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wutheringmights · 3 years

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Can I be greedy and ask for all of the boys ? And any characters you have strong opinions on? Pretty please? With lots of cherries and chocolate on top? ( for the ask meme ofc)

Anon, I'll finish up all of the boys in the Chain just for you. And trust me, I have an Infinite Amount of Strong Opinions. You have no idea how Opinionated I Am.

If anyone is coming in late to this, here are the boys I have done already and a short summary of my thoughts (click the hyperlinks to get the full Opinion):

Warriors: he's best when he's the trashy anti-Link, and I like him so much

Twilight: kind of boring, but I have a soft spot for him anyway because you never forget your first

Wind: should have been aged up a little so that he can have that identity crisis I'm craving

This... gets long. Really long. 3-hours-of-work-long. Before you read, please note that even when I speak negatively about something, it’s not to diss anyone who does like the thing. I’m not vague posting or being passive aggressive. This is all written in good humor and good faith.

That being said, let’s a-go!

-Sky-

What I love about them: He has one of the best character arcs of all the Links. I love that he starts off being lazy and kind of a jerk, but grows as a person because he wants to save his friend. And I love that he's truly the most courageous Link. He has no other successful hero of past or legacy to lean back upon to reassure him. He walked into that fight with Demise with no assurance from anyone that he would succeed. Yet, he does it anyway. Because he's a true hero and someone had to be one. And he's rewarded with a curse that he does not initially take seriously. He thinks he's saved everyone, yet he's cursed his spirit, possibly his bloodline, and his entire legacy of the kingdom of Hyrule into a doomed cycle of destruction. All because he dared to face evil incarnate. I love him.

What I hate about them: You know how I called Twilight boring? I should have saved that critique for Sky. LU Sky is actually the most boring interpretation of his character. All of his negative traits? Gone. All of his positives? Also gone. He's the blandest version of himself, and like Twilight, I now feel like I gotta add some spice to him to make him more interesting while still keeping him recognizable. Even so, he's still one of my favorite Links.

Favorite Moment/Quote: When he kicks Twilight's ass at sword fighting. That's stuff is *chef's kiss*

What I would like to see more focus on: You would think that there would be more angst out there about him realizing that he's actually been cursed, but it's still kind of hard to find. He's the Cursed Knight! The beginning of a terrible legacy! Imagine meeting a bunch of heroes for the first time, and instead of being relieved at having someone who understands your experiences, you're filled with horror at realizing that your victory was a false one. You didn't win. Your spirit will never be at rest. Imagine dealing with that realization for the rest of your life. You could never be at peace.

What I would like to see less focus on: I love that he loves his wife, but he's more just the fact that he's married, y'know? I would like to see a little less blind devotion to Hylia and Zelda, and more complicated feelings about being manipulated into being the hero.

Favorite pairing with: Sun/Link/Groose OT3! I have no reasoning behind this other than I like Groose and Groose definitely had a crush on SkSw Link.

Favorite friendship: I won't answer Groose again even if I want to, so I'll say Warriors. I cannot begin to describe how elite this friendship would be if you gave it a chance. They're just two boys dealing with unique positions of leadership and responsibility. They would probably even bond over being shitheads at different ends of the shithead spectrum. It's so good, okay?

NOTP: Ghirahim. I'm not too adverse to this one, but the ship hinges on whether you can redeem Ghirahim or not. In my opinion, Ghirahim is awesome because he's such a fun villain. Redeeming him ruins the fun.

Favorite headcanon: I have a whole life story planned out for Sky. Basically, he lives to be close to 500 years old by the power of the Triforce. He is the Link throughout the Era of Chaos who banishes the Dark Interlopers to the Twilight Realm and seals the Triforce in the Sacred Realm. He actually seals himself in the Sacred Realm as well to keep the Triforce safe, and he fought Ganondorf in when he broke in. Sky, like Time and Wind, does not get a happy ending.

-Four-

What I love about them: Four is origin of the heroes of Hyrule being known for being children. What a legacy to leave behind. He's such an interesting case of an incarnation of the Hero's Spirit, too. He fought Vaati, and he did his job so well that Demise's next incarnation had to be Ganondorf. Four did his job the best out of everyone, and it came at the cost of creating a magic sword that changed him permanently. I like to think that the Four Sword was not meant to split him, that it was a mistake he made with the design. And it's sad, isn't it? You made a defective sword, and like any good sword, it has a symbolic double edge. It gifted you with so much, and yet he can never be the same again. And his story is never well-remembered because it is overshadowed by the Links who fought the King of Evil. He's does so much, yet his legacy is underappreciated.

What I hate about them: I want to prepare you for this Opinion, because I know it's unpopular. Are you ready? Okay. I don't like the Colors. I'm sorry. I want to like them, but they don't interest me at all. Because they are parts of Four’s personality, they have to be one-note archetypes which does not make for exciting storytelling. I also haven't found a fic yet that has been from Four's POV that did the internal monologue of the Colors in a way that wasn't a pain in the ass to read. Maybe if someone can figure out how to do the Colors in a way that doesn't feel like a drag, I would like them more. But in the end, I think Four himself is more interesting than the Colors.

Favorite Moment/Quote: The fact that he didn't want to touch the Master Sword because he doesn't trust magic swords. That is every I need to know about his opinion on his own adventures.

What I would like to see more focus on: I want more of Four as Four. It's getting harder to find content of Four being his own person first and the Colors second.

What I would like to see less focus on: Four being the Colors first and his own person second. There is something about viewing Four as this cover identity for the Colors that doesn't feel right. There's a balance that needs to be strike between his ability to split, how that affects his every day life, and his own identity of being Four. I think I may have read one fic that hit that sweet spot for me, but still.

Favorite pairing with: Shadow. I'm such a sucker for befriending and falling for the enemy. That is all.

Favorite friendship: Dot! Their friendship is super cute. I like the idea of them being super close when they were younger and struggling to keep the friendship going as they age due to how much their paths in life diverge.

NOTP: This isn't necessarily a Four or an LU problem, but people who ship the Colors together? Bro. C'mon.

Favorite headcanon: I'm torn between two different Four and the Master Sword headcanons. On one hand, Four thinking that the Master Sword is just legend until he meets Sky and everyone else is just a fun idea. He sees the legendary sword for the first time and his mind is blown. On the other hand, I also like my Four with a side of hubris. What if he had the option on his quest to draw the Master Sword himself? What if he could tell that if he did that, the consequences would be terrible. He's not sure what would happen, but he knows it would be terrible. So he decided to make his own sword instead to disastrous results. Wouldn't that be tragic or what?

-Time-

What I love about them: Last winter, I did a two hour powerpoint for my friends about the Legend of Zelda timeline. During that powerpoint, I was rating every iteration of Link. What I said about the Hero of Time then holds true to my thoughts of LU Time now. Time is the original Link, more so than Sky in the lore and Legend/Hyrule in real life. Every other hero is a reflection of him. So the fact that his story is about the loss of childhood and the tragedy of that is incredible, and you can see those themes reflected in every other game. Moreso, he’s the only Link with a confirmed tragic ending. Not only does he end his life unsatisfied, but his adventure is failure on every timeline. In the adult timeline, Hyrule is swallowed by the sea. In the child one, Ganondorf returns again. In the fallen timeline, Hyrule fell. I like the idea since that the games themselves are the legends that are past down about each hero, Hylians have also remembered Time as a tragic figure. Yet, they also remember that the happy moments for his life come from small acts of kindness. Even someone as sad as him finds joy in helping others, even if it’s just to small deeds that will not be heralded as grand heroic quests. It’s beautiful.

What I hate about them: This is more about Mask than Time, but Mask is not an adult in a child’s body. He did not rewind time in Termina enough to be considered mentally an adult. He’s a young teenager at best, and that’s me being generous. He is a child who was forced to be an adult and despite the gods being done with him, he cannot conceive of ever having a childhood again. So he can say all he wants that he’s an adult, but he is not. That’s just what he thinks he is.

Favorite Moment/Quote: Anytime we get a flashback to him being a younger adult is great. I want to see more of his in this his early adulthood.

What I would like to see more focus on: I think I just want more of Time being... not a bad leader, but being an imperfect one. I honestly think he’s only the leader because he’s the oldest and enough of the heroes recognize the title of Hero of Time. But he is not the leader type, and he is struggling to keep it together and has to defer to Twilight and Warriors for help a lot.

What I would like to see less focus on: I’m not the biggest fan of Dad!Time for any of the Links. He’s not emotionally ready for it. And I think he defaults to treating the boys like adults because that’s how he wanted to be treated when he was their age.

Favorite pairing with: Malon. He has this great partnership of equal respect with her and it’s just. So good.

Favorite friendship: Linebeck. I know. This exists only in my head. But if these two ever meet, you cannot convince me that they would not get along swimmingly. It would be so good (once Linebeck gets over his crush on Time and stops hitting on him, of course).

NOTP: Child Timeline Zelda. Let me explain: I fully believe in Bi Time supremacy, and when in OoT, he definitely had a crush on Sheik. However, one of the worst parts of rewinding time and being in the child timeline is that Zelda is a completely different person now. They may have been friends in the other timeline, but her life experiences are completely different now. She is not the same person as he once knew. And it’s tragic to know someone as who they could have been, not as they are.

Favorite headcanon: After Termina, Time spent a lot of time with the Nabooru because out of everyone he knew, she’s the only who took him seriously even as a child. She has big older sister energy, and he considers her a part of his family. However, being treated as such made it easier for him to ignore his issues and put off his healing process by a few years.

-Legend-

What I love about them: Veteran of Heroes! What a freaking title. I love that he keeps on finding adventures, and that he keeps hustling. Even if he complains about never getting a break, you can tell that he loves helping others. He loves being on the road, never settling down, and finding adventure after adventure. Honestly, if any of the Links had a calling to be a hero, it’s him. Is he tired? Sure. Is he a little jaded after having saved Hyrule and a bunch of other kingdoms multiple times? Yes. But at the end of the day, he likes being a hero. This is who he is. His complaining is not genuine; he just plays the martyr because, at this point, he’s earned the right to.

What I hate about them: If you can’t tell by now, I have a, uh, different interpretation of Legend from popular canon. Fandom Legend is not right to me. He is unrecognizable. It is hard to write him because I feel like I have to balance what other people think Legend should be versus how I think he is. The people who are big Legend enjoyers probably feel the same way about my version of Warriors, and that’s fine. I’m not going to gel with every character and I don’t expect everyone to gel with how I see characters either. It’s goes both ways, y’know.

Favorite Moment/Quote: I like how subtly he tried to approach the Wolfie problem at first, trying to ask questions and get more proof before confronting Twilight. It’s a good touch.

What I would like to see more focus on: If I had to choose one thing, it’s this one throw away line about him never wanting to settle down. I’m telling you, folks! He likes his lifestyle! And did you see him when he does presenting the origins of the hero? He’s not bitter about being a hero! Legend is moody, but he is not angsty about the whole hero thing. Have fun with him please!

What I would like to see less focus on: If you can’t tell by now, Legend is my least favorite Link. There is a lot I want to see less of, but just to name one thing, it’s the headcanon that Fable is his sister. I live and die by common born Link, and whether he’s a legitimate heir or the royal bastard, I am more than bored with the persistent Prince!Legend content.

Favorite pairing with: Marin. It’s a good tragic story and I like it well enough. She’s cute, and he’s cute with her.

Favorite friendship: Warriors. I’m with everyone else on these two have peak sibling energy. They tease and pick on each other, but only they are allowed to mess with each other. They’re each other’s bully, and it’s always good to see.

NOTP: I do not have enough energy to have a lot of strong opinions about Legend’s romantic relationships, but I will mentioned that I have lost a lot of love for Ravio recently and am liking seeing him with Legend less and less. I have no better reason for this than the fact that I finally played ALBW and hate how many of my hard earned rupees he’s taken from me by withholding important, lifesaving items. Rat bastard.

Favorite headcanon: Remember my headcanon about him being the coolest bad boy folk hero on the block because everyone thinks he kidnapped Zelda? Yeah, I still stand by that one. I did good there.

-Hyrule-

What I love about them: If there is any Link that I would call a gutter rat, it is this one. I struggle a bit to talk about Hyrule since his games gives us so little, but in the end, I always fall back on him being a hero of the people. He is the one who has nothing and relates the best to people who are at their lowest. Yet, he is still a hero. He earns the right to be a hero because he helped Impa in her time of need. He’s selfless and competent. Even if he never got a traditional education, I bet he’s wicked smart too. He is the Link that symbolizes all of the parts of the Triforce the most. And, god. I cannot talk about him without mentioning the blood sacrifice part of LA. It’s such a cool concept, and I cannot imagine what it must be like to go from being the rough and tumble, win-at-all-costs fighting to protecting yourself first because if you don’t, the consequences are disastrous. It’s paradoxical, and it must be such a different mindset to fall into. But it must also be a blessing in disguise since now he has a reason to finally care about himself.

What I hate about them: Who started the Hyrule is innocent headcanon? Come over here because we need to exchange some words. If there is anyone who would be a realist and know how the world works, it’s this guy. And while we’re here, who came up with the Hryule is always lost headcanon? I also have some words for you. And you know what? WHILE WE’RE HERE, who let him be named Hyrule? I’m have more than choice words for you. His name scheme is the bane of my existence and the express reason why I don’t write him more. God.

Favorite Moment/Quote: That one panel where he takes utter delight in Warriors hiding from his scorned lovers? That is a central pillar in my understanding of Hyrule.

What I would like to see more focus on: Again, his relationship with other people. Even if his games are lacking in NPCs, we know from lore that he’s a good guy who will jump in to help others. He must know plenty of people, and I want to see who exists in his world with him.

What I would like to see less focus on: I have an on-going joke with my brother that certain characters are Catholic, even if Catholicism does not exist in the world of the thing we’re watching or playing. Of course, we’re not being serious. we’re just joshing around. So imagine the gut punch I feel whenever I see people say Hyrule is Christian and realize that they’re being serious. I just can’t take it seriously.

Favorite pairing with: Aurora. It’s cute and I’m a sucker for that hero and royalty dynamic, especially when the hero is a peasant. It’s so cheesy, but I love it.

Favorite friendship: Legend. But not the way everyone else pairs them up as the grumpy one and the sunshine one. I think of it more as them being the pinnacle of boys being boys. They’re shitheads. They do stupid shit together. They both have a dark sense of humor. They joke that they’re practically the same person sometimes.

NOTP: uhhhhhhhhh.... Is he paired with anyone else?

Favorite headcanon: I love the idea that he just likes his way of life and refuses to accept anyone saying otherwise. Legend wants to teach him to read? Sorry, but he’s never had to read before in his life so he’s pretty sure he’ll never need it anyway. Want to participate in the treasured Hylian tradition of piercing your ears when you come of age? Why would he ever do that when a monster could rip those earrings off? He’s stuck in his ways and it frustrates everyone else to no end, but he has no interest in ever changing.

-Wild-

What I love about them: When I was 9, I spent my time online on Legend of Zelda forums. I remember one of my forum friends saying that they wanted a Legend of Zelda game where Link lost. And I think of that friend whenever I think about Wild. BOTW Link is the best Link that has ever been. He is the epitome of every trait we associate with any Link. He’s smart and sassy. He’s hard working and kind. But underlining all of that is the fact that he’s still the one who failed. If Demise’s Curse in SkSw is the set-up, the Great Calamity is the payoff. And I haven’t even talked about how confirming him as being non-verbal before the Calamity does so much for his characterization. I don’t even know where to start or how to articulate it. By game storyline alone, Wild is one of my favorites.

What I hate about them: You guys knew this one was coming, but I’m going to have to say it anyway. Fandom Wild.... not good. I’ve said it for half of these boys so far, but god is it true. I have a way I see Wild that is rarely done in the fandom. Fandom Wild has a lot of the traits I also see in Wild, but to all of the extremes. I will mention one thing in particular as being a pet peeve, and it’s how some people headcanon him as always being nonverbal. I know what they’re trying to do, and I think they’re on to something, but they’re also missing the point of what BOTW Link’s character arc is. I just wish more people would forget fandom and work more off of the games for how to characterize him.

Favorite Moment/Quote: Weirdly enough, my favorite moment is when he got mad at everyone for making fun of his Gerudo outfit, so he dumped Goron Spice in his cooking. It’s encapsulates a part of his character I think a lot of people forget about.

What I would like to see more focus on: I think he has a really complicated relationship with his past. He said himself that his old self felt like a different person, and I think that should be explored a lot more. That idea actually fascinates me so much that instead of CTB, I almost wrote a character study fic about Wild. His emotions are not as simple as feeling guilty about letting his friends die and not preventing the Calamity. His emotions would be so complicated and because I don’t have the time to explore it, someone else needs to do it for me.

What I would like to see less focus on: There is a weird fascination with Wild having memory loss and essentially being like a kid again. And this feels infantilizing to me. It honestly bugs me a lot every time I see it.

Favorite pairing with: I can’t decide between Zelda, Mipha, and Revali. They’re all different dynamics and they’re all good.

Favorite friendship: Paya. I firmly believe that Paya is Wild’s best friend. I am the only one in the world who believes this. But I am also the only one in the world who is correct.

NOTP: Wild is good with everyone. Good for him!

Favorite headcanon: An essential scene of my Wild character study I will never write is one where his horse dies. He goes into shock and walks back to Kakariko to talk to Impa. But once he goes to her, he breaks down in tears and has an absolute melt down over the horse. And Impa sagely says, “It’s not about the horse, is it?” She’s implying that he’s actually mourning the loss of his friends, Hyrule, his life, everything-- but through his tears, he keeps tell her that she’s wrong. He barely remembers them. He doesn’t know them. He doesn’t have any feelings about them. He just really loved that horse. But Impa refuses to listen to him, just repeating over and over again: “it’s not really about the horse.”

And that’s it! That’s all of my opinions! I know a lot of my opinions are polarizing, but everything I said is in good faith, and I am not trying to diss anyone for how they approach these characters.

I welcome you to send me your Opinions on the Links, even if it’s just to disagree with me. I’m cool with it, and I like knowing what everyone else thinks!

#so there are my polarizing opinions #heed my note at the beginning and end about acting in good faith #anyway if you read all of this you are obligated to tell me some of your headcanons and opinions #sorry i don't make the rules except i actually do #linked universe #linkeduniverse #lu #lu sky #lu four #lu time #lu legend #lu hyrule #lu wild #lu twilight #lu wind #lu warriors #me rambling #ask #anonymous

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chaoticspacefam · 3 years

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The Lana Shipping Meme!

This is a meme made by @swtor-legacy-sitcom who very kindly tagged me to fill it in, thank you! :D This was super fun, I’ve been in a bit of a writing rutt lately so this was a nice way to sort-of dip my toe back into it :P I TOTALLY forgot this was in my drafts and forgot to schedule it to post, I’m soooo sorry it took so long lmao 😳😬

I’m not sure if we’re supposed to tag other people with this one so I’ll just leave a general, open tag here: if you have a Lana ship and want to fill this one out, feel free to yoink the meme and say I tagged you! Yes, I promise I mean you <3

Spoilers for KOTFE/KOTET, and slight spoilers for the Subterfugeverse “version” of said events, will be discussed below, so be aware of that before proceeding! There’s also some midlly nsfw questions so you might wanna skip those if they’re not your thing! :D Under a cut because it’s long, but no trigger warnings need apply.

Is Lana Beniko absolutely done with their shit?

Oh yes, absolutely. Nearly always. At any given time, BUT Lana wouldn’t have it any other way. Saarai may be a reckless, overly-heroic idiot with seemingly no self-preservation, but she’s Lana’s reckless, overly-heroic idiot, ya know :’D

Do they make jokes together?

Fairly often, yes! Theirs is very much a flirty/fond banter type of relationship. Lana tells her she’s insufferable, Saarai rolls her eyes and snarks back, so on. See:

Saarai: Well this was a stupid idea Lana: Considering it was one of yours, I’m not surprised Saarai: Why didn’t you say something? Lana: I did and you did it anyway. And what have we learnt from this? Saarai, quietly: I’m a dumbass and I should listen to you more.... Lana: Good. I still love you, though. Saarai: :’D

Lana, two minutes later: You’re going to do it again, aren’t you? Saarai: Yeah, probably.

as well as that little cutscene “You’d better come back blah blah blah” “Well I have you to rescue me, that’s all I need~” is their default pre-dangerous battle banter :P

Who’s hornier? (who initiates)

Saarai is definitely hornier, and while she’s not always the one to initiate, she’s definitely the one to ask more often. (if I had to give it a number, prolly something like 65/45 lol) One of these days, Lana’s going to buy a spray bottle /jk

Kinkiest they’ve been?

Not awfully. Saarai’s a biter (Lana likes it, don’t worry 😏) and she loves it when Lana pulls her hair, but other than that, and making use of connections within the Force to heighten the sensations during such activities ;) they’re pretty vanilla

There was a post going around a while back about an alternative to a praise kink that was like, a “reassurance” kink, instead. I can’t find the actual post to link to it and I haven’t pinned down any specifics for them yet but I definitely think that’s a Saarai thing to look into later 😏

Has Lana ever covered up something your OC did as Minister of Intelligence?

In a roundabout way, yes. Technically, Saarai’s entire existence on Rishii. Since, teeechhnically, as far as the Empire’s concerned at that point, Rai’s supposed to be dead. Lana doesn’t know the technicalities of why that is (and Saarai isn’t comfortable telling her, even now), but she knows it’s important, so she does it for her even if she doesn’t know why.

Favorite non sexual downtime activity?

Cuddles! Saarai is a cuddlebug, and while Lana enjoys them she’s definitely not the “if I don’t get cuddled x times a day I can’t go on” type (in my headcanon, ofc, I’m not saying she can never be that way!) but, Saarai’s also very warm and cuddling her is cozy, so it’s something they both enjoy, whether Rai’s the big spoon, or - and this is Rai’s favourite thing ever - Saarai putting her head in Lana’s lap so Lana can play with her hair, it’s something they always do at the end of the day when they’re both done with work.

Mushiest thing Your OC has ever done for Lana?

So, I’m too impatient & lazy to do the actual HK missions in-game, but I know you can technically get another HK unit, so because ✨it’s my fanfic and I get to make the rules✨ Saarai sent Aria (my DS! Jedi Shadow, very good at stealth) back to Zakuul and though it was a bit battered up, she managed to retrieve HK’s processor. They had to get him a new chassis, but Koth and Ty managed to salvage the rest of his “important” bits and they rebuilt HK for her after they settled on Odessen :’3

Most Embarrassed Lana has ever been because of your OC?

In the middle of an important meeting, in front of everyone on the Alliance High Council, including Theron, Senya, Ni’kasi, Vano, etc.

Lana, sarcastically, after they’ve been disagreeing on how to handle a particular matter for ~1 hr: hahaha bite me.

Saarai, dead serious: Okay, where? 😏

Lana was mortified, to say the least XD

That thing that happened that they vow to NEVER speak of?

Saarai’s reaction when they went to Nathema. Rai’s psychometric, and in hindsight she realises putting her hand on that wall as she ducked into the building was a mistake. She was bombarded with flashback after flashback of what had happened on Nathema when it was still Medriaas, the planet where she was born and where most of her family died, it was not a pleasant experience for her and Rai actually collapsed at one stage because it was all too much for her ;w;

Lana had to bring her back around and herd her back on the ship, where Rai had to wait because she just couldn’t go any further, and Lana and Vano had to go on alone. Lana agreed not to tell anyone else about what had happened, because Saarai didn’t want any of them to worry about her, or think she was “weak” because of it.

The Angriest they’ve ever been at each other?

There’s actually two instances that come to mind for this one

1) Koth’s betrayal/stealing of the Gravestone, Lana was pissed at Koth and wanted to take it out on him, Saarai was pissed at the situation and got between them and chewed Lana out for taking it out on him. (Subterfugeverse is kinda complicated, there’s two Commanders calling the shots for different parts of the Alliance, Koth took issue with something Vano did and made the reckless, kinda stupid decision to still steal the Gravestone even tho Saarai didn’t do anything. (also for anyone new to the blog, all three of them are dating, they’re polyam ;)) Lana took it personally, Saarai was more upset that he was upset and didn’t say anything before he did something stupid. Rai and Lana butted heads about how to deal with it, Lana got salty cause she got yelled at, but they ofc fix it later :3)

2) Torian’s death. Saarai had tried to warn Lana what would happen if they split Vette & Torian up during that fight, Lana brushed it off and told Rai to “stop overreacting, it will be fine”. Obviously, it was not fine. Rai was very angry at the result because, I quote, “I WARNED YOU! And you wouldn’t listen to me!” Saarai refused to speak to Lana for a few days after that, it was kinda a rough time for Lana, she’s only seen Rai get that angry a few times, and only once at her so it shook her a bit. 😢

How does both Lana, and your OC initiate the ‘fade to black’ ;)

For Saarai, the “indicator” is usually when her kisses start to become 50/50 between kissing and biting/nibbling. That’s the universal “ok I want to” signal for Rai. Usually very quickly followed by a soft “yes?” or “are you sure?”, either against her skin or into her ear, depending on where she’s kissing at the time; because she’ll always check first, and if Lana says “no”, it’s off, because Lana’s consent is more important than any of her feelings.

For Lana, it’s when she’ll let Rai pick her up and/or usually to pin her to a wall. There’s a decent height difference, Saarai’s 6 ft 3, and I headcanon that while Lana’s not necessarily “short” at around 5 ft 8, she’s considerably smaller than Rai, as well as being more “reserved” with PDA, she’ll hold hands, or kiss her on the cheek etc. in front of other people, but otherwise Lana tries to keep somewhat “professional” while they’re at work. So when she starts climbing her like a tree, Rai knows she’s about to get some. XD

Do they have kids?

Kiiiinddd of? It’s complicated. Saarai has a son, Ty, from a previous relationship. Lana & Koth both sort of step up to help co-parent, but since Sith Purebloods age differently (i.e. they’re adults at ~20ish the same as humans, but after that they’re more like elves and their physical aging slows down, so they’re more long-lived), even though Ty’s very young by Pureblood standards, he’s still 60 years old, so he’s technically older than Lana and it’s kind of awkward for him to actually call her mom even if she kind of acts like one. He accidentally called her “mom” once, it was very awkward for both of them XD

What has been the most protective Lana has ever had of said kid?

I sat and scratched my head for ages trying to think of something to answer this question with, but I’m very sad to say that right now at the time of answering this meme, I don’t have any specific scenes planned out to tell you about! :( But rest assured that Lana absolutely would rush to help Ty if it was ever necessary :D

House pets? Is your Lana a dog person, or Cat person?

Funnily enough, they don’t actually have any pets! I’d like to think of Lana as more of a cat person than a dog person, in my personal opinion. But they have yet to get any pets of their own, maybeee later on, I dunno. Haven’t hit on any solid ideas for them yet, but I feel like if they happened upon a cute kitty they definitely could adopt one at some stage :’3

Do they get freaky on the Alliance Base or in the Shuttles?

They’ve done both, to be honest lol. Thankfully, Saarai’s sneaky enough that they haven’t gotten caught doing it, yet. Thank the Force.

Are their Sparring Matches Flirtatious? Hardcore?

They could go either way, it depends on what kind of mood they’re both in. If Lana’s particularly annoyed (usually not at Rai, but sometimes) then it’s more likely to be a hardcore spar, Rai’s a pretty tough cookie so she’ll often offer to be Lana’s punching bag in order to spare them some repair bills so she doesn’t rip apart the training dummies irrepairably, it’s okay, Rai can take it ;)

But if they’re both in an otherwise good mood and are just sparring for practise sakes, then yes, they often very quickly devolve into flirtacious banter and some of the classics, you know, “okay you win, you can let me go now” “mmm, nah” “I thought we were sparring” “do you want me to stop” “...don’t you dare.” etc. :’D

Class Specific things that play into their relationship?

Saarai’s a Juggernaut, and I headcanon Lana’s probably some sort of Sorcerer, so they tend to fight as such. They cover each other in more ways than one, if you want to get to Lana you have to go through Saarai first (and good luck to you, that woman can take and give a fucking beating lmao). Lana picks off whatever Saarai’s saber misses, usually with Force attacks but sometimes with her saber, too. Saarai takes bullets for Lana so Lana doesn’t have to get hurt. Lana yells at Rai for doing that and then fixes her up with Force healing afterwards, rinse and repeat. :’D

When they do argue, Lana tends to spontaneously manifest Force lightning, Saarai’s used to it and doesn’t bat an eyelid, she knows Lana’s not actually going to throw it at her and she’s more than prepared to dodge any stray bolts that do come her way.

Lana’s the tactician and the ground support, Saarai’s the battering ram/the bigass hammer used to clear space when Lana needs a bit of extra “oomph” (and trust me, they’re usually never far apart. The other one will be there and then you’ll be in trouble lmao)

Describe a time your OC went ‘Full beast mode’ to protect Lana, instead of the other way around?

"Kriff. Koth, what happened?” Three words was all it took, and everything made sense: “They hurt Lana.”

That scene in the Endless Swamps on Zakuul, just before they pull the Gravestone out of it and Lana and the Commander get ambushed. Saarai went with Lana & Koth to break Vano out of carbonite (since Saarai was still on Rishii at the time, she doesn’t get frozen, only Vano) so when they split up, Saarai goes with Koth to look for ship parts while Vano goes with Lana to look for water.

Lana and Vano get ambushed by the Knights/Skytroopers, and Lana’s hand gets busted. It takes Saarai and Koth a little while to rush over there to help them, but when they do

Saarai. Goes. Fucking. Feral. It’s the scariest she’s ever been in front of Lana and Lana will never forget it, they almost didn’t really need Senya’s help for that part, Saarai basically had it covered. I imagine Lana later described it as “kind of hot, but also kind of terrifying, actually”

Saarai’s considered Chaotic Good, so generally speaking if there’s a peaceful, non-violent solution to a problem, she’ll opt for that, but she has a few buttons that you just do not want to push, ever. And hurting her partners is one of those buttons. She will go apeshit and that’s exactly what happened in the swamp lmao

Little things couples do to annoy each other. What does Lana do? What does your OC do?

Saarai likes to wake up early and hide Lana’s kaf mug in increasingly ridiculous places. Once, she even got Koth to help her stick it to the top of the Gravestone’s hull. It took Lana half the morning to find it, Lana was not amused. XD

Saarai and Koth also have an ongoing “terrible puns” contest where they basically see who can annoy Lana with the most ridiculous puns possible, see this post for an example :P Lana wonders where/how they keep coming up with these puns, she really does.

Does Lana get jealous in your headcanon?

Not really! In Subterfugeverse, both Rai and Lana are polyam, so generally speaking, jealousy isn’t a problem for them, and when it is it’s more of a case of “hey. Hey. Hey, I’m not getting enough attention, pay attention to me.” and then it’s usually dealt with and all is well ;)

When Lana meets Anri, the only thing Saarai does is tease her about “when she’s going to make the move”. 😜

Story that is prominent in their relationship?

I was gonna draw a little doodle for this but the poses kept not coming out right so I gave up, sorryyy qAq

I haven’t gotten very far into planning the SoR onwards+ segments of Subterfugeverse, just bits and bobs like this, but I’d say for now the most prominent is probably their first meeting on Rishii. Basically, meet-cute but with a lightsaber involved too hahaha. There was a lot of posturing and flirty subtext right from the get-go with these two, even if Saarai was particularly suspicious at first (see the earlier question about her being technically dead to the Empire). At first, when she noticed Lana tailing Ty (because Lana was extremely confused about why a Pureblood was so far from Sith space ;)), Saarai assumed that something had happened to her twin and the Empire had A) found out she and Ty were still alive and B) Sent Lana to track them down and kill them for good. Several tension-loaded hours later and Lana managed to convince Rai that actually, Ni’kasi was fine and speaking of, she was trying to avoid being killed too so maybe, actually, they could help each other. And that was all she wrote <3

#swtor #lana romance meme #subterfugeverse #mildly n/sfw #swtor oc: saarai ahaszaai #ot3: sorry i ''stole'' your girlfriend #saarai/lana #since this is a lana meme i'm not gonna throw this in koth's tag but i will put it in their shipping tag for this blog #also yes lana/anri is going to be an eventual thing in subterfugeverse; even if i haven't worked out the specifics of *how* yet #because i'm sorry but there is *WAY* too much subtext in that lana/anri interaction and my dumbass polyam brain went ''hehehehehe :'3''#so GODDAMN IT I AM GOING TO USE IT lol #bioware can pry this ship from my cold dead fingers #watch me i'll turn the alliance into one big fucking polycule if you let me /lh #some of these i haven't gotten to plan out solidly yet so i had to think on the spot #and as such the specifics might be subject to change as we *GET* to those parts in the actual fic ''canon''#but for now here ya go ;D #long post

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mimiatmidnight · 3 years

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Predictions on Baby Girl Sussex?

I’m FREEEEEEEE from finals and ready to chat with you all once again! Thank you all for being so patient, I’m so excited to dive into all your questions and give them the novel-length responses they deserve 😉

I’m assuming you mean name predictions haha, cause the only other thing I can think of to predict would be her birthday (for the record, I’ll go ahead and put my sister’s birthday, June 10th, for no reason other than I predicted my own birthday, April 26th, for Archie!). But I love talking about baby names (as you can see by the length of this post 😅), so let’s get into it.

So I fully expect to be completely taken aback by their pick. Like not even on the same planet as my predictions. Cause that’s just how those two roll lmao. But IF they’re staying in the same theme as Archie’s name, I’m expecting something that’s also short, possibly nickname-y, kind of dusty and vintage, but with a whimsical charm, just like Archie’s. I am still operating with the assumption that she will one day be Princess (whether or not that actually happens, of course, remains to be seen), so I’m trying to keep that title in mind. And also, given that name meanings appear to hold significance to them, I tried to at least somewhat keep meanings in mind. So, in no particular order:

Eloise

“Healthy; wide”

French, English

I am SO charmed by this name. If I hadn’t already decided on Elliott for my future son’s name, this name would be right at the top of my future daughter’s list. I just thinks it’s so delightfully playful yet still timeless and classic. It gives easy and pretty nicknames with Ellie and Ella, or even Lizzy (possibly to honor her great-grandmother?). “Archie and Eloise” sounds so perfect and natural to me, without sounding kitschy or too over the top with the matching. “Princess Eloise” is so deliciously perfect, it just fits together like a puzzle piece.

Eleanor

Unknown meaning

English, French

Eleanor hits almost all the same beats I mentioned above for Eloise, even down to the lovely Ellie/Ella nicknames. It’s even more royal than Eloise, with such heady associations as the legendary Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (not to mention the American Queen, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt!). Eloise is closer to my heart, but I’d be thrilled with Eleanor as well.

Greta

“Pearl”; diminutive of Margaret

German

This one’s quite old-fashioned, but I think it’s so charming and would make an adorable name on a little girl. And fun fact, the name Meghan comes from a nickname for Margaret, which is why both those names as well as Greta all mean “Pearl.” So this would be a perfect way to honor little girl’s mama in a more subtle way.

Poppy

“Red flower”

Latin, English

Spunky yet sweet. Pays tribute to her mother’s homeland of California, while also sounding very at home in her father’s homeland of the UK. A flower name in honor of her mama’s own mama. This scarlet name would be even more perfect if the Ginger Avenger manages to make himself another little Gingette. And as I said to one of my anons the other day, “Princess Poppy” is so screeching cute I might actually combust if I think about it too much, so let’s move on.

Lea

“Meadow; weary”

English

To be totally honest, this one is mostly just because I’ve been addicted to listening to “Lea” by TOTO on repeat lately. Although “Princess Lea” might be a bit too . . . you know. Stor Wors. Even though the sci-fi princess pronounces her name differently, I think they’ll probably still want to avoid that association. Still, that song is heavenly and the name goes with all my criteria so I’m putting it in anyways.

Hazel

“Hazelnut tree”

English

Another nature name, one that I’m sure our favorite Earth Mama will enjoy ;) It’s newly popular, but in my opinion still retains that distinctive and whimsical uniqueness of a name that’s much further on the fringe than Hazel actually is. I can just picture a little hazel-eyed princess running barefoot around her gorgeous backyard, wild hair all spread out as she lays underneath a hazelnut tree. Ugh, so cute.

Etta

“Estate ruler”; feminine diminutive of Henry

English, Scottish

I suppose in response to Archie’s middle name Harrison, I’ve seen some Squaddies predict Henrietta for his little sister. And um . . . that is not a favorite of mine 😅 But if Harry wants to add his brand to his second little munchkin as well, why not Henrietta’s much more sleek and dynamic offshoot, Etta? It's got that old school feel, with also a spark of liveliness. I also love that it ties to their Black ancestry through one of the most legendary Queens of American Soul Music, Etta James.

Maeve

“She who intoxicates”

Irish

Incredibly endearing with a rich history. For my own personal use, this safer option might actually be called upon for my future daughter if I never manage to work up the courage to use my actual long-time Irish favorite, Saoirse. But for Harry and Meghan, I can’t really see them using this one. Still, I felt like I needed an M name to cover all my bases, and this is one of the few that I like. Some other honorable “M”entions (get it?) include Maisie, Melody, and Madeleine (thank you to my lovely anon for this one!).

Francesca

“From France; free man”; variation of Frances

Italian

I haven’t really mentioned middle names here, mostly because this post is long enough already and middle name combos just add a whole other level of crazy. But given the enormous legacy of her grandmother, I am extremely torn on whether Baby Girl will be getting a name in her honor. If her parents so choose, Diana’s middle name Frances, or even it’s more ornately feminine variation, Francesca, would be lovely honors for the little princess to carry. If they do end up honoring Diana, I’d expect it to be in Baby Girl’s middle name.

Violet

“Purple”

Latin, English

One last flower name for Earth Mama Meghan. Violet was my top pick for Archie when he was still the mysterious Baby Sussex, but though it has since fallen from my top spot, it still is a lovely, classic name of inarguable feminine grace, yet with an underlying core of strength and fortitude. I feel like Violet is a woman who ties her hair back with a soft velvet bow, but then hitches up her skirts, draws her sword, and shows the battlefield who’s boss. I just love the duality of this name, and I think it would be a lovely gift for a little girl.

Alice

“Noble”

German

Vintage, classic, girly, and solidly royal, this name calls to mind white rabbits and looking glasses. Once again, on a personal note, this might be an option for my future daughter if I chicken out on trying to get everyone to pronounce Alicia correctly. I love that name in the Spanish pronunciation, “Ah-lee-see-ah,” but I find the Anglicized “Ah-lee-sha” to be dreadful and I wouldn’t want to burden my girl with a lifetime of corrections. Anyways, Alice is just as elegant, if not quite as ornate, and in any case is much more likely for our British-American princess. Plus, what a stunning pair of name meanings to gift these two siblings: “Brave” Archie and “Noble” Alice. They sound straight out of an Arthurian legend. (Plus, how cute would “Archie and Alice” sound!)

Honorable Mentions Cause I Need To Wrap This Shit Up:

Evie/Edie (both follow all the E names I wrote about above, and Edie in particular is a modern name full of moxie that would be a great nickname for the older, traditional Edith)

Lily (yet another flower name, and I just like the sound of this one)

Spencer (another possible route to honoring Granny Diana, yet maintaining a much more modern and spunky taste than Frances, while also being less direct)

Clara (of Nutcracker fame, adding here mostly because I think I’d melt if I heard this in Harry’s voice and accent)

Lucy (same vibes as Alice and Clara)

Ivy (cute, simple, girly nature name, but unfortunately already in use by the daughter of Meghan’s close friend Jessica Mulroney)

Zoe (I have absolutely no personal connection to this name, but for some reason it just now randomly popped into my head as something they might choose, so here ya go)

So yeah! Sorry this was so long, but it was super fun! Thank you for sending in this great question. I’d love to hear all your guys’ name predictions, dream picks, and wild card guesses!

#meghan markle #prince harry #baby sussex 2.0 #royal fandom #the princess of montecito #baby names #markle & spencer #the munchkins of montecito

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sunset-telepath · 3 years

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Why I hate Ro

So, I was asked to explain why I hate Ro. And I’ve been compilating several arguments that I’ve heard and written myself. And I’d like to put a disclaimer here - it’s not because she’s this “sokeefe idol.” It’ just... her character and what she does in support of sokeefe.

Disclaimer: I’m condensing several conversations that I, JaxTheShade, and [Redacted due to them not wanting to be credited] had on the wiki about a month ago. Around 40% of these ideas are mine, 40% are Jax’s, and 20% are [Redacted]’s.

Right off the bat, she’s a misandrist. She quite literally calls boys as stupid as amoeba in Legacy. You can say that that was a joke, but it’s not funny. It’s not okay to blatantly call anyone or generalize any group stupid. It’s not ok. It’s the exact same thing as saying that women belong in the kitchen or that blacks are criminals. It’s not ok. It’s disgusting, despicable, and repugnant behavior.

In the Flashback Short Story, she objectifies Sophie as a prize for Fitz and Keefe to fight over. What the actual f***. That is not acceptable behavior under any circumstances. It’s repugnant, disgusting, detestable, and f****** evil. Treating any person as a prize to fight over is textbook objectification and it is blatantly evil. It is not ok. And it’s disgusting that this narrative has leaked into some of the fanfics that I’ve read. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. IT IS NOT EXCUSABLE. IT IS EVIL.

She flat out bullies Fitz. She alludes to him being a nasty microbe in Legacy. She ridicules his desire to perfect himself. There is nothing wrong with being or trying to be perfect. Don’t push yourself too hard trying to be perfect, but if you should always strive to be better (and if you’re naturally talented like Fitz is, achieve your dreams. Fulfill your potential. Ignore the haters). She mocks and bullies him, calling him names and ridiculing his desire to be perfect. Newsflash: There’s nothing wrong with trying to be perfect. Who the hell is Ro to decide how perfect someone can be? Who the hell does Ro think she is? As a perfectionist myself, I despise Ro and her adversity to perfection. It’s not her place to decide how perfect a person can be. I admire Fitz simply shrugging her off and not letting her flat-out abuse get to him. It’s the proper way to deal with people like her.

Her entire character can be summed up as a chronic-complainer who ships Sokeefe. Shannon basically turned the Instagram Fandom into a character and made it Keefe’s Bodyguard. She never confesses to making mistakes and she’s never humbled or knocked down a peg. 30% of her dialogue can be attributed to complaining about sparkles or “elf-land,” 20% of it can be attributed to her flat-out bulling Fitz, and 50% of it can be attributed to her pushing Sophie and Keefe together. None of the characters like her. The other bodyguards detest her, Bo wants to kill her, Fitz thinks that she’s awful, Sophie is embarrassed by her, and Keefe wants her to shut her mouth.

She’s blunt, she’s rude, and she’s just awful. She interferes with a relationship that is none of her business. She has no regard for the emotional abuse that she inflicts. Ro and Keefe are very similar, and clash often. Ro always wins, however, either because she’s stronger than him or because she can emotionally manipulate him. (These sound like big claims now, but they’re backed up later)

Ro dismisses Sophie by saying that “blondie doesn’t know what she feels.” And it’s disgusting. She’s objectified by “blondie” - a term focused on Sophie’s appearance rather than by her personality. She’s Sophie Elizabeth Foster, not “blondie.” She dismisses Sophie as naïve and disregards her feelings by saying that Sophie’s doesn’t know what Sophie feels.

~The Following Section was directly quoted from JaxTheShade because he summarized it so well~

Well...no, Ro. She does have an idea of what she feels. In fact, she was ecstatic and perfectly fine with dating and eventually sorting out her issues with Fitz until you started "hinting" about Keefe. Sophie does understand her feelings - and those feelings led her to Fitz. And even if she does have some underlying issue about who she likes (which has admittedly been hinted at), it's up to her to figure it out. Not a brash ogre bodyguard who scoffs at the notion of the Elvin culture and thinks she has a right to intrude in a teenage relationship she isn't apart of.

And Fitz...well, I'm sure Ro doesn't hate him. But she's pretty close to--that's not hard to deduce. Because Ro has ever bothered to pay attention to and sympathize with Keefe ( and yet she still finds a way to neglect his feelings ), she hasn't the slightest inclination of who Fitz is. So, like most people, she decides to consider him "the opposing candidate" in the love triangle and never look past the surface of Fitz, just calling him "Captain Perfect" and thinking that he could never be right for Sophie because he's competing against Keefe.

Sometimes I wish someone, anyone, would call Ro out for amount of sheer insults she layers on Fitz, whether he's there or not. Although most of the time it's done behind his back--what a surprise.

I mean, look at this:

She slyly calls him a 'nasty microbe'. And while some have argued that she wasn't calling Fitz this, she was very clearly expressing her disdain for Sophie's favourite colour being teal--and, by proxy, calls teal things 'nasty'.

“[...] But I thought it was only right to save your imp from being sparkle-fied—and I was going to be nice and turn him your favorite color. But apparently your favorite color is teal—and yeah, yeah, we all know why. But, um, do you realize how many of the nastiest little microbes are that color?” She shuddered. “I couldn’t do that to you—or the little dude. [...]”

Ro also calls him "Captain Perfectpants" and openly admits that Fitz would have problems with all the time Sophie is spending with Keefe. Essentially admitted but disregarding how upset Fitz would be--because who cares about Fitz's feelings when Keefe is having emotional turmoil? And as a little bonus, she also pulls her classic, "I can't take this anymore! I simply have to intervene in this situation of which I'm not apart of!

"Ro snorted. “Of course he would! He’d be super, super jealous!”

“Don’t,” Keefe told her.

“No—I can’t take it anymore!” Ro stalked toward Sophie and tapped her on the nose with a calloused fingertip. “I repeat: Yes, your Captain Perfectpants would be jealous! He scraped together the courage to get all share-y about his feelings, and now you’re ignoring him, and being all mysterious about why, and telling everyone who asks that you’re not dating him. And I’m not saying that’s a bad call. Trust your instincts! Hopefully they’ll lead you out of the oblivion. But in the meantime, count on your teal-eyed Wonderboy feeling a little insecure, particularly if he finds out you’re spending lots of quality time with other dudes. And you know what? That’s good for him. We all know that boy could use a little help in the humility department. So make him sweat a little. And you”—she spun back toward Keefe—“need to stop being so afraid.”

And those are just two instances, of which I can search for plenty more.

Ro is not a good person. She's a rebellious princess who ultimately works for her own gain. She thinks she's got it all figured out with Keefe, and decides that, since he shared his story of liking Sophie, she'll take it upon herself to get them together no matter what.

And I mean 'no matter what'. She has put down Sophie for liking Fitz, interrupted conversations so she can drop hints about Keefe's feelings against his will, and made fun of Sophie for being oblivious--even going to the extent of getting fed up with and blaming Sophie for her oblivion "becoming less and less cute".

She's also tried to actively break up Sophitz and push together Sophie and Keefe. She's insulted Fitz and holds a very hostile disposition towards him simply because he's "perfect boy" who's against the Saint Also Known As Keefe. Ro tries to subtly force Sophie's feelings for Fitz out of her while dropping in some "isn't Hunkyhair so great?". I wouldn't for a second put it past her to succeed in shutting down as many Sophitz moments as possible all so she can continue to ignore the pleas to stop and the embarrassed faces surrounding her.

And her excuse?

"It's the only fun she gets to have here in Elf Land".

She isn't apart of this relationship. She isn't affected by this relationship. She's only seen one side of this relationship, and uses that to base her opinions of the other two. Which is a terrible idea considering that leads to opinions like "Okay, well that other boy is awful because he's the competitor, and that girl must like the boy because the boy likes her, and sometimes she acts shy around him, and that's totally how relationships work".

Ro has absolutely no excuse for the amount of hurt she's inflicted on all three of these teenagers.

And yet she's regarded as a saint amongst all, while people like...say, Alden ( who made mistakes, but ultimately went about it in a calmer, gentler, and more well meaning way--as well as having much more justification and reasoning behind his actions ) are seen as evil and deserving of death. So what's the difference? Is it just because Ro is all for Sokeefe and Alden is really pushing for Sophitz? Have we really sunk low enough to the point where we can adore one character and hate another--despite performing the same actions--simply because of shipping preferences?

Everyone has decided to hate Alden because he showed up to speak with Keefe, ended up getting sidetracked and talking about relationships ( because of Ro, go figure ), sympathized with Keefe and shared meaningful advice from personal identical experiences, and then making sure Keefe knew that he considered him apart of the family.

That was what Alden did. And we have absolutely no reason to believe that Alden was anything but genuine when he stated that he "long considered him part of the family".

And yet Ro is the one who starts ranting about how "he didn't mean it" ( and saying something like that to a teenage boy who never felt loved by his father means a lot--but Ro has to ruin it and say that Alden's words were "a stinking load of garbage" ). Ro is the one whose objectification of the triangle by saying that Keefe being there for his friends is "sabotage" is what sparks Keefe to tell her that Sophie's feelings do matter. Ro is the one who interrupts every conversation by either stating her obnoxious opinion that nobody asked for, or calling a time out so she can bash on Fitz again. Ro is the one who has spent every waking moment since she arrived in the series either making Keefe's desire to be happy for his friends feel invalid, insulting Sophie because she's her own person with her own feelings for someone else, and coming up with every insult under the sun to throw at Fitz. Ro is the one who has no justification for her actions, seeing as she a) is not apart of this triangle, and b) has minimal relationship experience considering both her boyfriends hate her, and one was an arranged marriage.

But...Ro is also the loved and appreciated one.” - JaxTheShade (I’ve been paraphrasing some of the things that he’s said all ready, but I’m directly quoting him for this. His statement is direct and gets to the point)

~End of direct Quote~

I'd like to make one thing clear though - the point of selfishness. There's a stigma to the word that I'd like to clear up, because there are two types of selfishness, rational self-interest, and sacrificing others for yourself.

Fitz is the first type - he has a rational self-interest, he's looking out for himself and his own long-term happiness first. There is nothing wrong with that, if you won't look out for yourself, who will? It's why I completely supported Fitz yelling and breaking up with Sophie - if a relationship is making you unhappy long-term, it is in your best interest to break up with them. It's why Fitz was so adamant about finding Sophie's biological parents, he wanted to avoid future stigma, gossiping, and heckling. Fitz knows how horrible these things are to experience, and so sought to avoid them in the future. This is why Fitz is my favorite character - the others are reactive, Fitz seems to be the only proactive one. (One of the few characters in any literature to be proactive, in fact). While Sophie and the others look at the now and the immediate future, Fitz is concerned with the long-term future, a trait I share with him and one that I rarely see in literature whatsoever, to my vast disappointment.

Ro isn't selfish at all. She's much, much worse - she doesn't meddle in other's affairs for her own happiness, she just does because she can. She has no respect for other's privacy, and throws out insults towards Fitz and Sophie because she just does. She has no motive, impetus, or drive, she just does, and it sickens me.

The second type of selfishness is similar to a bully bullying others because they're miserable and it makes them feel good about themselves. It's horrible and malicious, and I'm not condoning it in any way, but its far more innocent (if bullying can be called innocent) then what Ro does.

Ro is malevolent, she doesn't do it because it makes her feel good, she just does it, with no regard with the relationships and lives she destroys in the process. She's a toxic radioactive waste dump of a person. A toxic waste dump doesn't make people sick and die for their own gain - it just does. That's how Ro is as a person.

Another reason is that she has no regard for what she says or does. She constantly tears Fitz down just because she can (I want Alden to be there next time she tries that. I want Alden to step in and tell her that what she is doing is not okay, because no other character has recognized this so far). I want Alden to be there next time she calls his son a nasty little microbe. I'd like to finally see Ro get some comeuppance for her terrible behavior.

Let's be honest with ourselves - Ro hates Fitz. She hates and complains and whines about how perfect he is. Since when has perfection been a crime? Since when is it up to her to decide the maximum amount of talent a person can have? As a perfectionist myself, I strive for perfection just as Fitz does. There is nothing wrong with striving to perfect yourself - there is if you are actively hurting yourself, but if you're naturally gifted like Fitz is, and you want to be the best you can possibly be, go ahead! Make the most of your innate talent and use it to seek your happiest future. Build & write your own happy ending.

She isn't a part of this relationship. She isn't affected by this relationship. She's actively impeding their ability to seek their own happiness, and not even for her own happiness (which is still horrid), she just does because she's "bored". Her repugnant behavior sickens me.

Ro is a textbook abuser. Let's go over a list of things an abuser does, and see to which characters she applies them to:

Name-Calling: The abuser will blatantly call the abused derogatory adjectives, like stupid or oblivious

We know she does this to Sophie, calling her oblivious. She also twists being perfect into a derogatory adjective, throwing it at Fitz. She also called Fitz a horrible little microbe, along with calling him & Keefe as stupid as amoeba.

Character Assassination: The abuser will use the word "always". You're always oblivious, stupid, late, wrong, etc.

She does this to Sophie, and also somewhat Fitz.

Patronizing: The abuser will be patronizing towards the abused

She does this to Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe.

Belittling: The abuser will belittle the abused

I'm pretty sure she does this to Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe.

Pushing Buttons: Once the abuser finds out what annoys the abused, they will do it nonstop.

Oh boy, does she do this to Keefe and Sophie. (Fitz just gets out of his way to ignore her and avoid her. It's why she's irritated by him, he hasn't opened himself to her and doesn't show flaws allowing her to find ways to sink her nasty manipulating fingers into him)

These are only a few signs of someone being an abuser, and yet Ro manages to hit pretty much all of them.

She gaslights Keefe into believing that Alden is only looking out for himself and his children - something we know to be completely wrong. She's driving a wedge between Keefe and Alden, one of the few other people Keefe respects and thinks looks out for him. The only other parental individual in Keefe's life, in fact, giving Ro total access to Keefe's psyche and making herself the only "true" source of information Keefe can trust. She is a horrible, horrible abuser.

Ro doesn't have benign intentions at heart. She doesn't even have selfish intentions at heart. She just meddles just because she can.

Ro isn’t selfish. She’s just a bad person - for a lack of a better term that would describe her repulsive behavior.

She constantly complains about the elves. Yes, elven culture is a little weird, but you don’t have to complain about it constantly and in-front of the elves.

Ro is also clearly not afraid to gaslight. She forces Keefe to believe that her opinions are the only valid ones. How does she do this? She says that "Blondie doesn't know what she feels," making Keefe think that any emotions he picks up from her are wrong. She says that Fitz is just "Captain Perfect" who doesn't really care about Sophie - that Keefe "deserves" her. She says that Alden's advice is just made up, and that he doesn't really care about him. She’s established herself as the only source of information that Keefe can trust. She’s removed Alden (the one other parental figure Keefe had) and established herself as the only person Keefe can trust. And that is very dangerous and highly abusive.

She even invalidates Keefe's emotions. Every time Keefe stands up to her and says something like "I'm just being a good friend," Ro responds (like any of this is her business) with something snarky. Or, she tells him to "stop being so afraid." And that forces Keefe to believe that his desire to help his friends isn't valid enough. That he isn't valid enough. So he comes crawling back to Ro.

She’s a terrible bodyguard. She threatens to not protect Keefe in Legacy if Sophie doesn’t share her secret with her. THAT IS NOT OK UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. SOPHIE DID NOT TRUST KEEFE WITH HER SECRET OF BEING UNMATCHABLE. RO EXTORTED IT OUT OF HER, USING KEEFE AS A LIE DETECTOR. THAT IS NOT OK; IT IS EVIL.

If you re-read the portion in Legacy where she does this, it reveals some truly horrible behavior.

Here’s another direct quote from JaxTheShade explaining why this part is so disgusting:

“Essentially, Ro is blackmailing Sophie.

Sophie just found out that if Keefe goes anywhere near the Neverseen, he will probably die. ( Because at this point, they just thought the legacy thing would kill him ). So she's desperately trying to get Keefe to make a promise and stay away from Gisela. Keefe, in typical fashion, adamantly states that he's not going to be locked up.

This is where Ro steps in.

She says that she will be the one to protect him and make sure he doesn't run off. ( Since she is his bodyguard ). But instead of just...doing her job...she decides that she can exploit the situation. She can get something out of this.

She figured out that Sophie is hiding something. And from the way she hasn't told anyone yet, Ro can assume that she's trying to keep it a secret. But she also knows that Keefe's safety is important to all of them.

So she threatens Keefe's life--yes, threatens--unless Sophie spills her secret. The situation becomes, "I have all the power here, so unless you tell me a confidential secret, I'll let my charge run off into danger, which you can't have. So I know that I've put you into a corner. I know that I've won here."

If this doesn't scream "manipulative abuser", then I don't know what does.

It's disgusting, really. Ro's behaviour is despicable.

And while her blatant blackmail is clearly the worst offense, she also sprinkled in several other "I'm a bad person" actions.

1) She said that the reason Keefe gets away with things is because she "doesn't care enough to fight him" on them. Well, if you don't care, then why don't you just go back to Ravagog? Because Keefe is the second most threatened person their group, and he needs an actual bodyguard, not a manipulative princess who makes him feel even worse about himself. If Keefe gets hurt when he runs off, did he get hurt because you "didn't care enough to bother"?

2) Ro says that she doesn't care that much about him. Well, thanks, Ro. I'm sure that really makes Keefe sleep soundly at night, knowing that you don't really care about him.

3) And why does she not really care about him? Because she only bothers with Keefe as long as he doesn't make her "look bad". She says that the reason she's stopping him this time is because it'll damage her reputation if he dies. You know, instead of being worried about his life.

4) She says "I enjoy meddling". And that's her excuse for blackmailing Sophie into spilling a confidential secret. And yet she has the audacity to accuse Alden of "meddling" while here she sits, admitting it to everyone and acting like it's not a big deal.

5) Her very last line in the quote just further proves that she's just doing this to get Sokeefe to happen. Instead of feeling remorse for Sophie, who is trying not to look at them and clearly uncomfortable, she just brushes off the secret that she just forced out of her by saying that "it should do the trick". The trick being 'getting Fitz to break up with her'.

This is probably Ro's most egregious act yet.

And yet nobody ever seems to call her out for it or even think that...it's a little weird that she would do this.

But I guess it really isn't weird at all, seeing as we've have evidence in the past that proves she would stoop to this level.” - JaxTheShade

That part in Unlocked where Shannon said that (deeeeeeeeeeeep down) Ro cares about Keefe? Well, it’s ooc. Look what Ro says in Legacy: "I may not care that much about what happens to you, but if you get yourself killed on my watch, it makes me look bad—especially if I had advance notice. So, I can’t have that."

Re-read that portion in Legacy. Alarm bells should be going off in your head.

She reminds me of the villain Ellsworth Monkton Toohey from The Fountainhead. Do you know what he did? He turned people into slaves by establishing psychological power over them and making them miserable. By killing their wants, needs, desires, and happiness, he turned people into miserable slaves who would obey his every order. And the scary part? Ro uses the exact. same. tactics. that he does (not going to list them here, that would take far too long) on Fitz, Sophie, and Keefe. And Keefe almost perfectly resembles the characters who fall for his manipulations and tactics, while Sophie and Fitz resemble the characters who ignored him and went about their business. It’s really unnerving.

Everyone is entitled to seek their own happiness - as long as their actions don't impede others from seeking their own happiness.

Ro actively impedes Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe's pursuit of their own happiness, doing it for no other reason than the fact that she's bored. It sickens me.

And the fact that Fitz is basically demonized and hated by the fandom while praising Ro is what sickens me the most.

Ro manipulates, gaslights, and abuses Sophie, Keefe, and Fitz for her own fun. She doesn't have any long term goal, just destroying their psyche and impeding their ability to find their own happiness for short term amusement. She mocks Fitz for being trying to be perfect (since when has that been a crime?), she gaslights and Objectifies Sophie, mocks Keefe and openly abuses him, and interferes with their relationships because she finds it funny. She's also a misandrist. She calls Fitz a nasty little microbe (I want Alden and Della there next time she does that). She objectifies Sophie as a trophy for Fitz and Sophie to fight over. She constantly tears down Fitz and Sophie, and uses a number of tactics abusers use in real life on Fitz, Sophie, and Keefe. She is a radioactive toxic waste-dump of a person, ruining their lives and psyches not even for her own gain, but just for her own amusement. Her further abuse of Keefe is repugnant, her objectification of Sophie is disgusting, and her mocking and bullying of Fitz makes me want to puke. She's a terrible, terrible person.

And that is why I hate Ro.

#kotlc #kotlc ro #ugh I hate Ro #Ro Hate #kotlc discourse

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dredreadsdrawing · 4 years

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Oc-tober day 5: Old

For Day 5’s challenge, I brought back what I believe to be my first trans character haha. This will start as cringe plz bear with me. Im copy pasting the Quickie I had planned for a post in my writing blog.

PunchLine: Quickie Summary

Just suddenly grew nostalgic of this story lol. Notes before delving into the plot:

- I literally started this story’s concept when I was in 5th – 6th grade and first watched Ouran High School Host Club. My kid brain was mad at Haruhi for not taking advantage of her passing as a boy so I made what started as a self-insert oc that gradually transformed into my first trans character ever. Whack, lol.

- Just a side thing, most of my damn stories have playlists and I swear, All Time Low/All American Rejects songs are exclusively this story’s official soundtrack.

- The main character’s name is super…. Wow lol. Please bear with me I might change it, just… this was a story I started making when I was 11 and really liked ‘unique’ names instead of conventional ones >X,,D

- Please have mercy on my tiny weeb soul.

Lolol ok, plot start naw. Keep in mind I was very influenced by anime at this point of my life so I started this in a stereotypical Japanese setting but made it more Americanized over the years. Big oof.

Protagonist (I called em Echo lol) is a hella poor girl living pretty much by herself in a shitty apartment. Her aunt is her caretaker but she’s never home and she doesn’t work. Echo has to work a job herself to make money for food. She has a quiet personality, long, terrible hair with split ends everywhere, and a boxy frame. She works doing lots of manual labor, adding to her poor health.

Because she’s always been quiet, no one knows who she really is. She’s just ‘that poor girl who never talks’, and they mostly leave her alone. One particularly shitty night however, after getting fired without her pay, she gets caught by some hotshot popular dude and his cronies with her work uniform on. Kids aren’t supposed to work. He takes a picture and threatens to turn her in if she doesn’t follow him. He’s just looking for some easy fun with a docile girl he can make do anything. She’s done being docile.

In true anime fashion she beats the hell out of these dudes, trash talking them the entire time. She’s merciless, bashing them all black and blue until they pass out. Only once everyone but the main instigator is down does she take his phone. “I have back-ups!” The boy exclaims through broken teeth. She looks at him and posts the image onto his feed herself. She’s done going to school anyways. She destroys the phone, laughing, and he loses consciousness. She gets up and dusts herself off.

She had a spectator. Some dude had watched the whole thing from his fancy car. He thinks he could use someone like her.

The following week goes as expected. She’s expelled. Her aunt came to act as a concerned guardian in front of the school but left immediately after. She took Echo’s savings. Echo is laying in her mattress on the floor, pretty much wishing to be dead when a knock on the door breaks her concentration.

Oh boy. It’s the spectator dude with two other boys (one of em may end up being cut lol). He has a proposition. She join their prestigious team from some fancy school for something (idk I initially had her join a mob lol but these kids are still in highschool. Maybe their fighting club?) and they’ll pay for her tuition and living expenses. But there’s a catch. The team is boys-only and she has to crossdress. She signs up immediately anyways lol. From now on, she will live as a boy (so I will use he/him pronouns).

Hmm… mayhaps the reason Echo has such a ‘unique’ name is because he chose it himself. Like the edgy teen he is. Cries.

Echo packs his stuff and goes with em. He hears the specifics about his new group. Eric is the leader, who’s father founded the group. He clearly puts on an aura of being tough and in control, but his delivery is too forced. The spectator dude that found Echo is his co-leader, a guy who actually knows what he’s doing, but doesn’t want to overthrow Eric because he thinks it’s funny seeing him struggle. He is a dick lol. Depending on whether or not I’ll use him, the third dude is Eric’s best friend from childhood meant to be the soft one who helps Echo settle at first.

Moving on, I don’t have a coherent timeline of events, just scattered things that will happen. For sure, Eric and Echo keep butting heads, mostly because Eric tries to control Echo and the group as a whole too much, and Echo is like ‘dude, your demanding for perfection only makes me want to screw things up more to show you how unhealthy your expectations are. And also cuz youre cute when you’re mad.’

Eric has a legacy to live up to. He’s the classic worrywart trying to live up to an image and failing. Echo was brazen at first with his trying to mess Eric up, but he softens as he realizes how much it effects Eric. They eventually hear eachother out and come to a compromise. That’s the start of their friendship.

Then, a year later, comes Kimmie. She’s Eric’s childhood crush. She’s short, she’s plump, and she has a rude attitude. Eric’s been a simp for her since he was a kid. He tries way too hard to make her see him as a romantic partner; she’s the reason he grew out his hair when he heard her casually mention she likes it long.

What’s his reason for liking her so much? When they were kids, Eric was plump too, but unlike with her, kids would pick on him because he always just took it. She defended him a lot, and her fiery personality mixed with her ability to hit kids and get away with it made her feared. He idolized her ever since.

She reacts to this as well as you’d imagine a childhood crush staying just a crush is handled. Meaning she clearly sets up walls around him and tells him he’s not interested. Echo, however, catches her eye.

After a P.E session, Kimmie follows Echo to his usual changing place and catches him with his top off. Kimmie knew Echo was a ‘girl.’ Kimmie explains she had seen Echo before his transition. Echo laughs it off, finding her brazenness cute. “So what now? You wanna tell the school?” “… I require you for something actually…”

Kimmie is dating Echo now. Eric is devastated. Kimmie flaunts Echo around like a trophy, breaking many girl’s hearts that had previously asked him out. Echo has to follow her around as a part of their deal, but he doesn’t mind it. The more he learns about her, the more he likes her.

Eric tries to confront him about it along with his friends. Eric’s approach is…. Well… “You’re faking this, right? You don’t like girls, you’re not really a boy!” “Dude, I like what I like. Deal with it.” This response further punches Eric in the gut as everyone laughs nervously.

Some big event comes and Echo is Kimmie’s plus one. Eric doesn’t want to attend it so he stays in the mansion. Echo is feeling the guilt of the situation more with each day that passed. At the event, him and Kimmie have a great time, but when they escape the crowd and are alone, she tries for a kiss. Echo doesn’t proceed. Kimmie is disappointed, but Echo explains.

“I know the real reason you wanted to date me. It’s the same reason you touch my chest so much, why you wanted to see me in a dress, and why you told Eric you like long hair. Kimmie, you like girls.” He steps away from her. “And I can’t be your girlfriend in disguise.”

Kimmie is floored. She begins to cry. Echo is right. She’s a lesbian but she never wanted to accept it. She kept telling herself she’d find the right boy, and when Echo came, it felt so perfect. She thought she could just slip in and pretend that she was straight. But she isn’t.

She apologizes. She says, however, that she truly does like Echo now. Echo sighs and rubs their neck. “You can’t like me Kimmie… I’m not…” Kimmie thinks it through. “But… you were a girl before! The only reason you’re dressed like this is because of the contract!” “Yeaaaah… but I kinda like it now. This feels…. Better. More me.” Echo grins with confidence. “I’m a man now.”

Kimmie takes Echo’s figure in and sighs. “Ew. I can’t be date a man.” They laugh and break up, Echo going back home. Kimmie returns to the party and is spotted by one of Eric’s friends. He asks where Echo is and she tells him everything. Echo is going home, him and Kimmie just broke up. The friend tells Kimmie some comforting words before running away to the hall to call Eric and tell him the good news. Kimmie is available again, and he can be more aggressive this time!

Eric is slumped in the couch after binging Netflix and eating a pint of icecream. When he hears the news, his mind is stuck on only one piece of information. Echo is coming back home. Instead of feeling happy about Kimmie being available again, Eric realizes Echo is coming back after a break up. His worrywart tendencies has him picturing a comedically sobbing Echo, ruthlessly broken up with by Kimmie, wondering how he could continue to live without her. He cleans up the couch and by the time Echo enters, he’s saved him a spot on the couch and his own pint of icecream. Echo laughs but sits right beside him, accepting the comfort, even if Eric doesn’t know the full story. They have a nice night together, and by the morning, Kimmie’s sexuality is revealed thanks to a picture she posted in her social media celebrating with a girl she kissed.

She’s officially out and happier for it. Eric congratulates her when they run into eachother in the hallway. She’s surprised he’s not as sad as she expected him to be, but she’s touched by how genuinely kind he’s being to her. They stay friends, and even get closer thanks to Kimmie now putting her walls down again.

Movin on to another story event, Eric’s mom has been away for most of Echo’s stay, but she comes back. Eric has made it clear that Echo should stay away from her, and never let her know his transition. She somehow finds out thanks to some mishaps anyways. When the contract is revealed, she is ASTOUNDED that her boy would force a GIRL to live as a MAN. She’s putting a stop to this! She takes Echo away for a weekend spa treatment, girling Echo up, talking over him through the whole thing, never listening to his complaints and only reassuring herself that Echo is safe now and free to be pretty and feminine once more! It’s the proper way!

Needless to say Echo is uncomfortable.

The more Eric’s mom talks about herself and her own life, it’s clear that her way of thinking stems from some issues she had as a kid, being forced to work and to give up feminine things, but Echo doesn’t feel like she did at all. And though Echo enjoys some of the spa things, and doesn’t much mind being put in a dress, he just… prefers a suit. Would rather stay at home training with the group. Would rather keep his hair short as opposed to the length Eric’s mom proposes him to grow it at. It’s a bunch of little things, but they culminate in solidifying to Echo… he just wants to stay a boy. He’s not being forced to be one. He genuinely likes it.

When they return from their trip, Echo is in a skirt and heels. He is dolled up with professional make up and styled hair. The group ogles him, but as comments get thrown around about how good Echo looks as a girl, Eric can’t feel the same. He just feels it’s too… off. He doesn’t bring it up, he’s afraid he’ll hurt Echo’s feelings. All his mom’s mutterings got to him, and Eric feels guilty for forcing Echo to live as a man.

During dinner, he reassures his mom and Echo that they can get rid of the contract and Echo can live in their house and attend their school clause free.

Echo stops him right there.

“I don’t want to be a girl. I’m a boy.”

Eric and his mom are confused. They try to reassure Echo, but Echo continues. “No. No offence ma’am, but all weekend, you have talked over me, never listening to what I have to say. I don’t want to be a girl. I am not like you. I do not share your experiences nor your desires. I like being a boy. I like being called a boy. I like dressing like a boy. I want to be known as a boy.”

Echo gets up.

“I’m going to go change now. But before I go, I want to keep the contract. I have no problem with any of the conditions.” Echo looks at Eric and smiles. “I like being a part of the group and competing with you guys.” He’s flustered by his sincerity. Echo leaves. For the rest of the day, Echo is unbothered in his room, but when night comes, Eric goes up to bring him some food.

Echo didn’t really wash off the make up very good (damn that high quality stuff), and his hair is a mess. But he’s in comfortable clothes and he brings in Eric so they can hang. They talk about trivial stuff at first, spend an hour playing a game, and when it’s 3am, Eric gathers the guts to talk about it. That he’s glad Echo stood up for himself, and he sees him as a boy too. Echo bursts into laughter, teasing Eric.

“So that’s what you were so nervous about. I thought you were planning to ask me on a date.” More flustered Eric. “W-Why would I-“ Echo gives him a half hug that stops him, hiding his own blushing face. “Thanks…” Eric hugs him back. It’s yet another sweet moment before they finally get together…. In some other event in the future mwahahaha. Idk, I haven’t decided yet when they confess and actually start going out ;p cries.

Welp, there ya go. This is a story I still cringe at because of how anime it starts but damn these chars got me. I love Echo, Eric and Kimmie ;o; I’m sorry I’m a sucker v-v

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alleycat97 · 5 years

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Sleepover

Pairing: Eliana x MC

Description: Tired of her mother and sister fighting, Aria needed a break from trying to hold the family tigether. Close to exhaustion and no place to go, she finds the one person who can make everything better, Eliana.

Disclaimer: Not my characters. Please enjoy!!

...

“I know you took it! If I find out you took it, I’ll be mad at you forever!” Alexis stomped out of the room angrier than ever.

Your mother tried to plead with her, only getting angrier with her youngest daughter, she already told her she didn’t take her cherished sweatshirt but Alexis wasn’t satisfied with that.

From the first day of this vacation, from the day of her fathers funeral, Alexis and yall’s mother have been going at each other, sometimes for the silliest of things. No matter how hard Aria tried to get them together and see the light, no matter her efforts to bring them together. Whether it be a spa day, making drinks by the pool or coming together at the annual clam bake, the victories were only temporary.

Aria would make ground on her sister and mother only to have another thorn burst her bubble and she would have to restart. You would think her explosion at the breakfast table would have knocked some sense into her family but it was looked over and here they were, arguing over a sweatshirt. This summer was hopeless and Aria was done trying to hold her life, her family, and her fathers legacy together.

“THATS IT! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YALL’S CRAP!” Aria exploded, making her mother cover her mouth in shock and stopping Alexis in her tracks.

“No matter what I do, how hard I try to bring you two together, the worse off we are! Maybe we should just sell this stupid house! Maybe we should get out of this stupid town and never come back and never see each other again!”

“Aria...You don’t mean that.” Her mother tried.

“Oh? This family is a disaster because you two cannot get along! I’m tired of being the glue.”

“Where are you going?” Alexis asked.

“Its none of your business!” Aria yelled out slamming the door leaving her family members shocked.

Aria walked in frustration to wherever her feet took her, that just so happened to be a familiar cowboy bar downtown. It was late but a few patreons were there enjoying the music, drinks, and mechanical bull.

Aria slid onto a bar stool with her head slumped low. Then she slid up from behind the bar,

“Well hello to you.” Eliana greeted. “Aww why the long face?”

Aria let out a long sigh, “Its my mom and sister again. They’re fighting over Alexis’ lost sweatshirt.”

Eliana couldn’t help but giggle, she knew of Aria’s situation but the reasons kept getting sillier, “Well what’s so special about this sweatshirt.”

“It was my dads and he gave it to Alexis. She always wears it.” Aria explained.

Eliana didn’t need to figure out why it was special to the girl now. “So what happened?”

“Alexis came running downstairs freaking out over it. She couldn’t find it and automatically started blaming mom because mom told her it was time to get a new one.”

“So do you think your mom took it?” Eliana asked while she prepped some customers drink.

“Honestly? No. If anything mom probably took it to get patched up. Mom has tons of issues with dad being gone, so getting rid of his stuff is helping her get rid of her baggage. Hince the reason for selling the house. But she knows that shirt is special to Alexis, she would never.”

“So Alexis blew up at your mom and wouldn’t let her explain herself, you tried to intervene like usual but finally blew up for good?” Eliana asked wiping the bar down.

“Yes. And this time, idk. I’m so tired of trying to be the peacemaker. Dad would be so disappointed but I’ve done all I can do, I don’t K...know...why they can’t get along.” Aria tried fighting the tears but they overwhelmed her.

“Oh sweetie.” Eliana placed her hands in Aria’s and leaned over the bar. “I can’t say I fully understand your problem because I’ve never been there. Being the youngest of 3 older brothers and all. But one thing I know is that they are my family and no matter how much I may hate them at any given moment, I’ll always have their back.”

There was something magical about Eliana. It didn’t matter how awful she felt, or how bad her day was going, Aria knew the moment she saw the woman, her problems would go away. She was literally the most precious thing she had ever seen. From her talks about her turtles, to drawing doodles with her tongue sticking out, the woman was serious in everything she did and it was the cutest thing Aria had ever saw.

“Do you want something to drink? Maybe calm your nerves?” Eliana asked.

“No thank you. I should get going, I’m gonna go lay on the beach.” Aria said rising from her stool.

Eliana bit her lip in wonder, “Aria it’s 11pm! Just go home?”

“I’m not going home. For tonight anyway. I can stay on the beach, atleast it’s peaceful.”

Eliana cleared the register and stowed away the cash and quickly flipped the sign to ‘closed’ before ushering the straggling patreons out.

“Eliana what are you doing?” Aria quizzed.

“You’re coming home with me. It’ll be fun, like a old fashion sleepover.”

“But...but...can you do that?” Aria asked amazed.

“Well I just did. Come on so I can lock the door.”

Aria couldn’t contain her smile and excitement, Eliana grabbed her hand and they walked a few blocks to the woman’s apartment.

“Don’t laugh, it’s not much, but it does the job.” Eliana said pulling Aria through the threshold into her tiny apartment.

Aria looked around at the immaculate apartment, it was super cute with a beautiful view of the ocean. It wasnt large but for Eliana it was perfect.

“Are you hungry? I can fix you something if you would like?” Eliana asked trying to be a good host. Aria could tell that she was nervous.

“Oh no thank you. I’m fine. Come sit silly.” Aria said patting the couch.

Eliana did as asked and sat down beside Aria who gladly put her arm snuggly around the girl.

“Eliana relax. I can hear you thinking.” Aria said laughing at Eliana and her fidgeting.

“I’ve never actually had a sleepover before. I don’t know what to do.” Eliana let out. That was her greatest weakness and fear. Everything Eliana did had to be planned out thoroughly, she didn’t half ass anything and it had to be perfect.

“The Eliana Flores has never had a sleepover!?” Aria laughed out. Seeing the down look on her face, Aria stopped teasing and pulled her closer. “The best thing about a sleepover is there is no rules to go by. We make it up as we go.”

“Really? But I thought we had to gossip and do each other’s nails and talk about nonsense.” Eliana asked.

“Well yes. But we can do whatever you want to do. It’s your house, I’m just glad to be here with you.”

Eliana stretched her arms and let a yawn escape, “Sounds like someone is tired.” Aria laughed.

“I’ve been up for hours researching my turtle. I’m starting to get worried. It’s been weeks and I can’t locate her.” There was the passion Aria loved.

“Well how about we get some rest and I’ll help you search tomorrow, the least I can do for you taking me in.”

Eliana smiled, “Just as long as you talk to your family.” Aria had to agreed.

Eliana stepped into her bedroom and came out packing a pair of sweats, “Here Aria, these should fit you.”

Aria practically ripped them out of Eliana’s arms with excitement and stripped down baring it all for Eliana to see and hopped in her sweats wearing a huge smile.

Eliana stood in shock at the sight of a nearly naked Aria before she put her sweats on.

“Well? How do I look?” Aria said modeling the slightly baggy sweats, rapping her arms across her front hugging herself tightly.

“Oh. Um. You look. Yeah.” Eliana couldn’t put together a proper sentence earning a laugh from Aria. “So that’s means I look good?” Eliana nodded.

Aria sprawled out on the couch preparing to settle in when Eliana spoke up, “You can stay in my bed if you want. I can sleep on the couch.”

Aria got up and looked the woman over with a devilish smirk, “I got a better idea.” Aria grabbed Eliana and pulled her inside her room and hopped on the neatly made bed. “We will sleep together.”

“Oh” Eliana stuttered. “Ok, ju...just let me change.” Eliana grabbed her pjs and headed for the bathroom but was cutoff by Aria.

“No ma’am. Strip for me.”

Eliana’s jaw hit the floor. “You want me to strip?”

“It’s only fair Ellie, you saw my goods. I think the host should return the favor.”

Eliana nodded and slowly stepped out of her jeans and pulled her shirt off. Earning a satisfying moan from Aria. “Like what you see?” Eliana confidently spoke.

“Mmmmhm. I do I do I do.”

Eliana feeling confident finally pulled on her pajamas and Aria couldn’t help but laugh at the cuteness before her.

“What’s so funny?” Eliana inquired.

“Those pjs are the absolute cutest!” Aria squealed. It was just simple sleeping shorts and cami top covered in little sea turtles.

“If you hadn’t noticed I’m kind of obsessed with turtles.”

Aria pulled Eliana in bed and they quickly crawled under the covers. Eliana laid on her side like she normally did, and Aria slid up behind her, pulling herself firmly against Eliana and laid her arm securely over the woman.

“I know. That’s what I like most about you my little nerd.” Aria placed a kiss on Eliana’s cheek and the duo drifted off to sleep.

#playchoices #eliana x mc #eliana flores #sunkissed

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sittingoverheredreaming · 5 years

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Okay, now that I’m home and have gotten some sleep, I want to share my thoughts on The Super Live. It’s super spoilery, so it’s going under a cut.

First, I want to say the Play Station theater has some really bad seating arrangements? The section we were in was flat, so it was very hard to see a lot of the stage (esp being that we were behind some tall people, and we are pretty short) I SAT ON MY FEET THE WHOLE TIME WHICH HURT BUT WAS DEFINITELY WORTH IT BECAUSE THIS SHOW IS SO VISUAL

Also I finally understand what people meant when they said it wasn’t a musical! I think it’s closer to a musical than anything else, though my wife brought up the point that a lot of it is similar to a ballet, in that a lot of things are conveyed through dance (and effects) with little talking or singing. We both agree though, that overall it felt more like a highlight reel than a full story. I’d put it as it showed a lot, but explained nothing.

It’s definitely more a celebration of Sailor Moon using the first arc than a retelling of it. It’s not there to give you a story to dig into, it’s there to make you swoon over Tux and scream when your favorite character shows up, and it did that and it did that AMAZINGLY

Like listen, I am too gay for miracle romance most of the time but at the beginning, when Mamoru’s teasing Usagi and they accidentally touch and they freeze and then moonlight densetsu starts playing and they show a bunch of images of them from manga art? that hit me oh my god

AND THEN WHEN THEY WENT THROUGH ALL THE CHARACTERS IN THE SLIDESHOW. WE ALL JUST SCREAMED SO MUCH. EVERYONE SCREAMED FOR THEIR FAV

It was kind of funny, Ami got the shaft being first, not too many people cheered when she popped up, but then they showed Rei and Rei fans weren’t gonna NOT CHEER FOR REI, and then MAKO FANS HAVE TO REPRESENT BECAUSE IT’S MAKO AND WE LOVE HER, and then I think everyone screamed for Mina because if you do not get excited for Minako Aino you are wrong

WHEN THE ACTUALLY ACTRESSES HAD THEIR FIRST SCENE I WAS SO HAPPY

I’d worried about this cast, but they’re amazing and in character and it’s GREAT

The Best Friends song is SO CHEESY I LOVE IT

Comment from my wife: it was always easy for them to follow who spoke, even when they all just said “Hi” they all had distinct voices they could place, which is a problem they sometimes have in this stuff, especially while trying to read the subtitles

(I think the parts where the subtitles were done in comic voice bubbles were BRILLIANT, but the ones that were only on the screens to the sides(mostly the songs) were difficult to see while still watching the stage from where we sat)

WHEN THE SENSHI APPEARED FOR THE FIGHT IN THE AUDIENCE I LOST MY SHIT AND JUPITER WAS RIGHT BY US AND I CRIED

my wife has not really experienced how much I love Makoto because I don’t write about her and it was kind of hilarious before the show I got a mystery bookmark with one of my merch purchases, and when I opened it and saw I’d got Mako I teared up because I LOVE HER

AND THEN SHE CAME INTO THE FIGHT RIGHT BY OUR SEATS IT WAS AMAZING I LOVE HER SO MUCH

I love their fight song, I love all the songs where each senshi gets their little introductions, whether it’s just inners or everyone, SUPER LIVE SOUNDTRACK WHEN??

This one might be a particular favorite, because I think it captures that they’re fighting for Usagi, their sweet flawed friend Usagi, and that’s just really sweet

also not to beat a dead horse but every time Mako says “I’ll make you numb with regret” in anything it adds three years to my lifespan it’s so great I love Makoto Kino

ALSO I WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO THIS MINA??? SHE’S DAMN GOOD

I’d love to see this cast in a more substantial show, they were so amazing in this and I fully believe they could rip my heart apart in something that was more character-focused

on a similar note why didn’t they let Beryl sing more

I love when they cast Beryl with a strong, operatic-style voice and they did that and then she barely sang

Everyone was underused, basically

Or maybe everyone was over-cast? The casting here is SO GOOD and I just want to see more of them

The part where they went to Harujuku was SO CUTE and also felt a little like they were trying to teach Americans a little about Japan/Tokyo, it made me wonder if it was always in there

Also the part where they were in what I think were kimonos (I don’t know how to spot the different types of clothing) was so amazing? They tied them in perfect sync? It felt like fan service, but not gross male-gazey fan service, like whoever wrote that moment was just like “girls want to see their favorite character in a new pretty outfit” AND THEY WERE RIGHT

MOON SWORD

but also I pay my taxes when do I get to see Mina stab Beryl

The Venus/Kunzite moment didn’t bother me too much, it’s the one SenShi pairing that I think brings something interesting to the table, though I would have loved if it happened after she ran him through

or if she just ran him through anyway

Listen I just wanna see Mina stab someone

everyone died really quickly and it didn’t emotionally hit but I feel like that was okay for this version. I don’t think they were really trying to bring the waterworks

That said though I again would love to see this Usagi do a Sorezore no Elegy moment, when she was screaming and crying I was like man if this was given the space, it would have so much power

OH BACKING UP A LITTLE, I loved the use of Otome no Policy, I wasn’t expecting it and it took me a second to recognize it. I thought it was really smart to have the senshi sing it to keep Usagi going, it was sweet and cute and played on nostalgia in a great way

I HAVE KEPT MYSELF FROM TALKING ABOUT TUX BECAUSE RIONA WAS JUST TOO MUCH

she’s so hot but also just. the way she played Mamoru was so good because she had a great balance of jerk and dork and dreamboat

THE WOMAN KNOWS HOW TO HANDLE A ROSE

Usagi and her heart eyes? same

Beryl rubbing all over tux? S A M E

during the curtain call when the cast came into the audience I embarrassed my wife by shouting RIONA as she passed

(also I told my wife I was glad we didn’t do the VIP experience because I figure they’d be mad when I threw myself at Riona. But actually it amuses them because I don’t get celebrity crushes much)

The game center scene was really cute? It’s a situation where I really bought Mamoru’s teasing as an expression of his crush, which most versions don’t do for me

please let Riona play tux again in something where she has more lines

AND TO CAP IT THE ENDING “CONCERT” PART WAS SO FUN

when they did La Soldier I ascended to a higher plan of existence. the dance was different but still reminiscent of the original. AND EVERYONE SANG ALONG. IT WAS AMAZING.

La Soldier you guys.

LA SOLDIER

Also they did Moonlight Densetsu as an encore and it was so funny because everyone was just like, WE KNOW YOU’RE COMING BACK OUT YOU HAVEN’T DONE THE SONG

BUT THEN WE ALL STILL LOST OUR SHIT WHEN THE MUSIC STARTED

I love how they split up the lines to different characters

BERYL’S LINES WERE SO FUCKING GOOD OH MY GODDDDDDDDD

and everyone came into the audience and it was great

everyone had so much love for the characters and it was so great to see

at the end of the show Usagi’s actress said a little speech in English, and struggled with it a little, and it was so cute and it made me cry and she said something about it being the last show in America and I feel so lucky to have gotten to see it

I really, really loved it

I hope they do more of these shows, I think it’s a style that’s really cool and even though I’d love more substantive musicals, this sort of thing makes sense to put on internationally, and it would be amazing to see S or Stars done in this style

I LOVE SAILOR MOON A LOT YOU GUYS

this is a show that made me feel that love. it wasn’t perfect but it was just really about loving sailor moon and playing on the history and legacy of the story, and it’s a joy

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sobdasha · 5 years

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01 - just furubana things

This is not so much headcanons as it is that--much like I can't do mental math because the numbers don't remain pinned in place if they aren't literally, y'know, pinned in place with pencil on paper--I can't keep track of details and have zero concept of the passage of time without an actual timeline of events for myself.

So instead of using 20 scraps of paper I'm just dumping what I've accumulated here and calling it fic-adjacent and maybe adding in some headcanons as I go.

–

How the heck old is everybody anyway

?? - Hinata (according to my Fruits Basket timeline, she was born in March 2000, no clue how old she is now) ??? - Hibika (I have……...no clue……...I mean, since she was able to just run off to Paris at the drop of a hat, I'm assuming that means she's graduated high school??? But also she is the child of Ayame and Mine and is a Souma so like………….anything………..is possible……… I assume Hibika and Kinu are close-ish in age because they are good friends) In college - Kinu (what year though?? I'm guessing, since her plans aren't finalized, that it's still early. IDK if Michi asking her if college is fun is strictly for exposition, or implies that Kinu has just started her first year of college) 12th grade - Hajime, Michi 11th grade - Mutsuki 10th grade - Sawa, Sora, Riku 9th grade - Rio? Leo? I don't…...have my hands on volume 2 yet…….I don't know what they went with……… 8th grade - Chizuru 7th grade - Shiki (also these three are apparently all good friends and in the Go club together, I'm going to picture Akito having to have set up play-dates with Saki and Ayame when the kids were younger. I know technically Shigure could have done it since Aya is his bff but it's funnier if Akito has to) - somewhere in 9th to 7th grade are also Kou and Hajime's nameless little bro which is killing me, but idk what years ?? - Mina also ?? - Hajime's nameless and faceless little sis which is also killing me

Also! Who! Is that! With Sora in the New Year's bonus chapter of volume 1??? Is it someone we have met? Is it someone we haven't met? Is it some random person??? I don't think they particularly look like anyone listed above… (A part of me is kinda hoping…I mean, it looks kinda like Kakeru…I think it would be great if that was Kou. Michi looks like Komaki but acts like Kakeru, so if Kou acts like Michi he must look like Kakeru right??? THE POINT IS I want Kou to be at the fancy Souma New Year's because I want it to be true that Kakeru just becomes an honorary Souma attached to Yuki because it's inevitable and Akito just gives in and accepts it)

When I actually started writing down what was happening as I read…

sometime when people are bitty - the stairs incident

Day 1 of FBA - It's probably April 1st, it's the very first day of the school year and Sawa's actual first day of high school (although they've already had the entrance ceremony) - Sawa meets Mutsuki - Sawa takes her lunch outside before Amane can talk to her - Sawa meet-cutes Hajime by stepping on his face lol - Sawa doesn't get to talk to Mutuski (idk I guess he was gonna ask about her life and sneakily work around the topic about if she remembered the Souma family???) - Sawa runs over Hajime's little bro because she's so freaked out, and the little bro picks up the I.D. and gives it to Hajime, although like Hajime lives out of town and that's why he's living in the Souma house without his parents??? Because he lives too far out of town to attend that school??? So how did Sawa run over Hajime's little brother who is in middle school presumably out of town??? Did Hajime just grow up out of town and they moved back to Tokyo to inherit the dojo and Hajime was like "…….it's too far to walk to school I'm moving out" like Mutsuki did who is implied to live in town but just can't be arsed to walk that far???????

Day 2 of FBA - Sawa's second day of school - Hajime returns Sawa's I.D. on the way to school - Mutsuki appoints Sawa to the student council before she even arrives that morning - Ruriko comes in before classes start to confront Sawa about it and interrupts Amane's chance to ask Sawa out to lunch - Mutsuki is already texting Shiki - I guess the interludes might be that day??

Some time passes???

- Sawa flashes back to being introduced to the student council, and Mutsuki isn't wearing his sweater vest, so I assume this means it's a different day from Day 2, although it could be a typo

- The day that Ruriko has come to have lunch with Sawa to ~educate her~ that prompts Sawa to have the flashback, when Sawa later goes to student council we see Mutsuki in his sweater vest again so I assume this is once again a different day. That means it's been at least 4 days that Amane's been trying to ask Sawa out to lunch when Riku gets pissed about it.

The next day - Sawa is properly introduced to Riku and Sora, and then Sawa asks Amane out to lunch, yes I'm purposefully saying "asks out" every time, because I originally thought "Short black hair = Akito's child" and "I WANT TO SHIP THESE GAYS" and I want to treasure that feeling okay - Sawa punches out a cooler and meets Michi - SUKIYAKI PARTY - Sawa meets Kinu

The next day - Sawa was so happy about the sukiyaki party and her upcoming lunch date that she gets a fever and has to miss it noooo

And then after that Volume 2 jumps to early summer and I stopped keeping track

Miscellaneous stuff I wanted to keep in mind

I feel it's heavily implied that Shiki hasn't attended a family New Year's since The Knife Incident specifically. Which...really sucks for Shiki, that Akito has so strongly embraced the high road of "you can't pick your family you just have to deal, head of the family is my responsibility and I just have to deal", and even into the next generation a lot of the Souma family remains really toxic and that's the environment Shiki's growing up in. I assume Shiki's immediate household is not bad, but unfortunately it's right in the middle of a neighborhood of toxic assholes. Which is why, Mutsuki says, he wanted to get Shiki out beyond that environment and Sawa was super convenient for that among other reasons.

Hajime apparently grew up out of town, when Kyou and Tohru moved away so he could learn the dojo business from one of Kazuma's friends. This means Hajime and Mutsuki did not grow up together, which is sad, but according to Kinu they're still thick as thieves whenever they are together so that's really damn cute. The past year they've lived together is the longest visit they've ever had and like, Hajime helps out Mutsuki in the garden, Hajime--although insulting Mutsuki's lack of cooking ability--kind of implies that he does actually let Mutsuki help with the cooking when it's just them? Even when the results are probably worse than any time his little siblings tried to show Hajime they could totally help in the kitchen? Ughhhhh they're too cute.

I am presuming that both Mutsuki and Shiki live in town, and that's probably a large part of why they seem to be pretty close (closer than Shiki would like lol) despite the four-year age gap. I like to think it's also because Yuki also seemed pretty determined to Salvage Relationships, like with his mom, and so I like to presume that after the incidents of Fruits Basket Yuki informed Akito that they were going to reconnect as childhood bffs whether Akito liked it or not lol. So if Yuki and Akito are close, probably Mutsuki and Shiki are close too. And thus why Mutsuki is so concerned for Shiki's well-being and pushes really hard to set Fruits Basket Another in motion lol, like he's happy he's improving Sawa's life but his most immediate objective is Shiki's health and happiness. Like Shigure, only not an asshole and his plan is for everyone to win.

Yuki loves his son dearly and supports him so much but even so he's banned himself from Kaibara High School because he can't take Takei being so extra loooool I hope he sucks it up at least to come to graduation. Even though. Takei will--instead of talking about the graduates--okay he'll have talked a little about the graduates, namely Mutsuki--spend the entire graduation giving a speech to celebrate and congratulate and honor Yuki instead. As Yuki just sits there. Being stared at by all the other parents. With a long-dead smile on his "why is this happening to me" face. You know why this is happening, sir. But you came anyway to support your son. You are a good dad. Ganbatte. Have a drink afterward. (pray to anything you hold dear that your beloved child hasn't recorded this entire thing and sent it all the family including Akito who, surprise surprise, is also dying of secondhand embarrassment and doesn't appreciate this at all. Maybe Akito can take you drinking afterward.)

I will never be over the fact that the people closest to Yuki are all having multiple kids and there's Yuki and Machi like "ONE AND DONE." Why do they need to have another child after Mustuki? Mutsuki already has an older sibling in Michi, and possibly Hibika as well. And then Mutsuki even gets a little brother, Kou! And maybe Chizuru counts too! Like thanks for doing all the work for them of making Mutsuki not an only child. (They just…..didn't know what they'd get out of the Souma genetics grab-bag, and the idea of having to [have the housekeeper] clean up more sparkles was just…)

I'm revising my headcanon such that Hajime was the one who thought it would be cool to go to the same high school his parents did (because it's a theme, in FBA, about how it's cool to love your parents assuming they're, y'know, good parents who love you back, and thus how cute it is when kids are pleased to be like their parents), but unlike Mutsuki Hajime did not realize that as a ridiculously conventionally attractive Souma he would be a famous legacy student and if he had known this from the start he might have said "screw it" and just gone to school locally lol. Mutsuki on the other hand was fully aware of the shit he was getting into when Hajime first ventured the idea and Mutsuki embraced it. And then it all worked out perfect because it turned out Sawa would attend there too!

#sobdasha fic adjacent #fruits basket #fruits basket another #new year old fics #it was gonna be new year new fics to emulate new year new me but #i'm still trying to whittle down the stack of really old stuff soooooo

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mikeshanlon · 7 years

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not a prince, but a lady of the court (malvie oneshot)

fandom: descendants

pairing: evie and mal, side jay and carlos

word count: 7k

on ao3

summary:

Mal headed out their room, leaving Evie alone with her thoughts.

And boy, were there a lot of things running through her mind this morning.

Maybe boy wasn’t the right word.

warnings: internalized homophobia/ sexuality criss but it all works out, kinda anti b*l but not anti ben

a/n: dedicated to the wonderful @cherylstoni, who voted for this 300 times. it’s also her bday today so send her some love <3

Even though a short stretch of glittering water separated each other, Auradon and the Isle were two very different places.

On the Isle, people were concerned with serving their own interests and amassing power to inflict as much pain possible. There was no time for friendships or nurturing in a place full of thievery, lies, and betrayal. Instead of running in picturesque fields and saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ like the kids in Auradon, they had to learn how to fend for themselves and stand their ground. They were villains, after all.

The parents had different ways of showing their children how to be evil, whether it be with magic or violence. Some of them were seen as burdens, while others were seen as another chance to succeed with their nefarious plans. Either way, the children of the Isle were faced with an extreme amount of pressure to live up to their parents legacy, even if it wasn’t what they wanted deep down.

Evie was one of the latter, the Evil Queen seeing her daughter as a way to live in a beautiful castle once again-- and someone who didn’t necessarily want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Unlike the others her age, Evie learned how to get what she wanted a little differently. She wasn’t going to become queen with a spell or a duel to the death, but rather by stealing everyone’s hearts-- figuratively speaking, although the literal sense was not outlandish on the Isle.

According to her mother, the first way to do this was to be beautiful. It wasn’t a secret that the Evil Queen used to ask her mirror who was the fairest of all first thing in the morning during her reign. To her, beauty was power-- it both made one more confident and often made them able to bend a man’s will at a whim. This ideology that beauty was everything was instilled in Evie as she grew up.

It didn’t really take much for Evie to be considered gorgeous by the others on the Isle. Though there was no magic running through her veins, her beautiful bouncing blue curls and her plump pink lips hypnotized anyone who passed. Her brown eyes were the color of amber, and despite being surrounded by wickedness, she had a smile that rivaled the sun.

Still, Evie became obsessed with pouring over old Auradon magazines for makeup tips to make her cheeks rosy and her lips candy apple red. During the night she would sneak into her mother’s bedroom while she was sleeping and rummage through her vanity, finding makeup the Evil Queen barely used. She’d scurry back with her new possessions and apply the shadows and balms using her treasured mirror, only illuminated by the moonlight.

What she loved most was fashion, picking complementary colors and the perfect fabrics to fit her mood and sewing late into the evening. She loved wearing skirts and dresses, though the Isle didn’t provide many opportunities to be formal. Instead Evie figured out how to make her clothes practical yet cute, creating studded leather leggings to protect herself during fights or the unruly thorns surrounding cobbled pathways. She’d often find herself at Jafar’s shop perusing jewelry and metal trinkets to add to outfits, or trading random scraps with Dizzy at the salon. The velvet chokers and spiky rings she often wore were not only pretty, but could help pack a mean punch if need be.

Still, Evie would sketch the extravagant gowns and crowns she’d adorn once she was a queen, dreaming of the life she’d have when she grew older. Fashion was a way to express herself and accentuate her beauty, but it also gave her hope. She would have a chance to wear frilly ball gowns and tiaras made of pearls and roses. Evie would get to Auradon somehow.

The most important step to getting power however, was to marry a prince. At least, that’s what her mother said just about every single day. It was, in fact, how she became queen herself, marrying Snow White’s father.

With a prince, she could live in her very own castle (with a wing for her mother of course) and hold parties full of beautiful gowns, being admired by all. Evie would be able to be in Auradon, and have power over her life for once.

Others on the Isle found the royalty of Auradon idiotic and insufferable, but the Evil Queen painted a vision of joy and love for her daughter. Evie would later understand that her mother’s interpretation of joy and love was terrorizing her people and being obsessed with herself, but as a young girl, all Evie wanted was to find a prince to call her own.

There were princes on the Isle, but none of them had enough power or land for Evie to even consider marrying them. Besides, the point was to have control over Auradon, and the blue haired girl would just have to wait for that opportunity to arise instead of throwing it away on someone like Prince Hans’ son.

The Isle was a place where everything one did had to be for their own benefit, and Evie decided that a relationship with some guy wouldn’t do anything for her at all.

However, that didn’t stop her from making friends. Evie had become incredibly close with Mal, Jay, and Carlos-- some of the most formidable children on the island. They spent almost all of their free time together, exploring every inch of their prison and wreaking havoc on anyone who crossed them. If her mother asked who she was spending all her time with Evie would say it was for an alliance, that she was getting goods or money, but deep down she knew they were their own little family.

To escape the pressure from their parents, the four would spend time in an abandoned studio type apartment. Carlos had rigged it so that the fire escape leading into the building could only be opened by throwing rocks at a sign at the base of the stairs-- not that many would dare try to cross Mal. They made the space their own, Mal practicing her graffiti on the walls, which were now covered in their own faces and rebellion propaganda. Evie kept an old mannequin she found to work on her outfits, and Carlos could often be found fiddling with a gadget at the dining table while Jay sat beside him and sorted through the items he nicked that day.

Though Evie enjoyed living in Auradon much more than on the Isle, she often thought fondly on her memories from their hideout, and one in particular. She remembered the four of them laying across the old lumpy mattress, listening to a horrible pop CD that was thrown out by one of the Auradon residents. They poked fun at the nonsensical lyrics and mocked the squeaky voices-- it was all so innocent compared to life on the Isle. Mal was beside her, holding her hand steady as she doodled onto Evie’s palm whatever came to mind with black ink. The purpled haired girl hadn’t even asked if it was okay, but Evie wouldn’t have rejected her touch either way-- though she wasn’t expecting Mal to be so delicate and gentle. She had figured it was because Mal didn’t want to smear the swirling patterns of stars and thorn covered roses that covered her skin. The image of Mal biting her pink lips in concentration and smirking as the boys joked burned in Evie’s mind since that night.

For all the differences between Auradon and the Isle, the four friends still took the time to escape from it all and catch up. In fact, being in Auradon made them closer than ever. Being the only villain kids in a place full of kind-hearted souls made them rely each other for support.

It was Friday night, and Mal, Carlos, Jay, and Evie were sat around the circular table in the boys’ dorm room. After relaying the weird behaviors of Auradon kids they encountered that week, the four sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying each other’s company. They munched on the sickeningly sweet snacks Jay swiped from the kitchen as Carlos made improvements to their 3D printer. Evie was sketching a gown for her fashion line, and beside her Mal was scowling at a book of manners.

“This is ridiculous,” Mal scoffed and tossed the book onto the table, “Why do I have to study up on how to ‘sit like a lady’ for this stupid court meeting?”

Evie looked over to her best-friend, “So you don’t have outbursts like that. You have to make a good first impression.”

“Yeah, that’ll be super easy. I’m the daughter of Maleficent and I just broke up with the King three weeks ago,” Mal rolled her eyes.

Right, Evie had almost forgotten about that. A month after the cotillion, Mal and Ben decided it was best for them to break up and be just friends. Mal couldn’t handle all the pressure of being his girlfriend, and ever since they came back from the Isle something had changed. She felt horrible about it, but when Mal told her the news, Evie felt relieved. At first she thought it was because not just a prince, but a King was available, but truthfully she hadn’t thought about princes ever since the coronation.

“He didn’t seem that upset-- neither did you actually,” Carlos commented offhandedly, and looked up to see Mal’s green eyes scowling at him, “Or um… it was tragic. Truly tragic.”

Mal sighed, “It doesn’t matter either way, the court is gonna hate me even more than they already do.”

“So? Since when do you care what other people think?” Jay asked.

“I don’t,” she snapped, and looked over to Evie, her eyes softening, “But I have to represent the Isle. This is a chance for Auradon to help even more villain kids, and I can’t mess that up. Even if I despise curtsying.”

Evie smiled with pride, “Already sounding more and more like a diplomat.”

“Ugh, don’t call me that,” Mal groaned, snatching up the book again.

Jay cleared his throat, “Well, since you’re there, you can scope out the hotties of the court for us.”

Mal raised a brow at this request.

“The uh, princes for Evie and yourself and the princesses for Carlos and I of course,” Jay quickly clarified.

Evie forced herself to smile at this, despite how weird the idea of her actually being with a prince now felt.

Across from her, Carlos laughed lightly, and though the others didn’t seem to notice, Evie could tell it was forced. The locked eyes for a moment, a sense of understanding between them, before they looked away.

“Well sorry, you’ll have to set up your own royal dates. I don’t have time to play matchmaker,” Mal put her legs up on the table, her voice defensive, “Besides, Evie and I don’t need princes.”

The next morning, Evie was woken up from her beauty sleep by the sound of Mal groaning in frustration. She slowly opened her brown eyes, adjusting them to the sunlight streaming through the curtains before finding the other girl at their vanity.

“Stupid eyeliner,” Mal cursed under her breath, and Evie couldn’t help but smile.

“Having a little trouble?” she smirked, kicking off her blankets and standing up.

Mal whirled around, “Yeah, sorry E, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine,” Evie let out a small yawn, “You should’ve just let me do your makeup though. I am the expert after all.”

“You’re already doing a lot for me with all the clothes and listening to my ranting.”

“Please, I’m not gonna let my girl look bad at her first court meeting,” Evie pulled up a chair and with her hand turned Mal’s face to her own, “It would reflect poorly on me,” she quickly added.

Mal laughed and let Evie finish the rest of her makeup. She took the liquid liner from her hand and even though she just woke up, Evie put it on with precision. When Mal’s eyes were closed, she looked so beautiful and peaceful, like all of the stress building up inside her melted away at Evie’s touch.

That was just wishful thinking.

She applied highlighter to Mal’s nose, which promptly crinkled upon contact. Her face was all scrunched up and Evie could only think about how adorable she looked. God, she needed to pull herself together.

“All done,” Evie announced after she put lipstick on her, “Now get changed or you’ll be late.”

“That would be a shame,” Mal stood up, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

As Mal changed in the bathroom, Evie perused her closet to chose her outfit for the day. They didn’t have any classes as it was Saturday, and the tourney game wasn’t until tommorrow. Other than studying for chemistry, she had nothing to do while Mal was gone.

Jay’s comment about princes from last night rang in her mind, and she felt a pang in her chest. ‘Prince’ didn’t feel right, but maybe that was because she hadn’t really been looking since they first arrived. She knew she didn’t need to be with someone-- she was smart and didn’t need to rely on a man. But, she wanted to be with someone, to share every experience with. Evie hated the weird feeling forming in her stomach, like her whole world was about to crumble. She quickly composed herself and decided to pick something extra cute to aide her in her search and lift her spirits.

“Zip me?” Mal asked, emerging from the bathroom and holding onto the front of her dress.

Evie nodded and walked behind her, fumbling for the zipper. She noticed the freckles dotting Mal’s back, like constellations or flecks of gold.

Once she did the zipper up, Mal twirled around, and revealed the indigo dress. It was fairly simple yet fancy, with various shades of sheer blue and purple covering the skirt, which ended just above her knees. Just above the sweetheart neckline, a chain pendant rested. It was perfect dress for her first court meeting, a blend of the Isle and Auradon.

Besides, Mal looked absolutely stunning in it.

The sound of Mal clearing her throat brought Evie back to reality, “Like what you see?”

Evie cheeks instantly burned up, “Just uh, admiring my handiwork.”

“So you like seeing me in your clothes?” Mal smirked.

She knew Mal was just being a smartass, but Evie was still flustered. Mostly because she did feel proud that her best friend was wearing something she made (and maybe because she dreamed about Mal wearing her silk pajamas once or twice).

“See, that’s the type of attitude that the court won’t like,” Evie chastised.

Mal slipped into her heels, “Hey, I promised not to start any fights or steal the silverware. There has to be some sort of compromise.”

Evie chuckled and rolled her eyes fondly, “Promise me you’ll play nice?”

“You’re no fun anymore,” Mal pouted playfully.

“Rude!” she gasped as she fixed the dress, making it look perfect, “Besides, I said don’t steal the silverware, not the food.”

Mal broke out into a grin, “I knew my girl is still in there.”

My girl. Evie’s heart soared.

“Well, like Dizzy said…”

“You can take the girl out of the Isle but not the Isle out of the girl,” they said in unison.

“I’d better get going so I can get some more of the Isle in Auradon. See you later?”

Evie nodded, “I expect you to return with cookies.”

“As you wish,” with a mocking curtsy, Mal headed out their room, leaving Evie alone with her thoughts.

And boy, were there a lot of things running through her mind this morning.

Maybe boy wasn’t the right word.

The one thing that Evie could not let go was how that morning would go if everything was different. She wanted to wake up next to Mal and cuddle into her instead of the purple haired girl being across the room. She wanted to trace her fingers across Mal’s freckles, memorizing where every single one was, like mapping out the cosmos. She wished that she could give Mal a kiss goodbye, give her more support for her tough day, to let her know that Evie was there for her.

Of course, Mal knew Evie would always be there. They were each other’s closest friends, some went as far to say they were almost sisters. Evie didn’t know what the feelings she was developing for Mal were, but she knew it was not sisters.

Evie repressed her thoughts, not wanting to deal with them. This was just her being overly empathetic towards the whole breakup situation right? It would be solved by a quick compliment from a dashing prince and Evie would be back to her boy crazy self-- sans the whole ‘throwing away her dignity’ thing.

Her plan wasn’t working. At all.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t getting any compliments or lingering stares from the princes at Auradon prep. Evie had worn one her favorite outfits, which included her trusted blue leather jacket. Her makeup was done to perfection, her brown eyes surrounded by blue eyeliner and mascara. As she wandered the halls looking for a prince to sweep her off her feet, Evie was showered with compliments from just about everyone.

She was the problem.

Normally any sense of validation from any guy made Evie fall in love instantly, but even the sweetest of compliments did nothing for her. Part of her wondered if it was because she used to place so much of her self-worth on the opinions of others, and didn’t let herself reach her full potential. She had held herself back to seem more appealing or to help boys like Chad.

Speaking of the son of Cinderella, he lived up to his father’s name when he saw her walking in the garden, laying the ‘charm’ on thick.

When she had first arrived everything he did left her giggly and flustered, but now his wink and cheesy pick up line just made Evie uncomfortable.

Auradon was supposed to help the children from the Isle learn to love, not take the ability away. Was there something wrong with her?

Eventually, Evie decided to give up on her mission, and headed to the dining hall for supper.

The room was lit up by candles and filled with people along with the scent of warm, sweet, fresh pumpkin pie. Booming laughter echoed off the wall, and among the noise, Evie heard her stomach rumble. She filled up her plate with the chicken roast and vegetables, snatching up a piece of the pie, and made her way to the back corner of the room where the four villian kids usually sat. As she approached, Jay and Carlos were surrounded by books and heaps of food, fighting with each other. Typical.

“How many times do I have to explain the difference between weight and mass?!” Carlos exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

Jay groaned, “Why do I have to learn this science anyways? It’s not useful to what I’m gonna be doing-- I’m not the genius out of the two of us.”

Evie didn’t miss the slight blush that covered the freckled boy’s cheeks, “Because, Jay, this is physics. You use it everyday when you’re playing tourney and climbing everywhere.”

“Yes, because I have time to do a physics equation while I’m running around” Jay rolled his eyes, eating a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

Carlos glared at the long haired boy before swatting at him and lunging. She never really understood their constant play fights, especially considering how… athletically challenged and tiny Carlos was in comparison to Jay.

Either way, Mal’s absence from the table was almost deafening to Evie, she wondered how she can miss someone even though she saw them only hours ago.

The latter placed Carlos into a headlock, “Wanna find the angle of my arms right now?”

“That’s geometry” he choked out.

“Boys, boys, play nice” Evie scolded as she pulled out a chair and sat with them.

They untangled themselves and Carlos fixed his jacket, “How’s it going?”

“Fine,” Evie answered, “do you know where Mal is?”

Carlos shook his head, “I heard she might still be at the court meeting.”

Evie sighed, pushing the food around on her plate. Part of her wanted to vent about her awful day, but she also didn’t want Mal to discover the way Evie had been thinking of her as of late.

“Wow, E,” Jay whistled as he took in her appearance, “Who’s the lucky boy you’re trying to impress?”

“No one. Can’t I dress for myself?” she snapped defensively. He was right, but for some reason his comment hit a nerve.

Jay put his hands up in surrender, “Of course. You just look pretty today, that’s all.”

“I always do,” Evie flipped her blue hair over her shoulder.

Jay smiled and mimicked the action with his own locks, eliciting an uproar of laughter from the three of them. The thief looked over at Carlos, a satisfied grin spreading across his face.

“Anyways,” Carlos said as once the laughter died down, “You coming to the game tomorrow? I need someone to talk to while I’m on the bench.”

“I am, but you are not going to be on the bench the whole game. Have more confidence!”

Jay nodded in agreement, chewing on some chicken and waving his fork around, “Besides I’m captain of the team, and I need someone to help me deal with Chad.”

“I don’t want to play just because you pity me,” Carlos responded.

“C’mon, you know it’s not like that C,” Jay reassured, “You’re amazing.”

Evie watched as the two shared a smile and felt a little better. She might be changing, or feel like something was wrong with her, but her friends were always there for her and each other. That would never change.

After eating and saying her farewells to Jay and Carlos, Evie made her way back to their dorm, ready to rest after the long day. Her thought were a mess, she just needed to take off her heels and enjoy a nice bubble bath. She could figure out everything another day.

Of course, the universe seemed to hate her (or love her, that was still up for debate), because as she opened the door she saw Mal reading on her bed. In Evie’s pajamas.

They were pearly white silk pajamas, one of her favorite sets. If it was anyone else, Evie would be screaming in anger, but she didn’t even trust herself to make any intelligible noises.

“Hey, E,” Mal greeted, her face falling as she saw Evie’s reaction, “Oh, sorry. I totally forgot to do laundry and I thought you wouldn’t mind. I can take it off if you want…”

Yes she totally would-- no. No she wouldn’t.

Evie took a deep breath, “No, I really don’t mind, we’re pretty much sisters anyways.”

Sisters. Why did she say that? And why did it sit so weirdly in her stomach?

After a moment of hesitation Mal smiled, “Good, because these are super nice,” she stroked the material of the pants.

Evie chuckled and set down her bag by her bed before going through her drawers and selecting her own sleepwear.

“Ya know, when you come home to the missus you’re supposed to ask how their day went,” Mal broke the silence, “At least that’s what Fairy Godmother says.”

“I didn’t realize we were an old married couple,” Evie joked.

“Oh, totally. Sharing clothes, bringing each other stolen cookies…” she lifted a bag of chocolate chip cookies, waving it around.

Evie smiled and sat beside her, “Aw, you did steal them for me… Wait, the court meeting! I totally forgot, I’ve had such a weird day.”

Instantly Mal frowned, talking Evie’s hand in her own, “Is everything okay E?”

How is she supposed to tell her best friend that she maybe sort of might not like guys and have a crush on her? That she feels trapped in her own body, and the only time she feels real, feels happy, is when she was with Mal.

“Everything’s fine,” she mustered, forcing the corners of her lips upward.

Unfortunately the purple haired girl didn’t believe that for a second, “Do I have to hurt someone? I have been waiting for an excuse.”

Well at least Mal was still herself. One of them had to keep themselves together.

“Seriously, it’s all good,” she grabbed one of the cookies and took a bite, letting the treat melt in her mouth, “So how was the court?”

Mal looked disappointed that she wasn’t going to tell her what was going on, but seemed to accept it, “Well, it was only mildly awkward being in the same room as Ben-- until Prince Phillip brought up a ‘conflict of interest’ due to our relationship and we had to explain our break up.”

She winced in sympathy, “Ouch. Was it weird seeing him? Do you miss him?”

“Miss him?” Mal scoffed, “Ben is great but… he’s too great. We fought all the time, neither of us were happy.”

“I thought he brought out the good in you? I mean, you’re over here trying to bring more kids from the Isle to Auradon. You don’t go from stealing candy out of a stroller to that in an instant,” Evie pointed out.

For a moment Mal looked lost in thought, like she was deciding what to say. Her mouth opened like a fish, not making a sound before she swallowed thickly, “That’s… Evie, I’m doing all of that for you, because it’s important for you. If I have the opportunity to make you smile, then I’m taking it. The fact that you can still do that, still care for others after being on the Isle? That’s what brings out the good in me. You’re the reason I’m trying to be a better person.”

Evie’s breath hitched, stunned into silence. Her heart was fluttering-- Mal was not the sort of person to even admit she was trying to change, let alone give her such an emotional reason why. The confession seemed to come out of nowhere, but the more Evie thought about it, the more sense it started to make. The small smiles Mal sent her when she gushed about how great it would be to have Dizzee to help with her fashion line, or the way she kept from lunging at people like Audrey when they were walking to class together.

And it was all for her.

A new feeling formed in Evie’s stomach, not exactly one of fear and isolation like she had felt earlier, it was something entirely different. It was intense, she felt like throwing up, smiling, and crying all at once. All of the sudden the weight and warmth of Mal’s hand in hers felt stronger, more apparent.

Love? She hadn’t ever experienced it before, but that’s the only word she could use to describe her rising heart rate.

Mal looked at her nervously, waiting for a response, but Evie couldn’t think of one. Instead her brown eyes examined the pale green ones watching her expectantly. Her sight flittered to Mal’s lips, which were soft and smooth, still stained by her lipstick. The overwhelming desire to touch them, to get closer to her, started to consume Evie as she inched closer and Mal did the same.

Mal’s hand started to move up Evie’s arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps on her skin; her own hand finding Mal’s waist and holding on.

They were only inches from one another when loud banging from the wooden door filled the room, startling the two of them and sending them far apart. Evie’s face was redder than her mother’s poison apples, and Mal turned to look out the window.

She clear her throat, flattening her skirt as she stood, “Yes?”

The door swung open to reveal Jane and Lonnie, who let themselves in. Evie let out a sigh. Of course.

“Sorry to disturb,” Lonnie started.

“But, we absolutely had to know how the court meeting went” Jane finished.

Lonnie nodded, “And we got super worried when you weren’t at dinner.”

“I was scared all my hard work and preparation wasn’t enough.”

Hard work? Evie was the one who made the dress and kept Mal from burning her etiquette book-- hell, she was the reason she was doing it all in the first place.

“No, it went great, thanks for checking in,” Mal said through a forced smile, a hint of anger in her tone.

“I heard you looked stunning, it’s on all the gossip sites,” Lonnie smiled.

“Yeah, well, that’s all ‘cause of Evie, she knows how to find the beauty in things.”

She smiled at the compliment, a wordless thank you exchanged between them.

“Good enough to win Ben back?” Jane winked.

“Why does everyone assume I want to be with him again?! That I want to be with a guy right now anyways?!” Mal snapped, causing the other girls to flinch, “The breakup was mutual. And besides, neither of us are a prize to be won!”

Jane put her hands up in surrender, “Sorry, it’s just… you two seemed so in love....”

“The whole reason we got together was a love potion Jane! We fought all of the time, we didn’t understand each other at all, no matter how hard we tried. Why do you Auradon kids always try to put me in this box and change who I am? That’s my decision-- none of you guys actually know me!”

Mal’s eyes began to turn luminescent green, her powerful magic building up as her anger did the same. Evie noticed her clenching and unclenching her tiny fists, trying not to explode in a rage.

“I think you guys should go,” Evie suggested, walking towards the door and opening it, “We’ll see you at the game tomorrow?”

Jane and Lonnie nodded quickly, apologizing as they rushed out.

Silence hung over the two girls as the dust settled and Mal attempted to calm down.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Evie didn’t specify whether ‘it’ was the freak out or their almost kiss, but either were okay with her.

A sigh came out of the lips Evie had been so close to touching, “No, I-- I just need sometime alone.”

Disappointed but not surprised, Evie picked up her clothes off of the bed, “Well, I’ll be in the bath and we can talk later if you’d like?”

Mal nodded timidly, “I need to go for a walk anyways.” With that she put on her slippers on and left the room.

Strange how you can be so passionate with someone for one moment and then be cold the next.

Evie pulled herself together and stripped off her clothes before drawing a bubble bath. Once it was done she lowered herself into the warm water, letting the calming scent of lavender fill her nose.

Why had she almost kissed Mal? Why did it feel so natural? The whole day she was trying to feel something for the countless princes on campus, but it was only when she was with one of the ladies of the court that her heart started to race.

It was impossible to deny now, Evie liked Mal as more than a friend, more than a sister. She wanted nothing more than to kiss all of the girl’s problems away, to melt under her touch.

But that was wrong. Evie was supposed to marry a nice prince and take over the Kingdom, fall in love and have a big wedding. Her mother didn’t want her to date someone who was supposed to be her enemy-- a competitor for power. If Mal even really wanted to be with her.

Salty tears mixed in with the bathwater, her body being shaken with sobs. She was broken.

Evie didn’t see Mal the next day until the tourney game, but the purple haired girl sent her a smile as she walking up the bleachers all the same.

The field was alive with excitement, the band was playing roaring upbeat music, and Jay was on the grass hyping his team up while going over their plays. She wanted to feel excited too, get swept up school pride, but the events of yesterday where weighing her down. Evidently, and unsurprisingly, Mal was pretending that nothing happened.

“Honestly, this game would be so much more interesting if they incorporated swords or spells,” Mal commented, popping some caramel apple popcorn in her mouth.

“Do you want Jay and Carlos to get hurt?”

Mal shrugged, “Builds character.”

The referee blew the whistle loudly, and the game was on, a blur of sweaty guys bumping into each other. And Evie felt no attraction.

Instead, she was focused on the girl beside her, the awkwardness between them. Would they ever talk about what happened? She can’t pretend like everything’s the same forever.

A mischievous smile spread across Mal’s face as Jay aggressively tackled one of the other players, and Evie’s stomach did somersaults.

The fondness did not last long however, as she grew more and more tired of actively not trying to break down in her seat. Evie made her way to the player’s bench, settling down in the spot next to Carlos.

“Still not playing?” Evie asked, offering him a piece of candy.

Carlos nodded, stuffing the chocolate into his mouth, “Yeah. I don’t really mind though, Jay’s kinda a madman today.”

As if on cue, Jafar’s son checked someone onto the ground, and the referee blew the whistle angrily.

“Is everything okay?”

“I dunno,” the freckled boy shrugged, “He was being super weird last night-- so was Mal.”

“Mal?” Evie’s curiosity was piqued.

“Mhm, she came over late last night, needing to talk to him. I didn’t hear any of it though, I figured I’d study in the library some instead… Is everything okay with her?”

“I-- it’s complicated. I don’t really know. Last night was… strange” Evie said lamely.

Carlos hummed in agreement, “I wanna be there for them, but it’s not like they're the only one’s going through some life altering crisis.”

He could’ve been talking about the transition from the Isle to Auradon, but Evie got the feeling it was something entirely different. That same one she picked up on the other night when the four of them were hanging out. Like Carlos was dealing with the same thing she was.

“Do you want to go on a walk together after the game?” she asked timidly, rubbing her hands together.

Carlos let out a sigh of relief, “Yes.”

After a successful game, albeit violent due to Jay’s state, the two met by the rose garden, which was relatively tranquil and abandoned. Most of the students were still on the field or heading to the dorms to celebrate.

“So, you said last night was strange?” Carlos asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets as they walked amongst the flowers.

Evie nodded, “Jane and Lonnie came over and… Mal kinda blew up about Ben.”

“Like regretting them splitting up?” he questioned, his tone dubious.

“No, that everyone keeps asking her if she does.”

After a moment Carlos spoke, “Did anything else happen?”

God, she hated how intuitive Carlos was, how he could easily tap into her emotions. The perks of being a boy genius she supposed.

“We had a moment. In a ‘we may or may not having been about to kiss before that whole thing happened’ kinda way," Evie rushed the words out, feeling like she was gonna throw up.

“Kiss? Do you like Mal that way?” he asked as he sat down on a stone bench.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how I’m feeling Carlos!” Evie sighed as she sat beside him, “It’s like, my whole entire life I’m told love is worthless unless I’m marrying a prince and getting a castle and… And now I feel like...”

“The one thing that made us normal, that seemed ‘good’, isn’t even a reality for us anymore,” he finished, his eyes downcast.

“So you’re… going through the same thing then?”

Carlos nodded, “I never really felt like I had the opportunity or reason to feel special or to love back on the Isle, but it’s different here. In Auradon they go on dates and kiss and comfort each other in tough times. And I guess when I started to imagine who I wanted to do that with, I kept thinking about Jay.”

“I think I just thought I liked boys because that’s what was expected of me. What I had to do to survive. God, we’re such messes,” Evie sighed.

“Maybe. Or maybe this is normal,” Carlos met eyes with her, “I’ve been doing some research. It’s what I do when I can’t understand something, find out everything I can about that subject. There’s this thing, it’s called being ‘gay’... When you only like the opposite gender. Lesbian, for girls specifically. But I um… I’m pretty sure I’m gay Evie.”

Evie smiled softly, “Me too C. Is it bad that I’m scared?”

“No, I am too. But we can get through this together.”

Carlos pulled her in for a tight hug, and they both began to tear up, a heavy weight lifted off of their shoulders.

“So, are you gonna go tell Mal?” he asked as they broke apart.

“I guess I should. I’m just worried she won’t feel the same way,” Evie admitted, playing nervously with the fabric on her skirt.

“E, please,” Carlos raised one of his bushy brows, “I’m pretty sure she’s been in love with you for a long time as well.”

Evie giggled, “And I’m pretty sure Jay feels the same.”

“Well, if this all goes horribly wrong the two of us can runaway and adopt new identities,” he half joked.

“Sounds very rational,” she nodded in agreement, “Tell me how it goes?”

“Of course.”

The two stood and hugged once again, before parting ways and heading off to do the scariest thing imaginable.

--------

“We need to talk.”

Mal looked up from her book, her eyebrow arching at Evie’s assertiveness. She kicked her feet off of the table before speaking, “About?”

“Can we not play coy for once Mal? This is serious,” Evie reprimanded.

“Okay, fine,” she was taken slightly aback, “I’m sorry for my outburst last night. I just hate that everyone assumes they know what I want.”

Evie moved closer, sitting on the table, “And what is it that you want?”

It was a loaded question, but they both understood the main implication behind it.

“I want you Evie, I’ve wanted to be with you since the Isle,” Mal confessed, moving to sit next to her, “But we weren’t even allowed to be friends, let alone girlfriends. Besides, all you do-- or did--- is obsess about boys and finding a prince. So, I thought Ben would be normal, safe. But all I could think about was you.”

Part of Evie wanted to kiss her senseless at the declaration, but the other became angry, “And now you’re just assuming you know what I want. Maybe I didn’t realize it until now but I feel the same way. I don’t want to marry the perfect prince-- that was all my mother. I want to be happy, and I’m happiest when I’m with you.”

For a moment, neither girl said or did anything, and Evie was seconds away from praying that she’d be struck by lightning.

“I know I usually just take what I want but… Can I kiss you?”

Evie smiled, joyful tears welling up in her eyes, “Yes.”

Mal’s warm hands cupped Evie’s face, stroking her blush covered cheeks, trying to take in every detail of her face, every crook and crevice. Her own hands rested on Mal’s thigh, as she studied the way the candlelight bounced off of her green eyes, the way her breathing caught and changed.

It seemed like centuries, but it was merely seconds before Mal leaned in and brushed her lips against Evie’s, and she was pretty sure she understood what magic felt like now. Somehow she was both in utter bliss and hyper aware, alive with passion.

Evie pulled her closer and closer, so that they were like two puzzle pieces locking into place. She could feel Mal’s heart race through her own chest, the way it matched up to her own. Mal kissed her again, more deeply and urgently, biting at her lower lip; and Evie found her hands tangling into the purple tresses as the nape of the girl’s neck. Giving an experimental tug, Mal let out a hum of amusement in her mouth, sending shivers down her spine.

Between labored breaths, Mal kissed her chastely before pulling apart and resting her own forehead on Evie’s.

“Well, I understand how true love's kiss can bring someone back to the dead,” Mal quipped, smiling against Evie’s lips.

Evie giggled, “I don’t know why I like you so much.”

“We can figure that out together,” she replied smoothly, “Although it might have to do with how beautiful and funny I am.”

“Somehow you’re being more vain than me.”

Mal tucked a blue curl behind her ear, “You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on Evie Grimhilde-- I don’t think you can even be vain.”

Evie grinned, kissing Mal once again before remembering her conversation with Carlos, “Oh no! I need to know if it went as well with Carlos and Jay.”

“Please, I’m sure it went fine,” Mal stood, reaching out a hand to help Evie up as well, “Besides, I just got you. I don’t feel like sharing for at least 24 hours,” she sent her a wink.

Evie blushed, flustered-- but ultimately happy. She could finally be who she truly was, and be with the person she wanted to be with most. Maybe it wasn’t what she had expected as a young girl, how she’d get to Auradon and be free. But being with Mal was so much better than anything she could’ve dreamed of.

#malvie #descendants #malvie fiv #descendants fic #jaylos #evie x carlos #my fic #gaysabrinaspellman #it's finally done yall!!!!

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stephicness · 7 years

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Send My Love to the Dancefloor! – Final Fantasy XV Ballroom Dancers AU

What do you mean that I wasn’t requested to do a Ballroom Dancer AU? PSSH. Imma post it anyways because we could all use an obligatory Ballroom Dancer AU! C:

Noctis Lucis Caelum

ROUTINE INSPIRATIONS::

Inspiration One

Inspiration Two

Inspiration Three

Perhaps the most basic of the other dancers, he only ever really wants to dance the waltz.

It’s a simplistic dance, with easy movements, and the others tend to make fun of Noctis for not wanting to do a more challenging type dance.

But he’s ultimately very good at it, knowing what to do to apply a nice flare to it with his dance partner.

He’s stronger than he looks, able to twirl his partner and at some points, even lift them up enough to spin them as they glide across the dancefloor together. He became quite skilled enough to do this, to where he can move over platforms and steps with his partner, which few have the grace and strength to do.

He’ll often be counting his steps out of sheer nervous habit as he practices with his partner, but when he’s out on the dancefloor, his anxieties melt away. He’s quite the natural in movement, almost like he becomes a whole new personality when he’s out there competing.

He dances mostly to fulfill his father’s legacy as a ballroom dancer, refining some of Regis’s skills and becoming quite a popular face among dancers alike. Young, handsome, and graceful – things he aspires to be, even though he already is.

Sometimes, however, Noctis is seen incorporating some hints of ballet into his routines with his partners – something he was roped into learning after Ignis encouraged him to. It pays out, but he regrets Prompto ever taking a picture of him in a leotard.

If his dance partner is his lover, he’s not above placing little kisses on their face during the performance, though it should be apart of the routine after the one time his partner froze up and blanked out after the kiss. Their competitive score suffered severely, despite it being cute for the audience to see.

His routines with his partner are often focused around the themes of blissful love, childhood romances, and family. Very sentimental themes. But with the right chemistry with his dance partner, Noctis feels like these themes would be perfectly portrayed, especially since he can relate to them well.

Prompto Argentum

ROUTINE INSPIRATIONS::

Inspiration One

Inspiration Two

Inspiration Three

Honestly, this boy doesn’t know how to make-up his mind, but it’s good too since he’s got a natural knack at dancing. He’s done all sorts of styles of dance, including one phase where he dabbled in interpretive dance, but he doesn’t like bringing it up that often.

He’s always lithe on his feet, liking to dance in more fast-paced styles of dance – especially if his partner can keep up with him and his energetic choreography. So, dances like the Jive or Swing are the kinds of dances he favors the most.

He’s not as traditional as other ballroom dancers are, and instead, he takes a liking to incorporating modern music into his dances to surprise everyone. He one time choreographed the Charleston with Uptown Funk as his song, which was the highlight of his career, he thinks.

Perhaps not strong enough to do some intense lifts and the like, but his quick steps and speed allow the momentum of him and his partner to really impress the audiences. It helps when the choreography requires him to swing his partner around, and apply more of a ‘wow’ factor into his performances.

He’s not a big fan of the super flashy costumes, at least when he’s dressing in them. His partner though? Wear that short dress or tight outfit that shows off those toned legs! He’ll admire them for a good ten minutes every time he sees the costume fittings because he feels lucky to have someone so skilled and beautiful as a dance partner.

Despite Prompto being a ballroom dancer, he also really enjoys street-styled dances with Gladio, taking the time to learn what the newest trend is and seeing if he can apply it. He and Gladiolus sometimes just leave to go to the park with some music as they just go dance together, seeing what people like and hearing them challenge the boys to do some crazy breakdance.

Or better too – he finds a combination of music and dance and meshes it together with his lively dance skills – pondering once about whether he could make the Gangnam Style into a fun Jive dance. It didn’t work with the judges when he and his partner took it to competition, but the ballroom dance fans loved it.

He loves his partner to death, and probably flirts with them a lot – regardless of if they’re in a relationship together or not. Anyone who can keep up with Prompto’s antics is a keeper – especially when they end up flirting back and causing Prompto to blush like a dummy.

He likes to have his routines stay whimsical and fun, always incorporating comedy into it if he can in silly boy-meets-girl/other boy scenarios. There’s always a small story with Prompto’s routines, and he used it to try getting younger audiences into ballroom dancing just like how he did.

Ignis Scientia

ROUTINE INSPIRATIONS::

Inspiration One

Inspiration Two

Inspiration Three

Perhaps the most experienced out of the younger ballroom dancers, he shows his skill when he performs. He’s precise in his steps, has this demeanor that ultimately captivates you. His presences on the dancefloor is one that many competitive dancers acknowledge and fear because he’s a force to be reckoned with in competition.

He’s a rather traditional guy when he dances, enjoying dancing in styles that require elegance and grace, almost systematic even. If he can come up with a map of how the dance is laid out, he probably will do it. Or at the very least, drill the dance until both he and his partner can dance in their sleep.

It might seem a bit boring to hear that Ignis dances things like the Viennese Waltz or the Foxtrot, but when people watch him and his partner perform, there’s a sense of sensuality to their dances. Yet at the same time, he’s modest and romantic.

Despite his very straight-forward and very precise performances, it’s the emotion that lingers underneath them that really blows fans away and captivates his dance partner. Ignis wouldn’t chose a partner that he didn’t have chemistry with -- regardless of how good they are. So the performance chemistry that he and his partner becomes a strength in their performances.

He mainly enjoys dancing various types of waltzes, however he was once an exceptionally talented dancer of the Tango. He sometimes goes back to his roots, though he tries his best to remain modest. Why he stopped dancing the Tango is a mystery everyone ponders on, because he used to be one of the fiercest Tango dance competitors out there. A time forgotten, it seems.

His routines with his partner are often set with musicals and opera, much to the dismay of people that want Ignis to show that he has some fun (AKA Noctis and the bros). But Ignis, nevertheless, continues to keep to his genre of music to dance to because there’s a lot more to his music choice than just the fact that it’s an old classic.

Because with his music choice, Ignis enjoys telling the stories that the operas tell. Most of them are tragedies, but they all share a common theme of romance and passion. Even if they sometimes have a tragic end. It requires research nevertheless, and he does enjoy researching things when he gets the chance to.

The choreography he does often reflects the passion and romance he may feel with his dance partner, should the two be lovers. Of course, not all the tragedy, but the idea of the desire and emotions behind it is what he really loves showing to others as they dance. Some dances get dark and intense though, so audiences often are concerned if he and his partner are fighting with one another. No. The story just requires Medea to kill the kids, that’s all.

Probably wouldn’t put it past him to know one dance that doesn’t take place in the ballroom. That dance is pole-dancing. It really shows when he knows how to lift his partner up with ease. But even if he gets bagged on for knowing it, working that pole really does have its benefits.

Gladiolus Amicitia

ROUTINE INSPIRATIONS::

Inspiration One

Inspiration Two

Inspiration Three

He didn’t really start out as a fan of ballroom dancing, mostly just being there for Noctis as support (and a babysitter – especially after the drunkard incident), but that was mostly because when he saw the others dance, their dances were all boring. No flare to it.

It wasn’t until he got to see the legendary Cor Leonis take the stage that he got fired up. Seeing the intense and fast steps, the way Cor and his partner lit up the dancefloor with such flare and sexiness – that was what inspired Gladiolus to try it out for himself.

So, he eventually began to emphasize dances with fast steps and high-energy, taking it to the extreme even more-so than Prompto. Because for Gladiolus, he likes the Latin American style of dances like the Cha-Cha and Samba. More playful and flashier, which he digs.

He really likes the idea of having a dance partner that’s wild and fun, which ultimately inspires Gladiolus to meet the same standards and energy as his partner. With how flirty and partner-oriented their routines and choreography is, Gladiolus makes it his goal to have a compatibility with his partner that would make even Ignis and his ‘emotional dancing’ weep.

After all, with how sensual and passionate his routines and choreography are, he must have that chemistry, otherwise the romance wouldn’t exist, he feels. Gotta make the fanservice for the ballroom dance fans possible, after all. Enough to make the judges feel a bit hot and bothered too as they watch Gladiolus and his partner dance together.

Despite him liking these super wild and fast-paced dances, he eventually begins to learn and adore being able to dance the very intense and bold styles like the Tango. It’s a whole different atmosphere than the cute and flirty things, with it being almost like sex and war on the dancefloor.

His favorite routine is probably a tango that he and his partner did that ultimately gave the comment from one of the judges: ‘I didn’t know if to look away because you guys were getting it on or keep watching and indulge in some voyeurism.’ Creepy kinda, but the thrill of drawing people in like that is why he loves dancing so much.

He likes it when his partner dresses up in super flashy and sexy outfits, but he himself doesn’t really do much on his attire. He’ll, of course, either have most (if not all) of his shirt undone and/or have his shirt off for a good majority of the performances. Something to make the fans swoon. And sometimes distract from the fact that Gladiolus missed a step. Oops.

His music selection would probably equate to something like hip hop or R&B, things that are contemporary but sexy at the same time. It throws back to the times when he first started dancing as a B-Boy with Prompto, which he gladly takes inspiration from and throws some old moves into his routines. Classy and fun. A good combination.

#stephic writings #headcanons #final fantasy xv #ffxv #noctis lucis caelum #prompto argentum #ignis scientia #gladiolus amicitia #noctis #prompto #ignis #gladiolus #ballroom dancer au #SELF-INDULGENT HEADCANONS!#because i've been watching too many of these dancing with the stars videos #oops

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normanisource · 7 years

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Spend a few minutes with Fifth Harmony, and it’s clear the group’s tighter than ever.

Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane, Ally Brooke and Lauren Jauregui have such electric chemistry, we literally had to cut out all the [laughs] from our interview because there were too many. The girls were cracking each other up throughout the whole thing.

And all those good vibes are sure to come through in their new music. Coming off of last summer’s “Work From Home,” 5H have proven themselves as hitmakers and are now taking more creative control of their sound. The group’s moving full speed ahead after Camila Cabello, one of its original members, bounced in late 2016.

Their next music will have “some R&B tones,” Dinah told us, and will hit on each of the girls’ favorite genres, with overtones of girl power and female empowerment throughout.

Read on for our interview with the group — plus their first cover as a foursome!

When did you guys realize you were friends in addition to bandmates?

Everyone: Awww that’s so cute!

Normani: We were on X Factor. We actually ran into each other before we were put into a group. I remember seeing Ally at my first audition, was it in Austin?

Ally: Austin, Texas!

Normani: Basically, my family… we had a rivalry. It was like, battle of the posters. My family was screaming, “Normani Normani Normani!” And Ally’s family had T-shirts… you guys roll deep.

Ally: They went all out!

Normani: I wouldn’t say it was necessarily a challenge to connect with one other because we were around the same age. I remember me and Dinah vibed heavily.

Dinah: Heavily! Like, we were low key starting to sleep over in each other’s hotel rooms.

Normani: I know! I borrowed your clothes!

Dinah: You did. We were that close. It was like that insane chemistry once you meet somebody. The connection was so crazy, we clicked instantly.

Normani: and I just feel like with everything we’ve been through together – even things that only we know about. Obviously we have each other to lean on. I think those moments make us even closer.

READ ALSO: Copy Fifth Harmony’s Style on Your Next Girls’ Night Out

How does each girl strengthen the group as a whole?

Ally: Well, Dinah, I admire your fun and playful self. I love how you always come in with music. You bring the life to the party and the energy to the room. That really helps, especially if we have a long day ahead or something, it’s really cool to see that. You’re always there pumping up the party and laughing. It just makes being here so much easier. It makes the environment so much healthier when it’s fun. I really admire that about you.

Dinah: Thanks Ally. You are super sweet! Ally… she’s like a little goofball too. It’s nice to know that there’s someone that carries the same energy. You’re always so playful. There’s times where she can be kind of like the “mom”. We’ve been calling Ally the “mother” of the group at times because she has that vibe where she cares so much and she’s on it with time. There are times where I fall short with getting to the lobby. She’s texting us saying, “We gotta get there, we gotta get there!” Just the push she brings into this group helps. Because there are times where you do fall short, and to have somebody to pick up your slack helps. You put us to work!

Normani: Well I was gonna compliment you (Dinah) but Ally did such a good job!

Dinah: You’re fake! [laughs]

Ally: I was going in order!

Normani: I feel like Lauren almost has this gift of making people feel safe through anything it is that we’re going through.

Dinah: It’s so true.

Normani: A lot of the time people almost forget that we’re human. We have things that go on with family and insecurities that we feel within ourselves. She [Lauren] has this way of making me feel comfortable and confident in myself and I feel like I can really talk to her through absolutely anything. There are conversations I can have with her that I feel like I wouldn’t have with anyone else. And I feel like we all play such a heavy role with each other but, there are just certain things that I can go to her for.

Lauren: The thing is, is that everyone brings so many different kinds of things to the table. Normani is such a hard worker, and she’s so disciplined…

Ally: Yes, Mani!

Dinah: So true.

Lauren: … and constantly putting in effort and making sure that she’s bettering herself and being the best version of herself she can be, and that for me is very inspiring because I’m the opposite [laughs]. I’m just kidding. But she definitely makes me feel like I can accomplish more if I can keep doing what I’m doing, and challenges me to want to be at her level.

Dinah: Spot on.

Who’s the best at IG? Shots fired.

Dinah: I was on a roll for a second.

Ally: Honestly, my game is getting up so…

Lauren: I’ve been on my A-game right now, I’m sorry.

Dinah: I was just stalking Mani last night.

Normani: I know I have a personal photographer.

Lauren: I think I’m just gonna push 20 bucks at her to take a photo of me today.

Normani: I feel like you can really get a sense of who we are as people because we’re so different.

Dinah: So different! Day and night.

Are guys scared to approach you now that you’re famous?

Lauren: Not the right guys.

Dinah: It’s funny because you kinda think it’s the right guy but it’s not.

Lauren: They’re either super not the right guy, or dope as fuck. There’s no in between.They’re either trying to get something out of you, or they think you’re super dope.

Dinah: There was this one guy who thought I was very intimidating because of who we are. My thing is when I come across somebody, when I think they’re super cute or handsome, I can’t play along with that because sometimes they take it as something like, “She wants me.” And it’s happened to me many times. When you’re trying to be kind to somebody and they take it as “dang, Dinah Jane likes me.” And I’m like “No, I just want to be your friend… like, why do you have to take it like that?”

Normani: For me, it’s kind of the opposite, cause I feel like in a way I can be so intimidating with me not even knowing it, and then the guy doesn’t call you and you’re like, “I’m cute! Come to me. Come here.” And then it’s like, “is there something wrong with me?”

Dinah: It’s hard. So all we want is a confident dude to come straight up…maybe. Just walk up and say, “Hey, what’s up?” And start from there.

What’s one question that you are often asked that you think a guy group would never be asked?

Normani: For instance, when “Work From Home” came out, we were asked a few times, “do you think you guys were dressed too sexy?”

Lauren: I’m pretty sure men are never questioned whether they’re acting too sexy. They’re actually glorified when all their clothes are off. Women love that shit, they’re like, “Yeahhh! You’re so hot!” But when girls take our clothes off, it’s, “Wow, she’s such a hoe.”

Normani: That’s happened to us throughout our whole career. When it came to performances, people would judge us on our performance outfits. They would say things like, “look at the hoe squad”. There were all these memes.

Lauren: And it’s normally girls! Regularly girls.

What’s the best part about having a built-in squad to roll with?

Ally: It’s really great because the four of us are really in sync with each other. We’re pretty open about most things. We try to respect each other as much as we can. For us, communication is really important. Also we enjoy a lot of the same things as each other! Like going to get frozen yogurt, or go to the movies, or talk about boys, exchange music, have fun at the red carpet and encourage each other with, “hey you look beautiful!”

Normani: We compliment each other a lot.

Lauren: It’s so important. I feel like especially being around other girls, it’s really easy to start picking yourself apart and being like, “Wow, she looks better than me” or, “My hair doesn’t look as good as hers.” It’s like, wait. [Why not just say], “You look dope, you look hot, I love your outfit.” Giving each other that energy changes the whole vibe of whatever we’re doing. If it’s a carpet or a shoot, you can feel in the pictures that we were all complimenting each other and we all felt good.

Ally: We truly live by female empowerment. Literally every day we try our best to do that.

Are you guys inspired by iconic girl groups like Spice Girls, the Supremes, TLC?

Normani: Absolutely. I know we’ve all grown up listening to Destiny’s Child, Spice Girls, TLC, Pussycat Dolls even. “Buttons” is my song. Danity Kane.

Dinah: Ooh, Xscape! I love them so much.

Normani: And it’s important to have strong individuals to paint the way for us. Without them doing what they did for music, and being our introduction, we probably wouldn’t even be!

Do you hope to leave a legacy like them one day?

Normani: Most definitely.

Lauren: I think we low key have. We’ve made an impressionable mark as far as girl groups go in the industry. I’m proud of us.

Ally: It’s cool because they inspired our looks for the shoot. We did a 90s throwback vibe and we channeled their wardrobe and hairstyles. It was super fun. They really do shape us.

Dinah: I think musically they inspire us but also on a human level. I think when you’re in a group, people expect you to all be the same. Just looking around at each other, it has helped me discover that we’re all uniquely different from each other for a good reason, because there would be no growth for me. As I’m learning about each other girl, it’s helping me learn about myself. We all have our weaknesses, we all have our strengths, but together we all make it up.

Which of you has the most out-there personal style?

Ally: I like sometimes to dress crazy…well I don’t think it’s crazy [laughs]. I like to have more fun with my fashion. Obviously if everyone is wearing more “chill chic” outfits then I’ll have to go in that lane, but…

Lauren: You love being extra.

Ally: Not extra, but I love to play! I don’t like feeling plain, I like a little sugar on top.

With so many pics of you in the spotlight, how do you keep a healthy mindset?

Normani: I feel like in a way you’re forced to, just because there’s always gonna be bad photos of you.

Lauren: Yep, you’re forced to, but you never get over people taking bad pictures of you from disgusting angles! I’ll never get over it. I get so angry every time I go on the Internet, I’m like, “Why! You know I look bad here! Why did you post it!?” I hate it.

Dinah: Sometimes they know we don’t look cute, they do it just to show, “look at this unflattering photo…”

Ally: One time I literally looked like an egg. And I had to choose to laugh about it. Sometimes you obviously freak out, but it’s out there. You cry and then you laugh.

Lauren: You cry and then you laugh again.

#normani kordei #normani hamilton #fifth harmony #5h #article #interview #all #2017 #galore magazine #dinah jane #lauren jauregui #ally brooke

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minthepin · 7 years

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7 days or 150,000 steps. Your choice…

Highlights

By far my favorite thing here was eating at Zellers Bistro. I may or may not have cried at the dinner table. I now realize that I will never amount to that level of happiness again so I can die. Dad said they are ranked in the top 10 restaurants in Budapest. They greeted you with some elderflower champagne (made in house) and said goodbye with some miniature cupcakes. The whole atmosphere was so sweet, like some basement/wine storage place that was last minute turned into a wonderful little restaurant. I had the Hungarian gray beef steak with jacket potato and green peas, and dad had the Cod with black risotto. Needless to say, the steak was better. It just melted in your mouth as tears of joy came running down my face.

The restaurant

Cod and black risotto

This dude keeps following me

Beef and peas, and some of my tears

Carrot cake

Margaret Island comes in close second. I don’t know whether it was just because I was tired of being around people, or whether it was the natural (although hella manicured) quality of the island. But it was just a relaxing day. I followed some self-guided walking tour of the island – there were some Roman ruins, an old convent (for Princess Margaret – her father said if he won the war he would give her to God, so she became a nun at the ripe old age of 9), the Grand Hotel Margitsziget (it used to be the most fashionable hotel in all of Budapest, simply known as “the Grand,” but after WW2 the hotel was modernized), a cute little rose garden and finally, a Japanese garden (waterfalls, streams, bridges and all). The only disappointment was that there was suppose to be a musical fountain, playing old Hungarian tunes, but for some reason, there was neither a fountain nor music. Maybe I liked it so much because it was away from all the traffic and tourists, or maybe it was because I didn’t have to have the stress of trying to keep up with a tour group that I would eventually lose.

Roman ruins

Rose Garden

Water Tour

Princess Margret

The Convent

The Grand Hotel

Japanese Garden

The neither Musical nor Fountain

Japanese Garden

And for my final highlight, it must have been the Opera. Surprising, I know. But actually, they are low key known for their amazing performances. We went to the Hungarian National Opera theater to see “Marios and the Magician” and “Bluebeards Castle,” both written by Hungarian composers. So, although they were in Hungarian and I understood nothing, they had surtitles translating in English. Unfortunately, the theater will be closed down for the next five years for renovation. The singers were so powerful, and the music was just amazing. I have never experienced something so dramatic in person.

The theater, we were on the third floor so a few people got nose bleeds.

It me

The outside of the theater

Daily Activities

Seeing as that was nearly a day worth of activities I figured I should give a slightly more detailed description of my time here (but not too much because this post is already long, so more so pictures than anything).

Day 1

I got in around noon and slept most of the day. Dad and I went out for a sunset walk to see the Parliament, Chain Bridge, and some other things in the nearby vicinity. He works at the Ministry of Agriculture, so he wanted to show me that as well. We then ate a cherry-poppyseed strudel (they are in love with poppyseed things, and strudels so I’m here for it).

The fat policeman statue – rubbing his belly brings you luck

Cherry and Poppyseed Strudel

Imre Nagy Statue, the bridge is made out of Soviet tank pieces (parliament in the back)

The Parliament

View from the Chain Bridge

Day 2

I wanted to get some hardcore tourist shit in still, but dad not so much. We compromised and went on a free alternative walking tour. It was quite interesting – there is a competition every year to design murals on blank walls, it is meant to make the city more beautiful. One of my favorites was the Rubix cube, up close it’s just a bunch of dots, but further away it becomes a cube! The guy who invented it is Hungarian (a lot of things are actually Hungarian – with Greek inspiration of course). There is a quote next to the cube that says, “There is more than one way to solve a problem.” Which is think is super applicable to everyone’s life and honestly, that is a really good thing to keep in mind when doing anything. I was talking to Joe a few weeks ago and something he emphasized in his personal belief is just perspective. Everything needs to get put into perspective in order to try to understand it – maybe it is a person, or a problem, anything really. I just felt like those two went hand in hand and I truly appreciate the beauty of both statements. We saw a lot more street art (attached below I’ll explain it for you, although mom you can just call and I’ll tell you. I know it’s just you reading it…).

Rubix Cube, the quote is “Mindig van megoldás és nem is csak egy!”

This was a Spanish painter, and the man depicted help save a lot of Jewish people during the War. Unfortunately, I cant remember his name.

This was a cute little sticker that is all over Budapest

This is a depiction of Buda and Pest (two separate cities, but they come together because of love). It tries to switch up the stereotypes of both sides of the city.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The theme for this was “all things Hungarian,” Poseidon one has a bunch of little features (like the train), and the girl is suppose to be a classical Hungarian girl.

It’s me and dad trying to take a selfie in front of a fish!

Day 3

Today was Pentecostal, so more or less everything was closed. Since it is a Christian holiday, I decided to do the Jewish legacy walking tour. We walked all over the Jewish Ghetto and there were three Synagogues we saw – the Great, the Modern, and the Orthodox. All of which were beautiful, but none really resembled a traditional Synagogue. The Great Synagogue – biggest on continental Europe (I think) – had a weeping willow tree made out of silver. Each leaf had a name on it. Around it were rocks everywhere, this is how Jewish people signify their love at burials – the rocks last forever to signify that they will not be forgotten. It was so touching and sad, Hungarians have such a rich history with the Jewish folk during WW2. Of about 700,000 before the war there were only 60,000 left when it ended. We saw the mass burial ground and heard about the Shoe Memorial by the Danube (see Day 4). There were some positives though, there was a statue of Raul Wallenberg and Carl Lutz. Both of them played a major role in saving thousands and thousands of Jewish people during the war in Hungary. If you’re reading this, you honestly should take 10 minutes out of your day and read about Hungarian history and World War 2. Currently, the government is trying to deny all responsibilities. They are blaming the Germans for actions the Hungarians took. Of course, there was an influence, but the Hungarians went above and beyond to destroy a culture and a people. The government even built a fountain (Day 4) trying to avoid all blame. Total and complete bullshit.

Raul Wallenberg Memorial

Synagogue – Modern

Synagogue door – it is under reconstruction

Carl Lutz Memorial

I think this is super applicable to a bunch of incredible people I know

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Weeping Willow Tree

Memorable Jewish people

The Great Synagogue

Day 4

Seeing as losing my tour group yesterday was traumatic, I decided to try again. I went on a “Red” tour – i.e. communism. And although it was super interesting and good, I think jet lag was catching up with me making me super out of it (also see Day 5….). First off, I woke up to an e-mail saying I was Unconditionally Accepted to my Master’s program (WOO!). But then I went to lunch at dads work and got an amazing view of the Parliament. The tour was good, I saw the interactive fountain/blame it on the Germans fountain, but I just wasn’t all that into it. So I kinda “lost” them and went to do my own thing. I saw the Shoe Memorial on the Danube and just wandered around Budapest.

The Parliament from the Ministry of Agriculture

The “its the German’s fault” fountain

The Parliament from the back.

Shoe Memorial

The Chain Bridge

View from the Chain Bridge

Chain Bridge

Sticker on the bridge

Day 5

The food was too good the night before, so I’m pretty sure my body needed to calm down a little. Went for a short walk but nothing too extraordinary.

Day 6

Ya girl finally did the whole city tour – I got over to the Buda side! We saw St. Stephens Basilica, the first metro station in continental Europe, the little princess (I took the same pic 4 years later, see my insta min.mosa), the Palace, St. Matthias Church, fisherman’s bastion, and then got lost trying to get back. Those places are really beautiful, but I think you can just see it and be done. I’m not sure I have much to say about these places, overall beautiful but I think it is super touristy. AND in Budapest it is very traditional to go to Baths – water helps cure everything right? So, we went to St. Lucas Baths, which were really kinda small. It isn’t the touristy place (Szechenyi Baths, which I was at 4 years ago), but instead one where locals go. I was a little iffy on this idea because bath with your father doesn’t sound too good…. But It was just a warm swimming pool with a jacuzzi and a swirling current. It was fun to go to, but I wasn’t the biggest fan. My life would have been the same without it. If you ever make it over here, it is definitely something you have to do, just to cross it off your bucket list (which by the way, I have been hungry in Hungary, so #winning).

First metro station

The little princess and I

Views from the Chain Bridge

St. Matthias Church

The Fisherman’s Bastion

Views from the Fisherman’s Bastion

Me getting lost

Still lost, but found a cool window

St. Lucas Baths

Selfie at the Baths, ft. my new camera (thanks dad!)

Parliament at sunset

Day 7

Margret Island, and just putzing around, later we did the Opera!

Onwards…

I really enjoyed my time here, and would recommend it! I think it has a lot of history, beautiful art, and some really neat people. Overall, I can see why people call it the “Paris of Eastern Europe.” I don’t think I would go that far since 98% of the time it smells like pee, but I would say it is really pretty.

On my last day before being in transit to Jordan, I think we are just gonna hang out and maybe take some pictures. If you get a chance, you should come here. Maybe don’t spend a whole week (or maybe do since beer is only a euro…), but if you do be sure to check out some of their wonderful history and culture.

This place really makes you understand your good fortune. At least mine. I really have had a lot of time to think (both because tour groups get lost, and because I sit a lot on my own). I can’t believe how lucky I have been these past four years. Yeah, a lot of shit happened, but honestly, overall, I don’t know if I would have become the person I am today without it. I grew up, I am able to reflect on things, and most importantly I like who I am. If that isn’t something to be celebrated, I am not sure what is.

The first time I was here, I was on my way to becoming a freshman, getting my BS in something, and now I am on my way towards getting my MS in international development. I never thought my college experience would have turned out this way, nor that I would have ended up in a field like this, but holy shit am I lucky. I am so lucky to be pursuing a career that I think I’ll love, I am lucky to have known some amazing people, and I am so lucky to have love, support and good fill every corner of my life. Even if I can’t do that for myself, I know I’ll have someone else who can get a flashlight and blind me with light. So thank you to everyone who has contributed to my last four years, good or bad. You have made me better, stronger and wiser.

7 Days in Budapest 7 days or 150,000 steps. Your choice... Highlights By far my favorite thing here was eating at…

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biofunmy · 5 years

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Souvenirs From Europe You Can’t Sneak Through Customs

Consider some of the goodies an American visitor to Europe can bring home: rare cognac and (certain) cheese from France, fresh cream truffles from Switzerland, a hard-to-find Irish whiskey from Dublin, a one-off Yves Saint Laurent gown from Paris.

But what about that super-sleek Peugeot or super-cool SEAT you glimpsed on the Côte d’Azur?

Uh-uh.

Just like the prosciutto and tomatoes you savored in Rome, those cars, and many more like them, are forbidden fruit (as is most fruit) when it comes to importing European delights into the United States.

The reasons are complicated, and most have to do with a tangle of federal, state and local laws and regulations. Almost all newer cars available for sale in Europe not built for export to America do not comply with a long list of safety and emission standards. Some have different bumpers, different lighting and even different brakes and brake lines that don’t meet American specifications. And those are just a few examples of noncompliance.

Short of exporting yourself overseas to enjoy a Mercedes-Benz or a Jaguar with a stick shift or a Skoda wagon from the Czech Republic, there are exceptions: Some models older than 25 years, with their original engines, may be allowed in. Of course, buyers must pay for shipping, as in by ship.

Enthusiasts who scour the internet might find a car overseas that had been built to conform to United States regulations, but the choices will most likely be limited. And if you’re considering one of the European delivery programs offered by some carmakers, be aware that those vehicles are basically no different from the models those brands sell in the States; the main benefit is that vacationers can arrange to drive their new vehicles for a set period in Europe before it is sent home, and save on the high cost of a rental car overseas.

For people determined to take a shot at importing a car, a comprehensive guide is published by the Customs and Border Protection agency.

And if you fall in love with those Audi Avants you can no longer buy in America, don’t take it personally. “From a business point of view, the U.S. market simply does not support bringing them here,” said Mark Dahncke, a spokesman for Audi of America. “We do continually evaluate our product portfolio to see whether it makes sense to bring them back. We’ll keep trying.”

Meanwhile, we can always dream. What follows, in no particular order, are some new vehicles from Over There that aren’t currently available Over Here. While others may seek out the best fondue, consider an automotive daydream. And there’s always the rental option.

Volkswagen Up GTI. For those who get a jolt out of the Smart car, this baby is as cute, and as a bonus, it’s fun, fun, fun. One British car authority described it as “a Top Gear award-winner, and all-round tremendous thing.” Top speed is about 120 m.p.h., and its zero-to-60 time is just under nine seconds, but, in Mazda Miata-speak, the joy is in the getting there. The ride is fairly firm — such is the price of a 95-inch wheelbase — but motorway jaunts are delightful, tight parking spots beckon, and everybody (almost) gives the Up a smile.

Audi RS4 Avant. Avants are Audi-speak for wagons, and wagons are pretty much verboten in the States, where the S.U.V. rules. But to Europeans, wagons make sense, and this powerhouse with its twin-turbo V6 motor, developed in partnership with Porsche, is near the cream of the crop. Quattro all-wheel drive is baked into the RS4. If you think wagons aren’t sexy, this one’s an eye-opener.

Subaru Levorg. Almost the whole world gets this wagon-esque model, essentially a version of the WRX sedan that is sold in the States. In typical Subaru fashion, the Levorg isn’t quite sleek (a popular joke not long ago was that Subaru designers worked out of a dungeon), but it is a powerful hauler, especially attractive now that the company no longer offers the practical hatchback WRX in the United States. All-wheel drive is standard, and some Levorgs can churn out 300 horsepower. The name, by the by, stands for “LEgacy eVOlution touRinG.” Of course.

Alfa Romeo Giulia, manual transmission. We know the stick shift is a dying breed in the United States, and it’s clear that take rates on sticks are dropping in Europe as well. But there remain a few examples available overseas — from Jaguar, Mercedes and BMW, among others. We’d choose the Alfa Giulia with its six-speed manual. Time was when the Italians said they’d offer such a gearbox in America, but for now the only choice is an automatic.

Renault Mégane RS. Among heroic European hot hatches, the Mégane is an evergreen, its history dating back more than two decades. Available as either a petrol or diesel (this is Europe, remember), the Mégane has a design similar to the Mazda3. Still, the car’s French character shines though: It’s responsive, lightweight and proudly Gallic. Designers of French cars historically sacrifice handling prowess for creature comfort, but not here, so the Mégane arrives as a cruiser extraordinaire when you bomb down the autoroute.

Citroën C3. While we’re speaking French, sort of, consider the Citroën C3, which emphasizes form over function by taking a page from the customization book popularized in the past decade by Mini. For our money, this four-door hatch is adorable, with its soft curves and purposeful stance. The contrasting roof seems to almost float, and then there’s “Airbump,” a panel of thermoplastic molding, air-filled bumps that line the lower part of the doors to deflect scratches and dents in those nasty Parisian parking lots. It’s rumored that France’s PSA Group, which also makes Peugeot, is plotting to re-enter the United States market (the last Peugeot left an American dealership in 1991). Fingers crossed.

VW T-Roc R. I fell in love with the T-Roc when I first saw it, in blazing tangerine paint, at the Frankfurt motor show a couple of years ago. Sitting on a show floor overloaded with bulbous crossovers and S.U.V.s, the T-Roc (terrible name) was special. Now comes the high-performance R version: 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, slightly more than what the Golf R hatch makes in the United States. A seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is standard, as is all-wheel drive. Bet five bucks the T-Roc will never be photographed under the Brooklyn Bridge, although VW says it will introduce a subcompact crossover, slotted below the Tiguan, in America in 2020.

Lotus Elise. A British sports car? There has to be one on this list. While some models from this classic British brand are available in the United States, including the Evora, the hyper-lightweight Elise has been off limits for us for several years because it doesn’t comply with airbag rules, among other safety standards. But you can at least look at one and, if you’re lucky, drive one through the South Downs or Scottish Highlands. Yellow is the preferred color.

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willow-and-walker-blog · 7 years

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ALL STARS 3 WISHLIST

REMEMBER THIS IS JUST AN OPINION AND NONE OF THIS IS SET IN STONE Acid Betty: A queen of immense talent, potential, and wit! She serves some AMAZING looks on the runway and only gets better with age. She is a queen that was taken too soon in my opinion. Plus, we all want to see a Trixie/Betty storyline. Akashia: A weird choice for All-Stars but I have been keeping up with Akashia throughout the years since the first season, and she is fierce! She deserves a chance at redemption. Her drag has changed so much (I mean, come on, it's almost been 10 years). Alisa Summers: Another weird choice that many might not remember, but she has a similar case to Akashia's. Her drag has evolved and she is stunning. Not to mention an amazing performer. It would be brilliant to see her back. BenDeLaCreme: I think its unanimous that we all would like to see Ben back. Season 6 Miss Congeniality, and well deserved, she is another queen who went home too soon. Even though there are rumors of her saying no to the show, there are also rumors of her being gone for casting. Only time will tell. Chi Chi DeVayne: She won our hearts on season 8. And she can PERFORM! Her look has evolved and she is a girl who shows how far you can go if you just be yourself, which is a tough skill to master. She would be tough competition. Farrah Moan: Farrah is SO sweet. She added a light-heartedness to season 9. I think that if she came back, knowing what she knows now, she has the chance to go very far! She is so lovable and polished. Definitely deserves a spot on this list. India Ferrah: This queen definitely took her spotlight on Drag Race, and ran with it! She is doing wonderful things. Her look is amazing and her performance is jawdropping. Did you see her perform at the season 9 reunion?! Not only was it fantastic but it boosted her image in the public's eye. Fierce competition for sure. Jasmine Masters: Personally, I LOVE Jasmine. She is so fucking funny. She was perceived as kind of bitchy on her season, but she just kept it real. She has a very good relationship with the girls now and would definitely be a strong competitor second time around. Would love to see her again. Kennedy Davenport: Moving on to Jasmine's best friend, Kennedy! We have all seen how funny, polished, talented, etc. Kennedy is. The top 4 of season 7 was so tight, someone had to go. Unfortunately, it was Kennedy. But I think we will get our Kennedy redemption moment and no one will be ready for it. Kim Chi: No words for this beauty. How could you not want to see her on All Stars? Her look is unlike anything we have ever seen before. She is funny, ditzy, and so sweet. Her vulnerability is so cute and she can go super far. Kimora Blac: She may not know what an adjective is, but she sure can serve a look! She is so sexy, polished, and sweet. She is smart in her own way and could bring lots of opportunity to the show. Laila McQueen: Talk about someone who went home too soon. What she does now is so far from what her airtime represented on the show. Her mug is BEAT and she is so effortlessly funny. I think this time around, if she stays true to herself, she could take it all the way. Lashauwn Beyond: Someone I stanned from the first time I saw her. Lashauwn is a brilliant seamstress. If you follow her social media, it shows. I personally hate the term "robbed", but I can't think of another term to describe it. It's far out there but I hope to see her again. Lineysha Sparx: This girl is a talent that I think has kind of been forgotten by the fandom. She is SO gorgeous. Why wasn't she on All Stars 2? I will never know. But she sure is up there on my list for this next All Stars. Magnolia Crawford: VERY unpopular opinion, but hear me out. She was beaten down by the community, so much that it forced her to quit drag. But when you do some research, you will find that she is super funny and lovable. Almost similar to Jinkx Monsoon (my favorite queen of all time). If she gets back into it, I would love to see what she would do differently this time around. Max: Our (almost) British Dame. A queen that is different from anyone we have seen thus far. She brought something vintage and refreshing to the show, and just keeps getting better. I know I am not alone when I say... Max for All Stars! Milk: Talk about a front runner. She is, again, something that we have only seen once before. She is kind, funny, creative, kooky... the list goes on and on. It is quite possible that she is a lock-in for All Stars 3. Miss Fame: Very shocked to not see this one go all the way! I know how many people were disappointed when we saw her Sashay Away. She is an artist like no other when she picks up that brush. Fame is definitely a worthy contender. Mrs. Kasha Davis: It's always time for Kasha Davis! She may be campy, she may be pretty, and she may be on All Stars 3! I can't even begin to imagine what stops she would pull out this time around. Mystique Summers Madison: Child, let me tell you. Mystique has evolved and is not playing around this time. She turned into such a seasoned queen who could offer so much talent and beauty. I know how unlikely it is but it would be amazing to have her on the show again. Naomi Smalls: I don't think that I have ever seen Naomi Smalls look bad. Her legs are CRAZY long and her look is unreal. She made it to top 2 for a reason. Maybe she will take it all this time. Naysha Lopez: I wasn't sure about this queen at first, but after the show she flourished. Her sense of humor is so down to earth and funny. And she doesn't have to try so hard. Not to mention how gorgeous she is! Nina Bo'Nina Brown: Nina's struggles on her season were so unfortunate, because I was #TeamNina! Her look is something that we have never seen EVER on any queen, whether is be on Drag Race or out of it. Such a misunderstood talent. I know that she doesn't want to do All Stars, but you never know if a queen would change her mind! Ongina: She is one that has been talked about a lot. I think she has a good chance of going far! Sometimes I forget that Ongina is even real because of how cute she is! Her claws are out and she is ready to fight! Pearl: Her look on the show was stunning, and her look after the show is even better! There was some feud with her and Ru on the show. But it's past them now. She could be a possible contender, and boy, would she do great things. One can only hope. Penny Tration: I know that many of you are probably saying, "who?" But trust me on this one. Penny is so funny and her look (in my personal opinion) is so fun! She represents a very classic style of drag that I feel is missing from these past couple seasons. Would love to see what she brings. Stacy Layne Matthews: My personal favorite from season 3. I love Miss Stacy so much, I couldn't put it into words. But I will try. She is so charismatic, talented, beautiful, funny, etc. Why wouldnt you want her on the show? Could a big girl finally take the crown? Tempest DuJour: It doesn't matter how old she is, she is smart! Her style of drag is something I admire so much. She is so lovely and admirable. Please RuPaul! Give me some Tempest! Thorgy Thor: Talk about kooky! That's Thorgy. She was a front runner for me on season 8. I thought she would go farther. Unfortunately, her time was cut short. But I can tell that she and I are both ready for Thorgy part 2. Trinity K. Bonet: There is no doubt in my mind that she wants to come back for an All Stars season. I mean, she tags all her pictures with #TKB4AS3! Her look is so beautiful, and she has grown in a way that not everyone can understand. Love her and hope she comes back again. Trixie Mattel: This is just a given. We all pretty much know that she's on the show. But she deserves it. She has worked so hard. She is maybe the funniest person I have ever seen and her look just keeps getting better and better. If the rumors are true, Trixie may be the one to take it all. Victoria "Porkchop" Parker: If we are on the topic of queens who deserve redemption, lets talk about Porkchop! For being the first queen EVER eliminated, she has left her legacy and her mark on this show. Ru loves her, we love her. This is the time for her to come back. Come one Ru! Vivacious: One of my picks for top 3 on season 6. She definitely went too soon. She is one of the few, true club kids around. She keeps it real and authentic. She brings something new every time. I need some more Vivacious! Willam: Last, but not least... Willam! I think we all need someone to stir the pot, and that would be Willam. Even though WoW hates him, I think he still has a big chance of coming back. I hope and I pray. Who would you like to see come back for AS3?

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