#young mal being a 'nice young man'

[illidan-stormrage-headcanons]

when they were younger malfurion was the “good twin” and illidan hated it because no one would believe how annoying his brother was

[squiddy-god]

Twisted wonderland and our world is supposed to be very different right ? What if like- the society was actually really accepting of lgbt stuff around there . And the reader/yuu being from a region where such matters were considered very much taboo . So he's scared about like- you know being into his own gender and the twst boys are like- "fym"

Genuinely I feel like this is so good. Because like I love to think that MC/yuu is like,,, really scared to be out,,, a lot of this is gonna be about trans masc/trans readers because that's what I am,,, but there's alot of thoughts so

I'll talk more about male reader but like I'd be fucking terrified as a queer trans man to be out to an entire school, much less an entire school with a reputation for having the worst most villainous personalities. And while I live in America, not perfect or even great, its better than a lot of people's situations. But unfortunately I live in a heavy red state so <3

But still, like the bullying and harassment of high school life while being not only openly queer but also trans masc was like,,, the worst,,, so suddenly being transported into this magical world, where I have no idea what the politics of it are like would be awful,

But the thought that a world so full of magic and whimsy, is just accepting of queerness is so cathartic to me. And I'm Shure there are still parts that suck and are homophobic/transphobic but to think that twst is a world where that stuff is rare and shamed is beautiful to me

Now as a trans person, my thoughts

Sebek "WHAT ARE YOUR PRONOUNS SO I CAN YELL AT YOU CORRECTLY" zigvolt

Malleus, one of the most respectful, calls you child of man until you tell him your pronouns and then boom it's like he had the list of endearments ready to be selected

Ace who totally tries to punch you in the nuts and is horrified at the power you weild

Vil who is the embodiment of "all those years in the closet, and you still dress like that???"

Vil who respects your personal style, who helps you find clothes that make you feel less Dysphoric

Like yuu/you/MC being so terrified when they decided to come out to the first year gang, and being fully prepared for the rejection and ridicule. Only to be met with confusion on why you think they would react with anything other than love and acceptance?

I like to think that Sam's shop is like THE place to be during pride Month, and that he sells like,,, magical T (and E) ykyk

Magic spells for like "tiddies be gone" fire ball style bottom surgery type shit

And besides just being trans, being gay is probably surprisingly easy

Malleus and Leona where you are soooooo worried that this is gonna be some forbidden love thing, that the backlash for being gay would mean you can't be with them

Meanwhile Leona's brother and sister in law are welcoming you with open arms as Leona's partner, Cheka is happy he's going to have a new uncle

Lilia is happy such a nice young man loves his weird lizard son. And grandma mal is overjoyed that her grandson is so in love with you! The future king and prince consort will be such a happy union for the Briar valley.

Meanwhile you are just so worried 😔

Same with vil and neige, you are terrified for the backlash of being openly queer but people send in fan art for pride and just in general because y'all cute

Love all of this. I've been very Dysphoric lately so maybe 👉👈maybe trans masc reader hcs... Hehehe

[formulapookie]

💛💛

Under the cut to read on tumblr, here to read on Ao3 chapter 1; chapter 2; chapter 3

Les fleurs du mal ch4 rosquez, 1.8k words

Vale has been thinking of everything but Marc lately, or at least, he’s been trying to.

He wakes up every day with a different person in bed, this break is getting him the refill of energy he needs, or well, the refill of alcohol and whatever substance he keeps putting in it he needs.

He had thought about calling up Marc.

Just to fuck, or to have him suck him off, like it happened in Sepang.

But the chill that runs up his back at the thought of Marc being hurt, those damn petals in the bin, Marc yelling at him not to touch him makes it impossible.

He turns around, he doesn’t even remember who he got in bed with last night, too high or drunk or both to care.

There’s a cute guy beside him, he looks young, he probably is not older than 25, brown curly hair, slightly tanned skin.

Ok so this one Vale has to admit is basically another version of Marc.

Even the lips they’re - not the same but similar to Marc’s.

There’s no mole on his pec though, the one Vale kissed so many times before, there’s no twitch of his eyebrow when Vale moves the sheets, no heavenly sweet voice calling him back to bed as he gets up to get dressed.

If this was Marc’s home, he’d stay.

Get up, prepare breakfast, wake Marc up and lead him to the kitchen.

Eat together, mostly in silence because Marc doesn’t really like to talk in the morning and then either have another round, nice and lazy, or just lay on the couch watching something horribly romantic Marc would put on the TV.

Now, he just gets dressed as quickly as he can, ignoring the boy still sleeping in the bed, and getting out of there.

Luckily this guy doesn’t live too far from the hotel he’s staying in, so he can walk there pretty easily.

Marc on the other hand, he’s been spending his winter break at home, cold and shivering, refusing visitors except for his mother and exceptionally his brother and father, without ever mentioning his disease, playing it down to a harsh fever he didn’t want to pass to others.

Jorge had texted him, phoned him, trying to put some sense in his mind, trying to convince him to get the operation done, telling him Vale would not go back on his steps, that Vale had probably never even loved him to begin with.

He had just worsened the situation, trying to make Marc understand it was useless to keep hoping.

But once again, Marc is a stubborn man, he’s set his head on the thought Vale will reciprocate again, that Vale will call him.

Or text him.

Or meet him once they’re both back on track for the new season.

But more than a month has passed since Valencia, since the incident he had to mask to the media, since Vale obviously came to know about the situation he is in.

And he hasn’t called or texted.

But maybe he just needs time.

They have time.

Marc is sure they have time.

Even if these days the shivers and fever are higher, even if his own mother is begging him to get the operation done, he knows they have time.

Because they’re soulmates, they’re made to love each other.

Marc knows the story about the red string of fate and he’s ready to swear him and Vale are connected by it.

To each pinky they’ve got a red string bonding them together for the stars to see.

“You’re really pretty in the morning you know?”

“Only in the morning?”

Marc had pouted playfully at Vale’s words, still curled up against his chest, smiling against it.

“During the night you’re more hot than pretty amore”

“ I like you calling me hot”

“Yeah? You’re really hot”

“Are you trying to charm me in your pants Vale? Not very gentlemanly of you to do”

“You don’t like gentlemen Marc”

“Mh no, I like you”

They had kissed, Vale’s hands guiding Marc on his lap by his hips, as if he weighed nothing.

“I love you”

“Love you too Vale”

It was then Vale told him about the strings of fate.

“You know baby? There’s a legend, it says when two people are made for each other they’ve got an invisible red string which is tied to both their pinkies and bonds them together”

“You think we-“

“I said you would be the next me no? Would I say that to someone I don’t think has to be mine?”

It hurts to remember.

Because Vale had so much love in his words and so much truth it seems impossible to Marc that he’s puking petals again, hung over his toilet, because Vale had wounded him so deeply he could feel the blood run free of containment in his body.

There’s a knock at the bathroom door.

A soft one, almost ghostly.

“Marc? It’s mom, are you coming to lunch?”

“Yeah I” he holds in his cough, he knows it hurts his mother to hear him

“I’m coming mom”

“Are you - again?”

“No no mom don’t worry”

When he gets out his mother hugs him, so tight he thinks his lungs are breaking more under pressure.

He’s fragile now, really fragile, his rib cage is very visible through the skin, his cheeks are hollower than they used to be, the color of his skin no more a sweet caramel tone but instead a pale and washed one.

He’s thinner, every cough feels like a hit to his sternum, if he bumps into things a bruise is really quick to follow.

He’s sick, sick as he’s never been before.

He even had to miss a training session because he was too debilitated to do it.

Santi had pretended to know what was going on, he had said bronchitis.

Which wasn’t completely far from the truth.

He can feel his mother’s pain through the hug, in the way she tries to keep the crying at bay, the way her heart is synchronizing itself to his.

“Marc, you need to listen to your friend.

He -” his mother never said the name Vale, or Valentino, not even Rossi.

it was always “he”

“He’s not coming back Marc”

“Ma-“

“Marc, please”

“Just - just give him some time mom. He’ll come back. I know he will. Now can we go have lunch? I’m hungry”

“You need to tell Alex”

“No. I won’t tell, there’s no need to. He doesn’t need to know, I’m gonna be fine in no time anyway. Plus if I told him he’d do something stupid like forging my signature and force me to get the operation”

“Marc”

“Mom. I’ll be fine. I promise you. We’re both gonna be fine, he just needs a bit more time to realize it”

Roser tries to have this conversation three more times during Marc’s stay at home.

She tries to tell Alex, but when her younger son answers she can’t tell him anything, beside “Marc is still sick, but he’s getting a bit better”.

Marc had begged her not to talk, and Roser can’t bring herself to betray her son’s trust, not after his heart has already been shattered by the person he loves more than anything in this world. 

In the delirium caused by the fever that keeps getting higher and higher, Marc had called for that man.

She had run to him, cold towels placed on his forehead and wrists to try and bring the temperature down, with little results.

“Vale it hurts please bring me water”

“Marc, it's mom, what's going on?”

“Vale just - he went to take a glass of water, don’t worry go back to sleep”

“Marc he is not -”

“Look he’s back, see? Go to sleep mom”

“Thanks Vale, you see mom? I told you he just needed time, we’re fine”

It had been a painful night, Marc snapping out his open eyed dream and sobbing in her arms like a little kid who just scraped his knee and wanted to be held by his mother.

And she had held him like that, trying to protect him from all the evil in his mind, from all the evil that man had sewed into his skin, but to no avail.

If she placed a hand on her son’s ribcage she could trace the outline of a root.

When he took deeper breaths in her embrace she could feel the bumpy surface of his bones against her chest.

She had thought, once, to call the man’s mother.

She thought that maybe she would’ve understood the worry of a mother, that she would’ve tried to talk to her son.

But she knew if she did she would’ve just spewed hate towards that woman’s son, and couldn’t do that to another mother.

So she just held him as if he was a little boy, tried to picture him as his three years old self when he had fallen from the mini bike and hurt his elbow, and she had held him until he slept.

Vale meanwhile had begun to doubt.

Doubt everything.

Uccio first of all people.

It made no sense, no sense what he had accused Marc of doing.

And even if - even if he had been shown proof of it, Vale doubts.

After months, long infinite months later he’s doubting.

Of the telemetry, of the color of the petals.

Hell he even doubts Marc ever came to the Ranch on purpose to beat the record and shame him.

Because it simply doesn’t hold ground as an accusation, why would Marc, a lovestruck 20 something kid, who just loves Vale so much to still have a collection of bikes representing him, a rival,

in his room, why would he do something like that to him?

He wouldn’t.

He loved, still loves Vale, he’s sure of this. He just has to find counter proof.

For the first time ever he’ll have to work against the one friend he always trusted with all his everything.

So he begins his personal crusade to find out the truth he thinks lies covered beneath the surface of thick and carefully built lies Uccio fed him.

For what reason he doesn’t know, he can’t find it in his mind to understand what could have driven Uccio to do what he did.

He spends a month locked in his house, not even paying attention to his academy of growing riders, the only one partially admitted at home being his little brother, but not more than once every week.

He spends a month looking for evidence he’s been lied to, driven away, manipulated, blinded by his competitive spirit.

He doesn’t call or text Marc.

He fears if he’s not completely sure of his idea it will end up hurting Marc more.

The start of the season is two weeks away when Lorenzo sends him a text.

[prodigaldaughteralice]

So, I was tipped off a while ago by a post that’s probably still in my queue (I have a long reblog queue u_u;; ) that a few words were changed in the US edition of Monstrous Regiment. As it’s my favourite Discworld book, and I’d only ever read the US edition, I tracked down a second-hand UK first edition online and had a re-read as soon as it came, with my battered old US edition next to me so I could check when anything pinged me as ‘off’. Here’s what I found, not counting minor UK->US spelling changes like turning “girlie” into “girly”.

(There may be more that I missed, I didn’t have both copies open the whole time, but I’m pretty familiar with this book. As my sister teased me about when I mentioned I’d done this comparison, I did have it in my bed for several years as a teenager so I could reread it whenever my insomnia was hitting particularly hard.)

Spoilers from here on out, of course.

The first two are just kind of pointless? Changing “coprolite” to “coprolith”, which is just a less common word for the exact same thing, and changing “riff-riff-raff” to “riffraff” feels like they forgot Jackrum was playing drunk in that scene. Whatever. These don’t bother me.

There are a few UK->US type changes in the next one (“wooly vest” to “woolen undershirt”) which similarly feel pointless to me, but what really gets my goat is the last word. “The man’s bare chests,” plural, being changed to “the man’s bare chest”. Because that’s foreshadowing, but it’s not a giveaway, because on a heavier (cis) guy they do hang separate. It’s a nice little touch, and they took it out.

The next one is the one I’d been tipped off to, and it’s the change I’m the most annoyed about. “Turned her chair to the fire/around him the kitchen worked” -> “turned her chair to the fire/around her the kitchen worked.” I’m sure whatever editor changed it didn’t do so with any kind of malice or agenda, they just weren’t paying enough attention and thought they were fixing a continuity mistake, but it’s just such beautiful writing that they removed.

Because they’ve just had this incredible, delicate, vulnerable conversation about the girl Jackrum left behind him, and that that girl was him, and that he has a son out in Scratz and he doesn’t know what to do now that he’s leaving the army. Polly cries. And it’s Polly who suggests that he really can remain Jack Jackrum, he can go back to his son in medals and braid and be his father, and Jack gets to really settle in to the idea that he can be happy that way. Both those pronouns being “her” doesn’t feel wrong, necessarily; I always read it as Polly processing. But the switch between the two sentences is so beautiful. It’s a gentle closing of the conversation, it’s that girl being fully put behind him, and Sergeant Major Jack Jackrum (retired) getting to go on with his life.

The last one is just… odd. Inexplicable, and it’s the hardest to explain as just an editorial accident. They added a word that specifies something that was not previously specified. “One of them was Maladicta, in full uniform” becomes “one of them was Maladicta, in full female uniform.” I was thinking about it on this reread, and Mal is the only member of the squad who wasn’t publically outed at the Keep. Mal wasn’t involved in the actual raid— too busy gibbering and sucking on a sack of coffee beans— and at the trial Mal kind of stood in the back vibrating from caffeine overdose. Even Jackrum said “with vampires, who cares”. Only Polly knows about Maladicta.

And what that means is that Mal is the only member of the squad who could reasonably remain presenting as male in the army. Polly encourages a couple of young recruits in the very end that it’s their choice to enlist as men or as women, with Mal right beside her, and I think the original ambiguity there is really lovely— it doesn’t matter if Mal has an ‘a’ on the end at the moment, because Mal is there to help Polly fuck shit up, and that’s what matters. By adding the specificity, they just… took away a really nice bit of subtext, a really nice effect.

So yeah, I’m ticked off as a queer person about the (minor) subversion of the book’s general gender fuckery, but I’m almost more ticked off as a writer. Pratchett was so talented, and we talk about it a lot on a large scale of themes and motifs and characters, but he was also just so fantastic on a sentence to sentence level. This is craft! This is really beautiful, delicate writing, elegantly put together and perfected, and some US editors just. Took out some of it. And it’s still an incredible book! As I mentioned, I had it in my bed for years as a teenager so I could reread it over and over, it means a ton to me, it’s my favourite of his work and I love his work! But it hurts to see these little places where it was originally even better.

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

For your silly Descendants prompts, how about Diego drops Beezlebub (Carlos' cat) on his head at family day after the barrier is taken down while he is talking to a baffled Radcliffe family and Dude?

...I might have taken slight creative liberations with this prompt. I’ve decided that this would do a decent continuation for this prompt, so. But! Diego is here! And Belzebub too!

Also. I don’t have any favourites. How dare you even suggest that. (The author laughs nervously and hides these entire story behind their back.)

Anyway, de Vil cousins being drama queens! Enjoy!

„Hey! Hold that cat of yours!“

„Shut up–“

„Give me back my fucking necklace, it’s a family heirloom–“

„You stole it from our Aunt just last week!“

„An heirloom, duh. Now give it back!“

„The fucking seven times damned cat is in my bloody face!“

As Carlos hears the voices of his cousins and the other new arrivals from the Isle, he winces: He cannot help but question his life choices slightly.

Only slightly though. It does seem like they brought his cat back.

He looks around: The band (shocked into silence), the decorations (highly flammable), the young king (still smiling).

The limo, now still, the driver just about to open the doors.

Carlos smiles too, and if anyone was looking at him, they might have described the smile as manic.

Alas, no one is paying attention to him. But that’s fine. His cousins are just making a spectacle of themselves, as usual.

Carlos grins wider.

Diego steps out of the limousine first; he scowls at the light (or possibly just at the go-to pastel fashion of Auradon), and then exclaims: „Look – they have a band here!“

Mal pouts, and while Ben comforts her (he has the spirit, okay?), Carlos snickers. He missed his cousins, okay?

„Fuck your bands, Diego,“ says Ivy, pushing him aside, „It’s so fucking bright in here, it’s hurting my eyes.“ She goes silent for a moment, then gestures vaguely to Mal and Ben.

„That is hurting my eyes too. Does anyone have sunglasses?“

And why, yes, she is definitely talking about Mal’s frilly soft pink below-the-knee dress.

Jay nudges his ribs and whispers: „See you soon, man; cover for me,“ for, you see, Jade has perused Ivy’s chaos to sneak out of the focus, and the Agrabah cousins don‘t need an audience for their reunion.

Carlos flashes Jay a quick gesture for „I’ve got your back,“ and refocuses back on the limo.

Then Hunter, who helps out little Dizzy; Evie squeaks and almost runs over to greet her friend and hug her, her mother’s etiquette lessons notwithstanding.

Behind Jade, scowling Claudine Frollo exited the car, and damn it, her eyes–

Carlos is sure they weren’t that cold last time he saw her.

Dizzy brightly waves at Evie and rummages through her bedazzled purse; after a moment, she pulls out sunglasses (also bedazzled) and offers them to sneering Ivy. Ivy accepts them with a dramatic sigh.

Fine, and Diego’s elbow to her ribs, along with whispered „play nice–“

Ben clears his throat.

This does nothing to shut up Ivy, who had now started arguing with Claudine about a topic Carlos is truthfully afraid to understand.

Ben clears his throat again.

Unsurprisingly, they do not stop talking. Au contraire, Dizzy is now talking too – more like attempting to talk Hunter's ears off, but whatever. Hunter signed up for this by standing in her hearing range.

„Ben. Just talk. They'll shut up eventually,“ Carlos tells the king. He doesn't add „hopefully“ even though he really wants to.

„Yeah. Just talk louder than them. Stab them if they get too annoying.“ Mal glares at Ivy and Claudine a normal and non-concerning amount.

„Establish dominance,“ Evie pipes up, smiling sweetly.

„I- Okay. I'll do that,“ agrees Ben reluctantly and then raises his voice: „Greetings! Allow me to welcome you in Auradon, and in Auradon Prep–“

He steps closer to the group of newcomers.

„I'm King Ben, and you already know my companions.“

Another round of excited waving, some raised middle fingers (affectionate), and some glaring from Claudine Frollo.

„You must be Dizzy Tremaine,“ Ben greets the littlest girl first, „I've heard so much about you, all great things, of course. I hope you like it here.“

„Try to kiss me too and I stab you,“ warns Ivy, fully serious.

He kisses the girls knuckles as a true fairy tale prince, which leaves her squeaking; unlike his cousins, Carlos smiles at her excitement.

Unable to contain her happiness any longer, Dizzy runs off to greet Evie, and Ben turns to Ivy and Claudine.

„No stabbing in front of the cameras, Ivy–“ intones Carlos along with Diego and Hunter. You see, priorities.

„I will stab you too,“ adds Claudine with her eyes narrowed and her tone cold; she steps behind Ivy a bit.

„Yeah no don't mind her she just doesn't like human contact!“ says Dizzy brightly. She is probably quoting someone, but hey. She is right.

Though it does seem a bit hypocritical, given how tightly Claudine is clutching Ivy's arm right now. Ivy doesn't seem to mind.

Why yes, this is rather interesting.

„Okay. I'm not kissing anyone,“ says Ben, backtracking a bit, „Would shaking your hand be better?“

„Don’t even try–“ snaps Ivy instead of Claudine and briefly brushes her fingers against hers.

Ivy glares daggers at him but extends her hand; she then proceeds to nearly crush his palm. Good for her, Carlos thinks.

Ben glances towards smiling Mal and chuckles nervously before turning to Claudine, but Claudine just ducks further behind Ivy.

„WTF?“ mouths Carlos towards Diego silently; „Betting pool – later,“ gestures Diego back.

„I’m Diego,“ says Diego and puts his hand forward. Really, it looks like the young king couldn’t decide which boy is which.

„Anyway, glad to meet you, Claudine Frollo,“ says Ben, obviously doing his best to ignore the glares. He‘s doing a fairly good job: Claudine’s eyes are creepy, Carlos would say.

„And you must be Diego and Hunter de Vil,“ continues Ben, looking between the two remaining cousins.

„And I’m Hunter,“ grumbles Hunter, „Literally the only blonde de Vil in like four generations. Shouldn’t be that hard to figure out.“

„Yeah, yeah,“ dismisses Ivy, „We all know there is something wrong with you.“

Finally, Carlos steps out to greet his cousins, mentally saying goodbye to his hairdo.

Carlos tries and fails to not fall into a laughing fit.

The appalled „Excuse yourself?!“ is not really helping to be honest.

He ignores Ben quietly asking if there wasn’t supposed to be someone else too, and wait, where is Jay?

It doesn’t take long for the older two de Vil boys to trap Carlos in a bone crushing hug.

„Thanks, man,“ whispers Diego so silently that everyone could pretend he didn’t speak at all.

„Hey, wait, we’ve got your cat–“ says Hunter, as if he only just remembered, which, fair enough.

„Oh, shit, right–!“

Well finally someone remembers his cat!

Unfortunately, Ivy, that diva, (derogatory), chooses this moment to greet him properly too: She spins him around rather forcibly and hugs him for but a split second, then she holds him by his shoulders at arm length.

„Carlito! So long since we’ve seen you, and still so small! But the Auradon fashion works for you, I must say, baby cousin–“

„And still no manners, I see,“ sniffs Ivy with her nose up high before leaning back on Claudine.

Sure enough, she reaches out and ruffles his hair. That bitch.

The gesture is immediately repeated by Hunter; Diego is still busy wrestling Belzebub the cat out of the limousine.

Carlos growls at his cousins in distaste as he attempts to repair whatever damage they had done.

„And whose fault is that?“ asks Diego as he emerges out of the limo again, struggling mess of black fur and sharp claws in his arms.

„Our dear auntie’s, obviously.“

Yeah, the Cruella de Vil who had gotten bored and dumped the responsibility for etiquette lessons at her niece within an afternoon. Fortunately for everyone, Ivy didn’t stay interested much longer.

„Belzebub, how I’ve missed you,“ Carlos coos at his cat and scratches behind his ears; Belzebub purrs and calms down, to the absolute astonishment of the three older cousins.

„Whatever, Ives. Here, Carlos, your little furball of joy and murder.“ Diego seems glad to get the cat off his hands; the cat doesn’t seem too happy to be moved. It leaves Diego with a nice long good-bye scratch.

Whatever. The blood matches his vest anyway.

„Wait wait wait, you called that damned black cat Belzebub?! What is wrong with you people?!“

Carlos glares at Claudine Frollo. He didn’t think she could yell that loud.

„Betting pool – later,“ gestures Diego again. Carlos scratches behind Belzebub’s ears again – that fury’s shrieks had upset him – and decides to indeed let the matter go. For about as long as it takes to get to a more private area and get the gossip out of Diego.

„We’re literally called the devils, sweetheart,“ drawls Ivy, „Deal with it.“

…Sweetheart?

„Anyway, we’ve got letters for y’all, and we aren’t leaving until the baby king reads them.“

„Yeah maybe don’t call him Baby King to his face, Ivy?“

„Shut up. And you read.“ Ivy aggressively shoves a bunch of letters into Ben’s face.

„Letters? From whom?“ he asks.

„Why, from the Captains, of course.“

„I’m gonna go ahead and guess that you mean Uma and Harriet,“ deadpans Carlos, ignoring Mal’s intense stare that by all accounts should be able to kill.

„Obviously.“

Look, yeah, gang wars are fun and all, but must Ivy wave at Mal? And smile oh-so-sweetly?

Oh who is he kidding, of course she must. It’s Ivy.

„No murder in front of the cameras, you two,“ Carlos just sighs before turning back to Ben, who is attempting to open the envelopes with his short and manicured nails. Carlos joins his cousins and Claudine in ignoring that struggle and pretending that neither of them has a knife on them.

„Hey, wait–“ Evie comes to the rescue with scissors (Why on earth does she have scissors on her? …You know what, no. Carlos doesn’t want to know.), and Dizzy remembers that she too has several letters for the High King. From Anthony, from her Aunt, and from Uma, surprisingly: That one bluntly states that both Ivy and Claudine are a danger to themselves and should not under any circumstances be left alone. Active deathwish and lack of survival instincts and all. Neat.

Leave it to Uma to sugarcoat things.

Carlos pats Ben on the back and leaves to finally figure out what on earth is going on with Claudine Frollo, his cat in hand.

As he, Diego and Hunter walk away, leaving the king to Ivy, they wave at Jay and Jade on the roof.

[nerdyvocals]

Hello again! To be honest, @look-at-those-niceass-rocks and I weren't originally sure if we were going to watch Rise of Red or not, but I saw some. Interesting things on tiktok, and we decided this would be a fun excuse to get tipsy on a Saturday night (we even made themed cocktails!), and that we would have a lot of unhinged things to say. Previously, we've also watched and kept a running commentary of the first three films and the Royal Wedding short film.

That said, I know opinions on this film have been very divided, and if you're looking for high praise, you will not find it here. The movie was cute, and we had fun, but we did not have a lot of compliments, and we're still messaging each other with criticisms a week later. If you're looking for two dumbasses who give tipsy critiques (please drink responsibly) about children's movies, please, proceed under the cut!

First, an honorable mention from a few days before the watch party: Bee (after we mentioned that we both, despite not originally planning on watching Rise of Red, had avoided spoilers just in case we changed our minds): Why do I care about spoilers for an unasked-for fourth movie in a franchise I only just became interested in?

Me (reading the description): Okay, so it looks like it's Back to the Future but Disney Bee: Great! Me: Was this needed? I feel like the trilogy wrapped things up nicely

Uma: This is Auradon, the kingdom where all your favorite fairytales are true. It was formed 30 years ago when- Me: PAUSE, okay so of the few things I've seen on tiktok,

Uma: Guess who they left in charge while they're gone? Me: That seems like a bad plan Bee: I was about to say

Me: So the biggest complaint I've seen so far has been about this, where Uma says that Auradon was founded 30 years ago Bee: Right Me: I've seen people call it a plot hole because in the first movie, Mal says the kingdom was founded 20 years ago, and I don't think they ever say exactly how much time passes between any of the movies, but the reality is, and I'm gonna touch your hand when I say this, Bee: *cackling* Me: The first movie came out in 2015. It is now 2024. The first movie came out almost 10 years ago, and in fact, when you add 10 to 20, ya get 30. Bee: *still wheezing* Me: Now, I don't know if the complaints are coming from new, younger fans who just recently binged the original trilogy in preparation for this and didn't realize when the first one came out, or if they're from older fans who have lost track of time and don't want to face the math- Bee: Fuck math, man!

(Continuing from the previous conversation, after discussing character ages and determining that Uma is likely between 26-28 at this point) Bee: That's too young to be headmaster, she's a baby Me: Bee, that's fairly close to 30, that's not unreasonable. I feel ya though, I'm not an adult, I'm a baby with a drinking permit. Bee: I think I've finally surpassed baby with a drinking permit, I'm more like. Adult, reluctantly

Fairy Godmother: The queen of Hearts refused to join Auradon when we united Me: Yeah, because you would've imprisoned her???

Blonde Wonderland Guard: *appears* Me: Lucius Malfoy??? Bee: Wig Me: Starkid's A Very Potter Sequel Lucius Malfoy???

Me: Does she (Red) have a nose ring??? Bee: Oh shit, she does! Me: We finally get some edginess to character design and it's when nose rings are no longer edgy

Honorable mention: Us spending Multiple Minutes trying to figure out if Maddox was supposed to be The Mad Hatter or the son of the Mad Hatter. We ended with no answers

(About Paolo!Charming) Bee: Oh, he has only gotten hotter Me: Correct! Why does he have blue in his hair Bee: Because he's hot

Me: Imagine being this in love still after raising Chad

Cindy: We wouldn't have been able to make this great family Bee: And Chad

Cindy: *presents Chloe with the Most Hideous Shoes I have Ever Seen* Me: *chugs what's left of my drink*

Cindy: We can visit Chad at college another time Me: Chad got into college??? Bee: Nepo baby

Bee: Does anyone in this movie understand "show don't tell?" Movie: *Insert Love Ain't It, aka Exposition: the Song* Me: Nope!

Cindy and the Queen of Hearts: *share a look* Me: Ex-lovers Red and Chloe: *share a look* Me: Future lovers?

Me: JABBERWOCKY MENTION! Bee: Drink!

Me: Is that supposed to be Jasmine and Aladdin? Bee: I think so? Me: Why does Jasmine have a fuck-ass bob? What is it with Descendants and fuck-ass bobs???

Me: I'm going to get so drunk over this Bee: I think that's safet Me: ...Safet???

Me: Where are Harry and Gil? Bee: On their honeymoon

(During the What's My Name? reprise) Bee: ...I need to take another drink Me: Same Bee: My drink is almost gone, I'm so sad Me: Do what I did, make another Bee: I will after this dork-ass song

Uma: Do you mind? Queen: I think I do Me: *pausing* Do you want to make a second drink real quick before things get cringier? Bee: ...I think that's a good idea

Me: I think I don't hate the silhouette of the Queen of Hearts' look, but it's way too monochromatic Bee: Drink! You're right though, there's no dimension

*Wand Breaks* Me: OH SHIT Bee: You could do that this whole time???

Cindy: Stop it, Bridget, you're better than this! Me: Is she? Bee: I don't think she is

Aladdin: Look at her, she's enjoying this! Me: Yeah, she's a teenager experiencing parental affection for the first time. Y'all really learned nothing, huh? Bee: You'd think after ten years they'd get their shit together

(As Cinderella is being led away) Bee: I love her poofs Me: God, me too, I love puff sleeves Bee: We are both just Anne Shirley

Fairy Godmother: *is young* Me. She looks so much like Jane Bee: For a second there, I thought that just straight up was Jane Me: Brilliant casting

Me: Why are their clothes so modern if this is supposed to be over thirty years ago

Me: This princess insult doesn't work if you're both princesses

Red and Chloe: *forehead touch* Me: Gay Bee: Kiss

(After Fight of Our Lives) Bee: I feel like this didn't need to be a song Me: We could've just had a homoerotic sword fight à la The Princess Bride

Me: Ahhh, that's why everyone is dressed so modern, so they can blend in without a costume change! That's so lazy!

Bee: He (Merlin) pulls a lit Molotov cocktail from his bag

(Alchemy Class) Bee: ...The hap is fuckening

Red: *eats a cupcake* Bee: These falsies are really gonna help me do alchemy!!!

Bridget: It's Jasmine and Aladdin! J&A: Call us Jaladdin! Me: I will not be doing that Bee: *choking* WHAT THE FUCK

Morgie: Son of Morgana! Me: See, Morgana has a kid already, but gee, why wouldn't Disney want children Googling Mordred? Bee: Hehehe

Uliana: TELL BRIDGET I WILL DESTROY HER Me: See, girl, she did warn you Bee: Why are Jaladdin going with?

Ella: Will you go to castlecoming with me? Me: OH Bee: GAY Me: So it wasn't a prank that turned her evil, it was that her girlfriend ditched her for a boy, Us, simultaneously: IT'S GIVING GOOD LUCK BABE

(In the Tremaine Manor) Me: Oooh, this kid is about to learn what parental abuse is

Bee: I need them to try and fix it and then have to go back again because they accidentally turn Cinderella evil Me: That's what the fifth movie is about, actually

Uliana's Hideout: *emerging from the water* Me: WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT Bee: "Can-I-Have-A-Cigarette" lookin' ass Me: *WHEEZE*

(During Perfect Revenge) Bee: Kenny Ortega, I'm sorry I didn't appreciate you when I had you

(It was at this point, when Uliana was hanging by her tentacles, that Bee's husband entered to check on us) [Husband]: ...What in the Doc Ock

Me: Ooooh, that last sip hit, I think I've made it to drunk Bee: Oh boy! Me: I'm so glad I don;t have to be anywhere tomorrow Bee: Drink some water Me: Water is for weaklings! Bee: I don't get hangovers anymore because I hydrate while I drink Me: I don't get hangovers because I'm 22 Bee: Suck my dick, Levi Me: I don't think [Husband] would appreciate that Bee: [HUSBAND], CAN LEVI SUCK MY DICK?! [Husband], distantly: I don't know how to respond to that??? Me: *falling off the couch crying laughing*

Bridget: *talking about her Shuffle of Love dance* Me: If not going on date, why worried about love, I am drunk Bee: No, you're correct

Bridget: If I was your mom, I'd love to have a daughter that thinks for herself Me: BOY WOW I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO GET HIT IN THE MOMMY ISSUES

Bee: Oh, pretty boy (Paolo!Charming) is back! Also I stood up and I too am now drunk

(After some line about valiant knights being always good) Me: Have you heard of Lancelot? Bee: I was about to say

(During the Hands Dirty sequence) Me: This is a song from a better movie Bee: Not again

Bee: I simply do not believe that Cinderella would let her daughter grow up that dumb as hell. I do, however, believe that Prince Charming would let his daughter grow up that dumb as hell Me: have you met Chad? Bee: That's fair, actually. Chad's adopted Me: Who's goddamn white baby is that? Bee: Who's goddamn white baby is that!

Me: Pause! So here, funnily enough, is a perfect example of what my mentor calls "Disney Patches:"

Bee: Drink! Me: So what they're trying to do here is show that Ella has to wear her clothes to the bone and patches them herself. When you add patches to garments to make them look like they've been repaired, you need to make sure the placement makes sense, as in think about where clothes would likely wear to holes: for pants, that's gonna be mainly knees and inner thigh. Disney has a habit of just putting patches wherever in places they just wouldn't be, like here. Why does she have patches in random places on her leg? Bee: Ohhh Me: In some cases in can be a stylistic choice, but I would argue that Ella wouldn't be the type to waste that much fabric for no reason. I can forgive the pockets though, I've had pants that got holes in the pockets, and sometimes it's easier to replace them than to patch

(A shot of Headmaster Merlin's Door) Bee: Hmmm, Merlin Me: ...Headmaster Merlin Bee: hmmmmmmmm, Merlin

Bee, completely deadpan: Hoot hoot, motherfuckers

Me: The Night Falls scene fell flat on its face so this scene could feebly crawl

Me: It has only just occurred to me that Chloe's shoes were supposed to be glass this whole time, I thought they were just fucky Doc Martens Bee: Yeah! Put the uh. The ug. Put the ugly in uggs Me: I think you need to drink more water Bee: I think you're right

Me: They're red and blue gays Bee: They're red and blue gays!

Me: Fuck whatever this movie is supposed to be about, I need them to kiss

Bee: Obsessed with his (Merlin's) coat, costume department popped the fuck off with that Me: That's my line Bee: Drink bitch!

Me: Wait, is that the end? Bee: It can't be, there's no way that worked Me: There's only ten minutes left???

Uma: You didn't think that was the end of the story, did you? Me: FUCK OFF

Bee: I am deadass on Reddit Me: *dying* Bee: Trying to figure out what the fuck

Bee: Where was the climax??? Was it supposed to be that thing in Merlin's office? Me: It can't have been Bee: If it was it fell so flat. I feel like I've sobered up watching that

[fungifanart]

Once upon a time, in a land far-far away, there lived a young dragon named Roaring Drago.

Roaring Drago was a very nice young dragon, but he was also very powerful, meaning that the people who lived at the base of the mountain he called home were too scared to ever come say hello.

Time went by as Roaring Drago watched over the nearby village in envy. He watched the children play as the adults talked happily amongst themselves. He wanted to be there. He wanted to play with the children and talk with the adults.

But he couldn't.

As a dragon, if he tried to go visit the village, the villagers would only run away screaming. If only he were a human or at least looked like one...

With these despair-filled thoughts plaguing his mind, Roaring Drago went to sleep for the night.

When he awoke, Roaring Drago found himself in a dream world, one where he was a handsome prince attending a magic college with people his age.

'Finally!' Roaring Drago thought to himself, 'I finally get to interact with humans!'

However, Roaring Drago would soon realize that his dreaming life was too similar to his waking one: Facing isolation as the people around him feared his power.

'This isn't what I wanted...' Roaring Drago thought as time went by in his dream, 'I want a friend! I want to meet just one person who isn't afraid of me!'

And before he knew it, his wish was granted.

Soon came along a young man. One who, unlike the other residents of his dream, couldn't use magic. One who, also unlike the others, didn't know him and, as such, didn't fear him.

Roaring Drago was overjoyed to meet and befriend this young man. However, watching him flounder about the college due to his lack of magic made him sad and so he wished for a way for his friend to succeed, which was granted in the form of him making friends who could use their magic to help.

Roaring Drago thought that he would be satisfied with this. To watch his new friend use these tools to succeed and graduate from the college, but his time there would soon come to a close unceremoniously if that's all that happened.

He wished for something exciting to happen that both he and his friend could enjoy...and then a handful of students began transforming into monsters.

At first, Roaring Drago was concerned for his friend, thinking that the monsters would be too much for him, but with the help of his other friends, Roaring Drago watched him triumph again and again, gaining more popularity and prestige with each victory.

Roaring Drago thought he would be happy to see this, but the march of time waits for no one and soon the time of their parting would be at hand.

And what would happen then?

Would Roaring Drago wake up? Would he return to his lonely reality without his only friend by his side? And what would become of his friend?

His friend's rise to fame only happened because he willed it so, therefore it was possible that his departure would reduce him back to a lone nobody.

No. He couldn't let that happen.

If this dream world couldn't last forever, then Mal-- Roaring Drago would simply have to take them to another one, one deeper in the realm of dreams where their adventures could begin anew!

And if the next dream had to end, then he would just go deeper!

And deeper!

And deeper!

Anddeeperanddeeperanddeeperanddeeperanddeeper–*the rest of the pages are illegible due to being covered in a mysterious black substance*

[fashion-foxy]

Ok, Descendants fans, genuine question: Arent a majority of cast useless and could just be Ben and Harry with little to no change in the story? (I'm using them because that scene with Ben kidnapped on the boat and Harry fucking with him was peak dynamic. ) Like :

Mal : Leader of original VK group, sarcastic, and insecure,and acts as Isle figurehead; being the 'bad' and more negative to Ben's more positive and 'good'. Ben is ~16, and his parents are very closed-minded and see in blank and white. Ben being that young and having no one around him who shares his view of the world would (in my opinion make him relatively insecure). I don't think I really have to explain Harry fitting sarcastic. Harry could just as easily fit into being a figurehead to the Isle. I think he embodies the Isle a bit more because he has a much more free spirited personality and demonstrates a lot more how being on the Isle is "every man for himself"

Evie : Optimistic, friendly, smart business minded. Ben is, tying back in with the last statement, a very positive person. He will always see the good the good in everyone and everything and because of this he's a very friendly guy. The 'smart business mind' can totally also factor into running a kingdom. Considering every possibility and factoring what that would mean for you and your people.

Jay : Charming, Kleptomanic tendencies (it's a personality trait in the sims 4, I genuinely couldn't think of anything that wasn't already covered by 'charming') Harry has a scene where he flirts with 4 women in ~1 minute. He also has 'was in a situationship that ended horribly, and neither of them want to admit it ended or even happened' energy with everyone. He is like the definition of charming. I don't have to really explain Kleptomanic tendencies, but I think it also builds the 'knows what it takes to survive on the Isle' that I think would bring a lot more to the table than when Mal said that they should close the barrier for good and BEN (someone who has no reason to care about the Isle and only does because he genuinely wants to do the best thing for the people) was the one who advocates for the Isle. Harry would never turn his back on the Isle like that.

Carlos : quick-witted, and awkward has this played for laughs a couple times(I may be misinterpreting the situation because Dude being comic relief is not funny at all to me but I assume most things he says are supposed to be humorous) (Sidenote : Rest in peace Cameron Boyce.) This one isn't even really specific to Harry because basically all of the VK's and quick-witted and very good at thinking on their feet. (Growing up on the Isle will do that to a motherfucker) but I think Harry is probably the best at it. I mean, just take the exchange where he says that there's 20 minutes left to noon, and Ben corrects him. He doesn't get hostile he takes the situation and makes it into a joke and like it's part of him messing with Ben. Obviously the awkwardness is something that Ben possesses. The man is the human embodiment of a hurt puppy. If he's trying to be nice and friendly with someone and they are rude or ignore him, he just freezes. He's got nowhere to take the conversation, so he awkwardly laughs and walks away.

Uma : Pirate gang leader. I think that she and Mal have very similar personalities, and a lot of these points are going to be building on my talking points with Mal but I will bring up that Uma is a lot more stubborn and vengeful than Mal is/was. Harry and Ben aren't exactly that stubborn. What I would say is that if anything, Harry is more self-assured, and Ben just has very strong views of the world that he won't compromise on.

Gil : The most friendly dude, caring, little dumb sometimes, but he means well. Gil literally is just the Isle equivalent to Ben, in my opinion. Like they just share most of their traits.

So, how grossly did I oversimplify them? Are there more strong character moments in the book? What am I missing here?

[agena87]

The second time Wolfgang and Malcolm met; when Mal went to sign up Joy for some art classes. The little girl had already shown some talent for drawing and painting, even at the young age of four, and expressed her desire to learn more to become an artist when she grew up. Mal, being the awesome dad that he is, never refuses her anything (though he tries not to spoil her). When going to meet the art teacher, Malcolm actually didn't know the name of said teacher, he just had been told by Max that there were courses for kids on the week-end at a certain art studio, and that it was the best teacher in town who held them. He was pleasantly surprised to see Wolfgang there, since he had been on his mind since their first meeting at Lucas and Max's wedding. Wolfgang was just as happy to see Malcolm, who he had found quite nice and interesting when they had talked during their first meeting. He was even more happy to see Malcolm wearing a more casual (and quite fitting) outfit (Luna hadn't been at Mal's that day, and hadn't bitch at him for wearing "hobo clothes"). Both men (well, a man and a Wolfie) ended up speaking for two hours while Joy explored the studio. And Mal left with the promise of a future coffee (friendly) date with Wolfie.

[neptoons1998]

i, carrion (icarian)

A/N: I blame Hozier..... something about a man yearning for a woman makes me swoon.

Tag Gang: @mal-urameshi @s0lam3y @xchoxix @somethingcleaverandwhitty

Summary: priestess! Riri x princess! Shuri. Shuri starts loving the religion.

Shuri would say her relationship with Bast was one of the outs. It wasn’t a shocker to anyone close to the princess who scoffs at traditions. Whose belief in science and innovation was the true success of her nation. Then why does she keep coming to Bast’s alter? One might ask. The answer was simple. The new priestess is training Riri. The young woman was roughly Shuri’s age, the old priestess and her mother thought Riri would be the one to convert Shuri back to the religion. But really Shuri keeps coming back to luring Riri.  

“And how are you, priestess?” Shuri commented Riri giving a soft laugh while covering her mouth with her hand.

“Oh, princess you should know by now. That you shouldn’t flirt with wives of Bast,” Riri jokes while Shuri rolls her eyes. From where the princess stood she should be able to pick Riri before Bast, “And I’m not a priestess yet,” Riri explained as she moved away from the royal. Shuri couldn’t help but like this tug and pull she had with Riri. Shuri felt seen by her than anyone close to her. Her brother too consumed with his role as the new king with their mother's help and guidance. Leaving Shuri to tinker in her lab, having her days blending together. 

The burden of being the spare. 

Shuri quickly got rid of her thoughts as she watched the priestess in training watering the new heart-shaped herbs, which was recently planted. Shuri wanted to sketch Riri’s movement in her brain. Something so mundane as watering the plants was enough for Shuri’s crush to be so hard. 

Shuri doesn’t know but her mouth decides to make her talk, “Why did you choose to be a priestess?”

Riri was quiet for a moment thinking about why she decided to live the rest of her life to help serve Bast and her people.

“I get to help people,” Riri spoke before getting off her knees and coming closer to the princess, “Some people need someone to believe in. Not all of us can just rely on science.”

“But science is fundamental,” Shuri argued as she pointed her finger at her, “There is always a cause and effect to anything.”

“Or it can be how the way things are,” Riri commented. Shuri couldn’t or rather didn’t want to look away from Riri. Her doe-like eyes made Shuri numbly swallow forcing herself to look away from Riri. 

“Let’s just say agree to disagree, hm?” Shuri said as she wiped off the fake dust that lay on her white dress. 

Riri smirked at Shuri’s comment, “Whatever you say, your highness.”

Shuri could only smile at her. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen Shuri thought as twisted her fingers, “So when’s the ceremony?” 

The ceremony that would put this cat and mouse to an end.  The ceremony would promise herself to be pure and holy to Bast in order for her to her one of many wives. Having that knowledge and knowing the outcome cracked Shuri’s heart a lot. The one person who didn’t want her to change; letting her be herself. Letting her insult and make jokes about the goddess that Riri fully intends to marry in the afterlife. This was the only time Shuri was ever envious of the imaginary figure. 

 Riri smiled at her, “Why do you want to stop it to have me all by yourself?” 

“Maybe,” a few beats past before the words tumbled out of Shuri’s mouth, “Yes.”

“Well are you a nice kidnapper,” Riri commented as she let the princess hold her hand. Letting the royal pretend that she could magically whisked her away from her duties and her promise to Bast. 

“Only the kindness, “ Shuri retorted as she looked loving into her eyes. The pair both knew that in a different world, they would be together, just not this one. 

[the-massive-simp]

In the right place - Nikolai Lantsov x reader

IT TOOK ME AGES TO WRITE THIS HELP btw this is my first long(ish) fic so it wont be the best but i tried really hard for nik<3<3

remember that english is not my first language, sorry for any errors! (feel free to point them out in the comments, i'll correct them)

REMEMBER TO DRINK WATER AND EAT SOMETHING TODAY OR I'LL COME TO YOUR HOUSE WITH MY AGGRESSIVE PARROT luv ya<3

warnings: Nikolai is stupid, kind of angst(?) but not really (happy ending), nik drinks like two glasses of kvas but he doesn't get drunk

Maybe this is not where I’m supposed to be. She thought, looking at the stars. It was night, at the Grand Palace, and she’d been sitting at the window for what felt like hours. But her mind, her stupid, stubborn mind, was miles away from that room. 

The first time they met, he was not himself. He was Sturmhond, the self-proclaimed ”sexiest privateer of all the True Sea”, and he offered her a place in his crew. At that time his name was not as famous, but the rumors about him were starting to grow. When she heard his name slip from the mouth of a Shu girl walking through the harbour with a boy who seemed her brother, she followed the two. She wanted to leave that city, so might at well get a nice job that would make her travel the world. -Wait!- the two Shu turned around and looked at her. Shortly after she was in the Captain’s cabin, and then in his crew. As she passed more and more time with the privateer, she found her heart beat quicker every time he said one of his stupid flirty jokes to her, every time she saw him shout orders to the crew to lead them through yet another storm, every time his strange reddish hair were ruffled by the wind sea, every time she looked into his odd eyes. She always wondered what love felt like. She was in love with Love, but was what she felt really that? Was it just a stupid crush? Or maybe he really was that anchor she was searching for, that something to rely on when she had a bad day, that someone to hold closer as the night came. So the hopeful girl looked with heart eyes at the young captain, and the young captain looked at the waves. 

When Alina and Mal came, she was scared. She saw the way her captain looked at the Saint. Oh it was so unfair to call him hers, so selfish, she knew that. But her heart thought otherwise. And before she knew it, her captain was not her captain anymore. When they crashed on the ground of Ravka and he revealed his true identity, she was pretty shocked. The twins left some clues for her to pick up about Sturmhond not being his real name, but she didn’t know his real one. She looked at his ginger hair becoming lighter, his eyes now fading until they became hazel, like sugary honey. She saw power and authority rushing to him, to his undeniably regal features, that overall recalled the one she learned to love. She tried his name in her mouth. Nikolai Lantsov. Nikolai. Was her privateer still there? The astonished girl looked at the young prince, and he glanced at her. 

During the war she discovered that Nikolai wasn’t different from Sturmhond, but she somehow saw him in a different way. Maybe it was that he kept changing masks to fit in his place as the prince, or maybe it was the fact that now she knew that she couldn’t have him. He was meant to marry a princess or a rich and noble girl or maybe a certain Sun Summoner. But Saints, her heart couldn’t care less, he wanted to be torn apart by those golden locks, by those hazel eyes, by that cocky grin, by that amazing man that Nikolai Lantsov was. She watched him become closer and closer to Alina, and she knew that if she really loved him she was supposed to be happy: after all, what is love if not caring for the happiness of that certain someone that makes us see the world ten times brighter? When she heard that the Sun Summoner had the Lantsov Emerald, she felt her heart tighten. So, the sad girl looked at the happy prince, and he forced himself to not look at her. 

Then that day came. The day when the Darkling found the Spinning Wheel. She ran towards the screams just in time to see her captain, her king, her Nikolai inhaling two shadows. She rushed to him, as he tore off his shirt, to reveal the dark lines that were spreading under his skin. She took his hands and looked at his terrified face, drowning in his hazel eyes, two deep golden-brown wells. He threw his head back and screamed when two black wings erupted on his back. They looked at eachother one last time and then he flew away. 

And now that the war was over, he didn’t talk to her. Saints, he didn’t even acknowledge her existence! Every time she was in his presence, even if it was just for a public speech of his, she hoped, prayed, that he would lay his eyes on her and notice her. Oh, how stupid of her to fall for Sturmhond, for him, for his golden locks, for his hazel eyes, for his charming personality, for his stupid grin, for his beautiful laugh. She thought that maybe, somewhere in the now king’s hearth there was some space for her, but she was obviously wrong. This and other thoughts of the same kind ran through her head, keeping her awake. Until a knock on the door interrupted the frantic activity of her mind. When she opened the door, her eyes met the last face she expected.

-Nikolai?-

-I need to talk to you.-

When he first met her, he’d never thought that he would stay awake so late thinking about her. A hundred times the urge to get up and go to her room came to him, and a hundred times he pushed it away. Maybe, if he fell for her back when he was Sturmhond, they could have a chance. But now? He had been avoiding her since the last battle in the Fold, because he had his duties as a king to keep him from marrying whoever he wanted. But she’s a war hero! People would love her as a queen. There was this voice in the back of his mind, constantly breaking down every single objection he tried to make. You can’t let her go this way. Saints, he had never wished so bad to be an ordinary person. In another life, they’d have met at one of their village’s festivals, and they would have danced all night. No weight of a nation on their backs, no pressure at all, just two ordinary people living an ordinary life, full of ordinary things… if love can ever be called that. He stretched an arm to reach the bottle of kvas that was in the corner of the desk and poured himself a glass. He slided the chair back slightly and downed all the liquid in one sip. He reached for the bottle again,but the urge to see her came back, stronger than ever before. It crashed against his rationality and destroyed it, like a wave destroying the sandcastles built by little children. He got up and left his chambers, telling his guards to not follow him. He walked to her chamber, but it wasn’t enough. He tried to keep his composure, and forced himself to not run through the hallways, up and down the stairs of the Big Palace. He stopped when he faced her door. He raised a hand to knock and waited. After a moment she opened the door: she looked surprised to see him, and she had all the rights to be. After all, he’d been avoiding her for almost a month. When he said that he needed to talk to her, her expression hardened. 

-You haven’t talked to me, apparently without a reason, for a while. What makes my presence…- she was trying to be mad, but then he interrupted her, and spoke.

-I’m sorry. For ignoring you. And for everything else.- The irritation that crinkled her features shifted towards curiosity. 

-What do you mean with “everything else”?- 

-Can I come in?- she pondered the question for a moment and then stepped aside to let him in. She followed him and then closed the door. He took a deep breath in and runned an hand through his hair. 

-So, what did you mean?-

-I meant all the time I made you waste. We should had this conversation long ago, and I’m sorry for making you wait-

-Nikolai I accept your excuses, but don’t you dare to ignore me for a month again- she smiled at him.

-I wasn’t talking about that. At least, not only that.-

-You’re confusing me.-

-People often feel that way when they see me, no need to worry.- 

-Nikolai.-

He huffed and then he tried to speak again, but she preceded him. 

-I think I’m actually the one that has something important to say.-

-Well then ladies first.-

-Since we.. uhm I mean I- oh fuck it she tought. -I have feelings for you. That kind of feelings. Since we met. At the start it was just a crush but I fear that it might have evolved into something more. I know that you probably don’t feel the same but I thought that it was fair to let you know. You don’t have to worry about my professionality, this doesn’t affect my work and- he interrupted her by walking to the windowsill, where she was sitting, and taking her hands in his.

-Well, usually I have a talent for excelling, but this time you beat me on time- she was surprised, almost shocked.

-Wait do you mean that-

-Yes, I, the amazing and damnably handsome Nikolai Lantsov, have feelings for you. That kind of feelings- 

She hugged him, and he hugged her back. They held each other so hard it almost hurt, but they didn’t care. Her feet almost didn’t touch the pavement, but he had her back. She put her hands on his cheeks and whispered against his lips before kissing him: -I’ve waited so long for this- 

The kiss was sweet and chaste. It felt like two pieces of the same puzzle finally finding their place next to each other. It felt like steel finding flint. Nikolai hoped, prayed that the spark would never expire. He wanted to know every inch of her mind and her body. He wanted to see her in a beautiful dress, in the chapel where the royal weddings were celebrated. He wanted to wake up next to her for the rest of his life. And she wanted him the same way. She wanted to lay on his chest and feel his heartbeat. She wanted to hear him calling her love, darling, this time not in one of his jokes. She wanted to place her lips on his every night before going to sleep. That night, they slept in the same bed, holding close the person they loved the most. And it was exactly where they were supposed to be. 

[joes-sha-la-la-la-girl]

When Love and Hate Collide: Chapter 8

Series Masterlist

Their next show a few days later went phenomenally, like always. The band and crew were now making their way over to Asia. They had to spend a week on the bus before they went to the airport. Y/N found it to be an odd experience. She found it difficult to sleep the first night as she discovered that more than one of the band members snored. She wasn’t sure who but she knew it wasn’t Sav. They would all be spending a lot more time on the bus in Asia as they would be there for a longer period of time, so she needed to get used to it. She inwardly groaned at that. 

The flight over there wasn’t too bad as she slept for most of it, Vivian standing guard yet again to make sure no one tried to draw on her face. When they landed, they got straight on the buses that were waiting for them, taking to the same beds as before. As she sat down on her bunk, she noticed Joe pull the curtain across straight away, not even giving her a glance. 

Y/N was still wondering what was going on with Joe. She didn’t want to pry and she knew it was nothing to do with her but she was worried that she had done something to him still. She knew that the rest of the band knew what was going on. They weren’t maliciously keeping it from her but rather, she assumed, to respect Joe and his privacy. 

Despite how Joe was still ignoring her after being on tour with them for just over a week, there was a funny feeling come over her when he looked at her. A feeling that Y/N hadn’t felt since she met her ex-boyfriend. She knew it would be best to stay away from Joe for a while, as much as her job made it possible, until she figured out what she was feeling. The last thing she needed was to develop a school-girl crush on a man who wouldn’t even give her the time of day.

They still had a week before their first show and they would be spending that time on the bus as well. The downside to staying on the tour bus was that there was no shower. They had to wash down with a flannel everyday, which was less than ideal. There were eight adults living together on the bus including Y/N and their bus driver so everyone was trying the best they could to prevent any unpleasantness for the people living with them. 

Tension seemed to be rising between Joe and Y/N. Sav thought that Joe was starting to turn a corner and at least be polite towards the young woman, but apparently not. Sav himself couldn’t pinpoint what was causing Joe’s bad mood this time, but he and the rest of the band were trying their best to be extra nice to their tour assistant.

*

Their first week in Asia went quickly and soon enough, they found themselves in the hotel the night before their first show in Thailand. As they were checking in, Mal gave Y/N another updated itinerary telling her where the boys had to be and when. Y/N made sure she studied it well, not wanting to be late anywhere or to show up at the wrong venue accidently.

Sav collected her for dinner after she lost track of time and Y/N could feel the awkwardness that had surrounded them for the previous two weeks, continue. Trying not to seem bothered by it all, Y/N started questioning everyone, making sure they were settled in alright and ready for the show. 

“As long as you don’t walk into anyone else then I think we’ll all be fine. We have done this before.” Joe almost spat at her, shocking everyone around the table. 

Y/N didn’t even bother to react. She didn’t let it show that his words affected her. Sav gave Joe a sharp look and kicked him under the table but Joe didn’t seem bothered by this. 

The table remained fairly quite after that, Y/N looking down the entire time to avoid eye contact with anyone else, she was left slightly embarrassed after Joe’s outburst, she knew that they had done this many times before, but it was her job to make sure they had everything and if they forgot something it would fall onto her.

When they had finished, Y/N quickly excused herself and headed back to her room for the evening. As she left, the rest glared at their lead singer. 

“Well, you’ve really outdone yourself this time.” Sav scoffed. Joe just looked up at him refusing to say anything. “You know you have to apologise to her.” He continued when Joe didn’t respond.

“Yeah I’ll pass.”

“No you won’t,” Phil spoke up, “You said you would be civil with her.” 

Rolling his eyes, Joe realised he was on his own. With a huff, he got up from his seat and followed in the direction their assistant went. It registered in him that he wasn’t listening when she had told him her room number earlier. Turning round he looked at Sav who rolled his eyes.

“625”

Joe gave another nod and made his way towards the lift. The truth was he wasn’t sure what prompted him to make that comment to her. He didn’t know where this anger was building up from again. Maybe it was because he started to let his guard down slightly when he promised to be nice, which was the last thing he wanted to do. Or maybe it was the comment that Mal had made a few weeks ago about her replacing him. Joe knew Malvin was joking but the idea of her being in charge of their tours when he barely wanted to be around her irritated him.

Once he got to the sixth floor, he slowed down his pace, wanting to delay this as much as possible. He hated apologising at the best of times. Counting the rooms as he went, he finally got to Y/N’s room. It was quiet there and for a moment he thought that she wasn’t in there. However, then he heard her moving about inside and decided to knock, knowing that the others wouldn’t let him be until he apologised.

It wasn’t long before she came to the door and Joe felt his heartbeat quicken at the sight of her. She was a short but modest nightdress, with her hair plaited so it didn’t get tangled overnight. She had taken the little make-up that she wore throughout the day off and the main light in the room was switched out, leaving the bedside lamp on. It was obvious to Joe that she was about to go to bed.

Joe didn’t realise that he was staring until Y/N softly cleared her throat. For some reason Joe couldn’t find any words. He moved his eyes from her legs, up to her face but he just stood there like an idiot.

“Why are you here Joe?” Y/N asked in a tired tone.

[ask-missparker]

Familiar additions / AU series

Pairing: Charming!Nikolai x Snow!Amelia, Liane x Ethan, Cole x Jeremy

Characters mentioned/shown: Joshua Nolan, Belladonna St. James, The Twins, Cinderella!Rochelle, Mal!Liane, Rumple!Cole and etc

Summary: What happens if a glimpse of hope starts to become truly foreign to the touch? In other world, the pages aren’t as they seem to be.

———

It’s been a short while since the young brunette moved into the cozy loft of the man who offered him a place to live. Not just that, due to him being rather young he was forced to stay out of trouble and go to the school in Fighter-Town. It wasn’t so bad because his newfound friends were there and he was able to go to Riley’s grandfather’s diner afterwards.

School day wasn’t so bad. Belladonna and him got to be in the same English class with Professor Charles Xavier teaching them about William Shakespeare’s books, it was rather nice. Professor Xavier was pretty noble and gentle with his students young and old, speaking every single of them with such a nice voice. Lunch was okay being able to hang out with everyone, usually he was the loner kid in the hallways at school or in the library eating his meal, never really got a chance to socialize properly. The twins, Georgia and George, were silly enough to talk about bicker on and on about a which superhero was better, Riley shared her chips with Belladonna and he brought everyone extra water bottles.

He didn’t know why he felt so comfortable within this little Scooby-Doo gang but he just did.

Once all the class would ended, he would sit outside of the steps with Belladonna watching the teachers and students leave. Rick would come over with Riley to speak with Belladonna about going straight home if possible after school as she would nod, Riley would giggle knowing the young latina wanted to roll her eyes at her father but didn’t. Rick would suspiciously eye Joshua giving him a once over and a hint of snarl at the boy’s demeanor but something about him felt calming, he couldn’t place his finger on it.

Rick would go over to Rochelle, his co-teacher, for a quick talk as their children chatted. Rochelle would listen to Rick’s theories and thoughts every now and then on things that came to mind. With Rick being always more intense about things, he tends to be suspicious about any harm that might come to their children, such as thinking Joshua was a pot-head or something, in which Rochelle would shake her head and chuckle at his ideas.

Yes, the boy seemed nice by all accounts but his gut feeling says that there is something fishy about this new teen boy hanging out with the other kids. But he guessed since Riley seemed to like him, maybe wasn’t so bad per say.

Rochelle has heard about the boy from her twins and even come across him at the park once in a while, to find him harmless in her eyes. But a part of her felt familiar wave of fairness and nice dose of spunk when she came across Joshua, a go with the flow attitude that sometimes reminded her of Nikolai. She assumed it was because they were living together their personalities clashed.

Rochelle would pick her kids up from the park, along with Riley, where she would find the young brunette reading a notes in a book and scrolling on his phone. She smile and lean over the bench, “Hi.”

“Hey.” He replied with a soft smile, putting his book down getting a sense of sweetness from the redhead.

“I couldn’t help but notice your now living with Nikolai. How’s that working out for you?”

“H-how did you..”

“He’s does my ear piercings and we tend to chat a lot. It’s surprising how he let you stay with him, he’s not one to have too much company.”

“Yeah, he offered to help me out and after his little rescue a while back, he seemed in need of some company..it just feels right, you know? I’ve never had someone do that for me…”

“Why’d you say that? You seem like a nice kid, at least where I’m staying.”

“I’ve been alone for a few years now, no one to ever give me a chance..and my parents, I never found them..”

“Maybe you might find them one day.”

Joshua glanced at his notebook with ripped pages inside muttering, “Maybe closer than I think..”

Rochelle placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled, “Keep hoping, kiddo.”

——

———

Ethan clearing his head after a hangover when suddenly there was a knock on his door, as in walked his daughter who exclaimed in a killer tone of attack how this is a minor bug in her plan.

“Uh what?” He asked.

She groaned, “I got you here. Brought Nolan here to see his parents and you met mom, the sheriff kinda doesn’t like you very much…yet something is missing.”

“You’re talking about your book again?”

“What else would I be talking me?”

“I don’t know? Your a teen girl, shouldn’t you be focused on parties, texting your friends and boys?”

She made a face in disgust at his comment, “No. I’m not my mother, focusing on my social life and work. I got bigger things on my plate.”

He deadpanned and sighed, “Right. Because that would be ridiculous, I’ll play your little game, since I don’t want trouble with your mother.”

“It’s not a little game. Theses tales are real, just not as realistic as you may think. Why do you think you’ve felt like a idiotic loner for so long? You keep drinking and drowning yourself in the question of where your family is all this time? A part of you knows something is wrong here. You were suspicious of the Mayor like I am, he is up to no good.”

“Bella, honey, the mayor is playing his own business here. Yes it was suspicious he and your mother were Ms. Spencer’s emergency contact, but there has to be a good reason for that.”

“A very good reason. I asked mom if she had any actual paperwork on her years prior and she said no. That it was sorta odd for her. Ethan, I’m not one to believe in many things but in this, I am. I’m just asking for a bit of knowledge on your part, even if you don’t remember anything yourself.”

The man sighed, taking in her information and repeatedly telling himself that his daughter might be onto something here despite his own thoughts. She was right about him being a huge drink and a slight lowlife. He wasn’t quite convinced of the whole truth about this town or the tales she is tell, her face meant that she was serious.

He bite his inner cheek and groaned, “Fine. What is it that you meant me to do?”

“Get a job. Make yourself known around here and possibly go out on a date with my mother, if you can get your head out of your ass.” She said with blueness in her tone, but a hint of a smirk on her face.

With that, the girl left. Went out of his small room at the diner, Ethan asked around for paperwork knowing the Mayor might have his head for hearing that fact about him somewhat jobless. He was recommended to ask certain accents shop, so he stepped into a vintage looking store only to be met with a brunette behind the counter.

The brunette, Cole, was sipping on a glass putting away to meet his eyes. He half smiled, leaning against the counter to find his brother entering his store. Both men have crossed paths before briefly on the street but he has never been in here til now, which meant something happened. Like always his idiot older brother needed something from him and he sighed knowing he was relentlessly provide it.

Ethan looked at Cole, asking what can be done get a job around here that won’t draw much attention and give me some kind of respect. Cole smirked telling him to be one of the sheriffs around town, but he would have to prove to Erik he is worth the time and enough, that not just a save for a missing persons case would help his act. Ethan took a few seconds to take in what he meant and left the store, not without a slight glare at the Mayor who entered the moment he left to the station.

Alexander walked inside the store, glancing over at Cole with a glare, “I need you to do something for me.”

“And why would I do that? I’m a busy man, I got a date within a hour at the library. But what would you know your lonely and single?” Cole replied sipping his drink with glee.

“Zip it! I have two new town members here and one of them is Belladonna’s father. And my sources tell me that he is a alcoholic who has been in jail more than once. I don’t need a day drinker here.”

“I’m the town’s day drinker, mister mayor. So your out of luck, Ethan is just some normal guy who is here to be with his child.”

“He solved a case with my brother some time ago and dragged everyone down with him. I want him gone, or at least something worse.”

“Like what? Jail? Alexander, please, your working yourself up over nothing. Your just bitter your brother is having a decent day and Ethan is being liked around the townsfolk.”

“What do you know?”

“Nothing of the sort, just that he is not leaving anytime soon.”

Alexander turned around to leave but stopped short when Cole said, “And he will be getting a job as sheriff here very soon.” That seemed to turn the mayor’s attention bright red as he stormed out calling Liane to file down and order whatever paperwork to be printed by noon on Ethan. Liane with a deep breath did as told going to have the mall sent out about the handsome brunette despite her best wishes, a little saddened by the information as well.

Cole snickered to himself loving the idea of Alexander fuming over things not being in his control, he went to prepare for his date with Jeremy. A part of him wished he could tell his man the truth and hoped to figure out a way soon to tell him, for now it was sorta nice having a chiller version of his husband. Once he returned to the front desk, leaving his shop and closed the door he noticed his old friend walking past him with a small smile wearing a jacket.

Amelia looked calm yet nervous, fluttering her hands a bit as she nodded at him. She may not remember him since she just got out of a coma with foggy memories, it was pretty nice to see her out of a hospital bed. From his sources, he heard she has been wondering around town trying to get back to the swing of things and even met some familiar faces at the diner. Sadly due to the false memories everyone had, it was like they forgot Amelia existed and never went looking for her, to even claim her as their own at the hospital. But the moment she woke up from the coma, some of the townsfolk were reminded of her existence again.

It was odd.

He noticed she walked into the tattoo parlor that was nearby his store, as a small grin appeared on Cole’s lips. He knew why. Knowing that information, he stumbling in the library to find Jeremy waiting for him holding two bottles of champagne and take out from the diner, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Cole rolled his eyes and winked, sighing softly at the sight loving the thought of his husband out of all black leather and in lighter colored outfits, wearing a prosthetic hand that suit his well. Even though he liked the hook more.

——————-

Amelia walked into the tattoo parlor, in awe of the placement inside. The prints of different types of designs on the wall, the display cases of earrings, the big comfy chairs, the accented details and even the lighting was cool toned. The rooms seemed to be occupied by clients, so she awkwardly waited sitting in one of the chairs. She saw men and women walk in and out of the rooms, chatter could be heard and sounds of tools ringing her ears. She winced hearing a small scream that seemed that a women that calmed down shortly afterwards, then said women walked out thanking the person in the room.

The said women, who she recognized as pink haired lady from the record store, being Luna, paid at the front desk, giving Amelia a small smile then walked out. Then in came from behind one of the double doors was the man was waiting to see, dressed in a gray hoodie, boots, a couple of tattoos himself and a baseball cap that suited him very well.

His eyes seemed to stutter for a moment the second he noticed she was there and held back a little cocky grin. But his grin couldn’t help but shine across his entire face. He remembers that night he saved her and not having the full blown courage to see her again properly despite crossing with each other at the diner more than once. He didn’t know why he never came up with a good reason to talk with her but here she was.

“Hey.” He said, walking up to her having the grin laced softly across his face.

She returned the soft grin, “Hey. I um..”

“It’s okay, take your time. Are you here for a tattoo or piercing?”

“I don’t think I’m brave enough for one, yet. I actually came in here to thank you for the save earlier. You found me.”

He nods taking a soft bow, “I guess it’s all in a days work, m’lady. Anyone would’ve done the same, I’m just glad it was me who uh, did it.”

“You were brave enough to be the one to break me back. I don’t know how to repay you. And honestly I wish I could tell you more about myself but my mind is still fuzzy from being asleep..sorry.” She replies with a soft smile.

“How about a date?”

“A date?”

“If you’ll have me, I can take you on a little tour and have dinner later.”

“I’ll like that.”

He wanted to see if she was playing with him but the innocent look on her face said otherwise. He smiled telling her that he will pick her up near the flower shop a few stores down from his shop. She smiled at that, waving at him as she walked out just as another customer walked in. Nikolai waited for her to walked out to fist pump himself for scoring a date that fact, he wasn’t expecting it but he did it!

——//—-

Meanwhile, the word spread about Ethan being a slight alcoholic and someone who has been in trail more than once for past mistakes, resulting in a few surprises being his daughter. Belladonna sound out as the newspaper dropped on her lap that afternoon when she was at the diner, shown to her by George who sighed stealing two fries from her plate.

She groaned about to say something when Ethan slip into the booth and quietly exclaimed, “You weren’t supposed to know half of it.”

“I bet. It must’ve been my mother, he made her to do.” Belladonna added with a sigh, “What are you gonna do about it?”

“I need to get the town to see me not as a asshat..but first I thought of evening the playing field.”

“Like how?” Said a voice, that belonged to Riley who was standing in front of them with a curious tone.

Ethan raised an eyebrow, “How long were you standing there?”

“Long enough. I’m silent like a wolf.”

“Okay? I was thinking of cutting down the man’s bushes.”

“Yes!”

“No!” Belladonna yelled over them, knowing Riley can be a little insane and will definitely go for an idea like that, “As much as I would like to do that myself, or better burn his house down, it’s too early for that.”

“That’s plan B then! I wanna cut down a tree.” Riley said with a smirk nodding.

“Yeah but..we gotta think smart here. Ethan has to prove himself a hero.”

“But how?”

“I’m working on it..”

But it seemed like a certain shop owner had an similar idea to the long haired Latina…

At Town Hall, Rick and Liane were discussing with Alexander on the topic of the school tax rates along with activities that could be done for students. Rick was on about more field trips and after school activities he would like to be such as expanding on the greenery of the area. Liane was surprised by his suggestions, wondering on how they can bunk that up with any legal issues, possibly even adding a larger playground at the school.

Alexander was half listening, taking down notes and reading over the files on how all of this can contribute to the overall development budget of the town. There were bustling across the building but few people here today.

Ethan was in the building himself waiting to speak with whoever could be help him with the current situation surrounding him. He was in the hallways of the second floor getting impressively impatient about to walk into the room when he smelled it, slight noise of smoke.

He ran down the hallway trying to slam open the door until it swung open as he yelled, “Sorry to intercept but there is more pressing matters.”

Liane scoffed, “Uh excuse you, Ethan, but we are in a meeting!”

“She’s right. I’ll have to ask you to leave now or I’ll get have get someone to escort you out.” Alexander spat standing up from the desk.

Ethan glared, “Escort me out, go ahead and do it some other time, mister mayor. But we have to go now.”

Rick was deeply confused barking a few things to Ethan until the smell reached his nose and entered his lungs. Fire. He gasped, “No he’s right! We gotta leave now, like right now. Come on Liane.”

Liane was suddenly pushed out of the door by Rick as Ethan ushered Alexander who elbowed him past the double doors, leading everyone down the stairs carefully. Ethan and Rick escorted all four of them down the stairs as the fire on the first floor grew. Liane screamed loudly grabbing Ethan’s hand quickly as Rick tried to search for an way out meanwhile Alexander shouted over them, climbing down the stairs first opening the door.

Rick yelled, “Wait!”

The moment the door open, the fire behind them caused an exploding blast that pushed all of them back. Rick mustered all the strength he had standing up, sharing a glance with Ethan as they both helped the others up. Alexander hit his shoulder from the blast laying in the staircase as Liane landed nearby a gray wall. Rick helped the blonde up from the ground, who yelled how didn’t she expect this to happen today as Ethan held out his hand for Alexander to take.

“Dude come on!” He yelled.

Alexander scoffed not saying a word taking his hand and groaned in annoyance, asking, “What’s your genius plan now?”

Once he was pulled up the ground, Ethan and Rick jumped in front of them, coughing and shouting as they did. Rick noticed a fire extinguisher and an axe lifting the red objects from the wall and tossing one to Ethan. Both men smirked nodding to one another. Ethan used the fire extinguisher as white foamy smoke filled the air, dying down the fire as much as possible but still grew and Rick grinned swinging the axe with all his might breaking down the doors as they all walked across from the entrance.

As they got outside, coughing and sneezing stumbling out the way, Erik and others came in to finish the job. The fire department and ambulance arrived behind him just as quickly. Liane coughed and squeezed her eyes shut hearing a voice that belonged to her daughter along with a couple of kids.

Ethan was holding Liane when Belladonna came rushing asking if they were okay, sharing looks with one another.

“What happened?” She asked her parents with concern in her eyes, a true moment of event feeling.

“There was a fire, someone must’ve forgot to turn something off or something.” Liane said, trying to figure out what happened, “B-but we’re alright..yeah.”

“That was oddly dramatic. Glad you’re both doing well. Uh, I guess you got a savior, mom.”

Liane glanced up at Ethan who tiredly smiled as she muttered, “Yeah..yeah i guess so.”

Erik rushed over to make sure they were doing alright, bringing over two nurse practitioner with him.

Rick was laying Alexander down gently as he heard his own daughter’s voice followed by a couple of adults. It seemed like Belladonna and Joshua were hanging out with the youngest member of their crew, when they saw the fire department and ambulance coming across Town Hall.

Joshua was holding Riley’s hand leading her carefully to her father, as Rick picked up his daughter mumbling in her ear, “Shh, shh I’m here. It’s okay.”

Riley lay her head on his shoulder, “You were brave out there..”

“Yeah. Yeah, you can say that was. I sensed the fire as soon as it hit my nose.”

“Of course you did!”

Riley gasped seeing the axe next to her dad and grinned, “Cool!”

Rick chuckled softly then looked down at Joshua who stood there awkwardly and sighed, “T-thank you for watching over her, i guess..”

The young brunette shrugged with a half smile, “It was nothing, we were all worried about what happened..���

When Rochelle arrived with Cassie, she gasped wanting to go see if her friends were alright, apparently Nikolai and Amelia weren’t far behind since all four of them saw the fire department and ambulance from the flower shop.

Nikolai rushed over to his brother who was sitting on a chair with a nurse who was checking his shoulder for any hard damage, Alexander brushed his brother off saying he was fine. Nikolai was trying to be nice and see if he needed any help but his big brother wasn’t having it, scoffed saying he just needed to ice his shoulder tonight. He’ll be fine in the morning, if he wanted to help he would’ve been there in the beginning.

Nikolai rolled his eyes at his brother’s soft outburst and walked away from him going to check on the others. He found Amelia with the Rochelle’s twins talking to the others about the accident.

No one was badly injured or anything, just needed to ice themselves, rest and most importantly get cleaned up, which wasn’t half bad. As well as file any paperwork if needed.

—//—

The next day couple of days were busy with soft noise. Some newspapers about Ethan’s time in jail were forgotten as he was seen in a better light. The students in class had something new to talk about, which resulted in poor Professor Xavier along with Rochelle to quiet down the children and return back to their textbooks instead.

Rick and Liane went to have their meeting at her house instead, without Alexander around, due to the man wanting to deal with fixing the Town Hall building instead. Especially since Rick busted down a couple of doors with a freaking axe, which Riley was bragging about later on, finding it very cool.

Ethan was seen as a good man after that, Erik even though about it and offered him a job as co-sheriff after seeing his bravery. He took the offer but couldn’t help but stay curious as to how the fire starters in the first place. He has been racking his brain about it for a long period of time until it hit him.

He left his desk at the station and rolled up to the shop, opening the door with a small lined smile. The small bell rang alerting his attention.

The man in question had his back turn and sighs, “I guess when i brought that ‘We’re closed’ sign, i was just wasting my money.”

“I guess so.” Replied the older man with his arms crossed watching the younger one turn around, “I know what you did.”

Cole leaned against the counter and shook his head. The stance in front of him reminded him of his younger days in wonderland where him and his sister got into some chaotic fun, then his older brother would show up with some questions.

He decided to play coy and said, “Did what? Oh! You mean the fact that i used the roof of the library to watch the stars last night? Yeah i did.”

His brother rolled his eyes sighing, “No. You set up the fire.”

“I did that? Ah can’t remember.”

“You did it to make me look in front of everyone.”

“Someone had to do it. What were you gonna do? Fight fire with fire this early in the game?”

“Hmmm. I could have handled it myself! I could have you arrested for that.”

Cole hummed and smirked, “But you won’t do that, would you? I did you favor, you don’t look bad in front of the townsfolk and now you get to play hero. Isn’t that what everyone want?”

Ethan looked down for a moment and bit the inside of his cheek, “Okay, I’ll let it slide, for now! Don’t try to pull that shit again, I’m letting you off with a warning.”

“Feels good, doesn’t it? Don’t lie. Your kid seems to have a smile on her face, her mother possibly likes you, Mr. Banner and his friends were saved. Oh and my favorite, the blast gave the mayor a little boo boo! All is right in the world.”

“And what’s in it for you?”

“Let’s just say I like to see the heroes come out on top. And, now that I made you look good, when the time comes that I ever need a small favor from you, I’m betting you will help me with that.”

“Sure. Whatever. As for you using the roof for stargazing, I know about that too. Why am I so important to you?”

The young brother just shrugged, “Because you just are, sadly, you are. Now go off, enjoy your day! I heard the diner is having a special on half priced pancakes this morning, and I know how much you love to eat.”

Ethan didn’t say a word and just rolled his eyes walking out, realizing that he needed to get himself a better apartment soon but first, he wanted some breakfast. Well, a second helping of breakfast.

~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other side of town, after visiting his brother because the man wanted to talk with him about the tax rate of his tattoo parlor, in which he remarked how his business was doing fine and how his clients seemed fine with his prices. The tattooed brunette found himself stumbling at the park side, to find a certain young brunette wearing a uniform and jacket that he recognized all too well.

He stifled back a laugh shaking his head and slide onto the park bench beside her saying, “Hi.”

The girl looked up from her fingernail to face him with a nod, “Hey.”

“You got a job I see?”

“Oh yeah, the town’s redhead..Rochelle? She recommend me to work at the coffee place for a while.”

“Funny. I used to work there myself, it’s not a bad place and it’s right next to my shop. You’ll love the cafe, I promise.”

“Loving it already.”

The two chuckled, as cheesy their dialogue seemed, it sounded pretty nice. The brunette winced as he remembered the last couple of day and said, “I’m sorry by the way..”

“About what?” She asked, title her head a bit rubbing her eyes.

“Our date was cut off by the fire attack at Town Hall. We barely got a chance to grab a coffee or dinner..”

“Oh no it’s fine! I get it, I would’ve done the same.”

He thought for a moment and hummed, “How about I make it up to you? Right now. You and me, head back to my place, I’ll make up a early lunch, or we can get food from the diner, whichever you prefer.”

She chuckled at his forwardness, “Already inviting a girl over? I haven’t been asked out yet.”

“Well I move kinda fast, it’s my whole thing. And technically, I already did ask you out I just didn’t precede with my intentions! So what do you say?”

“I say, you got yourself a deal.”

He stood up as he held out his hand for her to take, as she took it with a light grip following him to the apartment. The two chatted and chuckled, as the man gave her a small tour of the town while leading her home. He honestly didn’t know what came over him to be so forward with his decision but he liked it, a lot. They ordered a small lunch from Bruce’s diner as they did so, her giggles were promptly stated the whole way home.

~~~~~~

Joshua was at home, reading some ripped pages from the text book given to him by Belladonna earlier during class that day. A small part of him choose to possibly believe in the idea of her parents being Snow White & Prince Charming, from the moment they saved one another in the tale to the very night they met in the woods of Fighter Town.

Not just that, Belladonna pointed out how him and Nik loved the smell of dark rich coffee in the late afternoon, along with a nice slice Italian beard. Yes, it was a simple sense of a meal but comforting. Just like George pointed how his mother was Cinderella based on the fact that both tales connect to the sliver lining almost glass like jewelry she wears. Riley, being always the optimistic young blonde, loved to state the obvious to her father’s traits and who her mother seems to be.

To be honest, every single one of the stories seemed to be interesting with the finest details to the larger interconnect ways they lend to the other. His favorite had to Rumple’s way to making a dramatically sparking appearance in every tale, it made him laugh.

Okay? Was he getting invested? Can you blame him? He loves to read and watch movies like any other person on the face of the planet.

He looked up when he heard the front door open and he saw Nik walk in with a guest. He didn’t think he’ll be home yet with a lady friend, he had to bite back a small grin due to it. Nik hoped he didn’t mind if he invited the girl over, in which the young brunette shook his head.

“Nope. Not at all.” He smiling warmly at the young women, “I don’t think we formally met. I’m Joshua Nolan, his roommate.”

She smiled shaking his hand politely, “Amelia.”

Nik smiled unboxing the bag of burgers and fries from the diner, watching the two interact. He didn’t expect them to be rather polite to one another, especially after the fact that he accidentally brought a pretty stranger into his home unannounced.

He noticed their similar eye color being a blue-green but didn’t a word, until Amelia pointed out, “You two got similar, almost identical cheeks and hair, but more rounder? Weird.”

The two guys muttered a soft, “Weird.” Nik just shrugged with a light smile putting the burgers on the plates, asking the young brunette if he wanted to join them but he denied his offer saying he had some homework to get started on. He nodded watching the boy leave.

“What was that about?’ Amelia said with a chuckle.

Nik sighed and smiled, “Honestly? No idea. The kids in this town are plain weird.”

“I like weird, added a sense of..unique factor.”

“Maybe. I can see where your coming from. But normalcy and commonality is sometimes more my style.”

“Says the guy who invited me into his home for dinner?”

“Hey! I never said I was completely normal.”

“Yeah okay, sure, Romeo. Let’s go with that.”

——

Joshua showed up at the St. Jame household that night knocking on the front door, in which Ms. St. James opened the door. The two of them haven’t properly met before so it seemed a little awkward but she looked kinda dressed up. As if she getting ready to go out somewhere.

“Um hi..Ms. St.James. I’m Joshua, a friend of your daughters..” He said with a half smile looking up at the blonde women.

Ms. St.James, Liane, got a sense of urgency but calmness from the boy’s face as if she had seen it before. She shook her head and smiled, “Ah yes, your the kid who Bella said was her Pen Pal, right?”

“You can say that. Yeah. Is she come? I wanted to see her about our English homework.”

“Yeah, she’s upstairs. Glad to see my daughter making some friends her age.”

The blonde let him inside and pointed up the stairs, as the boy nodded thanking her. Once the young teen entered the room, he saw Bella lock eyes with him raising eyebrow wondering what exactly he was doing here. She was sitting on top of her bed about to insult him, but stopped noticing the look on his face.

“Uh, we need to talk..” Is all he muttered.

She closed her computer and hummed, “Go on.”

—-

———-

Welcome back to the town! I hope you liked it, let me know what you think

Tags: @missstrawbs2001 @purpleprincessonfyre @meiramel @gcthvile @rickb-chaos @gaminggirlsstuff @wizzzardofoz @thechoooooosenone @sherloquestea @luna-d-marsh @rooster-84 @thecavalrywife @cherrysft and etc

[eerna]

Oh yeah I definitely agree with you on show!Nikolai being portrayed much better and less douchey than Nikolai in the trilogy, and how he was more like his KOS self. He was less forceful and less cartoonishly charming, and I’m glad he didn’t suddenly kiss Alina because that was in the book, and I hated it. Loved the friendship dynamic and he, Alina, and Mal had there too. I just find it hilarious that the Sturmhond disguise was just his privateer coat with no tailoring, so it was all very Miraculous Ladybug-comical when his real identity was revealed lol. Sucks that people on Twitter are still giving him shit for his looks and bad tweets as a young adult.

I will always vividly remember everyone hyping up Nikolai to me as a Pirate!Carswell Thorne, which was my dream man at the age of 16..... And then it was That. Unfunny and cringe and fake charming and forcing Alina into a horrible situation and ruining a perfectly good arranged marriage setup. So this is SUCH a nice change of pace, love that they made him less of a caricature and actually allowed him to be friends with both Mal and Alina!! His pathetic crush was actually cute, since he never told her about it and did his best to help her and her boyfriend regardless of it. I suppose the reveal worked for people who haven't read the books, but ur right, no reason to not give him at least a fake scar or some makeup or a different hairstyle lololol. His looks aren't my thing in a vaccum, but he absolutely has a charming aura and I had no problems with buying his dashing prince role. The Internet just loves bodyshaming and tearing people apart for bullshit and what can one do

[muzaktomyears]

Mimi’s views on the NEMS staff, the Beatles, and their relatives:

Mimi liked Brian very much. His impeccable manners and charm won her over the first time they met. He came to the house often, she said, and assured her more than once that she should never worry about John, that he would always look after him and not let anything bad happen. That helped to ease her mind somewhat as John prepared for a career in music and not an artist as she had hoped

As Brian began to fit into the inner circle, Mimi began to wonder why such a kind and generous man wasn’t married. Or why he didn’t have a girlfriend on his arm when he attended the parties. She finally asked Cynthia if there wasn’t a woman hiding somewhere; that surely Brian wouldn’t be going through life as a bachelor. It was Cyn that told her Brian was homosexual. She claims to have been completely surprised and had no idea. But that’s all it had been, just a surprise. He still remained one of only a few people who attached themselves to the Beatles that she genuinely liked.

Also on that list was Derek Taylor. She enjoyed him immensely and especially loved his quick Liverpudlian sense of humor. She marveled at his large family and invited him to bring them all down to Poole for their summer holidays. They stayed at her house while she went up to Liverpool.

She seemed less impressed with Mal Evans, but in later years relied a great deal on Neil Aspinall, once he took over Apple. To her Mal was little more than a gopher, but she had met Neil when he was a young lad driving the boys around from gig to gig. Later she would telephone him when she needed to know where in the world John was or the telephone number of another member of the inner circle.

---

[for her views on George and Paul see here]

There was no real opinion on Ringo. Mimi said she really didn’t know him that well because he had joined the group so late. But she adored his mother and said she always made a point of looking her up whenever she was back in Liverpool.

Unfortunately, with George, she was equally critical of his family. At that time there were rumors going around that George’s father was “dating” some of the fans. There’s no need to mention how disapproving she was of that. Mrs. Harrison, she’d felt sorry for her when she died because she felt the poor woman couldn’t help enjoying all the fame she experienced by being George’s mother but she criticized her all the same. As far as Louise, the sister, went she dismissed her completely with a wave of her hand. Mimi had no time for people who made money off the Beatles unless they were Beatles. Apparently John had told her what was going on in America with her radio shows, and fan clubs, and special appearances, and even an album. He had nothing to do with her, so neither would Mimi.

As far as Jim McCartney, she said all the parents called him Lord McCartney or Gentleman Jim because he seemed to have a royal air about him the bigger The Beatles got, but “he’s all right” she laughed. When she told me this, I could picture a small yet exclusive group of ‘parents’ gossiping about each other in a playful way. Or, in some cases, maybe not that playful.

Pattie Harrison was one of her favorites, along with Jane. Mimi said Pattie was always very nice and very pretty. So pretty, in fact, that Cynthia was jealous of her and had always tried to keep up with her fashion-wise. Mimi didn’t care for Maureen at all because she was always quite rude to Ringo’s mother who, as I said, was also one of Mimi’s favorites.

The Guitar’s All Right as a Hobby, John, Kathy Burns (2014)

[tragedysorbet]

Harmony Melody, Lyric and Verse

A Mal and Syril Story

This one is for a very dear friend of mine about Mal meeting a very dear friend of his!

This came from a conversation about "what if they could meet?" And, the Planes being what they are, we said "Why can't they".

Syril belongs to Tantumuna. I hope I did a decent enough job with him.

Tags: Mal making friends.

Malvaeryon’s fingers tapped slowly on the counter top as he watched the dragonborn shop keeper look over his lyre like it was some kind of deadly weapon. The instrument itself was in very well kept condition, no damage beyond the odd scratch from years of playing and practicing on it. And one broken, razor sharp string which appeared to be the source of all the hold up.

Perfectly normal for instruments in the City of Spiders when one never knew when a bit of garrote wire might come in handy. But on the surface, apparently, that simply wasn’t done. The shopkeeper was equal parts terrified of cutting his fingers and of, well, him. A Drow wasn’t a common sight on the surface these days. The few you spotted around the city were given to hiding during the day to avoid the drain of the sun. For him to be put in full daylight and not be affected was clearly the source of the shopkeepers discomfort.

That only served to increase the drumming of his long, elegant fingers on the counter top. His mood darkening with each second that the man dithered over how to wind the new (very sharp) wire to the frame of the lyre without losing a fingertip or glanced over his shoulder at him.

The shop wasn’t crowded. There were no lines forming behind him at the counter. The only customers were his good self and a young half-drow who was browsing the selection of sheet music and humming quietly to himself. And the shop keeper who finally started to carefully wind the wire next to it’s equally sharp brothers and sisters.

Seeing that he was finally getting on with the work he asked him to do, the drumming of Malvaeryon’s fingers finally ceased. The shop now quiet save for the tune the young man was humming.

A song Malvaeryon faintly remembered from when he was a young boy. One sung to him by a nanny who didn’t particularly mean the words but wanted him to slip into his nightly trance so she sang it as sweetly as possible. He couldn’t recall her face or her voice, but he liked the song well enough.

Despite himself, he found himself humming along at first. Then quietly singing the words to himself in Low Drow as best he could recall them. Some nonsense about counting the legs of a spider but making sure not to get caught or it would eat you right up. Sung from both the perspective of a butterfly and the spider it was teasing.

It was the sort of thing that was equal parts soothing for overtired children and a cautionary lesson about thinking you had something all figured out.

Too busy counting to seven, she forgot the spider has eight.

He was so swept up in it, he hadn’t noticed the half-elf had stopped humming and was now leaning on the counter with a curious look on his face. Not until the sound of applause came from just to the right of him and his eyes blinked in surprise at the sudden sound.

“Bravo!” The young man said with a bright, charming smile. The sort that had you feeling as though you could instantly trust him. Which made Malvaeryon look at him with one eyebrow raised and his head tilted slightly. A gesture that said “I’m cautious, but listening.” They were probably just being friendly, after all. No need to think of where to stick a knife just yet.

“My apologies for eavesdropping, but I’ve never heard someone sing that song in Drow before. You have a really nice voice!” The half-elf went on and Mal watched him as he spoke.

Eyes used to evaluating a person at a glance took notice of shape of his ears and the slight paleness to his skin and marked him as half-drow. An interesting sight not often seen in his homeland, but common enough on the surface. He was a good looking kid. Bright red hair and lovely pale green eyes. Well spoken with a fondness for a dramatic hand gestures. A bard, he’d guessed. Maybe a rogue.

“Thank you.” Malvaeryon replied politely, giving a slight bow of his head in acknowledgement of the compliment. “And there’s no need to apologize when I’m the one who eavesdropped first. I haven’t heard that song since I was very young and I guess I couldn’t help myself.”

“Well, I’m glad you couldn’t because it was lovely to hear.” A cheeky wink accompanied the young man’s words and he extended a hand for Malvaeryon to shake. “I’m Syril, by the by.”

“Malvaeryon.” He replied and took the hand offered to him with a firm grip and gave it the requested shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Syril. You can call me Mal, if you like.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Mal!” The hand he’d taken gripped back just as firmly, shook, then slipped away. He had been about to speak once more when finally the dragonborn brought the lyre back to the counter. The string had been attached and the shopkeeper sported both a frown on his scaly face and a nice new bandage on his fingers before Mal slipped him the payment he’d promised and took the lyre to check that it was tuned.

“That’s a very impressive piece of equipment. Wait- Do you play?” Syril asked with a twinkle in his eyes that bordered dangerously close to glee. And somehow Mal found it… kind of adorable, if he was being completely honest. Bardic charisma was infectious but there was something impossible to ignore about someone being genuinely interested in something he did.

It reminded him a lot of Karlach when she’d found the lyre in his things for the first time. And thinking of her made it even harder to downplay his answer. Rather than simply saying yes, he gave a nod and ran his fingers carefully over the dangerously sharpened strings of the lyre, playing out each scale and then replaying them in reverse.

The instrument itself was drow-make, as all his personal things tended to be. Jet black and fashioned into the shape of a black widow spider, the strings strung between it’s forelegs like webbing. He would have called it a gift from his mother if she’d ever given him anything. In truth, it was an instrument given to him to use by another instructor with no interest in the young prince of House Tet’hys beyond teaching him music and getting paid.

His skill was never praised or considered exceptional. He was told he was adequate and so he never really played at all except to pass the time.

“Every now and then. It’s more of a hobby.” He replied with a shrug of his shoulders and then fussed a bit more with the new string. It was on, but loose. “Something I learned as a boy to keep me out of mother matron's way. What about you? Do you also play the lyre?”

“Violin, actually. Not to brag, but I’m pretty good.” Syril responded, all modesty as he pulled the instrument case from his back and set it on the counter to open it. The instrument inside was worn, but well cared for. The young man lifted the instrument out carefully along with its bow and tucked it under his chin, eyes shut as he played the same scales Malvaeryon had.

One look and he could tell the half-drow took his playing far more seriously than he himself did. His fingers found the right strings without having to look. Mal got the impression that if he hummed just part of a song, Syril could finish the other part without a second thought.

It was impressive, really.

“That’s beautiful.” Mal said with all sincerity as he ended the scales with a flourish and and overly exaggerated bow. Mal gave him the applause he was requesting and deserved. “Can you play the song you were humming? The lullaby?”

“I absolutely can, though I don’t think I can sing it in Drow.” Syril replied with a laugh that was every bit as musical as his instrument. Then looked thoughtfully at Mal and then at the lyre in his hands. “But, the song has two parts. One for the butterfly and one for the spider. Why don’t we play it together?”

A few short months ago, the prospect would have filled Malvaeryon with dread. But, during his adventures, his playing had found an audience with his companions. The idea of playing a duet didn’t seem all that frightening as perhaps once it might have.

And it wasn’t as if he were in any sort of a rush. His husband would be ages in the jeweler’s just down the stairs. Mal figured he had time for a song at least.

“ You know, I’d love to. I’ve never played a duet before.” He said after a moment’s thought. Smiling back when the answer caused another bright grin on the young bards face.

“Wonderful! Which part would you like to play?” his companion asked as they moved away counter to a seat in the shop window that over looked the thoroughfare from the lower city to the upper city. The night was brightened by the light of a large harvest moon and the windows were open. The music would probably carry a fair bit.

It would attract attention. But since it wasn’t a direct crowd he didn’t seem to mind. Not like it was a stage. With a clown. Nothing to have stage fright about.

“I’ll play the spider, unless you prefer the role.” He said as he took a seat and propped the lyre on his leg, giving the strings one last tweaking to make sure it was as he preferred it.

“I have no problems being the butterfly. Don’t take this the wrong way but I get the sense you’re quite at home on a web.” Syril’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial tone and he leaned in close when he said that. And once more Mal couldn’t resist the urge to laugh.

“Whatever gave that away?” He asked with a faint tone of sarcasm and a bright, fanged grin. “Very well. Whenever you’re ready, Butterfly.”

There was a brief pause as Syril gave him a curious look that made Mal wonder if there was something on his face. But it soon vanished with another smile and a nod as he lifted the violin under his chin again and readied the bow.

“Try to catch me, Spider.” He laughed and then counted them both down to three then began to play.

The violin came in first. The sound light, airy and playful to accompany the lyrics about the butterfly fluttering in a clearing in a dark wood. Then became a menacing sting that was joined by the lower scales of the lyre. The sound was sharp, menacing and creeping as Mal’s voice joined in singing for the spider, stalking the silken strands of her web, in Drow.

It was surprisingly fun. The music dancing around itself on each verse only to harmonize on the chorus. Both musicians putting everything into making the plight of the butterfly as believable as possible and into making the menace of the slowly creeping spider as real as if the listener might be trapped themselves.

Outside the window a small crowd had stopped to listen. The shopkeeper listened from the counter, his wounded finger seemingly forgotten. The performance apparently making up for it.

The song played on. The butterfly counting the spiders legs as it struggled to free itself from the web. The violin creating a tight, almost panicked sound as the lyre sang out eight notes as the butterfly’s counting came to its end. Only for the violin to return to its joyful airy tune. The butterfly escaped!

But still the lyre counted out it’s notes:

One, two, three, four

Five, six, seven, eight

Nine legs has the spider

Mal’s eyes blinked open to the sound of applause from below the window and from the shopkeeper. The sound making him feel… oddly proud of himself. Beside him, Syril laughed and gave a theatrical bow to their tiny audience and then gave Mal nudge on the shoulder.

“That was pretty impressive for just a hobby. You sure you’re no bard?” He asked and Mal simply smiled and shook his head in return.

“I’ve been many things, but I can’t say I’ve ever been a bard. Though…” He looked down at the crowd again and gave a bow of his own. “I guess I can understand the appeal now.”

“Want to play an encore?” Syril asked with another of those cheeky little smiles.

One that Mal gave right back.

“Sure. But you choose the song this time.”

“Alright. But a change of venue is in order. Come on!"

Before Mal could blink, he found his hand held and his arm tugged as he was lead from the shop, down the steps and passed what looked like two different versions of Astarion. His own, looking at Mal with amusement, and another that was looking at Syril with the same amused smile on his face.

He hadn't the time to question it before he was lead outside and Syril began addressing the crowd, introducing the encore song with all the skill of a natural born performer. And once again, Mal was caught up in the young man's enthusiasm.

What could one more song hurt?

Soon enough the sound of music filled the room again as two new friends- not realizing they were from two separate planes of existence- began a friendly musical rivalry.

At least until the planes righted themselves again and both of them were where they belonged once more.