#it could’ve been because she though sails were weird but it just seemed like a cool parallel to real life!

[saintharrowhark]

i just noticed that silna’s carving of the ship was very similar to the current condition of erebus (its masts have been broken off by passing ice)

#forgive me if someone has already talked about this #i tried to look at the 5th anniversary q&as to see if anyone had asked about it #no luck #it could’ve been because she though sails were weird but it just seemed like a cool parallel to real life! #the terror #franklin expedition

[softspideys]

The Perfect Date

summary: tom makes it his mission to take you on the perfect first date. the only problem is, you have no idea. 

warnings: none

word count: 3.6k

pairings: tom holland x reader

a/n: this was supposed to be a valentine’s day fic but then I forgot about it. oops. plz enjoy anyway

Tom had just started the last lap of Wario’s Gold Mine when he heard Zendaya ask, “Got any plans for Valentine’s Day?”

He tried not to pay attention to your answer, focusing on keeping his lead, but he couldn’t help it. His eyes flickered over to where you were sitting at the kitchen table, absently circling your finger around the rim of your wine glass.

You straightened up at her question, scoffing. “Are you kidding? When’s the last time you saw me date anybody, Z?”

“Hey,” she said, pointing at you accusingly. “Don’t even start with me. I set you up with people all the time, it’s not my fault you’re so picky.”

“It’s called having standards,” you fired back. “Sorry I’m not interested in pretentious jerks who insist on mansplaining Tarantino films to me over their venti-soy-no-foam latte with a triple shot of espresso.”

Zendaya cackled, and though he couldn’t see your face, Tom could tell you were smiling too; your words had no real bite to them.

“Seriously though,” you continued with a sigh. “I think I might just give up dating for a while. Lately it feels like my only options are either crappy blind dates or going through a sleazy hookup app for some mediocre sex. I can’t remember the last time I got properly asked out and went on, like, a nice date.”

As soon as you said that, the gears started turning in Tom’s head. And then he got an idea so good he almost forgot about the race entirely, until Harrison hit him with a red shell and passed him, sailing over the finish line in first place.

“Yes!” Harrison cheered, causing you and Zendaya to look over, startled. “Finally, I won!”

“Wow,” Zendaya said, amused. “I think that’s the first time you’ve ever lost in Mario Kart, Holland.”

“Yeah, what’s gotten into you?” you asked teasingly as Harrison got up and did a victory dance.

Tom normally hated losing, but he was too preoccupied at the moment to care. “Nothing,” he said quickly. “Just . . . a little rusty, I guess.”

You raised your eyebrows, but then Zendaya challenged Harrison to a rematch, and the two of them immediately started a new grand prix while you called dibs on the winner. With the distraction in place, Tom had plenty of time to come up with a plan.

The four of you had been friends for years, but he’d always harbored something of a crush on you. He’d never tried to push the boundaries or pursue you because he liked your relationship as it was already, and didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. But this would be different. This was harmless. He was simply going to show you how you deserved to be treated, give you a good date to remember among the bad ones.

Nothing else. Right?

* * *

You eyed the huge bouquet of roses your coworker had on her desk and tried not to feel too envious. She’d made a big show of bringing them in this morning and inviting everyone who walked by to smell them, going on and on about how her girlfriend had surprised her for Valentine’s Day yesterday.

So what, you thought to yourself. I can get myself flowers whenever I want; I don’t need a holiday to have an excuse to do it. It really didn’t make you feel better though.

“Hey,” a familiar voice said, making you jump a mile. You looked up. Tom was peering over the wall of your cubicle, which was . . . unexpected. He hardly ever visited you at work.

“Oh, hi,” you said. “I didn’t even see you come in.”

“Yeah, you were totally zoned out,” Tom said. “Good thing I brought caffeine.” He placed a to-go cup from your favorite coffee shop on your desk. You saw the order written on the side; he’d gotten it exactly right.

“Wow,” you said, surprised but grateful. “Thanks.” You’d already had coffee this morning, but clearly it was shaping up to be a two-cup type of day. You took a careful sip and felt better already.

“No problem.” Tom followed your line of vision to your coworker’s desk. “Pretty flowers.”

“Yeah,” you agreed, a little quietly. You cleared your throat. “So, what’s up? Did we have plans today or something?”

“Oh, no,” he said, shifting from foot to foot, “but that’s actually kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.” He seemed nervous, which in turn made you nervous.

“Okay,” you said, giving him your full attention.  

“So . . . are you doing anything this Friday night?”

It was only Monday. You thought for a second before shaking your head. “I don’t think so.”

“Would you like to have dinner? With me?”

You furrowed your eyebrows. That was it? “Oh. Sure.”

You could’ve sworn you saw his eyes widen the slightest bit. “Really? I mean, great. Cool.” He scratched his nose. “So, Friday at six o’clock, then? I’ll text you the name of the place?”

“Sounds good,” you said. He seemed excited, though you couldn’t figure out why. You got dinner with him, Harrison, and Zendaya at least once a week.

“Alrighty,” Tom said, swinging his arms a little and nodding. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work. See you Friday.”

“See you,” you said. Did he really come all the way to your office to ask you this in person instead of just texting you like he normally would? Maybe he’d been nearby or something. You watched him leave, mostly confused but also kind of endeared.

“Was that your boyfriend?” your coworker asked, subtly adjusting her flowers again.

You quickly shook your head, turning back to your computer and taking another sip of your coffee. “Oh, no. Just a friend.”

As Tom left your office, he allowed himself to do a small fist-pump. Getting you to agree was the hardest part. Now came the slightly-easier-but-still-hard part: making sure he gave you the best first date ever.

* * *

Something strange was going on with Tom. You first realized it when you brought up the dinner on Friday to Zendaya and she had no clue what you were talking about.

“Tom didn’t invite you?”

“Nope.” She popped the “p.”

“Huh.” You chewed your lip. “That’s . . . weird. Maybe he figured I’d just tell you about it. And I guess you don’t really need an invitation anyway . . . do you think he invited Harrison?”

“I don’t know.” You were on the phone, so you couldn’t see Zendaya’s face, but it kind of sounded like she was trying not to laugh. “Maybe he wants it to be just the two of you.”

“Maybe.” It was rare, but it wasn’t like you never spent time with just Tom or Harrison.  You couldn’t remember the last time you had dinner with either of them one-on-one, though. This seemed . . . different. “But I’m sure he won’t mind if you guys show up,” you said with a shrug.

Now Zendaya did laugh. “No, no, it’s fine,” she said. “I think I’m supposed to babysit my niece and nephew anyway. You guys have fun.”

Then there was Tom himself. You hadn’t seen him in person since Monday, but he’d been texting you random questions all week:

Do you prefer a casual or an elegant ambiance?

How many candles on a table is too many? Or do you think overhead lamps are better?

Oyster bars . . . yes/no?

You answered all of them with increasing bemusement, but any time you asked why he would mysteriously change the subject. You couldn’t help but feel like there was something you were missing here.

Finally, he sent you the name of the restaurant on Friday morning: Soul & Persona.

You’d never heard of it, so you decided to look it up. One glance at their website told you this place wasn’t like the casual restaurant-and-bars you and your friends usually frequented. This was fancy. Clicking over to the menu, you inhaled sharply at the prices written next to the items. Luckily, today was payday.

You arrived at the restaurant shortly before six. Another person was already standing outside, and as you got closer you realized it was Tom. Two things about that were already weird: one, he was normally notoriously late to everything; and two, he was holding a bouquet of roses in one hand that were so big they nearly obstructed his face.

He didn’t notice you approaching, busy frowning at something on his phone. “Hey,” you said at last, making him jump.  

“Oh! Hey!” He cleared his throat, shoving his phone in his pocket. “I mean—good evening.” He did a strange little bow before thrusting the flowers at you. “These are for you.”

“Wow,” you said, taking them carefully. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You look really nice.”

You were glad you researched the restaurant in advance, because the jeans and t-shirt combo you’d originally planned on wearing would definitely not have been appropriate here.

“So do you,” you said. He did: he was wearing slacks and a nice dress shirt under a jacket, his hair neatly combed.

“Thanks. Should we go in?” he asked. You nodded, and he hurried to open the door, ushering you inside. It was crowded, which made you a little worried. How long would the wait time be?

But Tom went right up to the hostess stand. “Hi,” he said, “we have a reservation for two at six; the name is Tom?”

She looked at her book and nodded. “You can follow me right this way.” She led you to a quiet corner of the restaurant and seated you at a table by the window. “Enjoy your meal.”

“Here,” Tom said, pulling your chair out before you could sit down. Again, you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

“This place is crazy nice,” you said, looking around as the hostess placed a wine list on the table.

“Yeah,” Tom agreed, a little distractedly. “Um. So. Do you prefer to work in a team or alone?”

You blinked. “What? Where’d that come from?”

He shrugged, fidgeting with his collar like he was nervous. “I—I dunno. Just making conversation.”

“Oo-kay,” you said with a laugh. “Well, I haven’t seen you since you blessed my office with your presence on Monday. How was your week? Didn’t you have to give a presentation yesterday?”

“Yes, and one of the board members literally fell asleep during it,” Tom said, wrinkling his nose.

He seemed to loosen up after that, and the conversation flowed naturally from then on as you talked about your plans for the weekend, your friends, your families, and any other random thoughts that occurred to you.

For dinner you tried a pasta dish while Tom got steak, and you each had the soup of the day for an appetizer. Your knowledge of wine was limited to whatever was cheapest when you went to the liquor store, but Tom had apparently become an expert overnight: he asked the waiter all kinds of questions about their reds vs. their whites before finally ordering a bottle for the two of you to share.

All in all, it was an enjoyable dinner. You always had fun with Tom, of course, but you rarely got to spend time with just him. And though you normally stayed away from expensive places like this one, you had to admit the food was delicious and the ambiance made you feel very sophisticated.

“Can I get either of you some coffee or dessert?” the waiter asked as he cleared your plates. You’d never been one to say no to that, but Tom jumped in before you could open your mouth.

“No thank you,” he said quickly. “Just the check please.” Then he looked at you. “I thought maybe we could walk to that bookstore you like? The one with the bakery in it? We could—we could get dessert there and browse.”

“Oh,” you said, surprised. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

“Cool.” He sounded relieved.

The waiter brought out the bill and Tom grabbed it as soon as he set it on the table. “What are you doing?” you protested. There was normally an agreement among your friends that everyone paid for their own meals when you went out to dinner.

“I’m paying,” he insisted, waving you off as you fruitlessly tried to put your own debit card down.

“At least let me Venmo you for my half.”

“Nope.”

“Tom!”

“Seriously, it’s fine.” He wouldn’t even let you see how much the meal cost.  

You could tell he wasn’t going to budge for whatever reason, so you had no choice but to relent. “If you’re sure,” you said, watching him smugly sign the receipt. You made sure to grab your flowers before you got up and followed him out of the restaurant.

The bookstore you liked was a few blocks away, but you didn’t mind the walk. The air was warm but balmy, refreshing on your face. “That was amazing,” Tom said.

“It was,” you agreed. “I’m convinced they put actual crack in that pasta sauce. It was otherworldly.”

He laughed before he asked, a little hesitantly, “So are you . . . having a nice time?”

You looked over at him questioningly. “Of course I am. But I always have a nice time with you.”

“Good,” he said quietly, nodding. “Good.”

“Are you?”

“Yes,” Tom said immediately. “I just wanted to make sure. So, what are some of your pet peeves?”

“What is it with you and these questions?” Thankfully, you arrived at the bookstore and were spared from answering.

One of your favorite things about hanging out with Tom was that you didn’t necessarily need to be attached at the hip or in constant conversation in order to have fun. As soon as you entered he made a beeline for the True Crime section while you went to look at the new releases.

It was nice to just browse on your own for a while, and you ended up buying a book you’d been wanting to read ever since it came out. Tom was still perusing the shelves after you checked out, so you sneakily went up to the bakery counter and bought some dessert.

He found you sitting at a table in the cafe, reading your new book. “What’s this?” He gestured to the two pieces of cake and cups of decaf coffee on the table in front of you. “You should’ve let me pay!”

You’d been anticipating this, so you merely rolled your eyes. “Cry about it. You paid for dinner; it was the least I could do.”

“That’s not how this works,” Tom objected, but he reluctantly sat down and pulled his cake towards him anyway. The two of you discussed your books while you ate, and you tried not to act like you were eyeing his slice the entire time.

He noticed, of course. “You wanna try?”

You nodded sheepishly. You expected him to push the plate towards you, but instead he scooped a piece up onto his fork and held it out. “Here.” A little surprised, you opened your mouth and allowed him to feed it to you. For some reason it felt oddly intimate.

He was watching you expectantly as you chewed. “Good?”

“Yeah,” you managed to say, swallowing. “Really good.”

It was getting late and the store was closing soon, so you left after finishing your coffees. Usually this was when you’d call it a night and go home, but this time you felt no strong desire to. So when Tom started walking along the river instead of heading back towards the restaurant, you didn’t mind at all, falling into step beside him.

The night sky was clear, giving you a breathtaking view of dozens of stars. Hardly anyone else was around, and the river below was quiet and calm. It was like you were suspended in time. You couldn’t remember ever feeling so peaceful.

Tom’s hand bumped yours as you walked. You didn’t think anything of it at first, but then it happened again, and this time he laced his fingers through yours.

For some reason that was what made everything suddenly fall into place, for you to finally put two and two together and realize what was going on.

Oh my God.

“Tom,” you said hesitantly, shattering the comfortable silence between you.

“Yeah?”

“Is this . . . a date?”

He stopped walking, forcing you to do the same. Under the soft glow of the streetlights you could see he was staring at you. “Wait,” he said slowly. “This whole time . . . you didn’t know?”

Now that he’d basically just confirmed it, everything started to make sense: coming all the way to your office just to ask you to dinner, bringing you coffee, making reservations at a fancy restaurant, paying for the meal—

You were on a date and you hadn’t even realized.

“Oh, God,” was all you could say. You almost wanted to laugh, though nothing about this was even remotely funny. It was like you’d been hit over the head with a brick.

How could you not have known? It should’ve been obvious when he paid for the meal; no, when you realized you’d be eating at such a fancy place; no, when he showed up randomly on Monday, brought you coffee, and fucking asked you to dinner.

You both seemed to realize at the same time that you were still holding hands, and he quickly dropped it and stepped back. For the first time since you’d met, the air between the two of you was awkward. “I—I’m so sorry. I thought you knew.”

“I should’ve known,” you said, shaking your head. “I’m so stupid, I just didn’t think—” You didn’t finish your sentence. You honestly couldn’t figure out why you didn’t realize it sooner.

Because he’s your friend, a voice in the back of your head reminded you. He’s your friend and he’s never expressed any interest in you before, not like this.

That was true. You’d always thought Tom was handsome, and maybe early on in your friendship you’d fantasized about him once or twice. But he always treated you normally, never outwardly showing any sign of wanting more.  

“You’re not stupid,” he said immediately. “I should’ve made it more clear.”

“I’m just confused, I guess,” you said carefully. “I mean . . . why now? And why . . . me?”

He exhaled. “I overheard you the other day when you and Z were talking, and you were saying something like . . . you hadn’t been properly asked out and taken on a nice date in a while. So I guess I just wanted to do that for you. Make you happy.”

Your brain felt like it was short-circuiting. You didn’t know what to say to that, but he seemed to take your silence as a cue to keep going.

“That’s why I came to your office, to ask you in person instead of doing it over text or whatever. And I saw you looking at those flowers your coworker had, so I bought you some. And I picked this restaurant because it was nice but also because it was near the bookstore. And I memorized some first-date questions in case our conversation got boring, but I think that probably wasn’t necessary.” He sucked in a deep breath. “And now that I’m saying all of this I realize how weird it sounds. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Oh,” you said dumbly. His previous words were still echoing in your head. I guess I just wanted to do that for you. Make you happy.

He’d taken the time to think about all the things you liked and used that knowledge to plan the Perfect Date. You couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done something so kind, so thoughtful, so . . . romantic. Did this mean what you thought it meant?

Of course, the only way you were able to translate all of this was with, “Wow.”

But then he added, “And—and I didn’t do all of this because I thought it would lead to a second date or anything like that. I only—”

“Wait,” you interrupted, your stomach plummeting. This conversation was giving you whiplash. “So you . . . don’t like me?”

“Huh?”

“You did all of this . . . just because? You don’t actually want to go on a date with me?” Now you were more confused than ever, and a little hurt beneath that.

Tom’s eyes widened. “No! Well yes, but . . . no. Wait.” He took a deep breath. Now or never, right? “I do like you, but this was separate from all that. I only meant that I wasn’t expecting anything from this. I just wanted you to have a good time.”

You nodded slowly, exhaling. “Okay. So . . . what if I told you that I did have a good time, that I like you too, and I want go out with you again?”

Tom blinked at you owlishly for a second before his face split into a huge grin, one you were sure your own was mirroring. “Then . . . I’d say . . . same. To all of it.”

“Good,” you said, stepping closer. “In fact, I think this has almost been the perfect first date.”

He paused. “Wait, almost? What would make it perfect?” He furrowed his eyebrows, looking a little panicked. You laughed, reaching up and cupping his jaw.

“It has to end with a good-night kiss, doesn’t it?”

Tom relaxed, his hands finding their way to your waist. “Oh. Yes, you’re absolutely right.”

The two of you were still smiling as you kissed, and Tom lifted one of his hands to do a silent, sneaky fist-pump. 

Mission: success.

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland fic #tom holland oneshot #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland x you #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fluff

[m-aster-of-spinjitzu]

the hues of an empty sky

Missing memories, or having two of them for one moment - not quite the same, but if there's one thing Jay's leant over the last few weeks, it's that literally nothing makes sense anymore.

Or, some Skybound aftermath, Zane actually expressing emotions about his memory switch being turned off for all those years, and what was supposed to be a 'they tell everyone about the erased timeline' fic, but it turned into a 'two characters who barely interact on screen talk at like one am in the morning, and don't actually tell the other what exactly they're alluding to the whole time' fic that I wrote at like one am- 

Also yeah, I realized too late that they split up to look for Wu after s7, we’re just gonna pretend that they waited a few days or something, idk anymore tbh, lol.

(I also didn't have time to edit - so please tell me where the typos are? 😂💛)

Word count: 4539

Prompt: crying, from @ninjago-bingo 's warm board.

Trigger warnings: the main character has a panic attack, and squeezes their fingernails into their hands once or twice but I think that's it.

*facepalms* also, guys, i’m so stupid - i literally just realized that this freaking CHANGES TENSE HALFWAY OHMYGOSH I-  i don’t think it’s super noticeable, but ugh, apologies to anyone who actually thought my writing was good lol-

---

It's cold.

Bitterly, freezing cold.

The biting chill of the air is a bit strange for this time of year, but, heck, that's nowhere near the craziest thing that's ever happened to him - not by a long shot.

He sighs, squinting at the stars dotted liberally against the black canvas of the sky.

Cole had once joked that one of them might be the remains of their golden weapons, after they'd hurled the burning mass into the sky - in another alternate timeline; one that only existed in the memories of a certain few.

Gosh - that seemed like such a long time ago.

Wouldn't it be nice to go back to that time, when he'd still thought that their powers were the coolest thing ever - instead of despising them for all the responsibility and sacrifice that came with them? When one of his biggest worries was whether the girl he had a crush on liked him back - not wondering if his friends would survive the night?

"I did not expect to find you awake at this hour, Jay."

Reflexivity, he jumps back, his mind twisting his friend's gentle voice into the- the djin's triumphant, accented one.

You're supposed to be a ninja. What good are you if your friends can still sneak up on you?

"Geez, warn a guy before you sneak up on him! I almost fell off the Bounty!"

"My apologies. I was... surprised to find you awake at this hour," Zane answers. "What are you doing?" "Couldn't sleep. It's too cold," he confesses, not entirely a lie. Ninjago wasn't 'that' far from the Sea of Sand, but he'd grown up in a much warmer area - unfortunately resulting in his practically nonexistent tolerance to the cold. That never failed to stop Kai from teasing him about it, though. He doesn't mention the pressing weight on his chest, almost tangible - or how it constantly makes him feel. Like he's being dragged through the darkness of an empty sky, spikes of fear making everything so freaking terrifying- "You?"

"I have been analyzing my memories of Pixal, in the hope that it may lead me to her whereabouts. However, all my efforts have proved... unsuccessful," Zane answers wearily, shifting his gaze to the sky.

Oh- oh. They'd all be so caught up in the chaos of the last few weeks - hey, it's not like any of them had asked the universe to permanently be out to get them! - that they'd forgotten Pixal was still offline.

"Hey, I'm sure that she's still there somewhere," he says, earnestly. "After all - she wouldn't be your girlfriend if she didn't pull a vanishing act every now and again, eh?"

The question is punctuated with a laugh, but he doesn't say that he's a little worried about her too. They hadn't talked much, but-

I can't see one of my best friends find out that his girlfriend is dead, a quiet voice at the back of his mind points out. Well - been there, done that, wouldn't recommend, he thinks bitterly. Emotional breakdowns and frequent nightmares apply. Anxiety attacks are half off, too!

It's quiet for a few minutes, neither of them seeing a need to break the silence. The wind blows softly through the sails above them; gray wisps of cloud revealing a pale sliver of moonlight that paints the sky in its glow.

It should be a peaceful night: beautiful, calm, no one trying to kill them or destroy their city - for a change.

His hands won't stop shaking.

It should be a peaceful night, but, as usual, the world is too freaking unfair for that-

He hasn't even slept for a full night in weeks! Well, not since- since-

Don't think about it! That's only going to make it worse, duh-

"Are you alright, Jay?"

"Yeah- I- I'm good, thanks," he says quickly, ignoring the way his breathing keeps speeding up. FSM, not this-

Not for the first time, the world suddenly becomes too loud - too much. Every little thing, from trying to breathe properly or even walk- feels insurmountable, because, gosh, oh gosh, it's going to come crashing down if he even moves-

The memory starts off the same as it always does.

Rubble strewn over the temple grounds, his friends literally reduced to nothing more than statues. A shot that hit the mark perfectly, but perfectly shattered his world in the process.

A poison-splattered dress, a terrifying realization.

Her well-aimed joke, but one that never fails to sting every time. Gosh, why hadn't they just allowed her to join their team in the first place? Maybe they could've prevented this- this- whole situation, if they hadn't been so freaking egotistical-

And, again, he's overwhelmed by the sheer sense of helplessness, all his power and training and skills completely useless to one of the people he cared most about. FSM, if only I hadn't used my first w-request so carelessly! If only I'd been able to escape- or, or if only I'd been able to assemble the team faster! If only-

Despite being in what must've been unimaginable pain, she offers a strained smile - a sweet gesture that, ironically, feels like she's poisoning him, because- because FSM, this is all so wrong, it wasn't supposed to end like this-

He watches with horror as her eyes dull and she stills in his arms.

She's gone, FSM, she's gone and it's all my fault-

"Jay?" a voice asks, concern evident in their tone. Distantly, he registers that he's having a breakdown in front of one of his best friends - one of the things he'd been trying really hard to avoid.

Dang it.

"I-" he tries to say, but, great, he's breathing too fast to even get the stupid words out.

"Breathe in for four seconds," Zane says, softly.

Four seconds? Time has no meaning right now, narrowed down to, like - falling down a chasm, terrified of what's at the bottom, except the fear's all around, this- this... foreboding thing of his mind that keeps yelling that he needs to run, or fight, but he can't, can't-

Right. Four seconds.

You're okay, you're fine, no one's trying to hurt you or your friends. She's not dead.

But what if- what if they're being dragged out of this ship right now? What if it was all a dream, and she's dead anyway, because all of us were too stupid to come up with another plan, and none of us could even do anything when she-

After a little while, when he could breathe a little easier, and the fear didn't feel like it was slamming into him from every possible direction, he slowly opened his eyes. Shakily, he wiped a tear from his face - as if that would wipe away all the weeks that had, theoretically, never even freaking happened.

The sky comes back into focus - pinpricks of light against pitch black. 

How was he going to come up with some sorta explanation without... well, explaining everything?

Great.

My nerves are frayed, and I have to lie to a walking lie detector - what could possibly go wrong?

"Are you alright?" Zane asks, his brows creased in concern.

"Heh heh, yeah. Probably just too many video games," he replies quickly, laughter a bit strained.

"You were muttering to yourself," his friend replies quietly. Ugh, trust the way-too-observant-nindroid to call him out on the remains of his facade. "If you do not mind me asking, what was 'all your fault'? I am sure that it was probably a misunderstanding."

You're the one who misunderstands everything, he thinks wearily, ignoring the part of him that yearns to tell someone else about... well, everything that's happened because of that stupid teapot. He's not one to keep secrets by nature, and it's been taking a bigger toll of him than he'd thought it would. Is this how Nya felt when she was still the Samurai? "It's- it's nothing, probably just nonsense."

"Are you sure? You seem... quite worried about something."

Dang it, were his hands still shaking? He presses his fingernails into his palms, squeezing his eyes shut for a second.

He's talking to one of his best friends, FSM. Weren't friends able to tell each other anything?

"Do you think it's easier to forget? Better?"

He didn't even realize he'd asked a question until Zane's eyes widened in surprise.

A forest coated in snow, ice crystals dangling from the tree branches above their heads. Plenty of screaming - way too much, he reflects, couldn't they have been a bit nicer? It must've been pretty jarring to learn that you weren't human, or that your father had erased years of your life from your mind - in that weird underground treehouse. Those crazy tree monsters - and the realization that they all had much more power than they'd thought.

"N- nevermind," he stutters, fleetingly thinking of kicking the deck. "That's way too personal, you don't have to answer it-"

"I do not mind," Zane says, a bit sadly.

Oh.

Heck, his friend was way too nice.

They gaze up at the stars for a few minutes, not really seeing them - one drowning under the weight of too many secrets, the other, too many memories.

It's quiet - too quiet.

Ugh, he thinks, sighing, that sounds like something a low-budget horror movie would start with, cringey sound effects to match.

But the silence is a painful reminder of the days he'd spent tossing and turning in a cramped cell - nothing but his worries and the bruises on his leg from that stupid ball and chain keeping him awake.

He's been trying hard - maybe too hard - to avoid being alone, avoid being in a situation where they've gotta be quiet ever since then, because, dang it, his memories always seem to fill the silence, and they're always far more terrifying than they should be-

It's easier, in a way, to be mocked for his stupid jokes than it is to relive a single moment from those nightmarish few weeks.

Almost reflexively, he grasps for something to fill the quiet.

"Heh, this is a bit awkward. It's okay if you wanna leave-"

"I do not mind," Zane echoes, walking a bit closer. "It is not as if I need to sleep. But... I do not quite know what to think of your question."

There comes the answer - or a semblance of one at least, and it's the last thing he'd been expecting.

"You don't know?" he blurts out before he can even think of trying to filter the thought. Way to treat your friend who's been nothing but kind to you, Jay. "But you're- you're a nindroid! You know everything-"

"Pixal," his friend mutters softly, sighing, and the hurt, the fear, laced through the word makes something in his heart practically twist. He knows all too well what it feels like to be in that situation - even if, technically, it had never happened.

Then- "I wish that were true. But I suppose that my emotions make certain situations much more complicated than... than they need to be. Thus I cannot give my perspective on this - or, at least, without sounding quite conflicted."

"You know that you're allowed to be conflicted, right? Even the coolest Nindroids don't know everything."

"...Yes, I suppose so."

Jay frowns at the almost subconscious hesitation, eyebrows creasing in concern.

"Seriously," he starts earnestly. They're both leaning on one of the railings just above the deck now. "Just 'cause you're a nindroid doesn't mean that you've gotta chase some kind of perfection that doesn't even exist."

He doesn't miss how Zane's eyes widen in shock, their bright blue hue glowing a little brighter - and heck, if that doesn't hurt even more than the earlier realization.

"Besides - it's not like none of us haven't made mistakes before. Hate to go all Wu on ya, but they help us learn or some stupid thing like that. Even if the mistake is trying not to make 'em, you know?"

"Thank you," Zane replies, a tired smile on his face. "Even the most advanced tech is susceptible to error, I suppose."

They've all made lots of mistakes, heaven forbid if one of them is still agonizing over messing up over the crazy situations the universe constantly put them in. It's not like they were told they'd have to face more ancient evil armies than they could count, were they?

Maybe it's time to stop focusing on events that never even happened, and pay more attention to your friends. What's the point of being part of this team if you're always scared or selfish?

"Shut up," he mumbles, rubbing his temples. What's the point of fighting if your own brain is gonna fight you whenever it gets a chance? A few seconds later, he schools his face back into his default anxious grin. "Great, cause I- I- could use your advice on something." "Alright," comes the quiet reply, his friend seemingly lost in thought.

"What if you wanted to tell someone something, but you couldn't?"

His breathing starts to speed up again, but he grips the deck until his fingers are practically bruised, stark white against his tanned skin. Not this time-

"Is this what you were referring to earlier? An event that you blamed yourself for?" Zane asks, eyes flitting between the floor and the sky.

Dang it, way too observant as usual. He masks his surprise with a laugh, but the conversation definitely isn't going as planned and, oh gosh oh gosh, what if-

No, there's no way that any of them would even believe that. Besides - no one can remember stuff that they've forgotten, especially if magic's at play.

"Yeah, kinda," and he's surprised by how steady his voice sounds. It's not easy to even think about that- event, talking about it is a whole different thing. A much more difficult thing, but also - a bit, a little bit, easier. "I-" "Apologies for interrupting," his friend interjects. "I suppose that I have not been entirely honest with you." What?

"A few days ago, I discovered a number of deleted memory files buried deep within my code."

Just like that, his whole world tilts out from underneath him.

It takes every ounce of his strength to keep himself from falling into the abyss again.

Wait, what?

Has he really known for all this time? It's been weeks! Surely he would've said something? It can't be, it never even-

The rational part of his mind points out that he can remember every day of those few weeks. Well, he was the one to make the wish - magical logic is kinda stupid, but maybe that's why he had to remember it or something?

Well then, a small voice interjects, why was Nya cursed to remember everything too?

Of course, even the stupid magical logic doesn't even make sense to the one who caused this whole mess in the first place.

"They were almost entirely corrupted - scrambled in a way that I am not familiar with. However, I did realize that certain files bore dates that have not even occurred yet. I dismissed it as a problem with my code, however..."

Breathe, calm down, it's not like he was able to process them or anything-

We agreed that no one was supposed to know! What if they end up blaming us for keeping it a secret this long, or, or-

"I mean, they could've been-" he starts, but the way in which he's nervously twisting his fingers is a pretty clear indication that he's lying, dang it.

"So when you mentioned that you were unable to tell someone something - did you mean that it was because they had quite literally forgotten about it?"

Great. Fantastic. Of course the literal robot has pieced it together by now-

He squeezes his eyes shut for a minute, hoping that if he ignores the problem, maybe it'll go away.

Okay, fine, maybe he's trying to figure out a way to fix this whole mess. Doesn't mean that he's any closer to coming up with a solution, though.

"Er, yeah," he whispers, shoulders slumped, eyes still firmly shut. Because gosh, he doesn't want to - can't, can't - see the realization dawn that, yeah, he's lied to people he's known for years and years, even though they've all seen way too many times that secrets bring nothing but trouble-

"Well, then - I would say that you don't have to tell them," Zane replies, surprisingly... earnestly? That, or he's either too freaked out to understand the tone properly. Could be either.

He opens his eyes, hesitantly.

And it comes as a bit of a shock to find nothing but concern reflected in his friend's.

The almost persistent weight on his chest feels a little lighter now, like the sky isn't as quite so empty.

Well, it still kinda is. But that doesn't hold as much weight as he'd thought it did - not if one of his friends is willing to look past that; past the heaviness of holding up all those memories with nothing his single star, flickering in and out of the darkness, to try and light the unforgiving darkness of the sky.

"Why?" Jay asks, so quietly he can barely hear it himself. "Don't I owe it to them? Do you?"

"No. Definitely not," comes the reply, so full of conviction that he almost stumbles back. Why-

"My father..."

Oh- oh.

"thought it was better to spare me the pain of mourning him than for me to know who I was," Zane confesses, hesitantly. "Not that I disagree, necessarily. I just..."

He trails off, clutching the railing so hard that the wood almost snaps beneath his titanium fingers.

It takes Jay a little while to realize why - why exactly his friend, who has access to a wealth of knowledge and information, is grasping for an answer. Because- because, well, even if someone does something in your best interests - sometimes the choice isn't always up to them. Or maybe it is, but it was... difficult, to say the least, to let go of the fact that his parents had never told him the truth sooner. Not that he blames them, necessarily - it's not like they knew that his father would pass on before he'd even get the chance to meet him - but... it's confusing, and difficult, not to know why you were left at a junkyard as soon as you were born. Maybe if he'd known that sooner, he could've asked the one person who might've had answers - although it's not like hoping for the past to change will actually change it.

They don't even know that you know, a small voice at the back of his mind points out, and suddenly everything makes a lot more sense-

"You wanted a choice," he breathes, eyes widening. A choice - like one that he'd never been given, one that he stills struggles not to hold against two people who've always had his best interests at heart. Even if they did have the right to withhold that one thing, after all they've done for him - the 'what if's' still echo in his mind far more often than he'd like. "There's nothing wrong with that, even if it feels that way. I kinda get where you're coming from, dude, and it's... super confusing, but I'd be pretty mad if my memories were tampered with like that."

So would anyone, he realizes, heart sinking. Oh, great. Not helping-

"I- I suppose so?" Zane answers, but it sounds more like a question than a reply. "However, in the same vein, it would be unwise for you to give away your choice whilst you still have one." "But don't I owe it to everyone? You just said it, it's horrible to alter people's memories and I- I-" "Did we forget... whatever it was for a good reason? "I- I mean, I guess, but..." "Then you do not owe it to us to relive something that we do not even remember." The words should be a relief - and they kinda are. But some part of him really does want to explain the crazy alternate timeline, and everything that happened in it. It's just... really, really freaking difficult.

"What if- what if I wanted to, though?" Jay asks hysterically, running his hands through his hair in a frenzied sort of way. "And I still couldn't? I just, I-"

He cuts himself off with a bout of forced laughter.

Zane takes a moment to reply, the bright blue light in his eyes flickering - a small tell that he was thinking so deeply, his processors were literally sparking up a bit.

"You queried earlier if it was easier, or better, to forget. And while all situations are different, I suppose it is... well, subjective. What do you think?" Zane asks, softly.

Derailing the conversation a bit, but his friend's obviously smart enough to be leading up to something.

Sure, he'll go along with it.

"I mean, there are some things I'd rather forget, you know? I guess we all know what that feels like," Jay replies, the statement with oddly sad air to it. They're still kids, after all, and it gets a bit exhausting pretending that their superhero lives were all fun and games - when they'd just given him enough grey hair to last then lifetimes, and enough nightmares to keep him from ever getting the normal amount of sleep his mum always prattled on about.

Sleep, heh heh. Practically a foreign concept, now.

"And I know that stuff that happens, like shapes us or something - and Master Wu would probably go off on a whole ramble about why we learn from our mistakes or whatever," he laughs nervously, resisting the urge to just fall headfirst onto the deck of the stupid ship instead of continuing the conversation," and how 'our scars only make us stronger', crap like that, but I just-"

"I'm just really... tired of this," he confesses warily, shoulders slumped. "W- I remember so many horrible things, and I-" he breaks off, laughing bitterly. His voice takes on a sort of brittle quality, way too high pitched, "and I can't even talk about them, dude. If that's not the most pathetic thing ever, I dunno what is."

"It does not-"

"Don't say it," Jay mutters, rubbing his temples. "I know, I know, my feelings aren't pathetic, they're always valid, whatever, spare me the lecture-"

"That is not what I was going to say," Zane replies gently. "It just seems that you have answered your own question."

"Gee, which one?"

"I do not know how much helpful assistance I can provide in this situation, but it is understandable to wish certain events had never occurred. However, seeing as we cannot change the past, it seems unwise to dwell on said events if you can avoid it."

Jay stiffens, clamping a shaky hand over his mouth. Something seems to press down even harder on his chest, a heavy sort of weight that causes his breathing to speed up again. Don't say it don't say it there's no reason to warn them this time-

"If you would like to tell any of us about something, of course you are welcome to. It does not to be the whole story, after all. Just make sure that it is the decision you choose, not one you choose because of what you think how it will affect others," Zane finishes quietly, ducking his head as if he's embarrassed.

The stars are still white-hot, burning away some million miles above them.

"Thanks," he says, and puts his hand softly on Zane's shoulder. "I mean, I know - that all makes sense, I guess. It's just- I-"

"You want to?"

"Yeah," Jay starts, sighing, "I do. It's just- it's not just my choice. And I'm pretty much dying already right now, so, as fantastic as making it all worse sounds, hard pass."

Oops, maybe he shouldn't have said that last bit. They'd agreed not to tell anyone about it - even this conversation was cutting it way too close. It wasn't impossible for them to put everything together - they were a pretty smart group, after all, even without their resident inventor and engineer - and Jay didn't really know what he'd think if they did. Fearful? Relieved? Angry?

"That does... not sound great? Dying certainly does not seem-"

"It's called sarcasm, Zane."

"Oh- yes. My memory now accesses the fact that people often speak in that manner. It does seem a bit counterproductive, though. Why not just say what you mean?"

"Shut it, you have no clue how integral to my life it is," Jay replies with a halfhearted grin.

A few seconds later, he remembers something his friend had mentioned earlier, and the grin disappears.

"You know that you can talk to us if you're not happy, right?" he asks, earnestly. Sure, it's not like he could always do that, considering, well, a stupid djin and even stupider magic, but it's not like he needs to. It's- well- he'll be okay, probably. Maybe. Kinda.

Zane's eyes blink on and off again, blue fading in and out. "I... I suppose that I was not quite aware of that."

Okay, they've screwed up way too many times, but this... this is pretty bad. Dang it, how long does it take for them to throw self-preservation instincts at their friend before he freaking- picks them up or something?

"However, will it not hurt those who have experienced the same unfortunate events?"

Dude, not the best question to ask someone wondering the exact same thing-

"It's been... uh, nice, kind of, talking to you. So- I don't think so, and I'm pretty sure someone would say so if it did. Besides, don't we talk about our adventures all the time? It'd probably be better if we... uh, well- heh heh, nothing."

"If we talked about the less than positive elements of them? Perhaps, but I still-"

Maybe it's the fact Zane has always tried to be there for him, or maybe he's too sleep deprived to care anymore, but this is a way too familiar situation and-

Well, not ignoring the issue would be a start.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're family, Zane. We care about each other. And, gosh, that means that we care about you too. Memories are stupid and annoying sometimes, but we have to make good ones too, right? To block out the bad ones a bit, I guess? Kinda, at least."

They both look away from the stars now, grappling for something else to say.

In the end, they leave it be with a hug and a fondly exasperated warning about sleeping, if you happen to need it.

After all, they're family. They don't have to be perfect, or tell each other everything - even if it does take them a long time to realize that, and an even longer time remembering it.

---

The next time Jay startles awake from a nightmare, the sky is still empty - painfully so, like an ache that simmers beneath the surface even when it's not able to be seen.

The hue, though, is a little lighter.

Just a little - the all-encompassing darkness of it is now a navy sort of blue, his star shining a little bit brighter.

It's still not sunrise, not even close - but he'll take it. AN: the ‘sky’ mentioned at the start and end is a stupid metaphor that i somehow ended up liking too much to trash, it’s ‘empty’ because he hasn’t told anyone about the timeline, and Nya’s not included because they never had a chance to tell each other everything significant or even talked about it or processed it on screen. so yeah! if you read this,,, not great thing, can i send you a hug or good vibes or smth? tyy🥺

#ninjago #jay walker #zane julien #skybound #ninjago fic #not the best thing i've written #actually it's not great- #but i spent too long on it to not post it so if you actually read to here i simunltaneously wanna send you good vibes & apologize profusely- #the ending is super rushed but im too tired to try and write a better one yay:/ #also dang it- sorry this fits the prompt so badly i- #i didn't realize till after oops #ninbingo #ninjago jay #ninjago zane #ninjago masters of spinjitzu

[presumenothing]

you can swing, you can flail

(AO3)

It could’ve been cinematic, if this had been a scene from one of the serials I watched – even I could admit the Mihira rink was a nice backdrop at half-light, for all that some people (Gurathin) complained that I had no appreciation for anything that didn’t involve knives on my feet (his words, not mine).

But since I had the luck of… someone with generally shitty luck, it went more like this:

“Would you mind running through that again?” said a voice out of the should-have-been-empty shadows, startling me half out of my skin but thankfully not onto the ice. “Sorry. I’d just like to see it in full.”

I blinked away the ice-white afterimages until I could recognise the one who’d scared the daylights out of me as one of the non-skaters on the Pansystem team. Almost definitely one of the approximately infinity people Mensah had introduced when we got to this rink, and I had the vaguest impression of some complicated-sounding name starting with P, but I didn’t remember much else and anyway it was now designated Asshole in my head.

And it was probably thinking of me as Really Slow, since I hadn’t gotten around to the question it was clearly expecting a serious answer for.

(Well, that much wasn’t an issue. I half-assed a lot of things, but not skating. At least, not since Mensah had taken me on permanently contrary to all good and less-good sense.)

“Why? I’m not saying I won’t,” I clarified, since I hadn’t stayed back to practice just to end up not practicing. Even if I hadn’t expected anyone else to be around for it. “But you already watch your team skate like three hundred hours a day.”

“That’s not actually possible,” Asshole pointed out – and right, I now recalled my other impression of it from that introduction: someone who very likely was a doctor of some kind (possibly multiple kinds) even though the Pansystem team didn’t actually call it Dr. Dr. Dr. Asshole. (Or whatever its name was. If this went on any longer I might actually have to hack the system to find out, just so I didn’t call one of the resident team people Asshole in front of Mensah.) (Then again, that would hardly be the worst thing she’d ever seen from me.)

Anyway. I figured it was my turn to stare in slightly-judgemental silence as I waited for an answer, so I did.

Though it didn’t seem like Asshole needed the encouragement to talk. “I do watch Iris and the others practice a lot, yes, but it’s from a technical standpoint. I thoroughly appreciate the physics of it, and the practical expertise, but I’m given to understand that the qualitative aesthetics are a crucial aspect that I’m missing out on.”

…right.

Okay, I appreciated that it had actually completed its explanation instead of trailing off into opaque hand gestures mid-sentence, like Arada and Ratthi sometimes did. And at least it sounded legitimate, rather than any of the shitty reasons I’d been half-expecting to hear, like the one that had driven the whole Preservation team to uproot and move here in the first place.

(It was my fault, in that I’d inadvertently caused it just by existing. But also nobody had listened to my numbered list of arguments of why the entire team shouldn’t have to move just because the previous rink considered me “too enhanced” to be allowed in the rink, let alone compete.)

(Which was bullshit reasoning, and the management had probably known it too. It wasn’t like I’d gotten these augments for fun, or even of my own choice, and if anything they were a bloody hindrance, because – surprise! None of the usual equipment or techniques accounted for non-organic limbs! It was more work, not less, and a fucking pain all around but Pin-Lee had reviewed the eligibility rules for all the major competitions and I wasn’t illegal under any of them.

I’d told Mensah as much as part of the Arguments Why Preservation Should Just Stay, but it hadn’t worked. Obviously.)

All that aside, though, I wasn’t sure how much sense that reason made. I crossed my arms. “And how is watching me going to help with that? If you’re looking for – I don’t know, emotions or whatever, you’re definitely asking the wrong person.”

It was a thing both Pin-Lee and I were supposed to be working on, not looking like we wanted to murder the ice and/or corner it in an alley for a perfectly civilised chat. (Pin-Lee had it easier in a way, because she had Bharadwaj to look at most of the time, but even thinking about all the touching involved in ice dance made me sail straight to No.)

This, of course, meant that I shouldn’t have been annoyed when Asshole said, “Yes, I imagine so,” with mild but definite amusement.

My eyebrow twitched anyway. “I’ll skate, but if I hear even one sound of complaint from you I’m going home.”

“I won’t. Do you want me to put on your music?”

“Don’t need it.” I wasn’t sure if it was partially a function of my augments, but I could play most things back in my head well enough that I rarely bothered unless someone else was involved. “Do you?”

Asshole shook its head, so the rink stayed silent as it set its cane against the sideboard and I skated to centre ice.

And it was weird, having any kind of audience that wasn’t from the Preservation team. But that was also the other thing that Mensah had assigned me to work on: if I really wanted to do this (and I didn’t have to, she’d repeated, but if I did) I’d have to get used to people looking at me. And maybe looking back at them. Sometimes.

It wasn’t ideal. My hypothesis – or was it a theory? – was that maybe it’d be mostly fine as long as they were looking at me in general and not, say, my definitely-not-organic feet, but I hadn’t actually verified that yet.

There were worse times to start than now, I guess.

#the murderbot diaries #murderbot #murderbot fic #tmbd #fanfiction #mine #long post #in which the author knows approximately fuckall about figure skating sorry!!! #also title from future starts slow because that song just Vibes

[ptersparkers]

angel (chilling adventures of sabrina)

summary: as the only pure mortal in the fright club, there seems to be an influx of interesting things happening in greendale that you are unaware of. a certain prince of hell happens to find that interesting. 

warnings: typos, probably.

a/n: ummm maybe i binge watched caos this past week and maybe i’ve fallen in love. i’ll let you figure that out. also this is my first time writing for caos (and not marvel, lol) so let me know what you think!!’ pls give feedback thank u. 

add yourself to my tasglist! 

ps: this gif is mine so if you use it, please credit!  

When all was said and done, Sabrina and Caliban had come to amicable terms regarding the shared responsibility of ruling Hell.

It didn’t take much convincing for Caliban to relinquish his prior ambition after learning his rule would end within a day, as the Pagans would have defeated him and taken Earth for themselves. Sabrina’s ability to show him the time loop she was once trapped in gave him a reason to quit the fighting and rule Hell on an equal scale, no questions asked.

Plus, he started to like the bleach blonde witch.

You, on the other hand, felt like you had missed out on the most important plot piece of the greatest film of all time.

While Harvey, Theo, and Roz had known about Sabrina’s secret since her sixteenth birthday, you were left in the dust about the shenanigans that went on around Greendale. You were truly the only mortal with no magic or witch ties, but the other four couldn’t say the same. Sabrina was a witch, Theo’s ancestor Dorothea often visited him in time of need, Harvey’s family had a history of witch hunting (which he does not partake), and Roz’s ability to foreshadow the future with a simple touch proved to be more useful than she had originally thought.

You were a mortal. A regular high school student whose biggest problems were studying for four AP classes every day while balancing cheerleading and other extracurriculars.

It wasn’t until recently that the strangeness came to light. What the Fright Club had failed to mention was that Sabrina had continuously hexed you in order to keep you out of harm’s way by leaving a small bag filled with her Aunt Hilda’s concoctions in your bedroom. It worked its magic when you slept, an invisible blanket covering your eyes that made their strange disappearances seem normal.

But it seems like that hex was fading. Sabrina neglected to change it out every other week due to being preoccupied by Caliban’s yearning, the Dark Lord’s agenda, and Lilith’s drama regarding Hell. Now you sat with wonder and couldn’t help but feel left out of a great adventure that your friends embarked on.

A month had passed since Sabrina and Caliban had made amends. You grew to understand the nature of it and the four filled you in on all you had missed with a guilt hanging over their heads. It was hard to hear and understand, but ultimately you couldn’t hate your best friends for wanting to keep you safe.

You knew not to question Sabrina’s whereabouts if you weren’t able to find her because she was most likely taking care of business down below. You still had yet to meet Caliban and the only information you gathered from him was what the gang caught you up on and Sabrina’s grievances whenever she felt annoyed by him.

“You know, this is all a weird concept,” you said. “I mean, I guess I always had my faith and doubt kept me guessing about what’s really out there, and it’s really out there,” you said, stealing a fry from Theo’s plate. The five of you sat in Dr. Cerberus’s diner and decided you weren’t going to do anything that wasn’t normal for teenagers.

“It still creeps me out,” Harvey admitted. “Hell was worse than I could’ve imagined.”

“Caliban’s got things under control and Lilith’s doing just fine being an advisor,” Sabrina said. “I don’t think she’s mad about the ruling situation anymore. Lucifer’s still doing his bidding but I think they’ve reconnected.”

“That’s...good?”

Sabrina chuckled. “Trust me, it’ll take some getting used to.”

“That is an absolute understatement.”

The door to the diner chimed while you fished inside of your purse for a quarter.

“I’m gonna go pick out a song, any requests?”

“You’re the music genius,” said Roz. You smiled and walked towards the front of the diner.

As you approached the machine and put the quarter inside of the slot, a tall man with sand colored hair loomed over you and watched.

“Can I help you?” you asked.

“Not really. Just observing.” You quirked an eyebrow, not recognizing his face despite knowing everyone in the small town.

“You’re not from here, are you?” you asked.

He chuckled. “Is it that obvious?”

“Greendale’s a pretty small town. It’s easy to spot someone who’s not a local,” you replied.

“Well in that case, I’m not from around these parts. Far from, actually.” He looked at your hand and then the juke box. “What song are you choosing?”

You pried your gaze away from him to look back at the machine and put the coin in the slot, choosing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” before looking back at him.

“Satisfied?”

The handsome stranger looked at you and didn’t try to hide the face that he was checking you out by letting his eyes look at your body up and down. Not that you minded.

“Very,” he said with a sail try voice before walking around the corner. “The name’s Caliban.”

“Y/N,” you replied. You raised your eyebrow before walking back to the other four and sat down in your previous seat only for the handsome stranger to approach the table.

“Caliban,” Sabrina greeted. “What a lovely surprise.”

“Nice choice,” Roz commented, hearing the song play throughout the diner.

“That’s Caliban, as in the Caliban?” you asked.

“It’s good to know you lot have been talking about me,” he said, crossing his hands over his chest. “I decided to take a break from, you know, and come see what you love so much about Greendale.”

“She knows about Hell,” said Sabrina.

“Funny how I’ve never seen her there, or anywhere with you four, as a matter of fact,” Caliban replied.

“It’s a long story,” you said, sipping on your chocolate milkshake. “Not an important one, though.”

“Contrary,” he began. “You’re the first purely true mortal I’ve met in Hell or otherwise with no ancestral ties to witches or greater magic. That’s pretty important to me.” You blushed, not knowing what to say or do next.

“Is there a reason you’re here?” Harvey asked with a slight attitude. Caliban shifted his focus from you to him, which made your body relax a little bit.

“I didn’t come here for business or to whisk Sabrina away, if that’s what you’re wondering. I’m just here to see what makes Greendale so special, though I think I’m starting to see why.” Caliban spared no expense and was not shy about looking in your direction as he spoke his last statement.

“Don’t even think about it,” Sabrina said sternly. “You are not going to get any ideas, are you?”

Caliban chuckled and put his hands up in defense. “Whatever you say, Sabrina.” He began to walk away but not before turning around and winking at you. “See you around.”

Caliban walked out the door and you didn’t bother asking where he was going next.

“Dear Satan, he’s so annoying,” Sabrina said, exasperated. “It’s like he’s made it his personal mission to make my life, well, a living Hell for lack of a better term.”

“At least he’s not hellbent on defeating you anymore,” Theo reasoned. “I think he’s trying to get to know you a little bit better.”

“And he’s doing it by flirting with my best friend?” Sabrina asked. She put her head on your shoulder and and ate a fry from her plate. “You know I love you, right?”

“Mhm.”

“I’m not saying you need to stay away from Caliban, but you need to be careful around him. At least until we’ve worked together long enough for me to trust him completely.”

“Loud and clear, Brina,” you said. “I still can’t really wrap my head around this whole thing. I can’t watch horror films about Hell and witches the same ever again.”

The Fright Club laughed.

“It’ll take some getting used to,” Harvey said. “I mean, I was pretty apprehensive at first. Remember when Brina and I broke up and I spent every day at your place after school?” You nodded. “That’s when she told me she was a witch. It was kind of hard to wrap my head around until everything with the Pagans and angels happened.” You nodded, soaking in his words. “Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with feeling like you don’t understand. I don’t even understand most of it, if I’m being completely honest.”

“In think that’s enough food for me,” said Roz who pushed her plate to the middle. “Seeing Hell with my own eyes really suppressed my appetite.”

”Oh, shoot,” you said, looking at the clock mounted on the wall. “I have to head home and help my mom. I promised her I’d help clean the kitchen and I’ve got to be home in ten minutes. Can I pay you guys back?”

“Don’t worry about it. See you tomorrow?” said Theo.

“Count on it!”

***

You saw Caliban not long after your first encounter with him. The idea of him being the ruler of Hell (alongside Sabrina) was still a hard concept to understand and you weren’t quite sure if you were supposed to bow in his presence or not.

“Unnecessary,” he said when you asked. Caliban sat across from you at the local coffee shop, offering to walk you when you had caught his eye. You harbored a hot latte and he held a blueberry scone in his hand. “I think you mortals like that glory.”

You shrugged. “Can’t argue with that.”

“Hell doesn’t have formalities when it comes to celebration other than referring to each other by one’s title,” he explained. “It’s just easier that way.”

“You make it seem like Hell’s a relaxed place to be.”

He pinched a piece of his scone off at put it in his mouth, smirking at your statement.

“Oh, far from it. As righteous as demons are, we’re not that shallow.”

“It’s kind of hard to believe you’re made out of clay,” you said, taking a sip of your latte.

“Why do you say that?”

“I dunno,” you said. You reached over the table to poke his bicep. “You seem so real. So human.”

Normally, Caliban would’ve been offended by such a comparison. But he smiled.

“I suppose. I don’t question my creation. I accept it and try to live as adventurously as I can.”

“I hope to,” you said. “Getting out of Greendale, I mean. It’s my biggest dream.”

“You’d want to leave this town?” he asked.

“Well, yeah,” you replied. “I have nothing going for me here. I’m powerless and there’s no reason for me to stay where I’m not needed.”

To his surprise, Caliban felt his heart jolt at your comment. He was wordless for a moment.

“Where will you go?”

“I don’t know,” you said. “Maybe somewhere on the west coast. Maybe I’ll still be in New England. College is the perfect opportunity to explore the world and come back home for a few weeks at a time.”

“This is where Lucifer fell, you know,” said Caliban. “The sacred place is hidden deep in the woods where there’s a clearing of rocks and stone. That’s why this place is driven by witches of the Church of Night.”

“I still can’t believe the Devil is walking among us,” you said, shaking your head. “My mom used to force me to go to Sunday school, and I suppose I did have faith. It’s all meta now.”

“Are you still a believer?” he asked.

“I kind of have to be, considering you’re here.”

Caliban smiled.

“Do Heaven and Hell ever interact withe each other?”

“Not exactly,” he began. “We’re on civil relations but don’t want anything to do with each other. They stay up there so long as we stay down here. I’ve never encountered an angel before.”

“You haven’t?”

“They aren’t allowed to come down to Earth unless absolutely necessary,” he explained. “Not really sure why but it’s one of their more important rules.”

“I think I have a headache,” you teased. All of this knowledge about celestial beings truly made your senses adapt to your surroundings in Greendale and you were more than aware of the fact that God was real.

“I should go,” Caliban said, standing up. “I need to escort some souls back to Hell and send some up north.”

“You mean not all souls who are sold to the Devil go to Hell?”

“Sabrina and I negotiated that,” he said. “No more soul-selling. The ones that preexist will be discussed by her and I, and we decide if the punishment is worth the crime. I don’t think someone who sold their soul for a good cause needs to spend all eternity down in Hell. That’s why she comes down there all the time.”

“Huh,” you said at a loss for words.

Caliban smiled. “I’ll see you around, princess.”

***

The next time you see Caliban was with the rest of the Fright Club. He was wearing a linen button down with several buttons popped open, exposing his bare chest with black slacks and white sneakers. His hair was tousled and you swore this was the most human you had ever seen him.

“Ambrose is being a little paranoid and wants me to check out the edge of Greendale for threats,” Sabrina said. “I think he’s just worried about me co-ruling Hell while living on Earth. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“You say that like it’s just another day in Greendale,” you said.

Sabrina shrugged. “I mean, it kind of is.”

“Well, do you need us to do anything?” Roz asked.

“I want you to come with me, if that’s okay. Harvey, Theo, and Y/N, you don’t need to come. I’m sure this is Ambrose being Ambrose.”

“Are you sure, Brina?” Harvey asked.

She waved him off. “It’s fine, really. Roz and I will spend a few hours making sure things are normal and we’ll meet back at my place for dinner? Aunt Hilda’s kind of expecting us.”

“Wouldn’t miss it!” Theo said enthusiastically.

Sabrina gave the group one last smile before she took Roz’s hands and teleported out of the room, which left the four of you.

“I can give you a ride, Theo,” Harvey offered before looking at you. “And you too. I don’t mind driving to the other side of town.”

“I can take her home,” Caliban said. Harvey looked at you and Caliban spoke again, noticing his hesitation. “Part of our deal was that I made sure her friends remain unharmed. That includes Y/N.”

Harvey seemed to accepted this answer and grabbed his keys from his pocket before bidding you a goodbye. He and Theo drove off in his truck before you and Caliban left in the opposite direction.

“So, uh, do you want to come in?” you asked, awkwardly standing by the front door after he insisted on walking you in.

“I don’t mind,” he said. You fumbled with the keys before opening the door with a shaky hand and let him inside. It was the first time you were letting a boy into your home (other than Harvey and Theo, but your relationship with them was strictly platonic) and you felt a little more nervous than usual. After figuring out you had liked Caliban more than you originally expected, there was nothing you could do to stop your heart from beating just a little too fast when we he was around. Him being in your house did nothing to help the situation.

As for Caliban, his usual overwhelming desire for a carnal relationship was nowhere to be found when he stepped into your house. He looked at the white walls decorated with family photos and admired the ones with you as a child. Caliban watched as you put the house keys in a glass dish and followed you to your bedroom.

It was odd, Caliban thought, to feel nothing but tranquility. He was almost always hyperaware of his surroundings and wary of demons and souls roaming past him in Hell, but it was just the two of you. Two bodies under one roof.

“My parents won’t be home until later tonight. N-Not that we have to do anything!” you added. “I just mean they’d freak out because they haven’t met you before.”

Caliban chuckled. “I wasn’t planning on making a move, if that’s what you were wondering.”

You didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

“Your room suits you,” he said. Caliban admired the photos on your nightstand and polaroids pinned to a brown board on the wall filled with memories from your past with the Fright Club and other friends and family members. He saw a stack of books beside your bed and a fish tank sitting by the window, your closet doors closed, and decorative pieces that highlighted your personality.

“Thanks,” you said, laying down on your best. “You can sit, you know.”

Caliban took this opportunity to lay next to you. When you felt the bed dip, you averted your eyes to the ceiling.

“What are you thinking about?” Caliban asked after a long pause of silence.

“How fast life changes,” you replied. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, but with all that I know, how can I keep all of this celestial knowledge a secret from my parents? The world is always doubting Heaven and Hell but I know the truth. I don’t know if being purely mortal is helping me out in this situation either.”

“You’re an innocent,” Caliban said, turning his head to look at you. “So pure and clean. Your soul has been untouched by neither light or night and it’s probably the one thing that’s going to save you in the future.”

You turned your head to meet his gaze. “I’m still powerless.”

“Maybe in one way, but not completely. You have no witchcraft magic but you have intelligence and intuition. You know not to meddle with things that aren’t of your concern.”

You were silent.

“What else are you thinking about?”

“How much I like spending time with you,” you confessed. “But it’s hard, you know. You’ll be in Hell most of the time and you’re made of clay, for crying out loud.” Caliban chuckled. “I didn’t really think you’d be around as often as you are.”

Caliban was silent.

“What are you thinking about?”

“You,” he replied. “I’m always thinking about you. I used to think morality was a disease, but it’s not. It’s a rationale, just like any demonic presence.” Caliban moved closed to you.

“I think about what love is and how I don’t know what it really means.”

“I think love means different things to different people,” you said. “I think it’s mutual respect and loyalty. It’s knowing details about someone, big and small. It’s about being together but knowing you can be independent. Love is hard and it takes time. Love is not instant.”

“You’re pretty wise for an innocent,” he said.

You laughed. “Maybe I’m just a hopeless romantic.”

“Maybe not.”

Caliban lifted his body to hover above yours, your chests barely touching as his eyes gazed right over your lips. You dared not to move and Caliban hesitantly leaned down further so that your lips barely brushed against one another, the goosebumps on your skin taking affect. Because you weren’t pulling away, he took it as a silent signal and pressed his chaste lips against your soft ones.

There was no spark. No magic and no fireworks. There was only you and Caliban, and there was no other way you would’ve wanted your first kiss to feel like. Time slowed down as Caliban relaxed by your touch and your hands roamed his neck. The cold outdoor air was replaced by the warmth of Caliban’s body and when he pulled away, he let his thumb stroke your cheek as he cupped the side of your face.

“You are, dare I say, an angel.

“That’s a compliment, considering I know how much you despise them.”

He laughed. “Perhaps I’ll make an exception.”

Caliban leaned down once more to press a tender kiss to your forehead and you closed your eyes in bliss, happy to accept the good that came with the craziness of the last month. You looked at his structured jaw and grinned at his loving gaze, letting out a tired laugh.

“Perhaps.”

#caliban x reader #caos caliban #caliban #caos caliban x reader #chilling adventures of sabrina #caos x reader #sabrina spellman #my writing #angel

[ask-the-riders]

War learns the truth about Death's partner

But under way less than desirable circumstances

So uhhh,, yeah. This scenario got stuck in my head and I needed to write it. It kinda got left off at a weird spot, but eh

Trigger warnings for violence, since there's fighting in the beginning (War Vs. Error), and War sustains some injuries. Also a bit of a warning for some of the stuff she remembers at one point, since it involves the abuse she went through as a child

War winced, lying on the ground. She rolled onto her side, pressing a hand to her ribs; everything hurt. Every single movement caused her body to pulse with pain. So much pain that she wanted to scream and cry. As her opponent began to approach her though, she scowled instead, very slowly forcing herself to rise to her feet again. Her chest heaved as she practically gasped for air, touching her fingertips to the rims of her sockets and producing her threads.

The other skeleton tilted his head, scoffing as he stopped walking and watched her, his own body glitching as he spoke, seemingly more to himself than to her, "You can barely move and you're getting low on magic, yet you still think you stand a chance of beating me. How pathetic." War trembled, her threads beginning to shift from blue to red.

With a simple twitch of her fingers, the scarlet threads sailed toward him, already searing hot as they captured his arm. They burned through the sleeve of his jacket with ease, and he yelped as they began burning into his bare bone. Narrowing his deep red sockets, he hissed, stubbornly deciding to push through the pain. War's sockets widened as a large black blaster appeared beside him, it's mouth opening as it began preparing to fire.

She wasn't sure she could dodge it in her current condition, but she knew she needed to try. As the blaster finally fired at her, she threw herself to the side in her best effort to save her magic. She could've teleported, sure, but that would burn through more magic, and she wouldn't have any time to let more build up. Though she moved quickly, part of the blast grazed her arm, immediately burning through her coat. She felt the heat from it on her arm, and in that moment of distraction, she failed to see the blue threads coming toward her and wrapping around one of her legs. With a rough pull and a scream, War toppled to the ground, her leg having been ripped off of her. The other glitch dropped her leg nearby and she panicked. Without both of her legs, she'd never be able to keep up with him.

As she began trying to make her way toward the leg she'd lost, Error began to stalk toward her, causing her to freeze in fear. She watched him with wide, fearful eyes, images flickering in her mind. She remembered being a child, and making the mistake of accidentally touching him. For that, her arm was broken. She remembered asking him for something, not knowing he'd had a bad day. For that, he'd snapped and yelled at her, calling her every horrible name in the book. She also remembered being caught in his threads, in her previous life. The way she fought to get away was all for nothing, as his threads captured her soul, and without an ounce of hesitation, shattered it.

She was terrified of him, and he knew.

A secondary set of blue threads that came from somewhere behind her suddenly emerged, catching Error by surprise. They caught both of his arms and gave a sharp tug, both limbs coming off of the glitch and earning a pained shout. Another black skeleton was suddenly standing in front of her, his back to her as she stared up at him in a mix of fear and confusion.

The clothes he wore, those blue threads, those darkened bones... it was Error. There were two of him now, and War's soul dropped. Finally cracking, she attempted to curl in on herself, letting out a muffled sob as she hid her face. The second Error stole a quick glance back at her and narrowed his sockets in irritation, more of his threads capturing the other before he had the chance to run away, "Hey, stop that. I don't wanna hear your pathetic sniffling, you hear me?!"

War trembled, peeking up at him and trying to hold in another sob. The second Error opened a portal, carelessly tossing both his counterpart and his detached arms through it. As it closed, he turned to fully face her, taking a step closer. In response, she attempted to scoot back away from him, her glitching visibly growing worse. This new Error snagged her lost leg, holding it by a wadded up handful of the fabric of her pants. Unphased, he tossed it to her, "Here. Hurry up and reattach it so we can head back." Back? Back where?

She snatched up her leg, getting it lined up and letting out a muted string of obscenities as she forced it back into place, fresh tears pricking at her sockets. Error, much to her surprise and confusion, offered her a hand, and she stared at it for a moment, her sockets widening even further as she finally took notice of the bracelet he was wearing under the sleeve of his jacket.

That... That bracelet... It couldn't be...

Despite her fear, she furrowed her brow bones, "That bracelet. Where'd you get it?" The other glitch seemed taken aback at her question, his own brow bones becoming knit, "What's it matter to you?" The female rider frowned, "It matters because I made it. I only made one, and I gave it to someone else, not you."

The other was silent, before he hesitantly spoke, "You gave it to Geno. I know." War very slowly rose to her feet, her frown becoming a scowl, "Yeah, I did. What'd you do to him? Dust him like the other poor souls that faced you?" Error seemed hesitant again, and War's scowl immediately dropped as she watched the black color of his bones begin to melt away, revealing white. His scarlet sockets darkened until they were as black as night, and the glitching over his right eye worsened, gradually solidifying into a blocky pixel shape. His still visible ringed eye light shrunk, its colors fading to white as the rings began to lighten, until they'd completely vanished.

Looking back at her was Geno, who offered her an awkward smile, "He did nothing of the sort, actually, because... well... because we're one in the same. If he killed me, he'd also be killing himself."

War was frozen, relief and more confusion flooding her senses as she murmured, "Uncle Geno?... That's really you? Not an alternate?" Geno nodded, "Yeah, it's me, kiddo... The same guy who went through photo albums with ya at my place and the same guy who chased off your other uncle so he'd leave you be for a while. You came to my place a handful of times after having some pretty bad nightmares, and we talked about them until you crashed on the couch."

A blue tinted tear ran down War's cheek as she continued staring at him, rapidly shifting into a thread, "H...How long have you...?" He sighed, "How long have Error and I shared a body like this?... It's been too long, honestly. I'm afraid I can't give you an exact number, but it's been long enough for me to say that the house I've been calling mine?... It's Error's, too. The couch you've slept on there? He's napped on it, too."

She staggered backward, suddenly feeling dizzy and lightheaded. In the blink of an eye, Geno was at her side, gently guiding her back toward a tree so that she could lean against the trunk. For a moment, she was lost for words. All she could think of to say was, "So... this whole time. Even way back then... Error was there too? You and Death just kept that hidden from everyone? Kept it hidden from ME?"

The other skeleton glanced away from her, feeling guilty, "...Your dad and Zerif knew, but that was it. We didn't tell you or let you ever see Error because we had a feeling you'd react poorly. I never told you because of your trauma. You weren't done healing from everything that other Error put you through, and I didn't wanna ruin the progress you'd made." War slowly slid down the tree trunk until she was sitting on the ground, holding her head in her hands as she struggled to process everything she'd just learned. Kneeling beside her, Geno began trying to heal some of her smaller injuries, and she all but begged him, "Geno, please... Don't do that. You don't have enough magic, you'll end up hurting yourself."

Geno shrugged off her words and pressed on, still attempting to heal her, "I'll be fine, kiddo, promise." War sighed softly, silent for a moment before a realization clicked in her mind and she frowned, her brow bones knit in concern, "Wait a second, my aura- Geno, how are you feeling right now?" The skeleton in question arched a brow bone in confusion, "I'm feeling fine. Normal, I guess. Why?" She let out a breath that she hadn't even been aware she was holding, "My aura causes the people outside the group of riders to feel angry and lash out. It's because of my position... my aura creates aggression and violence. It makes people get mad and hurt each other, and I wanted to make sure it wasn't affecting you."

He hummed, offering her a tiny smile in hopes of providing some reassurance, "Ah, I gotcha. It's alright, Mal. I'm ok." Upon hearing her old name, War nearly lunged forward, capturing the other skeleton in a tight hug, burying her face in his shoulder and murmuring, her voice muffled, "It effects everyone, so I dunno why it's not getting to you... whatever the reason though, that's good. I'm really glad."

#four horsemen of the apocalypse #riders of the apocalypse #undertale #undertale au #war.exe #error sans #geno sans #death.exe #reaper sans #writing

[sundowncryptid]

My HTTYD 3 Criticisms

This is gonna be a long one so I’m gonna put my criticisms under a read more

Just wanted to make a post listing all of the HTTYD 3 criticisms I have (this isn’t an attack on people who liked the movie, it’s totally valid if you did, I just want to list some stuff that I didn’t like and stuff that, in my opinion, didn’t work in the movie)

- The Light Fury logically shouldn’t have been able to cloak in the first scene when she’s caged up, she would have needed to fly through a plasma blast and there’s no way she did that whilst caged??

- Snotlout hitting on Valka was just really weird and uncomfortable

- There’s no way Grimmel killed all of the Night Furies, he’s just one man with a bunch of Deathgrippers and a crossbow

- The Deathgrippers are portrayed as an ‘evil’ species of dragon, but the dragons are said to be just wild animals?? How can a wild animal be ‘evil’ and have evil intentions if they’re just wild animals? It’s not their fault that their diet consists of other dragons

- The Deathgrippers are also being controlled, drugged and held captive by Grimmel too, just like the Light Fury, but they don’t also deserve to be rescued too??

- If the Light Fury is so scared of humans why did she decide to pick Hiccup up and yeet him?? Surely she would have tried to avoid being seen and especially being touched by them after being caged and drugged by dragon hunters?? If Toothless had looked like he was in danger I could understand her trying to intervene and get rid of Hiccup but she intentionally came towards him unprovoked

- The Light Fury tried to kill Hiccup twice and Toothless didn’t growl once?? (I know she’s scared and I don’t blame her for lashing out at humans after being drugged and caged but I would’ve expected a stronger reaction from Toothless) But in the third date scene the Light Fury steps on a line in his drawing and that’s when he chooses to growl at her

- it feels like all of the other villains in the movie were just dumbed down to make Grimmel look smart

- Grimmel’s Night Fury info contradicts what the franchise has said or shown about Night Furies previously:

1. He said that Night Furies can’t fly for long periods without rest, yet Toothless has one of the biggest wing surface area to body ratios in the franchise and his wings are soaring wings like an eagles, and so he should be able to fly for maybe 4-6 hours straight without rest

2. He said Night Furies can’t survive cold temperatures but Toothless has been living in Berk for 6 years without an issue, and Berk is supposed to be freezing for most of the year according to Hiccup

- New Berk is only accessible by dragon, so how does New Berk trade with other villages? And sail out to catch fish for food? After all of the dragons are gone??

- Night Furies having the ability to cloak is pointless, they’re nocturnal and camouflaged when flying at night so they don’t need to be able to cloak. Idk maybe it could be a leftover adaption that they retained??

- Hiccup is portrayed as ‘naive’ for thinking that Toothless will come back to him

Toothless and Hiccup don’t have a parent-kid relationship. That would suggest that Toothless wants to get away from Hiccup and be more independent, yet he never showed an interest in flying without Hiccup until the Light Fury came along, and that was only because she wouldn’t let Hiccup get near her. If Toothless never showed signs wanting to leave Hiccup or fly on his own in the past then why is Hiccup naive for thinking that he’ll come back?

- Just a small thing but I would’ve liked to see Valka discovering the Hidden World with Hiccup, it would’ve been a nice to see them bonding over the discovery and it could’ve shown how far their mother-son relationship has come in a year

- The Mushroom Forest in the Hidden World must produce spores, and long exposure to mushroom spores causes lung inflammation so surely the dragons living in the Hidden World wouldn’t be able to breathe properly and would get sick from breathing in spores??

- The Light Furies don’t seem to fit with the Hidden World’s bright, saturated colours, their white, pale scales would stand out against the colourful vegetation growing there

- What if a group of Deathgrippers infiltrated the Hidden World? Wouldn’t the Hidden World dragons be trapped and cornered inside?

- Toothless didn’t consider his flock at all when he disappeared with the Light Fury for a day, shouldn’t he have been with them to help protect them just in case, especially since Grimmel just burned down their previous home and may still be tracking them?

- How can Toothless be the king of the hidden world, a place he only discovered hours ago, and command it? Wouldn’t the dragons there already have an alpha dragon??

- It would’ve been nice to have a moment in the Hidden World where Toothless seems homesick and misses Hiccup, just to know he at least still cares about him and hasn’t forgotten

- When the Light Fury comes back to New Berk and smells Grimmel she flies towards him instead of the opposite way??

- Toothless sacrifices his entire flock (including hatchlings) and lets them be caged up by the dragon hunters to save a girl he only met 3 days ago (not saying he shouldn’t care about the Light Fury but he should probably care a lot more about the well-being of the flock he’s been in charge of and has known for a year)

- The Light Fury is somehow aware enough in her drugged state to be able to fly straight with Grimmel on her back in the final chase scene (same point applies to the Deathgrippers throughout the entire movie now that I think about it)

- The Deathgrippers that were still attached to Grimmel’s airship as it crashed into the water weren’t at least attempted to be rescued and were left to drown

- The Deathgrippers shouldn’t have been able to catch up to two of the fastest dragons species in the franchise in the final chase scene

- Coming to the conclusion of the dragons leaving felt rushed and out of the blue

- The message at the end of this film totally contradicts the other two films; the first movie was based around the fact that dragons aren’t the wild, savage beasts that they are thought to be, but beings capable of human-like intelligence and emotion. HTTYD 3 contradicts this by saying the dragons are just wild animals and they can’t help following and listening to instinct.

HTTYD 2’s end message was even though there are bad people out there, we will still fight for what’s right, even if we have to go up against armies and armadas, we will change the world bit by bit so that people and dragons can live together in peace.

HTTYD 3 scraps that message and instead of fighting for the dragons and changing the world for the better, the dragons are just sent away to hide in a hole in the ocean indefinitely and are just left to hope that someone picks up where Berk left off. They beat the warlords pretty easily, Grimmel is gone and the Light Fury has started coming around to Hiccup so why do the dragons have to go all of a sudden?? New Berk isn’t accessible by bad guys (unless they have control of a dragon) and Berk has an entire flock of dragons on their side controlled by a Night Fury so their island is easily defendable.

They are in one of the best positions to continue rescuing, saving and protecting dragons yet that’s when they choose to give up?? Hiccup didn’t even give up in HTTYD 2 when his dad was killed by Drago but he beats a bunch of warlords and an apparently famed Night Fury hunter and that’s when he gives up?? It doesn’t make sense to me

- Toothless was able to smell the Light Fury from miles away in the exodus scene but wasn’t able to smell Hiccup from the rock he was lying on in that decade time skip and almost attacked him and his family, even though in the first film when Toothless was an actual wild dragon he knew Hiccup wasn’t a threat if he wasn’t holding a weapon

- Kinda bummed that Toothless’ appearance didn’t change between the ages of 21 and 31 in that decade time skip, I expected more nubs (the Light Fury too)

- The Homecoming short just proves that if people and dragons aren’t united anymore things just kind of almost go back to the way they were in HTTYD 1 (making the whole 6 years of human-dragon companionship just kind of pointless), the new generations of Berk will never grow up with dragons alongside them and see with their own eyes that they are more than just wild beasts (and apparently they weren’t being taught about dragons either until they put on the show about them according to the short), and dragons will never grow up alongside humans to see that some are good and want to help them, not trap and kill them.

- How is someone in the future supposed to pick up where Berk left off fighting for the dragons and uniting them when the Hidden World is so hostile towards humans?? No human is able to enter without getting swarmed by dragons

If you made it all the way to the bottom thanks for reading :] and again, I’m not trying to attack anyone who liked the movie, I’m just listing the things I, personally, didn’t like about it and the things that I thought didn’t work.

#httyd 3 criticism #httyd 3 salt #httyd 3 #long post #damn this took so long to compile #duskishrambles

[six-of-woes]

The Clown and the Potato Sack (Aerin Valleros x MC)

Chapter 1/? : ...What Now?

Paring: Aerin Valleros x MC

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24533863

Word count: 2381

Summary: Now with the Dreadlord defeated and her friends out of Whitetower, Cassia Nightbloom, is bored. Extremely bored. She wants to do literally anything, but she doesn't know what. Her solution? Try to get some answers from a certain corrupt prince. Unfortunately, that leads to a wacky yet angsty adventure involving a potato sack, a wooden spoon, and A LOT of clowning around.At least she's doing something...right?

Authors Note: Hi so this is my first time posting fic on Tumblr so if I’m doing something wrong feel free to tell me just be nice about it because my ego is fragile Anyway! I hope you guys like it, I thought we clowns could use some content until book 2 comes out. Idk if i’ll ever continue this, i meant for it to be a one-shot but I couldn’t really get my whole plan into one chapter. So. Hopefully there’s more. No promises tho lol

@what-do-you-mean-theyre-evil @theclowneryqueen @findmeafterlife @0oi-io0 @thatgirlbuhle @mirabelle-choices @souhmhey @king-erzsebet @vlastomilsworm @diamonds-and-decorum @xsweetnspookyx

~~~

Cassia watched from the castle balcony as a raggedy caravan rolled out of Whitetower. They’re really gone now, she thought, turning her back on the city. There was a new kind of…emptiness inside her now that Mal, Nia, Tyril, and Imtura were all gone. Maybe they’d only known each other a few months, but to someone who barely had any family to call their own—it struck a certain chord with Cassia to see them go.

She sighed and noted the setting sun—her reminder that she should probably get to dinner. Not that Cassia wanted to spend yet another dinner answering the pointless questions of all those stuffy nobles, but she felt obliged to as Morella’s hero—at least until she figured out where she was going to go from here.

As Cassia walked through the towering corridors, she thought some more about where she wanted to go. Kade wanted to go back to Riverbend(but only after he’d exhausted the library), not in any particular mood to experience any more danger than he already had. Of course, Cassia couldn’t blame him. If she’d spent months in a realm of pure darkness being tortured, she would want at least a break as well.

But that was the thing: she hadn’t been in the Shadow Realm and she wasn’t like Kade. Cassia always thirsted for adventure and as much as she loved Riverbend, she spent twenty out of the almost twenty-one years of her life there. There was so much more out there and if her nightmare had any shred of truth, Cassia knew she had to be there.

But where? She’d already decided against going with any of the others when they left—Cassia’s injuries would make intense sailing with Imtura or any of what Mal had planned painful and difficult, and she wanted to give Nia the room to figure things out on her own. The idea that seemed most plausible for her was going undercount with Tyril. It would’ve been a prime opportunity to learn more about where she came from, after all. Yet…she still felt awkward going there—Cassia knew almost nothing of the elven societal cues and would feel a little useless when trying to help out Tyril with her duties.

She shook her head as she reached the doors of the dining hall. “Never mind all that.” She muttered. “I made my decision.”

“Finally!” Called a voice. “You had me thinking you were going to bail!”

Cassia looked up to see Kade, sitting on one of the corridor benches. He held a new book in his hand, different from the one Cassia had seen him reading at breakfast.

“Sorry,” she muttered, leaning against the closed doors. “Just wanted to make sure the others made it out of town safely.” She swallowed the knot in her throat and nodded toward the dining hall. “Let’s just get to dinner.”

Kade raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless followed Cassia into the hall.

When they entered, Cassia was surprised to see only King Arlan, Threep, and Loola sitting at the table. None of them looked particularly cheerful—not even Threep, who just stared at his dinner plate with a somber expression.

“Your majesty,” Cassia breathed, dipping into a curtsy. “It’s a pleasure to be in your—“

“Oh hush, Cassia,” Arlan said, shaking his head. “There’s no one else here and you’ve more than cemented yourself as a friend of the crown.”

Cassia coughed and straightened up. “Right…Is there any particular reason for the ah—grim mood and significant lack of nobles?”

Arlan cleared his throat and eyed the nespers. “Well…there’s news.”

Cassia felt her heart catch in her throat. News? It can’t have anything to do with what that hooded being said in my dream, could it? No, of course not. It was just a nightmare…right?

“Is something wrong?” Kade piped, eyebrows already creasing with worry.

The king shared a look with Threep and Loola, who looked back at Kade and Cassia.

“Aerin’s awake now,” Threep said, stretching his wings. “I saw him myself in the dungeons—he’s still very much corrupted, but—“

“He’s quiet,” Loola spoke. “All he’s done is hug his knees and stare at the wall.”

Kade scoffed. “Sounds to me like he’s scheming. Want me to punch him again?”

Cassia elbowed her brother (lightly) in the side. “I’m sure it’s fine. Even if he was scheming, there’s really nothing he can do. His cell is surrounded by guards 24/7, there’s a magical barrier around it, and besides, if for some reason he gets out—“ she gestured to the three weapons of legend she had strapped to her body. “I’ll have it handed.”

“Sure,” Kade said, rolling his eyes as he took a seat at the table. He went to drink from his goblet, but a playful smirk graced his lips. “You’re just saying that because you kissed him.”

Cassia grumbled as she took a seat next to Kade at the table. “We don’t have to keep bringing that up,” she whispered through gritted teeth. “That was like, a month ago—before he was you know—evil.”

“Whatever you say,” Kade taunted, still smirking as he took a sip from his goblet.

~~~

The rest of dinner was relatively low-key. Cassia filled Arlan in on what the others were going to do now that they were gone and Kade entertained them all with wild stories from the deep corners of his mind.

Once dinner was over, however, and Kade, Loola, and Threep all returned to their previous business, leaving Cassia to do as she pleased. Problem was, Cassia didn’t really have anything to do.

She found herself standing in the middle of the corridor for what was longer than considered usual—even for Cassia.

“Dammit!” She cried, hours later. “I’m bored as all hells!” In a fit of rage, Cassia kicked the solid gold leg of a nearby bench. Solid. Gold. Promptly after kicking it, Cassia let out a pained yelp and brought her foot up to her arms.

After a few more seconds of hopping on one foot and whisper-shouting an array of curses, Cassia collapsed onto the bench and buried her face in her hands.

“Gods…” she groaned. “I really need to get out of here and do something more dangerous than stubbing my toe.”

But, what was there to do? The most dangerous place Cassia could think of was the Nooks and Crannies—but the real danger was really the guards and Cassia wasn’t interested in picking fights with them right now. She and Mal had already informed Arlan of the corruption, there was no need to escalate a situation that was already under control.

She thought back to visiting them with Mal…and how they got out of their scuffle with the guards.

Unconsciously, Cassia ran her fingers over the ring Aerin had given her. She still hadn’t taken it off, even after the betrayal. It was a reminder of their night at the lake.

She let out another groan. There were so many things about that night that didn’t make sense. Why would he save the unicorn? Sure, it could’ve been to defy Baldur, but…the character he’d been playing didn’t seem like the kind to do that kind of thing. And besides—it was a living thing. Cassia kinda figured the shadow realm had a thing against them—as long as they weren’t a part of their little posse. So why? Why would he do it?

And as a matter of fact, why did he actually not not want to be with her when she “pretend” (as she liked to tell herself) flirting with him during the final battle? That was weird. For someone with such a cold and hardened heart he certainly seemed pretty open to still having her be with him. Were her seduction skills really that good?

Well, to be fair, she did seduce a giant bug. So maybe they were.

So many questions and no way to get answers. Unless…?

He’s awake. Cassia thought. You could go down there…I’m sure the guards would let us—a hero of the realm—go see him. Maybe you could get some answers. Only answers though. You don’t like him anymore, remember? He kinda tried to kill you and all your friends. Also tried to take of the world. So only answers. Nothing else.

She thought about it for a few minutes. No one other than the guards would have to know, right? Not Threep, not Loola, not Arlan or Kade…and especially not Mal. The snitch.

“Godsdammit,” Cassia groaned, looking up at the ceiling. “I can’t believe I’m this bored.”

And with that, she got up and headed toward the dungeons, against her better judgement, yes, but even if she didn’t want to admit it…

…Cassia was a horny bitch.

~~~

Aerin had been put at the lowest level of the dungeons, about four stories below ground. Why the castle need that many floors was beyond Cassia, but nonetheless, she continued her journey down. Down. Down. Down.

Aaaannnnd it turns out walking down stairs for what feels like an eternity is just as boring as standing in the middle of the corridor. Only difference is the corridor is WARM!

“Do you hear that?” Echoed a guard’s voice.

Cassia stopped in her tracks.

“Yeah. Sounds like footsteps. Probably Woodworth and Highmourn coming to relieve us early. Let’s just get going early, tonight’s my anniversary and I don’t want to have to make it up to the ol’ husband again.”

“What about the prince? Weren’t we given strict orders to not leave him alone?”

“Ack, who cares? I mean, look at him—what’s he gonna do, cry about it?”

There was a bout of hearty laughter followed by the clanking of armor. Thinking fast and remembering Mal’s trick, Cassia dodged out of the guards sight and held her breath until they passed. Once she was sure they were long gone, she sprinted the rest of the way down the stairs until she reached Aerin’s cell.

At first glance, it looked like any other cell—dark, damp, and decrepit. But when Cassia got closer, she could see the gold haze of the magical barrier keeping him in. Well, if nothing else, he should at least have a hard time getting out of that. Cassia thought, slowing down to a tip toe the closer she got.

Finally, she reached Aerin’s cell. Unsure if whether or not he was aware of her presence, Cassia just stared. He looked so small. Of course, before all of this, Cassia still had maybe a few inches on him, but then, he wasn’t absolutely helpless. He wasn’t wearing the brilliant red and gold suit he wore the whole time they knew each other, instead wearing a brown tunic and pants that looked more like poorly-stitched together potato sacks than actual clothes. Even in the dark, Cassia’s elven vision could see that he was still grey. Many of the dark veins had gone, but he was still very much corrupted by the shadow.

What do I even say to him? She thought, slipping the Gauntlet of Pain on and off her wrist. Obviously, I’m just here to get questions, so like, just ask him a question. Duh. Easy. Don’t make it awkward. It’s not like you kissed him or anything—oh wait.

“Ahem—“ Cassia started.

“—I already said, I don’t want any food, Highmourn. Now please, if both of you could shut up while I brood I would much appreciate it!”

Cassia coughed. “Sounds like somebody didn’t get their beauty sleep.”

Aerin gasped and whipped around, scowl deepening when he saw Cassia standing over him.

“What are you doing here?!” He spat, rising to his full height(which unfortunately for him, didn’t really look intimidating to Castalia). “Are you here to rub it in? To gloat? Where are all your friends? Am I just not worth their time?”

Cassia sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Calm down, Aerin. I’m not here to antagonize you—you’ve already done that enough—“

“—You just antagonized me! You lie!”

Cassia raised an eyebrow. “…And you’re a drama queen. I’m just here to ask you a few questions and I’ll be out of your hair.”

Aerin scoffed and turned his back to her. “What reason could I possibly have to answer to you? You won, Cassia. You got everything you wanted and I have nothing. Why do I have to give you anymore?”

A few seconds of silence passed. Cassia tried to deny how much that stung, but the tears that started to well up in her eyes proved otherwise.

“Fine,” she snapped, voice wavering. “I’ll only ask you one thing. Then I’ll leave you alone for the rest of your miserable life. Is that enough for you?”

Aerin’s shoulders hunched. “Only if it’ll get you to leave.”

“Alright.” Cassia’s hands balled into fists. “What happened?”

Her words echoed through the dungeon. Seconds passed where the only movement was that of the salty, salty tears rolled down Cassia’s cheeks.

Eventually, Aerin’s shoulders relaxed. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because you were my friend, Aerin. And I want to know why you could so easily go from someone sweet, kind, and compassionate to literally trying to take over the world.”

“Easy,” he spat. “I’ve been corrupted by the shadow court and had a damn good way of hiding it. Can you go now?”

Cassia sighed. “But that night at the lake…you saved that unicorn. If you had such a hatred for human life, why would you save it?”

“That’s more than one question.”

Gods, is this who he really is? Incredibly difficult?

“Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll leave. Have a nice life.”

Cassia wiped her face and turned to leave. Of course she wasn’t gonna get the answers she so desperately wanted. They were right there. What was the point of coming down there anyway?

“Wait!”

She stopped.

“I’ll tell you what happened, Cassia. But…it’s a long story.”

Cassia turned back around and saw Aerin, grasping the bars of his cell with the same vulnerable, hurt, look she remembered from the Deadwood.

She walked back over and took a seat on the ground.

“I have time.”

#blades of light and shadow #bolas #aerin valleros #prince aerin #Aerin x mc #blades of light and shadow fan fiction #fan fiction #playchoices #pixelberry

[moonlightreal]

Fate Episode One

At long last, it’s tiiiiiime!

First: whitewashing bad.  Fact acknowledged.  Everybody else has said everything on the subject (ad nauseum...) so no reason to say it all again!

I’m diving in with questions.  The main one is “Will there be a good reason for Musa to be a mind fairy rather than a music fairy?” Dunno why that’s what I’m wondering the most, but it is.  There’s also “Is Fate!Stella truly an unholy union of Stella and Diaspro?” and “so what makes them fairies not witches/psychics/mutants?” and “So what’s up with Beatrix?  We know nothing about her, and as an Umineko fan I’m favorably disposed towards witches named Beatrice!” and also “They’re not really having sex are they?!”

I’m going to try and approach Fate just like I do every season of the cartoon, ready to celebrate the good, snark at the bad, enjoy many headcanons, reference random stuff, and have a good time.  Pretending I haven’t had my fannish heart nigh to broken by the state of the fandom and that I’m worried I’ll get hate for even posting this.  I’m’a try to start from zero to find my own answer the really big question… “Good, bad, or totally irredeemable?”

So… In which we discover a new world.

We start with… a night scene.  Not promising when “too dark can’t see” is one of my pet peeves!  An old fella comes out to check on his cute Irish sheep.  He passes through the barrier, into the dangerous forest beyond to look for a missing sheep.  Yup, he’s gonna be guest victim in the first five minutes.

Oh no!  Something has disemboweled a sheep and left it hanging in a tree!  Clearly there are leopards in the magical realm!

There is a great roar and an unseen but very large-sounding beast chases our poor shepherd!  The guy trips and falls just as he’s about to get through the barrier and is set upon and devoured by the unseen beast!  Blood spatters the rocks!

Opening! It’s the wings we’ve sen and some really beautiful music.  One point for the music.

Then a gorgeous flying shot of the outside of the barrier and Alfea. Whatever the plot turns out to be, the outdoor setting is beautiful. Music that seems to be both pop and edgy plays as we zoom in on the logo on the gate, and there’s Bloom coming in the gate.

And there’s Terra with her father and a tray full of plants.

And there’s Aisha walking by with her dreads

And there’s Stella taking a selfie with other students.

And there’s Musa leaning on her suitcase, headphones on, looking at her phone.  Another girl says something to Musa and she turns and replies and smiles.

And there’s one of the guys twirling a knife.  I’ve heard Sky starts out in a pink shirt so this must be Riven.  The camera comes back to Bloom as she gives him a doubtful look.  In the novelization she’s mentally labeling him an edgelord, and that kinda fits.  Any dude showing off his willingness to twirl weapons at a high school probably is best avoided—except the dudes here are training to fight so the weapons rules must be different.  I wonder if Bloom knows yet that dudes with swords are normal here.

Bloom gets a text to meet Stella at the gate.  She waits.

Camera pan to Sky talking to another guy.  Sky looks… Sky-ish.  Chris Evans style handsome, blond.  I’d’ve made him grow his hair to mimic cartoon Sky’s silly shaggy haircut, but points for making Sky look like Sky!  Minus points for not dying Riven maroon.  They could’ve made it work!

Sky is indeed wearing a pink shirt.  In the novelization Bloom thinks he’s wearing it “because gender roles were for the weak” which is a line I think is funny and intend to use in a story somewhere. There is no obvious hint in the show that Sky thinks gender roles are for the weak

Bloom’s tired of waiting.  She heads off.  Sky ditches his buddy to go meet her.  “Wow, you are so lost.  I’m impressed with your confidence in the face of complete ignorance.  Issue is, you’re overcomitted. You’re essentially running.  And now that I’m here you can’t possibly give me the satisfaction of turning around.”  he says, all in one go.  

I can’t decide if that’s jerkish or charming.  Maybe Bloom shares my weakness for men with accents because she decides on charming.

Bloom says she’s a fairy, giggles because that’s something she never thought she’d say, they’re standing in the courtyard of a college for fairies, Bloom’s from California, not the Otherworld.  So we get all that established.  Sky is kinda charming here and points out the specialists’ hall and fairy hall.

Sky: “I’d be happy to-”

Bloom: “Mansplain it?”  

So the writing team does know some modern issues!  Bloom says Sky seems like a mansplainer, which seems like quite a leap since she is new and he is helping her, in a friendly-sarcastic kind of way.  She’s giggling, clearly charmed.

Then Riven comes up, and he’s like a foot shorter than Sky, and Bloom escapes for some reason so maybe she wasn’t enjoying the conversation as much as it looked? Or maybe it was just the plot needs to move along.  Riven glomp-hugs Sky.  He’s got a great accent too.

Bloom must’ve left because she saw Stella, they say hello.  Bloom says she got impatient waiting and Stella says, “How very American of you”  So American stereotypes are known in magical worlds also?    

So, Stella!  Blonde, tall, zero Stella vibe.  Accent. Long pale coat and a satiny top with big chunky pendant.  She gets to her ring quick, “Portal ring, the only thing that keeps me sane in this place is the ability to leave it.  Your world may not always be thrilling but it beats this one.  There are seven realms in the Otherworld, each a different kind of boring.”  All spoken in a jaded monotone.  Ugh, what have they done to our Stella!

The girls walk inside while Stella speaks, the school is pale stone and arches and plants.  Other students are arriving, hauling suitcases, hugging.  At least some of them seem happy to be here!

Cut to the globe!  and it’s a magical globe, the water moves and there are lil sailing ships!  But the lands are totally blank, so it’s a cheap magic globe Dowling didn’t pay enough for the one with tiny forests too.  Alfea is in the realm of Solaria.

Maybe they shouldn’t have made Ireland = Solaria.  I’ve only been to England but we did not see the sun the whole trip!  Bloom’s in Dowling’s really cool office.  She spins the globe but the camera pans away before we see the names of the other realms.  Bloom’s talking nervously about seeing people updating their insta stories, expecting Tinkerbells, and the lack of wings.

Dowling: “We had wings in the past.  As we’ve evolved, transformation magic has been lost.  Tink was an air fairy, you’re a fire fairy.”

Dowling says classes tomorrow, learn to use magic slowly but safely… we establish Bloom is here to learn to control her magic so she can go home and not keen on ‘slow.’  Dowling says, ‘trust the process’ which immediately makes me mistrust her.

Then she gives a great lil speech: “Alfea’s graduates have ruled realms and led armies.  They have forged powerful relics and rediscovered long lost relics.  They shape the otherworld.”

But Bloom just wants to get done and go home.  She says, ‘I'm here because you promised you’d teach me control.” and Dowling says, ‘no, you’re here because you knew you have no other choice.” and Bloom looks betrayed.

Yeah Dowling’s sus.  

Next scene: Bloom showing her dorm to her parents over video call!  How does that work between dimensions?  Her folks look nothing like Mika and Vanessa, dad’s got a beard and silver temples, mom’s got big blonde curls.  Neither of them have burn injuries or the sort of freaked out vibe I’d expect from folks whose house was just on fire.

Roommate pan-around!  Terra puts potted plants everywhere!  Stella preens at the vanity! Musa headphones-and-laptop but smiles at Terra.  Aisha comes in with her laundry bag.

Bloom’s parents get suspicious about the timezone thing, they think Bloom’s in the Alps, and Aisha comes and covers for her saying it’s time for lights out.

Aisha intro!  She is wearing a pink and brown checkered dress that’s not super fashionable or flattering.  I like her blue braids though. Aisha does not seem to have the accent that many Alfeans have.

Bloom explains the “human parents, fairy daughter, I must be a throwback to an ancestor” thing.  Aisha looks dubious.  Then they mention Harry Potter!

Bloom; ‘Ravenclaw, sometimes Slytherin.’

Aisha; ‘Explains the lies then.  Gryffindor.’

Bloom: ‘Explains the judgment.’

Congrats, you both were jerks in three short lines. 9_9  But they’re smiling so I guess it’s friendly sniping.  

Bloom goes to see Stella, who’s holding up sparkly tops to herself. She’s also got this weird rainbow skirt that looks like gymnastics clothes not real clothes.  Stella’s changing for the party because people have already seen her in her clothes.  Bloom asks confused, ‘People expect you to wear multiple outfits?’ and Stella comes back with, ‘people expect me to care how I look.” In the same jaded monotone.

Before Bloom can WTF outta there like a sensible person Stella snaps her fingers and creates a ball of light.  Bloom gapes, but not nearly as much as I feel like she should.  The magic is beautiful, it’s all rainbowy and sparkly.  Bloom just hesitantly asks, ‘Can I ask, how exactly you..?” and Stella shuts her down with an almost kind, “I’m a mentor, not a tutor.”

But she does give a little infodump.  “Fairy magic is tied to emotion. God thoughts, bad, hatred, fear, the stronger the emotion the stronger the magic.”

And Bloom says, ‘Do you hate me or fear me?  You were looking at me when you did that.  And I’m pretty sure you don’t love me.” Smart cookie, Bloom!  Points to you!  We know it’s because Bloom was talking to sky, and that gives Stellla some emotions.

And points to Stella, she thaws out her voice and talks like a real person, ‘I don’t know you.  I’m sure once I do I’ll find something to love.”  She sounds rather doubtful about the last bit but yay actual emotion!

Then Stella goes over to Terra for her intro scene and I cringe because the novelization did Terra dirty and I’m not keen to see it on screen.  But it works ok.  Stella gently calls Terra on the number of houseplants and says the secret garden was better kept secret, Terra responds that wasn’t really the message of the book, Stella looks at her with amused patience and leaves Musa and Terra to continue the scene.  And I decide if there’s no infodump about how earth and the Otherworld relate to each other in this show I shall be cross.

Then Terra chatters on about her family and how she grew up at Alfea since her dad works here (she’s holding a 100% fake plant) and drops that Stella is a second year.  Musa asks why a second-year is in a first-year suite and Terra says it’s some administrative thing probably best not to mention.  But Terra totally knows the secret.

Musa’s eyes glow purple.  Magic!  But we don’t hear what she hears.  She starts putting her headphones on.  Terra goes on to say they should all not mention it to Stella, then interrupts another headphones-attempt to offer Musa a succulent, “They’re low maintainence, perfect for you, not that I really know you...’

Musa: ‘If I take it will you stop talking?”

Terra visibly deflates and Musa apologizes and grabs the succulent before finally getting to escape into music.

Aisha leans in to ask Terra if Alfea has a pool.  It has a river and Aisha’s been swimming—twice a day every day!  Terra says no pool, just the pond where the specialists train but nobody swims there, at least not on purpose.

And we immediately cut out to the pond, which looks pretty mucky, I wouldn’t want to swim there either!  Two specialists, a boy and a girl, are whacking away at each other with wooden swords on the shore.  They’re all dressed in black pants and tank tops, very Divergent movie poster except with the Alfea logo on the front. There’s a bunch of specialists training all around the pond and one does indeed knock their opponent in with a splash!  But we home in on Sky and Riven and I cannot get over how short and skinny Riven is compared to Sky!  And the fact that I’ve just been rewatching Lord of the Rings and Riven doesn’t look 100% not like Dominic Monaghan… sorry Riven’s actor, I’m sure in future episodes I’ll stop thinking you’re a hobbit!

Anyway, Riven’s teasing Sky about his crush on Bloom, says Sky always goes for the crazy ones and all redheads are crazy.  Sky puts Riven on the mat and Riven says he was getting high all summer and not practicing. Before Sky can give him a “big brother speech” on that riven skedaddled because here comes the teacher with a different speech!

This show’s Codatorta, whose name is Silva and who looks very irish and I like him, does a little speech about how y’all gotta train, singles out a black guy I think is Dane and says, ‘even you will be able to fight like him.” and attacks Sky, who fights back.  They spar for a minute.

Infodump: “Sky’s father was Andreas of Eraklyon, that makes him a legacy.” Also, some of these kids are from families of specialists and some were selected by Silva based on their talent for combat and weaponry. “This place will seem like hell until actual hell comes.  We are the first line of defense, a certainty when the future is uncertain!’

Then Dane snickers about the whole ‘school full of kids with swords’ and Silva says it must be nice to be so ‘soft’ he can make fun. And Dane drops that the barrier exists ‘to protect the school from Burned Ones.”

As he says it, we cut to Sky going out through the barrier to smoke.  

Burned ones are gone.  But Silva saw one when he was a kid.  His father shot it but was killed by the Burned One’s poison.  Burned Ones are inhumanly strong and fast, and have a terrible poison, or disease that kills people who get away.

Sky looks over and sees the shepherd’s body.  Yikes!

Cut to the staff arriving to look at the remains.  Just three: Dowling, Codatorta, and Terra’s dad.  Is that the whole staff?  Who teaches? Could’ve been a wolf or a bear… Terra’s dad collects some gunk from the body and I think calls it “char residue.”

Dowling says, “She killed all the Burned Ones.”

She? This world’s Marion/Daphne, likely.

But the adults clean it up so the kids can party!  Our girls are gathered around the food, and they’re better dressed!  Aisha’s got her hair up and a blue hoodie, Musa’s got a little red coat.  Terra has not been blessed by the fashion fairy, she’s in some overalls it looks like, not flattering.  Terra is saying hopefully that maybe the shepherd died of old age and Musa’s ‘Yeah, that old age decapitation” is gentle ribbing not cruel.  

Aisha’s loading up a stack of cookies, says how much she eats and, ‘If I didn’t swim I’d be massive.” it’s not aimed at Terra , but Terra flinches.  Aisha heads off and Terra says something that boils down to, ‘Musa, you’re tuning out me in particular.” which, Terra you’ve known Musa for what, six hours?  Way too short a time to take it personal.  Musa says, ‘It’s a me thing, it’s not you.” and Terra just flusters and heads away.  Musa looks troubled but not sure what to do and puts her headphones on.

This is SO much better than in the book.  Not perfect, all the interactions between the girls have been very weird as if they’ve been given a script full of cruel catty lines and instructed to say them in a kind way, but at least they’ve tried for the vibe of “trying to be nice to people we don’t know yet and flubbing it” rather than “we are all terrible people” like I feared.

Terra meets her dad and tries to go to the greenhouse with him but he makes her stay to enjoy the party.

Cut to some grownup dude—Dowling’s secretary? Apparently searching for something in a desk that I presume is outside the headmistress’ office.

Beatrix… or possibly a gothed-up Bloom… comes to see Dowling and when told the headmistress isn’t in says, ‘I’ll just take a water, room temp, thanks love.’ and then when the door opens Beatrix greets Dowling with a simpering ‘I'm your biggest fan, I’m obsessed with Alfea...” and cascading apologies for swearing, with more swearing. Dowling and her secretary are as confused by this as I am but Dowling says Beatrix can study the history of Alfea in the library if she wants to.  I assume this is evil Beatrix slyly getting permission to hit the books.  Is Beatrix even a student at Alfea?

Cut to Bloom’s notebook, she’s already started taking notes about powers being linked to emotions, love hate and fear.  Great initiative Bloom, but are there no textbooks you could be reading ahead in?  

We get dumped back to a flashback: Bloom’s mom wants her to go out on a Saturday night, to a party or a movie or whatever teen thing.  All Bloom wants to do is go to antique sales apparently.  Bloom doesn’t want to be a “basic bitch” like her mom and her mom doesn’t want her daughter to be a “weird loner.”

Pause while I urban dictionary “basic bitch.”  Huh.  Not a term I ever heard in my circle of nerds.  

Bloom and her mom are awful to each other.  Back in the present Bloom’s eyes flame up as she remembers.  She decides it’s time to go experiment!  Right now!  Before even one day of magic class or one page of a textbook!  The idiot ball has entered play.

Night has fallen because of course it has.  Bloom runs into Sky at the party.  But she’s not looking to party, she’s looking for a place to be alone outside.  Sky directs her to beyond the barrier, because we’re about to have Plot.  If it weren’t for Plot I‘m sure Sky could’ve suggested a specialist workout area inside the barrier. Sky says there might be wolves or bears or “maybe something much scarier” and Bloom catches the idiot ball and says, ‘But no people?  Perfect!”

Sky offers to go with her but Bloom says no thanks in a “I think you may be flirting and I may be down for that in the future just not right now.” kind of a way.  Good character interaction!  Except Stella grabs Sky for a chat once Bloom heads out to meet the Plot.

Sky and Stella have an opaque exchange that really just establishes they have a past of some sort that everyone knows about because everyone stares—or at least Stella thinks everyone is staring.  I’m starting to feel weirdly sorry for this Stella who has none of her namesake’s sparkle and confidence.  Why does she think all the realms are boring?  Is she ever enthusiastic?

...wait, it’s still day!  Why was it night inside??  This show is weird about lighting.  Gosh Ireland is beautiful!  Where’s this castle they got to be Alfea?  Can I go there?  This FOREST!  It is a fully magical forest.  Aisha is swimming in the river, with goggles and a cap but Bloom heads into the amazing forest.  Good music here too!  Forests and magic and music, come on Fate you CAN be a good show, I believe in you!  Just put down the idiot ball and step away...  Bloom goes through the barrier and outside it sees a swirl of orange and white sparkles in the air.  She watches it and laughs and then hikes through a little more forest.

Finding a clearing Bloom calls her fire.  At first she can’t, then she looks through the pictures on her phone looking for emotion. “Pictures of my sad teenage years are not happy thoughts.  Noted.” She says with an angsty little smile.  Then there’s a photo of the burned out house.  She zooms in and stares at it taking in all the details.  And we get flashbacks to the line of fire racing towards her parents’ bed.

Fire! Bloom turns her handful of fire this way and that, delighted, then tries for two hands.  This is the scene from the trailer, playing with fire.  Good music here.  And good that Bloom thought the magic was neat… uuuuntil she realizes she doesn’t know how to put it out.  She freaks out and waves her hands around trying to blow out the flames.

Aisha comes to the rescue and says dumb things like, “You’re losing control.” and “If you get angry at me...” and Bloom does get angry and throws lines of fire right at Aisha.  Who looks terrified. Sensibly, but also has she never seen fire magic before?  She grew up in a magic realm, does she know nothing about how to help someone get control?  Is control taught to magical babies so teenagers rarely see someone wigging out?  But if magic is emotion then everyone will lose control sometime since we all get upset.  How does an emotion=magic society function?

Anyway. aisha pulls water up from the ground and puts out the flames.

Inside Aisha gives Bloom what for about losing control.  Including, “Is that American for sorry I almost set you on fire?”  Srsly, this show is Irish people and Italians stealth throwing shade at Americans!  *Laughs in January 2021* Bloom retorts that she went away from people to experiment for just that reason, and tells Aisha about not having had fairy parents or any magical experience.

Aisha responds with the story of flooding her school including the toilets and having to wade through poo.  (I also tend to call it poo, after watching Mike Rowe.  I wonder if they watch Dirty Jobs in the Otherworld.)

And Bloom tells her story.  Bloom isn’t a cheerleader, she likes antiques and staying home by herself, so she and her mom don’t get along.  Her parents removed her door, which is awful!  And Bloom got flamey eyes and sent fire straight at her parents while they slept. While Bloom sat on her bed in a rage trance.  Understandable level of fury after that fight.  And Bloom feels awful, also understandable. And she snuck out to sleep in a creepy warehouse to protect her parents.  Her folks didn’t know it was her of course, they don’t know about magic.

Aisha says that beats her flood story, but Aisha is also wondering about something.  “You drew on a good deal of magic without even trying. it’s hard to believe you’re from a dormant bloodline.  Is there any chance you’re adopted?”

Bloom laughs.  Then says she heard the story of her birth a million times, she was a miracle baby diagnosed with a heart defect but then after birth her heart was fine.

Aisha: “Oh god, you’re a changeling!” … ‘It’s barbaric and it barely ever happens anymore….”

Bloom has had enough and just says, “why would you even tell me that?” and leaves.  Musa comes over and asks Aisha what she said.  Aisha: “The truth.  Because someone’s been lying to her.”

Cut to Dowling, lookin’ sus!

This changeling thing had better be fully explained later.  Why was it done in the past?  Why is it considered barbaric?  What happened to the parents’ real kid?  I assume she died of the heart condition, but that’s a bigole dangling bit of Plot.  In the unlikely event that Fate goes for many seasons that baby will turn up with magic too or as a specialist or something. 

Dowling pours tea.  Then she telekinetically locks her office door and opens a secret passage!  Dowling is sus.

Back at the party, where it again seems to be night.  Dane is leaning on a column hangin out when here comes Riven with a flask!  He offers, Dane says no thanks, Riven says, ‘There are two types of first-years: pussies and aspiring former pussies.” and pours the entire flask’s worth of booze into Dane’s cup anyway.

Dane says something about, “It feels like less a binary choice and more like a spectrum.”  And points for the actor delivering this line like it’s a sarcastic comment on social juscice-ness rather than the large sign saying “Dane is not straight!’ that the writers intended.  Dane drinks, makes a face, and Riven bullies him into drinking the rest, tipping the glass so Dane chokes.

Terra rides to the rescue, “Bullying the first-years?  Can you be more basic?” and Riven says Dane was into it which he wasn’t.

Terra: “Thinks he’s some badass but you should’ve seen him last year he was just a tragic nerd in disguise.”

Riven: “And she’s just three people in disguise.”

Dane does call Riven out on that bit of nastiness but Terra just does a great lil speech and strangles Riven with vines.  Thought I’d hate that but I kinda liked it.  Go Terra.  Then she introduces herself to Dane, says that wasn’t a great first impression but Dane says he’s about to make an impression by throwing up after a single drink, and Terra hurries him away presumably to the nurse.  

Bloom google-imaged changelings!  Lotsa woodcuts, someone’s fanart entitled “horror of fairy babies.’  There’s more nuance to it than that…  Bloom looks at a family photograph.

There’s Stella, coming to be sympathetic?  Nope, she’s coming to conivingly advance the plot!  “You know there’s no shame in that, wanting a normal life, wanting to be home...”

When the girls get back Bloom is nowhere to be found.  Musa mind-reads that Stella is wracked with guilt,  They put it together, Bloom was talking to Sky and now she’s gone.  Apparently Stella did something nasty to the last girl who talked to Sky.  Terra is kinda straight up badass.  Stella confesses, she kindly loaned Bloom the portal ring so she could go back to “the first world” but to use it Bloom has to go deep into the forest outside the barrier to a door in a graveyard.

Portal’s super low special effects, Bloom pushes open a door in a cemetary, the ring glows, and Bloom walks into what must be the warehouse she hid out in.

It’s very dark inside both buildings but away from the cemetary it seems to still be day so we can see a Burned One’s shadow coming towards the portal.  Day and night seem to depend on location in this show, and anywhere you need a monster it’s gonna be dark!  Bloom seems to leave the magic portal open and we see her step out on the warehouse into a weirdly well-lit night on earth.

Real actual nighttime on earth.  Bloom walks to her parents’ house and calls them from outside.  Her dad’s surprised she called twice in one day.  This call her folks seem just worried and nice, not awful like they were in the flashback.  Bloom cries.  She can’t ask her parents about the changeling thing.  Her mom says very kind, ‘Your path isn’t like mine or your father’s but I can’t wait to see who you become.”  Bloom hangs up and cries and watches her parents in their house, then walks back to the warehouse to return to Alfea.

But first we get to see where she was camping!  In a little office in the warehouse. She brought a lot of stuff, bedding and pictures for the walls and everything.  She opens a notebook and we see that she was experimenting already, discovered she was fireproof, wondered if she had superpowers.  Then she senses something and looks out through an interior window into the rest of the warehouse.

Yikes! it’s a Burned One!

Bloom staggers back, trips, and drops Stella’s ring down a grate in the floor.

Bloom’s never heard of Burned Ones at this point but she knows a monster when she sees one.  She cowers, back to the wall. The Burned One breaks through the window and tries to grab her!

Bloom escapes into some kind of tunnel, I guess she opened the grate that the ring fell through?  It’s not totally clear.  There’s the ring, on the other side of a different grate or screen, Bloom can’t reach it, there’s lots of roaring, Bloom runs like hell!

And there’s Dowling!  She says, ‘don’t stop now.’ and gestures Bloom through the door back to the cemetery.  The door closes behind her.  Terra, Musa and Aisha are waiting to make sure Bloom’s ok. Bloom says the Burned One got the ring.

Stella, meanwhile, is on Sky’s bed when he comes out of the shower! Dressed, at least.

Sky is not interested.  “You can’t be here, Stell.  If Silva finds out-’   Sky goes for his trousers but Stella comes over and snuggles up to his bare back.  Sky is still not keen.  Seems Stella dumped him then went silent all summer and now she’s jumping in since he talked to Bloom.  Stella… comes out and says, “I got jealous. I did something really stupid.”  and she says, “I can’t sleep in a room where everybody hates me.”   For sending Bloom into danger to get home when that’s what Bloom wanted?  Not great, Stella, but hateworthy?  Did the girls all tell her they hate her or does Stella just think she’s an awful person?  And is Stella actually desperately unhappy or is she just trying to get in Sky’s pants?  Not sure what to take away from this.  Sky hugs Stella and tells her she’s better than she thinks she is.  

The others get back to the dorm and Aisha reassures Bloom that Dowling can take care of the Burned One.

Cut to Beatrix leaving her raid on the library with armfuls of books. She passed Riven, who’s smoking.  They say flirty things and Beatrix says she’s been “snorting the midnight adderall” to show that she’s a bad girl.  Riven offers her a puff but her hands are full of books so they do this almost-kiss so Riven can blow smoke into her mouth.  Erotic, also gross.  Is that a real thing people do? Riven asks Beatrix if she’s a first-year and she says “I’m lots of things” and walks off leaving Riven and the room he’s in, which has the most gorgeous arched windows with trees in them.  Is this place real?  It’s the same place the party was but now it’s night and these windows are glowing green with tree outlines in them. This has gotta be something the filmmakers added.

Pajama scene in the girls’ suite, Terra waters plants, Musa hops in bed with headphones on.  Terra does a needy little wave.  Musa reluctantly un-headphones.  Terra offers a speaker she borrowed from her brother so Musa can have her music without shutting other people out.

And I cringe so hard because just let people tune you out if they want! Communicate by whiteboard!  People not wanting to share doesn’t mean they hate you, it means they have their own thoughts they’re busy with!  Come on Terra, be better than your novelization self!

Musa calls Terra out on her fake-happy bullshit.  Musa can feel all of Terra’s insecurities and anger.  Seems like maybe empaths shouldn’t have to share a room!  What’s the range on mind reading?  How did Musa hit 16 without learning to tune stuff out or going mad?  But Musa says, ‘but if you want to know how I really feel...” and switches her music to a speaker, it’s guitar-y and nice.

Up in Dowling’s office, Silva says she should’ve killed the Burned One not left it chained up and knocked out in a shack outside the barrier.  Dowling needs to investigate this Burned One, see if there are more of them.  Then Dowling spills that Bloom is a changeling, from the time the last Burned One disappeared.  And she says, “Rosalind kept so much from us.  I’m worried about the students. The Alfea they know is very different from the one we attended.”  There’s something very “there was a war before” about the two of them.  Dowling may not be sus after all, though that may make her a terrible headmistress depending on how the next episodes go.

Montage of sleeping students.  Terra and Dane are texting.  Dane accidentally likes one of Riven’s sexy photos.  Riven’s pleased.  Sky and Stella are sharing a bed but after the last scene I can’t imagine they actually did anything.  Sky seemed pretty unseduceable.  

And outside a Mysterious Cloaked Figure passes through the barricade, finds the Burned One in the hut, and zaps it awake with lightning. It pushed back its hood… Beatrix!  So if she undid her too-tight braids she’d be Stormy?  So is Beatrix the villain?  I mean obviously she’s a villain but the threat of the Burned Ones feels... bigger than one teenager in Bratz clothes who has not got the presence of even one Trix much less all three wrapped up together.  But anyway she’ gets to be a doomful cloaked figure at the end of episode one.

Very pretty ending credits music. Listened to it several times.  I can’t understand the lyrics which is probably just as well.  Is it in irish or is it just sung in a way to not have clear lyrics?  C’mon fate, Irishness is a big thing you’ve got going for you, please milk it for all its worth!

I… I LIKED it!  Now my friends say future episodes get worse so I can’t get my hopes too high but this wasn’t awful.  None of the girls really had any vibe of their characters, only Bloom and Sky really look like Bloom and Sky.  The worldbuilding is lacking, I’m left with more questions than answers.

And oh god one episode was ten pages and about five hours.  I… I meant to do this with every episode but I’m not sure I can.  There’s so much to comment on it takes forever.  Maybe I’ll do each one in parts.  Or maybe I’ll abandon the writing and just watch the show like a normal person.  It’s a lot of fun to fine-toothed comb each scene but I’m’a be here forever!

#fate the winx saga

[norcumii]

Feral!Kenobi plunnie

I’ve a ridiculous partial plunnie, and no idea what to do with it.

So here it is for the internets, hopefully someone wants to play with it because beyond pretty visuals and some silliness I got nothing. Also, much mock grumpy gesticulating must be made towards @dharmaavocado  because I’m sure I was inspired by her talk of Amnesia AUs (and her recent Leverage AU snippet was inadvertently what kicked things off, so thbbbbbt). Also thanks to @dogmatix because she helped plot SHENANIGANS.

*****

SO! AU time! It’s been like, at least 2 years of this damned war, and Rex is now in a stage of P I N I N G for a certain General Kenobi. He’s professional enough to not ever say a thing, and Kenobi seems ignorant. That’s good enough, right?

Then Kenobi faffs off somewhere, as he is wont to do, and disappears for about a week. The 212th has been left to handle themselves like the ADULTS THEY ARE, while Skywalker, Ahsoka, and Rex sail off to rescue someone’s moronic ass. They follow his trail (no I have no idea what that’s a trail of, which is yet another reason I’m not writing this for reals) to some obscure planet and a weird Sithy type temple thing that looks ominous and feels even creepier in the Force. There’s not much to this temple thing, and the main chamber’s roof has caved in.

That looks recent. As a matter of fact, a bunch of the rocks have been cleared away, like someone was underneath them at the time they came down. There’s a decent amount of blood, too –  

Along with the crushed remains of a familiar lightsaber. Also something the Jedi can tentatively identify as some kind of Sith artifact, though according to Ahsoka (she geeked out about some old relics in the Archives for a project several years ago), no one knows what they might have done.

Fuck. So good news, Obi-Wan is probably alive – the rocks look like they were moved from underneath, not from the outside. Bad news, his lightsaber is toast and there was a mysterious Sith artifact involved. There’s no hint of which was cause and which effect: a lightsaber can be rigged to cause an explosion; the roof could’ve trashed it and the artifact when it came down; the artifact could’ve caused who knows what kind of damage.

They spread out to search the area a bit more closely. Rex is prepared for trouble, but something still gets the drop on him. One minute he’s prowling around checking the bushes, the next something is tackling him. If he weren’t a well-trained soldier and a clone genetically tweaked to keep up with Jedi, he’d be dead. As it is, there’s a scruffy cloaked figure trying to kill him with a set of fancy ritual knives that had to have come from the temple. They tussle for a bit, Rex JUST managing to keep them at bay while getting in a few good hits. The Jedi finally charge in to the rescue, Force shoving the figure into a wall.

The hood of his cloak finally falls, and Obi-Wan Kenobi is looking at them like he has no idea who they are.

*****

There’s possibly a bit more fighting before the trio’s certainty that it’s someone they know and care about sinks in enough to convince Kenobi to back down and listen. See, he has no idea who he is, or who they are, or a lot of things, really. His memories overall are just gone – no hints, no remnants, no suspicious feelings. His skills are all there, including the Force, though he doesn’t always know he’s using things. He just does stuff. General knowledge is fuzzy – he knows about the Republic, but while for instance he knows there’s a chancellor fuckall if he knows who it is.

The other three are Very Concerned, and take him back to the Twilight, then/or the Resolute. Anakin has investigating to do, Ahsoka can research from the ship, and Rex is trying to grapple with the knowledge that after the fact, in retrospect, Feral!Kenobi almost killing him was disturbingly HOT (oh help what do?). Jedi don’t fight like that, this is not normal, and Rex is very, very confused.

*****

“Feral” is accurate. Kenobi doesn’t seem to give many shits about societal niceties (he can observe them, he just doesn’t have much reason to care), and he keeps his shiny knives and just prowls around the place. He’s sparred with a number of the ARCs on board, and kicked ass in ways that The General would not do – also hot, though the general consensus is that the contrast between this new Kenobi and the old one is just too jarring and weird to overcome chain of command and propriety. He doesn’t have the serenity or the tendency of the General to sink into the background: it’s not that he’s arrogant, it’s just that this is a man who has no memories of why he might be uncertain about himself or his place in the world.

*****

This weird little dance goes on for at least another week. It’s late evening, and Rex is almost at his cabin, almost able to faceplant in his bunk and contemplate how these new circumstances are beyond weird and just fucked up. Then Kenobi stalks up to Rex in the empty corridor, and from the way he rakes a look over the Captain, he can tell the aggressive thing is a turn on. He doesn’t waste any time before speaking. “I’ve been feeling you pining halfway across the ship, and it is a very large ship. Did we used to fuck?”

The floor doesn’t open and swallow Rex whole, unfortunately. He tries to stammer out a few things, which is interesting because he has no idea what he might possibly say. Kenobi steps closer, and Rex backs right up to his door. “That’s a no, then. Might be fun to.” He plants a hand on Rex’s breastplate, pushing enough for the pressure to be felt but not enough to actually trap him. “Interested?”

“General–!”

“No.” It’s like all the intensity just cuts off, for all that Kenobi doesn’t pull back, doesn’t move an inch. “Not anymore. I don’t remember being him, for all we know I won’t ever remember being him. I’ll use the name, but not the title. That’s not who I am now.”

“But you might be.” The notion’s plagued him a bit, helped keep a bit of reserve in the face of this man stalking through the halls, utterly certain of himself. “Isn’t that how it goes in the holos? Second crack on the head, forget everything between that and the first one?”

“That’s not how head injuries work,” Kenobi says, dry as he used to be, even as his posture and attitude are still sex on wheels. “There’s no decent explanation for this, several possible causes, and that’s a problem for the other me if he ever comes back. Would it make life difficult for you, if we fucked?”

Little gods, he wishes Kenobi would stop saying it like that, and the bastard can probably tell, and it doesn’t help that the aggressive thing and the attitude are intriguing. “Probably,” he admits with more honesty than he really intends.

Like that Kenobi is several paces back, hands to himself though the posture is still predatory. “Then it’s all your call, Captain. If you’re interested, I’m sure you can find me if you come looking.” He turns, takes two steps, then pauses and glances back. That is sultry in the way the rest was all matter of fact, direct. “Hm. We might have to try that.”

Try what? Rex’s brain manages to ask, before ‘come looking’ sinks in and he just goes red. Fucking asshole of not-really-a-general has already disappeared by then, of course.

*****

So that all builds to some aggressive smutty fun times, because Feral!Kenobi loves pushing (and making Rex blush) and once he’s over the initial reactions Rex enjoys pushing back. For reasons unknown I don’t think Obi-Wan ever gets his memories back, but he’s FAR less likely to fall for persuasive bullshit and political idiocy than in canon.

No idea where or how that goes, though. Just pretty mental images of Feral!Kenobi who thinks fighting is right next door to fucking in terms of a good time, and Rex who is flailing along realizing this hits a LOT of kinks he did not know he had.

~end

#star wars #plunnie for adoption #fic ideas #sass and murder show #My writing #Rex/Obi #feral obi-wan #long post is long #i desperately wanted to play with the whole thing about someone with amnesia REFUSING to ask where are they #or who the people around them are because Obi-Wan is nothing if not a stubborn canny idiot #but it never fit in anywhere #just something about feral!Obi-Wan talking circles around a poor medic #and to that bastard it's just another tuesday where Kenobi's being a brat about his injuries #i will find a place for that one day dammit #i'd apologise for the lack of a read more but I'm so paranoid since the purge #i want folks to be able to read things even if i get deleted again #sigh #tumblageddon

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Moffat Dracula Review

Plot Summary For People Who Don’t Want To Watch It:

Dracula corners Jonathan, Mina, and Sister Agatha Van Helsing in a secluded convent in Budapest following Jonathan’s escape from his castle. The castle sequence itself is explained in flashback as Jonathan recounts his experience, leading up to the realization that he himself had died during his stay there. 

Realizing he’s now become some form of undead creature, he attempts to kill himself via a stake but is unsuccessful. Despairing at this, he invites Dracula inside the convent in exchange for a true death.  Agatha and Mina are able to stay safe within a circle of sacramental bread but everyone else is massacred. 

When Mina sees Dracula disguised as Jonathan approaching them, she invites him inside the circle. He of course reveals his identity immediately after. Agatha bargains her own life for Mina’s, so Dracula allows the other girl to go free.

Some time later, Dracula sets sail for England aboard the Demeter, a Russian ship with a strangely high number of wealthy passengers and a bluebeard’s cabin no one is allowed to enter. He quickly picks off the passengers one by one, meanwhile himself leading the effort to find the murderer onboard. 

This culminates in the remaining passengers finally searching the ship— and the mysterious cabin which is revealed to have been hiding a sickly Sister Agatha inside. She explains that Dracula is a vampire and together with the passengers they attempt to kill him by setting him on fire. But it is unsuccessful. Agatha urges everyone to escape on lifeboats because she intends to blow up the ship with her and Dracula in it before it is able to reach England. 

Dracula does not die but remains dormant under water. He reaches Whitby roughly 100 years later and is immediately captured by the Jonathan Harker foundation, lead by Agatha’s descendant Dr Zoe Van Helsing. He leaves captivity fairly quickly however with the help of Frank Renfield— a lawyer he hired over skype. 

Zoe is revealed to be dying of cancer. Dracula offers her his blood to heal her but it doesn’t seem to work. It instead gives her a bond to communicate with her dead ancestor Agatha, which gives her more insight about the vampire. 

Meanwhile, Dracula begins preying on Lucy Westenra, a young socialite. Despite leading a seemingly perfect life, she is wholly apathetic and disgruntled with her situation. She allows him to feed on her in exchange for the high a vampire’s bite can give her. He attempts to turn her into a vampire but she’s burned horribly once she’s cremated following her funeral.

Her death leads Zoe and Jack Seward to where Dracula has been staying. During their confrontation however Lucy returns, and after learning about her appearance, begs Jack to kill her, which he does. 

Zoe asks Jack to leave so she may speak to Dracula alone. She surmises that all of Dracula’s weaknesses are actually ineffective. The only thing he fears is death, and humanity’s willingness to die, She then... resolves to sit down and die right there. But at the last moment Dracula drinks her cancerous blood which should in turn kill him... they make out while dying... The end?

If that sounds like it makes no sense, it’s because it doesn’t. 

Final Thoughts:

The plot was nonsensical and the pacing was very poor and completely unstructured. The story itself bore little to no resemblance to Dracula at all, to the point where I wonder why they even bothered to keep the names. 

Most of the characters were new, and the few that were ported over from the Stoker novel had hardly anything in common with their original versions, Dracula included. 

Jonathan was the most in character of the bunch, if he was fairly more genre savvy while stuck in Dracula’s castle. Mina’s characterization seemed to be confined to a single flirtatious letter, an endless well of trust for Jonathan, and constant sobbing. She was more of a liability than anything else. 

Agatha served the role of a genderbent Van Helsing, though her manner was entirely lifted from the Coppola film. This could’ve been very cool if they hadn’t randomly made her a nun without actually committing to it at all. She was not really portrayed as having any actual lived experience as a nun in the victorian era. And faith as a concept was only touched on for her to dismiss— hilariously casually given her position.  

I think the actress’s performance was fairly decent, and she def grew on me in the second episode when she’s not actually in a convent to constantly remind us how dissonant of a nun she is. But it would’ve been nice if they would’ve either committed to actually making her a nun, (a legit vampire hunting nun could be so cool!) or just abandoning the concept altogether. Because the way it was presented just felt like window dressing. 

Also I’m not normally averse to shipping Van Helsing/Dracula but having to genderbend one of the two just to do it is like... hm. Also the weird tension they had going on was very badly executed in general. 

Speaking of Dracula, he had to be the weakest part of the show. He was written in the smuggest, most infuriating way possible. And it might have worked with another actor but this dude just did not have any gravitas or stage presence whatsoever. And it certainly was not helped by the fact that his costuming and makeup were so fucking lackluster. 

Despite being the linchpin of the story, he had no goals nor any particular drive. He was just out there doing Stuff for Reasons and none of them were compelling. It seemed like he was just killing to kill and the writing was not good enough to actually carry any of the vague themes about how he’s looking for new brides (why?) how he’s searching for a The Perfect Fruit (what???) or anything at all really. He had no depth whatsoever beneath his stupid quips and self-satisfied demeanor. 

There was an interesting implication that he needed to choose who he drinks carefully in order to maintain his own personality/sanity/sentience and that without blood he’d… apparently just become like any of the zombies we saw in the show. And that is such a cool concept! But it was not really  explored, nor was it written all that well. Even though it could’ve been (and I think was maybe intended to be???) an excellent source of existential dread! 

But yes, in general there was hardly any depth to this show. They played almost every possible card they could for shock value, and included many unnecessary and frankly underwhelming esoteric concepts that went nowhere. There was so much gore and random effects. We had zombies, vampire infants, and Dracula legit wearing people’s skins. The lore didn’t make any sense either, apparently people just… being unable to die despite their body’s so called death is a common occurrence? It wasn’t clear whether Dracula even had much control over who he changes and whether or not they become proper vampires. The entire thing just seemed poorly thought out. 

There were a lot of easter eggs and references to previous Dracula adaptations (and even some unrelated vampire media). I definitely noticed nods to the Hammer Horror movies and the Lugosi film, which was fun. The biggest noticeable influence however would have to be the 1992 Coppola movie. I have never seen a show try so hard to be another movie lmao. They even went so far as to make a spiritual successor to the film’s main theme that’s about as close as you could probably get without actually licensing the music. 

However, while the Coppola film at least had skill with regards to the costuming and cinematography to carry its aesthetic, this show simply did not. The costumes, the makeup, and the special effects were all lackluster. The set was nice enough but was not shot in a way to really leave much of an impression. 

The first episode was abysmal— mainly due to Dracula’s awful performance (those disgusting fungus covered fake nails, that age makeup, that ACCENT) and the entire awkward af scene where he terrorizes a convent of nuns while naked and covered in blood. But it was at least so bad it was funny.

The second episode was the most tedious to me because it was less offensively awful so I couldn’t even enjoy the badness. There was definitely a sharp uptick of quality whenever Dracula was offscreen for any notable amount of time though. The passengers were rather boring but I liked the crewmen. And Agatha honestly killed it for the latter half. 

The last episode was by far the worst and yet the most entertaining because they just stopped trying at that point. 

Renfield was amazing and an absolute delight every time he was on screen. Dracula found him over skype for God’s sake, how can that not be fantastic? He actually utters the words “Dracula has rights,” and his argument somehow actually fucking works.  

And even Dracula himself was far less insufferable with the shift in dynamics. By being forced to cope with the modern world, he could no longer act like such a smarmy, self-assured know it all. Seeing him freak the fuck out at the sight of helicopters was genuinely fun. 

Lucy’s handling was misogynistic af though. It was bafflingly, needlessly awful. And the way she was vilified at the very end was appalling. They almost had an interesting deconstruction wrt her utter malaise for her life, and the implication that she actually resents her beauty. But then of course she gets burned alive, and then is treated horribly for it by the protagonists. 

Even though it’s clear she has no idea what’s happened to her body, Zoe doesn’t even bother to explain it to her. She just makes her take a selfie of all things so she can see what she really looks like. It didn’t seem like the show had a shred of sympathy for her, because “oh, clearly she was a narcissistic bitch and she deserved what she got” or something like that?? 

The utter indifference everyone has to her death is baffling. It was an afterthought, that seemed like its only purpose for existing was yet again just shock value. The scene, after her death, immediately shifting the focus back to whatever weird personal rivalry that borders on sexual tension  Agatha/Zoe and Dracula have going on.  

But all in all, this adaptation had me baffled, frustrated, and cringing through most of it. It was unintentionally funny quite often and I honestly enjoyed it, but for all the wrong reasons. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to melt their fucking brain.

#netflix dracula #netflix dracula spoilers #moffat dracula #bbc dracula #long post #I ramble sometimes #tldr: it was BAD #all the salt #this is 1800 words #*writer’s cap*

[cloudphillips]

Three: Act I

"Dragons?!"

 Seungwan shrugged off the invisibility cloak as she stared completely horrified at the scene before her. Just a few distances away, a large lizard-like dragon, with black scales and razor-sharp bronze spikes portruding on its tail, thrashed wildly against its metal cage but the iron shackles tethered around its limbs prevented it from escaping. Sensing that its efforts were futile, the dragon unleashed a fiery breath towards its captors. Thankfully, those humans managed to escape the blast and avoided getting roasted to death. Unfortunately, the surrounding foliage within fifty feet away got burnt to ashes. It was a terrible sight. "That's the first task?!"

The Ravenclaw gaped incredulously at the half-giant standing beside her. For the record, Hagrid didn't seem quite perturbed. In fact, he looked fascinated to have witnessed that magnificent display of power from the beast. "Oh don't worry about 'em, Seungwan. They're seriously misunderstood creatures." The horrendous dragon roared into the night sky and its sound shook the very earth that Seungwan wondered if it reached Hogwarts too. If the students even remotely knew that a freaking dragon was being smuggled inside the castle grounds. "Although, I have ter admit that Horntail is a right nasty piece of work."

 "You're joking right?" The blonde shook her head in denial. Hopefully, this wasn't some kind of twisted dream. Maybe the dragon was just for show. Some scare tactic to convince the Triwizard champions into abandoning the tournament or just a weird display of power from the joint forces of the great wizarding schools in Europe. Either way, Seungwan was scared shitless. Dumbledore wasn't kidding about the fact that this tournament really weren't for the faint of heart.

 "'Course not Seungwan. Tis' a matter of serious business. That's why I called ye here to warn--" Hagrid wasn't able to finish his statement because the dragon suddenly breathed out flames and aimed its attack towards the direction where they stood. "Incoming!" Both Seungwan and Hagrid dropped to the ground when the fire blazed above their heads and completely missed them. A charred beetle fell dead just a few inches near the Ravenclaw and by the looks of it, the poor insect wasn't able to survive the flames and was incinerated beyond recognition. The smell of burnt flesh permeated through the air and lingered in her nose. It's safe to say that Seungwan won't be forgetting that scent anytime soon.

 Once the coast was clear, they rose from the ground and dusted off the dirt from their clothes. Seungwan felt uncomfortably warm, like the heat from the flames clung to her skin and caused her to sweat. Her blonde hair was sticking out in all the wrong directions and Hagrid, bless his soul, good-naturedly patted it down and tamed it with his large hands. "Anyways, the dragons just arrived this morning. Seulgi's brother helped shipped them ter Hogwarts. Didn't she tell ye that?" The half-giant sounded like he was speaking to a toddler and maybe he was, considering their great difference in height, but Seungwan didn't let that bother her since she had more things to worry about. Like the fact that Seulgi withheld such a vital information from her.

 "No she didn't. Seulgi didn't tell me a thing." Seungwan said through gritted teeth. When she gets the chance to see her best friend, she will definitely strangle that Hufflepuff to death. Of course, she'd have to face Sooyoung and Yerim and maybe brave through the barriers of the whole student body in order to even touch Seulgi. Damnit! Why did this have to be so difficult? Suffocating the Hufflepuff would've been so much easier if she wasn't adored by everyone.

 The half-giant remained oblivious to her growing frustration as he fidgeted in place. That's when Seungwan noticed something rather unusual. He combed his hair and his clothes were neatly pressed with no visible wrinkles anywhere. His eyes kept on darting around the surroundings almost like he was searching for something. Hagrid was certainly acting odd.

 "Hagrid~~~"

 Both of them froze at the sound of a melodic voice echoing through the forest. Hagrid nervously glanced at Seungwan and sent her an apologetic smile. "I think it's time for ye ter go. It's getting late." He coughed awkwardly and the blonde narrowed her eyes at the suspiciousness of it all.

 "Hagrid. Are you seeing someone?"

 At her deduction, the half-giant gasped in shock. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights and it looked like his entire life flashed before his eyes. If the situation wasn't so dire, the Ravenclaw would've laughed. "How did ye know that I'm seeing Olympe?" He whispered, sounding completely scandalized, but immediately realized his error and his eyes widened in horror. "I shouldn ter said that." He groaned in annoyance at his accidental confession and clamped his mouth shut, determined not to reveal anymore secrets.

 Now, it was Seungwan's turn to be surprised. "You're courting the Headmistress of Beauxbatons?!" Really. Hagrid and Madame Maxime were going out? Seems like a hard pill to swallow. The Ravenclaw took a few moments to let the information sink in before she tapped her chin deep in thought and voiced out her approval. "Not bad. I wish you could've told me though. I'd be a great wingwoman."

 "What'ser wingwoman?" Hagrid looked confused and Seungwan would've taken the liberty to explain but they were pressed for time. By now, the voice sounded like it was getting closer and closer and it seemed like they only had a few minutes to spare.

 "Nothing. Anyways, did you bring her something to give?" Judging by the blank expression Hagrid sported, he didn't and it took all of Seungwan's will not to berate the half-giant. She rubbed the growing headache on her temples and breathed in and out to calm her growing nerves. Geez! It wasn't even her date but she was already getting this anxious. "Seriously? You brought nothing? Not even some flowers or chocolates?"

 "I didn't know ter was some courting etiquette I need ter follow." The half-giant, for the record, seemed pretty clueless and the Ravenclaw felt sympathy for him. He was probably as nervous as she was and her nagging wasn't helping alleviate his worries. She decided to soften her approach and help her friend have the best night of his life.

 "First rule of dating Hagrid. You always bring a gift on the first outing."

 Seungwan bent down and grabbed a few rocks on the ground. With a small flourish of her wand, she transfigured the pebbles into an elegant bouquet of white lilies. She uttered a few spells and tweaked the bouquet here and there before she was completely satisfied with the appearance. It was magnificently presentable. Madame Maxime would surely adore this simple gift. It's amazing what a little magic could do to perform miracles.

 "Give her these." She handed the flowers to Hagrid then proceeded to adjust his clothes to a more aesthetic fashion so that he'll look irresistibly attractive to the eyes of Madame Maxime. She also dished out some dating advice to guide the half-giant with his date. "Don't forget to compliment her every now and then. Women like to be wooed with sweet words." She smoothed out the lapels of his collar and fussed over the dirt that somehow lodged into his hair. Once she was satisfied, she took a step back to observe his appearance. Hagrid looked pretty dashing. Seungwan felt her heart swell excitedly, like a proud mother about to send off her son to his first day of school. It was ironic since Hagrid was pretty much older than her. "Most importantly, never forget to be yourself. She will only like you more if you're being genuine."

 "Thanks Seungwan." Hagrid bashfully bowed his head and flashed her a grateful smile. He pulled the Ravenclaw into a warm hug. He sniffed and it seemed like he almost wanted to cry. Awww the big fluffball. Seungwan felt herself melt in his embrace. This adorable sweetheart of a giant. "Yer a great friend for helping me."

 "You're gonna nail this date Hagrid. Madame Maxime will see just how much of an amazing person you are." Seungwan tried her best to reassure the half-giant as she patted him good-naturedly on the back. When they both pulled away, the Ravenclaw grabbed the invisibility cloak from the ground and proceeded to wrap it around her body until only her head poked out. "Have a wonderful time!"

 "Hagrid~~~"

 They both turned towards the direction of the sound and Seungwan decided that it was time to leave. "I should get going." With that, she trudged away from the forest and headed back to the castle. Hopefully, Madame Maxime takes a liking to Hagrid because if anyone deserves a happy ending, it's him. May their date sail smoothly without any hitches along the way and may they enjoy a pleasant night in each other's company.

 ***

 Sooyoung clutched the piece of parchment in a vice-like grip, more specifically the Arithmancy exam her professor graded just this morning, and glared at the right topmost portion of the paper where the big fat D- was written in bold red ink. She failed another test she didn't study for. What a surprise.

 Having good grades in Arithmancy wasn't really a requirement for most jobs in the wizarding world but in order for one to qualify for Auror training, one must have outstanding grades in all subjects, something she failed to do. Her professor adviced her to take a remedial exam if she ever hoped to receive a passing mark but there was no way in hell she'd do that. It was a complete waste of time and she had other things to worry about, like starting fan bandwagon for Seungwan to increase support for her best friend and launching a smear campaign for Rosé in an effort to discredit her. Ain't nobody got time to do some extra studying.

 Sure, all she was doing wasn't contributing in solving the issue but she believes in ignoring the problem until it completely goes away. This unhealthy coping mechanism helped her countless of times and it certainly won't fail her now.

 Crumpling the parchment into a useless ball of trash, she threw her test results away and walked down the path that lead straight to the castle grounds. She still had Flying lessons next and she was running quite late. Her mother would be hella pissed when she finds out Sooyoung failed another exam but what her mother doesn't know won't hurt her. The Slytherin planned to keep this a secret after all.

 "Right! First order of business is to get to class."

 With that, she headed towards her intended destination. The memory of those atrocious test results were already buried deep within recesses of her mind and completely forgotten. It's better to move past and move on for nothing good ever resulted from wallowing in self-pity. There were more important things in life than slaving over grades. Sooyoung vowed to do better next time but for now, she still had a class to attend.

 Little did she know that her failures would come back to haunt her in the future.

 Rosé was going to the owlery with the intention of sending a letter to her father when she noticed a piece of crumpled paper on the ground. She sighed in frustration and rubbed the growing ache in her head. What's with people littering the immaculate premises of the castle? Have they no care for the environment at all? Did they know that for the past few years, there had been a significant increase of carbon footprint and one of its contributing factors is the rapid rise of wastes. The Beauxbatons girl picked the trash and had half the mind to properly dispose it in a garbage container when she decided to see its contents.

 A large D- printed in red ink was the first thing that greeted her when she smoothed out the creases on the paper. Upon further study, she realized that the paper was, in fact, an Arithmancy exam and this embarrassing failure only belonged to Park Sooyoung. The same girl who pranked Rosé a few days ago with a Mimbulus Mimbletonia and the very bane of her existence.

 "Interesting..." Rosé mumbled to herself as she tapped her chin, seemingly deep in thought. So Park Sooyoung was academically weak in Arithmancy. Maybe she could use this information to her advantage. After all, she needed a little payback for what that blasted Slytherin did to her. There was no way she would allow that slight to her pride be forgotten.

 Staring at the crumpled parchment in her hand, a brilliant idea flashed into her mind. Maybe she could embarrass the Slytherin girl publicly in front of her friends. There was no way Sooyoung would be able to recover from that huge humiliation. Yes! Such a brilliant. That stupid idiot would think twice of crossing the line.

 Rosé closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh scent of the wind breeze. Revenge had never felt so sweet. It seems like all her lucky stars have aligned and provided her with this amazing opportunity of getting back at her arch enemy. She will surely not let this chance go to waste.

 Vengeance is at hand.

 ***

 "Wannie!"

 The Ravenclaw was wandering along the halls of the castle when she heard someone calling out her name. She had the sneaking suspicion that the voice belonged to a certain Hufflepuff friend of hers and when she turned around, her hunch was right. Seulgi was waving enthusiastically in her direction before barreling through the throngs of students just to reach the blonde and engulfing her in a tight hug. Seungwan refused to return her warm greeting because she still remembered her friend's betrayal. The audacity! How dare Seulgi hug her at a time like this?

 "Why didn't you tell me about the dragons?" The Ravenclaw hissed in under her breath as she dragged the Hufflepuff somewhere private where no one would be able to eavesdrop into their conversation. Once the coast was clear, she demanded answers from her friend. "Did you purposely plan to leave me in the dark? I wasn't expecting this atrocious act from you Seul." Okay, maybe she was just making assumptions and it crossed her mind that Seulgi might have a reasonable explanation for withholding this vital piece of information from her but what the hell, the pressure from the tournament caused her to become irrational. She can't help but be paranoid.

 "I don't know what you're talking about?" To her credit, Seulgi did a great job of looking confused. It almost made Seungwan backtrack but she remained steadfast. Maybe her friend was just a great actress and had convinced everyone of her innocence but she wasn't fooling the blonde.

 "Really? Coz' Hagrid just showed me a terrifying Hungarian Horntail last night and he said your brother, who is a renowned dragonologist, helped ship them to Hogwarts." Seungwan crossed her arms and waited for her friend to realize. It took a few moments and when everything dawned on Seulgi, she furrowed her brows and appeared confused again. Certain topics seem to register late in Seulgi's mind and the Ravenclaw couldn't blame her. The Hufflepuff had the tendency to become distracted.

 "But I'm pretty sure I told you though. After all, I was the one who informed you that Hagrid was looking for you." Seulgi dug deep into the recesses of her brain in order to recall that certain kind of memory. She remembered going to Hagrid's hut and bonding with the half-giant about magical creatures. Maybe there was a certain point where Hagrid asked Seulgi to pass a message to Seungwan but the memory was fuzzy now, it's hard to recount it accurately.

 "You know what? Nevermind." Seungwan ran a hand through her hair in frustration. The slow pace where this conversation was heading was beginning to take a toll on her patience. Seriously, why does she even bother? What did she hope to accomplish by having this talk with the Hufflepuff? "Just forget about it."

 "Okay!" Seulgi grinned cheekily and remained blissfully unaware of everything else. It's times like these that her obliviousness was astounding. The frustration Seungwan felt for her best friend faded away. How could she stay mad when the Hufflepuff looked so positively innocent. "Anyways, have you made plans on how to deal with your dragon yet?"

 "I don't know." Seungwan shrugged nonchalantly, as if the tournament wouldn't be starting in the next few days and the idea of fighting a dragon seemed like wishful thinking. "I kinda want to go with the flow, you know? Just wing everything at the last minute." Man, what was she even doing with her life? The other competitors were probably formulating a concrete plan to combat the dragon yet here she was, avoiding her problems and ignoring it for as long as she can. She was certainly not living up to the Ravenclaw reputation.

 "Tsk tsk! You need to devise a better approach than that Wannie." Seulgi shook her head in disappointment. It was unlike her friend to be this lax. Seungwan was a meticulous person and knowing her friend, she probably had everything mapped down to the last detail. Always forming a contingency system whenever things don't occur on purpose. Seungwan was a planner. She had a systematic approach on things so it was quite surprising that the blonde still hasn't set an objective until now.

 "I know." The Ravenclaw felt her shoulders slump when she leaned against her best friend for support. All the fighting spirit she had was slowly dwindling away. Seulgi was right. She really needed to do better. The problem was that her mind wouldn't come up with something remotely useful. She was stuck in a mental limbo. It also didn't help that the pressure she felt from being the Hogwarts champion affected her in more ways than she would ever admit. She was tired of keeping up with appearances. All she wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep for centuries without having to deal with other people for the rest of her life. Her social quota has reached its limit. She didn't know if she could still handle her brazen admirers and cult followers. "Can I turn back time and undo my decision of joining this tournament? This sucks."

 "I feel you Wannie but don't worry. I know something that can help you with your dragon problem." Seulgi declared confidently before taking hold of Seungwan's hand and leading her back to the castle halls where they had to brave the currents as the students moved in raging waves just to get to class. The blonde didn't have the energy to complain and just allowed herself to be dragged. Thankfully, the people parted like the Red Sea and allowed Seulgi to pass. It's amazing how her friend possessed control over the whole student body like some kind of weird puppet master.

 They climbed the Grand Staircase and Seungwan was fairly out of breath when they reached the seventh floor. Seulgi turned towards the left corridor and stopped before an empty wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. The Hufflepuff checked the vicinity for the presence of other students and when she found none, walked past the wall three times looking like she was deep in thought. It was a weird sight and the startling secrecy caused the Ravenclaw to grow concerned for her friend. "Seul? What are you doing?" Though her worries were unnecessary because the once empty wall became nonexistent was replaced by a large iron door that suddenly appeared like magic. It seemed like a passage towards a secret room and at this point, the blonde felt suspicious.

 Could this be?

 No, no. There's no way Seulgi could've found that room.

 The Hufflepuff grabbed the knob and twisted it. Seulgi flashed Seungwan a brilliant smile. "Shall we?" The door squeaked open when they both entered and the Ravenclaw marveled at the sight of a rather large room assembled like a practice arena. It was equipped with winged fire-breathing reptilian dummies and shelves of books about dragons. In the middle of the room, there stood a magnificent statue of a Hebridean Black poised for attack with its razor-sharp claws suspended midair. With a dramatic flourish of her hand, Seulgi announced in a proud voice.

 "Welcome to the Room of Requirement."

 Wait. What?

 Seungwan's brain short-circuited. This is impossible. So this place has been situated here all along? That fateful night where she snuck around Hogwarts, she was pointlessly wandering the ground floor when she should've been searching the seventh floor instead. God! What a pathetic use of her efforts. Sure, she managed to discover the Mirror Erised in one of her nightly escapades but that wasn't exactly her main goal now, was it? Damnit! To think she had to endure all those bullying from Sooyoung and Yerim for failing to find the Room of Requirement when she should've just asked Seulgi for its location all along. Geez! She was such an idiot!

 "The trick to finding this place is to be very specific about what you're looking for. Based on my experience, other people can enter the room and see what you're doing only if they know how the room is being used." Seulgi gushed obsessively as she ushered her friend inside. She made a grand gesture of introducing Seungwan to the various items inside the room and pointing out its uses. "Kinda like right now, I needed a private space to study about dragons and you were permitted entry because you also shared the same need. Had you been seeking anything else, you wouldn't be able to find this place."

 "That's... interesting." The blonde was speechless. This room was wonderful. Had she been really missing out this whole time?

 "I know right? From now on, you could use this place as your training ground. You could learn different strategies to combat your dragon. The Room of Requirement is well equipped to your needs!" Seulgi beamed with so much enthusiasm that it was infecting. Even the Ravenclaw couldn't help but share her positivity.

 "Hey Seul. I found a small passage about Norwegian Ridgebacks and---" Joohyun, the last person Seungwan expected to see, emerged from one of the wooden shelves holding a rather large tome in her grasp. When she saw the Ravenclaw, she stumbled back and gasped in shock. Her mouth gaping like a fish out of water and the blonde would've found the sight funny, if she wasn't so busy being surprised herself. The Slytherin recovered immediately and schooled her features into neutral expression when she regarded Seungwan. "Oh... you're here."

 "What do you mean you're here? I should be the one asking you that considering you knew of the Room of Requirement's location and you never even bothered to tell me!" Seungwan felt scandalized. First, Seulgi kept silent about the dragon task now this? This is double betrayal at its finest and it left her appalled. At this point, she was completely infuriated. Joohyun was the last person she expected to do something like this. "You knew! You knew I was searching for the Room of Requirement! You even caught me sneaking out that night yet you never said anything!" The Ravenclaw advanced towards the Slytherin, like a predator prowling its prey, until Joohyun dropped the book from her grasp when she got cornered to the wall by Seungwan.

 Everything else seemed to have blurred away and even Seulgi's presence in the room went forgotten when their eyes met. Joohyun squirmed under the intensity of Seungwan's gaze and she felt breathless at their close proximity. She tried very hard not to stare at those plump lips but in the end, the Prefect was still weak and was helpless to look away. "Do you have any idea how many times Sooyoung and Yerim threw me under the bus for this? I literally had to lick my wounds for a month."

 The Ravenclaw's tone sounded huskily low and it sent shivers down Joohyun's spine. Seungwan never showed this intimidating facet of her before and it was making the Prefect lose her mind. Merlin's beard! Having her this close was dangerous. It took all of the Slytherin's willpower not to succumb to her intoxicating scent.

 "A-Are you..." Joohyun swallowed the lump in her throat and cursed herself for stuttering. She never gets nervous in the face of intimidation. It seems like the blonde was the only person to bring out this new side of hers. She twiddled her fingers, taking a few moments to gather her courage and when she finally did, stared deeply into Seungwan's eyes. "Are you mad at me?" Her own voice seemed foreign to her ears. It sounded small and very hesitant, like she couldn't bear the thought that she might've given the Ravenclaw a reason to hate her, and for the love of God, she wouldn't know what to do if Seungwan did hate her.

 Seungwan froze when the simple yet heavily loaded question was uttered. Was she mad at the Prefect? A little frustrated maybe but never mad. Hating Joohyun was wishing for the impossible. It's like asking the blonde to loath adorable bunnies. She cherishes the Slytherin a little to much for that. "I'm not." The Ravenclaw took a step back and hung her head low in shame. "I don't think I have the capacity to ever be mad at you, much less hate you."

 The Prefect was staring at her now, eyes wide with wonder and amazement, and it awakened something deep within the recesses of Seungwan's heart. It just occurred to her that Joohyun possessed such enchanting pools of brown orbs. Huh. Were her lips ever this luscious before?

 "Ahem!"

 Their little charged moment was interrupted when Seulgi pointedly coughed. Returning back to reality, Seungwan separated herself from Joohyun and moved a few spaces to put some good distance between them. Having Joohyun within such close proximity did something to her heart and caused her mind to go haywire. It was better to stay away from her for now just in case that weird tension appears again. She couldn't afford to get distracted. The tournament was only a few days away and she needed her complete focus if she wanted to survive the first task.

 "If you're done arguing, can we get started with the lessons now?" Seulgi looked almost apologetic as she fidgeted awkwardly from where she stood. Seungwan nodded in agreement and shifted her attention solely on the Hufflepuff. She missed the dazed and flustered expression Joohyun assumed. "As I was saying, you could use this room as a practice area. Joohyun and I could teach you a few spells that you can use to combat that dragon. Since the tournament is only a few days away, you better prepare yourself for the tasks to come."

 "I still can't believe you guys hadn't told me this sooner." Seungwan crossed her arms as a pout settled on her lips. This was unfair really. She could've used the Room of Requirement for one of her little experiments. Hopefully, she could try out casting some offensive spells without worrying about destroying the whole school.

 "It was for the best. You wouldn't be able to keep this a secret from Yerim and Sooyoung. If those two found out, they'd be tranforming this place into a frat house in a heartbeat." Joohyun casually stated and the blonde found no fault in her reasoning because she had a point. Those demonic duo, without a doubt, had the ability to turn this beautiful sanctuary into a raving mosh pit. It's better to keep this secret hideout within themselves.

 "Wait. How do you even know what a frat house means?" Seungwan asked the Prefect. As far as she was concerned, her friend was definitely a Pureblood and there was little reason for her to indulge in anything muggle related. Why would the Slytherin concern herself with such terms?

 Joohyun simply rolled her eyes in response. "Really? That's the thing you're most concerned about?" There was a subtle teasing smirk visible on her lips. She looked pretty amused and the blonde figured that she must be in a playful mood. "You need to set your priorities straight Seungwan-ah."

 There was something unique about the way Joohyun called her. Sure, she uttered the name Seungwan-ah countless of times, usually out of fondness more than anything else, but now it sounded different. It was stated with ardent admiration like how one usually does when talking to a loved one. But maybe it was just her imagination. Joohyun was just naturally affectionate like that. There's no need to put more context into that innocent gesture.

 "I agree." The creepy smile that slowly crept on Seulgi's face sent warning signals towards the Ravenclaw. She had the sneaking suspicion that her friend was planning something stupid, something catastrophic that would doom them all. "Which is why a little duelling match will be conducted between you and Joohyun so that both of us can properly gauge your abilities in martial magic."

 See? What did I tell you? Seulgi was definitely cooking some tricks up her sleeves!

 "What? That's not fair! We all know that Joohyun's an expert in martial magic. Why do you think she excels in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Seungwan started to protest but a hand gently rested on her shoulder. She shifted to see that it was the Prefect who was smiling at her in reassurance. Something stirred within her heart at the sight of that breathtaking smile. The Ravenclaw wondered why she was so mesmerized by it.

 "Don't worry Seungwan-ah." In a flash of light, gone was the reassuring smile on her lips as it was replaced by a teasing smirk. Her eyes flashed dangerously and the aura she exuded changed. Joohyun looked powerful and confident. Definitely not the person you should mess with. Oh god! Her competitive side has awakened. "I'll go easy on you."

 "No time for complaints now Wan. Get in position." The Hufflepuff barked an order and the Ravenclaw begrudgingly took the direction opposite from the Slytherin. Seungwan squared her shoulders and took out her wand. She practiced some flicking motions with her wrists before she adjusted her stance until her weight were equally supported by her feet.

 Joohyun mainly took a step back and stood sideways. She maintained an elegant posture, eyes focused and chin held high, and she consciously protected the areas of her body that were exposed for attack. It looked like she knew what she was doing, as if duelling was a hobby she frequently engages in. That was Seungwan knew that she was in for a great fight. Joohyun will surely give her ass a serious whooping. Seulgi shouted the signal and the Ravenclaw was the first to attack.

 "Expelliarmus!"

 Red sparks erupted from the tip of her wand and sailed towards Joohyun. The Prefect merely smiled, as if she was expecting that kind of attack, and casually deflected the spell by dodging sideways. Seungwan was caught off guard. How in the heck did Joohyun do that so fast? The blonde was pretty sure she had a quick reaction time too and casted the Disarming spell in a heartbeat. There was no way anyone could've avoided that. Joohyun was something else.

 Seungwan was too busy marvelling at the display of battle prowess that she failed to notice the silent incantation uttered by Joohyun. "Stupefy!" She felt the sensation of weightlessness as she was thrown across the room when the spell made its impact. The air was knocked out of her lungs and searing pain blossomed on her chest when she landed on the floor with a hard thud. Her eyes landed on the ceiling and she spotted white spots dancing around her field of vision. Wow! Joohyun was relentless.

 She literally took Seungwan's breath away.

 ***

 Later that night, when they've covered every topic in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms and their heads were literally drilled with various spells, Seulgi went to the kitchens to smuggle some food while Joohyun and Seungwan remained in the Room of Requirement, both taking a breather after their endless duelling.

 It was such an exhausting day and Seungwan realized that Joohyun could be pretty ruthless when it comes to martial magic. The Slytherin even knew some spells not commonly known to wizardkind. Maybe her impressive magical prowess had to do with the fact that she came from a prestigious Pureblood family and she was provided with adequate resources to practice complex spells. Either way, Seungwan was impressed. Joohyun didn't seem like the delicate flower she originally thought. She could be pretty dangerous when she wants to.

 "Merlin's beard Joohyun! I've lost count of the times I lost to you." Seungwan rubbed her sore shoulders as she approached the Slytherin who was casually chilling on the floor, looking absolutely smug with her numerous victories. She lay on the ground exhausted like a useless sack of potatoes and naturally rested her head on Joohyun's lap. A small pout settled on her lips as she regarded her friend. "I've probably broken way too many bones duelling you than I ever did with Quidditch."

 "You did great though. You're quite adept at wordless magic." The Prefect donned an smile as she affectionately ran her fingers through Seungwan's smooth blonde tresses. The Ravenclaw sighed contentedly and leaned closer to her touch.

 "Damn right I am!" Seungwan had an arrogant smirk on her lips and perfectly casted the Patronus Charm without muttering the incantations. A silvery wisp emerged from the tip of her wand before the familiar sight of her magnificent Nightingale patronus flew around the room and left threads of argentine traces in its wake. It briefly landed on Joohyun's shoulder and tenderly nudged her cheek before taking flight once again.

 The Slytherin fondly stared at the spirit guardian and light-heartedly commented. "It's good to know that birdy is here to join us." She giggled in amusement when she noticed the frown on her friend's face as the girl seemingly took offense at her joke. Joohyun would never tell but she truly cherishes times like these, holding Seungwan close and talking about the universe as the world fades into oblivion. She'd give anything just to make this moment last a little longer.

 "Birdy seems a little lonely. She needs a companion. Why don't you try casting the charm?" The Ravenclaw grinned cheekily at the smug Slytherin, who merely declined her challenge. She scoffed and rolled her eyes in mockery. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

 "I just don't want to set myself up for disappointment." Was Joohyun's excuse. The Patronus Charm was a ridiculously advanced magic, something she could only hope to accomplish in the future. It was quite amazing for Seungwan to become adept with a difficult charm at such a young age. She was just impressive like that. Gifted in more ways than one.

 "Just admit that you can't cast the spell."

 "You're right. I don't know how."

 Both of them lapsed into a comfortable silence with Joohyun casually twirling the strands of blonde locks with her fingers and Seungwan sighing contentedly under her caresses. A few moments passed before the Ravenclaw broke the silence with a whisper. "It is said that Patronus forms are subject to change if the caster undergoes an emotional upheaval of some sort, like falling in eternal and unchanging love." The blonde closed her eyes and sunk deep into her thoughts. She had forgotten everything long ago. Only the memories of Joohyun's touch remains. "Can you imagine a love so pure and everlasting that it changes you?"

 The Slytherin froze in her seat. The question sounded innocent enough but she knew that there was a deeper context to it. Yes, she could imagine that kind of love. It came in a form of radiant smiles and warm hugs. It came in a form of enchanting laughter and mesmerizing eyes. It came in a form of lingering touches and silky golden hair.

 Love came in a form of Seungwan.

 "No." The lie easily escaped from her lips but when Joohyun gazed at the sight of a lovely girl resting contentedly on her lap, she knew that she stopped fighting the inevitable long ago. In the end, there was no escape. She could only accept the mysterious works of fate. For the universe may burn to ashes and the world reduced to oblivion but there's no place she'd rather be than here.

 Right beside her.

 "You'll come to the tournament right? You'll come and watch me compete?" There was a hint of desperation in the Ravenclaw's tone. Seungwan rarely resorted to begging not unless it was necessary. She must truly want Joohyun to be present that day. "You won't ditch me for your beloved potions?"

 "Of course." The Slytherin readily agreed for how could she deny such a simple request from Seungwan. Joohyun could give her the world if she wanted to. She ran her fingers through those blonde locks for one last time before uttering a vow and secretly swore to herself. "I will be there whenever you need me."

 Always.

 ***

 "Bets taken! Bets taken here!"

 Yerim shouted on the top of her lungs and waved the tickets high in the air as she moved through the throngs of people aiming to take the front row seats to get a better view of the action. "Step up folks! Who fancies a flutter on today's bloodbath?" A couple from Slytherin were locked in a passionate embrace as they snogged publicly and completely blocked the way. Yerim cursed under her breath because seriously, why is it always her who always stumbles upon this awkward situation? Horny teenagers practically existed everywhere! It's an insult to those who remain single.

 "Smart money's on Bogum to survive! Place your bets!" The Gryffindor literally shoved the couple away and proceeded to advertise the betting pool to a few eager customers. Pulling open the small trunk she was carrying, she tucked the money inside before handing over some gambling tickets to three Slytherins. "Ten-to-one for Rosé. There you go! Don't forget to support our Hogwarts champion Seungwan!" Gambling was an illegal activity of course but the resident Gryffindor didn't care for it was such an exciting day at Hogwarts.

 The first stage of the tournament was about to commence and the selected champions would each battle a dragon in order for them to successfully advance to the next task. No one knew the outcome of the competition and there was a possibility of blood being spilt today. That's why everyone was buzzing with excitement. They were eagerly anticipating for the drama.

 Inside the champions tent where the competitors waited, Seungwan paced restlessly as her mind kept on imagining different scenarios about how her encounter with the dragon would conclude. Ten involved her either dying or getting burnt to ashes. All of which didn't end well. Suddenly, she heard a static ringing echo across the whole venue before the booming voice of Dumbledore announced to the audience.

 "Your attention please. This is a great day for all of us!"

 The atmosphere inside the tent was quite tense. Bogum kept on cracking his knuckles while muttering a few words here and there. His eyes shifting back and forth as if he was anticipating an ambush. On the other hand, Rosé sat primly on her designated cot and stared numbly onto the distance. Amongst the champions, she seemed to be the only one who appeared calm and unbothered but her constant fiddling with the robes was a telltale sign that she was nervous too.

 "Each of the three tasks involves considerable danger. Please keep your seats at all times."

 Seungwan found herself wandering towards the back portion of the tent. For a brief moment, she considered escaping and running the fuck away from here but then she realized that she couldn't do that. Too much was at stake and a lot of people were relying on her. She couldn't afford tainting the reputation of the Ravenclaw house.

 "This will minimize any risks you may be exposed to. I'm sure we wish all our champions the greatest of luck."

 "Pssst!"

 The Ravenclaw noticed a silhouette of a person standing behind the tent flaps. With her curiosity piqued, she moved closer until she could clearly decipher the whispering. "Pssst! Seungwan! Is that you?" Her heart leaped with joy for she'd certainly recognize that voice anywhere. She came just as she promised. She didn't ditch Seungwan for those stupid potions.

 "Yeah. It's me Hyun."

 She heard the Slytherin sigh heavily before speaking. "How are you feeling? Okay?" The blonde didn't deign a reply for she would be lying if she said yes. She was far from okay. Her stomach churned anxiously and her hands trembled in anticipation. It seemed like she was standing on the edge of a cliff and preparing to take the plunge. She wasn't ready for this. Was it too late to back out yet? "The key is to concentrate. After that you just have to..."

 "Battle a dragon?"

 There was a pregnant pause, some palpable tension in the air, before Seungwan was suddenly engulfed in a bone-crushing hug. A mixture of lavenders and fabric conditioner overwhelmed her senses until all she could think about was Joohyun. Her chest tightened as her heart wanted to burst out from its cages. She buried her face on those smooth raven tresses and basked in her warmth. "Oh Joohyun." Holding her like this caused all Seungwan's fears to vanish.

 It's like the magic of the Prefect's touch sparked every cell in her body which calmed her troubled mind and soothing her distraught soul. Suddenly, facing that dragon didn't seem so daunting anymore. There's no need to be afraid. Everything will be okay as long as Joohyun was there for she was the lifeline to anchor Seungwan back to reality.

 There was a flash of bright light and the magic disappeared.

 "Ah! Young love." Seungwan and Joohyun jumped apart when the infamous Rita Skeeter entered the Champions' tent and created quite a fuss. Bogum and Rosé stood in alarm at the unwelcome intrusion and adopted a defensive stance. It seemed like no one was happy to see the Daily Prophet journalist. "How... stirring." Rita arrogantly waltzed inside, as if she wasn't breaching private space, and motioned for her assistant photographer to follow. There was a wicked gleam in her eyes when her gaze landed back and forth between the two. "If anything goes unfortunately today, you two might even make the front page!"

 "You have no business here!" Bogum jumped to their rescue and intervened before everything escalated. While Rita was distracted by the Bulgarian superstar, Seungwan surreptitiously moved in front of Joohyun to shield her friend from unwanted attention. The journalist seemed like she was out to wreck havoc and the Ravenclaw wanted to protect the Slytherin from all of that. "This tent is for champions... and friends."

 His gaze landed on Joohyun and for a moment, Seungwan thought she detected a hint of affection swimming in those brown eyes but it was gone as soon as it appeared. The lighting was probably playing tricks on her mind and maybe it was just her imagination. A menacing sneer settled on her lips before Rita responded. "No matter. We've got what we wanted." In a grand dramatic gesture, she flicked her blonde hair and sashayed her way out of the tent with her lackey obediently following her.

 The Ravenclaw released the breath she'd been holding when that little confrontation ended and turned to check over Joohyun. "Are you okay?" The Slytherin merely nodded in relief and sent her a grateful smile "I'm fine as long as you're here." That simple statement alone caused the rapid beating of her heart to increase its pace until it felt like it would burst. Joohyun had a way with words and Seungwan didn't know why it greatly affected her so.

 The doors open and Dumbledore entered the tent followed by the rest of the school heads. "Good day champions! Gather around please." He gestured for the competitors to take their positions and they all circled around him while Madame Maxime and High Master Karkaroff hovered behind their favored students. The Hogwarts Headmaster unlatched the little pouch attached on his belt and removed the knot. "Such a shame the Head of the Ministry of Magic couldn't join us this fine morning."

 The Slytherin stiffened like a rock at the mention of her mother. This odd behavior seemed unlike her. Seungwan reached out to clasp their hands together and sent Joohyun a reassuring smile. Everything will be okay. The words went unspoken but remained understood nonetheless. Joohyun felt the tension slowly ease away until she could finally breathe again. Yes, everything will be okay because Seungwan was there. The Prefect figured that there was no need to be afraid.

 "Now you've waited, you've wondered and at last the moment has arrived. The moment only three of you can fully appreciate." The Headmaster opened the pouch but noticed an extra head within the room and frowned in confusion. "What are you doing here Miss Bae?"

 "Oh um... Sorry I'll just go." The Slytherin Prefect, to her credit, at least had the decency to look sheepish. "Be careful." She spared Seungwan one last glance and proceeded to exit the tent. Never once did Joohyun look back and it seemed like a she took a part of Seungwan with her.

 The Ravenclaw only stared as she left for she was unable to look away. Shaking away the distractions, she blinked twice before allowing her gaze to study everyone in the room. Rosé was deep in thought while Bogum also watched Joohyun go. There was something glinting in his eyes, some barely repressed longing, and it caused Seungwan to frown in displeasure. She didn't like the way Bogum stared at her friend. Maybe it was just her protectiveness kicking in.

 "Right let's start. Champions, please kindly put your hands inside the bag. Mister Park, if you will..."

 Dumbledore held out the pouch to Bogum and gestured for him to reach down. Smoke billowed out from the container and the Bulgarian superstar winced as soon as he took out a little dragon with golden streaks. The creature shot rounded balls of from its nostrils and singed Bogum's gloved hand. The Headmaster marveled in delight. "The Chinese Fireball! Fantastic!"

 It was Rosé's turn and she picked out a dragon with smooth copper scales with black-ridged markings and short horns on its head. What stood out from the creature's appearance was its sharp fangs that could probably cut through rocks. "The Peruvian Vipertooth, poisonous bunch. Really quite notorious for its craving for humans." Dumbledore shook his head before turning to the Ravenclaw.

 At this point, Seungwan felt dread creep up her spine. Only one dragon remained and if her hunch was correct, she'll be battling the nastiest creature of them all. She reached down and internally winced when her thumb got pricked by something spiky. When she pulled out a small black lizard-like dragon from the pouch, the creature glared at her and barred its fangs as a threat. Of course! Of course she just had to pick this monstrous creature! What rotten luck she has. "The Hungarian Horntail. Ooohh nasty!" Dumbledore whistled appreciately and sympathetically patted the poor Hogwarts champion on the back. Great. Thanks for the moral support professor! You've done a wonderful job in alleviating my anxiety. Seungwan couldn't help but inwardly grumble in sarcasm.

 "These represent very real dragons, each of which has been given a golden egg to protect. Your objective is simple, collect the egg" Dumbledore stared directly into their eyes to emphasize the gravity of the situation. The Ravenclaw nervously swallowed the lump in her throat. She was in for the fight of her life. "This you must do for each egg contains a clue. Without which, you cannot hope to proceed to the next task. Any questions?"

 When he was met with silence, Dumbledore pursed his lips in anticipation. "Very well, good luck champions." Then he addressed Rosé. "Miss Park, at the sound of the canon you may--"

 Whatever he was about to say was drowned by the cannon firing abruptly. Cheers erupted from the stands and the audience practically started chanting Rosé's name. Dumbledore briefly closed his eyes and sighed heavily then gestured towards the exit. The Beauxbatons girl paused for a moment to take a deep breath before raising her head up high and strutting out of tent confidently.

 Seungwan watched her go and the pit in her stomach seemed to grow as more time passed. Right. She gave herself a little pep talk. There's only one goal. You only need to collect the egg. In order for that to happen, she has to sneak around, avoid confrontation with the Horntail, and steal the egg. Alright, she could do that.

 How hard could it be?

 ***

 "Stop worrying. Seungwan will be fine."

 Joohyun stopped clenching her figners and turned to address Seulgi, who seemed preoccupied with eating her popcorn as she scanned the arena. For a moment, the dread latched onto her heart seemed to lessen but only just a little. "How'd you know? How could you possibly know that she won't be torn to pieces or get burned to ashes?"

 "We taught her everything we could these past few days and prepared her as best we can. Besides, Seungwan is a clever one. She can handle herself." The Hufflepuff smiled at her friend and squeezed her hand in reassurance. The Slytherin briefly glanced at their intertwined fingers and accepted the comfort her friend offered.

 She could only hope that Seulgi was right. Seungwan wasn't usually mindful with self-preservation and jumped recklessly into chaos whenever the opportunity presented itself. Joohyun lost count of the times she had to patch the wounds the Ravenclaw got from Quidditch. She really wished that Seungwan would remain safe this time and survive this tournament relatively unscathed. Taking a deep steadying breath, the Prefect loosened the tension on her shoulders and steeled her nerves. "You're right. Seungwan will be okay."

 A lot of people came to watch the competition today and the arena was completely packed. Some of the students brought banners to show support for their favored champion.  The Slytherin glanced around and realized that two of her friends were missing. "Where's Yerim and Sooyoung?" She turned to ask the Hufflepuff. Seulgi merely shrugged and munched her popcorn. Where she got the food, Joohyun would never know. Maybe she asked the house elves to cook up some delicacies for her. After all, nobody could resist Seulgi's innocent charm.

 "Yerim's busy making money by creating a betting pool." Sure enough, the Gryffindor flitted along the throngs of people selling tickets and collecting gambling money. Wasn't that supposed to be illegal? Joohyun decided that she didn't wanna know. "As for Sooyoung..." The Hufflepuff pointed at the opposite side of the arena right where the Beauxbatons folks were situated. A lone Slytherin stood in a sea of blue, holding a placard that said Rosé sucks! Down with the bloody Blondie! "She's launching a smear campaign against Rosé." Sooyoung adopted a smug smile as she basked in the glares she received from the Beauxbatons students.

 Joohyun pursed her lips in disapproval. That stupid girl will cost them house points and make Slytherin lose the house cup! Sooyoung was hell-bent on creating war between the two schools. The Prefect scowled in frustration as she mumbled under her breath. "Good lord, give me strength not to strangle that idiot."

 "Two of our champions have now faced their dragons and so each of them will proceed to the next task." Dumbledore announced in a booming voice then resumed. "And now our third and final contestant."

 "Oh look! It's starting!" Seulgi excitedly pointed towards the cavern entrance where the Hogwarts champion slowly emerged. Joohyun naturally followed her line of sight and held her breath in tense anticipation. This is it. The battle has begun. She could only hope that today wouldn't end up in a bloodbath.

 Seungwan stood by the mouth of the cave and surveyed the surroundings for presence of threats. The crowd  was cheering her name but she couldn't care less for her mind was preoccupied elsewhere. She studied the jagged rocks and almost choked on the foul scent of sulfur that permeated around the arena. Her eyes zeroed on the golden egg sitting atop a huge boulder just a few distances away. Right, no sign of that blasted Horntail and the egg was unguarded. She was good to go!

 The Ravenclaw made a run for it, putting to good use her inherent swiftness and flexibility as a Quidditch seeker, as she moved with featherlight steps that only the crunching sound of pebbles was heard across the arena. Almost there! Seungwan huffed. The egg was within reach.

 A fast blur moved within her peripheral vision and Seungwan was too late to notice the creature advancing upon her. She suddenly felt the sensation of weightlessness as the spiked tail of the dragon hit her path and sent her flying to the air. Argh! She fell to the ground heavily and groaned when searing pain erupted on her shoulder. The rough impact broke her arm and rendered it useless. Now, she was left at a great disadvantage.

 "Joohyun?"

 It took the Slytherin a few moments to tear her eyes away from Seungwan and shift her attention towards Seulgi. The Hufflepuff was grimacing but she still managed a strained smile when she gestured at their intertwined hands. "You're cutting off my blood circulation." Sure enough, she was right. Her fingers looked pale. Joohyun immediately released it and Seulgi visibly sighed in relief. She quickly apologized but her friend merely shrugged it off. "It's okay. I understand."

 Their attention returned to the tournament, more specifically on the injured Ravenclaw who was clutching her broken arm as she stumbled and fell around the arena. The Horntail let out a terrifying roar, which shook the very earth, and blasted a stream of fire towards the Hogwarts champion. Seungwan was forced to retreat behind a large boulder. The spectators leaned closer in tense anticipation to get a better view of the action.

 Joohyun clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "She's hurt Seul." She pursed her lips at the sight of a wounded Seungwan, with blood dripping profusely from the gash on her forehead and tainting her blonde hair with scarlet liquid. It took all of her willpower not to jump into the arena and gather the Ravenclaw into the safety of her arms.

 "She will find a way Joohyun." Seulgi patted her back in reassurance and the Slytherin Prefect couldn't take it anymore. Her mind formulated a plan and she could only hope it would help the blonde. She cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted on the top of her lungs.

 "Your wand Seungwan! Your wand!"

 Seungwan felt the intense heat on the rock's surface and realized with growing dread that the dragon's flames were slowly melting the stone with its extremely high temperature. Under normal circumstances, she'd be impressed upon knowing this discovery but right now, she was busy trying not to die. Crouching down the small gap on the ground, she took out her wand and summoned her broom. "Accio Comet!" She didn't know if the spell worked but she'll worry about that later.

 Steeling her nerves, Seungwan took off from her hiding place and scrambled around the rocky path. "Depulso!" She casted the blasting charm midair and it hit the dragon square in the chest but it only managed to anger the beast. The Horntail flapped its wings and launched another stream of fire. She was unable to avoid the attack in time and ended up having her robes scorched. Seungwan crouched behind another boulder and smothered out the fire on her clothes. Glancing at the sky, her heart leapt in joy when she saw her broom already soaring towards her. Yes! There was hope! She could still survive this tournament!

 Wiping the blood and grime that obscures her vision, Seungwan took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She planned on jumping into her broom and using her flying skills to her advantage. Timing was crucial for success and she couldn't afford to fail for her life was on the line.

 Three

 The dragon emitted a mighty roar and its vibration could be felt all over the arena.

 Two

 The audience lapsed into a worried silence when they realized that the tournament that was slowly turning into a bloodbath. Would the Hogwarts champion survive? Will they be witnessing the very first death on this dangerous task?

 One

 The Ravenclaw opened her eyes and hurled herself to the air with great effort. A scream of joy escaped from her lips when she successfully landed on her broom and expertly maneuvered it pass through the obstacles. Her fingers traced the familiar outlines of the wood and she sighed in relief. Finally! She could fight the dragon on equal terms.

 Be brave Seungwan.

 You can do it!

 The Hungarian Horntail was fiercely protective of her egg and was not easily persuaded to leave the ground despite the Ravenclaw's numerous attempts of provoking it. Writhing and twisting, she regarded Seungwan as though she was an annoying fly that she's longing to swat. The creature kept on furling and unfurling her wings but seemed too afraid to move far from the egg. Her spiky tail thrashed at Seungwan but she is too high to reach. The Horntail finally reared from the ground, spreading her great black leathery wings at last, and Seungwan took her chance.

 She dove towards the golden egg before the beast can react and tucked it safely within her injured arm before flying off from the arena. The dragon roared in defiance and broke free from its iron shackles. Flapping its great leathery wings, the beast burst through the crowd. Its spiky tail completely laid waste on one of the wooden tents as she chased the Ravenclaw.

 Joohyun helplessly stared as Seungwan and the Horntail disappear from the sky. The whole place became deathly quiet as the crowd waited in tension. She didn't know why but she felt an awful sense of foreboding, like something bad was about to happen.

 Suddenly, the memory of her unfortunate experience in Divination class flashed into her mind. How her tea leaves depicted a bird. It dawned on her that the animal was probably referring to Seungwan. Maybe Joohyun was grasping at straws here but she couldn't deny the fact that the two were connected, considering that Seungwan's Patronus was a Nightingale and she came from a house that symbolized a raven. Both of which were obviously birds.

 There was also the grim.

 An omen of death.

 Dread latched onto her heart when she realized the possible implications of her theory. This could mean that Professor Trelawney's predictions were true and Seungwan was in mortal danger. Dear Lord please don't let it be her! Joohyun closed her eyes to calm the raging turmoil of her soul. Seungwan was out there injured and on the brink of death. Joohyun needed to leave. She couldn't just sit around and wait for the tournament to end while her friend was fighting for her life.

 "Where are you going?" Seulgi grabbed her arm and prevented her from escaping. She adopted a stern glare and frowned at her friend in disapproval. It was unlike the Hufflepuff to be this serious. "You can't leave Joohyun! The others will notice." She hissed under her breath and gestured at the people gathered around the arena who were gradually witnessing the Slytherin cause a commotion.

 "Let me go Seul! You don't understand." Joohyun yanked her hand away from Seulgi's vice-like grip but it was useless. The Hufflepuff kept a firm hold. She felt the stares directed upon them but she didn't care. All that matters now was Seungwan. She'd never forgive herself if she was too late. "I need to find her. I need to keep her safe!"

 "Seungwan will be fine! She will find a way!" The Hufflepuff, noticing the unwanted attention they were receiving, smiled apologetically at the spectators before dragging her friend away and leading her to someplace private. They climbed down the wooden stairs and exited the arena. When they reached a grassy field, Seulgi confronted her friend and scolded her for her recklessness. Surely no one would be around to eavesdrop on them.

 "Have you completely lost your mind? You've made quite a scene back there! Whatever happened to keeping it a secret?" Seulgi crossed her arms and demanded an explanation. "What would people say when they see a respectable Slytherin Prefect like you disrupting the tournament and cheating the rules just because she wanted to save some girl? I know Seungwan is our friend but damn Joohyun! You need to keep in mind that she's also the Hogwarts champion."

 "I don't care what they say! Nothing else matters but her!" Joohyun moved to take a step but her path was blocked by Seulgi. A scowl marred her features. She didn't like her friend's interference. "Move away Seul or I wouldn't hesitate to cast a curse on you."

 "No! Not until you explain why you're so hell-bent on chasing after her!" Seulgi didn't move an inch and remained adamant. Joohyun sighed and proceeded to recount everything back from the unfortunate Divination class and how the omens on her tea leaves foretold a warning.

 "Do you understand now Seul? Do you understand why I need to go after her?" Her voice sounded shaky and the tremors in her hand only increased in intensity. If the omen was right, God Joohyun hoped it wasn't, then she was only seconds away from losing Seungwan. A lone tear cascaded down her eyes when she realized just how helpless she was. Seulgi was taken aback. Joohyun never cried in front of her before. She knew that her friend despised showing vulnerable side. "I need to find her for my heart will never know rest if I don't."

 The Hufflepuff took a moment to process the information. Joohyun was right. She was always right. Seulgi was wrong to doubt her in the first place. "Go! I'll cover for you!" She stepped out of the way and ushered her friend to leave. She understood the gravity of the situation and knew that time was their enemy. Joohyun sighed in relief. "Thank you Seul!" With that, she took off and headed towards the direction of the castle.

 She could only hope that she wasn't too late.

 ***

 Seungwan was flying high speed across the great expanse of the Black Lake with the golden egg tucked safely under her injured arm. Her mind was currently devising a plan on how to defeat the dragon once and for all. "Come on idiot brain! Think!" The Hogwarts castle seemed nearer now and the Ravenclaw needed to shake off the tailing beast.

 With a great roar, the dragon shot a trail of fire in her direction, one that she was unable to avoid, and completely scorched her broom which sent her falling down sixty feet from the air. She lost hold of the golden egg as she was careening towards absolute death. The Hungarian Horntail dove after her and sent fiery blasts which thankfully didn't hit her. The blue waters of the lake neared and Seungwan braced herself for the impact

 When she hit the water, it felt like she was bulldozed by a thousand trucks and crushed like a useless bug. All the air has escaped her lungs and she was starting to lose consciousness due to the significant amount of blood loss. The dragon dove on the water and searched the deep for its prey. Upon seeing the Ravenclaw, the beast relentlessly paddled its limbs and swam after her. It seemed like the Horntail was hell-bent on getting its revenge. Seungwan remained helpless as she drowned. Her limbs ached from exertion and her whole body felt numb. Maybe it was time to stop fighting and just succumb to the water's cold embrace.

 This is it.

 She was going to die.

 She was stupid enough to enter this dangerous tournament and now the consequences of her actions came back to haunt her. Her body will be buried in this lake and she will be reduced to oblivion. After all, the abyss lurks and the deep will always claim its victims.

 This is it.

 She was going to die.

 Her name will never be remembered. She will never bring honor to the house of Ravenclaw. She will never prove that Muggles deserved wielding magic too. She will never live to see Yerim's pranks, never successfully teach Sooyoung the Patronus charm, and never be there to support Seulgi when she becomes a famous Quidditch player. She will never be able to thank Joohyun for their friendship and never get to tell her friend that she was the only Pureblood who cared.

 She didn't even get the chance to say goodbye.

 This is it.

 She was going to die.

 Seungwan closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to consume her.

#red velvet #the magic between us #irene #wenrene #wendy #yerim #joy #seulgi #harry potter #hogwarts #magic

[feferipeixes]

Innocence Is Not Knowing That You’re Innocent (3/5)

Belle knows her brother pretty well. He likes comic books, he cheats at board games, and he wants more than anything to be human again. So, when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the fact that he’s a demon, she figures there’s no reason to remind him just yet. He deserves some time to just enjoy being Dipper, and not have to be Alcor.

Unfortunately, she can’t hide Dipper from the demon forever.

Chapter 3: Your Eyes Shine So Bright (link to chapter 1) (2)

Thanks as always to my awesome beta reader @toothpastecanyon​!

Content warning: suicidal thoughts (or rather lack thereof) are briefly discussed.

(See the most updated version on AO3!)

===

“Hey, Dipper! Hey!”

Dipper kept walking, not seeming to hear his sister’s calls. He slunk through the crowd of students bustling about the entrance to the school, and slipped out the double doors in front. Belle frowned, and pushed through after him.

“Yo, DIP!” she hollered. “It’s me, your sister Belle, cmon I know you can hear me!”

Though he was at least 20 feet away, he seemed to shrink a bit. He lowered his head and sped up.

Alright, something was up. Belle hadn’t been born yesterday -- maybe she wasn’t quite as old as Dipper, but she’d still grown up with him and knew how to identify the signs of Sad Brother-itis. She just hoped that the issue wasn’t demonic in nature.

She took a deep breath, put a big smile on, and sprinted to catch up with him. She leapt into his path and yelled “SURPRISE!”

He flinched, and seemed to narrowly avoid falling over. She reached for his arm to help him balance, but he corrected his momentum quickly and swatted her away. This wasn’t entirely strange behavior for Dipper when he was grumpy, so she put it aside and readied herself for some cheering up. “What’s going -”

Her smile died when she got a good look at him. His face was a red and blotchy mess, still wet from the crying that he was clearly too embarrassed to admit he’d done, and she didn’t have to ask to see why. The skin around his left eye was swollen and bruised, and he seemed to wince every time he blinked.

Belle’s jaw dropped. “Oh my stars, Dipper, your eye!”

“Shhh!” he hissed. He grabbed her arm, looked both ways, and pulled her across the street, away from the other students milling about. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Yes it is!” she yelped. He shushed her again, but she kept going. “What happened? Who did this? Do you need your big sister to beat someone up for you?” She slid the bangles off her right arm and flexed her bicep dramatically. “Let me at ‘em -- no one messes with a Sterling and gets away from these guns!”

Dipper did not seem impressed. “Stop, you’re just going to make things worse!”

Belle frowned, and put her bangles back on. “Sorry, bro-bro, I just -- what happened? You can tell me, right?”

“Okay, but… Don’t tell anyone, alright? That includes Onika, Alistair, Mindy, and Dad.”

“Yeah, alright. Now tell me.”

“Well…” He looked at his feet again. “I took your advice. About… trying to make some new friends. So I talked to Jacen and Farah from Math club. You know them, right? They seemed nice, but they wouldn’t look me in the eye the whole time we were talking, and then they both said they had to leave and their excuses kinda sounded made up… Maybe I’m just paranoid.”

“You’re definitely paranoid, goober.” Belle poked him on the nose, and he scrunched his face up adorably. “That sucks though. And then you tripped, right?”

“No. A few of the football players came by, and…” Belle winced. “Yeah,” he finished, hand behind his head like he was trying to convince her that it was no big deal. As if he didn’t know that ship had already long sailed.

To his surprise, though, Belle smiled. “You know what this means? Time to come up with a payback plan! This’ll be fun, we can stop by the supermarket on the way home and get all the supplies we need, and if we do it at school then dad doesn’t have to know, and -”

“Belle, no, stop, this is serious. I’m having a really bad time right now and it feels like you’re not taking me seriously!”

Her grin slid back into a sickly grimace. “Okay, sure, this is bad. Y- you’re happy, though, right? In general?”

He threw his hands up. “What are you talking about? Of course I’m not happy! I failed a test, someone threw milk at me, and now I got beat up!”

She opened her mouth to try to respond, but it felt like her throat was shaking. Dipper didn’t notice this. He threw his notebook on the ground, and then grumbled:

“My life really sucks!”

Belle felt his words like a physical slap in the face. “But it’s better than the alternative, right?” she blurted.

He looked directly at her, and she gasped, because she could’ve sworn there was blue fire behind his eyes. “What alternative?” he asked, his voice slow and cold, sounding less like her dopey brother and more like something older and harsher.

She felt her heartbeat speed up, felt the thumping in her chest harder than the thoughts screaming in her head, and she couldn’t look away from the fire because this might be it, this might be the moment when it finally came back out. She wasn’t prepared to do this right now, she wasn’t prepared to comfort a sad demon who had been enjoying his humanity until his stupid sister opened her stupid mouth and accidentally poked him in the right direction torwards remembering.

Now she was sweating, and her throat felt tight. She was dimly aware of a voice hammering at her, but it sounded like it she was underwater, and all the thoughts and worries from the past couple of weeks were keeping her anchored at the bottom. Gradually, the pressure in her chest lightened, and the voice got clearer, until she could make out:

“Belle? Belle! Are you okay?”

She looked up -- when had she sat down? -- and saw her brother still looking at her. Whatever traces of Alcor she had seen a moment ago were gone -- now there was nothing but worry in his face. His face, which kept fading in and out, in and out…

“Belle, you’re hyperventilating, please…”

Oh, huh, she was. That was… a problem, right? The look on Dipper’s face certainly indicated so. She reached into her pocket and fished around -- aha! A fresh pack of gum. She stuffed a couple of sticks of it into her mouth and started chewing. As she did, her breathing started to slow down and her brain started to uncloud. She felt silly -- this kind of thing hadn’t happened to her in a while.

Which, she supposed, made sense. Alcor had promised to keep her safe.

As her breathing continued to stabilize, she felt Dipper sit down next to her. He pulled his knees up to his chest and sighed, long and dramatic.

“I’m sorry.”

She sniffed. “What are you sorry for?”

“I dunno. Acting so mopey lately?”

“Y-you’re allowed to not be happy.”

“I know, but…” He sighed. “I just don’t want you to think I’m going to do something extreme.”

She frowned. “Uh… what are you talking about?”

“Well, you know… You were talking about life being better than ‘the alternative’, and…” His voice kept getting quieter, and Belle had to lean in to hear him finish his statement. “I don’t want you to think that I want to die.”

She stared at him with a look of utter confusion. After a moment, he returned it. He opened his mouth to say something else, and then her brain finally parsed what he’d said.

“No, what?” she spluttered. “I wasn’t thinking -- I don’t think you -- wow, uh, no. Sorry to worry you, bro-ntasaurs. I know you want to live.” A thought drifted into her head, about a demon who long outlived his twin sister, and her voice wavered. “I don’t doubt it at all!”

He looked surprised, and then cleared his throat. “W-well, good. Because I do. Want to live, that is. Not doubt it. Ugh.” He leaned forward, resting his forehead on his palms. “This is so awkward.”

He looked at that moment more anxious and uncomfortable -- more human -- than he had since before Gravity Falls, and Belle couldn’t help but smile. In a weird way, it felt reassuring, that maybe he actually was getting the awkward human experience he so desired.

“I know, isn’t it great?” He looked up, confused, and she stuck her tongue out. “Want me to make it worse and tell you all about my current crushes?”

His lip quivered, and then he laughed. “Yeah, sure thing! Then I can talk about my favorite conspiracy theories!”

She joined in the laughter, and for a minute, all was good.

Then his face twisted, and again she saw something shimmer in his eyes.

“Wait a minute. If you didn’t think I wanted to… yknow… then what did you mean by ‘the alternative’?”

She froze. “I, uh, what?”

“When I was complaining about how much my life sucks. You said it was still better than the alternative. If the alternative wasn’t death, what was it?”

“Uhh, haha, I don’t, I don’t know, -”

“Because I’ve been thinking,” he cut in, “about why my life sucks, and I’ve… been coming up with some weird theories.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, no, weird theories? That doesn’t sound like you at all!”

“Maybe I’m looking into things too far. But things have been really weird lately and I’m wondering if you’ve noticed it, and if maybe that’s why you thought…”

“Thought? I didn’t think anything at all!” She hopped up and balanced on the tips of her toes. “All I thought was that Dipper, my brother, my twinteresting siblocity, was a funny fellow who needed a smile on his face and a bunch of rhinestones embedded on his clothes.”

He looked shocked for a moment, and then scowled. “Nevermind.”

Her smile faltered, and she dropped her heels. “Wait, no, ahh, I- I didn’t mean to be dismissive. You can tell me.”

“Can I?” he asked, with a sarcastic bite that Belle had rarely heard him use before. “Can I really?”

“Of course you can!”

“It doesn’t feel like it. You’re always deflecting whenever anything strange happens, and you keep pulling people aside to talk to them so that I can’t hear! Do you think I haven’t noticed that?”

“I’m sorry... I didn’t mean…”

“Then why? What’s going on? I thought, yknow, twins, we’re going to stick together and trust each other and stuff. But now it feels like you don’t trust me for some reason and it kind of scares me. It makes me feel like there’s something wrong with me, and with all the other weird stuff going on lately, well…”

He trailed off, but Belle knew well enough to see where that line of thinking was leading. In one quick motion, she jumped up and wrapped him in a tight hug. He squeaked as the air was knocked out of him, but was prevented from crumpling to the ground by her vice-like grip.

“Dipper, I’m sorry.” She rubbed her face into his shoulder, trying to hide the tears that were coming out to play. “I trust you, I really honestly do, and I’m such a doofus for making you think I didn’t.”

“You’re not a doofus…”

“Yeah, I am!” she huffed. She detached herself from him, and slumped a bit. “Listen, bro-bro, I know I’ve been acting super weird, and yeah it’s about you. But I can’t tell you why, because that’ll ruin it.”

“But…”

“I know that’s a huge cop-out! But you gotta believe me, everything I’m doing is for you! I just want you to be happy and if I tell you what I’m doing it would ruin it. Please…” She grabbed his shoulders and looked directly into his eyes. He squirmed a bit under her gaze, but didn’t wrench himself away. “Please. Can you trust me on this?”

“Belle…”

“Look at me, Dipper! You really think I don’t trust you, or that I think there’s something wrong with you?”

He sighed, and then locked eyes with her. There was something shimmering, burning behind his, something grand and horrible, something loving and immeasurably ancient. It was so intense that her brain screamed at her to turn away, to not let herself fall victim to the monster in front of her, but that was a ridiculous, primal instinct. She didn’t stop trusting him when they found out he was really Alcor, and she wasn’t about to stop now. No, if there was anything she should be afraid of, it was the fact that she allowed herself to break his trust in her. So she kept her gaze, and after a moment, Dipper deflated.

“Okay. I trust you.”

She grinned, let go of his shoulders, and gave him another big hug. “Thanks, m’brony. It means a lot to me.”

He smiled weakly, and then picked up his backpack. “Should we… be getting home?”

“Oh yeah.” She put her own back on, and then grabbed her brother’s hand. “Let’s-a-go!”

“No skipping, please, I’m too tired,” he groaned, but light-heartedly.

“Oh, alright, party pooper.”

They headed toward home, unlocking hands after a few minutes (because “Belle I love you but holding your sister’s hand in public is mortifying”). Dipper didn’t seem to want to talk, so Belle loaded in a fresh couple of sticks of gum and set away chewing.

She tried to drown out her thoughts with the art of bubble blowing, but couldn’t help but play their conversation over and over again in her head. Truth be told, she still felt rather anxious after that close call -- she hadn’t expected him to trust her enough to stop asking questions, and the fact that she had doubted him made her feel… weird. Almost like she knew him less now that he didn’t know he was Alcor.

Because when she thought about it, he must’ve been missing memories of their friendship too, since him being a demon was inextricably tied to a bunch of their interactions. So it was kinda like she was talking to someone who she hadn’t known for two years. The whole act of keeping him in the dark about his true nature was suddenly leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

“Hey Belle?”

She snapped her head up, her brother’s voice breaking her out of her thoughts.

“I know you said you can’t tell me about this big secret now since it’ll ‘ruin everything’, but is it the kind of thing you’ll be able to tell me eventually?”

She opened her mouth to respond, quite forgetting that she was in the middle of blowing a bubble. The wad of gum, outweighed by the large air-filled bubble it was attached to, fell out of her mouth and landed on the ground.

“Oh, gross, why’d you do that?” Dipper moaned.

Belle stared at the gum, and then up at him. “Oh, uh, sorry.” She wrapped her hands around the bubble, which somehow hadn’t popped, and picked it up like a ceramic bowl. “And yeah. I’ll be able to tell you soon. Just not now.” She carefully stepped the bubble over to a nearby trash can, and dropped it in, where it again landed without popping.

“Okay. Thanks.”

Belle stared at the bulb of gum in the trash, and then shook her head. “Yeah, sure thing.” She skipped back over to him, and hooked her arm around his. “Is this better than holding hands?”

“Now I can’t tell if you’re deflecting or just being silly.”

“Why can’t it be both?”

He laughed, genuinely laughed, the smile unmistakable in his flame-less eyes. “Fair enough. But actually?” He unhooked his arm from hers, and grabbed her hand instead. “Maybe... this isn’t so bad either.”

(AO3 link)

#gravity falls #transcendence au #dipper pines #alcor the dreambender #belle sterling #dipper sterling #rrr #fic #long post

[waveridden]

FIC: the high noon age of time

None of them know what AuDy actually is, but on a pirate ship with a water nymph-slash-mermaid prince, a famous poet, and a guy who can literally control the ocean, they’re probably the least weird one here. Or, actually, maybe Mako is. At least Mako has a recognizable species.

(Or: the one where the Chime are pirates. 2.4k, gen but Cass/Mako if you squint. content warnings apply for minor sword/gun violence, but no major injuries.)

AUcember || read on Ao3

#

“Okay,” Cass says. “let’s go over it one more time.”

Mako groans as loudly as he possibly can, leaning back in his chair till it’s tipped back on its back legs. “Literally what else is there to go over, Cass, oh my god. ”

Cass ignores him, because they’re cruel and inconsiderate. “We get on the ship. We steal the supplies. We get off the ship.”

“You need to define ‘we,’” AuDy says, which is colossally unhelpful. Mako glares balefully at them, which they ignore, because they’re also cruel and inconsiderate. “Am I staying on the Kingdom Come?”

“You’re steering our ship. Aria and I are fighting. Mako-” Cass’s eyes cut over to him, and then narrow. “What are you doing?”

Mako pauses in fiddling with the collar of his jacket. “Maybe I wanna be comfortable when I’m plundering a ship, you ever think about that? Just because we’re pirates-”

“Privateers,” says Aria.

“Just because we’re privateers,” he corrects himself, because if Aria is the only person being nice to him than he’s going to be nice back, “doesn’t mean we have to be, like, ugly or uncomfortable or whatever. I’m gonna wear my cool jacket and make sure that the ships don’t drift too far apart. I know what I’m doing, because it’s the same thing we do every single time we have to plunder a ship.”

“I don’t know how I feel about the word plunder,” Aria says thoughtfully. “Like, if we’re stealing medicine and supplies for people who need them-”

“Aren’t we still stealing them from people who need them?”

“Everyone needs medicine, Mako.”

“Not everyone,” says AuDy. Mako forgets sometimes that Audy is some weird magical water-wood… sprite… thing, especially now that they’ve started wearing cool coats that cover most of their body.

He tilts his head. “If we got fertilizer-”

“Mako,” Cass says, in a tone of voice that normally means that he needs to shut up. None of them know what AuDy actually is, but on a pirate ship with a water nymph-slash-mermaid prince, a famous poet, and a guy who can literally control the ocean, they’re probably the least weird one here. Or, actually, maybe Mako is. At least Mako has a recognizable species.

Mako lifts his hands in surrender for half a second, before returning to fiddle with his collar. “My point is, we’re using the same plan we always use, and I don’t know why we need a fifteen minute meeting to go over the same plan every single time.”

“Sometimes there are variations,” Aria points out. “Sometimes I use a whip. Sometimes I use a sword instead.”

“Ah,” AuDy says. “Critical differences that are worth my time.”

AuDy has been learning sarcasm. Mako is very, very proud of them.

Cass pinches the bridge of their nose. “Maybe I just want to remind you guys that we’re about to commit a robbery, did you think about that?”

“Wow,” Aria says. “No, you’re right, Cass, I totally forgot what privateering is all about.” She twirls her hair around one finger, a gesture that’s completely at odds with the stony glare she’s currently shooting at them.

“I feel like this is a bad omen,” Mako says to nobody in particular. “Hey, Aria, are you gonna use the whip or the sword this time?”

“Ask Cass, see what they think.”

Cass goes quiet, for just a beat too long. Mako’s eyes widen. “Do you actually have an answer?”

“I am trying to make sure we get out of this in one piece,” Cass says, sounding pained. “But you know what? You’re right. Nothing has ever gone so wrong we couldn’t fix it.”

Mako feels guilty for a fraction of a moment, because Cass actually looks pretty strained over this. And they have, like, actual military experience that they’re wasting on trying to keep a crew of pirates (they’re definitely pirates, no matter what Aria says) from capsizing a boat or something. But at the same time, nothing has gone wrong yet, other than that one time Mako got shot, or that other time that both he and Aria got shot. And they were fine after that, so he really doesn’t know what Cass is so worried about.

AuDy gets to their feet. “I am going to ensure that we’re on course,” they say. “It’s a good plan, Cass.”

Cass sighs, and the guilty fraction of a moment becomes a couple of full, guilty moments. “Thanks, AuDy.”

“I never said it wasn’t a good plan,” Mako protests. “My whole point is that it works!”

Aria nudges his calf with her foot. “You couldn’t come up with a better plan.”

“I absolutely could,” Mako says. “I’ll just capsize their boat, and we’ll get a net. Foolproof. Fool-fucking-proof.”

Cass sighs loudly, which is their equivalent of a laugh when they’re stressed. Mako will take it.

  #

  Their classic Kingdom Come four-phase plan goes perfectly, at least for phase one: get up close to the boat they’re trying to rob.

Mako’s gotten pretty good at that part. The first few times he tried to get the ship close to another ship, there were collisions, and a lot of things got drenched. He might be trained to manipulate the ocean and the wind, but there’s a lot of nuance shit that you can’t learn any way other than making mistakes. And he definitely, definitely made mistakes.

But phase one goes pretty well, and so does phase two for that matter: AuDy holds the boat steady as Cass, Aria, and Mako all board the second ship. Mako doesn’t remember what the name is, but he knows that it’s basically the S.S. This Medicine Is For Rich People Who Can Afford Better Medicine Anyways, so he has no qualms about taking that medicine for people who actually need it.

The ship is pretty small, with only a few crew members above deck to see Aria. Nobody recognizes her this time, which is too bad; it’s always pretty funny when people realize a famous poet is about to rob them blind. Instead, she just props her hands on her hips and grins. “So where’s your cargo hold?”

And that marks phase three: the giant sword fight, which Mako mostly tries to avoid. They even have a system for this: Cass heads for the cargo hold, Aria tries to keep people busy, and Mako pushes people over with breezes and saltwater spray so that neither of them get ambushed. Plus, AuDy has a cannon on the ship, which they’ve only ever needed to use once, but it’s nice to have a backup plan.

“Hey, Mako,” Aria calls at one point. Mako shoots a jet of ocean water at a guy who’s heading towards her and turns to see her lifting up a fancy gold watch. “You want it?”

“Throw it here?”

Aria tosses the watch, and Mako catches it with just a little help from the breeze. She makes a face. “Show-off,” she says, before spinning around and slashing a woman across the chest, sword swinging in a glittering arc.

“You can’t call me a show-off and then do that,” Mako says, because what the fuck. He examines the watch - looks like real gold, no family engraving, all good signs. “Yeah, dibs on this one. Thanks, Ar.”

“You and your fucking souvenirs,” Cass huffs from behind him. When Mako turns, their arms are loaded with crates. “Can I get some help?”

Aria immediately slams the hilt of her sword into someone’s chest, going from pleasure to business in the blink of an eye. “Get across the gangplank, I’ll be right behind.”

Cass grunts their approval and heads towards the gangplank. Mako glances around - everyone on the ship’s crew is either unconscious or watching them without moving, which seems like a good moment for the Chime to make their exit.

He follows Aria to the cargo hold. “Need a hand?”

Aria pauses in lifting up crates. “How many was Cass carrying, did you see?”

“I don’t know, these ones are pretty small.” Mako squints down at the crates. “Like… twelve?”

“Bull fucking shit, they were carrying twelve.” She rolls her eyes and picks up a stack of three, which is about what Cass actually had earlier. “Put that last one on top, come on, I want them to wonder how I picked up four.”

Mako immediately picks up the fourth crate - not huge, and also not terribly heavy - and settles it on top of Aria’s pile of crates. He can barely make eye contact with her, but he can still tell that she’s grinning at hi. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

He follows Aria out of the cargo hold as she makes her way to the gangplank, where Cass is settling their crates on the deck of the Kingdom Come. They arch an eyebrow over at Mako and Aria. “Ready to go?”

“Me and my four crates are ready,” Aria says loudly as she steps onto the gangplank. “Four crates that I picked up by myself-”

“Did you have Mako help you?”

Mako snickers, which he has to hide as a cough so Aria doesn’t kill him. He jerks his head to one side and goes to cough loudly, and then freezes.

One of the crew members is getting to their feet, and holding a pistol. There’s a split second where Mako thinks this guy is an idiot, because he’s not aiming for Mako, or even for Aria and Cass. But then he follows the direction of the gun. And even though he can’t see the helm of the Kingdom Come from where he’s standing, he’s willing to bet that guy has a pretty good shot at AuDy.

Mako’s heart pounds in his ears. He doesn’t have time to think, he just searches for the feeling of wind in the air and thinks push.

Which is, admittedly, not the best thing he could’ve thought.

A gale picks up immediately, blustering between the two boats. He can hear Aria shout as she stumbles forward, thankfully onto the Kingdom Come and not into the ocean. The gun goes off, but the guy is falling onto his back so the shot goes wide into the air. And the Kingdom Come starts sailing away, which presumably means that AuDy hasn’t been shot. Mako breathes a sigh of relief; that was fucking close.

“Mako,” Cass shouts suddenly. “ Mako- ”

“ What, ” Mako shouts back, because Christ, he did it, nobody got shot, can they please calm down-

And then he realizes that the Kingdom Come is sailing away. Without him on it.

“Oh, shit,” Mako says. The gangplank falls into the ocean with a loud splash. Aria and Cass are staring at him in horror, and their faces are getting smaller, because Mako isn’t on the fucking boat. “Oh, my god-”

“Do something!” Aria yells.

Mako immediately reaches out and tries to tug a breeze towards him, but nothing comes, because he’s panicking and he can’t breathe so why would he be able to control the wind? And the pirates around him - actual pirates, not pirate-privateers the way that the Chime are - are starting to get to their feet. And there’s no way off the boat.

Well, there’s one way off the boat.

“Hey,” Mako shouts. “I’m going to do something stupid, okay?”

He can’t be sure, but it looks like Cass clutches at Aria’s arm. Mako kind of wants to roll his eyes, but he thinks he’d be panicking just as hard if it were one of them drifting away.

Mako takes a deep breath, bounces on the balls of his feet, and sprints for the edge of the ship. He thinks he hears someone shout something, but he can’t tell, because he’s already leaping into the ocean.

It’s cold, because of course it’s cold, and Mako starts sinking before his survival instincts kick in. He’s never been a strong swimmer, something that Cass has given him plenty of shit for, but it’s never been super relevant before this moment, where it’s literally sink or swim.

He takes a minute to orient himself in the water before he tries actually swimming. It’s more of an awkward paddle, because Cass might’ve actually had a point about knowing to swim, but he’s making headway when he hears a loud splash.

“Please don’t be pirates,” Mako says aloud. “I don’t need that right now.”

And then suddenly there’s an arm around his back. Mako yelps before he looks down and sees a familiar brown hand pressed up against his chest. He lets out a breath. “Cass.”

“You know,” Cass says, voice strained even though they’re clearly trying to be conversational, “maybe you have a point about my plans not working.”

“Uh, maybe you have a point about me needing to listen,” Mako says, because he’s so relieved about not dying that he kind of has to be nice to Cass. “Are you going to, like, throw me back on the boat? Because that seems kind of hard.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Aria’s getting a ladder. Keep swimming, we’re almost there.”

“I am swimming!”

Cass is mostly behind Mako, so he can’t see the look they’re giving him, but he can still imagine it. “This is what you call swimming?”

“It’s what I call trying.”

“Terrific.”

“Hey, I saved AuDy’s life!” Mako protests. “And we got the stuff, nobody got shot, it went great!”

“We need to change your standards for great,” Cass mutters. But they’re almost at the Kingdom Come, and Mako can see the bottom of the ladder in front of them. “Think you can get us out of here?”

“As soon as I’m on the ship, we’re gone.”

“As long as you actually make it on the ship,” Cass says. “Don’t do that again, by the way.”

Mako paddles forward enough to grab the bottom rung of the ladder, and then turns to glare at Cass. “It wasn’t on purpose!”

“Great,” Cass says. They look tired and relieved, all at once. “Still don’t do it again, though, okay?”

“I won’t,” Mako promises breezily. “You’re not getting rid of me that easy.”

“Great,” Cass says again, but they mean it this time. Mako can tell.

#friends at the table #counter/weight #fatt fic #waveridden.fic #aucember19 #i'm not tagging characters there's no point #ANYWAYS i love pirates #it's such a fucking VIBE yknow

[imagine-loki]

You owe me, Chapter 15

TITLE: You owe me CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 15 AUTHOR: fanficshiddles ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine after the battle in New York, Odin sent Loki back to Earth without his powers as punishment. SHIELD are after him and he meets a woman who isn’t all she seems at first and she has her own agenda. The two end up teaming up, to help one another. But it’s not quite as plain sailing as they’d hoped. RATING: M

Loki and April were SO relieved and happy when they knew that the ship had docked in America.

They bundled into the boot of the car once again and Martin drove them off. It was so much quicker than when they’d loaded. So they weren’t cramped for too long. And Martin was glad when he opened the boot, they weren’t going at it like rabbits again.

‘We can’t thank you enough, Martin. Here’s something for your troubles.’ April said and handed him some money in an envelope.

‘Cheers kiddo. This should pay for new eyeballs after what I’ve seen.’ He said jokingly and gave April a pat on the back.

‘Could’ve been worse.’ She shrugged.

‘How, exactly?’ He asked.

‘At least we’re hot! You might’ve had to see two old, horrible, people going at it.’ She winked at Martin, making him laugh.

‘That’s true. Now you both take care of yourselves. And remember, they drive on the wrong side of the road here. I don’t want to hear about you two being stopped by police after making it all this way.’

‘We will be careful. Thank you.’ Loki smiled and shook his hand, he liked Martin.

Martin waved them off, then Loki and April got in the car. Loki took the driver’s side again.

‘You think I’m hot.’ Loki smirked.

‘Don’t flatter yourself. I’m the hot one. You’re…. average.’ She shrugged and put on her seatbelt.

Loki rolled his eyes. ‘So, what’s the plan now?’

‘I don’t know. This is all on you now. I have no idea what we need to do or where we need to go.’ April said.

Loki nodded and tapped his lower lip with his finger, thinking.

‘We need to find a base. Come up with a plan. I have someone I can get in touch with, someone on the inside.’

‘What, exactly, are you needing anyway?’

Loki glanced at her, then decided she best know what they’re after.

‘I need what is called a tesseract. It’s an infinity stone, incredibly powerful. It holds my power, once I get hold of it, I will have my powers back.’

‘Tesseract? Weird name. What does it look like?’

‘It’s a blue cube. You’ll know it when you see it. But it’s too powerful for a mortal to handle.’ He said firmly, looking at her intently.

‘Alright then. Let’s go get your blue cube.’ She smirked and sat back on the seat. 

Loki shook his head and rolled his eyes. ‘First, we are getting food and getting a proper sleep somewhere.’ He put the car into gear and off they went.

It took a few hours to drive to the outskirts of New York, where they booked into a motel for a few nights. Hoping that SHIELD wouldn’t know they were there, at least not yet.

Loki used a burner phone to get in touch with an agent he had on the inside. He set up a meeting with him in a café across from the motel.

He was told as far as SHIELD knew, Loki was still in England. He was also told of the location where the base was, and was also given confirmation that the tesseract was indeed in there.

It was just going to be a matter of getting inside and getting hold of it.

When Loki returned to their room, he was confused to find April asleep. But she was clearly having a nightmare. She kept thrashing back and fore, saying no repeatedly and flinging her hands about. She also mentioned the name Alexander.

‘April?’ Loki called out and moved towards the bed.

He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, shaking her awake. April was in such a panicked state when she woke. She launched at Loki and got him in a head lock with her thighs, hauling him down to the floor and pinning him there. He let out a grunt as he hit the floor, his eyes wide in surprise at her sudden strength considering she had just been asleep a second ago.

April’s eyes focused and she realised it was Loki. As soon as she loosened her thighs, she jumped up.

‘Shit. Sorry.’ She rambled quickly and backed away.

Loki stood up and rubbed his neck, he was impressed though.

‘Nightmare?’

She nodded and rubbed her arm, looking awfully vulnerable all of a sudden. Loki wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew now wasn’t the time to give her into trouble for pinning him like that. He had a feeling there was a lot more to it.

‘Want to speak about it?’ He asked as he stood up and dusted himself off, then sat on the edge of the bed.

‘No. It was just a nightmare. Monsters and stuff.’ She shrugged.

But Loki knew that was a lie. She was obviously thinking about Alexander and going after him. They were getting closer, so to speak.

‘Where are you going?’ He asked when she moved across the room towards the bathroom.

‘For a piss. Is that alright?’ She snapped suddenly, glaring at him.

Loki narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Don’t take that tone with me, young lady.’ He snarled.

She shook her head. ‘Whatever.’ She muttered under her breath and continued on into the bathroom.

When she emerged a few minutes later, Loki took great pleasure in forcing her to submit. She defied him, wouldn’t kneel when he told her to. But with a harsh tug in her hair, he easily had her down on her knees on front of him.

Once he’d forced her to give him a blowjob, he repaid the favour. Spreading her out on the bed on her back, he latched onto her cunt and made her dance on the tip of his tongue.

He had to reach up and cover her mouth with his hand when he made her come, because she was about to scream so loud he was sure the entire motel would’ve heard. That did make him feel very smug though, when he crawled up over her body, his lips and chin was glistening with her wetness.

‘Fucking hell, Loks. Where did you learn to do that?’ She gasped, unable to comprehend what he just did to her.

Loki chuckled and kissed her on the lips, hungrily. Biting her lower lip and tugging back playfully, that made her whimper.

‘Practice, my dear.’ He grinned.

‘Well… You can practice all the more on me anyyyytime.’ She grinned back at him.

‘Good to know.’ He chuckled.

The following morning, April was awake before Loki. She was doing some workouts at the side of the bed. Loki rolled over and watched her for a while, admiring her body and the way she moved.

‘Thought of a plan yet?’ She asked when she noticed he was awake.

‘Mmm. Not yet. Unfortunately, SHIELD is not easy to get into without any of my powers.’ He sighed and rolled onto his back, hands behind his head.

April hopped up onto the bed and straddled over him. She was still naked from the night before and so was he. He could feel the warmth from her cunt upon his stomach.

He couldn’t help himself from stroking up and down her thighs, gripping them tightly. So firm and strong.

‘Well, we need to come up with something. There’s always ways to infiltrate somewhere.’

‘Oh is there, now?’ Loki asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

‘Of course. It’s just finding the right kind of… leverage.’ She said teasingly as she trailed her fingers across his chest, noting his breathing deepen.

‘And what kind of leverage do you suggest?’

‘The best kind. Sex of course. It is a male orientated organisation, isn’t it?’ She grinned wickedly.

‘Yes…’ Loki said cautiously.

‘And what can’t most macho males resist?’

‘Sex.’ Loki commented, his eyes darkening as she started rocking her hips very slightly against his toned stomach. He could feel her wetness against his skin now, as she was becoming aroused.

She rolled her eyes. ‘As well as sex…’ She trailed off and looked at him, waiting for the answer.

But Loki wasn’t thinking entirely straight with the way she was softly grinding against him.

‘My god. You men really do just think with your cocks.’ She sighed and moved off him, to kneel on the bed next to him instead. Hoping it would allow his brain to work more.

‘Enlighten me then, with what else we apparently can’t resist?’ He growled and moved onto his side, leaning on his elbow.

A smirk spread across April’s face.

‘A poor, beautiful, damsel in distress.’

#Loki #God of Mischief #Submitted fic #submission #you owe me #chapter 15 #fanfichiddles

[wykart]

Fifty-one years (and one day) later

Part 2/3 

Read Part 1 or read on (ao3)

Summary: Dave doesn’t die in the war and Klaus has no reason to leave the past. Fifty-one years on and he finds himself back at the time he left the world he knew, now eighty years old. He decides to pay his siblings a visit. 

“Klaus!” He heard Diego calling after him, but he kept his eyes on the pavement in front, taking a long drag from his cigarette. He was sober the vast majority of the time, thank-you-very-much, but times like these, he needed something to take his mind off things. A knife sailed past his ear, whistling as the blade loped off a lock of hair.

He dropped his cigarette in shock, bringing his hand up to his ear. “What the fuck, Diego!”

“You d–d–don’t get to fucking walk away from this!” He turned to see his brother storming down the street, still sporting that ridiculous black leather vigilante get-up. His voice was cracked with threatening sobs as he carved a path through the crowd. People were staring, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Hey, woah there, calm down,” Klaus said, holding his hands out in a stopping motion, “you’re making a scene.”

“Oh yeah, what about the scene you made b–back there, walking in here after w–what – fifty years!” He pushed Klaus’ hands aside.

Klaus chuckled, much to Diego’s despair. “That was pretty good though, you have to admit.” Diego snarled. “Oh ok, fine. But if you do come to my funeral, I want you and Luther to fight just like you did at Dad’s – and no holding back this time. I want blood!” Diego grabbed him by the shoulders. Klaus thought he heard his bones crack. “You wouldn’t choke-slam a poor, frail old man now would you?” He cried, feigning distress. He couldn’t stop laughing, and every bought made Diego all the more furious.

“Stop fucking laughing, you hear me! S–stop!” There were tears in his eyes. Klaus had done it again, he’d gone too far.

“Aww come on Diego, I’m sorry, hey –“ he gave his brother a pat on the shoulder as he crumbled, laying his head on Klaus’ shoulder. “Hey, stop crying bro.” People were definitely staring now. “Come on, let’s go somewhere a little more private,” he said, eyeing the onlookers. Diego nodded and straightened up, trying to hide his tears. Klaus led him away, back along the street to the alley that ran along the side of the academy building. “Hey,” he cried at the amassing crowd, “nothing to see here, move along.”

…

“You feeling better Diego,” Klaus asked, patting his brother on the back. They were leaning against the wall, far from prying eyes. Diego seemed to have gotten over the initial shock of it all, his breathing was deepening, tears drying. He was better, but far from okay. Klaus lit another cigarette, was wasn’t about to do this unaided.

“I should have looked for you, after I busted the motel, I should’ve helped you.”

“Wouldn’t have made any difference, I was long gone by then, there was nothing you could’ve done.”

“Well maybe we could’ve given you a reason to come back.” He looked at Klaus – down now, instead of up, he’d shrunken in on himself in his old age – searching for the remnants of the person he knew from just days prior. The image of the man he’d always seen as his little brother, the one he always had to protect and keep out of trouble, was fading fast. “Would it really have been as easy to come back as Five said?”

“Yeah,” Klaus sighed, not meeting his brother’s eyes, “yeah it would have.”

Diego scoffed, shaking his head. “Then why the hell didn’t you, man?”

“You really wanna know?” He asked, tilting his head up towards the blue strip of sky running above the alleyway. “Okay then,” he sighed, breathing out a puff of smoke. “I fell in love.” Diego chuckled to himself. “No, dude, I’m serious,” he insisted.

“And that was enough –“

“To stop me from coming back to this hell-hole? Sure it was. There was nothing here for me, Diego, I was a junkie, I’d been pouring my life down the gutter since I was thirteen, and I was running on empty.”

“And what about us?” What about me, his eyes said. “Five says the world is ending, do you even care?”

“Oh come on Diego,” he cried, throwing his hands up in exasperation, “you’ve really gotta make this hard for me don’t you. For your information, I didn’t know the world was ending for real, I thought Five was just trying to get me to pretend to be his dad–“

“You did what?”

Klaus shushed him and continued. “– I just came by to give Five his little time machine, maybe tell you what I’d been up to, then let you all get on with your lives in peace.”

“But now –“

“But now apparently the world is ending in three days, which is fine by me I’ve got nothing left to live for, but you…” he trailed off, looking at his brother with sorrow in his eyes.

“You know, to be fair, I don’t have a whole lot going for me either,” Diego shrugged.

“You’ve got a future. Allison’s got her daughter, Vanya has a regular life ahead of her, Luther’s got… well he’s got nothing but we love him anyway. Even Five has some sort of weird old-man-child life of crime on the horizon – and that’s forgetting everyone else on the planet.”

“But you’re not going to help,” Diego finished for him, looking defeated.

“Look, even if I wasn’t eighty and not able to walk ten yards without putting my back out, I’m still useless to you. My power’s only gotten weaker over the years – that’s years of unabided recreational drug use, mind – and even if they hadn’t, how could I possibly help avert some sort of world–crushing cataclysm anyway?”

“I don’t know man, Five seems to think we need everyone together to fight this thing.”

“Well, tell him I’m out. If we only have three days left, I’m going to get high at the graveyard and talk to him one last time.”

“Him?”

“Diego, Diego,” he sighed, “are you seriously that fucking clueless.”

“So you loved him then, for your whole life… I can’t even imagine.” He thought of Eudora, gone now, but never really his. She was right, they never would have lasted even if they had given things another shot.

“Yeah,” he sighed, and Diego watched as his old eyes looked back into his memories, happier days, simpler days. A deep, yearning nostalgia one could only acquire after living through the greatest experiences, and the worst hardships, that life had to offer. “It was wonderful. After the war I moved back to Kansas with him, old country house on a farm and everything. We went out to the city for a while once every year or two, experienced the high-life, but I liked the quiet… less ghosts lurking around.”

“Wait, the war?”

“Yeah, bro, Vietnam.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “That’s incredible, I guess all of dad’s combat training paid off after all.”

Klaus chuckled “yeah, and speaking of, back in ’71 I punched dad in the face so hard he blacked out right there on the street.”

“What, seriously?’ He said, incredulous.

Klaus nodded with pride, “Yeah, man. I just saw him one day walking around outside the academy – before it was even called an academy – and I just thought, you fucking bastard and then – wham!” Klaus mimed punching through the air.

“What did he say?”

“Ow,” he laughed, “he didn’t have time to say much else.”

“What if you’d, like, changed time or something, by punching him in the face?”

“You know, I did think about that after, like what if getting punched in the faced rocked his brains so bad he forgot about his need to purchase seven children and abuse them all their lives.”

“Or it rocked his brains so hard he decided he wanted to do that in the first place.”

“Eesh,” he cringed, "that’s a disturbing thought. My thinking was, he’d probably just lay awake at night wondering who that gangly hippie bastard was that absolutely pounded his ass.”

“Serves him right – god he was a piece of work.” And here they were, complaining about Dad as if they were fifteen again, smoking out the back of the house, finally coming to realise what an asshole Sir Reginald really was after years of dancing to his tune. They were laughing, as if this were just another ordinary day.

“Did you ever see us – as kids I mean?” Diego asked.

“Well, I was curious, it’s not exactly something you get to see everyday, but I tried my best to stay clear of this city. I wanted to leave that part of me behind for good.”

“Well I can understand that, wanting to forget everything and start fresh. I wanted to do that, back after Ben died and you left, but the past always catches up – and here I am.”

“I tried to run, my whole life I tried, but it all caught up to me too, and here I am,” he sighed, “same as you.” Klaus looked down at the floor. Ever since Dave had died, he’d had a lot of time to reflect, time to question his decision to leave his family behind. Just a few months ago, he wouldn’t have dreamed of coming back to this place, facing them all one last time, he thought maybe it would be better for them to think he’d just disappeared off the face of the earth. “Should I have come back at all?” He thought of Diego’s tears, his anger, Allison’s horrified disbelief, even Five had seemed upset - though for him or the fate of the world he wasn’t sure.

“What do you mean,” Diego replied, as if Klaus had just said something unbearably stupid. “Of course you did the right thing, it would have been torture, living every day not knowing if you were dead or in pain somewhere.”

“Well, it’s not like you seemed to care before.” He knew how immature he sounded, like some whiny kid instead of the wise old wizard vibe he was pulling off nowadays. “I didn’t see you for thirteen years before dad’s funereal, I didn’t see any of you, and when I came back you’d all moved on with your lives, but I was still the same stunted little asshole you all know and tolerate.”

“You don’t think I cared?” Diego levelled his gaze, looking at him with an earnest sort of sadness. Despite his tough-guy front, he was probably the best out of all of them at understanding how others were feeling. “I had that stupid police radio on all through my time at the academy and every day since, because I knew you were out there somewhere on the streets almost every night, about to OD on all that crap you were taking. If anything had ever happened to you I just know I would’ve blamed myself for not being there for you.” His sadness was building itself into rage again. He screwed up his face, turning away. “I was supposed to protect you.”

“What difference does it make, Diego, I lived a way better life than I ever could have back here. Isn’t that enough?”

“I suppose,” he seemed unconvinced, “but we were all meant to grow up together, we’ve been together since before we can remember, I guess I thought that meant something.”

Klaus didn’t know what to say, of course it meant something, but it was something that every single one of the Hargreeves children had been running from their whole lives. It had never occurred to Klaus that it could be something to be embraced. “This is really messing you up, huh?” This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Somehow Klaus had pictured the whole thing as more of a comedic affair. He’d walk in, old and decrepit, his sibling would be shocked and he’d laugh it off, and he would go back to living in his own little world of pretending not to care. He’d kept secrets for so long, from Dave - who’d ask about that briefcase he kept duct-taped shut and padlocked under the floorboards where no one could find it, who always asked about his past and was met only by vague answers and the occasional name. He’d also kept secrets from himself, as he’d spent so long trying to remember his siblings in a way that justified him leaving and never turning back – he didn’t regret his decision, but that didn’t stop the guilt he felt as he watched Diego now.

“Yeah,” was all he said. Klaus couldn’t stand much more of this.

“Well,” he clapped Diego on the shoulder, but he didn’t look up from the ground, staring intently at nothing. “Sounds like you have world to save, best of luck – and I’m being serious this time.”

“Thanks,” he replied, shoving Klaus’ hand away and straightening up. He still seemed angry, subdued. He narrowed his eyes. “I’ll see you again, brother,” his voice was stony. Klaus’ heart sank.

Klaus flashed him a sad smile, “I wouldn’t count on it.” Diego glared at him and turned away, walking but out onto the street.

When he was sure the he was gone, Klaus turned around to face the figure that had been standing behind him, watching, silent in contemplation. Ben. He would usually butt into Klaus’ conversations, a sarcastic comment or scolding remark. These past few minutes, however, he’d been silent. “I’m surprised, Ben, I would’ve thought you’d have something to say by now.”

“Oh, I have plenty to say, but it’s hard enough just getting close to you – what the hell did you do to yourself?” And there he was, back on his case even after all this time.

“In between the drugs and the debilitating old age, I’m not quite the seance that I used to be.”

“Clearly.”

Klaus scoffed, “rude.” He couldn’t tell how Ben was feeling, he was just standing there, hands in his pockets, staring. “You’re not angry?”

“I’m still trying to figure out what I’m feeling. You disappeared, Klaus, I spend a day in purgatory or wherever it is souls go when you aren’t around to host the party, and then suddenly I feel your presence again, faintly, and I find you like this, I mean, what the hell Klaus?”

“You know, I’m hearing just a teensie bit of angry,” he teased.

He rolled his eyes, “I can’t believe you.”

“You still going to hang around – it’s not like I have a whole lot of time left, and apparently the apocalypse is coming so there’s that too.”

“Well it’s either this or nothingness, so I think I’ll stick around your sorry ass a while longer.” He smiled, and Klaus returned the gesture. “And, Klaus,” he added, “I’m happy for you. All this time I was afraid you were never going to actually start living your life, but you actually got your shit together for once. I mean, who would’ve thought you’d make it past forty, let alone eighty.”

“Aww, Ben, you’re so supportive.” He was only a little sarcastic. He put out his cigarette, quenching the flame against the old brick of the academy, just like he used to as a kid. “Do you think you could help me out with something?” he asked as he walked out from between the two buildings, Ben stalking behind, a persistent shadow. “I need to contact someone I’ve lost.”

…

Five was waiting impatiently in the entrance hall when Diego finally let himself back into the academy. “Diego,” he said, “did you talk to him?”

He sighed, collecting his thoughts. “Yeah, yeah I did.”

“And?”

“And what? He won’t help us Five, what did you expect? Besides, I don’t know what sort of help we’d need from him anyway.” His lip was quivering, and he struggled to get the words out. “He’s j–just a stupid old man now anyway.”

“Did he tell you why he stayed?”

Diego chuckled to himself, “he fell in love, if you can believe it. Some guy he soldiered with in Vietnam. It’s crazy…”

“I see,” Five said, simply. He’d already stopped listening. He looked down towards the briefcase still lying on the floor where Klaus had left it. “Very disappointing,” he muttered to himself. He wasn’t proud of what he was thinking, but there was only one way to stop the apocalypse. They needed the full force of the academy, Klaus included, and there was only one reason he had abandoned them.

After all, what was one life against seven billion?

#tua #the umbrella academy #fanfic #fanfiction #my writing #ua #umbrella academy #klaus hargreeves #diego hargreeeves #ben hargreeves #number five #five hargreeves #the seance #klave #klaus/dave #klaus/diego #dave katz