#which also could’ve had potential if it didn’t magically fix all their problems

[enobariasteeth]

thinking about how good supernatural could’ve been if it’s original target audience wasn’t toxically masculine men and if it took itself seriously in later seasons

[spilledkauffie]

Newsflash

Pairing: Loki x FemaleTVAWorker!Reader Word Count: 1.5k T/W: just something cute A/N: finding Loki & helping him with the TVA transition

P.s. this is just for fun, I’m not trying to be technically accurate in how said abilities come about. This is just something I’m trying, we’ll see how it goes!

Ch.1 | Ch.2 | Ch.3 | Ch.4 | Ch.5

The TVA was abuzz with agents running hither, thither, and yon to try and find the most recent Variant they had brought in. You’d already heard who it was and that he was giving everyone quite a time with his cooperation, or lack thereof. Walking down the dimly bright hallway, you sidestepped to avoid a team of hunters on their way to a new location. You smiled recognizing a familiar face jogging up to you.

“Have you seen him?” Mobius asked, only mildly frustrated; he never raised his voice, especially at you.

You smirked and shrugged, keeping your hands in your pockets, “I haven’t, but newsflash, I could’ve told you this was going to happen.”

“Yeah, well,” he said through gritted teeth, “it happened,” he added, stepping around you to meet up with a squad. 

Despite being assigned as only an agent, you had a special gift of being able to sense what was going to happen. Of course, the TVA loved it when they felt they could use it, but they also hated it, especially when you suggested something dangerous or out of the question to the authorities, reminding you that: ‘you aren’t a Timekeeper and cannot actually see the future.’ Which was true, you had to admit it as far as you knew your predictions and information was all off feeling, but there was something to be said for your feelings never being never wrong.

Coming to the room the Variant was last seen in, you looked left and right, entering cautiously. Sure enough, you had found exactly what you expected to find, Loki, alone with the Tesseract. On the sound of you closing the door, he startled, looking up and immediately defensive. You stayed where you were, not wanting to give the impression that you were there to intimidate. Loki eyed you up and down, he had to admit you were the most beautiful being he’d seen in a long time. 

“Looks like you found what you were looking for,” you nodded towards the cube at his feet. 

“This- this useless,” he picked up the Tesseract and gestured it around, nonchalantly. 

“Well,” you shrugged, “that depends who you ask, why you want it, and where you are, Loki. Oh, and when you are.”

He shook his head, setting the cube down again, “but here- here infinity stones are used as paperweights,” he tilted his head at you, “honestly, who are you people?”

“We’re the TVA, we-” you began, but stopped when he scoffed and combed his hands through his hair looking away. You bit the inside of your lip, wishing you could tell all, but no doubt you’d be fired for that. Approaching him, he glared at you, he was on the defense and you couldn’t blame him after what Mobius and the TVA had done in such a short time from apprehending him. 

“Have you been to see a doctor?” You asked, observing some bruises and cuts across his face, not from the TVA of course, that was the Avengers’ doing, but it was worth asking.

“What? No, I am fine,” he rolled his eyes, “I don’t need one, if I could use my powers, I could fix it anyway.”

“Fix it? I thought you were fine?” you tilted your head, still standing in front of him. 

He sighed, clearly exhausted, putting his head in his hands. Fingers gripping his raven hair. Approaching calmly, you sat beside him, with the Tesseract situated between the two of you. You looked at its mesmerizing blue glow, it was beautiful as they all were. 

Suddenly Loki lifted his head, soft smile as he looked at you, “Madam,” he began, and you raised your eyebrows, “you seem an intellectual individual, far smarter than any of your coworkers, you are far more beautiful than any,” he took a pause, “I believe there’s been a mistake, and perhaps,” he moved closer to you, making you look down, before back up, well aware of what was happening, “perhaps you could help them to see their mistake.” 

Quirking your lips, unable to deny he was very charming, you tried not to smile. Instead you put on a wince, “I’m sorry, I thought they told you,” you said very gently, making him furrow his brows, you lifted your shoulders, whispering, “magic doesn’t work here.” 

“Oh for-” Loki said exasperated, “that wasn’t magic!”

“No,” you laughed, eyes crinkling with your accompanying smile, “but that was laying it on pretty thick.” 

He exhaled deeply, “it wasn’t all a lie,” he admitted, perking a brow, glancing at the floor.

You stared at his neck for a moment, not in any particular manner, but another smile pulled at the corner of your lips. 

“What?” Loki almost flinched as he asked upon noticing your gaze, still figuring out what the TVA’s intentions were for him kept him on edge. 

“I just noticed you got the collar off,” you looked up to his eyes, gesturing to your own neck with a finger, “most people don’t even try, but it's quite easy, as you’ve found out.”

Loki straightened up, dignity returning, “well… I’m not some animal, I’m a-“

“A god, right,” you nodded, finishing his sentence. Swiftly Loki turned his head to completely face you, confusion was stricken across his expression, but then you smiled again, this time at him, were you mocking him? No, you sounded like you believed him. Why were you smiling? Your presence wasn’t like the rest of the TVA—

You leaned in closer to him, telling him in a whisper, “I never liked the collar either.”

“You- wh-,” he stuttered as you kept eye contact, clearly stuttering was not in his nature, he didn’t like being confused and scared, he didn’t like not having the upper hand, “what you weren’t ‘born behind a desk,’ bred to loyally serve the Timekeepers?”

You quietly laughed at the seriousness in which he used air quotes, shaking your head, “goodness you sound like Miss Minutes.” You met his gaze, “no,” you left it there for a while, he relaxed, dropping his hands. He was actually relieved to hear that you weren’t, and he wanted to hear more. 

“Go on,” he said in almost a question, with ‘please’ attached. 

Sighing, you complied to explain, “once upon a time, I got a little too interested in a Time Stone we had come in.”

“But magic doesn’t work here-“

“No, it doesn’t,” you looked over, meeting his eyes again, you enjoyed looking at them, “I took it from the TVA after they brought me in, I thought it could be my way out, but it backfired,” you quirked your lips, looking down at the ground, “too much pressure on it and. . .it shattered,” you paused blinking, “I was exposed to an energy I can’t explain and it gave me something I can’t explain, but,” you sighed, straightening up, “the TVA found me, reset the timeline, and took me back in for examination.”

“And what- now they hired you?” Loki asked, his tone wasn’t exactly soft, more shocked at their recruiting choices. 

You returned to the present, coming out of your own flashback, “now,” you smiled widely, “I’m of more use to Mobius than he’ll ever admit.”

There was silence, and you let it remain, assuming Loki had a lot to process. 

“Why are you telling me this?” he squinted. 

“Because you have power and potential that could change history, if only you-” 

With a sudden motion the door flung open, and Mobius, wary at first, made his way in. Upon seeing you, he let down his defenses.

“You found him I see,” he put his hands on his hips, a stance that almost made you laugh, at least internally, “didn’t feel the need to tell me?”

“I knew you’d get there eventually,” you nodded. 

“Unbelievable, Newsflash, actually it is believable and that’s the problem-” Mobius muttered to himself as he left to inform others that Loki had been found and detained again. 

“Newsflash?” Loki questioned, looking over at you, you just shrugged, “you sound like quite the handful yourself,” Loki actually smiled at you; you returned the smile, nodding to yourself. 

“Look, Loki,” you started, pressing your palms together, “Mobius has a lot of faith in you, and I know you don’t believe in trust, but we’re about to trust you very much,” you saw he opened his mouth, you waited, eyebrows raised as if asking ‘yes?’ but he silently answered by shaking his head, allowing you to continue, “I know you’ve seen and been through a lot today, I won’t lie, I was confused when I came here too, but this really is bigger than anything you could imagine. We need you,” you furrowed your brows, speaking from your heart, “more than you know.”

“Well, it’s nice to be needed,” He bobbed his head with a smile spreading further on his lips. “I believe you,” he said, soft eyes suddenly looking at you, “I just can’t- believe all. . .this,” he lifted a finger and made a circle, looking around, ”not yet anyway.”

You smiled, throwing him a wink, “give it time.”

[sepublic]

Construction Relic Theory

           In the Relic Room, we see magical relics representing each of the nine covens, such as the Green Thumb Gauntlet for the Plant Coven, Oracle Sphere for Oracles, Healing Hat for the Healing Coven, etc. The only exception is, curiously, the Construction Relic; There is no artifact for the Construction Coven! Now, speaking from a meta animators’ perspective… Perhaps there is no Construction Relic, because this could imbalance the otherwise symmetrical layout of the relics, four on each side from one another… Or, maybe the crew forgot to include the Construction Relic, and decided it wasn’t necessary alongside most of the Relics anyway, as it’d just be another static background detail.

           But what if the Construction Relic is intentionally missing- What if it was Belos’ castle?

           I mean, think about it- What we know of Construction magic, and how we’re specifically introduced to it, is the creation of buildings. And Belos’ castle is obviously an incredibly important location for him, pragmatically and thematically, and I’ve speculated in the past that it might serve an additional function as well; Perhaps something to do with the Titan’s heart? It’s also chock-full of pipes and technology, the likes of which we’ve never seen before…

           So what if the Construction Relic was used to create Belos’ castle… Or even, it took the form of it? And that’s why it’s not present with the other artifacts; Either it’s in another location, serving as the core and foundation for the castle itself… Or it just straight-up turned into it, as the culmination of Construction magic, devising and transforming into a massive fortress!

           Alternatively- What if it was Belos’ staff, instead? We’ve all talked about how technological it looks… Perhaps Belos built and upgraded the Construction Relic into the staff we see today, in order to better enhance his magical abilities? Again, he’s associated with the creation of technology, machines, and automatons- Construction magic fits well with engineering, so it makes sense that this would be the artifact most important to Belos, and the only one he keeps on his person… And it’s potentially how he managed to create so many things such as the portal, and even the castle itself!

           Furthermore, we see how Belos can essentially ‘create’ fleshy monsters, like the Intro Worm, and those stone and meat constructs when fighting Luz. This could also fit into the speculation of Belos shaping people, such as members of the Emperor’s Coven and Guard, into uniform bodies… His power could be related to that of reconstruction, of transmutation; But he does so with living bodies, and not just buildings or technology! Maybe it could play into how Belos is able to reconstruct his body, how he’s able to create his own version of the portal…

           In fact, maybe that’s how Belos would’ve been able to heal Eda; Not with the Healing Hat, but by using his Construction Relic to literally reconstruct her body, back into its original, normal self! Maybe that’s even how the Curse works in the first place; Maybe it’s actually Construction Magic, and it reconstructs the victim’s body into an Owl Beast! Construction magic, but the building materials are the parts of a person’s body… And so all this time, Luz and Lilith were looking for the wrong artifact; The Healing Hat was not the solution, it was the Construction Relic- Because the Curse is Construction-based, and unlike Belos, they never realized this!

           In fact, whether or not it’s Belos’ staff, maybe that’s why the Construction Relic is unseen- It’s deliberately hidden so Lilith can’t just steal and use it for herself on Eda, and then be done! Maybe Belos even intentionally put away the Construction Relic, to manipulate Lilith for this reason! Getting into a meta perspective, Dana Terrace says that her choice of Magic track would be Construction, given how artsy it is… And Belos is possibly that favorited masked character of hers she alluded to, in the Reddit AMA; Although it could just as easily be Owl Mask. Additionally, Belos has a bit of brown in his color scheme himself, in the form of his cowl-mask… Maybe THAT’s the Construction Relic, even! And Construction magic fits Belos as someone with a machine motif, who wants to build an entire empire and Coven System.

           Construction Relic is unusually underrepresented, despite it being Dana’s choice- Aside from Mattholomule, we barely see any practitioners. Perhaps Belos could help to fill that role in the story, even if he’s also capable of other forms of magic; Coven Leaders notwithstanding, it’d be neat to see each form of magic get fleshed out with a witch tied to it, with Construction being Belos’ favored manner of magic. If the Curse is Construction Magic, maybe it was made by Belos, given the red coloration it gives off; Though whether Belos intended for Lilith to use it on Eda, or if he just lost it and it passed through hands on the black market, until Lily bought it… And then Belos was able to recognize his own work and thus reverse it- I can’t say.

          And once again, I’m going to bring up Fullmetal Alchemist; Because if I AM right and Belos and Father have parallels, and transmutation and alchemy from that series helped to inspire the Glyphs… Then given how Fullmetal Alchemist places emphasis on the terms construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction as a central part of alchemy; Perhaps this could factor into Belos, who’s essentially doing this show’s equivalent to Chimeras and Human Transmutation… Possibly on himself, even! 

          If we got by his ability to create living constructs AND buildings with this theory, then suddenly this could recontextualize all of those buildings in the Boiling Isles that have body parts in them… With Belos either having a hand in their creation, or Construction Magic being foreshadowed as including some meaty bits as well! This could even tie into Hooty, who himself is a meaty part of a building, and is even brown himself! Maybe House Demons are a variety of demon created by Construction Witches, who incorporate body parts into buildings (possibly supplied by Beastkeepers) and bring them to life- And Belos is using the same principle with the Construction Relic, just with more emphasis on flesh!

          Buildings probably require a lot of stone and other earthen materials, and Belos can create rock formations and even move statues, or make them out of people... Suddenly I’m wondering if the Petrification Machine is connected to this relic? And if we go by the idea of construction magic assembling and fusing parts together, perhaps House Demons are regular demons who have been disassembled, and put back together with building materials to create a living house! Beastkeepers could supply body parts and demons, and maybe even help tame/subdue the resulting House Demons for usage afterwards- Working with the Construction Coven to create things like living alarm bells, watches, etc.!

           And if you even want to get REALLY meta, Construction Magic being underrepresented could be as part of a twist to get the audience to not think about and notice it… Before it REALLY comes into play! I guess amidst the comparisons to Hooty and Construction magic, that’s another similarity, based on @fermented-writers-block and their speculation on Hooty being intentionally played off as a joke for distraction…

           Granted, part of the problem with this theory is that the Relics are revealed to actually be pretty weak; Or at the very least, not particularly legendary- Anything they can do, a decent Witch trained in that magic could also do as well, I imagine. It’s why Lilith has no qualms with destroying the Healing Hat… But then again, if the Healing Hat didn’t work because it had no effect on a Construction-based Curse, then maybe it WAS powerful, but Lilith dismissed it as weak, because it couldn’t fix the curse like she needed it to?

          Perhaps the Relics are indeed what they’re hyped up to be, but because Lilith misunderstood the Curse’s nature, she thought the Healing Hat was much weaker than it actually was for not being able to fix it… If so, RIP- Lilith DID destroy a powerful artifact, then! Maybe Belos drained the Relics of most of their power, but saved the Construction Relic because of how important it was. Or, the Relics aren’t normally powerful, as Lilith claimed- But Belos was able to perform modifications to the Construction Relic, turning it into the mechanical staff we see today! Maybe the Construction Relic even created machinery that could enhance the original relic’s own magic; Potentially making it the most dangerous Relic, for its powers of Creation that enable it to bypass its own limits, unlike the other Relics!

          So of course Belos would want to keep it… And we’ve seen him capable of adding technology to supplement magical artifacts, like with the portal in the Season Finale. And with how Construction Witches from the Emperor’s Coven are clearly vital to Belos’ creation… Then it’s possible that Construction magic will be the hidden, overlooked, but ultimately invaluable ace up Belos’ sleeve, that everyone has been dismissing and underestimating this entire time! Construction magic being overlooked yet so important would be an interesting theme- Especially since out of the Coven Leaders, the Construction Head is the first and only one we’ve seen, and yet HIS appearance was played off so normally, that the viewers wouldn’t have recognized his relevance until The First Day!

          Just a normal part of the background, just another witch… But like the magic of his that is underestimated, the Construction Head turns out to be far more important than we could’ve imagined; And initially, we dismissed him as just an extra, as part of some minor world-building and even a brief joke! Suddenly, the Construction Head empowering Tiny Nose, Dana’s self-insert, with a Power Glyph derived from her magic of choice, takes on a WHOLE new meaning…!

[murdereraisuha]

Final Chapter 5 Reflection

This will have my personal opinion/thoughts on:

The VDC outcome, Rook’s actions, and what could’ve made it better

The Rook reveal and Neige

Kalim, Jamil, and Epel’s development

The Grim scene

Total word count: 2134 words

--- 1 ---

So, RSA won the VDC. My feelings on this are mixed.

Looking at it in relation to the whole plot of TWST, it makes sense. It moves the chance for NRC to finally beat RSA to the upcoming magift tournament, which gives NRC’s potential victory a large amount of excitement/importance which it wouldn’t get from this middle of the year championship.

Furthermore, Rook’s actions do make sense based on his personality. If Vil really didn’t believe that he himself was beautiful, Rook of course would vote for the team that exhibited pure joy in their performance and therefore exhibited a heartfelt beauty. It would be a lie to vote for NRC, and it would disgrace both Rook and Vil. Rook’s actions plot wise also lead to the discussion about Vil valuing himself vs seeking value from others, which I think is a crucial thing for Vil to remember. While trying to gain recognition for hard work is good, and Vil certainly does deserve recognition, it’s much more important to maintain a good perception of yourself even when things happen or people wrongfully say things that might tear down your self-esteem

However, I still have issues with how this played out in relation to the plot of chapter 5. It’s unrealistic for all of Vil’s misgivings about himself to get fixed through the power of friendship and beating each other up. But, still, the team went through a lot in order to get to the championship united and ready to perform. It feels like a slap in the face for them to lose after all that. Especially the scene with Kalim and Epel crying while Ya Hoo cheerfully plays in the background, it's so comically dissonant. Though we already got an explanation from Vil about how Neige’s performance appeals to viewers, I was still shocked. At least it was a close competition rather than a crushing defeat. 

Also, while Rook’s message was sound, the timing was rather bad. Vil and the rest of the team just had a massive battle and then went through a whole song & dance performance without major blunders while still injured. Focusing on Vil’s self-esteem there makes it seem like Rook is just brushing all that determination and effort away. Though Vil doesn’t seem to truly hold it against Rook since he offers the handkerchief back to Rook when he cries, the situation still feels off.

In conclusion, I think that the plot events made sense. However, the execution of them could have been improved. As is, it’s hard to understand Rook’s motivations in this part due to the ridiculousness of RSA’s kid’s song winning. To fix that without just completely overhauling the plot, I believe that the admirable qualities of Neige and the dwarves should have been shown more clearly. For example, while the Pomefiore CM shows a glimpse of their bond, that’s nonexistent in the game. I think that incorporating that into the game (ex. a short scene of Neige reassuring the dwarves that their performance will go well before they step on stage) would help people understand Rook’s point of view better by showing instead of just telling us about the belief Neige has in his friends.. 

Moreover, alongside better reasons for why Rook choose RSA, I think it should be clearer why he did not choose NRC. It seems an attempt at warning of the “betrayal” was done with Vil menacingly saying he’ll win the VDC during the voting, followed by the shot of Rook just going “........”.  To make this less sudden, I think I would change episode 66. Though that episode has Vil saying that he’s ugly, because the team contradicts him and keeps him as the leader it makes it seem like the problem is solved there. Therefore, to better lead to Rook’s speech, I would change episode 66 to have Vil show more hesitation and signs that he still doesn’t believe in himself. 

--- 2 ---

Anyway, on to the reveal about Rook. I wasn’t sure what to think about the name slip up during the previous part, but I just guessed that maybe they’d met before and that meeting is related to RSA and Rook having light magic. Nope, we get Neige simp Rook. I think this reveal was really surprising, but more in a funny way than a “ruins Rook’s character” way. It’s nice to see Rook seriously caught off guard by Neige just nonchalantly exposing him in front of everyone, and everyone’s reactions were extremely funny.

I think that the chapter did a decent job of making it clear that Rook’s relationship with Neige as a fan of him is vastly different from Rook’s calm admiration of and friendship with Vil. I’m kind of curious now about how and when Rook became a fan though. Him being the 2nd member of the fan club implies that Rook found Neige when Neige still hadn’t gotten much fame yet. 

I loved everyone’s Ya Hoo too. Ace and Jamil having level 0 enthusiam, Kalim and Rook having level 1000 enthusiasm, Deuce being startled but slowly getting into it but still being kind of eh, Epel just keeping that wide-eyed confused expression the whole time. ボーテ、１００点. For Vil, I understand that he was probably faking his big smile for the benefit of the audience. However, I still hope his opinion of Neige has improved somewhat or will improve. Neige telling Vil that he’s still number one in the eyes of the people who voted for him was really sweet and their interactions with each other are pretty cute/funny when Vil isn’t trying to murder him.

Unlike other minor characters like Chenya and Farena who either weren’t involved in the plot or were only involved as backstory, Neige is Vil’s present rival and motivation for doing the stuff he does and over blotting. With such a large presence that continued all throughout the chapter and the Rook reveal, it would seem strange for Neige to suddenly drop out of existence come chapter 6.

Therefore, assuming that the Grim situation doesn’t derail the current patterns we’ve seen in the story, I think that Neige will be included as part of the Pomefiore involvement in chapter 6. Of course, it could be something small like getting called in for a favor near the end or just mentions of Rook continuing to write him fan letters. However, I’m hoping it’s something larger. From my analysis of the previous part:

Vil’s team’s performance had a lot of cohesion and rehearsal put into it, but it was very competitive focused. On the other hand, Neige and the dwarves obviously had a lot of fun with their performance. However, it was clumsy and they were ill prepared. Therefore, Vil could teach Neige more discipline and planning while Neige could teach Vil about how to not lose sight of finding joy in your work. 

Now that we have confirmation that Neige is a genuinely nice guy, I really want Vil & Neige friendship to happen, or for them to at least be on good terms with each other. It might just be my personal love for relationships where one person tries to be all rival-y but then the other is like “nope, I’m going to friend you whether you like it or not,” but I think this sort of development in the story of TWST would be really enjoyable to watch.

--- 3 ---

For the performance of Absolutely Beautiful, I love that Jamil got to be in the center for a bit. However, that also just makes me more disappointed that we didn’t get more Scarabia or anything about how their families are watching this. With the stuff in 5-30 and 5-34 focusing on Kalim’s perspective on things and his relationship with Jamil, I thought that at some point we would get a final scene focusing on them and how they’ve developed since chapter 4. What we got with  Jamil swooping in to the rescue with the magic carpet then talking about how he could sense that Kalim was about to do something stupid was better than nothing, but idk. I just love the writing and complexity these two have gotten and I wanted that to continue to the end. I still have hope though! If we can get a thing about Leona noticing the traces of magic in the arena, then we can get future appearances from the Scarabia boys too!... please...

Now, for Epel, I also have mixed feelings about his development throughout the chapter. I absolutely loved the beach scene with Deuce and Epel, it was so cute and I liked Epel realizing the power of beauty because of the apple juice Magicam post. However, I think the narrative missed something important. Though Epel’s views had a lot of improvement to be made, Vil’s treatment of him was also terrible and should have been addressed. I believe Vil saying that “throwing a tantrum and taking it out on others was terrible of him” in episode 66 implies that he’s realized that all his actions, not just the overblot, were wrong. However, it’s not clear enough that that was the intention. Vil does not apologize specifically for how he attempted to force Epel to conform to his own beliefs. Though there’s always chapter 6, it still doesn’t seem like the story will ever really address this issue, which is a shame to say the least.

Furthermore, in this final part, Epel offering to take the center position was really good and showed how much he’s grown since the beginning of the chapter. However, it still didn’t bring the whole “poison apple” thing to fruition. Absolutely no one made any comment on his cuteness or how it might rival Neige’s cuteness. Did they plan something with that but scraped it? Like, this is way too little pay off for such a focus on Vil shaping Epel into a way to best Neige. My disappointment with this ending might have to do with these past 3 main story updates being the only ones I’ve been in this fandom for, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Whatever the cause of my disappointment may be, my disappointment still does exist.

--- 4 ---

To top off this roller coaster of a chapter and end this reflection with a more neutral analysis, we have the stuff with Mickey and Grim. Mickey seems really nice, I’m glad that Yuu seems to have made an ally in him. We certainly need one after whatever the hell just happened with Grim. I really have to give props for how unsettling both Grim’s appearance and the sounds during that scene were.

Though we’re obviously getting close to the endgame, the Ignihyde sneak peak that we got seems pretty normal and related to their personal problems rather than the plot. Though it would be interesting for a big change to happen like Yuu being out of commission for the chapter, I think it’s more likely that Yuu will be rescued, Grim just goes missing, then we don’t get much more info on that whole thing until the end of chapter 6 leading into chapter 7.

Anyway, for the scene itself I understand if it just because silent protagonist, don’t want to make them talk/do too much, but it feels kind of weird that there wasn’t really any indication of a struggle? Just standing there, staring at Grim, getting clawed, then black out. Nothing to indicate trying to step back. There was some weird clopping??? sound after he attacked but since the camera didn’t move that wasn’t Yuu collapsing.

Also, it might just be supposed to be “Grim’s laugh but creepy,” but his ケヒッ、 ケヒヒッ laughter sounds unusually distinctive? Idk, I just had the thought that it could be in reference to some other disney character with a similar laugh but idk who that would be since I’m not big into disney movies.

Right before he attacks, Grim also shouts “this is my stone!!!” Firstly, assuming that this stone is the same small size as the others, shouldn’t he already be done eating it? Yuu’s not exactly gonna stick their hand down his throat to retrieve it. So what stone is he talking about?

Well, we know that the magic crystal on the magic pens is supposed to collect blot so that it doesn’t built up inside someone, right? Blot accumulated from outright eating it instead of blot accumulated from casting magic is probably different, but what if some of the blot from the black stones did get gathered up by Grim’s crystal on his collar? We know how crazed he has been getting about the black stones. Is it so much of a stretch to think that he might be trying for more? That he might be trying to create instead of just find? 

How would a black magic crystal taste?

[tangledbea]

Disney Villains

Okay so like, I am mixed on it.

On one hand, sympathetic villains are cool if done right and not everyone needs to be redeemed because they’re sad. They’re still responsible for their actions and need to fix that themselves to be trusted. On the other hand, villains for the sake of just doing villainy to establish their power and dominance are always fun to watch. Ex: Jafar, Maleficent, Lady Tremaine, Captain Hook, Ursula, etc.

Live action Disney villains are just stale to me sometimes. For example, I didn’t like the movie Maleficent because you could’ve done the same story with someone else. I liked evil animated Maleficent who felt insulted that she wasn’t invited to a princess christening and like, chances are she wouldn’t have gone in the first place, but an invitation would’ve been considerate. Sure I liked the L.A movie message that true loves kiss doesn’t have to be about romance, you have other sources of love from friends and family. Yet it takes away from the established Maleficent from the animated movie. I didn’t need a sad Lady Tremaine backstory in the L.A Cinderella.

Like Lady Caine I can sort of see as sympathetic villain/antagonist, but to an extent of how far her crimes go for revenge and why she does them. There’s always this line that is either crossed or never crossed in terms of villains.

I liked her story and motivation (I don’t care much for the whole “blame Rapunzel for being kidnapped as an infant because that blame should’ve gone to Gothel, but I guess people find it easier to lash out at Rapunzel cuz she’s right there.) I would’ve liked to see more of how Gothel not only affected Rapunzel, but also how much she affected Corona which lead to Fred’s crackdown on crime which eventually led to the creation of Lady Caine. Maybe a touch upon that while Fred’s crackdown on crime was based in personal grief and perhaps good intentions so that none could suffer like he and Arianna had, it wound up creating more problems than it solved.

I think TTS villains in general has more potential to them than what was given. Even Villain MoonCass has some potential if given a different script.

What are your thoughts on Disney and/or TTS villains?

See, there’s a difference between “sympathetic villain” and “cool motive, still murder villain.” I am all for the latter. Knowing a villain’s motivations doesn’t automatically make them sympathetic, but it does bring to light logic, and goes to show that unless you have a mental illness that causes you to just not care (ie, literal psychopathy) most people do what they do because they think they’re in the right. (That doesn’t justify their actions, necessarily. I’m not attempting to claim that.) It makes them human, and I respect that.

But taking an established villain who is evil for evil’s sake - Maleficent, for example - and giving them a tragic backstory and making them the hero of the story just makes me roll my eyes, especially because they went out of their way to claim that this was the “true” version of the story, and that everything we loved about the 1950s animated classic is biased and deceptive. Disney was leaning hard into “true love doesn’t have to be romantic” in that era, between “Maleficent”, “Once Upon a Time” and “Frozen”. (Not to mention, Maleficent was a frickin’ evil fairy. She literally didn’t need a motivation. She could just have easily been created when a bolt of lightning struck the shadow of a thorn bush, and because she’s a magical creature, that’s literally all the logic you need as to why she’s evil.)

When it comes to Cinderella’s stepmother (generally speaking, not Disney-specific), I was fond of how they handled it in “Ever After.” Baroness Rodmilla gives you a glimpse into her past. Her mother was hard on her, so that’s what she knows. We catch the smallest glimpse, the hint that she genuinely loved Danielle’s father, but she makes a point of masking it with cruelty. We understand her motivations are based on fear of losing her standing in society and jealousy that her new husband loved his daughter more than he loved her. (Which, come on. But it’s still a proper motivation.) This did not make her sympathetic, though, because she still chose to be cruel and abusive to Danielle.

Most of the most balls-out evil-for-evil’s-sake Disney villains are a combination of wanting power and having magic. “I want power, I have magic, let’s do this.” (I do love how Maleficent’s motivation is a petty grudge over a slight, though.) But they can even use that formula and back it off to “cool motive, still murder.” Look at Dr. Facilier. He wants power, he has magic. But his motivation is literally that life’s not fair for Black people. He’s tired of having to beg for scraps. But instead of using that motivation for the greater good to uplift the Black community of New Orleans, he’s using it to elevate himself, alone.

It seems to me that Disney is making a point of adding depth and tragedy to their villains in the live action remakes. Gaston has PTSD from the war, for example. He literally didn’t need that development. He was an asshole because he was a handsome, skilled business owner in a small town and felt entitled to anything he wanted. In the original movie, he was a warning about the kinds of things gay men have to deal with regularly. The whole story of Beauty and Beast, as Howard Ashman saw it, was facing the societal struggles and self hatred gay men in the 80s and early 90s had to face. The live action version didn’t make me care about Howard Ashman at all. I shudder to think what they have planned for Gothel. Are they going to make it, “Oh, boo hoo, many (hundreds of) years ago, I was slighted by a man because I got a wrinkle, so now my entire goal for centuries has been to stay young and beautiful while not making any meaningful connections to people for fear of being slighted again”? Ugh.

I agree that TTS’ villains had more potential than they were given, to a one. It was a case of too many cooks (or in this case, villains) spoil the broth. Because they had to make the series somewhat episodic, they also had to have villain of the week syndrome, which in turn gave them too many characters to explore and not enough time to give them each the spotlight they deserved. When we first learned about Saporia, I was so hyped, because all of a sudden there was this political factor that I hadn’t been expecting, and I was really excited to see where it would go. Then it was brought up again, once. I loved the fandom theory that Caine and Andrew would team up in jail and break out, then have an uprising. And while that came partially true, it could have been richer and fuller. Giving Demanitus and Zhan Tiri shared followers was a stroke of genius, but giving each a single story (Matthews’ just happened to be three episodes long) and never show their faces again was a let down. The story would have done better to be streamlined overall.

Recently, @auransmoltenhair made a post about how the series’ biggest folly was not knowing where it was going before they actually started writing for it. They changed too much about it on a whim instead of falling back on what they’d already established in the series. And I understand that the higher ups were demanding it be somewhat episodic so they could show reruns in whatever order they felt like (which turned out to be no order, since the didn’t tend to show reruns), but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have known where the story was going before they started. And yeah, they already had some plot points they wanted to explore (like Eugene being a prince, that was set in stone from the beginning), but they didn’t even know exactly what direction Cassandra was going in by “Challenge of the Brave.” They didn’t know what they wanted to do with Adira, and rather than figure that out before hand, they winged it, then abandoned her as soon as S2 was done, only to bring her back as a plot device rather than a character.

Wow, I’ve rambled on for a long time. lol Sorry about that.

TL;DR - Evil for evil’s sake villains = good. Villains with an understandable motivation who chose the wrong path = good. Established villains who are remade to be sympathetic, especially if they’re also made to be the heroes of the story = bad.

[funky-boat-zone]

since today is one of many possible dates that technically qualify as thomas’ birthday, i’m gonna liveblog magical birthday wishes. yes, i’m a year late, no i don’t really care.

thomas and the ants:

- ah yes, my favorite location on sodor, blank white void

- just gonna say this real quick: i love rob rackstraw’s voice for james. however, they have him doing literally every male character except thomas’ voice, and he can’t make percy sound young/endearing to save his life. percy sounds more like a woefully uneducated gremlin than childlike young lad, and that’s terrible. - those are some freakishly large ants, percy should be more concerned with that tbh - they’re bringing back the gold dust? weird, considering how the cgi era basically tried erasing tatmr out of canon (except diesel 10) - i do not like that thomas can jump now.

thomas and the balloons:

- thomas has absolute power over reality itself and can wish to alter it just by willing such, why is nobody talking about how terrifying this is? - they’re making engines transport fully inflated, helium-filled balloons again? have we learned nothing from the impracticality of “up, up, and away”? - how is he grabbing the balloons. how did he tie them to his buffers. - also imagine what his poor crew would be thinking if they were in this, imagine just trying to work and your engine just starts casually altering reality and decides to fly 20 feet off the ground. i’d quit on the spot

too many thomases:

- does every engine get magical wishes on their birthday or is it just thomas? - who the fuck is making nia do a job meant for ten engines by herself on a time limit?  - how to instantly simultaneously fix this short and also make it a million times worse: make all the clones different incarnations of thomas (ie. rws, model era, hit era).

thomas the submarine:

- cranky’s voice makes him sound like a chain smoker.  - actually, a tank engine can go underwater. they shouldn’t, but they can. - y’know what would’ve been kinda fun (and more marketable)? if thomas actually turned into a submarine/helicopter/whatever instead of just getting his funnel modified.  - how is he propelling himself without a rudder. how can he talk to fish now. can submarines talk to fish in the ttte universe.

super bubble thomas:

- finally, a short with james. james is the only character in these shorts that rackstraw regularly voices, but even his james performance sounds kinda strained? i don’t blame him for sounding kind of off though, because they made him voice literally every male character except thomas i can’t get over how ridiculous that it when it’s clear that he doesn’t have the range for some of these characters - why is it james’ job to clean the station when he doesn’t even have any visible cleaning supplies? at least give the man a sponge or sth - i get that the message is “helping friends good :)” but thomas you’re allowed to wish for something for yourself. my dude you can find another engine to help your friends, you don’t have to solve literally all their problems with wishes you only get once a year. 

thomas and the monkeys:

- “maybe they’ll follow a banana” thomas. are you gonna turn yourself into a banana. don’t do that  - oh thank god, he just turned invisible - thomas, you didn’t actually get the monkeys back in their enclosure. they could climb back out and leave at any time.

thomas the giant:

- “he could be anywhere, we’ll never find him” maybe check the other side of the hill first?  - thomas, you could just shoot up a flare or something. you didn’t have to potentially put henrietta in danger of being crushed. - i was right, toby was on the other side of the hill. this whole short could’ve been skipped if they just looked on the other side. 

thomas the helicopter:

- what happened to my boy’s voice. - harold looks suspiciously pristine for a helicopter who presumably broke down mid-flight.. maybe he heard about the birthday wishes from everyone else and is exploiting this to make thomas do his jobs for him. - according to all laws of aviation there is no way that thomas- (dissolves instantly) - finally, humans! where have they been all this time?

thomas the rescue engine

- thomas ffs a bakery is on fire and all you can think about is if it’s your cake? you can’t even eat cake - where did all the gravel come from? - thomas you forgot to put out half the fire? this is “fiery flynn” all over again

thomas and the lighthouse:

- who left skiff undocked while he’s in the ocean? he’s gonna drift out to sea - speaking of skiff, he sounds like an adult doing a deliberately annoying impression of a child - “thomas fucking blinds skiff and other stories”

thomas full speed ahead:

- the more thomas talks about how many wishes he’s used and how he only wants to use them to help people, the more it sounds like he’s lying to himself. thomas. you’re being dumb as hell in these shorts but you deserve to have something for yourself just this once, it’s your birthday - i don’t know whether to be surprised that they actually remembered and referenced “thomas and gordon” or to be annoyed at the context in which it’s being referenced. - just because keith wickham was pretty good as james’ va doesn’t mean that rob rackstraw is good at being gordon’s va - are you telling me gordon broke down and decided to sleep instead of trying to call for help or have one of his passengers get help? - i can’t imagine how motion-sick those poor passengers must feel.

thomas the rubber band:

- where’s sir topham hatt been all this time? topham please save us from this alternate universe of chaos and despair - “a wall could hurt him” i mean, gordon also crashed face-first into a station wall once and he was relatively fine.. - the image of thomas being stretched out is one of the worst images from licensed material that i’ve ever seen.

thomas the elephant:

- this is it. this is the one. quite fitting that the most cursed short of them all is the thirteenth in the sequence. - emily’s scottish accent is cute, i hate that i’m hearing it in this context though. - that being said, twitter has already made all the jokes and invoked all the horror i possibly could, so i have nothing more to say on this short tbh

thomas & the birthday surprise:

- it’s the end. we laughed, we cried, we yelled at thomas for being dumb. i watched all 14 of these in one sitting and i will never be the same again. - fun fact: aside from nia and thomas’ voice actors staying the same, this whole set of shorts only had 2 people voicing all the characters. - you could just watch this short and ignore all the shorts before it. this one’s not great by any means, but it raises the fewest questions out of all of them. - except for how thomas and friends are gonna eat that cake. i imagine their crews just yeeting it into their fireboxes. - the moral of the story is that thomas needs to establish some boundaries, cranky needs to quit smoking, gordon is lazy, sir topham hatt is terrible at assigning jobs and has no idea what’s going on with his railway, captain joe shouldn’t leave skiff unattended, and percy is a fool.

[kitkatopinions]

The baby boy himself, Whitley!

(for the ask meme)

Whitley is so my baby, I love my child so much. I’m realizing I say ‘I’m really excited for this one’ for like every character I get for this ask game, but it’s because I’m having so much fun! These take a bit to write, but they are honestly so interesting to me, so as an fyi, if anyone does have any character they want to ask my about, but thinks they might be too late, or I might be uninterested, I’m still totally interested! It just might take me a bit to answer. :)

My top three ships for the character

Whitley/Oscar is my top ship for this in canon currently. It works best if Ozpin could somehow be separated from Oscar (which is theoretically possible I guess,) but yeah. Farm boy vs rich boy, they look cute together, their personalities could vibe, and they’re both snarky, but at heart caring and compassionate. Whitley/Mercury. I mentioned this in my Mercury ask, but I was writing a fic with @why-i-hate-rwby-now where Whitley and Mercury were thrown together and had to work together to escape their abusers, and I just kind of started shipping them while writing it. O.O Also Whitley/Penny is cute as heck and I could totally see her grounding him and also making him loosen up, while Penny thinks he’s funny and interesting.

My three least favorite ships for the character

Whitley/Blake. I don’t understand this ship, Blake just feels like more of an adult atm compared to Whitley - a literal child. (Yes, I realize I ship Whit with Merc, but A. I thought Merc was sixteen while I was writing that fanfiction and he acts kind of on the young side, while Blake has been acting ‘as an adult’ and being treated ‘as an adult’ for two seasons at least while directly talking to Whitley, and has always been more of a mature character for her age anyway.) But on top of that, Blake seems to treat Whitley like an in the way child and is kinda judgey to him, while Whitley barely seems to notice her. Whitley/Henry Marigold just feels bad. And Whitley/Yang. Again, Yang has been written as a nineteen year old demanding to be treated as an adult (though I wanna say she’s less mature than Blake) but also Yang is a hotheaded character and has been acting pushy lately, and that’s fine as a character flaw, but I feel like it just puts me off her for Whitley especially.

My biggest criticism for the character

He’s treated like he’s not a victim??? Like, his abuse and neglect and even his struggles are just... Not really gone into or acknowledged very much, Weiss acts like he has to prove himself before she can show him the slightest bit of sympathy or affection when she’s his big sister, his relationship with Jacques is glossed over and he isn’t given closure there, Willow’s neglect isn’t really acknowledged seriously, Winter seeming totally disinterested in him doesn’t feel like it even matters, Weiss is treated as blameless in her and Whitley’s problems. And the writing kind of frames Whitley as having gotten a redemption, when the worst things he did was be a bit of an asshole while in an abusive situation as like a fourteen-fifteen year old with no aura or glyphs or fighting ability. Emerald and Whitley’s volume 8 arcs should not be comparable! Emerald is a full on murderer and was still willingly working with Cinder to attack people as a nineteen year old woman, and yet she and Whitley are treated very similarly by the narrative (helping one person and then that ‘making up for’ their ‘past mistakes’ and then them just being on the good side and carrying the team’s actions until the pathways arrive and they both go to Vacuo. To be clear, I think this framing was too much for Whitley since he never even needed a redemption at all imo, and not enough for Emerald, the literal murderer of Penny who was just recently willingly helping Cinder try and murder Penny once again.) Whitley should’ve been treated as the child he is, he should’ve been treated as the victim he is.

My favorite thing about the character

His potential dynamics, but specifically with Weiss. He and Weiss both had almost the exact same upbringing, only Weiss actually had more support, but guys... The way the two of them coped had similarities, but were also very different. Weiss hid behind anger and sternness, Whitley hid behind peppiness and smiles. Weiss copied Winter, Whitley copied Jacques. Weiss was always afraid of people putting on acts around her, Whitley was constantly putting on acts as a means of survival. Each of them are plagued by jealousy, pettiness, judgmental behavior, and they both have good qualities that are similar, but they both are too prejudice against each other to see those good qualities and need to learn to understand where the other is coming from. Weiss is a fighter, but a follower, while Whitley seems to have a bit of a ‘fawn’ tendency, but plans and enacts schemes under the table (even if it doesn’t have to be, like with Nora! Whitley’s instincts were to just figure out how to help Nora and then go off and do it alone without telling any of the obviously antsy people with guns what he was doing - after he was spying on them lol.) I just love the possibilities that exist with two characters that are so similar, but so fundamentally different. Also I’d love to see him resentful of Winter and snarky and passive aggressive with her, and Winter not really getting the problem, and Weiss having to mediate between them. Idk, there are so many possibilities of amazing interactions and connections Whitley could have with the others, and he could be a really new, good viewpoint if he was allowed to flourish. And maybe became kind of a ‘guy in the chair’ more permanent part of the team. Like, I know we don’t need more character bloat, but let me dream!

A headcanon I have about them

Before Weiss lost her inheritance, Whitley was sort of tasked with learning everything but being head of the company, like he was learning the financial side of things, the technological side of things, ordering, inventory, scheduling, all about Dust and mine operations... And Whitley’s naturally academic and a fast learner, so he absorbed a lot of it. But yeah, I think Jacques was trying to train Whitley up to be a sort of always available PA of Weiss’s that could handle anything she didn’t want to do / was too busy to do, and that was something Whitley really resented too. His skillset was essentially being crafted around helping Weiss, but never learning how to actually manage the company itself and severely lacking in the social side of things, like he’d never be able to make a proper speech. Also, like pretty much everyone I think he plays piano and writes his own music compositions (which in my headcanons he subconsciously writes to include vocals only for him to then get bothered that even his music seems influenced by Weiss. XD) Also I know this is three headcanons, but if he had been trained to fight, he would’ve used duel pistols and would’ve eventually developed a ‘born out of trauma’ semblance.

What I would change about them if I was making a re-write

I’d just allow his status as a victim to be recognized and for him to have the sympathy I feel his character deserves. I’d have him and Weiss both framed as having contributed to their bad relationship, but Weiss - as the sister four to five years older than him - would be the one who makes the first moves towards repairing it, proving she has changed enough to put aside her pettiness and be there for the brother she does truly love. I’d also get Willow away from him, or at least let Whitley be angry and distant and not have their relationship fixed over the course of an in-universe day. This is why I say there should’ve been another Atlas season, which I think is what I’d do when it boils down to it. With every plot point coming fast and then being pushed on the back burner for the next plot point, there’s no time to focus on any of it or to give the character’s sufficient growth from it. So then things like Willow having her hand glued to Whitley’s shoulder feels very ingenuine, because their ‘growth’ was so rushed. So yeah, I’d really just add an extra season and let Weiss recognize that Whitley is also an abuse victim, make her be the one to start making steps to be there for him, and let things like his relationship with his mother come slower and not be an easy fix. Also I’d have Winter acknowledge that she has a brother more regularly and have her actually care about him, even if she hasn’t shown it well at all.

What I I think of their character allusion and what (if anything) I would change about it

Whitley has no assigned character allusion and his name doesn’t offer very many hints, since it literally just means white meadow/field snow, but it’s easy enough to assume that like Weiss and Jacques - Snow White and Jack Frost - Whitley’s character allusion has something to do with the cold. I agree with the general opinion that he’s connected to ‘the Snow Queen,’ and is likely meant to be Kai, a once kind hearted boy who gets a piece of a magic mirror in his eye that only lets him see the bad in people and gets kidnapped by the snow queen. His best friend Gerda goes on a quest to save him - encountering a land of eternal summer and a talking crow amongst other things - and temporarily forgets him due to an enchantment, but then finds him almost frozen over and saves him by crying on him and through the power of her love that literally makes people and nature bend to her will, Gerda rescues Kai and dislodges the mirror piece from his eye so that he can be cheerful again. Pretty in tune with how the writers wrote things. I don’t mind this, but if Whitley is meant to be Kai and Weiss is meant to be his Gerda, there were two missed opportunities here that could’ve been great. One, Gerda is reminded of her love for Kai whenever she sees red roses, and Ruby and Whitley have a few similar mannerisms and kind of similar coping through their ‘cheery exterior’s’ even f Ruby’s lost all her sass and Whitley’s never had her spazzy, dorky, rough around the edges traits. I think it would’ve been cute and make for a more interesting dynamic if Weiss had mentioned to Ruby in volumes 1-3 that Ruby reminds her of her brother, and if it had made Weiss both harder on Ruby (since she and Whitley are estranged and he does drive her crazy a lot lol) but it also made Ruby all the more endearing to her and is one of the reasons they could be friends fairly fast despite Weiss’s early animosity (since she loves her brother and the traits he shares with Ruby compliment hers.) The next missed opportunity I can think of is that everyone thinks Kai is dead in the Snow Queen for a bit, but Gerda doesn’t believe it and goes looking for him instead. You could easily fit this into a narrative where everyone else has given up Whitley as a lost cause, but Weiss won’t believe that and is determined to help and to get close to Whitley again, which is what I think I’d want to go with. But also, a Whitley death fake out? That could be very good and very emotional. And it’d be easy omg. Weiss could think the Hound has killed him sometime during the fight (even if just for a moment,) but also if Whitley had been the first one to fall in the void instead of going through to Vacuo O.O 

Idk if we’ll ever get his character allusion confirmed, but if it isn’t someone from the Snow Queen, I feel like the whole fandom will say “What?!” at the exact same time. XD 

[feelingfredly]

Sometimes Not Seeing Is Believing

Bam, bam, bam. The loft door rattled in its track.

“Come on, dude… open the door.” Stiles yelled; frustration lanced through the words, but Derek didn’t move.

“I know you’re home,” more rustling, Stiles's hands were full of something, “and if you wanted to pretend you weren’t home, you shouldn’t have left the Camaro out front.  Now open the damn door or I’m going to drop all this shit and the place is going to stink of l’eau de wolfsbane for weeks.”

Derek listened as Stiles juggled things from hand to hand and sighed.  Which was worse, Stiles or wolfsbane?  Stiles or… Yeah, he’d take the wolfsbane.  It would hurt less.

He waited, listening as the bags shifted again, and rolled his eyes when he heard keys clinking together as Stiles finally gave up on him and unlocked the door for himself.  The very same door whose locks he had just changed for the fourth time.  In six months. He wondered if there was a spell Stiles used to copy his keys.  He was too much of a spaz to be such a successful pickpocket.

“I’m not in the mood, Stiles.”

Long limbs flailed their way across the living room until Stiles finally coasted to a stop at the table, dumping bags and boxes on the surface, the smell of Thai mixing with wolfsbane and cinnamon and lightning.  It shouldn’t have been as appealing as it was, but this was Stiles and for some reason rules didn’t apply to Stiles.

“You’re never in the mood, Sourwolf,” he snarked, a pink lip curled up in a grin that was half-mocking half serious. “If I didn’t know Braedon better, I’d recommend you get the hardware checked out, but clearly it’s a software problem, or you wouldn’t be such an asshole about it all the time.”

Derek refused to get angry; it had stopped keeping the younger man away a long time ago, and it was exhausting. “You know a lot about assholes?”

Stiles gave him a carefully casual look, his eyes just a little bigger than usual, but Derek could hear the stutter in his heartbeat as he responded. “Assholes? If you mean the coffeeshop kind or the grocery store kind, then yeah, I run into them all the time. But, like real assholes?  Hardware kinds of assholes?  I know as much as the next sexually curious bi-guy, but if you’re looking for something deeper—Oh my God, I just said deeper about your asshole—shit. No.” He scrubbed a hand through the long mop of hair that insisted on flopping over his forehead. “Assholes, right. Because if you do have an actual hardware problem, I could probably track down one of Deaton’s contacts and we could get you…”

Derek watched as the chaos unfolded in front of him, the blush that tinged the tips of Stiles's ears, and the way his voice dropped and graveled out as he spoke.

“They say,” he said, a little louder than usual, “if you run into an asshole in the morning, you run into an asshole.” Derek’s tone cut straight through the babble, and Stiles stared at him, surprised and confused at the conversational hijacking.

“Dude, that’s like Tautology 101, right?”

Amber eyes fixed on him, now curious and waiting for what would come next, and Derek forced himself to hold the gaze.

“Right, right, but it’s the next part that’s important.”

Stiles leaned forward, his chest a little out over the edge of the counter, and Derek noticed the way his nipples pressed against the fabric of his thin shirt, how the stretched-out neck showed the shadow along his clavicle, how it framed the hummingbird beating of the pulse point at the base of his throat.

“Okay,” he said. “Go on.”

“So, if you run into an asshole in the morning, you run into an asshole. But if you run into assholes all day—like at the coffee shop or the grocery or my apartment—then then you’re the asshole.”

Derek could see the wheels turning and felt a burst of satisfaction when Stiles froze as the penny dropped.

“Oh my God, Dude.  You’re such an asshole.” Amber eyes disappeared in crinkled laugh lines, shoulders shaking, and floppy hair…  flopping, and Derek couldn’t help the tightness that squeezed his lungs, his breath short and his heart kicking up a beat.

“And there’s my point made.” Derek rested a hip on the edge of the table, forcing himself back to blasé, and looked at the mess. “What is all this?”

Stiles was still staring at him stunned, his jaw now slack, pink lips parted, and Derek fought the urge to reach over and snap it shut or thumb it further open. He wanted to thrust the callused pad of his finger against Stiles's tongue and teeth, to hold his mouth captive and revel in its wet heat. He wanted to…  well, he just wanted.

A moment passed, and then another, and suddenly Stiles was back with him, laughter gone and the full force of his attention a heavy weight in the echoing space between them.

“Well this,” he indicated the plastic bags full of takeout, “is dinner from that new place over on 4th.  Peter mentioned that you’d been there and liked it, so I figured it was a suitable bribe for the rest of it.”

Thanks Peter, Derek thought tiredly. Peter and Stiles had been spending time together since the nogitsune was killed. He’d wondered about it in the beginning, half-afraid that Stiles was going to try to commit suicide by werewolf, but it made a strange kind of sense.  Peter knew what it was like to be helplessly trapped in his own body, and although neither of them liked to admit it, they were people who lived their lives hyperaware of the chessboard that stretched out around them. They spent their days evaluating other people for their strengths and weaknesses and cataloging the weaknesses for the next time someone needed to be taken out of the game.  As the Hale Pack’s Left Hand, Peter had been trained to ruthlessness from childhood. He espoused the belief that everything was a weapon if you knew how to wield it, and then the fire had stripped away any of his remaining hesitance to wield those weapons to their greatest destruction; the nogitsune had burned away Stiles's.  They were predators and they recognized themselves in each other, and instead of fear or awkwardness they found companionship.

The world should be terrified; Derek was. He was also more than a little jealous of their closeness, but that was an entirely different problem.

“The rest of it?  Including whichever one of these things reeks of wolfsbane? I’m not sure Thai is enough of a bribe for me to let you poison me.”

Stiles gave him a lopsided grin. “I wouldn’t poison you, Der.” His grin turned sharp and sharklike. “At least not much. I just need to test it on you to make sure it will work on other weres.”

Derek snorted. “And you didn’t think Peter would be a better target for your experiments?”

That got him a shrugged shoulder.  “He offered, but I didn’t think it was a good idea.”

Peter offered?  To let Stiles poison him?

“Okay,” he looked at the younger man suspiciously, “you’ve got my attention. That requires an explanation.  Or two.  Uncle Peter—my Uncle Peter—offered to let you poison him?  And you turned him down? I don’t follow.”

Stiles's grin softened a little, the shark-teeth disappearing behind pink lips, but the sharpness was still there in his smile. It was always there.  Derek dreamed of that smile. Of those sharp eyes and teeth. “I know, I know.  It seems too good to be true, but really, it isn’t a good idea.”

“And poisoning me is?” Derek poked the Gordian knot of Stiles's words harder.  When Stiles danced around something like this it was never a good thing.  Better to get it all out in the open and work backwards from no.

“Now don’t get your knickers in a knot, Grumpywolf. This isn’t like normally poisoning someone.  I mean it is poisonous, but then so is water in the right situation. Or the wrong situation? You know, drowning, water intoxication, all that jazz?”

“No, Stiles,” Derek sighed.  He sighed a lot these days.  It was a bad habit he picked up from having been around too many teenagers over the past few years. “I don’t know what you mean by all that jazz.  Enlighten me.”

Stiles nodded, and somehow having been given permission to spew data, instead his brain settled down and focused. “Poisoning is when any substance interferes with normal body functions after it is swallowed, inhaled, injected, or absorbed, lots of things can be poisons. Technically.  So, I’ve managed to cobble together a combination of wolfsbane, kanima skin—don’t ask how I got it, you don’t want to know—and a few other wonders of the botanical and magical world and have created an incredibly potentially poisonous invisibility potion.”

Derek stiffened. “An invisibility potion?”

Stiles laughed a little shakily, waving his hands around, long fingers wiggling in his best abracadabra kind of motion. “I know right?  Harry Potter eat your heart out.  But really…  it worked for me—mostly—but because it’s got a fairly massive amount of aconite in it, I’m worried about using it on any of our moon-affected family and friends.  Plus, I don’t think Peter really needs the temptation of being able to turn invisible whenever he wants to.  I mean, he’s hard enough to keep track of when I can see him.  He doesn’t need any help creeping.”

An invisible Peter. Derek shuddered. Now that was a terrifying thought. Actually, an invisible Stiles was almost as terrifying.  There was no telling what he’d get into and Derek wouldn’t be able to see him, to protect him, to… hang on a second. He said it worked for him. That meant that he-- 

“Are you insane?” Derek’s voice cracked under the strain of not yelling, the racing train of his thoughts running through all the ways that could’ve gone wrong, and he wouldn’t even have known that Stiles was in danger.  His heart tried to beat its way out of his chest, and he felt his claws dig into the wooden tabletop. “Making something that dangerous without telling anyone?”

“Hey now, hold up, Sourwolf,” Stiles grabbed his hand, pulling Derek back to himself in a rush.  “No need to get all growly. We’re in total agreement: no superpowers for Peter.”

Derek sucked in a breath, the heat of Stiles's hand on his drawing his focus, and he flashed his eyes angrily. “Kind of missing the point here, genius.” He forced himself to breathe. “I’m upset that you drank something poisonous. Superpowers for Peter would be better than you being dead.” His wolf howled in the back of his mind, protective and frustrated and helpless.  So damn helpless when it came to Stiles. Didn’t the man have any sense of self-preservation? “So, before I call the Sheriff and start telling him things you would really rather he not know, you’d better start explaining.  Now.”

He smelled the surprise rolling off the younger man, Derek’s reaction clearly unexpected, and he felt a stab of remorse. Over the years that Stiles ran with the pack his health and safety had often been an afterthought rather than a priority. He’d sacrificed his body time and again without appreciation or recognition.  Derek was the first to admit that he had been a lousy Alpha to the human in the pack, and later, after he’d lost his Alpha spark, he’d abandoned Beacon Hills and everyone in it. Derek had wandered the world with Cora and Braedon finding himself, picking up the pieces of his own life, but he’d never been there to help pick up the pieces of Stiles's, never been there to help or hold or heal him, and now, for his sins, he couldn’t change the dynamic no matter how he ached to.

“Huh.” The hand resting on his pulled away finally and he watched it as Stiles pushed it shakily through his hair. “First off, I guess, I was never in any danger, so pulling the Dad card is totally unnecessary, dude.  My, uh, my spark has gotten strong enough that I can pretty much burn out any poison in my system if I know what it is and that it’s there, so my testing the potion for its poison factor was a non-thing.  Not a nothing, because the test was definitely a something, but it wasn’t a thing thing. Like a capital T thing. And as you can see, I didn’t turn into an ever-loving, blue-eyed Thing—although Peter’s eyes are blue and he’d probably love that comparison. He’d probably turn it into some sort of sex stamina reference and then we’d never hear the end of it.—the”

“Stiles.” Derek rubbed his eyes and sighed.  Again. “Focus.”

Pink tinged Stiles's cheeks and he could hear the skip-skip-pause of his heart as the younger man wound down and refocused on the subject at hand.

“Yeah. Right. So, the point was there was no danger for the Stiles and no need to include the Sheriff—which is still a low blow, even if he does know about the monthly fur-and-fang-a-thon—but still superpowers for Peter would be a tick in the bad column, so I’m here with Thai and potentially poisonous potions for you to consume.  If you’re willing.”

Derek raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think my having superpowers would be a bad thing?”

Stiles snorted. “Dude. You having superpowers would be awesome!  You’d be like Thor to Peter’s Loki. Iron Man to his Ultron. Superman to his Lex Luthor.”

“Batman to his Ra’s al Ghul?”

Stiles cocked an eyebrow at him way too seriously. “All the points for knowing the pairing, but no. You’re never going to be Batman.”

Derek snorted. “Let me guess. Because you’re Batman?” Stiles shook his head.

“Wrong again, my wolfy friend.” Derek watched as long fingers pulled a bag across the table, rattling the vials and jars inside. “The Bat’s a loner that’s given up on relationships.  He has like two people at a time that he lets in his world—that’s all he has room for, and all he wants.  More than he wants, sometimes. No, you’re not Batman because even though someone killed your family, they didn’t kill your hope. The world may kick your ass over and over again, but you just keep getting back up and putting the Jenga-tower of your life back together, and every time it’s a little better, taller, stronger, sometimes with new pieces you find and adopt along the way.  It ain’t pretty, but it’s pretty awesome.”

Stiles's eyes glowed a little around their amber irises and Derek didn’t hear a single hiccup in his heartbeat. The faith he had… it took his breath away. Was there anything he wouldn’t be willing to do for this man?�� Probably not.  He just had to hope that no one figured that out—especially Stiles. 

“Whatever,” Derek said, pushing away from the table and grabbing the bag of Thai with a forced eye roll, and moving it to the other counter. “But I’m not eating until afterwards.  Throwing up when the potion goes wrong would suck.”

Stiles nodded and grabbed his things, settling on a stool at the table. “Sounds reasonable to me, which doesn’t mean much but hey! It’s better than sounding unreasonable, which is where most of our plans start.”

There was no point in arguing.  It was true.

“So, this potion… I’m assuming that you have more of the wolfsbane you used in it to burn and dose me if it goes wrong.”

Stiles nodded as he pulled one of the jars from the bag and shook it before setting it out with the other assorting jars lined up in front of him. “I’ve actually already burned a couple of blooms and have them ready to go.  I’m pretty positive that you won’t feel anything from the aconite—it should be completely neutralized now that it’s bonded with the other ingredients—but I’ve been absolutely positive about things that have gone sideways before, as Scott can attest.”

“Hell, I can attest to that.” Derek crossed his arms across his chest. “Remember the harpy repellant?”

Stiles opened his mouth to say something—probably to argue again that anyone that wasn’t an expert in medieval Latin could have mixed up the recipes for a repellant and an attractant, again—but the words faded as his gaze lingered on his biceps a little longer than usual. Derek’s wolf stretched and sniffed with interest at the faint spike of arousal that wove through the Spark’s scent, and he forced himself not to move, not to lean across the table and reel him in, not to cage him with the muscles that the younger man seemed to like so much. Once Derek crossed that line there would be no going back for him, and he wouldn’t let his wolf push him into grabbing something that would never satisfy.

He wanted all of Stiles or nothing, and he knew he’d probably never have all of him. Knowledge, though, did nothing to stop the yearning.

“Yes.  Yes, you’re right.  But you have to admit that once we knew what I’d actually made instead of what I thought I was making, that it worked like fuck. I mean we had harpies for days.  It was like a Best of Runescape monster farming mission.  I swear Isaac leveled up three times that week.”

Derek shook his head. “You have the strangest way of looking at things.”

Stiles raised a shoulder rose in an unusually graceful shrug. “Silver linings, dude. You should embrace them.”

Derek didn’t say that he embraced the silver lining of having Stiles in the pack every day, regardless of how it tormented his wolf.

“Werewolves and silver don’t mix.” Stiles rolled his eyes and Derek gave him a half-hearted glare. “And don’t call me dude.”

“It’s Beacon Hills, Sourwolf,” he said. “The silver lining is the only thing that keeps me going.”

There was a stutter in Stiles's heartbeat, and Derek cast a sidelong glance at the Spark. It made sense that there was something important that kept him going, but it was strange that he felt the need to hide it. Derek respected secrets, though. He had more than enough of his own.

“Whatever works.” He let the subject drop and turned his attention back to the pile of magical detritus on the table. “So, are we going to do this or not?”

Stiles let out a breathless laugh. “Masochist. Can’t even wait for me to poison you.”

“Not a masochist,” he said, spreading his hands expansively. “More of a control freak.  Peter isn’t the only one who likes to be in control of things you know.”

“Yeeeaaaahhh.” The word sounded like it had been stretched on a rack until it was just a breathless hiss. “Not touching that one with a ten-foot pole.”

Derek let the corner of his mouth twitch, grabbing the opportunity to tease a little. “You can’t tell me you’ve never thought about it, Stiles. It’s like the boxers/briefs question you were obsessed with back in high school.  The logical next step would be who’s a top and who’s,” he paused to let the words land between them, “not.”

The younger man shook his head, like the motion would dislodge the thoughts inside, and frowned. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Not playing that game with you, Sourwolf.”

The ‘wolf leaned in infinitesimally, enjoying watching the other man shift on his stool. “So, there’s another game you’d prefer to play.  All you had to do was say something.”

The pink on Stiles's cheeks ripened to rose and the mottled edge of embarrassment spread beneath the collar of his shirt. The burnt cinnamon and ozone that was his constant scent deepened with musk and salt and the sticky iron scent of blood rushing close to the surface of moon-pale skin. Derek’s mouth watered, and he could feel the itch of his canines threatening to drop with his need to bite, to mark, to claim and keep.

Dark eyes, gleaming and liquid, fixed on him and he could feel the air thicken and slow around them, time bending around them, like a river passing over rocks. 

“Keep that up and I’m not going to feel bad if this experiment goes badly.” Stiles's voice was rough, and Derek’s wolf howled with satisfaction knowing that he wasn’t the only one affected.

He considered teasing more, drawling something suggestive about experimentation or making sure Stiles never felt bad again, but he backed off instead.  This was prey he couldn’t afford to spook.

“Well,” he said, rocking back on his heels to give the younger man breathing room, “I can’t have that.  I am putting myself in your hands after all.”

It was more truth than he usually shared, but there was enough camouflage for it to look harmless.

Stiles stared, the heat of his blush still radiating even as the color faded, and Derek waited.  His wolf wouldn’t let him drop his eyes, but he didn’t push beyond that challenge.

“Okay.” There was a world in the word, and he watched as the tightness slowly leached out of Stiles's shoulders as he sucked in a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s get this party started.”

Back in his safety zone, Stiles pushed the first of three vials across the table, keeping the larger jars of ash and herbs—and was that charcoal?—to the side, before tapping it with a long finger.

“This is the actual invisibility part of things.  It doesn’t taste too bad, or at least it didn’t to my human taste buds. There’s no guarantee that you won’t smell or taste something I can’t, but it shouldn’t be too noxious.  I measured the dose to give you about fifteen minutes of full activation.  You’re bigger than I am, and this much lasted about twenty-five minutes for me.”

Derek picked up the vial. “Just drink it?”

“Yeah, dude, just knock it back like a bad wolfbane shot at one of the betas’ parties.  It should have less aftertaste than the stuff they add to their liquor.”

“And instead of drunk I end up invisible.”

Stiles couldn’t hold back a little laugh. “That is the hope.”

Derek tilted the test tube and watched the silvery liquid run back and forth. “And the other ones?”

Stiles jerked a little, pulling his eyes away from where he’d been watching Derek’s hands, almost hypnotized. “Well, that’s the thing.  For a human, making someone invisible is huge, but for weres there are other issues.”

Derek nodded. “Like heartbeat or scent.”

“Exactly.” Stiles held up a test tube of thick purple liquid. “This is my best attempt so far at something that will muffle the bio-sounds—breathing, heartbeat, joints popping, all that stuff. The other one,” he picked up the third, gently waving it, the shimmery rose gold liquid coating the glass, “masks scent. It’s going to be the hardest to test because scent isn’t a thing for me like it is for you, so I guess I could take it—”

“No.” Derek cut him off.  The thought of not being able to smell Stiles's scent made him grit his teeth and fight back a growl. “It’d be better if we tested that with another were.”

“But I was thinking that as Alpha your senses are better than any of the betas, so if you can’t—”

“No, Stiles,” he refused. “I’ll try it later.  We’re already pushing the parameters of a reasonable test with two senses.”

Stiles cocked an eyebrow at him, clearly ready to argue the points, but he backed down, probably realizing that he was lucky to be getting cooperation with as much as he was.

“I guess that’s okay,” he said, slipping the rose gold potion back into his bag, and Derek reached out and touched his hand.

“We’ll do it later. I would just be more comfortable doing this in stages.”

Something thoughtful moved behind Stiles's eyes and Derek watched as he came to some conclusion before he accepted everything.

“Sure, Sourwolf. It’s got to be a little weird for you, messing with the wolf senses and all. We’ll put the stealth potion back, too, for now.”

Derek wondered what Stiles would think if he knew just how much he messed with his wolf without the help of any potions, and how the wolf wanted more, not less.

“Probably a good idea.  Isn’t like you’re the best judge of stealth either—I’ve seen twelve-year-olds on roller-skates sneak up on you.”

Long limbs flailed a little, like he could fend off the words that way.

“I was focused, Der. Focused.” Stiles huffed for a moment and then shrugged. “But to be fair, true enough.  I should probably let you test those out against Peter.  I’ve noticed that even though he doesn’t have the whole Alpha-upgrade anymore, he seems to be more aware of his surroundings than everyone else.”

Derek made a dismissive noise. His wolf didn’t like the careless praise of another’s skills. “Born not bitten.  He’s had longer to get used to it; he doesn’t have to re-frame things when he notices them.”

He watched Stiles's face as the tumblers turned in the Spark’s head and could almost hear it when they clicked into place and another thought was unlocked.

“That actually makes a lot of sense.  Kind of like learning a new language. In the beginning you’re doing that English to whatever translation in your head until one day it just sort of snaps into place and suddenly you’re thinking in Urdu.”

“Well, I’ve never studied Urdu…” He spread his fingers out on the tabletop and let the comment just hang, smothering a grin as he watched the man across the table’s eyes grow large in disbelief.

“Look who’s found his sense of humor finally!” The disbelief faded from Stiles's expression and was replaced by something that in the dark, when he was alone, Derek might call affection.

In that same dark, Derek might admit he wanted to see it again.

They sat there for a minute, the quiet stretching between them until it started to curl at the edges, and Derek knew he had to steer things away from the rocks just beneath the surface of his emotions.

He cleared his throat and uncorked the vial, the time for discussion past. He raised an eyebrow and Stiles raised one of his own in reply and that was it.  He knocked back the few tablespoons of liquid, the scent of wolfsbane sharp but not overwhelming, and waited as the younger man watched him swallow.

Stiles's eyes followed the movement of his throat and when his forehead creased into a frown Derek thought the potion must have failed, but then a slow smile spread across the Spark’s face. He reached out, long fingers almost touching Derek’s hand on the table, but then pulled back at the last moment.

“Moonlight disappears down the hills, mountains vanish into fog, and Sourwolf vanishes not into poetry, but into thin air.” Stiles's voice was soft, almost somber. “Still with me, Der?”

Derek looked at his hands.  He could still see them, so apparently the potion didn’t affect his view of himself, just how others perceived him. “Still here.  Nothing actually looks different from my side of the equation.”

Stiles nodded. “That’s the way it’s supposed to work.  No good being invisible if you misjudge your reach and knock shit over while you’re trying to be all sneaky.  I know that’s probably more a me thing than a wolf thing, but still seemed like the better choice of action.”

Derek nodded and then realized how stupid that was.  Stiles couldn’t see him. “I’m sure there are a few of the pack that would benefit from it as well. I know Isaac still doubts his senses sometimes.”

Amber eyes widened a little. “This is so freaky.  I can hear you, but I can’t see you. Like, if I closed my eyes I could reach out and find you by touch, but just to look…  you’re not there.”

Something about that image—Stiles reaching for him with his eyes closed—pleased Derek’s wolf. “Try it.  See if you can find me with your eyes closed.”

He shifted his weight and moved a step to the left of where he’d been standing, but he left his hands trailing on the tabletop. Stiles tilted his head slightly and closed his eyes, listening, but Derek had been practicing stealth since he was a pup playing hide and seek in the Preserve.

A moment passed and he could almost hear Stiles's heartbeat in the silence. Another. And another. Suddenly a hand shot out and before he could move there were long fingers around his wrist, their grip tight and dry and slightly callused from wear.

“Caught you.”

The words were breathless and hoarse, and Derek froze at the sound.  Then, he moved.

A twist and a quick levering of his arm had him free and he took two large steps to the side and then two forward, landing silently behind Stiles, ready to move again if he needed to.

“So,” the words, this time, came with a twist of a grin, “you want to play, hmm?”

Derek’s wolf pranced and pawed at the ground, wanting to nip and tug and pull and pin, but the man simply watched and waited as the Spark cocked his head to the side once more and listened.

He wasn’t sure what Stiles was listening to; he was holding his breath, and was standing stock still, no movement or sound of clothing to give him away, but somehow, he was fairly certain Stiles knew exactly where he was.

The Spark shifted his weight and pulled his hand closer to his body before spinning, his hand swinging out in an arc that ended with those damnable fingers wrapped around Derek’s arm just above his elbow.

“Caught you again, Sourwolf.”

His grin spread, taking over his face, and Derek found himself caught in the wild joy that gleamed in his eyes. Then, Stiles's face changed, the eyes focusing on him in a way they hadn’t, and he figured the potion had worn off.

“There you are!” The almost-fondness was back, and Derek couldn’t stop his answering smile.

“Here I am.” He looked down at the hand still gripping his arm. “I have to say, you’re a better hunter when you’re blind than I gave you credit for.”

Stiles let go slowly, fingers dragging over warm skin, until he’d pulled back completely, and all Derek could feel was the echo of his touch.

“It was strange.  I couldn’t see you with my eyes, but I could feel where you were and could almost see where you were going to be.”

That was different.  Stiles was a lot of things but tuned into his surroundings wasn’t one of them.

“Do you think you might have some connection to the potion because you made it?  You could feel me through the magic?”

Stiles paused and looked at him, long and slow, and Derek realized he was looking at him with his spark and not with his eyes. He wondered what his wolf looked like.

“I suppose.  Won’t know until we try it on someone else.”

There was a hesitance in his voice and Derek sighed. “Uncle Peter gets superpowers?”

Stiles grabbed the Thai and put it back on the table between them, dragging cartons and cutlery out before nodding reluctantly. “Looks that way, dude. At least this will give us a chance to test all the potions at once, now that we know that the potentially poisonous one isn’t actually, you know…” he waved his hand, “poisonous.”

Derek grabbed his Gka Prow Gai, frowning down into the carton thinking of all the ways this could go wrong. “Silver lining, I guess. And don’t call me dude.”

***

After five years you’d think he’d have lost the impulse to kill his uncle, but you’d be wrong. Very wrong.

“Darling,” Peter gushed, looking at the array of potion vials in his hand, “this is simply amazing.  Let me take you away from here, Beacon Hills has nothing to offer you.  We can go to Paris—I’m sure Chris would open the little pied-à-terre on the Rue de Ponthieu for us, and there’s a magick shop just down further along the Champs-Élysées that--”

Derek growled and Stiles rubbed a hand over his face. “No, Peter. We talked about this.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Yes, but that was before I truly grasped the depth and breadth of your talent.  This,” he waved the invisibility potion back and forth dramatically, “this changes things.”

Stiles rolled his eyes hard enough that Derek could hear it. “Nothing has changed, Peter. Nothing.  Back off. No means no. Consent is sexy. All those things.  Write them on your hand if you need help remembering.”

“I’d be happy to help. I could carve them into the back of his hand with one of Chris’s wolfsbane blades,” Derek said, sotto voce.  Peter, of course, heard him as if he’d shouted.  Which was what he intended, so it all worked out.

“I just think that you’re undervaluing yourself, Stiles,” the older were said, ignoring Derek’s comment and lounging against the side of Stiles's jeep until he looked like an ad for one of those terrible smelling colognes that humans seemed to love. “With skills like these, you could take the world by storm.”

Stiles snorted. “You mean you could take the world by storm if you had constant and controlling access to skills like these, and I’ve told you before, I don’t need a manager, a gigolo, or an overgrown juvenile delinquent to help me prove my value.”

Derek smothered a grin. With his v-necks and his perfect tan Uncle Peter would make an excellent gigolo.  Maybe they should set up a Craigslist ad for him. He’d have to suggest it to Stiles the next time Peter was being particularly annoying.

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” Peter shook his head, clearly dismayed at Stiles's short-sightedness. “Just promise me you’ll keep an open mind for when Beacon Hills finally loses its charm.”

The idea of Stiles wanting to leave made him itch, like his skin didn’t fit right.  “I’m sure that Stiles could find a better offer if he decided that he didn’t want to be here anymore, Uncle Peter.  He doesn’t have to settle for hauling his personal zombie plague around with him.”

He caught a flash of amber eyes, wide and surprised, and gritted his teeth.  Stiles could have the world on a string.  He should know Peter was never his best option.

“Be that as it may, nephew, Stiles isn’t foolish enough—”

“Can we get back to the testing?” Impatience, thy name is Stilinski. “I mean, all this back and forth about leaving is pointless because A) I’m not leaving Beacon Hills. I like it here.  All my favorite people are here. And B) It isn’t like I’m going to take your advice anyway, Peter.  The last time I did I ended up having to offer a favor to that skeevey ghoul guy that works for the FBI. Not something I want a repeat performance of, thanks.”

Derek jerked around and glared at his uncle. “You got him involved with a ghoul? Are you crazy?” He let out a huff of breath. “Don’t bother answering that.  Of course, you’re crazy—we already knew that.  Now we know that Stiles is crazy, too, because he’s definitely not stupid, and yet he lets you talk him into this crap.”

That got him an unrepentant grin. “It’s called plausible deniability, Sourwolf. Peter’s got broad shoulders—perfect for taking the blame for some of my less, ah, judicious decisions.”

Peter preened. “See Derek? Stiles needs me.”

It was going to take another five years to not want to kill him, at this rate.  At least.

“What Stiles needs,” he said, trying not to think about Stiles's interest in his uncle’s shoulders, “is a guinea pig, and you are a pig. So, drink the damn potion, already.  I’m going to sit over here and hope you get a rash from the wolfsbane. Who knows? The Universe might decide that today is my lucky day, and you’ll actually keel over from aconite poisoning.”

Stiles shifted his weight slightly, a chagrined look on his face. “Actually, Der, I was thinking about it, and I think that you should take the invisibility potion, and the other two this time, too, and Peter can do the whole Where’s Wolfie thing and see if he can sense you.  It’s a better plan than you using your super-alpha senses to find him, because odds are good that we won’t be using this stuff to hide from alphas, just betas and omegas and puny little humans, so we need to see how a beta would fare against it.”

It made sense, but it still rankled.  His wolf didn’t like allowing the older man to effectively hunt him.  He wasn’t prey; he especially wasn’t Peter’s prey. It was what Stiles wanted, though, so he soothed the wolf with thoughts of satisfying his mate. It didn’t mean he wasn’t going to use all his advantages against the other wolf, though.

“That’s why I wanted to do this out here in the Preserve. Once the potions have kicked in, it should be a good road test for how it might be used in a fight situation.”

Peter stopped lounging. “So, you really have made this work? He was completely invisible?”

Stiles nodded. “Completely.  There was some magical bleed through, I think. A vibration. I could almost feel where he was, but he hadn’t taken the sound dampener or the scent blocker, so those may solve the problem.”

Derek watched as the two of them discussed the finer points of the potions and he waited until they’d ironed out all the parameters for the experiment, and then braced himself for the terrible taste of wolfsbane and knocked back the three potions.

It was strange how similar Peter and Stiles's expressions were, until suddenly, they really, really weren’t the same at all. Peter’s eyes were wide and disbelieving, and Stiles's were bright, the amber lit with mischief and happiness as the invisibility kicked in.

“Told you, Zombiewolf. Now…  you tell me what you can sense.” Stiles sounded smug, but honestly he deserved to be smug about this.

“Well,” Peter said, finally, “clearly I can’t see him. And I can’t hear his heartbeat or hear him breathing.”

Stiles nodded. “Good.  Still just standing there, Der?”

A terrible, no good, very bad thought took root.  He didn’t have to play along nicely, so he wasn’t going to.  Screw Peter.  He moved lightly to the side, circling a little towards the older wolf.

“Derek?” Stiles asked again, but Derek didn’t reply.  The potion wasn’t supposed to block intentional communication, but he could play that off for a while.

“Huh, I wonder if the potion silenced his speech.”

Peter was scanning the area but still wasn’t focused on where he was standing. “It isn’t like we’d be missing much.  My dear nephew isn’t exactly loquacious.”

“He talks when he needs to,” Stiles said, a slightly far-away look on his face as he turned and looked directly at where Derek was standing, “and when he does it’s worth listening to.  Unlike a few others I can name.”

Peter cocked his head to one side and smirked. “Don’t let the bullies get you down, sweetheart.  Your non-stop prattle is simply an idiosyncrasy of genius.”

“And yours is an idiosyncrasy of ego,” Derek muttered the words right next to Peter’s ear and raked his semi-sheathed claws down his uncle’s back before leaping away. Peter jumped in surprise and then crouched, facing the direction that the attack had come from, but he clearly still had no idea of where his attacker was.

Derek froze, trying not to let the grass under his feet rustle, and his uncle frowned. “Now that wasn’t very nice, nephew.” The words carried an edge and it pleased his wolf that the older man was flustered.

“Not nice, but still awesome,” Stiles crowed. “He totally snuck up on you.”

That praise pleased his wolf even more.

“I underestimated the efficacy of the muffling potions. I can’t hear him at all.” Peter scanned the area, panning back and forth over the clearing.

Derek didn’t move.  He was fairly certain that Peter would quickly clue in on listening to the sounds his footsteps left behind, and he didn’t want to give himself away too soon. Hunting Peter was fun. Peter had never truly been prey, even when he killed him. Watching him, hackles raised and eyes tight, was very satisfying.

“And you can’t see him?  Or feel him?” Stiles looked a little confused, but more curious than anything. He’d been watching Peter, but then, inexplicably, he twisted his head quickly and was staring straight at Derek—again.

“I can’t see him any more than you can, darling.  I can’t smell him, either. It’s most… disconcerting.”

A minute passed and while Peter was facing the opposite direction, focused on a sound a little farther into the trees, Derek jumped away, landing as softly as he could, and Stiles's gaze never left him.  It was as if he was completely visible to the Spark.

“Weird.” The word was quiet, but it got Peter’s attention.

“What’s weird, sweetheart?” He never stopped scanning the area, but he noticed that Stiles was staring at something. “Did you see something?”

A pause. “No, I can’t see anything. I just thought of something. Do you think emissary bonds might affect this?”

A gust of wind blew through and Derek took the opportunity to move again, the rustling of trees and grass giving him extra cover, but Stiles still tracked him.

“That would imply that you think your emissary bond might be affecting things, and that would further imply that you see something that I don’t.” Sometimes he hated it when Peter was smart, but there was no flaw in that logic. There was definitely something affecting the Spark.

“No,” Stiles denied frustratedly, “I can’t see anything, I can’t hear anything, and I certainly can’t smell anything, but... there’s just…”

Peter was careful about telegraphing his movements, but Derek could see when he’d triangulated on the position Stiles was staring at. He dodged before Peter pounced, but not fast enough to completely prevent contact.

“How interesting,” Peter practically purred the word, eyes fierce and bright as he shot a look back at Stiles. He tracked that amber gaze again and jumped faster than a cat, forcing Derek to give up on trying to minimize the sound of his feet in the grass.

Stiles realized what was happening and snapped his gaze to the older wolf, preventing him from being able to use him as a homing signal.

“Aw sweetheart, I almost caught him.  Show me where he is again.” Fangs dropped and blue eyes flashed. “I owe him a pat on the back after all.”

Derek darted in and swiped a hand across Peter’s neck, just managing to avoid the temptation to actually rake his claws across the exposed stretch of skin, and then danced away again, growling. “And I owe you absolutely nothing, Uncle Peter.  Don’t forget that.”

“I’m impressed, Derek.” A mean smile taunted him, even though Peter clearly still couldn’t track him without help. “This is the longest you’ve lasted in a fight against me in forever.  Maybe I should cancel those remedial MMA lessons I bought you for Christmas—” He tutted and then sighed. “Oh, never mind. The invisibility isn’t permanent. Unfortunately.”

Derek’s wolf howled at the insubordination, his need to put the beta in his place thrumming through him, but this wasn’t the time or the place for that.  Stiles wouldn’t approve, even though he’d probably understand if the thunderous look on his face meant anything.

“Alright Peter, that’s enough,” he said, all his playful snark gone. “I think the experiment has shown us everything it can at this point.”

Peter turned his ice blue gaze on the Spark. “Don’t stop us now. We were just starting to have fun.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “You were just starting to get your ass kicked, now shut up before Derek stops being a gentleman and finishes.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s my ass he’s concerned with.” Derek wanted to knock the smarmy smirk from his uncle’s face. “But for your sake, Stiles, I’ll be big.”

Derek couldn’t smother a surprised laugh when Stiles muttered, “A big pain in the neck, and no I’m not making the mistake of saying you’re a pain in my ass again, either, jerkface, and yes I know you can hear me, but I don’t fucking care. I so don’t fucking care, Creeperwolf. Just…”

“Stiles,” Peter said with a laugh of his own, his earlier bloodlust fading, “calm down.  Everything’s fine, and look, Derek has rejoined us, just in time for post-game analysis and commentary.”

Stiles settled his gaze on him, his mad muttering temporarily stopped, and gave Derek a half-hearted smile. “Welcome back, Der. Any side effects? Your senses still super-mega-alpha-awesome?”

Derek made a mental run through and found no problems. “Everything seems to be in working order.  I didn’t lose anything while the potions were in effect either.  Sound and smell stayed the same.”

That got him a satisfied nod. “Excellent.  So, basically all the benefits with none of the drawbacks.  I was afraid there at the beginning that it was muffling all your sounds, but you were just fucking with him, right?”

He let himself smirk, looking at Peter as he agreed. “Guilty as charged.”

Peter fumed for a moment—he hated being the butt of jokes, especially Derek’s jokes—but then refocused and stared at Stiles. “So, are you going to explain how you could track him when I couldn’t?”

Stiles just shook his head. “You have to have the most fragile ego I have ever seen.  No, I don’t have any skills that you don’t, oh great shaggy hunter.  It’s my spark, I guess. I made the potion so something about my magick clings to him and I can sense it.  I can’t think of any other reason why I can track him, and you can’t.  The next test will have to be another magick user trying to track him while he’s invisible.  That will let us know if there’s a weakness that witches can exploit against us, or if it’s just something about me.”

Peter cocked his head to one side thoughtfully. “I suppose that’s another possibility…”

Stiles frowned. “What do you mean ‘another possibility’? You mean you think it’s being caused by something other than spark residue?”

There was something flickering behind Peter’s eyes that Derek didn’t like. He looked nervous, but he smelled almost… hurt? Disappointed?

The older wolf moved across the clearing to the spot where they’d dropped their gear and picked up Stiles's bag for him, ever the gentleman. “So, I suppose you’ll make another batch of the invisibility potion, and call someone—Maryam, maybe?  She’s only a minor Spark, but her magick is similar enough to yours to be able to sense the residue if anyone could.”

Stiles took a minute to follow, still looking at Derek curiously, before finally heading over towards his uncle. “No, I’ve made enough that we don’t have to wait—thank the moon, that potion takes at least two lunar cycles—but Maryam might be a good idea… hey.  Stay out of that! Peter!”

Derek watched as Peter reached into the bag and lunged for the older wolf as soon as he realized what was happening, but he was too far away to stop him before he’d managed to pull out another vial of silver liquid and swallow the contents faster than an underaged frat boy at his first party.

“Peter! You absolute fuckbucket,” Stiles snarled, staring at the space where his uncle had been standing. “I know you were miffed because you wanted to try it, but this is not the way to get me to cooperate.  See what happens the next time you want some obscure tantric text translated. Your Sanskrit sucks, dude, and after that stunt I am so not feeling the love, so neither will you. Sneaky blue-eyed bastard.”

Derek crouched, waiting for an attack. “Where is he Stiles?” he asked around fangs that had already dropped. He scanned the clearing reflexively and then stopped, trying to focus on Peter’s heartbeat.  It took him a moment to find it, but once he did, it was easy to track the other wolf. “Never mind,” he growled and then pounced, claws out.

Peter spun away, but Derek’s claws showed red when he pulled them back.  “You shouldn’t take what doesn’t belong to you, Uncle Peter.” He paused, recentering himself on Peter’s heartbeat. “You’ve never appreciated the things you’re given.  I told Stiles you’d fuck up.  I just didn’t think you’d be this obvious about it.”

A rough laugh cut through the empty space. “I wouldn’t be this obvious, nephew.  This was a calculated risk.  Stiles?” Peter called to the Spark. “Can you track me through your magick, sweetheart?  Can you sense where I am?”

There was something almost hopeful in the question, like he wanted Stiles to be able to track him.

“No,” Stiles's reply was soft and perplexed, his eyes large and liquid as his brain ran through all the possible reasons. “I can’t sense you at all.”

Peter sighed, and before Derek could take another swipe at him, he’d picked up Stiles's bag where he’d dropped it on the turf, letting the bag floating in mid-air clearly mark his location. “So, the connection between you and my lump of a nephew isn’t connected to your magick, or the potion, at all.  I’d wager,” he sounded rueful, “that you’d be able to find him blindfolded as well.”

Stiles chewed on his lower lip, hesitance sitting awkwardly on his typically confident frame. “So, it is the emissary bond that’s allowing me to follow him?”

“No, dear boy,” Peter slipped the bag over Stiles's shoulder. Derek watched the flannel wrinkle where his uncle was resting his hand and he growled lowly, unhappy at the contact. “If it were an emissary bond, you’d still be able to track me as Derek’s second.  No.” The wrinkles disappeared, and he could hear Peter’s retreating footsteps. “It’s something else.  I’m sure you two can figure it out.  But I think I’m going to take this opportunity to stretch my legs.  My wolf and I could use a little time.”

Suddenly there was a pile of abandoned clothes on the ground, and Derek could hear Peter’s heartbeat fade as he ran towards the deepest part of the Preserve, apparently in wolf form.

“Well, that answers the question about whether the things on someone using the potion stay invisible if they come off.”  Stiles mumbled, gathering the fabric up and looking a little bereft. It made something in his chest hurt.

“You okay?” His wolf was whining, and he strangled his instinct to rush over and put his hands on the smaller man, to physically check that there was nothing wrong, to comfort him however he was allowed. He wanted to bury his nose in the divot behind Stiles's ear where his scent pooled; he wanted to soothe his mate. “Peter’s fine.  He smelled a little upset, but his chemosignals read more like when he’s pouting than when he’s getting ready to go on a killing spree.”

“Yeah,” Stiles said, his voice a little rough around the edges, “not so worried about the killing spree thing.  Peter likes his life right now, more or less; he won’t jeopardize it over not getting something he wants.”

He wants you.  The words spun through Derek’s head and he gritted his teeth against speaking them. “Good.  I’d hate to have to kill him again. Repetition is so boring.”

Stiles gave him a half-hearted grin and hiked his bag higher on his shoulder. “I know how you hate to be bored.”

Derek shrugged. “We all have our crosses to bear.”

They turned and started walking towards where they’d left their cars. “You going to tell me what Peter was talking about back there?”

He had a suspicion. Lots of people misjudged Derek’s intelligence over the years, assuming that because he didn’t say much he didn’t think much, but he wasn’t stupid. Whatever was bothering Stiles was more than just the theft of a potion. If it were anyone else, he’d just let it ride, but this was Stiles.

Peter had emphasized that it wasn’t an emissary bond. There weren’t many bonds that affected wolves, and pack bonds and emissary bonds were the most common. There was an Alpha’s bond with their betas, and of course, there were mate bonds. Mates had a connection that no other could supersede; not even an Alpha could break it without stealing all the memories the couple shared. His wolf had decided that Stiles was his mate years ago. Derek knew his heartbeat and scent better than he knew his own.  He could pick the younger man out of a crowd—yes, even blindfolded—but Peter was intimating that Stiles was connected to him, and that… well, that didn’t seem possible.

Stiles was stalking towards his Jeep muttering, cursing under his breath about stupid Peter and his big fucking mouth and never doing another favor for the fucking asshole since he can’t stay out of other peoples’ business, until Derek’s suspicions had started to choke him.

What if Peter was right? 

He reached out and snagged the strap of Stiles's bag, spinning him until they were face to face with the open bag between them.  Several more vials clanked in the depths and Derek reached in and grabbed a handful.

“You know,” he said, voice rough, “it isn’t fair that I’ve been the only one running around being chased all the time.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow at him. “What does that mean?  I told you that I tested the stuff before I ever brought it over to you.”

Derek nodded, rolling the test tubes slowly between his fingers. “True.  But I never got to see it.  I mean, I believe you when you say it worked, but maybe we should test to see if my super-mega-alpha senses can track you.”

He stepped close and could hear the click in Stiles's throat as he swallowed. “You think that would make a difference?  You couldn’t track Peter.”

“Peter said there was something else connecting us,” he lifted a shoulder in a careful shrug, “we should test it and see.”

Wheels within wheels were spinning.  If it was a mate bond.  If Stiles had chosen him for a mate without telling him.  The bond wouldn’t be stopped by the potions.  He’d still be able to find his mate.

Find. Keep. Mark. Mate.

He held the three potions out on his open palm. “I’ll even give you a head start.”

Stiles stared at him, whiskey-bright eyes wide, and he reached for the vials slowly, almost like he wasn’t in control of himself. At Derek’s last words, though, he jerked back to himself and snorted. “Yeah,  no.  I’m not running off into the Preserve with you chasing after me. I don’t care if I’m invisible to everything and everyone, I’d still manage to trip over a tree root and kill myself.  If you’re that set on me trying it, I’ll play along, but I can pretty much promise that you won’t be able to sense me any more than you could Peter.  Whatever theory he was contemplating, I think he was way off base.”

He opened the corks and downed the potions with a grace and economy of movement that seemed completely out of place on the flailing body Derek was familiar with, and then, just like with Peter, Stiles was gone.

It took a moment for the rest of the changes to register.  The electricity and spice scent was gone, as was the hummingbird heartbeat, and for a gut-wrenching instant Derek grieved their loss, a hole in his world that seemed to echo with emptiness.

“You okay there, Sourwolf?” The empty air spoke, and his wolf stopped howling, clinging to the sound of Stiles's voice.

“Fine,” he said, and he would be.  It might just take him a minute. “I’m assuming from where I heard your voice that you haven’t moved yet?”

A hum of agreement sounded. “It’s weird knowing you can’t see me.”

Derek smirked. “That doesn’t mean you should make faces at me or flip me off.”

Stiles squawked indignantly. “You sure you can’t see me?” He huffed. “It isn’t fair if you lie, you know.”

He smiled. “I don’t have to see you to know what you’re going to do, Stiles. I’ve known you long enough to predict things pretty well.”

As far as teasing went, it was pretty tame for them, but Stiles didn’t usually have this kind of protection to hide behind when they were playing around.

Derek stood very still and took a moment to block out the sounds of his own heart and breathing, focusing on the grass and the breeze, trying to see if he could hear Stiles shifting position, but there was something niggling at the edge of his awareness, a quiet little tug that was pulling his attention to the left.

There.

He didn’t see anything, or hear anything, but he knew as surely as he was breathing that Stiles was standing right there.  He didn’t think, he didn’t wait—he pounced, wrapping his arms tightly around the Spark and grinning wildly.

“Caught you.”

Stiles wriggled in his arms, and Derek could feel the heat of his skin wherever they touched. “Not fair! You said you couldn’t see me!”

He released the squirming man and stepped back. “I can’t. You’re totally invisible.”

A huff hung in the air. “Then how did you catch me?”

Derek waited a few seconds before responding, feeling as Stiles shifted position again.  He didn’t turn to look at where he knew the Spark was standing. “I could just tell.”

That got him a frustrated growl that was ridiculously appealing to his wolf. “Not fair. Invisibility should give me at least a hope of dodging your wolfitudinousness.”

He moved more quickly, trying to come up behind Derek, apparently looking to surprise him with an attack of his own, but that wasn’t happening.  At the last second, Derek turned and grabbed the invisible man with both hands, pulling him into a full-body hold. “What is it they say?” he asked, a little breathlessly. “All’s fair in love and war?”

Stiles's face was pressed into the skin of his neck and he shivered at the angry little snap of teeth he felt ghosting over the tendon there. “Last I knew we weren’t at war, Der.”

Derek slid his hand up Stiles's back, pressing him more firmly into the cradle of his neck and shoulder, as he whispered. “Who said I meant war?”

And just like that he knew, just like Peter had known, there was only one reason he and Stiles could sense each other, only one reason they could find each other no matter how many potions they took or how many senses they sacrificed.  They were mates; they would always find each other.

The body in his arms had stiffened as he spoke. “This isn’t a game, Sourwolf. Let me go.”

Derek sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. “I’d rather not, if it’s all the same to you.”

The Spark made an angry sound deep in his throat as he thrashed around helplessly trying to get loose. “And I’d rather not be mocked, if it’s all the same to you!”

“I’m not mocking you, Stiles.” Derek tried not to sound angry, but his mate was doubting him, and it made him want to just sweep the Spark into his arms and carry him off to his den so he could keep him there until his mate was boneless and sated and convinced they belonged together forever. “I’m just saying that this isn’t a conversation I’m comfortable having with an invisible man that I’m halfway certain is going to run off into the woods the minute I let go instead of staying here and talking to me, calmly and rationally. At least if I hold on to you, I’m guaranteed I won’t just be talking to myself.”

Stiles stopped wriggling, and Derek couldn’t decide if he was happy or sad about it. “I’m assuming you’ve figured out what Peter was alluding to? About the bond?”

The Spark sounded so small and defeated; it made his heart hurt. “He meant a mate bond, didn’t he?”

Derek felt a hank of floppy hair rub against his cheek as Stiles nodded whispering like he was afraid of what would happen if he spoke the words too loudly, “I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean for anything like this to happen.  Honestly, I don’t know how it did happen, it’s not supposed to be something one person can trigger by themselves, but I’m sure I can find a way to control it.  I’d never…” he swallowed thickly, hiding his face in Derek’s stubble. “I never intended to force anything on you.  Never, Der. I swear.  I’ll figure it out. I can fix this.”

And then, between one breath and the next, Stiles was visible there in the circle of his arms, whiskey-bright eyes wet with emotion. Derek raised a finger and gently traced the white-marble camber of his cheek, following an imaginary line connecting his moles in a dreamy dot-to-dot where the only picture brought into focus was how he wanted to touch that skin even more.

“There’s just one problem with that idea, Stiles,” he said, letting the smaller man step back from the cage of his arms, sensing that he needed the breathing room.

“Just one?” he asked. The question was accompanied by a wet laugh, self-deprecating snark back in full force, and Derek nodded. “Yes.”

There wasn’t much height difference between them anymore, but it felt like Stiles had folded in on himself in an attempt to hide somehow. He felt the smaller man brace himself against whatever emotional blow was coming next.

“What’s the problem, then?” He stood there, embattled and beautiful, wrapped in a wisp of defiance and refusing to meet Derek’s gaze. The wolf lifted his mate’s chin with a finger, forcing their eyes to meet, and shook his head slightly. “You can’t fix what isn’t broken.”

Stiles froze for an instant and then his eyes widened, the amber taken over by pupils shot wide in surprise, a deep breath sucked in reflexively against the suffocating panic. “It isn’t broken?”

Derek shook his head again. “Not unless I’ve been broken—my wolf’s been broken—for years now.”

The air between them shuddered with static electricity and Derek wondered wildly for a moment whether making love to the Spark would feel like being struck by lightning.  He didn’t care if he burned, though.  He’d burn happily if it meant Stiles was in his arms and in his bed and in his heart.

“So,” long fingers splayed over his heart and he knew that Stiles was wishing he could hear heartbeats, could hear lies, “you’ve felt this way? For years?”

It was time. “My wolf chose you as his mate before I chose you as my Emissary.” He wrapped his fingers around Stiles's. “You were an obnoxious kid, but even then, I knew you were smart and loyal.  I respected that, even if you annoyed the crap out of me. My wolf paid attention to you, though. Then with the nogitsune, and Mexico, Boyd and Erica, and everyone leaving for school or parts unknown… We were both learning how to live.  My wolf missed you terribly, and after a while I realized that so did I.”

Stiles struggled over a laugh. “That’s hard to believe.  When I came back after working with Maryam and the other Sparks I was convinced you hated me.”

“Never!” The word came out more forcefully than he intended, but he didn’t apologize. “I didn’t know what to do with you.  You’d…  changed.”

Taller, broader, more confident, talented, powerful, and so, so sexy. He didn’t know how to explain without sounding like a stalker.

“You’d changed, too.” Stiles looked up at him. “After I came back, I mean. For the first time I felt like you weren’t staring constantly into the past.  You’d decided that you were going to actually try to live. To try for a future. You’d let people in.”

Derek supposed that was true.  He’d settled into his never-wanted but accidentally regained Alpha-dom and Peter and Cora had filled his need for Pack.  Isaac had forgiven him for driving him away and had come back every few months to strengthen their connection.  He’d taken a job at the library and spent his evenings writing his own stories, the outlet giving him a place to organize his thoughts without anyone judging him, and then Stiles showed back up, and he knew what he wanted for the first time in a very long time.

And now it looked like he was going to get it.

“I was jealous.” Stiles's voice was quiet, but strong.  Derek heard no lie in the words. “I saw you one day at the library.  A couple of kids, fresh out of high school and feeling their oats, were standing across the counter from you and you were laughing and teasing them, and you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and I’ve seen Lydia Martin naked, so that’s saying something.”

“You’ve seen Lydia naked?” The words were out before he could stop them, but it was surprising.  After all those years pining, if he’d gotten as far as having Lydia naked, it was hard to believe Stiles wouldn’t still be chasing the Banshee.

“Yes, we got to naked times, and yes, she’s beautiful, and yes I still think she’s amazing and I love her, but I realized a long time ago that there was something missing in the equation of Lydia plus Stiles equals forever, and it was never going to work.”

Derek wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “What? What was missing?”

Stiles rested his head against Derek’s shoulder, the soft warmth of his breath teasing along the bare skin. “Lydia, at her core, lives to break things down.  She is control and dissection and understanding and death and destruction.  She takes people apart so she can see how they work, and then puts them back together.  She loves people, don’t get me wrong, but she loves them after she understands them.  I needed someone who loved me even though they didn’t understand me.  I’m a Spark.  I’m not a genie with infinite cosmic power and an itty-bitty living space, but my magick is all about belief and circumventing the impossible. I need someone who believes in me, even when—maybe especially when—I don’t make sense.”

Derek rubbed their faces together, blatantly scenting everything he could reach, a rumble of pleasure rolling deep in his chest at finally having his mate so close. “I’ve never thought you made sense, but that never stopped me from believing in you.”

He expected a snort and a snarky answer, but Stiles never did the expected.

“Good,” he said, eyes dark and serious for once as they lingered on his wolf’s face, “because I never stopped believing in you, either.”

The distance between them was only inches but it felt like miles, and Derek couldn’t stand it.  He wrapped his hand around Stiles's nape and pulled him up, angling his head so that their mouths met halfway.  Derek groaned, finally tracing the pink lips that had taunted him for so long. They were soft and pliant under his tongue, opening with a slick wet sound that cut straight through him, and he cursed his need for breath because it meant he had to pull away for air.

“God, Der,” Stiles moaned against his mouth, sucking in a desperate breath of his own, his hands hot and greedy as they trailed up and down over Derek’s chest,  “wanted you for so long.  Can’t believe I get to have you. Finally get to have you.”

Derek took advantage of his gasp and slipped the tip of his tongue into Stiles's mouth, first teasingly shallow, tracing the inside of Stiles's pouting lower lip, and then deeper, searching the corners for all his secrets. He breathed in the spiced ozone of his scent, dizzy with everything. “Yours. Been yours forever. Believe it. Please, please believe it.”

Stiles laughed, a joyous bubble of a thing that set his wolf dancing, and cupped Derek’s face with his hands. He stood there, staring, the amber of his eyes glowing molten gold in the afternoon light and said, “I’ll never doubt it again. Never doubt us again.”

And he didn’t.

[randomeditscreates]

The Force Awakens Breakdown

So I know no one gives a shit about my opinions on movies and my last post about the sequel trilogy [ST] But honestly I want to continue talking about these crap movies. So now that we got that through, lets start.

1) Jar Jar Abrams start this movie by basically ripping off the concept of the OT [Original Trilogy] The First Order [The empire] has taken over with a dark side user [Kylo Ren in this one, and Darth Vader in the OT] with a more powerful dark side user in the background pulling all the strings [Snoke and Creamy Sheeve respectfully] With an opposing side that happening to be small in numbers, [The Rebels and The Resistance(What they're resisting, no fucking clue, but it sounds nice)]

2) Rey Palpatine (I refuse to use the other name) is the protagonist of this story, and just so happens to live in a desert planet, you know like Luke. And happens to be the most laziest character Jar Jar and Kathleen Kennedy ever created. She's kind, and friendly and her only flaw is that she doesn't have any family. She's a scavenger, yet has so much proficient in the force, you would think she's been training for decades. She has great skill in flying ships and fixing them, that you would think, it would at least be a throwaway line. But nope, she has no reasoning for knowing how to fly or fix ships and the only reasoning we really have is that, Jar Jar wanted it, so he put it in. And throughout this movie and following ones, she picks up skills like their pokemon cards because fuck hard work. Now Rey pisses me off, not just because of her lazy character, but because during all the movies, nothing ever fucking happens to her, she doesn't get hurt to an extreme degree like Finn, She doesn't go through a huge revelation, all that happens is that Rey loses Han (someone she barely knows) then she magically beat Kylo,( who if you don't remember has years even decades over Rey in training) and then decides to find Luke. And that leads to the third problem...

3) The movie is too full. for being a movie that is 2 hours and 16 minutes, yes I fucking looked it up, this movie seems to drag on and not develop any of their concepts. Because while I fucking agree that Rian Johnson left fucking nothing for Jar Jar to work with, at least his story had some character development, and yes it dumb and breaks the world but I'll take what I can get. All the main characters in this movie all ends up the same as they start off with. Rey is a happy and kind character with no past, turns to Rey is a happy and kind character with no past and force abilities. Kylo Ren is tangled up Christmas lights drenched in yogurt and acid, and turns into a tangled up Christmas lights drenched in yogurt and acid, who ends up Killing his father. But if you remember is haunted by that death by TLJ [The Last Jedi] Poe Dameron is a self assured Spit-fired Pilot and ends up a Spit-fired self assured Pilot who's Not dead. Even the characters who do get develop, Finn and, oh my god, it's only Finn, get's completely rewritten in TLJ and gets the story arc redone just terribly. We can't even talk about Han, Leia or even Maz, because Han doesn't change and then dies, Leia doesn't get enough screen time to show anything about this character, and Maz is supposed to Yoda in a yellow and female clothing, and they do shit with that too because it leads to this..

4) Maz Kanata and holy fuck, she's literally the reason Han is dead. Maz yells very loudly to the entire cantina that Han Solo is here, which leads for the First Order to be notified. She somehow has Luke's lightsaber [It doesn't get explained, not even in the later movies] and somehow Rey is drawn to it, and leads to Maz giving advice, but you know the shitty type because it ends with Rey running away in the forest for her to get caught by Kylo. She tells Finn that he shouldn't leave, and that it turns makes him severely injured. And if you don't remember she does the same to Han, and he ends up dead. And her cantina gets fucking destroyed after being their for centuries, yet she couldn't give a fuck. and it shows the true issue, Jar Jar and Kathleen Kennedy in extent doesn't give a fuck about characters and just wants to to get from point A to point B with a lot of flashing lights.

5) Han Solo: Character Assassination. A character who developed into a man who was ready to risk it all for the rebellion. A character we loved in the OT is now broken down into his New Hope person all over again. Who apparently has scammed everyone in the galaxy? Um, Jar Jar, I know it might seem strange to you, but a smuggler needs people who trust him to get jobs and therefore receive income. But I guess I shouldn't expect much from the same man that think a Smuggler would want to be easily known or recognized. Also Leia and him are either broken up or divorced and that makes me feel really happy to know a couple that I loved are no longer together and one of this dead. Because Han Solo is just there for fan service and to shoot his gun, because that's what he's here for to go pew pew. Oh and to die, that what all the OT fans wanted, One of the main three characters killed by their own child.

6) Subtle doesn't exist in this movie, everything is given the delicacy of a hammer. We find out that Kylo or Ben, (I really don't fucking give a shit) is the son of Han solo, by Snoke just saying, the droid is in the possession of your father Han Solo, like no shit I assumed that when you mentioned the Millennium Falcon. Who would you think I thought Kylo was the son of, Chewbacca? Finn's story arc is the only one that makes you think, and brings a new aspect to the movies, and to the Stormtroopers. I just fucking wish we could do the same for the others Stormtroopers, because the other are killed with no regards that most of them, as Finn states were sold into this at a young age. Good job Resistance for killing all these people who was forced into this with no regards. How does a series that came like a decade before you (Star Wars: The Clones War Series) manage to develop the concepts that stormtroopers or clones are not mindless drones better than you. (The Rookie episode in the first season helps flesh out all the clones and they only have 25 minutes per episode, get you're shit together Lucas Films) And these are only the examples I could think of, off the top of my head.

7) Rey is a great example of Sexism, but instead it goes the other way around then usual. All the male characters are laughed at and or ridiculed, but all the females are perfect and don't need to change. One of the last scene is a great example of this, Kylo Ren, the one with years of training and two powerful masters who trained him, gets beat by Rey, someone who has no skill with a lightsaber and didn't even know she could use the force until Jar Jar decided to pull it out his ass. Even Finn who has at least close quarters fighting skills under his belt couldn't beat Kylo, and has to be saved by Rey. Now I will admit to being a feminist but Kathleen version completely differs from mine. Because while I believe both men and women are both capable of reaching the same level of skill, Kathleen think women should be able to do incredible things without working for it. And it clear by her stupid "The Force is female" Like shut the fuck up, the force was never given a gender, why the fuck are you doing it now? I also found out that most of the Crew in Lucas Film, happens to be female. and it's clear who's doing that. Again I am a feminist but I hate when people just have diversity for the sake of diversity instead of the person's capabilities. It's very vindictive of the Feminist movement, The Black Lives Movement and LGBT+ agenda as well, as we're trying to make people see them as just like everyone else which they fucking are (I will not stand for any form of bigotry and if you don't like something simply because of someone's race, gender or sexuality, you are shit human being) , they just so happen to not be a straight white man. And that they have the same struggles as everyone else. Also we already had strong female characters in the series without the big emphasis on the fact that they have a vagina. As from the basis, Star Wars was never about gender and because of this we got fully developed character we could relate to.

Now Dishonorable Mentions

A) This movie is fucking 2 hours and 16 minutes long, yet it feel so unfinished

B) Jar Jar Abrams deep seated love for mystery boxes and how it get more screen time then the actual Character it involves (Rey)

C) The movie could've been great, they're was definitely potential but it was dwarfed by mystery boxes and Visuals

D) Rey is not a Mary Sue in this Movie, she becomes one by the end of TLJ but she's not yet. So I guess it one positive.

E) Jar Jar inability for world Building, and doesn't even fucking tries to explain how the First Order even began to rise.

F) Poe Fucking Dameron, and the amount of time that is dedicated to him. I love him but come on, just make it someone like Han, as it could bring up the relationship between him and his son, which could then bring more emphasis when we reveal their relationship. But no lets bring up a character who we all assume is dead until about the end. And then does absolutely fucking nothing.

G) And Lastly when we see Han die, we don't get a scene of any of the characters we give a fuck about and who knows Han mourn his death, instead we just have two characters who had about 15 minutes of screen time with Han, and Chewbacca. And it doesn't get better because Rian Johnson decides in the second movie that we don't need a scene of Luke mourning over the man who fought side by side with him and is his Sister's husband. No Instead we get a scene of him drinking tit milk.

So that's it, well for now, I'll make another post for this if I have any more issues. But that it for now. I would also like to make it damn clear now, as I'll probably continue this, that me tearing apart a movie is based soley on the technical aspects of it. And that if you enjoyed this movie, you are entitled to it, but you cannot defend this movie's writing , because as I hoped I made clear, the writing is very much shit.

[fae-fucker]

Review: Death Wind by Tara Grayce

Essie should be planning her happily ever after, not planning a war. Although they once were enemies, the humans of Escarland and the elves of Tarenhiel have allied to fight the trolls from the far north. But alliances are tricky things even in the best of times, and with Farrendel, the elves’ foremost warrior and Essie’s husband, captured by the trolls, the circumstances appear dire indeed. But Essie won’t give up, and she will make her two peoples work together to fight this war if it’s the last thing she does. One way or another, she will get Farrendel back, no matter what it takes.

Gonna be honest, didn't expect much given my lukewarm reaction to the previous two books, but this one? This one actually held my attention for genuine reasons rather than just being a light read. Because the plot involves a lot of conflict (arguably the biggest conflict possible, war), the pacing is steady, and two of the three POV characters are mostly suffering and/or being tortured, there's actually tension for once. It's a welcome change, and proves that the author is very much capable of writing it but just chooses not to in favor of boring and conflict-free family interactions.

With Melantha introduced as a POV character, we're offered a pretty buckwild concept for this series: a character that makes mistakes and has to live with the consequences. I actually found myself liking Melantha, not because I thought she was a compelling character (she wasn't) or because I felt bad for her (I didn't), but because she had what Essie didn't: flaws. There's even a point in the book where Melantha thinks about how much she dislikes Essie because Essie is so sugary perfect and everything Melantha wishes she could be, and I think it's supposed to show us how bitter and insecure Melantha is? Except she's 100% correct, Essie is literally too perfect to be a real person and I just sat there going "yeah, you're right, and don't feel bad for being shitty because literally nobody can actually be like Essie."

However, Melantha suffers from Stupid Bitch Syndrome, which doesn't exactly make for a good protagonist/POV character. She's not intended to be dumb, the book expects us to think she was simply misguided and bitter and not, like, a complete idiot who should've known better. But her instant remorse feels less like character development and more like her suddenly realizing she’s actually a huge idiot who fell for the enemy’s nonsense, which she is. She's supposed to be an older elf, a grown woman, yet she makes such an obvious mistake and immediately regrets it and folds like a wet blanket the moment shit hits the fan. It's honestly a bit pathetic. The only reason I preferred her over Essie was because she introduced some much-needed depth to the character roster, but that depth was still about the size of a teacup, compared to Farrendel's thimble and Essie's singular water molecule. Her relationship with the troll prince was actually ... interesting? It was all mostly unspoken, which I think made it stronger than the overly telegraphed thing Essie and Farrendel have going on, and I’m sure it’ll be flattened out and become boring in the next book, so enjoy this potential before it’s wasted.

Farrendel spends the entire book being tortured and thinking about how he's being tortured. I can't blame him, but it doesn't make for good reading. I honestly think his POV could've been left out altogether and it wouldn't have changed much. Melantha is already there with him letting the reader know he’s suffering, we don’t need two POVs telling us the same thing. Oh uh, except for the part where he ... puts his magic in a soul-bond pocket. I'd mark this as spoilers but it's literally on the cover. I guess if his POV was removed then we'd never know how Essie learned to blast his power in battle at that one convenient moment, but it barely affects the plot afterward so um, yeah. I'm having a hard time justifying his POV at all. I'm still not over that part btw, how Farrendel just ... makes a "mental fist" (no, really), grabs his magic in one and his soul bond with Essie in the other and just puts them together like he's connecting two cables to an adapter. And he knew to do this ... how? It's not like we've seen him experiment with his magic before, in fact he's been shown to hate it and only use it when necessary, but apparently this tortured and exhausted man has the presence of mind to try something as vague and theoretical as ... putting his magic in a soul pocket. He spends a few pages going “I wonder if I can do this” and then it works on the first try. He does consider whether it’ll hurt Essie and decides not to try it, but as I said, he does it soon after anyway so like ... I don’t think it’s supposed to be funny or show how little of a shit he gives about Essie, but that’s sort of the implication and I thought it was funny as hell. 

Anyway, the magic pocket is about as much worldbuilding/lore as we get from this series entry, aside from the trolls having their own political intricacies and tensions, which I’m assuming the next book will expand upon. The writing itself in this book was pretty bad at times. The repetition of certain words and names was really glaring in some parts and felt amateurish. Take a shot every time the word “magic” appears and you’ll be in the grave before the book ends. Prince Rharreth and King Charvod are almost always referred to with their full titles and names for some reason? A few editing rounds would’ve helped this a lot, methinks.

The plot is mostly moved along in Essie’s POV, which is slightly less insufferable than usual because she’s the one observing the movement of the two armies and there are actually action scenes in there that, while don’t exactly made me worried about her (there’s no way this perfect idiot will ever die), still provided some tension. But it’s honestly not much, the “war” lasted two entire weeks (and that’s including the strategy, logistics, and mobilizing) and with how fast the armies travel and how little resistance they face (and how Deus Ex Farrendel-d the final battle was, the guy is apparently full of godlike destructive power despite being starved and tortured, go off king), it all felt very unrealistic and easy. Like, we have two armies marching in the middle of a mountain chain during magical snow storms, all while being regularly assaulted by the defending army, and they still get there no problem, without a single mention of soldiers struggling not to die of exposure. Aight. I guess these elves and humans are just very resistant to the cold, for some reason.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason it goes over so fast in-universe is because the author wanted Farrendel to be horribly tortured throughout his captivity, but also knew that if that lasts too long, the damage will be too severe to easily resolve in the next book. But instead of easing off the hardcore torture, because then we’d lose out on that drama and those High Stakes, she decided to speed up the whole war thing, because hey, who cares about that, anyway? We just want Farrendel back, right? Riiiight? Better hurry up guys! Don’t want Farrendel to be too tortured to fix with some strawberry-flavored medicine and vague counseling in the next book!

So yeah, the plot moves on speedily, but at what cost? Mainly depth. Again. And once again, Essie suffers the most from being a bland caricature of a person and dragging the whole thing down. The author’s GR bio says she writes “spunky and tough” leading ladies, and I guess having no other things in your brain except sparkly kitten gifs is a certain kind of toughness in an “immovable object” sort of way, but “spunk” implies a of counter-culture edge that sweet widdle Essie simply does not have.

There was one small section where Essie felt bad over how the human and elven warriors were going to die, how many mothers and sisters and daughters would suffer just so she didn’t have to, but then we don’t find out the death count, the casualties are never even mentioned, and Essie moves on from this without even a single thought questioning the morality of a monarchy or her own position of power. Now, I get that that’s not the focus of this series, but it just adds to how Essie’s worries are always surface-level and never justified by the plot, how she never has to do any introspection and is never allowed to not always be annoyingly positive. Whenever she even begins to think something negative, she instantly, almost compulsively changes trajectory and just decides not to worry about it, and then it never comes up again anyway. This would’ve been like, an interesting take on toxic positivity and how Essie represses her own emotions, but no, the book never goes there, she’s just that perfect and wee and optimistic, even during a war and when her husband’s being tortured to near-death. It’s kind of insulting to read, honestly.

Oh yeah, that’s another thing that annoyed me. Even when she loses Farrendel, she takes it surprisingly well and focuses mostly on keeping a positive attitude for his sake, so he doesn’t feel her sadness through their “heart bond.” I never really felt her loss, her love for him, when she so easily could just decide not to feel bad “for his sake.” I want her to feel bad, I want her to miss him and to ache at his absence and to fear for what they’re doing to him. But no. That would just upset him more and hurt him more. So Essie doesn’t get to experience any negative feelings because it might upset her husband. Essie doesn’t get angry and determined to fight, she just keeps being her cheery little Stepford Wife self because being nice will keep everyone’s spirits up and make them hope and fight harder to preserve that hope!! :)

It just comes off as really flat and moralistic yet dishonest at the same time, because nobody would fucking react like this IRL. Essie might be a good person in-universe, but she drags the entire series down just by being perfect, cheery, and never, ever challenged or even allowed to challenge anything herself. Essie isn’t allowed to have any negative feelings because it might affect her husband, and yet we’re supposed to find this empowering somehow? We’re supposed to believe she’s spunky and confident and a sweet little firecracker of a redhead?

Eugh.

At least Melantha is an idiot, I guess. One whole female character gets to have a flaw, and she’s the almost-villain who needs to be fixed with love.

Idk man. The sexism in this series is like a constant undercurrent that grows stronger with each installment as our “understanding” of this world expands. All of Essie’s brothers, including the king, are at the front lines because they are manly men “have to” be there, while the women who aren’t Essie or Jalissa stay behind to be mothers and caretakers. It’s never expanded upon and just sort of accepted as part of both human and elven society and the narrative treats it like this obvious thing that even Essie doesn’t really bother noting how unfair and/or weird it is. There’s not even a single comment on it. Essie is in the war not because she can fight but because Farrendel needs her, and Jalissa is there because ... Um. Because ... she. Uh. She needs to be there when they confront Melantha? She’s Farrendel’s sister? Idk. Jalissa’s main point in this series so far seems to be the ship tease between her and Edmund that feels awkward and one-sided as fuck.

So yeah. The pacing and plot flowed along really well, but the characters and the writing and worldbuilding are all just really undercooked, which, at three books into the series, feels more glaring than ever.

But hey, at least it was a quick read!

[tardisman14]

Enchanting: Prologue

A novelized version of Enchanting Grom Fright, told from Amity's pov. A look into what was going through her mind in that episode, with snippets of happenings in-between scenes. Told in 4 parts (3 main chapters, plus the prologue), rated to be safe, and obviously Lumity.

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Prologue inspired by this tweet (12/27/20 update: screencap because Dana deactivated her Twitter)

Blight Manor,

Day of Grom,

Early Morning

“‘Hey Luz, I was wondering, if you didn’t have any plans for tonight-’ No, that’s not it either...”

The youngest Blight crumpled up the latest of many notes and chucked it in the nearby waste basket. UGH! Why did this have to be so difficult?

Ever since that human first showed up weeks ago, everything had been turned upside down for Amity. She had gotten Amity’s spot as top student put in jeopardy. She had embarrassed Amity during their witch’s duel (although looking back, Lilith had just as much to do with that as her). And she (inadvertently) helped Amity’s older siblings find her diary.

However, while Luz hadn’t made the best first impression, Amity had managed to find a kindred spirit in her. The first instance was their shared passion for wanting to learn magic. While it was true that humans had no natural magical ability, she had managed to find a way around it. It was this instance which Amity started to show some respect for Luz’s drive. She had also not expected to meet anyone who was as into The Good Witch Azura as much as her (she didn’t even know the books existed outside the Boiling Isles).

And ever since then, Amity only became more and more fond of her with each meeting. She helped fix the mistake she made at the library even though Amity wanted nothing to do with her, and afterwards she was kind enough to lend Amity her copy of the 5th book in the Azura series. She had helped Amity save Ed, Em, and the Owl Lady from that Slitherbeast (yes Luz had caused the problem, but Amity knew at that point that she had no ill intention). Heck, Amity was actually pleasantly surprised upon finding out that they would both be at Hexside that semester. And of course most recently, she helped Amity restore the damage done to Willow’s memories, and their friendship was now in the process of being mended.

Amity’s time getting to know Luz had certainly been full of surprises. But the biggest surprise was that even after all of that, she STILL couldn’t place exactly how she felt about Luz. It wasn’t anything negative, she knew that much. The part she couldn’t figure out was whether she saw Luz as a friend or...something more.

On the one hand, it could’ve been that long since her friendship with Willow had originally ended that the idea of having a REAL friend for the first time in years got her that excited. But on the other hand...if it really WAS more than that, she had no idea how to handle it. She couldn’t remember feeling THAT way about anyone before. Sure, she had made fan art of herself with Malingale the Mysterious Soothsayer. Who HASN’T shipped themselves with a fictional character before? But this?

...Amity needed a way to know for sure. And with Grom being held that night, this was her best chance of finding out. If only she could be more decisive when it came to just writing what should be a simple note.

“Hey Mittens, you almost ready? We’re gonna be late”

Aaaaaaaaand she was so lost in thought that she hadn’t noticed her older siblings just walking into her room without knocking.

She didn’t even have to turn around to know that they were trying to look over her shoulder to see what she was working on. Thankfully for her, it’s moments like this that made her glad she was in the Abomination track. It was only seconds later that Ed and Em found themselves being punched through the ceiling by a large purple fist. The last thing Amity needed right now was those two being all over her because of a potential crush.

However, she did realize they were right about the time. Great. School was gonna start soon, and she was STILL no closer to finding the right words to use. Not wanting to be late, she made one final attempt at a note, and headed out the door. Hopefully, her simplistic approach with this last one would be enough.

‘LUZ,

Will you go to Grom with me?

Amity’

[princess-of-the-corner]

Okay so a while back I discussed that some episodes changed in the Hero Chat AU. And I wrote a post detailing the changes to various episodes. 

However, I recently realized that some episodes of Season 2 would’ve changed too. And that my original post on Season 3 didn’t include Weredad. 

So here’s the episodes that changed and why/what changed. 

Queen Wasp:

Let's start here. Basically the ending is the place where things change. Instead of encouraging Chloé to continue being a jerk in an attempt to please her abusive mother, Marinette tells Chloé that she shouldn't have to do that, that the situation's fucked, and that Chloé deserves better and can decide for herself to be a better person or not.

Chloé finally has the breakthrough of the idea that she doesn't need Audrey's love, and that even if her attempts had worked, that's no longer the kind of person she wants to be.

Marinette respectfully declines Audrey's invitation to New York. Because as much as she wishes she could punch Audrey, she knows that could have several consequences. Audrey is unused to someone declining her, and resolves to stay in Paris to try to convince Marinette to take the internship.

This really hurts Chloé, but she doesn't blame Marinette for Audrey's actions.

Malediktator.

Chloé is still reeling from the events of Queen Wasp so she's a bit quieter and not really enjoying the glory like she was in Canon. So she doesn't make that video thing.

Other people are still talking about Queen Bee and Queen Wasp though. Some people make various comments along the lines of "ugh she was being such an attention whore! Obviously she stole the Bee Miraculous because Ladybug would never think someone like her could ever be a Hero."

Both Adrien and Marinette shut that shit down quick. The class actually listens because Mari isn't using her usual "let's be nice and not insult people even when they annoy us" voice but her "you guys are being assholes and I won't stand for it!" Voice. Which is a voice she usually only uses toward Chloé, not when defending her.

Alya asks Marinette about it though, because why is she suddenly defending Chloé of all people. Marinette is basically like "remember how her mom was? Can you imagine what you'd be like if every conversation with your mom was her insulting you and not bothering to remember your name?"

Alya gets the picture and feels a little guilty. Marinette also tells her that she and Chloé had a conversation about that, and Chloé is deciding to stop trying to get Audrey's nonexistent love and is going to work on being better. She also reminds Alya to be patient because it's a process.

When Chloé gets home, her dad notices she's upset. Trying to help, he gives her various gifts and offersto use his power as Mayor to 'fix it' like usual. Chloé snaps at him, telling him that won't help this time. Feeling powerless, he gets Akumatized. 

The Akuma fight is the same, pretty much. Though Marinette's hesitation about giving Chloé the Bee again is less about thinking Chloé is "worthy" and more about the fact that Hawkmoth might target her if Queen Bee comes back. Also when Chat is acting like a cat, he hisses at Audrey and tries to scratch her.

Post-battle, Chloé talks to her dad and tries to explain a little better that this isn't a problem he can just magically wave away. It needs to be worked on. Unfortunately he gets the idea that she means the whole family should spend more time together so she and Audrey can get along. It's frustrating but Chloé appreciates the effort. 

Catalyst/Mayura

The biggest difference is that when discussing their good deeds for Heroes' Day, Chloé doesn't mock anyone, and instead of saying "uh, I am a Hero?", she says her good deed is to work on being nicer to people. Some classmates are skeptical but oh well.

The "bee signal" also doesn't exist, and Chloé is only teasing toward Chat when he shows up to give her the Bee.

During the fight, Chloé is only worried about her dad being Akumatized again, not her mom. Also, while Dark Cupid does hit her, I have headcanons about Chloé's emotions being complicated and mixed up enough that she's sort of immune to Dark Cupid.

She still becomes Queen Wasp again, but you know.

At the picnic, both Alya and Nino have come around to the idea of Chloé being better, having fought by her side as Heroes. Chloé is actually attempting to nicely socialize, and they help out. So do Mari and Adrien but that's after the "everyday Ladybug" thing. Which Chloé laughs at because identities!

There are two bonus scenes after this. One is Marinette convincing Master Fu of her plan to add more Heroes.

The second where Ladybug and Chat gather the Heroes and tell them that, because Hawkmoth has upped his game, they will be getting their Miraculous permanently. Although they tell Chloé that to protect her better, she needs to pick a new name/costume and pretend to be her replacement.  

Weredad:

Finally to the Season 3 episode I forgot. Anyway.

The initial fight with Gigantitian is a little different. Part of the bakery does get destroyed, which sends several of the Heroes panicking. But Ladybug assures them she saw Marinette get out safely. 

Anyway. As there's more Heroes, someone else returns August to his mom, pacifier included.

Meanwhile, Chat goes to check on Marinette because even if Miraculous Cure fixed it, she could've still been hurt. Because Chat isn't looking for Ladybug, just Marinette, he doesn't begin to connect any dots and Marinette doesn't panic and fake confess.

Marinette's parents walk in on a worried Chat fussing over Marinette's safety. Now is when Mari and Chat panic, trying to explain what Chat's doing there but making it kinda sound like a secret relationship thing.

Tom invites Chat for dinner, and he accepts, much to Mari's confusion. Chat explains that it's hard to say no to the dinner, but they can also explain better then.

There's a scene between Tom and Sabine while cooking where Sabine points out that the kids didn't say they were together, and Tom explains that while he'd be happy for Marinette if it was, it's not about that. It's more about how he saw exactly how young Chat was, and how young the other Heroes are. The dinner is planned to be partly a potential "meet the boyfriend", but more of a "hey kid if you need some place to go we're. Here for you". That gets Sabine in on the thing.

Chat comes to dinner and things are a little strange. Tom's questions are less "what are your intentions with my daughter" and more "what's your home life like?".

Eventually Chat says the thing of "while Marinette is amazing and someone would be lucky to have her, even if I weren't in love with Ladybug, I would have to turn her down because it's dangerous for Civilians to be close to the Heroes because Hawkmoth could use them."

Instead of being upset at Marinette's heartbreak, Tom's anger over "how dare children be forced to be Heroes and have to deal with the possible threat toward anyone close to them!" Comes back, and that's what gets him Akumatized.

Weredad isn't trying to just protect Marinette. He attempts to put all the Heroes in the cage of vines, wanting to protect them from having to fight anymore.

The Heroes still defeat him, and Tom apologizes for the irony of being Akumatized and attacking them because he wanted to protect them. He still offers the "if you need an adult in your life feel free to drop by!"  

[sepublic]

Something that has me extremely curious as to how you see this dynamic is that I think the audience is being set up/trained to overlook Lilith. She's an idiot, her entire life was essentially All For Nothing writ large. Her every interaction with Eda throughout season 1 ended with Eda winning, and was becoming a joke by the end really. And when she went nuts - "How pathetic are you that you can't beat me at my worse" The audience expects only trouble from her. After all compared to Eda she's...

Well compared to Eda Lilith is very much a joke. But that's the thing isn't it - compared to /Eda - greatest witch of the Boiling Isles - Clawthorne/ Though it would be tricky to set things up that Lilith could be useful for that exact reason. Because things have to devolve a bit for Idiot Clawthorne to be up to bat and Eda is frankly more responsible when the rubber hits the road.

-

           Well, I wouldn’t outright say we’re being set up to look over Lilith… Or at the very least, it’s only recently that the audience has realized that, DANG, Lilith really IS a fool! I want to give our girl a bit more credit here.

           I say this because Lilith is clearly a powerful and skilled combatant… And our best bits of animation, done by Spencer Wan himself, have involved Lilith fighting with Eda! Sure, she’s more or less ‘lost’ every encounter, but the thing is…

           Lilith is weaker than Eda; But Eda is the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles. Compared to Eda, SURE, she seems lesser and weaker… But that’s comparatively speaking! This show has a lot to say about people comparing themselves or others to those they see as ‘better’ than them, and not taking their own accomplishments into account as a result. From both a narrative and in-universe standpoint, YEAH- Lilith IS guilty of comparing herself!

           I think that’s intentional, really… Lilith isn’t giving herself enough credit as potentially the third most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles… Well, not anymoreobviously. But she’s definitely stronger than Eda, or at least has MORE magic than her, which is better than none! And I think it’s fitting… Lilith was so concerned about comparing herself to Edalyn, about being BETTER than her, that she never took her own individual worth into account! She never stopped to realize that as a Witch, she was already pretty great! And I think that’s basically because of how the Coven System works and is set up… It incentivizes people to always be looking for more, to always be competing with one another, and to never settle for what they already have.

           It’s a toxic mindset, that you’re never good enough because there’s always someone better… But regardless. Lilith was so focused on getting more, that she lost what she already had… And what she had was a LOT, really- As a child, she was focused on getting that position in the Emperor’s Coven, and in the process lost her loving relationship with her little sister! And then as an adult…

          While Lilith was still intending to make Eda be even stronger than her by curing the curse; She was still guilty of comparing herself! And because Lilith was too busy comparing herself to Eda, who had what she didn’t –more power- it just led to Lilith taking her own abilities for granted, and not working with what she was actually good at… Or at least, not finding that out! Lilith takes what she has for granted, doesn’t appreciate it- And she loses it! Lilith didn’t appreciate enough that she was already so powerful as potentially the third-strongest witch, as leader of the Emperor’s Coven- She didn’t aim to be stronger than Eda, but she still let herself be bothered by the power dynamic as shown when she confesses to the curse in a desperate attempt to feel better about herself.

          Lilith didn’t appreciate what magical power she had; And so fittingly, she ends up losing most of it by the end of the Season Finale! And even THEN, that’s nothing compared to Eda, who had even MORE magic, and did appreciate every last drop of it; And then lost it all! Having more magic already means losing more of it for Eda… But adding to the fact that she completely lost hers, while Lilith still has some left? Well.

           And obviously, one shouldn’t compare trauma! Like I said, comparing people and what they have to one another is what started this mess in the first place. But it IS ironic that for someone who talked a lot of how much she meant to Eda, and how much this relationship clearly meant to her; In the end, Lilith didn’t really value Eda THAT much, at least not until the end! That even her biggest concern wasn’t that valuable to Lilith after all…

           It’s a stark contrast to Luz, really! Luz is someone who asks why CAN’T people have it all, why can’t you enjoy both your found and blood family, or all magic tracks, that sort of thing! But the thing about Luz is that her ‘want’ of things both comes from a systemic defiance and dismantling of the system, as well as getting more for everyone else as well… And it comes from a genuine place of self-love, recognizing that she DOES deserve better! Whereas Lilith’s desire to be better came from a place of insecurity, and necessitated Eda being ‘lower’ than her on the hierarchy.

          Luz and Lilith DO parallel one another to various degrees, but there’s also a contrast, because when Luz asks for stuff, she wants the best for everyone- Or at least isn’t willing to screw someone else over for it, or turn a blind eye to others not being given the same opportunity. Lilith knows she deserves better at least, but the way she handles getting ‘what she deserves’ isn’t exactly constructive, nor is Lilith actually aiming for what will truly make her happy…

           It all ties back to how most of Lilith’s ignorance was willful; She very could’ve easily, at any point in her life, recognized that the magical power she had was already enough. That she didn’t NEED to be better than Eda… And even then, she was already the third-most powerful witch, or somewhere along those lines! Lilith already had a lot as leader of the Emperor’s Coven- Though one might argue she didn’t, because of how hollow such an achievement is, amidst Lilith clearly being alone… But like I said, Lilith didn’t handle her dissatisfaction in a productive manner. Because of her willful ignorance, she never bothered getting to the root of the actual problem, never confronted it; And that led to this problem getting worse until, as I said- She and Eda lost their magic!

           But the thing is… That was Lilith then. And while it’s definitely not out of the question for Lilith to keep making mistakes in the future, it’s clear that there’s been a big turning point for her, a MASSIVE change of heart; Because now Lilith IS making use of what she has! That is to say, instead of beating herself up or others, Lilith is now actively trying to fix and confront her issues, or at least do something about them; Instead of standing to the side and feeling oh-so guilty, Lilith made the choice to betray Belos with Luz. She made the choice to spare Owlbert, and most importantly I feel, she made the choice to share the curse with Eda, and do what she should’ve done a LONG time ago…

           Sharing the curse won’t actively fix all of Lilith or Eda’s problems. At best it can lessen them… But it’s still a better effort than what she’s done beforehand, her entire life. And I think that’s something we need to give Lilith credit for; That while she HAS been defined by willful stupidity and incompetence in the past… Very recently she’s begun to make a change, and at least try to improve herself! And that’s something worth noticing… It may not be a lot to US, but it IS a lot to Lilith, and I’m proud of her for it! I’m proud of Lilith for actually valuing what little accomplishments she HAS made… By seeing how she’s managed to fix things a little, and using that as an incentive to keep working harder, to keep fixing things between her and Eda, and to keep doing the right thing, in hopes that it’ll be better!

           In short- YEAH, Eda is obviously a lot more responsible. But Lilith is also becoming more responsible than she’s ever been, and I think it’ll be more helpful than not to encourage her current progress and future attempts to improve!

[danetobelieve]

Eye Eye Cap’n || Miriam and Winston

When: early August Who: @meflemming​ & @danetobelieve​ Where: Miriam’s store. Summary: Miriam discover’s Winston’s third eye. Warnings: N/A

Winston wasn’t sure that going to see Miriam was really the best idea. But recently there had been a few too many close calls with people potentially noticing their hand or spotting the eye beneath the RSI brace that they wore. If Miriam could make them something bespoke, then Winston was sure that they would be able to keep everything hidden. Hopefully. They had found the address to her shop online and had made their way over at the time she’d requested. Pressing the doorbell outside the front, Winston looked over their shoulder and tried not to grimace too much at what they were about to do. It was hard not to be afraid of Miriam with everything they knew about her, but despite that, they couldn’t help but find themselves slowly warming to her.

Between the fucking Alexa constantly playing music (80s pop was fine… in moderation… and in the 80s) and the sometimes intrusive thoughts of vegan meat, Miriam was having a time of it, to say the least. She was glad that Winston was coming over, not just because they could hopefully help her with the Alexa problem. It had been some time since she’d seen them, and that hadn’t gone particularly well. Between the mime and outing herself as a vampire, she wanted to make sure that the two of them were still alright. She thought that Winston was an outstanding person, and she cared for them a great deal. They were kind and helpful and very brave. More people could stand to be like Winston. At the sound of the doorbell, Miriam left her office and headed to the front of the shop, grateful that the sun had set. Seeing Winston, she smiled, though her eyes narrowed in on the brace around their arm. “Hi, darling. Lovely to see you.”

Frowning gently, Winston tried to ignore the long hmmm that they heard in their head. There were many different tones to these hmms that they were hearing. Some of them somber, some of them more placid and some of them even confused. It just made focussing really difficult. Ever since their bizarre dream about the beach and their parents, Winston felt like there was someone else in their head. The bright smile that the witch hunter flashed their way was enough to send a shiver down Winston’s spine. But they returned it as best they could. “Hi Miriam,” they replied with a nod, “nice to see you too, especially sans your evil mime twin.” Winston gave another nervous smile. “I hear you’re having some alexa problems?” 

“It’s nice to see you without my miming counterpart, as well,” Miriam said. “Stripes aren’t my thing, I don’t believe, and I’d never do my makeup so garish in real life.” She brushed a bit of hair out of her face, determined to set strangely intrusive thoughts aside and to focus on the tasks at hand. “Indeed I do, but let’s see about your brace first, shall we? My technological problems are rather minor in comparison. What’s going on?” Miriam led them towards the back, just so she could get her materials in the comfort of her office. She wondered if she should have invited them to her workshop at home, but she hadn’t cleaned up in a bit. This was better. She opened the office door and cleared off her desk, paperwork and pens moved to the side as she grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil. She eyed the thing on WInston’s wrist, figuring out just how she was going to make something that was both functional and attractive. She could do it. She could.

“What would you prefer? Polka dots?” Winston wasn’t sure why they were choosing to tease someone who could rip their windpipe out with less effort then it would take her to snap her fingers, but here they were, anyway. “I will say that you dress much better, not that that is hard, not that you dress badly, I’ll stop digging my hole before I can’t get out of it. I’m glad there are no mimes present. “Nothing is going on … at least not yet, but if I keep working 14 hours a day on screens and keyboards then there is a real possibility of repetitive strain injury and I just want to make sure that my wrists are supported as best they can be to you know avoid that.” Not to mention the eyeball that was clearly visible underneath the brace, which … they would probably have to take off. Fuck. They’d really not thought this through. Try not to sweat Winston. Try not to sweat. Just fix the Alexa and get out. “But you know, it’s not like a big deal or anything.” 

“I look quite good in houndstooth,” Miriam joked, adding a bit of a wink. Truthfully, she cared less about patterns and more about the material of her clothing. She laughed at the way Winston stumbled over their words. “I do dress quite a bit better than she did, yes, thank you, darling.” She twirled her pencil a bit in her hand, thinking over their words. “That sounds quite serious. We’ll worry about Alexa later.” The distant sound of Hall and Oates played in the background, and Miriam’s eye twitched. “She’s annoyed me for the better part of several weeks, I can hold out a bit longer.” And, well, she could. It was clearly cursed. Somehow, surely, a witch had contacted her poor, innocent assistant and gave her a cursed object designed to annoy the shit out of Miriam for the rest of her many, many days. If she wasn’t fearful that it’d end up in her crypt, serenading her as she dessicated, she’d probably attempt to go to ground once more. “Let me see the brace and I’ll see what I can do.”

Grinning in return, Winston chuckled, “I’m sure you do.” It was difficult not to find her charming, even knowing what Winston did they were pretty sure that she was winning them over. It was weird being sympathetic towards someone who killed for fun. Or whatever the reason. Just killed because they could? Winston wasn’t sure. Either way. Weird. “Uh, I don’t know if it is that serious, I’m not in pain or anything. I guess more just worrying about something that may or may not happen but better safe then sorry.” Winston flipped their hand over so that their palm was facing the floor. Pulling the brace off and keeping the eye facing away from Miriam. They had to hope she wouldn’t notice. “If you’re sure that you can last,” Winston tried to act natural, using their spare hand to pass the brace over. As they passed it over, they slipped their hand away. The familiar buzz of their phone vibrating in their pocket instinctually drew their hand to their pocket, fishing it out they weren’t sure what happened or why they dropped the phone, but a second later it was tumbling to the floor. Winston’s other hand clumsily tried to catch it in it’s fall, but missed, and Winston was left with their eye looking directly in Miriam’s.

“Safe rather than sorry is smart, Winston,” Miriam said seriously. “It’s important to catch things before they become serious, even if they might not.” She had taken the braze and begun to analyze it closely, figuring out the best ways to create something similar but more stylish and functional. When Winston’s phone fell on the floor, she saw them reach down to catch it, and Miriam reached down as well, her vampiric reflexes making her far quicker and more agile. As she looked up, she was looking into an eye. Just one, singular, and on the wrong part of the body. Vaguely, Miriam recalled when an errant eye also appeared on her own body, though she’d cut and clawed it out multiple times. Her stomach sank as she saw it, but she didn’t look away. “Winston,” she said to it, calmly, “There’s an eye. Where there decidedly shouldn’t be an eye.” She ran through the possibilities of what could have caused it. If her own disappeared, then they shouldn’t have one, that was a fact. “Who-- What-- Who--” She pinched the bridge of her nose, leaning up and back in her chair. “What caused this. Are you cursed? Did someone curse you?” The thought of a spellcaster hurting her young friend made Miriam’s mouth taste like iron. Absentmindedly, she realized she’d bit the inside of her mouth.

“Oh … no that’s not an eye, it’s just a hyper … realistic … … … tattoo?” Winston knew before they even finished speaking that it wasn’t a lie which would convince Miriam. Anyone could see that the eye on their hand was definitely not a hyper realistic tattoo. That would be some wild tattoo work but Winston wasn’t sure that even Luce could do that for them. Swallowing, they felt sweat bead on their forehead and hurriedly wiped it away. “Okay, yeah, it’s an eye, I …” they tried to think of the best way to explain this, Miriam thought that they had been cursed and technically they had been, “... I don’t know if it is technically a curse or if it is something else entirely, that sort of thing - I’ve only just found out about you know magic, vampires … werewolves, all the things that some people in this town have no idea about, so I don’t really know if it is a curse or something else entirely.” Their pulse was racing, blood roaring in their ears as they struggled to think of a way out of this. Miriam didn’t seem to realise that they could use magic, maybe they’d be dead if she could’ve worked that out, Winston wasn’t honestly sure. “Do you - how do you tell if you’re cursed?” Winston knew, they just had to pretend they didn’t right?

Miriam raised an eyebrow at Winston’s words, grateful that they backtracked almost immediately. She didn’t want to have to scold them about this, nor did she appreciate the offense to her intelligence. Anyone with human eyes could see that the eye clearly wasn’t a tattoo, and Miriam’s eyes were far better than a human’s. She could tell how stressed Winston was by all of this, though, and she couldn’t blame them for wanting to keep this a secret. She couldn’t imagine how terrifying this all must be. For all her hatred of magic, she’d been introduced to it in beautiful ways: rocks being turned into rubies, flowers blooming out of season, snow suspending itself in air. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have something as terrible as an eyeball cursed into one’s hand being one of the first experiences to ever have with magic. “Truthfully, darling, if you wanted to tell if you were cursed or not, you’d need someone with some sort of magical persuasion,” she gritted her teeth, “to help you. Or perhaps you could retrace your steps? Have you been in contact with anyone or anything that could have done this? I do believe I heard there was some sort of monster in the lake.” She kept her expression sincere and sympathetic. “I assure you though, WInston, if someone did this to you, you only have to let me know who, and they’ll no longer be a problem.”

Winston wondered if there was some level of moral culpability that they were giving to themselves by playing along with this. They could’ve just left Miriam well enough alone. But there was just something about her, about her charm, about the way that she seemed to flow from one thing to another as effortlessly and gracefully as the currents of the ocean. “No, I don’t ... “ Winston shook their head, “I work for the WCPD I can’t just have people be no longer a problem Miriam….” Their heart was pounding. She’d just offered to kill someone for them. Winston was 100% sure of at least that. “I know, I know how I got the eye, I was kind of part of the solution to deal with the monster in the lake but dealing with the monster in the lake had it’s own draw backs,” Winston raised their palm and gave it a wiggle, “but it was my choice and I’d make the same choice to keep people safe again if I had to.” 

“Oh, darling, it’d never get back to you,” Miriam said gently. And it wouldn’t. She was good at what she did. The only reason people knew anything about a witch hunter is because she had a bit of a flare for the dramatic, and she wanted them to know. She liked the fear, the panic, from a spellcaster who figured out just who caught them. She wasn’t getting any pleasure from the panic on Winston’s face, though. “Alright, though.”  She looked at them closely, taking in their words. “You were a part of the solution to get rid of the monster in the lake, and that’s how you got the hand in your eye.” She repeated the words slowly. Miriam had no idea what had been necessary to get the monster out of the lake, if it had even gotten out of the lake. She didn’t particularly care, either, since it no longer affected her. But it was affecting her friend. “What were you needed for? Technological help?”

“Whether or not it gets back to me isn’t really why I’m not a fan of the idea,” Winston replied, “I just, I’m not sure I’m down for killing people willy nilly just because they’ve done something to me.” This was surreal. They were pretty sure that Miriam wouldn’t be as sympathetic if she knew the truth. Which Winston wasn’t about to tell her. Because she could snap their spine like a twig and use it as a tooth pick for her sharp vampire fangs without a moment’s hesitation. Swallowing, Winston felt their heart race. Her fangs had been so sharp and the way she’d staked her vampire mime counterpart had been ruthless and without remorse. Winston had dealt with their own mime and cried about it every night for a week. Not that there was anything wrong with that. It was just that there were different strokes for different blokes and Winston wasn’t sure that they had the ruthless killer stroke that Miriam did. Winston’s mind raced. “Sort of. I’m kind of digitising a big archive of supernatural information with my boyfriend and we were approached by someone trying to solve it so that’s how I got involved. So I guess tech help? Somehow I always end up being IT support.” 

“Of course,” Miriam said easily, though the smile she gave Winston was a bit pained. She sometimes forgot what it was like for death and killing to not be… normal. Which, her life, unlife, whatever the hell she could call it, was hardly normal. She was simply forgetting, occasionally, what it was like to not know the taste of blood, to not know the feeling of a knife in her hands, to not feel enjoyment at another’s pain. She missed the not knowing, sometimes. This was one of those times. “You shouldn’t be getting involved with such things, Winston,” she reprimanded them gently. It took her a second to realize what she sounded like. She backtracked a bit, making her voice lighter, less concerned. “Eyeballs in hands don’t seem particularly fun, and if you’re to be helping anyone with technical difficulties, darling, I’d like it to be me over any other supernatural. Unless you’ve replaced me with some other vampire.” She put her hand over her unbeating heart dramatically before she got back to business. Picking up the brace, she said, “We can work on the Alexa some other time, though. Why don’t I get started working on something for you to hide that eye with. And, perhaps,” begrudgingly, she thought of Morgan and whether or not it would be possible to see about if the zombie knew of anyone who could help Winston, “we can eventually see about finding a way to do something about that.” She paused. “Unless you like it, of course.”

Once upon a time, the idea of taking someone’s life made Winston’s stomach crawl. They remembered when the topic of Miriam, a vampire witch hunter, had come up. Everyone had been dead set on killing her, but Winston hadn’t been sure. Then they had slowly come around to the idea as they had realised that the supernatural world didn’t play by the rules that they expected it to. Winston had been forced to kill others now. Had taken lives themselves out of necessity but never pleasure. They’d even brought someone back to life. The screams of August would never cease to ring inside of the empty caverns of their psyche but despite that Winston constantly came back to the fact that taking Miriam’s life … unlife, was not something they wanted to do. “It’s not that,” Winston replied, “I just wanted to help…” It hadn’t been a lie. Winston’s whole life had been working towards helping White Crest and they weren’t about to stop now. “Don’t worry though, I don’t think I’d be looking to replace you with another vampire … well ever. I don’t know if all vampires are as … gregarious as you are.” They swallowed and raised their eyebrows at Miriam’s reply. “Thank you, I really appreciate the help … is there, do you know a lot about magic?” 

“Helping is good,” Miriam said, seeing the war play out in Winston’s mind. “Your desire to help people is what makes you such a good person, a kind person, and I think kindness and helpfulness go a long way.” She also thought that kindness and helpfulness could get exploited by the wrong people. If whoever Winston was trying to help was merely using them, Miriam would hurt them, spellcaster or not. It, perhaps, would not be as satisfying of a meal, but it would do the job. She’d simply wait and allow them to tell her more if they wanted to. If not, she’d find out on her own. Sitting back, Miriam smiled. “Well, I’d certainly hope you wouldn’t replace me with another vampire.” She gave them a wink. “I like to think I’m one of a kind.” The only one of her kind that she knew of, whatever that may be. “Of course, darling. Whatever you need me for, you only have to ask.” She paused, thinking. “I never practiced magic myself. My husband did. His family were apart of an old coven. Respected in name, but… lacking in resources to hone their craft. I came for a wealthy family.” She looked around her office, which was once her father’s office, at all the fine things that showed off that wealth. Sometimes she hated it. “Plenty of resources. He loved my money far more than me.” Miriam gave them a tense smile. “It’s fine. I’ve moved on. But being with him and without him has taught me quite a lot about magic.”

“The more I learn about this … world, as in, everything that it includes, everything that goes on, all the stuff with hunters and slayers and wardens, the more convinced I am that if everyone just helped each other and tried to be a bit kinder then maybe we’d all be in a better position.” Winston swallowed thoughtfully, trying to think if there would ever, if there could ever be a way that they could tell Miriam about all of this, about what they really were. “I was about to say, I don’t think that there are any vampires that have your … flair.” This was an odd game to be playing with someone who could and would very happily end Winston’s life if they made one misstep. “Thats… to be honest that’s just really shit. You deserve better then someone using you for what you have instead of just being with you for who you are, I mean obviously no one deserves to be just used for the sake of it but you of all people don’t strike me as someone who deserves it for any other reason then material gain. I just … god I’m not doing a good job at saying that’s really terrible and I’m sorry it happened to you. I guess it doesn’t matter if you can do magic or if you grow fur on the full moon or if you drink blood, sometimes people can just be dicks.”

“I can’t disagree with you,” Miriam said carefully. She was one of those people who sometimes wasn’t kind. “But I can also say that things aren’t so simple. I wish they were. I wish we lived in a world where hurting and killing wasn’t necessary, but somethings are simply impossible.” She sighed. Maybe if the world was a better place, she could find peace. “I like to think I have a certain ‘flair’ as you put it that other vampires just can’t compete with.” Whatever Winston thought of her, she was glad they hadn’t taken off or ratted her out when they found out what she was. “It’s… It happened. It was quite some time ago.” She flexed her fingers a bit. “But thank you, Winston. Truly. Sometimes, people are monsters. Humans are monster. As you say, it’s not just limited to werewolves or vampires or zombies.” Talking to Winston, who was little more than a child, Miriam felt more vulnerable than she had in quite some time. Even with Morgan, despite the fact that she’d grown to enjoy talking to the zombie, she tried to be cautious. Morgan seemed to still be under the impression that Miriam could change, and Miriam couldn’t let those thoughts affect her. But, with Winston, it was so easy to want to be a bit better. “I can be… quite a dick, sometimes, Winston. A bit of a monster, really. I often wonder if it was the way my husband treated me that made me like this, or if I was simply like this all along.” She took a breath that she did not need and attempted a smile. “But, enough about me. Let’s get you fixed up, hm?”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ve begun to realise that the morally idealistic world that I thought we all lived in is not the same world as this one. Which was a shock to the system, but, probably the good kind of shock.” Winston replied with a shrug. The shrug was replaced by a smirk at Miriam. Nodding they sighed. “You definitely have good taste in fashion.” That probably came from the whole working in the fashion industry. “Yeah, I’m starting to realise that although someone might not be a human, that doesn’t mean anything. What matters is people’s actions, the way people behave rather then applying a standard to everyone just because of who they were. “Nobody is perfect, even if you were like this all along that justify the way that he behaved, but his mistakes don’t have to colour your life forever.” Winston knew what she was talking about even if she didn’t know that they knew that, it didn’t matter. Winston wasn’t sure that Miriam could change, but they were hoping that they could at least help her realise that there was the potential for it. 

“I can certainly imagine that it wasn’t the best in the beginning,” Miriam said, sighing. Magic, the supernatural, it is all so lovely until it isn’t. It’s all good and perfect until it ruins your life. “You get used to it, being surprised but the greyscale with which we base our morals off of.” She fingered the sleeve of the jacket hanging behind her. “I’d certainly hope so.” Though her clothes had been a bit outdated when she first woke up, she was slowly getting used to things again. It helped that so many styles were coming back. She shifted a bit. “I used to think that striving for perfection was the only option. I like being… good at everything that I do. I get that no one is perfect. He wasn’t, I’m far from it… I wanted perfection desperately. As for his mistakes, well, I’m afraid they define my whole existence. Most of it.” She gently stroked the jacket again. “My own actions tie in a little.” Perhaps, with this, she could balance out some of her worst actions with good ones. She turned her attention back to the brace, taking in the separate components of it and figuring out how to best transfer that to something while keeping it stylish. She scrutinized it closely before she started working on a sketch. 

“Yeah, well I’ve managed to get over the initial shock of learning that the world isn’t entirely black and white, getting used to the greyscale is it’s own challenge in it’s own way,” Winston had been ready to sign the proverbial death warrant on Miriam just a few months ago and yet they couldn’t think of anything worse then ending her unlife now. “Maybe you can’t be perfect, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be good….” Winston hoped and prayed that she would realise, “it doesn’t even have to be good in anyone elses eyes, ultimately I guess that your own perception of yourself is the most important because it is the perception of yourself that you have to live with, or not in your case, I don’t really, do you call it like .. unlife? I guess it doesn’t matter. Just don’t let someone else’s short comings force you to live a life that you wouldn’t choose for yourself. If his mistakes define you then hasn’t he won?” Winston wanted to scream that not all spellcasters were bad but somehow they doubted that would convince her of the error of her ways. 

“It certainly isn’t always fun.” Though, it was the gray areas that Miriam seemed to thrive in. If she could keep her actions just gray enough, perhaps she wasn’t the great evil that she’s been called. She will never forget Gillian Wildes staring at her from across the town line and cursing her name. But Miriam knew, she knew that she was in the right for ridding the world of witches. She knew it. Sometimes, evil things had to be done for the right reasons. It’s what she told herself. She looked up and gave Winston a soft smile, one that didn’t meet her eyes. “I appreciate that, darling. Truly. I suppose as long as I’m good in my own eyes, that’s all that matters.” She wasn’t though, and perhaps that’s what was most damning. “It’d be a bit foolish of me to let him win.” Finally, after a bit of time, she handed them a sketch for a leather bracer that would ensure the eye didn’t get damaged while also keeping it covered. “How’s this?”

Somehow, Winston got the impression that Miriam wasn’t convinced by their little speech. Which meant that Winston wasn’t about to tell her the truth. Swallowing, Winston tried to forget about the fact that she’d probably rip their throat out with her teeth if she ever found out why they had they eye, like why they REALLY had it. “That looks really really good.” Miriam was clearly good at what she did because she had in her own way done several things that Winston would’ve never considered otherwise. “Thank you, how much do you think this is gonna cost?” Obviously they were going to pay her for her work.  

“Thank you,” Miriam said, though she knew it looked good. It looked good, and it would be efficient. It was something that she knew she could design quickly, too. Days were long and monotonous since she couldn’t go outside, so this would give her something to do. “Don’t worry about the price. This is a gift for a friend.” She looked off to her bookshelf, where the Alexa was sitting, seeming to mind its own business, but Miriam knew better. She took it down from the shelf and put it in front of Winston. “Though, if you’d like, you can take this infernal device off my hands. I don’t want to deal with it anymore.” It was cursed. Someone had cursed it, given it to her assistant, and had it sent to her. There was no other explanation. “But, otherwise, this is free of charge.”

[deckof-dragons]

Hi again! Not so much a prompt, but a potential idea for a future work. Due to Time Piece shenanigans, the Snatcher, either through short snippets or completely involved, finds himself thrown back in time before he died, but things are different. Namely, he's married to the florist lady. How would he react to this?

Thank you for the request! As for this being a whole work, I would very much like it to be because I very much like what I came up with and would like to continue and find a resolution for it. I however can’t promise that so we shall all see what happens in the future. In the meantime though, here’s this.

Poor Decisions

The now deceased Metro cat had been carrying a Time Piece, presumably they’d been trying to cut through the forest to smuggle it somewhere else because they’d been an idiot. It was Snatcher’s now though. For a time at least; Hat Kid would come looking for it eventually. He’d probably give it to her too to avoid another fight – after the final Death Wish contract, he had no desire to ever do battle with her ever again.

But Snatcher wanted to keep this one. He’d eaten the cat’s soul so everything the cat had owned was now rightfully his as was the law of the land – he’d written that particular law but he was the monarch so he was allowed to. Also, he’d been a bit of a scholar back in the day and the thirst for knowledge had remained with him even through death and all those years; he wanted to resume his interrupted study of the Time Pieces. He also kind of wanted to eat it.

The energy it gave off wasn’t exactly similar to a living soul’s but he was pretty sure he could absorb it the same way he could a soul. Which almost made it seem appetizing. It was more curiosity about what might happen if he did though. He’d seen the things Mu had done with the Time Pieces and as far as he knew she’d never had immense magic power before. What could someone who was experienced with having a vast amount of power do with even one Time Piece’s magic?

It sadly wasn’t something he was gong to find out anytime soon. It was possibly dangerous even to him. So he should do more study on the Time Piece more before…

“Is that a Time Piece?”

Snatcher looked up to see Hat Kid standing in the doorway to his reading hollow. Great, just what he needed. There was no point even trying to hide it, she’d already seen it.

“I don’t think you were holding one back though,” she continued, “because my ship’s sensors said there weren’t anymore in the forest. So you got it from somewhere else. That means I don’t have to go find it though.” She skipped over and held up her hand as if she expected him just hand it over. “Thank you.”

Snatcher didn’t want to give it up though, not yet anyway. It was his, he’d gotten it fair and square this time. He wanted to study it and know more. But he also didn’t want to fight over it, verbally or physically. Teleporting away would only delay the confrontation though so…

“Sorry kiddo, it’s mine now. Missing one shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

She took a breath to protest but gasped in shock instead as he opened wide and shoved the Time Piece into his mouth. As predicted, he absorbed its magic, not as smoothly or quickly as a soul because there were still some physical components to it but that only made it a little uncomfortable and take a bit longer.

“What the peck is wrong with you?” she said, looking at him as if he’d just done something outrageous. Which he had but he felt damn good about it. “Why would you do that?”

Before he could gloat though the new source of magic in him activated and suddenly everything was dark, pitch black. … Oh no! It had been a risk for sure but how badly had he just messed up? He could fix it though, right? Yeah, for sure he just had to…

His eyes snapped open to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling. Something was very, very wrong. It was dark, he could still see but barely; his night vision was compromised.

He let out a shaky breath, an actual real breath because he was breathing again. And his heart was beating too! He was alive again!? How? Why? This couldn’t be real.

Shaking, he sat up and glanced around the room. There was a small window letting in moonlight but it was still so dark. He couldn’t make much more than basic shapes out. How did mortals deal with this?

Something shifted in the bed beside him. It was a person, still fast asleep. Their back was to him so even if he could see normally, he wouldn’t be able to see their face. They had long hair though so… was it Vanessa? It had to be, right? The only person he’d ever slept next to while alive was Vanessa.

He couldn’t quite hold back a small yelp as he scrambled away from her and out of the bed. He was alive again so he had no magic, he couldn’t possibly defend himself against her. He was helpless again and there was nothing he could do about it.

She groaned, shifting as she sleepily pushed herself up. Shit, he’d woken her up, he was screwed, wasn’t he? She was never happy when someone woke her. “Luke?” she said, voice still filled with sleepiness.

Snatcher flinched and back pedaled until he hit the wall. He pressed his hands over his mouth to stifle his suddenly too loud breathing. His heart was pounding too and honestly he didn’t like how it felt. Being alive was no longer something he wanted to be.

Vanessa shifted and pawed at where he’d been lying on the bed, clearly noting his absence. He stayed frozen, back pressed against the wall, hands pressed over his mouth hard enough that he could barely even breath through his nose. The door was on the other side of the room, past the bed and past Vanessa. He didn’t dare run for it, she’d catch him for sure. Maybe if he stayed quiet and still, she’d just go back to sleep and then he could sneak out and figure out what was going on and hopefully fix it.

That didn’t happen though. Instead she sat all the way up and reached over to the nightstand to switch on a magic fueled lantern, flooding the room with light. It hurt his dumb mortal eyes enough to make him flinch and close them instinctively. Ugh!

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

He forced open his eyes again to see Vanessa had gotten out of bed and stepped closer to him. Except her hair was red instead of blonde and her face was the Florist’s. … It wasn’t Vanessa.

Suddenly weak at the knees, Snatcher took his hands off his mouth at last. “Madeline! You’re alive!” He never thought he’d see her again. He almost wanted to hug her and might’ve if she’d been in immediate reach. “I guess that makes sense though, huh? Since I’m alive too.” And not in the cellar.

“Yep,” she said. “Did you have a nightmare?”

“Uh well… in way I guess you could say I did.” The whole thing with Vanessa had certainly been a nightmare. And whatever this situation was, was also a bit nightmarish in its own unique way. “Why were we sleeping in the same bed though?” If Vanessa found out, he’d end up in the cellar again.

Madeline raised an eyebrow. “Uh… we’ve been sleeping in the same bed ever since we got married. So is this a prank or… Are you okay?” She suddenly looked worried again.

“What do you mean… ‘married’?” He’d never liked her like that no matter what Vanessa had claimed. Like a fool he’d only had eyes for Vanessa. And well… “What the peck is going on here?”

“I’d like to know that too. So I need you to tell me what’s wrong so I can help.” She was patient, kind, and worried about him like she always was. She’d been his only friend after Vanessa had driven everyone else away, isolated him by making him believe that no one else loved him. “So, Luke honey, why don’t you come over and sit on the bed and we can talk, okay? Or not, whatever you need.”

Snatcher couldn’t help but flinch a little at the name, only Vanessa had ever called him that. “Don’t call me that.” His voice was far harsher than he’d intended it to be, making her flinch a little.

As always, she didn’t get mad back though, she was a saint. “What? ‘Luke’ or ‘honey’? Because I call you both all the time.”

“Both.” He wanted to be called ‘Snatcher’ but he couldn’t ask that of her, could he? So… “Just… don’t call me anything. If you must refer to me by name, ‘Lukas’ is fine.”

“All right Lukas, could you please sit down now and tell me what’s wrong because you’re really scaring me right now.” She looked scared too for him. Ugh.

He could trust her though, right? He’d vented to her about Vanessa plenty of times and it had never gotten back to the manor. And she was his friend. And maybe explaining things might help him figure out what happened? It had something to do with the Time Piece for sure. Which now that he was starting to calm down some, he could still feel its power inside him. He wasn’t sure how to activate it though and scared to try because last time it had activated, probably upon the physical components of it being destroyed, he’d ended up here.

“Time shenanigans,” he finally said, looking back up at Madeline. He wasn’t going to go over there to sit down though because he didn’t want to. “That has to be it, I think. I swallowed a Time Piece and suddenly I’m here.”

Madeline sat down on the edge of the bed. “What does that mean?”

“Time Pieces are basically magic hourglasses. They can be used to travel though time and other things. I wasn’t able to study them for long enough to find out. So… this is an alternate timeline perhaps? That’s the only thing that makes sense, right?”

“No, nothing you’re saying makes sense. I’d question if you’re on drugs but I know you’re not. But… you’re claiming you’re from an alternate timeline, correct?” Naturally she was having obvious trouble believing that.

“Yep.”

“And you got here by eating a magic hourglass?”

“Yep.”

“A whole hourglass? How and more importantly why?”

Snatcher shrugged. “It’s complicated.” No way was he going to admit to eating it to avoid having a child take it from him by force. “But I woke up here pretty much right after I swallowed it so it’s the only thing that could’ve brought me here. And an alternate timeline is only thing I can think of that would explain this because things aren’t supposed to be like this, even in the past. You can believe me or not, I don’t care.” He did have to find a way to fix it though.

How likely was it with how screwy this alternate timeline was that Hat Kid would be around? He couldn’t know but she’d be the one he’d want to ask about this because she was most likely to know how to fix it. His only other option would be to figure out how to activate the Time Piece’s power inside him and pray it brought him back to his world. A risk for sure, especially considering if there was a time line in which he was married to the Florist, there was probably one where he’d ended up actually marrying Vanessa. … There was probably also one where Moonjumper never came and she kept him alive the cellar for who knows how long and possibly even trapped his powerless ghost down there until he faded. … Welp, he suddenly felt like he wanted to vomit so he wasn’t going to consider that possible timeline ever again.

“All right,” Madeline said after taking a deep breath. “You sound like you believe that and I don’t think you’d pull a prank like this so…  what kind of time line do you come form?”

“Uh… one where we were just friends.”

She frowned at him. “Is there a reason for the past tense?”

Yep, it was in the past, she’d died. He’d become a ghost, while she hadn’t – as far as he knew anyway, Vanessa could’ve destroyed her ghost as soon as it formed. He couldn’t tell her that though, could he? Damn, he was soft, huh? She was his old friend though so… it made sense, he’d been much softer and weaker in those days. He’d never had to let go of that with her because she’d been only a memory. So… “Nah, don’t worry about it. We’re good friends still, I just haven’t seen in her in a while.”

If Madeline caught on or suspected the lie she didn’t show it right now. Instead she fidgeted nervously. “Um… what about my Lukas? What happened to him? Did he switch with you or… did you replace him?”

Snatcher opened his mouth to reply but paused. “I uh… don’t know.” On one hand, switching with him would be awful because who knows what that Lukas would do in Snatcher’s timeline, what secrets he might reveal that people did not need to know. But replacing him wouldn’t be good either because what if when Snatcher figured out how to fix this, he was gone for good? Madeline obviously cared about him, she’d married him for peck’s sake, Snatcher would feel bad taking him away from her. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, don’t worry about it. I’ll fix this and then everything will go back to normal for both of us.” Hopefully.

She looked at him, her expression mirroring his own uncertainties about that. “How you are going to fix it then?”

“I’m not sure yet. There’s someone I want to talk who might know. I don’t know if she’ll be here though so… I might just have to figure it out by myself.” No matter what though he was going to figure it out because he did not want to be here.

He’d only been alive again for a little while and he already hated it; his heartbeat and the breathing thing but mostly because he didn’t have any power other than the Time Piece’s and that was unacceptable. He couldn’t defend himself like this or shift to make his form bigger to make him feel more powerful too. So if he couldn’t find Hat Kid in this pecked up timeline, he’d have to figure out how to activate the Time Piece again and risk where it might take him this time if not home. Considering the possibilities, he really didn’t want to do that so hopefully this timeline was messed up enough that Hat Kid would be here somewhere he could find her. And if so, hopefully she’d be willing to help him.

For this request event, sort of anyway.

[talpup]

Light In the Darkness:64

So I couldn't not do an update for Yami's b.day.  Also there's an update of Yami's Wedding Night on the 'Light In the Darkness One Shots'.  I had planned on there only being two parts. But Yami's b.day had me wanting to do a little smutty something and since I was low on time 'Wedding Night' will now be in three parts. Hope you all enjoy.

Please remember this fic is rated mature and has warnings of violence, abuse, sexual tension, eventual sexual behavior, and other possible triggers.  For a full list of story tags please check the fics AO3 (link to that at the top of my tumblrs homepage).

Part III

Chapter 64

Yami and Teris returned to the main house from an early morning sparring session with Venice and Tobin.  The other couple had opted to stay behind for a further workout.

“Think they’ll actually continue on without us there?”  Yami asked, eyes trained on her ass as he followed Teris up the three steps that led to the front entrance.

“Unlikely. Did you see the way Tobin was—  Yami!“  Teris had turned back catching Yami just as his hand was reaching out.

“What?” Yami took the final step and closed the door she had just opened. Other arm wrapping around her, he grabbed her butt and pull her to him.

Teris smacked playfully at his arm.  “Stop it.  Someone might see.”

Yami didn’t let her go.  “We’re home.  It’s not like we’re breaking any of Julius’ rules.”  He leaned in, Teris pulling back.  “You know I’ll only be worse later since I’ll have to be good for the rest of the day.”

Teris raised a brow.  “When have you ever been good?”

“Can you blame me?  Looking the way you do.”  Yami asked.

“So it’s my fault you can’t control yourself?”

“Sure. Let’s go with that.”  Yami grinned.

Teris shook her head.  “You’re terrible.  You know that.”

“Does that mean I don’t get a kiss?”

“What do you think?  Jax will get after us if we’re not waiting when he’s ready to head out.”  Teris said.

“Jax will.”  Jax said from the door, his own name feeling weird on his tongue.

Yami looked up.  Teris pushed at Yami in truth, trying to separate. Realizing he wasn’t going to get his kiss,  Yami sighed and released her

Teris turned to the Captain, smoothing her blouse.  “We were just headed in to meet you.”

“I can see that.”  Jax replied, fighting a smirk.  Seeing Teris blush, he decided to have mercy.  “Come on you two.  Let’s go see if this years hopefuls contain anyone interesting.”

“Bran would really like not to be the newest member anymore.”  Teris commented.

“Then by all means let’s pick someone to make Bran feel better.”  Yami grumbled, still sour about the interruption.  If Jax had been on the other side of the door the entire time, the least the Captain could have done was wait till he had gotten his way.

The three of them taking flight on their brooms, Jax said.  “I’m hoping there’s a decent spatial mage.  It’s like Bronn’s already retired with as often as he’s gone looking for and following leads.  And I really hate having to get around like this.”

“Same.” Yami agreed.

“I could’ve light traveled us.”  Teris said.

“No.” Yami and Jax said.

Teris scowled at Yami.  “It’s been over two months.  I’m fine, same as you.”

“I’d rather not show up to the Entrance Exams blind and burned.”  Jax said.  “Seeing what’s going on is a bit important when it comes to deciding potential candidates for my squad.”  Not to mention such travel takes up a lot of mana, Jax thought.  And you and Yami still can’t fill up each others mana store.  He wondered if they would ever be able to do so again.

Teris hadn’t been over exaggerating when she had said she and Yami were fine.  Though their mana was still too wild for them to feed off of each others mana, their magic and mana levels were as strong as they ever were.  Even the wounds around both their wrists had closed. Though Yami still had faint scarring along his.  Which was understandable given that his bindings had cut to the bone in some areas.  The wounds on Teris’ chest had closed, though the scarring of the three symbols that had been carved into her were still clearly present leading her to still fully button the blouse she wore over the tank top.  Thankfully Owen and Gilly agreed that the scars wouldn’t remain forever.

Jax couldn’t have been prouder of the two.  They had made a full recovery and went about their training and duties as if none of it had ever happened.  Though he had yet to send them out on a mission; he had been sure to give them plenty to do to keep them busy, saying it was in preparation for when they took over Bronn’s place as Vice Captain.

“What are you thinking of doing for Yami’s birthday this time around, Teris?”  Jax asked as they flew.

“Whatever he wants.”  Teris answered.

Flying between them, Yami smiled.

“Really?” Jax questioned, surprised.

Yami’s grin grew.

“That can be dangerous.”  The Captain remarked, only Yami hearing.

“Don’t ruin it.”  Yami hushed.

Jax laughed.

“What’s that?”  Teris called.

“Nothing.” Yami said, causing Jax to laugh all the more.

They arrived at the arena.  Yami and Teris hadn’t been in the building since the day they had participated in the Magic Knights Entrance Exam two years ago.  It was strange seeing the place from the inside instead of the arena floor.

Jax looked over his shoulder at them wondering what they were feeling. As far as he knew this was where they had met.  This place almost didn’t exist because of them and the clash of their magic.  Jax still couldn’t believe that no other Captain had raised their hand for Yami.  The stigma of his foreignness too great to outshine his having battled with a royal who had rare and powerful light magic.

They had been through so much.  Suffered so much.  And had risen above it all to stand here as Third Class Senior Magic Knights and soon enough his Vice Captains.  Jax smiled a smile that he wouldn’t have been able to wipe from his face even if Sir Jorah had ordered it.

“You two head on over to the main viewing room.”  Jax ordered.  “I’ll see you there before the Captains head out to the balcony for the exams.”

“I hope you know where the viewing room is.”  Yami told Teris, Jax gone before either could stop him and ask.

“How would I know?”  Teris questioned.

“If you had joined us to watch the exams, instead of trying out like some common noble or peasant you would know exactly where it is.”  Nozel said from behind.

Teris turned around smiling.  “Congratulations.”

“It’s nothing.”  Nozel said, unable to keep his chest from swelling a bit with pride.

“Agreed.” Yami said, slipping his hands into his pockets.  “A single promotion to Fourth Class Senior isn’t much to boast about.”

“At least I didn’t almost die to earn it.”  Nozel shot back, smoothly.

“Is that what you think?  That the only reason we got promoted was cause we almost died?”  Teris asked.

“Not you.”  Nozel said.

Teris shook her head and turned away.  “You never change.”

Nozel glared at Yami.  Yami shook his head at Nozel as if disappointed.

Bristling, Nozel asked Teris.  “Do you want to know where the viewing room is or not?”

“I’ll find it myself.”  Teris said, heading off.

“Teris.” Nozel called after her.

Yami watched her go.

“What?” Nozel snipped, cold eyes fixing on Yami.  “You’re not going to follow like the dog you are?”

Yami smirked at the Silver Eagle.  “And let her stubbornness lead me to walking around without clue where we’re going?  I’m not the weak willed fawning type.  I’ll leave that sort of thing to you.  It’s what you’re good at.”

Nozel’s scowl deepened.

“Those lines on your forehead are gonna stay for good if you keep doing that.”  Yami warned.  “Or maybe they already have.  Is that why you wear that braid over your face?  And here I thought it was just to hide how ugly you were.”

“I’m going to execute you one day.  It’d be best if you don’t speak to me until that day, when you’re pleading for your life.”  Nozel declared.

Looking Nozel in the eye, Yami shrugged.  “Don’t know about that.  I’m pretty difficult to kill.  Just ask your father.”

Nozel’s eyes widened a fraction.  Had Yami overheard the Black Bulls Vice Captain talking with someone about it?  Or had Yami been the one to somehow figure it out and told Bronn?  It didn’t matter.  He didn’t want the foreigner thinking that he couldn’t handle his own problems.

“I had nothing to do with that.  I didn’t even know about it until it was too late.”  Nozel told.

“I believe you.”  Yami said, having never thought Nozel had played any part in it.  “You’re not that type of person.  You want to look me in the eye when you do me in.  Don’t you?”

Yes! Nozel thought, staring at him.  I want to see the fear in your eyes right before they dim.

“But you never will.”  Yami said.

“Of course I will.”

“You still think Teris is someone to be won and that you have a chance at doing so.  That chance will be forever ruined if you do me in.  So you never will.”  Yami shrugged a shoulder.  “It’s simple logic.”

Nozel couldn’t argue with that.  He would have to wait until after he and Teris were wed and find a good reason to execute the foreigner.  Not that Yami wasn’t highly capable of providing good reason on the regular.

Stepping closer to him, Nozel told.  “Teris and I will wed shortly after her twentieth birthday.  You have that long left to live.  Enjoy it while you can.”

Yami waited till the royal turned and stepped away before calling.  “Plan to.  Teris is even letting me plan whatever I want for my birthday. I’m thinking a day alone with her.  Possibly at some private beach. What do you think?”

“I thought I told you to stop instigating trouble.”  Fuegoleon said, from behind Yami.  “I believe you even promised that you’d try.”

Yami glanced over his shoulder at the Crimson Lion.  “Trying is far different for accomplishing.  Besides, the Braided Birdie makes it too easy.  You said so yourself.”

“Where’s Teris?  You two already run her off with this foolishness?” Fuegoleon asked.

“Nozel made her mad and she took off.”  Yami tattled.

“No I didn’t.”  Nozel said, over his shoulder.

“Yeah. You kinda did.”  Yami said.

“What did I tell you about speaking to me?”  Nozel snapped.

“Don’t know.  Wasn’t paying attention.”  Yami shrugged.

“Both of you, stop.”  Fuegoleon commanded.  “You’re worse than children.”  He looked at Nozel.  “What did I tell you?  You’re a royal.  You should be ashamed of yourself.  Letting him bait you. You’re better than that.”

“That’s right.”  Yami teased Nozel.

Fuegoleon turned on Yami.  “Shut up.  If you really are to become co-Vice Captain in the new year you can’t continue like this.  You have to set an example.”

Yami eyed the Crimson Lion quizzically.  “You do remember I’m a Black Bull right?  Not to mention who I’ll be replacing?  The bar is set pretty low.”

“Then be better.”  Fuegoleon growled.  “Be far better.  Be a man worthy of my cousin.”

“What!” Nozel spun around to face them, mana quickly building.

Fuegoleon turned back to Nozel.  “I don’t mean that he’s going to get there or have her.  I only said as much so he’d try harder.  He’s an embarrassment to all Magic Knights.  We both agree he’s bringing Teris down.  Holding her back.”

“Actually. Turns out I’m not.”  Yami said.

“Shut. It.”  Fuegoleon clipped.  “The royals are talking.”  He looked back to Nozel.  “Of course she’s going to do what she told.”

“No, she’s not.”  Yami said.  “I thought you knew her better than that.”

Ignoring Yami, Fuegoleon continued.  “And I certainly don’t approve of their current interactions which will be over and done with as soon as Teris turns twenty and is officially betrothed to you.”

“I’ve wondered something.  If Teris doesn’t make Knights Commander before then and I have to fight that bastard Fyntch to free her from her family do I also have to fight and kick your ass as her supposed Intended?”  Yami questioned, pointing at Nozel.

“You’ll be dueling Julius you fool.  Only sorry thing about that is that he’ll be the one to kill you instead of me.”  Nozel growled.

Yami shook his head.  “Julius won’t fight me.”

“He won’t have a choice.  Not unless he’s willing to disobey Fyntch and face banishment as well.”  Fuegoleon told.

“Julius won’t fight.”  Yami said, with certainty.

Nozel scoffed.  “Why?  Do you think he fears you because of all this primordial forces nonsense?”

“No.” Yami answered.  “He won’t fight because he’ll win and kill me. Julius doesn’t want that.  He likes me and wants Teris to be happy and knows being with me would make--”

Yami read Nozel’s Ki.  Turning his body, he tilted his head to the side. Nozel’s moving fist swung passed, barely missing Yami’s face. Gripping the royals wrist, Yami pulled using Nozel’s momentum to force him to take a step.  Yami spun in a one-eighty, stepping behind the Nozel.  Still holding the Silver Eagles arm, he twisted it back and behind.  With a sharp, hard push Yami bent Nozel’s hand back. There was a loud satisfying pop.

Nozel clamped his mouth shut, muffling a cry of pain.

“Yami!” Fuegoleon barked fiercely but softly, trying not to call further attention to themselves.

“I’ve been waiting for you to give me an excuse.”  Yami rasped in Nozel’s ear.  “And people call me impatient.  This,” he pressed harder, causing another joint in Nozel’s hand to dislocate, “is for putting your pasty, thin lips on hers when she was distressed about her father.”

Nozel looked back over his shoulder at the Black Bull, surprise and hate in his icy blue eyes.

Fuegoleon felt Nozel’s mana rise.  “Don’t you dare!”  He commanded hoarsely, thinking Mereoleona would kill him for even being near such an incident.

“Thought I wouldn’t find out?  I’ve known since the day you betrayed her trust.”  Yami said, stretching the truth a bit as he pressed further, two more joints popping.

“Yami! Stop this at once!”  Fuegoleon breathed, harshly.

“Try something like that again Royal Bird and you won’t know what hit you.  You’ll just be breathing one moment and not the next. Understand?”  When Nozel didn’t say or do anything, Yami jerk his arm up a loud echoing pop sounding as Nozel’s shoulder was wrenched out of place.  “Nod if you understand me.”

Nozel’s mouth was a bloody mess from he teeth gnashing together.  He refused to give the foreigner the satisfaction of making a sound of pain.  As much as he hated it, he gave a single sharp nod.

“Good man.”  Yami released him patting the shoulder he had dislocated. He turned to Fuegoleon.  “With that out of the way I may prove better at trying not to instigate.”

“I can only hope.”  Fuegoleon muttered.

Yami looked about.  “You know I think Teris had the right idea after all.  I’ll find my own way to the viewing room.”

Fuegoleon watched him go.  Turning back to Nozel, his frown didn’t lessen. “You may have not deserved that for kissing her.  But you certainly deserve it for the poor choice of timing you had in kissing her.”

“Filthy foreigner.  I’m going to kill him.”  Nozel seethed, holding his arm to his side.

Fuegoleon exhaled, rolling his eyes.  “Sure you are.  Why don’t we table that till you and Teris are wed.  For now let’s get you down to the healers out on the exam field.”

64.2

There was no question about it.  Teris was lost.  She didn’t even think she was in the arena’s building anymore, though she had no clue how that had happened.  The arena must’ve connected with another building.  She should have noticed that when they’d flown overhead. Yami was never going to let her live this down.  She should have never left Yami and Nozel.

It seemed that though fully recovered, her heightened temper, like her scars and still raging mana, lingered.  Teris felt the urge to apologize to Nozel.  While his comments had been uncalled for, she was sorry she had let it get to her so.  Not the least because she now had no clue where she was.

Jax wouldn’t be pleased.  The Entrance Exams having long ago begun. She had heard the horns and tried to follow the direction they had sounded from but that had seemed to only further turn her around.

“Teris?”

Teris turned, grateful for the face she saw.  “Advisor Ellara.  I was beginning to think I would never run into another soul.”

“Most everyone is at the arena watching the Magic Knights Entrance Exams. The other divisions may act like they have no interest in the Magic Knights, but in truth we’re all fascinated by you.”  Ellara said, watching her with bright, keen eyes.

“Really? Why”  Teris asked.

Careful of her answer, the Advisor said.  “The dedication of the Magic Knights.  Your magical capabilities.”

“Sentries, Healers, and Investigation Mages have great magical ability and require just as much dedication.  Just because our work and how we go about it is different doesn’t make anyone’s effort or capacity less than.”

“You are diplomatic.”  Ellara murmured to herself.

“Pardon?”

Ellara shook her head.  “Nothing.  Just thinking of your desire to one day fill Commander Greywright’s place and the attributes you already have that’ll get you there.”

“I’m far from ready for such a position.”  Teris admitted.

“But if things are to work out the way you hope you will need to be ready sooner rather than later.  Won’t you?”  Ellara commented.

Teris looked away.

“Sorry. All this interest in you and Mister Sukehiro, along with Captain Julius being Sir Jorah’s favored Captain; has left me aware of some rather personal things about you.  Forgive me.  It’s none of my business.”

“Even if by some miraculous chance I was ready, I can’t fill a position that isn’t open.”  Teris muttered, feeling suddenly hopeless.

“No. You can’t.  But I wouldn’t worry about all that.  I have a feeling things will work out.  Call me a romantic.”

Teris looked at her remembering the time she had seen Ellara and Olsen sneaking away through the woods near the Black Bulls base.  The way Olsen had held the Advisor, kissing her neck while Ellara laughed softly.  She wondered if the two were still together.  Considering how happy they had appeared in the moment, she hope so.

“Forgive me for staring.”  Ellara apologized.

Teris blinked not having realized that the Advisor had been looking at the flat of her chest.

“It must be difficult.  Having such a reminder of such an event.  I honestly don’t know how you manage.”  Ellara said.

“I don’t have a choice.”  Teris said, stiffly.

“I suppose you don’t.  I suppose none of us have a choice in the fate we’re dealt.”

“Fate had nothing to do with this.”  Teris said, growing fierce.

“No?” Ellara asked.

“Crazy fanatics following a madman did this.”

“I suppose we at the top had something to do with it as well.  If only we had told you what we knew.”  Ellara sighed with feigned regret.

Swallowing her agreement, Teris replied.  “Who knows what may or may not have helped.  There’s no sense in looking back.”

“I’m just glad you and Yami made it out.  And that you’ve fully recovered.  Well except for that.”  Ellara gestured to her chest. “Does it hurt?”

Teris shrunk back slightly, as if trying to hide the covered marks.  She shook her head.  “Not anymore.”

“I’m glad.  And what of Yami?  Have his scars fully disappeared?”

“For the most part.”  Teris answered, wishing for a change in subject.

“May—may I see?”  Ellara asked, unable to stop herself from reaching out to the girl she had sliced the symbols of Light, Chaos, and Darkness into.

Teris took a step back.

Ellara pulled her hand away from her.  “Now I really have over stepped.  I truly am sorry.  It must be the Investigations Mage in me.  Always seeking out new information.  Have you figured out what the symbols mean?”

“I thought that was what your people were working on.”  Teris said, her tone clearly telling how upset she had become.

“We are.  But since the Summer Solstice only a handful of my Investigations Mages are still searching on that front.  The rest as I’m sure you can understand, have been assigned to seeking out information on the Agents of Chaos, their Leader, their beliefs, and what they might be planning next.”

“Have they learned anything?”  Teris asked, hungry for any new information.  Jax had only recently given her back all her notes and pages Nozel had copied for her.

Ellara shook her head.  “Sadly nothing of use.  But you will know if we do.”

“Will we?”  Teris questioned, dubiously.

“I understand why you’d be doubtful.  But I assure you, Sir Jorah has changed his thought process.  You will know if we find anything worth knowing.”

Teris didn’t ask who would decide what would be considered worth her and Yami knowing.

“Have you recalled anything about what the page of Chaos was communicating to you?”  Ellara asked with interest.

“No.”

Impatient with the girls lacking memory, Ellara questioned sharply.  “Have you tried?”

Teris blinked at the Advisor’s suddenly harsh tone.

Ellara pinched the bridge of her nose doing her best to cover her face while she composed herself.  She quickly pulled herself together, thinking that she couldn’t make Julius Nova’s little sister suspect her.

Once again, Ellara apologized.  “I’m sorry.  It’s just that we’ve been working so hard to find something.  Anything.  It’s become rather frustrating.  Searching for so long and have nothing to show for it.”

“I can sympathize.”  Teris said, thinking of her own search for answers when information had been tightly kept from her and Yami.

“Anything you’d be able to tell us would be a help.  No matter how small.  It may just lead us to discovering something more.”

“I wish I remembered.”  Teris said, getting upset at herself all over again.  “I really do.”  She looked up at the Advisor.  “And yes.  I’ve tried.  Countless times.”

“Maybe my magic would be able to help.”  Ellara suggested.  Seeing Teris look uncomfortable, she went on.  “I can’t blame you for being hesitant.  Given what happened.”  She decided it best not to mention Lord Nova by name or press the matter.  It was better to dangle the possibility of Teris having a chance of remembering and assisting them in some grand way, and let the girl come to her.  “You don’t have to.  But know that the offer is always there.  All I wish is to be of help.”

Teris nearly asked how her attempt would fair any better than Julius and Marx’s; but thought that pointing out another failure wouldn’t help the Advisor feel any better.

“Come on.”  Ellara said, turning.  “I’ll walk you halfway back.  I’m headed that way, and will tell you how to get to the viewing room from there.”

64.3

Teris came up beside Fuegoleon who stood with Nozel, watching the final part of the exams below.  “Where’s Yami?”

Mood still sour, Nozel snapped.  “Where have you been?”

“Probably lost like you were.”  Fuegoleon offered, giving Nozel a reproving glance.

“What’s the matter with him?”  Teris asked her cousin.

Frowning, Nozel looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

Fuegoleon between them, Teris leaned forward and told the Silver Eagle.  “I’ve forgiven your earlier rude idiocy.  The least you can do is try not be so rude again.”

Fuegoleon placed a hand on her shoulder.  “He had a bit of a—rough go of it.”  At her expression, he shook his head.  “Don’t ask.  It’ll only make it worse.”  He looked her over taking in her color and vitality.  “Sorry I haven’t visited recently.”

“Out on missions trying to pull up beside me, no doubt.”  Teris smirked.

“Beside you?  I’ll be passing you, in no time.”  Fuegoleon returned her smile before growing serious.  “How are you?”

“Fine.” Teris answered.  “Ready to get back out there whenever Jax decides to quit giving us busy work and lets us.”

Fuegoleon didn’t say he that hoped that wouldn’t happen for some time yet. He noticed that though her sleeves were back to being rolled up, her blouse was still buttoned up higher than she usually wore.  He hadn’t seen the wounds Mereoleona said had been carved into her chest.  And he had little interest in seeing the scars that were still left behind, yet to fully diminish.  All he wanted was for Teris to be fully restored to what she had been before the solstice.  Strangely enough, that even meant the ability her and Yami’s mana had to feed off of each others.  As much as he previously hadn’t liked the connection, he now thought of it as a security.  With these people wanting his cousin, Teris having a practically unlimited mana pool in an ability to feed off Yami’s mana would have made him feel a lot better.

Though Nozel was pleased, if not happy, for the change.  Fuegoleon understood that it wasn’t so much that Yami and Teris’ mana no longer hungered for the other, or was incapable of doing what it had before.  He knew it was the wild, near uncontrollable fierceness of their mana that stopped them from even attempting to feed off of the others.  Given the destruction that the force of their blended mana had caused before they were able to control it, Fuegoleon could hardly blame them for their caution and concern.  Back then, far as he knew, their mana was only as raging as they were.  From what Mereoleona had told him, the state their mana now was at best as wild and fierce as a torrential storm and only got worse the more heated their emotions got.  Given all that, Fuegoleon was surprised Yami and Teris could even control their mana enough to do magic and wondered at the amount of focus and determination controlling such a force took.

“You’re staring.”  Teris remarked.

“Just thinking about how amazing you are.”  Fuegoleon honestly told.

“Stop it.  You’ll embarrass me and make Nozel jealous.”  Teris played.

Nozel’s eyes slid to her.  He looked back out the window.  “There isn’t much of an offering this year.”

“You’re as cold and difficult as ever.”  Teris tisked, focusing on the field below.

“He isn’t wrong.”  Fuegoleon replied.  “There number of tryout’s this year was small and even those few have left much to be desired. There’s only a handful left to battle and so far there’s not a one that I would want in the Crimson Lions.”

“You mean not a royal or noble one.”  Teris said, unable to believe that there truly weren’t any worthy candidates no matter how small the showing was.

“When you’re a royal and Magic Knight of rank I suppose everyone appears unworthy.  That said, I’m not lowering my expectations.”  Nozel said.

“And you wonder why she calls you cold and rude.”  Fuegoleon chastised.

Teris shook her head wondering why Nozel’s words still surprised.  One would think that by now she’d expect, if not be accustomed to his royal arrogance.

Neyres came up beside Teris with Margery in tow.  “So you finally decided to show up.  What took you so long?  That horrible excuse for a Magic Knight holding you back again?”

“Have no idea who you’re talking about.”  Teris said, eyes trained on the field below.  Maybe Nozel was right.  At least about the two who were currently battling.  The match had gone on far longer then it should have.  Not because they were particularly good; but because they were both equally bad.  Though she and the other two girls had never gotten along, Teris asked hoping Nozel and Fuegoleon were wrong.  “Any interesting applicants this year?”

“Possibly one or two if the Captains are feeling generous.”  Margery said. “Where were you that you have to ask?”

“Lost.” Teris answered.

“It that some kind of joke?”  Margery laughed.

“No. I was quite literally.”  Teris said.

Neyres scoffed.  “Some supposed soon to be Vice Captain you’ll be.  You can’t even get around Headquarters.  Then again you clearly wouldn’t make much of a Vice Captain else why would your Captain feel the need to have you share the position?”

“And with a foreign peasant no less.”  Margery added.

“Yami’s--” Teris began only to be stopped by Fuegoleon’s harsh whisper.

“Making a scene will only prove their point.  Think about the kind of example you want to set?”

Teris gritted her teeth thinking that the example she wanted to set was that she wouldn’t tolerate anyone disparaging Yami, or anyone else, simply for their station in society.  But Fuegoleon was right about her making a scene.  Closing her eyes, she took a breath, trying to calm herself.  They weren’t worth it.  When she opened her eyes she saw one of the candidates sent tumbling, having run into their opponents magical attack.

“That was painful.”  Neyres commented.

“He’ll be fine.”  Margery belittled.

“I meant the match.”  Neyres told her friend.  “It’s too bad. There’s only two more duels and neither of the four contenders were capable of much during the other portions.”

“You look like they’ve offended you personally.”  Teris smirked, instantly regretting the quip.  She should have just stayed quiet. The less she engaged the better.

Neyres focused her.  “With the continued heightened infringement from the Spade and Diamond kingdoms, along with the zealots that we’re told we must protect you and that foreigner from.”

“We don’t need your--”

“It’s only natural that I and the rest of us would have hopes for this years exams.”  Neyres continued over Teris.  “We need more Magic Knights to assist in defending the kingdom and its people from the trouble you and your peasant foreigner have stirred up.”

“Hold up there!”  Fuegoleon snapped, stepping closer.

Nozel scowled at his comrades.

Undeterred Neyres went on.  “But we need capable recruits.  Not fodder like that.”  She gestured to the field below.  “Which will only endanger us and get in the way.”

“None of what’s going on is Teris or Yami’s fault.”  Fuegoleon stated, fiercely.

“I agree with Fuegoleon.”  William said, stepping over from where he had been.  “I doubt Yami or Teris payed some fringe group a visit and asked to be their obsession.”

Teris stared between Neyres and Margery, wondering who else felt the way they did but were too kind or afraid to say so.

Seeing the angry, vengeful look in Nozel’s eyes, Margery stepped back, distancing herself from Neyres.

Neyres looked about the room of ranking Magic Knights.  “I know I’m not the only one.  We all know that it’s because of them that--”

“Because of us that what!”  Teris demanded, her sudden flare of temper surprising even her.  “That everyone’s still alive?  That the world wasn’t burned to a crisp?  Cause that could have happened you know.  If Yami hadn’t been there to call me back.  If I hadn’t been looking up when-- That force could have been directed anywhere. You think that doesn’t scare the hell out of me?  You think I wanted to be tied up?  Carved into.  Be a part of some sick lunatics wild, crazy ceremony?”  Teris pulled open her blouse, the buttons snapping off as she bore her scarred chest to the other royal.  “This is only a small piece!  A remnant of what they did!”

The two female Silver Eagles averted their eyes.

“Look at it!”  Teris demanded.

Though Margery was unable to bring herself to; Neyres looked back, eyes fixing on the still visible symbols that had been carved into Teris’ chest.

“Teris.” Fuegoleon croaked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Teris released her blouse, sneering at the two girls.  “I’m sorry if you find all this an upsetting inconvenience.  But you know nothing. Have been through nothing.  Complain all you like about the trouble we’ve caused you.  But never do so in my presence again unless you want to put you down.”

Though her face paled, Neyres was able to keep her voice stern.  “Don’t threaten me.”

“Leave. Now.”  Nozel commanded, his controlled tone belying the fury he felt.

Neyres looked at her fellow.  Of course Nozel would have Teris’ back, she thought.  As much as she wanted to called him out on it, Nozel would one day be Captain of the Silver Eagles.  More than that, he was a Silva and the Houses heir.

With a growl, Neyres spun on a heel, Margery rushing out behind her.

Nozel took Teris’ hand, looking hatefully after the fellow Silver Eagles.

Trying to anchor herself Teris returned his hold, gripping his hand tightly. She wanted to cry.  Wanted to kill.  Was that really what everyone thought?

Nozel felt her tremble with emotion.  His frown deepened.  Neyres and Margery would pay for upsetting his Intended like this.  Looking at Teris, he attempted to soothe her.  “No one of import thinks that.”

Seeing the way everyone kept looking at her scars, William unclasped the pin he wore at the shoulder of his cloak and held it out to Teris.  He found it somewhat poetic that Julius had been the one who gave him the mask he wore, which shielded his own scar from unwanted attention and stares; and now, here he was doing the same for his mentors sister.

“Thank you.”  Fuegoleon said, taking the clasp when Teris didn’t move. “Teris.”  He said, softly taking up her other hand and putting the golden sun in her palm.

Teris was angry for letting Neyres get to her.  She hated herself for the outburst.  And after the care she had taken to shield the marks from view; to just show them off like that.  To demand that girls to look at them…  She had always had a bit of trouble reigning in her temper, but never to this extent.  Ever since the solstice she had felt like a nail that had been cut to the quick, where the slightest bump, word, or action would set her off and often did.  Her fingers slowly unfurled from around Nozel’s hand, wondering which of them had taken the others hand and when.

Nozel placed his hand on her arm.

Teris tugged her blouse closed, fastening the clasp in place.

“What’d I miss?”  Yami asked, joining the group.  His eyes hardened when he saw Nozel’s hand on Teris’ arm and the tension in Teris’ body.

Nozel met Yami’s gaze with a daggered one of his own, the two men refusing to blink.

Fuegoleon stepped between their line of sight.  “You managed to miss the entirety of the exams.  Is that the kind of Captain you’ll eventually become?”

“Who said he’d make it to Captain?”  Nozel questioned, thumb rubbing along Teris’ arm before dropping.  Since when had Fuegoleon started siding with the foreigner?

“I didn’t miss it all on purpose if that’s what you’re getting at” Yami told Fuegoleon.  “The place is bigger than I thought.”

“Why didn’t you just follow your sense of Teris’ mana?  That gone along with your capability to cheat by stealing hers?”  Danior derided.

Yami didn’t address the fact that that wasn’t how it work.  Instead he smirked at the Silver Eagle.  “Still sore I beat your royal Braided Bird during the Squad Challenge?”

“You cheated.”  Nozel snapped.

“Enough.” Fuegoleon commanded.  “And you.”  He turned to Yami.  “You had just said you would prove better at not baiting.  What happened to that?”

“It’s not my fault you royals and nobles have no sense of humor and are easily riled.”  Yami shrugged.

The Magic Knights Captains filed in.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a disappointing group of candidates in my life.”  Jamie said.

“Or in the record of Magic Knights Entrance Exams.”  Heath put in.

“More than that.  There were so few applicants this year.”  Danise said.

“Can you blame them?”  Win asked.  “With all that’s going on I’ve considered taking an extended leave myself.”

“You wouldn’t.”  Breigha said.

“Of course not.”  Win said.  “I couldn’t stand to be away from your beauty for so long.”

“Watch it.”  Jamie warned.  “That’s my wife you’re talking to.”

“As if you tell her she’s beautiful.”  Win shot back.

“It doesn’t matter what I tell her.”  Jamie said.  “It certainly isn’t any of your concern.  She’s my wife and I’ll--”

“Shut up.”  Breigha ordered, her impatient ire made evident when she pushed passed her husband.  “Nobody’s paying attention to your little measuring match.  Not that you should be entering any seeing how you’d measure up.”

“Love you too, Dearest.”  Jamie called sarcastically.  He glared at Mereoleona who pushed passed him as well.

“You’re not gonna challenge such a statement?”  Win asked.

The Golden Dawns Captain turned to the Green Mantis’ and shrugged. “Why?  I know the truth as does Breigha.  And I’ll remind her of all twelve inches of it later this evening.”

“Twelve?” Jax scoffed.

“Twelve or not, the fact the he has to remind her is telling.”  The Purple Orcas Captain said.

Julius smirked at Heath’s comment as he passed the fellow Captain's.

Jamie shook his head rolling his eyes as he walked away.  Fools like Jax, Heath, and Win weren’t worth arguing with when all of them had come away without a single new recruit and there was so much to do. “Alecdora.  Hamon.  William.”  He called to the squad members he had brought.  “We’re leaving this disappointing spectacle.”

“Bet Breigha says that each time she leaves your bed.”  Win snarked.

“Hush!” Pyter silenced, thinking of the young ladies present.  He frowned seeing Nozel and Danior but not Neyres or Margery.

“I’ll get this back to you as soon as I can.”  Teris told William, touching the pen.

“No rush.”  William said.

“Thank you.”  Teris said, realizing this was her first time thanking him for the kindness and feeling bad.

William gave her a nod before turning to follow his Captain and comrades, the Golden Dawns Vice Captain, Tyrn, pulling up the rear.

Yami noticed the golden pin Teris wore holding her blouse together; but didn’t ask certain he wouldn’t like the answer.  He had finally gotten his chance to teach Nozel his lesson for stealing a kiss with Teris.  That was enough to satisfy him for the day.  He’d learn what happened later and deal with it accordingly if he needed to.

“Where were you two?”  Jax questioned, coming to stand in front of Yami and Teris.

“Sounds like we didn’t miss much.”  Yami said.

The Black Bulls Captain crossed his arms and stared.  “That’s beside the point.  I told you two to come up here.  I expect you to be here.”

“I got lost.”  Teris told.

Jax raised an eye brow.  “Lost?”

“So did I.”  Yami said.  “Then I made the mistake of following Teris’ mana which only turned me around even more.”  He looked at her and remarked.  “Your sense of direction sucks.”

“And your sense of when to stay quiet sucks.”  Teris snipped.  She looked away, cursing her still heightened temper.

Julius turned to look at Teris and scolded.  “Language.”

“Don’t rebuke or tell my people what to do.”  Jax told Julius.

“Children.” Greywright silenced.  “Everyone’s disappointed over the poor offerings this year.  Why don’t you all head back to your respective bases and get some work done.”  When all the Captains moved to comply, the Commander called.  “Not you, Julius.”

Win looked back over his shoulder.  “Ooo, someone’s in trouble.”

“Hush, Win.  Off with you.”  Greywright commanded.

“Leon. Randall.”  Mereoleona called the Crimson Lions, her Vice Captain already at her side.

“See you.”  Fuegoleon told his cousin.

“Bye.” Teris smiled back.

Jax waved Yami and Teris along after him.  “Sadly, we’ll be flying home.  Come on you two.  You can tell all about getting lost on the way back.”

Thank you to those who have left hearts.  And a special THANK YOU to those who have recently left comments or re-blogged. They really mean a lot.

Next chapter snippet:

“I hope so.”  The King said.  “Bring you son and stand before me.”

Nathyn and Nozel did as they were told, Nozel staying a step behind his father.  Teris watched with a sense of foreboding.  She glanced over at Fuegoleon on the other side of the aisle, seeing a look of concern in his violet eyes.