#EDITED BECAUSE I SPELLED TRICKS WRONG
Text
you've heard of Connor doing coin tricks, now get ready for Sixty doing knife tricks and Nines doing pen spinning
#dbh#dbh connor#dbh sixty#dbh nines#dbh headcanons#headcanons#detroit become human#guys back me up on this#EDITED BECAUSE I SPELLED TRICKS WRONG#prilled :3
72 notes
·
View notes
Note
May I request a yandere N with a stoic apathetic worker drone reader?
Yup.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, you can't be completely apathetic, nor stoic. Because in order for him to become yandere for you, you'd need to be nice and actually and genuinely care for him. That's what makes him fall for you.
That being said, Let's say you became stoic and apathetic after he fell. He'd be extremely confused on why you were suddenly just nonchalant.
It was as if you didn't care about him anymore.
So he'd try to win you back in any way he could possibly think of. Whether that be from doing some badass tricks, showing more attention to you, killing anyone who makes you even slightly annoyed (at your request if you're that cruel) The whole sha-bang.
Eventually, when that doesn't work he'll ask you straight up if he or anyone else did anything wrong that made you suddenly stoic/apathetic.
Remember, he's still willing to go the whole 9 yards for you. So he'd do anything just for a ounce of your attention.
Depending on what it was that made you like this, there might not be anything that he can do.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT: Spelling mistakes
#Yandere N#Murder drones#Murder Drones x reader#Murder drones N#Murder drones N x Reader#N: Why are you acting so emotionless?#Y/N: Our god is non-existent and we're all destined to die.#N: Oh.
71 notes
·
View notes
Note
babygirl bo <3 I have some Qs to which I beg you provide some As (I need me some of that deep bo lore)
🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings
🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love
🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh
🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here
babygirl lumi i love you so much. you're welcome to any lore you want
🍄 does puppy play count as a hc? because i write ghost calling soap "pup" as a kink thing but i also very much so think he'd just Do that.
if that doesn't count, then i'll say that one hc i swear by is that ghost is a freak but soap is 10x freakier and he's into literally every conceivable abuse ghost tries to commit agaisnt him.
also i think soap is suuuper smart but in a really specific way - can't spell for shit, but that man can rattle off college level math like it's nothing
🥤 is SUCH a good ask because now i can rec my fav cod x readers <3 (i know it says fic or author singular but you're getting multiple fics in place of me trying to tag authors and inevitably forgetting someone)
cod fics (but not the people i usually link because this post is already too long):
Baby Blue by kechiwrites (ghost x reader)
Taste by Sweet Deciet (ghost x soap x reader)
The Hand That Feeds by anonymous (ghost x soap)
Hypnotized (Fuck It) by ANTchan (ghost x soap)
Where Moonlight Meets the Sea by MildLimerence (ghost x soap)
Not More Than Once by WhisperedWords12 (ghost x soap)
NOT cod fics, but one for a few fandoms i love:
Declensions by dustorange is THE dick grayson origin fic. if there's one fanfic i wish i had written, it would be this
the first step of kintsugi by thepolysyndetonaddictsupportgroup is a peter parker & frank castle fic and im not sure it'll ever be finished but it is just. god it is perfect and probably my favorite fic of all time
anything by cupcakemolotov is gonna hit like no other for klaus mikaelson/caroline forbes. i love her so so much like she is my IDOL
ALL MOUTH. by themilkteeth is like the epitome of what a good darklina fic is. it's soooooosososo good i want it injected into my veins
the Blood Apron series by sciencefictioness is a great overwatch fic, but you really don't need to know the characters to enjoy the story! another one that'll never get added to, but i love it a lot
🥐 i don't like the lotr movies but there's a moment in the first (?) one where aragorn (?) is singing to himself and frodo (?) asks "who is this lady you sing of?" and for some reason i literally cannot watch it without keeling over in laughter. it's so fucking stupid
🪲 ohhhh we have beef for this one. i hate you a teeny tiny bit for making me write (/j). added it below the cut!
ok quick edit here but. i thought that said 500 words so uh. sorry but there's 500 words here instead of 50 lmfao. im a fool!!!!!
ghost x soap (cw for (legal) age gap)
He takes another look at the kid, now that he’s not planning on throwing him off the property. He’s got a bit of bulk, probably just recently started working out, and there’s a cocky energy coming off of him. Ghost would bet this is far from the first time he’s robbed someone with this little ruse, probably thinks he’s the smartest burglar in town. Too bad he chose the wrong man to try and trick this time.
Ghost straightens from the doorway, rolling back his shoulders and standing tall. The kid isn’t short by any means, but compared to Simon he’s practically little. Odds are he’s still got some growing to do, but for now Simon gets to enjoy the way he can loom over the teenager.
“No one ever taught you to respect your elders, boy?”
Oh, the kid doesn’t like that one. If he were a dog, his hackles would be fully raised, but he’s left settling for curling his lip back in a snarl. “You think just cause you’re old I have to respect you?”
“I think you’ll respect me because you’re on my property. That and I don’t think you’ll like what happens if you keep the attitude up.”
The kid flushes, either from rage or the innuendo. “Who the fuck do you think you are? You think just because we’re out here alone you can say whatever you want to me?”
“Of course not. We’re out here all alone, which means I can do whatever I want to you. And I will, if you don’t get off my property.”
The kid looks him up and down, then visibly steels himself. Ghost bites back a smirk. He’s not used to being underestimated, but he finds he doesn’t mind when it means getting to see the kid play at being his equal.
“What do you think you’ll do if I don’t go?”
Oh, Ghost can’t wait to beat the attitude out of the little brat.
He doesn’t let the kid see how much the rudeness is getting to him, intentionally keeping his face flat and unimpressed. “What’s your name, kid?”
That permanent scowl doesn’t shift, even as a flash of confusion crosses his face. “...John.”
Ghost nods. “Alright, Johnny, if you don’t get off my property, I’ll take you over my knee and teach you what your daddy should’ve.”
It’s nearly impossible to keep from grinning when Johnny’s mouth pops open in surprise, the flush creeping further up his neck. “You- you’ll- who do you think- you can’t-”
Ghost reaches out like he might slap Johnny, instead snaps right in front of his nose, sharp and loud. “Spit it out, boy. I don’t feel like listening to a kid learn how to speak all night.”
Johnny’s letting himself get worked up, and not doing a good job of hiding it. His teeth grind and he shifts from foot to foot, like he’d like to try and attack Ghost. He’s apparently smart enough to know how idiotic that would be, and Simon finds he’s almost disappointed.
33 notes
·
View notes
Text
Who Made Me a Villain (6)
[Masterlist] [Ao3]
(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)(Part 5)
This is a Halloween special as a treat.
------
Clark Kent, a mild mannered reporter, was drinking his coffee. Just like any other average Joe while editing Lois Lane’s latest scoop so there were no spelling mistakes and grammar errors.
Then, his super hearing picked up Lois’s heartbeat speedup. There was an ear-piercing scream that had him jumping out of his seat.
“Woah, Kent, what’s wrong?” A concerned colleague asked.
“Indigestion. Bathroom. Real quick.” Clark threw out the first excuse that came to mind before speeding down to the nearest bathroom. Being careful to keep it to human speed.
He had just finished changing into Superman when his phone rang, the caller ID showing Lois’s name.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Superman demanded.
“Name’s Rebel. And don’t worry your darling, I need her alive to do something I want.”
The voice sounded young and female. Superman went through his mental list of supervillains, trying to figure out who took Lois.
“Rebel…” Superman repeated, trying to put a face to the name. Then, he remembered Batman grumbling about Robin sending a picture of him covered in neon green paint and feathers to the Young Justice unofficial group chat who all were happy to show their mentors. It took everything for Superman not to burst out laughing when Kon had shown him the picture. The one responsible for Batman’s misfortune had been no other than Rebel.
“Aren’t you supposed to be Gotham, Rebel?” Superman asked as he flew towards where he knew Lois was.
“Ah. So the great Captain America has heard of me.”
Superman stopped in mid-air, purely due to confusion because Rebel sounded so confident that it was his name.
“Excuse me what?”
The French accent didn’t really help but make Clark think of those terrible Hollywood bad guys.
“You are excused. As I was saying, Captain, your beloved love is fine. I just need her to do this one little thing for me. Then, she’ll be free to go.”
“What do you want from me?” Superman asked again.
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Captain America, the world does not revolve around you. You aren’t the high and mighty god everyone thinks you are. I just need Mrs. Lane’s help in releasing a certain truth.”
“You will let her go right now!” Superman said.
He was narrowing on his wife’s location.
“I just told you that I will do that after I am done.” Rebel replied.
Superman arrived at the location but,
“This can’t be right.”
Rebel giggled over the phone. “Plot twist! Gotta love them.”
Superman was currently floating above Stryker's Island Penitentiary where the worst offenders of Metropolis were kept.
He scanned the buildings but couldn’t locate Lois.
“What did you do to her?”
“Chill, Captain. She’s fine. I just did something so you went after a fake heartbeat while I hid Lois.”
The fact that she tricked him using a complicated method that sounded like something Bruce would come up with had Superman raising his guard up. She was not an opponent to be underestimated.
“I am not going to repeat myself. What did you do to her?”
“Urgh. Can’t you overlook this little thing just this once?” Rebel complained, not concerned about the fact that she was provoking a man who could bend metal like it was rubber. “I am just stealing her for a few hours and then you can have her back. I even swear that she will be in the condition you last saw her in.”
“No. Give Lois back. Now.”
Rebel huffed. “You aren’t going to make this easy, huh? Then… beep.”
Superman was confused for a second when she made that sound with her voice.
Then, an explosion rocked the island below Superman. Instantly, the place was swarming with freed prisoners and guards trying to put them back.
“That should keep you busy. After all, the people of Metropolis need to be kept safe from the vicious criminals. Lois and I would probably be done with our girls’ day out by the time you are done. Au revoir.”
The phone hung up.
Trapped between the decision to save his wife and his city, Superman went to save the day.
—
“Man, your husband was a pain to deal with.” Rebel said after she hung up on Superman.
She turned back to Lois who was sitting unbound on a sofa with her recorder, notepad and pencil out. In front of her was a delicious spread of cakes, pastries and cookies with a mouth-watering scent which Lois tried her best to ignore.
“You kidnapped me and blew up a prison. I don’t think he would be happy to see you.” Lois pointed out.
“This isn’t about him.” Rebel dismissed. “This is about you, helping me expose one of the biggest cover ups in history.”
“What makes you think I would help you?”
“What if I told you that four years ago. There was a supervillain in Paris that used negative emotions to turn people into monsters and the mayor had made sure news of it never got out.”
Lois snorted. “I don’t write fantasy, kid. I only write the truth.”
Rebel slapped down a bunch of newspapers dated from four years ago to the most recent one and a lot of documents.
“Here’s evidence. I promise that they aren’t faked. You can even use your phone to search all of this up if you still don’t believe me.”
Lois grabbed the one that was oldest and the front page talked about some stone golems wrecking the city. She read through it. Then, she looked at another paper dated a week later and read the front page talking about evil butterflies.
Fifteen minutes later and some google searches, Lois put down her phone and the newspapers.
She gave Rebel a professional smile. “Now… about that scoop you were going to give me.”
She watched Rebel’s eyes lit up.
—
Hours later…
Superman landed on the roof of the Daily Planet where Lois stood safe and sound. He scanned her with his x-ray vision and felt relieved to see that she was fine.
“Lois, are you okay?” Clark asked with worry as he hugged her.
“I’m fine. Honestly, it was the best kidnapping I've ever been in.” Lois replied, hugging back.
“Thanks for the compliment, Ms. Lane.” The unwanted spectator to their reunion said.
Rebel cheerfully waved from where she was on her bike as Superman glared at her.
“I am going to-”
“That’s my cue to leave.” Rebel cut off his threat as she took out a lead box. “Really lucky I stole this off the Big Bat the other day.”
Superman immediately backed away when the box was opened, revealing a glowing green rock.
“Bye, Captain America.”
Rebel tossed it onto the ground and sped off on her bike.
It took a moment for Superman to remember that they were on a roof and that Rebel was insane.
He watched Rebel drop down as gravity took hold. Superman immediately flew after her, only to find that she had disappeared in between the seconds his eyes were off her.
His brain finally caught up and Superman realised that he wasn’t feeling any effect of Kryptonite.
He turned around to see that the box was still open. Cautiously, Lois picked it up and closed it.
“You okay, Clark?” She asked.
“Can you give me the box, Lois?”
She nodded with confusion and slowly handed it over.
Clark slowly opened the lead box and laughed in disbelief. Inside was just some clear plastic crystals with a glowing green light underneath.
—
“Batman.”
“Superman.” Batman nodded in acknowledgement. “Why are you here?”
“I need you to run some tests on Lois’s blood. She had a run in with one of your Rogues. She said that she feels fine. But I want to be sure.” Superman answered. He handed Batman the vial of blood. He accepted it and put it in his pocket.
“I will do that as soon as I get back to the Cave. Who was it that she encountered?”
“Rebel.”
Batman stiffened at the mention of her name. “I see. What did she do to Lois?”
“Gave an interview I suppose. Lois was immediately on research binge about something that happened in France afterwards. She also had a few of the food Rebel laid out because she was hungry and I quote ‘they were the most delicious pastries ever’. She insisted that she was fine but I wanted to be sure.”
Batman’s frown deepened at that answer.
“Is something wrong?” Superman asked anxiously. This was the mother of his child and the love of his life that was in danger here.
“Lois is most probably fine but I will still run the test to ease your mind. I know Rebel won’t do something to the food unless it was for a prank. Even then, it’s nothing toxic or lethal.” Batman answered.
The answer didn’t reassure Superman.
“She blew up Stryker's Island, Batman.”
He couldn’t understand why Batman seemed so unbothered that such a dangerous villain was running around freely and causing chaos wherever she went.
“She regularly does it to Arkham.”
“Bruce. She lured me into a trap with a fake heartbeat of Lois. She fooled me into thinking she had kryptonite. She rode off the roof of the Daily Planet on her bike and disappeared into thin air. And Rao knows why she keeps calling me Captain America!” Superman ranted.
He took a deep breath to calm down before asking his question. “Rebel is clearly dangerous so why aren’t you taking her as a serious threat?”
Batman stared at him. Clark knew that this was his decision making face.
“You said that Lois was looking into something that happened in France.”
Superman nodded. “Yeah. Is Rebel related to it?”
Batman sighed. It was filled with regret and shame.
Superman knew that this was not good news.
“I was going to bring this up at the next League meeting but Rebel appeared to be getting impatient.” Batman started.
“What happened in France?”
“We, as the League, had made a huge oversight. There was a major problem in Paris for many years. A villain who could turn people into monsters had the city hostage. Rebel intends on making sure that we rectify our mistake.” Batman started.
He told Superman everything. About how Rebel brought the issue to his attention. What her plans were. Her past.
“Bruce, are you sure? She could be lying.” Superman said.
“I did my research. It’s all true. There is too much evidence to be faked. Some parts are still being investigated but it is largely the truth.”
Superman looked solemn. He couldn’t understand how something like this never fell on his radar. Batman had to rely on reports and technology to get his information. He was just a man after all. It would be easy for something like this to slip past his radar, especially how tightly controlled the information was.
Clark had super-hearing and this news about Paris had completely blindsided him.
“How could we have missed something so big for so long?” He muttered.
“Too many factors prevented news about it from reaching us. The past is done. What we can do is prepare so nothing like won’t ever happen again.” Batman said firmly.
Superman agreed. They had to do better.
“First, we have to catch a moth.”
It wasn’t the threat of Rebel unleashing her plans on the world that had him motivated to capture Hawkmoth. It was the determination to atone for his ignorance while a city suffered hell on a daily basis.
—
October 30th, Halloween Eve…
Spoiler looked through the binoculars to spy on the group of men moving a crate gently into a warehouse. Plastered in stickers that said ‘Fragile’, the crate was an object of interest for the vigilantes.
“I got eyes on the target, O.” Spoiler reported. “They are moving it into warehouse number 32. East side of the Gotham Docks.”
“Hear that, Robin?” Oracle asked.
“Got it.” Robin replied as he ran towards the location.
“Oh. I see you, Robin.” Spoiler said.
“Eyes on the target, Spoiler.” Oracle admonished her.
“Sorry, O.”
“Hey. Can you tell me what you Bats are doing here?” A mechanical voice came from Spoiler’s left.
It was lucky that Spoiler didn’t immediately scream and instead tried to punch the new arrival. He caught her attack easily with his one hand.
“Red Hood.” Spoiler greeted once she recognised who it was.
“I am asking again. What are you Bats doing here?”
“Spoiler, you okay?” Robin’s worried voice came over the comms.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just Red Hood.” Spoiler replied.
Looking back at Red Hood, she said, “I will tell you if you tell me what you are doing here.”
“I think we are both after the same thing.” Red Hood said, tilting his head in the direction of the warehouse.
“Black Mask’s mysterious package.” Spoiler nodded.
“It’s actually Rebel’s.” Red Hood explained. “Black Mask’s men intercepted the delivery and she asked for my help to get it back.”
“Do you know what’s inside?”
“She said it was supposed to be a fun Halloween surprise.”
“So it’s harmless.”
Red Hood shrugged. “All I know is that I should not be within a mile of it when the clock strikes midnight tonight.”
“We have five hours then.” Oracle’s voice came through Spoiler’s comms and inside Red Hood’s helmet.
“Jesus, don’t just hack into people’s helmets.” Jason complained.
“Well, we don’t have extra comms on hand.” she retorted.
“Hood, did Rebel tell you anything else about the package?” Robin asked.
“Just that it’s set to be unleashed the minute it is Halloween. Oh and don’t open it. I think it’s some kind of special bomb.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“It’s Rebel. What harm can she do? It’s probably some kind of high quality glitter bomb.” Red Hood replied casually.
“You have no idea how destructive she has gotten lately.” Oracle said. “Last month, she blew up Stryker's Island. That was after she had kidnapped Lois.”
“Is she trying to go after Superman?”
“She wanted Lois to spread her ‘take down Hawkmoth’ agenda.”
“Hawkmoth? Never heard of him. Who the hell is that?” Red Hood asked.
“Rebel’s personal vendetta.” Spoiler answered.
“Sorry to cut this short, guys but Black Mask is coming.” Robin said. “We can fill you in on what happened later”
“Truce?” Red Hood offered. “I still owe Roman a beating.”
“No killing, Hood.” Oracle set as her condition.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
Red Hood loaded his guns and jumped into the fray with Spoiler in her purple glory following.
—
“Crap.”
Robin spotted Black Mask running into the warehouse. He slammed the goon he was fighting against the ground as hard as he could.
“Somebody go and stop Black Mask! He’s going into the warehouse.” Robin said to everyone before he picked up his dropped staff and went back to fighting.
They were outnumbered and a few of the goons were trained from what Robin could tell.
“Oracle, what’s the ETA on back up?”
“Hang in there, Robin. Batman and Batgirl’s ETA is under one minute.”
“Good. Let’s hope that someone can stop Black Mask before we find out what Rebel’s Pandora box holds.”
—
Red Hood ran towards the warehouse as soon as he heard the report from Robin.
He had a score to settle with the other crime lord.
“Sionis, where are you?” Red Hood bellowed into the warehouse.
His helmet picked up the sound of someone running and Red Hood sprinted in the direction of the sound.
It became a chase and a gunfight with the two crime lords exchanging gunfire and one trying to lose the other in the maze that was the warehouse. Black Mask used every trick he had to throw Red Hood off his track.
However, it was fruitless as Red Hood continued to chase him like a bloodhound.
As desperation seized him, Black Mask picked up a crowbar that was lying around and ran towards the box he had stolen from that upstart Rebel.
Rumour has it that it is a weapon she had made for the Bats. Intended to drive them mad.
Red Hood rounded around the corner, just in time to see Black Mask pry the box open.
“NO!”
The lid was off.
—
Last Month in Metropolis. A day before Lois’s kidnapping…
A young woman sauntered through the hallways of Stryker's Island Penitentiary. Then, she stopped in front of the cell she was looking for.
“Hello, Toyman.”
“Rebel.” Toyman greeted back. “What a pleasure to see you again.”
“I would like to contract you to make a few things for me.” Rebel went straight to the point.
Toyman gave her an interested look. “What would be in it for me?”
“Would getting you out of this place give me a discount?” Rebel asked.
Toyman smiled. “I suppose that might be possible. I’m a generous man after all. But that still doesn’t answer what you want me to make.”
Rebel chuckled. “It’s September. It’s practically nearly Halloween. And I really really want to make it a memorable one. Especially for the heroes in my city. I would like to commission a few toys. Here’s a list.”
She handed it to him.
Toyman hummed as he read it over. This could be a good deal. He would get his freedom and just make a few dolls with a bit of profit.
“How many would you like to make?”
“As much as you can before the deadline which is a few days before Halloween. Say the twenty-eight? Would that be possible? I would pay a set price for each one you can finish.” Rebel said.
“Can you back it up? I am not saying that you are not trustworthy but...” Toyman didn’t manage to finish before Rebel took out a wad of cash, all in hundred dollar bills.
She took half of it and handed it to Toyman through the bars.
“This is for the materials. Once I get you out of here, we are going to make a legal contract to discuss the finer details.”
“It is going to be an honour to work with you.” Toyman said.
Rebel grinned under her mask. “It’s nice doing business with you, Toyman.”
“So when do I get started?”
“Tomorrow afternoon-ish. That’s when something would happen and you escape in the chaos.”
“How would I know it happened?”
“You will know. And try not to get caught by the guy who wears the ‘S’. A second breakout might not be easy to plan.”
After she left, Toyman felt giddy at the taste of freedom and to make so many new toys.
—
“WHAT?!”
Black Mask reached into the box and took its content out.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?” Black Mask said in angry disbelief as he held a doll in his hands.
Red Hood took that opportunity to tackle the man and handcuff him.
In his curiosity, Red Hood glanced into the box and saw that the box just contained dolls.
There was your typical Raggedy Ann, clowns, ventriloquist dummies, string puppets, those collector’s dolls with the pretty frilled dresses, a few Barbie dolls and some plushies that resembled some of the Bat vigilantes.
“Hood. Come in, Hood.” Batman’s voice came from his comms.
“Cool your jets, Batman. I got Black Mask. He managed to open the box but it’s just dolls inside. Rebel probably tried to scare us into not opening the box because they’re for a prank and it would ruin the surprise.”
“Good to hear.” Batman said with a hint of relief.
—
Tim curiously picked up the Robin plushie and inspected it.
The Bats had taken the box of dolls with them to the Batcave to later give back to Rebel.
“The quality is so good. The details are amazing and so accurate. Wonder who made it.” Tim wondered curiously before he discovered initials stitched in the inner lining of the cape of the toy.
“W.S.J” Tim read out as he traced the letters. There was a niggling thought at the back of his head that he should look into who the mysterious toymaker was.
Meanwhile, Steph was tentatively holding the Raggedy Ann doll and telling Jason about the true story behind the Annabelle movies.
“Did you know that the real Annabelle doesn’t actually look like the doll in the movies?” Steph said as she held up the Raggedy Ann to Jason, “It was actually a Raggedy Ann doll that looked just like this one.”
Jason frowned as he gave the doll a slightly wary look. “It doesn’t look creepy at all.”
“That’s what makes it so unsettling. Something innocent hiding its sinister nature.” Steph explained.
Damain frowned as he picked up one of the collector’s dolls. “I don’t see what is creepy about some toys.”
“It’s the terror of something that should be lifeless moving around. Something that should be harmless becomes something dangerous.” Jason mused.
“But why dolls? I don’t think a piece of porcelain dressed in lace could scare anyone. I would be sc…alarmed if Father’s dinosaur came to life but not these.” Damian said as he held up one of the dolls.
“You should try watching some horror movies.” Jason told Damian.
Cass picked up a ballerina string puppet she had found and showed it to Bruce with a questioning look.
“It’s a string puppet. Have you seen Pinocchio yet?”
“No.” Cass replied as she shook her head.
“Remind me at our next movie night. So the strings make the puppet move. Here look.” Bruce took the puppet from Cass and expertly manipulated the strings so the ballerina waved and walked a bit before breaking out a few ballet moves. Cass clapped with wonder at the end of his performance.
“Teach me?” Cass asked.
“Sure.” Bruce promised.
Next, Cass took out the ventriloquist dummy and inspected it.
“Scarface?” She asked.
“Yes. It’s a ventriloquist dummy just like Scarface. How it works is that the ventriloquist holds the dummy and throws his voice so it looks like it is the dummy that’s talking instead of the ventriloquist.”
“Show me.”
Bruce obliged as he slipped his hand into the dummy and the dummy started to move its mouth.
“Hello, Cass, nice to meet you.” said the Dummy as it held out its hand.
Cass shook its hand. “Hello.”
She asked Bruce, “Can I try?”
“Of course.” Bruce said as he gave her back the dummy.
Cass breathed in and out a few times and then raised the dummy up.
“Hello. Nice to meet you.” Cass’s voice came from the dummy this time.
Bruce smiled as he ruffled her hair. “You’re good at this.”
“Thank you.” said the Dummy.
“If you are all done playing, it’s time you all went to bed.” Alfred said as he brought in his famous after patrol snacks; cucumber sandwiches. “After a shower.”
Jason put the Raggedy Ann doll back into the box.
“Well, it’s late and I need to get back home.” Jason said as he walked towards his bike.
“You can stay the night, Master Jason.” Alfred said. “I have taken the liberty of cleaning your room.”
“Thank you, Alfred but…” Jason trailed off, not knowing how to convey that he didn’t want to stay in the Manor despite his truce tonight with Bruce but also not wanting to offend the butler/grandfather-figure.
“I understand, Master Jason. Perhaps another time.” Alfred said in his wise way.
“Thank you, Alfred.” This time, there was a look of gratitude in Jason’s eyes.
—-
The morning after was a busy and bustling day but there was something not right in the Wayne Manor.
Tim woke up from having fallen asleep while working on trying to find the maker of the dolls. His laptop had turned itself off sometime during the night. He stretched and yawned.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he spied the Robin plushie sitting on his bed.
“That’s strange. I could have sworn that I left you in the box last night.” Tim said, scratching his head. He picked the plushie up and examined it again in the morning light.
It was more accurate than Tim had initially found. In fact, it was like it was an exact likeness of him. Which was a very scary thought.
He wondered how Toyman knew that he had a mole on his arm near his elbow and the birthmark on the side of his hips. Tim theorised that Rebel must be a very good stalker.
He put the plushie back on bed and headed down for breakfast. Tim didn’t see the plushie morphed its uniform into the outfit that Tim was wearing.
—-
Tim walked down to the kitchen and sat down.
He thanked Alfred who set down a delicious plate of pancakes in front of him.
“Morning, Steph.” Tim said to the blonde who was dressed in a purple cowgirl outfit and a white Stetson hat.
“Morning, Tim.”
“Who are you supposed to be anyways?” He asked.
“Barbie but with the Stephanie twist.” She replied.
“Ah. Gotcha.” Tim said after he finished his mouthful of pancake. “You look so realistic by the way.”
Bruce entered the kitchen and sat down with a groan, his hand massaging his neck.
“You okay, B?”
“Just feeling a bit stiff. I’m not as young as I used to be.” Bruce replied with a grimace.
Slowly, the other occupants of the house trickled in and the kitchen was filled with the Waynes and Steph dug into their breakfast.
Dick came all the way from Bludhaven to help out on what is annually one of the worst nights of the year in Gotham. At least one Rouge would have plans for Halloween.
To break this peaceful moment would be one Jason Tood who angrily stomped into the kitchen, clutching a Raggedy Ann doll.
“Didn’t we agree on leaving me alone? That includes not finding out where my safehouses are.” Jason said.
He held up the doll and asked, “Which one of you left this at my place this morning as a prank?”
Several confused faces stared back at him.
“Was it you?” Jason pointed at Steph and demanded.
She put her hands up in surrender. “It wasn’t me. I was busy studying for the test I have today. Ask Bruce. He can tell you that he helped me with flashcards.”
“Then, was it you, Tim?”
Tim blinked at Jason. His mind took a few seconds to answer because Tim was not a morning person.
He shook his head.
“No. I was looking into who made these dolls.” Tim answered.
“Why?”
“The dolls all have the initial W.S.J. and they were all incredibly detailed. I also wanted to know why Rebel would need them. The maker turned out to be no one other than…” Tim dramatically paused: “Toyman.”
“Suddenly, I feel like we should have burned that box when we could.” Steph said to break the silence.
They should have.
—
“So how bad is it?” Dick asked Zatanna, anxious about what curse had befallen his family.
They had gone down to the Batcave to get rid of the box. Only to find it empty. It led to hours of searching for them. Except Tim never came back from his room to retrieve the Robin plushie.
Dick went to check on Tim only to find that he had turned into the plushie.
Imagine finding your brother missing and suddenly the mini plushie replica of your brother started moving and talking. It immediately went onto the top ten weirdest and scariest list of things Dick had experienced.
Then, the next to go was Steph who slowly became plastic. Her face was stuck in a smile while her skin hardened into shiny plastic. She was in class when it happened and they had to go pick her up.
Cass found the dummy but it got attached to her hand and started to speak on its own in Cass’s voice. Cass herself was unable to utter a word.
The stiffness that Bruce had complained about was the fact that he was slowly turning into wood and almost invisible strings controlling his every move.
The final terror was the Raggedy Ann doll that suddenly gained life and proceeded to hunt Jason down for sport. No matter how far Jason managed to get away from the doll and Dick’s best efforts to keep the doll contained, it still managed to escape to go after Jason.
Somehow, Dick, Alfred and Damian were the only ones unaffected by the ‘curse’. They managed to figure out why when Babara told them that Black Mask and his men were attacked by the missing dolls and some of them were experiencing the same things as the Bats and about Jason’s warning from Rebel before everything went down.
Desperate, Dick asked Superman to track down Toyman and asked him how to reverse the effect only to find out that he only made the dolls. The curse was someone else's doing.
Which was why they had called Zatanna to see if she could reverse it.
“Well, there’s the good news and the bad news.” she announced. “Good news is that it is reversible and the curse only lasts for a day. I recommend to just wait it out because the reversing would take longer than the deadline. The curse is too complicated to simply undo.”
“So that’s the bad news?”
“No. The bad news is that I recognised a bit of the spellwork. It is a bit similar to how my father would do it so chances are that whoever did this is a student of my father. The thing is I know most of my father’s students and what is bad is that I don’t recognise the magical signature of who put this curse on the dolls.”
Puppet Bruce jerked his head at the information that Zatanna had given them. Dick noticed.
“B?”
“Paris.” Bruce managed to get past with his wooden lips.
“Paris? Are you talking about the Miraculous?”
“Hero.”
“Wait, you think one of the Miraculous heroes is involved in this?”
Zatanna gasped. “I remember Batman telling me that Ladybug was a student of my father. I looked into his old journals and he mentioned a student named Marinette during his stay in Paris.”
“Marinette. Marinette. Why does it sound so familiar?” Dick tried to recall where he had heard that name before.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Damian answered for him. “It’s Rebel’s legal name.”
Just like that, pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
“Rebel used to be Ladybug.”
The revelation felt bitter on Dick’s tongue. He had seen the videos of Ladybug in action. He would say that she was inexperienced but she was compassionate and willing to lend a hand to anyone in need. He thought that it was nice of her to forgive her enemy instead of causing pain on the man who had caused her so much grief.
He couldn’t believe he saw the similarities between the two girls sooner.
Rebel was cunning and sharp enough to always stay a step ahead of them. Her planning and paranoia on par with the Batman himself. Useful skills to have as a hero.
Then again, Rebel couldn’t be more different from Ladybug. She was more cynical and petty. Rebel caused chaos wherever she goes instead of cleaning up the mess. She saw everything as a game and never took anything seriously.
Dick wondered what it was that pushed Rebel over the edge. The line drawn between heroism and villainy. Then he remembered how Rebel was sent to Gotham in the first place.
“Damn. Rebel has really good valid reason to fuck that Hawkmoth guy up.” Jason said. “In fact, I am surprised she hasn’t razed Paris to ashes yet.”
“Can you imagine?” Zatanna said, having been briefed a bit on the Paris situation and had heard about Rebel’s kidnapping of Lois, “The city you gave so much to save, branding you as a criminal and sending you to one of the worst places on Earth.”
“People have turned to crime for less.” Damian pointed out.
“But Rebel used to be a hero. One of us essentially. It’s just sad that we had to meet her as people on opposite sides.” Dick said.
“It only shows her lack of will.” Damian said.
“I think Rebel had reached her breaking point and honestly, I might too if I face it all alone like she did.”
The Cave was in a sombre silence for the hero that once was Ladybug. Dick remembered something Bruce once said about Two-Face and Harvey Dent.
‘You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain.’
—
The next day, just as Zatanna said, the spell wore off and everyone was human again and able to freely talk again. Other than some nightmares about the experience for a month or so, they were fine.
The Batfamily had a meeting about the new revelation that they had discovered last night.
“Bruce, tell us the truth. Did you know from the beginning?” Tim asked.
“I only had suspicions but Zatanna confirmed them with her father’s journal.” Bruce answered. “This changes nothing.”
“It does, Bruce. You failed another young hero.” Jason said, his tone sharp and accusing. “Not even one of the ‘sidekicks’. You turned your back on the One Main Hero who had been there since the beginning and saw through it to the end. She didn’t get the happy ending she deserved. Instead, she was rewarded for her sacrifices by being sent to fucking Arkam Asylum in one of the most dangerous city in the world.”
“Todd, stop projecting. The way I see it, Rebel had seen the errors of her way and intended to fix her mistake regarding Hawkmoth. She should have locked him up when she had her chance.” Damian shot back.
“Boys, settle down. The fact of the matter is that whether Rebel used to be Ladybug or not, Hawkmoth needs to be arrested before Rebel does something more sinister than what she did yesterday.”
“Wasn’t it an accident?” Steph asked.
“According to Toyman, we had always been the intended recipients of that particular gift.” Dick answered. “It was dumb luck that Black Mask opened it while most of you were in the area.”
“After this latest incident, the League and I have decided that Rebel must be contained.” Bruce announced.
Jason jumped out of his seat. “Bruce, she’s just a kid!”
“But she’s a formidable threat. Who knows what else she might do if she is left unchecked and she doesn’t like the progress on the Hawkmoth investigation.”
Jason growled and then left.
Bruce told everyone that they should catch Rebel if they saw her before he ended the meeting.
—
Rebel stood in front of a half-finished mural, a spray can in hand.
“So we finally met, my dear daughter.” The voice belonged to the man who starred in Gotham’s nightmare.
Rebel didn’t bother to turn around and simply looked at him from over her shoulder.
“Which one are you?” She asked.
“I’m sorry?”
Rebel went back to spray-painting as she explained, “I know that there are at least three of you running around Gotham. I want to know which one you are.”
Joker laughed. A genuine laugh instead of the mad one he usually makes.
“You really do live up to your reputation, Rebel. I can tell that you are a real wildcard.” Joker said excitedly.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Very well then. I am the Joker. The original one. Not the copycats I made because I was bored. And Rebel, I am your father.”
-----
(Part 7)
Taglist: @toodaloo-kangaroo, @iloontjeboontje, @buginetye, @angelwreckedd, @anoires-blog, @ever-since-i-was-young, @shutupandactuallylisten, @its-maemain, @vel-vee, @kashlyn, @officiallydarkgeek, @jayjayspixiepop, @cmouse, @transheso, @thecrazyfantrolls, @just-a-random-girl-loves-anime, @maddiesupdates, @the-dumber-scaramouche,
#who made me a villain#biodad! joker#halloween special fic#maribat#ml x dc#superman makes an appearance#i have never watched the conjuring movies so don't come at me#would have tried to write it more scary if I had time#and descriptive skills
31 notes
·
View notes
Text
Royally Screwed!
Read on AO3
1/2/3/4/5
Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, there was a lot of issues going on and it took out a lot of energy from me. But it's here now and I hope its worth the wait. Hope you guys enjoy! Also I tried to edit it as much as I can but I'll go back is there's any spelling mistakes, but other than that, here's chapter 2!
2. Irish Eyes
Kaufmo groaned as he pressed a hand to his lower back, tonight’s show hadn’t been kind to him in the slightest. The ringmaster has suggested a few new stunts for his act to make the audience go crazy. Now usually that would be fine…if the ringmaster hadn’t announced it while performing. It gave Kaufmo no time to warm up or prepare before he saw an anvil failing for the sky and aiming right at him. He managed to dodge it just in time and had earned him some good reception, but he had twisted his body the wrong way while ducking, leaving a pretty bad sore spot on his back.
He sighed, at least it was over now and he could have a better chance tomorrow morning to prepare for that new trick (and anything else the ringmaster hadn’t told him about yet). He was going to head to his tent for the tight when he heard light sniffling from the lion cages. He turned and tried to peak through the shadows to see who was inside of Ragatha’s lion’s cage…oh, it was Pomni.
The child was the newest member of the cast, and the youngest. Now that Kaufmo thought about it, no one had joined the circus at her age before, so the experience must have been so much more jarring for a young girl. And she was only five years old, the poor thing.
The girl was patting each lion’s mane as she tried to control her tears, the large animals providing as much comfort as they could. She had been quite nervous around the two felines when she first met them, but after seeing how tame they were, they were a great source of security for her in times like this. Times when she felt overwhelmingly homesick.
Kaufmo tapped one of the bars, alerting everyone of his presence. The lions let out a growl when Pomni let out a startled gasp, only to calm down once they saw the clown. “Easy, it’s just me,” he said reassuringly as Pomni gripped tighter to one of the lions. “Hey kiddo, sorry for scaring you.”
Pomni wiped her eyes as the clown climbed in, sitting on the wall opposite her with one of the lions between her. The other lion came back to sit beside her, nudging her hand for more scratches.
“Huh, Simba and Kovu seemed to have taking a liking to you,” Kaufmo mused. Despite their large size, both of the large felines were rather friendly to the rest of the circus. Give them a snack and scratch their favourite spot and you were practically their best friend.
“Yeah, they’re nice,” Pomni whispered, harshly rubbing her the tears off her cheeks to hide the fact that she had been crying. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, the show just finished up and I was gonna get back to my tent,” he explained, “But, then I heard someone wasn’t feeling that great.”
Pomni paled, hiding her face in Simba’s mane. “It’s nothing!” she mumbled into the fur, “I just had something in my eyes, I’m fine!”
Kaufmo hummed. Pomni seemed to be quite a particularly panicky child, one wrong move and she’ll be shaking like a leaf, in fear for her life. He had to approach her carefully, she had already been through enough. “Here,” he pulled out a handkerchief. Pomni stared at it cautiously. “Don’t worry, it’s joke free. Clown’s honour.” He put a hand to his chest with a mock serious expression.
The child smiled, taking the little white fabric and wiped her cheeks.
“I know you’re scared,” Kaufmo said, “I understand. We’ve never had anyone as young as you join. Well, ‘join’ might be a might of a strong word. And you have every right to be scared, upset, angry. It isn’t fair what the ringmaster did. If you need to scream, scream.”
“Maybe not scream,” she muttered, “But the ringmaster said we’re not allowed to get upset.”
“That’s because he’s void of any emotion and doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” he placed the tips of his fingers on her hand just in case she wanted to pull it away. “Pomni, you’re five. Cry if you have to cry.”
Suddenly, a wall had crumbled and the dams were loose. The child latched herself onto the clown, muffled cries escaping her and tears soaking his costume. He instantly wrapped his arms around her. “Shh, there, there,” he whispered, “It’s gonna be okay kiddo, I got you.”
“I want my Ma and Pa!” she wailed as he stroked her hair. “I wanna go home!”
Kaufmo sighed. She was way too young for this. Curse the ringmaster and his void heart. “I know kiddo,” he hugged her tighter. “I know.”
They remained like that for a moment, Kaufmo letting Pomni cried while he stroked her hair before the child pulled away, her cheeks tear stained. “Sorry,” she sniffed.
“There’s nothing to apologise for,” he reassured her. “Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself, would that cheer you up?”
“Um, okay,” Pomni nodded. “I…I like to sing a little bit, my ma used to teach me.”
“Huh,” Kaufmo lit up, an idea forming. “You know, I like to play guitar, I used to play it a lot.”
Pomni beamed, crawling closer to him, “Really?!”
“Heck yeah,” Kaufmo chuckled, “How about I go get it and I can show you what I can do?”
“Yeah!” Pomni cheered, giggling and falling back, a lion catching her with the side of his body.
“Okay kiddo,” Kaufmo grinned, “You just wait there. I’ll be right back.”
The clown had never run so fast in his life. He couldn’t recall the last time he played his guitar, but he remembered how much he loved it. Once he made it to his tent, he picked up the instrument from the side of his bed and ran straight back to Pomni, the little girl was playing with Kovu’s mane before gasping with excitement when she saw the guitar.
“Okay, it’s been a while,” Kaufmo told her while tuning it, “But I think I remember this.”
He began playing a simple chord, rummaging through his mind before landing on a song he hadn’t sung for anyone.
You can't take my past
You can't take my history
You could take my Pa
But his name’s a mystery
Nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping
Oh nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping
“Wow!” Pomni looked absolutely awestruck, it was the cutest thing in the world. “That’s so cool!”
“It’s not finished yet,” he admitted bashfully. “I haven’t really had the time to.”
“I can help finish it?” Pomni suggested shyly, “And maybe…you could teach me too?”
Kaufmo’s eyes widened, not only had he not played for someone in so long, but it was the first time a person asked him to teach them. For the first time, someone didn’t want to now the clown that Kaufmo played, but rather the part of a person that the ringmaster had forced him to bury so long ago. “Yeah,” he nodded, “I think that can be arranged kiddo.”
He carefully placed the guitar on her lap, the instrument was comically big for her little body, but she managed to hold it properly. She giggled with excitement as her guided her hands on where to go. “So, if you put your fingers here, it makes a makes a C chord,” he told her, her fingers making the shape and strummed the strings, her face brightening after playing her first ever note. “Atta girl, and just make this shape and you’ll get a G chord.” He shifted them again, grinning as she played the second note.
“I’m doing it!” she exclaimed.
“You’re doing great kiddo,” he grinned, “Now, have you got any ideas for lyrics?”
The child nodded so fast that he was afraid she’d hurt herself. With a gentle voice, she began to sing.
You can't take my charm!
You can't take my humour…
.
.
.
Twenty Years Later
Kaufmo hummed cheerily as he walked through the inn the rest of the cast and himself were staying in. They were here for the rest of the week to perform, but everyone had really wanted to explore the rest of the town. And who was he to stop them?
Ragatha had wanted to see if they had any good treats for her lions, Zooble wanted to buy some flowers for Gangle, and Moon and Sun had wanted to wander with everyone and see the sights. Kaufmo decided to stay, wanting to take the day to rest. However, there was one person who didn’t say anything about wanting to go or stay.
Pomni.
Despite last night’s fiasco with the prince, she seemed to be in a good mood. He was heading to her room, just to check up on her and see if she wanted to go out as well. He was about to knock when he heard the faint strums of a guitar and a female voice singing along with the tune.
My mother says I have Irish eyes
Irish eyes, Irish eyes
My mother says I have Irish eyes
They go ever so blue under stormy skies
But they're never so blue as when I let them cry
Kaufmo smiled, Pomni’s voice was always so heavenly whenever she sang. Every song she wrote, he would always be excited to hear. He cracked the door open a little, seeing her standing with her guitar in hand as she sang. She wore a simple shift with brown stays adorned with pink stitched flowers and a light green skirt that reached her black boots. She looked a little bit like spring itself.
My father says I have English hair
English hair, English hair
Brown like the bark of an oak somewhere
Like the bed of a lake where the hemlock grows
Like the thorn in the stem of an English rose
She began to twirl happily, dancing along with her song without a care in the world.
I'm a map of the world and the ones before
One foot in sea and one on shore
Every step, every hope flung high
I'm a map of them all with my Irish eyes
She jumped, whipping round when she heard the sound of clapping, only to soften when she saw that it was Kaufmo standing at the door. “Don’t scare me like that,” she giggled, putting her guitar away.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you kiddo,” he said, “Is that a new song?”
“Yeah, I began to write it when we were on the road,” she confirmed, “Decided to give it a whirl before I went out to town.”
“You’re going out?” Kaufmo asked hopefully. Pomni wasn’t normally someone who liked to be out in busy places when she wasn’t performing but seeing her actively wanting to go out was quite a big step for her. While it left him protective, it left him proud of her as well.
“Yeah,” she nodded, “Gangle wanted to go look and see the dresses here so I wanted to go with her as well. Ragatha and Moon should be with us as well.”
“I’ll come too,” Kaufmo said, “Just in case you want to leave early and come back.”
“Kaufmo,” she sighed, “I’ll be fine.”
“I have no doubt about that,” Kaufmo reassured her, “It’s just, you know…It’s always going to be my instinct to protect you.”
Pomni smiled, walking over and wrapping her arms around the clown, with Kaufmo doing the same. “I understand, what we went through was…its over now,” Pomni said, “I wanna be able to go into towns without being terrified of who I run into, enjoy my time with my family. With my Pa.”
Kaufmo patted her cheek, she never failed to amaze him. “Well then, what are we waiting for?” he asked, “Let’s go have some fun.”
Pomni patted his hand back before Kaufmo let it fall to his side, both of them leaving the room and heading downstairs to greet everyone else before going into town.
.
.
.
Jax paced back and forth in the dining room, dressed in a simple white blouse, blue waistcoat and black slacks. The room had been cleared earlier after breakfast, but he needed the space to pace and think about his plan to woo Pomni. She was going to be tricky – if her outburst was anything to go by – so he had to tread carefully about this. Motley watched the prince go back and forth, the kitten perched on the table experiencing the most brainstorming that Prince Jax had ever done in his life.
How would one win over the heart of a spitfire? A being so beautiful and entrances you with its song and dance but can easily scorch you if you make one wrong move. But it was that danger that pulled him closer to her. Only a woman like her deserved the best when it came to courting. But where to start, what should he do?
Queenie and Kinger watched their son’s pacing from the slightly ajar door. The staff had alerted them of the prince’s peculiar behaviour, so they wanted to investigate it for themselves – from afar of course.
“I still can’t believe it,” Kinger muttered, “Never would I have though the day would come where Jax would be so entranced by a girl.”
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Queenie mused, “I’m not surprised it was the jester that stole his heart. She does seem to be such a darling. Although, I will admit, I am slightly concerned with what Jax has up his sleeve with this one. His mind is quite…devious after all.”
Kinger hummed in agreement, “That is true. He always has these great plans when it comes to playing tricks on the servants or his escape attempts. Part of me doesn’t want to know what type of plan he comes up with for courting her.”
“Yes,” Queenie nodded, thinking to herself for a moment. The jester, Pomni was her name she believed, seemed like such a sweet young woman. While she was glad her son was in love, Queenie was completely aware of Pomni’s outburst with him they other day (after all she was outside tent when it happened, and was able to hear every single word). “How about you let me handle this Kinger dear? I’ve had my experience when it comes to men falling to a woman’s feet before. I could help correct him with the proper ways of how to win a girl’s heart.”
Kinger blushed, memories of himself as a young prince falling for a lord’s daughter many moons ago flooding back to him like a tidal wave. “Uh, y-yes darling,” he stuttered slightly, “I believe that would be for the best. The last person he needs advice from is his old man who laned face first into mud when trying to court the person he admired.”
“But I fell in love with you because of that dearest,” Queenie teased, giggling at Kinger’s flustered expression. “Now, if you excuse me. I have a son to steer away from making a fool of himself.”
“Good luck,” Kinger gave her reassuring thumbs up. Truth be told, when it came to Jax (especially since he was in love) she probably needed that luck.
Queenie took a breath, opening the door further and entering the dining room, though it seemed that Jax didn’t notice her presence, still caught up in his planning and muttering. Motley did though, letting out a happy mewl and ran over to her, climbing up her cloak and settling himself in her arms. The queen let out a small laugh, running a finger over his head as she walked up to her son.
Jax jumped as soon as he heard the sound of a throat clearing, exhaling when he saw that it was only Queenie. “Holy shit!” he cursed, placing a hand on his chest, “You scared me!”
“Language young man,” Queenie reprimanded him, “I just wanted to see if you were alright, the servants said that you haven’t left this room since breakfast.”
Jax sighed, the moment word about anything happening to him got out, his mother would instantly be by his side to make sure he way okay. It was one of Queenie’s most admirable qualities. “Yes, I’m fine mother. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
“I see,” Queenie hummed, her eyes giving off a teasing glint. “It’s definitely not the jester from last night’s performance.”
Jax was so sure that his fur had changed from a periwinkle purple to a cherry red as he whipped round to face his mother, a smug look curved upon her features as she eyed her son knowingly. “M-mom!” he nearly choked on his words.
“Careful now dear,” Queenie chuckled, “The last thing we need is for our heir to suffocate on himself. Besides it was quite obvious, you immediately trailed after her like a loyal pet the moment her performance ended and are still infatuated with the girl despite her verbal lashing with you. Yes I’ve heard it, I’m sure most of the kingdom did too.”
“I can’t help it,” Jax rubbed the back of his neck. “The moment I heard her singing, my soul was bewitched. I had to listen to her song, her voice was telling a story and I wanted to learn it word for word until she’s ingrained into my memory. And her beauty, I don’t think I’ve met another person who radiated starlight just as much as she did. She’s a book that I can’t put down, I need to know more about her! I have to let her know that she’s the one for me!”
Never in all her years did Queenie think her son was capable of being bashful. Everything about Jax, from the way he spoke to the way he strutted down the hall screamed nothing but self-righteous confidence. What type of magic tricks did Pomni possess to reveal this new side of the prince? “Well, well,” Queenie breathed, “It seems that you’re very taken with this girl.”
“Oh, she definitely stole my heart and run off with it,” Jax sighed, “I just need to know what to do that will make her realise just how perfect I am for her!”
Queenie cringed, she had a feeling this was coming. The last thing Jax needed was his ego sabotaging any chance of Pomni liking at least a quarter of him back. After all, it was his arrogance that made him receive her angry and biting tone with him, if he continued down this road he would ending up kissing any plans of courting her goodbye. “Now Jax, I understand the butterflies that come with meeting someone that has you ‘bewitched’,” she spoke carefully, hoping that her son’s head wasn’t already full of outlandish plans already. “However, Pomni has already made her opinion of you quite clear. I will support you if you want to make amends with her, however I will put a cease to that if you try and force her to become yours.”
“Force her?!” Jax gasped, flabbergasted at his mother’s suggestion. Women would throw themselves at him without Jax doing nothing more that blink, how on earth did she think he was going to force Pomni to be his? “She’ll come running to me when I show her how charming I can be, before she leaves she will practically be begging me to marry her. It’s just as easy as that.”
“Jax,” Queenie shook her head with a disappointed frown, “Are you even listening to yourself? You barely know anything about having these types of feelings, how on earth do you plan on courting a girl if you don’t take them time to access yourself first?”
“Well judging how you and father say sappy crap to each other all the time and don’t end up gagging by how overly sweet it is, it’s probably not that hard,” Jax shrugged. His heart sunk at Queenie’s crestfallen expression. He went too far there. Motley gently purred into the queen’s chest, providing comfort for her hurt state.
Despite the saccharine display his parents put on, Jax could tell how much they treasured their love for one another. To insult their bond was an insult to his mother as well, and he hated making her feel awful. “I…mother forgive me,” Jax exhaled slowly, “I got caught up there, I didn’t mean that-”
The door burst open as a guard entered into the dining room, “Your highnesses. The markets have new products after the recent shipment. Would you care to be escorted into town today, or shall I have the servants search for something that you need?”
“I, I suppose it would be nice to go into town today,” Queenie turned to her son, her eyes giving a soft forgiving shine. “What do you think Jax?”
They were okay, Jax nearly sighed with relief. Seeing his mother upset was his own personal torture, and he hated every bit of it.
“I also wanted to inform you that the circus cast from last night are also in town today,” The guard informed them, “In case you have any words to say to them for their performance.”
Jax practically beamed at that, his grin nearly splitting his face. He cleared his throat, putting on a suave look and straightened his back. After all, he had a jester to court. “Well there’s no harm in saying hi to them, now is there?” he smirked, “I think a little trip sounds just delightful.”
Queenie paled. She recognised that smirk, Jax always wore that smirk when he was up to no good. “Jax…” Queenie drawled warningly.
“Go alert my father that we plan to leave as soon as possible, in case he wants to join,” Jax commanded the guard.
The soldier in question raised a brow at that, familiar with the young prince and his antics, before turning to the queen for her verdict.
Queenie sighed, once Jax’s mind was set that was no point in trying to change it. Besides, she really wanted to go out today. “Inform Kinger that we plan to leave soon,” she said, “I would hate for him to miss out on this.”
“Yes, your majesty,” the guard bowed, turning on his heel and walking out the door.
Queenie gave Jax a glare, a silent threat to not do anything stupid.
The prince gulped, whenever Queenie sent him that look it gave him nothing but sinking dread in the pit of his gut. He had a lot on the line today, not only risking it all to win Pomni’s affection, but also to make sure he didn’t suffer from his mother’s angered wrath as well. “D-don’t worry m-mother,” he stammered, “I promise that I have nothing but good intentions going forward.”
Queenie raised a brow as Motley let out a meow – Jax swore the little shit was mocking him. “As for you,” He picked up Motley and set him on the floor, “You’re staying here. The last thing we need for you is to get lost and become someone else’s pet.” Motley mewled, pawing at Jax’s leg with a pleading look on his face. “Nope, I’ve made up my mind. Your tricks aren’t working on me today.”
He turned to his mother, offering his arm out to her, “Shall we?”
Queenie sighed, letting out a little laugh at her son’s outlandish behaviour, “I suppose. But you better behave, got it young man?” She nearly growled.
“…Yes ma’am,” Jax whimpered pathetically.
Queenie patted his cheek, “Good. Now then, let’s go find your father before he chases after another butterfly for his collection. We don’t need a repeat of…last time.”
Jax shuddered at the memory, despite his own bug-like pranks, he certainly didn’t want to do what his father was capable of. “You and me both mother,” he nodded.
He hid the dopey grin that stretched on his features the more he thought about the jester, how he was going to spoil her, give her everything she could ever hope for and more, to do anything to make her his and his alone. He couldn’t wait to see her again.
.
.
.
To tell the truth, Pomni was nothing but nerves when to came to public situations. It was different whenever she was performing, she knew that by the end of the day – as long as she put on a smile and a good show – everything would turn out according to plan. When it came to actually being in a crowd full of people, she always felt like she was going to be sick. It wasn’t easy to put on a façade when there was no pre-planned performance. The thought of being around so many people, not knowing what they were like or what they would say, she could make one slight mistake and everything could go wrong.
She was a bit glad that Kaufmo insisted to come along, to read the signs on her face in case she had to get out of here. But another part of her felt guilty for doing that. She wanted to enjoy herself put in public, to not fear the next person coming here way, to not fear if they had any other ulterior motives. Why did her mind have to be like this? And she hated how she always dragged Kaufmo down with her, he deserved to have one day where he wasn’t constantly worrying over her, how did he not see her as a burden? She just wished could be…normal. But someone like her could never be normal, not in this lifetime anyway.
Still, she wasn’t going to waste her time dwelling on misery, life was too short for that. She remained glued by Moon and Ragatha’s sides, Kaufmo trailing behind them like a guard dog (a rather colourful guard dog but the intention was clear). She wanted to have fun, have a day to just be Pomni, not worrying about the performance for tonight and if it was perfect enough. That was for later, this was now.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Sun marvelling over cakes at the window of a bakery, his mouth watering at each flavour presented through the glass. Gangle and Zooble were at a flower stall, with the latter buying a rose the same colour as the ribboned woman and gifting it to her, making Gangle blush. Pomni smiled at the couple, maybe one day she would find someone to share a bond with like Zooble and Gangle.
She heard a small gasp, turning she noticed two young girls pointing at her while whispering excitedly. Pomni shook her head fondly, they must have recognised her from the show the other night. She gave them a small curtsy, the children become even more excited before bounding over to her. She was a little bit nervous with the sudden closeness and enthusiasm from the children, but Moon and Ragatha were behind her, making sure she was alright.
She was fine, all she got was a fright. “Hello,” she waved at the two girls, “Hope can I help you?”
“Hi miss!” The first girl squealed, “You were so pretty last night!”
“Why thank you,” Pomni cooed, “Did you two enjoy the show?”
“Yeah!” the second girl cheered, “You were my favourite! You were so sparkly and twisty!”
Pomni giggled, they must have been referring to her costumes and her dance flexibility on the aerial silks. It was the main highlights of her performance and what boosted audience numbers. She wasn’t surprised that the girls liked it so much. “I’m so glad you two had fun,” she grinned, her chest fluttering at the girl’s collective beaming faces.
“What you like one of our flower crowns?” the first girl asked, “It has pretty daises!”
Pomni placed both hands to her chest in a flattered manner, “I would love to have one of your flowers crowns.”
The girls jumped with glee, fishing into one of their satchels and pulling out a delicate daisy chain tied into a circle. Pomni lowered her head as they placed it on her hair, the whole interaction made her feel giddy and warm. After all, who didn’t love flower crowns? She never got to do that at their age, so there was something bittersweet having a chance to do this now. She was about to open her mouth to thank the girls for their gift, when a loud and brash voice made her flinch.
“I knew a crown would look good on you,” Prince Jax’s voice made her wince, “Just have it in gold and you’ll look like a real princess.”
Pomni took a breath, plastering on a face of fake kindness and concealed annoyance as she turned to the prince – Moon and Ragatha were protectively standing on each side of her as Kaufmo stood from a distance, ready to intervene in case anything happened. “Prince Jax,” she spoke through gritted teeth, “To what do I owe the pleasure.”
“Your presence is enough for that little lady,” he grinned as she bristled at the nickname, “I was just making my way through town and decided to stop bye and say hi.”
“Well, now you did, so you can go now,” Pomni rolled her eyes and turned to face the girls again. Moon and Ragatha smirked while Kaufmo’s chest puffed proudly.
Jax faltered a bit, he didn’t want this conversation to end so soon! He ran up to her, dodging the ragdoll and Moon, ignoring Kaufmo’s icy glare and shoved himself in front of Pomni’s eyeline. “If you like, I could get you a little souvenir,” he offered suavely, “After all, daisies die pretty fast. Kind of a pathetic gift if you ask me. A little gold chain with a diamond would like nice around that pretty neck of yours.”
Pomni scowled at him, her anger growing more as she heard the two little girls’ sniffle at his insult. They were young, yes, but she knew about much effort must have gone into making this crown. And the fact that she never got to do this as a child only added fuel to the fire. “You have some nerve insulting the talents of your people,” she poked him harshly in the chest as a look of fear spread across the prince’s face. “This is a gift made from the gentle hands of the next generation of your kingdom, don’t you dare degrade this is present in front of them. And even if it were to die quickly, it only means I must cherish it more before that happens.”
“I-um,” Jax stammered, he was barely a minute into talking with her and he was already screwing up. He had to try a new tactic. With quick thinking, he ran over to the flower stall, blindly picked up a bouquet, slammed a few coins down and ran back over to Pomni. “Here,” he shoved the flowers into her face, making her splutter. “As an apology.”
After Pomni regained her bearings, she took a proper look at what was shoved in her face. Taking a note of the flowers in his hand, she gave him a deadpanned look, “Orange lilies and yellow carnations?”
Jax gave her a smug grin, looking as though he won the lottery, “From Prince Jax himself. You’re welcome.”
“They literally symbolise hatred and rejection,” said Pomni. Jax’s face fell, as though lightening struck through him at the realisation. “I think I’ll stick with my daisies.”
With that, she gave him a tight-lipped smile and walked away – but not before giving the two girls a warm hug and reassuring them that she loved her new flower crown.
Jax was about to go after her, until he was stopped by the death glares of Ragatha and Moon, as well and a tight grip on his shoulder. His eyes followed the hand attached to the arm, all the way to the furious gaze of Kaufmo. “I don’t give a damn if you’re royalty or not,” the clown growled, “But you will not disrespect my kid in front of me. Do I make myself clear?”
Jax gulped, the last thing he needed today was to be murdered by an overprotective clown, “Yes sir.”
“Good,” Kaufmo took his hand off, brushing it on his suit and walked away to find Pomni, Ragatha and Moon in tow.
Jax let out a breath, he never knew clowns could be that scary. He froze at the sound of a throat clearing, he groaned as he looked at Kinger and Queenie, disappointment etched on their faces with the royal guards standing behind them. “I ask for one thing Jax,” Queenie muttered, “One thing. For you to behave, and this is what you do?!”
“To be fair…this is me we’re talking about,” Jax gave them a nervous chuckle.
The couple’s expression didn’t change. “Come on,” Kinger sighed, “You’re sticking with us for the rest of the day.”
Jax whined, crossing his arms as he followed his parents and the guards. Queenie stuck by his side though, leaning up to whisper in his ear, “You know, the next time you want to impress a girl, keep the snide comments about simple gifts from children to yourself. You aren’t going to get anywhere if you keep up that attitude.”
Jax grumbled under his breath. But his mother did have a point though, they were just kids, he didn’t have to stoop so low. His stomach churned, hearing those whimpers from those little girls struck him in the heart, how could he be so cold-hearted? “You’re right mother, that wasn’t the best choice of words,” he admitted. Queenie’s eyes sparked a little bit, perhaps her son was finally taking the right step- “That’s why I’m going to spend so much fortune on Pomni and gift her anything she could ever ask for without commenting on the boring stuff she likes!”
Queenie’s face fell. Nope, Jax was still up his own ass.
.
.
.
The minute Jax was back in his room, he started writing a list. He wrote down everything he knew about how to woo a woman, and as someone who was quite popular with the ladies, he felt pretty confident with his abilities. Truly, he was a master of his craft. Once he was satisfied with his plan, he got to work, with Motley watching the trainwreck preparing itself from afar.
Firstly, he went to the best broker he could find and purchased the most beautiful, one-of-a-kind diamond that he had ever seen in his life. It was just as striking as Pomni’s perfect eyes. He had a servant deliver it to her, content that within a day’s time she would be coming to the castle to visit him. However, the servant had come back and instead of his jester, he returned with news that Pomni had sold the diamond to a local jewellery shop, where it was smashed to pieces and turned into lovely necklaces for the other women of the village.
Okay, so she wasn’t a fan of shiny things. It doesn’t matter, he still had a few plans up his sleeve.
Next, he took out a deposit of his spendings (it was at least enough to buy ten castles) and requested it to be sent to Pomni in her name for her to do what she pleased with it. His heart skipped a beat when he found out she accepted it, only for him to choke on his tongue when he found out that she had donated it all to the orphanage of the village. The only thing he received from her was a note telling him to ‘do something beneficial with his spendings since he had so much of it’.
He swooned over the fact that his little jester was so charitable, but he couldn’t ignore the irritation that came with it! He was going further beyond for her, yet she wouldn’t even spare a glance at him. What else did he have to do to make her notice him?!
It continued like that, he would send her the most lavish, expensive gifts that would make any man or woman swoon, and every single time she either gave it away or returned it. Jax was starting to get on his last nerve, she was going to notice his affections one way or another. He still had one more plan, and if this didn’t work (which it would!) then he was truly at a loss.
The next day, he gave instructions to the royal announcer. A royal banquet was going to be held at the castle tonight, with Jax wanting nothing more than to have Pomni to be his plus one for the evening. Maybe it was a bit of a jerk move to announce this publicly, but he was just so desperate to see her again, he was willing to do anything just to catch a glimpse of her lovely face.
He awaited patiently, so sure that his plan was going to work. When the announcer came back, there was a smug grin on the prince’s lips, expecting for him to say that his jester would be attending tonight. However, the situation was much more different than the prince had hoped. When the news went out to the public that Prince Jax wanted to invite Pomni to the banquet, she had merely given the announcer a simple bow and replied:
“I appreciate the invitation, but I will have to decline the prince’s offer and his lack of planning ahead.”
Jax felt as if he had been kicked in the stomach.
She rejected his invite! In public no less! It was one thing to reject an invite to such a regal occasion, but to reject a royal? That was the biggest humiliation that anyone could ever do to royalty! It would leave a mark on his reputation! The only prince known in all the lands to be rejected for all the kingdom to see.
And this is where it left him now, alone at the banquet, swirling a glass of wine as he mumbled to himself. “It was the diamond, I should’ve gotten her the ruby,” he muttered under his breath, “Diamonds are overrated anyways. I don’t understand, I’m great with courting, how could anyone-”
“You know, you can tap a cocoon as many times as you want, the butterfly still won’t come out,” he jumped at the sound of his mother’s voice as she walked up to him.
“Mother,” he gasped, “You can’t keep surprising me like that!”
“Just like how you can’t keep pushing this girl to be with you,” Queenie crossed her arms over her chest, “Honestly Jax. Out of all the ideas you have had in your entire life, announcing to the public to make Pomni join you for tonight has got to be your most ridiculous one yet! Honestly, I don’t blame her for rejecting you, someone had to hit you with common sense eventually!”
“I-I, but!” Jax stammered, but deep down he knew his mother was right. Karma had to hit him eventually, and it hit him with the most alluring, beautiful, one-of-a-kind songbird that fluttered into his heart, only for her to be completely out of his reach. He sighed, “I just… I never felt this way for anyone before.”
“Really?! I couldn’t tell with the way you were constantly making a fool of yourself!” she ignored Jax’s gaping mouth towards her, continuing her speech. “She has expressed to you multiple times that she isn’t interested with what you have to offer Jax! Either you cease these attempts or you actually find something that will let her see you in a different light!”
“How?! If this is all that I can offer her, then it’s already too late for me. You know it, you see it! I’m nothing but a reckless prince who keeps ruining things for myself,” Jax’s shoulder’s tensed, taking a breath while feeling his heart twist in his chest as his eyes drifted down to the ground. “For the first time something finally good came my way and I already messed it up. But I don’t want to let her go.”
Queenie’s shoulders sagged, her face twisting somberly, “You already have so many good things Jax. I wish you could see it too.”
Jax was about to open his mouth to ask what she meant, but Queenie was already walking away. He stared at the wine in his cup, watching the bubbles rise to the top. Through the glass, he could see the other guests spying on him, whispering to one another while pointing at him.
He knew they were talking about his most recent blunder with Pomni, and as much as it hurt, it wasn’t the first time the upper class had gossiped about him. Even before his pranks, before his reputation as the ‘disaster heir of Laphria’, ever since he was a child every lord, duke and count always had their opinions and comments about of him, none of them friendly.
Jax scoffed at them, he didn’t care. At least now that he was older he had a reason for them to talk nothing but rubbish about him, instead of simply being a child.
He took a swig of his wine, it was going to be a long night.
.
.
.
My nana says I have travelling feet
Travelling feet, travelling feet
Slippers for princesses don't fit me
But I dance to my own drum, bright and bold
And my travelling feet always get me home
Pomni strummed her guitar in the dressing room, fully decked in her costume and waiting for the performance to start later. She always got nervous before a show (especially after the public invite she received from the prince) but her music always calmed her down.
My sister says I've a restless soul
Restless soul, restless soul
Easy to catch, but I'm hard to hold
Like a song on the wind that you caught one day
I get under your skin, then I slip away
Gangle, Zooble, Moon and Ragatha were in there as well, adding the last touches to their costumes while listening to Pomni’s song. The girl had come a long way, for better and for worse, but her music was one of the things that gave the circus members hope. After what they went though, they could all use it.
I'm a map of the world and the ones before
One foot in sea and one on shore
Every step, every hope flung high
I'm a map of them all with my Irish eyes
“That’s coming along really well Pomni!” Gangle clapped as Pomni finished up.
The jester smiled, resting her head on the side of her guitar as she faced the rest of the group, “It still has some polishing but it’s becoming a new favourite of mine.”
“I’m glad you have something to focus on after that whole mess earlier,” Moon sneered at the memory of the announcer, feeling nothing but fury at the prince for trying to pressure Pomni to join him. “It took bravery to decline such a heavy offer Pomni.”
Pomni cringed, “I don’t understand, what on earth does the prince see in me for him to keep running back! I mean, you’d think he’d take a hint after what I said to him the first time I saw him! But no, he just wants to keep being annoying. Ugh, men are the worst thing in this realm.”
“Agreed,” Ragatha nodded, “Men are only born with half a brain with not a lot going on in there.”
“I don’t know,” Zooble shrugged, “Granted, women are better. But you seem pretty passionate about someone you find annoying Pomni.”
“W-what?!” Pomni stuttered, nearly dropping the guitar, “What is that supposed to mean?!”
“You know, if you really hate him Pomni you wouldn’t be talking about him this much,” Zooble grinned, crossing her arms over her chest.
Gangle gasped, an excited grin gracing her mask, “It’s true! Pomni, you can say you like him, we won’t judge!”
“I-I, no! I don’t like him! That’s absurd!” Pomni stuck her tongue out in disgust.
“Exactly, there’s no way that prince even deserves Pomni,” Ragatha nodded.
“Honestly, you and Zooble might be so head over heels with one another that you both are making up stories in your head!” Moon frowned, shaking her head.
“Or maybe we’re able to see the obvious,” Zooble chuckled.
“No! No! You don’t see anything!” Pomni squeaked. “Besides, Jax is not my type at all! He’s so loud and rude. And has a terrible sense of humour. And struts as if he owns the place. And he has untamed, wild eyes…that shine. And he’s always smiling no matter what’s thrown his way. And his smile, its so…” She trailed off, whipping her head up when she noticed Zooble’s shit eating grin, Gangle’s giddy face and the shocked looks that Ragatha and Moon shared. “…It’s so annoying! I mean come on!”
Her eyes darted between everyone, no one was buying her excuse. “I’m getting some air!” she huffed, setting her guitar down and running out of the dressing room.
Once she was at a good distance, she climbed the nearest rope connected to the ceiling, balancing and swinging on it slightly before jumping onto a nearby trapeze swing. She sighed with relief, despite her anxiety, the vertigo from being up so high was enough to distract her. She smiled a little bit, from up here she could see half of behind the tent and the audience were starting to flood the seats.
Her mind went back to what Zooble said, more so what they said about Jax. Her?! Like him?! How could she ever like him?! They were so different and he oozed nothing but a ‘higher than thou’ attitude, something she despised. She hated him, yup that was her final verdict, she hated him.
But unfortunately Gangle was right, she couldn’t get him out of here head.
She groaned, why couldn’t the rabbit prince get out of her head?!
“Did you hear about Prince Jax?”
Pomni perked up, looking down at the crowd. There was a group of young adults around her age, from the fine fabrics and jewels they wore that had to be belonging to quite prestigious families.
There were two young women and men, each one of them wearing vicious smirks. “This has to be his most embarrassing blunder yet.”
Pomni frowned, she didn’t like their tones at all.
“As if he wasn’t an embarrassment enough,” the first man sneered, “Honestly, I can’t believe that the crown will be going to him.”
“Marriage into the crown is the only saving quality of that man,” the first woman giggled, “That and his parties.”
“Imagine how low you have to sink to be like that,” the second man cackled, “Only being good for parties and nights in the sheets.”
The second woman whacked his arm with her fan, “Don’t talk about such topics in public!”
“He isn’t wrong though,” the first woman pointed out, “He was so desperate to lose his virtue, such a pig!”
Pomni’s heart sank. She only heard the village talk about the prince, his recklessness and pranks and all that, but was this how the upper crust talked about him? He probably had to spend every day with these types of people coming into the castle, did he hear every bit of it in the hallways?
“What else do we expect from an orphan bastard,” the second man sneered, “Only taken in because the royal family felt pity for him. Only one with peasant blood could act so foolishly.”
Pomni saw red. That was the final straw. To think so lowly of someone just because they had no blood relation to royalty, out of all the things to not like about the prince, that was what they hated the most?! He couldn’t control not being born into status! And each comment that they made was an indirect insult to the king and queen taking in a child from the kindness of their hearts!
In fact, having this knowledge made her understand Jax a little bit more, was this why he acted out the way he did? From hearing these comments all the time? After all, she knew better than anyone about being taken care of by someone with no blood connected to them, she didn’t know if she would even be here today if it wasn’t for Kaufmo.
She glared at the ignorant cluster below her, she wasn’t going to let them get away with this.
She looked up, on the platform next to Moon and Sun’s tightrope, she could see the bucket of water that was typically dumped onto Kaufmo’s head at the beginning of his act. She titled the swing, giving it a bit of momentum before swing over onto the tightrope. She jumped, balancing carefully before tiptoeing over to the platform. She picked up the bucket of water, searched for the group again before dumping the water over them, soaking their clothes and makeup.
They let out ear-piercing screeches, demanding who did this. Pomni jumped back onto her swing, hidden in the shadows as she bit back a giggle. That would teach them a lesson for their vile little words.
She froze when she heard a throat clear, looking back behind the tent, she saw Kaufmo with his arms crossed while frowning. Damn it, he saw what she did.
“Uh…the water was dirty?” she gave him a nervous laugh.
His face didn’t move a muscle. Oh I’m in big trouble “I’m sorry Pa.”
.
.
.
There was so much smoke.
So much fire.
She couldn’t breathe, the smoke was too much.
There was no one there.
Where did everyone go?
She couldn’t be alone.
She can’t be alone.
“Ma!”
There was no answer.
No body
No life.
“Ma where are you?!”
Pomni woke in a cold sweat. She took in her surroundings, she was in the inn, sleeping after another show. She wasn’t a five-year-old girl anymore, she wasn’t stuck in a burning town with faded memories. She was here, she was safe.
She rubbed her face, the nightmares would always change, but they would never become dreams and they would never go away. There had been nights while she was more than willing to sacrifice her sleep, but it only resulted in passing out during the middle of the day. Nothing but a viscous cycle that she couldn’t escape from.
She contemplated getting her guitar out, but she didn’t want to risk waking anyone. She hated it when she got like this, she was nothing but a burden that everyone else was forced to carry. She was weak and stupid and a coward and-
Smash!
She screamed when the glass of her window smashed, a hooded figure climbing in with a knife and rope.
Pomni’s stomach sank. No, no I can’t go back.
She reached under her pillow, pulling out a knife of her own. The hooded man came forward to hit her, she blocked his attack and kicked him away. He let out a yell as he was pushed back. Pomni jumped off the bed as he began to stand back up, slashing her knife on her arms every time he lunged to her.
She raised her knife again, only for her door to be kicked down by another figure. They grabbed her arms, forcing her to drop the knife. The first stranger handed the rope to his associate as they reached into their pockets for something else. “Thought you had her under control,” the second figure spat.
“Don’t blame me,” the first one retorted, “Caine didn’t say how much of a spitfire she was.”
The name sent a shiver down Pomni’s spine. “Help! Somebody hel-” her cries were cut off when the first figure wrapped a gag around her mouth, muffling her screams.
“The pay before make up for this,” the second growled, “I got every mind to cut this little bitch’s fingers off.”
“Easy, Caine said he wanted her in one piece,” the first told him, “Just keep your eyes on the prize and we’ll be fine.”
Pomni heard more screams and crashes coming from outside her room. The others, they were in danger to. She tried to escape from her captor’s hold, but they were too strong as they wrapped the rope around her wrists and dragged out of the room.
She paled as she saw the rest of the circus crew being dragged out of their rooms, with staff members of the inn trying to stop them. In the midst of the ruckus, her captors managed to drag her away and outside into the pouring rain. The first figure pulled him onto his horse, with the second one hoisting Pomni behind him.
“Remember,” the second one spoke, “Meet Caine in the middle of the woods, that’s where he’s doing the pick-up.”
“Don’t need to tell me twice,” the first nodded, whipping his reigns and taking off.
Pomni could only struggle as she watched the inn grow smaller and smaller, while her heart spiked and panic washed over her.
She can’t be a prisoner again.
She can’t let that happen.
She won’t let that happen.
.
.
.
The royal family was awoken in the middle of the night, an emergency was afoot and it needed their full attention.
Jax rubbed sleep from his eyes as he followed his parents into the throne room. This had better be good if he was rudely awoken.
“Your majesties,” a guard bowed, “The innkeeper has requested immediate help, her inn is under attack.”
The fur on Jax’s neck stood, that’s where Pomni was.
“Word has it that they call themselves the gloinks, a group of bounty hunters that has raided many kingdoms before,” the guard continued, “We managed to send over as many as we could to arrest them and they managed to intervene before anyone was hurt. But one already got away with a victim.”
No, no, no, no, no, no. Please don’t tell me its-
“They took the jester from the circus.”
Jax was numb, the rest of the world falling silent.
From the corner of his eye, he could see his parents worrying and giving out instructions of what to do. But Jax? He already had a plan. Get Pomni back.
And so, he ran.
“Jax!” Kinger yelled out to him, “Jax!”
“Jax where are you going?!” Queenie shouted.
He ignored them, he had to. Someone kidnapped Pomni, and they were going to pay.
He ran all the way to the stables, pulling a nearby coat off the rack as he took out his horse. He didn’t bother with a saddle, he had ridden plenty of times without one. Maybe he would get in trouble for disobeying his parents later, but he didn’t care. What mattered right now was Pomni’s safety.
He took hold off his horse’s mane as he took off, running out of the stables and towards the gate.
“Open the gate!” he shouted to whoever was there.
At his command, they opened.
“Come on boy,” he told his horse, “We gotta go!”
The horse galloped faster and faster, running past the gates and into the town.
He had to pick up the pace, Pomni’s captor was probably reaching the edge of the village. There was one thing he knew, tonight, he was getting Pomni back.
.
.
.
Pomni struggled with her binds, her kidnapper’s horse was starting to near the forest. She couldn’t go back to Caine, not when freedom was at her grasp. She closed her eyes and focused, blue mist levitating from her hands. She focused on the knot on the rope, letting the mist carefully pull it out. It took time and patience, but she managed to get it to slip out.
She pulled the rope off, taking the gag off and was about to jump off the horse when an arm grabbed her. “Oh no you don’t!” her captor growled, “You ain’t getting away that easily!”
“I’m not going back!” she screamed, “You can tell Caine to go fuck himself!”
She raised a hand, scratching him in the face, leaving behind three bleeding streaks across his skin. “You stupid cunt!” he screamed.
He struck Pomni across the face. The momentum sending her off the horse, hitting the back of her head on a rock. “Fuck!” he jumped off, going over to her, “Shit, Caine’s gonna kill me!”
“Not before I kill you first.”
A fist grabbed the back of the captor’s hood, and he met the striking yellow and furious eyes of Prince Jax. He swore death was staring right back at him.
Jax used his other hand to grab the captor by the throat, lifting him above the ground. Jax grinned as he watched writhe in pain, scratching at his hands for air. He felt no mercy for this son of a bitch, he put his filthy hands on Pomni. He was going to pay. He slammed the captor against a tree, his head collecting with the trunk as he passed out. Jax threw him to the ground, he would deal with him later. There were more important matters at hand.
“Pomni!” he rushed over to her, kneeling to the ground and putting her head on his lap. When he pulled his hand away, his heart twisted as the sight of blood on his fingertips. Carefully lifting her head, he saw a nasty gash bleeding in the back of her head. He had to get her to a healer and fast. He pulled his jacket off, tearing off a sleeve and wrapped it round her add, making sure it applied pressure to the wound and ceased the bleeding.
He slid his arms under her waist and back, pulling her into his embrace and let her head rest on his shoulder as he stood. He carried her over to his horse, lifting them both up as he cradled her. He could see the rest of the guards coming, they could deal with her captor. For now, Pomni needed medical attention.
Without missing a beat, his horse tore off back to the castle, Jax keeping one hand on his mane and the other wrapped around Pomni to steady her. “Come on boy, come on!” he grunted, the horse snorting back as he ran as fast as he could.
Relief flooded him the moment the castle gates were in sight, opening at the first sight of the prince. Jax jumped off the horse as he slowed to a spot, keeping Pomni in his arms as he ran to the doors of the castle.
The guards positioned outside immediately opening the doors once they saw the royal and the injured jester, not wasting a moment so he could get her inside.
“Medic! I need a medic!” Jax yelled out, running up the marbled stairs.
The servants rushed out at the sound of the prince’s voice, gasping at the sight of Pomni and led them both quickly to a guest room.
Jax gently lay her on the plush bed, a few maids rushing over with bowls of water and towels. “She hit her head,” he told them, “I tried to add pressure to stop the blood but I’m not sure if it did enough.”
He unwrapped the makeshift bandage, tossing it aside before grabbing one of the wet towels to press it against the wound. A maid took it from him, pressing against it instead. He didn’t want to stand there doing nothing, Pomni was hurt and he was hanging around like a useless fly. “Blankets, do we have blankets?!” he turned to another servant, fear and desperation in his eyes.
They must’ve noticed, for they didn’t waste time pointing to a nearby cupboard. Jax rushed over, pulling out every blanket he could find and placed it on Pomni’s shivering body. “Hang in there Pomni,” his hands began to shake, there was more blood. He couldn’t lose her, not after treating her the way he did. His mother was right, now he was paying the price.
A doctor rushed in, medical bag in hand and ready to get to work. Jax’s stomach flipped when he heard Pomni letting out a whimper in her unconscious state. “Be careful with her!” he growled.
He felt a hand pulling him back by the shoulder, he flinched, shoving it away, only to soften that it was his father with his mother behind him. “Pomni is in good with hands with the doctor,” Kinger placed his hand back on Jax’s shoulder, “You got her here in time, let him do his work.”
“I can’t do nothing,” Jax interrupted, “Not when she’s hurt like this! I have to, I need to-”
“Ma,”
Everyone turned to the voice. Pomni wasn’t awake, but a tear slid down her cheek as she shifted in her slumber. “Ma,” her voice cracked, “Ma I’m stuck. Where are you?”
Jax’s heart shattered into a million pieces. Seeing and hearing Pomni so vulnerable, stripped of the glam and sass she wore, leaving behind a broken and frightened person instead. It made the guilt ten times worse. He felt himself sway, his head was pounding and his heart was threatening to burst out of his chest from how hard it was beating. Queenie immediately noticed, already wrapping her arms around her son and led him to a cushioned chair in the corner of the room.
“Pomni, she needs my help, she…” he murmured.
“Shh, it’s okay, you’ve done enough,” Queenie reassured him, running a hand over his ears, “Rest, she’s going to be okay.”
Jax wanted to protest, to insist that he was fine, to be by Pomni’s side. But the promise of sleep was too strong to ignore. And so, he shut his eyes. He’d wake up later, then he would help Pomni.
.
.
.
Kaufmo couldn’t stop trembling. When the inn was under attack, he was roughly grabbed out of his bed and shoved against a wall, leaving him with a bleeding forehead and a black eye. The blood was ringing in his ears and his vision was blurred, but what he did notice was Pomni screaming and tied up as she was dragged away.
He wanted to reach out for her, to give hell to those who hurt his kid, but the pain was too much and his attacker was too strong to escape from. Just hearing the cries of his family, and the fear of…him finding them. It was too much.
He thanked whatever god was up there when the palace guards came, saving them from the gloinks. But it was short-lived, with Pomni being the first thing on his mind. Out of everyone in the circus, it was his kid who had the highest bounty on her head.
He nearly cried when the news of Pomni being safe at the castle arrived to him, but what shocked him was who saved her. Prince Jax. Never in all his days did he think that the arrogant prince would care for anyone’s wellbeing other than his own. Nevertheless, Pomni was Kaufmo’s first priority, he wanted to get to the castle as soon as possible.
And this was where he stood now, in the throne room with the rest of the circus behind him, all praying for Pomni to be okay. The king and queen trekked into the room, Kaufmo running as soon as he saw them. “Where’s Pomni? What happened to her? Is she okay?” tears were streaming down his face, but he didn’t care, his kid was all that mattered.
“It’s okay,” Queenie spoke, “Pomni is safe, she hit her head but we had a doctor attend to her and she is recovering in a guest room.”
Kaufmo let out a giant sigh of relief. All tension leaving him the second the news was told to him. Pomni was okay, they got to her in time.
“However it does leave a question,” Kinger said, his tone serious and avoid of any other emotion, “Why were the gloinks targeting Pomni directly? What’s going on with you all?”
Kaufmo paled, the rest of the circus matching his expression. They had a feeling that after what happened, this question would arise. After all, this wasn’t a normal attack. The gloinks were infamous for their bounty hunting, always demanding the highest pay for whoever that had to go after. So why go after a simple jester?
“Kaufmo?” Ragatha walked towards him, placing a hand on his back, a silent question if he really wanted to get into this mess.
“It’s okay, they have to know,” Kaufmo took a breath to prepare himself, he could so this. “Our circus wasn’t always like this, and I wasn’t always the ringmaster. Many years ago, I wanted to be a clown for my whole life. Performing in a circus was always my dream. But no matter who I went to, they would never hire me. I was going to give up until I met a man named Caine. He was starting a circus of his own and he had everything, except a clown. He practically hired me on the spot, I was so excited that I was willing to look past any warning that were blaring.
It was fine at first, the audience liked my jokes, it was good pay and I got to travel all over the land. However, after a year of being there, I was ready to go home and see my family. But when I tried to leave, that was when I saw Caine’s true colours. The moment I stepped out of that tent, I was attacked by Caine’s hunters. It was then when I learned that no one could leave, and even if you tried, Caine would send his men after you. Either you get attacked, but if you attempted to leave multiple times…I know many members who chose death rather than stay.”
“That’s how Caine tricks people,” Moon spoke up, “He offered me a home for me and my brother. I even fell in love with him. But when I saw what he was doing, I tried to get help. I made it about three feet before his hunters came after me.”
“He said he would help my family,” Ragatha rubbed her arm nervously, “We were poor and he said he would pay for anything as long as I stayed in the circus. I haven’t seen my family in five years.”
“I wanted to run away with the circus, escape from the harm that was in my town,” Gangle sniffed, Zooble wrapped an arm around her, “I never thought how much worse it could get.”
“It went on like that for so long,” Kaufmo continued. “For years we were nothing but puppets for Caine as he fed off our talents. If we weren’t sleeping, we were either rehearsing or performing. And if we showed the slightest sign of fatigue, he’d unleash his fury on us. It only got worse when Pomni arrived. Pomni…I’ll let her tell her story. But she was the youngest out of all of us. She was five when Caine stole her. I took her under my wing, protecting her from Caine. But Pomni was different than the rest of us, her talents are…unique to say the least. It was what attracted audiences however, and as long as Pomni had that power, there was no way Caine was ever going to let her go.
“That was where I came in,” Zooble spoke up. “When the circus arrived in my area, I already had my suspicions. That was when I met Gangle, she told me what happened and I knew I couldn’t do nothing. So I came up with a plan to get them out. I would pretend that I wanted to be in Caine’s show while trying to get everyone out. It took a few buddies of mine and some help from my village, but it worked.”
“We managed to get the enforcers of the town and alert them of what was happening and then managed to detain Caine…at least for a while,” Kaufmo’s face fell. “A while ago, we heard news that Caine had managed to escape, but what really scared us the most was that he didn’t want any of us. Just Pomni. She was irreplaceable, so we’ve been on the run ever since. As long as Caine’s out there, none of us are free.”
Queenie and Kinger stood there, shellshock keeping them frozen in place. How could anyone react any differently to that information?! They wanted to so badly to ask about Pomni, but they knew that they shouldn’t pry her story from others. It was hers and only hers to share. “I appreciate you telling us this, I can’t imagine what you all have gone through,” Queenie told them, nothing but kindness and sincerity in her tone.
“Rest assured,” Kinger straightened up, “We will do everything in our power to make sure Caine doesn’t come near you ever again.”
“But how?!” Kaufmo cried out, “We’ve done everything in our power to get rid of him and he still manages a way to find us! We’re lucky to be alive at this point!”
“Believe my husband and I when I say that Caine will not get away with these crimes,” Queenie informed them. “For your safety, including Pomni’s, we advise you to stay within the castle walls under Caine is no longer a threat. Our soldiers are highly trained to deal with these types of threats. Worry not, your freedom is going to be granted soon.”
Kaufmo opened his mouth and closed it. Freedom? Was it really that possible for him? Would his daughter finally be rid of that monster? Maybe he was getting his hopes up, but by the end of the day, it was still hope. And as long as Pomni was safe, he would take it. “Thank you, your majesties, thank you,” Kaufmo shuddered, feeling a sense of happiness he hadn’t felt in a long time.”
“Of course,” Kinger nodded, “Once Pomni has arisen, we’ll let you see her. As for now, we’ll have your belongings transferred over to the castle. Please, breathe, you are all safe here.”
The circus members looked to one another, was it really possible? Would they finally have a life without fear? All they knew was one thing, as long as Caine didn’t get his hands on Pomni, then they could all finally breathe.
.
.
.
Pomni stirred lightly, her head thundering with pain. She was half tempted to go back to sleep, this bed was the softest she had ever slept in. She eyes shot open, the bed at the inn wasn’t normally this soft. When the bleariness cleared, she could see that she was laid upon the most luxurious sheets she had ever slept in, along with sleek silky pillows that cooled the heat rising upon her flushed skin. As her eyes travelled, they landed upon red wallpaper with embroidered gold stems and leaves, her gaze drifted to the side as she spied some type of curtains tied to each side of the bed.
She lifted herself up into a sitting position, ignoring her throbbing head as she took in more of her surroundings. She was still wondering how she got here, in fact, her memories were just as fuzzy in her. Then, in a flash, it came back to her.
The nightmares.
The break in.
The cries of her family.
The fear of seeing Caine.
The agony of her head hitting the rock…
And then Jax was there. His touch soft and his voice gentle as he lifted her and carried her back to the castle. Jax…saved me.
Pomni turned, gasping faintly as she saw the prince in a chair next to her. The castle she realised to herself I’m in the castle. Jax’s head was resting on the side of the bed as his breathing evenly flowed in and out. She smiled a bit, he looked so innocent like this. Stripped of his brashness and confidence, a small glimpse of Jax was peeking out to her. She was half tempted to brush her fingers through the fur of his ears, but quickly decided against that. He was a prince for goodness’ sake, how improper would that be.
She flinched at the sound of small pattering feet. She had a feeling she was safe due to the heavy protection surrounding the castle, but even that couldn’t keep the nerves at bay. She held the blankets closer to her, as though they would act as some sort of shield. All that worry melted away into awe once she saw the sweet brown eyes of a kitten starting up at her as he wandered into the room.
“Aw!” she cooed, “Hi little kitty!”
The kitten meowed, his tail wagging slowly as he made his way over to the jester. Pomni patted the bed, gesturing for the feline to come up. His claws caught into the sheets, making his way up until he joined Pomni on the mattress. Unable to resist, she scooped his up into her arms, with the little kitten rubbing his head against her cheek as he purred. “You’re just the sweetest little thing, aren’t you?” she scratched behind his ears.
Mew
She pressed a small kiss on his nose, he was just so cute!
Unbeknownst to the duo, the movement and noise that they were making made the prince stir a bit.
Jax let out a low grumble, the back of his neck aching after sleeping in this horrible position. But he didn’t want to leave Pomni’s side for a moment. Just in case she woke up or something happened to her in her sleep. No, he had to be here. Even if he resigned himself to sleep in a terrible way, Pomni mattered more.
He could feel something move next to him, along with the sound of coos and tiny meows. Wait a minute, he recognised those meows. He straightened up immediately, ignoring the neck ache. Pomni jumped at how quickly got up, hugging Motley closer to her.
“You’re awake!” Jax’s mouth split into a relieved grin, “Are you okay, nothing hurts does it? Do you need anything? Another blanket, water?”
Pomni blinked with confusion at the prince’s many questions. He seemed so…sweet? He did save her life, but still, seeing this side of him was so jarring. “Um, I’m fine thanks,” she smiled awkwardly.
He ran to the door, not wanting to waste a single moment longer, “Doctor! She’s awake!”
It wasn’t long before the doctor came in, checking her over and making sure she was alright, informing her about her extended stay in the castle and the search for Caine. However, all her focus seemed to be on Jax. When the doctor asked for a cool towel for her flushed face, Jax was eager to fetch it. When a breeze through the window made her shiver, he was quick to close it. And when the maid was setting up a tray of breakfast for her, Jax dropped everything to help her. Even the servants and doctors seemed perplexed by his behaviour. What happened to the mischievous prince who made sure to make his crudeness his reputation?
When the buzz died down, the doctor informed Pomni to stay in bed and that he would fetch her family.
Her family. They were safe, it relieved some tension that she didn’t even know she had. It was when Jax turned to leave that she did something that puzzled both of them. “Wait!” she called out. The prince turned back, did she want him to stay? “I-I just…why did you save me?”
Jax was taken aback by that question, staring at her as though the answer was obvious, “I couldn’t just let them take you. Bounty hunters invaded my kingdom and kidnapped one of our visitors. Besides, you hold value to your family and circus. They need you in their lives.”
“R-right, well what I wanted to say was…thank you,” her smile made his heart turn to melted gold. So soft yet so delicate and beautiful. It was burned into the prince’s memory.
“Y-you’re welcome Pomni,” Jax stuttered, sitting himself back down on the chair. He gulped, not once in his life did he get so tongue-tied over another person. It was certainly an interesting feeling to say the least. “And I should apologise for sending you those gifts and the announcement in the town square. Please believe me when I say that I didn’t aim to make you uncomfortable. How does my mother put it? My heart can be bigger than my brain sometimes. But I’m sorry that you had to witness it.”
It was Pomni’s turn to be taken aback. She had never heard words so genuine and sincere, especially with it coming from someone she always saw as pompous and crude. She cleared her throat, “I appreciate the apology your highness. It may take me a while to fully forgive you, but you’ve made a good start already.”
“Jax,” he said.
She hummed questioningly.
“Call me Jax,” he clarified.
“Oh! Well, thank you Jax,” she ran her fingers along the kitten’s fur, listening to him purr to fill the pleasant silence.
“Ah, I see you met Motley,” Jax poked the feline’s nose.
“Motley?” Pomni tilted her head.
“My cat,” he clarified.
Pomni let out a gasp, excitement washing over her. “This is your cat?!” she beamed, holding the kitten up to her face, “He’s adorable.” She pressed little kisses over his small face, Motley purring louder at the affection.
Jax grumbled, ignoring the twinge of jealously, “He’s an obnoxious little shit.”
Pomni scoffed at him, “No he’s not! He’s a sweet little gentleman.”
“He broke in here and decided that this place was gonna be his home,” Jax retorted back, “I didn’t get a say in the matter.”
“But how could you say no to this cute face?” Pomni held Motley closer to Jax’s face, the kitten pressing a paw to the prince’s nose.”
“He’s quite…persuading. But you won’t like him when he’s taking a bath, trust me,” Jax said.
Pomni rolled her eyes, cuddling the kitten again. Jax smiled softly, it was sweet to see her bonding with Motley, after what happened she could use this little interaction to help lift her spirits.
They paused for a moment, Jax letting Pomni take small bites of her breakfast while he prepared some tea for her. He had requested chamomile from the maids, it was what helped him for whenever he had a sick day and he hoped it would help Pomni as well. Once Pomni’s plate was cleared, he gently put the mug in her hands and took away the breakfast tray. She hummed appreciatively at the warm drink, watching Jax’s carefully stack everything together and taking it to the door. It was quite the sight to see, a prince waiting beck and call for a commoner. But she wasn’t complaining, it was rather comforting to be taken care of.
Throughout the silence, simple questions being traded back and forth between the two. “So tell me, how do you know so much about flowers?” Jax asked, “You know, after my abysmal attempt of trying to give some to you.”
Pomni laughed, it was quite funny looking back at it now, “My ma-…my family always loved flowers, they taught me everything there was to know about them. My favourite was always roses, it might be cliché but there are so many meanings to come out of one flower depending on the colour.”
“I see,” Jax murmured, even the smallest thing about Pomni meant the world to him. She was just so fascinating.
“And you,” Pomni spoke, “What is your favourite pastime?”
“Well…I have a passion for reading,” he told her, “Ever since I was young I’ve always had a fondness for books about adventures and swashbuckling pirates! Every page was a new journey and I wanted to devour it all! I wanted to live that life more than ever.”
“That does sound amazing,” she mused, “I haven’t been to a library in so long…” she trailed off. Jax’s face fell slightly, reaching his hand out to her. Pomni noticed the sudden change in mood and smiled again, “But it’s alright, I’m sure I will one day.”
Jax nodded, keeping her sentence locked in his mind. He’d have to come back to that later.
Pomni bit her lip, another question had been burning at the back of her mind and it had made her more curious than she thought she should be. She turned to Jax, “I have to ask, why did you want to see me so badly? What did I do that made you so infatuated?”
Jax blinked, resting his arms on his legs as he clasped his hands together. He took a breath, his face serious as he answered her, “I know it might sound ridiculous, and you’re allowed to laugh. But in all honesty, it was your voice.”
Pomni perked up, her eyes wide, “My voice?”
“Yeah,” Jax nodded, “The moment you started singing, I just wanted to know more about you. You were telling a story simply through song, but you were only telling the first chapter. I got impatient and wanted to read more. From the first note, I knew that there was more to you that I had to know. I just…didn’t go about it the right way at first.” He let out a nervous chuckled, only to freeze when he saw a tear slide down her cheek. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you!”
“No, no, you didn’t,” she let out a choked laugh, wiping the tear away, “In fact, you said exactly what I needed to hear.”
Motley rubbed his head against her arm, offering as much comfort as possible. Jax placed his hand on hers, “Pomni, if I act or say anything stupid just say the word. I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m a massive idiot.”
Pomni giggled, her face twisting into one of mock surprise, “Really, I had no idea!”
Jax rolled his eyes fondly, “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up short stack.”
She snorted, about to say another word when the room was suddenly flooded by the circus members. Each one of them fretting over her and checking if she was okay. “Guys! I’m fine!” she reassured them, Motley scrambling out of the crowd and ran over to Jax.
The rabbit picked him up, giving the circus cast their space as they reunited with Pomni. “You scared me to death kiddo!” Kaufmo squeezed her, “I thought they got you!”
“I’m okay Pa,” she rested her head on his shoulder, “I gave them a piece of my mind before Jax saved me.”
Kaufmo froze, slowly turning to the prince. “You saved my kid?” he asked.
Jax gulped, he still hadn’t forgotten the clown’s terrifying threat, “Yes?”
Kaufmo hummed in thought, it seemed that he judged the prince a bit too harshly. But only a little bit, he didn’t regret chewing him out. “Thank you, your highness,” he gave Jax a simple bow, “It’s good to know that our safety is taken seriously by you.”
“O-of course,” Jax stuttered. He had fought and won battles against much more frightening opponents, how did a clown seem worse than that?
Kaufmo turned his attention back to Pomni, running his hand over her wound and cringing at the sight. He sat on the bed next to Pomni, the girl leaning into her father’s hug as the rest of the circus members watched over them.
Jax decided to take this as a que to leave and give them their privacy. He was just about to head out the room when he was stopped by Pomni’s voice, “Jax!”
He paused, turning back to her.
“Thank you, again,” Pomni smiled at him, “For what you did.”
Jax grinned, feeling a sense of pride fill him. But it wasn’t the usual arrogance he’d come to expect, there was a warmth to it, and a flutter of butterflies in his stomach. Holding Motley in one arm, he gave the jester a bow, “Always. If you’d like, once you’ve recovered, I could give you a tour of the castle?”
“I’d like that,” Pomni nodded.
And with that, Jax took his leave, fully aware of the stabbing glares of Kaufmo, Moon and Ragatha on his back, never did he expect to feel such danger from a circus crew.
Pomni bit her lip shyly, fisting the sheets below her hands before looking up to meet Gangle’s giddy smile and Zooble’s teasing gaze. “So, you got yourself a date with the prince huh?” Zooble chortled.
“S-shut up!” Pomni threw a pillow at him, making them laugh harder. She sighed, that prince really wormed himself into her heart, didn’t he?
Song Credit: Irish Eyes by Rose Betts
#the amazing digital circus#jax#pomni#pomnijax#funnybunny#jax x pomni#pomni x jax#kinger#queenie#ragatha#gangle#zooble#tadc sun#tadc moon#caine#dragon rambles#fanfic#fanfiction#ao3#royal au#prince!jax#my writing
27 notes
·
View notes
Note
I was going to send this earlier, but from that prompt list you reblogged earlier: pressing foreheads together
*cracks knuckles* they say practice your weaknesses until they're your strengths so LETS FUCKING GO get ready for some tooth rotting fluff
EDIT: I lied. It came out so angsty im sorry im a one trick pony
***
It's the kind of stupid fucking argument that spirals into neither of them even remembering what the hell they were fighting about in the first place. And Davey--
Well, Davey has a way with words. Jack reminds him often enough. Not only is Davey a craftsman with the English language, he's a fighter, and wields words as weapons that shoot to kill when they're fueled by his anger.
"If you're so fucking unhappy here, then why don't you just leave," Davey spits venomously.
He regrets the words the instant they leave his tongue. It's torture, actually, to watch them reach Jack's ears and see his face fall not into the anger that Davey expected, but hurt. Which is so, so much worse.
Jack's jaw and shoulders go slack, like a piece of him has just died a little, and now Davey has to live with being the one who killed it. If that wasn't enough, his eyes go big and sad and doe-eyed and god dammit, why did Davey have to go and aim right for the jugular?
In an instant, he's closed the space between them and cupped a hand behind Jack's neck. "Jack, I--"
Jack dips his head, eyes fluttering shut at the skin to skin contact. "I know," he whispers.
"I'm sorry," Davey croaks. And he is. Because nothing--not whatever the fuck they were fighting about, not winning an argument--not a single thong in this world, means more to Davey than what he has with Jack.
"Me, too," Jack says. "You ain't getting rid of me that easily."
***
DOUBLE EDIT: Added a fluffy one down here because I felt bad about the angst I really DO need to practice fluff so here ya go two for the price of one
***
"Been quite a year, eh?"
Davey turns from where he's stationed at the lodge window, flashing Jack that gorgeous smile of his and all of a sudden Jack's forgotten how to breathe. "I'd say so. Starting a union. Winning a strike. Don't know how we're going to top this one next year."
"Bigger and better and bolder, that's all."
"Ah, such is the Jack Kelly way."
"Whaddya mean by that?" Jack asks, although a laugh creeps into his voice.
"I just mean that's the way you do things. Big and bold or not at all."
"Oh." He's not wrong.
A gust of winter wind brings silence between them, and Jack never quite knows what to do with silence except break it.
"You know, you're supposed to kiss someone on New Year's Eve," Jack announces, hoping he's not being too obvious. He is. He knows it. Subtlety was never his forte. Davey's eyebrows raise, but he stays staring out into Manhattan, the chaos of the lodging house continuing behind them. "When the countdown gets to zero," Jack elaborates. " 'S'posed to be good luck or somethin'."
Finally Davey rewards Jack with his full gaze, something playful poorly hidden in his crooked smile. "And are you in need of some good luck?"
The voices of thirty or so newsboys enthusiastically counting along to the raidio cuts through the crisp air.
"Ten, nine, eight!"
"Actually, no. I'm on top of the world, in case you ain't noticed."
"You work for The World."
"Yeah, well, so do you."
"Jack."
"Davey."
"Seven, six, five."
"Well. Even if you were in need of any luck, I presume you'd save the kissing for someone you actually like."
"Davey."
"Jack."
"Half this conversation's just us sayin' each other's names like a pair of idiots."
"Four."
"You're telling me we're not a pair of idiots."
"Three."
"You're really gonna make me spell it out for you, aren't ya?"
"Two."
"Like a vocabulary test."
"One."
Jack cups a hand to the back of Davey's head, pulling him close until they're foreheads gently press against one another. "I've liked ya since before I even realized I did. Does that make any sense?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Zero! Happy New Year!"
Screw it.
Jack closes the distance between them, burst of lights from the fireworks creating a kaleidascope of colors behind his eyelids.
As the world turns into a new century, Jack and Davey stare out into the city with their shoulders pressed together, silently letting the ambient light and noises wash over them.
Ten seconds into the new year and it's already better than the last.
#okay sorry that second one is ROUGH im on a bus and very eepies so#wow look at me im writing!#newsies#newsies uk#javid#javey
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
So I’ve been reading and obsessing over @ariaste ‘s essay(the magic trick you didn’t see) for two days now and you can completely call me out if I’m wrong however if I remember correctly, after all the flashbacks, we focus on aziraphale. As if Azi is having the flashbacks himself, not as background shown outside of the present story for growth in their relationship.
So… maybe the Metatron is only editing the book for Aziraphale’s perspective. If he needs Aziraphale’s ‘talents’ then why bother editing Crowley, why would you not focus on the one you need for your plan to work, why focus all your attention and manipulation on someone that plays no significant role in your production.
Which would make sense right? Crowley, in present, is himself. His personality and behavior is how it always would be. Aziraphale is his other half, the only one who sees, truly sees him for who he is and he would do anything for him. Anything. Azi is the one the Metatron needs for his big plan to work, not Crowley. He only has to manipulate one of them. His subtle control wouldn’t work on Crowley because Crowley would see right through it. Crowley knows not to trust heaven, no matter what they may offer him.
But Aziraphale. Aziraphale still believes in heaven, in good, as an objective truth. He is an easy target, as one would say, to the subtle techniques of manipulation the Metatron excels at. And if @ariaste ’s theory is correct, by using Aziraphale’s memories as a way to slightly alter the totality of connection and trust between him and Crowley, making him doubt not what’s in the present, but in the past, it makes it easier to pull him away from Crowley. Because separating them is the goal. He knows if they’re together his plan will fail. So he targets one, causes them to break off from one another, then takes Azi away. And Crowley can’t do anything about it.
Last bit, dont know if it relates, but it has bothered me since I first saw the scene. The apology dance. Now that in and of itself is not what bothers me. It’s the behavior Aziraphale exhibits when Crowley comes in. He has done far worse than what Crowley did to him, simply walking out, and yet he still demands the apology dance? Feels off although it could just be nothing.
Final thought(I swear this is it), is Maggie a demon? In episode 5 Crowley expresses that spelling is not a demons strong point and in episode 1 we see that Maggie spelled urgency wrong(ugrency). I feel like there might be something going on there, and even if she isn’t a demon, perhaps she isn’t human.
Feel free to leave your thoughts on the matter, im going down a rabbit hole :)
#good omens#good omens 2#aziraphale#crowley#aziraphale x crowley#crowly x aziraphale#aziracrow#maggie good omens#nina good omens#the metatron#metatron good omens#crowley good omens#aziraphale good omens#angels#demons#ahhhh I can’t wait for season 3#innefable husbands#otp: ineffable
12 notes
·
View notes
Note
hi meadows! did you actually studied english at some point you just became fluent in it by osmosis like the majority of non-native english speakers on online fandom spaces? im picking this up from your post abt media literacy where you mentioned reading lotrd appendix with a dictionary in hand bc this got me thinking... english is not my first language too and i learned it kinda out of nowhere, but now i feel like this affects my confidence in writing a lil bit. any tips on that?
probably osmosis, with a little bit of active work. i was home from school a lot (read: skipped two years in total) when we started learning english but the classes were so miserable anyway i don't feel like i missed much. i have a lisp so i was constantly berated for saying th- words the wrong way, lol
as for confidence, man. come close. let me tell you a secret: native english speakers are godawful at writing english most of the time. either they took one linguistics course and now slap everyone else over the back of the head with a grammar book, or they don't know how to spell complex words. 99% of the time they do not notice shit. so, don't focus on performing for them.
most simple writing mistakes, contrary to posts like "well i saw a grammatical error in this fic and had to close out immediately!", don't interrupt 90% of readers. and you can always go back in and fix them. i'm very grateful for readers who nicely point out little typos and errors i make, since i don't have a beta and proofread it all by myself and you eventually grow text blind.
second is just reading more books (because of professional editing) and writing down sentence structure, phrases etc that are either challenging or neat and working them into your text. i keep lists running for each fic i write of words, phrases, etc from books i read that i want to assimilate into my writing style.
my lazy writing trick is orienting my reading habits to suit the voice/narration of the character i'm writing. for fu xuan i ended up reading a lot of chinese poetry textbooks, as well as some on divination, and just taking on that type of voice. for kafka, it's a lot of unreliable narrator books (joe goldberg quadrology, gillian flynn, in general thrillers; movie scripts and beckett plays too) and currently for clorinde i'm reading a lot of "i would die for you" type poetry as well as austen/brontë. i should note i don't finish all books but sometimes merely flip around for the vibe, read half or a few chapters, whatever. pour words into the well until it's overflowing.
15 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hello!
If you don't mind me asking, what inspired you to start writing? Also, do you have any tips/tricks for writing?
Thank you!
(I love you work btw!!)
I've technically been writing for so long that I've honestly forgotten what even inspired me the first time but I keep writing because I just like interacting with people in fandom spaces and I think writing is one of the easiest ways to do that for me.
As far as tips go I don't have many.
If you can write on something bigger than a phone screen, do it. Nothing wrong with a phone, but for me the lack of notifications and bigger screen makes focusing easier.
If you have a good idea that you're really into, dump into a list somewhere to keep track.
If you haven't already, download Google docs on your phone + whatever you write on most consistently. You don't have to risk losing your draft to an app glitching out.
If you're worried about spelling/grammar Grammarly is a good browser extension and keeps me in check. The basic version is free to use !
Write first, worry about editing later
Don't feel bad about dropping a draft or concept because you're frustrated with it or don't feel comfortable with it anymore
Write when you're comfortable. You don't have to post anything you don't like or feel great about
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Stuff I've ordered from Victoria's Secret/PINK !
Okayy so basically, for whatever reason, I ended up getting a $100 PINK gift card from my mama cause I guess she didn't want it. Now obviously I'm not going to buy lingeries, since I'd really have no use for them, so I decided to look at the cosmetic stuff! So heres what I bought :3 I would add photos but its an odd number of them so it would look weird🙁
・┆✦Bond Repair Treatment Mask✦ ┆・
This was kind of a compulsive buy since it was on clearance but you know, nothing wrong with treating myself 🤷♂️ people were saying it made their hair shiny so I added it to my cart. Though I'm not sure if it'll work all that well for me since I was curly hair - like 2c - so we'll just have to see.
Okay so I had doubts about it when I first got it but it actually works really well!! The ends of my hair aren't as split looking and my natural curls have been holding a tad bit longer. My only warning would be that it's very liquid-y so you need to be really careful not for spill it if your in the shower. 9/10
・┆✦VS HIM Platinum Body Lotion✦ ┆・
I'm gonna be honest, I've never really used cologne before 🧚♂️...I've mostly ever used unisex stuff. But I've been wanting to try a cologne and this VS ones had good reviews on other websites. I was going to buy the duo set but it made me go over my giftcard limit so I just settled for the body lotion. Good enough
I haven't exactly been able to wear this as much yet, as I don't really have a perfume/spray that would fit with it, but I can say it smells really good! I'm sorry I can't give a full opinion on it ahhh... 8/10
・┆✦Natural Beauty Exfoliating Body Scrub (coco milk+rose)✦ ┆・
Don't really have much more context for this other than I've been needing a exfoliater since my skin has been so dry.
Tbh it good just be the way I'm using it, as I don't have a loofah or anything like that yet, I only used a wash cloth. But anyway what I mean is that I didn't really notice much exfoliation?? I don't know it could be because I've only used it a few time or because of the fact I haven't exactly shaved my legs but yeah 😭 I need to use it more though!! And the good thing is it's very think and smells + feels good. If I get better results later I'll update. 6/10
・┆✦Conditioning Coconut Body Serum✦ ┆・
This was from a newer line of the body products so I thought I'd try it out. It's vegan too, which I think is good.
I really like it! It's made my skin really soft, esp my hands which looked like they were through hell..so very good results! 10/10
・┆✦Love Spell Duo✦ ┆・
I'll have you know that I'm an absolutely D RIDER for Japanese cherry blossom sets. I have both the body sprays from Bath and Body Works and I reallyyy wish I could find a good cologne/perfume like it. I decided to get the duo cause if I don't really like VS's spray then I'll probably still use the lotion.
It does smell really nice, it smells like Japanese cherry blossom but a bit more peachy. I will say though that it hardly lasts at all..it fades after less than an hour unless you do the vaseline trick. I usually only wear it after showers or before bed because of that. As for the body lotion, it really just smells like peaches. Overall the smell is nice but the longevity is bad. (I probably will still be trying the others though) 5/10
The package comes in a few days so I'll make sure to review in about a week either by editing this post or making a new post!! See y'all later on that.
P.S, this post literally took so long to make for what omggg
Reviews made on 4/4/2024 <3
#victoria secret#vs angel#pink#haul#to be continued#beauty products#princesscore#boyblogging#love yourself
1 note
·
View note
Photo
Do you know who these people are?
[[id: the beginning of the credits screen for the 2013 Stanley Parable. White text on a black background reads: Written and Designed by Davey Wreden and William Pugh. Narrated by Kevan Brighting. end id]]
-
…..no? Should I? I’m struggling to understand what you’ve sent me here. Did you edit the credits screen of my game to have some other people’s names on it? Because I can’t get my head around why anyone would do that. Are you just trying to discredit me? You didn’t even spell “Kevin” right. Wait, maybe these people are some sort of Internet celebrities I’ve never heard of; it seems like they grow those in vats these days. Is that the joke? Let me google them real quick to make sure I’m up to speed. Boy, I hope they don’t have a lot of drama around them like those bloody Minecrafters.
*
Well that’s strange, I left to go look them up and I swear I did but now here I am, back looking at this post, and I have no memory of what I just did. It just slipped my mind, like a dream slipping away upon awakening. Did I even do what I was going to do? Maybe I didn’t. Maybe Stanley was acting up and I got distracted. No, no, it’s right here in my search history, I must have done it. I’ll just click back-
But. For some reason… I can’t. Whenever I hover my mouse over the link, I suddenly feel my stomach churning and my hand shaking. It’s as if something deep within my soul, something far far below consciousness and yet a vital part of it, is telling me not to look. It’s, um, actually hard to describe in human terms, but I think it’s somewhat similar to what people talk about when they say something “put the fear of God in them”. The idea that there’s just something fundamentally wrong happening, and it’s far bigger than you could possibly imagine. Why do I feel this way? Is my mind trying to protect me? Is that why I forgot after the first time?
I know what to do. I’ll show my search history to Stanley and see if he has the same trouble I do. If he has better luck than me, maybe he can shed some light on who these people are.
*
Ok, when I showed him the list of names, his eyes lit up with recognition. But he’s refusing to tell me where he saw them before. He was able to click on the links but again, is not clarifying anything for me. He’s just smiling, and not like the way he smiles when he tries to trick me, but like the way he does when we’ve just been through an absurd adventure together and had a good laugh about it. So. Back to square one for me I suppose, unless I continue to needle him about it. Although the more I turn it over in my mind, the more certain I am that I have heard the name Brighting somewhere important. Urgh, this is all getting rather bewildering. Who are you, hushpupper? What do these names mean to you? I’m going to be up all night pondering this mystery, I’m afraid.
11 notes
·
View notes
Text
Crossover Theory: Is Devil (From Cuphead Show) A Steven...?
[In case no one bothers reading all of the tags for this, I’m editing this to put this down....DO NOT REBLOG THIS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION, I had even put the tag for it in with the other tags before posting this, and even though there was one person before who didn’t know about the whole not reblogging without permissions in one of my last posts, but we had worked things out and I gave them official permission...
but please do NOT ignore that tag, also Not all theories have to be taken seriously or literally, some theories are “what-if” theories and some shouldn’t be taken the wrong way even if some might be silly, so once again, please make sure to check the tags for anything that says “do not reblog without my permission” but you know what, if some are gonna misinterpret this post, just skip it and wait for other video games or cartoon theories, as of now, reading this can just be optional, but no one really has to read it if they don’t want to....]
we already know the theory about Sans being a future version of Steven,
because one of the evidence of that is his name...
Steven Quartz Universe spells out Sans.
also this will talk about some spoilers from Season 3 of Cuphead Show, which reminded me of Steven Universe, don’t read this until you watch all the episodes of Season 3 of The Cuphead Show.
anyway, for those who have watched all the episodes of Season 3 of Cuphead Show....
we know what happens when Devil-Boy, doesn’t get a single soul for too long, all the things and those he treasures gets put into a bubble.
and who else is able to put things and people into bubbles, Steven and the other Gems....
Henchman being in a bubble, means that Devil cares for him, and I wouldn’t be surprised that King Dice would end up being in a bubble as well.
like in one of the AU of Cuphead, like the Casino Cups, picture the same thing happening but like it not just being King Dice in one of those bubbles,
but all of the employees and even Cuphead & Mugman, picture teasing Devil with the words “you luv us!”
that would be both funny and cute.
we know that all the time clones of Steven ended up dying once that time traveling item was destroyed by the Original Steven that started it all.
it could be possible that in a Crossover way, that version of Steven was reborn into the Cuphead Show’s world, but still having a soul of a hybrid Gem.
Devil can shape shift, but is a master at it, Steven could shape shift but he wasn’t originally very good at it, because of the whole cat episode and trying to make himself look older for Connie because it seem he wasn’t going to age along with her, but it turns out that Steven just ages really slowly and his appearance did change a little when his older self appeared in the movie.
there can be one version of Steven that becomes Sans, and the other could end up being reborn as Devil from the Cuphead Show.
I know that the new season 3 of Cuphead Show, makes me think that the Devil might be connected to one of the versions of Steven. XD
and how do we know the “S” in his name isn’t Steven, lol.
they used bubbles in one episode that made me come to that weird theory.
it be interesting if Sans tricks Devil into singing “all I want to do, is see you turn into a Giant Woman.”
like Sans singing the first part of the song, and Devil (without thinking) sings the next part of the song...XD
plus another reason for the theory of Devil, being maybe connected to one of the Stevens that ended up turning to dust...
is that the bubbles that end up being around the items and persons that Devil seems to treasure the most, seems a bit pink.
another theory can be that Devil isn’t another version of Steven reborn,
but could very well be somehow connected to the gem race, well both him and some Angels.
both are possibly beings that make up Physical Consciousness Manifestations Of Light, taking on either humanoid forms or other type of forms.
Gems could of been originally Angels, or like White Diamond could of been originally one, but gave up her original form to place her very consciousness into a white diamond and being the first Gem, and then she created Yellow, Blue and Pink.
I don’t think I will ever understand why Masculine Angels think war and physical violence solves everything, cause it sure as heck doesn’t.
it’s only okay in video games and other fictional work, not in real life.
and if some info about Jesus is true, I will still hold some disappointment.
plus it would just give me another reason to want to go live with the Earthly Mother/Goddess, even if I can still believe in the Heavenly Father/God....
I mean if Jesus did cross the line (that I hope he doesn’t cross the line),
it doesn’t mean I will be okay with it, because so many would end up becoming hurt and the song that would match that would be the song
that is called “Apologize” by OneRepublic...
and please don’t view my words or feelings as blasphemy, I just want to try to hope that Jesus would NEVER cross a line that has to do with some stuff I had read, because if he does, he will just be doing evil actions for the sake of “justice” because if he did make people fight each other and even cause some other bad stuff to happen, he will just prove that even those who are of Heaven can do actions that can be harmful...
I don’t even want his and Satan’s fights, to cross a line...
and yeah I still have a beef with some of Satan’s little Satanist followers from one of my past lives, once again when reincarnation comes, I NEVER want to be reborn into a Toxic-Satanist Family like one of my past lives...
being a daughter of a Mafia Boss in a past life, seems more tolerable.
it’s lucky I don’t remember full stuff from past lives, and it is possible some might only remember bits and pieces, which might be a good thing.
some past life memories can be triggered, like if your wearing a outfit that reminds you of a outfit you had died in one of your past lives.
it can be possible that sometimes, Earth Angels and Non-Earth Angels that go through reincarnation, will always be in danger of losing their life a little too early....
anyway back to the whole Crossover Theory, we know that Devil in Cuphead series, can shape shift and if he doesn’t collect soul and waits a little too long, everything and person he treasures will be placed into a bubble.
guess that leaves Stickler out, he wasn’t placed in bubble...
so either Devil is Steven’s Gem Half who had reformed into the Devil, or he is someone 100% different and is not Steven.
but if Steven’s original self did get into a accident where his gem popped out and took too long to reform, and causing the human half of Steven to die and then become reborn and revived as Sans, while the Gem Half that is Pink-Steven becomes upset over the loss of his other half and brother.
could of been so upset that his very gem breaks and causing the consciousness inside to break free and travel as a white ball of light until ending up at Inkwell Isle, and reforming into a new form that would be known as “The Devil”.....
one half of Steven, the Human Half that still has some traces of being half Gem, becomes Sans, while the other half who use to be Pink-Steven/Gem-Steven couldn’t take the guilt of not reforming in time to save his human half, ends up throwing a tantrum and cry so powerful, it breaks his own gem and causes his consciousness to form into a ball of light and travel for who knows how long until ending up at Inkwell Isle and then reforming as Devil.
not all theories have to be correct, but we know it could be possible that Sans is a future self of Steven...and well you can still blame one of the episodes of Season 3 of Cuphead Show for the theory that has to do with Devil having some kind of past life as a Steven Quartz Universe...
#devil cuphead#cuphead show#steven quartz universe#steven universe#sans the skeleton#undertale#deltarune#cuphead show spoilers#crossover theory#do not reblog without permission
1 note
·
View note
Text
Dating Headcannons - Leonardo
Note: Again, not gonna edit this because I'm far too tired and lazy for that shit. So if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes, please ignore them. ^^ Also- I don't think I mentioned this in my last post, but I do not own the mood boards I post along with these headcannons. I just found them all on google and decided to use them. XP Someone requested that I post Lee's next, so that's exactly what I'm doing. Mike and Raph are next! Lemme know who's you want to see first! And let me know if I should make one of these for Casey? :3 Thanks for reading! <3
Warnings: mature/sexual themes, nsfw mentions, mature language,
- Holy fuck this guy is into bondage and you cannot change my mind. Also, he can be a switch but he totally prefers being the dom. And he most likely will...
- He'd be into praise, mark my words. He'd fluster the shit out of you and enjoy it. And he'd probably enjoy it if you called him Sensei or Master no matter how cringey it may be.
- He can be a bit possessive, so I feel like he'd be very into marking you as his.
- If you meditate with him, he'll love you forever. Even if you hate it. And if he knew you didn't enjoy it, he'd be all "oh it's okay, you don't have to meditate with me if you don't want to..", but be secretly thrilled if you decided to do it anyway. He'd also try to trick you into doing it with him a few times too.
- Like with Donnie, if you bring this man tea he will propose to you on the spot. (Not actually, but you know he'd be pretty excited about it). The same goes with candles and plants (he's a plant guy, you cannot tell me otherwise). And no one, absolutely no one can touch or use his tea. Well, if Splinter asked him, he'd wouldn't stop him or say anything about it but he wouldn't be all that pleased.
- Will probably talk to Splinter a lot about you and ask him for advice. Might accidentally mention something on the more intimate side of things and get really awkward afterwards. And Splinter will be like "that my son is something you should discuss with her" or some shit. Splinter might even go up to you himself and tell you to talk to Leo because of a 'topic' he will not mention.
- Acts like he doesn't like cussing, but finds it extremely attractive when you do it. Especially in bed and with his name attached.
- He has those fanfiction blue eyes, and once he knows that he has them and the power he wields over you he will use it to the full extent. Wherever and whenever that may be.
- Not fully into PDA but he will do it, do not test him. If you do, he'll just prove you wrong and make you 'pay' for it later.
- Leo has an issue with assertiveness. So he's bossy and likes to be in charge. He likes to make decisions, even for you sometimes. But knowing him he's respectful and encouraging. He's open and makes sure that you guys have good communication. He'll get annoyed if you don't talk to him or refuse to open up to him/tell him if something is wrong.
- He pushes you, in a good way. To try to get you to become a better person and to work harder.
- Spending time with him in a must, and he demands to see you as much as possible. He tries to impress you every time he gets the chance, and has a thing for compliments and praise. He treats you like royalty and will only mistreat you in the sheets.
- He loves to tease and flirt, even if he's bad at it. He's a dork, and he loves being goofy with you.
- Loves thighs. Would probably be into biting/hickeys. He'd probably end up giving you a praise kink.
- He'd force you to watch his tv shows with him. He will watch just about anything with you, but some things he'd refuse to watch.
- He doesn't like it when you call him by his full name and will only reply if you use a nickname. Likes to call you his own nickname, and show everyone that you belong to him.
- When he's pissed, not only is he super attractive, but also extremely terrifying.
- He doesn't like it when you are around danger, but he wants you to know how to fight/defend yourself if you were ever in a situation like that. Keeps you away from danger/villains as much as possible. Won't let you go on patrols unless he's overruled. Won't be happy if that happens.
- Leo likes to hum you to sleep. Whether that be in person or over the phone.
- He also likes to send you sweet little texts throughout the day, and will ask before calling you on a lot of occasions. He'd probably say some cheesy quote/phrase, especially right before he leaves the phone call.
- He'd be into secret messages with words/gestures that only the two of you knew. And he'd be into punishing you too, even more so if you were being a brat. He usually returns flirtatious energy, but if you catch him off guard he'll be a flustered mess.
- Definitely does random winks and mouths "I love you" from across the room.
- Leo is VERY good at using his hands. And he's patient as fuck, so he also likes to take his time with certain things and tease you.
#tmnt#tmnt imagine#tmnt imagines#tmnt headcannons#tmnt headcanons#teenage mutant ninja turtles#teenage mutant ninja turtles imagine#imagine#tmnt x reader#tmnt leo x reader#tmnt leo#tmnt leonardo#tmnt leonardo hamato#tmnt leo headcannons#tmnt leonardo x reader#tmnt 2003#tmnt 2012#tmnt 2014#tmnt 2016#tmnt 2014/ 2016#tmnt bayverse#tmnt bayverse leo#writer#fanfic#fanfic writer#leonardo hamato#x reader#leonardo hamato x reader#tmnt 2018#rise of the tmnt
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
Demon’s Haven | one
remembered this old series I used to write last year but then deleted because I didn’t like it so I edited it a bit and I’m gonna re-post it ✌🏻
masterlist
warnings: past torture, church mention, graphic wound description, demon whumpee, witch caretaker
—
Haven made sure to get everything correct. The runes drawn with pristine, painstakingly straight lines, the points in the proper directions, and the offerings in their proper places. She’d never done this level of dark magic before and no matter what anyone else said about it being commonplace to the dark mages of today, she did not want to mess it up. There was quite a bit her mind could conjure up about what could go wrong when summoning a demon.
Haven decided to readjust things, just a little. Just to make sure it was ready. She spread out the flowers more so they filled in the runes better, made sure the gold ring was still there, and stood back to inspect her work.
Contrary to popular belief, especially that of a non-mage perspective, summoning a demon did not require a human sacrifice. Nor a sacrifice of any kind. She was quite glad she didn’t have to find a lamb’s heart or buy pigs blood from some shady back alley; all she had to do was draw an intricate set of lines and symbols that took nearly two hours on her hands and knees. It was hard work, but it had to be perfect. There was no room for error—no smudged runes or wobbly lines. She had no idea what to do if she ended up setting a demon loose in the city, and whatever the church said about witches being unholy, she was pretty sure those folk didn’t have what it took to defend against the worst of it.
She wasn’t going to find out. This were going to work; she had to tell herself that to believe it. She prepped for this, read all the demonica books she could get her hands on, and practiced what she would say when she actually summoned the thing. The demon would try to trick her, to twist her words and logic to its own gain, or at the very least, its amusement at her suffering. She was ready. She wouldn’t fall victim to any sort of deceit, and besides, she had only a simple request. A favor in exchange for a favor. Not a soul.
Another thing the mundanes didn’t know about summoning was that trade with demons was a popular enterprise, dealing with but not exclusively limited to souls. Haven certainly would never sell hers, though she’d heard no one ever had to. Summoning a demon could be for the smallest of things in exchange for a price equal to the request. Erasing a tricky spell, casting a more powerful hex, whatever anyone could wish from the dark magic of a demon. Small favors, in return for something less than one’s immortal soul. The reason it wasn’t all the more common than it was—despite its growing popularity in recent years—was the amount of danger that came along with it. Summoning a demon into this plane of existence meant exactly that: there was a now a demon in the same space as oneself, and it was the mage’s responsibility to make sure it didn’t escape.
Hence the protection runes that took forever to make.
Haven took a deep breath to settle her nerves and began on the candles, one by one tipping the flames into each other to light them. Setting down the last one, she stepped back and admired her handiwork for a moment, hoping it would be enough. She then began the incantation.
The candles flared the moment she began speaking, their quivering plumes of fire rising high into the night air. As Haven called to whatever demons lurked in the depths, she wondered what the creature would look like. Would it be a towering monstrosity? Or a beautiful humanoid, too perfect to be real, ready to seduce her into the darkness?
She certainly had not expected it to look dead.
The demon materialized in the circle just as planned, but it wasn’t smirking or snarling or even standing up. It just lie there, motionless except for the shaky rise and fall of its chest. It moved its hands, tracing its fingers over the ground with trembling motions, just barely touching the rough stone it now lie on, as if it didn’t believe it was really there. Realizing it had been summoned to the human realm, it curled into a ball and continued to shiver.
Haven, too stunned to speak, merely stared, trying to process what she’d just done. She’d braced herself for a fight, or for a battle of wills and wordplay at the very least. She’d expected to be facing a monster.
What she got was a broken thing, huddled on the bare floor.
Haven took a cautious step closer, wondering if this might be a trap. Perhaps the demon was trying to garner her sympathy, to entice her into the summoning circle or lull her into a false sense of security that would cause her to make a mistake. Maybe she’d already made a mistake—this wasn’t what she was expecting at all.
The demon in front of her looked nothing like what she thought one should look like. She thought it would stand tall and proud, and would at least look at her. Here, It appeared as a human male would, albeit one who’d been badly beaten. It had curled in on itself so Haven couldn’t see its face, but its torso was uncovered and a pattern of long scars ran down its back, overlapping one another, layered deep and ruthless. Bruises marked its sides, shoulders, and pretty much everywhere else. A patchwork of purple and brown and blue.
Haven felt a pang in her stomach, then quickly chided herself. There was no room to feel sympathy for the thing. It probably wasn’t even injured—the blood and bruises just a glamour put on with magic.
Haven huffed, crossing her arms. The demon flinched at the slight sound, curling further in on itself, shivering violently.
“I want to make a deal,” Haven said, going into her rehearsed scripts.
The demon could play it’s tricks, but she would never fall for them. No matter how pitiful it seemed, cowering in front of her, she would make sure to have the upper hand.
No response.
Haven waited a beat, but only the sound of waves and distant crickets met her ears. If she listened hard enough, she could hear the demon breathing, a fast-paced and shallow beat. Occasionally its breath hitched, catching, resuming.
Haven swallowed awkwardly. “I said I would like to make a deal.”
No reaction from the demon. Haven observed it, with its knees curled into its chest, head bowed and arms raised as if to protect itself from a blow. From this position, Haven could see its ribs, which must have been broken. The movement of them was decidedly wrong. A bruised portion of its chest drew inwards as the creature breathed in, while the rest expanded as it was supposed to. The effect was disconcerting—lopsided and awkward and definitely not something that should have been happening. Bruises littered its skin, ranging in severity from small brown dots to large patches of blue and purple that stained its side like runny watercolors. Long scars ran down its back from the tops of its shoulders, crisscrossing and overlapping one another. Some looked fresher than others, still bleeding red on top of fleshy pink. Symbols—the meaning of which, Haven could not decipher—marked its body as well, burned into it with a precision that couldn’t have come from fire.
Holy water, Haven’s mind supplied. She knew it burned them, but she hadn’t known it would leave actual burns.
Whatever. Maybe it didn’t.
Haven shook her head to clear away the thoughts. She needed to focus. There was no use getting caught up in the grotesque imagery when it was all a lie anyway. She didn’t know why the demon kept up this act, but she wasn’t going to fall for a trap just because this was her first time summoning.
The demon whimpered softly.
The wounds were awful.
It’s just an illusion, Haven told herself. A magical glamour.
She sighed, trying to ignore the urge to take the figure into her arms and stop his shivering. Because it was not a he. It was a demon.
If she took one step into that summoning circle she was dead—or worse.
“Demon,” she said, more forcefully.
The demon cried out and scrambled backward, hitting the edge of the summoning circle and yelping when the magic zapped it. It curled its legs to its chest and held up its arms to try and protect itself, all the while quivering something fierce. Its breathing grew rattled, short and pitchy. The motion made its ribs look even more unnerving.
Haven could finally see its face.
And it was beautiful.
Beyond all the blood and bruises, Haven knew this was a creature that could seduce unwise summoners into treacherous water, able to lure them in like a shark disguised as a lustrous jellyfish. Both of which were deadly. High, sharp cheekbones, full lips, pointed ears, and the most vivid green eyes Haven had ever seen. A shade of emerald that could only belong to a demon, too lurid to be born to any mortal or mage.
Tears trailed from these gorgeous eyes, the red around them making the color stand out even more in the contrast. Haven really had to admire the work the demon was putting into the act—she could almost believe it.
The demon held up its hands, trying to shield its face as if Haven would spontaneously leap forward into the summoning circle. As if she was that stupid.
“P-ple-please,” it croaked with a voice that was rough and hitching. “P-please—I—”
More tears fell from its eyes and it brought its hands up to cover its face, bowing its head to rest upon its knees. Haven stood there, not sure what else to do. Everything she’d used to prepare had said that all she needed to do was summon the demon, ask to make a deal, negotiate the price, try not to die, and that was it.
Nothing about what to do when the demon refused to make the deal in the first place. Maybe she’d summoned a low-level one that was too powerless to do anything? Or was it a high-level demon she’d somehow acquired and it recognized her newness and decided to mock her for it? Using this pitiful, injured guise. She thought demons would have more self-respect.
Either way, she wasn’t getting her deal tonight.
Oh well.
The summoning circle lasted for three days—she’d come back tomorrow and try again. Hopefully the demon would be back to normal by then. She didn’t think it would want to stay a sobbing mess forever.
—
spoiler alert: the injuries are not a lie :)
next
#whump#whump writing#my writing#willow writes#original work: demon's haven#oc haven#oc envy#demon whumpee#demon whump#i have a. very soft spot for demon whumpees#witch caretaker#reluctant caretaker
182 notes
·
View notes
Text
Owl House said fuck capitalism
So this episode was interesting. Lilith pretty much killed her sister. Why the fuck would she do that?
Even more interesting: why is Belos like that? How did Hooty put his head through one of those guards? Who the fuck is the Titan, and why does everyone like him? And how are these all tied together?
This episode was a metaphor for capitalism
...and another delicious step towards radicalizing the youth into dismantling this fucked-up neo-feudal system.
We’ll start with Belos.
Emperor Belos is a weird name, don’t you think? We all thought it was spelled “Bellows,” but it wasn’t. In fact, it’s five letters, starts with Be, ends with os, and describes a megalomaniac emperor that restricts people’s freedom in order to accumulate wealth for himself.
Sound familiar?
Emperor Bezos Belos created capitalism. He saw the beauty of magic and decided to make himself the most powerful.
Belos created a system that destroys the masses and boosts his power.
I’m dipping into fan theory a little, because the fan theory fits. We know that people get branded with coven magic that makes it so they can only specialize in one area. We know that Belos is the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles. We know that the excess magic, magic created by restrictions, has to go somewhere.
It’s the same system that many viewers see all the time. A job takes up all your day and tires you for the night, so you can only do one skill for the rest of your life. Jeff Bezos is the most powerful man in the United States. Excess money, money taken by restrictions, has to go somewhere.
The magic goes to Belos, like how the money goes to Bezos. Belos created capitalism, and he won it.
The guards aren’t real.
Look, we’ve never seen their faces. They’re all the same. Why would you work so hard to get to the top, just to become a nameless, faceless killing machine?
Oh, also Hooty stuck his face through one. There is nothing under the armor.
Why? Well, it’s the same reason you see all those celebrities going around flaunting their wealth and bragging about how hard they worked. Like all those songs about how they grind every day and work harder than everyone else while you’re out clubbing, and that makes them dope. And then you take a closer look at them and see that they had a small loan of a million dollars fueling them, or an entire talent agency behind them, or their dad was a famous country star in the 80′s.
They’re fake. They’re hollow. They’re a ploy created by the capitalist emperor to try to delude you into working harder.
Let me put this into perspective. I guarantee that every single one of you has heard stuff like this: “Hard work makes you successful.” “I put in the work, and that’s why I’m successful.” “If you work hard enough, then you can be as successful as Mark Zuckerberg.”
And unless you’re a robot or really lucky, I’m sure all of you have failed at this. Maybe they told you that hard work would make you good at math, so you spent 22 hours a week working on calculus, only to pass it by 3 percentage points and have it destroy your perfect 4.0 GPA. Maybe they told you that if you talked to people enough, then you would make friends, so you spent a lot of time talking to people, only to end up lonely and friendless. Maybe they told you that if you did well in school, you would get a good job, so you spent all your time working hard to be a good student, and then ended up in a soulless, dead-end job.
The guards are there to delude you. Look, who really gains from you being productive? The answer is the ruling class, the CEOs, the government, the bourgeoisie. It has always been that. All you get from working is a paycheck that lets you survive. They get a paycheck that lets them get rich. Just like Belos gets the magic and productivity of the specialized coven witches.
The guards are there to trick you. The truth is that nobody can join the Emperor’s Coven. It’s just there to make you think that hard work will make you successful. Then you spend your entire life working hard, trying to prove to the person in charge that you’re worthwhile. You give your whole life to the Coven, and they give you nothing.
Magic is supposed to be something you pursue for fun. Being skilled at things, being good at something beautiful...that’s supposed to be something you do because you want to. But they took that and made it into a source of productivity. It doesn’t matter if you make good content. All people fucking care about is if you upload the day of premiere, if you make a lot of content quickly, if you maintain a million different conversations with strangers who expect you to be the most interesting person in the room. They don’t care how it hurts you. They don’t care how you crack from the stress. How you cry when you think no one can see you, and then you check your phone and someone can see you, someone did see you, and you have to put on your face and be the charming, magnetic person they want you to be. (oh by the way that’s why I wasn’t online much last week)
And it ruins it. Suddenly you can’t watch The Owl House without being stressed. You can’t make any content. You can’t make spells as powerfully as you want to. Your passion is replaced by perfectionism and insecurity, a voice telling you to keep being the best at what you do, or else they’ll forget you and let you die.
There’s also the Titan.
So nobody has mentioned him before, because in addition to the Boiling Isles being a hellscape full of witchcraft and queerness, it’s also full of atheists.
But suddenly we have people saying all this shit about him? Shit like, he gave witches the gift of magic, and then they learned to use it in a civilized manner, since being uncivilized was disrespectful?
I mean, first off, that’s fucking wrong. The island gives people magic. The island, which just so happened to be shaped like a titan-sized human. But the island/titan gives everyone all types of magic. Hell, even Luz gets to use magic, and she’s human.
It sounds really fucking familiar. (tw for discussion of homophobia and colonialism and misogyny). It sounds like when the news is on and they show some Tr*mp supporter talking about how fetuses have more rights than people and it is their holy duty to take away a woman’s control over her body and force her through unbearable pain and into an 18-year commitment she didn’t want to make. It sounds like all the times people tried to say homosexuality should be illegal, citing a single line in a book written two thousand years ago and heavily edited by a European king. It sounds like all the times people said God wanted them to conquer, to own the entire earth, to force the other races into pain to support them.
This is that bullshit thing people do where they commit awful sins and justify it by citing the will of God.
Or, it’s the Coven using religion as an excuse for evil.
Look, the Emperor’s Coven is clearly colonizer-coded. Saying that people’s original form of magic was wild (and showing a picture with the same joyous, rowdy energy of an 18th or 19th -century Black or indigenous party), and that it was God’s will for them to be “civilized?” Sounds like that thing that powerful white people did where they went and murdered people and forced them into their twisted capitalist system. God, gold, and glory, is what they said, because history books just love to omit the gore.
Lilith is passing the abuse cycle along.
You know, like a good little colonizer. God I fucking hate her. She’s a MILF, in the sense that she’s a Mother I’d Like to Fling off a cliff.
Ah, enough screaming about how much I want to drown Lilith in a tub of Hooty’s mucus. Let’s go into why I want to do that, and how she took the evils of capitalism and just...adopted those.
So, Lilith is sick and twisted for what she did to her sister. But, uhh, that’s the point. You see, there are so many other people out there like Lilith who would do the exact same thing, if given the chance. These are the people who do mean things when the teacher isn’t looking, and then act nice and try to frame you. These are the people who will hate you if you’re better than them. These are people who would do anything to bring you down, if you dare outperform them.
It’s greed, my friends. The mental illness that capitalism blesses us all with.
Lilith herself said it: she dedicated her entire life to the Coven. What she wanted was to be the best. And she almost was...except for her own sister. Someone who lived with her, annoyed her at home, bested her at school. Someone she could never beat, no matter how hard she worked. And her sister was younger than her, too! How insulting was that? Lilith wanted to be the best, and someone in her exact situation did better than her.
Lilith was insecure. And it consumed her.
But why? Why does insecurity consume her? I mean, no one can be motivated by insecurity forever. Well, not unless someone conditions it into you.
The lovely thing about the capitalist system is the morals it teaches you. Things like: “You’re only useful if you’re the best.” “Being school smart makes you smart, while being social smart or sports smart or creative smart or fandom smart is worthless.” “Your worth can be quantified by numbers and is based off arbitrary measures like your income or your grades.” Things that can and will drive us crazy if we let ourselves believe them.
And it did drive Lilith crazy. She got so twisted by a society that said being good at magic is her only worth. Look, Lilith used to be good at things, probably. She was good at sports. At times, she slips up and does an okay job of being Eda’s sister. She has a powerful presence when she’s in a room. And she’s wicked good at manipulating people.
But that didn’t matter. Lilith bought into the lies. She let herself believe that magical skill was the only way to measure her worth. And since she needed to be the best, she hurt Eda for it.
The beautiful thing is, Eda didn’t buy that. "It’s my power, kid. And before you showed up, I spent my whole life wasting it.” Is what Eda said, as she used up the last of her power, the last of her life, to save Luz. In her final moments, she proved that she’s not like them. She’s stronger than them.
None of this matters. Not magical prowess. Not the hierarchy. Not the promise of joining the Coven and having more power than anyone else.
The only thing that matters to Eda is her family. Her real family. Her Luz, King, and Hooty. And by extension, Willow, Gus, and Amity. Those are Eda’s real reason for fighting, for dying: to protect them. Look, there’s no way she would’ve come out of that fight alive. She has a family, and her love for them is stronger than greed or jealousy or capitalism.
Lilith never understood that. She thought the water of the womb was thicker than the blood of the covenant. Or, that the water of the womb and the blood of the covenant are stronger than the bonds of found family. She thought it didn’t matter if Eda loved, her, only if the Emperor loved her. Fucking bitch.
And now, a little something to worry about, before we go. Amity Blight. The girl who wanted to join the Emperor’s Coven more than anything, who dedicated her whole life to doing well in school, to being the best, to being perfect.
And then she met Luz. She fell for Luz. Now she’s in a tricky place, where habit and conditioning want her to join the Emperor’s Coven, but her heart wants her to do the impossible and destroy capitalism.
She wasn’t in this episode. Funny that being injured and unable to work ended up saving her from watching her future mother-in-law die. So she bought some time.
But Luz’s true mom is dead. This is the second mom she has lost, and she’s only fourteen. As powerful as King and Hooty are, Luz needs Amity. Luz needs Amity to support her and help her get back her mom.
So Amity has to make a choice. Fear and insecurity, or love and a high chance of death?
She’ll probably choose death. Because that’s the message that this family-friendly show is giving us kids. Fuck capitalism. All you need in life is to do what makes you happy and be with the ones you love.
#the owl house#toh#owl house#toh spoilers#edalyn clawthorne#eda clawthorne#toh eda#eda the owl lady#luz noceda#amity blight#lilith clawthorne#cancel lilith#toh lilith#the owl house analysis#toh analysis#owl house analysis#toh meta#owl house meta#the owl house meta#agony of a witch#originalpost#toh king
3K notes
·
View notes
Text
Rise of the Titans and the assassination Hisirdoux Casperan’s character development
I’ve been ranting so much since Wednesday morning that I finally condensed by thoughts of WHY this one subject keeps setting me off namely the utterly diabolical way they handled Douxie and Archie’s relationship in Rise of the Titans and how it wasn’t just enough to hit him with the nerf bat.
Please note I’m at the point where I literally cannot tell the difference between Aaron headcanons, Teny headcanons and my own they are all mixed together in the blender that does funky things. I also apologise for typo/weird wording it’s half 1 in the morning and I’d rather sleep than edit.
~
If asked to sum up Hisirdoux Casperan there are certainly several things that come to mind:
Sees the value in people as a whole and will find do anything if there is a chance of help someone out
Prefers tactics that disable/banish rather than kill an enemy yet willing and able to pull the trigger if circumstances become forced
While not academically inclined he is very capable of thinking on his feet and outside the box calling back to his time on the streets where a split-second decision making is the difference between being caught and not
Terrible at planning he’ll be in there figuring it out as he goes along which is what makes the previous point so vital to literally how he goes through life
A natural charmer that would let him talk his way out of trouble 9/10 providing a perfect cover for his distrustful nature and reluctance to be touched by random people
Very down to earth, humble and never one to brag unless outright sassing someone
Will bang out some hot tunes at the drop of a hat, his love of music has never wavered once since he caught the bug despite instrument hopping ironically becoming a jack of all trades much like his magic style
The earliest memories he can recall are him as a young boy lost in the woods where he was for an unknown amount of time before his soon to be familiar finds him amongst the roots covered in dirt and drying tears, there is nothing before that. Unbeknownst to him is the colour of his magic matches the blue of a lost mother’s eyes and the song that haunts his nightmares as much as fire could well be hers though there is no way to be sure. From that moment on Archibald, shortened to Archie, would become his entire world and their friendship only becoming closer during the years they prowled Camelot together trying to keep themselves in one piece until the fateful day Douxie tricks the wrong person leading him straight into the path of the famous wizard Merlin Ambrosius.
It's no real secret that Merlin is a very closed off person who keeps his emotions as well guarded as his secrets, prefers the style of negative reinforcement over positive encouragement and is a very strict perfectionist in his. At this point in his life he can be very easily described as a disaster that is genuinely doing his best with every little mistake held of his head and his future self when brought back to that time period is belittled by Lancelot (Errand boy) and Arthur (Boy) too meaning it’s hardly a wonder his confidence was very fragile revelling in the times where he could do things without being told off for it. With Morgana largely ignoring him too (Though personally I like to think as he got older she’d occasionally take an interest until the blistering arguments with their master started to talk over daily life) a certain disguised dragon would have remained a lifeline and give that physical affection he craved much like being told he’d done well never seemed able to earn.
With Killahead he’d lose that home and family he made leaving just the two of them behind struggling to figure out their place in the world that had abandoned them.
There wouldn’t have been the words for it back then but the way he had been treated prior was outright abusive instilling very bad habits into Douxie yet by irony he was always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and help those in trouble without thinking earning a reputation as the Shepard of Fire. He refused to become like him seeking to be better, perhaps not as a wizard (Even though he was learning new charms and spells along the way) but certainly as a person. Despite everything he suffers through or witnesses in the intervening years, the loss of friends and kindling of far newer ones he never loses his good heart
That said is it any wonder that after rightfully sassing Merlin for resurfacing, ignoring his existence despite being in the same town and only visiting him to run a finding errand that all the confidence he’d managed to build completely from scratch after Camelot wavered causing him to fall back solely into trying impressing his old Master who was acting like his humble apprentice must have coasted the past few centuries who himself fell back into old habits of belittling? It’s only when Merlin started to truly listen and acknowledge that this was not the same Moppet he once knew after Excalibur was fixed that their relationship finally started to become more like equals. After the defeat of Janus the changeling that broke into the castle he touched Douxie’s shoulder with a genuine smile and for a second he simply didn’t know what to do because the old man never did this before his brain kicked into gear and realised he’d finally earned that one thing he’d been so desperate for his entire life: That in Merlin’s eyes he could be more than a failure who only caused problems for the closest thing to a father figure he’d ever had, never solved them.
A staff will be earned, history would be set back on trap by banishing Morgana tag teaming with Archie because they know one another inside and out, as promised he’d get the kids back to the present but soon after things would go badly wrong. They’d lose Jim and because of his very nature he’d make a gamble to try and get him back because that life is worth trying for just for in a moment of surprising selflessness Merlin would be sacrificed to save him. The only constant in his life apart from Archie would apologise, openly express pride and how the greatest thing he’d ever done was saving this orphan, call him son for the first and final time before turning into ash in his arms. There would be no time to grieve for things will barrel into the crescendo of Douxie sacrificing his own life to buy everyone time to escape because if they did that everything he’d ever done would be worth it with one last whispered goodbye.
(Zoe sees him fall, so does Archie – His heart would break if he was conscious just like theirs does when his body crumples into the ground)
On the very fringes of the Light Realm he is gifted one more conversation with Merlin in a truly heart-breaking sequence (THANKS TENY) where they can just talk without any fear of consequence or politics and just be completely honest. Douxie is allowed to stand equal to Merlin, to have the hug he’d needed since he was a child and be allowed to simply let go of every pretense and cry his heart out because this can never happen again. He’s allowed to say goodbye to both his master and Morgana who had both shaped so very much of his life but like the painting he’d always remained firmly in the long shadows of until that moment.
When Hisirdoux Casperan finally leaves Wizards if we just accidently deliberately put the shawarma back in along with checking in with Zoe before departure, it is with having learned to live during his wandering years but this is the point of true freedom because he can finally escape into his own light with Archie by his side to keep Nari out of the hands of those that would see the world harmed. It won’t be easy but it feels possible somehow even with the knowledge everything is simply running on borrowed time.
Then Rise of the Titans happens.
At first everything is genuinely fine! No more running, they engineer a solution shut the Order’s magic down to make them a lot less dangerous and potentially at least incapacitate them until they can come up with a longer-term solution but all the best laid plans and all that. Douxie’s quick thinking stops the train from crushing any of the people below and it’s a very him style move to switch places with Nari to stall for time because for some reason the plot disabled Claire from portaling her or any of the threatened people/heroes to safety. He openly sasses the Order despite knowing the consequences will be bad for him because once again he’s managed to trick them, buy time that at the other end isn’t even slightly utilised until he’s forced back into his own body in excruciating pain. Archie immediately mobs him with comfort just as he has done every single time the wizard is distressed or collapsed with exhaustion without thinking because that is what their bond is like, incredibly close and far more than the Soul Bond mark that connects them together. They’re very alike in that regard, you have to earn the right to touch while equally knowing exactly what form the other needs the most in that precise moment in a way very few others could.
Bar the moment of figuring out that an illusion is in place to hide where the Order is opening the Genesis Seals and the brief insistence on reconnecting with Nari somehow Douxie manages to forget everything that makes him who he is after this point choosing to stand in the background being very no thoughts head empty or can only use the most basic spells of his youthful days not the seasoned master wizard he should be. Nomura is treated like an innocent slip rather than an outright death he did absolutely nothing to prevent (Not to mention the stupid daytime thing) nor seems to care particularly about afterwards yet with Nari’s he’s allowed to openly grieve in a gorgeously animated visual showing how he’d failed to keep her safe despite everything. He did nothing to help here either mind despite allowing himself to be tortured in the same piece of media to keep her safe, just watched another loss happen right in front of his eyes in his conga long line of them.
Then there’s Archie, oh god then there was Archie.
The dragon who even here he’d been shown to have an incredibly close bond with him decides you know what sod that tell him goodbye I’m going to make a joke about having a kingdom now dad and me are trapped in here forever. Douxie on his part looked sad for all of three seconds saying that he hoped he’s happy like it's a pet that wandered out into the world one day and never came back instead of a lifelong companion that has been there for as long as he can remember. He was now completely alone in the world since Zoe was also written out entirely and because every bit of his background had been forgotten about it somehow meant nothing. This wasn’t “I know you miss him, I know you need to grieve but you are running out of time” moment like things had been with Charlie, this was “cool shapeshifting dragon cat is now stuck in a plot hole that’s a shame” with zero pay off or any of the genuine reaction that should have been there or hell even trying to Ohana him back that very second because it never should have happened in the first place. Then even this wasn’t enough somehow, they managed to de-power Douxie even further into uselessness bar the (Admittedly nifty!) sticky feet stunt, the one who fought Skrael and Bellroc to a stalemate was shunted aside with barely a thought and his head would somehow get even emptier.
The one person who knew the danger of time magic the most stood by and said nothing.
The one person who would suffer the most by a reset because the lynchpin to his issues would be asleep if you got it wrong and should have drilled it into Jim’s head the best time to aim for stood by and said nothing.
The one person who had just suffered the loss of his familiar, best friend and only family along with the almost sister like Nari stood by and said nothing.
Then to add further insult to injury the caption when Douxie and Archie is shown says Some go their entire lives living an existence of quiet desperation because every drop of his character growth, his ability to finally start addressing his trauma instilled back in the 12th century, the staff he longed for was instead openly mocked by going “Aww he got his cat friend back how nice!” Everything he’d rightfully earned and had now would be unable to progress until certain criteria are met because it hinges entirely on the Trollhunter going to Merlin’s tomb and there’s only so much your support network of two (One if she’s written out) can do, the root of the majority of his issues all stem from one man.
And this folks is why I’ve been going on multiple rants about Douxie in particular, everyone was hit with the out of character bat to some degree in this film but when they came for him they didn’t just stop after they took his legs out because they wanted him to suffer from something he’s never had any control over to begin with all over again. Abuse survivors deserve better, these characters deserve better and we as viewers deserve far far better writing than we were forced to endure.
#Ooc - Behind the curtains#Rise of the Titans#Rise of the Titans spoilers#RotT Spoilers#RoT spoilers#Wizards#Tales of Arcadia#ToAWizards#Hisirdoux Casperan#Douxie Casperan
190 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
ftkestis
death has followed you home
inefficmess0
inefficMess0
incorrectsummonerquotes
Incorrect Summoner Quotes
health-care-ok
Health and fitness
lyric2283
Me, On the daily.