#where only the two of them (and elena) are privy to it

[niuxita21]

I’m really sorry, I know Barça just made the UWCL final but I just need to ramble about the ending of MSH2 real quick.

When the show first came out, I read some intriguing comments on Twitter re: why the show was categorized as “LGBTQ,” which was enough to make me want to do my best to not be spoiled just to see what ended up happening, but the main message I got was that the ending was heartbreaking. 

Then, as the season went on and I started shipping Ana and Mariana more and more (and it became more and more obvious that the subtext wasn’t all in my head), I started thinking about all the possible heartbreaking scenarios because that’s just how I roll, lol. I like to be prepared when something is gonna hurt. So the prediction I ended up with was that something would happen to make Ana be mad at Mariana so, out of spite or anger or whatever, Mariana would end up sleeping/getting back together with Pablo, Ana would somehow find out, cue heartbreak and end credits.

Then, after episode 8 and the kiss, going into the finale, I knew that the wedge that would be drawn between them would be Mariana keeping the secret about Juan Carlos’s affair from Ana, but now I was convinced that, before that happened, Ana and Mariana would have a talk about the kiss, realize there were real feelings there worth exploring, and JUST when they were finally happy about their new relationship potential, Ana would find out about Mariana’s secret for maximum drama. However, I somehow STILL had it in my head that Mariana would end the season getting back together with Pablo, even if just out of heartbreak (because we all know how savage Ana can be when she’s angry). I have never been happier to be wrong!!! Instead, the show effectively lampshaded the “man in the middle of a f/f storyline” trope by taking Pablo completely out of contention and pairing him with Cynthia (even though I’m still... antsy... about the way Mariana finding out about that was framed, like it was some sort of betrayal to her or that she was hurt by it, which would suggest there’s still something between her and Pablo and come on, show! I thought we closed the door on that not 20 minutes earlier!) 

So the heartbreak ended up being just a garden-variety “character A feels betrayed by character B and their delicate bond is shattered,” with NO added messiness of “character B then goes and sleeps with their ex or someone else because they are heartbroken” that would complicated their road towards making up/getting together next season by creating an unnecessary love triangle. AND there is the additional layer of heartbreak because Ana doesn’t remember (yet?) that she kissed Mariana and told her she loved her, which is an interesting card for the show to still have in hand to play next season. 

This way, Mariana hurt Ana by admitting she lied by omission about Juan Carlos, and Ana hurt Mariana deliberately AND inadvertently by kicking her out of the house AND ALSO by reacting badly to Mariana’s love confession, making it clear that she didn’t remember anything about the kiss or her own love confession, which... yeah, I can work with that. This is a much less excruciating cliffhanger, because it doesn’t hinge on stupid misunderstandings that would be resolved if the characters involved just fucking TALKED to each other but, rather, on the actions (or inactions, as the case may be) of the characters themselves (as well as not being unnecesarily cruel by letting us see what it would be like for them both to be on the same page romantically and then snatching it away). 

All in all, I’m SO pleasantly surprised that I am now TERRIFIED about my possible impending death to restore the balance of the Universe after something this amazing happening to me, LMAO. Stay tuned!

[babybirdling]

can you write something about Lily and Sirius being good friends?

Thank you for the propmpt, love. I really had fun writing this and I hope you liked it!

She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t care so much for James.

That’s a complete lie.

Not that she’d admit it if she was being held at wand’s point, threatened over the Cruciatus Curse.

They’d never cared to notice each other enough years before, only exchanging a few quips over nonsensical things. The first time they’re forced to, tough, is when she finally starts to date James. If she didn’t know him, she’d be positive Sirius hated her down to her very bones.

She couldn’t say the same for him, but her feelings were hardly a hair’s width less.

He somehow knew to push the precisely and unnervingly correct buttons but, unlike James, didn’t seem to know where the line was drawn or rather didn’t seem to care if he did, which on several occasions nearly had him at the end of one of her infamous hexes.

It had continued on well into their seventh year and in her months of dating James, until one night bought upon a heart to heart wherein they discovered they perhaps had far more in common with each other than they could’ve ever imagined.

Secrets of disappointed parents, disapproving siblings, adoration of motorbikes’ existence and an uncanny love for Russian literature spilled over bottles of priceless wine on the highest rooftop of Hogwarts found them side by side overlooking the morning sun.

She’s never been more grateful for that night than now, when her husband is at a mission of the details which she isn’t privy to.

It’s nothing new.

But it’s somehow so much different from the other times.

Perhaps it’s due to the fact that that morning, she was staring at the mirror which only showed one living being, and then the next second, it showed two—if anything the pregnancy test said was to be trusted.

Except, she’d tried several of them, and a variety of other magical potions.

They all said the exact same thing.

Somehow, an hour later after angonising over what to do, Lily finds herself knocking on the door to Sirius’ lavish London flat, heart hardly slowing down from the trip she’s taken and hand clutching her wand in her coat pocket.

There’s a click, and Sirius’ face appears a moment later through the crack of the door.

“Who did you catch me shagging in the broom closet at the beginning of seventh year?”

“Elena Williams. My favourite dish?”

“That’s a trick question. That’s got to be a trick question—“

“Answer it, Sirius.”

“—it’s either rare steak or pizza, there’s no telling with you.”

He lets her in and makes for the kitchen, shooting her a slanted smile as he rests his forearms on the kitchen island, waiting for her to seat herself on one of the stools.

“If you’ve come here to interrogate me over Prongs whereabouts, save it--”

“No, its not that. I know you guys. Marauders honour and all that.”

Sirius grins appreciatively at her, waiting for her to continue.

“Its just...something happened today morning. No, nothing like that,” she says hastily as Sirius’ brows start to draw together, “I’m just— I—“

She’s at a complete loss for words, wondering how to tell Sirius and looks up at him. He, by some utter miracle, seems to understand and turns to the cabinets, opening them to take the snacks out.

Her stomach drops at the sight of the glass bottle but she ignores it.

She can manage it.

Somehow.

Discretely.

***

“That’s impossible.”

“You’ve never been good at chess, you dolt.”

“That’s irrelevant. This has got to be an illegal move.”

“There’s no such thing as illegal moves.”

Lily looks down at her bishop for confirmation, finding the white piece nodding back at her solemnly.

She tries to hold back her laugh as Sirius whacks the piece off the board, and fails miserably.

***

He’s lounging on the sofa with his bum placed where his back is supposed to be and his back where his lap ought to be, holding the book high over his head.

“I’ve read this already.”

“You’ve read every single one of the Russian novels.”

Lily isn’t facing him, but she can already feel him scrunching his nose.

“There’s got to be something new.”

“Well, there isn’t.”

“Bloody fuck, that’s a way of asking you to get me one stubly.”

“I don’t have any.”

“You have loads in your house!”

“Then I’m not giving them to you when I know you’re never going to give them back.”

“Oi, that’s a blasphemous accusation—“

***

“I could lock you in four moves.”

“Sirius, you don’t tell the person you can do that.”

The knight on the chess board looks up, nodding at Sirius as if to prove Lily’s point.

“Knight to b7.”

“Bishop to c6.”

“Castle to d6”

“...damn.”

Lily grins at him, leaning back to rest her head on the couch, victory shining in her eyes as Sirius makes his next move.

“Mate at b4, my dear friend.”

“Fuck you and these judgemental bastards.”

“You’re the one that wanted another round.”

“Another winning round—“

***

“Lil?”

“Hmn?”

She’s turning on the stove, placing the kettle and turns around looking at him.

“Why’d you come here? This isn’t about James, is it?”

Panic courses through her veins, running wild and free. She wipes her hands on her pants, stalling.

She really shouldn’t tell him, but she needs to get it out—

“I’ve been sick for the past few days.”

“Mmhm.”

“I can’t drink any alcoholic beverages.”

“What does that have anything to do with—“

Lily sits down on the floor next to him, wrapping her arms around her legs, “Sirius, my period is late by three weeks.”

There’s silence, and she looks back at him, laughter slipping out between her lips at the look of incredulity on his face but faltering.

“Please tell me you’re just ratting out symptoms to numerous cases, mind you.”

“I took the test today morning. It’s positive.”

There’s a pause, and then,“I call dibs on godfather.”

“What?”

“It either has red or black hair and green eyes. A leather jacket would look great on them either way.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“Maybe I could put in some spikes on the shoulders. There’s got to be a sunglass shop somewhere in London.”

“Are you trying to turn my baby into a mini you?”

Sirius scoffs, “Handsome as they may turn out to be, they can never begin to compete with their godfather.”

“Bit too assuming, don’t you think?”

“Hardly. It’s been declared the moment you married Prongso.”

She can hardly help it, the myriad of emotions raging within her when the tears burst forth. The kettle whistles away in the background, but they both ignore it.

He looks at her, alarmed, before squirming to the side and pulling her into a side hug.

“For Christ sake, I know you pregnant women are a tad bit unstable but if you do this for more than three times, I’ll move to France.”

Lily sniffles, laughing, “Better choose those three moments carefully, eh?”

He grins down at her, rubbing his fist gently on her head, “James will be really happy, I think I’ll have to kick him out. You know that right?”

“He can move in with me.”

“God, yes please.”

“Sirius?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

He shakes his head fondly at her, hugging her even tighter as they sit together in comfortable silence.

[caelin-ismycity]

OH OH HEADCANNONS; ike is actually decent at singing; he just doesn't like anyone hearing it (marth has def heard tho) || during brawl, i feel like they wouldn't like each other at first. not enemies per se, but ike's disposition against royalty and marth's general uh... angst time via shadow dragon would give em a rougher start than most. || their favorite non-talking activity would be taking naps together! when one is tired, its hard to resist just cuddling... lemme kno if ya want more ;)

oh i’m ALWAYS down to hear more headcanons about my favorite boy/s

now excuse me while i add my own two cents on these lovely hcs because i’m weak

Ike’s Vocals:

-Ike is definitely a decent singer- growing up constantly being exposed to Elena’s lullaby (whether sung by his mom or by Mist), the tune would frequently get stuck in his head and he’d have little choice but to hum out the melody.

-He certainly isn’t as enchanting as Mist or Elena, but he isn’t bad either- it’s definitely an odd sight to most onlookers at seeing this stoic mercenary singing a lullaby to himself.

-He doesn’t particularly care if anyone catches him singing, but he experiences some form of self consciousness when he gets really into it and there are potential listeners, so he tries to save his humming/singing for himself alone

-Marth has only been exposed to Ike’s singing once and it was purely by accident. It was amidst after hours when Ike suspected most inhabitants to be at rest and he was feeling particularly sentimental about his parents. So while Ike paced around the empty halls, he would quietly sing to himself, unbeknownst to him Marth being but a few feet hiding behind a structure.

-When Ike concluded his song, Marth couldn’t restrain himself from complimenting Ike’s singing. Again, it wasn’t too superb, but Marth found it endearing that someone of Ike’s nature was able to find joy in something as gentle as singing.

-Of course, Ike would be initially shocked- not only had he suspected he was entirely alone, but he was caught by the prince of Altea himself nonetheless. And while Ike had long since gotten over treating Marth like a blue-blooded noble, the embarrassment was impossible to shake as Marth applauded him.

-From then on, Ike gradually became more comfortable to singing around people (though he wouldn’t do it any more frequently). From time to time, Marth would seek out Ike and ask him to sing the song again, finding it to be a lovely tune and enjoying hearing the song from Ike’s vocals.

Marth and Ike : Brawl Days

-The duo met during less-than-ideal circumstances: an army of self-destructive robots were determined to shroud their worlds in darkness, and alongside an armored gumball were forced to fight alongside each other.

-Marth was no stranger to mercenaries- during his own wars, he had come across the company and aid of quiet a few. Ike was certainly no exception in his perception of mercenaries being but another group of people. That wasn’t to mention that Ike was able to intercept the explosion of another devastating bomb, so his first-impression of him was already positive.

-Growing up as a mercenary and constantly being exposed to hushed jeers from commoners, let alone nobles, Ike had expected Marth to treat him the same. Had they not been forced to work together to save the world, Ike might have been more isolated and kept to himself. Circumstance was a cruel one, so whether Ike wanted to work alongside royalty or not wasn’t exactly up to his decision- and as a mercenary, he was willing to adapt to his situation.

-The two weren’t swift to get along- Ike was naturally reclusive and Marth unfortunately had difficulty finding conversation topics he and Ike could relate to. The most the two were able to bond over was their swordsmanship- and bringing up that topic seemed to strike an odd nerve with Ike. He only ever briefly mentioned his father was to thank for his ability to handle a blade before going quiet and focusing on something else, leaving a guilty taste in Marth’s mouth after presenting the discussion.

IkeMarth : Naptime

-The two grew up with seldom time to relax or take naps, Ike more so adamant on training and honing his abilities. That wasn’t to say Marth himself wasn’t dedicated to refining his abilities as well, but Ike always trained with such fervor and passion- Marth was definitely able to interpret Ike had a strong purpose for strengthening himself.

-While Marth understood the importance of strength and improvement, he also understood the importance of rest. Marth would leave Ike alone for an hour or two before approaching the training grounds, preparing to persuade Ike to abandon his activity for just a bit to enjoy something quieter.

-Their argument would always begin with Ike insisting Marth wouldn’t understand his determination, swiftly returning to his efforts and ignoring the prince. Fortunately, Marth was well versed- far better than Ike was, much to his dismay.

-It only took a few well-chosen words to convince Ike to put Ragnell away and to just relax, and for the longest time it would just be Ike to calm down in the nearby woods alone.

-A particular session however, Ike decided to challenge Marth’s advice: as much as the prince preached about the importance of relaxation, he seldom saw him do so himself.

-To answer for this hypocrisy, Ike proposed Marth relax with him in the forest.

-Marth had no objections of course- he didn’t have any bad blood towards the mercenary, and this would be a great opportunity for the two to really bond.

-So for the next hour or so, Ike and Marth laid side by side in the nearby woods, quietly admiring the nature around them and enjoying the comfortable silence between them.

-When time began to drone on and the sun began to dip behind the trees, Marth allowed himself to sit up and look to his side where Ike presumably laid- only to find him sound asleep.

-Ike did an excellent job concealing how tired and overworked he was- even after a few delicate shakes, Marth was unsuccessful with waking him.

-Ike’s slumber, while unexpected, offered Marth a silent invitation to properly look at his comrade. It was no news to acknowledge Ike’s stern features and menacing demeanor, so to see him so peaceful and calm made Marth’s heart flutter. It was as if Marth was able to forget that the boy laying next to him was a deadly, seasoned mercenary- no stranger to taking lives without hesitation and doing so with frightening strength.

-Marth found himself inching next to Ike and letting himself lay down to face him, continuing to admire his features for a while longer before succumbing to sleep himself.

-The first to awaken between the two was Ike. Under typical circumstances, Ike was rather a light sleeper- he’d been conditioned to be ready to awaken for any circumstance. However, he wasn’t successful in anticipating just how tired he was that day Marth intercepted his training once again.

-Speak of the devil, Ike found himself near inches away from Marth’s sleeping face, a delicate smile plastered on his face.

-Unexpectedly waking up next to someone would typically cause Ike to recoil in alarm. But waking up to the face of Altea’s prince resulted in rather different feelings.

-Marth always looked so pristine and well kept, a hair rarely ever out of place as his golden circlet kept everything in place. Being able to observe him up close however made Ike’s cheeks flush, not being able to deny the fragile beauty that his companion possessed.

-But Ike knew better than to just stare at someone in their sleep, especially when he and Marth’s relationship was only just budding at this point. While Marth was gentle in his attempt to awaken Ike, the latter wasn’t so as he roughly shook Marth’s frame awake.

-The two basked in the awkward atmosphere, both privy to the fact that they shamelessly watched the other sleep and privately admire the other’s complexion before abandoning the forest to return to the main building.

[poetlcs]

here’s some wlw books -

Im SICK of u bitches whining about wlw books “not existing” when they do !!!!!  and u just haven’t looked !!!!  so I’m taking one for the team and making a list of some I liked u can check out. as always there is more so do ur research but @lgbtqreads is a good place to start! ok lets goo

fantasy

girls of paper and fire by natasha ngan - lesbian mc and f/f relationship. Asian inspired fntasy about a girl who gets kidnapped and becomes one of the kings concubines aka a paper girl. tw for sexual assault / rape, death of an animal, sex slavery, war themes and violence

 girls made of snow and glass by melissa bashardoust - frozen / snow queen retelling focussing on the relationship between step mother and step daughter. Has villain girls and morally grey stuff, also, an f/f relationship with the main girl!

the abyss surrounds us by emily skrutskie - QUEER !! MORALLY GREY !! ENEMIES TO LOVERS !! PIRATE GIRLS !!!!!!! yes this is an f/f pirate story that is enemies to lovers and features sea monster pets get around it. 

labyrinth lost by zoraida cordova - on her death day a bruja called Alex accidentally casts a spell that makes her entire family vanish. Now with the help of a boy called Nova she has to go to Los Lagos to find them. Alex is bi and there is an f/f relationship. 

A lake of feathers and moonbeams by dax murray - queer swan lake retelling set in a fantasy world on the brink of war. Has a polyam ship that is f/f/nb !

reign of the fallen by sarah glenn marsh - queer ! necromancers !!! basically a world where it’s necromancers jobs to constantly bring the king back to life. But now someone is purposely trying to stop the resurrections? Mc Odessa is bi and there’s an f/f relationship. 

of fire and stars by audrey coulthurst - a princess betrothed to the prince of another country ends up falling for his sister instead. Follows their romance and also a brewing war between their two countries. 

unicorn tracks by julia ember - fantasy world where a girl called Mnemba works at a wildlife park housing fantastical creatures like unicorns. When poachers start stealing unicorns, Mnemba and Kara, a researcher from overseas, go to track them down. f/f relationship. 

science fiction

the apocalyse of elena mendoza by shaun david hutchinson - about a bi girl called Elena who gains the ability to heal people but everytime she does a random person from somewhere in the world dies. A bit weird and quirky (if you’ve read anything by SDH you know what I mean) main girl is pursuing another girl but no more info bc spoilers !

otherbound by corinne duyvis - Everytime Nolan blinks he becomes privy to the life of Amara, a girl who lives in a fantasy kingdom. Nolan thinks he is imagining things but Amara is real, and bund to protect the princess in her kingdom without knowing her every move is being watched. This is kind of mind bending and weird, but there is an f/f relationship! 

dreadnought by april daniels - a trans girl called Danny witnesses the death of the superhero Dreadnought, and as a result inherits his powers. Now with a new body that looks like she always wishes it had, she must track down the villain who killed Dreadnought, before the villain tracks down her. Has an f/f flirtation but it continues into the next book bc SLOW BURN. 

contemporary

you know me well by nina lacour and david levithan - pov switches between lesbian and gay mcs. Follows the two main characters over one pride week when they learn they’re both queer one night out. this is short and sweet. f/f and m/m relationships. 

queens of geek by jen wilde - follows three friends from Australia who get to attend comic con because Charlie (the mc) is a popular vlogger. Charlie is Chinese-Australian and bisexual and has a crush on a fellow bi vlogger called Alyssa! This is SO cute and fun with some of my personal fav bi rep

under the lights by dahlia adler - set in Hollywood, follows a tv star called Vanessa who finds herself with a crush on another girl and unsure what to do next. The other MC is a hollywood star who has been a typical Bad Boy but is trying to reform. Has an f/f relationship and an m/f platonic relationship. 

radio silence by alice oseman - about a called called Frances who is obsessed with this podcast called Universe City and randomly meets its creator leading to them becoming best friends. Frances is bi!

fearless by shira glassman - short story about two mums who meet at their kids music recital and are attracted to eachother. This was so short and cute

the nelody of you and me by m. hollis - two girls who work at a bookstore together start to develop feelings. I think the MCs are lesbian and pan from memory. This is so sweet and fluffy too. 

historical fiction

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid - about a movie star called Evelyn Hugo who was big in the 50/60s but is now retired. She hasn’t done an interview in decades but all of a sudden requests Monique, an inexperienced journalist, write a tell all about her life. Follows Evelyn’s story & why she has seven husbands, but also features the most beautiful epic f/f love story ever. Evelyn is Cuban and bi. Not as hetero as the title suggests !!!

mystery

far from you by tess sharpe - everyone told Sophie her best friend and secret girlfriend Mina died at a drug deal gone wrong, but Sophie’s sure she was murdered. Now that Sophie is out of rehab, she’s determined to expose the truth behind Mina’s death once and for all. ‘

Some more I haven’t read but Reviewers I Trust liked

Everything Leads To You & We Are Okay by Nina LaCour 

Style by Chelsea M. Cameron (and all CMC’s work)

Soft on Soft by Em Ali

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant 

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake

Not Your Sidekick by C.B Lee

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

The Colour Purple by Alice Walker

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore

Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden

Ash by Malinda Lo

A&B by J.C Lillis

and those are just SOME I have read and liked and only a tiny tiny portion of what is out there. Yeah it can def be harder to find f/f books in your typical library than like an hetero m/f one but they are Out There !!!!!!! If you want more recs you can follow me on twitter or goodreads or my book blog if u would like. thank u, next ! 

[recentanimenews]

Gleipnir – 08 – Filling In the Shadows

Claire and Yatou find Shuuichi and Chihiro (and Chihiro’s wallet), then return to the hideout where there are finally formal introductions of the remaining members. One of them, Isao, is a mild-mannered plant-lover who just happens to remember Shuuichi playing with friends at Yamada Cram School.

Shuuichi just happened to dream of the school, but woke up before he met any of his classmates. And yet Shuuichi insists to Isao that he was the only student at the school, which aside from being very odd (wouldn’t he just have a tutor?) reinforces the idea that his memories have been supremely messed with.

Claire is naturally suspicious of Chihiro, and doesn’t believe she doesn’t remember anything about the battle after she and Shuuichi were smushed. This scene is akin to your typical high school drama confrontation between romantic rivals, just as entering Shuuichi is akin to sex.

Claire insists she’s “irreplaceable” as Shuuichi’s partner, but Chihiro speaks with some authority that the two will never “become one” before walking away. Claire’s fear Chihiro might just be right—and dread of the loneliness that could result from that truth—likely conspire to keep her from taking a shot at Chihiro.

On the way home for the day, Claire brings up Shuuichi’s “experience” with Chihiro, including asking straight up if she was “better” than her, and even half-jokingly proposing real sex with him as a means of reasserting their exclusivity. What’s so heartbreaking is that the truth is, from a combat perspective, Chihiro was better.

Because Chihiro and Shuuichi shared the same goal in that moment (perhaps nothing more than a desire to survive their smushing), she was able to exact a transformation—and a closeness to Shuuichi—Claire hasn’t come close to achieving. She can say “you and I are one” all she wants, but Shuuichi and Chihiro really were a single entity.

As is expected of such a non-confrontational fellow, Shuuichi remains passive in this brewing love triangle for now. He seems destined to continue having women slip into his zipper as long as he ends up in situations where he needs to become stronger. Claire is right on one count: Shuuichi needs someone around to spur him to decisive action.

Who is best for that role depends on what he wants his role to be. And whether it’s encountering his classmate Abukawa burying a dog that was (allegedly) run over, or fixing Mifune’s bike, he wants to use his power not for himself, but to protect normal, powerless people like them. (Incidentally, Ikeuchi is spying on him when he’s with Mifune, and concludes he’s an inveterate womanizer.)

That night, Chihiro calls Elena, using the number she found on Shuuichi’s phone. She’s desperate for answers about what happened to the two of them, and Elena generously explains that what happened is Shuuichi’s special power, and how only someone who shares his goals can fully join with him, as Chihiro did.

Chihiro, it turns out, not only remembers the entirety of the battle while she and Shuuichi were joined, but was privy to all of his memories, many of which were full of “shadows,” or unnaturally erased details memories. Whether it’s the fact he had classmates at cram school, to the fact he and Elena were clearly in some kind of relationship, Chihiro is new link to memories Elena thought were lost.

I’ll just add that this episode was full of great dialogue between seiyus Hanazawa Kana and Ichinose Kana, whose voice many compare to a younger Hanazawa.

Chihiro could glean from those memories that Elena wasn’t a bad person, and pleads with her to join them. She’s assuming Elena is that same not-bad person, and it’s clear she isn’t; people change. Still, Chihiro’s revelations could pave the way for a possible redemption of Elena, provided a lot of conditions are met.

The next day the Weak reassemble and set out in search of more coins, with Sayaka noting the pattern of their locations indicates the path of the alien ship, which is their ultimate goal to 100 coins. Elena, meanwhile, told Chihiro “someone” (either her or someone she’s aligned with) already has 100 coins. So the Weak certainly have some catching up to do.

Speaking of coins, Claire reveals she’s been hiding one in a book in her apartment, meaning she can cash it in to gain her own alternate form. She may not know for sure what we know about the extent of Chihiro’s connection to Shuuichi (or how much “better” it was), but I’m sure she suspects the worst, and might feel like she’s suddenly being left behind. Things continue to get very messy indeed.

By: braverade

[wolfpawn]

Life is a Game of Risks, Chapter 54

Chapter Summary - As Alexianna makes an unscheduled stop on the Tube to treat herself, she meets a face from her past she is not too happy to see. When she discusses it with Tom, they speak more on the matter before she has some Mother-Daughter time with Lily.

TRIGGERS - Past domestic abuse, Past emotional abuse, Past sexual abuse.

Previous Chapter

Tags: @damalseer​​ @hiddlesbitch1​​ @winterisakiller​​ @theoneanna​​

Request if you wish to be tagged

Alexianna walked through Angel paying little mind on anything. Tom was currently working away and Lily was in school. She had just finished classes for the day and was wasting time before she would make her way to work when she realised there was a man looking at her ahead. At first, she paid little heed to him but when he stood more in her line of travel, she focused more and realised why he seemed familiar. Swallowing slightly, she said nothing and attempted to keep walking.

“Do not ignore me, Alexianna?”

“You ignored me for twenty-six years.”

“Alexianna, please?” Oliver’s tone was low, so the station would not be privy to their conversation.

“I have nothing to say to you. Nothing. Daniel can have a relationship with you but I don’t want one. I wanted one when I was eight and I needed a father but you weren’t interested. I am just extending the same courtesy.” She walked around him before stopping and looking at him again. “Why are you here?” “I have a meeting with an old colleague of mine today, I came down for a few days to do a spot of catching up.” He answered plainly. “Why are you at this station?”

“Convenience.” “Is that the only reason?” “Are you asking me something, Alexianna? If you are, just come out and say it.” She said nothing. “You live near Hampstead, correct?” She nodded, he would know that by paying the fees to Hampstead Hill, Daniel had promised Oliver didn’t know the location of her home and she trusted him on that. “You partner lives in Belsize, I got that from the internet.” Again, she nodded, it was on Wikipedia where Tom lived. “Your college is in the centre of London and your office, from what Daniel tells me is four stops from here, so if you think I am here to bother you, the answer is no, I did not expect to see you here of all places.” Alexianna had to admit, he was right. She was not due to be there, she chose to get off there because she wanted to grab a white hot chocolate before going into work and just wanted to relax, it was not somewhere she would regularly be. “Fine.” She turned to leave again. “Is your daughter liking the school?” Alexianna licked her teeth. Part of her knew Oliver was simply making small talk but she had made her mind up years ago, she wanted nothing to do with him and did not see him as a father figure. “Yes. Excuse me.” She went to walk again.

“Alexianna, please. I know I made a terrible decision regarding you and Daniel but after it all…” He could see his daughter had no time for anything he was saying. “I am sorry.” “Thank you, for what you are doing for Lily. I mean it, thank you. But I do not want it if it is only to strike up conversations with me. I don’t want to talk to you. I tried to talk to you for years and you ignored me. When I needed a father, you were nowhere to be found and don’t give me the Marie line, I was in a terrible marriage, I know how hard some people are but I would endure anyone for Lily. I endured for her so don’t pretend to actually care because if you had, you would have been there.” She hissed quietly not wanting to bring attention to them.

Oliver had the decency to look ashamed at her. “I am sorry.” “Sorry doesn’t fix the nights I cried for my dad, for when I was after a car accident and I tried to call you, when I was scared and abused by my mother, then by my husband, when I was raped by him and made carry my daughter, when he left when it was a girl and not a boy, when I was struggling through it all. All of those times I needed you and you were not there, you were nowhere to be seen but you swan in now and you think I owe you my time?” She turned and left him behind her, him silenced by her saying what she endured, what he had ignored.

Alexianna rushed through the streets to the coffee shop she wanted. She looked at the queue and inhaled deeply. She wanted to cry but it would do her no favours. She would get her treat, she would enjoy it and not worry about her father, her ex-husband or her mother. She would think about the work she had to do, her daughter who she would see that evening, Elena collecting her from school, and Tom, who was going to facetime them at six so to talk to her and Lily. She forced herself to think of that her hands shaking slightly as she waited in the queue, trying to steady her herself as she did.

*

“What’s wrong?” Tom saw the frown lines clear on her face that she tried to hide them from him during the call. As soon as Lily went to have some supper before bed, Tom brought up the question. “Please, Lexi, no lies, talk to me.” “I bumped into Oliver today.” Tom’s brow furrowed. “In Angel. I went to get a hot chocolate and we crossed paths, he tried to start off a conversation but I said thing things I always planned to say and I...seeing him, the anger I feel, I just...I thought I was over it, but it pulled up how abandoned I felt again. I spoke to Mr Barrows about it but it clearly wasn’t enough and I am upset because I thought I was getting better.”

“It is not an instant fix, Lexi. You need to spend time healing. If you saw Marie or Jonathon now, you would still feel something too and not something good but you are working through it.” She chewed her lip. “Hey, don’t do that, if I was there I would flick water on you now.” She gave him a weak smile. “Lexi, I love you, you are so strong. He sideswiped you today, Darling, you weren’t prepared. I can’t imagine the blow that was to you but you are so strong and you stayed calm and carried yourself well and told him all you swore you would, given the chance.” “I told him too much, I think.” “Don’t fret, Darling. I am so proud of you.” Tom gave her the smile that told her he meant his words. “What are your plans for tomorrow?” “Take Lily to the park, be a Mum.”

Tom smiled at that. “Have a wonderful time, I wish I was there. Please, Lexi, send me a picture of you both, smiling.”

“I…” “Both of you, I mean it. She needs to see you smile with you.”

“I do smile with her.” “Yes but you do not go into the pictures, that’s a big part of the issue. What will happen in thirty years time when she is showing her own little monsters pictures of her and you? You need to have said pictures, and you need to smile in them.” “I don’t want to think of my daughter as a mother.” “The likelihood is though, that she will. More women have kids than don’t have them,” Tom pointed out. “She will want the pictures, it’s incredibly important that the two of you have time together.”

“You’re right.” She conceded. “Have a good afternoon, Tom, I’ll text you before bed.”

“Please do Darling, and don’t worry about Oliver, he is not your problem, alright?”

“I know.” There was a hint of defeat in her voice. “I might see if I can talk to Mr Barrows about it.”

“If you feel that that is what you need, give him a call in the morning. I am sure he will be happy to assist with all of this.” Tom agreed, knowing that there was a man in his girlfriend’s life that he more than once joked he had not met that got her to open up more than he could. He wished to meet Mr Barrows, to thank him for the incredible work he had done with Alexianna to get her to understand her emotions and to put into words what it was she was feeling with regards them. He had made his relationship with her a hundred times stronger and her sessions assisted in lifting the darkness around Alexianna and bring her back to her old self. “I will talk to you later, Darling. I love you and bye for now.” “Bye for now.” She repeated before hanging up the phone.

*

The rain that fell heavily from the dark skies put an end to Alexianna’s plans to bring Lily to the park the next day. For a time, she did not know what to do with her daughter, wanting to do something to make the day a little more special before she came to a conclusion.

Tom looked at the picture on his phone and felt his chest swell and his face break into a genuine smile.

Alexianna was covered in flour, her hair dusted in it and a real smile that went all the way to her eyes, creasing the sides of them slightly, a giggling Lily beside her and both indicating to the freshly baked unicorn cookies, covered in icing and sprinkles on the counter. The kitchen was clearly a mess, the debris of their baking splattering the press doors as well as the tiles behind them. The next picture was even better. Alexianna and Lily in fleecy pyjamas, under Alexianna’s duvet and a movie on in the background as they cuddled on the couch with popcorn and sweets. He found himself envious. He wanted to be there with them. As he began to send back a message, another alert came in, this time a video of Lily, on her mother’s lap as Alexianna smiled happily with her arm around her daughter’s waist as she half cuddled her.

“Hi, Daddy. I miss you. Mommy and I had the second bestest sort of day. We went baking, and we watched Inside Out and had popcorn. It was so good, Daddy. I wish you were here acause then it really would have been the bestest day.” Tom choked up slightly at that. “I want you to come home soon, acause I miss you so much. I love you, Daddy, night night.”

As soon as the video came to an end, Tom realised his eyes were welled up. He smiled sadly at Lily’s declaration that the day was incredible but did not reach top tier happiness in her mind because he was not there. Tom knew that no matter what happened in life, the video and the big smiling faces of the two women in it would matter more than most anything else.

[rafaellacapulet]

                      WELCOME TO THE INDUSTRY, BABY

There is nothing glamorous about coming from parents who care more about catching their next high rather than the ballet recital of their daughter, but it is the reality that she was born into. 

For fourteen years she lived through life on the grace and love of her friends and their families, roaming from one household to the other until she met Elena Capulet, a dance instructor who became quiet smitten with her. 

Quite quickly she took to the wealthier lifestyle, making sure that every dollar she made was given to those less fortunate. A small sidenote but a necessary one to note when you take into account that thirty-five percent of her earnings go to philanthropy and promoting art programs in low-income communities.

While she grew up in the Capulet family, she never lost touch with her friends who became a part of Montague management. But when it comes to business, most know better than to deny her what she wants for the Capulets. 

Her first client, Orion Massetti, was what put her name on the radar of the industry. Their business relationship is one that is still renowned and thrives to this day. 

For the most part, she is settled and happy with her role in the Capulet’s industries and the only ambition she truly has, is to watch it grow even more. 

             WHERE EVERYTHING IS AS PRETTY AS IT SEEMS

HER MUSE (ORION MASSETTI) -- Rafaella’s first client and the one who put her on the map. This is someone she is very close to to this day. She treats them almost like family, taking them to the art museum with her and on lengthy vacations. Their partnership is envied by many and they are privy to the softer side of the notoriously ruthless Rafaella Capulet. 

HER BETTER HALF (EVERETT CRAVEN) -- There aren’t many people that she can admit know her better than she knows herself, but Everett is the one person who knows her  and makes her strive to be better. The way that the two of them do business is tenacious, enviable, and highly efficient. But what makes her far better for it is the fact that she knows Everett will always be at her side to weather whatever storm blows their way. 

HER LEGENDARY LOVE (ALEXANDER RALLIS) -- They grew up together. Then they fell in love. Of course, most who knew them knew that they were in love before the two of them could see it themselves, but they don’t mind the fact that it took awhile for them to get to where they are now. And the place they are now? The singular thing that made her believe that life has the potential of being wonderful again. 

HER BEST FRIEND ( KATARINA DU PONT AND LUCREZIA FALCO) -- Her partner in crime and the one who has stuck with her in both the best and worst of times. While they aren’t wholly agreeable on all matters, the differences that there are between them make them love each other even more. They’re the platonic love of her life and she makes sure that they know it. 

HER HATER (OPEN) -- Despite being the one true Bitch of the industry she’s a little disappointed that she hasn’t made more enemies. But this one Hater? Is one that she actually treasures and antagonizes just for the sake of it. Again, she’s disappointed there aren’t more, but this one Hater is a good start!

Her Home (MATTIAS WARREN) -- She grew up with the Warrens and built most of her childhood with them. Matthias, above all, the one that she recognized as her one true family. When she was bouncing around various households, she spent the majority of time in his. To this day she still makes sure to visit often and bother him when she feels like she’s not getting enough attention.

[lostbutterflyutau]

Character Colour Palette: Carla Delgado

Note: This was sparked by the discussion of character designs and colour meanings on Episode Four of The Magic Within Podcast. Their discussion got me thinking, obviously, about my girl and what her colour palette might mean. So,I’d like to say Thank You to the Podcast Princesses for their cool segment!

 First Outfit

Carla’s first outfit is a mix of different colours, with the main colour being yellow. The colour Yellow is said to have conflicting associations. While it generally represents sunshine, hope and happiness…none of which really apply to Carla at this particular point in her story, it can also represent energy, which she certainly has a lot of. Carla is fierce, feisty and is the only one on Team Shuriki who’s having none of Shuriki’s crap. She grows increasingly annoyed with her father’s loyalty to the sorceress, openly talks back to her and is just an overall pain in the ass. (And I love it!) She’s young and passionate and just has a lot of energy that would be a great asset if channeled properly. But, I digress. The colour can also represent honour and loyalty, which seem like strange traits to describe Carla, but hear me out. Carla is fiercely loyal to her father. Or, rather, they’re loyal to each other. Despite all her doubts, she goes along with his plans and they never leave the other behind. On the other hand, yellow can also represent cowardice and deceit, which needs little explanation. Carla was raised as a thief. She was born into a life of criminality and always on the run. She’s a master manipulator and a flirt who knows how to get what she wants through deceitful means. The whole Spy in the Palace trilogy shows this well.

 Additionally, a dull yellow, like what Carla wears can also represent caution and jealousy. Jealousy in particular is something she’s shown to be privy to. Once the dynamic shifts and it’s no longer just her and her father, she gets aggravated. For as long as she can remember, it’s always been two, her and Victor, and then Shuriki and Fiero join the fray and she’s shoved aside. Yeah, that doesn’t work for Carla. She doesn’t like being shoved off and certainly doesn’t like being number two to Fiero’s number one.

 Carla’s second major colour is black. Black is associated with fear, mystery, strength, authority, evil, aggression, and rebellion. Now that’s a lot to break down. But, some of the traits go hand in hand. Obviously, Carla’s (current) alignment is evil, and with it she wants to strike fear into others, gain respect and hold authority and power. At least, that appears to be the path they are going down. She’s always been told that ambition and power will get her what she wants, so she strives for these things, which leads us to rebellion. Her alignment in itself is a rebellion, along with the way she was raised. She’s going against the rules and norms of society, making her way by thieving, scheming and conning alongside her father. Additionally, Black often represents the emotions and actions of rebellion in teenagers, which Carla is. As previously stated, she openly rebels against Shuriki and has no problems talking back. Carla is very strong and opinionated and hates being shoved around.

 Black is a mysterious colour, typically associated with the unknown and negative. Now, this is interesting to me, because, beyond the obvious negativity and aggression, I believe there is some mystery to be talked about. This may be my bias talking, but Carla is one of those characters that I believe has more to say what’s on the surface. We don’t know a whole lot about her, her life experience and more importantly, her mother, which I believe is a big part of the puzzle that is Carla Delgado. There’s this whole cloud of mystery surrounding her that we have yet to unravel.

To finish it off, we have small splashes of orange, red and green. One meaning for Orange is creativity. As shown in A Spy in the Palace trilogy, Carla is actually very creative. Not only in her scheming, but also when it comes to projects and crafts, though she seems to dislike the latter. She designed a whole new banner for the Jaquin festival and was said to be helping with decorations for other events throughout her time in the palace. It is also said to be vibrant and flamboyant, which fits in the sense that Carla can be a bit…extra. She definitely has a touch of drama queen in her.

The subtle hints of Red are representative of several things. On the positive end, we have Carla’s leadership, determination, willpower, and confidence. Carla harbours traits that I believe, if channeled correctly, would make her a great leader. When she knows what she wants, she’s determined and hardworking and will do whatever she can to get it, such as in The Jewel of Maru, when she refused to give in until she got the jewel that she was told would get her power. She kept going even when her father wanted to just give up.

On the negative end, we have rage, malice and wrath. Carla has one heck of a temper and is likely the type of person to hold grudges. The way she glares at Shuriki is enough to tell you this. Being a villain, malice and wrath are part of the deal. Her actions against Naomi during the preparations for the Jaquin festival show this well as she purposely and maliciously breaks everything apart simply to make Naomi look bad and ultimately get what she wants with no regard for anyone’s feelings.

 Lastly is Green. Green is said to represent a lack of experience and need growth, which seems like a weird thing to point out, but, being young, I believe Carla has a lot of room for growth. We see this in Realm of the Jaquins where, not knowing anything of her father’s plans, Carla spends time berating him with questions, not being able to see how each piece of the plan is meant to connect to the others. Even asking if it was wise for them to return to Avalor after what happened last time. Her inexperience is shown in the way she sometimes jumps into things without thinking. But, green can also be associated with greed and jealousy, two of Carla’s prominent negative traits.

 Second (Malvago) Outfit

Carla’s Malvago robe is different shades of purple. The color purple is often associated with nobility, luxury, power, and ambition. Purple also represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity, dignity, devotion, pride, mystery, independence, and magic. Some of which, namely mystery and creativity, I have already covered.

 The two that stick out the most here are magic and power. Carla started wearing this colour after she was granted dark magic by Fiero, which she is shown to be quiet adept at after a few early mistakes. These powers seem to give her a boost of confidence and only fuel her ambitions. Magic gives her a new skill set to use in her and Victor’s climb to power. Speaking of her father, as mentioned previously, she’s loyal to him. It’s subtle, but they do honestly love and care for one another. And she’s devoted not only to him, but their overall goal, doing whatever she can to be included in the overall plan, even outright telling Shuriki that she has a “clear shot” to bring down Elena in Song of the Sirenas.  

 As far as nobility and luxury are concerned, that’s less what she is, and more what she’s striving towards. She wants to truly be someone, and not just someone, but royalty. After all, in Don’t Look Now, she says she’s “coming for the throne.”

 Dignity and pride go hand in hand for Carla. She’s a very prideful person, and doesn’t appear to fluster easily. In fact, she tends to get defensive rather than deal with embarrassment. Even when in the wrong, she holds onto her pride. In Race for the Realm when Victor brushes her off, says to “leave the spell casting” to him, she doesn’t listen, instead casts the spell in part to spite him and prove she can do it and make up for her first failure.  

 Different shades are also said to hold different meanings. Light purple hues represent feminine energy and delicacy. Dark purple hues evoke feelings of gloom, sadness, and frustration. Bright purple suggest riches and royalty. All things we’ve seen in Carla at one point or another. She’s a flirt who can use her feminine charms to her advantage. The endless failed schemes on the rise to power frustrate her. In fact, she frustrates easily in part because of her impatience. And, as stated, riches and royalty is what she’s striving for. The dream that she’s always been told she wanted and is eagerly chasing.

 Lastly, there’s hints of white on the outfit as well. Now this one was a little more difficult to figure out, but, ultimately, I think it may be used as a hint of things to come. White is typically used to represent humility and purity, but can also represent new beginnings, brilliance and understanding. I’m just going to leave it at that. We all know I have a lot of feelings about Carla, but since we’re talking about canon designs and details, I’m going to leave speculation out of it.

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Second Chances 3

A/n: no warnings. 

Link to Chapter 2

Words: 3, 195

Special thank you to @tas898 and @sumara62 for some good ideas for this! 

Pairings: Gabriel x OFC

__________

Things with Gabriel and Elena didn't get any better over the next few weeks. Christmas, for Jack, was a complete success. The boy was completely happy with the fancy Christmas dinner that Elena put in front of him and there wasn't a peep coming from him after he unwrapped his new laptop.

Elena was continuing her anti-Gabriel campaign. No matter how much Gabriel tried to charm her nothing seemed to be working. She wouldn't dare admit that internally he was getting to her. There had been a handful of times that she about gave in. It mostly happened nights when she was up late doing research for the Winchesters. She sat in front of her laptop and couldn't help but looking over at Gabriel. Whether it be just extreme fatigue or the fact that she was still madly in love with him; Elena had to fight the urge to go snuggle up against him. She knew that she could just tell him that she was cold and he would probably have her in his arms.

“Elena?”

Gabriel's voice was soft.

“What?”

She looked up from her computer. It was another morning after a sleepless night. Cas and Jack had just left for a an adventure. She knew it was probably Cas taking Jack somewhere to learn more about his powers.

“Can we just talk? I am tired of this back and forth crap we have been doing for the past little bit. You know I don't like the turmoil.”

Elena's emerald eyes rolled up to Gabriel. He hadn't moved form his spot on the couch a few feet away. She wanted to tell him her usual you brought this on yourself line but she decided not to. Gabriel knew that he brought everything on himself.

“You don't understand Gabriel. You will NEVER understand!”

She replied softly. Gabriel reached up running a hand through his messy curls.

“Same to you.”

He muttered. Elena frowned.

“What will I not understand? You were bored with me and wanted to hook up with other girls. Everything we had was some joke. Like I have told you multiple times I should have stayed in heaven and let you have at it. Would have saved me a lot of heartache.”

Gabriel growled as slammed his head back against the couch.

“Its always going to be this way huh? I am always going to be your selfish philandering boyfriend.”

Elena shrugged.

“If the shoe fits.”

Gabriel looked even more perplexed. This was not the way that he wanted the conversation to go! He wanted to get through to Elena. Gabriel wanted her to see that he had always missed her. Sure, he had definitely been a man whore in the time apart but she was always in the back of his mind. He was about to to tell her no matter how many women he slept with none of them pleased him the way Elena did. Nothing about them was good enough for him. They didn't have her smile. None of them held him right or moved beneath him the way Elena did.

“Elena, please. Just stop.”

He said calmly. Elena rolled her eyes.

“You get what you get Gabriel. You know what our father meant for soul mates to be and you defiled it. Not my problem that you are feeling guilty. You have to live with your mistakes.”

Gabriel stood, making the lights in the bunker flicker.

“Hush!”

Elena tried to speak again but realized that Gabriel had taken her voice away. She was livid! Livid didn't cover it! When she got her voice back Gabriel was in for the ass chewing of a life time!

“You are going to listen to me whether you want to or not! Do you think you are Ms. Perfect yourself? Ha, sugar you are far from it! I have been trying...actually trying for my standards to apologize and do whatever I could to win you back but you keep biting my head off! I have been back here with you for a while and we haven't gotten anywhere near where we should be. If you would just stop being so unbelievably human! Do you think I like seeing you like this?! I hate it! I hate seeing you running around all over this place being a hunter!”

Before Gabriel could continue his speech Sam and Dean walked into the room. Dean glanced over his shoulder at Sam.

“Great Sammy, they are at it again. I have always loved being privy to angel soulmate arguments.”

Gabriel looked up coldly.

“Well take a seat big boy.”

Dean rolled his eyes this time.

“Gabriel just give it up man. She doesn't want you. I think she had made that painfully clear.”

Gabriel didn't move from his spot back on the couch.

“I'm not giving up on this. You two can bite me.”

Dean gave Sam a smirk before sneaking up behind the archangel and smacking him in the back of the head. Gabriel's hand flew up to the place where Dean's hand had been before giving him a scowl.

“Dean-o you wanna go back to TV land?”

Elena quickly stepped in between Gabriel and Dean holding her hands up.

“Leave him alone Gabriel! You need a smack in the head to knock you down a level or two from time to time.”

Gabriel scowled at Elena.

“Fine, but from him?”

Gabriel turned to Dean with his holier than thou expression.

“Try that again and I send you to Land of the Lost.”

Gabriel turned walking from the room without another word.

Elena spent the next few hours doing more research. She figured that Gabriel was out pouting somewhere. It wasn't until Gabriel appeared back in front of her did she realize that she was up to something.

“What now Gabriel?”

She asked, not bothering to look up. A second voice was what got Elena's attention.

“Elena, its good to see you.”

She looked up to see none other than Chuck looking down at her with a smile. Her eyes widened as she stood up.

“Dad? How are you here?”

Chuck smiled.

“Gabriel asked me to come have a look at you and in all honestly I am glad that I did. You're human.”

Elena nodded.

“Yeah, Michael is a charming fellow. His taking my grace away was his idea of punishment for me leaving heaven with Gabriel.”

Chuck frowned.

“Why did you two leave heaven?”

Elena looked back at Gabriel, who was looking down at the ground now. She couldn't help feeling a little guilty for everything that happened all of those years ago.

“Well your other archangels were arguing non stop and this one was about to have a break down. We had to leave.”

Gabriel made a disgusted face.

“I was not having a break down!”

Elena rolled her eyes. Here Gabriel went trying to deny how badly his brother's fighting was bothering him!

“Uh yeah you were! As I remember it was you that wanted to leave! You begged me to go so you wouldn't have to be alone. Stop lying Gabriel!”

Dean meanwhile automatically sighed but at the same time was relived that Chuck would see how Gabriel and Elena behaved around each other. Chuck needed to see this! Dean had the feeling that Chuck wouldn't believe a thing if Dean had said just how bad things were.

Chuck stood listening to Gabriel and Elena argue. He looked between the two of them as though he was watching them play tennis. After a few minutes he ran a hand over his exhausted looking face. This was making him want to leave all over again!

“Dad, I know that I asked you specifically for him but can I trade Gabriel in on a new model? Maybe one that isn't an ass!

Gabriel gasped a little more over dramatically than necessary as he cut Chuck off.

“Don't think so sugar! You  touch it you bought it! No returns or exchanges!”

Elena picked up a book that sat on the table near her and thew it as hard as possible at Gabriel. The archangel had no difficulty is stopping the projectile before giving Elena an amused expression.

“Haha! You can't hurt me!”

Chuck meanwhile, groaned before snapping his fingers. The next thing both Gabriel and Elena knew they were handcuffed to each other.

“Uh dad?”

Gabriel questioned. Chuck grinned, clearly proud of himself.

“Nope. These are enochian handcuffs so Gabriel you can't get yourself or Elena out of these. Elena you aren't getting your grace back until you both can be civil. You two loved each other so much. I am not letting this slide. Make it work! Well see you both later!”

With that Chuck vanished leaving both Gabriel and Elena open mouthed and locked to the other for Chuck only knew how long!

It was Gabriel that attempted to move first. He gave his arm a small tug until Elena's face went in his direction.

“Don't you try and knock me over!”

Gabriel frowned.

“I'm sorry princess but I am not standing here in this kitchen with Dean all day.”

Dean groaned.

“Oh boy this is going to take a while. Don't worry I'm leaving!”

He turned deciding to leave them to it. The last thing that he wanted to do was stand here and listen to them argue more!

Elena looked over at Gabriel carefully.

“So what do we do now? Wait, I know what I am going to be doing. I have research to do guess that means you are coming along.”

Gabriel whined.

“I don't want to sit there and listen to you read!”

Elena scowled angrily before picking up a word search book and passing it over.

“Well I suggest that you start looking for missing words or conjure yourself an archangel coloring book because I have to get this done. You will just have to sit still a while!”

Gabriel finally gave up and followed Elena to the computer. As much as he wanted to enjoy being this close to her he couldn't! The last thing that he wanted to do was be sitting at that table all day!

1 hour later Gabriel finally looked up from the word search book that Elena had given him.

“Sugar?”

“What?”

She snapped. Gabriel smirked.

“I need to use my hand to circle this word.”

Elena rolled her eyes looking up.

“Has it really taken you an hour to find one damn word?”

Gabriel snorted.

“Of course not! I just wanted to wait until you seemed to hit a slow spell so I could use my right hand.”

Elena's emerald eyes rolled in his direction.

“You have a left had that is free.”

Gabriel nodded.

“My right one works better.”

Elena muttered Christ under her breath before lettering her arm go limp so Gabriel could circle the word that he had been eyeing for an hour.

“Want to know what his puzzle is about?”

Gabriel asked with a smug smile. Elena sighed.

“I am afraid to ask what you changed it to.”

Gabriel chuckled.

“I didn't change it to anything. It is just a perfect puzzle. Its about S&M. Sugar, what kind of books are you buying and what exactly have you gotten into? Have to say I am intrigued. We could make the most of this situation you know.”

Elena laughed again.

“Again you have a left hand.”

Gabriel's bemusement died.

“Don't you think it would be a bit odd for me to just be over here beating off while you are sitting there?”

Elena's eyes left the laptop and looked at Gabriel. She couldn't help starring into his eyes for a moment. Was this what he wanted or was this just some random happening that Gabriel would be using to his advantage?

Come on Elena! Don't fall for him again! You can't do this!

Elena thought miserably as those old feelings of love began to resurface. Was she ready to admit to him that she was still in love? She had barely been able admit to herself that she still loved him. Saying it to Gabriel would be impossible!

She quickly pulled herself from her thoughts as her eyes landed on his crotch,

“Wouldn't be the first time you have done that Gabriel.”

The archangel laughed.

“Granted we were in the middle of fucking but....ah who am I kidding we had no shame before...”

Elena quickly looked away. She didn't want him to see that she was actually smiling but she knew that hope was in vain.

“Yeah.”

The next two days were some of the most frustrating and annoying days imaginable for Gabriel and Elena. They were both having to make sacrifices for the other. It had been decided that this was probably part of Chuck's plan. He wanted them to see that relationships had give and take. You had to make sacrifices for the happiness of your partner. At the moment however, both Gabriel and Elena were having a hard time grasping that concept.

Gabriel had fussed over having to stay in bed with Elena while she slept. On the outside he was whining over being bored and not being able to do anything. Everything changed, however, in the middle of the night when Elena rolled over and cuddled against his chest. Gabriel didn't move for a moment at first. He was afraid the smallest little move would wake her. After a few moments he was finally brave enough to run a hand down her cheek. When she smiled in her sleep at his touch it took all Gabriel had not to lean down and kiss her.

“Oh what the hell!”

He thought before leaning down pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.

“Human or not you are perfect.”

Gabriel whispered before laying his head back onto the pillow. If Elena wanted to lay on him all night he would not object to it. He would lay motionless as long as he could preserve this contact.

The next morning, Elena acted as though the cuddling didn't happen. She was back to her normal act as Gabriel stood in the bathroom with her as she showered.

“You better not be looking at me Gabriel!”

Gabriel chuckled.

“I've seen all of you. I know what you look like...from every angle. You have a nice ass. I can always come in there if it makes this any easier for you.”

Elena yanked her hand to cover her naked body almost pulling Gabriel into the shower with her.

“Keep your damn angelic eyes closed!!”

Gabriel sighed.

“Okay, okay....I'll be good! What the hell have I gotten myself into?”

He grumbled.  

An hour later, Gabriel was following Elena around the kitchen as she made cookies.

“Gabriel would you stop eating everything!”

She snapped. Gabriel chuckled.

“I like sweets! Come here and let me lick you. I want to see if your skin is still sweet!”

Elena shook her head.

“You keep that tongue of yours to yourself! Lick yourself Mr. Cotton candy cock.”

Gabriel looked flattered that she remembered how he used to make himself taste good to keep her sucking him longer

“I can still do that too.”

“I bet you can.”

Elena replied going back to washing the spoon she was moment earlier. Gabriel turned the opposite direction looking at something in another room. Elena watched him carefully a moment before reaching over and taking the kitchen sink sprayer into her hand. Lining it up with the back of the archangel's head she couldn't help smiling. He wasn't the only one that enjoyed playing tricks.

It wasn't until Gabriel squealed at the impact of cold water hitting the back of his head and neck did Elena allow herself to giggle. Gabriel spun around, soaking wet.

“Elena!”

Elena giggled again before spraying him right in the face. Gabriel reached over shutting the sink off before looking at her with shocked eyes.

“Why did you do that for?”

Elena shrugged.

“Looked like you needed to be cooled off.”

She went back to her baking with a satisfied smile on her face. Gabriel meanwhile, was still busy watching her with an out of character like shocked expression on his face. Once he recovered enough, Gabriel reached out taking a lone egg that was sitting on the counter waiting to be used.

With an evil smile he reached over smashing it right onto the top of Elena's head.

“GABRIEL!”

She growled realizing that it was bits of raw egg that was now seeping into her hair.

“Don't dish out what you can't take sugar.”

Gabriel said gleefully. Elena laughed before spinning around throwing a handful of flour into his face.

“Take your own advice!”

5 minutes later the kitchen was literally wrecked! Gabriel and Elena were in the floor still throwing whatever they could at each other but still laughing.

“You know even though you are covered in whatever the hell this is you are still beautiful.”

Gabriel said using his somewhat clean hand to clean off some of Elena's filthy face. He didn't wait for her to object before pulling her into a kiss. This time, however, she didn't fight back. She was actually kissing back.

“Don't stop.”

She whispered when Gabriel barley moved his lips away. Her eyes were closed as she reached up cupping his cheek. Gabriel sighed, silently hoping that she would push him away. After a kiss like that he was wrecked! She had him exactly where she wanted him.

“Are you telling me this is okay....that we are okay?”

Elena didn't reply before leaping onto Gabriel knocking him back against the floor. She quickly took her place on top of him and went back to kissing him tenderly.

“Does that answer your question?”

She replied after pulling away for air. Gabriel didn't let her be away too long before pulling her into another long tender kiss.

Neither was even the least bit aware that their shenanigans had drawn a crowd. Sam, Dean, and Chuck stood in the doorway watching with horrified expressions. Dean looked the most shocked at the state of the kitchen.

“Son of a bitch! I just cleaned in here!”

He growled. Sam meanwhile, looked over at Chuck.

“Well it looks like your handcuff idea worked. Now they are going to screw each other in the kitchen....for us all to see.”

Chuck, looking like a typical father would, upon seeing his children getting laid decided it was time to get out! He snapped Sam, Dean, and himself to a local park where there were children playing and dogs running happily.

“Anyone feel like a walk? I thought we'd enjoy my beautiful creations for a bit of time...until....they're done.”

_______

@sumara62

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[bellabooks]

The Lesbian, Bi and Queer Year in Television 2017: Love, bravery, and found family

2017, if you ask me, has been an absolute toothbrush of a year: cleaning out the toxic plaque, bloodying the gums a little in the process, and hopefully leaving us with a minty fresh start to 2018. Optimism, in the face of that exhaustion which December almost always dredges up, is a tough sell. Personally, I find it helpful to take a look backward, to find something productive if not inspirational to stand on in the past twelve months — something to arm yourself with, essentially, as the calendar turns over and the seasons begin anew. Though media remains, by most accounts, leaps and bounds behind where we’d all like it to be in terms of representation, there are some occasions in which the stars align between the creator’s vision and the viewer’s hunger, and characters have an impact larger than could be predicted. The 100’s Clexa, for example, along with Wynonna Earp’s WayHaught, and Supergirl’s Sanvers — all characters and couples subject to their own individual issues and idiosyncrasies, and yet have left lasting marks on the current state of queer women television fandoms, inspiring fans to show up in droves at conventions and signings. Sanvers, in particular, seems to have left its mark on 2017 as the ship to discuss, even if (like me) you’re a season behind.   HONORABLE MENTION: ALEX DANVERS OF SUPERGIRL Coming out stories have become a staple for lesbian, bi and queer character introduction, and variation on them is rare — Alex Danvers stands apart, in company with One Day at a Time’s Elena Alvarez in its focus on family. Where Alex Danvers is concerned, we’re given the epitome of the late bloomer that tugs itself away from stereotypes and corrects for them — soft and cautious at first, pulled out of her shell by an unforeseeable, intense connection, exploring a world not just new to her, but finally the right fit after purported years of her character struggling to understand the more intimate relationships in her life (or lack thereof). Alex, and her subsequent relationship with Maggie, has undoubtedly meant so much to so many. Bold, then, that they should separate — but in a world where the buried gay trope is, ironically, alive and well, a parting centered not on fatality but on future plans is unfortunately refreshing. A little haphazard, a little slapped together in its reasoning, but the decision to have Alex hold strong on something evidently so important to her is respectable. In the way that we watch straight main characters on shows run through seasons of love interests and deal with the aftermath, it’s just as refreshing to have an opportunity to see how Alex grows into herself as the series continues.   Looking back on my watchlist from 2017, I can track four distinct characters (and their respective relationships, romantic and otherwise) that struck a real chord with me this year. I’ve tried to focus on characters from brand new shows, with one exception, as the story arc snuck in pretty much under the wire and absolutely blew me away. Tying the year together with a neat knot is impossible, but if I had to pin it down, the discussion of family, when we find our own and when we let them go, seems to sum it up pretty well. -cue Seasons of Love- SPRING: DEVON OF I LOVE DICK I Love Dick is a show that (at least in my corner of the internet) went largely unnoticed. Its story is a mess of threads, a triangle that’s not really a triangle so much as it is a Venn diagram of desire and insecurity, and Devon is little more than a B story to that plot. But her cool, collected search for artistry in a town that traps her as much as it inspires her, creates the foundation for an amazing character. We see it in her backstory, in the show’s fifth episode, “A Short History of Weird Girls”, where the three main female characters tell a brief history of their lives and their artistic journey. Devon walks us through her battle for identity, her unwillingness to conform to gender stereotypes, and the college girlfriend who left her heartbroken when she was unwilling to jump wholeheartedly into a relationship. Devon ends up dropping out of school, moving back to her hometown, and getting a job fixing other people’s problems. It’s when Devon opens up and begins mingling with the artists gathered in Marfa that she begins to let go of her control a little. She may not agree with a person’s methods of self-expression, but defends to the point of arrest their right to do it, as we see when she defends the borderline drifter girl she’s seeing, Toby. Toby, an incredible character in her own right, is an artist who finds artistic, aesthetic beauty in the shapes and colors of hardcore porn. Their scenes together are electric, their relationship intense, full of conflict and the tossing of social and sexual norms — but Devon’s possessive attitudes drive a wedge between them, in a scene that makes the jilted jock stereotype of someone so fervently attempting to reject such banality. There seems to be a link here between Devon’s sexual and gender fluidity and her journey to letting go of her own rigidity. By the end of the season, she’s leading the cowboy and trucker men of Marfa in a dance, allowing them to open themselves up to expression outside of their prescribed slot in the gender binary. Every breath of her screen time is resistance. Artistic expression. Entirely genuine, combatively unique. Even when I Love Dick suffers from its more abstract concepts, Devon takes no shit, stands tall, refuses to suffer for who she is. When her brief fling with Toby all but ends, she continues her work, tireless, seeking unity — if not of her hometown, then of herself.   SUMMER: KAT EDISON OF THE BOLD TYPE Kat Edison takes no prisoners. Her approach to a conversation is a strong fist against a table and an open hand already waving away your ill-formed argument. Armed with a mountain of professional know-how and instinct, her inexperience, it turns out, is more personal, an inability to slow down long enough to re-evaluate aspects of her life, and the people who are important to her. It’s when she’s met with someone so totally opposite, someone who puts the individual under the lens and captures it, that she begins to shift. Kat’s focus is on the social, the community — Adena’s is instead on the expression of the individual. Their initial interactions are rife with misunderstanding and discomfort, but it only pushes Kat further, to explore the draw between them, to a woman as outspoken and independent as herself. A crush becomes more. A friendship becomes a deeper form of sharing, of educating one another, of support. And even when it becomes physical, their relationship comes back to that point — even when separated, even when protesting from opposite corners of the world, there is a through line of supporting each other in their separate paths, returning to each other when they can, but never damning their respective causes. Put simply? Ultimate power couple.   AUTUMN: WENDY CARR OF MINDHUNTER I picked up Mindhunter on almost a whim. Fincher’s style didn’t disappoint, nor did the vast majority of the characters twined in the interrogation, interview, and in-depth analysis of the 1970’s most notorious serial killers. Anna Torv’s Wendy Carr is more than a pleasant surprise — she’s a vision of strength, a sturdy by-the-book intellectual standing tall in the face of a twenty-something sliding down a slippery slope to doucheville and the grouchy borderline Old West sheriff serving as his mentor. When she flies from Quantico to Boston halfway through the season, shoulders heavy with the choice between her old life and a new one, she goes home to consult with her partner. Her partner is an older woman, a fellow professor, a fellow intellectual. I’ve written about their one scene together before, but the long and short of it is this: Mindhunter recognizes Wendy as a character whose personal life does not dominate the process of hunting serial killers, and so her personal life does not dominate the structure of the show. There’s a few scant kisses, the stroke of knuckles, but for a pair of women well in their adult years, the focus isn’t on sex — it’s on stability. And their relationship, while stable, has a toxic edge, one that compels Wendy to leave it behind her and move on, to Quantico, to a new profession. Season Two of Mindhunter may not expand much further on Wendy’s lesbianism — in fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if it remains a sidelined facet of an already busy show — but for now, her strength to pull away from the only family we’ve seen her have in an effort to protect herself from being steamrolled is a mark of her character, one that will apply to everything she does.   WINTER: ROSA DIAZ OF BROOKLYN NINE-NINE This is a month where censorship of both the internet and the CDC has been a hot topic. This is a month where we have been trying to wring the truth out of powerful people, to get clear concise language. This is a month where half the cast of Brooklyn 99 said various forms of the term “bisexual” multiple times. The con has been on for seasons to set up the arc of Rosa’s coming out — multiple episodes where Rosa’s disgust in sharing personal details about herself while dating Marcus, or Pimento, or about her family, even where she lives. Rosa is a private person. Rosa could have a stamp collection, and we’d never know. Why? Because it’s personal. And for Rosa, personal is private, until it isn’t. Usually, the revelation of details about her life is a total accident, and in this case, it’s no different. It’s bullpen quirkmeister and all-around lovable loudmouth Charles Boyle who’s the first one privy to the info, and his reaction? He understands that coming out is on Rosa’s terms, and does his absolute best to keep quiet (which, given what we’ve seen in past seasons, is incredible in itself). Rosa eventually announces it to the squad, even allowing stereotypical questions for a brief period before moving on to more important matters. The focus Brooklyn 99 puts on this plotline, for a comedy cop procedural, is stunning. The story spans two episodes, including one which serves as the fall finale of the show, a lingering final note for their audience to reflect on. The casting of Rosa’s parents, which could easily have been thrown away roles, go to Tony Award-nominated actress Olga Merediz and certified stone-cold badass Danny Trejo. The tension of “Game Night” builds through the mistaken assumption that Jake is Rosa’s boyfriend and comes to a head as Rosa, standing in front of a Pictionary-esque drawing board, has to explain to her parents that she’s bisexual, that it isn’t just a phase while she waits for a husband, that it’s something she’s known for a long time. Something true. It’s a heartbreaking moment when her father states, “There’s no such thing as being bisexual,” and Rosa responds clearly, in that matter-of-fact Rosa Diaz tone we know and love, “I know there is because that’s who I am.” The redemption moment comes a few short scenes later when Rosa’s father turns up at the precinct, promises her that he accepts her for who she is — but the scene turns bittersweet when he asks her to hold off on joining them for game night again. It’s clear that, while he’s willing to work to preserve their relationship, the family dynamic will never be the same — so the squad gets to work, and on Friday night turns up en masse to Rosa’s place for, as Jake puts it, “family game night”. Rosa’s character, ever the private, distant, steel-plated detective, has made leaps and bounds towards becoming more open. In season one, the squad didn’t even know where she lived, and now not only have her address, but are somewhat welcome there. Even then, they don’t push for information, taking what she offers them in stride and making sure she feels welcome. Captain Holt pulls her aside and gives her a heart to heart, thanking her for her bravery, for helping to make the world “a better and more interesting place.”   I hope 2017’s media helped you find your community, or inspire you to create worlds and characters of your own. And offline? A new year is an opportunity to celebrate differences in our community as much as we triumph over unity, to work harder to make the world a better, more interesting place. Here’s to 2018. Let’s use it wisely.   pic 1 arrow.wikia.com pic 2 I Love Dick FB pic 3 Bold Type FB pic 4 Netflix pic 5 Fox Youtube http://dlvr.it/Q6sTv8

[i-w-p-chan]

Revenge, Part 15

The events of this segment of Revenge were scrapped around three times before I decided on this course of events.

Alt. title "Reborn is Played"

Warnings: This Is So Filler-ish I Am Sorry, Yeah That Weird Ieyasu/Bianchi Is Still Going On, And Yeah I Scrapped The Previous Set Of Warnings They Were Boring Anyway, What Have I Done.

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.

.

Bianchi settled into the Sawada household with more ease than Reborn had originally anticipated, helped along by Sawada Nana who took a look at Bianchi and immediately welcomed her, gushing about unexpectedly getting a future daughter-in-law.

It was a couple of days into Bianchi's stay at the Sawadas' that something new happened.

At the time, Bianchi and Ieyasu were glaring at each other. Bianchi had G sitting in front of her while she styled his hair; Ieyasu had Asari in front of him for the same reason. The two hadn't let go of their explosive argument in the bathroom the first day they met about shampooing and proper hair care. Reborn was observing the four.

Knuckle was helping out Nana in the kitchen. Tsuna, Natsu and Lampo were just coming down the stairs from the triplet's room upstairs when the doorbell rang.

Tsuna, who was at the front of the three, went to get it. A few minutes later, he called, "Ieyasu! Someone is at the door for you!"

Ieyasu reluctantly cut off his glaring contest with Bianchi and rose to go and see who asked after him.

A minute later, he returned with Tsuna to the living room where everyone was present. He was holding an envelope in hand.

Natsu raised a curious eyebrow at the envelope, seemingly wondering what it contained; he wasn't the only one curious.

Ieyasu tore off the side of the envelope and removed the folded paper inside. He unfolded the paper and the moment he caught sight of what was written, he paled.

Natsu was the first to go to him and take the paper from his hands while G, Asari, Lampo and Knuckle (who came into the room at the sound of the doorbell) looked at Ieyasu with concern and at the paper with apprehension.

Natsu let out a breathless curse, "It's from Elena."

There were various surprised sounds from the four who were waiting for a reply, and Natsu continued "She has Alaude. She tells us in the letter where to find her and when we should go to meet her." Natsu refolded the paper and looked at the four plus Ieyasu with an apologetic look on his face.

Knuckle sighed, "Poor Alaude, he never liked dresses."

Asari and Lampo nodded in agreement while Reborn silently wondered what dresses had to do with anything. Tsuna observed the others with a neutral look on his face.

G looked particularly distressed.

Ieyasu pinched the bridge of his nose, and then tapped his chin thoughtfully.

G looked even more distressed.

"All right guys! Get yourselves pretty and ready. We are going to meet the Wicked Witch!" Ieyasu beamed.

"How do you even recover so quickly from something like this?" Natsu asked faintly.

.

Apparently, when Ieyasu told his friends plus brother to get 'pretty and ready', he really meant it.

This line of thought passed through Reborn's mind as he observed Ieyasu with his potential guardians and Chief Advisor (Bianchi, for some reason, declined to come with them) walking in the direction of the address given to them in the letter sent by an 'Elena'. The group, sans Ieyasu, appeared to be marching towards their doom while wearing fancy clothes, with their hair carefully done and even some make up on.

The walk took them twenty minutes, until they reached their destination: a simple, two-storey house.

Ieyasu rang the bell. A moment later, the door was opened by none other than Lancia, the Strongest Man in Northern Italy.

Reborn's mind then connected the few clues that he had; when Natsu said that the letter was from an 'Elena', he couldn't have possibly meant Elena di Serpente, heiress of the Serpente famiglia, could he? Lancia's presence certainly confirmed that theory.

(Actually, so did the fact that Bianchi declined coming with the group; she probably knew, that devious young woman).

The group shared looks between them while Reborn stared ahead.

(He had the feeling that he was on the butt end of some joke he wasn't privy to).

Lancia looked stoically at the group; he, too, was dressed up. From behind him, a couple of kids (also dressed up) excitedly ran out; one of them was Ranking Prince Fuuta and the other was Fon's disciple, I-pin.

And then Alaude came out. At his appearance, Reborn understood what dresses had to do with anything.

(The vicious possible Cloud guardian was clad in a dress that matched his eyes, and his accessories and make up were tastefully chosen).

From behind him, out came Elena di Serpente, Princess of the Serpente famiglia, impeccable in her appearance and mannerisms as always.

She smiled at them all, "Shall we?"

.

Lancia and the kids led the way to their destination: the theater where a travelling theater company was going to perform their new play, 'The Danseur and the Barista'. Behind them was Elena along with Alaude and Ieyasu who brandished a group of tickets and loudly thanked Elena for them.

Reborn noted that G's shoulders noticeably sagged in relief, and that Natsu muttered under his breath, "It was just an invitation to watch a play with her, thank god. Damn you, Ieyasu, you couldn't have mentioned that? You like to watch us suffer, don't you, you ass?"

When the group reached the theater and were admitted to their seats, they were greeted by a beaming Nana and a calmly smiling Bianchi who were seated in the seats next to the group. Next to Nana and Bianchi were two people whom Reborn identified as Ken and Chikusa, the only survivors of the Estraneo attack from a few years ago. There was an empty seat between Bianchi's and Chikusa's; Reborn estimated that it was Tsuna's.

"Where is Tsuna?" Ieyasu voiced out Reborn's thoughts.

"Oh!" Nana gave a secretive smile, "The company needed an extra set of hands and Tsu-kun volunteered."

It wasn't until the play started and the Danseur's Spartan tutor was introduced that they found where Tsuna went to help out.

The actor on stage playing the Spartan tutor gave a chilling smirk to his student, who shivered, and spoke his lines, perfectly delivered in a velvety voice.

No one other then Reborn, Nana, Natsu, Ieyasu and his guardians, Bianchi, and Elena and her group seemed to notice that the actor was too tiny for his role.

Bianchi smirked, "The actor playing the role came down with a cold. The three substitutes decided to elope together for their honeymoon just this morning. Tsunayoshi volunteered to substitute."

Reborn would admit that Tsuna perfectly pulled off the part.

But, why did he add curly sideburns to his costume?

.

End part 15  

[deathonyourtongue]

Resurrection | 5

Summary: A ragtag team of Spec-Ops operators are brought out of retirement for all the wrong reasons. When the dust settles, only the best will be left standing. Pairing: Pablo Schreiber x OFC, Henry Cavill x OFC (listen, she gets with the whole team, okay? Don’t lie, you would too.) Word Count: 2K Warnings: Waterboarding. Dream sequence involving death and gore.  A/N: I’m reposting this for a few reasons. Mainly ‘cause I’m done having my fics in two places, wanted to re-work the cover, and most importantly wanted those of you who weren’t following me back when these chapters were originally posted to be able to take it in from scratch. I’ve also cleaned up a lot of the text as far as grammar, etc. goes, so it’s more polished.  ***ALSO: All the Portuguese translations are found in the links (read the address bar or the error that comes up when you click the link)*** Like what I do? Buy me a coffee (or a commission)!

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Gone are the suits and ties, and my heels are replaced by combat boots. 

The safehouse we use for interrogations is across town from the one we stay at, and it shows. Far from the posh of Knightsbridge, Dagenham is home to the largest diesel engine manufacturing site in the world. Soot and oil coat everything and at night, the area is a ghost town; perfect for our needs. 

On paper, all the governments in the room condem torture, but work in the business of terror long enough, and you know that’s all just to save face and keep the top brass’ hands clean. We’re not animals about it of course, but if Miguel wobbles a little in his seat, it’s only because we let Max drive and London roads are so winding.

“You know...We don’t technically have to take the bag off his head.” Flip murmurs, breaking the silence we’ve all been in since getting Miguel settled into his new surroundings. 

“You’re absolutely certain he’s never seen you, darling?” Max asks me, his face set in concentration. The rest of the team look up for my answer and I nod. 

“Positive. Besides, bag or no bag, if he knew me, he’d have recognized my call sign by now,” I remind them, relief shooting around the room as all the men recall that Miguel was privy to any conversation we had in the car, call signs included. 

“Alright. Who’s going in with you?” Rick asks, finally moving from his position against the wall and taking a seat next to Flip who looks all too eager to get a crack at our soon-to-be informant. Knowing he’ll be a liability if he reads the tone wrong, I look around, my gaze resting on Max as I smirk. 

“Beef. I owe him for nearly taking his head off earlier,” I answer, both Dom and Rick nodding their understanding. Flip looks somewhat crestfallen, but I know he understands. He, of all of us, is too close to the situation, and though I know there’ll be a time to turn him loose, this isn’t it. 

Max and I both stand from our seats, checking our handguns as we move towards the blast door that separates us from Miguel. Taking a moment, we focus our gazes on eachother, silently getting on the same page so that there’s no chance of Miguel thinking one of us is weaker than the other. 

With a nod to each other, I take a deep breath and open the door. Padded on the inside in order to mitigate any screaming or loud music we might use throughout our interrogations, the room is graveyard silent. Once the door shuts, Max moves with precision, turning the stereo on full blast, and I can’t help but smile at the song that comes on. While all of us are metal fans, it’s one of the most effective interrogation tools we have because those in the hot seat usually either haven’t ever heard metal before (and are immediately disturbed by it) or despise it to the point where they can only tolerate so much. EDM comes a close second, but in Miguel’s case, Metal is the right call as he flinches immediately. Catching Max’s eye, we can’t help but grin as we mouth along to the lead singer’s screaming, the song’s lyrics about lying and choking oddly appropriate for what’s about to happen. 

I headbang along with the double-bass as I grab a five gallon jug of water, hoisting it over my shoulder and letting Max handle the towels as we set things up. When everything’s ready, Max moves into position, arms crossed over his broad chest, his trademark scowl firmly in place. 

I count to three with one hand, and on ‘one’, pull the bag from Miguel’s head, immediately tipping his head back and holding it in place with my forearm as I dilate his eyes. Max and I both stay out of his line of sight for the few moments it takes for the drops to work, and once we see the tell-tale squint, we slowly move to our places. 

“Miguel, ta com cara que tá com sede, meu amigo.” I open, one eyebrow raised, staying just far away enough to be little more than a faceless blur to our informant. 

“Vai se foder!” He yells, trying and failing to get out of the restraints he’s in. 

“Ah, que isso, cara. Não fique assim. A gente só quer falar com você,” I purr, playing the “Nice Girl” routine even though everyone in the room knows it won’t last long. 

“Certo, é por isso que vocês me capturaram, colocaram um saco na minha cabeça, e me levaram a Deus sabe onde. Falar, uma ova!” 

“Já aprendeu Inglês, seu cafajeste?” I ask him, hoping he’s picked up a second language since the last time any of our governments dealt with him, more for the rest of the team’s sake than my own.

“I have,” he says, his accent nearly a perfect facsimile of anyone who’s been born and raised in London. Max’s eyebrow goes up in mild surprise, and if I know my team, the rest of them are all pressed against the two-way mirror, intent on listening now that they can understand. 

“Good, so we’ll do this in English, ‘cause fuck you,” I tell him in no uncertain terms, moving into his space so he can confirm that the woman he wanted to bang at the party is the same one who’s now holding his life in her hands. 

With everyone in the room discreetly mic’d up--including Miguel--there’s no need to turn down the music, and I use it to my advantage, wanting him as disoriented as possible so that he’s not focused on his words or the thoughts behind them.

“Three weeks ago, right here in London, two of our own were killed by a bomb that has your signature all over it. Wanna tell me who you sold that bomb to?”

Miguel laughs, a dry throaty sound that comes from too many cigars, and too much time around toxic chemicals; if one of us doesn’t kill him, I know for a fact cancer will get him in the end. 

“I sell bombs to many people. How am I supposed to remember who I’ve sold to a month ago, puta?”

I don’t have time to react as Max lunges in and connects with Miguel’s jaw in one of the most vicious right hooks I’ve seen him throw in a long time. 

“Talk to her like that again and I’ll dislocate the other side, y’cunt.” Max growls, teeth bared mere inches from Miguel’s face, leaving no room for interpretation of just how pissed he is. Without another word, Max takes Miguel’s face in his hand and relocates the joint he popped out, a scream coming from our informant as soon as he can open his mouth.

“See, Miguel, I’d like to think you’d remember, because this particular order had your initials on one of the plates, and I know you only do that when your order is for a single explosive device. Mass orders go through the factory, but the custom pieces, well...You’ve gotta take pride in your work, right?” I’ll give the man props, because if he’s searching for a lie, I can’t tell. His face stays unreadable apart from the discomfort from the light. 

I shoot Max a look just as the song switches over, and he nods. 

“Fuck this.” He barks, flipping a switch on the wall that immediately sends Miguel’s chair back into a 45 degree angle, the back legs hinged to the floor so he can never truly fall back, but feels  like he’s going to, just the same. With the lights directly in his line of sight, I can’t keep from smirking as I hear Miguel hiss and try to cover his eyes, the steel shackles on his wrists clanking loudly and only causing him more pain. 

“What is it, Miguel? Lights too bright?” I ask as I move to grab the first neatly folded towel from the pile. “Don’t worry, I got you.” 

Pressing the towel firmly against his face, I stand out of the way as Max pours the water from the jug. We both count silently in our heads, Max stopping at exactly the right number as I flick the switch to bring Miguel upright once more. 

Our informant coughs and sputters, screaming every vulgarity I’ve ever heard in Portuguese before spitting in our general direction. 

“THERE WAS NO NAME! IT WAS PURCHASED BY AN ENTITY!”

I roll my eyes, annoyed that a man who once gave up an internationally-wanted terrorist is now spewing bullshit about an entity. 

“So you sold your shit to a ghost? ‘That what you want me to believe?” I ask, feeling my own anger start to rise. I grab a fresh towel and Max and I repeat the process with surgical precision. It takes Miguel a little longer to cough up the water he’s swallowed, but when he’s finally able to speak, his voice is far more defeated. 

“Yes, in a manner of speaking. The entity I sold that bomb to is known as Cenere. I get a call with a location, date, and time for delivery. I get the specs sent via encrypted email, and when the time comes, I deliver, usually to a lock box in the middle of nowhere. That is all I know.”

Max looks at me and I know he’s itching to hit him again. I shake my head, squatting down in front of our informant so that he can see me clearly. 

“Is there anything else you want to tell us that may be important? For example, the location and date of the last delivery you provided for this entity?” I enunciate every word, my tone making it clear that I’ll be the one hitting him next if he tries to lie or get smart again. 

“L-last delivery was in Roma, by the Colosseum, a week ago.” He answers, still hoarse from inhaling water. 

“So whoever these people are, they’re planning another bombing,” I say, feeling the room behind me start moving; Rick and Dom looking up information, Flip packing our gear. We don’t have a lot of time. 

“Y-yes. The bomb that killed your amigos was delivered exactly two weeks before it detonated. That’s how they always do it.” Miguel adds, giving us an even narrower timeline to get to Rome. 

“Cut him loose,” I sigh, wishing Miguel could give us more to go on besides a location we’ll be getting to with zero prep time and even less information. 

Max moves towards him, a wolfish grin on his face. I close my eyes, knowing exactly what’s about to happen. 

“I sincerely hope someone strings you up by your balls and cuts them off with a piece of paper. This is for everyone you’ve had a hand in massacring. Especially my friends.” 

I don’t have to look to hear a few of Miguel’s teeth rattle to the floor. 

The room is starkly lit, the sickly blue tone reminiscent of a hospital. Empty aside from a plexiglass box filled with dirt and a pine-board coffin, there’s a feeling dread that emanates throughout the place. 

“Carmen? Carmen! Carmen, if you can hear me, you need to get me out. Get me the fuck out of here, Carmen. Carmen, please!! Please! I can’t-I can’t breathe! Carmen, don’t leave me here!” 

A heartbeat--elevated and distinct--couple with the sounds of hyperventilation to turn dread into pure fear. 

“CARMEN, PLEASE! I’M GOING TO DIE! DON’T LET THEM KILL ME!”

Something cuts through the air with a distinct zing, crashing heavily onto the floor. The box, the dirt, and the coffin are all sliced neatly, trapped almost perfectly between thick sheets of razor-sharp glass. All except the first slice, where the side of the coffin has fallen away, trapped at a skewed angle below the dirt. 

Rick looks like a fish out of water, gasping for breath, tears flooding his eyes. Despite being segmented like some primal experiment, every part of him still heaves with breath, organs pulsing with blood they no longer have, intact structurally despite being completely separated. 

“Carmen, please!” It’s a whisper now, the life going out of Jake’s eyes even as the tears sweep his face.

A long, low horn sounds, finalizing the horror that’s come to pass.

I wake screaming, tears pouring down my face. Not realizing where I am at first, I don’t even see the boys as I fight with my lap belt and haul ass out of the seat, vaulting over Dom’s legs and careening to the bathroom to throw up. It’s rare that I dream, but when I do, it’s never good. This one felt too real; felt like a message from a man I’m certain we buried. The room spins and I heave out what little is left from lunch earlier. When I’m certain there’s nothing left to get out, I sit back, sobbing. 

Once my breath stabilizes, I stand up and wash out my mouth, swilling the jet’s courtesy mouthwash before splashing cold water on my face. Stepping out of the small bathroom, I’m met with utter silence and four sets of eyes staring at me with concern. I can’t bring myself to tell them what I dreamt, and none of them need an intro into nightmares, as all of us, regardless of how little bloodshed we’ve seen, have them from time to time. 

Still feeling the panic in my throat, I decide against taking my old seat, not wanting to be caged in. Instead, I sit behind Dom’s aisle, resting my head against the cool plastic of the window and looking out, my mind reeling. What if the bomb isn’t what killed him and Benj? What if they suffered? What if-- I cut off my own mental processing, not wanting to go down the dark alleys of my mind, wiping my eyes to stem the flow of fresh tears. 

I feel a hand at my knee, and looking down, find Dom’s hand reaching back through the seats. Though he faces forward, it’s easy to tell what he’s doing, and I lace our fingers together loosely, taking the much-needed comfort of his touch. He gives my fingers a gentle squeeze, and I turn my face away further, not wanting any of the guys to see me like this.

[nyodrite]

Fantastic Fics (As I Find Them)

Lady Knight Volant

Summary: Continues Lady Knight to the end of the Scanran War. K/D eventually. Rating is a high T, borderline M, for sexuality, violence, and tauroses, with all their consequences; some character deaths. A long novel of action and manners, featuring immortals, gods, the timeway, and a serious battle amid some unlikely topography and even more improbable architecture. Enjoy!

Rating: T

Status: Complete

Words: 450,163

Comment: This Protector of the Small fanfiction is my all time favorite, it picks up where canon left off and continues in such a way that it might as well be canon itself. Now has a sequel! (AO3)

Favorite Part;

“What a lot of things you choose to ignore, my Lord.” Runnerspring recoiled where he sat. The Councilors had heard that dead flat voice twice before, and fell silent but Kel barely noticed in the icy, roaring rage that clamored to possess her. “Beginning with the fact that you’re a confessed traitor under arrest. Keep your advice. All I require from you is whatever you know about the forces massing outside my gates.”

“Piss on you, bitch. You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Yes, I will.” She turned to Turomot, seeing his face blank with shock. “Your Grace, do you concur that Lord Carolan is a manifest and self-confessed traitor to his King and his realm?”

The old man blinked once. “He is undoubtedly so, my Lady.”

“And so, though noble, liable to torture.”

He blinked again. “Yes.”

Kel’s head swung. “Do you forbid it, sire?”

Jonathan shook his head, voice hard. “No. We must know what he has done.”

“So.” Somewhere within her rage Kel thought of Rogal as she took her shuriken from her belt, aware of eyes fixed on her every movement. “Lord Carolan, do you remember when we first met?”

His bravado was ebbing as her voice continued flat, and she wished desperately her father was not present, nor Raoul. Nor Wyldon.

“Vaguely.” He managed a sneer. “You ran away, I recall.”

“You recall wrong, but you were drunk and revealingly crude.” Her voice sounded far away and the shukusen swung from her hand. “Since then, my Lord, wondering how a man as ill-minded as your son comes to be, I have made it my business to listen to people who know you, and they all say the same. Beneath your obsessions with pride, wealth, and race, your daily habit is to grope, ogle, and swive women, willing, bought, or forced. So that’s where we shall begin.” She snapped open the shukusen, tilting it so light gleamed on Yamani steel. “Lord Carolan, hear me well. I ask what you know of the forces massing here, and the plot you have laid. At the first refusal I will cut off your left hand, at the second your left eye, at the third your pizzle and stones.” In the horror she turned to Baird, voice never wavering. “Your Grace, I must ask you to be prepared to stem the bleeding, if necessary. Not pain, of course. The shukusen will leave a neat stump.”

He looked ill but took a deep breath, nodded, and rose. “My Lady.”

Runnerspring’s eyes widened as Kel moved forward to stand before him and Baird came round the table to flank her, drawing up his sleeves.

“You can’t do this!”

She pinned him with her eyes, no more than an enemy in the way of her glaive. “Wrong again. You are a confessed traitor, without standing in law, and you threaten my people. I will do anything it takes to defend them and I bear the Black God’s grace from his own lips. I need knowledge of your treason, now, and I will have it.” If Runnerspring doubted her he was the only person who did, and she looked at Uinse’s men behind him, as stiff as boards, eyes intent. “Hold him down, please, hands on the table.”

Heavy hands bore down on Runnerspring’s shoulders and each guard leaned forward to pin his forearms. The projecting hands reminded Kel of starfish on the beach at Mindelan, and she turned the shukusen, seeing the trajectory needed and abstractly regretting the use she found for Shinko’s beautiful gift. It came to her that neither fierce Cricket nor the Crown Princess would object, and she tightened stomach muscles as she sent up a prayer from the clear mind inside the rage and fear compelling her.

“Last chance. Who comes to my gates with what purpose?”

He wasn’t a coward and attempted defiance, though his eyes were screaming. “You haven’t the gu—”

If she’d slammed the shukusen down it would have gone through the table, but only its sharpened vanes pierced the wooden surface as the same liquid movement she’d found in her pattern dance brought the fan to a precise halt. Baird’s green magic flared around it, and when the rising fan flicked hand from forearm no blood spilled. She saw agony and shock in Runnerspring’s eyes and while her mind wailed behind blessed glass her rage bored into him as his world and self buckled. The razor-edged extending vane of the shukusen slid smoothly to a halt where he could just focus on it, and slowly forward. Her gaze locked with his and his eyes bulged terror as he tried to focus on her and on the blade an inch from his eye.

“Second time of asking. What do you know of this attack?”

Everything she had went into her voice and she saw it break him as she heard his babble begin and twitched the shukusen aside, indicating to the soldiers that they could ease their grips. Both were white-faced but she saw nothing in their looks to match the revulsion in her mind. Runnerspring barely seemed to notice Baird as he continued to stream green fire into the raw, bloodless stump, frowning concentration. The severed hand was leaking, Kel saw, as the controlling part of her mind listened to the skeltering tale.

The knights riding for New Hope were Garvey, Guisant, Ansil and Arknor, Belar, and Quinden, and Genlith was with them, and Torhelm’s faithful steward, and they had been waiting north of Bearsford with nearly five hundred men—liegers and hired—in case the King fled south before Maggur could invest New Hope, and met up with a Scanran company sent with the force besieging Mastiff, and the valley was sealed, and they should surrender because Maggur had mages who could beat Numair and engines no walls could resist, so it didn’t matter he wouldn’t be able to drug the gateguards as he’d promised, and Maggur would win, he had to, but he only wanted the woman who’d killed Blayce and burned Rathhausak raped and dead, as anyone would, and some of the lands Jasson had conquered, only as far as Trebond, worthless places anyway, he was welcome, it was a small price and a smaller, southern Tortall with a new ally on its northern border would be better off and could again become what it should be, without the unnatural women of such places as Trebond and Mindelan, Sarain and Yaman.

The frantic speech trailed into silence and Kel had to lock her throat against rising bile. “You believed Maggur only wanted me dead and the northern third of the realm? Goddess, you really are stupid.” Her throat still tight she looked at Numair, face as blank as rock. “Were you able to make those doses?”

“Baird has them.”

His voice was cold. She looked at the guards behind Runnerspring, whose eyes were glazing as Baird eased pain he hadn’t stopped with the bleeding, and made herself speak briskly. “Lord Carolan is to be confined to the cell, and drugged. His Grace will supply dreamrose pills. He gets one meal a day and a pill, by force if necessary, until I say otherwise. No guards—once he’s unconscious report to Uinse. He’ll know what’s happening by then.” Ebony would be telling Seed.

“Lady Kel.”

They saluted, lifted him, and went. After resting a hand gently on her shoulder for a moment, pity she couldn’t bear in his green eyes, Baird followed and she turned to the King.

“I must ask you to excuse me for a moment.”

She didn’t wait on a reply but fled, just making it to the nearest privy before her stomach emptied itself in appalling heaves that left her white and sweaty. She took a moment to wipe her face and swill out her mouth, but there was no time for more and she straightened, squaring shoulders and ignoring whatever was behind glass.

Through the Eyes of Minerva’s Owl

Summary: When Albion calls Merlin, he returns to puzzle out why. Meanwhile, two years of peace are shattered when Harry Potter is attacked and left badly beaten, the Elder Wand stolen from his grasp. Then a sword appears in front of Buckingham Palace and a dragon escapes from Wales. As the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix scramble for answers, Merlin gathers his allies (both old, new and unexpected) as he prepares to greet Albion's Darkest Hour. Morgana declares war in a single, devastating blow that leaves England's wizards stunned beyond words, making it clear that the time of the Once and Future King is upon them... if only they knew where he was. Will wisdom learnt through the eyes of Minerva's owl be enough to prevent disaster?

Mostly cannon-compliant for both series.

Rating: M

Status: Complete

Words: 171,166

Comment: This crossover is awesome, it's a reincarnation fic - which I love - and has an Immortal Merlin who does actually manage to live his life after Camelot rather then the usually angst-ridden takes, the Malfoys play a significant roll and Charlie meets talking dragons - what's not to love?

Favorite Part;

He could practically hear the smug smile in Elena's voice when she answered. “Oh, then you'll be wanting to talk to Doctor Kingsman over there. He's a senior lecturer at Oxford in the Medieval Studies Department. The Arthurian legends are his specialty.”

It was rather comical how predictably the reporter's eyes lit up in surprised excitement. He immediately stepped closer to Archie.

“Professor Kingsman-”

“Doctor. I am a member of the department, not its head.”

“My apologies, Doctor. Would you be willing to answer a few questions about the sword?”

“Excalibur.” Archie looked at the man and smirked. “If you're going to be writing a story about it, you really shouldn't shy away from saying its name.” He pointed to where the outline of a letter could just barely be seen at the point where the sword met the stone. “This is definitely Excalibur.”

“Then you believe the legends are true?”

“Oh, not all of them, obviously. The legends have been passed down from generation to generation through a long history of verbal storytelling both by travelling bards and by village elders and then eventually written down. I imagine the original legends looked quite different from what we know today. However, having said that, considering there has just been an army of swamp monsters and an army of skeletons terrorizing London – not to mention the dragon and the sorcerer that arrived to help – I don't believe it is that much of a leap of faith to think this part of the legends, at least, is true.”

The reporter nodded. “There have been people gathering here daily to catch a glimpse of the sword, to attempt to pull it out or even just to touch it. I've spoken to quite a few of them and they all have different things to say about the sword. But, what does it mean to you, Doctor?”

“Hmm...” Archie looked back to Excalibur and ran his hand along the hilt again. “Oh, it means a great many things to me, childhood dreams and stories among them. But I think what you're really asking is what do I think it means for England, for Albion.”

He paused, considering his reply. The reporter waited patiently.

“It's a harbinger of sorrow and destruction.” He glanced to the side, smirking in amusement at the shocked look on the reporter's face. “Come now, surely you know the legends. They say Arthur will rise and take up his sword during Albion's Darkest Hour. And here is Arthur's sword waiting for him to come and claim it. Logically, that means that we are about to face our darkest hour.”

A hush had settled around them and Archie looked up, suddenly realizing he was the centre of attention. He blinked at the startled, horrified, grim faces. He remembered Gwen and Lance mentioning there was a group of dedicated people watching the sword. Believers in the legend. He smiled at them and then turned back to the reporter and his camera.

“However, whilst this sword's presence does act as a warning, it is more than that. Excalibur is, first and foremost, a symbol of hope. It tells us that no matter how difficult the times ahead will be, how dark the days will become, Arthur Pendragon will rise once more to defeat Albion's enemies. The Once and Future King will take up his sword and brandish it as a beacon of hope to shine through the darkness.”

i solemnly swear (that i am up to no good)

Summary: Shawn Spencer, Neal Caffrey, and Mike Ross meet at a midnight premiere. New York may never be the same.

Rating: G

Status: Complete

Words: 6,304

Comment: This crossover is actually what got me interested in White Collar, so it has a very dear place in my heart, but it also is really good on it's own merit. Plus, these three teaming up is hilarious.

Favorite Part;

At first, Harvey doesn't think much of it when Elizabeth asks what everyone's favorite part of the movie is – standard small talk – but then he sees both the responses it garners and the way she uses them to fold new insights into her view of the people around her, and he reconsiders.

Neal responds first with, "The Prince's tale."

"Tragic love story?" Peter asks, and Harvey would think it a joke were it not for the way Neal's group folds in around him protectively. There's a story there, of that he is sure.

"Tale of redemption," he responds instead. More interesting than the subtext underlying his explanation is the way the two men on either side of him respond to it; Peter bumps arms with him whereas Moz bristles. Harvey is used to cataloguing weaknesses, so he takes note of the interestingly decisive rift present.

Mike doesn't tend towards dull people – although he has a habit of finding troublesome ones – and both Shawn and Neal (and their respective groups) certainly qualify. Harvey leaves Mike to his own devices for five minutes, and he comes back with an FBI agent, his former art thief of a partner, and two detectives from the West Coast. To be fair, Harvey's weakness has always been interesting people. Case in point: Mike speaks next, chiming in with, "Neville. I'm a sucker for the unexpected hero," which, okay, Harvey thought they'd already have that conversation about subtlety, because the parallels there are almost painfully obvious.

"Tonks and Lupin," Shawn says last. It prompts a tangent on the saddest death, which turns into Gus having an allergy attack about Fred on Shawn's shoulder, which turns into a heated debate between Moz and Mike about whether the Weasley Twins or the Marauders are the more admirable pranksters.

"The Marauder's Map," Moz says with an air of superiority, tinged with a hint of disdain that this is even up for debate. "Do you know what I could do with a map like that?"

Just when it looks like Shawn is going to get away without explaining his reasoning, Mike and Neal gang up on him. "It's just sweet," Shawn says at last. "Lupin finally grew up enough to find love and settle down."

This is the point where Harvey realizes Mike has found two kindred spirits: a child at heart in Shawn, and ambition for a better life in Neal. The weekend before Shawn and Gus return to Santa Barbara is either going to be sent soaring to night heights or crashing down in flames. Either way, it is sure to be spectacular.

Dark Waters

Summary: Eren, a young mermaid, meets his dark and intriguing mate, Levi, for the first time by the edge of a large lake in the middle of the wetland forests. Hanji and her team of biologists hide nearby to document the elusive merfolk and their interactions.

Or that one merfolk au where Levi (merman/male/dominant) and Eren (mermaid/arguably still male but in the submissive role here) are a pair of mates living in the wild, meeting for the first time by the lake that Levi inhabits.

Rating: M

Status: Complete

Words: 169,709

Comment: Generally I do not read merpeople stories but I love this, it introduced me to the idea of documentary - which lead to mockumentary - fics. It's really well written with worldbuilding - even extra worldbuilding on the author's tumblr - of all the details of the mers as a species that make it interesting to read. Also, Levi's mer-dick which earned it's own tag.

Favorite Part;

Hanji had felt both elated that this merman, a supposedly vicious creature, would take the time to go and get a meal for his mate. The mermaid had been a little confused when he couldn’t find the raven anywhere, unaware that he was down in the deeper parts of the lake looking for fish. Even Hanji had been confused for a moment when the merman had dived suddenly, but it became clear what he was doing when he surfaced for a brief moment to set the first fish on a rock before diving once more. And of course the mermaid had been too wary of the water to risk going out to get the food, playing and hunting for easier prey in the shallows.

And now they were resting together. It was almost too cute a sight to bear.

More than that, however, was the incredible evidence that these creatures could bring out such peace and playfulness in each other. Mermaids spent their days living with their pod and were relatively shy creatures. Mermen spend their days fighting with their other kin and anything else that encroaches on their territory. And yet bringing these two types together could make their personalities do a complete one hundred and eighty degree shift. So different even though they were the same species – it was a wonder how they could get along at all. But just being around one another could bring out the adventurous side in mermaids and the gentle, affectionate side of the usually aggressive mermen.

TELL ME A PIECE OF YOUR HISTORY

Summary: An account of the media reactions to the reveal of Nations (anthropomorphic national embodiments) with scholarly commentary.

Heavily inspired by: United States v. Barnes, 617 F. Supp. 2d 143 (D.D.C. 2015) [fallingvoices, radialarch] with mixed genres.

Rating: G

Status: Complete

Words: 16,290

Comment: I adore Hetalia fics where the nations are revealed to the world, they're fantastic but this makes it for the magnificent depiction of Social Media reactions and China's interview in chapter eight.

Favorite Part;

“I do not know what to say most of the time. He is five thousand years old. He has lived through the rise and fall of the empire, again and again. From the Tang to the Qing. I’m so insignificant compared to him. I'm a speck of dust. And I told him how I felt that way. He tried to explain it to me, what it’s like for him. And what is like for all of this to be known. For people to react the way they are.”

Wang Yao: You are all so young. For me, a human life is… a flash. Five thousand years. What is seventy? I was brought up in a time of respect for elders. Filial piety, when all respect was paid to those older. Relationships were valued. When the earnest were meant to be raised up and the truthful were praised. In every history I have lived, all of them, there are earnest and good people— and there are selfish and cruel people. Faithfulness and sincerity exist now just as they did then.

Now, I see the history repeating itself. Good and bad, repeated. You all are not the first to know, and you will not be the last. No matter how angry you get, I will live. I will blink.

“Are we… disappointing? To you?”

Wang Yao: What a question, aru! To say I’m disappointed in you would be to say that I’m disappointed in myself. You are me. I am you. We are living being of the same history. I remember it; you do not. I am the best and the worst of my people and my history. I am all of my people. I am all of you— Zhuang, Hui, Mongol, Bai, Buyei… I am my people. I feel as a human. I feel love. I feel pride. I feel hatred. I feel fear. I feel as my people do. Times are different.

As old as I am, and I am old man, you do not fear the new generations. The new generations always surpass the ones before, as long as the ancestors are acknowledged. No one knows the Great Arts, save for a few, but the Scholars would never dream of our technology— Bamboo slips to this. How far we’ve come. I can be disappointed, but I also wonder at what is possible, even after all this time.

“You leaving a lot out though, aren’t you?”

Wang Yao: Of course. There are many things you will never know. There are things that I will never know. At times, there are aspects of life that we will never fully comprehend. It is better to admit what one knows and what they do not know, as the old Masters used to say.

“If you could say anything to the humans condemning your existence? The ones that are shouting for your condemnation?”

Wang Yao: ...Respect your elders.

[tetragon4-blog]

Rereading Vol. 83-85, Chap. 873-904, Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Just two entries ago, I commented on the fact that although Sera is seeking Conan’s company, Mary herself seems to be wary of our protagonist. Despite the obvious advantages to approaching him (intel on the BO), she hid herself away. There is some undisclosed reason for Mary and Sera’s return to Japan: Although they were drawn to Conan (whom they identified as another victim of APTX 4869), they were reluctant to come clean with their own situation, even after Sera got to know about the (temporary) antidote.

Now, they’ve made their move, the opening gambit to draw Conan into their game. And it is a risky strategy, indeed. It seems like Mary intends to stay in the shadows, because she does not trust Conan’s ability to keep his movements a secret. That’s why he has to come to her: The picture on Sera’s phone, the ambiguous invitation - that’s the bait to lure him to their hideout. It is a dangerous move, indeed, because Conan could just not take said bait. Sera has a sister... so what? He could tell a dangerous person about that potential sister, somebody connected to the BO. At this point, Conan is keeping quiet about Mary, despite not knowing their agenda. They haven’t told him anything about their motives, about their reason for approaching him. He only knows that Sera and Mary are playing him.

In Japan, middle school students are between 12-15 years old, which opens up a can of worms. First of all, it is an objective fact that Mary was shrunk as well. It is not clear at this point whether she was a victim of APTX 4869 or of an earlier version. It is not clear whether she “aged” since then or remained “frozen” like Vermouth. These are important questions that have to be addressed in the near future, because they have serious implications for our understanding of the drug itself. Right now, there is not enough evidence for a definite conclusion.

But it is not just Mary that behaves quite contrary in these volumes:

I lost count of how often I already pointed this out: If I was Jodie, I’d be seriously scared by this demon brat. It’s really not clear whether he is the reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes or a shinigami. A couple of days ago, he outperformed the FBI by figuring out the identity of Bourbon, where to find said guy, and he also called the BO’s plan by telling them about scar!Akai. Now, suddenly he is BFF with Bourbon, a high-ranking member of a dangerous crime syndicate. He uses a nickname, they conspire with one another right in front of the FBI.. Does nobody ever doubt this boy’s integrity? I know he is not a plant, but...

Last but not least, Vermouth’s big secret: She is anokata’s... something. I’ve put out a theory for that one as well, but for now, it’s much more interesting to debate how Bourbon would have even gotten to know such a dangerous tidbit of information.

From the previous flashbacks, we do know that he was acquainted with Elena Miyano, who was already a member of the BO. Vermouth’s inability to age and her hatred for the Miyano parents point towards some sort of previous working relationship and an altercation: It is possible that Bourbon is privy to Vermouth’s secret, because he remembers her from back then. He is the first person to pull such a power play on her. Not even Gin managed to get such a response from her, even when he threatened to kill her.