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#she made me cry so many times that summer ugh my god she really does suck so bad and im so glad I'm not living with her anymore
llycaons · 2 years
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ALSO being here is giving such a stark reminder of how different my aunt is from my mom bc my aunt was teaching her (admittedly very young) daughter to change lightbulbs like ‘just like that, one step up, nice job, I’ve got you” (very reassuring) and I was forcibly transported back to when I was learning how to drive (very scared) and my mom would say with undisguised disgust and contempt things “can you PLEASE keep the car on the road” like lady. did you think I wasn’t trying
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megamegaturtle · 3 years
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in the dumpster fire of 2020, i fell in love with dramione
here’s some fic recs in no particular order of favorites (ao3 edition). this is going to be a long ass post, but a link to all my bookmarks on ao3. again, long post.  you’ve been warned: 
remain nameless by @heyjude19-writing - the coffee shop au that’s 300,000 words that’s friends to lovers and becoming better people (complete)
measure of a man - okay so like. i’m going to explain this story terribly. but like. hermione is a healer, she’s also part farmer. she super heals hard to heal patients. and oh boy. there are the malfoys. we have narcissa as herself. scrop as the cutest baby kid alive, and draco as a poltergeist. JUST. THIS STORY. START READING. IT IS SO GOOD. AND DELCIOS AND ALSJDFJLA you will come away feeling super empowered. (WIP)
subtle perfection  - the ice skating/muggle au that’s is asldkfjsaljf really smoking hot but like the ice hurts my feels (wip)
seven year witch by @thelastlynx- draco and hermione keep meeting up in the summers between school years (WIP)
when midnight comes - TIME LOOP AU. head boy and head girl au. (complete)
 O for Outstanding - hogwarts teacher au. also, draco has a thing for shoes *wink* (WIP)
regrets only - MADE OF HONOR AU. draco realizes a little too late he’s in love with hermione. but now he has to stop but support a wedding! (WIP)
never in heart - the one where where hermione and draco are best friends, but stupidly did an unbreakable vow to get married if they’re not married by 30. time is running out to find a spouse, but like, why take the easy route and marry your best friend? (complete)
nine months - hermione and draco have what is supposed to be a one night stand...several times, but oops. someone is pregrant :D (WIP)
love and other misfortune by @senlinyu - a veela!fic. and in the first few fics i read in the fandom. it made me continue reading more dramione. this is sen’s fault (complete)
living the dream - the one where draco is a high class escort looking for his mate. also a veela!fic. i am here for positive sex work (one shot)
the gloriana set - absolute hilarious perfection with the best little hufflepuffs (complete)
armature cartography - the one where draco somehow ends up as hermione’s boyfriend but she’s not sure how dating works (one shot)
thirteenth night - the one where draco is obliviated to pay for his crimes, but hermione is his caseworker (complete)
traditions - the christmas fic that gets my feels (complete)
everything little thing she does (is magic) - the one were draco and hermione go to parties together as a ruse! (complete)
the preferred hour - the one where scorp and rose start dating and draco is this super nice widower and...asdlfjasdljf JUST READ THIS ONE (one shot)
blood rights - creature!fic. also, draco and hermione have to get married (complete)
precious things - *cue ugly sobbing* the journey of draco’s growing love for his family through many years after he accidently knocks up hermione and....it’s a christmas fic. that hurts my heart, but it’s so good. (one shot)
fight this feeling - the best friend au! but like, unrequited feelings. these two silly gooses (complete)
courting customs most sacred by @heyjude19-writing - pansy thinks she’s doing hermione a favor, but like draco gets how purebloods do etiquette (complete) 
as you wish by @scullymurphy - is this a princess bride ref? yes, yes is it. is it about costumes and movies? yes it is. (oneshot)
all you want by @senlinyu - the first A/B/O fic i’ve ever read. it was good. so i read it. i don’t even like this trope! but it’s worth it! :D (complete)
where we go from here - this hurts. so much. ron dies in a horrible accident leaving hermione alone pregnant with their child. draco is the real bro and helps and alsdjfasldjf family. feels. dad feels. i can’t. (complete)
in search of sunrise - a very cute onesot where draco and hermione stay up all night (oneshot)
tough love - hermione has to date a few bad men to get to the right one (complete)
each day anew - the 50 first dates au. hermione needs help relearning who she is every day (complete) 
with teeth - the one where there are many, many horcruxes (oneshot)
wait and hope by @mightbewriting​ - ugly crying. hermione lost her memories and draco is the best husband. just. take all my love. (complete)
broken by @inadaze22​ - hermione is back from italy. there is a secert. it will wreck you. (complete)
waif and strays - the familiar au! draco becomes hermione’s familiar because she’s a little lost and lonely and he’s a little lost and lonely too (complete) 
apple pies and other amends - the baking!au where i want to eat everything. also. it’s very cute. (complete)
off the cuff - the cinderella au! someone forgot their glass slipper, i mean...cuff (complete) 
universal truth by @scullymurphy​ - the modern wizarding P&P au. ugh. so good. (complete) 
an education - the one where hermione is forced to help draco learn about the muggle world a little bit (complete) 
Inosculation - the one where hermione has to marry draco to save her life because of a stupid curse. they are very cute. (complete)
the calm to her storm - ron passes away and rose and hugo befriend scorp and hermione has to befriend draco and it’s great (complete) 
a boy of hans - hanahaki au. sad ending. 
Dancing with Draco - THIS SERIES IS SO GOOD. okay, so like. draco has to help hermione dance for the yule ball. the sequeal is super good too. 
The Oblivious Ones - a fake marriage story. hermione and draco meet in the pysch ward at st. mungo’s and go off to look for her parents
what you think is right - this story is so painful. one of the best 1st POVs i’ve read. it’s hermione pov. her parents are dying and it’s affecting her marriage with draco and god. just read it. (WIP)
Deine Zauber Binden Wieder - the ochrastra au no one asked for, but it’s like. really fun. (oneshot)
the green girl - hermione is sorted in Slytherin when she’s 11. this story. i still think about it to this day. (complete)
a year in the countryside - hermione wants to escape for the craziness of the big city so she moves to the cute country side. to only find draco malfoy living there too. (complete)
don’t take the sinner - THE MARRIAGE LAW FIC WITH A TWIST. hermione has to marry harry and ginny has to marry draco, but like, no one stays with their spouse. no cheating involved. (complete)
Draco's Baking Dilemmas - the great british bake off au. i don’t need to say anything more. hermione is the judge. draco is the baker. yes. and yes. (complete)
starving - sex is like food. or rather. sex is like pizza. it’s good when it’s cold, but like. it’s better when it’s hot :D (oneshot)
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sunflowerdarlingx · 3 years
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Fred Weasley - “Fred doesn’t date” 3
H everyone, I hope you’re all okay! 
PART ONE 
PART TWO 
Thank you all for the kind comments on the previous parts of this imaine. I post these chapters before I go to sleep and waking up to all your lovely comments and messages really give me the best start to the day.
This is the final part to this series. I’ve had a lot more interaction with people from this story so if anyone would like to request a piece please let me know :)
I hope you all liked the ending, it’s a bit longer than I thought but hopefully its what you all wanted x  
Female Reader.
Warnings: None
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Fred felt his chest get tight, the sound of her voice alone made his heart ache. He felt the overwhelming need to cry again, tears threatening to spill whilst a lump formed in his throat. Fuck she can’t see me like this.  
His body urged him to look at her, he sucked a deep breath in and turned his head to look at her, shit she looks so fucking cute. She was stood in a pair of shorts and one of Fred’s hoodies with a blanket wrapped around her loosely. Her hair was messy, and her glasses were resting a little low on her nose before she pushed them up.  
His eyes trailed down her body, he felt a small sense of pride seeing her in his hoodie, like he had some sort of claim on her when she wore it. Take that perfect Diggory, she likes my clothes better. I wonder if she wears it when she’s with him?  
Fred hadn’t realised how long he’d been staring for, “I..if not I’ll just go, sorry Freddie, for interrupting” Y/N turned on her heels, tears blurring her vision before he made a noise. A sort of squeak left his mouth before he cleared his throat “it’s okay, you can join me”, his hand patted the spot next to him.  
She patted her hand on the grass to make sure it wasn’t wet before sitting beside Fred. The sat in silence for a bit before Y/N decide to speak, “I’m sorry Freddie, I’m not really sure what I’ve done but I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. I don’t like seeing you upset… especially if I’m the one who caused it” her voice broke and Fred looked down at her, even sitting down he still towered over her slightly.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder “don’t worry about it” a fake smile took over his face. He wanted to tell her how much he wanted her, he really did but she was with Diggory now.  
“W..what did I do Freddie?” Her voice was a hushed whisper as she leaned her head on his shoulder. Fred looked down at her, internally battling himself about what he should say. He wanted to tell her, he hoped she would change her mind, but if he told her, would she leave him? She had become one of his closest friends, the thought of not having her in his life at all was a thought he wanted to have.  
Fuck it.  
“I em…I saw you and Diggory, outside the kitchens”, that statement alone filled his body with anger as it replayed in his head, Diggory making her laugh, touching her, kissing her. His body tensed beside her, he removed his arm from her shoulders, his jaw clenched and he averted his gaze back up to the sky, sending the moon a deadly glare.  
“Oh…that was nothing” Y/N noticed the shift in Fred, she couldn’t help but admire him in that moment, the way the moon reflected on his skin, the way his jaw tensed and honestly she thought he looked sexy.
Fred averted his gaze back to her and watched her closely, the way her eyes skimmed his body, “didn’t look like nothing to me” his voice was cold.
Y/N’s eyes widened slightly, shocked at his tone, “it didn’t mean anything Freddie” she placed her and on his shoulder, “it just sort of happened”.
“Well I heard you were very cosy behind me at dinner so it must have meant something” he shrugged her hand off his shoulder. He usually loved having her touch him but he was angry, so fucking angry.  
He wondered what had happened once he left, for all he knows the exact same hands that were touching him had been all over Diggory. That then lead to him thinking about Diggory having his hands all over Y/N, touching her and holding her all the ways that Fred wished he could have done.  
Y/N was close to getting up and leaving, she was hurt by Fred’s words, why did he hate Cedric so much? So what if they kissed? Then realisation hit, “Freddie, are you jealous?”, his head shot down to face her.  
“No, I don’t get jealous” he stated. Shifting slightly, his eyes were dark as they stared into hers, his jaw still tense.
“Yes you are” she chuckled lightly “you’re jealous because Cedric kissed me”.
Fred groaned, his chest heaved slightly whilst the moment replayed in his head again “ugh don’t remind me, you shouldn’t have kissed him”  
“Why?” her perfect doe eye looked up at him through her glasses, batting her eyelashes as innocence filled her eyes.
“Don’t act like you don’t know” he grunted and looked back up to the sky.  
“Well Freddie I don’t know, why shouldn’t I kiss Cedric?”
“Cause you should be kissing me Y/N, not Cedric! For the last god knows how many weeks we’ve spend so much time together, a lot more than you and perfect Diggory have and you still chose him! We’ve been on dates down to Hogsmeade, spent nights cuddled up sleeping in the common room and even talked about spending Christmas together! Like what on earth went through that pretty little head of yours when you decided to kiss him? Is he really that much better than me?” Fred’s whole body had turned to Y/N, his eyes pleading with her for some sort of explanation as to why she chose Diggory.
She smiled slightly “Freddie, did you ever actually state that those were dates or ever ask me to go on a date with you?”
His eyes widened “no, I thought it was fairly obvious what they were” he huffed.  
She turned to the side and sat up on her knees, “how many girls have you taken on dates from school?”.
The question shocked Fred, why was she asking about other girls?  
“None, I don’t date girls”  
“So, why did you think I would just assume they were dates?”, Y/N was confused, she never really thought Fred would like her like that, obviously what she was told today gave her a hint but she never knew what to think about the dates, she could only hope they meant as much to Fred as they did her.
Fred couldn’t come up with an answer, he sat with his mouth open and closing like a fish out of water for a minute and a half, “it wasn’t obvious?”.Y/N shook her head no. “Well what did you thunk they were?” he was so curious as to how she never figured out they were dates.  
“Well I… I mean I thought we were just hanging out. I kinda hoped they were dates but you don’t exactly have the reputation for dating do you Freddie? I kinda just always thought I was like Angelina or Katie or Alicia. I always wanted to ask but I was scared, I didn’t want to lose you as a friend”  
Fred couldn’t believe what he was hearing, was his reputation really that bad? I mean just because everyone knew he didn’t date didn’t mean he never dated anyone. “Oh” was all that left his mouth.  
“Yeah, oh” Y/N chuckled as she watched Fred’s brows knit together as his thoughts took over.  
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Fred decided to speak “so, say if you knew they were like… official dates, would you have kissed Diggory?”  
“Of course I wouldn’t have” she shook her head quickly.
“Would you have kissed me instead?” A cheeky grin took over Fred’s face.
“If I knew they were dates I would have kissed you the first night we came out here” she giggled and Fred couldn’t help but grin.  
“So what’s going on with you and Diggory then?” Even saying his name pissed Fred off.
“Nothing, he kissed me and then sat with me at dinner out of the blue, I’d hardly call that dating”.  
“What about me and you? Are we…you know…dating? Just since we’ve agreed that we have been on plenty of dates” he emphasised plenty as he chuckled at her.  
“Well that’s up to you Freddie, I thought you didn’t date” she teased, poking his chest.  
“I don’t date, unless I know the girl is right for me and someone I can see a future with so…”
“You see a future with me?” She interrupted him mid sentence.  
“Of course I do, the second I laid my eyes on you, I knew you were special. You literally took my breath away that day on the train, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone as beautiful as you. And these last few weeks…months, have only shown me how well we work together. Seeing you every morning in the hall just makes me feel so.. so good, and then when we are alone it’s like no one else exists. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, I’ve had my guard up for so long, sticking with people I know and am comfortable around and then you came along and the walls I’d built up crumbled. I’ve told you things that not even George knows. I just can’t explain it, I think that if I lost you now I’d be lost.”  
A few tears slipped down Y/N’s cheek whilst Fred spoke. He looked back up at the stars and wrapped his arm around her waist beside him.  
“Of course I can see a future with you, I picture it all the time. We’d have our own little house out in the country and a massive garden where the kids could play quidditch or some muggle sport that you’d get them into and we’d have a good space for outside summer parties like what we have at the burrow. Our kids would each have their own room so they didn’t have to share like George and I and they’d be little pranksters like me but just as smart and talented as you. oh and we’d have a dog, mum never let me have one …”
“We’d have kids?” Y/N’s soft voice brought Fred back to reality.  
He looked down at her “of course we would” he smiled “and we’d have a big wedding, like what Bill and Fleur are planning but we’d have to wait a bit after school before all that started”  
“Wow…you’ve really thought all this through Freddie” she giggled “so now that I know all about the future that you have planned for us,  what do we do now?”
Fred gave her a puzzled look raising his eyebrows whilst he raked his brain for an answer. “Uh….”
Y/N laughed “shouldn’t you ask me something?”
“Oh yeah right, I forgot. Would you like to go on a a date with me?”.  
Y/N frowned slightly, Fred’s eyes widened “what did I do something wrong?”  
“No..it’s just… never mind. I’d love to go on a date with you” She smiled up to him, cuddling into his side. As much as she would have loved the official title of being his she would wait as long as it took.
He pulled her blanket away from her and wrapped it around him. “Oi Freddie that’s mine, give it back” she giggled as she tried to pull the blanket back from him. Fred stretched his arm and held the blanket away from her, she got on her knees and leaned over Fred trying to get it. She placed her knees at either side of his thighs as she tried to reach over.  
She finally gave up and rested in his lap, “Freddie it’s cold” she pouted. Fred’s breath caught in his throat as he looked down at the position they were in. His eyes looked at her lips, then her eyes and then her lips again. God he wanted to kiss her, he wanted to see how it felt.  
Y/N leaned forward and placed her lips on Fred, he was surprised that she initiated the kiss but quickly responded, his hands dropped her blanket and went to her hips and pulled her closer to him, making sure his hands didn’t sit to low. His tongue glided across her bottom lip asking for entrance which she gladly excepted, their lips moving in perfect harmony.  
Y/N couldn’t help but think about how right this felt, Cedric was nothing compared to Fred, as cliché as it sounds she saw fireworks and butterflies fluttered in her stomach.  
Fred had never had a kiss this good, in all honesty he never really kissed the girls he had sex with, it just made the encounter far to intimate for him. But kissing Y/N felt amazing, he loved being so close to her. He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers “I hope you know you’re mine now”, Y/N nodded eagerly before pulling him close for another kiss.  
They spent the rest of the night cuddled up under the stars watching as the sun came out. They walked hand in hand to the castle and sat at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. George was the first to come down and see them sat together “ah no more tears over Y/N then Freddie, did you finally convince her to give you a chance?” he poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice.  
“Yes Georgie he did” George choked on his juice slightly before grinning like the Cheshire Cat.  
“Finally! It’s taken you both long enough, sorry for the glares yesterday Y/N, they were mainly at Diggory, I just don’t like seeing Fred upset”.  
Y/N just shrugged before smiling at George “It’s okay Georgie, I don’t like seeing him upset either” she laughed and took a bite of the strawberry she was eating.
The rest of Fred’s friends came down, congratulating the two for finally getting together. Ginny came and sat with them, a big grin on her face. “All worked out in the end then ay Freddie” she teased as she ruffled his hair, “you made the right choice Y/N, perfect diggory is nothing compared to our Freddie”.  
Fred rolled his eyes as Y/N chuckled “you’re right about that”. They ate their breakfast in peace, Fred noticed Cedric come in and pulled Y/N close for a passionate kiss, all of his friends whooping and cheering making sure everyone’s eyes were drawn to them. They both pulled away, Y/N blushing and burying her head in Fred’s chest.  
Ron came over just as they were leaving “here’s the letter to mum gin, just Fred and George left to say if they’re taking anyone home for Christmas” he handed the parchment to George who lazily scribbled Lee’s name down with a little message before handing it to Fred.  
“Do you still want to come?” he looked down to Y/N whilst everyone else engaged in conversation, “If you want me to come I’m there” she smiled up at him and watched him scribble on the parchment.  
Hi mum,
I hope you and dad are good, I miss you both.  
I’m going to take my girlfriend home for Christmas, her name is Y/N Y/L/N, give her a sweater that would fit me please – she keeps stealing mine!
See you soon.  
Love, Freddie x  
He handed the letter back to Ginny before pulling Y/N away from the table, “time for our first date as official boyfriend and Girlfriend” he smirked before leading her to one of the secret passages to Hogsmeade.  
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Having his girlfriend at the burrow for Christmas was everything Fred wanted and more. He never realised how much he had missed out on. They spent their days cuddled up on the couch watching old films whilst drinking hot chocolate, or out in the snow sledding or building snowmen. Every night was filled with more movies, games and of course Y/N reading muggle tales to Fred as they cuddled in front of the fire (although some of those tales were interrupted by mr Weasley who was so fascinated by the things muggles came up with in their stories).  
It was Christmas Eve and all of the family were heading up to their rooms, Fred tugged Y/N over to the front door and slid her jacket over her shoulders before securing her hat to her head and tying her scarf loosely around her neck. “Get on your boots cutie, I’ve got a surprise”. As Y/N got on her wellies, Mrs Weasley came over with a basket in hand.
“Everything you asked for Freddie” she popped it on the floor, “good night dearie, Freddie is so lucky to have found you” she wrapped her arms around Y/N, she did the same to Fred after he was ready. Walking over to the stairs she stopped and turned on her heels “remember when you get back to go to your separate rooms, I’m not ready to be a grandmother just yet” with a wink she made her way up the stairs.  
“She’s honestly something else” Fred chuckled taking Y/N’s hand in his and leading her out to the garden.  
“I think she’s great”  
Fred used his wand to conjure up a seating area for the two of them and a little fire in front of them. In the basket was blankets, two mugs, a flask of hot chocolate and some marshmallows.  
“Freddie this looks great” Y/N couldn’t help but smile at Fred, she was so lucky to have him.  
He grabbed her wrist and looked at her watch, “five minutes to go” he wrapped a blanket around them both before getting the hot chocolate for them.  
He wrapped an arm around them as they watched the stars “they look so much prettier here than they do at school” Y/N looked up at Fred who was already watching her.
“You look just as pretty here as you do at school” he kissed her forehead. The clock struck midnight and suddenly fireworks started going off.  
Red ones, green ones, white ones, ones in the shape of Santa, ones in the shape of snowmen, Y/N couldn’t look away from them, they were beautiful. Suddenly the fireworks made two figures, they showed two people that Y/N recognised very clearly, it was her and Fred sat in two chairs, the scene sort of reminded her of the times they spent in the library. Next showed the two of them near a circle of blue, this reminded her of all the times they’d spent at the black lake.  
Finally the fireworks showed them kissing and “merry Christmas Y/N” was spelt above them, with “I love you” underneath.  
Y/N gasped as she looked over at Fred, a few tears had escaped her eyes and Fred softly wiped his thumb across her cheek, smiling down at her. “Do you really?” She asked in disbelief.  
“I love you” he placed a kiss to her lips, slow and gentle before pulling back. Y/N was practically grinning from ear to ear “I love you too Freddie”. They sat outside a little longer continuously saying those three special words to each other. They made their way back inside, sitting on the couch for a cuddle before bed. “Merry Christmas Freddie” Y/N yawned and cuddled into his chest.  
“Merry Christmas cutie” he kissed her forehead, his eyes shut.
They woke up the next morning to Mrs Weasley standing above them “I said separate rooms” she said sternly before breaking out into a smile “merry Christmas you two” she kissed both of their foreheads before going into the kitchen.  
Fred and Y/N were the first ones up, when they joined her in the kitchen they both apologies only to be waved off my Molly.
Soon it was time for presents, everyone received a jumper from Mrs Weasley and she followed Fred’s instructions, ensuring the jumper with Y/N’s initial was the same size as Fred’s.
Fred and Y/N left opening each other’s presents until last. Y/N got Fred a new beater for quidditch, some sweeties from honeydukes and a big teddy in the shape of a dog, “I know how much you’ve always wanted one” she winked. Fred grinned from ear to ear as he showed off his new bat to George.
It was now Y/N’s turn, there was a small box on the floor with her name on it, she carefully took off the wrapping paper and opened the box to reveal the most beautiful bracelet she had ever seen, there was a W charm attached with a broom and a star either side. “Oh Freddie I love it, thank you so much!” she practically flew into Fred’s arms giving him a big cuddle and a kiss.
“I love you” he whispered into her ear.  
“I love you too”  
Tagged
@jenniweaslee @britishspidey @parkeroffline @westyywifee @gloryekaterina @pineapplesandpinas @manuosorioh @itsbebeyyy @nojamsonmytoast @blackqueens01 @mahvelous @supermassiveblackhope @justmesadgirl @fandomlovver
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cherry-valentine · 3 years
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Summer 2021 Anime Season
What I’m Watching:
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Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid is one of the cutest, sweetest series I’ve seen in a while. The plot sounds rather dark, following a young duke who has been cursed by a witch so that anything he touches, from plants to animals to people, will die. Touching through clothes has the same effect. This naturally isolates him, to the point that his own family have shunned him and he’s forced to live in a separate home out in the woods, with only two servants who are kind (or crazy) enough to stay with him despite the danger. One is an elderly butler who takes on a fatherly role, and the other is the beautiful, busty maid named Alice. And this is where a show that could have gone really dark brightens up to an adorable romantic comedy. Alice is not the least bit afraid of the duke’s curse, and her teasing, cheerful disposition practically forces him to open up. Speaking of Alice, I really enjoy the way her character is handled. Just as the show could have gone dark, it also could have gone sexist and gross. Alice is very busty, as I mentioned, and the show does have some fanservice, but the WAY this fanservice is done makes all the difference. Alice is a flirty character who always seems to be an enthusiastic participant in whatever fanservice we see, rather than being an object to be leered at. She’s very much in control of her body and her sexuality, which I appreciated. Also, there’s a lot of restraint on display here. There are so many ways they could have ruined this by going too far, but they didn’t. The fanservice is restricted to some cleavage shots and Alice occasionally flipping up her own dress to display her stockings. It comes across more as “sexy fun times” than “male gaze oggling a woman”. Because Alice is an interesting and well-written character in her own right. On the surface, she’s unflappable, facing a dire situation with limitless patience and optimism. But we get a few small, brief glimpses of the emotional toll it all takes on her, which is refreshing. The duke himself is a fun character, forever flustered by Alice’s antics but clearly not wanting her to stop. There are some amusing side characters as well. The animation has been criticized quite a bit, as it’s CG. It’s not the best looking CG animation I’ve seen, but it’s far from the worst. For a simple, cute show like this, it’s fine. Recommended if you like romantic comedies with a somewhat dark setup.
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Vanitas no Carte is based on a manga by the woman who did Pandora Hearts, so you have some basic idea of what you’re getting into: extravagant period costumes, gothic European scenery, dark and violent themes mixed with goofy humor, and a very complicated web of character relationships. This series features a vampire society that’s being plagued by “curses” which turn the vampires into mindless beasts that can only be saved by mercy killing them. That is, until a human named Vanitas shows up with the power to cure the “curse bearers” using a legendary book that most vampires doubted the existence of. He teams up with Noe, a kind and naive yet physically very strong vampire who has been tasked with finding said book and determining whether its power is real. The result is a bizarre buddy comedy with touches of gruesome violence and gorgeous art. Of the two protagonists, Noe is my favorite. He’s sweet and good-natured, naive but not stupid. He has a disturbing back story (as most of the characters do) but he can still look at the world with excitement and wonder. He also has a hilarious and adorable cat named Murr. Vanitas, on the other hand, is an insufferable asshole. And I don’t mean in the fun way. I mean he literally makes the show hard to watch when he’s onscreen. I normally like the smug bastard types in anime, but Vanitas really pushes the limits of my tolerance. In an early episode he forces a very deep, very long kiss on a woman he has rendered immobile and unable to defend herself, groping her all the while. I found the scene very troubling, and was even more troubled when I read the comments on the episode, almost all of which calling the kiss “sexy” or “hot” or, worst of all, “romantic”. It’s extremely obvious that the woman did not want or enjoy the kiss, but aw, she was all blushy and embarrassed afterward, so it was a cute scene, right? Ugh, no, gross. The woman, named Jeanne, was established as a very powerful, badass vampire. Yet she’s quickly reduced to a red-faced, crying mess by this absolute garbage character sexually assaulting her in front of several other characters. The whole scene was so bothersome I almost dropped the series entirely, because Vanitas never faces any consequences for this act. He just grins smugly after it’s over. However, I kept watching because, aside from Vanitas, the show is amazing. The art and animation are breathtaking. The plot is highly interesting. The characters, Vanitas excluded, are compelling. And then we have Noe, who is pretty much the opposite of Vanitas. Honestly, if Vanitas was the only protagonist, I would have dropped it, but he’s one of two. So... recommended, but with caution. Your mileage may vary on how much Vanitas you can stomach.
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Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi is.,. not something I expected to enjoy. It has a visual style that reminds me of Kill la Kill, a show I absolutely loathed. The overall vibe of the show is a little off-putting for me, but somehow I got myself hooked on it. The basic set up is that, hundreds of years ago, giant monstrous demons roamed the earth. All the gods of the earth got together, defeated the demons, and sealed them away, leaving one young god named Rin behind to watch over the seal and train newly born gods to fight, should the seal ever be broken. Flash forward to the present day, where Rin has only been able to train a very small number of gods because most of them can’t handle Rin’s absolutely brutal training (it mostly consists of her murdering them over and over and letting them regenerate, as they’re essentially immortal). Unfortunately, some demons have come back, and they’ve taken the appearance of humans. This revelation motivates some of the younger gods to resume their training with Rin. And that’s about all I can say for the plot without getting into some bizarre subplots. There’s a lot I don’t like about the show. I’m not crazy about its cartoony look given the subject matter. I don’t like that there’s basically a whole subplot that revolves around human women being repeatedly raped (side note: rape is never graphically shown, though it is made extremely clear what is happening and we see the lead up to it, also this is a rather small subplot that gets little attention after the first episode). And I absolutely hate that a character involved in this subplot, who encourages it, is presented as a character we should actually like. But! There are some things I really enjoy about it as well. I think the setup is really cool. The gods, and their role in the world of the story, are super interesting. They’re practically indifferent to humans, not even taking the slightest bit of interest when one country invades another and slaughters innocent civilians, because to them, it’s like a human intervening when one animal fights and kills another in the woods. So long as humans aren’t completely wiped out, they don’t get involved. Which is a neat concept. I also like the battles, which are frenetic and a blast to watch. And I totally love Rin, who is just a straight up badass in every single way. She’s one of those ridiculously overpowered characters we sometimes get in anime, most of which are usually male. Rin is so absurdly powerful that other absurdly powerful characters are terrified of her to the point that the mere mention of her name triggers panic attacks. Watching her fight is pure joy. Also the music is great, with an absolute banger of an opening theme. Recommended if you like wild, imaginative action anime and aren’t triggered by rape.
Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons:
To Your Eternity Boku no Hero Academia Shaman King
Best of Season:
Best New Show: Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid
Best Opening Theme: Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi
Best Ending Theme: Vanitas no Carte
Best New Male Character: Noe (Vanitas no Carte)
Best New Female Character: Alice (Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid)
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floggingink · 3 years
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OH HERE WE GO LADIES IT’S RIVERDALE, CHAPTER EIGHTY: “Purgatorio”
I’m tuning in to be VERY entertained on the grounds that I missed almost the entirety of S4 and will not understand anything
we open with an incredible analogue comparing the football team to the Army, as men do construct rituals: football players get blown into the sky, etc., in a heartrending mash-up of Archie’s innocence + the American ideal/expectations/pipeline of masculinity
Archie Company is decked out appropriately to storm Hürtgen Forest
that art direction trope where a character’s hearing goes EEEEEEEEEEEEEE after an explosion……...delightful
the Vixens and friends cheering him on from the sidelines as if Archie can only process his unprocessable present through the lens of his past………...hits the spot
distressingly wood-based rifles for our purposes
Archie > Dawson: I don’t mind telling you I felt emotion upon Archie hoisting his war buddy over his shoulders to that quadruple-toned “Chivalric Archie Using His Strength for Good” tune, like when he broke his whole hand busting Cheryl out of Sweetwater River
WHEN HE SAW HIRAM LODGE, I’M TELLING YOU! 
Hiram’s dragon-scale gloves? absolutely savory; he would
“Yonkers” is one of those New York place names I don’t totally buy is real (Poughkeepsie is another)
the sepia-toned light in this hospital room rings true judging by all the Captain America fanfiction I’ve read; I also like the mint-colored hand towels draped on Archie’s bedframe bought, one assumes, using the Department of Defense’s Kohl’s Cash
Archie made Sergeant, which is the best ranking for a fictional character: important enough that they can be a leader, get into trouble; low-profile enough that you don’t have to write them in the room making terrible decisions; probably won’t die immediately, as a Captain or Private might be
Fifth period is AP English: Archie reads A Farewell to Arms to Corporal Jackson, a WWI novel by Hemingway that Jug definitely turned him onto
Christ, Archie looks good in that on-leave jacket thing
I like Jackson’s subtle graph paper-print hospital gown
Gay?!: was Jackson in love with Archie? is he gonna bus to Riverdale once he’s off his pain meds? RAS, is that you in there?
God you know I love that haunted-ass Exorcist wooden bench bus light lighting
how long has the WW been relocated under Pop’s??? I do NOT know what happened to La Bonne Nuit
Sexy, aesthetic Southside: Fangs’ hair? his Tony Stark glasses? the girls’ “I’m a Slave 4 U” Burmese pythons? Toni’s headdress and immaculate glossed lip? 
Sixth period is Intro to Film: the only part of From Dusk till Dawn I’ve seen is Salma Hayek putting her toe in Quentin Tarantino’s mouth but judging from that I figure I’d like the rest 
The female gaze: Jesus Sweet Pea still looks good
Toni’s stage is flanked by twin pillars of melting candles and I would like someone to track those down for my bathroom
if they lay one hand on Pop Tate…
Betty appears to be, on her own, running the FBI training course. Betty is such a freak
Betty’s FBI-appointed psychologist is “Dr. Starling,” wears a great yellow blouse; Betty eats what appears to be a mini-sized Milky Way
her blond FBI trainer-boyfriend (uh) Glen appears to be an unholy fusion of Jimmi Simpson and that one actor with brown hair and really sharp light eyes whose acting credits I can’t think of right now, you know who I’m talking about (not the guy from Vampire Diaries)
I quite like her patterned blouse and I hate his yellow (gold?!) and blue tie
Please protect Betty: obviously we stan the Silence of the Lambs shit even as it remains infuriating Bryan Fuller couldn’t get his hands in it
Betty’s cat’s crying was so disturbingly baby-like that I had to leave the room once I realized it was in fact a cat
I’ve watched the Elisa Lam tape too many times in recent hours to handle this hallway shot
REALLY GROSS LICKING NOISES
the Trash Bag Killer coming at her was scary :(
Betty’s lovely blue knit cardi with the puffed sleeves!
50 Shades of Betty: clearing her throat before the doctor quite finishes her sentence—Lili Reinhart continues to be great at conveying “slightly perturbing subterranean tension”
was Charles a serial killer too??? oh damn!
Betty has been successfully holding off giving Glen a key to her place until now, an era that must come to a close
fellas, “Do I at least get a kiss?” is a bad move
Veronica was rich: Veronica’s new digs: exposed brick, bougiely avant-garde chandelier; possibly an elevator door right there behind the dude?
Veronica has married Hiram, to no one’s surprise
Chadwick looks like Jimmi Simpson and brunet Evan Peters plus a jaw
Veronica’s single-puffled-sleeved gown…..madamn (she has absolutely been taking secret birth control pills)
Summer + Blair = Veronica: of course Veronica would be great at Howard Ratner’s job; I MUST know what “specialty showcase haute couture offense” Vinnie has committed
T-Dubbs’ green jacket
Veronica pretended she was working at like, a department store? but she MISSED the EDGE post-day-trading
their apartment is so expensive that their bedroom is totally exposed
oh my god, Hermione
Best costume bit: please get me these satiny green high-waisted slacks?! and ugh her blouse has shoulder tassels……..she’s flourishing
“That’s threatening to an alpha like Chad.”
yes, they have a private elevator. fine.
Glen and Chad get their ties from the same Men’s Warehouse
“When that helicopter went down on the way to Martha’s Vineyard…”
you know kissing is 4-real when one person cups their hand to the back of the other person’s neck all close
I don’t understand the drop of the Glamergé egg but I appreciate that there is one and that Veronica is like, get this the fuck out of my house
Veronica’s shiny cropped tweed two-piece, Yvonne’s weird feathery coat that matches her bf’s shirt (you know she’s supposed to be “too much” because she’s got big hoop earrings)
God, Jughead is next and I’m not gonna be able to handle it
OH GOD IT’S SO MUCH WORSE THAN I THOUGHT
Alphabet City?! the piano?? the fucking East Coast Beat typewriter shit—the day robe? I’m—READING CLUBMASTERS? FORSYTHE???
OH GOD HE’S DATING ANOTHER WRITER (she has nice pants)
Jughead eats: “that place you like” is a HOT DOG STAND in the middle of SOME GRASS
I’ve seen Brick like thirty times: Jughead wears high-ankle light blue jeans, grey socks, and spectators that blend to create the illusion of wading boots. I’m going to commit a crime
Jughead doubts it: “So did Kerouac. And Hemingway. And Fitzgerald.” 
fuck yes I love Floundering Jughead, and his Pushy Agent who pronounces “career” like “Korea,” and the continuing tradition of Jughead getting kicked out of his house
I like Literary Grifter’s sweater
the Brat Pack, and most of the Rat Pack for that matter, were actors, but I assume RAS couldn’t resist the rhyme 
I was 100% afraid we were about to learn Cora was an uncomfortably-young undergrad
the musical cue as she reaches into her bag is absolutely as if she’s taking out a gun, and it might as well be! it’s the scariest thing in NYC: an unpublished manuscript
showrunners doing a classic I Love Lucy job partially concealing Vanessa Morgan’s pregnancy via medium close-ups, draping black clothes
Cheryl slowly turning to ask if doesn’t she look okay 10/10 icon
Cheryl’s pins: she has either a tiny spider or maybe a tick
Cheryl’s sheaths: the lacy red thing, amazing
why is Cheryl’s left hand gloved?
Cheryl’s a chaos angel from hell: Cheryl’s going to forge a Rembrandt, which unfortunately means she’s my favorite person on the planet (she does not look happy about doing this)
btw is Nana Rose an Immortal?
please tell me about Toni’s eyelashes
EXTREMELY HAUNTED DOLL?!
“Damn good coffee”: Archie’s earnest “Where are people gonna sit for the bus?” slayed me
fuck YEAH Ghoulies party house! terrible music but really good skull spray paint art
Jug looks LOW lol
Veronica’s blouse + buttons, impeccable
I’m writing a scene where it’s gay.: Tabitha/Squeaky
the hellscape semi’s red backlighting and its skeleton’s red eyes
I like Linette’s glossy bomber!
the trucker who’s about to kill her can’t also be the Trash Bag Killer….truckers have to stick to too much of a schedule….but he could be Betty’s meandering serial
I loved this episode
NEXT WEEK: Archie brings the FBI down on some people paying their rent :(
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purplepri · 4 years
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My Drarry fanfic Masterlist
I've been meaning to make this list for a long time now, but my laziness didn't let me. Well, better later than never, so there it goes.
Disclaimer: this fics are from my personal taste. Many of them came from the always fabulous @drarryspecificrecs and @drarryspecificrecsdaily, so make sure to look their recs since it's more diverse. English it's not my first language, sorry for any mistakes. And I will do my very best to not spoil any of it, so my summaries are going to be short.
Long-fic
A Biding Promise by emeraldvssilver [E, +18]
“I choose you Harry. I’m yours. I think… I think I always was. Never could quite stop looking at you, or thinking about you.”
“Draco, I promise you I will protect you. With everything I am, and everything I have, I will protect you.”
Harry's power was an immovable force of nature, and Draco's magic parted for it like it was welcoming an old lover back into it's warm embrace. The Oath took root around Harry's core as he unwittingly bound himself to Draco, and bound himself to his promise.
It's hot, and cute, and I love the magical bond trope so much!!!!
Secrets by Vorabiza [E, +18]
Beginning with Draco's unexpected arrival at the Dursleys, Harry's summer after sixth year becomes filled with activity and many secrets. As his summer progresses, Harry generates several unexpected allies as he finds himself actively becoming the leader of the Light side.
I can't start to describe this one. I've read it instead of the book I was supposed to read for lit class, and I seriously don't regret it. The best of the best!!!!!!!
Safety by vivi1138 [M, +18]
Cedric Diggory is dead, Voldemort is reborn. Narcissa Malfoy knows what this means for her son, and she will not let him be Marked. Even if it means fleeing Britain.
With Amelia Bones' help, a safe haven welcomes six teenagers who have no wish to bow to Voldemort. The only catch? They'll need to adapt to a Muggle lifestyle.
With private teachers to continue their schooling, isolated from the rest of the world, they certainly don't expect to enjoy themselves, especially after Harry Potter himself joins them.
A story where Umbridge wreaks havoc on Hogwarts and Harry is not there to see it.
Good lord, this one. It's a-fucking-mazing in every point, I love this one with all my heart... So beautiful...
The Chamber of Secrets and Half the Adults are Idiots by Des98 [M, +18]
"Harry Potter AU where Harry is hiding in the cabinet in Borgin and Burkes. And he sees Lucius grab Draco with his cane. And he hears the hiss, “What did I tell you?” And he hears the quiver in the blonde boy’s voice, “Don’t touch anything.”
And Harry knows.
Because he’s used the voice that Draco uses for the past twelve years.
He knows.
Because now that he’s lived with the Weasleys for over a month, he knows that that’s not the way that a father’s voice should be.
He knows...
All I can say it's that Harry it's a cinnamon roll, everybody gets called out for their bullshit, and this series just makes me so happy that finally every abuse Harry's been through is addressed and cared for!!!!!!
Finite Incantatum by Alysian_Fields [E, +18]
It’s the autumn after Dumbledore’s death, the Death Eaters are steadily gaining power, and Harry and his friends are desperate to find the remaining Horcruxes. But then Draco Malfoy arrives at Grimmauld Place, traumatised, starved and drained of all his magical ability. It falls to Harry to show the Slytherin how to adapt to his new way of life, never guessing that Draco has a few things to teach him in return.
This one it's phenomenal! Draco needs to learn how to deal with not having magic anymore, and Harry's the one that teaches him. It's so gooooooooood
Harry Potter and The Bound Prince by slashpervert [E, +18]
In HBP, there is a pivotal moment where things could have gone very differently for Harry and Draco. In the bathroom sixth year, Draco is upset that Harry has caught him crying and throws a hex. It escalates and ends in blood, with Harry nearly killing Draco by accident. In this story, instead, unvoiced attraction to Harry motivates Draco to take a chance and kiss him. Once sparked, their mutual desire and exploration becomes the driving force in the alternative ending to the series. Draco's "mission" from Voldemort turns out to be more complex than that presented in canon and their solution even more difficult.
Let's just say that the author's name is very fitting for the content they wrote... But, yeah, there's a lot of smut, but gods if the plot isn't amazing as well...
Dark Wizengamot by Emerys_Potter [T, +13]
Preparing to head to his hearing, just before his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry learns quickly that Sirius' plans tend to get complicated. In a matter of minutes Harry becomes a Lord of the Wizarding World and in so doing learns that not all his friends are on his side.
Watch as Harry stands up for himself and shakes the Wizengamot, Dumbledore, Hogwarts, Voldemort and the Wizarding World at large for a spin.
Shout out to everyone who loves a good Dumbledore!bashing, Slytherins are people too, BAMF Harry Potter!!! I see you and I love you, please read this fanfic, it's going to worth it!!!!!
Easy as Falling by Lomonaaeren [T, +13]
Harry doesn’t really like the way things are going in the wizarding world. But who’s going to do something about it?...Him, that’s who! (Or, how Harry became a Benevolently Snarky Dark Lord).
I can't. I love Dark!Harry, it's just so EXCITING for me to see someone that was a light symbol fall into the dark and find strength and power there...
Short-fic
Harry Potter and the Sentinel Phenomenon by elissblair [M, +18]
Everything changes the summer after fifth year. Draco refuses to take the Dark Mark and must deal with leaving behind the life, friends and family he's always known.The Dursley's abandon Harry alone in the woods for a week, triggering his Sentinel gifts and leaving him hurting and in need of a Guide. Can two rivals put aside five years worth of antagonism in order to work together to save Hogwarts and each other?
I don't know what to say about this one... So cute and well written, I love this so much, OMG...
The Devil's White Knight by orphan_account [E, +18]
When Harry wakes up in an alternate timeline--a timeline where Voldemort was defeated long before the first war--he discovers everything is different. His parents, his godfather, his friends--and him. Harry must deal with the consequences of who he would have been if he had been raised by his parents, and figure out where he stands with his casual hook up, Draco Malfoy.
I love this one so much and often read it again just for the sake of it. Family it's a complicated matter, isn't it?
Azoth by zeitgeistic [E, +18]
Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.
Alchemy, apprenticeship, mentor!Snape... What a ride this one is! But it's amazing, ugh!
One-Shot
Changeable Weather by tigersilver [E, +18]
They should be studying for their exams, but it's too hot, so everyone is just hanging around by the lake in various states of undress. Draco cannot cope with all of Harry's exposed skin.
You know... Summer vibes, beach(it's the lake of Hogwarts), Harry being all good-looking and that's it.
Breaking the Curse by GatewayGirl [E, +18]
At first, not being able to hire Slytherins didn't seem too bad, but now Auror Potter is taking it personally. If only Draco Malfoy didn't keep cropping up in his investigation.
There's a curse at the Ministry and the former Slytherins can't get a job in there. Of course auror Potter needs to be the one who breaks it, huh? And of course it's sex magic, huh?
Buy a Heart by xErised [E, +18]
Draco's cock hardens as he looks at the invitation to the charity auction; his golden ticket to one wild night of desperate sex with Potter to get rid of this inexplicable obsession. His heart whispers that one night will never be enough, but Draco is beyond caring. All he knows is that he will pay any price to have Potter over and over again.
Harry being a size queen it's my smut pet peeve, I'm not going to lie. But yeah, very hot sex all around the hotel room. That's it.
Crush by MissyMallow [T, +13]
Harry Potter; one gorgeous specimen ever created. Draco Malfoy’s crush.
This one made me so happy while I was reading! It’s amazing!
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hadesglance · 4 years
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All hail the new Queen... - 30
You fought your way through the maze of the underworld to make a deal with the King…intrigued the lonely king listens…
Part One  Part Two  Part Three  Part Four  Part Five  Part Six Part Seven  Part Eight   Part Nine  Part Ten  Part Eleven Part Twelve  Part Thirteen  Part Fourteen  Part Fifteen  Part Sixteen Part Seventeen  Part Eighteen  Part Nineteen   Part Twenty  Part Twenty-One   Part Twenty-Two  Part Twenty-Three  Part Twenty-Four  Part Twenty-Five  Part Twenty-Six  Part Twenty-Seven  Part Twenty-Eight  Part Twenty-Nine
THIS WAS HARD...so hard...but here it is! Please enjoy! and i love you all for sticking with me! Not edited cause I was just too excited I pumped it out!
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You stood looking into the dark…rough…route that you were about to take. You swallowed already beginning to feel the effects of the Underworld. Your fears were creeping in on you, your insecurities suffocating, and every bit of darkness trying to blind you.
“This is madness…” Poseidon spoke shaking his head, “you can’t really be thinking of sending her in there…into Tartarus were even we will go mad if subjected to it long enough…”
“What choice do we have?” Zeus crossed his arms staring into the darkness, “She’s the only one who can…”
“She’s human!” Poseidon cried out.
“And she can hear you.” You turned around looking at both of them. You crossed your arms letting out a tense sigh, “Instead of finding all of my weaknesses…tell me about what I’m going to face.”
Zeus looked over to Apollo who was standing off to the side staring into the darkness, “Apollo…”
Apollo took a deep breath in taking a step toward the open doorway of Tartarus, “It’s a cold place…in every sense of the word…Tartarus will take everything you hate about yourself and use it to attack you.”
He looked at you with a frown, “Every fear, every doubt, every regret…it will surround you and try to break you.”
“So, I need to be fast…the longer I stay the harder it will be…” You looked back out taking in a deep breath, “Is there a map of this place?”
“A map? Why would there be a map…souls that are damned here are meant to get lost inside…” Poseidon chuckled looking at Zeus to back him up. His brother was silent as he stared at you, “…there’s a map!?”
Zeus let out a sigh offering his hand to you, “Come with me.”
There was no hesitation as you took his outstretched hand disappearing with him into dark stacks. You watched him snap his fingers and a lantern floated down from above, “Where are we?”
“The library.” He told you catching the lantern with his hand and began walking forward, “It’s where we keep all the records…”
“Records for what?” You looked up at him seeing the blue glow cast off his face and when he didn’t answer you asked a different question, “When I asked about a map you got very serious, Zeus…what’s going on?”
“I’m going to show you something,” He turned down a row that led to a hallway. Everything felt very ominous, “I want you to know everything before you make a final decision to rescue my brother.”
“Zeus there isn’t…” He raised a hand silencing you.
“I know you love him. I know he loves you.” He smiled at you sadly, “But I have to do this to honor him. He would want you to know everything and make an informed decision.”
He moved into a small room that only held a desk and chair. It reminded you of one private study rooms in the campus library. He set the lantern down showing it scattered with papers and scrolls. He looked up to you waving for you to take a seat.
You watched him as you moved around the desk to the chair. You had never seen Zeus so serious before and it worried you, “Zeus…”
“Read this…” He pushed a piece of paper towards you.
You swallowed as he also pushed the lantern over toward you. Pick up the piece of paper you seeing what looked like gibberish. You were about to tell him you couldn’t, but the letters slowly ignited transforming in front of you becoming legible.
“The doors will open, when the moment comes that summer ends, the young one shall cause a rise of faith and an age of justice. Mortal blood will spill in the halls of Olympus, upon that night the exiled one will awaken in his cage.” You felt your hand tremble a little slowly connecting the dots more and more, “The monster will break his chains bringing pain as he steps back into this world, seeking vengeance. The old one will walk away, as the newcomer’s sacrifice marks the rise of hope, upon that day what was shrouded will be revealed…”
You looked up at him setting the paper down, “What sacrifice must I make?”
“I don’t know.” Zeus frowned shaking his head, “But it will be a big one…you’re dealing with a titan and he is nothing but hungry. Y/N it will be meant to hurt both you and Hades.”
You felt something shift inside of you when he said that last bit, “Okay…and even if I get Hades out…it doesn’t seem like we defeat Cronus…”
“Which is why if you give us time…” Zeus spoke but fell silent as you shot out of the chair.
“Time is something Hades doesn’t have!” Your voice raised, “Even now…Cronus is doing unfathomable things to Hades…to my husband…Zeus…Please…”
He stared at you for a long time before he turned slightly from you, “Hecate…”
You looked over toward the entrance seeing the goddess emerge form the dark hall. She held a scroll in her hands looking at you, “Have you made your choice then?”
You looked at Zeus then back to her, “I have…”
You watched her step forward again holding the scroll out to you, “I have held onto this map for a very long time. Hades had me seal it away after he mapped it out all those ions ago. I doubt it is accurate anymore as Tartarus lives and changes as any living thing does. But if you’re willing to bring back the King of the Underworld and know the risks…then you have only but to take it from me.”
You reached out taking if from them both, “Why must everything be so dramatic with you all?”
“Because it has to be a choice.” Zeus spoke softly as you began to unroll the scroll, “If we just gave it to you…it would be a task given, not a choice wanted. You chose to seek Hades for help, willing to give up everything for your brother. You chose to learn about him. You chose to love him.”
You understood, but to you it was so obvious what the choice was, you didn’t understand why they wasted the time. You moved the lantern to the corner of the map to hold it open. You took in a deep breath, “That…is…a mountain.”
“If you can’t do it…it’s alright. We’ll find another…” Zeus stepped toward you shaking his head.
“I didn’t say I couldn’t do it.” You looked at him edge in your voice, “Far from it…I need you to take me home.”
You had a map…you had the drive…you swallowed as you looked back into Tartarus. Take a final deep breath in you turned back to everyone, “I’ll be back…with Hades.”
“Wait…” Apollo stepped forward producing a bow from behind his back, “Take this…”
You looked it in your hands shaking your head, “I don’t know how to use one of these…I can’t…”
“It will do the work for you.” He smiled a little placing a hand on you shoulder getting you to look at him, “I was the god of archery before many of the other things I learned about…just make sure you shoot from the heart.”
“See…you go and give her a gift and ruin my entrance…” Poseidon stepped forward as you set the bow and it’s quiver against your leg, “I’d give you my trident…but I’m a bit partial to it…so instead you get this.”
“A shell necklace…” You looked at him eyes widening as he held out a string of small shells hooked together, “…thank you?”
“Don’t give me that stupid look.” He shook his head smirking a little, “ You ever wonder why you can hear the ocean inside them? This necklace was created to keep people from entering your mind.  Now it’s Tartarus, so I doubt it’ll be a hundred percent effective but…hopefully it’ll help a little bit.”
“Poseidon…” You looked at it in your hands before you smiled putting it over your head, “Thank you, I’ll make sure to return it.”
“Ugh you two are awful…” You looked up again seeing Zeus push through the both of them smirking a little, “acting like this is some detrimental plan…You’re going to be fine, right?”
“Yes, even more so with their gifts.” You tried to give him a brave smile, “I think everything is set then…”
Zeus frowned taking your hands in his, “You don’t have to do this…”
You slowly took your hands from his, “You’re right…I was meant to do this.”
You turned from him before anyone of them could say anything else. Draping the quiver across your back with the bow as you strode toward the mountain bike you traded Lana for. Throwing you leg over it you zipped up the leather jacket before glancing back over your shoulder at the three gods.
Three powerful beings resting hope on a human’s shoulder to save their brother from the deepest depths of the Underworld. You looked away before you started to cry pulling the helmet over your head strapping it on. You had to believe it was all meant to be. You were the one who made a deal with the King of the Underworld to be by his side.
Afterall you were Queen of the Underworld, right?
The engine roared with power. You stared through the gate at the climb you were about to make. By studying the map, you were sure you could make a good distance before Tartarus really began to affect you. Of course, you could only get so far with the bike, it would get narrower the closer you got to the center and you would have to walk.
You were about to push off when you heard someone yell out behind you, “Wait!”
“Percy?” You cut the engine as Persephone ran forward to the three gods. Zeus shook his head looking down at your, “Darling what are you doing here?”
“Athena…she…” Percy looked over to you breathless, “She wanted…Y/N…”
Zeus looked down at his daughter seeing what was in her arms and nodded, “I see…”
You watched him take worn out cape from her arms and walk toward you, “Zeus…”
“Do you know what this is?” He asked you, holding it in his hands.
“I can guess yes…” You frowned a little, “I don’t want to lose something like that…Aegis is a too much…”
“It’s not my gift to give you…and believe me you don’t want to be on Athena’s bad side.” Zeus took it wrapping it around your shoulders clasping it on your shoulder, “Aegis isn’t a normal shield like you mortals think…I wore it when I first met everyone when rescuing them, and I didn’t know it’s power then. It’s fitting that you use against our father again.”
“Zeus…” You could feel this warmth spread through you as you touched the hem of it, “…I’m losing my courage.”
“Then I suppose it’s time for you to go.” He leaned forward kissing your forehead, it burned and somehow you knew he was blessing you, “I really like you…so please be smart.”
He shut the visor before you respond to him. Smart…sure…you were just heading into what was basically hell…cool. He was right though; it was time to go.
You didn’t look back after you started the bike this time. Instead you swallowed trying to wet your dry throat before you revved the engine a couple times before releasing the brake. You rocketed off spinning out slightly before gaining control.
The incline approached quickly. You gave it more gas as it began to get steeper and steeper. Already you could feel cold seeping into your body. You were not meant for this place and it was letting you know. You ignored it keeping your eyes narrowed swerving around boulders and crumbling away sections.
You felt like gravity was beginning to push back at you as the incline only got more intense. You gritted your teeth pushing the bike as far as you could. A flash sparked in front of your eyes and you were falling over the edge of the cliff with the bike. You felt your stomach jump to your throat as you began to fall.
A flash again and you were back to riding. Somehow you knew it was about to happen…you pushed the bike to it’s max and soon you saw the foreseen cliff. You felt the bike catch air from the speed. It wasn’t enough though.
Grunting you pushed yourself away from the bike reaching out. You landed hard against the cliffside clutching onto it desperately. You cried out as everything muscle pulled your dead weight over the edge. You rolled away from the side breathing hard before sat up pulling off the helmet.
Cursing you stood up looking over the edge at the broken bike below. Your brow began to tingle a little bit. You let your fingers brush over the spot where Zeus had kissed you, “Thank you…”
You turned back to the rest of Tartarus as your breath floated out from your like small trail. You adjusted the special gifts on your body before you began walking forward. You had made a good distance. Not how far you wanted to get, and you wanted the bike for an escape plan…
But what good Greek myth was ever easy.
You began to climb feeling your limbs only get colder with each step. You kept repeating over and over to yourself, “Hold on Hades, I’m coming.”
A slow mantra that seemed to get you through the rest of the climb. Shaking you made it to the summit. You sat there feeling exhausted and broken. You crazy to do this…
“Stop…” You shook your head getting to your feet leaning against a boulder.
But you were crazy. You were worse then that you were stupid…who goes to a god and makes a deal with them without knowing what to offer. What an idiot…the arrangement had only brought you heartache. You could have had another year with your father had you not been by his side…
“Stop.” You gritted your teeth shaking your head as you pushed yourself forward, “That’s not true…”
Of course, it was true. You could have offered him anything. You were to eager to help your brother…too eager to please…
The inner monologue of doubt and self-worthlessness continued with each bitter cold step. You only found yourself stopping once almost breaking down, but that was when you heard the laughter. You knew its owner and a fire raged inside of you that made you run.
You ran toward it skidding around a corner pulling the bow out from behind you with an arrow thinking of the target in mind. The laughter only grew louder as you entered dark hallways only lit by blue flamed braziers.
“Oh my…is that supposed to scare me.” You heard bounce against the walls as you raised the bow up a little, “They certainly decked you out in what they could, didn’t they?”
“They care about me…something you wouldn’t understand.” You growled a little, eyes narrowing as you searched the shadows for any signs of him.
“Correction.” His voice hit the walls like falling ice, “They care about you enough…they only want Hades back…”
“That’s not true…” You turned the corner, “If that’s all they wanted why waste such powers on me?”
“So, you do recognize what you have…hm that’s good.” You felt breath on the back of your neck. You spun quickly hearing him laugh as you released the arrow, “You’re gonna have to be faster than that…Oh wait…your human, so you can’t.”
“Where is he?!” You shouted out hearing your own voice bounce off the walls.
“Oh…is that all you want? He’s over here…” You turned again seeing the flames brighten and large alter appeared. Attached to the altar was Hades, arms chained to each end. His head was hanging, his normally well-kept appearance bloody and dirty.
You ran to him dropping the bow next to you as your reached up to his face, “Hades…Hades, it’s me…it’s Y/N, please…”
“Oh, how sweet…the human truly loves him.” You froze hearing footsteps behind you. You pressed your forehead against Hades’ as Cronus spoke again, “It makes me want to vomit that my son has reduced himself to someone of your species…”
“Let him go.” You hissed turning your head toward him feeling your eyes burn with angry tears.
“Well, well! You are motivated…” He laughed as he turned from you, “I don’t think I will though. He hasn’t learned his lesson yet.”
You don’t know what came over you as your reached down for the bow. In a swift motion you drew back another arrow launching it at the Titan. Your eyes widened as he turned grabbing the arrow in the arrow. He looked down seeing the tip hand just pierced his chest over his heart.
“Hm…” He threw the arrow to the side before whisping right up to you grabbing your roughly by the throat. His eyes were dark as his whispered, “I am time itself…you think I didn’t know what you were going to do? You think I don’t know how far you’re willing to go?”
You swallowed feeling his fingers burn against your neck as a tear fell down your cheek, “What do you want?”
“There we go…” He took his other hand wiping the tear away with his thumb before sticking it into his mouth. His eyes shut as he made a satisfied noise, “Mm! There is nothing like the desperate tears of a lover…makes for the best ingredients, did you know that?”
He threw you back roughly against the floor in front of Hades before he went on, “If my son had even a smidge of the fire I just saw in you…we would never have been here. I almost had him refined into the god he should have been. Rhea coddled him too much. Made him soft…”
“He is not…” You looked at him shaking your head, “He’s what keeps the world in balance! He believed by almost every single belief system. He is who he has always meant to be!”
You looked at Hades seeing a soft glow around him, “He is everything I love…and I wouldn’t want him to be anything else. So please…”
Cronus watched you stand up and turn slowly to him clenching your first, “What…do you want?”
“…” You watched as a sick and twisted smile grew on Cronus’ face before he turned in a circle, “What do I want? That is the question isn’t…you see I want a lot, but that’s not for you to know…so…to appease me now well…”
He stopped in front of you holding out his hand to you smirking, “Let’s…make…a deal…”
You looked surprised which made the Titan laugh, “You didn’t think he was the one who created deals first, did you? Do you know how often my family wanted things changed and forgotten?”
The words hung in the air for a moment. You finally looked away from him crossing your arms, “Fine…Terms first…I take Hades home. To his family. Without any problems and you never do this to him again.”
“Oh, strong term.” He smirked bringing his hanging hand to his chin crossing the other across his chest, “I can accept all of that…if…”
You waited for it. You knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant, but you didn’t expect how cruel he could be, “…by the time you leave Tartarus you forget Hades.”
“What?” You stared at him, “Forget him?”
“Every step you take…” Cronus stepped toward you letting his hands flutter out from him, “A memory will fade away ceasing to exist…you have no recollection of him or his siblings by the time you leave…”
“Why?” You felt yourself tearing up looking back at Hades’ broken form, “Why are you so cruel?”
“Because he took everything from me! Now I’ll take everything from him!” You hissed in pain as Cronus grabbed your arm roughly. Light exploded pushing him away from you and you heard him cry out in pain.
You looked down at the cloak around you. It shimmered purple as handprints appeared all over it. Hades’ handprints. Aegis became what you needed in the heat of battle. Even hanging by a thread Hades was still protecting through is love. You swallowed before you nodded knowing exactly what had to be done.
“Deal.” You whispered seeing surprise ripple over his features, “I need Hades in the world…just as much as the world does. If forgetting him brings him back…then I’ll do it.”
“Well then…” He stepped forward holding out his hand to you, “Let us seal the deal.”
You reached out with no hesitation as you looked into his eyes taking his hand firmly, “Then it’s done.”
“So, shall it be.” The sound of chains falling behind you made you turn. Cronus gripped your hand tightly pulling you back to him, “Don’t try to find a way out of this…”
“I don’t intend to.” You pulled your hand from him turning to the slumped Hades. He wasn’t awake and you had to figure out how to get him out of here.
“Tick tock dear…you don’t want to be here forever do you?” Cronus spoke gleefully as you hoisted Hades’ arms over your shoulders.
His face brushed against yours as you took a step forward. You felt a shiver run over your skin as a fade image of him leaning over you helping you with homework just seemed to trail away into dust. You felt your lip tremble a little as you began to walk forward.
It was just as he said…memories began to fade away. The first stretch was the hardest. It seemed to take every little thing he’d do around you. The things you secretly enjoy. The way he sipped tea while reading. How you’d catch him staring at you and look away embarrassed.
The second stretch as you reached the summit was hard but it seemed more targeted. Conversations you had with him began to disappear. Moments where he made you felt safe above everything else. You collapsed feeling the tears flow freely down your face as saw the cliffside ahead of you.
You looked at Hades before pulling him into your lap. Frowning as you swallowed down a sob as you brushed his hair from his face, “I love you…”
He looked to be in rough shape, but he was breathing and deep down you prayed he could hear you, “I love you…don’t ever think that I didn’t. So much so…that’s why this hurts so much…”
You leaned down kissing him before you started to cry holding him to your chest. You hated this…you hated you did this to yourself, but the world needed him. You needed him to be in the world…You sniffed sitting up hoisting him up again as you looked at the cliffside wondering how you were going to manage this.
As you stood up balancing him against you, you felt a rumble through the ground. You looked over as a boulder fell away revealing a path. You let out a sigh shaking your head looking around at Tartarus, “If this you pitying me…thank you…”
You moved down the path slowly. It took you down to wear the remains of the dirt bike was. You frowned feeling another memory fade…Bay of Kotor…moped…
What? You looked at Hades’ face shaking your head as you kept moving. You had to keep moving. You had to get him home.
You legs screamed as you pulled him up the path to the steep incline you entered on. It was all downhill here. You shut your eyes clutching him to your chest as you felt his head slide into the crook of your neck.
You gasped as the image of being his room clutching to you as you were an anchor keeping him safe from the nightmares. You swallowed down the pain your heart felt and the pain your body reminded you of as you stood up again. You didn’t have the words anymore…
You descended carefully as you could, but with the weight of him your footing slipped out from underneath you. You pulled him to your shielding him with your body until you both stopped at the bottom. You were sure something was broken as you moved to look at him.
You let out a whimper as felt another pivotal memory slip away…the spring festival…his kiss… in front of everyone…As you looked at him you felt all the warmth you felt around him begin fade away. You pushed yourself up grabbing his arm putting it around shoulder as you looked forward.
The exit was there…it was so close and yet you didn’t know why you were doing this…you didn’t know why you hurt to badly…and you couldn’t understand why these people yelling for you were waving so frantically. Were you in a race?
No…you looked down to the man next to you. A gentle smile came to your mind and disappeared as you felt a pair of strong arms grab hold of you as you fell forward. You looked at a very attractive man in front of hold you up, “Y/N…are you okay?”
“I…I don’t…” You looked around putting your hands on his arm looking over at a woman and two other men looking over the man that had been with you, “I don’t know?”
“What did he say?” The man holding you got your attention, “What did our father say? How did you get him back?”
“Who?” You squinted at the man watching his face fall as pain crept on you, “I think…I think I need to go to the hospital…”
“I…” The man nodded frowning as he looked back to the others, “We’ll get you there…just hold on…just…rest…”
With his voice washing over you, you felt your eyes slowly begin to shut as trickles of a conversation filled your mind.
“And what would offer in return for this miracle?”
“Whatever it takes.”
“Whatever it takes?”
“Yes.”
“Your soul?”
“Yes.”
“That’s too easy. Your soul is already going to end up here eventually…No…I would need a real sacrifice.”
“Name it. Whatever the price is I’ll pay it.”
“I want…”
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justreadingfics · 5 years
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Looking For a Heartbeat (ch. 22/26)
Pairing: Bucky Barnes X Reader
Series Summary: You and Bucky used to be in a relationship. Feelings were hurt, you left.  It’s been two years and you’re back. You both will handle the reunion well, won’t you?
Word Count: 5,2K
Warnings for this chapter: fluff, cute kids, dad!bucky. 
A/N:  Thank you @suz-123 for being so amazing. I’m sorry for taking so  long to write this one.  For some reason it  was one of the hardest chapters for me. Ooo, I finally  have chapter count and I’ll most likely end it at the 26th.Links are messing up posts, you can find the masterlist link on my description.
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 *I’m going to add all the amazing stuff some people has made for this story on  the  masterlist link.(I should add that my Reader character has no specific physical characteristics, this is just one of the possible representations) this beautiful moodboard  was  made by @buckybarnesbeans​   thank you babe, I loved it. 
By the way, if you somehow feel inspired by my story and want to make a little something out of it, just know you’ll turn me into a very happy writer ;)
~~~
 “She’s all wrinkled.”
“Oh, man!”
“It’s ok,” You chuckle when Harry lets the frustrated whisper out at Luna’s comment, one of the two children in his arms, careful not to wake the peacefully sleeping baby in the crib, “She does look a little wrinkled now, Luna. She came out of my belly just a couple of days ago.” You continue and laugh at the grimace the little girl gives at the information.
“I think she’s cute,” Jon whispers just like his father, gaining a smile from him.
“Thank you, Jon,” You reach and fumble with his hair, “She’ll look cuter in time, I promise, Luna,” You add, amused by the kid’s blatant disappointment at the newborn looks.
Summer ended up not having to stay in intensive care, like most premature babies. The first tests had shown the serum has made her healthier than most babies, but so far that’s it. Doctor Nadine explained that, whether it would make her strong like her dad or bring her any other super characteristic or not, only time would tell.
The first couple of days after you brought Summer home have been extremely busy, with a bustle of people coming and going, everyone wanting to take a little peek at the youngest habitant of the tower, showering her with all kinds of presents from this world and others. You don’t mind it, in fact, you love it, this just means how cared for Summer is by so many of your friends… your family. Besides, it’s certainly fun to watch Steve, the massive and respectful Captain America, bursting into ugly crying every time he gets a chance to hold Summer.
Bucky likes the crowd, too. He’s always eager to show off his daughter, bragging about how healthy and big she was when she was born, how quiet she is, how well she sleeps, how cute her little cry is -which it’s not-, but you let him say whatever. Watching how big his love for your baby is will always be one of the most special things you’ve ever seen…
He’s been staying at the tower, in his old bedroom, and hardly ever leaves yours and Summer’s side. Just now, like an hour or so before Harry arrived with the kids, Bucky only left to go grab some clean clothes from his apartment. You suspect he’s staying a little longer…
“We brought presents,” Luna announces, lifting a little box to the air, after her dad puts her and her twin on the floor.
“Shhh, Luna, the baby is sleeping,” Jon places a finger over his mouth, holding another similar box in his other hand.
“It’s ok.  Summer sleeps like a rock, thank God,” You give Harry a sigh of relief, who chuckles, before you turn back to the little ones, “Ooo, presents, she loves presents, can I see them?” You crouch, reaching out for the boxes, which they both hand you, bouncing on their legs and giggling.
“They chose them themselves,” Harry says, proudly, sitting on the fluffy carpet, following you and the kids.
They both help you unwrap the boxes, and you find two little figures with big bouncy heads. You know what they are. Funko Pops. They’ve made a few of the Avengers before, including one from you.  
“This is Luna Lovegood.”  Luna announces as you stare questioningly at the little figures. She leans over and points to the female one. A blond little girl with big and weird colored glasses.
“This is Jon Snow.” Her brother, points to the male one, all in black and holding up a sword.
You shoot an entertained look at Harry, who only cringes and try to hide into himself.
“Oh, wow, Luna and Jon. It’s you guys?” You ask, already knowing the answer.
“Hum-hum,” They both nod, “And we’ll protect Summer when she cries.” Luna adds.
“Oh,” Your heart melts as you smile and your eyes can’t help but water at the sweetness of their intent, “That’s amazing. Thank you so much.” You bring the little Funkos to your chest, “Summer will love them and I’m so glad she has you guys to protect her. I’ll put them on the shelf right next to her crib, alright?”
They seem pleased with the information as they lift up their chin and smile widely. After giving each a kiss on the cheek and add Harry as a receiver of the thankful gesture, you get up to place the little images on the shelves with Summer’s many stuffies her dad bought her. Not to mention the human size one Tony gave her and now occupies a great deal of the room.
“Mr. Bucky!”
You hear them both shouting in unison and look over your shoulder just in time to watch the two little kids running and throwing themselves at Bucky, who promptly catches them by the  door.
“Ugh, hey, hey,” He adjusts them on each arm, grinning, “How are you guys doing?”
“We’re fine, your little baby is sleeping,” Luna informs quickly, swinging her legs and playing with a lock of his hair absentmindedly.
“She’s cute,” Jon adds from the other arm making Bucky’s smile grow even bigger.
“She is, isn’t she, pal?”
“She’s a little too wrinkled now, but Y/N says she’ll get cuter soon, we brought her presents, look, there’s a huge bear over there, bigger than you, Mr. Bucky,” Luna utters quickly and effusively, with her usual and childish honesty.
Bucky laughs a full belly laugh, before placing them back on the floor. He smiles at you before turning to Harry, who’s now standing up, trying to find some place on his clothes to shove his hands into.
“Hey, man,” Bucky clears his throat and his smile drops a bit when he reaches his hand for Harry to shake.
“Hey, ahm, Summer is beautiful, congratulations,” Harry says, accepting his handshake.
The smile tugs at Bucky’s lips again at the mention of Summer, and after thanking him and letting go of Harry’s hand, he walks towards the crib to watch her sleeping.
You sigh, grabbing a couple of stuffies to show the kids… You noticed how tense Bucky got at the sight of Harry …You hate that.
“Oh, well, well, if it ain’t the Super Spy twins I see? I should take cover.”
“Auntie Nat,” Another burst of happy squeals fills up the room and you’re thankful Summer really seems to be a pretty heavy sleeper so far.
The twins rush to go give Nat a hug. You can’t help but beam at the scene. Nat has told you she and Harry had took the kids on a couple of dates -  without actually telling them about the true nature of their relationship and by the “auntie” before “Nat” and the excitement on their little faces as she crouches to receive their hug, the dates were a success. You couldn’t be happier for your friend.
Glancing over Harry,  you spot the stupid and infatuated look you have ever seen someone put on as his gaze is stuck on the three of them. When his eyes flicker and meet yours, he instantly  straightens up, clearing his throat and blushing harder than when he met Steve.
You chuckle quietly, but doesn’t say or let out any sign of the fact you know exactly the cause of the dumb look on his face.  If they want it that way, you respect that. All this while Bucky remains oblivious to the scene, completely enamored of the little figure on the crib, just staring at her, like he’s done a lot the last few days.
“Hey, Nat,” you greet, with a smirk adorning your face as you saunter over  her, raising a suggestive eyebrow before you hand the little stuffies to Luna and Jon.
“Ahhh, so cute,” Luna yelps and she and Jon entertain themselves with the little bears.
“Hey, hot mama,” She greets back, kissing your cheek, “Hey, there,” She says in her huskiest voice and nods at Harry, taking a not so subtle bite on her lip as she shamelessly gives him a once over.
“H-hi, hey,” He stutters, adjusting his glasses. He doesn’t even dare to look at your direction. How haven’t you noticed those two before?     
“Where’s my girl?” Natasha turns back to you - as if she hasn’t just almost murdered Harry – and puts emphasis on girl. After Summer was born and the secrecy was over, Nat was the absolutely cheeriest in finding out Summer was a girl. I knew it, not a traitor. You believe these were the exact first words she said to the baby with happy tears in her eyes, “Is our little sun, asleep?” She asks, already moving over to the crib.  
In line with her question, the cry Bucky insists on calling “sweet” fills up the room.
“There she is,” you laugh and everyone’s attention turn to the little baby already in Bucky’s arms.
You walk over him as he rocks her and simultaneously checks her diaper, “Ooo, a pretty girl needs a change,” he announces, “Hey, Nat,” He smiles, “It’s ok, it’s my turn,” He addresses to you when you reach to take her, and, as he strikes a baby talk with Summer, he already places her on the changer. You notice he ends up touching her with his metal arm – the gentlest of touches- which makes you feel relieved and proud at the same time.    
“Oh, ok. I think it’s time to feed her again, too. I’ll do it after you’re done.” You say.   
As he starts the process of changing Summer, with the most tender moves you’ve ever seen, Nat stands beside him, caressing her face with the back of her finger and quietly singing a Russian lullaby to soothe her exasperated crying. Your heart turns into a puddle at the scene of two of the deadliest assassins in the world at the complete mercy of the little baby.
“Ahm, we should go, kids.” Harry calls from behind you, enticing effusive lament sounds from the little ones, who’ve been playing with the stuffies.
“Oh no, you don’t have to,” You try to argue as you turn back to them. 
Summer has now eased down her crying, allowing Auntie Nat to the rescue, “Why don’t we go grab some ice cream, huh guys?” She claps her hand, bending over.
Two little faces light up at the proposal, “I want three scoops.” Luna shouts, dropping the stuffie to the floor as her little feet bolts towards a grinning Nat. 
“I want four.” Jon quickly follows her sister and, just  like her, grabs Nat’s hand before they both start pulling her towards the door. 
“Five…” You hear the little girl’s voice, as they’re already out of the room.
When Harry turns to you he’s not even trying to hide the shit-eating smile on his lips anymore. He shrugs before you tell your goodbyes.
~~~
Becoming a mother is truly an interesting process, to say the least,  you understand it more and more, as the months go by with Summer by your side. While one moment it feels like you’ve been awakened for too long, the hours of feeding are endless and you miss missions and it’s like you’ll never adjust to your new routine; at others, you’re crying because your baby is growing too fast, you’re afraid to screw her up and you don’t want to do anything but hold her close to you and never let go.
You love your kid with all your heart and more than anything, but you’re still trying to figure out how to be a mother most of the time- earning you a  lot of long ass sessions with Heloise. While every so often you struggle with your new life, Bucky, as it turns out, is a natural. It’s like he was born to be a father. He does everything with you: he gives her baths, he rocks her to sleep, changes diapers, tells stories she, despite being too young to actually understand them, pays focused attention on... Little by little, his fear of touching her with his metal arm has vanished and it’s like he doesn’t even remember he has it. As a matter of fact, it turns out to be a very useful tool to cool down Summer when the heat is too strong.
One night, while you three struggle with infant cramps and he calms her down by waddling her snugly in a blanket, rubbing soft circles on her back, he tells you he’s been remembering of how he used to take care of his younger sisters and that’s why it seems so much easier with Summer now.
Around the second month after her birth he still hasn’t gone back to his apartment and that’s when the following scene takes place, while you’re feeding Summer on the couch in your living room and he’s right there by your side, dreamily caressing her chubby cheeks -  a habit that often distracts the baby and makes her stop sucking and prolonging the time you spend feeding her, but you would never tell him that. A particularly loud sigh from him catches your attention, making you shift your gaze from your daughter, peacefully dozing in your arms, to him.
“Are you ok?” You asked softly as your eyebrows draw together.
His gaze snaps to you for a second before it drops back to Summer, “Yeah, it’s just… I have to come back to my apartment and… it hurts…” He sighs, “Just the idea of staying away from her… it physically pains me.”
“Oh,” it slips from your mouth, before you look back to her. You imagine what it would feel if you had to stay apart from her… No. Not happening, “Why do you have to go?” You ask.
Hopeful eyes bore into yours, “You wouldn’t mind? I mean…”
His hesitation makes you scoff, “Why would I? This is your home.” You say, shrugging and nodding at Summer, making clear what you mean by “home.”
At the very next day, Bucky moves back to the Tower. But, instead of occupying his old room, he accepts your offer to stay  in a spare bedroom in the apartment Tony made for you. Three floors apart would be too far away from Summer, after all…
On the days after his moving, it doesn’t slip from your attention that, after you ask Friday to wake you up again if he had nightmares – like you did what if feels like ages ago- not even once she ends up having to do it, since, while he’s not taking care of Summer, he sleeps peacefully and deeply…
~~~
When Summer is six months old you decide to go back to missions. You start with small and quick ones that don’t require you to leave the city. Staying away from her those few moments is a sweet pain, but one you know it’ll be good for you. And for her, honestly.
Bucky decides to wait a little longer, which you’re glad for. You’re not sure how you feel about a nanny or daycare yet. Bucky’s safe and you’re very fond of safe when it comes to your baby daughter.
One of his favorite things in the world is to dress up Summer. While you usually go for the most practical pieces of clothing you find, he likes to adorn her hair with big bows, ribbons, tiaras, cute hats matching the most adorable dresses, buying her new ones almost on a daily basis. All of it very comfortable and harmless for her, of course.
She’s nine months old when Tony pulls up a small party to celebrate Pepper’s birthday. If it were up to him, he would definitely go big at the celebration, but Pepper said she preferred something small and he respected it. Well, at least as far as Tony Stark’s concept of “small” would go.  He uses the pool area for the party, inviting the Avengers, a few agents from fellow organizations and a small group of friends.  
This is Summer’s first real party and she looks absolutely endearing in Bucky’s arms when you three walk into the place. He’s chosen a red dress with white polka dots for her. There’s a white bowknot on the waist matching a big ribbon of the same color on her head and white little party shoes. She’s swaying her legs back and forth, as one arm rests lazily around her dad’s neck and she shifts her gaze from him to all the people who stop by to tell her what a beautiful baby she is.
Each day she looks more and more like you, but some traces are all her father’s, like her big blue eyes. But what really fills your heart with love and pride is that Summer is growing into a pretty sociable and charming kid. Everyone around her at the party gains a huge smile as a response and, if the praise really pleases her, she lets out a giggle and puts up a funny scrunched up face you’ve taught her to do. The cutest.
“Auntie Nat… Auntie Nat…” Natasha repeats in a baby voice, playing with Summer’s little hand.
“Cool down, Natasha, she’s nine months old.” Sam rolls his eyes beside her, before shaking his head at you.  
“This girl is a prodigy. And, you don’t get to say anything, it’s already enough her first smile was to you.” Nat grimaces at him.
“She loves Uncle Sam, don’t you, pretty girl? Don’t you?” Sam also uses his baby voice, brushing his finger on Summer’s nose, pulling out a giggle from the happy baby and a snarl from Nat.   
Her first smile was indeed aimed to Sam while he made a weird dance for her. Bucky was absolutely devastated. At least he turned out being the second person to make her smile, by imitating exactly what Sam was doing. However, for Steve’s dismay and many of the others, her undeniably favorite uncle is Thor with all the lightning magic he pulls for her, even if he doesn’t show up as much as the others. She loves all her uncles and aunties, though, dearly, which she should for being so spoiled by all of them.
“Come on, stop it. She loves all of you, guys…” You intercede. You can’t resist and pop a loud kiss on your daughter’s soft and chubby cheek. 
“But no more than she loves her daddy, of course.” Bucky pecks her other one and you two end up trapping the baby girl between a series of tiny kisses.      
“Oh, God, that’s too sweet, I’m gonna get sick…” Sam makes a face, but smiles anyway and you pull your tongue out, “Ok. I’m going to take a look around,” He says, after chuckling at the three of you.  
“Me too,” Nat says,  “Are you guys sitting down here?” She asks, pointing at the nearest table.
You’ve just arrived, but haven’t really still settled. When the favorite little person of the team gets in the place, there’s a lot of stops on your way so everyone can say hello and gush praises on her.  
“Uhm, yeah,” You answer, before addressing to Bucky, “What about we sit for a moment, then we can take Summer to play a bit and watch the kids.” You point to the playground where a number of recreation workers entertain the children.
“Yeah, sounds good.” Bucky agrees, already pushing stroller with his free hand towards the table.
After Nat and Sam leave and the three of you set yourselves on the round table, Wanda approaches and somehow manages to steal Summer from Bucky’s arms, sitting down next to you and snatching the kid’s attention with red drawings in the air.
“I’m gonna go say hello to Steve and grab some food, I’m starving. Do you want anything?” Bucky asks you, already getting up.
“Oh, sure, thank you.” You’re starving too, getting ready to go out with a baby, even in the same tower you live, isn’t a walk in the park and you’ve forgotten to eat at all that morning, “Can you bring, uhm,” You twist your mouth and frown, thinking about all the goodies that can be easily found at Tony’s parties every single  time, “Ooo, see if there’s lobster sliders, ugh, of course, those little fried shrimp balls, a bit of potato chips and-”
“Garlic bread.” He winks at you with a knowing smirk on his face.
A smile twists your lips widely, enticing one of his own, “Yeah, garlic bread,” You confirm, softly.  
Someone clearing their throat bursts the little bubble quickly growing around you and him. This… the bubble… has been happening a lot lately. You turn to the sound’s direction to see Wanda staring at both of you, eyebrows high on her forehead, while Summer is also watching quietly you and Bucky from her lap. 
“Oh, do you want anything, Wands?” Bucky asks, brushing the back of his neck.
“I’m good, thanks.”  She answers with a small smile.
“Alright, be right back.” He rushes away after kissing the top of Summer’s head.
You lean to grab a bottle of water from the bucket of ice a waiter has left there when you sat.
“What the hell are you doing?”  
“What do you mean?” You don’t look at Wanda, pouring some water on your glass before  taking a sip.
“You and Bucky.”
“Don’t even go there, Wands. There’s no me and Bucky.” You notice Summer starting to fuss with nothing to do and reach for the bag the grab and give her a pair of maracas, her current favorite toy.   She accepts it and promptly starts to swing them to the air, loving the noise it produces. You smile fondly at her.
“You’re honestly going to tell me you don’t see what’s going on?” Wanda tilts her head.
You shrug, still focusing on Summer, who keeps playing excitedly on her aunt’s lap.
“I think it’s been what?” Wanda insists with a bit of impatience seeping into her tone, “Nine months since I last saw you two separated from one another? You’re keep doing things together and for each other… I felt completely invisible here. Did he actually complete your sentence? For God’s sake, he lives in your apartment, Y.N.”
Your eyes snap up to her.
“You’re living a married life without actually being married.” Her gaze bore into yours and you can see the care in them.
You halt for a second. If you think about it, it’s true. You haven’t talked about your relationship again but you did fall into a routine of a couple. You do everything together, he’s living with you…  You haven’t even thought about seeing someone else and you’re pretty sure he hasn’t either. It feels so different from before… before you left, but at the same time, it feels like nothing has changed, like you’ve never left and you still belong to each other. Except you don’t… Not really. 
 It’s been good this way. So good… but you would die and kill to kiss him again. Not a kiss like the one you two gave at Summer’s birth, but a passionate, devastatingly breathtaking kiss, you dream about frequently…to feel his hot skin against yours… to hold him in your sleep...
But this is you… It doesn’t mean he feels the same way and if you try anything and this isn’t what he wants or maybe what he’s ready for…
“We’re being parents, Wands.” When you finally speak is but a whisper. “We haven’t had time to think of anything other than Summer all this time. You’re right, we’ve been really…huh… attached to each other ever since she was born and it’s so worthy to be like this. I’m so happy. He’s happy. I’m afraid that…” You take in a deep breath, looking down.
“That if you try to change it, you’ll lose it. You’ll lose him.” Wanda speak your mind and you know she is not even using her powers.
You nod quietly.
“Oh, honey…”
You tighten your lips in a sad smile and shrug.
“Hey, there,” Harry’s voice catches the attention from both of you as he walks towards the table. Well, the three of you, actually, since Summer swings her little maracas even harder and puts on a beautiful and almost toothless grin for him.
After you and Wanda answer his greeting, Harry goes straight to Summer and excuses himself to grab her from Wanda’s lap, lifting her into the air, ripping out happy squeaks from the baby and fond looks from the two adults, seizing the previous subject completely. Harry and the kids have been visiting a lot ever since she was born and Summer absolutely adores them, especially the kids.
“Where’s Luna and Jon?” You ask. 
“Oh, they went straight to the playground.”  He answers after blowing a few raspberries on Summer’s  stomach,  making her squirm and giggle.  “I was looking for…ahm,” He seems taken aback for a moment, shifting gazes from you to Wanda, “I haven’t seen anyone else, is, huh, everyone here, yet?”
Wanda smirks at you, before standing up, “Don’t worry, I’ll let Nat know you’re here. I’ll talk to you later, Y/N,” She taps Harry’s shoulder on her way out.
Harry’s jaw drops at her comment and he’s livid when he looks back at you, “I- why- I don’t know why she-”
“Hush, Harry,” you snicker, interrupting him while before he becomes a stuttering mess, “Come, sit here,” you tap Wanda’s vacant spot and he does as you say, a sheepish and confused look on his face, “I know.”  You smile at him.
He gapes at you while he adjusts Summer on his lap and she goes back to play with her pair of maracas, “You know?” His whole face turns into crimson red and his eyes grow impossibly round.
“I do, took me  a while to figure it out I admit it,” you shake your head, mocking a disappointment face at yourself, “I’m not sure how long Wanda knows but, powers or not, it’s almost impossible to hide anything from her,” you add a little bitterly given the bit of conversation you’ve just had with her.
“Oh…  I thought no one knew yet.” He seems lost in his own thoughts. 
“Listen, Harry,” You lean closer to him, “I understand why you two decided to keep it as a secret, but I just wanted you to know…I’ve never seen her so happy as these last few months.”
His whole face lights up and he can’t help the curl on his lips while he adjusts his glasses on his face, “R-really?”
“Really,” You nod, smiling “And I’m so damn happy for the two of you, as well. You both deserve what’s best.”
While his grin grows bigger, Summer eyes raise from her maracas to you and she drops the toy to the floor, reaching her little arms to you. 
“Oh, come here, my little sun,” You promptly take her from Harry’s lap to yours. Someone misses mommy and your heart never ceases to skip a beat every time she does that.
After you kiss your daughter’s forehead and tickle her sides, she lays back comfortably against you and you go back to Harry,  “You better take care of her, mister, or you’ll have to deal with one super person or two.”
 “Oh no, don’t worry, I’ve only felt this way once before, and…”He says quietly, “Goddammit, I love her… I love her.” He repeats as his chest heavies.
“Oh my God, Harry.” You gasp and immediately pulls him into a hug, which he quickly  responds. Two of your best friends in love- because you damn well know Nat’s in love with him too- is one hell of a huge thing and your heart fills up with pride and hope for them.
When you part from Harry, you spot a broad figure standing by the table. Summer lets out happy squeals at the sight of her father. He only takes his eyes away from Harry  to smile at the baby, while managing to carry four plates filled with food on his arms.
“Oh, hey.” Harry beams, the joy of the confession still lingering on his whole demeanour.
“Hey, uhm, Wanda told me to tell you to come back to the playground and you’ll find what you’re looking for.” Bucky narrows his eyes at him.
“Oh, ok”  Harry can’t hide his excitement when his gaze find yours, “Got to go, see you guys around?”
“Sure,” You nod at him, still smiling.
Once he’s gone, Bucky takes his seat beside you, disposing the plates on the table. You put Summer on the stroller, handing her a few more toys, so you two can take a little time to eat.
 A few minutes later you have already devoured the lobster slider and Bucky remains silent, apart from a brooding noise or two as answers to your attempts at making conversation. He hasn’t even touched his food and just plays with it in a very evident gloomy way.  
Considering Harry is a constant presence in your lives, one would think Bucky would have cooled down his initial wariness of him. And he did. He truly did. However, you notice sometimes he gets like this when you’re somehow a little too expressive with your friendly affection for Harry. You’re not sure if this is jealous and of what he could be jealous of, but you hate to see him like that.  
“Hey, Bucky,” you call, absentmindedly.
He just hums to acknowledge it.  
“Take a look over there.”
He gazes at you, before following the direction of your pointing finger: Nat and Harry, right across the pool, with their back to you as they watch Luna and Jon playing with the rest of the kids. Sam standing on Nat’s other side.  
“What?” He frowns at you.
“Just…keep looking.”
He turns back to them and, just a few seconds later, you both watch as Nat’s hand navigates smoothly to grab one of Harry’s butt cheeks.
You laugh quietly when Bucky’s jaw drops.  
“No way,” his eyes widen and he looks back at you.
“Way…Since that car accident, before Summer was born,” You inform, relishing in his astonished expression. A very similar one to the face you’ve might have had when you found out.
He lets out a loud and long laugh and his shoulder loses all the tenseness. Shaking his head in disbelief, he reaches out and grabs a piece of garlic bread from your plate to shove it in his mouth. 
A small smile remains on his lips for the rest of the day while Wanda’s words echo into your mind…
What the hell are you doing?
~ ~ ~
Ch.  23 coming soon. 
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p-artsypants · 4 years
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Arcadia or Bust (16) Corner of Main and State
"Yeah, so mom…we made it to New Jersey, and we're all safe...but the Heartstone isn't really...impressive. So, we're bringing what we found home. See you soon!" In Which Arcadia welcomes back it's underground citizens, Jim gets used to mundane life as a Troll, and drama seeks them all out like a magnet.
Ao3 | FF.net
I’m rewatching Trollhunters, because it’s been like a year since I watched it, and the more I listen, the less the plot of Wizards makes sense to me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, but there’s some lore and continuity issues. That being said, I’ll continue to write this story using Trollhunter’s lore primarily, with a sprinkle of Wizards and 3Below lore as I see fit. :)
Jim had been through a lot of trauma in his life. At least since becoming the Trollhunter. But nothing was as jarring as looking down to his chest and seeing his ribcage, muscles, and heart beating. 
They had taken the amulet from where it was nestled, and in return, left the gaping hole wide open, oozing with blood, and exposed. Could trolls get infections? Because humans certainly could, and this was just asking for infection. 
He had been lying here alone for a few hours now. It was hard to tell exactly how long in the vast passage of time while drenched in pain. 
When Colonel Kubritz appeared at his side, he wasn’t even surprised. Had he fallen asleep?
“How do you get this to work?” She bit. In her hand, she held the cleaned amulet, and it glowed, aching to be back with him. 
“You can’t. You have to be chosen by it. Even if I die, it will pick someone else. And it might not be you.” 
She slapped him for that, but it looked like it hurt her more than him, by the wince on her face. “Don’t give me that crap. Tell me how to work it!” 
“Just speak the incantation inscribed.”
“We already tried that.”
He shrugged. “That’s all it is.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Teach me to use it, and I’ll let you go home.” 
Jim sighed. It was pointless, but he may as well try. 
Claire rang the doorbell at the designated house. 
A surly man opened the door. “Yeah? What do you want? No solicitors! Unless you’re a girl scout…no, you’re too old. Are you with the tamale lady?” 
“Hello sir, I’m not here to sell anything, I actually came to ask about the car you had totaled a few days ago.”
“Are you here to hunt down that devil that flipped my baby?!” He gestured to the smashed in car in the driveway. It looked drivable, but one bump away from death. 
“Not quite...I’m actually here to fix it.” 
“Fix it? You want to fix that? My mechanic couldn’t even fix it! And you want to! What are you, 15?” 
“17, actually.” 
“I doubt you have the experience for this, little lady.” 
“Oh, I’m not a mechanic, I’m a sorceress.” 
“A what now?” 
“Sorceress, a witch! Do I have permission to fix your truck?” 
“Girlie, if you can fix my truck, I’ll owe you a huge favor.” 
“I was hoping you’d say that!” With a little skip, Claire went over to the truck and rested her hands on the hood. “Ad initium redire...” Her hands glowed purple, and pulsed against the metal, making it groan. Then it began to twist and crunch, popping out dents and welding pieces back together. 
The old man stood in shock as his beloved truck knit back together, and when she was done, it was in perfect condition. 
“How did—where did you—?!” He rounded the car, circling it like a vulture. “It’s perfect! You even took out that bump from years ago! You’re a miracle worker, girlie!” 
Claire fell on her butt on the driveway, dizzy and winded. “Glad to help.” 
“You alright?” 
“Just a little winded. I’m still getting used to using magic, especially without a staff. It’s exhausting.” 
“Well why don’t you take a seat up on the porch instead of the road? I’ll get you a beer.” 
“I’m seventeen.” 
“You’ve earned it!” 
Claire chuckled to herself and climbed to her feet. She followed the man up his steps and took a seat on the porch swing while he went inside. 
Only a minute later, he returned with beers in hand. “Here you are darlin’. Summertime ale. I’m partial to dark ale myself, but my neighbor got me this pale ale. It’s pretty good! You have a favorite?” 
Claire took a sip and tried to hide the grimace. “I don’t really get to drink very often, unless it’s a special occasion.” 
“Right right, we’ll keep it our little secret. Now then, I owe you a favor. You just saved me a whole chunk of change and a basket of anxiety. You must have something in mind since you offered?” He suddenly sat up straight. “Oh god, you don’t want my soul do you?” 
Claire snorted. “No no, you can keep your soul! Don’t know what I would do with it anyways...You know the boy that damaged your truck in the first place?” 
“I only saw a glimpse of him, that blue devil? What about him?” 
“He’s actually my boyfriend, and he’s really very sweet and usually not like this. But he was...fed something he shouldn’t have had and it made him go berserk.” 
“Crying shame.” 
“I’ll say! So the army came in and took him away! They wouldn’t listen to us at all!” 
“So what do you want me to do about it?” 
“We are going to run a campaign to get him out. Hopefully, if we get enough attention on the issue, they’ll let him go.” 
“Oh, I gotcha.” 
“So if you could just...spread the truth around town? He’s actually the one that stopped that troll invasion back at the beginning of summer.” 
The man looked surprised at that. “No kidding, that was him? Well, he’s a local hero! He’s been talked about a lot since then! Sure I’ll set the record straight! What’s this kid’s name?”
“Jim Lake Jr.” 
“Got it! Don’t worry, I’ll bring it up at the lodge, and the rotary, and the chess club...”
The phone was ringing, he had been successfully patched through. Strickler sat in his office after hours, wanting to make the call as private as possible. 
“Stricklander, I haven’t heard from you since the fall of the Janus order. What reason have you called on me?” 
“Can’t I just call an old friend to catch up?”
“You? No.”
Walt cracked a smile. “Fine. I need a favor.” 
“Changeling to changeling, or school principal to army general?” 
“The latter, actually.” 
The man on the other line laughed. “Color me intrigued.” 
“You know of the human Trollhunter, correct?”
“Just what you wrote in your dossier, a human male, 16 years old, lives in Arcadia Oaks, California, turned half-troll by the wizard Merlin. Responsible for the death of Bular and Gunmar. Quite a remarkable young soul. Is there anything else to know?”
“He��s been captured by the United States Army.”
The man let out half a chuckle. “Captured? What dumb trouble did he get into?”
“His deadbeat father left out some cocaine for the boy to find, he thought it was trash, and ate it.”
Distantly on the other line, there was laughter, a strong bark of laughter that lasted far too long. When he came back, he was calm. “How unfortunate.” 
“He’s a good kid. Why would there be a kilogram of cocaine in the trash anyways? I fail to see the humor in the situation.” 
“Of course. So, I assume, he went on a rampage following his meal, and then attracted the attention of some of us?” 
“So you haven’t heard about it?” 
“Not where I’m stationed. But give me a moment.” The line went silent, only a very distant and quiet tapping of keys on a keyboard being tapped. Then the man returned. “I’m glad you told me about this. This incident hasn’t been reported to our database. That shows evidence of misconduct. Did you get the name of the commanding officer responsible, by chance?” 
“Colonel Kubritz, I believe.” 
More typing. “Area 49-B.”
“That name was also passed around.” 
“Technically not my jurisdiction, and since she didn’t report it, I’m not supposed to know about it.”
“I’m afraid you will officially know about it soon.” 
“Oh?”
“His friends and family, myself included, are going to put on a protest for his freedom. Drawing attention to the situation.” 
That echoing laughter was back again. 
“It wasn’t my idea, in case you were wondering.” 
“I know, you wouldn’t come up with something so bold. Regardless, go ahead in through with it. I’ll make sure whatever protest happens gets brought to my superior’s attention, and then I will take it from there.” 
“Thanks. I will owe you one.” 
“Oh come now, Walter, we Changelings that survived the Fall of the Janus order have to stick together. Besides, I heard rumors that you’re caring for my familiar?”
“He’s still in the cradle stone, and the moment. One baby at a time, for now.” 
“Then we’re even. Besides, this is the most interesting thing that’s happened in a while. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” 
“Your kindness is refreshing. I’m glad Gunmar didn’t eat you.” 
“Gee, thanks.” 
“We’ll be in touch then, Samuel.” 
“Of course, Walter.” 
“How goes the car repair?” Asked Merlin, as he met up with Toby and Claire in the park. 
“Ugh, exhausting. First I stopped at the mechanics, and they’re still backed up with fixing other cars. Apparently, Gunmar’s army did a number and backed them up for months. But they gave me the names of all the clients who got totaled from Jim. I had to hit the scrap yard for four of them, and I just finished another two in driveways.” 
“How many does that leave you with?”
“Seven more,” she sighed. “How goes the road work?”
“It goes. Now come along, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” He didn’t wait for them to follow as he turned and started walking away. 
Sharing a dubious look, Toby and Claire quickly caught up with him. He led them to a bookstore, where a young man was sweeping outside. 
“Hisirdoux, my faithful and loyal apprentice—“
“You're damn straight I’m loyal!” He shouted. “Where have you been? I’ve been cleaning tables for the last 900 years!” 
“Calm yourself boy, I’m here now, aren’t I? And I need your help.” 
“Finally! What is it? Just say the word!”
“I need you to go with Miss Claire Nuñez and help her restore recently smashed vehicles.”
“What?”
“Or, you can repair street damage.” 
Douxie crossed his arms. “What is this? I saw what happened! There were trolls, and evidence of Morgana! And now you need my help? To clean up, several months later?”
“That is correct.” 
“Why didn’t you call for me back then?!”
“I forgot.” 
“You forgot? About me?”
“Oh come now, don’t take it personally. I was busy trying to prepare the Trollhunter to fight Gunmar. And get my magic back from Morgana.” 
Douxie seemed to become more sympathetic at that. “Morgana stole your magic?” 
“Yes, but it’s all in the past now. Everything is fine. Well, not really. Seems that the US Army has declared the Trollhunter as a menace to society. We must get the trust of the city on our side if we are to get them to trust us, and agree that his capture is unjust.” 
“Please,” said Claire. “We need all the help we can get.” 
Douxie sighed. “Alright. Afterwards, you’re training me again.” He gave Merlin a hard look. “And no amateur magic either. I’ve been doing the same drills for 900 years. I think I’m ready for more advanced work.”
“Oh, you will be. Starting with helping Miss Nuñez field her shadow magic.”
Douxie looked at her, in awe. “You’re practicing shadow magic? Truly?”
“It’s a recent development…”
“She took Morgana’s Skathe-Hrün, and wielded it without any training. Because of that she has a tether to Morgana in the Shadow realm, who has been teaching her ever so slightly. I’m not allowed to train her, but she could use the guidance of a Wizard in the physical realm. Do you understand Hisirdoux?” 
“I do, and I’ll be happy to teach her…I’m just…I’ll need a moment or two to digest the sentence you just said.” 
“Well, don’t take too long, we have a Trollhunter to rescue!” 
There was a heavy knock on the door, which was never a good thing. Especially nowadays. 
Still, Barbara went to the door. 
Standing there was Detective Scott and James Lake Sr. 
“Does this belong to you?” Asked the detective. 
“I don’t claim him, no.” 
Her almost ex-husband smiled at her, pleadingly, “Please Babs?” 
“What is he even doing out? You arrested him!”
“About that…” Detective Scott winced. “We don’t have enough to keep him on.” 
“What!” She shouted. “He confessed in front of a bunch of people!”
“Which would be helpful if we had a case for a trial. But as it stands, he doesn’t actually have any drugs on him. And we don’t have a confession on tape. So…we’re shit out of luck.” 
“Oh come on Louis, you know the cocaine came from him! Where else would Jim have gotten it from?” 
“Look, the chief’s not thrilled that we didn’t arrest the guy responsible for trashing the town, but we’re supposed to arrest someone else without evidence?” 
Barbara threw her hands up in the air. “With probable cause!” 
“That doesn’t work with drug dealers. He’s clean, Barbara. All the blood tests came back clean too.” 
“Ugh.”
The house shook slightly, and Barbara felt the floor bow behind her. “Is there a problem, officer?” Asked Draal. 
“Nothing you can help with, Draal. Thank you.” Barbara sighed. “James is not being charged.” 
“But he is a criminal, this degenerate flesh bag poisoned the Trollhunter! He should face banishment for his crimes!” 
James withered a little with the glare Draal gave him. 
“Well,” said Officer Scott. “Maybe you can keep an eye on him from now on. If you have evidence that he is dealing, like physical traces of cocaine on the premises, call us. But for now, there’s not much else we can do.” 
“This is ludicrous.”
“I know, I’m sorry Barbara. How is Jim?”
She frowned. “You haven’t heard? The army came and collected him from the hospital!”
Louis sputtered. “The army came?!”
“Yes!”
“Where were they when Gunmar was terrorizing us?” He scoffed. “Again, sorry Barbara, I can’t help you here.” 
“It’s alright. We’ve got a plan.” 
“Love to hear it, but I’ve got to get back to the office. I’m sure Toby will tell Darci, and she’ll tell me. Good luck!” And he left James on the porch. 
“Babs, I’m sorry…” 
“Save it.” Barbara scoffed, but allowed him in the house. 
Draal never took his eyes off the man. 
“Well, you’ll be happy to know I have no more supply. And after Rudy found out what happened to my last Kilo, she’s not getting anymore for me. So…”
“I’ll have to thank Jim for keeping a kilogram of Cocaine off the streets of Arcadia. We have a fairly low rate of drug use around here, and we don’t need you to ruin people’s lives.” 
James sighed, knowing he had dodged a huge bullet by being let off the hook. He’d rather deal with his wife than with his ex-associates in jail any day. “I think I’ve still ruined people’s lives anyway.” He walked into the living room, only to halt at the signs on the table. 
Release Jim Lake Jr. 
Justice for Jim
Let Lake Go!
“Babs, what is all this?”
“That’s part of our plan to free Jim! I’m friends with the councilwoman, and she suggested that we campaign for his release. Bringing a lot of unwanted attention onto his capture will stir the government to let him go!”
James jutted out his jaw, a sign of barely concealed rage. An expression Barbara had grown very used to in the last few months. “So, you’re going to put his name—my name in the news? You’re going to broadcast what city we live in?” 
“Yes.” 
He whirled on her, grabbing her arm. “Babs, people are looking for me! Horrible, mean, and ruthless people! If you put his name out there, they’ll know where to look!” 
“All the better! Then they can come take you off my hands!” 
“You don’t understand! I owe them a lot of money, and they’ll take it anyway they can! That includes extorting you, Jim, and whoever else they connect with me!” 
Draal stepped in, removing his hand from Barbara’s arm. “This house is under my protection. If anyone dare tries to enter, they will be dealt with swiftly.”
“You don’t know what these men are capable of.” 
“I assure you, I’ve decimated armies of flesh bags in my day. These men are no different.”  
Barbara smiled. “If you’re really that scared, I hear Vermont is lovely this time of year.” 
James just narrowed his eyes, before storming out of the room.
The first rally took place from 3pm to dusk, starting from after school, and leading up to when Trolls would be able to participate. Granted, it was only a handful of people, but standing in the middle of downtown did garner a lot of attention. More than a dozen people walking past had stopped to ask about the cause. They were then given a short synopsis of the situation, as it pertained to them:
“Jim is a 16 year old student who was chosen by the trolls to be our protector. He willingly gave up his humanity to defeat Gunmar the Black, the monstrous troll that attacked the city at the beginning of the summer. Now, he looks like a troll, and was sabotaged to go into a rage and damage the city. The US army took him away without a trial! He’s a hero to the city, and deserves fair treatment!”
Reactions ranged from: 
“Oh, he stopped that thing?”
To:
“Oh my god! He’s just a child!” 
Overwhelmingly, there was no negative feedback, at least in person. But it was only day one. 
“This daylight...is it significant?” The colonel asked, as she circled his table. 
“It’s just a name.” Jim lied. “A sword with a name is stronger than one without.” 
“Interesting. Interesting indeed. According to my notes, trolls turn to stone in daylight. Any correlation there?” 
So she already knew? Then what was the point? Was she just playing with him?
“I’m the Trollhunter, and I fight bad trolls. It would make sense to name my sword after something they’re afraid of.” 
She hummed. “And what about you?” 
“What about me?” 
“Are you afraid of daylight?” 
“Why would I be?” 
The colonel laughed. “Oh Jim Lake Jr. You’re the worst liar I’ve ever met. You are honest and forthcoming with truths that work in your favor. You freely told me of your transformation, and of your victory against a Troll tyrant. But now that I’m edging on the topic of your weakness, you clam up and give me vague answers. I can do this all day, beast. What does daylight do to you?”
“Nothing. It doesn’t do anything to me.” 
“Really? Even as a troll? That’s interesting.” 
“It’s fortunate.” 
“I would say so. Though, now you’ve got me curious. These burns on your skin…where did they come from?” She dragged her fingernail over one of the dark marks.
Jim winced. “I don’t know. I wasn’t aware in my rage state.”
“Then you won’t mind if I find out for myself?” She crooked a finger towards the shadows. Jim could hear the creak of wheels before a lamp with several fixtures was wheeled forward. 
“Oh no…”
“UV lights, all different wattages. Let’s see what works the best, hmm?”
ARCADIA TRIBUNE
Justice for Jim
By Nadja Chamack 
Who is Jim Lake Jr. anyway? This is a question I asked myself as I drove downtown three days ago. No doubt, you’ve seen the crowd of students and teachers holding signs on the corner of Main and State Street. It’s pretty hard to miss, quite honestly. Among the students, there’s also Councilwoman Nuñez, and resident Troll Mascot, ARRRGH! Signs range from ‘Justice for Jim’ to ‘Free our Lake’. 
But who is Jim Lake Jr.? And what happened? A precursory search on my end showed only a scant few facts. Jim is a student at Arcadia Highschool, in his Junior year. He was nominated as Spring Fling King last year, and played the part of Romeo in the school play. His criminal record seemed pretty clean too. A misdemeanor for scratching a rental scooter was all that showed up. But hey, who hasn’t done that?
So I went to the source, his family and friends campaigning for him. On Saturday, the group was downtown, campaigning all day long, so I had the chance to interview each and every person about why they were there.
Turns out, Jim Lake Jr. might be the most amazing person in Arcadia. 
From his mother, Dr. Barbara Lake, I learned that Jim is an Arcadia native, born and raised here. He enjoys cooking gourmet food, working on his vespa, and acting. 
Oh, and he’s the first human Trollhunter. 
What? You’ve never heard of a Trollhunter? Me neither. But Barbara and Blinky, another resident Troll, gave me the scoop. 
You all remember that night at the beginning of the summer that we all promised not to talk about? Well, I’m going to talk about it. In fact, I’m here to give you all the answers you’ve been craving. 
Many months before that fateful night, a new Trollhunter was chosen, after the previous one had perished. “The Trollhunter is chosen according to his mettle, by the amulet of the Trollhunter, as created by Merlin, the wizard of Arthurian legend. Jim was chosen after the fall of Kanjigar, his predecessor. Jim is the first human to be chosen, also the smallest and weakest. But, he was the first to defeat Bular, son of Gunmar!” Said his mentor, Blinky. None of this made any sense to me at first, though it was said with great enthusiasm. 
It turns out, the trolls that we’ve gotten used to seeing around town, mostly ARRRGH, are ‘good’ trolls. The bad trolls, ‘Gum-gums’ are what invaded our town and destroyed my car. The Trollhunter’s whole job is to fight off these bad trolls, and gnomes, and goblins, and everything else that goes bump in the night. And so he did. The Gum-Gums invaded from the ‘Darklands’, being led by a fearsome troll named Gunmar the Black, the Skullcrasher, the Dark Lord…he had a lot of names, and it was obviously a bad dude. Gunmar had plans to invade the whole world by blotting out the sun, a.k.a the eclipse we saw. And he would have gotten away for it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids! 
Mainly Jim Lake Jr. and his friends. 
And how does a sixteen year old defeat a couple millennia old, bloodthirsty, all powerful tyrant? With a fancy sword? Close. With some magical armor? Closer. By giving up a part of his humanity and becoming a half-human, half-troll hybrid? Now you’re getting it! Yes, to protect Arcadia, to protect us, Jim Lake Jr. allowed himself to be changed. You may have seen him around town. Blue skin, big horns...okay, I just described most of the trolls that are around here. 
“Jim works the night shift at my store,” said Stu Harding, owner of Thrifty Furnishings. “He’s a very hard worker, and always willing to do the heavy lifting that is hard for the other employees to do.” 
“Despite his appearance, Jim ultimately decided to attend school,” said Principal Walter Strickler. “After the school found out about why he had missed so many days of school, they were willing to move him onto the next grade to be with his peers. He was a good student before all this, and he fought really hard to keep his grades up regardless. We felt he should still have the opportunity to graduate. We were looking forward to having him on our football team, and in our spring production of Beauty and the Beast.” 
So what happened to Jim? And why is there such a big campaign for his freedom?
Well, the truth is that Jim is a victim of unfortunate circumstances. In more ways than one, obviously. Trolls eat our trash. That’s why Arcadia has such a small carbon footprint! (Be sure to thank ARRRGH next time you see him!) And this trait was adopted by Jim too, when he was transformed. 
“He just picked a bunch of items out of the trash. Cans, an old sock, and what looked like a VHS wrapped in duct tape,” said Jim’s best friend, Toby Dolmzalski. “It was a normal lunch for him. But right in the middle of gym class, he turned crazy town banana pants and took off! I had never seen Jim act like that! Ever!” 
After an 8 hour rage through town, Jim collapsed and was taken to the hospital for evaluation. It turns out what Jim had ingested turned out to be a kilogram of pure cocaine! 
At this time, it is unknown where the cocaine came from, or if it was planted purposefully. (Seriously, who throws away a kilogram of cocaine?)
But the damage that Jim caused was extensive enough to catch the attention of the US army, who has taken Jim into captivity from the hospital. No trial, no rights, they even took him while he was unconscious. His friends and family have not heard from him since. 
“I’m so worried,” said girlfriend, Claire Nuñez. “He was injured from the battle with Gunmar, and didn’t completely heal. In the hospital, he was covered in burns from the sun. I have no idea if they’re caring for him properly, or dissecting him like some creature. But he deserves so much better than this. He saved our town, he saved my life, and the life of my baby brother. That’s why we won’t rest until he’s home!” 
“Not bad,” said ARRRGH, long time friend of Jim. “Good troll have bad days, best trolls have worse days. Jim need some good days.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself, ARRRGH. 
Friends and family of Jim are asking everyone share #JusticeforJim on social media, hoping to get the attention of someone in charge. All the damage caused by Jim has been repaired, and there were no casualties from his attack.  
Of course, the whole ‘troll’ aspect of this story has to be a local legend. So when sharing it to social media, kindly leave that part out.   
“C-Bomb!” Mary shouted from the other end of the hall. She came running and almost crashed into Claire and Toby, holding her phone up in the air. “My twitter feed is blowing up, girl! Look at all of this!” She held the screen up so they could see. 
“Citizen abducted by the government, is this China or North Korea? Neither! It’s the US! #JusticeforJim” 
“Imagine if this was your son. So sad, and so scary! #JusticeforJim”
“This is real life, not science fiction #JusticeforJim” 
“Whoa, where did these all come from?” Asked Claire. “What did you post?” 
“Did you know Snapper Karr did a report on it!?”
“Snapper Karr? From KTTV in LA?” 
“Yes! Thankfully, he left out the whole troll thing. I’ll send you a link. In his story, Jim is just a kid that has a rare genetic disorder that makes him look different, and so the government took him away!” 
Claire winced. “This is…kind of spiraling out of control.”
“I don’t know why you’re worrying, Claire,” said Darci. “We want people talking about Jim getting abducted. It doesn’t matter if the world outside Arcadia doesn’t have all the facts. They still know he’s been taken away without a trial, and that’s all that’s important. Besides, Jim doesn’t want the whole world knowing about Trolls, right?”
She nodded. “As long as this works, I’ll be happy.” 
“And sensationalist stories like this blow up for like a week, and then they die out and are forgotten. This won’t last.” Mary waved her hand. “It should work long enough to get Jimmy Jam out though.” Then she squealed. “OMG you know what we should do?! We should totally have a welcome home party! Or-or a parade! Like they have for veterans!” 
“Mary, I don’t think—“ 
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it! You’re not the only one with ties to the city!” And she hurried off, texting frantically. 
“What’s up Claire? I would have thought you’d be ecstatic the hashtag went viral.” Asked Toby. 
“Don’t get me wrong, I am happy. And I’m happy that Snapper Karr chalked the troll thing up to local legend or superstition…but I can’t help but worry that something bad is going to come out of this.” 
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a gut feeling.” She scoffed and went to her locker. “It’s dumb, don’t worry about it.” 
No sooner had she said that, did Strickler appear. “Claire, Toby, come with me.” 
“What?” 
“I’ve already spoken with your teachers, now come along.” 
Claire and Toby shared a look, but followed regardless.
They were led to the parking lot, where a black van with tinted windows waited, a huge red flag, if there ever was one. 
“Umm…” said Toby. 
“Don’t worry.” Strickler assured. 
A man in an army uniform stepped out of the driver seat. “Walter, good to see you again.”
“Glad to see you as well, Samuel. And thank you for following through with your promise.” 
“As I said, this is the most interesting thing to happen in a while.” He glanced at the two teenagers in attendance. “We’re just waiting for his mother, correct?” 
“She should be here soon.”
Toby muttered to Claire, “Who’s Jorgen Von Strangle over here?”
“No idea.”
And just like that, Barbara pulled into the parking lot, haphazardly parked, and ran over to them, still in her scrubs. “I came as soon as I could! We’re going to get Jim?!” 
“What?!” Screamed Toby. “We’re rescuing him?!” 
“That is the goal,” the man answered. “I’m General Samuel Attila. I’ve been given authorization to intervene in this situation, given that this project, whatever it is, hasn’t been officially recorded. But, bear in mind, you may not like what you see. We may be bringing home Jim, or just his body. I don’t know. So if anyone is uncomfortable with that idea, I suggest you stay behind.” 
“I’m going,” Said Toby. “No matter what.” 
“Me too,” said Claire. “It’ll hurt, but I want to know what happened to him.” 
“Alright, then let’s hurry. The facility is about an hour away.” He ushered everyone into the van, which had two front seats, two benches along the walls, and a gurney in the middle. As soon as everyone was buckled, they headed out.
“Hey, if you know Mr. Strickler, does that mean you’re a…?” 
“A what, Toby?” Asked Walt, with a hint of amusement in his tone. 
“A…man of culture?”
“Yes, I am a changeling.” 
Toby exhaled. “Okay, it’s like super hard to ask that question when you don’t know who knows, you know?” 
“I owe the Trollhunter a debt of gratitude for stopping Gunmar. After he ate the entirety of the Janus order, we the few that weren’t present for his return stayed in hiding. Had Gunmar taken over the world, my death as a traitor would have been slow and painful. We were thinking about sending him a thoughtful gift basket, but I think this is more fun. I love to bully those in lower ranks. The fleshbags get a few pretty badges and think they’re invincible. I love watching them cower!” 
Toby leaned closer to Claire. “He was so nice and helpful, I was beginning to wonder if he was actually a changeling.” 
“Same! But I actually feel better knowing he’s got ulterior motives, and that they have nothing to do with us.” 
“Have you heard from Nomura lately?” Samuel asked Walter. 
“She was in Arcadia for a while. She helped with the fight with Gunmar. Right now, I believe she’s on her way back from New Jersey.” 
“New Jersey? What was she doing out there?”
“After Morgana and Gunmar destroyed the Heartstone, Jim and Blinky went in search of a new one.”
“Oh, yes. I forgot there were rumors of a source in New Jersey. Did they find it?” 
“Yep,” said Claire. “But it wasn’t very big, so we brought it back to Arcadia in a truck. The rest of the tribe is making their way back on foot.”
“Ah, that explains it.” Samuel nodded. “You’re both very lucky. Not many Changeling’s are allowed in Trollmarket.” 
“Now that Gunmar’s out of the picture, I’m sure you could visit too!” Toby exclaimed, before getting elbowed in the gut by Claire. 
“It’d be nice to see it once. I’m sad I didn’t get to see the Heartstone in its glory, but such is life.”
The rest of the ride continued in relative silence. Strickler and Samuel spoke to each other, mostly catching up. But Toby, Claire, and Barbara were far too anxious to keep up with the conversation. 
There were no windows in the back of the vehicle, so there was no way of knowing where they were. From the front, they looked to be in a weaving forest trail. 
Then there were huge cement walls in front of them. 
Samuel pulled in the front gate. 
The man at the gate didn’t look up from his computer. “You’re not authorized to be here.” 
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t recognize your vehicle, so I know you don’t have clearance.” 
Samuel sat up a little straighter, glaring at the soldier at the gate. “How about you scan my badge first, and then tell me if I have clearance, Lieutenant.” 
The soldier gave a little shrug and reached out for the badge, his eyes widening as he caught a glance at the four stars on the man’s shoulder. “Oh.” 
“Problem?”
“No, sir. I just…I don’t need to scan your badge, you can go in.” 
“Thank you. At ease soldier.” 
Toby held back a snicker.
“And, let Colonel Kubritz know she has company.” 
“Yes sir.” 
“As you were.” 
The gate rolled open, and they pulled through. 
It seemed like Samuel’s message was received pretty quickly, because the woman that had taken Jim was waiting for them, flanked by soldiers with strange weapons. 
“Stay in the car.” He told everyone, before getting out. 
“I was not aware of any sort of inspection. You are not my commanding general, and therefore not welcome here. This facility holds highly dangerous equipment and confidential projects.”
“Stand down, Colonel. I am here on behalf of general Adele. I’m here to recover Jim Lake Jr. General Adele will be speaking to you about your discharge.” 
“What are you talking about?” She demanded. 
“You kidnapped a teenage boy from a hospital. Surely you didn’t think that wouldn’t go unnoticed? I have video evidence of you leaving the hospital with him.” 
“He’s not a normal boy—“ 
“I’d say so! His whole town is hailing him as a hero for saving them from an invasion! I thought this facility was for research on protecting Earth from invaders. And you’re punishing a boy for saving a town?” 
“He also destroyed it. Don’t give into their little campaign. Jim Lake Jr. may have done something good once, but that doesn’t stop him from being a monster.” 
“I was just in Arcadia, Colonel. There is no damage. There’s no lawsuits against Jim Lake Jr. There’s not even any pending arrests.” 
“I have video evidence of his destruction!” She barked. 
“Then let the local police handle it.” 
She growled, then commanded her men to stand down. “Fine. But if he does this again, no one will stop me from taking him.” 
“Actually,” he clarified with a smirk. “You’re being discharged. So you won’t have any means to take him again.” 
Her mouth opened in shock, as she fought to find an argument. 
But he was a general, he was above her. 
“Now, Jim Lake Jr.?” 
She grumbled something and started off towards a big central building.
Samuel was quick to beckon the others out of the car to follow him, and headed towards the same building as Kubritz. 
When Barbara reached them, she spoke, “you didn’t hurt my son, did you?” 
Kubritz didn’t even look at her. “I don’t have to share information with civilians.” 
Claire clenched her fists in anger, a black haze coming over her hands. 
But Toby simply patted her on the back to ground her. 
Colonel Kubritz led them through the research facility, ignoring their questions. 
They reached the room Jim was being held in, and she entered her code to open the door. 
Of course, Jim wasn’t the only thing in the room, being surrounded by specimens of all sorts of living creatures, but he was right in the center, with a spot light right on him. 
“Jim!” Claire shouted first as she ran to him. 
The poor boy was naked, lying on his back and strapped to the table with thick iron bonds. His wound from Morgana wasn’t the worst on him anymore, as he was covered in blackened burned spots. The spot that had the amulet was now just a hole in his chest, that went right down to the ribs. Claire could see his heart beating, and his lungs moving, thank god. 
“Jim...” she cried, seeing the carnage. 
“What did you do to him?!” Toby shouted at the Colonel, but she didn’t respond. 
“Honey? Jim? Can you hear me?” Barbara asked, as she assessed the damage. 
His eyes opened ever so slightly. “Mom? Is that you? Are you...really here?” 
“Yeah kiddo,” she wiped some tears from her eyes. “It’s me, I’m here. Toby, Claire, and Walt are here too. We’re going to take you home.” 
His smile was just a hint, and he stated, “I’m tired.” 
“I’m sure you are. We’re going to get you fixed up!” She turned to the Colonel. “Get me a gurney or a wheelchair!” 
She scoffed. “I don’t take orders from civilians.” 
Samuel interceded. “Then get me a soldier who isn’t completely incompetent! If you’re going to continue to endanger the life of this young man, then I suggest you get out of my sight before I endanger yours.” 
The Colonel didn’t waver, though a tremor went down her spine. “Lieutenant!” She called. 
A man hurried into the room, standing at attention.
Kubritz just gave a roll of the eyes. “Follow whatever order the general gives you.” 
“But—“ 
“No, I’m done.” With one last glare to Samuel, she added, “I'll be sending my evidence to General Adele, then we’ll see who’s the one putting the nation in danger.” 
“Go ahead, I’ve already given my report.”
She growled at him, turned and left without another word. 
The lieutenant just stood at attention in front of Samuel instead. “Orders sir?”
“Get someone to fetch the gurney from the back of our van, and send for the medic! And get someone to get these shackles off this kid!” 
“Sir yes sir!” 
Meanwhile, Claire stood right by Jim’s side, holding his hand, brushing the bangs away from his face and combing his hair with her fingers. He had a pretty strong fever. 
“You’re going to be alright Jim. We’re going to take good care of you.” 
“I’m…cold…” He breathed. 
Barbara found some vinyl gloves nearby and got to work examining her boy. “I don’t know about the Troll half, but this tissue looks alright. I don’t see any infection yet, or any tissue death. Of course, we need to get this covered immediately.” 
“Where’s the amulet?” Asked Walt. “That’s what’s missing.” 
“The amulet!” Barbara addressed Samuel. “His amulet, we have to find it!” 
He nodded, “we can’t let these psychos have it. They have no idea what magic it possesses, even without being the chosen wielder.” 
Only a beat passed before the army medic came with the gurney, and another soldier came with a crowbar to undo the shackles. 
“Lieutenant, we’re looking for an amulet that came with Jim. It’s what’s missing from his chest.” 
The Lieutenant blanched. “I don’t know anything about it…I can ask the Colonel?”
“She won’t tell.” 
The shackles fell free from Jim’s limbs, but he didn’t seem to register it. 
“Alright,” said Barbara, “Let’s move him onto the gurney. We can worry about the amulet later.” It took everyone to lift him and carefully slide him over. Then, he was covered up to his stomach with a blanket. 
“You’re going home, Jim. Mi amor, you’re safe now.” Claire whispered, kissing his forehead. 
“Hmm…” Jim weakly groaned. “…for the…glory…” But before he could finish, he fell back into sleep.
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Survey #397
“you’re my religion, you’re my reason to live  /  you are the heaven in my hell”
Do you think that you’ll always love who you love now? Even if we're never together again romantically, I will ALWAYS love her at least as a best friend. Have you ever made out with a random person? Yeah, no. If you could do your first kiss over, would you? No. I'm lucky that my first kiss was honestly cute as hell. Do you like your country’s president or prime minister? Well I voted for him, so I obviously can't hate him. He seems to be doing fine so far, though take that with a grain of salt seeing as I don't keep up with politics. Even before voting for him, I just did a small bit of researching on his values. What color is your house? Yellow with white accents. Do you listen to Christmas music during the holiday season? No, I don't enjoy it. Man, Jason's mom sure did, though... I loved how in the spirit she'd get and always played Christmas music in the car during that time of year. I miss that woman and I sure as hell hope she rests easy now. Do you like ginger ale? Solely if I have a stomach bug, and I can only ever sip it. What are you listening to? "Electric Sugar Pop" by Jeffree Star. What’s the last thing you watched on TV? The TMS office has the TV on, and the woman who overlooks it (I have zero idea what her position is called) tends to have it either on a cooking channel or a home improvement one. Today was a cooking one. Is your favorite author the author of your favorite book? I don't have a favorite author. Describe someone you find really attractive: M-Mark Fischbach. *___* If you HAD to look like someone else, but could choose who, who would you choose? Hm... maybe my friend Alon. I've mentioned I feel like a million times that she is like, ethereal with how gorgeous she is. Have you ever seen someone get a tattoo done? If so, what was it? Did they cry or were they in a lot of pain? Yeah; it was a watercolor feather with "ohana" written below it. She didn't cry at all, but she grit her teeth a few times. Do you have anything you couldn’t go a day without? Some form of technology. Have you ever gotten caught doing something illegal? No. What’s your favorite flavor of Vitamin Water? I don't even think I've ever tried it. Is there someone you wanna date right now? Yeah. What first attracted you to the last person you kissed? If we're talking the very first, our vast similar interests. How many brothers does your father have? None. Does your best friend have any tattoos? No. Do you like Ben + Jerry’s? Yep. Man, I want their Phish Food ice cream now. Would you ever wish to be the opposite sex? Nah. Do you think you’re attractive? Nope. What is your favorite card game to play? Magic: The Gathering. I really miss my PS3 where I had Duel of the Planeswalkers installed on it, it was really fun. Do you own a globe? I don't think we still do. What is your favorite wild cat? Perhaps clouded leopards. If your bedroom had three portals to anywhere, where would they lead? South Africa, Sara's place, and maybe a nice little cabin in the mountains for when I'm feeling a peaceful getaway. You can ask any author one question about their story. What do you ask? I have zero idea. What’s a place you have a strong emotional connection to? The pond behind the local community college. Jason and I took our first prom pictures there. Do you take yoga classes? No, but I'm actually considering it since they offer those at the YMCA Mom and I now go to. What is a decision you’ve made that changed your entire life? To let Jason go. It's pretty great, my PTSD has been less of a bother lately! Have you ever made any money from a side-hustle? Could you consider being paid to take pictures once in a blue moon a "side hustle" when I don't even have a main job? Do you ever wonder what kind of person you’d have turned out to be if a certain event never happened to you? Ugh... it's incredibly painful to wonder how life would be if Jason never left. If you could have anyone’s singing voice, whose would you choose? Adele's or Amy Lee's, probs. What are your top 3 favorite genres of music? Metal, hard rock, alternative. Do you think Mars will be colonized in your lifetime? No. Have you ever been homeless? If so, what led to your homelessness? Technically, yes, because Mom couldn't afford the rent. She, my little sister (who still lived with us at the time), and I each were accepted into the homes of willing, kind people, though. Have you ever been on a ship? No. Who was Van Halen’s better singer - David Lee Roth, or Sammy Hagar? David. Which fictional character has the most memorable quotes? Heath Ledger's Joker is quoted all the time, so probably him. What do you think of the "Healthy At Every Size" movement/philosophy? Before I answer this, I want you to keep in mind that this is coming from someone who is obese, so I would positively love to agree with that for my own self-confidence, but I don't. I believe it's a very dangerous mentality. I think you should cherish your body unconditionally, like it's an amazing machine, but I firmly believe you should have an active interest in becoming what is physically healthy. You couldn't pay me millions to convince me that, say, a 300 lb. person is healthy. What was the name of the first person you ever had a crush on? Why did you like them? I think my first *real* crush was this guy Sebastian my freshman year of high school. I thought he was very sweet, funny, caring, and attractiveness was a bonus. What food will you absolutely not, under any circumstances, eat? Sashimi, caviar, raw eggs... Which famous person would you like to be BFFs with? Bindi Irwin, for one. What kind of natural disaster is most common where you live? Hurricanes. Have you ever had an animal get into your attic? No. Have you ever been bitten so hard that there teeth marks were there after? I mean I've had hickeys before if that's what you're asking. Ever gave one? Oh, I guess you were. Yeah. Do you think its weird if guys wear make-up like eyeliner? Not at all. Would you ever date a disabled person? (Be honest) Yes. Would you rather adopt or have your own child? IF I wanted kids, I'd rather have one myself because I'm well aware I personally need that special connection. Stepkids count, too, because they'd be my partner's and therefore very important for me too. What is the most personal question you have ever been asked? Probably TMI, so here's your fair warning, but I've been asked before if I "touch" myself and I was absolutely repulsed that someone would ask me that. Were you abused by your parents? No. If you’re not straight, who was the first person you came out to? Sara. Were you one of the smartest in your class? Up to finishing high school, modestly, I was. Where did you meet your first crush? Art class my freshman year of high school. Do you ever go places with wet hair? Yeah, idc. Who is your favorite little girl? My niece Aubree. She's such a wonderful girl. Does your best friend have kids? No. If you were pregnant, would you want a boy or a girl? Hypothetically, a girl. What place outside of your own home do you spend the most time at? Um, maybe my older sister's house? Have you ever participated in a medical study? No. Do you have any family members who are cancer survivors? Yes, including my mother. Twice. Are you allergic to any medications? None that I've tried. Do you have any licenses other than your driver's license? I don't even have that. If you’re atheist, would you raise you kids believing in God or not? No; I wouldn't intervene with their own spiritual (or lack thereof) journey. They'd learn what they'd learn and decide themselves what they believe. Do you like reading self-help books? No, I just can't get invested in those. What is your opinion on sex change? If you're unhappy with your body, you're more than free to surgically change that with no judgment from me. Do you have any goals for this summer? If so, what are they? Yes, to lose weight. Can you get a strike at bowling? I have before. There was one occasion where my first go was a strike RIGHT after saying I sucked at bowling, hahaha. Do you ever take pictures of negative moments? Well, I photograph roadkill, and that's one hell of a sad moment. I actually wouldn't mind broadening my horizons of photographing negative moments (with permission of course), because I actually find these very impactful and even builds empathy. I will never, ever forget this one picture I saw sometime of an emaciated boy huddled in the dirt with a vulture close by watching him... like fuck, it made me want to sob. No one should ever have to live like that, especially a child. Would you ever post a picture of yourself crying on social media? No. I know that sounds contradictory to what I just said, I just wouldn't be able to do it myself. Have you ever held a newborn baby? Once, when my last niece was born. I'm terrified of holding them because they're just so fragile. Do you know anyone who has twins? My friend just had triplets. What is your favorite country in Europe? Germany. Are you thriving in your life right now? BOY HOWDY- Do you remember to water plants? I don't keep plants. Name three YouTubers you aspire to be like. 1.) Markiplier in a vast plethora of ways; 2.) Jeffree Star for his incredible work ethic; and 3.) Shane Dawson for his incredible compassion. Yes. I know the controversy, but regardless, he cares a lot about people. Who is your favorite character from Harry Potter? I wouldn't know, given I haven't read the books or seen the movies. Do you watch PewDiePie? Not anymore; his content doesn't interest me anymore. I watched him religiously back in the day when he was a serious let's player, though. Do you have a Steam account? Yes. Have you ever played Five Nights at Freddy’s? No, not personally. I like watching LPs of it and I find the story fascinating, but it's not the kind of game I'd enjoy playing. Have you ever tried Akinator? Yes. I don't think I ever beat it, except maybe once. Are you wearing socks right now? No; unless I'm wearing closed-toe shoes like sneakers, I never do. I hate the feeling of them. Can you twerk? Haven't tried, don't wanna. Do you like dabbing? No, it looks stupid. Do you like fishing? I honestly do think it's fun with all the anticipation and thrill of seeing how big the fish is, however I don't support it anymore unless, like hunting, you genuinely need it for food. The only case where I'd go again was if my dad asked me, because that's always been our bonding experience. Do you have a Spotify account? Yes. Have you heard of Blizzard Entertainment? Well, they're the company behind World of Warcraft, so obviously. Do you like bananas? Yes, but only for a VERY short window of time. I am beyond picky with the ripeness of bananas. Are you addicted to anything? Caffeine and technology. Do you know your phone number? I actually don't. Do you swear in front of children? No.
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9hwa9joong · 3 years
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My Top Songs [2020]
Hi all!
As 2020 comes to an end (thank whatever higher power there is), I wanted to share a list of my favorite songs! (the following are songs RELEASED this year) (I’ve included a list of songs that I heard this year, but weren’t released in 2020, after it). These are mostly korean/chinese.
Alright, this is in NO particular order, just my favorites. I’ve mostly included one song from a group/solo act and added their other great releases in description. It is mostly music that I listened to, so if your favs are not here, feel free to rec me good music! ENJOY!
(the list ended up becoming quite long, so read under the cut)
Black swan(orchestral version) by BTS
BTS had a great year musically. 2 korean albums, 1 japanese and lots of solo stuff. My most played songs are Dynamite (listen, she did what she had to do), Stay Gold (if gold had a sound, this would be it), Black Swan, Blue and Grey (i live for melancholy), Life Goes On (spring day’s successor), Filter(park jimin is a threat), Friends (my feels!), Louder than bombs (TROYE SIVAN), UGH (murder music), 00:00, Moon (jin solos are beautiful always) and Your Eyes Tell (honestly, show me one bad japanese single, i dare you).
Ghosting by TXT
I got into TXT a lot more this year, as opposed to being a casual listener that I was last year. Many people say they have a no-skip discography and I believe it’s true. My most played songs were Blue Hour (i ADORE this song), We Lost the summer, Wishlist, Can’t you see me (the song that made me a stan), Fairy of Shampoo (ethereal), PUMA (choi yeonjun is a threat), Eternally (an ATTACKK!) and their f2020 cover.
Answer by ATEEZ
Ateez is another group i really got into this year, mesmerized by their performance abilities. My most played : Star 1117 (i’m very soft for this song), To the Beat (a true bop), Inception (holy jongho vocals), One day at a time and Good Lil Boy (does hongjoong ever have a bad rap verse?). Their Black Cat Nero cover also blew me away!! (i’m lowkey obsessed).
God’s menu by Stray Kids
I’ve been keeping an eye on Stray Kids ever since hellevator came out and this is my favourite song by them, so far (yes, i had a heart attack when i first saw Hyunjin). Most Played : Back Door (the beat drop gives me life, the choreo is probably my fav), All in, Easy (do they ever have a bad chorus?), GO LIVE (the beat??!! killer), Another Day (i am a slow jam hoe) and My Universe.
Pacman by eaJ   
I didn’t think it was possible to love him more after day6 but Jae’s solo music has proved me wrong. Yes, i love Pillows (with Keshi) to bits but pacman is my first love. Most Played : It just is (Seori and their golden vocals), LA TRAINS (vocals!!!), Pinocchio (the mv is adorable, the beat is so fun), 50 proof (the vibes man, it's the VIBES) and TRUMAN.
Left & Right by Seventeen
Another group with amazing releases this year, I’m slowly getting into Seventeen more these days. Most Played : Fallin’ Flower (so beautiful, the vocals), 24H (the beat change?!!???), 17 (Joshua, DK and Pink Sweats) and HOME;RUN (this is a brand of fun that is entirely their own).
Not by the moon by GOT7
I am no stranger to GOT7, i’ve liked their music for years now but this is one of their more lyrical releases this year and i adore when GOT7 does this type of music. Most Played : Poison (jackson opens it and the vibes are immaculate), Last Piece (the way the vocals flow into the rap) and Thank You, Sorry.
So Beautiful by DPR IAN
This is literally the first song i’ve heard from this artist, please rec me more. I also adore No Blueberries with DPR LIVE and CL.
Eight by IU, Prod. SUGA
IU is an indisputable vocal queen, and her music always comforts me greatly so when i heard she was having a song produced by Yoongi, i promptly lost my shit. It was everything I expected and more and embodies sorrow and pain with great grace. Give you My Heart from the ‘Crash Landing on you OST’ was also a loved song this year.
Cry for me by TWICE
How do i talk about the queens? TWICE is the group i go to when I want fun music with good vibes but this song has such bad b*tch vibes that i am in love. Most played : More & More (a bop), Don’t call me again, I can’t stop me (i love the way it flows), Handle It (the vocals??? How pretty this song is???) and Say Something (seriously, eyes wide open is an amazing album).
Criminal by Teamin
Where do i start with Lee Taemin? I love almost all his solo stuff. He grabbed me by the neck ever since ‘Move’ and hasn't let go. Criminal is SO taemin that i don't think anyone else could have delivered the concept with such grace and grit. Most Played : 2 Kids (the chorus is so good), Clockwork, Idea (i love the vibe) and Pansy (i'm a ballad hoe).
Maria by Hwasa
Listen, i loved Twit when it came out but i love Maria as her sound so much more. Most Played : I’m bad too (feat. DPR LIVE) (i love the beat, the vibe and the flavor), LMM and Orbit from ‘The King: Eternal Monarch OST’ (as soon as her voice comes in, i loved the song).
Breath by DEAN, Rad Museum, Mokyo
I’m not aware of many DEAN releases this year, please feel free to rec me if I missed any.
Dear my friend by Agust D ft. Kim Jong Wan (NELL)
D-2 was everything expected from the second mixtape off Agust D and yet it brought a fresh wave of singing and melodies, once again proving the man’s production genius. This song is so reminiscent in it’s lyrics and still so real, its my favorite off the record.Other songs I loved : People, Deachwita and What do you think? (i DID love the complete mixtape though).
Given - Taken by Enhypen
Yes, I watched  I-LAND. Given-Taken was a better debut then I expected at first. 10 months (the chorus and beat) and Flicker off their debut album were also played a lot. 
I just want to stay with you by Zion.T
The King: Eternal Monarch was a much awaited drama for a lot of people and it’s OST is one of the best ones this year. Zion.T’s amazing vocals really did an amazing job of expressing the love in the story. Other songs I really liked from this album were Gravity by Kim Jong Wan and the Hydrangea Instrumental by Lee Geon Yeong.
The purge by Jay Park, pH-1, Woodie Gochild, Sik-K, and others.
H1GHER: RED TAPE is my hype album of the year. All artists involved did an amazing job. Seriously, get yourself some bomb ass beats, as a treat. Other loved tracks : Telefono Remix (Woodie Gochild is great at his flavour of delivery), Closed Case and The Arrival.
Soul by Lay (zhang yixing)
Yixing’s album LIT was his best project till date, no arguments. He’s really evolved into such a refined musician, especially with how well he merges traditional chinese instruments into Hip Hop/RnB beats and I adore the vibe of this album. Although the album is great entirely, Soul is my favourite for how softly and prettily it flows. Other loved tracks: Eagle (the BEAT), Fly, Boom (bops on bops on BOPS) and Call My Name.
100 ways by Jackson Wang
It is astounding how well Jackson has formed his own style of music ever since starting off with Papillon. He’s also sort of come into himself as an artist and it has birthed some great music. Other loved tracks : Pretty Please (i love the vibe of the song!) and Should’ve Let Go (ft. JJ Lin).
SUGA’s interlude by Halsey 
Idk how else to explain it but Halsey and Yoongi have great music synergy. There’s something about their song/lyric writing that matches very well and needless to say, I adore the song. Blueberry eyes by MAX is also another great Yoongi collab.
In Your Time by Lee Suhyun
It’s Okay to not be Okay had an OST that was dreamy, gritty and very fairytale-esque, much like the drama itself. Among a bunch of great songs, this one is my favourite. Other loved songs: You’re Cold by Heize (always delivers!), Breath by Sam Kim (OST angel), Hallelujah by Kim Feel (chills!), In Silence by Janet Suhh (literally how angelic is her tone??), I’m your Psycho by Janet Suhh (it’s creepy in a dreamy way) and Brother | Her World | Through the dark Tunnel of time | Butterfly - all amazing instrumentals by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee (seriously, go listen to the album).
By my side by Junny
Another great discovery towards the end of the Year, Junny has vocals for DAYS and admirable delivery. Other loved songs: AURA ft. pH-1, edge (this is so hypnotising in it’s beauty) and I will. Please feel welcome to educate me more about this artist!!
Make a Wish by NCT
NCT always provides bops and NCT U is my favourite sub-unit, for their unique style of music, so when they came out with this song I was ready and they delivered! Most Played : 90’s Love  (the old boy band theme was so well done), From Home (i’m a sucker for slow songs), Nectar (yes, i adore WayV’s music), MAD DOG by NCT 127 and Kick It by NCT 127 (this is the flavour of NCT i LOVE).
Zombie by Day6
Day6 has always been in my daily otations and as always, they put out good music after good music. I loved both the original Korean and the English versions of this song (they do rock well, what else is there to say?). Other loved songs : Tick Tock (oh the vocals, the way the beat moves!), Love me or Leave me, Day and Night... actually the whole Album is great, go listen to ‘The Book of us: The Demon’.
Fearless by Ma Di [other chinese songs]
Chinese songs have been a surprisingly pleasant addition to my daily rotation. Fearless from the “Go Ahead” OST takes the top stop because of how well it embodies the struggles of stepping into adulthood, the melody and MaDi’s amazing vocals. Other Chinese songs I loved: Praise for Red Plum Blossoms by Xiao Zhan (the perfect welcoming of spring paired with  such expressive vocals), Remaining Years by Xiao Zhan (Joy of Life OST) and his OST for the Oath of Love.
 ____________________________________________
The following is the list of songs I heard in 2020, but were not released in 2020. Please let me know if you like them, or if you know other similar music! (I know, I know, I’m late to the game) Enjoy!
DEAN - Sometimes I hear Howlin' in my head 
Zhang Jie/Zhang Bichen - Simple Wish 
Li Ronghao - If I were Young
JJ Lin - What I Miss
Ateez - Mist | Twilight | Wonderland | Say my name | Thank you 
Stray Kids - voices
Seventeen - Trauma
Loona - Hi High
Day6 - Shoot me 
GOT7 - You calling my Name 
RADWIMPS - Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do?
Baekhyun - UN Village
Taemin - Goodbye | want
Aquillo - Silhouette
Talos - To Each His Own
Cigarettes after sex (literally everything)
__________________________________________________
I know this was long, if you read it till the end, I hope you all enjoyed it still.
Have a smooth year in 2021,
-love, c.
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purplepalmdelight · 4 years
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why life is still okay (rambling fic rec pt. 1)
firstly: shout out to @trulyalpha for apparently owning my entire bookmarks page on ao3 (bc i only realised all my favourite fics were written by the same person,,, yesterday. bc im really smart like that) anyway breakdown of why she’s a stoncy saving grace thanks!!!
you ease my mind, you make everything feel fine.
(https://archiveofourown.org/works/13842039)
yes this fic is from 2018. yes i read it every other week. it’s good for the SOUL. jonathan getting taken care of is always just such a good and sweet concept (maybe it’s my intense, undying love of him, but he deserves to be taken care okay) and. okay i’ll admit, sometimes i forget how fucking FUNNY this fic is, but it’s genuinely hilarious, okay? you gotta trust me on this. it makes me cackle at inappropriate times absurdly often. ("Hi." "Hi." "I want you, you fuck." is a top line. i laugh so hard every TIME.) all three of them are so incredibly in character, and somehow this NAILS the fact that they’re all massive disasters pretending to be confident. and i’m not someone that reads ~smut~ often (though it’s more mentioned than described, very non-explicit) but this didn’t make me even the least bit uncomfortable. it felt very natural and in character and made me laugh as much as the rest of the story. all in all, i always come away a little more in love with the characters, and that’s a really precious feeling.
you could be the one to make me feel something
(https://archiveofourown.org/works/14269476/chapters/32912745)
i take back everything i’ve ever claimed. this IS the funniest piece of writing i’ve ever read, and it WILL remain so, probably until the day i die. i honestly... barely have words. my expectations were high when i started it, but in retrospect, they were LEAGUES below what i got. the characterisation, the progression, the dialogue, the story; from the overarching aspects to the tiny details, it’s impeccable. i genuinely read this twice in one day, and then again the next. every single part of it is so good, but in terms of FAVOURITES... the christmas section. hilarious. down to its bones, well crafted and heart felt. it hits me right in the chest every time. the story, from the beginning, has me just as in love with nancy and steve as jonathan is, and as everything grows more intense, so does my investment. it pulls me in and doesn’t let me go until it’s good and ready to see me leave. again, the sexy aspects are so in character and natural that it’s uncomfortable or weird to read and instead just leave me grinning like an idiot. also ( “It did frustrate me, in more ways than one. It’s also a weird plan, like … did you expect me to be so overwhelmed by the power of a boner that I’d just admit my feelings?” is SUCH a funny line, i think about it literally every day. literally. every. day.) the characters are afraid to be messy, to make mistakes, and they all feel so ALIVE that when i leave the story, i feel like i’m leaving a friend. it’s honestly beautiful and honestly breathtaking. this story is better than a lot of published books, honestly, and i’m so grateful for it. so thank you.
i crash my car ‘cause i wanna get carried away!
(https://archiveofourown.org/works/17131202)
...you really wanted to make me cry, huh? i cried out of grief, yeah, out of the depth of nancy’s guilt and the pure rawness of her mourning, but i also cried out of catharsis as she came to terms, and out of laughter a few times. the bit about total eclipse of the heart as a motif was... that was so well done. i hate drawing comparisons, so please understand that this is criticism of a concept and not a particular story, but in so many stories then nancy’s grief feels... trivialised? that’s not quite the right word. romanticised, maybe. as someone who has lost a friend in the past, it’s just... it doesn’t feel realistic? and that’s okay, because it’s hard to nail something you haven’t experienced, and i wouldn’t wish the experience on anyone. it’s just that stories like this, where i can really resonate with nancy and follow the journey of her recovery WITH her are so rare. this story is a gem, it really is. i don’t love it for all the same reasons as the others, but i love it fiercely all the same.
there’s nothing magic going on, and then along came you
(https://archiveofourown.org/works/14994137)
sure, you could be the one is the funniest fic i’ll probably ever read, but nothing magic is such a close second. it’s laugh-out-loud, get-tears-in-your-eyes, fall-out-of-your-chair, and it’s also so goddamn SWEET i can hardly stand it. of the several fics i generally group together in my head (nothing magic, you could be the one + its sequels (might have to make an individual post about this series), laugh until we think we’ll die, and got nothing for you; all very similar, yet incredibly unique) nothing magic is the shortest, but that doesn’t mean it compromises on quality, oh no. it just means i can read it quicker, and therefore more often! when it’s late and i’m tired and i need a laugh to calm down before i sleep, i generally go search this fic up. remember when i mentioned the whole “being just as in love with nancy and steve as jonathan is” thing? it’s like that except... almost funnier. in you could be the one, it’s just that the story naturally tugs you into adoring these two messy, silly, sweet, amazing young adults, because how could you not? how else could you possibly feel? but here, they are genuinely just... that funny. they are actually just so funny that you as a reader click with them and find yourself grinning like an IDIOT because oh my god you’re disasters. maybe it’s the inherent relatability of a tired highschooler trying to make it through the summer and hating his job along the way, but this fic hits right in the heart every damn time.
got nothing for you other than love
(https://archiveofourown.org/works/17596658)
"You trust me," she says.
They both know it's a fact, not question, but he still says, "Of course."
and
By then, his shell wasn't something he could step out of. It was part of him. But that was okay. He didn't need more. What he had was enough.
He always did have trouble with wanting more.
and
"Hey, babe?" Nancy turns her head to look at Steve, touching his shoulder. "Can you buy me a drink?"
"Sure thing. What d'ya want?"
"Surprise me. Not like that time we were here and you snuck out the store, went to a smoothie stand, and came back with a mango smoothie."
Steve grins. "But I did surprise you."
and
"Do you have food in the backseat?"
"The sandwich has only been there for like, two weeks—"
and
"Ugh. Too much cheese. I'm lactose-intolerant, remember?"
"False, you're not intolerant of anyone except people over the age of fifteen with bowl cuts and guys who wear shorts in the winter."
and
"Where are you off to? I'm your only friend," Kali says, frowning.
and
"You good, man?"
"Yeah," he says, his throat dry, "I'm great."
"Yeah, you are," Nancy says, and he is. He is.
and i can’t continue because that’s, like, barely halfway into the fic and i’ve already skipped so many of my favourite lines and i would have to skip so many more. you see what i mean about sathana being funny as hell? and like all the others, it’s not just the humour here. i mean... it is, because it’s SO FUCKING FUNNY I LITERALLY CANNOT SAY THAT ENOUGH but the reason it’s so funny is because it’s so candid. it’s so smooth. the whole thing flows. you’re not left feeling that you’ve missed a piece or that anything was sacrificed; you just feel like you’ve read something incredible. this fic is an experience of its own that i honestly have never experienced before. it’s sweet, and it’s gentle, and it’s just so overwhelmingly good that i don’t think i’ll ever quite get over it. in short? it’s a blessing. my expectations were high, but holy fuck did you blow them to bits.
one more favourite line:
Things are ending, things are starting, and everything looks bright. It won't always be that way. The sun's got to set at some point. But, gazing up at the sky, at the pink bleeding into orange, Jonathan figures it'll have to rise again. No matter what happens, these two things are constant.
"Hey, you look awfully lonely," Nancy calls out, walking towards him, reaching out to him with the hand not in Steve's.
Well. Maybe not just those two things.
that scene, in general, is beautiful, and it wraps the story up on such a genuine note. it feels like a film with how clearly i can picture it. it feels like no fic i’ve ever really read before. it feels... good. i guess i don’t really have the words. it just feels so good.
as an overall statement on why i call her my favourite author... it’s the realism. maybe that’s surprising, considering how many times i said “funny” or “hilarious” in here, but in the end, i wouldn’t be so attached to her work if it didn’t feel so real. i can open a tab and instantly get transported to a home i’ve never lived in. it’s comfortable. it’s sweet. and the dialogue/banter is always perfectly crafted. there’s just never really a downside to her fics, honestly. even if i wanted to search, i don’t think i’d find one. not even one of those “their only problem is that there’s not more to enjoy” kind of comments, because every single one feels perfectly crafted in its own right. it doesn’t need more or less. it stands for itself and it’s goddamn good at it.
i didn’t anticipate having to do multiple parts on this post, but- surprise surprise- i haven’t even gotten to my favourite one yet! so yeah, pt. 2 will be written after i finish the history essay trying to murder me, god knows when that is. in the meantime, please go give her some love and adoration. she deserves it.
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songs on taylor swift’s LOVER (2019), a concept album about eliot waugh and quentin coldwater from SYFY’s the magicians, rated by how much they are about eliot waugh and quentin coldwater from SYFY’s the magicians
i forgot that you existed - lmao these dummies will never be over each other. bumped a bit because it would be good on the soundtrack for the fic i still kinda want someone to write where eliot gets brainwashed by the dark king who for god’s sake is not trying to bring back to life his beloved who died because of homophobia and gets catfished by his dead brother but is just a supernatural evil despot manipulating eliot’s pain and erasing his memories of quentin only to be defeated of course by the power of true love. weak showing to start but things quickly improve. 2/10
cruel summer - this is a song about being out of your mind with horniness for someone you would rather die than admit you’ve caught feelings for, which is.... VERY queliot. love eliot watching quentin at a hotel vending machine at night and insisting to himself, “i’m not dying.” good for a non-beast AU where quentin dates alice and eliot dates some non-possessed normie boy and they both get dumped finals week and get obliteratingly drunk in the physical kids’ cottage as bros and hook up and wake up like “LOL haha rebound sex” and then it happens again and they’re like, sure, you know, why not, you’re heartbroken, i’m heartbroken, let’s help each other forget about it by fucking like rabbits, except of course by august eliot is drunk in the back of the car crying like a baby coming home from the bar because he is not fine about all the times he has told quentin it’s fine. ALTERNATELY this is actually just quentin in the mosaic timeline after they hook up and he wakes up in the morning totally ready to talk about how they’re dating now and eliot is like LET’S NOT OVERTHINK THINGS and quentin’s like, haha yeah ok! and they keep having mindblowing outdoor sex but like as bros and quentin regrets every waking moment agreeing to pretend not to overthink things with his best friend who is amazing in bed and who also he is definitely falling in love with. “breakable heaven” is a good description of the mosaic timeline, because many pieces and because it broke by never happening. bonus point because “i love you, ain’t that the worse thing you ever heard?” is SO eliot and also SO quentin in related but distinct ways. 8/10
lover - UGH!!!! SO QUELIOT!!!! “have i known you twenty seconds or twenty years” vs. “i bond fast, time is an illusion.” “can i go where you go” for two people who have been thrown together and torn apart so many times is wildly romantic. “my heart’s been borrowed and your heart’s been blue” = i dated a possessed guy and then became a possessed guy and you are chronically depressed. “you’ll save all your dirtiest jokes for me” is all about eliot’s smirks. i ALREADY have feelings about taylor swift, a human being who spent most of her adult life ruled by the lingering wounds of having been uncool in eighth grade, putting in her big sweet love song the line, “and at every table i’ll save you a seat,” but i have SO MANY MORE feelings when i apply that to quentin coldwater, who ate lunch in the bathroom on days that julia was absent because of the horror of finding somewhere to sit in the high school cafeteria. 9/10
the man - margo says she hates this song because it’s white feminism but whenever she gets drunk at karaoke she makes quentin sing it with her. he always flips his hair on “i’d be just like leo in st tropez,” because he is the only other person besides taylor swift in america uncool enough to think that’s still a reference that conjures up associations of a sexy awesome playboy. 3/10
the archer - FUCKING!!!!!!!!!!! GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is... ok. ok. i’m calm. this is the eliot song of all time. “i’m ready for combat / i say i don’t want that / but what if i do” is about eliot’s reactivity and his fear that on some level he wants to blow everything up more than he wants to be loved. we don’t know what started the fight we see in the mosaic timeline but what we glimpse is very “cruelty wins in the movies”: this impulse to win by pushing the other person away to avoid your own vulnerability. “i’ve got a hundred thrown out speeches i almost said to you” is eliot unpossessed after quentin is alive but before he and alice have broken up thinking about all the apologetic true love confessions he made charlton watch him rehearse. “i search for your dark side / but what if i’m alright right right right here” is about refusing to believe in good things because they are so threatening when your formative experiences of love and family were so unsafe. “i cut off my nose just to spite my face / and i hate my reflection for years and years” is, quite literally, just the exact plot of 4x05. “i wake in the night / i pace like a ghost / the room is on fire / invisible smoke” is more A+ abandonment issues content, and i can’t even TALK about “all of my heroes die all alone” in the context of eliot waugh who FULLY has on MANY occasions raised a toast to living fast dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse and has never himself been wholly sure exactly how much he was kidding. “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men / couldn’t put me together again / cuz all of my enemies started out friends” is first of all a very funny thing for a former high king of fillory to say, and second upsetting because MOSAIC, PIECES, MINOR MENDINGS, ELIOT SEES HIMSELF AS A BROKEN THING, and third devastating because of how much of the Trauma Chalkboard involves times eliot has betrayed other people. ok FINE we can start talking about the refrains now, even though they CAUSE ME THE MOST PAIN. “help me hold on to you” is the subtext of every post-4x13 queliot fic for the very good reason that it’s the most vulnerable and beautiful and real thing eliot could ever say. “i’ve been the archer / i’ve been the prey” is again about eliot as a person full of regret for all the ways he has lashed out in his life against people other than the ones who wounded him so deeply. “screaming who could ever leave me darling / but who could stay” is sooooo eliot, with the drama and affect of it all (“darling!”), and the performed belief in his own excellence combined with his deep insecurity. “they see right through me” is about how he’s secretly afraid everyone can smell on him that he grew up on a farm in indiana, “can you see right through me” is about both fearing and hoping that quentin will see all of him, “i see right through me” is about how hard he’s lied to himself about wanting love. the best song in the world probably. 20/10.
i think he knows - my favorite thing about adult taylor swift referencing anything about adolescence is that taylor swift had a totally deranged abnormal adolescence because she spent the whole thing first trying to be famous and then actually being outrageously famous. so i love it when she says “it’s like i’m 17 nobody understands,” because when she was actually 17 she was dating a jonas brother for like 3 months and then writing break-up songs that made it sound like she was never that into it, so it’s like this idea of being 17 and hormonal in some kind of normal context where you actually are thinking about sex all day instead of meeting with your branding team. this is a fun idea to extrapolate to eliot & quentin, who were both miserable at 17 and never got the experience of devoting your brain full-time to all-consuming horniness for the first person to ever give you an orgasm, but who can now experience that with each other. also “his hands around a cold glass make me wanna know that body like it’s mine” is a queliot line because of my very strong personal headcanon that eliot is obsessed with quentin’s hands. 6/10
miss americana and the heartbreak prince - see above re: tswift & teenhood. "when i was 16 / lost in a film scene” is even better because actual teen taylor swift spent many hours of her life literally acting out on film these like pathologically normative high school scenarios that she never lived because she dropped out after ninth grade, and because this song is all about like, image vs reality but is also itself a fantasy? fucked up and weird, i love it. taylor swift spent so many years portraying her specific teen shame as being about her deep dweebery and i think it’s really funny that in this song she is still an outcast but now it is because she is like, too sexy and misbehaving, both through the line “they whisper in the hallways she’s a bad bad girl” and by setting it to basically a lana del rey track. i feel like this is a very eliot move, to rewrite your own history of exclusion as more glamorous and flattering than it was, to portray yourself as like this debauched rebel instead of a sad gay kid in a homophobic environment. eliot obviously was never enamored with this kind of stock teen americana imagery the way taylor was, but i think he has that same tension of deeply resenting one image while being very drawn to another one. extra point because “heartbreak prince” is such a hilarious and amazing way to describe quentin. 7/10
paper rings - good song for a very chill no-beast AU. “i like fancy things but i’d marry you with paper rings” is very eliot. it’s cute to imagine eliot reading all of the books besides quentin’s bed not because he likes them but because he wants to get to know quentin better. “i want your dreary mondays” is a nice thing for either of these dudes to hear. 5/10
cornelia street - all songs about being overwhelmed and terrified by love are about eliot waugh!!!!! especially songs where someone does something casually that is clearly not casual at all. it rules that both of the key metaphors in the verses are extremely quentin images: fresh page on the desk / card sharks playing games. stories and magic! thinking about eliot and quentin barefoot in a kitchen together makes me want to cry, for normal reasons. 8/10
death by a thousand cuts - i have to be honest, for a long time i thought it sucked that the best song on this album was actually not about queliot, but then i saw the light and realized that this is a song about how totally incomprehensible it is that you’re supposed to just move on with your life when someone you loved absolutely is no longer yours, so ACTUALLY, this song is totally about quentin after the mosaic! “i ask the traffic lights if it’ll be alright / they say i don’t know.” trying to be normal while secretly dying inside. “i look through the windows of this love, even though we boarded them up / chandelier’s still flickering here” = i said it was chill when you compartmentalized our 50 years as soulmates as something that happened to other people but actually the me i am right now wants you real bad! “what once was ours is no one’s now” because it happened in an alternate timeline that never existed. “you said it was a great love / one for the ages / but if the story’s over / why am i still writing pages” = you said it was kind of beautiful but also that wasn’t really me but if so then why do i want to bone you so bad. gets even more fucked up if you extend it properly into season 4. MY HEART MY HIPS MY BODY MY LOVE / TRYING TO FIND A PART OF ME THAT YOU DIDN’T TOUCH: a line i can only ever type in all-caps and about which i can say nothing because it is perfect. “gave up on me like i was a bad drug” is also very quentin reflecting bitterly on eliot. saying goodbye to your possessed ex is death by a thousand cuts because that’s how many times the monster sockpuppeting his body is going to randomly show up in your apartment covered in blood. the morning comes and you’re not my baby, because you have been possessed. flashbacks waking me up because i have PTSD now from watching your body murder like 80 people.  8/10
london boy - lmao. no 0/10
soon you’ll get better - I Feel Weird Jokingly Assigning A Rating To Taylor Swift’s Very Sad Song About How Taylor Swift’s Actual Mom Has Actual Cancer Based On How Much It Relates To A Fictional Couple In Which One Person Has A Parent Who Dies Of Cancer So I’m Going To Rate This Not Applicable. N/A. great song tho
false god - jesus, does she really go london boy / soon you’ll get better / false god? her sequencing is so deranged. anyway i know i was JUST talking about my interest in fic where quentin and eliot get together but don’t necessarily talk out every single one of their 800 issues in the timespan covered by the story, but this song about make-up sex is still not very queliot to me, possibly because i cannot get past the dorkiness of taylor swift calling herself new york city. “you can't talk to me when I'm like this / daring you to leave me just so I can try and scare you” is pretty good though. “if you want to live your life live it here...” damn eliot waugh and taylor swift really are like the same person on the level of psychological architecture. i know i keep saying it but it keeps freaking me out. 4/10
you should calm down - eliot unfollowed jonathan van ness on twitter after the video for this came out. he unfollowed antoni too but then refollowed him because he’s hot.  -1000000/10.
afterglow - so THIS song about fighting actually DOES have very queliot vibes. and it’s funny, because i keep talking about eliot’s fear of lashing out and hurtfully pushing away people he loves, and i think he does have that impulse (”if you want to live your life live it here...” what did you MEAN eliot), and i also think he’s SUPER afraid of that within himself, partly because of how the dynamics of his childhood make anger and conflict really fraught for him... but actually the character we more often see being a huge dick because of his own issues is, in fact, quentin, and that is who this song about. we all know i am obsessed with the scene where quentin comes sheepishly back to alice apologizing for being an asshole because it’s so vulnerable and honest and such a powerful moment of growth for him... as robbed as i feel of like tearfully joyful queliot reunions i also feel robbed that we never got to see quentin and eliot have a moment like that together! 7/10
me! - absolutely not. -30/10
it’s nice to have a friend - i like this song but the way taylor talks about it always makes me kind of sad, because she draws this equivalence between being excited about a friend as a kid and being excited about romance as an adult that really does make it sound like she thinks in adulthood romance takes over a place that friendship used to occupy, instead of co-existing with it... but she’s also talked a lot about the importance of finding who her real friends are so idk maybe i’m being too hard on her and also oversensitive because of certain plot developments. “call my bluff / call you babe” is cute. card sharks! pet names! 5/10
daylight - R U KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE QUELIOT ANTHEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! two people who have been hurt and hurt others, who have spent a long time running away from their own hearts, who have been confused about what they want... “i wounded the good and i trusted the wicked / clearing the air i breathed in the smoke” about every mistake and regret and fuck-up... “maybe you ran with the wolves and refused to settle down / maybe i’ve stormed out of every single room in this town”... the trauma chalkboard, the fight outside the hedge bar... the people you become to try to erase the person you’re afraid you are... and then! “throw out our cloaks and our daggers because it’s morning now / it’s brighter now”... to find peace in the person you never need to hide yourself from... the transformative power of letting yourself be seen... “i can still see it all in my mind / all of you all of me intertwined”... i can still remember this other life that never happened which matters not because it’s where i fell in love with you but because it’s where i revealed my whole self and learned that whole self could be loved.... and of course above all most crucially, “i once believed love would be burning red / but it’s golden / like daylight”... the very beautiful story the magicians accidentally almost told was a story about letting go of the narratives you’ve been taught to want and realizing that as much as real life and hard and scary it is also lovelier than any of those wan old stories... “i wanna be defined by the things that i love, not the things that i hate, or the things that i’m afraid of”... please!!!!!!! 100000000000000/10
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flowery-skz · 3 years
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Top 20 Songs of 2020
Okay y’all, here’s my top kpop songs of 2020 list for this year (finally, good lord this year felt like an eternity). These are the 20 songs that I felt really made an impact on me this year and why 💕
Starting from last to first, here we go!
20. Dr. Bebe, Pentagon - this song deserved so much better tbh the music video was everything, their acting was excellent and the vocals were *chefs kiss* i also loved the dark, creepy vixx -reminiscent vibes
19. Back Door, Stray Kids - Ok like objectively i know that God’s Menu was like their piece de resistance this year, but Back Door was just so fun and had a great bass line and the choreo was SO good
18. Cry For Me, Twice - this literally JUST came out like two seconds ago but let me tell you cry for me has legit been stuck in my head from the SECOND i heard it just ask my sister she’s this close to killing me next time i sing the chorus
17. Red Sun, Dreamcatcher - Let’s be real, dreamcatcher’s entire studio album was perfect from start to finish, and red sun was a standout among that perfection for me like from the magical mystical instrumental to dami’s absolutely earth-shattering rap line, just absolute gold my dude
16. Kick It, NCT 127 - This was a very polarizing song for a lot of people i feel, but for me the concept was literally executed to perfection. It had so much potential to be cheesy and gimmicky, but it totally wasn’t and i think it’s because nct 127 committed SO wholeheartedly to the concept
15. So Bad, StayC - THIS song. I actually already had my list all written out when i discovered so bad by stayc and i literally had to reconsider my ENTIRE existence. They are so so good with such a talented production team backing them and they’ve literally just debuted.
14. Dun Dun, Everglow - A lot of people really hated this song, and don’t get me wrong i had my own issues with the line and screen time distribution for sure, but you can’t deny it’s a total banger
13. Nonstop, Oh My Girl - This is the kind of song that i never really expected to fall in love with. It’s bubbly and cute and quite like youthful, but oh my girl honestly pull that concept off so well and they had me immediately hypnotized
12. Be In Love, Itzy - 2020 was the year of bailey eating her own words aka the year of me falling in love with itzy. when itzy debuted i seriously thought if they stuck with their concept i probably wouldn’t ever be into their music but lmao. they showed me. anyway this b side is seriously underrated and it really shows the girls vocal talents off, especially lia and yuna
11. Love Killa, Monsta X - hyungwon. that’s it that’s the post . . . jk but for real, visuals popped off. love killa was exactly what i’ve been wanting from mx for the past year or so. they hit the nail right on the head with the this one.
10. Secret Story of the Swan, izone - my relationship with izone is basically like my relationship with itzy part 2. I always appreciated them for their talents and having a very recognizeable sound but i could never get into their music. then SSOTS happened, and to be honest it STILL gets stuck in my head at random times
9. Phobia, Stray Kids - i LOVE this b side. for a while i thought it might replace Voices as my favourite skz track, but it just didn’t have the longevity that voices does. that said, it’s still such a good song with an important message did i mention that i love stray kids
8. La Di Da, Everglow - i have said it before and i’ll say it again: no one is doing it like everglow. this song came so out of the blue and blindsided so many people with how unexpectedly different it was, all while being a certified banger. the line distribution is aMAZING, you get to hear each member’s unique flavor, the straight 80’s vibe is immaculate, the styling is God-tier, just . . . everything. i LOVE this comeback
7. Eternally, TXT - if you know me, you know i love a good beat switch-up (i mean, my ult group is stray kids for crying out loud) and ladies. this song is the switch up to end all switch ups. txt somehow managed to combine two completely different tracks, each of which would have been A+ songs all on their own, and somehow make something a million times better. listening to eternally is a whole experience in and of itself and i haven’t heard anything that could compare to it to this day
6. Girls, Nature - UGH. WHAT an underappreciated masterpiece. girls by nature does everything that other companies are so afraid to do with their girl groups: a strictly dark, horror concept, a haunting melodic line with no need for a rap breakdown because it stands on its own as is, a visual concept that does not sexualize the girls in any way but instead tells a story of a person at the mercy of the one they love. it’s e v e r y t h i n g. Not to mention the song has one of the best pre choruses i’ve EVER heard.
5. Wannabe, Itzy - Let’s be honest, you knew this was going to be here. Everyone and their grandma was learning ryujins shoulder move. this was literally the summer of itzy’s wannabe. This is actually the comeback that got me onboard the itzy train and now i’m barreling down the mountain going 200mph and can’t find the breaks
4. I Can’t Stop Me, Twice - I think onces really had no idea where this comeback was gonna go. after more and more got such mixed responses from fans, we all weren’t really sure what direction the company was going to take twice in next. personally, i’m SO happy they went for the retro synth 80’s vibe concept. it was current enough to fish in non fans and keep new onces engaged but they also added their own unique twice spice to it, and i’ve been playing it on repeat for weeks also stan risky risky wiggy wiggi
3. Oh My God, G Idle - Ahhhh, yes. another polarizing song from gidle. omg for me was exactly what i needed from gidle. They’d been playing around with the darker concepts but had never fully committed to the potential that i saw in their music, but with omg we finally got the see them go full out with it, and i don’t think ANYONE could have done it better. The drop while empty was somehow so satisfying, the visials in the mv were visceral and witchy and to think that soyeon wrote and produced such a masterpiece. all i can say is bravo
2. Daisy, Pentagon - if this song doesn’t hold a very special place in your universe heart then buddy i think it’s time to throw the whole heart away. daisy, on top of being the first song to earn pentagon a well deserved music show win, was so emotionally moving from the lyrics to the mv to the choreo. you don’t need to know korean to feel exactly what the writer is feeling when hui sings that chorus, and that my friend is true artistry.
1. Answer, Ateez - Bet you were expecting a stray kids song. answer though has had my whole entire heart body and soul from the second it came out all the way back in january. for it to last a whole year as my favourite song of 2020 really speaks volumes as to how incredibly talented ateez and their production team are. Over the course of this absolute shit year, this song really inspired me to push forward, to keep working toward my goals and to keep believing in myself, and i think that’s a pretty amazing feat for one single song.
Anyway y’all sorry for the unnecessarily long post. I’ve just been compiling this list for months and was really excited to share. If any of my followers or just anyone who reads through this wants to share their own list, id love to see what songs impacted you this year! Happy New Years’ yall!
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maaaddiexo · 4 years
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Chapter Four | Peter Pevensie
[Red Series Book One: Roses]
Synopsis: With World War Two ravaging the world, no one is safe and no one is happy.
Despite their protests, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie are evacuated from London and sent to live in the English countryside with an old professor. Scared and unhappy, only the youngest Pevensie child remains optimistic and ends up sharing her hope with her siblings in the form of a wardrobe that takes them to Narnia, a different world where they are the only form of hope to bring an end to an evil witch's reign of terror.
Rosemary Bennett has no more hope left in her heart. Her brother and father are off fighting for their country, the former having gone missing months ago, and her mother ignores her, preferring the company of a bottle over her own daughter. Giving up seems the only logical plan of action. But when it finally comes to carrying it out, she's transported to a different world, with talking animals and a prophecy that doesn't involve her. Unsure as to why she is there, she must navigate a new world and ponder the possibility that maybe - just maybe - she doesn't actually want to die.
*Warning: this book deals with depression and suicide. Though mental illness isn't what this story revolves around, the act of suicide and depressive thoughts are intertwined with the plot and act as 'backseat drivers' to the novel.
[Chapter Five] [Series Masterlist] [Masterlist]
Curled up in a chair with a blanket laid over her, Rosemary sipped at her tea, not caring if it burned her tongue and throat because at least she would be warm. Also, if she was going to eat fish, she didn't want any taste buds.
Once Mrs. Beaver was comfortable in the other chair, she turned to Rosemary. "Ask away."
Rosemary had no idea where to start. She was sure she was still in shock, and she was definitely delirious. A beaver was talking for God's sake.
"Are you sure I'm not dead?"
Mrs. Beaver nodded once, sure of herself. "Positive, my dear. You're in Narnia. Why do you believe you're dead?"
Rosemary couldn't immediately bring herself to answer Mrs. Beaver's question. She had no idea her suicide attempt would fail so she was absolutely humiliated by the prospect of failing at the one thing she had been so determined to do. If only Daniel could see her now.
"I jumped," was all she said. Mrs. Beaver clearly understood what the two words meant by the quiet 'oh' that slipped past her lips. "Thank you for saving me though. I know I didn't want to be saved, but I appreciate the gesture all the same."
Mrs. Beaver perked up at that and smiled softly at the Bennett girl. "No disrespect, but even if I did know, I still would've saved you. I haven't known you long but I can already tell that you are a lovely young lady. Someone that I would be proud to call my daughter."
The tears fell suddenly and Rosemary's lower lip wobbled. Mrs. Beaver had no idea how much her words meant to Rosemary. It was her mother's avoidance and ignoring act that had pushed Rosemary to jump off that cliff so even though she hadn't known Mrs. Beaver long, she felt more loved by Mrs. Beaver in that moment than she had in a long time.
"Thank you," Rosemary whispered. "That means a lot."
Mrs. Beaver reached over and patted Rosemary's hand. "Of course my dear. Glad I could make you feel a little better."
Wanting to stop crying and move on from the subject, Rosemary asked another question. "You said we are in Narnia but...I have no idea what or where that is. I don't recall it being on any maps."
"I can't really describe it - Aslan would be the best option - but Narnia isn't on your maps because it belongs to a whole other world."
"How did I get here then? I jumped off a cliff in England and somehow I end up in a completely different world?"
"That is something I don't have the answer to. I wish I did so I could tell you, but I don't. But I do know that Narnia has a will of its own, and if it needs something, it will get that something. I believe that when you jumped off the cliff and into the water below, you were somehow transported to Narnia and came in through the Western River. That's where I found you."
"How do I get back to England?"
"That's a question for Aslan, whom we can try and get you to. Beaver will know more about that so you can ask him when he returns."
"Thank you," Rosemary smiled gratefully over the brim of her cup. "I understand this is a whole other world - still working on the whole believing part - but does it follow a different seasonal pattern? I mean, it's late summer in...my world, but it's winter here."
"Oh, it's been winter for the past hundred years in Narnia. Ever since the White Witch began ruling Narnia. She calls herself the Queen of Narnia but that's just rubbish. Narnia is only ever right and good when a child of Adam and/or Eve is on the throne. Not some stuck up witch."
Rosemary shouldn't have been surprised by the notion of magic in this other world - she was having tea with a talking beaver for Heaven's sake - but she was. The shock obviously hadn't worn off yet.
Rosemary wasn't sure what to say to that. "Well, at least your dam is nice and toasty."
"Yes. I suspect Beaver misses the warm weather so he makes it dreadfully hot in here." Mrs. Beaver made a show of waving her hand like a fan in hopes of cooling herself down and Rosemary giggled.
"Considering I almost froze out there, the blistering heat in here doesn't seem too bad."
"And would you look at that - Beaver's actually helpful for something." That made Rosemary laugh and she had to put her empty cup down before she dropped it. Who knew that some new company would lighten her spirits so much so quickly?
Over the next couple of hours, Mrs. Beaver made a lot of tea for the two of them and she entertained Rosemary with stories of Narnia - both good and bad. She told Rosemary tales that had been passed down over the generations about all sorts of things - Aslan the Lion, dancing trees, mermaids, and more.
By the time the sun had finally disappeared behind the towering trees and the sky began to darken, Mrs. Beaver had begun to pace. "He should've been back an hour ago. Ugh, he's probably out messing around with Badger. They always lose track of time when they're together. Sometimes, I think he's more married to Badger instead of me."
Rosemary recalled playing with Daniel before he left for war. They always lost track of time when they were doing something together - whether it was reading or playing hide-and-seek. "I'm sure that's it Mrs. Beaver. My brother and I were a lot like that too."
The lady beaver paused at the new information. All night, Rosemary had been avoiding talking about her life - aside from mentioning that in her world, everyone was at war. The war to end all wars, Rosemary had called it. But before Mrs. Beaver could ask Rosemary about her brother, she heard voices outside and bristled. "That better be Beaver."
Marching outside, Mrs. Beaver called out, "Beaver, is that you? I've been worried sick! If I find out you've been out with Badger again, I-" Mrs. Beaver lost her voice as not only her husband came into view, but four children. Four human children. Two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve dressed in oversized fur coats trailed after her husband, marveling at the dam. "Those aren't badgers."
"Hello, Darling," Beaver kissed his wife on the cheek but she barely payed attention, moving closer to the four children.
"Oh, I never though I would live to see this day! And now not only Rosemary but you as well!" Quickly changing gears, she swatted her husband on the shoulder before smoothing herself down. "Look at my fur! You couldn't give me ten minutes warning?"
"I'd have given you a week if I thought it would've helped," Beaver teased, snickering behind his paws. Laughter bubbled up in Lucy and she let it loose behind her sleeve. Peter smiled briefly. His mother and father used to tease each other like that before his father went off to war.
"Oh, come inside, and we'll see if we can't get you some food. And there's some civilized company inside so that should cheer you lot up."
"Company?" Beaver gawked, trailing after his wife. "We never have company."
"And yet, now we have two parties. And they're all human!"
"There are other humans here?" Lucy wondered, following after Susan. "Mr. Tumnus made it sound like there weren't any other humans here."
"There aren't - oh, excuse the mess. Rosemary was brought here just like you four were. Except, well, her journey was a little wetter."
Inside, Rosemary had heard the entire conversation - thin walls in a dam, she supposed - and had gotten up from her chair to make some more tea. There was a small hole in the ice by the wall that acted as both the water supply and the way in and out of the water for the Beavers. She dipped the kettle into the water and then moved over to the stove to turn it on. After pulling out as many mugs as there were, she went back to the chair she had spent the last few hours in and pulled the blanket over her shoulders.
By the time the Beavers and Pevensies entered the home, she was already fast asleep.
[Chapter Five] [Series Masterlist] [Masterlist]
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Grace & Ava
Grace: I'm here in your postcode so like hmu if you need help Grace: after being a babysitter FOREVER kids crafts are TOTALLY my thing Ava: There's glitter on everything Ava: I'm going to have to pay to get their house professionally cleaned after this, I swear Grace: before you do I have to bring the boy over & 'accidentally' cover him Grace: cos he literally will not decide on a costume Ava: Yeah, he's crap at costumes Ava: I don't think I've even seen him in the obligatory devil horns Ava: mess up the hair, probably Grace: I mean, if my hair ever looked that good that'd be so relatable Grace: 😍😍 Ava: n'awh 😏 Ava: I'm glad someone appreciates the effort he goes to with the bleach Ava: god knows what I'm going to wear, the standard Halloween ideas aren't really applicable for a kid's birthday Grace: I love him but I hate him Grace: his eyelashes are better than mine as well Grace: right?! if his mum sees me in a lbd & cat ears she'll hate me more than she already does Grace: we could do joint costumes of a 🔪 in our backs though 🙄😂 Ava: What's she like? Grace: so rude Grace: she NEVER talks to me but the judgement is REAL 👀🔪 Grace: poor & a reformed hoe!? not in her house, honey Ava: and you didn't even homewreck her son's marriage so Ava: this is gonna be fun Grace: but I will if she tries to marry him off to some beautiful, rich, virgin or whatever Ava: I don't think they're that old school 😂 Ava: only if he managed to get a virgin pregnant Grace: don't even Grace: it's literally the one thing that would maybe score me points with her & I can't talk about it Ava: as satisfying as it'd be to throw out when she's being the most judgmental Ava: not worth it Ava: but you are gonna come, right? Ava: James wasn't sure Grace: yeah, I'm not trying to have a breakdown at her dining table soooooo Grace: of course we are, he practically begged me onto a flight to not have to go alone Grace: his sister has like 5 kids & Teddy can't deal with any of them Grace: what happens when you 👰👴 I guess Ava: Yeah Ava: I heard Ava: I just want them to have a good time Ava: James and the kids Grace: they will Grace: you've done amazing so far setting it all up Ava: there's nothing I can do to jazz up the guestlist Ava: it's bad enough that she might show but we can't plan for it Grace: Teddy thinks she will & Jay will have a meltdown, that's why he's totally dreading it Ava: I don't think she will Grace: idk but he's convinced Grace: he says she LOVES to make an entrance & bring drama Ava: Potentially Ava: I think she doesn't care enough about the kids, but that she doesn't intentionally want to hurt them Ava: just James Ava: there are better ways, after all, her parents are going to be there, they'd stop her before she could really do anything Grace: 🤞🏽 cos that does make sense Grace: & we all want you to be right, no offense to the bae Ava: If she's going to come back, she will, it'll have to be faced Ava: whether we're wearing cat ears or not Grace: yeah but like a 👶🎂 is not it Grace: even she must know that Ava: None of this is Grace: how's James? Ava: he's doing good Ava: considering Ava: it's a lot Grace: mhmm Grace: I'm avoiding Rio & Buster rn for a reason Ava: Yeah, he's mad at me Grace: 🙄🙄 Grace: don't even worry he's mad at everyone for everything Grace: except Ri, duh Grace: like you said, it's a lot Ava: well it's kind of special circumstances Ava: he thinks I've picked a side Grace: cos it's that simple Grace: he's so extra & that's coming from me Ava: Maybe it is Grace: he wishes it was Grace: but it's not you & James vs him & Ri Ava: It's not that Ava: I just Ava: I don't think I agree with what he wants Grace: you want Jay to stay where she is Ava: Yes Ava: I think he's only thinking about himself Grace: well yeah, when isn't he? Ava: It's different Ava: it's two lives he could ruin Ava: three, Mattie too Grace: he's always done exactly what he wants however many lives it could ruin Grace: literally all you can do is keep trying to get through to him Ava: Yeah, that'll work Ava: like you said, he'll do what he wants Ava: but James won't just let her go, and if it goes to court, how has he proved he's a decent father? Ava: he's not acknowledged her, the possibility Ava: it wouldn't be as cut and dry as he wants it to be Grace: nothing is ever that cut & dry but ugh try telling Buster or Ri that Ava: Exactly Ava: isn't having Venus when they shouldn't enough Grace: don't even get me started Grace: it's such a mess Ava: it isn;t fair Ava: James raised her, stepped up Ava: had to deal with Chloe Ava: no one has the right to take her away now Grace: exactly Grace: they love each other Grace: you can't just break that bond like it doesn't exist Ava: for one that doesn't Ava: I don't want to pick sides, I love him, he's my brother Ava: but I can't say I'm okay with it right now, when I'm not Grace: he's being a selfish idiot rn though, you can say it to me, babes Grace: she's got a whole family here Ava: I know it's fucked, that Chloe told him he wasn't the dad Ava: but I can't get over that she told him he was Ava: you don't just Ava: why did he trust her the second time and not the first Ava: how could that be for anything but selfish reasons Grace: it's literally cos he wanted to Grace: & he's totally fixated on the wrong things, what does blood matter anyway? Grace: Billie's my sister not any one of the kids my dad had scattered across Dublin Ava: Maybe Rio said she'd leave him? Ava: but still, then he made his choice Ava: ugh Ava: I hate it Grace: me too Grace: everything is so Grace: fucked Grace: always Ava: how was your birthday anyway Ava: did you and Teddy do something nice? Grace: he did spoil me cos he knows my birthday is the literal worst & I tried not to brag TOO hard on socials Ava: Good Ava: you're only 16 once Grace: it's so weird Grace: being her age Ava: I thought about that Ava: on her birthday Ava: that she'd have only been 20 Ava: it seems so long ago, somehow Grace: like unless I die too now, I'm gonna be older than her Ava: they could take Libi if they want another child so bad Ava: alright, that was bitchy but nan and granddad won't be around forever either, I know they're not old old but Grace: they tried that already, so not really that bitchy Grace: god, she looks so much like her I actually can't breathe sometimes Ava: It's crazy Ava: and how big she is already Grace: did you see the 🎃 patch pics? It's wild, she's even dressed like Edie as a kid Grace: calm down nan Ava: I know Ava: I wish she had to chance to know her Ava: and her dad, of course Grace: yeah, I wish I'd known her better & I had way longer than Libi Ava: Like Billie's mum Ava: it's just sad Grace: idk maybe you get to 90 & you're still like I wish....whatever Grace: but like you said, it's unfair & I hate it Ava: It's never going to be something you can make peace with Ava: well, I don't think Ava: her life wasn't finished, it had only just started Grace: I don't think I wanna make peace with it anyway, it's not okay & none of us should just be okay with it Grace: but I can't cry rn so Ava: Me either Ava: I have too many sandwiches to make Grace: are you at home? I'll come over Ava: I'm at his but you can come over Ava: help me load up the car Grace: 👌🏽 omw Ava: You can have a cake pop early Ava: don't tell Jay Grace: 😂🤫 Ava: or more aptly, don't tell James she's already conned me out of two Grace: he'll definitely be able to tell when she's climbing the walls Grace: unless you've made a really convincing 🕷 costume too Ava: I know, I know Ava: it's bad Ava: but I don't think a little bit of excitement would actually hurt right now Ava: she's got to carry it, it's not like Mattie really has much of a clue what's going on yet Grace: & you don't want her feeling jealous & left out that you threw her baby sister such a great party Grace: that's the worst Ava: Yeah, she had hers in the Summer and it wasn't the best time, obviously Ava: I've tried to make sure she feels involved anyway Grace: Teddy can't believe how good you are with her, speaking of jealousy 😂 Ava: Kids pick up on your awkwardness, don't they Ava: like animals Ava: he just needs to fake it 'til he makes it Grace: mhmmm Grace: I told him it'll get easier the more time he spends with both of them, but you know what he's like Ava: Yeah Ava: at least no one is going to accuse him of trying to be their mother 🙄 Grace: 🤞🏽 she won't say it again in front of everyone 🥳🎁 Grace: awkward Ava: it's so patronizing Ava: it's not as if Chloe was a massive help Ava: he's done it himself this whole time, basically Ava: they don't need a mum Grace: she was literally the opposite of helpful Ava: at best she looked after them in the loosest sense of the word when he was at uni or work Ava: but 9/10 they'd end up with her parents so it wasn't as if she could be relied on Grace: are her parents coming? Ava: yeah Ava: I don't think they can even believe that she's done this Ava: gone Ava: I've met them a few times, dropping or picking the girls up, they're nice enough Grace: who'd wanna believe that about their family tbh Grace: but it's good that they're sticking around even though they probably wanna die if they've always been there Grace: the girls need that normality rn Ava: I'm sure they feel awful Ava: though James' family are blaming no one but him so they don't need to worry about judgment Grace: ugh I would kill Teddy if he sided with them Ava: I don't know if James knows he doesn't Grace: really? Grace: 🙄 boys never talk Grace: I'll talk to him, he knows how to show it even if he doesn't wanna say it Grace: they can go to the pub or whatever Ava: Yeah, I like, try not to comment or get involved Ava: know what it's like to have family drama Ava: but that's the feeling I've got anyway, it couldn't hurt them Grace: rich people need a bigger shove to open up, no offence Ava: 😂 it's a class issue, really Grace: in his family there's that whole stiff upper lip thing that I thought was totally not even a thing for the past however many centuries Grace: it's crazy, okay Ava: I know Grace: thank god he's the youngest or his mum would be coming at me to produce an heir Ava: you aren't good enough stock, obvs Ava: 🙄🙄 Grace: & she's only basing that off my 2 jobs & sexual history Grace: if she knew I was actually infertile she'd be giving him constant sti checks & changing the locks Grace: 😱😱 Ava: If you aren't titled and can't trace your family back to the dark ages, then they don't wanna know 🤷 Grace: so weird Ava: just how they are Ava: posh people Grace: yeah, it's wild, you should've seen the look I got when I said you were making sandwiches Grace: the boy does nothing for himself I swear Ava: he doesn't Ava: I've known him long enough Grace: Janis hated him on sight so at least you do actually know him Ava: doesn't really surprise me Grace: she only has 😍 for working class baristas so Ava: all my family hate James so you're doing better than me Grace: they just hate him for you, I've been there every other time Grace: they'll have to get over it & used to him eventually Ava: none of yours were married with two kids Ava: but still, yeah, they will Ava: or they won't, it's not like it's illegal so they can't do anything Grace: he's divorced now & literally deserves to be happy Ava: his happiness isn't their top priority Grace: yours should be though Ava: it is Ava: in that they think it's a mistake and I'll regret it Grace: if it is it's your mistake to make & regret to live with Grace: I've got 100000s Grace: 🤷 Ava: I can see their point, and what they're trying to do, without agreeing with it Ava: because I'm not as immature as they wanna say so Ava: it is what it is Grace: 👏🏽 Ava: I've got to do some homework, when you get here Ava: you don't mind do you Grace: it's fine Ava: it's due monday and I've barely started Grace: as long as Teddy doesn't ignore me for homework too Ava: awh, how could he Grace: idk maybe you're a better influence than me Ava: i'm not going to turn the party into a study sesh, don't worry Grace: 😂 I didn't bring any homework so I'm not worried Grace: I could probably cope with Jay's but I won't be telling her Ava: ✌ Ava: I highly doubt she'll wanna do hers either Grace: she can help me get him in the 🥳🎁🕺🎊 mood then Ava: 🤞 Grace: 🙏🏽
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