#was he added later or did he survive or die elsewhere?

[radiodark]

lest you think i'd done actual research let me assure you all i'd done in this case was look the song up on wikipedia, but to post what's there in full because it's interesting:

The supposed site of Bessie Bell and Mary Gray's bower, and of their grave, is recorded in a c. 1860 Ordnance Survey name book, with the following comments:

This grave is situated on the north side of the Almond, and about half a mile West of Lynedoch house. Bessie Bell, according to the common tradition, was daughter to the Laird of Kinvaid, and Mary Gray, of the Laird of Lynedoch. Mutually attached in strong and tender friendship they lived together at Lynedoch, when the plague broke out in 1645; and to avoid it they retired to a romantic spot called Burn Brae, and there lived in a Bower in complete seclusion. A young gentleman of Perth, an admirer of both, visited them for the purpose, it is said, of supplying them with food, but unhappily he communicated to them the very pestilence from which they had fled. Falling victims to the disease, they were, according to custom, refused sepulture, in the ordinary burying-ground, and slept together as they had latterly lived.

oops jk now i've done some actual research -apologies to this innocent post i'm dropping all this on, and here's a recording of martin carthy singing it if you're curious but not familiar.

There is also this letter from 1781 recorded in the 1822 Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Child noted though that the year listed for the plague in the letter (1666) was likely off, since the plague didn't hit Scotland that year, and that 1645 was more likely.

and ooh the same Ordnance Survey wikipedia mentioned also adds the a description of the ruins of their of their home:

A small Brae in the woods about ¾ of mile west of Lynedoch celebrated for having once been the residence of Bessie Bell and Mary Gray. About the middle of this brae there is a heap of stones said to mark the site of their bower. The stones have been thrown there by visitors in order to do so.

So there were two landowners who contributed to the upkeep of Bell and Gray's graves- Major Barry, as he mentioned above, cleared the rubble, built up the graves, and added a stone marker. Not quite sure where this print hails from (perhaps by one C J Smith?) but it approximates Barry's description.

The other landowner was the very "love-made warrior" mentioned by the editor of Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in the footnote, 1st Baron Lynedoch Thomas Graham. Graham's wife predeceased him by five decades, and in his grief he threw himself into soldiering and rose to be Wellington's second in command. Graham inherited Lynedoch from Barry in 1787 and at some point, finding the wall dilapidated, had it removed and replaced with a stone parapet and 5' iron railings circling the graves, plus he covered them with a slab inscribed with the words, "They lived, they loved, they died."

The stone was soon covered with smaller stones brought by visitors, but there are many images online showing the railing still standing-

Here is the most recent photo I've seen, shared by the Almondbank Tibbermore Church on fb in 2020- they wrote, "The grave of Bessie Bell and Mary Gray who sadly died of plague in the 17th Century.

As the plague passed trust that Covid19 will also pass."

One has to break their modern perspective when looking back at history. Not on awful shit, but business of life stuff.

What if the reason so many songs say people died of lovesickness or sorrow in songs is that people back then actually assumed shit like that. If you didn't die cause a horse kicked your head in, or you got shot with an arrow, or you didn't die one of the like, 20 diseases they had names for. There's tons of death records way past when you would think that amount to "struck down by god."

People just fucking died. If a girl was pining for her man all the time, why not just assume thats what killed ger?

[stcrforged]

heidrun is a jötunn and the guardian of bears and nature.

BACKGROUND

blood was spilled upon the snow the day god of thunder slayed all of the jötnar in midgard, but one managed to survive this bloodbath. heidrun, being a descendant of skaði. heard the call of the wild that day and made the decision to leave the mountain. she always answered when nature whispered her name. the thrill of the hunt took her far away from the mountain and she didn’t notice the arrival of thor until it was too late. the screams travelled through the veins of the mountains, filling the earth with grief while the ground was painted red.

she ran and didn’t stop until her feet stepped in warm liquid. the sight before her was horrible. it was a nightmare that had come true. the snow was stained. there were corpses everywhere. no survivors. grief filled her and it hurted like nothing she had ever experienced.

she laid down in a cave at the foot of a mountain and cried. she cried for years and years. moss started to grow and at last there was nothing left of her. when the single tear had been shed, something else started to grow inside her. deep down below, something rumbled and filled her veins. rage. all this rage.

she broke free from the earth with a giant roar. the mountains shook and the sky cried for she was one of the last giants. this was her time and she would not rest until her kin had been avenged. thor and odin would die by her hands and the nine realms would know her name.

INVOLVEMENT

the all-father heard the whispers. one of the giants had survived, but he did not care. for what could one woman do against him and his realm? having a cruel sense of humor, he named the goat which produces mead for the einherjar after her. the mockery reached her, only adding more wood to the fire, the rage burning so much brighter. the sleep had been long and the world was changed. she needed to adapt of she wished to survive. it was in the shape of a bear, not human, she gathered tales and secrets. old and new ones. it was an attempt to avoid the drunk god and it was successful. she was never found.

it wasn't until many years later that she decided to leave midgard. she travelled to vanaheim. there she met freyr and the rest of the resistance. she offered her help. she wanted the all-father and the god of thunder to burn and this became the beginning of her revenge. the wild nature of the other realm was enchanting and she enjoyed her company. it felt satisfying, to help and at the same time interrupting odin’s plans. she was not often at the camp. her soul was wild and she liked to wander. it was easier that way. to help other and to fight enemies. but the day freyr and byggvir was captured by the einherjar, she returned. they were her friends after all and friends helped each other.

finding freyr and byggvir was not a problem for heidrun, as she was a descendant of skaði, the queen of the hunt. only byggvir managed to escape during the sudden eclipse. they retreated to the camp and it was in there she met two peculiar strangers. kratos and atreus. the young boy was in shock when he saw the frost giant. it was during their short journey to the temple were freyr was being hold captured that she learned the boy had another name. loki. he had many question which she understood. together they managed to free the god.

heidrun did not travel with kratos and the others to asgard. it was during the great battle she appeared, together with angrboda and fenrir. she wore a full jötnar armor and her form was different. she was as tall as thamur. it was impressive and terrifying. sometime during ragnarök she transformed into a giant bear. she fought together with fenrir for a while before her brown eyes caught sight of the god of thunder. the fire inside her ignited and she battled him. she managed to injure him a bit, but then the serpent arrived and his hates for thor was bigger than her, bigger than the world. she stepped aside and continue to fight elsewhere.

after ragnarök, heidrun decided to stay in midgard to help. she began repairing the jötnar’s old sanctury in the mountains. she also visited angrboda and helped with the animals (and to keep her grandmother in check).

SIGNATURE WEAPON

heidrun has a signature spear. the blade is long and sharp. it was one of the few things she found after the massacre of her people. lúnda has improved it with magic and other materials. since it contains magic, it can change size and it can be turned into a pendant which heidrun wears around her neck.

APPEARANCE

her body is covered with several tattoos. her fingers is decorated with runes. her two arms are decorated with a bear each and within the bears are even more runes. a black line runs from her lips to the end of her throat. she usually wears blue war paint one her cheeks as well.

OTHER

hasn’t spoken with the serpent since she doesn’t want to draw thor’s attention

hasn’t dared to travel to jötunheim since she doesn’t want to expose her realm to the all-father.

has a very lovely singing voice. it’s mighty and beautiful.

good with herbs, animals, hunting and tracking.

has met laufey in vanaheim.

[shijiujun]

Time for some BL/Danmei novel recs! 

You guys have probably (maybe) seen my novels list here - [X] - but it’s more for my own tracking than anything else, so here’s a brief list (I’ll probably do full ones of the ones I really love in another post, probably on Minmo).

The ones elaborated on below with the asterisks are the novels I’ve actually finished reading.

*since everyone more or less knows MXTX’s works - TGCF, MDZS and SVSSS, I’ll skip those!

1. SCI 迷案集 | SCI Mystery Series by 耳雅*

Summary: Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao are childhood friends and rivals that end up working together under the newly established SCI unit as co-leads, with Bai Yutang providing the brawn as Captain and Zhan Zhao the brains as Vice Captain and the team’s resident genius psychologist. They solve cases together and slowly unravel a wider conspiracy that involves their parents’ generation and beyond. At the same time they also realize that they’re meant for each other!

Other CPs: Bai Jintang (Bai Yutang’s older brother) & the medical examiner, Gongsun Ce, Bai Chi (Bai Yutang’s younger cousin) & magician Zhao Zhen, and at least three other gay pairings, one of which is considered another main couple of sorts from Vol. 2 onwards

Status: Incomplete (Began in 2010, author is still going on strong with one chapter every one or two months, we’re halfway through Vol. 5 right now and it’s been 10 years ;-; Love that the author is going on strong!! Everyone on JJWXC are like “please author it’s okay if you go slow as long as you keep going we’re here for you” and jfc I understand the fear of this not completing, also when will Vol. 5 be completed and printed?!! I need to complete the collection)

Translations: Unfortunately, only the first volume has been translated well so far on novel updates. The one on Wattpad seems to have caught up, but I would not recommend that one.

Drama/Live-Action: Season 1 was filmed and released in 2018 under the same name with slightly changed names for the characters. Season 2 was supposed to start filming this month but... oh well. First season basically covered Vol. 1 novel from start to end.

*I love this one only because it was my very first danmei and so it’ll forever have a special place in my heart, and also because it’s still ongoing so ya know, I relive how much I love this every month

2. 成化十四年 | Cheng Hua’s Fourteenth Year (The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty) by 梦溪石*

Summary: Tang Fan, a prefectural judge, and Sui Zhou, a high ranking officer in the Embroidered Uniform Guards, meet while trying to solve a murder case. Both of them end up partnering very well together, Sui Zhou ends up inviting Tang Fan to live with him, and the rest is history. Through their days living together and solving cases + a larger conspiracy involving the royal palace, they fall in love. Adding to this mix is also Wang Zhi, a powerful, young eunuch who befriends the pair, and the three of them basically help the crown prince to overcome challenges and his enemies to become the next Emperor

Other CPs: None XD

Status: Complete!

Translations: Ongoing on several websites. I’m only translating relationship highlights, but here’s an introduction post I did for it, if you guys would like somewhere to start without getting too invested - [X]

Drama/Live-Action: The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty was released earlier this year, directed by Jackie Chan and starring Darren Chen and Paul Fu, but cases are a little different and there are new characters in the show that weren’t from the novel etc.

3. 杀破狼 | Shapolang by Priest*

Summary: Set in a steampunk universe where flying boats named ‘kites’ and flying armour exist. Young teenager Chang Geng lives with his mother and stepfather - the former abuses him and the latter neglects him, and the only person that he cares about (and cares about him) is Shen Shiliu, his (very young) godfather. He realizes his identity as a royal prince when the Man tribe invades his city and Shen Shiliu, whose real name is Gu Yun, turns out to be an army general whose duty was to protect Chang Geng in secret (among other things). 

Chang Geng has been critically poisoned by his mother (who’s not actually his birth mother, if I recall she’s an aunt) which leads to him getting terrible dreams frequently with the end result of him being driven into insanity, while Gu Yun is half blind, half deaf due to poisoning + injury when he was much younger, and he can only regain his hearing and sight fully when he takes a medicine that is slowly losing its effectiveness with every dosage he has.

The both of them navigate learning about each other again, falling in love a few years later when Chang Geng is all grown up and also unravel conspiracies and fight bad guys (both external threats and internal as in the current Emperor and other parties) XD

*Note: The age old debate is that Gu Yun ‘preyed’ on and also ‘groomed’ Chang Geng, but I disagree and stand by the fact that Gu Yun was 90% of the time not around while Chang Geng grew from a teenager to a young adult as he was fighting wars elsewhere, while Chang Geng refused to stay at the Gu manor and insisted on running around, travelling on his own and seeing the world for a few years before they met again. And it was Chang Geng who’d always loved Gu Yun and devoted himself to caring about him, making advances on him etc. when he became an adult

Other CPs: Shen Yi (Gu Yun’s second-in-command) & Chen Qingxu (a renowned physician who ends up healing both Chang Geng and Gu Yun of their ailments) 

Status: Complete!

Translations: Fully translated the last I heard, it’s up there in the list of holy grail BL/danmei novels, so I’m sure it’s done hahaha.

Drama/Live-Action: Filming in progress!

*This is up there in the hall of fame for danmei novels for more than just the amazing content and writing - It’s also famous for being one of the most complex novels ever. I don’t know how the translations team did it because DAMN it was complex and I read all my novels in Chinese without much issues but I was honestly STRUGGLING WITH this one and I went through some existential crisis while reading because I was like ‘did I ever learn Chinese, am I even Chinese’ XD

4. 默读 | Silent Reading by Priest*

Summary: Luo Wenzhou, a police captain, and his team including best friend and partner Tao Ran, face a few challenging cases that end up being small parts of a larger conspiracy, and end up having to consult with Fei Du, a flamboyant, charming and flirty, young and rich CEO, who Luo Wenzhou describes as someone who is an expert at ‘crimes’. Not deduction, not solving crimes, but someone who is familiar with how the murderer or culprits would commit crimes. Both Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran know Fei Du well, because they first met when Fei Du was in high school, when he called the police because his mother had hanged herself in the house, and since then Tao Ran and Luo Wenzhou look out for him, spending holidays with him, giving him presents here and there. Luo Wenzhou and Fei Du overcome their misunderstandings of each other and fall in love while solving all the cases and the larger conspiracy behind it.

Other CPs: Tao Ran and someone he knew first from his school days or was a neighbour when he was younger, I can’t remember, but they meet again at a blind date and end up living in the same building on different floors XD

Status: Complete!

Translations: Complete!! There’s a huge post floating around on Tumblr with all the links (I can’t find it right now) and on Twitter you can also find the collated, epub versions etc.

Drama/Live-Action: Rights for a live-action was signed, no casting confirmation or set dates yet

5. 犯罪心理 | Criminal Psychology by 长洱*

Summary: Police captain Xing Conglian drags psychologist Lin Chen out of seclusion/hiding to solve a case that is indirectly tied to him. Lin Chen was involved in a case a few years ago that led to four deaths - these four victims were the sons/daughters of four of the five huge old-money (super rich) families in the country and these family members sought to make Lin Chen’s life very difficult for him afterwards by making him lose all the jobs he can find, by surveilling his every move and ensuring that he’s not happy etc. Because of that, he backed out of the police force as well and quietly lived as a school dorm administrator, which is where Xing Conglian finds him a few years later. Lin Chen fakes his death after the first case (not deliberately but kind of a by-the-way thing), but as fate would have it, he ends up meeting Xing Conglian on another case, and he decides that he’ll move in with him and also involve himself again, consequences be damned, and they fall in love!

Other CPs: None XD

Status: Complete!

Translations: I think it’s not complete yet.

Drama/Live-Action: None that I know of.

6. 死亡万花筒 | Kaleidoscope of Death by 西子绪* (MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE)

Summary: Supernatural setting where people who are about to die get a second chance to live. These individuals are either in the midst of a dangerous situation (for e.g. a shootout or a deadly mugging incident) or are about to get into accidents (for e.g. an entire bus going off a bridge or a chandelier dropping from above and crushing the person underneath) or are ill (recently diagnosed with cancer or are terminally ill with a condition for e.g.) - The list is endless, and in the situation between life and death, 12 doors will appear before them. 

It is said that once these individuals finish all 12 doors, they will truly get a second chance at life and survive whatever cause of death they were imminently facing. 

Each door represents a creepy, supernatural mystery, and Lin Qiushi finds himself in a strange place after opening a door when he was trying to enter his apartment one day. He meets Ruan Baijie, a beautiful, tall woman who he happens to meet, and they realize that in this strange world, he and other individuals who came through the door have to complete a given task, find a key and an exit door, and make it out alive. The others in the team (some of which have already gone through several doors) explain to Lin Qiushi, who is a first-timer, what the doors are about. 

The catch is, if they die inside the door, in the real world, they’ll die immediately, by accident, throwing themselves off a building, or just throwing up blood until they die (just to name a few)

On the first night, however, three people are slaughtered and eaten by a long-haired ghost/creature. The good news is, Ruan Baijie isn’t all that she seems to be (for one, she’s not exactly a woman) and she takes a liking to Lin Qiushi immediately.

Other CPs: None XD

Status: Complete!

Translations: I think it’s not complete yet!

Drama/Live-Action: None that I know of, but honestly, this novel would be fricking EPIC as a live-action, and really creepy, but this is my all-time favourite novel, I kid you not!!!!

*I’m definitely doing a longer and more detailed to-read for KOD on my translation account, gosh you guys have no idea how much I love this.

7. 当年万里觅封侯 | Those Years in Quest of Honor Mine by 漫漫何其多

Summary: Yu She and Gu Wan were close friends for a short period of time when they were younger, but unfortunately their identities and positions meant that they were opponents. Yu She’s family was for the Second Prince and Gu Wan was taken in by the Sixth Prince’s family, but in the end it was the Second Prince who ended up getting to the throne, while the Sixth Prince was accused of treason and died somewhere far away at war after being captured. Gu Wan’s only wish was to keep the Fifth Prince’s children - Xuan Rui and a pair of twins, Xuan Yu and Xuan Congxin safe, and so he moves them to another province and asks the Emperor (the Second Prince) to demote Xuan Rui’s status to prove that they are no threat to the Emperor, if only to stay alive for another day.

However, their days of hardship have only just begun, and Gu Wan decides to namedrop Yu She, whose family is so powerful now, and claims that Yu She loves him and that he was wooing Gu Wan back in the days they knew each other so that officials and others would treat the children under his care better. A few years pass and Yu She doesn’t expose Gu Wan. Gu Wan thinks they can go on like this forever, until the Emperor asks Xuan Rui and the twins to head back to the palace for a visit.

Gu Wan meets Yu She again, but the boy he knew, who was gentle, a stickler for rules and a proper, well-mannered person, has changed almost completely. Cue palace conspiracies again, brothers fighting for the throne, scheming consorts etc. XD 

Other CPs: None XD

Status: Complete!

Translations: I think it’s not complete yet but I’m not super sure on this

Drama/Live-Action: None that I know of!

*They came out with a new reprint edition three days ago and it’s gorgeous! And comes with amazing freebies, and I am a sucker and read it on the day of the printed novel release because I saw the art and loved it, wanted to see if the story was any good, and damn after chapter 2 I WAS GONE and then I checked out two copies from different stores for the two different sets of freebies 

--

A list of those I haven’t read but I see are highly raved about:

1. 二哈和他的白猫师尊 | The Husky & His White Cat Shizun by Meatbun

- I’ve already been spoiled and I know what goes on mostly, and there are a lot of warnings for a reason, but I’m still a fan, and let’s not get into the debate on the content, I know I have to read this but the angst level is apparently ridiculous, so I need like some mental preparation before I sit down for it.

2. 千秋 | A Thousand Autumns by 梦溪石

3. 烈火浇愁 | Lie Huo Jiao Chou by Priest

4. 将进酒 | Qiang Jing Jiu by 唐酒卿

- A really good group of translators picked this up initially on Twitter, but then assholes were complaining that they were being too slow and insisting that machine translation (MTL) did an equally good and faster job, so the OG dropped it, and then another nice team picked it up, but MTL team is still being an asshole XD I’ve heard really good things about this one, it’s apparently quite complex as well, I’d liken it to Shapolang level? But it might be even more complex (with a lot of politics and stuff), so much so that apparently the printed novel comes with a relationship/character chart so readers are at any point in time clear on the characters which is like amazing XD

[aspacepiratesprincess]

To Be One With The AllSpark

Gazing out of the large bay window, Bumblebee beheld Cybertron. It was positively radiant. After a milennia, it glittered once again. Iacon, the place Optimus Prime's upbringing itself glimmered around them as they had begun their rebuilding. War had been all the bots knew for so long; on both sides. Autobot versus Decepticon; at each other's throats for thousands upon thousands of years, and finally, the curtain came to a close. Bumblebee had survived the conflict. With little to spare but the metal on his frame, they began the long journey of repairing what once was.

Bee's time on Earth had been only a blip in the timeline, for him. It was so short, yet so palpable that every time he thought back on them, the memories felt fresh. He'd come and gone. His genesis there had been rocky.

He'd lost his memories, he'd lost his voice, was assaulted by the Decepticon known as Blitzwing, proceeding the human military...and weary from battle, he somehow found himself hiding in the garage of a human girl's some time later, surrounded by primitive technology. He was endeared by her; they became the best of friends in what felt like the short moment he was there. He'd protected her, mused with her, they'd had a new kind of fun together. Alien to him yet right. His cherished human friend. And at the end of it all, when the Decepticon signal tower had been deactivated and Optimus himself came rolling up that big red bridge, he was gone.

Yes, his time there was fleeting. He never saw Charlie again, after what transpired. His duties were elsewhere. He had responsibilities to his cause, prior engagement to his Autobot brethren. But he'd never forget her.

"Here, try this one," said Charlie, hopping onto the step-stool to pop a tape into the slot she'd improvised to him. She closed it, and suddenly, sound was playing, which Bee couldn't help but move to. He bobbed around and took in the alien noise, until she smiled and put another tape in. The Smiths, as she'd called it. Her favorite. Not his, though. He promptly ejected it and almost hit her in the face with the thing. His bad.

The footage was from his perspective, being replayed from his memory cells from over two hundred years ago. Would he still think about her at three hundred?

Charlie was with no doubt dead. She'd certainly passed away in his time after their war on Earth, but he could only hope that she didn't die in their crossfire. The door-wings on his back drooped at the thought, as did the receptors on his head as he observed his memories. While they were ending a war and working to rebuild their home, she had been quietly living out the rest of her mundane life. Human lives were so short. Bumblebee would always lament that.

His thoughts circled back to the brave Sam Witwicky, who had taken Charlie's place in Bumblebee's life twenty years later. Who was regarded highly among the Autobots for his help, and regarded highly by Bee for his character. Frends were to be made in the humans. Even if Earth had spawned their own fleshly Decepticons.

He was engrossed rewatching these sweet memories, the outliers being the ones in which Charlie was almost killed because of him, but he focused on the ones that made him happy. Giving the slip on an officer in a high-speed chase, demolishing the car of the person who'd disrespected her. Fun times. There wouldn't be anything like it again.

Behind him, Optimus entered the room, and the old bot stopped for a second, watching Bee as he bittersweetly reminisced.

Charlie, tiny compared to Bee, hugged him for the last time. She rested her chin on his shoulder. His spark fell as he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, careful to not squeeze.

Naturally, Bee had thought that their journey would continue together, because that was how it should have been, right? They were partners, now. They'd been through a lot in their short time together. What role she would come to play in their quest for the AllSpark if she had gone with him, he didn't even know. But parting from her there was akin to when he watched his homeworld become but a speck in the galaxy from his escape pod on his lonely mission. He would miss her.

"Thank you—for—giving me—my voice," chattered his radio, stitching together whatever he could scan. She shed a tear, and knowing that it was time to go, he transformed. Into a handsome yellow Camaro, which Charlie was shocked to find out. He laughed to himself when she asked in disbelief if he could have been a Camaro that whole time. Down on the bridge, he saw Optimus come into view, the bulky red and blue semi truck. That was his signal that it was farewell. His mirrors shifted to put Charlie in sight, and he pulled out over the hill, leaving her in his rearview.

Bee didn't even have the tech she had retrofitted to him then. A lot of his parts had been damaged and replaced, though his voice module not yet repaired...he didn't have anything of their friendship left but these recordings. Shaking his head, Bee shut off the footage and turned to the bot in the doorway, who he'd known had been there. Charlie was definitely gone, Bee thought. That prompted a question he hadn't yet thought of. Standing before him was none other than their leader, presumably having come to check one of the many monitors and terminals.

"Optimus," Bee started, looking up to his leader. His optics shifted to meet Optimus' who waited for him to continue. His next question took Optimus by surprise: "Do you know what happens to human beings when they die?"

Optimus stared down at his scout, unsure as to how to answer such a question. He did not know. Did humankind have sparks like they did? Was their "soul" the true equivalent to their spark? Optimus knew the fate of Cybertronians. When their life was extinguished, they would become one with the AllSpark. Perhaps even Primus was somewhere along that way. But he couldn't say with any certainty just what happened to humans when they passed. They had their version of God. Was it all the same being, wrapped in different cloaks? Or were Humans and Cybertronians fundamentally different down to the core?

Optimus stood tall as ever, yet mellowly admitted: "I do not know, Bumblebee."

There was a pause in which Bee thought. The words eventually came to him. "Does that mean there's a chance?" he asked, dubious with a glimmer of hope in his bright optics.

Though stoic, Optimus's expression indicated a questioning of what Bee was saying. "A chance she has joined the AllSpark?" he finished for him. It was almost absurd. But Optimus truly did not know. "Only Primus and The Cube know such things, I'm afraid," he said. Bee visibly deflated, drawing away slightly from him. Optimus had heard his tales of this "Charlie", who had woken Bee from stasis and inadvertently brought their plans back on course. Who knew how long he would have remained powered down in that junkyard if she hadn't? Optimus wasn't sure of the extent to which Bee had gotten attached to her, but now that the fighting was over and Bee had the time to feel sorry over things of the past, it seemed to have come back to bother him.

After all, nobody liked a question gone unanswered.

Optimus put a gentle hand on the scout's shoulder, a gesture that he'd adopted over the years. "But, it is of my personal belief that we Cybertronians and humans are not so unlike. Though we may have different vessels, on the inside, we may the same. I think her...spark has been reintegrated, as we will all be, one day."

The unknown wasn't all appealing to Bee, but Optimus's wisdom went undisputed for the humble scout. Bee could be content with that answer. If they would all end up at the same place in the end, he didn't need to worry. Death was just a part of life, and it was coming for him some day, too. Thousands, maybe millions of years...but his spark would indeed be reabsorbed, in due time.

_________________________________________

I know the Autobots didn't return to Cybertron at the end of Bayformers, but what if we mashed that and Transformers: Prime's story together a bit? Idk I just like the scene of Bee looking out at Cybertron lol. The setting doesn't matter to this blurb, anyway.

The original version of this is still on my page here but I added some stuff and reposted because I felt like it :)

[marmarparadoxa]

Hello!! I want to raise just a couple of points: 1. I know lots of people say “Erwin > humanity” for Levi, because back during Midnight Sun (Serumbowl) he prioritized Erwin’s comfort over humanity’s chances. By letting Erwin die, it meant he was ready to cripple their future. What do you think?

2. What always bothered me is that BEFORE he used to say he would continue his fight for freedom to give meaning to his soldiers’ deaths. But NOW he explicitly said the thing that can give meaning to their deaths is if he kills Zeke (ch112) - and not fighting for humanity’s freedom. So it seems like outwardly he is fighting for their island like a good little soldier, but deep inside that wouldn’t be satisfying to him, because his main objective is revenging Erwin&Co by killing Zeke (the infamous promise) - that’s what Isayama implied, imho. The two goals were conveniently locked together for most of the story (“I will keep Zeke alive for now only because I can kill him later”, “Killing Zeke will stop the Rumbling” etc), so that Levi doesn’t have to choose what’s more important to him, and his obsession and reason for fighting are never challenged.

Hello! Sorry for the late reply. Let’s try to untangle all of what you have raised up here. 

1. I find that expression a quite misleading way to phrase this matter. The fact is, while I do think that Levi’s choice was eventually dictated by his ‘personal feelings’, the said feelings being related to Erwin’s comfort, I don’t think that this choice generally meant “crippling humanity’s future” , nor do I think that it meant that for Levi. What follows from above is that you can’t draw from that the conclusion that Levi was ready to undermine the future of humanity. 

- As regards the ‘personal feelings’ part: Erwin, beyond being their invaluable, unwavering commander, the one who led them so far, till that tragic end in Shiganshina, was the person who gave Levi a new purpose in his life, that Levi followed till then. And even if it was him who sent Erwin riding to his death, Levi wasn’t ready to lose him yet. In my opinion, when Levi said that humanity cannot succeed without Erwin, that they needed him if they wanted to defeat the titans, what was coming out in that particular moment was not exactly his rational judgement, but rather his resistance to let go of one of his dearest ones, such a significant person in his life. Certainly I’m not claiming that Levi didn’t think of Erwin as a formidable asset in their struggle (because he obviously thought that, and Erwin was irreplaceable as a matter of fact), but simply that it was basically his emotions spilling out there. Eventually, however, Levi chose to let him rest, because he understood that by letting go his dream, Erwin had finally found release, and that reviving him, Levi would have simply put another chain on him, forcing him to be the “devil” they needed again. And eventually, it was this that dragged Levi to choose not to revive him, or better, to choose this place and time, for Erwin’s death. This way, he let him go free.

- As regards the consequence for humanity’s future: But even if by choosing to let Erwin die Levi consciously deprived them of the brilliant strategic acumen and relentlessness of their commander, I don’t think he believed that by doing this he was jeopardising the future of humanity. I think that for the following reasons.

Choosing to not give the injection to Erwin, he gave it instead to Armin. And Isayama made sure to let us know that Levi did recognize Armin’s potential. We saw Levi overheard that EMA convo, when he first heard Armin talking of his dream, something he thought back right before making his decision. Also, as all others, Levi was aware of the strategic talent which Armin displayed any number of times in the middle of difficult battles and situations. As Levi later told him, it is true that he has a power that no human has.

Still, at that time Armin was still very young and lacked experience. However, when Levi was left alone on that roof, and eventually chose to let Erwin go, he had seen Hange, he knew they were still alive. And besides the fact that since Hange were alive, it meant that he wouldn’t be the only veteran left, he wouldn’t be left alone, Hange was in fact the very person that Erwin designated as his successor as commander of the Survey Corps, the person Erwin deemed capable of leading them, when he would have been gone. So Levi knew that even if he would have chosen to let Erwin die, they wouldn’t have been left without a guide, there would have been someone able to lead them, someone with a brilliant mind and a years-long experience. Hence, someone able to face whatever was waiting for them. 

Summing up, while I believe that Levi’s choice was ultimately driven by his personal feelings for Erwin, I don’t think that this choice meant undermining humanity’s chances, not generally speaking, neither, more importantly for the purpose of this discussion, from his point of view. Therefore, he choice he made doesn’t  by any means mean that he was “ready to cripple their future”.

2. “NOW he explicitly said the thing that can give meaning to their deaths is if he kills Zeke (ch112)”

Well, yes. Levi thinks that he’ll be able to prove the meaning of their deaths, by killing Zeke. However, this isn’t referring to all of his comrades’ deaths - rather, Levi here is referring only to the deaths of those who perished in that desperate ride toward the throwing-rocks Beast Titan back in the battle at Shiganshina. If we limit ourselves to speak about those deaths, I think it’s true that Levi thinks that he could prove the meaning of them only by taking down Zeke, only by fulfilling his promise to Erwin, thus avenging their sacrifice. And it is true that Levi longs for the day when he’ll be able to do it.

But their deaths are not the only ones that Levi bears the weight of proving the meaning of.  Levi saw so many of his comrades dying in their struggle against the titans, in their fighting for humanity’s survival. And Levi’s struggle in facing the fact that that hope they all died for was now turning against them, turning out to be just a delusion, shows us that he still thinks that the only way to give meaning to all of those sacrifices is always that: to carry on his comrades’ will, by keep on fighting for what they and he always fought for, or humanity’s freedom. And here Levi’s having a hard time, because how is he supposed to accomplish it, how is he supposed to make sense of that, if what they believed in turned out like that?

Since Eren started the Rumbling, then, all of what Levi has done and said persuades me that he does want to stop the Rumbling, as much as all others on that airplan. In chapter 133, he proposed Hange’s plan of killing Zeke as the most feasible way to stop the Rumbling, a moment later in the Paths he asked Eren to stop, after that, it was he who asked Armin what they’re gonna do now.

Beyond that, there’s no way that Levi can stand by and watch while the whole humanity is being trampled and slaughtered, it goes against his personality and values. I send you back to this answer by @oldsummerdream, where very pertinent points are made about it.

Regarding Isayama's Q&A, I don't think it has added anything new. We know that Levi wants to fulfill his vow to Erwin, we know that he bears obsessive feelings toward Zeke (and in the abovementioned post, you can also find a plausible explanation to why Levi clings so much to Zeke and to his promise). It is not implied though that these are his only motivations and that he doesn’t care about humanity’s future.

Regarding the fact that these two goals (killing Zeke so as to fulfill his vow to Erwin, killing Zeke as a means for stopping Eren and the Rumbling) are conveniently locked together, or they’re not mutually exclusive, it is true. I think it’s worth noticing that Levi didn’t immediately try to kill Zeke when he got to the island, but it’s true that he could count on the fact that he’d only have to wait a little more, and eventually get his revenge. And now, killing Zeke seems indeed the easiest way to stop this massacre.

However, given what I said above, there’s enough for me to believe that Levi’s priority is still that of fighting for humanity, and only then getting his revenge.  If it’s not enough for you, or for many others, though, the upcoming chapters might provide us with a certain answer. In the event that the Alliance finds out that killing Zeke won’t stop the Rumbling, they would have to direct their efforts elsewhere, on Eren, and possibly Levi would have to choose what’s more important to him. But it’s not granted that we will be given an enlightening moment like that. We just have to wait and see.

[trustsalvatorewriting]

wasteland, baby! | kol mikaelson - chapter eleven

Summary: Kol makes a deal with the Hollow to revive the first woman he ever loved. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as planned.

Trust’s Note: Please like and reblog! I hope you enjoy. I added some Rebekah and Aniya content for y’all <3

Word Count: 2,300

Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight | Chapter Nine | Chapter Ten

❝ forgive me, for the things i did but most the ones i did not ❞

KOL WATCHED SILENTLY as Keres set a grimoire in front of him. The small building in the cemetary was lit up only by faded sunlight and several candles, scattered around the area. Aniya lifted an eyebrow at the witch, critical eyes watching for any reason to turn away from Keres and search elsewhere. Her mouth twitched when Keres suggested Henry Pearl's sacrifice, posture shifting at the smug look on the witch's face. Her fists clenched together, body void of any amusement as she prepared her attack against the younger witch.

Kol cleared his throat, stepping in front of Aniya. Frankly, he wasn't sure who he was protecting. He was only sure that there seemed to be a smug look on Keres's face. He narrowed his eyes, but quickly replaced it with a polite smile.

"The human is off the table, unfortunately. Perhaps we should move onto some other possible victims," Kol suggested. He all but shoved the grimoire in Keres's direction, a quiet suggestion that she find another solution.

It was an odd dynamic. Physically, Keres was much older than Aniya and Kol. She was a dark-skinned woman in her mid-to-late twenties, while Aniya and Kol were frozen in their teenage years. Still, Kol found himself a bit offended. Keres would have known to offer some respect to her elders.

Aniya lifted her chin, hand lightly pushing Kol to the side. She stared Keres in the eyes, as if daring the witch to lie to her. "You're quite insistent, aren't you? So willing to sacrifice my Henry for a spell you wouldn't stand to benefit from. Keres, he has no power; no ties to the supernatural world -- and yet, you suggest we trade his life for a thousand year old immortal witch?"

She had a sharp tongue for a girl her size. It was odd. She was different from the girl he'd found curled up in the foyer that night. Aniya Grover was strange, in a manner that made his lips curl at the edges and eyes glitter in amusement. She'd had a chameleon soul; an inner indecisiveness that was as wide and wavering as the ocean. Had it been Henry Pearl that awoke this fire within her?

Whatever the answer, Kol's stomach twisted at the seams. The thought of her wrapped in his arms was enough to make him gag. He couldn't bring himself to understand why.

Keres turned the grimoire in Aniya's direction, a smug look painted across her face as she pushed it toward her. "Sacrificed are more likely to work when the emotional bond is the same between the victim and the vessel. Tyaag spells are known for failing. It's more likely to work if you care as much about the person you're sacrificing, as you do the person you're trying to bring back. So, a best friend, a brother, a boyfriend..."

It registered then that Aniya had none of those. She'd only had Henry. Kol shifted his stance. If Keres's words were true and she chose to sacrifice someone she cared for, she could only choose Henry. As far as Aniya was aware, the Mikaelsons couldn't be killed. And regardless, she'd said once that they had all been family to her in her human days. Surely she wouldn't throw that away in exchange for a human she'd just met.

Surely she wasn't that idiotic.

Aniya's jaw clenched, a bitter smile spreading across her face. Her dark eyes bored into Keres's. "No."

Keres's eyes glimmered with delight, a smile spreading across her red lips. Her tone shifted, mocking the girl in front of her. "So you'll let an innocent human die in exchange for your brother? You are cruel, Aniya."

"He is innocent." Her confidence never seemed to waver. Her right hand clenched into a fist, the whites of her knuckles beginning to peak through her olive skin.

"Perhaps we should focus our attention on smaller spells," Kol cut in, the rising tension in the room seeming to eat away at him. "How many humans do we need for the memory spell? Fifteen? Fifty?"

"Five." Keres stared at him as if he'd gone mad. "One for each of the Mikaelson siblings."

Aniya questioned, "I thought Finn died."

"Mikaelsons never properly die. We never learned," Kol responded, then turned back to Keres. He would explain later. "Five humans in exchange for decades of memories. It's quite simple, don't you think?"

"You were humans when your memories were erased, so we only need to erase human memories." Keres explained. "They all need to be eighteen at the youngest and in their thirties, at the oldest."

Aniya frowned. "And what of Mikael and Esther? We won't be returning theirs?"

Kol nearly laughed at her question, the past centuries replaying in his brain. Mikael had hunted he and his siblings for centuries, in the hopes of murdering Niklaus and doing God knows what with the rest of them. He'd been killed and brought back countless times, once in particular as a result of Davina Claire.

Esther had been murdered by Niklaus a thousand years ago. She was killed and brought back several times as well, and each time she'd carried a sort of vendetta against her own children. It was as if she'd made it her life's goal to wipe them from the face of the Earth. But then, it had been Esther that had resurrected him in the body of a witch, and it had been Esther that introduced him to Davina.

Part of him resented her for it. Davina had made him a better person, that much was true. He'd fallen in love with her, convinced himself that the moon and sun rose and fell by her will alone. She had bewitched him, in ways he could not bring himself to justify nor understand. It had been Esther that introduced the pair; but then, it had been their meeting that caused Davina's death in the first place.

A heavy weight seemed to drop onto his chest. Aniya would never know the cruelty of his mother's actions. He might have envied her for it, but there seemed to be this part of him that felt a bit relieved.

"You're better off assuming they've truly died," Kol said after a moment.

"You two really have a thing for being melodramatic. Y'all deserve each other," Keres stated. "I'll get everything you need for the spell. Bring me five people, and I'll erase one year of their lives for each year you knew the Mikaelsons."

Aniya lifted an eyebrow. "And how do you benefit from this?"

"My people have lost their ties to the ancestors. We have no power and no idea how to practice earth magic. Tyaag magic is the closest thing we've got, so I wanna learn more about it," She answered almost too perfectly.

"These spells can't be practiced by ordinary witches--"

"So we'll make a new branch of magic," Keres shut her down immediately. "One where we don't have to die to become all powerful."

Aniya's face twisted into a glare, baring her teeth at the witch. Kol narrowed his eyes at Keres, immediately understanding the gravity of the situation. Tyaag magic had been forgotten, buried and disrespected for centuries. It had originated from polytheistic beliefs, with the hope of appeasing their gods. Aniya and her brother had given their lives to sacrificial magic and rituals, and now it would be stolen and forgotten without so much as a thought.

"People have lost their lives to practice these rituals," Aniya said. "You mean to tell me that you're willing to put the lives of children on the line, for the sake of convenience. You have the ability to practice earth magic, why not use it?"

"I'm trying to help you. Why ask so many questions?" Keres spoke as if Aniya were a child, trying to put her back in her place. Aniya seemed to fall back under Keres's gaze.

"I'll provide you your humans. I'll need only a few days."

She turned on her heel and made her way out of the cemetary building. Kol stared after her, a small voice in his head screaming to defend her against Keres. Before he could so much as let out a word, Keres said, "She's stubborn. You might want to find your humans sooner. I'm sure Klaus will figure out you're lying eventually, and we wouldn't want that."

'No.' Kol would be daggered and shoved in a box before he could begin to defend himself. In regards to Aniya, there was no telling how he would react to a betrayal from someone so foreign, and vulnerable. For all he knew, she would be killed as a form of punishment. His consequence for disobeying direct orders.

Niklaus had become a madman, a dictator over the years. Perhaps he'd spent a bit too much time with King Louis. Whatever the reason, it occurred to Kol that there was no telling how he would respond to twenty years of ancient memories being thrust toward him. He had hoped the twins had been close with Niklaus in their past lives. Then he might be a bit more lenient about completely slaughtering the poor girl.

Kol nodded half-heartedly at Keres and made his way out of the cemetary. Maybe there would be some humans in his path, grieving over a lost lover or family member. Maybe they would be heartbroken enough to wish to forget their grief, exchanging it for a bit of amnesia and the aching feeling that they were missing something... indespensable.

To be quite honest, Kol wasn't sure how he found himself in front of Davina's grave, how he'd somehow managed to wander there despite the exit being several paces away. He was met with a crack in the cement, the old stone beginning to harden, immortalizing the girl that lied behind it. He knew that he could not make anyone understand the insurmountable grief he held in his chest. He could not make anyone understand what was happening inside him, and he could not begin to explain it himself.

Immortals such as he should not have been able to love the way humans do. Humans loved based on survival, lived viscerally and vulnerable out of fear of their own morality. With the destruction of the stake, Kol feared nothing of the sort. Davina had feared it all, and she had loved him regardless of his dirtied fingers and blood-drenched lips. She had saved him, resurrected him when his family had all but forgotten him once more.

He knew he should have had the courage to move on. Humans die, witches die. It was what they were made to do -- and yet, he simply couldn't bring himself to let go of the girl that had loved him so dearly. The one that had given so much to ensure he would come back. He owed her that much.

It was when he turned the corner that he was pulled out his thoughts, attention now focused on a drunken man tossing old beer at a gravesite. Kol lifted an eyebrow.

"Excuse me." He made his way towards the man. The old man couldn't have been any younger than forty, perhaps fifty. He would be able to fill in for Finn. Nearly thirty years of memories shouldn't have too much of an affect on a bastard such as this.

"Oh, hello," He slurred, words tainted with a heavy Swedish accent. The man moved recklessly, beer spilling out of the bottle and landing on the ground. Kol wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Please, ignore me. I'm simply having a drink with my wife."

"Yes. Well, you're being quite disrespectful to her memory. Most men would kill to have had a happy marriage," Kol paused for a moment, his eyes fixating on the man's bruised knuckles. A bitter smile formed on his face. "Tell me about your wife."

"Ah, she was beautiful. We met in secondary school, you see. She was this tall brunette girl, quite beautiful in her own way. Our parents despised each other,  a sort of Romeo and Juliet-esque situation. We were together for two years before we ran off to America, claiming it was for university purposes." The old man had a tendency to stop in the middle of his sentences, taking a short sip of his drink. He let out a laugh. "My son does love to keep me away from this stuff. Says it's bad for me, the fucking idiot."

"Your son," Kol repeated, gaze flickering to his knuckles once more. His mouth began tasted of blood, a hatred beginning to sear inside of his chest. "Tell me, how did you manage to end up in New Orleans?"

"Ah, it was our first stop. Woman wanted to go to Tulane or whatever it was, but she chose me over her studies. Smart move on her behalf, perhaps one of her only ones," The man chuckled. "A while after, we found she was expecting. We had a boy, and she became ill a few years later. I stayed by her side during that time. I had promised her till death, of course. She was ungrateful nevertheless."

"How's your son?"

"Ah, he's all right now. Twenty-three, but works in a diner like his mother. Fucking idiot doesn't know how to make something of himself," He scoffed. "Sleeps all day, too."

It clicked then. Kol felt as though he'd ate the world raw. He nodded to himself and grabbed the man, wrapping a hand tightly around his mouth and squeezing until he went limp in his arms.

[29-pieces]

Whumptober day 21 - Good Omens

Day 21: Hypothermia Fandom/Setting: Good Omens, post Apocalypse Read on AO3 Read on FF.net For nellsnail56, hope everything’s okay, hon!

~*~

Aziraphale watched his breath evaporate into the bleak emptiness of the forest in a puff of condensation. He imagined the breath carrying all the way up to Heaven, maybe even to God's ear Herself, hearing his desperate plea for help. It didn't work like that, of course. For one thing, Heaven wasn't actually up so much as elsewhere, and for another thing, God didn't make a habit of rescuing him from these dreadful scrapes he always seemed to find himself in.

She did, however, seem to have a habit of ensuring Crowley was in the right place at the right time.

Aziraphale hoped and prayed that trend would continue today. Soon. Er, rather immediately in fact.

The angel shivered again, eyelids fluttering. He knew he had to stay awake or he would discorporate for sure... but... he was just so tired... and he was just so cold... His head lolled to the side and the jarring sight of the dead human nudged him back awake. The hunter's expression was frozen into a face of shock, marred by a bullet hole in the center of his forehead. It was so cold that the human's face was already blue, no blood trickling from the wound. Aziraphale felt only a very little bad for having killed the man, but then again not so terribly bad that he wouldn't do it again.

"C-Crowley," Aziraphale chattered, adding his pain-filled voice to the breath carrying his prayers to whoever might hear. "H-h-help... h-help me..."

Though he knew it was useless, Aziraphale tried once again to lift himself off the icy ground. Enormous white wings splayed over the forest floor on either side of him, feathers tipped in frost that might otherwise have been beautiful if he didn't hurt so awfully. One wing curled up slightly at the command of his swiftly numbing muscles; the other was useless. Aziraphale twisted his head to look at that one, the one that stretched through a small trickle of water at the bottom of the gully he was in. The ice had already frozen over the appendage, attaching him to the ground. And he had no strength to pull himself free.

Closing his eyes, Aziraphale willed a miracle to thaw the ice, warm his frozen bones, and wash away all the pain. The metal ring wrapped around his wrist thrummed, preventing him from using the slightest bit of angelic power to help himself. Aziraphale choked on a sharp sob of pain and gave up. The hunters might not have succeeded in their hopes of killing him themselves in this twisted hunt of theirs, but it was going to end him all the same. Frozen and helpless, alone in the middle of the winter woods, and oh gracious this was never how he'd imagined his end.

Aziraphale tried to force his eyes open, but his lashes were already icing over and it took too much work to fight them open. At least, he thought fuzzily, the cold was starting to drift away, replaced with a blessed nothingness.

~*~

"Aziraphale!" Crowley bellowed into the evening gloom, shivering violently and cursing everything in sight. Killing the human hunters who had kidnapped Aziraphale for their game had warmed him for a moment, but he was cold-blooded and it was actual torture being out here in sub-freezing temperatures. He couldn't turn back though, not until he'd found the angel.

Drawing a bit of Hellfire from his connection to the Pit, Crowley tried not to shudder at the evil keeping him warm. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted again. "ANGEL! Where are you?"

The hunters had been only too happy to answer his questions once they saw his fangs and his fury; they'd sworn the hunter with first dibs at taking a crack at the angel hadn't come back, which at least meant he hadn't won. They were out here somewhere. Leaves crunched, the frozen forest litter crackling under Crowley's feet as he half-jogged through the woods in growing desperation. It was getting colder by the minute and he knew if Aziraphale had been more or less rendered human, out here without proper protection from the cold, he would never survive the night.

Then he'd be sent to Heaven, and Gabriel wasn't likely to allow him another body, and they'd probably toss him in a jail cell and throw away the key. Did Heaven even have a jail? Well, they'd probably build one for the angel who'd screwed up the Apocalypse. Either way, Crowley had to find him, fast.

The demon's eyes swept over the landscape, watching the colors rapidly turning cooler. A hunting blind was tucked into a little copse of trees packed tight together, traces of heat still inside from where the hunter had been sitting, waiting. So it must not have been too long ago, or the colors would have faded into the rest of the background. Crowley stumbled to a stop and looked wildly around. He was on a ridge. If the hunter had shot Aziraphale from here...

Crowley hurried to the edge to peer over. His eyes widened.

"Angel!"

Aziraphale lay on his back, unmoving, as Crowley scrambled down the embankment to reach his friend. The angel's eyes were closed, but Crowley's reptilian vision showed him the barest hint of warmth still. There was time, he told himself over and over. There was time, he could still save him. The demon splashed to a stop next to the motionless angel, taking in the predicament. The human was very dead, a crossbow at his feet and a pistol missing from an ankle holster. But there were no wounds on Aziraphale. It seemed that the hunter had missed; the angel had not. Good on him.

Nothing else was good, though. Aziraphale's wing was frozen to the ground in the pool of water, the fingers of his outstretched hand a sickly blue-grey of frostbite. His wrist still bore the metal ring that blocked his powers, which Crowley immediately ripped away and crushed into pieces in his furious grip. Carefully, the demon used just enough Hellfire to melt the ice around Aziraphale's wing, sweating with the concentration of not letting a single bit of the flame come near the actual feathers. It was ticklish business but he managed to free the wing (with a good bit of ice still attached, but they could worry about that later).

Without a second of hesitation, Crowley gathered the terrifyingly cold angel up in his arms and flew.

~*~

Bitter cold.

Mostly frozen water running over his wing, trapping him in ice.

Chattering teeth, pins and needles in his skin.

Everything fading, confusion...

...nothingness...

Crowley.

Crowley? Aziraphale blinked his eyes blearily open to see the demon hovering over him. He seemed to be saying something, but Aziraphale could only stare blankly. The words washed over him, something about miracles, something about heat. The angel considered reaching out to calm his obviously distressed friend, but his joints felt locked in place. He held still, not even moving when Crowley waved a hand in his direction. Aziraphale wasn't sure what he'd done—wasn't that the demon's way of miracling things?—though some part of his foggy mind told him the wet fabric against his skin had disappeared. His wings were still out though. They were so cold. He should really put them away, the sodden feathers couldn't be a good thing, but Aziraphale was too tired.

Now Crowley was crawling onto the couch with him, wrapping his body around Aziraphale's, which felt like it ought to be improper since Aziraphale had nothing on, but that thought was too much trouble to articulate. The demon's teeth were chattering; the poor dear, he had to be freezing, he got cold so easily, and yet his body was like fire against Aziraphale. It burned, and the angel instinctively tried to pull back with a whimper.

"S-sorry, angel, it's all I've g-got, you g-gotta warm up or you'll d-d-d... you'll d-die."

Hmm, the words were starting to make sense again. Aziraphale didn't move as Crowley pulled a heavy blanket over them, his heart sluggishly pounding in his ears as though the blood was just starting to flow anew. A minute later, he whimpered again as his fingers and toes began to burn in earnest.

"Ang-angel, will you p-please come b-back?" Crowley groaned next to him. His skin felt like it was pulsating against Aziraphale's, a current of something that felt too much like Hell for comfort. Where he made contact with Aziraphale's wings, the slightly charred scent of smoldering feathers filled the cabin.

The hunters' cabin. Yes, there had been hunters. They'd put that horrid bracelet on him, it kept his wings exposed and the rest of him helpless- wait, he'd been in the woods. Aziraphale blinked slowly, looking around again.

"Crow-ley?" he croaked.

The demon froze, then lifted himself off of Aziraphale to regard him. The absence of his warmth made Aziraphale shiver, so Crowley quickly lay back down.

"You with me, angel?" he demanded. "C-can you miracle your wings away yet?"

Oh. Yes, he really ought to do that. They were so cold, putting them back in the ethereal plane would be good, wouldn't it? Or could he just use a miracle to warm them up? Oh... oh, that's what Crowley had been saying when he first woke. Yes, he was cold, he needed to warm himself up- good lord, Crowley was freezing himself to get Aziraphale warm! The angel inhaled sharply as his mind struggled through the hypothermia-induced fogginess.

He had to close his eyes and focus with all his might, but Aziraphale finally felt his wings disappear from the physical plane, and much of his discomfort along with them.

"C-Crowley," he murmured, teeth starting to chatter now as his body seemed to regain feeling, the cold coming back with a vengeance. "S-so... c-c-cold..."

"Good," the demon said. "Good, that m-means it's working..."

"You're f-freezing..."

Crowley snorted and didn't move. "Leave it to you to worry about that," he muttered. "C-can you miracle the rest yet?"

Aziraphale tried, he really did, but he was still hazy and exhausted and after a second he slumped and jerked his head to indicate a negative. "S-sorry," he whispered. "You d-don't have to-"

"S-shut up. Is the H-hellfire too much? K-keeping it low but y-you need heat..."

Aziraphale shook his head. The Hellfire glowing under Crowley's skin did hurt, but so did his hands and feet even without that, burning worse as feeling returned.

But he was alive. The Hellfire and shared body heat did the trick, along with the more ordinary fire Crowley eventually got up to stoke, and the dozens of thick flannel blankets he procured from nowhere, and the hot tea he all but poured down the angel's throat to help warm him from the inside. Gradually the mind-fog disappeared and Aziraphale tiredly brushed the rest of the cold away. Eventually he would want to go home and get out of this awful place.

But for now, he was finally warm, and well taken care of, and Aziraphale closed his eyes to the sight of Crowley settling in beside him to watch him through the night.

[flutteringphalanges]

Hold Me Tight Under The Moonlight

Summary:  It's 1945 and the war with Germany is officially over. While all of Whitby has its own means of celebrating, Count Dracula has something a little bit more intimate planned for his night with Agatha. A surprise that surely will be memorable.

Chapters: 1/1 *Complete*

Pairing: Dracula/Agatha Van Helsing

A/N: Just a little, fluffy fic for you folks! Thank you again to my partner-in-crime, @mitsukatsu​, who makes all of this possible! She is responsible for this glorious cover! Please go to her tumblr and check out all of the fantastic art she does!  I hope you guys like it! Feedback is greatly loved and appreciated! -Jen

Read on FFN and AO3

It was well into the night and yet, the atmosphere in the old tavern, Prospect of Whitby, was only growing. Cheers and loud conversations intermingled, all sharing the same theme. The war was finally over. Hitler was dead. Germany had surrendered. And soon, loved ones, some separated for years, would be reunited. It was cause for celebration. Peace would once again find England.

"Can I get you anything, Miss?"

Agatha turned her head to see a young man standing before her. A soldier. Handsome, with a wide smile and the brightest green eyes she'd ever seen. His accent was clearly American. New York perhaps? She'd never sampled one before, as tempting as it always was. Unlike someone, impulse control and resisting temptations came easy to her. But even though she fought it, her throat always burned making it painfully aware of her true nature.

"Oh, I'm quite alright," she assured him with a soft smile. "I don't drink."

"It's the end of the war," the young man laughed. "Can't you make an exception? Why, I…"

"She said she doesn't drink," came a low voice.

The scent of fear knitted with the sweet aroma of the soldier's blood. Agatha didn't need to turn around to know who stood looming over her. She chewed on her lower lip, biting back a grin as Dracula glared menacingly at her suitor. So overprotective. Almost annoyingly so. But she'd be lying if she didn't admit that it was charming in its own way. Not that he ever had a reason to be so possessive. Her heart, though still for decades, belonged to him. Just as his centuries old one was her's.

"I'm sorry," the man stumbled over his words. "I didn't realize she…"

"Wasn't alone?" Dracula finished. "Far from it. Now I highly suggest that you run along. It's never good to stray away from a party. Especially when it's so late."

Agatha rolled her eyes and turned forward, listening as the human scuttled off. She pretended to be interested in a spot on the counter as the other vampire sat beside her. It was rather surprising that it took him this long to locate her.

"Well, I didn't expect to find you here," he commented. "When I invited you for a drink, I hadn't intended on going to a pub."

"I know," she replied, trying to feign disinterest. "I desired a change in scenery. The war is over. What a time it truly is to be alive."

"Yes, yes, I know," the other vampire waved dismissively. "But with such festivities, we are missing out on a great opportunity to savor the diverse nightlife." He always had quite a way to put things. Even making the idea of sucking blood from a helpless human appealing. A trait she both despised and desired in him. "Won't you join me?"

The former nun turned her body just enough so that she was facing the majority of the bar patrons. People watching was something that fascinated her. It still hadn't quite sunken in that she was immortal. That sooner or later, every single being in the room would die. It certainly showed that life shouldn't be taken for granted. An acknowledgement she always did her best to keep in mind.

"Look how happy they are," she mused. "It's good to see that around."

"Your sentimental nature is both alluring and bothersome," her mate huffed. "There will always be more wars, more victories, more celebrations...you'll grow tired of it eventually. Humans are rather predictable."

"Was I?" She questioned, finally meeting his gaze.

"You were...an anomaly," the Count smirked. "A rare specimen amongst a drab populace."

"How poetic of you," Agatha snorted. "I'm surprised it took you centuries to find someone who could stand you."

"Ah, and it's always reassuring to see that both your sarcasm and quick wit have survived far past our first introduction those many, many years back." Dracula grinned, leaning close so that their foreheads touched. "I'd begin to worry if they didn't."

"You have a very odd way of flirting." She remarked, cocking an eyebrow. "One might even find it a little endearing."

"And that someone being you?"

"Perhaps."

She smiled and pressed a chaste kiss to his mouth before pulling away-much to the other vampire's dismay. By dawn, many ships would be docked at the port awaiting to transport soldiers back home-whether that be the United States or elsewhere. But until the sun rose, they seemed more than content to spend their last hours in England here.

"Have you reconsidered my proposal?" Dracula ventured, breaking the silence. "About leaving this establishment and going somewhere more private?"

"Do your intentions involve the consumption of blood?"

"Originally," he admitted. "But I'm assuming that is no longer an option. In any case, I'd at least like to leave here. Go somewhere more fitting. If you'd be so kind as to humor me."

Agatha looked at him thoughtfully. "Where did you have in mind?"

The Count was smiling once more as he extended a hand towards his mate. "I believe it's best that I show rather than tell," he answered. "It'd ruin the surprise."

If she had known that they'd be taking a midnight stroll through the fields, Agatha would've certainly put on different shoes. Her heels sunk into the soft ground, still saturated from the morning's rain and she found herself gripping onto Dracula's forearm to keep from slipping out of them. They'd be ruined for sure, but she didn't mind that much. She'd never really been into material things-something the Count didn't exactly understand. So there wouldn't be any shock if he'd immediately replace them.

"So," the former nun began, cutting through the silence. "Can I at least ask how far we are from your destination?"

"Reasonably close," he answered. "Not much longer now."

They kept walking, the breeze picking up and bringing with it the salty smell of the ocean. It reminded her of home. Of Holland. Of when, as a child, her family would travel to the sea. Good memories she hoped would stay with her as the years passed. That's why she'd grown to love Whitby. Watching as the little seaside town developed over time.

"And here we are!"

It took Agatha a moment to register where they were. More so why than anything else. Before them stood the ruins of what used to be Whitby Abbey. She remembered very clearly when it was severely damaged in the Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in 1914. It had been the first time she'd witnessed war. Something that she would never forget.

"The Abbey…" She said slowly, looking at him in amusement. "Are you saying I should rejoin the Church?"

"I was going for the more ironic aspect of it," he smirked. "Though, you did wear that ridiculous habit of yours very well...even if you do look better without it or," and his eyes grew dark. "Without anything on."

"We didn't come up her for just sex did we?" Agatha snorted, arms folded over her chest. "While I'm quite fond of you, I'm not in the mood to roll around in the mud like some pig."

"A very beautiful pig," he added, earning him a smack on his arm. "What? I'm merely being honest."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Count Dracula," the former nun grinned. "Especially when you're doing a terrible job at it."

"Very well," the vampire sighed. "But we shall be revisiting this subject later. For now, my main reason for bringing you here," he motioned forward. "Ladies first."

The abbey was one of the greatest highlights of Whitby, provided that it offered such a great view of the town and the ocean depending on where a person stood. Agatha stood in the very center of it, watching as lights twinkled in the windows of nearby houses. She felt Dracula join her by her side, his fingers lightly brushing against hers. It truly was a wonderful place.

"Gorgeous," he commented.

"It is, isn't it?" Agatha greed.

"I wasn't referring to the view."

The former nun turned and eyed the Count's crooked smile. Her own lips pursed as he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. They stood there silently, gazes locked on one another until a faint noise cut through the air. Music. Distant, most likely from one of the far off houses, but clear enough to be picked up by their heightened senses. Dracula once more held out his hand towards her.

"Might I have this dance?"

In the beginning, Agatha might as well have been born with two left feet with how poorly her skills on the dance floor were. She stumbled. Tripped. On more than one occasion stepped on Dracula's toes. It took months on his part to teach her to teach her to the point where one might consider her remotely decent. But it was worth it. She could now dance, on his lead of course, without feeling like a total fool. And so, with a small smile, Agatha took his hand.

"Are you surprised?"

Dracula watched her closely as they spun gracefully, careful to avoid pieces of stray stone that stuck up from the ground. Their dance floor was far from an ordinary ballroom, but they weren't exactly ordinary people.

"If I had known you planned to take me dancing, I would've dressed better for the occasion," she smirked, leaning into his chest. "Perhaps I was wrong about you lacking in the department of romance. This is rather nice."

"I try my best for you," he grinned. "Emphasis on try."

"And tonight you successed." Agatha complimented, gliding gracefully across the grass. "I'm impressed."

"Oh?" Dracula's movement changed to match the rhythm of the song. "Do I win an award?"

"Yes." A small smile played across her features. "You get to bask in my presence."

Her mate snorted, rolling his eyes. "You are quite the tease, Agatha Van Helsing."

"I am, as you put it, an anomaly." The woman replied, pushing herself onto the tips of her toes. "And you're very lucky to have me."

"I am."

Their lips met and though her blood no longer flowed in the way that a human's did, warmth spread throughout her. Dracula's arms wrapped around her waist as she allowed her eyes to close. There was no fiery passion, no animalistic hunger behind it. It was sweet. Endearing. One of her favorite moments to drink in and savor. Even when she pulled back, Agatha made sure not to break their embrace.

"Well, I suppose I should plan outings like this more often," he chuckled.

"I'm not one to object," Agatha replied, allowing her head to rest against his chest. "Thank you."

"Anything for my love," Dracula murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Even if it means I must act mawkish."

"If it is any consolation, I think it's rather becoming," she responded playfully. "I quite enjoy this side of you."

Before Dracula could reply, there was a faint buzz of static before the music, wherever it was being played, switched. A new melody began to float through the air and Agatha's eyes gazed off into the distance. Off to where the horizon was still blanketed by the night.

"Come," she finally said, catching his stare. "You owe me at least another dance before sunrise and I quite like this song. Let's celebrate tonight and however many nights we'll have together to follow. We can both afford to be sappy for now."

Dracula chuckled, his dark brown eyes meeting the blues of hers. "If that's what you want," he smiled, touching his forehead to hers. "Then may I have this dance?"

"Always."

[justjessame]

The Deal Chapter 57

They aren’t gone long. Dad, Daryl, and the others when I hear a radio come to life and the chill that runs down my spine forces me to listen. The location’s changed. And I feel that chill turn colder. I no longer care that I can’t decide which of the men I love are in danger, I HAVE to stop it.

I’d stayed behind for everything since the death of Sofia. I watched, I bore witness, and it wasn’t enough. It weighed me down and it broke me. I was damned if it would happen again.

I found Tara, who was in charge while the others were gone, and asked her where the children were going to be kept safe. Together we talk about the best option, which is the main house, and the best caregivers. I can see that she’s staring at me with questions, but I don’t plan on sharing my plans with her. As she hands me a gun and knife, just in case, I walk back to the room where Judith is napping. I pick her up and take her down to the women who have been tasked with keeping the children occupied, quiet, and safe, and hand her off with directions. Keep her safe, make sure she’s alive when I get back. I feel like the ‘or else’ is implied heavily enough that I don’t have to say it out loud.

And then I walked into the office that the others had taken me to the first day. I know there’s a map somewhere, and I find it quickly enough. My eyes trace the pathways, the location that my dad mentioned practically glows in my eyes, and I work out how to get there fast. I take a horse, thinking that Daryl should enjoy the irony of me stealing Maggie’s horse to go on my own search, but that I doubt he will. I’m off, before anyone can raise an alarm with the extra preparations going on, and the road rises before me and all I can think of is stopping whatever madness that we’d all allowed to go on too long.

I hear the sounds of exploding and gunfire and I’m hoping beyond hope that I’m not too late. I push the horse forward, even if the poor animal would much rather run in the other direction, and I see it. A huge meadow, the opposing sides, and I close my eyes with gratitude that I’m not too late. And it’s almost like God mocks me because they rush one another. Christ.

I get off the horse and tie it to a tree far enough from the battle in front of me that it’s safe, but close enough for me to get to it if necessary. And then I move forward. By the time I reach the chaos, it’s over. Like a flash, the Saviors have surrendered, and I see them. My dad and Negan facing off.

Shit, I rush forward, past the sounds of voices calling my name. Past my family. Past Saviors and friends and foes. Drawn like a moth to a flame, I have to stop it. Stop them. Both of them.

By the time I reach them, they are going at it hand to hand by a tree that strangely has a stained glass panel dangling from its branch. Negan’s on top, but I hear Dad ask for a moment to tell him about what Carl had envisioned, and I stop, out of sight of the two of them, hoping against hope that they get it finally. But I see the flash of glass in my dad’s hand, and then blood and I’m screaming and rushing forward. I’m at Negan’s side, my hand clutching his against the flow of blood as the rest of our family shows up. I hear voices urging Dad to end it, as though I’m not at Negan’s side, as though I’m not trying to staunch the flow of warm blood as he stares up at me like he’s seen a ghost. I’m begging, pleading with Dad to think of Carl. To remember what he asked for, what he wanted so badly that he found peace in dying. I beg that he let him live, not to let him die, and I can hear the anguish in my voice. And the sobs building.

I don’t hear what Dad says. I see and hear nothing, but Negan, his eyes on mine as he’s fading, and him trying to say something. I shush him, praying that he won’t go, not now. And then Siddiq is there, and he’s pushing my hand away, and taking over. Saving him, the man I love and Michonne is trying to pull me away, but I’m fighting her, I won’t leave him. Not now.

I watch, helpless, as Siddiq works. I pray, silent and pleading prayers to let him live. Please not yet, not now.

“Jessi?” It’s Dad, and I can’t look away from Negan’s pale face to see him. “Honey, we have to move, there’s a horde.” I don’t care, I think, I won’t. “He’s coming, too.” And I see it now, Siddiq is getting him stabilized to move. I let him pull me away, and I hear him asking how I found them, how I got there so fast, and I’m trying to focus on his words, but all I can see is Negan’s blood. And when I look at my hands I realize I’m coated in it.

“Horse,” I whisper, and nod toward the tree line where I’d left it. “Let me,” I struggle to get my heartbeat and thoughts under control. “Let me go get it, and I’ll meet you back-” And I pull away and rush back to where the horse waits, needing the time to collect myself, even if I have no fucking idea what comes next.

I ride back to Hilltop slowly. Alone. I think about the calls for Negan’s death. My family who wants it so badly that they can smell it. I wonder, did Siddiq save him simply so he can have a more ceremonial execution? Will Dad stand up to the others, will they vote? Will I stand alone in wanting him alive? Was Carl wrong about everything?

When the gate’s in view, I see the smoke and my heart stops. Judith. And I push the horse into a run and am inside before I notice. Jumping down, I search for Tara. She sees me and I see all the questions on her face, but I brush them off.

“Judith?” I see her staring at my bloody hands and I ignore her. “JUDITH, Tara, where is she?”

And then, one of the women is rushing forward with my little sister, her blonde curls catching the sunlight and I have her in my arms. I don’t pay attention to the looks I get at the smears of partially dried blood staining Judith’s clothes, her skin, because she’s alive and safe. I kiss her head, telling her how much I love her and how happy I am that she’s alright.

I find them in the infirmary. Dad and Michonne, standing over Negan’s bed. I’ve cleaned up, given the gun and knife back, and have my newly washed sister in my arms. He’s still unconscious, and I feel their eyes on me as I stand close looking down at him.

“We can’t let him go,” Dad’s voice is quiet, to keep me or Judith calm I don’t know. “He’ll be a prisoner forever, Jessi.”

I don’t look up. Rocking Judith in my arms, I stare at one of the men who holds my heart. Is that enough? That he’s alive, but won’t be free? Can I live with that outcome? Can he? It’s better than what I’d feared for him. A public execution. A show of power and strength.

“Am I allowed to visit him?” Hushed, keeping my little one free of the tension rolling through me.

They’re silent and I close my eyes. If the answer is no, then I’m not sure what the point was in saving him. And then I know, because I wouldn’t survive if he’d died. Not after I found out he was alive.

“We’ll talk about it later.” Michonne offers and I nod.

My hand touches his, and I feel him twitch. His warmth. His strength. And I hope he understands.

Daryl finds me later. I’m in my room alone. Standing at the window, watching the sun set. I hear him come closer and I don’t fight it. I don’t warn him away. I don’t ask him to go. His arms wrap around me from behind and his chin is propped on my head. I let myself relax into his embrace. Let him comfort me, even if I know he doesn’t understand or agree. I let him give me what I’d always given him. A piece of himself, to replace a piece of me.

“Scared the shit outta me.” His voice is rough, and I smile. “All of a sudden, there ya were, and I couldn’t get to ya.” I hadn’t seen him. My focus elsewhere. “Nearly tore me in two hearin’ ya beggin’ like that, Jessi.” For HIS life, I added, for HIM to live. “Sounded like ya were dying yourself.”

I was, I thought. Watching his blood flow out of him, feeling its warmth coat my hands, I felt like it was mine. And I felt like I would die. Just like I would if it had been my dad laying there. Or Daryl.

“Ya care for him.” It was a statement, not a question. “Wish ya didn’t.” I closed my eyes. “But he did what I couldn’t.” I felt my throat grow tight. “Found ya and brought ya back.” The tears started without warning and I cried as he held me, remembering how observant Daryl Dixon really was.

Daryl held me that night. In my bed, while Dad and Michonne took care of Judith, he held me and whispered to me how much he loved me. That he would always love me. That he couldn’t stand to see me in so much pain, but that he’d hold me together forever if I let him. He listened to my sobs, letting me cry for so many things that I lost track.

For Lori, who I couldn’t put down so Carl didn’t have to. For Andrea, for not believing that ANYONE could learn to survive, and if they couldn’t, they should be protected. For Mika, for not seeing and warning everyone of my fears about her sister. For Lizzie, I didn’t see her clearly until too late, and maybe if I had then she could have been stopped, without her or her sister dying. For Tyrese, for Bob, for Noah. For everyone I didn’t pay enough attention to, for not seeing the danger, for not helping. For Abraham. For being too late. For being too weak. For not asking for help in time.

For Carl, dear God, Carl. If I’d been there, if I’d read his letter and took it to heart and asked to participate, to discuss options. Would it have come to this? Would Negan be lying in the infirmary with the axe of being forever imprisoned hanging over him? Would Daryl need to listen to my breaking heart? Would Dad have to have gone against the others, the ones that wanted him dead? If I’d spoken up. If I’d acted. If I’d been there from the beginning.

I eventually ran dry of tears and my guilt was still heavy, but I needed to stop. Crying, letting my emotions run amok wasn’t going to fix anything. I turned in Daryl’s arms and looked into his face. His eyes were so tight with pain, his own pain at my outburst. At knowing that Negan and I, that he wasn’t the only one in my heart.

“You’re still beautiful, Daryl Dixon.” My hand rose and I let my fingertips trace his lips. “Every bad thing, every dark moment, and yet, you are still as gorgeous as you were the first time we kissed.”

He let me touch him. The angles of his face. Brushing away his too long hair, his scruffy chin, his blue eyes studied me as I reminded myself of his familiarity. His arms were still around me, his head on the pillow, and with nothing more than the light of the moon he drank in the very sight of me.

“Ya’ve always been beautiful, Jessi.” He whispered, letting one of his arms release me, and touching my cheek with his own hand. “Beautiful and giving.” His thumb brushed my lower lip and he smiled sadly. “Didn’t deserve ya.”

I was about to ask if he meant Negan or himself, but he leaned in and kissed me and I let my words die. Daryl’s kisses were always so soft and sweet. His lips showed me how much he’d memorized about me, letting his kiss grow more passionate and sighing when I returned it. Our tongues touched and I knew, even with Negan nearby recovering. Even with my begging for his life. I wanted Daryl. Now. Here. I wanted to get lost in him. To remember how we felt together.

Our clothes fell away, and when he slid into me, I remembered every single moment we’d had together. Every hope, every promise, every touch. And when we lay entwined in the afterglow, I wondered how it was possible that one person could be made for two completely different men. Because Daryl and Negan, I knew, were made for me and I was most certainly made for them.

[isthemedia]

ACS Week: Day 4 AU

I wanted to at least TRY and get something done for ACS week. So....here’s a little something that hasn’t been seen in a while. NoTeams!AU with Gamer!Cyrus-which seems to have become more of a thing since I’ve left-and FilmMaker!Gio. 

(AO3 Link)

Pairings: Absolutecontrolshipping, hinted Researchethicshipping, hinted Darkdreamparadiseshipping

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was an intense game Cyrus was playing. A horror survival that has repercussions if you lose anyone in the party. The game itself would autosave after you make your choice, making it almost impossible to retry after the choice was made. Nerve Wracking but enjoyable in a way. 

The game itself had a well thought out story and the characters were well handled. Gio was impressed. Sure there were times where he would get invested in Cyrus’ playing, but that was more watching the younger man play. 

This...this was him actively enjoying the game. Hell, Cyrus was even asking him for second opinions too. It was, really nice actually. 

The chat was also enjoying it from the comments they left behind. 

SGTMareepFluff:Yooooo boyfriend-o heping GL! Is so cool yo!

MegloChance: Never see GL so into a game before.

Fire/LightningLeaders4EV: He’s totally making sure everyone frickin lives

MODYaaaBoii: Don’t fuck up. 

“Shut up Boii,” Cyrus huffed as his eye darted over to the chat for a brief moment. Even since that time he and Augustine streamed together, and meeting the other through one of the matches they played, there was a spark. 

A spark that grew to include YaaBoii and his other friends to join in. Cyrus wasn’t sure how to feel about SisSkullFlower just yet. She was intense and rather competitive. She was also really insanely good at almost anything. 

Then there was the other one...FabEliteCheif. Dude had an ego. 

And that was all Cyrus could take away from him. 

Alright that was a lie. He was arrogant too. Annoying...full of himself…

They hit it off right away. 

“You hear that?” Gio’s voice broke in. 

“Hm?” Cyrus stopped his character and listened. “That sounds like Maggie…”

“Should we follow that or just go to the meeting point?” 

Cyrus chewed at his lip. A choice to make, meaning that it’s either going to have a good outcome, or a bad outcome. He already restarted the game twice because of the decision he and Gio made, had several of the characters get killed within the first fifteen minutes of play. 

He was now well into almost five hours into the game. That means if he made a wrong choice he would need to restart all over again. 

And he was tempted too. He liked this character, Abby. She reminded him a lot of Cynthia. Confident, certain...she had this leadership quality to her. However, even with all those traits she still had flaws. The stress and surreal nature of the threat made her come off as cold and harsh. 

Cyrus and Gio jumped as an alert suddenly sounded. 

FabEliteChief raiding with a party of 35

“You’re a dick Fab,” Cyrus huffed. “Thanks for the raid.” 

FabEliteCheif: I COULD have taken my raid elsewhere you know. 

Cyrus rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah you say that all the time. Good stream?” 

FabEliteCheif: Good enough, Col wanted to get attention though so I got distracted. 

“I would never know how that feels,” Cyrus smirked as he glanced at Gio.

Gio chuckled and leaned over to kiss his cheek quickly. 

MODYaaBoii: COC yo!

“You kiss your girlfriend AND boyfriend all the time on stream so don't start,” Gio pointed out.

“You also do that lap challenge, where you have one of them sit in your lap as you play,” Cyrus added. 

FabEliteCheif: Wait, are you playing Survive the Dawn?

“Yes, and I’m trying to figure out which way to go,” Cyrus huffed. “You played it before right?” 

MegloChance: THat’s cheating GL!!

FabEliteChief: I have, all I can say is; Good frickin’ luck. I’m gonna go give Col attention now. 

“Yeah later,” Cyrus sighed and looked to Gio. “What do you think?” 

Gio pondered for a moment. If he recalled the character Maggie was the one most against trying to stay together. Concerned for her own survival than the rest. However, she and the character Abby were close friends. If she died, there was a chance Cyrus could lose options later in the game. “I think we should follow the voice.”

Cyrus nodded. He made the choice and Abbey made it down the narrow passage. Once he got to a certain point, his heart sank as he no longer was controlling the character. Realizing the mistake he made, he set the controller down and leaned back in the chair, arms crossing over his eyes and awaited Abby’s fate. 

There was a shriek, and a scream...followed by the sounds of bones cracking and something hitting the ground...before the scrapping sound of the body being dragged against the cavern floor, and off camera. 

Gio covers his face. Welp, he fucked up. 

CanalclaveDawn: OH NO!

SGTMareepFluff: RIP Abby. 

MegloChance: GL? You alright?

MODYaaBoii: What did I say about fuckin up?

Cyrus sighed as he pulled off his headset and got up from his chair. Gio blinked as he watched the other. Cyrus was out of the webcam’s sight, but the microphone picked up the frustrated shout clearly. 

Gio covered his mouth as he tried not to laugh. THIS was something he wasn’t expecting. He watched as Cyrus trudged back over and leaned over the back of his own chair, holding his head in his hands. “...the rest of the stream is PokeCrossing...and I’m going to replay this off stream and make sure she doesn’t die.” 

“Il mio cuore,” Gio chuckled. 

Cyrus lifted his head and gave a playful glare to him. “I’m not asking for your opinion again.”

[drops-of-moonlights]

WINX REDUX AU SUMMARIZED: SEASON 3 (The Fugitive from Omega)

Or, in which I give the basics of what I’ve changed about the story for the AU. It was originally way more descriptive but if I kept it in that style I would have finished in 2039 and I ain’t got time for that. Let’s cover Season 3 at last!

WINX REDUX AU SUMMARIZED: SEASON 3

After a month or so of summer break, Stella calls everyone up for a meeting in Magix to start getting the stuff for her birthday party/princess ball going.

Aisha is a bit down, however - while she did inform her parents that she’s dating Musa now, they’re still going on about her arranged marriage and she wishes they would stop.

The girls then go to a few stores in Magix to buy a few things Stella didn’t get in Solaria - she’s making her ballgown for the event and she wants some extra decorations, as it’s the last time she’ll appear as the Heir of the Sun and the Moon and wants to honor both celestial objects.

After a bit of shopping they take a lunch break, and meet Chimera there. They fight over a pizza but neither gets it, falling into the floor after a tug-o-war.

The girls meet her again when getting a dress for Bloom, and the interaction is equally unpleasant.

They finally get everything and then Stella brings Bloom and Daphne to Solaria, so they can spend a week there before the main event, so they can sightsee a bit.

During this stay, Bloom confides to Stella and Daphne that she might be developing something for Diaspro, but she’s not sure if it’s a genuine emotion or just her being happy she saved her. The other two simply tell her to think about it more clearly, and that she’ll realize what the feeling is when it happens.

At around the same time, the capsule Stormy had been in during her stay at Omega suddenly malfunctions after some ice hits it hard, allowing her to free herself. She manages to free the other 2 and immediately makes Icy cast a spell so they don’t die from the cold.

They wander for a bit before getting chased by some ice wyrms, and find Valtor’s capsule.

They free him and immediately throw him to the wyrm so they can escape again, but to their surprise Valtor manages to kill it with ease. He formally introduces himself.

They find the portal to Antocea and manage to open it, taking a break on the settlement around it (mostly abandoned warehouses full with stuff they can survive on for a few weeks), and with Valtor’s Mark, they manage to control the mermaids around the place.

Valtor is still pretty weak from the trip however, and decides to take a trip to Solaria to drain a bit of power from the Lantern of the Sun, to revitalize himself a bit.

Stella and Riven show Daphne and Bloom around, and they also finally meet Radius.

He introduces Count Alessandro of Alba, and reveals to Stella that he will be marrying him in a few months. Everyone is surprised, most of all Stella since she didn’t even notice they were dating.

Alessandro also introduces his daughter Carmilla, who turns out to be Chimera’s real name. The two girls try to remain civil but it's proving harder and harder. Stella just doesn’t like Chimera that much, and Chimera’s paranoid this will just end like how her parent’s separation ended and does not want that happening again, ever.

Valtor arrives at Solaria Castle and sees Chimera, sees how easily manipulable she is at the moment and promises her that if she helps him get to the Lantern, he will give her some extra power to ensure she wins in the end.

Chimera agrees and lends him the Lantern for a few seconds, Valtor absorbs part of its power and then marks Chimera, giving her instructions on what to do.

Aisha finds out about the current mess on Andros due to the portal of Omega being open, causing havoc near their sister nations and decides to stay home to help, informing the girls in the meantime.

The day of the Ball has arrived, and everyone is happy for Stella and how the day is gonna go, even if they’re missing Aisha. Radius introduces her as the Heir of the Sun and the Moon and then announces his engagement to Alessandro.

They dance for a bit and Stella is about to announce whether she will turn into the Heir of the Sun or the Heir of the Moon, but she’s attacked out of nowhere, falling to the ground and finding herself unable to transform. An illusion spell is cast over the entire room by Chimera, who marks her dad and future step-dad as well in the confusion. It makes everyone believe Stella has turned into a monster and order her arrest, everyone forced to flee.

After an escape through the old aqueducts, they decide to leave for Alfea for answers, and Wizgiz informs her that her magic was sealed by a very powerful spell, and that it would take him months for him to break it even with the entire staff’s help. He instead points them to the Mirror of Purification, a magical spring deep in the mountains of Soraia that can remove any curse or spell placed on a person, no matter how strong.

They manage to get there after many mishaps, but the spring is hidden in caves and Stella’s just sick of everything at that point, her ball was ruined, she was more or less exiled from her own planet, and she feels useless without her magic especially now since the ring is still broken, tying it to her worth for a bit. She manages to find the spring and takes a dive in it, but she still can’t cast magic, and everyone arrives.

They manage to cheer her up and tell her how much she means to them even if she can’t believe it at the moment, and that does manage to lift her mood. She can finally cast magic again after this - the spring removed the curse the second she stepped on it, but her fairy magic wasn’t gonna come out until she could think positively again.

Stella spends the last week of break before classes with Bloom and Daphne in Daphne’s newly acquired apartment.

Classes finally start and the girls can meet with Aisha again, who catches them up on what’s going on at Andros. Daphne’s reaction to the name Valtor scares Bloom.

Stella reunites with her friend Nova, who had moved away a few years ago to another coastal city in Solaria and catches her up on what’s going on at her country.

Musa also meets the princess of Melodeus Galatea, and the princess gains an interest on Musa due to her style of music. They strike a quick friendship after that.

a few days pass and when news break that Valtor has captured Queen Ligea of Mareia, she can’t stand it anymore WE’RE GOING TO ANDROS TO SAVE MY AUNT RIGHT NOW.

So Stella teleports them to Andros to get a way to get there that doesn’t involve flying cuz they would die trying that are you insane. She stays behind to cover for them with the Pixies, Diaspro and Nova.

She gets busted almost immediately by Daphne though, who is in the middle of a panic attack.

On Andros, after a quick check-in with Aisha’s parents, the girls get one of the private smaller ships the royal house has to get to Mareia and rescue Ligea. They meet Roy then, captain of the ship and Aisha’s friend.

As they sail onwards they’re attacked by the Trix, and after a fight, Bloom’s knocked out into the seas, a small platform rising below her.

Valtor shows up and tries to talk to Bloom, finding her familiar somehow, but he’s attacked by the Winx and as a warning, makes Aisha blind.

While everyone’s trying to deal with this, Aisha’s cousin Tressa appears, telling them that there’s a chance right now of rescuing the queen since Valtor’s occupied elsewhere, back in the Omega portal.

Everyone agrees and after Aisha swaps to her mermaid form and casts a breathing spell to the rest, they delve into the sea.

After a few missteps they arrive at the underwater palace and rescue Ligea, and try to make a run for it when Valtor attacks them in person, alongside a kraken he marked.

The kraken quickly goes haywire and attacks everyone equally however, and manages to knock both Ligea and Valtor out.

Aisha wants to take this chance and defeat Valtor right then and there (she can sense everything and “see” underwater thanks to her source), but realizes getting Ligea to safety is more important and bails, leaving Valtor to escape.

As they’re nearing the surface however, the kraken strikes again trying to drag Ligea back down, but Aisha intercepts it getting almost killed in the process to save her aunt. Everyone else reaches the surface and are really worried for Aisha, until she rises from the seas in Enchantix, having earnt the form. Her eyesight is also restored now, earning the form removing any curse or spell placed on her. She uses her Essence Dust as well to heal Ligea.

They get back to Alfea and immediately get punished to organizing the recently restored archive after Bloom kinda destroyed it last year for their stunt in Andros, thought they congratulate the girl’s bravery in helping those in aid and does acknowledge that Aisha has a duty to her people.

Faragonda and Daphne then elaborate on who Valtor is (which you can read here), and why he’s so dangerous - he also has a Dragon Aura, and unlike Bloom, has mastered control over it.

A few weeks pass and the girls are done with that assignment, and Sky invites everyone to Eraklyon for the Days of Arturia festival.

Riven confides to Stella that he might be falling in love with Sky and she suggests just saying it outright after the party in private, taking advantage of the happy mood and that even if Sky says no at least he’s getting closer to overcoming what happened a few years ago.

Sky confides in Brandon and Nex that he’s starting to think he might be crushing on Riven and doesn’t know how to deal with it, and that it’s adding to the stress of planning the event.

Brandon simply suggests to ask him out after the party so he doesn’t focus on it much, and Nex does the same, also adding that the party is the most pressing matter at the moment and that he can work out his feelings later.

Everyone finally gets to the party and start interacting, with Sky soon to be holding a speech.

Diaspro leaves for a bit to get herself something to drink and is captured by Valtor, who had shown up to the party and wanted to absorb the magic of the Sword of Storms, a magic relic of Eraklyon. She’s forced to help him and ends up then thrown into a dungeon, Valtor then taking her form and going back to dance.

Valtor still needs someone under his control on Eraklyon, since thanks to Chimera he’s running Solaria from the shadows ensuring he doesn’t get caught if a King doesn’t consider him a threat. Disguised as Diaspro, he marks Sky, who then announces he’s gonna get married to Diaspro soon, apparently having been reunited.

He knows this is what most of the noble population was expecting of those two, and this will make them more compliant to obey Sky’s orders.

The Winx and the Specialists immediately see through the bullshit and go approach Sky and Diaspro what’s going on, Riven and Bloom sounding really hurt at this.

Sky orders for them to be arrested and everyone bails, Sky calling in the dragons to attack them. Erendor and Samara are also questioning what’s going on, but Valtor returns to his original form and also sends them to the dungeon so they don’t interfere amidst the chaos.

The dragons quickly go loose and start attacking everyone, and manages to knock Radius and Alessandro, who had been invited as well.

Chimera’s frozen in fear, being just a Charmix fairy who hadn’t seriously fought before, and Stella rushes in to save all of them.

She forces her sceptre to its limit to defend her family even if she’s unsure of what Chimera’s plans are, the staff breaking and her getting hit with the full force of the attack.

Stella earns her Enchantix thanks to this, her sceptre also reforming into a new form - the Staff of the Stars. She leaves immediately after this to escape the dragons, but is happy her dad still seems to be fine, and she caught the slightest glint of remorse in Chimera’s eyes.

Everyone rests in the ship for a bit before immediately turning back, wanting to know exactly what has happened. They saw the mark of Valtor on the neck of the dragons, so they know he has a part in this, and with Brandon’s help, they sneak into the castle the next day.

Valtor on his part goes back to check on Diaspro’s cell once everything started to settle down but realizes she’s escaped, and realizing that without the princess to mark, he’s trapped in the castle in order to keep with the plan.

As everyone else bursts into the castle unnoticed, Bloom starts to realize she might have genuine feelings for Diaspro after how hurt she felt at the announcement, even when she knew it was a farce.

They find Diaspro on the way to Sky’s chambers and while initially cautious, they realize she’s not marked and Bloom immediately hugs her, happy she’s safe.

Now all together, they barge into Sky’s chamber and see him with Valtor-as-Diaspro, who immediately decides to just cut his losses and leaves Eraklyon, Sky still under his control and ordered to attack him.

After a brief fight, Diaspro and Stella use their Essence Dust to remove the mark, and Sky falls seriously ill after this, having to remain in Eraklyon.

Brandon, Riven and Diaspro remain in Eraklyon to look after Sky, as well as help clear everything that’s happened.

A few more weeks past and Valtor has settled in his next targets - Alfea and Cloud Tower. He decides to go to Cloud Tower first, and with the help of the Trix and a clever ruse, manages to enter the building and trap Griffin in the same place she was trapped by the Trix years ago, Valtor taking power from the Eye of the Eagle in Griffin’s office. He then attacks Alfea with the entire marked school as an army.

They all get thrown into a fight and the Trix infiltrate the school as a shadow, trapping a random fairy (Galatea) and forcing them to help them reach the Archive, since according to Valtor that’s where Alfea’s treasure (The Wings of Alfea, a special shield that also helps form the barrier protecting the school) resides.

Musa, Flora and Bloom manage to track them down and defeat them, but the Trix still get the Wings and bail, Darcy casting a cursed fire over the room to delay them further.

Everything starts to be destroyed again and the Winx quickly evacuate Concorda and the other school Pixies as well as Galatea, but she trips with a piece of fallen wood from the bookcases.

She’s about to be crushed by the rest of the bookcases, but Musa rushes in and pushes her out of the way, getting her wings torn off and her leg hurt in the process.

She earns Enchantix thanks to this regardless, which reforms her wings immediately, but she still can’t fly properly due to the pain still being there.

Now with Essence Dust, she can undo the fire in the room, also restoring most of the books in the process.

Valtor and Faragonda had a hard fight during all of this, but Valtor manages to win and traps Faragonda in a tree.

The Winx then go look for Faragonda unaware of her fate, since most of the teachers need to help with the few possessed students they got to trap before Valtor called them back to CT, using their own powers to remove the marks and it’s gonna take a while.

After a brief but very rough adventure in Cloud Tower, the girls finally find Faragonda trapped in a tree, and after informing the staff about this they decide to send the girls to Lynphea, as the tears of the Black Willow can help them and Flora lives near that place.

Flora explains what the Black Willow is on the way there and when they arrive, they meet her sister Miele, a young Witch studying in Lynphea.

The Trix also go to Lynphea around the same time, trying to get the tears themselves as well since it would be useful for Valtor’s plans.

Flora and Miele then elaborate on what the tears are - it’s a special sap produced by the willow with incredible magical healing properties, and using it alongside some Essence Dust would manage to restore Faragonda completely, as Essence Dust alone runs the risk of Faragonda becoming part-tree forever, it’s not as strong with nature. It has mixed overtime with a natural spring around the tree, which has made it stronger but also more unstable.

They finally arrive to the place where the Willow is (a small lake and waterfall called the Water Stairway), and when getting to collect the water Miele warns everyone that the water’s so magically charged there’s no telling what it could do to them, so they have to be careful.

At around the same time the Trix arrive at the Willow, and a fight ensues, Miele showing off her Charmix form.

During the fight Miele is hit hard by Icy’s attack, knocking her out of the air, out of her transformation, and loses conscience, falling into the waters.

Flora immediately and viciously attacks and ensnares the Trix in some thorny vines before diving into the water to save her sister, and she does, managing to send her back to the surface but ends up too weak, her attack on the Trix having drained her, starting to drown.

Miele comes to on the surface and immediately screams for her sister, and Aisha is trying to control the water to bring her back. Flora then rises up on her own, having achieved Enchantix, and then uses her vines to drag the Trix into the waters herself, still pretty angry at them.

The Trix then come out of the water looking the same age as Miele and bail, taking some of the water in the hopes it’ll fix their issue as well. The Winx finally get the water as well and return to Alfea, at last freeing Faragonda.

A month or so passes with relative peace before news break out that the portal to Omega in Antocea has gone haywire, expelling insane amounts of magic due to Valtor and the Trix breaking it to pass through. Aisha once again leaves for Andros with the Winx, hoping she can meet with the still-living Sorcerer that helped make the portal all those years ago, Taboc.

After some battles with criminals that had escaped Omega, they reach the portal with Taboc (having picked him up along the way), but they find themselves unable to do anything, the Portal ejecting too much electrical magic and energy, and Taboc can’t control it, the spell to close it seemingly not working.

As Taboc, Bloom and Aisha consider other options, they realize Tecna’s not saying anything, and when they check, she’s already halfway into the portal.

Everyone else arrives and panics, asking her what does she think she’s doing. Tecna elaborates that since her Source is Electricity, she can maybe manage to disrupt and absorb the magic of the portal and close it once and for all, and asks them to say goodbye to Timmy for her, not believing she’s gonna come out of it alive.

This act earns Tecna her Enchantix, and with her new power and aided by her Dust, she starts casting the closing spell from the inside. A pillar of lightning rises from the center of the portal, and as fast as it came, it disappears, the portal fully closed, Tecna nowhere in sight.

Everyone thinks she might be dead, and in their sorrow and rage, everyone starts crying. Bloom and Musa then stand up, rage the only thing inside them, and decide to go back to Cloud Tower and face Valtor head on, blaming him for Tecna’s apparent death.

The others try to stop them but can’t, and defeated, Stella sends them to Cloud Tower while everyone else goes to Alfea in the hopes the other two will come to their senses.

Once in Cloud Tower, Bloom and Musa fight through the possessed students and fight Valtor head on, but are quickly defeated. He’s about to mark them both when Faragonda, Griffin, Saladin, Daphne and the Winx burst in, attacking Valtor head on and taking the defeated fairies out. Valtor recognizes Daphne and realizes that Bloom is the baby princess of Domino, his anger starting to rise as everyone leaves.

Bloom feels useless after the battle with Valtor, wanting to know how to get a better hold of her Dragon Aura. Daphne offers to help her, and Faragonda decides to send them both to Pyros to train under the Sorceress Maia, an old acquaintance of hers that also has a Dragon Aura.

The two princesses arrive and, after a few mishaps, meet Maia at last, and start training under her. With both Daphne and Maia’s guidance, she starts to get a better hold of her powers.

At the same time, Timmy manages to make contact with Tecna on Omega for a brief moment, and with the Winx’s help, they all go to Omega to fetch her. They end up being attacked by some of the criminals that escaped their capsules and are separated.

The Paladin Order raids Cloud Tower and finds it empty, Valtor having left the place and leaving all the marked Witches there as well. Life slowly returns to normal in the building.

Still on Pyros, Bloom and Daphne are near the end of their stay when they’re attacked by the Trix, sent by Valtor to steal a magic item, but decide to take a detour and try to take down Bloom once and for all.

A fight starts, and while they start winning, Icy starts to focus on Daphne to try and take her down as well, since she might be more dangerous than Bloom. She’s about to stab her but stabs Bloom instead, having jumped between them to protect her sister. This earns her Enchantix, and now with this power, and aided by a VERY angry Daphne, they manage to utterly defeat the Trix, sending them running.

After this event and with a new form, the two princess go back to Alfea, and learn of the fate of Tecna and the rest. At the same time, Sky and the others come back from Eraklyon, having finally recovered from Valtor’s spell. They all leave for Omega.

Once there they end up separated by the same criminals, with the guys on one side and the girls on the other. Bloom and Diaspro keep looking for Tecna until they get ambushed. Both transform and manage to make quick work of the attackers, but the struggle let a stalactite loose, coming for them.

Scared, Diaspro ends up confessing on the spot, and right before the ice hit them it got pulverized by another attack - it’s Tecna, who heard the commotion and wanted to check in.

They all hug, excited to see each other again, but then soon go back to business, trying to find the rest. They all end up falling through a crevice and find the other Winx, and after another happy hug, they all rise up again to the surface after fighting an ice wyrm.

They also finally manage to find the boys (who had all been captured), and after freeing them, they immediately book it out to the ship and back to Magix.

Back on Magix at last, Diaspro finally asks for Bloom’s answer on their feelings, and while Bloom is still not sure if she’s truly attracted to her, they do agree to try a date.

A few weeks have passed, the girls decide to go on a group outing again, as a late celebration for everyone being back together. 

They stop to have lunch, and while everyone else orders food, Aisha meets a guy named Ophir, who was asking directions at the start but ended up talking for a few minutes. He excuses himself once everyone else gets back with food, and says that he and Aisha might meet again.

Right as the girls finish eating, Valtor appears in the clouds as a projection, announcing his plans to steal the Eye of Myrari from the nearby museum.

The girls can tell something’s weird about this and go to the museum as well, and after some shenanigans and Ophir showing up in the nick of time (revealing he’s a Fairy in the process), Valtor manages to steal the real treasure he was after - Agador’s Box.

After this event, a few days go by, and Radius and Alessandro’s wedding day is approaching. Stella’s determined to free her dad from Valtor’s mark but has not been invited to the wedding (thanks to Chimera). She decides she’s done waiting around and starts to find a way to get to Solaria and fix this once and for all, and after some brainstorming and help from Nova, they decide on performing as bike stunt performers.

With tutoring from the Specialists, the girls manage to get a good handle on them enough to go to the event, and with Luna’s help from Solaria (who’s informed of all the happenings) they manage to sneak in.

At the same time, Chimera’s panicking - she knows most of the staff has picked up that both Radius and her dad are not acting right and her feelings are in overdrive, becoming more and more unhinged about the whole situation and cursing Stella. She carries out with the wedding regardless.

During the vows, with both Radius and Alessandro looking empty, Stella strikes and disrupts the wedding, calling out Chimera as an ally of Valtor and showing the mark on both of the affected. Chimera simply loses it and transforms on the spot, starting to attack the Winx.

The Winx do the same and Stella and Chimera go one on one, Stella swiftly defeating the manic noble. She simply shuts down completely and remains on the floor, broken.

Stella uses her Essence Dust alongside the others and finally breaks her father and Alessandro free of the curse, she and Radius hugging in joy.

Chimera comes back to her senses and simply says nothing, head hung. Alessandro simply sends her to the Roccaluce Rehabilitation Center, in hopes she can get better, elaborating on her actions - Chimera believes anything new coming into her life will be trouble, and after meeting Stella she convinced herself she would throw her out the second she got the chance to, entering a circle of paranoia and anxiety that overtook her.

Radius and Alessandro cancel the wedding and decide to have at another date, in hopes Chimera’s recovery is steady so they can all celebrate it fully. Stella also finally announces her new title - she’s the Heir of the Stars, and Fairy of the Cosmic Light, refusing both sun and moon and choosing her own path. She gets her Solarian mark as well.

Once back on Alfea, a few more days pass until Daphne comes to their dorm in the dead of night for a hidden mission, something she cannot share with Faragonda.

She has found out about the Liquid Aura Stars, ancient and terrible objects that could drain a magi’s Aura to almost extinguish it, and feels this might be the only thing they can use against Valtor. (Learn more about them here!)

After some calls and some clever excuses, Stella teleports them outside of Alfea and into a Red Fountain ship with the guys, who are helping them get in the area the Stars are supposedly hidden.

After another run-in with gryphons, they get there with more or less no issues, aside from Ophir also being there for some reason, claiming that he wanted to help.

They’re faced by a lot of beings on the way to the place, and Ophir shows off his powers, as well as befriending everyone on the way.

They arrive at a weird formation of gems and trees called the Crystal Labyrinth, where the Stars supposedly reside at the center of the maze. Everyone tries to enter together, but crystals suddenly cover the entrance, trapping Daphne, Aisha and Tecna on the other side and dividing them further, a voice echoing in the distance talking about some sort of trial.

The three girls advance regardless, and seemingly manage to reach the center, but there are two doors, the voice speaking again that to get to the Stars, they must pass this test.

Aisha is shown her parents finally breaking off the engagement, letting her be free at last, and on the other door, the Liquid Aura Stars reside. While she would love for her parents to finally accept her wishes, she knows she can get through them in her own, and goes for the Stars.

Tecna is shown all the knowledge in the world, all at her disposal, and on the other door, the Liquid Aura Stars reside. While part of her wants to just delve in into all that information, she knows her friends and the Stars are more important, and she can acquire all that information on her own, after all.

Daphne is shown Domino fully restored, her parents and her people okay and alive and happy, and on the other door, the Liquid Aura Stars reside. While Daphne would love nothing more than to restore her home immediately, she’s certain she will find the way on her own, and Domino, as much as it hurts her, can wait. She goes for the Stars.

They all arrive at the center and retrieve the stars in their casket, the maze disappearing around them and reuniting with the rest, going back to Alfea.

They somehow manage to get by without Faragonda or the rest of the staff knowing about what they just did (since taking the Stars is HIGHLY ILLEGAL), and decide to celebrate this as well as Stella freeing her kingdom by going out at night all together, with special permission from Faragonda.

During this trip, Sky and Riven decide to talk at last about what happened in Eraklyon, and how Riven helped Sky to get better. They both end up confessing to one another and start dating.

At the same time, Ophir shows up and reveals his true identity to Aisha - he’s Nabu, the man she’s supposed to marry. He wanted to meet her before the deal was done since he heard Aisha was already dating someone, and since he doesn’t want the marriage either they decide to arrange a meeting with their parents once and for all to annul the arrangement.

As they leave, Valtor appears in the sky as a projection again, challenging the headmasters of the schools to a match out of nowhere.

Everyone thinks this is suspicious but the headmasters take the challenge regardless, leaving their colleagues to protect the schools if something bad happens.

The battle starts but at no point Valtor fights in it, instead casting a powerful illusion spell to make it look like everyone is fighting Valtor despite actually fighting themselves.

He teleports to Alfea to look for whatever the Winx took recently - he knows they have something but doesn’t know what is.

The Winx intercept him, however, and a battle breaks. Valtor manages to defeat Aisha and Stella and almost marks them until Bloom barges in with the Stars, and starts draining Valtor of his magic.

She stops right before it would have gone to lethal levels, and almost detains him if it wasn’t for the Trix’s interference, who manage to drag him back to their hiding spot.

While Faragonda congratulates the girls on their plan, she also tells them they’re gonna have to go to court once Valtor is dealt with since they did violate some heavy laws getting the Stars.

Valtor, still weak, pulls one last power hidden in the Box (which he has been using to hold all the stolen powers so far), one he stole a long, long time ago and has been saving as a last ditch resort - the Spell of the Elements, one of the strongest powers ever created.

He casts different natural disasters to all the schools plus Magica City (an inferno to Alfea, tornadoes to Red Fountain, a flood using Lake Roccaluce’s water to Cloud Tower, and an earthquake to Magica), and demanding Bloom to face him once and for all, wanting revenge and nothing else.

Faced with the disaster, Bloom agrees, and the rest of the Winx plus Diaspro and Daphne go with her, Daphne wanting him to pay for what he did to the Lake, still holding a lot of memories for her.

Once they arrive they’re immediately dragged down to a makeshift cave made on the lakebed, the Trix arriving to fight the Winx plus Diaspro while Bloom and Daphne face Valtor head on.

As they fight, Valtor reveals what his plan was - to undo the curse on Domino, and free the country from the eternal winter. This leaves everyone confused, until he elaborates further that he himself cast the spell of eternal winter, but it has been tampered with and modified over the years, which made it impossible for him to undo.

He’s been stealing powers and getting people under his control from different realms so that once he frees Domino, he can finally take over it as its new king, aided by the people he has under his control to support him.

However, explaining his plan has made him careless, and after a good hit on him by Daphne, Bloom rushes to Agador’s Box. Valtor tries his hardest to stop her, but he’s in turn stopped by the rest of the Winx that have already defeated the Trix, and Bloom destroys the lock on the box, freeing all the magic Valtor has stolen from all the realms, leaving him powerless.

He decides to call back the elements with the last spell in his possession, and the waters of the lake start rushing back at a fast pace. Everyone starts to make a run for it but Valtor remains down there, still transformed somehow, frantically searching in case a spell still remains there. The waters come crashing down and the cave collapses with Valtor still there, and everyone else made it to the surface more or less safe. Valtor is never seen again, and is presumed dead.

The Paladin Order arrives as soon as all the other disasters stopped, and arrests both the Trix and the Winx on the spot for their crimes. A month of court meetings and cases ensue, held in trial for different things for both teams, with the Specialists, Helia and Nabu also held accountable.

After a month, a verdict is finally reached - while the heroes did break a very important law, it was done to protect the realms for an even bigger threat, and as such are charged with 2 months of community service, fixing all the damage Valtor’s spells have caused as well as just general helping around, and in the case of the magis, they’re cursed with a magic-restraining spell that will fade in a month, heavily limiting their magic usage.

As for the Trix, they cannot be sent to Omega as the prison is still a mess after the portal shenanigans, so they will be held in the Order of Mana’s dungeons until a more fitting place is found.

There are still 3 months of school left, and with the magic limiter it’s gonna be a pain, but the teachers are understanding at least so they’ll just have to work extra hard on finals. The worst has passed.

Daphne is called to Faragonda’s office and is given a book full of notes - it’s the one thing Valtor left behind untouched, found in a cave nearby. It details all the research he was doing on Domino’s curse, and she felt Daphne could use it.

Teredor and Niobe, alongside Nabu’s parents, show up to Alfea called by Aisha, and both she and Nabu finally face them and call them out, denying the arranged marriage. Teredor and Niobe finally agree to cancel the wedding as it’s clear neither of them wish to marry, and to strain their relationship with their daughter even further is unwise. Nabu’s parents also agree, but they seem more hesitant about it. The two young adults celebrate, and Nabu earns his Glamourix thanks to finally expressing his true feelings.

Sky and Riven also officially announce their relationship, as do Bloom and Diaspro. Everything seems to be going fine, and aside from having to pay for their technical crimes, everyone is happy the rest of the school year is going to be more calm...

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

Frankenstein: Facets of Filmmaking

Universal Studio’s history with horror was a long one.

The studio’s amazing run with the ‘children of the night’ began in 1923, with the silent movie hit The Hunchback of Notre Dame starring Lon Chaney Sr. (Father of the future Wolf-Man, Lon Chaney Jr.).  The film was a massive success, making $3 million (it sounds like nothing now, but it’d be the equivalent of around $43 million today).  Universal had struck gold, and continued the streak with other hits like The Phantom of the Opera and The Last Performance throughout the rest of the 1920s.

Then, in 1931, their biggest hit yet, Dracula, came to theaters, and audiences went nuts.  Within 2 days, the movie had sold 50,000 tickets, making $700,000, the hugest movie of the year.  Immediately after, the head of production, Carl Laemmle Jr., made the decision to make more horror films.  He gave the job of a new horror film, Frankenstein, to French-born director Robert Florey, and awaited their next big hit.

Following the success of Dracula, it only made sense to try to wrangle their big star, Bela Lugosi, for the film.  Lugosi was willing to play the role of the mad-scientist, Dr. Henry Frankenstein, but Laemmle Jr. wanted him to play the monster, instead.  After multiple make-up tests that weren’t working, Lugosi left the project.

At this point, the ‘monster’ was not the empathetic creature we know he is now.  Script changes by director Robert Florey had transformed the character into a killing machine, without the element of sympathy or humanity that Karloff would later be able to portray.  Fortunately, this aspect of the monster changed about the same time as the director did.

Shortly into pre-production, Florey was taken off the project, (only two of ‘his’ scenes are in the final product: the burning windmill scene is one) and was replaced with highly acclaimed director, James Whale, two weeks before shooting was to begin.  It was here that the project truly began to take shape as the movie we know today.

Whale, fresh off the boat from England, had been given his pick of any projects that Universal had going, and he found himself immediately attracted to the story of Frankenstein.  Upon taking control of the project, Whale revised the script, and added in the elements of pathos, of humanity, that is central to the character of the monster.

The script of Frankenstein was actually a complicated thing.  Much like the monster himself, it took a lot of mismatched efforts for the final product to become realized.

Although the story is based, pretty clearly, on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein, that’s obviously not where the script started and ended.  Lots of liberties were taken, to the point where the story is directly inspired by, but everything from the monster’s appearance to the existence of Fritz is the result of creative license: in other words, not in the original novel.

But there was more to the foundation of the script for Frankenstein than the original novel.

Frankenstein’s script took many nods from a stage adaptation written by Peggy Webling in 1927, in which the monster is mute and the mad scientist has an assistant.  Although it was closer to the finished product than the original novel, the script wasn’t a simple copy-paste of the stage-play.  There was still work to be done.

Universal called in John L. Balderston, a screenwriter who had already patched up the script of Dracula, to tighten the bolts on Frankenstein.  He was joined by fellow screenwriters

Garrett Fort and Francis Edward Farragoh, and after a bit of tinkering, the trio came up with a script that was still more sympathetic to the monster than even Webling’s play.  For example, in the play, Fritz scaring the monster with fire is an accident, in the film, it is an active act of cruelty.

But still other changes needed to be made, even after the movie’s script was finished.

The original ending for the film was considerably different to the finished version, and actually had much more in common with the stage play: Frankenstein was to die in the mill with his monster, and then Elizabeth ends up marrying Frankenstein’s friend, Victor  (Originally Henry in the novel).  Test audiences didn’t like this ending, and so the script was rewritten so that Henry survives, and he and Elizabeth live happily (?) ever after.

Once the script was all worked out, they needed a cast to bring this story to life.  Thankfully, James Whale found his monster figure in the best possible choice: established English actor, Boris Karloff.

Karloff had been in several films for decades, working in the movie industry long before sound hit.  He was in his forties when Frankenstein came into production, and a relative unknown, but it turned out, he was the perfect fit for the monster.  Having spotted Karloff in the Universal commissary, James Whale sent him a note, offering a screen-test.  Karloff leapt at the chance to play the monster, although later he would joke about being offended to be considered for a horrifically ugly character, considering that he was wearing his best suit at the time.

With the monster discovered, the rest of the cast fell into place, British actor Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein, and Universal favorite Mae Clarke as Elizabeth Lavenza.  Also in the cast were several actors who would become familiar household names to horror fans: Dwight Frye, (Fritz) had previously appeared in Dracula as Renfield, and he would appear in The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein, and other Universal horror classics.  Edward Van Sloan, who plays Dr. Waldman in the film, like Frye, had appeared in Dracula, and would go on to appear in The Mummy.

With the cast now assembled, all that was left was to begin making the film itself, starting with one of the most important elements of any monster movie: the monster itself.

The makeup job that the brilliant Jack Pierce did on Boris Karloff to turn him into the monster took nearly four hours to apply, and the overall costume weighed 48 pounds total.  The effect was accomplished by Pierce’s creation of a square skull, and the painting of Karloff’s face in a blue-green tone, in order to appear white on camera.  Pierce also came up with the idea to put the electrodes in the monster’s neck, finishing off the monster’s iconic look.

Some of the look, however, was Karloff’s idea.  Said Karloff:

“We found the eyes were too bright, seemed too understanding, when dumb bewilderment was so essential. So I waxed my eyes to make them heavy, half-seeing.”

The effect was immediately striking, as was Karloff’s other idea: removing his bridgework in his teeth in order to hollow his cheeks, giving the monster a gaunt look that showed up brilliantly in the final product.

Although the entire costume looked excellent on film, it wasn’t easy to wear.  Boris Karloff’s memories of the makeup chair were less than glowing:

“I spent three-and-a-half hours in the make-up chair getting ready for the day’s work. The make-up itself was quite painful, particularly the putty on my eyes. There were days when I thought I would never be able to hold out until the end of the day.”

The makeup wasn’t all there was to it, however.  Karloff wore a suit that was too small, allowing the monster to seem truly oversized, and wore platform boots that each weighed thirteen pounds, contributing to the monster’s slow, heavy walk.  

But there was more to the effects of Frankenstein than just the monster’s makeup.

The electricity effects of the ‘mad scientist’ lab were created by Kenneth Strickfaden, which were so instantly iconic and successful that they became essential to every Universal Frankenstein film made since.  (Strickfaden managed to obtain one of the Tesla Coils invented by Nikola Tesla to use in the film, another interesting part of the set.)  These sets and props became so iconic that they would later be used in Mel Brooks’ parody, Young Frankenstein, and some of the props survive even today.

Once the movie finished shooting (5 days late), all that was left was to send it into circulation in theaters, and while the film was successful, (the highest grossing film of 1931) some changes had to be made, according to the censors.

The state censorship boards in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York felt that the scene in which the monster accidentally drowns the girl, Maria, was too upsetting, and cut the second half of the scene before it hit theaters.  (Unfortunately, without this information, the implication of the monster’s actions is far worse than had the scene been shown in full.)  Also cut was Dr. Frankenstein’s blasphemous bragging after raising the monster.  Notably, Kansas’s initial request was to cut thirty two scenes, which would have shortened the film to half its original runtime.  Thankfully, they reconsidered, and an edited version (though not to that extent) was released in the state of Kansas, mostly the same film as released elsewhere.

After the film hit theaters, reception was wild.  Frankenstein immediately topped the already-successful Dracula in both financial and critical ways, finding acclaim among many critics, many lauding it for its technological achievements, as well as its chilling and fascinating story.

In that way, little has changed regarding Frankenstein.

To this day, Frankenstein is a cultural giant, the grandfather of the modern horror film.  It sits in the United States National Film Registry, is counted as one of the greatest films of all time, and is regularly mentioned on lists of films to see ‘before you die’, and with good reason.

In 1931, Frankenstein changed everything, making horror mainstream and telling a story that was just as frightening as it was thought-provoking, and the years have not changed that.  Nearly ninety years later, Frankenstein, although it might not be as ‘scary’ as it used to be, remains just as thought-provoking, and just as important as the films made and watched today.

Join us next time for our final look and personal thoughts on Frankenstein, where we’ll be wrapping our discussion up on this movie.  Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to see you in the next article.

[atopearth]

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Part 2 - Balthier, Ashe and Vayne + Overall Review

I am surprised at the assassination of Emperor Gramis, and I’m not sure what to think of it. I wouldn’t discount Vayne from being capable of killing his father, since really, killing him presents more pros than cons, especially considering his old age and his alignment with peace (like Larsa) rather than war and military might (that Vayne grew up with and believes in). In addition, with the greedy Senate constantly trying to put Larsa as a puppet on the throne, Vayne needs to solidify his rule if he wants to protect Larsa and the Empire imo. Tbh, with how Vayne seems to be, I feel like he wants to do all the dirty work and then have Larsa get to live peacefully or something. On the other hand, Gabranth seems rather loyal to Gramis, since he was giving him updates on Vayne. He also seems to be aligned with Larsa, it was kinda hard to watch him have to kill the other lady Judge that was on his side to prove his fealty to Vayne though.

Who would have thought that Balthier was once upon a time a judge for a brief time? And to think that his father is the Cid guy at Draklor lab obsessed with nethicite. I think it must have been pretty disheartening to see his father like that and even have to make the choice to run away instead of staying with him. I think I can kinda understand better why Balthier chose to continue to go on this journey with everyone. He’s been running away from everything all this time, he probably thinks that it’s about time he faced it all, especially when despite all his efforts to escape from his father etc, in the end he gets roped up with Ashe and them anyway. It was nice of Balthier to tell Ashe his story hoping that she wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of his father, and be obsessed with the powers of a stone to rule Dalmasca. Cid seems pretty interesting! Not only does he have Venat (one of the Occurians, a heretic though) beside him, but I thought his plan to lead the party to Giruvegan to get the nethicite/treaty sword was smart. Well, the party don’t really have a choice either way though even if it’s a trap, since they do need the power, and only Ashe could have been chosen by the Occurians to wield it (due to her having the Dynast-King’s blood). I have to say though, Giruvegan was an annoying place lmao, I honestly didn’t remember anything much about FFXII, but I definitely remember summoning Belias to get through, and I probably got lost the first time as well, because dang were those areas a hassle to get through lol. But seriously, you can tell with how the Occuria acted with Ashe that they see humans as beneath them, and they just want to use Ashe to destroy the Empire because they’re trying to forge a future without their “guidance”. Yay, I always love guests so it’s nice to have Reddas join the party to venture to the Sun-Cryst. It’s kinda interesting how big of a decision Ashe will have to make when she gets there though. Will she choose to destroy it and all the nethicite or will she choose to break a piece off of it to make nethicite strong enough to fight against the Dawn Shard etc? It’s kinda nice but also saddening that Balthier is leaving the Strahl (his airship) to Vaan if anything were to happen to him…

I thought it was pretty cool to see how so many people around Ashe were trying to influence her decision, especially with the appearance of Gabranth revealing why Reddas decided to come here with them; it’s because he was also an ex-Judge, and he used the Midlight Shard once upon a time and destroyed Nabudis. It was because of that, he wanted Ashe to not repeat his mistake. Cid is certainly pretty out of his mind due to his research and will to experiment, it’s kinda saddening that Balthier and the others had to kill him in order to stop him. At the same time though, I feel like for Cid, he feels sane whilst insane? Haha. Is this the first time a Cid in the FF games has been evil though? How interesting~ Didn’t think the Sun-Cryst would go crazy like that though, it was disheartening to watch Reddas sacrifice his life to break it using the sword, never really realised that anyone could wield the sword to break it though, I thought it had to be Ashe lol. Either way, a difficult end, but something that one of them had to do. To think that the Sun-Cryst awakened Bahamut though! That is something to look forward to. Terrible that the impending war is now practically happening now though, and Dalmasca will be the battleground. Larsa’s heart is in the right place, but Vayne is right, if Larsa wants to show and prove that Vayne’s methods are wrong, he needs to muster the power to show him that his way is right then. Vayne is ruthless but that’s how he’s survived all this time and protected Larsa. It’s not easy when he has to put his guard up against most of the people around him. It was pretty brutal when Vayne shot that laser and destroyed a few of the Marquis’ ships, the Marquis honestly really doesn’t have much of a choice but to rely on Ashe and party to stop Vayne from inside the Bahamut tbh. I guess it’s good that Larsa is helping them out lol.

Well that last bit leading to the ending wasn’t long at all! Legit just defeat Gabranth and then killed three forms of Vayne and you’re done! Anyway, I’m not sure how I feel about the ending because it felt kind of rushed. But I guess I didn’t mind it either. I really liked how loyal Gabranth was to Larsa, so it was kinda saddening to see him die, but I think it was great to see Basch fulfill his dying wish by succeeding him as a judge and thus supporting Larsa’s rule. I think it’s really interesting how they truly are twins in the sense that even though they were on different sides, their loyalty to their liege was very similar throughout the game. Honestly though, it’s hard to think of Vayne as an “evil” person, like yes, he’s done terrible things that has caused people to die, I don’t doubt that, but I think you can really understand his motivations? He’s always been protective of Larsa, so a lot of my impressions of what Vayne did kinda felt like he set up everything that came to be through his regime of violence was so that he could give the best setting for Larsa’s idea of peaceful negotiations between countries to come to be. With the state of the Empire as it was when Gramis was alive or even when he died etc, it was obvious that Larsa didn’t have the power and influence to achieve what he wanted, but through Vayne’s actions, people were able to see the contrast between them. Also, Vayne needed to ensure that the Occuria who still think they have the right to interfere and rule over humans had no more power in doing that, in order to ensure that Larsa in the future wouldn’t have to encounter such problems. Destroying the Sun-Cryst fulfilled that and I’m happy they were able to free humanity even if their methods were questionable. I think Vayne underestimated Larsa’s strength and conviction though, but I think he’d be happy if he was wrong about that imo. 

Anyway! Seeing Balthier the leading man protect Dalmasca by directing the falling Bahamut elsewhere with Fran was awesome! I knew he wouldn’t die, but I found it hilarious how later on, he just randomly took his Strahl back from Vaan and Penelo who were maintaining it hahaha. I also found Penelo’s new look really cute! Much better than her old look haha. It would be nice to see it as a costume in DFFOO! I find Ashe’s ending rather lonesome and saddening? She did everything to reclaim her throne and her people, and yet in the end, she loses the people she journeyed with to become Queen. I guess it’s normal though, and I guess like Penelo, I do hope that Basch can one day go back to be beside her. It’s nice to see that Vaan and Penelo get to be like Balthier and Fran, and travel together as sky pirates haha. I wish we actually got to see Balthier and Fran again though. Oh well.

Overall, honestly FFXII kinda renders the same feelings I did when I first played it, maybe it’s a bit more positive this time though! Like, really, I did enjoy the story but I definitely found the characters and their development lacking, mainly everyone aside from Balthier, Vayne and maybe Ashe, but then Ashe only really drives the story and doesn’t really thrive as a character so hmm. I feel like they could have added more scenes to really develop the others because I felt that I was just following along for the story, but didn’t really care for the characters. I still really liked Balthier’s personality and his background though and I find that the highlight of FFXII, especially when he interacted with Ashe and kinda told her about his past. But yeah, there were a lot of scenes I liked and I did enjoy it overall, but I’m not a fan of the gameplay either, so I kinda gave up on the side missions hahaha. I honestly took so long to finish the game because I just couldn’t get into it lol. BUT, I love how customisable the gambits are omg! It’s so crazy how much time I put into experimenting with them haha, but despite that, I found the gameplay rather tedious so I just went through the story. And yes, the story is really short imo, it felt like it would have been a great movie instead haha. Also yes, if FFVII Remake had even a tiny bit of these gambits, I think I would have cried in frustration less lmao. Anywho! Nice story, execution kinda choppy and short but still good, gameplay average, and characters just a means to an end. 7/10 imo haha.

[honeymoonjin]

Chapter Eight

Summary: When you hear that your recently deceased grandmother left you her property in her will, at first you think that a dinky old cottage in the middle of nowhere isn’t going to mean much for you. But after spending a night there, you discover something far more valuable than the house itself: a hidden door that leads to another time, the same place but over 200 years in the past. In the late 18th Century, there is a king who will die before his 21st birthday unless you can save him. Will you help him, even if it means leaving your own life behind?

“I think you’re becoming a nerd,” Namjoon proclaims proudly as he dumps a pile of old birth records on the table you’re sitting at. “You’ve asked me for research help like ten times in the past week.”

You look up from the poorly printed lines of Times New Roman to frown at him. “This is like, the third time, max. Don’t get it twisted.”

He raises his hands in defense. “Hey, all I’m saying is that maybe you secretly like research, and that’s okay. You don’t have to be ashamed of-”

“Here it is!” you interrupt hastily, “Jimin’s great-great grandfather. Okay, and he married…” Your voice trails off and you stare at the piece of paper in shock. Jeon. His great-great grandmother was a Jeon. “Namjoon, can you grab me that book on the King Jeon rule again?”

After retrieving said item, Namjoon sat beside you as you flicked through to the table of contents. “Here we go, lineage.” You locate the right page. “It says here King Jeon had a son.”

“Oh my god,” Namjoon muses. “Jiminie’s great-great grandmother and King Jeon are only, what, five or six generations apart? King Jeon’s father was the first Jeon to come to this region, so as long as Jimin’s family has always lived here, it looks like he’s directly related to that King. Huh, that’s really neat.”

You sit back, mind whirring. “Can you go back to the obituary page?”

Namjoon acquiesces, skipping right to the back of the heavy bamboo tome. “Says here… King Jeon tragically drowned while on a trip to a nearby lake. Huh, it’s almost the anniversary of his death.”

You shake your head slowly. “But last time you told me he died from infection, and the time before that you told me he bled out.”

Namjoon shrugs. “I don’t remember that, sorry. I actually don’t know much about the Jeon reign.”

You slide the book closer to you, flipping back to the lineage section. “But… Namjoon, it says right here he has a child… The dates don’t line up. The child is born well over nine months after he dies.”

“Hmm? Oh, no, you’re right.” He chuckles. “Wow, the guy’s so amazing he managed to conceive a child postpartum. Guess someone got a little freaky in the morgue.” When you don’t laugh at his crude joke, he sighed. “Y/n, it’s either a typo, or, more likely, it’s not actually his child. People in those days liked to fabricate evidence to get their children to be in line for the throne. It’d be a good way to keep the Jeons in power; fake an heir.”

But you had seen the birthmarks. Jimin was descended from King Jeon, but what would happen if he truly did die when the book said he would? What would happen to your boyfriend? “I need to go back,” you muse aloud.

“Back where? Oh, yeah, it is getting kinda late. You should get back to Jimin; he was just telling me about that little café you had lunch at today. I should check it out sometime.”

You nod, but your mind is elsewhere. Why did King Jeon’s fate keep changing? Yoongi seemed insistent he needed to survive, and now you felt that same desire to preserve his heritage, but surely after saving him twice he couldn’t keep having bad luck?

Unless…

You had to go talk with Yoongi. Someone was trying to kill King Jeon.

--

“So, we go to him, we tell him we fear his life is at risk, and… I don’t know, use him as bait and see who tries to kill him?”

Yoongi shakes his head. “Taehyung, if the King is truly in grave danger, we mustn’t use him as bait. But yes, we shall go there now-”

The shaman breaks off abruptly as the liquid in his cup of tea begins to tremble. You watch in anticipation as the tremors grow, until the glass jars on his shelves are wobbling dangerously, threatening to fall over. Quicker than they came, the shakes cease, and moments later the three of you jump in unison when someone raps on the door.

Taehyung answers, holding the door open as a familiar face enters the hut.

Jung Hoseok, clad in riding leathers and a ruby red coat, glances around the room until his eyes land on you. “Min Y/n, the King formally requests you accompany him on his excursion to Lake Silvermeer as the royal healer. We ride at dawn.”

With that, he departs, and you stare out the open door in wonder as he gets back on his horse – a muscled, black beast – and gallops away the way he came, causing wandering villagers to jump out of his way.

Taehyung frowns. “She’s not even from here, and she gets to go on holiday? Why don’t I ever get to go on the King’s excursions?”

“Because you’re a useless healer, Taehyung.” Yoongi turns to you with a solemn look. “You’re staying here tonight.”

You hadn’t exactly prepared for a sleepover, and you were yet to actually bring any of your belongings into your grandmother’s house in present day, so you couldn’t exactly dart back and grab some pajamas. Because of this, you found yourself in a large, slightly sweat-smelling cotton shirt, courtesy of Taehyung, with a scratchy blanket to cover your legs.

“I don’t think we have to worry,” Taehyung pipes up from beside you, “if Y/n messes up and the King dies she can just go back in time and try again.” He turns to you with an accusing look. “Who’s to say she hasn’t had this conversation hundreds of times before?”

Yoongi sighs loudly from the kitchen as he cleans up some clay and ceramic dishes. “She isn’t actually traveling through time, Taehyung. Think of it as more of a… a back door. She can step in and out, but time is still flowing as per usual. This is our only shot.”

You stare blankly into the fire. Our only shot. “Yoongi, what happens to his descendants if he dies?”

“How should I know?” You turn to him with pleading eyes. “Fine, if I had to wager a guess, I’d say that history would begin to rewrite itself and adjust to the new timeline. Perhaps only those that had traveled through the portal would be aware of it, though. I imagine for the rest of the world it would be like nothing ever happened.”

You nodded slowly. “My friend already has no recollection of past conversations we’ve had about the King. Each time I go back to the library he works at the books say something different. But today, the same book said two different things, like time couldn’t make its mind up.”

“Don’t personify time, Y/n. It isn’t moody; it won’t cry if you’re mean to it. Now, if you’ve finished your tea, there’s nothing more for us to do tonight.”

Yoongi had been tinkering around the hut all evening, back and forth from the variously sized cauldrons on the hearth to the shelves of ingredients, making you consume countless potions. As a med student, you were vaguely concerned as to whether taking so many different reactive ingredients at once could possibly prove fruitful, but since you had twice seen him turn people into animals, you were learning to have a little more faith in the witchy side of things.

So far you had drunk a sweet syrup for clarity of mind, a spicy tea for strength and physical endurance, and, oddly enough, a somewhat chewy paste for ‘good instincts.’ Yoongi didn’t know what you would need to be prepared for, so apparently, he decided to give you a general range of aids, but you weren’t complaining. The final thing you had been given was another tea that smelt of black licorice but tasted like chamomile, and you imagined it was for resting well, as you’d been growing consistently drowsier since taking it.

“See if you can get him to stay away from the water, but I imagine there’s not much chance of that. At the very least, be sure to accompany him when…”

You tuned out Yoongi’s voice, slumping over to rest your head against Taehyung’s shoulder and letting your eyes fall closed.

“…ening to me, so I don’t know why I bother. Taehyung, you didn’t even drink the tea, why are you going to sleep as well? Gah, you children. I’m going to my room to sleep on an actual…”

--

Dawn comes with a rude awakening by Jung Hoseok as he storms into the small abode and shakes you awake, but Yoongi has clearly done his job, because you feel vibrant and aware instead of sluggish and hazy.

Still, your heart drops in your chest when he leads you outside to two horses that he’s tied to a tree. “I can’t get on that thing alone, are you crazy?”

Hoseok frowns, back in the same clothes from yesterday, albeit with an extra layer underneath his coat to account for the cold weather. “What lady does not know how to ride a horse? What do they teach you in Mirefeld?”

You pout. “Other, more important things,” you defend. “Anyway, I’ll just walk.”

“It’s several hours on horseback. You cannot walk.”

You bite your lip. “Then get Jin to do it instead. It’s his job, anyway.”

Hoseok sighs, grabbing your hand and pulling you closer, until the both of you are right beside the smaller horse’s body. “The King formally requested you, Y/n. Would you like me to ride back to the palace and tell him you said no?”

You brighten up. “Yeah, that would be great, thanks!” When his face stiffens even more, you huff. “Oh, you were joking. Seriously, Mister Jung, I can’t do this by myself. I’ll fall off and die. Do you think the King will be happy when his healer dies on vacation? No.”

Hoseok gives you a hard stare, then turns around, deftly untying the knot that attached the horse’s reigns to the tree.

You watch in pleased surprise as the horse happily trots back down the street towards the palace in the distance. “Thanks, Hoseok, I owe you one.”

He turns back to you, unimpressed. “You’re riding with me.”

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[1358456]

Review Response, June 23-29, 2019

I totally forgot about this until right now. Whoops! My bad.

And also, starting with this post, each weekly review response will now show the updated graphs... charts (I keep saying graphs but they’re more charts...) of the stories that got the reviews.

Destiny #010

1) OH GOD. I KNEW IT. Y'S GOING TO DIE. THE WHOLE THING WITH X AND NOT THINKING OH HER AS "HIS GIRL" WAS A BUILD-UP OF SOME SORT. This will only cause X grief as it was one of the last things he said about Y before she died. Ohhhhh god. Poor Y, she tried so hard. I simply cannot imagine being attacked like that. And speaking of being attacked, Sapphire? Really has to get over her fear. I know its difficult love, but you're hindering the rest of your team! But anyways, going back to Y, the way she was dominating at first made me soooo happy. Finally! Proof that they can win! But nope. I still can't get over it. A death so soon... unless she miraculously survives. But tbh I can't see how.

Also nil I forgot Silver even existed for a moment there. When you mentioned him, I was completely take by surprise lmao. I don't blame you or anything, it's really hard to focus on a lot of dexholders in one chapter. But I was surprised to find that none were mentioned at the end, the it hit me that of course they weren't. They've got their own battles (problems) to deal with. Those shiny pokemon aren't going to disappear by themselves. Although I hope and pray that they do. But I am really interested as to how this battle will end. Will the dexholders prevail? Will they be defeated? Or will they retreat with their tails in between their legs? So many questions. And there can be so many answers. I'm hoping that they will win, but I just don't think that is likely tho. They've practiced yes, but it's probably not enough. They need years of practice before they can get to his level.

Also I forgot to mention, but I started sweating when I realized that Emerald still had his Mega bracelet thing I forgot what it's called. I was like "Ho boiiiiii." One could easily predict that he would be targeted first. Or at least second only to Y. But I feel like Peter is definitely using the Salamence to his advantage. I mean who wouldn't? That's one dexholder down.

Speaking of Sapphire, I absolutely love how you added in that bet between her and Gold. Like I said previously the balance of fun and not fun (?) is absolutely amazing. And I can only imagine a lot of people there probably face palmed. Which I get but like it's also a fabulous way to motivate someone (especially two competitive dexholders like them) to fight. But I doubt that that either of them will still have the heart to order around the other person after this battle. Well... then again this is Gold and Sapphire we're talking about. They are two people who might still do it. And it makes for a perfect opportunity for comedy later on. Nicely played.

I've decided to use paragraphs 'cause I tend to wander in my reviews, and it makes it easier to process. I'm sorry of this review isn't as good as the others. To be honest they only thing I feel I can say now, is about how good your writing is. But that gets tiring. And I'll make sure to shut up about Peter being so powerful later on. But I'll admit you're legit making me worried.

Anyways, thank you. Its been a pleasure like always.

I didn’t really think of that as a build-up. More like... “the f*ck, X?”. If I recall, I put that line in there because he says it in the XY arc, and it was incomprehensible... at the time. And yes. Poor heartbroken Y... :( And death so soon? This is chapter 10. It’s too soon*! And yes, Sapphire needs to get over the Salamence weakness... which she has in Destiny because this was before that scene in ORAS where Sapphire did not give a FUCK, since there was no time for such trivial things. Damn ORAS...

Silver? ... Oh yeah. That’s right. Heh. Not only are there a lot of Dex Holders in the mess, but there are those who I just do not give a damn about, who always wind up being forgotten as the focus of the chapter is elsewhere. Hehe. And the Dex Holders don’t need years of practice... they just need to embrace the game mechanics!! Hehe. ... What, is a Modest Rhyperior going to win against an Adamant one if it practiced? Heh.

The Salamence over-usage is not only because of how it cripples Sapphire, but also because the guy the Mega Hunter is based on generally always has a Salamence in his singles team. ... Usually with Choice Band and Moxie and Outrage. One-shot a guy, get Moxie boost. One-shot the next guy, get another Moxie boost. And one-shot the next guy. 3 Pokemon down in 3 turns. ... And then it usually hits itself in confusion and deals like 75% damage to itself.

Ah, the competitive rivalry between Gold and Sapphire! The one that’s hardly ever mentioned by anyone else... It’s fun, though. And all lighthearted. They always need to get the one-up on each other. Heh.

I do like the new paragraphs! It makes it easier for me to respond! I really do appreciate your reviews! :)

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Destiny #011

1) If shit wasn't already real, it is now. I honestly love the tension between Platinum and Sapphire, and it makes sense. They're the complete opposite of each other, one's quite literally wild, while the other is as refined as possible. It's only natural that they should clash. But I must admit, Platinum was being exceedingly rude. Like goddamn, you're fresh out of a battle, you need to find a new teammate and Sapphire is giving the perfect way in order to find her. Who cares if someone sees you with a girl sniffing. Stepping back was petty, though I'll also admit that Sapphire was being a but rude to Platinum when she told Platinum to just follow her. But it's simply Sapphire's way (as it is Platinum's), so I guess I can't complain too much. But I'm still rather peeved.

So, Peter thinks that the dexholders will get better, huh? That's new. Usually villains will boast and get cocky, and that usually leads to their downfall. Seems as if Peter is not going down that path. I found that a nice thing for you to add, because it only adds on to how clever this dude is. Like the little clues you leave for certain things, I'm not sure whether you write them on purpose, but some of them I notice and it only gladdens me.

In any case, I did not think Peter was going to manipulate Oak and Daisy. That actually quite surprised me, but in reality its a great way to gain information. After all, knowledge is power. And the more you know about your enemy, the more of an advantage you have. Meanwhile the dexholders don't know anything about him, only that that he wants to kill them for reasons? And some of the strategies he uses. Yikes indeed. Red voiced this perfectly in this chapter, with those questions of his. (And if I'm correct) I believe that this is another one of those "clues" I mentioned earlier. I believe Red might be the one to find out the answers to those questions, as he was the one to ask them. But that might just me looking too far into it. And I'm not exactly sure that that is a clue lmao. Ah well, a girl can come up with as big of theories as she so wishes.

Also, could it be possible that for a future strategy, they use Yellow for her healing? I mean, it seems practical. Their pokemon are not strong enough, and they drop one by one so easily. And while it seems rather cruel to constantly heal them only to fight again, that is reality. We do it all the time in the games and actually that brings me to another topic. The world of pokemon is wonky. We just capture these sort of "animals" and force them to fight for us? We might create bonds with them, but jeez these guys are just living their lives when bam! You come across them and then just capture them? And have them battle for you and constantly drain their health, only to do the process all over again. That is fucking cruel imo. I know certain trainers consider pokemon as companions and friends and whatnot, and that's all great and dandy, but like jeez. At least some pokemon come with you willingly and that's the best part. But whatever I'm getting off topic.

Again, personalities on point, writing smooth. Honestly I've never read something of your that felt jagged in a way. (Which is what really confused me when I accidentally skipped this chapter, and I was thrust into the future without an explanation of what happened at the end of the battle) Thank you.

I don’t think Platinum was being rude there at all. She doesn’t say anything, and from her perspective, it’s natural to be baffled at Sapphire. It’s like... you see someone sniffing at the air and the ground and the trees, and you just feel the urge to not be seen right next to that person. Stepping backwards was an unconscious decision, and hell, I’d do that too. And of course, Platinum hadn’t spent enough time with Sapphire to be used to it, or even appreciate her uniqueness. So for now, it’s an understandable natural reaction. And the cause of the Sapphire vs. Platinum minor feud that... I was going to push but abandoned because no one gave a f*ck.

One of the things I absolutely HATE about villains in anime/manga is their usual cockiness. If I had a dime every time some bad guy said something along the lines of “it’s over”... Well, it ain’t over ‘till it’s over. The Mega Hunter won’t be saying that it’s over when no one has died yet. And I left quite a few clues about him throughout the story. They become far more evident when Blue points them out later on.

Knowledge is power, indeed. Especially when it comes to Pokemon! ... And battles. 知彼知己 百戰不危 and all. And I think Red’s internal questions are a bit too blatant to be considered as clues. Hehe. But hey. That’s just a-

Using Yellow for healing? Oh, I do love how you consistently point out options that actually do happen shortly afterwards. It is, after all, the logical next step. And... ah, the morals of Pokemon. “Pokemon are not tools of war”... that’s because you’re not using them properly. HA! The Pokemon world ain’t looking too bright. Also factor in humans’ tendencies of eradication, and...

I did notice that you skipped this one, given the review order. But I respond in the chapter order, so this one comes first. As to how you NOT notice that you skipped a chapter... ...

2) I swear to god these reviews take me an hour to write lmaooo. I didn't even realize it took that long. Not like I'll stop but dam.

You don’t have to write such long reviews, if that helps you. I do enjoy reading your long reviews, but if it’s too much for you, you can shorten it!

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Destiny #012

1) I wouldn't be surprised if they were copying your work ngl. In fact, they'd be stupid not too. Its that good but anyways, I'm face palming myself now. Of course it was a pokemon. What else could it have been? Honestly, sometimes I'm amazed at my own stupidity. Just like I'm amazed at your writing this chapter! Y's, Platinum's, and Blue's insecurity felt all unique! Like, one could tell it was insecurity, but each felt it in a different way. Which I felt reflected in your writing (as I'm starting to realize most emotions of the characters do) which might've just been encase of their different situations, but I feel like it was more than that. Kudos to you, that's hard to accomplish. And speaking of insecurity, this Peter guy seems to really know how to manipulate it. 'Cause I know the pokemon was doing the brainwashing, but Peter was the one putting the ideas and thoughts into Blue's mind. But he wasn't forcing them, he was juts voicing some of the thoughts he assumed were going on in Blue's mind. Also speaking of Blue, we finally have a chapter in her point of view again! It was nice seeing her again, and making sure that she was okay. But um the whole "It's not my problem" is worrying me. I completely understand why she's at that point. But still, not how the Blue I know from the FRLG chapter would act. (I say FRLG 'cause I'm not sure whether or not that's how she would've acted in RGBY. I mean she's had her small arc)

Fucking bastard. I was hoping Blue would somehow turn him down, but I suppose my prediction was correct. He "tricked" her in a way. But I guess I can only hope now that Blue will snap out of it the moment she sees the dexholders and is assured that they are indeed her friends. Seeing as how we already know she is capable of at least breaking free of his grip for a few moments with only the help of her subconsciousness and thoughts. Break free, Blue! You got this!

Also, on the matter with Y. I am so surprised she survived. The was quite a beating in the last chapter. I mean, forcefully being held in the air against her will. With things like Hydro Canon shooting at her. Not to mention the branches and rocks that pummeled her. What a remarkable girl. Even is she had on her suit. Dam. And even still wishing to fight. Is this what it means to be a dexholder? I can hardly imagine. If I break a nail I feel like crying and I start hugging my teddy bear. Well no, I don't do that either. But you get the idea.

But speaking of the time when Blue will have to battle the others. I wonder how that will play out? I wonder what the reactions of the others will be. Especially the ones close to her like Silver, and Red and whatnot. I'm sure that very moment is when my heart will break and I will cry. I'm certainly looking forward to the fluff that will help heal those wounds of mine. But Green's guilt. That will certainly overwhelm me. More than I thought X's guilt over Y's supposed "death' would have. Also, I wonder who's perspective that will be in. Lately it's been a lot of Platinum and Y, but I think it would be great if that battle was in Green's or Blue's point of view. As they were the ones who had the "falling out" in their relationship. Nonetheless, I'm sure it will be quite enjoyable. I cannot wait to read it!

Lackspeed to my babies. Treat them well I beg of you. They deserve all the love in the world. But still I thank you.

The conspiracy! First ORAS copies SA’s Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, then XY copies... er... well, I can’t say right now I guess, since you’re not far enough in Destiny. Heh. And yes, of course it’s a Pokemon. Destiny literally begins in Terminus Cave in Kalos. And you do know what’s in that cave, right?

The insecurities of the different Dex Holders are the cause of their different personalities and their situations! Blue, the lonely girl who’s been drifting away from her friends and feeling utter isolation, would have insecurities about her friends. Platinum, the proud girl who have never known defeat previously would have insecurities about her own capabilities after losing multiple times to the same enemy. And what she says is what she would’ve read in a book too. 敗將有口無言, and all. And Y, the new girl, who has a lot to prove and a lot of catching up to do, will have her own insecurities after being absolutely obliterated.

Blue saying “it’s not my problem” is the result of her drifting away so much from her friends and feeling betrayed. In FRLG, it’s subtly revealed that Blue doesn’t remain in contact with anyone other than Silver (since Red and Green had no idea what she was doing in One Island, or what she had been doing), and so if that was to continue for years, and she lets her darker thoughts go rampant, she would end up quickly reverting to her old colder self.

And yep. “Tricked”. Rampancy in AI (which is what Blue’s rampancy is based on) doesn’t require something HUGE happening. It can all start with just a subtle suggestion. And now the struggle begins, between her rampant thoughts and her rational thoughts. Hehehe...

Yep. Y took a hell of a beating... again. And yet she’s still trying to fight. The resiliency of the Dex Holders! ... Also, the resiliency of those who are in the top 5 favorites! In order to be able to fight even after such a beating, you need to be in the top 5 of my favorites. Otherwise... hehe.

Oh, Blue’s upcoming fight against the Dex Holders... it will be quite the journey!

Treat them well, eh? Hmm...

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And so with that, Destiny’s chart is updated!

With the reviewed chapters in the red circle. ... Destiny still doesn’t show a trend, as it is ALL OVER THE PLACE.

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Legacy #007

1) Janecklyn from Specord here :P

Anyway, i really appreciated those "slice of life" chapters and some of the dex holders forming friendships with others outside their region! Makes the stakes higher and the mental problems more heavy.

Aww, jelly X, I have a feeling Jeremy is gonna be important to the plot.

Moon, you goofed up D:

One thing I like of your writing, is that you get the characterization pretty well, most of the time I can tell who's speaking for the lines alone. It tells me that like you love these characters 3

Intense and suspenseful chapter! Will wait for the update 3

Oh. I had no idea that you actually read Legacy. ... It happens if people just don’t review, since I have no other way to know if it’s being actually READ.

Gotta love those “slice of life” things, eh? It’s not always just chaos and catastrophe in the lives of the Dex Holders. Even if they’re always in the middle of one.

X is going to have to compete with Sky Trainer Jeremy! Hehe...

Moon had failed to properly heed Platinum’s warning, and had failed to react fast enough. Ouch.

Hehe. Thank you :) I do try to make each one sound as unique as I can, though some... just... can’t.

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With this one review, Legacy’s chart now looks like...

The red circle was the change, and so now it’s no longer a straight line barring the last chapter’s “anomaly”. Still, the trend is too clear. Legacy will not be getting an update until that dot in the red circle goes up by another 5. And it has the rest of 2019 to do so.

[wonkyjaw]

Traitors bleed lies from their tongues until with help they bleed elsewhere. Andrew was willing to be that unrelenting force, the brick wall this man would beat himself against until, eventually, there was nothing left. There were only so many lies a man could tell before he realized they weren’t going to be bought and they could only hope it didn’t take all night for the man to twist his tongue into too many knots. Andrew silently watched, bored, as the man winced, ropes tightening around wrists, elbows, shoulders. He hadn’t needed their help to keep him down, but Kevin had insisted.

“Who are you?” he asked, the words rebounding off concrete walls. They were alone, Andrew left in his domain. This was a game and he wasn’t used to losing.

***

“My name is Neil, I told you that,” Neil spat out some blood with his words, aiming for feet that were too far away. The room was dark enough that most of it lay in shadow. It was impossible to tell how many of the four had gone already, which one it was that was left. Based on the height of the shadow in front of him, though, he’d hazard a guess it was one of the midget twins. If he was a betting man, he’d assume it was the one they’d called Andrew. There had been a certain violence to the hollow glances he’d passed Neil’s way before they’d gotten here that threatened to shake Neil down.

Neil cursed himself again for getting caught at all. He knew it was enemy territory. He knew this was where Kevin Day had fled to when the Raven’s had turned him out into the gutter labeled useless. It’d be hard to fight with his newly broken hand, so Kevin fled. For the thousandth time Neil forced himself to not wonder and focused his attention back on Andrew who seemed unconvinced if the set of his shoulders meant anything.

“My name’s Neil Josten. This is a mistake,” he said, not having to force the dramatic quiver into his voice. He’d been bound tight, one wrong word could mean death. Neil hadn’t survived this long to go out on a stupid mistake like this. “A misunderstanding.”

Andrew stepped into the circle of light lightening fast, a knife out and against Neil’s throat before Neil knew where he’d misstepped. “I don’t like that word,” Andrew said, sounding bored - like he was announcing his mild dislike of a certain color, not threatening to slit another man’s throat.

“Then I guess I’ll avoid using it,” Neil murmured, careful to keep still. He could feel the bite of metal and was sure he was bleeding. When Andrew stepped back an inch Neil took his chances on another lie. “Who are you?”

Andrew stared at him for a moment and then backed into the shadows again. Neil watched him, but he stood stock still just slightly out of sight. Neil needed a good story and fast.

“Fine, I was seeking asylum,” he said. If they’d taken in Kevin, then it meant at least one person on the crew held maybe an ounce of decency. Neil knew it was stupid to be in such proximity to a man who with one small slip could identify him, the real him, but at this point it seemed like it was either roll the dice on Kevin having bad memory or die tied to a chair in a cement room. Neil figured one of those options would hurt less than the other.

Andrew took half a step back into the light, impassive. Neil took it as interest and closed his eyes. One deep breath later and he was giving this stranger more truth than he’d spilled in years.

“I know who you are and I know I shouldn’t have come here, but I’m desperate. The Foxes seemed like my best option, especially since you took in Kevin.” Neil wanted to choose his words carefully, but needed to come across as authentic. Authenticity required missteps. Mentioning Kevin now could mean an immediate death or it could be intriguing enough to keep him alive.

When Andrew took a step further into the light Neil saw his white knuckled grip around the knife. He waited for a verdict and realized one wasn’t coming. Andrew was waiting for more honesty and Neil would continue to feed him snippets and scraps until it was enough.

Neil bit down hard on his tongue and held back a rush of panic - just barely. “I took something that didn’t belong to me. I’ve been running, but I can’t run anymore.” Down to the barest bones, it wasn’t a lie. “You don’t have to trust me to help me,” he added when he realized Andrew was unmoved.

Andrew took slow steps until he stood beneath the single light, the grip on the knife loosening until it twirled around his fingers. “So are you a thief or a liar?” he asked, continuing to pace around the chair. From out of sight he tacked on “or both?” like he knew it was the answer.

Everything about the moment felt melodramatic, but that didn’t stop the rush of blood Neil could hardly hear over in his ears. Neil tugged at the rope binding his wrists, but it only dug in and burned. Somewhere behind him a door opened and Neil heard it swing shut, heavy and metallic.

Thinking he was alone, Neil let his head drop to his chest, struggling to piece together enough fact and fiction to satisfy Andrew or whoever it was who’d come to see him next. If he could only talk to Wymack he knew he’d be safe, at least for the night. Wymack had a notorious soft-spot for sob stories and lost causes and Neil could appeal to that easily.

When heavy boots hit cement, continuing the circuit around his chair, Neil realized he wasn’t actually alone yet. He looked up to see Andrew watching him. With only inches between them, Andrew was easier to read. The look on his face wasn’t blank so much as mildly intrigued. Very mildly. Still, Neil couldn’t help but feel that everything he did was just another puzzle piece for Andrew.

“Who are you?” he asked a third time.

Neil sighed and let his head drop again. “If you’re going to kill me, I’d appreciate you getting it over with already.” He rolled his neck as he looked back up at Andrew who looked nearly amused. Neil swore he was seeing things.

“Why would I bother killing a nobody like you?” Andrew asked, the knife catching light where it spun in his hand.

Neil couldn’t decide where to keep his eyes, both the man and the knife seemed too sharp to ignore. He tugged at the ropes a little, not trying to get loose so much as making a statement. “Tell me what I’m supposed to think, Andrew,” he said drily, “because this feels grossly reminiscent of a child playing with his food.”

Andrew cocked his head to the side, but before he could state what was on his mind the door opened again. The sound of it clanging shut almost covered the noise of heavy footfalls and nearly growled breaths. Almost.

Neil recognized the man who stomped his way to stand beside Andrew whether he wanted to or not. Wymack was probably twice the size of Andrew and looked one hundred times as pissed off. Neil clenched his hands into fists behind his back, fighting the urge to squirm, suddenly too reminded of a past he’d spent too long running from.

“Would you mind explaining what in God’s name is going on here?” Wymack asked, the words grinding out of his mouth in a way that made Neil flinch. Why had he ever thought talking with Wymack would be better?

“I’m doing my job,” Andrew said in easy explanation, a minuscule shrug crossing his shoulders. The knife flipped in his hand and Neil struggled to choose between watching it and watching Wymack.

“He’s just a kid, Minyard,” Wymack growled, stepping towards Neil.

“I’m nineteen,” Neil said, a lie, but somehow nineteen sounded leagues more impressive than eighteen.

Wymack stopped for a second to glance Neil over again with a look Neil didn’t fully comprehend, before moving behind Neil and prying at the rope tying him to the chair. “This is why we can’t have nice things,” he grumbled.

Andrew took a few steps back, the knife in his fingers moving faster. He was agitated, even though his expression still seemed empty. “If he was nice you wouldn’t want to keep him,” he stated.

When Neil’s hands were free he stayed sitting, but rubbed fingers into sore wrists. Wymack came around and crouched before him so they could see eye to eye. Neil watched the older man and thought of his father. Wymack was darker, tribal tattoos on his arms on full display due to a lack of sleeves. Wymack’s eyes looked almost kind as he considered Neil and Neil fought the urge to shudder at the thought.

“You got any useful skills?” Wymack asked.

“He’s a thief,” Andrew stated before Neil could open his mouth.

“I thought he was a liar,” Wymack said, glancing back at Andrew briefly. Andrew just shrugged in response so Wymack turned his attention back to Neil. “You a good thief?”

“I’m not a thief,” Neil said, which was mostly true. He paid for what he could, but living on the run got expensive and keeping odd hours meant sometimes the things he needed were behind locked doors. “But I’m not useless.”

Wymack seemed to be waiting for some solid answer and Neil could feel Andrew’s eyes boring into the side of his head, though he didn’t dare to look away from the older man. Neil wasted time running through a mental list of his skills, trying to decide which were the most useful and which were the most dangerous. He knew several ways to kill a man and the more efficient ways to lose a body. He knew how to lie in three different languages and how to disappear in 22 different cities in 6 different countries. He knew how to enter and exit a building like a ghost and how to lose a tail in a car and on foot. He still had a list of his mother’s connections, the ability to become a new person overnight.

When Neil spent too long debating what skills he’d be able to showcase as the mild-mannered character he’d built Neil Josten to be, Andrew apparently ran out of patience.

“I think he’s a traitor,” Andrew said.

“I know, Andrew.” Wymack’s eyes didn’t leave Neil’s face, though he seemed annoyed by Andrew’s insistence.

“You know what I do to traitors,” Andrew said.

Neil sent the flicker of a glance Andrew’s way and saw the first true emotion in the apathy of those hazel eyes. A deep, dark something was hidden there, enough to keep Neil’s attention. Wymack grabbed Neil’s collar and dragged him to his feet. Instead of standing straight, Neil winced at the memory of a bat meeting his stomach and hunched to keep the sharper of his pains from reigniting.

Wymack sighed and let go of Neil’s jacket. “What’d you do?”

Neil glanced up in time to realize Wymack was looking to Andrew for answers and kept his mouth shut. Andrew shrugged, realizing he’d lost this battle. Neil watched him walk away, the door slamming shut behind him as he went. The faint light from the world outside that door disappeared with Andrew and Neil wondered what kind of trouble he was getting himself into now.

He could run as soon as they let him out of their sight. He could get new documents, a passport. He’d been meaning to learn Spanish, maybe he could do it in Spain, thousands of miles away from here.

Wymack’s heavy hand meeting his shoulder made Neil nearly jump out of his skin. Wymack let go almost immediately, watching Neil carefully for just a moment before walking around him to follow Andrew out of the room. “You comin’?” he asked.

Neil turned off his brain and nodded. He may be stepping into danger, but no matter where he was headed now it was strides closer to freedom than he’d been before and that was more than enough.