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rachelbethhines · 3 years

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Tangled Salt Marathon - No Time Like the Past

While I wouldn’t call this the worst episode of the series, there are several others I dislike more, I would call this the most ill conceived story in the show.

All the other bad episodes have potential but are let down by poor presentation, boring predictability, or sloppy planning. This one however, is fundamentally flawed in it’s very basic premise and so ranks in the bottom of most fans lists. Even people who are far more forgiving of season three and than I am, and are hardcore New Dream stans, still dislike this episode. That’s how bad it is.

Summary: Rapunzel discovers Old Lady Crowley tossing out Cassandra's things. She is upset and demands that they be left alone. She then has Lance and Eugene help her save all of Cassandra's mementos and personal belongings, but she becomes saddened when Eugene reminds her that Cassandra turned her back on "her". Rapunzel takes a box of her things along with, unknowingly, a mysterious hourglass. As she examines it, she accidentally drops and smashes it and she and Pascal find themselves sent back into the past. They run into a teenage Eugene and Lance who keep calling Rapunzel "Sideburns". Rapunzel realizes that she and Pascal have inhabited the bodies of the Stabbington Brothers and decide to recruit the young thieves in getting the hourglass from the castle back.

Fun Fact! That Dummy is Rapunzel’s Doing

Minor nitpick here, but Cass had nothing to do with putting Eugene’s face on her sparring dummy. Rapunzel voluntarily did that back in Under Raps. Cas never requested it nor even expressed any joy over receiving said ‘gift’.

Basically the show is attributing one of Rapunzel’s mistakes/flaws to Cassandra in order to introduce a very nonsensical plot point later. So I need ya’ll to keep that in mind as we go along.

Lets Talk About the Episode’s Ordering

We don't have production codes for season three like we did for the previous two seasons. So we can’t know for sure what order everything was originally planned in, but I would argue that this episode should have came before Return of the King.

For starters this is a “bottle” episode; it takes place mostly in the past and the only present day characters who show up are Eugene, Raps, Lance, and Crowely. As such you could potentially slot this episode in anywhere before Cassandra’s Revenge. You can’t really do that with most of the other episodes so it could have been easily moved around when airing.

Therefore, I would argue that it should have been the first episode after Rapunzel’s Return for three key reasons.

It would have given Edmund time to travel to Corona and give Raps time to start up big building projects like fixing Old Corona. In fact she’s already approving building plans for the capitol city at the start of the episode. Which could even explain why she took so long getting to the castle repairs if she was taking care of the stuff that the Saporians messed up else where.

Rapunzel’s stance over wanting to keep Cassandra’s things makes more sense early on, both in universe and in a meta context. Raps would still have hope if Cass has only been gone for a month or two instead what would now be four or five months down the line. It also makes sense that Crowely wouldn’t wait around for that long. And from a meta standpoint, the audience would still be oblivious to what the heck Cass was up to and could theoretically side with Raps better; or at least empathize with her view point more, even while disagreeing with her.

Events in this episode better explains Eugene’s decisions in Return of the King and gives the audience more context for certain stuff.

So Why Is There a Random Magical Time Traveling Hourglass in the Storage Vault?

Slowly but surely the series has abandoned all pretense that there’s any logical world building in the show. Magical things just appear randomly now without any explanation whatsoever. Worse than that, things like the hourglass and map to the cursed tomb are treated as if they were always there, unlike the magical beings that they happened to run into in past seasons.

The problem with this is a lack of consistency. You can’t have sceptics like Eugene and Varian if magic is so common and wide spread that anyone can run into it at anytime. Not to mention it diminishes the specialness and importance of the sundrop and moonstone if powerful magical items can be so easily found and stirred, undermining important plot points and the tension surrounding them.

But most frustrating of all, is that this could have been easily fixed by just stating on screen at some point that magic attracts other magic. Meaning it’s only Rapunzel herself who routinely runs into these things and not just everybody and anybody.

None of This Stuff Holds Any Meaning

Show don’t tell!

At several points through out season three, both Raps and Cass morn over Cassandra’s left behind things. They tell us constantly that these objects hold significant meaning to them, but I, the viewer, have no damn clue as to why.

We were never shown on screen what was so special about these things other than the fact that it was junk Cass collected. There’s no story attacked to these assortment of objects nor any previous indication that Cassandra valued them beyond their usefulness. As such, any scenes involving her stuff fall emotionally flat.

Eugene is the One in the Right Here.

Eugene’s right.

Any well adjust and mature adult will tell you he’s right.

If someone doesn’t want a relationship with you, than that’s it. There is nothing you can do but to move on. It sucks, but its life. To ignore that is to ignore someone else’s boundaries and personal autonomy; while also devaluing yourself and you’re own needs.

In a competent show this would be a set up for Rapunzel to learn something about letting go and taking care of oneself emotionally.

But this isn’t a competent show.

But Lobster is for Poor Folk

Food history time!

Lobster, and shellfish in general, have been considered low class food for centuries. Especially around costal areas like Corona. It’s easy to attain, cheap, and not regulated like hunting was in much of Europe. In America, specifically, lobster was fed to prisoners and there’s historical accounts of riots being started over it.

Heck, less than forty years ago, no one lived on the coast but poor people. That’s why there’s historical communities of black people living on the southeastern islands in the US and why my father grew up in the swamps of Alabama during the 50s and 60s.

The gentrification of coastal property and seafood, like lobster, is a very recent phenomenon in human history, starting in the late 70s early 80s with the booming tourism industry and increasing globalization.

So while I understand that the joke here is meant to be reflective of our current understanding of lobster being a status symbol, in universe, it’s the equivalent of Eugene getting excited for chicken nuggets instead of his usual bowl of cereal because the story takes place before the 20th century.

This means that these kids are so poor that fucking mcdonald’s fast food would be considered a rare treat compared to the slop they usually eat. Yet again what is meant to be a lighthearted joke turns suddenly dark when you stop to think about it for all of two seconds all because the writers are so flippant about their world and characters.

This Wasn’t Planned Out, So the Timeline Doesn’t Add Up Anymore and Resources are Wasted

Remember the flashback in The Return of Strongbow?

Now I need you to remember that season three is two years later from season one and the movie. Eight years ago then, would be ten years ago now.

The Eugene and Lance in the bottom picture is suppose to be roughly the same age as the Eugene and Lance in the top picture; give or take a few months.

I know teenage boys can grow fast, but not that fast.

Eugene at 16 looks the same as he does at 26. All because the writers were too lazy to preplan things out ahead of time.

We should have seen the teen models with recasted voices back during that first flashback if they were going to tell this story later. Or the previous plot point should have been less than eight years ago.

In fact the first flashback no longer makes any sense being so many years ago given Eugene’s engagement and recent breakup with Stalyan, and the later reveal that he was working for the Baron during the original movie.

Sloppy planning like this not only makes for a confusing timeline but it also wastes limited resources. I like the new models, I like the actors cast for these younger roles, and I do like the concept of seeing more of Eugene’s past. But going through all of that trouble and money for what amounts to one throw away episode is mismanagement of the budget and work schedule.

Baby Varian Is the Episode’s Only Saving Grace

I know people are divided on the deign here. Some love it and some hate it, but that’s a personal taste thing. The actual scene itself is golden either way, because it’s such a funny eater egg. Fans on both sides made memes out of this for days. It’s legendary.

Personally I’m more in the ‘love it’ camp, though I can see the issues people have with the design. My main defense of it is more the fact that we got kid designs for the other OCs in the show and it’s only fair Varian got one as well. The fact that he’s in smaller versions of the S1 clothes doesn’t bother me anymore than when Lance ran around for two seasons in the same outfit, including when he was a kid.

So if I like it, then why am I talking about it a salt review?

Cause the most memorable part of an episode shouldn’t be a throw away gag!

People bring up baby Varian way more than they do about anything else in the episode, and no it’s not just because the character popular. It’s because most would like to forget what comes after this scene.

Where is Quirin, by the Way?

Why is your six year old son running around the big city unsupervised?

This wouldn’t get talk about as much it wasn’t for the fact that Quirin being neglectful in season one was a motivating factor in his conflict with Varian. A conflict that was suppose to be resolved back in Rapunzel’s Return but we the audience have yet to visually see any difference in behavior since then.

Quirin’s absence here in the past highlights his absence in the present day and reminds the audience aware that we’ve not been given a satisfying conclusion to one of the most important arcs in the series.

Lets Talk About Wasted Potential

Like I said, I like the idea of exploring Eugene’s past. But we should have gotten that back in season two when it was more relevant. Part of why this episode fails is because Eugene has reached the end of his original character development. He’s now on an identity crisis arc which has nothing to do with this episode.

But you know who still hasn’t finished developing? Rapunzel.

Rapunzel has lots to still learn and viewing her past through outside eyes could have turned this story into something really special. Especially with the ‘inhabiting another body’ plot point.

You have no end of options here,

Have Raps inhabit Cassandra’s body for a day and gain insight into what motivates her. It could have been either before or after they met, both offers up possibilities.

Have Raps inhabit Eugene’s body and experience what he had to deal with growing up and come to see his point of view. (This could have also worked with the Sabbingtons set up had the writers not been stupid.)

And my personal favorite, send her back to right after Queen for a Day and have her stuck in either Varian’s or Ruddiger’s bodies. Force her to see what she did to him and have her acknowledge she was wrong.

And those are just the most obvious choices, there’s other more out of left field things you can do that would still work with good writing. Like exploring Lady Caine’s past, inhabiting Arianna’s body and learning how to be a real queen, get dumped into actual young Gothel and lay out clues to the future Zhan Tiri plot, or possess one of the Brotherhood and experience the final days of the Dark Kingdom; the list just goes on and on and on.

But I Thought You Didn’t Put Kids in Jail Frederic?

Remember that Raps and Pascal are possessing the Stabbingtons who are still teenagers here. They can’t be much older than Varian.

This means that Varian isn’t some special case. Teens have received harsh and deadly punishments in the past for non-violent crimes like theft.

Also teens are called kids still by the majority of the cast. They’re aren’t considered adults with the same rights as someone in say their twenties, yet they can be punished the same as an adult would. Which is horrendous in any time period.

So in conclusion, Frederic is a fucking liar!

Tangled the Series can’t decide if it’s in the far past or a reflection of the modern day. As such it winds up supporting the worst of both worlds. Barbaric practices like hanging for minor crimes and prison slave labor are treated as the norm and never called out for the horrific things that they are; treated as a joke even, but we’re suppose to accept that this world also somehow views adolescence through the lens of late 20th century sensibilities even as it forces minors to go through such atrocities.

Like what are you trying to say show? What is your message on the transition of adolescence to adulthood regarding rights and responsibilities? And don’t tell me ‘it’s not that deep’ because this is suppose to be a coming of age show! That’s the entire premise of the series!

So How Old Are Stan and Pete Again?

I was always under the impression that Pete was a newbie guard, closer to Cass and Eugene’s age than say Cap or Frederic. That’s why he screws up so much because he’s inexperienced, why he seemed to be the closest thing to a equal colleague Cass had in the guard when she was also just starting out, and why I assumed those braided girls from the movie were his sisters.

I mean there was nothing on screen previously that would necessarily contradict this reveal, it just doesn’t feel right, that’s all. I guess he could be like 20 here and be 30 in the show. That would make him only a few years older than Eugene, but still doesn’t explain why he’s so useless a decade later.

I’m fine with Stan being here though. I always thought of him being the older of the two. In fact I headcannon Willow as his mysterious wife that he talked about back in Monty’s episode during season one. (She’s Stan and Pete’s beard, and they’re totally in a open poly relationship. That’s why they’re allowed to stay in the royal guard despite being so incompetent cause they’re technically Ferderic’s in-laws and Rapunzel’s uncles. Just no one ever talks about it cause it’s a minor sandal for a princess to marry lower class and Willow’s hardly ever there.)

And Why Does Xavier Have All Those Plot McGuffins?

I know we’ll never get an answer, but at this point Xavier’s exposition fairy powers border upon ridiculousness. It’s just lazy and a waste of character.

So How Does Time Travel Work In This?

There are three types of time travel stories in fiction.

First is the ‘Changeable Past, Changeable Future’. You see this in Back to the Future. What you do in the past will change the future, i.e. your present. You may or may not remember that you did it, but be warned you could change things too much and break stuff. Like erasing yourself from existence, or ruining your love life ect. The only way to fix it is to go back in time again and change stuff again. But beware of paradoxes or you may destroy the universe altogether.

The second is the ‘Alternate Timeline’, where changing things creates new realties and it’s a matter of finding the right reality again. The tv show Sliders is a great example of this. Each new timeline is a different dimension. What you do in one won’t effect your original point of origin, only that particular world. The challenge if often getting home again because the probable diverging timelines are infinite and the changes of getting back are a zillion to one.

Third is the ‘Closed Time Loop’. No matter what you do nothing will change. The future is inevitable and whatever you do in the past was always meant to happen anyways. Gargoyles handles this really well. You can also have ‘fix points’ where certain important things are set in stone but small things can be changed like in several Doctor Who episodes. Braking a fix point breaks the universe once again, while paradoxes are often the solution rather than the threat.

So which type of time travel is Tangled dealing with here?

Scenes like the conversation regarding Pete’s and Stan’s mustache or the ones involving Eugene working on his smolder suggest a closed time loop. Yet the ending to this episode reveals a changed future. Further still the grandfather paradox revolving around the hourglass would make you think an alternate timeline yet, we’ve no indication that anything else changed other then Eugene’s opinions on Cass, and Raps shows no concern about getting back to her original point in time indicating that it actually isn’t another dimension.... so what is it then?

You don’t have to have a tightly plotted time travel story to have an entertaining piece of media. Endgame is riddled with plot holes and contradicts itself constantly, but what it lacks in coherent plot it makes for with fun characters, emotional story beats, and good pacing that manages to balance the action with the drama while hiding the cracks just enough that you don’t lose immersion.

Tangled however fails at even this because it gets the character beats so fundamentally wrong. Like you may dislike where the characters ended up in Endgame, but can’t say that those developments didn’t match the characters’ previous storylines and logical trajectory. Tony finally becomes the selfless hero by committing the ultimate sacrifice, Steve learns self care as a mirror to Tony’s arc as they were always parallels to each other, Bruce learns to accept himself, Thor processes his grief and lets go of the role he was assigned at birth but never truly fit into, and Nat becomes the leader she was destined to be rather than the sidekick.

What happens to the characters in this episode however makes no sense.

This is Another Missed Opportunity to Explore Eugene’s Past

The other problem behind the episode is that we don’t actually learn anything new. If you’re going to promise a story focusing on Eugene’s past then I expect to actually glean some new insights.

We still don’t know why he’s working with Baron or how he fell in/fell out with him, what his relationship with Stalyan is like, how he became so cynical; not just the general basics, like the orphanage, but that point in his life where decided that survival meant giving up his morals and ethics; where did he first learn his better ethics that he originally suppressed (cause it sure as heck wasn’t Rapunzel), and when did he and Lance become separated?

This are questions that series decides to raise by making allusions to them and building conflicts off of them but never wants to explain the details of where they originated from. It’s super frustrating and wholly unnecessary. If you didn’t think the story of Eugene’s past worth telling then why did up repeatedly bring it up Chris?

Why Are You Surprised by This Rapunzel?

Rapunzel you know Eugene’s past. You know what he used to be like. You were literally there in the movie and saw him being an ass before this. You didn’t start to like him until he dropped his guard down in the flooded cave back when you both where about to die.

You fell in love with him when he showed you his real self and he fell in love with you when you proved that you were accepting of that. You earned each others’ trust. This here; angrily yelling at him and judging him, when you’re already hiding who you really are from him both literally and figuratively, is a breaking of that trust.

Who the fuck are you any more, Rapunzel?

Cause you’re not the same character from the movie. You’re not even the same character from season one. But whoever hell you are now, it’s not an improvement I can tell ya that.

So How Did The Hourglass Go From the Treasury to the Basement Storage, and How Would Raps Know It Was There At This Point and Time?

I’m guessing the implication here is that Crowley put Cass’s stuff in the vault, but like why the fuck would she do that? We’re not talking about a family attic here, but the royal safe. The most heavily guarded room in the castle with the kingdom’s most priceless treasures and antiques. Nothing Cass owned was that valuable.

Rapunzel Is Full of Shit

Oh let me count the numerous ways in which this whole lecture is stupid.

Rapunzel left Varian behind. Rapunzel left Varian behind multiple times, including that time he was thrown in jail. She was not a good friend, and no, this is not a case of her learning from her past because not once has she ever admitted that she was wrong to do that. So this scene just makes Raps look like a hypocrite.

Eugene does not need to relrean a lesson on being a better a person. He did that during the movie and has progressed beyond that point. This ‘lesson’ is a waste of time and a misuse of the characters.

This reframes Rapunzel as being in the right during her argument with older Eugene at the beginning of the episode, even though she’s not. In fact this is such a counterintuitive plot point that it boggles the mind. Who structures a narrative this way? Why so blatantly point out how the main character is wrong if not to have her learn something? Why frame the story to make the person who’s personal conflict isn’t even the episode’s focus, into the one who needs to learn something? Especially if that something is already a lesson that they’ve learned on screen beforehand.

And why, oh good heavens why, would you teach children such a toxic message? Like on the surface it sounds like something you’d hear in a children's show, but the context of it is justifying harmful behavior where you selfishly ignore other people’s wishes and boundaries just to satisfy you’re own personal desires.

And finally, Eugene and Lance do not work as a parallel to Raps and Cass. Cassandra is an adult who left of own free will. Lance is a teenager who was arrested due to Rapunzel’s own actions. Eugene isn’t the one who is responsible here, its Rapunzel. Who also left them both behind in her carelessness. Secondly, Eugene’s decisions are spurned by years of trauma and a healthy fear of dying, while Rapunzel’s is wrapped up in her own need to always be right and to keep her immature and fanciful outlook of the world intact. As harsh as it seems, what Eugene did was based off a predetermine agreement and presumably Lance would have acted the same way or been pressured to act the same way by Eugene. In short, Eugene’s cynical world view as a teen is not the source of his disagreement with Rapunzel but an adult perspective back by common sense and a respect of others choices. It makes no sense for present day Eugene to ‘learn’ anything from this misadventure that he didn’t already know and for Rapunzel to not learn anything that would actually tie the parallel together.

Locking Another Teen Inside a Jail Cell With Another Adult as a Joke, Does Not Erase the Inappropriateness of Varian’s Story

The episode tries to add another joke about Shorty sneaking into the prison without the guard knowing, but that still doesn’t excuse the fact someone had to have tossed Lance in there with him on purpose. Otherwise Lance wouldn’t have assumed Shorty was a fellow prisoner if he or the guard that locked him up saw Shorty sneak in before then.

Furthermore Lance’s nonchalant response suggests this is not an out of the ordinary occurrence. Nor do any of the other guard comment upon the irregularly of teens being jailed with an adult. Now add in the fact that the show fails to clarify that previous ‘cellmate’ line from Rapunzel’s Return and now gives us more confirmation that Varian was underfed and malnourished for a year with that gruel joke and you have a horrifying picture.

Shorty might be non-threating, but that doesn’t mean Andrew, a known attempted murderer and manipulator, is too. Nor any other adult who previously was housed with a teen before then. This is still very much not okay and no amount of ‘jokes’ will suddenly make it right.

Raps, Who is an Adult, Just Physically Threatened Two Teenaged Boys and It’s Played as a Joke....

How many times do I have to say it? Humor does not fix bad writing. I’m not laughing when a heroine at age 20, threatens a couple of kids for merely annoying her. Especially when said heroine has a history of abusing children; because let me repeat once again, neglect is abuse!

This is a Lie

No you wont.

Rapunzel never tells Eugene what happens on screen. I suspect that if she ever did, they would no longer be together, because what she wound up doing here was a violation of trust and boundaries in the worst possible way.

And This is Now a Time Paradox

A Grandfather Paradox to be specific. How can Rapunzel be here in the past to break the hourglass if the hourglass that sent her here is broken?

In a competent series this would be the point of a future conflict and not the actual resolution. It’s not a closed time loop because of the paradox and the changes we’ll see in the future.

So either she’s in an alternate timeline/dimension and just doesn’t gives a shit; leaving the real Eugene, Lance, Cass, ect. to go on without her; or she’s just broke the universe and everything is slowly unraveling around her; galaxies are dying as she whines about being dumped, people in the future are being eased from existence, and God is cursing her name for ruining his creation, all the while she carries on oblivious to the destruction in her wake, as usual.

That’s it. Those are you’re only two options now. Is everyone from here on a fake copy or is Rapunzel the damned destroyer of worlds? You decide.

So This Confirms That the Stabbingtons are Indeed “Family”

Another reason why I place this before Return of the King; it explains why Eugene considers the Stabbingtons ‘family’. Though if it was Rapunzel he actually bonded with and not the real Sideburns, then how much of his feelings are real and how much of them were fabricated by her? How much agency did this episode steal from him?

So What Exactly Did We All Change?

Well the dummy no longer has Eugene’s face, but Cass’s painting of the three of them still has him ripped out of the photo, soo... Keeping in mind that Raps painted the dummy anyways and considering that Moonandra tries to kill him later on; I’m going to guess that Cass’s feelings weren’t actually altered. If anything their relationship might actually be worse now, cause Cassandra keeps acting like she’s never had friends and Eugene has taken up Rapunzel’s blind devotion.

All that development in season one is just, poof, gone. Also it’s quite possible that the first movie as well has now it has been erased from existence as Eugene got his needed character development eight years too early. How the hell that’s suppose to work, I don’t know.

Outside of the that we get no confirmation how anybody else was effected, even though a more brainwashed Eugene running around would undoubtedly have caused a butterfly effect. Don’t expect that to be explored anytime soon.

Though, it would explain why he’s suddenly such a doormat in season three, if this was the second episode as theorized.

No! This is the Wrong Lesson!!!

Let me explain narrative promises.

Everyone, on some basic fundamental level, understands how stories work. We hear them recounted to us over and over again from the day we're born to the day we die. It’s integral to how we communicate as human beings. Everyone knows innately how to tell a story even if that person couldn’t tell you how stories or structured or what certain literary terms mean, but they do it every day just through speaking. And while most audiences can’t always pin point what upsets them about a story they can for sure notice when things are off and not satisfying to experience.

Now that doesn’t mean that everyone can write an awarding winning novel, that study of a craft isn’t important, nor that every amateurish critique thrown at any given media is valid. But it does mean that people have come to expect certain storytelling practices and can pick up on narrative cues. We’ve familiarized ourselves with the language of film, novels, comics, ect, into order to comprehend what’s going on.

Rules of writing are just following that established language so that the audience can keep up. You can break these rules, sure, but unless you know what you’re doing and have a good narrative reason to do so, then you can easily lose you’re audience. And if you’re making money off said audience that’s something you want to avoid.

A narrative promise is a cue; a set up that lets the audience know that ‘hey this is important, pay attention to this cause it’ll come back into play later’. Now that the audience has been alerted to the plot point they expect fulfillment of the promise. If you break that promise, either through poor set up, lack of follow through, or by breaking an established convention of writing for no other reason then because you just wanted to, your audience is going to walk away unsatisfied.

The argument at the beginning of the episode was a narrative promise. It was a cue that set up the interpersonal conflict of the main character. For add context, I know that this is a coming of age story. Convention would dictate that the protagonist would resolve this conflict by learning they were wrong.

That’s not what happened here.

Convention was subverted. It wasn’t the protagonist who grew and change, it was the person they were in conflict with who did. And it wasn’t subverted because of any greater narrative reason, or future pay off, or even as effort to be shallowly ‘clever’; it was subverted because the author just didn’t want to hold the main character accountable for anything. Because said character has now become his avatar for his wish fulfillment fantasy and having the main character admit fault would be to admit fault in ones own self. Rapunzel doesn’t feel like Rapunzel this season because she’s just Chris in a wig.

The episode broke a narrative promise to the audience; both within the episode and in the greater premise of the story, because of ego.

I don’t claim this episode is bad just because of personal taste nor because I find it morally repulsive (even though both those things are true), I call it bad because it exhibits bad writing. Plain and simple.

Way To Undermine The Entire Point of the Original Movie, Show

Speaking of breaking narrative promises....

TTS is suppose to be a squeal to the original movie. It’s even in the title of the show; both of them. In one fell swoop, the series has managed to sabotage it’s very reason for existing, as it erases Eugene’s motivation and the inciting incident that kick started the film.

Way to fucking go.

To further twist the knife, it diminishes the duel protagonist of said film in order to prop up a series original character, who isn't even present in the episode itself.

I don’t mind Cassandra’s existence. I don’t even mind her being the new deuteragonist and one of the main villains; even though she wouldn’t have been my first pick to fulfill those roles given her lack of set up. But I do fucking mind it if she upstages other characters and/or derails their character arcs in the process.

This is the Death of New Dream

I was still in denial when this episode first aired. I honestly believed that this and The Return of the King was build up to a third “betrayal” where Eugene finally became fed up with Rapunzel’s bullshit and joined forces with Zhan Tiri. I thought the end of the series would have Rapunzel apologize to everyone she did wrong, Varian, Cass, and Eugene, in order to break ZT’s hold on them, and that true love’s kiss would reunite the sundrop and the moonstone and that would just tie everything together into a neat little bow and give us a truly daring character study of a Disney hero.

Oh dear merciful heavens, was I ever wrong.

How did we go from season one’s challenging and mature storyline, complete with Disney’s first real anti-villian, to this?!

What the hell happened!?

Rapunzel not only disrespects Eugene’s opinions, violates his privacy and trust as she manipulates him as a teen, and then brainwashes him to think like her (even if accidentally), but doesn’t even have good grace to tell him. She instead has the audacity to look all happy and self congratulatory because she got want she wanted. She, and the show at large, doesn’t care what evil thing she does to get the desired outcome Rapunzel wants.

Rapunzel in this show is a spoiled brat. And the image of her and her now lobotomized boyfriend staring dead eyed at a picture of the creator’s previous waifu OC with plastic smiles on their faces, sums up this series perfectly.

Conclusion

This isn’t even the worst episode of the series guys. I don’t know if it would even make it onto a bottom five list. That’s how much crap I have to wade through when it comes to this show. This is however the most damaging episode to the franchise as a whole.

Not even the most hardcore of New Dream fans want to acknowledge the existence of that final scene, and Rapunzel stans won’t defend her beyond, ’well she didn’t mean too, it’s the writing that’s bad.’ Yeah, the writing is bad, that’s why the character can’t and shouldn’t be defended, not here and not in other badly written episodes where she also does bad things and never makes up for it.

Anyways I’m finally caught up to where I left off, before the move, though sadly I don't think I’ll get this series done by the end of the month like I had originally hoped. But if you would like to help out I have a ko-fi you can drop a tip into if ya want.

https://ko-fi.com/rachelbethhines

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #Eugene #anti-rapunzel #anti-tangled

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ft-dads-au · 3 years

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Spellbound - Chapter 3

A collaboration by @mdelpin and @oryu404

AO3 | Prev: Ch 2

Chapter 3

October 14, 2012

Ever since Sting had accepted his impulsive invitation to study for the upcoming midterms at his house, Rogue had felt like time had slowed to a crawl. Not even his gig in Clover the previous evening had done anything to curb that feeling. And now that the time had finally come, all his excitement seemed to have turned into an insecurity he wasn’t familiar with.

He knew that most of their time together would be spent studying for exams, but he couldn’t help the hope that something more might develop in the moments in between. It certainly didn’t hurt to make an effort. But what if his neatness drove Sting crazy? Or he managed to insult him somehow? Or Gods, what if he’d been reading the signals all wrong, and he ended up throwing himself at the guy only to find he wasn’t interested? He’d had plenty of chances to kiss him and had taken exactly zero of them.

He’d worked himself up the whole drive down to the University.

By the time Sting got into the car, Rogue was a tangle of nerves. They spent the ride home discussing which midterms they would be studying for and agreeing to relax for the remainder of the day before they got started. While the thought of starting off their week together with a lazy Sunday was precisely the type of thing he’d been hoping for, it also put pressure on him to have everything go right.

“Thanks again for letting me stay,” Sting huffed as he carried his duffel bag and oversized, filled to the brim backpack into the house, refusing Rogue’s offer to help.

“Yeah, no problem,” Rogue tossed his keys on the kitchen counter. Feeling suddenly shy and not wanting to show it, he led Sting to Gray’s old room so he could drop off his stuff.

Sting followed him, dumping his bags unceremoniously on the bed and looking around with curious eyes. “That’s your brother, right?” Sting asked, pointing at a family picture that was hanging on the wall. “I feel like I’ve seen him before.”

“You probably have. He’s been working as a model for a few years now.”

“He looks a lot like your dad,” Sting remarked before shifting his scrutiny to the collection of medals and trophies Gray had accumulated since he’d first started playing hockey.

“How about you? Do you have any siblings?” Rogue asked, scrambling for any conversation topic that might ease him out of his timidity.

“Nah, it’s just me. So, do you play too?” Sting eyed him with interest.

“For fun, but you won’t find any trophies in my room. That was Gray’s thing.” Rogue chuckled, “I just like to skate.”

When he was younger, he’d considered giving competitive figure skating a go. His dad had even supported the idea, spending hours building a rink in the backyard together with him and Gray so he wouldn’t have to drive them to the local one as often. It had been grueling work to get the hang of the moves, and while Rogue had been good at it, he’d eventually discovered things he loved more.

“I do have a nice keepsake from my hockey days, though,” he grinned, rubbing his finger over the scar that crossed the bridge of his nose.

“Oh, wow! That must have hurt,” Sting moved closer to examine his nose, wrapping him in the smell of that enticing cologne of which Rogue still hadn’t discovered the name. “Yeah...” Rogue answered absently, paying more attention to the way Sting’s lips moved when he spoke than he did to the words that came out. They were temptingly close. All he had to do was lean over and kiss them, but just when he’d been about to close the remaining gap between them, Sting had already moved away.

“Hey, you got anything to eat around here?” Sting asked, leaving Rogue to stare at him in confusion.

“Oh, right,” he blinked himself back to reality, “I put off grocery shopping until you got here, wasn’t sure what you’d like.”

“Oh, that’s great! I’ve only been to the convenience store near the dorm. I can’t wait to see what a big Magnolian grocery store has to offer!”

“Well, at least one of us is excited,” Rogue muttered, amused at fielding question after question on a place he usually tried to avoid. It gave him an idea, though. That adage about the way to a man’s heart being through his stomach could work to his advantage here.

True, he couldn’t cook worth a damn, but surely there must be something he could pull off to impress Sting. 0-0

The trip to the grocery store was certainly memorable. Sting had walked through every single aisle, oohing and aahing over items he’d never tried and piling them into their cart. Rogue had finally given up and gotten his own cart, not finding it in his heart to dampen Sting’s enthusiasm.

They’d also gotten plenty of looks from other shoppers, which Rogue had done his best to ignore. He hadn’t come up with any great ideas for dinner. Everything he’d considered seemed so involved. That was until he walked past the lobster tank and remembered how disappointed Sting had been when he hadn’t gotten to eat ”Sheldon” at that seafood restaurant.

He was pretty sure you just chucked the things into a pot of boiling water. Sounded easy enough to him. Feeling pleased with his choice, he studied the tank’s contents, searching for the two largest lobsters he could find, knowing both of them ate a lot.

Once he’d identified the ones he wanted, he went off in search of an employee.

0-0

Rogue had managed to keep the contents of the cooler a secret. It wasn’t all that difficult considering the amount of bags in the trunk. He was more concerned about where they were going to store all the food they’d bought. At least it was cold enough that they could leave the drinks out on the porch.

Not that he should have worried, Sting kept picking items out of the bags and shoving them in his mouth, making pleased noises that were driving Rogue crazy.

“Mhmmmmmm, these are amazing! Want some?” Sting waved a bag of onion-flavored rings under his nose.

Rogue grabbed a couple, realizing he hadn’t had them for years. “Oh man, I used to love these. I didn’t know they still made them.”

Sting finally noticed the cooler when it moved slightly from its perch on the counter. “What’s in there?”

“Oh, that?” Rogue replied evenly, feigning indifference, “Just something I picked up. I thought I might try cooking dinner tonight.”

Sting arched an eyebrow and promptly removed the lid, peering in at the contents. “You got lobsters?”

“Yeah, it seemed like you liked them,” Rogue shrugged, finding spots for the rest of the groceries.

“I do! My mom makes really good Lobster Thermidor.”

Well, fuck. What the hell was lobster...whatever Sting said? It sounded a lot fancier than Rogue’s idea of boiling the shits like a pack of instant-ramen, not to mention the fact that he’d set himself up to compete against Sting’s mother’s cooking. He didn’t know a thing about the woman, but he’d bet his life that she was a better cook than he was.

“Those are big fellas. Oh, wait,” Sting had picked up one of the lobsters to examine it, “I think this one might be a Sheila.”

“How can you tell?”

“Oh, uhm,” Sting chuckled, sounding embarrassed, “when I was younger, I wanted to be a marine biologist. My parents would take me to the aquarium whenever they could, and I learned a lot. Pretty lame, huh?”

“Not at all. I mean, if you want to talk lame, I wanted to be a figure skater at one point,” he confessed, encouraged by Sting sharing that with him. “So which one's Sheldon and which one's Sheila?”

Rogue listened with interest as Sting pointed at the tails’ subtle differences and revealed what they meant. Once the explanation was over, Sting glanced at the pot that sat on the stove.

“You’re going to need a larger pot to boil these.”

“Right.” Challenge number one, where the heck did his mom keep the big pots? Rogue opened the cabinets, searching for anything bigger than the one he used to boil pasta.

“I’ll be right back,” he went to the basement, remembering his mother sometimes sent him there to find appliances she didn’t use all the time, and heaving a sigh of relief when he saw a pot big enough to bathe in. Okay, maybe not quite that big, but it should be enough for two lobsters.

And while he was down there, he took the opportunity to do a quick google search on how to cook lobster thermostat. Thermidor. Whatever. It turned out that it would involve cooking as well as broiling, which was even worse than he’d imagined, and the long list of ingredients wasn’t exactly reassuring either. But it was that list that turned out to be his saving grace, as he was sure he didn’t have everything on it. Oh no, such a shame, he smirked to himself as he continued to look for a less intimidating lobster recipe.

“Everything okay down there?”

Crap!

“Yeah, found one,” Rogue called out, putting his phone away and lugging his discovery up the stairs.

He’d washed the pot, filling it with water and as much salt as he dared, and then setting it on the stove to boil. They’d talked about watching a movie after dinner, and Sting had left him in the kitchen while he’d gone to Gray’s room, determined to set up his work area, as he called it, for the next day.

And now, Rogue found himself facing his next challenge. Once the water had come to a rolling boil, he’d grabbed one of the lobsters, ready to plunge it into the pot, when he’d made one fatal mistake. He’d looked into its eyes.

No matter how much he told himself that the thing wasn’t intelligent, he just couldn’t find it in himself to kill it. And as he stared into the eyes of the crustacean he’d condemned to death, Rogue couldn’t help but think of how much simpler his life had been before he’d decided he wanted something more from his relationships.

“What are you doing?”

There was no mistaking the amusement in Sting’s voice, and it both irritated and humiliated him. It had been his bright idea to do this, and he couldn’t even go through with it.

‘“It was staring at me,” he murmured.

Sting chuckled but took pity on him, “Here, I’ll do it.”

He grabbed the lobster and asked for some scissors. He snipped the bands off its claws and lowered it into the pot carefully, repeating the procedure with the second one before placing the lid on the pot. There was an awful noise that followed, making it sound like the lobsters were screaming.

Rogue shuddered.

“Relax, it’s not what it sounds like,” Sting assured him, “Lobsters don’t have lungs or even vocal cords. It’s just air escaping through their shells.” “Whatever. The damn things better taste good,” Rogue pouted, still displeased by the way his plan was failing so far. But hey, the lobsters were boiling away now, and he’d found a cooking time table online, so there wasn’t much that could go wrong from here. “I guess that depends on the sauce or seasoning.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. His face must have mirrored his frustration because once again, he heard the sound of Sting’s laughter. “It doesn’t have to be anything complicated. Oh, actually! We got mac and cheese, right?”

“Mac and cheese? With lobster?”

“Yeah! My mom used to make that for me when I was little. Well, she made it from scratch,” Sting admitted, “but this will be good too!”

By this point, Rogue just wanted to be done with the whole thing, so the idea of at least being able to make something he knew he couldn’t fuck up cheered him immensely. He walked over to the pantry and moved stuff around until he’d found the family size box of mac and cheese they’d bought and set about preparing it.

The timer went off, and he watched as Sting used tongs to take out the lobsters, which had turned a promising shade of bright red. He lay them on a cutting board and let them sit while he searched for a knife.

Rogue turned away as the sounds of Sting removing the meat from the shell revolted him. He busied himself with his task, trying not to think about what was happening.

“Do I have to do anything differently?”

“Nope, just let me know when it’s ready.”

Sting walked to the porch, grabbed two beers, opened them, and handed one over to Rogue, that amused smirk never far from his face. Once the mac and cheese was done, all they had to do was add the lobster meat, top it off with some breadcrumbs, and put it in the oven for a few minutes. In the meantime, Rogue began the process of cleaning the kitchen, pulling a face as he dumped the hollowed out shells in the trash bin and wiped the lobster juices off the counter. Although it wasn’t all that fancy, the dish that came out looked better than any of Rogue’s previous attempts to cook his own food. Not that he felt he had much to be proud of, as he’d mostly just boiled water and made instant mac and cheese, but cooking was definitely a lot less frustrating when he didn’t have to do it alone. Maybe they could cook together again sometime this week, preferably with food that couldn’t scream, move or stare at him. They settled on the couch, and while Rogue was browsing through Netflix, looking for a movie they could watch, he could tell by the moaning sounds that Sting had already dug into his food. “It’s good!” he said with his mouth still half full, “but you know what the best part is?” “Hm?” Rogue took a hesitant first bite, and he had to agree it did taste a lot better than he’d expected. “It’s that from now on, every time I eat lobster, I’ll remember your look of horror.” Sting dissolved into giggles, “I should have taken a picture!”

Rogue tried to glare, but now that it was over, he found himself laughing along. “Alright, but I hope you got a good look cause I am never doing that again. Next time we do this, it’ll be at a restaurant.”

“Deal, as long as we stop at the tank first,” Sting laughed at his pout, and it was arguably the best sound Rogue had ever heard.

He sat back, having found a movie they were both interested in, and feeling more relaxed than he had all day. The realization that Sting hadn’t been against the idea of a next time boosted his confidence enough to let him enjoy the rest of the night and to set him thinking of what he might try next.

A/N: 2020 was a really busy year for us. We participated in a lot of events and as fun as that was we've decided to mostly step away from that for this year. Unfortunately trying to match event prompts kept us from moving forward on stories we'd been planning on for months and we'd like to try setting our own schedule for now.

We've started the year out with a Works in Progress month, in the hopes that we can finish or move along some of our open multis, or one-shots we started but never finished. It will also allow us to work on some of the individual projects we've been ignoring for too long.

We've decided to expand on this story a bit more than we'd originally planned so there will be a few more chapters than we'd anticipated. We hope you enjoy this one!

#fairy tail #ftdadsau #stingue #update #fics

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shestrying2write · 4 years

Text

Blank Pages pt 2

Pairing: Ivar x reader

Warnings: Violence, attempted rape, curse words, implied rape, character deaths, my stories timeline and the shows timeline inconsistencies.

Word Count: 6.9k

Author’s note: Sorry it’s so long, I really wanted to keep it whole. Part 3 is being worked on as we speak and I’m sorry for the delays. Let me know what you guys think and send me any questions you have. I also have a face claim for Erik if any of you are curious !

Summary: What happened in the time Y/N ran away

Masterlist

Pt 1 // Pt 3

Ivar arrived defeated, hoping for the comfort of Y/N and of his mother. His father was gone now, and it was up to him to avenge him. He couldn’t wait to just be coddled by his mother and tell Y/N that she was right and that he should never have gone. That he wished he had stayed with her in Kattegat, that he had missed her more than anything. Not only did he not find Y/N at the docks to receive him, but he was given the news of his mother’s murder and that Largetha was now in charge. To say that Ivar was livid, was an understatement. He only saw red and wanted to do nothing more than seek revenge. His mother was gone, surely Y/N was holed up, terrified, he never should have left her alone. He dragged himself to her small cabin to find it abandoned. It looked like no one had lived there in all the time he had been gone. She really had left. He looked around the room at all the tattered parchment with fading ink. All mostly blank pages, none explaining where she had gone. But an even worse thought crept its way into his mind; perhaps something had happened to her. What if Largetha took the two women he loved most from him? His brothers tried to assure him that Y/N had most likely left before the death of their mother, but none of them knew where she was or where she could have gone. Bjorn made sure to ask his mother about her and he was told she knew nothing of who he spoke about. She told him she had nothing against the sons of Ragnar and would never go out of her way to harm them, she simply wanted her home back. Ivar had taken the last crumpled letter he had found of hers and tucked it away in his belongings. She wrote that she loved him, she had to come back. She just did.

The anger from losing her only fueled the vengeance he wanted to get on Lagertha. He had moped around Kattegat, snapping at everyone that got in his way, refusing to talk to anyone. His arguments with Sigurd had amplified and he had nearly killed him once.

“There are other women in the world” Ubbe had tried to distract him once, only to be met with a scoff

“None that will ever want to touch him” Sigurd had mocked. Ubbe tried to stop the argument before it got out of hand, but that was an impossible task. “I mean just look at Y/N. Poor girl, felt trapped. Terrified Ivar would kill her if she didn’t pretend to not be nauseated by him. She ran the first chance she got. I’m sure she’s much happier now, with a real man” if Ubbe hadn’t intervened, the knife in Ivar’s hand would have been lodged in Sigurd’s eye. “You’re insane Ivar” Sigurd had gotten up to leave, his last words venom to Ivar’s ears “No wonder Y/N left you”

The days turned into weeks. In his attempt to forget about Y/N he had tried to lay with the slave that all his brothers shared and that had been a disaster. All he could think about when he was thrusting above her, was how Y/N probably laid under another man. How she was probably lying with any man she wanted, how she had lied to him when she told him she loved him. He hadn’t been able to satisfy Margarethe, he had done nothing but hurt her and now every woman in Kattegat knew he couldn’t function as a man. Y/N had stolen his heart, and his manhood and he couldn’t forgive that. Yet, late at night when he would hear girlish giggles, he would remember her. The way her eyes crinkled, the way her nose would scrunch up whenever he complimented her, the way she would hold his hand and sit in silence with him whenever he was upset. She had done everything to make him happy, she had given up other friendships, she had turned down men that offered her marriage all for him and he couldn’t give her the one thing she asked him for, to be his priority. As much as he wanted to hate her, he couldn’t. He stayed up, looking at the stars, imagining that she also looked to the stars and thought of him.

“If the gods ever bless me with her presence again, I will not let her slip through my fingers” he had sworn to Hvitserk once as they drank. “I will not lose her a second time. I will choose her, like I should have done from the beginning” his brother only nodded in agreement as he listened to Ivar, too scared to say anything that might set him off.

The weeks went by and Ivar spoke about her less and less, putting all his anger and energy toward uniting all the Vikings for Ragnar's Vengeance. Things had slowly begun to become like they were before. Eventually Ivar didn’t speak of her at all and his brothers knew better than to bring her up.

—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•

Leaving had been the hardest thing she had ever done. That was until she had run out of food and still had no settlement. Then hunting was the hardest. She cursed herself for not taking it seriously when Ivar tried to teach her to fight. She never thought she would be in a position where she would have to. She imagined Ivar would always be there to protect her.

After living in the woods for a couple of weeks in peace, she had heard screaming. She grabbed her dagger, terrified and made her way to the noise. “Ivar would kill you if he knew you were putting yourself in danger” she mumbled to herself as she quietly continued going through the trees. She shook her head and scoffed, Ivar’s dead, he doesn’t care about much anymore. As she continued her path she saw a woman in fine clothes, on the floor, her guards dead, and two men laughing trying to rip at her dress. Y/N made eye contact with the woman and signaled for her to remain quiet. She threw something on the other side of the clearing and one of the men fell for it.

“I’ll go check it out. Don’t have too much fun without me” he laughed as he left to check out the noise.

“Alright my lady. Time to see if you taste as good as you look” the other man growled as he pulled the woman by her leg, lifting her dress. Before the woman could scream, blood splattered all over her face as Y/N jumped the man and dragged her knife across the man’s throat.

“Can you walk?” She asked the frightened woman who simply nodded and stood. “Good. Go to your cart, lay down and don’t come out until I come back for you.” The woman nodded once more and muttered a thank you before running to her cart. Y/N couldn’t believe she had done that. She killed a man, she defended a woman in need. Ivar would have been proud. She heard the other man come back.

“Must have been an animal” he shouted over. He saw his companion on the ground covered in blood and ran to him. He crouched to examine his body, Y/N had hoped she could catch him off guard as well but she accidently stepped on a twig. He rushed over to her and grabbed her arm, knocking the knife out of her hand. “You’re not the Earls daughter, but I’m sure you’ll feel just as good warming my bed” he threw her on the ground and began undoing his belt. Y/N’s eyes went wide as she tried to find an escape and found none. She was pinned to the ground with no weapon. The man lifted her dress and then his body fell heavily on top of hers, the woman she had saved standing over him, with a huge piece of wood in her hand; she had hit him upside the head.

“I know you said to wait for you, but you looked like you needed help” she stuttered out, tears staining her face, her dress filthy and her hands shaking. Y/N crawled out from under the man and quickly grabbed her dagger. She grabbed the woman in a quick hug. They both turned their attention to the man groaning and trying to stand. The strange woman took a step back, but Y/N was angry. This man had tried to take advantage of them. She turned the man over and quickly plunged the dagger into his throat. His gurgles echoed in the woods as Y/N pulled out her dagger and wiped the blood on the man’s clothes. She searched both the bodies for anything of value they might have. “How can I ever repay you?” The woman called out to Y/N.

“No need. I’m just glad I got to you before those men could hurt you”

“Please. Come back with me. My father, he’s an Earl. I’m sure he can pay you, he would surely be grateful. Let me at least offer you a bath and a warm meal” Y/N nodded and smiled. For once the gods were looking out for her.

The journey wasn’t a long one. The woman was named Asger. She had been right. Her father had been grateful to Y/N for saving his daughter. He had insisted that she stayed with them as a thank you. He always kept an eye on her and Y/N had noticed. She confronted him about it and he had become flustered. He confessed that though she was much younger than him, he admired her. He admired the way she trained and the way she looked out for his people, even though they were strangers to her. His people liked her and she quickly became one of them. He confessed that he was smitten by her and told her he believed that Odin had put those two men in his daughters path in order to bring Y/N to him. She had never been so flattered. She apologized for thinking the worst of him and agreed to having dinner with him, just them. Their relationship had grown quickly and before the new season they had wed. Y/N was as happy as she could be with the pain of Ivar’s death still in her heart. The village accepted her and loved her, they were appreciative of all she did for them. Her new husband would joke that if his people were given the choice, they would probably choose her over him. Unaware, Y/N didn’t realize that when he made these comments, he wasn’t joking, he was warning her. He slowly stopped her from training, by telling her he didn’t want her to get hurt and that he would always protect her. He promised her love and asked her for children. She was hesitant at first but she had always wanted a family, she was just sad it wouldn’t be with Ivar. Though the Earl wanted children, the gods did not wish that fate upon them. One night the Earl had gotten frustrated when Y/N told him she had bled, which meant she wasn’t pregnant. During the midst of their argument he had accidentally let it slip that it was him who had sent the men to teach his daughter a lesson.

The longer they were together, the more disgusted she became with him. He wasn’t the sweet man he had presented himself as. He was cruel and vindictive, he had basically confined Y/N to the bedroom until her womb would take his seed. His daughter had become her ally. She would sometimes sneak in to give her a treat or keep her company. One day she stopped coming and Y/N had heard from a thrall loyal to her that Asger had been sporting a big bruise on her cheek, most likely given to her by her father. Y/N felt lost, she had begun talking to Ivar when she was alone, hoping her voice would reach him in Valhalla.

“WIFE!” Her husband had come stumbling in, causing her to jump. “I’ve had a bath prepared for you, with your favorite oils” she hesitantly got up from her sewing spot and followed him to the tub. He helped her undress and helped her wash her hair, if anyone saw them, they would think he was the most loving husband. Y/N was suspicious but said nothing. “A dear friend of mine is arriving tonight” Ah, there it was. He wanted her to be on her best behavior. To pretend they were the happy couple he told the world they were. “He has very powerful warriors, together we could conquer many. It is important that he sees us as a unit, that he sees us as stable. Is that clear?” His grip on her hair had gotten tighter and she let a squeak escape her lips as she nodded

“Of course husband” she muttered out. He released her hair and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“Wonderful. I shall see you at dinner then” with that he left and Y/N was left with tears running down her face. Why did Ivar leave her to this life? She couldn’t handle another man like her husband. Surely this friend was as cruel as the last man that had come to ask for Asger’s hand. Thankfully she was able to persuade him into denying the man and protecting Asger. It had been at her expense, but she had grown fond of Asger and would do anything to protect her.

She had arrived before her husband to the dinner and decided to walk outside, enjoying the fresh air, making sure the thralls had everything prepared for the guests. “Are all the women here as beautiful as you?” A voice had startled her and she blushed. She looked around to see who the man had been talking to, surely it couldn’t be her. She didn’t recognize him, he must be one of the warriors that came with her husband's friend. He chuckled softly at her disbelief and stepped closer. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you”

“Not at all” she managed to muster. It was rare that she was at a loss for words, but this was the first kindness she had been offered by a man in a long time. As he stepped closer into the light, she was mesmerized by his deep green eyes, almost like Odin had picked his two favorite emeralds and placed it on this man’s face. “You really shouldn’t go around saying things like that. It could land you in trouble”

He laughed again, his laugh drawing her in further. “Perhaps you are right, but, I feel like things with beauty given to them by Freyja herself should be told” Y/N’s whole face burned and she was glad for the dim lighting, so that the handsome man could not see her reddened cheeks.

“You are too kind, truly.” She knew she needed to run away from this man before her husband saw them. He would not be happy that such a handsome man was giving her attention. “I’m sorry, but I must be going.” Before he could respond she made haste in walking back to the hall only to be met with the eyes of her angry husband.

“There you are, wife. I was beginning to worry” he chastised her softly. She simply bowed her head and made her way to her seat beside him.

“My apologies husband. I was enjoying the fresh air” he hummed in response and squeezed her hand as a warning. The hall began filling with people, their people and her husband's friends. She saw Asger quietly make her way in and sit in a corner. She leaned over and placed her lips quickly on her husband's cheek “I’m going to mingle with our guests my love” she didn’t give him a chance to refuse as she got up and made her way to Asger. They were hidden amongst the crowd and they hugged. “My dear Asger. I am so sorry if I have brought you any misfortune” she reached for her cheek and Asger just let out a smile

“Do not be silly Y/N. On the contrary. I’m sure you have taken some of the humiliations that he usually dishes on me” she grabbed Y/N’s hand and squeezed it. “I am simply thankful to have a friend as kind as you”

“We will escape this hell I promise you” she whispered in her ear as she hugged her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to pretend to be a wife in love with her husband.” Asger nodded to her And Y/N made her way back to her husband, spotting the familiar red hair she had seen when she was walking outside. She hoped he wouldn’t say anything to her, in front of her husband.

“There she is. My lovely wife” her husband pointed to her and the man standing in front of her husband turned to look her way. His green eyes looked...sad? Y/N made her way to them and bowed her head as she reached the men “Y/N, this is my old friend Earl Erik” The man reached for her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles

“You are very lucky to have such a beauty to call yours” he muttered, his eyes never once leaving hers. She cursed herself for letting her cheeks get so red and for letting herself get so flustered.

“Dangerous words” Y/N whispered with a smile and Erik chuckled with a nod.

“She is quite a beauty isn’t she? A great prize indeed” her husband’s voice was not one of praise for her, but of pride for his appearance.

“Indeed” Earl Erik let out a wink as Y/N giggled. Her husband quickly ruined their moment as he stood from his seat and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. He guided him away and Erik's eyes followed Y/N no matter how far they got from each other. Y/N tried to keep from looking at him, but she could always feel those emerald eyes staring at her.

The night had dragged and Y/N had excused herself to her chambers as her husband planted a drunken and sloppy kiss on her lips. It was the only time she had noticed that Earl Erik had looked away from her. Sleep had quickly taken a hold of her and for once she didn’t dream of Ivar. Instead of the ocean she dreamt of emeralds. She was woken up in the morning by her husband getting ready for the day. “I will be very busy today. I expect you to keep Erik company today. He informed me he will be staying some weeks and with any luck he’ll ask for Asger’s hand and we’ll be united as family” she felt her smile falter at his last sentence and she nodded.

“Of course husband” When her husband left, she found herself spending extra time getting ready. She had her thralls braid half of her hair up and wore a dress the same green as his eyes. She shook her head as she admired herself in the mirror “it’s just to make him want to marry Asger” she reminded herself. She straightened her dress one last time and added flowers into her braids.

She walked into the hall to see Erik devouring his meal. “Do they not have manners where you come from?” She teased as he looked up at her with the biggest smile.

“I didn’t realize you would be blessing me with your presence” he wiped his mouth and stood up, to pull a chair out for her.

“Well you’ve already eaten.” She pushed the chair back in “without me” she shook her head and tsked at him with a mocking laugh. “How about we explore?”

“I’d follow you to Valhalla and back if you asked” he winked at her again and she shook her head in mock disapproval.

“Dangerous words” she repeated to him and soon that became their routine. She would show him around, they’d have lunch together, he would spend the day complimenting her and she’d tell him they were dangerous words.

Three weeks had passed and she had learned everything about him and he had learned things about her as well. She told him how she had lost the love of her life once and he confided in her that he too had lost the love of his life during childbirth, but that their son was alive and healthy back home. He also admitted that while he was fond of Asger, he had seen her grow up and had no desire to marry a woman that he saw as a daughter. She had also learned that he loved when Y/N wore red and when she added flowers into her hair and so she did both more often. He had confessed that he was jealous his friend had met her first, but he would never betray him. He confessed that he wished his friend could see how lucky he was to have her. One night while he had gotten drunk, he had tried to kiss her and she had quickly moved away. “I’m married” her voice was shaky and so were her hands as she looked around. He had apologized profusely and told her he didn’t know what came over him. She excused herself from his company and avoided him the rest of the night. She had confided in Asger what had happened and Asger simply smiled.

“He clearly cares for you. My father doesn’t deserve you” Y/N shushed her and looked around to make sure no one heard.

“Asger you cannot say these things. Your father could hear”

“Run away with him. Just because I’m stuck with my father forever doesn’t mean you have to be. You lost your great love once, don’t let another slip by” She grabbed both of Y/N’s hands and tried to comfort her.

“Those are foolish dreams Asger. Earl Erik simply wants to bed me, like every other man. He wouldn’t stand by me if I chose to defy your father.” She stood and kissed Asger’s cheek “Now go get some sleep. I hear that arrogant man who asked for your hand is back. You’ll need all the rest you can get”

They departed and entered their respective rooms. Y/N’s husband was waiting for her as soon as she entered. The closer she got to him the more the smell of mead flooded her senses. He was drunk. “WELL THERE IS MY WHORE WIFE” he slurred out. Y/N cringed at his comment and began to undo her braids

“I don’t know why you speak to me like that” before she could turn around to face him, he had run over and gripped her arm to spin her. His hand wrapped around her throat and he squeezed until she was clawing at his hands for air. “Please” she begged and he only moved closer to her face.

“I told you to keep Erik happy, to convince him to marry Asger. NOT TO FUCK HIM UNDER MY OWN ROOF” She tried to shake her head to deny it, but her head was spinning and her chest hurt. He finally let go of her and she dropped to the floor coughing. “Get up” he slurred as he kicked her leg.

She took a deep breath and stood, keeping her head high. “I did no such thing husband. I would never do that. I have simply been keeping him company”

“Between your legs !” He spit back “I know what you and my daughter are planning and it’s not gonna work. You will stay married to me, Erik will go home to his child and as for Asger.” His eyes went dark as he chuckled “She will be taken away for marriage by Gunnvor for breeding”

Y/N felt her heart jump out of her chest as she reached for his arm, throwing herself on her knees at his mercy “No please. You Cannot send her to that man. He’s killed his last three wives. Please husband. I beg of you. Spare your daughter. Please” The kohl she once had neatly around her eyes were now staining her cheeks and her tears would not seize.

He shoved her back and as his stare bore holes into her he yelled “You disgust me. Get up.” She sobbed softly still muttering pleas for Asger. Swearing up and down that nothing had happened between her and Erik and that nothing ever would. All she felt was a sharp pain on her cheek and then a blunt edge hit the side of her head as her husband slapped her and her head fell against the table. She knew her cheek would bruise and she felt a warm liquid run down the side of her head. Her husband threw a rag at her and spit on the floor beside her legs “Clean yourself up and get to bed. Tomorrow we welcome our future son and bid farewell to Asger”

Y/N curled into herself as she let herself cry. When she heard her husband's snore fill their chambers, she stood up and cleaned herself off. She stood over him as he slept. She had never felt so much disgust for another human being. She had to stop him. She had to save Asger, by any means necessary.

—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•

Her fingers slowly traced the dark mark on her cheek. She flinched as she attempted to put on something to help cover the dark mark. She was furious and embarrassed. How could she show her face? Everyone would know how she got the bruise. Her thrall quietly opened the door and informed her that her husband required her presence in the hall. She took a deep breath and plastered the biggest fakest smile she could as she made her way to the feast. Her eyes immediately found Erik’s and she saw his smile fade as she got closer. She made quick work of looking away from him and joining her husband's side.

“I can’t wait for this night to be over” He groaned as his hand found its way to her thigh, giving it a squeeze. She didn’t flinch or move away, she felt numb. She could feel people’s eyes on her and she hated that they were probably whispering about her.

“Where...where's Asger?” She whispered, not wanting to give her husband any more reason to be angry

“Getting ready to be acquainted with her new husband” There it was again, that deep chuckle that made fear run through her veins.

Her eyes were on the floor most of the night, she didn’t feel like mingling or pretending like nothing was wrong. When her husband had left her side to relieve himself, she saw Erik run over. His hand instinctively going for her cheek and she moved her head away “Please” she pleaded with him “Just leave me alone”

He quickly apologized for any actions of his that might have cost her pain. “Did he do this to you?” Y/N just nodded her head and felt a tear come down her cheek. “I am so sorry that he is an idiot. Let me take you away. Far from here, where he can never touch you again” His hand found its way back onto her cheek, his thumb softly stroking her skin

She looked into his pleading eyes and smiled. Gods how she wished she had met him first. Asger’s words rang in her ears, the words that told her she should take this opportunity to get away from her aggressive husband. “I can’t” her lips, quickly met the palm of his hand as he stroked her cheek and then pulled it away. “I can’t abandon Asger. Now please. Leave before my husband sees you talking to me. Leave before more rumors begin” When he refused to go anywhere she sighed “Then I will go.” She stood up and walked away from him, leaving him wishing he could save her. She quickly ran down the hall, trying to find where Asger could be, she needed to save her before it was too late. Y/N had survived in the woods once, she could do it again, this time with Asger by her side. As she was trying to come up with an escape route for them, she saw Asger stumble out of a room. Her hair was messy and tears stained her cheeks. Her pink cheeks covered in Kohl and her dress half laced up. “Asger” she called out as she ran to her. By the look in Asger’s eyes, she knew she was too late to save her. They both fell to the ground as Asger weeped into Y/N’s shoulder, holding her tightly. She sang softly to her and promised to protect her, no matter what. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get to you in time my sweet dear Asger. I’m so sorry”

After what felt like hours of them just holding on to each other, Y/N took Asger to her room and helped her bathe and laid her down. She held her until she had fallen asleep and kissed her forehead before leaving. How could her husband do such a thing to his own daughter. What kind of a man was he? She tried to calm herself down as she reached her room. She could hear her husband mumbling to himself and she felt the anger boil in her veins. She opened the door and found him undressing himself. When he turned to her he had a big drunk smile on his face. “There you are” the slurs were barely understandable. “Come here wife. Let me fill you with a baby tonight” He quickly stomped up to her and grabbed her by the arm, shoving her down on the bed. Her body bounced and then felt the weight of his on top of hers. “I’m going to make you scream my name. Let Erik know who you belong to” He had pinned both her arms above her and his lips were on her neck.

“Husband please.” She pleaded as she tried to push him off “Not like this.” she felt his grip get stronger on her wrists as his other hand went down to part her legs for him. She quickly turned her head, her lips met his and she kissed him. “Let me make you feel good first.” She tried to close her legs, trying to buy herself some time. His grip loosened and she pulled her wrists out of his hold. Her arms snaking around his neck, she kissed him again and flipped them over. She straddled him and leaned down, her lips on his and her arm finding its way under her pillow. She felt the cool steel of the knife that Ivar had made her. Even from Valhalla he was protecting her. Her husband’s hands roamed her body, pulling up her dress, trying to feel more skin. She leaned into his ear and placed a small kiss before whispering “This is for Asger,” His response was nothing more than gargling as he choked on his own blood, Y/N’s knife was embedded in the center of his throat. She grabbed her husband's hands, which were thrashing trying to push her off and pinned them above his head. “How does it feel husband? To feel so powerless. To know that you lose? To know that your daughter will inherit your lands? To know that your wife is the one who took your chance from ever dining in Valhalla?” She stared into his eyes, making sure there was no life left in them before getting off of him and going to wash her hands. ‘I killed him. I did that. Me’ her thoughts were running rampant and she didn’t know what had come over her. How could she be so stupid? What was she going to do now? Surely they would kill her. She knew the people loved her, but she killed their leader. Once her hands were scrubbed clean, she changed her clothes and snuck outside for fresh air. She walked toward the water and saw someone sitting on one of the logs, staring at the sea. She tried to go back but knocked over some things and emerald eyes immediately found hers. She sighed in relief, she always felt so comfortable around him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you” She tried to turn away, but the rustling of him running over stopped her.

His hand reached toward hers and his fingers lightly ran over the back of her hand. “Please don’t go” his whisper was a plea and she obeyed. How could this man be so magnetic? He led her to where he had been sitting and they both sat on the ground. “I’m leaving tomorrow,” his eyes traced over every feature of hers as she stared blankly at the sea. The same sea that had taken Ivar away from her. “My offer still stands. Run away with me”

She turned to look at him with tears in her eyes. “You’re better off without me”

“How could you say that? I- I think I might love you” his eyes darted to their intertwined hands before looking back into her eyes, his were full of hope and possibility. “Your lost love would want you to be safe and happy.”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She felt almost guilty as she heard the waves of the water crash against the boats, almost as if Ivar was protesting from Valhalla at the mention of him. She had gotten married once, but she knew it wasn’t love. Erik however, he was different, she could see herself round with his children, she could see herself growing old with him, waiting at the docks as he returned from battle. She leaned closer to him as her eyes opened, could she betray her love with Ivar? Was this even a betrayal? Before she could overthink anything, she let her lips crash into Erik’s, her hands pulled him by his furs and held him close. Erik didn’t hesitate to kiss her back, his hand on her cheek and the other on his lap.

She rested her forehead on his as she breathed deeply “I killed him” her voice was almost inaudible and Erik didn’t think he could have heard her right

“What was that?” his fingers stroked her cheek.

“I killed my husband” This time she said it louder and sat back, she’d rather pull away from Erik than have him pull away from her. She couldn’t handle being rejected right now. “He-” she started crying and Erik pulled her in once more. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to soothe her. “He tried to have Asger killed once, and tonight he had her ra-- I just couldn’t take it anymore. He was cruel and he didn’t deserve to continue living.”

Erik closed his eyes and held her tighter against his body, his hand running up and down her back slowly. “It’s going to be okay.” He didn’t know how to react. He would have done the same in her position, he knew that her husband was no good and there had been many occasions where he wished he had killed him, himself. Nothing made him angrier than when he had seen Y/N bruised, he had almost killed him right then. “I will protect you. What did you do with the body?” he asked and felt Y/N stiffen in his arms. She told him that it was still in their chambers and Erik went to wake some of his men to help her dispose of his body. He took her to Asger’s room and told her to stay there until morning. He would come and get her when the time was right.

Upon entering Asger’s bedroom, she woke up. “Y/N what are you doing here?” Y/N ran over to her and hugged her tightly “You’re safe now, just like I promised. He will never harm you again. No one ever will again” Asger didn’t know what Y/N meant but she didn’t ask any questions, she just held her friend until she was ready to talk. They both fell asleep, holding each other once more.

Morning had come too quickly and Y/N woke up first. She patiently waited for Erik to come and get her. They spoke of what to do next and then Erik left to make preparations. Y/N awoke Asger and told her to come to the hall when she was done getting ready. There was an important announcement to be given.

Once the hall was filled with people, Y/N took her usual seat, beside the empty one her husband usually sat on. Erik had his men posted in front of her for protection. He wasn’t sure who in this village he could trust around her. She quieted the hall and Erik stepped up to tell the people what had happened to their Earl, but he felt her small hand on his shoulder “It should be me” she whispered to him and he frowned at her, but nodded. As he stepped aside she stood in front of her people and took a deep breath “Your Earl is dead” the crowd broke into loud whispering as they all talked amongst themselves.

“How?!”

“Who’s in charge now?” “When did he die?”

The people were all shouting questions and she settled them all before continuing. “All of you know me, and you knew my husband” she looked around at the knowing eyes. Some people looked down and avoided her gaze. Everyone knew she had been a happy and cheery woman before marrying their Earl. They all heard the commotions and they had all seen her bruise. “You know he wasn’t the kindest man, you know he always looked out for his interests and not yours” some people scoffed and others agreed, most remaining silent. “I have helped you all from the start. Asger has always looked out for you all. She has always been the people’s ruler. My husband wasn’t fit to rule, he wasn’t fit to be a father and he definitely wasn’t fit to be a husband” The crowd began murmuring again, some were beginning to put it together. “Last night your Earl tried to rape me” the hall was loud now and so Y/N raised her voice “So last night, your Earl choked on his own blood. Killed by my hand” Everyone went crazy and Erik quickly pulled her behind him in case anyone loyal to the late Earl tried to kill her. But she refused to hide. “I married him thinking he was a different man. I was wrong. I will accept whatever punishment you all deem I deserve.” she bowed her head to them.

“Good riddance” one man yelled out

“He was a shit Earl anyway!” “No one will miss him!”

Y/N wasn’t expecting that the hall would all be yelling praises and acceptance at her. She knew her people were unhappy but she didn’t know they would celebrate his death. Of course some were loyal to her late husband, because they were friends and offered certain privileges, but they were severely outnumbered and so they remained quiet. “Will you take over as Earl then?!” a woman had yelled out and Y/N simply smiled as her eyes met Asger, who had heard enough to know what was going on.

She shook her head “You deserve someone that cares for you all, someone that has already been your ruler, someone who has grown with you and will protect you all no matter the sacrifice.” She walked into the crowd and toward Asger “You deserve Asger as your Earl” Asger was in tears as she heard her people cheer for her. Y/n leaned in to hug her and whispered “No man will ever control you again. You’re free.”

The women stared into each other's eyes and then Asger looked behind Y/N at Erik “As are you Y/N. Go with him. I’ll be fine on my own.” They nodded at each other and began the celebrations.

Asger had the man who had violated her punished and sent on his way, never to return to her lands again. She hand picked her guards and offered Y/N her pick in warriors to take on her journey with Erik. The second biggest goodbye of her life was bittersweet. She left Asger with tears in her eyes and love in her heart, they promised they would write and visit each other.

Erik did not miss a beat in claiming Y/N as his and together they sailed to a better life. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my days with you” Erik’s hand was around her waist as they stared into the long sea.

She turned into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck “Dangerous words” she mumbled as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

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ratspberry · 3 years

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many naruto thoughts head overloading

ok im only like 20 episodes into shippuden and i skipped a Lot of filler in original naruto bc i do not have the patience </3 (i will come back to the filler one day though) and while i love this anime theres so much i wish... was not written how it is

first of all sakura... i love her sm and i just wish her character was given some more care like at this point in shippuden im actually really enjoying the direction shes taken but i heard a lot of her growth is sidelined when sasuke comes back into the picture and thats my biggest issue. im sorry but if youre going to introduce a TRIO of main characters i want to see that main group equally fleshed out. first going all the way back to the beginning i wish that sakura was allowed to fight??? like we KNOW shes super smart and has powerful chakra so even when at that time she wasnt the most skilled fighter (as far as we KNOW at least. given that we barely got to see her fight who knows!) she couldve in the very least played a similar role to that of shikamaru as far as leadership and strategizing. and ok her crush on sasuke should have dissipated a lot more after the chunin exams. even though i do hate to see her spend so much time fawning over sasuke when hes not even particularly kind to her i think a crush in the beginning could still work IF the moment of her cutting her hair (“sasuke likes girls with long hair”) and her battle w ino during the chunin exams were like an eye-opening moment for her when she was like “wtf am i doing i am going to work hard as a ninja to prove that i can do this to MYSELF and MY RIVAL first” (which. ok she does get to this point later and again i love her learning chakra and getting strong as HELL during her training w tsunade but again. i want to see that REMAIN parallel to the enormous power level leaps that sasuke and naruto make. also let sakura and ino have a fun friendship rivalry that has nothing to do w sasuke) . i think it would be better if she naruto and sasuke were just friends who ALL help and motivate each other. and so when sasuke leaves sakura is STILL super fucked up over it and maybe even has a hard time trusting naruto again after he comes back? (but ofc she eventually does bc power of friendship) like IDK loss of one best friend, then almost immediately after your other best friend (who u just learned secretly is sealed w the nine tails and the akatsuki is after him just like orochimaru was after sasuke) leaves you for THREE YEARS??? kind of a salt in the wound moment! also im simply not even going to touch on all the comphet marriages in the end

next im going to talk about rock lee my friend rock lee who i adore. anyways he either should not have foregone the surgery from tsunade or died from it. HEAR ME OUT! this surgery was good in showing how powerful tsunade is as a healer but like? was it necessary? after she brought naruto back to life??? as far as lees characterization his whole thing is that he may not have special jutsu or the same prodigal abilities as his peers but he can still be as powerful or more powerful! and idk i hate when characters have serious life changing stuff done to them and not seeing it fully explored in the story. like ok so we’ve got tsunade telling lee (who cant be older than 12? 13?) theres a 50/50 chance he’ll die in the surgery to heal him. and then guy ENCOURAGES HIM, HIS FAVORITE STUDENT, to go through with the surgery so he could then go on to be a ninja and continue risking his life?????? so i thought that was pretty screwed up. which leads me to the two paths that i think would be interesting to see play out: 1. lee doesnt get the surgery, but continues to train as a ninja. his injuries still exist but lee learns to fight WITH the injuries and creates a really cool badass unique fighting style and goes on to be a great ninja like he dreamed 2. lee dies in surgery. id hate it i would and i dont WANT lee to die but it might be a fuckin wakeup call to all these adult ninjas urging kids into warfare. lee is beloved by all so it would be a good moment of pause for everyone to think like “ummm so the systems that be are kind of majorly fucked up.”

those are the two main ideas i had but heres a few misc things:

-jiraiya can be the author of as many trashy romance novels as he wants but him hitting on younger women and being like a peeping tom and UGH the way he was introduced w narutos ‘sexy jutsu’ is just. not good. take it out.

-let tsunade look her age. like the whole “she uses her chakra to make herself look young”? i dont buy it. i dont care that you just didnt feel like drawing a woman who looks over 20. you will do it anyways bc i said so.

-i dont dislike n/ruhina as much as i dislike s/susaku bc at least its clear theres a mutual respect and admiration there but hinata, like sakura, has so much more potential to be explored. idk if its looked at in filler or later in shippuden (id sure hope so) but i think her parallel to sasuke is kind of interesting? both have intimidating, extremely powerful older brothers (i know neji is technically hinatas cousin or smth but whatever older brother figures. also i know hinatas sister is also supposed to be super powerful but idk her yet) who are held in high esteem by their families and have all this pressure on their shoulders to want to surpass them? given that neji didnt um. do the things itachi did clearly its not the SAME between hinata and sasuke but i feel like examining the hyuga family dynamics would be SO interesting in comparison to sasukes arc. i didnt mind seeing hinata motivated by naruto the first few times but like. there is SO MUCH MORE THERE than JUST hinatas relationship to naruto.

-all of these kids need therapy but ESPECIALLY sasuke like the signs were there. halfway thru the bell test thing SUPER early on sasuke went into a full-fledged “i am an avenger.. i have to kill a certain someone” monologue and given the fact that everyone knows his entire clan was killed and that sasuke is likely VERY traumatized... who thought it was a good idea to let him become a ninja before addressing any of that. my god. like i love kakashi and i know he has his own devestating backstory and that hes a product of the system but why the Fuck would he let sasuke take the chunin exams. give team 7 a year more of training and getting to know each other and give sasuke some time to create bonds and maybe even open up emotionally and begin to heal and then MAYBE we can THINK ab chunin exams.

-asuma and ino apologize to choji for telling him not to eat as much challenge? did asuma not know that chojis clan uses food to replenish their chakra? it would make sense if ino didnt know but chojis teacher?? either way still p fucked, leave choji alone

-speaking of ino i want more of her character tok. why was she not included in that mission to save sasuke that shikamaru, her TEAMMATE, led?? was there an explanation for that?? i feel like her not being there was a missed opportunity for some real growth/bonding between team 10.

-speaking of the last bullet point shikamaru being like “ugh women 🙄” is tired and boring. very misogynistic “i hate my wife” facebook dad humor. cut that shit out

-orochimarus coding and his whole um. intent as a villain is just very. Hm. i dont think i like that very much but im not going to go into it bc im sure its been touched upon a million times

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sometimesiwritebadly · 4 years

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The Lost Girl (Part 1)

Series Summary: The story of Raven, this first and only Lost Girl of Neverland. A long time ago she was a prisoner on a ship, and now she’s stuck on the island she helped create.

Chapter Summary: A long time ago in the Enchanted Forest, a young Killian, Liam, and Talia watch the stars. In present day Neverland, Raven runs into an old friend-turned-enemy.

Notes: Me? Starting a new series when I have two perfectly good ones? No I would never.

Ok actual notes now this is an OC story starting in season 3 of Once Upon A Time. It’s gonna have a little Peter Pan x OC, maybe some Henry x OC in far later chapters. But overall the story is more about my OC, Talia/Raven, than her relationships. In this story we’re disregarding the whole “Peter Pan is Rumplestiltskin’s dad” thing cause that was stupid. I’ll come up with something better. Also Henry is slightly aged up, I’m thinking around 15. I know this creates problems but i don’t really care :) Besides that there’s not much canon divergence for now, but once we get into seasons 4/5 whatever (idk IF the story will go that far into the show cause I only have a vague plan on the beginning and the end and the middle is a big old question mark) i’m gonna fix some shit *cough* frozen *cough*

Warnings: Heavily implied that the OC is a rape victim. I won’t ever go into any detail but it’s going to come up multiple times throughout this series. Not so much in this chapter, but depression/suicidal thoughts may come up in later chapters because of this. Language.

Word Count: 2.6k

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~ A very long time ago ~

“Talia!” A young boy’s whispers, and his hand shaking her shoulder, woke Talia from her sleep. Talia slowly peeled her eyes open, to reveal a boy a few years younger than herself.

“Killian, it’s the middle of the night.”

“The stars are falling! Come out and look, Liam is already on the deck!” Killian tugged on Talia’s hands this time, pulling as hard as he could. Even though Talia was easily stronger than Killian, she allowed herself to be taken from her bunk at the mention of Liam. Liam, Killian, and Talia are the only kids on the ship, luckily all relatively close in age. Talia couldn’t help but develop a crush on Liam, who was only a year older than herself.

When Killian and Talia emerged onto the deck, Talia’s eyes were immediately drawn to the sky. Just as Killian had said, hundreds of stars appeared to fall from the sky in a way Talia had never seen before. Killian and Talia ran to the side of the ship to where Liam was already standing. The trio giggled as they watched the sky, pointing out their favorite stars and enjoying this rare moment of fun. Normally the time spent on the ship was the exact opposite; they were all servants, sold to work for Captain Silver until they could buy their way out. Liam and Killian were brothers, who had been sold to the Captain by their father. Talia was given to the Captain by her mother a year later, when her mother was in desperate need of money. The three of them spent their time cleaning the ship, and avoiding the abuse of the crew.

“I wish I could fly like the stars.” Talia said to the brothers, still watching the sky as the stars began to stand still once more.

“What do you mean?” Killian asked, looking up to the girl. Talia often teased him for his height, as she stood nearly a head taller than him.

“The stars are free. I wish I could fly away and disappear, like...like a raven disappears into the night.” Talia felt a tear develop in her eye, though quickly wiped it away, not wanting to appear weak. As she got older, Captain Silver and some of the other crew had begun expecting more of her. Talia wasn’t sure how much longer she could succumb to their requests.

“You would leave us?” Killian said, in a whisper so low Talia could barely hear it. Talia knew her answer, though she couldn’t form the words to voice it. How could she tell Killian, her best friend, the closest she’d ever come to a brother, that she would leave if given the chance? Before she could figure out her answer, an adult voice interrupted the night.

“Talia.” The deep voice caused all three kids to turn around, and they found Captain Silver had joined them on the deck. “Come. Keep me company tonight.” Liam’s hand found Talia’s, causing her to turn to look at him. Liam gave her hand a comforting squeeze, before releasing it. Liam and Talia had agreed to try and keep this part of her life from Killian as long as they could. He was still two years younger than Talia, and blissfully oblivious to the darker parts of life. But as Talia grew, the crew became less subtle about their eyes for her.

“Aye, Captain.” Talia spoke to Silver, leaving her friends for a night she’d rather forget.

~ Present day ~

Raven ran through the woods of Neverland, avoiding the traps she knew lost boys had set. She’d lost count of the days she’d been running a long time ago. For more years than she’d like to admit, Raven had been trying to find a way off the island, and rumor has it that Pan was close to finding the heart of the truest believer, which meant she had to get off this island now or never. If Pan really did have the heart, he’d soon be more powerful than ever before. She wouldn’t be able to hide from him any longer, If Pan ever found out what she’d done, he’d kill her on sight.

Luckily, right now she didn’t have to worry too much about Pan finding her, because his focus was on the newest group that had landed on the island. Raven didn’t know who they were, but her magic made it easy to sense them. They had magic of their own, both light and dark, that much was obvious. If Pan is distracted by them, she may be able to find a portal back to the Enchanted Forest without Pan noticing.

Raven slowed her run to a walk as she approached her hideout. The only place on the island that was hidden from Pan. She had a friend that had used it when he hid from Pan a long time ago, but he was gone now, and with a little extra protection magic, she’d made it her own. Her eyes moved up to the rock that covered the entrance, only to see a group of people attempting to get in. Quickly she drew her bow, and took aim. Her warning shot hit the rock just past the ear of one of the men, causing the whole group to turn towards her. It was a group of five; three women and a man she didn’t recognize, and one man she did. Hook.

“Hook, why the hell are you invading my hideout?” Raven said, pointing her bow at him this time. The other four were armed with weapons of their own; one woman even had a ball of fire in her hand, but she paid no attention to them.

“Your hideout? Last I checked Baelfire was the one who lived here, lass. And you were with Pan.” Killian’s words caused the group to look at her with even more animosity than before. Raven didn’t even get a chance to respond before a fireball was making its way towards your face.

“Regina, no!” One of the women yelled, but she quickly realized her words were useless. Raven moved her bow into her right hand, and used the left to easily catch the fireball before it could hit her. With a smirk on her face, she made the ball disappear. The strangers looked at the seemingly young girl with shocked faces.

“You’ve been gone a long time, Hook. A lot has changed. Especially me.” Raven briefly stopped speaking, and used her magic to move the stone blocking the entrance. “I’m assuming you’re looking for something of Bae’s.” Raven walked towards the group, slipping past the man and women who held swords to enter the little home. “His stuff is all here, help yourselves. Just do it quickly, you being here will bring Pan’s attention, and he and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms.” She had moved all of Bae’s old things into baskets, and so she pulled them out of their hiding spot and onto the makeshift table. “I don’t know what use they have to you, Hook.”

“We thought his things might show how he managed to get off the island.” The woman who spoke had held a bow, like your own, but she was the only one of the group who had actually put away her weapon.

“Bae got off the island?”

“You didn’t know?” Hook said, taking a step towards Raven and putting away his sword.

“When he ran from camp I was still with the lost boys. When he never came back, I assumed Pan killed him, or that he’d died trying to get off the island.” Raven paused, not wanting to accidentally reveal too much emotion behind her next words. “I’m glad to hear that he’s ok.”

There was an awkward silence after she spoke. “He’s not exactly-” The brunette, the nice one, spoke, before being cut off by another woman, who you assumed to be Regina.

“He’s dead.” Any hope Raven had previously was squashed in an instant.

“Regina!” The man she didn’t know scolded, only to be met with Regina’s glare.

“What? Are we supposed to comfort her? Lie to her? Hook said it himself, she works for Pan!”

Raven scoffed. “I used to work with Pan. I never worked for him.” While she spoke, Hook and the blonde woman were examining the drawings on the walls. Most of them were old, from Bae’s time in the cave, but a few were newer. Raven had added to Bae’s doodles over the years. “If there’s anything in here that’ll get someone off the island, I haven’t found it. And trust me, I’ve been trying to get off this island for a long time.” She said, beginning to pull stuff out of one of the baskets. The nice woman joined her, inspecting each item as she went.

“I’m Snow.” She introduced herself as she worked, looking at a coconut bowl before setting it down. “That’s my husband, David, and our daughter, Emma. That’s Regina, and it’s clear that you already know Hook.” She pointed to each person she introduced. David and Emma each gave Raven a nod when Snow spoke their names, while Regina ignored her as she rummaged through another basket. “What’s your name?” Snow asked kindly.

“Raven.” She could hear Hook scoff from across the cave, but Raven elected to ignore it.

“Hand me that candle.” Emma said from across the room. David grabbed it from the table where Snow had left it, and quickly lit it aflame before handing it to his daughter. Raven moved to the edge of the cave, watching as the group looked through Bae’s things and examined the wall. Emma and Hook had a hushed conversation about the drawings, while Regina, David, and Snow continued to look through the baskets. Emma turned away from Hook and spoke to the rest of the group after she finished looking at the artwork. “What’s all this?”

“Uh,” Snow began, “Just some cups and bowls he fashioned from things he found here.” Some of those items were actually Raven’s, but she decided to keep quiet and continue watching quietly.

“I don’t know how great a cup this coconut could make. It’s filled with holes.” Raven had already discovered the map that the coconut actually revealed, but she also knew the problem that followed it. So again, she kept quiet. She had no reason to help them, and she hoped once they realized there was nothing of use here, they’d leave and never come back.

“Uh, maybe it’s a tiny...colander.” Snow suggested.

“What’s a colander?” Raven spoke up. Snow waved it off, signalling that it wasn’t exactly important.

“Yes, because preteen Baelfire probably made lots of pasta.” Regina noted sarcastically, ignoring your question and rolling her eyes at Snow. While Snow glared at Regina, you noticed Emma figuring out the hidden map.

“Hold on…” She started, “Hook, snuff out that torch.” Hook followed her direction quickly, and plunged the cave into darkness. Emma connected the two coconuts, and looked up at the roof.

“What, am I supposed to be impressed that he made a night-light?” Regina made yet another sarcastic comment.

Raven, having enough of their slow place, decided to jump in. “It’s a map.” Unlike the rest of the group, who were looking at the ceiling, Raven’s eyes were fixed at the ground. She’d stared at that map hundreds of times, but could never decode it.

“To home?” Emma questioned, a slight attitude in her voice, “I thought you said there wasn’t anything useful here?”

“I didn’t lie. It’s unreadable.”

“Aye, She’s right.” Hook said. Raven looked up, shocked that Hook would even be willing to admit she was right about anything. “There was a short time in Neverland when Baelfire was aboard my ship. I taught him to navigate using the stars. What you’re looking at is the fruit of my labors.”

“Then you can read it.” Regina noted, as she glanced away from the map and towards Hook. For the first time Raven had heard, there was no animosity in her voice. Raven scoffed at her remark, causing Regina’s glare to return and land on Raven. “What?”

Raven looked at Hook as she quoted the words they’d both heard as children, “The best captains conceal their maps in a code.” Hook held the stare for a moment before he spoke again.

“Aye. He was an apt pupil.”

“So you’re saying the only person who can read this map is Neal.” Snow said. Even her hope appeared to be draining. Raven’s eyebrows furrowed at the name Neal, but she figured Bae must’ve done the same thing she had when he left Neverland; New life, new name.

“Which means the only person who can read it is dead. I told you, there’s nothing useful here.” Raven said. Emma took the lid off of the candle, before setting it back on the table and walking out of the cave, followed by Snow and David.

Regina continued to look annoyed, but shuffled through the last of Baelfire’s items. Raven decided to take this moment to confront Hook.

“Why’d you come back?”

Hook looked at her with an unreadable expression. “Why aren’t you working with Pan anymore?” Raven rolled her eyes at his question. Pan was the last person she wanted to be thinking about.

“We had a disagreement. Answer my question.”

“Pan found the heart of the truest believer.”

Raven drew a deep breath at this. Sure, she’d heard the rumors, but it’s different to have it confirmed. She’s really running out of time now. “I heard. What does that have to do with you?”

“It’s Emma’s son. Emma and…” Hook paused. “Emma and Baelfire’s boy.” Raven’s eyebrows shot up now. This was not what she’d expected at all. To learn that Baelfire made it off the island, died, and had a son who was now being held captive by Pan all at once is a lot for anyone to handle. Especially someone who has so much history with Bae.

“Pan took Bae’s son?” Raven could barely believe it.

“Aye.”

At this point, Emma came marching back in, followed by Snow and David. David took this time to relight the torch. The group began looking around again, she assumed they were trying to come up with some kind of plan, but Raven was hardly paying attention. She owed Baelfire so much, and even though every logical bone in her body said that she should just get these people out of her life, her heart knew she had to at least attempt to help. After all, she’d spent so many years working with Pan, her help had set Pan in the right direction to find Bae’s son. When Emma, Snow, and Regina made their exit Raven followed them, while Hook and David stayed behind a moment.

“I want to help you guys.”

“No.”

“Really?”

Regina and Snow spoke at the same time, glaring at the other’s response.

“Look, I know you guys have no reason to trust me, but I owe Baelfire my life.” Behind you, David and Hook exited the cave. She had the whole group’s attention now. “If I can’t pay back Bae, the least I can do is help his son. Plus, I really hate Pan.” Raven could practically feel Hook rolling his eyes behind her, but she kept talking. “And I spent more years than I could count working with him. I know him better than anyone. All I ask in exchange is passage off the island after we find the boy.”

“Henry.” Emma said, as she took a step towards Raven, “His name is Henry. How do we know this isn’t a trick? Can you prove to us that you don’t work with Pan anymore?”

“Yes.”

“How?” Hook spoke up this time, coming into her line of sight.

“Easy. I’ll take you to my grave.”

~~~

I hope this is a good first chapter! I had a hard time deciding when to stop lol, but i already have half of the next chapter written so hopefully I’ll update this one pretty soon :)

#once upon a time #once upon a time fanfiction #once upon a time fic #ouat #ouat fic #ouat fanfiction #peter pan #peter pan fic #peter pan fanfiction #ouat canon divergence #ouat season 3

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angstalottle · 5 years

Text

Lana On The Case

Part 3

Lana knew she shouldn’t have been expecting much, especially after spending the last week lying in bed stewing in her own filth and misery.

That didn’t change the fact that her current appearance still shocked her.

Her skin had gained an ashen quality about it and dark circles under her eyes.

She was sure is Red hadn’t practically force fed her she was have lost much more weight then she already had.

She felt drained and heavy, like her life was sucked out from her when Hannah left her…

Keith showing up had given her a small glimmer of excitement perhaps even hope but as soon as he was gone and she was left alone to her thoughts they turned right back to the fact that her best friend was gone from her life forever.

That thought hurt even more than knowing her sweet wonderful Hannah killed people.

Job offer or not Lana likely would have spent the rest of her life lying in her bed if her aunties hadn’t decided to do something about it.

One moment she's dozing staring into space, the next Blue has pulled her covers away while Re dumped a bucket of warm soapy water over her.

The two manhandled her out of bed and into some clean clothes before giving her two options.

One was to stay cooped up inside and suffer through them inviting every nosey friend they could think of over to omard her with questions and pinched cheeks followed by of course the dreaded relationship advice that everyone over a certain age believed they knew.

Or go down to the police station and actually do something with her life/

Though neither option was particularly fun in the end Lana chose to go out mainly because Red had also made a swinging joke which of course practically sent her bolting through the door.

The police station like everything else in the village was only a short walk away from the Altea estate, you could get pretty much anywhere by cutting through the large gardens that have unfortunately fallen into a state of disrepair.

The lady of the manor had died when Lana was away and since then the place hadn’t been the same, like some of the beauty of the world left when she did.

As far as she knew the only daughter of the family Allura was away for school or something while her father worked in London.

Lana had fond memories of Allura, being a few years younger then the girl and quite a bit poorer, she always seemed like this fairy princess that could have anything or do anything.

Looks like not even princesses could escape tragedy.

Lana hiked up her skirt as she climbed over the thick mess of weeds and flowers careful not to disturb anything as she passed through.

Even if everyone took the shortcut it was an unsaid rule that you were not to disturb the gardens or ever go close to the house.

Of course when Lance got her foot caught in a bramble and fell face first into the ground she broke that rule by flattening at least a dozen flowers beneath her.

“Oh dear are you alright?” A woman wearing a veil and long white gloves asked as she hurried over from the main house.

Odd appearance aside what really caught Lana’s attention was her snow white hair. A characteristic that was common amongst the Altean family.

Going off her build she could have been anywhere between 20-30 but without the face or hands it really was impossible to tell.

Lana felt her cheeks burn as she pulled herself up and dusted herself down frowning at the rip that now worked its way up her blue skirt.

The woman put her hands on her dress and examined the rip tutting softly “we really must get the gardener back in this place really has fallen to ruin.”

Now that she was closer Lana could smell the sweet scent of roses coming off her in such a large volume it would almost be suffocating if they weren't outside.

“Do you work here?” Lana asked trying to swallow her embarrassment while this strange woman kept hold of her skirt.

One strong breeze and she would see next weeks washing.

The woman chuckled “not exactly. I used to live here I never actually planned on returning but in light of my father's disappearance I suppose I didn’t have much choice.”

Lana couldn’t help but flinch, since what Hannah did came to light any case of men running off in the middle of the night or simply not returning after a day out is now considered suspect.

Their still digging up all the bodies and people have been flocking from all over in search of their missing husbands, fathers and brothers.

Lana then realised something very important.

Mainly that if Alfor was missing and this woman was his daughter then it must have been Allura!

“Allura?”

Lana couldn’t see her face but she imagined a smile on those pretty pink painted lips she used to know very well.

“That’s me, im sorry but who are you?”

Lana had her suspicions of course that this was all a scam, someone swooping in to steal the Altean family fortune, but she wasn’t really in the mood for any other mysteries right now.

That and according to Keith she was pretty forgettable.

“Oh im Lana… I used to play with you in the garden as a kid.”

“Oh my i'm so sorry Lana, im afraid my memory hasn’t been that good since the accident. She gestured to her veil and gloves “I got caught up in the Blitz and i'm afraid my appearance paid a higher price then by mind.”

Lana felt guilt crawl into her stomach, well at least she didn’t outright accuse her of being a con artist. Besides Coran was a dear friend of the family, there's no way someone would be able to just take over Allura’s life without him noticing.

“Im sorry, I didn’t realise.”

Allura waved her off finally letting go of her skirt “don’t worry about it, ive made my peace with my situation, it is a tad lonely though, people aren't exactly eager to visit the manor these days.” She sounded so sincerely sad that Lana couldn’t help but feel for her.

She knew what it was like to lose everything because of a situation out of her control, the war had stolen many things from them, Lana was lucky to keep her beauty at least.

“Well then I suppose I have no choice but to come round for tea, I would invite you to my aunts cottage but they tend to get too excited around anyone they used to know.”

Lana gave her the best smile she could manage and was rewarded by Allura taking her hands and kissing them.

Once again her face turned an interesting shade of red.

“That sounds simply wonderful Lana, how about Thursday at 8 o'clock?”

Lana had lost her ability to form words so simply nodded earning her a small chuckle in response.

“I don’t want to keep you if your busy so ill just see you Thursday?” Allura asked startling Lana out of her stupor.

“Yes I should go, but i'll erm see you then I promise.”

Lana stuttered deciding it was best to continue on her way before she made an even bigger fool of herself so mustered up what grace she had to give an awkward curtsy realising that was dumb halfway through and instead turned and hurried on her way hitting herself muttering “stupid stupid stupid” over and over again until she finally arrived at the police station.

As expected of a small town the police station was fairly quiet this time of day home only to the drunks that were picked up the night before and only now being released to go back to their family or in some cases the church.

Of course one would expect it to be much busier with the number of bodies being dug up but unfortunately since Hannah left and it became national news the investigation had been taken over by some fancy out of state law enforcement that walk around in nice suits and a stuck up attitude to match their overall pompous appearance.

Going off the sour atmosphere in the station no one was too pleased to have the villages first ever big case stolen from under them.

Lana did her best to smile politely as she made her way to reception preparing herself for awkward small talk with someone she really hoped wouldn't recognise her.

“Hello im here-”

“If you got a crime to report fill out the form if not get lost.”

The woman behind the desk looked too young to be working, her slight frame and big doe eyes making her seem like she couldn't be much older than 15 but then again looks can be deceiving. Like the fact that despite wearing big round glasses and squinting at a book in front of her the glass within the frame appeared to be purely decorative and not actually serve any function.

Lana cleared her throat “no actually i'm here about the job. Im expected.”

This time she at least bothered to look up from her book and glanced Lana up and down “what they replacing me with some tramp, i've worked here ten years and they bring in some totty to take my job”

Lana quickly held up her hands feeling actually pretty threatened by this tiny angry lady “no! No i'm the new consultant im supposed to be working with Keith and-”

“Oi Keith! Some broad here says shes your new partner!” She yelled and just like that, all eyes were on her.

Lana smiled awkwardly at them really wishing a hole would appear beneath her and swallow her up whole so she could escape this situation.

However the only thing the universe sent her was a very flustered keith running in from the back.

He was carrying a stack of papers and had that god awful mullet tied back in a ponytail that honestly didn't look half bad on him.

“Thanks Katie i can take her from here.” Keith dropped the papers on her desk “Also Griffin needs you to file these for him.”

“He could do it himself” Katie grumbled grabbing the papers and flicking through them “he didn't even bother filling some of these out!”

Keith quietly grabbed Lana’s arm and pulled her towards him as Katie got distracted with her angry mutterings “Sorry about her, she's just pissed that her dad lost his job to a hot shot whos dad just happens to be a governor.”

“Ah where would be be without nepotism” Lana chuckled letting Keith led her back into a small office where five other people were sat. She assumed the cells were behind one of the closed doors and perhaps the archive room behind another.

It had been a long time since she had been back here, it was certainly before the war was even a possibility and she had broken the wrong persons window and ended up having to wait for her mother by Corans desk.

People tend to say that places from your youth always seem so much smaller when you visit them again. Until now Lana wasn't really sure she bought into that nostalgia fueled nonsense.

But seeing the row of chairs her feet used to dangel off while she prepared an excuse for her behaviour for her furious mother now looked like they would fall apart if she just got too close let alone sat on one.

At least not all the changes were bad. Coran really did deserve that nice office and the title Detective neatly painted above his name.

“You know I was starting to think you wouldn't be coming” Keith said as they came to what Lana assumed was his desk. It was a little away from the others and scattered with paper work in various states of finished. It lacked much personality beyond a couple of knives and oh boy keith standing next to an incredibly attractive man that Lana realised fairly quickly must have been his older brother.

“To be honest i wasn't sure either, my life kinda went to hell but Aunt Blue and Red practically shoved me out of the door.”

Keith chuckled in response as her perched on the edge of his desk “that sounds about right. Though I hate to say it but you've kind of come on boring day. Everyones so desperate for something to do that their even taking the grunt work from me.”

“So what your just sitting around all day?” Lana asked right as a hand collided with her behind.

Lana likes to think herself an understanding woman. Or at least she tries to ever since the instadent where what she thought was a gropper on a train turned out to be a blind man having dropped his cain. So rather then turning around and grabbing the arm of whoever just did that to break over her knee she calmly turned to them.

She came face to face with a tall man that she unfortunately recognised.

James Griffin top of the class when they went to school together and by far the most arrogant man she ever met. And that was before he got a cushy job thanks to his dad.

Lana glared up at him giving him a chance to apologize or say he had mistaken her for his girlfriend that was into that kind of thing.

Instead he just smirked “wow Keith how did you find yourself this hot piece of ass.”

Ok she was going to break his nose now.

Unfortunately before she got the chance keith stepped in front of her “don't talk to her like that Griffin, Coran hired her himself as a consultant and i'm sure he wouldn't take that kind of behaviour.’

James rolled his eyes but did visibly tense as he shot a glance at the closed office door. “Whatever. This whole thing is just for press, whoever heard of a woman police officer. Their far too emotional.”

“Last I checked you were the one that cried when i kicked you in the nuts as kids.” Lana huffed crossing her arms.

“Ah buck teeth Lana! My my you did fill out nicely. How about after work I take you out?” Jame smiled looking her up and down in a way that made her skin crawl.

“How about I tell your mother that you slap my ass, if i remember right she was a reasonable woman.”

Oh how quickly his attitude changed. He swallowed whatever response he had ready and scurried off to his office next to Corans.

“What a creep.”

“Yeah but a rich one.” Keith sighed “you ok?”

“Yeah just kinda pissed i didn't get to make that jerk squeal like in highschool.” Lana noticed a small smirk appear at the corner of keiths lips at that and decided to take it as a win even if she could still feel his disgusting hand on her.

Unfortunately the next few hours were not as exciting.

Lana pulled up a chair across from Keith and kept herself busy by flicking pieces of paper at him, an activity that he avoided joining in with for exactly ten minutes.

They were so wrapped up in their game that they didn't notice coran standing next to the desk until after Keith made the winning shot and jumped up to let out a victory cry.

“It's nice to see you've found a way to keep miss Mclain here entertained during our slow day.” Coran chuckled as Keith startled and quickly cleared his throat trying to hide the blush quickly creeping up his face.

“Detective i can explain”

Coran held his hand up quickly cutting him off “no need, I understand the importance of a bit of fun to avoid dying of boredom. The time for that has now sadly passed im sending you to look into a missing persons cases.”

Keith and lana exchanged a look, while lana’s was excitement Keiths was confusion.

“Sir while im happy for a case why not give it to someone else? Im sure all the others would kill for a case right now.”

Coran simply chuckled to himself handing over a case file “because Kogane your the only officer here I trust not to get side tracked while investigating. That and i'm sure Lana here will make sure your eyes don't wander too far.”

Lana wasn't really sure what he meant by that until they got to the scene of the crime.

Or as everyone else calls it the ‘Galra Gentlemens Club’.

When the club first opened it was met with outcry from the church and the school boards and well anyone with too much time on their hands.

Now after being open for more than a decade, those same people have become the most lucrative clientele, who know stuck up prudes could have such deep pockets for the sinful arts.

Keith had kindly offered to give Lana a ride on the handlebars of his bike since the club was located uphill from the station and there was no way the poor old police car would make it up the whole way. Apparently a replacement was on its way but they had been promising it since before the war.

Lana had of course told Keith that while she appreciate the offer she would find the very idea outlandishly improper, so of course made him ride the handle bars while she put her years of missing the bus and not wanting to be late training to good use.

After a quick check with her compact and a nod to Keith they entered the club.

Lana was no stranger to Gentlemens clubs, she had been to more than a few during the war to meet with people who were usually a lot more willing to give up information when they had a few drinks in them.

This club was no different, everything was a sickening deep purple as if the colour alone could make it classy or hide the disturbingly prominent wet patches on the couches.

Lana tried her very best not to stare at the men already here this early on a weekday morning and instead focused on following Keith back to see the manger.

“Just let me do the talking, guys like this aren't always that nice to women” Keith whispered as he knocked on the door and it swung open to not show a greasy man but instead a very tall muscular woman with short black hair wearing a suit.

Lana felt her mouth go dry just looking at her.

“A-are you the manager here?” Keith asked clearly feeling equally intimidated and aroused as Lana was.

“Yeah i am, who wants to know?” She asked leaning against the doorway and looking down at him. Her gaze however moved quickly from keith to Lana and a smile spread across her face.

“Usually we don't hire new talent outside of auditions but for a beautiful girl like you im willing to make an exception.”

“I” Lana squeaked finding herself speechless for the first time in a long time.

Thankfully Keith came to her rescue before she could actually contemplate working for this greek god of a woman.

“Actually we came from the police station. You called about one of the dancers going missing?”

The woman nodded and stepped back into the room hurrying them inside before closing the door.

“Yeah my best girl Ezor, she was seen leaving the club last week but no one has seen her since.”

“Does she often disappear like this? Perhaps to visit a gentleman caller miss...?” Keith asked pulling out a notebook while Lana looked around the office.

“Zethrid…. And trust me she's not the sorts to make house calls.”

It was fairly empty save for a punching bag in the corner and a few pictures on the walls. Most of them were group shots of all the dancers in costumes. But those actually on the desk seemed only to contain Zethrid and a slim woman with pink hair tied in a high ponytail. It was just the two of them over and over again smiling like they didn't have a care in the world.

“Is this Ezor here?” Lana asked picking up one picture showing the two in the park, judging from the bunting and celebrating in the background it was the day the allie ‘won’ the war.

Zethrid nodded “yeah that's her… we actually live together and yeah she disappears sometimes but never for this long and never without contacting me.”

“Is it possible she ran off with a sweetheart?” Keith asked taking the picture.

“She wouldn't. I know she's been taken its the only explanation.”

Something told Lana that this relationship was deeper than friendship “The last night she was seen, was there anything unusual happening?”

Zethrid thought for a moment “now that you mention it there was a black car parked outside the club all day. I didn't give it much mind incase it was a customer trying to work up the nerve to come in but it left right after she did.”

“Did you happen to catch the plates?” Keith asked hopefully only to let out a disappointed sigh when she shook her head no.

“But the car was old looking with a dent in the drivers side door.”

Keith noted it down “thanks we will be in touch.”

He led the way out but Zethrid grabbed Lana by the arm before she could leave “please i can't imagine life without her… she's my best friend.”

Lana knew what it was like to lose one of those. So she smiled and put a hand over hers “I promise ill do everything I can to find her.”

Once they were safely outside keith let out a groan “you should promise people anything, it just means you'll get attached to the case.”

“Isn't that the job of a detective though? How can i love a case if i don't care about it?” Lana huffed hitching up her skirt and getting on the bike.

“I'm just saying that it will end up hurting you more if we find her dead in a ditch somewhere.”

Lana rolled her eyes “ever the optimist huh Mullet. Besides we have a lead how many people in town have old black cars?”

“Excluding the police cruiser i'd say seven.” Keith noticed the sceptical look Lana was giving him and rolled his eyes.

“My brother owns the mechanics remember, i help out sometimes and not many people really have cars round here.”

Lana sighed “maybe we should get a second opinion from your dreamy brother.” she batted her eyelashes playfully at him as he climbed onto the handle bars.

“Shut up and pedal we've got a lot of groundwork to do.”

Five hours!

It took five hours to find all the cars, to check for dents and alibis.

In that time Lana fell into two ditches, got attacked by a chicken and the rip in her dress traveled up to past her knee.

As her mother would say she's only some red lipstick away from looking like a whore.

Lana wished she could say that time was well spent and while watching Keith getting chased by an angry family of pigeons that had taken resident in one of the old cars they ultimately ended up on a dead end.

So while the light began to fade and the two slowly walked up to the station the mood was sour.

“It could always have been someone from out of town?” Lana suggested holding the split in her dress to try and keep it from travelling any higher.

“No they would have been too noticeable. If someone from out of town drove through here everyone would know about it by now. We must have missed something.”

Lana shivered in the cool air and was surprised when Keith handed over his jacket without taking his eyes off the path.

The red really did suit him better but the warmth from his body made her feel better.

“We should check surrounding houses tomorrow, maybe one of the cars was taken without the owner realising.”

“And what they dented it and then undented it?’ Keith snorted “no if the dent was fixed it would have had to come through the shop. Shiro may be able to help.”

“I'll try to hide my disappointment” Lana laughed earning her a playful push from Keith which she returned.

The two were laughing and having a moment of fun that when cold hard reality finally came crashing down Lana felt like she had been punched in the face.

Just as they walked in the car they were looking for pulled in behind them.

Old, black and with a large dent on the side.

The only problem was that it was Coran driving it.

#langst #fem lance #1940s detective au #klance #allurance #pidge #Coran #james griffin

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barbika1508 · 6 years

Text

Hidden agendas (Peter Pevensie x Reader/ Slight Angst)

Word Count: 3,8k

Type: Drabble, Modern AU

Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Bit of angst

Pairing: Peter Pevensie x Reader, Lucy Pevensie x Reader(Friendship)

Authors note/ Summary(Kinda): This is another type of fic I’ve wrote a year ago and it has been left unfinished as it has been sitting in a folder somewhere. So, I decided to post some parts as again, I got missing bits in between. I think my idea back then was that Y/N was related to the royalty of Narnia, the previous kings and queens before the Pevensie’s and Jadis (The long winter in this story lasts 10 years), and she was summoned to Narnia by the letter that her late parents sealed for 21 years. So, she turns into a princess overnight with a choice to become a queen. And this is the period in between, of her getting to know Narnia and her developing relationship with the Pevensie’s…I guess…something along these lines.

‘’Do you need that alarm clock?’’

‘’What?’’

‘’That one, the red simple one.’’

‘’Am…not in particular it was a gift.’’

‘’It doesn’t work.’’

‘’Yeah, Ed took out the batteries and suspicious looking “gadgets”. It’s from a country we’re not on a friend level with, and getting something simple as this for a gift, it leads into suspicion.’’ Lucy explains rotating the small square simple alarm clock in between her delicate fingers.

‘’Welllllll…your brother is in the right mind for precautions. Despite how annoying he might appear to you at those moments. Or others.’’ I smirk by the end of my sentence to which she shakes her head but still looks amused but makes her way across the room to me.

‘’Here, it’s junk either way. Like most of the stuff in my room.’’ She hands me over the small device and lets out a deep sigh, turning ahead and starts to approach her bed once more.

‘’Those are not your words.’’ I point out, eyes trained onto the clock as I spin around on her desk chair, to her desk. But I take a moment and glance up at her, as she sits onto the middle and edge of her bed, now the big lights turned off, and the camera momentarily turned off as well. She smirks but tiredly.

‘’They are starting to become.’’ She says as she picks up the few piece of papers that hold the script she wrote for herself. Not only is Lucy the youngest of the Pevensie’s and a Queen running a whole country at the age of 17 but she’s also a youtuber. Popular one too.

‘’Your sister can be a pain in the ass do you know that?!’’ I point out turning forward to the many screws and small wires that I’ve displayed over the clean and clear table that I’ve messed up and created chaos upon. Lucy chuckles while I feel her eyes on me, as I unscrew the small screws in the gift given alarm clock.

‘’What makes you say that?’’ she dares me instead to which I shrug.

‘’She’s controlling.’’ I reply ‘’Too much if you ask me. If I was in your shoes…well then…’’ I click my tongue pulling off the mainframe from the device. Edmund did a good job on pulling out the main power source from it.

‘’Then it’s a good thing you’re not in my shoes.’’ She says ‘’Not yet at least.’’ She adds to which I glance up at her. But she’s smirking at me, the gentle and genuine smile that she always offers me. Unlike most of the royal family, and counselors. I smirk mischievously instead shaking my head as I look up and start to remove pieces of the alarm clock by hand.

‘’What do you think my decision will be?’’ I ask her honestly. And then silence settles. Which I’ve expected. By the time I’m done remodeling the alarm clock, she speaks up.

‘’You’ll stay.’’ She says to which I glance up at her standing up and flattening the front of her dress as she stalks forward ‘’I know you love Narnia. I know it means a lot to you, I know you relate to certain things. Even remember some from when you were younger.’’ I raise an eyebrow up at her to which she nods as she stops on the edge of the white table and looks at the many pieces ‘’I’ve seen you listen to a song once and then singing it already in the next time around of listening it.’’

‘’What if I have excellent memory, or how do you know that I just don’t calculate the estimated words that would appear in the song?’’ I raise both eyebrows at her but she laughs instead shaking her head, which causes her long hair to fall around her face, before she tilts her head looking up at me.

‘’I do consider you a close friend Y/N. Please don’t doubt me.’’ She says now to which I laugh and look at her shyly.

‘’Aw Lu.’’ I reply, raising my hand up ‘’High Five for friendship!’’ I exclaim. She rolls her eyes at me but chuckles and meets my hand ‘’Oh yeah.’’ I add on and turn forward to the wires that I’m braiding together.

‘’I do hope you will stay.’’ She breaks another moment of silence, which makes my head snap up.

‘’Why? So far you’re the only one tolerating me.’’ I add her face turning sadder but the smile remains on her face.

‘’You know by know how my brothers and sister are. And you’re an artist and all Y/N so try to think out of the box a bit. If not try.’’ With that she turns around and walks to her set up, now turning on the lights and camera. Think outside of the box?

I frown slightly as I look across the many pieces on the table.

‘’Can you look if the camera is focused?’’ Lucy calls preventing me from falling into a brainstorm about her words. I nod turning around and tangling my legs together I almost fall forward, but only stumble. She laughs amusedly from across her room, settled on her bed, as I shake my head and smile at myself as I walk to the camera. A few moments alter and press of a few buttons she’s focused on the screen. I press play and place my pointing finger over my mouth, then give her a thumbs up as I back away, my bare feet not making any noise as most of her floor is carpeted.

But sitting down, the chair squeaks making me frown. But Lucy only laughs instead eyes focused on me, as I turn around and hunch myself closer to the table as she grins widely. I reach for my headphones and place them over my head. Another thumbs up she mimics me to which I show her my tongue while she still giggling turns to the camera instead. Music starts playing through the headphones dulling out the sounds in the background as I get to work.

My mind travels down, into the work I’m making, my fingers moving faster that my train of process but I’m used to it. I know what I’m doing. It’s fun. This is like I’m building a puzzle. I imagine it as a puzzle. Which makes it all the more fun, when piece after piece it falls together.

I don’t even know how much time passes but when a cool breeze hits the back of my neck, I shake my shoulders hating the weird cool shiver that runs up and down my spine, it causes my concentration to break. I hate the feeling following because it’s a feeling like I’ve just woken up. I examine the half finishes chip I’ve assembled. Looking up I immediately notice the extra person in the room. I turn around to see the blonde High King with a smirk watching his sister as she talks into the camera. He’s in simple sweats today, a simple t-shirt.

His eyes dart to me, the smile slightly disappearing from his lips. I don’t give him another minute of my time and turn forward instead. Glancing towards Lucy she’s grinning widely as she shrugs at the camera, looking adorable. I can’t help but to smile. With that I know my concentration is messed up for now as he entered the room. We haven’t seen each other properly since the argument a week ago. I’ve saw him and the girl passing, my room and I’ve stumbled on them leaving a trail of clothes in their wake in the middle of the night. I was hungry. Doesn’t explain why he turned on me suddenly stopped talking and started to hold up a cold demander.

So, now I start to pick up all the small pieces and throw them into the trash bin that I pulled to the chair, in between my legs. Its effective like this the pieces don’t go nearly everywhere. Finishing up I lower my headphones down the music automatically lowering down until it stops playing. I glance up at Lucy again that’s saying her outro, but I feel the High King now close behind me, his curiosity or cautiousness brining him here.

I push the almost finished chip and Lucy’s old camera to the side, ready for me to tinker with them next time. The alarm clock is already working thanks to me, no spying gear on sight.

‘’…see you next time. Byeeee!!!’’ she greets happily as I turn forward and give Peter a stare as he’s looking suddenly like he’s being caught. But I quickly look at Lucy and get up walking towards the camera. She gives me a nod as I press the button, stopping the recording.

‘’By the sound of the outro, a job well done.’’ I state smirking as she jumps to her feet.

‘’Yeah I think I did good today.’’ She grins and turns back ‘’What do you think Pete?’’ she asks as she walks and stands next to me. I don’t waste my time, and put distance between us, pretending to get busy with turning off the giant lights that actually warmed up the whole room.

‘’From what I’ve seen it’s going to be amazing Lu. Good job.’’ He praises her to which she grins ear to ear but then turns to look at me.

‘’The software is uploaded and ready for you, so you can give it a try.’’ I say turning off the last light and turn to her completely ignoring her older brother, his eyes burning holes into me ‘’I set up also a tutorial so you won’t get lost. If you need anything, text or call me.’’

‘’What, where are you going?’’ she frowns while I pull my phone out of my pocket and just on time my uncle is calling me, to which I show her my screen and she immediately nods

‘’Business meeting.’’ I point out smirking but look down at myself. I’m wearing a simple iron man shirt and some sweats ‘’Yeah damn, I need to change.’’ I frown to which Lucy giggles and rushes past me and Peter who has a small smirk on his face.

‘’Good thing you have me.’’ Lucy points out marching into her walking closet, while I quickly write down a message to my uncle telling him I’ll be 5 minutes late.

‘’Company meeting?’’ Peter asks me as Lucy’s yelling is muffled from the other room. I nod my head furrowing my brows ‘’You know we have conference rooms, that you could use.’’ He points out standing there with his arms crossed while I lock my phone and look at him, neutrally.

‘’Yeah Lucy offered already.’’ I reply neutrally and turn forward to Lucy that rushes out, holding a blazer and a fancy white blouse ‘’That looks expensive!’’ I point out raising my hands up in defense but she pushes the two piece of cloth right into my hands and pushes me gently, stepping behind me and properly uses some force.

‘’You’ll be great; I’ll stop by later to check on you.’’ She rambles and opens the door for me.

‘’Lu it’s not really necessary…’’ I start but we’re already out of her room.

‘’Knock them dead Y/N!’’ she exclaims giving me a half hug before she giggles, and waves and then rushes back to her room, closing the doors behind me. I shake my head and look down at the clothes, and think of how ridiculous this girl is. Until my phone rings; then I’m rushing like crazy forward instead the previous moments monetarily forgotten.

Peter’s P.O.V.

‘’…by the power invested in me by Aslan, I…’’ the giggles coming from the video keep on interrupting and breaking my concentration. My fingers continue to write forward, but my eyes dart to my side and the other laptop. I can see both girls my sister and Y/N laughing like crazy, before my sister disappears from the frame and the older girl remains sitting there, eyes focused away at something behind the camera.

Lucy giggles next to me, making me roll my eyes as I sigh and stop typing and turn to her laptop now curiously watching the girl on the screen, pulling ridiculous faces at the camera, while Lucy is dying from laughter behind the camera and next to me. She pulls her headphones out so the sound is clearer which makes me look at her.

‘’I never knew Y/N could be this funny. She’s funny we know that but she has that comedy streak.’’ Lu explains as we watch the said girl trying to make a certain pose on the edge of the bed but then, her hand slips and she goes tumbling to the ground accidentally. This time we both laugh as well as Lucy did back on the video with small giggles leaving Y/N’s mouth.

‘’Funny or clumsy?’’ I say when we calm down and see the girl picking herself up, but lie down across the bed sprawled comfortably her eyes darting up towards the half of the glass roof that’s above us.

‘’Both.’’ Lu says sighing as we watch on the video Lu joining the girl, and start explaining the legend of the lion, that she has in the glass roof. I don’t pay much attention as I know the story by heart, and it’s one of my favorite ones. I watch Y/N instead that’s listening to it. Her face just lights up, and every time before she tells a joke she gets extra giddy about it, then pleased when she manages to make Lucy laugh.

‘’You like her don’t you?’’ Lucy suddenly states which makes me jump a bit as I look up at her fond expression.

‘’What?’’ I ask a bit with too much rush and sharpness ‘’No I don’t!’’ I add but even I hear the obvious high pitch in my tone and the obvious denial. I sigh after my words as she giggles, while I sag back against the headboard and lean sideways laying my head onto her shoulder, while she reaches for my hand and pats it.

‘’There, there big brother, maybe one day you’ll grow up actually.’’ She teases me to which I roll my eyes, and pinch her side making her squeal.

‘’You’re the one who needs to grow up.’’ I snap back playfully but her smirk turns smug as I think quickly and recap the words that just left my mouth ‘’No don’t never grow up you hear me?!’’ I exclaim to which she only breaks into a fit of laughter and lies sideways resting her head onto my lap as I pushed my laptop to the side of the big queen size bed, that she sleeps in. I can’t help but to smile down, and rest my hand on top of her head a she calms down her matching blue eyes looking up at me, as I settle back comfortably against the headboard.

‘’I still don’t know why you’re going along with Susan with this whole…things. It’s stupid.’’ She states while I pick up her laptop and place it down onto my knees.

‘’Because she is right. We need to be logical about this.’’ I reply the words coming now easier to my mouth as I’ve repeated them multiple times. But I can’t hide the irritation before my sister, that is growing inside me every time this theme comes along. She snorts rolling her eyes and turns forward to her computer, deciding to ignore me.

‘’By doing so you appear very cold as well. Douche-y.’’ she states to which I raise an eyebrow as the last term I know from who it originally is.

‘’Douche-y?’’ I ask her as she makes herself comfortable letting the video play, while she doesn’t want to look at me. That much she’s stating obviously.

‘’You heard me.’’ She replies and falls silent. I frown to myself knowing if I press this matter further she will get angrier and defensive. She has made up her mind about Y/N that much she made clear already when Susan stated and warned us to stay away from her. Which Lucy didn’t and they’ve became closer despite Susan’s tactic to keep Lu as busy as she could. Our younger sister is very resourceful, and went up against worse “enemies” than our sister. And me.

But on one hand I can’t help but to agree with Lu.

I know myself enough to admit that I like the strange girl with a mysterious past that happens to be related to the real royalty of Narnia. The true heir. She’s smart, well a genius to be precise which makes her at times wacky but in a good way. She’s brutally honest most of the time I’ve discovered myself. We did talk a lot when we hung out together. She’s a nice girl that has seen hell in her life. We aren’t so much alike from her. But my sister doesn’t see it that way.

And yet I know her logic is in the right place, this whole ‘true heir thing’ just came out of nowhere. So, did Y/N. It’s not her fault that’s obvious, nothing of this is her fault and she doesn’t deserve it. I know that. Lucy knows it better than any of us. She believes in Aslan and she believes in his Y/N honesty despite knowing her only for 5 months. But lots can change during that kind of time. A lot changed in a week too.

And it was my fault. This whole thing…I hold some of the blame in this whole situation. Which its eating me alive at time. Especially these past few days, whenever Y/N she stumbles upon me and…

I don’t know what drove me to act this way. To call up Madeline just like that after I’ve broke everything between us. The girl is delusional till a point. But I’ve been acting even more since the day Susan told us off and made an order. I’m blindly following a cause I don’t believe in for a second. It’s not fair not to myself let alone to Y/N.

My phone brings me back from my thoughts, making me look sideways and the screen, Madeline’s name flashing on the screen. I notice Lu glancing at it and with a disgusted expression for a moment she gets up and sits by herself taking her laptop back while I pick up my phone and just turn it off.

‘’Aren’t you going answer it?’’ Lucy asks showing me her back, as I fall to my side, and wrap am arm around her while with the other I prop my head and look up at her despite her refusal to look at me.

‘’I’m spending time with my favorite sister. No one is allowed to interrupt it.’’ I reply, earning myself a glance from her.

‘’If you have work to do, don’t let me interrupt you.’’ She states which breaks my heart even more. She’d never says something like this in the past. Because whenever I took my time or she arranged for our schedules to align, our time together was precious. She’d get very angry at whoever interrupted us for any small detail. It was always funny to see her fuming over someone just asking if we needed anything. But now it was the complete opposite. It was as if she didn’t want to spend time with me anymore. Like I’ve offender her.

‘’I’ve cleared my schedule, I’m here to help you edit. You know the usual.’’ I say but she stands up from the bed instead.

‘’I’m fine Peter don’t need your help.’’ She stalks over to her table instead leaving me just sitting in her bed.

‘’What did I do?’’ I ask going straight to the point now getting irritated at her behavior ‘’You don’t even want to look at me!’’

Now she turns around jaw clenching. She is mad ‘’That’s a very stupid question right there.’’ She snaps at me ‘’You’re a jerk. You’ve been acting like a complete jerk some time now. And it’s not fair!’’

‘’I’m the same as always!’’ I point out glaring back at her, as she shakes her head.

‘’You’ve all been acting like jerks not just you, but you’ve been the biggest one jet! Susan at least ignores her, Edmund is over analyzing her, and she’s only a human while you…’’ she points her finger at me standing up from her chair at the table ‘’You’re playing with her heart with her emotions which is very low, coming from you.’’

‘’I’m not playing with her emotions! She doesn’t even like me Lucy! If she would she’d be a crying mess by, because she caught me and Madeline. She doesn’t care.’’ Her eyes widen at me, before the blue in them turns ice cold.

‘’Not everyone shows they’re emotions so freely like some Peter. She doesn’t need to cry to show she’s hurt you idiot!’’ she shakes her head, hands in fists as she’s shaking with rage ‘’We’ve been through a lot, you are the only one that know what it’s like to have to hold back your fears and emotions. Not to cry in front of anyone! What makes you think it’s any different for her?!’’ she points out in which her words click in my mind ‘’She’s here in a foreign land for the first time in her life, with strangers surrounding her 24/7. She doesn’t know what we want from her, she doesn’t know her past or Aslan. Her picture of him is not all that sprinkled in flowers and smiles like ours is. And yet she is doing her best to stay strong to simply smile back and be polite!’’

She rants walking up and down ‘’And you three are being jerks for bringing her down. She’s hurting alright?! She doesn’t have to say anything or cry for me to know that she’s hurting bad. Just like I know you like her, because you still do she likes you okay?! I know for a fact she doesn’t go around and admit that to whoever.’’

She pauses and takes a deep breath ‘’Now if you please I have work to do.’’ With that she shows me her back and goes back to sit on her table.

‘’Lu.’’ I say wanting to defend myself back but she puts her headphones on instead ‘’Lucy!’’ I call but she ignores me, glaring at the screen as she taps the mouse in an angry manner. I sigh as I fall back onto the bed, watching my sister angrily continue and do her thing, while I feel like the biggest piece of shit for the moment.

I know everything she said, she is right about. Which makes this all much worse. I need to fix this.

#narnia fanfiction #narnia imagine #peter pevensie x reader #peter pevensie imagine #lucy pevensie #narnia drabble #narnia angst #narnia modern au

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winchesterelle · 6 years

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Us Against the World Chapter 1: Going to California

Campbell "Elle" Winchester, the youngest Winchester sibling, has never led a normal life—unless one considers ganking ghosts "normal." She teams up with her brothers to take on the world, but there are always bumps in the road. Every family has a story, welcome to the Winchesters.

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TRAILER BY FANFICJACKIEOH

The street lights flashed by overhead as a black Impala roared down the surprisingly near-empty highway just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. Inside the car, Dean Winchester used the steering wheel as a fake drum set with one hand, jamming out to Led Zeppelin's Babe I'm Gonna Leave You while his passenger slept curled up in a ball beside him. His passenger was Campbell Winchester, usually known as Elle. Elle was Dean's baby sister. Well, she wasn't quite so little anymore being twenty-one and all, but he would never tell her that. After all, it was his job to look after her. Always had been always would be, as long as he had a say in the matter.

Dean and Elle had just finished up their job in New Orleans, dealing with some pain-in-the-ass vengeful spirit. They were now headed across the country toward Stanford. They needed Sam for their next gig. It didn't matter that things had turned sour with the other Winchester sibling four years ago nor that they hadn't really heard from him. The truth was, they needed Sam. But Dean hadn't told Elle that detail quite yet. He knew she would probably overreact and try to talk him out of it. But he had a gut feeling about this one.

The reason Dean hadn't been upfront with Elle about their new job was because it wasn't really one of their normal jobs. The task at hand involved looking for their missing father. Neither he nor Elle had been able to get ahold of their father for the past couple days and that worried him. But given their line of work, it was totally understandable. Hence, the road trip to get Sammy. They were going to need all hands on deck if they intended on finding John Winchester. That was just the family business. Their family business wasn't exactly normal, well, unless one considered hunting demons, ghosts, and anything else of the supernatural persuasion normal. But it was the Winchester way of life. The only life they really knew.

Elle slowly rolled to her other side, facing Dean. With her eyes barely open, she squinted at her older brother, trying to process where she was and what they were doing. She attempted to say something to her brother, but her voice was drowned out by Dean's Led Zeppelin jam. When Dean realized she was trying to talk to him, he turned the music down. "You said somethin'?" Dean said as he flashed a grin toward his sister.

"How much farther until the motel?" Elle asked hoarsely, glancing outside, confused by her surroundings...or rather, the lack thereof.

"We're not goin' back there. I—um—I already found us another job."

Elle raised an eyebrow suspiciously at her brother. She could tell he was hiding something, but she wasn't quite sure what. She fidgeted in her seat before she asked, "When did you have time to find one?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders and drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, clearly trying to play it cool. "Sometime after burnin' the body and before you woke up, I guess."

"I wasn't sleeping." Elle pouted a little as she shifted in her seat with her arms folded over her chest. "I was just sitting there with my eyes closed."

"Oh, that's what that was. Huh. I probably should have told my paid lady friend to be quieter then." Dean shot his sister a wink.

Elle's eyes widened. "That's disgusting! You did that with me in here?" She quickly looked back at the backseat and grimace. She then punched her brother in the arm, but Dean only laughed at her pathetic response.

"You punch like a girl."

"I am a girl! And there's no way you had a lady friend in here...no way...at least, I don't think you did." Elle's brow furrowed remembering a time when she actually had been in the car and Dean had someone over for extracurricular activities.

Dean chuckled. He had been thinking the same thing as Elle. Of course, he hadn't realized that Elle was in there at the time. He was a little too preoccupied to check the front seat while making use of the back. But that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun messing with his sister. "If you were actually awake you'd know if I did or if I didn't, now wouldn't you?"

Elle groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I was asleep. Happy?"

"Ecstatic. And FYI, there was no curbside lady in the backseat." Dean then glanced over to his sister and smirked. "At least not quite yet. I'll be sure to let you know when Baby's occupied."

The Winchester girl placed her hands over her ears. "Ew. Perv."

Dean smiles before he reached across to ruffle his sister's dark hair. Elle's reaction made him laugh as she scrunched her face and then swatted at his hand. He then withdrew his hand and placed it back on the wheel. Elle tried to smooth her hair back into place, but the bedhead she already had from sleeping made things much more difficult. She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned around to grab her messenger bag from the backseat. With a firm yank, her bag went flying to the front seat. It was like an art form she had perfected.

Elle began to rummage through her bag. Most of its contents wouldn't typically be found in a girl her age's bag. The salt rounds, the bottle of holy water, and a rod made out of pure iron definitely wouldn't qualify her for normal, but the compact mirror she pulled out at least gave her some sense of normalcy for a girl her age. She opened the compact mirror to examine her pathetic appearance, not having showered since yesterday...before her run-in with a vengeful spirit being earlier that day.

The Winchester girl's strikingly blue eyes looked back at her as she looked over the scratches and newly formed bruises on her face. She bit her bottom lip in contemplation. Being bait always came with a risk. Always. She was just thankful that Dean had salted and burned that damn ghost's bones before it had managed to do something worse to her. It had happened before...but she trusted Dean. She trusted him with her life.

With a sigh, she dropped the compact mirror back in her bag before she put her seatbelt back on and stretched out. Elle plopped her Cookie Monster socked feet on the dashboard, knowing full-well Dean was going to give her crap for it, but she did it anyway. Three. Two. One. Just as expected Dean looked at his sister with a stink eye. Elle responded with an eye roll of her own before Dean began swatting at her legs. "Get your smelly ass feet off my baby."

"My feet don't smell." Elle groaned and removed her feet, but sat cross-legged on the seat beside him just to spite her brother. She slowly reached one of her feet toward her brother until it brushed against him.

Dean grabbed her foot and pushed it to the floor. "Have you taken a whiff of them recently?"

"I think you might be mistaking my feet for your feet. Besides, even if my feet smelled they don't even begin to compare to…"

"Sammy's feet," Dean chuckled shaking his head. "Good lord, I swear he bathed his feet in onions, garlic, urine, and sweaty gym socks. Those puppies reeked." He went silent for a moment before he added, "And for the record, your feet do smell."

Elle rolled her eyes in her brother's direction again. Dean may give her crap most the time, but that was the nature of their relationship and she wouldn't change it for anything. Besides, Elle Winchester could give back just as well as she got and Dean knew it.

She sighed, Dean had always been the one to take care of her. Even when she was younger, it had always been Dean looking after her. He was just old enough to take on that role for her. He had taught her how to ride a bike, how to drive a car, and of course, hunting and ganking the supernatural. In most senses of the word, Dean was more like a father to her than a brother. Sometimes, Elle couldn't help but wonder if that role had been forced on Dean or one he had chosen willingly. But sometimes, it was hard for him to switch back and forth between brother mode and father mode-something she knew he shouldn't have had to do in the first place. Her relationship with Dean at times quite contrasted her relationship with her other brother.

Looking out the window once more, she couldn't help but feel some contempt toward Sam. He had just up and left them… he had left her. Something that she had never expected to happen. Whereas Dean had been like a father, Sam had been her best friend and she took him abandoning them quite hard. But the situation Sam had put her in that night hadn't made the situation any easier. Sam had wanted her to go with him to California and deep down, she had desperately wanted to go with him. But like Dean, one of her fatal flaws was that she also had a misguided sense of family honor. She had been so torn that night between going with Sam or staying with Dad and Dean. She had known that either way, someone else was going to get hurt and it wasn't fair of him to spring that on her.

Elle had never voiced her reason to stay. Not to anyone. Ever. Sometimes, she tried to keep the truth from herself. She figured that she should keep her real reason buried, otherwise the flaw in her logic could easily be pointed out and it was common knowledge that once there was a crack in the foundation, the building would eventually come crashing down. Those kind of emotions were deadly to a hunter. Compartmentalizing was a hunter's best friend.

With a sigh, Elle ran her fingers through her long brown hair when her stomach began to growl. She looked peripherally to Dean to see if he had noticed. Dean laughed at and made some dumb joke before he promised they would stop for a burger at the first exit they found.

Ten minutes later, Elle was practically devouring her burger in Dean's car as they sat in the parking lot. God, she had missed having a good burger. Dean claimed that she ruined the masterpiece by putting French fries on it as a condiment, but Elle couldn't care less what Dean thought about it. She liked it and that was all that mattered, right?

Beside her, Dean too was shoveling his food down his gullet so that they could get back on the road. Wherever they were going, it must be urgent, Elle mused. Originally, Dean had wanted to eat while he drove, but Elle persuaded him not to. And by persuaded she meant that she whined about the one time they almost went into the ditch while he was eating Taco Bell. Of course, he couldn't have helped it. There really isn't a good way to eat a taco while driving. And besides, to accuse him of ever purposely trying to harm his baby was obscene.

Dean shoved a handful of fries in his mouth before he slurped it down with his soda. Although, it was pretty obvious that he would give anything to have a beer right about now. Dean finished eating before Elle did. He shoved his wrappers back into the McDonald's bag that sat between him and his sister. He then put the car into drive before driving out of the out of the parking lot, while his sister continued to eat.

As he pulled back onto the highway, he glanced over at his sister curiously. She had been rather quiet and judging from the expression on her face, Dean knew whatever she was thinking couldn't be good. So, he attempted to distract her. "Why don't you give Dad a call when you're done eatin', kay?" Dean said smoothly.

Elle looked up at her brother, her blue eyes shimmering in the dark car. "He's not going to answer, Dean," she responded between bites of her cheeseburger.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't hurt to try, Elle-Belle," he said more for the sake of argument, knowing full-well she strongly disliked that nickname. He knew John Winchester wasn't likely to answer, but it was all he could think of doing right now.

"We've been trying." Elle brought her feet up onto the seat and her knees to her chest, curling herself into a ball.

"We'll just have to try harder." Dean knew this wasn't going well...she hadn't even finished her burger, but sometimes his sister could just be plain stubborn.

Elle scoffed. "And how exactly does one try harder? That expression doesn't make any sense. Where does it even come from anyway? Remind me to put that on my list of phrases not to use because they don't make any damn sense. Then again, I should probably start said list because it doesn't actually exist yet."

"Elle!" Dean snapped. "Just do it, dammit. Just call Dad."

Elle looked over to her brother suspiciously, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she nibbled at one of her fries as Dean began humming to another Led Zeppelin song on another one of his damn tapes. While she could appreciate Dean and her dad's music, it wasn't her particular favorite. No, Dean would relentlessly mock her for the type of music she liked to listen to. Then again, he mocked anyone who didn't have his taste in music.

Recognizing that she wasn't going to do it without more prompting, Dean handed his little sister his cell phone. She grudgingly accepted his phone, despite having her own phone, not that she regularly used her own phone for much. Elle angrily flipped open her brother's phone. Elle and Dean both knew that if John Winchester was going to answer anyone's call, it would be Dean's call...not hers. Although that could be another reason that Dean was having her use his phone, Elle mused.

But Dean was seemed to be forgetting the fact that John Winchester hadn't answered any phone calls for days. That should have been a flashing neon sign saying something to them. But Elle hit re-dial on the phone anyway. Not surprisingly, it went straight to voicemail. She quickly ended the call and tossed Dean's phone back at him. "Surprise, surprise," Elle spit cynically. "Voicemail. No point in me leaving one."

Dean knew better than to say anything when his sister got like this, but that didn't stop him from being sorely tempted. He chewed on his cheek to keep him from saying anything stupid. After a few minutes and a bloody cheek later, Elle was the first to speak. But she changed the subject to one Dean wasn't prepared for Mom.

Elle shifted uncomfortably as she looked at her brother. "Dean, what was Mom like?" she asked rather innocently.

"Wh—what?" Dean stammered glancing at his sister, rubbing the inside of his cheek with his tongue.

The Winchester girl played with her hands, glancing down at the floor, almost embarrassed to have even asked. "Mom?" she muttered before looking back at him again. "You know the woman who—"

Dean put his hand up to stop her from finishing. "I know who Mom is, Elle-Belle."

"Well, tell me something about her." Elle folded her arms across her chest and stared at her brother.

Dean thought she looked so young and almost childlike in that moment. But he wasn't sure if he was ready for this conversation. He wasn't even that old when their mother burned to death. So, that's what he told his sister. "It's not like I remember much. I was only four when she—"

"Please?"

Elle's pleading and her damn puppy dog eyes were causing his barriers to crumble. "Um—well—let's see here. She had blonde hair and blue eyes—"

"C'mon, I already know that from the picture you have. Something else. Please?"

Dean shook his head and slapped the steering wheel with his right hand. "Son-of-a-bitch Elle, you didn't even give me a chance to finish what I was saying."

Elle threw her head back and groaned. "Sorry!" She stayed quiet for a moment before continuing with a slight smirk playing on her face, "And for the record, I think I'd technically be labeled as a daughter-of-a-bitch. Just saying."

"Yeah, yeah,again-what'syeah. Whatever you say." Dean glanced at his little sister. She was almost always able to bring humor into any situation, even as self-deprecating as it was, but it was one of the things he admired about her. Dean drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. "Now, where was I...right, as I was saying you have her eyes. Same shade and everything."

Although, what Dean didn't tell her was that was one of the reasons John couldn't stand to look Elle in the eyes. He didn't want to do that to her. Dean nodded his head. "So...yeah."

"And?" Elle asked, leaning forward wanting to know more.

"And what?"

"And that's all you're going to tell me? What about what was her favorite color? Or her favorite flower? Her favorite song? Favorite dessert? There are just too many questions that I haven't gotten any answers to. I'm twenty-one years old and I think I deserve to know something about my mother. Something that I can't get from looking at a picture of her."

Dean raised an eyebrow curiously at his sister. "What's with twenty questions about Mom all a sudden?"

"I—I don't know," was all she offered.

The older Winchester shot his sister a slightly disapproving glance. He knew his sister better than to buy that. "I know for a fact that's a lie, so let's try this again. What's with the twenty questions about Mom?"

"I—I just want to know her so bad, Dean. I always have. I never got to know her. She never even got to hold me. I-I just want to know if she'd like me. If she would be proud of me. But sometimes I can't help but wonder if I'm as big of a disappointment to her as I am to Dad."

There it was, the truth; the elephant in the room—well, car, technically. Dean exhaled slowly trying to carefully calculate a response to his sister's revelation. He knew she had building up something against their father for years, but this was one of the first times she had ever voiced anything about it. "You're not a disappointment to Dad," he said trying to reassure her.

Elle snapped her fingers at him. "Don't try and placate me."

"You know better than to use the big fancy words with me when I'm trying to help you. School wasn't my thing and I was never college material."

"Neither was I. I didn't even try to apply for colleges because I thought it would make Dad happy, especially after Sam. But it didn't. Nothing I do ever makes him happy. Ever. Everything I've done with my life has never been enough for him. I just can't do enough for that man. Do you know that never once in my life do I remember him telling me that he loved me? Not once, Dean. That's weird."

"Elle, Dad's just Dad. It's nothing to get all wound up over."

Elle shook her head. "You don't get it Dean. I see the way Dad looks at you. Hell, even Sam, whom he said he never wanted to see again. He doesn't look at me like that. He looks at me like I'm some sort of abomination from hell that doesn't deserve to live. It's like he's always waiting for the other shoe to drop with me or something. For once in my life, I just want to be enough and for him to say the oh-so scary L word."

Dean sighed. "I promise you that when we find him, you'll get whatever it is you've been looking for. I'll make sure of it. First things first, we kinda actually need to find him."

She wasn't sure that she believed Dean's words, but she knew that Dean believed them and when Dean set his mind to something, he did something about it no matter what the consequences. He had proved his loyalty time and time again. Whatever he did, it was always in the best interest of their family, no matter how stupid. Despite his rough exterior, her brother was a softy on the inside, as far as she was concerned. Although Dean would never 'fess up to that.

Elle could practically feel her brother's eyes on her, waiting for her to respond. If he was going along with it for her sake, then she might as well too. She nodded her head and then asked, "So, what's this plan of yours?"

"Remember that job I was talkin' about?"

There was something in his tone that gave away that there was more to this than he originally let on. She eyed her brother curiously. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, the job kinda involves picking Sammy up."

Elle slowly blinked her eyes, processing what he said before she responded. "Kinda or it actually does? There's a big difference between the two, Dean."

Dean glanced at his sister before looking back at the road ahead. "We need Sammy on this one, Elle. I just feel it."

Elle couldn't help but scoff. There was no way in hell that Sam was going to go with them. He had his perfect apple pie life at Stanford. A life that she quite often envied, to be honest. But she knew what Dean was thinking. In order to find Dad, it was going to take the three of them putting their heads together and working alongside each other. Even though his hunting skills might be a little rusty, Sam was pretty damn intelligent and a third set of eyes to discover whatever John Winchester had been up to couldn't hurt.

She understood his plan, but that didn't mean she liked it or that she thought it was going to work. "You know that he's never going to go for it since he's gone all big-shot Stanford guy now," Elle commented.

"I think you're wrong. This is about Dad. He'll listen to reason and family honor," Dean responded.

"Cute names for your fists, Dean," Elle quickly retorted in her somewhat off-the-wallsense of humor before she bringing herself back to her point. "I just don't think taking Sam on in a wrestling match until he agrees with you is going to work."

"It always worked before," Dean smirked remembering a few other times when that tactic had proved useful.

Elle shook her head. "Yeah, when Sam was like half your size. You're the little brother now."

"Shut up. At least, I'm not as little as you are, Shorty."

"Hey, I'm not short, I'm fun-sized," Elle responded having once seen the slogan on a T-shirt. "But enough about me, you need a better plan for Sammy if you expect to get him to agree to road trip-it with us."

"And what, pray tell, do you suggest?" He scoffed with an obvious helping of sarcasm.

Elle pondered his challenge for a moment. She was usually pretty good at coming up with a sensible plan...at least, compared to Dean's usual plans. After about a minute, she had it. "Alright. How about you let me butter him up a little first? The helpless little sister thing always works on you and if I remember correctly it used to work on him too. "

"Helpless, my ass. Sam would never fall for that...and neither do I. We're not that dumb."

"Oh, really? How much are you willing to bet big brother?" Elle questioned as she held out her hand for Dean to place his wager.

"Not much," Dean muttered with a glance over to his sister, knowing she was probably right. "So what exactly are you going to do that's magically going to get him to come along? Huh?"

Elle smirked at her brother. "Well, I was thinking something along the lines of telling him that I'm fighting with you...again. It was really bad this time and I need a place to crash...that's the helpless little sister part. Then comes your part, you come along and say that we need to go find Dad, yadda, yadda, and I say that I won't go with you unless Sam goes because I can't stand being around your big fat ugly face. Then he's guilted into coming along so that he can keep the peace between us. It's practically perfect."

Dean shook his head. "Believable, I suppose...except the part about my big fat ugly face. My face is adorable."

"You keep telling yourself that."

"I will because it's the truth and you know it."

The conversation between Dean and Elle came to a lull. For the next hundred miles or so they sat in silence, a comfortable silence. That was one thing Elle liked about her relationship with Dean, they didn't always have to be talking to be comfortable with each other. You know, sometimes there are those people in life where you always have to keep them talking in order to know where you stand with them?

Well, being with Dean wasn't that way for Elle. They could ride together for hundreds of miles without uttering a single word to each other and yet, she knew that Dean usually wasn't angry with her. If he was angry with her, his facial expressions gave him away. He wasn't as good at hiding it as she was.

So, as for now, they were both content to sit in the Impala in silence as Elle drifted back to sleep while Dean continued to rock-out to his music. When Elle finally woke up again, they were somewhere in Texas, the seemingly never-ending state. It seemed like everytime they drove through the damn state it seemed to get larger and take longer to travel through.

Elle stretched her arms, glancing at a sign that said the next exit, beside the next one, wouldn't be for another seventy miles. She then looked at her brother who attempted to stifle a yawn. His over-tiredness caused him to accidentally jerk the wheel toward oncoming traffic. Dean and Elle's eyes widened as Dean quickly jerked the wheel the other direction to get them back on their side of the road. The sound of a car's horn passed by them as Dean rubbed at his eyes.

"Pull over, you shouldn't be driving," Elle commanded her older brother.

"I'm fine," Dean grumbled. "Just need to change the music."

"That's not going to work, Dean. We've been up since freaking six a.m. yesterday morning. You're tired. Just admit it."

"This is nothing compared to when—"

"You need some sleep. God forbid that you actually let yourself be human for once."

"I'll just pull over at the next town in a few miles and I can take a little power nap and it will be all good."

Elle shook her head."Shows how well you were paying attention. That last sign back there, before the last exit, said that the next stop isn't for over seventy miles, you loser. Just pull over and I'll drive for a couple of hours."

"But you hate driving."

"True, but if you make me choose between dying or driving, my money's on me choosing driving. Besides, would you prefer to get to Sam's so we can find Dad, or that we become road kill, which would be especially pathetic considering what we do for a living."

Dean remained stubborn with his hands gripped firmly to the wheel. He shifted in his seat, trying to sit up straighter. It was obvious he was trying to keep his eyes open wider to prove that he was awake, despite how tired he felt.

Elle shook her head. She knew how stubborn he could be, but having lived with him her whole life, she also knew his weak spots. "If you're not going to think about my welfare, then at least consider Baby's and how devastated you'd be to see her twisted and smashed frame splattered with my guts. Think of her shattered windshield, with my blood—and dashboard with my gut. Poor Baby with-"

Dean put his hand up to stop her. "I get your point, but quit being so graphic around Baby. You're gonna upset her if you keep talkin' like that and then she ain't gonna work right for you."

Elle rolled her eyes as Dean pulled over to the shoulder of the road rather reluctantly. He looked over to her before tapping the steering wheel. Dean then started to go over all the rules about driving his baby. Honestly, he was the one who had taught her how to drive and with this car nonetheless. He was too overprotective, but then again, if he was this protective over his car it only showed how much more he'd do for his family.

When Dean was done explaining things, things which Elle hadn't paid any attention to, he opened the driver's side door and stepped outside. Elle pulled on her red Converse sneakers before she followed suit and opened the passenger side door. She stepped outside into the breeze and couldn't help but notice the stars illuminating the night's sky.

She pulled her sweatshirt tighter around her body as she stared up at the immensity above. There was something about the night sky that intrigued her. Something that made her feel protected and safe. It sounded stupid, but that was how she felt.

Elle tore her eyes away from the sky when she heard Dean's footsteps crunching in the gravel. His figure drew closer and closer to her, easily towering over her. Compared to both of her brothers, Elle was tiny. Both of them were well over six feet tall, while she reached five feet two inches on a good day...if she rounded...and was wearing the right shoes. She smirked. Rounding, she chuckled to herself. At least something from third grade math came in handy every once in awhile.

Elle stretched herself to her full height when her brother stopped beside her. Dean held the keys out in front of her which she snatched from his hand. Normally, she'd have some sort of witty retort about him actually handing the keys over to her, but she didn't want to press her luck. Dean needed some sleep, not to mention that she didn't want to die on the freaking highway.

She adjusted her blue plaid shirt underneath her sweatshirt before she walked over to the driver's side. As she looked through the window, she could see Dean practically sulking. But she knew that he knew she was right...if that made any sense. She chuckled at her brother and slid onto the seat. Part of the reason she knew Dean hated her driving was because she had to readjust every little thing, including the seat which drove Dean nuts. She was short, so she needed the seat closer to the wheel which gave Dean very little legroom.

When Elle had finished adjusting the rearview mirror she turned toward her brother. "So now what do I do?" Elle asked innocently, biting her bottom lip trying to feign nervousness.

"Tell me you're kidding," Dean groaned, his hand moving for the door handle to get out and take the wheel again.

Elle's hand snaked out and grabbed hold of his arm. "Jeez. I'm kidding. Relax. Get some sleep."

Dean looked at his little sister sternly, with his index finger raised. "Just stay on this road and wake me up in exactly two hours. Whatever you do, don't get off this road."

Elle couldn't help but chuckle. "You don't trust me, do you?"

"You're terrible with directions, and even worse when I'm sleeping."

"I'm not that terrible."

Dean raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you remember when we were driving to go gank that ghost in Winona, Minnesota? You took us to Iowa."

The younger Winchester groaned. "I missed one turn and we were still three miles from actually getting into Iowa if you're going to get technical with me. Besides, it wasn't the end of the world."

"Just stay on this road."

Rolling her eyes at her brother, Elle muttered, "Fine."

Elle put the car in drive and carefully maneuvered it onto the empty road. She had driven about five minutes when her hand reached to adjust the radio. She could practically feel Dean's intense glares as she messed with his music, but she stopped fiddling with it when Wake Me Up When September Ends came from the speakers.

She began to sing along to the Green Day song when Dean turned toward her with a peeved expression. She attempted to ignore his glares, but it was futile. "You have gotta be shitting me," Dean growled. "What the hell is this crap?"

"It's Green Day. They've been around for a long time. I figured they'd be a compromise between your music and mine."

"Well, this is shitty music, beyond shitty even. They sold-out and for what? This crap? Change it back."

Elle swatted at his hand as he reached for the dial. "Ah-ah-ah, I don't think so. You're going to follow your own damn rule, that you oh-so-frequently remind me of. Driver picks the music and...hmm...how does that go again?"

Dean shook his head. "Driver picks the music; shotgun shuts his cakehole," he muttered. "But how the hell do you expect me to sleep with this crap on?"

"Peacefully," Elle smirked toward her brother.

"As I bleed from my ears." Dean curled up on his side. His position didn't look comfortable, but Elle wasn't sure his tall frame could find a comfortable position, to begin with.

As another pop song came on the radio, Dean's hands moved over his ears. With a smirk on her face, Elle leaned over and turned the radio off. She would wait until Dean was asleep before she resumed her crappy music jam. Dean seemed to relax more as the car grew silent.

Elle kept her eyes focused on the road as Dean's soft snores began to fill the car. She called Dean's name to make sure that he was out. When he didn't respond, she turned her music station back on but kept the volume turned down fairly low so that today's hits wouldn't wake Dean up.

She had fully intended on letting Dean sleep longer than two hours, but his internal clock must have known when his two hours were up because his eyes fluttered open and he immediately turned Elle's music off. "Pull over. I ain't sleeping to this crap anymore," Dean grumbled.

Elle shook her head before pulled over and they switched back to their original positions, Dean back to driving and Elle back to riding shotgun. The first thing Dean did when he got behind the wheel was change the music. Then he changed the seat, the mirrors, and everything else Elle had changed.

When they crossed the border into California, Elle's stomach began to churn. She had been so confident about her plan to get Sam earlier, but would he even want to see her? It had been complete radio-silence between the two of them since he had left. But more than that, she was stubborn and she wasn't so sure she had forgiven him for that night.

Why did emotions and family have to be so complicated? He was her brother, she should be glad that she was seeing him again, but she couldn't let herself completely go there. Yet, here Dean was, acting like Sam had been gone for nothing more than a weekend fling or something. Elle exhaled slowly. She needed to ignore the feelings that were building up within her. She needed to put on a happy face and push those feelings aside, something that she had already been doing for years. This time shouldn't be any different...or at least she hoped it wouldn't be any different.

Dean interrupted her thoughts when he asked her to pull out a piece of paper with Sam's address out of the glove compartment. Why the hell they called these things glove compartments was beyond her, but nonetheless, she handed Dean Sam's address. "We're close," he grumbled, before calculating the route he wanted to take. After turning down a few more streets, they finally came to a stop.

The Impala shifted into park outside the building where Sam lived. It looked...nice, Elle supposed. Well nice, considering how they had grown up on the road, never staying in one place for long. Nice to have a place to call home. A home, a mother, and her father's love were a few of the only things Elle wanted in life and she was pretty sure she was never going to get any of that. She didn't voice her thoughts aloud though, because while they should have been happy Sammy had gotten out, she knew that both she and Dean (whether he'd admit it or not) were somewhat jealous that he had a home. A place that beat the Impala or a crappy motel any day.

Dean cleared his throat, so Elle turned toward her big brother. "Out you go," he said. "You have one hour to get him in this car before I go barging in there, guns blazing."

"You mean, you're actually letting me do this?" Elle asked in a tone of surprise.

Dean shrugged nonchalantly. "I have to hit the head."

Elle raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Which is going to take an hour?"

"You can't rush digestion," Dean smirked at his sister who rolled her eyes at him.

"You're full of crap."

"Not for long." Dean winked at his sister which caused her to pretend to puke. He laughed. "You walked into that one and you know it."

Elle shoved her brother away from her in disgust before slipping her shoes back on her feet once more. She stretched as she stepped out of the car before she pulled her old blue Jansport messenger style backpack over her head. She slammed the car door shut behind her. Dean awkwardly waved at her with a stupid grin on his face like he was dropping her off at her first day of school but she shooed him to drive away with her hand motions. Surprisingly, he did as he was told.

She stood there for a moment watching the Impala drive away before she shoved her hands in her sweatshirt pockets. Elle then turned to find Sammy's apartment. She hoped she knocked on the right door, otherwise, that could be awkward...not that she had ever done that before. No, never. So, that was a lie, she had experienced that before and it wasn't any fun for her, but she never lived the moment down with Dean.

Elle carefully climbed the stairs until she came to the door to Sam's place. This was it. At least she hoped she was at the right door. She rapped twice on the door before lowering her hand. There was no going back now.

The Winchester girl blew a stray tendril of hair from her face before she decided to throw her long dark hair up into a messy bun. Once her hair was up, there was still no answer at the door. She knocked again, beginning to grow impatient. What if Sam wasn't even here? Maybe he moved and they had the wrong address? Part of her wanted to dash and then whoever was inside could chalk it up to a teenage prank, but she saw a light flicker on.

Moments later the door opened, revealing a girl with long blonde hair dressed in a Smurfs shirt with a toothbrush in hand. "Can I help you?" the blonde girl asked.

"I—um—I don't know," Elle stammered. "I must have the wrong place or something. I was just looking for my brother and clearly, you're not him. So, I'll—uh—I'll just be going."

Elle moved to turn away, but the girl reached out and grabbed her arm. The Winchester girl turned around to find the blonde girl eyeing her up. "Your brother wouldn't be Sam, would it?"

Elle's eyes popped in surprise. "Actually, yeah, his name is Sam. Sam Winchester."

"That must make you, Elle, the infamous little sister." The blonde girl smiled. It was obvious she was teasing Elle. As much as Elle hated to admit it, she was already liking the girl living with Sam...whom she could only rationalize to be his girlfriend.

"Guilty?" Elle said raising her hands in defense.

"Don't worry, you've got the right place. Sam just crawled into bed not too long ago. I was up—well, I think you can see what I was doing," The blonde girl said holding up her toothbrush. "But come on in. I'm sure he'll be really glad to see you. We were actually just talking about you earlier."

Elle muttered to herself, "That's not very reassuring."

The blonde turned and looked at Elle curiously. "What was that?"

The Winchester girl faked a cough. "Nothing. Just had a tickle in my throat."

Sam's girlfriend motioned for Elle to come inside. Elle nodded her head and stepped inside Sam's apartment. The girl smiled. "I'm Jess by the way."

"I'm Elle, but you already know that.'

Jess chuckled as she led Elle a little further inside. She then held up a finger and told Elle, "Just wait here. I'll go get him. He's going to be so surprised."

Elle nodded her head but muttered to herself, "That's one word for it."

Jess disappeared into the back room as Elle stood there awkwardly examining the room she was in. Pictures of Sam and Jess were scattered across the room. They looked happy, genuinely happy. This brought a mixture of happiness for her brother and jealousy. Nowhere did she see a picture of her or Dean. It was almost as if they did not exist. It struck her rather oddly. Did he even miss them?

Elle heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turned to see Sam appear from the back bedroom with a puzzled expression on his face. "Elle?" he asked, trying to figure out whether it was actually his little sister whom he hadn't seen in four years.

She nodded her head and raised her hands, in a what position. "It's me. Surprise."

Next thing she knew, Sam was engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug. She just awkwardly stood there and let her brother hug her while Jess watched from the doorway with a smile on her face. Elle wasn't exactly sure how she wanted to respond.

Thankfully, Jess spoke up before Elle was forced to say something….something she might regret. "Told you so," Jess said playfully to Sam.

Sam looked over his shoulder with a sloppy grin at his girlfriend before he squeezed his sister tight once more and then released her. Elle took a step back from her brother and looked up at him. She had always known that Sam was tall, but he seemed a whole hell of a lot taller than the last time she had seen him. He had to have over a foot of height on her.

Elle offered her brother the best fake-awkward smile that she could and he must have bought it. That or he was just so excited to see her. "Oh my god, Elle. I can't believe you're actually here. What are you doing here?" Sam questioned.

"Dean and I may or may not have had a slight disagreement," Elle stated carefully.

Sam shook his head. He clearly bought her excuse. "A fight? That's just great. About?"

Elle feigned a wince. "Something Dad related."

Sam rolled his eyes before he rubbed his temples. "You know, that's always the case with that man."

The Winchester girl slowly nodded her head. It was the truth, she couldn't deny that. She sighed, "But I don't want to go into that now. Besides, now obviously isn't a good time. I'm interrupting—"

"No, you're not—well, technically you are—but you're welcome here." Sam then turned toward Jess. "She's welcome here, right?"

Jess laughed heartily. "Of course, I've always wanted to meet a member of the mysterious Winchester family that Sam rarely talks about," she responded. "Besides, from the way Sam talks about you...when he actually does...I think we'll get along just fine."

Elle looked at Sam who shrugged his shoulders. Elle was probably the least threatening of the trio Jess hadn't met. Dean often compared her to an annoying little dog: her bark was worse than her bite, but at least she was cute. Or at least that's what she hoped Dean meant by that.

Jess offered to make Elle a sandwich, but the Winchester girl didn't want to impose on the couple. Besides, she needed to get Sam alone so that she could talk to him about her real reason she was there: finding Dad. Not to mention that Dean's outing wasn't going to take him that much longer.

Jess brought a pillow and blanket out and set them on the couch. Too bad Elle wasn't actually going to use them, but she didn't say anything. Jess then excused herself to go to bed not before mentioning something about an LSAT score, then leaving Sam and Elle alone. "Sam—we should talk—"

Sam leaned against the doorframe, with his arms folded across his chest. He nodded his head. "I agree, but I think it should be on some sleep."

"But—" Elle started, but was quickly cut off.

Sam chuckled. "C'mon, what's so important that it can't wait until morning?"

"Well—you see—"

"Morning all right? I'm just so wiped from going out tonight."

Elle looked at her brother curiously. She knew that he never went out on Halloween. It was like his big f-you gesture to everything supernatural. "You went out knowing what day it was?"

"Right? I know you get it." Sam smiled softly at his sister. "But Jess wanted to go out, so I did the good boyfriend thing, you know?"

"I suppose it's more enjoyable when one doesn't know exactly what's out there, huh?"

Sam nodded his head. "That's for sure. I wish I could still be naive about it all, like everyone else I know. Enough about that, though." Sam shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I'm gonna hit the sack. I'll see you in the morning, Elle-Belle."

Elle sighed at the mention of her nickname. She then simply nodded her head, even though she knew that Dean was going to show up before it was morning. And knowing Dean, he was bound to make an entrance. Sam walked away toward the bedroom before he stopped halfway and turned around. "It's really good to see you, Elle. I mean it."

"Yeah, you too, I guess...I mean, given the circumstances."

"I'm still glad you came. I've missed you." Sam smiled at his sister before he turned the lights off and disappeared into the bedroom.

Elle plopped onto the couch and cuddled with the pillow and blanket. She was going to take advantage of it while she had the chance. But just when she had finally found a comfortable position, her phone buzzed with a text message. She groaned as she rolled over to grab her cell phone from the side pocket of her bag. She opened the text message. It was from Dean, the only person who ever texted her.

The text read: Ready or not here i come. And it wasn't long before Elle heard the window jimmy open. Of course, he couldn't use the door like a normal person. Elle shook her head. And of course, he hadn't a clue on how to be quiet. Elle swore the sound of his boots stepping across the floor could wake the dead.

She walked to meet him, but he must not have realized what she was doing because he clomped down on her bare feet with his steel-toed boots. Elle howled in pain as she smacked Dean.

Her scream must have awakened Sam because he shouted from the bedroom, "Elle hold on, I'm coming!"

"This should be fun," Dean chuckled quietly enough for only Elle to hear before she punched him in the arm.

"Don't you dare—" Elle started.

Sam came lumbering into the room, ready to attack. "Get away from her!" the tallest Winchester sibling shouted.

With that, Sam lunged at Dean and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him down. Dean managed to knock Sam's arm away and aimed to strike Sam, who ducked just a few moments before contact. Dean grabbed Sam's arm and swung him around before shoving him back. Sam managed a kick while yelling for Elle and Jess to run, before Dean blocked his kick and pushed him. Sam squinted trying to get a better view of the attacker, whom he still hadn't realized was his brother; but Dean elbowed him in the face.

Elle shouted for the two boys to knock it off, but they weren't finished. Sam attempted a kick at Dean's face, but Dean ducked. Dean tried to swing at Sam, but Sam easily blocked him. Then when Sam wasn't expecting it, Dean knocked him over and pinned him to the floor. One hand is at Sam's throat and the other is holding onto Sam's wrist. "Whoa, easy tiger," Dean said with a grin.

"Dean?" Sam asked in a puzzled tone.

"Are you two done yet?" Elle groaned with her arms folded across her chest. "You're going to wake the neighbors."

Dean laughed and slapped Sam on the shoulder. "You scared the crap out of me, man!" Sam groaned.

"That's 'cause you're out of practice," Dean said. Sam reached for Dean's hand and yanked on it hard before slamming his heel into Dean's back, knocking Dean to the floor. Elle chuckled at the sight. "Or not," Dean said with a smirk playing across his face.

Elle rolled her eyes and looked between her brothers. "Aren't you two just precious," Elle cooed in disgust.

"You shut up," Dean directed toward Elle before turning to Sam. "And you get the hell off of me."

Sam rolled onto his feet before helping Dean off the floor. Dean nodded at Sam, but Sam appeared to be touting a cold and solemn facade. Elle couldn't really figure out what was going on. Why was Sam mad at Dean, but not at her? Then again, why was she angrier at Sam, but not Dean? While she could read Sam's expression and try to decipher her own emotions. She had no idea what the hell was going through Dean's head at this point, which was odd for her

Sam stood there with his arms folded across his chest, impatiently tapping his foot against the floor. "What the hell are you doing here, man?" Sam asked.

Dean smirked one of his infamous stupid smirks that irritated Elle to no end. "Well, I was looking for a beer; but it looks like I got a family reunion instead," Dean responded.

But Sam refused to budge. "What the hell are you doing here?" he repeated.

Dean shook his head and looked at Elle. "You mean, Princess here didn't tell you?" he asked pointing to his little sister. Sam just stared at him. Dean shook his head again. "Why am I not surprised?"

Sam looked rather angrily at Dean. "You have no right to talk about her like that. She told me about you two and how you're being a pain-in-the-ass as usual and she can't stand the sight of your face."

"Did she at least mention that my face is adorable?" Dean grinned and pointed to his face.

Sam took a step toward Dean and snapped. "Cut the crap, Dean! I'm going to ask you for the last time why the hell are you here?"

Dean put his hands up defensively. "Okay. All right. We gotta talk. All three of us."

Dean and Sam started their bickering again, which Elle had no desire to get in the middle of, so she walked toward the kitchen to get a glass of water. As she turned the tap on, Jess made her way into the conversation.

Without even seeing Dean's face, Elle knew that her brother was checking the girl out, especially given the bed clothes she was wearing. Jess made a comment about going to put some more clothes on, but Dean made a cheeky remark about her not needing to. She loved her brother, but God was he a perv.

Elle reached for an apple on the counter beside her which she chucked at Dean's head. She nailed him right on the back of the head. He turned around to glare at her with his hand on the back of his head while Sam managed a laugh. "You were saying?" Elle commented.

"I was saying that I need to borrow this pretty girl's boyfriend and my runaway sister to talk about some private family business," Dean said through gritted teeth before turning toward Jess. "But, uh, nice meeting you."

"No," Sam said sternly. "Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."

Elle shook her head. She was positive Sam wouldn't Jess knowing about this. "Sam, maybe that's not—" she started, but it was Dean who cut her off.

"No, he's right Elle. Besides, she's almost family anyway," Dean said before looking directly at Sam. "Um, here it is. Dad hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam seemed to scoff at Dean. At least Dean had managed to phrase things without giving too much away. He did at least have some tact left. Sam wrapped his arm tighter around Jess before giving Dean a response. "So he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later. Always does."

"Sam, it's different this time," Elle added, folding her arms across her chest.

"How?"

"Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days," Dean said solemnly.

"Jess, excuse us. The three of us need to go outside. Now," Sam said.

Sam walked into the bedroom and threw on some different clothes. While he was gone, Dean attempted to sweet talk Jess, but she remained immune to the oldest Winchester sibling's charms. Sam must have told her a little about him, because she remained rather aloof toward him, a much different reaction than Elle had received.

The middle Winchester sibling walked back into the main room before he pointed toward the door. "Don't mind if I do," Dean said walking out the door. Elle followed behind and Sam brought up the rear as they descended the metal staircase. Things already felt tense and they had barely discussed much of anything.

Elle sighed, "Whoever said family reunions were supposed to be enjoyable has never met the Winchesters."

Neither Sam nor Dean made a remark. Clearly, things were not going well. Elle just hoped they could put their difference aside for a few days to find Dad, because honestly, they didn't need any more family drama than they were already dealing with.

#oc #elle winchester #oc imagines #supernatural imagine #oc fanfic #us against the world #oc fanfiction #campbell winchester #winchester sister #sam winchester #dean winchester #i've had two suggestions to post to tumblr so consider this a trial run to see if i like it

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freechoicedreamer · 4 years

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Body and Soul (Ch. 12)

AO3

Opening Theme

“Your hands, your hands, Fall upon mine as waves upon the sands. O, soft as moonlight on the evening rose, That but to moonlight will its sweet unclose, Your hands, your hands, Fall upon mine, and my hands open as That evening primrose opens when the hot hours pass. Your hands, your hands, They are like towers that in far southern lands Look at pale dawn over gloom-valley'd miles, White temple towers that gleam through mist at whiles. Your hands, your hands, With the south wind fall kissing on my brow, And all past joy and future is summed in this great 'Now!”

(John Freeman, Hands)

Enchanted Mountains, Arendelle

Long and strong hands were the first attributes to catch Anna and Kristoff's attention. The baby searching eyes, curiously looking at his parents, and his hair, so pale that looked like a white down covering the white skin, came later. But the hands defined Handy, whose previously chosen name, Aatami, was immediately discarded as soon as the proud and exhausted new parents -Anna's labor lasted 10 hours! - laid their eyes on the little boy.

"Feet and hands of a climber..." declares his aunt as she bends over the crib, examining the newborn and already completely in love, "...hmm, conquering look of who knows that already has me in his palm, isn't it my cute little baby?!"

"Gideon," Anna turns to her sister's husband, who was watching the scene from a distance, "you've got competition!"

"No, if we consider that I'm in love with Elsa's loving way with your son, Anna…" he confesses already totally comfortable in expressing his feelings for Elsa in front of her sister and brother-in-law.

Elsa turns to look at Gideon sideways and smiles covertly. To their innermost sphere of friends their shyness and need to preserve the aura of mystery surrounding their relationship has given way to the relaxation of a 'let it go', although both still react with a barely-disguised surprise before public demonstrations of affection coming from the other. But what is better is that, as a reaction, no one else is surprised by them. Even out of their circle, as two public figures they have truly become an item, an emblem for a consolidated couple with private life out of the spotlight - everyone understands and respects their choice. (The same discreteness does not apply for more outgoing personalities, such as Anna’s, who is only curbed by Kristoff's more down-to-earth, practical way).

The royal palace is now divided into three wings. For housing the two new families in a more independent way, each sister occupies one of the two private wings, which in practice corresponds to twin homes, while the third wing is also divided into two sectors, one for the administrative activities of the Enchanted Mountains and the other for those related to the Ministry of Adventure Tourism.

As suggested by Belle, Gideon and Elsa actually chose to keep two residences, the other in his castle - arrangement that, in practice, doesn't change much for them because both palaces are located in the same enchanted land and the time to switch from one to another literally corresponds to the time spent at the flick of a finger.

"I've heard that Jasmine and Aladdin have welcome their little baby girl less than a week ago - which means all royal babies that spent Operation B&S in their mommies' wombs have already been born," Gideon tells them, moving to sit at the armchair close to the fireplace, "and we still need heating in late April, quite impressive…" he grumbles through his teeth.

"We are in the highest mountains, Gideon," Elsa joins him, "and in the highest latitudes…"

"The latitudes could be higher, though…" Kristoff sighs sitting close to Anna.

"What do you mean?" Elsa asks intrigued, "Arendelle is on the northernmost border."

"He means there is more beyond the frontier, higher mountains, even… He means Canada, for example, just to remain close to where we are…" Anna explains.

"But then we would have to cross the magic barrier. Of course I know that the world doesn't end on the border, but I'm not used to think beyond Maine," Elsa justifies her question.

"I think that when we think on adventure we can’t think on these limits.” Anna defends hers and Kristoff’s point of view, “and we are not alone, know that there are those that refuse to be caged in.”

“I get what you mean,” Gideon nods reticent.

“You do? You mean in a literal sense or in metaphorical one?” Kristoff questions him.

“In both senses, they refer to explorers. In a metaphoric sense, those thinking about going beyond the borders are like the eyes of an imaginative child, to give you just an example. In common with those in the literal sense they aim at exploring our world and learning, each day, how much wider it is than they thought the day before. Explorers are a self-fulfiller, self-motivated, self-driven, and self-sufficient. Independence is their hallmark...”

Smiling dreamily, Anna whispers, “Kris, remind me to ask Gideon to write the flyers for Summer vacations…”

Still wondering about what Anna said before, Elsa finally asks, “Anna, what do you mean by not being alone - am I sensing a new rebellion being forged?”

“Of course not,” Anna responds while accommodating the baby on her lap to breastfeed him. “I was referring to a recurring topic of conversations in taverns, restaurants, family reunions, especially since the shelter gatherings. During Operation B&S people talked a lot, being confined as they were, you know?"

"You mean… Operation B&S awakened the seeker?" Elsa asks.

"More than that, sis. During Operation B&S Kristoff and I ran a research in some shelters with two groups of adults: Younger and between 30 to 40. You didn't see it because you spent a lot of time at a kids' shelter... Anyway, compiling the answers we came to the conclusion that among us there are more wanderers, pilgrims and iconoclasts than we imagined - which is good for the Ministry. Borrowing Gideon's term, we identified a lot of explorers, people seeking to escape the confines of their average life by traveling the world or exploring its many mysteries."

"That's interesting… and to think you haven't sampled the two segments with the highest concentration of explorers: kids and teens. Anyway, better not explore this subject too much. Transposing the borders could have unpredictable consequences, there are plenty of places to explore within the Realms, so many that would take many lifetimes to explore them all…" Gideon reasons.

"Sure," Kristoff intervenes, "Anna's concern is with conformity - it reminds me how we, when children, loved to learn about the world. But don't worry, we are all good, no rebellion in sight… With Handy and within the realms we already have a lot of fun in the horizon. After the many events - fairs, festivals and tournaments - among many other tourism activities planned for this Summer, our next achievable goal is to activate the underground canals' maze for guided tours, perhaps this Autumn…"

"Wait a minute," Elsa cuts him, "but the maze... how to cross it without magic runes?"

"Well, good thing the Trolls are our friends, isn't it?" Kristoff winks, "we promised them to not include the Valley of the Living Rock in any tour package, in other words, to leave them in peace and alone, and in exchange they have drawn a few sketches of the maze. Grand Pabbie, Bulda, Cliff, Little Rock, and Goth - all of them are helping."

"The only thing holding back the project is the restoration of Wish Rumple's Castle. It's progressing slowly but we understand that its cleaning is complex and involves more than healing a build. As you know, Archie and Wish Regina are using the restoration as a recovery treatment for both Felixes and that requires another timing." Anna remembers. "Once the castle is ready, which I suppose will happen by autumn-winter, we'll be able to open the first United Realms Ski Resort. If it wasn't for Handy I'd be anxious, but now I'm not in such a hurry, every minute of this cuddly is precious and I want to enjoy it intensely," she says, looking tenderly at the baby breast feeding on her...

Enchanted Mountains, Wish Rumple's Castle

After its last residents, the old castle was left in ruins metaphorically comparable to the mental tissue deterioration of the newest pair of wish-nonwish twins. One of them, actually, ended up earning a new chance for living on Earth but in common both were lacking in emotional stability and life purpose. For this reason, Archie and Wish Regina, working together to socially reintegrate the two men - two adults too far away from their Lost Boys time, decided to develop for them a special rehabilitation program. This way, Felix and Wish Felix were enlisted as constructor apprentices in the Wish Rumple's Castle Restoration Project.

"They'll need many years of therapy," Archie diagnosed, but in order for them to become socially integrated, the participation in this project will give them a feeling of being useful, it will be good for their self-esteem, among other more audacious goals I hope they manage to achieve. But make no mistake, we are dealing with two cases of deep trauma."

"Luckily, the first steps have already been overcome," Archie continued to explain to those deciding over the guys' fate, "I mean, for their real therapy to begin they had to start walking the right path: both have already admitted that for them it is no longer a matter of blaming the father and mother figures standing in their way, as they used to do as Lost Boys - it is on them, the blame. Even this realization, helpful as it is, somehow is still a bit negative because it simply states that they realize that their parents are not against them, they are."

"I'm not sure if I got what you're saying. Who/what inner part is against them?" Killian questioned. "Is there a hidden part of their personality under the father and mother images making them believe for years that the cause of most of their trouble might somehow have got into them from outside?"

"Before answering this question, let's remember that we are dealing with two traumas interconnected. Besides the father-mother issue, cultivated for centuries in both Neverlands by each Felix - I'm naming it 'the Lost Boy Trauma', there is another equally (perhaps even more) important part: their unresolved sexuality. Despite their loyalty to their lovers' evilness, the misdirection of their sexual energy, the unhealthy development of their libido in an abusive and secret relationship never allowed to come out in the open and, which is worse, their true love and devotion, all of that ended up in betrayal, abandonment and feelings of hatred and sexual rejection. So, basically, in a second pack, there is the 'Pan/Malcom Trauma'. While Pan can be seen as Malcom's pedophile side disguised as a boy, each Felix must be seen only as Felix, they went to Neverland during their adolescence, not as a perverted adult reverted to a boy's age. That said, Killian, to answer your question, their inner hidden part fighting against them is the counterpart of their conscious attitude. The unconscious side will leave them no peace and will continue to plague them until it has been accepted. If they were younger a liberation from the past could be enough and a beckoning future would naturally stand ahead rich in possibilities, it would be then sufficient to break a few bonds and the life-urge would do the rest. But in Felixes' cases, they are not really as "young" as their bodies seem to be, the challenges are complex, the stakes are higher."

"In this case, what will be your approach for treating them, Archie?" Key asked.

"I'll illustrate with a metaphor, Key: the butterfly's metamorphosis, this is what I plan to explore during the treatment - a transformational process that might need to be extended over a considerable period of time, during which both Felixes will find themselves living in the very foundations of a world under construction. So, in this sense, I plan to get them involved in the process of restoration of the castle as a metaphor for the life-changing transformation they have to face, a massive reorganization of attitude, behavior, and sense of meaning similar to the massive reorganization of the chaos left by the Pans and Cruellas. Being there, working with their hands in the cleaning and reorganization of the rooms, helping to transform it into a Ski Resort, will trigger their singular encounter with a transformative image after transforming their major life traumas. The castle restoration will take months but for them their own metamorphosis, or transformation, will probably take years to become complete. When there is such a major passage, one can think in terms of the passing over (meta, trans) from one form (morph, form) to another."

...

Wish Regina is now married to Liam Senior, who decided to remain in land with her and Roland (though sometimes the young man visits his father and Regina and stays for a while with them). Besides their work on the Social Welfare Ministry, Liam and Wish Regina run, nearby their Enchanted Seashore house, a restaurant, The Sentinel, and a small hostel which is frequently the in-land home of the Nautilus' crew. Within her duties as Minister, once a week W. Regina travels to W. Rumple's castle taking Tink, W. Tink and the two Felixes with her. They are left there during the five working days, together with architects, bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians and painters, working on restoring the castle - left in ruins by the Pans and Cruellas - and creating a completely new place. During the weekends they return to Storybrooke and remain in a Detoxing Clinic.

Under the supervision of the two Fairies, their old acquaintances from both Neverlands, the ex-lovers of Pan and Wish Pan are responsible for cleaning the aura of the old castle, which is done through meditation exercises. For that, by acting on their own aura, cleaning the energy field that covers their entire bodies and protecting their spirits from the energies that surround them, they become energy generators producing purifying fields for the environment. This way, their psychic irradiation acts to clean the castle aura. The principle the Fairies use is a combination of mindfulness and meditation applied through simple exercises based on three techniques that greatly help to eliminate negative energies: 1) absorbing sunshine; 2) purifying energies through the crystal clear water of the underground rivers; and 3) just lying in a comfortable place where they can have time for themselves, without being disturbed, to empty their minds and relax their bodies.

In the beginning, only the two Felixes and the two Tinks took part of the exercises but soon the others joined their sessions, usually happening early in the morning, at noon and in the evening. With such a good camaraderie being established, Felix started to help the carpenters and Wish Felix, the painters (the fairies opted to work on the kitchen). These new developments have already showed the first signs of their past traumas' healing.

...

The Felix case rekindled the debates over the activation of the Ministry of Justice - which had been set up with the other ministries but the post had not yet been occupied. Regina, since Robin's return, has been completely refreshed and enthusiastic about the UR activities, and although accumulating the Justice post, she was the first to suggest that a new minister should be appointed. Some names were thought of, but all opinions converged when someone mentioned the name of Emma Swan-Jones…

For Emma, more than a Poetic Justice, the nomination was the crowning of a life trajectory, of a heroic journey marked by being a product of True Love in an unique configuration, back to old times at the Enchanted Forest. Above all, more than a tale written by the Fates, everybody agreed that she would be a natural in managing matters pertinent to the judiciary, police, maintenance and defense of human rights. Besides, having her beloved Captain by her side, leading the intelligence bureau of all realms, would be the icing on the cake.

By her turn, on numerous occasions Emma had already assisted Wish Regina at the Social Welfare Ministry, especially in the project most dear to her - Childhood & Adolescence, but she was somewhat reluctant to accept the invitation for a major ministerial role. Eventually she decided in favor of it once a few conditions were fulfilled satisfactorily. For that, Cruella's house was finally given a purpose after the clones were removed from it. Emma and Killian's goal was to remain in Storybrooke, close to their relatives and to the sea, and that was made possible when the Justice Ministry started to operate in the old mansion after another restoration project was carried out on it. The energy cleansing process adopted was similar to the one being performed at Wish Rumple's Castle - an Astral Healing Operation, but to a lesser extent given the different scales of the two buildings.

All in all, six and a half months after Operation B&S, everyone is starting to rationalize with their minds what has already been felt by their hearts: the astral field is cleaner now and a new energetic balance is gradually being achieved in the Upperworld Realms...

Olympus, Persephone's Garden

In the past, Persephone had a garden of ever blooming flowers in the Underworld but that changed after Hades' descent into madness and villainy - nothing else could flourish there. For Persephone, however, with the half-yearly change of scenery, a garden at Olympus would always bloom and produce her favorite fruit, pomegranate, upon her return to the Upperworld in spring.

The pomegranate is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub fruit that has been used throughout history and in virtually every religion as a symbol of humanity’s central beliefs and ideals, namely, life and death, rebirth and eternal life, fertility and marriage, and abundance. For the goddess, it features prominently in the story of her marriage to Hades. Hades kidnapped Persephone and took her to the Underworld to be his wife. Persephone’s mother, Demeter, goddess of fertility, considering her daughter lost, went into mourning and thus all things on earth ceased to grow. Zeus, Persephone’s father, commanded his brother Hades to release her, however Hades had tricked her into eating six pomegranate seeds, and it was a Fate's rule, later repealed, that anyone who consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Since Persephone had eaten the six pomegranate seeds, she had to remain in the Underworld for six months of the year. Hades agreed to release her to the world above for the other six months of the year, to be reunited with her mother.

...

For the gods, after the normalization of Nectar and Ambrosia production, the experience of being mortal became just a memory. But an unforgettable one, forever altering the way they view life and death. Apart from long philosophical discussions, however, in practice the cycles of seasons continue to follow, and with them, the time for Persephone's return to Olympus after the long winter.

Walking with her mother, Demeter, in their exuberant garden, Persephone reviews the events of the last period spent in the Underworld, probably the most intense and original of her entire existence.

“So far the total rebel souls count has surpassed 150,000, a surprising number. Arthur still suspects that there are some runaway souls hiding in the dry woods around Underbrooke, but no one to be found at the basements and sewers anymore. The rebellion leaders who refused to undergo a recovery program have returned to Tartarus and are now sharing the best-kept Titans' sector. I believe some of those who opted to cooperate can still be regenerated, such as Facilier, Tamara, Greg and a few others who showed signs of a slight regret - and you know that under my sight there is no way for them to fake a regret. By reading their aura I know that, ultimately, they all have as a goal drinking from the waters of Lethe to benefit from forgetfulness and to return for the reincarnation cycle. But their fates have yet to be revealed, they will be submitted to a new judgment and their new punishment will be defined. I’m advocating that there is no meaning in punishing if not for recovering but we will have to wait and see how the divine principle of Justice will be applied…”

“Remember that in some cases there is no return, my dear… By the way, what about Wish Rumple and Nimue? Despite the very serious crimes that weigh on them, without their help our victory would have been much more complex… ” Demeter asks.

“They are hibernating, especially Nimue, she hibernates 100% of the time. Merlin went down to the Underworld, accompanied by his friend Ingrid, and they worked with Nimue's soul for several days, applying passes on her, and helped Arthur and me to set up a gradual recovery program for her, in principle for lasting almost a century. Something different from what is being applied to James Nolan, because his case is quite simpler, his soul was not so corrupted. Similarly, for Wish Rumple, Wish Belle also worked with us to define a special recovery program for him. In his case, without the need of a prolonged hibernation. He voluntarily asked to gradually replace this therapy by a work assisting Arthur after Wish Belle moves to Elysium - which is about to happen. Another of his requests was to be part of the string quartet. As I’m not there, he has already started playing, but his instrument will change after Belle leaves. I've watched only one performance but the results on his aura cleaning were encouraging.”

“Hmm, that's interesting... We could use guardian flowers to accelerate Nimue and W. Rumple’s healing processes, they could be kept by Merlin and W. Belle, their true loves: a poetic outcome in the fate of the first and the last Dark Ones...” Demeter suggests.

“What a great idea! The flowers must be Red Rose, for Rumple, and Mistletoe, for Nimue, like this!” and with a gesture, Persephone produces two crystal cylindrical domes with the flowers in them. “We just need to give them to Merlin and W. Belle. For as long as they preserve their vitality and bright, there will be hope for Nimue and Rumple’s redemption.”

“Why not go down there now and give both to Belle? She can take them with her when she moves on. And I could go with you, you know, get to know more closely the Human that has stolen my daughter’s heart….” she winks.

“What do you mean? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t deny, Persephone, it is too evident. You are in love with Arthur and that is great, I’m happy for you. You needed a King to reign with you…”

“Right…” she smiles timidly, “I confess, he really is a special man. But ours is an impossible love, Mother, he is more than mortal, he is dead man, I mean, he doesn’t have a physical body, which makes things more complicated for us.”

“Not for Zeus, you know, I have talked to him and he has agreed: if Arthur agrees he can be resurrected in a similar way as Killian Jones was. From that, if he drinks the Nectar, in a similar way as what happened to Psyche - remember her story with Eros? Well, then, if he agrees in drinking the Nectar he will be one of us, a God, the new King of the Underworld. He will reign alone when you, the Underworld Queen, come to the Upperworld during spring-summer, and he will stay with you, down there, during autumn-winter.”

“Oh, Mother!” she closes her eyes dreamily, “that would be a dream come true, a really good dream! Arthur is nothing like Hades, he is a loyal and righteous soul. Although he made a very compromising mistake in Camelot, he was the first victim of it, a consequence of Merlin's prophecy misinterpretation. He paid with his life for all his crimes and has given successive proofs of a brilliant, selfless intelligence. Not to mention that to my eyes at least he is a very handsome man and... by the way he looks at me, it seems that my feelings are reciprocated. Oh, Mother, I can't believe I've been given a chance to love and be loved again, to find physical pleasure with a god, again... " she sighs with her eyes closed, anticipating the hours of endless love and passion beside the future god. "You and my Father really made this Spring a special one for me, thank you so much!”

“I'm glad to hear you saying that, your happiness is well deserved - and I'm glad that this time, hopefully, shared with a god worthy of your love, Persephone. You have been a good queen but too lonely… So, let’s visit my future son in law, your King Arthur, and soon he will be the one feeling good. Actually, if he agrees - as I’m sure he will, he will be the one feeling god!" Demeter grins at her pun. "You know, my divine intuition is telling me that soon you will have back your garden down there: with the return of music and yours and Arthur's blossoming love I’m sure that soon the flowers will be back to Underbrooke, in a similar way as hope returned when Killian resurrected and Arthur decided to stay there. His resolution triggered the restoration of a broken kingdom, thus marking the definite end of Hades' era - Arthur being rewarded with immortality is not a favor, my dear, but an act of Justice."

Enchanted Sea, Nautilus

"Ursula, more than six months have passed and you haven't started drinking Ambrosia's Nectar yet... always with some excuse not to go to Olympus. Triton told me that he started drinking months ago..." Nemo again tries to understand Ursula's motivation for her Nectar's abstinence, trying to make her open up to him. This time, in response Ursula shrugs, smiles a mischievous smile, and finally offers him the first concrete answer about her motives: "I'll drink again if you agree to drink with me..."

Her response catches the Captain by surprise and his reaction is a plopped look, a parted mouth but no sound and, finally, a piercing look into her eyes. Before he outlines another reaction, however, W. Ariel and Junior knock at the door and announce that the last crossing point has just been unlocked during the little mermaid dive. With that, they all head to the main room for joining Harris, Martin and their guests, not without Nemo finally managing to whisper, back to Ursula, "this conversation isn’t over yet!"

...

Renewed and grateful for the new chance of a life on earth, Lieutenant Martin and Lieutenant Harris, in an eternal honeymoon, rejoined the Nautilus' crew and, for this dive into southern waters still within twenty thousand leagues boundary, they invited three new friends from their Underworld experience: Franz, from Arendelle, Theodora, from Oz, and Jefferson Hatter, accompanied by his daughter Grace. In addition to the entertainment tour for the guests, the expedition fulfills the mission of unlocking the remaining crossing points on the seabed gridline - those on Earth have already been unlocked and the telluric energies are back to flow freely.

…

Sit at a lunch table, they celebrate their mission ending while still retelling their vivid reminiscences of the Underworld. Always eloquent, Jefferson is one of the most talkative, especially when asked about his latest great adventure. “I spent a great deal of my long existence traveling between realms, crossing portals to other dimensions… I knew lands without color - just black, white and shades of gray; I explored alternate enchanted forests, distant realms, wonderlands and enchanted deserts, many of them running under different paces, but nothing prepared me for the Underworld. I couldn't say it was, in the strict sense, a bad trip, because we were received as warmly as possible given the circumstances, but the feeling of death can only be understood by those who felt and remember it!!”

“What about the Land without Magic, Papa? You never told me much about it...” Grace asks, moving to a less somber subject.

“That’s because I’ve only been there briefly, my dear. During the first curse I confess that I was tempted to move there, because being the only Storybrooke’s citizen keeping the Enchanted Forest memory, the only one who did not forget the real identity, besides Regina, was the true experience of madness. People often refer to me as the Mad Hatter, but the real madness has always been my extreme lucidity - the rest is eccentricity and legend. But then I never wanted to cross the border because I didn't want to forget you, Grace. Although the pain of being able to see you, knowing who you were, but not being recognized by you was almost unbearable, I didn't want to lose you. Later, after the first curse was broken it became possible to leave without losing my memory and I got away with it. I loved New York even though I wouldn't want to live there. But all the cosmopolitan buzz, the mix of peoples and cultures make it a city that cannot be considered without magic. Unfortunately, its problem is being in a very sick world, a very sick society. I admit that my analysis is too simplistic, but definitely their economic, political and social systems turn their world a sick land. I do not know if there is, on the whole planet within the dimension of the Land without Magic, any society or political or economic system that escapes this sickness. As a society we also have a lot of problems but nothing comparable to their reality. The United Realms creation, as a concept, is fantastic but no one can predict the long term consequences of bringing us together without portals to cross - the only outside world for us now is the Land without Magic, reachable by crossing enchanted border lines. For adventurers minds like mine crossing the UR border will be tempting, mainly for younger, explorer minds since the older ones tend to be more conservative and less curious. Besides, as we do access their world through the electromagnetic waves, we know what is going on there, though they don't access our encrypted signals - yet; we know them and their struggles but they don't know us. We know how badly they treat the planet..."

“I know that the oceans suffer a lot because of the people who inhabit the Land without Magic," W. Ariel comments. "I communicate with many sea inhabitants and they use to describe the atrocities they are subjected to: predatory hunting with institution of destruction, the greed of seabed exploration for oil extraction, nuclear tests, contamination of waters by chemical, radioactive and industrialized waste - tons of plastic waste; there are various endangered species out there... it's very sad what they tell me when they can cross the barriers that separate the Enchanted Sea from the other Oceans."

“Their armament industry forces them to live in a permanent war…” Ursula adds. “I lived there, I know quite a bit about what Jefferson said, he is absolutely right. You know, sometimes I wonder if the world would accept and respect our existence... we could help them in that case.”

“They are not prepared for accepting that those whom they classify as fictional characters are in fact real people,” Theodora explains. “I know that there have been attempts, in the past, of people from our realms who tried to explain that to them - all ended up treated as crazy people and died in an asylum.”

“I guess they would accept more easily the existence of outer space Aliens than ours!” Junior jokes.

“Even so,” Nemo ponders, “my adventurous, explorer spirit insists that there must be a way to cross the borders undetected and, once there, work anonymously and unknowingly to at least protect the natural resources of the planet - as citizens of the planet we are connected to them - if they destroy Mother Nature, they destroy themselves and ourselves!”

“Has anyone discussed the possibility of unifying the United Realms with the Land without Magic?” Franz wonders.

“That would be too problematic, Franz,” Nemo responds. “We would be seen as part of Maine, the US government wouldn't respect our independence and would want us to be subject to their command, under their taxes, laws, currency and state government’s policies. And which is worse, considering their belic industry and geopolitical/military interests, they would want to explore and use our Magic and our unique Science as a weapon - not to mention that other people would want to proclaim their cultural property to reclaim some of our kingdoms. But as we really are One, what happens in there directly or indirectly affects us. That's particularly true now. You see, we could help them during this pandemic crisis much more extensively if we weren't oblied to work anonymously.”

“We got to befriend the Shamans and their tribes,” Grace reminds them, “there is hope…”

“That is meaningful, it really is.” Franz tells Grace. “But I’ve been told by those who got to talk with the Shamans, during the Victory Celebrations, that most of their people have been decimated and their culture has been disrespected for centuries, now. They are the real Native people of the American territory, in other words the original inhabitants of the United Realms territory. Perhaps if it were for them, only, the border could be deactivated without problem. But let's face reality, we should take their experience as a reference and be prepared to defend our lifestyle and culture. From what I understood, if we opened our borders we could become an exploited freak, something like an exotic attraction. Their dominant system - capitalism, isn't it? - would see us as an absurdly great source of wealth and exploitation. That would be our end," he continues reasoning. “But I get your point, Grace, knowing that they are destroying and polluting our shared home, Mother Earth, and being here doing nothing is quite disturbing…”

“Franz is right,” Nemo agrees. “For capitalism, we would be seen as a source of profit, of power, only. Our mystical existence would be unexplainable for them. Our elements of mystery if not explorable for profit or domination could be seen as a threat to their lifestyle and religious systems, which, it seems, may enrich the understanding but rob the imagination… As for us, we use to divide the world not into different groups of objects but into different groups of connections and, based on that, my only hope of a better rapport with them comes exactly from their Modern Science and their Ancient Cultures, such as the Shamans’ - both get closer to our approach. For modern Physics, the world appears as a complicated tissue of events, in which connections of different kinds alternate or overlap or combine and thereby determine the texture of the whole. I could discuss our principles and mysteries with scientists but not with politicians and economists…”

“You are referring to Heisenberg's principle of indeterminacy, isn’t it? I read about it during the 28 years of cursed Storybrooke…” Jefferson asks. "The so-called uncertainty principle..."

“Exactly,” Nemo confirms. “Heisenberg was a congenial fellow, he emphasized that the view of nature as an object out there was quite illusory, he demonstrated that the subject was always part of the equation, that an inexorable reciprocity between subject and object existed such that the very act of observation changed irreparably what was being observed - unknowingly, he enunciated one of the principles of Magic!! That is also one of the most important paradigms of Psychology, a fundamental paradox of existence inherited precisely in the fact that the human being is both subject and object at once.”

“They would want to rob our Nectar of Ambrosia, again…” Ursula mumbles.

“Oh, that reminds me that Ursula and I have an important issue to discuss, privately. So, if you'll excuse us, my friends, you should continue the conversation without us for now. Shall we go to our quarters, Ursula, please?” Nemo addresses her, already standing up.

…

Closing their quarters door and sitting close to Ursula, Nemo turns to her, holding her hand, “Very well, Ursula… Immortality. Is that what you are offering me?”

“Yeah…” she answers timidly. “That, or the other way around, I mean, mortality for me. I can't handle any other alternative very well. I either become a mortal and follow the timeline with you, or bring you with me to the immortality line. There is no other alternative to my equation, Nemo. I wouldn't know, wouldn't resist, and wouldn't want to be eternal away from you. I have already talked to my father and Zeus, among the gods they are of the few with authority and power to allow a mortal to become immortal. They recently opened an exception for Arthur, in the Underworld, not only to resurrect him but also to make him immortal, and they will say yes to you if you agree. The final decision is yours, you are free to choose."

“I choose you, my love, my eternal love…” he closes the gap between them, caressing her arms up and down to hug her tightly, holding her chin, stroking her ear and opening his lips to kiss her soft lips as they start a sensual dance of passionate tongues as skilled and wet as the tentacles of an octopus and a nautilus curling up and merging into One in a mating ritual.

Elysium, Islands of the Blessed

Belle's farewell was gentle, full of promises and hope when she and Rumple consummated their love the day before her departure.

“Rumple, trust our love, always be guided by it, know that through our Rose, I will be always taking care of you and protecting you. Please remember, keep in your heart that ancient Greek inscription we so often read together, as the mark of our everlasting love: Time is a child - playing like a child - playing on a chessboard - the realm of the child. It is Telesphorus, who errs through the dark regions of the cosmos and shines like a star rising from the depths. It points the way to the gates of the sun and dreamland…”

“I remember,” Rumple whispers caressing her tenderly, “when we sit in our castle to read about Telesphorus, whom in Greek mythology symbolizes convalescence, the period following an illness. Perhaps, one day, if you go to Mount Olympus, you will meet him. He is the son of Asclepius, the chief god of medicine.”

“Yeah, I’ll remember that… Do you know, Rumple, why I liked so much this passage? I never told you, I guess. That is because the "disease", of which Telesphorus announces convalescence through its small lantern, is the moment of complete immersion in the unconscious, in the darkness of absolute nothingness, referred to in the Greek text as dark regions of the cosmos."

Nodding, Rumple smiles and then asks, “and have I told you before why I liked this representation of Time?” As she shakes her head, he continues, “normally time is represented by the figure of death, a sinister skull with a scythe in its hand, but here it is represented by a figure of a child: playing, illuminating our paths through the infinite sky's darkness. It is also a representation of the Self, our real being, when we finally recognize it. Telesphorus represents the time when light is rescued, he is the discrimination, the right direction during darkening situations. He is the Time at the center of consciousness.”

The tears fall as Belle closes her eyes to absorb Rumple’s words. Reopening them, she looks into his eyes. “My love, the images of time, as the skull that carries the scythe or as the child that brings the light, they refer to two types of time experience that you and I will undergo from now on. The first speaks of the linear time to which your next flesh, after your stage in Underbrooke, will be subjected, easily perceived by the external transformations manifested by the body design and the environment around it. It will be marked by birth, life, and death and is related to the causal form of thought, beginning, middle, and end. They are like deaths and rebirths. This is Kronos, which represents time related to death, a time that consumes itself. Our Love lives in Kayros, a nonlinear time. It represents those moments that transcend the limitations imposed by the fear of death in a second as vast as the infinite space. Please remember, Rumple, Kayros, in Greek, means the right time. In Latin, it corresponds to momentum, the moment that leaves a strong and unique impression throughout life without the weight of past burdens and the anxiety about the future.”

“I see…” Rumple nods barely managing to speak, also with teary eyes.

...

“I love you, ma Belle de Jour, my eternal Belle! Meet me in our Kayros, I'll be there... part of me will be always there, waiting for the Right Time when we will be together again...” Rumple waves as she slowly climbs the stairs to the Upperworld taking with her the two crystal domes with the two flowers, the symbols of Hope and Eternal Love.

…

Wish Belle died without a proper funeral ceremony - her remains were abandoned in a cell where they decomposed. Nonetheless, she was loved - much loved by everyone who knew her and it was this love that allowed her soul to have the direction it had in Underbrooke. Finally managing to steer her Unfinished Business to a good outcome, Wish Belle braced herself for the big and definite shift in her existence: the Champs Elysee. She arrives in the Islands of the Blessed through a portal that took her soul to cross her twin’s place of burial, as a kind of ritual of passage to absorb a proper burial, and is met by two friends who recently have been in the Underworld with her: Merlin and Ingrid.

“Welcome,” Ingrid tells her, extending her arms.

“Hello, Belle, welcome to your new home,” Merlin smiles, receiving the dome with Nimue’s flower and looking at it absently.

“Follow me,” Ingrid brings them both back to the present. “There is a reception party waiting for you, my dear, you will soon realize how much we enjoy a good socializing meeting with good talk, dancing, delicious meals, lots of music and peace. Above all, Belle, a lot of peace. This does not mean that we do not care about those who have not yet reached this state of mind, on the contrary. Even in the face of the pain and suffering of others, it is the serenity of our spirit that points to the paths and to the reasons why so much sadness still affects our beloved humans incarnated on Earth or in lower layers of the Underworld. Come, Belle, between us we don't have to use the prefix "wish" to distinguish ourselves, we just know who we are.”

…

Wish Belle is living with the two Baelfires, now that Milah has moved to Liam’s ship, where he already lived with Alice. Sometimes she visits her twin and brother in law, usually to borrow a new book, which she reads out loud in front of her Rose, imagining she is reading to her Rumple. Her sister took from Olympus a free pass to the Olympian Library and she is sure to have enough lecture for all eternity - both Belles don’t complain. The 'Tiltskin brothers are the best companions she could have asked for, always good humored, always gentle, always ready to talk and to day dream. They love to spend hours painting or hearing their neighbor, Aesop, narrating/creating new fables in the house he shares with Marian.

Ingrid, living with her sisters and brother in law, sometimes visits Merlin, joining Rumple, who also loves to visit the Wizard and his Apprentice, Jack, in a lab where they run experiments, discuss spells or simply talk about Life, Love, and Eternity.

Fergus and Farah, with Midas, Wish Midas and their wives share a common hobby: Midas received from the gods a wide screen similar to the Charmings', but in their case, instead of watching real life people, they prefer to marathon watching movies and series produced on the LWM.

In contrast to Midas' cine club, Aunt Em, Ruth and Wish Ruth, being the Charming’s neighbors, are usually at their house watching their beloved ones, vibrating for them, feeling good with them...

Enchanted Sea, the Jolly Rogers

At the end of July, to celebrate the twins' third month and the first anniversary of the Sweet Suite, the much-dreamed and planned trip on the two Jolly Rogers finally became true. On a sunny Tuesday morning, the crew and passengers of the two ships departed from Storybrooke heading south, reproducing the original journey of Key and his four mates until their arrival on Heart-Shaped Island.

The preparations for the trip ran in parallel to a ministerial reform initiated with David's request to leave the Defense Ministry and to occupy the Agriculture Ministry, instead. What followed was a concatenation of changes leading to a brand new configuration. The renewed setup began to be outlined when Robin Hood assumed the Prime Minister position and soon after that several ministerial posts - previously created but not yet occupied - gained their holders, new offices and staff. As a whole, it was decided that each Ministry would have two holders to provide a better balance for them to conciliate their professional duties with their private lives.

This way, after David’s move, Emma requested Killian's release for working at the Ministry of Justice as head of the new Intelligence Bureau. Key, in turn, asked to share his time between Storybrooke Police Department and Emm's newly occupied Ministry of Art & Culture. As a leading specialist in computer science, Key naturally needed a higher freedom degree because he gradually became a consultant for all ministries but his goal is to dedicate, at least part-time, to fine arts, especially painting, and to maritime navigation - a dream shared with Killian. Besides, with his move he intended to free his wife for a part-time job thus allowing her to take care of the babies during their first year.

In the Magic Ministry Gideon gained Zelena's support after she and Chad settled back on her farm, previously occupied by Robyn and Alice. With the magic connection between the ranch and their Portland house, Zelena and Chad can better reconcile life on both worlds. Robyn and Alice, by their turn, are the newest occupants of the Loft in downtown Storybrooke.

Henry Mills joined Snow in the Education Ministry, while Chynna, besides majoring in Psychology, took over the Communication Ministry with Sydney (her father joined Nemo in the Ministry of Science & Technology). Lily and Phileas Fog assumed the Transport Ministry in coordination with the activities ran by Aladdin and Eric at the Ministry of Industry & Trade whilst Lancelot and Naveen moved to the Defense Ministry. The complete setup diagram was emailed by Chynna to Robin a few minutes after boarding the ships and its printed version went hand in hand.

"It looks great," Snow summed it up and concluded with her characteristic optimism: “This diagram confirms that we are not leaving any critical issue behind. We are free to completely relax and indulge ourselves on the cruise to Heart Island. All aboard, settled down, great weather, two ships lined up and ready to set sail!”

Differently from the original 4-sailor team, the cruise required a bigger crew which then resulted in 6 people for each ship under the two captains Jones command. The passengers include, in addition to those connected to the original Sweet Suite events: Kristoff, Anna and Handy (their baby boy), Eric, Ariel, Anastasia, Drizella, Moe, Jack and Johanna. The other passengers are: Killian, Emma, Hope, Key, Emm, Jason, Dylan, Henry, Cindy, Lucy, W. Henry, Violet, Alice, Robyn, David, Snow, Neal, Gideon, Elsa, Robin, Regina, Roland, S. Regina, W. Robin, Coralline, W. Regina, Liam Sr, W. Ariel, Liam Jr, Ursula, Nemo, Brennan, Gepetto, August, W. Pinocchio, W. Granny, Granny, Merida, Mulan, Red, Dorothy, W. Red, W. Mulan, Tiana, Naveen, Zelena, Chad, Aladdin, Jasmine and Farah (their baby girl) - a total of 72 people, 36 on each ship: full capacity without compromising their quarters comfort.

And there they go!

...

The days have followed with tranquility: warm with a refreshing breeze blowing over the sails, propelling the vessels like two ships floating in clear days and starry nights. The passage of time has been marked by the Sweet Suite songs, played in the same order as they were originally sung and played. One of the ships, however, has been kept quieter: Key's, as the four babies are traveling on it - Jason, Dylan, Handy and Farah, four new forces of nature preparing to shine in the world. Meanwhile, on the other ship, with everyone already with their own brightness dawned, there hasn't been any restrictions for a noisier radiation of joy and promise of life.

Seen from a distance the cruise resembles perfection, but at a close inspection Snow's wish hasn't been exactly fulfilled - blame on the Internet. Although trying, they haven't been completely disconnected from the world, especially from constant threats of global pandemic and ecological imbalances reported in the news arriving from the Land without Magic, which they follow concerned.

Despite of that the Enchanted Sea and the enchanted ships, working their magic, have managed to provide a well-deserved vacation to all, entitled to a stop on Carnation Island for a heavenly feast prepared by Poseidon and Triton, who were waiting for them. Inspired by the events on the island a year ago, Ursula proposes that they rehearse a new musical number in addition to the one performed for the Sweet Suite. The result, in the end, may not have been as magical as before, but will surely be remembered as one of the most relaxing and funny moments of their cruise.

...

Another day comes and goes and, finally, they reach it: Heart-shaped Island, bringing up to every one - each in their own private universe that collectively built the Sweet Suite a year ago, a lot of memories and emotions, a lot of voices in the sound of the waves, voices of the sea, voices speaking to the travelers disembarking from the two ships in a state of wonder but, if they stop to listen, shut up, for listening too: fortunate, enchanted hearty island, land where Love lives waiting for walkers as they wake up from a dream and face Real Life, where there's only sentiment, where there's only the sea.

“So beautiful…” Emm extends her arms with teary eyes clouded by images and sounds reverberating in her heart: magic music... magic mirror and, oh! sweet memory... Luna and Missy... “I miss them…” she whispers to Key and Emma, who walks close to them, hand in hand with Hope.

“They are here, Aunt Emm,” Hope comforts Emm, caressing her hands and pointing to the sky, “see those two shinning birds flying over there? They are Luna and Missy sending their love!!!”

…

The Beatles song sounds far away, mingling in the air with the happy laughs and screams of children - who today don't want to be treated like pre-teens or teens. Even the adults, seen at close range, have allowed the kid they kept in their chests to run free on the beach. At the extremes, all in all, old and young find themselves communing with the magic of the Island.

"Here comes the sun king Everybody is laughing Everybody is happy Here comes the sun king...

Quando paramucho mi amore de felice corazón Mundo paparazzi mi amore chicka ferdy parasol Cuesto obrigado tanta mucho que canite carousel..."

In this scenario, Emm and Key - she with Jason, the ever more contemplative, on her lap, he carrying the most alert, Dylan - are walking the heart path, the island edge.

"Still beautiful and welcoming," Emm smiles with nostalgia.

"Would you like to come back, love?"

"Maybe, on summer holidays or special occasions... we could build a few summer houses and come with Killian, Emma and Hope, perhaps, Robyn & Alice and Henry & Violet, and..." she grins shaking her head, "not too many or it would become too crowded..."

"Three houses would be perfect, love, they could be 3-bedroom cottages. Killian, Emma and I were talking to Anna and Kristoff about that, you know, nearly 30 minutes ago. We are thinking about creating a regular Tourism route - remember that it is always Summer-like here - but for that we'd have to build a small dock, for the Jolly Rogers, and 3 cottages: one at the tip of the heart, where your house used to be, and the other two in the lobes of the heart, where we made love for the second time," he grins, playing with Dylan's fingers.

Emma chuckles and continues, "it would be nice for us and the children, I can already imagine them running along these white sands, laughing happily, building castles..."

"Aye..." suddenly Key stops on his track to look into Emm's eyes, "it was here that I told you, for the first time, that I love you..."

"I love you too, Killian, and if it weren't for Jason already massaging my breasts and making my milk drip, I'd kiss you showing how much... Let's go find a shadow because these two are thirsty and so do I..."

"Sit here with the boys, Emma, under these palm trees. Don't spend your magic to bring water, I'll fill the canteen in the fountain and will be back in a minute."

...

“Emm, you lived in a paradise: a beautiful beach with warm waters, a cool breeze, crystal clear drinking water, delicious…” Zelena and Chad approach Emm, lying on the sand next to the babies, who alternate to breastfeed on her.

“Yeah, this island is really special, Zelena: magic and musical…” she smiles softly while looking at the children approaching with Alice and Henry Mills to sit next to them.

“What song would she - the island is a girl - sing to us if she could sing?” Cora asks, making funny faces at Dylan.

“We could ask her,” Hope replies and turns to Alice, “Starfish…” everyone smiles at the girl's cuteness using Alice's nickname, “you talk to the trees, so... you could ask them what song they would sing for us…”

“Sure, my cutie,” Alice replies blinking, “I'm going to the middle of the island, near the water fountain, I will concentrate to ask them and to be able to hear their answer and then I will come back to tell you…”

…

When she comes back with a big smile on her lips, everyone asks: "So, did it work?"

“Aye, the Island responded! she told me that the song she would like to dedicate to us is called Feeling Good!"

Initially the title didn't ring a bell to anyone and Key then asked his daughter if there wasn't any other hint - "nope, nada!"

“I know it!” Henry finally exclaims, “I know this song! There is a classic version with Nina Simone but I think I have a cover version on my playlist, do you want to hear it?”

“We want it!!” “Of course!” “Aye!” “Yes!” “Aye!”

"Very well, everyone," Henry prepares to press play: "here we go!"

0 notes

marie85marketing · 6 years

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7 Social Media Trends to Watch and Capitalize On in 2018

The trend is your friend.

Why? Because trends often become the norm, and getting in early allows you to harness its power without too much competition or noise. Write something off as “just” a trend, and you may be late to the party of the year.

Remember when Facebook was a “trend”? Or Twitter? Instagram? Now, those are a key component to your digital marketing plan (and if not, they should be).

You’ve got to reach and engage with your audience where they spend time online. And where is that? Say it with me: social media.

In its State of Social 2018 Report, Buffer found that businesses are overwhelmingly on the social train. 96% use Facebook, with Twitter (89%), LinkedIn (70%), Instagram (70%), and YouTube (57%) rounding out the top five. The report also revealed that 85% of businesses plan to create more video content on those platforms than they did last year.

We spend an average of 2 hours and 15 minutes on social media each day, which accounts for one-third of our online time, and twice as much as any other activity.

Customers spend anywhere from 20-40% more on companies that engage with them on social media.

The most popular social media platforms in January 2018 include Facebook (2.2 billion users), YouTube (1.5 billion), WhatsApp (1.3 billion), Facebook Messenger (1.3 billion), and WeChat (980 million). Three of the top five are messenger apps.

There were 2.46 billion social media users in 2017. That number is expected to hit 2.62 billion in 2018, and 3.02 billion by 2021.

Social media is popular with Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z.

The statistics paint a very clear picture: social media must be an integral part of your marketing mix in 2018 and beyond. Ignore it at your peril.

That said, social media is an evolving beast, with new features popping up all the time.

Some are destined for the trash heap of history – remember how much “fun” poking was on Facebook? – while others become cornerstones of the platform that we can’t remember living without.

So what to do, which platforms to use, and what trends to try?

Here are seven for the new year:

Social Listening

Live Streaming and Video

Influencer Marketing

Facebook Continues to Set the Pace

Increased Engagement on Messaging Platforms

Instagram Stories

Augmented Reality

1. Social Listening

This may not be completely new, but it’ll take on increased importance in 2018 and the years to come. Social media in all its forms is only getting bigger and more popular, and by extension you’ll have to start paying more attention to it.

But that goes beyond just having a few accounts on a few different platforms. You’ll even have to do more than “just” having an active presence on those platforms. You need to listen to what people are saying about you, your competition, your brand, and your products, and respond accordingly. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

People are talking about you more often than just when they’re engaging directly with you. People are making complaints, lavishing praise, and showing off your stuff on many different platforms and networks. Some you belong to, and some you don’t.

But that’s beside the point: if they’re talking to or about you, they expect a response from you.

In fact, 60% of consumers that post a complaint on social media expect a response in less than 60 minutes. You’ve got one hour to notice and respond. And if you don’t, 88% of them are unlikely to buy from you again or recommend you to friends and family.

Enter social listening.

You need systems in place to monitor many different channels for your particular keywords and phrases, and to bring those mentions to your attention so you can examine them for both insight and opportunities.

What are people saying about your brand? How do they feel about your latest product? What problems or complaints do they have? An active social listening strategy can provide those answers and more.

And as we increasingly use social media for everything, there’s a lot of insight you could harvest, to say nothing of the improved customer experience you can provide by responding to issues and complaints in a timely and convenient manner.

The bigger you get, the more important it is to be aware of what others are saying about you on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, review sites, and more.

A simple way to get started is Google Alerts. You can quickly set up email notifications for the words and phrases you want to monitor by entering them into the search bar, setting your preferences on frequency, sources, region, and more, and clicking the “Create Alert” button. It’s just that easy.

But to truly get the most out of social listening, you need a service or tool that specializes in it. A few of the best include Brandwatch, Hootsuite Insights, Mention, ReviewTrackers, Talkwalker, and TrackReddit.

Respond quickly to complaints. Collect valuable data on your customers. Manage a crisis. Find influencers. Generate reports. Analyze your competition. Understand your audience and industry better. Measure impact. Gauge brand sentiment. Enhance customer service and engagement.

The list of what social listening can’t do is much shorter than what it can do. If you’re not already using it, I highly recommend you start. Sign up and start listening today.

Being aware of public opinion and sentiment towards your brand are as important as the product or service itself. Social listening gives that to you.

2. Live Streaming and Video

Video – whether recorded or live – is becoming the social media tactic you can’t afford to ignore. That’ll only get more apparent in 2018.

According to a recent post by Hubspot, 43% of social media users want to see more video content from marketers, businesses now publish an average of 18 videos each month, the average video retains a little over one-third of its viewers (37%) to the very end, and 85% of businesses have in-house personnel and resources for video creation.

Do you? Are you using video and its younger-but-equally-popular brother, live streaming, as part of your social media efforts? You should. Consider:

Over 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute

YouTube users enjoy 1 billion hours per day

Two-thirds of people – a full 67% – are more likely to buy a ticket to an event after watching a live video about it

Live video is both created and watched by people in virtually every age category, from teenagers to those 55 and older. Overall, 36% of Americans watch it, while 22% create it.

80% prefer watching a live video from a brand than reading a blog post, and 82% prefer live video over any other type of social media post

Live videos on Facebook are watched 3x longer and get 10x more comments than those that are recorded

36% of internet users have watched a live video as of November 2016

Live.me – a mobile-only live streaming app – is less than two years old, but already has over 20 million active users who create more than 200,000 hours of new content each day

Viewers respond positively to live video streaming because of the immediacy and engagement it creates with their favorite brands and personalities.

Brands and personalities can quickly deliver an enhanced customer experience with live video. The four most popular types are explainers, product demos, how-tos, and testimonials, but you can do so much more: live events, announcements, product reveals, interviews, behind-the-scenes, Q&A sessions, demonstrations, and on and on.

Most social media platforms now have native live streaming capabilities or easy integration, so you can pick and choose where and when to do it. Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, Twitter, Snapchat, Twitch, and Instagram Live are all great platforms to try depending on where your customers and audience are hanging out.

To set yourself up for success, let your followers and fans know you’ll be live streaming beforehand. Post about it, send a reminder, create a daily or weekly or monthly schedule, be consistent, get the word out to generate as big an audience as possible.

Then click that “Go Live” button. Be authentic, informative, and remember to breath. Connect and build a relationship with your audience, and they’ll become not only loyal, but vocal advocates on your behalf.

3. Influencer Marketing

Some have called this one dead and done, but influencer marketing is not only still alive, it’s growing. That’s not to say it hasn’t evolved, though.

In 2018, it’s less about riding the coattails of whomever is most popular at any given moment, and more about building meaningful relationships and finding the influencers that reflect your brand ethos.

Many companies have found themselves in defense mode after partnering with an influencer based solely on numbers, only to discover later that they’ve shared sexist, racist, grossly inappropriate, or bigoted content on their channels. 73% of marketers list “finding the right influencer” as the biggest challenge.

YouTuber PewDiePie, for example, has over 60 million subscribers and makes millions of dollars each year on the platform. In February of 2017, he had lucrative partnerships with Google and Disney…that is until he was fired from both after he posted objectionable and anti-Semitic material. Not the kind of exposure Google and Disney were trying to get.

Don’t make that mistake. Launching a successful influencer marketing campaign should never be based on the number of followers or fans. You need to look for relevancy to your industry, products, and target audience – Kim Kardashian to promote your new robo-advisor might not be the best fit – their average amount of comments and other engagement metrics, and the overall sentiment towards them (you can find that with social listening).

Choose wisely, as your designated influencer is a reflection of your brand. You want it to be a positive one. Once you’ve identified one, reach out and connect. Build the relationship. Ask for their ideas if their interested, but don’t feel obligated to grant them complete control and freedom. Influencer marketing works best when it’s a true partnership.

But what about the $64,000 question: does it work?

Influencer marketing was tied for first with email marketing as the most cost-effective online acquisition channel. Marketers in the same poll listed blogs (37%), Facebook (25%), and YouTube (6%) as the top three platforms for the tactic.

Don’t automatically associate “celebrity” with “influencer”. In fact, Markerly found that the rate of engagement decreases as the number of followers rises. Those with 10+ million followers saw likes 1.6% of the time, and comments only 0.04% of the time, compared to 8% and 0.5% respectively for those with less than 1000 followers. They suggest working with a micro-influencer in the 10k-100k range of followers for maximum reach and engagement.

Influencer marketing generates an average return of $7.65 for every $1 spent, while 84% of polled marketers describe it as an “effective” strategy, and 67% plan to increase their budget for it.

70% of teenage YouTube users trust influencers more than traditional celebrities.

Influencers created 86% of the most watched beauty videos on YouTube, while only 14% were created by beauty brands themselves.

On Twitter, there’s a 5.2x increase in purchase intent when consumers see tweets from both brands and influencers. Just under half of Twitter users (49%) say they rely on recommendations from influencers, while 40% have made a purchase based on a tweet from an influencer.

Marketers in a Linqia survey listed Facebook (87%), Instagram (87%), blogs (48%), Twitter (44%), and Pinterest (40%) as the platforms most important to their influencer campaigns. Do you need to use all of them? Absolutely not. Find your audience, identify relevant influencers on that platform, and go from there.

The same survey identified CPE (cost-per-engagement) and CPC (cost-per-click) as the two most preferred pricing models.

Are you game to give it a go? The payoff for a well planned and strategic influencer marketing campaign can far exceed your wildest expectations. Expect this tactic to continue to grow in 2018.

4. Facebook Continues to Set the Pace

It’s easy to consider Facebook past its prime. It’s been around since 2004 – a lifetime in the digital realm – and the news and trends frequently focus on what’s new and emerging.

That’s a major mistake. Facebook is the platform to rule all platforms. Was, is, and will continue to be. If you only engage on two platforms, it should be Facebook and one other. Three? Facebook and two others. You get the idea.

The social media behemoth had 1.40 billion daily active users and 2.13 billion monthly active users as of December 2017. And that’s not all:

Facebook averages more than 8 billion video views each day.

91% of millennials are on the platform.

Over 800 million users “like” something on it every day.

Males have an average of 145 friends, while females have 166. Your content or post reaches an exponentially bigger audience with each share and like.

Long story short: be active on Facebook. Regardless of your age group or target, they are on that platform.

With numbers like that, Facebook could just sit back and count its ad revenue. But it doesn’t. It continues to evolve and innovate at a breakneck speed.

In 2018, there’s a lot going on at Facebook. These three should be on your radar:

Facebook Messenger – Originally integrated with Facebook itself, it’s now a standalone – and very popular – app. It boasts 1.3 billion users, and 11% of the worldwide population uses it monthly. 60 million businesses are on it, as are half of all teenagers in the United States. It’s a bigger platform than Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat combined, and it hosts 7 billion conversations daily. And with A.I. and chatbot integration, the channel has the potential to be huge.

Facebook Spaces. Let’s ignore the whole virtual vs. augmented reality debate for now. Both are gaining in popularity and prevalence. Both are opening up unparalleled opportunities for engagement. Facebook has launched its own virtual reality meeting place called Spaces for use with Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive. Users can build and customize their own appearance, connect with others, draw 3D objects, and immerse themselves in a 360-degree virtual environment. You can even host live events as you would with live video streaming. As it grows and improves, businesses will be able to present fully-realized stores, behind-the-scenes features, and more to their audience. It’s not quite there yet…but stay tuned.

Facebook Watch. We live in an on-demand culture these days. We want what we want when we want it. If you can deliver that to your customers, you’re ahead of the curve. The new Watch feature is a video-on-demand service for long-form content and shows. Ball in the Family – the reality show built around three basketball players and their father – is hosted on the platform. Businesses can create videos and shows to engage with their community, connect directly with their users, and more.

Facebook may be old by social media standards, but it’s proof-positive that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

5. Increased Engagement on Messaging Platforms

We already mentioned Facebook Messenger, but that’s not the only circus in town. The popularity of messaging platforms is exploding. WhatsApp (1.3 billion monthly active users), WeChat (963 million MAUs), and Facebook Messenger (1.2 billion MAUs) are leading the charge.

And with easy integration of both artificial intelligence and chatbots, you can automatically increase engagement and the customer experience.

Facebook research shows that 54.5% of US social media users prefer messaging channels over email, phone and online chat, and 67 percent of business owners plan to increase their messaging over the next two years.

Messaging allows you to reach your audience at scale and on their preferred channel. 89% of consumers would like to use it to communicate with businesses, but only 48% of businesses are able to do so. Those numbers don’t add up.

In fact, users would rather give up using the telephone, their morning coffee, and sex before they’d give up messaging. On average, 77% of users keep messaging notifications turned on so they never miss a thing. FOMO is a powerful motivator.

And I know from firsthand experience that you get achieve an 88% open and 56% click-through rate using Facebook Messenger.

Allow me to state the obvious: messaging is big, effective, and only getting bigger. With it, you can deliver messaging sequences, automate conversations with your users, create a sales funnel, and push out announcements, resources, and new content, to name just a few.

A chatbot – yes, the majority of bots are good – can automate your sales, help desk, complaint department, and more. You can communicate with your customers on their turf and whenever they want to, not the other way around.

Not convinced? Check out these ten examples of effective chatbots on Messenger to see how useful and entertaining they can be.

If you’re itching to give it a try, look to popular platforms and services to build and launch your own (many without the need for coding skills):

Chatfuel

Botsify

Landbot.io

Chattypeople

FlowXO

Beep Boop

Bots aren’t evil. And messaging isn’t going away anytime soon. Take full advantage of both.

6. Instagram Stories

Introduced in August 2016 to compete with a similar feature on Snapchat, Instagram Stories quickly grew to over 100 million daily active users (DAU) in just a few months, hit 200 million DAUs in well under a year, and now boasts an impressive 250 million DAUs. It’s growth and popularity far outpaces that of Snapchat, and is still trending upward.

Are you using it?

About half of all businesses on Instagram post at least one Story each month, while 20% of those stories generate at least one direct message. How’s that for engagement?

The Story feature allows users to post both videos and photos that disappear in 24 hours. You can add filters, stickers, text, and drawings. You can even create simple polls to ask questions and collect valuable data on your audience.

Using the Instagram Story feature is not complicated, and even if you’ve never used Instagram before, you’ll quickly discover all it has to over.

Instagram itself has an impressive 800 million monthly active users, which is more than Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest combined. It should most definitely be part of your social media tool belt.

Include the recent Instagram Shopping functionality – a feature that allows you to tag up to five items within an image with a clickable link to more information – and you can increase engagement and sales even more.

7. Augmented Reality

While virtual reality creates an immersive experience, it does have some major drawbacks. For starters, it limits the mobility of the user wearing the VR headgear. And since most of us access the online world via our mobile devices, that’s a big issue.

That’s where augmented reality (AR) has a distinct advantage. Because users don’t have their vision restricted, mobility is not impeded. In fact, AR typically promotes greater mobility as users search for virtual elements within the physical world.

It’s already taking the gaming industry by storm. Remember Pokémon Go? The company behind it – Niantic – will be releasing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite in the near future. It will presumably have the same opportunity that Pokémon Go had for businesses to market themselves in partnership with the game.

Purchase a “lure”, and it not only lured the Pokémon to your business, but it also lured players to your physical location to capture them. Win-win.

Augmented reality is poised to have a similar impact on social media, allowing online personalities and products to be brought directly into homes, photos, and videos. And as it doesn’t require additional hardware other than your smartphone, most of us are already equipped to enjoy it.

Face filters and lenses fall under the AR umbrella, too.

Lens Studio by Snapchat gives everyone the ability to create and share custom lenses and “magical AR experiences”. Let your followers and fans play with your brand and products in the real world.

With augmented reality you can let your hair down and have some fun while still spreading brand awareness and engaging with leads and customers. Get in on it.

Conclusion

I personally think these seven will be the ones to watch in 2018. Pick one, pick a few, and try them out.

Social media is all about connection, relationships, and engagement.

But to do that, you need to stay current on the latest trends and popular features. Don’t jump on the bandwagon of every one – some will not be a good fit for you, your brand, and your customers – but it’s worth selectively choosing those that make sense to your business and goals.

Trends come. Trends go. But some survive to become tomorrow’s mainstays. Get in before the masses, and you stand to win big.

What other social media trends have you noticed in the past few months? What are you most excited about trying?

About the Author: Neil Patel is the cofounder of Neil Patel Digital.

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samiam03x · 6 years