#and I honestly think it should be read in schools or at least snippets of it should be what all this insanity is built upon

[riddlerosehearts]

got myself thinking about my own personal experiences with frozen, and why the first movie means enough to me to be my favorite of all time, and thought i might as well just go ahead and post about it in case there's anyone who wants to read it. although i'm not great with words, so this post will probably be too long and feel too silly and over the top, and i should also warn that this is a lot of very personal information, but:

i saw frozen in theaters on its opening weekend in 2013. i hadn't listened to any of the songs in advance at all--i've avoided listening to the soundtracks for new disney movies prior to seeing them in theaters ever since i saw princess and the frog in 2009, because i feel like i enjoy my first experience with the movie and the music more that way. although i may have already overheard snippets of let it go back then just because it was so popular. i honestly don't remember too clearly because my strongest memory by far of hearing let it go for the first time is being absolutely blown away by it in the theater.

so. i've had depression and social anxiety since i was a kid, and, although i didn't know this until several years after frozen was released, i'm autistic as well. so dealing with all of these things at once, combined with the fact that i had no idea i was autistic, made me think i just couldn't ever fit in with anyone because i was weird and there was something wrong with me. for most of my life i never had any friends and i thought i had to hide from people as much as possible. which i do think is at least a little justified by the fact that the whole time i was in school from fifth grade through tenth grade--after tenth grade my parents finally pulled me out of public school and i was homeschooled, something i'd honesty been begging them to do--i was bullied and betrayed by friends in various ways because i was weird and didn't fit in. i won't go into details, but the fact that i knew while still in public school that i was bisexual also played into this.

so seeing elsa's parents hide her from the world because she had something that made her different from others, seeing her be taught to "conceal, don't feel" and called a monster, just hit me very hard when i first saw the movie. i interpreted her as having developed depression and anxiety like i did (and now, ever since 2016 when i discovered that i was autistic, i've also liked to headcanon her as such) and just felt so incredibly happy to see her proudly proclaim that she wasn't going to hold back and hide who she was anymore, letting herself freely use her powers, and decide that even if she had to be alone, at least she was free.

and then, seeing how anna fought so hard to get elsa to come home and make sure she knew that she didn't have to be alone and that she wasn't unloved, and seeing the people of arendelle accept her wholeheartedly as she created an ice skating rink at the end, gave me so much hope for myself. as did reading the "sisterhood is the strongest magic" books and other things like the various frozen comics, and watching frozen fever and olaf's frozen adventure, and seeing that elsa truly was accepted by her people, that she was capable and loved as queen and had a home, that anna and kristoff and all the people of arendelle appreciated her as she was, would be there when she felt anxious or needed a shoulder to cry on, and didn't at all believe that her powers made her weird and out of place with them. all of this just gave me so, so much comfort throughout the years and still does all of this time later.

i know a lot of people are sick of frozen and find it to be overhyped, and everyone certainly has the right to their opinion! but elsa is basically tied with one other fictional character as my favorite of all time, i love anna and kristoff and yes, even olaf, very dearly, and i do believe that the movie deserves all of the love it gets. i find it so beautiful that people can read elsa's powers and her story as an allegory for so many different things and connect with her and find comfort in her in so many different ways. i can hardly believe that it's been over 10 years since the movie came out, over 10 years since i saw elsa transform her stuffy coronation gown into that beautiful flowing ice dress and sing about finally letting herself be who she really was. maybe loving frozen even half as much as i do is "cringy", but this is my own personal tumblr blog and i will be as cringy as i want! and besides, the cold never bothered me anyway. i'm sorry, i couldn't resist saying that.

#frozen #disney #i'm lowkey embarrassed to put this in the tags LMAO but if i don't i'll never be able to find it again

[crimeronan]

Oh my goodness! Thank you for the Darius Lore. I must now reread it several times then go reread WWAITSOATL with my newfound knowledge!! >:3 Would love to read the bit you said you've written of the with Belos, GG, and Darius should you feel like sharing (No pressure tho!)

i'd need to edit the full scene a LOT to make it worth posting, but i can at Least give u this snippet from the draft:

and in looking for this, i also found one more scene that i forgot i'd drafted, a bit of which is passable enough:

-

“Oh,” Darius says, surveying the scattered equipment and the sigil-less witches in the room. “Wrong door. I’ll be going, then.”

He’s managed to exit and stride almost all the way down the hall when a hand grabs his wrist, hard. His magic springs into action almost before he’s registered the movement, a tendril of abomination snapping out at the assailant.

The assailant’s grip does not loosen.

Darius whirls, jerking his arm out of the offending grip, and finds himself face-to-face with Hunter. No mask, full uniform, staff gripped in his other hand.

He’s about to snap something about personal space, but then Hunter grips his arm again and drags him through a previously-unseen gap in the castle wall. Possibly a previously-nonexistent gap.

Darius finds himself in a narrow stone alcove, the opening concealed behind a tapestry. Hunter presses him back against the wall, releasing his arm in favor of pressing a gloved hand over Darius’s mouth.

Darius makes an indignant noise. Titan only knows where the fabric has been lately.

“If it was anyone else,” Hunter murmurs, his eyes focused, intent, boring into Darius’s own, “this would be a different conversation. But I just need to check. Are you going to tell anyone?”

Darius flicks a glance down at the offending hand, raising an eyebrow. Hunter removes it from his mouth.

“Tell anyone what?” he says.

“Darius.”

“Honestly. Right now all I’m thinking about is how irritated I am with you. You give me a heart attack thinking someone’s trying to murder me, and then you get your slimy gloves and these slimy walls all over my clothes. I literally don’t know or care what you’re talking about.”

“Darius.”

“I will not tell anyone that you shirked a patrol to relax with a handful of other duty-shirking miscreants for an hour. You were all passing around apple blood and sharing gossip about weird former high school classmates. The irresponsible party vibes were astounding. Someone was most of the way to passed out under the table, I heard some whispered arguing about whether to fess up to the Healing Coven, and I’m almost certain I saw someone sticking chewing gum to the Emperor’s statue. About what you’d expect from a bunch of twenty-two year olds who don’t feel like doing their jobs.”

Hunter’s shoulders relax, just a tiny bit. He takes a small step back, putting as much space between them as is possible in the cramped area. “I can explain.”

“Are you going to get hurt?”

“Probably.”

“Then -- yeah. You will explain.”

#replies #long post #my writing #toh #previous golden guard #darius deamonne #toh prequel

[snootsrottmntcollection]

HC for Donnie Helping Reader Out with Astronomy Stuff (platonic)

Author’s Note: An indulgent little snippet. I’m rather interested in astronomy, and over the break I was given the privilege of taking the school telescope home with me to try out. I have no clue what I was thinking, since I’ve never operated a telescope before and I’m a total amateur. Last night, I spent hours trying to figure the thing out with a friend, however the instructions were worthless, and the Internet wasn’t helpful either. So, instead of wallowing in my terrible mood, I shall write!

Keep in mind that I live in the middle of nowhere, and seeing the stars is easy where I am because there is so little light pollution. I’ve also lived right next to a big city before, and the stars were essentially non-existent. If you want to look at the stars through a telescope, do your research! And because it’s very important, NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN THROUGH A TELESCOPE. Permanent eye damage will ensue.

Before he arrived, you already set everything up the way you thought it was supposed to be. The instructions told you to let the telescope cool down to the outside temperature, so you did.

It wasn’t just cold though; you were shivering from head to toe. Hot beverages have been made. And coffee, especially coffee. Stargazing is best done in the early hours of the morning after all.

The instruction manuals were all unorganized and open on the table. Preparation was a nightmare within a nightmare. Reading through everything was difficult, to say the least.

The filters and other attachments were still packed in their boxes. You have no idea when or how to use them, since nothing about color filters had been mentioned before.

The only thing keeping you away from a crime is your music taste.

He begged you to let him try out the telescope. Saying yes was the obviously correct choice.

Bouncing off the walls, absolutely insane, buzzing with excitement-

You had to pull yourself together and hush up about his bad boy image. So, so much self-control.

Donnie is so happy that he doesn’t have to wait for the telescope to cool down. He’s very appreciative of the drinks as well.

However,…

“I should have brought my heat lamp with me…”

“That would’ve defeated the whole idea of me putting it outside to cool off.”

“Dramatic sigh. Correct.”

This dude entirely disregards the manuals.

Walks away like they mean nothing to him. Which they don’t.

“Are you sure you don’t want to look through those?”

“Trash! It’s more like advertisement than instruction anyways.”

“Amen to that. I spent three hours looking up the terms they used.”

“That’s just a skill issue, and one that I do not have!”

Despite your apparent skill issue, he’s surprisingly patient when it comes to explaining what each little piece does and why it’s built in. His expertise was sadly not enough, as few pieces made him scrunch up his face in confusion.

The look of disappointment on his face as you finally convince him to look at the instruction manuals is comedy gold. It took you several minutes to stop laughing.

He didn’t want to look at the manuals anymore.

Donnie was quick to find decent explanations online, hidden in some wacky corner of the web that you were mildly suspicious of.

Whatever he read apparently did the trick.

You can actually see things now. And the filters are used for something important! You honestly just played around with them a bit, and took pictures on your phone. A totally violet Donnie wasn’t something you thought you needed, yet here you were.

You can confidently say you’ve seen Venus and Mars through a telescope.

Donnie even helped you find some constellations in the vast night sky. In a very meticulous and mathematical way, but hey, at least Gemini was fun to find.

You get to talking about the Andromeda galaxy for so long that your drinks partially froze over.

Taking everything back inside was so much easier with a helping hand.

Donnie decided to stay the night, meaning musicals and intense debates over miniscule junk.

You appreciate his company, even if astronomy wasn’t involved.

The two of you start getting ready for bed after the neighbors complained about your karaoke session.

“Regrets are for the weak.”

“I’m so weak dude, I can’t even.”

“Then cower.”

Best goodnight words in the history of goodnight words.

Thank you for reading, I appreciate it!

#x reader #donnie tmnt #rise donnie #rise donnie x reader #rise donnie and reader #rottmnt #rottmnt x reader #donatello x reader #2018 donatello

[needfantasticstories]

Zelink snippet from TBD:

Contains: romance, Gerudo vai set, sudden disembodiment.

AO3

(post BotW, pre LU if I decide to tie it in later)

Zelda sat across from Link, a large omelet divided between them.

“No, your expression looked just like this!” Zelda made her eyes wide with mock terror and her mouth agape, then broke into a laugh, “You truly thought Farosh was about to eat me!”

Link smiled, “I never saw her land on the bridge before, and I didn't know you had the topaz earrings on yet! She came out hours earlier than I expected. I mean, I was still cooking the elixirs when you ran off to the bridge, shouting—” 

“With a back-up pair of earrings for you,” she interrupted with a grin, “I never thought you could put on that rubber fish suit so quickly!” She laughed, “An elegant dance you performed, hopping as you ran.”

“I still can’t believe Farosh let you touch her face. She’s never stopped for me, let alone let me touch her.”

“Maybe it’s because I’ve never shot her,” she winked. 

“Or maybe it's because you’re a goddess. One who would absolutely shoot at her to get your own dragon parts,” he laughed back, “but out of all people, she would mind your arrows the least.”

Zelda laughed, and asked, “Do you think…” her smile mellowed, and she looked aside in wonder, “Do you think they would ever let me…ride them?”

He laughed hard, and at her taken-aback look he explained, “for you, perhaps they’d make an exception again, but I tried riding Dinrhaal once. Only once,” he said, digging into his  omelet, “I had my fire suit too. But I rolled down her entire back, flames everywhere, before I fell a few hundred feet because my glider tore on her scales. I had to replace all the armor and pay generously for a stronger sailcloth. It’s honestly one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. I don’t recommend it for anyone except you…unless…then again, I never tried…” he looked lost in thought, “if I use that in the elixir…” 

She watched him with amused horror, “You really will try anything, won’t you?” And she muttered, “I suppose I’m glad I didn’t see every adventure you had.”

He laughed and answered, “Well, you’ll read and study just about any subject, won’t you? It’s almost the same.” 

“That’s…somewhat true,” she conceded, looking at the looming mountain of books she’d collected alongside his weapons stash, “But my books don’t usually light me on fire.”

“We should find you some more exciting books,” he laughed,“So, Impa’s training. How was it?” Link asked, setting his empty plate aside. 

“Oh, well,” She thought of the least interesting parts she could share without giving it all away, “we talked about my ideas for a school here in Hateno. She liked the idea so much she taught me some of the ancient Sheikah language. Paya even started gathering books for it!”

“That’s kind,” he observed. 

“She is also confident that my… condition… is nothing to worry about, and will fade as I continue to adjust to a mortal form.”

He listened intently. It had happened a few times now, both while they were watching the stars at night on the road home from Laurelin. They’d ridden horses the whole way there and back so she could see the whole road, one she’d never taken. On the road back, they’d stopped at a hot spring where they relaxed and cleaned up after eating. They were getting ready to sleep when they both dipped their feet in the water and watched the stars. Then, she began to glow. He’d taken her hand only to find he could not. He called her name, and she saw herself, and returned.

It happened again just before they returned to Hateno and slept under the stars. She stared at the sky for a long time, then began to glow. This time he was quick to call her name, and at dawn they left for the Kakariko shrine and Impa. 

“I only hope she’s right,” Zelda sighed, “Honestly, I had a terrible dream last night. I walked into the castle on my coronation day, but when I stepped into the sanctum… I just…I disappeared again. I couldn’t hold on to anything. I couldn’t even see the world as I did back then, only darkness.”

Link sighed. 

Silence held them for a moment as they stared at the empty plates. 

Link looked up at her, eyes firm with certainty. “If you were truly going to fade away, you’d have done so by now. I believe Impa.”

“Why do you think that? How are you so certain?” 

“I’m not, but I guess when you go through something big like that, you can lose yourself, for a while, but eventually it all comes back,” he answered.

“Your memories,” she nodded. 

He nodded back, “And that day, when we left the field and walked to the inn, you kept glowing. I didn’t tell you, because I didn’t know what to say. Every time, I thought it was the end, that you would disappear along with the others; but, you came back. That’s part of why I held your hand that whole day. But when we made it to the Inn, you held the slate and fixed it so we could both use it. That's when I knew it would last. You survived, like I did. You saved us both.”

“I think… I know that now. It’s just been so strange, adjusting to a physical body, needing food and sleep, and I suppose Hylia forgets, or takes over when I’m feeling overwhelmed by things,” she blushed.

They cleaned the plates together; him washing and her drying. 

 He paused and looked at her with a smile, “Are you still hungry, Princess?”

Zelda looked at him with curiosity. Weeks ago, after meeting rulers and citizens for days, she grew tired of being called  “Princess” at home too. She had insisted he call her Zelda in private. He usually did, but when he presented an idea or plan that he wanted her to agree with, he would revert to her title. She wasn’t sure if he was aware of his habit. 

“I could eat a little more, yes,” she answered, wondering just what strange meal he had in mind. She hoped it wasn’t monster extract again, but curiosity compelled her. 

“Then could you grab something from my pouch for me?” He held up his soapy hands. 

She nodded and moved to his back.

“Could you grab, uh, …let me see if I remember…wheat, sugar…two apples, and some winterberries?”

Fruitcake! She grinned and opened the pouch. She had learned a trick to getting items quickly by simply thinking about them, which had proved invaluable in the wilds as Link guarded the slate. Not even Purah had learned her trick yet. 

 “Oh, I can certainly manage that,” she laughed, and her thoughts rushed. It had been a few weeks since they had shared fruitcake with Teba and  ———‘s family. Little Tulin had eaten half of it before they even cut it! But Zelda had already prepared another. Oh, how she missed eating it with her mother and father. Before the Calamity, Lady Urbosa used to make it for her whenever Zelda visited…how she missed her Gerudo surrogate mother…

“What’s this?” She said in confusion. Instead of the wheat she intended to grab, out came a sheer, silky blue fabric. 

“Oh! Uh, yeah, definitely not that,” Link blushed as he saw her holding up his Gerudo veil.

“Is this what I think it is?” She laughed, and took out the rest of the set, “It’s beautiful. Link, is this for me?” she held it up, “Hm, for some reason, it’s a little big,” she laughed at his deepening blush. 

“You know all about it already,” he laughed and quickly dried his hands. She’d seen so many of his journeys, he’d learned, and while it felt less embarrassing that she already knew, but he still could not help feeling a bit warm. 

“I couldn’t have looked away from the Hero of Hyrule sneaking into an all-women capital,” she smiled, “You disguised beautifully. I’d love to see you wear it again,” she held the clothes up to him and nodded in approval. 

“Would you?” he replied, taking the veil. 

“Indeed,” She smiled like a child asking for a toy, her eyes big, “Purely for research, of course. The sociological and philosophical implications of—.” 

“If you want to see it that much, I guess I’m compelled. And will you promise not to document this research?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

She said quietly with a smile, “In memory only, I swear. You shall remain an anonymous participant.”

He saw the childish joy on her face, stunning and contagious. He smiled back, “Alright, for your research.”

He went upstairs and double checked all the windows. Then he carefully put on the whole set, even adding a pair of earrings to complete the look, knowing he’d get a bigger laugh. 

He came down to find a surprise: a Sheikah warrior, exactly the Princess’s size, washing berries.  

“Oh, we have a visitor?” He asked her.

The masked Sheikah turned and laughed. 

“Oh! You look stunning!” Zelda said, examining him. she turned herself around and smiled, “And what do you think?” She stepped back and held out a stick of sugarcane threateningly in place of a knife, striking a fighting pose.

“We’ll, I’d never challenge you in a cook-off,” he laughed and grabbed a shield of the Sheikah people from the wall for her to add.

She held it uncertainly at first, but finally hoisted it up and posed with the sugarcane again. 

“You look fierce,” Link said. She could probably cut someone with that sharp sugarcane tip if she chose to.

“You mean that,” she said with surprising sincerity, setting the shield and sugar cane aside, “Thank you,” she said, and hugged him. 

Link held her in return. He had no desire to move. They lingered a moment, beyond simple gratitude.

“I guess we should get on with the cooking. I won’t make you stay in this,” Zelda said, and touched his veil. He released her, but she stayed near, reached up, and slowly unclipped his veil.  

Link smiled. Her blue eyes had caught him like magic. Mesmerized, he gently pulled down her Sheikah mask, revealing her gentle smile. She was studying him, he realized, as she drew a little closer.

He drew nearer too. His pulse raced.

She moved a loose strand of hair behind his ear, and let her hand rest on his shoulder, then pulled him down to close the small gap remaining between their lips. 

He met her kiss. 

She stroked his neck, and he caressed her hair as they kissed. 

Catching his breath, he pulled his face gently away, “I’m…I’m no prince. I don’t want to harm you, Zelda, or make things difficult for you, or the kingdom, or…,” he let her go.

She gently pulled him close again, and looked at him with terror and hope, “I will take no other,” she whispered. She brushed away the hair that had fallen over his eyes, and smiled, “I am already yours.”

He set his mind free, and kissed her, closed his arms around her, pressed her beautiful body into his, and she did the same. 

They left the kitchen for the stairs, leaving a trail of discarded shoes and weapons behind. 

She put out the candle, and they sat on the bed facing each other, caressing each other’s faces and gently massaging one another’s arms and hips. They slowed, their kisses drawing long. They cooled a bit, and helped each other undress slowly. 

As Zelda’s Sheikah top dropped from her chest, she began to glow.

She gasped, and shivered. He wrapped her in a blanket and took her in his arms again until the light faded.

“Let’s talk to Impa in the morning,” he said, holding her tight, terrified she really would disappear this time. She nodded, and for the first time they shared the small bed.

#legend of zelda #loz breath of the wild #breath of the wild #link #the legend of zelda breath of the wild #zelda #zelda botw #princess zelda #zelink #zelink botw #romance #zelda fanfiction #linked universe #eventually

[scoonsalicious]

I'm up late because of school stuff and I visited your page to see that you updated early with three parts! and I thought, you know what, I'll have this as my bedtime story (poor judgment because we all know I get so amped up reading this and for sure won't get sleep until I send you my essay) so here I was reading the first three parts of Chapter 26, had my thoughts, went on your page to send an ask and then saw part 5 and I was like....wait what. YOU POSTED TWO MORE? so you ma'am are a blessing (for feeding us all this goodness) and a curse (to my poor sleeping schedule). Thankfully my class isn't until the afternoon. BUT ANYWAYS. what did I say. I FUCKING KNEW IT !!! I KNEW SHE WAS HYDRA. I KNEW SHE HAD ONE OBJECTIVE TO BRING BACK THE WINTER SOLDIER AND SHE WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO GET IT! but okay, let me rewind first.

Can I just say that burgers and fries are the absolute loves of my life and the chocolate milkshake is our son? Please, when he brought that in I was a puddle. I'm a simple girl. Just feed me them crispy potatoes and I'm yours. But seriously, though, he was being so sweet. I mean, I'm not going to applaud him or kiss his feet because it's the least he could've done. But, good on him for taking care of Pocket, not because she asked to, but simply because that's just him. Also, that little snippet of Bucky being jealous yes absolutely. But it's nice to see them in such a calm domestic setting and there's not even a lingering pressure or anything. They're just being friends right now and I'm glad because that's the healthiest way for them to start anew.

Now, Pocket jumping his bones. I mean, I can't blame her. I would've done the same thing. If I had a Bucky in real life I honestly would ride him to the sunset. BUT ANYWAY. Again, I'm not applauding him because it's the bare minimum but I am glad to see Bucky placing that boundary. It truly does show his growth and how much he truly cares about her. Because let's be real, if they had continued and ended up having sex, Pocket is going to regret it right after. It's going to end up hurting them both and they're going to be taking steps back. Bucky made points. Sex between the two of them is never going to be meaningless and right now is definitely not a good time for it because Pocket is still so vulnerable emotionally. If they went ahead, Pocket would've been so so angry at herself and so hurt right after. And I think Bucky realized that and he wasn't going to put her in that position again. Plus he was honest with what he wanted too. And he respects Pocket so much to know that she should be sure of what she wants before he even tries anything. Because after everything, this is all Pocket's call. Everything is going to be at her pace going forward. So good on him for recognizing and respecting that.

But please Nat's cryptic texts like girl just SPILL ALREADY WHY THE DRAMA. I mean it's Nat but still. ANYWAY NOW THE TRUTH IS OUT. JUDAS IS WITH HYDRA. and if I recall correctly, I did say that while she might be in Hydra, she still has an agenda of her own because she truly wanted Bucky for herself too. I mean, Pocket said it. Plenty of opportunities in Russia to take him but she didn't. There could be something more to it (i know there is and Chapter 27 is coming next. SCREAM). But yeah, it is kinda sad how Bucky thinks no one truly wants him or cares about him unless there's some agenda because that truly has been his life for so long.

The sweet interaction between them, the admitance of feelings, that soft little kiss AND Bucky still setting that boundary until Pocket is truly sure of her own wants and needs. I love how confused Pocket is when he doesn't cuddle up with her. Like, girly he's trying to be respectful and wait for you to process things and get your head and emotions straight so there's no confusion or misunderstanding between you two and what you want this relationship to be anymore. He's giving you the time really have a think if you're going to forgive him or not and not try to muddle your opinion with some good ass vitamin D. All jokes aside, Bucky truly is giving her the space and the time to come to terms with her decision all on her own and not at all influence it because whatever she decides, he's going to accept it and respect it. Growth, everyone.

Though I doubt she'd be able to process it any time soon because well. Bucky keeping her in bed to protect her because we all know where Jolenne is heading. I can practically hear the Jaws theme in the back of my head when Nat said she disappeared. But god, it's like the before everything is about to blow up and I don't know if I should thank you for this little breather or be scared about this cruelty because I know shit's about to go down tomorrow and I cannot wait!

Have no idea how I'm going to bed I'm so hyped right now. But hey, consequences of my own actions. I don't regret it at all. You're amazing and thank you for always feeding us with this amazing story. Lots of Love!

— Jnon 🤍

Hi Bestie Jnon!

I'm sorry to have kept you up last night, but if you thought Chapter 26 fed you well, please enjoy all EIGHT parts of Chapter 27 today!

Burgers and fries with a chocolate shake are the surefire way to my heart, most definitely, lol. And Bucky is doing these things because he wants to, not because he expects anything from her, or because he's trying to gain "good boy points," or anything like that. He just wants to take care of her. That's all.

He's definitely putting all the balls in Pocket's court, letting her call the shots and make the decisions. He just wants her to be happy, so he's going to take all his cues from her, but at the same time, he's not going to encourage her to do anything with him unless they're both 100% sure that she wants to. He doesn't want her ever having to regret things with him, again. He would LOVE to give her the Vitamin D, practically to overdose levels, lol, but he knows she's not in the best headspace right now, with everything that went on, and he's not keen on her making bad decisions with him.

And Nat is the QUEEN of drama. She loved having information but hated being ignored, lol. That's why she's such a good spy, lol. Jefferson is pretty much running her own agenda now. Yeah, Hydra sent her to bring back Bucky, but she's too far gone; she wants him for herself, which is why she didn't bring him back to Hydra when she had him in Russia. She just wants him.

Please enjoy Chapter 27!!! <3 I love you!

#unwanted #jnon report

[royal1asset-if]

Late Story Part 2

Another late story, sorry about that just finished my exam today and I'm so happy that I got a good score and still happy to write this snippet😁😁.

Continuing with were we left off, MC recounting the events.

(Before, MC's Story)

You hear the birds chirping and rooster crowing, signaling a new day has arrived.

You groaned in annoyance due to the sun is blasting your eyes with it's blinding light, you turned to your other side and raised your arms to hug your wife.

But only emptiness and the soft foam of the bed is all you feel, you prod along the edges maybe your wife is at the far-end of the bed but still not feeling her smooth skin.

Opening your eyes, you saw that no one is there and that your all alone.

Then your remembered that the children has class today and maybe your wife is the one who took them to school.

Well, your sleep gone and deprived the touch of your wife, you got off from bed and freshen up a bit.

Getting and wearing clothes fit for this sunny day, you exited the bedroom and arrived at the hallway.

It's very quiet, alarmingly quiet or maybe you're just paranoid because the kids are at school right now.

You past the kid's bedroom doom and descended the staircase.

Going straight ahead to the kitchen to calm the beast that is your stomach, your eyes landed on the oaken table finding a note and a plate covered with a another plate.

You pull the chair and sat down and pluck the note to read it.

Dear, Firefly

I woke up early and prepared the kids for school, I also noticed that your sleeping soundly and I did not want to disturb your slumber.

There is pie on the table but it's cold as ice but I think you can manage to warm it on your own ;)

Also, Serena and Elrick drop by telling that we should have get-together this evening and should meet at the "Bullseye"

And don't forget to pick up the children after school!!!

With Love, Moonpie

Dropping down the note, you made a mental reminder to not forget the kids because the last time you did that.

It did not bode very well for you, who would have thought that the combined wrath of kids and your wife will spell the apocalypse, for you at least.

Gaining the kids forgiveness is easy because they have a great time watching your ass get whooped by your wife but you can't say the same for your wife.

You chuckle remembering all the hard work she dropped down on you as punishment for your negligence.

Working hard and begging her forgiveness she started to come around and finally forgave you but did not really forget your transgressions.

Rising up from your chair and getting the pie to reheat it on the fire.

Up to this day, you're still trying to wrap your head around the fact that your wife who is and vicious and relentless assassin loves pie and that one of her childhood dreams is being a baker.

Ah yes, you still remember how you try your best stop laughing when she confess.

Honestly speaking you really did your best and mustering up your strength to stop from falling over but it's just to much to bear and like a dam bursting off you exploded.

You laugh and laugh, you only stop when you felt a shiver went down on your spine and noticing that she is glaring at you and it's the most terrifying glare you have ever seen.

Gulping because you know that this particular glare is different from her default stare and preparing yourself for the worst.

Yet, your still breathing and what she did next made you think that you're going insane.

She is laughing and is the most beautiful thing you have seen, sure others might call you dramatic but to you is the most heart moving scene you have ever scene.

Maybe you can say that it outrivals the joy that you felt when you hold your kids in your arms when they are still an infant.

Times sure is fast and you start to think that maybe you're getting old.

Nose wrinkling and smelling that something is burning, you look down and saw that your pie is ablaze.

(Intermission)

"HAHAHAHAHA!" A familiar and annoying laughter interrupted your story.

You glare at your companion and clearing your throat hoping that he will get the hint.

He continued to laugh and others laugh with him, you cleared your throat again and this time you really want to punch his face very much.

"Alright, Alright I stop!" Elrick wipes the tears from his eyes and gathering his composure.

"But you have to admit MC it's kinda funny!" Serena says in a mocking tone.

"HEY BE QUIET YOU TWO!" Garry The Barkeeper saves your pride and dignity.

You looked at him and tip your imaginary hat to him to which he in response raise a mug in your honor.

"So let's continue shall we?" so that no one can further disrupt your story and preventing another rounds of laughter from your audience.

(Resume Story)

Managing to avert the disaster of burning the house down because you know deep down that the blazing flames is no match for the hellfire that is the wrath of your wife when she learns that you burnt the house and burnt her pie.

So you took a spoon and bite the pie to which your surprise that is still delicious even after it's ordeal.

Finished eating and washing the dishes, you went with your daily activities such as cutting wood for fire, feeding the chickens and milking the cows.

The day went on without any further incident and the sun is starting to go down.

You clean yourself up and preparing to pick the children from school, you started the journey.

It's a little far away because your wife preferred the quietness and company of Mother Nature rather than the bustling town.

Maybe this is her way of coping from all the gruesome work that both of you have done when you were active in duty as the "Royal Assets" of the King.

Arriving at the school grounds and seeing your children waiting for you at the school's gate.

Something is wrong you can feel it in your gut, you can almost feel it as a father intuition.

Why is your children not running towards you? So you walk towards them hell bent on wanting to know to what is causing this.

Getting closer you can see that Nick head is cast down and not quite looking you in the eyes.

This is what they usually do this when they feel that they have something done wrong and feeling ashamed of their actions.

"What's wrong?" you inquire him with worry.

Nick remained silent and still not looking at you, Richard is the one who gave you an answer.

"Dad, Nick got into a fight with a bully and the principal wants to talk to you if you have free time." he tells you the news with shaking in his voice.

Your hand balls into fist on instinct, your child is being bullied and have been hurt, you knelt down to Nick's level and put your finger under his chin.

You tilt his head up so that you can meet eye to eye and you want Nick to be the one to tell the truth.

"Is it true Nick?" you steel your voice but it cracked under the pain seeing that your son has a bruise on his cheek."

"Luna will not like this, not like it at all!" you ponder worriedly.

The last time someone hurt those people who she held dear is lying 6-feet underground or some is too wounded to stand up.

Let's say that Luna tend to loose control, more like go berserk. You still remembered that night, when you and her just talking a walk after having dinner.

You saw two silhouettes at the far end of the road that you were currently walking, noticing that they are drunk evident by the way they stumble and walking swaying side to side.

You didn't pay it no mind focused on your date but when the 2 drunks got nearer they sucker punch you on your gut.

Knocking the wind out of you and dropping to your knees, you can't defend yourself and your date.

You looked upwards to your attacker and saw that he is winding up another punch but your date intercept the attack by punching him in the throat.

The drunk's friend got pissed and charged at your date and raising a fist.

Your date dodged to the side and evading the attack then she delivered a kick to the shin and you swear that you remembered that you heard bones breaking.

The friend sunk down to his knees and crying loudly, your date hold the head his head like a bull and slam her knee to his face.

Leaving a ugly look on his face plus a broken nose to go with it.

She offered her hand to help you to which you accepted gladly, standing to your feet albeit still wobbly.

You have to hold her back to prevent her from killing the two and have to beg her to return to her senses, that is the day you knew that Luna tend to be vengeful and murderous.

"Dad?" the voice of Nick brings you back to the present.

You looked down at a worried and scared Nick, holding onto the hems of your clothes.

"Wil Mommy be angry?" he ask you and eyes starting to tear up.

You hug your child knowing that he needs this the most right now, you calm him and rub his back to soothe him.

"No Mom will not be angry." because you know that her fury will be directed at the antagonizers and you know this will not end peacefully.

You hoist Nick to your arms and wrapped your arm on Richard's shoulders and getting him close to you.

"C'mon let's go the bakery and get you two Mom's delicious pies!" you try to divert the worry and attention of the 2 but to no avail they remained quiet.

Leading the way and thinking how can you gently break this news to your bloodthirsty wife.

"No rest for the wicked!" you murmur tiringly.

TO BE CONTINUED

#Luna #royalasset #First Blood #War Is COming

[gisellelx]

I absolutely adore Ordinary Time--frankly to my own surprise -- Twi-world without Bella and Esme!?!? And yet--its outstanding.

I'd like to hear a bit about Charlie in this world. Do they keep in touch with him. How did they (assuming they did) keep Renesme and him in touch? I would expect E and C to take the poor man's feelings into consideration as he lost his only child and then his granddaughter appears to have been somewhat removed from him in this universe.

Thanks kindly!

This made my month! Honestly Ordinary Time/Kairos is the fic I most write for me--it's just me revisiting one of my favorite incarnations of these characters, kind of when I feel like it, and loosely in line with another thing I enjoy, which is being a SCOTUS wonk. When I started writing Twific so many years ago now, I was living in Washington and it's hard not to get swept up into at least some of the discourse around the political scene when your commute gets disrupted by the vice president's motorcade every day. It's just part of your life. So I am always truly tickled pink that other people want to read about this thing that is basically me just splashing around in the water with my favorite vampires and my favorite topics.

And this is a great question! One which I have not needed to fully flesh out yet just because the fic itself is such short snippets of life and so I haven't put it in.

But yes, Renesmee would absolutely be in touch with Charlie in this story. I've chosen (even though I don't love it!) to follow SMeyer's intention with the imprint and that means that she is spending no small amount of time with the tribe. Her choice to go back to Washington state for medical school also puts her closer to that part of her life.

How I would bet it plays out--during her childhood, she spent time with Charlie the way Bella did; a few weeks at a time in the summers. In the Kairos universe Carlisle and Edward have gotten a lot wiser to the impact of their presence on the tribe; in the most recent chapter they decide to stay south of San Francisco to stay not only off Quileute lands but off all Salish lands altogether. So I don't think they go to Forks for more than just an afternoon here and there. But they trust Sue and they like Charlie, and letting Rene spend time with him also gives them some—ahem—alone time.

Does Charlie spend a lot of time with them? Probably not, for a couple reasons. One, no matter how you slice it, Edward was the beginning of the downward spiral that led to Charlie losing Bella several times over. That's not something that's easy to work through, and no matter how much he wants to, he's married to a chief elder of the tribe and knows a lot more about them than he ever wanted to. It’s not easy for him to not be mad; it’s not easy for Edward to accept forgiveness anyway. So theirs is not the smoothest of relationships.

And two, let's face it, Carlisle/Edward in this scenario is...difficult. One thing I'm trying not to do in this AU is make it like everyone just went, "Oh okay I guess they should get their HEA," or that they went "Yeah everything about who we were to each other before is just gone, let's fuck." Their relationship here exists in this very both/and kind of state that not everyone is equally comfortable with (and that they are not always completely comfortable with!)

Charlie, being a native of the very, very small Forks, WA, probably took a long time to get around to, "Oh okay, I know gay people and they are okay people" and so quickly extending that still nascent acceptance to "My daughter's widower is now partnered to the guy I knew as his dad" is likely just...hard. So they keep it cordial and superficial, and Renesmee has her own special relationship with Charlie that doesn't have much to do with her dads and that works well for all of them. He was there at her graduations; he’ll be there at her wedding. Forks is an important place to her because it was where her mom lived, and she enjoys exploring it and hiking there and sitting in a fishing boat there and eating at its quirky handful of restaurants much more than Bella ever did. And she gets to learn all sorts of things about her mom that Edward never had time to learn, so she loves spending time with him.

And despite the general “this is weird”ness of their relationship, my other post-saga Charlie-Carlisle headcanon holds in this universe, too: that occasionally, while Rene is up visiting Jake, Carlisle comes over to watch football or baseball and Charlie enjoys finally having a son in law who cares as much as he does about ball games.

Thank you for the compliment and the ask! Might be a good chapter to add to “Always,” we’ll see.

#kairos au #ordinary time #twilight #twilight fanfiction #carlisle x edward #asks

[ghostoftonantzin]

hellooo! for the ask emoji game: 😈, 🤡, 💖, 🤲

hello!!

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

I'm trying to think of a time when I've done this, and I honestly can't! Part of it is that I mostly write one-shots, and I feel like playful meanness often relies on the tension of cliffhangers/WIP fics.

🤡 What’s a line, scene, or exchange you’ve written that made you laugh?

I was just thinking about this the other day, and it still has to be Nadja's line from this scene in Interview with a Nyanpire:

“Guillermo’s marking his territory, Laszlo,” Colin Robinson interrupted. “Nicer than spraying, right, Guillermo?”

“I’m not marking my territory!” Guillermo tried to object.

“You know, sometimes I wonder if that’s what’s going on in the guy’s bathrooms at work. You go up to any urinal in there and the ground around is usually at least a little slippery. Now the tile is easy to sanitize, but I’m sure everybody’s shoes are tracking it onto the carpet, so if you think about it-”

“Are you saying Guillermo is causing piss-related problems in this household, Colin Robinson?” Nadja said.

“I dunno. It seems like Guillermo here has been ducking out to occupy our bathroom a lot recently.”

💖 What made you start writing?

I'd been reading fic for at least ten years when I started writing, and writing it in my head for several years, and I guess one day I just went "I should write this down". (Though I did write some for Chronicles of Vladimir Tod in middle school, but that's lost to the sands of time).

Funny enough, if you look back in my ao3 works history, I didn't write Nandermo until my sixth fic, and that was genderswap! It was about three months after I started writing that I wrote my first Nandermo smut fic (that wasn't femdermo). Wild to think about.

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

Gladly! I'm still in the thick of as below, so above right now, but I'm also working on a post-season 4 fic that I really hope I can finish before season 5 airs. (It also incorporates some ideas from a scrapped fic that I started before, uh, season 3. Under the cut, so save your dashboard:

Guillermo slept uneasily, plagued not by dreams but by the discomfort of his own body. He was sweating, then shivering from the sweat cooling on his skin. He got up and drank water, then got up again to throw it up. 

Gray sunlight crept in through the blinds. Guillermo watched the shadows creep across the floor as the day passed. His bones were lead and his muscles were spider’s silk, and his skull ached like an egg with a baby chick trying to break free.

He was so, so thirsty. He wanted water, his body convulsing with need at the same time it spasmed with repulsion at the thought of it. Maybe Derek had given him rabies instead.

Derek was positioning a leather armchair in the corner of the living room. He plopped himself down in its seat and looked around the room, finally catching sight of Guillermo in the doorway.

“What do you think?” he said, grinning. “Someone had listed it for free if I just came and picked it up. Hope you don’t mind, I used your car.” The smile slid off his face as he got a closer look at Guillermo. “Dude, you look bad.”

“Did you give me rabies?” Guillermo croaked.

“I don’t have any rabies to give you, man.”

“I think I’m dying.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of the point. They only way out is through,” was all Derek said.

#ghost answers

[renegadesfics]

Omg so sorry for falling asleep on ya last night 😂 But now I'm up and I'm having my coffee and trying to remember all my questions. Okay so

1- how do the adults feel about all this? I feel like Wayne is either completely disinterested or like mad as hell at the reader.

2- What about the Hellfire kids? In that lil snippet Mike seems annoyed but he's also a like 14 year old boy and puberty could just be hitting him like a brick so idk

3- why is reader driving around with no heat in their car????? It's about to be winter in Indiana it's gets below 0° easily get that shit fixed omfg

4- what has Eddie been doing for the months they've been apart? Just sitting in the house being a sad boy? Kissing other girls? Kissing other boys? Or is he like completely love sick and writing the worlds greatest emo anthems on his guitar.

5- ARE THEY GONNA GET BACK TOGETHER????? THEY LOVE EACH OTHER 😭😭😭

6- even if they do get back together what happens after the holiday when reader goes back to school???????

I'm just honestly so invested in this storyyyyyy. It's so well written and genuinely interesting. You're such a good writer. The way you say so much with so little dialogue. I am in awe at your skills, truly.

Oh god! No reason to apologize at all, I'm so glad you got sleep, that shit's like... super important!! Thank you for coming back and continuing the conversation, that's so sweet!! Okay, but onto your questions:

This definitely gets addressed in either part 3 (edit: posted just recently!). In part 4 or after, we may also get reader's parents' take on the whole scenario. Can't keep your personal life very secret in a small town, it seems.

That part's already done, actually, and while I feel like I struggled a bit to capture the kids in fully robust 3D, I also recognize that this is reader's first time interacting with them and First Impressions are a thing. They may pop up more in later parts, I haven't totally settled that one yet. (I’ll give you this much, reader definitely likes at least some of them.)

The heating was just a funny little quirk that I added in the beginning when it was all only going to be one part. It was a like, a throwaway one-liner I had tossed in just to add some depth to the character? But now I'm thinking it's probably something they should get looked at before they leave Hawkins.

I will just go ahead and put out there that I fully 100% invest in the concept of queer Eddie Munson. The personal interpretation of that queerness is up to any one person and how they see it, and I'm not here to police anyone else's perspectives on that. I, however, do interpret him as somewhere on the Bi/Pan side of things. (As a bisexual woman, this could just be me projecting.) Strictly speaking, this isn't relevant to the plot, but you kind of hinted at it with your question and I just wanted to take a second to talk about it. Anyway, my plan is definitely to get a little bit more into how Eddie spent the months reader was gone, but I'm not totally certain when that'll happen.

That's the big question, isn't it? Can't provide much by way of specifics here without big spoilers.

Unfortunately, I also can't give a whole lot away on this one because... I mean, y'know. Have to keep you hooked somehow. But I do plan on at least kind of answering this before I wrap the entirety of TtDS up!

Thank you again for your interest in the series and engaging the way you have!! It means so much and I'm so grateful to have people enjoying reading the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Maybe in a slightly selfish way, I love talking about it. So. Anyway, hope I answered your questions as best as I'm able to at the moment and hope you enjoy what's coming!!

#answered. #tis the damn season #thruheavenandhighwater

[tanoraqui]

There actually are enough good fics about postcanon tentative reforging of assorted pairs and even the whole of the Gusu Summer School No Brain Cell Trio to satisfy my niche itch, so pls enjoy these stray snippets of a fic I don't have to write:

Nothing would've happened if the cultivation conference wasn't at Cloud Recesses. But it was, Cloud Recesses with its pale stone and gracefully winding walkways and too many memories, including Lan Xichen sitting the whole thing out in seclusion somewhere... If it'd been at the Unclean Realm, Nie Huaisang would've been busy and if it'd been at Carp Tower the memories only would've been manageably bad, and if it was Lotus Pier or one of many smaller sects, it would've been...fine. Just fine.

But it was Cloud Recesses this year, this first conference since Jin Guangyao's downfall, and specifically it was half past ten at night, and Nie Huaisang was wandering the elegant pathways with a mostly full jar of wine in one hand. The previous jar, now entirely empty, had been left back in his room. He was a Nie, so he was only half as drunk as he'd always used to pretend at these things - but at least twice as drunk as he'd ever actually been.

After da-ge's death, of course. Before that, he used to get plenty drunk. Playfully drunk. With friends.

It would be a terrible idea for him to go appear on Lan Xichen's doorstep. Neither of them was ready for that yet.

So he appeared on Jiang Cheng's.

[ . . . ]

"Fine." Nie Huaisang pouted and turned. "I'll go ask Wei-xiong - "

And Jiang Cheng was easy, he was so easy, he'd always been easy, the only new thing is the faintest edge of wariness to his fury -

He grabbed Nie Huaisang's elbow in a flash and snapped, "Ugh, fine, I'll go - but I'm holding the wine."

Nie Huaisang laughed and handed it over. Jiang Cheng immediately took a deep swig.

[ . . . ]

It must've been a quiet night at the Jingshi. Wei Wuxian's sleeping robes didn't look the least bit hastily pulled on, and his lips were only the slightest bit red and puffy.

[ . . . ]

[for the record, this takes place in a book-show postcanon fusion wherein immediately post-Guanyin Temple, WWX and LWJ ran off to fuck in the bushes at least once a day for as long as possible, but in their absence, various sect leaders voted that Lan Wangji should be Chief Cultivator now, and alas some messenger caught up with them about six months into their honeymoon. Definitely caught them in flagrante delicto. Tragic for all. I’d probably communicate all this hereish somehow. It was definitely NHS who finally tipped someone off on how to actually find them.]

[ . . . ]

"Yes, yes, I'm coming," Wei Wuxian said, with a lidded look at Nie Huaisang, and Nie Huaisang burst into a giggles because the two most unequivocally lethal people he knew were afraid to leave each other alone with him, and it was satisfying to be recognized but also what's he going to do, personally? Cry at them? It'd taken him years to destroy Jin Guangyao, and at this point it'd take him months, if not years again to re-destroy the Yiling Patriarch, much less Sandu Shengshou. Especially when they both kept doing things like watching each others backs while pretending they weren't.

[ . . . ]

"Of course we need more!" Wei Wuxian declared. "This isn't even Emperor's Smile!"

[ . . . ]

"It's just a rat or something," Jiang Cheng scoffed.

"So?!" Wei Wuxian cried grandly. "Are we not noble cultivators? Is it not our duty to investigate this woman's complaint, and to slay whatever monster plagues her good inn’s wonderful cellar, whether deathly or monstrous or rodential it be?" He turned to Nie Huaisang and begged, "Help me out, Nie-xiong. You agree with me, right?"

Nie Huaisang clutched his cup against his chest, eyes wide, and shook his head in sharp jerks. "I don't know! I don't know!"

Wei Wuxian laughed and elbowed him in the side.

[ . . . ]

[while waiting for Wei Wuxian to send some sort of signal]

"You know I don't bear any grudge against Jin Ling, right?"

Jiang Cheng's impatient glare snapped to him, darkening with threat; his hand shifted on Sandu's hilt toward a drawing position. "What?"

"I don't bear any sort of grudge against Jin Ling," Nie Huaisang repeated, holding only the last jar of Emperor's Smile. "That's why you've been side-eyeing me all night, right? All conference." He took another sip (it really was the best!) and added recklessly, "If I wanted Jin Ling dead and disgraced, or all Carp Tower burned to ash, they already would be."

Sandu slid an inch out of its scabbard and Nie Huaisang watch it with fascinated curiosity. From a greater distance, he wondered if that was entirely healthy.

"What about Lotus Pier?" Jiang Cheng asked abruptly.

It took Nie Huaisang a blinking moment to focus on him.

"What about Lotus Pier?"

Jiang Cheng sat beside him on the cold earth and yanked the jar out of his hands, cruelly before Nie Huaisang could take another sip.

"Where's your grand terrible vengeance against me and mine? I get it, but if you're being honest for once right now, you could at least tell me when it's going to hit, and how."

"What?" Nie Huaisang pushed himself against his tree trunk, genuinely confused. "Why would i have a terrible vengeance planned against you?"

"I benefitted from Nie Mingjue's death, didn't I?" Jiang Cheng took another swig of wine of his own, and swung the jar illustratively. "My disciples have hunted in your territory while you 'weren't paying attention.' I absolutely fleeced you in that trade deal four years ago. And I worked with that bastard as much as anyone but Lan Xichen, especially on those damn watchtowers, and you broke him. So when's it my turn?" He pointed at Nie Huaisang, finger only wavering slightly. “If you fuck with Jin Ling, Wei Wuxian, or my sect, I will fuck you back.”

"You- oh, gimme that. Gimme. Gimme!" Nie Huaisang leaned forward and tried to grab the wine jar, and more importantly whined until Jiang Cheng handed it to him.

He stared at it for a moment, thrust it back and ordered, “Drink,” without letting it go, and once Jiang Cheng had dutifully tilted it back, pulled it back and slugged down the last swallows. He needed more alcohol for this much honesty, and so did Jiang Cheng.

He set the jar down very carefully, because the ground seemed to be moving, and leaned forward with even more care. He enunciated clearly, “Everyone fleeced me, and hunted in my territory, and I acsh- ass- let them. Why would I expect you to go looking for trouble with Jin Guangyao, when he had your heart locked in a box in his treasure room?”

Jiang Cheng, who was a respected master of all five arts but probably hadn’t actually read poetry for fun since an instructor had officially declared him as such, and who was himself at least a full wine jar in, squinted in angry confusion.

Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes. “He had final say over where and how Jin Ling spent his time, and could’ve tried to poison him against you. What would you have even have done if I had come complaining?”

Jiang Cheng’s face only fell further, with the very sort of drunken moroseness Nie Huaisang was out here to avoid.

Nie Huaisang attempted to swap him sharply. He failed on both the swap and the sharpness. 

“Stoppit! Stop thinking you’re not useful! You weren’t! I needed to pry er-ge away from him and for that only Lan Wangji would work, and I needed someone to watch his back through thick and deadly thin, and to be so disruptive that even Meng Yao couldn’t...circle, sneaky, planning...”

They were waiting for the pulse of a light talisman from the other tunnel entrance, half a mile away. There was a small but very bright explosion. laced with resentful as well as spiritual energy.

“Motherfucker!” Jiang Cheng cursed, leaping to his feet and drawing Sandu in one hideously coordinated motion. 

“Just Lan Wangji, I think,” Nie Huaisang said, because Nie Mingjue himself couldn’t have stopped him. He groped for his own weapons - fan, check; wine jar - 

“Oh no!” 

“What?”  Jiang Cheng snapped, as he bent and dragged Nie Huaisang to his feet with one hand. (Hideously coordinated. Sword people, honestly...)

“He’s going to be so mad that we finished the wine without him!”

[ . . . ]

[three grown-ass men, two sect leaders and one Yiling Patriarch, flying at high speed through Caiyi Town on one sword, all screaming. Nie Huaisang is clinging to Wei Wuxian; Wei Wuxian is flinging to Jiang Cheng, a little bit to Nie Huaisang, and most importantly to a chicken, Jiang Cheng is flying the sword. There is a bedsheet draped over all of them from where they ran into a laundry line. It’s 2am. Again I say, all are screaming]

[ . . . ]

[it probably wasn’t a rat - not just one, at least. Wei Wuxian does something incredibly clever, possibly including a creative use of that bedsheet; Jiang Cheng singlehandedly defeats something in combat, probably after he and Wei Wuxian shove each other out of the way of blows without either of them acknowledging it. Nie Huaisang shoves them both under cover and then with perfect professionalism tells whoever came to check on the ruckus that they handled the problem exactly as planned with absolutely no involvement of alcohol, and the Chief Cultivator will foot the bill for the unfortunately absolutely necessary property damage. Overall, they did handle the problem, but the local cryptid they were chasing will only have its reputation swelled and its continued existence assumed by all locals. it is possible that they themselves made this cryptid up two decades ago, but idk how heavy-handed we want to be.]

[ . . . ]

Nie Huaisang was leaning heavily on Wei Wuxian by the time they got back to the guest quarters. He could hold his alcohol, he was a goddamn Nie, and frankly he’d had it adrenalined out of him at least twice this evening. But he’d also had rather a lot, and he didn’t have Jiang Cheng’s golden core or Wei Wuxian’s blithe lack of sleep schedule. 

“I missed this,” he admitted, head on Wei Wuxian’s (Mo Xuanyu’s) shoulder while Jiang Cheng opened the door.

Wei Wuxian leaned his head on Nie Huaisang’s. “Me too.”

“You’re both fucking annoying,” Jiang Cheng grouched, which meant, Me too.

Wei Wuxian stripped off Nie Huaisang’s muddy outer robe and tucked him into bed, and Jiang Cheng poured a glass of water from the pitcher by the door, drank it, poured another, scowled at Wei Wuxian for a moment, and set it on the bedside table. Wei Wuxian glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, finished with Nie Huaisang and started backing out of the room.

Nie Huaisang sat up more or less abruptly. “Both of you have got to stop that bullshit. I miss my brothers, okay? I’d I had a second chance...” He sagged back down with the plural, and flung an arm over his damp eyes. There was a glimmer in the sky; it’d be morning by Lan standards soon. “I fucking miss them.”

“...Ah,” said Wei Wuxian, who always spoke even when he didn’t know what to say.

“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng said abruptly, and, “Drink your fucking water.” And the door slammed behind him as he walked out.

[...a few lines of dialogue later...]

“Seriously, you can go.” Nie Huaisang flicked a few tired fingers in dismissal.

“Are you sure?” Wei Wuxian added with an audible smirk, “Because if I stay up for another half hour, I can wake Lan Zhan with a morning...big ol’...loving...”

Nie Huaisang finally adjusted his arm to crack one eye up at him.

“People usually cut me off before I get that far,” Wei Wuxian admitted.

[ . . . a bit more dialogue and the end.]

#mdzs #the untamed #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #to the shick of no one i did write more in this than i thought i would #it's still like...no connective tissue though #and i'm not bothering with anything more #my fic #ficlet #i'm not gonna lie that plural snuck up on me #love when that happens! #incidentally you can’t prove that there ISNT a classic ancient fantasy China version of a telltale heart so my reference stands

[dontcallmecarrie]

Ohhh I’d love to see the Doom POV!!! Justin X Doom has my vote

Loki would be cute too, much drama with the avengers

Honestly? This snippet mostly summed up my take on Victor von Doom in this AU, and I'm not sure how in-character he is considering my main reference base for him is the 2005-7 movies and a handful of comic book panels.

Apologies for any inaccuracies, I'm playing very fast and loose with how I would have made him fit in the MCU. Plus this AU's turning out a lot, lot fluffier than I'd originally expected, too, considering the original premise was supposed to just be 'SI-OC as a villain protagonist, let's see where it goes!' and not much else.

.

Okay, so if we're talking about potential crushes, then it's obviously very one-sided at first [because Justin's brand of obliviousness has him younger-sibling-zoning anyone remotely his age for the longest time].

After all, these two met in boarding school, and were only physically reunited years later but if we're exploring how this ship would work, here's how I think it'd go:

Victor von Doom didn't think much of his study buddy, at first.

Because at first, he just wanted a quiet place to read, and most other children his age were rowdy and kept trying to get him to play with them, or tried to pick childish fights over nothing, and he had no patience for anything of the sort because he was here, at boarding school instead of with his family, and he'd heard the whispers of growing tensions and he knew they'd sent him away for his own safety but that didn't mean he had to like it.

So he mostly kept his nose in a book, and focused on his studies, and just generally tried not to think too much about what was going on in his home country.

If that meant he was a bit more snappish than the average child, he didn't particularly find it in him to care. Sure, this place was lauded as where the social elites sent their spawn to network from an early age, so what?

...as such, he didn't expect to make any friends.

But he did, starting from the moment they wordlessly agreed to share the alcove because there weren't many other quiet places to study for the upcoming exams.

From there, what Victor would have expected to be a one-off turns into a strange sort of routine as they meet up week after week from then on, giving each other a brisk nod as they pull out their books and set to work.

It's...surprisingly nice, having someone to study with. Victor's not certain how old his companion is, but he's quiet and hardworking and generally less draining to be around than most children their age.

Their first conversation is several months after they've first met, when Victor didn't notice he'd forgotten to grab a pencil for his worksheets and his...schoolmate[?] lends him a spare.

From then on out, their friendship is something gradual, something comfortable. Victor's companion respects boundaries in ways he hasn't really seen outside of his family— is sensitive enough to his moods that he knows when to change the subject, and when Victor's struggling to articulate his feelings and just needs time to do so.

...it's one of, if not the thing Victor misses most, when he gets pulled out of boarding school.

Because after that, things only go downhill from there.

.

Latveria's civil war was... bloody, let's just leave it at that.

Brutal, with a laundry list of factions and alliances that were forged and broken from one breath to another and Victor hadn't set out to be the leader of his faction— but it wasn't like he had any other choice.

He was one of the last surviving members of his family, if there was any hope that his country would be anything other than a fragmented mess then he had to step up.

Even if that meant a teenager was the face of one of the most eminent factions of this damn war, someone nobody really took seriously, and if Victor hadn't had years of seeing his oldest friend's charisma at work then he honestly has no clue how he would've managed to get as far as he had.

And then things escalated even more, and Victor honestly hadn't expected to live to see the end of the fighting, let alone what came after.

One of his advisors was the one to suggest making one last attempt at buying their weapons through a vaguely legitimate source; nobody with any sense was selling to their region, but the black market favored some of their biggest rivals and things were getting desperate enough that Victor signed off on it.

It was a long shot, and they all knew it.

...as such, that first shipment of Hammer Industries weapons took them all by surprise.

.

Victor had never set out to become the new leader of Latveria.

But here he was now, loved and feared and reviled around the world and he doesn't know where to go from here, but... the fact that he's alive to even be able to think about a future after the war was an incredible boon as it was.

Now that he is where he is, he can afford to think about more than just surviving from one day to another, and apart from working on rebuilding Latveria, he's also got some personal projects going on.

Such as finding out who came through at the eleventh hour, because now that he has the time and space to look a gift unicorn in the mouth he's realizing just how many laws must have been broken for those first few shipments to have gotten there.

The paper trail is a dead end, but once Victor starts poking around it should be so, very easy for him to get answers.

After all, Victor was a warlord-now-technically-dictator with access to black-ops personnel and honest-to-goodness death squads, getting intel on what he wanted should not be this hard. Sure, Hammer Industries had good information security, but... apparently, Hammer Senior wasn't the type to get involved in this sort of mess, which meant Victor had no idea who was responsible and he wanted answers—

In the end, one picture is all it takes.

Actually— when he'd first seen the picture, Victor had been in the middle of a meeting with some of his most trusted advisors and generals.

...suffice it is to say, nothing productive got achieved after he recognized the face of the heir of Hammer Industries, once he realized he'd never actually gotten his childhood friend's full name.

The less said about his reaction to the picture, the better, too: Victor's advisors had seen him at his best and at his worst, why they'd freaked out so much was anyone's guess.

So what if he'd kept it, after the meeting was over? Those looks were uncalled for!

.

Victor owes Justin more than he can name— so when there's a ghost of a chance to reconnect, he takes it.

.

Regrets were had.

Everyone at the UN summit looked at him, and he gritted his teeth as he faced off against seasoned politicians twice and thrice his age and he knew what they were expecting, knew they called him a dictator where his country called him a hero and neither of them wanted him here but Latveria had to re-enter the international sphere somehow so they were stuck with him.

Until Zemo got his act together and finished that international relations course, at least. Oh, and got out of the habit of shooting his problems, that too.

Victor had managed to get them diplomatic immunity, but that'd be a hard sell.

...it's funny. Latveria's civil war was over, but... he found himself at odds as to where to go from here.

.

It's funny, how the more things change, the more they really, really don't.

Victor had been a quiet and antisocial bastard back in boarding school, surviving a civil war hadn't exactly done much for his temperament either.

Or his social skills, for that matter.

And just like always, Justin's mere presence was weaponized sunshine.

...Victor never stood a chance.

#No Hero [Downward Descending] #I got an ask! #Naught replies #replies

[sarahlevys]

For your clueless au!

1-15 thanks love u❤️❤️

you're so extra 🤪❤️

Rollin' With the Homies

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

it just happened! haha. i knew the movie had a first person narration and i expected to just do that for the very beginning and end, and then it felt weird to stop and suddenly switch to third... so i kept with it!

i also did some backwards math, assuming that alexis is 30 in 2018, and decided to set the fic in the 2000s instead of the 1990s, like the movie, because that's when the characters would've been this age.

2: What scene did you first put down?

i outlined and wrote everything in the order of the fic, so the beginning's the first!

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

Between you and me, a lot of people like to treat me like I'm stupid. And I don't know why, since I'm perfectly smart! I just don't care to, like, worry about stuff that doesn't matter. But Twyla looks at me like the things I have to say actually are important, and that they aren't dumb. It just means a lot.

i thought a lot about how alexis would describe her relationship with twyla, since the fic was written in first person. i didn't want the narration to feel forced, like something she wouldn't say, and i also wanted it to ring true with the theme of 'being clueless' from the movie. i really like how this turned out.

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

"The truth is that I have been in love with you since that first weekend we spent together, when Mutt came into the picture but then you came home with me. I am so crazy about you, Twy, I swear I can't stop thinking about you. You make me feel like – like I'm not totally clueless, you know? Like I could be better. Like I could be the way you see me."

in the movie, cher doesn't really have a big romantic declaration to josh, but twyla's the tai character in this AU and part of alexis' journey in SC is how she learns to be brave with her emotions. so i always knew i wanted to write something like this. i like how it ties into the snippet from #3.

5: What part was hardest to write?

honestly, i wrote this fic super fast and it flowed really easily... it's probably the fastest i've ever written a fic. i think basing it off of a movie i knew really well and having a pretty detailed outline helped. i was writing 700+ words in 15 minute sprints 😅 that said, it was also exhausting to write so quickly, so i'd say deciding to take on a new fic and writing almost 10K in one week, while the fest was going on, was the hardest part.

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

the first person narration! i don't think i'm going to do it again, but i'm really happy with how it ended up.

7: Where did the title come from?

the classic brittany murphy scene from the movie, of course! given that twyla's tai, it was a no-brainer.

8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

i based a lot of miscellaneous details about this fic on being in high school during the early 2000s, just like alexis and the gang.

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

nope!

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

why not?! haha. @schittposting requested this au a long time ago and it always stuck in my mind. and i'm a sucker for a happily ever after with a/t, d/p, and s/r, so it had to happen.

11: What do you like best about this fic?

i think it's fun to read! i wanted to write something fluffy and light and hopefully this delivered on that.

12: What do you like least about this fic?

i wish it was shorter, because i was busting my butt to finish it, lol, but i'm glad it turned out the way it is. i also wish i had more alexis and david moments in it.

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

anything from the early 2000s!

14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

that alexis and twyla are meant to be? 😌

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

movie aus are fun!

(ask me questions about any of my fics!)

#usersteen #danieljradcliffe #fic: rollin' with the homies #meme repsonse

[anchoviesinthenightsky]

As promised, here's a preview of my new fic (coming out 9.26)

*Two notes before you read. This is a Luca/Alberto fic, but Alberto doesn't show up in the preview. He will be in the chapters uploaded on Sunday.

Additionally, my initial idea for this fic was "what if a character fake-dated two people. but only one of the relationships was actually fake? Bet that would be confusing for that character"... insert Luca. So know that's part of the story.

[fic announcement here]

[read more snippets here]

preview below cut. length: 1285 words

tags: no archive warnings apply, luca/alberto, giulia/female oc, fake dating, aged up [Luca (25), Giulia (25), Alberto (26)]

In Luca’s opinion, there was an unwritten pact between childhood friends that dictated the ways of maintaining those friendships far into adulthood. This included guidelines like never forget a birthday, be there to listen when they need someone, and when getting them flowers, the flowers should be in their favorite color. The most important rule, though, was to go along with their haphazard plans when they’ve dug themselves into a whole.

Which Giulia had.

Which was also why Luca found himself walking down the hallway of his old Genova high school, on the last day of classes with a bouquet of orange flowers and a box of chocolates under his arm. He nodded as he passed the other science teachers in Giulia’s hallway. He didn’t know most of their names, and he didn’t particularly care to.

Giulia’s room was decorated with vintage constellation posters that clashed with the modern-day Principles of Physics posters. Giulia was crouched over her desk, scribbling notes onto a piece of paper. Luca plastered a smile on his face, ready to put on a performance.

He cleared his voice and spoke loud enough for the teachers in the hallway to hear. “Congrats on another successful year, sweetie.”

The words felt blocky and bitter in his mouth. Only Giulia could see his face as he cringed at them.

“Oh honey, what a lovely surprise!” Giulia exclaimed. She mimed excitement, glancing over Luca’s shoulders at someone.

Luca turned to see who. One of Giulia’s coworkers was standing outside the door, glaring at Luca.

“Sorry for interrupting,” He said in a tone that sounded not the least bit sorry. “I was hoping to steal Giulia for a moment.”

“What for, Eugenio?” Giulia asked. She adjusted the handkerchief in her hair, tightening it.

“I wanted to get a second opinion on something.”

“Oh. Well, I’m busy right now,” Giulia said as she walked to her classroom door. “But I think Mr. Bianco is still in the building. I’m sure he could help you.”

“I was hoping for your opinion, specifically,” Eugenio pushed.

“I’m sure Mr. Bianco can help. I need to catch up with my boyfriend.” Giulia flashed a smile that didn’t reach her eyes and started to close her classroom door. “See you next school year.”

She shut the door the rest of the way.

“Lock it.” Luca mouthed.

Giulia shook her head.

“Just in case.” He whispered.

Giulia rolled her eyes and locked the door. As she walked back to her desk, the doorknob jiggled as someone tried to open it from the other side.

“Told you,” Luca whispered. “That guy is a grade-A asshole.”

“He really is.”

“I can’t believe he still works here.”

“Yeah, well HR didn’t particularly do anything with my complaints about him repeatedly asking me out and not taking no as an answer.”

“You could tell him you’re a lesbian,” Luca suggested.

“Absolutely not.” Giulia pressed her pen hard enough as she signed her name that the paper tore. She sighed and smoothed the tear and reached for a piece of tape. “Either he won’t care and keep asking me out, or he’d be a creep about it.”

“You could tell him you’re dating someone.” Luca said, thinking of the woman Giulia had been seeing for the better part of the last two years.

“I am telling him that I’m dating someone.” Giulia said, giving Luca a pointed look.

“Oh right.” Luca said sheepishly. He looked down at the bouquet in his hand. “These are for you, by the way.”

He set them on the desk by Giulia. She picked them up and sniffed one of the lilies. “They’re lovely. Thank you, Luca.”

“No problem.”

Giulia eyed the box of chocolate in Luca’s hand.

“Oh, these are for me,” Luca said with a smirk. “But I guess you can have some.”

Giulia laughed, genuine and bright. “You’re too kind.”

“I do my best.” Luca grinned back. He opened the box and handed it to her to pick the first one. “Do you and Rosina have any plans?”

“We’re going down to harbor to get lunch and drink wine.” She selected one of the chocolates with a pink swirl on top.

“That sounds like a great time.” Luca said. He plucked what he hoped was a coconut flavored truffle out of the box.

“What about you?”

“Packing.” Luca bit into the chocolate, and scrunched his nose at the taste. It was caramel.

“The coconut one has the white dot,” Giulia said.

“Oh right,” Luca popped the rest of the caramel one in his mouth and took the coconut chocolate. “Are you packed yet?”

“I did it last night,” Giulia took a bite out of her chocolate. “I’m surprised you didn’t. Normally you’re packed a week before we head back to Portorosso.”

“Well, you know. It was the last week of school. I had classes to prepare for.”

“For third graders? What do they even learn the last week of school?”

“Not much, but I had a lot of parties.” Luca grinned.

“That sounds like fun.”

“If you like a bunch of screaming nine-year-olds, who have had too much sugar.”

“I do not.” Giulia said. “That’s why I teach high school.”

“You’re missing out.” Luca bit into his second chocolate. “You’re right this one is coconut.”

“Told ya.”

Luca rolled his eyes and changed the topic. “Hard to believe we’ve been teaching for two years.”

“I know right? I still feel like I’m a kid sometimes.”

“Me too! Except then I look at actual kids, and it’s like ‘wow you are so young.’” Luca said.

“They are so young!”

“I know!”

“When did we get old?”

“We’re not even that old yet!” Luca said animatedly. “We’re only 25.”

“Imagine what it’ll be like when we’re 70.”

“I can barely even imagine what 28 looks like.” Luca laughed. “God, and the kids think we’re old. One of my third graders told me today that he hoped I was still alive next year so that he could wave at me in the hallway.”

“Geez.”

“I know!Apparently, I look like I have a foot in the grave.”

“You don’t even have any gray hairs yet.”

“Maybe after another year of teaching,” Luca joked.

“Don’t I know it. I found a gray hair last week, and I considered quitting on the spot.” Giulia said.

“Would you ever actually quit teaching?” Luca asked.

“Nah,” Giulia answered immediately. “I love it too much.”

Luca nodded. “You’re good at it too.”

“I am,” Giulia smiled. “What about you?”

“I don’t know,” Luca leaned against a desk. “Maybe not in Genova.”

“Oh?” Giulia turned to look fully at him. “Where would you want to teach?”

“No idea,” Luca answered honestly. “I’ll just stay here until I figure that out, I guess.”

“Mm.”

Luca waited for Giulia to say more, but if she had any thoughts, she kept them to herself. Luca pushed himself off the table.

“Well,” Luca said. “Can I walk you out? I’m sure Rosina is waiting.”

“I’m sure she is,” Giulia laughed. She shoved the last few papers from her desk into her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

Luca offered his hand and Giulia took it.

“This won’t be forever,” Giulia said as she unlocked the classroom door. “you know that right?”

“What? Us doing this?”

“Yeah,” Giulia paused with her hand on the door. “I know it’d been rough on you.”

“It has not been rough on me.”

“I heard you had to turn down one of the first-grade teachers when she asked you out.”

“I probably would have turned her down anyway,” Luca said, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t have time to think about dating.”

“Do you not have the time, or do you just not want to?” Giulia asked as she opened the door.

“Both,” Luca answered.

"Or maybe there's someone else?" Giulia gave him a sly smile.

Luca shook his head. "I'm just busy. That's all."

Giulia gave him a look but didn’t push any further.

#luca fanfic #luberto fanfic #we'll chase the moon tonight #hang the moon wip #my writing

[sayonarasanity]

Reverberation 

Chapter III

Link to chapter I and chapter II

Link to AO3

-

By the time they were in seventh grade, she was obsessed with Shakespeare. 

Levi found it out one day towards the dusk when he was watching the sunset on the rooftop. There was a quiet chill in the air, only visible when a breeze swept past him occasionally and his body trembled instinctively. The sky was pastel pink, clouds were shadowy and reflected the soft colour of a day slowly coming to an end. The sun’s last rays enlightened the horizon and Hanji, gasping and sweaty, threw herself next to him, leaning on his shoulder for support.

“Did you bring it?” She asked, extending her hand towards him. She was acting like they were exchanging drugs, and he was the dramatic one of the two. How was that even fair? Without a word Levi put the chocolate milk and the sandwich, he had brought from home in her hand. 

She looked at him like she was going to cry. Good acting. “Oh, thank God for Levi Ackerman. I was starving.”

“You should stop wasting your money on books.”

“I am not wasting money, Levi. I am investing it.”

“What did you buy this time?”

She made a gesture with her hand to indicate ‘wait a minute’ as she quickly started to eat her sandwich and drank her milk. 

“Slow the fuck down,” he said, feeling a need to warn her when she patted her chest to ease the process of the food going down. Then she drank the milk furiously and squeezed it between her fingers until she sucked the last drop, and the inside of the cartoon packet was as dry as the Sahara Desert. 

After that, she sighed, content and happily rubbed her now full stomach. The sandwich was half-eaten though, she rewrapped it with the cling film and put it aside. Then she opened her bag, buried her hands inside, searching. “I found an old book shop today,” she said with a goofy grin on her face. “And bought these babies with the last money I had.” At that, she took out two books, worn, yellow and smelled ancient. 

Levi squinted his eyes as he took the books from her hand and read the titles. One was Macbeth and the other was Romeo and Juliet. 

“Cliché,” he commented.

“Shakespeare is not cliché, grumpy. He is a classic.”

She was apparently annoyed. It was so easy to work her up through her books. “I thought you had read them already?”

“I did but I read my dad’s copies and he won’t let me keep them on my shelf. So, I bought my own,” she grinned ear to ear. 

“Good for you,” he pushed the books on her hands, unimpressed. 

“I marked my favourite quotes while I was on my way here,” she tossed and replaced herself next to him. Shoulder to shoulder. “And I have a question for you.”

He didn’t have a chance to say no. “Shoot.”

“Are you a Macbeth like sky lover or a Juliet like sky lover?”

His face crumpled in confusion, and he blinked his eyes at her. Hanji was looking at him expectantly. She was actually waiting for an answer. Oh boy. He hadn’t understood shit. “Hanji you know I don’t understand your nerd shit without having you explain it to me.”

“Oh,” she said, extending the h. “Right, sorry. My bad. What I mean is…” She opened Macbeth, and searched the pages until she found the one she was looking for. “For example, in Act I Scene IV, Macbeth says, “Stars, hide your fires! / Let not light see my black and deep desires,” and,” she dropped it to open the other book. “In Act III Scene II, Juliet says “Take him and cut him out in little stars, / And he will make the face of heaven so fine / That all the world will be in love with the night/”

She turned her gaze again on him afterwards, adjusting her glasses. “So?”

“Hanji, what the hell are you trying to do?”

She rolled her eyes and closed the book. “Levi, I am just saying that obviously these two quotes,” she quoted the air while saying, “although out of context, are more or less about the sky so pick one.”

“But they don’t even make sense!” he objected.  

“They don’t have to. It’s literature. If you take the lines of the context, you can use them however you like.”

“For example?” Levi pressed, still waiting for a reasonable enough explanation.

Hanji, like the nerd that she was, started to explain, “Macbeth is about revenge, ambition and remorse, at least superficially, and Romeo and Juliet is about love, old-grudges and misunderstandings, again superficially. But if you take the lines out of those concepts…” she shrugged. 

“I can use them however I like?” Levi said, trying to come to her point. 

“Exactly.” 

“Like I don’t have any “black and dark desires”, but I can choose Macbeth?”

Hanji nodded. 

“Because he talked about stars?”

She nodded again.

“But what do they have to do with loving the sky?” Levi asked, having been unable to make the connection. 

Hanji paused, her eyes moved upwards to the sky, considering his question. She hummed thoughtfully. “Well, nothing.” Then her gaze turned back at him. “But don’t look for logic, Levi. Just pick one.”

“I said Macbeth already. Leave me alone.”

“Uh, you said that seriously?” She tapped her chin. “Why him though?”

“No specific reason.” Levi looked away to the town, observed the intermittent, weak lights of the houses underneath. “Juliet sounded way too sappy.”

Hanji snorted, and about a minute later she went on, “Literature doesn’t always make sense,” she said. “It’s like eating cotton candy. I mean, do you think it makes sense?”

Levi raised a brow at her. “Yes?”

“But—” Hanji made a stupid hand gesture. “It melts the second it touches your tongue. It doesn’t make sense. But you enjoy eating it because it melts the second it touches your tongue.”

Levi blinked hollowly. “I am not following.”

“Wait,” she said, excitedly. “I’ll show you.”

Then she thrust one of the books into his hands, shuffled the pages and pointed with her finger to the lines she had clearly underlined with a pencil. “Read it aloud.”

Levi was feeling like he had given up on whatever will power he had as he observed the lines. He could feel Hanji’s curious, and expectant gaze burning the side of his face. There was no escape from this. 

He cleared his throat before starting. “Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player 

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.”

When he finished, he realized the goosebumps that crept upon his skin, the way the words flew out of his mouth as if they were notes from an old, forgotten ballad, and the way they melted on his tongue, slowly but deliciously like pink cotton candy—

“Damn,” he breathed.

“Right?” Hanji exclaimed excitedly. 

“I don’t know what the hell he is talking about,” he said honestly. Just like how he didn’t necessarily like cotton candy because it was too sweet yet, the pleasure while eating it every now and then was undeniable. “But like—”

“It tastes good.”

“Yeah,” he stared at her.

Hanji laughed, cheerfully. Levi felt a slight twitch in his mouth as he watched her. “Do you have more?”

“Of course I do.” She then showed him a snippet from Romeo and Juliet. Levi took the book in his hands and read it aloud.

“My only love sprung from my only hate!

Too early seen unknown and known too late!

Prodigious birth of love it is to me,

That I must love a loathed enemy.”

The chance to make a reference was too good and too obvious to ignore so Levi whistled, looking at the pages. “That’s rough body.”

Hanji burst into laughter.

-

Afterwards, they watched the way the clouds move slowly blocking and revealing the moon, hiding the stars behind, and giving the night an almost otherworldly view. Hanji kept talking, of course, whenever something came to her mind. Levi never quite understood half the things she had told him, but he always paid attention. Because watching her like this was like watching the flowing of a cascade. It was endless and it was loud and for that it was fascinating, and it was addicting. 

And he couldn’t look away. 

“Levi,” she said when the air started to become colder, and he was about to tell her that they should go back now. “I want to be a rocket scientist.”

“Huh?” 

“I want to help people explore the universe,” she went on. She didn’t look at her confused expression, instead, she watched the stars with the slightest of smiles on her face. “I want to build rockets and I want to learn more about everything out there.”

She held up her hand, closed one of her eyes and looked at the sky through the holes between her fingers. “And I want you to be with me.”

Levi thought about cascades again and remembered a class in the school in which they learned how they created a pothole on the ground it fell. It was mere water, he had thought then, but it was strong enough to bore through the hard rocks. And Hanji was only a thirteen-year-old girl with a dream bigger than even the two of them, but she was a cascade, and as he watched her face which carried no doubt or insecurity, he believed at that moment that she could do whatever she ever wanted.

“I don’t think I can be a rocket scientist,” he said. Even the term itself sounded so weird in his ears when he tried to picture it on himself.

“You can be an engineer,” Hanji said, presenting another option. “You are smart enough to be. And then we can work together. Don’t you think it would be nice? Exploring the universe and other worlds behind the walls of the Earth? I mean we can even go to the same university. If you’d like to, of course.”

They were only thirteen. And those dreams seemed too big, too far away, and so out of reach and quite insolent for their age. But Hanji’s eyes were full of hope like she had no doubt about each of them achieving those seemingly distant dreams. And Levi wished he could be as hopeful as her and believe that they could go to the same university, then work together and explore the mysteries of the universe and maybe even more. Yet at the moment no matter how he tried, they still seemed so strange and so unlikely. Future was the furthest point of the ocean, a mirage in a desert, and they were merely kids with nothing but unformed, tender dreams in their hands. 

How daring, he thought. 

But then again, before he met Hanji, he had also thought that the sky was unapproachable, and the stars were just a view he enjoyed watching from time to time. Now, he touched them in an attic, underneath a makeshift sky and with a girl who had stardust in her eyes.

“Okay,” he said.

She smiled so big, she almost outran the sun. “Okay,” she repeated. “We have a dream then.”

-

“Good morning, Mrs Zoe.”

Hanji’s mother was a nice and kind woman with a height slightly over the middle, brown hair tied up neatly, and a pair of gentle brown eyes which were radiating warmth as they looked at him. She was dressed in clean and fresh attire and smelled like daisies. Levi would never understand how a girl, untidy, messy and dirty, like Hanji came out of this civilized woman.

“Good morning, Levi,” she smiled. “Come on in.”

Levi stepped inside and removed his shoes, then his jacket. “Is she—”

“She is in her room,” Mrs Zoe sighed, shaking her head. “She is being overly dramatic about it, boy. Be careful.”

Levi snorted. He had expected nothing less. “Sure.” 

Hanji’s room was upstairs, and Levi prepared himself for a war scene as he knocked and opened the door. He was right of fucking course. Books, clothes, empty water bottles, and old, stuffed toys were covering the ground. Levi wrinkled his face in disgust and put the bag in his hand aside next to the dresser. Then set in to tidy up the room; folded the clothes, piled the books on her library and shelves, threw away the empty bottles and some eaten chocolate packages. Then he opened the curtains and left the window ajar for some fresh air to fill inside the room. 

The figure buried under the blankets in her bed groaned and tossed. Levi watched as the bed creaked under her movements, and a puddle of messy brown hair showed itself on the head of the bed, setting free from the blockade of the blanket. He walked closer, reached down and pulled the blanket off. 

She yelped, eyes wide in shock, and her body stayed frigid on her bed. “What the hell, Levi?”

“Language,” he warned, smiling slyly. She frowned and attempted to take the blanket back, but Levi had already lied it over her again. It only covered her from the belly down this time rather than her whole body like a damn shroud.

Then he sat down on the edge of the bed. “Heard you were sick.”

Just then she sneezed and cleaned her nose with a tissue that was already in her hands. Then she groaned. “I’m dying.”

Levi rolled his eyes. Dramatic indeed. “Do you have a fever?”

“No,” she sniffed. “I am not sick actually. It is an allergy, because of the weather.” She coughed and sneezed again. “And by the everything holy out there, it’s killing me.”

It was early Spring, so it made sense. “I don’t think a spring allergy will kill you, four-eyes.”

“Actually, some allergies are deadly,” she cleaned her nose again. 

“But not this one.”

“Yeah, not this one I guess.” She stared at the ceiling, her eyes were watery, nose red and somewhat wounded, her oval-shaped glasses were slightly inclined, her hair was dishevelled, and her mouth was dry.

“You look like shit,” he said.

“Thanks.”

He got up from where he was sitting and took the bag he had left by the dresser. When he sat back down again, he handed her over two packets of chocolate milk. “Here you go, drama queen.”

She blinked at the items at first, until her vision became clear and when she found out what they were, finally a smile so big bloomed on her face that Levi felt relaxed. “Hero,” she uttered before she snatched the milk off from his hand and immediately opened one of them to drink with utmost appetite. 

They leaned their backs to the head of the bed as Hanji drank empty both of the chocolate milk. After that, she slipped down a little and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Levi,” she said, lazily and sniffed. “Quick wordplay.”

“Go.”

“Virginia Woolf?”

It was a stupid game they had played one day when they got so bored, they had started to dangle head down from Levi’s bed. Basically, they were trying to make fun of artists’ names in general. Trying to get as creative as possible. And failing a lot. “A she-wolf?”

“That’s sexist, Levi.” 

“How is that sexist?”

“I don’t know it sounded sexist,” she sneezed and cleared her nose, groaning miserably. “Okay, Shakespeare?”

He considered for a moment, eyes up to the ceiling. “A man who enjoys shaking pears?” The words almost made him flinch. So much for being creative.

“Levi,” she chuckled first, then started to giggle. “That was disgusting. Oh my God, you’re so bad at this.”

Levi scowled while Hanji’s laughter got out of control. At some point, her coughs joined the symphony but that didn’t stop her from laughing her heart out. She leaned into him more, almost making him fall from the bed. Fortunately, he balanced himself at the last minute with the help of the bedside table.

“Oi!”

“What is she laughing at?” Hanji’s mother asked from the door, smiling at her still laughing daughter, with confused eyes which held the understanding of a mother who was so used to her daughter’s antics. She was holding a tray in her hands and there were two bowls on top of it which Levi guessed to be soups probably. 

“She has lost her mind, finally,” Levi replied, blatantly. 

“No!” Hanji exclaimed, suddenly. Then there was a pair of hands grabbing his collar, then her wide, brown eyes were staring at him. 

“What?”

“Levi, you know what to say to that!” She shook him. “We’ve rehearsed this before!”

It took him merely two seconds to understand what she was talking about. “No.”

“Please,” she pleaded, even had the audacity to pout. “You have to say it!”

He sighed, looked away, then saw her mother still in the threshold, now appearing to be obviously confused. On the other side, there was Hanji, continuing to look at him with those big, pleading eyes. 

“O what a noble mind is here o’erthrown,” he said, with a tone so flat Shakespeare would possibly erase the line from the text if he were to hear it. 

“Oh my God, Levi!” Hanji giggled breathlessly. “Your face!” Then she started to laugh drastically again, she even had to lay down on her side, her body shaking with the intensity of her laughter. Hanji’s mother on the other hand merely sighed and left the tray on top of the bedside table. There was also a pill on it, Levi realized. “Make sure she drinks it okay?” she told Levi.

He nodded in response and she left closing the door behind her. 

Levi had to almost force the spoon down her throat for the soup to reach her stomach. She whined and tried to dodge from him like a four-year-old. Levi didn’t let her though until the bowl was empty. Then he drank his own.

“You’re gonna be a terrible father,” she said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

“Use a goddamn tissue, you uncivilized moron.”

“That’s none of your business.” She slipped down to lay on her bed after she drank the pill and pulled the blanket to her face. 

“My job here is done, I guess,” Levi murmured and stood up, putting the bowl on the tray. 

“You’re leaving?” Hanji watched him through the space left from the blanket which was covering half of her face.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “You get some rest.”

“But I’ve been resting the whole day, Levi. I am bored.”

“What do you want me to do?” He raised a brow.

“Stay?” She asked, blinking her eyes innocently. 

When Levi didn’t directly object her, she moved a little to create space for him, then opened the blanket and looked at Levi expectantly, and with a sheepish smile on her lips. 

Why can’t I say no to her? Levi mused and scowled at himself inside as he lay down on the bed. Her smile remained in its place as she pulled the blanket over their heads, and they laid face to face in the dark, the only sound was their even and quiet breaths. This close he could smell her shampoo and the odour which only belonged to her, a mix of ancient books, ink and something soft like vanilla-scented candles. 

“You smell very nice,” she whispered.

Levi was taken aback at the fact that they had been seemingly thinking the same thing. “I smell clean. Nothing you are used to.”

She snickered and sniffed. “So cruel, Levi.”

And he smiled only because she couldn’t see.

-

There was a marble pool near her school. It was round, bygone and had a small amount of water in it. In the water there were tokens of different sizes, some were new some were old enough to become rusty. Hanji enjoyed walking past and stopped by that pool every now and then. If she were lucky enough, she could find thirsty birds or sometimes protrude eyed green frogs. Today was one of those lucky days. 

“Hello, little bud,” she smiled at the frog, reaching out with her index finger to touch its wet, and sleek skin. The frog croaked and responded to her stare with its big, rounded black eyes. “Would you like to come with me?”

She smirked when she imagined Levi’s disgusted, and horrified face if he were to see it. The frog croaked again, and as if it had understood what was going to happen to it if it agreed to come with her, it turned its speckled back to Hanji and jumped into the pool.

Hanji sighed wearily. “Alright.”

“What’s that weirdo doin’?” A voice belonged to a boy near her age spoke and Hanji froze where she had kneeled. She folded her fist and waited quietly for them to just walk away. 

“Her weirdo shit,” his friend answered. What a sharp mind for his age! “Maybe she hopes if she kisses a frog it will turn into a Prince Charming and fall in love with her.” The three boys came walking behind her, two of them roaring with laughter while one of them made disgusting kissing sounds.

“I don’t think even a frog would fall in love with her,” Jack, the one who had talked first said and their laughter doubled up.

Hanji had recognized them, how could she not, they were unfortunately classmates. They had been messing with her since the first day they had started middle school. She had been ignoring them quite successfully since then. It was going to be almost three years and she was going to graduate anyway. She only needed to bear it for a little while longer.

Hanji slowly rose. She was going to meet Levi and she was already running late. Levi wasn’t a fan of waiting for her and each time she somehow managed to be late to their meetings. It wasn’t her fault that nature held so many things ready to be discovered by her. And Levi always chided her for being tardy, but Hanji knew he was never actually angry at her. Just slightly annoyed, but that was his nature.

She must’ve been incredibly tense because after thinking about him she felt her body relaxing. Even her jaw which was tightly shut eased, and she breathed then shook her head. No need to be so stressed over a bunch of good-for-nothings, Hanji.

She was about to be fully stood up when another body crashed against her and she stumbled forward. Her eyes widened, her world lost focus as she blinked her eyes and tried to understand the reason why she was seeing the things which were merely an inch away from her blurry. It didn’t take her much to understand. Her glasses were absent. 

“Ups, sorry. Didn’t see you there.” The boy who crashed against her said. Was it Jack or one of the others she didn’t know. She was busy looking for her glasses on the ground. Calm down, calm down, she repeated inside. If you panic now, you’ll give them what they want. 

“Watch out, Sammy, you’ll break her glasses.” 

Sammy, so it was Sam. Then the third was probably Daniel. Didn’t matter. She had to find her glasses. Right now. Or else she couldn’t go to the roof; she couldn’t meet Levi. Everything was so damn blurry. Where the hell were her glasses?

“What an ugly pair of things,” Jack said. He walked in front of her and pushed something with the toe of his shoe. That thing shone when it moved, a short moment of reflecting the light of the sun but Hanji had understood what it was. 

Calm down, calm down, Hanji, she remembered herself over and over again. Don’t panic. 

“Move,” she said to the boy finally raising her eyes to meet his stare. There was a smug look on his pale face. His hands in his pockets. 

“She can talk!” He exclaimed, laughing. 

“Move away, Jack,” she repeated. “I don’t have time for this.”

“For what?” He asked lazily. “You should be thankful that we are talking to you. I am sure you haven’t communicated with an opposite-sex all your life.”

That one was easy to let slide. The fact that her best friend was the so-called opposite sex was none of their business anyway. Thus, she stepped forward, ignoring his words. She didn’t want to kneel down to take her glasses. He had to move.

Yet, he didn’t. Instead, he stood where he was, his stare, cocky and priggish never leaving her eyes. As if he was challenging her to do something to him. What can you do? It was saying. You are a slim, feeble girl. You are nothing. 

A weirdo. 

Another step forward.

Loser. Lunatic. 

Hanji put her hand on his shoulder to push him back at the same time Jack took a step towards her. She hadn’t put much pressure to keep him in his place for she was only aiming at pushing him slightly back. So, when he moved, the hand on his shoulder was useless to stop him. Hence something cracked under his foot and Hanji froze.

“Oh, damn,” Jack said, faking a regretful voice looking down at what he had done. “I broke her dear glasses. How reckless of me!” He and the other two laughed together while Hanji stared at the broken piece of glass on the ground unable to move her body.

“But don’t worry. It was so ugly anyway.”

Calm down, calm down, the voice inside of her head proceeded to repeat in her head as if it were afraid of her losing control. Take deep breaths, let it go. You’re going to get rid of them in—

“Yeah, just like its owner.”

It was nothing she wasn’t used to. Ugly, dirty, messy. Are you sure she is a girl? She never even wears skirts. Maybe it is a guy under disguise. It happens in movies. Hahaha, maybe we’ll catch her in the boys’ restroom someday!

She was used to it and she always ignored them. Always let it past. They were just a bunch of teenage boys, silly and ignorant. And despite everything, she had been fully aware of the fact that she was much much smarter than them all. Coming from the same country, going through the same education but not each apple on a tree was fresh. Some were rotten and some were green. And there was already a boy in her life who was the direct opposite of everyone she had ever met. A boy who watched the stars with her, a boy who smelled like leaves, soap and the wind and a boy who memorized lines from an old, English poet not because he was so fond of them but because he knew that she was. 

The boy who was waiting for her now, and she was getting late.

It was that thought that single reality that had finally moved her body. The voice inside of her head silenced, and for once in her life, she let the wheels in her brain stand motionless. Her hand reached forward and grab the collar of the boy and with power mostly coming from her anger she turned and held the boy just above the pool and supported herself by putting her foot on the marble edge of it. Jack who had been caught off guard for he hadn’t been waiting for a launch from Hanji could do nothing but gasp in shock.

“What the hell are you doing, you lunatic?” he yelled and grabbed her hand which was gripping the collar of his t-shirt.

“Let Jack go, you goddamn weirdo!” One of the other boys exclaimed. 

“Don’t come close!” Hanji warned. “Or I’ll let him fall. I am sure it won’t be a soft fall, don’t you think, Jack?”

Jack’s eyes flared up with rage and vague fear. He took sharp breaths, as he tried to balance himself only with his folded legs. “Don’t come close,” he warned his friends without breaking eye contact with Hanji. “You’re going to pay for this.”

Hanji almost snorted at his words. For God’s sake, who was he? A mafia boss in the disguise of a teenage boy? She smirked, whatever. “I’ll be waiting.” 

Then she pushed him slightly backwards, causing him to yelp in panic and held her hand tighter. Her smile widened to the extent of becoming almost wicked. “Having fun?”

“You’re crazy,” he said, between thick, fast breaths.

“Maybe,” Hanji whispered. 

Jack was only a slim, teenage boy with no muscle or fat whatsoever in his system, so he wasn’t that heavy to hold. But even though her anger was feeding her at the moment, her arm had started to shiver, because she didn’t necessarily use her arm muscles for anything that required physical strength and she didn’t want him to realize it. Hence, she pulled Jack upwards, turned him around and threw his body to the ground. He hissed as he landed on the hard, stone ground. Sam and Daniel quickly reached and kneeled on either side of him, helping him get up. 

Her side was blurry, and it was coming back as nausea. She was still angry, her body was trembling with the force of it, her fingertips were numb. But they were three and she was one. If they decided to attack her altogether, she held a very little chance against them. Especially now that her vision was the least clear, she was at a disadvantage. The wisest thing to do was to run away now that their attention was not focused on her. And she readied herself to do so, a foot behind the other, her hands gripping the handles of her bag on her shoulder, she checked the direction she was going to follow, and she prepared to run—

And then, she couldn’t.

A hand grabbed her collar tightly, tight enough to almost choke her. She glanced before her in shock, with her eyes as wide as a pair of big, round rocks and saw Sam.

“You little bitch,” he whispered, drawing her close by the collar. His eyes were black as coal, burning with fever. “You think you can run just like that after what you’ve done?”

Oh, well, she thought woefully. That was bad.

“I have done nothing,” she said, blinking her eyes in ignorance.

Deep breaths, the voice talked again, keep your heart steady. 

He clenched his teeth, his jaw moved in a way that almost made her laugh. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No,” she said, calmly and smiled nervously. “But maybe you should—”

“Get,” a voice, so dark and smelled like ice, said. A voice so familiar, like the backs of the books on her library. “Your hands-off.”

If she was surprised before, now she was startled. Because it was Levi, in all his Darkling glory, standing right beside them, and with an aura as black as the shadow of death. He was glaring at the boy who was holding her collar. When had he come so close? She had never noticed. And also, why had he come anyway? He was supposed to wait for her—

“Who the hell are you?” Sam asked, frowning. 

“You’re going to find out if you don’t take your fucking hands off of her.”

Surprisingly, Sam did let go of her, but he didn’t seem the least frightened by Levi as he turned to face him. 

“Levi,” she started, but he didn’t separate his gaze from Sam. “Levi, it’s okay. Let’s go.”

“Don’t tell me,” Sam laughed, deridingly. “Are you her boyfriend?”

Hanji winced at the word in shock, but Levi was tranquil like the sky right before a catastrophe. 

“What if I am?” 

Sam whistled and glanced at Hanji from the corner of his eye. “Nothing, I guess.” He snorted. “Just surprised to see this weirdo having a boyfriend—”

It was a bad day for collars in general it seemed, when Levi grabbed Sam’s furiously, pulling his face close and a little down to him.

“Call her weirdo again,” he said in a low voice. “Or lay your hands on her and I will show you then who I really am.”

Hanji was impressed, to say the least. She felt like she was stuck in the middle of a low-budget film adopted from a best-selling but dabster romance-action novel. It was strangely exciting though but also becoming slightly dangerous too. 

“Levi,” she tried again. She didn’t want him to get into any trouble because of her. She caught the arm of his jacket. “Drop it. Let’s go.” 

“Where the hell you think you’re goin',” Jack came near them, his face twisted in a wicked way. “You little slut—”

The term that “everything happened so fast” mostly used in novels, was quite accurate as Hanji herself found it out first-hand when Levi’s fist landed the side of Jack’s face so fast, she only had time for a quick inhale. 

“Son of a bitch,” he snarled, voice full of such hatred it was almost like it belonged to somebody else.

After overcoming the first wave of shock, Jack straightened up, his teeth greeted and eyes aglow with anger, and wasted no time in punching Levi right back on his cheekbone. Levi’s body stumbled to the side; his hair black like the midnight ocean winnowing with the force of the blow. 

Then all hell broke loose.

“Levi!” she yelled and rushed forward. A yellow light, luminous like a streak of lightning flashed before her eyes, and within a moment the blood in her veins consisted more of raw fury than of platelets. However, she couldn’t make it that far for she was held back by a pair of hands on her arms. “Let go!” she screamed, struggling to free herself of those hands.

“You stay here, while Jack takes care of your boyfriend.” Hanji heard Sam’s sly voice behind her, and she grunted in frustration, still floundering to get rid of his iron hold. The word felt too weird and for some reason wrong because Levi wasn’t her boyfriend. He was more than that. He was her best friend. 

Her best friend, being beaten because of his best friend. “Let him go, Jack. You ignorant bastard!” She exclaimed, feeling guilty and incredibly useless.  

The two boys continued striking each other with punches and kicks. Gruff voices, and painful whines which Hanji couldn’t always decipher to whom they belonged filled her ears. She couldn’t even get a clear view of the two as they stumbled away from her, and because of her murky vision, she didn’t even know if the little, red spots on the ground were actually droplets of blood. And it terrified her to even think about whose blood they might be.

“Levi!” She screamed then grunted and kicked Sam’s leg and stepped on his foot while at the same time struggling to get rid of his hold. Sam hissed, and swore but didn’t let her go. Unlike Jack, he was taller and a little muscular in his arms. And she had nausea, also there was a stable pound right on her temple like a vein there decided to take the role of her heart. 

One of the two boys spitted and Hanji saw, albeit quite blurrily, that the colour of the spit was red.

“Oi, oi, oi oi!” 

An older, and rougher voice joined the chaos, and it sounded familiar, too familiar even, but Hanji couldn’t focus enough to think about who it belonged to. She realized Sam going solid behind her though, and someone shouted, “Kenny! Fuck, it’s Kenny the Ripper, Jack!” It was Daniel, Hanji found out when she looked around squinting. Kenny the Ripper?  The hell was that? 

“Shit,” Sam swore and released her arms. “Jack, come on! We need to go!”

Jack must have taken their warnings seriously for within seconds, she heard someone else, probably Jack, saying, “Fuck!” and the sound of three footsteps quickly running away. Levi, on the other hand, she knew because he was the only one left now, let out a hostile, muffled growl and took two quick steps forward, “Where the fuck are you running, you goddamn cowards?”

However, he couldn’t make it further away, for Hanji who dizzily stumbled to where he was, stopped him with her hands on his shoulders. “Let them go,” she said. “That’s enough.”

Levi was close, close so close for her to hear his sharp, quick breaths, and their cold touch on her cheeks, and feel the way his shoulders and chest moving up and down under her hands, his scent; fresh leaves, soap, sweat and blood—

And the bruises on his face.

“Levi!” She gasped, and without thinking, she took his face in between her hands. “Levi, your face…” 

There was blood on his lower lip and his nose, his right cheekbone was already taking the colour of a mix of purple, red, and blue another bruise was forming on his chin. There was also a little cut on his forehead, bleeding ever so slightly, but it was there. And it was there because of her.

Guilt punched her in the gut much harder than an actual, real punch would and it hurt a thousand times more than a simple blow of a fist would cause. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice trembled vaguely, and her eyes burned like ashes were splashed over them. “I am so sorry, Levi. My fault, it was my fault. I started it—”

“How the hell those brats knew about that ancient nickname,” Kenny muttered, coming to stand beside them. When Hanji looked up, she saw him face shadowed, and brows knitted. He seemed to be somewhat, just a little bit, terrifying. “Oi,” he said, coldly, staring down at both of them. “What the fuck is going on here?”

“Nothing,” Levi said, severely and pushed her hands away. He turned his bruised face to the other side, hiding his gaze and the expression that was placed in them from her. 

“Your face says the opposite,” Kenny said, squinting and turned his gaze to Hanji. “Care to explain?”

“I—” she forced out, but she didn’t even know where to start. 

“We can talk at home, Kenny.” Levi walked past them, without sparing a look at either Kenny or Hanji. “Leave her alone.” 

He was mad, and he was right to be. Confirming it only made her feel even more shitty, and she bit her lip as to set a barricade to prevent herself from weeping like a baby just where she stood. She bent her head down when she started to walk behind him, both because of the guilt that weighed down on her and because looking ahead made her even dizzier and increased her headache along with her nausea. 

Kenny sighed but kept quiet as he too joined them. The three walked in silence, Hanji kept on chewing her lower lip as she traced the lines of her shoes and the cracks, holes on the pavement. A hurricane roared; a whirlwind grabbed the submerged emotions and relentless thoughts inside of her and twirled them wildly. The harder she fought the easier she lost against them. Conscience was a prison one had to visit from time to time. And currently, she was stuck within, the key was missing, and the guard was cold-blooded and unsparing.

A hand, steady and warm grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to the side. Hanji looked up in surprise to see she was about to crash against a lamppost had Levi not drawn her aside. 

“Careful,” he said.   

And it was his voice, low, smooth and gentle, and his hand which still held her not too tight but not too light either, or the way he moved his thumb on her shoulder, soothing, caring. It was all of them combined that in the end made her tear up.

She turned her blurry gaze to his face, he was staring ahead, his eyes were shining blue with the last rays of the sun and the blood on his lip and nose was almost dry now. She separated her lips to say thank you or I’m sorry, again, I’m so sorry. 

It was all my fault.

But the words died on her tongue, they never received a voice to come out alive, and he didn’t look back at her eyes. Instead, he squeezed her shoulder slightly as if to say, it’s okay.

She wasn’t necessarily convinced but for now, she chose to believe in him.

-

They were sitting in the living room of Levi’s house. Kenny was placed on a chair across from them, arms folded on his chest. She and Levi sat side by side on the couch. She was playing with her hands anxiously, her lip started to hurt from constantly chewing. Thankfully, her headache and nausea were better now.

They had arrived here about twenty minutes ago. Hanji couldn’t erase the look on Kuchel’s face when she saw Levi, blood and bruises all over his face, from her mind. Her face had turned white as the paint on the ceiling, making the guilt boil hotter and burn severely inside. 

There was no escape now. Kuchel deserved to learn what had happened to her son. So, Hanji told them while she treated the wounds on her son’s face, albeit reluctantly and when she was finished the room was silent for a while. 

Levi hissed as Kuchel cleaned the cleft on his lip. “Don’t tsk at me, boy,” Kuchel scolded him and attached a band-aid just under his lip. “You brought this upon yourself.”

“He didn’t,” Hanji objected. “Please don’t be mad at him, Kuchel. It was all my fault. I—”

“Shut up,” Levi snarled, suddenly.

“What?” Hanji asked, blinking.

“I said shut up!” Levi raised his voice, and when he looked at her at last, she saw the flames of his emotions rising up, up and up in his eyes.

“Levi,” Kuchel interrupted. “Calm down.”

Levi acted like she had never talked. “None of this was your fault!”

“But I started it,” Hanji attempted to say yet, he was too angry to listen.

“You didn’t start anything, Hanji! You protected yourself. You don’t walk around bullying people. You did what you did because they made you to.”

“But—”

“Stop blaming yourself for things you weren’t responsible for!”

He was breathing heavily, eyes wide and bright. Hanji was quite taken aback, lips parted slightly in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to yell at her like that. From his earlier reaction, she had thought that he was angry at her because she was the reason for what had happened to him. But now she saw, with a startling realization, that that wasn’t the reason at all.

“They deserved what happened to them,” he went on, then looked away. “I would do the same for ten times more if necessary.”

Words rolled left and right on her tongue, her voice lingered on her throat, sentences shaped before her eyes but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t let a sound out of her mouth. Levi was like a river, she thought then as she watched the tempest in his eyes, with canals and meanders, sometimes he was as tranquil as the leaves on summer trees and sometimes he was wild enough to overflow over the edges.

“We are going to talk about it later, young man,” Kuchel said, looking straight at Levi. 

“What?” Levi asked, sharply.

“You can’t go around picking up a fight with strangers.”

“But they deserved it,” Levi pressed, jaw tightening stubbornly. 

“I can understand the reason why you think that they did,” Kuchel went on with a softer voice. “But violence is not the answer. You know that.”

Levi turned his face away, his jaw moved as he pressed his lips together, and he folded his arms. “Whatever.”

“You should be thankful to that old lady who saw you getting your ass beaten,” Kenny told him, leaning back on his chair. As it turned out the reason why Kenny had found them was an old lady who had recognized Levi and informed Kenny about the situation. Hanji genuinely wanted to find and kiss her hands for being the nicest person alive.

“I learned from the best,” Levi snapped.

Kenny squinted and looked at Kuchel. “Permission to beat your brat as punishment?”

“Declined,” Kuchel said, rolling her eyes. 

Levi smirked, and Kenny clicked his tongue, clearly irritated. 

“Hanji,” Kuchel turned her attention to her, kneeling in front of Hanji and she pushed a stray hair behind her ear. “I need to talk to your parents about this, honey, okay? They need to know. This is serious.” She held her hand and squeezed lightly. “You don’t have to face this alone, alright?” Kuchel smiled. 

Hanji bit her lower lip again when tears started sinking behind her eyes. She couldn’t find the strength to say anything, so she merely nodded in response. 

“Don’t worry,” Kenny said then, crackling his fingers. “If a verbal warning doesn’t work, I can always teach them a more permanent lesson.”

“Kenny, they are only children. Don’t be ridiculous,” Kuchel rolled her eyes and shook her head. “And it will work. We will make sure of it.” She raised her brows. “Right?”

“Yes,” she managed to whisper at last. “Thank you.”

Oh, no. She was near the edge of crying, only needed one more push and then she would fall and get drown in her own, salty tears. For some reason, she didn’t want to cry in front of Kuchel. There was nothing wrong with crying, she knew that, but still…

Then, a hand, the same one from earlier, grabbed her own and pulled her up. Hanji let him, despite the unexpected movement, and as Levi guided her out of the room, she merely followed without saying a word. 

“I am gonna take her home,” he informed Kuchel and Kenny shortly before they exited the room.  

The air was somewhat chilly outside, and the light of day was long lost but neither Levi nor Hanji were quite aware of it. Levi didn’t let go of her hand as he kept on pulling her, his steps were fast and determined, hand firm and warm around her fingers. She followed for a handful of seconds, trying to match his steps. She couldn’t get a clear view of the road, nor could she make out the lines of his figure from behind quite clearly. It took her several minutes before she pulled at his hand to make him listen, “Levi,” she called. “Levi, I don’t want to go home.”

He didn’t look back, he didn’t slow down, he didn’t even wait for her to reach him. “I know,” he said merely. 

With those two simple words, the final push came at last, and tears let loose without a warning. She sobbed and covered her eyes with the inside of her elbow, tears wetted her thin raincoat. And Levi squeezed her fingers as if to say, it’s okay, and this time she really, truly believed that it was. 

--

“Wait here for a second,” Levi stopped them minutes later. She didn’t know where they were. Now that it was darker, there were artificial, neon lights everywhere and they made her head throb. “Okay?”

She nodded and sniffed. Her face was wet with tears and very embarrassingly snot, however, she had no tissue with her or anything to clean her face with. 

Levi sighed and stepped closer. Hanji wondered why he was still there while he had just told her to wait. Then he lifted his left hand, and she saw that he had pulled his t-shirt over his palm. His right hand held her shoulder and as Hanji blinked her eyes confused, he brought his hand over her face then cleaned each wet spot with his t-shirt. 

She gawked at him in shock. “Levi!”

“Don’t.” He folded the fabric up after he was finished. “I don’t want to hear anything about this. Ever. Understood?”

She was still in awe; the great clean freak Levi Ackerman had just cleaned the snot in her face with his cloth! “You—”

“Understood, Hanji?”

It took much too effort to close her jaw, and say, “Yeah.”

“Good.”

Then he walked away, leaving Hanji astonished and very much impressed. She felt her heart fluttering a little, and her lips curled upwards. “Softie,” she whispered to herself. 

When he got back a few minutes later there was a bag in his hand and inside a couple of chocolate milk and her favourite snacks. “You hadn’t eaten anything,” he explained, and when they settled on their road to the roof, she smiled, looking at his side profile. Softie, indeed. 

-

Hanji drank her milk, and they ate together with the snacks he had brought. It eased her headache and appeased her nausea a little bit. She couldn’t look up at the stars though, what a shame.

“We should go to the same high school,” Levi said after they finished eating and were watching the view ahead.

Hanji beamed at him and shoved his shoulder with her own slightly. “Yeah, it would be great.”

She leaned on his shoulder afterwards and enjoyed the breeze, and his warmth she borrowed through the fabrics of their clothes. When minutes started to chase the hours slowly, the night got colder, and clouds started to gather up above. “We should—” 

“I don’t want to see you getting hurt again,” he said, suddenly. 

Hanji looked at him and saw it again. Levi was a river, high and low, wild and calm, complicated and wide. He flew through rocks, valleys and lands. Just like a river, she thought, he carried his emotions in an endless stream. And once she let herself be carried away with it, there was no way to escape. And it wasn’t like she looked for one in the first place.

“Can I hug you?” she asked, with a voice so low, it was as if she was afraid of hearing the word no.

“Idiot,” he said, and she saw the waters calming down in his eyes, and his voice was tender like the petal of a violet. “You never need to ask.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, and as he hugged her back, arms tight around her waist she wasn’t quite surprised to realize that her vision was yet again blurry with hot tears. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For being there.”

“I always will be,” he replied without hesitation. And then a heartbeat later he added, “To the last syllable of recorded time.”

A tear escaped her eye, she laughed hoarsely and breathed in. He smelled like leaves, soap and the wind.

He smelled like home. 

#levihan #levihan fanfiction #levihan fic #levi x hanji #levi ackerman #hange zoe #hanji zoe #levihan childhood friends

[snazzy-suit]

LLoG Chapter 5.4 (Snippet) Hey! Creatures! Leave Them Kids Alone!

Hey, it’s been a while! Like, what, over a year since I last updated this arc? And this isn’t even a complete chapter, just a little sneak-peek at a potential scene in part four (I say potential, because part four has been re-written so many times I’ve lost count, so who knows if it’ll make the cut). 

But yeah, I thought it was about time I post something, even if it’s just a rough, unedited snippet.

Enjoy!

=

For context, Luigi and the Polterpup have made their way to the second floor of the house, and are searching for Gooigi and the final captured kid. This picks up at the moment Luigi and Pepper reunite after briefly becoming separated. 

===

Luigi quietly approaches Pepper, offering the latter a hushed reprimand for running off. His half-hearted scolding sputters out as he takes notice of what has captured the canine's attention. The pup is plopped before an innocuous, oak door. There aren’t any visible barriers, and the plumber doesn’t feel any malicious energy warning off potential intruders. While relieving, it doesn’t ease the trepidation settling in the plumber’s gut. He glances at the Polterpup; they don’t appear to be bothered by whatever lay on the other side of this door. Luigi cautiously grasps the handle, and when it offers no resistance, he opens the door.

The plumber isn’t sure what he expected to find on the other side—other than an angry ghost—but a cramped hall closet certainly wouldn’t have been his first guess. He is greeted by an assortment of coats, shoes, and—to his quiet amusement—a vacuum cleaner. Luigi quirks a brow at the bland discovery. Why did Pepper lead him to a closet? What was he supposed to find here?

Luigi reaches toward the wall of coats, intending to part them, when something suddenly lunges from the storage space’s depths.  

“Take this, evil ghost!"

Luigi narrowly avoids being brained by a swinging clothes iron. When his attacker misses, their forward momentum sends them crashing to the floor in a heap. Luigi hastily steps back, but pauses in his retreat as he takes in the ambusher’s appearance.

They’re a Doogan—an adolescent with russet fur and pale blue eyes. The patch of hair on their head is hidden by a baseball cap bearing a team mascot Luigi doesn’t recognize, presumably from the kid’s school.

Pepper curiously sniffs at the fallen teen. The Doogan scoots away with a startled yelp, swiping at the ghostly canine with their impromptu weapon. They gape in shock when the iron passes harmlessly through their target.  

“What the—? Why didn’t it work?! I thought ghosts couldn’t stand iron!"

“Iron, as in the metal,” Luigi corrects, somewhat amused, “not the tool you use to get wrinkles out of clothes. Also, iron isn’t as effective as folklore makes it out to be.”

“Oh." The teen frowns at his useless weapon. “I knew I should have tried to whittle a stake instead."

“...where are you getting your paranormal information from?"

“The cryptids page on the ‘seenthat’ forum. Those guys really seemed to know their stuff, so I, uh..." They trail off, looking up at the plumber with sudden recognition. “Holy crap you’re Luigi.” The teen smiles, laughing nervously. “Luigi’s in my house. I’m being rescued by one of the Mario Brothers. This is awesome."

Luigi can’t help but smile back, feeling partially relieved. The kid can’t be in too bad of shape if they’re able to feel star-struck, right?

“You must be Dane."

“Wha— Oh! Yeah, that’s me. Dane—Dane Pawper. Well, my parents named me Larry, so my full name is actually Larry Dane Pawper but who wants to go by Larry?" He blinks, suddenly looking embarrassed. “Sorry, I ramble when I’m nervous."

“No worries, I’m the same way." The plumber offers Dane his hand to help the teen up. They happily accept his offer, but grimace as they feel Luigi’s damp glove.  

“Hey, why are you all wet?” Dane asks, brow raised.

“I shower with my clothes on.”

That startles a laugh out of the teen, and Luigi is grateful they hadn’t been put-off by his flat tone. Sometimes his sense of humor comes off as a touch derisive, even if it’s not his intention.

“No, but seriously, what happened?” The teen glances up and down the hall, as if searching for the cause of Luigi’s saturated state. “Did one of our pipes burst again?” 

Luigi imperceptibly cringes, feeling a tad self-conscious.

“A Blooper ghost threw your pool at me.”

“Oh...” Dane rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, looking anywhere but at Luigi. “I’m sorry. I... this is my fault. All these ghosts are here because of me," he mumbles. “I’m the one that read from the book."

Luigi’s brows rise marginally. Dane was the summoner? That certainly explains why the strongest ghost targeted him.

“I don’t think it’s fair for you to take all the blame. From what Koojo told me, it was a group decision."

The Doogan’s eyes light up.

“You talked to Koojo? Is he okay? What about the others?"

“He’s fine, they all are," Luigi assures. “They’re outside waiting with a friend while my partners and I handle the rest of these ghosts."

Dane’s shoulders sag with relief.

“Thank the Stars," he sighs. Then, curiously, “Wait, partners? As in more than one? Is Mario here too?"

Luigi fights back a laugh. His brother was talented in many things, but for whatever reason, he seemed to flounder whenever he tried to wield the Poltergust.

“No, ghost hunting isn’t really his thing," he says mildly. “Pepper and Gooigi are my partners in crime tonight."

The teen perks, suddenly looking elated.  

“Dude! Same here!”

When Luigi gives him an odd look, Dane reaches into the pockets of his orange jacket and procures a pepper shaker and a pair of sunglasses with a large “G” printed on the arms. Luigi stares at the items with thinly veiled dismay.

“Good Grambi,” Luigi mumbles quietly. “The Boos back at the mansion would adore you.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Dare I ask why you have pepper in your pocket?”

“For protection,” the kid says like it’s obvious, “from demons!”  

The plumber takes a deep, composing breath.

“Remind me to make some book recommendations after we get out of here,” he says tiredly. “And to clarify, Pepper is my dog. Also, I said Gooigi, not the fashion brand.”

“Goo... igi...?” Dane repeats slowly. “Is that a portmanteau of ‘Goo’ and ‘Luigi’?”

Luigi offers a somewhat solemn nod.

“Uh... would this ‘Gooigi’ person happen to look like you if you were a lime-green fruit snack?”

“You’ve seen him?”

The teen suddenly looks embarrassed.

“Yeah... I, uh, kinda ran away... from him...?” His voice lilts as if asking a question. At Luigi’s blank stare, he hurries to elaborate. “I didn’t know he was a good guy!”

“You just said he looks like me.”

“Man, I don’t know! I didn’t really make the connection at the time!” Dane throws his hands up. “I just saw a walking Gummy Man wobbling around and freaked out! I thought they were one of the things the hooded dude summoned.”

A dozen questions pop into the plumber’s mind. The first to leave his mouth is, undoubtedly, the least imperative.

“...Gummy Man?"

“I’m not very creative."

Maybe not, but Luigi was definitely going to tease his partner about this later.

===

And there we have it! I know it’s not much, but I can’t include much in the way of action without spoiling things. This scene is one of the few that has remained fairly consistent through all the drafts, so I felt it was safe to share. Plus I enjoyed writing the dialogue. Honestly, that’s some of my favorite stuff to write. 

Now, as far as where I am in drafting this thing... well, fun fact: Part 4 ain’t the end of this. Part 4 became Part 5, and Part 5 went on into Part 6 (and I am begging the universe that it doesn’t try and get a Part 7). I’m pretty sure I’ve already said this before, but this arc has gone off the rails and I am struggling to get it under control. Currently, I am working on the first draft of Part 6. Weep for me. :’D 

#Luigi #Polterpup #Luigi's Mansion #Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon #Luigi's Mansion 3 #Doogan #Mario #Gooigi #fanfic #I've been reading some really good writing advice #and it's making a HUGE difference in my productivity #hopefully we'll see the fruit of these efforts soon #snippet

[thetypedwriter]

A Curse So Dark and Lonely Book Review

A Curse So Dark and Lonely Book Review by Brigid Kemmerer

My gosh, I feel like I have enormous feelings about this book. 

So, I had seen this book for awhile bestow the shelves at Barnes & Noble and while it drew the eye, it also didn’t entice me right away. I must have read snippets of the backside summary a dozen times before I finally succumbed and purchased it when the store was having a buy one, get one 50% off deal. 

Lame, I know. 

That being said, A Curse So Dark and Lonely surprised me in a lot of pleasant ways and at the end of the experience it was a book I genuinely enjoyed reading, despite the flaws throughout. 

First off, somehow, in ways that I don’t even fully understand, I did not realize that this was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. 

You might ask, seeing the title, the reviews on the back literally calling it a retelling of a classic fairytale, the summary itself, and the basic premise, how did I not realize what the true nature of this book was?

I genuinely have no idea. 

I really don’t. 

It’s so flabbergasting that I don’t even have a proper answer for you other than Beauty and the Beast was not my favorite Disney movie growing up and that I probably should have spent more time checking out what bargain books to buy before I laid down the cash. 

Oh well.

That being said, retellings of classic fairy tales has been a fairly popular phenomenon in the YA literature scene (and popular culture as a whole, really) for the last couple of years and while I can see the appeal, it was never something that beckoned me. 

I’m not a huge fairytale fan to begin with so a retelling of the original doesn’t hold much sway in terms of intrigue and buy-in. 

If I had known what A Curse So Dark and Lonely truly was, I never would have bought it. Frankly, it’s a little sad because I genuinely would have missed out on a very fun and engaging read. Fortunately enough, however, my dumb actions actually paid off in good luck this time around. 

The whole premise is exactly what you’ve probably surmised up to this point: an enumeration of Beauty and the Beast with some modern fanfare and twists and turns along the way. 

Rhen is the current Crown Prince of Emberall, a country in some parallel world to the one that you and I currently exist in. With a series of twists, the main protagonist, Harper, is unwillingly hoisted from her homeland of Washington D.C. to the magical world of Emberfall, which unfortunately is not all that magical with a looming war on the horizon involving a neighboring nation, rumors of a savage beast that has wreaked havoc on the country, and a wicked witch that delights in torment and carnage to sadistic glee.  

Soon enough, a high school dropout with cerebral palsy soon finds herself in the imaginary role as the Princess of Disi, an allying nation that has promised aid and troops to Emberfall and potentially betrothed to the Crown Prince, Rhen. 

To make matters more complicated, Harper finds herself often in the company of Grey, the lone soldier of the Royal Guard and Rhen’s constant shadow, a figure she soon begins to trust despite herself. 

With a war on the horizon, the ever-present threat of the witch Lillith, the haunting promise of the beast’s return, and evolving feelings, A Curse So Dark and Lonely is a lovely concoction of both fast-paced action, romance, humor, and fantasy. This whole book gave me a pleasant buzz from start to finish. 

The plot itself, while recycled at its core, is fresh enough with the modern flare of Harper being from D.C. (Disi-this still makes me laugh), representation in the form of a character with a disability like cerebral palsy, interesting and complex relationships, and opposing enough with the threat of Lillith and future battles that it never seemed pithy or banal. 

While the world building is...mediocre, I don’t think it was amazing nor do I think it’s awful, it’s a useful enough background for the characters and their emotions to take place, which honestly is the real focus throughout the entire novel (although the author did take some liberties by inputting in things like the castle automatically regenerating food-how much more deus ex machina can you get?). 

  Kemmerer’s writing style is also fine. Nothing groundbreaking, but also not writing I find abhorrent or even unlikeable. She comes across as a typical YA author to me in terms of her vocabulary, her figurative language, and her writing style. 

The real focus, if you haven’t caught on by now, are the characters. 

I genuinely like all three main characters quite a bit, which, if you regularly read my reviews, is quite the anomaly. 

Rhen I find to be strangely complex. While he fits the mold of the brooding, arrogant prince that actually cares deeply for his people and his country quite well, I also found him more interesting than just the archetype of the royal son. 

He’s surly, dark, and quite temperamental. While he does care deeply about his people, he’s often selfish and petty. Honestly, he shouldn’t be very likable at all, but it’s for that reason alone that I do like him. 

I like that while he might be a good ruler he’s not necessarily a good person and I like the dichotomy and the conflict that implicitly comes with that struggle, a struggle often shown to the readers and the two other characters he’s closest with: Harper and Grey. 

In addition, often in YA I feel like authors constantly feel pressured to make romantic love interests “perfect” which to me, translates to being stereotypical and boring. Very often my favorite characters are the ones who are flawed and complicated-just like Rhen. 

Grey is also a character that I thought would be more simple than he actually turned out to be. I originally thought Grey was going to be the stoic, soldier type and while he is, I also really enjoyed seeing his lighter side, his sense of humor, his love for children, and the deadly loyalty that binds him not because of a curse or a spell, but because of his own stubbornness and dedication to the decision that he made and the refusal to break it.

I found this honor code fascinating and his adherence to it almost obsessive. His loyalty to Rhen is both baffling and intriguing and often it was the best part of the novel for me. 

Which brings me to my next point: Rhen and Grey’s relationship is hand’s down the best part of this book. It’s a complicated relationship and, therefore, really fascinating to read about it. They have a serpentine history involving Grey being the one to let Lillith into Rhen’s chambers which sets off the whole curse business in the first place. 

However, as Rhen says later on in the book, it was his choice to keep Lillith overnight and to pursue romance, not Grey’s. 

There is guilt, blame, affection, loyalty, ownership, friendship, frustration, anger, sacrifice and more to their relationship. Their history stops them from being true friends, as do their roles as prince and guard, yet they are the only companion the other has for seasons upon seasons. 

At the end of the day, Grey is all Rhen had for a very long time and it shows. 

Their relationship was always so engrossing to read about due to its complications and its nuances. Very few YA relationships, especially that of platonic male friendship, gets even near the level of depth and grey (I couldn’t help this pun) area shown between Grey and Rhen. Their relationship alone is a huge draw for why I found this novel so captivating. 

I did wonder for a while if perhaps there were more than platonic feelings involved, but I could never quite put my finger on the true nature of their relationship or their feelings towards each other, which I find absolutely amazing. Their relationship is messy and complicated, just like real life relationships are. 

That leaves the third piece of the puzzle: Harper. 

Out of the three main characters, I like Harper the least, but I do still like her. I like that she’s strong and tenacious, not in spite of her cerebral palsy, but in addition to her already present bravery and ferocity. She’s headstrong, stubborn, kind, merciful, and compassionate. 

My dislike from Harper stems from the fact that she’s a little too perfect, especially compared to Rhen and Grey, who I found to be much more convoluted characters. 

Again, harping (hahah) back to stereotypical YA, other than her cerebral palsy, I don’t think there’s anything in particular about Harper that makes her complicated, flawed, or especially interesting. 

She’s a good girl willing to give it all up for a country she’s only known for a few weeks even though her mother’s dying at home and her brother is most likely involved in some kind of gang violence. 

The best scenes with Harper are the scenes were she is struggling to choose between the two worlds and weighing her options, as at some points it does depict her as selfish and wanting to go home, even though she knows it would doom thousands of people. 

But of course, this is all taken care of later when she realizes D.C. isn’t her true home any more and that Emberfall has become where her heart lies. 

Lame. 

Kemmerer made Harper just a little too pristine for my liking, which is why she ranks lower than both Rhen and Grey when on paper she is by far the best in terms of personality and character traits. 

This especially grates on me when Kemmerer tells us that Harper is fantastic instead of letting us glean that for ourselves. I really dislike when an author tells me instead of shows me that someone is brave or kind or amazing or whatnot and I feel like there were enough instances of Harper being all of those things without having needed Rhen or Grey to point it out all of the time. 

I also do feel like there is some weird shaming regarding things typically seen as “feminine” in relation to Harper and why that makes her “better.” For example, Rhen talks often about how no girl ever has ever done what Harper has done, like attacking him. 

I’m sorry? You’re telling me that Grey has kidnapped hundreds of girls and not one of them before Harper tried to attack them? In any form? Really? 

I find that preposterous. 

Other instances of Harper being unique in this fashion is also sprinkled in, like how most girls apparently only care about the dresses and the jewels in the castle, but not Harper. Or how most girls would be crying from a scar on their cheek, but Harper is just upset that she misses her target.

 I get what Kemmerer is going for, but these force-fed characterizations really bothered me and were the most irritating thing about the book. 

Being feminine or caring about stereotypically feminine things like jewelry or dresses does not mean that someone can’t also be strong and brave and fierce. I dislike a lot of the subliminal messages in the novel in regards to that. 

In terms of romance, again I have to ask myself when the trope of the love triangle will die. Perhaps it never will. Perhaps it will live on for eternity, forever immortal and present in nearly 90% of YA literature. 

The love triangle between Grey, Rhen, and Harper doesn’t bother me so much in this novel as I feel like it isn’t truly focused on very much, which I appreciate. I understand that Harper has feelings for both Grey and Rhen, but her feelings make sense. I don’t feel like Kemmerer is just foisting a love triangle onto the readers for the sake of having a love triangle. 

It felt somehow...natural. 

In addition, most love triangles suck as they’re very one sided, usually in terms of the female’s POV. 

In this case however, the love triangle is influenced by Grey and Rhen’s relationship, where the lines are very blurry and for a good portion of the book I thought perhaps they were in love with each other and Harper. 

Frankly, I would have been ecstatic if this was the route Kemmerer had taken. Not many YA authors go down this route, but examples like Mark/Cristina/Keiran from The Infernal Devices and Niall/Irial/Leslie from Ink Exchange are actually the only examples I know from YA literature so this would have been so welcome and anticipated. 

If Kemmerer had gone down the route of looking into a polyamorous relationship I would have been over the moon. I don’t think she is sadly, but polyamrous relationships are still so few and far between in YA that it would have been utterly captivating, especially as she has all the ingredients to do so. 

Or, I thought she did. 

Until it’s revealed at the very end that Rhen and Grey are brothers. Or, at least half-brothers. 

Yeah. 

It’s super unfortunate. 

I’m genuinely disappointed that this is the route Kemmerer decided to take it as it seems so grossly safe. It’s almost like an intense male/male relationship can’t exist unless it’s romantic or they’re brothers and I despise that. 

Hence, why I have also decided that I won’t be reading A Heart so Fierce and Broken. I want to keep the memory and the interesting relationships between the three characters as it is: interesting.

 I have a very strong feeling that if I read the sequel that will all be shattered. 

When all is said and done, I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to reading it and I wasn’t expecting very much, but it met all of my expectations and more. 

I am sad that I won’t be finishing the series as a whole, but I know that the direction it's going will only make me frustrated and annoyed and I would rather preserve the positive emotions attached to A Curse So Dark and Lonely than ruin it with a sequel that I know won’t meet the expectations I have. 

Perhaps that’s unfair to say, and rightly so, but I know myself and I can see where the sequel is going and I’m almost certain that I won’t like it. 

So in this case, I’m going to quit while I’m ahead and savor the moments I had reading this novel in all its fairy-telling glory. 

Recommendation: If you love Beauty and the Beast, fairytales with a modern twist, interesting characters and interesting relationships set in a fantasy world where the music never stops playing and a savage beast runs rampant, than this book is calling for you.

 I didn’t know that I needed this novel in my life and now I’m so glad that it is. Captivating from beginning to end, if you’re anything like me and a sucker for interesting romance and strong, nuanced characters you won’t be able to put this down either. 

Score: 7/10 

#a curse so dark and lonely #a heart so fierce and broken #brigid kemmerer #popular fiction #Popular Books #teen books #Teen Romance #teen fiction #book review #book blog #Book Recommendations #book rec #ya fiction #YA Book Review #ya book rec #book blogger