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flowerflamestars · 3 years

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okay i’m still obsessed with your idea of nesta and tarquin together!! would you mind giving us a little more on that, like how would they first interact, what would nesta think of him, all of that? thank you so much!!!! 💚💚

I would love to!!!

The important thing to remember about the Tarquin Draft is that is has the same main story as Daylight: Nesta in Day, Nesta the Library, Helion’s grumpy best, best truest friend ride or die companion.

So Nesta doesn’t actually meet Tarquin again until she’s halfway to okay. It’s plotwise timeline closest to where she is in the most recent chapter- feeling at home in her body, really hitting her stride as Librarian, gaining a reputation as just an absolutely formidable force who helps anyone who asks.

There’s been correspondence between the Library and Summer- Nesta, acting as a go-between for Kallias- but remember, no one uses her name.

So it’s a big surprise when the Librarian arrives in Summer, pulls down her black and gold hood and...there is Feyre Archeron’s face, like a nightmare. Except not- wearier, sharper, older, devastation and salvation like the sunrise after a storm at sea- Nesta, who laughs in Cresseida’s face when the Princess of Adriata calls her a Night Court spy.

Nesta: wouldn’t that require belonging to the Night Court? Try my baby sister, if you’d like to yell about idiotic plans. Where are the books that keep eating people?

Cresseida is so wary, but Nesta, of course, isn’t actually going to leave before handling the cursed trove some Summer sailors pulled from the sea. She’s the Librarian.

Tarquin just...doesn’t want this. Doesn’t want to be proved inexperienced, that he can’t act for his people’s good by a beautiful woman again. But Nesta aggressively wants to help, and ultimately, he lets her.

And Nesta acts nothing like Feyre.

She takes off that cloak of office (listen, I’m picturing like, the coolest wide-legged, sleeveless white linen jumpsuit that has EVER existed, chic but functional), puts on a sunhat that she...magicked into her hand? and stomps into the shallows. Starts pulling sailors souls out of the treasure and hauling them to shore.

It’s terrifyingly efficient. And listen, Tarquin doesn’t give a shit about rank, so he, after some very blushy surprise because no, he did not know he had a competency kink and Nesta Archeron has tiny adorable little freckles on her shoulders- gets in the waves to help.

Nesta doesn’t even look at him.

What she does is save the lives of twelve of his men, pick up the faintly hissing, utterly cursed chest of books that started all this, and ask Cresseida is there’s a room where she can work.

So they take her to the palace.

The beautiful ambassadors rooms, windows and silk and the sound of water.

It becomes clear that the curse is in fact, just a curse, but one that can only be broken under the full moon, which is two weeks away. So Nesta stays, being the only person who can keep that magic from spreading. The only payment she wants is to take the books back when she goes which leaves Tarquin, arms full of the traditional gift of pearls, VERY embarrassed.

But he gets over it. Tarquin is genuinely chill- he has baggage from the weight of his responsibility, of being fooled by the Night Court- but he’s also so, so young. Kind. Curious. He doesn’t want to judge Nesta on the actions of people related to her, and once she proves herself, he doesn’t.

And meanwhile Nesta is like, cool. Cool, cool, cool- I can’t sleep while I’m here, I can’t winnow home and sleep because the Library can’t suppress a curse from hundreds of miles away, I’m not going to steal the books like a fucking thief in the night like Feyre-

So Nesta does a lot of exploring.

Tarquin comes into the harbor one morning, pink still streaking the sky. He’d been up in predawn doing Manly Boating Things with his navy- he walks through the harbor, lets the sounds his happy people sooth the rush of magic that still surprises him- to shape the sea, to cease the waves, to bend the world, to call the tide- and goes looking for breakfast.

Instead, he finds Nesta.

In line a line waiting for fresh bread and pastries, in another insanely attractive white outfit, looking at the sky. She’s alone- he’d given her guards, servants, knew damn well Cresseida was watching her- holding a basket, drinking coffee with her free hand.

So Tarquin joins her.

It cannot be overstated how genuinely charmed they both are with how normal it is. No death and war between them. No magic drawing them together. No real history- Nesta isn’t Feyre in the slightest- just a man with salt drying in his hair and a beautiful grin, asking if he can buy Nesta breakfast.

Just Nesta, and the only High Lord she’s ever met besides Helion who isn’t aggressive. As she says, Nesta has as many problems with High Fae men as they tend to her- the siren song of power, challenge called to challenge by her very primordial being.

And listen, Tarquin is a huge, very physical dude. Summer faeries are touchy, in a friendly way. But he also, like Helion, is smart enough to pick up on how screamingly uncomfortable men make Nesta. He doesn’t know why, and noticing it made him feel a little sick- but he’s careful. Kind, funny Tarquin, whose managed in knowing her just a few days to figure out how to approach her without triggering her.

So Nesta says yes. Nesta probably says something snarky as hell about his High Lordly hospitality.

And Tarquin laughs- genuinely, beautiful.

He’s still laughing when they get to humble little window, and Nesta goes still.

Tarquin clocks it- handles what they’re doing, gets Nesta out of the line of people without unnecessarily touching her. He sort of thinks she’s having a panic attack?- finds a nice quiet bench under a tree. He’s also pretty sure he’s making it worse just by being present, but he’s not going to leave her alone like this- so Tarquin just like, sits on the ground.

Which startles Nesta. She looks up- he doesn’t know her well enough to know what’s going on, so he’s extremely confused when Nesta goes: why is she here?

Tarquin: ???

Nesta: the HUMAN

There’s part of Nesta thinking the worst possible scenarios- what her past and the Night court taught her.

But Tarquin just like, blinks? Sets down the pastry bag on the bench for Nesta and is says well, she was shipwrecked. A whole passenger ship from the continent last summer- she was going to the North, to start a new business. But she liked it here, and decided to stay.

Nesta: that human woman, owns a business? Here.

Tarquin, who’s starting to get what is happening here: Yes. She’s a Summer Court citizen.

Nesta eats a pastry. Nesta, face wry, eventually hands a pastry to Tarquin, who’d seemingly decided she needed them more than he did. Tarquin wolfs it down in three bites, just enough time for Nesta to grumpily confess: I’ve never seen a free human, above the Wall.

Tarquin, haltingly, shyly is like: well, I want it to be different. We all share the same world. Acting like we’re not all the same is how Hybern almost took over-

By the end of the sentence he’d managed to look up. That was the voice a High Lord, a man who had power and would use it.

So they have this truce, a spark of very real, pretty damned charmed interest. They walk back to the Palace across the whole city, talking.

The next day Nesta is deep in working Librarianing while she’s there- and Tarquin just pops up. Draws as little attention to himself as possible to be like, here. I noticed your hat blew away yesterday? So I brought you a new one. And some coffee. Do you like it cold? Don’t let me get in the way, what you’re doing is important.

What he means by important: incredible.

It had taken him ages to find her, because Nesta is apparently spending her spare time- does she sleep??- winnowing all over his territory, solving any problems anyone asks of her, bringing books to schools. Talking to regional leaders about what their educational needs are. Chatting with sea monsters so the fishermen understand they’ll be totally safe, so long as they always throw back in that one kind of crab that the baby krackens exclusively eat.

And look, it is a coping strategy. Nesta CANNOT rest by the sound of the sea- but she’d also realized this kingdom her sister had fucked with had been hit so, so hard by Amarantha, and then the war. That she can help, so she will.

But she just kind of stops. Tarquin left as quickly as he came she’s just there like- coffee. hat. BEAUTIFUL RESPECTFUL MAN. It’s not the vibe of her and Helion. It’s flirty but not...pressing? It’s nothing like how any faerie man (see: Cassian) who wanted her has ever, ever treated her and it’s just...so, nice.

He’s nice. Gorgeous. Easy to be around, which Does Not Happen to Nesta ever.

Nesta breaks the curse and leaves.

Keeps her promise to the schools, visits to sit on the shore and talk to sea monster babies, so much more prodigious now that they have enough food.

Tarquin thinks she’s amazing, and he starts writing to her. For real Lordship reasons, but also just to see what she’ll say- he wants to know how humans live. How his cities could integrate them. Can they use magic? Will they, if it’s available to them?

Tarquin finds someone- witty, beautiful, so intriguing- who believes in the value of his most difficult dreams. Nesta finds someone who looks at the most fraught, hurt parts of her- humanity lost, a terrible human life, that she still, even now, asks herself sometimes if she can belong, and treats those things as important and integral.

And they fall in love.

It’s a story about a lot of things- Nesta, who drowned to become, learning the whole seas of world will still for her, protect her. Tarquin who does revolutionize his kingdom, and spend centuries counting Nesta’s freckles as they peel and disappear.

Love of choice. Nesta, in the sun, being adored. Tarquin, who so many people think is foolish, a reckless dreamer, defended by the most loyal person on earth.

There’s small details i love so much it makes me want to go to the extremely troublesome work of writing them their own story- Nesta inviting the mermaids from the Night Court waters to live in a place no on is afraid of them. Tarquin who is both sort of a golden retriever but ALSO a proud, petty bitch when tried, draping Nesta head to toe in rubies for inter-court events.

With Tarquin the story really embraces the idea of eternity- of possibility. They’re young, they’re equals in this eternal life. There’s so many years ahead of them, so many things they can do: they have time to go slow, to make changes, to learn each other inside and out as they become the people they want to be.

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bamfdaddio · 3 years

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X-Men Abridged: 1979

The X-Men, those globe-trotting mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 117 - 128, X-Man Annual 3) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Terry Austin, George Perez

See Jean? Dark Phoenix is nothing: this is how you turn evil properly. (X-Men 123)

So, these things have been getting longer. Whoops.

Last year, plotlines tended to bleed over in one another, but this year is a lot more arc-based, jumping from location to location. This is basically X-Men: World Tour. After hitting Antarctica and the Savage Land, our team of merry mutants visits Japan, Canada, Egypt, Scotland and even a theme park! (And really, both Murder World and Disney Land are run by capitalist scumbags who pretend to be in it for the art, the only difference being that Arcade purposefully murders his guests.)

But, before we check in with the X-Men, we return to the Institute. See, there’s a mutual misunderstanding that wouldn’t be out of place in a Shakespearian tragedy: Jean and Charles think Beast and Jean were the only survivors of their fight with Magneto in Antarctica, while the rest of the X-Men believe they were the only survivors and Jean and Beast perished. Since the X-Men have been trapped in the Savage Land, nobody has been able to clear up the confusion.

With their grief driving a wedge between her and Charles, Jean leaves the mansion to deal with her feelings on her own. (She’ll end up on Muir Isle.)

This is adorable! And, if the whole "Empress of the known Universe "-thing blows up in her face, she can always become a barista at Starbucks. (X-Men 117)

Lilandra successfully persuades Xavier to leave Earth as her consort, now that there is nothing left for him. Xavier agrees, but not before having a flashback to the time he met another telepath named Amahl Farouk in Egypt. (The Shadow King isn’t relevant just yet, but he’ll become an important villain later on.)

The X-Men, meanwhile, cross a treacherous ocean on a raft and are picked up by a Japanese vessel. The Japanese do not allow them to call anyone, for some reason. Sure. When they finally dock in Japan - six weeks later - some arms dealer named Magnum Moses has put Agarishima is on fire. Like, literally an inferno of such big proportions that even Storm can’t do much.

What follows is an uninspired, slipshod adventure. For some reason, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing are there too, because the president needed American detectives to investigate Magnum Moses (?) and for some reason, Misty doesn’t know Jean thinks Scott is dead, nor does she mention she just saw Jean to Scott. AUGH. It will take almost a year for Scott to figure out Jean isn’t dead and it becomes increasingly more contrived. I get that Claremont needed to isolate Jean to make her susceptible to, er, a certain someone’s machinations, but holy fuck do I have to suspend my disbelief for all of this bullshit.

The only good things about this little arc are:

Sunfire is still a dick.

Wolverine meets Mariko Yashida, a Japanese girl who actually reciprocates his feelings, as opposed to Jean. I’ve mostly been ignoring his budding feelings for Jean, because I stopped finding love triangles interesting since I was 16 and watched The OC, so I can only applaud this development. Mariko brings out Wolverine’s soft side and it’s very adorable. Later on, she moves to NYC for some reason and they start dating.

There is something sweetly disarming about calling Wolverine ‘beautiful’. (X-Men 120)

Anyway, Magnum is holding Japan hostage: either they give him what he wants - I think that might be money, sorry, wasn't paying attention - or he sinks Japan by activating the fault lines and you guys, I am sooo bored. Unsurprisingly, the X-Men stop him and for once, it’s Banshee who gets to play the most important part.

It’s a good thing I was terrible at science, otherwise I might have to point out that earthquakes and sonic waves don’t work that way! I simply get to be entertained by little rascal Colossus, plugging his ears like a toddler, and Sunfire’s gritty determination to not be impressed by some silly screaming Irishman. (X-Men 119)

Banshee pays a steep price for the victory, however: his vocal chords end up damaged, leaving him effectively powerless for the remainder of the year.

Oh, and here’s interesting fact about the above spread: you may or may not know that Chris Claremont and John Byrne were notoriously terrible at working together; this issue became a particular sore point between the creators. See, Byrne wanted to run the above panel without the sound of ‘Kra-Koom’, believing the art was strong enough to convey the destruction. He was livid when the finished product ended up containing a sound effect after all. I get your frustration, man, but if you want a writer who knows how to say less with more, you should maybe not work with Claremont?

(One of the reasons Claremont liked being so verbose and descriptive in his scripts was because otherwise, the artist would fill in the blanks using his own imagination. It’s no wonder these two found it hard to work together.)

On the flight to the US of A, Colleen Wing hits on Cyclops. It has to be the jawline, right? It can’t be the personality. All of a sudden, a snow storm causes their plane to be diverted to Calgary. The cause of this delay is Alpha Flight, who want their Wolverine back!

When even the narration is all “and they think they’re equal to any team of superheroes”, you know you’re a bunch of C-listers. Ugh. (X-Men 121)

Vindicator, previously known as Captain Alpha. He changed his name after accidentally shooting Moira that one time, which is exactly the kind of hollow gesture this dude would make. Ugh. If you think his new-found remorse won’t let him threaten an airplane chock full of innocent passengers, you would be wrong.

Shaman, doctor by day, magic user by night. Him and his magical little pouch are to blame for the snow storm.

Sasquatch, Canada’s answer to the Hulk. (Hilariously, the theory on why he turns furry instead of green is because he’s closer to the Aurora Borealis and this somehow messes with the radiation?)

Snowbird, a young Arctic goddess. Precious. To be cherished. Barely there for this adventure, sadly.

Northstar, an arrogant, hot-headed speedster, the twin brother of

Aurora, a lover, not a fighter. Together, they have light powers.

Vindicator and Shaman hog most of the spotlight, so Alpha Flight continues to be the ever-loving worst. They’re really wasting Northstar’s first appearance here. Here's why they suck:

Alpha Flight accidentally smashes a plane and keeps threatening to drag Wolverine back to the military against his will.

They push the cover price of the comic to a whoppin’ 40 cents.

Johnny fuckin’ Hudson even provokes Storm into an attack in the middle of a mall.

Shaman lets his blizzard get out of control.

After Storm fixes this mistake for him, Northstar has the gall to knock her out, “because she’s obviously the strongest”. Like, you’re not wrong, but damn, y’all a bunch of unpleasant superheroes.

To stop the fight, Wolverine decides to turn himself in. The X-Men leave, but while flying back, they already make plans to save their teammate. Wolverine saves them the trouble, casually sauntering into the cockpit while claiming that pulling a fast one on them was the easiest thing ever.

To be fair, I understand why you’d want to put a country between yourself and those bozos.

And finally, the X-Men are home! Xavier left them the equivalent of a Post-It saying “off to space”, so they try to pick up their life as best they can. None of them contact Jean’s parents, make an attempt to visit her grave or happen to see Beast on TV and by now, my suspension of disbelief is stretched so far that it could replace Reed Richards on the Fantastic Four.

Ororo, meanwhile, makes a little pilgrimage to Harlem, to the building she grew up in before she moved to Cairo.

I have failed you as a recapper, because I have absolutely no idea how to parse this scene. (X-Men 122)

I think I’d have to write a full-on thesis before I could properly analyse this, because so many things intersect here: poverty and racism, the boundaries of a superhero comic, confronting a (shared) past. I can’t even fully gauge if this is a clumsy, privileged attempt at tackling a serious topic or rather, a valuable moment in a comic that continually tries to expand on its themes of racism, exclusion and prejudice. One thing I will note is:

Luke Cage delivers the sort of trite conclusion that they’re superheroes: they’re better at fighting Galactus than at fixing the human condition. Point is, he kind of has to believe that, doesn’t he? It’s the sort of blind spot we all permit ourselves: you can’t fix everything. None of us have the power to fix the earth, or humanity, or the economy, or whatever: if you’re lucky, you can maybe tend to your own garden and leave it better than you found it, ensuring some happiness for yourself and a few loved ones.

Chasing bank robbers is easy. Superhero stuff. But here? Who do you attack here? These kids, or the system that failed them? You can’t really punch a needle exchange into being. Maybe that’s the appeal of superhero comics: there’s a clear villain, which is so sorely lacking in our day to day lifes. There, we are ruled by systems that are rooted in inequality, patriarchy, gender...

But Storm isn’t like Luke Cage, not in this regard. Before she became an X-Man, she used her powers to help people that came to her. And the whole point of the X-Men - other than beating up villains in colorful spandex - is that they want to change the system. They want to fix things, they want to fix a dark part of human nature, the part that hates which we fear.

Storm doesn’t really respond to Luke Cage here, but we know she’ll keep fighting the good fight, despite insurmountable odds. You can’t fix mankind, I don’t think, but you can sure as hell try.

*coughs*

Anyway!

Black Tom and Juggernaut hire Arcade… to kill the X-Men! I’m not sure why? I thought these two usually attempted to solve things on their own and Arcade’s fee is, like, a million bucks, so…? Maybe Black Tom asked his boyfriend what he wanted for his birthday and Juggernaut clenched his fists and said “I WANT THE X-MEN DEAD” and things escalated from there.

So, Arcade is a subtle villain. While Scott and Colleen Wing are on a date, this happens:

I can’t decide which is funnier: kidnapping people by sneaking up on them with A GARBAGE TRUCK or the fact that Spider-Man deduces this is Arcade’s doing by the noise alone. (X-Men 123)

Spider-Man doesn’t really figure into the rest of the plot, by the way.

Arcade successfully kidnaps all of the X-Men (and their dates: Colleen, Amanda and Betsy). Who is this Arcade? Well, he is an assassin who lets his victims run through a gauntlet of some sort, testing them with potentially deadly results in his Murderworld. He’s like a discount-combo of Saw and the Joker, except a lot less competent and a lot more spoiled rich kid. He barely kills anyone, ever, until maaaybe Avengers Arena, some forty years later.

Arcade veers heavily to the silly side of the silly-to-sinister scale, but he at least commits to a theme. Bonus is that trapping your heroes in a bunch of ricocheting balls fubars them ever-so beautifully. (X-Men 123)

This whole adventure is very silly and has very little bearing on the overarching plot, but it’s a fun enough romp: Cyclops nearly gets squashed by a hydraulic press, Nightcrawler gets attacked by bumper cars with chain saws attached to them, stuff like that. The absolute best part is when Colossus is hypnotized by an illusion of the KGB and becomes THE PROLETARIAN.

His insignia is Vladimir Lenin, y’all.

After various shenanigans, everybody is freed from their respective booby traps, everyone except Colossus. See, Piotr has been feeling down, torn between the exciting new loyalty to the X-Men and the more dutiful loyalty to his family and his motherland. (Also, he’s been feeling like a failure because he came up short a couple a times, aw.) Those feelings are exactly what Arcade has been abusing, but when Colossus comes in for the kill, Storm gives the most heartfelt plea:

I’m not crying, you’re crying. (X-Men 124)

Arcade’s all: “Eh, can’t win ‘em all” and yeets the X-Men out of Murderworld. The story has barely any other repercussions, except we stop seeing Colleen Wing and Betsy (Piotr’s date) after this. To be fair, being kidnapped by a super villain is a good reason to stop seeing someone.

Even more inconsequential is the adventure in the Annual. The only important thing to glean from there is that, when Thor is unavailable, Storm is a suitable substitution. Couldn’t agree more.

The quality of the comic has been steadily ascending throughout the year and ends on a supremely high note: Proteus. Because I think it might be Claremont’s best work so far, I’ll be dedicating a full post to that. (Man, that 10-picture-limit is a real bummer, huh?)

Ugliest Costume: I don’t care, I just want someone to cosplay the Proletarian.

Best new character: There’s actually a few options - Snowbird, Northstar, Proteus - but both Jean-Paul and Narya don’t really show their best sides this year, so I’m going in a different direction. My pick is the Shadow King. He is a very effective foil to Xavier, perhaps even moreso than Magneto. I know I rag on Xavier and his cavalier attitude to bending others to his will a lot, but imagine if you had his powers: wouldn’t you just make people do whatever you want? Just, like, all the time? The Shadow King is an effective reminder of what Charles would have been like, had he been immoral. (Well, more immoral.)

No matter how cool your psychic battle may be, this is what it looks like to the rest of the world. (X-Men 117)

Turns evil: Colossus, for the first time!

What to read: 117, 125 - 129.

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doberbutts · 3 years

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Where was my father’s male privilege when he was beaten by his father so savagely that he went deaf, while his father’s girlfriend watched and did nothing?

Where was my father’s male privilege when he was abandoned and locked inside an empty apartment until the 1950s equivalent of CPS was tipped off he was there and took him to save him from starvation, because dear old grandpa and his girlfriend at the time didn’t want a defective child once they figured out they’d permanently fucked him up?

Where was my father’s male privilege when he bounced from foster home to foster home until he was held down and raped by one of his foster brothers, tried to tell his foster mother, and she just called him a faggot and left it at that?

Where was my father’s male privilege when he was finally reunited with his mother and had to scrape together a living by eating stale bread and running errands for what turned out to be local gangs, because she was too poor to feed another mouth?

Where was my father’s male privilege when he watched a black man shot by police bleed out in the street?

Where was my father’s male privilege when teachers who should have caught his deafness instead made him believe he was failing his classes because he was stupid because that’s just how black people are?

Where was my father’s male privilege when he got the tar kicked out of him by his white classmates who felt emboldened by their female teacher’s anti-black racism?

Where was my father’s male privilege when he brought the subject of racism up with the school board after a cross was lit on fire on his desk, and he was dismissed by both male and female staff?

Where was my father’s male privilege when he struggled to find a job after completing college, completing a master’s degree, which he paid for exclusively with scholarships earned from his competitive essay writing, because no one wanted to hire a disabled black man?

Where was my father’s male privilege when he was accused of assault by a white female student who could not keep her story straight and eventually admitted she had made it up because she wanted to put her black principal back in his place?

Where was my father’s male privilege when he was violently cuffed and illegally searched while I sat in the carseat and he was forced to comfort me through the window?

Where was my father’s male privilege when his wife, my mother, was immediately disowned by her entire family for associating herself with him? When she was forced to make a choice between a future with him, or her family? When he sees this echo with his children, and my sister’s children have still never met my brother-in-law’s family despite more than 10 years of marriage?

Where was my father’s male privilege when he came to pick us up from school and my school refused to let him in until the cops verified he was exactly who he said he was? Despite his name matching his ID, the lanyard he wore stating he was a principal at a nearby school, and the name on the school registry as being one of my parents? Despite me being called into the office to peek through the blinds at him and verifying that yes, this was my father?

Where was my father’s male privilege as neighbors who protested living near a black man repeatedly called the police on him as he pulled into the driveway of the house he’s lived in since I was born, let himself in with his own key, with ID to match the address and having known these neighbors by first name? To the point my white-passing mother had to diffuse the situation?

My father is straight and cis. My father is black and disabled. My father is a survivor. My father is a lot of things, and I have a lot of complicated feelings about him, but he is not trash. He has not skated through life as though it’s easy. His life was significantly harder than my mother’s, and her life wasn’t easy either. He has been hurt by men. He has been hurt by women. Some of the instances he has been hurt, my mother was directly sheltered from because she is a woman.

Her father was also an angry drunk, but deliberately did not take his anger out on his daughters, preferring to beat his son bloody instead. Mom has the trauma of watching her father beat the piss out of her brother and having to patch him back up after, but never of having been beaten herself.

Mom found herself in compromising and dangerous positions at times, but was protected from physical harm by her brother and the other men around her who saw it as their duty to protect the girls from that sort of thing. Literally the only good thing about rural purity culture.

Mom has a history of speaking out against racism and discrimination when she sees it, but has never needed to throw a punch in her life, because there was always a man around to protect her from the resulting fight. The men might not have agreed with her views on race but they were connected to her and thus duty/honor bound to protect her if someone tried to jump her because she wouldn’t let them beat up the black kid or told them to stop bothering the asian kid.

Mom never once had to stop and consider that it would be kinder to her partner to break things off.

Mom has never been falsely accused of assault because it’s just assumed that women don’t do that.

Mom has never been accused of trying to kidnap us because it’s believable that a white woman has mixed race kids that are darker than her but inconceivable that a black man has mixed race kids that are lighter than him.

Mom has never had the police called on her for entering her own house in their very white neighborhood.

Mom has only been pulled over once in her life, and the cop was far more interested in what my sisters and I were doing in her car than anything she might have potentially done.

My mother is straight and cis. She is also a white-passing POC and disabled. My mother is a survivor. My mother is a lot of things, and I have a lot of complicated feelings about her, but even she admits that her life was easier than my dad’s.

Cis, straight men suffer. White men suffer. My uncle is also a white-passing POC and a survivor. Do you know how much pent up anger he has? Still has, even though my grandfather changed and got better and apologized and owned up to his wrongs? Even though my grandfather’s been dead for years now? My uncle is sullen and prefers a bottle to take away his pain, pain he’s not been able to process, not been allowed to process, and he’s been that way since he was a child, which is not surprising considering what I’ve been directly told the beatings entailed... and things are always worse than what you’re told when it comes to that.

And all of that anger and resentment and rage and pain builds and builds until one of his sisters pokes him a little too hard about it and then he roars at them and storms off and he knows it’s wrong to take it out on them and he knows it’s not fair and that they only mean well but it hurts and he knows no other outlet besides lashing out because that was the only thing he was ever taught. Men get drunk and then get angry and then get violent. So he stops himself at yelling because he knows he can’t hit in anger, and he leaves and bangs doors behind him and stomps off until he calms down.

And you can say “dude needs therapy” and you know... you’re not wrong. But why would he ever seek it? When he sought help as a child he was told to be a man and suck it up and harden and grow some balls. His mother didn’t intervene to help him. You know, I know, he knows it’s because she was afraid her husband would turn on her. But it still hurts to know your own mother let your own father do that to you. Repeatedly. Over and over and over again. The most help he ever got was some first aid from his sisters when my grandfather decided he was done being angry. His teachers just knew him as an angry, sullen boy who frequently got into fistfights with other angry, sullen boys and chalked new bruises up to that.

If you grow up like this, betrayed by everyone who is supposed to help you, then why would you ever consider seeking outside help as an adult?

And if your reaction is- see? He is a violent man! He is part of the problem! He could seek help and won’t because he is a stubborn man that wants to make his problems into women’s problems by relying on his sisters!

Then you fail to understand that my uncle is the way he is because of unprocessed, repeated trauma and betrayal that he was actively discouraged from seeking help to free himself of the cycle and start to heal. And his sisters were the only people in his life that did not harm him in that way, so at this point his sisters and his wife are the only people he trusts when triggers get poked and the pot boils over.

He does need therapy. He’s not likely to ever seek it out. And it’s because he was born a boy that this happened to him, and it’s because he was born a boy that no one was willing to help when he needed it most.

These men are not part of the queer community. They still were made vulnerable, and needed help, and did not get any, because of that same logic that drives these feelings about men not needing to be helped or included or assisted today. It’s not progressive just because the logic is coming from the queer community this time instead of conservative christians.

#tbh the majority of my mom's family is functionally white #they are a large part Native but that only comes up when it's convenient #mostly they're Irish and lean real hard into the being white thing #and tbh if you called one of them a POC to their face they'd probably punch you #even though by definition they ARE

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borkthemork · 2 years

Note

I’m a bit confused, how was Anne’s relationship with her ex-husband? Was she actually interested in marrying him, or was it a arranged marriage? Did she mix up platonic feeling with romantic? Or did she actually like him but it just didn’t work?

So to make a tl;dr before we get into the nitty-gritty:

Anne consented enthusiastically to the marriage. She mixed up platonic feelings with romantic, and even though she does care for her ex-husband a lot, massively — I like to see their dynamic as "the lesbian/himbo jock friendship, except they realized they wanted the friendship only", and the two had to make a very difficult decision on what would overall make every party happy.

----

Alright, so Anne's relationship with her ex-husband is actually a pretty interesting situation, because a few factors come into play on how this situation went through. So buckle up, this explanation is going to be long.

First off, Anne believed she was bisexual when she first met her husband, so that means she knew that she was into women the moment she realized what that attraction felt like and she was pretty vocal about it too. However, she never did question if her feelings towards men were romantic or platonic or not.

Sure, she found some kpop bands, fictional characters, and even some guys as pretty attractive, but does she really want to be with those kinds of people?

Or does she think she's attracted to them because she feels like she has to?

Cue college years. She finished community college and transferred to a four-year university. She was able to get in closer contact with the girls now that she got into a dorm that is also not only near the campus but is a few drives away from their own, and Anne gets to meet new people.

Meeting her ex-husband is akin to the friendship between a lesbian and a himbo, both meeting up as jocks and somehow they clicked off immediately as friends when this man asked her if she was into the Backstreet Boys.

And these two wanted to stay as friends. They really did, but due to her husband's friends goading the dude on that his feelings are romantic in nature — not to mention that feelings are hard and these two had an immense platonic wanting in getting to know each other better, and no one told them that that immense wanting didn't have to be romantically-involved at all — so he asked her out on a date.

Date went well, it was just two friends exploring places and learning more about each other, and more dates went on from there.

Secondly, Anne Boonchuy's life is full of love, affection, and closeness. She has lived a childhood where she could cuddle and hug her family members and tell them her feelings in all full honesty.

She got tackled by Sasha over in roughhousing nights and held hands with her while going to different locations because the nights get absolutely cold and it's dark as heck; she intertwined fingers with Marcy and held her in the aftermath of her possession until both of them went to sleep.

Anne doesn't see hand-holding as an action associated with romance. She doesn't see cuddling as something exclusive to romantic partners. She sees vulnerability and the ability to be emotionally touchy as a thing she could do anytime no matter the relational context, because it's not going to be romantic to her unless she thinks "Wait...this might be romantic."

Basically, this woman could look at someone like Hop Pop and Sylvia and see that there might be romance in the air, and yet be absolutely incompetent in the feelings department regarding herself.

So that doesn't help when she is going on dates with her ex-husband and genuinely loving it due to the fact it was their own thing, defined by their own boundaries, and basically skipping any actions that seem too much or finding solutions into making sure each party is comfortable.

This marriage was long, respectful, and had a lot of trust. Basically, it was a platonic marriage and these two were absolutely chill with it and it was awesome, it really was. If arguments about different perspectives, needs, etc, come into mind then they'd work on it just like any person willing to commit to someone.

The only reason they decided to end their marriage was because of one thing: the other's happiness and ability to navigate their newfound identities.

As time went on, you bet your butt that different questions started to be thought about. Sure, they found domesticity, communication, and even moments where they surprised one another like going on random trips over to Amphibia because apparently the guy is very okay with near-death, but they began to ponder small questions about themselves with the passing years.

Just the questions of "Am I really happy?", "Do I really like [girls/guys]?", and even smaller details like why Anne felt weird trying to agree with her husband about specific male characters in TV shows being hot when really the way she sees them as attractive (on an appearance level) differs so much in how her husband finds them attractive (on a romantic level).

It begs the question of "Do I have high standards?", "Am I just a bit confused?", and "Everything is going so amazingly well, but why do I feel stressed about this whole thing?".

Eventually, these two pondered those questions separately from the other.

Half a year before the divorce, Anne talked quietly to Marcy and Sasha about the situation, and how she's afraid of divorce due to the fact everything her family had built — from their child's home, to the status of her and her ex-husband friendship, to practically everything stable and built over years of said friendship — might crumble away.

She doesn't know what to do. She doesn't want to lead her husband on, and she tells the girls this so that they could be there for her when she plans a deadline to the final coming out. So that she could ultimately prepare for when she comes out to him.

Julien, her husband, came out as gay first before she could ever reach the deadline.

The divorce filings and negotiations came after.

#asks #Anonymous #48 Years #Idk if I have said this before but Anne and her ex surprisingly became very important to me as I developed this au

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elentiyawhitethorn · 3 years

Text

Sneaking Around | Chapter Nine

All of the next week passed without any problems. Aelin prided herself on being responsible, especially in the workplace, causing her not to summon Rowan to her office and lock the door. Damned responsibility.

It was now officially one week from Christmas. Work was out until after the holiday. This was Aelin’s favorite time of the year. Now some of the office gang was gathering at the bar at the end of Friday to celebrate this exciting fact. Lots of other employees had had the same idea, and Ansel was very busy. Lorcan was also excluded (that’s what he gets for working at a gym). Elide, Gavriel, and Manon were working late. Lysandra and Aedion had gone to get drinks and failed to return. Shocker.

Vaughan had just gone to the bathroom, and at this moment, Fenrys and Connall, the bastards, made an announcement. “Rowan,” said Fen, “we have a surprise for you.”

Connall continued, “You haven’t been in a relationship for, like, years.” Aelin, the only other person at the table right now, snickered at this. That is, until she tried to figure out where this was going.

Fenrys spoke again. “And so, we have arranged a date for you.”

Rowan, quite understandably, looked utterly shocked and quite a bit horrified. “Um, no.”

Connall winced. “Now, hear us out. Of course you’re angry. But. She’s hot.”

“Very hot,” added Fenrys.

Rowan scowled. “I don’t need your help getting a girlfriend, thank you. Stay out of my love life.”

“But dude,” Fenrys pleaded. “She’s a family friend, and she’s totally looking forward to her date with my lovely coworker. That’s you, by the way.”

Rowan didn’t even bother looking sorry. “I am not going on an arranged date. I can’t fathom why you would tell this woman I’m just going on a date with her. Did you seriously expect me to agree to this?”

“Okay, see,” Fenrys was pleading now. “You totally owe me-”

“For what?” Rowan intervened.

Ignoring him, Fenrys continued. “And she would be really upset if I didn’t pull through. You know, she’s not going to be in town for long. You could just put up with one date, maybe screw her, and you’ll never have to see her again.” Men. Aelin needed new friends.

Rowan sighed. He was pointedly not looking in her direction. “I suppose I feel a little bad now, but I am not going on a date with her.” Aelin could tell from his tone he didn’t feel bad at all.

Connall scowled. “Dude, what, do you have a secret girl or something?”

Rowan almost imperceptibly stiffened and didn’t answer the question. Aelin had frozen as well. Connall’s glare deepened. “Yeah, right. Don’t pretend you’re getting laid just because you don’t want to go on this date. Doesn’t work on me.”

Connall’s stupidity relieved Aelin (he wasn’t the brightest), but she lost all relaxation when she glanced over at Fenrys. He was staring at her as Connall continued to pressure Rowan into agreeing to the date.

Aelin raised her eyebrows in a What? gesture.

Fenrys just stared, until a smirk began to spread across his face. Hell no.

At the sign of Aelin’s panic, his grin grew. Fuck. She gave a slight shake of the head and prayed Fenrys had more compassion than Vaughan would in this situation. Or Lorcan. Or Lysandra. Yes, she definitely needed new friends.

Just as Aelin started thanking the gods for Fenrys’ kindness when he looked away and seemed to drop that revelation, he said, “I seem to recall winning a bet last week, Rowan. Your payment was, if I recall correctly, one favor of my choice.”

Rowan froze once again. Aelin tried not to sigh. “What the hell did you bet on?” asked Aelin in her most amused, but also I-totally-don’t-really-care voice. Fenrys seemed to have figured out what was going on with them, but Connall probably wouldn’t connect the question to anything important.

Rowan did sigh. “I don’t remember. We make so many bets.” Idiot men.

Connall sneered. “It looks like you have to go on the date. And be pleasant; she doesn’t deserve to be scowled at all night just because you’re grumpy.” Aelin, despite herself, snorted at this.

Rowan casually glanced at her and she gave a small shrug. He still hesitated. “I will go on the damned date if I really must, but are you sure you don’t want to spare me? Please, dudes?” Okay, maybe Aelin should be annoyed or jealous or whatever it is normal people feel in situations like this, but she could only bring herself to find it hilarious. She couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped out of her as Rowan continued begging.

Rowan turned and glared at Aelin, then put his gaze back on the twins. “What’s her name?” he asked the boys.

“Remelle.”

And that is how Rowan got roped into a date that was not with his sort-of girlfriend. Aelin laughed again.

“So,” said Fenrys, who insisted on walking Aelin to her apartment hours later. Neither were in any state to drive, she and Fen lived near each other, and Rowan didn’t want to risk being spotted with her on the way out. “You’re fucking Whitethorn,” he stated.

Aelin snorted. “Yep.”

Fenrys grinned at her. “I have a few questions. Like how long? And why?”

Aelin giggled. She’d certainly had a lot to drink. “We’re dating. Well sort of. I mean, we’ve gone on dates. And we’re in like. Like in love except it’s like, not love.”

Fenrys chuckled. “You’ve both seemed happier recently. Although we all knew you had some secret lover.”

Aelin giggled again. Beer really did wonders for her. “You’re not nice, though. You didn’t have to make him go on that date when you found out.”

Fenrys seemed quite a bit more sober than her. “I couldn’t help myself. Payback for not telling me.”

Aelin rolled her eyes, almost getting disoriented enough at this to run into the nearby streetlight. Fenrys grabbed her before she could bash her nose in.

“Did you get me all drunk so I’d spill the beans?” Aelin asked.

Fenrys chuckled. “Darling, you got drunk all by yourself.”

Aelin sighed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Fenrys smiled fondly at her.

Fenrys had dropped Aelin off at her apartment and headed to his own. The rest of the walk hadn’t consisted of much questioning, which surprised Aelin at first, but when she thought about it, Fenrys always had his motives.

She was now sitting at the counter the next morning, battling the effects of last night’s drinks; namely, a migraine.

Her phone rang. Aelin picked it up to see Rowan’s name on the caller ID.

“Yeah?” she answered quietly. Ansel was still asleep.

“I wanted to ask you if you’re sure you’re okay with the date. I didn’t have a chance to talk about it last night.”

Just hearing Rowan’s voice made her happy. She didn’t care if the subject of their conversation was some “very hot” woman he was going to have dinner with.

“I’ll admit, it’s pretty weird. If she’s just going to be here for a little bit, though, it’s fine if you get roped into it.”

She could almost feel Rowan’s scowl through the phone. “Um, no, not fine. Not anywhere close to fine.”

Laughing quietly, Aelin said, “You have to admit it’s kind of funny.” When Rowan did not seemed inclined to admit anything of the sort, Aelin continued. “And you had that coming. Who the hell bets favors? You out of cash?” He didn’t respond to this either. “Oh, Fenrys figured it out, by the way. We are damned awful at keeping secrets.”

Rowan sighed. “I can’t argue with that. What did he say?”

“Well, I was rather drunk at the time, but I seem to recall he wasn’t totally horrified or whatever. I doubt he’ll tell. There were surprisingly few questions.”

“Fenrys will be the death of us, I can assure you of that. So, anyways, from Connall I have gleaned that Remelle is hot, sexy, and totally cool. He’s probably exaggerating, but either way, you needn’t feel jealous.”

Aelin laughed. “I wasn’t planning on it. I trust you. If you do cheat on me, though, I’ll kill you.”

Rowan snorted. “I believe it. I won’t, though. Well, technically, is the date in itself cheating?”

“Gods, who cares? Don’t kiss the lady, come back and fuck me. As simple as that.”

Rowan chuckled. “Your wish is my command, Majesty.”

“Dweeb,” Aelin muttered.

They planned to meet tomorrow after Rowan’s date. He was to be polite, leave, and come back to his apartment where Aelin would be waiting. He called her overprotective for wanting to check on him immediately afterwards, to which Aelin just replied he had better WiFi.

Soon after hanging up, Ansel came out of her bedroom. “Calling your lover boy?”

Aelin glanced at the ceiling. “Lord save me. Yes, that was Rowan. I suppose I should fill you in.”

Ansel said after a moment, “Um, I think that’s your queue to say something, not just stand there looking mopey. Oh no, he didn’t dump you, did he?”

A snort from Aelin. “People don’t dump me, A. I’m too irresistible.” She sighed. “Rowan is going on a date.”

“Um, what, with someone else? Wait, but you two were so good together! The slimy bastard. Didn’t he realize you were supposed to be exclusive?”

“We’ve never actually discussed that. No, he’s going on a date the twins set up for him.” Aelin recounted the evening. Ansel was laughing so hard she could barely breathe by the end of it.

“Aw, honey, he’s a gentleman. You don’t need to be worried about him cheating on you.”

“What happened to slimy bastard? And I’m not worried, by the way. I laughed too when this happened. It’s just kind of weird. And Fenrys is lucky I was stone-cold drunk last night or I would have pummeled him.”

Ansel giggled. “I want to high-five him. This is great.”

“Whatever.”

Aelin had been so confident at first, but even though she didn’t feel any more doubtful, she still felt... nervous? No, jealous. Aelin was actually starting to feel jealous of some lady Rowan was probably wasn’t even going to like that much. Hopefully.

At least this Remelle woman sounded nice. Nothing could go wrong there...

Aelin sat on Rowan’s couch. It was the next day, about time for Rowan to get back. She was partway through a bag of chips when the door opened.

She turned her head to see Rowan in the doorway. But he wasn’t alone. There was a very pretty woman standing next to him, clutching his arm and giving him a seductive smile.

#rowaelin #tog #sneaking around #my writing

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four-rabbit · 3 years

Text

A perfect birthday

This is for the day 4 of the @dukexietyweek: Parents.

Hope you enjoy it!

Summary: This is the first one of Janus' birthday that they are celebrating together since Virgil and Remus adopted her and Virgil wants it to be perfect.

Characters: Remus sanders, Virgil sanders, Logan Sanders, Janus sanders, mentions to Patton Sanders

Warnings: swearing (some of it in front of middle schoolers), something that is not exactly a panic attack but could have evolved into one.

Obs: Janus is a trans girl here and uses exclusively she/her pronouns.

"Who do you want us to invite?" Besides Logan, I mean" Virgil asked as the family finished lunch, looking down at Janus, who shrugged.

Obs: Janus is a trans girl here and uses exclusively she/her pron

"Dunno. I'm not really friends with anyone besides him"

"Oh, you could invite Patton! You like him, don't you?" Remus suggested excitedly, looking between his husband and their daughter, waiting for approval. Janus fixed her gaze on her food, embarrassed.

"I mean, whatever, he's just nice to me, but he's nice to everyone. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even like me"

"Well, then it's a great opportunity for him to get to know how cool you're!"

"It's supposed to be my birthday, dad, I'm supposed to have fun, not be trying to impress some boy" she replied sharply. The kitchen stayed in a heavy silence for some seconds before Virgil said, softly.

"We just want you to make friends." she sighed.

"I know. But people already don't really like me. I'm new, I'm weird, I'm trans-" Virgil and Remus exchanged a worried look as Janus looked down sadly.

"Hey" Remus started, putting a hand on her shoulder "Being weird and trans fucking rules, remember that, but we get it, school can be scary and making friends can be even scarier"

"Especially if you're trying to be friends with middle schoolers. They are the devil" Virgil agreed and Janus chuckled.

"Maybe we can keep the long list of guests for my next birthday, how about that? Then I won't be giving you guys too much work" she suggested.

"Oh, don't worry about that, we got everything under control, Remus, did you order the cake?"

"Was I supposed to?"

"... We got most things under control" she rolled her eyes playfully.

"Hm. How about that: I'll call Logan and order a pizza, you guys find me a gift. Suggestion: money" Janus quickly decided, putting her plate on the sink and going to her room, already picking her phone to call Logan. Virgil immediately turned to Remus as she entered her room.

"I can't believe you forgot the cake. This needs to be perfect! We can't ruin her first birthday with us!"

"Hey, emo, don't worry, it will be fine! We don't need to be perfect, man, as long as she has fun"

"I know, I know, I just- being a dad is hard and I can't stop worried that we'll do the wrong thing it's already hard because she is older and we need her to adapt and we know she had a tough life before the adoption and I just want to be there for her and-"

"Virgil, breathe with me" Remus said calmly, putting a hand on his husband's shoulder and guiding him through a resting exercise for some minutes until Virgil got better.

"Thanks" he whispered. Remus held his hands, looking his partner in the eyes.

"Being a parent is hard, dude, it's on the job description, but we'll get there. Together, the three of us. Also, if it serves as any consolation, we literally cannot fuck up as much as yours parents" Virgil chucked.

"Or yours"

"Oh yeah, talk about shitty people"

"I'm glad we don't have to deal with them anymore"

"So am I. Hey, about that cake, we won't be having a personalized one, sorry for that, but how about I pick one up at the supermarket? It's better than nothing"

"Oh so you're not totally useless after all" Virgil provoked, with a grin "Yeah, bring some snacks too, I'll try to clean the house a little bit while you're gone"

"Cool. Let me just wash the dishes-"

"Look at him, offering himself to do chores" Virgil commented sarcastically.

"Oh shut up, I'll just do it and then I'll go"

"'Kay" he smiled, messing Remus' hair fondly and giving him the plates.

•••

When Remus got back the house was already cleaner and Janus' weird nerd friend was already there.

"Oh finally! Your dad is home, he brought food!" Virgil announced, relieved to be able to back away from the videogame where the kids were destroying him. Middle schoolers really are the devil, even the nice ones.

"Yeah, I sure hope he did" Janus replied, not even looking away from the screen. Her dad rolled his eyes, going to open the door and let his husband in, who carried three plastic bags and a chocolate cake.

"I'm here guys, you can start the party now!"

"Of course. We were playing some video games while we waited for you"

"Yeah, wanna play with us? I didn't want to say anything, but" Janus put her hand in front of her mouth as if she was going to tell a secret, but said as loudly as always: "because dad Virgil sucks at this"

"Hey! Show some respect! I haven't played in a long time"

"Fuck yeah girl, but don't you cry about it when I beat you, oh hey Logan, sup!"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Storm."

"Oh, I bought you something!" He grabbed one of the bags as Virgil organized everything at the table, coming back with a jar full of jam. "I knew you liked it so I bought" Logan's eyes were almost shining.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Storm!"

"He got something but I don't? It's like you don't even care about me!" Janus said dramatically.

"I did buy you something, I- you know what" he grabbed his wallet, picking a one hundred dollars bill from there and handling it to Janus, who accepted the gift with a wide smile "Use it wisely"

"Thanks, dad!"

"Hey, I bought you something too, an actual gift, by the way" Remus subtly showed his middle finger to his husband, who smiled and grabbed a small box, wrapped in gift paper, handing it to Janus, who immediately opened it, only to find an eyeshadow palette. She didn't answer immediately, slowly getting to her feet and hugging Virgil, whispering:

"Thanks" said genuinely.

"I can teach you how to do makeup! I was really good at each when I was trying to be a cis girl!" Remus suggested right after. She rolled her eyes, but didn't stop smiling.

"It's not a competition, you dumb old man. But thanks anyway. You guys are cool"

"Oh, I see that it's time for the gifts, in this case, here is mine, Janus, I hope you appreciate it," Logan added, grabbing a heavy book from his backpack and giving it to his best friend. It was called 'Philosophy through History'. "We can talk about it at school"

"I'm waiting for it, you big nerd" Logan opened one of his rare smiles.

"Nice" Remus grabbed a bowl filled with Doritos, starting to eat it "What do you guys wanna do? How about a game?"

"Oh, we could play chess!" Logan suggested.

"Chess? How the fuck do you even know how to play chess? Oh, shit, don't tell your mom I said that. I mean, the "fuck" part, you can tell that I asked how you know how to play chess, she probably already thinks I'm dumb so whatever"

"Mr. Storm, if I was to tell my mom everytime that you swore in front of me, she probably wouldn't allow me to come here anymore"

"Yeah, right. How about we play poker? Everyone knows how to play poker, right?" Logan looked at him dead in the eye.

"Mr. Storm, I'm ten. However, I'm friends with Janus, so yes, of course I know how to play poker"

"Yes! What are we going to bet?!" Janus exclaimed, smiling devilishly.

"Cake slices" Virgil was the one to answer. She seemed disappointed, but quickly accepted it.

"Yeah, ok, I'll grab the cards, oh Logan, come with me, I totally forgot to show you a book I just bought, you'll love it, I can lend it to you if you want to"

"Alright" as the kids went to their room, Remus turned to his husband.

"The makeup was a great idea, you know?"

"Yeah. I would have liked for my parents to support me when I was her age. Would have made it easier to come to terms with my gender"

"I feel you, man. See, we can do it" Remus said, holding his husband's hand.

"I guess we aren't that bad"

"Yeah" Remus smiled, planting a soft kiss on Virgil's lips, who smiled too.

"I'm going to destroy you at poker"

"I would love to see you try"

#dukexietyweek2021 #virgil sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #rabbit writes #cw swearing #parents au

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kurtty-drabbles · 3 years

Text

The mysterious Death of Charles Xavier Part 2

N/A: A bit more set up for this story.

@dannybagpipesarecalling @kurttyfamily @tieflingteeth

The chippering birds are singing loudly on the bare branch of the tree near Maximoff´s household. One girl wearing a purple cloak and spreading towards the woman at the entrance of the house- the woman is wearing scarlet and is holding a teacup hovering in the air- and hugs said the woman. “Miss Maximoff, guess what? I got accept into the school!’

Kitty is beaming as she’s holding the letter of acceptance. Wanda Maximoff hugs the girl, her hand is gloved with velvet red and once the hug is broken, the Scarlet Witch titled her head. “School?”

Kitty beams and explains in one go, without needing to breathe, what really happened, and then takes a moment to breathe. Wanda blinks at the explanation.

“I see, let’s drink tea and talk,” Wanda set the table-one can see the magic items and even feel the charm itself. Kitty is familiar with going to this place, however, Kitty never saw the Darkhold...too advanced and too dangerous.

“So, from what you told me, you want to go to Hellfire School to solve the mystery of Charles Xavier´s death, ok, may I ask why?” Wanda asked curiously as the young pupil is tying up her hair in a ponytail at the last minute.

“Well, I...” she is cut off as a strong wind flips her hair, she looks around to see a new person in the room. “Oh, hello Mr. Maximoff,” Kitty greets him. Pietro rolls his eyes-it´s possible to see the corner of his mouth twisting in a smile- and speaks to the girl.

“I told you to stop calling me that, Mr. Maximoff makes me feel old...and I already have white hair,” he mentions his hair as proof of his words.

Kitty nods sagely. “Ok, Mr. P”

Wanda chuckles at that. Pietro sighs.

“Well, it’s better...and you what you two are talking about? magic stuff?” Pietro asked interested and resembling a curious puppy. Wanda shakes her head.

“Actually no, we´re talking about Kitty going to Hellfire School,” Wanda explained cautiously. “The school where Prof X was murder,” she raises her eyebrows and gesture to Kitty Pryde.

Pietro takes the hint. “So, let me get this straight, you wanna solve another mystery?” Pietro asked, and Kitty nods mutely. “Of course, here we go again, ok...did you know Prof X´ house was a school before the Hellfire took over?”

Kitty denies and now is giving undying attention to Pietro.

“Yeah, the Hellfire used to be a school for all mutants, well, he had a group of mutants called X-Men...Scott was the leader,” Pietro snickers and Wanda gives him a pointy look at him.

“After the death of Prof X, yes Kitty he was called like that, the X-Men disbanded, and re-grouped in other places,” Wanda pipes in calmly.

Pietro grimace now. “Our sperm donor was friends with Prof X,” he looks a bit revolted, “or maybe more than friends when the bald man died...our sperm donor cried like we never saw before, nor we´ll,” Pietro added somberly.

Wanda nods. “Yes, Magneto was so distraught by Prof X´ death...he even tried to take the school to honor his “friend” death," Wanda takes a sip of his cup of tea. “Then, by the intervention of law, Madelyne Pryor got the acquaintance of the school,”

Wanda can see the gears on Kitty´s mind working.

“But, what about Jean Grey? Should she be the one to be the heir? I mean, Prof X had a son ....who rejected him, the school in several ways, even legal ways,” Kitty remembers that story and has the clips saved on her pen drive.

Pietro interjected. “Well, yes. But Jean and Maddy are twins,” Pietro seems to want to make a joke and Wanda shakes her head. “Anyway, Maddy was made the heir for reasons we do not know...and then she and Emma created the Hellfire school, a place for mutants who are real genius!”

kitty blinks remembering this story. This time Wanda scoffs.

“Emma is a bitch,” Wanda replied and Kitty is shocked by the choice of words. “Sorry Kitty, but, she is....we have a bad history. Anyway, it was her idea to make this school so...exclusive,” Wanda is clearly not pleased.

Pietro nods in agreement. “She’s also one of the few telepaths who are powerful enough to hold the title Prof X left open,”

“And to make our sperm donor back off, say what you will about Emma, but she’s truly strong to make Magneto think twice before anything, few have this...privilege,” Wanda replied cooly.

Kitty nods. “And how the body was found? I mean, Prof X is/was a powerful telepath... I find it hard to believe he was murder in the traditional way,”

Pietro and Wanda sent a look to each other.

“Kitten, look, is already too late to say how dangerous and morbid this all is, again, not your first mysterious death nor will be your last...but, Prof X had many secrets, made many enemies...his death is not truly investigated,” the twins talked together.

Kitty holds her tongue to not say how funny that was.

“I know...but like you two said, together! I had to do this once again,” Kitty states conventionally.

Wanda sighs and then speaks. “You know, Reeds tried to solve it...”

Pietro shakes his head. “He’s that smart and I bet he knows what happened but refuses to share it,”

No one argues against that.

Kitty holds her letter. “Well, guess I have to be smarter than him,” she jokes. “and yes, I´ll solve the case,”

“Just be careful, Kitty, those students are scary smart, one of them, moon girl is so smart she...created a dino,” Pietro exclaimed perplexed.

Wanda chuckles. “You have a twin you is a witch. This surprised you?!”

“Wanda, have you made a T-Rex? No, I don´t think so,”

Kitty watches them bicker for some time.

_________________________________________________

Cameron is a rational man, at least, he truly hopes he is. When his daughter develops magic and mutation well, the man was freaking out, but, thanks to Terry, his dear wife, the man got a grip and did the right thing.

This, however, is a matter they both need to discuss quickly as possible. “Terry, listen, I have a friend in New Orleans, he has a house for rent, we can go there...Kitty can study in that School of magic in New Orleans, We can live there,” Cameron suggested.

Terry’s lips are now a thin line. “Look, we´re jumping horses here, your job...how that would work?”

Cameron raises his hand. “We have a filial in New Orleans, I can be transferred there,”

Terry is biting her lips now. “Yes, but the legal process would take a while, plus, we never enter contact with that school, Wanda told us, remember? That New Orleans magic school has time to accept new students...and I think we´re far behind,” Terry responds worriedly.

“True, but I was thinking...maybe Scarlet Witch could...you know, open some door for Kitty,” noticing his wife’s gaze, Cameron amends. “Look, I´m not happy with any of this, but, do you want our daughter to be the sole magic user here?”

Terry blinks.

“I´m a muggle, ok, but even I know Kitty must be lonely here. She’s the only witch in this area, is involved in dark mysterious and well, is the only witch too young to join a coven,” Cameron replied.

“Oh...but she has so many friends, does she needs witch friends?”

“I don´t know, again, I´m a muggle, but, wouldn´t hurt...Kitty can be more close with her magic side, it feels as if we´re trying to force her to choose one side,” Cameron states.

“All paths lead to Hellfire School then, and I hate it, I don´t want them to bully her...look, our daughter may not be magic, but, those kids...” she trails off.

Cameron nods slowly. “I´m afraid too, but let’s be real, what option do we have here, we once tried to lock her in her room to stop her from tangle her in dark mystery, and...we found out her former principal is Satan,”

“Mephisto” Terry corrected.

“Yeah, so...let’s try a new approach, maybe this is just the typical ‘’rich dude is killed for money’’ and will be bored, hey, sometimes rich people kill each other for money, not for Satan,”

The door slams and the two adults jolt.

Kitty enters the house. Still holding the letter. “Mom, dad...”

Terry just hugs her daughter, “tell me, do you want to go to this school?”

Kitty nods.

“Promise to call us?”

Kitty nods.

“Then...fine...guess we have no choice, but, look is temporary, you heard me, temporary!”

#kitty pryde #kurtty #kurt waggner will show up #kurt waggoner #kurtty yet #the maximoff are good twins #not twincest here #wanda and Pietro aren´t fans of Magneto

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love101imagines · 4 years

Text

Bad idea

request: Can u write a fic w Sinan, having a secret crush on Kerem's sister, so Eda, isik and Osman find a way to distract kerem to leave the two alone. your last imagine was very good, I loved it.

tag list: @peraltwolf @zaynlikfalls @wwafangirld

(a/n): these two hate each other so much, I found it hilarious and so ironic if Sinan ended up falling for Kerem’s younger sister, that would be like the tip of the iceberg and the rest just helped that mess to be created.

In a household where your mother expected you to be a dutiful and charming daughter and your father acted like an emotionless soldier, it wasn't a surprise that you were the only one for Kerem.

It was with small things, like patching him up after the many fights that you told him to stop or calming him down after your father's patronizing comments. And he would do the same whenever you would get frustrated with your mother for not hearing you or telling you to act more like a lady.

That was why you two were always for each other, hence the reason you were going to one of his classmates' house after he almost got expelled.

Truth be told, you had a lot of experience in that topic. After all, you had been expelled a few months before from an all-girls' school, making your parents send you to your brother's school.

While he knocked loudly on the door, you bit down on your lower lip to avoid laughing. "Can't believe you're getting expelled now."

He only rolled his eyes before going inside, bumping his shoulder against the boy who had opened the door. "Let's talk about whatever we need to talk."

While the other boy glared at him, you stepped inside. "I'm (Y/N), nice to meet you." You introduced yourself politely, wanting to make up for your brother so you two wouldn’t get kicked out.

That was the first time you had ever talked to Sinan. You had seen him a few times in the hallways, but since you weren't in the same year you didn't share any classes.

Before he could reply, his eyes looking up and down at you in a not so subtle way, another girl entered the house. "Move." She ordered him.

You only gave him a side smile before seating down, wanting to get everything over with so your brother wouldn't get expelled too.

That night you got to know the rest of your new friends. While Kerem found himself interested in Eda, you couldn't tell him that you found yourself staring at Sinan most times when nobody else noticed. You couldn’t tell him specially for how they seemed to dislike each other so much.

Sinan didn't do much to show that he cared, he mocked Kerem every now and then and you usually ended up being the one who calmed things down.

“There’s also this, “That’s how my father used to do it”.” Sinan continued with his rant after school while you tried to convince Işik to come to the rock concert.

“That one is about manners.” Kerem shot back.

Sinan, standing next to you, rolled his eyes. “No, I interpret it as, “I’m a moron. I don’t have my ideas”.”

“Dude, I swear...” Your brother started.

“Kerem.” You warned, standing in front of Sinan so your brother wouldn’t cause a fight.

“Calm down.” Osman tried, pulling him back slightly.

Once he calmed down, you took a sip of your ayran before you shrugged. “I don’t think you’re right.”

Sinan looked at you raising his brows, probably a bit surprised by your attitude. You weren’t annoyed by him, but you still wouldn’t allow him to act that way with the rest.

“Oh, yeah?” He asked emotionless while you bumped your shoulder into his in a teasing way.

“Yeah, well, we all got the same shit taught as kids.” You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then you shut the fuck up.” You quoted with a smug smile.

He scoffed. “So that’s your life motto.”

“Better than tearing people down.” You replied like it was obvious.

He swallowed hard, clearly confused about why you hadn’t gotten annoyed at him like the rest but still contradicted him with good arguments, different from Kerem. Or at least, that seemed to him. “Even if you have to lie to them?” He continued, trying to get another reaction from you.

“It’s not like being kind will kill you, unlike that hatred that you’re harboring.” You explained, finally making eye contact with him once you finished your lunch.

You two continued like that for a few seconds, the rest oblivious that you had stopped bickering. While you bit the inside of your cheek to avoid blushing, you felt something weird inside of you as you watched Sinan’s face softening, not as frustrated as before.

Before you could think anything about that, Kerem cleared his throat. “Yeah, don’t even think about it.”

“Kerem!” You complained while your brother only shook his head and pulled your arm to stand next to him.

“You’re not going to bother my little sister too.” He announced while you sighed exasperatedly.

You glanced at Sinan, his jaw slightly clenched as he looked away, cheeks slightly pink.

You already knew that if you had an older brother, things with boys would be hard. Having Kerem as an older brother only made things 10 times harder. He wouldn’t let any boy even glance in your direction because of how protective he was.

Not once in his life did he ever turn a blind eye in your direction, and any boy that ever made you a mean comment or made you cry, left with a black eye once he found out.

It didn’t exactly help that he absolutely hated Sinan and how he always mocked him acting like he was more intelligent.

But still, you didn’t have to worry much about it. You didn’t even have a crush on Sinan, you weren’t only hanging out with him to help Kerem avoid being expelled. That’s what you continued saying to yourself whenever your mind went back to the boy.

“You’re too young to go on dates.”

You scoffed, almost stopping in your tracks while Kerem only continued walking towards the school. “Are you kidding me? I’m turning seventeen in a few months, you’re only one year older.”

“But I’m older.” He replied like a fact.

“Yeah, well, I don’t care.” You said sarcastically, stopping at a red light, mentally cursing your parents for not giving you a ride to school, saying that you were old enough now. “Besides, when did I ever say anything about dating? I only told you that you don't need to watch out for me all the time.” You tried to change the topic of the discussion.

He rolled his eyes at you. “Don’t act dumb. I’ve seen how he looks at you.”

“He?” You asked furrowing your brows. “Who’s he?”

Kerem only clicked his tongue as you two stopped in front of the school building. Before he could even answer, Sinan arrived with Osman. You would have to ask him later about that.

“What’s up?” Eda greeted you.

While you fixed your tie a bit, you didn’t notice Eda nudging Osman and clearing her throat.

“Kerem, we um...we need you to...” The girl trailed off.

“To talk with Coach Altuna.” Osman added. “Yes, we need you to talk to him.”

Your brother only shrugged. “Fine.”

When he didn’t even move, Eda sighed. “Now, go.” She ordered him, grabbing his arm pulling him with her.

Before he left, he turned to you one last time. “We’ll finish talking later.

“Yeah, yeah.” You brushed him off, clearly not concerned.

While you leaned against the railings behind you, Işik fumbled with her hands. “I um, I have to speak with Miss Ayse.”

“And I have to make some calls.” Osman said.

It only took them two seconds to leave, leaving you and Sinan alone. You pursued your lips into a line, dropping your bag as you took a sharp breath.

“And then there were two.” You mumbled.

Sinan didn’t answer, only moving to stand next to you and leaning against the wall.

You raised a brow at him, subconsciously fumbling with your hands. “Aren’t you going to leave too?”

He swallowed, shaking his head before looking at the ground. However, he looked at you once you started talking again.

“They left you here with me because they don’t like me, right?”

“What?” He blurted out.

You didn’t notice his incredulous look, so you only continued with your rant. “It’s obvious, they must think I’m only Kerem’s annoying and clingy sister and only hang out with me because I’m new and I don’t know anybody. You don’t have to lie to me, I’m sure they pity me or something, that has to be the only reason they hang out with me.”

“That’s bullshit.” He interrupted you. You finally looked at him, your eyes meeting as he continued. “We aren’t an exclusive club or some shit like that, but you’re part of us.” He explained.

You remained silent for a while, a small smile appearing on your face because of what he had admitted. “Thanks.” You mumbled.

He only gave you another small smile before you picked up your bag and grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”

“I say we skip school.” You thought out loud. “I’m sure they won’t come back and they already left us. Besides, you really want to class now? Last time you went to the infirmary to sleep.”

“Why shouldn’t I go and sleep now?” He asked even if he didn’t want to.

You smirked. “Because I’m more fun to hang out with. I’m the better sibling, you’ll like me, you’ll see.”

He sighed, slowly picking up his bag and jacket before following you while you grinned. “You’re a bit handful even if you’re younger, I can see why you were expelled.”

“Fuck off.”

Kerem was furious with everything. You tried to hide it pretty well, after all, it wasn’t like you two were dating. You were only friends who were slowly growing closer, just like any friendship.

But still, Kerem noticed every smile, every flirtatious push, every teasing comment that had another meaning, and how you two always stood close to each other.

It was the next days when things started being weird.

“Uf, I’m so hungry. Can we go and buy something to eat?” You asked leaving your umbrella on the ground.

You all had convinced Miss Burcu to work alongside Coach Kemal, and the plan seemed to be going smoothly, which made you proud.

Once you gave Sinan, who was standing next to you, your best puppy eyes to convince him, he nodded, a faint smile on his face that made you cheer on your inside.

“We’ll all go,” Kerem added, glaring at Sinan which made you sigh.

Still, while Işik shifted in uneasiness, she glanced at Eda to do something.

“Kerem, I need your help with something,” Eda said all of a sudden dropping her red umbrella on the floor.

As soon as Eda said that, your brother nodded. You only rolled your eyes with a small smile on your face, amused with how he was acting like a lost puppy.

“I have to see something about a few debts, sorry.” Osman announced before leaving as well, a not so subtle smirk on his face that made you furrow your brows.

Isik grinned. “Osman, I’ll come with you! I have to go to the library. We’ll be back in a while. You two go and have lunch. Bye!”

“See ya.” You mumbled still confused while stretching your arms.

You glanced at Sinan, the only one who didn’t even move an inch from his place. His hands still fumbled with the piece of white paper everybody had already left on the ground, his eyes looking everywhere but you.

You judged him with your elbow. “Hey, I’m starving.” You said with a soft smile as he finally looked at you.

He thought about it for a moment before leaving the paper on the ground and walking alongside you. “Fine, let’s eat.”

Once you two bought some döner kebab, you sat on a bench nearby school, your legs crossed and knees touching.

“Thanks for not being that much of a dick to Kerem the last days.” You mumbled, voice slightly muffled because of your food.

He shrugged like it wasn’t such a big deal. “Maybe you were right after all. The whole kindness thing.” He explained before taking a bite of his food.

You fake gasped. “Don’t tell me I managed to change your mind.”

He bumped his shoulder into yours while you only chuckled, taking a sip from your soda. Forgetting about everything, about your friends, your brother, and your classes, you only focused on the boy and the many shops in front of you.

“Why were you expelled?” He asked curiously. “From your former school, I mean.”

You doubted for a moment, your hands playing with the paper your food was wrapped in before you let out a breath.

“It was because of my grades.” You started slowly. “It was a very strict school and a lot of pressure so I didn’t do that well in tests. Truth be told, I wasn’t really expelled because my parents changed me before everything happened, but they had to pay a lot for me to be allowed here. Ugh, they were so mad that their daughter was such a dumbass.” You said sarcastically, slumping in your seat.

“I don’t think you’re dumb.” He said quietly. “I’m not saying you’re a genius, and high school grades don’t show our intelligence and only work for a system in which we’re classified into different...” He started with his rant a bit nervous to change the subject.

You sighed loudly. “Ah, Sinan, I like you but shut up.”

“What?” He blurted out with his eyes widened.

You didn’t even move to pick up your bag you had dropped on the ground, too shocked with what had just slipped out. Now, he had to be sure that you were absolutely dumb.

“Um, yeah...” You started awkwardly. “I...I like you.” You admitted, carefully reading his expression.

He raised his brows, a smile appearing on his face after a few seconds. “Really?”

“Yes, I do.” You repeated yourself, now a bit more confident.

You finally connected the dots on the many occasions the rest had dragged Kerem away, leaving the two of you alone. As his hand slipped in yours, you smiled at him before you remembered something.

“We can’t tell Kerem.” You said completely serious while he only furrowed his brows. “I mean it, he’s going to break your arm if he finds out. I promise I’ll tell him when the time’s right.”

After sighing, Sinan nodded. “Alright. He certainly won’t be happy that I’m with his little sister.”

You chuckled, playfully bumping your shoulders into his. “Slow down, you haven’t asked me yet to be your girlfriend.”

As he rolled his eyes and pushed you too, you smiled. Things would be hard with Kerem, but you would manage to convince him that you really liked Sinan. Or at least, that’s what you thought while you intertwined your fingers.

#love 101 #love101 #burcu #eda #kerem #osman #sinan #ask 101 #aşk101imagine #aşk 101 #aşk 101 imagine #aşk101 #love 101 imagine #love101imagine #sinanimagine #sinanxreader

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allicekitty13 · 3 years

Text

Glitter On The Floor

Feeling guilty about not getting Alice anything for Christmas, Jasper comprises a plan to make it up to his girlfriend. (Part 4 of the Jalice through the holidays series.)

Read on Ao3

Read on FFN

They'd been at the mall for two hours when Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie walked into yet another store. Jasper was beginning to tire from the walking and seemingly endless number of shops targeted toward teenage girls. He honestly wondered just how many variations of the same concept needed to be produced and just why his sister seemed to need so damn many. However, the teen did keep his mouth shut, very much aware of the hypocrisy of his thoughts. If Jasper had taken this trip with Alice he wouldn't have taken a single issue in watching as the girl skipped throughout the shopping center delighting in the wide variety of clothing, makeup, and accessories available to customers. Rosalie knew this was the case, and he preferred not to have that fact audibly pointed out by his twin.

Rosalie had been planning the trip for a few days now, being the type of girl who changed interests weekly their parents had long ago decided it was better for all parties to gift her cash as Christmas and birthday gifts. Her brother's inclusion, however, had been a last-minute decision. While Jasper very much enjoyed his new video games, three days straight of playing was a little much even for him.

Most of his friends were otherwise occupied that day. Peter and Riley working as their respective places of employment were taking advantage of the winter break. Edward had whisked Bella away for what he surely believed was a romantic outing- only time would tell if his long-suffering girlfriend would agree. Alice, who was sharing regular updates on the group Snapchat, was spending a few days in Seattle with her father and step-mother.

Apparently, after their run-in with Edgar on Black Friday, the man had started treating his daughter much better... at least, in public. Alice, however, felt the attention was insincere and hollow. More for show than anything else. The majority of her messages consisted of the girl lamenting about how she couldn't wait to return to Forks at the end of the week.

So, with no other options available and desperately needing to socialize, Jasper had agreed to accompany Emmett and Rosalie on their trip to blow through the latter's Christmas cash.

Currently, the trio were in Rue 21. Emmett was modeling an array of hats strutting up and down the aisle like a runway, likely providing some much-needed amusement to the unfortunate retail worker's suffering through a shift in the busy weeks post Christmas. Rosalie was pretending to find the antics bothersome, making an off-handed comment about her boyfriend's maturity level. Yet, even from across the shop, Jasper could see the smile she was trying to hide.

As he turned away from his friend's shenanigans, a thin silver headband with faux gems adorning the surface caught Jasper's eye. The jewels glittered lightly under the harsh fluorescent lighting as he approached, almost as if in a trance. The hair accessory was the epitome of Alice, almost like it had been made exclusively for the girl. Jasper knew, nearly instinctually, that she needed to own this. So, he plucked the item from its place and eagerly made his way to the checkout counter.

While he knew, logically, Alice had been sincere when she'd told him it was okay that he hadn't gotten her a physical gift for Christmas. That his willingness to partake in an activity she loved despite it being something that bored him had been gift enough. Logic, however, hadn't stopped him from feeling guilty for the past week. Jasper genuinely cared for the girl. He wasn't quite there yet, but he did know he was falling in love with her fast. Someone as special to him as Alice deserved better than a boyfriend who couldn't even get her a Christmas present. That being said, at this point, wrapping the headband and just handing it over to her didn't feel like enough. He needed a bigger gesture.

As the three friends left the store, Rosalie parted ways with the boys. She'd made an appointment at the mall salon to do something about her hair. The girl's locks were still stained silver from a dye mishap on Halloween. She'd gone along with the look for a while, leaning hard into the aesthetic. Her roots were beginning to grow out though, and the girl had made it clear she was ready to do something about it. Her brother was curious about her plans, and the way she dodged his questions had him mildly concerned. Rosalie loved theatrics. That being said, he wasn't invested enough in the saga of Rosalie's hair to put much effort into the mystery, accepting that her plans would be made clear in due time. So he and Emmett headed down to the food court to get some lunch while they waited for the girl.

"So," Emmett asked through a mouthful of fries as they sat down with their respective orders at one of the few empty tables in the food court. "What's in the bag?"

"I finally found a Christmas present for Alice," Jasper replied as he set down the soda he'd been sipping on the table in between the two friends. He handed the shopping bag to Emmett, who pulled out the slips of paper sprayed with perfume the cashier had placed inside the plastic sack. The boy sniffed them before making a comment about how they weren't really Jasper's scent as he tossed them into a nearby trash can.

Finally, Emmett pulled the headband out of the bag; he turned it over in his hands examining it closely before placing it on his head, careful not to stretch it out. He leaned forward on one hand as he blinked at his friend in a flirty manner. "Whatcha' think, Jas? Does it match my eyes?"

Jasper rolled his eyes in response as both boys laughed. "In all seriousness though," Emmet spoke, taking off the accessory and handing it back to his friend. "It's perfect for Alice. She's going to love it."

"I really hope your right..."

"Dude, I'm always right." The other boy laughed and threw a french fry at this friend. "So, when are you going to give it to her?"

One of the things Jasper liked about having Emmett as a friend was just how observant the guy was. Most of their classmates never really looked past the surface of his fun-loving, class clown persona. But the teen was also smart, caring, and a genuinely good friend to have on your side. So, as Jasper told the boy about his worries, guilt, and half-formed plans for a grand gesture, Emmett was more than happy to join in on the brainstorming. After all, even though his idea for Halloween hadn't gone quite as planned, it had still worked out in Jasper's favor. By the time Rosalie returned, they'd formed what Jasper thought was a pretty solid plan.

---

Rosalie had a yearly tradition of throwing a New Year's Eve party. What had started as a sleepover back when the twins were in middle school was now a huge bash the students of Forks High looked forward to every winter. Currently, the girl was standing in the foyer greeting her guests and basking in their compliments on her hair freshly dyed a light denim shade of blue. In the living room, Bella and Emmett were chatting with an overly tense Jasper. He sat on the new setee his parents bought during Black Friday, jumping slightly every time the doorbell rang in anticipation of his girlfriend's arrival.

When the doorbell chimed, indicating yet another guest had arrived, Jasper startled once again prompting Emmett to chide him good-naturedly. His heart began to race as Alice's voice carried into the room from the foyer. He could hear her excitedly awing over Rosalie's hair, rapidly detailing all the outfits that would compliment the look. As she excused herself by telling the blue-haired teen that they just had to go shopping soon, but she needed to find Jasper, the man in question figured he must have looked as though he'd seen a ghost judging by the way Bella looked at him in sympathy as she reassured that it was going to be Okay.

"Hey, you guys," Alice beamed as she entered the room. The teen gracefully took a seat next to Jasper on the couch, lifting one of his arms to drape around her shoulders. "Sorry I'm so late. Mom got called into the hospital last minute again. I actually wasn't going to come, but Esme insisted on watching Cynthia so I could be here."

"Well, we're sure glad you could make it," Emmett smirked, turning to look at his very pale friend. "Aren't we, Jasper." Afraid that were he to speak, he may throw up, the teen simply nodded in response as he gently squeezed his girlfriend's shoulder.

Alice looked between the two with a raised eyebrow, clearly suspicious of the pair. The hardest part of surprising the girl was just how intuitive she was, seeming to know everything before it happened. Jasper could practically see the gears turning in her head as Alice glanced back and forth between the boys. She had eventually either given up or settled on a conclusion as she settled into Jasper's side and picked up a conversation with Bella about She-Ra on Netflix.

Jasper tried to focus on his conversation with Emmett and now Peter, who joined their group in the living room. With Alice snuggled into his side, however, it was difficult to focus. His eyes kept drifting over to the old clock hanging on the wall watching as the hands moved slowly but surely, ticking closer and closer to midnight. A weight settled in his stomach as he began to overthink his plan. What if Alice thought it was too much. What if she didn't feel the same way about him? It was entirely possible his profound feelings weren't reciprocated.

By the time Charlotte peeked her head into the room, giving all the gathered teenagers a ten-minute warning that it was nearly time for the countdown, Jasper was absolutely second-guessing himself. Frozen in place, staring at the clock still ticking closer to the new year, he was vaguely aware of his friends standing up and heading over to the other side of the room where the TV where they gathered around the screen in anticipation. Emmett, on his way over to join the crowd, nudged him in the shoulder causing Jasper to look up. His friend gave him an expressive reassuring look, communicating that everything was going to be alright.

With a deep breath, Jasper rose from his seat holding out a hand to Alice in feigned confidence as he asked the girl if she would care to join him on the patio. The concerned look she'd been giving him quickly morphed into one of curiosity as she gladly intertwined her fingers with his allowing him to lead her outside.

The patio had been decorated with fairy lights, and sitting on a white iron outdoor table sat the headband wrapped neatly in a slightly shimmery deep blue paper that sparkled subtly in the moonlight. The package had been decorated with a ribbon of the same shade tied into a bow. Jasper silently thanked his sister for her handiwork in wrapping the gift, fully aware he wouldn't have been able to make it look anywhere near as perfect.

Jasper strode over to the table picking up the package and handing it to Alice as he spoke. "So, I uh... I saw this the other day when I was shopping with Rose. And, I thought of you and how much you'd love it. And you know... I feel like an asshole for not getting you anything for Christmas and..."

"Jas," She cut off his rambling speech, "Stop beating yourself up. I mean what I said on Christmas Eve."

"Just open it, Alice."

The girl shook her head as she proceeded to slide the bow off the package, placing it neatly onto the table next to her, doing the same with the paper. When she pulled the lid off of the cardboard box Rosalie had placed the accessory in, Alice gasped as she gazed down at the headband. "It's beautiful." She commented, prying her eyes away from the gift to stare at her boyfriend.

Jasper, feeling reassured by her reaction, stepped into her space, taking the accessory from her hands, and placed it gently on her head. "A queen deserves to wear a crown."

"How do I look?" She asked, staring up at him.

"Perfect." He looked back down at the girl, not backing away as he gazed into her blue eyes, trying to wordlessly communicate just how much he truly cared for the girl standing before him.

From inside the house, the couple could hear their friends shouting as they began to count down from ten to one. Jasper had timed this out perfectly as everything was lining up according to plan. The count down reached five and he leaned down, asking her if this was okay. The action elicited a nervous smile from Alice, something he'd rarely ever seen on the confident girl. At two, she responded with a clear yes, and as their friends cheered out the number one from the living room, their lips met for the first time.

Inside, their friends were excitedly ringing in the new year, but for the two outside time seemed to stop stuck in that split second between one year ending and another beginning.

#Jasper Hale #alice cullen #Jalice #Twilight #twilight fic

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awyeahitssam · 4 years

Text

I wrote a “Stiles is transformed into a girl” AU earlier, but it turned out to be just smut. So here’s this - the same universe in snippets.

“Goddamn!” Stiles shouted, kicking the examine table hard enough to leave his miniaturized foot aching.

“Wow, looks like she’s already PMSing.”

While any comment like Isaac’s not-so-quiet mutter was in poor taste, it was especially so considering the news that had caused Stiles’ outburst.

“You and your misplaced judgement can fuck off, because I was just told that I will never be my parents son again.”

“Wow, hate women much, Stilinski?” Jackson sneered.

“Oh, fuck off!” Stiles snapped. “I like and respect women plenty. That doesn’t mean I’m cool with suddenly turning into one.”

“‘Like’ and ‘respect,’” Erica mimicked. “That sounded a little sexist, Batman.”

Stiles stared at her, openly disbelieving. He glanced around, but nobody seemed like they were about to step in and rebut that particular sentiment. So he took a deep, settling breath and did what he did best, because, as always, nobody else was going to.

“How would you feel if you traded in your breasts and vagina for a dick?”

Erica blinked, taken aback. After a beat she opened her mouth, but Stiles continued before she could respond.

“Sure, maybe it’d be cool at first, but after a few hours or days that novelty would wear off, and you’d want your own body back. Y’know, the body you’ve lived in for eighteen years, and grown a little fond of.”

Erica was flushed, but that could’ve been caused by anything from remorse to indignation at being chided in front of the entire pack. It wasn’t like he could smell her emotions; if she wanted him to stop, she would have to use her words. Anyway, it had been a long couple of days and he needed to vent a little.

“Calling me sexist, of all things, because I want to have the body I was born in back is ignorant and just plain stupid. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go find somebody with an explanation beyond ‘it’s irreversible’.”

Stiles snatched the taser from his purse and waved it threateningly. “Back the fuck off, dude. You’ve never been interested in me before, so I’m going to go ahead and assume this is more of a ‘I’d like to get my dick wet’ scenario than a ‘wow, Stiles, you have such a great personality, let’s date!’ sorta thing. Not that I’d be interested in the latter, but still.”

If anything, Isaac looked more amused. He stepped forward, and Stiles fought the instinct to pull back. He was smaller than he should’ve been; he’d never been shorter than Isaac before. Still, Stiles had stood up to bullies that were bigger and stronger than him all his life. This wasn’t the same, but it wasn’t so different, either.

Though the fact that Stiles now had to worry about his so-called packmate ignoring what he said and trying to get into his pants regardless pissed him off immeasurably.

“It’s just sex, Stilinski. What, are you still a virgin or something?”

Like Isaac hadn’t been a virgin himself before Derek bit him.

What a douche.

“Seriously dude, fuck off.”

Isaac’s face twisted into something bemused, like he couldn’t understand the word no. Which, seriously? Stiles had always thought Isaac was an asshole who believed he could get away with anything if he pulled out his traumatic childhood membership card, but this was a little extreme.

“Are you seriously turning down a chance to test out your new parts? What kind of guy are you?”

“I’m starting to wonder what kind of guy you are, Lahey. No means no. I’m not having sex with you, so drop it and move out of my goddamn way.”

For a moment Isaac went unnaturally still. Predator still. Stiles tensed, preparing to use both the taser and aerosolized wolfsbane Allison had given him. If he took even one step closer, Stiles wouldn’t hesitate.

Perhaps he smelled the violence rising in the air, or maybe Isaac had just decided to take no for an answer. Either way the werewolf gave Stiles a lingering glance, turned on his heel, and slunk back into the preserve, presumably off to practice his wolfy abilities with the others.

“My, my, you really do enjoy facing down predators, Stiles.”

Stiles turned, unsurprised to find Peter leaning against one of the house support beams. He frowned.

“Yeah, apparently a bunny predator and a sexual predator. Thanks for stepping in, there, zombiewolf.”

Peter shrugged. “You had it handled.”

Stiles sighed, rolling his shoulders and stuffing the taser back in his bag. “I can deal with Lahey if I have to. And apparently having boobs means I’ll have to.”

Peter met his eyes when Stiles looked up from scowling at his breasts. The man seemed faintly amused, but there was something beyond that.

It seemed the hungry gleam in Peter’s eyes remained whether Stiles was male or female. At least one person didn’t change the way they looked at him, but in his current state the gaze made him feel vaguely vulnerable. And god damn, did he hate that.

Stiles had long since been aware of his comparative weakness to the wolves he ran with, but knowing and seeing were different things. He was several inches shorter and about twenty pounds lighter than he had been, his coordination thrown even more out of wack by his newly proportioned limbs. His reach was less than it had been, his gait wasn’t right, and when he tested swinging his baseball bat his breasts did some uncomfortable swinging as well. Apparently, he needed a bra.

Lydia takes him shopping first thing Friday, because of course she does. Stiles only allows it because it seems he’s going to be in this body a while, until he can prove Deaton wrong, so he might as well buy some pants he doesn’t have to hold up by a belt without enough notches.

“That skirt is just, like, deliberately short!”

He ends up with three pairs of jeans, a pair of sweats, some cargo shorts (because apparently those are the only kind that don’t stop mid-thigh), a couple of hoodies, and four tank tops.

He considers throwing his favorite red lacrosse sweatshirt over it like he normally does, but it’s been getting hotter and he’s seen plenty of women jog in sports bras. At this point, it’s whatever. Stiles just needs to get some of this energy out before he shakes to death or something.

So naturally when he’s taking a break to catch his breath on mile three, Peter materializes at his side, nursing a cup of coffee with a book tucked under his arm.

And he raises a brow, as if to comment on Stiles’ poor endurance, because of course he does. Dick.

“Are you really coming to the woods to read?” he asks, slowly straightening out. His side is still cramping, but he doesn’t want to be in the perfect position for Peter to peer into his bra, even if the man had yet to look away from his face.

“Yes, I enjoy my coffee exclusively with woodland creatures,” Peter sasses back. Stiles smiles, just a bit, because for the first time in days somebody is treating him normally. Even if it is Peter, and his brand of normal is often a bit creepy. “What are you doing in the woods, Stiles? The big bad wolf might find you.”

It wasn’t a new joke, but--”I’m not Little Red.”

“No,” Peter sighs dramatically, “You’ve done away with your hoodie. I suppose I’ll have to find another young man to coax away from grandmother’s house.”

Man. Young man.

Stiles lets out a breath he wasn’t aware of holding and walks forward, shoving at Peter’s arm. It doesn’t budge, holding the coffee stead, and Peter looks surprised at the casual touch. “Replacing me so easily? Thank god.”

Clever lips curl. “I could never,” the werewolf replies, before waving him on. “Enjoy your run, Stiles.”

Stiles grins back, quick but genuine. “Enjoy your book, dude. Later!”

And he’s off.

Stiles looks down at the sundress laid across his bed and feels the air stutter from his lungs. This dress had been reserved for the long summer days of his childhood, before sickness had taken his mother. He remembers balancing on her feet as she spun them around the living room, both singing at the top of their lungs. He remembers her kissing the shirt over his heart and telling him that he was her favorite person in the world. He remembers trying to swing higher than her and failing in the nearby park, and how she had always laughed at his pout and said, “It isn’t a competition if I don’t try, Mischief!”

Stiles had forgotten he had stashed it in the back of his closet when his father had been gathering all Claudia’s things to donate or store in the attic.

“Stiles?” Scott called, knocking on the door. “Dude, you alright in there?”

“I—” Stiles took a deep breath, tearing his eyes from the dress and going to his closet. “Yeah, I’m… I’m good. Just give me a few minutes to change.”

“There’s sex reassignment surgery,” Lydia mentions one day, five weeks in. Stiles is in the middle of reading over the translated Latin she’d just handed him, and only makes a vague sound of comprehension.

“Stiles!”

“What?” Stiles snaps, glaring up at her. He blinks a few times, processing what she’d said, and shakes his head. “No, Lydia, I - I want my body. Besides, that's not something I could ever afford, not with the debt we’re in.”

“I have money, Stiles,” she says nonchalantly, and it’s probably unreasonable, how that makes him want to break things.

He takes a deep breath and looks her in the eyes. “I’m getting my body back, Lydia, and I’m not taking your money.”

“Stiles, you need to stop. I hate to say this, but you need to hear it, okay? You’re never going to be a guy again. Deaton said as much, and it was okay at first, you trying to prove him wrong, but this is getting out of control. You’re skipping classes, talking to Peter, and playing around with some seriously dangerous stuff. Stuff Allison’s dad would probably put a bullet through you for! Stiles, you’re going to be in a girl’s body for the rest of your life. I just don’t want you making all these shitty choices to go along with this shitty thing that happened to you. I care about you, man… you’re like my - my sister. So please stop. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Your sister?” Stiles snarled. “I’m not a fucking girl, Scott, female body or not. My mind is still male--”

Sorry to leave off there, but it’s all I’ve got. Stiles definitely shuts Scott down with his rant, though.

#peter/stiles #In that it's a part of the same universe I wrote smut for earlier #Let me tell you #writing 7 pages of smut is not my style #this is my style #snippets I'll never post on AO3 because I'll never finish them #female!Stiles #but not at all actually #ever heard of body dysmorphia #that shit blows

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queenlua · 3 years

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The Good Game Critics TM (a giant post o’ links)

yesterday i was complaining:

damn, how come the only people who are writing The Good Video Game Criticism TM are exclusively relegated to… abandoned Blogspots and Tumblrs that haven’t been updated in five years…?

and someone asked:

addadashofpepper: can you like, post links to some of these? cause the thing about these is that they are really hard to find!

oh boy, tumblr user @addadashofpepper, i would be DELIGHTED to share. i dug through my RSS reader / bookmarks, and here’s what leapt out at me:

[under a cut because this got LONG and i got EXCITED]

ella guro: indie dev and creator of Problem Attic, which made a splash back in the day (a somewhat Braid-inspired platformer iirc). she’s mostly removed herself from the game scene these days, but she still blogs about artsy-culture issues from time to time, and if you dig through the archives, some of her old posts on games (probably circa 2012-2015?) are so so good

prophet goddess / blood church: i discovered them literally two days ago, but i’m digging what i see (their ladykiller in a bind review was the first post i stumbled on)

dead genre chronicles: a group of three friends did a monthly JRPG podcast, where they’d play a JRPG in its entirety and talk about it. see, they found mainstream discussions around JRPGs annoyingly stilted, including the term JRPG itself—like, we’re still using the term “JRPG” to mean “turn-based combat with funky anime aesthetics,” but that airbrushes over so many weird and fun and distinctive mechanics that developers inside-and-outside of Japan have been experimenting with, right?

they had a blog attached to the podcast, and the blog was ALSO excellent

unfortunately, they took their main website down a while back :( however:

you can get some of the old blog posts by fiddling with the wayback machine

becky backed up a bunch of her contributions to the site (i particularly liked her ffxv post & this sort-of ffxiii post that punched me in the face in a good way)

leeroy, one of the other contributors, blags here, though i don’t think he backed up his stuff from the original site

the entirety of the podcast is archived on libsyn and is very good if you’re into podcasts!

no don’t die: okay, this blog/interview series is AMAZING. and still active!!! ahh!!!

the whole concept is, this dude finds people who work in games. or used to work in games. or who ran a weird fansite for video games back in the early 00′s. or curate some video-game-shaped things as part of a museum exhibit. and so on, and so forth.

the dude has a knack for finding really interesting people with all kinds of windows/perspectives on games, and manages to get them to talk about really interesting things. two of my fave interviews: rebecca heinman, who ported Doom to 3DO in ten weeks on her own in utterly batshit conditions, and mustin, because i’ve got that overclocked remix nostalgia

my friend pokey: so, they’re on tumblr, they write in all lowercase, and their writing style tends to be on the dense and referential side, which ordinarily has all the warning signs of “all pretentiousness, no substance,” right? (i am not exempt from this, by the way; look at me typing in all lowercase like a scrub.) but, i’ve reliably gotten interesting insights out of their posts & have been surprised how often i mention their blog to a Friend Whose Aesthetic Tastes I Respect and they’re like “ah! i LOVE that blog!” also i liked their notes on chrono cross at the end of this post because i literally want to talk about chrono cross every waking moment of my life, come talk to me about chrono cross friends, etc

em reed’s blog is excellent. i really liked this post about what the phone/gacha game experience is like

auntie pixelante: anna anthropy’s old blog; still not sure why she didn’t archive it somewhere? but whatever, the wayback machine has your back. this early review of Gone Home is reasonably representative

tim rogers: i have kind of mixed opinions on him, but i do find something in his work compelling enough that i keep coming back to him, so.

the dude made his initial splash with his extremely long mgs2 review back in the day; there’s a slightly more recent archive too; he also does a lot of sadposting on medium that ranges from “guy in my MFA” to “fuck i can’t believe this dude’s making me feel feelings” in quality, ymmv. (he also apparently does video reviews now? that are like many hours long? and i am just not the youtube generation so i tapped out on that one bud)

tevis thompson: another critic i have mixed feelings about, but if you’re the kind of dork that enjoys reading stuff that Made A Splash At The Time, and like, nerd subculture histories, you'll have to read his “on videogame reviews” for that reason alone. i also really dug his 100-word video game reviews series

ludus novus: i haven’t read this dude’s blog in ages, but i liked it a lot when i read it in 2012ish and there’s TONS in the archives

emily short: an IF writer who goes way back. i haven’t read her blog lately, but the archives / older posts definiely have cool thoughts on the structure of interactive fiction

jonas kyratzes: indie game dev, creator of The Sea Will Claim Everything. he tends to blog about lefty politics and general arts stuff more frequently than he blogs about games, but he does blog games from time to time. i liked [1] and [2], for starters.

adam cadre: this guy goes waaay back in the IF scene and has made a bunch of Inform stuff. i’ve never actually played his games! but i like his blog a lot (convenient tumblr mirror here). he almost exclusively blags about books and movies and such these days, but if you dig you can find him talking about games sometimes. (also, Masterchef Australia, which he loved so much he wrote over fifteen thousand words about it and it’s one of my favorite bizarre blog posts on the internet)

the fool reversed: this blog is focused on LARP game design & issues around that, but i’d say it’s relevant to anyone interested in game-y topics. as a mostly-outsider to that scene, i thought this was a fun find!

annnd a few last ones:

i haven’t kept up with critical distance in ages, but it used to be a great way to find new game writers, and quite possibly still is, i dunno

while i’ve personally bounced off timber owls a few times, i know some folks who like their writing a lot

hope this helps!!! happy digging through internet archives and such

#link post

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jadedragoness · 4 years

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Review: Peace Talks

First Read Through Reaction

Now staring off, knowing that the book was essentially part one of two did mean that I went in expecting that there would be plot lines that wouldn’t be resolved. I did NOT expect that nearly zero of the plot lines would be resolved, at all. Yikes. Now, I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it. I did. But it felt like there were 50 to 60 pages missing that should have been in the story to at least wrap up minor plot lines before heading into ‘Battle Ground’.

Warning: Full of Spoilers

Such the arrival of the Outsiders those Cornerhounds. Um… Outsiders and at no point that Harry wonder why in the hell they were called to Chicago? Or why they were targeting him and Ebenezer. Seriously, unless the author totally forgot we know that Outsiders can only be called by mortals. So human wizards brought them. So was it someone in the ‘Black Council’ or was it the Formor, since we know from previous stories that they grab humans and mind-whammy them and also modify them. And we know that they’ve been pretty focused on grabbing minor practioners for a couple of years now.

Hell, even just knowing why Thomas attacked the svartalf King would have been good to know in the book even if we don’t find out who it was yet.

That being said lets start of with things I didn’t like.

Thing Which I Wasn’t All that Pleased About:

1. Butters in that threesome relationship.

Now, let me explain, it’s not because its a poly relationship. I don’t even twitch over how Justine and Thomas include others in the sexual part of their relationship. It’s because I kept wondering if Marci was even into dudes. As far as I knew she was only into girls. And now she’s suddenly bi?

What the hell?

I think my reaction has a lot to do with how skewed the sexual orientation gradient in shown among Named characters. You have straight men. Straight women. Bi women who are shown to be blatantly into men and women…and that’s it, now.

No lesbian women with zero interest in men. No bi men. No gay men. No asexual characters. No trans characters. No gender fluid people.

I know that this due to the author’s eye and while it hasn’t irritated me much in the past as we keep getting more and more books with more newly introduced characters the lack is becoming more and more glaring to me. Especially, as I have drifted into reading other series that manage to be way more inclusive about this sort of thing in great and amazing ways *sighs happily over Rivers of London series*. And I don’t just mean in passing with random nameless scenery people that never talk which have popped up in the Dresden Files but with actual characters that have names, dialogue and contribute to the series.

So it really, really annoys me that Marci went from being the only lesbian who is a named character to joining the horde of bi women in the DF verse.

Okay, so its not really a Butters issue to much as a grumble about the spectrum of gender and sexually needing better representation.

*grumbles* Step up your game, Butcher.

I will add that I’m head-canoning that actually the relationship here is Butters with Andi, Andi with Butter and Marci, and Marci with Andi. That pretty much with Butters running around being the new Knight Andi didn’t like how her boyfriend wasn’t paying attention and gave Butters the ultimatum of letting Marci in as Andi’s girlfriend or they broke up.

… yeah, I’m totally liking that spin way, way better.

2. That Marcone took forever to show up! ARGH! I love him ok.

Considering how early he was name dropped in the story the amount of time it took him to show up… Jim Butcher is a damn Marcone-tease. *glares hotly in author’s direction*

3. I don’t like it that Murphy is so hurt. I don’t hate it. I think I’m just uneasy about the future implications.

Having reread the entire series before reading ‘Peace Talks’ I fully expected some lingering injury but not to that level. I’m actually worried about her chances of surviving any upcoming battle, and not just in Battle Ground. There’s even more danger coming down the pipeline in future books and she won’t let herself stay ‘safe’ when she could be watching Harry’s back… so its a worrying problem.

Now if she died I have no doubt that her being recruited to be a Valkerie is an option. But then I remembered how those warrior women go out into the world with ‘clients’ and of the two we’ve seen they’ve been attached to ‘monsters’ aka Lara and Marcone.

Unless, the payment isn’t cash and she can be attached to Harry. *hums in thought*

But then I have to wonder how much Murphy would accept that role. She’s also a pretty devout Catholic as this book reminded us so that is also something that would make her say no to the offer.

4. That the younger Wardens who had so looked up to Harry being so damned suspicious… ow. That hurt. I may have teared up and sniffled into a tissue thinking about it. And then sobbed because so much of it came from Carlos… Carlos! The man went into the Deeps with Harry! Ouch.

5. Rudolph… that roach.

Ugh, I’ve had the disturbing thought that now that magic and the supernatural on the path to being exposed to all of humanity, scared humanity too, that will end up with a resurgence of a new Inquisition and the killing of anything eldritch. And you know that Rudolph would definitely be in it. *shudders in disgust* Creep.

BTW I totally don’t believe that Rudolph answers to Marcone. It doesn’t make sense as to why he was so pushy go get Harry during ‘Changes’. I had thought he was answering to the Red Court but with them being taken out of the picture… now I wonder if he isn’t answerable to the Black Council.

Things I Did Not Expect:

1. Damn… when Ebenezer sent that spell through Harry and ‘killing’ I was so shocked even though I was pretty sure there was a twist coming. Mostly because of what it says about Ebenezer.

Ebenezer actions killed Harry.

Sure it was a fake body that brought no harm to the real Harry. But if Harry hadn’t thought ahead? If he hadn’t used his brain to ask Molly to create a fake? Eb would have killed his own grandson.

Sure it was an accident but it could so easy have resulted in a dead Harry. I was crying so hard I wondered if my eyeballs were loosening in their sockets. Argh.

2. Bonea…. Harry your naming skills are simply weird. I’m so glad that Susan named Maggie.

Although Bonnie is a pretty great nickname.

Thinks I Found Utterly Hilarious

1. The line about the best offense being a T-Rex? Gold. Pure gold.

2. When Harry figured out there are angels in the hilt of the Swords of the Cross and Butter’s immediate reaction of horror because he’d accidentally laundered the hilt, giving it a ride in a washing machine.

OMG! I had the instant image of a miniature angel screaming and growing dizzy when going through the spin cycle.

I know that makes no sense but that’s where my mind went, okay.

3. The conjuritis. Omg, it’s so gross with all the ectoplasm leaking from Harry’s nose but it’s sooooo funny. Also the way he kept getting the ‘aren’t you too old for this’ from Ebenezer and then Lara made me giggle even harder.

Then I thought: dude, it’s like chicken pox, something you got as a kid but if you never had it you get it when exposed later in life. So one of his kids has it. Probably Maggie too.

4. When Sanya pretended to have his hand lopped off. I straightened up and was so worried Sanya had lost a hand. Then when I realized he was pretending to freak out Butters and Harry I admit to laughing way too hard. Got me too.’

Also there’s no way that Sanya was actually defeated there. He’s younger and better trained then Butters, I don’t care how light (Heh) the new sword is. He definitely threw that fight to test his hunch.

5. Murphy’s inability to handle being flirted on with a red-headed warrior woman. Sooooo funny. I mean, Murphy could have said a number of things such as ‘I’m exclusive.’ or ‘I’m not interested in women.’ But she just floundered. Heh heh.

6. I continue to find it completely hilarious that Lara, a couple of centuries old vampire, seems to keep learning a lot of power moves from Marcone.

Such as: having trained fighters that are NOT food, well… mostly. Having those mines installed in the walls. And now hiring a Valkerie of her very own.

I keep thinking, yeah, there’s no way she’d win in a fight against Marcone because there’ s no way that Marcone has let slip all of his tricks.

Things I Really, Really Liked:

1. Marcone. Everything Marcone. *heart-eyes*

And then he proves why he’s so damned scary by standing up to the Titan. Then to the ghouls. Then after proving his bad-ass quotient if off the charts he gets everyone organized to fight.

Yeeessss… It proves to me that when it comes to protecting Chicago he is actually the best person after Harry. Hell, in some ways he’s better than Harry. Now, I’m not saying he’s a white knight or anything like that. Just that he has the intelligence, the ruthlessness, the will, the power and the men to provide the most protection to the city’s mortal denizens. At least when there’s a war raging with multiple enemies who will be attacking at various points.

And oh, I can’t wait to see how he’s going to get revenge for the death of his people. Omg, he’s going to kill the Formor so hard. *goes starry eyed thinking about more Marcone*

But why did he have to appear so late in the book?! *wails in a heart-rending fashion*

There better be a ton more Marcone in the next book! *makes desperate gimme gimme hands*

No, I don’t have a Marcone addiction… I can stop anytime I want to. *sneaks off to mainline some “Even Hand” straight into the brain*

2. The return of Goodman Grey! Oh, I hope he’s around a lot! I’ve really grown to like him.

<b>Things Which Blew My Mind or Were Just Freaking Awesome: </b>

1. Dad!Harry is actually the most amazing Harry. Forget the magic flinging and the fire storms… this is the best Harry.

Just the way he takes care of his kids…. *turns to mush like ectoplasm*

2. Murphy and Harry are finally together! Yay! Yay! Hip hip hooray!

Now, I’m a rather shameless Marcone/Dresden fic writer, but as I never ever expect this to be canon I’m content to write it as fanfic for my own sense of delight. However when it comes to canon I’m full on board with the Karrin and Harry relationship. Be it friendship or romantic, I think its great.

3. Marcone… that is all.

Random Speculation

1. I find myself wondering about Ebenezer’s rage against vampires. And my brain muttered this theory: Maybe Harry’s grandmother was killed by White Court vampires.

Whoa.

It would explain the vitrolic rage.

And if Lara was involved it would also explain her flash of shame.

We don’t know anything about Harry’s grandmother, not even her name. So… that’s a thought.

2. River Shoulders teaching Harry.

Oh man, oh man, I hope Harry learns shape-shifting.

And thinking about it I had to wonder if the animal-shifting had anything to do with knowing the animal in question which of course made me think…

Harry should learn to shape-shift into a T-Rex.

He already knows how one is put together and the mind of one. And he knows that it’s possible to add extra mass to a shift from the Nevernever in the form of ectoplasm… so

Harrysarous Rex, baby…. I may have to write a fic with this premise.

3. Oh, if it’s possible to make a ectoplasmic body can Harry learn to make one for Bonea? After all Maggie would probably really enjoy getting to play with her little sister that way. Even if Harry can’t do it all the time and it wouldn’t last longer than a day. That would be delightful.

4. Okay, not this is more head-canon than speculation but… considering how hard Harry has been made to be analogous to Merlin I can’t help but wonder if Marcone is suppose to be Arthur’s analogue. So wielding Amorrachius *coughs*Excalibur*coughs* would make sense.

…it’s not just my Marcone-love talking dammit.

Speaking of Merlin, I’m convinced that he’s behind this whole ‘starborn’ thing. Seriously, otherwise its way too convenient that a wizard with that power is born every 666 years. It smacks of a spell.

And if that’s the case it also feeds into my pet theory that the whole reason we have Outsides at the Gates is because Merlin was the schmuck who drew them to our reality in the first place. And everything surrounding the war with the Outsiders are his attempts to try to fix what he broke.

*lost in pondering thoughts*

Things I Have Questions About

1. Did Harry forget he has The Ways Map from his mother? I would have thought he would have figured out a way (heh) to get to the island somehow. He was on it for so long I thought for sure he’d spend time exploring it. Also we knew from ‘Skin Game’ that even tiny factors can change where the Way goes in the Nevernever. I doubt the ENTIRE island has Ways that lead to a bad place. Especially for Harry now that he’s the Warden.

2. Also why didn’t Harry get Lea to help him? After all unless she’s moved it since ‘Changes’ her garden is still on the other side of the sub-basement.

3. What did Lara use that first favor from Mab on? *eyes her suspiciously*

4. Where are the Za Lord’s Guard? *wondering about what been happening with Lacuna and Toot-toot*

5. If Harry gets kicked out of the White Council (good riddance, since they haven’t exactly been all that helpful lately) can he get enough signatures to be added as a member of the Accords in his own right? After all being Warden of Demonreach has got to mean a lot to the older members.

Then he wouldn’t be reliant on Mab’s protection.

I can’t help but hope this proves to be the case, especially if in ‘Battle Ground’ Harry ends up taking down that Titan. Because he needs as much protection and influence he can gather if he’s no longer White Council to protect himself, his people and his kids. Especially if he eventually gets rid of that Winter Knight mantle like I hope he does.

6. How in the hell (pardon the pun) did evil demon Sasquatch survive being turned to mush by Hade’s Ice Gate? Or the shades that were part of the security system that almost got Harry?

*frowns* The only reason I can think of would be the coin of Ursiel being the factor. I doubt a Fallen Angel is allowed to stick around in the Greek realm of the afterlife.

7. WHERE IS BOB?! Seriously, if Butters doesn’t give him back...

#peace talk spoilers #the dresden files #john marcone #full of speculation #can't wait for more #harry blackstone copperfield dresden #karrin murphy #spoilers #the dresden files spoilers

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always-thirsty-pocket · 3 years

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Long time no speak. Not doing the best but i'm not here to talk about that. I just wanna ramble about my pets and twitter's character limit is too infuriatingly short to get out all my babble.

Buttons is doing very well for himself. I just moved him out of his old 30 x 12 into a 36 x 18. Six inches might not seem like much but when your body is six inches minus the tail, it makes a big difference. Also new excavator clay substrate, new hides ( he really loves his humid hide cause of the soft soil inside and it offers the most privacy ) new things to climb on, new thermostat instead of a dimmer, dude's got it made.... a little too made. I think he may be a little overweight. He's been living on mealworms almost exclusively since that whole mess that forced me to move and abandon my dubia roach colony, and meal worms are basically nutritionally equivalent to Big Macs for lizards. That's mostly been out of necessity while I wait for my new dubia colony to start producing, but i'm also going to attempt breeding crickets... much as I hate that idea... and I get the occasional horn worm... I might need to get him a tub to feed him those. Last time I gave him one of those he made a terrible mess... they're very juicy... I believe I've had him for eight years now.

My three little Firebelly Toads have sadly passed away several months ago... I found two of them dead in the tank, and I could not find the body of the third one, but I have to assume he died too. The fact that they all went at once didn't seem natural. They were very bad at catching their food but I still made sure they ate... I had a realization a few weeks ago that I may have accidentally killed them myself... I was being a little careless with some bugspray near their tank back when a grain moth infestation was at it's worst... Wasn't thinking about how sensitive amphibian skins are to toxins. Feel stupid for it now... No way will I ever do anything like that again... especially because of what my newest pets are.

I've now got Jumping Spiders. Four of them in fact. An odd choice for me, a person who famously hates arachnids.... still hate em, but Jumping Spiders are alright. They're cute and they eat the scary ones. A Colonus Hesperus that I caught in my back yard named Silva... she was preggers. I stupidly destroyed her first egg sac. Second one I watched hatch into babies and disperse. I let most of them go in my back yard but I held onto three of them.... I think one of them ate it's two siblings though... Silva has laid a third egg sac and I am considering releasing her once they disperse, I did not sign up for constant eggs lmao.... then I have two baby Phiddipus Regius that I bought from a breeder. I bought two because I was told they have a high mortality rate, but both of them are actually growing at a pretty nice rate. I've been feeding the babies fruit flies, which has been a weird experience. Most people buy fruit flies to feed to dart frogs who will eat like a big gulp cup full of them every week, but jumping spiders only need like two flies every other day.. you basically have infinite flies as long as there's food in the little vial they come in, so they're breeding faster than my spiders eat them, please help... the two regal jumping spiders are even starting to outgrow them...

Anyway... the passing of the frogs and the moving of buttons leaves me with two empty enclosures that I kind of want to fill... a 10 gallon tank, and a 20 gallong long tank. And I don't know what to put in either of them. But I have some ideas...

10 gallon tank, I've thought of keeping a morning Gecko, a House Gecko, a common Toad, a green tree frog, or just using it for some Gold Fish... or maybe a colony of Isopods. The glass has some gnarly hard water stains that are refusing to come off though.

20 gallon long is even trickier. I've thought about getting another leopard gecko, but i'd start feeling bad that the newbie was in a smaller tank than buttons. Also thought about African Fat Tails or Chinese Cave Geckos, but they're so expensive... I've thought about getting Firebelly Toads again and hoping they do better with twice the space. Also thought about getting one of those conversion kits so I can make it into an arboreal tank, and get a Crested Gecko, or some Dumpy Tree Frogs. Might even consider going bioactive with it...

Of course what I really want is a bearded dragon but like, I do not have the space for a beardie enclosure, and I don't want to even try to keep up with their food requirements until I actually get back into the workforce... whenever that is...

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geekgirles · 4 years

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Una rosa es una rosa

In all honesty, this one-shot is an excuse to describe an outfit I came up with for Poppy, but hey, it got me to write something, didn’t it? XD

Special thanks to my lovelies @foxlanaeshrek and @tipolover22. You guys rock! And because you do, this one-shot is set on the Rock!Branch AU.

Read on AO3

With the Skulls and Roses Ball fast approaching, Branch asks Poppy to go with him as his date. However, an unfortunate comment sets Poppy out to prove to her boyfriend she can be the last thing she expected she'd want to emulate: a Rock troll.

Ever since the different tribes of trolls had been reunited and agreed to coexist once again, many changes were made to Troll Village. It had been decided the home of the Pop trolls would take in the rest of the kingdoms, because it was the one that held the most chances for other trolls to make a home of their own, adapting the landscape to their particular needs. And it had the sweetest acoustics by far, too.

Now that all tribes lived together, the leaders had agreed on creating spaces where all trolls could enjoy each other’s company at the same time as any individual kingdom could gather to speak about issues that concerned their kind specifically.

One of such places being a grand pod, known as the Conference-pod, that was built the closest to the centre of the village as possible. It was of every hue that was once represented by the six strings that used to hold each realm’s music. The top was electric blue, representing the techno string; its bottom was a golden yellow, that of the classical string; rotating around the spacious place were purple swirls and warm orange rope-like shapes, symbolising the funk and country strings, respectively; and finally, in the very middle of the pod, where the entrance was, zig-zagged blood red shapes intertwined themselves with bright pink hearts and flowers, a reflection of the rock and pop strings.

Said pod served as a ballroom and an assembly room. In there the trolls would celebrate any party in need of an indoor space, as well as the leaders meet to discuss different ways of ensuring a better collaboration and coexistence between their people. Even so, the place served another purpose, any king or queen (mayor and conductor in the Country and Classical trolls’ case) could request to use the pod in order to hold a party or meeting exclusively for their kind.

Being that last purpose the reason why it was currently being occupied by the Rock trolls, Queen Barb currently addressing her subjects, “As you know, our annual Skulls and Roses Ball is in two days’ time. I doubt I need to remind you it’s our most, if not only, formal event.” She said as she looked at her people. “I’ve already asked Queen Poppy if we can use the pod for it and she gave me the green light, so dudes”, she leaned in closer from the podium she was standing, “we’ve got a lot to do!”

After a minute or two she gestured for her trolls to calm down after the uproar that came when she shared the news, “Captain Branch here will read you the memo. They’re all yours, Branch.”

“Thank you, your rockness,” he thanked her as he took the place she’d previously been in, “As the queen just explained, the Skulls and Roses Ball is a formal event. That means the requirements for it are: we must all look our best, we must bring plus ones with us ‒if somebody can’t bring a plus one, either because they’re in a poly or just can’t find anyone to go with; we must be informed ahead of time‒, and absolutely, under no circumstances must we trash the place. Did I make myself clear?”

He narrowed his eyes at the lack of response from his comrades and repeated himself, louder, “I said, are we clear?!” Immediately, a chorus of agreements and clapping hands came, satisfying him. “That will be all. Dismissed; we have much to do.”

As the Rock trolls retreated, Branch stayed behind to clean up the pod. In doing so, he was approached by the queen of rock, a knowing smirk placed on her lips, “So…,” she began playfully, “are you bringing Poppy as your date, Branch?”

“That is correct, my Queen,” he turned back to face her, then his expression became worried. “Why, is there a problem with my decision, your Rolling Highness?” Branch feared not being able to have Poppy accompany him to the ball. He was well aware his relationship with the pink queen ‒the pink queen of Pop, to be precise‒ was something unheard of, even from back when the trolls still lived together the first time. But he simply couldn’t take anybody else as his date to the event; she was his one and only and he would not accept anyone but her.

“No, no. It’s cool, dude”, the redhead replied, motioning with her hand to ease his concerns, “Popcorn is pretty hard-core once you get to know her.” She smirked at him, which he answered with a smirk of his own. It was true, Poppy could be a force to be reckoned with if pushed too far; outright terrifying. He loved her so much. “But,” that made him worried, “you should really let her know she can’t come in her usual pop fashion.” Barb was now looking at him, her expression serious. “This is a rock formal event, Branch, she must look the part.”

The Captain nodded, “I will make sure she knows, your rockness.”

After the Rock Queen took her leave Branch was sure to follow, he had to find Poppy.

..........................................................................................................................

Poppy could barely contain her excitement the moment her charming boyfriend handed her an invitation ‒scrapbooked by him, might I add‒ to invite her to an upcoming rock event as his date. That would be their first appearance as an official couple! She really wanted to sing as loudly as she could to express her excitement right now. But, figuring there were still things they had to talk about, she did the next best thing; she tackled Branch to the ground in a hug.

“Oh, yes, yes, yes!” She practically yelled, “Yes, Branch! Of course I’ll be your date!”

After allowing himself to relish the attention his beautiful ladylove was giving him, he reluctantly broke the hug, “Poppy, angel, there’s something I should tell you.”

She looked at him with a furrowed brow. Seriousness wasn’t really the mood she’d thought he’d be in after inviting her to a party. “Okay…,” she said, feeling a little uneasy, “What’s up?”

Branch took a deep breath, “You see, the Skulls and Roses Ball is a huge deal for us Rock trolls. It is literally the only day of the year where we are expected to behave and follow certain rules.” His nervous gaze found her confused one, her nodding head encouraging him to continue. “This is the first time ever a troll that worships a different type of music will be attending, so I need you to be in your best behaviour.”

Wording his thoughts like that had been a mistake, he could tell from the queen’s narrowing eyes. “What do you mean by ‘my best behaviour’?” she air-quoted.

“I need you to look and act like a poised, elegant rock troll.” He explained, hoping he didn’t screw up. “I know it’ll probably be difficult-“

“Why would it be difficult?” She cut him off, crossing her arms. She had a feeling she knew where he was going, and she didn’t like it one bit.

“W-well… Y-you k-know… Be-because…”, Ugh, how did she manage to make him lose his usual level head?! In twenty years nobody had ever managed to make him lose his level head!

Then again, he had never met anyone as unique, inspiring, and incredible as Poppy… Oh, Rock. He really did have it bad.

“No, Branch, I’m afraid I do not know. Please, enlighten me…” she challenged.

“W-well, because…” he averted his eyes from her as he uttered the words that were sure to cause him several nights away from his pink, sweetly scented Eden, “…you’re a Pop troll.”

At the confirmation of her suspicions, something stirred inside Poppy. The same kind of resolve that only awakened when her people had truly needed it. But this time it was mixed, once again, with the desire to prove herself… And a hint of smugness.

And so, with a new purpose, she slowly got closer to her tattooed beau, a fire in her pink irises that, hadn’t it been for the fact that he was now slightly disturbed by the heat of its fury, under any other circumstances the Captain of the Rock trolls would have found insanely hot. Without a warning, she quickly pecked him on the lips before whispering, “Challenge accepted.”

As the retreating form of the Pop Queen was finally far enough, Branch let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“…What was that about?”

..........................................................................................................................

Poppy had been pacing and ranting inside the Fashionistas’ pod-shop for twenty minutes. Any troll from another land would be at a loss at what to do with the agitated ball of pink fury, but the twins, having been close friends with the queen since childhood, knew just exactly what was troubling her.

“So Branch invited you to Rock troll party-“, Satin started.

“-But he doesn’t actually think you can pull it off?” Chenille finished.

“Yes!” Poppy threw her arms at her sides, exasperated with her boyfriend. “I can’t believe him! We’ve been together for months and he still doesn’t trust me when it comes to his people and their customs! Like, what gives?!”

The twins exchanged a look. As siblings that were literally bound to each other, they knew of unsaid things, hidden behind bickering, better than anyone. “Poppy, hon.” Satin called her as Chenille put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

When their friend was finally looking at them, the blue sister began to explain, “We don’t think Branch doesn’t trust you.”

“Really?” Poppy asked, incredulous.

“Really.” The pink twin assured her with a soft smile.

“Then why doesn’t he think I can actually behave like a ‘poised, elegant Rock troll’?” She rolled her eyes as she did a half-hearted impression of her boyfriend’s voice.

“It’s probably not that he doesn’t think you can’t behave like one of his kind-,” Chenille tried to reason.

“-But more like he’s trying to protect you from them.” Satin added.

“What?”

“You know how we trolls can be, Poppy”, Satin shrugged, “We get very defensive of the things we care about.”

“So Branch probably fears his people will give you a hard time if you don’t act like them on such a special occasion.” Chenille smiled at her, reassuringly.

The royal troll’s eyes widened. It all made so much more sense now! Of course her romantic, thoughtful, and caring boyfriend would never think anything but highly of her! He just had a hard time delivering harsh things gently due to his upbringing. Sometimes even to her. He’d explained himself before.

“I want to make things right.” She spoke up. “I want to make Branch see I can handle myself so he doesn’t worry to death for my sake.” Poppy suddenly felt very small under the amused smirks and knowing eyes of the twins. She knew they saw right through her… “And… I also want… to… make his jaw… drop… when he sees me.” She admitted quietly, a blush spreading over her already pink cheeks.

The Fashion Twins simply giggled. Those two were adorable!

“Luckily for you-,“ Satin began to speak.

“-We happen to have the perfect idea in mind for your outfit.” Chenille completed the sentence as she showed Poppy a very peculiar flower. A flower Poppy knew all too well but had never given much thought. After all, it wasn’t the kind of flower a Pop troll would have a soft spot for.

“A-are you sure?”

“Positive.” They answered in sync. “Besides, it sure is perfect if what you’re aiming for is something that helps you erase your pop vibes temporarily. It does symbolise death, hatred, farewells, and tragic romance… It’s sure to grant you the darker side that is so characteristic of Rock trolls, since it’s a stark contrast to your usual, well, you.”

Poppy didn’t know which twin had said it, but she didn’t care. She had the perfect chance to become a poised, elegant rock troll and she sure as Hair was going to use it.

.............................................................................................................................

Branch had been waiting anxiously at the entrance of the Conference-pod for the last ten minutes. Despite their disagreement, Poppy had sent him a card saying she’d be there at 7:00PM. And yet, it was already 7:10PM and she was nowhere in sight.

He couldn’t help but think back on their “argument”. Ugh, if only he’d been better at choosing his words! How he was simultaneously able to smooth talk his girlfriend until he swept her off her feet and speak to her with his foot in his mouth was beyond him! But alas, it was a power he had been both blessed and cursed with, apparently.

He was also feeling very curious regarding her outfit of choice. Even if he knew for a fact Pop trolls had their own formal events, a part of him still worried about his queen’s (the one by choice, not the one he’d sworn to serve because he was her Captain) choice.

He, himself, never really lost sleep when it came to his own clothing. He was dressed smartly; wearing a buttoned-up white shirt, a black tuxedo and a navy blue tie and waistband to match his dark hair, which was carefully combed back, giving him a refined presence. Even if his attire was appropriate for the occasion, his mind was still going back to Poppy’s.

Just what would she be wearing?

“Branch, over here!”

As he turned his head to the sound of his name, he could feel his eyes widening like saucers, his rocker heart skipping a beat, his jaw hanging right open... And he was pretty sure he��d stopped breathing, too.

It was so strange. The female in front of him looked so much like Poppy. Her skin was the same pink he’d compared to the sunset’s hue dozens of times. Her magenta eyes still sparkled with the same sense of wonder and excitement Poppy’s always reflected. Her glittery freckles shimmered when the light hit them just right… And yet, the troll before him looked nothing like his sweet, happy angel of morning.

The pink troll before him had a certain feeling of mystery and danger to her. Her beauty screamed enchantress, siren, goddess of the night! …Of course it was Poppy, Poppy always looked like a goddess! He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

Her magenta hair was reminiscent of a bud that was yet to bloom, with both the strands at the top of her mane and framing her face shaped after two perfectly round spirals. But what really caught his eye, though, wasn’t the extra softness it seemed to radiate, but the single black streak that went across his mate’s silky locks. A black highlight he’d only ever seen once before; when she was (seemingly) turned into a Rock troll.

Glinting in the night almost as much as her rosy gaze, three silver earrings gave the pink troll a bit of a wilder look. Two of them adorning her right ear, and one on her left. The smoky eyeshadow she wore made her eyes resemble two magenta lights in a fog of mystery. A spiked choker covered her neck, forcing his mind to daydream with the thought of marking it with a love bite.

The masterpiece she was using as dress was black and strapless, it hugged her body perfectly; the bodice accentuating her curves in such a manner that it reminded him of a corset. And the skirt, the long, filmy skirt, had a cut on both sides of it; teasing Branch with the sight of Poppy’s long, perfect legs. From closer inspection, the unusually smooth texture of the dress reminded him of a flower’s petals, rather than fabric. And yet, its rose-like velvety feel gave it a quality no other silk could amount to achieve. It was almost as if Poppy had picked rose petals and woven them together to create such garment.

That’s when it clicked. The dress was inspired after a black rose.

What really sold the look, however, were the twin armlets she wore, alongside her headband. The bracelets, made out of obsidian, were crafted in the form of vines with thorns. And, in contrast to the Pop Queen’s usual style, the headband followed a simple design; a halo of silver decorated by three black roses.

He gulped.

From the corner of his eyes he could see Riff arriving with his own date. At the sight of his Captain, he subtly motioned to the corner of his mouth. Following the movement with his own hand he realised what the drummer was referring to, he discreetly wiped the drool falling out of his open mouth.

A triumphant grin made its way to Poppy’s lips. Judging by the look on her boyfriend’s face ‒and his jaw, which was barely avoiding touching the floor‒, she’d succeeded. She looked like a classy Rock troll. Still, even if it was just to tease him, she asked, “So? How do I look?”

Breaking out of his stupor, Branch lightly shook his head before speaking up, “Poppy you… Rock, I don’t know what to say!”

She giggled, “Tell me, do I look like the perfect Rock troll now?” She wanted to sound confident, but a part of her still feared not meeting her boyfriend’s expectations, making her direct her eyes to the floor, only looking up at Branch ever so slightly.

His heart sunk at the insecurity hidden behind her melodic voice, “Poppy,” gently grabbing her chin, he directed her eyes to his before continuing, “you’ll always be perfect for me.”

A soft smile appeared on her lips at the clever reference of the beautiful ballad Branch once serenaded her with to express the depth of his feelings for her. He truly had the soul of a poet.

He then offered her his arm, “Shall we, my lady?”

“Branch, before we go in, I wanted to tell you something.” She watched as he turned, fully facing her now with his icy blue peepers. She had his full attention. “I’m sorry.”

His eyebrows knotted in confusion, “You’re sorry? What are you sorry for, Pops? I’m the one who doubted you!”

“No, you didn’t.” She said with finality. “I now know you weren’t doubting my blending in with your people, you were worried they wouldn’t be pleased with my ensemble and give me a hard time for it.” She sighed. “You were just trying to protect me.”

She really did get it. Sometimes he wondered if this selfless creature could read him like an open book. As a matter of fact, that didn’t sound so bad. “Yes, you’re right. That’s what got me worried, but still, Poppy, I should’ve voiced it differently.” He let out a humourless chuckle, “Looking back, no wonder you thought I was underestimating you for being a Pop troll. So,” he shrugged after holding her hands, “I’m sorry too.”

After a minute of silence, he asked, “Does this mean the gates to Heaven won’t be closing on me?”

Poppy snorted at that, “No, they won’t. ‘Sides, it’s not like you don’t have the key to them anyways…” She replied in a sultry voice.

Smiling widely at each other, no more words needed to be said. So, instead, they just closed the distance with a soft kiss before settling in an embrace.

Poppy was the first to break the silence, “Branch, I love you. And it means so much to me that you worry about my wellbeing so much, really, it does; but I don’t want you to have a heart attack every single time I find myself in a difficult situation. I swear, I can take care of myself; I did save my people from the bergens, after all.” She winked at him.

The blue troll chuckled, “Yes, you do.” He then offered her his arm again, “Now, shall we join the others, my rose?”

She took it, “Well of course! But tell me, Branch, do you really think I’ll be fine at the ball?”

He gently kissed her nose, a stark contrast to the roughness he treated almost everyone else with, “Believe me, they’re fools if they can’t see you’re the most tender flower in the rose bush.”

#Trolls #trolls world tour #twt #twt spoilers #trolls au #trolls fanfiction #Rock! Branch AU #Poppy #Branch #broppy #queen barb #riff #satin and chenille #rock trolls

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