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wakkass · 9 months ago

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💜Teenage Sofia💜

On the right is some hairstyle searches

AU itself

Sofia sleeps through her first lessons and cannot concentrate on her homework, which is why she makes mistakes.

For some reason, Sofia’s energy is becoming less and less; she cannot easily join the busy rhythm of life as in childhood.

She considered it an uneven start to the school year, and therefore didn't tell anyone about anything.

Despite this, Sofia tries very hard to work, but the problem is that she never begins to accomplish anything.

The amulet began to behave strangely: it loses color and turns gray. And most importantly, it doesn't work as it should, sometimes completely switching off and depriving Sofia of her powers.

This causes problems with her missions: she cannot respond to calls for help in time and cannot talk to her friends. It also reminds her of the helplessness she felt when she was stuck inside the amulet.

Sofia is caught between her old responsibilities and her new academic demands, causing her to fail at both.

This begins to put pressure on her, and as a result, Sofia's emotions become uncontrollable, for example, she may suddenly cry or get angry.

It got to the point where Sofia yelled at Miranda and ran away in a fit of rage, not understanding why she was even angry.

At first, Sofia believes that the amulet is to blame for her strange condition. Something happened to it and it needs to be fixed. This is a reason to turn to Cedric for help.

However, when examining the amulet, it turns out that it doesn't affect Sofia, but vice versa. That is, the amulet reacts to her burnout due to permanent stress.

Sofia doesn't know the nature of her condition and how to fix it. If this is a curse, then it must be removed, and if it's a disease, then it must be cured, and who else but the royal sorcerer will help with this.

The more Sofia describes the symptoms, the more Cedric realizes that this is not an infection or a curse, but something that he himself once went through - depression.

To avoid this, Cedric does what Sofia once did for him: shows care and attention.

He tries to repeat the same actions that Sofia did for him many years ago, because this is the only way to deal with depression that he knows.

This doesn't always help, since she could suddenly cry, and he didn't know what to do about it. But Sofia felt better from the very fact of understanding and caring for her. What's important is that she was able to let her feelings out.

Sofia asked Cedric for medicine and he took her to the throne room where her parents were sitting. A friend nearby can help in difficult times, but there is nothing more healing than family support.

Sofia was scared to talk to her mother, because they parted on an unpleasant note. Sofia was afraid of making this worse, because she reacted extremely unpredictably to things.

I see their dialogue as somewhat awkward at first, which is why Sofia has a lump in her throat. But Miranda is not angry with her, although it's difficult for her to ask about what is happening. I think this will put pressure on Sofia and she will utter her words of apology quickly and incoherently.

It was amazing how much easier it became for Sofia when she didn't face her mother's anger, but her mother's support. What's happening to Sofia is complicated, but she's still loved and understood. No one will ever leave her alone, no matter how much she changes.

The amulet remains gray until Sofia deals with the amount of work she has to do, causing her to burn out.

In the future, Amber helps Sofia with her schedule and organization of things during the day.

Appearance info

Hairstyle:

I knew that Sofia's hair texture needed to be soft and light, so I was looking for a simple and full hairstyle. I chose between a ponytail and a half-ponytail, and in the end I settled on the hairstyle that I could feel best.

I like how in animation the movement of the tail reflects the personality and mood of the character, this is ideal for a pubescent AU, where emotions and feelings burst out.

Meg and Thumbelina are not only a great visual reference for hair movement, but also reflect facets of personality that Sofia might have at her age. And the hair in a high ponytail emphasizes this perfectly.

Cloth:

Amber and Sofia's costumes are similar because they wear school uniforms. They study together in a specialized educational institution, so I think there is a certain dress code there. It's different from the public school setting that was in the original series, and I wanted to highlight that visually.

At the same time, the palette is different for everyone and reflects the individuality of each student.

I took inspiration from Pinterest where I was looking for simple yet elegant clothes. Asian uniforms have the most variety in silhouettes, so I mainly focused on them.

A small example of the cut I relied on

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#sofia the first #sofia the fandom #sofia the first fanart #stf #sofia the first au #princess sofia #cedric the great #cedric the sorcerer #queen miranda

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echantedtoon · 17 days ago

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Obsession 憑 Ch42

(WOW! It's been a long time since I posted something for this story. As promised I didn't abandon this fic and I do plan on finishing it even though it'll be very short. Other projects have just been getting finished up or I have a few things I wanted to work on. Again updates will continue to be slow until A Lovers' Circle is completely finished.

Warnings for Y/n's injuries.)

Tagging: @lavenderdropp @supernovacoffeestop @gilded-sunrays @crescent-blades @yumakutagawa

Remember if you want to be added to the taglist lemme know

Part 5 Dawn

You were loosing count of days which was bad.

A routine of yours fell into place while you stayed there. Twice a day Shinobu would come in, sometimes with Mitsuri sometimes not, and would treat and dress your wounds twice a day. Once in the morning and once more before sundown. You'd then just basically sit down in your room all day doing nothing but stare at the ceiling and move around to get your body used to moving again despite the physical pain.

You suffered worse during the war. You could handle this. The pain lessoned with each day anyways thanks to Shinobu's treatment. Twice a day you'd be delivered food by confused looking guards wondering why they were delivering food to an injured maid but knowing that it was probably Yoriichi that ordered them, their fear of him meant they didn't question anything. Whatever. You didn't mind. After months of nothing but a poor excuse of vegetable stew to eat, you'd happily take rice and beef.

Once you got curious and tried to leave your room. You had just opened the door but you hadn't even been able to step a foot out when a guard right outside the door pulled out his sword to block the way by holding up the sharp weapon diagonally across the doorway.

"Prince Yoriichi has ordered you to stay inside until he sees fit," was his only answer to you. "Get back inside."

Great. You couldn't even step out of your own room either. A prisoner all over again. However just when you were wondering about how long you'd be staying there, a surprise knocked on your door. Shinobu and a man you've never seen before but he wore the garbes of the guards walking around the estate.

"Prince Tsugikuni wants your prescense at the grand hall," he bluntly stated, "I'm to take you once you're treated by the doctor."

That was all he said which confused you. Oh so now Yoriichi wanted to see you? What did he want? Shinobu had no idea either, just there to do her normal duty of bandaging you up again. But she at least had good news.

"You're almost fully healed! You'll be better in no time!"

That was one good thing at least. When you finally got out the guard was already waiting for you. Without a word from either of you, you followed him through the halls towards the grand hall. From what you came to know from your time as a maid that the grand hall was where the royal family usually ate, hosted important meetings and ceremonies, and conducted business with important figures. Wonder what kind of 'meeting' Yoriichi was planning.

As you both walked you noticed something. The maids that you had usually seen walking around doing jobs around the large estate were looking at you. Some gave you looks of hatred which you returned and others looked away from you looking pale. Ah. Most likely Yoriichi's punishment had caused quite a fear amongst them all. Because now they knew one thing, if they tried anything like that again...Well Yoriichi might not be as merciful as last time or worse, Michikatsu might catch wind of it and...Well...The older prince was less likely to spare mercy. A quick death or hard labor of they're lucky. You did feel bad a bit, couldn't help but feel a bit bad, but in the end they shouldn't have been so cruel to you.

You both eventually stopped by the sliding door leading into the grand hall to which the guard slid right open before bowing. "The girl, My Lord."

You didn't bother bowing instead looking in and being taken aback by the two figures in the room. One was obviously Yoriichi who's eyes visibly lit up upon seeing you but you ignored it in favor of looking at the second figure standing there with him. It was another woman.

A very beautiful woman.

Her body was adorned in long flowing layers of silks, her silky black hair tied up in a hard to manage hairstyle with many decorative hair pieces, and her pale face was done with makeup. Her yellow eyes looked like amber turning to look at you. If you had to guess her age she was twenty five maybe twenty six?

"Y/n." Your body flinched being addressed by Yoriichi as beckoned for you to come in. "Please come in. I have someone I'd like you to meet." You hesitated raising a brow looking between them before slowly walking in and cautiously approaching them. "You may leave." He waved off the guard whom quickly dispersed before kindly gesturing to the woman next to him. "Y/n, this is Lady Mia. She's going to be staying with us until the marriage ceremony."

Marriage ceremony?! Your red eyes turned back to the other woman smiling at you. Holy Buddha. He was really serious about this whole marriage thing wasn't he? You had doubted he was telling the truth but it looked like you were wrong..But you were still going to keep your guard up around him.

Biting the sword you stiffly bowed to her(not him-) in greeting. "It's..a please to meet you, My Lady."

"So you're the famous woman warrior I've heard so much about!," she piled up in a cheerful voice, her voice being slightly higher pitched than you expected. Her eyes filled with curiosity and wonder. "How unorthodox! Dressing up like a man to fight in the war! I heard stories about you but I thought you were just a fairytale like the dragon that sleeps under the mountain temple!"

Your head raised to her brows rising. She heard about you? Well then again with your bad reputation you weren't too surprised. "Trust me. Sometimes I wish I was just a fairytale... Ma'am."

Yoriichi looked worried however the woman, Lady Mia, looked amused laughing at you. "Yoriichi had told me all about you! " You bet he did the loudmouth. "I'm going to have a very fun time getting to know you before he comes back with me!"

That got you surprised, straightening back up to stare at her. "He's.. leaving?"

"Well not now. Our wedding isn't for another six months. There's still things to work out. Final arrangements, wedding planning, and all that." She waved you off. "But I have no intentions of staying here when I already made it clear that I won't live away from my family. Which means that any husband of mine is going to be coming with me whether he likes it or not."

Red eyes widened at the realization of her words before looking at Yoriichi whom only stared back right at you. Yoriichi was..leaving? Leaving...As in..LEAVING TO LIVE FAR AWAY FROM YOU IN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT TERRITORY!! He'd be far away, married, and away FROM YOU!! It was like one of the things you wished for most fell from the sky and dropped into your lap. THIS WAS THE BEST NEWS YOU'VE EVER HAD IN MONTHS!!!

"While Lady Mia stays with us, I-...I-I'd like you to act as her personal lady in waiting." He spoke softly gesturing to the beautiful woman. "You'll be tending to her every need from this moment until her departure. "

"Oh..Alright."

He nodded. "Then it's settled." He said nothing else to you as he turned back to whom you supposed was his fiance now. "I'll be leaving you in her care. If you're in need of anything then please don't hesitate to come find me or ask the head maid. She'll arrange it for you."

"Oh you don't have to worry about me." She waved him off. "I'll be perfectly fine. Especially since I have such a strong woman taking care of me."

"Then I'll bid you good bye for now. I must speak with my father about finding a general suitable for my replacement soon."

"Of course! You go find away, Darling.~"

You watched as Yoriichi bowed deeply in respect to his fiance before turning around and walking past you without a second glance. Which surprised you. He'd always give you one last look at you before he left to go anywhere but he said nothing. Did nothing except silently leave through the door you had just walked in through. Well..that was weird. Good but very very strange. You slowly turned back around-

"GAH!?"

A pair of bright yellow eyes and a wide smile was inches away from your face when you turned back around and found Lady Mia literally just four inches away from your face. Instinctively you jumped back and raised your arms as if to block an attack but none came as she just smiled widely and excitedly.

"So you're Y/n. I've heard SO much about you!," she repeated. "Your eyes are so lovely. They're like rubies!"

"Uh-..I-.." You stammered out flabbergasted not sure what to say as she pointed up a finger.

"Now first thing's first! Tell me about the men of war! Is it true that men on the battlefield are more handsome when fiercely fighting for their countries?~"

"Uuhhh- "

Good Buddha. What did you get yourself into this time?

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look-at-the-soul · 5 months ago

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Look at the soul- Part 12

Cillian Murphy x OC

Author’s note: please please forgive me for taking so long to update this little story, hopefully I’ll get on posting more frequently ✨ I hope you still like this couple, there’s a lot in the store for them 🥰

Series Master list

Song: Alone by Heart, the Royal Philharmonic Orchest

Word count: 2,938

“That was great!” The director called enthusiastically just as Cillian finished his lecture.

An assistant emerged from the shadows in a heartbeat and asked if he wanted something to drink.

“I’m alright, thanks.” He gave her a small nod.

“Let me take this off.” A tech approached him and pointed at the microphone attached to the nape of his jacket.

“Oh, sure.” Turning around, Cillian lifted the back of his jacket so the man could undo the clip holding it together.

Someone else offered Cillian another folder with another part of the script. Something happened in that very moment, the paper felt heavy, not because it was a ton of papers, but because of the character, what this opportunity could mean.

“Are you sure you can’t push your other commitment?” The director finally reached him with a long face. “Your screen tests is fucking amazing.”

Cillian clenched his jaw for a moment. Thinking of the play, all the hard work they’ve been investing daily, the rehearsals, the way it had helped him with the pain and loss of his wife. And then, in the back of his mind, Marianne’s face appeared flashing him.

This was probably one of the greatest opportunities in his career…

****

“How’s little Miss Hanna?” Marianne asked over the phone as she finished washing the dishes.

She could feel her best friend smiling as she made a sound to her daughter.

“Getting bigger every minute.” Her friend Anna replied. “Do you wanna FaceTime?”

Marianne made an excitement sound and pressed the green button on her screen. “Oh look at you princess! You’re so pretty.”

“She was sick last week, and now I’m starting to feel ill, it sucks because I won’t be able to take any medicine.”

“Ow sweetie, try to get some rest at least.”

“The sleeping schedule it’s a mess she wakes up in the middle of the night every single day, we’ve tried soft music, dark room and now Evan is sleeping in the guest room because he needs to get up early the next day.”

“Wish I could be closer to help you during the day at least.” Marianne felt sad for the miles keeping them apart. After years of friendship seeing her best friend become a mother hit different, maternity gave her this beautiful aura and she seemed to have special super powers to balance motherhood, her business and everything around the house without breaking a sweat. It was admirable.

“I’d love that! But enough of diapers… tell me! How’s it going over there?”

Finishing with the dirty dishes, she took her phone with her to sit on the couch, pausing the movie she wasn’t even watching.

“Oh! It’s been good, lots of rainy days. I was working on an essay for a project but words won’t come out as they should, it doesn’t makes sense so I’m taking a break from it and I’ll start it over later.”

“I wish I could help you but… nope.” Anna stated firmly and then cracked a smile, she was over college papers now. “Have you been out meeting cute ginger Irish boys?”

Marianne laughed. “How do you know?” She joked, her schedule was hectic most of the time, that was the last thing on her mind.

“Ugh of course you haven’t.” Anna rolled her eyes, she knew her too well.

Suddenly Scout did a big stretch and decided to join her, demanding some petting like she did whenever he was close.

“Who’s that?” Anna asked with interest.

“Scout. Say hiya.” Marianne moved her phone closer to show her friend the black lab. “I’m puppy sitting him, it’s adorable.”

“And the owner is…?”

“He’s part of the cast of the play.” Marianne pretended to give Scout a smooch on the head, but she was able to feel her friend’s gaze on her.

“Okay… is he single?” Anna went immediately in for the important details.

“Widowed.”

Anna’s jaw dropped, she grabbed her phone excitedly while whispering because Hannah was now taking a nap on her other arm. “Spill the gossip.”

“Stop, there’s no gossip.”

“He’s widow, has a dog that clearly likes you. What else?”

“Anna relax.”

“No. Don’t tell me to relax, tell me the dirty details.”

Marianne felt mortified, in the past Anna tried to be a matchmaker, introducing her to several friends, and her husband’s friends, even a cousin, but it didn’t went further than a date.

“Look-” but her words got cut when she got a message from Cillian greeting her and to ask how Scout was behaving.

“Is that the dog’s Dad?”

“No, it’s Mum I’ll give her a call.” She felt bad for lying to her best friend, but she didn’t feel like there was something to tell. “Love you, call you later.” She rushed to hang up.

***

Cillian strolled thru the busy platform at the tube, it was starting to get packed, close to rush hour. He remembered this all so well from the years he lived in the city, eager to get a better opportunity in the industry.

He waited patiently minding his own business just like everyone else… people from different places, backgrounds and mindsets crossed before him not giving him a double look. He liked that, it was awkward to be stopped by a stranger to praise about his work, he felt extremely grateful without a doubt, but he sucked at the taking compliments part. He never knew what to say or do.

He felt thankful for the walk he was taking, he had a lot of things on his mind, he just got off the phone with one of his kids, they were just finishing their homework and decided to help grandpa set up a dvd player. Cillian strolled through the busy street now, deciding to go straight to his hotel room, he could always grab something from the mini bar to have dinner.

The beep on his phone announced a new message and it changed his whole mood.

Sleeping (he’s snoring).- Marianne wrote him and added a photo of Scout peacefully sleeping on her lap.

A stupid smile appeared on his lips, he couldn’t stop it.

Looks like you’ve got the magic touch. He wrote back, but deleted it before sending. Looks like he’s having a blast. He typed instead. Can I give you a call?

As he stepped inside his room, Cillian took off his shoes and jacket, Marianne didn’t reply but called him directly.

“Hey how’s it going?” He asked walking around the room.

“Oh my! You should’ve seen Scout, he jumped and stormed off towards the door when he heard you.” Marianne explained that she had the call on speaker.

Cillian chuckled softly. “Yeah?”

“Yes! Look I’m going to put you on video.”

Staring at his screen, he pressed the green button and soon an image of Scout wagging his tail and looking at the door filled his phone.

“Talk to him.” Marianne proposed crouching down to get closer.

“Hey buddy, over here.”

Scout turned around a started stomping his front paws.

“See? He misses you.”

Cillian saw her hand caressing Scout’s head.

“What was the other photo you sent me? Earlier.”

“Oh! That was us going for a walk.” Marianne explained going back to sit on the couch, still pointing her camera towards the black lab.

With a huff, Scout jumped on the couch before getting comfortable against Marianne once more. Arranging the base, she leaned her phone on it to have her hands free and went back to scratch Scout’s head.

“He’s having the time of his life.” Marianne stated giving the dog a glance.

A soft smile grew on his lips. “But he had something yellow on?”

“Yes! I got him a raincoat.” Marianne explained waving her hand.

“You let him on the couch, protect him from the rain… when I go back he’s going to be so spoiled.” He chuckled softly getting comfortable.

“Well he deserves spawcial treatment.” She explained running her fingernails through his back. “Righ?” She asked staring into those big brown eyes.

Envy flashed through Cillian’s mind. How lucky that bloody dog is, he thought.

“Tell me, how is London?”

“Crowded and it wasn’t raining so that’s grand.” Cillian chatted. “But they could’ve saved me the trip.”

“Why?” Marianne frowned and started fidgeting something around her neck.

Cillian let out a soft groan and looked towards the window. “From the beginning I said I couldn’t do this project, but the director insisted on the screen test.”

Marianne mouthed an explicit oh, but decided to not interrupt Cillian’s explanation. “I’ve other priorities going on at the moment.”

How could he make a decision like that? Choose between two projects, she wondered what made him say no before it could even start and how that probably affected him on future plans.

He couldn’t help but fix his eyes on her hand, twisting one of her fingers between the necklace. “I’m sorry… what’s that?”

Marianne looked down to see what he meant.

“Your pendant.” He clarified.

“My grandma gave it to me when I turned eighteen. It was given to her by her mother.” She leaned forwards to get closer to the camera and show it to him. “It’s our Lady of Guadalupe. I’ve had it for years.”

Cillian thought how he hadn’t noticed it before. Immediately it gave him an idea, it could be useful as a resource in the play, how come he didn’t think of it before?

“That’s lovely.” He hummed.

“It’s very popular over there, the fact that she chose to show up with the same skin color as our natives, the meanings behind her dress and veil… there’s actually professional studies that confirm the image isn’t a print and her eyes actually are alive.” she explained, getting lost. “Sorry, I got carried away.”

“No it’s fine… I mean I don’t, but everyone chooses what to believe in.”

He remembered seeing her making a silent prayer from time to time, or the signal of the cross subtly before a rehearsal.

Marianne thought how thoughtful it was from him to respect her beliefs. She liked the fact that he didn’t laugh or rolled his eyes by her words.

“You know… I keep you and your kids in my prayers.” She added out of the blue, not knowing if she was stepping over the line. But she did, praying was the best she could do for him.

“Thank you, that’s very kind.” He swallowed, not knowing what else to say, it was a beautiful gesture from her despite his own thoughts about religion. “I think adding a subtle touch like that to the play would be nice.”

“What? Are you going to make Adria pray at night?” She joked, making him laugh.

“No, but the necklace. That and the letters we thought about her and this secret man in her life, I just thought he could’ve given her a necklace that means so much and she keeps it.”

“I like how it sounds!”

Cillian asked her to hang on while he looked around for a pen and paper to take notes, Marianne heard him curse over what seemed to be an stuck drawer.

“It could be like a transition step,” he thought out loud, “she finds the necklace and it’s a pivotal moment for Adria, then the letters… and that’s when this man reveals himself to the audience.” He could see it all so clearly, Adria’s facial expression, her strong persona shattering by the sudden memories.

Marianne could hear Cillian talk all day long, his velvety voice was like a lullaby to her when he got lost in something, it was like she could see what he was explaining in a movie scene. The images were so vivid, like in a dream.

His critical point of view added something magical to what might sound like a regular idea. He made it stand out.

“I just think we’re going to cause Enda a heart attack with the changes we’ve suggested.” Marianne sighed and Scout mirrored her.

“Nah, he’s gonna be fine.” Cillian waved his hand to dismiss her worries. “What really matters here it’s how you feel.”

She chuckled nervously, not wanting the conversation to turn about her, deep down she still felt so nervous for the outcome of this.

He didn’t want to say he was a good actor, but he was good at reading people. For an instant, her fears flashed through her eyes. But at the same time he was having a hard time trying to find the differences between her and Adria, it was almost impossible to spot where one ended and the other started.

“What? What is it?”

“How do you do it? How can you not be scared of getting on stage?”

Cillian pouted, pondering on her question. “I guess you don’t think about it.”

“But I’m already.” She laughed.

“Then just move your attention towards something else… your next move, the next line. Try to focus on what’s going on at the moment.” He tried to give her the best advice. “Roll with it, enjoy it.”

“I’m just wondering if anyone will come and see a rookie.”

“Tickets will sold out, mark my words.” He assured her without hesitation.

“Thanks for the cheering, I really appreciate the support.” She scratched Scout absently.

“Do you want to hear the idea I’ve for the video?” Now it was Cillian’s turn to smile, he had been working on that project most of the flight, taking notes and letting his mind go as he listened to the song over and over.

“Absolutely!”

“We’ve learned to leave judgment behind us already right?” He asked holding his phone in his other hand.

“Oh God, what are you going to make me do this time around? Should I be scared?” Marianne joked.

“Just wanted to make sure.”

“I’m going to do it anyways.” She added then.

And Cillian was transported back in time, when he’d get the call from certain film director, he didn’t ask what was the part about or how big was the role involved… he always said yes.

So he went on to tell her all about the very specific idea he wanted to achieve for this video and how fitting it felt for the lyric.

He felt inspired, in his mind he could already see the images, the story telling itself, and the permission to use the locations was already on its way. Being behind the camera was one of his many passions, and getting the chance to do it once more was an opportunity he didn’t want to let go.

She noticed the excitement in his voice as he explained the different segments of the story, she could only compare it to taking a kid to Disneyland, and a couple of times, she forced herself to look somewhere because he was too distracting.

“I had a crazy moment earlier,” Marianne started to tell him as the call took another turn.

“Ya? What happened?” Cillian asked lifting his free arm to place it behind his head, involuntarily Marianne couldn’t help it but stare at his bicep.

“I started talking to Scout, as if he’d answer me.” She laughed and Cillian imitated her reaction. “Then I stopped abruptly when I realized what I was doing and started laughing while Scout barked uncontrollably, he probably thought I was crazy.”

“Oh he’s used to that, don’t worry I talk alone all the time.” Cillian offered then with a smile.

“He’s like a big teddy bear.” She gushed, swooning over the black lab keeping her company. “I’m not so sure I want to give him back.”

She added in a playful tone, but quickly rushed to explain she was just joking.

And that provoked a loud and deep laugh from him. Raisin his eyebrows he covered his mouth with his palm, the realization of how easy she made him smile or laugh made his mind go into another direction…

“Alright Scout, are you ready? We’re having a spaw night.” Marianne explained to the dog after ending the call with Cillian, she put on a fluffy robe, threw her hair up in a messy bun and invited Scout to sit on her lap, as she started to brush him he quickly started to relax, opening his legs wide and closing his eyes while she rubbed his belly.

She then put one of her hairbands just for fun and took one of his paws to added moisturize. So far he seemed to enjoy it, she always thought a dog is just like a little kid, they get excited over the simple things the things that really matter, and in the process they show us a different side of love.

“Do you like it?” She asked trying to look at Scout’s face, but he was far gone, with his tongue sticking out, showing off his teeth.

“You know, I’ve been keeping a little secret…” she whispered, struggling to find the right words. “I think I’m falling for your Dad.”

But admitting her feelings out loud didn’t make it easier, all the opposite she wondered how she’d be able to hide them while working together.

And little did she know that a few miles away, staring out of his hotel window, Cillian was looking at the sky, thinking of her and all the feelings she was making him have.

He wanted her to be part of his life, he was craving the peace and joy she brought whenever she stepped in the room. He needed to hear her laugh and see her smile every day, all the time. He just needed to find a way to her heart.

I hear the ticking of the clock

I'm lying here, the room's pitch dark

I wonder where you are tonight

'Til now I always got by on my own

I never really cared until I met you

And now it chills me to the bone

How do I get you alone?

You don't know how long I have wanted

To touch your lips and hold you tight

You don't know how long I have waited

And I was going to tell you tonight

But the secret is still my own

And my love for you is still unknown, alone

'Til now I always got by on my own

I never really cared until I met you

And now it chills me to the bone

How do I get you alone? How do I get you alone?

Black lab Inspiration: Elvis batz the lab

Our Lady of Guadalupe

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@kmc1989 @lau219

#That’s what Cill said #cillian murphy fiction #cillian murphy oc #cillian murphy fanfiction #cillian murphy fic #cillian murphy fanfic #cillian murphy x fem reader #cillian murphy x y/n

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pictuajjx · 7 months ago

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Hi! Here’s what I caught so far in the game. Unfortunately I don’t have any clips or screenshots because my computer is pooey. Warning, this is very long! Then my next post will have my theories and analysis pookies ❤️

In the beginning, it shows clips of the protagonist’s set up. A magazine appears with the headline of Indigo Park shuts down

There’s two graffiti outside of the park, one has wings the other says nostalgia so mostly likely other trespassers like our protagonist has came through

Rambley is always watching you through the cameras or the tv screen

Gear conveniently falls down when he asks us to find it

He hasn’t seen a visitor for at least 8 years

There is no signs of Salem anywhere besides in Rambley’s ride (now ruined) and their keychain in the merchandise store

speaking of the merchandise store, the hole up the ceiling looks like somebody is building up to reach there. 🤨 maybe it correlates to the gear conveniently falling

The creators head statue follows us

Something collapsed behind us when we went inside the tunnel going to Rambley’s ride

Inside the tunnel, all picture frames are up beside one. Is it Lloyd’s or Salem’s?

THERES A PICTURE OF LLOYD AND RAMBLEY SHAKING HANDS but Rambley starts glitching

Mollie Macaw is stalking us

After mollie macaws scene of the train ride one of the birds are down

She says something after the lights go off in Finley’s scene

Salem’s cut out is cut in half and is ruined

Mollie’s animatronic says “Not Rambley, he hurts Lloyd” maybe she’s copying what a staff said and therefore that’s why Rambley is not allowed backstage

Inside the backstage of Rambley’s ride when we fix it, there’s a graffiti saying “Lloyds limos” or something behind Finley’s animatronic

HOLY SHIT MOLLIE MACAW LITERALLY SNEAKS UP BEHIND YOU IN THE CURTAINS AROUND LLOYD’s SCENE???

Mollie macaw is shown chasing on the rail road track

The statue of Rambley eyes looks like a fan?

There’s food on the floor that looks like bait inside the cafe

Rambley’s eyes have a loading circle when he plays something (like the advertisement and audio recording)

Mollie plush (Important) mollie meet and greet in jet steam junction was around summer (maybe June) maybe they were meeting the flesh mascot

Lloyd plush according to the protagonist, felt like he was used a lot more

Indigo park would send items to people’s houses advertisements and dvds?

One curtain is torn at the theatre

Rambley says he doesn’t have access to the backstage, but for some reason the cameras still follows us? Maybe it’s because there’s no tv screen and it’s only the camera

Files are dropped backstage

There is a Lloyd statue in the backstage

A loud screech sound is played when you use your critter cuff on Lloyd

There’s a secret area in the arcade game, Mollie is trapped inside a cage

I think squirrels are making love in the background. LMAOOO

Starts to glitch a little when Salem appears

Starts to glitch after we beat the game

Rambleberry popped out of the arcade machine. Rambley is fully aware of it and says maybe one day he can jump out to take a bite?

Mollie drools and bleeds out in the slide

She takes a bite out of us when we get caught

Rambley stops talking about the Mascots? (Scene after Mollie chases us and gets decapitated, he starts talking about less staffs and less visitors)

Mollie says something while chasing us

Rambley claims that he can’t do certain things and needs human authorization?? 🤨

Mollie is now dead lol

Rambley talks about the registration after this scene, and saying it’s exhausting to say?

He also try’s out the trademark which according to him, expired yesterday

Royal ranglers room closed on us by Rambley, says it’s only for them and tells us maybe we can grow big and strong to enter. What’s behind there? Why can’t he upgrade us now if we’re helping him?

When we enter the ranglers room, it shows camera footage of everywhere

Rambley head has a footage of two employees talking, asking if the flesh mascots will put them out of business. According to the protagonist they retired these. Rambley says he’s never seen anybody wear them before

Poodle plush, what is its significance? Rambley’s pretty mean about it. He starts glitching when he mentions a non-brand indigo park toy?

Retro Lloyd plush according to the protagonist there was a cartoon of indigo park. Rambley starts to be mad about it, or maybe sarcastic? He also seems to glitch every time he expresses extreme emotions

During his song, Rambley expresses his feelings and hope? He also plead with you to stay with him (what’s up with ai’s and their abandonment issues? Not complaining 🔥)

that’s all I have!! Thanks for reading hehe :P

#debvinsrambles #Rambling #rambley the raccoon #rambley raccoon #indigo park #indigo park theory #analysis #Mollie macaw #indigo park chapter 1

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littledollll · 2 years ago

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Hello my love, do you do brienne of tarth fics? If so, could you do one where reader is a princess and brienne is her bodyguard? And reader is convinced that no one will ever truly love her because of past partners and only icky men are interested in her cause she's a royal and women never even look at her, or at least not past the fact that she's a princess; so she can kinda just throws herself at people in tries to love people into loving her until Brienne eventually confesses and they kiss and it's a littlw angsty and emotional?

I do, my lady

Bodyguard Brienne x princess!reader

Warnings: uhh none?

A/n: im am speed. This came to me actually pretty quickly which I’m happy about, I like it but I don’t love it so I sure hope it’s good enough! Also it’s kinda short, I’m running so low on ideas for writing Brienne so I’m very sorry!

“All the men are either pervs or assholes and the women don’t care about anything other than the fact I have a damn crown on my head sometimes- I mean it’s stupid! I thought girls were supposed to be better!” You were laying on the floor looking up at Brienne as you ranted while she made adjustments to her armor. She only hummed and continued working.

You sighed. “Do you know how many dates I’ve gone on and have had arranged-“ “Around 7 if I remember correctly.” She stated, turning her head and arching a brow at you. “Are you judging me?” You frowned. “No, not at all, my lady, you simply questioned it like I didn’t join you in every single one” she chuckled when you visibly came to the realization that, that was indeed true. “And none of them have worked out, everything feels so fake! What if I never find love!”

“I don’t want to be lonely forever.. isn’t it simply human to yearn for human connection? Affection and company? I just have horrible luck. I’m tired of seeing tons of happy couples all around while I’m just sought out for power or- you know.”

“I doubt that will be the case, and yes, it’s very human, something a lot of people want, princess, unfortunately a lot of people can be shallow, what’s important to you may not be important to them.” Brienne peaked your interest with that. “Why do you say that? are you implying some big strong man is gonna come around and give me everything I ever dreamed of?”

Shaking her head, amused, she looked down at you. “Are you comfortable there?” “Quite actually- hold on don’t change the subject.” Brienne smiled and turned back to working on her armor. “Some people seek power in life because they think it’s the way to happiness, you want human connection, love and care. It’s traits a lot of people look for, you just haven’t noticed.”

“Point me out a single person who thinks that way so I can throw myself at them.” Brienne sighed. “Maybe you’re going all wrong about it, find somebody you really like, not just anyone you might have a chance with, somebody with existing connection, a person you can and want to talk to and be around.” You whined. “I’m desperate.” “There lies your mistake. You can’t force a bond, with all due respect my lady, wanting somebody and wanting love are two very different things, I’m afraid you want the latter.”

“Is that so wrong?” Again, she shook her head. “No, I think it’s close minded though, no offense, you should focus on wanting a connection with somebody than a relationship with anybody. Surely you know you’re worth more than that.” Humming, you turned around to lay stomach down, sitting up on your elbows. “None taken. When’d you get so good at this love advice?”

You noticed how flustered she got, and then proceeded to ignore your question. “It’s getting late. Would you like me to escort you back to your room?” You stood. “Nu-uh answer the question is The Brienne of Tarth... falling for someone?!” “Frankly that’s none of your business.” Her cold reply made you flinch. “Right. Well goodnight then.” Sucking in a breath she turned around. “I’m sorry. That was cold and rather rude of me forgive me, my lady, stay I will walk with you when you truly wish to leave.”

“You’re lucky you’re you” you smiled sitting back down. “Oh do I get privileges? Or pity points.” You pouted. “None do the above.” you walked over to her. “You’re lucky I like you.” She didn’t think much of it after she said it, but you did. “You like me?” She nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah, you’re talkative and energetic, you really do have a kind heart and pure intentions, and all you really want is to be loved, I think that makes you wonderful..”

Briennes eyes widened when she realized what she just did, then she refused to meet your own, opting to just stay quiet until you said something or left. “Brienne-“ she interrupted you. “I’m sorry. That was- I don’t know I just spoke and I didn’t register what I was saying until I was done. I apologize.” You tilted your head searching her eyes, only to find embarrassment and adoration in them, you cupped her face and made her look at you. “Don’t apologize for that. You made me realize something.” She nodded, quiet and confused. “Do you really mean it?” Again a nod. “I do, my lady.” And you kissed her.

#brienne of tarth x reader #gwendoline christie #brienne x reader #brienne of tarth #ser brienne #idk how to tag this #bodyguard!brienne

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azlan-snow · 5 months ago

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Humble Beginnings(Radiobelle)

Chapter Sixteen: A Royal Flush

(Told from Alastor’s POV)

As the King warns everyone the variety of punishments that come with attacking anyone of Royal status to the Overlords, a skinny bird man barges in, catching everyone off guard including the king, his four red eyes staring at everyone in front of him.

“Stolas?” The king tilts his head, guessing who the man could possibly be.

“Greetings, my King. I am here for our meeting, albeit a bit early. Didn’t expect how little traffic there would be.”

“Traffic?”

“A lot less people now this late at night coming to Pride.”

“Well, I am a bit busy, so you might have to wait.” Just then Charlie walks in, seeing the bird man, and smiles. “Uncle Stolas!”

“Charlie! Oh, how great it is to see you!”

“How have you been?”

“Busy. But someone is here to see you!” A smaller bird girl appeared from behind him, dressed in baggy clothing from the modern era.

“Hey Octavia.”

“Hi, Charlie.”

“Come with me. Don’t want to disturb the adults.” The two leave, chatting on the way out.

“Everyone, this is Prince Stolas of the Ars Goetia.” As soon as the words ‘Ars Goetia’ leave his lips, everyone in the room, besides me and the King, bowed in respect.

“Who are the Ars Goetia, my King?” I ask, confused on the sudden actions of my peers.

“He’s a member of royalty among the rings: they also exist in Heaven.”

“Interesting.” I give a subtle bow the man, then turn to Lucifer again. “Is this meeting of upmost importance?”

“Yes. I won’t be able to see Stolas for a while after this as his position with the Ars Goetia complicated his schedule.”

“Very well.” I turn to the table, now ignoring everything else. “The king needs to attend to this meeting, so ours has been but on hold for now. We will reconvene as soon as possible. But you are to remain at the palace until this meeting happens. Thank you.” I walk towards the remaining two Vees, menacing intent with each step. “May I have a word, old pal?”

“The fuck? Where’s Val?”

“I’m afraid that Val is now under new management. You won’t be seeing your friend anymore.”

“What are you talking about? All we saw was some fucker kidnap him,” Velvette retaliates, oblivious to what I just said.

“He acted in his stupidity and it cost him.”

“What did that fucking idiot do this time?” Velvette looked genuinely concerned for her associate who is no longer.

“He abused the princess. I thought you were already aware of this?”

“NO! He didn’t say anything! Why would he do that?!” Vox looked like he was on the verge of crying as I explained.

“My sincere apologies, old pal. Even I didn’t wish for this to happen, no matter how much I hated him.” Vox and Velvette were in tears, mourning their friend, even though he already died.

“Was this because of you, Al? Huh? Did Val do this to her because of you?”

“Why would anything have to do with me?”

“Val hated you! And the Princess! You all kept Angel away from him!”

“Angel was trying to get away from him. This all happened before I knew young Charlotte.”

“Then its her Fucking fault one of my Best Friends is gone!”

“Vox. You-”

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do, you bastard. This is all your whore’s fault!”

“Watch your tongue, or I'll remove it for you.” Shifting forms never felt so relieving. But, the Queen was going to love the new info I’ve gathered.

“Please care for your friend, young girl,” I ask sincerely, looking Velvette dead in the eyes. She nods and tends to her broken friend, now in tears and flickering. I ask my shadow to transport me to the Queen, and my request is granted as I appear in front of Her Majesty.

“Your shadow sought me out, which means you have a good reason as to why you are interrupting me.” Her gaze hold me still, eyes glossed over in a dark shade of purple.

“I come bearing information, My Liege.”

“Speak, Alastor. What information do you have.”

“The remaining people of our friends party was unaware of his intentions. That, and an Ars Goetia has entered the palace.”

“Stolas is here?”

“Yes. Him and his daughter, who is with Charlotte.”

“If I may,” She starts, waiting.

“Yes, My Queen?”

“Why do you call my daughter by her first name? She even asked us to call her Charlie.”

“The reason is simple: I prefer Charlotte. It is a name I am familiar with as it first became popular in my era of time. That and I quite like the name and her reaction to it. Her blush is quite beautiful, especially when it adds to those circles on her cheeks.”

“You really do love my daughter, don’t you?”

“Of course. Your daughter is the most wonderful person in the world. If somebody failed to love her, well, they’d have to be sane!”

“Alastor. You are insane. But she likes that about you, so keep up the good work.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” I take my leave, but the queen stops me, calling out my name.

“I have a proposition for you.”

“Oh? What could that be?”

“I want you to make a deal with me. Your freedom in exchange for Charlie’s protection. This isn’t a soul deal. Just an exchange. So you don’t have to worry about swapping owners. So, do we have an exchange?”

I hesitate to shake her hand, a sense of uneasiness looming around me.

“Beware of the one who did, your Majesty. She won’t take this lightly, I’m afraid.” She looked at me confused, but dismissed it as I shook her hand in agreement, feeling the weight of my previous chain being lifted and removed. Alas, I am free, no longer bound to anything.

“Thank you, My Queen.”

“You’re welcome.”

I teleport to Charlotte, wanting to tell her the news. Appearing behind her, I planned on startling her.

“Peek-a-boo!”

“AH!” Both girls scream, startled greatly at my sudden appearance.

“Al! What are you doing here?”

“Just checking in on my beautiful darling.” I look at the bird girl, who seems confused about what seemed to be occurring.

“Al, this is Octavia. She’s my friend and Uncle Stolas’ daughter. She’s a princess, too!”

“Not really,” the girl mumbles, avoiding eye contact with me, probably to my unsightly appearance.

“Intriguing!”

“Okay. Bye Al?”

“Bye? Woman, I just got here.” She looked at me grumpily, almost how a small child would.

“I know. And I’m kicking you out. Bye Al!”

She slammed the door on my face, leaving me bewildered. As I stroll the hallways, I see the King and Prince discussing what looked to be a contract. And finally, I check on the hotel and see our residents playing a game of poker, with dear Husker’s hand being a royal flush.

#hazbin hotel #alastor #charlie morningstar #fanfic #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel au #charlastor #radiobelle #ao3 fanfic #humble beginnings #ao3 #hazbin hotel lucifer #lillith hazbin hotel

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ukrfeminism · 9 months ago

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Though British farming is arguably at the most precarious point in its long history – thanks to changes caused by Brexit and food industry subsidies, lack of clear food production policies and increased concern over environmental issues – more women than ever are choosing a career in agriculture and, more importantly, moving into leadership roles.

Back in the 1970s, Holly Collins was studying for her A-levels in Sussex. While her friends sent off their university applications, she wrote to the Royal Agricultural College asking for an entry form, hoping to follow her dream of becoming a farmer.

“They wrote back with the following answer: ‘Dear Miss Collins, we do not admit women.’”

Undeterred, she worked on a farm the following summer: “A lot of the tasks then were manual labour, so I’d just turn up at the farm gate and ask for a job. I was paid much less than the male students I worked with because I was female. The farmer’s father told him that, because I was the hardest worker, he should pay me the same as them – but he didn’t.”

Things, says the 64-year-old who now has her own upland farm, Hollin Bank, at the head of Coniston Water in the Lake District, have improved a lot for women in agriculture since then.

Minette Batters, the first ever female president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales (NFU), may have stepped down this spring after six years in office, but women are still well represented in the union, with Rachel Hallos, a South Pennines farmer, installed as NFU vice-president and Abi Reader as deputy president for NFU Cymru. The Great Yorkshire Show has just got its first female show director in its 186-year history – dairy farmer Rachel Coates takes over after this year’s show in July. In the field of specialist skills, the UK has also just appointed its first female wool grader. Amy-Jo Barton, 22, is based at British Wool (formerly the British Wool Marketing Board) in Bradford where she sorts wool by hand based on style and characteristics; a job she finds “very therapeutic”.

While women comprised 17% of farmers in 2019, data from the Office for National Statistics for 2023 shows that of the 104,700 registered farmers, 22% are female. In the broader category of managers in agricultural services, women make up 32% of the workforce. According to recent figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, 64% of agricultural students are women. For an industry that historically relies on father-to-son succession to pass on land and which used to exclude women from many of its educational establishments, farming has come a long way.

Coates, incoming director of the Great Yorkshire Show, says: “Women have always been the backbone of a farm. Now they’re no longer in the kitchen tied to the Aga, they’re at the forefront of the industry. It’s good to see this take-up of leadership roles.”

Louisa Dines, principal lecturer in agronomy at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, thinks farming has lagged behind in terms of gender diversity but is finally catching up with other industries.

“Farmers’ wives and daughters were always important – farms are typically family businesses and intertwined with home life – but women used to operate below the radar,” she says. “Historically local meetings were in the pub or village hall. Wives often weren’t invited or had to look after the children. Even if they did go, it can be intimidating walking into a room full of men, but new communication platforms – such as social media and video conferencing – have made it easier for women to take part.”

There are more than 14,000 members of the Facebook group Ladies Who Lamb and farmers such as the Yorkshire Shepherdess and the Red Shepherdess have huge followings on TikTok and Instagram. Dines says she recently attended an agritech conference to promote links between women in farming in Poland, Ukraine and England. Previously these women had worked in isolation but not had a sense of community. “It was so interesting to see how far we’ve come.”

Traditions need to change more, though. The average age of a British farmer is 59 and the business is still typically passed down the male side of the family. A 2022 survey in Northern Ireland found that inheritance was the second biggest challenge faced by women in farming. The biggest was male dominance.

Molly Lewis, whose family have farmed sheep on 250 acres of pasture in Powys, Wales, for 350 years, says this attitude is starting to shift. The 20-year-old plans to take over when her father and his brother retire. She splits her time between working in the family business and the local agricultural market.

“In the past, sometimes men felt pressured to take on the farm even if their heart wasn’t in it, but now it goes to whoever is interested. I’ve noticed a lot more women happily getting involved. It feels natural, especially here. We have an open hill farm in the Elan Valley, and do a lot of community work with all our neighbours. You see women and girls on the hills doing the same jobs as the men and no one thinks anything of it.”

Lewis also talks of the community’s fury at the Welsh government’s sustainable farming scheme – the post-Brexit plan for funding the industry which includes ensuring 10% of farmland is under tree cover.

Collins’s farm has low densities of mixed livestock and a nice sideline in educational courses teaching traditional farming skills such as dry stone walling and coppicing. It’s currently host to two masters students researching finance and birdlife. She brought in two women – Megan Jones and Katherine Andrews – to manage Hollin Bank alongside her.

She says she has had difficulties with “a lack of respect” from male farmers. “But I am learning at a late age and from the wonderful young women who work with me that you don’t have to instil fear in others to succeed in this very male world. We try to be warm and encouraging of anyone who is interested. I’m not sure this is a ‘female’ attitude to farming but I suspect it might be.”

None of the three at Hollin Bank grew up in agricultural families, bucking the tradition of succession. While Collins had a “striking ambition” to farm her whole life, her colleagues originally worked in conservation and nature restoration.

“As 70% of the UK is farmland, I wanted to understand how conservation and agriculture intertwine,” says Andrews. “I also believe we need to localise the food economy to save food miles, create jobs and deepen our connection to the land.”

If farming is in crisis it may be this new generation who look to change the status quo who will be able to find a resolution. All of them seem keen to evolve. Coates’s big ambition for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society is to engage young people because “we need to make farming relevant – there are going to be changes in agriculture over the next few years and we need to adapt”.

Dines points to the increased importance of marketing and communication – from farm shops and crafts to environmentally friendly farming practice – “all the public-facing activities at which women excel”.

Jones, who worked in restoration before joining Hollin Bank two years ago, also points to the need for communication within the indusry as well as with the public.

“We need to strengthen food systems that value farmers’ extensive knowledge of the landscapes they work in,” she says. “I think we need to listen to farmers and figure out what works financially and ecologically. How can we build resilient ecosystems?”

The reason so many more women have moved into farming is perhaps best explained when Jones talks about what she enjoys most about her work.

“My favourite thing about working on a farm is the daily and seasonal rhythms. Each day you adapt and respond to the environment and the animals. Days when we move the sheep or cows are always good days, walking with them is like a moving meditation. For someone who spent very little time doing practical work growing up, I find working with my hands very rewarding and empowering – especially as a woman.”

#articles #finance

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luverofralts · 10 months ago

Text

Arkhelios Adventures

"Sorry I had to pull you away from your afternoon off. I've never received a royal summons before. You're the only one I could think of calling."

Roman eyed the imposing castle and tried to imagine any reason Claudia would have for summoning him. She'd texted him and shown up unannounced over the years without serving him a royal summons before. What could possibly be so important?

"No problem at all," Adrian assured his ex-husband. "It's what I spent my whole life studying. Who needs an afternoon to themself anyway?"

"Well, we can reschedule. I feel bad for always taking so much of your time. You were the only person I could think of aside from...never mind."

Ulyssa's name died on his lips before he could finish his thought. He was well practiced at catching himself before he spoke about her. Most days it wasn't hard. On a day like today, when he needed her political insight, Roman found himself missing their friendship.

"This is weird, right? I'm not just worrying for nothing? She's never done this before. Did Theo do something at school? I haven't been to Pleasantview outside of the kids' schools in ages."

"Given your past, it does seem a bit weird," Adrian agreed. "Maybe she wants to talk about franchising our business. That's all I can think of. Aside from...Princess Georgiana."

Adrian lowered his eyes, unwilling to see the stab of pain on Roman's face whenever his daughter was mentioned. Ever since Roman had met his daughter, the pain had lessened, but it would always be there. Along with the shame he felt for having an affair and nearly destroying his marriage.

"I don't think that Maura would let Claudia know about Georgiana," Roman said quietly. "That would mean admitting that it happened."

"There's very little the queen of Pleasantview doesn't know, Roman. My parents always said to treat that monarch like they knew your darkest secrets, because odds were that they already did. There are levels of secrecy and orders of deviant devotees under the Pleasantview throne. Don't underestimate Claudia because of your past. She is the most powerful person in the world, no contest."

"She's a nice person with the world's most sickeningly in love parents," Roman said, waving his hand dismissively. "It's not in her character. Maybe her ancestors were dangerous, but I know Claudia. She's not like that."

"That remains to be seen," Adrian murmured to himself. Roman was already halfway up the stairs when he spoke. There would be no way to convince him to be on his guard.

"Good morning, Your Majesty."

Both Roman and Adrian bowed deeply in front of the queen. Her throne room was impressive, filled with imposing statues and gold trim. This room alone must have cost a small fortune. None of it reflected the woman Roman thought he knew.

"Duke Siew, Mr. Bellamy. We've been expecting you." Claudia's voice was cold and distant, something that Roman hadn't been expecting. Those intense gold eyes of hers drilled into his mind layer by layer until he felt nothing but exposed. Whoever this woman was on the throne, Roman had never met her before.

"Though I only recall summoning Mr. Bellamy," the queen continued. "I suppose he is entitled to counsel. History has proven that he does not make good choices while on his own."

Roman balked at Claudia's words while Adrian kept a straight face. Roman clearly thought that he knew Claudia Goldman, but they weren't speaking to Claudia Goldman. This was the queen of Pleasantview before them, and like every noble raised in Twikkii Island, Adrian was on the defensive, desperate not to imperil his country and family by getting in the monarch of Pleasantview's way.

"Thank you for allowing me here," Adrian said quickly, before Roman could open his mouth. "It is an honour to meet with you."

Roman looked like he was about to object, but caught the glare Adrian was giving him and thought better of it.

"It is. I'm glad to extend that honour to you, Duke Siew. You may need to remind your companion of that fact. He seems to not know his place here."

"My place?"

The words slipped out before Roman could stop himself, earning a withering glare from the queen.

"I'm sorry, was there any confusion about who is in charge here? You are a guest here, Mr. Bellamy because I will it so. There is a matter that I need to discuss with you."

Adrian nodded solemnly and beside him, Roman did the same.

"Yes, Your Majesty. We'd be honoured to discuss whatever you wish," Adrian replied. Roman nodded.

"Now, the matter at hand is somewhat...personal," Claudia continued. Her confident stare wavered for a brief moment as she chose her next words. "It involves Mr. Bellamy and my's prior relationship...or rather our brief experiment."

For the first time, Claudia faltered. Her eyes fell, unable to look at Roman while she tried to downplay their previous connection. Adrian made sure to note this stumble so he had an advantage if he needed to make a quick retreat from the castle. The queen did look like she had an attachment to Roman when her guard was down, which would come in handy if he and Adrian had to make a quick retreat back home.

"I always thought that we would be having this conversation years from now," the queen continued. "When more time had passed at least. When the crown princess was older and possessed a more mature overlook. But no matter, we're here now."

Another pause lingered in the room. Beside the queen, her fiancée cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Your Majesty, perhaps it's better just to rip the bandaid off," Miruna suggested. "It would save us all time. We do have that appointment in an hour that cannot be missed."

Miruna's words were a lie meant to leave their visitors feeling small and unimportant. It was just one strategy that had been proposed to crush any ideas Roman might have about approaching Victoriana in the future. The queen's secretive demonic councilors had several suggestions to break Roman's spirit enough to drive him away from Pleasantview, though most of them were also intrigued by the thought of pushing him too far. A low level demon hybrid launching an attack on the queen out of rage was not only entertaining, it would also gauge Claudia's ability to defend her throne. The ruler of Pleasantview could never lower their guard after all.

Claudia looked at Roman's anxious face and was immediately pulled back into their short lived romance, if they could even call it that. They'd held each other on the Twikkii Island beach and dreamed together about the future what seemed like an eternity ago. He'd sobbed against her shoulder about being cheated on and left with an infant to raise; she poured out her many concerns and fears about ascending to the throne.

It really wasn't the romance Claudia had implied to her daughter. Nothing she'd felt for Roman matched any of the feelings she felt for Miruna. They had simply been there for each other during a stressful period of their lives, giving each other physical comfort. The lie was important to maintain for her daughter. No child wanted to hear that her parents had conceived her while her mother listened endlessly to her father's sobs over Abe Helios while trying to cram thousands of years of Pleasantview history into her brain. Had she dialed Roman's number once the pregnancy test was positive? Of course. She'd never completed the call though. She never would. He didn't love her and she didn't love him. None of the joy and passion and warmth her parents had for each other seemed possible with Roman. His heart would always belong to Abe and hers she had sworn to Pleasantview.

"My father always said that you had the right to know all these years, and maybe it was a good thing that he never ruled Pleasantview," Claudia said quietly, her strong facade fading for the briefest of moments. "My mother adored her grandmother, the former queen of Strangetown, and inherited her keen political instincts. There was too much uncertainty, too much death in Arkhelios. The reapers there told horror stories about...."

The queen trailed off before catching herself. Beside her, Miruna nodded her head slightly in a show of solidarity. This was going off course quickly. Too much of Claudia was seeping out and not enough of Pleasantview's monarch. Just say the words and this uncomfortable situation can end.

"Roman Bellamy, the crown princess is your genetic offspring. Your genetic donation will shape the future of Pleasantview, and our nation thanks you for it. The princess has been informed of this and politely requests that your contact be limited in the future. Your demonic heritage will help her rule our people fairly."

"Thank you for arriving on time and have a pleasant trip back to Arkhelios," Miruna said cheerfully, looking proudly at her fiancée. "Our office is always available for inquiries, just speak with reception. You are dismissed."

A silence fell over the room as the two men processed the revealed information. Roman looked like he was about to throw up, while Adrian's brain struggled to sort this news into anything recognizable.

"The crown princess is Roman's daughter?" he said finally, looking for any sign that this was just a cruel prank.

"He's her genetic donor," Claudia replied. "She is my daughter and the future of this nation. Mr. Bellamy does not have a role in her life. He is merely a citizen of a foreign land with no legal rights in my nation."

Roman remained eerily silent beside his ex-husband. Adrian had never seen him this quiet before in all their time together. For his own part, Adrian had been blindsided by this revelation; he could only imagine what Roman must be feeling.

"Roman? Are you okay?" Adrian whispered, stroking Roman's back worriedly. "Say something. Say anything."

Roman's eyes raised slightly, daring to look at the mother of his child for mere seconds before turning away. He still remained silent.

"Mr. Bellamy, Duke Siew, thank you for coming today," Claudia announced, gesturing for her guards to be at the ready to remove her guests. "I look forward to our next meeting. Have a safe journey home."

The two men rose to their feet and Adrian was fairly certain that he'd bowed and followed the protocol that had been drilled into him from birth. It certainly wasn't anything he could perform consciously at this moment.

He grabbed Roman's hand and escorted him out of the throne room; he remembered that much at least. Roman had shuffled beside him wordlessly. Adrian's head was swimming with questions and reeling from shock, but he couldn't voice any of that while Roman was in this state. Needless to say, his conversation with Evren was going to be interesting tonight.

Roman made it down the last steps into the hallway before collapsing on the floor, still wordlessly staring at empty space. His shoulders shook as he wept, but still no sound emerged.

"Roman? Roman do you need help? Are you feeling okay? Talk to me, let me help."

Adrian's words did nothing to comfort Roman or inspire him to move. He still sat there on the floor, silently weeping outside the entrance to the throne room.

"Hey, hey. It'll be okay, we'll get through this," Adrian said, holding his ex-husband in his arms as he sobbed.

Adrian had suspected that something big was going to be revealed with this summons, but never anything like this. It was unprecedented in Pleasantview history as far as Adrian remembered. Maybe during the civil war where Princess Georgiana's paternity changed the succession of the Pleasantview throne, but even then, both of her parents knew the truth. One of them never tried to hide her paternity from the other. King Mordred hid the paternity of his youngest daughter after his husband's affair, but she had been so far down the line of succession, her paternity had only been revealed a century later by a routine maintenance of the genetic library of Crystal Cove. For a monarch to hide her heir's paternity from both her subjects and the heir's father, well, Adrian couldn't think of a historical example.

"At least she told us. We could have spent our whole lives not knowing," Adrian continued, which only made Roman sob harder. "We can try to work with this. Maybe she wants to meet with you and you could have a relationship with her. It's certainly possible."

"If that were true, Claudia wouldn't have told us like this. She wasn't even there. If she wanted to see me, she would have been there. Adrian, it's happening again. The Crown is taking away my daughter, just like with Georgiana. I'll never have a relationship with either of them."

"This isn't the same as Georgiana," Adrian said soothingly, despite doubting his own words. "This wasn't an affair, you both were single at the time. Hell, it was before you even met me. You were both young and on different paths. It sounds like her parents told her to do this, seconded by whatever sinister shadows whisper to the throne. She didn't do this to hurt you; she's not Maura."

"H-how many more kids do I have that I have no knowledge of? How many more lies have I been told?"

"Well, how many other people have you slept with? Especially rich or royal people?" Adrian asked. His words only made the tears flow harder.

"You're really going to slut shame me now?" Roman sobbed. "I was young, I don't know. Abe cheated on me and dumped me, and I was angry. No other royals- aside from you anyway. I had a kid to take care of, my college experience was rather unconventional."

"Hey, I was in college too, I get it. You weren't my first either, and there were a few others that I 'dated'. I only wanted to be sure that this was the last surprise to pop up in your life. We've made progress with Georgiana, we can make progress with Victoriana. This isn't the end. Plus, you have a beautiful, intelligent daughter that you would otherwise know nothing about. This is a hard thing to hear now, but it won't always be. Who knows how the future will go?"

"Why didn't she just tell me?" Roman groaned, leaning further into Adrian's arms for comfort. "We were friends. She could have told me. Her parents couldn't stop her from telling me, she's the queen of the largest country in the damn world!"

"She slipped up, remember?"

"No, nothing I've heard today makes sense. Everything has been a lie."

"She mentioned the reaper team in Arkhelios scaring her parents about something in Arkhelios," Adrian said softly. "What was happening in your life when you were with Claudia? I'd bet anything that they were talking about Theo almost dying after he was born and-"

"And my mother. Of course, is there any part of my life that she hasn't ruined?" Roman groaned, pulling away from Adrian to massage his now throbbing temples. "If Theo was pregnant with the child of a half demon who was using their shared bloodline to gain power, I'd hide him too."

"I would do the same," Adrian replied gently. "Any parent would. It sounds like the Goldmans were scared of losing their daughter and granddaughter, just like you almost lost me and the girls to your mother. We can work with this, this is good news. They didn't hide Victoriana because they hated you, they wanted to protect her. Now that your mother's gone, we can appeal to them. From what I hear, her parents are incredibly family oriented, just like Claudia is. We can use that. We won't win any custody battles, but maybe we can get some visitation rights. Maybe we could set up a call schedule or email correspondence to start out. This isn't Maura we're fighting. We'll figure this out."

"Do you think my mother could sense her in the end?" Roman asked, an all too familiar horror enveloping his thoughts. "She wanted Theo, but she still damaged Luci and Saturnia somehow. Neither of them have any supernatural abilities because of her. If I had been able to kill her, they might be as powerful as Theo or Rien. She took from them something precious. Did she hurt Victoriana too? Am I to blame for putting her in danger without even knowing it?"

"Hey, hey, don't even think about it," Adrian said. "Your mom's not coming back, and Victoriana looks healthy. We don't have to worry about her. Maybe she just didn't inherit as much from your family as Theo or Rien did. If we just let things settle down for a while, I know we can negotiate with Claudia. Things will work out."

"Adrian?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you call Abe? I...I want him here, but I don't... I don't want to tell him what happened. I...I can't. W-what if he's triggered by this into reliving the affair? I don't think he sees his therapist anymore like I do, but...what if...."

Roman trailed off, unable to even complete his thought. In an instant, Adrian's arms were wrapped around him, holding him tightly.

"Of course I can get him and of course he'll understand. You don't need to feel guilty about this, Roman. It happened when you were single, a long time ago. Abe loves you, he'll understand."

In an instant, Adrian disappeared, leaving Roman alone outside the palace doors. There was no way that Roman wanted to go home to the place he and Abe had fought over his infidelity. Not with news like this. No matter what Adrian said, Roman couldn't shake the deep feeling of self-loathing he felt for himself. He had been too wild as a teen. He'd been too careless about birth control. His family had scared away any chance of a connection to his daughter. He would have gotten Claudia killed just as easily as he had Adrian. There was something wrong, something unlovable about him that his parents had seen. They hadn't loved him because he didn't deserve it. Victoriana was probably better off without him in her life.

"Roman! I'm here! Adrian told me everything. I'm right here for you."

"Abe? You're not mad?"

Abe shook his head incredulously and took Roman into his arms.

"Of course I'm not mad," he said. "Why would I be mad? You were just as blindsided by this as I was. I love you, Roman. We'll get through this together. Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"Who's watching the kids?"

Answering Abe's question was the last thing Roman wanted to do. How did he feel? He didn't. There was a gaping hole in his chest that was burning him from the inside out and he could hardly breathe. Crafting that feeling into words didn't seem possible.

"Adrian's with them. He teleported me here and then went back. When you're ready to teleport us back, he'll be waiting, probably with Evren. We'll all sort this out at whatever pace you want."

"Abe, I was never serious about Claudia, I promise. I was just trying to get back at you and you don't have to worry about me running back to her or anything, I never want to be with anyone else and-"

Abe silenced his husband with a gentle kiss.

"Ro, I know you're not about to run off with the queen of Pleasantview. We've rebuilt a lot of trust these past few years and I know you. You're having a meltdown and hating yourself, not trying to hide a love affair with a woman you see maybe once every few years in passing. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Then let's go home and make you some tea. I'm sure Evren has one of his concoctions that will help calm you down. Having a warlock in the family certainly helps sometimes. Theo may have him beat for pure power, but damn does that man know how to brew a potion."

Roman smiled slightly, until he thought about Abe's words.

"What are we going to tell Theo?" he groaned, his despair catching up to him once more. "He's going to hate me. How do I tell any of the kids? Theo might run into Victoriana at a school event. What if they hate each other? What if-"

"Magic tea now, worrying about the kids after," Abe insisted. "I'm sure Evren or Adrian will have an idea. Hell, even Lucy might have an idea or two. In the very unlikely event that Theo or the girls are angry, Aunt Lucy can set them straight. She knows a thing or two about hiding parentage from her kids and she doesn't worry about it."

"Your sister is a sociopath," Roman replied, the hint of a smile starting. Abe smiled back at him.

"A sociopath who cares about you. Give her an afternoon, she'll have Claudia's monarchy in ruins."

"Thanks, Abe. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"And you'll never have to know. I'm not going anywhere. Let's go home."

#Arkhelios #arkhelios adventures #roman bellamy #sim: adrian siew #adrian siew #claudia goldman #miruna maricourt

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lirarey · 3 months ago

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See you again (chapter 2)

☆☆☆

And then she woke up, but didn’t see the assembled guests. Surprisingly, there was only her room around.

"What a realistic dream," Jane thought bitterly, looking at the ceiling with detachment.

Carefully putting the blanket aside, the girl slowly stood up, swaying slightly. The feelings from the dream still didn't leave her. For some reason her dress was wet...

Where did she manage to do it?

The phone lying on the nightstand beeped. Today's date appeared on top — her birthday — and a message from Carlos.

A message from Carlos.

It can't be.

Trembling fingers unlocked the messenger.

The contact had the very photo she took during the dance competition. Carlos was all beaming with pride in it, because he managed to take first place.

She couldn't concentrate on reading: the letters were jumping before her eyes.

"Good morning. I hope you had only good dreams. We’re preparing a big joint gift with the guys. Don't be missed without me, I promise to finish as soon as possible."

And two hearts at the end. Black and white. That was always his signature.

Her heart skipped a beat.

No. No, it's impossible.

She had to see for herself.

Clutching the phone in her hand, she glanced at the things in the closet. The mood was more than decisive, so the choice fell on a blue jacket and skirt. Her hair — by the way, also wet — was gathered in a high ponytail. The phone went into the jacket pocket.

The only thing Jane forgot to do was to ask Carlos where they were preparing this very gift. Luckily, Dizzy was passing by, thoughtfully examining the two shades of paint on her hand.

"Hello!" the girl called out to her, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice. "Have you seen Evie?"

"Hi," the girl responded, turning around. "I saw her, but I’m not supposed to tell you where exactly."

"It’s really important to me." Saying this casually turned out to be harder than she thought.

"If you don’t tell on me, we’re even," Dizzy answered without thinking twice and giggled, whispering: "Evie mentioned that Carlos and Jay were going to the sportground."

"Thank you!" Jane, overcome with emotion, hugged her unexpected assistant and went in the direction indicated.

It was hard to believe that everything had really become like before. She had seen with her own eyes how Carlos... No, she definitely didn’t want to remember that. In fairy tales, good people always won. With the help of magic, the power of love or friendship. Jane didn't have full-fledged magic, she had almost no friends — until she became close with the children of villains — but she loved. Loved for the first time, sincerely and with faith in a happy ending. So why did fate take away the most precious thing? Was it a punishment? But for what? What was her fault? Unwillingness to follow the rules that appeared long before her birth? And now... Would a guy really end up on the field alive and well? Or was this an evil irony over her feelings?

The students hurrying past created the impression that another weekday had begun. The closer she got, the more her hands trembled. Even the sun, shining brightly in the sky, didn't calm her down. It was unknown which emotion dominated: a terrible fear of possible disappointment or stunning joy if... But more on that later.

"Your lord... Ben! Don't you have royal business?" Jay's clearly embarrassed voice reached her.

"First of all, I only have a part of the duties," Ben waved it off. "Secondly, I owe it to her. And to you too."

Jane peeked out from behind the stands, not daring to give away her presence. Jay was holding a large sheet of cardboard, while Ben was coloring it beige. She caught her breath, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. Carlos was nowhere to be seen. How could this be?.. No, this is...

"And it's not nice to peek," A painfully familiar voice sounded right next to her ear.

The girl was afraid to move. Afraid to find out that she imagined it. Disappointment would hit with all its force.

"But I can't blame you: I myself am terribly eager to show it as soon as possible."

Holding her breath as if before jumping into the water, she slowly turned around. He. It was really he. Alive. Real. Not a dream. With an unchanging smile that warmed the soul. Blinking rapidly from the tears that had welled up in her eyes, Jane sniffled and wrapped her arms around his neck. Carlos was taken aback, but gently pulled the girl towards him by the waist.

"What happened?" he asked worriedly, peering into her face. "Did some plans get ruined? Are you unable to finish your business? We can always help, you know that."

"No, I..." She took a deep breath. "I had a bad dream. It was all real, but much worse. And you... I thought..."

She didn't have the courage to finish the sentence.

"See: everything is fine. You wouldn't believe how many times I dreamed about life on the Isle. How afraid I was to wake up and realize that none of this had ever happened. A better life does exist. Here, in Auradon, with you and the guys."

Jane bit her lip, smiled nervously and nodded briefly. The realization of what was happening still had only just dawned on her.

#descendants #disney descendants #descendants 3 #descendants rise of red #descendants jane #descendants carlos #jarlos #janelos #carlos de vil #alternate universe #my headcanons #fanfic

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waltwhitmansbeard · 2 years ago

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go on, claim my heart: chapter thirty-six

see my masterpost for what came before this.

When Percy returns to his chambers, he is unsurprised to find Vex there waiting for him. Perhaps he should be surprised; there are a great many things for the Captain of the Royal Guard to be attending to at this moment, from the upcoming mourning ceremonies to the following coronation of the new sovereign to a reorganization of the guard following a kidnapping of a member of the royal family. Yet he opens the door, and there she is, sitting on the end of the bed, feet on the footboard, elbows on her knees, exactly where he knew she'd be.

She watches him in silence as he slips out of his shoes, shrugs off his coat, hangs it carefully on the hook by the door. The weapon he keeps at his hip goes onto his desk, and then he sits beside her. Without a word, her arms come to circle his neck, and she pulls him back, so that their shoulders hit the mattress and she's holding him, keeping his face pressed into her chest as he weeps for the second father he's lost now.

They lay there for longer than they should—he also has so many things to attend to, so busy, this time meant for mourning—but Percy can't bring himself to move. At some point, Vex's fingers have drifted up to play with the fine hairs at the nape of his neck, and he rather feels like a cat being scratched just so, wondering vaguely if he might spontaneously start purring. The thought, sudden and unexpected in the stillness of the moment, is overwhelmingly comical, and a laugh bubbles up out of him.

Vex pulls her head back to quirk an eyebrow at him. "What's so funny?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing. I'm...being stupid."

"Yes, well, I'm used to that." She smiles softly at him. "Did you say goodbye?"

"I did. It was...hard." And he finds that he does not want to talk to her about this, not when he has been so blessed to have had two fathers, each kind and generous and imperfect and wonderful, when she was denied even one who was not craven and heartless.

So instead he tackles the other elephant in the room. "I heard you."

Her breath catches in her throat. He watches her eyes dance between both of his, sees in them the strategizing, questioning whether she can get away with pretending she doesn't know what he's talking about.

She knows she can't. "We don't have to talk about this now."

"Vex'ahlia..."

"We don't. Our sovereign is dead. Keyleth will be crowned soon, if she's even awake yet. Vilya was nearly sacrificed in an immortality ritual not twenty-four hours ago. Bigger things are happ—"

He kisses her, slow but insistent. He then rests their foreheads together. "There are no bigger things. Not to me." He presses a hand flat against her stomach. "I will not presume to tell you what you want. I know that you take great pride in your independence, and if it is important to you, it is important to me, too. But I will say..." Oh, he did not expect this, the closed-throat emotion of it, the hiccuping heart in his chest. "I have been, in my life, so very good at convincing myself that I do not want the things that I want. It is easier, I think, not to want, because if you do not want, you cannot be disappointed.

"But this? I want this. I want you. I want our family, messy and strange and so very, very perfect. Seeing my sister, dying, being lured back to life by the sound of your voice—all of it made me realize that I am a man who wants a great deal, and I will not deny myself that want any longer."

Tears slip quickly and silently along the curve of Vex's nose. "I've been so scared," she breathes, "so, so scared. I didn't know—what if you didn't—what if I didn't—"

He shushes her, pulling her in this time to cry into his shirt. "I'm sorry you've been holding this alone," he whispers into the crown of her head. "I'm scared, too. I think it's safe to say my own relationship to parenthood is...complicated. But Vex..." He gently pulls back to take her face in his hands. "I love you." Her face crumples. "I love you more than I think I know how to say. And loving you is one of the only things in this world that does not scare me."

She kisses him then, wet and hard, and whispers against his lips, "I love you, too."

He holds her close, this miracle woman carrying their miracle child, and focuses on not letting his heart burst right out through his chest. After a few minutes, a thought strikes him. "Wait, did you know about this before you left on the quest for Vilya?"

A prolonged pause. "Um. Yes?"

"The quest so dangerous it got me killed?"

"Mhm?"

"Oh, I am going to be so very, very angry with you later."

"Of course, darling."

Vax rests back against the headboard, Keyleth curled into a tight ball in his lap. He's tucked her head under his chin, and now that she's cried herself out, she breathes slowly, in and out, clearly still exhausted even though her eyes remain stubbornly open.

And he can imagine why; what nightmares must await her in her sleep, what horrors, what sorrow, what fear? To travel the continent in pursuit of their stolen child, only to come home, battered but triumphant, and be told that her father, now, is lost forever—what has Keyleth done to earn such acute agony as this?

(Because it is forever, this loss. Vax sank deep into the pool of blood, let it fill his lungs to bursting until he was in front of her, seething, seeing red, demanding the return of his wife's father. His relationship with the Raven Queen has always been tenuous, nebulous, unsure; he will serve her until his dying day, and likely long after, a fitting payment for the gift of his wife's life, but then, what is the point of being her so-called champion if he cannot do even this small thing, restoring a good man to world?)

Keyleth has one hand gripped tightly into the fabric of his tunic, as if she fears she will blow away in the wind if she lets go. He strokes her hair, tangled and soiled from all their time on the road, and presses soft kisses about her temple. From just beyond their bedroom wall, he hears the familiar babbling sounds that he once feared he would never hear again. He is so endlessly grateful for Nel, who has installed herself in this cottage as Keyleth begins the agonizing process of putting her pieces back together again.

Keyleth must hear Vilya's small coos as well, because she murmurs, "I need her."

Vax doesn't need to ask for clarification. He carefully shuffles Keyleth to the side and slips off of the bed, and for a brief moment, the hand twisted into his tunic tightens. Then she lets go, and he quickly leaves the room, where he finds Nel tidying up, the baby snuggled in a woven sling across her chest. Nel looks just as tired as Vax feels—she'd been summoned as soon as they'd arrived back through the cherry tree, and once she'd confirmed that Vilya would suffer no long-lasting effects of her kidnapping, she'd remained to watch her while Keyleth recovered and Vax stalked off to futilely feud with a goddess. As Vax relieves Nel of her burden, he conveys his thanks for her steadfast dedication to his family. She merely pats his cheek with a sad smile and tells him that she will return as soon as she can take a brief nap of her own.

Vax takes Vilya back into the bedroom, where she curls easily into her mother's arms. He sits beside them, an arm around Keyleth, and when he feels some of the tension in her shoulders ebb away, he says, "I hope you know that I begged. I promised her everything I could to get your father back. I'm sorry it wasn't enough."

Keyleth runs a fingertip along Vilya's nose, across her rounded cheek, up to the point of one ear. "It's not your fault."

He hears what goes unsaid in the monotone of her voice. "It isn't yours either, Keyleth. Tell me that you understand that." She doesn't answer, and Vax wants to take her by the face, force her to meet his eyes and believe it, truly believe that she is not responsible for her father's demise.

"What did she say?" she asks instead, still looking only at their daughter. "When you asked for him back?"

Vax runs a stressed hand through his hair. What did she say, indeed? "She said that this was part of her warning, though I cannot possibly figure out how. She claims that the threads of fate are still being pulled. Kiki, I don't know what it all means. I don't know how to make this better, I don't know how to fix what's been broken."

"I need to see him."

The words are so quiet Vax almost doesn't catch them. He reaches a hand up to curl over his little girl's soft, wispy hair. There is so much suffering in this world; how is a man meant to keep such pain from his daughter? It is like stemming the tides with his bare hands.

He kisses the shell of Keyleth's ear. "We will go together. As a family."

Keyleth nods, her head coming to rest on his shoulder once more. It scares him, her quiet, her stillness. She may have cried herself to exhaustion now, but he knows that the eye of the hurricane has not yet passed over this house, that winds of grief strong enough to pull the cottage apart stone by stone are still howling in the distance. And somewhere, in the midst of such a maelstrom, she is supposed to become a queen, to lead her people into the next chapter of their story. What terrible things we demand of each other, he thinks as he watches tiny eyelids grow heavier and heavier in Keyleth's arms. What terrible, terrible things.

#critcal role #critical role fic #cr fic #vaxleth #vaxleth fic #vaxleth au #vox machina #vox machina fic #vox machina au #tlovm #tlovm fic #my fair lady #go on claim my heart #my fic #ps if you're reading this #today is my birthday

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wangsejabin · 2 years ago

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Chapter 67

Aunt Qing soon returned with a list in her hand.

She explained the situation to Pan'er in general and took the list down to make arrangements. During this time, Pan'er observed the situation and did not see any oddity, perhaps she was overthinking it?

But whenever a doctor was mentioned, Pan'er would always think of Auntie Qing's history, having been born into a family of doctors, but because her ancestors had been convicted, all the men in her family had been executed and all the women had been sold to the royal academy of music.

Because of her past life and her special status, Pan'er always thought that it had something to do with the harem struggle, because that was the only way she could have ended up in such a miserable situation. But if you look at Aunt Qing's age, it seems to have happened quite a long time ago, not in the Cheng'an era, but in the Jianwu era, the time of the previous emperor.

After thinking about it for a while, she couldn't think of anything else, so Pan'er stopped thinking about it, thinking that if Aunt Qing had come across something, she would have told her. If there was one person in the world who would not harm her, it would be Auntie Qing. Their fates were actually somewhat similar and they felt a sense of compassion for each other.

The clothes that the baby would wear after birth were already prepared on the way to the south, because of the experience from her previous life, Pan'er had prepared all the clothes for both the boy and the girl, saying that she was prepared, but in fact she still felt that it would be a dragon and phoenix fetus like in her previous life.

At the suggestion of a midwife named Yang, Pan'er began to prepare nappies. Taking advantage of the good weather, the empty space in the courtyard at the back of the covered room was recently filled with nappies. The nappies could not just be cut up and used, they had to be carefully softened, scalded several times with boiling water and then put out in the sun.

Before this was finished, another midwife, surnamed An, told Xiang Pu that it was time to prepare things like shears, copper pots and soaking wine. The stronger the wine, the more pure it is, the better, and it is best to prepare more of it, preferably the strongest kind.

While these two things may seem normal, Pan'er feels that the battle between the midwiwes has already begun. On the one hand, they were from the palace, boasting of their skill and serving the nobles; on the other hand, they were from the private sector and had made a name for themselves in Yangzhou and other places, so they were obviously not bad either.

Auntie Qing was a little worried, she felt that it was not in her favour to work separately, knowing that when it came to production, a very small thing could cause irreparable damage. If the production is not going well and some kind of help is needed, who should we listen to if we don't agree?A leader has to be chosen so that the whole team can agree.

Pan understood this, but who to choose? She didn't really know much about how to deliver a baby, so she could only watch and see more before making a decision.

Soon the 15th of August arrived, one of the most important festivals of the year and naturally not to be taken lightly, it was also the time of year when the palace was at its busiest.

This year in particular, it was said that several small states were coming to pay tribute to the palace, and all the ambassadors would be present at the banquet, so this year's mid-autumn banquet was not a one-day event, but a three-day event. This year, the feast will be held for three days instead of one, starting from August 14 and ending on August 16, when the moon is at its fullest in the year.

This time, the moon feast was not relevant to Pan'er, who was not fit to attend such a feast in her condition. But the Crown Princess, Hu Liangdi and Xu Liangyuan all had to go, while the others stayed in their own courtyards. The Prince Consort was busy in advance, as the Palace Banquet was run by Empress Fu, and as her daughter-in-law and the Prince Consort, she couldn't just ignore it and needed to help out.

When the Crown Prince was on his southern tour, the backyard of the Eastern Palace was managed by Sister Gao, and after the Crown Princess gave birth to the Grand Duke, who gradually became less prone to illness after his 100th day, the Crown Princess took over the backyard, and Sister Gao began to nurture him again.

This time, when the Crown Prince returned, he didn't mention letting Sister Gao back in, so the Crown Princess was still in charge of the backyard. Recently, the Crown Princess had little time to take care of the backyard, so Sister Chen took over. The Crown Princess has mentioned strengthening the security of the gates because of the many people who come and go from the palace during the banquet.

The Prince Consort had changed a bit recently, and although Pan'er hac only met her a few times, she could feel it. She felt that this change was for the better, and that she sincerely did not want to confront the Crown Princess in any way, especially at a time like the present.

The bustle in the palace had not affected the small courtyard, except that Xiao Dezi had come back from a trip out to say that it wasn't as easy to get in and out as it used to be. But that in itself was Xiao Dezi's problem, it was unusual for no one to watch, the boy scurried around in front and behind, but that was necessary for him to be able to inquire about a lot of information, so Pan'er turned a blind eye to it all.

Now that someone was watching the door, it was better to be safe. When she went to bed last night, Pan'er felt some pain in her back. Aunt Qing had given her an ointment, but it did not relieve the pain. Pan'er had some experience, so instead of calling the doctor, she called the midwives.

After two midwives felt the direction of the fetus, they came to the conclusion that the fetus was in the pelvis. Once the fetus was in the pelvis, the stomach would sink and it was normal to feel the pain. When the baby is fully in the pelvis, it will be born within half a month. When she heard the news, Pan was happy that she was finally getting to the end.

But the next night, she couldn't keep smiling because she suddenly went into labour. Without warning, as she was having her evening meal she suddenly felt a surge of heat underneath her. In the later stages of pregnancy, one would get up frequently to go to the clean room, all of which Paner knew, but she never thought she would ...... be incontinent?

At that time she was a little ashamed and called Aunt Qing to go in and change her clothes, but she soon found out that it was not incontinence. The whole small courtyard was suddenly in motion, and Aunt Qing hurriedly changed Pan'er's clothes and called for Xiang Pu and the girls to come and help her, saying that they would help Pan'er to the delivery room.

Pan'er prided herself on her experience and knew that even if she was in labour, it would be a long time before she could give birth, and she hadn't finished her evening meal yet. She knew that she could not panic at this time, and that she had to eat more to preserve her strength so that she would have the strength to give birth later, so she forced herself to finish her dinner.

After she had finished eating, she went to the delivery room, where several midwives were waiting. The midwife surnamed Yang squeezed midwife Pan out of the way, reached out and poked her hand under Pan'er's skirt, saying: "Master Fengyi, the water has broken, and you still have the energy to eat. Quickly, help Su Fengyi to lie down on the bed." Upon hearing this...

they all panicked a little, but Pan'er was quite calm and said, "Didn't they say it would take a long time to give birth after the start? Instead of making something for me to eat later so that I can replenish my strength, why don't I eat enough now and then give birth?"

Sister Yang was very angry, "Who told Fengyi that? This is nonsense, seeing blood and breaking the water are different, seeing blood without breaking the water will delay for a long time, but first the water breaks the person must lie down, lest the amniotic fluid dries up before the opening of the womb is fully opened, then without amniotic fluid lubrication, how can the baby be born?"

She could see that this Sister Yang was thinking that the two midwifes had instilled wrong thoughts in Pan'er, and naturally she was too vain to say that she had used her previous life as an example, not realizing that she was pretending to understand.

"So am I okay now?" Because this atmosphere was so tense, Pan'er couldn't help but get a little nervous too. "For now it's fine, Fengyi save your strength first, don't scream when it hurts, tell the slave servant when you are in pain, the slave servant will help you remember the time of the bout of pain."

After such an episode, it goes without saying that Sister Yang became the leader, and Aunt Qing and Xiang Pu and the others looked up to her quite highly, asking her about various matters such as what preparations needed to be made and so on.

After a while, Pan'er felt some pain, and a few painful blows from the cold made her frown.

Sister Yang watched her and asked her if she was in pain and for how long, and Pan'er told her the truth, saying that it was still early and that everyone should not panic and prepare for the day. She also told Pan'er that if she still wanted to eat, she could eat some more, and finally reminded her that the doctor and the medicine to induce labour should be prepared in advance.

Aunt Qing had already ordered someone to ask the doctor to do this. It was getting dark outside, but the courtyard was ablaze with lights.

Because the Crown Princess was not here, Pan'er's water breaking was not reported to the Hall of Virtue, and it was only when the eunuchs from the courtyard went out to ask for a doctor that Sister Chen learned of it. "Why has she started at this time? The 10th month hasn't arrived yet, has it?" But who could say for sure about such things, and besides, the possibility of a twin pregnancy being born prematurely was already high. "Sister, they're still waiting on the key at that end."

After dark, the two palace doors leading from the front yard to the back yard were locked, and only Jidetang had the key on the back yard side, and this old sister who was guarding the door had come to ask for it. As soon as she heard this, Sister Chen was a little displeased in her heart.

She had seen too many people in the backyard hailing Su Fengyi's stinky feet, and had been holding her anger in her heart for a long time. When the Crown Princess couldn't calm down, Sister Chen advised her to do so, and when the Crown Princess could, Sister Chen felt aggrieved for her.

But wasn't it aggravating? She had to manage all the big and small things in the backyard, and no one appreciated her if she managed well, but if she didn't, it was all the Crown Princess's fault. "Why did you come here yourself, didn't Su Fengyi's people come to ask for the key?" Sister Chen took a look at the old sister.

"It's just that the slave servant is familiar with the door." The old Sister bowed her head and smiled along, could she say that she had made such a trip personally just to show her goodwill?

"Alright, you wait, I'll go get the key." Sister Chen had no intention of making things difficult, knowing that this matter of giving birth to a child was extraordinary.

She walked out, and had not gone far when she ran into a palace maid hurrying this way. When she saw her, she said urgently, "Sister, the Grand Duke has vomited milk, and the vomiting is a bit frightening, so Nurse has asked Sister to ask you to come over."

Sister Chen had not forgotten that she was going to fetch the key, but at this moment she subconsciously threw it to the back of her mind; the Grand Duke was the only one the Crown Princess relied on at the moment, so naturally the Grand Duke was important.

When she got there, there were four nannies standing in the room, all of them looking a bit overwhelmed. One of them was holding the eldest son, crying in fear, and the eldest son was also crying from breath to breath. Sister Chen went over and saw that the nurse was covered in many sticky milk lumps, and the eldest son's face was covered in spots, even in his nose. "Are you all dead? Don't you know how to clean up after the Grand Duke?"

"Sister, slave servant ......" It was also a sudden incident, the eldest son was lying properly, but suddenly milk seeped out from the corner of his mouth. It was normal for a baby to spit up after eating milk, so it was usually fine to hold him upright and pat him, but as soon as he was picked up, he spurted milk outwards in a spraying pattern, even down his nose.

Several nursemaids had never seen such a situation before, so they panicked and sent for Sister Chen to come. "Go get the doctor and get some hot pads to wipe the Grand Duke's ......" Because of this matter, Sister Chen couldn't be bothered to dilly-dally anymore, so she went to fetch the key and asked someone to ask the doctor to come.

On this side of the small courtyard, Sister Yang thought Pan'er would have to drag on for a few more hours before she gave birth, but who knew that her episodes would be sudden and quick. Sister Yang remembered that Su Fengyi's pains lasted for one incense stick, but the next time it became a quarter of an hour, and the third time was less than a quarter of an hour.

The pains were getting longer and longer, starting with a few strokes and then more frequent, with shorter and shorter intervals in between. This was a very urgent birth. Sister Yang hurriedly had the bed sheet propped up and leaned down to check the opening of the womb, which was less than two fingers.

She was sweating profusely after all this fussing, and after looking at it, she turned her head and asked: "Has the imperial physician come yet? Is the medicine ready to induce labour?" As she was speaking, Xiao De Zi ran in from outside. Aunt Qing grabbed him and asked, "Has the imperial physician come yet?"

Xiao Dezi came to report this, and with a sad face he said, "Yes, he came, but he was stopped by the Hall of Virtue."

"What?" Pan'er on the bed had long since turned white with pain. Hearing this, she said, "Take it easy, tell me properly, what is going on?"

"The slave went to ask for the doctor, but the door was locked and the old sister who was guarding the door said she had gone to fetch the key. I've been waiting for almost a quarter of an hour, the key never came, followed by Fu Dong, the slave thought that maybe Jide Hall was afraid that something would happen in order to be thorough, so he chose someone to follow, and did not think much about it ……

"…… Today there is a banquet in the palace, there are many doctors on duty, but they were all called to serve at the banquet, only one doctor was left to be invited by the servant, the servant thought in his heart that luck was not bad, but when he returned, Fu Dong led someone to lead the doctor to the Hall of Virtue, saying that the eldest son was ill and urgently needed the doctor's attention, so he asked the master to wait first."

#yingchong #mtl

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anime-kia · 2 years ago

Text

Sleeping Beauty (Part 1)

(I'm no longer going to warn you guys about swearing cuz it's to be expected. Also, I'm not making anymore warnings about spoilers either) No Warnings for this chapter.

Relationship: Soulmates - King Erik x Reader

What no one knew was that Erik didn't only come to Wakanda to seek revenge, or to claim his spot on the throne, but a powerful force kept him searching. Searching throughout his time at MIT, on missions, and sometimes in Oakland on any regular day... It nagged him day and night, keeping him up at times. But as soon as he crossed the Wakandan border, the feeling started to ease off of his chest...

You were placed under a spell 3 years ago on your 18th Birthday, laid to rest in a small room similar to a garden with plants, flowers and herbs native to Wakanda. Each flower possessing healing powers in hopes to keep you alive in your dormant state.

You were not related to the royal family by blood, rather you were King T'Challa's love interest. He was going to propose to you as soon as you awoken from your slumber. Unfortunately, a stranger who entered the border had other plans that would change the both of your lives.

He was clearly a foreigner. American, W'Kabi decided, hearing the young man speak. He presented the nation with a gift. More like a cruel joke, some would say, but with reason.

Erik was granted access into Wakanda, hands tied behind his back before meeting the king. He entered the throne room, in a cocky manner, where everyone was called to inspect this stranger. All eyes were on Erik, but he was too busy looking around the room, thinking about how he would be taking over, and making the palace his.

T'Challa commands Erik, in which W'kabi translates, "Speak."

Erik felt a rush before answering, "I'm stayin' in ya house. Serving justice to a man who stole your vibranium and murdered ya people... Justice your king couldn't deliver."

How insulting, the audacity of this man to walk in this room like he owned it, then to one up with the King of Wakanda!

Upset from his failed mission, T'Challa got off of his throne and approached Erik, Okoye and the Dora Milaje following behind.

"I don't care that you brought Klaw. Only reason I don't kill you where you stand is because I know who you are. Now what do you want?"

"I want the throne."

His words erupted a mocking laughter from each corner of the room. Him? The king? Ha, as if.

Erik wasn't phased by the ridicule, he explained to them why he would be a better king, and the blindness of Wakanda.

T'Challa was not happy with Erik's choice of words, and made sure that he knew that the people of Wakanda mean a lot to him. The rest of the world can handle themselves.

"Son, we have entertained this charlatan for too long, reject his request." Queen Ramonda stepped in.

"Oh, I ain't requestin' nothing. Ask who I am."

"You are Erik Stevens," Shuri voiced, everyone looking at her, "An American Black Operative, a mercenary nicknamed Killmonger, that is who you are."

Though proud of his name, Shuri missed out on one very important title, "That's not my name, princess. Ask me, King."

"No." T'Challa declined.

"Ask me." He jeered him on.

T'Challa turned around, heading back to his rightful seat on the throne. "Take him away." He demanded with a simple hand gesture.

But... There's always that one person who doesn't know how to keep quiet.

"Ungubani!" The Elder from the River Tribe called out.

"I am N'Jadaka, son of Prince N'Jobu! I found my daddy with panther claws in his chest! You ain't the son of a king, you're the son of a murderer!"

All members in the throne room were stunned, conversations coming from all around. N'Jadaka? Son of Prince N'Jobu? But how can this be? He's only an American!

Disgusted, Queen Ramonda stepped forward calling out, "Lies!"

"I'm afraid not, Queen Mother." He raised a familiar piece of jewelry in his hand, and everyone gasped in disbelief.

She demanded W'Kabi to show her the necklace up close.

"Hey, Auntie." He smirked and said without a hint of shame in his voice. "I'm exercising my blood right. I challenge for the mantle of king and Black Panther!"

Panic was wide spread across the room, but T'Challa remained calm accepting the challenge.

A fatal mistake that he made...

Mere moments later, Erik sat upon his throne talking down to everyone as if they were children, despite the age differences. He educated them on how he was going to run Wakanda, and how he would conquer America and end all of the messed up shit going on there.

After the meeting came to an end, Erik was given a tour of the palace by a dainty servant named Anathi. His crude personality and aggressive nature placed fear onto the poor girl who was no older than 17. She feared messing up, already knowing the wrath of her new King.

"This is the library," She did her best to speak confidently while opening the large mahogany door, "We have all kinds of books from around the world. The king has his private room to read as well, if you're into that kind of thing."

"Nah..." He wasn't even paying attention to her, his attention was fixed onto something else, "Show me that room."

The girl turned around to see what he was talking about. His index finger was aimed at a room, located right underneath the sunroof. It appeared to be a garden, but there laid a female body.

Before Anathi could even take the lead, Erik guided himself towards the room. It was almost as if it were pulling him in.

"Y-your highness, wait." She called to him, but of course, he didn't take orders from anyone.

He grabbed onto the golden handles, pulling the door, but it would not open.

"Why is it locked?"

"We cannot allow anyone in there, your highness. Not even you."

Erik glared at Anathi from the corner of his eyes, her knees almost buckled. "Why not?" He asked sharply.

"It might interfere with her healing."

Healing? Erik thought to himself. "Where's the key?"

"Um, there's no key... There's a spell placed on the door."

"And who can break it?"

"N-no one, only she can."

Erik rolled his eyes, "Why lie?"

She didn't respond and he chuckled at her silence.

"You thought I ain't notice." He smirked, "Yeah, I know you got some tricks up ya sleeve." He grabbed her collar, "Open the fuckin' door."

Scared shitless, she wobbled over to the door and ran her hands across it in a pattern. "T-there, it's open."

"Nah, you open it first. Just in case y'all trynna set me up."

"It's not a trap, your highness."

"What did I ask you to do?" He rose his voice.

Anathi complied, grasping the two handles and pulled the door open. She stepped to the side, allowing Erik to access the room.

The first thing he noticed was your dormant body, and that feeling he was experiencing became steady.

"This is, (y/n), she was placed under a spell a few years ago. We thought she was poisoned, but T'Challa saved her. He gathered all of these lovely seeds, planting them specifically for her. He didn't want her to perish like a normal flower, she was special to him. He loves h-"

Erik's hand was around Anathi's throat, holding her in the air, "I ain't come to hear allat sappy shit. Now be a good servant and get the fuck out before you get just like her. But I'll make sure it ain't no flowers keeping you alive." He dropped her small frame onto the ground and she immediately scampered away from the area.

Erik watched you from a distance, admiring your every feature. Today your hair was neatly braided into a bun, while your frame was covered in a satin red gown defining your goddess-like figure. The palace servants, like Anathi, made sure that you were taken care of in terms your hygiene. They did your hair every month, trimmed your nails and changed your outfit, as cleanliness was very important to the people of Wakanda.

He wondered what you were like, how you sounded, what your interests were.

Though he didn't know you, it felt like you've known each other since birth. This feeling driving him closer to you, wanting to know who you are... It made him go crazy... This feeling caused by a mere woman?

This ain't that soulmate bond shit- Nah, it couldn't be. He tried to brush off the thought.

He left the room, carefully locking the door.

Surely he would return soon.

"I ain't ask for that, just gimme her status report." He huffed, frustrated, sitting on his new throne.

"Sh-she's in perfect condition, your h-" Anathi stuttered, her eyes gazing onto the floor, head low. For the past month, Erik continued to pester her about your condition. She wondered what his fascination with you was, but she wouldn't dare to ask him that.

"Then why the fuck she still sleep?"

"It's a spell."

"Then break it."

"I cannot... I am not her true love."

Erik deadpanned, almost laughed too. "True love? Stop playing with me, this ain't no fairy tale princess bullshit. This is real life!" He got up from the throne, towering over the poor girl. "You better find a way to wake her up."

Anathi hesitated for a moment, she was afraid to wake you up out of her concerns for you meeting the new king. Your heart and loyalty laid with T'Challa, you would never betray him. Anathi feared that Erik would try to kill you, or make you a servant, to tend to his every need.

His gaze was burning into her flesh as if he knew she had the key to waking you out of your slumber, "A-alright," She gave in, "There is a way..."

The silence from Erik indicated that she could continue to speak.

"I was serious when I said true love..."

Erik rolled his eyes.

"I'm not sure if you ever heard of soulmates, but there is a thing called Soulmate Bonds. It's a very powerful attraction between the two people. Ki- I mean, T'Challa has tried to wake up her, but it has not worked... We're not even positive he is the right one."

Erik scoffed, "Y'all are really on some shit."

Ignoring his statement, she continued, "This may sound silly, but a kiss would do the trick... We're trying to find a possible match, but we don't want a thousand different men kissing her."

And Erik sure as hell would not want that to happen either...

He made his way to the door.

"Where are you going, King?"

"Don't worry about it, you're dismissed for now... Aye and clean up, you're drowning in sweat."

Erik strode down the long corridors of the palace, following a familiar shortcut that he discovered within two weeks of walking exploring that vast space. He soon found himself at the door where your body rested. Anathi made it easily accessible for him so she would not have to follow him down every visit. He pulled the handles and entered the room.

This visit, your curls were styled in an up-do, and you were dressed in a bright green, pink and yellow dashiki dress that complimented your melinated skin.

Erik approached you, his hand running across your cheek. He felt chills through his body. Is this love? He pondered. Am I her soulmate? He stared at your lips, wondering if what Anathi said was true, or if she was trying to make him look like a fool. His thumb gently pulled your bottom lip down, revealing your pearly whites.

For all the times that Erik has come down to see you, he never tried to cross the boundaries. But each visit made it harder and harder for him to keep his hands off of you. If he was actually the one for you, he could brag about it for the rest of his life. T'Challa could not do it, this would prove Erik more worthy than him.

"A kiss, huh..." Erik said to himself, chuckling at the ludicrous situation. His hands cupped the bottom of your chin as he leaned in, centimetres away from your face. But the only thing that made contact with you was his forehead that pressed against yours. It was moments like these that made him feel human again, not like the killing machine he was designed to be. He was at ease in your presence, which sure confused the hell out of him, but at least he was happy.

Maybe not today...

And with that, Erik lifted himself up and made his way out of the room.

To be continued...

Okay so I decided to make this a two part one-shot, only because it's taking me forever to update this and it might be a really long chapter if its just one whole thing.

P.S. This month is going to be very busy for me, so I'll try to update whenever possible.

(Start/Finish: May 25-June 2, 2018)

#killmonger fic #killmonger x reader #black reader

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peony-pearl · 2 years ago

Text

Part 3 for the Zion au! (I would call this ‘spirit!Zion but... that’s already what she is XDD maybe deity!Zion because that’s how people see her in this au)

_______________________

“Wait! Azula, stop!”

Stomping down the halls, Azula dragged Zuko along by his sleeve. Despite being two years younger, Azula’s small frame was still able to overpower her brother’s as he balked and complained.

“You want to see Uncle, so we’ll go and see Uncle so you’ll stop whining about it!”

“But he’s busy!”

“That doesn’t mean he can’t have time for the rest of his family!”

It had been a month since Iroh brought Zion home. The first wave of joy and festivities had waned and the Fire Nation was back to work, chugging away with the promise of their future Fire Lord and his daughter having been chosen by the Spirit World itself.

Azula was still skeptical, even after seeing the gaping hole in her uncle’s chest where his heart once resided, and was now existing as his new child.

The palace had been bustling with work to recreate Iroh’s part of the palace. Workers and architects and artists and craftsmen had occupied the royal home for some time, working non stop. Thankfully none of it had kept Iroh’s brother’s family awake or away from important business; regardless, Ozai’s disdain had been evident from the day his niece was ‘born’ and took his sole chance at becoming Fire Lord.

Azula looked back at Zuko; his already frayed demeanor had become worse with Ozai’s anger being directed an awful lot at him. Azula herself had felt headaches and heart palpitations as her father entrusted her with his sense of perfection. Her shoulders felt lighter each time he left the room... but then she was left around her mother and brother, who had their own connection that Azula lacked; thus she either kept to herself or sought her father back out.

It was now to the point that visiting uncle sounded frustratingly refreshing. If not slightly infuriating. Azula dreaded being around some drooly, noisy, tiny baby and her guffawing, spoiled uncle. But Uncle never turned his niece or nephew away... even when Azulon admonished their very existence now that he had the perfect grandchild. Uncle had used his position of favoritism to ask the Fire Lord to ease up on the already existing children. Not like it mattered though. Iroh would never actually challenge his father’s behavior.

But Azula was keen on making sure Zuko got some time in with another figure in their life that might help him toughen up.

And Azula was indeed curious about this little baby that everyone was so eager to please.

Zuko tried to resist his sister’s grasp. “Azula, I’m serious-”

“Well, so am I,” Azula said as they approached Iroh’s door. Zuko stepped backwards in apprehension as Azula knocked loudly. She put her little hands on her hips as she awaited a response, as though she was already Fire Lord, and business couldn’t wait.

“We should have asked him first-”

“Zuzu, it’s Uncle for crying out loud. He’ll probably be happy to have some company that isn’t a gassy, snotty sack of turnips.”

“He might not even be home.”

“Then we’ll try later.”

A moment passed and Azula knocked again, still waiting as intently as ever as she stopped Zuko from walking away.

He frowned at her, yanking his arm away. “Stop bossing me around!”

“Then get a spine!”

“I have a spine! You’re being a thorn in it!”

“Well good, someone oughta be!”

Unknown to them, Iroh’s door slid open. The old general stood, looking at his niece and nephew arguing. He blinked as they shoved each other, little flames erupting from their hands as they began to roughhouse in the hall.

”Have I missed something?” Iroh asked, the dark circles under his eyes were hidden in the dim light of the corridor.

Zuko and Azula froze, looking up to find Iroh, and Zuko shoved Azula where he then quickly made himself presentable for his Uncle as he stood properly and bowed. Azula smoothed out her hair and her dress, doing her best to appear unbothered but was still visibly annoyed as she carried her air of grace and stood next to Zuko, bowing as well.

“Uncle,” Zuko said. “We’re sorry to bother you; we’ll be going now.”

Iroh chuckled. “But it seems you have just arrived. To what do I owe this visit?”

“Zuko’s being whiny, like usual,” Azula said as Zuko tried to be swift to kick her ankle, but she dodged it and kicked him back. “I figured you wouldn’t mind a visit.”

“I told her we should have asked first! But she dragged me down here and - “

Iroh gestured for them to calm down, and the siblings’ arguing faded.

“I am always happy to see my niece and nephew, especially when I have some fresh tea and cakes.”

Zuko and Azula finally looked at each other with excitement.

“But I must ask for some quiet voices. Zion is napping; she is rather loud when she is unhappy,” he said as he welcomed his guests.

The moment they stepped foot inside, Zuko and Azula were bombarded with the amount of fine gifts and offerings from the Fire Nation to Iroh and his newborn daughter. Ornate chests, fine clothing, jewelry, art, dragon sculptures made out of gold, jade, marble, metal, wood, all of them unique and stunning. Tapestries hung that were made with shimmering threads and beads and gemstones representing Iroh holding a tiny bundle with pink cheeks and a halo of dark curls were abundant. Azula looked at one where they were framed by a dragon curled around a glowing egg.

“Wow,” Zuko breathed. Iroh smiled.

“We’re still working on the place. I had to ask father to give me some kind of break for a while so I could catch up on work and care for Zion; she’s at her most fragile right now, but he insisted on creating a nursery for her from scratch. Not that I objected; but having workers in here constantly for a month was rough, especially with all of that noise. She didn’t much care for that.”

“When she cries does reality start to split apart?” Azula asked with eagerly imaginative eyes.

Iroh laughed, patting his niece’s head.

“No, no no. Thank goodness it doesn’t. Zion can’t do anything like that.”

“Oh,” Azula said, picking up a beautiful bracelet. It was far too feminine for Uncle (and far too dainty for his massive hands), and far too large for Zion to wear just yet. She would just... admire it for a while. “Well... what can she do? Grandfather made it sound like she’s awful powerful!”

Iroh turned back to speak as Azula swiftly hid the bracelet behind her back.

“Fire Lord Azulon-”

“Uncle, you can just call him father,” Azula rolled her eyes. Iroh continued to smile.

“Fire Lord Azulon regards his granddaughter with the same reverence one should with any spirit. Yet, she is part of our family. She is of my blood and tissue. She is your cousin, and thus, you should have no fears of her the way he insists. Zion has shown no signs of abilities just yet, but she is also just a baby. Right now, she is merely my daughter; no more, no less. Once her true nature reveals itself, then we may share in the Fire Lord’s views. But as of right now, I am much more eager that we celebrate the new addition to the family as we would any other child.”

‘New addition’. Azula looked around as she noted that the place seemed so much more grey than the last time she had been there some two years ago. It was... quiet. It was colder.

All this talk of celebration seemed out of place; Uncle’s demeanor, his happiness, his calm.

She remembered seeing him hold Zion that morning she was announced, and his smiles and the way he held that baby was a direct, stark contrast to the man she’d seen days earlier. The man who mourned his son; the man who mourned Lu Ten, her only cousin who she missed dearly.

As she spotted Iroh smiling more broadly as he spoke more about Zion, she had no problems pocketing the bracelet.

“Prince Iroh!”

Iroh turned in confusion towards the door. Azula quickly backed away to ensure he hadn’t seen her pilfer the jewelry.

“Prince Iroh!” Called the voice again. “We were called by Fire Lord Azulon to record measurements for your new bed!”

Iroh sighed. “Forgive me, I must tend to this. My servant Kadzi is in the kitchen; let him know you will be joining me for tea and he will make preparations.”

As Iroh invited the worker inside (and he bowed to the young royals), they disappeared down towards his bedroom.

The two stood for a moment as they continued to admire the hallway packed with offerings.

“Do you think our parents got stuff like this when we were born?”

Azula snorted. “If we did then where is it all?” She asked. “Oh! Look at this!” She said, catching sight of a handsome dragon plush; he was a beautiful dark purple with golden whiskers.

“Azula, put that back, that’s not yours!” Zuko hissed, but Azula batted him away.

“I’m just looking at it!”

Zuko rolled his eyes as she eagerly held the toy to her chest. “Can you imagine if people made all this stuff about us?” She asked, looking at another artists’ rendition of Iroh and Zion. “... They should be making this stuff for Lu Ten. He died so we could claim Ba Sing Se. They should be honoring him too.”

“But Zion’s a spirit-”

“So?” Azula retorted. “Uncle said so himself, she has no abilities! She can’t do anything! She’s only a baby and people are acting like she’s Agni! Like she’s some new Avatar! It’s stupid. Everyone’s falling over their stupid heads for some baby and not for Lu Ten whose life actually meant something!”

“AZULA,” Zuko tried to shush her through gritted teeth. “Just put the toy back!”

“And what if I don’t? Do you think Uncle is keeping track of all this?”

“If he isn’t then grandpa is.”

A wave of terror struck Azula, but she showed no signs of it.

“Then maybe I’ll find her and put this toy in there myself if you feel so strongly about it.”

“No! Uncle wouldn’t want that!”

“He wants us to be family, doesn’t he? Then I’ll go visit my baby cousin.”

Zuko watched his sister bolt down the hall, and he raced to keep up with her.

“AZULA!! Azula STOP IT!”

Azula quickly knew where Zion’s room was as she noted the new construction work in the hallway. The door itself was a smooth, beautifully painted wood. She tuned around to find Lu Ten’s room not far from where she stood.

The door was closed.

The memories of Lu Ten were hidden, forgotten and abandoned.

Frowning, Azula swung open the door to Zion’s room, and just as she and Zuko were stunned as they entered Iroh’s home, she found herself visibly plastered to where she stood as she dropped the dragon plush.

Her jaw dropped as speckles of color bobbed around the walls of the room; a series of tiny suncatchers dangled from a mobile of a dragon that hung suspended from the ceiling. Azula slowly stepped forward, seeing a beautiful, gauzy, red and gold canopy trail down and split open to reveal an imposing sculpture of another dragon, staring out towards the door. It’s wings were folded in front of it, as though hiding something... or protecting. Azula stepped further forward, and inside of the folded wings was -

a bed. The dragon was a crib. And resting inside was the tiny princess.

Zuko finally approached the room himself and his own jaw hit the floor. From the fine rug beneath him, to the engravings on the wall, to the fine art embedded within the room itself of regality and splendor even beyond their royal title, everything had been painstakingly created and labored over for the little thing that slept within the detailed wings of the dragon that snarled to those who would look upon her.

Azula and Zuko stared at each other as they looked back to their cousin, who slept swaddled and unknowing of her surroundings.

Azula reached out and poked her little nose, to which Zuko pulled his sister back angrily.

Zion snuffled and squirmed, looking much like one of the pillbugs Azula would find under a rock when she lingered around Zuko and Ursa out in the garden. She made sounds they’d never heard before. Tiny little grunts and breaths that sounded more urgent than they were as she calmed back down.

“... She’s not a spirit,” Azula whispered. Zuko’s face went white.

“Azula, of course she is!”

“Look at her! This is just a baby! I bet that hole in Uncle’s chest is an injury from Ba Sing Se!”

“You’re crazy! That’s stupid! He would have died from that if it was a regular injury!”

“So crazy it’s an idea that would work! I bet he took this baby and made up that story so he could forget Lu Ten! So he could forget he’s a lousy father!”

“Azula that’s horrible.”

“Forgetting your own kid is horrible! This isn’t our cousin, but unfortunately I guess she also is now because Grandfather is so blind to whatever Uncle wants, he’s not going to overturn this.”

“I’m not listening to anymore of this. I’m getting some tea.”

“Fine,” Azula said as she looked to Zion, who began to wiggle in her crib. She wriggled an arm out of her swaddling with which she rubbed her opening eyes. Azula leaned forward. “You’re not my cousin. All these people made all this stuff and Uncle is just fine with using them so he can feel important. Well... in the sake of family, I’m sure you won’t mind me borrowing -”

Azula reached back into her sash for the bracelet she’d pilfered. She couldn’t find it.

“Hey; I know I put it... ugh did it fall out? I-”

A tiny coo caught her off guard, and Azula whipped around to look at Zion; but before she could say anything-

She found the bracelet. In Zion’s clutched little hand.

Azula’s golden eyes met Zion’s, which she was now realizing were a vibrant blood red that none of the paintings or tapestries had illustrated.

Zion then clumsily tossed the bracelet towards Azula with a tiny little sound, and it landed softly on the bed.

Frozen, Azula stared at it, then at Zion. She began to fuss, and Azula reacted before she could think. She tucked the baby’s fat little arm back into her swaddling, shushed her, waited for those awful eyes to close, and then she grabbed the bracelet and the dragon plush, ran out of the room, closed the door as quietly as possible, and she put both gifts back exactly where she’d found them before clamoring to sit next to Zuko as Kadzi arrived with two extra teacups.

Zuko stared at his sister as she tried to hide that she was visibly shaken and out of breath.

“What’s your problem?”

Azula shot him a glare.

“You.”

“Shut up!”

#atla #atla au #atla oc #Azula #Zuko #Iroh #Zion #my writing

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caesar-meow · 8 months ago

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Finally i have managed to draw this amazing family I have talked about them but never really showed them. I tried. But the design just wasn't good. Now, i have finally got them and BOI do they have a bunch of lore...

Let's start with the beginning; Felix Peregrine, born in the Romanian-like countryside, by the name of Răzvan Șerbănescu, had been cursed with vampirism, killed his whole family (which he hated anyway), let some rich dude by the farm, killed the dude as well and burned the place; jumped on a ship all the way to Khaladius (largest empire's capital city), started doing business and join the civil war, earning military points; bit the crown prince turning him to a vampire, so he could have the royal family at his finger and also to hopefully start a revolution and normalising supernatural creatures into day-to-day life (which succeeded) ; move to the countryside, trick some local estate owners into giving him their manor while throwing them in jail for misconduct; becoming a Lord by the 1730s and building a new house from scratch, bringing revelation to the vampire communities with blood plants and crops, living for the capital as industry and railroads were growing and he wanted a piece of that while leaving in charge the vert family he threw out but still controlling them; creating a whole company and businesses across the capital becoming a very recognised business man; engaging in late victorian murder mysteries "which he had nothing to do with. nah-uh" (not like he spent the entire 17th century hunting houses, killing people, steal their money and burn the place), found a heir left orphan after his parents' house burned down (the first ever noble house to burn and felix was NOT involved) and fished him out to be his vampiric slave; save the local noblewoman, Evelyn Greenford (which later finds out she's a witch because apparently her parents decided it's not an important detail), from a horrible abusive marriage and life of misery by helping her killing the husband, which then went on to marry Felix just for the facade as they were both gay and ace and live happily ever after with their 3 kids and one heir, up until another war ravished the kingdom bringing new diseases which will kill the poor kids leaving them alone once again. Spending the entirety of the 20th century in the capital helping people recover from war while they also battle a huge economical crisis; using advanced magic and technology to gain 2 more kids, twins, Damien and Pandora, as they needed a purpose or heirs having the place country threatened by a war AGAIN, which eventually forced them to go back to the countryside where they currently reside, help the villagers, help the surrounding area and gain the title of counts. Pandora joined the Uni to study Psychology and robotics (which is why she aint in the pic) but also becomes a werewolf and joins the Lopez pack, and Damien as he did not got into any uni, he joined the military (eboy in the army... that's new) as there was a close base nearby (the same felix attended back in the day) and is now training to become one of the special ops while also trying to figure out his feelings for the local grocery boi. They got a huge manor with a castle like exterior, 20 bedrooms for guests and 80 for servants, featuring a great hall, family drawing room and royal drawing room where they greet the other nobles or members from the local country club, they got a butler (the orphan one) which act also as a footman and valet from time to time, maids, gardeners, chauffeurs and tutors (which some tend to keep "disappearing" when Felix want to see them alone in his office) and the family is also dealing with tenants, around their estate... FYI, you can see that felix changed his when he got to the capital and i would like to address that: "Felix" is from a Roman cognomen meaning "lucky, successful" in Latin, and "Peregrine" is from the peregrine falcon, a traveling bird, usually around the shores, known for its speed and excellent hunting abilities, highly successful example of urban wildlife in much of its range, taking advantage of buildings as nest sites and an abundance of prey ... sounds like a good metaphor for what Felix had done across the centuries, right?

pfew... that was a lot ... as i said. but yea! fucking love this family, they been my favorite ever since created and their my versions of the Addams.

#furryart #furrycharacter #furryanthro #vampire core #furry #anthro art #furry oc

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