#she says that to noelle and noelle almost has a stroke

[same-name-supremacy]

I don't know why but I get the vibes that Ginnifer if she knows somebody really well she'll call them something like babe (she saves baby or sweetheart for whoever she is date)

I love this, mainly because Ginnifer is aiding in the "does she like me or are we friends" stereotype with queer women.

You're not helping Ginny!!

[noelle666]

Ship/Kiss challenge - Heinrix van Calox/Noelle von Valancius (dinner/date)

Original post with all options

Basically, it is a retelling and everything will be almost the same as it is seen in the game (I'll skip some dialogues to not repeat them and not make this short fanfic too big, Heinrixmansers know the scene anyway =) ) but filled with emotions my RT experienced during this evening. PS Jesus, I was torturing this piece of text since the end of April... -_-

The illustration for this scene by Vetus Vulpes

50. ...out of love 6. ...on a falling tear (if I understood it correctly)

A date, a real dinner date. Who would've thought the interrogator has this romantic note somewhere deep inside of him? But Noelle knew, she saw his "true nature" every time he was next to her in her quarters, when he was kissing her hand and looking gently into her eyes. Still it was a surprise, especially considering the tone Heinrix used to call for Lord Captain to the wardroom. He can be forgiven, he will learn.

Time was passing smoothly, the atmosphere in the room was filled with warmth. Noelle suggested a toast and raised her glass to clink it with Heinrix's. "To us".

Us? How long will this "us" last?

A thought pricked psyker's mind for a mere moment, but it was enough to be depicted on his face, to manifest it as an unease expression. Noelle noticed the change in his mood, she was always attentive to details, she always felt something is wrong with the one who is dear to her. One question after another, one attempt to evade after another, Heinrix tried to maneuver between words as a voidship maneuvers between enemies, but the harder he tryed to avoid difficult and painful topic the more fragile his defence became. He tried to explain, wanted Noelle to understand...

"Void. Take. You".

Words stroke him as hard as a heavy hammer strikes anvil, as thunder on a stormy day. The interrogater looked at the priestess: her head was lowered, it seemed like she wanted to not show her face but freezed on her chair, lips are slightly opened, they were... trembling. The young woman was staring at one point, then the moment after her eyes started to move nerviously. A wet line on her cheeck appeared running down from her sky blue eye.

"Noelle?"

"How... can I trust you...when you go... and say things like that?" - Lord Captain gathered all her might so she could start speaking, her voice was quite, she was talking slowly, making pauses when a lump was about to come to her throat. She was not angered, she was... heartbroken. She looked at Heinrix: raised eyebrows, a wet line crossed her other cheek, and another tear was runnig down from her eye, and another. - "You... don't even want to... try..."

"No... No. No! Not this! NO!" - terror shackled Heinrix heart. He got used to failing in regicide, he could accept failing his mission (it is frustrating indeed but every fail is a lesson, so you need to try hadred next time), but failing Noelle, hurting her, the one who he...

Lord Captain stood up from her chair, she lowered her gaze and was about to turn away, all her being desired to run away from this place, from him, but her feet could not move as if they were glued to the floor. Her heart, acking little heart, was protesting. Noelle was lost, she didn't know what to do, her mind was in a fog.

"No! Please! Don't! DON'T!" - terror intertwined with pain started screaming inside the interrogator's head. He leaped to his feet and in a blink of a moment he was standing right in front of Noelle; he grabbed her shoulders with trembling hands, his gaze was piercing her face.

"No, Noelle, wait! Don't say that! I didn't mean that... I..."

SAY IT, VAN CALOX! SAY IT, DAMN YOU!

"I love you!"

The time stopped.

"I love you, Noelle - never dought that, I beg you".

The words were pouring from Heinrix's lips, filled with passion, fear, explanation, honesty... and doubt. He pulled his beloved closer to him, Noelle put her head to the interrogator's chest listening to his heart which was on a brink to jump out of his chest right into her hands. Heinrix was talking and talking - such an unusual behaviour for a person whose job is to force someone else to speak; he was torn between duty which gave his life purpose, the only purpose, and what he really wanted, what he needed - happiness with the one who he loves...

"I love you".

... and the one who loves him back. The words spoken by this fragile yet stong young woman filled his soul with light and warmth Heinrix never experienced. Deep inside he wanted so badly to hear them but was so frightened at the same time.

"I rather spoiled the evening... didn't I?"

The psyker gently touched the priestess' chin and looked at her face; she tried to avert her eyes for she was afraid to cry more (because of stress mostly). Noelle blinked, and tears ran down on her pink cheeks.

"No, it's entirely my fault. I will do my best to make it up to you in private".

They left the wardroom and headed towards the lift to Lord Captain's quarters; Heinrix was holding Noelle's little hand, he felt her being nervous and too quile. When the mechanical doors closed behind their backs, the man picked up the priestess as if he was worried she may faint. The young woman was surprised with this gesture and wanted to protest, but then she put her head on the interrogator's chest - the sound of his heartbeat became an anchor, a rope she needed to hold on to, to not lose herself. Noelle closed her eyes and buried her face in Heinrix's neck, a tear ran down on her chick again and then another one, but young woman was not sure if those were tears of sadness - probably a mere residual effect of a strong experience she had several minutes ago.

The mechanic doors opened and the psyker confidently stepped into the room, walking through corridor and the main hall right into Lord Captain's boudoir. Heinrix sat on the edge of the bed and looked to his beloved: so small and vulnerable, so fragile yet strong and bright in spirit. His warm lips touched her cool wet cheek, they moved up to her eye repeating the way paved by tears as if he was trying to wipe off all the trails of pain caused by him. Heinrix was holding Noelle close in his arms, tightly and gently, guarding her yet being afraid she may dissapear the moment he releases her. An egoistic little thought, a stupid fear, but so what? This means he is alive, he is a human being and those are his true feelings.

"I will never make you cry again. Never", - Heinrix were repeating these words in his head while covering Noelle's face with kisses.

[lyranova]

Children of the Future: Shadows of the Past

Chapter 7: Coincidence

Hiya guys! I'm trying my best to keep my once a week schedule, but it might slack off a bit as I try to catch up on other things (like my event, requests, and other series), also I apologize that I haven't answered messages, Dms, Comments, or anything like that I'm just not doing to well right now, and usually I say 'but it'll get better!' but sadly I don't foresee that happening anytime soon. But I'll try and answer everything soon, and I hope you all enjoy 🥰!

Ace and Josslyn don't belong to me, they belong to @crazyclownthanos and Cory and Chenille belong to @hybridanafrost

Word Count: 4,436

Warnings: Parents arguing, some name calling between children.

-------

The Next Morning, After the Party was Over

Finral just stared at the mess that was in the Hideout’s common area and dining room, it looked like a tornado had gone through! There was trash and empty glasses everywhere, some leftover food crumbs, and even some scorch marks from Luck and Magna’s brawl! Finral groaned before he slumped forward in defeat, where did he even begin?!

Usually Asta was the one who cleaned the Hideout after parties, gatherings, or on just any given day. But now that he was gone, the cleaning was left to Finral, and sometimes Ezio.

Finral walked around the room, grumbling about how everyone was adults, and so they should be able to clean up after themselves now, when he suddenly heard soft snoring from the couch. He turned to see who was snoring, and a soft smile appeared on his face.

Laying on the couch, an empty wine bottle in her arms, was his wife Vanessa, and on the floor in front of the couch was their son Ezio. Finral walked over to them and crouched down, apparently the two hadn’t stopped partying even after everyone went to sleep. The two were surprisingly similar when it came to partying and having fun, although Ezio was a little more…cautious than his mother. He would party and have fun, but at the same time made sure everyone was safe and cared for. He would go around and scold people who were being too rowdy, but wouldn’t take it too far.

Ezio was like the perfect combination of them.

Vanessa suddenly stretched her arms before throwing one around her son's shoulder, he watched her smile as though she recognized that, and she suddenly squeezed him close.

“ Geez, even when you’re sleeping, you’re still clingy,��� Finral muttered with a chuckle as he stroked his wife’s face and patted his son's head. “ But then again, I already knew that,”

“ Morning, Uncle Finral!” Brielle Silva, daughter of Asta and Noelle, suddenly shouted loudly. Causing him to jump.

“ By the gods!” He shouted in fright as he suddenly turned around to look at the young girl with wide and fearful eyes. “ Don’t just shout like that, Brielle, you could’ve given me a heart attack!”

“ Sorry, Uncle Finral, I forget you’re at the age where you can have a heart attack at any little sudden noise!” Brielle said with a nervous laugh as she rubbed her head sheepishly, Finral glared at the girl.

“ Seriously? How old do you think I am?!” Finral shouted, but she ignored him.

“ Do you want me to help you clean up? I usually help papa around the house and in his office!” Brielle asked after she took a look around the room, Finral suddenly felt his annoyance dissipate and tears well up in his eyes at her offer.

“ That would be wonderful.” He sniffled as he watched the girl nod before reached over and grabbing a rag and tying it around her head.

" Alright, let’s do this!”

As the Spatial mage watched her shout and clean the dining area, he couldn’t help but watch her with a fond smile, she acted so much like her father it was almost uncanny. He had been a little concerned though when Noelle had called them last night and told them to watch the girls for a few days, she had said everything was fine but, it didn’t sound that way. But the girls seemed very happy to be back at the Bulls, and admittedly the Bulls were all happy to have them there as well. Finral turned to give his wife and son one last warm look before he stood up and helped Brielle clean.

Later that morning, the other Bulls and their families awoke and headed to the dining room, where Charmy and Lovely were making breakfast.

“ Morning Captain Yami” and “ Morning Papa” rang out as Yami walked into the room with a loud yawn. He waved in greeting to them before he walked over and kissed his wife on the cheek, and his children on the tops of their heads.

“ Morning brats,” He said as he sat down across from his wife and beside Hikari.

“ So, what’s on the agenda today?’’ Charlotte asked everyone as she took a sip of her tea, the Bulls all made humming noises.

“ Well, I plan on sparring with Magna if there isn’t any missions!” Luck said with a laugh, Magna snorted.

“ You’d better hope there’s a mission, otherwise this time I’m really going to kick your ass, you punk!” Magna said before he looked at Charlotte. “ Chenille and Cory are going with Eirwen to the sewing shop, so it’ll be a pretty boring day.”

The other Bulls went through their list of activities that they were going to do for the day, and finally Charlotte looked at her own children.

“ Hana, Einar, Hikari. What do you all plan on doing today?” She asked curiously.

“ I plan on playing with Maelie and maybe Thomas too!” Einar said brightly as he ate a spoonful of his breakfast, Hana shrugged.

“ I don't know, I’ll probably just stay in and read. Maybe I’ll practice some magic.” Hana said softly as she took a sip of her water, then all eyes fell on Hikari.

“ Well, I’m probably gonna train with Papa unless a mission comes up.” Hikari said as she put a thoughtful hand under her chin, that was what she almost always did; she would either go see Alistar and train with him, or she would train with her parents, but no matter what she was always training.

“ Why don’t you take a break from training today and come with me to the Blue Rose Knights? I haven’t seen them in a while, and neither have you, so we should go see them together.” Charlotte suggested as she looked at her eldest daughter, the dark haired girl looked hesitant for a moment before she looked at her father.

“ Go ahead, we can train when we both get back,” Yami said as he took a sip of his coffee, Charlotte frowned.

“ Where are you going?” She asked her husband curiously.

“ I’m gonna go see if Braid Boy and the Sleeping Witch have any leads about the Cerberus group,” Yami said as he looked over at her. “ It shouldn’t take too long, and since Asta’s gone for a while, we won’t be able to have an official meeting about it until he gets back. And I don’t feel like waiting.”

Charlotte nodded, this whole Cerberus thing had Yami antsy, that she could easily see.

Soon all the Bulls finished their breakfast and went their separate ways, leaving only Finral, Ezio, and Vanessa in the Hideout.

“ Looks like I’m on clean-up duty…again!”

—---

Meanwhile, in the Spade Kingdom

 Yuno stood at the end of the large king-sized bed that was in his and Neva’s master bedroom, his eyes never leaving the figures lying in it. His youngest daughter, Kya, still hadn't woken up even though it had been a little over 12 hours, and her fever showed no signs of breaking. Neva, his wife, laid in the bed beside her and held her close. Neva hadn’t muttered so much as a word since they had found her, and the look in her purple eyes told Yuno that she had put that diamond wall up again.

That diamond wall he had broken down many years ago, he silently hoped that it was only temporary.

“ Sir? Are you listening?” He heard from beside him as he was pulled out of his thoughts. Yuno blinked a bit before he turned to look at the head Healer.

“ I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

“ I said we’ve done everything we could, so now it’s up to the Princess whether she wakes up or not.” The healer said softly and in a regrettable tone.

“ She’ll wake up. She has the strength and tenacity of her mother, so I have zero doubt that she won’t wake up.” He said softly but with a firm voice that left no room for argument. The healer looked over at Ralph for a moment before he nodded and excused himself from the room.

“ Sir,” Ralph said softly as he put his hand on his shoulder. “ Lady Miku and Lord Kito are outside, the Queen Dowager tried to stop them, but…they inherited your stubbornness.” Ralph continued, trying to make a more light-hearted comment towards the end. Yuno blinked a moment, ah, that was right, their other children were probably scared and confused about all the chaos in the Castle.

“ I see, I’ll go talk to them.” Yuno said before he walked towards Neva, and he placed a hand on her back as he bent down a bit.

“ I’m going to go outside for a minute to tell Kito and Miku what’s going on, Ralph will be here the entire time, so if something happens tell him and he’ll come get me. Okay?” Yuno asked softly as he used his other hand to move a piece of her long platinum-blonde hair out of her face. Neva just nodded as her eyes didn’t leave her daughter's face. Yuno kissed the top of her and Kya’s heads before walking out.

As soon as he opened the bedroom door, he was greeted by Miku’s bright purple eyes, he blinked for a moment. When did she grow nearly as tall as him? His amber eyes traveled further down and saw that Kito was on all fours and Miku was standing on his back.

“ What…are you two doing?” Yuno asked in confusion, but there was also a hint of amusement in his voice.

“ We were trying to see if we could hear your voices better,” Kito said as he appeared to be struggling to hold his older sister up. “ But I don’t think it worked!”

“ It didn’t,” Miku said bluntly as she looked down at Kito. “ If you had stayed still, maybe I could’ve heard them better.”

“ Well, if you didn’t weigh as much as a flaming boar, then I wouldn’t be shaking!”

“ Do you even know how much a flaming boar weighs?” Miku asked with a quirked brow, looking nearly identical to her father and mother.

“ No! But I do know they weigh a ton, like you!” Kito shouted in anger, suddenly the two children felt weightless as their bodies were lifted into the air by Yuno’s wind magic. Their father didn’t look annoyed like he normally did when they bickered, instead, he looked…amused.

He set his children back onto the ground gently before he chuckled and pulled them into a warm embrace. He really needed a laugh right now, and leave it to his children to provide it unintentionally. Miku and Kito looked at each other in a mixture of worry and confusion.

“ Father, are you okay?” Miku asked after a minute. Yuno pulled away from his children and looked at them seriously before he nodded.

“ I’m better now, but Momma and Kya aren’t doing too good right now,” Yuno admitted gently, both the children looked at each other before looking back at him.

“ What’s wrong? Are they sick?” Kito asked in concern as his eyes went back to the closed door behind his father, Yuno placed a hand on his son's head to calm him down.

“ Kya…Kya is very sick right now,” Yuno admitted, he was never one to lie, and he wasn’t about to start with his children. “ And momma’s sick because she’s worried about her.”

“ Is there anything we can do that’ll help them?” Miku asked softly as she began to shuffle her feet back and forth, Yuno smiled before he patted her hair.

“ The Healers are doing everything they can to help Kya get better, and I think momma will feel a lot better once she sees you.” Yuno said as he looked from his daughter to his son. “ Do you want to see her?”

The children eagerly nodded, but Yuno held a hand up before they could walk past him.

“ But firstly, you guys need to promise to behave and to not bother your sister. She’s asleep right now and is running a fever, and don’t give your mother too hard of a time, she already has enough to deal with.” He told them seriously but in a light-hearted manner, the children nodded before he stood up and opened the door. He watched them walk inside before he heard footsteps approach him.

“ Hey Yuno, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon!” Asta shouted with a bright smile, Yuno’s eyes widened as he watched his childhood best friend and his wife approach.

“ Asta? What’re you doing here?” Yuno asked as they eventually stood in front of him.

“ Queen Ciel told us that Kya was missing, so of course I was gonna drop everything to help you find her!” Asta said as though it were obvious, and Yuno couldn’t help but smile at him. He was very lucky, and grateful, to have a brother like him.

“ And I came too because I couldn’t let BakAsta come here by himself,” Noelle said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. Yuno rolled his eyes, but knew deep down that she actually came because she was worried about Kya as well.

“ Thank you both, but you’re a little too late. We found her late last night.” Yuno said, and he watched relief wash over the pair.

“ That’s a relief, who knows what would have happened to her if you guys didn’t find her so quickly.” Noelle said as she placed a hand on her chest.

“ That’s great, Yuno! I’m glad she’s safe!” Asta said before he tilted his head. “ But why do you look like something's wrong? Was she hurt?”

“ Not…exactly,” Yuno sighed as he looked towards the door. “ She’s running a fever, and she’s been unconscious since we found her. The healer said they’ve done everything they could, and now it’s up to her.” He added softly.

“ She’ll wake up! There’s no way in hell that Kya won’t beat this and wake up!” Asta shouted firmly, causing Noelle and Yuno to both jump. “ I mean, her parents are two of the strongest mages I’ve ever seen, so it’ll take a lot more than this to keep her down!”

Yuno stared at his brother, how could he always remain so positive, even when things seemed so bleak? His positivity was contagious, and Yuno couldn’t help but smirk.

“ Well, you’re not wrong, Neva and I are both a lot stronger than you,” Yuno said as he crossed his arms.

“ That’s the part you decide to focus on?!” Asta shouted with irritation, causing the other man to chuckle. Noelle sighed and walked towards the door.

“ It’s okay if I go inside, right? While you two sit out here and bicker?” She asked with a raised brow, when Yuno nodded, she opened the door and walked inside before closing it behind her.

“ Hey Asta,” Yuno said suddenly as he stopped him from entering the room. “ Can I ask your opinion on something?”

“ What’s up?”

“ Follow me, it’s better if I show you.”

The two walked out of the Castle, walked through the ankle deep snow, through the woods that surrounded the Castle, until they came to the place where they found Kya.

Asta crossed his arms and frowned as he stared at the trees, it was weird, there was no way these trees formed like this naturally. Asta took a deep breath and closed his eyes. While he couldn’t sense mana like all the other mages, he could sense Ki, and so far? The Ki he was feeling was bad, very bad.

“ What is this place?” Asta finally asked as he opened his eyes, Yuno shrugged as he walked closer to the center where Asta was standing.

“ I don’t know, I’ve never seen it before. It looks like it was made just recently,” Yuno turned. “ I was hoping Liebe would know.”

“ How the hell would I know?” Liebe asked as he appeared on Asta’s shoulder. “ It doesn’t look like something a devil would do, usually when we leave the underworld we just…leave. It’s when you humans want something that we get summoned into circles like this!”

Asta and Yuno nodded, he had a point.

“ I don’t believe this was made entirely by humans, though,” Asta said as he looked around. “ This place just feels…dark and evil, like a devils been here.”

“ You don’t think…humans and devils made this together, do you?” Yuno asked, his voice soft, and Asta shrugged.

“ I’m not 100% sure, I would have to get Nero to come and check it out, but I wouldn’t be surprised.” Asta said. “ I wonder if they’re connected somehow…” He muttered under his breath, and Yuno quirked a brow.

“ What’s connected?”

Asta looked over at his brother and sighed before he began to explain everything about Cerberus and how they’re a bunch of former Magic Knights that were attacking villages but once caught would kill themselves. Yuno put a hand under his chin as he hummed in thought.

“ It wouldn’t be the first time devils and humans worked together,” Yuno said. “ But I don’t understand why they would jump from robbing a village to kidnapping a Princess, and in such a short period of time.”

“ I don’t either, but it can’t just be a coincidence that we find out this group exists and the next week a Princess of Spade goes missing.” Asta said, and the other man nodded in agreement.

“ Actually, Kya isn’t the first person to go missing in Spade,” Asta frowned a bit. “ We’ve been having merchants disappear, too, and at an alarming rate.”

Asta suddenly felt a deep ball of worry form in his gut and become heavier and heavier as Yuno spoke. Just what the hell was going on? This all couldn’t be a coincidence, it was all just too sudden, and all too similar. And if his gut feeling was right, this was going to be bad, very bad.

“ Keep me in the loop on those merchants. Something tells me they’re an important piece to all of this.” Asta muttered and Yuno nodded in agreement.

“ As long as you keep in the loop about Cerberus.”

The ash-blonde haired man nodded before he and his brother walked quietly back to the Castle.

—--

Back in Clover

Yami rubbed his face in aggravation as he sat outside the Hideout, he had gone up to the Headquarters to see if Nozel and Dorothy had found out anything. But he was once again disappointed.

“ We found a few more members, but,” Nozel said with a regrettable look on his face. “ They killed themselves, again.”

“ Didn’t you guys search them?” Yami had asked, irritation lacing his voice.

“ We searched them, but those jerks must’ve had a few hidden in their cheeks.” Dorothy said with a nervous laugh. “ But we brought their bodies back for an autopsy like Lord Asta asked, so maybe that’ll provide us with some answers.” Dorothy shrugged as Yami sighed.

“ It’s like we’re running forward but keep hitting dead ends,” Yami muttered as he rubbed the back of his head.

“ Well, I’m gonna go to the Forest of Witches and see if I can find anything there,” Dorothy said as she began to walk away. “ Maybe the Witch Queen will have some useful info!”

“ Aren’t you the Witch Queen?’ Nozel asked as he watched her walk away, Dorothy laughed again.

“ Ah, you’re right, I meant the former Witch Queen. Anyway, I’ll see you two when I get back~!”

And that was it.

“ Nothing but damned dead ends,” Yami muttered before he sensed his wife’s Ki behind him.

“ At least know you have confirmation that it’s a group of people, and not only that, but they’re spread out through the entire Kingdom.” Charlotte said as she sat down beside him.

“ That’s true,” Yami agreed with a small nod. “ I just wish we could keep one of them alive long enough to question them.”

“ You’ll find one,” Charlotte said firmly. “ It may take a while, but you’ll find one who will give us all the answers we need.”

“ I sure as hell hope so, maybe the kid will have some answers when he gets back from wherever the hell he’s at.” Yami muttered, referring to Asta. Charlotte chuckled and shook her head.

“ He just might, Asta tends to be full of surprises.”

The couple fell into a calm silence as they sat together and watched the leaves in the trees move as a gust of wind swept through.

“ Did Hikari enjoy seeing the Blue Roses?” Yami asked curiously, he knew his eldest daughter loved her mother's former squad mates as though they were family. But she, just, preferred the Black Bulls, they felt more like family, she had said.

“ She did, and then started asking her if she was seeing anyone or if she had anyone she liked, but of course she said ‘no’ and that she ‘wasn’t interested in dating yet’. One of the girls even asked if she was interested in Alistar, and she just laughed her off saying ‘he’s my best friend, nothing more, nothing less.’,” Charlotte told him with a chuckle and Yami snorted.

That was his girl.

The couple turned as they heard bickering and shouting from inside the Hideout, the voices didn’t belong to any of the kids, it belonged to one of the kids parents;

Zora and Nebra.

“ I don’t understand why you think it’s a good idea to let her lead a mission all on her own, and especially one that’s so far away!” Nebra shouted as Yami and Charlotte walked back inside.

“ It isn’t exactly my call now, is it? I’m not her senior or her Captain!”

“ No, but you are her father! You should go over there and tell them that you won’t allow it, use the Silva name if you must!” Nebra watched her husband laugh.

“ Right, like they’re really gonna listen to me,” Zora said with a humorless chuckle. “ Besides, Josslyn said she wants to go, so even if you try to stop her, she isn’t going to listen!” Zora shouted.

“ She will listen to me, because I’m her mother-!” Zora cut her off.

“ Yeah, and you haven’t been a very good one, have you?” Zora asked and Nebra scoffed.

“ Oh, and like you’ve been father-of-the-year?” Nebra asked with a laugh.

“ What is going on?” Yami asked, his tone not very loud, and yet it fell heavily across the room. Nebra and Zora looked at Yami before they looked away in shame.

“ Nothing,” They muttered in unison, and Yami raised a brow.

“ Didn’t sound like nothing to me,” Yami said seriously as he walked over to the two. “ Aren’t you two a little too old to be bickering like this, and in front of your kid no less?”

Zora and Nebra blinked for a moment before they saw Ace standing partially behind a wall, instantly Yami could see the regret and hurt appear on the couple's faces.

“ Oh, Ace, I’m so sorry,” Nebra said as she walked towards her son and scooped him up into a hug.

“ I’m sorry too, kid,” Zora muttered as he rubbed the back of his head, and Yami sighed behind them before he walked away.

“ You two need to grow up, and stop fighting in front of your kids, otherwise you’ll damage them for life.” He muttered as he went upstairs to his room, with Charlotte following behind him.

There was fighting outside his squad, inside his squad, he was just surrounded by it!

—--

The Next Day

Yami walked down the halls of the Headquarters silently until he reached the meeting room. William had called them all using a communication device and told them that Asta returned and requested their immediate presence.

Yami silently hoped that meant he had found something.

He walked into the meeting room and saw that he was the last Captain to arrive, he nodded at everyone before he sat down in his usual chair. He took a look around the room and noticed William’s son Alistar sitting there. The kid moved around almost uncomfortably in his chair, well, his father's chair. He kept shifting around, crossing and uncrossing his legs, until eventually Yami had enough.

“ Hey Pretty boy,” Yami called out, making the younger man's head snap in his direction. “ Knock it off, will ya? You’re making us all nervous.”

Alistar blinked before he saw all the other Captains nod in agreement, he suddenly blushed and tried to give them his usual smile.

“ I’m sorry, I’ll stop, or at least try to.” Alistar muttered apologetically as he bowed his head at all the others.

“ It’s first Captain's meeting jitters,” Nozel said as he crossed his arms and closed. “ Everyone gets them, well, almost everyone.” He added as he looked towards Jack, Yami, Rill, and Sol.

“ Was that meant for us?” Rill asked in confusion, Nozel shook his head, refusing to answer.

But before anything else could be said, the doors opened and Asta and William walked inside. The Captain’s saluted as usual, Alistar’s movements a little more stiff and nervous than the others. But Asta quickly waved them away as he sat down.

“ Sorry I called you all here so suddenly,” Asta said with a laugh as he rubbed his head nervously. “ But I have something to ask you all,”

“ Have any of you gotten a lot of missing persons reports lately? Like, for example; 20 missing people in a two week timespan?”

The Captain’s all looked at each other in confusion before they shook their heads.

“ No, unless the mass exodus of Magic Knights count, why?”

“ What about some strange circles in the woods? Like trees that were intentionally placed surrounding a certain area in the woods?” Asta asked, the Captain's confusion only grew as they shook their heads.

“ What’s going on, kid?” Yami asked, he watched a slight hesitation in Asta’s green eyes.

“ I don’t really know, but I think we’re dealing with more than just Magic Knights here,” Asta said slowly. “ I think we’re dealing with Magic Knights and devils.”

“ But I thought we wiped out all the devils?” Sol asked with a frown.

“ But then Herz appeared,” Asta pointed out as he referred to his eldest daughters, devil. “ So if Herz managed to survive, maybe some other devils did too.”

The Captain’s all looked at each other for a moment as the weight of Asta’s words sank in. If  they devils were indeed back, and were about to cause some trouble again, then that meant the Kingdom was in very big trouble.

Unless they stopped them first.

------

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

[wonder-womans-ex]

Tastes Like You

Finn's tongue is purple.

It has been for a while now, actually, and Logan can't stop thinking about it. It's extremely purple.

Purple like amethyst. Purple like Noelle's hands that once time she dyed her hair. Purple like a can of grape soda.

Leo's tongue is blue, and Logan can't stop thinking about that, either.

Bright, vibrant robin's-egg blue, just like the sky on a clear day. Like Leo's eyes. Like a goalie's crease.

Logan's tongue is red, and he wouldn't have it any other way. It's red like lipstick, or his nose after a day in the snow. It's red like Gryffindor, like the sugar maple leaves that litter the streets of his hometown every fall.

They're on a tiny beach on the west coast, gazing over the channel at the trees on the island. They'd had had an exhibition game down in Vancouver, and, afterwards, Logan had driven them up to the Sunshine Coast, to a tiny town that his family had visited once on vacation.

Finn had bought them all freezies from a gas station, and they'd walked across the sun-warmed street to a playground where the summer grass prickled their bare feet and the swings creaked when Leo jumped onto one.

The sun is beginning to set, but there's enough daylight that they don't have to worry about heading back to the hostel yet. Logan's sat on a piece of driftwood, a smile on his face as he watches his boys run back and forth along the shore, kicking up sand behind them.

The ocean water has long faded from the warmth of summer into the slightly bitter chill of late September, and Finn shrieks when his feet skim the edge of the surf. Leo throws his head back and laughs.

The sand is warm and Logan curls his toes into it. He stand up, jogging down towards the water, and his footsteps make no noise. He almost stumbles once or twice, but then he comes to stand behind Finn, who's crouched down, poking at something floating in the shallows with a stick. "Whatcha got there?"

"A jellyfish," says Finn, and Leo nods in agreement. It's a tiny thing, milky and almost transparent���nothing out of the ordinary, but Finn seems utterly entranced by it.

Logan grins. "City boy," he jokes. "Sees a fucking jellyfish and acts like it's some sort of magical being."

"These things kill people, Lo!"

"I—it's a moon jelly, Finn. These things are barely even poisonous. See?" he says as he bends down beside Finn, scooping the creature into his palm and stroking the slimy membrane. "Harmless. It just tickles."

Logan thinks there might be stars in Finn's eyes. "Can I hold it?"

"Of course. Here, hold out your hand, and..."

The jelly, along with the slight pool of water that it rests in, slips from Logan's sun-browned hand into Finn's freckled one. It practically blends in with the ginger boy's pale skin, but Logan doesn't have time to let his eyes find it, because, immediately, he's being pulled towards Leo.

They're nose-to-nose. "Hello."

"Hello."

Leo's mouth tastes like raspberries, and Logan is glad he managed to talk his younger boyfriend out of picking the white freezie. Cream soda his ass. It tastes like fucking bleach.

Cherry and raspberry blend together as the kiss goes on, and Logan reaches up to wrap his arms around Leo's neck. They're in public, sure, but the beach is abandoned except for them, and Logan is past the point where he gives a shit. They're in love, after all. Give him a break.

Finn makes a noise of protest. "I want kisses, too."

"Put down the jellyfish first," says Leo, breaking away from Logan ever so slightly.

When Finn bends down once more to gently toss the jelly back into the ocean, Logan watches. Then Finn stands up, squinting his eyes closed and pursing his lips outwards in a pout.

The other two boys laugh, and Leo steps forwards. He plants a single kiss on Finn's lips, then moves aside to let Logan do the same.

"That was lame," says Finn when he opens his eyes again. "Do better."

Logan does better. He licks into Finn's mouth, relishing in the faux grape flavour, and Finn makes a small noise.

Leo pecks Logan's cheek to signify that he wants a turn, and Logan gladly takes a backseat as he watches his lovers kiss. The sun is setting on the beach, and the waves crash in the distance, and they're three colours that go together perfectly, and he wouldn't change this for the world.

amazing characters are by @lumosinlove <3

[obeymeaskme]

Obey Me!: Human and Demon Hearts!

A/N: Make sure to check my pinned post for the whole story so far!

Chapter Two: Reaching the bare minimum (2/2)

Word Count: 1,926

Rating: 18+

Away in her self cleaned room, Noelle had laid in her bed. Face burrowed in the pillow, as she sobbed quietly. Thankfully enough time went by for her tears to subside, as a knock came from her door. Grumbling about being interrupted from almost falling asleep, she turned on the lights, and opened the door, peeking her head through. She didn't see anyone immediately, but caught the sounds of Satan's footsteps and soft humming as he walked back down to the dining room. A soft warm, and earthy smell dragged her attention to the plate of food sitting on the ground. A side of normal looking mashed potatoes, and a ham and pineapple dish made her sigh in relief of not having to go hungry for the night. She ate her food, and decided to wash the dishes in the morning.

The full swing of the weekend had stirred Noelle from her sleep. And much like she promised herself, she got dressed and made her way to the stone kitchen to wash her platter. She jumped slightly as Satan and Lucifer were already in the kitchen, yet they showed no sign of noticing her. Noelle ducked behind the wall, not wanting to intervene just yet. Her heart almost sank as she quickly learned what Satan was explaining to Lucifer, which was what she had told satan the previous day in the library. this caused her emotions to rush back to her while Satan expressed concern over Levi's attitude to her during their art class. Lucifer seemed to hum in thought and had quickly reminded Satan that this was what she had asked for, and a small argument broke out.

It seemed that even Satan was aware of how cruel his brothers were beginning to act towards her. Lucifer seemed stunned at his reasoning, and shot back at him, reminding Satan that he wasn't the eldest, and he doesn't know a thing. Noelle felt herself become defensive for the only Demon she had found safety in. she stood in the doorway, a set of tears stroked her cheeks as she spoke.

“So what?” Was all she could muster with her crackling voice.

The two brothers seemed stunned. Satan felt the growing anger and defense within her arise. Feeding into his own sin. Lucifer closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose before responding.

“And just how long were you standing there?”

Another surge of courage ripped through Noelle, as the familiar sensation of being pushed too far made her swallow what tears she had shed. Her voice came back out in full.

“Long enough. If you're going to talk shit about me, at least grow the balls to say it to my face, coward.”

A line was crossed and Lucifer had glared at her. Noelle's hand reached over her lips, touching them gently. Part of her was surprised and impressed, but the other part of her knew how grave of a mistake she just made. Lucifer was the Avatar of Pride. A demon who found entertainment in being above everyone, unchallenged. He even showed some grace as he sauntered up to her, backing her up into the hallway and against the wall. The other demons of the house had sensed Lucifer's aura and had made their way to the kitchen, stopping at the scene before them.

It was at that point that Noelle realized why she had struggled so much with the citizens of Devildom.

Lucifer's voice dropped into a growl. An inhuman growl.

“If you're going to be so bold to ask me, I will tell you. You are a small, and weak human in a world of strong demons who could rip you to shreds. If it wasn't for Lord Diavolo's orders to maintain your safety, I'd have yanked that flapping, moronic tongue of yours out of that little useless cavern you call a mouth. So we shall make this clear once, and once only. Do. Not. Speak ill of me like that again. Or so help me, there will be 'a case of rules meant to be broken'...”

He took a quick, short pause to inhale deeply, and spoke with a final, shaky voice.

“Along with a few broken bones, do I make myself clear?”

Noelle's body was only able to shake violently in fear. She heard what he had said; What he had threatened. Her mistake was forgetting where she was, and what she was surrounded by. Demons.

Her mind may have refused to process a response, but she felt every inch of her body screaming “I'll behave”. White hair and brown leather blocked her vision, and Mammon stepped between them, trying to coax Lucifer down from his rage.

“Alright there, uh Lucy! You don't have to go that far! And besides, the kid's shaking in her boots! I think um- she gets your point.”

A silent scoff was heard, and he looked past his brother and gave a final glare before walking away. Finally out of his eyesight she realized the black wings of his apparent demon form. She watched as the almost emperor like clothing, along with the wings, burned to ash, showcasing Lucifer's casual outfit. Then she dropped to the floor.

Breathing heavily, and still shaking. Even with her physical form showing her fear, her mind became painfully calm in contrast to the intense moment that just passed. The remaining brother's grew uncomfortable, but a small chuckle was heard. It came from Levi.

“Wooow! What Did you do to make him so grouchy?”

Satan started scolding Levi for such a vicious remark, and Mammon knelt down to Noelle's side, cautiously placing a hand on her shoulder. He jumped a bit as she got up quickly, and walked halfway to Levi, catching his attention. She looked around at the brother's before her. She spoke, her voice stuttering and shaky.

“Grouchy- That's just grouchy? You- you all just.. you- just stood there. Why? Why would- why would-”

Mammon had quickly placed a hand back on her shoulder as the rest looked on in sympathy. Even Leviathan had realized the trauma that was just bestowed upon her. Satan was next to speak, walking up to her and ruffling her hair in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Yeah- That's Lucifer when he's grouchy. What you just witnessed was a Demon Feeding. Come to think about it...” Before he finished his thought, Mammon gathered everyone's attention and reminded them that it was best to go back to what they were doing. Leaving just Satan and Noelle in the hallway. He looked at her. Having felt the anger and confusion she had hidden so well in the moment. He felt it all crumble, and then he felt... nothing.

He led her into the kitchen, and she watched him as he made the family breakfast. Silence drumming out to their ears. That was until Noelle found her voice again, calm and recovered.

“That was... scary...”

Satan hummed in response.

“It could have been worse.” He looked back at her, studying her in her response.

“what... was that about Demon feeding?”

Satan chortled, clearly amused by something, but answered her nonetheless.

“Before you had decided to entertain everyone just then, I was telling Lucifer, or more so reminding him, that you're human. A lot of times you have kept yourself vulnerable. You're mostly honest, you tend to reach out to others before they even consider asking for help... to a demon you're a very tempting snack.”

Noelle shuddered and swallowed her collective saliva, as she listened to Satan explain further.

“Demons, even if they're fallen angels, have this weak spot for humans like you. The response to that weak spot can go one of three ways. The first two are usually the most common, I'd say about 99.5% common. A demon will take interest in your soul and have the urge to make a contract with you, or will Feed off of you. Which is exactly what everyone has been doing to you. Well except me and the few others who don't bother interacting with you.”

Noelle tilted her head, and Satan sighed, resting himself next her, as she sat on the counter.

“What I mean is, since you're a relatively pure and kind person, despite your perverse sense of humor, you're the kind of person demons just love to torment. When a Demon Feeding takes place they're, in a way, suffocating your soul, and eating at the desired emotion they want.”

Satan rubbed his neck, and an almost visible light bulb went off as he turned towards her, seemingly excited with what he was going to say.

“It's almost like chewing bubble gum!”

Satan's smirk grew playful, and he elicited a laugh out of Noelle. Through her short laugh she asked him what he meant, to which he responded with great theatrics-

“It's just a taste of the soul without eating it! Incubi, and Succubi do it all the time! Ew-”

Noelle laughed harder at his outburst, almost falling off the counter. Satan had caught her before doing so, and led her off the counter tops back to the ground. She was quickly silenced by Satan's glare at her before he finally spoke up again.

“The best way to prevent this, is to not back down. Don't give anyone else the ability to scare you, or get what they want. I won't lie, because you've already gave some a taste it will be harder to fight them off. Bella hasn't been affected by the same condition because Belphegor and Beel have the most history with humans, therefore lacking the desire to take what's not rightfully theirs.”

He began to speak with a light blush.

“I'll even admit that seeing you overwhelmed with anger, made me tempted to feed off you as well... It's an instinctual thing... and it's.. different from what Lucifer did to you.”

Noelle scrunched her face in confusion.

“what do you mean?”

“that third option... The .5% reaction... If a human and demon have some form of common ground, then instead of wanting their soul, they find pleasure more so in amplifying emotions. It's like when you protected Bella when you first got here. She gave you the strength to face demons without thought. It's like an urge to connect with a human, except it's through a more spiritual means. So technically speaking... this was my fault. I think I accidentally amplified my feelings towards Lucifer to you. So uh- I'm sorry.”

Noelle nodded at him, and smiled lightly. A soft weight lifting from her shoulder as she gave him a hug. Speaking as she pulled back.

“It's okay. I'm just glad this just means no one here completely hates me... I was worried. Maybe you need to stick around me more often ya' know? Give me a boost of confidence to start finally sticking up for myself.”

Satan smiled at her, and playfully thought about it before nodding at her.

“Perhaps I do...”

“Hey Satan?”

“Yeah?”

Noelle sniffed the air and before she could ask, Satan had jumped up and rushed to the burning food.

“SHIT!”

[catrasredemption-moved]

I'm really struggling and hurting with what's going on in the fandom right now as im losing the only comfort i had in quarantine. could you please write something happy post-s5 catradora based on noelle's statement that once Adora realises she's in love with Catra she'd be SO into the reslationship?

((I get you, Nonners <3 *hugs* Again, white af, so I’m going to limit my comments, but - it isn’t all downhill from here. Try not to give up)) (((Disclaimer it’s almost 4am and my sleeping meds are kicking in, so I’m sorry if this isn’t completely coherent)))

Adora had never half-assed anything in her life.

And she’d be damned if she was going to start now, at a time when being fully on her game was more important than ever.

“I just want to do something for her!”

Bow practically had hearts in his eyes. Glimmer was a little less impressed. “I’m pretty sure if you just stayed in bed and napped together all day, she’d be happy.”

“I know, I know.” Adora sighed. “But that’s not - I want to do something good. Like, really show her that I love her.”

“Take a vacation.”

“Glimmer!”

“What? I’m serious,” Glimmer insisted. “If you just like... took an entire week off to do nothing but spend time with her, she’d probably be speechless. Which I would pay to see, by the way.”

Adora frowned, thinking it over. It was true that Catra would probably be floored by Adora taking a week off, no need for She-Ra or anything, just for her.

“I don’t know. Do you think it’s enough? What should we do? What do people do on vacation?”

“You could just travel?” Bow suggested. “You know, get as far from Bright Moon as you can then call Glimmer for a ride back or something when you’re done.”

It was... actually a good idea, Adora thought. They’d spent their whole lives in the Fright Zone wondering what was beyond the Whispering Woods. They could actually see things now. They could see a world full of magic!

The happy thoughts died almost as quickly as they had started. “I... I dunno. I mean, it sounds great, but that would take more than a week, and-”

“Take a month,” Glimmer encouraged. “Take six months, honestly. You guys saved the universe. If anyone’s earned time off, it’s you.”

“That’s a lot of time.”

“And you’ve earned it,” Bow assured her. “Maybe not six months - I mean, you should take six months but I know that would drive you nuts. But take a month. Go places. Spend time together. I think it’d be good for you guys.”

Adora chewed on her thumbnail for a moment before slowly nodding and smiling. “Yeah. Okay.”

This whole thing had started with Catra not feeling like a priority in Adora’s life, after all. A month together would be the perfect way to show Adora she was invested and she cared. Perfect. * * * * * * * * * * * * Catra didn’t get back to Bright Moon that night. “Your cat passed out on my couch,” Mermista informed Adora flatly, turning the screen so Adora could see Catra curled up in a tight ball, sleeping.

“Is she... okay?”

“She’s dumb. Sea Hawk found her almost sick with heat stroke and had to drag her away from the house she was working on.”

Adora’s heart jumped to her throat. “She’s... She’s really trying hard to help with Salineas.”

“And I appreciate it,” Mermista admitted in a rare moment of genuine honesty. “But I’ll appreciate it less if she kills herself in the process. If she’s going to die, I should at least get the first shot.”

“Glimmer can come get her, if you want.”

“Nah, she already feels like hell. She can sleep it off on the couch.”

Adora scrubbed her eyes, smiling weakly. “Thanks, Mermista. Sorry, I guess I should’ve warned you, she gets really intense when she actually puts effort into things.”

“She’s not someone I would’ve pegged for a workaholic. Want me to wake her up to say... I dunno, good night or whatever you guys say to each other?”

“Nah, let her sleep.” Adora wanted Catra home, wanted to talk to her about a vacation, but she was sleeping, and that was more important than anything. She’d been exhausting herself for nearly a month working on Salineas. And while it was earning her some begrudging tolerant will with Mermista (who firmly believed actions were better than any apology Catra could ever say), Adora was worried. A vacation would really do her some good. * * * * * * * * * * * * Glimmer and Adora went to Salineas the next morning to get Catra. They thought it was reasonable to assume she was still sleeping off the heat stroke at the palace.

“Nope, she took off before I woke up,” Mermista said flatly when they found her. “Sea Hawk tried to find her, but he’s not exactly subtle about it, so she probably had plenty of time to hide.”

“Great.” Adora sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I’ll... track her down.”

“Tell her if she’s going to keel over to get out of my kingdom. She can die on Bright Moon’s turf.”

“Tell her not to die,” Glimmer added.

“Yes, and yes.”

Mermista pointed Adora in the direction of where they’d found Catra yesterday. She approached a half built house, quietly climbing up the ladder at the side and finding Catra working on the roofing.

“Seriously?” she asked, resting her arms on the edge of the roof. Catra looked up, surprised.

“What?”

She looked exhausted, her face flushed red. Adora sighed. “Are you coming home any time soon?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She went back to work, distracted. “Sorry, I dunno what happened yesterday.”

“You made yourself sick working in the sun all day.”

“Sea Hawk overreacted.” Catra waved Adora off. “He’s just scared you’d kill him if you found he let me overwork myself.”

“Sooooo you’re admitting it?”

“No, that’s just his logic.”

Adora shook her head. “Come on, take the day off and come home. I wanna talk to you about something.”

“I really need to finish this.”

There was a weird moment where Adora thought she understood how Catra had felt for years. Catra had been working nonstop on Salineas for a month, and Adora was starting to feel a little ignored.

But she also understood Catra’s side. She took a deep breath, hauling herself up onto the roof and crawling over to Catra, gently putting her hand on Catra’s and stopping the hammer. “Hey. I get it, okay? But you’re not responsible for fixing all of Salineas.”

“Actually, I kind of am,” Catra replied bitterly. She was far too warm for it to be comfortable.

“I’m pretty sure Hordak could stand to take a little more responsibility than he has.” Adora couldn’t help but be a bit bitter about that. He had mostly stayed in Dryl, working with Entrapta on tech that would help with the rebuilding process. And that was great and all, but it wasn’t much compared to Catra being out here every day working herself half to death.

Catra let out a long sigh, finally relaxing her hand. “I just... need to do this, Adora. Okay?”

“I get that, but you don’t need to do it at the expense of your own health. And yes, I know I’m a hypocrite. But I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” Adora squeezed her hand. “And that’s okay. Have you eaten anything?”

“No.” The honesty was nice.

“Did you skip eating because you felt sick?” Catra nodded. “Okay. So... you can leave with me, or Mermista can wash you out to sea so you don’t die in her kingdom.”

Catra looked around, and sighed, finally nodding. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Getting her back to solid ground was a bit dicey, but she held herself up and managed to walk back to the palace without much help.

“She lives,” Mermista said dryly when they arrived back at the palace. Glimmer smiled, although she couldn’t hide her worry.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine.” Catra smothered a yawn, scrubbing her eyes.

“Picture of health all right,” Mermista deadpanned. “Look, you built like, an entire neighborhood on your own. Come back when you’re not burning up.”

Glimmer rested a hand on Catra’s shoulder, wincing when she felt the heat radiating off of her. Adora took a moment to whisper, “Thank you for taking care of her,” to Mermista. The princess shrugged.

“Yeah, you know. Whatever.”

Catra was not happy with the teleport back to Bright Moon. Glimmer put them close enough to the bed so she could drop straight onto it, groaning. Good luck, the queen mouthed before disappearing. Adora went to the bathroom, wet a washcloth with cold water, and returned to the bed, resting the cloth on the back of Catra’s neck. She shivered.

“Cold.”

“Yes, because you’re burning hot.” Adora settled in next to her. “So, I had an idea, and I already know you’re going to argue with it, but hear me out.” Catra hummed in affirmation. “I was thinking we should take some time off. You and me. I was thinking traveling, but now I’m thinking maybe go visit Frosta and spend a week in the snow.”

“Oh hell no,” Catra muttered. “I am not going anywhere with snow. That’s where I draw the line.”

“But you’re agreeing to the vacation?”

“I dunno.” Catra raised her head. “When? Can it wait until Salineas is-”

“No.” Adora gently clasped Catra’s face in her hands. “I know this is hard for you, but you can’t hurt yourself trying to fix things. That won’t accomplish anything, and nobody wants to see you hurting, not even Mermista.”

Catra looked ready to argue, but something in her expression flickered. “You’re willing to take time off just to do nothing?”

“Not nothing. To spend time with you. We can hold each other accountable. You keep me strapped down, and I’ll lie on top of you to make sure you don’t run off to Salineas.”

Tears slowly filled Catra’s eyes, and Adora panicked for a moment before Catra spoke. “You’d... really take time off to spend time with me?”

“Of course.” Adora kissed her gently. “I love you, Catra. And I know we’ve been through a lot and done a lot that doesn’t really... support that, and I want to prove it now. And I want to take care of you.”

The moment of silence between them was comfortable. The same silence they could have spent hours in at one point in their lives. “I love you too,” Catra finally murmured. “Maybe taking some off to spend together wouldn’t be so bad. If only to see you try and relax.”

“Ha. Ha.” Adora grabbed the washcloth and began gently wiping Catra’s face. “Glimmer gave us a month, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be happy if we want to take more. Let’s start with getting you better, then we can figure out what we want to do from there. Okay?”

“Yeah.” Catra snuggled into Adora’s chest, taking a deep breath. “That sounds good.”

It had worked. Adora couldn’t believe it. “So uh... I’m doing this relationship thing pretty good, huh?”

Catra snorted, reaching up to push her face away. “Get over yourself.”

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

I want to write an original story with a similar basic premise to Animorphs (kids use alien technology to fight a secret guerrilla war against other invading alien species and are subsequently severely traumatized), but I'm not sure how clearly distinct from Animorphs I need to make it to be legally okay. The plot's pretty different asides from that and none of the characters are really similar, but I'm not sure if it's still too close. Any advice?

Yes!  All advice comes with the whopping caveat that I’ve never published a novel myself, but I can make recommendations.

Step 1: Write the dang thing!

I feel like we writers worry too much, too often, and especially too early about copyright issues.  I’ve had friends fret over the possibility of mentioning Disney in novels that they haven’t so much as outlined; my usual response is to hand them a copy of Percy Jackson with the 30,000 mentions of Diet Coke flagged, or to highlight the words “PlayStation” and “Sellotape” in the Harry Potter series.  Heck, Animorphs itself takes potshots at Nickelodeon and Planet Hollywood.  Worrying about copyright early on in the writing process is useless to the extent that it’s almost impossible to predict what copyright issues the final product will or won’t have.  I successfully published a poem trashing Dole fruit company in an anthology, only to have the whole anthology pulled because its inside cover accidentally (incorrectly) implied that it was published through our university’s press.

Trust me, I get why this problem draws the mind — it assumes a reality where my novel is finished, an agent accepts it, a publisher puts it out, and it sells enough copies for senpai to notice me.  But if you’re not talking to a publisher about this issue over your sixth or seventh draft of your polished manuscript, you’re borrowing tsuris.  Maybe by the time you’re done writing your novel, the resemblance to Animorphs will be less than passing.  Maybe you’ll run into a completely different set of copyright issues.  Point being: cross that bridge when you come to it.  Even better, let your publisher cross it for you.  That’s part of why they’re there.

Step 2: Draw out what makes your story unique, and avoid what makes K.A. Applegate’s story unique.

If you’re writing about mind-controlling aliens, that’s fine!  Those date back to at least Robert A. Heinlein, and arguably as early as humanity itself has had a concept of possession by spirits.  If you’re writing about shapeshifting kids, also fine!  Those definitely date back to the dawn of human culture, and can be found in the religions of every continent.  If you’re writing about trauma, fine.  I think you’re okay to borrow almost all of the broad strokes of Animorphs.

Things that wouldn’t be okay to borrow:

Specific descriptions of specific aliens.  If you have any vulcan-like beings in this universe, don’t make them four-eyed four-legged scorpion-tailed blue people.  Same goes for all the unique species and creatures.

The exact words KAA uses to write the scenes.  Hopefully you learned this already in middle school, but you have to do a hell of a lot more than rewording a quote to avoid plagiarism.  Don’t even paraphrase any passage from an Animorphs book, ever.  Write your own stuff.

Exact plots.  If you’re having your child shapeshifters chased by a sentient tornado that senses their shapeshifting energy while they all drive around continuously shapeshifting to play keep-away with said tornado, then that’s copying KAA’s homework even if you never use the words “yeerk” or “veleek.”

Exact characters.  This one’s nebulous, but try to avoid having your first narrator be a thirteen-year-old boy who enjoys basketball but was cut from the team, whose older brother is mind-controlled by an alien, whose friends all describe him as middle-aged before his time, and whose girlfriend is an animal-loving assistant vet.  You can write a Jake-like character if you change anything from his sport of choice to his ethnicity — and then ask yourself how that difference would change his outlook or upbringing.

Macguffins.  This is similar to the specific aliens: however your protagonists gain the ability to shapeshift, don’t make it a blue box.

Step 3: TELL NO ONE.

If I had to guess, at least one author has already done exactly what you’re describing — written heavily modified Animorphs fan fiction and published it as an original work.  If I had to make a specific guess, it’d be either that Veronica Roth’s Divergent series started as a work of Rachel/Tobias fan fiction, or that Stephenie Meyer’s The Host started as a fan sequel to the whole series.  However, I can’t go beyond guessing, because both authors are (WISELY) keeping their traps shut about the issue.  Yes, Roth has mentioned that Tobias “Four” Eaton is named after Tobias Fangor, but hasn’t gone beyond that.  Meyer has pulled the ultimate Mary-Shelly-worthy power move by responding to questions about her inspiration with “it came to me in a dream ¯\_(ツ)_/¯” which, honestly, life goals right there.

Speaking of Stephenie Meyer, let’s talk about E.L. James as an example of what not to do.  Sure, she didn’t have a ton of choice about people knowing 50 Shades of Grey was Twilight fan fiction — she initially published it on FFN under that heading — but it’s also this unavoidable fact about that novel that has contaminated many people’s perceptions of it.  Meyer has chosen to be classy as fuck about the whole thing through making no acknowledgement whatsoever of James, but she’d be well within her right to sue.  And James’s own work is forever going to be “that Twilight fan fic that made it big,” never considered purely for its own merits.  Jump from E.L. James to Cassandra Clare, and things get uglier: Clare’s been open about the fact that the Mortal Instruments originated as Harry/Draco fan fiction, and as such there’s widespread awareness in fandom spaces that Clare was that cyberbully on FFN back in the day, and is probably guilty of plagiarism.

How to avoid that nonsense?  Take it to your grave.  I know that one of the bestselling YA novels of 2015 was an utterly-revamped Supernatural fic idea; I only know that through the author being a friend of a friend, because the author has (WISELY) made zero public statements that that’s the case.  I know that Tamora Pierce, D.J. MacHale, Stephenie Meyer, and Noelle Stevenson have all quietly acknowledged having FFN or AO3 accounts, and I also know that none of their fan fiction usernames are widely known for good reason.  I know that Applegate herself has made statements that, shall we say, do not definitively rule out the possibility that Animorphs might have in its earliest incarnations borne passing resemblance to Lord of the Rings fan fiction.  But none of these authors have said as much on the record, which is the right way to go.

Anyway, happy writing!

[theatrelove3000]

Flowers

Background: Noelle and Loki were “Bound” by a witch in Alfheim after a battle they fought in. This means that the witch split each of their souls in half and one half switched places. Noelle has half of Loki’s soul and vice versa. They can feel each other's emotions and hear each other's thoughts. Noelle is also Half Asgardian, half Midgardian. Her father is Tyr and her mother is of Midgard. Loki enchanted her wedding ring so that she can be immortal with him. 

Summary: Loki is injured in the field.

Warnings: Slight angst, mentions of blood if you squint, fluffy ending

Flowers

Loki PoV:

The last thing of the mission I remember before the world went black was pushing Wanda out of the way of the gunman. 

Next thing I know, I'm in a hospital. Nurses and doctors surround my bed. I hear someone telling someone else to prepare the O.R. 

I watch as the lights above me move quickly as I am raced to the Operating Room.

~~~~~~~~~~

I awaken in a different place all together. No longer am I in a gurney moving under blinding fluorescent lights. I am in a warm, sunny garden. It's lush and green and perfect in every way. Looking to my left, I see a large, beautiful tree. It looks exactly like the one Noelle and I sat under and read together in Asgard.

Asgard. 

Oh Gods. 

I look to my right and see thousands of flowers. They are the precise flowers held within the palace gardens I played in as a child.

"Don't look so shocked, darling. You don't always need an answer to everything." A sweet, soft voice tells me. 

A voice I recognize.

I turn towards the voice and sink to my knees at the sight of her. Frigga. My mother.

"Hello, dear." She says calmly, smiling at me all the while. I can feel the tears streaming down my face.

She walks to me and lifts my chin. Bending down, she kisses my forehead. "Rise, my son. You needn't get yourself dirty." Her smile widens in amusement at her joke.

I struggle to my feet and am suddenly looking down at the woman who raised me. I've forgotten how much taller I am than she is. She cups my face in her hands, cooing softly at me. She wipes my tears away as I gawk at her. 

"Mother." I whisper. Well, I suppose a whimper would be a more accurate description.

"Loki." She says just as gently as she always did. 

The sound of my name falling from her lips makes my whole being crumble. I wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her neck, crying like a wounded child. She returns my embrace and hushes me quietly. She rubs my back and strokes my hair as I weep like she did when I was young. "It's alright, dear. It's alright."

I pull away from her neck and start speaking through the tears. "I'm so sorry, Mother. I never meant any of those nasty things I said to you. Not a word of it. If I could take them all back, I would. I am so so sorry."

She holds up a hand to stop my rambling and loops her hand through my arm so I am escorting her through her garden. "I know, my son. I knew it then, and I know it now. You were always the more patient prince but when you did lose your temper, you typically lost all control of your words." She chuckles and pats my hand. "Such a shame, too. You always have had a way with words. Your darling Noelle would agree, I'm sure." 

I smile at my mother, wiping the last of the tears from my eyes as I do. "She tells me so very often." As soon as I start thinking of Noelle, a sort of panic runs through me. Have I died? Did I leave her? I promised. I promised I'd come home!

Frigga must feel the difference in my body language and leads me to a marble bench along the edge of the garden path. "What are you thinking, my dear?" 

"I have left my Noelle. Again." I run my free hand over my face. "I didn't get to say goodbye properly." I turn and pick a purple flower from the bush behind us, twirling in between my thumb and forefinger.

"It doesn't have to be goodbye, Loki. You can choose to return to your life, your love. Your family. Or you could stay here. You have friends in Valhalla. I will be with you. You can watch your wife from here." 

I think about that for a moment. I could stay with my mother, make up for the lost time. Or I could go home to my wife. My Noelle. My Savior.

There isn't much of a choice.

"Why did you appear to me if I had a choice? Don't you know what it will be?" I ask.

Mother smiles gently, "If there is one thing I know of you, my son, it's that you carry a large amount of grief and guilt on your shoulders. It doesn't change the way Noelle feels for you but it makes her sad to see you carry all this weight. It makes you tired. You don't need to be tired anymore. I've only given you a chance to forgive yourself." She wipes a stray tear from my cheek. "I love you, Loki. You are my son. That will never change. Even if everything else does, this one fact will not." 

"I love you, Mother. I am so sorry."

"I know, dear. But you needn't feel it anymore." 

I hug her again. I feel rather than see the landscape fading away, blurring at the edges. 

"Give Mother a kiss before you go." She chuckles at me. I laugh and kiss her forehead before letting her slip away as well.

~~~~~~~~~~

I awaken to the sound of a steady beeping in the background. I can't quite open my eyes yet but I can tell the room is bright. I start to become aware of my body- of the aches and pains in it. The pain is mostly in my throat; not quite my windpipe but closer to the right side of my neck.

I begin trying to feel specific feelings of pain or discomfort in my body before I need to look at it. There is a weight on my hand. I take a deep breath and turn my head slightly to the side before opening my eyes. I am greeted with my beautiful bride asleep with her head resting on the bed next to my hand. Her own hand is folded around my own. How long has she been here?

I gather up all the strength that I have in my tired body and squeeze her hand. She jolts awake immediately and looks up at me. 

"Loki!" She shrieks before leaning over the bed to kiss me gently. She pulls back before I'm ready to let her go and I put my hand behind her head to bring her back. She concedes for a moment before pulling back again. She straightens up and says something about going to get a doctor but I don't let go of her hand.

"Please stay." 

Her eyebrows draw together in concern but she lets me pull her back to the bed. I drop her hand only to move over minutely on the bed so she can lay beside me. She only protests until I give her a pleading look. She gives in quickly and lays down beside me. 

I tuck her under my left arm and pull her face to rest on my collarbone, nose buried in the crook of my neck. I press my lips to her forehead and start to question her.

"How much time have I lost?" 

"About two days. The bullet was three centimeters from your carotid artery. You lost a lot of blood. They didn't know what to give you because you aren't... well... human. Tony ran some tests on Thor but he wasn't close enough to match you. We decided to test mine as well. We knew it was a long shot but, you know, desperate times call for desperate measures." Noelle's arm tightens around my torso ever so slightly. "It turned out to be close enough to a match that it could work. I have been thinking about that a lot the last few hours."

"Why is that, dearest?" 

"We aren't technically the same... I don't know. Species, I suppose? You're a frost giant, I'm a halfling of Asgard and Midgard. Why did my blood match?" She pulls her face out of my neck to look at me, raising an eyebrow.

I reach down to take her hand in mine, stroking my thumb over her wedding ring. "I don't know. Perhaps it's because my magic flows through you. Or because we are bound. Either way it doesn't matter. I'm here because of you. Thank you, Noelle."

"It wasn't at all just me. There were doctors and nurses and Tony and-"

"Darling." I interrupt her, "I am here because of you. Let me explain," I say, holding up my right hand, the one twisted with wires and IVs. I smirk a bit, realizing my mother had made the same gesture towards me not long ago. "While I was under, I saw Frig- my mother. She told me I had a choice. I could go with her or come back to you. I believe the choice I made is rather obvious." I chuckle a bit.

I see her eyes filling with tears. She is afraid that she truly did almost lose me. I grasp her face with both of my hands. "You will not lose me without a proper goodbye. Especially not anytime soon. I will always come home to you."

She closes her eyes for a moment before kissing me again. "Gods, I love you." She mutters against my lips as I pull away. 

"I love you." I whisper back. I raise my right hand and the purple flower from my mother's garden appears there. I place it behind her ear and kiss her fingers.

The doctors come in not long after that to check on me. Noelle climbs off the bed and sits back in the chair as they run their checks on me. I never let go of her hand. I will not leave her again.

@myoxisbroken @just-the-hiddles @myraiswack @is-it-madness @thatavengersbitch @lehuka123 @poetic-fiasco @frostbitten-written @thelokiimaginechronicles

[docholligay]

Just in case anyone else didn't ask it: She-ra thoughts?

Ah, yes, we finally finished the She-Ra last night. Okay, so I feel like I don’t have to say this, because I think this is in keeping with my general empotional timbre but: It’s fine if you loved the last season. I cannot EXPRESS how little I care. I do not go to bed at night thinking “IF ONLY I COULD CONVINCE THOSE FOOLS” I think arguing about it is stupid, by and large, because I find it highly unlikely that anything I sy is going to make someone who loved it go “You’re right, it was fool’s gold, but truly, I wanted so badly for it to bring wealth” and I doubt anyone could say anything that would get me to say “Oh you have opened mine eyes! I can see the craftwork that I so long denied” like come on. 

Remember how Jet hated Madoka Magica, and how it stopped me for not even five seconds from thinking it was fucking incredible, and how we managed to continue being friends because an animated show being good or not is not something grown people stew about? Good. 

So this isn’t a REFERENDUM on however you felt about it. I don’t cre. Let me take your hand. I do. Not. Care. 

So: 

I thought it was HORRENDOUSLY paced, and most of the problems I have with it, but not all, come out of that. It was frustrating because the show by and large had been so good, even when I hadn’t loved  a step it took, of being well considered and being willing to fully embrace the idea that a character can be wrong, or that you are allowed to feel multiple ways about something. 

People, I think, assume I hated Catra, but I don’t! I NEVER did, I LOOOOOOOVED Catra as a character, allowed to show how someone can be so twisted in their own fucking victimhood that they become the villain. I thought it was a brilliant bit of writing. I though having her and Glimmer, both so driven to the point, square off against each other, was amazing. I FULLY EXPECTED, and you can find me talking about this several seasons back, that she would have a redemption arc. I know how kid’s shows work, but also I knew she was Noelle Stevenson’s favorite, and there was no way she was going to let her close out the show being unredeemed. 

I also knew Catradora was happening, because it’s Stevenson’s ship. And no hate! Please know if I was running either SM or OW: The HBO series, it would go down EXACTLY the way I wanted. 

So I think what people thought my problems were are mischaracterized, reductionist, and a bit unfair. 

My problem was I got fucking WHIPLASH off the turnaround. We should have: have more seasons, made it last the whole season, started it earlier, or not had Catra fall so far. ANY of those would have helped the situation IMMENSELY for me. Catra literally tried to MURDER them all, MULTIPLE times, and I feel like she made one gesture and was let off the hook. I will have to go back and take a tally, but I think we stay pissed at her in the group for like TWO EPISODES. MAX. No one is allowed to continue to mistrust her, to resent her, nothing. 

 I feel like she was never really held to task for her self-pitying horseshit, and unfortunately, the DIRE circumstances made things where I even maybe thought she had a point dissolve before my very eyes. 

Like, I know you don’t want Adora to die, and you may even have a fucking point here, but if it’s one girl versus the world, you are being selfish to keep her. The world matters utterly more. Doc, I would think you would like that, her being utterly selfish, oh I WOULD LOVE IT, if the show in any way allowed you to hold the idea that Catra is Selfish and Bad. It’s the Iron Man problem, where the movie won’t leave me space to think he’s terrible, so instead of being like, Tony Stark, you little twit, I have to full-on hate him. 

And unfortunately, this isn’t just a problem with that whole storyline. Everything felt so rushed and set to the side, and the side characters we’d come to love got almost no real feel of resolution for me, or emotional depth. 

Like we haven’t spent any time with Spinerella or Netossa, but I’m supposed to get emotionally involved in the fact that they’re on opposite sides? I’m supposed to care about two characters who I have really only seen in passing? It takes a lot to make me want to bring my own emotions to the table, and it never managed that. 

The Glimmer and Bow thing felt entirely shoehorned in for reasons I don’t even fully understand, and I thought the pair-offs at the end were GENERALLY lazy. Not everyone needs to have a romantic interest at the end of the show! It could have been SPinerella/Netossa, Catra/Adora, and Mermista/Seahawl, and I think we all would have lived fine. Those are the couples we’ve come to expect, that were laid into the show, etc. Why pair everyone else up? I don’t get it all. 

I find brainwashing storylines very lazy and can never get emotionally invested in the whole ~my friend is now my enemy~ thing unless it’s VERY VERY well-written. 

MInor side note: INCREDIBLY unimpressed with the future flash with Adora all feminine and Catra having walked back her short hair. But glad, I suppose, to see that this show has never stopped from it’s goal of making any woman you could possibly take as butch and making sure you feminize her. 

THE GOOD

I did love the showdown between Micah and Glimmer. I thought that was really thematically important for Glimmer and her struggle with her powers, and there was nothing on earth I found disappointing about her blasting her dad in the face with 895 volts of eat a dick. It was great. Loved it. 

SHADOW WEAVER. Perhaps my vote for MVP of the entire show, I love that she was emotionally complex and difficult to read to the end. I love that even as she’s giving her lives for Catra and Adora, but also, mostly, because she knows it’s the only way the world will get saved, her last words are “You’re welcome” She was never NICE, but she provided a very complex marrative about evil and good, and she lived in the greys in many ways, and I thought she was a terribly interesting character that you were allowed to feel a WHOLE VARIETY of ways about. 

Seahawk’s whole “This reminds me of when we first met! You tried to kill me then, too” I howled at his whole thing. They are the only valid straight/het/whatever couple in the show and perhaps the world. (I mean, I would have rather he be a butch lesbian anyday, but) 

WRONG HORDAK. That was so well done and funny, I just thought it was a delight throughout the entire season.

But all in all, it was such a major writing disappointment. It was so poorly done in these final strokes, and that's so ridiculously shocking given the good writing of other seasons.

[dumbchickwrites]

office affairs -- part 3

Pairing: CEO!Sam Wilson x Reader

Summary: Sam is the CEO of the Red Wing PR agency where Reader has been working for the past two years. Problem is, they both think one hates the other. However, when their friends set them up on a blind date, they’ll realise that it was all a big misunderstanding.

Warnings: language, Reader is a bit thirsty.

Words: 2.6k

A/N: This series is part of @marvelmaree​‘s birthday challenge. You can find the masterlist on my blog and hers!

A/N 2: Guys. I’m so so sorry you had to wait this long. You see, all the updates for this fic were queued. But the gag is, they were queued for next month. How did that happen, I don’t know. But every thing is back to normal now and you should expect a new part everyday (or two days, when I want to create ~ suspense ~). Again, I apologise. I hope you enjoy!

It’s Friday night.

If you weren’t nervous this morning, you sure are now. Why though? It’s not like you haven’t been on a date before. Yes, it’s been a while, but you’re pretty sure you can handle a couple of hours of soft flirting. Not to mention the free dinner.

“Everything’s gonna be fine, relax,” Noelle says for the thirteenth time.

She gives your shoulders a brief squeeze before her hands go back to undoing the flexi-rods in your hair. You agreed that she would style your hair while you’d do your makeup. When you stated that you’d go for your usual soft makeup look, Noelle and the girls encouraged you to step out of your comfort zone a bit. That’s why you went for a – still soft—pink smokey eye paired with a nude lipstick.

After Noelle is done fluffing up your curls, you get dressed in a midi skirt and your favourite dusty pink cashmere sweater. Under your breath, you pray that you won’t spill anything on it.

Once you’re dressed and all your jewellery is on, you get to the living room where Mimi and Noelle are watching TV to show them the result.

“Okay, how do I look?” you ask with a little twirl for good measure.

“Woah, you look like a princess!” Mimi exclaims, looking up at you with stars in her eyes.

“Aw, thanks Mimi!”

“I say you look like you’re gonna order dessert twice,” Noelle says, before taking a sip of her tea.

Your jaw drops. “Noelle!”

Your sister only laughs in response and you roll your eyes playfully. She’s always making this type of jokes in front of Michelle then blames you when the same jokes come out of the little girl’s mouth at totally random and inappropriate times; like that time at a family gathering when everyone was setting up your aunt’s backyard to play dodgeball and Mimi joked that your cousin Samir would be the first person to “take that D”. The memory alone of the silence that followed makes you want to burst out laughing.

Noelle winks at you before you make your way to the foyer to put your coat on.

“Don’t forget to text us when you get to the restaurant!”

“I won’t!”

With that, you’re out the door.

The cab ride to the restaurant seems long, but since you’re lost in your thoughts for most of it, you get there soon enough.

The doorman opens the door to the establishment for you with a polite smile and you thank him with a nod. However, the hostess isn’t that polite. The way she talks to you is a bit rude, and for a minute you wonder if she’s a bitter Becky who’s about to give you a hard time but she just happens to have a stick stuck up her ass.

Instead of the main dining room, she leads you through a dimly lit corridor.

“The rest of your party is already here,” she says. “A waiter will be along in a few moments.”

With a forced smile, she slides the wooden door open and closes it behind you.

You can’t help but let your jaw drop at the sight of the man in front of you.

On the other side of the room, Sam Wilson returns your surprised stare right back at you.

Oh Lord. I will kill them. All three of them. I’ll tell Mimi her mom drowned in the Hudson.

The two of you stare at each other for what seems like hours, unsure of what to say. Your mind goes back to this morning, how you embarrassed yourself, how you shamelessly checked him out.

Speaking of checking him out, he looks absolutely delicious. He swapped this morning’s tan suit for a black suit and a burgundy turtleneck. You’ve seen him in turtlenecks before but this time feels different. Maybe Noelle was right. You might just have two desserts tonight.

“I –”

“You look—”

You both chuckle at the rather awkward situation.

“I’m sorry, you first,” Mr Wilson smiles.

“Actually… I don’t even know what I was gonna say,” you chuckle nervously.

“Well, I was gonna say that you look gorgeous. May I take your coat?”

A smile finds its way on your lips. He’s being nice. “Oh, um, sure.” Sam helps you slide the coat off your shoulders. “I think you look very handsome as well.”

It’s Mr. Wilson’s turn to smile again. He pulls a chair for you and you thank him as you sit.

“I can’t believe they set us up like this,” he chuckles, avoiding your eyes.

Oh. And here you thought every thing was going well. Okay, maybe not well, but you know, you were getting there. But he just had to ruin it. Why even compliment you if he’s going to spit in your face a second later?

Suddenly, the air in the room feels tight around you and you want to leave, get some fresh air and go home.

“You don’t have to stay, you know,” you almost whisper.

“What?”

“This must be incredibly uncomfortable for you.”

“It is.”

It’s like being slapped in the face by a frozen hand. A giant ice cream hand that leaves sticky residue all over your face. You weren’t ready for him to just flat out admit it. You hoped he would be more subtle about it.

You frown, anger, shame and frustration starting to bubble up inside you.

“In this case, I certainly won’t be the one to keep you,” you say as you stand up.

Making sure to keep your chin up, you get to the coat rack near the door in three long strides, ready to get out of here.

“Woah, wait a minute.”

Mr. Wilson’s hand grabs your wrist, giving it a gentle tug to get you to turn around. When you do so, a frown is still painted on your features.

“I don’t think we understand each other here,” he says.

“Don’t we? I mean, it’s pretty clear to me that you don’t want to spend the rest of the night with a woman who’s one, your employee, and two, someone you’re annoyed by. So please, just let me go and save the last ounce of dignity I still have in me.”

“… You think I’m annoyed by you?”

“Are you gonna make me say it again? Is this a joke to you?”

“No, of course not!” he sighs. “I just—Why would you think that?”

“Well, you’ve never held eye contact with me for more than one second, we’ve never said more than a couple sentences to each other and every time I walk in a room, you immediately get out like I have the—the plague or something!”

He stares at you for a couple of minutes, searching your face for… you don’t even know what, but you refuse to cower under his gaze if that’s what he wants.

“I apologise for my behaviour. I realise now how horrible I’ve been… I get nervous when I’m around you ‘cause I’m scared I’ll make a fool of myself.”

He what?

“You what?”

What in the name of the Lord is happening here? Are you losing your mind? Are you having a stroke? Can you still feel the left side of your body?

He gets nervous when he’s around you? Why?

“Because I like you,” he says, and you realise you thought that last bit our loud. “I’ve liked you since the first day you walked in the office.”

You blink up at him.

There’s no way any of this is real.

“I thought you hated me this whole time,” you whisper.

“I thought you hated me this whole time.”

“But… you’re my boss! Why didn’t you say anything?”

A slight shrug. “It didn’t affect your performance at work or your relationship with your colleagues.”

“Oh…”

You don’t know what to say or do, so you take a few seconds to just process everything he just said. It all makes a bit more sense now, you have to admit. But two years? You’re not that intimidating. Not at all, actually. A small part of you feels like you should apologise for your little outburst as well.

“I’m sorry for, you know, the little outburst. I was a bit rude there.”

“Don’t worry about it. Tell you what. How about, we introduce ourselves again, enjoy this free meal and be ourselves? We’re not co-workers tonight. We’re just two people enjoying their first date. Deal?”

You nod, a grin already on your lips.

“Okay. I’m Sam,” he extends his hand for you to shake. “It’s great to meet you. You look lovely.”

You giggle like a schoolgirl in front of her crush and introduce yourself as well. “You look lovely too.”

“Shall we?”

“Let’s.”

Dinner is excellent. Not only the food, but Sam as well. Turns out Maria and Natasha were right, he is a great guy. He’s the kind of person who totally gets you wrapped in whatever story he’s telling, like the one where he and his friends Steve and James once stole a car in Germany. You love every second you spend with him.

“You said you have a niece, right?”

The topic moved on family once Sam told you that his youngest sister recently became a mom.

“Yes, Michelle. She’s eight.”

“What is she like?”

“It’s gonna sound cliché but, she’s one of a kind. Very smart, kind, and surprisingly good at keeping secrets,” you say.

You can’t help but beam as you talk about Michelle, and if Sam notices, he doesn’t say anything. You tell him about how she likes cars and dinosaurs but also princesses and Bratz dolls, how blue crêpes and pizza are her favourite foods and what it’s like to live with your sister and your niece.

“I’m sorry, I’m sucking up all the air in the room,” you chuckle.

“You’re fine. I like listening to you.”

You take a sip of wine to hide your smile.

“What about your family? What are your sisters like?”

“It depends. They’re both dragons and angels.” You chuckle at that. “But they’ve always had my back and I’m very grateful for them. I couldn’t be where I am today without them.”

“It sounds like you guys are close.”

“We are,” he nods. “Our parents wanted us to know and live by the true meaning of the word ‘family’, and I think it’s the strongest thing ever, you know? And it’s not always about blood ties. Random people you meet along the way can become family as well.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

The two of you fall into a comfortable silence, eating the contents of your plates, forgotten in the heat of your conversations.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing, just—” you shrug. “I feel good right now. With you. This is nice.”

Sam sets his knife down and his hand comes to cover yours on the table. Without a word, you flip your hand so you can lace your fingers with his. You both smile at each other, butterflies dancing in your belly.

You almost curse yourself. It’s too soon for that. But at the same time, why not let go for a moment?

Your friends were right, you needed this. And it looks like Sam did too.

After dessert, you stay at the restaurant for another hour, chatting around a bottle of wine, before the hostess comes around to tell you they’ll be closing house soon. You want to say something about hospitality and customers, but you decide against it. Your heart is too full right now for you to even be bothered by her.

You and Sam stand, ready to put your coats on and leave.

“So…” you break the silence. “What happens now?” you ask, almost shyly.

“Well, we go outside, we get my car from the valet,” Sam takes your hands in his. “And because my mama raised a gentleman, I’m gonna drive you back to your place. I’ll text you when I get home, tell you about what a nice time I had. Then, I’ll give you some space for the rest of the weekend, until Monday morning when you’ll find fifty roses on your desk.”

You giggle. “Why fifty?”

“One for each time I wanted to kiss you tonight,” he whispers, his forehead against yours.

Your breath hitches at his words. Here it is. It’s not like you don’t want to kiss him – you do, but there’s something inside you that tells you that this isn’t just a one time thing. You already miss him and he’s not even gone yet.

Yeah… I’m in trouble, you think.

“Sam…”

“Hm?”

“Kiss me. Please.”

It’s a slow kiss, almost timid. You let him take control as he tests the waters, taking his time to taste your lips, still sweet from the wine. When his tongue slides against your bottom lip, you let him in, and you can’t help but let out a quiet moan as his tongue brushes against yours. He pulls you closer, his arms around your waist.

You break the kiss at the same time, gazing into each other’s eyes as you catch your breath.

“That was…”

“Yeah. It was.”

*

“No, for the last time, I’ll tell you everything at brunch.”

“But I’m your sister!” Noelle almost whines, standing in the doorway of your bedroom. “I should get exclusive info.”

You throw a slipper at her that she easily dodges.

The ride home was calm. You and Sam sat in a comfortable silence the entire time as he drove through the city, the radio softly humming. More than once, you wanted to grab the hand resting on his thigh and just hold it, but you controlled yourself. You didn’t want to seem needy.

“Then you shouldn’t have teamed up with Nat and Maria. Now you guys are in the same boat,” you give her a sweet smile and she narrows her eyes at you.

“Okay fine. But if he texts you—”

As if on cue, your phone lights up with a notification. Noelle looks at you, then your phone and makes a beeline for it by jumping on your bed. Wrong move, because you’re closer to it. You grab it before she even lands on the mattress.

“You really thought you did something, huh?”

She shrugs. “At least I tried. What does he say?”

“Girl, how do you even now it’s him?!”

“I didn’t. Until you told me,” she says, a mischievous smile on her face. She looks like the model in the new Versace campaign… Loki is his name? Anyways.

You roll your eyes and finally unlock the phone, Noelle’s eyes still on you like a hawk.

Unknown: I already miss your laugh.

A giggle finds its way past your lips.

“Girlll, look at youuu!” Noelle pokes your ribs.

“How old are you?” you try your best to sound annoyed but the grin on your lips simply won’t disappear.

“When will you understand that it doesn’t matter how old I am, I will never be too old to tease my little sister?”

You shake your head at her antics and get back to your phone. You save his number immediately.

You: Well aren’t you a sweet talker…

Sam: That I am.

Sam: Seriously though, I had a great time tonight.

You: Me too. I know it’s very early but how does a second date sound?

Sam: Wait that’s my line!

Sam: Sounds great. I can’t wait to see you again.

You’re searching for the right reply when his next text appears with a soft sound. And your heart flutters.

Sam: And to kiss you again.

Yeah… I’m in real trouble.

[canuckianhawkbi]

I started watching She-Ra after s5 came out and I kept my friends updated as I went, so here’s a master post of my notes bc I wanted to have them all in one place somewhere

halfway through s1:

I would hang out with Adora all day long

Glimmer must be protected at all costs

I stg it's like Bow was created specifically for me

Shadow Weaver needs to stop being so mean to Catra yesterday

the only cadet whose name I know is Kyle? why

Madame Razz is so great

Perfuma is immediately gay for She-Ra and that's great

Mermista is immediately gay for She-Ra and Seahawk has no idea

I need more Scorpia in my life

Entrapta is such a nerd and I don't care that she can't be trusted

end of s1:

Shadow Weaver's mind games were too much dude 😥

stuff I already knew about Princess Prom (Catra's dope outfit, Noelle & Molly's cameos) only made me love it more

even though I knew something was up my knee-jerk response was indeed "oh shit they cooked Entrapta"

I remember what it was like to be a kid w/ rough parental relationships but damn Glimmer talk to your mom already

the holodeck is NOT messing around

HOLY SHIT SWIFT WIND CAN TALK

Entrapta truly is Chaotic Neutral huh

Netossa and Spinnerella didn't get their own intro episode like the other princesses because why?

Scorpia continues to be wonderful

end of s2:

Frosta as a reflection of s1 Glimmer is great

Swift Wind sings and I can't get enough

when She-Ra looks into the robot and says "hey Catra" I practically had chills

all of the ghost stories Adora heard in the Horde were princess-themed, which is so funny

I LOVE Glimmer's edgy anime/noir take on the fort battle plan AND Bow's 80s-inspired version

I learned the names of the other cadets and IMMEDIATELY forgot

Scorpia really loves Catra, and I almost wish Catadora wasn't endgame??

young Glimmer's dad is voiced by Ezra Bridger

I love Bow's dads (and what a bad actor Adora is lol)

end of s3:

the whole castle only having one spare room is funnier to me than the castle not having a dungeon

Adora sees Huntara's muscles and is very gay

the cropped jacket Catra took really completes her look and I love it

the jacket with the sleeves ripped off really completes Scorpia's look and I love it

everything in the back half of the season is SO intense 😱

oh shit, do I ship Entrapta and Hordak?

I never knew how much I needed a buddy cop adventure with Adora and Scorpia

Angella saying goodbye to Micah was heartbreaking

halfway through s4:

did they just not have a funeral for Angella before Glimmer's coronation? no wonder it was so hard for her

having the shapeshifter character be agender is a master stroke

did Double Trouble just make up Flutterina? if so, how did they infiltrate the party without the whole town going "umm, we don't know who this is?”

why is no one vetting what plants Shadow Weaver can and can't grow?

lbr we should have had a bottle episode with the cadets in s1 or 2

Scorpia's episode broke my heart

end of s4:

Mermista playing detective was a lot of fun

Bow, Swift Wind, and Seahawk on their own is a perfect recipe for disaster and I want more

I feel terrible for poor Razz 😢

Scorpia feeling accepted in Bright Moon even as a prisoner literally made me cry there I said it

MICAH

Light Hope and HAL 9000 would be such a power couple

do Netossa and Spinnerella just not matter? there are only 5 princesses connected to the weapon

holy Shards of Narsil!!!

halfway through s5:

Horde Prime's broadcast across Etheria gave me some Battle of Hogwarts Voldemort vibes (bc art does not exist in a vacuum which is fine)

seeing the supporting cast on a mission of their own was SO GREAT (loving Mermista's leadership and how Scorpia is just part of the team now)

Corridors was SO GOOD

holy crap Ahsoka Tano and Amy Santiago are in She-Ra

Save the Cat was SO GOOD and made me VERY EMOTIONAL

I love Swift Wind's song on the way to Elberon and OH NO SPINNERELLA

end of s5:

everyone's outfits for the Prince Peekablue mission were great (also HOLY SHIT that shot of Scorpia's back 🤯 )

Melog really took one look at Catra and went "yup I'm a cat forever now"

Wrong Hordak learning how to wink is so pure

I legitimately gasped when Netossa cut Bow's bowstring 😅

Adora's immediate snark when Catra jumped through fire to save her 😂😂😂

GLIMBOW

BBEG getting bested by the power of love usually feels tired & lame but holy balls She-Ra fucking earned it, Catadora is SO GOOD

TL;DR I had a really good time marathoning the show, Noelle really made something magical, and I can officially add it to the list of things I wish I could have experienced in real-time

[sccumumu]

noah & noelle // [ thread]

Noah does, in fact, end up locking the door to his bedroom almost immediately after Dmitri leaves. He doesn’t trust Noelle not to barge into his room the minute she sees an opening and he’s not exactly in any kind of position to have any type of conversation with his sister – especially not the one he has a feeling he’s about to have. There’s a brief moment when he eyes his bathroom and thinks about taking care of his erection on his own. He knows it wouldn’t take long, because he is still very aware of the position he was just in, but he thinks if he was just going to go through with it anyway he might as well just call Dmitri back into his room and that wasn’t exactly an option, so. Also, because his sister is on the other side of the door waiting for him and he’s dreading finally facing her and the combination of feelings he’s having is enough to stunt his desire.

Noelle is knocking on his door again within just a few minutes, huffing in annoyance as she tries to open it and finds it locked. “Are you kidding me, Noah?”

“Just—” Noah scrambles around his room looking for something to wear. “Give me a minute. I need to—” he pauses, because he’s not exactly sure how to tell his sister he needs to put clothes on without it sounding, well, exactly how it probably should sound. It’s pointless, however, because Noelle is, well, Noelle.

Besides, she saw Dmitri’s sad attempt at fixing his hair and she knew if she would have looked down, she would have had all the proof she needed that whatever they were doing behind closed doors was not innocent in nature. “Yeah, yeah, just think about that time in 5th grade when Garoppolo puked all over his desk because he ate—what was it?” 

“Grasshoppers,” he replies miserably. Their desks were in the same cluster as his. Noah was pretty sure he remembered seeing one that was alive only seconds after.

“Grasshoppers!” Noelle is far too cheery for someone not only recounting old, disgusting memories, but doing so in an attempt to sway her own brother's mind from sex. Luckily for her, she’s never been shy about sexual topics of any kind; Noah, however, was a different story. “Or that one time when we got to go home early because of that bomb threat and we walked in on mom and dad in the kitchen—” Noah interrupts her before she can continue, voice pleading as he tells her to stop, but Noelle hadn’t planned to speak past the last word. Her brother was far too predictable. She could have made up an entirely fake situation as long as it involved explicit detailings of the sex lives of those closest to him. She thinks, if she really wanted to speed this process up, she could have mentioned Sam and Dmitri, but that seemed unnecessarily cruel considering. “By the way,” she says as she closes Dmitri’s door in order to lean against it, “we’re going to the diner and you’re going to buy me breakfast so don’t forget your wallet.” 

On the other side of the door, Noah groans at the same time his sister smiles. He hadn’t planned for this as was evident by the sweatpants that he was currently putting on. Had thought they’d talk in the safety of their apartment with Dmitri and Sam only a few feet away in case he needed backup. In case he needed his best friend’s strength because Noah had felt so significantly calm only minutes ago. When Dmitri was within his proximity, when his lips were against his own, when he was saying all of the right things. Dmitri has always had this ability to calm him, to bring him peace. it wasn’t some new revelation by any stretch of the imagination, but it had felt different because it was.

It was different in the ways that he comforted him, in the physicality that was now allowed. Before, he might have hugged him and used his designated nickname and now he was kissing him and calling him baby and it just – honestly, it felt nice. It felt amazing. To be loved the way that Dmitri loved him and how did he put that into words when his thoughts could barely comprehend it?

It’s not long before Noah opens the door and faces his sister who, barely acknowledging his presence, turns and leads him through the house without a word. He keeps telling himself that everything is going to be fine and when he feels Dmitri’s hand squeeze around his own after reaching out for him, he actually believes it.

Their drive to the diner is quiet, not even the static of the radio buzzing in the background because both of the Riley twins are in their own heads. Noelle doesn’t know where to begin, but is also using the increasing quiet as a psyching out tactic and Noah is simultaneously playing out potential versions of how this outing is going to go and trying to remember the words Dmitri said to him. They are both under the same belief that it should be the other one who speaks up first, so neither of them does – they’re infuriatingly stubborn that way, especially when it comes to each other.

Noah almost caves first, but it turns out he doesn’t have to. Once they’re seated at their usual booth—one of those large, round ones in the corner that’s usually occupied by their entire group—Noelle scoots towards the halfway point and yanks him towards her by the sleeve of his hoodie. “Are you actually fucking kidding me?” she asks incredulously after pushing past his hoodie and pulling the collar of his shirt down in order to expose the skin beneath it.

Noah knows exactly how the skin of his neck looks, the soft marks trailing into darker ones. The knowledge of them mixes reminiscent desire with feelings of shame as they are heavily scrutinized. Pushing Noelle’s hand away, he turns in on himself a little bit, muttering, “It’s nothing, they’re nothing.”

“Nothing?” She wants to slap him, she honestly wants to slap him. Nothing. As if her brothers’ neck didn’t look like he was back in high school. As if they weren’t put there by someone who was, up until recently, nothing more than a best friend. The thought feels naive, even in her own head. “Those are sex hickeys, Noah. I know the difference,” she says matter of factly before she waits for him to say something, anything. Waits for him to deny her words, to tell her that maybe they did just get carried away making out, but he stays quiet. There’s nothing to deny and Noah doesn’t think that lying to his sister right now is going to get them anywhere, especially when hiding the truth is what got him into this position in the first place. “You’ve slept together.” It’s not a question, because it no longer needs to be. Noelle sees their usual waitress begin to approach their table and waves her off. Noah would take any escape he was presented with and she’s not going to allow it. “When?”

“I don’t know,” he says, playing with a sugar packet as if it’s the most interesting creation on this planet. “After he got home from work the other night.” The memory was so clear in his mind, but he pushed away any thought that tried to intrude. The last thing he needed to be reminded of was the way Dmitri felt above him, felt under his hands. The sugar packet rips open at the same time Noelle puts her head in her hands with a vocal sigh. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, voice raw, and he doesn’t know why he does, but he feels like he should, like he needs to.

Noelle lifts her head at the apology, eyebrows furrowing as she watches him lousily attempt to clean up the sugar that spilled all over his menu. He’s pushing it into a nonsensical pile. “I’m just—I’m just trying to understand, Noah.” It feels like they both are. “I spent this entire summer watching you fall apart. I dragged you home from bars when you could barely stand. I sat on the floor of your bedroom while you slept just to make sure you made it through the night.” As much as is hurts Noelle to dig up the past summer, to repeat what Noah put her through, what he put himself through, to hear about it hurts Noah even more – especially when he doesn’t remember half of it. “And now what? It never happened and everything’s fine because you have a distraction?”

“He’s not a distraction.”

“Then what is he?” Noelle prompts, looking at him.

“I don’t know,” he whispers, finally looking up and meeting his sister’s eyes. There’s a pained truth in his own that matches his tone. Noah shrugs lamely. “He’s my best friend.”

Noelle scoffs, eyes rolling out of habit. “Yeah, well, I understand that, but Sam’s my best friend and I haven’t fucked her, so.” Noah flinches ever so slightly and usually it’d be because she was being crude, but Noah misunderstands her criticism and there’s something—she knows that look in his eyes as he quickly looks away. She understands that internalization and fuck, fuck she feels terrible. Noelle reaches out and takes his hand between both of hers. “That’s not what I—It’s not a bad thing, Noah,” she reassures, hoping he understands and he does, but whether or not he believes her is still to be determined. “Sleeping with a guy. That’s not.” Noelle sighs because Noah still isn’t looking at her. She reaches over and uses one of her hands to turn his face towards her, holding it in place so he can’t look away. He wants to so badly. “It’s important to me that you understand that. I don’t care that you’re exploring your sexuality if that’s what this is or even if that’s not what it is. I could care less if you never have sex with a guy again or if you fuck ten guys in the next week.” 

Despite her bluntness, she’s speaking in a way she seldom does, her tone uncharacteristically soft and so full of love and sincerity. Something she reserves for only those closest to her. Her thumb strokes his cheek and Noah begins to understand. “The same way I don’t care if you switch out men for women. I love you regardless of labels or preferences. I love you regardless of the mistakes you make. I love the good and the bad because I decided not to eat you in the womb and therefore you’re literally my other half and I’d be lost without you. Please tell me you understand that.” 

Noah’s starting to. He’s starting to feel this enormous pressure release him, not realizing just how tightly it had been wrapped around him. This fear that seemed so completely irrational now, because if anyone would understand what he was going through of course it would be his sisters it’s just—it’s been hard. “I’m sorry for not telling you,” he says as he covers Noelle’s hand with his own before she drops it. She’s annoyed that he’s apologizing again, but at least this one makes sense. “Everything happened so fast,” he admits not only to his sister but to himself. “And it scares me every time I start to think about it, because I’ve always been so sure of myself, of my life, of my future and it’s all—it’s all different now, everything is changing and I don’t know what to do or what it means and everything is confusing and blurry, but my feelings are real.”

There’s a silence that falls between them then, Noelle considering him and processing everything that was just said to her. Noah, still worrying that whatever temporary acceptance he’s gotten is going to be just that. 

Seeing an opening, their waitress, Mallory, approaches cautiously, asking them if they just want to order their usual breakfast. Simultaneously, they both look down at their menus which they have yet to touch. Noah’s is still covered in sugar. “Yes, please,” he says with a smile, sheepishly pushing the menu towards her and apologizing. It doesn’t even remotely phase her. She’s consistently been their server since they’ve been coming to this diner. She’s dealt with all of them on their best behavior and dealt with them when they were all wasted, leaving only Dmitri to profusely apologize for their actions. Mallory takes their menus and leaves behind a pitcher of water before leaving them once again with silence. 

“I don’t like it, Noah,” she finally admits and he feels his heart drop. “I know it’s not what you want to hear, but nobody else is going to tell you this, so I am.” Noelle turns towards him and takes a calming breath and hopes Noah won’t react negatively. “I think you’re both jumping into something that neither of you are prepared for. I can’t speak for Daniel, but I think you personally are repeating a pattern of impulsivity in sleeping with those closest to you whom you love whether that be romantically or platonically.” Noah looks like he’s about to say something, his face set in a slight scowl, but Noelle puts her hand up to stop him. “I think you’re still coping with everything that’s happened in the last few months terribly, but rather than drowning your sorrows in alcohol you’re distracting yourself with Dmitri."

“He’s not a distraction,” he repeats, his voice sounding clipped. 

Noelle purses her lips, eyes narrowing because he’s refusing to hear her. “Okay,” she says, her voice calm and collected in a way that always makes Noah nervous. “So, you’re telling me that when Dmitri was marking your neck you were thinking about Isabelle?” Noah’s jaw clenches. “No? What about mom and dad? Or the fact that in order to deal with your heartbreak you had to be unconscious for most of it. Were you thinking about that? Were you thinking about Isabelle’s new boyfriend, what would happen when you saw her again or what would happen if, God fucking forbid, your heart broke a second time?” Noah’s looking at the table again. Underneath it, his fingers are laced together, fingernails pressing into the backs of his hands. “Well? What about after? What about this morning?” Noah’s silence is the only answer she needs. “Listen, Noah, I’m not trying to be the villain—” 

“Could have fooled me,” he mutters under his breath, arms now crossed. Why did it matter that he wasn’t thinking about those things? Why wasn’t he allowed to just be happy? 

“I’m just trying to protect you,” she pleads, even though it feels pointless. She had tried to protect him from getting his heart broken by Isabelle too and that obviously didn’t work out. “I’m trying to protect both of you.” She pauses then, chewing her upper lip as she decides how far she should push this. It’s just that she would rather Noah be hurt by her own hands than anyone else’s. She would take his pain, his anger, and everything he needed to express in stride because at the end of the day they were family and nothing could break their bond. “Daniel’s in love with you, Noah,” she finally says, voice soft as she tries to gauge his knowledge on the situation.  

“I know,” he admits. Noelle wishes she was surprised by his answer.

“You’re in love with Isabelle.” 

Noah sighs. “I know.” 

Noelle contemplates her next words as she plays with the end of her straw wrapper. Then, she decides to just get it over with. “Are you just dragging him along until Isabelle comes back?” 

A small, breathless laugh escapes his lips because apparently that’s a common belief. Dmitri didn’t outright admit it, but it was clear that was what he thought Noah was doing too. “She’s not coming back,” he says, not bothering to defend himself. The truth is that he doesn’t see it as an actual possibility, so the what-ifs are pointless. 

“She has every other time, what makes this time any different?” 

“Dmitri,” he says simply, as if it answers everything and, well, it does. At least to Noah, but Noelle isn’t as easily swayed. Noah refuses to see the situation in the way she sees it. Refuses to acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, all of this is happening because Noah doesn’t want to be alone, doesn’t want to continue suffering, and it’s easier to seek comfort in the arms of someone else than it is to face those kinds of thoughts. As if confirming her own, Noah says, as if an afterthought, “He doesn’t leave when I ask him to stay.” 

This admittance of his breaks Noelle’s heart, because it can be so easy, even for her, not to realize just how badly his on-and-off relationship with Isabelle affected him. Even at his lowest this summer, Noah wasn’t incredibly vocal about his feelings or his mental state. It’s nothing new, of course, Noah’s always held his feelings close to his chest, especially when he’s hurting. Noelle can usually get him to talk to her, but it’s never without prying, without forcibly and tactically pulling things from him. It just so happens that when she does, she’s never truly prepared for it. 

It’s then that Noelle realizes that she’s doing the same thing. That she’s refusing to see the situation the way Noah sees it. Earlier he had described his feeling as real and even though this entire revelation was reckless and would probably end in disaster and even more relationship and friendship strain maybe they were. Noah wasn’t the type of person who went from one person to the next and his last causal relationship was his first high school girlfriend freshman year. Granted, his picture-perfect idea of love and relationships had just blown up in his face in multiple ways. 

Their food shows up then and this time Noelle’s thankful for the out. The more she sees the depth of Noah’s heartbreak, the angrier she gets with Isabelle and it’s not fair and what if it happens again? 

They eat in silence for a while, each of them having their own reasons not to speak. The silence between them isn’t their usual comfortable silence. It’s tense and it’s scared and it’s frustrated. When Noelle speaks again it’s because regardless of her own feelings, Noah admitted something to her that, while everyone else seemed to know, wasn’t something to be taken lightly. Something that he had been worried about confiding to her, fearing hers and others reactions to the point that he hid it from her – and this is the same person who came directly to her after he slept with Isabelle. 

She remembered the day she came out to him, how well he took it. They were young and they didn’t know much of anything, but Noah never treated her differently, never made her feel out of place. “Do you think I have a thing for criminals?” she asks conversationally. The least she can do is make sure he feels that same way.

Noah blinks at her, having been reading Dmitri’s texts with a small smile on his face. “What?” he asks, but she just raises her eyebrows questioningly before stabbing her scrambled eggs with her fork. He thinks he knows what she’s doing and between this and the text messages, he’s so thankful for the people he has in his life. “Oh yeah, absolutely,” he replies as they fall effortlessly into conversations that make Noah feel like everything is alright – at least for now.

It isn’t until Noah’s taking out his keys to unlock the front door that their previous conversation is rehashed. “Noah, if you’re serious about whatever it is you and Dmitri are doing I really need you to listen to me right now, okay?” She has accepted, for the time being, that there is little she can do to change Noah’s mind, but at least she can still try to prevent future heartbreaks. “You’re still suffering and you’re still broken and I know you’re not dense enough to believe otherwise. So, if you want any kind of future with Dmitri, if that’s where we are right now—if this is not just an exploration or a rebound or a fling, because I swear to God if it is and you chose him out of all people I will lose my fucking mind—you need to be sure and you need heal, Noah. You need to let go of your past with Isabelle so that you can move on and I don’t know if you’re ready to do that.” She takes the keys from his hand and shuffles in front of him. As she unlocks the door, she casually adds, “Also, if I have to find out something like this from Sam again I’ll pull out the file I created when you pushed me into that pool when it was below freezing outside that details not only your murder but the cover-up and I’ll carry out the plans.”

Once they’re inside, Noelle walks straight to where Dmitri is stretched out on the couch and Noah feels his body tense. He hadn't thought of the possibility of her coming home and immediately saying to Dmitri the same concerns she brought up at breakfast. 

Noelle says nothing at first, rather she simply drops a credit card onto the coffee table and looks at Dmitri. There’re so many things she wants to say to him, wants to ask him. “I except those steaks to be ready when I come home from work,” is all that comes out. Then she looks at Noah, still standing away from them as if he’s assessing the situation. In reality, he’s trying to come to terms with the fact that everything is out in the open now. That Noelle is just standing there talking about dinner despite everything. Noelle really didn’t care that he slept with a guy, that he has feelings for one. All she cares about is who that specific guy is as well as the circumstances and period of time in which it happened and well, that was fair. “That’s your credit card by the way,” she says with a sly smile and he realizes that she had never given it back to him after he gave it to her to pay earlier. “You’ll be paying for those, too.” Which, once again, was fair. 

Noah waits for her to leave the living room, waits for her to be behind closed doors before he finally makes his way over to Dmitri. He sits at the end of the couch, lifting Dmitri’s legs to put them in his lap. He’s silent for a moment, soothingly running his hand up and down Dmitri’s ankle as he looks at Noelle’s closed door. The hard part is over, he thinks. It was over and nothing changed and everything was going to be okay. 

He looks over at Dmitri, a small smile gracing his features. “Hi,” he says softly before he maneuvers his ways up the couch and into his best friend’s waiting embrace. Noah kisses him ever so softly before dropping his head against his chest and wrapping his arm around his torso.

In the comfort and safety of Dmitri’s arms, he thinks about his sister’s words and then makes himself think about Isabelle. He lets himself feel the pain that comes with the thoughts of her, acknowledging how deep it runs, acknowledging that it still hurts, that there is still a part of him that longs for her.

Then he thinks about Dmitri, strong and solid beneath him, his hand running through his hair. The contrast of feelings that it elicits from him, while still having the similarity of pain when he almost left last night, is dizzying.

Everyone thinks he’s waiting for Isabelle to come back. 

It’s just that he’s not sure if that’s what he wants anymore.

[scribefindegil]

Sawdust

[Ao3]

Carey mourns. Spoilers for TAZ ep 58.

“Carey. Come on, babe, just a little further.”

There are arms around her. She feels the pressure, sees the blur of green skin and brushed aluminum. Hears the voices. Killian. Noelle. They’re going . . . they’re going . . .

Away. Away from the light and the noise and the soft voice that Taako only uses when he’s being serious but he can’t be serious because he’d told them that Magnus was gone and he can’t . . . she can’t . . .

She’s lost all her rogue senses and the ground pitches up towards her and then stops and she’s almost angry at that, and then Killian lifts her up and she’s being carried and she hears soft words and feels soft arms and she hates it, she hates it, she shouldn’t be able to feel anything good, not now, not if—

Points of pain bloom on her arms, and she watches dreamlike as her talons curl and scrape across her scales, and then Killian takes her hands and clasps them between her own, warm and soft and steady. Carey opens her mouth but there aren’t any words in her throat and the only words in her head are no and Magnus and please so nothing comes out. She feels the touch of Noelle’s hand on her tail, of Killian’s lips on the crown of her head. Her ribs feel hollow and heavy as a leaden birdcage.

One of her fingers curls around Killian’s hand and touches the carved rosewood ring she wears. And it’s only then that Carey Fangbattle starts to cry.

*

“Hey Mags!”

Magnus straightens and smiles as she approaches, draping the towel he’d been using around his shoulders.

“Good work today,” he says, and high-fives her. “You three really gave us a beating!”

They keep healing potions in the dojo, so the black eye and bruised ribs he’d been sporting a few minutes ago are gone, but his eyes are still heavy with exhaustion. He could have avoided the damage to his ribs if he’d spent the last drill dodging like he was supposed to instead of diving to knock Taako to safety, and Carey almost tells him that. But they’ve had the same conversation before and it never makes a difference.

“What can I say? We’re pretty great.”

He nods, shaking off his tiredness for a moment to grin at her.

Carey leans up against the wall. “So, uh, me and the girls were gonna hang out tonight. We got some of the good stuff from Avi and one of those big mead jugs from Fantasy Costco. You in?”

Magnus considers, and then he sighs. “Not tonight, I think. I . . . haven’t been sleeping well lately, and if the Director has another day like this planned for tomorrow . . . Sorry.”

She goes to punch his shoulder and he beams when he successfully sidesteps and catches her fist.

“No problem, big guy. Next time?”

“Definitely next time.”

Carey pauses on her way out the door. “Hey . . . everything good? You know if you wanna talk . . .”

Magnus is (slowly, very slowly) getting better at not telegraphing every thought he has to the entire moon, but Carey would have to turn in her thieves’ tools not to notice the flash of worry across his face.

“Thanks,” he says. “I’ll remember that. If I need to talk to someone.”

“Okay. Well. See you tomorrow!”

“Bye, Carey!”

Tomorrow comes, and they learn from a very high-strung Director that the Reclaimers have been sent out on their next mission. Carey stashes the rest of the mead under her bed to share with Magnus when he gets back.

The next day comes, and they hear that the Stones of Far Speech are offline. Angus and Avi worry. Carey doesn’t. They’re just rocks. They’re easy to break. Her friends are tougher.

And then it’s the next day, and Carey is picking at the dry scales on her knuckles while they wait for news, and then Avi is leaning out the door of the hanger and shouting that the Reclaimers are back, all of them, and then—

He couldn’t have had more than a glance, so it doesn’t count as lying. Carey knows this. And she knows as soon as she enters the hanger herself and sees Avi’s stricken face that something is wrong, but the joy that’s bubbling up in her chest is too strong and she runs forwards, ready to swing herself up onto Magnus’s shoulders.

She’s only made it a few steps before she realizes he’s missing, and she asks why even though there’s no other reason they would have come back without him.

They answer like she knew they would. The world blurs.

*

If it was a mission, Carey would have stayed on her feet. You learn how to compartmentalize when you’re a thief. She’d lost teammates before. She’d lost Boyland only a few months ago—they hadn’t been close, exactly, but she’d held onto Killian’s arm and cried through his Rites of Remembrance—and she knew how to survive things like that. Lock all the emotions up in an imaginary safe that it would take even her a good half-hour to crack and then hide it away in the back of her head and finish what needed to be done. Make it back to base. Debrief. Only then could she open the safe and let herself feel.

It didn’t make things better. But it separated out the shock from the pain, like numbing a wound until it could be treated.

At the moment, Carey feels like one of her flashbombs has exploded inside her own ribcage.

*

“Have you got the key?”

“She doesn’t use the key, she just picks it.”

“Well, nuts.”

There’s a muffled boom and then the door to Carey’s quarters is hanging off its hinges while Noelle lowers her blasting arm and looks abashedly at the hole where the lock used to be. The edges are charred and ashen. She stares at it as Killian carries her inside.

Ashes. They said that he was ashes and they were alive and suddenly Carey is furious that the other two dared to come back without him, with nothing, and she’s sobbing so hard she can’t breathe. Magnus would never have left them behind.

He’s gone. He’s gone and the world is going to forget him and the thought makes Carey retch. She needs to remember. She needs to remember because so few other people will, will know the way he smiled when he told a bad joke or figured out a new move, will know what a patient teacher he was or what a good friend. She tries to cram every memory she has of him into her head at once and etch them there so they’ll never fade.

The first time she saw him, nervous but excited in his Null Suit as he looked down at Lucas’s floating laboratory.

His shyness when he first asked her to teach him thieving. His excitement the first time he picked her pocket. Magnus doubled over laughing as she told him about the time her brother tried to flirt with Killian and got thrown in a lake. Magnus knocking on her door in the middle of the night to demand his stolen wallet back and then planting a smoke bomb under her pillow. Magnus knocking on her door in the middle of the night with tears on his face and sharing a bottle of mead while he didn’t quite tell her about what had happened in Refuge. Magnus sticking his tongue out in concentration as she tried to teach him how to waltz. Magnus and Killian sitting next to each other in the Bureau mess hall with Carey curled up across both their shoulders. Magnus beaming the first time he saw Killian wearing her ring. The time she’d taken him planetside and broken into a fancy dog breeder’s kennels and they got caught because he was too happy to run when the alarm went off.

The last time she saw him, the smile he’d put on to wave her goodbye faltering as soon as he thought she was out of eyeshot. The slump of his shoulders.

He’d been so tired. Too tired—all those days of training with no rest. The Director shouldn’t have sent him out like that. He shouldn’t have gone out like that! He shouldn’t—

“He—he saved them,” she says, and it’s the first words she’s been able to make since she heard the news.

“I know,” says Killian, stroking Carey’s arm.

“He shouldn’t—I told him . . .”

“I know.”

Magnus offering to swap out his intact helmet for Killian’s cracked one. Magnus wrinkling up his face in puzzlement when Carey told him that fighting smarter meant not taking the big hits. Magnus in training, shooting a thumbs-up to an uninjured Merle and Taako before limping over to the rack of healing potions. Magnus rushing in.

“S-stupid . . .” She doesn’t even know who she means. Magnus, for getting himself killed? Herself, for being surprised by it? The Director, for sending him out there in the first place? Taako and Merle, for having the audacity to make it back?

She’s clutching a carved wooden duck in her hands—one of her early efforts, but cleaned up, with a pair of Thieves Cant glyphs cut into the base. They’d steal it back and forth from each other—something that had started out as practice and turned into just a game. And now it’s just hers.

“Carey . . .” Noelle says from the foot of the bed, hesitant. “The Astral Plane is—”

Whatever she was going to say isn’t just a platitude. Noelle’s been there, and maybe eventually Carey will want to hear about it, maybe eventually she’ll think it’s comforting, but everything is so raw and she can’t, she can’t—

She screams, and it doesn’t make her feel better at all, but it shuts Noelle up.

“I don’t care!” she shouts. “I don’t care how great it is or how happy he’ll be or even that he gets to see Julia again! I’m selfish and he’s my best friend and I just want him back!”

The others don’t say anything. Carey curls up as small as she can around the stupid, lopsided duck they’d carved together and presses her thumb into the glyph so hard it will leave imprints on her skin.

*

“What’s Thieves Cant for ‘friend’?”

They’re in the mess hall after a training session. Taako and Killian have just left, rolling their eyes at the scribbled notes Carey and Magnus have been passing to each other as if Taako doesn’t have secret conversations with the human in Elvish at every opportunity.

Carey grabs a napkin and sketches out the symbol. When she comes back from getting more water, Magnus is still staring at it.

“What’s eatin’ ya, Maggie?”

He twists the napkin around in his big hands. “We learned this one. But all it really means is ‘not enemies,’ right? Is there some word that’s less . . . conditional?”

“You makin’ me a friendship bracelet or something?”

“Weeeell . . .”

“Wait.” She blinks. “Really?”

“Not a friendship bracelet. But a something!”

“Heh. Fair enough. There’s not, like, a one-to-one word, you get me? But here’s one . . .”

The next day he leaves the Training Duck out on top of his gear, practically asking to be stolen. She nabs it carefully, suspecting a trap, but nothing goes off. As she stows it away in the pouch at her belt, she notices the new carving Magnus has added to the underside. And then she looks up and sees Magnus grinning at her from across the dojo.

Team, says one glyph, and the other says family.

Carey runs her fingers over the words and smiles back.

[recentanimenews]

The GREAT CRUNCHYROLL Re:ZERO REWATCH Loops over Episodes 6-10 with a Shocking Revelation!

Welcome back the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL Re:ZERO REWATCH! I'm Kara Dennison, and I'll be your host this week as we make our way through Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-. Last week we traveled with Subaru to a magical new realm in episodes 1-5, and this week we're picking up from a rather gory cliffhanger and getting a few mysteries solved in episodes 6-10.

  Despite covering Re:ZERO-related news constantly over in the news room, I never actually knew a lot about it. A few reveals got to us early by way of things like special-edition Rem figures, but—for me, at least—Subaru's Return by Death power and its implications were a complete surprise. With this week's batch of episodes, we got to see the toll this takes on him emotionally and how he recovers from it. There's a lot I still want to know about his life prior to the series, especially regarding how quickly he took to his new company and how little he thinks of his original world.

    We're still watching Subaru evolve and, as commenter BlackRose0607 pointed out, he's "starting from zero," as it were:

  That's the thing though, Subaru ISN'T a hero. He's an ordinary guy who got transported to another world and thinks he has powers right away, but really his only power is coming back to a certain point after he dies, to try and redo things and make them work for him and those around him to keep himself and everyone else alive.

It looks like we've got some viewers who gave Re:ZERO a try before and never finished, but are picking it up as we do. Welcome aboard... and now, let's see what the Crunchyroll Features team has to say about this week's episodes!

    This is a very busy batch of episodes! For starters, Subaru seems to be coming to terms with his "new normal" after some really rough restarts (and a literal emotional breakdown). Has your view of him as a character changed at all from last week?

Kevin: I really like seeing the sheer emotional toll that the time loops take on him. Even if he tries, he literally can’t tell anyone about how he knows that terrible things are about to happen. In the first set of episodes, we saw how that can make him plan things out and try different methods, while this time we got to see how the constant fear and frustration leave him a step away from insanity almost constantly, especially when he knows that he’s in a loop.

  Joshua: Since watching Okabe in Steins;Gate 0 and Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange, I’ve been fascinated by the potential mental impact of repeating so many traumatic timelines. So at the risk of sounding like a sadist, I really liked Re:ZERO’s direct approach, and seeing the emotionally vulnerable side of Subaru unfurl out of his forced bravado.

  He’s died repeatedly in brutal, painful ways, before having to act like nothing happened. It’s understandable he’d be traumatised, which makes the fact he can’t even confide in anyone, a cruel stroke of narrative genius. Despite all the pain, and occasional blips in his fight-or-flight reflex, he’s shown an admirable selfless resolve in situations where I’d sympathise with just wanting to run away though, so I’m starting to respect Subaru a bit more, I suppose.

  Paul: I'm not entirely sure what to make of Subaru. He keeps taking credit for saving the day when really it’s the more powerful characters (Reinhard, Rem, Ram, Beatrice, etc.) who do all the heavy lifting, and even his seemingly courageous acts seem to be borne out of cowardice and desperation. It makes him a complicated and interesting character, but I'm not sure whether I like him or merely pity him.

  Noelle: I’m still on the fence with Subaru. On the one hand, the time loops and constant deaths are extremely cruel, and having to reconcile that people he might have possibly become close to would happily see him dead. On the other hand, he hasn’t really improved as a person; he still reeks of entitlement. These are fine character flaws, but it’s not very palatable to me. Still, I don’t think he’s a bad person. Just not a type of character whose story I see as having a need to be told.

  Jared: I’m still very unsure about him. Sure, he did some things that could be seen as good in this set of episodes, but I still feel like this isn’t done just because he’s a good person. There’s still parts of him that seem highly suspicious.

  Carolyn: I’m really liking this minefield that he has to navigate every time he is rebooted. It’s very interesting to watch him put pieces together but then constantly seem to be three paces behind anyway. I’m not certain he’s my favorite character, I think Emilia holds that title right now. But the whole premise has me intrigued.

  Austin: If anything, I've become more sympathetic towards him. His emotional breakdown in Emilia's lap really hit me for this rewatch and honestly makes it a bit difficult for me not to feel sorry for him.

  Danni: For the most part, yes. I think he’s really likeable and has a great rapport with the rest of the cast, but characters with uninterrogated martyr complexes irk me. To his credit, there’s a logic to it given he knows death isn’t permanent for him, but that doesn’t negate how ultimately self-destructive and harmful it is. I guess that’s not so much his fault (he is just a fictional character, after all) as it is a qualm I have with the writing as a whole.

  David: Unfortunately in this case I am tainted by having seen the show before. Given all of the criticisms of him, I am extremely interested in what everyone’s take on where his character arc goes in the next couple weeks, though.

  René: I think that this batch of episodes really drives home how Subaru isn’t your run-of-the-mill overpowered isekai protagonist and is also a big part why Re:ZERO became so popular so fast back when these aired. It’s really hard not to sympathize with him through all this suffering and builds a really good emotional basis for what is yet to come.

Was the revelation of Rem as Subaru’s attacker a shock? Similarly, what about the revelation of Ram and Rem’s demonic nature?

  Kevin: When I was watching for the first time, I don’t remember predicting either. On a rewatch, I don’t think there was any real way to guess the outcome, since we had never seen either maid show fighting ability and didn’t know that oni were an actual race in this world. Despite that, I really like how both are handled, since it fits with the logic of the world. Also, Subaru’s story about the red and blue oni was a nice hint.

  Joshua: I think anyone watching for the first time would’ve been shocked - I certainly was back when I was a newcomer. Up until then, we hadn’t really seen Rem as more than Ram’s cute sidekick, so the reveal that she’s more than capable of a little cold-blooded murder was a shock, to say the least. Their demonic nature was less of a surprise to me though, as the seeds were quietly sewn when Subaru and Rem visited the village in last week’s episodes. Although, perhaps I picked up on that hint due to already knowing, I suppose?

  Paul: This plot detail was spoiled for me long ago, and so the reveal itself wasn't a surprise, although the sheer violence of Rem's rampages was pretty shocking. I want to know more about their background and how they came to be employed at Roswaal Manor.

  Noelle: I was surprised by Rem, honestly, mostly because there were… almost no clues that she could have been the attacker? Suspicion doesn’t translate into murder, and we don’t really get any proper hints about why she would want to have him killed. So it’s not really a mystery, is it? The demonic nature was hinted at with the red oni blue oni story, so that didn’t come as much of a surprise… although I was expecting that to be metaphorical instead of literal.

  Jared: In hindsight, it makes a ton of sense since you wouldn’t normally point the finger at her, but it was a bit of a surprise. It does seem weird that she was going after him just because he seemed shady and had the witch’s scent on him, so hopefully that whole thing gets explained at some point. The demon reveal again is something that you can look back on and see how they made a trail to that reveal. Although Rem being a violence machine wasn’t what I was expecting when she turns.

  Carolyn: I already knew because spoilers. But had I not known, I don’t think I would have been terribly surprised. We are led to believe the whole castle is full of strange people who could murder Subaru at any moment. The entire vibe is just bizarre during his first few days there. I was surprised about the demon part, however.

  Austin: On my first watch I was really surprised about Rem being the killer! I remember thinking about why she might have attacked Subaru for the whole week leading up to the next episode and initially even thought she killed him in the first loop. As for Ram and Rem’s demonic nature, Re:ZERO unfortunately wasn’t the first time I’ve seen Naita Aka Oni, the Japanese children’s story about the red and blue ogres, referenced so that wasn’t as surprising.

  Danni: I had honestly expected it to be Ram, so it was a bit surprising to see Rem in the end. Their nature wasn’t a surprise, though. They telegraphed it from a mile away last week while the two chatted on the walk back from the village. I did feel pretty dumb for not noticing the red ogre/blue ogre motif given how often it seems to pop up in different anime.

  David: I had no clue at all, but the show doesn’t really give you any chances at guessing it could be her before the reveal, so I think the intrigue is more in the “why” than the “who”.

  René: I have to unfortunately second a lot of the previous comments. I tried to approach it like a proper mystery but there wasn’t nearly enough adequate foreshadowing to point towards Rem so logic-wise, it wasn’t as satisfying. It did provide us cool action, though.

      There’s a lot of intrigue (and a lot of murder) surrounding Emilia’s claim to the throne of Lugnica. Subaru’s newfound knowledge and trust aside, is there anyone in Roswaal’s household you still consider suspicious? If you’ve already seen the series, which character were you suspicious of the longest?

  Kevin: To this day I’m not sure what’s up with Roswaal and Beatrice. I don’t think anyone ever mentions what specifically Beatrice is, but she is clearly extremely powerful but also bound to Roswaal’s mansion, and we have already seen that Roswaal himself is pretty powerful, magically. We’ll get some more detail about him later, but I’m still not convinced I know his entire motivation.

  Joshua: Mach 1 Mary Poppins, without a doubt. His design is unusual to say the least, but the way he stands with an imposing presence, and seems to always be looking through Subaru when he talks, makes me suspect that he knows a lot more than he’s letting on. The problem with Roswaal though, is even when you put aside his makeup and exaggerated voice, he’s impossible to read. We also know he’s supposed to be incredibly powerful, which could make this mystery all the more important for the struggles to come, I suppose.

  Paul: Roswaal himself is completely shady. I have no idea who he is or why he supports Emilia's claim to the throne, and I doubt he's acting out of a sense of philanthropy. How does he benefit in all of this? Does Emilia trust Roswaal, or is she merely using him out of convenience? I'm eager to find out.

  Noelle: Roswaal, for sure. Granted, I like him (and his voice). He’s a fun character for sure, but I have no idea what he wants. I don’t think I’m particularly suspicious of him, but I do want to know what his objectives were.

  Jared: At this point, I think it’s better to be suspicious of everyone since they could certainly pull out a surprise turn at the drop of a hat.

  Carolyn: Roswaal seems like he’s up to some stuff every time he does, basically, anything.

  Austin: Despite everyone being so suspicious of Roswaal, I actually kind of stopped seeing anyone in the household as suspicious after the reveal that they could smell the witch on Subaru… That said, I am beginning to put that initial dismissal into questioning.

  Danni: I’m still suspicious of Roswaal, just because we’ve seen the least of him. He’s always come across to me as pretty menacing, but that might just be because of the clown makeup.

  David: Yep. Roswaal. We’re not given almost any information about his thought processes or motivations at this point, so it’s only natural he is the most suspicious character.

  René: Honestly, how could you not find Roswaal suspicious? I still expect him to be revealed as someone mischievous later on who at least tries to get favors out of Queen Emilia once she has ascended the throne as payback for his support, in a Rumpelstiltskin-kind of way.

    If you had Subaru’s Return by Death power and a blue-haired oni maid with a morningstar killed you tonight, about how long ago do you think you’d wake up?

  Kevin: I bought some apples about a week ago.

  Joshua: I’d hope it would be before I had to make choices that were a little more life defining, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I returned to something more mundane. Last week, I was standing in an aisle contemplating which toilet seat to buy, so maybe then? I went for the middle priced of the three options, so perhaps my destiny would change had I went for the cheapest or more expensive, I suppose!

  Paul: Hopefully far enough back that I could reconsider some of my current career choices. Working as a clerk in a public library may be a soul-crushing and monotonous job, but it beats being a starving artist.

  Noelle: Similar to Kevin, I did go apple picking two weeks back-- I’m kidding. It’ll probably be at my desk at work, or on the bus.

  Jared: I’d probably get unlucky and it’d send me back a year and I’d have to go back to school again.

  Carolyn: Oh, boy. Probably stuck in the land of Naruto filler.

  Austin: It’d probably get sent back to watching a virtual YouTuber’s stream since I’ve been doing that a lot recently.

  Danni: I don’t know. With my luck I probably saved two seconds before my head caved in and would just be caught in a death loop until the console bricks.

  David: At my desk watching anime, naturally. Thinking of which, Return by Death would be a convenient tool for catching up on seasonal shows…

  René: Hopefully, not too far back. I’m close to having an empty email inbox for the first time since April. I would hate to lose all that finished work ...

    And finally, highs and lows of the week?

Kevin: High - Subaru and Rem’s fight scene. From the choreography to Rem and Subaru exchanging trying to save each other, leading in to Rem wandering the forest as a demon to try and save Subaru, I really like the sequence. Low - Subaru figuring out that the puppy was the shaman. It took a rewatch or two for me to realize it, but Beatrice only tells him about the curse requiring physical contact before Subaru had the entire village touch him. He got every single person to touch him somewhere unique, so he knew that he would be cursed, but only later learned that when removing the curse he would be able to see where the shaman touched him. It’s a minor plot hole, but I really like these episodes, so I have to look pretty deep to find a low point.

  Joshua: I adored Beatrice this week. Her constant irritation towards Subaru was adorable, and her snappy comebacks gave me life. She also shown incredible loyalty and resolve to stand by her word when she opposed even Mach 1 Mary Poppins and Ram when Subaru was accused of killing Rem (which was a really cool sequence too!).

The compassion Emilia shown in the lap-pillow moment was wonderfully pure, allowing Subaru to let his guard down and finally offload the feelings eating him up inside. Rem’s demonic outburst was tantalising to watch, and then there’s little things like the absolute heartbreak in Ram’s mourning cries (Rie Murakawa did a great job there!), and the perspective of Subaru’s pacing around making it look like Beatrice was spinning on the spot!

  Frankly, these episodes were so good that I’ll have to get a bit nitpicky to find a fault, but I’m a little confused as to why everyone trusts Subaru so much? Their world is politically volatile with Emilia a likely target, yet when Rem dies of weakness only a day or so after Subaru asked Beatrice about the same subject, she still stood by her contract to protect him? I can’t exactly fault Rem there, to be honest. That’s a small detail compared to the bigger picture though, I suppose.

  Paul: My high point was when Beatrice entered a contract to protect Subaru and followed through with it even though it set her against her employer and his entire household. I wasn't expecting that, and I think it hints at interesting (maybe even fiendish) possibilities for her character. My low point is the reveal of the shaman's true identity. I felt like I'd somehow missed two or three important chapters of a book when the story pivoted to focus on a minor mabeast invasion. I had assumed the curse was related to Emilia's election (and maybe it still will be), but the shift to a concurrent but unrelated threat struck me as jarring.

  Noelle: High point, Rem fighting, both in her wailing on Subaru and brutally handling hordes of monsters. Now that’s what I’m talking about. Low point, wow, that dog was 100% not hinted at all to be a monster, huh. I thought it was interesting, because of course we suspected the humans first and not that the culprit could be a monster instead, but I wish there was more leadup to it. We got a lot about curses, I wish that infodump also contained things about monsters too, so we could at least guess that.

  Jared: High points for me would be the fight scenes which were really well done and Beatrice just being a ton of fun throughout these episodes. Low point might be the shaman reveal because I thought it was a bit too obvious it would be the dog. Since Subaru learned it was through physical contact, I immediately thought back to the dog bite and figured that’s where it’d end up going. Plus, if Sailor Moon has taught me anything, it’s that pets that have “bald” spots are not what they seem to be.

  Carolyn: I actually really liked the scene with Subaru crying into Emilia’s lap. That was very sad and emotional. The kid just needs a break and a friend. I’m not sure I have a low point. I liked this set of episodes quite a lot.

  Austin: Gosh, there were so many highs. I actually cried when Subaru broke down in Emilia’s lap and “Houya no Yume yo” started playing, every single reason I really liked Beatrice on my first watch came rushing back to me when she formed a contract with Subaru, Rem’s anger filled questioning before killing Subaru after the reveal and Ram’s blind rage towards him after Rem died both hit me like a truck (voice actors and actresses sure are amazing!) -- I could honestly go on for longer than I probably should about everything I really liked about these five episodes.

  As for lows, it felt a little too easy when Subaru won over Rem’s trust to the point where she’d risk her life to rid him of his curse in the tenth episode. Also, Subaru’s emotional turn around after Ram chased him and Beatrice down felt a tad “unrealistic”, for lack of a better word. Ultimately, those are pretty minor nitpicks, though.

  Danni: This was a really strong selection of episodes in what I’ve found to be a real great show so far, so it’s hard to pick any single favorite moment. Beatrice continues to be my favorite character in the entire show so every moment with her is a treat, especially her honoring her contract with Subaru despite it pitting her against her employer. Subaru telling Ram the story about the two ogres was a pretty touching scene, as was Subaru breaking down in Emilia’s lap. Those kids are pretty cute together. I can’t think of any ultimately low points, really. Those CGI dogs didn’t look that great, I guess?

  David: High is absolutely the scene where Beatrice defends Subaru, hands down. Probably one of the best moments in the whole show, too. Low is just in general how many times Subaru had to die to figure this one out. Gets surprisingly tiring to see the same days play out over and over!

  René: I absolutely love the lap scene with Emilia, so that’s definitely the High for me. It’s not only a beautiful character moment but also really hits me as a wonderful anti-toxic masculinity moment as Subaru is just not able to keep up his facade as the strong hero anymore and needs to let it all out. I’m always a sucker for moments like this.

  There weren’t really any Lows this week, so I’d have to go with the Shaman reveal, as well which is still not THAT bad. I’ll have to wait for next episode to have something for this segment~

COUNTERS:

Week:

"Barusu": 7

Subaru Deaths: 2

Methods of Death: Slit throat/torture, falling/suicide

  Overall:

"Barusu": 17

Subaru Deaths: 7

Methods of Death: Disembowelment, disembowelment, stabbing, curse, curse and dismemberment, slit throat/torture, suicide

  And that's everything for this week! Remember that you're always welcome to join us for this rewatch, especially if you haven't watched Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- yet!

Here's our upcoming schedule!

  -Next week, on October 4th, Carolyn takes us past the halfway mark with episodes 11-15

-Then, on October 11th, David hosts our penultimate week with episodes 16-20

  Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Re:ZERO Rewatch! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH:

Episodes 1-5: Starting Life in Another Rewatch

Re:ZERO Introduction Questions

  Have anything to say about our thoughts on the episodes watched? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

-----

Kara Dennison is a writer, editor, and interviewer with bylines at VRV, We Are Cult, Fanbyte, and many more. She is also the co-founder of Altrix Books and co-creator of the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. Kara blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[obeymeaskme]

Obey Me!: Human and Demon hearts!

A/N: I've been working on a Fanfic for Obey me with a close friend of mine. It takes place after the game, and possibly in a AU. Each of my chapters are about 10 pages long, so I have split them up into sections for everyone! Please enjoy!

Chapter one: The Arrivals (1/2)

Word Count: 1,530

Rating: 18+

The world is an ever changing place. Some make a fair living, and others struggle with the flex and flow of life. Yet there were still opportunities left for two young girls looking for respite from their previous lives. Noelle, a short pudgy, artistic type who was the one to suggest moving to the countryside. Bella, Noelle’s long term friend who was searching for work, had agreed due to the open jobs in the town they had settled into. Even with their seemingly bright future, the skies above their trailer grew darker by the minute. It seemed almost unnatural to them. Noelle had paused outside while helping unpack boxes into the house. She looked up at the sky to stare at the shifting clouds, and shuddered when she caught a glimpse of lightning whip through the clouds.

“I know we're nowhere close to tornado alley out here, but I swear if these creepy clouds mean there's a storm coming, I'm not going to be happy...”

Bella laughed and stole the boxes from her hands, taking what was left of the packages.

“If you're that scared don't stand outside, silly!”

Soon enough the air was thick with humidity, and the girls made their way inside. Noelle began stretching as Bella took a seat on a stray bean bag chair and began to complain.

“I don't know what's gonna suck more. Unpacking, or trying to find our beds. I'm so tired...”

“I'm tired too. We did bring a blow up mattress. I can get that going, and one of us can hoard the bean bags...” Noelle responded with a flat tone.

“You want to sleep on the bean bags don't you?” Bella playfully accused.

Noelle gave no verbal response, and opted for just nodding as she rummaged through the boxes for the air pump and mattress.

Later on in the evening they unpacked most of the Tupperware, ate their dinner, and unfolded their bedding; Creating a small space for temporary living. In the corner of boxes they had placed a kindle that was playing a news station. Noelle had given a second shudder as the Anchor explained that the dark purple clouds was just a rare occurrence, only lasting a few days. Even when pronounced that the possible storm wasn't deadly, the atmosphere felt like it was about to crack. Furthering the girl's concerns.

Bella had crawled out of her makeshift bed, and found a box labeled “Bella's Stuffed Animalz”. The 'Z' was scrawled over the 'S' in an attempt of a joke done by her current roommate. Dumping out the contents, an armful of cow plushies, and a realistic seal squishy covered her bed. Tossing the seal towards Noelle's way she stroke up conversation about their new life. The longer they chatted, the more they yawned until finally both girls had fallen asleep. Unaware of what the next few days will bring.

Morning came, and so did the sun, but instead of golden rays, the previous forecast had turned the world around then into a filter of purples and blues. The same news station played in the background as the girls continued their adventure in unpacking boxes. After the morning had dragged on, a break was in order. It was a new day, and most of the boxes had dispersed. A sign of their hard work. Hard work that Noelle decided was to be rewarded with a trip to the nearby town. Begrudgingly Bella had agreed, and the two made their way down the road. The Town itself was nothing special. A straight way of small stores, and a handful of side roads that probably lead to other houses. Two Stomachs growled at the sight of a Pizza shop where they chose to spend lunch before they had gone window shopping.

Both the girls were fairly happy with the lack of social introductions, and the short walks to the stores were even better. It was a slow pace that they both ached for after years of past hardships and day to day life. A final destination came about, but only by the sheer magnetic allure the oddity shop had given them. The Purple banner had matched the sky above them, though the clouds seemed as if they were soon about to part. A bell jingled against the door as they walked in. Both in awe that such a store would exist in this kind of town.

The shop was a mix of herbs, Wicca and witch tools, and various other hand crafted items that seemed to sparkle on their own. The further the girls went in, the more drawn to the corner of the store they became. Very quickly they had walked up to a bland bulletin board that was littered in 'Help Wanted' and theater ads. Yet among all the paper clutter, they had both reached out to a paper advertising for a transfer program. The touching of their hands had broken them out of their trace, and they looked at each other, then back to the paper to examine it more.

The ad seemed like it was hung up a millennium ago. Stains and aged finger oils had caused the paper to look ill compared to the others. Yet the black ink border and description seemed fresh, and also most modern.

“Where does one's soul inlay in the human body? The Heart? The Mind? Or the Nature of a human's will and desire for knowledge. Come forth to the Royal Academy of Diavolo! Help Create A Peaceful Change with the Human Soul!

No School-Age-Or Degree Necessary”

Noelle chuckled as she shook her head.

“This sounds more like a cult than an Academy. ‘Cause Diavolo sounds like a cult god...”

As if on cue a creaky old voice spoke from behind them.

“So close, but no dice!”

Chills ran down the girls spine as a hunched over, yet tall elderly woman had seemingly mocked them. A blush ran across Noelle's face, and Bella had shifted from discomfort.

“Oh please, don't get so nervous. I'm only playing around. That ad you read is for a very well and respected school, that not many people get in. Well... half because not many people are interested.”

Noelle had shaken off her nerves and read the ad again, taking an application form from the packet. She considered it, and then took a second one.

“there's no number to call...”

“The RAD is a bit old fashioned, but that's precisely why they're good at what they do. Yet they somehow manage to barely hit the mark for modern day technology. I know the headmaster personally, and I tell you, if you want the experience of a lifetime, I'd risk filling one of those out.”

The Woman didn't leave. She seemed to be waiting for an answer. Only when the girls told her they'd think about it, did they get to exit the shop, and walk away from the old ladies tracking eyes. To say they got back to their small home as quickly as possible was an understatement.

After they made a beeline to the door, Bella had turned around and locked it. Giving the girls a feeling of satisfactory safety. The house was calm for once, and though the sky above had finally started clearing up Noelle's hand seemed to twitch and itch towards the papers in her bag.

“I... I kind of want to fill one out... Do you?”

“No, not really. You said it yourself, it sounds like a cult...”

“I just looked it up, and the only thing I'm finding out is that Diavolo means Devil...”

It was a false, calm, silence and both of their tangled up nerves returned as they laughed. Only to try and relieve stress. Bella shook her head and took one of the applications, and scoffed.

“I'll fill it out, but it's not like we're going to actually send them. There's not even a return address on these.”

Noelle read her paper over and over again. Bella was right. It was a basic form with Name, Number, past Achievements, and a whole other list of personality questions. The Academy symbol wasn't even on it. It came down as a simple prank to them. That woman might just be trying to scare them off. Maybe the town had a hallmark type of thing against newcomers? It didn't matter. No, now they had begun filling out the papers as a joke. They took the questions seriously. Noelle wanted to mock “Diavolo” since he'd never receive those papers. And he'd never get to read them. Soon after finishing the applications, they had thrown them out after tearing them up, and reminisced about the achievements written on the papers. Poking fun of their personality assessments telling them both that they were likely candidates.

Dusk had taken over the day, and the clouds had finally cleared. Signaling another day has gone by, and sleep once again took over the household. Leaving behind a finished home, and two cautious sleepers.

[theatrelove3000]

Nightmares

I don’t know how many people are actually going to read this, but if you are, Hi! I am a writer that doesn’t post my work publicly. I recently talked to another writer, @thelokiimaginechronicles who was kind enough to take time out of her day to read some of my work and encourage me to post it. I have decided to do so. This is my first time posting my Loki/OC anywhere so I hope whoever is reading it likes it!

This is an established relationship so there isn’t a slow burn or anything like that.

Summary: Noelle has a nightmare and her lover, Loki comforts her. (I got the idea of this fic from a video on youtube of Tom Hiddleston reading poetry. This is the link to that video if you’re interested. Video of Tom reading

Nightmares

3rd Person:

It is dark. Very dark. Noelle’s eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, enough to make out shapes in the gloom. Something moves out of the corner of her eye and she automatically moves to grab the dagger at her hip only to realize that it’s gone. She tries not to panic as she scans the area surrounding her.

“Hello?” She calls into the nothingness, “Hello?”

From the distance, a figure moves forth, coming towards her.

“Who’s there? Where am I?”

She receives no response but the being is getting closer.

Her eyes move about her surroundings. Where is her dagger?

She had only been looking down for a moment when she looked back up to see the advancing figure standing right in front of her. She couldn’t make out a face, for the being was shrouded in a dark cloak that covered it from head to foot. She didn’t know that she was screaming until she bolted upright in bed.

Noelle POV:

“Shit,” I whisper to myself. I pull my knees up to my chest and count my breaths, trying to pull myself back together.

“Goddamn it.” I throw the silky purple sheets of my bed back and pull on a thin cardigan to protect me from the cool night air. Before I know what I’m doing, I am walking through the castle in my nightgown and sweater, barefoot. I don’t really think about where I am going until I get there.

I open the door to the library and go right to Loki’s desk. I knew he was there, he usually is, and sure enough, he turns in his chair, sensing my arrival. He is bent over his desk, reading some large volume he must have pulled off the bookshelves hours ago, as he is halfway through it.

He looks over his shoulder at me with a smirk teasing his lips. I must have looked freaked out because his slight smile turned to a confused look then a frown as he stood and met me halfway to him.

The sight of him made me start picking up my pace until I was running straight into his waiting arms.

“Hush, Noelle, hush. What is the matter? Are you alright?” I didn’t realize I was crying until he pulled away to hold my face, running his thumbs along my cheeks, catching the falling tears.

I just nod then, realizing that I’m clearly not, shake my head and bury my face in his chest. He nods and wraps his arms tightly, almost protectively, around me again.

He picks me up gently and I instinctively wrap my arms around his neck hiding my face in his shoulder. He walks us both over to the sofa in the middle of the Royal Library and sits down, keeping me on his lap.

We hold onto each other tightly as he let’s me cry on his shoulder, stroking my hair and whispering reassurances to me. “It will be alright, love. I’m right here. You are alright.”

I start babbling nonsense about when I remembered from the dream. Dark cloaks and my missing dagger. How dark it was. He sits there patiently, telling me I am safe and he won’t let anything happen to me.

I don’t know how long we sat like this. All I know is I am exhausted. Loki seems to know this and moves me off his lap, laying me down across the sofa with my head in his lap.

“Do you wish to tell me about it?” He asked gently, playing with my hair. I shake my head. I do not want to relive that nightmare.

He nods and continues to play with my hair. He hums quietly, soothing me even more.

“I found a book I think you will enjoy. I can read to you if you would like,” his velvet voice drawls quietly to me. I nod and start to sit up, expecting him to stand up to retrieve the book but he puts a hand on my shoulder, keeping me in my place. I cock an eyebrow at him and he waves his hands theatrically, making the book appear out of thin air.

“Showoff.” I mutter and he chuckles, opening the book, beginning to read quietly.

“The time will come

when, with elation

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror

and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.”

He pauses for a moment, looking to see if I was awake before continuing,

“Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.”

He finishes the poem and flips a few pages, searching for another one he likes. I watch him. His beautiful face is shaded by candlelight. His cheekbones high and sharp, jawline that could cut someone. Piercing emerald green eyes that melt my soul. He was too beautiful for any Midgardian to see completely. I was lucky enough to be half Asgardian and am able to enjoy his beauty completely.

He finds the next poem and begins again,

“Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wand'ring bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me prov’d,

I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.”

By the end, I am reciting it with him without even looking at the words. He looks down at me again with a smile and a questioning eyebrow.

“I recognize it. It’s my favorite Sonnet by William Shakespeare. He wrote hundreds of them.” I explain how my father had given me a book of sonnets for Christmas when I was 10, just before he returned to Asgard.

“Interesting,” he says softly,“This is a book of Midgardian poetry so it does not surprise that you know the author. I suppose I wasn’t expecting you to know the Sonnet.”

I smile lightly, feeling more tired listening to him speak, hearing the pages of the book being turned, the heat from the fire a few feet away. I know I won’t last much longer.

Loki POV:

She was falling asleep. I resolve to read her a few more to sooth her. She was very panicked when she got here, but she seems to have calmed down.

I flip through the book again, glancing down at her every now and then to see if she is still awake. She is, just staring into the fire.

Finding another poem that I find entertaining I begin to read aloud,

“may i feel said he

(i’ll squeal said she

just once said he)

it’s fun said she

(may i touch said he

how much said she

a lot said he)

why not said she

(let’s go said he

not too far said she

what’s too far said he

where you are said she)

may i stay said he

which way said she

like this said he

if you kiss said she

may i move said he

is it love said she)

if you’re willing said he

(but you’re killing said she

but it’s life said he

but your wife said she

now said he)

ow said she

(tiptop said he

don’t stop said she

oh no said he)

go slow said she

(cccome?said he

ummm said she)

you’re divine!said he

(you are Mine said she)” I look down again as I finish the piece and see she is still gazing into the fire, though her cheeks have flushed a bit from the words of the poem. That is the result I had hoped for from reading it.

I begin looking through the book again, looking for one more. One more and she will be asleep, I tell myself. It is not that I do not like reading out loud, especially to Noelle, I love it, in fact; I am just tired as well and wish to go to bed myself.

“She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!” I glance down at the beautiful woman in my lap and see she is asleep. I grin a bit at the sight. She looks so peaceful and happy when she sleeps.

It is only then that I think my decision through: allowing her to fall asleep on a sofa in the library, knowing that I either have to carry her to her room or teleport which would be incredibly dangerous. Letting her sleep here in the library is not an option either; what if someone comes in to find her alone here or has another nightmare? No. We cannot have that.

I decide that I could take her to my room, have her sleep there with me where I can be close if she needs me.

I let her sleep for a bit longer to ensure that she is truly asleep before slipping my arm around her back, the other under her knees. I gently move her until she is sitting in my lap the way she was before I began to read to her.

From there I stand up, realizing how tired I was as well. I could feel the weight of the day in my shoulders and legs and resolve to walk to my room rather than teleport. I do not want to injure myself, let alone Noelle.

I begin walking through the empty halls of the castle, Noelle fast asleep in my arms, her own wrapped around my neck instinctively.

My chambers are not far from the library so it was not a long walk. I unlock and open the door with a flicker of my fingers and light some candles with another movement. Magic is very helpful at times like this. I kick the door shut with my heel and make my way over to my large canopy bed. I lay my love down and begin to undress myself, leaving my pants on because I am a gentleman who does not take advantage of women in moments of weakness.

I crawl into bed after her and cover us both with the deep green sheets. I try not to disturb her but when she begins tossing and turning, I pull her to my chest. I roll so that I’m on my back with her tucked under my right arm, her head resting on the place my arm and shoulder connect to the rest of my body. She calms instantly and immediately, her hands move so one covers mine on her waist, almost like she is keeping my there, the other resting on my chest above my heartbeat.

I listen to her breathing, slow and steady and peaceful. It had been a long time since I slept in the same bed as another person and I would being lying if I said that I did not miss it. The soothing sound of her breathing that told me that she was alright, the heat radiating from our bodies warming the bed faster than one could do on their own.

I fall asleep soon after she does, the sound and feel of her comforting all the anxiety that usually keeps me up at night.