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girlinthepictureframe · 3 years

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Writing Tag Game

I was tagged by @tightredpants and @elorianna.

How many works do you have on Ao3?

What's your total Ao3 word count?

961553

What're your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Trip Into A Dream, Miracle Aligner, Forever Young, Now We Know, The Briefest Kiss

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to. I appreciate every single comment and want my readers to know that their inputs and opinions and kind words and criticism are valued and welcome.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Milex-wise: Maybe Forever Young? There was an old Jude/Tommy Instant Star one a decade or so ago. Forgot the name.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

*scratches head* Miracle Aligner?

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

Nope.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes, and because of that, I've actually changed my own approach in a lot of ways. There's a historical romance series by Julie Anne Long that tells the adventures of two families in Pennyroyal Green. I love most of the books and throughout the entire series, you discover clues of what happened to the couple that connects two rivaling families. Their book is the final book of the series and every reader, I presume, had high hopes for their book. Me included. For me, that book missed the mark. And I left a bad review on Goodreads to vent my frustration. I was disappointed. In my imagination, their reunion would have played out much differently. I had envisioned the gentle and smart female lead to turn her nose at the male lead, kick his nuts, and tell him point blank that he's a mansplaining idiot for expecting her to pack up her life to serve him and his whims. (I still have strong emotions about that ending.😔) At any rate, after I got those bad comments on my own story I realized that the author doesn't owe me the ending I want. It's her story. Her work. Her characters. Maybe she reads her characters differently than I do. What do I know, right? It's one thing to tell somebody their grammar sucks, or even that there are holes in the plot, or inconsistencies. But to say 'your story sucks because I feel entitled to a different ending' – in a more profane language – I think, misses the mark of what comments should be about. Because, at the end of the day, it's the author's story. Their time. Their work.

Because, as writers, we feel passionately about your works, it's very easy to grab the sword and defend it. Commenting on hate, also, is very alluring. If somebody yells at you in capital letters and calls you names for me makes it's hard not to step into that trap. I read somewhere that replying to hate is an exercise in arrogance. You take your keyboard and you type away, demonstrating one keystroke at a time that your insults are punchier, your knowledge greater, and your opinion worth more. Honestly, what's the point? When I reply to hate I waste my time on somebody who doesn't give a shit about my opinion in the first place. Best solution? Delete the hate and don't waste a thought on it.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do. Although recently, I've written less. (Must change that. 😜)

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Don't think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I recall that somebody some time ago wanted to translate my work. Haven't checked up on that in a bit.

What's your all time favorite ship?

At the moment, Milex. (I have gotten into Mo Dao Zu Shi and Voltron, though.)

What's a WIP you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

There's a story I wrote years ago on FF.net about Jude Harrison and Tommy Quincy of Instant Star. I don't even remember the name of that story. The only one I ever left unfinished.

What are your writing strengths?

I've been told it's comedy.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I want to write something dark and twisted and sad and tragic, something that ends with death and despair. I've started out many times. Got an entire Google document dedicated to plot ideas. Always ends up upbeat and cheerful. 😩

Here's a Milex spoiler for a story that might never see the light of day. Miles and Jamie, cops in a film-noir seedy LA haunt the killer of a handful of young women who end up dead on the side of various roads. Jamie, going undercover, gets murdered and the killer carves a message into his chest. Miles, vowing revenge, thinks it's connected to a gruesome group of drug-dealing gangsters. Alex is their drug-lord. Miles learns of Alex's identity and the LAPD tries and fails to get people into his inner circle. Until one night Miles screws the rules after a chance encounter with Alex and takes it upon himself to get his answers. By crawling into Alex's bed. There's a moment of dialogue in which Alex tells Miles that their story won't have a happy ending, to which Miles replies, the best part of every book is never the last line. It's the journey there and life is about the memories you make before you turn the last page. One of 'em dies in the end.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Love doing it and hope that Google translate is as good as I want it to be.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I wrote a Mulder/Scully fanfic in a journal when I was a young teen before I had a computer. The first fic I posted was Jude/Tommy from Instant Star.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

A really old Jude/Tommy fic that ended up being twisted and weird and dark until I wrote an uplifting ending that kinda ruined it in retrospect, but that's the darkest I ever managed.

Thank you for tagging me. I don't know whom to tag because I think most people have already been tagged. 🙈

#writing tag game #milex #jommy #i waffle a lot

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thatringboy · 4 years

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The Way A Soul Lives (Part Two) - TWST

Requested by @yoruzumy0 that I continue This Story, so I hope you all enjoy! Angst is not something I’m very good at, but I got a lot of positive feedback from part one and it made me want to keep trying!

Word Count: 1,633

Warnings: Cursing, magic, blood mention, Character death, mentioned character death and the angst associated with that, implied relationships between characters

Silver sat on the stone pavement with his head in his hands while Lilia hugged him tight, his eyes widened and unmoving from shock. Malleus burst out of the castle with his large staff in hand and reached his companions. The prince stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the body on the ground and his eyes immediately went up to the stars, searching and scanning like the universe held the answers.

And for once, it did. Malleus had been looking at the wings of the dragon constellation for his fallen friend, but instead found the small star sitting peacefully next to his grandmother in the heavens, now protecting the Draconia family for the rest of eternity.

Despite the morbid situation, the comfort of knowing where Sebek’s final resting place was brought a small smile to his face. After all, what was death to the immortal?

~~~

Yuu had expected a mirror to gate them back to Night Raven College, not a singular Black Carriage to fit themself, Grim, Jack, Cater and Vil all into. Needless to say, they did not all fit.

Yuu wondered if this was some sort of punishment from Crowley for leaving and questioned if it was related to the feeling of dread still welling up inside of them. Magic had transported all of their luggage back to the school, but couldn’t transport them individually as well? The nerve that headmaster had!

Yuu would have complained if they could be heard over the complaining of their companions.

“You are sitting on my coat!”

“Well, you’re on my tail!”

“Guys move, I need a selfie to show my followers that I’m stuck here with you!”

“The Great Grim demands that you stop squishing me against the window!”

Yuu rolled their eyes and moved closer to the window to get away from Cater’s obsessive photo taking. They watched the Pyroxene countryside roll past the window and was taken aback about how snow could still be seen under evergreen trees despite it currently being the middle of Spring.

But the trip was not without faults. Every bump in the road jostled the Prefect and made them wonder if the bad feeling in their gut was about to become everyone else’s problem too. Thankfully, the Carriage passed through a gateway and was soon outside the front gates of Night Raven College.

The sight of the grand castle never ceased to take Yuu’s breath away and the view got their friends to momentarily stop complaining. Cater maneuvered himself in the carriage to snap a selfie that had a blurred image of Jack in the background, which got the sweet silence to break into arguing again.

When the carriage finally stopped and the doors opened, Yuu fell out and crashed into someone. They apologized profusely and felt someone stroke their head.

“Non non, forgive me for not being more careful.” Rook smiled down at them and helped them regain their balance.

Yuu stepped away from the third year and watched as he extended a hand to help Vil out of the carriage. The motion was graceful and Yuu wondered how Vil still looked so magnificent despite the commute. Jack ended up falling out of the carriage with Cater and Grim and the sight reminded Yuu of a clown car.

As their friends got to their feet, Yuu noticed that Rook was already in his uniform. “When did you get here, Rook-Senpai?”

The blonde spun around and tipped his hat. “I simply mirrored back to campus an hour ago.”

“Of course you did.” Yuu frowned and held out an arm for Grim to climb up on.

~~~

For someone with a slight case of narcolepsy, Silver didn’t sleep a minute. If anything, he purposefully made himself busy around the castle.

The image kept replaying in his mind as he cleaned Malleus’ room from the damage caused by the demon. The blood soaked stones, Lilia’s screams and the sound of Sebek slumping to the ground. It replayed in real time, slow motion and sped up. The scene was a bad record set on loop and every time he closed his eyes to try to silence the pounding of his head, the images became more pronounced and more intense.

It got so bad that he had to stop and sit down on Malleus’ half-burnt bed to keep himself from hyperventilating. He knew that Fae usually moved on quickly from death and didn’t typically mourn for long, but Sebek’s death was only a few hours ago and his caretakers had made themselves sparse almost immediately.

The sun coming up through the broken glass of the window made little refracted rainbows dance around the destroyed room. Silver saw the pleasant sight and thought of how the universe mocked him. Of course the sunrise after loosing his comrade would be beautiful, what else would it be? Sebek wasn’t a friend of his by any means - if anything they were bitter rivals - but the thought of going back to Night Raven College without the loud cabbage man made his heart sink further. Silver felt tears welling up in his eyes and moved to wipe them away.

“Glad to see you’re still as human as ever.” Malleus stood in the doorway with an exhausted face. Silver’s first instinct would have been to jump to attention, but his body didn’t move. Malleus came and sat next to him, glancing around the room as the sun came up more.

“Your father has been in the library all night trying to find the origin of that beast. I thought I told you to get some sleep, you need it more than us.”

Silver remained silent. What was he to say? He had left Sebek alone to defend the prince and took too long in fetching Lilia. The image of Sebek’s face before he plummeted out the window still burned in his mind. It was a face of determination and fierce loyalty only the Zigvolt boy could pull off. Malleus reached around the human and hugged him close. “Don’t over think this, none of this is remotely your fault.”

“But I could have--”

“We all could have done something differently. I could have stayed and fought instead of follow protocol. None of that matters now.” Malleus’ voice was barely audible. “What matters is how we move on.”

Silver pulled away. “Move on?! That was only five hours ago and you want to move on?!”

Malleus looked hurt. “No I--”

“I know that life isn’t such a big deal to fairies, but can we at least take a few days to mourn him?” he got up on his feet. “Sebek was by far your most loyal guard and you want to move on already? No, we will not stop mourning and we will not stop searching for who did this until I plunge my sword into their chest! I--”

Malleus was up and hugged Silver close. “I don’t want you to stop, I want you to slow down before you hurt yourself in the process. Revenge is a fickle thing; you think you want it, but what you really need is healing. And where does revenge stop? None of it will fill the hole inside of you.”

The soft voice of the prince made Silver tear up again as he hugged Malleus back.

“Alright, I’ll slow down, but only because you asked me to.”

“That is all I want of you now.”

~~~

Yuu braced themself for the running tackle from Epel and Ace and collapsed to the ground under their short friends, to the entertainment of Grim who just floated above the first years.

“Epel, Ace, I can’t breathe!” Yuu laughed.

“If you can talk, you can breathe.” Epel got up and helped Yuu to their feet. “So, how was the break?”

Yuu’s eyes widened and they began to retell their adventures in Pyroxene, the bad feeling in their gut subsiding for now. When they mentioned spending the week with the Howls, Epel’s mouth dropped open.

“So, what are they like? Jack’s parents?”

Ace elbowed the purple haired boy in the ribs. “Why do you need to know, lover boy?”

Epel turned red and crossed his arms. “Just curious, that’s all.”

Ace and Yuu snickered when Jack joined the small group and Epel flushed even more red. The five - including Grim - made their way inside the school and to the mirror hall where the other members of Heartslabyul that Yuu considered friends loitered. Deuce noticed his friend group and bowed to the dorm heads before making his way over.

“Ace, you shouldn’t just run off like that!”

Ace brushed him off. “Pssh, I was collecting the trash!”

“Trash? What trash?”

Yuu facepalmed and rolled their eyes. More mirrors lit up as more students returned from their breaks. A group from Scarabia chatted away about a new dance they learned, some Savanaclaw boys compared their fitness regimes from the break and Yuu swore they saw a few Ignihyde students slinging around brand new motorcycle licenses. Everyone was so happy to see each other and in that moment, Yuu forgot all about their sick feeling.

That is, until Jack tapped their shoulder and cleared his throat. “So, did any of you see the stars last night? I swore that a new one got added to the Draconia line.”

Deuce crossed his arms and nodded. “Yeah, I saw that.”

Yuu’s sick feeling hit them like a truck and they frowned. “Do you think it was someone we knew?”

Epel shook his head. “The chances of that are too slim, probably some distant cousin of someone we vaguely know.”

His certainty made Yuu feel better. The group continued to talk about something as Ortho approached them with a happy expression. He made the first years shriek when he removed his metal face plate and showed them his real mouth underneath.

Yuu’s attention was immediately drawn to a mirror in the corner of the room. They excused themself from the group and walked over to where Malleus, Silver and Lilia had appeared.

They looked dreadful. Lilia didn’t even bother to use his legs to lazily float around and his uniform was unkept, Silver’s eyes and cheeks were red from crying and Malleus’ had a distant look to him, like he wasn’t even there and his body was functioning on its own. Yuu smiled warmly at them. “Nice to see you three, how was your break?”

They clearly didn’t expect anyone to approach them as the three of them seemed to snap out of a trance. Lilia excused himself quickly and disappeared. Meanwhile, Silver remained glued to Malleus side. The prince looked down at Yuu with a sad smile. “It was... eventful.”

“I, uh, I saw the stars last night....” Yuu trailed off, seeing Silver’s face perk up sorrowfully.

“You did?” Malleus placed a hand on their shoulder. Yuu nodded.

“Then you know that tragedy has struck us.” Silver stood up straight.

Yuu looked around, noticing the unusual absence of the second guard. “Where’s Sebek?”

The single tear that rolled down Malleus’ face made Yuu want to throw up. They looked to Silver, but their eyes didn’t meet.

“You can’t be serious...” They whispered. Malleus suddenly hugged Yuu tightly and the Ramshackle student could hear his heart thumping loudly.

Yuu hugged back, feeling hot tears streak down their own cheeks. “W-What happened?!“

Silver opened his mouth to answer, but his voice became lost in his throat. By this time, Yuu’s other friends had noticed their disappearance and cautiously approached the Diasomnia students. Epel overcame his fear of the large Fae hugging his friend and spoke up. “Hey, where’s Sebek? Isn’t he glued to your hip or something?”

Silver glared at Epel, making him shrink away. Malleus let go and looked at the Pomfiore student with an apologetic face. “I am sorry, little one.”

Epel’s voice fell quiet and his eyes widened. “What?”

Yuu turned to their friends and saw the wave of realization hit them all at once. They wanted to curl up into a ball and cry and scream and wake up from this terrible dream, but all Yuu managed to do was look down at the ground. Their only comfort was the hand still on their shoulder.

~~~

“No... no, no, no no no no no...” Ace grabbed his forehead in disbelief.

“By the time I arrived on scene, both Sebek and the monster were already dead.” Silver crossed his arms and looked at his feet. Deuce cursed under his breath and kicked the ground.

“We’re still looking into how the demon could have been created and--”

“That’s not good enough!” Ace snapped at Silver. “You’ve got a killer out there and you’ve spent the first few hours looking at old books?!”

“Ace!” Jack looked appalled by his behaviour. Silver smiled weakly. “That’s what I said, too, but then I realized that we get no work done running on revenge as fuel.”

“You know, I’m getting tired of this philosophical bullshit.” Ace looked Malleus up and down. “You’re all powerful, get a tracking spell up and slap it on part of the monster’s magic that was left behind from the fight!”

Deuce punched him in the arm. “Please, just shut up!”

Malleus thought for a second. “You may be onto something....”

Ortho, who had stood in stunned silence the whole time, touched his chin. “Maybe you’re looking at the puzzle all wrong. When does anyone try to solve a maze puzzle by starting at the front? (Deuce, put your hand down, this isn’t the time) We find who made the demon and work our way backwards, like solving a riddle!”

“That’s how we deal with infestations at home. You find one bug and trace it back to the hive to eliminate them all.” Jack looked around.

Silver and Malleus stood there taken aback. They had spent every last possible minute until they needed to return to the campus pouring over books and contacting mages all over Twisted Wonderland and not one of them had thought of that.

The guard thought the idea over in his head and raised his eyebrows. “That would take several powerful users of magic to cast, but it could be done.”

Epel’s eyes perked up. “Well, we’ve got some of the most powerful wizards at this school, so let’s do it! For Sebek!”

Malleus let another tear roll down his cheek. Sebek had some truly amazing friends despite what the late guard would say about them. He chuckled, getting the attention of the first years. “Alright then, I’ll see what I can do.”

Jack scoffed. “Seriously? This isn’t all on you. C’mon guys, let’s see if we can find anything in the library! He wouldn’t want us to sit by and let Malleus-Senpai do all the work!”

“Yeah!” Deuce, Epel and Ortho agreed. Silver led the first years to the library with newfound energy, but Yuu and Ace hung back with Malleus.

The prefect looked between the young men. “You know, Sebek wouldn’t want anything but this. He’d be proud of their enthusiasm.”

Ace’s hands turned to tightly wrapped fists. “Yeah... it just hurts. A lot. He hasn’t even been gone a day and I already miss him.”

Malleus sighed. “That’s completely understandable. I suppose Faes don’t hold as much sentimental value over the death of our kin since we know we’ll see them again, but even so my heart aches with yours.”

Ace laughed, some tears spilling out of his eyes. “What did I just say about the philosophical crap?”

Malleus chuckled a bit. “I need to go to the headmaster’s office to inform him of the events of last night. Would you two care to join me?”

Ace and Yuu looked at one another. The prefect slipped their arm in the prince’s. “You need a new bodyguard anyways, so why not?”

The three left the mirror hall together, earning some shocked expressions from their classmates, but not really caring. Now wasn’t time for mourning over their lost friend, now was the time to take action and build each other up. Yuu was sure that the news of Sebek’s passing would be a shock to the student body, but deep down they knew that Sebek was still with them. Even if his spirit was in the stars.

After all, in the minds and hearts of others is the way a soul lives.

~~~

Cold...

I feel cold...

I can’t move...

I don’t remember anything...

What am I trying to remember?

His eyes opened in total darkness. He spun his head around frantically, trying to get a bearing of his surroundings, but discovered that he was simply floating in some sort of abyss.

“Well, you certainly slept like the dead.” A deep voice chuckled in his mind. His throat was dry and no sound came when he opened his mouth. Clammy hands seemed to take hold of his mind and hold his head still, looking forward at nothing.

“I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did, young man. It’s not every day someone of your age has the skills that you do.” The voice continued. “Seeing that you were not the original target, but still worth the effort we put into the operation, I’m sure we can make use of you here.”

“After all, service is in your nature. Isn’t it, Mr. Zigvolt?”

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archivingspn · 3 years

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Entertainment Weekly Special Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Supernatural 2017

SAM AND DEAN WINCHESTER KNOW "WEIRD." Their entire life has been weird, ever since the moment a demon claimed their mother's life. In case anyone has forgotten over the course of the show's past 12 seasons, Supernatural tells the story of the Winchester brothers, portrayed by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, who fell into the family business of hunting creatures after their mother's murder. What began as their father's journey for revenge has evolved into endless monster slayings, near-death experiences and more than a few actual deaths.

By this point the Winchesters have been to Hell and back, killed Death himself, come face-to-face with God and prevented the Apocalypse. But perhaps more impressively, the series has survived three network presidents, five showrunners, a writers' strike and five different time slots. Turns out the only thing harder to kill than the Winchesters is the series itself. "It's one of those shows that has moved a lot, and yet each time it has found that core audience and built on it," Warner Bros. Television president Peter Roth says. "It's been an unsung hero."

If anyone knows about being an unsung hero, it's Sam (Padalecki) and Dean (Ackles), who've dedicated their lives to saving others and asked for nothing in return. Seriously, how many nights have they spent sleeping in their car?And yet that on-the-road lifestyle has paved the way for a number of the show's riskier episodes, which play a crucial role in keeping the audience engaged. In 2015 "Baby" was told entirely from the perspective of their beloved 1967 Impala, and that's not even close to the craziest thing the show's tried.

Aside from the rules the show creates within its canon—yes, they have a historian in the writers' room to keep them honest—not even the sky is the limit when it comes to story ideas. “[Show creator] Eric [Kripke] used to say, 'Smoke 'em if you've got 'em,' which meant: Anything crazy, don't be afraid to run it by us," executive producer Robert Singer says.

That motto led most famously to season 6's "The French Mistake," in which Sam and Dean found themselves in an alternate universe where everyone mistook them for Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, the stars of a show called Supernatural. "Our show's not bound by reality," Ackles, 39, says. "We're rooted in reality, but we're not bound by it. That gives us a fifth wall almost."

But Supernatural's season 12 finale managed to raise the stakes by somehow introducing the boys to something they'd never seen before: a world in which they don't exist and Heaven and Hell are locked in an eternal war. By episode's end, their allies Castiel (Misha Collins) and Crowley (Mark Sheppard) were dead, and their mother, Mary (Samantha Smith), who was resurrected-by God's sister!-in the season 11 finale, found herself trapped in this new reality with the Archangel Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino). If that doesn't seem bad enough, the birth of Lucifer's son is the very thing that opened the rift to this apocalyptic realm. "The world in which Sam and Dean were never born is not a good world," showrunner Andrew Dabb says. "It speaks to the importance of our guys. The world Sam and Dean live in is certainly not perfect, but it's a whole hell of a lot better than the alternative."

Dabb describes the new run of episodes as more melancholy than last year's, with new threats including some long-dead characters. And somehow Scooby-Doo has a role to play. (More on that later.)

"Last season was, in some ways, a very upbeat season for us," says Dabb, who goes on to explain that season 13 will be "darker." In their grief the boys will butt heads when it comes to both Lucifer's son Jack—Dean wants nothing to do with him; Sam thinks he's worth trying to save— and Mary, whom Sam refuses to give up on despite Dean's having lost hope that she's still alive. "The Apocalypse world hangs over our guys a little bit like a sword of Damocles," Dabb says of the season's beginning. "We're definitely going to spend a little time there."

And of course Sam and Dean have this new responsibility thrust upon them before they've had the chance to properly grieve their many losses, including Castiel, who Dabb says will appear, though maybe not the way fans are expecting. "We're not looking to hit the reset button," Dabb says. "We want to give both our guys an opportunity to react to that and ask the question: How would that affect them if their closest friend sacrifices himself for them? There is a certain amount, especially when you look at Dean, of survivor's guilt."

That being said, there will be at least one (animated!) moment of levity, though it's in the season's back half. Episode 16 will be a much-anticipated Scooby-Doo crossover, for which Ackles, Padalecki and Collins have already recorded the audio. "They've often talked about Supernatural crossing over into something." Ackles says. "I love that it's Scooby-Doo."

But even with exciting new ideas on the agenda, there's always the lingering question of how much longer the show can continue. According to CW president Mark Pedowitz, the answer is as long as the guys are happy and the ratings are relatively stable. As for Ackles and Padalecki, they are focusing on the next milestone: hitting 300 episodes (something that would take them 13 episodes into season 14). However, if Sam and Dean have taught the actors anything, it's that Death can be lurking around every corner (and he's usually eating pizza). "If we don't make it to 300, I think Ackles and I will both be truly bummed," Padalecki, 35, says.

Ackles adds, "They're paying us to bring that little bit of magic to what they wrote, and I still feel that magic. The day that I don't feel that magic will be a very sad day, and I hope that day never comes. I'd like to get to 300 before that day comes."

One thing everyone can agree on is that they want to know when the end is nigh. "I think it would be bad for this show to just ride off into the sunset without a finale," Singer says. "I think we've earned that." Ultimately the only thing that's certain about Supernatural's eventual end is the fate of Sam and Dean's Impala, Baby. "He gets Baby," Padalecki says of Ackles. "I get Baby Two." Ackles makes one correction: "No, you'll get Three. Two is a stunt car. It's beat to s---.”

But nobody gets Baby just yet. For now they'll need all the Impalas they can get as they try to solve the problems of not one world but two.

[pg 10-12]

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins have rolled with rapid changes and some surprising detours during the series' remarkable run. BY SAMANTHA HIGHFILL

JARED PADALECKI CAN STILL REMEMBER THE exact pitch for Supernatural's first season: “Route 66 meets X-Files, brothers on the back roads of America hunting things that go bump in the night.” That was how he and costar Jensen Ackles were told to promote the show, which, in its first year, was just that-Sam and Dean Winchester chasing urban legends from state to state.

But over time that original pitch added a few sentences. Much like with any good road trip, there have been quite a few turns—and the occasional crossroads along the way. Although the show remains about two brothers on the back roads of America hunting things, those "things'' now include everything from vengeful spirits to imaginary friends and even Lucifer himself. After all, a show doesn't last 13 seasons without adjusting its game plan. For Supernatural that has meant an ever expanding mythology, some shocking deaths, resurrected characters, breaking the fourth wall and so much more.

Yet all the while, one thing has remained true: Sam and Dean Winchester will do whatever it takes to save the world and, even more so, to save each other. And they'll do it while navigating those seemingly endless back roads in their 1967 Impala.

Finding John Winchester (portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was the boys' goal in season 1, though that ended up being about as difficult as getting John to stick around once he was finally discovered. The Winchester family reunion was short-lived: Season 1 closed with a car crash and the fates of all three men up in the air. And then there was that demonic deal John made with the same monster they had been hunting.

JENSEN ACKLES Everything up until that point was about finding Dad. We found Dad, we continued to fight as a unit, and then we lost Dad, and now we were two orphans.

JARED PADALECKI And I think that was the first time we ever brought back somebody from the dead, and it was you [to Ackles].

ACKLES I died in the car crash, and he traded his life with Azazel.

PADALECKI I think that was the first time we ever saw a major character die and come back. And that was a total leap of faith. So we told the story of Reapers and the veil and what happens to your soul.

ACKLES That's when we got into afterlife.

PADALECKI That was a big title shift in what Supernatural could do...

ACKLES With the introduction of Hell and making deals with demons—which is funny, because you think about that now, and [creator] Eric [Kripke] must've always known because Mom made the deal with the yellow-eyed demon.

The next shift would come later in season 2, laying the groundwork for the introduction of angels far before Castiel spread his wings in that abandoned barn in season 4.

PADALECKI "Houses of the Holy” was the first time we ever talked about angels on Supernatural. [Jensen] and I both were like, “Whatever your religious beliefs, whatever ours, we're not here to proselytize. We're here to make a serialized television show, but we want it to be universal.” So we actually had a conference call with Eric Kripke, and we were like, "Hey, man, we don't know how we feel about this.”

ACKLES We didn't want to be a mouthpiece for writers' religious views, because it wasn't the show that we had signed up for. Our argument was: “We trust you. You've done good by us so far. However, this is our one concern, and we're just bringing it to the table so that we can discuss it.”

PADALECKI And they heard us out, and I think that's why they waited another year and a half before introducing our second and most famous angel. I think it's the one time we've ever called them together with a complaint. Because I'm not a writer. I don't want to be a writer. I enjoy my job as an actor. But that was legitimately like, “Listen, if you're going here about religion, I don't want to be a part of it.”

MISHA COLLINS And now amazingly, 11 years later, so much of the show has been hung on biblical lore and mythology that is actually drawn from the Bible. One interesting thing for us is that we end up talking along the way to priests and pastors and ministers, or even nuns, who love the show.

(...)

ACKLES It was amazing, but my point being that we're in one of the most religious places on earth, and they're catering to people from a show that deals with religiously inspired story lines.

PADALECKI But not telling the story that the Bible tells.

ACKLES That's the out. That's where we get a pass is that we're not trying to tell the story of the Bible. The writers take inspiration from biblical elements and then elaborate on them. So when we got into that original discussion, Eric came back with: “We're not here to tell the story of Jesus Christ. We're here to take that element and use it as inspiration for the story.” I think that alleviated any concerns that he and I had. And at the same time we really trusted Eric and still do to this day.

Another leap of faith came with season 2's "Hollywood Babylon,” which can be considered the show's first meta episode. It opened the door for everything from season 6's “The French Mistake” to the upcoming season 13 Scooby-Doo crossover.

ACKLES “Babylon” was the first time we took the piss out of ourselves and were poking fun at the industry.

COLLINS That has been a huge [help to know] that you can go to these absurd lengths and break conventions. Reading the script where we are doing a Scooby-Doo episode makes me feel proud. Where else can you do that?

Padalecki What other show does that and has the fandom at large excited that they’re going to do that? Can you imagine if JAG or NCIS did a Scooby-Doo episode? People would be like, “What?” Not only do we break the fourth wall, do we go meta, but those end up being some of our best episodes.

The season 5 finale holds the No. 1 spot on EW's episode ranking, but that hour was important for many reasons, one of which being that it was creator Kripke’s farewell.

COLLINS “Swan Song" was another milestone because that marked the culmination of Eric's original vision for the show. He had a five-season arc in mind that tied up perfectly with a bow, and then he moved on and handed the reins over to Sera [Gamble]. That became, “Okay, guys, now let's figure out how to start a new chapter or a new volume in a series of chapters.”

PADALECKI It's the story that we were all born from, those of us who were introduced in the first five years. So to have the creator step away? I would argue that it was the largest shift.

Gamble served as showrunner for seasons 6 and 7, the latter containing another major show moment: the death of Bobby (Jim Beaver), Sam and Dean's father figure.

PADALECKI Bobby was such a big part. Jeffrey Dean [Morgan] was never as much a part of the show. He was obviously a huge part of the story, but he did [just a few] episodes, and Jim Beaver did 60 or something. And there was something about his death that we knew it was final...or final for Supernatural.

ACKLES Because his character said, “I'm done.” So it wasn't like he got killed accidentally and we found a way to bring Bobby back. He was like, “I'm hanging it up, guys." It was heavy.

PADALECKI That probably was the first big death of someone who'd been there for years...

ACKLES [Interrupting] A fan favorite...

PADALECKI Yeah, and I remember [CW president] Mark Pedowitz saying something to the effect of “As a fan, I hated when Bobby died, but it was great television.” That's how I feel.

ACKLES Like when Sam Winchester dies for good, it's going to be good television. But when Dean Winchester lives on, it's going to be great television. [Everyone laughs]

The season 12 finale saw the introduction of an apocalyptic alternate world in which Sam and Dean Winchester were never born and Heaven and Hell are locked in an eternal war. And with that world comes the possibility for a number of character returns. But does it feel like a turning point?

COLLINS Well, I think the rift and the fact that you can go into the apocalypse world and you can all of a sudden revisit every character in a different iteration—there could be a different version of every character—it opens up this incredible panoply.

(...)

PADALECKI And if an alternate universe exists, then how many alternate universes exist? It's hard to say, because I feel like it's impossible to identify a turning point during the turn. In hindsight it will reveal how this story will affect the show, the canon at large and the way we move forward. But I certainly feel like we're opening up doors with the rift and with the son of Lucifer.

(...)

[pg 20-26]

THE CORONER'S VAN JUST PULLED INTO THE driveway. It's the middle of August in 2016, and Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are filming a scene for Supernatural's 12th season at a farmhouse in the Vancouver countryside, which is standing in for Iowa. Sam and Dean Winchester have ditched their flannels and jeans for sweaters and slacks in order to pose as social workers. They're doing what the two brothers do best: lying about their jobs in order to solve mysteries and kill monsters—in other words, saving people, hunting things.

When Supernatural premiered, Sam and Dean Winchester were born into the family business of hunting creatures, and it's a lifestyle that, over the years, has left them with very few people they love. Turns out, when you spend your days battling shape-shifters, witches and the occasional angel—they're not all nice, you know—nothing is guaranteed, especially not tomorrow.

But no matter how crazy the Winchesters' world gets—or how many worlds they have to face—one thing remains unchanged: At the center of it all are Ackles and Padalecki, whose Dean and Sam are the beating heart of the show (whether theirs are beating or not).

(...)

(...) even pulling up their favorite scenes on their phones to watch at the table. Padalecki can easily name the scripts that made him cry—“Heart,” “Sacrifice" and "Baby" all land on the list. The common thread is a heartfelt moment between the brothers where they get to talk about their crazy life as if, say, having visions of Lucifer is normal. “I feel like those situations where we treat the abstract and the fantastical as just part of life is where the show thrives,” Padalecki says. Ackles adds, “I think the show is truly at its best when it doesn't take itself too seriously, then it does take itself seriously, and it gets scary as s---,”.

But whether Supernatural is making fun of itself, scaring the living daylights out of its fans, or just letting the brothers have a moment on the hood of the Impala, it all works because of our central heroes. “It's about the Winchesters," says Crowley actor Mark Sheppard. “We really do care, and it's a testament to the boys that we still care."

(...)

As the sun sets on the Vancouver countryside, Sam and Dean ditch their slacks for jeans and send the coroner's van on its way. It won't be needed—this show, and the brotherly bond that holds it all together, has a lot of life left in it. Not that death has ever stopped it before.

[pg 32-34]

(...)

DEAN WINCHESTER Jensen Ackles

He was always the good son. Dean embraced the hunter's lifestyle, and he idolized his father despite John's many faults. But with the senior Winchester devoted to tracking down demons, it fell to Dean to help parent Sam, and he went to great lengths to protect his younger sibling-at one point even making a deal with a Crossroads demon (at the cost of his own life) to resurrect Sam from the dead. The two have had their differences, but throughout, Dean's brother was his first priority. "Watching out for you, it's kinda been my job, you know? But more than that, it's kinda who I am." Cynical and initially skeptical of the existence of God, Dean has nonetheless managed to become best buds with the angel Castiel (and on first name terms with both God and God's sister Amara). His self-sacrificing nature means he would do literally anything for those he considers family-and that's a short list: Sam, Mary and Castiel.

[pg 38]

Sympathy for the Devil

EVERY HERO NEEDS A HELL, BUT SUPERNATURAL HAS JUST TWO PROTAGONISTS AND HUNDREDS OF VILLAINS. HERE’S HOW THE SHOWRUNNERS APPROACHED SAM AND DEAN’S MANY FOES, FROM WELL-KNOWN URBAN LEGENDS TO SATAN HIMSELF. By Samantha Highfill

[pg 51]

Stairway to Heaven

SAM AND DEAN MET CASTIEL. AN ANGEL OF THE LORD, IN SEASON 4, AND IT CHANGED THE COURSE OF THE SHOW. BECAUSE ANGELS WEREN’T ALWAYS THE PLAN— AND CASTIEL WAS ONLY THE FIRST. By Samantha Highfill

(on page 57 there’s a small box of print on the corner that says: In what executive producer Robert Singer calls one of the series’ most “iconic images,” Castiel (Misha Collins) is introduced as the show’s first real angel.)

WHILE OTHER CHILDREN WERE LEARNING multiplication tables, Sam and Dean Winchester were hunting monsters. “When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45!” says Sam to Dean in the Supernatural pilot, recalling an episode when he was 9 years old. Clearly creature encounters were par for the course in the Winchester way of life. And when you grow up battling all the evil in the world, it's hard to believe in the good. But in the show's season 4 premiere, Dean would come face-to-face with the one supernatural entity he didn't think existed: angels.

“[Show creator] Eric [Kripke] wasn't in love with the idea of doing angels,” executive producer Robert Singer says of the early days. “But as things went on and we were getting into demons, I would say to him, 'I don't know how we do demons without doing angels.’”

The show tested the waters in season 2's “Houses of the Holy,” when Sam and Dean worked a case that appeared to involve angels then went in a different direction. It wasn't until late in the next season that the seraphim were finally embraced. When Dean was dragged to Hell, they needed to get him out. And if there's a Hell, it stands to reason there has to be a Heaven. "[The season 3 finale] was the gateway into this whole other world of angels and demons," executive producer Andrew Dabb says.

When it came time to spring Dean from Hell, it was Castiel, the show's first angel, who gripped him tight and raised him from perdition. But Castiel quickly established that he wasn't a typical cherubic angel. Many of the show's angels were, as Sam and Dean would put it, real dicks. “We have our own brand of angels and the idea that they were these warriors of God,” Singer says. “We introduced Castiel, and we just went from there. Heaven opened up different levels of angels.”

The moment Castiel spread his wings, the show expanded its universe. Castiel came bearing news of something much bigger: the Apocalypse, the ultimate showdown between good and evil-or more specifically between Archangels Michael and Lucifer. “We started with archangels and the idea that Lucifer was an archangel and was cast out of Heaven,” Singer says. “We certainly took some license, but it was all biblically grounded. We just took those things and went a step further to make them work for our story.”

From there the show explored all kinds of angels, from Zachariah and Naomi to Gabriel and Metatron, and, of course, it eventually arrived at God-or Chuck, if you prefer. “We didn't really know that Chuck was God when we first started with him," Singer says of introducing the character in season 4. (He wouldn't be revealed as God until season 11.) “That evolved. We wanted a relatable God, a God with foibles.”

Nine seasons later, what started as one angel in a trench coat has evolved into Lucifer, God, Leviathan and even a sister for God. “We play a little fast and loose with religion, but no one has really complained about it,” Singer says with a laugh. “So we'll just keep going.”

[pg 56-58]

CASTIEL Misha Collins

What can you say about the only member of Team Free Will who wears an overcoat? Cas has become a true member of the Winchester family.

[pg 61]

#2017-Sep #2017:September29 #*SMT #*romance #*codependency #*destiel #*TOF #c/m saved the show #Jared Padalecki #Jensen Ackles #Misha Collins #Mark Sheppard #Robert Singer #Andrew Dabb #author: Samantha Highfill #author: Alyssa Smith #Entertainment Weekly #*magazines

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swanqueeneverafter · 3 years

Text

The Once & Future Queen Pt.20

Camelot. Valley. Continued. (Queen Annis heads toward her niece as Morgana turns with a scowl and disappears into Caerleon’s army.) Merida: "What in heaven's name have you done?" Queen Annis: "Hello, Merida. What a pleasant surprise to see you." Merida: "You cannot trust Morgana, she's-" Queen Annis: (Interrupting:) "Allowed me to do what you could not? The once mighty Arthur Pendragon lies dead at my command, not yours. I should always have been the one to claim Dun Broch's throne after Fergus' death." Merida: "I am his daughter and rightful Queen of Dun Broch." Queen Annis: (Scoffs:) "Your people are welcome to you. I have just claimed half of all Camelot in Caerleon's name. You can barely control the members of your own clan." Merida: (When Annis turns to leave:) “Don’t be taken in by Morgana’s fine words. She is consumed by bitterness, it spreads within her like a disease.” Queen Annis: “Have you forgotten how Arthur killed your father? Do you not deny that you sought revenge?” Merida: “Yes, I sought revenge. But that doesn’t mean it was the right thing to do.” Queen Annis: (Laughs with derision:) “You are weak, Merida, as I always thought you were.” (Annis walks away. Hidden in the crowd, Morgana sees Xena and Gabrielle searching for someone. Suspecting that they mean her harm, Morgana turns her attention to Darian and, her eyes glowing, uses her powers on him. Grimacing momentarily, Darian shakes his head. Looking beside him, Darian pulls his long sword from Arthur’s chest and stalks toward his new targets. Spotting Morgana before she disappears further into the crowd, Anastasia turns to see the giant about to split Xena in two with an overhead swing. Thinking quickly, Anastasia uses her powers and Darian's sword disappears mid-swing. Turning to face their attacker, both Xena and Gabrielle draw their weapons.) Gabrielle: "By the gods, he's almost as big as-" Xena: "Grinhilda, I know!" (Ducking a fist from Darian, Xena rolls out of the way. Gabrielle fearlessly jumps onto the behemoth's back but is flung to the ground for her trouble.)

(Xena runs up behind Darian and slashes him across the back. The giant falls to his knees and Gabrielle kicks him down. Xena is poised to strike when soldiers surround them, aiming their crossbows while Agravaine looks on from above. Seeing Xena and Gabrielle stand back to back before being restrained and shackled, Merida surges forward, but is held back by Anastasia.) Merida: (Struggling against her:) “Let me go! We have to help them!” Anastasia: “No! No! We can't help them now. But we can help each other!" (Anastasia waves her hand and they disappear in a cloud of smoke.)

Storybrooke. Swan-Mills House. (Returning from the station, Regina walks along the pathway to admire Emma's handiwork.) Regina: "Hey." Emma: (Turns:) "Hey. Be careful not to trip over any branches." Regina: (Smiles, looking around:) "I'm very impressed." Emma: "Thanks. It's been needing a good going over for awhile now." Regina: "Haven't we all." Emma: (Chuckles:) "You're insatiable." Regina: "Only for you." (They kiss.) Emma: "I've raked the leaves, mowed the lawn and now I'm just finishing up with the hedges." Regina: "Well don't work too hard, you can always just do all this magically." Emma: (Wipes the sweat from her brow with her arm:) "Yeah, I know, but sometimes it's nice to do things the old fashioned way, get a good sweat going." Regina: "I can see that." Emma: (Smiles:) "Don't worry, now that you’re home, I'll use my magic to clear the rest up once I'm done." Regina: "Okay, good. Is Maria sleeping?" Emma: "No, I've got her picking apples from your tree. (When Regina raises an eyebrow:) Relax. (Leans down and picks up the baby monitor:) She went down about half an hour ago." (Tosses it to Regina.) Regina: (Catching it:) "All right well I'll leave you to it. But you know... (Curling her finger into one of Emma's belt loops and pulling her close:) if this is the kind of thing I'm going to be coming home to, I think our retirement is going to be pretty sweet." Emma: "Oh, you have no idea." (They kiss once more, pulling each other close with their free hands as Emma holds the chainsaw in one and Regina cradles Maria's baby monitor in the other.) Forest. Stream. (Lancelot and Guinevere walk along the forest path beside a stream.) Lancelot: “We’re not far now. This stream leads to the lake.” Guinevere: “How did you know?” Lancelot: “I’ve been here many times.” Guinevere: “No, not about the lake. How did you know my feelings for Arthur weren’t real?” Lancelot: “Well... because he’d only been back a day and there was no way you could have possibly forgiven him for those years he kept you by his side against your will.” Guinevere: “Did you suspect, even back then?” Lancelot: “I suppose I always held out hope that you would one day leave him, but I couldn’t have imagined Arthur capable of such an evil act.” Guinevere: “Well, they do say love makes you do strange things. Despite everything that came after, I believe Arthur truly did love me in the beginning.” Lancelot: “What he did to keep you was not an act of love. It was cowardly and unforgivable. Love is about finding someone and thinking about them all the time. It’s about caring about them more than anyone or anything. The Arthur I knew was only ever concerned about his destiny. He never deserved you, Guin.” (Their conversation is cut short at the sound of a rider approaching. Morgana rides through the woods and pulls her horse to a halt at the sight of them.)

Morgana: (Smiles:) “My my. What a delicious coincidence?” Lancelot: “Run Guin! I’ll hold her off.” Morgana: “Aw. How sweet.” (Guinevere begins to run as Lancelot pulls his sword and charges at Morgana. Urging her horse into a gallop, Morgana rides straight at Lancelot. Conjuring a lance into her hand at the last moment, Morgana almost decapitates Lancelot with it, knocking him down to land hard on the forest floor, unconscious. Laughing, Morgana drops the lance and turns her attention towards Guinevere.) A Short Distance Away. (Guinevere dashes through the forest, passing a tree and inadvertently snaps one of its branches in her rush. Morgana continues her pursuit and stops to look for any signs. Spotting the snapped branch, Morgana smiles and heads off in that direction.) Storybrooke. Granny's Diner. (Snow White and Henry sit together in a booth while Henry wears a stunned expression on his face.) Henry: "You're not serious?" Snow White: "Well why not? I'd say you'd be uniquely qualified for the position." Henry: "How did you come to that conclusion?" Snow White: "Henry, you've literally written the book on everyone in this town. Plus, growing up with Regina, you must have sat in on your fair share of Town Hall meetings?" Henry: "Yeah and I was bored out of my mind through all of them. I'm sorry, Grandma, but I'm not the guy you want to run as mayor." (Henry stands.) Snow White: "Promise me you'll at least think about it. It would mean working shorter hours and a heck of a lot less time spent in your car." Henry: "Hey, the taxi service might be a dead end job but at least it has the possibility of excitement. Listening to people complain all day and then going blind doing paperwork is about as far from where I wanna be as I can think of." Snow White: (Slides out of the booth:) "All right, so where do you want to be?" Henry: "I don't know... off on an adventure with my fiancee somewhere. As a matter of fact, I'm only back driving because Ella and I couldn't decide on where we should start looking for one."

Merlin: "I might be able to point you in the right direction." (Snow White and Henry both turn to look at the Sorcerer who sits alone at a table.) Henry: "You know where Ella and I can find ourselves an adventure?" Merlin: "Yes. I believe I know just the place." Henry: "That's great. Where is it?" Merlin: "Ah. Before I tell you, you must first do something for me." Henry: (Looks to Snow White who is unsure about this:) "All right, what is it?" Merlin: "You must promise me that you won't tell your mothers I had anything to do with aiding you on your quest." Henry: (Smiles:) "Deal." Swan-Mills House. (Regina checks in on Maria who's still sleeping soundly, laying on her back with her arms up over her head. Smiling, Regina wonders just what her child could be dreaming about. Although not prone to crying like her big brother was at this age, Maria would nevertheless refuse to sleep alone during Emma's prolonged absence. Indeed, Regina would often find herself watching Maria drift off on those sleepless nights they shared a bed. The fact that on the night of Emma's return, Maria resumed sleeping in her cot without fussing once, only helped confirm Regina's theory that her daughter didn't much like the idea of her mother spending her nights alone. Backing out of the room, Regina leaves the door ajar and heads towards the staircase. Stopping at the large window that overlooks the garden, Regina notices that Emma is still hard at work. Captivated at the sight of the muscles in her wife's arms flexing, accentuated by the perspiration glistening in the sunlight, Regina sinks down onto the window seat to continue watching the show.)

Forest. Continued. (Guinevere runs at full speed now as Morgana gallops through the woods. Guinevere falls, but gets up quickly and keeps going only for Morgana to catch up and cut her off.) Morgana: “Guin. Nice to see you again. Oh, you’ve forgotten. I’ve hunted these woods since I was a child.” Guinevere: “Morgana, please, we were friends once, were we not?” Morgana: “You misunderstand me. I only wish to help. The path to Camelot is that way.” (Morgana points.) Guinevere: “It’s you who has forgotten it seems. I know these woods, too.” Forest Road. Past. (Morgana and Guinevere ride through the woods with an escort.) Morgana: “You look troubled, Guin.” Gunivere: “I’m fine.” Morgana: “You’re very secretive these days. I’m beginning to think there’s a man involved.” Guinevere: (Scoffs:) “When do I get to meet any decent men?” (Suddenly, their party is attacked.) Sir Robert: “My ladies, you must follow me!” (The knight is shot in the back. Guin and Morgana are pulled off their horses. A knight kills the men holding them.) Morgana: “Guin! Head for the path! Go! (Guinevere and Morgana run up the hill, but Kendrick is waiting for them:) I warn you. I am the daughter of Uther Pendragon. He’ll have your heads if any harm comes to me.” Kendrick: “I have no intention of harming you. At least not yet. You’re much more valuable to me alive, Lady Morgana.” Bandit’s Camp. (Morgana and Guinevere observe the bandits from inside a tent.) Morgana: “He’s coming. You know what you must do?” (Guinevere nods.) Kendrick: “I trust you are comfortable?” Morgana: “I demand to know where you’re taking us.” Kendrick: “You’ll find out soon enough. We’ve a long journey ahead of us. Get some rest.” (Kendrick turns to leave, but Morgana walks out of the tent after him.) Morgana: “I wish to bathe.” Kendrick: “You wish to bathe?” Morgana: “I am the King’s daughter and accustomed to certain standards. I am sure you are quite contented to stink like a pig, but I am not.” Kendrick: (Speaks loudly so his men can hear:) “The Lady Morgana wishes to bathe! Who wants to help me guard her?” (Coarse laughter rises from the men.) A Short Time Later. (Morgana begins to undress by a stream, two men guarding her and Guinevere.) Kendrick: “You may find the water a little icy.” Morgana: “I’m sure I’ll manage. (Glances over to see one of the men holding on to Guinevere’s arm. To Kendrick:) If you were any kind of gentleman, you’d give me some privacy.” Kendrick: “Well, unfortunately for you I am no kind of gentleman. Now get on with it.” (Kendrick chuckles and moves closer to her. Morgana removes her outer garment and the second bandit lets go of Guinevere to get a closer look himself.) Morgana: “You can at least turn your backs.” Kendrick: “So you can make a run for it. Do you think I’m that stupid?” Morgana: “I think you’re very stupid. (Guinevere pulls Kendrick’s sword and Morgana hits him, Guinevere tosses her the sword and Morgana slashes both men. To Guinevere:) Run! (The men pursue them through the woods:) No, no, this way!” (Guinevere stumbles and twists her ankle, Morgana stops and goes back to her.) Guinevere: “Run!” Morgana: “Put your arm around my shoulder, come on!” Guinevere: “No, no, no. We’ll never outrun them, you must go on without me!” Morgana: “I’m not leaving you behind!” Forest. Present. (Morgana smiles at the memory.) Morgana: “I remember very well. Truth is, it doesn’t matter which way you go. As long as you’re around, the people will always love you more.” Guinevere: “Morgana, please...” Morgana: “I can’t say I blame them really. You are far too delicate a soul to be mixed up in all this, Guin. I think it’s time to take you off the chessboard and release you from your burdens. (Not sticking around to find out what Morgana means by that, Guinevere starts running. Morgana’s eyes glow and Guinevere screams as she is thrown against a tree. Guinevere falls to the ground, unconscious. Moving her horse to stand over Guinevere:) Nu bebiede ic þe þæt þu lætest þine flæsc sclice gelic nysse. Wyrþ deor!” (Morgana’s eyes glow and a golden shimmer glows over Guinevere’s body. Morgana leaves with a smirk.)

Storybrooke. Swan-Mills House. (Pleased at a job well done, Emma waves her arms in all directions, magically sending all the garden debris into the recycling bin. Brushing her hands together, Emma starts whistling a familiar tune while she gathers up her gardening tools. Her arms now fully laden, Emma turns around to walk back up the path when she catches sight of a vision sitting in the upstairs window. Emitting a long appreciative whistle, Emma drops the tools noisily to the ground as she stares up at Regina, who is clad only in her underwear where any passerby could see her.) Window. (Smiling at Emma's reaction, Regina crooks her finger at her, indicating that she should come inside.) Outside. (Smiling at her wife's brazenness and not needing to be invited twice, Emma walks towards the house.) Forest. (Merida walks several paces ahead of Anastasia, clearly agitated.) Anastasia: (Stops walking:) "So you're pissed at me, is that it?" Merida: (Rounding on her:) "I am furious at you. How could we just leave them there?!" Anastasia: "If we had stayed, we'd be prisoners too." Merida: "Not necessarily. We could have fought. You could've used your magic to-" Anastasia: "To what? Blast the soldiers out of our way?" Merida: "Well it would've been something!" Anastasia: "I understand full well that you only invited me into this little gang of yours because I have magic. But if I used it as callously as you think I should, wouldn't that make me just as bad as Morgana? (Merida says nothing:) You know I'm right." Merida: "Yeah, but I don't have to like it." Anastasia: (Smiles:) "Come on, it'll be getting dark soon and I'm starving. What say you catch and I cook?" Merida: (Softening:) "I wouldn't hold your breath, there doesn't look to be any signs of life out here." Anastasia: "Well, I could always give you a five minute head start, Merida." Merida: "Funny." Anastasia: (Spots movement in the bushes:) "Deer!" (They chase after a doe running through the woods. Splitting up, Anastasia slows to a walk while Merida carries on ahead. She spots the doe and it looks at her. Anastasia senses something and hears Guinevere’s weeping. Anastasia realises what’s happened when she sees Guinevere’s running reflection as the doe passes by a small puddle. Merida arrives and passes Anastasia before taking aim.) Merida: “Well aren’t you a beauty?” (Coming to her senses too slowly to react, Anastasia watches in horror as Merida fires.) Anastasia: “No!”

#sq #swanqueen #swan queen

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secret-engima · 4 years

Note

A Child Shall Lead Them ask; can we get some fluffy hcs from either the glavies first meeting Tiny Noctis or some fluff from Arydn when he somehow inserts himself into the Road Trip Group? Also I'm so sorry that I end up giving you more WIPs lol. That's three now, isnt it? (I think three? Little!Nox, ACSLT, and The thingy with the Vongola ring?? Have I accidentally given you more??? Also, mostly it was maybe indirectly but I really didnt meant to plant the ideas—)

AWWWW sure!! (and yes, that’s about 3 now XD. I don’t mind even if I am kinda drowning over here).

-They’ve all heard of the Crown Prince, of course they have. The whole kingdom knows about how long regis and Aulea struggled for a child, and the glaives are practically falling all over themselves to meet him because they LOVE their queen (who in this AU was the one to found the glaive and run their organization with Titus as her SiC).

-Noctis grows up with no shortage of baby-sitters.

-Nyx would die for this boy. Nyx owes Queen Aulea a great deal, so when he’s finally allowed to be the guard in the nursery and she asks if Nyx want’s to HOLD BBY NOCTIS-.

-He held his sister when she was a bby, he knows how. One second of having sleeping infantile magic nuzzling into his soul while sleepy blue eyes blink at him and- nope- that’s it. Nyx is gone. Goodbye. Lib follows soon after.

-All the glaive morn when Aulea passes away a year later her health too fragile after the complications of Noctis’s birth. Regis finds Nyx haunting the nursery with sad eyes and shares a moment of sympathy with Aulea’s favorite glaive.

-ON TO HAPPY THINGS.

-Ardyn has no idea what he’s doing. This is not in his plan. But the plan got ditched and burned in a fire the moment Noctis cried all over him and he realized that the Chosen King was a ten year old child.

-His three caretakers are suspicious of him and under any other situation he would laugh because they would be right. But right now he’s here and he’s staying and he has no idea what to do next but this is HIS nephew Chosen now. hIS. Bahamut can pry him from Ardyn’s cold dead hands (which won’t happen because HELLO. ACCURSED).

-Noctis loves Ardyn. Ardyn has no idea what to do with this information or why it happened so fast. Weren’t kids supposed to be shy around strangers????

-Ardyn rides in the back with Gladio, who is glaring daggers, Noctis in Ardyn’s lap only because the alternative was a magical temper tantrum. Prompto, despite his caution, can’t help cut coo and take pictures of Noctis drooling on a bemused Ardyn’s overcoat, wearing the secret Chancellor’s ratty old hat.

-The whole “yes I have the Scourge no I’m ... not completely crazy would you like my ancient and tragic backstory” is a conversation of the ages. Ardyn shows off his scourge face. Prompto screams like a child. Noctis just fearlessly pats the Scourge tears and promises that Luna can fix anything, so once they find her she’ll fix him too.

-Ardyn could cry. How did Somnus’s bloodline produce a child this pure and sweet. How.

-Ignis, once wrapping his head around the “ancient immortal LC with the scourge in him” thing (Ardyn did not tell them about his abandoned revenge plan, just said he was sealed away a long time ago and it was Niflheim that broke him out so how was he supposed to know until recently that he was on the wrong side???) and deciding that Ardyn is ... probably not going to stab them in their sleep, proceeds to go Full Mom on the man. He angrily repairs the tacky clothes and tries to get Ardyn to put on weight and Ardyn if you don’t come into the tent and sleep like the rest of us so help me I will hit you with a frying pan. No I’m not joking. No I don’t care you’re immortal and can’t die of sleep deprivation. Get in here and don’t come out until morning.

-As thanks for the Moming, a bemused Ardyn teaches Ignis as many ancient recipes as he can remember. Ignis is thrilled despite himself.

-Gladiolus picks a fight with Ardyn. Ardyn obliges and bedazzles with his sword skills. Once Gladiolus gets over his wounded pride, Ardyn teaches him ancient sword techniques. Gladiolus is now 1000% more terrifying in a fight.

-Ardyn is fascinated by Prompto’s camera. Want the man to shut up for twenty seconds? Sit him down and show him Prompto’s photo collection of Noctis. Or just have Prompto start talking to him about the fine art of taking photos and Ardyn will stay quiet for HOURS. He may not understand five out of every six words coming out of Prompto’s mouth because Technology, but he’s interested and Prompto is an eager rambler.

-Ignis could hug Ardyn for somehow getting Noctis to eat his vegetables. He isn’t sure how Ardyn managed it, but he did and Ignis could CRY.

-First time they wind up in a dungeon by accident, Noctis stays brave until an Imp gets past their guard and nearly cuts Noctis’s arm. Noctis cries out in terror and Ardyn proceeds to one-man rampage through the rest of dungeon using a mix of Scourge powers and armiger while the bros follow behind, Gladiolus carrying a sniffling but unharmed Noctis while all three mutter about how they’re glad the man is on there side because OH BOY.

-Luna isn’t sure how to react when she finds the bros at long last. On one hand, Prince Noctis is alive! Yay! On the other he is currently having a thumb war with the Accursed.

-...

-......

-She turns to Ignis and very primly asks “what the f-” is going on.

-Ignis honestly tells her he has no idea, but Ardyn is sick with the Scourge, could you please help him? Noctis is attached.

-And that’s how Luna ended up treating the Accursed for the Scourge while Noctis happily won the thumb war and then asked if they could make flower crowns for Luna.

-It will take multiple treatments, possibly years of treatment, before Ardyn is cured, but Luna knows that she CAN cure him and now she’s having a slight Crisis over what this implies about the prophecy. Ardyn calmly offers her his hat if she needs something to scream angrily into.

#SE asks #oliverslewty asks #Secret Engima Rambles #And A Child Shall Lead Them verse

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ofbloodmagick · 3 years

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ROSE ARABELLA GORE

pronouns: SHE & HER + THEY & THEM

age: TWENTY - FIVE

sexuality: PANSEXUAL * DEMIROMANTIC * MONOGAMOUS

astrological signs: GEMINI SUN * SCORPIO MOON + ARIES RISING

occupation: BARTENDER @ DUTCH’S + MULTIPLE SIDE HUSTLES

+ traits: PERSUASIVE. ARTISTIC. RESILIENT. FASCINATING. ORIGINAL. RESOURCEFUL. WISE. ADVENTUROUS. BOLD.

-- traits: ECCENTRIC ( CREEPY ). SECRETIVE. DAMAGED. RESTLESS. TWO-FACED. JUDGMENTAL. RECKLESS. IMPULSIVE.

faceclaim: BILLIE LOURD

soul sounds: PLAYLIST !

aesthetic: ( TW: BLOOD ) BOARD !

YO YO YOU YO — it’s lydia here with my lil blood witch arabella , i have yet to get the chance to r e a l l y play her and i’m super excited for the chance bc i love them so very much. i have headcanon after headcanon for them , so hit me up if you want to do something bc i am ready to do some shit. anyway , LYDIA ( nary , nettle , snottie , etc. ) here again and i love a good name change , i’m twenty-five years old , a pansexual demigirl ( she / her * they / them ) like arabella themselves , and i reside in the central timezone ( FLORIDA IS HELL ). continue reading to learn all about ARABELLA GORE — the intense , mysterious clever little powerhouse that loves to be number one.

PERSONALITY

RULING PLANETS: pluto — planet of power & regeneration * mercury — planet of communication * mars — planet of war & energy BODY PART: crotch * reproductive organs * shoulders * hands * head * face GOOD MOOD: resilient , magnetic , passionate , loyal , protective , artistic , brave , fascinating , original , resourceful , wise , adventurous , unstoppable , bold , devoted BAD MOOD: obsessive , possessive , jealous , secretive , vengeful , manipulative , eccentric ( creepy ) , restless , two-faced , judgmental , proud , self-centered , impulsive , bossy , stubborn , reckless ( SOME ) FAVORITE THINGS: obscure underground music , spicy food , an air of danger , one of a kind objects , organic ingredients , vinyl , magic , the color black , horror films , blood , fast cars , guitars , new clothes , road trips ( in fast red cars ) , expressing themselves through stunning verbal and physical feats ( SOME ) THINGS SHE HATES: simple small-minded people , insincere flattery , personal questions , living at someone else’s house , mornings , dress codes , authority figures , silence SECRET WISHES: to have complete and total control + to have all the answers + to be number one HOW TO SPOT THEM: intense eyes , hawk like gaze , smooth movements , dry blood/bruises/cuts/scars on pale skin , silver hair , big black bow , mischievous twinkle in their eyes , talking with their hands , focused or manic energy , aggressive stance WHERE TO FIND THEM: listening to bauhaus in her dark room , sitting at the corner table of a shitty underground bar smoking a cigarette , selling her magic and / or blood in some dimly lit room KEYWORDS: intimacy , secrecy , power , intensity , obsession , cleverness , wittiness , inventiveness , ingenuity , willpower , initiative , determination , passion , self-belief

arabella’s mind and mouth are busy machines , always moving at warp speed. this witch is one of the most curious and cutting-edge individuals you will meet. there are at least two personalities inside of her at all times. adventurous , she can change her mind faster than the weather and is constantly flipping between moods.

a true pioneer and trailblazer they’re the first to initiate things , fight for their beliefs and fearlessly put themselves out there. headstrong and determined , ella’s energy can be stubborn and willful a lot of the time. she does have a tendency to dig in her heels , stand her ground and absolutely refuses to be pushed around.

they will butt their own metaphorical horns against the same obstacle until they break it down — often with sheer force of will. extremely confident , she believes in herself and will on occasion champion others she deems worthy.

she does love to chatter and has a million great ideas , always keeping a notebook handy to jot down her thoughts and ideas at any time. at times , their energy can circulate in a quick and frenetic way , the silver haired wiccan is known to inspireswitty wordplay and dynamic dialogue.

when she applies herself , arabella is great at brainstorming and socializing. she also craves her “ twin flame ” and kindred spirit’s energy , always up for an intellectual meeting of the minds.

under the influence , they find themselves with the gift of gab; talking and conversing with others for hours , hopping from pop culture trends to deep political topics. beware “ gossip girl ” ella though , they can crank up the rumor mill sometimes unknowingly. as renowned dr. bernie siegel says , “ [ we ] have the ability to cure with either ‘ words ’ or kill with ‘ swords. ' ”

powerful and sensual arabella is perhaps one the most misunderstood and mysterious person you could ever meet though. secretive by nature , this southern witch tends to linger in shadowy and hidden places that most wouldn’t usually have the courage to face.

she believes strongly in life , death and resurrection and arabella embraces these life cycles. she is continually transforming and reinventing herself. there are actually more like four sides of arabella and it really just depends how she feels about you.

the first is venomous and possessive like a scorpion ; the second as slippery , charming and deadly as a snake ; the third like a soaring eagle whose piercing gaze sharply observes the landscape ( and its prey ) below ; and the fourth side ever burning and all seeing as a phoenix that rises up from the ashes into eternal rebirth.

your muse may find themselves dealing with an intense individual with lots of energy. she has been known to hole herself up late at night to process complex emotions or channel her overwhelming feelings into focused work and creativity.

the essence of arabella’s personality is magnetic , fascinating , original , passionate , loyal , protective , trendsetting , controlling , unstoppable , bold , powerful , resourceful , wise , adventurous , focused , bond oriented and brave. on the flip side though , she can also be obsessive , possessive , jealous , prideful , self-centered , impulsive , bossy , stubborn , reckless , competitive , two-faced , judgmental , overwhelmed , secretive , vengeful , to even cruel , calculating and manipulative.

she channels her intuitive tides into a forceful stream of psychic and healing energy. arabella excels in exploring the darker , unexamined sides of life. it has given her excellent research and sleuthing skills , helping her plumb the depths and peer below the surface. this witch likes a challenge , but she does have to really try hard not to fall into being selfish and domineering.

she will without question help out in the darkest hours; this witch bitch is not afraid to go into the murky waters of the emotional and spiritual unknown. intense feelings surface around her closest ties , but around those she isn’t close to ella has a wall up.

believes strongly in merging , bonding and sharing resources. she may get obsessive about a passion project or lover ( forrest ) , even becoming jealous or insecure. this mysterious demigirl wants to hide all of their vulnerabilities. yet , those raw and unprocessed feelings are often their access to power.

arabella can be tricky to understand. with her reserved persona , she seldom starts a conversation or expresses interest in others openly — unless she feels out the situation first.

once you get her to open up , however , you’ll feel her scorching passion for whatever topics fascinate her. be warned: arabella can focus on one subject to an extreme , so you may be in for a deeper dive than you or your muse expect — or want lol

her natural charisma can quickly pique someone else’s interest in the topic too though.

another way to spot the witch ? look for her piercing gaze , which is hawk like at times narrowing in on her “ prey ”. if you happen to be the focus of that look , watch out. you will feel read as easily as a children’s book as arabella seems to just KNOW all your secrets , soft spots and fears.

their focused attention can be addictive , even painful when pulled away. be careful how quickly you fall down their rabbit hole — it’s not as easy to crawl back up once you do. when you befriend them , you are likely entering into a power couple or formidable alliance. while she doesn’t give up loyalty and trust easily , once she does she’ll stick with you through thick and thin.

don’t even think about double crossing her tho bc she WILL unleash her fury on you , divulging secrets and airing dirty laundry or worse. revenge is her favorite dish to serve and it’s ice cold. on a positive note , arabella’s like the perfect person to help explore darker emotions or sexuality , happy to guide most through fifty plus shades of irresistible and soul communing experiences.

arabella can come across as clever and quick-witted , but part of the fun ( and curse ) of interacting with the witch is that you’re never quite sure which personality you’re going to experience. will it be the vivacious jokester or the snarky , mean-spirited critic ?

although they may crave complete and utter control over everything , they secretly yearn for the very thing they fear: true intimacy with others. it takes a lot for ella to reveal her vulnerability , so guard that privilege with the utmost care. as she opens up and learns to show her shadow side , she can heal in ways that are truly profound.

highly impatient and competitive , they have the fighting spirit. ella were born to be number one , a star who steals the spotlight and inspires with her confidence. yeah , they can be impatient , even a little bossy , especially when they don’t get their way. she need lots of attention and can throw quite the tantrum when she doesn’t get it. fortunately , arabella rarely has a problem turning heads.

others love to follow as they take the lead on the latest adventure. she has to be reminded to make sure and let other people be the boss every now and then too , because she has a tendency to alienate potential allies. when they focus their competitive streak into a diva-worthy goal and delegate , they will always rise to the top !

they have a lot of energy , which they apply to everything from tackling supersized projects to unleashing their lusty libidos with forrest. this confident demigirl is known to leap before looking , diving into each new experience with a zest for life that few others can muster.

they love to be number one and can be a bit of a trendsetter. she has been described before as ‘ a true original who inspires the rest. ‘ with all of their fire power and can-do attitude , there’s nothing arabella can’t ( or won’t ) take on. at times , ella can be selfish or overly focused on herself and it can be a “ blind spot ” for them , they may need a gentle reminder from time to time to share.

she likes to shatter glass ceilings but can also be off-putting to people in extreme doses. this go-getter can come across as abrasive or overly aggressive , however; arabella will never back down from a challenge and can take on being the champion of those in distress when need be.

BACKGROUND

( TW: child abandonment ) so arabella doesn’t know her parents are but she does know that they ended up in some small southern town called suspiria , located in virgina of all places. her mother was really into the surface level southern gothic aesthetic suspiria offered and the unlikely couple settled there until arabella was born. her parents didn’t keep her very long though seeing as their shotgun wedding was never built to last and after she was born they both returned to where they came from or at least that’s as far as the story goes if you ask anyone in suspiria.

( TW: military ment. , death ) her parents actually went their separate ways , her mother returned to her wealthy family and comfortable life never to seek out the unnamed child she’d left behind in some no name town. her father went on to join the military and was lost in the line of duty with no one to even pass that knowledge on.

the infant rose , as they were first called back then , was left on the doorstep of an orphanage and that was where they would spend their childhood. it was not a pleasant place to grow up at all , but she was incredibly lucky in finding her twin flame in a sad , lonely young boy also growing up there.

little ella was never once adopted and she made damn sure to change the minds of anyone who so much as looked in her direction or asked her name. they grew an unhealthy attachment to forrest almost the minute they laid eyes on him , but they are connected very deeply and even as children arabella was acutely aware.

growing up ( maybe even to this day ) they were considered a loner , an outsider , the weirdo , a creepy kid , etc. and the bullying only got worse. the people in the shitty children’s home and the tiny backwoods town in virginia ? they didn’t really respond too well to the two strange kids that collected animal bones and hunted for ghosts.

in their early teen years ella started practicing satanism , but that was really just a gateway religion into wicca and her true passion , witchcraft. forrest took to it just as quickly as they did and soon the two had formed their own little coven , something that didn’t stay secret very long.

forrest , being the more scholarly of the two , found himself working for the governor on his campaign and eventually recruited arabella to do the same , but she worked more closely with the governor’s wife and the children. it only took a week , two tops , for the power hungry woman’s true intentions to came to light — dark magic.

( TW: cheating , infidelity )it’s true that ella helped with the gardening , the children , the cleaning , the cooking , all the usual suspects but she also did a number of spells involving blood and shadows. the items they created most for the governor’s wife was their own recipes for love potions and anti-aging blood serums. the woman was extremely suspicious of her husband having affairs with younger women , pretty self explanatory as to why she was seeking help from a known magic user.

( TW: blood ment. , devil ment. ) it was something of a hot topic in suspiria , the governor and his family hiring the two freaky orphans and why. not long after , a photo was leaked of the governor’s wife as arabella painted her face in the bright crimson blood serum they had concocted themselves. it was common knowledge by then that the two practiced witchcraft and suddenly every headline was about the governor and his wife being ‘ corrupted by the evil devil worshipers the kind family had taken pity on. ‘

( TW: assault ment. , death , arson , house fire ) the town ? literally ready to burn them at the freaking stake and the two couldn’t go anywhere without fear of assault of some sort or worse. to make matters all the worse , the governor’s wife and children perished suddenly in a terrible house fire and who was the easiest target to pin it on ? arabella and forrest , the two town rejects , which is exactly what the governor did. they were treated as murderers , hunted like criminals , which is why as soon as they found out about the raging fire they left town.

( TW: death ) for the next four years arabella and forrest were on the run from the governor and his goons , not stopping in any one place for very long for fear of being caught up to. over a year ago they finally got word that the governor had kicked the bucket and that anyone still looking for them likely had stopped by now. not long after , arabella came across a beautiful , vintage gothic home far more expensive than it was priced , but luckily for them the home had a rather grisly history and had been on the market for so long that the owners had cut the asking price tremendously.

( TW: scamming ) arabella was convinced that it was a sign from the universe letting them know it was okay to settle down for good now and once she’s convinced there’s no real changing her mind. so , by halloween of 2019 they were moving into the beautiful gothic home of the witch’s dreams and not long after they had rooms in their ‘ haunted home ‘ listed on every website possible to lure in dark tourists everywhere. how true everything is ? well , the two did take quite a few creative liberties and the occasional diehard , truly experienced fan of the paranormal would ( possibly have ) call them con artists.

( TW: scamming ) not only do they rent out rooms , but they also have the occasional ‘ murder tour ‘ of their ‘ serial killer ‘ house. what it really boils down to is arabella has been hustling their whole ass life and it’s never going to stop. there is quite a bit of truth to their stories , but though both ella and forrest have encountered the paranormal multiple times in their lives , not just in pleasance either , they’ve never had any real activity that could count as reliable proof. everything involving the businesses run out of the house are little more than sideshow entertainment for pleasance dark tourists.

( TW: blood ) the witch also has a part time job working for jules at dutch’s , her official title would be a bartender but she really just does what is asked of her. you probably guessed it already , but she does also have a side operation selling her blood magic from underneath the bar at dutch’s and they’re hopeful that their boss is none the wiser.

ETC.

she does still have a slight accent because she is from such a small town where everybody had a drawl or twang. she doesn’t have a good education by typical societal standards , because she had such shitty public education growing up as an orphan and no one who enforced her learning or attending. they are , however; incredibly street smart and by no means stupid. they have since taught themselves how to learn in a way best for them and are always devouring book upon book in order to teach themselves things otherwise she may never know.

( TW: blood ) ella is a blood witch and often uses her own blood , animal blood , someone else’s blood , pretty much if there’s blood in any form she’s set. she 100% sells her magic to anyone who wants it and does dabble in the shadow side. it might not actually work all the time , but that’s not entirely her fault.

( TW: bruising / injury ment. , blood , scar ment. , self harm ) a pretty big feminist , used to be in an all femme band called the hex girls ( come for me ) , goth and proud ??? a really big horror movie fan , pansexual demigirl representinggg ! always has bruises and cuts , dried blood covers their skin a lot where they miss it or just don’t care to hide it , also has quite a few scars from where she’s cut too deep ( some maybe on accident , some maybe on purpose ).

( TW: blood ) ella’s very creative ! they like to read , write , make art — out of blood lol she uses blood of all types to create a lot of art. she takes blood baths ( animal blood ) occasionally on the full moon , drinks animal blood during certain rituals , etc. also super into bone and taxidermy , you can definitely find her at deblanc’s. they also like to haunt the cemetery and creep around spotlight cinema , film is a big passion of hers.

( TW: drugs & alcohol ment. , blood ) DOES imbibe lol a partaker of alcohol ( prefers animal blood with red wine or vodka ) and certain drugs. ella definitely smokes weed & cigarettes , they enjoy partying just like the rest but she’s more reserved and likes to people watch.

okay so it’s getting late and i can’t believe how long this intro actually took me to finish tweaking , but if you want to plot with me pls pls pls hit me up bc i’d love to do some stuff !! my tumblr DMs are always open and you can always hmu on discord too !! i also write bryce winslow ( milo ventimiglia FC ) but you likely know that lol. i’m sure there’s more i could say about arabella honestly , but if you have any specific things you’d like to know or it seems like i left something out or need to take a second look at something i’d appreciate any / all feedback. can’t wait to get some replies out , but that might have to wait until the morning. @phqextras

#DOSSIER.#phqintro #TO BE TAGGED.#she like actually has tags #i swear #like already done #bless up #swear to post them tomorrow #BLOOD TW #DRUGS TW #ALCOHOL TW #INJURY TW

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bgn846 · 4 years

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FFXV Fanfic - Poking The Lion

Summary:

Cor thinks it would be fun to regale Aulea and Clarus' wife Liliales with stories about their road trip. However, Cor isn't expecting his friends to put up such a fight about it.

Notes: @ragewerthers was kind enough to let me use their well researched name for Clarus' wife as well. I hope you all enjoy a little silliness. :)

Cor is 18 Clarus is 28 Regis is 23

----------

Eyeing Cor suspiciously Clarus carried on drinking his coffee. He wasn’t sure what the kid was up to. Cor was sitting and talking with Regis’ girlfriend Aulea. Clarus doubted Cor was actively trying to flirt despite the idyllic setting. Though, the back garden at Amicitia manor made for a nice spot to relax during the spring months.

After a few minutes of listening it became obvious what was actually happening. Cor was telling her every single embarrassing Regis story he had in his arsenal.

Regis had gone inside to grab a coat for his girlfriend and Cor was using the time to get a giggle out of Aulea. She laughed brightly as he continued on with the stories. Clearly the eighteen year old was enjoying the attention. The faint crunch of gravel behind him indicated the prince was on his way back.

His annoyed huff signaled his arrival. “What the hell are you up to?” he asked looking at Cor.

“Nothing.” The solider offered with a grin.

“Cor was telling me about the time you fell in the mud when you were visiting Acordo.” Aulea supplied with a coy look.

Groaning Regis stomped over to them and shoved Cor aside. “Don’t listen to him; he’s just jealous he doesn’t have a pretty girlfriend like you.”

“That’s not what you said when we met that girl in--.”

“Don’t you dare!” Regis interrupted, “Stop talking or I’ll make you.”

“I’d like to see you try!” Cor offered with a scowl.

“Oh don’t fight; it’s such a waste of energy.” Liliales cooed from her seat in the shade.

“You’re already married Lilia.” Regis lamented, “You don’t have to deal with this issue anymore.”

“What issue is that exactly?” She asked in surprise.

“People trying to steal your lover!”

Clarus decided to cut in before his wife could respond. “I don’t think Cor was trying to do that highness. Kiddo, why don’t you lay off the stories for today?”

“Why? Cause Regis can’t take a joke?” Cor exclaimed, “That’s not fair.” He pouted as he hunched over turning away from them.

Clarus would later blame his wife for what happened next. Clearly she was suffering from sun stroke to have suggested what she did.

“I know what would help,” Liliales chimed in, “Cor, why don’t you tell me something funny about Clarus?”

“What?” Clarus sputtered, “Oh no, that’s not necessary!”

Cor perked up again like a drowning man having seen land. “Oh I’ve got tons of stories!” He announced as he scooted closer once more.

His wife seemed happy at the new turn of events and was working to contain her excitement. Clarus figured he’d let Cor tell a few stories and then try and distract them all with talk of dinner. He never had the chance. Cor, the little shit, started with the worst story. The minute he recognized the tale, Clarus figured he’d have to put a stop to the storytelling.

Cor was getting ready to tell his wife about the time Regis scared the living shit out of him. He was the shield to the future king and he didn’t get scared. Camping for the first time together the prince had literally waited on the other side of the tent flap and jumped out to scare him like a fucking five year old. Unfortunately it worked and Clarus had yelled rather loudly.

Cor had set up the scene already and if Clarus didn’t move fast he’d have to relive the whole moment again. It wasn’t like he could throw anything back at Cor, the kid seemed unflappable. He shrugged off any attempt to poke fun and weathered any and all barbs directed his way. Clarus assumed that being a solider from such a young age had hardened him. He’d faced an ancient sword slinging master at fifteen for six sake. Cor wasn’t normal.

“I think that’s enough.” Clarus interjected with a tone of authority, he was the oldest after all.

Liliales whined, “No, this is sounding good, I want to hear more.”

“Maybe later, I’m not sure Cor remembers this story well enough to retell it now. I think he would be wise to stop.” Clarus finished with a glare.

“What are you getting on about old man?” Cor questioned with a furrowed brow. “It’s funny, and I think your wife wants to hear it.”

“Nope, I don’t think so.” Clarus tried again with a pleading look directed to his wife. “They’d only been married two years but astrals he hoped she’d back him up.”

Thankfully she understood his plight and with a heavy sigh she lifted her hands in defeat. “I do think my dear husband is tired of reminiscing perhaps we can continue later?”

“That’s not fair!” Aulea offered from her perch on the wall. “I think Cor should continue on. Reg got his five minutes of fame; I think Clarus deserves it too.”

Curse them all, he had to find a way to stop Cor. Suddenly an idea hit him. “You never got a chance to finish that story about the barmaid and Regis. I think you should continue that and then switch to my adventures.”

“Oh no!” Regis shouted as he jumped up from his seat. “I told you not say anything more about that.” He warned.

Cor took the bait and grinned wickedly. “Okay ladies, so first I’ll tell you about how Regis can’t handle his drink and then I’ll finish Clarus’ story.”

Both women squealed and waited for him to start. He never got the chance. The minute he opened his mouth and said Regis’ name, the man in question pounced on him.

“Clarus help me or he’ll keep telling them all our awful stories.”

Jumping up from his own seat Clarus helped Regis pin Cor down on the ground. The kid squirmed but he couldn’t quite get away. Regis had grabbed him from behind and was using a wrestling move to secure his arms and head. He was partially lying on his back with his legs thrashing about. Clarus straddled his thighs and stopped that movement.

“Oh leave him alone sweetheart!” Liliales exclaimed, “He’s not doing anything wrong.”

“Reg let him up.” Aulea added a moment later.

“Nope!” Clarus announced as he shook his head, “He’s gonna pay for trying to make fun of us.”

The look of anger at having been captured was quickly fading to worry as Clarus glanced down at Cor. The soldiers blue eyes were darting around as he tested his restraints. He was outnumbered and there was nothing he could do about.

“Regis, if you wouldn’t mind. I need you to hold our friend here securely.”

“Gladly.” He chirped.

Based off the look on Cor’s face the last thing he was expecting was to be tickled.

The way Regis was holding him left Cor’s sides fully exposed and ripe for the picking. Clarus only had to lean forward to dig his fingers in. Mindful to avoid a stray fist swinging about Clarus got his revenge. Cor was shouting at first about being tortured but that didn’t last long. Barely a minute in and his voice had changed to a slightly higher pitch.

“Leave me alone!” He tried before Clarus hit a tender spot on his ribs. Cor squealed like a little girl when Clarus continued his assault, ignoring his pleas.

“You need to learn some respect!” Regis offered keeping his hold strong.

“I fought the --.” Dissolving into a fit of laughter Cor was unable to finish his thought. His eyes were screwed shut as he wiggled around trying to get free.

Moving from his ribs to his neck Clarus kept up a punishing pace. Cor would laugh and swear but couldn’t quite gather enough energy to escape. Liliales and Aulea were both asking him to stop but their giggles betrayed their true feelings. It was a funny sight to see the poor kid dying from literal laughter.

For being as tough and hardened as he was Cor was a hot mess if you tickled him. Clarus had known this secret for a while but rarely ever used it to his advantage. He assumed Cor would get him back later, but in this moment it was well worth the risk.

It wasn’t until Cor started nearly choking from lack of air did Clarus let up. Cor immediately stopped fighting back and slumped into Regis’ arms. His face was red and he was gasping for breath. Groaning the younger man kept his eyes closed as he fought to take in air. Regis unthreaded his arms let Cor rest against him. It appeared the prince was as worried as he was about having overdone their attack.

Leaning forward Clarus gently patted Cor’s face to try and get a response. “Kiddo? You okay? You’re not gonna pass out or anything are ya?”

He was rewarded with another groan and an aftershock of giggles. “My face -- hurts -- from laughing -- so hard.” Cor finally admitted quietly in between breaths. “You both -- suck.”

Regis barked out a laugh, “That’ll teach you to try and make fun of us.”

“But the girls -- liked it.” Cor gasped with a pout.

This of course got a reaction out of the two ladies and they both rushed over to check on the younger man. Rolling his eyes when Liliales gently shoved him away Clarus watched in mild amusement as Cor was taken from them. Both women helped him to stand and each took an arm as they walked Cor back towards the house.

“How exactly did that little shit get all the attention in the end?” Regis muttered while standing and dusting his pants off.

Snickering Clarus shook his head. “Come on if we don’t catch up they’ll forget about us.” Sighing in defeat Regis grabbed their things and trudged alongside. Clarus could hear the prince mumbling about things not being fair, but he paid it no mind.

Glancing ahead Clarus smiled. Cor was at the moment being sat in a patio chair while his wife and Aulea brushed errant leaves and dirt off his shirt. He seemed happy enough and perhaps with two kind women fawning over him he might forget about telling stories for a while.

#ffxv #fanfic #cor leonis #clarus #regis

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ficswithrimi · 6 years

Text

Mine Chapter 5

TITLE: MINE

PAIRING: NOCTIS LUCIS CAELUM X READER

GENRE: ANGST, ROMANCE

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF BLOOD, VIOLENCE, DEPRESSION, MINOR SEXUAL CONTENT, AND SUICIDE ATTEMPT

SYNOPSIS: DAUGHTER OF A NIFLHEIM SOLDIER, YOU WERE SENT OUT TO TENEBRAE TO SPY ON THE NOX FLEURET FAMILY AND THEIR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE LUCIS CAELUM FAMILY. HOWEVER, AFTER LEARNING THE TRUTH ABOUT NIFLHEIM, YOU BETRAY THEM. YOUR JOURNEY OF REVENGE BEGINS AFTER LEARNING OF THE DEATH OF YOUR ADOPTIVE SISTER, LUNAFREYA, AND YOUR CHILDHOOD FRIEND NOCTIS LUCIS CAELUM.

First Chapter

Last Chapter

Next Chapter

A/N: Wow! This came out a month later! A record for me! Also, I can’t believe this is the same month Beginning to End got written! Ah, I love writing for FFXV so much! Anyways, I think more info got leaked about Y/N in this chapter but next chapter! I’m gonna spoil it! Our favorite FFXV villain meets the gang! Can’t wait for those tensions to rise. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

It was times like this you wished you paid more attention to Lunafreya whenever she mentioned her duties as oracle and what she had to do in the future to ensure Noctis rose to his calling. If you would have had put your jealousy of Noctis and Lunafreya’s relationship aside, then maybe now, at age 21, you’d know the exact location as to which Lunafreya was heading. However, you didn’t know where she was going but only knew that she was alive. If she was alive then that meant Gentiana was with her without a doubt. You knew the divine messenger would do her best to keep Lunafreya alive at all costs.

Still, you fidgeted in the cramped tent you shared with the boys as the excitement of being somewhere Lunafreya had been merely hours ago excited you. Maybe she knew you were with Noctis and left something at Lestallum to let you know she was alright? Why wasn’t it morning yet? After Ignis told you your sister was alive, you begged him to drive you guys up to Lestallum then and there. Ignis, however, told you the trip to Lestallum from where you guys were now was an entire day’s trip and it would be dangerous driving while the daemons were lurking about.

“Didn’t you see me take them on today? We can handle them!”

“It’s far too dangerous. We cannot take the risk.”

You even offered to drive for them despite not having driven a car a day before in your life. To settle your excited nerves, Ignis promised to wake up at the crack of dawn and drag Noctis and Prompto to the car in order to arrive in the city by sunset. Of course, the promise didn’t come without a compromise. In return, you had to awaken early as well and assist the older man with preparing breakfast. You tried to tell him you didn’t know how to cook – considering you acknowledged as royalty a majority of your life and having personal chefs despite being held hostage – Ignis didn’t take no for an answer.

So, here you were, snugged tightly between Noctis and Prompto. You barely had any arm room and Noctis decided to use everyone’s little space for all his limbs. That meant you had to deal with his left leg crossed over your legs and his arm stretched over your head and hand literally resting on Prompto’s face. How the blond man didn’t wake up and push him off was a mystery to you. The other side of the tent was Gladiolus and Ignis. Gladiolus – Gladdy Daddy as you preferred to call him – was balled up in a corner while Ignis was curled in the opposite one. You knew you should’ve chosen to sleep on their side. They didn’t seem to invade privacy in their sleep. Still, you chose to be next to Noctis. It was weird to you how you had been clinging to him since he found you at the diner in Hammerhead. You guess he was somewhat your prince in shining armor. You snorted slightly as the thought came to your head. A 9-year-old you would be disowning the 21-year-old you if she knew you just called Noctis that right now.

Still, seeing Noctis alive and knowing he was trying to find Lunafreya along with you made you feel safe in his presence. You remembered the time you snooped through his and Lunafreya’s notebook and saw how many times he asked about you, your life, and how he wished he could save Lunafreya and you from the Empire’s clutches. Sighing, you turned over slightly to face the new king. You froze as he shifted his leg off you and back to his own body. Seeing that he was still asleep, you let out a quiet breath you were unaware of holding.

His black hair slowly rose and fell back into place as his gentle breath blew against it. Your eyes studied his entire face and couldn’t help but wonder what he was dreaming about. The frown plastered on his lips and the knitted eyebrows told you it wasn’t a pleasant dream. Was it about Lunafreya? Or his duties as the chosen king? Maybe… it was about his dad.

You knew King Regis had been officially reported dead but Noctis hadn’t brought him up in the past two days. He had to be hurting. You knew what it was like to lose a parent but not through death. Well, there was your mom. She apparently died while you were still an infant. Your father refused to mention her and banned you from ever saying her name. You assumed it was because it brought back painful memories but the angered look on your father’s face said so otherwise.

“I can’t wait for Lunafreya to see you again…” You smiled gently as you carefully brushed some of his hair from his face. He twitched slightly from your touch but the frown on his face slowly curled upwards to a tiny smile as his overall face seemed to release the tension it held before. Moving your arm back to your side, you let out a heavy sigh, and tried to fall back asleep.

~!~

“Y/N… Y/N, it’s time to wake up,” You felt yourself being shaken gently. Groaning, you opened your eyes and squinted in the darkness of the tent to make out green eyes covered by glasses. Ignis…

“Five more minutes,” You frowned as you try to shoo him away.

Ignis let out a small chuckle at your response. “Do you want to get to Lestallum in a timely manner or would you like to spend another night in a tent?”

That caused your eyes to immediately open and you to suddenly sit up. Prompto, who slept on your left side, let out an annoyed moan while his highness didn’t seem fazed from the swift movement.

“Let’s go! Let’s get cooking!”

“Actually, Gladio is in the field waiting to train you. I’ve got breakfast covered,” Ignis said as he stood up and began to exit the tent. You arched a brow at the man. Why was Gladiolus waiting for you? Shrugging, you carefully stood up and exited the tent.

Squinting your eyes to shield them from the rising sun, you finger brushed your bed hair to somewhat tame it, making sure it covered the scar on your neck. You glanced around the campsite and saw Ignis cooking over the newly lit fire. From the smell you could tell it was bacon and maybe eggs? You weren’t too sure. Glancing over to the sandy field to your left, you saw Gladiolus skillfully swinging his sword around. Grinning, you jogged over to where he was.

“Good morning, princess,” Gladiolus greeted you without taking his focus off his sword.

“Good morning, Gladdy!” You grinned at him. Besides Noctis, you could say you were comfortable around Gladiolus. It was hard to describe but you felt protected around him. He reminded of you when you were younger and Queen Sylva had personal guards follow Lunafreya and you around, protecting you both from harm’s way. After her death, the only ones left to protect you were Imperial soldiers, also known as the ones who wanted you dead.

“Ignis said you wanted to see me?”

“Yeah, I wanted to train with you a little, see what you got,” He stopped swinging his sword and looked over at you.

“Yesterday wasn’t proof enough for you that I’m talented?” You smirked at him as you placed a hand on your hip.

“You were alright, kid. But if you’re gonna be traveling with us then you need to be prepared from some serious monsters out there.”

“I’m only with you guys until I’m back with my sister. Also, my brother has prepared me for the worst. Don’t forget I fought off an entire army of Imperials on a train by myself,” You playfully dusted off your shoulder.

“Is that all you have under your belt?” Gladiolus let out a chuckle. The smirk on your face fell at his remark. It was, in fact, all you had under your belt. You’ve never been into serious fights before.

“Uh… well…”

“Thought so. I’m not saying you can’t kick ass. I’m just saying a little practice can go a long way, princess.”

“Okay, if you keep calling me princess then I’m calling you Gladdy Daddy,” You frowned at the older man.

Gladiolus arched a playful brow at you. “You’re a flirt, aren’t you? Do as you wish.”

You summoned your daggers as a smile appeared on your face. “Just a tad.”

~!~

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Noctis greeted you as he entered the car. You had already made yourself comfy in the middle of the backseat, impatiently waiting for the others to load the car. Gladiolus and Prompto were packing up the camp stuff while Ignis was checking the car, making sure it was ready for the long day’s trip ahead. Noctis had did his part of cleaning and packing the dishes Ignis had used earlier. You offered to help but they said they could handle everything so you just sat in the car, listening to some of the music Prompto had brought along for their road trip.

“Lunafreya’s alive! And I’m going to get more information on how she’s doing when we get to this Lestallum place! Of course, I’m in a – hey, are you okay?” Your eyes widened as Noctis suddenly grabbed his head in pain. The grimace on his face said he was in extreme pain. Panicking, you looked around for Ignis who was under the hood of the car.

“Ignis! Ignis, something wrong is with Noctis!” You called over to him in a worried voice. Ignis immediately lifted his head from the hood to see the young king in pain. Your words caused the other two men to rush over to the car in worry.

“Noct, what’s wrong?!” Gladiolus asked as he approached the raven-haired man.

Noctis let go of his head as he shook off whatever just overcame him. He looked at the guys around him before landing them on your widened ones. You knew he could see the complete worry in them as your arms stood frozen in front of you, ready to comfort him in whatever way possible.

“I’m fine… a headache just came over me…”

“Are you sure, Noct? We have some pain meds in the glove department,” Prompto said in a shaky voice. He was just as worried as you were.

“I’m fine, really. No need to worry,” He said this while shifting his eyes over at you again. “Are we ready to go?”

“Everything is in order. Y/N, are you ready?” Ignis asked as he entered the driver’s side of the Regalia.

You just nonchalantly nodded your head at him as you kept your gaze on Noctis. He rested his head in the palm of his hand as his arm leaned against the car door. His eyes were closed and you couldn’t tell if he was sleep or just resting his eyes to recover from the pain he was just in.

“…Noctis asks about me?” A 17-year-old you asked Lunafreya one day as you caught her replying to the recent message he had sent her.

“Quite often!” Lunafreya looked up at you and gave you a genuine happy smile. “I’m so happy you two get along well now!”

“Well, I haven’t seen the guy since I was nine but, sure, we get along,” You shrugged as you plopped beside her on her bed. “What’d he say about me?”

“Shouldn’t you know? Gentiana told me you sometimes snoop in our messages?” Lunafreya smirked playfully at you. Meanwhile, your face turned beet red.

“I, uh, I was just curious! I’m sorry for eavesdropping!” You apologized nervously.

“It’s fine, Y/N. As I said, I’m overjoyed that you two get along well,” She went back to her writing. You just let a tiny smile come upon your face. Seeing Lunafreya this happy made your heart feel warm. If you knew that indirectly admitting you tolerate the young prince now would make Lunafreya so happy, you would’ve admitted to her years ago that you haven’t held a grudge against Noctis since the day you declared you both couldn’t be friends.

“He asks about your neck pains…” Lunafreya suddenly said. “He says he wishes that there was some way he could make your pain go away.”

A small blush came upon your face at her words. Your hand slowly went up to the scar on your neck. Since the injury was literally on top of an important artery in your neck, it occasionally caused an immense pain to overcome you – leaving you in complete agony for a few seconds.

“He worries about me…” You smiled slightly to yourself, unknowingly that Lunafreya heard your words. She looked up at you with a saddened smile on her face before looking back at the notebook in front of her.

“I’m fine, really, you can stop staring…” Noctis suddenly said, bringing you back to present times. You blinked at him to notice that you were, indeed, still staring at him.

“Sorry… just worried…” You let out a heavy sigh as you turned to look in front of you.

~!~

Your eyes widened in awe as the city of Lestallum slowly came into view. The sun was setting so the light shined on it to give it the feel of a haven. It was different from the city of Tenebrae which, though a city, was covered in greenery around almost every corner. As Ignis parked the car, your heart grew in excitement. Lunafreya was here just yesterday. She saw this amazing new scenery. She was breathing in the same air as you. She was alive.

You immediately began to hop out the car, climbing over Noctis in the process. The king widened his eyes at your action, only to grab hold of your waist as you almost fell out the car. You froze at the feeling of his hands on you as a light blush came upon your face. Why were you blushing? You didn’t know exactly. Maybe you were just embarrassed at how excited you were to rush into the town.

Click!

“What the hell?” Noctis said as he immediately let go of you, causing you to fall on the ground after all.

“What the hell!?” You repeated as you sat up from the ground, glaring up at Noctis who was glaring at Prompto.

Prompto grinned innocently as he tucked his camera away. “I saw a great shot and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!”

“The opportunity to watch me fall on my ass?” You turned the glare to Prompto. If your face was red from embarrassment before, well, now it was out of anger.

“Well, technically it was your face,” Prompto suppressed a chuckle.

“Prompto,” Ignis gave the blond a warning glare before exiting the car.

“Can you children settle down so I can go see my baby sister?” Gladiolus frowned at Noctis, Prompto, and you.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go.” Noctis said as he exited the car, stepping over you who was still planted on the ground. He looked down briefly at you for a second before holding a hand for you to grab to pull you up. Pushing his hand aside, you jumped up and walked off to catch up with Gladiolus and Ignis who were leaving the three of you behind.

“I’ve never met Lunafreya but I can tell they’re nothing alike…” Prompto chuckled as he and Noctis watched as you excitedly pointed towards the food vendors across the street from the parking lot. He watched as you grabbed Gladiolus’s and Ignis’s hands and attempted to drag them across the street.

“… They’re more alike than you think…”

~!~

“Any word on the traitor?”

“Please refrain from calling my sister that-“

“Sister my ass. She’s just someone your mother took pity on and took in. You could’ve easily dropped her after we rid of your mot-“

“Aldercapt, I’ve been part of your army for the last 12 years without problem and do as you ask. Even down to the point of killing off Y/N. Leave the history between how she became part of my family out of this.”

“Your brat of a sister is a traitor to her country. What makes you think she wouldn’t betray you as well?”

“Does it matter?!” Ravus spat at Ideolas Aldercapt, the emperor of Niflheim. “She’s dead! It doesn’t matter anymore! I’ve killed my sister!”

Ravus’s knees suddenly gave out as he finally spoke the words he’s been trying to suppress the last couple of days. He killed her. He killed Y/N. When he mentioned to Aldercapt of Y/N’s 21st birthday wish, he knew it would end in the woman’s death. Her birthday just happened to fall directly in line with the Empire’s plans of overtaking Lucis and killing the royal family. Aldercapt was all for it, of course. The image of Y/N’s cheerful smile the day he told her that her request had been approved flashed through Ravus’s mind. Her going to Insomnia wasn’t even for herself. It was for Lunafreya. Everything Y/N did was for Lunafreya. Ravus did all he could to protect his blood sister but Y/N put her life in danger multiple times to protect her even more – she even gave up what – who - she wanted the most just to see Lunafreya smile.

“Why do you hate Prince Noctis?” A 16-year-old Ravus asked a nine-year old Y/N.

“He took Lunafreya from me…” The young girl pouted. “She’s mine…”

A gentle smile came across the teen’s lips as he bent down to Y/N’s height. “Is that the real reason?”

The little girl stubbornly nodded her head as she crossed her arms.

“Well, I think you’re lying,” Ravus ruffled the girl’s hair as he stood back up. The little girl in front of him face flushed before she shook her head again.

“I’m not lying, brother! Noctis irritates me! He’s always around Lunafreya, taking her attention away from me and they don’t even notice when I’m around! It’s not fair!”

“Have you tried being friends with him? You three could make an awesome trio…”

“I can’t be friends with Prince Noctis… ever,” The girl huffed but her eyes sadly drifted to the floor for a split second. Ravus arched a brow at this as he suddenly got the feeling she was hiding something. “Besides… he makes her so happy. I could never take away Lunafreya’s happiness…”

“You wouldn’t be taking her happiness by befriending the prince?” Ravus said, confusedly. What did the girl mean?

“I would…” Was all she said before she exited the young man’s room. Ravus sat on his bed deep in thought. He knew the young girl was experiencing her first crush but… what else was she hiding?

“Ah, young high commander, your dear sister is not dead… and I’m not talking about Lunafreya either,” A voice, in a poetic tone which each word he spoke, said as footsteps clicked on the floor towards Aldercapt and Ravus.

“Chancellor Izunia!” Aldercapt said. “What’s wrong? How’s the plan going? What do you mean the traitor isn’t dead?”

The red-haired main tilted the brim of his hat up as he smirked at the men before him. “Call me Ardyn, please…”

~!~

Your eyes widened in awe as the five of you entered the hotel in Lestallum. You couldn’t remember the last time you stepped foot inside a nice hotel. Though it was only a couple of days ago since you went to Insomnia, it felt like it had been ages. You eagerly went up to the receptionist desk with Prompto and Ignis as Gladiolus and Noctis sat around the white plush couch that served as the centerpiece of the hotel lobby.

“Uh… room for… two, I guess?” Ignis said unsurely as he shifted his eyes over to you. You returned his gaze as a smirk appeared on your face.

“Tired of sharing sleeping spaces with me already, Specs,” You said his nickname that you’ve heard the other guys toss around a couple of times while traveling. You stifled in a giggle as the man’s face began to turn red and his glasses fogged slightly.

“N-no, it’s just I thought maybe you’d like your own space…” He stammered as he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the receptionist. Prompto threw you a look which you only responded with an innocent smile.

“I’m sorry, sir. We only have one room available as we’re hosting refugees from Insomnia. However, there is one room that is being occupied by a guest who I’m sure wouldn’t mind sharing…” The receptionist apologized.

“Who?” You arched a brow. This was too much trouble. You weren’t up for spending the night with a stranger. You’d rather bunk with the boys. Besides, you’ve gotten used to their presence. You were afraid your feelings of loneliness would return if you were apart from them.

“Gladdy!” A high-pitched, excited voice yelled out as a pair of feet could be heard thumping down the carpeted stairs of the hotel lobby. You turned your attention to the girl who you decided stole the half of the nickname you came up for Gladiolus. Your eyes widened as a young girl, maybe 15 or 16, ran over to Gladiolus and attacked him in a hug. You watched as he ruffled the girl’s hair – much to her dismay – before returning her hug.

“Iris Amicitia. Gladio’s little sister…” Ignis whispered over to you. Ah, so that’s why she was so excited to see the big guy. Prompto, Ignis, and you walked over to the hugging siblings as Noctis stood up. As Iris removed herself from Gladiolus, she looked at Noctis and her eyes immediately widened.

“Noctis! You’re alive! I mean, of course you’re alive, but-“ You tuned her out as you watched her ramble on. You took in her posture as she spoke to Noctis who seemed happy to see her but also as if he wanted something else out of the young woman. She was shorter than Noctis – slightly taller than yourself – and her hands didn’t know where they wanted to rest as if they were constantly anxious. A blush that was on her pale face now but wasn’t there before caught your attention as well. The girl – Iris – also seemed to sway a little and lean in towards Noctis as he spoke to her. A smirk immediately enlightened your lips as you realized; Iris Amicitia had a crush on Noctis.

“How cute,” You said to yourself.

“What is?” Prompto asked as he looked over to you. You just shrugged to let him to brush it off.

“Iris, this is Y/N Nox Fleuret… she’s L-“

“Lady Lunafreya’s sister!” Another high-pitched voice said. “Wow! She wasn’t lying when she said she had a sister! And she’s pretty!”

“Talcott, show respect,” An older, mature voice said.

You turned towards the stairs again and saw a little boy and an old man descending the flight. Well, the little boy was running while the old man took his time. The little kid – Talcott, you guessed was his name – ran to you and did a complete bow much to your surprise.

“Uh… kid… it’s okay. I’m not really royalty…” You nervously laughed as you awkwardly patted his bowed head. He immediately shot up and grinned at you before turning his attention to Noctis.

“Whoa! Prince Noctis! I’m like your biggest fan! I think you’re so-“

“Talcott! That’s enough!” The old man said as he finally caught up to the crowd. “Your highness, it’s a pleasure…”

“Jared…” Noctis nodded his head at the old man.

“I’m sorry to hear about your father… he was a good friend of mine…”

Noctis immediately tensed up at the mentioning of his father but let it go soon after. “It’s okay… part of life… I guess. I heard Luna was here…”

“She was! She’s so pretty!” Talcott said. “I wish to marry someone as pretty as her one day like you are, Prince Noctis!”

At this, Noctis shot you a look which caused you to arch your brow. What was with the sudden look? He should be agreeing with the kid like you were. Noctis better be grateful someone as beautiful as Lunafreya even gave him the time of day.

“Speaking of Luna…” Noctis spoke up as he turned his attention to Iris and Jared.

“Ah, right, Lady Lunafreya…”

~!~

It turned out the woman who didn’t mind sharing her hotel room with you was Iris. That made you feel somewhat better as she was the sister of Gladiolus and she seemed like a pretty chill teenager. She noticed how badgered your clothes were and lent you some of her pajamas and even promised to take you into the city in the morning to buy you some more clothing for the trip. Her treat. You sat on the hotel bed across from hers as you watched her prepare for bed. She somewhat reminded you of Lunafreya as she prepped herself by washing her face and teeth thoroughly, then brushing her hair and tying it up in a red headband to keep the hair out of her face during the night. You could easily tell she was part of the royalty life – even if it was just by her family protecting the past kings and queens of Lucis.

“So, Y/N… do I call you Lady Y/N?” Iris arched a brow at you as she sat across from you on her bed, finally finished with her routine.

“Just call me Y/N,” You shrugged at the girl.

“Cool, cool. So, I know I told you and the guys earlier about Lady Lunafreya’s plan…”

Apparently, Lunafreya was going around awakening the Gods so they could lend their power to Noctis. Ultimately, everyone would meet in Altissia – the original place Noctis was supposed to meet her. In the end, it would help Noctis fulfil his duties.

“Yeah… thanks for telling me she’s safe… I was so worried,” You let out a heavy breath you’ve been holding in for a while.

“No problem, however, Lady Lunafreya… she’s super worried about you…”

Your eyes widened at Iris’s words. “What? Why”

“She thinks… you’re dead…” Iris said slowly as if wanting you to take in each word she said. Lunafreya thought you were dead? Why would she think that? If anything, for the past couple of days, you thought she was dead. Lunafreya was well aware you could handle yourself against enemies. She often warned you not to start drama with the guards who roamed the castle in Tenebrae, after all. What gave off the impression that you were dead, unless, she knew of the Empire’s plan to attack Insomnia. However, that didn’t sound right as she was so excited as she secretly prepared to be wedded to Noctis. She must’ve recently found out another way – that meant she also knew Ravus betrayed you as a brother.

“How? Why? Is she okay? What did she say?” You eagerly asked Iris as you felt warm tears filling up your eyes. If Lunafreya thought you were dead then you knew she was probably staggering along in her journey broken on the inside. Lunafreya wasn’t the type to let her inner emotions show to the world as she was constantly under the spotlight as oracle. If the oracle was crying or upset about something, then the world needed to start preparing for the worst. The thought of Lunafreya suffering from being ignorant of your current status bothered you. You had to find a way to tell her you were alive and okay. But how? There was Umbra but you hadn’t seen your beloved companion since he ditched at the train station in Insomnia. Was Umbra even still alive?

“She had some dark, mysterious woman with her and a white dog,” Iris said. You knew immediately who she was referring to – Gentiana and Pryna. “The dark lady said something about another dog unable to pick up your scent to find you and she couldn’t locate you, either. I wish I knew you were with Gladdy at the time, I would’ve let them know you were okay.”

“Thanks, Iris…” Was all you said as you took the information in. Why couldn’t Umbra and Gentiana locate you? Was there some sort of mysterious force around you that made it difficult to locate? At least you knew that Umbra was still alive and actively searching for you. You knew once he eventually found you, you’d leave the boys and go with the dog back to Lunafreya.

“No problem, but hey, shouldn’t we get some sleep? I overheard from Talcott and Jared that you guys were going to some waterfall cave to get a royal arm tomorrow.”

“Yeah…” Was all you said as you fully climbed into bed, suddenly remembering you probably had a long day ahead of you in the morning. “You’re right. I forgot.”

“No problem! Just don’t forget that you, Noctis, and I are going shopping tomorrow! You can’t back out of it,” Iris sent you a playful glare. You let out a small chuckle at the girl as you closed your eyes.

“I won’t forget.”

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lesbianmichelmishina · 7 years

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okay so: here is my Big Post on Rewriting SU. this is super long like 7 pages in word so here it is under a cut, mobile users i am so sorry. the basic gist of it is to keep it as close to the original as possible while dodging character assassinations, giving underdeveloped characters some breathing room, sorting out the mess that is rose’s character, and so on.

season 1:

so before we begin, character design tweaks! i'm focusing on the main three gems here, who would all look more alien. sort of like they’re wearing alien battle uniforms. there's a reason for this. the exception would be amethyst who would be slightly more earth-y and modern. this would change as they get closer to the human race. the other big thing to mention is that the temple statue is now of pink diamond, not the all-CG fusion.

anyway, things would progress basically the same as they did in the original until coach steven. this episode needs to be HEAVILY altered to improve sugilite. first of all i would tweak her design to be less like a racial caricature. second of all, as much as i love nicki minaj, we should probably have sugilite voiced by someone less expensive. third of all, the issue isn’t that sugilite’s violent or anything – it’s that she just really wants to impress steven but is going completely the wrong way about it. at the end of the episode steven declares that he loves garnet, amethyst AND sugilite! hugs!

things stay a little more on track until we reach ocean gem. i would tweak lapis to look more like the actual gem for starters. what really changes in this episode is its effects: steven becomes curious about the gem homeworld, and about how all of these corrupted gems got into this state in the first place. to his surprise, the crystal gems don’t want to talk about it.

well, screw that! steven is going to investigate this HIMSELF. with connie because connie’s awesome and also pretty curious about an alien world and gem history because duh. they start with that mysterious gem inside lion’s mane – or at least they would, buuuuuut connie points out that she’s probably corrupted and wouldn’t be much help. so instead, they just go generally poking around.

this, unfortunately, leads them right into the path of the robonoids.

things change even more when peridot shows up. first of all, more emphasis is placed on her yellow diamond insignia – it’s this, not her presence alone, which causes the OH FUCK moment for the crystal gems. steven has many questions and the gems finally, maybe around the time of the test, tell him the truth: they were sent here by their people after a terrible war for the earth, in order to protect the human race from the corrupted gems and technology left behind. they don’t really interact with humans because they’re there to make sure the human race develops normally and with as little alien influence as possible.

the only problem with this is that there’s a really powerful gem called yellow diamond who really, REALLY doesn’t like humans, and wanted to take the earth for gemkind. in fact, that entire war they just mentioned was fought specifically to get yellow diamond off the planet. she was banished to her own corner of the galaxy with her followers and has presumably been brooding on the loss ever since.

and now a peridot with a yellow diamond insignia has just shown up.

well, that’s okay! says steven. surely we can just call the gem homeworld and tell them that yellow diamond is causing trouble again. right?

wrong. the communications towers got sabotaged, presumably by peridot. they can’t fix them. they’re cut off. if yellow diamond’s forces show up then they have to deal with it themselves and there is no way that they can fight off an army on their own.

cue the message. on her way home, lapis flew smack into a forward scouting crew sent by yellow diamond and now she’s their unwilling informant. all she can do is send them a warning and try to protect steven.

rose’s scabbard also changes so that pearl does try to catch steven when he falls, though she fails and he has to catch himself. everything else is the same after that.

season two

so, peridot is loose somewhere, and malachite’s totally a thing they’re going to have to deal with at some point. hooray.

first of all: sworn to the sword. this episode needs to be fixed so that we don’t have pearl emotionally abusing connie. i've written an alternative stts before focusing on garnet, but i'm actually going to leave this one with pearl in this rewrite. the difference is that it’s going to be about pearl overcompensating for not being designed to be the most martial gem. she overworks connie, connie calls her out on it, and pearl has an identity crisis because… maybe she really is just a glorified assistant. well no, she’s actually a pretty good teacher, she’s just being kind of overzealous! pearl apologises to connie and loosens up a bit.

the first major thing that changes is the week of sardonyx because SWEET LORD ALMIGHTY those episodes need a fucking facelift! peridot starts broadcasting from one of the towers she sabotaged in order to get yellow diamond to come pick her up. and yes, it is actually peridot doing it this time! not pearl! the titular cry for help, however, now belongs to garnet. she keeps having to fuse to fix this and while she LIKES fusion, she’s starting to get kind of stressed over it all. it doesn’t help that pearl reaaaaaally likes this, or that amethyst is getting super upset that it’s not HER fusing. eventually garnet just fucking loses it from stress. she doesn’t want to be seen as just a fusion and she’s EXHAUSTED from trying to lead the others now that rose is gone and everything is going to hell! pearl and amethyst rapidly realise that they’ve been super insensitive, but it’s too late – garnet fries the tower’s control panel because apparently she has to do everything herself.

keystone motel builds on this – steven and greg invite garnet on a road trip in order to help her destress. it doesn’t work. garnet falls apart from stress, quite literally, but ruby and sapphire aren’t doing much better. steven manages to reassure them and they refuse. garnet's still not doing great, but her head is a little clearer now.

onion friend and historical friction are more about amethyst and pearl realising “hey, we fucked up there”. they both come to the conclusion that they really need to make it up to garnet and fix this…

…leading into friend ship, where they’re BOTH going overboard on catching peridot! ultimately all three of them get stuck in the trap, and garnet finally lets it out that she CAN’T be the strong one, she CAN’T be everyone else’s foundation, she’s stressed and upset too. amethyst and pearl explain that they never meant to hurt her and that they only want to spend time with her, but that they’re sorry they DID hurt her and want to try to help her handle things. alexandrite triumphantly bursts out of the trap and subsequently fails to catch peridot… but that’s okay, she tried. and they’ll get her next time. TOGETHER.

then we go into the peridemption arc. and this is where things start swerving. i'm changing the cluster.

it's not a weapon because it’s going to crack the earth open. it's a weapon because when it activates it will release a song that will corrupt the remaining gems AND nuke the brainstems of every living thing native to earth. it’s a cleaning tool for yellow diamond’s new conquest of earth. see, earth is pretty awesome because its crust has a ton of minerals in it which could produce one heck of an army. it actually already DID! that's where amethyst and jasper came from! if yellow diamond can take back the earth, she can rebuild her armies and get her revenge on the other diamonds!

…OTHER diamonds…?

oh yeah, there’s four total, or at least there were. this is about the point at which we get to the answer, which has to change heavily for one big reason: blue diamond is not a villain any more. spoilers! trust me, i have my reasons.

anyway, ruby once served yellow diamond, whose forces had intercepted a ship sent by blue diamond to earth during the war; a ship which carried a sapphire seer who was going to assist pink diamond. sapphire saw this whole thing coming, naturally, and she knows that when help – in the form of pink diamond’s most elite military unit – arrives, they will be shattered and pink diamond’s side will take a terrible blow. ruby, meanwhile, is also having a bad time of it – she feels outcast amongst her fellow rubies because she actually doesn’t want to fight the other diamonds. she doesn’t like any of this, but she follows because she sees no other way out.

pearl and rose show up to raise hell. sapphire just sighs because she knows this is it for the earth, but ruby refuses to accept it. she makes the split-second decision to push sapphire away from ruby’s own comrades, creating garnet. AND EVERYONE FLIPS THEIR SHIT. this has NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. what the fuck?! well, whatever it is, yellow diamond’s forces are HORRIFIED and decide to just shatter their own treacherous ruby. pearl and rose, meanwhile, are like “lolwat”. ruby panics, but sapphire grabs her and hauls her to an escape pod while the cgs distract the others by running away themselves. (“cross-gem fusion?? this was not in the plan. WE’RE OUT OF HERE. and maybe we can make the guards go after us instead of those two while we’re at it.”)

now the episode plays out a lot like it did before, with ruby escorting sapphire to a communication hub and the two falling in love along the way, until the end. ruby and sapphire have created an entire new way of being. rose is fascinated and excited, pearl is like “holy shit lmao you’re awesome let’s be friends”, and when they get in contact with blue diamond to explain what happened to the mission, garnet declares that actually, she kinda wants to stay on earth and fight with the crystal gems. ruby doesn’t want to go back to yellow diamond and sapphire doesn’t want to leave ruby. blue diamond is just like “…well… okay then?? i mean i have no idea whose court you belong to any more so i guess you get to pick! and you picked pink!”

things play out the same from there for the rest of the season.

season three

things immediately derail.

they don’t beat malachite. yeah, that pep talk in the ship was cool and all, but alexandrite is still kind of a mess from stress and internal disagreements. the melons do manage to chase malachite off, though. now, they do get the cluster to shut down… temporarily. they can’t outright deactivate it yet and if more of yellow diamond’s forces show up and reactivate it there’s not much they can do!

oh, and while trying to recuperate after the malachite mess, five rubies show up and play baseball with them. their orders are to shatter peridot and recover jasper. forget about lapis she’s not important. steven persuades them to go to neptune. now they have four problems: internal disagreements and tensions, malachite, the cluster, and more of yd’s armies showing up any day now. AND THEY STILL CAN’T CONTACT HOMEWORLD!

now then, i'm going to nearly completely abandon the previous episode structure and go for something different entirely. i'm not going to point out particular episodes to be replaced, just general trends. here we go:

bismuth the episode still has to happen, but it’s going to change. first of all, bismuth doesn’t get re-bubbled at the end. secondly, the reason rose objects to the breaking point is pink diamond, because pink diamond was assassinated and rose objects to any more true deaths. bismuth points out that they can’t just shoo yellow diamond off and expect her to behave. even if they win, she’s going to come back! she’s not going to stop trying to take the earth and impose her own order onto the universe! she wants to put all the gems into boxes, instead of letting them decide their own paths, as the others had begun to. AND OH LOOK, GUESS WHO WAS FUCKING RIGHT?! the episode ends with steven accepting the lie his mother told and telling the gems the truth, beginning the process of the crystal gems breaking away from rose.

i would put bismuth near the beginning of the season, actually.

peridot, being the expert on the cluster, is the one who leads the efforts to try to destroy it permanently. the breaking point just isn’t enough to save those forcibly fused gems, though it HAS proven effective at breaking apart the smaller ones. in the process, steven, peridot, connie and bismuth make an effort to find out how exactly the song works.

meanwhile, the main three gems are still after malachite, and are trying to work through thousands of years of issues at the same time. pearl wasn’t a slave this time around, but a secretary of the worst stereotypical kind. if she wasn’t happy with that, but can’t win as a warrior… who is she? garnet's still stressed from having to lead the others, and these revelations about rose aren’t helping. there's a thousand ways this could go wrong and she has to be prepared for all of them. amethyst is struggling with her own self-esteem, especially after meeting jasper and learning that the person who valued her the most – rose quartz – was actually kinda dubious herself.

the fight to stop malachite takes a turn when to everyone’s surprise malachite doesn’t want to keep fighting. oh, lapis doesn’t want to be a prisoner again, and jasper would like to get off this planet tyvm, but malachite? she’s TIRED of this. so tired. she's got all three of the main trios’ issues at once: she doesn’t know who she is, she has to keep fighting when she doesn’t want to, and she REALLY hates herself.

in the meantime, team cluster find out more about pink diamond herself from bismuth. the four diamonds had different views on humans. yellow wanted to destroy them and use the earth, blue wanted to leave them alone and see how they developed, white was in the middle of yellow and blue, and pink wanted to co-operate with humanity. she was born on earth too, y’know!

…which leads to the big change: the humans get actively involved in understanding and fighting the corrupted gems. greg gets some better gear with his new cash and starts trying to make a song that can take on the corruption. kiki gets her hands on magic gem artefacts and starts learning how to use them. the cool kids lead the frontline efforts to protect the city, while mayor dewey organises things. onion’s capacity for mayhem, egged on by his parents, proves an effective anti-ruby deterrent. sadie still has her fish-murdering skills. lars gets a reality check and starts trying to use his experiences of being angry and bitter to relate to the corrupted gems. (lars the gem whisperer. everyone is stunned.) ronaldo’s blog becomes useful as he starts collating information on the gems and the things left behind. connie, who has the most gem experience, is working on the cluster but does help to rally the others.

ultimately, the endgame of this season occurs when malachite brings the three groups together by accident. this is when THE BIG REVEAL occurs about pink diamond.

pink diamond had herself martyred on purpose. blue and white weren’t coming to help, still too divided over what the proper thing to do with the earth was. she was desperate. she wanted to protect her planet. and so, she asked her greatest warrior to do something utterly unthinkable, something which would save the earth but at a massive price.

pink diamond asked rose quartz to kill her. to shatter her. to pretend to betray her and go over to yellow diamond. pink diamond’s death would get her sisters’ attention and pink diamond was willing to die for this belief in the potential of earth. but rose refused. she wouldn’t do it. she would not become a killer to save the earth. pink diamond pointed out the consequences if “winning peacefully” failed, rose quartz still refused. all life has value! but what about the lives of the humans, of all the other living beings of earth? rose, personally, refused to kill.

so jasper did it instead. that’s why she hates herself. rose quartz threw her under the bus, and she’s spend five thousand years working for “the enemy”, seen by all gems as the greatest murderer in the galaxy. and she can’t believe she did it, and regrets it every day, and has come to LOATHE the earth in response because it’s the only way she can cope with the guilt of killing her diamond.

ultimately, the cast face a revalation. a huge, horrible one. malachite actually finally defuses solely from lapis’s shock at the truth about pink diamond’s assassination. jasper is fully expecting to get shattered now. it's over and she can’t even be upset about it. she’s so upset, she loses control and starts to corrupt.

“…thanks, sis.”

jasper looks up from where she’s fallen. amethyst is there.

“okay, so… you did something horrible. something you feel so bad about, even to this day. and i totally get why! but, like… if you hadn’t done that, i wouldn’t be here. steven wouldn’t be here. none of these people would be here. and i know i'm super tiny and puny, but honestly? i’m glad i exist.”

and jasper just. looks at her in disbelief.

and one by one… all the gems there come out with their reactions to this mess. they all know that it’s wrong to kill, that jasper shouldn’t have been in this situation and neither should rose or pink diamond, but DAMN if the secrecy and lies that rose has spun around her to protect her own image aren’t rocking them right now. like, what the hell?!

but… jasper saved the human race, even if it was at a terrible cost. so the human race want to save her, too.

the first gem to be fully saved from corruption, through steven’s healing powers and the song that greg, connie and sour cream play, is jasper.

onwards?

beyond this, the focus of the show shifts. the crystal gems have reached a turning point – to be open with each other, to be honest, and to co-operate with humanity. i would just generally scrap s4 as is and focus on how the humans and gems come together to protect the earth and each other.

jasper and amethyst develop a sisterly relationship, and work through their self-esteem issues together. lapis seeks out a place in this new world and finds one, dealing with her trauma in her own way, and helping out with the defence effort because she is NEVER going to be a prisoner EVER AGAIN. peridot at some point obtains new limb enhancers and works with bismuth on making things to protect the town. (i would also throw in ame/dot after too far, BUT i am chill with anything that isn’t jas/pis or the godawful “canon” version of lapi/dot.)

the rubies show up again, and come to like earth too. from them, we get a perspective on yellow diamond’s regime from the very bottom – a place where no one can be themselves or express themselves outside of their caste. the rubies get a taste of freedom and go for it.

pearl moves on. if last one out of beach city happens, it’s not with someone who looks that much like rose. garnet doesn’t have to be “the strong one” anymore and can embrace who she really is. amethyst ditches her kayfabe to be a real hero this time. steven works through his complicated feelings on his mother alongside greg, and while he still loves her and believes in the peace she fought for, he is NOT gonna be like her. connie becomes independent and really, truly “grows up”.

the corrupted gem episodes change focus to dealing with the internal issues of each gem and healing them with the song they made. eventually, this can get upscaled to the cluster itself. that, along with desperately trying to contact homeworld, would be the plot of s4.

the gang do make it to homeworld, but in a different context. first of all that godawful zoo does not exist. secondly, blue diamond is far more sympathetic for a good reason – she’s heartbroken still about pink and is horrified to learn of what really happened to her sister. but hey, looks like pink was right about humans and gems working together. blue diamond – and eventually white diamond – agrees to send aid. help is coming, just hold out! that would likely be the s4 finale.

s5 is the war against yellow diamond. now, how they’d actually handle yellow is a bit awkward because we can’t ask a fourteen-year-old to kill someone and making someone else do it just repeats the problem with jasper! instead, steven is upfront about the fact that actually killing someone DOES sound really horrible in practise, and everyone’s sympathetic to his point there.

ultimately i would have an impaled on her own sword sort of affair. blue and white show up to help and yellow is pretty much outgunned. they tell yellow to stand down so they can sort this out, but yellow refuses and tries to attack with her own version of the breaking point or w/e. steven jumps in to protect whoever she’s attacking, and the shield makes the weapon rebound and hit yellow in the gem, shattering her.

the division of gems is over. blue and white will mourn both of their sisters, but will take yellow’s armies under their wings themselves. lapis returns to homeworld, FINALLY, but agrees to visit every so often because she’d miss her friends. the former corrupted gems spread out across the earth to spread the message: humanity has friends in the stars. we are strong, but you have an imagination and a capacity for freedom which we adore.

but there’s still some gems still corrupted, and a lot of the gem tech is still unsafe, and the second battle for earth caused a lot of damage. don't worry, though! because there’s a team of alien warriors who have dedicated themselves to protecting this planet in one way or another. they will be the bridge between humans and gems.

that’s why the people of this world believe in garnet, amethyst, pearl, peridot, bismuth, jasper…

…AND STEVEN!

#su critical #long post -#su spoilers -

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sailorgreywolf-legacy · 7 years

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Legacy - Chapter 13

Mexico took up residence in the master bedroom, which was much bigger than the room he had shared with Cuba at Spain's house. He quickly got used to the room and the house. It stopped feeling strange to wake up on his own after a week. After the second week, he was used to the house plan and no longer got lost when he walked around.

The morning light flooded through the large windows into the room and woke Mexico. He turned over and pulled the sheet over his head. The sheet utterly failed to block out the light. He grabbed a pillow and put it over his eyes. After a few seconds of lying in an uncomfortable position before he gave up on the idea of sleep. He threw off the sheets and the blankets. He hadn't changed his habit of sleeping topless, so he was wearing nothing but his pants. He had already decided today was the day he was going to explore the city, partially because he wanted to see the city and partially because he needed a place to practice sword fighting. He didn't trust any of the other countries here to keep his secret about his sword, especially with what it implied about his loyalty.

Portugal also taught Mexico that in order to be good at fighting; he needed to be fit from head to toe. He hauled himself out of bed and stretched his arms. The floor was wood, but most of the floor was covered by a thick rug. He started his morning with sit-ups and push-ups in sets of 10 until his arms and abs started to ache. He had started this regime now because it would have drawn suspicion from Spain when he lived in Madrid. Now no one knew that it was that out of the ordinary. Since he had started regular workouts, he had gotten up to being able to do 150 in one morning. He stopped whenever his muscles started burning to keep himself from overworking his muscles. Within the last few weeks, since he had started doing this daily, he had noticed an increase in his muscle definition, although he remained relatively lithe.

He hadn't had a mirror in his room back in Spain, and now he had one mounted on his wall. He still hadn't completely broken himself of the habit of looking at himself every time he walked by it. He guessed that was why he had taken a new interest in his body and his muscle definition. He finished his usual exercise; he walked out on the balcony and looked out at the sunrise. The house hand two wings that wrapped around large gardens. Mexico's balcony over looked the gardens, as did several other balconies. Many of the bedrooms had balconies.

Although Texas and Mexico were technically the only residents, all the countries of the Spanish empire in the Americas resided there because it was the center of the Spanish empire. They all had a tendency to come and go, so Mexico had only met a few so far. He heard a light knock on the door, and he glanced at it and said calmly "Come in". Argentina pushed open the door. He was carrying a tray of food, presumably Mexico's breakfast. He placed the tray on a side table and walked stood awkwardly.

Mexico turned around and walked towards Argentina, who was still looking down. He had realized since their first meeting that looking down was pretty much a habit of Argentina's. Mexico ignored the food for the moment, even though he was hungry. He planted his index finger in the middle of Argentina's chest and flicked it upward, catching Argentina's nose. This forced Argentina to look up at Mexico. Mexico looked straight into Argentina's deep eyes "I don't really care how interesting my shoes are, Juan. You know I hate it when you do that." Mexico had found that this was the best way of dealing with Argentina's interest in the ground. Argentina looked away from Mexico, but not at the ground this time

"I'm sorry". Mexico sighed but continued in a forceful voice "Don't be sorry, just stop doing it. Grow a backbone, Juan". Argentina looked like he wanted to apologize again, but he held his tongue. Mexico sauntered over to the tray of food, picked up on apple and started eating it. He strolled out onto the balcony and turned his attention to the other person visible on another balcony; he called to them "Did you enjoy the show, Adrián?" Panama, Colombia's younger brother, responded "I did. I can see why my brother wanted to fuck you". Argentina flinched when Panama swore and he said "Adrián, watch your language. Remember who you are speaking to".

Mexico rolled his eyes; he really hated Argentina's insistence that he was superior. Panama responded with a smirk "You think his perfect ears haven't heard a little swearing before? He is no saint, my brother can attest to that". Mexico glared back at Panama "Don't believe everything your brother says". He turned back to Argentina "Juan, please stop pretending you're supposed to be my servant, it's getting on my nerves". Everyone had a tendency to go silent when Mexico spoke, anyone else and they spoke over each other almost constantly. Both Panama and Argentina stopped arguing at once, Mexico counted it as a success and returned to his breakfast.

About halfway through his breakfast, Texas backed his way through the door with an armful of papers. He almost tripped in his haste to deposit the stack of papers on the table. As soon as he dropped the papers he said "You have quite a lot of business to tend to, master…I mean brother. There are reports about trade, the state of the Spanish empire, improving roads and such. These are all the things you need to deal with". Mexico looked at the rather sizable stack of papers. He hardly knew how to do any of this. He said "Don't we have politicians to deal with this?" Texas cast him a questioning look "We do, but they are all rather inept Spaniards. I've been dealing with these for years. I let the politicians do most of the small stuff and half the financial matters".

Mexico smiled; he was suddenly reminded that he and Texas were related. Apparently, somehow they had come to the same conclusion about what they needed to do about revenge. He gave his brother an approving look, which his brother didn't fail to miss. Argentina also didn't miss the full meaning "Diego, why are you doing that? It could easily be seen as treasonous". Mexico lounged in the chair he was sitting in "Juan, don't sweat it. What Antonio does not know will not hurt him. As long as we continue to move all the gold we generate to Spain, he will not pry as to how much of it is directly controlled by Spanish appointed officials".

Argentina nervously shifted his weight "I still don't like it. You should hand matters over to the men Spain appointed." Mexico said firmly "If it bothers you, forget that you know about it. Our loyalty is firm and unwavering". Texas nodded and smirked "I assume you do not want me to change the arrangement, unless you want to take over my share". Mexico nodded "I like it how it is. Since you are so eager to serve me, you can continue to work on this for me". Texas bowed his head slightly then left, sweeping up the papers as he left.

Argentina watched him go then turned back to Mexico "Alejandro, you seem to have a talent for getting rid of work. What do you plan to do today?" Mexico smiled and picked up the last grape off the plate that had contained his breakfast "I plan to see the city, I have not yet gotten the chance. It is my heart after all, and I should know it". Argentina sat suddenly in the chair across from Mexico "Good Point, it is strange that I should know this city better than you do. Do you want an escort, my lord?" Mexico rolled his eyes again "Juan, you said it again. I am not your lord or your master. I also do not require an escort within my own city. Let me walk freely in my own streets".

Argentina look flustered and immediately looked down; as was his custom "I'm sorry. I spoke wrongly". Mexico had already spent the last two weeks attempting to deal with Argentina's looking down, and it was still frustrating to have him still do it. He stood up and walked over the Argentina and stood in front of him. He grabbed Argentina's chin and tilted it back up "Don't be sorry all the time either. How do you think you can possibly get anything if you can't be assertive?" Argentina looked away and Mexico sighed. He was beginning to wonder if making Juan more assertive was a lost cause. He turned and walked out, leaving Argentina sitting at the table. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mexico strolled leisurely down the main street, it all seemed so familiar. He had walked through most of the city and he felt so at home, this was the place that he belonged. Few men actually noticed him; humans only noticed countries when they hold significance for the country. Every so often, a human was just particularly observant and took notice of countries. The few who did take notice of Mexico looked at him with great curiosity, understandably so, he was dressed far better than his skin tone would indicate.

He was also wearing the sword Brazil had given him at his hip. He took it simply as a precaution and he found that it was not unusual for men to carry swords here. He continued to walk down the main street, looking at the people walking past him. He found himself looking at the young men more than the beautiful women, and he found himself thinking of Colombia more than Puerto Rico. It was strange, but he almost wished that he hadn't pushed the boy away. The past few nights he had dreamt of how that night would have gone if he had returned Enrique's affections. But, that was impossible while he was under Spanish control. He tried to stop dwelling on it, it wasn't like he was actually in love with Enrique.

Suddenly an old woman reached out and grabbed his wrist. He hadn't noticed her because he had been so lost in his thoughts. Now he looked down at her, she looked incredibly old. He guessed she must be at least a hundred, if not more. She had a crazy desperation in her eyes. She pulled him over to the side of the street with surprising strength. Mexico tried to pull away from her, but she held on hard. She said in a breathy whisper "I know who you are, Mexica". Mexico stopped resisting at once; he hadn't had anyone call him his birth name in a long time. A human knowing it seemed utterly impossible; he responded "How do you know that name?"

Her eyes filled with relief when he said it "You were just a child when I last saw you, I was too. I was a year younger than you when the Spaniards came. Even after all these years, I remembered you". Mexico looked down at the old woman with a new appreciation. It couldn't possibly have been that long since he had been here last. The old woman looked at him mournfully "You look like one of them now. I hoped that you would preserve your mother's legacy. She would weep if she could see you now". She shook her head sadly, or perhaps it was disappointment.

The words hit him right in the heart, especially because he knew it was true. His mother would hate how he had become like Spain, he knew that. But he had let himself forget it. To hear it again was shocking and painful. He responded after the sting of the words faded "I had no choice. You can't possibly understand what I have been through". She shook her head again "Do you even remember her?" He nodded wordlessly and tried to not be offended by the question.

The woman continued "At least you have that much. Now, remember who you really are". She pressed something cold and hard into his hand, then without another word, she pulled a shawl over her head and walked away. Mexico looked down at his hand, which was wrapped around whatever she had just given him. He opened his hand slowly to reveal a golden medallion. He recognized it as a piece of Aztec gold. Something about seeing it again sent chills through him, that and the words the women had said.

The gold brought back so many memories suddenly. He had forgotten too much of himself and he didn't even notice it. Slowly, he had lost his will and his nerve. The memories continued the come rushing back. He saw himself being complacent, doing what Spain told him. When Spain had first taken him, he had defied every order; now he did everything Spain told him to do. Spain had been so clever; he had weeded out the defiance slowly. How had he never noticed it before? His hand tightened around the medallion. White hot anger filled his mind, more at himself than at Spain. He slipped the medallion into his pocket. He needed this, in case he ever forgot again. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Texas found him standing in the stables, brushing the mane of a beautiful chestnut stallion. Texas said carefully "Juan told me you have been back for a while, but you have been brooding in here the whole time. But he's-". Mexico finished the sentence "too scared to come in and talk to me. Isn't he always?" Mexico looked over at his brother, who was standing nervously by the door. Texas looked unsure and said "What's bothering you?" Mexico could see from the way that everyone else stepped lightly around him that they had become as used to authority as he had, be it Spain's or his. This, if anything, made him even angrier.

Mexico responded coldly "I'm not bothered, I'm angry". The statement made Texas look even more scared "Why are you mad?" He walked over to his younger brother and wordlessly slipped the medallion into his hand. He watched as Texas's posture and facial expression changed. He could tell it had the same effect on his brother that it had on him. Before he said anything, he handed the medallion back to Mexico, and then he said "I see what you mean, but that is dangerous. What you want to do will only get you in trouble". Mexico put the medallion back in his pocket "I can't just ignore it, so what do you think I should do?" Texas said in a measured voice "Keep it, but put it away somewhere. Pretend that you never had this little experience, but never forget it" ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

America reached over and touched a gold chain around Mexico's neck "You're wearing it now, so I'm guessing you didn't take Texas's advice." Mexico shook his head and put his hand on the pendant that America was referring to "I did, at the time. But something happened later that changed my mind, I'll get to that in due time".

America changed the subject "You know, what Texas said reminds me of Macbeth 'Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't.'". Mexico laughed "You're quoting Shakespeare at me, and I thought this night couldn't get any stranger". America rolled his eyes "Of course I know Shakespeare, I was raised by England. Midsummer Night's Dream was my usual bedtime story". Mexico nodded "Right, well you are right about the similarity. Macbeth isn't that different from my life's story, other than the fact that I never killed Spain". America smirked "The way I heard it, it wasn't for lack of trying." Mexico took another pull from the cigarette he was holding "Are you going to let me keep telling, or do you want me to skip to what I did to Spain?" America sighed "Could you skip to the part where you met me, because I remember it being right around this time?" Mexico responded "It was, but I'm not skipping the little part in between"

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