#where did ''miranda'' and ''dash'' (was that his name?) come from. and why.

[sparrownnax]

just finished book three! what the fuck

[the-broken-truth]

Can I request RE8 women (Lady D 、Donna...etc,you can pick who you want to write!)be protected by a human who wear full Knight's armor,use sword and sheild to fight,and they think that knight is a man.

But one day, that knight take off the helmet,and they are wrong,the knight is a woman.👩 ⚔

Sorry if I misspelled something, English is not my first language.

Broken Truth (Sharpening my sword): Hm, Dimitrescu or Donna... Dimitrescu or Donna... Hm... Why not both? Let the words weave together!

[Mother Miranda's Chapel - During A Lord Meeting]

"Thus, it would be better if you all were to... Alcina!" The Raven Winged Woman yelled out all of a sudden, causing the regal woman to jolt in her seat and almost drop her cigarette.

"Huh?! What?! Yes, Mother Miranda?" She asked as she looked at the woman in the golden mask.

"In case you forgot where you are - we are in the middle of a meeting and you are allowing your mind to wander instead of remaining focused. Care to explain why you are so distracted?" Miranda asked as she folded her arms with a glare under her mask.

"Please, forgive me, Mother Miranda - I was still...trying to analyze something that happened yesterday. You see - a few of the village's man-things decided to attack my castle." Alcina began.

"What's new about that? You report an attack on your castle once every two to three weeks; what makes this one so different that it's distracting you from the meeting?" Miranda asked.

"Well, Mother Miranda - It wasn't the event itself but the person who came out of nowhere and slaughtered all of the opposers." Alcina said with a slight blush on her face.

"Person? What person?" Miranda asked.

"Well... A Knight."

[Flashback - The Day Before - Attack On Castle Dimitrescu]

Once again - the reckless males of the village gathered again to attack the residents of the grand castle that overshadowed their home, but there were more of them than last time. The full moon shined over the castle, lighting the area around the - there were at least 50 or 60 humans there; armed with farming equipment or small handguns. Alcina and her Daughters were standing before the grand door of their castle - claws and sickles ready - the first man who held a pitchfork made a dash for the eldest daughter but before he could even get close to her, the silhouette of a caped figure shrouded the light of the moon before the figure came crashing down in the middle; acting as a bridge between The Dimitrescus and the Opposers.

The figure rose to their feet and the light of the moon made their features known to all. They were tall - at least 7 feet tall - dressed in a black metal armor that bore wolves on the shoulders and in the chest plate, the eyes of the wolves had rubies for eyes; even the helmet was in the likeness of a wolf and the back of the legs had a tail made of fur - was it real or did the wearer hunt down a beast and take its tail as a trophy. By their side, the pommel of the sword shined in the moonlight and even that was a wolf.

"Who the hell are you?!" The man said.

"Silence, you waste of flesh and blood." A deep voice came from the helmet, making the man flinch - a male was in that suit? That would explain the height. "You dare rally drunken minds to harm your masters? You have no honor and thus no worth, therefore..." His hand came over his side and wrapped around the handle of the sword before slowly pulling it out of its case, "You have no lost your privilege of life for even having the thought of harming House Dimitrescu!" He howled as he darted at the crowd of men with the speed of a beast on the hunt.

With a single swing of his sword - the first 10 men were killed. Alcina and her daughters watched in awe as this armored man slaughtered men who harm on the Dimitrescu Family. With another slash of the massive blade, 8 more were killed. He kept at it until the last man - the one who poisoned all the others to fight a losing battle; he was shivering and dropped his weapon as the tall man walked over to him, his armor and sword dripping with the blood of his lackeys.

"You are the orchestrator of this madness - the one who weaved chaos and delusion into the hearts and minds of these men." He growled as he raised the bloody blade over his head. "It is your fault that wives have become widows, children grow without parental guidance, and fathers...bury their sons; let that weigh on your mind...as you face your creator for judgment." The sword came crashing down upon the man - slicing him right down the middle.

"That...THAT WAS AWESOME!!" The excited cry of the youngest Dimitrescu Daughter as she buzzed over to the knight and began asking him questions: Where did he come from? Where he learned to fight like that? Where he got his sword and armor? If he could teach her how to fight? The Armored Man just stared at her.

"Daniela, that's enough." Alcina said as she cleared her throat and walked over to her daughter and savior, "I thank you for your but assistance but my daughters and I could have handled them." Alcina said.

"A Lady of your stature doesn't need to sully herself with dirt - it's not worth your time or the time of your daughters. Your time is precious and should be wasted with trivial matters such as this." He said before turning on his heel and jumped so high that he was once again cast in the moon's shadow before he fell in the forest somewhere, leaving the daughters and Lady of the castle just standing there...with a light blush on the lady's face.

[End of Flashback]

"HA HA HA HA HA! Lady Super-Sized Bitch has a crush! Oh, this is so rich!" Heisenberg laughed to the point he almost fell out of his seat.

"Silence, you stupid man-thing! You're just mad that he is more of a man than you will ever be!" Alcina roared at her brother who was going to shout back when...

"Hold on, ya talking that a tall dude - black armor with wolves all over it?" Angie asked from Donna's Lap; Alcina looked at her confused.

"Yes, that's my knight." She said.

The doll burst out laughing.

"Your Knight?! That's Donna's Knight! He saved her just last week!" Angie smiled.

"WHAT?!" Alcina yelled - jealousy clear in her voice.

"Yeah - it was late one night; we were looking for a plant that grew on the edge of the valley wall when..."

[Flashback - The Valley of Mist]

"AHHH!" The Dollmaker cried out as the rock under her feet broke away and she began to fall down into the misty darkness of the valley she called her home - tears in her eyes, reaching for the growing moon in the sky that seemed to get smaller and smaller with each second. She closed her eye, waiting for the sudden impact that would end her life of misery when she felt another force - an arm secured itself around her waist and she was pressed a cold chest, she kept her eye closed until she came to a stop and slowly opened them when she came face-to-face with a metal face in a wolf snarl.

"Are you alright, my lady? That would have been quite an unpleasant fall." The deep voice spoke from the metal wolf's locked jaws - Donna's eyes widened at the shining [E/C] eyes that looked back at her from the holes in the helmet.

"I...I am alright." Donna's voice came in a whisper.

"That is good to hear. Now, let's get you back to your companion." The Wolfish Knight said as he looked up and lunged himself up the wall with one clawed hand while holding Donna with the other, refusing to let her go. The moment they reached the top, Angie ran up to them.

"Donna! Are you alright?" She yelled.

"Worry not, Little Angel; your mother is safe, I was not going to let anything happen to her." The Knight said.

"Who are you?" Angie asked.

"I have no name, Little One." The Knight said as he held his hand out to Angie, "Now, take my hand and I'll get both of you back home, it gets rather dangerous around her at this time of night." He said.

Angie looked at the black clawed gauntlet for a moment before she took it and was pulled into an embrace and sat in her mother's lap before the knight rose to his full height and carried the woman bridal style before jumping into the trees - leaping through them like a Forest Cat - before falling to the ground in front of Beneviento Manor and sat them both on their feet. The knight gave them a nod before turning away and leaping away once again - gone from their sight.

[End of Flashback]

"Well...Just because she knew him first doesn't mean that she can have him." Alcina said.

"And what makes you think you deserve him? He saved us first and Donna even saw his eyes; you didn't have a decent conversation with them." Angie said.

"He is my knight and I shall not let anyone take him from me, not even my little sister." Alcina growled at Angie.

"Hey, you can't claim him for yourself if he doesn't want you!" Donna said as she rose from her seat.

"And what makes you think he wants you, little dollmaker?" Alcina smirked.

"I don't know what he wants but if he were here, I would as him!"

Oh, fate - how you be a lady.

The Window above Mother Miranda's head caved inward and two figures came crashing into the stone floor of Mother Miranda's Chapel - the first being one of Karl's Massive Lycans - The Varcolac - and...

THE KNIGHT?!

He was holding the beast by its head as it tried to sink its teeth into his armor. The Varcolac's hand lashed out and knocked the knight into one of the stone walls - making a large hole in it.

"My Knight!" Both Alcina and Donna yelled out before glaring at each other, "Your Knight?!"

A flash of black bolted out of the hole and metal arms wrapped around the beast's neck before twisting - snapping its neck. The Knight dropped the dead creature and exhaled before the wolf face he wore began cracking and broke away: revealing [H/L] [H/C] hair, [E/C] eyes, [S/C] skin with a scar across the face and...

A feminine face?!

THE KNIGHT WAS A FEMALE?!

The knight looked up at Miranda and the other lords before bowing in apology. "Forgive me for this interrupting, this beast attacked my home and I had to put it down." She said. Alcina was quick and was at the knight's side with her hand on the knight's shoulder.

"It's quite alright, cavalerul meu (My Knight). You had to do what needed to be done to keep your lady safe. If you wish, I can bring you to Castle Dimitrescu for a meal and a safe place to recover; it's the least I can do, Darling." Alcina blushed at her words while the woman in armor just looked at her in confusion before she was pulled away from Alcina.

"Hey, Tall One! It's been a while! Thanks for saving us from that thing. Sorry about your mask, Donna and I can get it fixed for you and you can stay with us while it gets fixed." Angie said while Donna smiled.

"Excuse me?!" Alcina said as she marched up to her little sister, the knight moving back. "I was the one who invited my knight to stay at Castle Dimitrescu while she heals, you can't roach on my bonding time with my future partner!" Alcina yelled at the veiled woman.

"And who said she wants you, Alcina?! Didn't you see if was uncomfortable with the way you were touching her?! It's clear she doesn't want you!" Donna yelled back.

"She does! Don't you, cavalerul meu?!" Alcina turned to the knight...only to find her gone. "What?!" She looked around, "Where did she go?!"

"She jumped back out that window while you two were arguing. Looks like she doesn't want either one of you." Karl smirked.

"SHUT UP, KARL!!!" Donna/Alcina/ and Angie yelled at him.

[End]

[superhappyyellowrainbowsmoo-blog]

Cut the Ties #3

Another Chapter in the bag! Muriel belongs to @professionallydeadinside - all hail this amazing bean! and I suppose Capcom owns the rest... but we adopted it... so is ours now =3

ENJOY!

Chapter Three

Muriel managed to keep her distance.

Alcina was none the wiser when she entered her home, Castle Dimitrecu.

A grand gothic structure that was a spectacle to look at. A medieval marvel and such eye candy to any tourist – if they were allowed.

As Alcina made it through the grand doors, Muriel crept in through the crack of an open window. She just about managed to slot her body inside.

'Cassandra.' Alcina called out. Her voice echoed and bounced off the walls.

A swarm of flies invaded the hall then manifested into a woman. 'Yes Mother?'

Muriel hid herself on the second floor near the balcony, peering from one of Alcina's many vases, she watched on as the two women spoke.

'The dagger, I need it prepared for travel.'

The woman, Cassandra, blinked. The thought of the dagger, that poisoned blade terrified her, she almost lost her mother because of it. 'Why mother? If you are under threat we will protect you.'

Alcina smiled warmly stroked her daughter's cheek. 'That I am aware of but it is not for my sake, but for Muriel's.'

'Is she in trouble?' Cassandra worried.

'There's a high possibility but I'd rather douse that flame before it spreads. Now, quickly. I must make preparations.'

'Yes, Mother.' Cassandra bowed and burst into flies. They all flew off and down the hall with a faint buzz.

As her daughter left, so did Alcina. She clicked her heels out of the hall and up the stairs, Muriel crammed herself tight behind the vase so the tall lady did not spot the little girl.

Alcina opened her bedroom door and ducked into it, Muriel saw her chance and quickly scuttled into the room before the door closed and hid under the lady's large bed. She poked her head out.

Alcina was sat down by her dresser, she picked up the phone and twirled the number dial then waited for an answer.

'Hello, it's Lady Dimitrescu. I have a job for you.' She said. 'Oh yes, you will receive coin, plenty of it. I have a rather... cursed item of which I need you to hide. I'd like you to bury it at Life's Edge.'

Muriel tilted her head, she never heard of that place before.

'It'll be ready for you in the morning.' Alcina then put the phone down.

The woman then removed her large hat, then propped her elbow up on the table so to rest her head in her open palm. The woman sighed, it was obvious she was upset about something. She looked so glum in the mirror. Her eyes droopy and her lip pouting.

Muriel's pincers clicked a little, feeding off Alcina's emotion, it tasted sour and made Muriel feel bad, what this because of her?

She hated knowing that all she did was make other people feel bad. First with Donna and now Alcina.

As she watched on, Muriel saw another batch of flies enter the room. A redhead this time.

'Mother, I just saw Cassandra fiddling with that hell-dagger.'

'Yes, Daniela. I asked her to pack it up.' Alcina said rather miserably.

'But if someone else has it...'

'I am aware of what could happen, but,' Alcina smiled and lifted up her daughter's chin. 'You would do anything to make sure those you care about are safe, wouldn't you?'

'Of course, Mother. Anything.'

Alcina poked Daniela's nose 'I know you would.'

'Who is it you are protecting, Mother?' She asked.

'Muriel, although she is in Donna's keep, I do look upon her as my own.'

'She is lucky to have you, Mother.'

Alcina hummed a laugh through the nose. 'It is I who is the lucky one, my dear.'

Muriel felt a twinge in her heart that pinched her in the nose. Her eyes began to water, she knew Alcina cared for her but was not aware of the extent. It made it worse due to the fact that Muriel crept in with a motif to steal from her. She sighed heavily yet quietly.

Alcina graciously picked herself up from her chair and with Daniela, walked out of her room, Muriel followed.

Back in the main hall, Cassandra, now with Bela, was waiting. The brunette held in her hands a box with the Dimitrescu crest mounted on top of the fine wood. That has to be where the dagger was.

'Good girl,' Alcina purred. 'Leave it here, someone will be due in the morning to pick it up.'

'Mother, I have my doubts.' Cassandra said.

'As do you all, I am sure. I have faith that this will never bother us again.'

'But-.'

'None of this, do not work yourself up, my Cassandra.'

Cassandra stumbled then gave in. 'Yes, Mother.'

'If it means that much to you, Daughter, then may I suggest you guard it over the course of the evening?' Alcina asked.

'Yes, Mother. I'll do that.'

'Wonderful.'

Muriel kept her distance but her eyes remained on the Mother and Daughters, especially Cassandra. As three of them filtered out, leaving Cassandra alone with the desired box, Muriel knew this was the prefect time to strike.

Cassandra walked over to the box once everyone, everyone that she knew, left the room, her eyes dawdled upon the box. What rested inside was evil, it was used to kill her mother.

She shuddered remembering the day.

That man-thing – Cassandra did not bother to remember his name, managed to corner and chain her mother down, she was helpless and he was ready to puncture her heart.

If it wasn't for Alcina's screams that evening, the daughters would not have known of the predicament of which befell their dear mother.

Cassandra didn't want to look at it, even having it this close cut her deep, the fact that the little dagger was enough to defeat her mother made her sick.

Stupid man-thing indeed.

Cassandra turned her back and sat down beside the fire. Watching it wiggle in the pit was enough to settle the girl's mind. She was too engulfed that she did not see nor hear Muriel make her move.

The little girl tiptoed towards the pedestal with the box dead in her sight. Her focus shifted slightly to Cassandra, she could only see the girl's hood rest against the chair she sat on.

Muriel got close and closer, she reached out her arms, she was almost there...

It wasn't much longer until she found herself touching the both with mouth hands, she smiled as much as her pincers allowed before calmly snatching the box up and under her arm.

She stepped backwards then spun her heel around, only to hear the doors open... she stopped dead.

'Cass, I thought I'd... CASSANDRA!' Bela wailed, having spotted Muriel with the box.

Cassandra spun her head and saw the girl.

Muriel's eyes widened and then... she dashed off..

'Mother! Mother!' The daughters shouted.

Muriel kept running, clutching the box for dear life. She saw the exit, she was so close... but...

The grand doors in front of her rushed open, Alcina hurried into the room and looked down upon the little girl disappointedly.

'What do you think you are doing, Child?' She asked.

Before Muriel could react, she was grabbed by the scruff of her neck and pulled up to face Lady Dimitrescu properly. She then put out her hand.

'Give that to me.'

Muriel twisted so could face away from the lady. 'No.'

'Muriel.'

'I need it, to be better.'

Alcina scoffed. 'I suppose the Duke has informed you of his little fairy tale, hmm? Don't be ridiculous, Child, hand me back the box!'

'No.' Muriel repeated.

Alcina took a deep breath in and out. 'Muriel, I do not want to have to take it from you, you know I will.'

'But, Mother Miranda...' Muriel sniffed.

'You are not to worry about her, she is gone and not coming back, I'll make sure of it.'

Alcina's hand grew closer to the box stuck within Muriel's arms.

'Hand it to me, this is your last chance.'

Muriel twisted back round, Alcina didn't look angry, she was worried. Muriel knew to argue with her was pointless and so, begrudgingly, gave back the box.

Alcina took it careful, handling it as if it was hot as iron, and put it back into the care of Cassandra.

Muriel then found herself held close by Alcina, she was hugged tightly.

'I know you are going through a lot, but this is not the way, child. That dagger is not a toy, you'll get yourself hurt.'

Muriel snuggled against Alcina. 'I want to protect everyone.'

'No, Muriel, let us protect you. No girl should carry such a weight on their shoulders.' Alcina said. 'You will rest here for the night, I'll call Donna, I expect she is worried sick.'

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Black Sails’ Toby Stephens on Captain Flint and the Final Season

Black Sails will return to Starz on January 29, 2017 for its fourth and final season. When we last left the pirates, Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) was beginning the revolution in Nassau and Long John Silver’s (Luke Arnold) star was rising. We recently got a chance to chat with Toby Stephens about the end of the series, what’s coming for Flint and working on this epic show. Check out his thoughts on season four below!

Here is the official synopsis:

The fourth season opens with hundreds of British soldiers dead in a forest… the Royal Navy sails back to England in retreat… the West Indies are now a war zone, and the shores of New Providence Island have never been bloodier. With the help of Eleanor Guthrie, Woodes Rogers transforms Nassau into a fortress without walls, as Captain Flint amasses a fleet of unprecedented strength, hoping to strike the final blow against civilization and reshape the world forever. Meanwhile, from within the island… an insurgency builds, fueled by the legend of its exiled leader, whose name keeps grown men awake at night… the one they call “Long John Silver.”

But as Flint, Silver and their allies are about to learn, the closer civilization comes to defeat, the more desperately and destructively it will fight back. Oaths will be shattered, fortunes will change hands, and amidst the chaos, only one thing remains certain: it has never been more dangerous to call oneself a pirate.

xxxx

Legion of Leia: I was in South Africa on the set when you were filming that crazy storm sequence in season three. What sort of set pieces are we going to see this time around?

Toby Stephens: It’s huge. There’s loads of stuff that will keep fans extremely happy, I’m sure.

Legion of Leia: Flint had a crazy few seasons. I’m curious about whether or not you think his destiny was set with Miranda’s (Louise Barnes) death.

Toby Stephens: I think yes, it kind of compounded the way he was going. I mean, I think before Miranda died, maybe people could reason him out of certain choices, but I think when Miranda dies, that’s the last nail in the coffin in terms of him going after England in this relentless way. And also, I would say, the other thing that compounds it is finding an ally in Silver. The fact that they become partners in this enterprise, it seems that Flint can only function when he has somebody who he’s allied with or is an alter-ego for him. Someone who can balance him and he can work through. So that is both good for him and bad for him in a way.

Legion of Leia: In the last episode, there is that conversation between Flint and Silver where they’re like, oh, we’re friends. But bad things happen to Flint’s friends. We know a bit about where this is going to go because of “Treasure Island.” What’s ahead for Flint here?

Toby Stephens: Yeah, well, I think it’s really the end game for the whole series, and we know it’s a tragedy because there was no great revolution in the pirate world. There was no emancipation of the pirates and the slaves. It didn’t happen, so why did it not happen and what happens to Flint at the end of that, when his dreams are crushed? What happens to Silver and him? How does that play out? And also, how does the Silver that we know become the eponymous Long John Silver of “Treasure Island?” How does that happen? And I think season four brilliantly leads us to a point where where, it’s a very satisfying ending, but also leaves you to fill in the gaps between there and “Treasure Island.” You kind of know who these people are at the end of this, but it’s a kind of really cool thing to allow people to do that themselves rather than go, look, this is what happens, all the way to the end. It leaves you to do some work yourself.

Legion of Leia: I love that. This show has sent me to Wikipedia more often than you would believe!

Toby Stephens: [laughs] I know!

Legion of Leia: How much research do you do for a role like this, or do you rely mostly on the script?

Toby Stephens: Do you know what? It’s a combination of laziness and there is method to it. I just go with what is in the script. I mean, like you, I’ll go to Wikipedia if I need to know something, if I don’t know what something is. But whether or not it has real historic context, for me is immaterial because I’m working in a fictive world. It’s a fictive world with dashes here or there of historic fact. A pinch here, a pinch there, and I need to work in that world, so it’s better if I stick there.

Legion of Leia: I did love seeing how much was actually built on the set and how many little touches were there, historical and fictive, both.

Toby Stephens: Yeah, what I love is the detail in terms of everybody else, the props, etc. There was a lot of care taken about what would have been there, what wouldn’t have been there, creating that texture of the world, where you can believe it.

Legion of Leia: When we were there, we were hearing stories of bugs in the walls!

Toby Stephens: We were always having problems with–there were these crickets. And they would get in. We would call them “sea crickets!” [laughs] You would be in a take and you would hear [makes cricket noises]. We’re supposed to be in the middle of something scene! [laughs] Or there would be birds up in the rigging going “cheep, cheep!” And you just go, oh my God, there’s another hour in ADR!

Legion of Leia: Did you have to do a ton of ADR?

Toby Stephens: Oh yeah! I have become the master of ADR. I breeze it now! I kind of like it because sometimes you can actually improve things. You know? There was a scene I did in the first season where it was with Gates (Mark Ryan), and it was a storm, and we’re having this conversation and we’re having a drink, and we’re on the set–it was the beginning when they used to gimbal the set. It was so noisy! There was water coming in, dripping everywhere. They wanted it to look authentic. Because it was quite a stressful set to be on [laughs], for some reason my [in a high-pitched voice] my voice was up here! I watched it–I mean, I had to loop it because there was so much noise there, but I thought, I sound like an hysteric! I managed to re-voice the whole thing and kind of couch it where Flint speaks normally. That’s a case in point where you can really improve on things.

Legion of Leia: I can’t imagine trying to speak clearly during some of those storm scenes!

Toby Stephens: I mean, it was mad! This job was amazing because I loved the people and I loved working on it, but there are aspects that I won’t miss. It was totally exhausting. By the end of this last season, I was literally hanging in rags, because it makes such demands on you. You’ve got enormous amounts of dialogue and enormous amounts of acting to do, and then at the same time, you’ve got all of this physical stuff to do, and it’s day in and day out. And you’re in the costumes and you’re in baking heat, and it was long, long days. No other job I would be able to do, in terms of acting–I mean, I’m not working in a coal mine–but there is no other job I could do that would come near this. It sort of made me immune to–it made everything else seem like a breeze. It was so arduous. And some of the stuff we did in season four, some of the stuff that I did towards the end, it was really difficult. Really difficult.

Legion of Leia: Having seen that storm scene and the tanks of water being dumped on you and the ship moving back and forth and the yelling–it was crazy!

Toby Stephens: Yeah, it was also the length of time it went on for. Because we also did two weeks straight, and then we kept on coming back for pickups because it was so particular. And also, it’s part of the reason why I’m so proud of the show, is that they had such exacting standards for what they wanted. They’d cut it together and realize they were missing bits, or that they could get bits better, but it was a drag. You had to get back on this deck and they were spraying you with stuff and they had the engines on. It was brutal. But you look at the end result and you go, that will stand. In ten years time, it will look amazing.

Legion of Leia: What are you going to miss the most, now that the show is over?

Toby Stephens: I think I’ll miss all the people that I worked with. One of the things about the job is, you create these very intense and very fun relationships with people, creative relationships with people, very creative, and then they dissolve and move on. I’ll miss that, and working with such great writers. John [Steinberg], Robert [Levine] and Dan [Shotz], you know, just brilliant writing, fantastic showrunners. They were so good and we had a really intense relationship. I’ll miss that.

Legion of Leia: What do you have coming up next?

Toby Stephens: So I just started doing the reinvention of Lost In Space for Netflix, so I literally just started working for them. I’m really excited for that. It’s a brilliant segue from one genre to another. [laughs] It’s a really fun reinvention of it. It’s really clever, and I’m really excited about it. I think this will be fun in terms of, it’s servicing fans, making a show for now.

Legion of Leia: Also, different costumes. Maybe not so much wool in the heat!

Toby Stephens: I think it will be differently uncomfortable. [laughs]

Legion of Leia: Those costumes were insane and it was so hot while you were filming.

Toby Stephens: Yeah, it was tough, and also in the brutal sun all day long. Standing on ships. It was killer. And the boots. I remember always complaining. I bitched and moaned about my boots all the time. [laughs] These things are killing me! Can you imagine these pirates going, “Jeeze, man! Couldn’t we have flip flops? Could we have a pair of thongs? Why do we have to wear these things?” [laughs]

Legion of Leia: I feel like pirates should have worn fewer clothes!

Toby Stephens: Yeah! [laughs] But apparently they didn’t. They didn’t, actually. The whole thing of pirates wearing all of that is baloney. They actually–they had very light shirts and stuff. Apparently they just didn’t wear much.

Legion of Leia: That was for fancy pirates.

Toby Stephens: And also, it was just for show. Also, what Black Sails kind of gets into is, a lot of it was p.r. It was p.r. by the English, because they wanted to demonize these people, but it was also their own p.r.–like Blackbeard having fuses on his beard and stuff like that. It was all to make people scared.

Legion of Leia: You can see that even with what Billy [Tom Hopper] is doing at the end of season three with Silver.

Toby Stephens: Yeah, and here’s a really fun thing. You get to the end of this season, and you take a screenshot of characters at the end of this season and you compare them to screenshots from the beginning of season one and they’re just like–the journey that they’ve been on, and the toll it’s taken on them is really cool. I mean, Luke just looks terrible at the end of it! And he was so beautiful at the beginning! [laughs] And the same with Tom Hopper who plays Billy Bones. You see he’s headed towards the Billy Bones of “Treasure Island.”

Legion of Leia: I wanted to ask you about Flint and Billy. There is such a tense relationship there with so much history. How is that going to shift this season?

Toby Stephens: Yeah, it really comes to a head. It comes to blows. They’re not going to be able to–it’s really interesting the way Billy goes, I think, in this season. It’s been a long time coming.

Legion of Leia: Do you think Flint has any of the idealism left that he had at the beginning?

Toby Stephens: Well, what’s really interesting at the end of it, one realizes how personal this is for Flint. And that, actually, it’s not really some altruistic scheme that he has to liberate everybody. He’s playing out his own psychodrama in reality. And how demented–how he will not stop. How it will go on and on and on. And somebody has to stop that. You know, it’s a tragedy because we know that there was no–it’s got to end somewhere. It’s not going to be good.

Legion of Leia: I do have to ask you about working with your family! [Toby’s wife Anna-Louise Plowman plays Mrs. Hudson and his brother Chris Larkin joined the cast as a Redcoat this season]

Toby Stephens: Yeah! It was wonderful, actually! It was so wonderful because I hadn’t spent so much time with my brother for a while. And was really great hanging out with him. And it was a bit strange. We had one scene where we were given direction to look at each other across–we had no lines together, but we had to look at each other across this town square. And I suddenly realized, this is really difficult because nobody on Earth knows me as well as my brother does. And to try and pretend with one another is just impossible! There cannot be any artifice! [laughs] So both of us, it was hopeless! I said, you look at my chest and I’ll look at your forehead. [laughs] It’s impossible! You can’t hide!

Are you guys excited for season four? Let us know in the comments! Black Sails will return to Starz on January 29, 2017.

sources: Legion of Leia (unfortunately I can't put link because it wasn't secured)

[headspacedad]

dota: ep 8

and here we are.  Did not see that ending coming the way it did.  But it was believable and set up beforehand looking back so I’m solid with it.  Not satisfying per say but also not disappointing.  I wasn’t personally happy with ALL the things that went down but from a story stand point I think the choices were solid and true to setting.  Its absolutely a set up for a season two so I certainly hope Netflix okays that. 

on a completely unrelated note - I have summarized that Studio Mir sticks with non-flashy hair when they’ve got a face like Shiro’s going on because they realize they don’t need to try to add anything to what’s going on there.  Davion’s hair is ‘meh’ and I’m okay with that.

speaking of Davion - yes, he’s a solid fav now.  I like where he’s come since the beginning, I love his new found family, I love his internal code and he spends a lot of time getting beaten up.  I honestly found all the relationships pretty well developed considering we only had eight episodes and we’re only on season one.  Nothing felt out of the blue or rushed and I am adoring Davion’s new little sister and that relationship between them so very much. 

That said, you don’t get a pass to be a dick just because you’ve got family issues.  At least in this I can see the WHY of it and its not last hour thrown in surprise like VLD. 

the big reveal I was expecting didn’t come so I’m guessing that’s for a later season.

all in all - enjoyed!  Very much enjoyed.  And I’ll watch it again a few times just to get in all the things I’m pretty sure I missed.  I’m not hyberfixated at this point but it was a fun ride, with multiple characters I care about and I’m eagerly looking forward to next season.  At this point the story feels solid with plenty of room to grow and the characters feel that way too.  After VLD I’m hesitant to trust anything fully, and yeah, Mitch Iverson IS involved in this one too, but I’m willing to go along for the ride even if I do have one foot dangling off the cart right now.  Davion is great, his little sister is great, his buddy cop is great, Miranda is great and Marci is pure gold.

and that’s my wrap for now.  I’ll probably reblog some things as they come across my dash so if you want to remain spoiler free, blacklist ‘ dota spoilers ‘.  Also probably ‘ dota spoiler ‘ because I have a bad habit of not remembering my plurals.  But at this point, with the warnings I’ve already named, I’d recommend the series to any adults out there that are curious.  I think the first episode sets the tone so if you like it, keep going and if you don’t, you should probably let it go there.  Fun ride for those who enjoy these kinds of things for sure.

[dacuslucy]

dawn jolly snippet!!

(Holly’s pov)

putting a cut because it’s mildly long and i don’t want to clutter up anyone’s dash!!!

With my back pressed against the brick wall in the dark alleyway and dark-wolf (Alisha’s wolves) bites on my shoulder, side, and legs, my only thought is, I kinda want a frozen lemonade right now.

I grimace. I stuff my hands into my jacket pockets-looking for some kind of healing juice or something--and find a small white card. It’s stained with blood (mine), but I can still read the address, and the message scrawled to the side: 2 hour date truce! -j.p.

I run through a map of the city in my mind. The closest entrance to my kingdom is 10 blocks away. The address is only one.

Well, I think. what do I have to lose? 

I make my way to J.P Ross’s house, or evil headquarters, or whatever. Anything is better than a dark alleyway splattered with wolf-and-dawn-queen blood. 

When I find the small house tucked into an unassuming suburban neighbourhood, I'm a little surprised. For a second I wonder: What if he wrote down the wrong address, and I show up, covered in blood, and a hand aglow so I can see (the streetlights are broken), on the doorstep of a random middle class family?

I shake my head. This is J.P Ross, criminal mastermind. He knows his own address. 

I knock twice with a glowing fist. 

The door opens, and he stands in the doorway, brown hair mussed, shirt unbuttoned at the collar, holding a glass of wine. His eyes widen when he sees me, bloody and shivering, on his doorstep. 

He seems at a loss for words, but puts his wine glass down, and touches the bite on my shoulder. “...Holly Dawn?”

I can barely stand. I need to make him understand, to make him not kill me on the spot. I hold out the blood-stained white truce card. “I didn’t know where else to go.” 

And then I collapse into the arms of my worst enemy. 

~

When I wake, it’s by a fire, with a quilt around me, and a dull pain in my head. “...J.P?”

He is sitting beside me on a couch, dabbing at the wound on my shoulder. “Hello, Your Highness.” His smirk reminds me of Ryan’s when he teases Miranda. 

I shake my head. It’s a mistake. Fuzzy spots cloud my vision. I turn to J.P.

“What did you give me? Some sort of sedative drug?”

“Nope. It’s just the Livis’s bites. They weaken Xonarians, especially Tallion’s. It’s a wonder you made it all the way here without passing out. How far away were you? Why didn’t you call your friends or something?”

I try to reach into my pocket, realizing I don't have my jacket on anymore. J.P seems to notice what I’m looking for, and holds up my jacket. 

“Check the pockets,” I say.

He reaches into the left pocket, and pulls out my phone. The screen is shattered, and there’s a bullet hole clean through the middle (the MTT had killed a few of the wolves; I'd gotten caught in the crossfire.) He mouths, Oh.

I roll my eyes, and mouth back Yeah.

He smirks again. I have an uncontrollable urge to smack him, and I feel like I understand Miranda a little better now. He looks too annoying, smirking like that. And too cute. 

What am I talking about? 

J.P puts my broken phone on the coffee table. “You can have some screen time if you want,” 

I really am about to smack him now, but a loud whistling noise stops me.

 “J.P!” a voice yells from upstairs. J.P and I both tense. It’s Silentina, J.P’s niece. “That’s the kettle! Can you make me some lemon tea?”

“Uh, yeah! Just a second!” He turns to me, and his face is panicked. 

“Can you stand?” he whispers. “No!” I whisper back. 

“J.P?” Silentina calls. “Everything okay?”

“Fine!”

Without warning, he picks me up bridal-style, and when I squeak - out of pain and surprise - he presses a finger to my lips.

“She can’t know you’re here,” he murmured. I nodded, eyes wide. “Good.” 

He carries me to a bland bedroom and places me gently on the bed. “Not a sound,” He reminds me. 

I nod as he closes the door and heads back to make Silentina her tea.

I sit up on the bed and wince. My back is sore from sitting for so long. I want to turn some lights on, but that would alert Silentina of my presence. So I settled for curling my hands into a cup, and letting a small glimmer of gold bounce around in my hand. 

J.P didn’t kill me when I was unconscious in his home. I, the hero, his enemy, had come to him, and basically begged him to help me. And he did.

What a strange villain. 

Maybe he’s not your villain, a little voice whispers in my mind. I tell it to shut up. The voice sounds a lot like Miranda. 

“You’re going out?” That’s J.P’s voice from the kitchen. I squeeze my hand, and listen. 

“Yup.” That’s Silentina. “Going to be a teenager for a bit. Maybe see a movie. You don’t mind if I take a break from building, do you?” Building what? 

“No, not at all. Have fun.”

“Mm, now I'm going to try as hard as I can not to.”

I can practically hear J.P rolling his eyes. “Okay, great to know. Bye!”

“Bye!”

I hear footsteps, and then the doorknob clicks, and J.P enters the room he put me in.

“Light,” he commands, and for a second i think he’s talking to me, and it’s a nickname or something, but no, he’s talking to the room.  

Beautiful, golden light floods the gloomy room, and hundreds of systems come to life; projections, holograms, you name it. 

I push my hand through a hologram of the Hex logo. It dawns (ha ha) on me. 

“This is your room.”

“Yeah. So?”

“That’s...kinda weird.”

“Why?”

“Um...I’m your greatest enemy-”

He cuts me off. “Actually, i think my greatest enemy is the cashier at Tim Hortons who gave me a raspberry frozen lemonade instead of the original.”

“What’s Tim Hortons?”

He stares at me incredulously. “You know all those frozen lemonades I bring you every time we fight?”

He mentioned our...rivalry so casually. I find it hard to speak. “Yeah.” 

“Those are from Tim Hortons.”

The answer doesn’t satisfy me, but I don't push. 

He sits on his bed next to me. He smells like lemons. 

“Wanna watch a movie?”

I’m not sure I heard him correctly. “You...and me...watching a movie? In your house?”

He shrugs. “With your wounds, you won’t be able to move on your own until tomorrow.”

I sit up suddenly, and regret it when a sharp stab of pain brings tears to my eyes. “Tomorrow?”

“Mmhm.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was.”

I slump backwards. J.P presses a button, and a TV rises out of a table. “What do you wanna watch?”

~

J.P and I are about 15 minutes into (insert disney movie here), when I decide to lean my head against his shoulder and wrap my outside arm around his torso. He stiffens as I touch him, but relaxes soon after. 

“Holly,” J.P asked hesitantly. “Do you think that we...that our people...could ever live like this?” he motions to me and him, curled beside each other, watching a movie, bathed in a soft golden glow. 

I tilt my head to look into his eyes. “Like...in peace?” I ask. 

He nods.

I sigh. “I don’t know.”

He nods again, as if he expected that answer. We lie in silence for the rest of the movie, occasionally debating certain plot points, and screaming “Movie logic!” at the screen whenever something cliche happened (i.e: characters running (making an escape, usually), only to realize that the ground ends in a cliff, and the characters almost slip and fall, but don’t, and a few rocks tumble down the cliff).

When the movie ends, I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here with J.P and talk about whether it was realistic when (movie plot point insert).

But I can’t.

And he knows it. 

He leaves me to sleep in his room, and turns out the lights before I can even say goodnight. 

I blink in the darkness. J.P’s words are stuck in my head. My stubborn brain repeats them over, and over, even (and especially) when I scream at myself to stop.

Could we ever live in peace?

I had answered him truthfully, I think. I don’t know.

But my mind seemed to know what I wanted. I had always been an active daydreamer, after all. My dad said it was one of my best qualities.

It is your greatest strength, Holly. To see things that other people don’t. I can see his face, as he tucks my grown-out bangs out of my face. The memory was from years ago. I could smell the sea in his hair and on his skin, and heard his laugh when he picked me up and spun me around. Possibilities. Not everyone can find the dove in a sea of ravens. Hope and peace, in a world of death and destruction. You can. I know you can, my little sunrise.

I let myself imagine a perfect world. Where the Hex and Dawn work together, in peace. J.P and I would lead them, and we could go back home. To Xonar.

I fall asleep to dreams of doves and ravens. 

tagging the tflc gang hope i’m not bothering you oop

@enbies-and-felonies @that-aro-asshat @clearlykeefitz @duchessmb @book-limerence @silver-snow @pencil-is-my-sword @alienlamp @cozy-the-overlord @ademonwithinternet @linhamon-roll

[alteridolriley]

To The Poison Named Loneliness - Chapter Two

Story Summary: Patton is about to start high school and he doesn't want to start it in the wrong body. Born as Patricia, Patton wants to change, but his strict mother wants nothing to do it. With the help of some family and friends, he'll get his chance to start fresh. High school is a challenge Patton wasn't sure he was ready for but together with his childhood friend, Virgil, and some new friends he meets along the way, he'll overcome anything in his way... even himself.

Pairings: Eventual Moceit, Eventual Sleepxiety, Romantic Logince (parents of Virgil), Background Romantic Remile, Childhood Best Friends Moxiety

Fic Warnings: All sides are in this story (all sympathetic), homophobia, transphobia, bullying, sickness, food mentions, mental/physical abuse, blood, cursing, etc (This is for the fic as a whole)

<- Chapter One | Chapter Two (You’re here!) | Chapter Three ->

Read on AO3! | Like what I do? Buy me a coffee!

***TW: Major mental/physical abuse and cursing in this one, please proceed with caution***

Patton stood there, hand on his neck and the other on his stomach. His long locks of blonde hair were gone. He now had a typical boyish haircut but a little bit longer on top so he could choose which way to flip his hair. Maisie had been amazingly kind the entire time she cut it. She even shared with Patton that she herself was transgender. She had been born a boy. Patton had never met a person who has transitioned all the way. It gave him… hope.

They had all walked together to a nearby church just across the street from the large house for the ceremony. Patton now waited for everything to begin.

Alice walked over towards Patton and he grabbed the pillow on the nearby table that had the rings on it.

"I'm ready, Alice." Patton said.

Alice smiled. "Yup! You look great. Now, I know your mom is gonna get mad but I very much doubt she'll make a scene at my wedding."

Patton agreed. "Yeah she's-- um very interested in some things you have." He tried to be coy but it didn't work.

"Oh yes that's very clear how much she came around after my mother died." Alice rolled her eyes. "Pay her no mind. I take full responsibility for what happened today." She ran her hand through Patton's hair and he giggled. "You are who you believe you are, sweetheart and I support you. You look happier now than you have for awhile…"

Patton leaned in to Alice. "Thank you."

Alice leaned down and kissed Patton's head. "You're welcome. I love you, Patton."

"I love you too, Alice." Patton said.

A woman across the room called towards Alice and the bride to be looked excited.

"Things are about to start! See you later!" Alice said excited as she dashed off to take her position.

Patton gulped and grabbed the nearby pillow with the wedding rings on it. Another wedding host showed him where to stand and gave him a thumbs up. He was so nervous. What would his mother think? Would she stop the whole wedding to yell at him? Patton didn't know. He watched as the bridesmaids and groomsmen on both sides head down the walkway. Patton swelled to see both genders standing on either side of where Julia stood. She looked so beautiful in her white tux with a purple lapel. Even as far away as he was, Patton could see the tears rolling down her face.

Julia loved Alice so much.

Patton watched a girl in a light lavender dress head down the aisle next, spreading violet petals as she did so. She dramatically dumped the last bit at the very front and then Patton took a deep breath. He began walking.

It was then that he realized Julia was making eye contact with him.

He decided in that moment to not look anywhere else but her. Julia nodded and smiled gently as he walked. Patton felt so much better. As he arrived at the end, he stood next to the flower girl. Julia also gave him a thumbs up and he returned it. He had no idea if his mother had seen him or not. Hopefully Chris did. Patton wanted to thank Chris for the tux he was wearing.

Breaking the silence, "Here Comes The Bride" began to play from the organ in the corner. Everyone else stood up and Patton leaned around to see Alice. She had a tiara on now with a veil over her face.

She looks like an angel… Patton thought as she passed by him.

Uncle Dave gave a small wave to Patton as he walked by with Alice and Patton smiled. It seemed Uncle Dave approved too. Alice must've told him at some point.

The wedding proceeded as planned and Patton gave the wedding bands at the proper moment. Alice and Julia kissed and everyone erupted in cheers. Patton smiled and was genuinely happy for them until he noticed one person not cheering out of the corner of his eye.

If looks could kill, Patton would've been dead.

His mother glared daggers at him and by the look of things was restraining herself from saying a word. Her face was beet red and her eyes sharp with anger.

Patton quickly looked away from her and back to Alice who was in an embrace from Julia. The two held hands as they walked down the aisle to exit the church. Try as he might to not cry, Patton felt the tears begin to fall. The hope built up by Alice and her happy day all fell apart right in front of him. The room was loud, but he couldn't hear anything. It was muffled, as if it was far away. The tears blurred his vision. Why had he let this little ball of happiness so far inside his heart?

This is going to disappear. The voice in his mind chided him. Why would you think this outfit and haircut meant anything at all? You're trapped. You cannot escape her, Patricia. You're hers forever.

Patton shoved his hands onto his ears, dropping the ring bearer's pillow. He dashed towards the back of the church through a set of double doors. That was to be the catalyst for everything.

She's after you. She'll find you. The voice said. You can't hide from her. She knows you better than anyone else.

Patton ignored the voice, dashing through the empty halls. His new polished black shoes tapped on the vinyl floor, echoing his every movement to anyone giving chase. He ignored the tears falling down his face and quickly unbuttoned the jacket, taking it off in one quick movement. Patton proceeded to do the same thing to the shoes and pants as he ran. He didn't deserve to wear the clothing anymore. Eventually, one of the doors he tried swung open. He quickly shut it behind him and realized as his eyes adjusted to the darkness: a Sunday School classroom. Patton dived under the teacher's desk, wrapping his arms around his knees, trying so hard to calm himself down.

You're all alone now, Patricia. No one's coming to help you. Soon your mother will be here and who knows what she'll do with you… The voice said, taunting him. Abandoning the clothes doesn't change what you did! You horrible, disobedient girl!

Patton covered his ears. "Shut up!! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!" he screamed. "Shut up.. please just shut up…"

The door on the other side of the room randomly burst open. Patton covered his mouth to quiet his sobs.

"Patricia?! I know you're in here! It's the only room unlocked!" Martha bellowed.

Patton refused to move, to speak. This was going to be the time his mother snapped.

"Patricia Marie!! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW GODDAMN IT OR SO HELP ME!!" His mother shrieked, the voice piercing the cold silence around them. Suddenly the desk flung away from Patton and he screamed in terror, hiding his face into his knees. "There you are you ungrateful bitch!"

His mother reached down and grabbed Patton by the arm and yanked him up effortlessly, before rearing back and slapping him across the face as hard as she could. Patton wailed in pain and fell back to his knees, sobbing.

"No, you stand up right now. I'm going to show you exactly why you do not cross your mother." She spat, yanking Patton back up by his bra strap. "Look at you! You are a girl! Breasts, hips, and all!" Each word countered with a slap across Patton's face, each one more painful and loud. "No daughter of mine is going to be a tranny!" She slapped Patton so hard his bra strap snapped and Patton fell to the floor.

He didn't know if he was still awake or not. Everything was so dark and black. The shrill voice of his mother was now a mere muffle. He could taste iron in his mouth and he felt something warm running out of his ears and nose.

This was it. She was going to kill him.

The door slammed open across the room as Martha brought her foot down against Patton's ribs. He sputtered blood and wailed again. In the doorway, Alice rubbed her bruised shoulder from ramming into the locked wooden door. Her eyes darted to Patton collapsed on the floor. "Julia! Over here! Call 911, hurry!" Alice shouted down the hall before she ran over. "Get the fuck away from him!" Alice shouted, running over and shoving Martha away. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Martha?! This is your child!" She leaned over to Patton, checking his vitals. What did she do to you, Patton? Oh baby I'm so sorry... Alice turned and stood to face Martha, her brows furrowed in anger.

Martha growled but didn't walk back towards her. She leaned against the desk she had shoved away. "That thing is not my daughter. Not anymore." Martha said. She wiped the sweat off her brow and stood up straight. "If she wants to be a boy then she should learn how to fight."

Alice growled. "You bitch."

From the door, Julia walked in, a gun in her right hand and a badge in her left.

"Martha Taylor, you're under arrest. Turn around." Julia said blankly, waving with the gun. "You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney…"

Alice turned back to Patton as Julia finished telling Martha her miranda rights and cuffing her. She gently tried to pick the small boy up but he whined gently, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Alice!" She turned to see Maisie at the door. "The ambulance is here!"

"We're coming." Alice responded as she picked Patton up against her. She shhed the crying boy, kissing his forehead.

As she walked by Martha in the hallway, she stopped for a second and looked at the woman dead in the eye. "If you even remotely look at Patton ever again, you won't be leaving in handcuffs next time."

Martha didn't respond.

Alice rushed down the hallway as fast as she could.

"Alice… I.. I'm ruining your dress…" Patton mumbled.

"Baby, I don't care about my dress. Don't worry, focus on yourself." Alice assured. "Stay awake okay?"

".... I'm sorry." Patton said.

All Patton could hear as he slipped into darkness was Alice shouting his name.

---

Tags: @availe @vicdehart @sendingcookiesfromhell @lumina-universe @notveryglittery @changeling-ash @canvas-the-florist @mandeebobandee @axyzel @okay-finne @sanders-sides-with-quinn  @sassafrass64 @canvas-the-florist @bookwyrminspiration  @withspaces @grayson-22 @re-side-this @theblankest123 (please send me an ask to be added!)

[theforestofeden]

Isabella and The Others- Missing Person

Word Count: 2045

Summary: Jem and Dalilah do some detective work.

Warnings!: none! It’s a chill chapter. 

Weeks passed by since the last time she got a true update from the Missing Persons Task Force. Weeks had passed since anyone talked with Nick. As far as anyone could tell whatever his mouth said was true. All the evidence matched up. This brought Dalilah and the rest of her team to a deeply somber belief—the next body they found would be in pieces and torn up. On her way to get coffee, Dalilah passed by Jem's office. She could hear him talking with the Ontario Police Department. She backed up and stopped at the door frame.

"Just fax the information to us." He sighed.

"Can't. We don't have a fax machine. It's broke." One of Pasadena's detectives replied.

"Can you have someone send the files over?"

"Yeah if we want to get in trouble for taking three hours from the department."

"What if I go over there? Our lawyers need to view the evidence Mark." Jem resisted the urge to hang up.

"Fine by me but I go on break in and hour."

Jem ran his hands through his curly hair and hung the phone up. He focused on Dalilah and rolled his eyes. "You'd think the departments would be coordinated. However that is not the case."

"How many departments have you called so far?" Dalilah leaned against the door frame and dipped in her coffee. She would have offered him one, but a cup was already sitting on his desk.

"Two and both of them are refusing to make my job easier." He threw his head back dramatically.

"I'm almost finished compiling evidence-"

"When you're done do you want to come with me? I have to stop by Pasadena, and Culver." He smiled tiredly. He knew she hated long car rides, but he hated long car rides by himself.

"I was just about to offer. Who knows when your ass needs saving again." He shooed her away and she left laughter trailing behind her.

It was 4:56 p.m when Dalilah finished sending her paper work over to the District Attorney's office. She felt sorry for whoever stepped up to be Nick's lawyer. The last one almost lost his job due to bad media representation. It was 5:55 p.m when she got bored sitting in Jem's office. Listening to a one way conversation was as frustrating as watching a muted movie. Dalilah shuffled through the papers on his desk. Making stacks of finished and not finished paperwork. As Jem spoke he indicated what papers should be left alone with a point of his index finger. He flipped his wrist over to read the time on his watch.

"What's the story?" Dalilah motioned to the watch on Jem's wrist. It looked brand new and expensive, yet she knew how much her partner was making. It wasn't enough to spend a couple grand at a drop of a hat.

"My dad passed it to me. Said I finally became a man and a man needed to look good while knowing the time." Jem shrugged and stuffed the rest of his burger into his mouth. "Supposedly it's a heirloom."

"It look great on you." She smiled.

Dalilah recalled one of the first comfortable conversations they had had together. Til this day she still wanted that watch. It was a Notre Dame watch, real leather and a hand designed clockwork encased by sliver.

"I'll see you soon then Lorelai." The phone call ended and Dalilah stood up quickly. She was ready to get out of here. The room had quieted down for a single moment and Nick's psychotic laughter had swept through her mind again.

"Can I drive?" Jem's tone of voice raised in a hopeful manner.

"Yeah," Dalilah began, "your own car." She watched him go from excited to disappointed. Laughing she tossed him the keys to the Nova. "Today's you'r lucky day James."

He ignored the formal use of his name and shouted, "Whoo!" He caught them with one hand and headed out to the car with a bounce in his step.

Once Dalilah slid into the passenger seat she leaned slightly over to Jem. "Don't dog her out James."

"Jem," he corrected her, "and I won't." The familiar sound of the engine filled their heads.

It was dark out and by now Dalilah had reclaimed her rightful spot in the car. They were parked under a street lamp outside of a fast food place. Opting to stay in the car the detectives were reading over the files retrieved from Ontario, Long Beach and Pasadena police departments. The dash board and back seat were covered in confidential papers. The window had a small map taped up. The only things that didn't don a white cover were their laps. Burger wrappers took that place. Dalilah flipped through file and made a frustrated noise. "You asked for missing persons reports from 1985 to 1995. You'd think they would have the competence to do that." She slid the file onto the floor with the others that wouldn't do their case any good. Jem snorted and rolled his eyes. Once they had set aside the obvious people who didn't fit into Miranda Commons' profile they both turned their attention to the map. It had red, green, blue and black markings centralized the west part of it. The black indicated the places the missing women were seen last. The red showed Nick's routine, and the green showed discrete areas. The blue marked where Isabella's and Carina's bodies were found. Jem was grateful for the intel Isabella Kim's case gave them. They were able to map out a routine based on what Natasha provided, bank transcripts, and his over all paper trial. It stretched from Los Angeles to Pasadena with a eight mile radius circling it. Compared to their offices this was a scale replica.  The map that hung in Dalilah's office only incorporated the missing women in Los Angeles. It was weeks old, but the number of women who were potential matches dwindled down to five. Once they would transfer tonight's work onto that map the number of women would increase to ten. One hundred women would have been casted aside.

"What if we expand the radius? A few of these girls are just outside of it." Jem pointed to a few pictures of women on his lap. "These girls were in populated areas. They're too far from wood or a back road for somebody without a car to travel and get his goal accomplished. Plus logistics already expanded the radius by 3 miles to incorporate the victims running away." Dalilah pointed to the wooded areas and back-roads. They were in the opposite direction of the girls by a good 9 miles.

"Why only three? They're running for their lives, I would assume they would go farther."

"Nick wasn't the best at running and the women he killed weren't either. He would let them run but he knew better than to get a girl who can actually run. Besides there hasn't been evidence of the body being dragged or moved to support the hypothesis that Nick moved the body further. At least that's what I think why." Dalilah explained. Jem nodded and continued shifting through the files. Dalilah stuffed the last bite of her burger into her mouth. She held up her index finger signaling for Jem to give her a minute. She stepped out of the car and begin walking around. Being cooped up wasn't ideal. She needed to stretch her legs. The sound of her phone ringing bounced off of the fast-food joint's building.

"This is detective Holland," she answered.  She turned towards the car when she heard the low volume of music drift out of it. It definitely wasn't rock music. She could see Jem snickering. She turned back around.

"Oh thank god you answered. I wasn't sure if you were awake or not." Dalilah recognized the groggy voice as Stephanie Romano's.

"Don't worry about me not being awake. You can call whenever." This was something Dalilah provided the victims family— someone who they could count on.

"I remembered something," she started, "I woke up from a dream, but it wasn't made up. I-it was my memories." She sounded as if she was still trying to piece together information. "It's been so long I had forgotten about her friend Nick. He's a little weird. One day he would be sweet and polite and the next he would be blunt and sarcastic."

Dalilah walked back to the car, "Do you remember his last name?"

Jem turned off the music and listened in on the conversation. Through pieces he figured out who the caller was.

"No, but it started with a 'B'," Stephanie said softly. She sighed and fell silent for a short moment. "I'm not sure if this is the greatest help, but it'll do right?" She sounded unsure of herself.

"It'll definitely do. Thank you Mrs.Romano for calling me." With an exchange of good nights the phone call ended.

Jem looked curiously at Dalilah, but it faded when he started talking.

"I got a call from the head on the field search team. Richard said the last K-9 unit came back and reported the low-profile sites in La were clear. The units will meet back up once everyone is well rested and start up in Pasadena."

Dalilah ran her hand through her hair. "Then I guess we start our door-to-door routine tomorrow."

They both reached to take down the map. Jem took over and left Dalilah to take care of collecting the files and creating stacks. It was midnight when the impala's order was restored. Tonight hadn't been their longest night, yet it felt like it.

"Remember when you sad I could crash at your place if I didn't want to drive home?" Jem asked.

"Consider my bed yours tonight." Dalilah answered.

He smiled softly and turned his head to watch the trees pass by the window. They mimicked his thoughts—passing by so fast they were all just a blur.

The first few times he crashed at her place he would insist he take the couch. Now he just accepted her hospitality knowing she wouldn't let him take anything but the bed. Dalilah let Jem lead himself to her room. She handed him a stack of clothes to change into.

"I've been looking for these." He laughed softly and took the shirt and boxers.

"If you took your clothes home-" she laughed with him.

"If I did that then crashing here would be pointless."

Dalilah shook her head and grabbed a pair of clothes herself. She disappeared into the living room leaving Jem to himself. The couch was comfortable and easy to sleep on. That wasn't the problem for Dalilah. Her problem was her mind going a hundred miles an hour on a road with a speed limit of 35. She gave up trying to sleep. Tossing and turning was getting annoying, so she turned on the tv. She may have been an educated adult, but Nick at Nite still entertained her. It was probably 3 a.m. when Jem joined her in the living room. He came in silently and sat down on the floor with his back against the couch. No one talked. No one moved. Being with somebody else who understood the work was enough to feel like everything was going to be okay even if nothing worked out.

[inmyownlittlecorner5]

Moonlight Chapter 12: The Enemy of My Enemy

A fanfic Novel by la-topolina

Rated for Mature Audiences

Warnings: Language, Violence, Sexual Content

Chapter 12/26

Moonlight Masterpost+

<< Chapter Eleven+

Chapter Thirteen+ >>

Sometimes it’s best to take matters into your own hands, Miranda thought as she appeared outside the wards at Hogwarts on a cold Tuesday a week before Christmas. The wind cut through her cloak like a knife and hurried clouds across the inky blackness of the sky. She strode towards the school, sincerely hoping that she would not encounter its Potions Master. She still missed him more than she would have liked, although now she was also rather irritated with him for his imperious way of ending their affair. Whenever her thoughts turned to Severus, she firmly told herself that it was really neither here nor there how she felt about him. With a bit of luck, she’d be leaving England soon and she expected the distance would help her forget. 

Miranda hoped that Albus Dumbledore would be the man to aid her in accomplishing her escape. She was due to meet him at eight o’clock that evening about her troubles and, while she was a bit trepidatious to return to his office after that last difficult meeting, she was sanguine enough to expect that this one would be better. She walked with a swift, but measured step, keeping her eyes focused straight ahead of her, and trying to ignore the growing feeling of butterflies in her stomach. Fortune was with her, and she met no one as she entered the oaken doors and wound her way through the maze of corridors and staircases.

“Squashies,” she said to the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster’s office. It slid aside and she made it to the griffin-shaped knocker with five minutes to spare. She tapped lightly and the office door swung open, revealing Albus standing near the window, studying the Pleiades peeking shyly through the clouds.

“Ah, Miss Rose. Still punctual I see,” he said, crossing to his desk. “Do sit down.”

“I wanted to thank you for taking the time to see me. I know you must be very busy,” Miranda replied, taking the chair across from his desk.

“It is my pleasure, though I must admit I was rather surprised that you wanted to see me. I know your last visit to my office was an unpleasant one.”

“It was, and I hope this one will be better.”

“That is my hope as well.” Albus plucked a cigarette out of the air and offered it to her.

She smiled slowly and accepted the offering. After it was lit, she said, “I wanted to talk to you about the task you’ve given me.”

“Yes, you’ve been doing an excellent job failing to find your quarry. Do you require compensation? I realize that we are interrupting your work, perhaps to your detriment.”

She shook her head. “Not at the moment. The Ministry will cover my expenses for the duration of the actual tracking. Of course, there won’t be a pay off at the end.”

“I will ensure that there is. Please do not concern yourself about that.”

This was going better than she had hoped. “Thank you, Headmaster.” 

“I would be delighted if you would call me Albus.”

She studied him a moment before answering, “Very well, Albus. And please call me Miranda.”

“Thank you, Miranda. I want you to know that your current assignment, however tedious, is extremely helpful at the moment.

“Yes, that is what I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t think it is a good idea for me to continue searching for Mr. Black here. Minister Fudge seems content to wait, but Mr. Malfoy is starting to breathe down my neck. I’m not terribly concerned for myself yet, but he’s been making comments about my family in America. I think it would be best if I could put some distance between us, but I still need him to think I’m doing my job.”

“I see. That is rather troubling.” Albus’s brow furrowed as he considered this for a few moments. Finally he said, “I hear that Romania is an excellent place to hide this time of year. I expect that you will receive some intelligence very shortly concerning the sighting of a large black dog and a Hippogriff.”

“How marvelous. I’ll be ready to leave by twelfth night.”

“Excellent. And have you given any thought to the second issue we discussed?”

“You mean, am I willing to help the Order of the Phoenix?”

“Precisely.”

Miranda looked very thoughtful. “I don’t want to risk MACUSA sanctioning me by joining the Order, but I am willing to help, unofficially. Do you have something in mind?”

“In fact, I do.” He snapped his fingers and a file folder appeared on his desk in front of her. “When you get to Romania, I want you to look in on a young man named Charlie Weasley. He is recruiting for the Order and he tells me that he could do with a witch experienced in dueling wizards and subduing magical creatures.”

She opened the file and a stocky red-headed man waved at her from a photograph. “Sounds entertaining. I’ll do it.” She picked up the file and began studying its contents.

“Very good, thank you Miranda. Please take your time with Charlie’s file. You may leave it on my desk when you are finished. I’m afraid there are a few things I must attend to.”

“I will. Should I contact you?”

“I will contact you, or you can send a message through Charlie when you get to Romania. Oh, and one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“It would be best if you mentioned as little of this as possible to Severus. The less each of you knows about your respective missions, the safer it will be for you both.”

Miranda kept her eyes on the file. “That won’t be a problem Albus. I haven’t seen Severus since the beginning of November.”

Albus’s eyebrows went up at that, but he did not ask any questions. “Well, I wish you good night and good luck, my dear.”

“Thank you. The same to you.”

It was close to ten when Miranda thought she had memorized everything she needed to know. She replaced the file on Albus’s desk, stretched, and began the trek back to the first floor. She felt the butterflies return to her stomach as soon as she passed the silent gargoyle. Affecting an air of nonchalance, she resumed her measured pace, humming The Minstrel Boy quietly to herself. She had every right to be here, after all. Why should she care if she saw anyone?

When she reached the fourth floor, she got a bit turned around. She stopped humming and spent a few minutes trying to remember the way she had come before. Eventually she chose a path and she was passing the library when she heard the voice she had been hoping to avoid.

“Good night, Minerva,” Severus was saying somewhere behind her.

Miranda forgot her intention not to run and soundlessly dashed around the corner. She found a darkened classroom and, without thinking, she ducked into it, closing the door behind her.

“Looks like we’re caught, Fred,” said a voice.

She turned and saw the identical smiling faces of two young red-haired men. Young men who looked a bit like the man whose file she had spent the last hour memorizing. Who, as she recalled, had a pair of twin brothers.

“Fred and George Weasley, I presume?” she asked with a smile.

“Guilty,” began Fred.

“….as charged,” finished George. “Who are you?”

“Someone with a soft spot for troublemakers,” Miranda said.

The pair exchanged a look and fixed her with an imploring expression. “We don’t suppose you could give us a hand then?” asked Fred.

“That depends. What is it?” she asked good-naturedly.

“Well,” said George, “Professor Snape has been lurking around for the last half-hour and we really should get back to our common room before we get expelled.”

“Do you think you could create a diversion?” Fred asked.

“Not that we’d mind being expelled,” George added, “but we had planned to stay in school a bit longer. We’re not quite finished with our product line…” 

“Who’s there?” demanded Severus’s voice as he rounded the corner.

Miranda’s eyes snapped to the door, and then back to the twins. She sighed, gave them a bemused smile, and said, “Of course I’ll help you. Stay here until I get him out of the way and then get back where you’re supposed to be. And don’t get caught.”

“Will do.” they said together.

She gathered her nerve and gripped the doorknob. 

“Show yourself,” Severus hissed in the hall.

Now or never, she thought, opening the door and fixing an exasperated expression on her face.

“Oh for goodness’ sake, Severus, it’s only me,” she said in an irritated tone. “I don’t know how any of you can stand to navigate this place. I’ve been wandering around for half an hour trying to find the front door. I should have left a trail of breadcrumbs.”

The look on his face was worth her discomfort in seeing him. He was staring at her incredulously, his eyes wide and his mouth ever so slightly open.

“Don’t just stand there staring,” she chided, tapping her foot impatiently. “Are you going to help me or not?”

He snapped his mouth shut and gave her a dubious look. “This way,” he said.

She kept pace with him and they walked in palpable silence. She let her face relax into a mask of calm unconcern, but her heart was racing. She wished that she were not quite so aware of his physical presence next to her, but surely she could manage the feeling for the brief time it would take to reach the front door. She had no idea what he was thinking, but knowing him he was probably incredibly annoyed to encounter her so unexpectedly. Well, no matter, she’d be out of Hogwarts in five minutes and off to bigger and better things. He was a grown man—he could deal with it.

When they reached the entrance hall, he suddenly ordered, “Stay here.” Then he turned and stalked off without a word of explanation.

She shifted her weight from foot to foot, eyeing the front door. Where the hell did he get off giving her orders? And what the hell was she doing following them? He’d made it clear he wanted nothing more to do with her. Why on earth would he want to talk to her now? Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had a tiny, hopeful thought that perhaps he was regretting his decision to end things so abruptly. She immediately tried to squash the idea but, to her annoyance, she stayed where she was.

Five minutes or so later Severus returned wearing his cloak and they stalked out into the cold night together. The wind had died down, but the air stung the nose and their breath fogged the space in front of them as they walked. The clouds had fled, and the stars shone brightly without the competition of the jealous moon. Miranda turned her attention to them, picking out constellations in order to avoid looking at her companion.

When they were approaching the lake, he asked silkily, “Have you received sufficient blows to the head that you actually mistook a classroom for an exit?”

“Orion is bright tonight,” she replied, completely ignoring his jab.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Buying postage stamps. They’re hideously overpriced in London.”

He stopped walking and grabbed her arm. “Don’t toy with me. What are you doing here?”

She turned her flashing eyes from the stars to his, her jaw set. She held his gaze and slowly peeled his fingers off her arm, one by one. 

When she had finished, she said smoothly, “Severus, have you ever heard the expression ‘You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?’”

The corner of his mouth twitched and he replied, “I only collect flies in order to murder them. Honey seems somehow disingenuous.” He paused for a moment and then added, “You’re looking well, Miranda.”

She raised an eyebrow and allowed, “So are you. I thought we weren’t supposed to be talking.”

His expression darkened. “No. I suppose not.” He made no move to leave and, after another pause he said, “I’m surprised you haven’t returned to America.”

She shrugged. “I have a case. It’s not glamorous or exciting, but it’s work I’ve committed to. Besides,” she smiled wryly, “Malfoy’s not going to let me go that easily.”

“Has he threatened you?” he asked sharply.

“Not me directly. But I have a lot of liabilities in America and he has a long reach.”

“How unfortunate.”

“It is what it is. I sent home a nice package of bullets with the Christmas presents and I can always ask Aaron to put an Auror or two on my family if things get too hot.”

He frowned and said, “I should think that Lucius would send someone capable of casting a shield charm sufficient to block a bullet.”

She smiled and answered, “Not the kind of bullets I make.” By this time Miranda’s face was raw with the cold. She glanced up at the stars then back at Severus and said, “I’d better be going. I was supposed to meet Aaron half an hour ago and he’ll think I’m dead if I’m much later. Good night, Severus.”

For a instant he looked as though he were going to take a step closer to her, but he must have thought better of it. He gave her a short bow and said, “Good night, Miranda.” Then he turned and started back towards the school. When he reached the door, he glanced back over his shoulder, but she had already been swallowed up by the night.

*****

Miranda was crossing the Atrium on her way out of the Ministry of Magic the next afternoon, mostly pleased with the way her meeting with Fudge and Malfoy had gone. She’d presented her new ‘intelligence’ and the men had agreed to her expanding her search to Romania. Malfoy had seemed less enthusiastic about the idea than Fudge but, in the end, he had not argued with her overmuch. She had even managed to put off the next meeting to the beginning of February.

She was trying to make a mental list of supplies she would need and research that should be done, but her thoughts kept straying back to her unexpected encounter with Severus the night before. She had sufficient pride that she was not about to go sniffing after him again. However, she also realized that he’d gotten under her skin enough that she probably wouldn’t make it terribly difficult for him if he were to decide to come sniffing after her. Not that it mattered, of course. In the next week or so she’d be out of the country and she highly doubted that their paths would cross before then. 

“A moment, Miss Rose,” Lucius Malfoy’s oily voice interrupted her thoughts.

She sighed and pasted a smile on her face. “Yes, Mr. Malfoy?” she replied, turning to face him.

He gave her a cold smile and said, “Miss Rose, Cornelius may be patient with you, but I expect results. I have been giving you a long leash up to now. Don’t force me to shorten it. If you think that leaving the country will put you out of my reach, rest assured that I can find you, where ever you run.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Mr. Malfoy, I am shocked that you would suggest that I am intending to run out on a job. I would have thought that my references and track record speak for themselves.”

He took a step closer to her and said, “I am simply reminding you of your place.”

“Oh, I’m well aware of my place.”

“I doubt that.” He pulled a photograph out of a pocket and handed it to her. “Such a handsome family you have, Miss Rose. For Muggle scum, of course.”

She took the photograph slowly and saw that it featured her entire family gathered at Thanksgiving. She put it in her bag and said cooly, “How kind of you to think of me. I’ll put it on my mantel.”

“Did you know that your sister-in-law Anna is pregnant? My, you do breed like puffskeins.”

“I get the point, Mr. Malfoy.”

He looked like a cat playing with a mouse. “I’m glad to hear it.” He took another step closer to her and added, “I do hope that you and Severus are being more circumspect in your liaison. The Prince line has been polluted with enough Muggle blood as it is.”

Her eyes flashed and she said in a very low voice, “I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear you say that. Really, that entire evening at Malfoy Manor was ridiculous, and I’m sure we’d all rather forget that it happened.”

Lucius’s face contorted in anger, but before he could do anything Aaron’s voice echoed through the Atrium.

“Miranda?” Aaron called. “Where have you been? We’re supposed to be having lunch and I’m starving.” As he caught up to the pair, he added, “Lucius, how are you? I’m looking forward to your Christmas party.”

Lucius gave Aaron a short bow. “Aaron. I’m glad to know that you and your wife will grace us with your presence.”

Aaron returned Lucius’s bow. “I’m afraid my wife won’t make it. She’s in the family way and not feeling her best at the moment.”

“How unfortunate. But, of course, we do have to indulge our women when they are breeding.”

“Ain’t it the truth? Miranda here has agreed to accompany me. Narcissa said it wouldn’t be a problem, and I hope that you don’t mind. Miranda and I are schoolmates from Ilvermorny and she’s going to be my child’s godmother.”

A terrible smile spread across Lucius’s face as he turned back to Miranda. “No. I don’t mind at all. Good day Miss Rose. Aaron.” 

Lucius strode back into the Ministry as Aaron and Miranda headed out of it. Neither spoke as they wound their way through the busy London streets. They managed to find a deserted alley a few blocks away for Apparation purposes and they appeared with a crack next to a dumpster behind the Waitrose in New Union Square. Miranda followed Aaron to a drab green door marked ‘Deliveries.’ He tapped the door with his finger and a eye appeared in a crack in the paint.

“Shenandoah,” Aaron said, and the crack split open enough for the two of them to pass through. They slid down a long chute and landed comfortably on the springy floor below. They scrambled to their feet and Aaron waved to a gruff-looking guard sitting behind a desk emblazoned with the imposing MACUSA eagle. 

“ ‘ello Mr. Lee,” The man grunted.

“Hello Nick. Quiet afternoon?”

The other man shrugged and Aaron did not feel the need to continue the conversation. He led Miranda between a row of bronze beaux arts goddesses; Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, and Chastity. Humility stood above the entrance to the stairwell, her head held high in challenge. Aaron’s office was on the level below and Miranda was always impressed by the jewel colored stained-glass windows depicting scenes from MACUSA history that lined the marble staircase leading to it. 

When they reached their destination and the door was safely shut behind them, Aaron leaned against his desk and said, “You want to tell me what’s been going on?”

“I thought we were having lunch,” she replied.

“I already ate with a fella who works at the Ministry; that’s why I was over there. I didn’t know I was going to be getting you out of hot water.”

“I was managing fine by myself.”

“That’s debatable.” He conjured a cigarette for Miranda and one for himself. Once they were lit, he went around his desk and settled himself into his large rolling chair. “Now spill it.”

She sighed and threw herself into the intricately carved chair across from his desk. “I don’t even know where to start. I guess the short version is, Voldemort is back from the dead. Albus Dumbledore has the Order of the Phoenix up and running again and they’re trying to stop Voldemort from rising to power. The Ministry of Magic has its head buried in the sand. Oh, and Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater.”

“And why are you wrapped up in it? Not that I’m surprised, you have a knack for getting yourself into trouble.”

“Sirius Black—that wizard I’m supposed to be tracking—is a member of the Order. Dumbledore asked me rather forcefully not to find Black.”

“What else did you agree to?”

Miranda frowned and wandered over to the window next to Aaron’s desk. Although they were far underground, the window had been enchanted to give a view of the Lee estate back in Rockingham County. The sun was shining on the snow covered grounds and Miranda watched a cardinal pecking at the bird-feeder that hung from a barren dogwood tree for a moment before answering.

“I’m going to Romania in the new year. There’s a fellow there I’m going to help with recruitment to the Order, under the table of course. And I didn’t join myself, I’m just cooperating.”

Aaron frowned. “As consul I have to say that this isn’t a conflict we want to get wrapped up in.”

“But don’t you think we should do something to help? If Voldemort succeeds there’s no reason to think he’d be happy to stay in England. And we’ve seen Dark Wizards sneak into America before.”

Aaron smoked for a while in silence, considering. “Speaking as consul, we should keep an eye on the situation, but it’s not our problem.”

Miranda rolled her eyes. “Could you tell the consul to take a hike? I want to talk to my friend.”

He smiled. “As your friend, I agree with you. Last thing we want is another Grindelwald.”

“So you’re not going to stop me?”

“I know better than to try. You sure you want to get involved?”

She shrugged. “I’ve never been a mercenary. It’ll look good on my résumé.” He gave her a look and she added, “Joking aside, I can’t just skip out now. Malfoy’s threatening to send some goons to mess with my family if I don’t stay in line.”

Aaron’s brow furrowed. “Is he, now?”

“That’s the only reason I didn’t hex him today. Someone needs to take that man down a peg.”

“You gonna be able to behave yourself at his party?”

“I solemnly swear not to be the one to start anything,” she said in a serious tone. Then she smiled brightly and added, “But if he starts it, I’m going to finish it.”

Aaron snorted. “You just be sure he starts it. You sure you want to be there at all?”

“Are you?”

“I can’t really get out of it.”

“Then I’m game. It’ll be like old times.”

Aaron gave her a wry smile and let the full force of his southern drawl creep into his voice. “Well, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather walk into a den of Death Eaters with than you.”

“Thanks Aaron. I feel the same way.”

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

End Note:

The virtues depicted by the beaux arts statues are taken from a list of virtues complied by Benjamin Franklin.

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

Moonlight Masterpost+

<< Chapter Eleven+

Chapter Thirteen+ >>

[the-blind-assassin-12]

Oblivion

PART THREE: RECKLESS JUST LIKE ME

A/N: it’s the day after your encounter with Logan. Will you see each other again before your time in the park is up?

Warning: talk of suicide, language, mentions of drug use

Word Count: 4,584

You woke early the next morning, the bright light of the sun’s first rays pouring in through the window of your room at the Sweetwater Inn and spilling across the sheets. You’d slept fitfully and they were tossed and tangled up around your legs. Your dreams had been vivid albeit fragmented, filled with flashes that sliced through one another; Erik’s threats in your ear broken up by Logan’s hands exploring every last inch of your body, the absolute pain and misery of your life at home, shattered by the quiet peace you’d found in Logan’s arms… the sharp tip of the letter opener tearing through your skin, replaced by the soothing way Logan’s fingertips trailed over your scars. This was supposed to be a game…

You took a shuddering breath as you sat up, swinging your legs to the side and pulling them free of the sheets. Running your hands through your hair, your fingernails raking across your scalp, you tried to blink it all from your mind. But each time you closed your eyes you saw Erik’s smug face, that venomous smile, and each time they opened, Logan’s endless eyes would appear, threatening to drown you in their depths. I think I might finally be in over my head here, you thought, linking your fingers together behind your neck and blowing out a breath. Fuck. The chirp of robotic birds and the hoof stomps of fabricated fillies served as the soundtrack to the dawn, but all you could hear was Logan, moaning the name Miranda into your ear as he bit down. Your eyes fluttered closed as an ache spread throughout your chest and not for the first time since you saw him you wished you’d given him your real name- you wished you hadn’t played games with him. You imagined how it would sound, coming from his lips, maybe while they were buried in your hair, maybe while he held you to his chest as he rocked his hips to delve deeper inside of you. The corners of your eyes stung as salty tears began to form there, and a small whimper died in your throat as you tried to hold them back. You’d done countless reckless things in the past few years both here in the park and back home, but falling this hard this fast for someone this unobtainable was by far the most reckless thing you’d ever done, and you knew, with more conviction than you’d ever felt, that there was no coming back from this...from him.

A shaky sigh left your lungs as you wiped at your eyes. You looked down at your wrist, holding it in your right hand, your thumb moving slowly over those three pink lines. Normally, when you felt them or saw them, you were filled with regret- regret that you hadn’t locked the bathroom door, regret that you hadn’t gone deeper, regret that you hadn’t aided the letter opener with a bottle of pills. Regret that you’d failed. With just a few swipes of Logan’s fingers and the softness in his tone when he’d asked you to call him by his name, that regret changed. You pressed down on of of the raised marks. The skin and nerves there were all numb and you made an imprint with your thumbnail that you didn’t feel. For the first time since the night of your engagement party, you regretted opening your veins like an envelope. You regretted the reminder that you’d carry with you always, not just for you but for others- that you were broken, unstable, miserable. You regretted letting Logan see that part of you, even if you weren’t sure how much he retained, even if you weren’t sure you’d ever see him again. I could have been that one perfect memory for him, like he is for me, you thought, but now he’ll only remember the time he fucked the saddest Host in Westworld, and fell asleep while she crept away in the dark.

You hugged your arms tightly around your body as though you were holding yourself together, keeping yourself from crumbling to pieces. With a squeeze, you lifted yourself from the bed, your bare feet hitting the wooden floorboards, and you crossed the room to look out the window. Not much was happening this early in the morning, save for a few Hosts milling about, fulfilling the mundane tasks of their loops; purchasing milk or ammo, posting letters, meeting with the sheriff, all to be shot down at some point just to do it again tomorrow. In your own way you knew what that was like- waking up with hopes and aspirations each morning, only for them to be dashed at the first sight of your fiance and the future that he represented.

On your average trip you’d spend your second day off on whatever excursion allowed you to shoot as many bad guys as you had bullets for, each time replacing their faces with Erik’s, each time replacing their offenses with his. They weren’t wanted for the murder of the constable- they were wanted for the way he kept you under lock and key, talked down to you, grabbed roughly at your wrists and pulled you where he wanted you to go. It wasn’t a despicable bandit that you were taking down, it was Erik, after that first time when you’d tried to say no, tried to take things slowly, only for him to cover your mouth and do what he wanted in the back of the limo, the soundproof divider separating you from the driver as he removed only the clothing necessary to reach his goal, your tears, your words, your flailing limbs doing nothing against his strength and determination. That wasn’t the outlaw from the bordertown you were aiming your pistol at, but Erik and his twisted ideologies and priorities. The first time you’d played that game you couldn’t wait to tell him how many times you’d killed him, how many times you watched him take his last breath or watched as blood bubbled from his lips. You’d sneered at him as he curled his lip at you, and though you knew that he didn’t care for you in any way but outward appearances, you could feel that this admission had unsettled him, gotten under his skin.

Today though, you weren’t in the mood for that. The last few times hadn’t been as satisfying as it used to be anyway, because each time you pulled the trigger it was harder and harder to see Erik’s face. The engagement, the merger, the deal that he and your father were working on with Delos- it all illustrated the imbalance of power between you, only served to remind you that you’d never get the best of him. You’d intended to tell him about Logan- about fucking a real live human this time, thinking that would at least give you the satisfaction of seeing that lip of his curl in unease, but now, after everything, you knew there was no way you could tell him. Your time with Logan may very well be the only time in your life when you were touched by someone who wanted you, held by someone who seemed to need the contact just as much as you did, and you wouldn’t share that with Erik in any way. That would remain yours. You’d take Logan to the grave with you.

You decided to get dressed, leaving the black behind and choosing a long sleeved white blouse with dark brown pants, brown embroidered boots, and a beige hat to keep the sun off your face. You let your hair billow about your shoulders, forgoing the braid it had been woven into yesterday. Your plan was to get a horse and ride out of town, keep riding until your thoughts arranged themselves in a more agreeable manner; until you could sort through exactly how you felt and what, if anything, there was to do about it.

You left the Inn with nothing but yourself, leaving your pistol, canteen, and everything else behind in your room, and headed to the stables. You were given a gray mare with black spots and a sleek black mane, and you climbed atop her with practiced grace, giving her a slight kick with your boot heel to start your ride. You were leaving tomorrow at noon, but at least you’d have one solid day with your thoughts, with yourself...with the detailed memories of Logan’s body moving with yours and the way his few words had changed your whole outlook on your life. There was an old abandoned cemetery about three hours from Sweetwater that you’d come across on another trip. It was always quiet there, and though some would call it morbid, you’d always found solace among the headstones, even if some of them were inscribed with sad details. They’re not real, they never were, you’d remind yourself, sitting next to the saddest stone in the plot, reading “Our Twins- Born May 9, 1879 Died May 23 1879”. But the quiet, the calm, the breezy silence out there was what you needed to focus, so you rode hard in that direction, not once looking over your shoulder.

. . . . . . .

Logan slept later than he meant to, waking under a tree a few dozen yards from the Mariposa’s front door with his hat tilted down over his eyes. He’d stumbled there late last night after a few more hands of poker and another half bottle of bourbon, finding the ground to be just as acceptable as his bed. He’d been dreaming, so the fact that he’d been able to sleep for so long came as a surprise; usually his dreams were dark and unpleasant, and he’d jolt awake covered in sweat, breathing heavily but unable to recall the details that had haunted him. These dreams had been of you; of your tongue darting out from between your lips, of that mischievous twinkle in your eyes and your silky hair wrapped around his hand. These dreams had been of holding you so close that he could feel your heart beating against his own, of his hands roaming your skin, finding every freckle, every birthmark, every scar. These dreams had been of you and not Miranda; of the perfectly imperfect woman that he wished with every fiber of his being and against his better judgement were real. And he remembered everything. He cleared his throat and sat up, head pounding, and stared down at his fingertips, rubbing them together. Why is she still in my head?

Because I let her in, he told himself, realizing that he was the only one to blame. He’d never cared what the Hosts he’d slept with called him, never needed or wanted to know what names they went by or what their sob stories were or what their cornerstone was. They were bodies, dolls really, for him to enjoy and nothing more, in fact he preferred not knowing their names because it helped him keep it separate. Hell, there were plenty of real live humans that he’d fucked without getting their name, and he liked that for the same reason- separation. It was about him and his release and his needs. Not theirs, never theirs. Just because they were live humans didn’t make it real, though, he thought, still astonished at how just a few hours with you had left him craving more. You changed the rhythm of his heart more drastically than anything he’d ever injected or snorted or drank. You found the void in his chest that he didn’t even know about, shown him how perfectly you could fill it, and then you’d vanished, leaving him confused and aching to touch you, to hold you… to find out why those lines on your wrist were there, and make sure there wouldn’t be any more added.

He took his hat off and ran his hands through his hair, grabbing and tugging at it in frustration. “Fuck me,” he said to no one but himself as the sounds of the town waking up could be heard in the near distance. He had one more day in the park and normally he’d spend it the same way he’d spent the day before: sampling Madam Maeve’s best wares and getting drunker than he should and using up all the ammo he had on him. As he stood, brushing the dirt from his ass and cracking his back, he told himself one last time that what he was doing was foolish and dangerous of him, but a small voice- in his own tone- chimed in from the back of his brain: what if she was real? What if she was real and she’s my only chance? It was reckless of him. But you were reckless, too, and there was only one way to find out what any of this meant; he had to find you.

Returning to the last place he’d seen you, among the whores and Hosts, he strode confidently past the welcome committee outside of the establishment, batting their lashes and smirking sensually and suggestively at him. There had been plenty of times he’d just draped his arms around those girls and brought them straight into that back room, but this time it was like he couldn’t even see them. “You’re new, Cowboy, not much of a-” He didn’t even bother to hold a hand up or tell her off, simply kept on striding through the door, eyes landing on Maeve as one lace gloved hand brought a glass of sherry to her lips.

Without preamble, and before she’d even brought the glass back down to the bar, Logan addressed her. “Miranda. You know where she is?”

Maeve swallowed her drink and arched an eyebrow. “I don’t know about any Miranda, cowboy,” she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, sliding it down his bicep with a quick squeeze. “But I can be whoever the fuck you want me to be for the next hour.” She blew a kiss and threw a wink at him, adjusting her stance to stick one hip out.

Logan brushed her hand off, a look of disgust screwing up his dark features. “There was a girl, last night, Miranda. You don’t know her?” He frowned.

“Darling, it’s not my job to keep track of every gutter rat that thinks shes good enough to be one of my girls. Now, if you’re looking for-“

But Logan didn’t let her finish. He wasn’t looking for whatever she was about to offer, he was looking for you. He walked back out of the Mariposa more confused than when he’d walked in. Either Miranda wasn’t your name, or you weren’t a hooker, and both scenarios left him with nothing to go on. Why would a Host lie about their name?

He walked the entirety of Main Street looking for you, ignoring or shouting “fuck off” at the Hosts who approached him with quests and offers. Every step made him more anxious, more sure that he was fighting yet another losing battle. An hour had gone by in a matter of minutes and he realized he’d never find you on foot. He took a sharp right and headed for the stable, not sure where he was riding, but knowing it was his only hope. He was met by an old, slow moving stable hand with a kind face, deep wrinkles and wild gray hair sticking out from all sides.

“Howdy there,” he greeted Logan with a grin, revealing one missing tooth and two gold ones. “You come for a horse, then?”

With an exasperated roll of his eyes, Logan answered, “Yeah. And I’m in a fucking hurry.”

The old man shuffled towards one of the stalls and started saddling a light brown horse. “That so then? Where may I ask are ya headed, son?” The bastard was still grinning.

Logan would normally reply with something harsh, something mean, maybe even something threatening, but this time he came up blank. He had no idea where he was headed. No idea if there was even a point to what he was about to do. What the FUCK are you doing? He began to pace as the old man adjusted the reins.

“You goin’ after a girl, ain’t ya? I can tell, you’re all jumpy and scared lookin’.”

Logan stopped his pacing and pivoted towards the stall. “Miranda...or...I think that’s her name…” In desperation he was turning to this stablehand for answers. Suddenly his throat went dryer than the desert that surrounded them. “You uh...you know her?”

The old man lead Logan’s horse out of the stall. “I don’t know any Mirandas,” he said with a shake of his head. “Though there was a pretty young thing this mornin’ said she was ridin’ a couple hours East to clear her mind. Maybe that’s yer Miranda.” With a wink he shuffled off.

Logan’s eyes widened and he mounted his horse quicker than ever before, urging it East and with speed. It wasn’t much- it could be some script, some narrative, some fucking storyline that some bow tie wearing writer came up with. It could be a complete waste of time. You could have gone another direction. You could still be in Sweetwater. You could be gone. But it was all he had, and it was something to do and he pushed his horse faster than he should have, not caring what happened to it. He needed to find you, needed to know.

He rode for hours, the unrelenting sun beating down on his black hat. He’d shed his jacket before setting off, but the heat was still intense. He pushed his sweaty hair back out of his eyes and squinted into the distance. It could have been the heat or the dehydration or the fact that he hadn’t eaten anything since about this time yesterday, but he saw a figure in the distance, and his heart jumped to his throat. His horse protested but he insisted and as he got closer his breathing quickened and his mouth dropped open. It’s… I can’t believe I… It was you. He’d found you.

There was an old whitewashed clapboard chapel with a smattering of tombstones off to one side, and there amongst the graves, amongst the darkness and the sorrow, his eyes landed on your form, sitting with your knees pulled to your chest and your arms resting on top of them. You were facing away from him but the breeze picked up your hair, playing with it and he knew it was you. He got off his horse and just stood there for a minute, watching you, taking you in in case this whole thing was some kind of mirage. He closed his eyes and saw your face, the way you looked last night, the two of you finding the highest ledge to fall over together. He felt that same ache in that void in his chest from when you’d left the room, only now it was begging to be filled again, now that he’d found you. He opened his eyes and you were still there, still gazing off towards the horizon, your hair still dancing in the air.

He swallowed and walked toward you, getting only a few feet away before you swiveled in his direction and blinked up at him, a gasp slipping from your mouth. “Logan… I…” you shook your head. “How did you know where…” Your voice was much softer than it had been last night, you looked so much softer than last night, and though the all black, skin tight outfit you’d worn for yesterday’s mission had set his mind on fire, the light colors, your hair down about your shoulders, the look of shock on your face… you were beautiful to him, in this moment, in that moment, it didn’t matter. He’d found you. He knelt down next to you just as you were about to speak again, but his hands were on your face, fingers raking the hair from your eyes so he could look into them, feeling a lock, a click, when he did. Your eyes widened and pulled him further in, until he had no choice but to crash his lips to yours hungrily.

. . . . . . . .

You sighed as soon as his mouth made contact with yours, feverishly kissing him back, opening your lips to invite his tongue. He responded, sliding it against yours as he worked his fingers into your hair with one hand, and pulled you into his lap, the other arm circling your body to press you closer. You wasted no time in filling your fists with his hair, bringing just as much fire to the kiss as he was. Last night you’d broken the kiss for oxygen, but since then you’d learned that this kiss was oxygen, and you let him kiss you dizzy, let him lock you in that kiss until he needed air himself, breaking apart breathlessly. You fell against his shoulder as he steadied his breathing, his ragged breath warm on your ear. You felt your eyes sting and squeezed them shut, tucking your face against the fabric of his shirt.

“I found you,” he whispered, his long fingers in your hair, his arms wrapped around you.

“Why were you looking for me?” you pulled your face away to look up at him, immediately struck by the unknowable emotion shining in those coal black eyes.

He opened his mouth to start to speak, then closed it, not sure how to answer. His tongue came out to wet his lips, and you saw his eyes narrow as he thought about how to respond. “I needed to know…” he trailed off and you felt the muscles in his arms flex around you.

“What did you need to know, Logan?” you were trying to keep your voice from breaking, but you’d spent the last few hours trying to commit him to memory, trying to take with you everything you knew about him so you’d have some brightness to call on back home. And now here he was, holding you, kissing you...telling you he needed....

“Your name.” He shocked you by pressing his lips to your temple before pressing his cheek to the top of your head. “Please, tell me your name. I… I know it’s not Miranda... and…” you felt him swallow a lump before he continued. “And I know you’re not...one of them...I...you couldn’t be.”

That regret from this morning was back at the need in his voice. You let out a shaky breath. “What...what do you mean, I couldn’t be?”

He looked down at you and you fought with everything in you to let him answer and not dive into another kiss. “I’ve never… it was different, with you. I’ve,” his brows came together and before you knew what you were doing, you reached up to smooth out the furrows. “You’re real.”

“I’m sorry, Logan… I’m so sorry… I-“ your breathing had become erratic and you couldn’t finish your sentence.

“Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for, okay? I get it… this place… it’s… we play games here. I get it.” He ran his hands down your arms until his thumb found your wrist and he silently rubbed it against your skin. “I… I wanted you to be real. I wanted it more than I’ve wanted anything…” he kissed the spot behind your ear. Between his fingertips and his lips it was too easy to let him soothe you. “I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want you…” He said in a low voice, the slightest hint of primal need rumbling in his vocal chords. “Please, I want to know your name.”

It slipped out of your mouth in a breathless whisper that he repeated instantly, and you whimpered at the way it sounded coming from him. Different than it had ever sounded before. He said it again and you heard the ache he felt. He purposefully traced your scars as he looked in your eyes. “You’re beautiful,” he told you, like it was a fact not an opinion, like he knew you’d try to protest, try to argue. “I needed you to be real… I-“

“Logan,” you cut him off, guilt and fear and pain mixing and flooding your bloodstream. This was the part you were dreading. “Logan I’m leaving tomorrow… I have,” your voice broke and you shifted your eyes down but he raised your chin back up, forcing you to look at him. “I’m engaged… I’m…” you saw his face fall and it broke what was left of your heart. “He’s miserable Logan,” you said quickly, having completely given in to the intense connection there seemed to be between you. “I can’t stand him… he,” You winced and you saw Logan’s eyes flash. “I won’t marry him,” you whispered. “I’ll die first.”

You felt his fingers freeze on your wrist. “That what this is?” He asked as they started moving again.

You didn’t answer but you didn’t have to. You were hardly the type to open up to strangers, but at this point you felt closer to Logan than anyone in the world, and that terrified you as much as it gave you hope.

“Please don’t… don’t do this… please, just hold on,” his voice was strained with need, but a need for you, not for your body. He’d found your biggest flaw, realized how close you’d come to succeeding, and instead of turning away he’d only held you closer. “Please,” He said again, as he raised your wrist to his lips and pressed them there. You nodded, tears slipping from your eyes at the sensation. It had been six months since that night, and Logan was the first person to ask you not to do it again… to try to hold on. “We should get back before it gets dark,” he tucked your hair behind your ear.

“Let’s not…” you suddenly couldn’t think about going back to town, back to other people’s vacations. You looked into his eyes, pleading. “Let’s stay here… stay with me, Logan…” you reached up to his face and you heard the small breath he released at your touch, felt how he melted into your palm.

. . . . . . . .

His heart was thudding wildly with relief. Not only had he found you, but you were real, you were here, and you wanted him to stay with you… to be with you, alone, away from everything...away from the world. “Okay,” he agreed, the word barely out of his mouth before it was on yours again.

He kissed you slowly this time, and you both felt how much the other needed this. He didn’t care that you were leaving tomorrow, didn’t see your engagement as a problem. He forgot about the rabbit he was supposed to be chasing, forgot about his usual vices, forgot the itch in his veins at the absence of opiates. He’d find a way to see you again, without a doubt, he knew that. Logan was smart, despite what his father thought; smart enough to know when he’d found something-someone- worth risking everything for...someone who might give him what he’d never had, someone who might need him, might need him for more than his money or his influence. He’d found you, and he wouldn’t let you slip away.

No matter how reckless it was, he didn’t intend for you to marry Erik, either.

@something-tofightfor @my-little-dumpster-fire @suchatinyinfinity @lexxierave @ymariejp @ms-delos

Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!! Thanks for reading!!

[truthbeetoldmedia]

The 100 6x04 "The Face Behind the Glass" Review

Many reviewers have already been singing the praises of Season 6 of The 100, and I’m here to add my voice to the chorus. It’s incredibly unusual for a show’s sixth season to still be just as good as, if not better than, its first few, but this season has already blown me away, and we’re only 4 episodes in! I could not be more intrigued by the mysteries Sanctum holds, and may or may not have already spent multiple hours theorizing about it with friends. “The Face Behind the Glass” was another terrific hour of television, written by Charmaine DeGraté and directed by Tim Scanlan!

Gabriel and his Children

The episode opens with Diyoza in the woods, building a fire. As it blazes to life, she assures her unborn daughter that she’ll teach her how to survive. Three Sanctum guards on motorcycles roar up, led by Jade, the woman responsible for protecting Rose, the nightblood child kidnapped by the Children of Gabriel. She comes with an offer: help them recover Rose and the heads of the Primes that were also taken by the Children, and Diyoza’s baby will be allowed to grow up inside the safety of Sanctum. Diyoza agrees to the deal, on one condition — she gets a motorbike too.

Back where the Children of Gabriel are camped out, one of the women, Tosh, strikes Octavia, asking her repeatedly how many more people with black blood are with the Earth people. Octavia refuses to answer, and Tosh wants to kill her as well as Rose, but Xavier tells her that “the old man” will make her talk. As the group continues to hike, Rose pleads with Octavia to answer their questions so that they don’t kill both of them. Octavia seems to have gotten attached to the child, because she assures her that she won’t let anything happen to her, and that while they might be monsters, so was she. Later, with Rose and Octavia tied to a tree, Xavier makes the mistake of leaving a knife on a backpack near Octavia, who is able to hook it with her foot and grab the knife. While the Children are distracted by another group of Children meeting up with them, Octavia and Rose make their escape.

Octavia and Rose run through the forest, but Rose is exhausted and tells Octavia she can’t run anymore. Octavia tries to motivate her by telling her that if she doesn’t run, she’ll die, but that just makes Rose burst into tears and cling to her. Octavia holds her tight, her hand cradling the back of Rose’s head just like Bellamy used to do hers, then gives her Bellamy’s patented “fear is a demon” pep talk. After Rose repeats “I’m not afraid” a few times, and the two dash off. They get surrounded by Children of Gabriel, but Jade, Diyoza, and the other guards come roaring up and quickly dispatch the kidnappers. But not before one gets off a shot at Rose, hitting her in the chest. Octavia looks on in shock as Jade cradles Rose’s body, wailing.

The Devils from Earth Become the Heroes of Sanctum

Diyoza correctly assumes that since Rose died, the deal for her child to be raised in Sanctum is off. But when Octavia mentions the leader of the Children of Gabriel, Diyoza gets an idea, and asks Jade — if she kills “the old man,” the leader of the Children of Gabriel, will the Primes honor the deal? Jade agrees, and Octavia and Diyoza gather weapons and camouflage from the bodies of the Children. Octavia already wants to kill Xavier, so Diyoza tells her, “looks like you’ve got a partner.” This is a team-up I’ve been hoping for since the two spoke on the Eligius ship in the Season 5 finale, and I’m really hopeful that Diyoza can pull Octavia back from the darkness. Octavia needs someone who won’t stand for any nonsense and can hold their own in a snark-off. I also find it interesting that Octavia refuses to tell the Children whether or not there are more nightbloods. Is this just out of stubbornness and refusal to help the enemy, or did Bellamy’s actions jolt her to her senses and make her realize that she needs to do better? She seems thoroughly shaken by Rose’s death, and I wonder if it might help her understand where Bellamy was coming from all those years.

Inner Sanctum

Back in Sanctum, Simone is trying to convince Russell to cancel Naming Day. She points out that the fact that the Children had sketches of Rose and Delilah and knew where to go to kidnap them means that they have spies inside Sanctum. She’s worried that they’ll use the distraction of Naming Day to strike again. She asks Russell to cancel the ceremony, saying, “Priya can wait.” Russell answers, “Would you say that if it was Josephine? If we cancel, Gabriel wins.”

In her room above the tavern, Delilah gets ready for her Naming Ceremony, Jordan in bed behind her. (Side note: how is it humanly possible to have an eight pack while propped up in bed?!) Jordan tells Delilah that his parents would have loved it there in Sanctum, and Delilah encourages him to unburden — Naming Day is a day to make amends for the things they feel guilty for. He tells Delilah about his childhood, wishing desperately to meet the people in the cryo pods, but they were just faces behind glass. Then he decided to go into cryosleep, and he became the face behind the glass to his parents, and he feels guilty for being happy here without them. Delilah thinks that they should take happiness while they can, and starts taking her dress off again. Who cares if she’s late to her Naming Ceremony — making amends is what the day is all about, right?

Downstairs, everyone is scurrying around making preparations for the celebration. Delilah’s father offers Madi a cookie (that looks suspiciously like a Keebler Fudge Striped Shortbread cookie), and tells her and Clarke that they and their people are the guests of honor. Jordan and Delilah come downstairs to applause, and Delilah makes a beeline to Clarke, embracing her and thanking her for saving her life. And isn’t it so nice to see Clarke be appreciated? She’s incredibly selfless, but gets little recognition for it. Cillian, the doctor that treated Murphy in the last episode, calls Delilah and Clarke over for a checkup. Delilah gets a clean bill of health, and Cillian tells her that after tonight, it’ll be like the kidnapping never happened at all. Delilah skips off, and Cillian turns his attention to Clarke. Despite her protests, he insists on checking the wound across her palm from the kidnapper’s knife — Abby made him promise he would. He flirts with her for a bit as he checks the wound, then advises her to keep the wound covered — if anyone finds out she has black blood, they’ll worship her.

As he walks away, Madi comes up to Clarke, knowingly saying, “He’s cute.” She then asks if this is what it’ll be like from now on, and Clarke says, “Why not? I think we deserve a fresh start, don’t you?” Way to jinx things, Clarke. Madi then asks if she can go to school, and despite lamenting that she hadn’t been able to a few episodes earlier, Clarke says no. She can’t risk anyone finding out that Madi is a nightblood, and besides, Madi chose the Flame over being a normal kid. Clarke reminds Madi that she can still take the Flame out, but Madi refuses, so Clarke reminds her that being the Commander comes with responsibilities, and she wants Madi to keep working at mastering the Flame so that Sheidheda doesn’t become a problem. Clarke sends Madi off to the ship to train with Gaia, and as Bellamy, Echo, Jordan, and Raven join Clarke, Raven wants them all to go to the ship too, where Miller, Jackson, Murphy, and Emori are, instead of to the celebration. Jordan panics a little, because he really wants to go to his first dance. Clarke points out that they’re guests of the Primes, and that it would be rude to isolate themselves on the ship. (Did this remind anyone else of when Clarke told Bellamy in Season 2 that they couldn’t think of things as “our side” and “their side” now that they were allied with the grounders?) Raven heads for the bar, and everyone else follows Delilah to the courtyard in front of the palace.

A crowd has gathered in front of the palace balcony, where Russell, Simone, Kaylee, and Miranda stand. Russell speaks into a microphone, welcoming everyone to Naming Day. He then asks the crowd to name the four pillars of Sanctum, and as they chant, “repent, renew, rejoice, rebirth,” Bellamy, Echo, and Clarke exchange uneasy glances. Russell tells the people that today they’ll be welcoming back their beloved Priya, and they all respond with “hallowed be her name.” Definitely looking more and more cultish. Russell announces that he will begin the process of making amends, and he turns to Kaylee. He tells her that he failed to keep her and her family safe when he realizes that she and her family didn’t make it to Ryker’s Keep before the eclipse. (Side note, remember the name Ryker; it’ll come up again.) “I closed the door,” he says. “I kept it open as long as I could, until the life of everyone else was at risk.” Does this sound like anyone else you know? Multiple times?

“Make amends for those you’ve hurt.”

Russell prompts everyone to turn to their neighbor and tell them that they love them, and make amends with those they’ve hurt. Clarke leaves the crowd and finds Raven in the tavern. Raven is still furious with Clarke because of her actions on Earth, namely that she didn’t know of Spacekru’s plan to help Octavia win the valley, so she sided with McCreary, and then turned in Raven, Echo, and Shaw to keep Madi safe. When Clarke approaches Raven at the bar, Raven knows why she’s there, and already has her defenses up. But rather than getting defensive and justifying her actions (which were completely justified in my opinion), she simply apologizes for all the hurt she’s caused Raven. It’s really hard to apologize without justifying your actions, especially when you have such a strong motive in saving your child’s life, but as we’ve seen in the past 3 episodes, Clarke is determined to live out Monty’s last wish for them and do better, be better. She stands silently, tears welling up, as Raven accuses her of being just as bad as Octavia, of only pretending to regret the bad outcomes of her choices, then angrily storms off. I’ll be honest, I’m really tired of Raven’s attitude toward her the last couple seasons, when Raven hasn’t had to make any huge, impossible decisions like Clarke.

The next part of the celebration involves writing your sins on strips of cloth and tying them to paper lanterns to be sent up into the sky. We finally get to see Bellamy and Clarke address her leaving him in Polis — and not for the last time, if the trailer is any indication. Clarke hesitantly approaches Bellamy, I’m sure still stinging from Raven’s attacks, and admits to him that her greatest regret was leaving him in Polis. He doesn’t want to talk about it, but Clarke presses on, her voice wavering.

“What I did — leaving you like that — I’m so sorry, Bellamy.”

“I know what it’s like to risk everything for one person. And I know Madi’s your family.”

“Hey. You’re my family too. I lost sight of that. But I promise I will never forget it again. You’re too important to me.”

This conversation felt like so many fanfictions I’ve read, and it was so gratifying. Bellamy and Clarke will always be the most important relationship on the show, and the show is always at its best when the two are working together, so I really appreciate that this season is taking time to give the characters space to breathe and interact in deeper, more meaningful ways.

Clarke asks Bellamy if he’s going to try sending up his regrets with a lantern, but he says he has too many sins that would weigh the lantern down. “Octavia?” Clarke asks, but Bellamy isn’t ready to talk about it, and says, “No more amends today.”

Fights with Cranky Engines

Raven finds the mechanic’s shop in Sanctum, and in it, a man named Ryker, working on a motorcycle. (Remember when I told you to remember the name “Ryker’s Keep”?) It’s his mother’s, and he’s getting it tuned up for her, but having trouble. Raven’s eager to get back to her mechanic roots, so offers to help him out, introducing herself as Raven.

“Omen of death, cool.”

“Actually, that’s a misconception.”

“I hope so.”

Now, I don’t know that this “omen of death” comment was significant or foreshadowing, but I wouldn’t be surprised with this show, so take that as you will. Raven and Ryker definitely have a spark between them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up hooking up in the near future.

Later, Raven, sporting her signature ponytail once again, gets the motorcycle running. Ryker comes down the stairs all dressed up, confessing to Raven that he’s not just a mechanic, he’s also a Prime who’s late for the Naming Ceremony. He asks Raven to go riding with him sometime, then invites her to come with him to the ceremony. It’s unclear whether she goes with him, because he’s standing up with the rest of the Primes when it’s time for Delilah’s renaming.

Now Clarke gets another costume change, just in time for the Naming Day party. She looks over the sea of people and colored lights, stunning in a deep blue dress, and Cillian drags her, laughing, onto the dance floor. Clarke finally lets herself relax and enjoy herself, and sways, twirls, and laughs with the man, while Bellamy looks on, somewhere between being jealous and being glad to see her happy. And can we take a moment to notice the lyrics of the song playing while she dances? (Bracketed lines were cut, and you may notice that the CW’s captions on the episode have incorrect lyrics due to the vocalist mumbling. The song is Underwater by RÜFÜS DU SOL.)

Seaside

[I’m running around looking for peace of mind

So come out and change me]

You were always around to make me smile

Stuck underwater, I’m stuck underwater

And I just need some space, my friend

It’s not what you wanted, it’s not what you wanted

But I just need a change again

Help me out before I drown

Save me now, before I give up

Help me out before I drown

Not to look at everything through Bellarke-colored glasses, but… the lyrics combined with Bellamy wistfully watching Clarke aren’t exactly subtle.

A Face Behind the Glass

After dancing (and smooching) it up at the party, Jordan and Delilah head up a group of people headed for the same courtyard in front of the palace once again. Delilah pulls away from Jordan, and approaches the group of Primes standing in front of a large door on the lower level of the palace. Russell tells Delilah that she has been chosen, like each of them, to receive the “great miracle of Sanctum.” He asks if she accepts this honor, and she assents. He then asks her to come forward to be so named, and Delilah hesitates. She starts forward, then turns and rushes back to Jordan, kissing him, and whispering, “Don’t let me be a face behind the glass.” Jordan is confused, but before he can respond, Delilah heads back toward the door with the Primes.

When Delilah comes back out, she’s wearing a new dress, and has a glamorous new hairstyle and makeup. She looks coolly upon Jordan as he greets her, and royal guards move to block him from approaching her. She hugs Ryker, saying, “my beautiful baby boy,” and we realize that this isn’t Delilah any longer, but that Priya has somehow possessed her body.

An Hour Before the Devil Fell

Clarke has other things on her mind than the Naming Ceremony. Specifically, Cillian. The two stumble into Cillian’s room after the dance, kissing urgently. Cillian helps relieve Clarke of her beautiful blue dress, then things fade to black, as the next we see them, Cillian is standing at the window, while Clarke sleeps behind him. Clarke wakes, then wraps a sheet around herself and joins him at the window. We see that the walls of his room are papered with sketches; he’s a fellow artist too. “God, it’s beautiful here,” she marvels. But Cillian responds, “Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in heaven.” A line from The Crucible, Cillian tells her, Gabriel’s favorite play. But the Primes banned that play. Clarke asks what the quote means, and Cillian says, “I suppose it means that there’s two sides to every story.” He elaborates that not everyone in Sanctum believes in the divinity of the Primes, and we begin to realize that he’s the spy for the Children of Gabriel.

Before he can explain further, Delilah comes out of the palace, and Clarke wants to see the rest of the ceremony. But as she zips her dress up, she notices a sketchbook with a page sticking out of it. She pulls it out to see a page covered with sketches of the people from Earth, with a few faces crossed out, and Clarke’s circled. Cillian tries to explain it away, but Clarke knows that something isn’t right. She rightly guesses that the reason her drawing is circled is because she’s a nightblood, and Cillian wants to know who else in the group is. She tells him that she’s the only one, and tries to get around him, but Cillian doesn’t believe her, and tells her that he’s not the one she needs to be afraid of. He still refuses to let her through the door, so she heads for the window, and he picks up a blow gun and hits her with a paralytic dart. As Cillian carries Clarke to the bed, he tells her that she’ll be fine once he gets her to the Children of Gabriel. He assures Clarke that the Children won’t hurt her, and applies a gel that he hopes will allow him to pass through the radiation field. If his death can put an end to the Primes, it will be worth it. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you look at it, Clarke knocked over a wine glass as she fell, and guards burst through the door. Cillian grabs a knife, prepared to kill Clarke to keep the Primes from having another host, but the guards stop him. Rather than letting them interrogate him, Cillian growls “death to Primes” and slits his own throat, collapsing as Clarke’s paralyzed eyes watch in horror.

I wonder if Cillian really thought that the Children of Gabriel wouldn’t harm Clarke, despite her black blood, or if he was just a really convincing liar. It seems clear that his plan was to tell Clarke about the whole power structure of Sanctum and ideally have her come to the conclusion that the Primes were bad on her own, but he got really sloppy and left his creepy nightblood-vs-red blood checklist laying around. And this show rarely introduces something like that gel without using it again, so be on the lookout for that.

An Echo in the Dark

Echo approaches Bellamy at the party, and noticing the look on his face, asks what’s wrong. He tells her that the last time he was at a party, his sister got arrested (which isn’t even true, he’s been to at least two since then!). Echo responds that if he’s going to tear himself apart over leaving Octavia, they should go get her. Bellamy tells her that he’s not tearing himself apart, he’s mourning her. “This is me being human — feeling things when people I love are in trouble or die. The Echo I knew on the Ring did that. Why don’t you?” Echo counters that this isn’t about her, but Bellamy points out that they lost Monty and Harper three days ago, and she’s shown no emotion or response to the loss of two members of their family. He ends the conversation with a biting remark that it’ll take him a little while to feel nothing over Octavia, like a good Azgeda spy, and Echo leaves.

After the Naming Ceremony, Bellamy finds Echo in the tavern, drinking. He joins her at the table, and apologizes for taking his feelings about Octavia out on her. Echo tells him that she does miss Monty and Harper, even though she might not show it. “I know,” Bellamy responds, and when Echo shakes her head, he repeats it more firmly. “I know.” “You were right,” Echo tells Bellamy. “I feel myself closing down again.”

“Of course you are. We’ve been fighting to survive since the moment we left the ring.”

“I’ve been fighting to survive all my life. I was eight when Queen Nia’s army took our land. My father resisted. They killed him while my mother hid with me in the cellar. ‘If you cry, they’ll hear you,’ she said. So I didn’t.”

“You told me you didn’t remember your parents.”

“Best way to get rats out of their hole? Start a fire. I remember the way it smelled. The wood. The smoke. Her hair.” Echo’s voice cracks and tears spill over. She continues, “When Nia heard what happened, she executed the men who did it, had me brought to Troit, and started my training.”

Bellamy comes to sit closer to Echo, saying, “I hate that that happened to you. But everything we’ve been through has brought us here. From now on, we look forward, not back.”

Echo nods, breathing deeply, and the two kiss.

I was really glad to see that argument between the two play out, because Bellamy was right — we haven’t seen much of any emotion or depth to Echo this season, or even last season. And finally we get some backstory for Echo, after 2 full seasons of being a major character. The scene where she talks about her parents is legitimately the first time since Season 2 ended where I actually found myself invested in Echo as a character. She’s been little more than a cardboard cutout of a “badass” warrior woman whose only job is to be snarky and swing swords around, and it sucks because there was so much cool potential for her. She has truly been an echo, not a fleshed-out character, and I’m glad to see that the writers recognize that, and am hopeful they’ve done and will do better at giving her more depth instead of just being a prop for Bellamy. I’ll be honest, I’ve never been much of a fan of Echo or her relationship with Bellamy, but I’m so hopeful for the writers to make her an interesting character, develop her own identity beyond Bellamy. I want her to be someone I can like, and based on the way things are going, and what has been said about her backstory reveals this season, that might actually happen!

The only thing I didn’t like about these scenes was that Echo made Bellamy’s grief over Octavia about her. Of course it wasn’t great of Bellamy to lash out at Echo, but instead of holding space for him to work through his incredibly complicated relationship with his sister, who Echo has been pushing him to reconcile with since the beginning of the season, she talks about her own tragic backstory. The moment when Bellamy is dealing with this isn’t the moment to reveal to him that you’ve been lying to him about your past for years. And I can’t imagine what kind of relationship the two had on the Ring that Echo never felt like she could tell Bellamy about what happened to her parents. Yes, she is a private person, but who are you going to share that with if not your significant other? Revealing her Tragic Backstory in the moments that should have been saved for Bellamy to work through his feelings about Octavia felt a bit cheap.

On a totally different note, did anyone else catch that the Azgeda capital was named Troit? As in, De-troit?

Hallowed Be Her Name

Finally, we rejoin Clarke, still paralyzed, being carried by a royal guard, accompanied by Russell, into the same room on the ground floor of the palace that Delilah entered for her renaming. This time we get to see what’s inside, from Clarke’s point of view. She is laid on a table in the center of a circular room, with rows of skeletons circling the table like spokes on a wheel. We know from the script excerpt the writers posted that there are 12 rows of them, for 12 Primes. A ramping solo cello plays as Clarke looks frantically about the room. Simone is already in the room, and after dismissing the guard, Russell tells her that Cillian was the traitor. Simone asks why he hasn’t used the antidote for the paralytic on Clarke yet, and Russell, touching Simone’s necklace, tells her that she knows why. “She has the blood. Tell me not to do this, and I won’t, Simone.” Simone tells him that Jade has returned, and Rose is dead. “Okay,” Russell says, desperation tingeing his voice. “Here’s the math. There are no more hosts. It was 14 years between Rose and Delilah — 14 years. Josie’s still 3rd in line — that means her host won’t be born for, at best, 35 years. Another 21 until her brain is ready. We can wait 56 years for our baby girl’s Naming Day, or we can get her back tonight. All we have to do is kill this innocent girl.”

Simone opens the locket around her neck, revealing a Flame-like chip inside, and we hear the bells and synth associated with both the City of Light and the Flame as Clarke puts the pieces together. “I’ll prep for insertion. You clear the host,” Simone says. The cello grows more and more frenzied as Russell apologizes to Clarke for what he’s about to do to her. Tears fall from Clarke’s eyes, and Russell assures her that she won’t feel any pain. “The mind of the host is erased, but the brain is left unharmed. You’re giving us such a gift, Clarke. Sacrificing your body so that someone else might live.” Simone wonders at the perfect timing, that after 236 years, as the Primes are on the brink of extinction, a perfect host arrives on their doorstep. Russell injects Clarke in the neck with a large syringe, then says, “No more fighting, Clarke. You’ll be at peace. A better place, just like you said you wanted.” He kisses Clarke’s forehead as her consciousness, and our screens, fades to black.

We start to see blurry shapes and hear muted conversation, Simone saying that Clarke’s brain function was starting to return. As things sharpen, we jump outside her body to see Clarke sit bolt upright, screaming. It seems Josephine’s consciousness resumed right as where it ended, with Josephine falling (remember, Russell told Clarke his daughter had died in a fall). Josephine calms down, looking relieved to see her parents there with her. Simone pulls Clarke’s hair (or is it Josephine’s? How long does someone have to inhabit a body before the body becomes their own?) away from Josephine’s neck to check her sutures, and we see a familiar incision at the base of her skull. Josephine slides off the table, and walks to a large mirror to check out her new habitance. Eliza Taylor truly kills this scene, because while it’s the same face we’ve been watching on our screens for 6 years, Josephine looks nothing like Clarke. In fact, her expressions are exactly like the original Josephine’s, who we met in a flashback in episode 6x02. Josephine surveys her new body, twirling her hair around her finger the same way she did 236 years ago. “Now, this I can work with,” she says, smirking.

Final Thoughts

Many people in the fandom had hypothesized after last week’s episode that Clarke would become the new host for Josephine, but I don’t think any of us were prepared for how brutal it actually was. They wiped Clarke’s brain, you guys. Now, of course, we all know there’s very little chance that our heroes won’t find a way to get her back, but even that slight possibility is terrifying. Clarke has had both the Flame and ALIE’s chip in her head, so I wonder if there’s still some aspects of that code that remained in her mind and will protect her consciousness. The Flame protected Clarke in the City of Light, after all. Another possibility, one alluded to by Gaia, is that there might still be a copy of Clarke’s consciousness on the Flame, that they might have to download into Clarke. This would mean that the “new” Clarke would be the one that went into the City of Light at the end of Season 3, which would mean that the Clarke from the past 2 seasons would be erased. (Shoutout to my friend April for thinking of that one!) It would certainly be a bold move. It would also explain why we see Clarke back in Mount Weather in the season trailer — the consciousness in the Flame could be reliving her worst moments and hardest decisions over and over again. Or Josephine’s consciousness could put Clarke’s in there, sort of like a mind palace, to keep her from breaking through. So many possibilities!

I really hope that our heroes are able to recover Delilah, too, and I loved that her way of warning Jordan that something was off and asking him to save her was by referencing the conversation they had earlier in the episode. Jordan of course didn’t know at the time what she meant, but between the way “Delilah” acted when she came back out of the palace and now Clarke having been taken over by Josephine, I’m sure he’ll put it together. Clarke and Delilah have both become faces behind the glass — it looks like it’s still them walking around, but you can’t talk to them, just like Jordan couldn’t talk to all the people in cryosleep. I don’t have much hope for Delilah’s consciousness, though, unfortunately — Jordan is jumping right into losing people he loves.

Who is Gabriel? We know that the doctor who the original Josephine was hooking up with was named Gabriel, and can extrapolate that he’s who the Children of Gabriel are named after, but since the Children are so vehemently opposed to the Primes and everything they stand for (for example, implanting their consciousness into host bodies so they can live forever), it seems unlikely that Gabriel has been transferring his consciousness from host to host. But we know based on the script that the writers released that Gabriel created the serum the Primes inject the hosts with to wipe their minds, though it took him over 20 years. So Gabriel was still on Russell’s side after the first eclipse and Russell’s massacre, for over 20 years. I wonder what made him change his mind and break off from the Primes?

The Children of Gabriel that we see in the forest also seem to be separated from Gabriel in some way, because last week they said things about “the old man” (also the descriptor Russell and Simone used for Gabriel) coming back to them. Strangely, however, the Children of Gabriel always refer to him as “the old man.” I’m intrigued to find out who or what Gabriel is, and how he’s survived this long. One of the Children mentions that if they want to speak to “the old man,” they’ll have to go into the anomaly, which is one of the things I’ve been most curious about since seeing the season trailer. There is some sort of glowing green storm or aurora on planet Alpha that we see a few times in the trailer, but we have no idea what it is or what it does. I have a few theories of my own (maybe time moves more slowly inside it, hence why Gabriel could be 260 years old without being a Prime?), and I’m excited to find out if I’m right!

Sundry Observations

I loved the moment of Diyoza talking to her unborn child, assuring her that she’ll teach her how to survive.

It cracks me up how the Children of Gabriel greet one another with “death to Primes” and say goodbye by saying “death is life.”

When Josephine wakes up, it’s in the same way as when Murphy woke up after “dying.”

It was so cute how Jordan put his hands over Madi’s ears when Raven insinuated that he’d been having sex! Such a big brother moment.

The music in the scene where they were all prepping for the party was so sweet, it reminded me a lot of the hopeful, wide-eyed music in Season 3 when Kane and Abby were at the party.

I’m glad Abby is getting a chance to learn more about their medical stuff, I’m sure that’ll be helpful in the event they do have to leave Sanctum.

Echo’s line, “Murphy missing the chance to act like a drunken fool? Now I’m worried” made me laugh. And I have no idea what’s going on with that guy — he’s had near-death experiences before and never became a reformed man.

I’m loving all the new music for Planet Alpha, particularly how it mingles with the Bellarke scene during the scene where Clarke apologizes to Bellamy, and the solo violin behind Russell’s speech about making amends.

I’m really glad to find that the Children of Gabriel aren’t nearly as primitive as the grounders — it didn’t make narrative sense for civilization to have devolved so quickly, and we didn’t need a repeat of that.

The 100 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW.

[azaraspirit]

13, 16, 35, 36. You already know which otp. 😂 Sterek babyyyyy

SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! i hope you like it babe! basically its an FBI sterek au which is the only au that matters. 

13. i wont let anyone hurt you. you’re safe with me. 16. ive got you. 35. you make me feel safe. 36. you’ve shown me what love can feel like.

SHIT THIS GONNA GIVE YOU SO MANY FEELS. I HOPE YOU HAVE KLEENEX WITH YOU MIRANDA. STEREK ANGST IS A GO. there’s fluff too i guess lol @i-need-fangirl-therapy

*

It’s been about five years since the incident. The nightmares have almost subsided as well as the anxiety and constant fear. Turns out being a victim of a serial killer has some serious side effects with a dash of PTSD. Now the only reason why Stiles would have an episode is if he was triggered. 

At least Stiles had Derek. Stiles swore he would be dead by now if he wasn’t with him. No. He WOULD be dead. Scott is his best friend but it wasn’t enough. He needed something more and that something more was Derek. He proposed almost immediately after he rescued him from Peter who just nearly killed Stiles. Stiles didn’t hesitate. Stiles kept bringing up the details and the date but Derek was assuring him there was no rush. He knew Stiles was still recovering from the incident. Derek knew him like no one else. He looked fine on the outside but the inside was a different story. All that torture and pain changed Stiles forever. On top of that, they stripped Stiles of his FBI badge which made it even worse. Stiles loved being on the field but there was no way he could recover. 

Scott sighed. “Alright, Stiles, if you swear you think you can handle it, I’ll give you you’re badge back.” Stiles was in Scott’s office again, trying to pursue him to get him back on the field again. The pros of your boss being your best friend. 

Stiles rushed over and gave his friend a hug. Scott rolled his eyes. “Don’t make me regret this. I don’t want your fiance coming in my office and yelling at me.”

“I won’t! I promise! You won’t regret this!” Stiles excitedly rushed out of Scott’s office with his shiny new badge, skipping on the way. His coworkers looked at him as if he was crazy. Stiles headed for the arena, knowing he hasn’t picked up a gun since that night. 

“Where do you think you’re doing?” Stiles just reached the door when he heard Derek behind him. He spun around. 

“Gonna practice. Wanna join me?”

Derek walked up to him, dead serious. “You think that’s a good idea?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Derek, I’m fine. it’s been like five years. Besides, Scottie just approved of me to back on the field anyways so it doesn’t-”

“HE WHAT?”

“Derek!”

Derek did the one thing Scott didn’t want. He stormed right into his office. “YOU’RE LETTING STILES BACK ON THE FIELD??”

Scott nearly backed up, Derek, being absolutely terrifying. “So you heard.”

“Yeah! He just told me! You have no idea what he’s been through Scott! It’s too soon!”

“Derek, calm down.” Scott sat down at his desk. “I put a lot of thought into it and I think Stiles is ready.”

“You’re wrong.” Derek growled. “I know him best. Something will trigger him and his life will be on the line.”

“Derek-”

“If something happens to him, I’m going to take it out on you.” Derek stormed off, everyone going back to their business, pretending they didn’t hear him just now. 

“Hey, you’re back.” Stiles said, seeing Derek. “I knew you would.

Derek embraced him, Stiles being surprised but hugged back. Derek rested his head on Stiles’ shoulder. “If you’re going out on the field, I’m there every step of the way. I won’t let anyone hurt you. You’re always safe with me.”

Stiles smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now can we please go and practice? I’m dying.”

Derek was right next to Stiles as he prepped his pistol. “I got it, Derek. Jeeze. Can you stop hovering like a damn helicopter?”

Derek took a step back, holding out his hands. Stiles took a deep breathe and aimed at the target in front of him. He exhaled before pulling the trigger. 

Last thing Stiles remembered was hearing Derek call out his name. When he came to, he was on the floor, Derek beside him. He came into focus, seeing absolute fear and worry. “Stiles!”

“W-what happened?” Stiles murmured, tugging on Derek’s shirt.

“You shot the gun and fainted. You okay? You scared the shit out of me.” 

Stiles didn’t answer. He knew he fucked up. No way was he going out on the field. If a simple gun fire triggered him, he was stuck at a desk for life. Stiles choked back a sob and buried his head in Derek’s chest. Derek embraced him, whispering reassurance to Stiles. “I’ve got you, Stiles. I’ve got you.”

“I won’t be able to go back….I’ll be stuck at a desk…I hate it Derek…I wanna be with you on the field…” Stiles sobs broke Derek’s heart. He had to do something.

“You make me feel safe.” he murmured. “You show me what love can feel like. I won’t feel that being at a fucking desk alone.”

*

“Hey, is he okay?” Scott asked in a soft tone when Derek entered his office. Derek sighed. “He’s embarrassed more than anything.”

Scott sighed. “I’m sorry, Derek. This was all my fault. I thought he was ready.” He was expecting an I told you so from Derek but he apologized to. 

“I shouldn’t have went off on you like that. Totally unprofessional.”

Scott blinked in surprise. “It-it’s okay, Derek. I know how much you care about him.”

“Speaking of that, we need to talk.”

*

Stiles glared at the desk in front of him. Surely the word has spread about his episode. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him, silently judging. He had a stack of files before him.

“Hey, is this seat taken?”

Stiles looked up to find Derek standing at the desk across from him. “Uh what?”

“I asked if this seat was taken?”

“Uh, no. But why are you-”

“I’m your new neighbor.” Derek took a seat at his new desk.

“Wait what?”

Derek chuckled. “I talked with Scott. I’m gonna be here with you now instead of out on the field.”

“What why? You love being on the field.”

“No, what I loved was working with you.” His reply made Stiles blush. “If this is what it will be like now than, I’m fully on board with it.”

“You-you serious?”

“Dead serious. I know how much you hate it here but I figured it would suck a little less if I was here with you.” Derek reached over and took Stiles’ hand, squeezing it. 

“D-Derek…you didn’t have to…”

“I wanted to.”

Stiles stood up and rushed over to Derek. Sitting on his lap, framed his face and kissed him, right there in front of everyone. “God I fucking love you.”

[four-loose-screws]

FE5 Umemura Novel Translation - Chapter 9 Part 3

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

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Leif’s army quickly gathered in the front garden.

August explained the situation to everyone: That the cavaliers that had gone to Alster, lost the battle, were coming back, and were likely being chased by a pursuit army; and that Dorias had been killed.

Everyone listened to him silently, though they of course made quite a commotion when they heard that Dorias had died.

“Listen up, everyone! Our goal is to get the cavaliers inside the castle! We just need to get them to safety, so only engage with the pursuit army if necessary!” Leif said while slowly looking around at everyone’s faces. They looked serious and ready to battle, but when they made eye contact with him, they seemed uneasy.

Or maybe they noticed how poorly he was doing?

He became self-conscious about the possibility that he looked as awful as he felt. “Prepare for battle, and stay on standby until you can see the cavaliers!”

“Yes sir!” Everyone quickly responded, then spread out.

“They’re here! The cavaliers!” Karin called out from the sky.

Everyone took a deep breath and readied their weapons.

The moment Leif tried to give out orders, Eda’s voice eclipsed his own. “What’s that?!”

“What’s wrong, Eda?”

“There’s someone else with the cavaliers… Are they… ordinary citizens?”

“Huh?!”

“They must be Alsterian citizens! The cavaliers are protecting the citizens while coming this way!”

“What is the meaning of this?!” August spat out under his breath.

“For now, just help everyone get inside! Move out!!”

At Leif’s order, everyone came flying out of the castle. He tried to start running, too.

However, he tripped, and stumbled as if the ground before him was crumbling.

Miranda helped him up. “Are you okay?!” She asked with worry on her face.

“Yeah, I’m just a bit dizzy, that’s all.” He stood up and pulled away from her. “More importantly, I couldn’t keep my promise. I’m sorry, Miranda.”

“It’s fine…” She said quietly, and looked away from him.

“I’m really sorry.” He murmured once more, then ran off.

-

Leif stopped when he reached the top of the hill behind the castle.

He confirmed with his own eyes that the cavaliers were indeed coming back, and that there were Alsterian citizens with them, about twenty. The citizens were most likely keeping them from galloping at their full speed.

And behind them, he could see an imperial pursuit army. It was quite a large one at that.

In front were two cavalier units; and behind them was a mage and knight unit, which most likely also included the army’s leader.

The unit in the back was probably just there to give orders and provide support, so Leif and his army likely only had to really fight the two cavalier units.

“All units, full speed ahead! Get between our cavaliers and the enemy cavaliers, then stop the enemy in their tracks!” Leif called out, then ran down the hill.

A horse stopped in front of him. It was Fergus’.

“What’s wrong, Fergus?!”

“Prince, you should stay here and just give out orders. Leave the fighting to us.”

“No way! I can’t do that!”

“We’ll be fine! Not one of us here have that little trust in you! Or do you not trust us?”

“Of course I do…”

“That’s what I thought. So get some rest. Nothing good will come out of pushing yourself too hard.” Fergus said with a frown before galloping off.

Everyone else followed after him towards the enemy cavaliers. As they passed by Leif, they waved at him, signaling that they wanted him to leave the fight to them.

“Nanna, you take care of Prince Leif!” Finn said as he dashed off.

“Yes, Father!”

Only Leif, Nanna, and August were left atop the hill now.

Leif watched everyone else run off and ground his teeth together. He felt terribly ashamed of himself.

Those returning home rushed past him, and those waiting for the enemy readied to fight.

*

Miranda’s eyes opened wide when she saw the enemies rushing towards them. She hadn’t even noticed that she’d started grinding her teeth together loudly.

“Halt the enemy’s progression! Use arrows and magic to throw them off!” Finn raised his lance and ordered.

“Wait! Please, wait!” Miranda blurted out.

“What’s wrong, Princess Miranda?” Finn looked at her, puzzled.

Everyone else did, too.

“For a moment! Please, wait just a moment!” She said, and ran towards the enemy cavalier units without waiting for anyone to respond. She glared at one unit in particular, and started grinding her teeth again.

While they weren’t flying an Alsterian flag, she knew the moment she saw their armor and uniforms that they were Alster’s cavalier unit.

She felt a bit nostalgic at the sight of their uniforms, but more so than that, intense feelings of resentment coursed through her body.

As the cavaliers got closer, they all unsheathed their weapons at once.

Miranda stood still before them and glared right at them.

“W-Wait!” Yelled a panicked elderly man, who was most likely their leader.

She remembered him. He was General Conomor, the man known as Alster’s greatest knight.

The cavaliers all looked at him in shock. “What’s wrong, General?”

“Sh-She’s… no… she can’t be… there’s no way…” He didn’t hear the cavaliers, only stared at Miranda. His lips were trembling.

His condition caused the cavaliers to all start mumbling amongst themselves.

“But… she is…” He slowly began to approach her.

As he neared her, his expression changed from confused to joyous. “Princess… Princess Miranda… It’s you! Princess Miranda!” He cried while getting off his horse. He bowed on one knee before her.

The cavaliers were now causing quite a commotion.

“Princess, it’s so good to see you safe! Ever since you were taken by the Loptyrian Cult, not one day has gone by where I did not worry about you. And now, you have appeared before us in full health. I have never been this happy in my entire life.” Conomor bowed his head and said.

Miranda listened to his words with her mouth shut tight.

“Princess, please, come with us.” He raised his head.

She said nothing, and slapped his cheek.

The sound of her hand hitting his skin echoed through the air.

He was frozen for a minute, unsure of what had just happened. He even forgot to blink.

‘What the hell are you doing in a place like this?!’ She screamed as loudly as she could. …Or at least, she wanted to. Instead, the words got caught in her throat and her voice became hoarse. A tear fell down her face. “Prince Leif tried to fight a battle he couldn’t possibly win for Alster’s sake, and is suffering for it! Why?! Why would you do something like this?!” She balled her hands into fists. She could hardly stand the pain she was feeling. A second tear fell. Then a third.

“We…”

“I don’t wanna hear your excuses!” She turned her back to him. “Leave at once! If you don’t, then I’ll take you down myself!” She screamed and grit her teeth. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop crying.

“Princess…” Conomor was so worried about her that he couldn’t find any other words to say.

“Wait, Princess Miranda!” One of the young knights behind him called out. “Don’t you know? Just how much the general has suffered? Just how much he thinks of Alster’s people?”

“Stop!” Conomor yelled.

“But General…”

“It is true that we have turned our blades towards Leonster. The princess is right in saying that we’ve disgraced Alster’s name.”

The cavalier was silenced by Conomor’s words. He stepped back.

Conomor looked at Miranda’s back once more.

“Princess.”

Miranda’s shoulders shook.

“Were you serious about what you said before?”

“Of course!”

“Okay… I understand.” He said quietly before standing up.

His will was so strong that Miranda felt as if it was pushing against her back. It terrified her. She couldn’t even bring herself to cast a single spell. If he swung his sword at her now, she would surely be unable to defend herself and be killed.

She heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed, and took a deep breath.

“Listen up! Alster is one-in-the-same with the Princess! Starting now, we, the cavalier unit of Alster, will aid Prince Leif of Leonster!”

Miranda’s eyes opened wide, and she turned around to face Conomor.

“Conomor…”

“I’m sorry, Princess. From now on, the Alsterian cavaliers will fight for what is honorable.”

She nodded and started crying again. But this time, she cried happy tears.

“General! Leave the fight to us! You take the princess and meet up with Prince Leif.” The cavalier from before said while unsheathing his sword.

“I’ll be sorry to leave you here, but that’s the best plan.” Conomor said, then took Miranda’s hand.

“Please get on my horse, Princess.” He picked her up, put her on his horse, then got on himself. “I’ll leave the rest to you. Give them a good fight to the very end!” He yelled to the soldiers before galloping off.

*

The injured cavaliers and Alsterian citizens had run past Leif.

The final person, Glade, stopped his horse in front of him.

“I’m sorry.” Glade said, looking melancholy.

Leif slowly shook his head. “It’s not your fault. There’s no reason for you to trouble yourself over what happened. Hurry inside and get some rest.”

“Yes sir…” Glade nodded and rushed inside the castle.

Leif watched Glade leave, then went back to watching everyone fight.

“August, order everyone to retreat.”

“Yes sir.” August nodded, then went around shouting out the order.

His army slowly began to retreat, with those on the front line watching the enemy carefully.

From the enemy’s ranks came a horse galloping at full speed.

Leif cocked his head and watched it come at him. It wasn’t one of their horses. Riding on its back was an elderly paladin.

Nanna stepped in front of Leif and extended her sword arm out, ready to guard him.

“Please, wait!” A voice that couldn’t possibly belong to the paladin came from the same direction as the horse.

They looked more closely and saw that Miranda was on the horse behind him.

“This is General Conomor of Alster. He’s vowed to become our ally.”

Just as Miranda finished speaking, the horse stopped in front of Leif.

Leif looked up at Conomor for a moment, then bowed his head. “I’m sorry. It’s because I’m not strong enough yet that we couldn’t free Alster.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m very grateful that you decided to lend your strength to Alster at a time like this. It’s because of you that so many citizens were saved, isn’t it? In return, the Alsterian cavalier unit will aid you and Leonster.”

“Thank you. However, our goal right now is to get the injured and the citizens to safety, so please hurry into the castle.”

“Understood. Please excuse us. We’re heading back now, Princess.” Conomor shook his horse’s reigns, who whinnied in response.

Leif looked back at the battlefield.

Since his army was retreating, he could now make out what was going on. Beyond his army, the two cavalry units were fighting.

“General Conomor, wait!” He called out.

Conomor pulled the reigns once more. His horse neighed loudly and stopped. “What is it, Prince Leif?”

“Are the cavaliers fighting out there yours?” Leif pointed at them.

Conomor looked to where he was pointing. “Yes, they are. They’ll be fine. They are showing you how well they can fight by holding the enemy back.”

“I’d rather they not. Please order them to retreat, too.”

“Don’t worry about them. Cavaliers have their own code to follow.”

“I don’t care!” Leif blurted out.

Conomor was shocked.

“I don’t want there to be any more meaningless sacrifices! Please, I beg of you, order them to retreat!” Leif shouted. He was on the verge of tears.

“Do as he says.” Miranda looked at Conomor and said.

“…Understood.” Conomor nodded, brought his fingers to his lips, and whistled. Then, he started to wave his arms in a broad motion.

Leif guessed that it was their signal to retreat.

“I’ve given them the order. However, that also means that the enemy will soon be here as well. Please hurry inside yourself, Prince Leif.” Conomor said before galloping off.

“Please get on, Prince Leif.” Nanna got on her horse and said.

Leif nodded, though his eyes were still on the battlefield. His army was now approaching him. “That’s enough for now, everyone! Head for the castle at full speed! Hurry!” Leif yelled to them, then got on Nanna’s horse behind her.

“Let’s go!”

“Wait, Nanna! Not until everyone else has gone!” He looked at her and said.

“Okay, we’ll wait.” She replied with a smile.

“August, you go on ahead.”

“Yes sir.” August said and got on the horse of a passing cavalier.

Both his army and the Alsterian cavaliers ran past him.

The enemy cavaliers were now approaching them.

“Let’s go, Lord Leif!”

“Okay!”

Nanna’s horse started running towards the castle.

Everyone passed safely through the castle gate.

The moment Leif and Nanna made it in, the door shut behind them.

[outerspacehippiehay]

Answer all of those aesthetic questions. If you don't have that determination answer your favorite ones!

Thanks bestie I need this right niow, just like you did flower crown: when did you last sing to yourself? Now, listening to This is Gospel rnfairy lights: if a crystal ball could tell you the truth about anything, what would you want to know? Oh God....Who am I destined to be with... daisies: what is the greatest accomplishment of your life? Um...I’m 22 my greatest accomplishment is getting out of bed for work.1975: what is the first happy memory that comes to mind, recent or otherwise?

matte: if you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? I need to really think...No. I wouldn’t because whatever reason I’m going to die was since I had no knowledge. If i start acting all crazy and rebellious I could die sooner.black nail polish: do you have a bucket list? if so, what are the top three things? It’s not real but I can come up with three. One: Travel to a different country. Two: Learn to love myself Three: Make a difference.pantone: describe a person close to your life in detail. I’m not rreally a close person but if I were to choose anyone it would be my best friend. She and I have been friends for oh so long and I go to her for everything. She likes to dye her hair but its naturally a beautiful chestnut brown that flows off her shoulders by an inch. Her eyes are not even a normal color either. They are yellow like a cat with a tint of auburn to add soft tones of a sunset sky. In the middle bottom of her squishable face are some plump creamy pink lips. Sorta jealous since mine are so thin ughmoodboard: do you feel you had a happy childhood? HAHAHAHAHA what is that? Because I had to question my own sanity when I went over friends houses and seeing the difference between brothers and sisters and asking myself what happens between my sister and I isn’t normal? This doesnt happen to others?stars: when did you last cry in front of another person? Today...In a restaurant... I AM NOT A CRY BABYplants: pick a person to stargaze with you and explain why you picked them. Yeah my best friend @stranded-ali3nconverse: would you ever have a deep conversation with a stranger and open up to them? This i struggle with man because I need counseling and yet I don’t wanna go to a stranger and open up to them. So... NO!lace: when was your last 3am conversation with someone, and who were they to you? Probably Andrew seeing as he’s my only friend up that late xD but its always a great conversation. Thanks brother!!!handwriting: if you were about to die, and you could only say one more sentence to one person, what would you say and to whom? WHY SO DEEP? “Thank you mom, thank you for everything and I love you and my brother with all my heart and forever will be with you” cactus: what is your opinion on brown eyes? Did you read the description of my best friends eyes? I believe my boyfriend has brown eyes. So they cute.sunrise: pick a quote and describe what it means to you personally. “This isn’t even my final form” I heard it from a friend and discovered it was from Dragon  Ball Z but I fell in  love with it. I am me but I’m still changing I’m still growing. You haven’t even seen what I can fully do yet. All such empowering thoughts.oil paints: what would you title the autobiography of your life so far? “Sad Stoned and Stupid.overalls: what would you do with one billion dollars? Buy my mother, brother and I the ranch we have our eyes on.combat boots: are you a very forgiving person? do you like being this way? Yes I can be very forgiving in situations however in rare cases I may not forgive ever, No I don’t like it because obviously people walk all over me for it.winged eyeliner: write a hundred word letter to your twelve year old self. Right now on this? Ugh no thanks. 12 year old me stay away from brad, joe, and miranda i dont give a fuck it’s your sister just do it! Stand up for yourself. Put your foot down and keep saying No. pastel: would you describe yourself as more punk or pastel? Pastel with dash of punktattoos: how do you feel about tattoos and piercings? explain. Well I love them and have one sooooooo, I do because it is a form of art. That you can show off like in museums except they are on your body. piercings: do you wear a lot of makeup? why/why not? Depends on the day but mostly I wear makeup to feel prettier to myself. I hide my dark circles and my pimples as if no one else deals with them. bands: talk about a song/band/lyric that has affected your life in some way. All music has effected me. Mostly in a positive way. If I had to choose one it would be Evanescence, As an alternative kid I would listen to them because I related to the deepness from her lyrics and loved the classical sound with inspiring lyrics. Helped me feel less alone in this huge world full of mirrors.messy bun: the world is listening. pick one sentence you would tell them. “Just be nice and considerate and NEW ENGLAND USE YOUR GOD DAMN BLINKERS”cry baby: list the concerts you have been to and talk about how they make you feel. Alan Jackson as a child it was my first one and it was great. I went with my dad and thats all I really remember except for they had 5oclock somewhere buttons i wanted. I went to Shinedown with my step dad and I wasnt supposed to go it was my mom that was but she gave her ticket up for me. Thanks mom that really was an amazing acoustic concert filled with personal and raw emotions.  grunge: who in the world would you most like to receive a letter from and what would you want it to say?A letter? No one does that anymore. But if I wanted to recieve one it would be from Chris and that he changed his ways has a steady job and is taking care of his child. No more gang shit and actually making hs life better and all cause I stopped talking to him did it slap him in the face. So he wanted to thank me for that.space: do you have a desk/workspace and how is it organised/not organised? I have an area for work yes and usually it’s not organized because of other so I organize it because I can’t stand a mess at work. white bed sheets: what is your night time routine? Get high and then sleep.old books: what’s one thing you don’t want your parents to know? I don’t want my dad to know I like girls... I don’t wanna see his reaction. My mom.. probably who I had sex with.beaches: if you had to dye your hair how would you dye/style it and why? Ouff! I want black hair!!!! But I know it kills it! I do enjoy my curls but I’d defrizz them and probably go to a deep dark maroon color.eyes: pick five people to go on an excursion with you. who would you pick and where would you go/what would you do? I’m too high and drunk for this question NEXT11:11: name three wishes and why you wish for them. I feel like the letter one is a wish sooo two. I wish my mom happiness she deserves it. Three I had natural beauty.painting: what is the best halloween costume you have ever put together? if none, make one up. I mean I put together a decent Alice in Wonderland costume seeing as I won best costume for it. lightning: what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done while drunk or high? I really don’t do anything too bad. I guess peeing in my garbage so I wouldn’t need to leave my bedroom?thunder: what’s one thing you would never do for one million dollars? Kill someonestorms: you on only listen to one song for the rest of your life, or only see one person for the rest of your life. which and why? One song. Freaky Friday by Lil Dicky.. It always make me smile because it’s so funny! Also I need people more than music as odd as it is to admit. I can’t choose one person. love: have you ever fallen in love? describe what it feels like to realise you’re in love. Yes I have and I don’t wanna go there because he don’t love me back and that is all I wanna talk about.clouds: if you’re a boy, would you ever rock black nail polish? if you’re a girl, would you ever rock really really short hair?coffee: what’s your starbucks order, and who would you trust to order for you, if anyone? I don’t go often but I love that dragonfruit tea they had/have?? And anyone it’s a pretty simple order if you can’t get it right then you are really stupid.marble: what is the most important thing to you in your life right now? My mom and brother.fin.

[sketchynebula]

Hi! :D I love your fics! I saw your prompt thing, and I was looking through them and thought 25- “I may have accidentally adopted three cats…”- would be perfect for Patton! (Poor boy is allergic, but he still loves them)

 Spontaneity, One-shot:

taglist: @sos-fandoms @peanut0303 @minekitkate @confinesofpersonalknowledge @that-one-transguy @ffsas-side-account @arandomkoalainaustralia @hissesssss @irrelevantspecimen @hamilin-manuel-miranda @insanityandimperfection @idiotauthor @darkle-elkrad @definentlynotjustanotherlemon @blubblubfish @okaybirdboy @halffictional @fandomsailer @thewinterhunter @stressed-and-quite-depressed @thats-so-crash @bbydreamer @threepeppers @prettyraddawg @imsotrancy2 @pikachu-12 @staarpops @grey-lysander @littlespacefin @softestsanderssides @ailithnight @emeraldfoxface @niatsu-fullbuster @seas-space-and-stardust @msu82 @cadefailure @onehundredphans @thesanderspals @nightmarejasmine @ccws18 @heir-of-the-founders

@syndianites @bbydreamer @introverted-fangirl7 - All you guys asked for this so I’m tagging you! #25 (and #3 for introverted-fangirl7)

Content Warning: Cats, some plant smashing

Pairing: Romantic Logicality

Word count: 1,742

Summary: The last time Patton said that, was the day Logan came back to their apartment only to find out that Patton had impulse-bought a house.

“Don’t… be mad.”

Logan’s mouth pinched, his eyes shifting to his phone before he looked back up to the road in front of him.

“Patton, why would I be mad?” Logan asked carefully, slowly.

The last time Patton said that, was the day Logan came back to their apartment only to find out that Patton had impulse-bought a house.

“I may have accidentally adopted three cats…”

Logan exhaled, his eyes rolling upward before pinching shut.

“We’re not keeping them.” He stated simply, voice firm.

“I don’t know- That’s what you said about the house and we’ve been living in it for four years now,”

Logan only groaned, “You-” He sighed, “We’ll talk about this when I get home, I hope that you still have their papers.” He rubbed at the creases in his forehead, mind running over the expenses and responsibilities of owning not one, but multiple cats.

“Alrighty… I love you.”

Logan’s lips quirked up a little, his hand falling back to the wheel.

“I love you too,” he sighed, shaking his head as he turned on his turn signal.

Spontaneity

Logan entered his house to the familiar sight of his husband setting the table for dinner, but as a shot of white darted under his feet the sudden changes to his life were recalled.

“Was that one of the- felines.” Logan sighed out and Patton nodded sheepishly.

“They were all just in a box on the street! What was I supposed to do!” Patton said and Logan shook his head.

“Take them to a shelter. Though I suppose that can’t be helped now. I assume that means they don’t have any papers?” Logan crouched to look under the couch, two beady eyes glaring back at him as a black kitten huddled itself in the corner.

Patton shrugged, “I suppose not.”

“Well, we can take them to a shelter tomorrow and-,”

“No! C’mon they are just so cute!”

“Patton you’re allergic!”

“Only mildly!”

Logan blew a puff of air out of his nose and stood back up, only for the dart of white to shoot across the room again.

“So there’s a black one under the couch, the white one is dashing about- where’s the third one? Over the phone you said there were three-,”

Patton grimaced.

“I had to lock him in our room, he was being quite the trouble maker. he stared stirring things up with the black kitten, the poor guy’s been huddling under the couch since.” Patton moved to place a plate he was holding on the bar in the kitchen before he reached out and grabbed a bowl of cat food that was sitting off to the side, “I’ve tried offering food, catnip, I’ve tried string. The little guy’s not coming out.”

There was a crash coming from their bedroom and Logan groaned a hand coming up to rub at the creases in his forehead as Patton’s mouth twisted.

“Eh, woopsy?”

Logan, marched to their room cracking the door just open enough to slide in before seeing a yellow and black calico cat lying innocently on the bed.

Logan’s eyes narrowed before flickering around, landing on a broken pot on the ground.

Logan groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

One of Patton’s hanging plants, broken, on the ground. Dirt. Everywhere.

“Oh, and you think I’ll believe this wasn’t you?” Logan asked at the innocent looking feline before carefully leaving the room making sure to firmly shut the door as he did.  

“Love, where’s the broom?” Logan asked breathlessly and Patton shouted from the kitchen,

“Should be in the coat closet!”

Logan nodded walking back into the hallway and opening the coat closet before moving back in the room.

The calico cat was still where it was before. It’s ears perked up and body folded into a pillow on their bed.

Logan rolled his eyes, as he swept up the broken pieces of pot.

Logan heard the grating creek of rust metal and he turned to see that the calico cat had somehow jumped up on another pot. It’s hand batting at the hook on the ceiling.

“No no no no! Don’t you-,”

It jumped off at the last second, the pot smashing behind it as it jumped back up on the bed, looking at Logan with Innocent eyes like he hadn’t just watched it smash a pot.

“Alright! That’s it! Out!” Logan opened the door and the cat darted out.

Logan puffed out a sad sigh as he saw that it was the lavender that the cat had smashed, that one was Patton’s pride and joy.

Logan grabbed one of the spare pots from under the bed scooping the plants and as much dirt as he could into the pots before pushing them next to a window. He swept up the rest, immediately washing his hands as thoroughly as possible after the clean up job was done.

Logan exited with the broom, slotting it back into the coat closet before walking back out into the living room.

He was finally able to get a look at the the white, long haired cat, as it was basically sprawled out on it’s back bathing in a sunbeam.

“Logan did you let this one out of our room?” Logan’s head craned around the kitchen door to see Patton tensely letting the calico cat rub against his legs.

“It was making a mess! look it’s doing a normal, non-destructive cat thing, it’s fine.”

Patton’s mouth pinched before he shrugged, “yeah alright, he was really… aggressive before… maybe the poor thing was just spooked.”

“Is it a he?”

Patton nodded, “they’re all he’s, though only the white one already had a name.”

Logan raised an eyebrow, “what do you mean by that?”

“Well he had a red collar on that only had the name ‘Roman’ on it so I just made the assumption that that was the cat’s name.” Patton said, and Logan nodded.

“That’s a reasonable extrapolation, and the other two?”

“No names but the calico one doesn’t seem to respond to being called, he’ll just kind of… come to you when he wants i guess.”

Patton shrugged as Logan quirked an eyebrow at that.

“Isn’t that the general scenario with all cats?”

Patton giggled and Logan smirked.

“I’m almost done with dinner, why don’t you get changed and I’ll set out some food bowls for the cats,”

Logan nodded slightly breathless as he went back to their room.

Spontaneity

Logan sat at the table just as Patton placed the last dish down.

The feeling of weight against his leg had Logan looking down to see Roman rubbing against his leg, purring heavily.

“Awwww he wants attention!” Patton cooed and Logan just rolled his eyes.

“He more than likely wants food off the table- which we will not be giving him,” Patton frowned and Logan almost felt bad until he heard another crash come from the living room.

“Oh my god! I have half a mind to take that one to the shelter right now!” Logan stood up, moving to peer into the living room with Patton right behind him.

Lo and behold another hanging pot was broken on the ground right in front of the couch. Dirt in the carpet and a little splattered on the couch.

“Is the black kitty okay?” Patton asked, concern in his voice as he kneeled to look under the couch, “oh he’s not down here anymore-,” Patton sighed standing, “I’ll get the rug cleaner.” He brushed his hands together to get the dirt off his hands before patting his pants down and turning to walk down the hallway.

Logan shook his head.

There was a creak, and a snap before suddenly a black streak was under his legs making him jump a little.

Logan stumbled backward just as another one of Patton’s hanging pots hit the floor right where he was once standing.

The black cat looped behind his legs hiding, his eyes very intently connected with something just above them. Logan followed his gaze to see the calico cat perched up on the highest shelf looking down at the both of them.

Logan huffed stomping over and grabbing the scruff of the calico cat’s neck. Yanking it upward and holding it away from his body.

He stomped through the hallway,

“Excuse me,” Logan said as he push past Patton, voice not holding the anger he had well as the cat squirmed in his grip. Patton leaned forward letting Logan pass as he got the vacuum and rug cleaner out.

“what happened?” Patton asked a hand coming up to brush a strand of Logan’s hair out of his face.

“I’m locking this little delinquent in the bathroom where it can’t do any more damage,” Patton nodded resuming his work as Logan walked past him. Opening the bathroom door before he placed the cat on the toilet, getting out and closing the door as quickly as possible.

Logan sighed, his hand rubbing at his forehead as he walked back to the living room.

“Go sit at the table I’ll be right there,” Patton said as he vacuumed the dirt. Logan nodded as he walked back to the dining room.

Roman was sitting on one of the dining chairs, front paws up on the table as he was eyeing the chicken.

“Don’t you dare,” Logan said lowly and Roman fluffled his tail out, plopping his paws down and kneading into the chair cushion as he looked at Logan.

Logan’s eyebrow rose as he looked at the other, until a the glint of eyes under the table had him glancing down.

“Why are you- oh, the vacuum.” Logan watched the curled form of the black cat shake as he sat down, keeping an eye on Roman as he did.

“You’re fairly vigilant huh? You saved me from taking a pot to the head.” Logan said, and the kitten purred.

Logan smirked a little.

“You liked that? Vigilant?”

The kitten hesitantly prowled forward before bumping its head against his leg.

“Vigilant huh? Virgil?” The cat jumped up on the seat right behind Logan.

“Never. Do that again… but… thank you” Virgil purred at Logan’s words the warmth and weight of the side of his body pressed between Logan’s back and the back of the chair.

Logan turned his fork over a few times in his hand, his eyes tracing where Roman was curled on the seat across from him.

Maybe two of the cats can stay.

[revolutionwhoop]

(R)Evolution 02: Banging on Plots and Plans

A five woman plan seemed small for a facility of this size and the capabilities that she presumed that it had, but she was willing to try anything to help that other woman. “The Princess” was what she thought of her as. She felt like she was literally on a quest to rescue a princess in distress. Something about that thought made her feel conflicted. On the one hand - the “damsel in distress” trope was played out, even if this was real life. On the other… The damsel was usually some white Mary Sue whose minority friends laid down their lives for her, despite the fact that no less than three handsome leads were willing to do it for her…

“GIRL. We do not live in the CW. Focus, here,” she heard her voice say. She halfway focused. This damsel was a BAP. More accurately, an African American Princess. Folami looked up her family and found that she was not only the daughter of a Nigerian-British politician with dual citizenship in America and strong ties with American Black communities for diaspora unity outreach and elevation… Her mother, a Black Latina feminist icon was the daughter of freedom fighters in South America. This Niyilolawa was literally a Black melting pot of liberation and greatness. It made her think that this was some type of political plot. But, why would whoever “they” was in this situation hold her here, in a lab for pharmaceuticals?

♡

“Dahlia, thank you for meeting with me today. We’ve seen great progress in your potential,” the scientist said. She felt uncomfortable around him. He usually had on some type of mask, like he was going through surgery or something, and often had on gloves. She had seen way too many movies for that not to alarm her.

“Okay, but can we fix it?” She asked.

“Fix it?” He repeated. “There’s nothing broken. Whatever is happening to you is natural. It is the way that your body was meant to evolve.”

She sighed, “That sounds all fine and good, but whenever I’m brushing my hair, and clumps of it fall out, or whenever I’m trying to take care of my plants and I’m allergic to everything that I’ve been living with for most of my life…”

“Your hormones are changing,” he said.

“Really. Like whenever I started my period? Oh my God, PLEASE do not tell me that there’s some kinda new period that my body might go through, because I could barely take the other one! Mess started when I was ten. It was excruciating.”

“I’m gonna level with you, Dahlia. This IS like having another period, for you. I’ve observed the changes in other women before, but each case is a little bit different. They all change biologically and naturally, but it manifests differently in their bodily chemistry. Your symptoms - allergic reactions, loss of hair, losing teeth, weight fluctuations, food aversions - I have never seen those with the others.”

“So, I have a special case new period.” She slumped in the chair, then said, “Thank you for your time, Doctor. I think I’ll just sign out of the program and get my affairs in order. This has got to kill me, right? I don’t know how much time I hve left, but I’d like to try to make it count.”

He chuckled, beneath the mask and shook his head, “Oh, no, Ms. Henderson. This change isn’t going to kill you, and I can’t let you leave the program. In fact, I must insist that we quarantine you and perform more invasive tests.”

Her face wrinkled and she shook her head, “No, thank you. I don’t want invasive testing, and how can you quarantine me, if you already said yourself that this is natural and nobody else’s case is like this? That means I can’t be contagious, right?” But, there were already guards in the room, to bring her into quarantine. She got up and made a dash past them.

“Be careful. She’s dangerous and contagious,” the scientist said. She tried to push her way through the door but was pricked in the neck with some type of needle. Her face changed, her hair grew, her adrenaline pumped and for a moment, she felt stronger and healthier, but the scientist removed a gun from his desk and shot her in the back. She screamed, fell to her knees and stopped fighting. “Hurry up and take her to containment. We’ll have to get her restrained before she gathers her vitality back.” The guards dragged Dahlia along the floor by her arms, making a path of her blood to containment. The scientist called in a team to collect samples of the DNA.

♡

Weeks of planning went by. Folami tried to pretend that she was fine and carry on with life as usual. The Uchechukwu family announced that they found their daughter, but declined further comment and asked the public for privacy. Conspiracy theories about where she might be were all over the place. Folami could have sworn that she saw her around the lab, at times, like an apparition, appearing first in all white, ethereal and glowing. But, each vision of her, she became duller, like she was fading. Her attire became dirty, until it was filthy. The voice “Do what you know is right,” was fading into a whisper…

Still, she followed it. It led her to this open area, with signs that read not to go beyond that point. However, the door opened when she made her way towards it. This was not according to plan and she could possibly get into a lot of trouble, but she couldn’t help it. She went forward and covered her mouth with both hands.

There were containment chambers in the room, holding bodies. She recognized the labels: Category 6, Nine E. Leaven… She rushed to the one called Bloom and saw Dahlia, unconscious, comatose, with dried blood on her clothes. “Dahlia,” she whispered, about to cry, but she heard someone whisper to her Hide. They’re coming… She rushed to find a hiding place and the tech from before entered with the scientist, having a crescending conversation.

“The virus would cause all of the evolveds’ powers to uncontrollably react. It gets into their systems, airborne, and when it reaches their bloodstream their condition snaps into action, as their immune systems naturally try to defend their bodies against this invasive assailant. What we haven’t been able to figure out is how the response time is determined. For instance, when we release the virus in this facility, we don’t know how long it would take for it to reach Bloom’s system as opposed to Evo-Lyn. If Category 6 reacts first, and this place is leveled by one of his storms, what we can’t be sure of is if Bloom could react quickly enough to survive or if Nine. E. Leaven explodes, if she’ll burn everyone before the virus enters their system to defend them.”

“Release it anyway. I believe that I have enough samples from everyone here to continue our work in the next facility. Prepare Princess of Spades for transport, evacuate essential personnel and begin the countdown to the release of the virus.” They casually passed through the laboratory as they said these things.

The whisper told her They will kill you if they find you. Save yourself. Live to fight another day. “Who are you?” she whispered back. I will be okay. Trust me… We all will be fine. Leave us. Save yourself… \

Folami crawled away, trying to make a move for the exit when she heard, softly, the same scary gentle call from the tech, “Analyst Adebowale.” She turned to see him in a hazard suit, reaching out for her. He shook his head and he lifted her up and she struggled with him to get away, calling out for help. “It’s unfortunate that we must do this to you. You were an interesting study. I wanted more time to be able to look into you, more.” He strapped her to a chamber and closed it around her.

“I have a team. My sisters will look for me!” She warned.

“That’s fine. You’ll be dead, by then. This building will be gone.” He shrugged his shoulders. “You’ll be buried and this place will be a wasteland. Nobody will come near it, for fear of radiation poisoning.”

“You’re going to activate a nuclear reaction?!?”

“No. But, whenever we release the terminal virus, Princess Toadstool will. For good measure, I let you bunk right next to her.” He patted the containment chamber of an unconscious woman to her right, then he left the room and turned off the lights. She gasped for air, having an anxiety attack as she cried.

“Four… Can you hear me? Something terrible is happening at the lab… Don’t come anywhere near it. Just… let me die, okay?” She said, sobbing.

♡

“If you ask me, something hella crazy is going on out there,” the woman on the other line of Miranda’s phone. “You’re in a big city - that’s where everything crazy always happens.”

“In the movies, Mom. In real life, everything crazy happens everywhere. We walk around calling it ‘life.’ I’m gonna stop giving you these courtesy calls if you keep spending them telling me to leave the city. This is where my life is. I’m not leaving the city. Did you get your check this month?”

“Yeah, I got that questionably large check.”

“It’s only questionable if you question it. Just accept the help, Mom. You and Keenan are always waiting on God to make a way. How can you know that I’m not the way that He made?”

“For one thing - you don’t even believe. Why would he use an unbeliever to deliver His blessings?”

“Well, if that money doesn’t get spent, I’m gonna spend it on sex toys, so pick a virtue, Mom…” Her mother cackled on the other end of the phone and she jumped. “I’m wearing an earpiece!”

“Sorry, Randi… Oh! Oh…”

“Are you waiting on me to ask you what?”

“No. Girl, I’m watching the TV and first of all, they got this black man on the news show talking about he was born white and all his life he was white and he been living white, but one day woke up black and since then everybody been racist to him. Chile… I don’t know what is going on with these people…” Miranda recalled that story, immediately. She remembered what the guy was talking about. She remembered him being a white man. A terrible white man, who himself was racist and rude. Whenever he first “came out,” she recognized his name. She could even compare in her mind his white face with the black face that he now had. She couldn’t explain why that would be stored away in her memory, so instead of questioning it, she guessed that she had to have had some kind of weird dream. “OH LAWD!” Her mother cried out, “Now… on the news show, they showed this commercial for a death pill. A DEATH PILL??? It’s fresh on the market, but no pharmacist or scientist can tell you where it came from or how it works, aside from everybody that has taken it DOES die. What world are we living in, Randi?”

“The same one we’ve been living in, Mom. Hey, Lady… I’ve made it home. I’m unlocking the door and I am now inside. Good night?”

“Good night. Lock them doors after you. This world has gone completely crazy.” She locked the door, disconnected her call and set her things down.

It’s BEEN crazy… She heard a loud explosion and she jumped and rushed to the window to see a mushroom cloud forming miles away. “Motherfuuu…” Then, there were rains, lightning, storms, fire, something that she could only describe as maybe a forcefield, encasing the place and all of that chaotic scenery was trapped inside of it. “Okay… So… The world’s gotten crazier,” She commented as the sounds of sirens, yelling, and other noise grew, all over the city.

♡

The four of Folami’s sisters were sitting, anxiously as the noise outside thundered throughout the sky and smells of destruction fumed through the air.  Folami gasped and her eyes went wide as her dead body vaporized and re-entered her system. Her sisters turned to face her in the room and she shook her head, “I’m not okay. That was the most painful death that I could ever imagine. I’m so sorry, Faith.” She held her hand over her heart and shook her head, “We couldn’t save her. We couldn’t save any of them. All that planning… for nothing…”

“Shhhh. You need your rest. We’ll help you recover,” One of them said, before merging with Folami, then the next, and then the next. Whenever she was whole again, the pain of one of her multiples dying had subsided.

Now, she went to the window to see what was going on out there. The lab had exploded. The site was an incredible sight. “Freedom, Fairness, Funball, Faith… Do you see this?” Of course they did. They were HER, after all. “What the hell do we do, next?” she asked herself.