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yeet-or-be-hawed · 4 years

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“Moonshine and Kerosene: Part 2″ Arthur Morgan x Female Reader

*Mushu voice* I LIVE!

I promise I’m not gone, just experiencing writer’s block but heyo here’s some new content!

Smut

Arthur heads into Valentine just expecting to pick up some supplies, the last thing he expects is to find you brawling in the Valentine saloon. He accompanies you for another drink, hoping he won’t wake up tomorrow with a headache and no memory.

Part 1

Master List

Arthur’s nose crinkled as the stench of sheep manure hit his nostrils. Valentine wasn’t Arthur’s choice of locale, but Hosea had already made arrangements to pick up the camp’s supply from the general store. He kept the brim of his hat low and his gaze on the ground; it had been months since he damn near shot up the whole town and most small towns had long memories. The afternoon seemed quiet except for the usual sounds of chaos emitting from the saloon as he passed. There was almost certainly a bar fight going on; he could hear the shouts and curses of the drunkards.

As he tethered his horse in front of the general store, movement caught his eye. There in the alleyway between the saloon and the store was the infamous horse with the ram skull mask. He took a step towards the horse and suddenly a man crashed through the window onto the wooden porch beside him. “Not again!” The bartender yelled, followed by even more hollering inside the bar. Arthur’s hand fell to his pistol as he entered the saloon.

Inside, the bartender was cowering under the bar and there were unconscious men scattered across the floor. In the middle of the chaos to his great surprise, was you.

This was a normal day for you, Maggie had caught word that rival shiners were trying to move in on your turf and sell to your already established customers. As the muscle of the operation it was your job to ensure they left with nothing but bloodied faces and tails tucked between their legs. You ducked just in time to dodge a right hook and used the momentum to bring your fist upwards into the man’s jaw, knocking him unconscious. While your attention was shifted, it opened an opportunity for another goon, landing a hard punch to your cheek.

“Shit,” you spat. You could taste the blood in your mouth and the time for games was over. You hit the man hard with three blows, grabbed him, and rammed his head into the support pillar. Another man attempted to grapple you from behind, but you swung your head back and butted your head into his. His grip loosened and you slipped out from him, lining up with him.

“I’m gonna kill you!” A man beside you bellowed as he came barreling towards you. Your hands were busy duking it out with the fellow in front of you, leaving you open to the oncoming attack- but it never came. A swift elbow came down on his crown, bringing him to the ground with nothing but a gurgle. Your eyes flashed in the direction for just a second and you smiled.

“Ah, Mr. Callahan,” you said in between punches. The man attempted to dodge your attack by ducking to the left, you caught him by the head and slammed his head down onto the table. His body slumped to the floor unconscious. “What brings you here?”

“Ah, you know,” Arthur said as he brawled with the last of the men. “Jus, ridin’ through.” His fist landed hard and the man crumpled to the ground.

You wiped the blood from your nose and walked over to the unconscious and groaning men. Arthur was a bit roughed up, his hat had fallen to the floor and his hair was rustled; you quite liked the look on him. Arthur met you in the middle and gave you that crooked grin that you liked so much. “I’d say my work here is done,” you said as you extended your elbow to him. “Want to get outta here?”

Arthur opened his mouth to speak but he was cut off by a voice. “You ain’t goin’ no where!” The two of you turned, coming down the stairs were two huge burly men, you recognized one as a Braithewaite cousin.

“Aw hell,” Arthur groaned.

“What, you ain’t ready for round two?” You smirked as you rolled up your sleeves. “I’ll take the inbred pig, you can have the fat red headed one.”

“Who you callin’ a pig?” The Braithewaite snarled. He was faster than you expected, swinging on you before you could react. The weight behind his fist knocked you back a couple steps, almost knocked you to your ass. The taste of copper filled your mouth and trickled down your chin, you wiped away the blood and grimaced. Now you were pissed.

“This was a new shirt you son of a bitch!” You threw a flurry of punches, but he was lighter on his feet than you expected, blocking and ducking. If you wanted to win this fight you would have to keep a level head and watch him. This obviously wasn’t his first scrap either. You observed how he moved as you threw punches at each other; he blocked well, but his body was big and he left an opening in his ribs when he raised his arms to block. You feigned for the face and when he moved to block, you punched hard into his ribs, making him cry out. In his surprise you were able to land a blow to his temple. That would usually down a man, but he stumbled backwards three steps, rubbed his head, and came back at you. That hit to the temple definitely slowed him, and he was more angry now. He was all punches and no blocking; you had him now. You dodged his wide swings easily and took your time, delivering heavy blows to the ribs and face. He was staggering a bit now and you smiled to yourself: he was yours now.

His swing was fast, too fast, and it knocked you back against the chair behind you. Blotches of colors danced in front of your eyes and you shook your head. He was coming for you now. As he barreled forward, you grabbed the chair you were leaning against and slammed it right into his face. The chair broke on impact and the large man fell. Turning just in time, you saw Arthur deal the last blow. You gave him a nod and he returned it. The man below you coughed as you squatted down to grab a fist full of greasy hair and pulled his gaze to you. “This is MY turf, you got me? Mine. I catch you here again tryna sell for your cousin fuckin’ kin I’ll kill you where you stand. This town is mine.” You slammed his face into the ground and stood. “I think I could go for a drink now, how 'bout you Mr. Callahan?”

“I-I don’t think so!” The man behind the bar exclaimed. “You just- you get outta here before I call the law.”

You rolled your eyes. “Fine.” You pulled out your billfold and laid a few bills down on the bar. “For the damages. I assume I don’t have to tell you where your loyalties lie?”

“N-no ma’am, I only buy from Miss Maggie, no one else, I swear!”

You nodded. “Good.” You pulled out another bill and slid it to the shaking man behind the bar. “Sorry to have interrupted your day, you got your job and I got mine.”

He said nothing as you rejoined Arthur. “C’mon, there’s another saloon here we can get a drink from.”

“I don’t think anyone’ll be servin’ ya lookin’ like that.” He said pointedly.

“Like what?” You looked down at your shirt, ruined by a huge blood stain from your busted lip. “Oh. You got a spare shirt I can borrow?”

He nodded, “sure.”

“Great, we can make a pit stop at the hotel across the way. I could go for a bath anyways.” You looked over him and smirked. “You smell like you could use a bath too.”

He raised a brow at you “Oh really? You don’t think I smell purty?” he joked.

“I think,” you said with a flirtatious grin pulling at your lips, “I’d like to see if they have a tub for two.”

You didn’t look at him but you could hear him choke on his words. You had effectively flustered the man into a stuttering mess. Entering the hotel first, you greeted the man behind the counter. “Two baths and a room please.”

“Yes ma’am, I’ll have the baths drawn immediately.” He placed a small key in your hand. “You’ll be in 2B.” You thanked the man and paid.

Unfortunately, they only had tubs big enough for one. While you scrubbed your body, you tried to remember his body through the muddled memory of your drunken night at the bar. You were quick to wash, ready for a drink. After you finished cleaning, you were out of the tub and hastily put on your clothes, the chill of the fall air causing goosebumps to rise over your skin.

When you entered your shared room, he was already there. You had caught him in the middle of changing; his chest was bare as he buttoned his trousers, his suspenders hanging lazily at his side. He was so much more handsome than you remembered, you could thank the moonshine for that. His back was to you, facing the mirror in the corner. You approached him from behind and looped your arms around him, brushing your fingers through his chest hair. You inhaled his scent deeply as you rested your head against his back.

He tensed as you took him in your arms; he wasn’t used to this kind of intimacy. This closeness rendered him useless: his mind was in a fog and his throat was so tight that even if he could form the words they would be shoved back down to his stomach. All he could do was stare into the mirror, stare at your hands clutching to his chest, the top of your head poking into vision from behind his broad shoulders.

You finally broke the silence. “Ya know, I don’t even know your name, Mr. Callahan.”

He cleared his throat in an attempt to push down the lump that so stubbornly clung to his words. “Arthur,” he half whispered.

“Arthur,” you repeated. And as quickly as you had wrapped yourself around him, you were gone. “My name is Y/N.”

He turned to face you and his cheeks flushed as he caught you unbuttoning your shirt. He quickly averted his eyes and you smirked. “Come now Arthur, it ain’t like you haven’t seen this before.”

He rubbed his neck sheepishly as he stared at his feet. “There weren’t much that I recall thanks to someone feedin’ me all that 'shine.”

You dropped the ruined shirt to the floor and stepped towards him. “Well, maybe I can jog your memory.”

Your husky tone caused a heat to pool in his stomach. He looked at you, your chest fully exposed to him. You wrapped your arms around his waist and pulled him close as your lips pressed the softest of kisses around his jawline. Your skin was so soft against his, your supple breasts pressed against his chest. Your lips made their way from his jaw up to his ear and it sent a shiver down his spine. “You got that spare shirt?” you whispered in his ear.

He exhaled. When did he stop breathing? “Sure.” His voice cracked on the end and he cleared his throat once more.

Your eyes trailed over his body as he bent over to retrieve the shirt from his bag. He pulled out two shirts- one blue with pinstripes button down and one dark crimson casual shirt. He threw you the blue one and slid the red one on while you watched his shoulder muscles as he pulled it over his body. It fit him quite snuggly; it would be hard to keep your eye off him looking as divine as he did.

The shirt was big enough for you to slip on without unbuttoning any of the buttons. When you unbuttoned your trousers and shifted them down a bit to tuck in your shirt, you saw the hungry look in his eye when he caught sight of your hip bones. He found himself feeling less and less thirsty for whiskey and more hungry for you.

You turned to face the mirror to give yourself a look over and saw him step behind you. His hands found your hips and his breath was hot on your ear. “I cain’t let you keep my shirt ya know.”

You smiled and turned to face him, his hands remaining planted on your hips as you pressed yourself against him. “Don’t worry,” you whispered, your lips so close they brushed his as you spoke. “I paid to keep this room for the night. You can take the shirt back later.”

His hands moved to the buttons of the shirt as he exhaled a shaky breath. “Why don’t I just take it back now?”

“Mmmm, tempting offer.” You placed a soft kiss on his lips and you could feel the hunger as his lips pleaded against yours. Before he could deepen the kiss you pulled away. “But I need a drink.”

He sighed in defeat. “Fine, but I ain’t gettin’ so drunk I’ll forget half the night.” His fingers brushed your hair away from your ear. “I want to remember it all.”

His words had a way of making you feel like you were walking on clouds. That soft smirk gripped you and pulled you in, he was addicting in every sense of the word; from his scent to his voice he overpowered your senses and left you needing more. He left a heat in your stomach stronger than moonshine, when he touched you that heat spread quicker than fire and kerosine.

Taking his hand you led him back out to the bustling streets of Valentine. Arthur stared at your hand wrapped around his, never had a woman been so bold, so direct with him before. He was used to the blushing type, the giggling and teasing type, but the way you pressed yourself against him, no taunting, no half hearted touches followed by a joke, you were confident and serious with every touch, every comment made in that sultry tone that felt like silk as the words wrapped around him. You were different and new and it excited him but left him in a static fog of what to say and do.

As you passed through the threshold of the hotel you made a clicking noise and the horse with the ram skull mask trotted right up to you. He breathed a short laugh as you took the reins in your spare hand. “A force to be reckoned with indeed.”

You smirked, “are you surprised?”

He shook his head, “not at all.”

He examined the horse walking beside you, a little bigger than his Arabian but not by much- this horse was built for speed. It’s coloring was unique, something he had never seen. The horse had two big blotches of white, one on each side. Brown bordered the horse itself, running up the spine, running down the legs and neck, giving the illusion of a window pane. As for the horse’s face, the only detail he could make out behind the mask were a pair of phantom blue eyes. He now understood the fear that was struck in the hearts of those who had seen him, this horse looked intimidating to say the least.

When you arrived at the smaller saloon, you tethered the horse to the hitching post and gave him a pat on the neck. “His name is Baphomet.” you said, not turning your attention from the horse.

“Strange name.” Arthur remarked, and immediately regretted his words. “I mean, it ain’t strange it just- I ain’t never heard that before.”

His stammering brought your attention to him and his weak smile was contagious as your lips curled up to match his.

“It’s okay,” you reassured him. “That’s the usual response. I saw the name in some book I found, I think it’s the name of some sort of god? I just liked the sound of it.” You shrugged. Your reassurance relaxed him. “He’s pretty friendly, you can pet him if you’d like.”

You took a step back to allow him to take your place. He moved slowly and cautiously, cooing to the horse in a soft tone. He put out his hand to allow Baphomet to smell him, after an accepting whinny he stroked the horse’s muscular neck. “Good boy,” he cooed. “I ain’t never seen a horse like this, what is he?”

“Criollo, I believe is what the man said. I bought him a few years ago back east, I ain’t much of an equine expert but I know he’s strong and there ain’t a revenue man or law maker that’ll catch him this side of the Lannahechee River.”

He gave the horse a final pat and turned back to you. “And the mask?”

You followed him up the stairs of the wooden porch to the entrance of the saloon. “It ain’t some skull I picked up off the side a the road that’s for sure. I picked it up in the Appalachias, an old friend a mine had a talent for makin’ things. See, these revenue men are smarter and more dangerous than your standard sheriff. They’re government men, and according to them people like me, well we ain’t worth more than the shit in the sheep pen out there. They’ll shoot your horse out from under ya before they’ll shoot you, I lost two great horses that way. So now I’ve got a little extra protection.” You took a seat in the corner table of the small saloon, you were the only patrons here today. “It won’t last forever, hell it’ll probably crack if it gets hit, but at least it’s the ram skull that cracks instead of my horse’s.”

Arthur nodded, impressed. “I ain’t never thought of that,” he smiled. “Horse armor, who’d a thought?”

The man running the bar approached hastily, happy to serve the new customers. “Afternoon you two, what can I get for ya?”

“Whiskey.” Arthur said.

You knocked on the table twice, “Fike’s Brew.”

The man gave a knowing nod and shuffled behind the counter. Arthur looked at you with a cocked eyebrow. “What the hell is Fike’s Brew?”

You smirked, “the only thing I drink.” You paused as the man set down your shot glasses in front of you. “We got claim on all the saloons in the Heartlands. If you know how to order right,” you lifted the glass so that Arthur could clearly see the moonshine in the glass. He clinked his glass to yours and you knocked back your shot in time with him. He lifted a finger to the man behind the bar, signaling another round.

“Is that why you were brawlin’ with them Braithewaite boys?” He asked.

You nodded. “My employer has been-“ another pause as you searched for the right words. “Off the map for a few years and just popped back up. Most of the competition seemed to back away, she was notorious for bein’ ruthless, keepin’ her territories in line. They say she had all of New Hanover and about half of Lemoyne under her thumb before-before she disappeared. But them damn Braithwaites don’t seem to know when to quit. I gotta go out and drive em outta our turf it seems like just bout every week.” You nodded a thanks to the bartender and he placed your shot glass in front of you. You picked up the shot but continued. “Not to mention that crazy ol’ hag has it in her head we stole a bunch a her ‘prized horses.’ I don’t know where she gets the notion, we don’t care bout her damn horses.” You rolled your eyes and lifted the shot glass to your lips.

“Oh,” Arthur scratched his chin. “Guess I’m to blame for that one.”

You damn near choked on your drink as it went down. “That was you?” You laughed. “Maggie‘ll get a kick outta that one. That night you showed up at the bar she was certain you was a Braithewaite spy.”

“No wonder,” he said. “I tried goin’ back bout a week later, but I couldn’t get in.”

“Arthur,” you cooed. “You weren’t comin’ back to see lil ol me were ya?”

He stuttered and his cheeks turned pink, this time you caught the flush before he could tilt his chin down to hide it behind the brim of his hat. “No I- I just,” he sighed. “Maybe I was.” He grumbled.

Without hesitation you reached forward and took his hand. You were unafraid of contact, brash with your motions and it never failed to send him reeling. In this moment the way you looked at him was so soft, he swore he felt his heart melt. Couldn’t you see you were leaving him a puddle of a man?

“No reason to be embarrassed,” you gave him a sheepish smile and for the first time, he caught the rosy tint that seemed to blossom across your face. “I was hopin’ I’d see you again.” Your gaze moved out the window beside you. “In this business, it’s so hard to trust strangers. Cain’t tell ya how many times I been betrayed by people I considered close friends.” When you turned your attention back to him you smirked, “come on Mr. Callahan, catch up.”

He rolled his eyes and took his shot, you watched him and when his empty glass hit the wooden table you waved to the bartender for another round.

The whiskey burned his throat as it went down and he coughed. “It’s Morgan by the way.”

“Hmm?”

“My last name, it’s Morgan.” He looked up at you, attempting to read your reaction. “I didn’t meant to lie to ya it’s just-“

You shrugged, “Gotta play it safe, I understand.”

Arthur sighed in relief, he couldn’t help but think back to how insulted Eliza was when he revealed he had given her a fake name when they had met. You were so different from any of the women of his past. Independent, ruthless, free from the social restraints that were imposed on most women. When the bartender placed two more shots in front of you, you took yours. You didn’t wait on him because you didn’t need him. He never realized how big of a relief it is to not be relied on. His eyes never left you as he knocked back the shot.

You were facing out the window, watching the evening sun creep further and further west. “What do you say about one more round, then we head back?”

When his eyes met yours he could see the spark behind them. His throat closed back again, his own damn body working against him. “Sure,” his voice cracked. He beckoned the man behind the bar. “One more round, sir then we’ll be out of yer hair.”

The man nodded and went to work. Within a couple minutes he had the shots filled and in front of you. Arthur pulled out his billfold and the man gave him a dismissive wave. “Oh no, it’s on the house.” Arthur looked at the man confused. “The missus has helped me out plenty the last few weeks, chasin’ off them damn hooligans tryna push their product on me.” He scoffed and turned to you. “Tell the Madam we here at Keane’s were very glad to hear of her return. Ain’t never had better quality than hers.”

With the tip of your hat and a gracious smile you thanked the man before he returned to his post behind the bar. Arthur looked at you in surprise and you shrugged as you stood. You extended your hand to him and he took it eagerly.

Much to his delight, you never let go. Together the two of you walked down Main Street, a little wobbly maybe, but together hand in hand. You weren’t leading him, this time you walked beside him and swung your hand with his. Your smile was big now, good and tipsy. When the two of you reached the hotel steps, his stomach began to twist and turn in knots.

You didn’t seem to notice the way his hand grew clammy in yours, or maybe you did and preferred not to say. He could feel the heat of the whiskey kissing the back of his neck and ears, flushing his skin and leaving it warm to the touch. His boots felt ten times heavier as they climbed the stairs of the hotel. You didn’t look at him as you opened the door to the room and entered. You removed your hat and gun belt before turning to him. Your eyes were uncharacteristically soft as you closed the gap between you.

Flashes of heavy hands and clumsy grabs crossed his mind, but your hands were gentle as you plucked his hat from his head and set it on the bedside table. The tenderness of your touch caused him to shiver as you cradled his face in your hands. Your lips found his slowly and the raging fire behind them was quelled. Everything about your touch was so painstakingly careful. The way your hands looped around his neck, the way your lips pushed against his- not in the demanding way they had before. This time was different. The heat he felt in your presence wasn’t a fierce blaze as before, right now it felt more radiant and patient like the sun. The warmth enveloped him, welcomed him. It’s rays softly warmed his skin, like a child on a summer afternoon he relished in your warmth and wished to never leave. Your hands were moving now, still ever careful as they slowly moved down his chest and wrapped around him. He held back the groan that settled in his throat, fearing your warmth would leave him at the slightest mistake.

You could feel the tension melt from his body as your arms wrapped around him. His weight shifted as he took one step towards the bed, without breaking the kiss you followed his lead until you felt the thud of the bed frame against your boot. His lips curled upwards into a smile against yours and you giggled at the sensation. You weren’t nearly as careful with his bandolier as you were with him, nearly throwing it aside the second it passed over his head. Your hands revealed your desperation as you tugged at his shirt impatiently. The sensation of his skin against yours was intoxicating. All you could think about since your last encounter with him was the way his big arms would feel around you, the way his gruff voice turned soft between moans. When his shirt dropped to the floor you couldn’t help staring, you gulped as your eyes trailed down his big chest. Even in your most private fantasies he hadn’t seemed quite as lovely as he was standing before you.

His hands moved up your sides to pull at the shirt he had loaned you, but your own hands stopped his and grabbed his arms. His confusion was evident as you led him to sit on the bed but his curiosity kept him in place, eyes focused totally on you. The lust that glimmered in his eyes ignited a throbbing at your core as your fingers unbuttoned the oversized shirt.

Truth be told, he couldn’t take his eyes off you if he tried. Your dainty fingers hypnotized him as they pulled each button open, it was painstakingly slow but your gaze held him and weighed him down against the bed. The slow rhythmic movement of your body hypnotized him as you undressed yourself before him. The only sound in the room was the soft rustling of clothes as they hit the floor but the pounding of his heart in his ears was almost deafening.

“Arthur,” you cooed for him, pulling his gaze up your fully exposed body. The tightening of his jeans was unmissable but as he met your lust filled eyes he felt no shame over his own body.

His hands moved now, eager to feel your skin against his but as he moved towards you your strong hands caught him and pushed him back down.

As if in a trance his eyes stayed on yours as you pushed him back down, leaving no resistance. Your hands moved ever so softly up his shoulders to his cheeks, leaving goosebumps in their wake. Your kiss was tender and sweet, almost a tease as your lips barely pressed against his. “Do you trust me?” You whispered.

A shiver ran down his back as your question brushed against his lips. “Yes,” his voice quivered.

He was rewarded with another small teasing kiss for his submission. “Undress yourself.” You said as you turned away from him.

He looked to you with mild confusion as you tiptoed across the wooden floors, although he did not argue. His gaze never left your rear end as he wiggled out of his pants and union suit. His brows furrowed together in confusion when you returned to him, your own lasso in hand. His mouth opened to form a question, but you didn’t let it escape. “Lay down for me.”

Your voice was smoother than any silk he had come to know and his body moved before he could react. “Give me your wrists, love.”

“I-“ he sputtered. Your command was strange, but the way your lips curled as you called him love made his chest tight.

“You ain’t gonna leave me high and dry now, are ya?” He joked nervously. This was all such new territory for him, he couldn't imagine much else other than the worst case scenario happening but the soft look in your eye and the sweet soothing tone in your voice told him everything would be okay.

A crooked smile tugged at the edge of your lips, one you felt mirrored his own. “I would never.” Your lips brushed against his wrists, leaving the smallest of kisses before taking them gently in your own. He watched your hands as you bound his wrists to the headboard, they moved with such expertise he was certain this wasn’t your first time tying a man to a bed. Again his paranoia prodded him from the back of his mind- he prayed his hunger for affection hadn’t made him a fool once again.

“Look at you,” your voice was barely above a whisper as your fingers glided down his arms across his chest. The sensation of your touch left goosebumps crawling across his skin, sending a shiver down his spine. “So handsome.” Another kiss, this time on his forehead as you brought your body down onto his. His hips rolled up into yours as your weight settled against him. You smirked, his erection rubbing against you. “Eager now, aren’t we?” You whispered in his ear.

His only response was a grunt and a tug at the ropes that bound him. It was downright agonizing not having the use of his hands, your skin was so soft and smooth against him he couldn’t get enough.

“Ah ah ah,” your voice chimed as he struggled against his restraints. Your hand caught his chest and pushed him down against the bed hard. “Keep actin’ up and you won’t get your reward. Now be a good boy and do as I say.”

He gulped as he met your gaze. The small hand pressed against his chest held more strength than he had anticipated and the way your eyes changed from soft and adoring to hard and commanding had him hooked, never had he been taken over like this before and goddamn was it hot.

You held his gaze until the tension left his body and his head tilted back in submission.

“Good,” you cooed as you lifted your hand from his chest to stroke his cheek. “Such a good boy. You gonna take care of me tonight?”

“Yes ma’am.” He murmured leaning into your touch.

“That’s what I like to hear, I think you’ll earn your pleasure just fine.” Your lips pressed the softest of kisses behind his ear. “So handsome,” you repeated.

He couldn’t argue as your lips left feather soft pecks along his jawline fearing one wrong move or sound would cause your weight to disappear from him.

Your hips ground down against him and before he could stop himself he responded with a buck. Your eyes shot up to meet his and he let out a staggered breath as he allowed his body to relax. Much to his relief your lips continued to move down his body, he gritted his teeth as your lips grazed his stomach.

With a wolfish grin you positioned yourself between his legs, “my my, already hard for me, pet?”

He nodded in response and you rewarded him by wrapping your hand around his cock and pumping slowly. His jaw slacked, encouraging you further. Your lips took him slowly, pulling a deep groan from his chest. Looping your arms around his thighs, you kept them firmly pinned down as you bobbed your head. Your movement was slow and simple at first, but with each bob your pace quickened. His breath was hitched as your tongue ran along the underside of his cock and around the tip, he couldn’t contain the curses that flowed from his mouth. When you looked up to meet his gaze, the pleasure in his face mixed with the whimpers and groans escaping his lips caused your core to throb. When his legs began to shake against your arms, your grip tightened and pinned him back down to the bed.

His head was spinning as you pleasured him with your mouth. Not only was the sight of your lips around his cock tantalizing but the way your arm muscles tightened and held him with your strength made him see stars. He couldn’t help pulling at his restraints now, but you didn’t seem to mind. His hands clenched and unclenched in the air, pleading to be tangled in your soft hair.

Suddenly your mouth left him with a pop and he looked to you, afraid he had done something wrong. You only returned his gaze with a lazy smile and began pumping him with your hand again. The slick of your saliva only added to the euphoric sensation.

“Tell me what you want,” you said as your thumb swirled along the tip of his cock.

His head tilted back and he groaned in response.

You repeated, “Arthur, tell me what you want.” Your voice was more commanding this time.

“Y-you. I want you.” He stuttered, he was certain you would drive him mad with this teasing.

“You want me?” You giggled, returning to a more playful tone. You moved back up his body, mounting him as you whispered in his ear. “You want to fuck me, big boy?”

He gulped and nodded feverishly, fearing your words alone would break him.

Your hips rocked against his and he could feel your slick rubbing against his cock. This teasing was maddening yet he couldn’t get enough.

“I want to hear you say it.” Your teeth caught his earlobe and you felt his shudder under you. “Beg for it.”

“I want- I need to be inside you. Please,” he cut himself off with a groan as you rocked against him again. “Jesus woman, you’re killin’ me. Please god, please let me have you.”

You hummed in content and rose your torso from his. Your eyes remained locked with his as you slowly pushed yourself down onto his cock. He hissed as you enveloped him, he looked heavenly as his face contorted in pleasure. You couldn’t help the gasp that escaped your lips as you took in him fully. You remembered him being well endowed but damn. Your own selfish desire for pleasure overcame your teasing nature, you couldn’t bare a slow beginning- your hunger needed to be sated. You rolled your hips against his, pulling moans from both of you. The friction against your center had you digging your nails into his chest with each thrust. His arms were tugging hard against the restraints now, consequences to the wind he ached to touch you. The urge to take control frustrates him, causing his hips to buck against yours defiantly. Again, you pushed against his chest and slowed your movements until he huffed and forced himself still.

You could see the building frustration in his eyes and caressed his cheek. “My handsome Arthur,” your hips began to pick back up the pace and your words broke between airy gasps. “You feel so good, so so good.”

Your words had a dual effect on him, hearing you call him yours made his heart swell but it also caused a spike in his pleasure. “Fuck,” he gasped.

You could feel your own climax building, you took his chin to pull his attention to you as your spare hand moved down your stomach and began swirling in circles on your clit. Your moans grew louder and the sight was enough to send him spiraling.

You couldn’t contain the mews and groans that escaped you as the waves of pleasure flowed over and your orgasm had you shaking like a leaf. Arthur cussed as your walls clenched around him, “sweetheart I-“

In a flash you lifted yourself from him and took his cock back into his mouth. The sudden switch caused him to pull up against his restraints and then fall back down. All it took was a few bobs of the head with some strokes of the tongue and he was spilling into your mouth, stuttering on moans and lost words all the way down. His own orgasm left him light headed and breathless, his brain was spinning as he tried to reclaim his breath.

You placed the most gentle of kisses on his forehead as you untethered the rope that bound him. Before releasing his wrists you took them in your hands and pressed soft kisses to them. “I hope I didn’t hurt you too bad,” you muttered as you released him from your grip.

“No that was...” he trailed off, searching for the words to describe what he felt.

“Amazing?” You said as you laid down beside him and opened your arms for him.

He slid into your embrace and for the first time in a long time felt peace as you wrapped your arms around him. “Better than amazing.”

You giggled as you buried your face in his hair, the post sex exhaustion already kicking in. “My beautiful, handsome man,” you sighed. “No one out there like you.”

His chest seized at your words, though he tried to play it off as if you hadn’t made his heart stop. “I dunno about that,” he said with a chuckle.

Your grip around him tightened, “well I do,” your fingers began to trace lazy patterns across his side and you yawned. “Hush now love, I would never lie to you.”

To his own surprise, he believed you. For the first time in years sleep came easy to him, he slept soundly in your arms.

#arthur morgan x reader #arthur x reader #arthur morgan smut #smut #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #arthur morgan #van der linde gang #lmao ignore the fact that it took me six months to get this bitch posted #rdr2 fanfic #red dead redemption 2 fanfic #multipart fic #will there be a part 3?#lmao idk man

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bigpokico · 4 years

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“what happens if I do this?” w HYPNOS ATSUMU AND NYMPH READER BWJSHDFKS where reader is curious abt his powers and is like put me to sleep !!! and atsumu is kinda dumb so hes like what happens tho will u turn into a tree/water/air (u can choose which kind of nymph reader is !!) ALSO I DIDNT FORGET HIM OK !!! I LOVE OSAMU AND *looks at smudged writing on hand* ass mushu WHKSDBFKSHFS

knidsnis we had some funny talks about this last night in that chat so i had to get this out first. also, guys im gonna expose mik here but she sent in 9 requests, what a weeb.

Side note: greek words will be used every now and then in this au, translations will always be below the fic.

46. “What happens if I do this?”

“Please.”

“No.”

“Please.”

“No.”

“But why?” you asked in a whine, grabbing Atsumu’s hand to pull him towards you. You sat atop his counter while you pleaded with him, the young god standing in between your swinging legs. He squinted at you, but continued to hold you hand nonetheless, “Well why do you want me to put you to sleep so bad?” You paused at his question, and pursed your lips as you tried to think of an actual reason for him to go along with this, making Atsumu roll his eyes. “I wanna know what it feels like to be put to sleep like that,” you finally said with a pouted mouth, “Pleaaase? Just this once? What’s the worst that could happen?”

“You could turn into an ice cube,” you knew Atsumu was joking when he said that, but his face remained deadpan as he spoke. It was your turn to give an eyeroll, “Very funny.” With your free hand you reached up and gently flicked the side of his head, “Now do it, mister.” He feigned a glare and swatted your hand away, “That’s a lot of attitude for talking to a god, better be careful.”

You ignored his comment and instead, played at your last resort to convince him. ‘What happens if I do this?’ you thought to yourself, and you tilted your head down, now looking up at him through your eyelashes with the biggest set of puppy eyes you could manage. You gave his hand a squeeze and whimpered, “Pretty please, ‘tsumu? Just this once.” A moment of silence went by, as Atsumu stared at you with a comically pained expression. Finally, after what felt like a full minute, the man before you mustered out a quiet, “Fine.” In less than a second, your sad expression was wiped clean and replaced by an excited grin. You leaned forward to give him a cheerful peck on the lips before humming a, “Thank you!”

He took a step away from you and you swung your legs over the counter to cross them, so you were now fully sitting cross-legged on the marble surface. With a dramatic sigh, Atsumu pressed the pad of his thumb to your forehead and met your eyes. You could’ve sworn that they were usually not that dark, but before you could have the time to bring it up, Atsumu opened his mouth and spoke, “ξεκουράζω.” Not a second went by before you felt a chilling, yet comfortable sensation crawl under your skin as you immediately closed your eyes and felt yourself falling into the darkness of slumber. Your body went slack while you fell backwards, Atsumu calmly catching you before you hit the marbletop.

You laid there in his arms, asleep as he wondered what to do next. Things very quickly took a turn for the worst, however, when as he looked away for a mere second, he suddenly felt his arms become very cold and wet. His head snapped back to you, and yelped loudly in horror. You were gone, and in your place laid a ginormous puddle of water. “Oh my gods,” Atsumu whispered in shock as he looked over the mess before him. Very suddenly, he brushed the water off his arms into the puddle and sprung into action, going over to his cabinets frantically in search of a bowel, all while muttering to himself, “Shit shit shit shit shit.”

Eventually he found himself a large bowel and a plastic sheet, which he used to very delicately push the water off of the counter and into the bowel, every last drop. Now that you, as strange as it sounded, were in a bowl, Atsumu set you down onto the counter and climbed up onto it himself. He sat in silence and stared daggers at the dish with wide, stunned eyes. ‘How do you unpuddle someone?’ He thought of asking Osamu to come back home to help, but then he realized that perhaps his brother wouldn’t have much experience in the field of ‘water nymph girlfriends melting into water.’ Not knowing anything else to do, Atsumu simply sat there and waited, hoping that maybe you would just wake up and now be water.

An hour went by and still, nothing, and Atsumu was beginning to grow very restless. Were you ever going to turn back? Oh gods, what if you stuck like that forever? He wanted to grab the stupid bowl and just throw it against the wall. Thankfully, Atsumu was aware that that would make things infinitely more complicated. In a moment of anger, he leaned over the bowl to stare straight into the water and shouted, “Enough already, wake up!”

To his surprise, the bowl below him began to shake and shudder somewhat, forcing him to back away and watch intently. Atsumu stood up from the counter as the bowl tipped over and the water flooded from the dish, all the while he held his breath. He himself had no idea how the whole nymph thing worked exactly, and so it was rather odd for him to watch you morph back into yourself from what was moments ago only a puddle of water. Laying flat against the large counter, you eventually slowly sat up, yawning. “How long was I out for? Man, I feel rested,” you commented softly, apparently unaware of the deep distress you’ve caused your boyfriend.

Without answering you, Atsumu lunged forward and wrapped his arms around your body tightly, nuzzling his face into your neck. Out of instinct, you hugged him back but still asked, “‘Stumu? What’s wrong?” Instead of answering your question once again, he pulled away and glared at you, flicking your forehead, “We’re never doing that again.” Before you could even ask why, he grabbed you again to bring you back into a hug, huffing lightly. With a small smile, you let the topic rest as you returned the embrace, the two of you holding each other in quiet.

Translations:

ξεκουράζω - Rest, relax

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyu #atsumu miya #miya atsumu #imagine #scenario #greek god au #sfw #greek mythology #im so tired

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Warrior Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Not How We Do Business

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This Warrior review contains spoilers.

Warrior Season 2 Episode 3

“Not How We Do Business” sums up the latest episode of Warrior in two ways. First, it’s a line that Zing (Dustin Nguyen) lays on O’Hara (Kieran Biew) when he finally breaks away from being a debt collector for the Fung Hai. “Not how we do business” also works on a meta level, this episode only has one Kung Fu fight. That’s weak for a Bruce Lee inspired show. There are two other fight scenes, but they’re scrappy brawls the likes of which can be found in any action drama.

Bruce Lee fans want Kung Fu, and not just any Kung Fu. As part of the Little Dragon’s legacy, it must be great Kung Fu. The lone Kung Fu scene in this episode is good and serves to introduce a pivotal new character, but that’s not enough. It’s not how we do business.

This episode begins with a missed opportunity where Ah Sahm (Anthony Koji) is in the Barbary Coast Fight Pit, facing off against another challenger. That would be great, but the fight is already over. The opening shot focuses upon his burly challenger, but he has already been knocked out and is just standing stunned, then there’s a shot of Ah Sahm, and then the challenger falls.

Seriously? No Kung Fu? Starting in the Fight Pit is fine dramatically but shortchanging the audience out of a fight is not the way to go for this show. It’s a big ripe piece of low hanging fruit left to rot. Bruce Lee fans crave gratuitous Kung Fu. Whenever Warrior goes to the Fight Pit, there had better be a fight.

After that, Ah Sahm’s fight manager Vega (Maria-Elena Laas) teases him with the promise of a bigger purse in some other international arena, a place where Warrior will hopefully go at some point this season, but not in this episode. Chao (Hoon Lee) pulls Ah Sahm aside and implies that he knows about the molasses plot that he and Young Jun (Jason Tobin) are cooking up, and that he’s concerned over Ah Sahm’s rivalry with Mai Ling (Dianne Doan). Chao comments “I don’t see any version of that ending well” which comes as no surprise to anyone. If this all ended well, there’d be no fight scenes.

Enter Hong – the New Guy in the Hop Wei

The centerpiece of the episode is the introduction of a new character, Hong (Chen Tang). Chen Tang just portrayed Yao in the new Mulan. In the original Disney animated film, Yao was Mulan’s hard ass comrade, and in contrast, he’s the shortest character (unless you count Mushu and Cri-Kee). The live action Mulan changed a lot – Yao was still the hard ass, but now he’s 6 feet tall and a less significant role. Nevertheless, Chen is a great addition to Warrior, exuding a southern charm because he was raised in Memphis and has a natural southern accent in real life, but he covers that up for Warrior.

Warrior Season 2 Episode 1 Review: Learn to Endure, or Hire a Bodyguard

By Gene Ching

Hong arrives ‘fresh off the boat’ with a batch of new recruits, hatchet men ordered from China by Father Jun (Perry Yung). Their appearance makes Young Jun nervous that Father Jun might be on to his non-Chinese molasses scheme. He’s also suspicious of Hong’s attempts to weasel his way in with them. Nonetheless, Young Jun and Ah Sahm agree to take Hong to a brothel. There Ah Sahm discovers Hong is gay but sympathetically keeps that secret.

After that, the threesome stumble across some Fung Hai gangsters in the streets and Hong, either eager to impress or just hungry to kick some ass, takes them all out by himself. It’s a good introduction and reveals his expertise with whip chain. A whip chain is a traditional Chinese weapon, one that can be easily concealed as a trusty everyday carry for a Tong man. Chen Tong delivers a decent first fight scene with it. As weapons go, the whip chain requires more skill to wield than a nunchaku. Hong deploys both the whip chain’s striking and entangling methods proficiently, although the scene is in a dark alley and the shadows can conceal a multitude of sins. Chen Tong lists skills in Stage Combat, Karate, Kung Fu and Tai Chi on his resume and claims he did some preparation for the role of Hong studying Chinese whip chain and the Japanese equivalent manriki-gusari.

One of the best things about Warrior is the relationship between Ah Sahm and Young Jun. They have an earnest chemistry as two gangsters being gangsters, delivering beat downs, slinging molasses, and chasing sticky. This camaraderie is commonplace for buddy films and TV partners but it’s exceedingly rare and delightfully refreshing to see this for two Asian men in a Western production. Both Ah Sahm and Young Jun have a lot to prove and their connection is palpable. Hong brings a new lighter tone as the third wheel to their partnership. They already seem to be bonding as a threesome which is promising for the rest of the season.

In the Room Where It Happens

Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) and Li Yong (Joe Taslim) pay a visit to the Fung Hai lair so she can scold Zing (Dustin Nguyen). Walking into Zing’s room is a gutsy move for Mai Ling, but with Li Yong at her side, she’s fearless. Zing agrees to Mai Ling’s terms, but not before she shares a ritual drink of mare’s milk with him. Mare’s milk, or Kumis, is a unique fermented drink because few alcoholic beverages are dairy derived. It’s usually not that strong, nor is it the disgusting chunky chowder depicted in Warrior but the Mongols are stereotyped as barbarians, just as they were in Mulan, so it’s depicted as revolting. Mongolians are poorly represented in film and television. Project their media depictions upon any other race and the generally disparaging tone is evident.

On the way out, a Fung Hai thug gets up in Li Yong’s face and gets throat punched for his trouble. Don’t mess witjj Li Yong. Knowing Li Yong could destroy his crew, Zing calls off his man saying “Be thankful for your pain. It means you’re still alive.”

Much to Li Yong’s dismay, Mai Ling echoes this line towards the end of the episode, making him wonder if his boss is headed down the wrong path like Zing. While everyone in Warrior has their dark side, Zing has emerged as the villain with no redeemable qualities. Taslim brings a guarded nobility to Li Yong as Warrior’s most badass fighter; he’s loyal to Mai Ling, his lover and boss, but not blindly so. This, along with Taslim’s martial expertise, makes Li Yong one of the more intriguing characters. Mai Ling, like most of the rest of the cast, is another character with a lot to prove.

Warrior Episode 2 Review: There’s No China in the Bible

By Stephen Harber

Movies

Best Martial Arts Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now

By Gene Ching

Later, Zing, being the barbarous Mongol villain, threatens Chao (Hoon Lee) over delivering weapons. Chao, always the manipulator, discusses Zing with Mai Ling. Then later, Chao meets with Li Yong alone. Over bowls of noodles, Chao proposes a way to avoid war, teasing some coming intrigue to take Zing down. Everyone is aligning against Zing and the anticipation of this inevitable showdown is promising.

Sophie (Celine Buckens) sneaks into Leary’s (Dean Jagger) back room at the Banshee and finds his map of factories that use coolies. While she’s smart enough to realize that Leary is behind the factory firebombing, she somehow overlooks that Mercer Steel has got to be among those circled on that map too. Clearly her sister’s company is on the Irish workers hit list because they were beating up the coolies headed to Mercer until Penny (Joanna Vanderham) hired the Hop Wei for protection against them. Sophie and Leary finally hook up and Leary unwittingly echoes Chao saying, “This isn’t going to end well.” By now, the audience is well aware it’s not going to end well and has their collective fingers crossed that it will end in a massive Kung Fu fight at the very least.

As they have a post-coital stroll, Sophie suggests that Leary get into politics with a nod to Hamilton by suggesting he should “be in the room where it happens.” Leary calls Sophie out when she says she “knows.” She’s an entitled upper-class woman and hasn’t seen the tragedy that Leary has. He tells Sophie of some of the horrors he witnesses, of friends and family starving, and starts to pull away from her until she draws him back. It gives Leary more context.

Given the era, Leary likely escaped the Great Irish Famine (1945-1849). Over a quarter million Irish emigrated to the New World and Leary would be part of that generation. The Irish are struggling too. During that period, Irish immigrants made up most of San Francisco’s working class and about one-third of the city’s population. This is another way Warrior sheds light upon a dark period of history.

Police Beatdowns

The other two fight scenes come from the cops. The first is short. Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) returns to Nora’s (Gaosi Raditholo) tavern where he got rolled last episode to exact revenge. He goes full copper, night-sticking and shooting up the joint until he gets his cash back. With Lee, Weston-Jones is echoing his role as Kevin “Corky” Corcoran, in his previous TV show Copper. Corky was an Irish detective in a period drama set in the late 18th century, the same era as Warrior. This is not so much of a bar fight as it is a cop taking out a few unarmed barflies.

When a debtor’s wife flashes a gratuitous boob at O’Hara, offering him sex to pay her husband’s bills to the Fung Hai, it’s the last straw and he finally quits the Fung Hai. Even though O’Hara has repaid his debt, Zing exacts revenge by sending Tong men to invade his home and threaten his family. This happens right after dinner where Lee had been their guest. Lee comes to the rescue, revolver blazing, and a scrappy bit of violence ensues where O’Hara’s son and wife must defend themselves too. It’s a brutal sanguineous scene, leaving everyone dead or splattered with blood, ending this episode in a bloody mess.

Warrior Season 2 can be seen exclusively on CINEMAX.

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The post Warrior Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Not How We Do Business appeared first on Den of Geek.

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mulanxiaojie · 4 years

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We were all thinking it, and finally someone had to ask: Why on earth would Disney cut Mushu? “Well, we made it 10 minutes in,” joked Mulan producer Jason Reed.

In case you missed the trailer, the headlines, and the tweets — so many tweets — the live-action Mulan will cut Mushu, leaving it bereft of the comedic energy from a dragon sidekick. The world has changed since 1998, and Disney has made a serious, more violent Mulan that’s truer to the Chinese folklore.

“Obviously Mushu is a beloved character, and one of the most memorable elements of the animated film,” Reed explained to a group of journalists huddled inside a tent on Mulan’s mountainous New Zealand set in October 2018.

“It turns out that the traditional, Chinese audience did not particularly think that that was the best interpretation of the dragon in their culture. The dragon is a sign of respect and it's a sign of strength and power, and that using it as a silly sidekick didn't play very well with a traditional Chinese audience.”

It's one of many indications that unlike with The Lion King, Disney is not going for a by-the-numbers Mulan remake.

While a classic to kids of a certain generation in the West, 1998’s Mulan flopped in China, released a year late after Disney was effectively banned for releasing the film Kundun, a film sympathetic to the Dalai Lama. On screens in Mulan’s birthplace, Hunan, the film only made $30,000 at the box office after three weeks.

You could blame the film’s late release in China, which caused some audiences to watch pirated versions months before its eventual arrival in theaters. But it's also likely that local audiences didn’t warm to the idea of Americans taking on a Chinese legend, especially one which already had multiple adaptations on film, TV, and stage.

“This is not a Chinese dragon," one Chinese moviegoer told The Baltimore Sun in 1999. "I can tell the people who designed the dragon are from America."

In that light, Disney’s resistance toward a comedic dragon sidekick in the new Mulan makes financial sense. Once chump change for Hollywood, China’s film market is set to overtake the U.S. this year. For Disney, its three biggest 2019 releases in China — Captain Marvel, The Lion King and Aladdin — accounted for more than $320 million in takings.

Despite the omission of Mushu, Reed promises the film will be funny. Just admittedly not Eddie Murphy funny.

"We have some scenes that, although they're played very real, are gonna get some very big, big laughs.”

“Take one of the greatest comedians of all time, make them a dragon, have him prance around, and give him like, two years refine the jokes — we're not gonna beat that, in terms of raw slapstick comedy,” he said.

“But we have added a couple of elements to this movie which I think really do the same thing of grounding it, bringing you into it, we have some scenes [that], although they're played very real, are gonna get some very big, big laughs.”

Other big changes are afoot as well. There aren’t any of those singalong theatrical musical numbers like “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” “Reflection,” or “A Girl Worth Fighting For”, although Reed promises there will be “songs that you recognize and remember” in the movie.

Also gone is the cathartic scene in which Mulan cuts her hair in preparation for battle, which Reed admits he gets mocked for during meetings in China. “[It’s] actually a Western anachronism,” Reed explained. Chinese male warriors wore their hair long, and to cut Mulan’s hair would make her look more of a woman.

Nor will you see Mulan’s smart-mouth grandmother, Fa, or Li Shang in the live-action film. The latter decision has been particularly controversial, given Li Shang’s status as a bisexual icon. Reed was surprised by the backlash, but the decision was made in the light of the #MeToo movement.

“I think particularly in the time of the #MeToo movement, having a commanding officer, that is also the sexual love interest, was very uncomfortable. We didn't think it was appropriate and we thought that in a lot of ways, that it was sort of justifying behavior that we're doing everything we can to get out of our industry,” Reed explained.

Instead, the character of Li Shang will be split into two characters: Commander Tung, played by Ip Man star Donnie Yen, will serve as Mulan’s surrogate father and mentor in the film, while Chen Honghui, a role filled by New Zealander Yoson An, will be an equal to Mulan in the army and her eventual love interest.

It still leaves questions about how the queer element of the relationship between Mulan and Honghui will play out, or whether it will even be present. While homosexuality was decriminalized by China in 1997, Chinese censors are infamous for cutting out LGBTQ TV and movie scenes.

Chinese moviegoers saw no reference to Freddie Mercury’s sexuality in Bohemian Rhapsody, while Call Me By Your Name was pulled from official screenings (although it soon gathered a cult following). Disney doesn’t believe censorship will be a problem for Mulan, with Reed explaining it worked “very closely” with censors and its releasing partners in China.

“We feel that we are secure in the censorship issue, that we have our permits approved and I believe that we will continue to have a good relationship with the releasing entities in our various partners in China,” Reed claimed.

While the storyline will largely remain similar, new characters are joining the fray. A powerful shapeshifting witch, portrayed by Gong Li, will feature alongside the main antagonist Bori Khan, played by Jason Scott Lee. The story will begin with Mulan as a child, and she will have a younger sister in the film, something present in other adaptations of the folklore.

“It makes it more than just her having to take care of her father and mother, who are sort of in the role of taking care of her,” Reed said. “By adding a younger sister we thought that it added sort of a broader emotional context, and added more motivation for her, particularly for the end.”

On the monitor inside our tent, actor Yifei Liu is effortless in her swordplay. It’s no surprise she’s landed the titular role; she is Mulan. Liu battled through a tough physical audition for the role, admitting to us she couldn’t walk properly after.

“I wanted to thoroughly explore this girl,” Mulan’s director Niki Caro told Empire in February 2020.

“Because I needed a warrior, and I needed a partner. So she did this grueling audition and then we sent her straight to the physical trainer to do an equally grueling physical assessment. Weights, push-ups, pull-ups, everything. She was brilliant in the dramatic part of the audition, and in the physical part she never stopped, never faulted. I knew at the end of that day that I’d found my warrior.”

Liu has plenty of experience acting in wuxia films, a genre of martial arts films in China. Besotted, Mulan's filmmakers even pushed back production five months for Liu.

“She was doing a television show and so she wouldn't be available to a certain point, and the point when she was available was terrible weather for us,” Reed said.

Liu, who exudes confidence onscreen and is praised by her co-stars for her professionalism, is more reserved in conversation. She said she doesn’t try and think too much about how Chinese audiences will perceive her as Mulan. Nor would she be drawn on a question comparing the character of Mulan in the animated and the live action version.

“I would not really compare, because I think each creation was its own form, and I really respect that,” Liu explains. “I’m also open to Mulan’s possibilities. We tried not to fix too many things.”

For Honghui actor Yoson An, who only has a handful of credits — mostly in his home country of New Zealand and in Australia — the whole international fame thing hasn’t quite set in.

“I don't think it’s hit me yet, I don't know where it's gonna go until this movie’s released, I guess. I'm still kind of rolling with things, just one day at a time,” An said.

Admitting that he would’ve been looked over if the live-action Mulan had been a musical, An said he only picked up acting in his late teens, disillusioned with his university studies.

“When I heard that Niki [Caro] was set to direct this movie back in 2014, I was like, ‘Oh, so cool. A New Zealander is set to direct Mulan,’ and I was just walking back to get my car and I was like, ‘Wouldn't it be cool if I played the love interest?’, just like a little thought in my head, and I'm thought, ‘No, that's never gonna happen.’ And then, four years later, here I am,” he said.

"It really dispels all the classic Asian stereotypes from all the other films."

The world of Mulan is inspired by the Tang dynasty, a golden age of imperial China during which it experienced flourishing trade with foreign nations and cultural advancement. In An’s eyes, Mulan could be a major moment for Asian diaspora worldwide — although Liu’s praise for police during the Hong Kong protests last year has prompted calls for a boycott of the film.

“In this film, the cast, you see people from different kinds of cultures interacting with each other and every single character has a multi-dimensional layer for them. So it really dispels all the classic Asian stereotypes from all the other films,” he explains.

“And with what Black Panther has done for its community, and I really feel that Mulan is gonna do the same for the Asian community as a whole, taking on what Crazy Rich Asians has already done for Asian community, with the momentum it created.”

Like Crazy Rich Asians, Mulan looked far and wide for Asian actors. There’s a mixture of Asian New Zealanders, Asian Australians, Asian Americans, and of course, Chinese actors. Mulan is mostly in English, to the joy of the subtitle-averse out there, and thus all actors are aiming towards a Chinese-influenced American dialect — a goal which Reed admits has been “complicated.”

It’s no problem for An, who said he’s performed Chinese accents on screen before. Reminding us how young he is, An mentions he practiced as a kid to YouTube videos of Canadian stand-up comedian Russell Peters, who went viral a decade ago for his “Be a man! Do the right thing!” bit.

“You guys know Russell Peters? Right? As a kid, I’d watch his stuff and do exactly as he did. But that's a very comical version of the accent, it’s very different to what we’re doing,” An said.

In research for its live-action reboot, Reed and the production team went back to the original ballad and the “many, many variations” which told in China since, including several modern film and television adaptations made in China — before watching the Disney animated version again, thinking how Mulan would appeal to multiple audiences.

With the coronavirus shutting down all 70,000 of the country's theaters since Jan. 24, it's unclear — and more unlikely every day — that multiplexes will reopen in time for its planned release.

"It certainly has worldwide and global appeal, but there's no denying that this is a very important film for the Chinese market," Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's a huge blow for Disney if it doesn't release in China." Disney president of production Sean Bailey told the publication he's "looking at it day by day."

Whenever and wherever it arrives, the hope is that Mulan will appeal to four audiences: the Asian diaspora community worldwide; women; Disney movie fans; and of course, a Chinese audience. But why would a Chinese audience watch another adaptation of Mulan? The answer lies in the hope that Disney can create something exceptional this time around.

“One of the things that was made clear to us from the very beginning was, make a Disney movie. Don't try to make the Chinese version of Mulan, because they've already made it several times, and they've already seen it,” Reed explained.

“So if you wanna make something that's going to play to the Chinese audience and be interesting to them, make the Disney version. And what that meant to us, was that we had to bring the highest level of execution, production, design, costume, hair and makeup, the cinematography.

“The people that we hire, they were hired with the expectation that we wanted awards-caliber work, and they weren't meant to think about this as a kids movie or an animated remake, or any of those things.

“Our references are David Lean and [Akira] Kurosawa — we're not looking at 101 Dalmatians.”

#entertainment #disney #mulan #live action mulan #article #I'm all four audiences so let's see if it appeals to me lmao

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courtorderedcake · 4 years

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Hallow : ch x - CSSNS 2019

“The Goblin King was prepared to host the Darkness, stealing Fae women away to their corrupted lands underneath the ground as concubines. The Darkness chose another in his stead, but not before this selected vessel enacted a devastating attack in its vengeance, revealing its hatred & rage. The battle was a lesson the old kings had forgotten; never underestimate an opponent.

Many more lives were lost as they razed over any who dared defy The Goblin King’s will. Only the pure love of our rulers united in matrimony, breaking the Vorpal Dagger, sealed the darkness and the Goblin menace away. The light flourished under their fair rule, and the queen bore a child as pure as moon beams, swan feathers, and starlight. They lived happily ever after, and shall be written in history as Heroes for All Time.” This is the history Princess Emma memorizes from the day she is born, paraded about and presented only with the highest protection. The palace is a cage she wishes to escape, desperately. Not careful what wishes she made, Emma discovers history is written by the victors - The Dark One has an entirely different version of the events that took place.

Read on AO3 here.

Rated E for explicit themes, Mature situations, and Fae fuckery. Written for @cssns

Ch 10 / ?? - In which something lurks underneath the surface

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Killian rowed them ashore, where they were greeted by Lilly and a small group of curious onlookers. A tall man with a shock of dark red hair and dark skin watched them with an expression of amusement on his face that made Emma bristle at first, but as he watched them, she sensed a great sense of actual levity in the man's genuine smile. Another stood stoic, having the same facial features as the first man, though they were not softened by laugh lines or any sort of emotion. He had a lighter skin tone, and his olive green colored hair cut in a blunted angular style complete with thick fringe blowing in the sandy breeze.

"Welcome, finally. I forget how slow it is when you are unable to fly," Lilly greeted. The Dragon princess approached, hooking her elbow with Emma's which made her flinch, as she tried to swallow the look of surprise. "While I'm not sorry for earlier, I do believe that you will be my friend and forget our meeting’s misunderstandings."

"I - Yes, that could be a possibility," Emma said, her smile unconvincing.

"To be clear, you were the one with all of the misunderstandings, and your culture’s proclivity of lying for comfort is the problem I speak of. Even now you are tense, and your annoyance with me smells like…" Lilly sniffed, grinning at Emma's face pinching into frustration. "Apple blossoms."

"Well I never -" Emma tried to pull away, but Lilly held fast, giggling. The red haired dragon laughed as well, and Killian smirked as Emma looked at him with clear disdain.

"Lilly, who are your compatriots? Will the king and queen be receiving us?" Killian asked, and the woman blinked, smacking a hand to her forehead with a groan.

"Fiore above, I am an idiot." Gesturing with her thumb she pointed at the red headed dragon. "This is my parents’ advisor, and my potential betrothed, Mushu."

"Hello, and welcome to our personal piece of nothingness." His voice was a deep bellow, but full of humor. He put a hand on the olive haired man's shoulder, who did not break the icy stare he had focused on Emma. "My clutch mate, Haku. Our Harvest Festival begins, you must come." Waving his hand in a come hither motion, Lilly followed, practically dragging Emma into the courtyard where decorations were being placed on tall poles, and harvest vegetables littered available space. Cut branches and twine were tied to make a canopy that dripped fire colored leaves onto them as they walked.

"My parents will receive you tonight at the Harvest Festival. They are currently making the Kitsune leaders aware of your arrival."

Haku did not take his steely eyes off of Emma, and she noted it with unease.

The other inhabitants of the island seemed sparse, and almost serf like, bowing and averting their eyes when Lilly passed as the Dragon princess showed Emma around. There seemed to be very few dragons actually on the island; the few Lilly pointed out either in their dragon form or ordering about the other Fae that lived there. Emma could not sense what type of Fae the others were, but their magic was different than any she had encountered in the United Realms or as she had made her way here in the Old World. It seemed to pull from the very air itself as opposed to the Dragon's quite literally 'rooted' earth mastery.

Lilly pointed out a cave that belonged to her brother, Elliot, who loved gems and was an expert on stones of all kinds, and introduced them to Tzalu and Tiamat, both gorgeous and raven haired dragons. They were aloof, but disdainfully polite, as they talked briefly about their skills in cooking for the village. They tended to a blacksmith and the kitchen with ease, fire breathing and ease of handle scorching earth, pleating and folding newly made metals in shapes like that of the paper animals they favored. Tiamat demonstrated with a small silver crane, folding a thick sheet of silver heated to the color of the golden leaves gracing their trees. While Emma was still tense and prickly by the end of the introductions, Lilly and she were openly bickering now, with Mushu adding flame to the fire. Emma seemed to be warming up to the other princess after all.

"So," Emma said, apple in her hand as they sat in the island's orchard. "I'm done with your cryptic nonsense. What the hell happened to make the Dragons end up here, and what does it have to do with my Mom and Regina of all people?"

Lilly groaned, flopping back, but the other two dragons tensed. For the first time in their meeting, Haku looked away from Emma to Lilly, a glint of something in his eyes.

"Alright, alright," Lilly grunted, stretching her arms and sitting back up. "Fine. You win. I'll tell you."

Emma breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Yeah well, don't thank me yet," Lilly grumbled. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, then began to speak.

"In the old days, we Dragons still weren't exactly plentiful, and we were especially not as plentiful as Fae. We take centuries to lay one egg, usually all at one time as a group thing like flocks of birds, and that's pretty much it for us offspring wise, mostly because gestation for the damn egg - which is giant by the way - has to be as a dragon past a certain point. Then, you have to nest around the egg, also as a dragon, and keep it at the proper temperature and make sure the angle it is laying is correct - "

"I don't think they need a lesson on how we breed and raise our young," Mushu interrupted, shaking his head.

"Alright well, anyway. It's an annoying process for everyone involved. We're rare, okay? So a war breaks out between all of you, and we decline to fight along with another rarity - the Kitsune. I'm sure you saw them around. We share this place with them."

Killian looked up in surprise.

"Kitsune?" Emma asked, and looked at Killian for answers. He nodded, clearing his throat. Even with her knowledge of the many types of Fae and magical creatures, she had not been aware of the Kitsune surviving, or if they had been more than myth.

"Fox spirits. Cousins of the Anisapi, but far more elemental and Fae than animal. Powerful, dangerous, and wily creatures. I don't even know what their gifts are magic wise, I've only heard rumors," Killian answered quietly.

"Yeah, well, they're not all that special," Lilly grumbled, rolling her eyes. "They're more Fae then elemental, mostly using spells of fog, mist, and smoke. Parlor tricks, sleight of hand, and making their illusions are all they're good for, besides their fancy talking like you and your people." Lilly directed a pointed look at Emma, who was scraping off dirt from her shift. Emma blushed, but said nothing.

"The war was looming, but when you live as long as we do, or as long as my parents and their parents, and my aunts and uncles have, taking sides in fleeting disputes isn't important. So we didn't, at least at first. Then the Goblins poisoned us with nightshade. Only a clutch of eggs and my parents survived, and only because of three things: Regina Mills, me, and the Dark One.

"The Dark One was told to poison the Dragons and he did, but he poisoned the water supply with just enough to kill slowly, which gave the adults time. The Fae say it was due to him craving suffering, we believe it was a small mercy."

Killian said nothing, his face impassive.

"My parents were trying to have me, and were otherwise occupied. It was painful, but the Mills' clan and the Equi clan who were sworn to us came at our call, easing the burden with their potions and magic. They were both renowned healing families who we traded our scales and whatever ingredients they needed to; sort of a symbiotic relationship, like those birds who clean the teeth of predators. That's where Regina comes in to the picture, she's of the Mills' clan.

"The Elder Dragon called a meeting, and while the Goblin menace was a terror, the Fae that had allowed us to die for their war and their consequences were named foe too. We would fight for ourselves, and my parents swore themselves to battle until they were bones bleaching in the sun.

"Except they lied. My mother's closest confidante and handmaid from the Mills clan happened to be the aforementioned Regina, who discovering that my mother was pregnant with me. Regina begged in secret for another way, and she hated your mother more than anything for stripping her family of titles and lands when she gained her house, but no one would listen. They were too sick and angry, too hungry for revenge. The Elder Dragon called on the Kitsune, our family intertwined by similarities and our indigenous lands, and their leaders Cruella and Isaac, came here happily to join us. Cruella hated your mother too, and believed she deserved more than her station. She had tried to climb in social standing, but could never reach far enough for her standards.

"Regina tried to convince my mother, the Kitsune, and the clans not to fight but they put on their armor despite her pleas. There was a battle at the cliffs near the Baelfire Barony, after the naval massacre by the hand of the Dark One. Daniel, Regina's betrothed, was killed in the battle by a Goblin horde. Many others died too, my father narrowly escaping death. After that, Regina begged for those left to disappear from a world where no one wanted them. My Mom refused, as did Cruella."

"Regina went to Queen Snow, and swore herself to her in exchange for giving up this island's location, our nesting grounds. Together, Snow and Regina created a barrier that keeps us exiled here against our wishes."

Emma laid her head in her hands, and Killian watched as her fingers massaged her temples. "I had no idea. No idea about so much of this, so much of what happened. I feel like I am running blind - do I apologize to your mother? I didn't do this, and it's been so long, maybe I can help break through -" she gritted out.

"Why would you possibly do that?" Haku hissed at her, his voice cold and clipped. "There is no gain for you. You all left us here as a warning. It was successful, the world has moved on. Releasing us to a world of mortals when we are so few is simply a slower slaughter."

Emma looked at Killian, the anger in her eyes burning behind threatening tears. To her surprise, he licked his lips and began to speak.

"Things are changing again. The world is never going to return to where it was, but the Fae still left are wanting change," Killian said evenly, and her lips curved up into a small smile. "Princess Emma wants change, which is why she freed Ursula, brought Pann to justice, and it's why she refuses the Goblin Prince in his proposal -"

Haku snorted, rising to his feet. "Things haven't changed at all then. You Fae still cry that the world is changing while you ignore your own history, choosing what is recorded and what will be remembered by those alive to tell. You deserve your fall from the sun, the wax on your wings scalding. Some Dark One you are. I did not expect a doting sycophant who would recite sonnets for his royal tart." In a blur of white and green, the Dragon ripped through the canopy, apples falling and bouncing off of them as he rose.

"Ah. The oldest of the clutch speaks," Lilly sighed. "That was harsh even by our standards, but that's Haku for you."

"So, uh, how about we show you that library?" Mushu said with a clap, the tension thick as another apple rolled off of Emma's head. She looked directly at Killian who wore a look of grim resolve, the thought of creating any sort of alliance dimming by the moment.

As they started walking out of the orchard, Killian intertwined his fingers with her own, giving them a squeeze. Emma looked up at him surprised, and he bent to whisper.

"We'll win them over yet, Swan. It will be alright."

He squeezed again, then moved to talk to Mushu who was leading them and talking about the library’s many treasures. Lilly fell back, taking his place.

"You guys are cute," Lilly whispered with a laugh. "And he's much better looking than our legends describe. I expected the maw of a crocodile and for him to trail blood from his wet clothes, his eyes as dark as charcoal."

Emma blanched, looking at Lilly with confusion. "No, he's not - I mean the Darkness doesn't have control, or full control really, of him without the Vorpal Dagger. He doesn't - he didn't enjoy doing those things, Lilly. He's not a monster, he doesn't relish in blood." She paused, casting a sideways glance towards Killian. "And, we are barely allies. Our friendship, if you can call it that, is very new."

"Wow," Lilly giggled, hand covering her mouth. "You are so stupid."

"Excuse me?" Emma rounded on Lilly, her eyebrows both raised while she smiled with all her teeth, angry while full of disbelief at her bluntness. "I am not -"

"No, that's not what I mean. You are intelligent with books and whatever else, but you are so dense. I can literally smell the pining on you. It's gross, frankly." Lilly made a gagging motion.

"If you are always glib and blunt, you don't have to use 'frankly' before you speak." Emma sniffed, sending Lilly further into giggles.

"I'm desperate for courtly intrigue, Princess. Tell me, have you wrote him love letters you instead burned? Have you pressed a piece of clothing of his to your face, just to feel closer? Have you kissed him and then both pretended it didn't happen?"

Emma's cheeks went blindingly hot, and she began to walk quicker, looking down at her dirty slippers. Lilly grabbed her elbow, holding her back, grinning like a she demon.

"You did, you sly fox! I can smell it, you kissed him! Tell me everything -"

"There is nothing to tell. I was drunk. We had just cheated death, and I had a potion in my system that made me silly and drunk. An accident," Emma hissed lowly. A large ornate building was quickly coming into view.

"But you both sleep together, and you cling to him like a little duckling, right in his shadow. Or cygnet in your case."

"How did you know tha -" Emma snapped. There was no way anyone could have spied on them, or have seen without them knowing how they rested together. Even Killian wasn't aware of how she laid awake in between fits of restlessness and nightmares, watching his peaceful sleep or listening to him remembering his lost love. The Darkness occasionally pushed through, and Emma had found gently tracing his tensed muscles would soothe it away. He had never woken up to see her, but if he did, she planned to play it off as a strange dream.

"I can smell you both all over each other, and I know that the two of you have never actually done anything serious. You both are too clumsy around each other, and the idea of a kiss between you two sent you into a nosedive." Lilly shrugged.

"Please, stop smelling me," Emma managed to grit out as she massaged her temples, unable to form any other reply. Lilly let out a laugh, arm linked in her own again as the library loomed before them.

"You know, I don't think you're going to believe me, at least for now," Lilly whispered into her ear as Mushu and Killian stepped inside the large doors. "But now I definitely know that you and I are going to be great friends."

Lilly laughed at Emma's grimace all the way through the doors.

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The library was like nothing he had ever seen. The college at the Naval Academy for the Fae had an expansive collection of books, and from Emma's descriptions of the palace library, it seemed that the several floors of books in front of them may even rival that. Killian glanced at Emma, her face was still slightly pink - no doubt from Lilly teasing her - but her verdant green eyes were wide as her lips parted in awe.

"This is our library, and collection of rare books. Or, as you Fae so kindly called it in the past, our 'hoard'," Mushu said with a flourished hand. "You are free to read at your leisure, Dark One."

With a slight bow, Mushu excused himself. Lilly smiled impishly and whispered something into Emma's ear before bounding off herself, Emma sighing with deep relief when the Dragons were both gone.

"Well," Killian stated, and Emma groaned as she laid her body over a desk with a thunk.

"This, this is a lot," Emma replied, muffled by the table. After a moment, she gathered herself and stood, truly taking in the splendor of the place. "This place is stunning, wow. There are so many books. Are those inlaid with jewels or -"

Killian looked up, from running his fingers down the spine of a book. "I know, it's wonderful. I could live here, just reading everything." He shot a glance down the stairs to the atrium where she stood.

"I thought you always had to keep moving on, unable to sit still?" Emma teased, but he could not help but answer seriously, the ornate details on every binding, the amount of unknown informatiom lost to time and war, and the full amount of the potential knowledge the books contained too much to dismiss with anything but awe.

"This is perfection." Running a finger along another binding, he practically purred in satisfaction. "This place or somewhere similar, the ocean, and air. This sort of library, a fireplace, a good reading chair, and every night spent sipping a buttered rum while watching the stars, seeking new truths from the pages. That is all I need, for eternity." Emma hummed, turning the page of a huge tome laid out on another table. After a moment she chuckled lightly.

"So, a boat full of books, but on land." Emma stated bluntly.

"When you put it like that, sure love," he answered, with her same sarcasm.

She stepped closer, looking up to where he stood. "I might visit someplace like that. I like rustic."

"Rustic eh? Not up to snuff for the magnanimous and beauteous princess?"

Emma shrugged. "It depends on how good the rum is." She replied sarcastically. "Read your books, I am getting fitted for some sort of Dragon style outfit because I'm currently 'unacceptable' per Lilly and her mother. I'll see you at dinner?"

"Aye." He nodded, pulling a book from the shelf.

"Don't forget, Elliot is some rock expert, or stones, gems - go see him with the locket. He's in that cave a bit back on the path," she called as she left, turning to give him a wave and a genuine smile. After watching her steeling herself all day, it was surprising that she would waste it on him, but familiarity seemed to win out more often than not as time went on. It was the only thing that the princess had left to hang on to, and that was important in the chaos that threatened her. If he was going to play protector and avoid Nil and Gold's clutches, keeping her in the best state of mind was a preventative measure in his view.

Piling more books onto a desk, he opened to read anything he could about the history of the Darkness. He found bits about disasters or tragedies that sounded like the Darkness or a Dark One's doing: castles falling in the dead of night as a sorceress laid siege, a curse whisking away an entire treasury and depositing it in a thieves den, a plague that ate away at cattle and crops unless the farmers surrendered to a new lord cloaked in shadow, all ending in the same way - a weapon controlling them was found, and either destroyed by a great amount of light magic, was used to mollify the creature, or was used to kill them. The weapon was specific in its making.

The Fiendish Darkness can be bound to an object, usually a hammer, sword, or dagger for ceremony. Regardless of the form, it must be smelted silver stolen from the ferryman for the dead, steel bent by liquid flame that ripples the very metal, diamonds cursed by avarice, and children's teeth, lost by plucking.

In an ancient grimoire of a Warlock, Killian found reference to summoning the Darkness into the world, chills racing up his spine as he remembered that night, the storm beating down on him.

When summoning, the loudest call for vengeance will be acknowledged and served a deal to ask for entry. These deals vary, and will be unique to the darkest desires of revenge that attracted the Darkness initially. Once a vessel is chosen, the Dagger will bind the Darkness and its host together until they are killed by the binding weapon.

He had been full of rage that night, vengeance and trying to kill the Goblin King the only thing on his mind as he raced upwards and cut down any foe in his path. His own anger must have been more enticing than the King's, and his malleability or naivety had an allure that it couldn't pass up. There were times, long periods of sitting in that cell in the dark as it crawled through his mind that he wondered what it would be like if he hadn't slipped, hadn't lost precious time getting to his intended victim, if he would have died instead of living out the life of a slave to the book's described evil.

By the time he had found the small journal inlaid with onyx and silver, it was well into late afternoon. At first Killian thought the handwritten book was a waste of time, the scribbled words barely decipherable and the drawn charts or graphs not anything he could understand. He flipped through the pages, exasperated, until a drawing caught his eye: a rudimentary form of the Dagger next to various other examples of what must have been binding objects, and a passage on the page next to it.

There may be ways to force the Darkness into another host, but the attempts I have tried ended in failure. The Darkness seems to be affected most by light magic, and love, specifically True Love. In the case of the first queen of the Fae, Titania, her True Love for her cursed child, Puck, drove the Darkness away for some time. In retaliation, Puck killed Titania to prevent her from stunting the Darkness again, claiming the throne for himself until he was killed with the cursed object by the unnamed vessel who succeeded him. Centuries later, Eisolfe the Wise broke said object and light magic built the grand forests for years.

I have tried True Love’s Kiss on my darling Nimue, but she not only resisted, but made clear of her underlying intentions regarding our romance. This True Love was one sided, to my deepest regret. I have used a great amount of magic to seal her into the blade that controlled her, and broken it to assure that the Darkness in it has gone back to where it belongs. Nimue will rest, my love for her freeing her from the tethering - so, it was not all a waste. My heart breaks, and I cannot stand to stay in the shelter of Camelot any longer. I have accepted a request from the sisters of King Triton: henceforth I, Merlin, will be teaching the sisters of the sea esoteric magics.

I regret only that I could not study the Darkness further, at King Arthur and the King of the Goblin's bidding, but we part as amicably as one can in these times. No one currently knows if another Dark One exists, or remains.

Killian felt like he had been crushed, his lungs unable to take in air. Merlin. The pages after the passage were mostly spells and potions involving sea creatures and earth elemental magic, Merlin learning about his new world and teaching it to his students. When Killian turned the page to see a drawing of a nude mermaid, he shut the journal with force, not wanting to see anymore of what appeared to be a rendering of Ursula. Closing his eyes and trying to erase the image, he stood and stretched. Maybe that was enough reading for the day.

Walking down the path, he missed the cave initially, the barely trodden path to it overgrown. The cave's mouth was large and wide, the slope down steep as he slid and pebbles tumbled by his feet.

There seemed to be nothing, a great mossy wall and not much more. He wondered if he had missed the dragon.

"Hello?"

It echoed around the cave, until silence fell again. Killian went to turn back to the mouth of the cave, when a gust of air hit his back. He whipped around and watched the mossy wall shift, a pair of bright yellow eyes regarded him with curiosity.

"Lilly said you might come," the Dragon, Elliot, said. The mossy fur that covered him completely fell in front of his face, and he shook his head slightly. "I'm Elliot. Don't like to look like you Fae or Humans or Kitsune. I don't like being small. I don’t like not being able to hide."

"No judgement here, mate." Killian shrugged, the Dragon's voice sounding much younger than Lilly's, as if he was a scribe or squire of a boy. "I, er, I came to ask you about this stone in the back of this locket."

He held the locket in his outstretched palm, and Elliot approached with trepidation. He was huge, far bigger than Killian had initially thought. What he had initially perceived as wall was Elliot's body; it spread further into the cave as the Dragon moved. Killian focused on the locket instead, the Dragon's claws clicking on the stone floor. The Iron of Nil's attack had bent the silver, indented it slightly, the metal bending to release a small feather, and locks of hair inside along with the dull, perfectly smooth, milky colored oval of amber that had first caught his attention. The Dragon eyed it with a sudden hunger.

"You have an Emberamber? Those are incredibly rare, if their clarity is -" With his face inches away from Killian’s palm, Elliot squinted. He made an indignant noise, frustrated. "That one's clarity is shot. Someone's used it almost completely up. Oh well, I hope they used it for something worthwhile."

"What are you talking about?" Killian questioned, confused. The Dragon rolled his eyes.

"So that is an Emberamber. They're used as, like, gem containers for magic or elements and what not. The Remel kind are really rare. They can hold memories and emotions, so that you can see them. You just need a fire and it'll make smoke; it's neat if you want to remember something, unload memories, or record history in real time. Since we're probably the last Dragons, it'd be nice to have one, but yours is all full. See?" Elliot extended a talon, pointing to the milky white swirls in the caramel colored stone. "An unused one looks like topaz or regular amber that you find bugs and things stuck in; you can see almost all the way through it."

"So this, this is full of memories?"

"I dunno," Elliot shrugged his massive shoulders. "You gotta throw it in a fire. This one's teeny, old, and really used up though, so it'll probably break after a few uses."

"How do I use it? Can I use it now?" Killian asked, pulling the stone carefully from the back of the locket. When it came free, he was surprised to see the etching on the back, a scratched etching of his name.

'For Killian'

"No. Use it out there. There’s a fire pit near where the pine trees start down the hill. I don't want to smell your smoke." Elliot sniffed, the air sending Killian’s hair askew. "I have sensitive nostrils."

"Right. Well, I'll be off then. Thank you for your time." Killian gave a small bow, and Elliot grunted.

"Come back if you find something worth my attention," the Dragon grumbled, slumping down and shaking the entire cave as he blended back into the darkness.

Killian rushed down the path, finding the fire pit easily in a small grove of pine trees. It was easy enough to conjure flame, and a pile of logs lay nearby for use. Throwing them in the pit, he stoked a steady blaze, and threw in the emberamber.

At first, nothing happened and Killian felt his rage at being tricked start to heat like the fire before him, until in the shimmering smoke of the fire, Milah appeared as if he was watching her through a looking glass. She was faded slightly, as if the color had been pulled from the image and replaced with shades of gray, but her eyes were the same brown, and she looked at him as if she was seeing him -

"Killian," Milah began, seated gently before him with her hands folded on her satin gown, and he choked out a noise. "I don't know if you will ever see this, or if we will ever meet again. I was given this stone today by a gentle medicine woman. She helped me… She makes me my…" Milah trailed off, swallowing hard. "That's not important right now, actually. I'll - I'll come back to Agakktha later. It's been six months, and so much has changed. I heard what you've done, what you did to the fleet, and Rumple is livid about your capture. I guess a new king and queen have been crowned, and that you are… You are gone. No one knows where you are, and although I prayed for you to one day find me, well my heart? I don't any longer."

"I know that isn't what you want me to say, or what you want to hear, but darling I - I know you wouldn't even care, but I can't face myself right now, let alone you."

"The Goblin King, he is - Well, he is frankly a coward, and the worst kind of coward at that. He runs from battle, he cowers, he seeks strength without stop, he pushes others to the front to save his hide - And he hates that I will never stop reminding him of that. I am some puzzling prize that he hoards like the Goblin he is, seeking my favor. At first I resisted and fought, but I have had moments of weakness too."

"You would tell me that it is not my fault, you would know what to say because you always do and always have, but nothing can absolve me of my shame when I tell you of my aching need to forget you in any way I could. I fell into spirits, luxe wines made from fruit that only grows in the absence of light. My misery was replaced along with my grief, anger, and common sense."

"I made a terrible mistake, my love. I can say that while I was not forced into this situation on my own, my free will here is most definitely limited. What I wanted was companionship in this darkness, in this loneliness. What I got in its stead was…"

"Agakktha makes me my beauty regimen, and two other traditional draughts the king's wife must drink. One for the beginning of the month, and one for the end. The first helps keep me healthy, and keep my body in good condition." Her face soured, her mouth in a tight line. "The second is a test to see if an heir is to be expected. I… Killian I'm… I'm - I can't do this."

She disappeared, appearing again in a different dress, her hair braided in a much more complex style. Where she had previously looked gaunt, here she had put on a healthy amount of weight, a glow surrounding her. She looked happier, her hands folded on top of her --- Killian froze, letting the realization wash over him.

"Rumple thinks my heartache is because the child isn't yours." Milah rubbed her swollen stomach, gently stroking where it moved and shifted shape. "At first, that was true, but time has been a gentle mistress. No, now I don't mourn for our possible children, or mourn this one. My heart aches because with each move, and kick, I love him more. It's a him, Killian. I'm having a son, and I am so happy. I miss you, I miss you so much and I will always love you, but how do I even explain this love? It's all encompassing. I love him with every part of me, and I haven't even seen him." Milah smiled, happiness alight on her features. She looked down for a moment, still tracing patterns on the silk over her belly. Her face fell, and she looked up back into the gem’s view. "The amount of tradition here is ridiculous, and I thought the Fae court was bad. At least while our society is gendered, we raise our children in families. To think I complained on more than one occasion about how strict it was for you and I to be chaperoned. Because of the law, Rumple will name him. That is not only a royal duty, but that of the male's duty."

Milah gave a disgusted eye roll, continuing. "He's chosen the name Nil, but I will forever call my baby boy Baelfire after my father, and our house. Maybe one day a child of House Baelfire and a Lordling of the Blackwater will play together. The thought brings me peace."

She appeared again, tiredness unable to cover her happiness at the babe wiggling in her arms. Bird feathers covered a good portion of one chubby arm, but his shock of dark brown curls and one brilliant brown iris matched her own exactly.

"Isn't he perfect? Rumple won't hold him, and the longing for you today has been unbearable after so much time without thinking about us. Is that horrible to say? Probably. I find myself so absorbed in other things that were once used as distraction and exhaustion from Baelfire, that giving thought to you as we were has fallen to the wayside. Time is not the only corrupter as they say. More often I wonder about your descent into madness and the Darkness, if you think about me, or if you will in your stubbornness never take another chance at love. Please, consider it. You would make a spectacular father, and have so much love to give another. I beg you, consider it, for my sake. Be happy. That is what I imagined for us, and what I try to imagine in any way possible now.”

Her next appearance was with the babe, now a toddler jumping in the background with snorted laughs. Milah caught him, tickling him while they both grinned identical grins, unable to stop their giggles.

"Baelfire my sweet, say hello."

"Hellwhoa."

"Good job baby! You're so smart. I love you so much, Baelfire."

Milah paced in her next appearance, sitting down to face him with a sheen of sweat on her face, hair gone gray and a gray pallor in her skin. She adjusted herself in the seat with a slight wince.

"Killian, I know you will look for me until the end of time if you still live as my own and not what it is they whisper you've become - but I need you to know that I am happy, that I found peace in knowing that my son can be better… These old laws that only benefit the few, the fervent sycophants that think they might be rewarded if they believe enough in strong blood; this abuse of women of all species but especially Goblin women who are made to be the lowest status as a birth gift - I was terrified of bearing a girl, for no matter how monstrous, how can a mother bear the cruelty of having a child they wanted ripped from them for another to raise, all because of this fanaticism? I have begged for women to keep their children longer before they are taken to their gendered groups - How could I watch my daughter growing up to be taught to be quiet, stay out of the way, follow orders, and that her worth is that of nothing?" Milah coughed, hacking as she reached for a handkerchief. Bringing it to her mouth, she coughed for minutes more. When she was done, her face was clammy, and her breathing was shallow. She pulled herself up, laying a red and bluish-tan stained handkerchief aside. "There is no strong blood, there are only strong beings, strong mothers and fathers, children, and familiar ties that weave us all together. I will not let my Baelfire be afraid in the time I have left." He felt his heart drop, looking at her tired face.

"I have Lichen Lung. Do not blame yourself for this, Killian. I caught this as a child, playing in the bog by the House Baelfire's old estuary. It was always going to claim me, and they've made me very comfortable. I've lived far longer than I would have up there, or if we had... I've lived well here within reason. The fungus loves this damp and dark, and the Healers here specialize in fungal infection. They have the best remedies for this disease, and have eased so much of my pain. I wish I could assure you that as you live on it's alright to be without me." She stroked a finger over the heart tattoo that rested on her shoulder, a clear view of it beating under her pale skin as she turned.

"I want you to. I want you to be happy, to find joy in sunsets, to swim in the ocean without me, knowing that our life was worth everything. Every second that I was with you makes me more determined to stay alive, to raise Baelfire to be like you. I want you to love, Killian, to consider another person capable of forgiving you, of absolving you of the thoughts you've built up, of guilt and shame. I want you to consider loving them, of being open to the idea that maybe in our lives there is room for more than one love of a lifetime. I want you to have a family again, so you can know just how much that is true. I want you to let me go, but know I'm close, and wishing you a wonderful life."

She appeared again, rail thin and gaunt, propped up in a bed. A teenage Goblin boy, very clearly a young Nil, sat at her side."I don't think I'll last the day, my heart."

"Mother, it's alright." He held her hands, folding them gently on her lap. "Let me read to you, just relax."

"How did I end up with such a wonderful son?" Milah sighed. "You were at the part about the Heart of all the Realms, the stories?"

"Yes. So, the Doctor and his wife theorized that there were realms they could open with magic, and that there could be infinite numbers of them. They may even be merged or created with powerful enough magicks, and be held in stasis against each other, meaning that they would have their own linear sequence of time. It was all hypothetical until they made one on accident. They experimented more, and found that different planes could be reached via portals or use of magic. These were used to create the first realms, that soon came to be known as the United Realms. They were the largest, most stable, laden with resources, and easiest to create travel through of the realms being found. This discovery gained the Doctor a title and great renown. The Whitehart family still stands to date as the only and last house created before the war.

The Whitehart family attempted dividing the portals by population, believing that eventually each species could be individually placed in one of the infinite realms. Space no longer became an issue, warring factions eased their battles to journey to a new world made for them.

It was great news until rumors drifted of realms no longer being reachable. Just like the stars in the sky are always remaking themselves, realms are too; new ones being born and dying in constant motion. Black holes are the eater of stars, and The Devourer is the thing that eats realms. It lives at war with the light in the middle of every realm, all time and space, each trying to keep balance. Knowing this, the Whitehart family stopped their work, leaving only the United Realms in their wake. This was a major catalyst in the war that led to the eventual banishment of the Goblins after the Vorpal Dagger's destruction. The Whitehart family name and their solemn family creed to keep the light alive lives on with the new Queen, even after her parent's murders and the attempt on her life by the Goblin King. From commoner, to being the utmost highest position of the land, the Whitehart family name is not lost under the N'lan banners with Snow Margueryte in the crown."

"I hope that one day you meet her. I know what your father tells you, but life could be different for you. You could live above, you could change things if you just showed her the iniative. Imagine freedom, of choice - That's sounds like a grand adventure, Baelfire." Milah whispered, reaching up to tousle Nil's hair weakly. "You must go on a grand adventure some day, sweet boy of mine."

Nil scoffed, looking at her with a strained smile. "Mother, you know that's impossible. We're trapped down here, for one, but the last time the Fae let us live outside of this accursed realm the result was the utter destruction of everything we created. Secondly, the Queen isn't well known for her forgiveness - and father was steps away from killing the her as she slept under that curse. You know why Father chose you, and why if I'm ever to marry, I owe it to our ancestors to - "

"You don't have to follow the laws writ by vengeance's call. You don't have to follow in your father's footsteps, you can choose a partner that you love -"

"Mother. After what was done to us, my people demand penance. It's why the Elves, Pixies, and Anisapi still send tithes of women at our behest, defying their own King and Queen. Even they know that what was done to us and what their beloved Monarchy tries to keep hidden will not win them favor when we return." Nil pinched the bridge of his nose, and Milah sniffled quietly. "Don't cry, mother. Please. We've been through this, you said that you understood."

"I understand why you think that you have to, but I promise you that love is worth far more than vengeance ever will be. You will wake up to a crying bride, a cold bed, and children that don't understand why their parents hate each other. I want more for you, Baelfire. I beg you to please - "

"You truly hate father?" Nil asked, quietly.

"I do not love him, but the hate I had has grown dull over the years. I had love with another, so I know what it is to feel it. What your father has given me, even after your blessed birth, has never been love. I love you. You will know love, and you must never forget it."

"Love isn't worth anything when your people lie dead at your feet." A voice hissed from the darkness beyond the emberamber's view of Milah and Nil. "Come, Nil. You have lessons. Maybe your mother can join you for your history recitation, as she forgets her people's responsibility in the making of our laws."

"Get out of my bed chamber." Milah hissed, closing her eyes. Nil stood, kissing her on the forehead, and left with his father.

The view changed. Now alone, it was dark in her chamber as she faced him, straining to speak.

"I must confess to you my greatest secret, and let you know that it is not a regret. I have loved another, my son, and felt something for his Father on rare occasions. This led me to do what I had to do, and you must understand, you must try to understand. You are imprisoned, or were; if you ever do see this or it is transcribed for you: the decision was mine, Rumple's, and King David's. Oh, Killian. Life is a bitter root to chew when there is nothing else. David offered the women here - the women stolen - our freedom in exchange for letting the Goblins free again.

I was so very pregnant, and the women voted, we voted to stay. There was no longer a life we could live away from our children, our families, or we would simply could not survive put back somewhere. The threat of the Goblin reckoning was also too great; we were nothing but a bargaining chip to create more war - Rumple's face when he heard our no vote was a snarling hateful thing. Seeing that, I know the decision made was the right one. David agreed - they were having a child too - and Queen Snow kissed me on both cheeks, but Rumple would not let me say goodbye to you. I left knowing that you were somewhere below my feet, waiting, and I had burned that bridge for the sake of my child and the realms."

"Please, forgive me. I fear that Rumple's patience has been stretched too thin. I fear that he is the one who made me much more ill, just for spite. I fear that my son who watches me die as this spreads through my heart and lungs will never know freedom or love or light when I am gone."

"Please be an example of what I take from this world with me; please love someone just as much as you loved me. Don't let the Darkness in you win, don't let it eclipse you and everything you are. You are always and forever will be, my Killian Jones. Please don't let that be taken too. I love you, I love you, I will forever love you."

The fire dimmed low, the smoke trickling back into the jewel. There were hot tears on his face, the stone burning his palm with its own intense heat as he pulled it from the fire, squeezing it tightly. Stumbling to get up, he slumped by a pine tree, letting the force of his sadness take him.

Walking for what felt like hours, he finally arrived back in the village. Emma approached him with two bowls of something that steamed, her face falling to concern when she came closer. She was dressed in a simple blue dress, similar to the fashion the common human folk had worn in their villages when he lived at the Blackwater. He ducked back into the shadows, but she pursued until he realized that it was futile, letting her catch up just outside of the village. Under the falling leaves they sat for a few minutes, before Emma turned to study his profile. After a moment, she asked a question.

"Are you hurt?"

Killian swallowed hard. "Not exactly. No."

"Come here," she whispered quietly, and for once he did, falling into her and laying there against her chest as she lowered them to the ground. She soothed gently and slowly, running her hands over his shaking shoulders.

Once he had calmed down, they sat in amicable silence eating their potatoes and meat, Emma giving him a large chunk of bread. She also produced a wine skein and a large chunk of cheese, both eating for what felt like the first time in ages.

Emma broke the silence, both of them simply basking in the decadence that was hot food after having none for so long.

"I don't need to know anything about what happened, but whatever it was..." She paused and stroked hair out of his face as he laid his head against her thigh. They had become so much closer since the situation with Ursula, trust in each other hard won, personal space a non-issue when living in close proximity on the ship as it drifted. "I am sorry that it hurt you."

"Broke my heart, actually. What little of it that remains.”

Emma gave a low hum, sitting in silence as she continued to comb fingers through his hair. The calm the Darkness had fallen into since Emma and his close cohabitation finally broke, woken by his despair at Milah's revelations, the edge of its tumultuous presence creeping back into his world.

"You know," Emma began slowly, murmuring. "Your heart… If it's broken, it means that it can be fixed. That it still works. That regardless of everything, there's pieces of you that the Darkness cannot corrupt or destroy."

Pulling away from her with a jolt, the Darkness seething under his flesh, his eyes flashed a warning. Emma pulled back slightly, fear in her eyes at his reaction - he'd acted like a skittish creature, an animal prone to bite, not Emma's ally. And they were allies, were they not? Even, possibly -

No, she's not your friend, she's just another in a long line of masters that holds your leash. You are no wild animal, just a pet. You trusting her is pathetic, you disgusting, lowly, cretin. She doesn't see you as more than a tool, and you let her talk to you about your heart as if you still have one. You have a piece of coal; there's nothing left for you to feel with. You have no emotions except hate, fear, melancholy so deep -

Emma's hand met his cheek, trembling while she looked at him with defiance.

"Killian. Come back to me?" Carefully, and slowly, she wrapped her arms around him in a gentle embrace. At first every muscle of his tensed, the Darkness letting out yowls and screeching sounds, but they faded as his tension did. His arms wrapped around her delicately and Emma beamed when she pulled away slightly.

"You shouldn't do that, Swan," Killian whispered.

"Shouldn't do what?"

Killian cleared his throat, scratching at his ear slightly. "Listen, I don't want to - If I can't control it, or I lose sight and lash out, you could get hurt and I -"

You're pathetic, you absolute worm. Look at you, cowering from the strength of your power like a child. Do you remember how small you are? Your mother died and your father left you. You killed your brother in cold blood, and all those men in ships that you burned and cracked. Don't you want to remember all that blood in the water, and the smell?

"Killian. You don't have to listen to it. It's wrong. Whatever it's saying, it's wrong -"

"Shut up, just shut up!"

Careful you good for nothing louse, don't want to hurt your pretty princess because you can't handle the truth of what you did, what you are. Remember what happened the last time you chose not to listen? We sunk to the ocean floor with Nil's iron through our chest, and before that, Elsa died because of you, because of this princess, and I warned you, didn't I?

"Open your eyes and look at me. Please. Please, you have to look at me, Killian don't let it -"

Yes, look at her. Proof of you being weak. You should have given her to Nil, but you tried to be noble . You aren't noble, you aren't good; no matter what this wench says, no matter what Milah did.

"Stop!" Emma's fingers wrapped around his mangled hand, but the noise would not stop, uncontrolled and like a cornered animal. The cackling pressed against the back of his eyes, both temples throbbing. Emma's voice was a low thrum cutting through a shrieking whine. "Please just stop, you're hurting him, stop -"

Oh, listen to her, pitying you for what you are! What you chose . Isn't it funny how your revenge has destroyed everything you ever cared about? Surely you aren't stupid enough to care about your worried little Swan?

The Darkness had laid still, a snare in a bramble, waiting for Killian to relax and to think he had a chance to control it. This was a warning; it controlled him and he was its puppet, not the other way around. The sludge-like vines wrapped tighter, roots digging deeper as it cackled without relent.

There was a flicker, and the tiniest bit of sunshine touched him. Light pushed, separating the gnarled thicket even as it fought back against Emma's concerned plea.

"Killian, come back to me. Listen to my voice."

I WILL NOT LET HIM GO, PRINCESS! WE ARE THE DARK ONE!

Everything built to a point of no return as Killian’s hand gripped Emma's too tightly.

You're scared you will hurt her, I can feel it. Yes, we will. We will hurt her, especially if she is a threat. Damn the shard and its protections. I'll eat away at them with ease. All barrier spells can be broken or corrupted, and this is just one more. I'll delight in both of your surprise when I can wrap your fingers around her neck, the Darkness knows no bounds but the dagger, I'll make you rip her apart piece by piece. Oh yes, I will weaken that silly protective charm, just you wait Dearie. I'll make you crush her heart as it beats in your hands. I'll show you how good it feels to feel the dust run through your fingertips.

The cackling stopped abruptly, and Emma's hand was yanked away from his as she sprawled backwards. The Darkness hit her with blunt force, the thud of her body hitting the ground followed by the whoosh of air leaving her in a moan.

I can hurt her easily, even now. You may have kept me at bay on that ship of yours, but now I am stronger than you. Your emotions make you weak. It won't be long until I can wound her, or break her just like I do to you. I can break her fingers one by one while she asks you 'why' -

"No!" Focusing with every bit of his concentration, Killian pushed the Darkness away, willed himself to hold it back.

Silence slowly returned to the confines of Killian’s mind, limbs falling out of their forced paralysis. Sliding over beside Emma, he frantically checked her pulse in fear, finding it fast under his fingers. Relief coursed through him. Emma's eyes fluttered open, meeting his as she flinched away from him in fear, staring at him in confusion for a moment before relaxing.

"I didn't mean to, Emma, I'm so sorry. I couldn't -"

"It's OK. You hit me good, but I blocked most of it. The tumble was what really knocked the wind out of me. We'll have to practice again in a softer space, I think."

"Practice again?" Killian scrubbed at his face, scoffing. "Absolutely not. No. It's not okay at all. I hurt you. Bloody hell I -"

"Is it like that all the time? I think I could almost hear it, that voice… it's so scared of you leaving it. It's like a wild animal. I think you can control it if we practice. It caught me off guard, but a throw isn't going to leave anything but a big bruise."

"No. I can't ask that of you, and it is getting stronger the closer the clock ticks down to Nil…" Trailing off, Emma raised her chin in defiance, standing up with his help. "No, Emma this was too close -"

Stepping forward, Emma took Killian’s hand in hers, massaging his palm. "You can't kill me and I can't kill you. I promise you that thing is trying to rattle you. I'm fine.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't control it, Emma. I swear I'll try harder -"

"Don't try. Just…" Emma chewed her lip, and took another tentative step closer. "You are now among the closest friends I've ever had, so I don't ask of you to try. Just don't hurt me. Don't let it be an option anymore. Don’t give in, especially if you believe it's getting stronger. We have to beat this. You can beat this; I know you can."

"Close friend? When did you decide that?" Killian smiled slightly, amused by the idea as the chimes rang out. Emma laughed, and rolled her eyes, standing and brushing off her dress.

"The second to last barrel of rum on the Jolly."

"You must have terrible companions."

"Shut up." Emma blushed. "I just trust you a lot more since you told me you were really going to be my ally, that's all. I can see you changing, trying to be better."

"Then…" He looked for words instead of at her, a hand raking through his hair. "Thank you."

"Whatever, you're welcome. Save me a dance tonight; Lilly says they have a wonderful fiddle player." She clapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh no, I told Lilly I'd change into some outfit - I'll be back, go on without me!" Before he could protest, she had run off towards a cave built into the cliffside that faced the ocean.

Killian wandered by himself to the square. It seemed that the entire village had gathered and were surrounded by twinkling lights, pumpkins, bushels of apples, barrels of what looked like some type of ale, cauldrons of mulled wine stirring themselves in the darkening sky, and a band setting up on the small stage.

He saw a short statured man with a receding hairline approach the stage nervously, fiddling with his bow tie, his gaze flicking around until they met Killian’s. He grinned, and Killian felt his neck hair stand, his body alert to a potential threat from some arcane magic. A hand touched his arm and he grabbed the person's arm roughly, realizing it was just Emma a second later.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

"Ow! Killian!" Emma hissed, rubbing where his fingers had dug in. He seemed distracted, looking over her for something or someone before truly taking her in. When he finally saw her, Emma watched his eyes widen while his hands began to fidget. She did the little spin Lilly had suggested, the flowing garment spinning around her.

"Do you like it? Lilly says it's from last year, but that no one should notice. I've worn dresses with lace before, of course, but never anything this sheer or gauzy. It feels like I'm only wearing the night sky!"

To her surprise, Killian didn't say anything; he didn't tease, or give her a witty quip. He simply stared at her and the navy fabric that was covered in the lacy sheer stars. The dress was backless and deeply cut, but the silver and dark blue that bordered on black caught the candle light, adding gold and a true navy color into its flowing movement. It was much easier and lighter to move around in than the stiff, heavily layered gowns that her mother favored.

When Killian was silent for another moment, Emma rolled her eyes. "You're not funny you know. If you're going to act like you -"

"You look..." He breathed out in interruption, pausing to shake himself free of whatever his mind was doing, much to Emma's annoyance. "You look…"

"Nice?" Emma finished for him, hopefully. He swallowed, and she watched his neck bob, before he nodded dumbly.

"Yes, you look… you look good. Better than Pann's club and you… you look nice." He nodded and Emma burst out laughing.

"You've been drinking without me then, huh? No wonder you were so spacy. Lilly says there's some announcement and they do a ceremony, then the party begins. I'll meet you drink for drink then."

He nodded weakly, and Emma shook her head.

A man she hadn't seen before took the stage, with Lilly and her parents shuffling behind him. He stepped up on a raised platform to a carved podium.

"Hello, and welcome to another Harvest," he spoke over the crowd. Everyone clapped politely, or so she initially thought until she saw Haku standing in the shadows glaring at the stage. He looked even more furious if it was possible. "I am Isaac, the Kitsune leader for our new guests, and Isaac the best apple cider maker to the rest of you."

Whistles and cheers cam from the crowd along with laughter at his titleage, and he held out his hands for quiet. "As always, we will be announcing the Harvest Maiden tonight, letting their will be done and come tomorrow, she will be prepared for her fall slumber. This year, we had a volunteer again, so lots will not be chosen. This year our beautiful Harvest Maiden is…"

Isaac paused for dramatic effect, while a younger, dark haired woman led by a gaunt woman with a shocking black and white hairstyle was leading her onto the stage.

"Chihiro!" Isaac finished, and Emma watched as Haku swiped at his face, then slunk into the woods without a word.

The young woman stepped up on the raised platform Isaac stood on, taking a place at his side. She wore a simple white gown, Isaac producing a crown of greenery from the podium. Chihiro bowed again holding the crown on her head with a hand, looking around when she rose back up slowly. Her eyes seemed sad, but when they flickered back to her feet after searching, her face fell completely to a quiet wistfulness.

"The Harvest Festival Maiden will lead us in our dancing, choose their prince, and their fool, lead us in our feasting, and in the burning of our bad spirits. Tomorrow she will be pampered, spend time with her loved ones, and then be cleansed for her sleep."

The village cheered, and Isaac led Chihiro down from the platform, Lilly and her parents shuffling after them.

Emma turned to look at Killian, as he watched the village bowing to the girl when she stood in the center of the dance floor. Chihiro looked around again, looking for someone in the throng of the crowd before whispering to Isaac. He chuckled lightly.

"Our Maiden asks to break tradition, and to wait to announce her prince and her fool until after dancing and after the feast," he said with a grin. The crowd gasped, but he raised his hands to quiet them again. "While traditions are important, this is our Harvest Maiden! Who am I to deny such a request? Let us dance! Let us drink! Let us feast and be merry, the ceremony remains!" Isaac ended with a flourish, clapping his hands. In robes and gloves of black topped with white masks, servants brought out steaming trays of food, tankards and goblets being passed around as they were filled them with drink. Emma hadn't seen the servant class before, their shapeless uniforms and masked faces catching her off guard, but she had barely any time to think about them when the fiddle had begun, Lilly spinning her into a dance.

Emma had danced many group dances in the palace; the court was fond of them as icebreakers to allow the mingling of houses. This was not such a dance. Emma was spun and twirled rapidly, catching on to the footwork after several missteps. The women were lifted and placed to the side, their feet in a similar movement to the Elven jig, her stops for drink punctuated by Lilly pulling her back in as soon as she had gulped down what she could. Cold ale and honey mead washed away the heat of the apple whiskey and mulled wine, the dance becoming easier as the feast and the loosening of alcohol in her limbs began. She had lost track of Killian in the crowd, but he sat next to her as they broke bread, her body pleasantly humming while Mushu and Lilly told animated stories of growing up together. The stew of potatoes from earlier was plenty filling, leaving Emma picking at her plate as she listened intently.

Drink however slid easily past her lips as the Kitsune and Dragons taught them their traditions. Several drinking games were led by the Harvest Maiden with her giving a hand signal or yelling a word, everyone drinking quickly to avoid being forced to drink something called 'The Horned Flaming Dervish', a shot served in a thimble that made the King of the Dragons’ face go red when he was caught. The crowd roared with laughter as he had tears slip past his eyes, steam coming from his nostrils.

"You dare to target your King?" he rasped after, laughing. "I will repay you all by making sure my suffering has much company!"

Emma found herself unwilling to be among them. Killian seemed to sense this, and they both clued each other in when taking their long sips.

Dancing began once more, but the dance was different; partners switching less often after eating a full meal and having far too much to drink. The pairings she had were lost in a blur, until a familiar hand held her own, with the other one resting on her hip.

"You have a bad habit of not pacing yourself, princess," Killian whispered, and she laughed lightly.

"No," she replied, sighing. "I have a bad habit of not knowing how strong these drinks are. I'm doing much better with pacing, thank you."

"True. You're able to stand, and even dance this time." He spun her gently, and she stumbled, his eyebrow quirking up. "Maybe I spoke too soon -"

"That was a rock, don't discount me over a rock!"

Killian smiled and she let him sway her as the next partner approached. To her great surprise, he turned and blocked the Kitsune from taking her elbow, taking the next dance himself, then the next several after. They talked about anything and everything as the music changed, while she let herself come down to the beginning of a drunken buzz. Killian probably felt similarly if her guess was correct, but he didn't betray anything to any of the islanders. Emma would not have known herself if they weren't as comfortable with one another; other then his willingness to be close to her and the way his shoulders lost their tension, he seemed as astute as ever. Emma couldn't find words to describe how much she appreciated that, her mind clearing in its fuzziness as she laid her head against his chest.

"Thank you," Emma sighed. "I didn't realize just how dizzy I was. How are you holding up? Are you still fighting with -?"

"No. I'm not. It's been quiet. I owe you a thanks for that, so we can call it even. You were right when you said we make a good team." His voice was low, and she tilted her head up to look at him, the way he looked down at her strange. His fingers traced the star patterns on her hip, as Emma realized she was right in guessing he must be tipsy or close to it after all. She let herself get caught up in how nice it was to be this soft with someone, unguarded, no longer questioning the amount of drink at festivities or his loyalty when it could be like this.

As if hearing her thoughts, he whispered in her ear, his breath warm as the night air grew chillier. "If you feel alright now, I thought I might go back and get a bit of cider with rum in it. It seems to be the best of all the choices by far."

A flash of white caught her eye, crossing behind Killian and into the woods. Chihiro was slinking through the shadows, disappearing into the forest with a look of anger that drew curiosity and suspicion from Emma.

"Not this second. I'm still not quite - Excuse me, I'll be right back." Emma said, pulling away and heading after the Maiden. Killian let her go, his fingers lingering on her wrist slightly, as if he was waking from sleep.

“Come now Swan. Afraid you’ll find me even more irresistible after a few libations?” he teased. She balked, rolling her eyes.

"Not on your life, don't kid yourself," Emma laughed while pulling away from his grip entirely. Killian didn't follow, but instead turned the opposite way slowly, like he was debating whether to go with her. Emma rolled her eyes when she saw him return to the line for his drink. Following Chihiro, Emma carefully paced herself and tiptoed through the brush. Was this a secret part of the festival? The Maiden's stealthy rendezvous?

Coming to a small clearing, Emma hid in a thicket watching in silence, Chihiro pacing a ways in front of her. Haku appeared from the darkness on the other side of the clearing, and Chihiro turned to him with clear upset.

"I asked you to come," Chihiro said softly. Haku shrugged almost imperceptibly.

"And I said I would not," he replied coolly.

A breeze blew, their hair and clothes fluttering.

"But… I asked you to be there, and you -" Chihiro's face fell, and Emma heard her sniffle.

Haku exploded, yelling at her in a fit of anger. "I won't watch you celebrate this. I won't dance with you to honor your life, when all of us know - when I know -"

"This was my choice, I'm stronger than the others. We could leave this place and never look back. We could find where we came from and return there!" Chihiro cried, reaching for him.

Haku regarded her with more fury. "How am I supposed to do that? I won't. I love you, and I put in our names to be refused so we could have a life. You destroyed our chances for any of that by doing this!"

"I did it for the same reasons! I love you so much, and I know that Cruella is counting on me. She would never let me leave my path to be with you!" Chihiro cried openly, heavy tears hitting the forest floor. "I have to come back to you, don't you think I know that? I will break this stupid prison. I just wanted to dance with you, why couldn't you at least do that for me?"

Haku rushed towards her, kissing her and holding her tightly for a few moments, before pulling away.

"I can't dance with you. I - I'm sorry, Chihiro. I can't participate in any of that, any of this stupid festival. I can't." Haku kissed her hand, and through Chihiro's begging and tears, fled into the night.

She stood, watching where he had pushed into the woods for a long while, until with a snap of her fingers, Chihiro cleaned herself up. A fake, smiling facade went over her crying tears in a glamor, her foot falls quiet in the brush as Emma tried to process what she had seen.

Pulling her stiff limbs up and walking back, Emma saw Chihiro head to the stage, pointing out two Kitsune to play her prince and her fool. After a dance with the prince that was awkward and stilted, the fool was sat on the stage. Chihiro had chosen a young woman to play the fool, and she painted the fool's face, until she vaguely resembled Haku, before dumping the entirety of three tankards over their head. The crowd cheered, and the fool laughed while sputtering.

Isaac took to the stage again with Chihiro in tow, well into the night as festivities wound down. Killian and Mushu had stepped away talking about books, while Lilly hung off of Emma shamelessly drunk and grinning. She pointed to the stage while nuzzling into Emma's neck.

"There's Cruella. I'm surprised she hasn't said anything to you. She's been watching you all night." Lilly pointed to the woman now on Isaac's arm, her hair a mess of black and white and nails painted bright red. A bright red pendant on a red choker circled her thin neck, shining even in the dim light. Emma hadn't noticed the woman at all the entire festival, let alone the woman watching her.

She was very hard to miss, tall and gaunt to Isaac's short and soft features, his hand on her waist tight as it bunched the slinky black material of her dress. For someone so conspicuous, Emma had barely seen this leader at all.

"Lilly, I don't think -" Emma started, but Lilly shushed her loudly as Isaac began to speak.

"We raise our hopes that Chihiro is successful in using her spirit to break the barrier." Lilly whooped and the village cheered. Isaac raised his hands, and the strange group of people she had seen earlied stood, all dressed in a dark black robes. They all bore the same black veil over their hair, similar to pictures she had seen of the mortal clergy, and a long white mask. Emma idly wondered how they dictated a servant class, but dismissed it as cultural or religious. "And as we do every year, we remember our past. We thank the husks for their perpetual servitude and the blessing of those who care for them."

The husks bowed all at once, taking off their masks as they came up. Emma squinted, taking a few subtle steps forward in the crowd, looking hard at the husks. There was something off about them with their masks off, their glassy and blank stares and inexpressive faces windowed in the black fabric lending to their drab outfits. Their eye color was gray, and Emma realized it covered their entire iris. They had no pupils, only the stone colored dot sitting in the white, unmoving and devoid of any kind of cognizant reactions.

They shuffled away, a few attendants pushing them when they seemed to lose focus. What were they? Who were they?

Her mouth suddenly dry, Emma tried to get away from Lilly and find Killian, but Lilly held fast. Cruella now gazed out at the crowd, her long crimson nails digging into Chihiro's shoulder.

"It is now time for the women and men to separate for spirits and sweets. Fairer sex, follow the Maiden - Men, follow your Prince! We will convene in the morning for the rites, but until then…" Cruella bowed deeply, her voice a wild timbre, "Happy Harvest!"

Before Emma could protest, Lilly dragged her towards a white tent, the inside full of sweets and cakes, and tea pots on every table. Rolled cigarettes in different colors lay on silver or crystal platters, their fragrances mingling in the breeze. Emma let Lilly pull her to a table, Cruella and Maleficent joining them with Chihiro in their grip. Chihiro smiled politely, but Emma could see the thin barely distinguishable line of a glamor resting over her jawline. It was likely she was still crying, or at the very least, her face was still wet with kohl lines staining her cheeks.

"Enjoying yourself, Princess Emma?" Maleficent purred, lighting a cigarette daintily. Her expression was light and blasé, but her eyes were steely, Lilly retreating in on herself as she poured tea for the table.

Emma nodded politely, for the first time seeing Cruella grin at her with a hunter's gaze, her eyebrows arched and teeth sharp. Taking a red rolled cigarette, Cruella placed it in a long filter extension, puffing on it with force. Her exhale was a great green cloud, Emma hiding her coughing under the guise of a slurp of her tea.

"You know, this could be your next good deed easily, don't you think?" Cruella hissed, another green cloud snaking its way over to Emma. Chihiro made a small noise, admonishing Cruella, but Maleficent nodded gravely. "If your mother and Regina," Cruella spat Regina's name like a curse, "Hadn't marooned us here and forgotten about us, we wouldn't have to do these silly rituals at all. It's truly fortuitous you are here, and you could step in to fix your family's grievous error. But you don't care about that, do you, Princess Emma?"

"I - I didn't even know until -" Emma stammered. The green smoke swirled around her, framing her in an oval before dissappating. Emma tried not to cough again, the smell of the pine stronger than gin and a heavy handed helping of chili pepper emanated from the fumes.

"Of course you didn't. You just destroyed Pann, freed Ursula, shagged the Dark One -" Maleficent drawled, stirring her tea idly. Lilly sunk in her seat while Chihiro began adding sugar cube after sugar cube to her cup without stopping.

"I am not shagging - I have absolutely no relationship with Killian outside of our alliance and I don't know how I could help here. I didn't know about any of this. I didn't know your history with my family at all -"

Cruella's eyes flashed, and she stood with a jolt. Smoke poured from her dress, as if it was breathing. "You don't know how you can help us? Oh, how rich. Why don't you royals put some of your oh so powerful magic to work where it counts! This should be nothing for you - "

"I will do anything in my power to help if I can, but I don't know the extent of this magic. I barely know the history - "

"So you let another bear its consequences?" Maleficent asked, seemingly bored. "Typical. Haku was right about you."

"No! No, I wouldn't, I want to help -"

"Good, if you want to help, you can take Chihiro's place," Cruella said, licking her red lips. Smoke twisted around her head, like great reaching hands. "We'll adjust the ritual and you will fill in; everything will be fine. Simple even!"

"No, I want to see what these rites are, and consult with Killian -"

"Lilly," Maleficent snapped icily, pointing her tea spoon at her daughter. "Tell your friend how important this is, and how much it would mean to us."

Lilly sputtered, stammering. "Uh, well, Emma it would be - we would - considering, you know, everything, you really should - I mean it's safe, mostly." Maleficent and Cruella's eyes both sharpened, and Lilly laughed nervously. "I mean it is safe, and someone would be there watching you at all hours - watch the rites tomorrow and do it, do it for our friendship and as a sign that you truly want our alliance." Lilly finished, and gave Emma's hand a squeeze. Maleficent smiled, reaching over and petting her daughter's hair.

"Well said, Lilly. I would be much more inclined to ally with someone who shows the crown has changed its ways, so I believe it's agreed - you will take Chihiro's place tomorrow morning - "

"Leave her be. I'm fine with my choice," Chihiro said quietly. Her cup was full to the brim of sugar, only the stain of tea in a few places to indicate it had even been there. She smoothed it with her teaspoon into a swirling pattern that Emma had seen in a few of the sand filled gardens they seemed to favor.

"It shouldn't have to be a choice. The Fae princess has already agreed!" Cruella growled. Emma looked down at her cup and saucer, her own tea almost completely gone. Chihiro stood and excused herself, the icy silence that followed her absence only broken by Lilly loudly crunching apple tarts while Maleficent and Cruella glared knives at Emma. Before long, the voices of the men grew loud, and Cruella and Maleficent were ushered outside by their partners.

"There is a way we all win, Princess." Cruella smiled, one thin stream of smoke curling from her mouth as she put out the butt in Chihiro's tea cup. Maleficent glowered at the ashy cup but kept her obvious irritation to herself. "Maybe tomorrow you'll decide to be a better person than any of the people who you call family. Take her place." The two leaders stormed away, and Lilly finally exhaled a long breath.

"That was awful," Lilly moaned, banging her head on the table with a thud.

Emma pinched her roughly, gaining a yelp. "Yeah, imagine being the person who that vehemence was actually directed at . And that creepy smoke thing, what was that about?"

"That smoke thing is just something Kitsune do. They like to change forms, make glamors, trick others with their appearances. You should see what they can do with mist." Lilly shrugged.

"Yeah, well… Super unsettling." Emma shivered. Being deceived by a Kitsune was not something she particularly wanted to experience.

"Hmph, I mean, they're right in a way. You should take her place, and we'll make you really really comfortable. And you'd win our trust! Plus, Chihiro wouldn't turn into… Er…" Lilly shook her head, correcting herself. "She wouldn't have to go through the rite and could go be free to do what she wants."

"It's no wonder Haku hates me. I saw them fighting, and he seems to really -" Lilly shushed her, dragging Emma outside.

"Don't talk about them in the open like that," Lilly whispered. "Dragons… We're not supposed to be with Kitsune. We're forbidden to, well, you know. The thing you are totally not doing with the Dark One."

"Oh. Oh!" Emma's eyes widened. "We aren't though. Killian and I are not a thing, and I wish you would stop -" Lilly waved her words aside, scoffing.

"Sure, sure, whatever. You just danced with him all evening and he looked like he wanted to kiss the daylights out of you. It's nothing, totally nothing; strictly you both being absolutely oblivious when I can literally smell it on both of you - I'm on a tangent. Where was I? Oh, yes. More importantly in relationships - My brother thinks that is why Chihiro was chosen, because they are 'interspecies courting'. He's mad for a great many reasons, and I can't fault him." Lilly sighed, her breath a cloud in the cool air. "As your friend, I think you should replace Chihiro. That seems to be the best for all of us."

Lilly smiled, but it failed to come through as earnest. Emma hummed and toed a pebble in the ground.

"I'll think about it tomorrow. You can explain these rites to me, and I'll talk to Killian, examine the risks - we can go from there. Sound good?" Emma smiled at Lilly, but the Dragon princess looked even more pensive, almost sad. With a burst of energy, she turned to Emma, eyes stormy.

"You should leave. Take Killian, take your ship, slip away into the night and away from this place. Just go and never look back." Lilly stared at her, her words low, and her hands gripping Emma's tightly as she seemed to search Emma's face. Emma heard the truth there, the fear lying just underneath, but as soon as she sensed it, Lilly was laughing.

"Lilly, are you alright?" Emma asked pulling her hands away, Lilly's laughter bringing a smile to her own face despite herself.

"Oh, oh Fiore!" Lilly was almost doubled over with laughter. "You should have seen your face. Oh, I would have paid to have it sketched, you were so freaked out!" Her wheezing laughs made Emma sigh and laugh with her, eyes rolling at her ridiculous prank.

Taking a leaf from Lilly's book, Emma punched the Dragon in the shoulder.

"Hey - Ow!"

"You are an idiot." Emma laughed, and Lilly grinned. "It's a good thing that we're friends, or I'd have hit you in your smug face," Emma sniffed, and Lilly roared with laughter.

Suddenly, she stopped, seemingly struck by a thought. "Wait - you said we were friends? Truly, you agree that this is mutual?" Lilly asked, with quiet excitement.

"I did. Yeah." Emma smiled. She hooked her elbow in Lilly's, laying her head on her shoulder. "We're an odd mix, a 'strange bedfellows' sort of friendship as they say these days. But," Emma raised a finger, "I like it. You're different, but you’re real. You're genuine. The only friends I've had both at home and in my time here that have actually been my friends, have been like this. I need it. I need real in a sea of all this fakery and lying. So… Thank you."

Lilly looked at her feet, and Emma saw a small shadow of something pass over her face, but then she was being hugged by Lilly with force.

"You're my first friend. I guess that makes you my best friend," Lilly whispered. She pulled away, sniffing slightly.

"Well. Then it is an honor." Emma smiled, smoothing Lilly's hair.

"Don't tell anyone I cried, or I'll roast you."

Emma scoffed. "I wouldn't dream of it. At least not until I have your clutchmates to protect me."

"I take back the best friend thing."

"You can't, verbal contract. It's binding. Tough luck."

Bursting into giggles, they parted ways to head to their respective chambers.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

Killian met Emma on his way back from the gentlemen’s meeting, his head still buzzing from the Darkness, the cigar, and the several glasses of brandy toasting in his honor. In truth he had been buzzing all evening since Emma had helped to push the Darkness away, even without alcohol in his system. There was something else, something warmer than the feeling of the liquor in his stomach, the stars a bit brighter and the air a bit thicker. His mouth felt dry, and he felt as if his lips were too dry. In fact, his entire body for once felt starved of touch. Part of him felt like a fool stumbling over questions, while another felt genius for keeping the princess close, maintaining decorum, and protecting the alliance while still protecting her. When Emma took his hand in her own, it was an instantaneous relief like water for thirst. She lead them into the cave they were staying in, and he initially was worried they would be sleeping on rough slabs of rock.

Instead, to his pleasant surprise, they were roomed in a small tented space inside the cavern, the Dragon’s lavish style clear from sumptuous pillows filled with feather down on a raised platform, silken sheets and soft furs, and a scented oil lamp that could be adjusted. A carved pool that trickled with hot water lay behind a curtain, the water never running cold and allowing for a soak. Several varieties of oils, soaps, and other sundries lay on a ledge that made up the back of the pool, and towels lay near a dressing room where several outfits hung. He quickly washed himself and dressed, but Emma took longer, taking advantage of the soaps and hot water provided.

Emma stepped out from behind the curtain in a simple shift, looking up from braiding her wet hair, and pointing to the raised platform. She almost glowed, and the steam mixed with her soaps smelled divine. He had to be drunk, maybe too many toasts or too many cordials were had, his mind swimming in how beautiful she looked.

"I made you a bed, next to mine. If you need to move I can just -" she started, gesturing toward the large headboard that took up the back of the room. The size of it made it clear it was a dragon's bed, and he was sure if he checked in what had been his offered suite, he would find his own. Killian took a long couple of strides, hugging her tightly, and she fussed against him, pushing him off.

"Enough of that, what the hell - you're going to mess up my braid you menace. You're so weird, come on, where is your decorum, sir?" She flicked water at him with a laugh, but he did not relent. "You need sleep and I don't want to deal with you tomorrow being stressed and brooding. They have toasted chicory, and I would prefer to share a cup with you in better spirits than today."

"Bringing out the big guns, like decorum, hm? I must be more of a threat than I thought to her majesty to tempt me with hot beverages. You are too good to a wretch like me." He groaned, and she smacked him playfully until he let go.

"Yeah, I am, so don't push your luck. Gods, this has all been a disaster. A complete, unmitigated, fuck up." She laughed, pushing herself into the mess of blankets and pillows.

"I'd agree, but this bed makes up for it, and it's a burden I'm willing to bear while you speak political alliances." He laughed, and Emma snorted.

"You can't spell terrible without 'T' - and oh, was that tea terrible. You're lucky I survived, and that is not an exaggeration."

"I cannot say I fared worse. The cigars were fine, and the brandy was excellent. The cordials were even better. The Dragon King can put away drinks too, unlike that Kitsune leader. I don't trust that man, he seems… weasel like. He does make a good cider though, so he's only on the short list for potential enemy." Her laughter at his words, sent him into chuckling easily as he put out the lamp. Killian laid in the bed beside her, tension escaping as they made themselves comfortable. It was easy in the softness provided, no hard floor, small bunk, deck, itchy straw, or rocks against the spine they'd grown accustomed to.

After a moment of basking in the softness while making obnoxious noises of bliss, Emma turned slightly, looking at him over her shoulder.

"Hey, Killian?"

"Hm?"

"After all this, regardless of what happens… You know that I still want you to be my friend, and I will defend you as long as we are."

"Sometimes reality is not that simple." Killian sighed, playing with the end of her braid. "I'd like that, but I don't want you believing that we will have any obligation to each other once you are returned and the Goblin menace is dispatched. I'm not exactly going to be welcomed back into the court, let alone be allowed near the crown princess. Most likely, you may get me a pardon or at least a few days headstart to escape, but regardless, I wouldn't stay or be caught anywhere near the court. I'll disappear to wherever I desire, and you will go back to your princess regimen - If we even survive."

Emma was quiet for several minutes, to the point where he almost thought she had fallen asleep.

"Well, if we survive, your heart's desire then. Friends or not, pardon or not, you disappearing or not," she said firmly, giving a nod. He laughed slightly before moving slightly, both adjusting into their sleeping positions.

"Yours too, princess."

In the morning, Killian stretched as the princess snored. Glancing at her, he rose quietly trying his best not to disturb. Emma curled in her sleep, an arm outstretched to where he had been a moment before. She didn't wake, exhaustion easy to understand as her fingers flexed slightly and her breathing steadied. Throwing on a clean set of trousers and a linen shirt, he headed out of the cave and into the light of day.

There were only a few souls out, the black clad, habit-like hooded, masked 'husks' cleaning the aftermath of the festival. Another set stirred porridge in a large pot while their partner served it with a ladle, their methodical rhythm almost mechanical. He stood in line, grabbing two bowls, only a few Kitsune in front of him.

"Good morning." He greeted the masked workers, but they did not respond, only plopped porridge into his offered bowls. "... Have a good day?" he said tentatively, but they gave no indication of understanding. He shuddered and returned to the cave after grabbing a pot of toasted chicory he balanced carefully.

Emma sat up at his return, her hair a wild mess as he handed her a bowl and poured the hot liquid into mugs.

"Looks like you got a good sleep, hm princess?" he asked, humor lacing his voice. He felt good, a feeling of lightness blooming in him.

"Shut up. Lemma eaf." She mumbled, shoveling porridge into her mouth. Swallowing, she turned to him. "I'm supposed to go with Lilly all day today and observe these rites that they perform. I know we didn't discuss it last night, but the Dragon Queen and Cruella, the non-cider Kitsune leader, were awfully persistent that I take Chihiro's place in whatever they're doing -"

"Have you talked about what the process entails? If there's risks involved or one of their rituals is dangerous, we can't just agree."

"Well that's what I wanted to talk about, they want me to watch, but they are so forceful -"

"Emmmmmmmmmmm-ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Lilly screeched from the mouth of the cave, the echo like nails on a chalkboard.

Emma winced, throwing blankets aside to leap out of bed, slipping on a robe like gown that tied around her waist. With a flick of her wrist, her hair was styled. She looked at him as if waiting for approval.

"Well?" she asked, gesturing to herself. "Do I look alright? Not too hungover, or -"

He chuckled, her nervousness somewhat endearing. "You look fine Swan. You don't have to be this worried, it's probably just some tea ceremony or the ilk. I mean after last night, Mushu said that everything gets very quiet while they wait."

"It doesn't sound like a tea service, they said they have someone -"

"EMMMMMMMMMMM! AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lilly roared, and Killian swore under his breath as rocks fell from the ceiling. Emma cringed visibly, her shoulders rising.

"I'll explain later." Throwing on her shoes, she offered a quick wave to him. "I'll see you later, around lunchtime maybe - Meet me at the library? Knowing you, that's where you'll be anyway."

"Most likely, yes. There or talking to Mushu at his residence, but the library first and foremost." Killian nodded.

"Okay. Plan on lunch then." Emma smiled, and turned, running towards the entrance. "Coming Lilly!"

He shook his head, laughing slightly to himself. After the festival the night before there was a sense of giddiness that he couldn't shake. Finishing his breakfast in silence, he returned his bowls to a mask clad attendant in the washing house as he made his way towards the library. The four masked Kitsune did not regard him, only continued their monotonous labor to an unseen beat. He initially tried counting the husks, but found it was trickier than he initially anticipated. They all looked identical, blurred together, and seemed to move in shifts. Killian found himself wondering just how many husks were on the island and how they had been designated. A plague maybe? With the strange veil it could be a religion of some sort. Either would explain the masks. The feeling of something sitting right below the surface that he could not shake resonated in him, their hollow actions mimicking their given name. Unable to shake off the feeling of arcane sorcery and the low buzz of elemental magic the dragons drew upon, he fled for the library with no intention of stopping.

#Hallow #Courtorderedcake #CSSNS #writing #my writing #captain swan #captain swan fanfiction

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akaherosandwich · 5 years

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FAO Defenders Crossover P.2: Chinese for Christmas Dinner

(Logistical note, this is the second half of a crossover thread between @foundoutthehardway, @atrxvido, @ironrand, and myself, of course (as Jessica). It, like Part 1, is somewhat unfinished, but the plot has moved well past. Please enjoy these losers having dumplings on Christmas eve.)

The police arrived shortly after the mess had ended- while Jess was certainly not the biggest fan of the cops, especially not of Mercedes Knight, there wasn’t much more the heroes could do. Not on Christmas Eve. They all ducked out the back, hoping the papers would pin this ‘Christmas miracle’ on the Devil or something.

“Goodwill to all, and all that shit,” Jess spat, wiping her mouth with the back of her glove. “I never went to Sunday school, but I definitely don’t remember ninjas in the nativity. God, I can’t believe it’s Christmas in a few hours.” Not that she particularly cared. She never celebrated, but with Luke around… maybe they could have tried. Jess had actually bought him what she imagined was a good gift, but she’d never given a good gift in her life. Why start now? She could give it to him later, when they got home.

To the apartment that had been set on fire. Jess was going to have to do something about that, especially in light of this ninja business.

“Anyways, kicking ass worked up my appetite and honestly after not eating all day I’d like to take advantage of that,” she muttered, looking down the street to see if any neon signs were still on anywhere. Matt sighed, wiping the blood from his mouth on the back of his gloved hand. Ninjas weren’t going to be the death of him, but Jessica quite possibly was. “I was raised by nuns, and for once, you’re right about that. Merry Christmas, for what it’s worth.” Ah, shit, Christmas. Foggy. He wasn’t going to be able to hang around. Just as well. He didn’t want anyone else knowing his identity. “Look, there’s about a billion real noisy signs buzzing around here, but would you serve Daredevil?” He had to admit, he was hungry as well. He didn’t exactly eat well before he went out either. At least he wasn’t as bad as Jessica. “C’mon, you have to eat, when you’re - never mind.” Matt knew about the Hand, and he knew that it wasn’t going to go well if they got involved without him, but at the same time - he barely knew Luke and this new guy. Up until recently, his interactions with Jessica had been almost solely (somewhat) professional. Leaving the camera incident aside. “Look. I gotta go. But you have fun.”

“Oh, No, you don’t,” Luke said, grinning. “No way, man, you do all that parkour business, beatin’ bad folks up without even being able to see -- you eat with us. I know a Chinese restaurant owes me about a dozen favors, and we should be looking to hole up for a while. Don’t worry about the warehouse, Misty’s got our backs.”

And their numbers. And probably a whole lot of community service hours for Luke. But that was tomorrow’s problem. Luke slung an arm around Jessica’s shoulder, and another around Matt’s.

“Mushu pork! Szechuan beef. Enough dumplings to sink the Titanic. Come on, it’s Christmas Eve, I’m gonna be a daddy, and we opened a dozen cans of whup on those fake ninjas. We should be celebrating. … and probably hiding.”

After the fight came to its seemingly inevitable conclusion, Danny wasn’t sure what to…. do. Of course, he already had notions of a lean, mean, fighting team spinning around in his head, but he did his best to tamp down such expectations. Jessica and the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen weren’t exactly the joining type.

Luke seemed nice, though.

“You’re going to be a dad?” Danny couldn’t help but splutter. His eyes moved back and forth between Luke and Jessica several times. He pulled off his crappy ski mask to squint more meaningfully at them.

Was Jessica….?

In any case, Chinese - especially off-brand American Chinese - sounded much better than Lean Cuisine. “Luke can pick the place, but dinner’s on me.”

Jessica saw the way the masked stranger was eyeing her after Luke’s excited blabbering. She kept her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets and shrugged. “Yeah, yeah. But don’t go making a big deal about it, okay?” Despite herself, she managed a smile and gave Luke a quick peck as he threw his arm around her.

When Danny removed his mask, she just about spluttered in surprise. “Wait, Danny fucking Rand? Are you serious with the- the… the dragon punching stuff back there? I thought I told you not to worry about it on the phone.” Jess paused. “But at least you held your own in there. Jesus, what an ass-backwards group we’ve got here.”

She shook her head, not wanting to fret about it. And if Danny was paying for dinner, she wasn’t going to complain. “Alright, alright. Fine, let’s hash this out on the way to food. Luke, Danny, Devil, you’re coming with. I’m starved.” Jess broke from her boyfriend’s grasp and made a move to find a restaurant.

“Look, yes, Chinese food is great and we need to lay low for a while but whatever this is, I -” His train of thought was interrupted by Luke’s casual arm-slinging. He sighed. “I’ve been down this route before, and these guys do not mess around. This isn’t the kind of decision you take lightly.” He also shrugged off Luke’s grasp, and moved in the same direction as Jessica. “You bring Misty into this, you’re putting her in danger.” Matt crossed his arms. “You’re really, really risking getting dead here. Just so you can make an informed decision. I’ll come with, because it’s Christmas, but this isn’t a movie and we’re not all one big merry band of vigilantes.”

Actually, Luke was pretty sure they were, at this point, most definitely a merry band of vigilantes. All the evidence pointed that was, what with the not having police jobs or uniforms and still kicking a pile of ninja booty. But Matt looked like… actually, just then, he looked like Jessica before her tenth cup of coffee in the morning. A little sour. Luke decided nodding sagely was a good way to go.

Also.

“Misty is a cop in New York City. She’s in danger every day. We got a chance here to make things a little bit safer for her and all the rest of them. In a not-band of vigilantes way, obviously.” He winked at Danny. Danny looked on board with the whole merry band of vigilantes thing. They were going to need a name.

“Here we are,” he said, pushing the door open. “We’ll close the blinds, order food, and Danny can tell us about the dragons.”

Was Danny the only one still caught on the whole ‘Dad’ thing? And the fact Jessica was pregnant? He decided to file that away for later.

“Surprise?” Danny said tentatively, fixing Jessica with an awkwardly apologetic smile. “Sorry, I would’ve told you earlier, but I’m-- trying to keep a low profile. Hence the whole mask situation.” He raised the cloth in his hand as if in explanation, though his gaze strayed momentarily to Daredevil. “...Think I might be due for an upgrade, though, especially looking at this guy.”

Luke was nodding sagely at the whole ‘we’re not a team’ speech, so Danny decided copying him would be the best course of action. He caught the wink at the tail end, and figured he didn’t do too bad.

Although he was really starting to see the benefits, though. Of a team.

“I’m actually thinking Daredevil should tell us what he meant when he said he’s ‘been down this road before’. And I can order.” He greeted the older woman behind the counter in Chinese, extending a hand and offering a charming smile.

“Yeah, the glowing fist just screams ‘low profile’,” Jess muttered as she slipped inside the restaurant, pretending she didn’t see that wink that Luke gave to Danny. It smelled a bit like frying oil and chili spices in here, but it would do. Empty on a Christmas Eve, surprisingly, but Jess checked a clock on the wall and realized how late it actually was. And a grumble in her gut reminded her that she hadn’t really eaten anything that day to begin with.

She stood back as Danny began speaking Chinese, earning a grin from the older woman. Jess rolled her eyes somewhat, grabbing a menu and finding a table in the center of the room for them. She sat down and put one foot up on the chair next to her, flipping open the laminate pages to take a look at the food available.

“God,” she groaned. “I think I took a few good hits to the face- that’s gonna bruise tomorrow. At least those ninjas had the decency not to make any low blows.” “I can sense you winking, Luke.” Matt sighed, following Jessica’s lead to move towards the table. He chose the chair opposite her, as not to engage in a ridiculous power play over the seat she had her foot resting on. Luke and Danny could contend with that issue. He was actually hungry, and for once he wouldn’t have to defrost something or attempt to contend with inaccessible websites when he’d been hit in the head multiple times. That was a good enough reason to stay. It smelt like...pork dumplings, if he guessed right. “Look, the Hand? They’re immortal fanatics, but they’re secretive and everywhere - imagine if conspiracy theories were real, essentially. Low blows? Kidnapped about 20 innocent people purely to lure me into a fight. Doesn’t matter if you’re a cop, you got super strength, bulletproof skin, you’re a...dragon guy. The Hand will still Ruin. Your. Day.”

“You know what, I don’t even think you’re blind. Ain’t no one can sense a man winking. And even if they could, you’re being creepy about it. Lighten up, Matt. We can deal with The Hand, but not on an empty stomach.”

He listed Jess’s feet and put them in his lap, patting her ankles. And looked at her stomach as if any second the first of the bump might appear. Nothing yet, but he gave her a grin. Adrenalin still coursing through his veins, and pissed off or not he was feeling pretty good.

Matt looked deeply, deeply unimpressed by that statement.

“They’re bad guys. Very bad guys. Bad guys trip ‘emselves up eventually, one way or another. And when they do, we’ll be there. We beat them, remember? We can do it again. Is that the sesame prawn toast?”

Danny gave the owner’s small, wrinkled hand one last squeeze before returning to the table, just in time to catch Matt’s comment about The Hand. Luke was pretty blasé about the whole thing, but Danny knew a thing or two about secret ninja cults. They were way old and way dangerous, stuff nobody in their right mind ought to fuck with casually.

(Though he supposed ‘right mind’ would not be... precisely applicable to the people sitting around this table.)

“Immortal fanatics?” Danny probed, turning one of the chairs around and taking a seat between Matt and Luke. He’d seen magic happen firsthand - literally - but nothing like immortality. “What exactly is their objective? World domination, or something?”

Connie - the old woman who owned the restaurant - set several plates of still steaming food onto the table in front of them. Danny offered her a smile and a brief thanks.

“Luke’s right, obviously, I just think-- it’s important to know what we’re up against,” he loaded a couple onto his plate and handed Luke the sesame prawns. “Especially if we’re talking conspiracy theory levels of crazy.”

“Tch,” Jess hissed, frowning at Matt. “I meant ‘low blows’ in the sense that no one tried to punch me in the stomach. Because that could have ended badly. But yeah, sure, they’re bastards.” She was so not here for the talks of crazy ninja cults and apocalyptic doom to Hell’s Kitchen.

Jess put one arm over the back of her chair as Luke pulled her legs into his lap. She gave him a little wink of her own- sense that, Matt. She then heaved a tortured sigh as if this was a massive inconvenience for her as the boys talked circles around this immortal fanatic situation. It made the days she complained about dealing with cheating spouses seem like a treat.

“Up against? We? I’m not exactly making these guys a passion project of mine.” Nor was she planning to make this ‘team up’ any more than a convenient and coincidental gathering of adjacently-familiar powered people.

The investigator straightened in her seat as several steaming plates of food were set down at the table. Jess reached for her pair of chopsticks, separating the flimsy wood sticks and quickly stabbing a few fried gyoza, shaking them off onto her plate. “Luke, pass the soy sauce?”

“At the risk of having this held against me for the rest of my life, I agree with Jessica.” For a quiet life, he chose not to comment on her wink. Matt’s reticence to commit to this was warring with his desire for sesame prawn toast. He settled for grabbing some - and maybe some of those pork dumplings - and sighing deeply at the same time. “You don’t want stopping the Hand to be your New Year’s Resolution.” He also got the sense that he was going to end up on this ride anyway. He’d not known the man long, but Danny gave off a sense of being far too interested in the concept of fighting immortal ninjas.

“That’s just about it. They’ve built crime empires over centuries, and are willing to do just about anything to keep themselves going. I’m not being creepy about it. You’re being overly lax about it. When the suit’s on, you call me Daredevil. That’s it. Not all of us can afford to be so casual with our identities.” He wanted to cross his arms, to make the point, but that would have made it somewhat difficult to eat, so he settled for sullenly squeezing a gyoza between chopsticks harder than was strictly necessary.

---

[AND THEY ALL HAD DINNER AND BECAME BEST FRIENDS AND JESS AND LUKE HAD NOTHING BUT CUTE TIMES BEFORE THEIR BABY CAME AND ALSO SOMEHOW DANNY GOT THE BABY NAMED AFTER HIM, AND MATT WAS THERE TOO BECAUSE THEY’RE ALL BEST BUDDIES FOR LIFE. XOXO THE END]

(Okay, I took some liberties with that last part.)

#fao: defenders crossover #fightasone #atrxvido #foundoutthehardway #ironrand #aka team building exercise #aka blind justice #aka enter the dragon #aka cage match

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cappuccinosweets · 6 years

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Not in Every Dynasty

Author’s note: Giiiiiirl! I laughed out loud when I got this! I could almost hear you screaming! hahaha I love Mulan and I was debating on whether or not I should base this on the first movie or the sequel. Anyway, here it is! General Han and Fa MC! Thank you @idkwhyiamonthis for sending this in!

Disclaimer: This is based off of the second Mulan movie, wherein Jumin is General Lee Shang and MC is Mulan. The three princesses are the other MCs who have fallen in love with the soldiers, Zen, Yoosung and Saeyoung. Mushu and the cricket don’t really fit into the story so I didn’t include them.

Warnings: Mention of Death

Masterlist // Requests // Buy Me a Milktea?

Milestone Fairytale AU Celebration

Jumin and MC ran after the thief. The hanging bridge shook as they chased him. The thief reached the end of the bridge and thrusted a long sword towards them. Reflexively, Jumin shielded MC away from the blade with his arm. However instead of attacking the two, Jumin watched in horror, as the thief raised his sword and cut the ropes that secured the bridge.

In an instant the supports fell away, making the two of them struggle to secure their balance. The chasm below opened like a deep red maw, ready to devour them. Jumin, in his state of panic tried to reach for one of the stray ropes but failed. He felt himself falling straight into the ravine below.

Just in time MC caught his hand, her grip a vice-like hold on his wrist. He watched as she grunted with both their weights, and the strain of latching on to the frayed piece of rope that remained connected to the bridge. They dangled way above the river their lifeline unraveling with second that passed.

“Jumin,” her voice shook with desperation echoing all around them, “hang on!”

He could only watch her struggle to pull them both up with her strength but he knew the truth. The ropes were snapping under their weight. It was only a matter of time.

“It won’t hold us both...”

“It will!” tears were brimming in her eyes, “It will, Jumin!”

MC yelped as another part of the bridge snapped, her grip on Jumin and the other on the bridge rope. The adrenaline wasn’t enough to numb the pain in her shoulders. She felt that at any minute her grip would fail if she didn’t get them out of there fast enough. The bridge dipped lower, threatening to collapse. Her mind was reeling trying to think of a way to escape. Hot tears blurred her vision, as she looked around for anything that could help them.

“MC,” she looked down at him, the tears dripping from her chin. Her breaths were ragged, the complete opposite of the sad baritone of his voice, “I’m sorry.”

“No! Please!” She could tell that he had made up his mind. Yet she still held on to him as tight as she could. They were going to finish this mission together. They were going to come back home and get married. Violent waves of sobs wracked her chest.

“Please,” but it was too late.

Just like that Jumin let go, he fell in what seemed like an agonizing eternity.

“Jumin!” her hand reached for him but he was already gone, swallowed up the mist of the red canyon.

The next few hours were a blur. Her consciousness seemed to dip in and out until she could only remember fragments of the events that transpired. Somehow, her fellow soldiers had managed to save her. The realization that Jumin wasn’t with her struck everyone and all throughout the remainder of the day there was a somber mood in the camp. It didn’t help when MC took Jumin’s sword and thrusted it on the mouth of the bridge--a grave site. She cried holding the hilt, the rain pelting her relentlessly. As if the gods also wept for the great General Han.

Nightfall was upon them when she came to her decision. The three princesses who were meant to be delivered to the neighboring kingdom were surprised to hear that they were no longer part of the arranged marriage to unify the two kingdoms.

“But... what about the mission?”

“I’m going to finish the mission.” MC’s stoic disposition left no room for argument, not even from the three soldiers, Zen, Yoosung and Saeyoung. She left them to care for the princesses in a village just outside of the capital.

The Emperor was furious to find out that she had not brought the three princesses with her.

“Our carriage fell into the river--no bodies were found,” she explained.

The Emperor an old man with too much jewelry stroke his bear unconvinced, “A mass grave.”

“Yes, your highness,” MC bowed deeply, hoping to hide her lie. She couldn’t exactly explain to the emperor that the three princesses refused to get married and fell in love with the soldiers that accompanied them to his kingdom. Not when the country was under a crisis.

“Your Emperor has promised me a marriage to unify our two warring countries--”

“And a marriage there will be!” Everyone gasped as MC interrupted the Emperor of the foreign land. After the outraged murmurs died down, she added softly, her back straight and chin held up high.

“I would be honored to marry a prince of your court, your majesty.”

“You--” the emperor stood up insulted but was cut short by his adviser.

“Sire!” he whispered urgently in his ear, “this is MC! The hero of the great war! She’s far more valuable than three princesses!”

Dubious the Emperor glanced at his trusted council and they nodded fervently in agreement.The Emperor cleared his throat and regarded the girl in front of him.

“This was not what was agreed! However, the gods smile favorably upon you. You will be wed to my eldest son, Prince Kai.”

That evening, the wedding ceremony was held. MC stood beside the prince amidst the people of this strange foreign land. They looked at her with curious eyes, not a friendly soul in sight. The Emperor officiated the ceremony standing in front of a great statue of a deity. He bound their hands together with a ribbon, all the while shouting his blessings to the crowd gathered.

MC couldn’t help but let a tear slip from her eye. This should be Jumin standing in front of her but instead, she had the young prince who barely looked capable in any sort of way. The pain of his lost is still fresh in her heart that she almost could hear Jumin’s voice in the sea of people.

“WAIT!”

A crash of angry hooves erupted, a man in white stead was barrelling across the courtyard. Her heart began to hammer wildy against her chest and when the crowd parted to reveal Jumin, disheveled but alive, MC’s heart soared.

“Jumin--”

“General Han!” The Emperor scowled menacingly at Jumin, “what are you doing here! You were thought to be dead!”

“Your highness I have come to stop this wedding.” Jumin stepped down from his horse and MC immediately ran into his arms, “I am the one who’s meant to marry MC.”

“Outrageous!” the Emperor’s face was scarlet with anger, “Guards! Arrest this man!”

Immediately Jumin and MC coiled, ready for combat. With their backs against each other the familiar feeling of being in each other company made MC smile.

“I’m glad you’re not dead.”

“Let’s keep it that way,” Jumin retorted, his eyes trained on the upcoming army that was running towards them. Thunder rumbled in the distance, the two of them paid it no mind but the collective gasp from the crowd prompted Jumin and MC to divert their attention elsewhere.

The fifteen-foot golden dragon statue was glowing brilliantly. Thunder clapped again giving the dragon an ominous aura. A booming voice seemed to vibrate from the broad chest of the golden dragon.

“Who dares disturb the golden dragon of unity!”

Everyone stared with wide eyes at the talking golden statue. The Emperor especially was quaking in his scarlet robes. MC on the other hand, slowly realized who the voice belonged to.

“Saeyoung?”

“What?” Jumin looked at you, confused.

She shushed him to continue listening to the glowering statue.

“My lord!” the Emperor finally snapped out of his initial fear, “we were about to apprehend this man” he pointed at Jumin, “for interrupting this wedding!”

“Silence!” the Emperor shrunk pathetically, “I am the Golden dragon of unity and I declare that this wedding shall not happen today! I have judge the mortals present here and have discovered that no two souls were made more perfectly for each other than these two right here--MC and General Han Jumin.”

“B-but! Jumin Han is not a son of this country!”

“You dare interrupt me!” Jumin and MC could tell that from wherever Saeyoung hid he was thoroughly enjoying the power he had over the Emperor. “I declare that these two shall be wed and the princesses of the neighboring country will be free of their duties. Anyone who objects will incur the wrath of this great god! Any objections, Emperor?”

The Emperor opened his mouth but then shook his head deciding against it.

Saeyoung took this as an opportunity to wrap up his spiel.

“By the power vested in me! By me! I now pronounce General Han and MC--husband and wife!”

Jumin laughed as he spun his new bride around. They shared a long kiss under the blessing of the “Golden dragon of unity” and with that prosperity was brought throughout the land. The warring kingdoms forged together an alliance that was done through the efforts of the great hero MC and General Han. The three princesses on the other hand, lived happily ever after in the arms of the valiant soldiers they had unexpectedly fallen in love with.

#requested #Jumin Han #Jumin x MC #Jumin #fluff #angst #Mystic Messenger #Mysme #MM #Disney AU

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tiemeupspidey · 7 years

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The Phone Call

Series: Can’t Help Falling in Love with You

Relationship: Tom Holland x Reader

REQUEST : From @confusedascas -Can you write a Drabble about what happened in CHFILWY when jax interrupted toms phone call? Sorta what happened and who played a part. How jax reacted maybe?

Word Count: 1,500+

A/N: Hope you enjoy this imagine xx

I can’t have kids due to the chemo I received at a young age so that’s why I write so many Tom as a Dad Imagines because I think about having kids but know I can’t. I know it’d have to be a miracle for me to have one..

[Reader’s POV]

“Momma are you okay?” Jaxon asks looking up at you holding his Spider-Man plush toy. His hair has gotten so long but he likes it and won’t let me cut it.

“Yes my little star, I just have to take my medicine is all.. did you finish getting ready?” Your eyes observe his appearance at what he chose. His suspenders were on backwards making you let out a little laugh.

“I’m done.. but this doesn’t feel right” He tugs at the straps that were tangled over his belly. Kneeling down you unhook them from his trousers.

“Don’t worry you almost have it.. you’ll be a pro in no time” you reassure giving him a kiss on his nose. The giggle he lets out fills the air of the kitchen. Fixing the straps and adjusting them correctly you stand back up.

“I’m going to find daddy, then we can go to the park!” Jay smiles taking off to find his dad. Tessa following right behind him like always. The two of them were inseparable.

“I think he’s in his office” you shout out to Jaxon. Hearing his feet padding against the floor as he changes direction. Tessa’s tags jingling from her running after Jaxon.

“Tessa don’t ju-OOF” A thud fills the air catching you attention. Running towards the hallway you see Tessa on top of your son.

“Tessa love, you have to be careful.. he’s not as sturdy as daddy” you chasten picking your son up and setting him back on his feet. Tucking in his sweater that got messed up. Brushing his curls out of his face and kissing his head.

“It’s okay Tessie Bear it was an accident” Jaxon smiles giving her a hug and kissing the side of her face.

“Now go on and go and get daddy so we can be off yeah?” Jaxon nods up at you taking off towards Tom’s office.

[Tom’s POV]

“So when can we get the results? I need to know before I head off to the states” I say shuffling some papers on my desk. Looking up I see my door open ,which is off cause I had it closed... Maybe Tess nudged her way in somehow.

“We don't know for sure yet Mr. Holland” The doctor replies making me frustrated because I waited on hold for thirty minutes to hear that bullshit?

“Daddy it’s time to go!” Jaxon pops up from the edge of my desk scaring me. Dropping my cell onto the floor I mentally swear. I’ve been trying not to swear around Jaxon as much as I used to.

“Bloody hell.. I’m sorry doctor what did you say?” I ask holding up my hand to Jaxon for him to hold on. Fixing the phone between my shoulder and ear. He goes to explain what he could tell us before then.

“Daddy.. Mumma,Tessa and I are ready.. C’monnn” his little hands grabbing at the edge of my desk. He interrupted the doctor again so I missed the date we would get the results from her tests.

“Excuse me Dr... Jaxon Holland I will be out in a minute, Daddy is on a important phone call stop this behavior at once” My voice stern as I look at my son with a warning look. His eyes widen at my tone making a feeling of regret form in my stomach. Jaxon takes off out of my office with Tess following behind.

“Sorry, when is the date we will expect the call?” I ask grabbing a pen and a sticky note. My eyes glued to the door, heart feeling awful for raising my voice at Jaxon..

[Reader’s POV]

The sound of crying pierces your ears making you turn around. You see Jaxon heading your way with a sad expression. Tears fall down his rosy cheeks making your mum mode activate. Opening your arms he crashes his little body into yours. His arms trying to wrap around you fully giving you a squeeze.

“Why are you crying baby?” You ask pressing kisses to his head, you hated seeing him cry.

“D-Daddy raised his voice at me and it was scary mumma..” he explains crying into your chest. Picking him up he holds onto me tightly.

“Alright, I paid the medical bill, found out when we get your test resul-” he stops mid sentence when his eyes see your upset features. You were holding your crying child and glaring at the one who raised his voice.

“Thomas you have be easier on him.. he’s just excited to spend time with you today” your hand rubs Jaxon’s back as you move side to side.

“Don’t Thomas me.. I know I shouldn’t have raised my voice at him but he was interru-” Tom was cut off by Jaxon’s Spider-Man plush toy being thrown in his face. Your eyes widen seeing Tom stumble back looking at his son shocked.

You couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. Your four year old just threw something at Tom for the first time. Surprised mainly by how good his aim was too. Jaxon had a pout on his lips as he glared at Tom. He’s never looked at Tom that way,ever.

“Now Jaxon.. I’m going to forget you just did that and say I’m sorry buddy, I’m just really stressed is all” Tom explains picking up his toy and bringing it over to Jaxon. He snatches it from Tom’s hand pulling it to his chest.

“Daddy said he was sorry, can you forgive him my little star?” You ask brushing his curls out of his face. Taking the strands and tucking them behind his ear. Tom comes closer beside the two of you,his gaze locked on Jaxon waiting his response.

Jaxon bonks Tom on the head with the plush toy before nodding his head. You let out a laugh but stop when Tom gives you a look. Tom reaches up on top of the fridge for a container. He pulls out a cooking closing the jar. Looking at Jaxon to see his eyes widen a little smile tugging at his lips.

“I forgive you daddy, can I please have it?” Jaxon’s smile is big as he eyes the cookie. He is just like Tom when it comes to cookies or certain things. Father like son, literally.

Tom hands him the cookie with a smile on his face. Jaxon grabs it taking a bite out of it. You press a kiss to his forehead after you set him back on the floor. Tessa sits down by Jaxon wagging her tail looking up at you.

“Of course love you can have a treat too, just don’t go bite daddy’s slippers” you giggle reaching for her treat jar on the counter. Pulling one out you toss it to her awaiting mouth.

The cool air felt good against your skin as the wind flew in through the rolled down windows. We were listening to music from Mulan as we drove over to the park. Jaxon has been obsessed with that movie since you showed it to him,he loves quoting Mushu. He would tell Tom he brings dishonor on the family if he doesn’t read to him at night.

A car was following us which bothered you slightly, you just wanted a peaceful day with your family. Tom every so often would glance in the rearview mirror to check if they were still following us. Jaxon was clueless to it all as he sang to songs. Tom sped up speeding past other cars trying to lose the paparazzi. The speed change startled Tess out of her slumber on the seat next to Jaxon.

Arriving at the park Tom cuts the engine getting out of the car. Helping Jaxon out of his car seat I set him on the ground. Closing the door behind me Tom locks the car making it beep. Jaxon takes hold of my hand as the four of us walk towards the park.

“Go on love, have fun” you smile down at Jaxon who takes off towards the jungle gym. Tessa walks along side Tom and I as we sit on a park bench.

The chilly breeze makes you pull your jacket closer to your body for warmth. Tom lifts his arm putting it behind you pulling you into his body. Resting your head against his shoulder you feel his lips kiss your forehead.The two of you enjoying each others company and watching your son have fun.

“So.. what did the Doctor say?” you ask watching as your breath could be seen in the air.

“I was told that it looks good darling,the white blood cell count has dropped significantly but he has more to tell us in a few days..” Tom’s left hand plays with your wedding ring that adorned your finger.

“I really want another one” you smile looking over at Jaxon who was sliding down the slide with a smile on his face. His curls blowing back as the wind pushes them as he goes down.

“I do to darling.. Let’s just pray I don’t get his with another toy again, just soft toys like today” he lets out a chuckle at the memory of Jaxon hitting him.

“Who knows you may get hit with a barbie doll next time..” you laugh kissing his jaw,the stubble tickling your lips. Jaxon runs over to you only to get tackled by Tessa for the second time today.

“TESSA!” the both of you shout simultaneously only to stop panicking when Jaxon’s laughter fills the air. Tessa licks all over Jaxon’s face and nudging him with her nose.

“Fuckin’ hell” Tom breathes out sitting back down laughing. Jaxon joins the two of you on the bench once Tessa gets off of her friend. The birds chirping in the background of the peaceful day with your family.

You smiled at your husband who’s eyes crinkled at the sides when he smiled or laughed. His smile warming your soul just at the look of it. The sound of his voice sounding like heaven to your ears. You couldn’t help falling in love with him more and more each day.

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weekendwarriorblog · 4 years

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The Weekend Warrior 9/4/20 – TENET! MULAN! I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS (but now that I’ve seen Tenet and Mulan, I’m better)… and More!

It’s Labor Day weekend… it is, isn’t it? I can’t even remember what day of the week it is anymore, and it looks like movie theaters across the country are generally all reopened except for a few specific areas. While theaters seem to be playing a variety of old and new movies – and Chadwick Boseman’s breakout 42, in which he plays Jackie Robinson, will be shown in 300 AMC theaters starting Thursday -- it still feels like we’re not quite where we should be. That said, only three states remain fully closed as far as movie theaters go: New York (eff you, Cuomo!), North Carolina and New Mexico. California is slowly rolling out movie theaters reopening in certain sections but not in L.A. or San Francisco just yet. Honestly, I’m having a rough week, and I’ll be surprised if I even get through half the movies that I have seen and planned to review, let alone everything else I have to do.

Finally! The movie that’s looking to be one of the most controversial movies of the summer, if not the year, comes to the United States. Of course, I’m talking about Christopher Nolan’s TENET (Warner Bros.), his tribute to James Bond movies with John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) playing a super-spy (of sorts) who teams with Robert Pattinson to perform intricate heists on a mission to find out who has discovered bullets that travel backwards through time and brought them back into our time. Also starring Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh, the movie has received mixed to positive reviews with about 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. You can read my full review right here and a second technical review here.

Right now, it looks like Tenet is going to be playing in roughly 3,000 theaters over Labor Day weekend with only a few states fully closed including my own (New York), as well as North Carolina and New Mexico. A few other states like New Jersey and Maryland are reopening but it may be too late to get Tenet in there. California has a few areas open but not Los Angeles or San Francisco.

Although I’m hesitant at making any predictions right now or doing a full-blown analysis – there so many unknowns in a pandemic -- I think a four-day opening of somewhere between $25 and 28 million should be possible even with limited seating in most theaters that have reopened. I think people are ready to go back to theaters despite the negative narrative created by certain irresponsible film critics who seem to care more about their own personal health than that of the industry that has allowed them to pay rent and live large for years.

Another movie that I’ve been looking forward to and actually my most anticipated movie of the year is Disney’s live action remake of their animated classic, MULAN, this one directed by one of my favorite filmmakers, Niki Caro of Whale Rider fame. I cannot tell you how excited I was to finally see this movie after being invited to a press screen back in March, and then have it systematically cancelled as everything else started shutting down. Fortunately, I got a screener and while not my favorite way to watch a movie, I absolutely LOVED IT!

It stars Yifei Liu as the title character, made famous in the 1998 Disney animated movie, and it follows a similar story of a teen girl who steals her father’s sword and armor and pretends to be a man to join the Imperial Army under secrecy. There are definitely major changes in Caro’s version, most notably the lack of songs and no sign of Mushu, the adorable dragon voiced by Eddie Murphy. This is also not meant for small children, because it’s PG-13 not because it has anything terrible like someone waving genitals or swearing but because some of the action does get intense without much blood or anything terrible. I mean, this is definitely a SOFT PG-13, if that’s even a thing.

The movie is gorgeous and in the vein of movies I love like Zhang Yimou’s Hero and Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and it’s even exec. produced by Bill Kong, who produced many of those films. The point is that I love these kinds of movies, plus I’ve long been a fan of Caro’s, and everything just comes together beautifully from the performance by Yifei Liu to the fantastic characters around her, including ones played by Jet Li and Donnie Yen (reuniting from Hero!), as well as an amazing witch played by the indelible Ms. Gong Li, who is also terrific. Sure, there’s a few issues with the dialogue, but this is not a kiddie movie, as much as it’s something on par with the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and I just love all of the decision Caro and her all-Asian cast make in telling this story in a new way. I particularly liked how the film followed Chinese traditions and dealt with things like “chi,” but as with the animated film, the stuff in the army

On top of the amazing martial arts fights, there are also some terrific battle scene that would do Braveheart proud, and it’s all pulled together by Harry Gregson-Williams’ score, which may be one of my favorite pieces of music this year. Definitely a score I’ll be buying since it brings so much excitement and emotion to every scene, but that’s just as much a credit to Ms. Caro and her fantastic cast, who in a couple scenes, particularly between Liu and Li, had me tearing up almost as much as every single time I’ve watched Caro’s debut, Whale Rider.

I’m sure that fans of the animated movie (which I only saw for the first time earlier this year) will have different expectations, but you can’t fault Disney for being a little bit concerned and undeservedly dumping it to the Disney+ streaming service (which you can watch it at a premium of $29.95) rather than giving it the theatrical release it truly deserved. Honestly, if for some strange reason, Disney decides to play it in a bunch of theaters once they’re fully open, I would not hesitate to watch this again in what I consider a much-better environment for a movie which is likely to end up in my top 10 for year. It’s probably my favorite straight-up Disney movie (not including Pixar or Marvel) since maybe Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella, although I kind of enjoyed Mary Poppins Returns, too.

I also have a crafts review of Mulan over at Below the Line, so check that out!

While I’ve generally been mixed on Charlie Kaufman’s movies that he directed himself, I couldn’t NOT watch I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, his new movie on Netflix, starring Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons as a young couple going to visit his parents, played by Toni Collette and David Thewlis. At first, it looks like they’ll get stuck in a snowstorm, but then they get there and then they leave and once again get stuck in a snowtorm. No, this isn’t Centigrade 2, but actually something far FAR worse, to the point where I’m not even sure where to begin.

It starts with Buckley’s “Young woman” – yes, Kaufman doesn’t even bother giving her a name – being picked up by her boyfriend Jake (Plemons) before the long ride through the snow to his parent’s house. The whole time, we hear her inner thoughts about wanting to break up with Jake for one or reason or another, her thoughts always been interrupted by Jake making a statement that seems out of the blue. When they get to his parents’ farm in the middle of nowhere, things start to get weird, and I don’t want to go into too many details because if you read my review and decide to sit through it anyway, then it’s your own fault.

Apparently, this was loosely based on a book of the same name by Iain Reid, but it was adapted by the guy who wrote Adaptation, so Kaufman pretty much just went off and did his own thing based on Reid’s general premise. What I find particularly weird is that some of the early reviews talked about this movie as if it was a horror movie, but I just don’t see that at all. It’s just a really dry and weird comedy that doesn’t really take off. While parts of it remind me of the comics work of Daniel Clowes (Ghost World), who I genuinely love, other parts just get so weird, and at times, it reminded me of David Lynch’s Eraserhead or M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit, but only because there are so many WTF moments that you wonder what the actors must have thought while they were doing what Kaufman told them to do. Again, I’m not going to ruin the experience of being thoroughly confounded by some of the weirder moments but after Buckley and Plemons leave the farmhouse, they’re back driving through the snow and having far more intelligent conversations about such mundane topics. At one point, I thought, “This movie must be over soon, right?” and I checked, and there were 43 more minutes to go. That’s when I went from angry to outright ballistic, because I knew that there were so many other things I could be doing than listening to all the talking, talking, talking… They eventually arrive at an abandoned school and go there for shelter, and I was like, “Oh, good, now we get to the horror stuff.” Nope.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things is the perfect movie for the scant few that raved about Darren Aronofsky’s mother!, or those who consider Holy Rollers a masterpiece of the highest order. Awful, aggravating and almost unwatchable at times, I’d only recommend Kaufman’s movie to people as a practical joke. Nah, I’m not that mean. It’ll be on Netflix tomorrow. Good luck with it.

Filmmaker and Rooney* frontman Robert Schwartzman directs his third feature, the comedy THE “ARGUMENT” (Gravitas Ventures), which takes the simple idea of a cocktail party and turns it into a riotous and sometimes strange comedy of errors, of sorts.

Dan Fogler and Emma Bell play couple Jack and Lisa, he a writer, her an actress, who have been together for some time, and Jack is ready to pop the question. After the final of a stageplay Lisa is co-starring in, Jack throws a cocktail party at which he’s gonna propose. He invites over his agent Danny Pudi from Community) and his wife Sarah (Maggie Q) but Lisa has invited her amorous co-star Paul (Tyler James Williams from Everybody Hates Chris all grown up!), who brought his own bubbly girlfriend Trina (Cleopatra Coleman). As Trina starts drinking, thing just get worse and worse, and it inevitably turns into a full- on fight between Jack and Lisa aka the “argument” of the title. Jack is convinced that if they have a do-over on the night, they can prove who is right.

Oh, yeah. That couldn’t possibly work, right? Well, I’m not going to spoil it, but the one do-over turns into several, which turns into Jack trying to script the perfect cocktail party with the six of them … or rather five after Maggie Q’s character quits in a hilarious huff where she does impressions of the other five. (I’ve always found Maggie to be hilarious from talking to her years ago, and it’s great that her comic skills are finally being used, along with her beauty.) Eventually, Jack brings in actors to play each of them and perform the script he’s written so they can all sit back and figure out where things went wrong. Honestly, The “Argument” is more like the Charlie Kaufman movies I liked (such as Adaptation), and the movie has a vibe a lot like the play God of Carnage, which Roman Polanski adapted into a movie that nobody saw and few gave a fair shake. Also reminded me of Ike Barinholtz’s The Oath, which I quite enjoyed. The main leads are great, but I gotta give additional kudos to Maggie and Cleopatra Coleman, who gives a surprisingly layered performance as possibly the first ditzy African-American not-blonde “blonde” in movie history?

Although Schwartzman didn’t write this movie – it’s written by Zac Sanford who made The Chumscrubber -- he does a great job using his talented cast to throw many surprises at the viewer, and I was laughing quite hardily as the movie went on, because I really enjoyed the characters portrayed not just by the main six but also the actors playing the actors. Yeah, I know it might get confusing but at least this doesn’t have time travel, so if you want a fun and unexpectedly clever dark comedy, do check out The “Argument” which will be in theaters and On Demand, and apparently, you can even order it bundled with WINE?!?!? (*And you can also check out Rooney on Spotify!)

Another really nice surprise this week was Jeff Barnaby’s apocalyptic horror film BLOOD QUANTUM (Shudder/RLJEFilms), which was released on VOD, Digital HD, DVD and Blu-Ray earlier this week but is also on the awesome horror streamer, Shudder, I guess right now? It involves a community of indigenous people in the reserve Red Crow who face the undead when an infection hits the village through a bunch of animals who come back to life and then infect the humans. The movie starts on the first night of this plague and then cuts forward six months when the people of Red Crow have shut themselves off from the rest of the world with the hopes of keeping those still alive uninfected from the hordes of “Zeds” outside their gates.

I’m a little bummed I didn’t have press notes for this movie because there are so many great characters and performances, but it was hard to keep track of them without a scorecard. It does star Michael Greyeyes from Fear the Walking Dead, as well as Forrest Godluck (The Revenant), Kiowa Gordon and Elle-Máijá Tailfeatures, but other than Greeneyes, who plays the sherriff trying to keep his family safe, I could barely keep track of the characters or figure out who played them, and that’s a shame.

I generally liked the recent Train to Busan: Peninsula but Blood Quantum works just as little bit better, mainly from the interaction of the characters in a world full of sex and drugs and gore galore where you never who is gonna get killed but for the most part, they’re likely to go in a way that involves blood that pours like a waterfall. You add to the quick pace of Barnaby’s direction the amazing score that almost sounds like Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and you have a movie that makes you realize that Barnaby has made a film that perfectly captures the spirit and feel of John Carpenter’s best work.

I actually watched John Leguizamo’s feature film directorial debut CRITICAL THINKING (Vertical Entertainment), way back in March, literally my very last press screening before movie theaters shut down, little realizing that it would be the last press screening for six months! It’s written by Dito Montiel, who I’ve generally been mixed on, and it’s based on a true story from 1998 where a Miami teacher, played by Leguizamo, tries to save a group of Latino and Black teenagers from the inevitable drugs and crime that kids from the underserved ghetto usually get into by teaching them chess and getting them all the way to the National Chess Championship. I didn’t get to rewatch it to write any sort of intelligent review, but as you can imagine, it has a Mr. Holland’s Opus or Dead Poet’s Society feel, but mixed with the little-seen Disney movie, Queen of Katwe, which I generally enjoyed much more. I do think Leguizamo did a pretty decent job with his first feature as a director and maybe if the crazy early days of COVID weren’t distracting me so much, maybe I would have enjoyed it more. This is a movie that I need to rewatch with a better head on my shoulders.

Tyler Norwood’s doc ROBIN’S WISH (Vertical) takes a look at the last years of comedian and actor Robin Williams, who died from suicide in August 2014 at the age of 63. To everyone who knew him, from close acquaintances to fans, it was a mystery why Williams would take his own life with things going so well in his marriage to Susan Schneider. After his death, the autopsy showed that he was afflicted by undiagnosed diffuse Lewy body dementia, and apparently, that was enough to do his head in to the point where suicide seemed like the only solution.

This is a very different than the equally good Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind, because it does focus so much on Williams’ last years and his relationship with Schneider, who plays a much bigger role in this movie with in-depth and intimate moments. It also does a good job talking to Williams’ neighbors in Marin County, who laud the comedian’s commitment to entertaining those in the community. It also interviews Shawn Levy from the Night at the Museum movies, who talks about how Williams wouldn’t let anyone around him know what was going on, maybe because he didn’t really know himself.

Williams’ death was tragic but even moreso when you realize what he must have been going through, and the only thing else I will say is that the notably teary documentary Dear Zachary may finally have some competition as the most tear-inducing real-life film you ever watch. Even so, it’s wonderful and does as great job shining a light on how hard something like dementia hits people when they least expect it. (Also, the score and cinematography for the film are fabulous at provoking those sorrowful emotions even more.)

Arthur Jones’ doc FEELS GOOD MAN is available right now On Demand via the Fantasia Film Festival and will be available via other film festivals, like Oxford Film Festival, starting Friday. (It will also be in theaters, including Oxford’s drive-in!) The movie follows the journey of comics artist Matt Furie, who drew a comic called “Boys Club” that featured a strange frog character named Pepe, who I never heard of, but apparently, the odd underground comic character went from being a popular meme to becoming a symbol of the alt-right. It sounds pretty crazy, but it is an absolutely crazy story as Furie sees his lovable and peaceful slacker character get out from under his control as right wing kooks like Alex Jones from InfoWars gloms onto him.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I’d find this as interesting as the HBO doc, Beware the Slenderman (which I also happened to see at Fantasia a few years ago), but the way that Jones tells Furie and Pepe’s story is really quite compelling, especially as he (and we) watch the craziness surrounding his character unfold, and Pepe becomes less and less like something he wanted to be associated with. (Furie and his wife spent thousands of their own money-making Pepe T-shirts and merch only to have to destroy it all once Furie gets pegged as the creator of a hate image. I mean, holy shit, this thing gets ugly!)

Apparently, Feels Good Man won an “Emerging Filmmaker” Jury Award at Sundance, and it’s well-deserved. I’d recommend the movie to anyone who likes comics or politics and doesn’t mind when the two things collide.

There are a few other movies that I want to write about that I didn’t have time to watch despite having screeners and who knows, maybe I can watch them over this longer weekend if things aren’t too crazy screener-wise. (I lost quite a bit of time with my trip to Connecticut to see Tenet, unfortunately.)

First, there’s Julius Berg’s THE OWNERS (RLJEFilms), which stars Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones and Sylvester McCoy aka Doctor Who #6 (I think?). It’s about a group of friends who want to break into an empty house in which there’s a safe full of money, but when the elderly couple (including McCoy) return home early, they turn the tables in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Yeah, it does sound like it could be fun, and it’ll be in select theaters, On Demand and digital this Friday.

Also out on Digital, as well as DVD, Blu-Ray this week is the anime CHILDREN OF THE SEA (Shout! Factory/GKids) from director Ayumu Watanabe and STUDIO4ºC who made Mind Game and Tekkonkinkreet. It’s about a young girl named Ruka whose father works at an aquarium where she comes across two mysterious boys who were raised by dugongs (a type of sea cow) so they’re very familiar and acclimated to water, to the point where they have to be in or near it at all times, kind of like Aquaman. I did watch a little bit of this, and I do have to say that it looks gorgeous, definitely more photo-realistic than the work of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. I’m sure I’ll get around to watch the rest of it because I do enjoy well-made anime -- Weathering With You and Ride Your Wave are likely to be in my year-end Top 25, for instance – so hopefully, fans of anime and fantsy will check it out.

On Amazon Prime this Friday is Eric Merola’s doc THE ANDORRA HUSTLE, which look at the country of Andorra, located between France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains, holding a population of 80,000 people who find themselves at the center of one of the most convoluted robberies in history in 2015 when a the private bank Banca Privada d’Andorra was shut down by the government to destroy the Catalonian Independence Movement, leaving dozens of innocent civilians facing jail time for laundering money after losing their life savings.

A couple prominent science fiction series premiere this weekend, including the Ridley Scott-produced Raised by Wolves on HBO Max and Away, starring Hillary Swank on Netflix. Someday, I hope to have

There’s a lot of other stuff that I didn’t have to watch or even think about it, so yeah, this is a little bit of a “lite edition” of the Weekend Warrior, so I apologize. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do better next week.

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

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