#still deciding her eyes its either this or pure black

[imageingrunge]

Bonehilda!

[taylormarieee]

~She looks like lust and smells like desire~ ft. Daryl Dixon

Summary: You come to deanna's party dressed all hot and sexy for your two favourite boys knowing exactly how the nights gonna end.

Word Count: 3k

Genre: Pure filthy smut

Pairing: Rick X fem!reader X Daryl

Warnings: Threesome, PiV sex, Unprotected Sex, Oral(F&M), Daryl and Rick do not kiss or do anything of the sort they just please the reader, Dom/Sub dynamic, Pussy drunk Rick, Cock drunk reader, Reader rides Daryl's face, Cream-pie, Breeding kinks, Mentions of alcohol, Doggy style, Just pure and filthy smut! Enjoy!

You and the group were a little bit skeptical of Deanna and her ways, especially Rick and Daryl considering they don't trust so easily. Rosita and Carol had there suspicions but decided to brush it off for the good of the group.

For the most part everyone was happy. No problems yet at least.

Deanna says she's throwing a little welcome party for you guys. Typical. Of course she would throw a party like it's the real world again, like we're friends. But, you went on a run with Rosita and found this gorgeous black dress that fits your curves just right.

It was sure to be the dress to make everyone swoon and drool over you. Plus you wanted to have fun and feel pretty. You haven't felt much like that in a long time. So you slip on your dress put on these pretty black stilettos you found as well.

You make your way down the stairs and is met with rosita.

"Girl you took like two hours! What were you doing?" She says with a slight chuckle. "One, I did not take two hours Perra! And Two I was making sure I look good. Haven't felt like this in a while. Feels like prom all over again." You say sadly looking down at your dress.

"Its ok girlie, let's go shall we!?" She says with a smile holding out her arm for you to take. You gladly take her arm and walk out the door.

You both arrive at deanna's house together and knock on the door. There's music playing but someone heard the door. Glenn.

"Hey guys! You guys look great come in!" He says smiling. "Thank you Glennie boy!" You say hugging him.

"Stop! You've been calling me that since the farm!" He says chuckling. You and Glenn have known eachother since Atlanta, you guys were the closest.

You two were like brother and sister. You guys never left one anothers side. You ofcourse was like his little wingman when he met Maggie.

He was so shy but you helped him anyway. You walk through the crowd losing Rosita to Abraham. You make your way to where the drinks are and you see Carl. You wave at him and he walks over.

"Hey! I see you got all dressed up!" He says smiling while hugging you.

"Yea I did! Haven't felt like this since before the end of the world came you know? So I thought when I heard party why not dress up!?" You say hugging him back.

You see Enid walk by and that's when Carl says, "Uh I gotta go see you at home?" He asks. "Go get her Carl! I will see you at home!" I say smiling. He chuckles and puts his head down before walking the way Enid went.

You feel a pair of eyes on you but you don't know who's watching you. You look around getting that feeling of chills on you body only to see Rick Grimes staring at you while seductively taking a sip of what looks like whiskey, could be bourbon but you don't really care.

You smile and you do a cute little wave at him and he smiles back. He turns away to talk to Deanna again.

Yet, you still felt a pair of eyes on you and to your surprise, it was your favourite Archer. Daryl Dixon.

You and Daryl were close but not as close as he was with Carol. Him and Rick were still your boys though.

Following you everywhere to make sure no guy in Alexandria tried anything.

The possessiveness and need to protect you was cute. But you always thought they should know by now that half of Alexandria either hates us for being here or is scared shitless of us. Plus you could take care of yourself.

You always thought Daryl had a crush on Carol and always tried to set them up together. Like going on runs.

You would always partner up with Carl, Tara, or Rosita first so that Daryl wouldn't choose you and end up being with Carol instead so they could get some alone time.

What you didn't realize is that Daryl actually had a crush on you. But you were always so oblivious that him and Carol were a thing or could be a thing at least.

Maybe part of it was his fault for always being around Carol but he only had eyes for you.

And so did Officer friendly. But you always had a crush on Rick. He was a very attractive man, so who wouldn't.

There were always glances that lasted to long or touches that lingered longer than they should have. So you decide to walk over to him.

You almost make it to him except your stopped by deanna's son Spencer.

"Hey, You look nice tonight. Care to join me for a drink?" He asks with a smile. You being the nice person you are didn't deny a nice drink.

Sure I'd love to. Do you have whiskey though? I'm a whiskey girl!" You ask him. He chuckles and looks at you.

"What!?" You say laughing and smiling.

"You have this energy about yourself. Your fun and happy! Butt yea we've got whiskey!" He says holding out his hand, "Shall we?" He asks smiling.

Ha! We shall my knight in shining armour!" You say laughing. Rick and Daryl stood next to each other and they both saw this interaction and boy were they pissed.

They both knew that Spencer was only trying to get in your pants but you were of course to oblivious to notice that.

You were always so sweet and innocent and that's what made Rick and Daryl so obsessed with you. They wanted you all for themselves.

Daryl hated sharing and Rick was just so obsessed with you. Together they were the most toxic duo. And they were planning on taking down their prey. You. There one and only.

After some drinks later you two get more comfortable with each other. Joking around, Laughing, even some friendly touches were made.

Daryl and Rick didn't like this at all but Spencer wasn't exactly doing anything inappropriate with you so all they could do was sit back and watch the painful show in front of them.

"You really funny! How come we weren't friends sooner?" You say chuckling. You pat his shoulder and he chuckles.

"I honestly have no Idea. I don't really like Rick or Daryl and i don't know, maybe its affected the way I look at the rest of the group." Spencer says twirling his drink in his hand.

"Speaking of them, I can feel there eyes on you all night. You must be extremely special." He says smirking and nodding his head in their direction.

As soon as you look over there you are instantly met with their death stares watching the entire interaction. Heat rises to your face and ears as you look back at Spencer.

"Look Spence, I am so sorry but i should probably go. See you around sometime?" You ask pointing your finger out to him as you ask slowly walking away.

He smiles at the nickname and nods, "See you around sometime Aphrodite!" He says laughing and holding his drink up. You laugh and walk away.

The boys look defeated. Maybe Spencer really was just trying to be your friend. They hadn't seen him do anything really. He joked with you and touched you appropriately, in friendly ways. Who were they to take away a friend from you.

"Seriously guys? You scared my friend away!" You say with the pout of your lips. It's taking everything in them not to take you right here right now. Daryl just grunts and takes a sip of his drink while Rick just stares at you.

"Hello? Earth to Rick!?" You say waving your hand in his face. "I heard you, sweetheart. We're sorry. Right, Daryl?" Rick says not looking up from your body in that tight dress as he nudges Daryl's arm.

Daryl grunts and lowly says, "Yea." While looking at your eyes. "What'd ya wear that thing for anyway?" He adds.

"What this? Oh! I wanted to feel girly again! Did you know Spencer called me Aphrodite!? That was so nice of him but I just think he-" You state before being interrupted.

"I don't care what he said sweetheart, I asked you what did you wear that tight thing for?" Rick asks, his blue irises finally enchanting you. fuck.

Whenever Rick looked at you, you couldn't speak. No matter how hard you tried to think of a coherent sentence, word, or anything, it never came out. Damn you Rick!

You stutter trying to answer his question and Daryl scoffs clearly jealous at how you instantly get all shy around Rick.

"I-I wore it for you guys. Thought you guys would like it because your opinions matter to me." You say heat rushing to you face in embarrassment.

They look at each other and smirk. "Well Sunshine, yer lookin good if ya ask me." Daryl says with a smirk, winking at you.

You giggle and smile at him. You then look to Rick for his opinion on your dress.

"Darlin, you are gonna make me act up tonight. That dress looks amazing on you but trust me sweetheart it would look better on my bedroom floor." Rick says biting his lip looking you up and down.

You squeeze your legs together and bite your lip looking up at them with big doe, glossy, innocent, eyes.

Daryl mutters a 'fuck' under his breath and grabs your waist pulling you close to the both of them. "Damn doll ya really know how to push our buttons." Daryl says.

"Your lookin like lust on a plate sweetheart." Rick says biting his lip again.

"Well if you guys like it then it was all worth it!" You say twirling around and smiling. They both glance at you ass and admire you.

"It was definitely worth it sweetheart." Rick says biting his lip again. "C'mon, let's take ya home and show ya how good ya look." Daryl says smirking and grabbing your hand while Rick grabs your waist.

After about a 5 minute walk, you guys arrive at the shared house. You walk up the steps to open the door with Rick and Daryl behind you.

You guys walk in the house and Daryl is just itching to get his hands on your pretty little body. "Why are we here guys? Did I do something wrong?" you ask confused as to why they brought you here.

"Nah sunshine, you ain't do nun wrong," Daryl says getting closer to you. "Were here to show ya how special you are." Daryl adds.

Your eyes light up and your face contorts into a small little smirk. "Oh, I see. Well, boys don't just stand there," You say seductively "Fuck me."

Both boys are immediately on you growling in your ear and both trying to tear that dress off you.

They both successfully take your dress off and bring you toward the pull-out couch. Rick between your legs and Daryl in front of your face.

"Get on your knees, sweetheart." Rick orders sternly. And you obey him getting on your hands and knees while lustfully staring at Daryl. Daryl slowly unbuckles his belt and takes it off.

Rick unbuttons his pants and drops both his pants and boxers revealing his beautiful 9-inch aching cock, awaiting to be inside you. Daryl reveals his hard, 8-inch cock with protruding veins and already leaking pre-cum.

"God, ya look so pretty from this angle sunshine," Daryl whispers. The throbbing between your legs is unbearable and makes you extremely dizzy. You close your legs together to feel a tiny release only for Rick to yank your legs open.

"Nuh uh sweetheart, keep those prey little legs open f'me ok?" He whispers in your ear, his body flush with yours. You nod feeling his cock on your ass.

"Please... I wanna feel you, both of you. Please fuck me." You whine feeling helpless.

Daryl and Rick share a look before nodding at each other. Daryl looks back down at you and grabs your jaw forcing you to look up at him as he bends down to look at you.

"Beg for it, then maybe you'll get it. You've been a bad girl sunshine." He says in a singsongy voice.

"Please Daryl, please. I'll be a good girl for you, for both of you! Please R-Rick Please Daryl, I beg of you fill me up please!" You beg, pleading eyes staring into Daryl's lust-filled ones.

Rick nods his head of approval a Daryl and Daryl lets you go. "Alright sunshine, get ready."

"You asked for it sweetheart," Rick says grabbing your hips to push your ass against him. You whimper at the feeling.

"Open yer mouth sunshine." Daryl says.

You open your mouth and wait. Rick lines himself up with your entrance and at the same time, they shove their cocks into your holes.

Both thrusting at rough, fast paces. Nothing but skin slapping against skin and slobbering gagging noises filled the silent room. Your cries muffled by Daryl's cock shoved down your throat.

Your throat contracts in a way that has Daryl groaning loudly, "Oh fuck sunshine." He pulls your hair into a ponytail and starts fucking your face harder.

Rick plunges his cock deep inside you, it feels like he's hitting your cervix. His thrusts are rough and deep. You feel him all inside you. You feel his cock twitching, it feels so good you feel like you can feel his veins.

Both of them fucking you just right you feel euphoric. This feeling is better than anything you've ever felt before. Blood rushing through you, it feels amazing.

Your heart rate pumping faster than ever. Daryl pulls out to give you a chance to breathe and catch your breath but Rick's pace doesn't slow down.

You moan out as your body jerks from his rough thrusts. Daryl looks at your puffy lips and fucked out state. You feel your orgasm approaching and Rick's cock twitches inside you.

You both moan out loudly at the same time. Your body starts convulsing and shaking as you squirt all over the place. Your orgasm hits you so hard your eyes cross.

Rick shoots his warm cum inside you. The feeling of him cumming inside you is enough to have you cumming again. Daryl is jerking himself off at the sight.

"Where do ya want it sunshine?" He aska. "M-My mouth." You open your mouth for him and wrap your lips around his cock. Lips warm like a blanket.

He groans and shoots his cum straight down your throat. He gives one last final thrust before he pulls out. You stick your tongue out and show him the cum sitting on your tongue and you let it drip between your breasts before swallowing the rest.

You maintain eye contact through it all. Rick doesn't pull out yet, still breathing heavily as he comes down from his high. He starts thrusting again, "Wanna breed you so badly, wanna cum inside your pretty tight pussy again, want you to have my babies." He says.

You cry out at the overstimulation. And try your best to push him off you. Eventually, Daryl tells him to calm down but he just keeps mumbling at how good your pussy feels and how well you take him. Rick is so drunk off your pussy that it's like a drug. He wants more of it. More of you.

He pulls out though and falls onto his back. "Well, how good is tha pussy? I wanna try." He says with a smirk on his face.

Your body is limp but you still have some strength left. You get off your hands and lean back on your feet. Daryl picks. you up and lays. back and rests you on his stomach. Involuntarily, you grind on his stomach. You whimper and put your hands on his chest.

He lifts your hips closer to his face, "Want ya to ride my face, okay? Take it easy, wanna taste ya." Daryl says. You nod and he smiles. He lifts your body and slowly lowers you on his face, intoxicated by your smell he flattens his tongue against your slit.

You gasp and grab his hair. He starts lapping at your clit, licking from your slit to your clit. He moans into you and you groan feeling the vibrations.

Your moans start to get louder as he starts to prod and poke at your entrance. Haps up whatever he can, all of your juices flowing from your wet pussy. He loves how you taste and how you smell. You taste sweet like candy and fruity like strawberries. And you smell like peaches and whiskey.

God, you drove him crazy. You drove him absolutely crazy. He was so feral for you.

The things you do, the clothes you wear, how hot you are, how brave you are.

All those things always shot a spark down to his crotch every time. It drove him crazy.

Your pretty little noises grew louder and the pattern was all over the place. He could tell you were about to cum again. He continued to fuck you with. his tongue and lap up your juices.

You let out a long drawled fuck, with a cry of his name while you came all over his face. You rode and grinded on his face trying to ride out your high.

You scooted down from his face to his thighs and fell on top of him. He rested you on the couch and got up. He offered Rick a hand as he was clearly still fucked out.

Rick carried you up the stairs bridal style while Daryl got you a warm, wet rag to clean you off. The smell of sex, cum, and sweat lingering on your pretty body.

They wiped themselves off and got in bed with you. They sandwiched you in between them and kissed you goodnight.

A/N: Whewwww! That was hot! Personally, I enjoyed writing this one. It took me a while but I did it! I hope all enjoyed it! The longest fic I've written so far.

Taglist: @murdadixon @catt-leya @carlsdarling @carlgrimesenthusiast. @rickswh0r3 @sickyrat @sinsandsweetness @the-dixon-effect @number1gal @daryldixmedown @darylscvmdumpster @loveforcarl

[blood-grove]

odd adjustments

here -> part 2

adoptive!soap and ghost + adopted!reader

× pairing: soapghost

× summary: the now retired couple decides that there house is feeling a bit empty besides there two cats and german shepard.

× tws: medication, mentions of ptsd, angst, minor injuries, (idk what the adoption process is like so were just jumping into it) <- more relevant for the second part but still here for a tw :3

It was raining outside again,

You were busy packing up your clothes though along with Miss Sullivan who was just redoing your messy folding which you appreciated she was rambling on about some old story about her own kids all grown up and gone.

"This is a very big move for you y'know hun?"

"Yeah- I um know."

"There a very lovely couple y'know—"

"I know! I-" You paused shifting a bit as you sorted threw your sketchbooks.

"I know Miss Sullivan."

She sighed as she smiled her eyes crinkling as she turned to you.

"This is going to be a great home for you..There good people! I saw how you got along with them so well"

"Mhm-"

"Oh dear I just- I'm just so happy for you.." She sniffled as she tugged you into a crushing hug which you just mumbled your thanks.

You felt nauseous as you zipped up your bag but mentally decided throwing up in your future forever caretakers home would make it ever so harder to try and act like a normal kid around them.

Which you were also failing at.

But they didn't look normal either, Not in a offensive way at all.

They were a strange couple very warm and welcoming though when they met you the shorter one his name was John? You think he was really trying his hardest not to overstep and you liked that compared to other people who had very much been too much for you.

The other guy? Simon, You couldn't help but think the man looked intimidating but cool the both of you didn't talk much when they were letting each of them have one and one time with you but when you did talk it was nice it was clear he was more of a listener than a talker.

The both of them were nice, You found out they were ex-military but not much else it was briefly brought up and they moved onto the pets they had at home two cats one named Old man the other Gunpowder which you thought was a choice.

They also had a dog named Riley you forgot the breed she was but it was clear Simon seemed excited? nervous? You couldn't really read the man well at all not to say he was emotionless but he was just very hard to understand.

Your getting lost in your own thoughts again, You sighed as you pulled along your suitcase the wheel squeaking as you pulled it along you've had it for so long your surprised it hasn't fallen off.

Shifting uncomfortably you walked towards the main entrance Miss Sullivan walking beside you you were so zoned out you didn't even notice. When you made it to the lobby it was just Simon in the waiting room you which you were confused but they were adults and both probably had jobs you figured well paying ones you guessed from how quick the interview between them and Miss Sullivan went she clearly thought these men where the best option for you.

He noticed you both as he got up slipping his phone back into his pocket, He always seemed to wear a black face mask you guessed he had some kind of condition maybe a germaphobe? Would be weird to get a kid if that's the case maybe its not servere.

"Ohh I'm going miss you honey—" Before you could even slip away she was already pulling you into her infamous bear hugs nearly crushing the air out of you as she placed a kiss on your forehead thankfully not leaving a bright red kiss mark there.

"I-I'll miss you too Miss Sullivan-" You quietly gasped as she finally stopped hugging you and you took that que as to go over to Simon before she pulled you into another one.

"You have a a umbrella?"

You shook your head as you shifted you weren't technically lying the raggedy old one that you kept purely for memory now probably would fall apart if you tried to open it.

He hummed as he just pulled out a small fitting umbrella from his pocket handing it over as he sad something to Miss Sullivan you were paying attention as you figure out how to open the umbrella before Simon started walking back picking up with uncanny ease.

"You ready?"

"Mhm."

The ride to your new house was quiet Simon wasn't talkative along asking if you were alright and shortly explaining why John wasn't here something about getting your room ready and making a special lunch which you thought was a bit much but who were you to say no to free food?.

a/n; this will just have two parts :3

[hibiscusfairys]

🐞 draco malfoy ; unrequited love, part 5 (hufflepuff fem reader)

♪ a lots gonna change : weyes blood

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

♡ warnings: angst

tagged: @miawastakens @watercolorskyy @pinkynecktie

also to the last person who requested to be tagged, im so sorry but i cant seem to find your blog when i try to tag it :(

by the way a reference to the last chapter, i realised adrian pucey is two years older than harrys year, so for the sake of it not being weird just pretend he was a year older than us

☆

You cried all night.

You didn’t know if whether you had swayed him, or distanced him from you even more. Each passing thought that involved him had only provoked your yearning tears. By the end of the long evening, your pillow was wet with the heartbreak and sadness you wept for him.

You were stupid enough to believe he was for you. The muggleborn girl and the pureblooded boy with a family full of blood supremacists which he was surely influenced from — yeah, right. What a foolish imagination you must have.

Dawn had rolled around, and your quiet sobs had eventually stopped and morphed into your sleep. The bright light of the sun shone through the fogged window, reflecting onto your hair. Your yellow duvet covers were spread everywhere, and the mascara you had worn from the ball before had stained your pillow like watery, black ink.

You rose up from your slumber, increasingly light headed from all the thinking you had been doing all night. It was time to finally get on with your life, and leave this all behind. Your feelings for him would have to disappear, soon enough.

Your ball dress was still on, and was crumpled from the action of tossing and turning restlessly in your bed.

A letter was positioned unknowingly on the windowsill. You noticed that the window door was open, the cold air hitting your face like a vent. You saw that a midnight feathered owl with amber eyes as bright as streetlights perched on the sill, looking at you with its pupils dilating.

Eagerly, you opened the letter, hoping it to be from your parents. They had only just figured out how to use the owl. But the envelope looked too classy, too posh even. Nothing like the basic white envelopes you’d usually see.

It had a certain family emblem on the black seal.

Ripping the top of the envelope, you lifted the mysterious letter from the pocket. You had almost instantly recognised the handwriting, as you had seen it in your potions class not too long ago. It was Malfoy’s.

The words were carefully carved with ink on the parchment, and ink smudges seemed to be far less of a problem for him to prevent than it was for you. Using a quill and proper ink was still something to get used to, even if it had been 4 years. You anxiously let your eyes scan the page, a lump forming in your hoarse throat from all the sobbing. To….

I apologise for my previous behaviour last night

I understand that I may have upset you. This is quite new to me actually. I’m too wrapped up in myself to recognise others problems, if I am being honest.

However, while I still stand by what I said about us not working out, I do want to create a compromise with you. And before you ask, I’ve dealt with Astoria. It was entirely difficult for me to tell her. And to be honest, I am feeling quite down. But I’m still so confused on where my heart is leading and I don’t want to lead her on either. She’s one of the only people I care about. Except for my family and some others which I won’t name.

If you are so desperate, it will have to be a hidden secret between us. If I ever eventually decide to let myself love you, while the guilt might weigh heavily on me, I am not afraid of it. It is quite dismaying knowing that you aren’t a pure-blood like I am, but I want to learn to be more tolerant at least. And I’ll try to be more open. But don’t let a word slip out. I’m sorry if I am asking much. I should really not ask you of anything, but I can’t help it. I’m still adjusting to this. I thought it would be so easy, love. But it’s not. Sometimes we fall in love with the wrong people. But I don’t want to label you as wrong. Rather — unexpected. My family will surely be disappointed, so it’s why I’m so hesitant. But it’s a risk I am willing to take for my heart to finally be at rest. It has been tugging on me for weeks.

Do answer me later. Moreover, maybe I can explain it to you better in person.

Draco Malfoy

You saw your tears melt onto the paper. Different emotions poured through you like a rainfall, you felt excited and happy, but also unnerved. It disappointed you that he couldn’t accept you in the first place.

You found out your quill and a pot of ink.

To Malfoy,

Thank you for your letter. I am glad that you’ve explained to me your feelings. Sometimes writing it down makes everything better.

But please, do accept me as I am. I don’t want to pressure you into doing something you won’t find comfort in. Plus, it would put me in danger too. I don’t know what your family is like, but I don’t want to entrust them just yet.

However, I do feel similarly. Maybe we could try it.

I’d be glad to keep it a secret for you.

From…

You finally signed your name in one swoop of your quill.

“Hopefully..” You say to yourself, handing the addressed envelope to the messenger owl.

☆

thank you all so much for reading this fic, i appreciate all the support youve given me so much and im excited to write more future ones for you soon ♡

also im sorry if the ending seems quite rushed, i had no idea what to do and i didnt want to keep anyone waiting too long :( ill try to improve on this in the future and hopefully, not pressure myself too much with releasing chapters

[materassassino]

Q or U, whoever you decide!

Thank you for this one! 🥺

Minific prompts

U - Coming Home

“Can you stop fidgeting?”

Joe blinks, jerked forcefully out of his reverie by Andy’s forceful hand on his knee. He hadn’t even realised it had been bouncing. He looks at her, and she groans.

“Not the eyes, Joe...”

“I’m sorry!” He isn’t. “I can’t help it!” That’s the truth.

A nervous energy is prickling just under his skin, lightning in his blood. He got the window seat on the train, so he’s been staring out at the miles going past, impatient to the point of near madness. It’s been a month. A whole month. How could anyone expect him to not start pacing the too-small cage of his own mind when his soul has been missing half of itself?

Separation has always made him twitchy, and wistful, and prone to morose sighing. Andy learnt this centuries ago, and still she insisted.

(He knows why. She wants time with them, with each of them alone, something sacred and only theirs. And he’s loved this, just him-and-Andy, like those centuries ago when they wandered across the entirety of North Africa while Nicky and Quynh went East. And Andy knows better than to think he hasn’t loved this, that he doesn’t want more of it. But, well… Nicky.)

He shrugs helplessly. Nicky is always present in his thoughts, in time with his heartbeat, even when Joe isn’t actively thinking of him.

She sighs.

“At least it’s not poetry,” she grumbles, sliding lower in her seat with folded arms and outstretched legs.

“The poetry is for him, where it isn’t wasted,” Joe says primly. She snorts at that, bumping her shoulder into his.

--

It is night by the time they arrive at their destination, the small country station almost completely black. They’re the only ones who get off there, stumbling tiredly off the train and into the dark. A car’s headlights turn on.

“Hey!” Nile calls from the window, waving. Joe brightens at seeing her, but his heart sinks when he realises she’s alone. He tries not to pout as he heaves his bag into the boot and settles in the back seat. He’s not sure he manages, but it’s dark enough that Nile probably doesn’t notice. It’s not her fault, anyway, it’s entirely his.

“Have fun without us?” Andy asks.

“He cheats at rummy,” Nile replies, sounding completely and utterly betrayed, making Joe burst out laughing.

The drive back to the safehouse is long and, to Joe, incredibly slow. Time is molasses now, his destination so close and yet so stubbornly out of reach. The road is narrow and packed in on either side by dense forest, so whenever they encounter another vehicle it’s a stalemate as they stare each other down, daring the other to back up.

Joe drums his fingers on his knee, toe tapping, as a bus stands its ground and waits, like it has all the time in the world, for Nile to ease into the sliver of grass on the side. They nearly lose a wing mirror to a tree trunk.

Finally they make their turning, and relief settles on Joe like sunlight. The light in the kitchen is on, and Joe sees his silhouette move from one window to another.

He’s out of the car before Nile’s even pulled the handbrake. He grabs both their bags, because he’ll never hear the end of it if he doesn’t, and keeps his eyes on the front door. It opens as he reaches it.

Oh, light of his life! A thousand poems couldn’t describe the vision before him! It is as if the shadows are lifted from his sight!

He dumps the bags on the doorstep and draws Nicky into his arms, burying his face in his neck.

“Halabik,” Nicky says, just the tiniest hint of reproach for not even getting inside the damn house, but Joe doesn’t care. He makes a plaintive noise against Nicky’s warm skin, breathing in deep, and beneath the smell of cooking and his cheap-ass three-in-one bodywash is that scent that is purely, perfectly Nicky. The scent of home.

Nicky pushes him away gently, earning himself another noise like a small woodland creature being oppressed, but it’s simply to plant both his hands on the sides of Joe’s head and pull him into a kiss. Joe melts into it, melts into the taste of Nicky and the warmth of his lips and body, and he is so ready to simply drag this man into bed and wrap himself in him in any and all ways possible.

“Let us in, you fools!” Andy barks, planting a boot on Joe’s ass – not hard, but a nudge.

They roll with it, breaking the kiss with a laugh, but refuse to part as Nicky drags Joe backwards into the house. Nile is the one to lug Joe’s bag in.

“It’s only been a month!” she says, shaking her head.

“We’re woefully co-dependent,” Joe says, making Nicky chuckle.

“There’s dinner,” Nicky says. “We were waiting for you two.”

Joe can’t resist planting another kiss on him, and a nuzzle for good measure. He can smell it, fragrant and mouth-watering, the kamounia Nicky always makes for a homecoming, regardless of where they are and what the weather is. Beef, most likely, out here, but Joe wouldn’t complain whatever it was.

It is late, but the good food and the bottle of wine ease the exhaustion from the sharp tension of travel to the mellow, warm bonelessness of coming home. Nicky hooks his ankle around Joe’s, smiles that soft, beautiful smile, and Joe lets it wash over him, lets the relief flow through him. He knows his bed won’t be agonisingly empty tonight, and his dreams will settle.

He leans into Nicky, pressing their shoulders together, and sighs in contentment.

[gayashelljatp]

James Hook x Morgie Le Fay | You Look Like A Dumb Boy, My Favorite Type Chapter 3/5

Tags Fluff, Roommate, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Magic, Banter, Hook Is Flirty that's cannon btw , I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Boys In Love, Sad and Sweet, Short & Sweet , Himbo Morgie, Bisexual Disaster James Hook, Morgie Has Golden Retriever Energy (Disney), Oblivious Morgie (Disney), Boys Kissing, Love Confessions, No Beta Read we die like Brandy Cinderalla, 5+1 Things

Summary:

Hook flirts with everyone in a five-mile radius. That means the people around him are victims of his often excessive advances. Morgie, however, was unaware that he was Hook’s favorite for a special reason. Or 5 times Hook was flirting with Morgie and it went completely over his head and the 1 time it didn’t.

Content Rating: Teen and Up.

Wordcount: 2,871.

Notes:

Hi, I'm Ace. I decided to finally upload this fic to tumblr it took me a long time to finally finish formatting this. Originally it was going to be all separate posts. But I'm a very lazy author and I'm still very clueless on how to make a blog post that looks good. So I'm compiling it all into one. I suggest you read on AO3.

But here's the playlist that inspired this fic that you can enjoy:

Chapter 1

Another day, another hour of planning and scheming done in the Black Lagoon. Uliana was going on one of her spiels again on how to terrorize the freshmen. Hades and Maleficent were nowhere to be seen, probably enjoying each other’s company.

That left Morgie to either bug one of the VKs he wasn’t close with or talk to the only person he knew who seemed to be doing nothing. That would be Hook, his roommate at Merlin Academy and Morgie’s right-hand (hook) man. He was also the only person who truly gave Morgie an ounce of respect.

Hook was in the corner, polishing his golden hook, the one that replaced his right hand. It truly shined under the light, from its silver base to the golden hook. The process almost seemed methodical. He polished the hook in certain spots and constantly raised it into the light, making sure the hook on his right hand hit the light perfectly. To others, it looked like pure vanity on display, but to Morgie, it was just normal Hook behavior.

“What are you up to there, James?” Morgie asked, giving the pirate a bright smile.

“I told you not to call me James. It’s Hook, or else you get the hook,” the eyeliner-heavy teenager said, pointing his hook towards his friend. Despite the closeness of the hook to Morgie’s face, he wasn’t alarmed one bit; he knew Hook would never actually hurt him.

“Okay, okay, calm down. I just wanted to see what you're up to. Can’t a boy just be curious?” 

“Polishing the old hook, you know,” Hook muttered, returning to his task.

A minute or two passed, and Morgie stayed idle, staring at Hook’s hook. His look was a mix of a dumbfounded smile and complete astonishment despite the rather mediocre and normal task.

“You're just gonna stare at me while I do this?” Hook asked after a moment, glancing up with a raised eyebrow, looking directly into the son of Le Fay’s hazel eyes.

“It’s better than staring at the ceiling,” 

“You're enjoying the view, right?” Hook’s voice took on a flirtatious edge, his British accent hitting just the right spot, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

“You look alright,” Morgie responded, completely oblivious to Hook’s suggestive tone and look. He was too sweet and too nice for this world, a sunshine among villains. But a menace when needed.

Hook smirked, shaking his head slightly. “You really are something else, Morgie.”

Morgie just laughed, the sound light and carefree, a stark contrast to the dark and scheming environment around them.

Chapter 2

Sharing a dormitory with Hook was certainly entertaining. Morgie’s side of the room was filled with wilted plants, sadly not by choice—dark magic just kills anything vaguely happy or alive. And, of course, a scatter of green and black clothing items.

Hook’s side was extravagant, to say the least. Opulence was the word Hook used to describe it. But it was still messy, with jewelry and designer clothing placed in certain areas almost like it was a treasure trove.

One downside to having a messy pirate roommate was lost items. Morgie had to learn that the hard way when he returned from his last class to the sounds of one frustrated Hook.

“Thank the seven seas you’re back, you can finally help me,” Hook said in a frustrated tone, clearly preoccupied with the task at hand. His British accent rang around the room. Morgie couldn’t even see where Hook was—the room looked like it had been reorganized by a seasick pirate.

“What did you lose this time?” The teen sorcerer asked, trying to figure out what he had just walked into. Hook’s side of the room had small gashes, probably from his hook. Jewelry was scattered everywhere, and Hook’s canopy was slightly more torn.

“My pearl necklace,” Hook replied. Morgie soon found Hook’s legs sticking out from under his bed. His blazer was discarded on the carpeted floor.

“The one you stole from the mermaid seniors?” 

After a few seconds of searching, Hook popped out from under the bed and shook his head at Morgie’s question. “The other one, silly,” Hook said, grazing his hook against Morgie’s cheek almost affectionately.

Morgie smiled, oblivious to the flirtatious gesture. “Alright, let’s find this necklace. Where did you last see it?” Despite this task being purely based in vanity Morgie was willing to help.

Hook sighed dramatically. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be tearing apart our room, now would I?”

Morgie chuckled, starting to sift through the pile of clothes on Hook’s bed. “Good point. Let’s retrace your steps. Did you wear it to class?”

Hook shook his head, getting up and moving to his wardrobe. “No, I wore it to the party at the lagoon last night. I swear I had it on when I came back.”

Morgie nodded, now digging through a drawer filled with silk scarves and velvet gloves. “Maybe it fell off when you were changing?”

Hook’s eyes gleamed as he moved closer to Morgie. “You’re quite the detective, Morgie. Maybe I should reward you if we find it.”

Morgie, focused on the search, missed the suggestive tone. “Just doing my part. It’s probably here somewhere.”

Hook leaned in closer, his breath warm against Morgie’s ear. “I’d say you’re doing more than just your part.”

Morgie’s eyes widen, he started to feel a strange feeling but he kept his attention on the task. “The bathroom—Let’s check the bathroom next. Maybe you left it by the sink.” He stumbled on all of the words.

Hook followed Morgie to the bathroom, smirking. “Always so practical. You know, Morgie, you’re quite the catch. Anyone ever tell you that?”

Morgie glanced back, smiling innocently. “That’s sweet of you to say, let’s keep looking”

They continued their search, Hook’s flirtatious antics flying right over Morgie’s head. As they rummaged through their shared space, Hook couldn’t help but admire Morgie’s oblivious sweetness.

It was getting dark, and the two were beat. “We’ve looked everywhere. I want to wave the white flag already,” Hook said, lying back on his bed.

“We are probably late to wherever we’re hanging tonight,” Morgie said as he laid on Hook’s bed as well, his side-swept brown hair more disheveled than usual. He turned to look at Hook, who was already looking at him.

“Think Uli’s gonna be mad we’re late?” Hook asked, grinning as he batted his eyelashes.

“Doubt it. You're her favorite,” Morgie replied. As he started to get more comfortable on the bed, he felt something by his head. His fingers brushed against a cool, smooth object.

Morgie sat up, his hand grasping the item. “Hey, I think I found it!” 

Hook’s eyes lit up, and he laughed heartily. “Of course, it was right under our noses the whole time, my dear lad.”

Morgie joined in the laughter, shaking his head. “Well, at least we found it. Let’s get ready to head out.”

Hook sat up, taking the necklace from Morgie with a flourish. “Now, the hard part: putting this on with one hand. Quite the challenge for a dashing pirate, wouldn't you say, darling?”

Morgie watched as Hook struggled with the clasp, the hook on his right hand making the task nearly impossible. “Need some help?” Morgie offered, stepping closer.

“No, I’ve got it,” Hook insisted, determination in his voice. He continued to fumble with the necklace, but the clasp kept slipping out of his grasp.

Morgie chuckled softly. “Come on, Hook, let me help. It’ll be quicker.”

Hook sighed, finally conceding. “Fine, but just this once.”

Morgie smiled, moving closer. “Here, let me take that.” Hook turned his back to Morgie, and Morgie gently lifted the pearls, bringing it around Hook’s neck. 

The close proximity made Morgie’s heart race a little but he didn’t know why, but despite the distraction he focused on the task at hand. As he fastened the clasp, Hook turned his head slightly, their faces just inches apart.

“Looking as sharp as that hook,” 

“Thanks, Morgie,” Hook said softly, his voice carrying a hint of something more.

Morgie’s started to feel a burning sensation on his cheeks, and he smiled. “Anytime, James.” Instead of the usual correction Hook just let that one slide.

They stood up, ready to head out. As they were about to leave, Hook placed his hand on the other teens’ shoulder. “Your looking rather nice tonigth.”

Morgie’s heart skipped as fast as a galloping horse, but before he could think of a respond, there was a loud knock at the door.

“Come on, you two! We’re late!” Uliana’s voice called out from the hallway.

Hook grinned, giving Morgie a playful nudge. “Saved by the knock.”

Morgie chuckled, feeling a mix of relief and disappointment. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They opened the door to find the other VKs waiting impatiently. Uliana raised an eyebrow, looking them over. “Took you long enough. Let’s move.”

As they joined the group and headed out, Morgie couldn’t help but glance at Hook, feeling a strange mix of emotions. Hook caught his eye and gave him a wink, making Morgie’s felt a peculiar feeling once more.

Chapter 3

One VK was hanging out past curfew in the courtyard of Merlin Academy. While the rest of the villain kids were enjoying the night outside the confines of the school, one Morgie le Fay was by a bench, keeping to himself. Morgie often felt left out by the group, but it was a tale as old as time. Having a lot of alone time did come with benefits; it gave him time to experiment and work on his dark magic.

His mother had given him a plethora of magical textbooks to work from. Despite the rocky relationship between Morgie’s mother, Morgana le Fay, and the founder and headmaster of this school, Merlin, the old wizard still gave Morgie a chance to study magic. It was probably a bad move, considering how his mother turned out, but here Morgie was, determined to make the most of it.

Tonight, he was learning to summon a familiar. All good sorcerers have familiars, right? Whether it be a crow, a raven, an owl, or a bird of various sorts. It was no summoning and raising the dead like his mother’s feat, but it was a good start. Morgie, however, went with a more exotic choice: a puppy. Probably not the best choice considering the lack of flight and stealth, but he thought it was cute.

As Morgie reviewed the page over and over, making sure he was going to execute the spell correctly, he started reciting the incantations. His hands were trembling slightly as he muttered the words. Dark magic swirled around him, tendrils of shadowy energy forming shapes in the air. It was supposed to summon a creature of the night, a loyal companion to aid him in his schemes.

The shadows coalesced into a small, winged form. As the magic settled, Morgie blinked in amazement. Before him stood a magical puppy, with soft, golden fur that shimmered under the moonlight and tiny, delicate wings fluttering on its back. It was a golden retriever, its large, innocent eyes looking up at Morgie with pure adoration.

Morgie’s heart swelled with pride and joy. “I did it! I actually did it!” he exclaimed, reaching down to scoop up the puppy. It barked happily, nuzzling into Morgie’s chest. For a moment, everything seemed perfect.

But then, the puppy began to change. Its soft fur darkened, turning a sickly shade of green. The wings grew larger, more bat-like, and its eyes glowed a menacing red. The puppy’s form twisted and elongated, becoming more serpentine, scales forming where fur once was. Claws and fangs emerged, and a low growl replaced the happy barking.

Morgie’s joy turned to horror as he watched his creation morph into a monstrous creature, a grotesque amalgamation of various animals with a serpentine body, multiple limbs resembling those of a panther, and eyes glowing with malevolent intent.

The creature hissed, its fanged mouth opening wide. Morgie stumbled back, his mind racing to remember the counter-spell, but panic clouded his thoughts.

“No, no, no! This isn’t right,” he murmured to himself, his voice shaking. He tried to focus, but the dark magic was slipping from his grasp. The creature lunged at him, and Morgie’s instincts screamed at him to run, but he was frozen in place, unable to move.

Morgie turned to see Hook standing at the edge of the courtyard, his golden hook gleaming in the moonlight. Despite his usual arrogant demeanor, there was a flicker of concern in his eyes.

“Hook, stay back. I’ve got this,” Morgie said, his voice strained.

Hook smirked, though his eyes remained focused on the creature. “Looks to me like you’ve got it under control. Need a hand—or a hook?”

“I said I’ve got this! You’ll get hurt,” Morgie snapped, frustration and fear mixing in his voice.

But the creature lunged again, and to Morgie’s shock, Hook was by his side in an instant, using his polished hook to fend off the beast. Morgie watched in disbelief as the prim and proper, vain Hook wielded his precious hook as a weapon. Hook’s movements were swift and precise, a testament to his fencing skills, but Morgie couldn’t shake his amazement.

“I told you, I don’t need your help!” Morgie shouted, but his voice faltered. Deep down, he knew he was in over his head.

Hook grinned, his charm undiminished even in the face of danger. “You’re always so stubborn, Morgie. Sometimes, even the best need a little help.”

Despite his words, Hook’s actions were anything but self-centered. He moved with purpose, deflecting the creature’s attacks and pushing it back. Just as the creature managed to land a swipe, Hook winced he looked like he wanted to scream but kept it in.

He continued to fight. Morgie watched in awe, his fear momentarily forgotten, until he noticed Hook’s slight limp.

With a final, powerful thrust, Hook managed to drive the creature back into the shadows and put it back to where it came from. The courtyard fell silent once more, the dark magic dissipating into the night.

Hook turned to Morgie, a teasing glint in his eyes. “See? Wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“That could have ended way worse,” Morgie replied, still trying to catch his breath.

“The point is that it didn’t, and I would have never let it get that bad,” Hook said confidently.

“What was my little spellcaster trying to summon anyway? That was certainly a strange choice,” Hook teased, raising an eyebrow.

“It was supposed to be a familiar, but I messed that up like I mess up everything I do,” Morgie admitted, looking down at his feet.

“That isn’t true, lad,” Hook said, trying to reassure him. 

“How’s your hook?” Hook examined it before he answered confidently “Still perfect not a scratch,” Giving Morgie a grin.

Morgie looked up, meeting Hook’s gaze. For a moment, he saw something deeper in those brown eyes, something that made his heart skip a beat. But then he noticed the small cut on Hook’s arm, dark magic seeping from the wound.

“James, that looks bad,” Morgie said, his voice tinged with worry.

Hook shrugged, keeping his pretty boy persona intact. “Don’t call me James!” he protested. “And it’s just a small scratch. I’m just mad the thing tore up my blazer.”

“Dark magic isn’t just a small scratch. Let me help,” Morgie insisted, moving closer to inspect the wound.

Hook smirked, clearly enjoying the attention. “Alright, Nurse, do your worst.”

Morgie carefully took his spellbooks trying to find a spell once he found one, he put his hands gentle and precise on Hook’s bicep. Hook watched him, a flirtatious smile playing on his lips. “You know, you look quite cute when you’re all serious and focused.”

Morgie face reddened, his usual naivety kicking in. “Just hold still. This might sting a bit.”

Hook winced slightly but didn’t let it show too much. “You’re doing great, Snakeyes. I knew I could count on you.”

Once Morgie finished treating the wound, he looked up at Hook. “You shouldn’t have helped. I didn’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

Hook’s expression softened, and he placed a reassuring hand on Morgie’s shoulder. “I’ve got your back, Morgie. Even if it doesn’t seem like it.” Morgie wished this side of Hook was seen more often, not the ridiculously cocky pirate.

“For real?” Morgie asked, searching Hook’s eyes for any hint of insincerity.

“For real,” said the eyeliner heavy-pirate, his voice sincere. “We’re in this together, alright? Just don’t expect me to play the hero too often. It’s bad for my bad boy image.”

“You’re impossible, Hook.”

“Maybe,” Hook replied, winking, “but people adore me.”

“Let’s get out of here before we get caught,” Morgie suggested, glancing around nervously.

As they walked away, side by side, Morgie’s smile widened, the warmth in his chest growing. He was grateful for Hook’s help, even if he’d never admit it outright. As they walked away, side by side, Morgie realized that maybe, just maybe, it was okay to rely on someone else once in a while.

Notes: Idk why anyone would read this on here it's so long. But I hope y'all enjoy if you made it feel free to give your your feedback of course. I'm still tryna decipher how tf Tumblr works.

[capturethechaos]

Masterlist

Request - going to a cat cafe | Jake fluff

Words - 1.4k

Warnings - None! It's pure fluff ♡

“You’re joking.”

“I am not, now get off your ass, let’s go!” You had one of his hands gripped tightly between both of yours, pulling with all your might to pull him from the couch as your socks slid over the rug. 

He was holding back laughter, watching as your bottom lip slowly jutted out into a pout. You had given up on pulling him from the couch, letting your arms fall limp, his hand still clasped between them. It took very little strength from him as he tugged you into his lap, letting you adjust yourself for a moment before placing his hands on either side of your face. “Do you really want to go?”

You nodded as best as you could in his grip, and his lips curled into a soft smile. “Alright, my love, let’s do it.”

Before could get too excited, his hands tightened to bring your gaze back to his. “But we’re not getting a cat.”

Your pout returned, and he simply chuckled, leaning forward to press a lingering kiss to your puckered lips. 

“But what if-”

“We’re not getting a cat.”

The two of you took a few minutes to get off the couch, continuing to pester each other between kisses.

It was a short drive into town, and as soon as Jake put the car in park, you were sliding out of the passenger's side and waiting impatiently for him to follow. He stuck his hand out for you to take as he walked up to you, and you eagerly intertwined your fingers with his. 

You stood in the entrance for a moment, taking in the warmth of your surroundings as the two of you entered the café. You had read about it previously, so it was no surprise when you looked around and found the walls of bookshelves filled with used books for sale, but you couldn’t contain your excitement at the sight of the cats lounging on and around the shelves. 

Jake followed close behind as you made your way to the counter, looking over the menu as the staff kindly greeted the two of you. You exchanged pleasantries with them before ordering drinks and snacks for the two of you. They informed you that the drinks and food would be brought out to you when they were ready, and the two of you turned to find a spot to sit. 

Jake was barely able to settle into his seat before a couple of the cats ventured over to say hello. You watched fondly as he slowly outstretched his hand for them to sniff, a small smile creeping onto his lips as they quickly warmed up to him, pressing their heads against his hand. 

He gently placed his hand onto the head of the small calico that had made itself comfortable against his thigh, giving it small head scratches as it purred against him. “I didn’t know this place sold books too.”

You broke out in a wide grin at his attempt to pull your attention away from the affection, and you decided to play along. “It’s a cool place, isn’t it?”

He hummed, staring off at one of the bookshelves, and his eyes locked with a cat who simply stared back. Your eyes followed his line of sight, locking onto the small black cat lounging across the top of a large coffee table book. “That cat is you.”

Jake's eyes flickered over to you for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “Explain.”

You chuckled, watching the way the cat lifted from the book, stretching for a moment before slowly making its way off of the shelf until it was safely on the floor. “I don’t know, just the general vibe it gives off. Plus it has the same staring problem as you.”

You had a cheeky smirk plastered on your face when Jake turned to you. “I don’t have a staring problem.”

You leaned over, bumping your shoulder against his. “Whatever you say, spaceman.”

“Well look at you two, you seem to be popular.” You looked away from Jake, looking up to the employee that had come over with your coffee and food. You thanked her and looked back towards Jake, noticing the ever growing crowd of cats around him.  

The small gathering dispersed when the two of you began to eat and drink, chatting between sips, no longer giving them the attention they craved. You noticed the way Jake shuffled in his seat as the two of you talked, clearly uncomfortable. “What’s wrong, babe?”

He nodded down to the floor, and when you looked beneath the table you found that the small black cat that had been watching him earlier had made its way over and curled up in the small space between his feet. “I don’t wanna move and wake it up.”

Your eyes lifted back to him, catching him as he stared down at the small ball of fur purring away at his feet. 

The cat remained there as the two of you ate, and even after, as you simply sat and talked. Your eyes wandered around the café, finding all the little details just as charming as the furry companions that occupied the space. As you looked around, your eyes landed on an acoustic guitar, sitting in a stand beneath a sign that read ‘play a tune, our deaf cats love the vibration of the strings!’.

Your head quickly turned to Jake, a wide grin adorning your lips. “Jake, look, they’ve got a guitar.”

You pointed toward the sign and watched as his eyes followed, reading over the sign. A smile grew on his own lips, and he went to stand, stopping quickly when he remembered that there was a small cat curled up on his feet. He looked over at you, then down at the cat, and you giggled, standing and walking over to grab the guitar for him. 

You carefully handed the acoustic to him, watching as he placed it across his lap, turning his focus to making sure it was properly tuned before beginning to pluck away at the strings. You were the first to notice as the cat began to stir, standing and stretching before looking up at Jake and chirping. The small sound captured Jake’s attention, and he looked down just as the cat jumped up into the space next to him on the bench. 

He couldn’t hide the smile on his face as the cat rubbed itself against his arm. Purring loudly as it stopped with its paws on his thigh, and its head leaning against the strings of the guitar as Jake continued to pluck at them. One of the employees came to collect your dishes not long after, and you stopped her before she could walk away. “Is this little guy one of your deaf cats?”

She chuckled and nodded. “Ward is one of two that we have at the moment, he’s partially deaf, but he loves feeling the vibration of the strings.”

Jake’s head lifted to look at her, one eyebrow raised. “His name is Ward?”

She nodded once again, and pointed to one of the large bookshelves. “When we first got him he took interest in a particular pile of pirate related books on one of the shelves, so we named him after one of them.”

Jake looked back down at the cat, then over at you, chuckling at the minor look of confusion on your face. “John Ward, he was the pirate that inspired Jack Sparrow.”

Your smile was only getting wider, and Jake just playfully rolled his eyes before letting out a big sigh. “I’ll stay here with the cat, you go ask about what it will take to adopt it.”

The two of you ended up spending much longer at the café than you had originally planned, but as you walked out of the café Jake had a small carrier in his hand, Ward tucked comfortably inside with a blanket and his favorite book. 

Within the next couple weeks you watched as the two only grew closer. Whether it was finding Jake asleep on the couch at two am with Ward curled up on his chest, or walking into Jake’s music room and seeing Ward pressed up against the strings of Jake's guitar as he worked on music.

Jake loved the addition, coming home to just that much more love made it worth it. Entering the kitchen to find Ward perched on the fridge watching diligently as you cooked dinner, or when he’d find the two of you curled up in bed, a book held loosely in your hand as you slept peacefully with your cat, it was all just a bonus, and he couldn’t be happier that you had convinced him to go with you that day.

If you'd like to be added to the taglist for this event, fill out the taglist form! (Some tags do not work, please double check that you've got tags on, that your username is correct, , and send me a dm, I will try to get them fixed ♡ )

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[nekomortiz]

I caved and made a Voltron OC. She has like… the most lore/story of any oc ive made this far… 2016 me would be happy.

ANYWAY here’s Kat!

Quick Bio:

- Katarina “Kat” Moreau

- 19 (Season 1) , 20 (Season 6)

- French American (Human)

- Mechanic at the Galaxy Garrison

- Lance is her childhood best friend

When Kat was 10, her and her mother were in a car accident. Kat lost her mom, and her right leg has permanent nerve damage causing her random bouts of pain making her either limp or unable to walk. Since she is short thou, its very easy to carry her around.

She has a Dad and Two older brothers who are all very well known Mechanics in the mechanical field in the Garrison. They were happy when Kat said she wanted to join “The family business” as they call it.

During episode 1, she ran into Lance and Hunk while she was coming back from the kitchen for a late night snack and decided to join them. Since she isn’t a paladin, she uses her Mechanic knowledge to help Allura and Coran fixing things around the castle. Althou, it’s very odd that she can actually hear the lions talking instead of how they normally communicate to the others. Althou it is funny watching her talk to the lions and it basically looks like she’s having a one sided conversation with herself.

During season 3, she was examining a small space gem that the paladins found on one of their missions, trying to figure out what it can do and examining what seems like cosmic energy. Due to a sudden attack on the castle, she ended up accidentally impailing her arm on the gem. But instead of it harming her, it absorbed itself into her body, rewriting her dna and basically turning her into a walking mood ring. Shes still trying to figure her new ‘power’ out and unlocking more of what she’s capeable of.

Later in the series, that weird space gem turned out to be a piece of the same comet the lions were made from.

Her eyes and hair end up exposing her emotions, so she can’t keep them hidden even with keeping a poker face.

The colors & moods are:

- Normal/relaxed: White

- Angry: Red

- Sad: Blue

- Yellow: Joy

- Green: Suprise

- Black: Pure Rage

- Pink: Embarassment/Love

[lore-gore]

Also PLEASE post about your oc! I'm trying to get up the courage to make one for hh x3

Finally! It's time! My most detailed oc that I've been working on for five years! (I am so nervous about sharing this)

Originally they were a self insert but grew to become their own character. (Which is why we have the same name. So I suppose they are both a self insert and an oc?)

I'm including bio, relationship with characters, and scene inserts

Hopefully this does not come off as cringe (I better get complements or I will cry)

Tw for death, murder, violence, bullying, obsession, stalking, mentioned kidnapping, shipping with alastor because why not, British people

Also tag me when you make yours!!!

@myroanokenightmare666 @frilledshark-enthusiast @astral--horrorshow you prommied

Bio:

Lorelai "Lore" Dagenhart

The token spooky weird goth character

Ghost Demon (based on an onryo)

She/They

AFAB Nonbinary

Biromantic Asexual

24

Autistic

Goth

British

From Birmingham

Chaotic neutral

Scorpio

Gen Z

Born October 31, 1999

Died October 31, 2023

Stabbed in the heart

Killed her old bullies (The four main ones; failed to kill the last one. Or did they?)

Was bullied severely (called names and slurs, beaten up, tripped, shoved, desk was graffitied, hair pulled and even cut, had liquids poured on her to trigger their sensory issues, rumors spread to the point not even the other goths wanted to hang out with her because they thought they sacrificed birds, locked in closets, etc.)

Failed to make friends

Tried to act "normal" for a while but because she had already been established as the weird kid it didn't work

Decided to commit to being weird

Loves being eccentric

Says weird, random, and ominous things

Likes scaring people; is good at it

Special interest is horror

Was a semi popular horror author

Drew their own covers

Has a cute style and a realistic monster style

Had good parents growing up

Parents owned a funeral home

Dad was a funeral director and mom was a mortician

Were similar to Morticia and Gomez

Speaks English and British Sign Language

Sister was deaf (her name was Faye)

Scared of bodies of water (especially running water)

Doesn't mind rain

Can still swim

Bright rooms give her sensory overload (puts on sunglasses to combat this)

Wears sound filtering earbuds

Rarely holds conversation

Either infodumps or barely contributes

Avoids eye contact

If they force herself to make eye contact, they will hold it for way too long

Only really makes eye contact when trying to intimidate someone

Struggles with social cues

Won't realize someone is upset unless they tell her

When that happens, they will simply sit and listen, which works well

Can recognize fear

Fluctuates between touch adverse, touch positive, and touch indifferent

Has a heart-shaped face, a small nose, pure white skin, long black hair parted in the middle that reaches the floor, big droopy eyes that are completely black, including the sclera, dark circles, black lips, and white fangs

Tall

6'5, 7'0 with her platforms

Very thin and bony

Wears a grey hoodie with a red x over their heart and heart shaped lock prints running down the sleeves, a pleated black skirt, black and white striped stockings, knee high lace up black 5 inch platform boots and a binder

Facial expression is usually neutral

Voice is also usually monotone

Has a haunting singing voice

Cold to the touch

The temperature in the room lowers when she gets upset (the more upset they are, the colder it gets; she is unaffected by this)

Can float

Can turn invisible

Has prehensile hair

Every time they cut it it grows back

Can't be styled either (will just return to its normal state)

Can store things inside of it

Easily sneaks up behind people

Just pops up randomly

Good at hiding

Can somehow fit into small spaces

Very flexible

Double jointed

Left handed

Anger is almost always silent; plots revenge

Very vengeful

Holds grudges

Has an amazing memory

Can think on her feet

Prefers routine

Can be very blunt

Not great at telling lies, tells half truths instead

Got A's and B's in school

Book smart, but not street smart

Had two black cats named Misery and Misfortune

Has befriended the crows by feeding them

The crows bring them little trinkets

Loves animals, especially the spooky ones (cats, rats, bats, owls, wolves, ravens, crows, snakes, spiders, moths, centipedes, as well as possums)

Favorite animal is bunnies

Favorite movie is The Ring

Favorite season is fall

Favorite holiday is Halloween

Full on cosplays for Halloween

Cosplays outside of Halloween as well

Loves candy and other sweets

Hates the taste of alcohol and coffee

Likes tea

Has taken edibles multiple times before

Often slams things without meaning to

Uses both slang and complicated vocabulary

Switches between using proper punctuation, capitalization, and spelling and ignoring it when posting as it's more chaotic

Tumblr shitposter

Made vines when it was still around

Can play the guitar (bass and electric) and piano

Doesn't quite know how to dance

Good at gardening

Offered to take care of the hotel's rose garden after seeing its neglected state

Is now the hotel gardener

Horrible at cooking

A literal hazard in the kitchen

Bad luck seems to follow them when she cooks

The food itself tastes either mediocre or terrible

Collects weird t-shirts

Humor is a mix of dark and surreal

Has a maniacal laugh

Stims by pacing, flapping hands, rocking, cracking neck (neg), and/or bouncing leg

Sleeps with arms crossed over their chest like a vampire (taught herself to do that as a kid and it became a habit)

Sleepwalks sometimes

Even creepier when they sleepwalk

Wanders around, stares at walls, crawls, says cryptic things, laughs

As a human she had brown hair that reached their back, pale skin, and occult blue eyes. She was 6'0, 6'5 with platforms. They wore a long black trenchcoat that reached the floor and a black T-shirt with a ghost on it. (The rest of her outfit was the same.)

Their full demon form has hollow black shadowy holes instead of eyes, a slit mouth that spans her entire face, long claws, and is 8 feet tall with long limbs and an echoing voice

Voice also echoes when being intense

Found the hotel shortly after arriving in hell. (Literally was just wandering around and stumbled upon it. They stopped to admire the little details, Vaggie noticed her through the window, Charlie went down to greet them, and the rest is history.)

Got a double degree in creative writing and digital art

Thinks she's pretty in a haunting way

Creative when it comes to insults and threats

Has an axe-shaped electric guitar and an axe-shaped bass guitar (literally Marceline's bass and Marshall's guitar)

VERY progressive

High Empathy

Music tastes consist of gothic rock, alt rock, punk rock, electric swing, and horror soundtracks

Parents introduced them to gothic rock and punk rock

Pirates movies

Thinks she is unlovable

Has trust issues

Assumes the worst in people

Despite this, you can win their trust by listening to her infodump

Never sits correctly

Feet on the couch, perching on the armrests or even back, crouching on the floor

Grew up agonistic

Dabbles in witchcraft (séances, tarot readings, tea leaf readings, and as a kid curses)

Always carries around a kitchen knife

Had a bobcut with bangs as a kid and wore the school uniform (white button up, black skirt, black tie) with black combat boots, black and white striped stockings, her black trenchcoat, and sharpie eyeliner

Used to explore abandoned places

Loyal to their friends

Cannot flirt or tell when someone is flirting with her to save their life

1920's outfit is a black below the knee dress with long cuffed sleeves, a grey sash, and a white collar with a white ribbon tied around it and small black heeled shoes with a strap.

Bedwear is a plain white short sleeved nightgown with her striped stockings

Never told their parents about being bullied because she didn't want them to worry

Told the teachers about being bullied but they ignored them, even when her parents got involved

Doesn't trust authority because of that

By the time they finally told her parents it was too late to do anything so they just had to push through until graduation

Killed her bullies because she couldn't live knowing they got away with what they did

Wore a ghostface costume to kill their bullies

Decided to name herself Lore because it "fits my new form"

Smells like freshly turned soil

Voice claim: Jamie from The Haunting of Bly Manor

Singing voice claim: Chibi from The Birthday Massacre/Ashley Serena/Emily Rohm

Relationships:

Alastor:

Best friends

He loves how weird she is

The only time he'll watch movies is with them

She likes showing him her favorite horror movies and infodumping afterwards

He likes spending time with her

Both have crushes on each other (He's uniromantic asexual; died at 29)

Lore assumes it's one-sided, thinking she's undateable

And Alastor loves them... Way too much

To the point of obsession

Drags her around everywhere

Definitely stalks them using his shadow

Watches her sleep

Will kidnap them eventually

Partly because he wants to keep her safe and partly because he wants them all to himself

Lore will be angry, scared, but also kinda into it (check feels unlovable)

Will probably try to make her become a cannibal like him, either by sneaking demon meat into their food, forcing her, or some other means

Charlie

One of their first friends

Sees that Lore is actually a kind person

Lore is not entirely sure her plan will work, but is supportive because that's what best friends do

Anyone who messes with her will face her wrath

Vaggie

One of their first friends

Accepts her weirdness as just who they are

Thinks each other are cool

Listen to goth music together sometimes

Has a bad feeling about Alastor's friendship with her

Angel

Creeped out by them

One of her main scaring targets

When he first met them he thought she was a ghost

Admires their chaoticness though

Will grow closer

In pain with her obliviousness with Al

Husk

Brushes them off as just a weird kid

A little worried about her friendship with Alastor

Nifty

Different flavors of weird

Forever confused about their gender

Hates when she tracks dirt in

Ships them and Alastor

Once wrote a fanfic about the two and showed her

It was smut

Lore enjoys her weird moments and finds her endearing

Sir Pentious

Scaring victim number two

Did not like him

Had not completely forgiven him for trying to betray them and kill them twice until he sacrificed himself

Katie Killjoy

Organized his funeral

Hates her

Reminds them of her old bullies

Slashed her tires after the interview

Tom Trench

Hates him because he's Katie's accomplice

Was the one that set him on fire (molotov cocktail)

Since Charlie was already taking care of Katie they went after him instead

Vox

At first did not understand why Alastor like her

Until he dug around online and realized "Ah... They're weird as shit nevermind."

Lore hates them because Alastor hates them

"My friends enemies are my enemies" type shit

Valentino

Hates him after Charlie told her what she saw at the studio

Had to hold themself back from fighting him after seeing him in the club

Lucifer

Always wanted to meet him

Still feels bad Charlie doesn't have a good relationship with him

Glad he's at least trying to fix it

Cherri Bomb

Lore brought weed gummies during their night out so she likes her

Rosie

Finds them charming

Endorses Alastor's obsession

Scene Inserts:

Adam

Hates him for attacking the Hotel and hurting her friends

Glad he's dead

Would dance on his grave if he had one

Lute

Also hates her for attacking the hotel and hurting her friends

Especially for killing Dazzle

Would NOT have shown mercy like Vaggie did

Pilot

Vaggie: It's all highlighted.

(Lore appears behind Vaggie, going from invisible to visible)

Lore: I think, you should scrap this, and just say Happy Hotel over and over again like a subliminal message.

Charlie: I'll just have to resort to my impeccable improv skills!

Lore: She does improv?

Charlie: Well, there's my friend Lore.

(The camera pans to Lore. She hisses.)

(The camera pans back to Charlie, slightly weirded out.)

Charlie: And someone named... Angel Dust.

Tom: WHY WON'T ANYONE HELP ME

(Lore learns into the frame, holding a lighter and smirking)

(Silence after argument in limo.)

Lore: I set a man on fire.

(The three turn and stare at her.)

Alastor: What do you do my dear?

Lore: Fester.

Charlie: She's the gardener.

Alastor: My what an intriguing lady you are.

Lore: I'm not a lady I'm a creature.

Vaggie: They mean she's Nonbinary.

(Alastor raises his eyebrow.)

Vaggie: Like identifies outside the gender binary.

Alastor: Ah! How delightfully chaotic!

Alastor: And what can you do my effeminate fellow?

Angel: I can suck ya dick.

Alastor: Ha! No.

Episode 1

Alastor: Founded five days ago by Lucifer's naive daughter Charlotte Morningstar!

Alastor: Enjoy riveting conversation with one of our two (Lore emerges behind the couch) residents! Wow!

Angel: We're in Hell toots. That's kinda the end of the road, ain't it?

Lore: He's right. Death is the end of the road. One long, winding road.

Angel: Why?

Episode 2

Alastor: Well, it looks as though I need a visit to the tailor. Lore, care to accompany me?

Lore: I don't like people.

Alastor: Then you'll only have to interact with me! (Loops his arm around hers) Best of luck, chums!

(After Stayed Gone)

Lore: Why am I here?

Alastor: Moral support!

Charlie: So... This is the bar and the bartender. And here is the garden and the gardener!

Lore: The roses aren't ready to be cut yet. If I find that you cut any, I will cut your fucking hands off your pathetic little body.

Charlie: She's joking.

Lore: No I'm not.

Vaggie: This is going to be your whole day! (Claps)

Lore: My turn:

Hello,

my name is Lore

I like blood

And guts and gore

Charlie: That's enough-

Lore: Reality is fake

Someone's going to die

In the lake

Vaggie: I'm sorry what.

Lore: You heard me.

Episode 3

Vaggie: Wow, you are slimy.

Lore: Like a worm. But not a cute one.

Episode 4

Husk: She was the weird kid who was bullied no matter how hard they tried to fit in, so she decided to just own it and commit to the title. Also never orders alcohol. And Nifty-

(After Charlie leaves)

(Silence)

Lore: You watch us sleep?

Pentious: Oh, not you. Alastor already watches you sleep.

Lore: He what.

Episode 5

Charlie: And this is Sir Pentious, Angel Dust, and Lore, our guests!

Sir Pentious: Your Majesty!!!

Angel: Hey, you short king.

Lore: This is my childhood dream come true.

(After explaining Alastor's backstory)

Lore: Sick.

Episode 7

Vaggie: They can be killed.

Lore: (standing up) I KNEW IT! (Sits back down, crossing arms and looking smug) There's almost always a weakness.

Sir Pentious: What? Do you think we're a bunch of pusssssies?

Lore: You two are my (smiles) best friends. You can't get rid of me that easily.

Husk: I just got used to you guys.

Episode 8

Alastor: It's been a surprising thrill to witness these wayward souls find connection. Always makes one sentimental, aye Niffty?

Niffty: I really like them, Alastor. They let me put on roach puppet shows without booing!

Lore: You know it's funny. Hell is the only place I was actually able to make friends.

Alastor: Ahh, an enjoyable collective to be around. I admit one could get accustomed.

Niffty: I dub thee, king roach!

Alastor: Oh, to understand your twisted little mind. Hahaha....

(They all laugh.)

Lore: Never change Niffty. Hey, can I be the roach jester?

Alastor: Hmm. I'd rather rule alongside you.

(He grabs her hand and kisses it.)

Lore: Oh.

(Beginning of battle)

Lore: Come and get me you fucking tar-and-feathered hypocritical bitches in a box! See how a ghost defends its haunt.

(Brandishes knives with hair)

Vaggie: New coat of paint!

Lore: New flowers

Husk: New lights across the marquee

Charlie, Vaggie, Lore, Husk: With a little sorcery

PLEASE feel free to send me asks about them!!!

[smurfylegofan2005]

Imagine This...

It was Wednesday, December 5th, 2001, and a 4-year-old child was wandering all alone in the living room. At first, he/she thought that this was the perfect chance to do whatever he/she wanted, especially because his/her parents wouldn't come back until either Thursday night, Friday afternoon, or Saturday morning. But, he/she ended up getting bored.

So, he/she decided to go watch TV. He/She was constantly changing channels because he/she couldn't really find anything good to watch.

But, then, he/she stopped changing channels when he/she came across a black screen with, in white, and all caps, text saying the following:

ALL CHARACTERS AND EVENTS IN THIS SHOW--EVEN THOSE BASED ON REAL PEOPLE--ARE ENTIRELY FICTIONAL. ALL CELEBRITY VOICES ARE IMPERSONATED.....POORLY. THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM CONTAINS COARSE LANGUAGE AND DUE TO ITS CONTENT IT SHOULD NOT BE VIEWED BY ANYONE□

Of course, because he/she was only 4 years old at the time, he/she ignored the text, and he/she continued watching TV anyway.

The first thing he/she saw after the text was what looked like 4 children; 4 CARTOON children, and all 4 of those cartoon children were boys: the first one was a boy wearing a blue hat with a red poofy thing on top of it; the second one was a boy wearing a green hat with little flappy/floppy things sticking out; the third one was a fat boy; and the fourth one was a boy wearing an orange jacket that covered everything except (parts of) his eyes.

The show that he/she was about to watch was called "South Park" which may be a cartoon, but, little did he/she know, it was NOT a CHILDREN'S cartoon.

Once again, he/she was only 4 years old at the time. Because of that, he/she thought that the cartoon that he/she was about to watch was for children anyway. So, he/she STILL kept on watching TV.

After the intro (and maybe some commercials too), the first thing he/she saw was an abortion clinic named "Unplanned Parenthood" which was a reference to (or a parody/satire on) Planned Parenthood.

As mentioned before, he/she was only 4 years old at the time. Therefore, he/she (most likely) didn't know what was an abortion clinic, nor did he/she know what was abortion alone. As a matter of fact, he/she didn't even know what was going on overall at all!

That was. until.. he/she saw this...

The boy wearing a blue hat with a red poofy thing on top of it and the boy wearing a green hat with little flappy/floppy things sticking out, whose names were Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski, respectively, were sent to the principal's office. At first, they thought it was because their friend, Eric Cartman, who was the fat boy, was ditching school due to all of the research on abortion and stem cells that he had been doing for a while (only to realize that abortion had been banned). Luckily, that was NOT the reason why Stan and Kyle were sent to the principal's office. NOT luckily, the REAL reason why Stan and Kyle were sent to the principal's office was WAY worse than that: the REAL reason why Stan and Kyle were sent to the principal's office was because their OTHER friend, Kenny McCormick, who was the boy wearing an orange jacket that covered everything except (parts of) his eyes, was diagnosed with a terminal disease/illness. The 4-year-old child who was watching this didn't know what that meant until Stan's father, Randy Marsh, told his son: "They don't think so, Stanley. Your friend is terminally ill, which means... well, son, that means he's going to be going to Heaven soon." Kyle reacted to this by saying: "Wait, Kenny's going to die?" Kyle's father, Gerald Broflovski, answered his son's question with: "He might, Kyle." Stan, with pure sadness, said: "But, he's our friend!" and "No, this can't happen! Kenny can't die! Kenny can't die!" Stan was crying a lot, and the 4-year-old child who was watching the show was crying in stereo with Stan.

After the commercial break, just when he/she stopped crying, the 4-year-old child started to cry again when he/she saw the scene where Kenny was in a hospital.

He/She cried SLIGHTLY more than the first time, most likely because the characters themselves were either crying too or just sad in general.

Despite being only 4 years old at the time, he/she finally wanted to leave, or at least change the channel. But, he/she didn't want to miss out on the rest of the show. In addition, he/she couldn't change the channel anymore because the remote's batteries have been dead since he/she landed on Comedy Central, which was the channel that aired the show. So, he/she had no other choice but to continue watching TV.

Speaking of death...

The 4-year-old child finally saw the one scene from THE ENTIRE SHOW that is enough to make EVERYONE cry.

Stan was finally ready to visit Kenny, hence why he was holding a present, so he could give it to him. But, by the time he got there, it was too late, for Kenny had finally died. Kyle told Stan: "He just stopped breathing, and it was over." Stan told Kyle: "I didn't get to see him. I didn't get to say goodbye." Stan asked Kyle: "Did he say anything before he went?" Kyle answered Stan: "He just said: "Where's Stan?""

The 4-year-old child cried MUCH more than not only the first time, but he/she cried MUCH more than the SECOND time too. In fact, once the show finished, he/she decided to skip late play-time in favor of early bed-time... in tears, of course.

His/Her parents finally came back Thursday night, and their 4-year-old son/daughter explained to them what he/she watched on Wednesday.

At least he/she TRIED TO explain to his/her parents what he/she watched on Wednesday.

As mentioned many times, the child who just watched "South Park" for the first time was only 4 years old at the time. So, he/she wasn't TRULY able to explain it himself/herself.

His/her parents told him/her that it was okay, but they explained to him/her what he/she watched on Wednesday: they told him/her that what he/she watched on Wednesday was an episode of "South Park" which, despite being a cartoon, was NOT a CHILDREN'S cartoon; in fact, it was an ADULT cartoon. In addition, they told him/her that the show, despite the episode he/she watched while they were gone, was NOT supposed to make people CRY; in fact, it was supposed to make people LAUGH. The reason why his/her parents knew about this was because they watched the episode themselves while they were gone. As a matter of fact, they watched (almost) EVERY other episode of the show: the only thing was that they never let him/her watch it with them because they felt like it was too disturbing for children like him/her to watch. Actually, it WAS too disturbing for children like him/her to watch.

So, the parents decided to put their 4-year-old son/daughter to bed. But, before they did so, they told him/her to not watch "South Park" even while no one else was watching, until he/she turned 18 years old.

I made this just for fun, though I MIGHT have a continuation for this in mind. Besides, how and WHY the Hell would this be based on a true story? Newsflash, it's NOT based on a true story!

[adracat]

G Witch 18 thoughts

Hello, gwitch. You have no idea how painful it's been without your sweet, agonizing content. I'm asking you politely to never leave us like that again. Isn't it enough that Suletta is suffering, why you gotta do us dirty like that too?? Since we cleared that up, let's begin

This is the face of pure copium. God, those wide eyes unwilling to look at anyone else. That dumpster platter of terrible food choices. That artificial smile as she rambles about inconsequential bs. Yeah, that's divorced wifeguy behavior right there.

And Schwarzette finally debuts! It was hinted previously Jeturk had dealings with Shin Sei gundams but here it's confirmed. The suit isn't complete yet but close enough and only revealed to Guel after its commission. Prospera is so shameless and unrepentant. I suspect she enjoys toying with Mio in particular.

But Mio isn't considering war profiteering and staunchly refuses to announce the Schwarzette as a joint Jeturk/GUND-ARM weapon. She wishes to follow the pacifistic ideals of the original GUND. She's come far from the Miorine we see at the start. Really proud of our girl!

I adore that they remind us of her core motivation. Overtly, keeping her promise to Prospera in exchange for Suletta's 'freedom'. But also her promise to protect Suletta just as Suletta strove to fulfill her promises to Mio. It doesn't seem enough for either of them, but this is the cope episode.

Prospera is really dipping her fingers in all the pots to see if one's a winner. It's not unexpected she wouldn't bet everything on one horse, though for now she has the most sway with Miorine's faction and therefore insurance. Humoring Shaddiq's wish for Gundams makes sense if Mio fails the vote. Prospera is a master at improvising.

This scene was a fav. Love they stated outright Mio is falling into the same trap as Delling by deciding someone else's life without their say. Mio is sympathetic and wants Suletta freed from everything, but crucially misses what Suletta herself wants.

Her shame and regret has become a malignancy in the wake of 17. The girl's confidence was already low but now it's sunk into a black hole of internalized self-loathing. Suletta convinced herself she was never good enough and it was her fault from the start. WOOF

Ok WTF LAUDA. Way to stomp a girl while she's down. Idk what even the point was on his side. Catharsis? Petty revenge? Guel is back, the holder again, and Jeturk is saved. This was just unnecessary. I felt close to neutral on him after his reunion with Guel and talk with Mio but now I wish him a merry misery again. Kinda cool he thanked Chuchu though. Very weird he still has a hateboner for Suletta still.

Love you Chuchu. It's great that she was tired of Suletta moping around and acting like nothing was wrong. She said what we were all thinking and now Earth House is going on a field trip to see Mio. I love her philosophy of 'what would Nika do?'

Shame about what's actually happening with Nika

Speaking of Nika, she's currently watching the sparks fly between our resident shitheel 5lan and Norea. She'll have to bury them both at this rate. This convo was so good though as 5lan shows a rare bit of insight and lampshades their similarities. They're both empty tools. We also learn how Peil functions and it seems to be a meritocratic system with the real Elan Ceres at the top.

Mio is showing her Relena colors once again. Even if a show of force could potentially open negotiations like Prospera suggests, Miorine is committed to pacifism. Admirable, but will it work? Aiding earth would be the accomplishment they need to prove themselves to Benerit.

As an aside, I'm very tickled Guel has become Mio's lackey. He's so bullied, even if they do marry (Doubt) he's destined to be furniture. Man just doesn't have Suletta's inherent wifeguyness

I wish we could get a peek at Prospera's thoughts here. Does she find this childish? Nostalgic? Bitter, after everything she's experienced with GUND and Vanadis? Her mentor would love Mio, but Dr. Cardo is dead along with their original dream. I've said it elsewhere, but there's a terrific irony that Mio, the daughter of her killer, would uphold Cardo's ideals where her students failed.

Quick bits, Bel was arrested by the Space Assembly League (interesting swerve) and Martin spilled his guts to a Haro with Secilia eavesdropping (hilarious) Will Bel spill the tea on Prospera? Will Secilia reveal he sold out Nika? Digging these little micro dramas.

OH HI KENANJI. Honestly, he was probably the last person I expected to escort Mio but it makes perfect sense Rajan would send Dominicus to protect her. HOOoo I want him to talk with Prospera. If she trolls him the entire time or finds time to murk him that would be peak. I like his design and lax attitude but he's still a dirty corpo cop.

Oh Suletta. Even though she can fill her list and go to school in peace, she isn't happy. It's all empty now without Mio by her side. It's hard to watch but you're still heartened by how much she values her. Gay yearning 🥺

Most of us knew it was coming but it feels so good to be vindicated. Repli-children sounds way cooler than clone. Gotta love nonsense sci-fi phrasing. That leaves HOW exactly this was done (I still sideeye Notrette personally) but that's one more mystery solved. Since they're all young and around Eri's age, you have to assume the failures wore on Elnora. This might explain her lack of significant emotional attachment to Suletta. After twelve iterations and only one success, you only have so many shits to give.

Damn, Eri. Everyone is taking the chance to suckerpunch Suletta while she's vulnerable. Still, she has the same motivations as Mio but they're giving Suletta everything but what she actually needs. Suletta craves validation and purpose. Freedom without those things is hell. Good intentions, terrible execution

Prospera is such a great character. You think you understand her but then she adds another facet to the mix. Whether this is a genuine sentiment or for Eri's benefit is unknown, but I like to think she's being truthful. It doesn't excuse her manipulation, gaslighting, or destruction of Suletta's family and sense of self but it's... something? An undoubtedly patronising sort of care and far from what she feels for Eri; all that's left of the loving Elnora we see in Prologue. But it makes her complex and not the mustache twirling villain you expect. Very good writing.

Stonecold to leave Suletta sobbing in space as everything she loves soars out of reach. I need her to wake up and smell the self-actualization coffee next episode. Mio might need it too if our intrepid peacemaker gets in over her head. But that is a tale for another week

That was certainly a GWitch episode. WE'RE BACK FOLKS

[sweeteastart]

💫KHOCWEEK 2023💫

Day 2 - New World

@khoc-week

Sika

Who's this but my girl Sika ! A bit about this drawing :

Sika is a very free spirited and adventurous teen. She loves to ran right into the unknown without looking back. With this joyful but impulsive personality of her's, who else than Terra could ground her yet still let her enjoy the experience ?

I can easily picture Sika insisting they land on Lilo's and Stitch world to see the beautiful scenery. Terra obviously would end up folding because he relates to her sheltered childhood and wants her to experience new thing.

This piece was quite a challenge for me as I never ventured to drawing lilo and stitch before ahah

Bunny

The routine of the Vulpes union was all around rather boring for teenagers : taking note of the day's mission, going into some world they already visited hundreds of times before, collecting the bare minimum of lux and going back home black and blue from the fights against various heartless. Bunny couldn't say she hated it.

After all, once in a while, she could team up with her brother or friends. It was always fun to spend time with either even if the whole fighting for her life part wasn't the most relaxing. She felt stuck in a way in this rut, this ever ending circle that never stopped. For years now she has led this existence. The girl wasn't even fifteen and she already felt bored of the responsibilities and expectations everyone had of her.

Walking down a flowery path, she couldn't help but glance at her surroundings. This forest was simply breathtaking. Greenery upon greenery grew out of control, savage yet surreal in its beauty. She wondered when was the last time she came about such a beautiful world before. In the little time she had been exploring, she had seen numerous sceneries. Most were gorgeous… Well, really, all of them were for a child who grew up in a small coastal town.

Her eyes followed the tree seams, the grass paths, the little leaves falling from the sky. She was hypnotized. The nature was calm, birds singing far away. A new and foreign place. That's when she heard it. The splash of water. The slight rustling of someone nearby.

Her instincts kicked in before she even thought about it. Silently, heels barely touching the dirt, she moved towards the sounds. She had nailed the silent walk a while back. It was always a blessing to take vermin by surprise. It also made the job easier when she ran into trouble.

Before she saw her, her voice blessed her ears. The voice of an angel. Loud and clear, a song coming straight from a pure heart.

Jet black hair, as deep as crown feathers. It draped around her fair skin and round face like water. A soft face, smooth like a baby. Long ink coloured lashes stretched out to the infinity just on top of her deep eyes. It was like staring at the night sky during a new moon. The light twinkled in her big, doe eyes as she gazed toward Bunny.

If she didn't know any better, the Keyblade wielder would have thought of her as a goddess who descended straight to earth. Naively, unaware of the danger of a stranger suddenly appearing, the kid smiled largely.

"Hi" she said, a hand still in the river's cold water. "Who might you be ?"

For a moment, Bunny didn't know what to say. So she didn't. She opened then shut her mouth numerous times before words finally came to her. "Bunny"

It was all she could muster yet the girl who looked barely thirteen laughed. Not in a locking way but a loving way. Only with that, this little thing, the wielder knew she wanted to protect this smile.

"Happy to meet you, Bunny. My name's Snow white."

And there's my day 2 ! Soo I decided to do two character per day for this year one with an illustration and one with a little text ! I hope it's now too terrible ahah sorry if the text wonky, it was pretty much a last moment addition and English isn't my first language

[sidhewrites]

posessed by a spirit of writing part 2: how did this happen i've written 6k words in the past 2 days

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tag list: @adaughterofathena @ambreeskyewriting @carnelianflames @halfbloodlycan @vigilantdesert @nadunacreates

The usual muffled weekend noise came through the thin walls of my apartment as I showered off, then decided that I didn't want to deal with the fact that Josie's things were still sitting in boxes on my kitchen table. A set of dowsing rods, cat treats, a few shirts and necklaces, and at least a few crystals. 

I have no clue why she believes in spiritualism like that, considering she's the one who taught me the origins of the west's understanding of eastern mysticism like chakras, third eyes and whatever. Make no mistake, I like shiny rocks as much as the next guy, but the idea that different colors of quartz could make you happier or more sexually active or ward off evil was as stupid as avoiding walking under ladders to avoid bad luck instead of just following basic common sense when it came to physical safety.

I know I sound like an asshole. Josie had told me hundreds of times.

It was still stupid.

Instead of dealing with her things, I carried my sorry ass down to the corner store for a pint of ice cream, bleach, and hair dye. My side-shave was due for a touch-up anyway, so it wasn't purely out of the spirit of emotional devastation and existential crisis that made me go from my typical black to hot pink. Admittedly, it was mostly because of an emotional crisis, but it wasn't the only reason, so I'm counting that as a win.

As the dye set, I put some music on and settled in on the bench by the window. By now, the rain was starting to recede, which meant people were no longer rushing to get from place. My apartment was just across the street from the graveyard, so I had a good view of the college campus, and I could spy on Mr. Ngo when he tried to do something a man his age shouldn't, like kneeling to weed the plants when his arthritis was acting up.

There wasn't much going on today. A few people walking across the grounds, either from the apartments to campus or vice versa, a few of the usual picnickers determined to enjoy an afternoon with their late loved ones despite the mud, or just get some time outside as the sun slowly started to emerge.

But there was someone else in the graveyard today. The small film crew had far better gear than the usual stuff Sutter College loaned out to its students. Even from a distance, their professionalism and organization was easy to see, and their mic operator looked very official -- not to mention a good twenty years older than students tended to be. I couldn't see their faces clearly, nor could I hear what they were saying, but it was all too easy to figure out exactly what they were doing, standing in the overgrown grass and pointing out significant historical graves.

Ghost hunters.

Like I said, the graveyard is old. Lots of people die in 150 years, and we have no shortage of local legends and folklore. The Barhop in [Old Towne Brewery.] Ms. Lark in the old public library. And the town's most famous, Lucille Bloom. According to history, she married the love of her life at nineteen, and lost him two years later in a freak logging accident. They weren't able to recover his body. She died of pneumonia and grief only six days after that, before the funeral had even been properly arranged.

According to legend, her spirit haunts the graveyard, waiting for her husband to be buried next to her as they'd always planned. She's allegedly -- allegedly -- an active spirit that can be spoken to, and often appears as a full-body apparition.

Look, just because I don't believe in Josie's ghost stories doesn't mean I didn't sit up watching documentaries and video essays with her as she went down rabbit hole after rabbit hole. I knew about the town's ghost stories, and I knew about the various teams of hunters and internet personalities who'd done videos on it. I'd even been contacted by them once, though they conveniently left out the fact that I'd never seen a single ghost in all my nights working in the graveyard when the video eventually came out.

If Josie knew they were here, she'd skip work entirely, watching them work and offering suggestions on how to do their jobs. Use this tool, don't put the camera there. She'd be having a blast.

The thing is, though, is that it's stupid. All of it is stupid. It would be to stand there with a radio, or even just a phone, and mess with their EMF readings, or whisper ominously behind the tree while their microphones picked up on sounds that could be anything from the wind to a bird flapping its wings. I could just go down there any time I wanted and mess with them.

I won't, though.

I'm not a child.

I have ice cream to eat, and misery to wallow in, and the hair dye has another ten minutes before I can wash it out. I’m not petty, and I won’t mess with innocent people just because I’m mad at Josie. I don’t even have to get groceries today, so there’s no reason for me to leave the apartment until tomorrow.

My phone buzzes, and my stomach drops. I'm still trying to unsubscribe to all the people Josie followed on my various social media accounts, but I'm still getting notifications one way or another.

New Announcement by the Haunted Archives Team -- [Town Name] Cemetery and the history of Lucille Bloom coming this week! Make sure to tune in next Saturday at 8pm EST for a live Q&A after the video drops.

The post featured a photo of the crew in a graveyard. My graveyard.

So that's who they were.I grit my teeth, and glare at the Haunted Archivists across the street. Josie loves these guys -- a pair of paranormal investigators that pride themselves on emphasizing fact over sensationalism, and using a variety of tools to find ghosts and blah blah blah.

For half a second, I feel bad for Josie. She’s got double shifts all week, so she won’t be able to get online in time. And then I think, Good. She deserves to miss it. I still have her dowsing rods and pendulum in my kitchen just waiting to be picked up, and reminding me of her every time I go to get a drink.

But that’s Josie. These people are just doing their jobs, minding their own business in a place that just so happens to be right across the street from me. I’m not going to go mess with people just because I’m angry and hurt and a skeptic who lives next to the graveyard.

I don’t need to leave my apartment.

I eat my ice cream, watching them putter around down there among the headstones.

I don’t need to go to the graveyard tonight.

[blazlngblade]

I haven’t played much of CotC, but I didn’t know that Vanessa had a sister?

It's more of mine and my brother's headcanon than anything, but it does have some evidence to support it. I am thankful you asked because I've never actually shared my thoughts on this headcanon in detail!

So basically, I am pretty sure that Vanessa's sister is Shelby, an apothecary from the initial 64 Travelers.

Most notable things when looking at Shelby. - Purple everywhere. - Apron and corset combo. - Short, hooded cape. - Dark gray-black skirt/dress with a design around the rim of the outfit. - Brown boots and a brown apothecary satchel. - Purple-black hair.

Now let's look at Vanessa.

- Purple everywhere. - Apron and corset combo. - Short, hooded cape. - Gray skirt/dress with a design around the rim of the outfit. - Brown boots and a brown apothecary satchel. - Purple-black hair.

They share a lot of similar things to their designs. Now this could just be a coincidence, but who really knows. It's a pretty uncanny similarity.

Let's take a look at their sprites now!

The design is similar with their hair colours being slightly lighter than their artworks and its dark hair colour. The apron suddenly both has a purple stripe on it (Vanessa's concept already had this, but Shelby's art doesn't.)

Another thing that I find a bit curious, is the fact that Shelby has brown eyes, and originally so did Vanessa. Her boss sprite is shown with gray-brown eyes, as well as her artbook chibi.

So either Shelby's design was based around Vanessa for no reason at all, or this was intentional.

For context, Champions of the Continent (2017) was being developed at around the same times as the first Octopath Traveler (2016). There is also art book evidence that CotC's plot may have been the original game's idea, but they decided to go smaller to play it safe for a first game.

Next, I want to share brief name meanings. Both Shelby and Vanessa are English orientated names, and they are also very beautiful meanings as well as based around nature. Shelby means 'place where willows grow'. Vanessa means 'of Venus' or 'butterfly'. I could go into more detail with both, like willow trees spiritual meanings (which fit Shelby pretty well when I searched it up) and the best place to grow is near the water, an explanation to Shelby's ice magic. And Vanessa is related to butterflies, which could give her light magic. But that's beside the point.

Beauty plays a pretty big factor in both characters as well. It is obviously there for Vanessa in her appearance, but for Shelby, we are told that she's very attractive and men fall for her easily. That said, personalities are purely opposite as well. Vanessa's confident in herself, a bit vain, etc. and Shelby is very different. She's not the most confident, very shy, etc. I always found a fondness for opposite siblings, I am sure others do too!

Also did I mention both of these characters have/will have Wealth influences? Shelby has basically zero reason to be Wealth, she should probably be Fame, but she's not, and maybe it's because Vanessa when she's playable will eventually be Wealth too!

With those aspects aside now, let's talk about descriptions and family life! The more proper way to help connect these two ladies aside from just appearance.

First, character description.. We recently got Shelby's Radio Show information, so this allows me to share a little more. We'll start with Shelby.

Radio show doesn't give too much, but the main thing to think about is age and her appreciation to "happy homes", I'll get to that soon. It's also important to mention that they didn't deconfirm her having siblings or not having them. Other characters have gotten family mention more proper from the shows. (Example: Sofia is the oldest sister, with three little sisters!)

Now Vanessa's description!

Vanessa's description also says that she "leaves her criminal life behind" but she is obviously still an apothecary, and is a skilled one too, she sells her medicine at a high price still, but not because she's after wealth, but because her medicines are good and are worth the price. So anyone saying she's a "fake apothecary", this is incorrect. She's skilled at her craft. Apothecaries can create good or bad medicine, as told in Gertrude's Traveler Story, and others.

And now that you've seen their descriptions with ages. Shelby is the older sister. Shelby's "mid 20s" listed is in favour of CotC's 3 years in the past. Shelby is ~28 and Vanessa is 26, giving them a ~2 year age difference.

Let's pretend for a moment, that not only her encounter with Alfyn, but perhaps her older sister Shelby had also helped support her sister's change of heart. Family support is exactly what Vanessa might need to get on a better path. That's exactly what our "happy home" loving Shelby would want for her family. Shelby would 100% help her sister, by getting her a job at the LeRuiz in Valore. It's run by Rosso, like Shelby, a member of the Bargello Family! Even though I play as Iris, Shelby is my canon Chosen One.

These descriptions imply that both are quite skilled apothecaries even if Shelby hardcore downplays her skills in favour of not being "better than Cooper" *cries* Could their skills come from the parent that Vanessa's description mentions?

That said, Shelby's Traveler Story also brings up family mentions.

It might not seem like much, but if Shelby's mother gives herbs out for her husband's birthday, it implies that one or both of these people are apothecaries as well. More people would say they give flowers out on birthdays, not specifically herbs.

So basically, it's possible that the two are sisters, and their parents are apothecaries. It's common for children of specific jobs in this timeframe and game to learn the same field of work as relatives.

Another thing, that I want to get to before ending this, Vanessa's description that a parent is a "famous apothecary" and Shelby's Traveler Story mentions Ogen as one of the best apothecaries she knows. It's possible that if it's true that Shelby and Vanessa are related, that this famous apothecary parent and Ogen are friends, or at least acquainted.

Part of the interesting thing about the Ogen mention, it's almost as if the writers wanted their players to remember Alfyn, thus by remembering Alfyn, you might remember Vanessa, and then you just kinda think, "wow, Vanessa and Shelby look similar!"

That being said, Ogen isn't playable yet, so we've never had canon interaction with Shelby and Ogen, just apparently that the two know each other. Shelby actually rarely gets Recollections despite being a popular 4-Star, so she's never had much to disconfirm anything. Maybe when Vanessa is playable, she'll be able to interact with Shelby? This is very possible since they had Leon Bastralle's quote said by Lord Elletrix of Grandport, and then later Leon appears in Elletrix's Traveler Memory, plus one of Elletrix's subordinates being jealous of Leon's friendship with Elletrix. All this proves that the two were friends. Rosa, stop talking about your OTP Long story short, first game characters are 100% allowed to interact with characters from CotC, so long as the writers want to do something with it. It's possible they could one day allow Shelby to talk to both Vanessa and Ogen.

Okay, that should be all...? Anyway, to reiterate, this is just a headcanon of mine, it is not canon in anyway. Take it as you will or not at all! It's no bother if you don't want to imagine them as sisters, but that's what I want to do until it's proven otherwise.

Now I just want to share the fanart I've done of the Hysel Sisters!

I've headcanoned these two as sisters since basically the first moment I met Shelby! And that was in 2019.

^^^^ I want to remake this one ^^^^

^^^^ Kid versions I designed, the other characters are Narr and Glossom. I headcanon those two as twins and childhood friends of Vanessa and Shelby, that's another story though. Purple sisters, and pink twin brothers!!

^^^^ Designs I made for a project of my brother's! Check it out on twitter if you want to see more Hysel Sisters!

Thank you to anyone who has read this! I appreciate it! And now after writing this out, I think I want to draw the Hysel Sisters again sometime soon!

Again! This is just a headcanon until proven right or wrong by the developers.

Let's end it off with a silly picture of the sisters.

[nudibranchpropaganda]

Talk about your OCs!!!!!!!!!!

i desperately wanted to respond to this immediately but i had a physiology exam this morning :(( have my post exam sleep deprived caffeine induced ramblings mwah <3

there's 3 of them rn and i love them all to pieces i have gone into wayyyyyy too much detail under the read more

so there's my demon baby who currently has no name. legit just The Demon in my brain. they started as a reader insert but i genuinely fell in love with them and am probs gonna keep adding to that au for a while (keep an eye out if u liked it)

Personally i see them as genderfluid - they can shape shift at will, but tend to lean towards mma/wrestler builds (1000000% can and will fuck u standing up) and charcoal grey skin (to blend in w the smog that fills their home skies).

physical characteristics? definitely has bat wings. love thin, membranous, and slightly translucent wings. they generally have claws and sharp teeth, a tail cause its fun to whip around and provides a nice counterweight + extra arm to grab things. they change the style of their horns like some ppl change their hair colour, a personal fav are ones either like a ram's or greater kudus's, but honestly if u like a different kind they've probably worn them for a bit for sure. tall and broad no matter what. this bastard is BIG and will use it to their advantage.

they feed off emotions, there's a whole taste menu thing i could get into, but generally they feed on fear cause its most readily available. their fav is happiness. just pure joy. tastes like bubbly sunshine and keeps them satiated for weeks. they can also amplify emotions, but can't create them if they aren't already there. summoned in the stereotypical way: fire, blood, latin chant (soap was just fuckin around for a laugh). no aversion to generic holy items, they aren't evil just another species. bright light will fuck them up tho cause they are nocturnal and have "evolved" for life in the darker hours.

can be mean. can be very very mean. knows where to hit to make it hurt, will absolutely be a little cruel on occasion when hurt by something. can also be very very warm, reading emotions makes it easy for them to give ppl what they need. generally is pretty sweet though, kinda like a creme brulee - brittle hard outside that you gotta crack to get to the soft sweet inside.

when i wanna get into their headspace i listen to maneater by the blue eyed blondes, gimme by she keeps bees (thnx for the rec on that one), keep it down by migrant motel, and i like the way you die boy by black honey. the pintrest board that i dump all the vibes in

the last one is still sorta in the work shopping phase. they're a cod oc, early to mid 30s again. i know their call sign is Jaws bc they tore someones throat out with their teeth when they got pinned down during a mission. they're head hunted by laswell after the 141 is a known force for their recon and undercover work. they get pretty close to gaz and soap, but struggle initially to break into the group cause the boys are such a well oiled machine at this point and don't really want to disrupt the status quo.

there's also the protag of my other cod fic (once again i have yet to name her). she's bi, in her mid 30s, and moved out to the edge of the forest after her last long term relationship ended (have yet to decide whether it was divorce or death). she's definitely a recluse, has a little bit of a hobby farm garden going (hugelkultur ftw), and grew up on stories about how the woods used to eat people (nova scotian; apalachian for sure).

BAD relationship w/her mother. they dont speak anymore. kind enough to her neighbours, but everyone kinda thinks shes a little strange, a little offputting (same girl). big on enjoying the little moments with the people she loves, sitting on the porch and drinking tea together kinda life.

she's honestly super special to me and i love her so much. abandoned and cranky but forced to confront that physical manifestation of grief and rage inside her when she gets attacked in the home she used to share w/her wife. and then soap? just kinda working his way into her life and very quickly getting close to her and being kind and gentle and reaching out a hand for her? idk if that was how it came out but that was what i was going for :)

anyways i listened to black hole by Griff on repeat when writing that fic, also kiss with a fist by florence and the machine. alrighty aphrodite by peach pit, lost without by shane guerrette, ghosts and monsters by saint chaos, and west virginia by the builders and the butchers were some more songs that made the writing playlist for her. pintrest board if ur interested :)

they had some trouble with their last unit too, butting heads with a shitty CO/team mate (tbd). this 100% made it into their rap sheet and gave them a bit of a rep as a trouble maker, they chose to lean into it a bit though and cause some problems on purpose for assholes. they are pretty standoffish at the start, can take a while to warm up to people. not super chatty, but enjoys spending time w/friends and will just chill and listen. loyal to a fault, but not to many ppl (eventually the 141, las, a few old team mates).

they aren't close with their family, parents passed in a car accident while they were on deployment and their sister feels like they abandoned her for the military (give an oc a happy backstory challenge has been failed). playing around with the idea of them faking their death and leaving their old team behind to go undercover at one point (the angst of being recognized by someone who thought they were dead and accidentally burning that bridge tho)

disco! in the panic room by bug hunter, hey child by the x ambassadors, choke by i dont know how but they found me, bury me face down by grandson, aint lookin by the wild feathers if i end up writing them w/one of the 141. a pintrest boards 4 u to browse :)

wow that got really long, thanks for sticking with it!! im sure i'll start posting a little more about all of them as i flesh them out, once i get through the paper and presentation i have for a couple of my classes next week im gonna have wayyyyy more time to write and explore them :))))))))

[halothenthehorns]

Chapter 18: THE PARTY PONIES INVADE

Percy only heard Will's voice read the new chapter title, not the actual words, let alone what Magnus and Jason were asking about so excitedly. Only finally having an upcoming battle with Luke deterred him from sitting around worrying about the how's and why's of someone he'd instinctively known was a friend from the moment he'd seen her. Whatever Thalia's part in this, it had nothing to do with him being replaced...he was mostly sure.

"One on one," I challenged Luke. "What are you afraid of?"

"Losing, probably," Jason said confidently. Percy had already beaten him once on a practice sparing match, and he'd had so much more experience since then. He'd taken down Ares, and Polyphemus. Luke would be an even match at best, and they were still right on the ocean front property.

Luke curled his lip. The soldiers who were about to kill us hesitated, waiting for his order.

Before he could say anything, Agrius, the bear-man, burst onto the deck leading a flying horse. It was the first pure-black pegasus I'd ever seen, with wings like a giant raven. The pegasus mare bucked and whinnied.*

"Wow," Percy said right along with everyone else, even as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration and wondered why on earth a deck of cards came to mind.

I could understand her thoughts. She was calling Agrius and Luke some names so bad Chiron would've washed her muzzle out with saddle soap.

"Chiron can understand horses too?" Nico asked keenly.

"How do you think he always knows the gossip around camp?" Will grinned.

"Sir!" Agrius called, dodging a pegasus hoof. "Your steed is ready!"

"Ready to murder," Alex said, he didn't need to read the flying horses mind to know Luke wouldn't make it to the airport.

  Luke kept his eyes on me.

"I told you last summer, Percy," he said. "You can't bait me into a fight."

"And you keep avoiding one," I noticed. "Scared your warriors will see you get whipped?"

Luke glanced at his men, and he saw I'd trapped him. If he backed down now, he would look weak. If he fought me, he'd lose valuable time chasing after Clarisse.

"Percy for the triple win," Jason applauded that was three plans working back to back.

"Gods I hope I don't do everything in three's," he frowned as he instantly imagined three or more bad things crashing around him soon enough.

For my part, the best I could hope for was to distract him, giving my friends a chance to escape. If anybody could think of a plan to get them out of there, Annabeth could. On the down-side, I knew how good Luke was at sword-fighting.

"What exactly was the upside again?" Thalia frowned at him. "Aside from pissing off Luke."

"That's not worth any downside?" Percy smirked.

"I'll kill you quickly," he decided, and raised his weapon. Backbiter was a foot longer than my own sword. Its blade glinted with an evil gray-and-gold light where the human steel had been melded with celestial bronze. I could almost feel the blade fighting against itself, like two opposing magnets bound together. I didn't know how the blade had been made, but I sensed a tragedy. Someone had died in the process.

"Doesn't someone die in every Greek story?" Magnus had gathered. "I get the feeling newly minted ones get no better a treatment."

Thalia pursed up her lips and decided against informing him this blade wasn't new at all. It's original owner had used it to destroy Ouranos.

Luke whistled to one of his men, who threw him a round leather-and-bronze shield.

He grinned at me wickedly.

"Luke," Annabeth said, "at least give him a shield."

"You must love she hasn't tried to scold either of you for fighting," Will said conversationally. "No, no, keep the fight fair boys."

"A great warrior indeed," Percy grinned, but it wasn't very confident. She was rooting for him to win...right? And yet, would she ever forgive him if he mortally wounded Luke?

"Sorry, Annabeth," he said. "You bring your own equipment to this party."

"Tell Annabeth to toss you her hat," Jason pointed out, "same rules as he just used."

"I can't ask her to do that," Percy whispered. He was already worried about the outcome of this, the less she was involved on every level except escape, the better.

The shield was a problem. Fighting two-handed with just a sword gives you more power, but fighting one-handed with a shield gives you better defense and versatility. There are more moves, more options, more ways to kill. I thought back to Chiron, who'd told me to stay at camp no matter what, and learn to fight. Now I was going to pay for not listening to him.

Magnus and Jason exchanged excited looks about Chiron showing up any second to scold Percy about this in person, it was perfect! He'd already been mentioned in Florida, and what else could that chapter title mean?

Percy frowned at the two geeking out this much over his teacher giving out an 'I told you so', if he ever saw him again.

Luke lunged and almost killed me on the first try. His sword went under my arm, slashing through my shirt and grazing my ribs.

Percy rubbed at the graze now and looked around, waiting for someone to start laughing at him or make reet, reet noises. None did. They seemed surprised, worried even. He'd faced monsters and gods without a scratch, who was Luke to be doing this...

I jumped back, then counterattacked with Riptide, but Luke slammed my blade away with his shield.

"My, Percy," Luke chided. "You're out of practice."

He came at me again with a swipe to the head. I parried, returned with a thrust. He sidestepped easily.

The cut on my ribs stung. My heart was racing. When Luke lunged again, I jumped backward into the swimming pool and felt a surge of strength. I spun underwater, creating a funnel cloud, and blasted out of the deep end, straight at Luke's face.

The force of the water knocked him down, spluttering and blinded. But before I could strike, he rolled aside and was on his feet again.

Will was reading as calm and steady as ever as if he didn't notice Percy was having some invisible fight with a game controller, his hands and feet in constant movement, his whole body twisting and moving from a fight he was trying his hardest not to be a part of. He'd yet dealt a real blow back to Luke and the only thing he could let himself focus on was if the others had made it off that ship.

I attacked and sliced off the edge of his shield, but that didn't even faze him. He dropped to a crouch and jabbed at my legs. 

Percy hissed, his adrenaline momentarily disrupted by clamping his hands down on his leg at the remembered pain instead of throwing the might of the ocean into Luke's face!

Suddenly my thigh was on fire, with a pain so intense I collapsed. My jeans were ripped above the knee. I was hurt. I didn't know how badly. Luke hacked downward and I rolled behind a deck chair. I tried to stand, but my leg wouldn't take the weight.

"Perrrrrcy!" Grover bleated.

Thalia grabbed Percy's wrist and squeezed tight to stop him choking Will out. "It's okay Percy, you know he's okay," she fervently reminded.

His best friend had been through so much, exchanging one hostage situation for another in mere hours and Percy felt like a failure as he went limp in his seat. He'd lost. He'd let them all down...

I rolled again as Luke's sword slashed the deck chair in half, metal pipes and all.

"Someone's not having fun on the pool deck," Percy muttered, the rapid fire part of his brain remembering the pink towel underneath he'd leapt away from, the scent of sunscreen and blood in the air. He wondered if that family was somehow still alive while he fought for his own.

I clawed toward the swimming pool, trying hard not to black out. I'd never make it. Luke knew it, too. He advanced slowly, smiling. The edge of his sword was tinged with red.

"One thing I want you to watch before you die, Percy." He looked at the bear-man Oreius, who was still holding Annabeth and Grover by the necks. "You can eat your dinner now, Oreius. Bon appetit."

Thalia's nails dug in tight, on any other person she would have broken skin as she flashed with a murderous outrage of her own she was forced not to act on. Some piece of her would never believe Luke would idly stand by and watch something terrible happen to Annabeth, let alone give the order. That same part was now dwindling into a twisted black mess as she slowly released Percy's wrist, but her fingers just contracted into a useless fist on nobody in here.

"He-he! He-he!" The bear-man lifted my friends and bared his teeth.

That's when all Hades broke loose.

"Did Hades change his mind about killing you?" Alex asked in surprise.

"Just what I need, more skeletons," Percy was blinking like a bright light was in his eyes though.

Whish!

A red-feathered arrow sprouted from Oreius's mouth. With a surprised look on his hairy face, he crumpled to the deck.

"The Hunters?" Percy asked in confusion, looking at Thalia.

"Were you not paying attention?" Jason demanded in shock. "How did you miss a word of this?"

"Well I'm so sorry I don't have attention perfection disorder instead," he huffed.

"Rescue," Thalia quickly intervened, "that's the important part here. Go on Will!"

"Brother!" Agrius wailed. He let the pegasus's reins go slack just long enough for the black steed to kick him in the head and fly away free over Miami Bay.

"Now that's a noble steed," Magnus said in delight.

For a split second, Luke's guards were too stunned to do anything except watch the bear twins' bodies dissolve into smoke.

Then there was a wild chorus of war cries and hooves thundering against metal. A dozen centaurs charged out of the main stairwell.

"Ponies!" Tyson cried with delight.

My mind had trouble processing everything I saw.

Percy sympathized with his past self, it wasn't any better remembering, nor having it second hand described with how chaotic these creatures who were so unlike Chiron could be, while his mentor was mixed in made it all the more eccentric.

Chiron was among the crowd, but his relatives were almost nothing like him. There were centaurs with black Arabian stallion bodies, others with gold palomino coats, others with orange-and-white spots like paint horses.

Some wore brightly colored T-shirts with Day-Glo letters that said PARTY PONIES: SOUTH FLORIDA CHAPTER. Some were armed with bows, some with baseball bats, some with paintball guns. One had his face painted like a Comanche warrior and was waving a large orange Styrofoam hand making a big Number I.

"So, for once, I would have accepted the answer of both to our game," Alex whispered in Magnus's ear.

"Good to know who you break the rules for," Magnus grinned back, "I'll be sure to find that centaur and tell him."

Another was bare-chested and painted entirely green. A third had googly-eye glasses with the eyeballs bouncing around on Slinky coils, and one of those baseball caps with soda-can-and-straw attachments on either side.

They exploded onto the deck with such ferocity and color that for a moment even Luke was stunned. I couldn't tell whether they had come to celebrate or attack.

"Why not both?" Will asked sincerely, it really was what they were best known for.

Apparently both.

"You don't get credit for that, knowing this already," but Nico was smiling at how proud of himself Will seemed for quoting the book.

"I'm sure I can find some way to get extra credit down the road then," Will shrugged.

As Luke was raising his sword to rally his troops, a centaur shot a custom made arrow with a leather boxing glove on the end.

"I wonder who his favorite superhero is," Magnus snorted in delight.

It smacked Luke in the face and sent him crashing into the swimming pool.

'I know he's mine now,' Hearth cheered, 'you think if I made one he'd sign it for me?' Making Magnus laugh all the harder.

His warriors scattered. I couldn't blame them. Facing the hooves of a rearing stallion is scary enough, but when it's a centaur, armed with a bow and whooping it up in a soda-drinking hat, even the bravest warrior would retreat.

"Can confirm," Jason assured.

"And who are you to claim being the bravest warrior?" Percy rolled his eyes.

"A man with confidence," Jason smirked.

Percy wasn't impressed, but he was a little jealous. Wasn't the guy as blank on his past as him?

"Come get some!" yelled one of the party ponies.

They let loose with their paintball guns. A wave of blue and yellow exploded against Luke's warriors, blinding them and splattering them from head to toe. They tried to run, only to slip and fall.

Chiron galloped toward Annabeth and Grover, neatly plucked them off the deck, and deposited them on his back.

Percy breathed a sigh of relief for that at least and even exchanged a smile with Thalia. It was nice they weren't the first to be rescued, even when he was the one bleeding to death.

I tried to get up, but my wounded leg still felt like it was on fire.

Luke was crawling out of the pool.

"Attack, you fools.'" he ordered his troops. Somewhere down below deck, a large alarm bell thrummed.

I knew any second we would be swamped by Luke's reinforcements. Already, his warriors were getting over their surprise, coming at the centaurs with swords and spears drawn.

Tyson slapped half a dozen of them aside, knocking them over the guardrail into Miami Bay.

But more warriors were coming up the stairs.

"Withdraw, brethren!" Chiron said.

Jason bit his lip uneasily at the call. It was the right one, better to take this victory and retreat, regroup, but the nagging worry bothered him. If this surprise attack of highly formidable creatures hadn't even made a dent in this army, what was going to be capable of stopping Luke?

"You won't get away with this, horse man!" Luke shouted. He raised his sword, but got smacked in the face with another boxing glove arrow, and sat down hard in a deck chair.

"Revenge from its brethren," Nico smirked.

"No chair shall ever let him forget it," Jason chuckled.

A palomino centaur hoisted me onto his back. "Dude, get your big friend!"

"Tyson!" I yelled. "Come on!"

Tyson dropped the two warriors he was about to tie into a knot and jogged after us.

"A sad but valid need for interrupting that very important work," Alex nodded.

He jumped on the centaur's back.

"Dude!" the centaur groaned, almost buckling under Tyson's weight. "Do the words 'low-carb diet' mean anything to you?"

"Depends on what you call an all peanut butter diet?" Percy was rubbing absently at his leg without a care as he beamed for his little brother getting to live out his dream right then of finally riding on a 'pony.' The smile on his face was almost worth the multiple stab wounds.

Luke's warriors were organizing themselves into a phalanx. But by the time they were ready to advance, the centaurs had galloped to the edge of the deck and fearlessly jumped the guardrail, as if it were a steeplechase and not ten stories above the ground. I was sure we were going to die.

"I've been confident of that several times," Will chuckled, "you've yet managed it."

"And you're always telling us not to tempt the fates," Nico scoffed in agreement.

We plummeted toward the docks, but the centaurs hit the asphalt with hardly a jolt and galloped off, whooping and yelling taunts at the Princess Andromeda as we raced into the streets of downtown Miami.

I have no idea what the Miamians thought as we galloped by.

"Circus," Alex offered.

"A really strange motorcycle gang," Jason shrugged.

"The clowns taking over a rodeo," Thalia said with confidence and a snap of her fingers, and then a smug look at Percy.

He had no clue why, but he gave her a finger back for good measure.

Streets and buildings began to blur as the centaurs picked up speed. It felt as if space were compacting—as if each centaur step took us miles and miles. In no time, we'd left the city behind. We raced through marshy fields of high grass and ponds and stunted trees.

Finally, we found ourselves in a trailer park at the edge of a lake. The trailers were all horse trailers, tricked out with televisions and mini-refrigerators and mosquito netting. We were in a centaur camp.

Magnus whistled in surprise at the idea, wondering how welcoming they were to homeless people stumbling into them. Did they invite them in for a drink and a rest, in-between the near death stunts?

"Dude!" said a party pony as he unloaded his gear. "Did you see that bear guy? He was all like: 'Whoa, I have an arrow in my mouth!'"

The centaur with the googly-eye glasses laughed. "That was awesome! Head slam!"

The two centaurs charged at each other full-force and knocked heads, then went staggering off in different directions with crazy grins on their faces.

"I've finally found the ancient ancestral act of this," Thalia said, "and I wish it had gone extinct."

"But then what would the jockeys do to wake up their brain cells?" Alex rolled his eyes.

Chiron sighed. He set Annabeth and Grover down on a picnic blanket next to me. "I really wish my cousins wouldn't slam their heads together. They don't have the brain cells to spare."

"Ooh, Chiron burn," Percy smirked, "never thought I'd hear that."

"Chiron," I said, still stunned by the fact that he was here. "You saved us."

He gave me a dry smile. "Well now, I couldn't very well let you die, especially since you've cleared my name."

"Is that all it takes to get a rescue from him?" Will chuckled.

"I don't think that's permission to set him up for something else," Nico mock rolled his eyes.

"Darn, there goes Connor's plans for the summer," Will sighed.

"But how did you know where we were?" Annabeth asked.

"Advanced planning, my dear. I figured you would wash up near Miami if you made it out of the Sea of Monsters alive. Almost everything strange washes up near Miami."

"Wow teach, tell me how you really feel," Magnus was laughing all the same for whatever the reason.

"Gee, thanks," Grover mumbled.

"No, no," Chiron said. "I didn't mean ... Oh, never mind. I am glad to see you, my young satyr. The point is, I was able to eavesdrop on Percy's Iris-message and trace the signal. Iris and I have been friends for centuries. I asked her to alert me to any important communications in this area. It then took no effort to convince my cousins to ride to your aid. As you see, centaurs can travel quite fast when we wish to. Distance for us is not the same as distance for humans."

I looked over at the campfire, where three party ponies were teaching Tyson to operate a paintball gun.

"That's a terrifying idea," Will frowned. "What's next, monsters with assault rifles?"

"Those already exist," Nico muttered.

"I think it's cool," Jason smiled, "I call him on the next capture the flag game." No one really wanted to know what Jason would be loading that paintball gun with considering that diabolical smile.

"Like hell, he'd be on my team!" Percy protested.

Thalia cleared her throat loudly and waved Will to keep going before this escalated.

I hoped they knew what they were getting into.

"So what now?" I asked Chiron. "We just let Luke sail away? He's got Kronos aboard that ship. Or parts of him, anyway."

"So who's going to announce the countdown for the ship getting blown up?" Alex asked enthusiastically, though Percy wasn't the only one who winced, Will did too. Alex pursed up his lips and resisted the urge to keep asking, even as he exchanged a concerned look with Magnus why that could ever be considered a bad thing.

Chiron knelt, carefully folding his front legs underneath him. He opened the medicine pouch on his belt and started to treat my wounds.

"Oh good," Thalia snorted, "I was starting to wonder if he was just going to let you bleed out while expositioning."

"I'd rather bleed out than hear what I already know," Percy said tragically.

"I'm afraid, Percy, that today has been something of a draw. We didn't have the strength of numbers to take that ship. Luke was not organized enough to pursue us. Nobody won."

"But we got the Fleece!" Annabeth said. "Clarisse is on her way back to camp with it right now."

Chiron nodded, though he still looked uneasy. "You are all true heroes. And as soon as we get Percy fixed up, you must return to Half-Blood Hill. The centaurs shall carry you."

"You're coming, too?" I asked.

"Oh yes, Percy. I'll be relieved to get home. My brethren here simply do not appreciate Dean Martin's music.

"Someone you should endeavor to look in on," Will gave Nico a hopeful look, "he's Italian, maybe you and Chiron can have a karaoke night."

Nico gave an unimpressed smile now and thought Will wouldn't think himself so clever if he just asked Chiron for another boombox to take into Tartarus incase he needed to scare away more monsters.

Besides, I must have some words with Mr. D. There's the rest of the summer to plan. So much training to do. And I want to see ... I'm curious about the Fleece."

Percy looked from Thalia to the book and back several times like he'd developed a bad twitch. He'd been wrong about Luke, but his doubt had made him think the worst of Tyson when he should have trusted his instincts about this little brother. He didn't want to do the same again about Thalia...maybe he even did want her to be the child of Prophecy.

I didn't know exactly what he meant, but it made me worried about what Luke had said: I was going to let you take the Fleece ... once I was done with it.

Had he just been lying? I'd learned with Kronos there was usually a plan within a plan. The titan lord wasn't called the Crooked One for nothing. He had ways of getting people to do what he wanted without them ever realizing his true intentions.

Over by the campfire, Tyson let loose with his paintball gun. A blue projectile splattered against one of the centaurs, hurling him backward into the lake. The centaur came up grinning, covered in swamp muck and blue paint, and gave Tyson two thumbs up.

"You're little brother is in heaven right now," Thalia gave him a winning smile to which he had no doubts in.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "perhaps you and Grover would go supervise Tyson and my cousins before they, ah, teach each other too many bad habits?"

"I've heard nothing but good things from all of this," Alex scoffed, "if he wanted them to leave, at least be subtle!"

Annabeth met his eyes. Some kind of understanding passed between them.

"Sure, Chiron," Annabeth said. "Come on, goat boy."

"But I don't like paintball."

"Yes, you do." She hoisted Grover to his hooves and led him off toward the campfire.

"That satyr has been punished enough for a lifetime," Will huffed, "let him go find some tin cans and get some rest for peats sake."

"The part of the story that always gets glossed over," Nico agreed in amusement, "naptime should definitely be in order." Percy hadn't always been the prefect hero, Annabeth didn't have all the answers, but it was nice to think some things he'd always thought about camp were still true. Will probably had hauled in Grover and locked him into a bed when he got back for just this.

Chiron finished bandaging my leg. "Percy, I had a talk with Annabeth on the way here. A talk about the prophecy."

Uh-oh, I thought.

"It wasn't her fault," I said. "I made her tell me."

"Yes, you held your sword point to her and demanded it," Jason raised a brow, "you absolutely did not logic your way into her spilling the beans."

"Like Chiron would have believed that either," Percy scoffed, "this was faster."

His eyes flickered with irritation. I was sure he was going to chew me out,

"A legit worry with two stomachs to contend with," Alex nodded seriously.

but then his look turned to weariness.

"Thankfully the nonlethal one won," Percy sighed.

"I wonder which that is though?" Magnus grinned. "Horses are plenty deadly, so it probably was the human teeth set in."

"You guys are dragging this out way to much," Thalia told them with an unseemly grimace, she did not need the mental image of Chiron switching out dentures for his meals!

"I suppose I could not expect to keep it secret forever."

"So am I the one in the prophecy?"

Chiron tucked his bandages back into his pouch. "I wish I knew, Percy. You're not yet sixteen. For now we must simply train you as best we can, and leave the future to the Fates."

The Fates. I hadn't thought about those old ladies in a long time, but as soon as Chiron mentioned them, some-thing clicked.

"That's what it meant," I said.

Chiron frowned. "That's what what meant?"

"Last summer. The omen from the Fates, when I saw them snip somebody's life string. I thought it meant I was going to die right away, but it's worse than that. It's got something to do with your prophecy. The death they foretold—it's going to happen when I'm sixteen."

Chiron's tail whisked nervously in the grass. "My boy, you can't be sure of that. We don't even know if the prophecy is about you."

Percy's face settled into a grim expression for several daunting moments. The others all braced themselves for something, the room to bend to his power again, Percy to start screaming in pain as he remembered something, but he exhaled quickly enough and waved Will on. Still, the uncomfortable look lingered, and Percy knew he was still missing something. Maybe even something Chiron and Annabeth themselves didn't know about all of this.

"But there isn't any other half-blood child of the Big Three!"

"That we know of."

It took little effort for Nico to school his features and pretend he'd heard nothing of importance, he was used to being overlooked, and that had been plenty true at the time. He actually found himself smiling for a moment as the four not in the know glanced to Thalia, and back to the book. For the first time down here, he actually wasn't looking forward to these books ending. Anonymity was nice.

"And Kronos is rising. He's going to destroy Mount Olympus!"

"He will try," Chiron agreed. "And Western Civilization along with it, if we don't stop him. But we will stop him. You will not be alone in that fight."

A smile came naturally to Percy's face for that assured knowledge, but he still had an uneasy feeling about this matter. This prophecy mess made him almost wish the Camp would abandon him to this for a moment so nobody else would die like Tyson almost had, even if he knew he'd never make it alone.

I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but I remembered what Annabeth had told me. It would come down to one hero. One decision that would save or destroy the West. And I felt sure the Fates had been giving me some kind of warning about that. Something terrible was going to happen, either to me or to somebody I was close to.

That same shadow passed over Percy's face again, and they recognized it this time as grief. For a knowledge he no longer knew about, but a tormented memory none the less trying to overwhelm him. He worried at it now, not wanting to let go of the answer. Annabeth was tied into this key, something had happened he knew he must remember-

"Percy," Thalia said in a very long suffering kind of voice as she glared at the pile of books still to come before smacking his knee. "Don't force it," she finished sharply.

"Right," he jolted back to the here and now, still rubbing his temple, still wishing he could tear into all of those now and just find the one stupid page that would make all of this make sense, but he knew he couldn't. Even the ocean might not heal that, and if his father had wanted him to, he would have appeared here to do it himself without all the run around. There was something in these books he had to wait for.

Boy was he not the patient one.

"I'm just a kid, Chiron," I said miserably. "What good is one lousy hero against something like Kronos?"

Chiron managed a smile. '"What good is one lousy hero'? Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain said something like that to me once, just before he single-handedly changed the course of your Civil War."

"Let me guess, child of Hermes," Magnus sighed, finally convinced nothing would surprise him anymore.

He pulled an arrow from his quiver and turned the razor-sharp tip so it glinted in the firelight.

"Celestial bronze, Percy. An immortal weapon. What would happen if you shot this at a human?"

"Nothing," I said. "It would pass right through."

"The fletching and all?" Magnus's eyes glazed over in confusion for a moment as he imagined the immortal weapon on one side of him and the shaft stuck right through the middle. The weapon might just be the tip, but the rest of that could still hurt someone!

'Intent matters,' Hearth seemed to be saying that's exactly what would happen though as he shrugged.

"That's right," he said. "Humans don't exist on the same level as the immortals. They can't even be hurt by our weapons. But you, Percy—you are part god, part human. You live in both worlds. You can be harmed by both, and you can affect both. That's what makes heroes so special. You carry the hopes of humanity into the realm of the eternal. Monsters never die. They are reborn from the chaos and barbarism that is always bubbling underneath civilization, the very stuff that makes Kronos stronger. They must be defeated again and again, kept at bay.

Alex and Magnus exchanged amused looks. Hearth would swear Alex mouthed a name, but he couldn't follow exactly how that translated to dumbdoor.

Heroes embody that struggle. You fight the battles humanity must win, every generation, in order to stay human. Do you understand?"

It was a hopeless speech made to someone who would never give up, so Will somehow made it sound empowering. Every hero in that room straightened just a little in their seat in a silent promise those words would be true for them.

"I ... I don't know."

"You must try, Percy. Because whether or not you are the child of the prophecy, Kronos thinks you might be. And after today, he will finally despair of turning you to his side. That is the only reason he hasn't killed you yet, you know. As soon as he's sure he can't use you, he will destroy you."

"You talk like you know him."

Chiron pursed his lips. "I do know him."

I stared at him. I sometimes forgot just how old Chiron was. "Is that why Mr. D blamed you when the tree was poisoned? Why you said some people don't trust you?"

"Indeed."

"But, Chiron ... I mean, come on! Why would they think you'd ever betray the camp for Kronos?"

Chiron's eyes were deep brown, full of thousands of years of sadness. "Percy, remember your training. Remember your study of mythology. What is my connection to the titan lord?"

I tried to think, but I'd always gotten my mythology mixed up. Even now, when it was so real, so important to my own life, I had trouble keeping all the names and facts straight. I shook my head. "You, uh, owe Kronos a favor or something? He spared your life?"

"Percy," Chiron said, his voice impossibly soft. "The titan Kronos is my father."

"So?" Percy's scowl was ready to defend his teacher from anybody in here who had a problem with that. "That still never should have put any of this at Chiron's fault."

"Zeus wouldn't even admit Kronos was coming back, so it's still a piss poor excuse to kick him out," Alex agreed testily.

"Nobody at camp really got it either," Will soothingly agreed.

Alex watched Magnus carefully to see what he thought of that kind of news, but he just looked pained as he said, "man, that cannot be fun to live with. Hope Annabeth doesn't have that in common with him." He'd never found out why she left home again this time and was very worried his Uncle Fredrick was still making her life miserable just like that Crooked One was to his kid.

Nico watched Will hand the book to Jason still feeling a little baffled at the underwhelming response. He found it hard to believe not a single person at that Camp had really not blamed the centaur for his fathers actions, but Will was a nice guy. Maybe he just hadn't heard any of the bad rumors, or wasn't sharing them.

PJOPJOPJOPJO

*Question that has bothered me for years, is this supposed to be Blackjack? Percy says in the next book this is the same horse from Luke's ship yet Blackjack's male, when this is a mare. Did Rick change his mind and change the horse's gender, or were there more pegasi that escaped and Blackjack stuck around, which seems least likely as none others were mentioned. If the first, why not just keep Blackjack female? I'm so confused by this unimportant change.

My ultimate conclusion is Blackjack was the first genderfluid character and we never got to see any of Blackjack's feminine days. Sorry Alex.