. Surely she had simply overheard it?

Thorin looked up at each occupant of the table, none had been disturbed at her words, so they couldn't have known what it was. Her father couldn't have heard, Thrain had still been talking to him when she exclaimed, but he too wasn't perturbed.

The Eldest hummed to himself as he stabbed at his food, something didn't sit well with this visit, but he couldn't tell what it was. Maybe it was just the death of Thror, or maybe he was just tired and saddle sore. He wasn't sure, but it felt like the food in his belly started to churn as his thoughts swirled freely in his mind.

Snow came that night, despite it being the middle of spring. The children went out the next morning, disappointed that their little saplings had been frozen, but excited at the prospect of a snow war! Sides were formed, and forts build up. They stood spectacularly, the snowfall had been deep and would surely delay the dwarves departures a few days.

The two heirs had taken up a set of stones under some trees, the snow was brushed off the tops, and the gentle shade gave comfort to their eyes, the snow beginning to turn to ice as the sun climbed higher into the sky.

"<Look there>," Frerin chided, pointing at the fortress on the left. "<They need to fortify the right tower, it's going to topple at the slightest bombardment...>"

Thorin shook his head, leaning against the trunk of the tree. Couldn't he let them play?

"<Let them be, it's only a game.>" He closed his eyes, settling himself in for a lazy day. Father and the Master were taking an inventory of ponies, what sort of equipment they might need and so on. More then once this morning, Thorin thought he saw the Master's eye twitch in frustration as Thrain attempted to tell him how to run his livery. Thorin snorted quietly at the memory, Frerin took it as a reason to continue his assessment of the snowy battlements, a snort of his own as he turned from his brother's lazy attitude.

"<The right side isn't going to have enough snow to fight with.>" The walls were thick, proving to protect it's occupants, but the ground around was barren, mud becoming icy the closer it was to the walls, being messy the further away it was.

"<You know, you don't need to analyze everything you see,>" Thorin mumbled, wrapping his arms loosely around him, keeping the chilly breeze at bay.

"<You know father would be upset if I didn't put my keen eyes to use,>" Frerin grumbled back. He grimaced, recalling the conversation Thrain had before coming out this way.

Thorin noticed the lack of muttering, he peeked an eye open to find his brother's face blank. He frowned, shutting his eyes again and readjusting, this rock was digging into his tailbone.

"<Bets on who wins?>"

That brought Frerin out of his dark thoughts, his gaze fell on the stalled snow war. They had both finished their castles, now they were gathering enough snow for ammunition. The young one who made a mess last night was nearing the dwarves, gathering as much snow as he could in his bundled arms, a smile bright on his face.

Frerin chuckled, turning to look at Thorin. "<You know all those books Fundin had me read on stratagem, this will be all too easy!>"

Thorin smirked. "<Then place your bet.>"

Frerin turned, his finger finding his chin and giving a thoughtful tap. He talked to himself for a moment, reminding himself what the books had said, pointing subtly at one fort, then the other, comparing strengths and weaknesses, along with the so called teams.

What he didn't notice however, was the child aiming a snowball at him.

WHACK!!!

Frerin reared back, surprised at the sudden attack. Thorin peeked an eye open, assuming the war had begun with a stray snowball, but was baffled to see Frerin wearing it on his face. He wiped the snow off his forehead, looking up just in time to be hit by a second one, this time a muddy snowball. Frerin fell backwards at this one, it was much bigger, and much more messy.

"You wretched person!" The child called, crouching down to gather up another snowball. "How dare you call us funny!"

Thorin sprang to his feet, anger burned in his gaze as he made his way towards the child, hurriedly but now frighteningly so, while Frerin laid on his back in a bit of a daze, the muddy snow clump still on his face. This one hurt.

"You're the funny ones, coming here and having a beard!" The child shouted and threw more snowballs, trying to clear Frerin's rock shield to no avail. At worst, they'd smack the bottom of his boots.

The same lady that had taken the child last night came running up to him, picked him up and gave him a good hard swat on his bottom.

"We will not treat out guests that way, young man," She told him sternly as he began to cry.

Thorin waited where he stood, glaring at the scene before him, partly because of his anger, partly because of the snow.

"Ye will not insult the way they look! It is mean and not fair, maybe they like beards," She said, looking into his eyes as she set him back down. She knelt in front of him, her face drawn to one side in a scowl, she held his small hand in hers. He looked sheepishly at the snow between them, sniffling quietly.

"If ye have a disagreement with someone, ye approach them kindly and respectfully discuss yer problem with them. Nothin' is solved with violence."

Thorin thought about arguing but decided against it.

"Lastly, he was talking about books, not how yer funny lookin'," She said, a little more sternly, and a little more quietly. The boy ducked his head as he began to cry again. She let him cry for a while, until he was finished with his embarrassed tantrum.

Her gaze softened as she looked expectantly at him. The boy stuck his lip out.

"Do I have to Auna Rutty?"

"Yes, it is the right thin' to do, 'specially when ye did wrong."

The Lady stood up, brushed her skirts off and took the boy's hand, who lead the way over to Thorin.

Thorin's gaze remained cold, his arms crossed and he tried to look as intimidating as possible. He's pretty sure it worked as the boy looked again at the Lady, silently pleading for her to relent. She looked at him with a blank stare, waiting for him to finish what he started. With a ragged sigh, he looked back up at the Dwarf Prince, trying to look brave.

"I'm sorry I threw the snowballs at you."

Thorin bounced his head to one side, just a little. "I'm not the one you pelted."

The Lady's mouth fell open as the boy hung his shoulders, having his hopes dashed. "Ye were throwin' them at both?"

"No I wasn't," He said defiantly, stomping his foot.

Thorin stifled a giggle, turning away to 'cough' as the Lady turned her fiery gaze at him.

"Then I guess yer not done," She said as she dropped his hand, setting one on her hip while the other pointed back towards where Thorin had come from. Her voice finally held anger, albeit it sounded more annoyed then furious to Thorin. "Go find the other one and apologize!"

"You don't need to find me, I'm right here," Frerin said, coming up from behind the rocks. His face was covered in mud, snow and blood, the boy yelled out in surprise as the younger prince came over, carefully navigating the slippery terrain with one eye.

"I'm so sorry," Rutty began for the boy, who was now hiding behind her skirts, although he was almost half her height. Once Frerin came all the way over, and Rutty could see exactly how much blood was on his face, she stumbled over her words as she attempted to smooth his hair away, not sure how to best go about tending to a prince!

"Let us take ye to the barn," She mumbled, her eyes wide with worry and anxiety. If Master Thrain had seen his son like this...! She didn't want to finish her thought, so she grabbed Rolund's awaiting hand and led them to the barn's supply room.

Frerin and Thorin followed, both slightly amused at the other's nervousness. The children within the snow war failed to notice the debacle, and didn't mind their supervisor was now attending to other things...

Frerin's wound was thankfully superficial, but it did require bandages, if anything to keep his royal pain in the butukas from picking at it. Thorin waited and watched, leaning against a wall, as Rutty worked her talent, instructing Rolund what to do and what to fetch. He had actually nearly fainted at one point. Thorin remained quiet, while Frerin committed to small talk with the child, when he was available.

Every so often, Rutty would glance at Thorin, as if she was going to ask something, only to turn back to Frerin, Rolund, or the supplies, abandoning her previous thought.

"Now don't pick at it," Rolund commanded, sticking his chest out and wagging a finger at Frerin, who's hand had already drifted upwards to feel it.

Frerin chuckled, tenderly feeling his bandage. "Don't worry little one, I won't."

"Much," Thorin quipped.

Laughter came from the door leading to the barn, terror entered everyone's heart as they recognized the two voices.

Thrain and Marlos walked in, the first stopping dead in his tracks as he looked at his first son, then his second, rage building up from his toes to his hair. The Second felt a different kind of fear enter his heart, one for his daughter and grandson and the state they found themselves in.

"What, happened," Thrain asked through gritted teeth.

Rutty couldn't move, her mind was running faster then a river as she tried to explain how her blood had hurt his. Despite all the thoughts that crossed her mind, she couldn't form a cohesive sentence or spit it out.

Thorin watched as his father fingered the end of a hidden blade up his sleeve, time was running out before the pot would boil over.

"WELL?!"

Rutty jumped, her hand flying to her throat as she swallowed. Rolund hid behind her again, wanting to go and tell the scary dwarf what really happened, but at the same time the child wanted someone to command him to be more nice.

"We were watching the children play in the snow," Thorin began, his arms folded across his chest casually. "To be honest, I don't really know what happened, I just heard Frerin cry out." He gave a pointed look at his brother, who took it up to finish the story.

"Why don't you know what happened," Thrain asked.

"I was trying not to fall asleep," He said with a shrug.

"I slipped over a large rock," Frerin said, rolling his foot for emphasis. "I was going to get up to..." He rolled his hands, trying to emphasis something that Thrain wasn't getting, his fury was making him dense.

Thorin rolled his eyes, dropping his hands as if he was embarrassed. "You tripped and cut your head trying to go take a piss, that's so typical."

"Thorin!"

"Long story short, he's a klutzy ding bat with a small bladder and these two came to his rescue," Thorin finished, trying to appear frustrated, he happened to glance at Rutty, who was mightily confused and wasn't afraid to show it.

Thrain's fury left, his lips were in a straight line, he looked like the tired father of two very irresponsible teenagers, which wasn't far from the truth.

"It's just a scrape, it looks worse then it really is," Frerin added, casting an annoyed glace at his brother.

Marlos stumbled again, his hand flying to his forehead, sorrow and pity filled his soul, and this time he had a more sure feeling of why...

Thrain caught his friend, no longer upset at his offspring, or their so called rescuers.

"It's fine, I just slipped on some dung," He said, righting himself and smiling at everyone in the room. "Rutty, why don't you lead us to the kitchens, I'm sure Master Thrain would like to see his meal."

"Of course," She said, casting a curious glance at the two princes before taking the lead, heading out the door and towards the Guest's house.

As the party left, Rolund turned to his new found friends, if he would ever call them that.

"What was that for? Doncha know its bad to lie?"

Thorin laughed while Frerin grimaced. Rolund pinched his face as Thorin tousled his hair, smacking at the tuft where his hands had been.

" 'Specially to your Da, you're gonna be in big trouble," He added as the two walked outside. He walked to the door and leaned out, a smirk of confidence on his face. He was sure they would apologize now!

"Now who's gonna be in trouble if you tell him we lied," Thorin asked, turning back around and lowering himself to the young lad's eyes. Frerin hissed something at his brother, half under his breath, half through his teeth.

Rolund frowned, seeing the logic in the dwarf's words.

"I think," Thorin began slowly, "That you owe my brother something." He resumed his upright position as he rolled his shoulders, "Then it won't matter what happened to me."

Rolund looked at the older dwarf, Frerin wasn't sure what he was going to do. His face was pinched together, he seemed to be throwing thoughts around in his head. The young boy looked behind him, as if he was planning his escape through the stables. Frerin knew Thorin wouldn't let him escape, but he also knew Thorin wouldn't press it.

The little boy sighed, his shoulders sagging. The argument in his head was done, he had come to his decision. Rolund walked up to Frerin and held out his hand, not meeting his gaze.

"I'm sorry I threw that snowball at you," He mumbled.

The younger dwarf scratched the back of his head, "Sorry there, I couldn't hear you. Could you say that again?"

Rolund frowned, his face getting a light red blush to it. His awaiting hand became stiff with frustration. "I said-"

"Try looking up here lad," Frerin said, his hand moving from his cranium to his bandages. They already had started to itch...

With a loud huff, Rolund finally looked the prince in the eyes and yelled, "I'm sorry I threw that snowball at you!" He grabbed Frerin's other hand, which was held at his waist, shook it vigorously, and ran past the two princes, back towards the battle field, screaming all the way.

The two watched in strange bewilderment.

"What an unusual child," Frerin mumbled over his shoulder, to which Thorin could only nod in agreement.

Fog clung to the roads as Thorin ran up them towards Bag End, despite it being almost eleven in the morning. Two days late! He could hardly believe it! Getting lost wouldn’t save his rear end this time, that wizard would have his head!

When the green door finally appeared through the fog, Thorin couldn’t help but feel relieved. He jumped up the steps three at a time, nearly running into the door.

“Master Baggins,” he shouted, pounding on the door. Desperation was set deep in his voice, he wanted to see his brother again. When no answer came, he looked around for the bell rope, now remembering how upset Bilbo had been when Thorin had originally arrived. Once found, he shook it vigorously, the bell left a painful ringing in his ears.

”Master Baggins, please! Open this door!” Loud and heavy footsteps plodded down the hall, Thorin backed away, happening to cast a glance downwards. Mud covered his boots and lower parts of his pants. His spare hand ran through his hair in an attempt to tame it, the other readjusted his pack slung across his back. He put on a happier face, one that might even let out a smile! The door finally creaked open, only it wasn’t Bilbo Baggins. Standing in the great round door was a similarly round hobbit, his cheeks naturally red, with a small button nose. A robe was thrown hastily over his shoulders, his once bright blonde hair was still sticking up in odd places. The two stared at each other, both flabbergasted as to why the other was standing where they were. “Well? What do you want at this hour,” The hobbit grumbled, his hand coming up to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Thorin furrowed his brows in confusion. “Is this not Bag End?”

“No, this is- Who’s askin’?”

”Where is Master Baggins?”

”He’s away for the time being-“

”Do you know when he’ll be back?” Thorin’s mind was racing, surly they wouldn’t have left without him...

The hobbit’s brows furrowed deep into his own face, aghast at this dwarf’s rudeness. “He didn't say.”

The old King's throat closed up, his stomach dropped as he backed up, his foot nearly missing the step behind him. Pure shock filled from his toes to his beard, had they really left without him? But then who was leading them? Thorin turned away from the great green door, his free hand coming up to thoughtfully tug at his beard, his mind now racing for a different reason.

Master Gamgee stood in the doorway of his employer's home, on loan until he returned from his business venture, staring at this strange sight. He wasn't about to let this strange, grubby dwarf into his friend's home, oh no! He remembered Master Baggin's parting words well, "Should one spoon be missing from my drawers, you'll be paying for it!"

Master Baggins had been upset at something, Master Gamgee wasn't sure what, but with a stern sigh, and quick apology, Bilbo Baggins had set off on his venture, not an adventure, mind you, and left Master Gamgee with his belongings, save a rucksack, walking stick, a few hankies, and some other things for a long journey. Of course, Mrs Gamgee had pipped up at that point, Master Baggins was almost out of their garden, What of payment, she had questioned. Master Gamgee almost made her quiet down, surely living within such a grand burrow and keeping the amenities all in order wouldn't be that hard. Not only were they to live within the spacious building, they were free to use the land with it however they saw fit.

The dwarrowdam that was with the Hobbit at the time smile bright, reached deep into her pocket and pulled out a golden chain, a large soft blue stone set at the end of the chain. She gave it to Mrs Gamgee, who held her hands out and stared at the beautiful craftsmanship as if it might melt like snow through her fingers. "May this be enough to tide ye over until the Master Hobbit returns," She said, a gentle raise of her brow daring the humbled hobbit to ask for more.

Mrs Gamgee nodded, pulling the chain and stone close, ashamed of the way she had burst out.

Master Gamgee came out of his remembrance with a start. "Oh!"

Thorin turned to him, also pulled from his memories.

"Now wait just a moment here, Master Dwarf," He shouted as he ran back into the smial. The door shut with a soft thud, Thorin was growing impatient again. When he returned, he held an envelope, the edges of the face of it were set with a golden ink, Thorin's surname, rightly earned, set in center with a grand flourish. Master Gamgee held it out to him, Thorin took it as if it was laced with poison.

Another headache, very similar to the one he had when he had first woken up in Bree, and then awoken under the starry sky in the forest, throbbed in his mind. Thorin turned from the Smial, almost leaving the Poor Hobbit to watch him wander down the path. He remembered his manners just in time, turning around as he shut the gate behind him.

"Thank you master Hobbit, pray don't tell anyone you've seen me." The hobbit pinched his face up, peering out into the fog.

"Fat chance anyone saw ye, Master Dwarf. Good day." The Hobbit shut the door, it shut with a soft thud again, and was locked with a quiet click. Thorin turned from the gate, finally focusing on the letter. Vague memories pulled at him now, of letters very similar to this bringing what little light could be had to him and his brothers in Moria. But it felt as if it was not his own life he had seen letters as this, far from it. It almost felt like a dream...

He ripped the letter open, still thumping down the path as he made his way back west, headed for what he recalled from before was a Livery. The same grand lettering was found on the parchment within, only this was written in his own stony language.

Thorin slowed further in his progression then, trying to analyze the quill marks. That same feeling, as if he had seen these before in a dream pulled again. He held it close to his face to properly read the penmanship in the dull, foggy daylight.

       My Dearest Husband,

Thorin's heart lurched, husband?! He stopped dead in his tracks, now furiously reading the ink.

       I regret to inform you that we had to continue on without you. There is a livery just up the road that my father's dear friend's children now run. It is reputable, and they rear their foals with care. I have reserved a fine steed for you, quick as they come. Please hurry to catch us up, I fear it will soon 'rain on our parade,' as the Hands used to say. Treat your steed with care, if they fail you, then you must return to Ered Luin. There will be no way for you to catch us up before the Misty Mountains, even if you were lucky enough to find the Lord of Horses.

               See you soon,

                       Armis

TAGS!: @tschrist1 @emrfangirl

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

[piratedashmod]

I was inspired to draw a scene with Marigold and Opalescent Pearl ( @tambelon ), and a short little fic to go with it.  The picture is towards the end of the fic, so check under the cut to see how it plays out.

Marigold was not immune to having bad days, like every pony in the Crystal Empire still dealing with the effects of Sombra’s reign.  Sometimes it could be a small thing that sets them off.  And sometimes, it can be a snowball effect of things piling up.

On this day, the florist was experiencing the latter.  Numerous inconveniences and troubles came at her non-stop.  There was the missing seeds for the azaleas that needed to be planted before they became out-of-season.  A batch of tea olives were not growing as expected and became a bust.  There was near-daily harassment from the upper class ponies of the Empire who just wouldn’t leave her and her shameful habit alone.  And the biggest of all, a decline in sales that made her worry if she could still pay the lease on the flower shop and the subsequent apartment she lived in above it.

Marigold fought hard on this day to take a hit of the mind-altering substance she was addicted to.  It was her dirty secret, and led to gossip in the community that was taunting and, at times, very hurtful.  Today, she barely willed herself to avoid the substance, but still had to get the stress out.  Marigold burst out of the flower shop through the back door and hid herself in the alley as tears began to squeeze out of her tightly shut eyes.

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

On the other end of the emotional spectrum today was Opalescent Pearl.  She took a break from the tasks at her shop to go for a stroll in the Empire.  The weather was bright and sunny on this day, and the rays of light helped the crystal heart shine with a warm glow.

Pearl was humming a happy tune as her eyes shifted left and right to glance at each shop and home that was along her path.  The architecture of the Empire was unique in all of Equestria, and a point of pride for the village.  But upon strolling past Marigold’s shop, Pearl’s ear flickered as she heard something odd.  She paused to try and listen a little closer, eventually hearing soft sobbing coming from the alley next to her friend’s shop.  Looking down it, she saw strands of teal hair coming out from behind a discarded box.  It immediately clicked in Pearl’s head that it was Marigold hiding and crying in an alley.

“Marigold?” she called out in a soothing tone, walking into the alley to approach her.  “Is everything okay?”

Hearing her name called out made the florist gasp in shock.  Marigold looked back with tears streaming down her cheeks to see Pearl returning a look of concern.  “What’s wrong?” the cream-coated mare asked.  “What happened?  Tell me everything.”

Marigold tried to compose herself enough to give an answer, but all that came out was stammered and unintelligible whining.  She couldn’t even put three words together in the moment, unsure of how to explain things calmly.  It was too much for Marigold, who finally broke down into a deep and heavy sob that was long overdue.

Pearl swiftly moved forward to wrap a foreleg around Marigold’s shoulders and hold her close, who in turn buried her face into Pearl’s shoulder to cry it out.  This wasn’t the first time she’s had to comfort her friend.  There have been a few times where Marigold had a breakdown and Pearl was the bedrock that was sorely needed.  In fact, Pearl was the one who told Marigold that she was never alone in her fight during a previous breakdown.  She would eventually learn what triggered it this time, but her job right now is to play the role of comforting friend.

Of all the ponies in the Crystal Empire that were affected by Sombra’s reign and still dealing with the effects, Marigold was the one who seemingly made little progress in overcoming it.  And even though she ended up crying in an alley this time, it was a small step forward that she didn’t resort to Glitterdust.

[ask-de-writer]

THE MORGRIPE REPORT : MLP Fan Fiction

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to MLP Fan Fiction

Return to Tales to Read AFTER the Lights are OUT!

THE MORGRIPE REPORT

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

2180 words

© 2019 by Glen Ten-Eyck

All rights reserved.  This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

The small cloud white mare with black mane and tail was industriously clipping the grass and weeds around the tomb of Colonel Goodheart. The marble of his monument was softly lighted by the moon overhead. Done with her weed and grass tending, she raked up the trimmings into a tidy pile, ready to gather them up and take to the tomb that she shared with the liches Zom and Junea.

Even though she had heard it before, she listened politely to the Colonel's ghost as he talked to her while she worked, “Kind of ironic, you know, Bonnie, my mare.  I fought in two Prance Incursion Wars and didn't get a scratch.  Home on leave, despite my name of Goodheart, it was my bad heart that got me!  Heart attack and here I am!  

“I am so glad that a mortal like you lives among us who have passed on. It helps to have somepony like you to chat with.”

Bonnie smiled, “It works both ways, Colonel Goodheart.  I was abandoned as a small filly because of my stunted horn.  If Zom and Junea had not taken me into their tomb, I would have died that first winter.  Since then, you ghosts and liches have taught me so many neat and useful things!”

Bonnie was just reaching her limited horn magic down to bind her tasty grass and weed clippings into a shock to take back to the tomb that she lived in, when a pony came charging up and careless hooves scattered her dinner!  

The intruder announced breathlessly, “I am Melissa Newsnose, reporter for the Ponyville's Dark Secrets magazine!  I am here to demand . . .”

Very irritated, Bonnie did not wait to hear more.  She pulled out a whistle and blew three sharp blasts!

Pulled up short, Melissa, now irritated herself, snapped, “What was that for?”

Bonnie replied angrily, “The police!  It is after visiting hours and this cemetery is CLOSED!  Whoever you are, whatever your errand, you will be arrested for trespassing.”

Drawing herself up haughtily, Melissa replied, “I am a REPORTER working on a story.  You have no right to . . .”

Return police whistles cut her off.  There were nightwatch lanterns visible at the cemetery gate.  Official voices called, “Miss Bones!  Where are you?  What is happening?”

Bonnie called back, “Over here by the Goodheart monument!  We have an after hours trespasser!”

The police ponies converged on the scene.  One addressed the reporter, “Melissa, I am afraid that Bonnie is correct.  You have no business here at this hour.”

Argumentatively she retorted, “Then what is SHE doing here?”

Bonnie waited while the officer replied in a mild tone, “Miss Bones works here as a caretaker, usually in the evenings or after dark.  She tends the graves and keeps the grass trimmed.”

Bonnie agreed, “And part of my payment from Duchess Red Hoof is the right to graze the trimmings.”  She pointed to Melissa and growled, “Clumsy hoof there just ruined my dinner trimmings.  I had some nice dandelion flowers and greens and a nice thistle bloom but she trampled them all and even scattered my grass.”

Melissa drawled, “Sorry, I am sure.  You can just go pick some more.  I am here to solve the Morgripe murder case.”

Bonnie looked up with interest.  “Oh, have you found some shred of proof that he was murdered?  Something not in the police reports on the case?  Last that I heard, he was listed as a missing pony.”

One of the police ponies nodded.  “That's what we concluded.  I was on that case.  Bonnie here, stopped Morgripe, Gabe and Chaz from vandalism by knocking both Morgripe and Gabe flat.  Chaz ran and brought us.  He was spouting all sorts of nonsense about Miss Bones dropping from the sky on them!  Gabe got up and ran too, abandoning Morgripe.

It appears that after Miss Bones picked up their tools and paint brush, that Morgripe got up and left on his own.”

Melissa pounced on that.  “How do you know that she did not kill him, then?”

He replied, “Easy.  The grass and sod where he and Gabe fell made excellent impressions.  Besides, the spilled paint marked the spot beautifully.  If he was killed, his body would have to have been dragged off or carried.  She is too small to have carried him. Likewise, there were no deep tracks made by a heavily laden pony and no drag marks.  There were some hoof prints going back to the gravel path.  QED, he left on his own.

“I suspect that he finally actually saw Miss Bones during and after she flattened him.  He was always liar and braggart.  For years he and his buddies were saying that there was a monster in the graveyard.  I think that he realized that his monster was a filly way smaller than any of them and knew that the truth would get out.  Embarrassed, he just sneaked off and left town.”

Melissa snorted, “I saw the police reports.  Very unsatisfactory.  How could such a little wither horn as her possibly take on three ponies, all bigger than she is?”

Before Bonnie could respond to the insult, one of the police ponies cut in, “That last entry in the Morgripe file was made by constable Crager. That report came about because he saw Bonnie get ambushed by both Gabe and Chaz.  

“She flattened both of them and put a sleeper hold on Gabe, knocking him out for ten minutes or so.  Her involvement in the Morgripe case came up in conversation.  She then provided a statement which gave us better detail but changed nothing basic.”

Bonnie acidly pointed out, “This LITTLE WITHER HORN will be happy to demonstrate how I flattened those evil ponies.  All that you need to do is agree that I am not responsible for your injuries in front of these nice police ponies.  Once you do that, the demonstration can begin at once.”

Melissa turned to the police ponies and demanded, “Are you going to just stand there and let her threaten me like that?”

Calmly one of them replied, “Ma'am, you have been nothing but rude and unpleasant since we arrived.  We were called to deal with your trespassing in the cemetery after closing, which IS a crime, if a minor one.

“Bonnie did not threaten you, either.  You asked a question that was very rude and contained a direct personal insult.  She offered to answer it by a physical demonstration, which I gather, from your response, you have refused.”

The other put in, “Bonnie has been most forbearing in not demanding your immediate arrest and removal.  However, that is why we responded and what we must do.  Will you come to the station house, or must we put you in manacles?”

As they led her off, Bonnie heard Melissa expostulating, “But I am trying solve the Morgripe murder case!  She is a witness!”

Bonnie turned back to her work and found a pleasant surprise.  The ghost of the Colonel had been busy.  All of her clippings had been regathered. That was not all.  There was a nice sized helping of dandelion flowers to replace the few that had been ruined by Melissa's hooves.

The old warrior's ghost smiled down at her from where he was sitting on top of his tomb.  “Gathering that together and finding you more dandelions was pretty tiring, Bonnie.”

She smiled up at him and, gathering her meal with her weak magic, ghost floated up to his level to eat it.  Her legs folded comfortably under her, as if she were resting on a nice cushion, instead of empty air, offered, “I know that was hard for you do do, Colonel.  Here, even if you can't eat any of it, at least you can share the scent of it.”

They completed her meal in companionable silence.  Taking her leave politely, Bonnie went home, walking into Zom and Junea's crypt through the door.  As usual, she did not bother to open it, but simply passed through the solid oaken panels like she had been taught to do so long ago by the many ghosts who shared the graveyard with her adoptive parents, Zom and Junea.  There were other liches of several sorts and a few vampires too.  They all had good things to add to the education of an abandoned foal like she was.

She settled herself on the empty coffin shelf that had been her place since Zom and Junea took her in.  The attentive liches that she loved so much, carefully tucked her in before retiring to their coffins to wait out the passing of the day.

The next evening they arose as usual and shared a quiet breakfast. Technically, only Bonnie ate the fried hay twists but her loving liches took pleasure and emotional nourishment from watching her eat.

Since ponies rarely look UP, Bonnie floated ghost-like, up and put her head through the stone roof of the crypt to look about.  The way being clear, she floated over to the gravel path and trotted quietly towards the gate.  She floated up to peer cautiously over the wall.

Sure enough, there was Melissa Newsnose sitting in the omnibus weather shelter, keeping an eye on the cemetery mail box.  Bonnie went to the corner of the cemetery closest to the forest and emerged from the brush there, making it appear that she had come out of the Everfree. She trotted up the street to check the mailbox.

She was removing a letter and a note when Melissa spoke up.  “I wish to apologize for my behavior last evening, Miss Bones.  Would you be willing to show me where you encountered Morgipe, Gabe and Chaz?  I really am working on a story for Ponyville's Dark Secrets magazine.”

Bonnie chuckled, “You are new there, aren't you?  Your first story? Right?”

Melissa nodded as she got up.  “Yes, it is.  They told me that it was an important unsolved case.  Why do you ask?”

Bonnie produced a key and opened the gate for them to enter.  “Because PDS pulls that on just about all of their new staffers.  Seeing how fast they catch on that is a missing pony case rather than a murder is part of their testing new hires.”

“You just blew their game, didn't you?”

“Why not?  They aren't paying me.  Besides, you can still make a good story out of his disappearance.”

Carefully locking the gate behind them, Bonnie escorted Melissa into the cemetery.  Shortly she pointed, “I was doing some mortar repair on that tomb.  Since I was behind it and down almost at ground level with the work, they did not notice me.”

Bonnie crouched behind the tomb.  “When I heard enough of their plans, I jumped from here to the middle of the path, right between them and gave a Morgripe double buck.  I followed that with a forehoof strike at Gabe.  Chaz ran like a rabbit.  While I was gathering up their hammers and prybars, Gabe got up and ran too.  Morgripe just lay there blubbering.  I got his paint brush.

“Since I had seen him, his tools were gone and his paint all spilled, I figured that he wasn't going to do anything more and left to get ready for a Nightmare Night party.  When I got back from that, it was nearly dawn.  I looked, but there was no sign of him or any vandalism.  Went home.”

Melissa looked everything over carefully.  “I see.  That was quite a jump, but nothing impossible.  No wonder they thought that you fell from the sky!”

She made copious notes.  “I have two more things to ask, Bonnie. First, what do you think happened to Morgripe?  And second, would you please look over my story draft before I turn it in?”

As they were approaching the cemetery gate, Bonnie gave a cheerful laugh.  “Sure.  I will be happy to look over your story.

“As for that other one, I see three possibilities.  First, it was after the Nightmare rose and was sharing the sky with Celestia.  At such times, according to witches, the border between here and Nightmare Lands is thin.  He may have wandered into Nightmare and vanished from this Equestria.  Second, he may have gone into the Everfree, which is close by, to try finding my place to get even for being stopped.  He was like that.  Bad things can happen to any pony who does not know what he is about in the Everfree.  Third, the police version.  He left out of shame when he found out that the monster that he was talking up for years was a filly, smaller than any of them.”

As Bonnie was re locking the gate, Melissa said, “The Everfree angle was not in the police reports.  Thanks.  I think that I will use that one.  As for your first one, do you really believe that?”

Bonnie gave another giggle.  “I spend most of my time in a graveyard.  I just had to say it!”

~THE END~

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to MLP Fan Fiction

Return to Tales to Read AFTER the Lights are OUT!

[dregstrash]

Percabeth is amazing if you’re feeling up to it you should write some percabeth fluff lol they’re the cutest and We need some happiness in life

Listeennnn I just finished the Last Olympian and started reading the Lost Hero, and I can’t believe I forgot how much I dearly loved all of these demigods and just this universe. I’m remembering just how stressed I was when I read the Lost Hero for the first time and was wondering what happened to Percy and Annabeth, and just being happy rereading the Underwater Kiss scene. I literally have so many feelings.

And for writing fics.... honestly I just have this one scene in mind

For some reason Percy and Annabeth are doing some sword practice

They had some down time

And honestly why not

It started out pretty innocently

Their warm up was light and easy and there was only mild insults being thrown around

(”You’re getting soft, Seaweed Brain”)

(”I’m taking it easy on you, Wise Girl”)

It was when they started going through some practice drills that they started drawing more of a crowd

Percy didn’t really notice them until he saw that the empty amphitheater was suddenly occupied with a group of twenty campers

Some of them were the newly claimed demigods, and the others were some of their other friends were smirking down at them with mischievous gleams in their eyes

That’s when Percy should have been paying attention because just then a loud pang filled the outdoor space as Percy regained his balance and felt a sting in his shoulder

His attention focused back on Annabeth who was grinning in victory

he should have known being annabeth’s boyfriend wasn’t going to give him any kind of slack--if anything she pushed harder

“No fair!” Percy complained

Annabeth shrugged, “It’s fair if you’re the one who let down his guard.” 

Percy gave a lopsided sort of smirk as he reassumed his fighting stance. Annabeth did the same, and they started to circle one another, waiting

“Wanna make this interesting, Seaweed Brain?” Annabeth called so that her voice filled the space. 

Percy won’t be distracted. Even if his brain chose this exact moment to notice that two blonde tendrils of hair had escaped Annabeth’s pony tail and framed her face perfectly. 

Her gray eyes gleamed with a sort of dangerous light-- the kind that could either mean she was deciding which of the twenty ways she was going to rip you apart was the best or if she was having the best time of her life

Either way, Percy knew that it was kind of unfair for anyone to look that good with sweat and Greek armor on 

“First to disarm does the other one’s chores for week?” She said.

Percy flashed to his list of chores, and as much as he loved Annabeth, there was no way he was going to let an entire chore-free week out of his grasp 

“Deal.” Percy grinned before he attacked first

Here’s the thing. We know that Percy is a good swordsman-- probably the best swordsman, but he was also facing Annabeth

And he was at least smart enough to be on his toes as they exchanged parries and blows 

Annabeth struck at Percy’s side and he dodged and crossed their blades to try to get her off balance.

She held firm and managed to push him back.

A cheer went up from the stands.

“Beat him up, Chase! I got five drachma on you!” Clarisse’s voice rose up from the crowd.

“You got this, Percy!” The voice belonged to one of the Stolls but Percy had trouble concentrating on the crowd when he was too busy trying not to get pinned into a corner. 

In all honesty, the duel was pretty even. Annabeth was smart enough to keep Percy from using all of his sword fighting prowess, and using the expanse of the arena to try and wear Percy out. While Percy kept close watch on his guard, and looked for any openings he could

A few more parries and dodges, and Percy finally had some good ground

He lifted his sword ready to execute the move he had first learned at Camp Half-Blood when Annabeth did something truly surprising

She lifted both her arms and brought her sword down, pushing all of her balance to the front

It was a weak strategy--even for her, and Percy reflexively lifted his blade to meet hers

It brought their faces only inches apart, and before Percy knew it, she brought her lips to his

Like it always did when Annabeth kissed Percy, the whole world reduced to an insignificant mass. 

He was still getting used to this side of Annabeth. This affection, this freedom, this glowing warm feeling that floated through him every time she was around. And if he was a little quicker with the uptake, he would have noticed how his sword arm went slack, and his sword clattered to the ground

A cheer went up from the crowd along with some groans, but all Percy could do was smile

Annabeth laughed as she raised both of her arms in the air and gave a small bow to the crowd.

“It would probably be useless to say that was cheating, right?” Percy said when they finally exited the sword arena hand in hand

“Probably. But look on the bright side,” Annabeth’s eyes twinkled, “Now you get to do my chores.” 

Percy laughed because to be honest, he’d do a month’s worth of chores if that meant he’d still be able to hold Annabeth’s hand, hear her laugh, and have her kiss him again 

Besides he could always challenge her double or nothing in their next sword practice

He might even try her winning strategy 

[shimikonde]

Romeo and Juliet and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Return of the King pt. 4 (4th light novel, pg 108-117)

part 4/5 of 1-b’s school play is finished!! i can’t believe that there’s only 10 more pages of this to translate now we’re almost finished!!

this chapter is a wild ride LMAO thank you so much to @rachiebird​ for betaing this again!! 

also thank u to the people who remind me to get off my butt and actually do this it rly makes all the difference lmao

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

“My pocket?”

As Romeo took the ring from his pocket, a dazzling light shined down across the entire stage. While the audience was still disoriented from the light, the gold-painted slice of chikuwa posing as a ring was lowered down. The plan was that, by the time the audience’s eyes had adjusted, it would look like the ring was floating.

Right then, Shiozaki appeared as the Spirit of the Ring and descended decinely upon the backs of Pony and Juurouta, a pair of hippogriffs. The howls of the hippogriffs only heightened Shiozaki’s aura of holiness, and the crowd let out cheers of delight in response. However, Monoma frowned as he noticed an unexpected smell, sniffing the air to find the source. It was the ring right in front of him.

“I am in no way the Spirit of the Chikuwa… I’m the Spirit of the Ring… No matter what anyone might say.”

It was from Shiozaki’s adlibbing and the meekness in which she did it that Monoma knew what the ring really was.

(Why chikuwa?!)

He held in the urge to shout out the retort with all his might. Monoma twitched a bit as he put on a surprised look at the Spirit of the Ring that had just appeared. “The Spirit of the Ring…?!”

“Listen closely, Romeo… The ring is with you… When you wish it, the ring will become your power… Furthermore, I am not the Spirit of the Chikuwa…”

Having reminded them, Shiozaki retreated back to the ceiling along with the roaring hippogriffs. Whispers of “why chikuwa?” came from all across the hall, but Monoma brushed aside their questions with his own booming voice. “Just now! What was that…! The Spirit of the Ring… You mean to say it’s the spirit of this ring, the ring that has been passed down through the royal family generation after generation…!”

And then he had a sudden realization, continuing, “There’s no time for this. I need to hurry and rescue Juliet, or else…!”

His expression was resolute as he stared far into the distance, the mood in the auditorium returning to normal. To Monoma, who had made it happen, all of the people in the wings sighed in relief, “He made it through.” Their roles having ended, Shiozaki and the rest also returned to the wings, relieved.

“I knew it, that guy really is amazing…”

Having said that, Tetsutetsu wolfed down a bite of the remaining chikuwa. It would be his turn on stage soon, so he was psyching himself up with a quick meal. The climax was quickly approaching, filling the wings with a sense of elation. After this, Count Paris would defeat Master Obi-Wan, declare himself Romeo’s real father, and then their confrontation would follow.

“Everyone, we’re going to cut the lights. This is the last set change, let’s do it.”

Everyone set their faces at the sound of Honenuki’s voice and went in standby positions for the set change. Next would be Count Paris’s castle, the scene of the final battle.

“Blackout in… six, five, four, three… cut the lights. We have fifty seconds.”

When Honenuki’s countdown reached ten seconds, Kaibara was heard saying, “I said we can talk about it later, break a leg!” before running off into the wings. Monoma looked after him like he wanted to say, “No, you’re misunderstanding…” but as the lights switched back on across the stage, he immediately switched over to Romeo.

“I finally made it… So, this is the castle that Rey said she saw…” Monoma muttered as he looked up at the eerie backdrop of a stone-cut castle. In the wings, the stagehands and the people whose roles had already finished were already acting as if the play had ended, having just managed to overcome the final major challenge.

In the midst of them, Honenuki never lost his cool, watching over the stage while giving the next directions.

“After this we still have the aerial combat. Standby positions.” Following Honenuki’s words, many people hurried over to various places in standby. “I’m counting on you, everyone…”

Tetsutetsu was waiting beside him, looking a bit nervous as he waited for his cue, so Honenuki called out to him in a quiet voice. “You’ll be fine. You’ve done this fine during practices. Just put your all into it. Ah, but you should still try to keep your voice down a little.”

“Yeah.”

Kodai, who was just behind them, nodded her head as if to say, “You’ll be fine.”

Tetsutetsu nodded back at the both of them. “Right, I can do this. Just leave it to me…”

At Honenuki’s signal, Tetsutetsu entered the stage. Recalling all of the instructions about acting that Monoma had given him during practice, Tetsutetsu waited for the right moment to draw the audience’s attention and spoke slowly and quietly, in a low, carrying voice.

“…my, I don’t remember inviting any guests. But I’ve been waiting for you, Prince Romeo.”

(…that’s right, just like that.)

Monoma gave a small smile at Tetsutetu’s performance before plunging himself into his own role.

“As suspected, that suspicious man was you, Count Paris! Where is Juliet?!”

“What I do with my possessions is my business…”

“It seems you have no intention of returning her… In that case, I’ll take her back myself!” Monoma let loose a roar as he slashed at Tetsutetsu. However, Tetsutetsu-as-Count Paris brushed him away in a single swing. Blown away, Monoma let out an awed, “This is no ordinary man…!”

“Wait, Romeo. Let me be the one to face that man.”

“You’re… Master Obi-Wan? Why?!”

Bondo-as-Master Obi-Wan appeared, lead by Nirengeki and Awase as Frodo and Sam.

Nirengeki said, “While we were searching for the king, Obi-Wan appeared before us. He said that he had something of the utmost importance to convey to you…!”

“Romeo, you often skipped out on your Force training, and you were by no means a good pupil. However, ever since you were born I’ve always thought of you as something of a grandson… That’s precisely why I, now, must be the one to defeat this man…”

“You’ve got quite the nostalgic face, Obi-Wan… But rather than a joyous reunion, I think it’s more befitting to call this a final farewell.” With his volume suppressed and a penetrating gaze, Tetsutetsu-as-Count Paris emitted a huge amount of presence just by standing, intimidating the audience.

In the wings, people were getting excited over Tetsutetsu and co’s performances.

“Tetsutetsu! That kid can do anything if he sets his mind to it!” Tsuburaba said while nodding his head up and down.

“What are you, his mom?” Kaibara quipped.

On stage, Tetsutetsu was completely villainous, casting out a menacing aura that made the two of them hold their breath and watch how the rest of the performance played out.

“This man is a ghost who was confined to Azkaban… A being who does not belong in this realm…”

Kuroiro fidgeted in the wings, as if Obi-Wan’s line had tickled his chunibyo heart.

Monoma-as-Romeo shouted in surprise, “In the infamous prison, Azkaban?! What horrible crimes could he have committed?”

“I died in Azkaban, and I was reborn. All in order to fulfill my duty.”

“Don’t say another word, evil being… Ha!”

Raising his hands, Obi-Wan turned to face Count Paris. “Oof,” Tetsutetsu said as he was attacked by the Force, getting blown back and floating in the air just like that.

“It seems your power has not faded over the years, Obi-Wan.”

“Master Obi-Wan!”

“All of you, stand back! I’ll…”

As he said that, Obi-Wan drifted up to the sky. From here on, it would be aerial combat using the Force. Using Pony’s “Horn Canon”, Tokage’s “Lizard’s Tail”, and Rin’s “Scales”, the two of them were able to be manipulated freely through the air.

“Ha!”

“Ha!”

While showing off each Force attack, they flew around over the heads of the audience. Kaibara matched their blows, set off firecrackers that he’d prepared on the walls. Startled by the overflowing presence, the audience was unable to turn their eyes from the two of them. However, as if to control the enjoyment of the audience, Count Paris stared at Obi-Wan coldly and declared, “Obi-Wan, You haven’t changed at all… But I have… Since the last time we met, I’ve obtained tremendous power…!”

Count Paris landed the finishing blow on Obi-Wan. As Obi-Wan was blown all the way back to the stage, Romeo and the others rushed to him.

“Master Obi-Wan!”

“This can’t be… The most powerful man in all of Gondor has…!”

“Romeo… This is the one man we must never allow near our country… Okay…? You’re the one who will lead Gondor in the future…”

As Obi-Wan let out his death rattle, Romeo began to break into tears. “No… Obi-Wan, you can’t… I still have so much to learn from you…”

Count Paris approached him. “Prince Romeo… No, Romeo…”

“My prince!”

Romeo looked back at the sound of Frodo and Sam’s voices, then startled.

“Juliet!!”

Kodai-as-Juliet was standing on the castle terrace. Behind her, as if using the castle as a perch, a growling dragon leered at Romeo’s group.

Drying his tears, Romeo stood at once, facing his arch nemesis, Count Paris.

“My name is Romeo! Ghost of Azkaban, Count Paris! I’m tacking Juliet back!!”

But Count Paris turned, making a sorrowful face as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Romeo… You must have heard from Obi-Wan about your father. Him being the Kingdom of Gondor’s king… That was a lie.” Count Paris suddenly took off the hood he’d been wearing up until now and said decisively: “Romeo, I am your father.”

“YOU’RE LYING!!!”

Shock didn’t even begin to describe what Romeo was feeling, his emotions accentuated by theatrical acoustics and even further by the lights bathing him.

Having learned the shocking truth, all the audience could do was look on in mute awe.

“Now, how about you call me dad!”

“Never!!! What a foul lie! I can’t believe it, that you could be my father…! Besides, my father is alive! He’s not in the country now, but I will definitely find him!”

“That meddling Obi-Wan, filling you with lies. Listen, your father is actually—”

“Do you think I’d keep listening to your nonsense?! I’m saving Juliet, now!” Saying that, Romeo swung at Count Paris. However...

“…huh? Is something wrong with Tetsutetsu?” asked Kaibara from the wings, noticing Tetsutetsu’s state. The plan was that he was supposed to beautifully avoid Monoma’s attack, but instead he was hunched over, holding his stomach. Monoma also seemed surprised at the sudden development, appearing unsure of how to continue.

“He looks kinda pale… Is he not feeling well or something?” said Honenuki, who had noticed the same thing and was now looking worriedly at Tetsutetsu on the stage.

“Ah, could it be this?!”

Setsuna, flustered, was holding the plastic bag the chikuwa had come in. The expiration date had passed a fair while ago. Everyone’s heads swung back to Tetsutetsu with concern, watching Tetsutetsu writhing from the pain of his sudden stomachache.

This is what Monoma had been trying to say earlier, that the chikuwa smelled as if it’d gone bad.

“Jeez! He never pays mush attention to these things!”

Komori was so worried that she’d worked herself into an angry huff, which Kuroiro tried to calm with a, “Th-there, there.”

Thinking carefully, Honenuki played the role given to him and said calmly, “In any case, we need to get Tetsutetsu off the stage. At this rate, he won’t be able to do anything.”

After seeing Tetsutetsu’s state, there were no objections. That said, there was one problem.

“But how?”

“Not to mention, how are we going to even do this scene without Tetsutetsu? We can’t just rely on Monoma alone... We could tell Tetsutetsu to leave the stage for health reasons, but if we do—”  

It would mean they had to completely change the script and end in adlib. But was that even possible?

“Rather than ending on a bad note, maybe it’d be better to quit while we’re—”

Honenuki shook his head at Rin, who had offered the suggestion merely as one possible option.

“…The show must go on. Once the curtain’s drawn, we can’t close it again until we’ve finished the play. It’s out of respect to the people who came to see us, and also our pride as the people putting on the play.”

“…!”

Looking at everyone’s surprised faces, Honenuki continued, “…is what was written in the Stage Director’s book.”

“The book?!” Tsuburaba shot out, but Honenuki continued to speak gently, in an attempt to calm everyone down.

“But, you know. We’ve all worked so hard up until now, just for this day. I don’t really want to end it half-way, either.”

From the day they decided on the program, all of their weekends, their time after school, and even their breaks had all been dedicated to bringing their strength together and making a great play. They only had one chance to perform: it was all for this play.

Even before Honenuki said anything, everyone was already overflowing with passion.

Rin spoke for everyone. “Let’s do it. To the end.”

Class B had made up their minds. Now they just needed to figure out how.

Honenuki spent a short time organizing his thoughts before saying, “First, in order to get Tetsutetsu back, we need to avert the audience’s attention from the stage.”

[turning-dreams-into-chaos]

The Badass

*Not My Gif*

Post Date: 7-26-19

Paring: Daryl Dixon x Reader

Word Count: 3.2K

A/N: I have never written a Daryl Dixon fic before but it’s my best friend Elodie’s birthday today and she is the only one who really knows I write so she asked me to write her a Daryl fic and so who am I to refuse. 😂 Happy Birthday El. Tell me what you guys think and I might write him more if this gets good feedback... I don’t know how it turned out. Also, why are accents so hard to write?

~Master List~

~Prompt List~

Requests are closed

The dead were walking and you were running away. It’s been so long since you’ve seen another person that has a functioning brain that you honestly thought for a while you might’ve been the last one in the state. You had a couple different groups since the world died but when that turned to shit it was just you, your bow and arrows and the knife you managed to grab before your camp was destroyed. You hated this life, you hated the dead not dying and but your friends did. You hated all the people that begged you to put an arrow in their head because they got bit or the large number of people dead at your hand because they were a danger. At this point you were in double digits and even though you weren’t dead, it killed you. You were done with killing the creepers (as your last group had called them) and ready to give up.

You found an abandoned grocery store still stocked with a few necessities as you pushed the old sliding doors open, tapping your bow against the wall to draw the creepers out. There were only 3 and you managed to take them down with ease. You checked around the store a little more for stragglers, not seeing any as you began to look around for things you needed. Canned foods seemed to be your go to as you filled one of your bags with them, tossing one over your shoulder as you heard voices.

“Guess Glenn was right. This place looks useful.” A man said as you quickly ducked, grabbing your bow off your shoulder as well as some arrows, you never know what you’d need. You cursed under your breath as you took a look around the corner, trying to get a look at the people. You could only see two, one sporting a sheriff uniform with a gun and another looking more rough around the edges with long hair, wearing a sleeveless vest with wings on the back and a crossbow. They began to check the shelves, grabbing some items you couldn’t see as you grabbed your duffle, trying to slip out as four more people came in. They obviously weren’t with the first two as their guns were aimed at their heads. Everything in you as screaming at you to run and get out of there before they find you but another part didn’t let you. You found yourself watching with narrow eyes behind a checkout as the second group disarmed the two men, getting them on their knees as they pointed guns to their heads. They exchanged worried looks at each other as the four men dumped out their bags, digging through as they found anything useful. The long haired man had mumbled something you couldn’t hear earning him a punch in the face. Your fingers found your arrow as you put it in place on your bow, ready to take action if needed. Apparently the man who was currently spitting blood onto the ground didn’t know when to shut up because he spoke again, receiving another punch as one of the men who you deemed the leader just groaned.

“Stop playing with your food and just shoot ‘em!” He yelled as the men aiming guns smirked. If you were going to act, it was gonna have to happen, now. You pulled your bow up, aiming at the man holding the gun to angel wings before letting go, hitting the man right in the head and loading another arrow and shooting at the other man before he even hit the ground. The leader and his buddy turned around as they fell, exchanging worried looks before putting they pulled out their guns, one aimed at the kneeling men and the leader’s out, looking around for you.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are! Or we’ll shoot your friends!” He yelled as you sat back against the wall. You grabbed another arrow, listening for the mans footsteps as he got closer to you. You sucked in a breath, pulling back the bow string as you got onto your knees, aiming the bow at his head before he could even see you. The bow went into his head and he fell. You grabbed your last few arrows, getting out of your spot without being seen as you heard a thud. You stood up fast, arrow loaded and pulled back as you took in the scene. The two men had either knocked out or killed the last man and got their gun and crossbow back, which is now aimed at you as you aimed at them. No one said anything as you looked at each other.

“You took out the other men?” The shorter haired man asked way too surprised. You scoffed as you nodded your head, not dropping your bow or gaze. But he dropped his gun, well lowered it as he looked you over. He took in your appearance, an old red and white flannel ridden with holes atop a black tank and jean shorts. Your H/C hair was pulled into an unruly side pony. You didn’t look intimidating until you reach your bow, taut as you eyes bored into theirs. He nudged the other man, trying to tell him to lower his weapon a little. He did but you didn’t.

“She gonna lower hers?” The second asked, pointing one of his arrows at you. You didn’t say anything only shifted your bow from the sheriff to him.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put an arrow through your head.” You threatened as they looked at each other. You took this time to look at them and their things, not having seen before. Your eyes stopped on the basket they were filling earlier, finally seeing the contents as your bow dropped.

“Shit.” You mumbled as they followed your gaze. The basket was packed with kid supplies, diapers, bottles, little clothes, you name it and it was in the basket. You wasted no time retreating to the checkout stand. Grabbing your bag before recovering your arrows from the dead men. You hadn’t realized the men were watching you until you grabbed a few final things front the shelves, walking towards the exit.

“Hold up.” One yelled, probably not the sheriff by the sound of his voice, as you increased your walking. Footsteps increased as you took off running through the town, hoping you lost them. When you turned around and didn’t see them you sighed in relief, fixing your bags on your shoulders. The town was practically torn apart. Some buildings collapsed as others held up.

Lucky was on your side as you approached one of the buildings that hadn’t collapsed, looking in as you realized it was a bar.

“Thank god.” You smiled as you pulled up the door, broken glass crunching under your feet as you checked for creepers. None. For the first time since the damn apocalypse you landed in a bar with no creepers. It looked to be ransacked a few times over but there were still bottles. You fell onto one the broken bar stools, ignoring the uncomfortably weak seats and threw your bow onto the counter as you grabbed the most unbroken glass and poured yourself a drink. The glass hit your lips as the door swung open, revealing your two fans as you grabbed your bow. You glared at them as they aimed at you. They wouldn’t aim at you if you were walking out of here, wouldn’t they.

“Don’t shoot.” The sheriff said as he put his hands in the air, the gun going with it. He looked nice, but looks could be deceiving, just look at you. You didn’t look like a killer, yet here we are. Mr. Angel Wings, as you had begun to call him in your head, made no move once again as he continued to aim at you. You rolled your eyes and held back a smirk, knowing if you were in his situation you would act the same way.

“What about him?” You nodded toward him as the sheriff made him lower it. You threw caution to the wind and put your weapon down. You didn’t care what happened now, let them kill you, you’d die eventually anyway. You turned back in your stool, leaning over the counter as you grabbed two more glasses. “Want some?”

Scuffling of feet was heard behind you before Mr. Angel Wings took the stool next to you, pouring his own glass as he watched you out of the corner of your eye. You stopped holding back your smirk as you downed your drink. You noticed the other man hadn’t sat down yet and furrowed your brows, turning around to see him watching you. Reluctantly he took a seat, taking a drink as well. No one said anything, choosing to stay in silence until the bottle ran out. The groans of the creepers caught your attention as pressed your head into the counter, trying to ignore them.

“What’s your name?” Sheriff said as you spit out a laugh. God if there was one thing you hated more than the dead it was small talk.

“Y/N. Names Y/N.”

“I’m Rick. That’s Daryl.” Rick mumbled as he finally turned to look at you. You avoided his eyes, seeing how much more put together they looked. Probably meaning they had a camp. You wanted more than anything for the conversation to stop, people were messy. You get to know them then they died and you couldn’t stand that anymore. People were messy.

“How many walkers ya kill?” Mr. Angel Wings, Daryl, asked as you gave him an are-you-serious look. Walkers, so that’s what they call them.

You turned in your stool to face them, “Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine. Is that even a question you can ask these days? Ya think I count each and every one I kill? That’s dumb.” You saw Daryl’s lips turn up a little at your words, finding you amusing. You looked for another bottle, pouring it into your glass.

You were just about to enjoy it before freezing at Ricks words. “How many people you kill?”

They noticed your pause, Rick leaning onto the counter in front of him and Daryl staring into the side of your head. Realization struck you as you finally downed your drink.

“I’m not joining your group.” They didn’t say anything as you stood up, grabbing your things and another bottle, shoving it into your bag as you headed towards the door.

“You didn’t shoot us.” You stopped, unsure of where to go with that. “You saw the baby stuff and you put your weapon down.” Rick carried on as you stared at the door. You wanted to leave but that same feeling from earlier stopping you. “We’re good people and you don’t seem to be part of a group, otherwise you wouldn’t be carrying everything you owned on your back.

He was right. You were alone and they seemed like good people, just one problem. “What if I’m not good people?” Rick didn’t say anything as Daryl scoffed, not even looking at you as he took another drink.

“If ya weren’t then ya would’ve shot us. Yer good people whether ya wanna be or ya don’t.” You finally turned around as Daryl did, locking onto his eyes as you thought.

“I’m not answering your question. I can’t give you an answer.” Your voice was quiet as Rick put his hands on his hips, looking between you and the ground as he rubbed his face.

“You got a guess?” He offered, hoping you could give them a glimpse. You shook your head, honestly having no idea. Daryl stood up, crossbow in hand as he got closer to you, stopping in front of you as he looked you over. You tried not to cower meeting his eyes as his jaw locked. You didn’t know what was going through his head until he stuck his hand out, offering you an arrow you assume you left at the bar. You nodded your head, trying to lose the red tint in your cheeks as took it.

“You’re good people.” Rick said as you snapped your attention away from Daryl.

“Where’s this camp?” You sighed giving in to their offer. Maybe a camp wouldn’t be so bad, they made it this far, right. Daryl smirked at you and you caught it before it disappeared but you didn’t care, something about him intrigued you, and little did you know you intrigued him as well.

They led you outside and you started to follow behind them down the street a little ways to their car. You weren’t sure if you should completely trust them, but you pushed past it, throwing your duffle and bow into the trunk. “You’re not gonna kill me, right?” You joked, shooting them a smile that was returned with another smirk from the brooding Daryl and a more relaxed smile from Rick. You planted yourself in the front seat of the car, throwing your legs up onto the dash and leaning your head back as Daryl opened your door.

“Yer in the back.” He grumbled, nodding his head to the backseat as you smirked up to him.

“But I’m comfy.”

“Get comfy in the back.”

You let out a groan as you pushed yourself up and out of the car, falling into the back seat as Rick and Daryl took theirs.

“I don’t understand why the badass wannabe got the front seat, I was there first.” You fake pouted as Daryl raised his brows at you, Rick held back a snicker as Daryl pushed him slightly.

“What? She’s funny.” He defended himself as you laughed a little. He started the car up as you took off, sitting toward in your seat to put yourself between the two men. Daryl kept his eye on you through the rear view mirror and once you noticed you sent him a wink. He quickly looked away as you turned toward him.

“Hey, that crossbow, how much harder is it to use than a gun?” You questioned as he put a hand in front of his face, gently biting on his nail.

“Ya ever shot a gun?”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “You ain’t the only badass in the car.”

“Yeah, Rick’s here.” He joked as Ricks eyes widened, giving you the impression he doesn’t joke much with new people or he doesn’t joke much at all.

“I know you know I meant me. My bow ain’t the only thing I know how to shoot. I’ve used guns before, Mr. Angel Wings.” He nodded his head at you before smirking at your nickname, you not realizing you used it until Rick pointed it out.

“Mr. Angel Wings?”

You bit your lip as you blushed a little. “Yeah, didn’t know your names at first and he had angel wings on his back. You were sheriff.”

Daryl let out a laugh as Rick shook his head. Maybe these really were good people.

You felt your jaw drop as you pulled up to a wall, Rick told someone to open it, revealing houses, neighborhoods, kids and families. Things you never thought you’d be able to see again. You knew you were staring with shock when you got out of the car and Daryl nudged you with his shoulder. You looked up at him as he smiled and you wanted nothing more than to see that again. A smile found its way onto your face before voices pulled your attention away. Rick began introducing you to people, to many people. You weren’t used to this many people, none of your groups had exceeded 15 people but here you are meeting more people than you ever had since the world turned to shit. Your eyes darted around as you subconsciously wrapped your arms around your self, plastering a fake smile on as people just kept coming. Daryl quickly noticed your pullback, trying to tell people to meet you another time. The sky turned dark quick as you found yourself calming down a little. Rick had brought you to a house, there were a few women in it you met earlier but couldn’t remember to save your life. As the night carried on you found yourself curled up on the porch, sitting on a patio swing as you watched the new community turn out for the night. It was quieter than you were used to, creepers typically interrupting your sleep but not here. Your eyes squinted as a figure approached you, taking a seat next to you as you realized it was Daryl. You didn’t say anything as you passed him the beer you had been nursing that night. He took it almost immediately as you let out a little giggle. He couldn’t help but love that noise.

“You’re different.” He mumbled as you turned to look at him. He took in the confused look on your face which only added to your charm. “Most girls don’t seem as ‘badass’ as you, then you go and be all bubbly.”

You huffed a laugh as he talked. “I’m badass and bubbly? Well, if I had to be anything at least I’m badass.”

“Nah, it’s a good thing. Means the world hadn’t wreaked ya.” His voice was quiet as your smile dropped. That wasn’t all true, before this you hadn’t killed anyone. Sure you went hunting with your dad and learnt how to shoot a gun and defend yourself but you only ever shot animals. It got quiet as you took the bottle back, finishing it off.

“Why are you out here?” You asked as Daryl shrugged.

“Couldn’t sleep. Saw the light and figured you couldn’t either. Thought you could use some company on yer first night.” You gave him a warm smile as you nodded. The candle next to you casted a glow onto your faces, outlining the way your face relaxed at his words and his at yours. The night went on like this, you and Daryl talking about the group and random things. The conversation wasn’t always happy. He told you about his brother and you told him about your past groups, friends you had gotten close to only to lose. You told him about your dad teaching you to shoot and he told you about finding the group. You weren’t sure how long you were out there for but the bleeding sun across the horizon told you it was early in the morning. Your conversations quieted as you watched the sunrise, sitting much closer than you were a few hours ago. You rested your head on Daryl’s shoulder and felt him tense under you, only to relax a second later.

Rick walked about Alexandria later that morning, looking for Daryl to finish up their run from yesterday. When he came across the scene in front of him he couldn’t help but smile. Daryl, the man who was distant with people he didn’t trust and who hardly ever shown affection like this was sitting next to you on your porch, his head leaning on yours on top of his shoulder, hands clasped together while you both slept. He knew that you were going to be good for his best friend, he knew the moment you made him laugh 5 minutes after you met. He also knew that Daryl would be good for you, someone to trust in a new environment. Good people, that’s what you were and that’s what they were. Who ever said people were messy?

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[miss-musings]

A hellstrop look at 4.04

Since this went so well last time, I figured I do it for this episode as well.  Because, believe me, we got plenty of material to work with here:

Right off the bat, with the magical Pictionary scene, Eleanor and Michael are once again on the same side. They are separated from the humans, but very much together. This makes me wonder whether the humans (namely John, as someone theorized last time) ever think they’re like ~together~ bc they don’t know how Architects’ lives work.

Also, I noted this in another post, but it looks like Michael’s tie matches Eleanor’s sweater again. It’s really hard to tell, but it at least looks like it’s of a similar color, even if it isn’t exactly the right shade.

I find it interesting, that when Chidi goes up to draw the picture, Eleanor moves to his other side, so that she and Michael are separated by Chidi. But, when the magical pony starts to go a little crazy, she moves back over to Michael’s side.

OK, when Michael suggests that, instead of doing an all night brainstorming session, they should relax... it flew by me the first time. But the second go around, I realize exactly what he’s doing. He sees that Eleanor is becoming a lot like he was in the first version of the neighborhood — acting crazy, neurotic, and stressed about the situation. So he recommends that they do what she what recommended he do in 1.06, which is to relax so they don’t burn out. If he had suggested karaoke, it would’ve been more obvious to us. So I think they wanted to throw us off by having him suggest something very out of character, like a slumber party.

Also, Michael, why would you want to have a slumber party? Also, isn’t that basically what an all-night brainstorming session is?

When Glenn accuses Michael of being an imposter, instead of looking at the others, Eleanor looks at Michael. Makes sense, but then, rather than staring at Glenn in disbelief or anger, Michael looks at Eleanor bc she’s looking at him.

I have to admit, that when they were having their little confrontation in Mindy‘s house, when they first bring Glenn in, the fact that Michael called Eleanor “Shellstrop” during their one-on-one was very weird. Made me wonder whether it really was him.

When Eleanor says she’s locking them in separate rooms, Michael actually winks at her. Ted Danson can’t wink!  Every time he’s supposed to wink, he just says the word “wink,” like in 2.08. That was another thing that threw me for a loop, making me wonder whether it was actually him the first time around.

Ted Danson also has such a great way of delivering the same line with two completely different emotions. He did it in 2.05. And he does it again here. Michael is only really upset once it looks like Eleanor doesn’t believe him at all anymore. Seeing her look at him with distrust is the worst punishment for him.

Also, a correction to my earlier statement:  Michael’s bowtie doesn’t really match Eleanor’s sweater. His bowtie is a straight-up blue, while her sweater is more of a dark teal. Still, there were a few scenes where the lighting was off enough that it looked very similar in color.

I love seeing Michael trying to convince Eleanor to trust him, and Eleanor becoming upset that Michael lied to her. The only reason that they’re both so upset over the situation, is because they both care about each other so much. And Eleanor has clearly put a lot of trust in Michael over the months. 

As a sidenote, I should’ve picked up on the fact that Janet was a fake earlier in the episode. When the humans are all stressed out and worried about whether Michael is real or not, Janet doesn’t seem to care. and we know Michael and Janet are very close, especially after all their time on earth. If Michael were an imposter, or even suspected of being an imposter, she would definitely care.

OK, so the scene where Michael talks about being a fire demon: Michael seems to look primarily at Eleanor throughout the entire scene. He looks at Tahani and Jason occasionally, especially right after either of them talks or asks a question, but 80% of his eye contact is with Eleanor.  He addresses her at least twice by name during the scene. Yes, I’m sure he would care if Tahani and Jason saw his real form, but he cares the most about whether Eleanor sees it and no longer looks at him the same way. Once again, it’s her feelings that matter the most to him. Also the way that Eleanor talks to him about taking off the suit, her comments sound like the type of thing she would say as a sexual innuendo. She told Chidi to “show me what you’re working with” in reference to his chalkboard in 1.05. And she says the exact same phrase again here.

Also, I love how authoritatively Michael says that he’s not going to take off his skin suit. I wonder whether he did that on purpose, so that Eleanor would find him reassuring. LOL

When he says, “There’s so much juice” the captions both when it aired on TV last night and on the rewatch via the NBC app show it as “There’s so much juice, El.” It’s hard to hear whether he says her full name or shortens it, but him abbreviating it is another weird thing I don’t think he’s ever done before. First he calls her “Shellstrop” and now he calls her “El.”

Alright, so to properly investigate this, I turned my volume really high, and really paid attention to his lip movements. He definitely says her full name. The “El” syllable is louder than the others, but he definitely says her full name. So I find it very bizarre that the captions abbreviate it when he doesn’t. 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, back to the show:

When Eleanor says that it’s convenient that Michael doesn’t want to take off his demon skin suit because he’s shy, she gives him a look up and down! And of course, Michael explains the real reason he doesn’t want his friends to see his true form, is because he doesn’t want them to look at him any differently than they do right now. Even though he’s a demon, and they know he’s a demon, he has always appeared as a human to them. So he doesn’t want them to see him any differently than as a human-like demon — than as their friend. If he appears human, it’s easier for them to believe he’s on their side, but if they were to see his true form, they would probably feel differently. Or at least that’s what he believes.

Also, I just want to point out, that when he does his little speech about how he doesn’t want his friends to look at him any differently, he looks directly at Eleanor. About 95% of that speech, he is making eye contact with her.

So, after Glenn blows up, Michael is happy, because he gets to be with his friends uninterrupted again. Eleanor points out that she still doesn’t have reason to trust him, either because he lied to her or because he’s an imposter. That is another scene in which he mostly focuses his attention on Eleanor. And he is definitely very upset based on his facial expression whenever she says that she can’t trust him.

So the scene where Eleanor goes to talk to Chidi reminds me of two important hellstrop convos from earlier seasons, when Michael was the Architect and she was the subject. The first, when she tells Chidi she recognizes his mood, reminds me of when she told Michael in 2.05 that she recognized what he was doing bc he was “pulling an Eleanor.” And then when she talks about encountering human stuff, she sounds a lot like Michael talking to her about the human stuff he likes (frozen yogurt and “Friends” the TV show) in 1.06. Granted, she doesn’t remember either of those memories, so they’re really more for the audience. The latter example, especially, shows us once again that there’s a separation between Eleanor and Chidi, as she’s the “architect” and he’s a human. To Eleanor, Chidi is a subject in her experiment (along with being an ex); and to Chidi, Eleanor is some kind of angelic / divine authority figure. So, yeah, separation.

OK, so the scene where Michael offers to blow himself up:

When Eleanor says that they’ll restart the experiment, but a part of her is always going to wonder whether that’s actually Michael any time something goes wrong...

(And as an aside, why can’t Eleanor just ask him something only Real!Michael would know... like something from their time on Earth with the Soul Squad. Does she really expect Vicky or Shawn would know everything that Michael would? She can’t ask him about the reboots, bc she doesn’t remember most of them, but why not ask him about that time they went to find her mom, or when they were in the diner and he poured ice tea on her, etc.? OR why not ask about the reboot where he asked her questions in his office? None of the other demons were there, so only she and Michael would know about it. Anyway... it doesn’t really matter bc it lead to like the best callback ever.)

So, Michael, after pondering thoughtfully on Eleanor’s remarks about not being able to trust him, offers to blow himself up. 😭

Again, 95% of his dialogue and eye contact is directed at her.

And I like how he can admit that Chidi being a subject is objectively what’s best for the experiment and, thus, humanity. He’s willing to blow himself up so that they don’t have to restart everything. (And a small part of the hellstrop fan in me wonders whether he’d rather blow himself up than see Eleanor and Chidi together again. But I don’t think Michael is quite that petty or jealous.)

And of course, WE get the call back to 1.07 with “Take it sleazy,” but they don’t. 😭

So when they’re talking to Bad Janet and Michael throws down the explode-y thing, there’s a jump cut to Eleanor holding Michaels arm. Makes me wonder whether there was a line or something there that they cut for time, where she reassured him or something.

And then, when Eleanor — not remembering the portal scene or Team Cockroach — says that offering to sacrifice himself up to help a bunch of cockroaches (AKA, his friends) is the about most Michael thing he could do.

😭😭😭



I’m dead, you guys.

And he does give her a look like “Oh, maybe she remembers” when she says the cockroach thing. Maybe it is a latent memory thing, like another M/E fan pointed out.

And just when I thought we’d be done with this hellstrop read...

They’re on the platform and Michael and Eleanor are talking, and he says all they can do is try (their best), which echos Eleanor’s words to the Soul Squad in 3.04. He’s always been paying attention to her. He’s so in awe of her and her raw humanity. 😍

P.S. I really hope that Michael and Jason brought that explode-y thing with them, because it’d probably come in handy with all the demons in TBP.



[thdorkmagnet]

Starco Wedding: Perfect

Hey everyone! So yeah I decided to go ahead and post a chapter or two of some other stuff while I finish up Chapter 14. This one was originally for my Starcoweek5 prompts but I think it works as a stand alone story. Basically you can probably guess what is happening here. It’s the biggest day of Star and Marco’s lives and Marco has gone above and beyond to make this the perfect wedding for him and Star. This is about as fluffy as I could possibly get, until probably my next chapter, hehehehe.

Please enjoy and have some tissues ready, this is one of those chapters that tugs at those heartstrings. 

Check out my other stuff over on Fanfiction! 

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

“Today was supposed to be perfect,” Marco mumbled to himself, rolling his eyes before kicking his opponent back, ignoring the scuff he created on his nice dress shoes. At this point his tux was ruined anyways, covered in dirt and rips from the intense battle that was taking place. The warrior Marco was fighting growled, before rising back to his feet, charging at him with a raised sword. Marco just dodged easily out of the way, hitting him in the back and knocking the enemy out cold. “Why do things never go my way?” the boy asked the sky.

The day had started off wonderfully, too, the day both he and Star had been waiting for when they would finally take each others hand in marriage and seal their love forever. Since Marco had proposed to her (earning him lots of tears and kisses from his future wife) the young man had been planning the perfect wedding for them. He admitted he had gone overboard a bit: selecting the perfect day, the perfect place, the best flowers in Earth-ni, the most delicious cake money could afford, the works. But that was only because he wanted everything to be just right when he married the woman of his dreams. This was going to be the most special and amazing day of his life, he wanted it to be one to remember.

Star hadn't seemed as invested in the planning, only pitching in an idea here and there with varying levels of success with her finance, like when he had to hesitantly and gently remind his love that warnicorns were wild and dangerous animals and probably shouldn't be used to pull any of the carriages, especially when cars would suffice just fine. Mostly Star seemed to leave the planning to Marco, squealing and showing off her ring to all her friends and even some strangers, bragging about the fact that she was going to marry her Marco, which ceased to cause the man to blush bright red.

But Marco didn't mind that Star had taken a step back from the planning, after all he could handle it just fine on his own and he wanted to surprise her with most perfect wedding this world had ever seen.

And at the start of the day it seemed like that was exactly what he had gotten. As the proceedings began, things had started off well, the selected church looking like something out of a fairy tale, its halls gleaming with light and coated in beautiful white roses. Marco was overjoyed to see the seats filling up with the loving faces of Marco and Star's friends and family (as well as some news crew who were determined not to miss out on the “wedding of the century”) and he couldn't help but smile at every familiar face he saw.

The proceeding as well, went off without a hitch, as the gentle, peaceful melody from Ruberiot set the tone perfectly as the flower girls started their walk down the aisle. Or in the case of the four year olds, Mari and Meteora, it was more like ran down the aisle throwing flower petals up in the air and even sometimes at each other giggling away, making the whole crowd smile and awe at the young girls antics. Marco shook his head as he watched his sister and her best friend take their spots at the front, Mariposa waving over at him eagerly and he gave her a small wave back.

But all thoughts after that were forgotten, as the music suddenly changed and he looked across the hall just as the woman of his dreams stepped into view. He froze filled with so much love and joy at that second that he could barely breath and his best man, Tom, had to put a hand on his back to keep him from falling over as he swayed unevenly on his feet. He drank in every inch of her appearance, reveling in the soft white dress that flowed beautifully and gracefully off of his wife-to-be, admiring how perfectly the dress held her small frame in just the right ways and how the faded pink hearts that decorated the bottom were a nice and adorable touch. She had on long, pure white gloves that ran past her elbows and made a heart shape at the end. And a wedding veil that flowed down her golden blond hair, which had been curled delicately at the ends.

Her piercing blue eyes and loving smile matched his own as she almost glided down the aisle, held in the tight and loving embrace of her father, Marco only breaking off the stare for an instant to give a quick, grateful smile to Moon, for somehow convincing her barbarian husband to re-dawn a fancy suit for the event, which she returned warmly.

After that, all else faded into the background, the music and chatter fading into a dull barely audible sound, the crowd of faces vanishing as his Star became the center of his universe once more, right where she belonged. He hung on her every movement, on every twinkle in her eye, every step that she took, not one detail of his lovely wife leaving his sight.

When she finally reached him, they just stared at each other, for what felt like an eternity, just like they had the day they had gotten together, when their worlds had forever cleaved together. “Hey,” Star muttered, the love on her face and tone unmistakable to the boy.

“Hey,” Marco replied, swallowing down the lump in his throat.

It was Tom who had broken through this moment, as he loudly cleared his throat, drawing the two back to reality as they took their place in front of Queen Eclipsa, standing beside one another, waiting to hear their vows as the older woman began. But as the ceremony continued, no one was aware of a creeping evil lurking just outside. And this evil decided to rear its ugly head just as Star and Marco were about to declare their vows, the doors to bursting open loudly, drawing everyone's attention to the entrance, eyes widening and mouths dropping open in fear.

There stood none other than Mina Loveberry, wanted criminal of Earth-ni, with a group of rebel warriors behind her, all with hatred directed on the royal family and, more importantly, Star and Marco, all determined to make the couple pay by destroying their cherished day.

Marco had known that many Mewmans and even humans had never adjusted to the new world Star and Marco had unintentionally created, resenting them greatly for destroying magic and then forcing their worlds to merge into one, but he hadn't realized how far they would go to get revenge until right then, when the two lovers became a target of retaliation.

The room was quickly stormed with enemies and the peaceful wedding scene became an all out battle. Which was where Marco was now, fighting warrior after warrior that came his way, which was fairly easy, none of them a match for his impressive set of skills honed after years upon years of training. The real blow for Marco was from the disappointment he felt, his perfect moment ruined, stolen from him by a bunch of petty, narrow-minded jerks who were too stuck in their ways to see the good their change had brought. Marco knocked another one of these said jerks back with a swing of his sword, before looking to see how everyone else was faring in their fights.

Tom was currently lighting everyone in range on fire, Janna helping the process along by spraying the shaken bottle of wine at the burning opponents. Buff Frog was holding his own against at least four of the angry Mewmans, his daughter Katrina lending her father support as she showed off her own skills in battle, side by side with her dad. Pony was stabbing at them with her horn, making sure to be in good view of her camera as she did, looking as brave and dramatic as possible and Marco couldn't help but roll his eyes as he blocked a sword with his own.

Eclipsa and Globgor were holding there own against a large group of enemies as well, the royal couple fighting as one, so in sync with each other that Marco couldn't help but smile. River had gone all out barbarian ripping off his suit and beating them all senseless with his bare hands. Even Mariposa and Meteora were using their small forms to trip their opponents and knock them off balance. Many others knights and friends were lending their help in the fight, as well, while everyone else was hiding as best as they could from the danger, Moon directing many of them away and out of harm's way, thus giving the more confident fighters as much space as possible for their battle. Marco's eyes, however, were now searching for someone else in the crowd, his heart pounding in fear as he scanned the room for the love of his life and nearly sighed out loud when he finally spotted her.

Star was in the middle of karate kicking her opponent in the face, a look of such hate and anger that Marco almost felt sorry for whoever had to go up against his beautiful fiance. Though he wouldn't be lying if her graceful yet intense display of fighting skills didn't make his heart flutter. She looked so confident and gorgeous even in her ruined wedding dress, which was also getting torn up from all the fighting. Still Marco silently thanked himself for instructing Star in karate because, wow, did she look amazing while kicking bad guy butt.

This brought a new fire to the young man's soul, as he was reminded of how much he loved his Star and how angry he was at being prevented from taking her as his wife. He roughly grabbed a charging warrior by the collar yelling, “Why did you guys have to attack us today?! Seriously any other day wouldn't have been better?”

The villain sneered at the young man, spitting out, “Because we wanted to destroy your chance at happiness, Marco Diaz. You and your fiancee both will know what it's like to lose everything you cherished, to have your whole world torn apart!”

Marco growled, his hand tightening its hold on his sword. “That was over four years ago, why can't you people just let that go and move on already? Why do you have to destroy the best moment of my life just for petty, pointless revenge?!”

The young man was so lost in his own anger and too distracted yelling in the face of his smug opponent that he didn't see Mina coming up behind him, a sword raised in strike.

“Marco, look out!” came a familiar scream as the Latino turned to see Star kick Mina right in the jaw, sending her stumbling backward. But she didn't lose hold on her sword, as she just charged Star again with a crazed look in her eye. The blond easily dodged the swing, before Marco parried the blow and kicked the insane woman off of her feet. But Mina started to recover, rising back onto her feet, only to be attacked by a furious and unstoppable Globgore, who yelled, “You stay away from those two!” Eclipsa soon joined in as well, helping her husband to take on the once proud warrior.

Star and Marco panted for a moment, as they watched Mina struggle to hold off the royal couple on her own, before turning back to one another, Star asking in worry, “Marco, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm fine Star,” Marco replied with a reassuring and grateful smile. “Thanks for the save back there.”

“Anytime,” Star said cheerfully. But seeing an enemy fast approaching she yelled, “Incoming!” The two dodged the violent swing, before punching him back as one. The two were quickly surrounded by more opponents as they fought them off as a team but Star seemed to notice something was off with her boyfriend as she asked with a worried frown, “Marco, what's wrong?”

“I'm sorry, Star,” he quickly blurted out, dodging underneath a sword swing before hitting them as hard as he could with the blunt end of his sword, knocking them back and into more enemies. “I wanted out wedding to be perfect but now everything is ruined!”

“What, are you kidding? This is the most fun I've had all year!” Star declared, kicking her enemy in the side and knocking him over. “And I ain't letting this silly old fight get in the way of being with the man I love. So,” she continued, before quickly jumped over to Marco's side, surprising him as she took his hand tightly in her own. “Why don't we just get married right here?”

“Wait, now?!” Marco yelled in shock. “But we're in the middle of a fight!”

“Yeah but, everyone is here and afterwords their all gonna be too tired and everything, not to mention the police report.” Star explained, sounding annoyed. “And we'll end up having to wait until another day. And I don't know about you but, I don't want to wait.”

“Well no but-”

“Marco Diaz do you want to marry me or not!” Star shouted and Marco instantly answered, “No I do, I do!”

The loving smile returned to Star's pretty face as she gave his hand a tight squeeze, adding, “Then, what do you say? Let's get married right now.”

Marco took in a shaky breath, before nodding determinedly. “Okay, let's do it.”

Star smiled before directing her attention to the acting queen. “Hey, Eclipsa! Can you do us a favor and marry us?” the blond shouted.

“Now!” Eclipsa's panted voice asked in shock.

“Yeah, right now, we want to be married!” Marco yelled back.

“Oh very well then,” Eclipsa said with no hesitation, clearing her throat before saying, “Do you Star Butterfly take Marco Ubaldo Diaz to be your lawfully wedded husband in sickness and-”

“No, no, read the thing I gave you, remember?” Star interrupted, Marco looking over at her in confusion, before immediately having to direct his attention back on the fight. “What thing?” he asked, punching a warrior directly in the face.

“Your not the only one who made plans,” Star replied, with a knowing wink.

“Oh right, of course,” the queen of darkness replied, before searching her dress for something, finally finding the small slip of paper, hidden in one of the many pockets of the formal dress.

“Let's see now,” she muttered to herself, trying to regain her train of thought. “Oh, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to stand beside him through all the adventures that come...” Did Star write this? Marco wondered as the woman continued. “...to love and care for him even when he's being a royal doofus sometimes...”

Marco shot Star a small glare, who had a smug smile on her face. Yep she definitely wrote it. “...to promise to share the bed with him, even when he's hogging all the covers for himself...” The Latino blushed at this, nearly forgetting to block as a sword came far to close to stabbing him in the eye. “...to do whatever it takes to make him happy and smile...” The room let out a collective 'Awww' at that, all except the attempted assassins of course. This was when Star and Marco noticed that many of their family and friends had moved closer to the site of the battle, most of the warriors already defeated so it was safer to do so, watching as the impromptu wedding took place. “...but most importantly to be his very best friend as long as you both shall live.”

“I do!” Star exclaimed, breaking off the fight long enough, to pull Marco into a quick hug, making the young man smile ear to ear, so distracted by the blood rushing to his face that he almost didn't hear as Eclipsa began his vows.

“And do you Marco Ubaldo Diaz take Star Butterfly to be your lawfully wedded wife, to stand beside her in peace and in danger...” Marco's eyes got teared up as Eclipsa continued, his mind rushing back to so many years ago, reminded of the first time he had heard this speech, when he had knelt before his princess as she proclaimed him her royal squire. “...as her trusted equal and love...”  But now, they stood side by side facing the danger as one and that made tears of joy and emotion spill from his eyes, the young man barely able to see anything, as the knights took over the fighting, protecting the lovebirds as the vows were completed. “...to go clubbing with her even when you are too tired, to share your late night nachos but again, most importantly...” Star took Marco's hand tightly in her own, drawing his eyes onto her as she whispered the last part in sync with Eclipsa...  “to be her (my) very best friend as long as you both shall live.”

Star leaned in closer to the boy, now next to his ear, as she added in the softest tone Marco had ever heard, “Amen.”

The Latino was wiping the falling tears from his eyes with his sleeve, his sword long since clattering to the ground, as he replied with a barely repressed sob, “I do.”

Eclipsa nodded, saying, “Then we will need the rings.”

“On it!” Tom shouted from the corner of the room, shoving about three warriors out of his way, as he flew over to his two besties at a blazing speed, by the time he reached them he was panting for breath. He held out his hand, showing them their rings and they both took them eagerly smiling gratefully at Tom. They both took turns slipping the rings on, before holding each others hands again, eyes locked in a mixture of bright brown and blue.

Eclipsa gave them a soft smile, before looking over to see Mina and most of the warriors in chains and watching the couple with intense glares on their faces, guarded by Higgs and the other knights. She let out a quick sigh, glad the danger had passed for the young couple for now. And as her eyes drifted back to the young, smiling couple, looking lost in each others eyes, she was reminded of her and Globgore, wishing for the two to never suffer as they had in order to stay together as she said, “Then by the power vested in me as the Queen of Earth-ni, I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may-”

But Star didn't wait for her to finish, as she pulled to her, planting a loving, passionate kiss to his lips, dipping him low, as he clung tightly onto her, drawing her in as close to himself as he could. “-kiss,” Eclipsa finished needlessly.

Clapping sounded around the room, cheers and shouts from Star and Marco's loved ones, as the two just revealed in the kiss, letting it go for as possible, their lips moving against one another in a dance. Both the Diaz's and Butterfly's were in tears, Rafael and River holding each other as they bawled their eyes out, while Moon and Angela just sniffed and wiped small tears from their eyes. Mari and Meteora were gagging, too young to understand the concept of kissing and love, mostly just finding it gross. And everyone else, Tom, Janna, Jackie, Starfan13, Pony Head, Ferguson, Alfonso, Buff Frog, and many others were all just clapping and smiling, glad to see their two friends finally married.

As the two finally broke away the kiss, they went back to just staring at each other lovingly, surrounded by everyone important to them, and Star asked, “So what did you think, Marco? I know it wasn't the wedding you planned but-”

Marco cupped Star's cheeks with both of his hands as he replied in a loving whisper, “It was perfect.”

And then the two went in for a shorter, but equally passionate kiss, pouring their love for one another into the breathless act. Once they parted, Star leaned her forehead against his own, staring deep into the chocolate brown orbs of her husband, as she said something that sent shivers of joy and anticipation spiraling down Marco's spine, as he wondered what her wife had been planning. “Just wait until you see the honeymoon.”  

And then the couple proceeded to have pillow fights, eat nachos until they were sick and rode wild warnicorns until they fell asleep cuddling with one another... haha, at least that's how I think the honeymoon went! So I hope you all liked, I know this wasn't a traditional fluffy wedding, since I turned it into an all out battle at one point... but I just didn't really want to write a perfect wedding where everything goes great and felt like this was a bit more fitting of our favorite couple. After all, when has anything with these two ever been normal. They enjoy the crazy, weirdness that is their life, so long as they have each other through it all!