#yet i know that every kid mirrors their parents traits in one way or another

[edgybread115]

i never want to turn out like either of my parents

[longitudinalwaveme]

Worst Flash Storylines and Plot Ideas of All Time

As you’ve probably ascertained from the general contents of this blog, the Flash is my favorite comic book series. I love the characters and most of the stories. However, just like any series that’s been around for eighty years (counting the Jay Garrick stuff), the Flash does, unfortunately, have some truly terrible stories and plot ideas. 

In terms of terrible plot ideas that didn’t completely ruin the surrounding stories: 

1. Barry Allen uses the Mirror Master’s mirrors to manipulate Iris into agreeing to start dating him again (Flash #109). Creepy, Barry. Just creepy. The story is great Silver Age fun otherwise. 

2. Iris West: meanest woman alive. Iris was, by and large, incredibly awful to Barry up until maybe about a year before their 1966 marriage. Almost every time she shows up in an early Silver Age issue, you will admire her daring and independence (this is good) and be bewildered as to why on Earth Barry would want to spend time with a woman who is constantly calling him slow, lazy, and ambition-less (this is not good). It doesn’t really affect any one issue too much, but when read in a conglomerate, she starts looking really awful. Although as bad as Early Silver Age Iris seems as a romantic interest, she’s got nothing on Silver Age Superman and Lois Lane, the most dysfunctional couple in the DCU. 

3. Wally West’s zero-effort code name and costume (Flash #110). It really could not be more obvious how little effort the writers were putting into creating this character. The duplicate origin is also pretty cheesy, but there are enough differences from Barry’s origin for it not to frustrate me. But the name “Kid Flash” and the fact that his first costume was literally identical to Barry’s just feel incredibly lazy. Barry and Wally do have an adorable dynamic in the issue, though, so it’s by no means all bad. 

4. Barry Allen waiting an entire year after his marriage to tell his wife that he’s really the Flash. Frustrating and unnecessary; especially since Joan Garrick had been in on her husband’s secret since the 1940s. 

5. Iris Allen is FROM THE FUTURE. I both love and hate this idea. It’s so perfectly comic-booky, but at the same time, it opened the floodgates for the Allen family being a confusing, time-displaced mess. 

6. The Trial of Barry Allen. This one’s weird. I like many of the individual issues in this arc, and I actually think the last two issues are really great as an ending for Barry Allen’s original run, but this storyline dragged on for waaaaaay too long. There’s a reason I call it the Arc that Never Ends. Also, the titular trial is actually the least interesting part of the entire storyline. His battles with the Rogues and Kadabra are far more interesting. 

7. Wally West’s borderline creepy, chauvinistic attitude towards women under Mike Baron (and, to a much lesser extent, William Messner-Loebs). There’s being a hormonal twenty-something, and then there’s going through girlfriends at the rate other people change their socks. Messner-Loebs mostly avoided this issue by making it clear that Wally was under intense psychological stress that was negatively impacting his behavior, but under Baron and in some of his JLE appearances, he comes across as a real creep around women. 

8. Kadabra overkill under Mark Waid: I like Kadabra, but when he’s the main villain in like four distinct arcs, it gets to be a bit much. It’s like modern Eobard. He is legitimately written well, though, so he doesn’t drag down any of the stories too much. 

9. Pointlessly Dead Rogues: Killing off the Rogues in Underworld Unleashed for no good reason (the rest of the story is great, especially the Trickster). 

10. Pointlessly Dead Rogues 2: Electric Boogaloo: The Golden Glider’s pointless death to build up a character who was himself killed two issues later. (The rest of the story is decent.) Also, the treatment of Lisa in general post-Crisis is frustrating, since she becomes considerably more unhinged than she was before. 

11. Any time Waid tried to write McCulloch, with the exception of Flash vol. 2 #105 (and even there, he seemed off). It’s like he forgot Evan wasn’t Sam. 

12. Apparently, the Top trying to blow up both Central City and half the world makes him a loser? Also, he suddenly hates Piper for no readily apparent reason. (At least the story had some good Piper and Wally bits.) 

13. BARRY ALLEN HAS A SECRET EVIL TWIN! DUN DUN DUN! (The rest of the story, where we get to meet a whole whack of interesting future Flashes, is actually pretty good, but whoo boy, the Malcolm reveal feels like it came straight out of a soap opera.) 

14. In order for Captain Cold to ANGST, the Golden Glider’s pointless death remained in place for over ten years. It did give us a really, really good Capt. Cold story, at least...but it’s still fridging. 

15. Rainbow Raider’s mean-spirited murder by Blacksmith. Poor Roy. 

16. Albert Desmond becomes Hannibal Lecter, only twenty times as rude, for a Gotham Central arc that would’ve been terrific without him as the main villain. 

17. Owen Mercer is an idiotic child murderer and gets killed by the Rogues. Why was this necessary? (The rest of Blackest Night: The Flash is pretty good.) 

18. Josh Jackam-Mardon’s murder. The murder of small children for shock value is pretty gross. Especially since nothing was ever really done with it. 

19. Barry’s PARENTS ARE DEEEEAAAAD! (Okay, it’s really just his mom, but still. This is a very frustrating retcon, since originally his parents were alive and well until after his own death.) 

20. Albert Desmond was Barry’s jerk coworker; which never impacted the plot or led to anything. As a result, it’s just another frustrating retcon. 

21. Sam Scudder murdered someone before becoming the Mirror Master. Yet another Johns retcon that never went anywhere and only serves to darken the Silver and Bronze Age stories after the fact. 

22. Flashpoint (a decent story) wiped out a whole bunch of characters I really liked from existence for several years. Evan McCulloch’s still not back. 

23. Giving the Rogues metahuman powers doesn’t suit them, on the whole. They work better without them. 

24. Roy’s second pointless, brutal death in (I think) Forever Evil. 

25. IT WAS MEEEEE, BARRY! After serving as the main villain for like six arcs in eight years, I’m glad that Eobard finally seems to be getting a rest. The level of bad things he was responsible for was getting ridiculous. 

26. Sam/Lisa. WHY? (The only time it even kind of worked was in Forever Evil.) 

In terms of entire storylines I didn’t like: 

1. The Flash: The Most Terribly Written Man Alive. Poor Bart is aged up with no adequate explanation, loses all the traits that made him a likeable character, fights some awful villains, and then is murdered by the badly OOC Rogues. Meanwhile, Inertia goes from an at least somewhat sympathetic villain to a complete psychopath with little explanation, a murder is retconned into one of Captain Cold’s reformed periods, the Pied Piper and the Trickster completely forget that they’re supposed to be reformed, Abra Kadabra inexplicably teams up with the Rogues despite generally being a solo operative, and all of the Rogues act like total morons, willingly following a teenage speedster for no adequately explained reason. UGH. 

2. Countdown to Infinite Crisis: Even though Piper and Trickster were probably the best part of Countdown, that isn’t saying much. Both of them are uncharacteristically stupid (especially James), and James is a grade-A jerk to Piper for no reason. Also, both of them continue to forget that they reformed, and then James gets brutally murdered and Piper almost loses his mind. Also, the other Rogues cameo, and continue to act like idiots. Countdown: it really does ruin everything it touches. 

Superboy Prime will kill you! He’ll kill you to DEATH! And after you read Countdown, you’ll wish he had killed you to death. 

3. The Identity Crisis Tie-In Retcon: So, you know all that awesome character development the Rogues have had over the years? Well, forget all that, because it was all just Roscoe brainwashing them! Which was something he could definitely do before this story! And why did he do this? Why, because Barry Allen, one of the most upstanding men in the DCU, brainwashed him! Also, apparently, the Top had a huge bodycount that we never heard about back in the Bronze Age, because we need even MORE grimdark retcons for our cheerful Silver/Bronze Age history! I like Geoff Johns’ work, I really do....but BOY HOWDY does he need to lay off on the retcons sometimes. 

4. Identity Crisis: With the exception of Owen’s introduction and the establishment of the relationship between him and Digger, this story was pretty awful all around. More specifically, as far as the Flash was concerned, it was responsible for Digger’s second pointless death. It also killed off poor Jack Drake and poor, mistreated Sue Dibney, who deserved MUCH better. And the Justice League, including Barry, are A-OK with brainwashing, apparently. Comics are fun! 

These last two stories are pretty recent, and they did have some parts I liked, but on the whole I felt they also belonged on the list. 

5. The Trickster finally returns! Hurrah! Except it turns out that he’s way more like the Joker now than he ever was before, and he mind-controls the city in a super-creepy way. A very disappointing return for the character, especially since it was set up really well. 

6. Forever Evil: Captain Cold becomes a murderous dictator with a stupid Santa Beard, all of the Rogues get horrible costumes, and Sam completes his mutation into Evan-in-all-but-name. There are some good characters bits in the story (even for Cold), but on the whole, I found the story to just be unlikeable and depressing and thought Cold was pretty out-of-character. Poor Commander Cold....

So, what are your least favorite Flash storylines and plot ideas? 

[cornacopicimagines]

best of friends pt.2 │t.h

pairing: singledad!mob!tom holland x singlemom!reader

words: 5.7k

warnings:  SMUT, swearing, major violence, depictions of violence and blood, rough sex, oral (male receiving), face fucking, unprotected sex, dom!tom & creampie.

summary: Everything was perfect. The two-and-a-half years since they first met have been nothing but love and respect. Until, y/n comes home one night, her husband gone for the time being. It all somehow crumbles in front of her, she can't help but question it. Though this thought is nothing to what he feels in that very moment. It's pure fear and terror, a pent-up storm of worry. Their comfort zone is nothing longer alive, it was buried and left to rot. 

a/n: so. it must be said, i went through three different plots before i settled on this one. that is why this goddamn fic has taken me so long to write. This is probably the last mob!tom holland fic i'll write because bitch has a lot of other AUs that i would honestly prefer to write. enjoy! 

part 1

masterlist

━━★✼☆｡

y/n waited for a moment. It wasn't long, but it was enough she had to check the clock on her wrist. 1:37am. Although she heard the snoring of Lottie, sound asleep in her bed, y/n knew otherwise. She knew that as soon as her feet hit the carpeted floor of her daughter's bedroom, the girl would shoot straight up and whine for y/n to come back. She loved Lottie with all of her heart, like all of her kids, however sometimes the precious little angels got on her nerves. Just last Tuesday is a prime example as y/n desperately fiddling with the buttons of Tom's shirt, wanting nothing more to take every inch of him while his whole operation continued below them. Just as she had popped the last latch, James called out for his father from across the house, most likely because one of the boys got hurt again from the play fighting they insisted they do. Sadly, y/n redid her husband's buttons and let him leave her widely aroused and dissatisfied.

As she watched Lottie take in her small breaths, y/n recounted the moments. She still remembers her wedding, clear as day. It was in their garden, with the trees dressed in beautiful pink silk and the flowers somehow in full bloom. No one was around, it's was secluded and perfect. It was just them, Theo and James stood side by side, their matching suits made her heart swell. Their perfectly rosy cheeks lit up as they saw y/n make her way down the grassy aisle. Though she never saw it, Tom admits that it was Theo who smacked him on the arm to turn around. To come face to face with his bride, a blushing bride that was 7 months pregnant. It was a rush of a events that y/n never quite saw occuring so early into her life. Yet, the day she told Tom they were going to be parents, he asked her to marry him. Of course, y/n organised a typical wedding after she had given birth but at that very second, every bad thing she had to live through suddenly became a single speck of sand on a vast beach. A prologue to her wonderful life ahead of her.

The door swung open slightly, though the light from outside Lottie's room was off, y/n could instantly tell who was stepping over countless dolls and plastic cars. Tom knelt at the side of his daughter's bed, just below his wife as she softly stroked Lottie's forehead. "You need some rest Sweetness," he told her quietly, watching over Lottie's snoring figure.

"I can't" y/n stifled through a yawn. Though she greatly needed to run to her bed and pass out, she refused to leave Lottie unless she knew her daughter was absolutely deep in sleep. Tom sighed, letting his forehead hit the soft linen of the bed cover.

"You need sleep, I can't look after the brady bunch by myself," Tom joked. His hand came to draw soft circles on y/n's thigh. It was nothing if not soothing to her. He could directly make out her face in the darkness, but Tom knew his wife was smiling, a low grin painted upon her fatigued face. "I'll take this shift."

y/n reached out for his face, finding it in seconds. Her thumb now matched the pattern on his cheek that Tom was drawing on her thigh. "We made a deal," it was his speciality, but he never wanted it to get this bad. "You would help Theo with his Valentine's Day gift if I could get this one to sleep."

y/n possessed many traits that Tom adored. She was empathetic, a woman of incredible wit and intelligence, had the stamina of a bull but her stubbornness seemed to be her crowing glory. Tom knew his wife as well as he knew how to count to ten. She wasn't leaving until absolute confirmation was handed to her. "Sweetness, I would prefer if you came to bed with me," he tried, the approach was simple and usually it worked.

"As much as I would adore that, I'm not going anywhere with you mister," y/n teased. Her attention focusing back on Lottie. Perhaps it was the way her eyelids seemed to betray her, closing every few seconds or if it was simply the way the mattress felt beneath her legs. Eventually though, the mixture of all of those and her husband's head laying flat on her thighs, she began to slowly creep off the bed. The pads of her feet pressed against the floor in such delicacy, y/n doubted that she even touching it. She reached out for Tom, grasping slightly at his bare bicep as she lifted herself up.

Tom caught on to his wife's movements and made sure that the path was completely clear of any of Lottie's toys. Calmly, the pair of them tip-toed out. Every move halted by their daughter's movements but eventually, the door closed and y/n was free from the little montress's grip. y/n wishes that she was more awake, more alert because even in her half sleep dazed she could make out the tight white singlet that clung to Tom's body. She reached out for him, it was the weakest of touchs. Yet, her hand fell on his shoulder and running up to the base of his neck. It wasn't sexual in any form, instead they stood in the dim light in complete silence. Watching each other feel the affected of forced insomnia.

"How am I going to get up this morning," y/n giggled as she accepted the sudden embrace from Tom. Her head finding it's way into the same shoulder she tenderly caressed seconds ago. Tom's fingers coiled around her forearm gently as the began to quietly walk to their bedroom. "Hopefully Meg will be around at that time," she sighed as the soft breeze of their room hit her face. Meg was their nanny, a woman who has been employed by Tom since James was a baby. She was a sweet old thing, a cliché of the lovely old lady in fairtales.

"She will, sadly I won't," Tom told her, pressing a kiss to her cheek as they both hid themselves under the sating covers. y/n wanted to continue the conversation, she knew that Tom wouldn't be back at home until tomorrow night and for the first time, she would be in charge of everyone but she couldn't. As soon as her head hit the lavender scented pillow, she was out like a light. Tom just chuckled in return, pulling her into a soft embrace.

━━★✼☆｡

y/n wasn't an idiotic woman. She has been with Tom for two and a half years; married to him for two years, she immediately knew when something didn't feel right. As her fingers gripped the steering wheel, she peered in her rear-view mirror. It was something Tom's bodyguards drive around in. The vehicle was large and bulky, looking like it a take down a building with minimum amount of speed. It was painted in the midnight black, even the widows seemed to be darkened. Like before, y/n recognised the model of the car to be a sister of the cars she would frequently have to ride in if she accompanied Tom anywhere, he thought posed even the slightest amount of danger. She knew that with every corner she took, the car would mimic her turns. y/n caught onto it in seconds, watching through Lottie's car seat and Theo's mop of hair. It didn't help that when she called Tom's head guard, he told her that he had followed her orders. To let her pick up her children to avoid the never-ending shock from the ensemble of 6'5 muscular men accompanying her wherever she went.

"Do you want us to do anything about it ma'am?" he asked through the car's speaker. y/n pondered for a few seconds. While her gut was screaming at her that this was something completely out of the ordinary, if there was any ordinary being married to a Mob boss. Her mind knew that if she did say something to him now it was no doubt find its way to Tom. He would instantly assume the worst and cancel any important deal in front of him to race home. The guard's voice pulled her out of her concentration.

"Get the house under lockdown," she ordered, for the first time she felt truly in control but as all things it was slipping. "Do not tell my husband."

"Ma'am, it is imperative that Mr. Holland know of this," the guard protested. y/n had been going through quite a rough day. She was tired, overworked and constantly around wailing children. She refused to be around another. Her jaw clenched as she pulled into their street, the car still hot on her tail.

"I don't care, Tom will not know of this," y/n snapped, peering up for a final time but to her initial surprise that car had vanished. She had no clue where the fucker had gone. "It's probably nothing," she spoke quietly. The sentence was more reassurance for herself than from him, yet he had heard her, accepted her terms and hung up.

As she pulled the car into the impressively large garage, she lets her bare forehead hit top of the steering wheel. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth.

"Mum," Theo called out from the backseat, "are you alright?" The boy's question was laced with genuine concern. It released whatever anxiety riddled grip had got a hold of y/n. She gazed up, smiling as she let all her negative thoughts leave her before turning to her three children.

"I am just really tired honey," she replied as she exited the car and proceeded to undo Lottie's buckled. "Not to worry, I think it is Boy's Movie Night tonight!" Both boys cheered in unison. The afternoon went on as usual. Theo and James spent the entire time with their faces glued to the screen in front of them. Squealing every time the supposed bad guys landed flat on his ass, jumping at every occasion that they could. Even if they lived in a mansion, y/n was positive that everyone in this house could hear their playful laughter.

y/n sat next to Lottie; her curly brunette hair clipped back into two adorable pigtails. Lottie was a carbon copy of Tom. Even next to her half-brother James, Lottie seemed to possess ever physical trait of y/n's husband. The smooth somehow flawless skin, the bouncy chestnut curls that y/n just knows will be her daughter's statement piece when she grows up and finally the pair of chocolate eyes that gets her father weak every time, she babbles up at him. She wondered how all of her children would look like when they get old enough to make their own decisions. While James doesn't have Tom's colouring like Lottie does, he has this glimmer of mischievousness in his eyes. Something y/n has loves about her boys, they all share this odd ball of high-energy. Theo looks exactly like y/n, her colouring and her features. Theo's look alikeness to his mother is something y/n feels is divine intervention. To show that, this is her son. Her baby boy and no one else's unless she says so.

"Ma'am" Meg's heavy Irish accent perks up. She's standing at the windows, peering through the curtains slightly. "I think you should see this," she advises before stepping away from the scene and running to grab Lottie from her highchair. y/n hesitantly waltzes over, she presents a cool face to her children, but she can feel her stomach crawling into her throat as she gets closer. y/n pulls the fabric back slightly, she prays that is it now in the early hours of the night and the light is off. It's the same car, it's now parked across the road from her house. Just outside of their camera’s visibility, the vehicle is camouflaged almost to perfection, she can still spot it. Its headlights are off and the car makes not a single sound. At first, y/n faithfully believes she is now seeing things, that her brain is so unfathomably tired it has resorted to petty tricks. That is until one of the car doors open quickly. She waits for a moment as does this figure in the car before a pair of fit hit the ground. Though it makes no clamour, it startles her. y/n doesn’t wait to meet his eyes as his head ducks under the car roof to fully meet the air. She turns around to meet Meg’s eyes, the women wear matching looks.

“Take the children into the spare room, go now,” y/n speaks softly as not to alarm her sons. Meg nods quickly, instantly holstering Lottie on her hips and shooing the boys away from the glowing TV.

She pauses until she hears the door close. It’s deafening. She turns her attention back to the scene, it’s worse than before. There’s at least 7 of them huddled around this car, pulling unknown bags from the seats. As the mystery bags hit the ground, the unknown men begin opening it. It’s filled to the brim with metal, the holsters of guns peeking through with the aid of the dim light of the streetlight. y/n refused to observe anymore, silently she alerts the guards in the house. She doesn’t even process the next second, it’s like nothing is working anymore. y/n knows what the sound is, she knows what is happening, she knows that in a matter of seconds the men have begun firing at her front landing. Killing anyone standing outside, she can feel the bullets entering their bodies.

It’s with that, y/n goes from a fast pace to sprinting. She rushes down the long halls to meet with her children. It’s feels like an eternity that she is opening doors, calling out for any of them. All the while, gunshots ring out like a bell, constant and terrible. Her phone vibrates,it send her nerves over the edge. y/n stops for a second to stare at it, Tom’s name lights up the screen. Instead of answering, her fingers lose all their function. Her phone drops from her hand and hits the floor. She wants to pick it up but her feet work against her and begin to simply pace herself away from her phone as it continues to hum against the tiles.

Finally, she reaches the room. Meg holds Lottie close to her chest, rocking the toddler back and forth as Lottie cries into Meg’s shirt. Theo and James are standing in the middle of the room. Both look like they are on their verge of tears and to be completely truthfully, so was she. Closing the door, y/n immediately wraps her arms around her sons. She feels the wet tears staining her shoulders. She feels their chests rise and fall drop as best they can.

“You boys are so brave,” she sooths, her palms rubbing circles atop their heads. Slowly, she peers up. While the gunfire continues to ring out, y/n stares at the people in the room with her. Not a single bulb is turned on, the area is pitch black, but she can still see how this if affecting the boys. How Meg clutches onto Lottie’s wailing body. “It’ll be over soon.”

“You promise,” James chokes out, he wipes his face of her blouse. y/n pressed a tender kiss to his hair. She lets a single tear escape her eyes.

“I swear handsome,” y/n tells him, but she’s not convinced by the sound of her own voice. The boys pull away from her, one of her hands reaches for their salty cheeks. “Everything will be alright, Mumma swears.”

She doesn’t want to; she wants to scream. She wants to burn the entire house to the ground. She wants to leave with her children and never come back. y/n has never felt this in her entire life. This is not only pure terror for the lives of her children but it’s uncontrollable rage. She’s being held together by a tearing material of a rubber band. Her limbs are coiled, feeling as though she has rusted in the rain. Her mind doesn’t stop, it runs as if it has never felt this wrathful freedom in its life. A million different thoughts threaten to take power, as if they should decide her next move. She doesn’t let them of course, y/n’s had practice at this, and she will not crack now.

“Meg, give me Charlotte now,” y/n’s voice is hoarse and breaking with ever vowel that drops from her lips. The old lady rushes over to y/n and hands her Lottie. The toddler instinctively wraps her arms around y/n, refusing to let go. Another 20 minutes go by, it's torture. The air seems to wash around y/n as she clings onto her children for dear life. Quietly, she pans over to Meg. The old woman looks as if she has turned from the humble baker's wife down the street to death herself. Their eyes lock, passing silent messages to each other.

I'm sorry, y/n pleads. She thinks if she spoke it aloud, it would travel barely above a whisper.

It's okay, sweetheart, Meg responded. Though the woman only truly meant the first part, y/n wanted to believe that she would have used the nickname to calm her nerves. Somehow it did.

The moment lasted for only seconds. A fleeting feeling of safety was ruined by the doorknob rattling furiously. At the speed of sound, y/n had handed Lottie over to Meg and told her to hide in the bathroom with the children. y/n heard everything, the door lock behind Meg and the muffled yelling behind the door in front of y/n. She scrambled to her feet, driving her to the wide bedside table. She threw open the doors until she landed on the one thing she never believes she's use. A small handgun. y/n didn't quite have time to question her morals at this very second in time. y/n wrapped her fingers around the handle just as the door swung open. Tears spilled as she pointed the gun aimlessly.

"Thank god," his familiar voice rang out. y/n sunk to her knees, the gun falling right from her fingertips. Tom rushed to her side; he didn't know what to say to her. He knew exactly what she was feeling, he knew whatever attempt he made at explaining the horrid situation would break his poor wife even further.

y/n studied his features in the dim light of the room as he got closer to her. She had never seen him in such a state. His hair flopping all over his face, hiding whatever panic was clearly evident over his features. More specifically, y/n watched as it became clearer. A large splatter of blood across his right cheek. She fell right into his arms, finally allowing herself to stain his shirt with her burst of weeps.

━━★✼☆｡

y/n's body was on fire. The fire was nothing but pure pain. As if bugs were nesting right under skin, desperate for a gasp of air. Even the clock ticked loudly, ever noise of the hand pressed her brain against her skull. Every joint rigid in its own specific way, damaged and tight.

"Sweetness, talk to me," Tom soothed, using the towel to clean the final fragments of blood off his cheek. Her eyes squinted at him, waiting for him to do anything other than be his normal gentle self. y/n slid herself off the foot of their bed and walked to the closed door. Flashing images of the other room crossing her mind.

"I need to check on the kids," she huffed. While y/n knew Meg was laying wide away on the floor of Theo's room as all three children slept contently, she wanted to be away from him at a moment like this. She needed to not see his face. Alas, Tom's hand gripped her wrist tightly. The touch sizzled her skin, the tension elevated for a split second.

y/n whipped around to face him; Tom felt his patience slipping from him. "y/n, be an adult," he hissed.

Tom knew he shouldn't be talking to her like this, but he was at his wit's end. A candle burning to the final wax. He mentally fucked himself over when he got that stupid fucking call. Sir, your wife has informed us of an unidentified vehicle following her, it engraved itself into his mind. Tom remembers sitting at the desk, wondering if she was witnessing the same group, he had fucked over a few months ago. Deciding it could wait, Tom told them to keep his updated throughout the night. As if whatever god was up there decided to play a tortuous comedy routine with Tom, it did begin to progress. First, the car pulling up hours before his arrival. Then the major security breach and finally as they began shooting at his house, ready to slaughter anyone they found inside. Especially his family.

She watched his intently. Waiting for a further response and yet, nothing. Her anger was bubbling over. "I am an adult," she seethed at him, her fingers unwrapping themselves from the doorknob. "I make sure that my children are safe, I make it my life's mission to ensure that I am not the direct cause of those certain dangers I wish to keep them so far away from!"

She had ripped her hand from his grasp, this wasn't something she was backing away from. It was something she could fight and to which she intended to do until the very end.

The little monologue broke Tom's heart. How could she believe that he would do such a horrific thing? How could she blame him for the events that unfolded tonight? He wondered if she truly knew this was never his intention. That he never wanted his family to come under direct attack all because he made one dangerous decision.

“You don’t talk to me like that y/n,” He grumbled. The air seemed to thicken with every word, cause more distance between the spouses. It was never like this they fought like a normal couple but never with this much venom. “I don’t deserve such criticism, especially from you.”

“Why?” she pondered, she moved closer to him. Inching closer with every second. “Is it because you question my authority? Or maybe is it because I am some silly little schoolteacher who got trouble with the wrong kind of people," she moved closer with every word of the sentence, pushing her dangerously closer. It’s a risk she must take if she wants to feel any sort of release.

“Stop being so theatrical y/n, you endured something horrible, but that is what you signed up for when you married me,” the room climbed in temperature. Tom had half a mind to strip himself just to get closer to peace, but with y/n so close to his chest, he preferred to work on her. Tom can’t pinpoint what made his mind switch in directions. Maybe it was the ever-growing heat, or perhaps it was the indescribable feeling of almost losing your wife and mother of your children. Either way, Tom thoughts were growing darker. The need to bruise y/n’s skin seemed to be the only thing he could really think about. “You wanted this,” he grunted, closing in on her. “Sweetness, you agreed to this lifestyle as soon as you sunk your sweet cunt onto me.”

The vulgarity of his words caught her off guard. Her breath stopped halfway when her back almost slammed into the wall. She wasn’t giving in so easily, even if the heat from her body had swiftly travelled to the valley between her thighs. y/n turned her head away from him in any desperation to not look at him. Unfortunately, Tom caught her actions as if he knew her every move. His fingers pressed against her chin to bring her eyes back to him. Tom was worried for an instant that she would truly be too furious with him to play into his game. Luckily, her eyes betrayed her. The big doe eyes of her stared up at him, pleaded to be fucked like an animal. Slammed into until all of her rage had slipped from her conscious.

“Screw yourself Tom,” she coughed out. She was playing along, y/n knew exactly where this was heading. A tender kiss was placed upon her lips, while the action itself was soft, nothing about the kiss genuinely was. It was the ultimate puzzle piece for him.

"You want to speak to me like a bitch," Tom chuckled, "you'll get fucked like a bitch." He kicked the back of her knees harshly, causing her to meet with the floor. "On your knees and hands behind your back." She wanted to protest, she wanted to act out the little brat but like most things, her arms instinctively pulled themselves behind her. "Now, I sincerely hope I don't have to punish you further sweetness," Tom soothed as he swiftly undid the buckle of his jeans, discarding the items of clothing across the room. His throbbing cock hit the base of his stomach with a soft slap. y/n bit her lip in instinct, it had been a while, and did she wholly miss this glorious scene in front of her.

y/n leaned forward and dragged her tongue from the base of him until her lips met with the beads of pre-cum drenching him. Slowly but surely, she wrapped her lips around him. Letting him enjoy the wet cavern of her mouth for a short time. He threw his head back in unison with a beautifully quiet moan. Her eyes never left him, as she bobbed her head gradually. If she was on her knees unable to reach out and touch him, she would at least make it fun for her. y/n only quickened her pace if their line of focus connected. As soon as Tom stared directly into her eyes, she would start her movements but if he turned away to enjoy the moment, everything would stop. It went like this before Tom had quite enough of it all. Without uttering a single word, Tom wrangle his hands into her soft hair and thrusted right up into her mouth, hitting the back of her throat roughly. She gagged loudly, making an awful sound as she attempted to regain her position. He pulled away from her, only to slam right back into her mouth. Unlike her plan beforehand, as he face fucked her, his pace begins to speed up.

y/n was now struggling to hold back her ragged gags as small tears slid out of her eyes. "Pretty girl, all worked out from my cock in your mouth huh?" Tom teased as he relished in the sounds of her cacophony of broken breaths. Just as quickly as he began, he pulled away from her complete. He dropped out of her mouth with a small pop and a trail of saliva that landed on the tops of her breasts. "Get up," to which she happily obliged. As soon as y/n had regained her footing, Tom's hands had completely destroyed her pants. The loose skirt was now in two pieces at her feet, along with her favourite pair of panties. Unfortunately, she didn't even get a second to scold him before he spun her around and slammed her chest against the wall. The pain excited her, it coursed through her torso and down into her legs, causing them to spasm slightly.

Tom looked at her, in the soft moonlight she was glowing. Ass facing him, tits pressed up against the wall. Complete ready for him. Tom gave her a small kiss on her shoulder, this time it truly was meant to be tender but in typical Tom fashion. As soon as his lips left her skin, Tom plunged right up into her. His hand covering her surprised squeal. God did he miss this. Filling her tight pussy right up to the brim. Even after everything they had been through, she still fit him like a glove. Hugged him so perfectly, Tom was worried he was shot his load right into her at this very moment. Sadly, he pushed the thought away and began rocking into her; his hand still covered over her mouth.

y/n could feel every inch of his like this. She could feel just how hard he was ramming into her cunt. Her nails gripped onto the wall in front of her as she whimpered into the palm of his hand. With every snap of his hips, her worries seemed to really melt away. All the tension built up in her body being oiled as he parted her legs to reach a nook in her that she thought impossible. “Tommy, f—fuck, oh my god,” it was incoherent garble. Nonsense talk as her eyes rolled back into her head for a few seconds. His head found the valley of her neck, peppering light kisses a major difference to the rough pace he had adopted.

“What is it sweetness,” Tom gasped right into her ear. The hot air tickling her skin. His other hand gripped callously at her hip, bruising the delicate skin under his fingers. “Come on tell me,” Tom was struggling to keep himself in check. The pure sound of skin against skin as he fucked her ass filled the air, pushing him closer to ecstasy. His hand pulled away from her lips, an immediately low moan tumbled from her lips. y/n waited for her body to response to anything, everything thrown out the window every time his dick hit her perfect spot inside of her.

“Har—harder,” she strained through strings of vulgarities and chants of his name. Tom smirked at her, she caught it before he pulled away from her. Tom started to slow his movements, observing how she swallowed him whole every time he thrusted into her tight hole.

“You really want it harder sweetness?” Tom asked, he was just as desperate for a release as she was. y/n nodded her head furiously, words seeming to fail her at this instance. “Turn around,” he ordered, she swivelled around to face him. Her once neat hair now a mess of pleasure tugged strains. Her lids fluttering shut and her cheeks flushed. She looked like a Greek statue. Tom bent and lifted her over his shoulders, earning a tiny giggle from his huffing wife above him. He frantically sprinted over to their bed and promptly chucked her on it. The force knocking a bit of wind out of her.

In a flash of actions, her face had been pressing into the mattress and her ass high up in air. Tom gave it a light smack before lining up and pounding right into her. Both of them let out a soft line of curses. It had never been this intense in their entire relationship.

The room was silent. Nothing could be heard outside but inside was a different idea. Tom brought her hips down roughly onto him, matching his tattered speed. y/n’s breaths were muffled by the cover of the blanks, her hands desperate for anything to latch onto for support as he fucks her relentlessly. It a beautiful mixture of sounds. Nothing like the soft breaths and gasps on a normal night. While those still as amazing as now, this was pure unfiltered animalistic need. No feelings, just a fantastic way to blow off incredible tense steam. Tom usually adored staring at her as her face scrunched up in pleasure but something about how every time his cock rammed up into her, everything moved with his thrusts. It was memorising, as if a painting had been brought to life. y/n had lost track of time during this, so focused on the way he was able to stretch her so wide that she had completely forgot how long she had been lying here. She didn’t dwell on it for too long before the divine familiar feeling presented itself to her, dwelling at the pit of her stomach.

“Go faster, I’m going t—to come,” she pleaded, lifting her head up for only a moment before diving right back into her muffled screams. Tom growled at this, picking up his already forceful speed. While he tried, his thrusts became sloppy and jagged.

“Come with me sweetness,” he whispered to her, his fingered rubbing cathartic circles on her sensitive clit. The sensation on her bud rupturing another last piece of sanity in her body.

With a final thrust, both y/n and Tom came. A relief as both almost shouted out in absolute ecstasy, their juices mixing together in a beautiful sense of the terms. y/n’s toes curled as she felt it all, every little piece of tension, anger and lust all combine and explode inside of her. Tom wasn’t even the slightest but worried as he had been before this had begun. His sweaty forehead lay against her spine, as his wife attempted to catch her breath. Slowly he pulled out of her, his cum leaking out of her. A sight he would love to have burned into his vision for the rest of his life.

“Feel better?” Tom asked her as he threw himself next to her. y/n turned to face him and for the first time that night an honest grin appeared on her face. A grin given to her by whatever relief she had received moments before.

“Much,” she replied.

━━★✼☆｡

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Eda's Requiem" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...

...

...HOW IS SEASON TWO SO GOOD?! WE'VE HAD SEVEN EPISODES SO FAR, AND EACH ONE OF THEM WAS A HIT!

Take "Eda's Requiem," for example. It's yet another episode where I have NOTHING bad to say about it! That's two weeks in a row where that happened! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

HOW!

HOW!

...But anyways, "Eda's Requiem." It's another fantastic episode, and I'm about to dive into explaining how and why. Just keep in mind, it's gonna require spoilers to do so, so be wary of that as you keep reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Eda’s Checklist and Grom Photo: Within the first second, "Eda's Requiem" perfectly sets up Eda's central conflict in the episode. Despite spending years being on her own and looking after herself, she now has two kids that she's constantly caring over. Eda can try all she wants to say that she doesn't care, and I bet she has in the past. But given the hard work she's putting into getting King and Luz what they need and having a grom photo of the three of them together pinned in her mirror, it's pretty clear that those two knuckleheads wormed their way into her heart and are never getting out.

Eda’s Worried About King and Luz Leaving: And thus, that's precisely why something like this bothers her so much. Eda inadvertently adopted two rambunctious rapscallions (Yeah, I know. I'll get to it), so the idea of them not being around her anymore is going to be terrifying. That is a situation most parents, especially mothers, can identify with. It’s called empty nest syndrome and it proves just how much Eda loves Luz and King that she can't stand the thought of her babies leaving the nest. It's yet another well-made, wholesome, found-family moment that this series continues to excel at each week, making me extra excited for more like it to come...while also readying myself for heartbreak when one of them eventually does leave Eda.

Eda and Raine’s Music: Ok, I don't know the exact instruments that were played during this episode, but I also don't care because it was all (for lack of a better term) music to my ears. Every time Eda and Raine played resulted in melodies that are so beautiful and filled with so much emotion and feeling that I'm honestly tempted to listen to them again, multiple times, on repeat. Shows rarely do that for me, as background music doesn't always draw me in as much as lyrical songs do. Usually, it takes something so extraordinarily composed to give me the desire to listen again, and that's the case here. So huge congrats to Brad Breek for doing so. Seriously, the man's been killing it this season.

Eda’s Bard Magic Causing Things to Turn to Ash: This was assuredly a surprise side-effect of the curse. The fact that Eda can sort of do magic at all was its own shock. To then reveal that a specific type can do dangerous things to people and environments is...Well, it definitely brings up its own fair share of questions. Like, how can she do this? Will she do it again, one day? And are there other types of spells that can be negatively affected by Eda's curse? We don't get answers for any of these questions, and odds are, we never will. But that's alright with me. Because if a show makes me consider these many possibilities after a brief amount of time, it is a show that has to be doing something right. Even if I don't get the answers I want, the fact that it caused such a reaction makes me less willing to care.

Raine Whispers: Hey, would you look at that. Another fun, interesting, and compelling character added to the list of this shows' other fun, interesting, and compelling characters...how is this series so good at this!?

Joking aside, Raine's pretty good. I like Raine. They could have been this super serious leader who lost all their fun after years apart from Eda, but I'm glad that they're not. There are moments when Raine takes their job as leader of the BATs seriously, as one would, but I still prefer the fact that they kept a jovial nature despite how grim their situation is. It's an admirable trait to have, and it avoids the trope of making leader characters boring just because they're the ones who have to take things seriously.

Oh, and also, Raine's Disney's first non-binary character who has a stake in the plot. This is a tremendous deal, as you don't usually see that many non-binary characters in children's animation, let alone ones that hold importance to the story. So it's pretty cool for the writers to feature Raine, as it helps several kids feel as though they're finally seen and respected. And the fact that Disney of all companies gave the thumbs up is even more impressive. I hear people say that Dana Terrace should have pitched The Owl House to more progressive networks to avoid pushback, and while I absolutely see your point, I'll have to respectfully disagree. Disney is the largest entertainment industry of all time, so if you want to make LGBTQA+ representation normalized, you gotta stop making splashes and start making waves. Because if the same company that made three racist cats in the span of a few years manages to say that being gay is a-ok, then you know there's something wrong with you. Yes, Disney ended up screwing over the show anyway. But for that one moment, when kids felt pride after seeing a character like Raine, then, in the end, it's kind of worth it.

Also, if you're still having issues with more representation like this popping up in kids' shows, then allow me to redirect you to the complaint department.

...I made that post earlier today for this bit. YOU HAVE BETTER APPRECIATED IT!

Day of Unity is meant to be a Secret: At least, that's what I got when Raine stumbled over their own words. So if it's true, then I wonder why? Why does Belos want to keep the most critical change in the Boiling Isles a secret? Does he want to make it a surprise for his grateful subjects, or does he not want to spread worry and fear amongst the wild witches? It has to be something big if he doesn't want his followers to even say the words "Day of Unity." Whatever reason he has, we most likely won't know until the future. A future that I grow more and more afraid of each week.

Hooty Eating Echo Mouse: My heart sank in that brief moment when I thought that Hooty intensely screwed Luz over in getting back home. But looking back...it is pretty funny.

Just the suddenness of Hooty eating the poor creature that Luz desperately tried to earn its trust is priceless in how shocking it was. And also, Luz's expression.

That was the look of a young girl who immediately shoved her hand down an owl demon's throat the second the scene cut away. The Owl House may not always be a hit in the comedy department, but scenes like this prove that when it's funny, it is hilarious.

Luz and King Entering the Grand Prix: Not much to discuss here. It's just a cute subplot that adds frivolity to the intensity of what's going on through Eda and Raine's story. But I will say that I love how both stories occasionally interconnect with each other through the many moments of Eda being worried about King wanting to leave to find his father and avoiding any conversation about it. It helps both plotlines feel like they belong together, without being something like "Through the Looking Glass Ruins," whereas both stories could have been in their own episode. Which is neat.

How Bard Magic Works: I really love how this season is diving into how the other magic types work. More specifically, the ones that seem a little vague. I mean, stuff like healing, potions, and plants are easy to figure out, but what does it mean when a witch's talents are construction, beast keeping, and bard magic? We've been getting a lot of clearing up lately, with bard magic looking like a witch can control their environments and enemies through the power of music. Which is fair. Music is pretty powerful in the metaphorical sense, and I actually love that it's powerful in the literal sense when in the Boiling Isles.

The BATs: Not much to comment on these three either. The BATs have the potential to have an entertaining dynamic, but they do very little in this episode that I can't say much other than I hope they make a return in the future. But I will make this claim: Amber is my favorite. I'm sorry, but her screaming "You're not our mom!" to then go, "Bye, mommy Eda" is just too precious for me not to love.

I'm a simple man who falls for cute s**t. Leave me alone.

Raeda (RainexEda): Well, EdaxCamila, you were a fun crack ship while it lasted, but I'm afraid that this is now goodbye. The current canon has provided an incredibly adorable and believable relationship that I would be a monster not to support with my whole bi-heart. It's been real.

Ok, back in serious mode: I love these two together. Eda and Raine are grown-ups, and they still act all flustered near each other as if they were still Luz and Amity's age. It's definitive proof that you're never too old to get flustered near a crush, and seeing them interact adds a sense of wholesomeness when seeing them together as well as heartbreak when they're forced apart. Plus, we get confirmation that Eda's LGBTQA+! Whether she's bi, pan, or whatever, now that we know Eda can catch feelings for someone like Raine, it's yet another case that The Owl House is the most important series to the community. Because having the main character be queer is fantastic in its own right. But having the same apply to the motherly mentor figure? That's is an extra bit of normalization that anybody would be willing to appreciate.

Unique Guard Designs: Not many fans are going to appreciate this, primarily compared to everything else this episode does perfectly. For me, I actually like that you see a few Coven Guards looking differently from the others, as it helps make them less like clones and makes it seem like anybody of any body type could be a part of the coven.

Gus Looking Uninterested when Presenting Grand Prix with his Dad: I am positive that you didn't notice this (I didn't even notice it until someone else pointed it out), but there's something to dissect here. It hints that perhaps Gus isn't as interested in his father's field of work as one might think. If he did, he would look a lot less bored and much more excited to be helping Perry Porter present the race. It could just be the race itself, but judging from Gus' expression, it really seems like the kid would prefer to be anywhere but there. And why would he have that reaction to a race that his best friend is competing in? To me, this seems like an inkling of what Gus' relationship with Perry could be, which may not actually get time to shine, what with how little wiggle room the series has now (Thanks Disney). Regardless, it is interesting to notice, and it will certainly have fans thinking for a while.

Bump Being Smug of Luz Being in the Lead: That's it. Principal Bump looking smug as his human student is beating the students of his rivals is yet another moment that proves why Bump is easily the best cartoon principal.

Darius: First of all, this guy is f**king fabulous, and I love him. *Snaps*

Second, he is definitive proof that you do NOT want to f**k around with Coven Leaders. Lilith may have had her intimidating moments, but none of them compare to the guy who can turn himself into an abomination monster where only magic that hasn't existed before can take him down. It's genuinely scary to see Darius lose control, and I fear for the day when Luz inevitably ends up in his crosshairs.

With that said, Darius' still a ton of fun! He may be threatening, but he's just a flamboyant guy that hates the idea of getting his outfit the tiniest bit dirty. And I love that. I love that these Coven Heads have actual personalities instead of being generically evil. I consider it preferable to make villains entertaining rather than blatantly scary as I'll remember the personalities first and the villainous acts last.

Eberwolf: But this one's my favorite. I told you: I'm a simple man who gets easily swayed by cute s**t. And Eber? I mean, just look at her:

She's just a cute widdle rascal! I just want to pinch her cheeks, give her a belly rub, and--

...Eberwolf is not a cute widdle rascal. She is a strong, independent woman, and I will respect her as such from this moment forward...lest I feel her wrath.

That is all. Let's move on.

Eda and Raine Attempting a Final Performance: This was the best scene of the episode. It looked gorgeous, it shows the dedication Eda and Raine have for stopping Belos, and it says so much through so little. Go back and look at how Eda and Raine regard one another when performing Eda's requiem. Through their expressions and a few short words, you know they understand that if they complete the song/spell, they probably won't make it in the end. And yet, they don't care. They both know bad stuff will happen if Belos wins, so Eda and Raine put everything to the side, both their feelings for one another and the people they leave behind if it means putting an end to a tyrant. That level of dedication...Words can't fully describe how powerful that is.

Raine Sacrificing Themselves Instead: But in the end, Raine can't do it. Not when they know the life that Eda has and the people she'll be leaving behind. It's an extra bit of nobleness to the character seeing that Raine refuses to take away a woman from two kids who need her the most. A tad bit selfish, sure, knowing what Belos has planned. But when it comes to love, the romantic, familial, or platonic, the best decisions aren't always the logical ones.

Eda Crying: Luz crying tears me up, but seeing Eda cry is a whole different level of heartbreak. Like Lilith, Eda has her emotions locked up tight, with the closest she came to weeping were those two tears in "Young Blood, Old Souls." In "Eda's Requiem," she cries but almost quickly stops herself. As if she knows that doing so isn't going to save Raine. That is...even worse than seeing Luz break down after losing Eda. The fact that Eda refuses to give herself time to mourn losing someone she loved is tragic because crying is the most natural way of showing grief. Turning that off isn't healthy, and seeing her do it with little resistance is sad to me. It's sad to see a character I love can easily shut off all emotions despite how badly she may want to embrace them. It's one of those moments that, again, by doing so little, it shows so much.

“No one watches Crystal Balls anymore. It’s all about streaming.”: Oof. Even I felt that burn towards cable.

King’s Message: King's message was the pick-me-up I needed after the heart-wrenching sadness this episode put me through a few minutes ago. Seeing King say who he is and listing all the things he loves is nothing short of adorable. On top of that, I adore that Eda willingly recorded the whole thing. She may not want King to leave, but that doesn't mean she'll sabotage the one thing he wants. Especially not after Raine gave up everything so Eda could be with her kids. The opening scene may prove how much Eda cares about a rascal like King, but this heartwarmingly sweet moment reveals just how far she'll go to make him happy.

King’s Dad Reveal: ...ok, I'll be honest, I did not think we'd get that reveal this soon. Dumb of me to say, considering the number of times I've said that these writers don't waste time getting to the s**t, I know. But still, it's pretty cool knowing that King's dad is alive and well, added with the fact that we've got a fair idea of what he looks like. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we see him figure out where the Clawthorne residence is and witness the tear-jerking moments that will follow.

King Changing his Name to King Clawthorne: Not the official adoption I was expecting Eda to make...but DANG IT, is it still diabetes-inducing levels of sweetness!

Personally, I feel like the main reason why Eda breaks down this time is not only because she shouldn't be worried about King leaving her life, but also because Raine's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Her kids really do need Eda because no matter how far apart they'll be, she will always be a part of their life...dang it, I'm going to cry too!

What those Coven patches really do: Well...that was horrifying to see.

...Writers, if you kill off the best non-binary character in animation (it's a short list, I know), we are going to have PROBLEMS!

IN CONCLUSION

"Eda's Requiem" is--surprise surprise--another A+. The emotions hit hard, the representation hits harder, Raine is a fantastic addition to the cast, and it was all surprisingly cute at times. Season Two is currently on a hot streak, constantly winning with every episode that's come out so far. When a bad episode does eventually show up (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!), I'll be sure to sing my requiem then. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

[princeanxious]

Okay stupid tumblr didnt tell me you said yes but HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS :DDD

When did they become vanpires

How old are they

What year were the vampires born

How long has V been locked away, what has he missed

Does V immediately latch onto the grunge/emo aesthetic because it matches the whole vampire theme

Is Roman a himbo™

What is the twins relationship like

Anxciet is the main pairing, are there any side pairings?

How does Janus react to the whole "oh yeah vampires are real" thing

Were any of the vamps around for any big historical events

Were any of the vamps big historical figures

Do they end up going to highschool/uni with the humans

What does everyone look like

Do any of them have really strong opinions about something useless (eg. pineapple on pizza, a certain colour, double denim, etc)

:)

Virgil became a Vampire sometime in the 17/1800s?? Logan is from around the 1500s, and Patton claims he lost count a long time ago.(Patton’s probably at least at least a thousand years old though? But he looks more like a young 25 y/o whose attire choices change day to day but generally always gives off that Parent vibe), Virgil was turned by Patton, Logan was born Vampire, Patton was assumably born vampire. Remus and Roman are 27, Janus is 25.

Virgil was locked away for about 150 years, give or take? He missed the entire shift in society and the human experience, from how relationships are viewed/treated to longer lifespans, to cleaner hygiene, convenience, and technology, hell, even the more open existance of the lgbtqa+ community! A /lot/ has happened in the past 100 years, and now Virgil has alot of catchup to do.(and don’t worry, Patton & Logan help Virgil catch up pretty quickly, they share flashcards and Virgil gets h o o k e d on social media when he gets a phone)

He absolutely does. Its a weird adjustment, what with the now wildly varied different textiles and styles and change. Especially the lack of layers, he misses those. (And finds immense comfort in the jacket that Janus gifts him, as its big and oversized and feels oh so very soft and warm.) But no yeah, he gets his hair cut(it still grew for those years locked away, albiet still rather slowly from malnutrition) and rocks the fringe, even gets his hair dyed purple to match his eyes, all the grunge/punk/emo aesthetic! Some of his favorite new things are makeup, piercings, and so much black fabric to chose from!

You’ll be surprised to note, that Roman is sadly not a himboTM in this au, as Virgil has already taken over that roll 💜💜💜

Remus and Roman’s relationship? Honestly ride or die chaos, the kinds of siblings that play pranks on one another and insult eachother but god forbid some poor outsider steps in to try and say the same thing they said abt their sibling, that outsider will have regreted it. The kind if ‘The Only one allowed to call my brother a Bitch-Ass Idiot is ME’ kind of siblings? Look they grew up in a area filled with people who dont like things out of the norm and befriended the local bullied kid who is half-covered in snake scales and speaks with a lisp due to his split togue. Remus himself suffers from intrusive anxiety and Roman suffers from chronic(?) depression. They’re all a bit ride or die, through and through.

Anxceit is the main pairing, and while it’s not entirely set in stone, Logince and Intruality are probably the other two.

Technically its not a secret in their world?? Like magic is a thing in their workd, its just usually left out of humanities bloodline. Humans like Janus are pretty rare bc of that. Vampires are still p rare to meet but not unheard of.

Yes, the vampires were alive for many major historical events. No we are not going to talk abt any of them. Same goes w/ historical figures.

Yes! Infact, Roman and Logan share college/uni theatre classes together! Logans currently an astronomy major, Roman a theatre arts major(i think thats what its called?) Logan is a formidible lyrical rival and Roman finds himself constantly losing to his rival in the form of slam poetry, though every day Roman always gets a little closer to winning(Logan adores the challenge, and the passion Roman has to beat Logan at his own game is riviting to experience. Logan would def consider Roman a perfect companion, but would have never acted on it if virgil hadnt been rescued by said companions twin brother, thus gettig both trios heavily involved w/ each other.) Patton’s been alive so long that he doesn’t care too much for academia, and instead focuses on tactile learning, like pottery and woodworking. Remus himself is an arts major, known for making really hyper horror or grotesque creature sculptures/doll customization, so he kind of just laches onto this man who seems to be larger than life and is far from bothered by Remus’s ‘not safe for common convos’ way of talking and its nice not to have someone run away. (Honestly, the feeling is mutual between the two)

As for what everone looks like, I kinda just want to leave that up to interpretation? If I end up drawing any of them they’ll probably be reflective of the way that I usually draw the sides, just human or vampire-ified, and maybe have a trait or two tweaked specifically for the au? The only real thing standing out to me is that i might give Remus or Roman Albinism? Idk yet.

Uhhhh i’m sure they have alot? Logan hates modern mirrors, bc they are usually not made w/ a silver backing. Let me tell you the first time Logna passed his full blown reflection out of something he’d never been able to use before, its clear, consise, ans ge hates it bc he can now very easily stare into his own eyes clearly and question existance.

Patton, despite being the oldest ever, is still v afraid of soiders despite knowing they cant hurt him too horribly.

Virgil is under the strong opinion that memes are hilarious and hoodies are amazing.

[bookaddict24-7]

I said at the beginning of the year that I would share my reviews more on my blog instead of just on Instagram and Goodreads. I’ve been reading a lot so far this year, so my reviews will be delayed on here.

Friend me on Goodreads here to read my reviews in real-time!

___

107. Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow, this book had more of a punch than I anticipated! I think books like this one are super important--not just because of the content, but because of the audience it's geared towards. Young readers now are learning more and more about society than a lot of us did at their age, so I think it's perfectly fitting that a book like this one is out there for kids to devour. One of the things I liked the most about this book was the allegory of racism in a magical community. Usually in fantastical novels for kids (older ones, anyway), there's this belief that no matter what you look like, the moment you go to another magical place all of your worries about racism goes away because MAGIC. But in this one, not only did our MC have to contend with the racism in her normal life, she had to face more racism in her new life, just with a new title. So many of the actions taken against her by those around her, and the comments (like putting her brother on a pedestal because he was the star of the school and calling him the exception to the rule, or one girl actively telling her that "You can take the girl out of the ghetto, but not the ghetto out of the girl) really made me think that this poor kid went from one ignorant situation to another. Not only is she trying to find her brother and solve the mystery of his disappearance, but she also has to deal with racist and ignorant people around her. Imagine calling a child evil because of something they can't control. Imagine going out of your way to ensure that they fail. Imagine you or your child hearing the things this child heard while trying to just do her best in a system that's always been made to be against her, both in the human world and in the magic world. Imagine, imagine, imagine. Another thing I loved about this book was her resilience. She is brave, and smart, and has such a big future in this new world of hers. I'm so excited to read the rest of this series as it comes out. This book was POWERFUL and I highly recommend it. Not just for the young readers in your life, but I think parents and other readers would highly benefit from reading Amari's story.

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108. Mindy Kim & the Yummy Seaweed Business by Lyla Lee--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay, this book was ADORABLE. I haven’t read a 6-8 book in a long time and I’m thankful to my friend on Instagram who recommended these books! Mindy has to deal with not only her grief about losing her mom and her dad’s busy schedule (as well as his own grief), but she’s also at a new school in a new State where she is the only Asian student. I’ve mentioned this in some of my most recent reviews, but I love that these important topics are being discussed in children’s books. We see moments of racism in this book where Mindy is left upset, even if she doesn’t fully understand just why certain comments and actions are so hurtful. And even if she doesn’t dwell on it, a parent reading this with their little one would notice and hopefully learn if they see their own behaviours mirrored in the actions of some of these adults. But we also see moments of kindness and love as a young girl tries her best to find ways to make her dad happy. Despite the heavier undertones in this book, there was an overall feel of sweetness and childhood innocence. The ability to apologize when you know you’re in the wrong, the innocence of emotions getting away from you, and the sweetness of a daughter loving her father. This was a great read and I highly recommend it for everyone, but especially the little ones in your life who will be entering situations where books like these and their lessons are really important.

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109. The Dead Zone by Stephen King--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one, I felt, held more of an emotional punch rather than a creepy feeling. I really enjoyed it! I loved the psychic angle and the MC proving the people who didn’t believe him or mocked wrong. Also, this was a King book that actually made me want to cry at the end. I didn’t give it a 5 because of some really slow moments. While I love that his stories always have a way of coming together at the end, certain scenes sometimes feel long, boring, or confusing. I’d recommend this for anyone who wants to read a King book that isn’t scary and if you’re a fan of 11/22/63!

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110. Takane & Hana Vol. 1 by Yuki Shiwasu--⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one took me a while to read. I found that I wasn’t really in the mood to read it every time I picked it up—which is so different from when I pick up a manga I really want to read. The story had some funny bits and the artwork was gorgeous, but it really bugged me how every new chapter re-introduced the love interest. Over and over and over again. I get it: he’s rich, arrogant, and an asshole. Can’t you trust us to remember these key personality traits? But it wasn’t even just that. We were constantly re-introduced to the premise of the story. I don’t know how common this is WITHIN the same volume, but I haven’t encountered it yet—and if I have, it wasn’t as annoying as this one. I’ll keep reading the story because I’m curious, but this first volume was a bit of a rougher read for me.

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111. You Have A Match by Emma Lord--⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I think the thing with this book is that the cover tells a different story than what really matters in this book. Yes, there’s a friends to more relationship in this, but the main storyline is about two girls who find out they’re sisters and are trying to solve that mystery. This isn’t a romcom—the romance is a super side story to the main storyline. And to be honest, I really enjoyed it. I wanted to see why these two sisters lived their whole life separated. I enjoyed the process and the friendships created along the way. I felt for the parents, but at the same time, I felt more for the girls. There were instances where I wanted to yell at the parents because they kept putting the reveal off. This was enjoyable overall—a great summer read. Not particularly memorable, but it does what it sets out to do: makes you question the strength of friendships and what they can overcome. Also, Instagram.

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112. Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When my friend raved about this book I was both excited and intimidated. I usually try to avoid hypes surrounding books because I go in with too-high expectations and a lot of the time, the expectations crush me while I’m reading. Thankfully, the hype is very well-deserved with this one. For me, the most important aspect of this book that stuck with me wasn’t the mystery surrounding the MC’s cousin’s death, but the character growth the MC himself experiences during the time of his investigation. Identity sounds like a pretty clear cut thing sometimes, but it’s a lot harder to know your own when you’re the child of an immigrant family. You live in a new country, get accustomed to new expectations and customs, and inevitably feel a culture shock when you’re re-introduced to the culture your parents grew up in. I saw myself so much in this MC. From my childhood to my current adult years, people have thought that they could define me and who I am simply because I say I’m this or this. But while others make a quick judgment, they don’t see the internal struggle. They don’t see you questioning yourself on whether you’re enough of this, or whether you’re enough of that. I think teenage me would have loved this book even more. The MC is constantly faced with criticism about his father choosing to move them to the States from the Philippines. The judgments and the preconceived notions of him and his family make him not only weary because he recalls how his uncle treated his father the first time he visited, but also wary because it sets him down this road of self-reflection. I haven’t read many (if any, unfortunately) books where a character goes to the Philippines. I’m so thankful to this book. I learned so much about the culture, the foods, and the struggles faced not just financially, but politically as well. I remember reading about some of the topics brought up in this book and it was extremely eye-opening. It’s so easy for us to look away because we have that privilege, but this book says, “No, look at me. I exist.” The MC, in his journey, also learns to speak up and use his voice. Not just against ignorant friends, but an annoyingly smug and verbally abusive uncle (who I hated to all hell). He also learns to listen. He learns that though not every story is perfect, they still have power. I think this is a great read for those who have one foot in two different worlds (hands and arms can be in other worlds, too). Especially if you’re trying to understand this part of you that wasn’t developed as you grew up. I’d also recommend it to readers who want to learn more about this struggle, learn more about a different culture that is more than its stereotypes, and/or want to read about a young teenager trying to come to terms with his grief and guilt.

___ Have you read any of these books? Would you recommend them?

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Happy reading!

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Final Four: The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck Review! or The Batman Trial Episode but with Ducks, Sharks, And the Fonz

Hello all you happy people and welcome to the penultimate Ducktales review... for season 3 anyway. I still have most of season 1, all of season 2 (I did cover one but I’ll probably redo it), the tie-in comics, the 87 series, and even then i’ll never really be done with ducks between all the scrooge comics and other duck related shows like Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack. But as far as covering the show as it comes out as i’ve done for the past year, that’s’ts almost done. It’s honestly just starting to hit as I type this: this is the second to last episode. After next week while there’s always fan fiction (And I certainly aim to contribute to that), a possible Darkwing Duck Reboot under frank (though that’s in doubt) where they could show up, and a movie down the road given what we saw with Phienas and Ferb and the show’s popularity it’s still not the same as getting these well animated, well crafted adventures every week with breaks or the ocasional entire week of them. The show won’t go on, and whatever happens with the property next is a mystery no amount of ducks can solve. 

So with all that in mind naturally this episode is a breather episode: It’s not unimportant: like the rest of the season it ties off a lot of loose ends, adds in some stuff we didn’t know we wanted, and in general feels necessary like every episode this season. It’s something I credit the season for immensley: They knew this would probably be it so while they had more stories to tell, they made sure if these were their last, to leave no loose ends. And outside of ones they just never wanted to address in the first place like “What happened to Donald’s parents”, “Why was every trace of Della missing despite Scrooge’s search for her having just ended”, and “What did Della thing of the decades long seperation”, they’ve tied up pretty much all of them except for FOWL and what Beakly was lying about, and I feel both are about to ducktail into one another int he finale. Could be wrong but  I applaud them for tying off almost every loose end and character arc by this episode that isn’t related to FOWL in some way. Not every show can do that: She Ra was a masterpiece but still had a few things like Scorpia and Catra’s broken relationship, Hordak’s reformation and Adora’s Parents just left up in the air due to time constraints, Steven Universe ONLY got to go back and answer a lot of questions because they were lucky enough to get an epilogue mini series, and Star Vs... was not as good as either show by the end and by the finale about 80% of things it’d brought up all had the following answer:

My point is it’s VERY hard, even when you know the end is coming to tie everything up in a neat bow. And I can’t know how good the finale be or how satsifying it will be but given how well this season’s wrapped everything up so far,  i’m betting on immensely. But we can talk about that when it finally comes around next week. For now we have a trial episode to talk about that’s mostly good.. mostly. See why the mostly under the cut as I discuss and recap the episode with full spoilers.  Count it down!

We open in the Mansion, where a bunch of tribble like Fuzzy creatures are running amok. Unsuprisingly, Scrooge bought one for Louie as a pet to teach him responsiblity.. again. And once again he instead turned into a get rich quick scheme, didn’t read the manual and now they have an infestation. 

ONCE AGAIN, Louie is written like he’s barely changed at all in the past three seasons. Anyone whose been following my reviews regularly knows this has been a pet peeve of mine for the entire season. Despite having an ENTIRE arc about Louie growing as a character and learning the human cost of his scheming and to use his angle seeing talent’s wisely, the writers keep writing him as if he learned nothing. I went back to track it and while not as often as it felt I noticed a few things. The first is that it WASN’T like this for the first half of the season. No really. He even learns brand new lessons in The Trickening and Louie’s Eleven. Granted he also exploits his uncle in Louie’s Eleven but that’s mostly played for laughs.. still not a great bit but not a major part of the episode. 

So he was fine for the first act of the season... but then for whatever reason from Let’s Get Dangerous onwards (Again I don’t count the Christmas episode as both of those are meant to slot in anywhere and chronologically take place before this season for the timeline to make any sense), he’s just...

He’s utterly insufferable in his small parts of the first half of Let’s Get Dangerous! as he berates Huey for daring to look a gifthorse int he mouse.. even though everytime he’s seemingly got something for nothing or minimal effort it’s backfired and it’s something that seeemd to stick with “The Richest Duck in the World!”. He’s fine in Impossibin and alright in split sword as while he clearly hadn’t learned lying isn’t the best policy we at least got a good story out of it. He then went right back to obnoxious with New Gods on the Block where he, EPISODES AFTER THE SOLEAGEO FISACO again thinks an easy way out is the right way, and has NO guilt over possibly killing a bunch of people with his gold powers and in fact is disapointed he dosen’t get to keep a living being turned to gold!. He spents all of Fight for Castle McDuck being a huge dick to Huey AGAIN iwth no lesson, and now has yet another family endagering get rich quick scheme he feels no remorse about. 

I will admit when I”m wrong and I DID think it was in way more of the season than I thought. And let’s face it in real life personal issues don’t just go away and you can sometimes slide back, i’ve done it way too many times and i’m not proud of it. We’re only human. But this isn’t real life, this is cartoon ducks. And cartoon duck wise most character development has stuck or if a bad trait’s come back it’s been in a new way. Webby is still trusting, but knows how the world works now and while idolizing scrooge dosen’t think he’s perfect anymore. Huey is no longer a skpetic towards the super natural and hasn’t forced a party on anyone. Dewey hasn’t craved other people’s love or thought he needed to earn his mom’s love again. And that’s just the other kids. They aren’t the same people theyw ere going in, neither is Louie. So it’s grating when an episode acts like h’es exactly the same, let alone almost a fifth of the season.

What makes it even worse though is that he had an ENTIRE STORY ARC dedicated to learning some of these lessons already. With the others if one episode were forgotten i’d let it slide as it happens with tv, i’m used to it. It’s not a great look but it happens. Mistakes happen again we’re all human. But you can’t act like an entire arc of a series didn’t exist. While they ignore Della’s history somehow being hidden for the rest of the show they don’t ignore that Dewey spent a whole season looking for her, as he never hides something like that from his brothers again nor do they, and he’s out of them the biggets mama’s boy. While they did take a while to adress Lena, partly because the episode got pushed back, they didn’t act like season 1 never happened and she was still working for her aunt. Della still isn’t on the moon and Owlson still isn’t working for glomgold. Actions. Have. Consequences. That’s the whole point of this episode, but they act like none of it got through to louie and it makes his arc feel like a giant waste in hindsight. This episode even feels like it was SUPPOSED to be in that arc: Louie is back to his season 2 characterization, Scrooge is actively trying to mentor him again.. it just feels really out of place as our second to last episode in that way and drags it down a bit.

Thankfully after Scrooge bars the door, and possibly leaves everyone to their deaths but he presumably has enough faith in the kids, the twins and Beakley to take care of it, he gets a summons to court.. and gets kidnapped. He and Louie are whisked away to a mystic court presided over by a giant statue of justice holding scales, that judges someone based on Karma. Scrooge’s foes have brought him to court, blaming him for being evil and if he looses he looses EVERYTHING. And their proscutor? 

Sadly not Droopy, maybe next continuity, but searing the same Hannibal-Esque Getup is Doofus Drake to Louie’s horror. As for why he’s like this.. he thought iht was fun. Great gag. 

After the credits we find out why he’s doing this: He’s still pissed about Louie taking half his inheritance and giving it to his family, so he’s going to take LOUIE’S inheritance. It’s.. honestly a great setup: Doofus was already a villian I liked, being a nice weird evil mirror dewey instead of a walking fat joke like last series. So I was glad to both see him pop up one last time to make it a full trilogy of apperances as an angonist and to see him take a step up from his passive roll in the past: in his first two apperances while he was evil and abusive, and still is, his evil was mostly due to his own warped logic, feeling he could put shock collars on and control people and that Louie lying to him was enough to warrant making him into a pinata. He’s still a bad person mind you: kid or not he ensdlaved his parents, tried to enslave louie and goldie and in general REALLY needs some help empathizing with people. But my point is that before he didn’t come after anyone.. so it’s a nice capper to have his final turn as antaognist be him going after our hero.. and at his most dangerous. Before someone would’ve come for Louie eventually in Doofus’ first apperance and Goldie would’ve found a way out or Scrooge, despite grumbling about it, would’ve helped.. if nothing else than to lord having to save her from a 12 year old over her. Here if he wins the family is out on the street and three of their greatest enemies are now infinitely more well funded. 

So while naturally unnerved by his rival Louie offers to defend Scrooge who denies it despite the fact that Louie is REALLY good with words, and Scrooge, while not bad with them, can’t stop shouting and keeps pissing off the baliff, played by my boy Henry Winkler whose done a lot of voice work and also played Fonzie on Happy Days, is currently on the HBO series barry and in general is just a fucking delight. The irony is also not lost on me that he’s not playing a lawyer here despite being one on arrested development. 

We get our first witness: FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. Hell. Yes. It’s nice to see him in his full glory one last time, as I don’t know how much he’ll be in the finale. Scrooge blows of the Duke Baloney thing, which is fair given that while Scrooge screwed up there, Glomgold still stole money from him right after and then spent his whole life trying to one up him. But Glomgold has a different tale in mind as he stole something else from him: the limelight. 

It was 1980-something and Glomgold was a bonified celebrity in Duckberg for his hot dogging, grandstanding and treasure hunting loved by all and took Baba Wawa, a nice mix of Barbra Walters and the parody of her on SNL by the late Gilda Radner, to a shark shaped cave to get the gem of the shark god, a ruby tooth at the end of the cave. Naturally Scrooge popped up and easily made his way through and stole the spotlight. As it turns out he wasn’t always well loved and it makes sense: he dismises Baba asking him about how disliked he is, and dosen’t care and even in the current story, or rather season 1 of it, he dismiseed PR entirely in Jaw$. He was rich enough and enough of a job provider he just didn’t see the need for fame or glory, that just came second so it’s logical no one liked him. Fortunes naturally reverse as you’d expect though: Glomgold dashes forward and ends up putting Baba and her camerabird in danger and being Glomgold he irrationally assumes she’s working for Scrooge and leaves her to die. Scrooge however, after getting the rock, goes out of his way to save her because it’s the right thing to do. He can be selfish at times, and as we’ll see monstrously so, but at his core Scrogoe is a good man who will do right when the chips are down. So this leaves Glomgold trapped and Scrogoe getting his good press instead and realizes he likes the attention. 

As the flashback ends Glomgold fills in the gaps, pointing out he was stuck with the sharks for days, but slowly bonded with them learned from them and they became family, helping him with traps, joining him for thanksgiving and even getting a heart taatoo with a shark on it. Awww. Look I didn’t really need to know where Glomgold’s love of sharks came from, nor that he had some weird tarzan origin story with them.. but my life is 100% better knowing all of this so thank you Frank and Matt. Thank you. I’m also entirely convinced the two have had this whole part of his backstory ready to go for three seasons and were waiting to use it, along with the other two bits we’re about to get to. This episode as you can tell is also a vingette episode, but one where the wraparound is way more improtant than usual.. but it works given the setting and allows the stories to be as long as they actually need to be, and it addds some nice stakes instead of just having Scrooge’s villians gripe about him. 

Scrooge protests and the Bailiff puts a clamp on his beak, so he has no choice in the matter when Louie steps up for the defense. Louie also proves that irresponsible he may be.. he’d be a damn good lawyer, as he easily picks things apart, pointing out Glomgold was ALREADY bad by then, Scrooge had no intent to steal the spotlight and Glomgold is currently planting dynamite under his chair, with predictable and hilarious results. So he gets put on the “good” side of the scale. Next witness.

Next up is Ma, and I was delighted that as I’d hoped and theroized this episode wrapped up one little plot point that while not major, was something I was curious about: Ma’s claims Scrooge stole Duckburg from her family.  This was also likely the backbone of the episode at one point as Frank pitched a beagle trial episode at one time, but Disney nixed it. Likely the magic stuff was added both to justify it better and to distract Disney Channel’s higher ups because they constantly underestimate what a child will like. It was for the best though as the beagles are just a bit weaker here: While Character Actress Margo Martindale is a delight and was specifically cast for the role, overall it just feels like they ran out of ways to make the beagles a big threat and releigated them to muscle when needed, to the point they only appeared in one episode besides this one this season as with FOWL about, they didn’t really need villians of the week and what ones they did use like Glomgold and Mark were far more entertaining villains who needed a coda to their stories.They aren’t bad characters, but in a series where their breaking into the bin or mansion wasn’t a story the crew was interested in they served no real purpose. 

So we finally get answers about the whole Deed thing: It was sometime in Ma’s childhood, good look guessing when, and the Beagles owned Duckburg having clearly overwhelmed Fort Duckburg at some point in history between Clinton’s defense of it and now, with Grandpa “Pa” Beagle finally making an apperance. In the comics he was basically what Ma is to both series: the scheming brains behind the beagles who showed up on occasion and it was a good idea to use him as the past version of her. 

Scrooge naturally comes a calling and unsurprisingly Ma was lying: Scrooge offered to buy the place first from Pa, he refused outright, and then when Scrooge showed off the money he was offering, Pa bet the deed for it in an arm wrestling contest. Not only that but as Scrooge finds out as he almost looses, Pa was cheating having a smaller beagle boy operate pull a lever in a device attached to his arm to give pa extra force. Scroooge simply dropped a few coins to distract the guy and claimed victory and the deed. 

Little Ma is left dejected though and Doofus claims he ruined his life, but Louie steps up, at this poitn Scrooge has learned to reign himself ina nd accepted Louie as his defense without saying anything, a nice subtle bit. He probably realized that while irrepsonsible.. Louie has everything to loose her and no reason to slack off and dosen’t even relaly have to lie for his uncle to get him off: he’s simply using his ablitiy to see all the angles to poke holes in their story. 

Case in point, he orders the “tape” to continue and finds Little Ma berating her dad for his failure and forcefully taking control of the family. LIke Glomgold, Scrooge may of cost her something.. but it was something she and her family hadn’t earned and they were still on a bad road. Scrooge just made it worse. 

But suprisingly, its MAGICA, who we’ve established is an uncaring monster, who has a story Scrooge genuinely feels bad about. Like the rest she was not a good person: Long ago she and her brother Poe were extorting a villiage, and lording over it as gods, changing the population into goats, toads and other things. The only diffrence from what Magica would do to the blot and presumiibly others later, is that Poe reigned in her manical tend ices, trying to get her to think things through. The goat transformation was so they’d have milk and at least get something out of it and as to not waste all their slaves. Poe is voiced by Martin Freeman of The Hobbit and Black Panther fame. Great actor, does amazing work here.  So like the others Scrooge changed things, and fought someone with bad intentions for his own self. He talked Magica into fighting him with both amulets by playing into her ego and Poe trying to talk her down, and easily deflected her bolt with the dime to turn her into a crow with her own spell. So far it’s just like the other tales in a nice mirror.. it’s what comes next that makes Scrooge into a  bad guy too. Not as bad as Magica and Poe.. but sitll not good. Poe dives selflessly in front of the coin.. and shockingly while she cared nothing for Lena.. that wasn’t the case for Poe. Magica is truly devastated, desperatly trying to put the amulet back on and begging scrooge for help while he just ignores her and fills up his sack. And while they both deserved it... Scrooge and Louie both recognize he was wrong as the flashback ends with Poe escaping and Magica sitll haven’t having found him to this day. And props to Catharine Tate here a she takes a normally hammy terrible person who was wholly unsympathetic and manages to make her painfully human.  

What makes the act so terrible is not who it happened to, they both desrved it, but Scrooge’s attitude, utterly callous to magica’s pain with not a drop of sympathy. While she deserved it as did Poe.. he’s not doing this to her as some justice for her crimes, or because she did something horrible to him or any valid reason.. he’s doing it because he’d rather get more of her and poes gold than lift one finger to help someone who had , for all his evil, selflessly sacrificed himself for his sister. For all Poe’s evil and tyranny.. there MIGHT of been a good man in them, in both of them.. and Scrooge could’ve cared less. He shut the door on Magica ever becoming a good person, ever getting her brother back to line his own wallet and to satisfy his own ego. See that’s the true mark of a hero: how they treat others, even the worst of them. And in his lowest moment Scrooge could’ve cared less about anyone but himself. 

Scrooge feels bad and Louie does finally get the responsibility thing and this is where things start to go off the rails: he apologizes to Doofus and admits he dosen’t want an enteral rivalry and h’es sorry for any pain he caused. The off the rails part is because Doofus is genuinely not a good person, ahs done very bad things and is trying to bankrupt Louie for the crime of “taking half your fortune after you used it to torment and enslave your own parents’. It just.. dosen’t play as well as they’d like. That said I DO like both Louie deciding to bury the hatchet instead of just avoiding him and Doofus showing some nobiity in accepting it. Maybe he’ll change. 

He goes off into the night, and Scrooge genuinely apologizes and accepts repsonsiblity... and here’s where the plot finishing going off the rails and into someone’s living room: the bailiff AWARDS THEM SCROOGE’S FORTUNE BECAUSE HE ADMITTED SOME CUPLABLITY AND WAS HUMBLE. 

This just.. it makes no sense, it will never not baffle me and it hurts my brain> Yes he admitted some wrong doing and apologized for it.. but it was also THROUGHLY proven the other two weren’t his fault, and he was simply being a good man which should get him some good. Thankfully the conclusion is a bit better, as Louie points out while they made him, he made you so who made who, who made you... okay i’m getting into the AC/DC of things point is these incidents all shaped Scrooge into a better person.  His mistake with Magica. is clearly learned from. He’s stopping a group of bullies in Ma’s story and saving a life without a second thought in the second. He learned to value others, to value family all because THEY showed him what happens when you don’t. By seeing the worst person he could be.. he became the best. So the trial’s thrown out his assets are returned, and their teleported out before magica can hit them with lighting. Lesson learned.. well kinda Louie tells scrooge to do it because he got the pet. 

Final Thoughts for The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck:

Great title aside.. this one is a mess. It’s not a terrible episode: the flashbacks are genuinely engaging, each one helping flesh out the villians and in Ma’s case pulling one last dangling plot thread. Glomgold’s was just entertaining , clevelry using his 80′s origns for an 80′s style news special and giving us the origin to his love of sharks that we didn’t know we needed., Ma’s tied up a loose plot threat with a fun flashback and Magica’s was genuinely heart wrenching and did the tall task of making us feel for someone that terrible. The wraparound.. was a bit weaker. Doofus was the best part, playing an excellent manipulative bastard lawyer, and being a genuine threat and his walking away peacefully was a nice touch, and Louie having to defend scrooge was great and showed him off better than ever. And Louie did get some moments to shine.. it was just wierldy bookened with him acting terribly AGAIN, in a way he should know better than in an episode where he acts fine for most of it and even then he thinks lying to a judge is a good idea! I know he’s 12 but he’s not this stupid and while as I made very clear i’ve seen this shit before, I haven’t seen it flip flop in the same episode. Louie deserves better than this. 

But it’s also in service to a responsiblility aseop that just.. dosen’t work as presented. Yes you should take responsiblity for your past, yes you should learn from your mistakes and own up to them, I have, and yes it’s all too easy to slide back> That’s all fine.. but him apologizing to Ma, whose family was terorrizing a town, and Glomgold, who he did nothing to, and having Louie apologize to Doofus, who while he tried to exploit him still enslaved his own parents and deserved to loose half his fortune AND loosing half his fortune wasn’t even the main thing Louie wanted to do as his main goal was getting BOYD a loving family.. it’s bullshit. Just pure Grade-A bullshit. Why are you booing them their right. It’s a good idea for a moral but it’s executed so overwhelmingly poorly it bogs down what was otherwise an exceptional episode, into just passable.  It’s just mind numbing and saddening to know the next to last episode wasted so much good ideas on a clumsy moral. Thankfully I have hope the finale will be better, and again at least we got some good out of this one. 

Next Time: Endgame Baby! Clan McDuck and their Amazing Friends Vs F.O.W.L. for the fate of adventure itself! One last ride! I can hardly wait!

This week on the blog: Ducks Ducks and more ducks.. and a top 12 list of my faviorite superheroines later today’s for international women’s day. But after that we have more of the Della arc, the last step in the Lena arc before Shadow War next week, and the 87 ducktales pilot treasure of the golden suns!

If you liked this review, share it around, follow for more, and you can comission your own for 5 dolalrs an issue or episode, or kick in some money on my patroen, link on my blog. Even a dollar a month helps and my next stretch goal is 5 dollars away and if we reach it i’ll review both the super ducktales mini series introducing gizmoduck AND a darkwing duck episode a month. Until the next rainbow it’s been a pleasure. 

[soliverse]

baby don’t like it - q.kn

pairing: royal au duke!kun x princess!reader ft my best girl, Irene of Red Velvet

genre: angst, much muuuch stronger than the last one

warnings: mentions of violence, cheating, cussing, alcohol consumption (again, nothing too explicit, just giving you a bit of a heads up.

word count: 3171

Prompts:

“Keep the change, ya filthy animal.” - Home Alone (weird choice, I know)

“Baby, whether rain or shine, naughty or nice. I'm by your side.” - Ariana Grande (Not Just On Christmas)

ps: did I just write another angst for another Christmas special?

Yes. Yes, I did.

Baby Don’t Like It is a part of my Walking in a Winter Wonderland Collab with @suh-insane​ and @neocitybynight​. Once again, this is one of my first collabs and I am thankful for the approachable anons that let me join this event.

You can check the Walking In A Winter Wonderland event and the works of my fellow NCT writers over here!

networks: @nctcreations​ @kdiarynet @kpopscape

Men.

You’ve always hated them.

You’ve hated how your father treated your mother. You’ve hated how you’re treated all your life just because you’re not born as a man. You've always hated how they controlled every single decision in your life. You've hated how you're forced to marry someone you don't love for "the sake of our people".

But out of all the men that you hated; it was the one right in front of you.

As your assistants helped you get dressed, your husband was just sitting there on his phone, looking all nice and fine and smiling from ear to ear. He looked divine, suit garbed in black and red, making him look almost ethereal. Strands of his dark hair falls into his forehead, framing his perfect face even more. At the same time, he decided to wear his circular glasses, something that he did if he didn’t want to use his contact lenses.

Overall, his outfit made him look like one of those princes from those fairytale books that you had as a kid.

You can't help but roll your eyes, but you can't say whether it's from your assistants eyeing Kun or that he just HAD to be there to see you get dressed. After hours of getting ready, they placed a heavy tiara on your head as a finishing touch.

You stood up from your seat and twirled, making sure that everything looked perfect. You walked towards Kun and did a little wave to get his attention away from his phone. It didn’t work, so you walked closer to the couch and tapped his leg. This time, he shot up a look in your direction, still smiling.

“Oh hey. You good to go?”

You nodded as an answer. The two of you then made your way into your car, him being the driver. The car ride was eerily quiet. None can be heard except for other vehicles passing by and funky Christmas songs blasting from people outside. Well, there isn’t that much to talk about. You’ve spent every hour with each other that you feel like there’s more to share.

This is probably the reason why he suggested the event in the first place. Social events aren't really your thing, but at least it’s better than to stay at home and celebrate Christmas in silence. Or worse, spend it at your parents' mansion.

“Hey baby, cheer up a little.”

He was the first one to break the silence.

“Thank you for coming with me to the event. It means a lot to me.”

His voice was soft, just like it had always been whenever he’s talking to you. He moves closer from the other side of the and took your hand, squeezing it tightly. You never said anything. You just smiled at him in return, not really knowing what to say. It stayed that way until you reached the venue.

It was already a bit late at night and the whole city glistened from the twinkling lights that adorned it. The snow slowly falling down made your entrance to the party even more magical.

The car door has opened and cameras started flashing left and right. Dozens of paparazzi surrounded the area while the guards tried their best to keep them out. Kun made a point to wave to everyone, a move that everyone loved. You tried to force a smile as he wrapped his arms around your hips, feeling the silky fabric of the dress that you’re wearing.

Everyone greeted him, of course. His cheery self was acknowledged by everyone around him. Meanwhile, you just politely bowed at everyone else, forcing an awkward smile whenever someone tried to make interactions. They were probably bummed up that YOU had to go with, though. After all, Kun was the life of the party. The darling of the crowd. The Diana to your Charles.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome our honorable guests for tonight. The main benefactor of Little Angels’ Children Hospital and the people behind this lovely event, Duke Kun and Her Highness Princess Y/N of the Northernshore.”

The crowd applauded as you made your way into the grand halls and took your place in the seat designated for the both you. It was a table that was isolated from everyone else, so the two of you are just stuck together. Sitting there was uncomfortable to say the least. You knew he wanted to mingle with people, but being the introvert that you are, he can’t leave you alone.

The program proceeded as usual. The children from the hospital sang some carols which touched everyone’s hearts. One of the cute little girls gave you a small figurine that she made. You gave her a warm hug before letting her join the other children on the stage. Kun, on the other hand, was trying his best to focus on the gala.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. Not at all.” He chuckled awkwardly, sneaking peeking on his phone from time to time. You didn’t pay him that much attention and shifted your focus back to the kids. The host announced that dinner will be served soon and the program will resume right after. You felt the need to go to the bathroom and so you tugged on his jacket to get his attention. Some Christmas carol was playing overhead and so he leaned down to hear what you had to say.

“Excuse me for a second. I need to powder my nose.”

You shyly whispered in his ear. He again flashes a sweet smile before nodding. Other people are so standing up from their seats, taking this opportunity to mingle with other people while dinner is being prepared. The guards offered to go with you but you declined and insisted that they stayed with Kun. From far away, you can see a bunch of people enthusiastically going to his direction. You just sighed as you walked across the crowd of people with your head down.

As you’ve finally reached the bathroom, the first thing you did was lock the stall and breathe. You rested your head at the door for a few seconds before finally doing your business. You’ve heard some people entered the bathroom. Your ears perked up to listen at their conversation. To your relief, none of them talked about you. They didn’t take long inside, probably just touched up, and left the bathroom.

Making sure that no one is inside, you opened the door and proceeded to look at yourself in the mirror. You weren’t that bad. Your red silky dress complimented your body and skin well. There are strands of your hair cascading from your messy bun, but that just added to your look. You look fine. It’s just that in everything that you say and do, everything pales in comparison to your husband. Opening the sink, you washed your hands and tried to snap out of Grinch mode. After all, it’s almost Christmas. You should be having fun.

///

After leaving the bathroom, this time with a much jollier attitude, you saw Kun sitting in the same table. This time, he was with a woman. A woman that you knew pretty well.

Minji used to be your bestfriend during highschool. She was the only one kind enough to talk to you and actually get to know you as a person. Unfortunately, things changed just as soon as you reached college. Kun was a junior at that time and he became the guide that toured the freshmen throughout the university. Minji has been whipped ever since and Kun returned the favor.

Her family aren’t a part of the royals, which meant they can’t be together. A fact that had always pained you whenever you think about it. A part of you still felt guilty upon breaking the former couple apart. You never had the guts to faced Minji and so you made your way towards the open bar. Maybe some drinks will help you clear your head.

Trying to hide from other people and the guards, you picked a seat just right at the farthest corner of the open bar. You sat at one of the counters and ordered whatever drink that can get you drunk the fastest. You downed the drink fast, not even minding the harsh taste that it leaves as soon as it hits your tastebuds.

A voice suddenly interrupted your drinking session. You tried to hide your face to avoid being recognized, but the woman still sat down right next to you.

“A princess shouldn’t be drinking like that.”

“Excuse me?”

You finally turned around, casually flashing a playful smile at you. Your eyes grew wider at the sudden realization of who she is.

“Irene! It’s been ages!”

You almost spilled your drink to the floor as you stood up to hug one of your old college pals.

“It’s been forever, and yet you still act like a royal novice.”

The lass never changed. She was still her snobby self, a trait that you used to hate before you came to realize that that’s just her quirk.

The two of you are almost squealing before finally letting go of each other. You sat back down excitedly before pouring yourself another drink.

“Okay. Why are you here?”

“Remember Suho? The doctor? Well, he’s thinking doing business with the hospital. He’s making it some sort of an extension.”

"I still couldn’t believe that you got married." You said while chuckling. The old Irene had always had this intimidating aura to her that no boy ever dared to talk to her. It’s something that the two of you had in common.

"I could say the same about you."

Irene snickered as she motioned the bartender to bring more drinks for the two of you.  She casually grabbed her wine glass, being the classy lady that she is, and took a bit of a sip at her sparkling champagne, eyeing you shadily like there’s something she’s trying to tell you.

“I see that your husband is having fun without you.”

You just sighed as a response.

“Royals are for royals, Y/N. Minji isn’t born with a title.That is not your fault. Keep your head high for fuck’s sake. You’re THE Princess.”

You raised an eyebrow at her, preparing to talk her down to filth. However, her phone lit up from a phone call that she's receiving.

"I'm gonna have to leave you for a sec. It's Suhyun's babysitter."

She gave an apologetic smile before grabbing her purse from the counter and finishing the last of her drink.

"I’ll be back in a moment.”

She tossed a wink at your direction before you’re left alone in the bar once again. You started drinking once again when you felt a tap on your shoulder. Thinking it was Irene, you turned around and was about to talk smack to her. Instead, it was your husband. He grabbed you by your wrist and took you to an empty storage room nearby.

“The guards have been looking for you everywhere.”

His voice was low, but you can tell that he’s incredibly pissed.

"I just needed a drink to lighten myself up. Figured you need some time to hang out with your colleagues without your boring wife tagging along."

“You’re glad that I found you first. What would the media say if they saw the princess drinking like she’s in a college frat party?”

You just rolled your eyes at him and tried to free your hand from his tightening grip.

“I want to go home.”

“You are not going home in the middle of the event!”

You scoffed.

“Yes, I can. I’m the Princess. Just tell them I feel sick or something.”

You finally managed to escape his grasp and you walked out of the storage room by yourself and walked back into the. Sure enough, you used your acting lessons to feign an illness. The guards took charge immediately and escorted you back to the car. It caused a bit of a scene, so it didn’t take long before Irene found you. She whispered something in your ear and you just nodded.

“Change of plans boys. I’m going to we’re going to the hospital.”

///

"Wakey-wakey…”

Kun felt a sudden surge of pain running through his body. His vision was blurry, pupil still adjusting to the light blaring through his face. Despite this, he can definitely see one thing. It was a silhouette of a woman.

"Ugh… Who are you?"

Moans and groans escaped his busted lips, the taste of metal fills his mouth. Not only was his mouth filled with his own blood, he was struggling to talk because of the dryness in his throat. He tried to move but his body felt sore. His arms and feet were tied up to this chair, making it impossible for him to get up.

The last thing that he remembered is that he is on a car ride somewhere, until his own guards pointed their guns at him.

The woman just laughed as a response. She walked towards him, dragging something heavy behind her. The screeching sound coming from the friction of the floor and metal stings in his ear.

Suddenly, he felt a hand run up to his shoulder into his neck making all of the hair in his body stand up. He had never felt more scared in his life. He felt her face lean over and whispered something to his ear.

"You know very well who I am Kun."

"Irene…"

The woman laughed once again. It sounded darker and more maniacal than earlier.

"I'm glad you remembered you my name after all these years. However, I'm afraid I’d have to cut this reunion short."

Just as she stood up, another silhouette appeared from the dark. The tapping of the back of her heels filled echoed across the hospital room, completely stealing your attention from Irene.

This time, he's certain about who it is.

"When you said that you'll make my problems disappear, this isn't what I had in mind."

You took the coat off of your body, letting in fall to the floor. He was about to beg you to release him, but he noticed something.

You had that dangerous look in you. Your blank cold stare even scarier than Irene's. The typical shy demeanor was dropped and instead replaced by those of predator. Someone that wants to eat him alive and make him disappear in the face of the Earth.

"I had a little fun with him already, if you don't mind.”

Irene walked towards your direction, smiling from ear to ear seeing her old friend back like this.

“I’m afraid I have to leave you here darling. Suhyun and her father is probably looking for mommy right now. Call me when you need me.” She gave you a delicate peck on your cheek before walking away from the room.

Now, the two of you are left alone. Silence once again peeks in as the two of you just stared at each other. Even up until now, that never changed.

This time, you’re the first one to speak up.

“You’re probably wondering why you’re in this situation.”

You took one of the seats and dragged it just a few meters in front of him. You sat down, leaned back while your arms and legs are crossed.

“I know about the affair between you and Minji.”

“Baby, please. It’s nothing...”

He used his sweet voice again, but to you it sounded more like teeth-rotting sugar. That sickly sweet taste that made you want to gag.

“Oh, stop the bullshit. I know about ALL of the affairs.”

You finally stood up from your seat and held your right hand up in the air.

“Let’s see. There’s Rosie, Jessica, Heather…” You spouted more names, taking down a finger every time you mentioned one. Kun is now looking even more uncomfortable. This time, it was his turn to look down, hiding the guilt-ridden expression of his face. Your finger touched his chin, tipping his face up in your direction.

“Wanna know how I knew?”

You poked your tongue in your cheeks and rolled your eyes before giving him one hard slap on his cheek.

“It’s because of those damn glasses! I can see every lewd picture that they send you, asshole!”

You look down at his direction and you saw tears running down from his face. He was trying his best not to sob because his own mouth betrayed him.

“What, baby? you don’t like being slapped in the face? Isn’t that what you wanted Minji to do to you whenever you’re fucking at the manor when I’m at business trips?”

The last sentence made you choke on your words. The combination of seeing Kun crying and the recollection of memories made you a bit soft. Your legs shook, making you kneel down on the ground and sob like a little girl when someone had taken her toys away from her.

“Why did it have to be Minji?”

“I-I’m sorry Y/N. Please… Let me fix this.”

You wiped you tears away just as you dropped this bombshell.

“Why did it have to be her? My first love?”

Picking yourself from the floor, you went back to where your discarded coat is. You wiped your tears out with the sleeves of the coat while you rummaged through its pockets.

“I can’t stand it. Even when you married me, she ‘s still stupidly in love with you.”

“W-wait… What do you mean?”

“Minji used to be my pretty little angel. You just had to turn her into your slutty mistress, don’t you?”

You felt something hard on your right pocket. It was the gun that Irene left you earlier at the party. Right beside it was your phone, blowing up with notifications of people greeting you a Merry Christmas as the clock just turned 12:00 a few minutes ago.

“It’s a sad thing that this will be our last Christmas together.”

You said once again, finally calmed down from the tears that you have just shed a few moments ago. Kun was now shouting at his seat, finally aware of what you’re about to do.

“You are not gonna get away with this!”

“Oh. But I will…”

You smirked at him once again.

“If I killed you right now, Irene and his men would take care of your body and discard it without anyone noticing. They do it all the time. If people suspect that I did something to you, I can just say that I went to the hospital to get treated. They have logs and cameras over here to back up my claims.”

You cocked the gun in your hands and started pointing it to his temples.

“..And as for you baby, text records show that you’re about to run away with Minji tonight. All of your other secrets will be exposed and people will finally see what you really are…”

You took a deep breathe before mustering up the courage to pull the trigger.

“Merry Christmas baby. I’m sure they’d appreciate charity events in hell.”

[dirt-cup-draco]

Draco x Reader - Never, Maybe, Absolutely

Perhaps a Draco x reader in their time of marriage, watching their children grow up, slowly but steadily? @rayyymalfoy

So, I’m a terrible person and tweaked this into their relationship and views on having a family together forming and changing but still has some cute sort of dad draco fluff

You sighed deeply, poking Draco’s nose as you reclined back onto his legs, his fingers tangle delicately in your hair. “We would make pretty kids, don’t you think?” You asked as you traced his jawline with a familiar touch. 

Draco simply rolled his eyes as his eyes raked over your scrunched up expression. “Not now we wouldn’t,”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” You defended but settled back down into his lap as you both got lost in thought. You knew you weren’t ready for kids, you were still finishing school and another glaring reason was that war was approaching quickly and the man you loved was stuck between what his family wanted for him and what his heart wanted. He wasn’t a bad man, he didn’t want to be on Voldemort’s side.

It was also that turmoil that had Draco gazing at his dormitory room wall with a far away look in his eyes. He couldn’t be a dad. Lucius was his father but it wasn’t the example he wanted to learn from. If he was going to be a dad someday he would never be like his dad. One thing Draco hadn’t told you was that he was frightened to his core that he wasn’t going to make it out of all of this. When he had moments alone all he could do was look at the broken shell that looked back at him from the mirror and cry. 

He hadn’t been himself in a number of years. Draco was weak, scared. Those were traits that got you killed in a war, especially when the dark mark stained your skin. He couldn’t imagine a good ending and so he didn’t want to give you many hopes. You were a wonderful witch, resourceful and cautious but brave. You would do just fine. You’d raise hell and kick ass if the need arose. All Draco knew for sure was that he wanted to run away and hide. He wasn’t an admirable man. You wouldn’t want to raise kids with him.

“I know you didn’t, I just don’t really want kids,” He said numbly as you fell into a pensive silence together, a frown tugging at your lips. You just wanted him to seem interested in a future with you whether you had kids or not. You loved Draco, you could see yourself by his side until the day you died but maybe he didn’t feel the same. 

--

The battle had began. Every student was ready to defend hogwarts and what it had stood for from the oncoming enemies. Draco was shaking and pale, standing next you with your hand clasped in his, your other hand holding your wand so tight he wondered how it hadn’t snapped in half yet. 

“You’re going to be okay,” He said, chapped lips brushing across your temple. His mouth was dry, and his eyes were darting around. 

“You will too, stop talking like this is the end,” You scolded gently being able to read him better than he’d ever wanted you to. “We’re going to get through this and come out on top and be together,” 

“That’s the thing, Y/N,” Draco said, teeth clenched as he tore his hand from yours. It took all the willpower in him and that had been running out for some time now. He was just Voldemort’s puppet. The consequences of betraying him were too great and he no longer had the strength to hope he could make his own decisions. “I think we might be fighting on opposite sides,” He watched as your eyes grew wide in shock, replaced by a deep sadness he never wanted to cause you and finally settling on anger. 

“You know it isn’t right!” You seethed, begging him to realize he wasn’t going to come out on top this way. But then you saw as his parent’s beckoned for him. Voldemort stood in front of them, a silent threat in his vicious smile. “I refuse to believe this is you,” You conceded. Draco had too good of a heart. Someone who had loved you with all of his heart for the past couple of years could not truly sympathize with someone like the dark lord. 

“It isn’t, but I’m leaving the best parts of me with you,” Draco croaked, giving you a chaste kiss. “I hope after this you find a man worthy of you, get those kids you wanted, goodbye Y/N,”

“Draco please... Dont leave me like this,” You sniffled, knowing you couldn’t change his mind as he walked away from you. “Don’t walk away from what we could have together,” Draco couldn’t hear you however, his blood was rushing in his ears as Voldemort embraced him and he felt like he’d just been given a death sentence. 

If he got out of this somehow, he could turn his life around. Maybe even find you, beg for forgiveness and be the man he knew you deserved. Maybe even have some kids.

--

You took a steady breath in the cab, your stomach in knots as you tried to collect yourself. The Malfoy’s grand manor stood tall and looming in front of you and you were having second thoughts. He hadn’t contacted you after the war had ended, it had been four years since then. Had he truly meant it when he had told you goodbye? You’d held on this long, refused to let go really. You weren’t going to let Draco slip away so easily. You had given him his space but he was still the only man you wanted to spend your life with. 

You walked up the stone steps leading the the door. The lawn was manicured and perfect as it had always been. It was only a lawn but it reminded you of the first time you’d met Draco’s parents as a young girl. The perfection had been intimidating and you’d nearly apparated away, damn the consequences. But like then you were going to forge forward. You knocked on the door and a kind, mousy house elf opened the door. 

“Is Draco in?” You asked, peering down at the meek creature below you. 

“Right this way miss,” She guided you inside and asked you to wait in the foyer as she fetched her master from his study. 

Draco smoothed his hair down, jogging down the steps but pausing halfway as he saw you standing there, investigating the minute changes that had taken place in his family home since the last time you’d been there. You heard his sudden pause in his descent down the staircase and spun on your heel.

He looked...tired. Handsome, but drained. Had his eyes always been so sunken? A neat button up was tucked into some slacks, clinging to his lean frame. He had never been bulky or muscular, tending more towards the subtle hint of athleticism but now he looked small. Frail nearly. 

“Hi,” He choked out, trying to force his legs into working again. 

Once he was in front of you, you found you had no words. Instead you threw your arms around his neck and held tight. “Merlin, I’ve missed you,” You breathed out yet taking time to breath in his familiar scent. His hands fell to your waist hesitantly but once they were there it felt like home as he tightened his grip around you. 

“You shouldn’t have,” Draco muttered honestly. 

“It was impossible to not miss you,” You challenged. “D-did you miss me?” 

You started to pull back from your embrace and he panicked, pulling you tighter against him. Your warmth was inviting and familiar, easing the ache of loneliness inside of him that nothing else had come close to relieving. “With every step I took away from you and every second after,”

The both of you had to break away eventually, arms and legs growing stiff. Draco excused himself after leading you to the sitting area you. You picked at the frayed edge of one of the couches until he came back in with two cups of tea.

You sipped at it but set it down quickly, the real reason you had decided to visit him nagging at you. “Are you seeing anyone?” 

Draco raised an eyebrow as he tried to keep his composure. “I’m not, are you?” 

You scoffed, grabbing your tea as a distraction as you peered past the rim into a vacant space in the room. “Of course not,” 

Draco was quiet for a minute, he wasn’t the man you needed. He might be the one you wanted but he wasn’t good enough for you. He’d been working hard after the war to make up for his sins but he still felt like he didn’t deserve happiness. Yet here you were, offering him something he wasn’t sure he could deny.

“Be with me again,” You finally blurted out, impatient. “I love you still, never stopped. I don’t blame you for how things ended or the decisions you had to made... Please, Draco, if you still feel the same put both of our miserable hearts to rest and take me back,” You pleaded, feeling pathetic but not enough to let pride overcome you. You needed Draco, simple as that.

“Y/N I can’t... I’m not-” 

“I swear to god if you say anything self depreciating about yourself I’m going to- well I’m going to kiss all the negative feelings away,” You challenged with a look you hoped was confident and somewhat intimidating. 

Draco squared his shoulders, taking a step closer and looking into your eyes. He didn’t break contact as he wet his lips with the tip of his tongue in a sudden moment of nervousness. “I’m not good enough for you,” 

“I warned you Malfoy,” You growled, surging forward to capture his lips against yours whining at the feeling of being near the man you adored. His chest heaved against yours, his arms tight around your waist as he backed you against the nearest wall. He broke away with a gleam in his eye you had missed and a smirk that left you blushing.

“So you did,” Draco panted softly. “I meant it though,” 

“I didn’t believe you years ago when you tried breaking up with me after you’d gotten your dark mark and I don’t believe it now. You are a good man Draco and my opinion on that will never waver,” 

“Then what are we waiting for?” He finally sighed, defeated but finally feeling glad he had lost a battle. “Be mine, Y/N,” That was all it took for you to grab his hand and drag him to his bedroom. You needed to make up for lost time.

--

A year later and you were happier than you’d ever been. Draco owned you heart completely and you hadn’t regretted going back to him for even a second. You were going to be there for the bad and the good and if that meant you had to wake up at three in the morning to wake him up from a night terror and reassure him Voldemort had not been victorious and he was safe then you would be more than happy to do just that. He would do the same for you. He did do the same for you.

You had both grown from the war and changed but he was still the boy you had adored from your time at hogwarts and you were still the girl he couldn’t get enough of. 

That was something you needed to remind yourself of as you sat cross legged on the bathroom tile. Draco beside you. The muggle pregnancy test was glaring out at you from it’s place on the sink. 

“You should’ve put something underneath it, you had to pee on that and now it’s on the counter-” Draco started but bit his tongue as you gave him an incredulous look. “Sorry love, I’m just nervous,” 

“M-me too,” You agreed, grabbing his arm and slinging it over your shoulders as you pressed yourself against his side. 

“I thought you wanted kids?” He questioned, one of his fingers tracing soothing patterns on your arm as you glanced at your watch. You were positive these had been the longest few minutes of your life. 

“I do, it’s still bloody terrifying though,” You laughed nervously. “Do you want kids?” You had to ask. Draco ignored you though as your watch erupted into a staccato beat of beeps. 

“Look at it!” He demanded, an anxious pitch in his voice making it crack slightly. 

“I am!” You squeaked, pushing yourself onto your knees as you grab the pregnancy test, hiding the results as you leaned back against the tub. “Look at it with me?” You pleaded.

Draco gulped. “Alright, together, on three,” 

“Three,” You began.

“Two,” He continued.

“One!” You both exclaimed together as you pulled your hand.

A plus sign stared back at you and a myriad of feelings coursed through you making your stomach turn as tears welled up in your eyes. Draco couldn’t fight the smile that was starting on his face though. It was bright and unending and his own silver eyes were misted over with tears. 

“We’re going to be parents!” He broke the silence first and you nodded rapidly, a giddy laugh bubbling from your lips. 

“Does that mean you want to have a kid?” You sniffled, searching his face for any signs that he was going to run as far as his legs could carry him. But with a soft smile and one simple word you knew that you had nothing to worry about.

“Absolutely,” 

[capricornsims]

Strangetown Mystery 13: Trapped

     Days turned into weeks and the imprisonment of the Smith family became known throughout Strangetown, much to their dismay. Lola and Chloe rallied alongside other townies to free Pollination Technician 9, waving picket signs about uniting the world. “ He did nothing wrong, he’s just raising his family!” Lola shouted out, and the crowd agreed, remembering PT9 as a friendly family man, and not the evil invader General Buzz Grunt was making him out to be. Despite the protests outside of the bunker, the Smith Family would continue to be entrapped in the concrete underground, unable to hear the rallying cries of their family members. Restlessness and fear hung over everyone as their fate was left to the unknown as the syndrome got worse. Johnny, especially, couldn’t stand the extended stay in the bunker, knowing the untrustworthy intentions of Buzz Grunt...but he couldn’t do anything if he was stuck under Tank’s surveillance. 

To add to Johnny’s misery, his other physical alien traits began to appear, clouding his emerald green eyes over with an inky black shade. He was appalled by his appearance, unable to comprehend why his eyes decided to change at a moment like this! He knew his skin was going to get greener as he grew older, but his eyes were the only thing that made him feel human enough to live amongst his friends. Now he was considered more of a freak compared to before, vulnerable to the same prejudice his father and sisters faced. His emotions ran rampant through his brain, staring off into grimy mirrors, picturing his horrible future. 

Johnny: Why does this have to happen to me now, why couldn’t I have changed after this. What if I get experimented on by mad scientists? Bullied more by Tank? What if Ripp and Ophelia run away because I’m such a freak... A freak of nature…

His insecurities manifested as the day wore on, it didn’t help that Tank commented on his changed appearance or that his family looked at him differently.

He split apart from his parents, escaping to the furthest point of the compound to hide away from the world. Unfortunately, his effort to conceal his condition was useless as footprints approached him 

PT9: Son, your mother told me what happened,

Johnny: …

PT9: Why don’t you want to talk to your old man about it? 

Johnny: I don’t want to talk right now! 

PT9: I understand that you teenagers are going through a lot of emotions, but I’m here for you. I watched you grow up on Earth, and I know how hard it’s been for you, Johnny. 

Johnny: I don’t think you understand, dad. You grew up with other aliens...but here I had to grow up with other humans and they just suck! 

PT9: I know, son, but compared to them, you are stronger. Your eyes may have changed to look like mine, but you are the same young man everyone loves. Once we get out of here, you’ll be able to show the world how great you are. 

Johnny: IF we get out of here! We’re stuck here because *you* think Buzz Grunt is trying to protect us! Can’t you read minds !? We are trapped here and we can’t get out! 

PT9: I don’t want to argue about this, Johnny. I love you, and I want to keep all of you safe. 

Johnny: We are not safe here, dad, we are prisoners! Look, if you don’t make an effort to find a way out sooner I will! 

PT9: I wish you luck on your endeavor, I will keep doing my part if you don’t mind.

 Johnny stormed away from the conversation, an uneasy tension forming between him and his father. His father’s tone about keeping them safe did not sit right with Johnny, his fatherly demeanor stiffened and his face grew cold when he said they were trapped. It was like his father knew what the true evil was and kept it a secret for their sake and it had to be something threatening if he entrusted his life to his enemy.  Either way, he did not want to be a part of his father’s secrets and consulted the general store clerk for help. 

Ripp: Hey Johnny, I see you escaped my dumb brother. Can I get you anything like a soda or a magazine? 

Johnny: Freedom. I’m going to attempt an escape and I need help. 

Ripp: It’s going to be hard to stock in my store but I think I can get that for you, Johnny. 

Johnny: What really!? 

Ripp: Yeah, we just need to make a plan first and figure out how to get past those gates without being chased by Tank. 

Johnny: And once I get past Tank I will make a run straight for the nearest town, Deadtree. Ophelia said she was staying at her family’s meeting house so maybe I can hide in there until things blow over. 

Johnny: This place is dangerous, I have to get away before I become some alien experiment.

Ripp: It sounds like a plan, dude, I’ll make sure you make it to Ophelia in one piece. I promise...It’s the least I can do since my father locked your family in here.

Johnny: I owe you my life, Ripp. Thanks for helping me.

                                                 The Sublevel 

The sublevel lay beneath the laboratory of the bunker, shrouded in a dim red light upon entering its dark corridors. The only sound that emitted from this strange area was the whirring of the ventilators and clunking mechanical noises beyond the threshold of the massive vault doors. Every sound that was made echoed eerily off the walls and the hall seemed to grow narrower as it neared the entrance. No one knew what the doors protected, or what it concealed beyond vague notions of science experiments and surgical equipment. Whoever built this bunker had intentions to keep the contents of the vault in secrecy so why was General Buzz Grunt so eager to show PT9 what lay beyond it?

Buzz: Pollination Technician 9, you have helped immensely around the lab with the scientists, but I cannot trust them with this experiment. Therefore, I trust that you will do this experiment perfectly without error, understand? 

PT9: I understand, I just hope this experiment won’t take too long. I just want to be with my family. 

Buzz: Don’t worry, your family is being taken care of. After all, I am the one protecting them. 

They entered the sublevel slowly, PT9 hesitated to pass the open doors but he had no choice but to follow the general into the secret laboratory. At first, he noticed the smell of chemicals, coming from the surgical room, the odd glowing of preservation tanks, and the deafening white noise of the entire area. His heart skipped a beat when he heard the vault doors slam shut, cutting him off from the rest of the bunker. He turned to gaze at Buzz Grunt and noticed the smile on his face which beckoned him closer to the small room he was motioning to. He hobbled into the cubical room and looked around for any lab equipment. There wasn’t any! He whirled around and the door slammed shut in his face, backing him against the glass walls of the cell. Buzz only continued to smile, mocking the alien behind the glass, as he locked the doors shut with the keys in his pocket. 

PT9: Buzz what is this? You can’t do this? 

Buzz: You know what this is, alien. I’ve been watching you for years and you managed to convince the entirety of Simnation that you’re nothing but a retiree alien looking to raise a family. Heh, but I’m not stupid, Smith. Oh no, I knew that you were plotting something the minute you stepped foot into Strangetown. I know you planted the first seed of the bizarre plant, I know you and your friends are trying to turn us, humans, into zombies for your experiments!

Buzz: You should be thankful I’m keeping Jenny and your kids away from danger, away from you! 

PT9: You’re a madman Buzz! I didn’t plant any seeds or turn anyone into zombies, I’ve spent the last eighteen years of my life providing for my family and trying to fit in with you humans! I’m innocent! 

Buzz: IM MAD AND YOU’RE INNOCENT!? Tell that to Glarn Curious and every unfortunate creature that you experimented on PT9! I know your secrets, I know everything you’ve done to this place! And I’m saving Simnation by getting rid of you! 

PT9: I haven’t done anything! 

Buzz: We are done here Pollination Technician 9. I will take care of Jenny and your dumb kids. At least now they will have a bright future ahead of them. For now, I will hand you over to my colleagues…

PT9: No...not them! You said you would protect me and my family! Buzz please, I have another one on the way at least wait until I can see them!

Dude in Black 1: It’s a pleasure doing business with you, General, we will take this alien off your hands now. 

Dude in Black 2: We have already begun preparations to send PT9 to Sixam, Strangetown is safe thanks to you. 

Buzz: I am glad that I was able to keep Simnation safe from yet another threat. Thankyou for your work agents. 

PT9: Liars! All of you are liars! 

[charlieslowartsies]

Why do the bonnie models dislike eachother in your Au? And follow up question, do other animatronics have this sort of established relationship with other models of themselves?

Mentions of mental health, etc below

Bonnie models are heavily, HEAVILY influenced by actual rabbits. Rabbits are strange, fourth dimension little shits one moment and yet loyal and sweet-natured the next. They can hold grudges like a sponge holds water. I used to have a rabbit named Hiccup who would pee on my bed to ‘mix our scents’ and would revenge chew on a certain piece of furniture if I corrected him or WORSE: removed my sheets to wash them. Yet he knew that when he groomed me he could not nibble my ‘fur’ and so he would lick me, he also liked to make my bed every morning, patting it down so it was smoother, whereas most bunnies would make little tunnels and dig as is their instinct--not Hiccup, apparently, because he had watched me make my bed plenty of times. He was sassy, smart, shitty, and very loyal. You can see where the Bonnie model attitude came from in the knight guard au, which helped me grieve Hiccup’s loss when he died in 2018. Let’s move on to your question though:

Unfortunately, because the ‘first’ Bonnie model (Springbonnie/Springtrap) ended up being used as the killer’s suit, all Bonnie models thereafter (esp our purple boi) are very antagonistic because they feel let down and betrayed. Why didn’t Springtrap fight harder? Why did those kids have to die? How many lives would have been saved if Scraptrap had gone against his Suit more? Mike and Gold and the Marionette and the Crying Child argue sometimes, so what could be avoided? It’s sort of a comment on victim blaming and a discussion on why abusive relationships tend to go farther than they should and why others have a hard time understanding a dynamic. It is not healthy, Afton/Springtrap DO NOT have a healthy relationship and I do not condone their actions/Afton’s treatment of Springtrap.

It is not something Bonnie should do either, but he is hurting from their history and so he takes it out on the two he deems are the worst. He refuses to separate the two because his anger is clouding his better judgement. Bonnie is also programmed to mirror teenage behavior and relate with them, and he has also never lost his Freddy model, and one of the main themes for Last Shift (though it’s been mentioned before) is that “You can’t have a Bonnie without a Freddy!” The resulting combination of a teenagers cognitive response PLUS the reliance on a Freddy model PLUS the young girl that haunted Bonnie for years until Mike came around in Devil’s Spine means that Bonnie the bunny has made incorrect conclusions and has colored his relationship with Springtrap and other Bonnie models by association. (This is also not healthy, obv.)

In his mind, Springtrap is no better than William Afton. We have seen in a few flashbacks and sometimes from Mike’s words, that Springtrap is NOT very emotive and tends to lock down emotions to get through what he can--years of living with cruel, manipulative Afton has caused this. But the original Bonnie model is not a ‘villain’ in the sense that Afton is for you and I. Bonnie does not know what we know and until/if he learns more, he will continue to dislike Springtrap in the way that some siblings hate other siblings when they don’t protect them from past parental abuse. This hurt and past wounds are what mostly causes the problems among Bonnie models. Toy Bon was ‘programmed down cognitively’ and thus is not as mentally sound as what Bonnie is used to. To Bonnie, Toy Bon is annoying nuisance who won’t leave him alone. (Not unlike a teenager with a MUCH younger sibling.) For Mike, who knows he can’t force Bonnie to like Springtrap, and he can’t reprogram Toy Bon (Blue), he deems it better to just keep Bonnie models separate if possible. It can be hard to over come your own programming, and he also hasn’t had the chance, of course, to sit Bonnie and Springtrap down and make them work through things. Springtrap could not walk between Ghost Strings and Finding Freddy, and it is implied a few times in FF that any attempts to get the two to talk ended....poorly. Bonnie models are portrayed as jealous, or at the very least insecure which causes jealous responses. Nightmare Bonnie and Bonnie somewhat fixed this, during Ghost Strings when they both wanted to have Danny Fitzgerald’s attention but didn’t want to share.

Other model relationships:

Freddy models: Despite Freddy being the most possessive/protective over Mike, and despite his stubbornness on certain things, Freddy is mature enough to separate issues or at the very least, be civil. He has no problem with Fredbear/Golden Freddy--the old bear is, in Freddy’s mind, his only ‘boss’ and because Gold is essentially Mike, Freddy likes the ghostly fellow just fine. He has very little patience for Toy Fred, (Ted) and sees his love of video games as an immature trait when there are chores to be done first, but he doesn’t really care that much. He is not sure about Lefty, but is willing to allow the bear to be on stage if it will make Henry (and Mike) happy. He, as well as his band members, do not know about the Rockstars yet.

Chica models: Chica is liked by everyone, and this seems to make her like her sisters better. Toy Chica (Chi-chi) is very bubbly and despite her fear of the kitchens, (a fire alarm went off one time in the 80′s and scared her and Blue very bad, during Jeremy’s tenure.) she is willing to defer to her first model and serve food, so long as she doesn’t have to work in the kitchen. Nightmare Chica is the only model of the Chicas that doesn’t get along with anyone--but, c’mon. She’s a Nightmare. She likes Nightmare Bonnie and her Chompy-Cake, and that’s it.

Foxy models: Another mature and varied line that get along well. Foxy and Mangle are very close, and Foxy is very fond of his ‘first mate’ despite the fact Mike could never find coding that related the two. Foxy is Mangle’s security blanket, and she is the only Toy models aside from BB that the original four accepted into their ring/restaurant with little hesitation. (At some point, she gave Mike the scars he now carries, but she made up for her mistake by protecting Mike during Finding Freddy.) Nightmare Foxy, is has been established to be Alexander Afton, the older brother to the Crying Child/Circus Baby and younger brother to Michael Afton. He gets along well with his model copies, hence why he choose to be another Foxy even after he left the original one his father...stuffed him into. 

Sorry this got rambly! I love the FNAF series, and I want my knight guard au always be horror. But I also want it to be found family and working through trauma etc, to keep it ‘realistic’ as I’d like. (Haunted animatronics and ghostly bears aside!)

[mintleefxcx]

HPHM Character Profile: Autumn Clover

This awesome template was made by @hogwartsmystory

This is more focused on Autumn in her 5th Year

IDENTITY

Name: Autumn Clover 

Gender: Female 

Age: 15 

Birth Date: 5/30/1973

Species: Human

Blood Status: %62.5/Half-Blood  (Classified as a half blood by the ministry)

Sexuality: Bisexual 

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Ethnicity: African American 

Nationality: American

Residence : Lives a bit secluded but the closest people to her home are muggles 

Myer Briggs Personality Type: ENFP

THE MAGE

1st Wand: 

Rowan wood 

Unicorn hair core 

11’ and unbending flexibility

2nd Wand:

Ebony wood

Dragon heartstring core  

11 ¼ ‘

Animagus: Border Collie (orange and white)

Misc Magical Abilities: Legilimen

Boggart Form: Jacob being dead,insane or evil 

Riddikulus Form: N/A (I have no idea how to make that funny)

Amortentia: Nighttime , baked goods, vanilla , cinnamon

Amortentia: Potion Supplies/Classroom,A bed of flowers, (Penny Haywood )

Patronus: Border Collie 

Patronus Memory: It changes every time but it's mostly memories of Autumn and Jacob when they were younger

Mirror of Erised: Autumns family being happy 

Specialized/Favourite Spells: Protego, Depulso, Patrounus Charm

APPEARANCE

Faceclaim: Nathalie Emmanuel

Voiceclaim: Im really bad at these but I have a few ideas

Veronica Sawyer (Heathers)

Korra (Legend Of Korra )

Mary Saotome (Kakegurui)

Marceline (Adventure Time )

Game Appearance:  

Height: 5’2

Physique: Average and if you squint she has a little muscle 

Eye Colour: Dark Orange/Light Brown 

Hair Colour : Burnt Orange 

Skin Tone: Brown

Body Modifications: N/A

Scarring:

Right Shoulder (Ice Vault)

Left arm and on the front of her right hand (Vault of fear)

A bunch of other scratches (from Autumn being a reckless idiot)

Inventory:

A few pictures (The one from ‘A Christmas at Hogwarts’’, Another picture of all her friends during her 4th year, and a picture of her and Jacob when they were kids).

Cursed Vault notebook (contains everything Autumn knows/found out about the Vault’s).

Hair ties

Some kind of food

Locket necklace (If she's not wearing it )

Friendship bracelet (From Rowan and Ben )(Also if she's not wearing it ) 

ALLEGIANCES 

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor 

Ilvermorny House: Thunderbird

Affiliations/Organizations: 

Kowalski Family 

Clover Family 

Hogwarts: School of WitchCraft and Wizardry 

Gryffindor 

Gryffindor Quidditch Team 

Holyhead Harpies 

American National Quidditch Team

Professions: N/A (for now)

HOGWARTS INFORMATION

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Charms: ★★★★★★★★★★

DADA: ★★★★★★★★★★

Flying: ★★★★★★★★★★

Herbology: ★★★★★★★★★☆

History of Magic: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Potions: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Transfiguration: ★★★★★★★★★★

Electives:

Care of Magical Creatures ★★★★★★★★★★

Muggle Studies ★★★★★★★★★☆

Arithmancy ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Studies of Ancient Runes ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Quidditch: Captain as of 5th year,Chaser 

Extra Curricular: N/A

Favourite Professors:

Kettleburn 

Rakepick (Before betrayal)

Mcgonagall

Sikander (Muggle Studies) (I know we haven't even seen him in game yet but he seems like the best teacher ever)

Least Favourite Professors:

Dumbledore ( I know he’s not a professor but still )

RELATIONSHIPS

Brother: Jacob Clover

Father: Leo Clover

Mother: Stella Kowalski Clover 

Love Interest: Penny Haywood 

Best Friends:

Rowan Khanna 

Ben Copper 

Bill Weasley 

Charlie Weasley

Merula Snyde 

Rival: Merula Snyde, Ismelda Murk

Enemy: R, Death Eater, Voldemort 

Dormmates: Rowan Khanna 

Pets:

Niffler - Pepper

Owl - Apple

Cat (Siberian) - Rowboat 

Spider - Bunny 

Puffskein - Dime 

Closest Canon Friends:

Rowan Khanna 

Ben Copper 

Bill Weasley 

Charlie Weasley

Merula Snyde

Andre Egwu 

Tonks 

Barnaby Lee

Jae Kim

Skye Parkin 

Murphy Mcnully 

Orion Amari 

Talbott Winger 

BACKGROUND/HISTORY

Autumn's father Leo, was from a pureblood family in Europe. Her mother Stella had a sister named Ophelia. Stella and Ophelia were the daughters of Jacob Kowalski and Queenie Goldstein. They grew up with both wizard and muggle culture. The two were quite popular at school due to her parents reputation but they never let that get to their heads.

Stella would describe her younger self as a free spirit, she liked to travel a lot. That's how she met Leo Clover. They fell in love instantly and got married three years after they met. Leo moved to New York with Stella, but Leo’s family wasn't exactly pleased with this. The Clover’s wanted Leo to marry a pureblood, but Leo couldn’t care less about blood status.

In 1969 they had their first child Jacob Clover, named after Stella’s father. Jacob was the handful at first but once he got a little older he became calmer. Jacob was an adventurous soul and was always wandering off and he loved to learn. From a young age he had an interest in Quidditch, he loved going to the Quidditch world cup every year. 

Autumn was born to Stella Kowalski and Leo Clover on 5/30/1973. Autumn clung to her brother's side like she was glued to him. Autumn wanted to be just like Jacob in every way possible. Like everyone else in her family, she had a fascination with magical creatures. She lived a really happy life in America.

But when she was 5 years old her family moved to Europe including her aunt and cousins. They lived a bit far from others, but the closest people were muggles. They lived in a better house compared to the one In America. There was plenty of backyard space for magical creatures to live outside.

Leo Clover was a part of the ‘Order of The Phoenix’ and fought against Voldemort. Leo had the suspicion that members of his family might be Deatheathers due to their Pureblood supremacy. 

When Jacob started school in Autumn was distraught at first. She then realized that she would be able to write him letters and such. Jacob sent Autumn a letter once a week telling her stories about his first year at Hogwarts and all of the friends he had made. What he had failed to mention to her was all the trouble he was starting to get into due to the cursed vaults. He got into a bit of trouble when he came back from school for the summer. But that didn't stop him. Every year he became more and more distant and sent fewer and fewer letters. He stopped coming home for Christmas.

But the summer before Jacob's 4th year was when true tragedy struck. The family was out in Diagon Alley when two death eaters started a fight with Leo Clover. The fight ended with Leo’s death. 

Things were never the same after that. Autumn's mother was strict before but now it has been taken to another level. Jacob was diving deeper and deeper into the search for the vaults. Autumn didn't hear from him until he came back for summer break, and when he came back he didn't have time for her.

During Jacob's 5th year things took a dark turn. During the middle of the year Jacob's friend, Duncan Ashe had died. Soon after that Jacob was expelled, a week after that Jacob went missing. It was all over the Daily Prophet, all the wizards and witches of Europe had heard about Jacob Clover. Everyone had different theories. Maybe he joined the dark lord , maybe he wanted to be the Dark Lord himself, maybe he was just plain crazy. Autumn was set on finding out when she went to Hogwarts, and that's exactly what she was going to do.

PERSONALITY

Snarky: Autumn picked up this trait from her brother. It takes a bit of getting to know her to see this side of her. Autumn may seem like a sweet person and she is but she's also very witty and snarky. She has the best comebacks, most times she doesn't even notice.

Curious: Ever since Autumn could remember she’s loved to ask questions. Hogwarts was the perfect opportunity for her to learn more. She not only likes to learn about different subjects she loves to learn about people. She likes to know things about her friends. 

Loyal: Autumn's loyalty is unwavering. Once she considers you a friend she’ll always be there for you. She would make a good Hufflepuff.

Friendly: Some people might be scared of Autumn and not want to be near her. But she’s very sincere and supportive of all of her friendships. She does truly care for each one of her friends and would do anything for them. 

Hard-working: Once Autumn has a goal in mind she’ll do anything to achieve it.Sometimes to the point where she ignores her own needs.

Protective: Once you're one of Autumn’s friends she feels a need to protect you. If anyone even dares to look at you the wrong way, Autumn is going to ‘deal with it’.

MISC

Autumn loves to show her friends things from America, whether it be Muggle or Wizard stuff.

You may not be able to tell at first glance but Autumn does like to read. It just has to be a topic she's interested in.

She knows how to bake due to her grandfather’s (Jacob Kowalski) bakery.

Autumn has a bunch of different notebooks.

Cursed Vault Notebook - She writes down everything she learns about the vaults 

Diary - Formatted as letters to Jacob. Autumn planned to give them to Jacob when she found him. 

Misc. - A bunch of random stuff from quotes from her friends to tally marks on how many times she had broken her nose

Gets competitive even with small things like Gobstones 

Loves to just turn into her animagus form and run around 

[violet--crown]

The Supposed Audience Surrogate And His Confidants

I believe that Ren (/Akira/Joker/Inmate/Haremfucker249/Whatever you want to call him) is a much more interesting character than the game presents him as in the Confidants. Although he does have his moments, in the Confidants he serves to be the shoulder to cry on for all the characters and through player choice reflects back to them what they want to see. Although this is never truly elaborated on, I do think it’s very interesting, but it doesn’t change the fact that in the Confidant routes Ren is reduced to a boring audience surrogate. I do believe he can both be explored as a character in the Confidant routes while also being careful with his words to make others like him. I want to examine how the Confidants could potentially be altered to make Ren less of a brick wall and to make the relationships feel more two-sided.

The except to the rule is the Justice Confidant. When paired with Akechi, Ren truly gets to shine as a character.

(P5R Spoilers Ahead)

Justice 

Akechi’s Confidant stands out from the others. All the Confidants follow a similar pattern where the subject of the Confidant has to struggle with an internal and/or external conflict (usually both). Ann and Makoto are two good examples. Ann’s internal struggle is with finding her inner strength and drawing strength from those around her and the external conflict focuses on her job as a model and Mika’s antagonistic interference. Makoto struggles to find direction in her life when she’s no longer following anyone else’s plan and the external conflict is helping Eiko.

Akechi can’t follow this pattern. The external conflict, getting revenge on Shido is interwoven into the plot so that it can't be solved in their Confidant. And his myriad of personal issues also can’t be solved if the plot is to progress. So a problem arises: What is the focus of Akechi’s Confidant? And the solution is the relationship between him and Ren, which will later become vital to the plot in Royal and makes Yaldabaoth’s plan a lot more interesting and tragic. While Akechi is better fleshed out as a character in his Confidant, it’s not the sole focus; one primary focus is the relationship between him and Ren and it can’t exist if it’s one-sided. Ren has to be an active member in their relationship or the premise of their Confidant falls apart. We see that Ren is extremely perceptive, being able to pick up that Akechi is using his non-dominant hand when playing billiards after only meeting him once. Another important trait is his confidence and competitive streak. While him being cocky is established in the first scene of the game, his competitiveness is something established in the justice Confidant. All these traits draw the two together. As I just mentioned, Ren plays a very active role, while (as is in character for both of them) Akechi does most of the speaking, Ren is not just a brick wall listening to him walk. Ren forces the disguise on Akechi, showing he is not afraid to poke bears with sticks. He challenges Akechi, not wanting him to go easy on him in their billiards matches. And most obviously their debates on The Phantom Thieves, the thing that draws them together in the first place. Their relationship is filled with conflict which grows to be more serious as Yaldaboath’s plan comes into action, but it’s clear they care about each other. The importance of their relationship is part of what motivates Akechi to sacrifice himself and it’s what makes Ren’s ultimate wish for Akechi and him to “have a fresh start together,” according to Maruki. It’s clear their relationship has a profound effect on both characters and means a great deal to each even if there are clearly conflicting and complex feelings. This is only possible because both parties are equally involved without Akechi being the only focus. 

Akechi and Ren hold a mirror to each other and their traits are explored through their similarities. One of the most interesting aspects explored is that of a dual identity. For Akechi this is extremely overt with the detective prince persona masking the bitter orphan who paradoxically craves both revenge and love. For Ren, this is a lot more subtle. His fake glasses are a symbol of his mask. He uses them to appear less threatening and make himself blend into a crowd. While this is nowhere near as extreme as Akechi’s facade, similarly to Akechi he does don a persona (you know what I mean) to make himself appear more presentable and to shed the bad reputation that’s been unfairly attached to him. He also hides the more passionate side of himself, the side he shows off when he’s allowed to be Joker. Their relationship is very dynamic, switching from argumentative to childish to serious to fun to antagonistic to caring. This relationship between them can’t exist if Ren is not playing an active role. 

While their Confidant is easily my favourite, I don’t actually believe every Confidant should mirror theirs. The pattern exists for a reason and each Confidant does tell an interesting story. Additionally having every Confidant be like theirs could lessen the impact of Maruki’s final offer in the third semester. So if that’s the case, then what needs to change? I think Ren as a character needs to be able to shine through more often in the Confidants and at least one trait or aspect of his character should be explored. 

The Hierophant

Sojiro is great. You’ve played the game (I’m assuming) so you know this. And Sojiro is a great dad. But how many kids does he have? That’s the real question. Ren—at the start of the game, when first under Sojiro’s custody—is not his son. Sojiro is simply his legal guardian for a temporary amount of time. But this changes over the course of the game… kinda. Ren hangs awkwardly at the side of the Sakura family, not quite a part of it but not not a part of it either. Multiple times the player has the option to have Ren refer to Futaba as his sister or as family, but she also has a romantic route. This leaves their familial status in a very awkward liminal space.

It’s clear Ren sees Sojiro as more of a parent than his own biological parents, even if Sojiro can’t keep custody. At the start of the game, Sojiro recaps what happened, telling Ren and the player “the courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved.” And then rather cruelly remarks: “In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass.” While it is a harsh way to put it and Sojiro doesn’t personally know Ren’s parents I’d argue his assessment is essentially true. The typical parent would fight tooth and nail to keep their children from being taken away, yet it’s implied Ren’s parents were content with Sojiro’s temporary custody. This leaves a parent shaped gap in Ren’s life. 

In Royal’s bad ending, Ren has three wishes: 

Having Akechi back.

For his friends to stay together.

To stay with Sojiro.

For now, I’m going to focus on that third one. Sojiro asks Ren "Would you maybe like to keep staying at the cafe? And maybe, even after graduation, you could..." and then trails off, waiting for Ren’s response. The two options the player is given is "Yes, I'd love to." and "I want to stay forever." Sojiro approaches Ren about this, indicating this isn’t just Sojiro being brainwashed by Maruki so Ren’s wish comes true, it’s clearly something wanted by both of them. Royal’s bad ending indicates that the two very much see each other as family and they want to remain that way.

I propose that a way this Confidant can be improved is to have Ren admit to Sojiro in one of the later ranks that he’s been more of a father then his actual parents. What Ren’s home life was like could be elaborated on in this Confidant. Then in rank ten have Ren welcomed into the family. I’m not suggesting massive changes, just that Ren’s family life be elaborated on a little bit more. 

Please just let them be a family and cut the Futaba romance route. Please ATLUS I’m begging you just let hi—

Faith

Sumire’s Confidant is one I have many feelings and opinions on. I love Sumire as a character, but the Faith Confidant needed to be better. To me it seems as if Sumire was intended to be very close to Ren. She is one of two characters to have a show time with him and then no matter your personal feelings on the matter, it’s impossible to deny Sumire is pushed as the main love interest for Ren (just look at the marketing). Given their Confidant, this is undeserved. Don’t get me wrong I don’t think it’s any worse or better than any of the others, but if it’s going to be the main route and if her feelings are going to be canonical regardless of out route the player chooses, then their relationship regardless of whether it’s platonic or romantic has to be more two-sided. I think their relationship should be important. As I mentioned they have a show time together and a lot of the advertisement for Royal pushes them together. 

Let’s take a quick look at Haru’s Confidant, while personally, it is not my favourite as I believed Haru could have been written better, her feelings for Ren make a lot of sense. She’s been very isolated her entire life and it’s clear that Ren is the only person who has ever just listened to her without ulterior motive so it seems natural that feelings would develop even if their relationship isn’t two-sided. I don’t want to sound cruel or malicious but in this situation, as long as Ren listens and is kind, the rest of his personality doesn’t matter.

Now, let’s return to Sumire. Ignoring romantic feelings for now, why does she like Ren? Because he inspired her and she wants to show off and impress him which drives her to complete and be her true self. This works as a premise but why Ren? She could want to impress her father or her coach. So why Ren? To answer this question you have to make their relationship more two-sided. She has to get to know Ren as he gets to know her.

The first five Confidants should focus on fun and showing off. The first five Confidants are, in my opinion, very boring. Sumire wants to get out of her slump and Ren offers to help her, I propose that Ren’s idea of how to get out of her slump should be having fun together. For example, they could go to the amusement park together or Destiny Land. I think the fourth Confidant where Kasumi’s bad cooking skills are established is important as a) it sets up the later reveal that Sumire is a good cook and just how far Maruki has influenced her that she’s losing skills and b) it establishes how much work she puts into being a gymnast, that she has to carefully consider everything she eats. But the rank itself is boring. My solution is to make it an eating competition between the two of them. We know from Akechi’s Confidant that Ren is competitive and of course from The Big Bang Burger Challenge that he wouldn’t lose automatically. Additionally, it’s a fun way to set up that Sumire likes showing off and impressing people, even if it’s at something as silly as an eating competition. These changes could also establish that Ren is one of the only people Sumire feels like she can relax and have fun around. While she wants him to have high expectations of her, those expectations aren’t crushing, they’re welcomed. I’m not saying the specific changes I’ve laid out 100% should have happened, but it’s an idea of how it could make their relationship more interesting.

Now the second half of their confidence is a lot more important, and already better written than the first half. I have two ideas for how to improve it to make their relationship more dynamic. Number one is the theme of futures. Sumire is one of two characters that Ren makes any hypothetical plans with beyond a general, we’ll remain friends, even if we split. (Though this number could technically be moved to three if you want to count Ren’s incredibly depressing refusal to move past Akechi’s death and holding onto the glove thinking he’ll come back). That’s incredibly important. 

Sumire jokingly asks Ren to “join [her] on [her] tour.” The player doesn’t actually have the option to say no with a joking “give me a break” being the closest to it. (Oddly enough Sumire’s proposal only happens in the platonic route.) While this is purely hypothetical and Sumire only jokes about it, it is a possibility for the future that is more specific than a simple “no matter what we’ll remain friends.”

So I propose that the second half of the Confidant could focus on Ren’s future too. We never see what his future ambitions are and I think that Sumire’s Confidant is the perfect one to explore that in. Although there are other characters who question their futures, I believe Sumire’s fits the best as she’s driven and ambitious like Ren, and while she does question who she is because of her time as Kasumi, she’s always confident about being a gymnast which I feel clicks with Ren’s confidence.

Now I could stop here, but I also think Sumire’s Confidant could also have the potential to explore Ren’s mirroring nature. Sumire’s is one of the last Confidants the player will complete as the last five ranks are locked so this trait can be established prior to her Confidant. Additionally, she has a similar dual identity.

Due to how he’s written as a semi self insert protagonist, Ren adapts himself to each person he knows. To progress through the Confidants, as a player you have to choose and consider the right answers and this transfers onto Ren as a character. And at the beginning of the game, one of the first tasks you are given is not to stand out. I could write a ton on this but it’s going to clog this up so I want to keep it short. I think his friendship with Sumire could be an interesting way to explore this trait and how the two of them hide behind masks. Potentially Sumire could confront him about this and tell him she wants to get to know the real him like he got to know her over Kasumi. I’m going to move on now before I bring Akechi into this and start droning on and on about the Royal Trio and masks. 

At Sae’s palace, Sumire says to Ren "My weak self relied on you so much... that ends today.” “It's my turn to come to your aid, Senpai." Sumire never truly follows up on this new promise. She helps him in that battle and in following battles against Maruki, but she never helps him emotionally as he helped her. She says she doesn’t want to rely on him anymore but she only becomes more dependent. I don’t think relying on one’s friends is a bad thing, of course it’s not, but when it’s only happening one way something is wrong. And there is a big difference between Ren helping Ryuji help the track team and Ren helping Sumire through her trauma relating to Kasumi’s death and her identity. I’m not trying to villainise Sumire or anything like that, but I really wished their reliance on each other was more equal.

I’d suggest that Sumire should say to Ren she feels guilty for always relying on him without ever giving anything in turn. Then either have them talk about their identity or have her ask about his future and ambitions. Either way, have her keep her promise to help and support him as he has done for her.

To be honest, I could go on and on about alterations to Sumire’s Confidant and her Confidant in general, but I’m gonna leave it as this (for now).

All in all, it seems as if Ren’s relationship with Sumire was supposed to be extremely important, but it doesn’t stand out from any of the other Confidants as being so. So in conclusion, their showtime is cool but ATLUS you gotta work to sell me on how close they are.

Conclusion

It’s a shame Ren’s treated as an audience surrogate for most of the Confidants when he’s more interesting as a character. While I think it makes sense that he is closer to some Confidants then others, for example, his bond with Mishima isn’t nearly as close as his bond with Ann, it would have been cool if his character had been explored at least partly through each and his relationships with each Confidant.

[pain-somnia]

Title: What Once Was Rating: T Characters: Madara, Sasuke; background minor SasuSaku, implied GaaNaru, mentions of implied past HashiMadaMito Disclaimer Day’s Notes: hello! This was a fic I wrote for @a-year-of-naruto and I thought I had posted it but I guess I haven’t because I can’t find it. I wrote for the season of spring and this is a reincarnation AU that focuses on Madara and a bit of Sasuke. It’s still a goal of mine to do a Sasuke PoV companion piece. Warning: few mentions of violence and a corpse’s description

What Once Was

The light breeze blows in through the bars of the window, bringing the leftover chill from winter with it. The cold had been stubborn this season, lingering even as March was now reaching its end.

Yet it had never bothered Madara and he wonders to himself if it was a trait that carried on across lifetimes. Fire coursed through his blood long ago and now in a different time, his body keeps warm━scorching like fanned flames━a whisper of what once was.

The wind chime hanging off the roof sways with the breeze, singing a soft tinkle over the bustle of people walking the path from the suburbs to the city. Every day the residents would pass by his shop on their way to work or school. Sometimes they entered, sometimes they didn't, using it instead as a meeting point before moving on to their true destination.

“It’s freezing,” a middle school girl complains as she searches for something warm to drink. Tucking a strand of rose gold hair behind her ear, she gets to work on preparing a cup of hot cocoa at the dispenser near the front counter.

“It’s not that bad.”

The deeper voice has Madara shifting his gaze to the new patron entering the shop. The familiar, unruly spikes catches his attention. He has seen this boy before, not just around the neighborhood, but somewhere in a distant past.

With a slight inclination of his chin, the teenage boy bows to him as he passes the counter. He is always overly polite to his elders, he’s noticed. Perhaps raised by a traditional and strict family.

“You never get cold, Sasuke-kun,” the girl grumbles, capping a lid on her drink.

Sasuke. An uncommon name, too old fashioned for a child of his generation, but that too breached across to this lifetime━perhaps fate had his parents naming him so.

It was a different name than the one Madara had assigned to him in his mind, but a name he came to terms with years back when the boy first entered his shop in his gakuran uniform with a loud blond boy and a much quieter and sleepy looking red haired kid.

“Should I get one for Naruto?” Another uncommon name, also familiar.

“Don’t spoil him, Sakura. He’s running late, he doesn’t get a drink.”

“Not running late,” Sakura corrects him in a singsong, “he’s waiting for Gaara.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes and digs out his wallet for change, paying for her share. It’s a simple exchange, nothing out of the ordinary, but as the boy places the money in his hand, Madara is hit with the scent of smoke and the coppery odor of blood. Angry charcoal eyes flash across his vision.

“Thank you. Have a good day!” The girl━Sakura━waves goodbye cheerily, dragging Sasuke along.

And off they go, away from his old corner store. They will make their way around the bend of the street, past the small shops to their bus stop that will take them to the crowded and noisy city.

A city he escaped to get away from the ghosts of his past, only to run into another one.

.

.

Madara doesn’t see him again the following week.

He sees the sunny boy—Naruto, he reminds himself—with their red haired friend. They’re in casual clothes now that they’re on holiday. The two of them are often together as they enjoy their Spring Break.

During the school year it wasn’t a strange sight, seeing them alone. Sasuke would be traveling home either alone—carrying a sports bag and a kendo shinai—or with the girl with the rose gold hair, carrying books that could have been his but usually were not.

It’s not until near the end of March that he sees him again. It’s as Madara steps outside his shop, acrid cigarette smoke mixing with floral notes and disappearing into the white sky of the cloudy day, that he spots him in neat casual attire walking hand in hand with the same rose haired girl dressed in a pretty sundress and cardigan.

Ah. A new development, he thinks, watching them hold hands for the first time on their way home.

If he squints his eyes and forgets his name, Madara can almost picture him as a different boy, a boy raised in war. It’s easy to fall into the trap of replacing this Sasuke with his brother. Easy to imagine it’s Izuna enjoying the brisk Spring afternoon.

He subtracts Sasuke and adds Izuna into every scenario. It’s Izuna goofing off with friends. It’s Izuna falling slowly but surely in love. It’s Izuna that practices kendo and goes to cram school.

It’s Izuna living a life so carefree, free of the burdens of war. Izuna being allowed to be a child the way that Madara now knows how to be, even with his past life bridging to his current in the form of dreams and memories.

Of all his kin, why this boy? This boy━that shouldn’t even exist as long as he’s breathing━gets a new chance at a different life.

He can’t help that he’s glaring when the boy looks up and they catch each other’s eyes. The boy glares right back and, holding on tightly to his girlfriend’s hand, he picks up his pace, getting as far away as possible from his shop.

I don’t care about your hāfu girlfriend.

He remembers the Uchiha, almost as homogeneous as the society he lives in. Maybe his past self would have found it traitorous but his current self can’t summon an ounce of care to discriminate against a child born of a Chinese parent.

The memories and emotions simmer under the surface but some still feel as though they belong to someone else. And then there are some that settle as absolute truths.

.

.

Sometimes the way the smoke of his cigarette burns in his chest and up his throat feels like a katon ready to unleash. It’s as he’s sweeping the carpet of pink petals blocking his shop that Madara wishes he could still summon flames to speed up the task of clearing the sakura blossoms that cover the roof tops, the streets, and every nook and cranny they settle in after the wind scatters them.

Grunting to himself, he piles the petals in a heap before moving on to his neighbor’s little shop. She sells ceramic wares, pottery spun by her wrinkled hands, and yet cats make the shop their home. The obaasan that owns it leaves food and water out and the cats never knock over any of the clay pots or bowls. They simply laze about, only rising from their spot when a guest arrives, eager to fetch the granny like dutiful little employees.

His neighbor has watched over him ever since he took over the corner store four years ago. The old woman never asked him why a city boy would move out but still remain as close as possible, settling in between the loud city and the sleepy suburb of which families had made their home. She doesn’t care to know his story, only brings him something to eat and has him fix her up a cup of tea.

Madara knows that if she asked he would never tell her about meetings at an izakaya after work. Would never talk about the woman with porcelain skin and auburn hair or the man with chocolate brown eyes and a mouth with the ever present upturn at the corners. Would never talk about the rings on both of their left hands and how even in this life they left him behind.

His hair had been shorter then. Thick and spiked but cropped close to his head━perfect for an office worker. Crunching numbers during the day and dreaming of the screams of his enemies at night. Madara ignored the memories of his past in favor of clinging to what his life could be.

The dreams were just dreams, he told himself. They meant nothing, even in the mornings when he could still smell sulfur and feel the weight of long hair against his shoulder blades despite the absence of it when he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

But that was four years ago and gone are the days of sitting behind monitors and filing paper. It took four years and now his hair, although tied loosely, settles against his back, creeping down to his waist.

The second week of April brings gentle rains. The drops drum against the shingles on the roof above his flat. The temperature had been rising and the mellow showers are just a precursor to the ones that will fall in a couple of months.

Taking the kettle off the stove in his kitchenette, Madara is glad he got back from the bathhouse before the rain came down. He settles on the tatami, just under the window, and listens to the pitter patter melting into the babbling of a brook.

He can feel the warmth of a sunny day on his cheeks and the roaring of laughter against his ears. Madara opens his eyes and he’s in the middle of the woods, hakama pants getting heavy from retaining water. In a voice not quite his own he shouts insults at the young man with the unfortunate haircut that had pushed him in.

Madara grabs Hashirama’s ankles and drags him down in the water with him. Laughing through his nose, he prepares himself for a retaliation that never comes. Dropping his stance Madara glances around in confusion, not understanding where his friend could have gone.

“Niisan…” a voice croaks below him.

At his feet, floats the eyeless corpse of his younger brother.

Madara doesn’t scream as he wakes up. The dream is old and although his heart is palpitating at an alarming rate, it no longer brings him the same terror it had when the memories were still fresh.

Grabbing his phone to check the time, Madara doesn’t register the hour as he’s distracted by the notifications on his screen.

His dreams had summoned the caller and looking at the number of missed calls Madara swipes his thumb on his screen to clear his notifications.

Of course that fool would call seven times.

.

.

Owning a corner store gets to be tedious. Tracking inventory and restocking use the most basic of his accounting skills. Manning the counter is a lazy task and Madara finds himself constantly leaving his shop to watch people as they pass by to keep from dozing off.

He keeps his mouth busy with cigarettes he purchases from the vending machine right outside his shop. Chain-smoking wasn’t a habit he expected to pick up but had anyway when the company he worked for merged with another.

It was the merger that changed everything.

“You can call me Hashi,” his new coworker introduced himself. The new staff had entered in the Spring, only a few months after the merger was announced, and it was the first time Madara had spoken directly to any of them.

The exchange was sparked by a request for a lighter and from then on the man had initiated a one sided friendship that quickly became mutual.

Conversations in the designated smoking room soon moved on to shared lunch breaks and drinks after work. There had been moments━Madara is sure there had been moments━and despite the awkwardness of dealing with memories in which in a past life the two of them stood on opposing sides in battle, it was the most alive Madara had felt in the longest time.

And then came the arrival of Hashi’s “Mi-chan.”

She had also called the night before. Mito had messaged him on LINE but unlike Hashirama, she hadn’t called repeatedly. She wasn’t one to do any chasing. But the message was a blunt lecture about absences and leaving people hanging.

Madara watches the sky break out in hues of pink and orange, melting into purple and navy. It’s time for the students that do not have after school activities to arrive on the bus.

And sure enough there’s a blond knucklehead gesticulating to a red haired kid holding a small potted cactus rounding the corner. They’re no longer wearing gakuran but blazers and tartan slacks, the uniform of the local public high school.

Well it is Spring, Madara thinks to himself as he takes a long drag of his cigarette. The brats couldn’t stay middle schoolers forever.

But there is one missing in the usual trio of boys. Standing taller than the other two, and usually bickering with the blond kid, Sasuke wasn’t with them.

It had been a few weeks since the new school year had started and Sasuke never seemed like the kind of person to stop going to school when it was no longer compulsory.

.

.

The granny’s cats usually are quiet as they lurk about the alley between his shop and hers. Madara will come across them when he’s making sure that the combustible trash has been sorted properly.

The brat standing in his alley is definitely not a cat.

Charcoal colored eyes glared back at him defiantly as if Madara’s fist isn’t balled up in his blazer. The neat black blazer with red trimming has the crest of a school Madara knows very well. It belongs to a school that he had sat an exam for and failed. It was a high school he had aspired to go to as a teenager for its exclusiveness. It was a rigorously structured school that boasted the best performance academically and only accepted those that were able to pass the intensely difficult entrance exam.

For a moment Madara is proud. If anyone were to get into such a school it would be his kin. Sasuke is an Uchiha through and through. A different lifetime didn’t change that fact.

That pride crumbles with the glittering of silver on Sasuke’s ears and the exhale of smoke coming out of his mouth. His descendant reborn is a delinquent.

“You’re fifteen,” Madara hisses, pushing Sasuke back against the wall of his shop.

“You don’t know how old I am.”

“Boy,” Madara grips his collar lapel and yanks Sasuke up so they’re nose to nose, “don’t try acting smart when you’re clearly wearing a high school uniform.”

Sasuke looks older than a first year, face more mature than children his age but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a child.

“Where did you get a Taspo from?”

Sasuke shrugs which has Madara shaking him. He obviously stole the smart card for the vending machine, possibly from a relative. Or maybe he was sent by his father to pick up a carton and took the opportunity to buy one for himself.

“Come on brat, we’re going to talk to your parents.”

Sasuke pulls back, making himself heavy and refusing to budge. Madara has half a mind to tug on one of his earrings and force him to move.

“Hand it over.”

“Hand what over?” Sasuke cocks an eyebrow and feigns innocence poorly. If the odor didn’t give him away, the look of complete indifference did.

“The box of cigarettes! Don’t act stupid with me now, brat.”

Sasuke makes no move to do as he is demanded. He looks directly into Madara’s eyes unwavering and it is here that it’s even more clear to him that this boy could never be his younger brother. Their noses are different. Izuna’s cheekbones were higher and sharper. This boy’s lower lash line is slightly longer than the upper.

How did he ever mistake him for Izuna?

“There’s a woman with your face,” Madara speaks up after a beat. “I’ve seen you with her before. She goes to the city, but when she passes my shop she always stops for a chat with the granny next door.”

Sasuke narrows his eyes at the threat hidden in Madara’s words. Four years of watching all of the people. Four Springs passing by him, of course he knows at least that much about the boy from his past.

Reaching into his back pocket, Sasuke takes out a box and tosses it to the ground. He never made anything easy━not in their old life and not now. He shoves him away with a force that has Madara fumbling backwards and having to catch himself before he knocks over the bins. Without another glance Sasuke leaves the alley and if not for the carton of cigarettes on the ground it would have been as if he had never been there to begin with.

Not one to leave perfectly good cigarettes go to waste, Madara picks up the box from the ground and opens it up. The carton is half full and he pulls one out and lights it up.

Huh. Menthols.

.

.

That night isn’t the last of his run ins with Sasuke. Madara uses the evenings to stand outside and enjoy the chill of the night as the temperature drops with the sun.

He aligns his outings with the time the stragglers would be coming home from work or after school clubs. He sparks up a cigarette and watches as the teenager scowls at him before turning down the road in the opposite direction of what he knows is the path he usually takes to get home.

Some nights, Sasuke drops into the store and picks up a Pocari Sweat and mints. He has his gym bag and shinai on those nights. Some nights he’s home earlier than expected and he loiters the corner store, usually playing with a visiting cat before he makes a purchase of another sports drink and tin of mints.

“Are they helping to curb the craving?” Madara asks him one night as he rings him up.

“Gotta do something considering you’re a persistent jiji, always guarding the machine.”

“Jiji!?” Madara’s right eye twitches at the rude name he’s called. “How old do you think I am exactly, boy?”

“Forty-seven?”

“I’m thirty-six,” Madara hisses. Being called ossan would have been better. Still rude, but better than jiji.

Sasuke doesn’t apologize for his answer. He simply counts his change before handing it over. Madara eyes him before slipping the change in the till.

“Women tend to prefer non-smokers anyway,” he advises. The ghost of Mito’s voice flits around his ears, nagging him and Hashirama for their habits.

Sasuke gives him an unimpressed look. The aura of superiority around the kid grates on his nerves. He was a boy of merely fifteen and yet he had such an abrasive attitude with his elders.

What happened to the boy from a few weeks ago that would bow his head when entering his store? What changed?

“I only do things because I want to. Not for other people.”

And why would you want to smoke or pierce your ears? What’s the benefit?

Madara doesn’t voice his questions. He just does what he always does and watches him leave, his eyes following him down the street and turning in the wrong direction from the bars of his window.

.

.

The following night is one of the nights where Sasuke comes home early. Instead of picking up a sports drink like he always does he helps Madara unpack boxes of goods and shelves them in their appropriate places. Madara observes as he unflinchingly lines up sanitary napkins and tampons on the shelf and then moves on to small packages of toilet paper.

The Naruto kid had been in the store earlier and kicked out two minutes after entering for making a racket when he only saw the boxes.

“Your friend was here today.”

“What friend?” Sasuke continues stacking and if Madara wasn’t looking at him he would have believed he had imagined that Sasuke spoke at all.

“He’s loud. And obnoxious.”

Sasuke ignores him and moves over to the aisle on the other side of the shelves. He continues stacking with an unnerving focus. Madara is tempted to chuck something at him to see if he would even react to it. The kid stares into space often enough to worry Madara about his state of mind. Schools like the one Sasuke attended focused heavily on exams and it usually took a toll on the students. It was still early in the year but the shift from public school to private may have been difficult on the boy.

Especially considering that he keeps skipping cram school.

It is a few nights later that he receives an old visitor. The rose gold hair is familiar but it’s the look in her eyes that has Madara remembering a different set of determined green eyes that faced him down as he stood among the rubble and overturned earth of a battlefield.

He had stabbed this girl before.

She slides a pack of lead for her pencils across his counter and a tin of mints. The brand is the exact same one Sasuke picks up and it’s then that Madara notices she is wearing the same blazer that Sasuke wears as part of his uniform.

“Ojisan? Have you seen a boy about this tall,” the girl waves her hand several centimeters above her head, “with spiky black hair and bangs that fall across the left side of his face? I usually come in with him in the morning.”

Madara shakes his head and tells her the total of her purchase. With a sigh of defeat she thanks him and pays for her items.

He has in fact seen Sasuke. It was about an hour earlier than she had arrived from the city, most likely coming home from cram school. He usually sees her walking home alone in the evenings.

Sometimes, Naruto and their red haired friend pick her up from the bus stop and escort her while Naruto cheerfully tells her about something going on at his school. As the trio walks there’s a mindful gap, as if they are subconsciously aware of their missing friend as they head in the direction of their homes.

“Where do you go when you come home from school?” Madara asks him on a rainy afternoon. Sasuke looks around the store and back at Madara as if the answer was obvious. “Besides here, brat.”

Sasuke doesn’t respond, not that Madara actually expected him to. Talking, it seems, is another one of those things Sasuke doesn’t do unless he wants to.

He moves around the shelves slowly, taking things down that were put back in the wrong place by customers and putting them in the correct shelf. Madara told Sasuke that he wouldn’t pay him for the work, that he wasn’t hiring any part timers, but the boy continued to come back and assist him in the shop.

“My school doesn’t allow its students to have jobs,” he explained. Madara finds it curious that Sasuke obeys that rule even though he clearly doesn’t care about the restrictions on body modifications. Even the hair that falls in his face that he constantly flattens and brushes to the side is too long according to his school’s rules.

Madara watches as Sasuke continues to grab things with his right hand, never reaching with his left despite it being free and closer to items. There is a slight stutter in Sasuke’s movements when he bumps the shelves with the left side of his body as he attempts to go around a corner. He looks down at his left arm in confusion before shaking his head.

Sasuke flexes the fingers on his left hand and unnecessarily drums them along the shelves as he turns. Madara hears him muttering to himself, “It’s still here…” and wonders if he should be concerned by the strange behavior.

His reincarnated descendant is a strange one and getting stranger by the day.

“You’re avoiding something,” Madara calls after him as Sasuke moves behind shelves of snacks and out of his line of sight. “Or someone.”

“You’re one to talk about avoiding something,” Sasuke’s voice carries as he walks throughout the store. “When are you going to finally answer that phone? It only rings like five times within an hour.”

As if on cue, Madara’s cell phone rings, rattling against the old register it sits on top of. He doesn’t even need to look to know who is calling. It is around the time Madara used to call it a day and shut off his computer.

“Going to answer that any time soon, old man?”

“Out.” Madara seethes, tired of his attitude. No one talks to him in that tone, especially not fifteen year olds. “Out of my store.”

“More like your bubble,” Sasuke retorts, finally coming around from the back row of shelves. “You never leave this place. You even live right above it.”

Sasuke snatches his messenger bag from off the floor and Madara is tempted to reach over the counter and snatch him by his sweater vest. For a moment he forgets that in this lifetime he is simply a middle aged former salaryman and not the fighter he once was in a distant life.

Sasuke narrows his eyes at him and Madara expects them to bleed into the scarlet coloring he has witnessed in his dreams and almost moves himself to brace for an attack. Instead, he stops in his tracks and examines the young face of this teenage boy. The skin underneath his eyes is dark and puffy, a clear sign that Sasuke hasn’t been sleeping properly.

“Go home,” Madara mutters. He’s not what he used to be. Fighting doesn’t bring him the same joy it brought his past self.

Sasuke pulls back and brings himself to his full height. He tightens his grip on his messenger bag strap and just when Madara thinks he’s about to do as he’s told for once, Sasuke decides to have the last word.

“I would tell you to do the same but, clearly, you’ve decided that you’re already there.”

Madara throws a roll of receipt paper that Sasuke deftly avoids, side stepping and rushing to the door.

“I won’t be like you, I refuse!” He shouts behind him as he makes his exit, confusing Madara with his words.

Was there ever a chance you would be?

.

.

Madara expects him to come back after a few nights but by the end of Golden Week, Sasuke still hasn’t shown his face. Madara almost gives up on looking for him when he spots him by the corner where the bus should stop.

Sasuke doesn’t move even as it starts to shower. He opens his umbrella and continues to wait.

Madara grows tired of watching him and puts out his cigarette and heads back inside his shop. He’s sitting behind his counter and flipping open a book when he hears a familiar shout of joy before there’s a much more familiar angry retort. It’s quiet again with only the drops of rain harmonizing with the soft jingle of the wind chime.

The sound of students chatting as they walk by his shop isn’t a new occurrence so he continues reading his historical fiction, only pausing when he hears a slight knocking against the wooden bars of his window.

“Are you trying to prank the corner store jiji?” A bright voice trills. At that Madara is standing up, ready to throw anything, even his flip flop, at the brat attempting to vandalize his shop.

Madara is poised and ready when he spots the spiky dark head of Sasuke, walking underneath an umbrella with the green eyed girl, Sakura. Naruto ditches the shelter of the umbrella he shares with the red haired boy and jumps on Sasuke’s back, hounding him for answers.

“What was that about? Come on, tell me!”

“Knock it off, idiot!” Sasuke shoves him off and Naruto stumbles backward, falling into a puddle.

The two of them bicker back and forth with occasional interjections from Sakura. Despite the ongoing argument, the tension in Sasuke’s shoulders is gone and there’s a softness to his demeanor that had been missing weeks ago.

Madara watches as they round the corner and head down the street in the direction of home. Sasuke elbows Naruto the whole way as the latter continues to try and squeeze under the same umbrella as the couple and cling to the both of them.

Madara takes a deep inhale and holds it for a count of four seconds before exhaling. He’ll see what Sasuke did to his window and find him later. There was only one path to get to the bus stop and Madara can stand watch forever for the brat.

Inspecting his window, Madara finds a white handle sticking out from between the bars. Pulling on it reveals the flat, red side of an uchiwa. It was an unusual design for a fan but the message Sasuke is trying to convey is clear.

Huh. So that’s how it is. Madara shakes his head and exhales a laugh through his nose. Well, I’m not going to be shown up by a kid.

Sitting at his counter, Madara drums his fingers against the table top and eyes his cell phone. He wills it to ring but it just lays there on top of his register. He runs his hands down his face, smoothing his palms against the stubble on his jawline.

“Alright,” he mutters, swiping his phone from its designated spot. He searches his call log for a number he still knew by memory, stalling the call by as many seconds as possible. It seems like minutes have gone by before the dial tone stops and the call is picked up.

“Hello? Ma-kun?” Madara takes in a sharp intake of air at the sound of her voice, so clear even through the phone’s speaker. “This better not be a butt dial, Madara.”

Letting out a breathy chuckle, Madara greets her and in one breath Mito releases a few years worth of complaints, sprinkling in a few questions in between.

“I can tell you about the shop later,” Madara cuts in when he is given the opportunity. “You can tell Hashi that I’ll be at the old pub.”

[rabbitsparklez]

“I love you, more than you will ever know”

Alright, I’ve said this before as a reply to something I reblogged a little big ago, but I’m putting in a separate post and adding to it. (I’m not counting this as plagiarism because it’s my own post lol)

Apparently to some people, in Tangled: the Series it almost kind of seems that Rapunzel doesn’t show as much love towards Eugene as she did in the movie, but that doesn’t mean she loves him less than she did in the movie. They’re just used to each other and more casual with each other. Okay, she isn’t as much of a dramatic romantic as she was, but the movie is where we got the most dramatic parts of their relationship so far: The realization that they loved one another, and the trauma of Eugene’s death. It was in those scenes where Rapunzel shows her strongest affection towards him. Now, it’s not like she’s going to spend every second of every day focusing on him, (heck it isn’t even healthy to be that obsessed with someone). If you are referring to the fact that she sometimes pays more attention to other characters like her parents or Cassandra, I understand why you wouldn’t like that, but still, I strongly believe that she loves him more than she loves anyone and I’ll explain why.

After seeing the movie, where Rapunzel and Eugene are the two protagonists and almost have equal importance to the plot, you would expect that they would do everything together, fight side-to-side always, and be extremely close in every episode, but that isn’t exactly the case. Rapunzel is the main character in the series and Eugene isn’t given as much credit as he is in the movie. Does that bother me? Yes, sometimes it kind of does. I would LOVE it if the show gave Eugene a lot more importance considering his critical role in the movie, but in terms of romance, Disney Channel has its limits. I still would like to see more interaction with Eugene as a character, but that doesn’t mean that Rapunzel loves him less than she did. Some fans are upset that Rapunzel and Eugene don’t seem to have as strong of a connection as they did, but I know that that’s not the case. Again, the writers can’t make it too romantic because of their limits, but that does absolutely not mean that their bond is weakening. Rapunzel, who has a lot of other things to worry about in her life, doesn’t quite show him as much importance as he shows her. I sometimes do really miss the extreme love and passion she showed him in the movie, but I know that with all of the surroundings in her life - Parents, leadership, betrayal, responsibilities, trauma, etc - that she has to balance herself among all of those things. Rapunzel has a lot more to think about in her life than Eugene does in his. Rapunzel is pretty much the core of Eugene’s life, but he is more like one of the many different important things in her life (I emphasize the important though). 

But by a lot of things, I believe that she loves him more than she loves anyone. She knows that he is basically the foundation to her independence and freedom, and that she wouldn’t have anything if it wasn’t for him. A few people seem to think that Rapunzel is pushing Eugene aside to please Cassandra, but  even so, there is no way on earth that she is doing that because Cass means more to her, because in terms of honesty, Eugene means a lot more to Rapunzel than any of her other friends. He is pretty much shown as her favorite person, even though he isn’t always the center of attention. He is the first one who she runs to when she needs a hug, the first one whom she decides needs a birthday party, and the first one who she talks to about when she thinks there’s something wrong (such as when she thinks Shorty is suspicious in “Mirror Mirror”) . She relies on him to sit in her windowsill with her to talk about things with and bring her cupcakes, because she understands that he will do anything in her favor. She knows that he will be patient with her and do all in her favor to make her life as manageable as possible, because he promised her that he would be patient with her in TBEA. Not only that, but she knows that he has faith in her. He openly expressed that he had faith in her in “Lost and Found”, and afterwards throughout the show, he very clearly does. Rapunzel had spent her entire life as a dependent person, who never had a chance to show herself as strong, and someone who believes in her to an enormous extent showed up and brought out the best of her.

Also, if she ever “set him aside”, especially for reasons related to people like Cassandra, I am pretty sure that it was because she knows that Eugene already accepts her for who she is. The fact that Rapunzel often gave into what Cassandra said does absolutely not mean that she is more important to her than Eugene is; quite the opposite, actually. If you grew up with little siblings like I did, you may have noticed that your mom was a lot less strict and directed a lot of things towards the little kids. She didn’t do that because the little kids were more important to her, but because they weren’t mature enough to understand that the world didn’t revolve around them. The older kids didn’t get everything they wanted because they were mature enough to accept what mom said. Alright, that is a little bit of a weird comparison, but it makes sense. Eugene is like the “older kid”, who knows and understands that not everything in Rapunzel’s life is about him. Cassandra, on the other hand, is like the “little kid”, who needs to learn that Rapunzel can’t make everything about her, just because she’s her friend. Eugene, being the most patient person in Rapunzel’s life, never ever pulled her leg to get her pay more attention to him, and Rapunzel realizes this. She knew that if she listened to Eugene, she would have made Cassandra angry and there would be a bunch of drama, but she trusted Eugene to be patient enough for her to deal with Cassandra. Now we’re seeing that Rapunzel isn’t putting up with anyone telling her what to and what not to do, and that is one of the causes of Cassandra’s friendship to slide downhill, which basically shows that Cassandra can’t accept Rapunzel’s independence. Eugene is the opposite. Eugene and Cassandra were Rapunzel’s two close friends in Season 1, but I have noticed that they show the opposite effects towards Rapunzel. While Cassandra constantly brought up Rapunzel’s defects, like her bad decisions and her naivete, Eugene always brought up her good traits, and sees her as an independent, responsible woman. Cassandra ultimately was the one who turned against Rapunzel, while Eugene is the one who will continue to stand by her forever. To summarize this, the fact that Rapunzel did not center all of her attention to Eugene is the result of her trusting in his patience. I am not at all saying that giving someone attention is bad, but in the cases I’m referring to, where the princess is everyone’s center of attention, Eugene is showing respect by giving her the space she needs, and doesn’t want her to have another thing to worry about - that’s the last thing Rapunzel needs. Rapunzel shows by her understanding of Eugene’s good qualities of patience and respect that she loves him a lot. (Again, this is not hating on Cass as an individual character)

Even though they’re not engaged yet, I’m positive that Rapunzel and Eugene both know inside of their minds that they will get married some day, but just don’t admit it. They have so much devotion, trust, respect, and love for each other that there’s no way that they will not be there for each other in the future. In TBEA, Eugene, as I said, promised that he will be patient with every step Rapunzel takes. In BTCW, and on multiple other instances, Rapunzel emphasized that Eugene positively will be in her future no matter what. They often discuss things that highly express “later in our lives together”, such as wedding ceremony decorations in BTCW, and having kids in “You’re Kidding Me”. At the end of “There’s Something About Hookfoot” Rapunzel pretty much labeled Eugene as “that special person”. Both of them know that they will never, ever decide that they don’t work out; they know that they are constant partners and will always be.

That was a long essay, but I’m just here to say that Rapunzel basically shows in multiple ways that she loves Eugene more than anyone, even if you can’t see it right away.

[jadedstephens]

𝖏𝖆𝖉𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖕𝖍𝖊𝖓𝖘

      “doubling down in the face of imminent death? ballsy.”

aesthetic  —  sunflowers in mirrored vases. staying up late and sleeping in. off-key singing in the shower. the warmth of the sun on your skin. leather & lace. organized chaos. messy hair, don’t care days. standing outside during a thunderstorm. half finished bottles of whiskey. smudged eyeliner from the night before. oversized sweaters & ripped leggings. guilt warring with need. wanting to be better than you were before.

compare to : sybil crawley (downton abbey), ambrose spellman (chilling adventures of sabrina), alice cullen (twilight), ellie sattler (jurassic park), margaery tyrell (game of thrones)

— basics

full name : jade rose stephens nicknames : jade age : 18 (physical) // 29 (actual) gender identity : cis female, she/her pronouns sexual orientation : pansexual, but also ladies tho species : vampire occupation : research assistant in vampiric studies & first aid assistant family : amy stephens (mother), jason stephens (father), adam stephens (older brother), violet stephens (older sister) positive traits : hard-working, observant, charismatic, compassionate negative traits : regretful, stubborn, rebellious, lonely

— background (trigger warning: mentions of death & a car accident)

jade had a fairly typical upbringing, almost picturesque. she had two loving parents, an older brother and sister, and even a golden retriever to complete the picture of a perfect family. and for the most part, they were pretty damn perfect. they were sunday morning pancakes with her father reading the comics from the newspaper to the kids while her mother hummed whatever song came on the radio. they were family trips every month and game nights every friday night. her parents made it to every baseball game and recital and school spelling bee. there were the typical sibling arguments over dumb things, but jade remembers those times fondly, especially since she knows she won’t get those back again.

she was always the honor roll kid, the one who had top grades and obeyed every rule her parents gave her. her brother & sister were both in college by the time jade got to high school, and while it was somewhat difficult living up to their glowing reputations, she managed to have a pretty good time in high school.

her high school had a emt training program and she joined that as soon as she was able at 16. she’d always known she wanted to do something in the medical field, and her plan was to become an emt after graduating high school and continue her college education to eventually become a doctor. things didn’t happen the way they were meant to obviously.

when she was barely 18, she went to a party. it was one of the few she went to, but this one turned out much different than ones she’d been to before. she remembers getting in the car with her friends to head home. she remembers her friend screaming. she remembers a stranger offering her his blood. and she woke up in the morgue the next morning with sunlight burning her skin and nearly scaring the morgue attendant to death (though he didn’t survive very long either with her hunger growing). all she had on her was a phone number in her pocket that directed her towards the salvatore boarding school. 

she spent a year there before the incident happened. jade had been doing fairly well, though she was more than a bit bitter about how her life had turned out. all her parents knew was that there’d been some sort of accident, but that jade had been given a scholarship that would take her far away from them. she hated what turn her life had taken and wanted to live a little more than she had before. in her mind, she’d always been just the good girl who would  make her parents proud, and look where that had gotten her? dead. 

it’s almost ironic that the two worst nights of her life was when she was branching out and going to parties. the first got her killed and the second ended with her killing the girl she was interested in and shutting off her humanity for ten years. the prison world was hell for her, and leaving it behind was nothing short of a miracle. she’s determined to be better than she was in the past, to try to move past her guilt over what she’s done.

in the missing year, jade was working on studying vampiric lore, but specifically focused on rippers and what makes them different. she wants to find something that explains the why and how behind it when it seems so random. she also helped in first aid when needed because sometimes using magic isn’t the answer, ya know. not that she remembers working on any of that now.

she’s more than a little pissed to have lost more of her life. in her mind, she lost ten years in the prison world, stagnant at age 18, but now she’s lost yet another year of her life that could have been spend on growth and bettering herself. she isn’t sure she knows how to move past that bitterness that clouds her compassion.

— personality

jade isn’t honestly entirely sure who she is now. she spent a decade of her life with her humanity shut off, being cruel and sadistic towards her friends and an enemy. with her humanity back on, she’s bitter of what she lost and the now eleven years that were stolen from her, but she’s grateful for another chance to be better than she was before. she’s hard-working and will always put in 200% effort in what she does; she enjoys working towards her own goals and the satisfaction that comes from finally achieving them. she’s kind and loyal towards her friends, but isn’t above using charm to get what she wants. she was rebellious after becoming a vampire, and that much hasn’t changed. she was fairly stifled in her human life (though she was never mad about it), but she released some of her more negative traits after becoming a vampire. her guilt over her actions has definitely stamped down some of her impulsiveness, but she’s still sort of wavering between wanting to just have fun and make up for lost time and wanting to make up for her actions over that time.

— connections

listen i’m horrible at thinking of wanted connections, but i’m down for almost anything. would love maybe some friends she’s made, vampires she’s bonded with over how much it sucks, maybe another ripper to commiserate with, some connections she made over the lost year and is now like wtf.

the one thing i would like to mention is that, like mentioned on the main regarding jade/josie, i’m not super comfortable with jade being interested in someone so much younger than her. while she did lose a huge portion of her life and is physically 18, i don’t see her ever being romantically/sexually interested in anyone significantly younger than her or someone she knew when they were a child. that’s just not it for me, ya know.