#why are kai and Joan holding hands?

[silkygermanboy]

Caption: ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

#dfbteam #nedger

📸DFB/ Philipp Reinhard

Source Instagram dfb_team: 10.09.2024

[riotkayla]

Finding the Truth: part four

Synopsis: Christmas is around the corner, and Eddie is trying to ask a very important question. The Wiggles are metal. 

TW/Warnings: none, just fluff and domestic shit

Likes, Comments, and Reblogs are welcome! Please do not copy my work for your own or I will hunt you down :)

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

did i edit this? a lil but not a lot

tagging: @luceneraium @xxhospital-for-soulsxx @marvelforlife2008 @ali-r3n @shenevertricks1831 @luv4fandoms  @waitlalice​

“Will y’gotta hold still,” Eddie sat on the bed wrangling Willow attempting to tame the chaos of curls she inherited from him. “Willow Joan if you don’t sit still-“

“Sowwey daddy,” the girl finally settled between his knees, a Barbie in hand. Eddie took the spray bottle to her hair, the fine mist dampening the copper locks. Another hand gathered the ringlets and attempted to create a ponytail. Every time he thought it would look good, a chunk of hair would fall out of the hair band. Willow enjoyed having her hair played with and didn’t mind it taking ten times longer than when you fixed it.

“God, how does your mom do this,” Eddie huffed, taking the hair bow out of her hair. You turned the water off in the shower and stepped out into the steamed room, Eddie hearing you and calling out “Baby! Can you help?” You let out a laugh. “Jesus Christ you need like three hands to do this.”

You wrapped your robe around you, tying the sash tight while pushing the door open and allowing the steam to drift into the bedroom where the Munson duo sat. Eddie looked relieved to see you. He had tried to help out the best he could but that Munson hair was just hard to tame.

Things had moved fast, faster than you anticipated. After an eventful night of trick or treating, Willow and Eddie had fallen asleep on the couch. You couldn’t bear to tear them apart and instead covered them up in their spot. You thought that would be the only time but slowly Eddie started spending the night. After bath time and stories, you and Eddie would sit on the back porch sipping on something a little stronger than Willow’s apple juice and talk about your day, it was only natural that eventually he would follow you upstairs and fall asleep. “Just like old times,” he would mumble when his head hit the pillow. The few nights in mid-November he had to go to Indianapolis to talk with the record company about the next album, you tossed and turned all night. You couldn’t sleep without him next to you. Definitely just like old times. By Thanksgiving, Eddie had a drawer in your room and with Christmas rolling around he was almost completely moved into the house.

You shooed Eddie from the spot on the bed, spritzing her hair a few times and gathering the hair into a ponytail, setting down the spritzer, and grabbing the comb. You raked the teeth through her roots, gathering every strand into your grasp. Finally, you wound the pink elastic around the curls a few times until it was secure. Eddie stared, his mouth hanging open in disbelief at how easy it was for you.

“Why can’t my hair look like daddy,” Willow patted at her smoothed-out mane, pouting at you.

“When you get back from gramps house today I’ll take it down and show you how to headbang, ‘Kay?” Eddie crouched down to her level, offering her his fist. Willow butted her tiny fist against his with an enthusiastic head-bob.

——-

“What about this?” Eddie held up a little denim jacket with a grin. “I can put patches on it. Start her own little punk jacket.”

“Yes because the Wiggles are so punk rock,” you rolled your eyes as he placed the jacket in the buggy. “Seriously Ed. What are we getting her for Christmas this year?”

The two of you had been to every toy store in the area. Searched high and low for a toy she didn’t already have, or a type of clothing article she would wear. At the moment she was very into trying to look like her dad. It was adorable.

“I dunno,” he shrugged, moving to another clothing rack to look through the pink frills. “We could give her a brother or sister.” He offered with a smirk.

“Oh no, she just got potty trained. I am not about to start changing diapers again so soon Munson,” you lightly shoved the shopping cart into his leg. “Besides, I’m going to be married the next time I have a kid.”

“S’that so?”

“Plus, I am not about to go through another pregnancy in the god-awful Indiana summer,” you hadn’t been paying attention to Eddie as you rambled. All you could think about were dirty diapers and the exhaustion that came with being heavily pregnant during the hottest months of the year. “It’s pure torture, absolute- what the hell are you doing?”

Eddie was caught, emerald stone in the palm of his hand when you turned to face him. He had his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth trying to concentrate on holding the ring and clasping the necklace around his neck. “Give me a minute,” he struggled and eventually got the clasp fixed. He extended his hand, your old ring sparkling. “Y’said so yourself- you wanna be married before we have our next one.”

“So you thought it would be a great idea to propose to me in the Walmart toddler section?”

“I figured I’d give it a shot.”

“You are unbelievable Eddie,” you shook your head, leaning back and gazing at your ring. “I’m not accepting, you’re gonna have to do better than this.”

“Oh c’mon bug, you know you wanna,” he taunted you, pushing the stone closer to you. “Pretty sure everyone already thinks we’re married anyway.”

You pushed his hand away, frowning. “Seriously Eddie. I want you to propose to me for real. Not just offering me my ring randomly. Make it count this time…”

You watched him frown, lips turning into a pout as he placed the ring on his pinky finger. All you could do was roll your eyes, pulling him in for s tiny peck on the lips. “Don’t propose on Christmas either, you’ve already done that one.”

“Jesus Christ, why are you making this so hard?”

——-

Multicolored lights wrapped around the tiny front porch banister, reflecting in the eyes of Willow and Dustin as they sat outside watching Eddie shovel the driveway. Dustin was supposed to be helping but of course, the minute Will laid eyes on him he couldn’t do anything else.

“Y’know I would appreciate it if you would, I dunno, grab a shovel and help out,” Eddie barked, leaning against the Station Wagon.

“Who’s gonna watch the little princess?”

“Her mother, who happens to be inside.”

“I wanna be out hewe with you,” Willow shifts in Dustin’s lap, trying to look at her dad. “Daddy?”

“Yeah, princess?”

“Awe you almost done?”

“Almost baby, I gotta few more feet to go. Y’wanna go inside where it’s warm?” He could see the pink creeping up her nose as she shook her head. Recently she had become clingy to both of you, you weren’t sure what it was. This week it was Eddie’s turn, she only wanted him to cuddle and play with. Sighing Eddie put back the shovel where he found out, bounded up the stairs and scooped his kid out of Dustin’s lap. “C’mon kiddo let’s get you some hot chocolate.”

You were curled up in the chair, a fluffy blanket pulled into your lap delving into a book when the front door burst open, bringing in wintery air. “Fair maiden, would you be so kind to make a hot beverage for us wearily travelers?” Eddie called from the doorway, stepping out of his boots. You glanced up smiling at the sight. Willow was wrapped in different blankets, only her fave could be seen. Eddie had snow in his hair and all over his jacket. Dustin looked fine, just a little cold.

“There’s some ready in the kitchen with some marshmallows ready for you.”

Willow yelled out what you assumed is a “huzzah” as the trio trampled into the tiny space. You turned your attention back to the book in your hand and tried to reinvest yourself into the story.

“So how’re you gonna propose to her?” Dustin asked, looking at the calendar on the wall. It had started to fill up with dates, December 31st circled in red and in Eddie’s sloppy handwriting ‘Corroded Coffin playing @ Hideout 4 NYE show’

“Well I was going to do it on Christmas morning but she shot that idea down real fast,” he sighed, watching Willow sip her drink. “I dunno, maybe it’s too soon. Maybe I should wai-“

“Do it New Year’s Eve, at the Hideout. See if Wayne or her mom will watch Willow for the rest of the night and when the countdown starts to happen, propose.” Dustin shrugged finally peeling his eyes from the calendar on the wall.

Eddie turned to Willow, eyes bright with the idea. “You can’t tell mommy what you heard, ‘kay?”

“Okay daddy,” she nodded her head, curls bouncing everywhere.

[dilucbabe]

filthy

pairing: overhaul x fem!reader rating: m themes: priest kink, dubcon/noncon, emotional manipulation, spit kink, explicit sexual content, degradation, misogyny word count: 1.75k ao3 - request

His gloved fingers glide over your own, a smile adorning his lips. Funny, how such a simple gesture can mean so much to someone like Kai. It’s obviously no secret how uncomfortable he is with people showing their entitlement in thinking they’re allowed to come near his vicinity - to rub their filthy hands over him as if he merely stood on display. But it wasn’t just about the audacity that they showed with their thoughtless actions, far more, it was about the control that they took from him.

Kai is a man of action, a man of God. Someone who shows action and takes fate into his own hand, pulling it if needed. Not someone who lets things happen to him. He isn’t weak like that and he’d rather die than become so pathetic. His mission in life is to shield the weak ones from temptation and sin, to guide them to the right path, even if it means becoming forceful. Some might call him cruel, but truth be told, the perception of others is as important as the non-existent dirt under his fingernails. The only thing that truly matters that he obeyed the Allmighty, the church.

“Father?”, your voice is laced with sleep, eyes not yet open and Kai feels his heart stir at the sight alone. “Hmm, did something happen?” The innocence in the statement alone feels like pure gasoline to the flame that is his desire for you. Funny, how such a simple gesture can drive a man like Kai Chisaki to the brink of madness.

You’d come to the monastery on a rainy night, wet hair clinging to your frightened little face as you begged with utmost sincerity, “Please, father. I have nowhere to go. I- I need your guidance.”

You had practically breathed your plea, hands desperately clawing at your coat, the wet fabric doing nothing to shield you from the cold. If he were a different man, he would have felt his demeanour melt away, but he had remained strong. “Guidance, child?”

You cast your gaze away from him, shame bringing a pretty glow to your cheeks. “I’m a horrible woman. I-“, your bottom lip quivered, looking up at you with such over the top sorrow, it almost seemed comical. Almost. “I have seduced men without meaning to. I really didn’t, you have to believe me! Satan himself must reside within me!”

“First and foremost”, he had remained firm in his stance, albeit a bit more tense, though he couldn’t quite tell why. “There is nothing I have to do, aside from serving our Lord in Heaven. Not aid you, nor believe you.”

A high pitched squeal slipped past your chapped lips, clasping your hand over your mouth as though you had spoken out of turn. “I- Please-!”

“Still, you are in luck that God wouldn’t let me permit to turn my back on a poor sinner, so accepting of their own sins.”

It was, for the lack of a better word for it, thrilling to hear you beg like that, he remembers. It still is. Desperation and fear for condemnation – for punishment – has always been a big motivator for Kai. Instilling fear of what is good and righteous had always seemed like his one true calling, planting a seed of shame and guilt within people’s minds, to infest it and exorcise all evil from their very souls. A most gratifying experience he thanks the Lord every night in prayer.

Yet when it comes to you, he feels something stir inside of him. Maybe it is something akin to excitement, maybe it was hunger, maybe mere curiosity. Whatever it may be, he knows that it can only mean evil. What else could it be? You yourself have admitted upon being corrupted by the Devil, so he is but a man standing in the face of corruption.

Kai feels his pulse quicken, your legs spread open as though you are simply begging for him to be defiled by you. And who knows? Maybe you are. It wouldn’t be the first time, he’d caught your eyes taking his form with heaving bosom and wide eyes. Revolting slut that you are.

“Father?” He can see you trembling and he can feel himself swell with something akin to pride.

A cold smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, tugs at the corners of his lips, his hands now on your thighs, holding them in place. Even through his gloves, he can tell how warm you are to the touch – a temptation, if there ever was one. Though you might look the innocent maiden, he can see for what you truly are and maybe his purpose was to punish you for it, to set you right. Indeed, filling your hole with his seed might even cleanse you from all the filth of your very core.

God is on his side, he’s certain of it. He’d forgive his obedient servant’s sin if it meant saving a soul from the eternal flames of Satan. There simply is no other way.

Your eyes widen, any trace of exhaustion wiped clean from your face. “Please, no… I don’t want to-“

“Hush”, his fingers dig deep into your flesh, the promise of bruises blooming on your skin, making his cock stir. “You know that lying is a sin, don’t you? Let alone to a man of faith.”

Tears threaten to spill down your cheeks at any moment, hands desperately clawing at the covers Kai’s sitting on, trying to cover yourself, to no avail. “P- Please…”

“I didn’t ask you to beg. I asked you a question and I expect an answer.” He’s wedging himself between your legs now, knees pressing them apart, while his hands easily get a hold of your wrists, holding them in place. How come your words express such dread, when your body is so easy – so willing – to get overpowered by him? Even if you don’t quite realize it yourself, your mind is clouded with lies and sin. “Let’s try this again”, he pauses. “You’re aware that lying to a man of faith in considered a sin, yes?”

A slow nod. “Yes, father.”

“And although you should know better, you still actively choose to disobey the word from our Lord, yes?”

“It’s not a lie!” Even though your whole body is violently trembling with pitiful sobs, Kai can’t quite help it, but be in awe of your form. You make such a perfect victim, he’s sure, any artist would compare you to the likes of Mary and Joan d’Arc – suffering for the greater good. Although, of course, he knows you better than to fall prey to your manipulation.

Pressing your balled up fists against his cock, he snarls in pure disdain, “Don’t play coy with me. Do you think I’m blind to your lust? Do you think yourself a victim to the attention of men you so desperately seek out?”

You flinch upon contact, though Kai notes, how you momentarily halt your wails, a faint squeal escaping you. He wonders, is that still part of the act that you’re trying to keep up or if you’re rightfully in stunned at the size of him. He grows harder just thinking about burying himself to the hilt inside your vile cunt. “N- no! Father, I never meant to- to-“

“For me to notice?”, he snaps and by the shock written all across your features he knows that he’s right. “You perverted whore.”

“It was never my intention to seduce you! I’m not lying! I swear, the Lord is my witness, I-“

Thwack. The sting on your cheek is relentless, but it’s a necessary evil. You have to learn how to behave, that there are consequences to your misdeeds, even if he has to beat it into you. “How dare you use the Lord’s name to spout all this nonsense”, it’s no question, but a statement. “I have no patience for whores with silver tongues.”

Kai leans over you, holding your wrists over your head, relishing in the sight of you being completely at his mercy. Your meek hiccups did nothing but spur him on even further, solidifying his decision in cleansing you free. “I’m so- sorry. You were so kind to me and took me under your wing when I needed help and- and I just…”

You squirm under his ever so watchful eyes. “Filthy thing”, his fingers enclose around your jaw, fingers forcing your lips to pucker open and spits. “To think giving you shelter would be enough was foolish of me, but we know better now, don’t we? You’re in need of drastic measures and it is me who has to whip you into shape. But fear not, I will not falter to bring you to the light side. I’ll fuck the virtue into you if I need to.”

It all happens so fast, you can barely keep up. One moment he hikes up the skirt of your frilly, little nightgown, chilly air hitting your exposed skin, the next he’s pumping his leaking cock right in front of your pussy lips. You try with all your strength – which admittedly, isn’t a lot – to get away from him, but he’s a strong man. And you should already know, shouldn’t you? Haven’t you spent night and night again, admiring his physique when he so graciously read the bible for you? Haven’t you fantasized about those very arms holding your naked body against his as he’d plunge into you in rapid speed? He’s right, you muse, you’re nothing but a common slut.

“God forgive me”, he groans and gets to work.

Funny, how such innocent glances can lead to such thorough punishment. Or was it redemption at last? You can’t tell anymore – too lost in the feelings of his palm, striking your thighs, face, tits; his hips clashing into your own with such force, it’s hard not to wince from pain; his stern look casting down at you and promising both salvation and damnation. Filthy thing, you repeat in your head, filthy, filthy, filthy. You should be grateful a man of God deems you worthy of his attention, let alone his cock.

Your insides are burning and your lungs feel like they might give out any minute, too exhausted from all the sobbing and crying, but Kai stays relentless. “Father, please”, you plead.

His response is sinister, but you know, a filthy thing like you deserves it. “Patience is a virtue”, he pants. “But what would you know about virtue?”

And he’s right.

[anxious-logic]

Something New and Beautiful

@tsshipmonth2020

Day 11: Choose any Soulmate AU.

This is kind of a prequel for an endgame LAMP storyline that I thought up a few months ago. People get their soulmate tattoos when they are ready to meet a soulmate/spend the rest of their lives with someone (usually somewhere in their mid/late teens or early twenties). It is black, and when someone else in the relationship gets the tattoo as well it fills in with color. When a soulmate dies, the colored portion turns white.

Ship: Sleepxiety (Remy x Virgil)

Warnings: Very minor very background past character death, bigots being bigots, child neglect, panic attack, I think that’s all but lmk if there’s anything else and feel free to message me for more detailed warnings.

Word count: 1,795

Summary: Remy and Virgil join their school’s GSA. At one of the meetings, they discover something about soulmates that their school never taught them.

“We should join the GSA,” Remy said one say, spread out on Virgil’s bed. Virgil bulled his earbud out, staring at the other boy from where he was curled up in the corner of his bed.

“Y’know, I think I just heard you say that we should join the GSA. But that can’t be right, because you know I have anxiety, and you know better than to make me do something I don’t want to do, especially when it involves other people.”

Remy rolled over to face Virgil. “No, I’m serious, hun. It’d give you a chance to meet new people, and I’d get to flirt to my heart’s content. I’m not saying I’m tired of you, I’m not saying you have to date anyone, I’m just saying that it can be nice to have someone to complain to about me.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, but didn’t immediately argue. Remy seized on the silence.

“C’mon,” he wheedled. “It’d get you out of my house for a bit, and keep you away from yours.”

“Fine,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes and putting in his other earbud.

Remy knew the other boy was actually excited.

***

It was the fourth GSA meeting of the year. Virgil and Remy had made a few acquaintances; they’d begun hanging out with a couple kids named Kai and Elliott.

“Hey everyone!” Joan, one of the GSA leaders, said, to gain everyone’s attention. “Find a seat, and we’ll get started.”

As students sat in the chairs organized in a circle, Talyn, the other leader, spoke up.

“Today we’re going to be talking about soulmates,” they said. “This can be a hard topic for some people. There’s no shame in leaving now, or excusing yourself during the meeting if you decide to stay.”

“Talyn and I are going to stick around for a bit after the meeting,” Joan chimed in. “If you want to talk to one or both of us privately, you can do that then.”

A few people had quietly exited the room while Joan and Talyn were talking. Virgil had noticed one rubbing a mark that had turned white, on the back of xyr hand; another had left clutching the hand of her partner.

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to,” Joan continued. “This is just a topic that can be helpful to talk about for some people.”

Virgil was focusing very hard on not grabbing his mark, which had been filled in with dark blue a quarter of the way about two years ago.

“Let’s start with asking if any of you have marks,” Talyn said. “Again, you don’t have to share anything if you don’t want to.”

About ten of the twenty students present raised their hands. Virgil hesitantly joined them, ducking his head.

“Would anyone like to share their story?” Talyn asked, lacing their fingers with Joan’s. There was a pause when nobody responded, but then Kai raised their hand.

“Um… I can start, I guess?”

Talyn nodded at them to go.

“Uh. I guess… well, I got the mark when my dad got married to my stepmom. I was 15, it was just last year. It didn’t feel like it was a particularly climactic day, or anything- but, yeah. Um, I guess that’s it.”

“Thanks for sharing,” Joan said, fidgeting a bit with their beanie. “Would anyone else like to talk?”

A few other people shared how and when they got their soulmarks – all of them were 13 or older when they had gotten theirs.

Why was I only 6… Virgil couldn’t help but wonder. He… really didn’t think that a six-year-old would be ready for a soulmate. But that’s just the way things are, he reminded himself as he felt Remy’s fingers squeeze his.

“Um, can I go next?” Elliott said. They looked nervous.

“Sure!” Talyn smiled back.

“Um… okay. So… I got my mark young. I was 10.”

The room went completely silent.

“My brother was… a dick, sorry for the language. But… well, he hadn’t been very nice to me. My parents told me they were getting divorced, and I’d probably mostly stay with my mom. I was closer to my dad, so that was really hard to hear.”

They took a deep breath. “That was also when I first started to really question my gender. I was scared, and confused, and everything was changing, and I didn’t feel like I had anyone to talk to. And… I got my mark.”

Their hand wandered to their ankle.

“I always wonder when I would’ve gotten it normally, if I hadn’t been so lonely and needed the support.”

Vrigil froze. “What?” he asked, very, very quietly. The whole room heard him anyway.

“Well- it’s not talked about much, but you can get a mark for two main reasons. The first, which most everyone knows, is that you’re ready to spend the rest of your life with someone. The other reason, which is talked about much less, is that you need someone else; maybe to talk to or spend time with or just to love you. Not necessarily in a romantic way, but just because you feel so alone and helpless.”

Virgil didn’t know who said the words, but he heard them regardless. You need someone else… to love you… because you feel so alone and helpless.

Well, fuck. That made sense now.

He ran out of the classroom, ripping his hand out of Remy’s.

***

4. 7- try again.

4- it’s okay.

4. 7.

Knock knock.

“Hey, Virge? You okay?”

Remy.

Virgil blindly felt for the stall latch, unlocking it and letting the other boy in.

“Hey, you okay?” Remy asked, crouching to get on Virgil’s level. Virgil threw his arms around him in response, feeling the other boy stagger back a bit.

“Whoah,” Remy said, bringing his arms up to rub Virgil’s back. “What’s going on?”

Virgil just shook his head, hiding his face in the crook of Remy’s neck. He breathed in the calming smell of coffee-leather-Remy.

“I’m here,” Virgil heard. “It’s okay.”

He took a few more shuddering breaths, counting them out in his head.

4. 7-again.

4. 7. 8.

4. 7. 8.

4. 7. 8.

He backed up to look Remy in the eyes.

“Hey,” Remy said. “Do you want to tell me what that was all about, gurl?”

Virgil took a deep breath, squeezing Remy’s forearms and looking down.

“Promise you won’t be mad?” he asked.

“Hun, I promise.”

Virgil blew out a breath.

“Okay. So you know how when we got the big talk from the school about soulmarks, I told you I got it when I was 12?”

“Of course,” Remy said. “And then you asked if we could not talk about them anymore. And we haven’t.”

“Yeah,” Virgil replied, carefully studying the collar of the other boy’s jacket. “So… that wasn’t true.”

He ducked his head and shrank back. Remy didn’t respond for a few seconds.

“Um. Okay.” There was a pause. “Can you tell me the truth, then?”

Virgil could hear the hurt that Remy was trying to hold back.

“I got it when I was 6,” he mumbled quietly.

He felt Remy freeze, and looked up to see an expression of pure rage burning behind his eyes.

“Explain. Now,” Remy said, deathly quiet. Virgil gulped.

“Um. My parents… kind of neglected me. I mean, I had food all the time, and a place to sleep, and people to wash the clothes and do the dishes and stuff, but my parents were gone on trips and stuff a lot. I really only saw the housekeeper when they were gone, and he only came over a few times a week.”

Remy’s eyes were flashing, but he didn’t say anything.

“Um… technically, it’s still that way, I guess. I still don’t see them very often. But now I have you, so it’s okay.”

“It’s really not, babe,” Remy said, and took a deep breath. “But your mark?”

“I… um. Honestly, I don’t really know exactly when I got it. It might have been that I got a scrape and nobody was there to tell me it was okay; it might have been that I wanted a snack but couldn’t reach; maybe I was just feeling super lonely that day. I don’t know, I just woke up one day, and… there it was.”

Remy growled slightly, but seemed to catch himself. “So… did you just not know what it was for years? Or what?”

“Thomas – the housekeeper – saw it. He told me what it was, and why I got it. Except… obviously not. Because I wasn’t ready for a soulmate at the age of six. I needed someone. Anyone. And I didn’t have them. So I got my mark. I didn’t know there was another reason you could get soulmarks until today.”

Virgil pulled back to meet Remy’s eyes when he didn’t respond. “You okay?”

“Holy fucking shit I am going to kill your parents,” Remy said. The air around him seemed hot with fury.

“Please don’t,” Virgil said. “If you did that I’d have to live with Aunt Bertha, and you know how much we hate her.”

“No. No more jokes,” Remy cut in. “You don’t get to tell me you were so alone at age six that you got a tat, and then joke about your fucking Aunt Bertha.” He grabbed Virgil’s head, pulling him forward until their foreheads touched. “I promise you,” he continued, voice tight with tears. “I promise that you will never, ever, feel that alone. Ever again.”

Virgil blinked, surprised at the sudden forcefulness, but didn’t pull back.

“Well, thanks,” he said. “But how are you going to do that?”

Remy looked him in the eye, his jaw set and a tear trickling down his face. He seemed to make a decision, nodding suddenly.

“I”ll love you no matter what. I’ll support you. I’ll be there for you. Like a soulmate. Until we both meet ours.”

They were still pressed together forehead-to-forehead. Virgil’s breath hitched.

“I- what?”

“Virgil, will you be my boyfriend?”

Virgil jerked back.

“No. Listen. It’d- it’d help us with the bigots in town, ‘cause we’d be ‘practicing for the soulmate’ or whatever stupid bullshit. And maybe our parents would let us be together more often? And, um. Having someone who I know I can lean on… would be really nice.”

Virgil closed his eyes and counted a breath. Remy’s reasoning was good. It all made sense. And… even though Virgil had soulmates – three, judging by the tat – he never really… expected to meet them.

And maybe you wanted this before today too, a voice whispered. He very quickly stepped on that voice and killed it.

“Okay,” Virgil whispered.

Remy leaned forward, and their lips connected.

[inkribbon796]

The Boy in Blue

Patton Birthday post.

Summary: Patton is used to having weird dreams. Fighting marshmallows, and traversing mountains made of fudge. But lately he’s been having some weird dreams. Ones that seem like memories that he doesn’t remember having. Memories of a childhood that never could have happened. It doesn’t help that the more stones he uncovers, the stranger things get.

It was a well-kept secret that while, Patton loved naps and comfy blankets, he hated dreaming. He, of course, kept it to himself. After all, telling other people would make them worry, and there was nothing anyone could do about his dreams.

Patton found himself in a hallway, eerie and unnatural shadows cast on the walls as he tried to find the kitchen but wound up in the living room for the third time in a row. He wanted to cry, all he wanted a midnight snack.

“Patty,” a lyrical, feminine voice called out.

“Mom?” Patton heard himself call out.

That’s not my mom! The rational, lucid-dreaming side of Patton’s mind reminded him. This isn’t my house. I like being Patton, but I wasn’t Patton when I was a kid! Where am I?

Still Patton turned around and saw Mayor Damien, looking exactly like he did when Patton had seen him four days ago, was smiling down at him in the middle of the hallway.

“Got lost looking for the bathroom again, Patty?” Damien walked over to him.

Patton felt himself start sobbing in relief and he rushed towards him. “Daddy!”

Damien frowned, but he knelt down and scooped little Patton up into his arms. He sighed, “You’ll get used to it. Kay and the others are adjusting too.”

Before Patton could be calmed by Damien’s words, or further driven into a panic that his father certainly wasn’t named Damien either, Patton was suddenly woken up from a dead sleep by a loud argument.

“Well it’s not my fault dude! How was I supposed to know he’d built a railgun?”

“Ye could’a looked, ye prick?”

Patton looked around, disoriented, his mouth dry and the Side felt like he’d been set on fire. “Who? Where?”

“Dude, you woke him up,” Bing told Marvin. The magician already storming off to fix his singed clothes, flipping the android off as he left.

Patton rolled off the couch, groggy but suddenly filled with adrenaline after his nightmare. He rushed towards Bing, grabbing the front of his shirt. “Where’s Logan and Roman?” Patton demanded desperately.

“Whoa, hey little buddy, calm down,” Bing tried to tell him. “Logan is off doing whatever the hell he does for the Host, and Roman isn’t back with Rey and Silv yet.”

Patton felt something inside him break. His whole body started shaking, he just curled into Bing, who was about as comfortable as trying to cuddle a steel wall. He felt like he was going to start crying.

“Hey, uh,” Bing tried to calm Patton down, but obviously didn’t know how to do it.

Patton was already pulling away, trying to smile and hold himself together. He had to. Patton didn’t have a choice. He’d just have to make do while they were on their missions. Patton couldn’t fuse with Virgil either, the emotional Side knew that Virgil wasn’t ready or willing to fuse with anyone of them. Especially when he tended to avoid them most of the time.

Dragging himself back over to the couch, Patton was about to sit down. He was stopped when he saw a small card on top of where his head had been laying. On one side it read:

That house takes and swallows whole,

Those that should not pay its toll.

NE 1085 Downwich Road

Patton visibly tilted his head at the note. On the other side was a quote, also printed: “You don’t speak of dreams as unreal. They exist. They leave a mark behind us.”

“Hey, Bing,” Patton called back to Bing who was eyeing him in concern. “Did you slip me this?”

Bing walked over, taking the card, “Nah, too cryptic for me.”

“Where’s it from?” Patton asked, his grogginess quickly fading away.

The android lifted his sunglasses and his eyes glowed green, scanning the card. After a second or two he answered, “It’s a quote from The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin. It’s a book.”

“What’s it about?” Patton studied the card.

“A man that can change reality through dreams, altering both the past and the present,” Bing answered. “You want the spoiler review?”

“Nah, I’m good without the play-by-play,” Patton told him, a pit forming in his gut. “I have to make a call.”

“You going out?” Bing asked.

“Yeah, I need to find the address?” Patton slid the card into a well-hidden flap in his phone cover.

“You mind if I tag along?” Bing took a step to follow him.

Patton almost shot him down, the need to not worry anyone around him almost too much for him to bear. But he shrugged, “Sure, if you want.”

“Thanks, I need to get outta here, and Host is still in,” Bing excused.

“Okay, I need to go in plain blues,” Patton told him. “Just let me make a few calls.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Bing saluted, and dimmed all his LED lights that accented his body.

Patton rolled his eyes, and began dialing a number that all the Sides, Dark or Light, had memorized.

“Joan,” Patton began after the phone picked up. “This is Patton, I need you to meet me at the Patisserie on 5th St.”

~::~ ~::~ ~::~

Patton didn’t like to dwell on the negative things in life. Life was too short, and he was too busy. But he’d always felt more like an observer, a trapped prisoner. Almost like a jigsaw piece from a sunny beach kid’s puzzle, trying to be crammed into a 1000-piece cityscape.

Patton and Bing calmly headed over to the pasty bakery on 5th st. It was a place that Patton liked to frequent, and right now Patton needed something familiar . . . and maybe some blueberry scones or some raspberry cheesecake.

Outside of the patisserie were Ethan, Robbie, and one of Patton’s old friends: Joan. All of them in ordinary clothes. Even Robbie was looking normal.

“Joan,” Patton cheered, racing over to give them a hug. “It’s been too long.”

“Why’d you chose here?” Ethan asked as Bing went to go sit down next to him. “We could have done this in the base.”

“You know,” Patton smiled with a huge grin, and motioned. “This place practically has my name written on it.”

Ethan cursed and smiled, Joan broke out in a laughed. Even Robbie and Bing were laughing.

“So we’ve got a couple free evenings,” Joan smiled.

“Want to help,” Robbie told all of them, his tone its normal slow and languidness, but no less excited.

“Okay first, I need some cheesecake,” Patton promised.

Joan held up a brown paper bag with the shop’s logo stamped onto it. “Way ahead of you.”

“Oh,” Patton sat down. “Thanks, Joan.”

Joan passed the compassionate side the bag, “Hey, what are friends for? B-team or not.”

“There’s not a B-team,” Patton scoffed as he dug out a small case for a large piece of cheesecake.

“Try telling that to the news,” Ethan scoffed, digging through bag of cookies.

“There’s not a B-team, and if there was, most of us would be on it,” Patton corrected. “Anyways, so I need you guys not to laugh.”

“No promises,” Joan gave Patton a wide smile.

“I’ve been having some weird dreams,” Patton kept going, Joan’s smile falling. “Really weird dreams. The kind that seem more like memories, but I don’t remember having them and they’re impossible.”

“Okay,” Joan point a finger at Patton, looking slightly concerned. “Not what I thought you were going to say.”

Immediately distracted, Patton looked at them. “Like what?”

“That you were going to confess to us,” Joan smiled. “You know, about you and Logan, and Roman?”

Patton looked at him in confusion for a bit, then got a little red. “I— Anyways! My dreams.”

“About boys,” Joan waggled their eyebrows.

“Stop,” Patton went fully red on the face. “I’m trying to be serious.”

“Hey, someone has to be overly invested in your love life, and Roman’s not here to pick up the slack,” Joan grinned, resting their chin on the palm of their hand.

“Patton about to explode?” Robbie asked in concern.

“If he’s lucky,” Joan answered

“Stop,” Patton putted Joan little. “There are kids here.”

“What kids?” Joan moved their whole head while rolling their eyes. “Ethan’s only a couple years younger.”

“My ears,” Ethan goaded, his voice going a bit high pitched. “They burn.”

“So what’s these dream about, besides a hot guy you haven’t gossiped with me about?” Joan segwayed.

“Celine is working with Dark, but I can’t prove it,” Patton confessed.

“Who Celine?” Robbie asked. “Nice?”

“I don’t think so,” Patton decided.

“She’s the person you ran into with Jack and Silver, right?” Ethan asked. “I remember Mark saying something about Damien having a sister.”

“Yeah, and I don’t think he lied about that, but she just seems really . . . I don’t know. I’ve seen her before, I know I have,” Patton didn’t know how to say how he felt without sounding like he was completely crazy. “And then I had another weird dream and I found this.”

Patton pulled out the note. “It’s an address in town. It’s an abandoned building in the Althone section of town.”

“Can I see that?” Ethan asked. Patton passed it across the table. Using the opportunity to take a couple bites from his cheesecake.

Ethan turned it over, Joan leaning over to look at it as well.

“Hey, I know this place,” Ethan commented, turning the card over a couple times. “I used to live close to there. It’s an old orphanage.”

“Really?” Patton leaned in.

“Well it’s not anymore,” Ethan corrected. “Shut down some five years ago. Don’t know why, but no one’s bought it since and squatters come and go through the place all the time.”

“So the place isn’t under Dark’s control?” Patton questioned.

“Not to my knowledge,” Ethan answered. “Do you think you’ll find something about Celine here?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going,” Patton decided, wolfing down the rest of his cheesecake. “You guys can come with, or head back to the base.”

“With,” Robbie decided.

“Like we’d leave you hanging,” Bing said.

Joan and Ethan quickly agreed, and after a quick plan, the small group made their way to the old building. At first, if not for Bing they would have missed it.

Patton, still in his street clothes, looked from the card to the rundown building. A sign that would have probably advertised the orphanage in complete disrepair. “This place used to be an orphanage?”

“Yeah, something about poor maintenance,” Bing answered. “The kids were moved somewhere else.”

“That’s really sad,” Patton said.

“I doubt there’s anything in there for us,” Joan decided.

Patton’s brow furrowed and he walked up to the front door, seeing a giant padlock on the front and warning to stay out. “There has to be something.”

Bing tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to a broken window. “Prolly should check there first.”

It took some effort and some careful climbing, but the group snuck in. They didn’t see any people hiding out in the building. In fact, they didn’t see anything other than rubble and broken glass.

“You said people lived in here?” Joan asked Ethan.

“I haven’t lived here in awhile, maybe they cleared the place out,” Ethan defended.

“Bing?” Patton looked over at the android.

Bing’s eyes flashed orange for a couple seconds, “There’s no records of governmental activity in the area.”

Patton and Ethan took the lead as they started to go through the empty rooms, any remnants of furniture or beds had long since been either taken or destroyed. But in the back was a small office. An empty office.

“Well this place was a bust,” Joan commented.

“No,” Patton groaned.

Bing however walked towards the back of the room and started tapping his foot on the floor in random places, his eyes glowing orange.

“Yah find something there?” Ethan asked.

“Maybe,” Bing knelt down, and then used his enhanced frame to punch a hole through the floor and pull out a dusty box.

The air was quiet, still, and then a piercing siren wet off.

Bing’s censor went off.

“We need to get out of here,” Ethan said.

“I’ve got five heat signatures on the way,” Bing warned, holding the box to him. “In bound in five minutes.”

“Get to a corner,” Ethan ordered, shoving Joan and Patton towards the closest corner. “Bing, behind me, now.”

Everyone followed his orders, and Ethan stood in front of them. The light in the room began to dim as color began to leech out of Ethan’s body. He didn’t quiet turn grey but it was close.

“Don’t move, don’t speak, don’t even breath if you don’t have to,” Ethan whispered, clearly exerting himself to cover than many people all at once.

After a minute, the door was kicked open as three guys in suits walked in, all of them with guns. They began to look around the room, glossing over the group as if they weren’t there. Patton could only guess they were some of Dark’s enforcers.

“Clear,” one of them called out of the room.

“There’s no way it’s clear,” Ed’s southern drawl barked at them, walking over to the hole in the floor, and starting to root through it. “Shit! How long has this thing been here?”

“Maybe they climbed through the window?” one of the enforcers gestured to it.

Ed turned on him, “Then you best figure out if they got away with anything before Dark kills us both.”

Sweat started to bead on Ethan’s face. Patton tried to hold his breath as Ed looked around.

“Evacuate the whole place,” Ed decided.

“But Dark,” one of the enforcers cut in.

“Will thank me later,” Ed snapped. “It’s compromised, an’ he said if it does to wash the whole place. Get a demo crew in. I don’t care, we’ll trash the whole place. L.O site be damned.”

Then he stomped out, the enforcers looking between each other before following after him. Ethan held on for an extra half minute to be sure they were gone. He almost crashed to the floor panting heavily.

“Thanks,” Patton whispered.

“Let’s just get out of here, we can call the cops a couple blocks away,” Ethan rasped.

“Good idea,” Joan agreed. “Who knows how many there are here?”

Quickly and quietly, the team just left, Bing helping Ethan out the window. They snuck down a couple blocks as Bing called in the police. Patton quickly taking the lockbox in Bing’s hands.

They were still trying to open it as Logan and Marvin came in to help the police search the building. After giving some testimonies, Logan took one look at Bing and box and just told them to head back to the station to investigate it.

After a quick trip, Bing and Robbie staying to help with the hideout, Patton was finally able to get the box open. All of them now in costume. Inside were a couple files. Some invoices of expenses that Patton quickly turned over to the police. But there were also a file, looking like it’d been hastily shoved inside the box.

Joan pulled them out and started reading through it.

“What it is?” Ethan asked as Patton was helping to separate out invoices with another detective. The Side looked over at what Joan was holding.

“They’re just some record files,” Joan answered. His brow furrowed in confusion.

“Who?” Patton asked.

“Patton Elijah Sanders, and an Arthur Stephen Isaacs,” Joan read off in confusion. “Wait a minute.”

“Let me see that,” Patton rushed over to him.

“That’s you right?” Ethan asked, leaning in. “Didn’t know you went to this place.”

“I didn’t, my folks are still alive,” Patton stared at what should, by all rights, be a picture of a very young Thomas. Probably around four or five at best. “My name’s not really Patton, and my middle name doesn’t even begin with an ‘E’.”

Ethan stared at him. “What?!”

Patton startled. “Long story, but my name’s Thomas.”

“Then why did you tell us your name was Patton,” Ethan asked, looked more than a little hurt.

“Because it,” Patton looked away, uncomfortable. “It’s super hard to explain. And I really shouldn’t get into it here without talking to Logan and Roman. The reason I became Patton, made it so I can fuse with Roman and Logan. We’re like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and my piece is named Patton.”

Patton just stared at his file. “I need to have a talk with Dee,” the Side decided. “He’ll probably just talk me in circles, but at least I can figure out if he knows something.”

Patton was already starting out the door to the room, and crashed into Logan.

“Any luck?” Logan demanded.

“I need to fuse, now,” Patton grabbed him by the arms, the clawing desperation from earlier in the day returning with full force and Patton didn’t think he could bear another second on his own anymore.

“A botched raid is hardly an emergency,” Logan told him.

Patton gripped onto the logical side tighter. “Fine, I’ll just ask Roman then.”

“Wait,” Logan said right before Patton could force himself to let go. “You’re— You—”

He took a deep breath and took off his visor. “Explain to me what’s going on and if you still want to fuse I will, I promise.”

Taking a deep breath, Patton nodded and walked back over to the files, Logan taking a look at them and the contents of the box, looking just as worried as Patton did.

Patton and Logan didn’t wind up fusing that day, but he did get enough cupcakes to go into a sugar coma and sleep off his troubles. Marvin and the Host helping this sleep be dreamless. Logan and Roman watching over him as best as they could.

[writingsfromangel]

Drowning in Animals Chapter 3

“A Surprise Comes From Somewhere New”

Summary: Thomas has been spending the past two weeks with his companions when he gets unexpected news.

Warnings: adorableness, malnourishment, references neglect, mentioned abandonment

Having an extra member in the house wasn’t as difficult as Thomas thought it was going to be. To be completely honest, Logan was far more relaxed and much easier to take care of than the energetic Patton. It wasn’t even two weeks after Logan had joined the family, when Thomas was woken up by a call at around 5 in the morning. He picked up the phone without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?” Thomas said, voice still laced with sleep.

“Thomas! Thank goodness you picked up!” Talyn’s voice said, relieved.

Thomas was immediately fully awake at hearing their voice filled with so much worry.

“Talyn? What’s going on?”

“I went to the vet to give the cats their check ups because you know that Kai was pretty sick recently and while I was waiting… You just got to get here.”

“Okay, I’m on my way.” Thomas hung up the phone and quickly got dressed before rushing downstairs. “Patton! Logan! Come on boys! We’re gonna see Talyn!”

From down the hallway, Thomas could hear the footsteps of Patton and the dog finally stumbled sleepily up to Thomas with a half asleep Logan on top of his head.

“Hey guys. You ready to see Talyn?

Patton’s tail immediately started wagging after he heard the name.

“Alright. Let’s get in the car and go see them!”

When everyone was in the car, they made their way to the vet. It didn’t take too long since they lived in a relatively small town. Thomas expected to have to go inside to meet up with Talyn but when he got there, he seen not only Talyn but Joan as well, both standing outside, Joan holding a pet carrier. Thomas parked the car, put Patton on his leash, and walked over to Talyn and Joan with Logan on his shoulder.

“Hey guys. What’s going on?”

“Come inside and we’ll show you,” Joan said, walking into the building followed by Talyn and Thomas.

Inside, there was a veterinarian that was standing by the main desk, holding a very skinny, shaking fennec fox.

“Is this the guy?” the vet asked.

“Yes. He’s taken in two animals in the past month or so and I don’t think he’ll stop anytime soon,” Joan explained, picking fun at Thomas.

“What happened?” Thomas asked, ignoring Joan’s comment and focusing all his attention on the fox.

“Apparently some guy smuggled a fennec fox to his house and didn’t want to take care of him so he dropped him off while we were here. So I called you and told the vet that you might be able to take care of the little guy,” Talyn explained.

Thomas looked into the sad eyes of the fox and just couldn’t find a reason not to take the little guy home and sighed, “Alright, I can’t say no to that face. But only if he’ll let me and he gets along with the boys.”

“Well, let’s just see then,” the vet said, carefully placing the malnourished fox on the ground.

Thomas bent down in front of Patton and placed Logan on the dogs head. “Okay boys, be careful with the guy, okay? He’s a little frightened and needs someone to take care of him.”

Both of the animals looked like they understood what he was telling them, so Thomas moved out of the way.

Immediately, Patton slowly moved closer to the fox before dropping his head on his paws after seeing the fox’s shaking seeming to get worse, causing Logan to get off balance for a moment. The fox suddenly snickered, leading the dog and bird to freeze.

“S-Sorry. That was funny,” the fox suddenly said.

Patton and Logan looked at each other before Logan hopped off Patton’s head and Patton stood up.

“So… um… I’m Patton and this is Logan. We live with Thomas!”

“Salutations.”

“I’m Roman. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Do you want to come stay with us?”

“Patton!”

“What?”

“You can’t just outright say it. But since the damage has been done, I guess we have no choice.”

The fox thought for a moment before saying, “Since there is no way for me to get back home, I guess I have no choice but to stay with you!”

“Yay! New family member!” Patton said, practically jumping up and down.

“I think it went well,” Thomas said.

“Is that what you got from that? ‘Cause I understood none of that,” Joan said.

“Well, just look at them, clearly something went well.”

After a little bit of explanation, the vet agreed to let Thomas take Roman with him. The vet told Thomas everything he needed to know about keeping a fennec fox, like what kind of food they eat and what kind of lifestyle changes he will have to make. Let’s just say Thomas was a little worried about the food portion of that discussion. The vet then gave the fox to Thomas and handed him a crate so that Roman wouldn’t hurt himself on the car ride home.

“Talyn and Joan. I can take you two back to check on your cats now.”

“Good luck, Thomas,” Talyn said, following the vet.

Joan patted Thomas on the shoulder, “You’ll do great. That’s why we called you.”

“Thanks, Joan. Now get in there, you’ve got your own children to take care of.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Joan said, picking up the cat carrier and walking over to the room with the vet and Talyn.

“You know, you make fun of me for keeping so many animals in my house, but how many animals do you have again?” Thomas said, jokingly.

“Shut up, Sanders,” Joan said, walking into the room.

“You know I’m right!”

Thomas then looked down at the three animals at his feet, “Alright boys, let’s get the new guy home.”

Thomas set the carrier down on the ground and opened it, waiting for Roman to walk inside. Roman hesitated for a moment.

“Go on, kiddo. It won’t hurt you,” Patton encouraged.

Roman looked over to Patton and Logan before nodding and walking into the carrier. Thomas closed the door and walked to the car with Logan and Patton.

When they got to the house, Thomas put the carrier down on the living room floor and opened the door. The skinny fox stepped out of the carrier and onto the carpet, which felt uncomfortable under his paws as they were used to hard surfaces or sand.

“Welcome home… uh… I never asked for your name…” Thomas realized.

“Roman,” Logan informed him.

“Oh! Thank you, Logan. I see you two have things covered for me.”

Thomas bent down to scratch Logan on the head with his index finger and to pet Patton on the head. Logan eventually flew off to the window sill and Patton shimmied his way into Thomas’ lap.

Patton looked over at Roman, who was exploring his new home, and smiled before pushing his face into Thomas’ chest and closing his eyes.

~In Honor of Roman’s birthday!!~

[blueangelicrose]

A New Beginning: Chapter 11: What Happened Afterwards

King Dice was humming along to his own theme song when Cuphead asked him, "Hey Dicehead? Have you noticed that Joan is acting kinda funny? Especially around me? Did I do something?" Cuphead questioned. "Don't know, but whatever you did, I'm sure it has nothing to do with her. Now buff that table over there toot sweet!" Dice immediately ordered. "Aye aye Captain Dicehead!" Cuphead mockingly saluted. In truth, it had something that had to do with Cuphead. And the peanut gallery: King Dice, Mugman, and Adrian, were responsible for it.

Joan was still reeling from the embarrassment from, the last song she did a lot of flirtatious moves towards Cuphead without him knowing it was her. She even lost her shoe while on stage and it somehow landed in his head. So let's just say, she can't hold it together for too long around him without blushing to the color of a fire hydrant. So she's been avoiding him all day.

So what the sneaky trio did was that they posted little fliers of "Missing Shoe; if the owner wants it back then contact one of our waiters." And in super small print, "AKA your Cup prince charming". By now, Dice already figured it out that it was Joan and her sister that was on the stage performing, and that their actual plan of action was to steal back the dagger. He couldn't care less about the dagger. Since he had been on the receiving end of the weapon, he wasn't too upset when it "turned up missing". But his boss did. Let's just say it was a VERY hot and anger filled night. He told his boss that he didn't know where it went. (Mainly because he didn't want to be involved in what his boss refers to as "Betrayal to the DarkLord Act". Which is, by Hell's standards, a VERY punishable offense in the highest degree.) But what Dice didn't know was why, despite his distaste for the bloody weapon, why did he let her, Joan's sister, take it just like that? Another thing that bugged him that night, besides his boss's constant whining, was "What was her name....?"

He tried to ask Joan, but she's been trying to avoid the topic all day. And she was very good at doing that. He sighed and looked out to one of the glass doors leading outside. The sky was darker than usual. Which meant it was about to rain. "Great. And I'm supposed to take care of an "errand" for the boss after my shift." He then went to the Devil's office and asked if he could borrow one of his umbrellas since Cuphead and Chips ruined Dice's by using them as play swords. "Fine, but I gotta warn ya, this umbrella is enchanted." Dice looked worried. "Is it going to kill me?" "No, but it will make you invisible. So watch out while crossing the street." The Devil said non-chalantly but his tone sounded like it was full of experience. Dice looked at the umbrella warily. "O-KAY didn't see that coming." Dice thought. But at the moment, he really didn't have that much of a choice in the matter.

While out strolling to get back to the casino after he had gotten the "errand" done, he was halted by the huge construction zone. "Great, I'm caught in this rain while being invisible and now THIS happens. I'm pretty sure this wasn't here when I came through here earlier. They must've just started. Now I'm going to have to take a detour. FANTASTIC!" He thought spitefully. He walked up to one of the construction workers and asked if there was a nearby detour to the casino. This action almost caused the worker to have a heartattack and fainted on the spot since Dice stuck his head out of the umbrella. And apparently that's all it showed since his body was under the INVISIBLE umbrella. So all that was there was a floating and talking Dicehead.

Another worker was just so nonchalant about the situation. He pointed out a shortcut to the nearest street that lead to the casino to Dice and continued to work. Dice thanked him and asked if his buddy was going to be alright. "He'll be fine. He gets like this sometimes." O-KAY, now to just slowly walk away from this situation before it got worse.

He followed the directions to the T. And apparently this lead him to the exact alleyway that he was bleeding out on just about a week ago. Not very good memories. Well not entirely. There was still the memory of the stranger of a sister. Nonetheless, as he walked through the alley, he started to hear music.

At this time Josephine had put out a small cherry blossom tree, that she bought the other day, out on the escape way/balcony outside her giant bay window/comfy seat. She thought it would be a nice change of pace. Especially since what happened the other day. She couldn't help but think about King Dice. She couldn't place these feelings, except that they felt as if they were blooming like the blossoms of her little tree. But how could something so wrong feel so right? Especially if these feelings bloomed to look like these flowers? She sat on the ledge of the window, while wearing her comfy royal purple silk night gown showing her one leg dangling and swinging slowly back and forth outside of the window. She grabbed her guitar and started playing "Fly Me To The Moon" (Which, by the way, if you want to hear what her voice sounds like, then you can hear it on YouTube and Spotify that's covered or sung by Annapantsu or Anna).

Dice was quitely listening in to her beautiful singing while he was under her escape way staircase. And since he was invisible, she couldn't see him. But in turn, he couldn't quite see her face or the upperhalf of her body because of the tree. But he did see her swinging leg and how that she had a cute little purple crown shaped tattoo right above her ankle that had a fancy "Q" in the middle. He recognized this voice. It was the same as that voice that he heard singing on that stage yesterday night, and in the town square a week before. "So this mysterious stranger/sister lives here huh? I'll just listen for a minute or two before I leave." As he listened to her sing, he couldn't help the enchantment it brought to his heart. He felt that he was on cloud nine.

But when the song ended, she decided to slip back inside and close the window. It was then that he was brought down from his "cloud nine" moment and decided to move on to the next street on the other side of the alley. Josephine felt just a tad better and decided to make it a routine for a while.

When Dice returned to the casino he reported back to his boss about the errand and had asked if he could keep the umbrella. "Sure, but why?" The Devil inquired. "I just have a feeling that I'll be needing it for a while." Dice said as he looked down at the umbrella in his hands and smiled fondly at his secret moment with this mysterious sister. And he was right in his assumption. He kept going back to the alley way to hear her sing everyday for the whole week.

The schedule was as follows:

Monday- Fly Me To The Moon

Tuesday- Can't Help Falling in Love

Wednesday- Take On Me

Thursday- Here comes A Thought

Friday- I Love You Too Much

Saturday- Love Like You

And finally Sunday- La Vie En Rose

(Which you can all hear on Anna's You Tube channel or on Spotify 😉)

But when the next Monday came there was no music even the little flowering tree was gone.

End of chapter 11

To be continued in chapter 12

[reeama-the-mage]

Synchronicity

Virgil had been doing yoga for many years now, he doesn’t remember how it started but it quickly became a daily thing to practice poses in his room while gentle music played, often songs of a depressing nature as they seemed to hold such a serene and calming beauty to them. It was a coping mechanism of his, whenever anything started to seem overwhelming he put on his yoga playlist and calmly stretched, focusing on his movements and his breathing. Thomas had just finished a meeting with a friend which, to Virgil, was exhausting he plopped down on his bed but that seemed to be a bad idea because as soon as he did thoughts started to rush around his head.

‘You’re just a burden, Thomas would be better without you’

‘The others don’t care they just don’t want to make Patton angry’

‘Why would anyone like you, you contribute nothing to Thomas’

‘You should just duck out again’

He didn’t know when it happened, but he realized sometime when the thoughts had been swirling around his breathing had quickened. Quickly he stood up rushing to his playlist turning it on. He started with his stretches, warming up his body and trying to clear his mind. Then he started to go to actual poses and it took awhile but eventually the thoughts stopped and his breathing slowed, he kept going for a while after that because to him ‘if I’m already stretching might as well do my daily poses.’ suddenly a wave of exhaustion hit him and he realized he probably overworked himself, AGAIN. Just as he was about to stop, in walked Logan to see Virgil in the middle of a pose. “ what are you doing?” He asked calmly. “Ah… oh.. Well… you see.. Sometimes when I’m panicking a little or I’m just bored I.. uh start doing yoga to calm me down or give me something to do, and after hanging out with Joan I got a little nervous so um… that leads us to now” he (somehow) stuttered out. “ I see well then, next time you decide to do yoga may you please invite me?” He questioned. “ su- wait- wha- why?” I questioned.

“ Because yoga has many health benefits and supposedly clears the mind so I can study better, and I want to make sure you don’t overwork yourself again” He explained. I muttered out a small thanks as he gave me a smile and walked out the door.

----

The next day I got bored and was about to do some yoga before remembering Logan. I quickly rushed to his door and softly knocked, Logan opened it raising an eyebrow slightly “Hello Virgil, what brings you to my room?” “um- well you said you- uh wanted to start doing yoga with me yesterday and I got bored and remembered you and was wondering if you’d like to do some yoga with me?” Virgil responded quickly, Logan simply nodded opening the door more ( hey that rhymed!) for him to enter. “ so, where shall we start?” questioned Logan, and Virgil spent the rest of the day teaching Logan yoga.

----

It had been many months later and it had become routine for Logan and Virgil to do roughly an hour of yoga, then just talk sometimes even accidentally staying up late and having sleepovers in whoevers room they did it in that day. That was why it was so worrying to Logan when Virgil didn’t show up one afternoon. He rushed to Virgil’s room knocking on the door loudly and trying to keep a calm face (he was failing quite brilliantly).When he got no reply he became more frantic and quickly jiggled the handle relieved to find it was unlocked he opened to see Virgil, his breathing was rapid and his face was flushed. Logan realized almost instantly Virgil was having a panic attack, it was weird but for now he pushed that thought aside. He went to Virgil placing his hand on his chest. “Breathe with me Virge” he took a deep breath hoping Virgil would copy, he attempted to but it was shaky and he had ended up coughing halfway through “ good job Virge you’re doing great, come on keep going.” He took another deep breath and this time Virgil seemed to get the hang of it, he held it for a few seconds and then breathed out. Virgil quickly doing the same after doing this a few more times Virgil seemed to have calmed down. “ Are you ok virgil, what happened?” Virgil’s gaze shifted to his feet as he awkwardly shifted “ u-uh well-” He was quickly cut off by Logan however “don’t worry I won’t make you talk about it for now, how about we do some yoga?” Virgil nodded gratefully and together they slowly stretched then worked more on some new poses they were having trouble with. When they were down Logan decided to ak “ so Virgil what had you worried so much you had a panic attack before you could come talk to me?” Virgil’s eyes became teary before asking Logan something he hoped to never hear from the small boy in front of him. “You really care for me, right logan? You’re not just faking it?” “Of course,” Logan stated “ is that what you were worrying about?” Virgil nods shyly and Logan wraps him in a hug before picking him up and plopping them both on the couch in Virgil’s room and turning on Black Cauldron. That night they both fell asleep watching disney and cuddling(though neither would admit that if asked).

----

It had been a few weeks since the incident and now it was Virgil’s turn to worry as Logan didn’t show up to yoga in his room. He went to Logan’s room and opened the door to see Logan holding a bundle of roses(he was also blushing quite a lot, but that’s not important) and a banner above him saying ‘Will you be my boyfriend?’ Virgil beamed and responded “1. I’m tempted to say no because of the grand gesture 2. Don’t scare me like that ever again and 3. Of course ya big doofus!” Logan smiled back and gave Virgil a quick peck on the lips before saying “then Virgil, would you like to accompany me to dinner tonight?” Virgil nodded and Logan continued “ don’t wear anything to fancy kay?” Virgil nodded again and they both smiled. Later that night they had the best dinner date at Red Robin’s ever.

[thearianaplace]

chaos | part 1

ariana hummed, licking some icing off of her finger as she spread icing on a cake. it was a pastel pink with hot pink embellishments and candy pearls - and a sparkly tiara. a cake fit for a princess.

the day had been relatively calm - which was uncommon in the gomez household.

that was, until, she heard a crash, coupled with the sound of something breaking. she rolled her eyes and sighed, letting the spatula she was using drop into the sink.

"mom! mackenzie just broke a lamp!" the voice of her oldest son called out.

"jesus christ," ariana muttered, making her way into the living room. "mackenzie joan, what happened in here?"

"it was an accident!" the eleven-year-old said, hands up in defense. "i was practicing my routine and i kicked it."

"you're supposed to practice outside or in the studio, you don't practice in my living room."

"i told her that already," her son said.

"i don't wanna hear it, d.j.," ariana said, kneeling to pick up the big parts of glass.

"she doesn't listen."

"none of you listen. i'm sick of it," she said. "go get a cardboard box so i can put this glass in it."

"she's the one that broke it, why can't she go get it?"

"boy if you don't get me a god damn box like i asked you to you'll stay in your room for mars' party," she said, giving him 'the mom look'.

d.j. rolled his eyes and stormed out of the room, earning a grumble from ariana.

"he's too old to be actin' like that, momma," mackenzie said as she got on the floor and started picking up smaller pieces.

"yeah i know," ariana said. "please don't cut yourself, i don't need a second e.r. trip in the same week."

"i won't."

"here's your stupid box," d.j. said as he tossed the box on the floor and started walking out of the room.

"dalton jacob gomez, stop right there," ariana said sternly as she put the glass she picked up in the box and slid it over to mackenzie. "you finish picking this up, please be careful and don't let mars come in here."

"kay kay," mackenzie said.

ariana got up and put her hand on her son's head - who was just as tall as she was - to lead him out of the room and into the foyer. "what is with your attitude? i'm sick of it."

"she always gets her way," d.j. said.

"what way is she getting, dalton? she's cleaning up a mess she made, which is a lot more than i can say for you."

"if i did that i would have gotten in trouble, but she got off scott free and that's not fair," d.j. said, crossing his arms.

"that's because you probably would have done it because you were throwing a ball in the house - which is unacceptable. mackenzie was doing something she's not supposed to, yes, but she owned up to it right away and she's taking responsibility and cleaning up her mess - she's being mature about it and not throwing a fit, that is why she's not in anymore trouble other than getting scolded," ariana explained. "you don't get to get upset about the way i handle her, you are not her parent. she doesn't get an attitude with me when i get on to her, she apologizes and owns up to it and she corrects herself."

"mars doesn't get in trouble like i do either."

"mars is three."

"what about -"

"if you say libby i'm gonna shove my foot up your ass, she's ten months old," ariana said.

"i was gonna say dad."

ariana raised an eyebrow. "dad's an adult."

"he doesn't listen to you, you were telling him 'stop' and 'don't' over and over last night, clearly he doesn't listen."

"boy, we were... i was telling him not to stop doing something, you don't worry about what mom and dad do or say, you just do what we say. room, right now. clean it. you can come out when the party starts - if you behave yourself. you’re twelve years old, you’re too old to act like this," she said.

"that's not fair," d.j. said, passing dalton as he walked up to ariana with their youngest child in his arms.

"...what's not fair?" dalton asked.

"he's in trouble," ariana said, holding her arms out to libby.

"what for?" he asked, passing the baby to her mother.

"got an attitude with me. we're in trouble, too."

"what? what did i do?"

"we have to be more quiet at night. he heard us last night."

"oh, shit," dalton whispered with a small laugh. "does he know?"

"no, and i'd like to keep it that way."

"mom! mars is trying to touch the cake!" mackenzie called out.

"oh hell no, i just spent four hours putting that shit together. marjorie francine!" ariana shouted as she hurried out of the room, leaving dalton to chuckle to himself.

"'let's have a baby,' she said. 'it'll be fun,' she said. four kids later and we still haven't learned our lesson," dalton said to himself.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Sanders Sides Avatar AU Part 7

I’m resolving some things here. Hold on.

This is part of a multi chapter fic in an AU where Thomas is the avatar in an atla type universe. Refer to the intro and chapter list post for more details. 

Warning for extreme panic and hints at violence. 2,133 words.

Tip Jar

Intro and Chapter List

“Please, you’re the Avatar, right?” the lady asked Virgil.

Fear forced him into acting correctly.

“Yes, I suppose so. Are you okay?” he asked.

“The forest! I can’t take it any longer. My son, please.” She said.

Virgil found himself being pulled along through the crowds at a frightening pace. He didn’t know what to say or do. Just act like Thomas. Be the Avatar. Get back before we’re caught.

She led him on a long walk, nearly pulling his arm out of his socket. After a while he convinced her he could follow and just ran behind her. They wove through people and eventually into trees. The people stopped completely after a while. The woman never stopped running.

“Uh, ma’am, what is the trouble again?” Virgil asked, clutching at a stitch in his side.

She didn’t answer him. Well that was awkward. He screwed up, didn’t he? Something was off here. Something was missing. What’s missing? He’s too far away from something now. What is it? This place is extremely worrying.

Extremely worrying.

Keep acting like Thomas. Don’t mind that there could be a platypus bear hiding in these woods. Never mind how dark it is. Never mind the panic slowly building. Never… never…

He ran into something. It was her. She had come to a dead stop. As soon as Virgil fell over and then jumped back up again he started to recognize the feeling in his chest. It was extreme anxiety.

This place was wrong. Just plain wrong. He should have known. He should have realized.

“Wh-where have you taken me?” he asked.

There was no response.

“Ma’am?” he asked. “What is your problem?”

Well that was rude. She probably hates him now.

There was a sound. Of something moving on the trees. It was fast and large. Virgil still looked intimidating with his stance, but on the inside he couldn’t think. He tried to assess whether to run or fight.

“I’ve brought him to you.” said the woman. “Where is Ty?”

A huge wolf spider missing two of its’ eight legs slowly lowered itself from the tops of the trees. It was about twice as tall as a minivan and just as wide. It tapped a nearby tree and a little boy who couldn’t have been more than three years old fell out of it. She scooped him up and ran off.

“You blackmailed a random person.” said Virgil. “Who are you?”

“I am fear. And apparently so are you.” said an interested voice. “I thought I was going to get the entire Avatar, but you’ll do.”

Virgil tried to turn around and run but the wolf face attached to the spider body was already waiting there. And was there again when he turned around the second time.

“You can’t exactly run from me.” it said. “Especially you.”

Virgl concentrated on the water in the air and the grass below him. He brought up enough to shakily form a rough spear in his hand.

“What do you want?” Virgil snarled.

“Safety, vengeance, what’s best for the world. I’d think you would understand that.” it said, getting closer.

Virgil formed spikes of ice and launched them at the spirit but it vanished and reappeared behind him.

“Funny, it was a waterbending Avatar that made me decide on my actions a long time ago. This seems appropriate.”

“Would you quit toying with me and get to the point?” Virgil said.

It slowly walked around him.

“No need to act brave around me, waterbender. I know what you’re afraid of. I know what fear you cause. Your doubts. What you did to me in your last life.” It said almost lovingly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Virgil said. “Avatar Kallik has never spoken to me and he probably didn’t…”

“Ah, but you’re afraid of that too. What have you done? What will you do? Surely you haven’t always been a good person. You don’t even know if you’re a good person now. Well, part of a good person. Would it be better without the weak link then? Let’s find out.”

Virgil could feel the thoughts pouring in. He tried to fight them, but there was no willpower there to help. No positive feelings, no rational thought, no escape, nothing. They started to fill his mind more than they ever did. He felt so tired.

“You tried to destroy me” the spirit whispered. “But that would be dangerous. The world would end if not for me. And you know, everyone always talks about fight or flight. Sometimes they even talk about being frozen in fear. But they never really talk about how tired I can make you. You know these thoughts. They are of your own doing. Aren’t you tired?”

Stupid. Idiot. They’re better off… no, they’ll die without, or will… Nobody likes you, Thomas. You’re taking too long. You’re a failure. You can’t even master waterbending after all these years, never mind how long it took to master fire and air. Wouldn’t you just be better off without that?

“When I placed fear in the heart of the first Avatar all those thousands of years ago I had no idea what damage it would cause. Sleep, my child. Nightmares are better than this, are they not? You’ve been afraid for so long. Constantly.”

Nightmares are better than this, yes. He could see now. There is an extension of this spirit in every human. Maybe Thomas would be better off without his. These thoughts could die with him. A frightening thought. An extremely frightening thought, but these thoughts are more frightening. He gave in. Something began to loop around him.

He drifted in and out of nightmares. Time lost all meaning. A couple of times he woke up in a panic but then immediately went back to sleep. Spider wolves crawled through his dreams and other things like rejection and death. He couldn’t remember. He could never remember. But he realized something. It’s probably too late for that now.

“No, you’ll burn him!”

“Wait what if I…”

“Oh, benders are freaking useless I swear. Stand back.”

Virgil heard wood being snapped above him. He panicked and yelled and then fell asleep again.

“I told you there were spiders.”

“Why doesn’t he wake up?”

“I told you there were spiders!”

“Yes Joan, for crying out loud. We heard you the fifth time.”

“There aren’t more spiders are there?”

“They were wolf spiders, actually.”

He blacked out again.

“He’s out! Virgil? Verge? Wake up, friendo. Come on.”

Virgil opened his eyes quickly and tried to fight his way out.

“No, it’s us! It’s us!”

It was Roman. And the rest. Why did Joan and Talyn have those expressions on their faces?

Roman slapped Virgil really hard and then gave him a death grip hug.

“Do not do that again! I was so self centered!”

“Oh, so nothing changed then.” Virgil said.

“Can’t you shut up for two minutes and never leave again?” Roman groaned.

“I will if you get out of my bubble.” Virgil said.

Roman obliged and then Virgil got up. He was still panicking he noticed. He was still in the darkest part of the forest and saw that several roots on the ground had been broken. Joan’s hands were bandaged as well and Talyn was holding Joan’s knives.

“Explanation?” Virgil said.

“You were missing for six days.” Logan said, nervously adjusting his glasses. We found you tied up in these roots and guarded by possibly… hundreds of wolf spiders.”

“Thousands!” Patton said, literally shaking in his boots. “Millions! They were going to eat me!”

“Pa-Patton, they do not eat h-humans.” Logan stuttered.

“We need to leave now.” Virgil said, standing up and working the kinks out of his muscles.

“We were so freaked out and these ones were so careless we didn’t leave a trail.” Talyn said.

“And this is a.. This is a spirit forest.” Joan said nervously. “It’s changing all the time.”

“I know the way out.” Virgil said. “And give me your hands.”

He pulled some water out of the grass and weeds below them and ran it over Joan’s hands. They healed a little bit. Not enough to stop scarring, but enough to not need the bandages.

“I didn’t know you could do that.” Joan said.

“Neither did I.” Said Virgil. “Come on. Grab your knives. Look out for a giant wolf spider.”

“A… giant wolf spider?” Patton squeaked. “Y-you’re kidding, Verge, right? Right?”

“Nope. Come on.” he said. “Wait. Where’s Niddy?”

“Oh no.” sad Roman.

“Not the dragon too!” Joan exclaimed.

“Niddy!” Patton yelled.

They yelled for a few more minutes before the tiny dragon appeared seemingly out of nowhere and tackled Virgil so fast that Roman let out a horrifyingly high scream. Niddy held onto Virgil’s shoulders a little too tight.

“Oh, kay.” Virgil said, getting up. “Now that we’ve alerted the entire forest to our presence and reaffirmed that this dragon is endless trouble, we need to get out of here right now.”

Virgil led them out of the woods. He was panicking the entire way and they had to take turns carrying Talyn for a while because they got so panicked that they couldn’t feel some of their extremities. Niddy hung onto Virgil protectively and snapped and blew fire at random things. Presumably the invisible wolf spiders.

“You can’t escape me.” Virgil heard whispered. “I’m always there, waterbender.”

Virgil wanted to slow down out of caution, especially since it seemed like none of the others had heard that, but he kept going at a fast pace. Joan was right about the forest changing. It changed in distance and direction  all the time. But he knew the way. As creepy as it might seem to the others if he told them, this place was like a home he once knew. He just knew the way out.

Nothing stopped them on the way out, but when they left the forest they all immediately packed their things from the inn and carefully snuck all of the people into the truck before driving away from the tourist trap and the fear forest as quickly as they could.

They exchanged stories on the trip up the mountain. Virgil shook his head at how useless the other three had been without him. He explained about fear.

“Do you really think Kallik tried to kill fear?” Patton asked.

Virgil looked up at the blank TV monitor as if contemplating something.

“Yeah.” he said finally. “He probably didn’t know, though. Maybe it’s why we’re so anxious this time around. Penance or something, I don’t know. Whatever.”

There was an awkward moment. Everyone was just barely recovering from being so anxious constantly.

“You are necessary, you realize.” Logan said, breaking the silence.

“Well yeah, I know that now. And so is fear. It meant well. It usually does. Screws up a lot, but you know.” Virgil shrugged.

“Means well, huh?” Talyn said, still gulping ice water and feeling tired.

“It was probably trying to keep you away.” Virgil said. “Why did you keep going in anyways? You know you have an anxiety disorder.”

“I wanted to help.” they insisted.

“You need to cool out.” Logan said.

“Chill out.” Roman corrected him.

“Joan, can I borrow some paper?” Logan asked.

Joan handed him an empty notebook and said he could have it. Logan started scribbling in it immediately.

“What characters would you use for that?” Logan said suddenly.

“Oh, he’s actually doing it.” Roman laughed. “The list.”

“We don’t have time for the list.” Virgil said.

“Fine.” Logan said, stuffing it into a bag.

“We lost six days looking for Verge over here.” Joan said from the driver’s seat. “Who knows where that spirit could be by now?”

“We don’t!” Patton offered.

“Uh thanks, Patton.” Joan said. “Anyways, we should reach the air temple in another couple of days.”

“Do we know how we’re gonna get up there?” Talyn asked.

“Yes, there aren’t a lot of monks after you know what and they’re very protective of what’s left.” Logan said.

“I say we just assert ourselves.” Roman suggested.

“We’ll keep that one on the backburner, buddy.” Patton said nervously.

“I’ve got one more question.” Joan said. “Where did you learn to heal? I thought you were terrible at waterbending.”

“I am, but I think I learned something while I was having those nightmares.” Virgil said.

“Oh yeah? And what is that?” Logan said.

“Couldn’t tell you. I don’t think I’d want to know anyways. There’s enough change going on. I don’t need to think differently too.” Virgil said.

“Well today on vague things that don’t make sense, we have Virgil.” Joan said.

“Are we at the air temple yet?” Talyn asked. “I might puke.”

“Please do it in a bag.” Roman begged.

Previous chapter Next chapter

[gvbejvmes]

Drabble Day 5

Title: The Human Clause Rating: PG-13 Pairings: Gabriel/Johnny, implied Joan/Johnny, implied Gabriel/Joan Genre: AU - demons Warnings: Briel’s potty mouth, technical child endangerment but not really Notes: Non-linear timeline. Set in same world as Satan Claws. Summary: But I'm your demon.

“Do you hear yourself right now?” Briel’s eyes closed as he listened to his ‘sister’ rant at him. She’s not his sister - at least not technically. They’re from the same place, all demons are, but he wouldn’t consider himself related to all the demons out there. After all, demons aren’t born; they’re made. But Briel was always close to two other demons - Georgie and Eli. Those aren’t their real names, but that’s as close to English as their names get. “You let a human bind you to him and you’re okay with that?”

And that’s the truth of what happened. When he met the student in the library, it was because he’d been pulled to him - called to him. He’d mumbled the wrong words in the wrong order and now Briel was bound to him. Pulled out of his home dimension, pulled from his little ones, and stuck to this human... Jonathan. That was his name. Jonathan, but the name was rough in his mouth so he shortened it to Jay. He couldn’t leave him - not for long.

His powers were basically nothing. The only thing they knew was that he looked human, sounded human, but healed quickly and was weakened by holy objects. He wasn’t a demon, but he wasn’t quite human either. He was Other, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was getting back to his littles. And if staying in this dimension meant being bound to a human - so be it.

“I don’t understand what the problem is.” Briel shrugged as he played with the lighter in his hand. It was something the human had given him. He wasn’t made of fire any more so the human gave him something to remind him of who he used to be. It was sweet he supposed.

Suddenly Georgie was standing in front of him, her thick black smoke wrapping around his body. “Oh, Briel.” And a smokey hand stroked the side of his face. “It’s too late for you, isn’t it? You like him.” And the way she said it made it sound like it was the worst thing in the world. “You’ve fallen all over again.”

--

There’s a blonde woman in his human’s apartment and she’s holding one of Briel’s cats. Ever since the human stole him from his young charges, cats have followed him around. He doesn’t know why cats. Jay says they’re from hell, but Briel can confidently confirm they are mostly definitely not from hell. Regardless, cats like him. And he likes cats. He’s actually quite fluent in cat language - another thing the human doesn’t believe.

“Who the fvck are you?” And his voice… it sounds almost like his true voice. It almost feels like his true voice, too. He can see the vase on the table next to him rattle.

The woman screams and drops the cat (Clarence), who quickly runs over to wind himself between Briel’s legs. Molly, one of his other cats, has already settled onto Briel’s shoulders. There were about six cats that had continuously followed Briel to the apartment - another point of contention between himself and the human.

“You.” The woman looks at where the door was locked and then over to the window. “You weren’t there a second ago.” She looks at him in disbelief. “I was looking right where you were.” As one of the other cats, Ringo, winds between the woman’s legs, she looks at Briel. “You’re the demon. You’re real.”

Briel blinks. “Of course I’m real. What else would I be?” His head tilts to the side curiously.

And this is how he meets Joan.

--

He sleeps now. That’s a new thing for him. Sometimes he falls asleep on his human’s couch, but mostly he falls back on old habits. He sleeps in the closet of Jay’s room.

The first time he found him there, Jay woke him with his screaming. Apparently it had been too early to find him sleeping next to his shoes. And there had been comments about his nudity - Jay’s, not his.

He’s pretty sure this is when the human realizes that Briel can’t go anywhere. So he banishes him to the couch. But… he was used to flames, lost souls, and darkened bedrooms. He was never alone and the living room? It’s strange. The ice box makes weird sounds in the middle of the night. The dish cleaner whirrs and steams. The television has an afterglow.

The living room is the worst. So he sleeps in Joan’s closet. She doesn’t seem to mind.

--

When he dreams he gets messages from his charges. His powers work best when he’s sleeping. He knows his girls are safe. They’re survivors, and he knows they’ll find each other soon. The dreams help.

“We met a nice lady at the train station.” The little brunette one tells him one night. They’re sitting in a comic book store. He doesn’t know why. She always picks the locations; he just appears when she dreams for him. “She’s taking us with her to Kansas.”

Briel’s head tilts to the side as he studies his charge. “Why would she do that?” And he doesn’t actually understand.

“We had the money you found for us.” And it sounds so simple when she says it. “We just needed a growed up. She’s only going that far. You can meet us, right?”

He blinks at her. “But… why would she just agree to be your keeper?” And he just doesn’t get it.

“We told her our dad couldn’t fly and needed to meet us half-way.”

He doesn’t know when he became their father instead of their demon, but the words sound right.

--

Jay comes home from class to find Briel on the couch with Joan, watching a movie. “I don’t understand.” Briel leaned forward to get a better look at the tv. “Why would Stitch leave her? They’re Ohana.”

“What the hell?”

And Briel is laying on the couch, a blanket wrapped around him. He pops his head up at the sound of his human’s voice. He always feels so much better when he’s around. “No. Hell is warm. Your world is freezing.” And he sounds very put off about it. His body is draped across Joan’s. She had called it spooning, but he didn’t understand the reference. He was just used to always being warm. Body heat helped with the cold.

“Have you seen the movie with Stitch? It’s very sad.” He wriggled his legs, as though to tell his human to sit with them. His human, however, had a weird look on his face.

“He’s cold, Johnny. It’s a lot warmer where he’s from.” Joan explained, but Briel didn’t understand why she was telling him that. He knew he didn’t do well in the cold. He was wearing his school sweatshirt after all.

The look on his human’s face didn’t change. “Whatever.” And he storms off to his room.

Joan looks like she’s about to say something, but Briel feels the pull. The pull that means his human needs him. “Pause the movie. I need to see the end.”

And he’s suddenly in Jay’s room with him.

“Leave me alone, Briel.”

And Briel sits on the middle of the bed. “You know I can’t.” He studied him for a long moment. “You’re… angry?” Emotions are still something he’s learning. “Why?”

Jay waves a vague hand in his direction. “I don’t care what you guys do when I’m not around, but-” And he was looking for the right words. He was censoring himself - Gabe could feel it. “I don’t want to see it, okay?”

He blinked in total confusion. “You don’t like Disney movies?” Briel asked, burying himself in Jay’s comforter.

“That’s not what I’m talking about!” And he rips the blanket off Briel, but he stays close to him. “You sleep in her room every night. I come home and you guys are like… that.” And there’s more hand gestures. “I’m not an idiot. I know you’re together!”

He’s so close to him, and he doesn’t understand why he’s so upset, but he thinks he gets the gist. “But I’m your demon.” And he doesn’t know if it’s the tone of his voice or the look on his face, but suddenly his human’s mouth is on his and all is right in the world.

--

“Briel?” And he hasn’t heard Joan this confused since the day they met. “Your daughter is on the phone?”

He’d been curled up on the couch with his cats when she hands him the handset. “Delilah?” He asks on instinct - it can’t be the blonde one. It has to be the brunette. Her name sounds strange in his mouth, but he knows he needs to say it. He doesn’t know why.

“No, this is Mrs. Bradshaw. I’m traveling with your daughters.”

It’s the lady. The nice stranger.

“Are they okay?” And he’s sitting up so quickly that it startles the cats.

In the background he can suddenly hear the little blonde one. “We ‘kay, daddy! We see soon!”

And the lady laughs kindly. “Oh, I didn’t mean to startle you, dear. I just wanted to let you know that there was a small delay with the train and we won’t arrive until tomorrow evening.”

And Briel sighs in relief. “Oh, okay.” And as he took down the information from the nice lady, he could hear the girls chattering excitedly in the background. Everything was going to work out.

--

“You remind me of home.”

He’s laying in bed with his human. Sprawled on top of him is probably the better description. He looks like one of his cats actually.

This is where he sleeps now. It’s strange, but at the same time it’s not.

Jay snorts. “I remind you of hell. Thanks, Briel.”

He nips gently at his chest. “That’s not what I meant, assh0le.” His human is petting his hair, which urges him to continue with his thought. “I’m so cold in your world. All the time, but when I’m with you… I feel the warmth under my skin again. I feel fire again. Does that make sense?”

“I think I know what you mean.”

--

They’re at the train station - waiting for the girls. They drove all night to get there, and now the train was delayed. He’s anxiously flipping his lighter open and closed.

“Would you stop that.” And his human’s hand is over his own, but it’s only to steal the lighter from him.

And then… the train arrives and…

“DADDY!”

As the two little girls wrap their arms around him, all he can think is that Georgie was right. He’d fallen - totally and completely. But you know what? He couldn’t remember why that was a bad thing.

[bluboothalassophile]

A Speedster’s Guide to Messing Up the Laws of Physics

Speed Force Warning Labels...

Barry felt that he had to learn this the hard way, as did the rest of his family, but it was the only remedy really.

The first lesson about life was this:

IT DIDN’T COME WITH WARNING LABELS!

All the shit he had learned came AFTER the mess up. Now granted Oliver had been there trying to help prevent him from messing up to begin with, but when one moved so fast that the rest the world was at a stand still it was a challenging group of lessons to learn.

Like when Iris’s older half-brother; Rudy, just up and dropped his kid in their laps, not that Wally wasn’t awesome. But it wasn’t like Wally, Iris, and Jo knew anything about the kid that had been dumped on them. Especially since Rudy was only related to Iris through her mother, and she hadn’t ever met Rudy. But there had stood a twelve year old kid looking at the three of them for guidance.

Wally had turned out fine in the long run, but that was a challenge in and of itself.

Then there’d been the particle accelerator, and that night he had been arguing with Wally about jobs, and school, and girls, and everything that had happened to them which had them both in comas, and a distraught Iris and Joe trying to help them.

And that lead to S.T.A.R. Labs. Which was a complicated thing in and of itself as he was now the owner of it and had NO idea what to do with it; still, as they were mostly using it to catch bad metas.

Point was, if anyone had told him that he was going to be best friends with the hotheaded, bossy Oliver Queen, he’d have laughed. If anyone had told him that he’d be the fastest man alive; he’d have laughed. And if someone; anyone, had told him that he actually got the girl, he’d have really laughed before running off.

But it had all worked out, he had the girl, he worked with Oliver in the Justice League; which had opened the door to a whole new set of weird, and he had broken every major Law of Physics in less than ten years.

But that was OK! He fixed it!

He was getting the hang of all of it now; it had only taken ten years but he was really getting the hang of all this.

The hang of being a mentor, uncle, husband, and having an expanding family.

Yup, he had it all under control and it was working out splendidly!

At least that’s what he thought until today.

Today had been a normal day, normal for him with him running late. Iris had run off to meet up with her dad for a cup of coffee to tell him their big news, and Barry was trying to act normal; and late. He’d just been on his way out the door, toast in mouth when there was a knock on his door. Which was odd in and of itself, as his house had an open-door policy just about everyone knew about.

Upon opening the door though Barry had just about fainted.

There stood a kid, about thirteen, with bright eyes, a crooked smile, messy auburn hair, pale brown skin, and a lanky build; he was rather short. But it was like looking at a ghost of his own father (seeing Jay Garrick was always weird but different, Jay had moved to this Earth after most of his Earth had been destroyed, bringing his wife, Joan along with him. It was kind of like Harry moving here, but different and sadder circumstances.). This kid grinned.

“Hi Gramps!” the kid shouted then threw his arms around him. Barry was frozen in shock.

Then the kid was zipping around the place checking it out. Barry called in sick, too flabbergasted to do anything else before catching the kid and dragging the little speedster off with him. He also texted Wally because Wally was going to be needed today, before Iris and Joe found out.

Making his way to S.T.A.R. Labs he managed to have the kid distracted as he handed off some of the boy’s DNA to Caitlin who just looked stunned. But after an hour of DNA tests and distracting the kid Barry found himself blinking dumbly at the results.

“This Is So Crash!” a happy voice announced as the speedster zipped around on a rolling stool with Cisco chasing after the new speedster.

“And he just showed up?” Caitlin said.

“Out of the blue,” Barry repeated. “He was standing on my porch, called me Gramps!”

“Well, he’s not lying about that part,” Caitlin said unhelpfully.

“How!?” Barry did a double take of the screen she had the results up on.

“Stranger things have been known to happen other than a time traveler,” Caitlin said.

“Dude seriously hold still!” Cisco shouted, there was a crash in the other room.

“Hey!Whatchadoing!?Oh, isthatmyDNA!? Itoldyouwewerefamily!” the kid announced with a bounce and Barry caught the kid as Wally walked in.

“Kay, I got your text, I gotta go back to work though, and… what’s this?” Wally blinked, and Barry blinked at his auburn nephew who was staring at the kid.

“WHOA! It’sWallyWest! Iknowallaboutyou, andit’sahugehonortomeetyou!” the kid started.

“Uh…” Wally backed up.

“Hey Wally,” Cisco panted.

“What’s going on? who the hell is that? Why does he know our names, and why is he talking like you?” Wally fired off at him.

“Hey!Where’sGrandma! Iwannasayhitoher! It’s Been FOREVER!” the teen announced as he zipped out then.

“Caitlin will explain!” Barry shouted over his shoulder as he tore after the kid, catching him a block from the café Iris and Joe were at.

“Slow down!” Barry ordered.

The kid just blinked at him with wide eyes.

“Look,” he paused realizing for the first time this morning he had no idea what this kid’s name was. “I’m sorry, but what did you say your name was?”

“Oh, Bart! Bart Allen, time travel extraordinaire!” he smiled and puffed up his chest rather proudly as if this were his greatest accomplishment. Did the kid not see that he might erase himself being in the past right now? Barry would worry about that later then.

“Right, Bart, who’s your grandmother?” he asked, just to make sure he was on the right track here.

“Iris West-Allen,” the kid rolled his eyes like this were obvious.

“Right, look, I’d like a chance to talk about this with Iris before you spring up on her, so… why don’t I get to know you? You can tell me why you’re in the past,” Barry said.

“I’m crashing the mode, aren’t I?” Bart said confidently.

“Kinda, yeah, come on, we’ll talk with Iris about this later,” Barry said as he and Bart started walking away.

“I came to the past on a dare, I’m here so I win!” Bart announced. Barry frowned.

“You came to the past on a dare?” Barry said unimpressed.

“Yeah! Hey, does Jay Garrick live on this earth yet, what about Jesse Quick! OOOOOO! I!”

“Bart, slow down,” Barry smiled at the kid’s enthusiasm because it was a bit contagious.

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

I sent this on mobile so sorry if it's a duplicate, but I haven't seen it yet so I think it might not've gone through. Drabble request: TWW, post-series, domesticity preferably with kids, but also some career stuff, ship/character pairing of your choice

Okay, this is so not a drabble :) but it was fun to write! Borrows from these headcanons I accidentally created that one time.

1,500 words of Josh/Donna fluff, with an appearance from Zoey Bartlet and references to several other characters. Also on AO3.

He’d learned long ago to pick his battles, though, with two little girls who had inherited their mother’s fighting spirit. When their favorite bedtime story became “the time Mommy blew up” he knew he was in for trouble.

Fighting with his tie as he came downstairs, Josh found his daughters sprawled on the couch.

“Remember, Zoey’s coming over to babysit today.”

“Yes!” Jo high-fived her little sister, beaming at Josh. “She promised next time she was gonna teach us how to flip a grown man over our shoulder.”

He paused on his way into the kitchen, turning slowly to face them. “Seriously? That’s not just a funny joke you guys are practicing to scare your mom with?”

“Dad.” Charlotte rolled her eyes at his lameness. “It’s totally safe. She learned it from her bodyguards.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” He’d learned long ago to pick his battles, though, with two little girls who had inherited their mother’s fighting spirit. When their favorite bedtime story became “the time Mommy blew up” he knew he was in for trouble.

Or maybe he’d already figured that out, the moment Brianna Joan first blinked up at him with her pale eyelashes and deep brown eyes. A world of trouble–realizing that he was a father now, that nothing would ever be the same.

“Mom,” Jo yelled, making him wince at the assault on his eardrums. She had her mother’s lungs. “You want us to be able to kick butt, right?”

Donna stood in the kitchen doorway, half-dressed for her morning meetings but still in her pajama shirt while she cooked. “I feel like that’s a trick question,” she answered, regarding the three of them. “Come eat your waffles, girls.”

“What about me? Don’t I get waffles?”

“That depends,” she replied. “Are you going to be able to make our lunch date today?”

“Come on, it’s not like I make a habit of missing–”

“The last three, Joshua,” she argued, cutting him off. “You had to reschedule the last three.”

He held up his hands in defense. “I know, I know. I’m sorry! I would’ve much rather met you for lunch than gotten stuck with lawyers from K Street.”

“Yeah, well, CJ and I are meeting with senators today and the Belgian ambassador. If I can make lunch, so can you.”

He crossed to the doorway and kissed her. “I’ll be there.”

“Good. Then you get waffles.” She grinned at him when he leaned in for another kiss, and there was a chorus of booing from the kitchen table.

“Some of us are trying to eat,” Charlotte said.

“Anyway,” he told Donna, taking his seat and ignoring the peanut gallery, “I have a light day. Toby’s coming in, so I cleared most of my morning.”

“Well, that’s something, then. He won’t let you stand me up.” Donna brought over the last of the waffles and finally dug into her own breakfast. “What’s he up to?”

“He’s bringing Huck by.”

“Because fifteen-year-olds are really into campaign finance reform these days?”

Josh laughed. “No…apparently he told Andy that he’s aiming to go to Harvard. Toby wants me to talk him out of it.”

“Is Molly coming too?” Jo asked between bites. Toby’s daughter was the softball-playing, video-game-killing hero of their twelve-year old tomboy. While Charlie was artistic, with her mom’s dancer form, their eldest wouldn’t be caught dead in a tutu or at the piano.

“Sorry, kiddo, just her brother.”

No longer interested, Jo dropped her silverware onto her plate with a clatter. “Done. Thanks for breakfast, Mom.”

Donna swallowed and nodded. “Dishes in the sink, Jo.”

She was out and up the stairs before her sister had the chance to finish her own meal. Charlotte habitually moved at her own pace, daydreaming over her butter-drenched waffles as her parents talked around her.

“Which senators are you and CJ talking to today?”

“Texas and Arizona.”

“Fun…and Belgium?”

“Clean energy.”

“Right. How’s that going?”

She dipped the last of her waffle in syrup, keeping one eye on the clock. “About as well as can be expected. Looking at European models has been helpful, but it’s not like that gains us much traction in the South.”

“Well, I’m not sure anything would,” Josh pointed out. “They’ve dug their heels in pretty good against climate change.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“Daddy?” Charlotte interjected. “Can I come with you to work?”

Donna raised her eyebrows at Josh, as surprised as he looked.

“Don’t you want to stay here and play with Zoey?”

“Not today…at school, they said Take Your Daughter to Work Day is next week.”

“Oh.” He stared blankly at Donna. Wasn’t that one of those made-up holidays, like the kind the President proclaimed that he used to mock? “Are you sure…I mean, wouldn’t you have more fun going with your mom?”

She beamed at Donna, all careless sweetness and light. “Nope. I wanna go with you. Can I?”

“Sure you can,” her mom answered. “Can’t she?”

Trapped, Josh tried not to panic at the idea of keeping his dreamy-eyed daughter entertained for an entire day full of politics. “Of course. Sounds great, honey.”

“Charlie, you’ve got ten more minutes until Zoey gets here,” Donna pointed out, now that that was settled. “If you don’t get going, Jo will have a head start at learning how to knock people unconscious.”

“Oh!” Rushing through her second waffle, their blue-eyed sprite leapt out of her chair. Charlotte’s pale ringlets bounced behind her as she ran back to the living room, forgetting to soak her dishes or properly be excused.

Donna sighed, and Josh smiled at her. Maybe manners were a work-in-progress, but just look at the beautiful little people they were raising.

“You know what this means, don’t you?”

She blinked. “What?”

“You’re gonna have to take Jo.”

“Good,” she replied, pointing her fork at him. “She’ll have a lot more fun with me than doing whatever Charlotte gets stuck with at your office.”

“Hey! My office is nonstop fun. Just last week, the President sent balloons to surprise Bram on his birthday.”

“Wow, balloons. I stand corrected.”

“I’m just saying, I can give our budding Warhol a painting app to play with and she’ll sit in a corner all day. Meanwhile, you’ll have a tiny lightning bolt on your hands while you talk to the Attorney General.”

“And I’m sure she’ll enjoy our daughter’s energy.”

“There’s about a fifty percent chance our daughter’s energy will end up setting something on fire.”

Donna took her plate to the sink. “She gets that from you.”

He grinned. “Yeah, I know.”

The door buzzed, and Donna went to answer it. Josh cleared the rest of the table while he listed to the clatter of feet racing back downstairs, and the commotion of the girls greeting their favorite sitter.

“You’ll teach us the flip, right, Zoey?”

“I drew you a horse! Come see.”

Donna’s laugh carried to where he stood. “Girls, let her breathe.”

Dishes soaking, he joined them in the living room. “Hey, Zoey. What’s on today’s agenda?”

“Oh, you know. Running with scissors, ice cream for lunch…the usual.”

“Right.” He smirked at President Bartlet’s youngest, now a rising star at the NGO his wife was running with CJ. “Well, just try to keep them in one piece, would you? They’ve got delusions of badass.”

“No delusions here,” she argued, tossing her hair back. “They are badass.”

“That, they get from me,” Donna told him, grinning. “Thanks for this,” she added in Zoey’s direction. “I’ll buy you lunch tomorrow after the conference.”

“No worries. You know I love your baby feminists.” Zoey wrapped an arm around Charlotte when the girl sidled up to her. “We’ll have a blast. Go focus on your world leaders–and tell CJ I’ll be in early tomorrow, ‘kay?”

“Will do.” Donna turned toward Josh as the girls led Zoey upstairs. “Josh, your tie is a mess.”

“I wasn’t fully awake yet,” he protested, holding still as she leaned in to fix it.

“Yes, but you’ve been wearing a tie for decades,” she pointed out. “Shouldn’t you have the hang of it by now?”

“Why would I bother?” He asked with a smile. “If I could fix my own tie, you might stop doing it for me.” Josh took her hands in his and kissed the fingers that had successfully tidied it up.

“I’ve gotta head out,” he said reluctantly, catching a look at the clock behind her. “See you at lunch, Donnatella.”

“You better.” Her lips meeting his in farewell lingered just a little longer than necessary.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there. Really. After all, I got waffles.”

“Make it on time,” Donna told him with a sly grin, “and you’ll get something even better tonight.”

His eyes widened. “I’ll be early,” Josh promised, kissing her again before he left.

She headed upstairs to finish getting ready, humming happily to herself. There was still only one way to render Josh Lyman speechless, and it was her favorite thing in the world.

When he got a good look at the teddy and garters she’d picked up over the weekend, he was going to forget his own name.

Then he would make her forget hers.

[blueangelicrose]

A New Beginning: Chapter 5(part 2): A Deal Made and a Piece of Freedom Lost

As Joan read the note from start to finish, she stared at whose signature was signed at the bottom of the note. Her stomach curled and her expression on her face furrowed into that of what you would like to call it as a Scrooge face. She was furious and was about to erupt with anger. But she realized that the Devil wants her to be angry and throw a fit. It was the part of his job that he took pleasure in the most, besides torturing the fallen souls of Hell, and making his employees working for less than minimum wage. So instead of losing her control of her emotions, she breathed in and out calmly a few times. Then looked up towards the Devil's employees with a look of stern-like confidence, and said, "Take me to him now, and we'll see who lasts." As she said that, her eyes made a deadly glare at them and crumpled the note in her hands. As she did that, both Wheezy and Victoria felt a sudden chill go down their spines.

"Uhhh... shall we go then?" Wheezy nervously asked. Joan begrudgingly agreed, grabbed her and Adrian's luggage, and started to walk very hastily down the road. "O-kay~.... I think we better get moving or else she's going to leave us behind. And she probably won't care to look back since we're going to the same place that she's going to. Although what we plan to do is probably MUCH different and less destructive than what she's planning on doing. Especially to your boss." As Adrian made that valid point, both Wheezy and Victoria looked at each other with expressions of worry and horror. As they quickly followed Joan, as best as they could at least, they noticed the triplets following very close to Adrian and wondered what they were. They couldn't get a good look at them, since from afar, they look like glowing orbs with no definitive features. They tried to ask Adrian, or at least try to get a closer look, what they were. But to no avail. Adrian was to focused on trying to catch up to Joan and the triplets weren't taking a chance on getting closer to Wheezy or Victoria.

They eventually caught up to her, only after when they arrived at the front of the boss's office. And Joan, despite being furiously mad to the point where it sent all sorts of negative vibes throughout the casino, calmly and composedly reached for the door. But before she opened the door, a low but deep booming voice spoke out. "Come in, my dear. We have much to discuss." Joan could already tell that he was enjoying every bit of this. Holding her precious locket hostage and knowing that it would make her hopping mad if he did anything to it. But luckily for her and unfortunately for him, that her locket is protected by a powerful Holy seal that only she and no one else can open it. So even if he did try to, he would only be either setting himself on fire with Heaven's Holy flames or be electrocuted with Heaven's Holy lightning. So she was pretty confident that he didn't know exactly WHO she is.

Joan stepped in the intimidating room. It had a dark and evil vibe. Like something out of a medieval torture chamber/dungeon, but in a sophisticated and clean office room. And it didn't help at all with the room being dark and all. "I think he's trying to creep me out." Was what Joan thought to herself. Then she saw him, behind his desk, and sitting in his extravagant chair. He was hunched over with his elbows on the surface of his desk with his hands entwined together and holding them in front of his face. It was the position of where your boss looks like he's about to fire you from your job. But, in Joan's position, it was the exact opposite. "So glad that you could make it, Miss...Joan was it? Or should I call you Miss Angel?" Seeing as how he was questioning (?) on who she was, he was just presuming that she was just an ordinary angel and hasn't dared open the locket. "He must have noticed the Holy protection seal on the necklace." Joan thought to herself. And since angels are notorious for guarding or sealing away stuff that is extremely important, he thinks that Joan is just another run-of-the-mill angel that just happened to stumble into his territory. Although from the look in his eyes and the tone in his voice, he sounds like he knows a lot more than he's leading on.

Joan noticed the chair in front of his desk. Assuming that he wants her to sit down, she did what any other lady would do in a situation where she's being blackmailed. She picked up the heavy and cushioned seat, which in itself was an amazing feat for an ordinary human to do, and threw it right at him. Unfortunately for Joan, he moved out of the way before the chair had a chance to hit him. The chair ended up making hard contact against the wall behind him, and breaking it, the chair, in several pieces. The Devil looked unamused and said, "Well, so much for talking like professionals. O-kay...so let's get down to business. Here's the thing, I know you used some sort of magic to cancel out my magic that was on my casino games. The magic that I put on there was so that gamblers don't get so lucky and take whatever money that I have. For free that is. But since you cancelled out that magic, the customers have been getting TOO lucky. And thanks to that, I'm losing money, and fast. I tried for the past few hours to recast the same spells on the games, but for some reason your magic is still hanging around and cancelling out my magic. Now, for the first time in about, let's say, a few hundred years? I had to temporarily close my casino for 'maintenance'. Which in itself is costing me and my employees money and time. Which I should mention, is very precious down here. So here's the deal. You come work for me and my casino and I'll return your precious locket. But I'll only return your locket under these conditions while you work for me.

1. You take your magic off of my games.

2. You work for me till you pay off your debt.

And 3. You follow my every order to the T till you fulfill the last two conditions. The first condition shouldn't be too hard to do. But the second condition is going to be a little more, challenging. And the third condition is probably no different from the second. Depends on how you listen to me and how good a job you do."

Joan was dead quiet. The Devil didn't know what to make of her response since she was wearing her thick glasses and wasn't making any notable expressions. But that wasn't going to last for long. Joan clenched her fists and asked why she would have to work for him just to pay for a debt that doesn't exist. But the Devil said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, my dear. Not only did you win the bet using your magic but you also are responsible for making me lose so much money. So your total amount of your debt is about...... 1,333,000,000 dollars. So until you pay off that debt of yours, you won't be seeing this precious locket of yours any time soon." Joan started to lowly growl under her breath. "Unless you have some of that money from the game, then you better cough it up now." The Devil ordered. Joan knew that she and Adrian spent all the money on having a good time with her mother so she was left with only one choice. And she knew that he knows it as well. That's what ticked her off the most. And what he was about to say next would send her over the edge. "So would you prefer to work for me? Or hand over your friend's soul there?" As he said this, he pointed his sharp-clawed finger towards Adrian. In that moment, her patience and calm had run out, and she snapped.

Her wings flew open with crystalized coating over her soft feathers. Making them razor sharp and titanium hard. Her nails grew to look like claws. And even though she had thick glasses on, the Devil could clearly see her eyes change. The sclera turned pitch black, the iris and the pupil turned into the shape of that of a cat-like beast. But only the iris radiated a bright icy blue glowing light, while the cat like pupil remained black, like the sclera. Finally, her mouth opened wide to reveal that her top and bottom canines were growing to that of a beasts. She let out a low but loud growl and said in a menacing voice, "If you touch at least one hair on his head, I shall have yours on a silver platter!" The Devil didn't know what to think of her sudden appearance change. But what he did know, was that as soon as he looked into her heart, he saw what looked like a normal human soul. But it looked different. Her soul glowed radiant bright multi-colored lights. Those lights didn't just stay in one place, they swirled and danced around the pure white glowing orb that was the center of her soul. As he stared at the center of her soul, it glowed brighter and brighter until his eyes started to burn from the intense light and heat from her soul. "Okay, okay, okay! You've made your point! So, do we have a deal?" As he said that, she started to calm herself down, but didn't fully de-transform herself. She had the feeling that he had more to say about their deal. Turns out, she was right. He said that he didn't expect her to single handedly fulfill the deal that was meant for two people. He also wanted Adrian, who started all of this, to also work for him to pay off the debt that they now share.

Joan was about to reach over the desk to wring his furry neck, but he said that if she tried to harm him, her debt count would only increase. Joan stopped midway from grabbing his neck and clicked her tongue in a viscous manner. She pulled back her hand and hissed under her breath. The Devil pulled out two blank contract papers and said with a devious smirk on his face, "Now, do we have a deal?" She looked at Adrian with a face that said, "I'm sorry, I don't have a choice." And Adrian returned a look to her that said, "It's okay. I'm the one who got us in this mess to begin with. Don't worry about me, I'll live. I'm not that weak, and you know that." So together they signed the contracts, and as soon as they got done, with a snap of the Devil's fingers, the contracts poofed in a puff of smoke.

The Devil ordered the imps to call over the manager to show the new employees where they'll be staying and what they'll be doing. A few moments later, a humanoid man with a dice for a head came into the office. He had pencil-styled mustache and wore a fancy purple two piece tuxedo suit with a purple bow tie. His shoes were also fancy and purple. Sleek and shiny at that too. He asked his boss what he wanted with him. His voice sounded southern but in a very refined manner. Almost to the point of where he sounded like he was part of a gang, but more civilized. "You want me to show the newbies around? Fine, but they better keep up. I'm not in the mood for slowpokes and amateurs. That's the last thing that this casino needs." He turned towards Joan and Adrian. "I'm Mr. King Dice, pleasure to meet you and like I said before, try to keep up." If she wasn't boiling mad over her new but temporary boss, she would have slapped Dice's head so hard it would be spinning around and around for over an hour. Which wouldn't be hard since, like Cuphead and Mugman, he had no neck. The Devil mockingly wished them luck as they walked out of the office and waved goodbye. But after they left, he kept pondering how an angel, little alone a normal human being, could have such a soul. As he thought this, he made a devious smile on his face and thought out loud, "This could get interesting~. Mwa, ha, ha, ha~!"

To Be Continued....

End of chapter 5(part 2).

To be continued in chapter 6.

[thesydneyfeminists]

Women in and of Historical Fiction: A Review of Sharon Kay Penman’s “A King’s Ransom” and “Here be Dragons”

Historical fiction faces a good deal of pushback in multiple different circles. There are those people who insist historical fiction is among the “lesser” genres, not on the same “intellectual level” as literary fiction and the canon classics. There are also those people who claim historical fiction is a defilement of “true” history, that the very categories “historical” and “fiction” are at odds with one another. At the same time, the genre has faced increasing popularity over the last decade. One has only to look at the top trending films and TV shows to realize historical fiction means something to and in the Western imagination. As one blogger reports, reading about the past “shaped my ability to empathize with cultures and people … reading historical fiction has colored my decisions and changed my actions” (https://lithub.com/historical-fiction-is-more-important-than-ever-10-writers-weigh-in/). How people consume history, and what kind of history they consume, can alter their perceptions of their own present.

Image Description: A row of old, ornately-bound book spines in different shades of red, brown and black. Some date from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Source: https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/history/best-historical-fiction-audiobooks

Like the author above, reading historical fiction has considerably changed my life. I grew up reading historical novels about the American Civil War, notably Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” and Jeff Shaara’s “Gods and Generals.” Although my taste in books has changed drastically since then, I still believe historical fiction holds great potential for learning and, even more so, unlearning. However, making historical fiction accessible to everyone is an important next step for the genre. Women authors have been present in the field for decades - Toni Morrison is a modern American classic who writes novels deeply steeped in history. Still, as professor of English literature Diana Wallace writes, “Literature is a very powerful thing … so it’s really important that the literature we make available to students includes books by women as well as men, and equally that different races, classes, nationalities and sexualities are represented” (https://www.southwales.ac.uk/courses/ma-english-by-research/40/what-can-womens-historical-fiction-teach-us/). The shift away from historical fiction written by, about and for white men is a critical part of feminist movements.

Image description: A blurred photo of Sydney harbor, including the top of the opera house and left side of bridge. The quote “History tells us what people do; historical fiction helps us image how they felt” by Guy Vanderhaeghe in a blueish circle over the sky and a banner that reads #HistoricalFictionWeek. 

Source: https://www.writing.ie/guest-blogs/historical-fiction-week-on-goodreads/

 I began to formulate the basic premise of this article after finishing Sharon Kay Penman’s “A King’s Ransom.” This massive and stunning novel spans the later years of King Richard the Lionheart’s reign, after his return from the Crusades. After a few week’s break, I’ve just completed a second book of Penman’s titled “Here Be Dragons.” This story focuses on King John and the Welsh Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth. Both books are compelling, and I flew through the 800 or so pages of each. Penman is a skilled author and a painstakingly detailed researcher. The worlds she paints in her novels are somehow both easily accessible to people reading in the 21st century and still attached to their historical origins. They bridge the spatial and emotional distances between the past and present and allow readers to draw connections to their own lived experiences. Although both the books mentioned above revolve around history’s more traditional heroes, Penman’s female characters truly captured my heart.

In her novels, Penman breathes life into a multitude of complex and three-dimensional historical women. “A King’s Ransom” inspired me to learn more about the infamous queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, a monumental woman who quite literally changed the course of English history. “Here be Dragons” instilled in me a love of Princess Joan of Wales, wife to Llewelyn the Great and daughter of King John, who wielded great political power over two warring nations. As Greer Macallister suggests, “The very act of centering a novel on a woman’s story, of giving her the same respect and attention men’s stories have traditionally received, can be feminist. The women of the distant past may only appear in sepia-toned photographs today, but when they lived, they lived in full color” (https://themillions.com/2017/07/how-can-historical-fiction-be-feminist.html). In Penman’s novels, women of the medieval period are painted in brilliant color. She exposes the complicated and often conflicting decisions women were forced to make. In doing so, she asks readers to reflect on the similarities and differences of our own lives.  

Image Description: Tomb engraving of Joan, Lady of Wales. Stone carving depicts a woman’s face and palms held up to her chest. The details are blurred with age. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan,_Lady_of_Wales

Image Description: Tomb effigy of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Stone statue depicts a woman lying on her back on a table draped in red cloth, reading a book. She is wearing a crown, white veil and blue dress distressed by age. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine

I won’t pretend Penman’s novels are beyond reproach. The sex scenes between King John (in his 30s) and his child-bride Isabelle (12 at the time of their marriage) were, to me, overdone. I understand the author’s desire to be “historically accurate.” At the same time, I believe there are ways to convey the customs of the time without glorifying them. Penman’s treatment of Isabelle and a few of the other child-brides caused me to squirm at several points, especially her emphasis on Isabelle’s sexual appeal to men three or four times her age. These descriptions bordered on casual acceptance of fetishization of youth, if not now, then in a time when it was considered “standard.” True, readers have access to the thoughts and feelings of these young girls in a way typically blocked from more conventional historical documents. Still, Penman’s description of Isabelle and John’s relationship is bound to make many feminists uncomfortable.

Additionally, Penman’s novels unashamedly center European history. This fact alone is not necessarily a condemnation of Penman’s work. I do think a better understanding of how England formed and functioned in its early years is necessary to dismantle the power structures created by and continued through colonization and imperialism. However, Penman leaves little room in her novels for readers to make connections to the world outside European boundaries. Although the Crusades are mentioned repeatedly in both novels, the people and cultures of what is today known as the Middle East are notoriously absent. Similarly, Penman mentions the horrific treatment of Jewish people by King Richard once in “A King’s Ransom” and obliquely in “Here be Dragons,” but so briefly it barely registers. Such a tight focus on English royalty is severely limited in its ability to push back against power imbalances, even if it is centered around women.

Despite their shortcomings, “A King’s Ransom” and “Here be Dragons” were influential books for me at this moment in my life. They motivated me to think more critically about “English history” and my own heritage, as someone with ancestral ties to both England and Wales. They also reminded me why I chose to make a career out of studying the medieval period and how much work remains to be done on the intersections and margins of history, literature and identities. Finally, as another blogger so eloquently wrote, they prompted me to think about how “historical fiction and feminism can work hand in hand” (https://themillions.com/2017/07/how-can-historical-fiction-be-feminist.html). Penman does not claim the title of “feminist,” as far as I could find. Still, her contribution to historical fiction as a woman writing about other women illuminates the possibilities of the genre in retelling and relearning the parts of history that are so often shielded from common knowledge.

Author’s website: http://www.sharonkaypenman.com/

Editor’s Note: This is a review and not a paid promotion.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sydney Feminists. Our Blogger and Tumblr serve as platforms for a diverse array of women to put forth their ideas and explore topics. To learn more about the philosophy behind TSF’s Blogger/ Tumblr, please read our statement here: https://www.sydneyfeminists.org/a

[elsanna-shenanigans]

October Contest Submission #7: Arendelle's Neighborhood Ghost and Mythical Creature Association

The night was still young but Anna’s Jack O’ Lantern basket already overflowed with many candies and chocolates.

Kristoff and his friends found it very odd.

Like the years before, Anna was the only kid in neighborhood who always did trick and treat by herself. The redhead didn’t have any friends. Gaston said that it was because Anna Summers was a weird mad girl. The girl loved to spend lunch break inside the empty art room, talking with paintings and Beethoven head statue.

To be honest, Kristoff wanted to get to know Anna better since the girl always seemed very cheerful and friendly. However, the girl always slipped away every time he tried to start a conversation.

Even right now, Anna was smiling dreamily to him and his friends despite obvious mocking sneer from Hans and Gaston.

“How did you get so many candies already? We were doing the same block!” Gaston pointed out Anna’s candy basket. Several licorices were poking out from the deformed pumpkin head container.

Anna grinned, her right hand which was carrying an aluminum-foiled wooden sword appeared to also holding a giant lollipop. “Everyone is so generous tonight. The Joneses gave me whole bunch!” She giggled, showing off her proud stash of sweets.

Gaston muttered about cheating and strange girl while Hans eyed Anna’s basket with envy.

Anna’s eyes then fell on Kristoff. Halloween this year, Kristoff, Hans, and Gaston had gone for cliché being an Avengers team. He had a convincing shield to carry and Hans had taken Ironman suit so seriously that it even had a bulb lamp and whirring blaster sounds. Gaston went with the easiest as Hawkeye although the bow was too smaller that it became resembling more like a cupid bow.

“Hi, Captain,” Anna waved at Kristoff. This was their first interaction since he had moved in on Arendelle Town. The redhead girl handed away her three licorices for the Avengers boys.

Kristoff accepted it and Hans grabbed two since Gaston refused the candies.

Meanwhile Kristoff finally figured out who Anna’s costume supposed to be. The painting of medieval girl with armor.

“Joan of Arc.”

“Bingo, Captain!” Anna’s grin split wider.

The girl turned her back from the three boys and gestured to empty air. “Okay, soldiers! Let’s go to the next abode! Courage! Don’t fall back!” She raised her sword excitedly. Anna was wearing a makeshift shiny tin armor but her medieval helmet was bobbing up and down as she was moving since it was too big on her pigtailed head.

And so, the Avengers boys and Joan d’Arc parted ways.

“She is really weird, whom she was talking to?” Hans watched Anna’s shiny retreating form.

“And where do you think she’s going? Next block is this way.” Gaston quipped in. The path Anna was going only had dead end and an abandoned house. “Unless she is crazy enough to go to Andersen’s house.”

“Andersen’s house?” Kristoff was a new kid in town so he still had no idea about Arendelle neighborhood.

“The house is abandoned; the whole family was killed in nasty car crash. I heard Adam from 10th grade tried a dare with his gang and saw a headless ghost and scary ghost lady in there. He pissed himself too.” Every boy knew that Adam was the toughest guy in school, a real beast, so the building was quickly erased from trick and treat route even for a scary prank. Even grown up adult had goosebumps passing through in front of Andersen’s house.

The boys hurried their footsteps as suddenly the weather turned chilly and streetlamps were flickering. They were spooked when Gaston swore that he saw something moving behind the bushes. So, they sprinted their way to the next house.

Kai Jones opened the door greeted by three little Avengers on his doorstep.

“Trick or treat!” The boys did Avenger’s famous pose.

Kai was amused, it was the third Avengers group for tonight. “Earth mighty heroes ho! Here candies for you!” He handed out licorices one for each boy.

“Why we only got one? We saw Anna Summers got four in her basket!” Hans complained but he still put the candy inside a secret compartment on his suit.

“Oh! The cute redhead little girl dressed as a knight?”

Captain America, Ironman, and Hawkeye nodded in unison.

“Well, she and her 3 friends have very convincing costumes you know. Especially that headless snowman kid!” Kai recalled a group of 4 kids dressed as a knight, a little werewolf, a headless snowman, and a little reindeer on his porch. He nearly got a heart-attack with how three of them had mysterious glow around them and even the snowman kid was floating around. He shrugged it with a thought that kids nowadays were getting smarter with their tricks.

The three boys exchanged confused glances.

Anna Summers never had a friend, let alone three!

Who are they?

————-xxxxxx————-

A little knight was walking down a quiet Arendelle neighborhood street by herself.

Or so other people thought when seeing the girl.

Her plastic armor clacked around with each of her step, the edges scraping against the plates and slowly ruining the painted-on shine. Occasionally, her loose helmet would plop on the way of her eyes but she kept walking on anyway.

“Anna, you promised me that we will search for my head.” The headless snowman floated beside her, his twig arms flailed around.

“Later, Olaf.” Anna replied again, she was skipping on her feet, cannot go fast enough to reach her destination.

“We’ll be late for the party!” The werewolf pup grumbled. “Your head always falling apart anyway, next time you need to ask the Countess to stick them with stronger glue.”

Olaf floated away from Anna to hug his furry friend, “I love warm hugs! Hug me!”

Behind them, a reindeer was snorting, unamused.

The little group finally arrived at the Andersen’s house. The supposedly empty abandoned residence appeared to be lit up with colorful warm lights and cheerful songs from within.

Olaf went in first as his form could penetrate solid surface easily and only a second later, the door creaked open revealing a tall feminine figure dressed in black tattered nightgown. Her pale features complimented her platinum blond locks and smiling blood red lips. Her crimson eyes had been glowing before they dimmed and instantly converted into a pair of blue.

“Elsa!” Anna practically jumped after running full speed toward the woman. Elsa caught the little redhead’s charging shiny form with ease. “I got so many candies tonight! Thank you for letting Olaf and Sven and Lupin going with me!”

Elsa smiled, “Of course sweetie. I will never let you go trick and treat alone.” She appraised Anna’s costume for the night, it was quite impressive despite the over-sized helmet. “My cute little knight.” Elsa nuzzled Anna’s neck a bit, the girl smelled sweeter and sweeter. And it wasn’t because of the candy in Anna’s mouth. Anna squealed in response to Elsa’s cold face. She grabbed on to her favorite person even tighter like a koala and wouldn’t let go. Elsa smelled like winter and cozy fireplaces and books and everything her 10-year-old heart could possibly want.

Every Halloween, Elsa the Countess ordered her minion ghosts to keep little Anna company doing trick and treating. It had come to her understanding that human world didn’t treat the gifted girl kindly. The girl had been growing up alone because her busy parents and ignorant friends at school.

Elsa was different. It had been her mission to stay by Anna’s side since the very moment Anna recognized her existence. After that fateful day, her dead unbeating heart was whole again.

They had an eternity ahead to be planned.

“Mr. Frankenstein and the others are already inside. We were waiting for you to show up and start the party.” Elsa slid Anna’s crooked helmet back in place before carrying the girl inside. Olaf and the other apparitions in vicinity followed behind.

This year, Arendelle’s Neighborhood Ghost and Mythical Creature Association hosted a merry Halloween party with 10-year-old Anna as a special guest.

Elsa observed her favorite little human lovingly. Anna chatted with anyone and everyone, all while never letting go or getting down from Elsa’s embrace. Elsa smiled uncovering a pair of sharp fangs which she had been trying to keep hidden. Only 7 years and 8 months to go. She couldn’t wait for the day Anna would join their little community permanently.