#and it really does hit different in Azure Moon i just can’t explain why

[blue-likethebird]

That flute moment in Chasing Daybreak is burned into my brain again

#bluebird.txt #i fucking love this track it’s one of my favourites on the entire OST for real #and it really does hit different in Azure Moon i just can’t explain why #i think it’d be fun to play. man I miss playing the flute #three houses posting

[agent-cupcake]

Can I ask your opinion? So, I feel like everyone into 3H is in love with Dimitri, but I can't connect with him. I don't dislike him, but I feel like there isn't much to his personality without all his various mental health issues. It's hard to get a feel on what he's really like, so I end up just seeing him as a walking ball of trauma and not a three-dimensional character. Do you have any thoughts on Dimitri himself and how to separate him as a person from his psychological issues? Thanks!

Hmm, I guess my first thought is that everyone resonates with characters differently and so if you don’t particularly feel connected to him, that’s not wrong. Fictional parasocial relationships are very similar to real-life relationships, so it follows that nobody is going to like every character. I can’t say that a portion of my love for his character doesn’t come from his mental issues because that’s something I personally relate to and feel drawn to in others. That’s just who I am and how I build relationships. There is also something to be said for the unavoidable way mental illness informs a person’s behavior and character, it’s as much an aspect of them as being born with blond hair or losing an eye.

That said, I will do my best to explain why I think Dimitri is wonderful. Not in spite of his mental illness, but because I don’t think that’s all he is.

So, Dimitri is, as he says, a very clumsy person. This unfortunately extends to his social skills. He has a lot of very socially awkward tendencies and a general lack of self-awareness. This contrasts with his innate desire to please people, or at least avoid upsetting anyone. The thing is, Dimitri doesn’t always completely understand what upsets people or how exactly they might feel. His childhood isolation left him rather emotionally unaware and desperate for the acceptance and approval of others. That’s not to say he doesn’t try to understand other people’s feelings, but it’s not an intuitive process. He has a habit of saying kind of dumb or uncomfortable things out of nowhere, which is most likely his real feelings coming out in rather inept ways. He means well, but he’s just so dang clumsy.

The desperation to be included and validated I mentioned, I think, can be seen in the way he tries so hard to make the other Blue Lions see him as a peer and equal all the while keeping himself rather closed off from them. Dimitri approaches conversations as a means of focusing on the other person, trying to make an appeal to them rather than as an interaction where both parties could be seen as vulnerable. Of course, just like most other socially awkward introverts, he opens up when he feels closer to the person, but that takes a while. Gotta unlock the supports, you know? Although it’s not necessarily obvious, his incredibly stiff behavior (especially pre-timeskip) and the way he switches between overly formal and awkwardly friendly in his interactions with people as he tries to figure out how to socially and emotionally navigate relationships really gives me the impression of someone trying desperately to fit in without even the faintest clue of how to actually manage that. He also does his best to avoid social situations, which, mood. Basically, Dimitri’s a big dumb massive introvert trying to act like he’s not.

FURTHERMORE, he is a dork. An absolute goof of a person. Dimitri canonically thinks so-bad-its-good puns and jokes are hilarious. His own style of telling jokes is saying things that may or may not have contextual humor in a normal voice and then claiming after the fact that he intended it as such. Now, his supports with Alois are absolute factual proof of the so-bad-its-good humor, but might I also direct your attention to the scene before the battle against Miklan in Conand Tower (the event name is “Tower in a Storm (Blue Lions)”). Basically, Gilbert is explaining the history behind Conand Tower and Dimitri says, in an incredibly earnest voice, “You’re very well informed, Gilbert. Please, tell us more.” This is a joke. Supposed to be, at least. The delivery is somewhat emphasized, but not in a recognizably sarcastic way. Gilbert, who knew Dimitri very well when he was young, realizes it’s a joke after a second. But there are other things Dimitri says that I believe are his bad “jokes” and since nobody knows him well enough to tell, they don’t call him on it. There’s no proof, but his line in the Lord’s intro where he says, “And here I thought you were acting as a decoy for the sake of us all.” to Claude has to be an attempt at sarcasm. Dimitri is oblivious, but not stupid. In his Goddess Tower conversation with Byleth, when discussing the topic of wishes, he says, “Perhaps it would make more sense for me to wish that we’ll be together forever. What do you think?” In a completely normal voice. Following are two speech bubbles of “...” before he laughs and proclaims that it’s just a joke and that he’s getting better at telling them. Now, this is a two-parter because I see this as both his horribly awkward tendency to say things he feels without thinking too hard beforehand as well as his silly deadpan style of “jokes”. Granted, he does apologize. Dimitri’s got socially awkward zoomer humor. It’s endearing.

Here is a video of Dimitri hitting on Byleth pre-timeskip. I’m not sure how far it goes to endear someone to him, but the mostly awkward and occasionally smooth attempts of Dimitri’s flirtations are absolutely a highlight of his character. 

Now, this isn’t quite as cute as all that, but I think character arc and change do a lot for making a character feel more three-dimensional. Dimitri is hypocritically selfish. Although those are both negative terms, I don’t necessarily mean them as such, at least not in their totality. Both are things to overcome, which he does. And that’s why I feel like they’re a valid point of discussion when trying to explain the allure of his character.

The hypocritical part comes from the way he easily allows and forgives the flaws of others while constantly castigating himself for the same reasons. He says things that show an absurd amount of a lack of self-awareness. For example, he tells Edelgard, “Hm. You will prove a lacking ruler yourself if you look for deceit behind every word and fail to trust those whom you rely on.” All the while straight-up lying to and emotionally avoiding his friends. Dimitri also tells Marianne, when she is punishing herself for putting other people at risk, “What matters is that they came back safely in the end. You shouldn’t blame yourself for that.” Really, his C and B with Marianne is an exercise in hypocrisy. The standards Dimitri has for himself are incredibly, unattainably high. He’s setting himself up for failure in that way and, to an extent, knows what he’s doing because he knows that those same standards are too much for his friends and allies to meet. He wishes to take on everything himself. But, what I find so beautiful about this, is that Dimitri eventually realizes that he can’t do that. He is not strong enough to take on the weight of the world on himself, he comes to understand that it’s something he must allow himself to share with the people who care about him. He comes to realize that, as difficult as it is to accept, he is a weak person. Despite all of his introversion and inability to emotionally open up, he figures out that having a support system and allowing yourself to rely on people who love you is a necessity. Personally, I think this message is incredibly important in real life. Watching Dimitri come to that conclusion and argue it’s importance really rounded out his arc and journey as a person. Now, the relatability of this conclusion will differ, but I don’t think it has to do with his mental illness as much as it is a fundamental aspect of growth.

The selfishness is basically outlined above. Dimitri is selfish about his pain and secrets, purposefully and selfishly driving people away because he wants to keep the burden to himself. His vice is guilt and he indulges in the pain of it like an addiction. Hatred, too, is a drug. He thinks he needs it to keep going, even though all it does is bring agony to himself and others around him. Learning to accept and let go of these feelings is, again, something I think is important and a character arc that I really love, especially when you see him suffer as much as he does. Now, the execution of this is lacking, I admit. But that’s an issue for another time I think.

I am not quite sure if I did much to change your opinion, but this is all I can think of for now. There is probably a lot more than I’ve left out because I think about Dimitri far too much to be healthy. So, I’ll leave you off with some honorable mention aspects of his character that I think are super fun:

Pre-timeskip Dimitri has his hair tucked behind his ear. He can lift a wagon by himself. In the DLC, when faced with an impossible-to-open gate, it was not muscle man Balthus who said he couldn’t open it, but twinkish teen Dimitri. He’s not really smooth with one-liners. Like, at all. Notably, when attacking Manuela post-timeskip, he says, “Perhaps I should have appeared before you holding a bouquet of flowers, rather than the weapon that will end your life.” Adding to this, at one point, Dimitri fucked up a pick-up line so badly the girl came after him. Areadbhar has a mitten on it in the Azure Moon final picture. He breaks everything. His Crest activation ability even supports this, using twice the durability of any given Combat Art. One of his post-timeskip counselor messages is, “I lived in the slums for a long time, and I saw how the people there suffered from poverty and the ravages of war. There must be something I can do to save them." His room in the academy is right next to Sylvain’s, meaning that for almost an entire year Dimitri was a single wall away from hearing whatever nonsense Sylvain was getting up to. Dimitri is the only Lord that takes the throne and doesn’t abandon his people in some form or another.

And, finally, he is pretty sexy. And that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?

#dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #fe dimitri #dimitri #fire emblem three houses #FE3H #Anonymous

[iturbide]

What do you think could have been done to improve 3H? Given the budget/time, what changes would you have done? Also, what elements do you consider KEY to a good story?

fffffff I would have done so many things differently in 3H it requires a read more but to your second question: I feel that characters are a key element of a good story. Possibly the most crucial element, to me. You can have the most epic, incredible plot in the world -- but if the characters taking part in it aren't interesting or able to engage the reader, then the story loses a huge part of its impact. It's only by caring about the people taking part that a reader can get invested in the story and its outcome; if you don't care about what happens to someone (either in a good or a bad way) then you're at best apathetic to the events, at worst bored by them.

Frankly everything else in a story -- narrative structure, conflict, etc -- is so malleable that I can't consider it key. You can easily make stories that have no classic conflict if you have characters that people care about, because just watching them interact with the world and each other can be beautifully engaging. So at least to me, the key is in the characters: whether you love them and want them to succeed or love to hate them and want to see them get their just desserts, they're the ones that do the heavy lifting in a story, so making sure they're compelling is one of the most important things to me when writing.

As for 3H though I have a lot of changes I would make. Throughout the whole game.

Academy Phase

Giving each House their own unique set of missions. I feel that part of why the Azure Moon route is considered so strong is because it's the most character driven, something that starts in the Academy Phase: everything from Lonato's rebellion to Miklan's theft of the Gautier Relic are highly personal to the Blue Lions students, with Ashe being Lonato's adoptive son and Miklan being Sylvain's estranged older brother (and someone who's well-known to Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid on top of it). While these are both important events, for the Black Eagles and the Golden Deer there's not the same level of personal engagement: it's just a thing that's happening rather than a devastating blow to the students we love. While there are certainly missions that can and should stay the same (the raid on Seiros' tomb, Flayn's kidnapping, the Remire incident, etc.) having select missions be personalized by House to give that same level of engagement would have made for a far stronger narrative, since it enhances the player's connection with the students of their chosen House.

Just as an example: for the Black Eagles, rather than putting down Lonato's rebellion, maybe have their mission be aiding a small sect of the Church in the Empire that's being plagued by monsters or bandits. It gives us the chance to learn more of the history between the Church of Seiros and the Adrestian Empire, how close they were and how it fell apart a century before the game; Rhea might explain that she wants to improve these failing relations by having Imperial students go to aid this disconnected branch, and in private Edelgard could hint at her distrust of the institution and of Rhea herself even if she is following orders. Not only that, we could hear on returning that the Blue Lions students accompanied the Knights of Seiros in dealing with Lonato's rebellion, so we still get the fallout from those events and have a reason to choose the Blue Lions in another run.

Another example: for the Golden Deer, rather than going after Miklan and witnessing his transformation, maybe a report arrives that someone stole Failnaught and task the Alliance students with retrieving it. It lets us learn more about the situation in the Alliance, giving more details about Duke Oswald's situation, Claude's appointment as the heir to the Riegan House...and while he would never do it personally, have there be subtle implications but no hard proof that Duke Gloucester is behind the theft, just as he was the death of Claude's Uncle; on top of that, we could still get a battle against a Black Beast when Failnaught transforms the bandit, giving Claude a very personal look at how dangerous these Relics can be (something he likely wouldn't have had deep insight into, given his Almyran roots). And again, on returning to the monastery we could see the Blue Lions dealing with the fallout from Miklan.

More interaction between the House Leaders in general. There are only a handful of scenes where all three of them interact together, and I can only think of one instance where they're even in each other's company at the monastery (Claude and Dimitri in one of the early chapters). Having more of these moments where they're apparently interacting on the grounds or where we can see them together in cutscenes, giving us more insight into the leaders of the other Houses we didn't pick, would give us a lot more investment in them as people and make the eventual revelations at the end of the Academy Phase hit a lot harder.

Especially with Claude's ambition being what it is, it would have been a far better show of his character to have him hanging out with different students every month -- not just from his own House like Hilda, but from other Houses. Have him be talking with Petra in the dining hall one month, or with Annette at the reception hall another; if you sided with the Black Eagles or the Blue Lions, it would be very easy to suspect that he's up to tricks and trying to figure out individual weaknesses...but if you picked the Golden Deer, you'd likely realize very quickly that he's got no ulterior motives because you've been seeing him in action and getting Supports with him.

More Supports period. We were robbed of some fascinating interactions, like Ashe and Dorothea or Dedue and Petra, and some really strong Support chains stop before they reach their full potential (several Sylvain supports, including Marianne and Bernadetta). I want to see so many more of these and I would add in a ton if given half an opportunity.

Giving Byleth more agency. This bleeds over into the War Phase, too, but one of my biggest complaints about the game is how limited the response options are, especially when it comes to Edelgard and her frightening rhetoric as early as chapter 3. Give us more options with real varied outcomes, rather than it changing one immediate line of dialogue; give us real dialogue trees rather than minutely altered responses so that we have an opportunity to affect change. This runs the risk of drastically altering Byleth's relationship with the various House Leaders, but that potential is undeniably fascinating in and of itself.

War Phase

Azure Moon: Make Dimitri's turn more gradual. Show him grappling with Rodrigue's words more, have more scenes where he and Byleth talk and he tries to work through his understandably complicated feelings. It doesn't even have to take that much longer, honestly: every week for the next month, give us an extra cutscene and let there be a small change in how you can interact with him. For example, maybe he still doesn't attend the round table in the first week, but you do have the option of assigning him to a task around the monastery; in the second week if you explore, you have the option to invite him to a meal; in the third week he finally attends the roundtable and you're able to work on his skills again; and in the fourth week his supports finally unlock.

Azure Moon: Make Claude recruitable. Don't have him leave Failnaught and go waltzing back to Almyra, have him actually head up the Alliance in this time of need and volunteer to join forces with the Kingdom forces. You can have the option of turning him down, if you really want, at which point he might leave Lorenz in charge and go back home, but give us the option of bringing him on board along with any other former Deer that fought with him at Derdriu -- and furthermore, let us have some supports with Dedue and Dimitri to go with it. Ideally those Support chains would be available in the Academy phase and maybe you'd have the recruitment option only if Dimitr's Support level with Claude is at least a B (since you can get to A during the Academy Phase but not unlock it until the War Phase as I experienced many times). But still: Claude recruitment. Yes.

Verdant Wind: Make Dimitri recruitable. Having him die offscreen after Gronder is absolutely terrible, especially since we know for a fact that at least two people from the Alliance army saw what was either going to happen or directly happening. At the end of the battle, give us an option of going after Dimitri: if you choose not to, he still dies, but if you do you have the opportunity to save him and recruit any other former Lions with him. As abve, Supports between Claude and Dimitri would be great, and you could even keep Dimitri's Supports locked for a while and include scenes of Byleth and/or Claude and Dimitri talking and working with him until he starts turning around the way he does in Azure Moon. Dimitri's death in Verdant Wind is a travesty and it needs to be changed.

Verdant Wind: More character stuff in general. One of the things that makes Azure Moon such a strong route is that it's so deeply character-driven. Verdant Wind is much more plot-driven, and while it's still strong, it could have been more impactful if the characters were more directly affected and/or we got to see more of their individual actions. For instance: after securing Myrddin, have weekly missions where you actually go along and meet with the Great Lords and discuss with them before the final round table. Have Byleth and Claude go with Lorenz to talk to Count Gloucester and try to get his buy-in, and give us more dialogue trees where Byleth can contribute (for better or for worse) so that in the end you either get his full agreement or only grudging consideration because Lorenz intervenes. Get us engaged, show us more of the situation in the Alliance, and let us have a role in moving from this uneasy state of neutrality to full agreement that it's time to take action.

Silver Snow: A unique story in general. Basically everything in the route is a weaker copy of the events in Verdant Wind, and regardless of which came first, Verdant Wind handles the events in a way that makes more logical and narrative sense than Silver Snow does. So even if things could be changed in Verdant Wind to make it stronger and more unique, Silver Snow needs the most work and ideally should have a new plot made just for them that gives the Knights of Seiros a chance to really shine.

Silver Snow: More for Seteth to do period. Despite the fact that he's ostensibly our Lord stand-in for the route (since he's the one who meets you after the timeskip, where it's either Claude, Dimitri, or Edelgard who does in the other routes), he barely has a chance to do anything and doesn't make much of an impact on the route overall. Silver Snow could -- and ostensibly should -- give him a chance to showcase his talents and stand as a unique and engaging character, since his role in the Academy Phase was so minor; relegating him to the same general role in Silver Snow does him a great injustice.

Crimson Flower: Have Edelgard suffer consequences. This is one of my biggest complaints with the game on the whole: that Crimson Flower goes out of is way to glorify imperialism and Edelgard gets a rosy perfect ending with nothing ever going wrong according to her endcards. Logically the way she achieved her goal would have led to massive dissent, unrest, and civil conflict in the territories she conquered and subjugated; her route needs to show that, and make it clear that there are in fact consequences for her actions, both within the original Adrestian territry and without in the newly conquered ones.

Crimson Flower: Deal with the damn Agarthans. Given that she knows about them in detail the way neither of her fellow House Lords did, it's an absolute travesty that we never saw her go after them in her route: all she did was show her hand too early and cause hundreds of senseless deaths when the Agarthans fired on Arianrhod. Her route should have ended with a conflict against the Agarthan menace -- and likely a very hard one, harder even than the battle against Rhea, because she left them for too long and gave them time to bolster their defenses before she arrived. And given that she's killed Rhea, the end of that conflict would likely be a massive loss of life when Thales bombs Shambhala -- further consequences for her actions.

All Routes: Give Byleth agency. This is especially pertinent in CF where canon reduced Byleth to Edelgard's enabler: give them a chance to fight her, push back against things that either don't make sense or are only going to hurt people, argue and maybe force her to change her mind or see another viewpoint rather than continuing to barrel down a path of bloodshed and loss because she selfishly decided that war was the only way. But giving Byleth that same agency in other routes would be equally powerful: let them talk candidly with Dimitri, let them encourage Claude to trust his companions and reveal his Almyran heritage, just...let them have a chance to be their own person, with complicated relationships and the ability to speak freely.

#answered #21stcenturyhero #fire emblem: three houses #look i enjoy 3h a lot #but it's also kind of a mess when you think about it #these are just the immediate changes that come to mind #there are probably more improvements that could be made #but these are a good start #and would have made a much stronger game #at least in my opinion

[marmolady]

New Horizons

Main Pairings: Estela x (f)MC, Graleister

Summary: Endless Ending. Liv and Reggie are starting school in San Trobida. Notes at the end!

Word Count: 9695

Chronology: After 'Growing Pains', before 'How the time escapes me...'

Tagging: @saivilo, @edgydepressedchoicesthot, @sceptilemasterr, @greengroove @mauvecatfic​

Thanks for reading!

San Trobida, July 2035

“Hey, Auntie Grace!”

Reggie looked up from his book at the sound of his cousin’s voice, and hastily placed aside his shiny new copy of ‘A Guide to San Trobidan History’ so he could rush out into the hallway.

Grace was already wrapping Liv in a hug. “Hello, sweetheart.” She kissed the side of her niece’s head, before her eyes wandered down to a bloodied knee. “Did you have a mishap on your bike on the way here?”

“Yeah… I clipped the kerb and crashed,” Liv said, offering her aunt a better view of her wound. As she heard Reggie’s footsteps, she looked up to meet his eye and smiled.

“Youch!” Reggie offered sympathetically as he came close enough to peer over Liv’s grazed knee.

Liv shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”

Grace, though, was more concerned. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head when you fell?”

“No, just scraped my knee. It does actually sting a bit.”

“Hmm. Well, I think we’d better put some anti-septic that knee just to be safe.”

The new house was a mess. Boxes and misplaced furniture filled every room, and the twins-- six years old-- had been making forts with the packing boxes that had been emptied so far. The family had been in the house for just over a day, and some good progress had already been made. There had been a lot that had been left behind. Neither Aleister nor Grace put too much value on material possessions, so most of what had come with them and the children to their new home in San Trobida had been essential furniture, and the mountains of photo albums and memorabilia from a life with the kids.

Grace sat Liv down on a wooden ottoman, and, after a little bit of rummaging, found the first aid kit.

“Okay, this might hurt just a little,” she said gently, and she carefully dabbed Liv’s graze.

Liv yelped, “Fuck!”, causing Reggie to gasp, looking to his mother for a reaction, and Erin and Immy to burst out giggling from inside their box-fort.

Grace raised an eyebrow, but her warm smile didn’t shift. “It stings that much?”

“Yeah…,” Liv said, flushing a little. “Sorry about the language.”

“I’m sure I didn’t hear a thing.”

There was the usual bustling around as Aleister got the girls into their shoes; Immy and Erin had decided that swapping one shoe with one another was the peak of humour, but eventually, their father managed to get them each into a left and a right-- even if they didn’t match. Six-and-a-half-year-old sisters, Reggie had come to realise, made just about everything more of a headache than necessary.

Eventually, though, they were on their way. His mom and dad, walking beside the twins as they pootled along on their bicycles, had the address, but Reggie rode ahead with Liv, taking her lead as she zig-zagged through the streets of Valle Brava. Having only set foot on San Trobidan soil as a new resident some twenty-four hours ago, everything aspect of his environment set his senses alight. This wasn’t like being back in America. Perhaps it was the tropical climate, but he was reminded much more of La Huerta-- of home. Liv certainly seemed right at home here. She and her mothers had settled a few weeks before, and Liv had been coming here pretty much all her life. There were just a few blocks between their respective houses, and the wide cycle paths along the bitumen roads made for an easy journey. This, Reggie had been told, was a newly developed area; much had been re-built since the war he knew his Tia Estela had been involved in. The cycle paths ended as they came nearer to Liv’s place, a little way out of the main township. The foliage on either side of the road became thicker, and there was less street noise, more birdsong.

“Beat you!” Liv announced as she planted her feet into the ground, forcing her bicycle to a stop.

Reggie grumbled, pulling up beside his cousin in front of a humble bungalow-style house with outer walls a vibrant azure blue against yellow accents. The sound of a dog barking-- unmistakably Liv’s Robin, was further confirmation they’d arrived. “You didn’t beat me, Livia. I was following you. I didn’t even know where we were going.”

“Jeez, dude. No one likes a sore loser….”

“I am not a--!”

The door swung open.

“Reggie!” Taylor wasted no time in sweeping her nephew into a hug. “It’s so good to see you! I can’t believe you still have the energy for cycling over here-- didn’t you move house, like, yesterday?”

Reggie laughed. “Hi, Auntie Taylor!” There was something about seeing a familiar face in this new environment that made the pieces seem to click into place. Family made it home. “I’m a little bit tired but mostly just excited. I did sleep in today, so I guess I won’t crash until later.” His sisters on the other hand… there was no way they’d last the evening without overtiredness rearing its ugly head.

“I’m guessing your mom and dad are on their way with the girls?”

“Yeah,” said Liv, “but they’re pretty slow. I don’t have to wait to give Reggie the grand tour, do I?”

“Knock yourself out, kid. Hang on, Liv? Walk your bike through the house, please.”

“I was gonna!”

Reggie could only smirk. Like hell you were….

“Aaaand,” Liv finished off with a flourish, “this is my room!” She opened the door to a good-sized bedroom. It seemed to Reggie that what floor-space wasn’t taken up by the bed was piled up with boxes.

“I mean, I can’t say the mess wasn’t a clue.”

Liv gave her cousin a look as she flopped into her bed. “Hey-- moving house is hard. You’ll see soon enough. You get started all excited, but once you start living your life, you kinda get… stuck. Mama Taylor says we’re going to just blitz it all next weekend, and throw ourselves a pizza party as a reward.”

Reggie got up onto the bed and crossed his legs. “Do you like it here?”

“I love it here! I always liked coming here when I was little, so I guess it doesn’t feel like something completely different. I reckon my tio abuelo is over the moon that we’re here for good; it’s like I’ve got a grandparent now.” Liv’s cheeks flushed pink, and she glanced away.

Understanding, Reggie nodded. Together, they’d grown up in a family that didn’t take the traditional shape. There were some things that simply couldn’t be explained to other friends; like why Reggie’s grandma could help him with his homework, but could never come in for grandparents’ day, and why Liv had a whole side of the family with no grandparents at all-- not even dead ones.

“And,” Liv continued, “people don’t really look at my Mama Estela funny. I noticed that years ago. I guess ‘cause of the war, people don’t look twice at someone who’s maybe a little bit banged-up. I got so sick of it back in America. Every time we met someone new, they’d put on that ‘God, what happened?’ face. Maybe Mom doesn’t want to explain the whole ‘revolutionary in a civil war’ thing to every random person who can’t mind their own business. Some people have scars-- big freaking deal. It’s better here.”

“Yeah, that would be a nice change. The amount of times I’ve seen you and Auntie Taylor look at a nosy idiot like you want to deck ‘em--”

Liv burst out laughing. “True, that.”

The sound of excited barking rang out from the backyard. It seemed pretty likely to Reggie that his parents and sisters had just arrived. When he and Liv arrived in the backyard, Erin had already joined Estela at the barbecue, desperate to be involved, while Immy was passionately talking to Nicolas about goodness-knows-what. Reggie made a mental note to rescue him in a few minutes; that kid could be intense, and the poor old guy had come out here for a relaxing lunch with his niece.

Nicely, but firmly, Reggie nudged the wriggling, writhing form of Robin the dog to the side so he could join his mother and Auntie Taylor at the large alfresco table under the porch. And Robin returned to his favoured position at the feet of the barbecue-- Erin was just a kid, surely, she’d drop something….

“Do you need a hand with the salads?” Reggie asked as he greeted his mother with a hug. He’d been seeking a lot of those. With so much changing, familial comfort meant a lot, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

Perhaps more than anything, though, he was grateful to have Liv by his side. It was the way it had always been; from their toddler days on La Huerta, through elementary school, to their adventures in home-schooling. Some things might change-- some things might change immeasurably-- but he always had his cousin.

___________________________

La Huerta, 2028

Liv yelled out as she splashed down into the shallow surf. “Reggie!”

“I got her, Xiraana!” Reggie cried, and soon he was joined by a young Vaanti girl, who helped restrain their victim.

“No, no!” Liv squealed as she struggled. Vaanti kids, she’d long ago realised, were strong. “You’ll never take me alive!”

“Five-- four--- three….” Xiraana counted down, not letting Liv out of her grasp.

“Two-- one!” Reggie finished triumphantly, and he let his cousin fall unceremoniously back into the water. “The klaawyi ate all the meat off your bones. You’re one of us now!”

Liv pouted, but admitted defeat. It wasn’t the worst thing that could happen; she was pretty good on Team Klaawyi anyway. Or, she would have been… had she not seen the figure of her favourite uncle descending onto the beach from the great tree of Elyys’tel.

“Tio Diegoooooo! Hiiiii!” Liv ran across the sand, almost tripping in her desperation to reach him.

“Hey, Livia!” Reggie cried out, indignant at being suddenly abandoned. “You’re meant to help us catch them!”

But Diego had crouched down to wrap Liv in a hug, and Reggie might as well be talking to a pile of rocks for all that was being absorbed.

“Tio, they got me! Reggie and Xiraana got me, and now I’m a klaawyi!”

“You?” Diego laughed. “You’re no klaawyi-- I’ve never seen a klaawyi that was ticklish!”

“Wha--?” Oh no. Once again, Liv was shrieking with mirth, this time dodging the tickling hands of her tio.

Still standing in the shallows, Reggie stomped his foot, which achieved little but splashing himself in the face. The game went on without them; games of Klaawyi Chase didn’t stop for anyone. The usual fun on the beaches outside Elyys’tel would go on like this every day… whether Reggie and Liv were there to join in or not. And Reggie didn’t want to miss out now.

“Come on, Livia!”

She just shook her head, not letting her adoring gaze up at Diego slip for so much as a heartbeat. “Nah,” she said. “I’m done.”

Torn, knowing that whichever direction he ran in, he’d lose out on precious time with friends, Reggie admitted defeat and rushed back to Liv’s side on the shore. He looked back over his shoulder and waved goodbye-- for what he’d been told would likely be a long, long time. Engrossed in their game, his friends gave just the most fleeting of farewells before continuing to race through the small waves that lapped the beach.

Liv, in contrast, had eyes only for her tio. She clasped his hand tightly; if she held on tight enough, perhaps he’d have no choice but to come with her to wherever her mothers were taking her in the big aeroplane.

Where exactly she was going, Liv didn’t quite understand. It was away from La Huerta, but they weren’t going back to live with Tio Nicolas, they were going… someplace else. Someplace with no Tio Diego and Varyyn, where all the other kids would be boring shades of pink and brown rather than blue and green, and where no one knew about the yeti-bear, or the magic crystal alien that made her mom, or about The Story of the Year the World Stopped.

“I want you to come, Tio Diego…,” Liv softly beseeched.

Diego’s eyes grew misty, her earnest words having tipped him over the edge after what had been a long period of emotional build-up. Goodbyes were never easy, and Liv’s family was his family. He squeezed her little hand gently.

“I’ll visit you, Livi-- I promise. Cross my heart. And your mommies will bring you over to visit us here too; you are going to learn so many new games at school that you can teach Xiraana and the other kids.”

“But I’ll miss you…”

Having rejoined Liv, Reggie peered up at Diego’s teary face with concern. “Diego, you’re making your glasses all foggy.”

“Ha. I know, I know!” Diego wiped his eyes. “You might have a point there, Reggie; I want to spend this last night with you guys actually being able to see you!”

Liv giggled and wrapped her arms around her uncle’s legs, only to be peeled off and hoisted into the air. “We can still have fun until bedtime, can’t we? Will you tell us a story?”

On the ground, Reggie danced around, his arms waving. Diego-time was the best story-time.

In the arms of her tio, her playmate since she was a baby bouncing on his knee, Liv was a mess of emotions; of fear and excitement, of merriment that competed with the looming sorrow. It was more than her little self had a clue what to do with. She was only five.

Sensing his cousin’s turmoil, Reggie reached up a hand and took hold of Liv’s, hanging down by Diego’s side. “Don’t worry, Livia! If you worry, you won’t enjoy story-time.”

Liv stuck out her bottom lip. That little nerd-face could be pretty smart sometimes. Tomorrow night, there would be no goodnight story from Tio Diego, but tomorrow night was not now-- now, everything was as it should be. Her wavering grin returned, and to her delight, it brought matching smiles to the faces of her companions.

“Do you think Varyyn, and my mommies, and Auntie Grace and Uncle Alli, and Auntie Grace’s tummy babies want to listen to the story too?”

“Yeah,” Diego said, letting Liv back down to the ground, where she immediately found another hug in Reggie’s arms, “I think everyone would really like that.”

_____________________________

San Trobida, August 2035

“I don’t get it,” Liv said thoughtfully, as the car rolled right on past the turn for her Auntie Grace and Uncle Al’s place. “It’s right on the way; wouldn’t it have been easier for us to pick up Reggie?”

“Hon,” Taylor replied, “I think Reggie wanted his mom and dad to take him to orientation. They’ll probably be better at helping with his jitters than we would be.”

“I guess.” Liv looked out the window, watching the surrounding vegetation thicken once more as the car followed the road up out of the valley. “Orientation Day shouldn’t be too bad, right? Just, like, meeting our teachers, learning where stuff is, that kinda thing?” And you’ll have to try and make friends. That would be a laugh.

By the time they pulled up at the Las Selvas Secondary School, however, Liv fully understood her cousin’s nerves, and realised that was probably why she’d been so disappointed that he didn’t share a car with her. Through every big change in their young lives, his presence had been a reassuring constant.

“Uggghh,” she groaned. “Can I change my mind? Home-schooling was all right; more of that, please.”

Estela leaned from the front seat and gave Liv’s knee a squeeze. “You know, I don’t think he’d ever say it, but I’m pretty sure Reggie would be really scared if he had to walk into this without you. Besides, you were so excited about starting here; you owe it to yourself to at least giving it a shot.”

Again, Liv groaned, this time even louder. “It’s so annoying when you’re right.”

“Story of my life,” Taylor laughed, while Estela smirked.

When they pulled up at the school, Reggie was already waiting, standing beside the car-park while his parents fussed over him.

“You have your phone?” Grace quizzed, checking for the fourth time since they’d set off.

“I told you, yes!” Reggie replied, and he pulled his phone out of his pocket to wave around for good measure. “I’ll send you a message when I’m ready to be picked up, I promise.”

“In that case, you just have a wonderful time, darling.” She wrapped him in a hug-- already Reggie was easily as tall as her. “Go well, and have fun.”

Liv rushed over, all smiles. Her own nerves were a whole lot less bothersome when she had the distraction of friendly faces.

There were a few more rounds of hugs exchanged-- and then, suddenly, Liv and Reggie were on their own.

“You wanna head over? Looks like people are already crowding around-- it’s probably gonna start soon.”

Reggie’s expression brightened, as if he’d been just waiting for a little push for his confidence to surge back forth. “Well, it will hardly be an auspicious start here if we miss the principal’s address. Get a move on, Livia!”

The morning passed relatively quickly. Liv placed herself next to Reggie at all times-- they’d been put in the same Grade Seven home room as requested, making him one of the eldest in the class, and her one of the youngest. The whole set-up wasn’t entirely different to the school they were accustomed to, other than the bilingual approach. They were given a small pile of boring paperwork, and outlines of what to expect in their new classes; as English was their first language, they’d be taking ‘Spanish as a Second Language’, and Liv was also excited about ‘Nature Studies’, a subject she’d never been offered in America.

As far as Liv was concerned, the most traumatic part of the session was being expected to stand up in front of a room of strangers and give a short spiel about themselves. The perfect opportunity to officially balls-up any chance they might have of making new friends, or at least that was how she saw it. She mumbled down into her chest; something about enjoying hiking and gymnastics, something about liking Batman, and animals, and then she hurriedly sat right back down with flaming cheeks. Reggie, she observed, handled the brief foray into public speaking with rather more poise. Even though he was shy-- perhaps even more than she was-- he seemed able to go into ‘school presentation’ mode, and breeze through. When he sat back down, though, his hands were shaking-- but that was for the eyes of his trusted friend only.

When the lunch break came along, Liv was ravenous; a new and challenging social situation could do that to a person. While Reggie sloped off to the bathrooms, she tested out the school canteen, emerging a little while later with a hot empanada. It wasn’t quite as good as her Mama Estela’s, but it was definitely a step up from what was on offer at her old school. Maybe she could get used to this place….

Liv watched this new world go by all around her as she ate, cross-legged beneath the tree she’d told her cousin to meet her by. Kids moved in their little circles, talking loudly, laughing. Most of them coming into Grade Seven had come from the local primary school, and many knew each-other. Liv and Reggie would be starting out on the outside… and that was daunting. She could not be more grateful that she wasn’t taking this on alone.

Or… at least, she shouldn’t be. The lunchtime queue moved on, the gaggles of kids spread out, and still Reggie hadn’t returned.

Damn, constipated on your first day. Sucks to be you, Reggie.

Tentatively, Liv approached the boys’ bathroom and, having ascertained that no one was watching, slipped in. Her footsteps were unheard, drowned out by the loud, frantic breathing of young Reggie, slumped over the sink. Alarmed, Liv rushed over. Tears were spilling down his cheeks.

“Reggie… it’s okay,” she said gently. A little unsure, she reached out a hand to rub his back, and to her surprise, he didn’t flinch away. Slowly, he seemed to regain control of himself.

“Liv…,” Reggie panted. “You know you’re not meant to be in here; this is the guys’ room.”

“Hey! Like it’s my fault you didn’t take your anxiety attack into the unisex bathroom. That’s on you.” Hmph. Ungrateful, much?

Reggie scowled, and dragged his cousin out of the toilet block by her arm. He slumped down by the wall, and scooched over to encourage her to join him.

“You’re a pain in the arse.” He was still shaking.

“It’s been said, yeah.” Liv huddled a little closer. “You don’t need to worry, okay? You’re not going to have any trouble making friends. Did you see they’ve got a chess club, and a photography club as well? At least that’ll get you talking to people.”

“That’s,” Reggie said quietly, “not exactly what I’m worried about.” When Liv looked at him expectantly, he continued. “When I was in a room with all those kids, my head just went back to being at our old school… and what happened. I know this place is meant to be progressive and all that, but that doesn’t mean that everyone’s okay. What if I think I’ve made friends with someone, and they find out about Erin, and they make it a big thing, and then some arsehole finds out….”

“Man, you’re really spiraling,” Liv observed, not especially helpfully. She wasn’t exactly surprised by what was troubling her cousin; getting into a fight in defense of his young transgender sister had completely unseated Reggie from the comfortable life he’d had at the last school. It had changed everything.

“You would too, if she was your sister!”

“Probably. But I think you should at least give people a go. It sounds like they’re really strict on any kind of bullying against minorities. Swinging back hard in the opposite direction after that fascist dictatorship.”

“Those are some awfully big words for you to be throwing around there, Livia; watch you don’t hurt yourself….”

“Hey! I know my stuff!” Liv demanded. “Do you think my tio abuelo would have it any other way? But anyway, I’m right. All the people who didn’t fit in before have come to this part of the country. Probably a lot of the kids have parents who saw really horrible things in the war; they wouldn’t want to send them somewhere that was bad like before. My Mama ‘Stel gave the principal the grilling of her life, and I bet she hasn’t been the only one. People are gonna want to make sure their kids are being looked after.”

A smile quirked on Reggie’s face as he imagined his aunt on a school tour. “I bet Tia Estela left Principal Sanchez quivering under the desk.”

“Yeah… after what happened in the last school, there’s no way they’d let us go anywhere unless they were sure it was a place that treated people right.”

Reggie knew that much. But his parents, and even his fierce aunt, could not shield himself, his sisters and his cousin, from everything. He contemplated silently, grateful for the patient companionship.

“I guess,” he said at last, “if no one gave anyone else a chance to be anything but the worst, then we’d be pretty lonely.”

“Yup. We should at least give it a shot. And if it all goes in the crapper, I’ll sic my moms on the fools that mess with us. And the freaking yeti.”

Reggie couldn’t help but roll his eyes. That had always been Liv’s answer to everything. “Livia, I hate to break it to you, but if you go around threatening people with yetis, everyone’s gonna think you’ve got a screw loose. Except me; I know you’ve got a screw loose.”

“So damn rude,” Liv growled. “Anyway, you really should eat something. It probably won’t help you feeling crap and light-headed if you’ve got an empty stomach. They’ve got arepas!”

“...I could eat an arepa,” Reggie admitted. There was only so much a young boy of thirteen could control; he couldn’t wave a magic wand and guarantee that his little sister would never be hurt by cruel, ignorant words, but he could look after himself, so that he was the best him he could be-- and the best brother.

_____________________________

USA, 2028

“You did a great job, sweetheart,” Taylor said kindly as Reggie delicately placed his knife and fork atop his small plastic plate, signaling that he’d finished. Immediately afterwards, the little boy’s small hand had dropped to his side to get a reassuring touch of his teddy’s scruffy fur. “It was nice of Big Bear to join us for dinner. Does he like lasagna as much as you do?”

Reggie yawned widely as he nodded to his aunt. He hadn’t known it was possible for a kid to be so full of yawns, but living with newborn twins had shown him just how big a tired feeling could be. “Big Bear likes to watch from the floor.”

“That’s nice of him to let you have the whole plate for yourself. We’re gonna have plenty to bring over to your mommy and daddy for them to eat tomorrow.”

Lasagna had been Reggie’s choice. This whole sleepover was to be all about him; giving him a welcome break from the stresses of being a new big brother to two babies at once. He’d been on many, many sleepovers at Tia Estela and Auntie Taylor’s place before, but this time felt different. Reggie knew that at home, his parents were busy with their other children… and in his sensitive state, it took no time at all for him to miss them.

Twins, Reggie had come to realise, were very hard work. They cried a lot… and his mommy cried a lot, and his daddy cried a lot, and he cried a lot. All crying and no sleeping was not a whole lot of fun. Reggie wanted so badly to get away from the babies, but at the same time he longed to be with his parents. However much fun it was to take a break at his aunts’ place, the worry in him just wouldn’t go away.

Side-by-side, he and Liv changed into their pyjamas. Five-year-old Liv, true to form, nattered away to him the whole time. Babies, of course, were the subject of choice.

“My moms say we’re probably not gonna get another baby. Maybe ‘cos you have two I can borrow one if I get lonely. Do you have one that you like best?”

Reggie shrugged.

“Maybe next time your mom and dad will have three. You could have all these babies like a baby army, and if someone’s ever mean to you, you will have like a hundred poopy diapers you can throw at them. No one likes poop.”

“I don’t want lots more babies,” Reggie said softly. I want no more.

“If you don’t like babies, you can come and live with us forever!” Liv suggested brightly, oblivious the the wobble of her cousin’s bottom lip.

When Estela popped her head around the corner to check on the kids, Reggie was in tears and Liv looked totally bewildered.

“Mommy, Reggie’s crying…,” she pointed out, rather unnecessarily, for her mother had already scooped the little boy into a cuddle.

“It’s okay, mijo,” Estela soothed as she gently rocked her nephew in her arms. “It’s okay to cry. This has been really hard. You know what? You have been such a good boy for Mommy and Daddy.”

Liv, not quite sure what to do, but nothing if not well-meaning, draped herself over Reggie and patted him on the back. “There, there. It’s okay.”

Estela took Reggie into the lounge room for some cheer-up time, and Liv took Big Bear. Taylor quickly joined them, and pulled Reggie into her lap for a cuddle.

“Are you feeling a bit sad, sweetpea?”

Reggie nodded. “Uh-huh. I liked it better how things were before. Everything’s different.”

Taylor gently rubbed the little boy’s arms. “Change can be really tough. It’s like you’ve got to figure out how life works all over again!”

“Yeah, it’s not nice.”

“So, it’s okay to have a good cry. We will give you as many hugs and cuddles as you need.”

“Reggie,” Liv piped up, “do you wanna play a game? That could make you feel happy?”

Reggie sniffed and nodded again. Pleased-- she had this cheering-up business down-- Liv plonked herself in Estela’s lap and leaned forward to her cousin.

“Do you wanna play… ‘Klaawyi Chase’?”

Estela intervened quickly. “Maybe something with a little less running around. It’s nearly bedtime, Livi.”

“Okay. Ummmm…. ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’?”

“Livita.”

Well, you’re no fun. Liv gave a soft huff and pondered. By her best guess, ‘Hide and Seek’ would be a ‘no’ too… especially as last time she’d hid, no one managed to find her for a full hour.

“How about,” Taylor suggested, “we have a game of ‘Fortunately-Unfortunately’?”

“I wanna play that one!” Reggie said enthusiastically. “Can I start? Fortunately, we all had ice cream for dessert.”

Liv bounced in her mother’s lap. “Unfortunately, the ice cream was smelly-feet flavour!”

“Livi!” Taylor exclaimed, rolling her eyes. Why was everything smelly-feet with that kid? “Okay, then-- fortunately, Robin Dog likes smelly-feet, so he ate all the ice cream for us.”

“Oh!” Liv cried. “I’ve got a really good one!” Hehe, Robin with smelly-feet farts….

“Unfortunately,” said Estela. “It was Mama Estela’s turn, and Miss Livita just had to wait.”

Liv turned and poked her tongue out at her mom, making Reggie giggle. He snuggled in against his Auntie Taylor’s chest, his mind far away from worries about his new role as big brother to a pair of very needy twins.

“Fortunately,” he said, smiling, “Furball was visiting, and he made us some new ice cream with no yucky flavours in it.”

“Unfortunately….”

_________________________

San Trobida, September 2035

It was the last weekend before school started, and a lazy warm day at the Montoya house. Estela was up a tree, hammering boards into what would soon be a playhouse for the kids. She’d already finished up a two-storey-high climbing wall on the other side of the yard, which, at Liv’s request, would eventually be connected to the new tree-house by a zipline. Then, there’d be a slide, and monkey bars, and a tyre swing, and a fire pole. Basically, Estela had made it her mission to put together the best backyard playground on the Costa Libertad. Taylor, meanwhile, had been busying herself with a vegetable garden, with the help of a fascinated Erin and her parents, who turned out to be quite clever when it came to soil chemistry.

Liv had been up and down her new climbing wall like a yo-yo, leaving her dog, Robin, running rings around the base and all but tripping Reggie up as he tentatively took his first steps towards ascending.

“Are you coming?”

“I’m trying! Your dog’s getting in the way.”

Eventually, Reggie managed to clamber his way up, with a little help from Liv who hauled him over the top.

“See; piece of cake.”

Reggie couldn’t quite agree, and now that he was up twenty feet, he was already dreading his descent back to solid ground. Keen to distract himself from the dizzying height, he passed Liv the rope that he’d carried slung across his shoulders.

“What do you want me to do with it?” she demanded. “You’re meant to drop one end back down….”

“I’m not going near the edge!”

“Fine. Immy! You down there still?”

On the ground, and trying to wrestle a squeaky toy giraffe from Robin’s mouth, Immy craned her neck up.

“Yeah-- but you’re lucky I am, Reggie was so slow.”

“Careful. I was careful. You should bloody well try it sometime.”

Immy rolled her eyes dramatically, but nonetheless took the rope end that Liv had lowered to her, and ran it over to Estela so the distance could be measured.

“There we go,” Liv said, after having marked the rope at the edge of the platform. “Done. Reggie, if you’re just going to look down, you might as well be on the ground. Come on-- check out the view!”

Begrudgingly, Reggie sat up properly and looked around.

“Woah.” Maybe he could see the appeal of being up so high, even if he was immensely grateful for the safety rails around the platform. “You really can see everything up here.”

“Isn’t it cool?” Liv beamed as she pointed her cousin towards the paddock behind the yard. “You wanted to see our horse? Right in there at the side of the sheltery-shed thing….”

“Oh, wow! Okay, fine, I believe you now. I guess she was just hiding earlier.”

“That’s Miel. She’s like, older than dirt; Mama Estela used to ride her when she was a teenager.”

“And she’s still alive?”

“Just about. I think she’s uh… nearly thirty? Pretty ancient. Mom found out she was all on her own after her friend died, and she bought her so she could retire here with us. She’s kind of a bitey asshole. Uh, the horse-- not Mom.” Liv quickly amended, glancing to the in-progress tree-house. “So, we’re keeping her, and if she wants to make friends with the new horses we’re getting, she can, otherwise at least she can, like, neigh rude horse words at them from over the fence.”

Reggie snorted. Weirdo.

“I’m super excited. I know Mama ‘Stel was kind of nervous about us moving over here because of how things were when she was a kid-- but it actually… feels nice. I love our new house. I love cranky Miel. I love that we’re gonna get chickens, and maybe a new friend for Robin. Even the school seems pretty good.”

Swallowing his fear, Reggie joined Liv at the railing, dangling his legs over the side of the platform.

“Yeah, I think I like it here, too. Mom and Dad seem really happy; Dad says he can make more of a good difference in the world here than in America. So, I guess that’s got to be good. Did I tell you we’re going to put a pool in?”

“You might have mentioned it. When you’ve been whining about the heat, for the hundredth time.”

“It’s so humid!”

Liv giggled. It was like being back in the tropics of La Huerta, and to her, that felt right. Granted, it might have been nicer if they could just pop on over into a neighbouring alpine region that was inexplicably right next to the hot, sticky jungle, but she really loved it.

“Well,” Reggie said, “it’s going to be great. And it should be done by the time Quinn and Michelle come to visit.”

“Do we even know whose house they’re staying at yet?”

“It should be my place.” Reggie puffed out his chest, as if to emphasise the rightness of his point. “You’re definitely getting Jake and Sean and Mikey. You can’t take all the visitors. And besides… we’ll have a pool.”

That was hard to argue with. “It’s up to the adults anyway,” Liv conceded. In the end, it didn’t matter; she was going to make the most of having her La Huerta family around even if it meant camping out in Reggie’s back yard. “But, I will be a much better San Trobida tour guide than you. I’m still showing you around.”

Reggie hmphed, and Liv laughed.

“Come on, Reggie,” she said, dropping gracefully down the side of the wall and taking up hand-holds. “I’m getting hungry.”

It was at that point that Reggie made the sobering discovery that going down, was rather more intimidating than going up a sheer vertical surface.

“Um, Liv…,” he said quietly. “I, uh, don’t think I can do that.”

“Oh!” Liv responded. “Sorry, I forgot you’re new to this. Maybe you should’ve started smaller. But don’t worry, I’ll get you down….”

“Okay…,” he murmured, clearly not remotely convinced.

“Mom!” Liv hollered, all but making her poor cousin topple over the edge in surprise. “Reggie’s stuck!”

Reggie felt heat rise in his cheeks as his sisters, hanging out on the grass below the wall at the worst possible time, burst out laughing. Like they could even get up this high to begin with.

Up in the tree-house, Estela looked up and wiped off the paint from her hands. Rescuing kids from scrapes had pretty much become her specialty at this point; twelve years with Liv had seen to that. “I’m coming,” she called back.

“I’m not exactly stuck,” Reggie muttered defensively, as his Tia Estela easily scaled the climbing wall to join him and Liv, who’d already rejoined him to offer moral support. “If I really wanted to, I could climb down; I just feel I should practice climbing up a few more times before I try that.”

“You’ll get there,” Estela said kindly. As far as she was concerned, the fact that her nephew had a realistic view of his own capabilities was only a good thing. “I’ll have that zipline going in no time anyway, so you’ll have no hurry to work it out.”

With his aunt’s back offered to him, Reggie took the cue and wrapped his long arms around her neck, and his legs around her middle. Getting rescued by one of the team of protective grown-ups? Basically, the story of both his and Liv’s lives.

“Hang on, Regito,” Estela laughed.

____________________________

La Huerta, 2034

The frigid wind howled against the cabin door, and it took all of Liv and Reggie’s combined might to wrestle it closed. Both kids were panting heavily-- and shaking like leaves-- as they nervously stepped away.

“Thank god this little hut was here, really,” Liv heaved. “I dunno about you, but I’d rather be stranded in a snowstorm with walls around me.”

Reggie said nothing, and just shivered, wrapping his arms around his own torso. He’d wrapped up-- as if his parents would let him go wandering into the colder pockets of the island without a heap of layers-- but the snow had wet his gloves through, and a chill was now spreading through his body.

“Hey,” Liv said, “we should… we should get a fire going. You look like you’re halfway turned into a popsicle right now.”

As his cousin busied herself at the fireplace-- thank goodness there was some firewood left-- Reggie fiddled with his emergency phone. His heart sank. No signal. His mom and dad were going to be so worried when he and Liv never came home….

“Uh, Liv… I think the storm’s screwed up the reception here. It won’t let me phone Mom and Dad.”

Liv looked up, and for the first time, she looked truly fearful, her usual intrepid spirit extinguished in a flash. “They’re really gonna panic,” she said softly. She shuddered. If their parents came out looking for them, it meant walking out into a blizzard, and all the danger that came with it. If she could just tell her mothers that she was safe, that she and Reggie had shelter… they could wait out the storm. Anything could happen, anything….

“Are you okay, Livia?” Reggie asked, and he handed her a heavy blanket as he sat down cross-legged in front of her feebly burning fire. “You look kind of spaced-out.”

“Hng?”

“They’ll find us; it’ll be okay.”

“I don’t want them to come and find us,” Liv snapped. “I want them to stay where it’s safe. They could get hurt or, or worse because we were stupid enough not to turn around when the weather changed.” She placed a stick too roughly, and her firewood tower collapsed, extinguishing the flame. “For fuck’s sake!”

Reggie, wisely, stayed quiet, letting his cousin fix up the mess and get a new fire started without interference. He watched her with concern as her eyes welled. “Livia…?”

She huddled close to him, but for a long while, didn’t speak.

“Reggie,” she murmured at last, “something really horrible happened a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t want to talk about it with you, ‘cause… ‘cause I didn’t even want to think about it…. It just made me feel too bad. But, uh.... I was… I was playing in the sea with Mama Estela. Just like we always do. We were just goofing off. Then, um, I got all tangled up in those freaking weeds. They grabbed me and held me under.”

“That must have been so scary….”

“Of course, Mom got me out of there. B-but there was a sea-snake in there. It bit her. It happened so fast… I hardly even saw what happened, but she suddenly just... could hardly even get out of the water. I somehow managed to haul her up out the water, but she was all limp and… and I gave her the anti-venom, and she just started having some kind of fit.. Like her body was jerking around, and her mouth was all frothy.” She gasped through a sob. “Then she… she stopped breathing, completely.” Liv shuddered as the memory filled her mind, vivid as if it were yesterday. She could feel Reggie’s wide, horrified eyes upon her. “I screamed. I screamed for help. Mama Taylor was up the beach, she couldn’t hear me. S-so I did CPR. My hands were shaking so-- so bad. And all I could think was ‘I’m gonna screw this up. I’m gonna screw this up and my mom’s gonna die’.” Her voice cracked and she sputtered through hot tears that she wiped away with her arm. Before she knew it, Reggie had his arms around her and was holding her tight. “I don’t know how long it was,” she said. “It felt like forever, but it was probably only a few minutes. Then she started breathing and I just… I cried, and cried, and cried.”

Reggie gently rubbed Liv’s back, and it soothed her.

“I, uh, I guess I always thought Mama Estela was invincible. To me, she always was. There was nothing I couldn't do either, because she would always be there to protect me. It was so close, Reggie… it looked like she was gone.”

“I… didn’t know it was as bad as that. My dad told me she’d been bitten but…,” Reggie mumbled. “You must have been so scared. Have you… have you talked to your moms about it much?”

Liv sniffed, and wiped her face again. “Yeah. You know what my Mama Taylor is like; we’ve talked it through lots, I’ve told them how I’m feeling. But I haven’t… like… had a big cry since it happened.” Until now. Now, she just couldn’t seem to stop the tears from coming. Reggie didn’t seem to mind; he just sat with her, and rubbed her back, and told her it was okay.

After what seemed like an age, her tears slowed.

“It is going to be okay, you know?” Reggie said gently. “Obviously, they’re going to come out looking for us, but they’re smart. They’ll be prepared; just like your Mama Estela was with the anti-venom.”

“Yeah…,” Liv said, her voice small. You could be as prepared as you wanted, but sometimes the world managed to stay one step ahead. The storm outside was wild and furious, battering on the roof and walls… and it was frightening. Liv could only snuggle under her cousin’s arm, and trust that whatever search and rescue party was out there would come through.

The two kids huddled together beneath their blanket, speaking little, but making their mutual support known without words. Just the squeeze of a hand through the most blood-curdling howls of the wind, and the simple offer of presence.

Somehow, the creak of the door shoved open cut through the dull roar.

“Oh, thank goodness!”

“Dad!” Reggie leapt forward and flung his arms around his father, his face lighting up further when Grace followed in behind. “Mom!”

Grace put her shaking hands to her son’s face, gently sweeping hair from his eyes. “Darling, are you all right?” Then she pulled Liv into a fierce hug, and in a moment Aleister had his arms around all three of them. “We were so worried!”

Liv whimpered against Grace’s shoulder. “Are my moms out in the storm?” She knew the answer already.

“Yes, honey. They’re out searching for you. Don’t you stress, okay? We’ve got a flare to set off so they’ll know we found you here-- and Varyyn and Diego too.”

“Woah,” Liv murmured, “you got a whole search party out.”

There was a buzzing, and the flickering of blue light, then Iris materialised.

Reggie beamed. “Hey, Grandma! So, a ‘whole search party’ is pretty much correct.”

“I will say, being able to scan for nearby lifeforms is quite handy in situations like these.”

So, find my moms and Tio Diego. Liv hugged tighter to her Auntie Grace, with no words pleading for help.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Grace said gently, stroking Liv’s face, while Aleister saw to setting off the flare. “It’s going to be just fine. We’re not far from Elyys’tel; we all fanned out from there, so no one is going to be too deep into the mountains.”

That… actually made sense. It was enough, just enough to keep Liv a step above panic-mode. She headed back to the fireplace, but as her backside hit the floor, a guttural roar rocked the cabin, and she leapt back to her feet.

“What the--?”

“You two stay back!” Aleister ordered, his voice shaking. Why, oh why, did the children want to go gallivanting out in the frozen wilderness when there was a perfectly serviceable tropical paradise right outside their front door? He was going to be old before his time at this rate….

Grace, though, was already hauling open the door, to reveal the hulking figure of the Mountain Guardian.

A growl rumbling in her throat, Arktos loomed in the doorway, looking down at Grace with a questioning gaze.

“Hello…?” she said cautiously. The gigantic bear-like creature was generally reasonably friendly…. “Did we… did we disturb you with the flare?”

Arktos grumbled, her furry ears flicking with curiosity.

“Our friends are out there in the storm,” Grace continued, certain that the yeti would understand; her past experiences had only supported the fact that this creature was incredibly intelligent-- and benevolent. “The flare was to bring them to this cabin.”

With a soft huff, Arktos shuffled backwards, and all of a sudden, it seemed as though she was surrounded by a force-field… a bubble that the wind and blinding snow couldn’t penetrate.

Understanding, Grace turned to Iris. “I think we’re going hiking again-- with a little extra help this time. Al, you’ll stay and watch the kids?”

“I--I--” Aleister stuttered. “Well, of course. Stay close to the… the bear thing.” Scrambling a little, he pulled off his outer layer and offered it to her. “I won’t have you catching hypothermia.”

And Grace stepped into the snow, Iris hovering behind her, and found shelter in the yeti’s protective shield. She looked up at the beast, now rearing up onto colossal hind legs to scout for signs of nearby human activity. “Thank you, Arktos. I guess… I guess, you choose the direction, and we’ll start the search.”

The unusual trio headed out into the storm, and within moments, they were invisible for the wind thick with snow. Aleister, a look of dumbfoundment upon his face, closed the door, and again, the cabin was quiet.

“Damn. Auntie Grace is a fricking badass,” Liv breathed, face alight in awe.

Aleister, recovering from his wife’s shock exit quickly-- he’d seen her steely courage in action enough times to just about take it in his stride, nodded. “Indeed.” He brushed the last flakes of snow from his coat, and looked around the room. “Well, I don’t suppose the wait will pass any faster with us standing around here. Reggie, did we leave any board-games here last time?”

“Uh, looks like we’ve got ‘Scrabble’?”

Well, Liv thought, I don’t have a hope in hell against these people. Should’ve left ‘Twister’ here….

Reggie sat himself down in front of the crackling fire and started unpacking the box. “Hey, Livia-- team up with me?”

He was clearly still a little worried about her. If there was an opportunity to thrash her at something, Mr Pedantic-Always-Right would take it without fail. Or so Liv had believed.

She plonked down cross-legged beside him. “Yeah? Yeah, all right.”

The two kids exchanged a high five, and Liv couldn’t help but grin. You are going down, Uncle Al.

___________________________

San Trobida, September 2035

As the car pulled up the neatly paved pathway to Aleister and Grace’s house, Liv excitedly rolled down the window.

“Reginaaaaald!!!” she hollered.

“How,” Aleister wondered aloud, “can such a small person-- and the offspring of Estela and Diego of all people-- sound so eerily like a bloody foghorn?”

A beaming Reggie followed his father out the front door. He exchanged hugs with both his parents-- and his two little sisters-- and then rushed to join his cousin on the back seat.

“Are you ready to go, mijo?” Estela checked in, suppressing a laugh as Taylor all but did a contortion act to give her nephew a hug from the front seat.

He had Liv, didn’t he? So, basically, he was ready for anything.

The short drive to the school saw the return of those pesky jitters, and Reggie knew from the way his cousin jiggled her leg the whole way there that he was definitely not alone in that. The school ground, filled only with kids their own age when they’d been there for orientation, was swarming with adolescents of all sizes-- and just about all of them were bigger than Reggie and Liv.

With an awkward hug and a kiss to her mothers in the front of the car, Liv bit the bullet and, bulging backpack in hand, stepped out into a brave new world. There was only one thing for it; Reggie would just have to take the plunge. He swung his backpack over his shoulder, and followed after his cousin.

“Welp,” said Liv, “here goes nothing!”

Reggie gave a nervous laugh and playfully bashed Liv with his backpack, putting a reassuringly silly grin on her face.

We’ve got this.

_______________________

NOTES

Little Xiraana is @mauvecatfic's baby. Check out her stories; you won't regret it!

If you read 'A Ride to Remember', you might remember Miel. She's the very same horse.

Aaaaand, the incident Liv is recounting during the snowstorm is the one you can read from Estela's perspective in 'Teething Problems: Part Two'.

#endless summer #playchoices #liv montoya #reggie hall #graleister #estela x mc #estela montoya #grace hall #aleister rourke #diego soto

[spoon-writes]

Ends of the Earth | Chapter 11

Fandom: The Mandalorian

Pairing: Mando x OC

Read on FFN or AO3

Summary: When Sinead's husband is ripped from her, she escapes the Hutt Empire and goes on a quest to find him. Since being a runaway slave in the Outer Rim isn't exactly easy, she makes the Mandalorian an offer he can't refuse and soon they travel across the galaxy, looking for her missing husband.

Chapter index

Chapter 11 - Out

It felt like someone had strapped a metal band around Sinead’s chest, constricting it to the point of making black spots appear at the edge of her vision, but at least her ribs weren’t broken, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t still be standing.

The ship tilted to the side and she swayed with the motion. Mirian sat with her back against the wall, face pressed to her knees to avoid meeting anyone’s gaze. Suri sat on the edge of the bunk where the rebel slept.

“He’s gonna be okay?”

“He’ll pull through.”

“How did it happen?”

Suri wet her lips and looked at the sleeping form. “The New Moon Collective were waiting for us at the cache. I’d say we have a rat, but we weren’t even supposed to be there.”

“It could be a coincidence.”

“Yeah.”

“I assume your own rat was responsible for the power outage?”

Suri groaned. “You have no idea how long it took to get him in that position. Maybe he was compromised.”

“Still doesn’t explain how they knew to ambush you in a place that wasn’t even part of your mission.”

“Who knows, there might be an even more clandestine rebel cell out there somewhere, wondering why their meeting place looks like a war zone.”

“They dodged a blaster bolt.”

A tremor went through the ship and Sinead felt it turn round. It was disorienting being stuck in a metal box with no idea what went on outside but clambering up the ladder was out of the question at the moment.

“You know this area?”

Suri sat up from her slumped position. “Not really. I come from the southern hemisphere. Erno grew up in here, though. I know he’ll see us through.”

“I hope so.”

They fell silent.

Finally, the ship touched down heavily, the metal settling with a groan. Suri and Mirian got to their feet, the latter keeping tucked into a corner where she kept her eyes firmly on the ground.

Mando came down the ladder with the kid in one arm, followed by Erno who forced his hat down over unruly grey hair. In her corner, Mirian froze.

“You lot sit tight,” said Erno. “They won’t come looking here for some time. Only fools would try to hide in this mess of crags and ravines.”

“And you’ll find some way to contact the others?” Sinead said, pushing off the wall.

“Let’s take it one step at a time, eh? Shelter comes first” He checked his blaster. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Mirian skittered out of the way as the ramp started to come down, and as soon as it let the ground with a thud, Erno disappeared.

Sinead sighed. “Because it ended so well last time someone said that.”

They waited in pressed silence. Sunlight streamed through the opening and a mild breeze stirred Sinead's hair. Her eyes drifted shut.

Suddenly there was movement around. Her eyes flew open and she looked around, gripping the wall behind her to keep from falling. Did she fall asleep? Her body was stiff and it felt like someone had stuffed her ears with cotton. Erno was back and talking. She tried focusing on his words.

"... as many light sources as you can carry." He disappeared into the sunlight again.

It didn't take long before they were ready to leave. Mando and Suri grabbed the wounded rebel and helped him down the ramp, while Sinead grabbed a lantern and a handful of glowrods she found at the back of a seldom-used compartment. Every movement made her chest constrict painfully.

She was the last to leave the ship, which stood glinting in the sunlight. It looked like Mando had found the only flat area for miles; all around were sheer rock walls that seemed to lean over the ship, and it was a feat of maneuvering that Mando hadn't crushed them against the unforgiving rocks.

Erno showed them through a gap which led to a narrow passage that climbed steadily upwards. Sinead nearly dropped the lantern as an outcropping caught her on the side of the head and she could hear the scraping of metal as Mando pushed through the cramped space. The sound of crashing water could be heard over the wind whistling through the passage.

Suddenly, one side fell away and Sinead couldn't hold back a gasp; Luria in all its glory stretched out beneath them, white mountain giving away to a rolling forest that went on as far as the eye could see, unbroken and almost glowing in the sunlight. The wind tugged on her hair and clothes, pulling her towards the edge. They had stopped in front of a roaring waterfall, the source somewhere above them, and the path went on under the falling water, skirting north around the mountain. The rocks were slick with water and one misstep would send her plunging over the side.

Instead of trying to traverse the waterfall, Erno led them through another crevasse hidden by and through a small ravine that opened up to a small hollow. Somewhere nearby, the water roared on the way to the waterfall.

A cave led farther into the mountain, looking impossibly dark from out in the sunlight. Erno scrambled up to the entrance and ducked into the darkness, the others following him.

Once she crossed the threshold into the cave, she was surprised that the temperature didn't drop; the white rocks around them emitted a soft warmth like the others had, heating the air until it was just shy of unpleasant. It smelled of mildew and rot and beneath it all, there was something musky and unidentifiable. From deeper inside the cave came a sound of dripping water.

“Ranars use these caves for hibernation during the winter, but this time of the year they're all down in the Woodlands," Erno said. "It's not much but I doubt anyone's gonna find you right away. As long as you don't draw attention to yourselves."

Sinead put down the lantern and grit her teeth against the pain. "Couldn't we just have stayed on the ship?"

"If the Collective does come sniffing about, it's better they find an empty ship, wouldn't you agree." Erno adjusted his hat.

Mirian pushed past Sinead and went farther into the cave.  Sinead was about to follow when Erno held out a hand. "It's blocked farther down. She'll stay put unless she suddenly gets the power to shift a thousand tons of rocks."

"I'm sure she'll find a way."

"Suit yourself. If you ask me, the girl might do good with some space.”

Erno turned to the rest of their little group. "I'll go try to get in contact with the others, find out what the plan is. Make yourselves comfortable, I don't know how long it'll take."

"I was more comfortable in the ship," Sinead muttered, but she did see his point in going here, she just wished 'here' had a proper bed.

Once Erno left, everyone made themselves busy; Suri hovered around the rebel who looked like he'd much rather be left alone, the kid toddled around exploring the cave with Mando right behind him.

Sinead squinted against the light as she ducked outside the cave. The sun was nearing the top of the sky and there was no cloud in sight only a wide expanse of pure azure. The area truly was a maze of razor-sharp ridges and sheer, deadly drops, so she kept close to the cave.

Leaning against the baking rock, she let her outer jacket fall to the ground and started rolling up the hem of her shirt, the fabric falling away to reveal a bruise the size of a jogan fruit stretching across her ribs, going from deep purple to sickly yellow at the edges. Carefully, she ran her hand across, her fingertips barely touching the skin. Taking a deep breath, she prodded every rib making sure it wasn’t broken.

A sound made her look up and she startled at the sight of the Mandalorian standing a few feet from her, looking pointedly away from her. The child appeared at his feet, grabbing his leg to keep his balance on the uneven ground.

Sinead dropped her shirt back in place, wincing when the skin stretched painfully over her abused ribs.

Mando cleared his throat. "I just, er, wanted to see if you ... if you’re alright.”

"It's not a wrench to the head. I'll survive." Sinead smoothed down her shirt and forced herself not to avert her eyes. "Next time I'll let you take the hit, you’re better dressed for it."

“Hm.” Mando glanced at her quickly before looking across the hollow. “Don’t fall asleep out here. It isn’t safe.”

“No, I’m coming.”

Back inside the cave, Suri had set up camp a little ways from the entrance where their meager supplies were piled up on the ground. The lamp stood on a raised outcropping and cast a circle of warm light.

Sinead sat down with her back against the rock and tried to relax, but even that was painful as if the tension of her muscles was the only thing holding her body together. The rock was warm against her back and the stale air seemed to be a physical weight on her, dragging her down. Every sound seemed either dulled or heightened, every incessant drip a jolt through her body.

Ever so slowly, her eyes drifted shut.

... ... ... ... ...

When Sinead opened her eyes, the light was different. The lamp still shone the same but the sunlight streaming from the entrance to the cave was softer, tinted pink and golden.

Suri sat cross-legged on the other side of the temporary camp, the lamplight throwing her soft features into sharp relief. “Welcome back,” she said when she saw Sinead was awake. “I’m impressed you can fall asleep in a place like this. You and the Mandalorian were out light a light.”

Sinead started to stretch and hissed as her abused body screamed out in agony. “Believe it or not this isn’t the worst place I’ve ever fallen asleep.”

“Oh really? There’s a story behind that?”

The palace on Sriluur came to the forefront of her mind. “Not really.”

“Oh.”

Sinead wet her dry lips and looked around. “Where’s the Mandalorian?”

“He woke up a bit before you, left with the little one.”

“Is that safe?”

Suri put up her hands. “I wasn’t about to argue with him.”

Sinead chuckled and winced. “Anything happen while I was out?”

“Everything’s been quiet. The Barrow protects us.” Suri caressed the stone below her.

Leaning forward, Sinead managed to peel herself off the rock, her sweaty shirt sticking uncomfortably to her back. “The Barrow’s a strange name for a mountain, isn’t it?”

“It’s an old story. According to legend, Luria - the person - is buried deep under the mountain and the stones shot forth to protect her eternal resting place.”

“Who came first, the person or the planet?”

Suri smiled. “You’re taking the story too literally. Creation myths are rarely meant to be taken at face value. The stone above our heads was created out of love, to protect, and protect it will.”

Sinead was about to ask who created it when the rebel at the entrance made a soft sound and lifted his blaster. “Someone’s coming.”

Sinead and Suri scrambled to their feet, Sinead grabbing her blaster and listening with all her might, but all she could hear was the steady dripping from further in the cave.

The Mandalorian appeared in the opening, a dark silhouette against the soft light, carrying the child in one arm and a pack in the other. Sinead lowered her weapon.

The rebel lowered himself back onto his perch. “So you didn’t fall into a ravine," he sneered. "Hope you had fun."

Mando ignored him and moved further into the cave where the child cooed when he saw Sinead was awake.

"See anything out there?" She asked and holstered her blaster.

"A couple of crafts in the sky was moving south, but I don't think they're looking for us. They haven't found the ship."

"That's something at least."

He let the kid down and reached into the pack, procuring a small jar that he threw to Sinead, who caught it and peered at the label. It was the last of the T'pala paste.

"Thanks," Sinead said and looked up at Mando.

He nodded once before grabbing the kid and moving away to a darker area where he started to unpack the rest of the supplies.

When she went outside the cave, the sun was hovering an inch above the horizon where it painted the clouds gold and pink, stark against the blue sky. Sinead closed her eyes against the light and let the soft breeze wash over her. Then she applied the paste to her side, whatever was left of it, and pocketed the empty jar. A now-familiar coolness seeped into her skin, but it only went so far; every time she moved, pain bloomed on her side.

She ducked back into the cave and stood in the darkness waiting for her eyes to adjust. In the far back of the cave, a single light showed where Mirian sat with her back to the entrance. Sinead picked her way across the uneven ground and sat down near Mirian.

A black pool of water blocked the rest of the cave. The water was completely still and it disappeared into the darkness that Mirian's small glowrod couldn't penetrate. From here, the dripping was louder.

They sat in silence for some time, Sinead counting the drips that came like clockwork. Then she cleared her throat. "I'm not here to yell at you, I think you got the message last time." She crossed her legs and tried to find a more comfortable position. "I just want to know what you were thinking running off like that. I get wanting to help or be part of something bigger than yourself, I just can't figure out the leap between 'wanting to fight for the cause' and 'putting everyone in unnecessary danger.'"

Mirian looked away sharply, her knees pressed to her chest.

"You didn't just put our lives in danger, you know that, right? You've spend however long at the base, even if nobody told you anything, I'm sure you know bits and pieces of what's going on. Otherwise, you wouldn't have hidden on the ship."

A tremble ran through Mirian. "Just leave me alone," she said weakly.

"I will. Just wanna make sure you understand." Sinead got up, giving Mirian a long look. She saw a lot of herself in Mirian; losing her parents, her entire life turned upside down in an instant, totally powerless to do anything about it. In the end, terrorists and pirates weren't so different. She had even stowed away on a ship, although Sinead had been trying to escape danger and not run headlong into it.

She found Mando and the kid close to the entrance. When she sat down, the kid crawled into her lap. "I'm just about done with Luria," she said and closed her eyes.

Mando hummed in agreement.

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"I don't know. A couple of days, maybe."

"Ugh." Sinead looked down at the child who was in the process of going through her pockets. "We should go, just try to bludgeon our way through the blockade instead of sitting here."

"You wouldn't get far."

"It's better than sitting here, twiddling our thumbs."

"You ever heard about something called patience?"

"I don't have time to be patient. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner I can get my hands on those records and the sooner you get the weapon."

“You’re not getting your hands on anything if you’re dead.”

“At least I won’t be in a position to complain about it.”

“You never told me where you hid the whip.”

"Ha! Nice try."

They fell into a comfortable silence. Sinead helped the kid balance on her leg to reach into her breast pocket.

"You're good with him."

Sinead looked up. "Hm?"

Mando seemed to go still and he cleared his throat. "You, uh- you're good with him. He likes you."

"And I like him." She fished the droid eye necklace she’d gotten on Tatooine out of the kid's hands before he tried to eat it. "I get why you didn't leave him."

Mando cast a glance around them but Suri and the rebel were sitting together by the entrance, and Mirian was still hiding at the back of the cave, too far away to hear anything. “You have experience with children?”

"We all helped each other where we could. A lot of the others had children, so I minded them whenever I had the time." Plus, one time where she had had to tend to the Hutt's son, a humiliating ordeal she didn't care to recount.

"Were there many families?"

"Some. Many of them were born there, which meant their kids too."

"You weren't?"

Sinead looked down at the kid in her lap. "No."

Breathe.

There was a shout from the entrance, and Mando and Sinead were on their feet in an instance, Mando moving to stand in front of Sinead who turned to shield the kid.

"It's Tanram!"

Sinead breathed out a sigh of relief as Tanram appeared at the entrance, followed by Erno. Tanram's hands were clenched at his side and he scanned the cave with narrowed eyes. "Where is she?"

"Look, Tan-" began Suri.

"Where is she?"

Something stirred in Sinead's chest. "Look, she knows what she did. Yelling at her won't help."

"We'll see about that." He made to stalk towards the back of the cave when Sinead handed Mando the child and stepped in Tanram’s path. "Move."

"No."

"We don't have time for this," Mando snapped. "You know how we can get out of here?"

Tanram gave Sinead a furious look before taking a deep breath. "Seems like our people down here haven't been idle. They managed to steal access codes that should give you a clear shot out of here." He shot another seething look towards the back of the cave. "I don't need to explain to you how big a blow this is to the cause, do I? We could’ve used these codes, but now we have to give them to you.”

"Thank you," Mando said shortly. "When do we leave?"

Tanram gritted his teeth. "Whenever you can persuade the princess to move." He gestured to Suri to follow him and they went outside.

"I'll go get her," said Sinead and moved to the back of the cave where Mirian sat stiffly in the same spot, her eyes wide and terrified. "C'mon, we're leaving."

Mirian didn't move. "What's ... what's gonna happen?" The question came out in a shaky breath.

"We're leaving is what's gonna happen." Sinead held out a hand for Mirian to grab, but there was still enough obstinacy in the girl to ignore the proffered hand and scramble to her feet on her own. Sinead didn’t know whether to smile or to scowl.

The trek back to the ship was done in silence. Mirian had fallen in between Mando and Sinead, who acted as shields against Tanram's withering looks.

The wind had picked up since their last foray into the mountain and coupled with the dusk, the trip back seemed longer and more dangerous. Sinead felt the wind tear at her clothes and hair and she took short careful steps.

The ship stood where they left it, dusty and welcome. As soon as the ramp was down Mirian scurried into the ship, probably to avoid Tanram, who looked like he was about to explode again.

"We appreciate the help getting us out of here,” Mando said, stopping Tanram from going after Mirian.

"I'm not doing it for you." Tanram shoved a small stack of datacards into Sinead’s hands. "The access code-" he tapped on the card on top of the pile. "The rest goes to Gatt as soon as you land. If you get caught at the blockade, destroy them."

"What are they?"

"None of your concern. Just get them to her."

"You're not coming?" Mando asked.

"No, I'm needed here. Erno’ll go with you, make sure that Gatt gets the full story." He nodded to the man.

"If they know this code has been stolen …” Sinead shifted her grip on the datacards.

"You'll be shot down somewhere over Luria, probably." Tanram ground his teeth. "Look, this is the only plausible way out. You're welcome to go back to the cave and wait for the planet to be liberated, but I have a feeling you want to get back as much as I want you out of here."

"We'll take that chance," Mando said and plucked the access code from the stack.

"Good." Tanram stepped back as the rest of them piled into the ship. "Remember, get them to Gatt. Right away."

Sinead saluted him with her one free hand and then the ramp closed, then left the datacards in a pile on the bunk bed. Mirian had found a space on the floor and the rebel limped up and down the length of the ship, muttering quietly under his breath.

Mando, the kid, and Suri were in the cockpit, readying the ship for take-off. Sinead stood behind Mando’s chair.

“Ready to leave Luria behind?” Suri asked.

“No offense, but I hope I never come back here again,” Sinead said.

“I guess that’s fair.”

Mando pushed the datacard into the nav-computer and started the process of firing up the ship, which came to life with a roar, and at last, it rose from the ground towards the dark sky. Sinead could have cried when she saw the ground disappear beneath them.

It didn’t take long before the blockade came into view. Mando slowed the ship.

“So we just … fly past?” Sinead gripped the headrest harder.

“I’m sending the codes,” Mando said, pressing buttons on the nav-computer. “If it works we can-“

Sharp static filled the cockpit. “-‘ere no record of a ship going out,” a disembodied voice said. “What’s going on?”

Sinead leaned forward before anyone had time to react. “There ain’t supposed to be a record of us. We’re on special business.”

“Wh-“ Suri started before Sinead gestured wildly for her to shut up. She cursed under her breath.

“And what business is that?” The voice sounded suspicious.

“The kind you ain’t supposed to know about. We got the codes, don’t we?” Sinead’s mind spun a mile a minute. “You can take it up with Commander Ranick on your head, but right now we need to get through.”

“Stand by.” The static dissipated.

Suri hid her head in her hands.

Mando gripped the helm with enough force to make it creak. “Sinead-“

“Be ready to make a run for it.”

The comm came back to life. “Commander Ranick is out of reach-“

Sinead took a deep breath and straightened into her full height. “Ain’t my problem. You either let me through and find a way to contact Commander Ranick on your own time, or you keep me here, which will result in an avalanche of shit coming your way, you’ll be lucky if Commander Ranick doesn’t use you for target practice.”

The following silence was the longest in Sinead���s life.

“The codes are coming through,” said the voice through the comm, sounding more subdued. “You’re clear to go.”

Sinead sagged with relief and she allowed herself a triumphant smirk. “Much obliged.”

“I can’t believe that worked,” Suri said.

“We’re not through yet,” Mando said, letting the ship glide forward.

Sinead rolled her eyes, it felt like her heart was about to jump out of her chest.

The Razor Crest reached the blockade. The nearest ship was in sight, small windows along the side that shone brightly against the darkness of space, and she imagined she could see little figures watching the ship, judging if they were allowed to pass.

Then they were through. It felt anticlimactic after all they had been through. No sirens or lasers, just the wide expanse of space in front of them.

Once they were out of reach of any scanners, the ship turned and headed to Celvalara.

<- Previous chapter - Next chapter ->

#the mandalorian #din djarin #the mandalorian x oc #mando x oc #din x oc #din djarin x oc #fanfiction #ends of the earth #oc: sinead

[bae-leth]

Okay with all the talk about Natalia and Artemis pulling an Awakening of sorts and going back in time to their dads’ academy days, I gotta write up a little something about this. I’ll stick with scenario A: the kids ending up in an Azure Moon past and scenario B: them ending up in a Verdant Wind past. I’ll stay away from the kids ending up in a Crimson Flower past because it’ll be kinda complicated and also I think that would be a little too traumatizing for these poor babies (as if me launching them into AM and VW won’t traumatize them lol). *okay hopefully Tumblr didn’t eat this and it actually went through this time*

For how the kids end up in the past let’s just say Natalia and Artemis went on recon mission together and happened to accidentally come across a long abandoned secret Agarthan facility. While exploring it they accidentally end up triggering a magic trap. Artemis attempts to use his own magic to dispel it but it reacts strangely. Next thing they know, the kids are waking up on the ground in a field within eyesight of Garreg Mach Monastery. Yeah it’s contrived but how they got there isn’t the big thing here.

Other general stuff to note! For this adventure let’s have Natalia be 18 years old and Artemis is 15 years old. Their dads still wield the Hero Relics so the kids don’t have them and their mounts (Natalia’s horse Ares and Artemis’ wyvern Altena) didn’t come back with them. Less stuff for the kids to have to explain away but still makes things annoying for them, especially since they still have to deal with their Crests.

Also, to make things just a bit less horrible for them, while Natalia and Artemis are stuck in the past for the five years of the game’s story, five years aren’t passing in their original timeline. It’s more like an adjustment of one year in the past equals like a month in their proper timeline. And while they are in the past, they’re not aging. It’s like they’ve been “removed from the flow of time”, more or less. Still experiencing things as they come but they themselves aren’t aging or changing during this time (another annoying thing to try and explain away while they’re stuck in the past). This is because I didn’t want them to lose out on five whole years of their lives. Also because I didn’t want to put poor Dimitri and Felix through having their kids vanish for five damn years. They just get to go through the horror of wondering where their kids disappeared to for five months instead.

Natalia and Artemis claim to be “a pair of siblings who are simply travelling the continent” and that’s usually enough for most people to leave them alone. Plus it helps that Garreg Mach and the academy often get visitors, so having strangers show up isn’t too weird. But the pair of them still stick out since they have that air of being far more noble than they come across and you darn well better believe they were closely watched for a long time before people realized they meant no harm.

Stuff gets especially difficult when the pair occasionally help out in battles and their Crests activate (let’s say the glowy symbol effect is something that you physically see and not just a game mechanic). That is far more difficult to explain away since while enough time has passed since the age of the Ten Elites that Crests can appear practically anywhere, the Blaiddyd and Fraldarius Crests have never before been seen outside of their respective family lines. However a good enough argument is made that it very much is possible that the pair simply have distant (lol) Blaiddyd and Fraldarius blood in them and so they just so happened to inherit the Crests. Sylvain gets a lot of mileage out of teasing Dimitri and Felix over this whole thing while Natalia and Artemis try not to laugh like awkward dummies.

Natalia and Artemis being so excited to see young versions of their dads and their uncles and aunts from the Blue Lions. And a younger, far less expressive version of Byleth!

“Oh goddess, Artemis, I just realized I’m technically older than Father and Papa, they’re both only 17 right now!” “Papa ages really gracefully, he barely looks different than he does in our time. But seeing Father with short hair and two eyes is so odd.”

“Uncle Ashe and Aunt Annette have such round cheeks!” “I can’t get used to Aunt Mercedes or Aunt Ingrid with such long hair!” “Was Uncle Sylvain always this much of a flirt? I thought the stories were exaggerating.” “Uncle Dedue keeps looking so sternly at us. We didn’t even do anything this time!”

“Professor never smiles or anything. I heard he used to be really expressionless, but I didn’t realize it was to this extent.” “I’m just glad that the ‘Professor’ nickname has stuck in our time, at least we can call one person what we usually call them.”

Ingrid legit thinks Sylvain is dying or something because Natalia is a pretty young lady yet Sylvain has yet to make a move on her.

“Ingrid you don’t get it, every time I try it feels like I’m gonna throw up! It’s like hitting on a family member!” “Oh so this is going too far but when you hit on my poor granny-” “Would you let that go already?!”

Dimitri and Felix are going through a lot because they don’t understand why they feel so attached to Natalia and Artemis. Dimitri tries to reason that when he was younger he always wanted siblings and the pair are rather attached to him and Felix so it’s something like that. Doesn’t account for just how protective and doting he is on them though. Meanwhile there’s always whispers about how easily Felix lets the siblings stick by him and he’s so annoyed because “why the hell are they constantly trying to get me and the boar prince to spend time together????”

Byleth also has a soft spot for them and the kids have the easiest time with him since interactions with Byleth aren’t that different from their interactions in their own time.

You know that one monk who says Dedue probably had something to do with Flayn’s kidnapping? Natalia totally decks him in the face when she hears him say that. When the guy tries to complain, Artemis turns up the charm and has everyone believing him when he says that of course his dear big sister would never do something so terrible, and so Natalia gets off scot free.

When it comes to Edelgard Artemis has mixed feelings because he knows about how she starts the war and all she does but at the same time he remembers the bittersweet expression on his father’s face the few times he spoke of her. Meanwhile Natalia is distant and wants nothing to do with Edelgard, knowing all the pain she caused the people Natalia loves.

It’s interesting for the pair to see Claude, since the Claude they know is a lot more open about his true feelings. Still talks circles around them all and savvy as ever, but more honest with himself and those he considers close. Claude is also the one who is most curious about the siblings’ mysterious origins (well other than Hanneman who wants to know all he can for his Crest research)

Artemis causes quite a stir when he goes around slinging magic from the back of a wyvern he borrowed from the stables, forgetting that magic wielding wyvern riders are not gonna be a thing for another few decades. He’s just lucky he managed to borrow the most chill wyvern in the stables because any other wyvern would’ve thrown him off if he tried that with them.

So hey wanna imagine how fucking scared the kids are when the Holy Tomb incident occurs and they see Dimitri crush two guys’ skulls?

Their father doesn’t like to talk about the full details of the darkest time in his life, when his mental state was at its lowest. But he was also rather honest with the kids, telling them that he had done many things that were horrifying, that can’t be easily forgiven, if at all. Natalia and Artemis thought they understood but seeing their father breaking down before their eyes is completely different from the stories they were told.

Natalia doesn’t know how to talk to Dimitri about this so she lets Artemis handle him. Artemis is good at just being a comforting presence, knowing when to stay back and when to sit close. Knowing when to say something and when to listen. Natalia chooses to stick by Felix, arguing with him about how harsh he’s being towards Dimitri. Her own fierce and stubborn nature means she can hold her own against Felix. When she sees a rare flash of vulnerability on Felix’s face she understands that, more than anyone, he didn’t want things to turn out like this for Dimitri.

In the years that pass Natalia and Artemis argue a lot over how much they should interfere. This is the Blue Lions’ past so they know what’s going to happen but they can’t agree on whether or not to say anything. Do they try to stop Edelgard’s war? Do they try to warn someone? But how and when? They know where Dimitri disappeared to after his “execution” should they tell someone? But what if things change too much? What if they make things worse? What if what they’re doing has some effect on their own time? Is it selfish to not want to risk their future, their loved ones?

Okay that’s as much as I have to say about the AM version, so let’s talk more about the kids being sent to a VW past.

The kids are so confused when they see Byleth teaching the Golden Deer. What does this mean? Is this an alternate past? But then how will they know what’s going to happen? Will things really change that much if Byleth is teaching another house?

Their confusion only doubles when, a few months later, Felix transfers to the Golden Deer. Natalia confronts him about this but Felix states that Byleth is good with a sword and he wants to learn from him, there’s nothing more to it.

“You’re not running from Dimitri, are you?” “…Why’re you so invested? You and that brother of yours are just a pair of strangers who keep making everyone else’s business your own.”

Artemis keeps a close eye on Dimitri throughout the year, wondering if perhaps Byleth being with another house will make a positive change for Dimitri. Of course Artemis doesn’t want to lose the important bond between Byleth and the Blue Lions, between Byleth and him and Natalia. But…if this can provide a benefit to his father…

But no, Dimitri still falls apart, slowly but steadily. The war still comes. But now Natalia and Artemis are faced with he horror of their father going down separate paths. Felix going to the Leicester Alliance after Faerghus falls and Dimitri still missing. So the kids make a painful decision, a scary one they’re only making because they don’t know what else to do.

Natalia follows Felix to Leicester. Artemis sets out to find Dimitri. Natalia tries to convince Felix to search for Dimitri, to return to Faerghus. Dimitri flips between ignoring Artemis and barely tolerating his presence. Natalia is at her wit’s end, not knowing how Dimitri or Artemis are doing in this strange timeline. Artemis is so desperately lonely, even with Dimitri with him, not knowing how Natalia and Felix are doing.

Everything falls apart on Gronder Field. In the chaos of the three-way battle, Natalia and Artemis lose track of their dads. But they find each other, seeing each other again for the first time in years. Their reunion is emotional, a small bright spot in this horrifying war. But then they have to find their dads.

By the time they locate Dimitri and Felix, the pair are in combat and it’s vicious. Natalia, frustrated and scared that she’s gonna watch her beloved dads murder each other, rushes in, using her own lance to break them apart. As she keeps a furious Felix held back, Dimitri uses the distraction to go look for Edelgard while Artemis rushes after him.

“Where are you going?!” “I must kill that woman. She’ll die by my hands alone!” “You’re too hurt! You’ll die! Please stop this!” “You’ve been nothing but a thorn in my side all these years. If you don’t like this, then leave me!”

“Why did you stop us?” “Because you’re both idiots! Absolute idiots! How can you fight each other, try to kill each other?!” “He’s nothing but a beast now. It’s how he is.” “It’s not! It’s not…Neither of you, none of this, is supposed to be like this!”

Artemis loses track of Dimitri for a short time in the crowds but it’s long enough. By the time he finds Dimitri again, the prince is on the ground, impaled by so many spears. Dying.

Artemis screams and sobs and throws himself on Dimitri, begging him not to die. He can’t keep up the façade in this moment, seeing his father dying, even if it’s not the same father he knows.

“Father!!! Don’t die, don’t die, don’t die! Don’t leave me, Father! You can’t do this to me! To us!! Please please please!!!!”

In Dimitri’s last moments, the fog in his mind clears and the voices quiet down just enough that Dimitri realizes what Artemis is screaming. And although he doesn’t have all the information, knows it’s bizarre, in his heart he realizes it’s true, that it explains certain things. Artemis is…And the girl, Natalia…Meaning Felix…is…He must be, there could be no other who Dimitri would ever…

“…I’m…so sorry…”

Natalia hears her brother’s distant scream and runs, Felix following close behind because even though the girl is strange and annoying he couldn’t bear it if she died (but why does he feel that way?). They arrive just in time for Felix’s world to crash around him. Just in time to hear Dimitri’s soft and weak apology, to see Artemis clutching Dimitri’s dead body and sobbing hysterically against his chest. Just in time for Natalia to fall to her knees, tears streaming down her face, as she whispers “Father”.

Welp, I that’s enough there too. So let’s get into the last bit. How the heck poor Dimitri and Felix are doing with their kids missing.

Soldiers return to Fhirdiad with Ares and Altena but without their riders. The soldiers explain to Dimitri and Felix that they found the pair of mounts exhausted but doing their best to race to Fhirdiad. There’s no sign of the crown princess or the prince.

The search for Natalia and Artemis is done covertly at first because the panic that would spread across Fodlan if it was revealed that both of the royal children have disappeared would be too great. But as weeks go on with no sign of the kids, word ends up getting out.

Dimitri is beside himself, wondering if someone from his past hoping for revenge has done something to the children. If they’ve been hurt or worse because of his own actions, he’d never forgive himself for as long as he lives. Felix has to divide himself between preventing Dimitri from spiraling downwards and worrying over what happened to Natalia and Artemis.

All of the Blue Lions are hard at work looking for the kids, Byleth himself getting involved too (and the times when he can’t he sends plenty of Knights of Seiros to go looking in his place). Dimitri asks for help from Claude as time goes by, who offers all the help he can. But there’s no sign of the children. No sign of any battles, of any kidnappings, nothing…

After a couple months pass some of the royal advisors get together to talk about the search. They decide it may be better to speak with Felix first. So they bring Felix to a private area and tell him the truth. About how it’s been two months, with no ransoms, no sightings of the children, nothing to suggest they were taken. And Natalia and Artemis are both strong and capable enough that if they could escape from whatever situation they were in they would have by now. The advisors say it’s probably time to start thinking that perhaps they children may be dead.

Dimitri rushes into the room at the sound of yelling and sees the advisors crowding on the ground around another advisor whose nose was clearly broken and gushing blood. Felix stood above him with his fists clenched, angrier than Dimitri had ever seen him in all their years.

“If you have time to talk to me about your bullshit theories, you have time to get out there and search!”

More months pass and it’s common sentiment among many citizens that Natalia and Artemis are most likely dead, there’s been so sightings of them, no word from them. But everyone knows better than to say anything within earshot of any Blue Lions, the Archbishop, or the royal couple.

But Dimitri is breaking down as more months pass. And Felix, for all his fierce nature and stubbornness, is falling apart too. Dimitri spends so much time in Natalia and Artemis’ rooms when he’s not working himself to near death while Felix only ever stays in the castle long enough to make sure Dimitri is well and the kingdom’s affairs are running well before leaving to follow a new lead.

No one will say it out loud but the worry is spreading. That if Natalia and Artemis aren’t found, or…if their bodies aren’t found, that neither Dimitri nor Felix will last much longer. That after all the work and pain that went into bringing peace back to Fodlan and helping it progress, it was all going to fall apart.

Okay that’s a lot of depressing stuff so let’s end this on a high note.

After five months pass, Natalia and Artemis come home. Or Dimitri and Felix finally find them. The royal pair find the mysterious Agarthan facility just as a strange light comes from within. When they go in, they find Natalia and Artemis standing up, together, alive, looking no different than the day they vanished five months ago.

Dimitri and Felix are both frozen in shock but the second Natalia and Artemis lock eyes with their dads they both let out shouts and sobs and basically tackled their dads to the ground in a massive group hug, sobbing the whole time.

Neither Natalia nor Artemis have ever seen Dimitri or Felix cry, especially as much as they were doing so in that moment. But they could laugh about that later. The family was all together again. That’s all that truly mattered.

“Welcome home.” “We’re back.”

—————–

notes from bae:

I’M SCREAMING INTO THE VOID. THESE ARE SO GOOD AND SO SO HEARTBREAKING I’VE BEEN TORN TO PIECES

immediately upon reading the first bits i could tell that my heart was going to be broken because a) azure moon hurts enough on its OWN, and b) i don’t think i will ever get over dimitri’s ending in vw. and all of felix’s endings without him just spell Misery anyway, so seeing Artemis break down over him?? EXPECTED but also??? Artemis??? my sweet sunshine son oh my GOD i am so UPSET!! that entire scene with dimitri’s last words to his son got me. crying in a pool of tears

and i don’t even want to touch CF without at least ten mins worth of prep time, jfc. knowing what happens to unrecruited Felix & co in Arianrhod, and then what happens over at Tailtean, would absolutely break the two of them :( not to mention the even worse scenario of watching CF!Felix unfold…. gosh. ouch.

The mental image of watching Natalia and Artemis trying to explain away their crests is so funny to me…. just: “Our Crests? Uh - we’re… distant descendants of the Elites! Very… filtered down.” “Not at all related to your bloodlines :) (Natalia you’re giving us away stop snickering-!)

SYLVAIN BEING UNABLE TO FLIRT WITH NATALIA YES i remember reading this in an earlier submission and it still makes me laugh :’) and awww… their reactions to their younger aunts/uncles make my heart warm. especially Dedue LMAOO ‘THIS TIME’ WHAT DO THEY PUT THE POOR MAN THROUGH IN THEIR OG TIMELINE….. you kids….!

DIMA AND FELIX WITH THOSE PROTECTIVE INSTINCTS…! you calling Dimitri 'doting’ is doing a number on my heart. Does he make sure they eat and sleep properly? Put them out of harm’s way in battle? Go to bed and wonder why on earth he feels this urge to keep them safe all the time?? Does Felix do the same, but in his own Felix-y way? Do the others stop in awe as they watch him conversing in a normal fashion with the two? I need detais, this is all good food.

Artemis nearly starting a new trend decades early? Natalia decking that racist piece of garbage. good. GOOD. look at them, they’re already creating positive change in the world, and it’s not even their world! i’m so proud of them

you’re right, the holy tomb scene would be absolutely terrifying for them :( but i’m glad they both manage to track down and stay with DImitri and Felix in their own way. VW on the other hand….. OUCH….. OH NO….. them watching Byleth go off and leave the Lions, knowing that he normally has a soft spot for them and their fathers, so what happened? THat must be heartbreaking :(

and then THAT REUNION ON GRONDER FIELD.  “You’ve been nothing but a thorn in my side all these years. If you don’t like this, then leave me!” - NOOOOO THE DRAMATIC IRONY… DELICIOUS YET PAINFUL…. and then Artemix’ breakdown??? IVE ALREADY SAID THIS BUT YOU RIPPED MY HEART TO SHREDS. DIMITRI REALISING TOO LATE? S H R E D S I TELL YOU

and ofc, in the normal world, you’ve got two parents sick with worry about their missing kids…. Dimitri and Felix really went through it, didn’t they :( They must’ve been in a horrible state. imagining a Dimitri that’s barely hanging on & absolutely blaming himself (even though he’s done nothing wrong!) and a Felix that’s trying to keep it together but fraying at the edges…. i am so so glad they get the happy ending they dESERVE. let this family be happy! let the kids get the scolding of their lives before they all collapse into one big group hug. 

thank you so much for this submission, it made my NIGHT. fraldarddyd family au never fails to make me smile!!

#submission #anon #fraldarddyd #fire emblem three houses #fraldarddyd family au #YELLS INTO A CAVERN... I LOVE THIS AU... SO MUCH..... #dimilix

[merrylittlehogwartsrp]

Happy Holidays, Karli! We are thrilled to “invite” Lavender Brown (fc Alisha Boe) back to Hogsmeade for a little forced Winter Cheer. We adored how past, directly post war, and current all worked so well in your app--from family dynamics to current werewolf (or not) infection.

Please pack your bags and send in your tumblr. Additional information can be found here!

OOC DETAILS:

NICKNAME: Karli

AGE: 27

PRONOUNS: She/Her

ACTIVITY  ESTIMATE: Around 6-7 probably. I generally am on every single day through mobile, but I can’t post every day. T/W are usually a no for me as far as posting goes, but I’m on in the weekends fairly regularly. 

CHARACTER DETAILS:

FULL NAME & NICKNAMES: Lavender Claudia Brown

BIRTHDATE: November 3rd (”That’s a Scorpio, a water sign. Professor Trelawney always said that we are called that because we can be as mysterious as the ocean itself. Don’t you find me mysterious?”)

BLOOD-STATUS: Half-blood

GENDER IDENTITY: Cis-Female

GENDER PRESENTATION/PRONOUNS: Female, She/Her

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Pansexual. Lavender likely doesn’t think much about her sexuality and perhaps doesn’t even know this word (it is the early 2000s, after all, and sexuality wasn’t as understood), but she does understand that she likes pretty things and people. If someone catches her attention, she’s on it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a boy, girl, or something else entirely. Well, perhaps not everything else… she’d like to them to be human. Like, Professor Lupin was good-looking and all, but…

CHARACTER SITUATION:

OCCUPATION: what do they do for a living? 

Lavender owns a very small shop in Diagon Alley, just on the border between Diagon and Knockturn. Not actually Knockturn, but no one wanted the little place with the boarded up windows so close to all the dark happenings (you think there would be less without a war, but apparently not!) so rent is cheap and it adds to the appeal. Her shop is supposed to be mysterious, you see!

It’s called Azure Moon (as in “Welcome to Azure Moon, are you ready to awaken your aura?”) and it’s a mystical shop. She sells various items for the art of Divination, such as tarot cards, tea leaves, and crystal balls. There is also a line of homemade hand creams, scents, and other products that are geared towards enriching the experience. In the back, Lavender will provide a tarot or palm reading for an additional fee. No, she will not blow you for a bit extra coin, thank you very much!

Her scars ended up choosing the name for her. Many people actually assume she’s a werewolf since her attack. There are so many rumors around the species that people often believe they can “catch” lycanthropy from a simple touch. What wix don’t realize is that actual werewolves wouldn’t have scratch marks like Lavender’s cursed wounds. She lets the rumors go, though - it adds to the appeal of the shop. She often gets business simply because teenagers dare one another to enter or adults just have to see and no one leaves without a purchase after her wolf eyes catch them staring. 

HOUSING:

Lavender lives in the flat above her shop by herself. It’s even tinier than Azure Moon - with a little bathroom with the sliding wood door, while everything else fit into the one room. Her bed is off to the side with bulbs of light hanging around it from the ceiling. Scented candles or incense burn at the table in the corner. She has a purple couch with a teal rug, wood floors. Shawls and blankets in varying places. Not quite Trelawney because Lavender is much more fashionable, but there’s an aura about the place anyway. In her bathroom, she has an entire closest dedicated to hair products, scrunchies, nail polish, and make up. Her vanity is her sanctuary… even if it barely fits next to the toilet! 

SOCIAL STANDING: 

She’s nothing. Well, not nothing to herself or her friends or whatever - but to the Wizarding World… nothing. She had joined the D.A., yes. She fought the Carrows, yes. She nearly gave her life to the Battle of Hogwarts, yes. But she’s no war hero. She hadn’t even taken down a Death Eater before her fall! The world does not remember her name, even though it was in the papers once as one of the injured. Ginny and Neville and Luna - they led the rebellion. Harry and Ron and Hermione - they took down Voldemort. Lavender is nothing.

But she’ll be damned if she’s not remembered for something before she goes!

CHARACTER CONFIGURATION:

TALENTS/WEAKNESSES 

(+) Divination

(+) Fashion

(+) Finding a weakness and making someone see it

(-) Transfiguration

(-)  Inspiring others

(-) Not very athletic

STRENGTHS/FLAWS

(+) Intuitive

(+) Passionate

(+) Confidence

(-) Possessive

(-) Manipulative

(-) Reactive

CHARACTER HISTORY: (It says “short” paragraph but I got a bit carried away on some of them!)

FAMILY BACKGROUND

When Felicity Brown got pregnant right out of Hogwarts, her family was appalled. They were purebloods, after all! Maybe not Sacred 28 or anything of that caliber, but still… purebloods had standards! And with a stranger, no less! Felicity claimed the man had also been a pureblood wizard, but she didn’t even know his last name, so what was the truth, really? Her family kept it up, though. It was easier to explain to the neighbors and friends that a mistake with the potion had happened (each retelling had it less and less on Felicity’s shoulders) while keeping up appearances of little Lavender’s bloodline.

For the first two years of her life, she’d lived with her mom and grandparents in a nice home in a magical community. Such a beautiful baby, Felicity put her daughter in bows and dresses and teeny tiny golden robes. So precious! people gushed and Felicity smiled because that’s what was expected. She began to notice, however, that the way her parents treated her daughter was different than the other grandchildren. Well, she was married out of wedlock, after all! And it had been obvious that even the claim of a pure bloodline wasn’t enough to keep her parents happy.

She left without a word, dragging her crying toddler into the stormy wind, apparating to a new home in the countryside. And wasn’t it such a coincidence the muggle owners suddenly wanted to move out and leave the deeds to a young, single mother? Felicity had assumed muggle life would be easy. After all, she had magic on her side! Finding a job had been simple once she learned the trick of enchanting a parchment to say exactly what an employer wanted to see. But acting the part. That had been a bit tougher. Still, if she became fairly good at those memory charms, no one from the ministry had come knocking!

As Lavender grew up, she learned of the Wizarding World, but only the basics. Hogwarts, wands, robes, magic. Nothing about the details. She loved her mother but, once, she wished she could visit her grandparents again. Felicity, however, liked to keep her daughter close. They’d grown up together, after all. A child having a child.

She poured over magazines - both magical and muggle alike - and didn’t even realize that it wasn’t normal for a parent to prefer to spend most days inside the house. That it wasn’t normal for boxes to be stacked in the house, filled with trinkets and trash and those cut outs from 1984. (”Oh, honey, we can’t throw them out! We may need them some day!” her mom had said more than once).

All Lavender knew was that she was ready to get out of the clutter. She was ready for Hogwarts, where she could style her hair for people to actually see it. 

LIFE DURING THE WAR

The castle was beautiful and, oh, look at the floating candles! There are elves here! And ghosts! Hogwarts had been spectacular. Even with deaths and tournaments and ever-changing teachers and heartbreak and Harry Bloody Potter messing things up for everyone! Even with the war looming, Hogwarts was spectacular. And maybe that’s why the death of Albus Dumbledore had been so shocking. She’d thought they were untouchable.

But Voldemort had taken over, The Chosen Jerk had fled with her dolt of an ex-boyfriend, and Lavender had realized that beautiful things could be dangerous. Hogwarts turned dark. The Carrows and Severus Snape took over, tormenting the students, and leading the students’ lives down a place that only ended in bloodshed. Lavender realized, for the very first time it seemed, how much a blood status mattered. She’d always been half-blood… safe. But she knew so little about the Wizarding World and, whenever quizzed, she’d failed. The curse of a parent who did not want anything to do with the wixen any longer.

She continued with the D.A. - but only after asked. She snuck out of the common room - but only with a group. She wasn’t the leader here! And, even if she tried to be, no one would ever follow her. People have been underestimating Lavender her entire life, why would they stop just because a war was going on? She tried to resist as much as she could whenever the Carrows told her to torture someone, but sometimes she felt like she just had to. After all, if she didn’t do it – didn’t Crabbe and Goyle just get called in? And they were so much worse than her! It wasn’t an everyday thing, but she did do it and knew that sometimes that meant people judged her. But whatever – she was still fighting the damn war, wasn’t she?

She stayed for the Battle of Hogwarts. Of course she stayed! But it wasn’t even halfway through when Greyback attacked. The world had exploded and she’d been thrown over the edge and he’d bitten into her body. Her skin had been eaten. She couldn’t remember much after that. Not the stirring or the hexes or people finding her body. She was alive – but was she?

LAST THREE YEARS

The first four months after the war had been spent in St. Mungo’s. Not just for the cursed wounds – though there was a gnarly scar on her neck from the place Greyback’s teeth had sunk into her, as well as others on her face, a few on her stomach – but also just… the rest of it. She’d been left to die for hours in that unsteady Hogwarts corridor. She’d been hit with stray curses, pieces of debris had partly covered her body. There were bones to fix and regrow, wounds to heal, hexes to trace, antidotes to drink. She didn’t have to learn to walk or write or anything again, but her memory stayed hazy and there were things she forgot. Had she taken her meds yet? Did the healers visit yet? That is mostly better now, but Lavender still struggles with short-term stuff every now and again.

The shop came later – much later. After being released from the hospital, she went back to her mum’s house. Felicity, who had given up the Wizarding World for good (other than using her wand for simple things), had tried to use Lavender’s injuries as proof that it was dangerous. She tried keeping her daughter away from everything magical and, for the first year, it almost worked. Lavender was still recovering, she couldn’t live on her own. At first, she didn’t realize her mother was isolating her but, when letters from Parvati were never given or her friend never received Lavender’s, she realized.

She left just before the one year anniversary, leased the shop, and didn’t look back. She still writes to her mother sometimes – she does love her, after all – but she also needs space and doesn’t visit often. This is her life and she gets to choose how to live it! Which is maybe why she’s been getting so annoyed with Parvati lately. All she ever did was talk about Lavender’s scars – her symptoms. Lavender was more than constant shaving and cursed wounds and growling in anger and if her friend was devoting her entire life to fixing her, did she really love Lavender for who she was? Sure, maybe Lavender gets a little squeamish around actual werewolves – but she’s not one, so why does it matter? All she knows is that if Parvati doesn’t just give it up soon, Lavender may explode.

HOLIDAY DETAILS:

Her mother is not religious - it’s something she says with pride, smirking at whatever expression the other person gives - and so Lavender was not raised with any sort of real religious tradition. However, they do celebrate Christmas because Felicity believes it’s a time to give gifts, get drunk, and stuff their faces. 

Being just the two of them, they spent Lavender’s breaks from school with hot cocoa (lots of marshmallows!), crappy romantic Christmas films on television, cuddled up in blankets on the couch. Lavender loves her mum - even now! But it’s also hard losing some of that easy connection. Her decision to fight in the war hadn’t just screwed her up - it messed with a lot of her relationships, too.

Something else Lavender did with her mum growing up was look at all the lights. They would go out every year - Lavender holding the side of the car for dear life, as Felicity had never actually been trained in driving and had charmed her papers to get her license - and argued over who had the best house. It was fun and something Lavender missed last year when she decided not to spend the holiday with her mother.

She hasn’t told her mum she won’t be heading home this year either and, given there is no Daily Prophet for Felicity Brown, Lavender will eventually have to find her Gryffindor courage. She’s not exactly angry for the celebration. It’ll be weird going back to school, but she’s happy to see her old friends, show off her new robes or muggle dresses, and hear all the gossip. She’s also planning on setting up a table to sell a bit from her shop. So, if it’ll get her a bit of extra coins, then why not? It’s life after war… might as well get a bit drunk and have some fun!

OOC SUPPLEMENT:

SHIPS: Nope! This would be my first time playing Lavender, if accepted, and I have literally no preference. My biggest thing is… I definitely need chemistry and build up! I’m the slow-burn queen and can’t just jump into something without any build. 

CHANGES: Nope, I think we’re good!

FACECLAIM: Alisha Boe or Vajèn van den Bosch

#merrylittleapp #lavender brown