#what is janna's dad's name

[kittyt-hexxed]

The One That Got Away

Vi x Fem!Reader Arcane AU

Word Count: 4.6k

Warnings: Vi beating people up, nervous flirting, teenage crushes, Loving someone even when they’re gone, Vi leaves Caitlyn for you, sensual sex, strap-on use

Summary: You had a crush on Vi as teens, but you’re forced to move away the night before your date. Years later, you run into each other again and feelings return.

You’re perched on a balcony railing watching as a group of guys get their asses handed to them. Your older brother - Mike - was one of the guys down there. He was supposed to be at church with the rest of you, but you noticed that he would sneak out when the sermon would start. Your parents were sailors and took turns going out on ships so that one of them was always home. They attended church to pay their respects to the Goddess of the Winds, Janna, who protected all sailors from death at sea. So, you decided to follow him one morning and found out that he joined a gang. You couldn’t tell your parents until you knew which gang, because your brother knew how to lie to them and make it seem like you were the liar. And you hated that.

So, you watched with great amusement as this pink-haired girl gave him a black eye and a bloody nose. You were given the name of the gang by her when she shouted it out in anger. When you saw her approaching the group of ten guys, you got worried for her. She had clearly come looking for a fight, but you hadn’t seen any weapon in sight. Then, the fight started and you were concerned for the guys instead. She was quick with her fists and she fought with no reservation.

“Next time you assholes want to mess with my little sister, remember this.” Pink spits, before turning and walking away. You let out a squeak and scramble after her, running along the railing and sliding down a rooftop.

“Hey!” You call out, “Hey! Pink! Wait!” Your feet hit the ground as she stops and turns to you. There’s an annoyed look on her face but you didn’t care.

“What?” Pink huffs, crossing your arms.

“I wanted to say thank you. You totally just beat up my brother and gave me the chance to tell our parents he’s been lying about being in a gang.” You grin, starting to back away, “Also, you throw a wicked punch!” You call, waving at her before you turn and start sprinting home. Your parents are going to have a heart attack when they find out, and you were excited to finally see your brother get grounded.

Today was a slow day at Gretchen’s but you didn’t mind. Your family has been tight on money lately after your dad broke his leg. There was an accident and his leg got caught in the rigging. You decided to get a job to help out and Gretchen - who’s a family friend - asked you to work in her bakery. So, you jumped at the chance and were actually making decent money. Most of the time the place was packed with customers who came in for fresh bread or sweets. But, today you haven’t been seeing as many people. Normally that wouldn’t worry you, but you were hoping a specific person would come by today.

Pink. You ran into her a few times before you started working at the bakery. There was something about her that got you all flustered. Maybe because she was a really cute girl who actually talked to you? After you got the job, you found out that she was a regular along with her siblings. Gretchen told you that they came in once a week. You nearly burned yourself the first time you saw her walk in, happily chatting away with a blue-haired girl and a large smile on her face. She seemed similarly surprised when she saw you, and that’s when you learned her actual name. Violet.

That once-a-week visit eventually turned into every day. Every time she came in, you could’ve sworn that she was flirting with you! She would ask you what you recommended to try or if you had a favorite flavor or sweet. If she came in before closing, she’d playfully complain that you needed to stay open longer so she didn’t have to run here. You thought you might’ve been reading into it because you were crushing on her, but part of you hoped that you weren’t. You finally got confirmation one afternoon when Vi came in with her siblings.

The bell above the door rings announcing that someone has entered the bakery. You put up the tray of cupcakes and head to the front while your co-workers continue baking. When you get a peek at who’s at the counter, you feel your pulse pick up slightly. You take a deep breath before walking into their view, “Afternoon, guys!” You chirp, putting your hands on the countertop, “What can I get for you today?”

“Do you guys have any jelly tarts?” Powder questions, giving you puppy eyes.

“We have some ready to come out of the oven. Luckily for you, it’ll be a two-minute wait.” You wink at her, making her cheer. You look to Vi who shakes her head and motions to her brothers. Claggor asks for a bear claw pastry and Mylo grabs a few cookies. They go and sit down with Powder to wait on the jelly tarts, but Vi stays standing at the counter. ‘Why is she still standing here? Did she change her mind about ordering?’

“Did you find something you’d like?” You ask, nervously drumming your fingers on the countertop. ‘Why am I so nervous around her? I see her every day.’

“Yeah, actually. Can I get one of the strawberry brownies?” Vi points to it in the window.

“Sure thing.” You smile before opening the window and grabbing one, hesitating briefly before you put a second one in the bag. Vi raises an eyebrow when she sees you do that and you put a finger to your lips, “I’ll pay for that one.” You giggle. Vi hands you the money for the one brownie and you blush when your fingers touch. You count the money, avoiding Vi’s gaze before giving her the bag.

“Thanks.” Vi flashes a smile, nervously shuffling her feet. You two sit in silence for a minute before you remember to respond.

“You’re welcome.” You nod, “I uh… should go get that tart for your sister.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll wait here for you.” Vi clears her throat. You nod and whirl around, hurrying to the back to grab a few of the jelly tarts. ‘Oh my Janna, that was awkward. What’s going on?’ You sigh and head back to the counter. You swallow when you see Vi, noticing that she looks nervous which is an expression you’ve never seen on her face before.

“Powder!” You call, “Here are your jelly tarts!” Powder jumps out of her seat, running up to the counter and snatching it from your hands. As she does that, Vi puts the money on the counter and you tuck it into the register. They get ready to head out, and Vi comes back up to the counter as her siblings step outside.

“Hey, uh… Y/n?” Vi messes with her wrappings, “Are you free anytime this week?”

“Free?” You parrot, your heart racing, “Y-Yeah, I am. Why?”

“Ah… Would you like to go on a date with me?” Vi meets your eyes. ‘She’s serious? Is she serious right now? Did she just ask me out?!’ You think you might faint.

“I-I would love to. Yes!” You grin excitedly, making Vi grin as well, “I’m free tomorrow afternoon. I work the morning shift and get out at lunchtime if that’s okay with you?”

“Yeah! Yeah, that’s okay with me.” Vi nods, “I’ll um… come and get you after your shift?”

“I’ll be waiting for you.” Your cheeks hurt from how hard you’re smiling.

“Great!” Vi looks outside to see her siblings still waiting, “I’ll see you tomorrow!” She leaves the bakery, glancing behind her one last time to give you a silly grin. You squeal happily, jumping up and down before rushing into the back to tell everyone the news. ‘I have a date with Vi!’ You couldn’t be happier.

Unfortunately, that same night your parents announced that you were leaving Zaun in the morning. Your brother had gotten into trouble with another gang - even though your parents forbid him from getting involved - and they had enough. Gretchen had been informed and stopped by with your last paycheck and a sad smile. You were heartbroken that you were forced to leave your home behind, especially after Vi had asked you out. So, you begged Gretchen to tell her what happened and she promised to. It was with a heavy heart that you left Zaun before the morning sun came up, getting onto a ship and going who knows where. Your parents wouldn’t tell you or anyone, fearing they’d chase down your brother. You hated him more than ever, and you didn’t know if that would ever change.

“We’ll be stayin’ here for two weeks until all of the cargo comes in!” Your captain shouts from below you, “You’re in charge of findin’ your own place to stay!” She continues, making the crew groan. You snort, nudging your crewmate in the nest and sticking your tongue out. He snickers as you jump off the edge and slide down the ropes. With a grin, you kick one of your friends before you hit the deck and start running for the gangway.

“Y/N, YOU FUCKER! YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUTTA ME!” They holler after you, making you laugh. You weave your way through the crew, ducking underneath wooden beams and heading for the intake gate. You hand over your ID form and it only takes a few minutes for them to give you the go-ahead and cheerful “welcome home”. You take a deep breath and make your way to the drop into Zaun, knowing that your old place should still be there. It was an apartment building owned by your family so it was always available to stay in. You stare at the city you used to live in, taking in all of the changes as the bathysphere brings you down. You’ve been gone for years, and in your absence, Zaun has changed… in some ways.

As you make your way to the apartment, walking through a back alley, a guy rushes at you with a switchblade and you kick him in the throat. He chokes and wheezes, eyes going wide right before you stomp on his wrist and nab his knife. You whistle a sea shanty as you continue your way to the building, twirling the knife in your hand. Not bothering to unlock the gate, you carefully parkour over it, breathing a sigh of relief that the razor wire doesn’t catch your skin.

“Y/n?! Is that you, child?” You hear someone shout as you come around the front.

“Auntie R?!” You laugh incredulously, seeing your aunt and her friend hanging out, “I didn’t know you were still living here!” You embrace her and her friend.

“Where else would I have gone?” She snorts, “I’m not adventurous like your parents. No, sir, I stayed my ass right here.”

“Did those guys ever come by for Mike?” You ask curiously.

“They sure did. That very morning ya’ll booked it. I told them if they didn’t get their asses off of my property, I was going to throw my grenades at them. They never came back after that!” She laughs. Your aunt was a woman you admired greatly. She was the one who taught you how to parkour and would share stories about how she lost two of her teeth in a gang brawl as a teenager. Auntie R was the wilder one in your family and you loved her a lot. It makes you happy to see that she’s still hanging around Zaun.

“I’m glad that you’re doin’ good, auntie. I’m going to head inside and shower 'cause I’m tired of the smell of salt water after tw’nty-three days at sea.” You laugh. You were one of the few on the ship that wouldn’t be caught dead sticking to high hell. During the straights, you and a few others would hoist up a bucket of saltwater and scrub yourselves clean at night. Your Captain joined you as well, saying that she loved the sea but she’d rather not have people cringing away from her.

“You can borrow a pair of my clothes until you get some. Let me give you a crash course on what has changed, yeah? You’ll be surprised.”

“Sounds good.” You nod.

Your aunt told you about all of the new changes, giving you money to get more clothes even though you wouldn’t be staying long. You couldn’t believe what she was saying, but as you made your way through Zaun, you could see it. People looked like they were doing better and clothes seemed much cleaner. The clothing stores had a lot many different styles of clothing and you were happy about that. Living in Bilgewater had opened you up to a lot of things that you didn’t have in Zaun, and being a pirate had helped with that, too.

And like any ol’ pirate trying to wind down after a long month at sea, you headed to where the alcohol was. Even though you’ve been gone for a while, you’d never forget the way to The Last Drop. You were playing with that switchblade you had nabbed, idly wondering if that guy would come looking for it. You raise an eyebrow at the two bodyguards standing outside the building, but you shrug. Slipping the switchblade into your pocket, they only glance at you as you stroll past, pushing the door open. The loud chatter in the Drop makes you feel at home, and you grin when you see your Captain and a few other mates around a table.

“Y’all are over here drinking and you don’t even have a pint for me?” You shake your crewmate’s chair, making him choke on his beer. The others laugh and you plop yourself into the empty seat, putting your feet onto Captain Andi’s lap. The two of you have a little thing going on and keep each other company during the long journeys you make. It was no secret among the crew, especially because you’re not quiet about it.

“Don’t worry, the next round is coming.” Andi snorts, “I see you got new clothes.”

“Zaun was my home before Bilgewater. I’ve got family in the city.” You shrug, “Besides, we’re here for two weeks. I had to get a new pair anyway after someone dropped my bag into the sea as an offering.” You glare at Hector.

“I didn’t want to drop my things in!” Hector protests, “I didn’t have anything else, and you can’t go through Siren’s Keep without an offering!”

“Watch. Y/n is going to be blessed with an amazing love life because it wasn’t your stuff. The sirens know the difference.” Jayla snickers.

“W-wait, hold on!” Hector sputters, making your group crack up. You all start teasing him, telling him that he could offer his own body and at least he’d die by a siren’s hands. The next round of drinks comes over and you down your pint of beer, sighing in relief at the cold drink. A few people come by to flirt, offering to buy drinks or boldly requesting that one of you come to keep them company. The conversation rolls easily, more drinks are brought to the table, and you finally get to decompress. Your stomach was growling, dying for a hot meal that wasn’t soup and something more solid. As if everyone else had the same idea, you all ordered burgers and you nearly cried when you took the first bite.

After eating, the rest of the group gets up to play a couple of rounds of pool, while you choose to stay seated. Your gaze wanders around the bar and you find yourself pausing as a group of people walk in. A little tipsy, it takes your mind a moment to process who you see, “Oh.” You blink watching them walk towards the bar. Powder - who else has such vibrant blue hair - meets your gaze from across the bar and you get to witness her face go from confusion to excitement. “OH, MY GODS! Y/N?!” She screams, drawing attention to her as she races your way, making you panic. You jump up from your chair in time for her to crush you in a hug. You yelp as you stagger back a bit, but you catch yourself from falling.

“Powder!” You gasp, surprised by her reaction and that she recognized you.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Powder grins, hopping from foot to foot, “VI! VI, Y/N’S BACK! SHE’S BACK!” She screams at the group she came in with, who’s a lot closer than they were a few seconds ago. You feel speechless. Vi was attractive when you were teenagers, but now? She’s handsome as hell. A few scars on her face, a nose piercing, and a tattoo on her neck. Vi seems as shocked to see you as you are to see her. Claggor and Ekko give you a hug like the sweethearts they are, while Mylo nods at you. The woman with them is someone you don’t recognize. ‘She’s probably someone they met after I left.’

“Y/n.” Vi says in disbelief, lips twitching into a smile, “I-I didn’t know that you were back in Zaun. When did you get here?” She steps forward to hug you, and you think you might melt in her arms. There’s something off about her hug that you can’t put your finger on. ‘This is nice. Her hugs are nice… Oh shit, right, she asked a question.’

“Today, actually. My crew and I are in the city waiting for a trade-off of some cargo.” You step away from her, thinking you drank too much when you feel your cheeks warm, “I’ll be here for a few weeks before heading back out.”

“Crew?” The unknown woman speaks up, “What crew?”

“Pirate crew, miss…?” Hector tosses his arm over your shoulder, making you scowl.

“Caitlyn.” The woman introduces herself. You pick up his half-finished pint and shove the glass into his chest. He winks at you and stumbles back to the pool table. ‘Nosy ass, urchin.’

“You joined a pirate crew?!” Powder gasps, hitting her sister on the shoulder, “Vi! Date a pirate instead! Even better, date Y/n!”

“Ha ha, Powder. Very funny. I’m not breaking up with Caitlyn.” Vi rolls her eyes, “For the thousandth time.”

“Oh, you two are together?” You feel like you’ve been punched in the stomach for some weird reason.

“Yup! Weird, right?” Mylo laughs, “Vi’s dating a Piltie- OW!” He clutches his head as Vi’s fist drops back to her side.

“Why don’t you come and hang out with us?” Vi suggests, “Unless you want to stay with your crew?” You glance at your friends and Andi waves you off. ‘I can hang out with them another time. I’m stuck with them at sea for days anyway.’ You snort.

“I’ll join you, but I’ll warn you that I’ve had a bit to drink.” You chuckle.

“That’s fine.” Ekko grins, “We were going to have a few drinks ourselves.” Powder squeals, grabs your arm, and starts dragging you to the back. You end up spending a long time with the group, talking and catching up on things that have happened. Hearing about what happened in Zaun a few years after you left was appalling. Especially when you found out that Vi got arrested and sent to Stillwater! Then came your time to share what happened when you moved away from Zaun. You talked about the reason you left and how you haven’t talked to your brother in years. You were so pissed that you were forced to leave your life behind because of him that you never forgave him. Eventually, it was only you and Vi awake after everyone drank too much and passed out. The two of you sat in a corner and talked, the only two who can hold their alcohol. You found yourself really falling back into conversation with her before you fell asleep.

You’ve been back in Zaun for a week and a half and it’s been more stressful than you thought it would be. After you ran into Vi and her family, you spent a few more days hanging out with Vi. The two of you spent hours talking and running around Zaun together, trying to catch up while sober. Ever since you left Zaun, you hadn’t been able to successfully date anyone. As a result, you stuck to regular hookups or one-night stands. After a while, you stopped thinking about Vi and you thought that you had gotten over her. It was during these moments with her that you had a terrible realization… You’re still in love with Vi.

It felt like you were back to being a teenager when you were around her. You giggled at her jokes, got flustered when you couldn’t think of what to say, and you even pinched her at some point! One night as you tried to sleep, you ended up wondering what would happen if you hadn’t left. What would that date have been? Would you have gone to the school brawl together? Would the two of you be together now or would it have been a short fling? Those thoughts buzzing in your mind had you returning to the one place you went for some privacy. It was a rooftop near your apartment that had a perfect view of Zaun and Piltover.

You were sitting at the edge, resting your chin on one knee as you stared out at the scenery. ‘I can’t believe I’m still into Vi. It’s been years! I should be over her by now. I mean… I was only crushing on her back then… How could that turn into love without doing anything? Ugh, this is so frustrating. It’s a good thing I’ll be leaving in a few days.’ You sigh to yourself.

“What’s got you sighing so heavily?” You hear Vi say from behind you. You turn your head as she sits down next to you, nudging your shoulder as she does.

“Ah, something on my mind.” You shrug, trying not to show any telling emotions on your face, “I couldn’t sleep and I used to come here to clear my mind.”

“Really? I’ve brought Powder up here a few times growing up. We usually have our important conversations here.” Vi sighs, leaning back on her hands, “I came here because I have something on my mind, too.”

“You can talk about it if you’d like. It might help.” You offer. ‘Even though Vi is currently the one haunting my thoughts, it feels good to have her next to me.’

“Alright, well… I’ve had this woman on my mind for a while. It made being in long-term relationships hard because all I could think about was her. I kept asking myself “what if” and eventually I managed to stop thinking about her. I got into a relationship and imagine my surprise when I see her again after eight years.” You meet Vi’s shaded gaze with wide eyes as she continues talking, “And the more I talked to this woman, I realized that I am irrevocably in love with her… So, I broke up with Caitlyn and decided to try and find you. I gave up when I couldn’t and came here to think and found you.”

“Y-You’re in love with me?” You stutter, staring at her in disbelief, “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Vi nods, caressing your face in the low light, “I was heartbroken when I came to get you for our date only to find out that you skipped town. I honestly couldn’t move on from that and seeing you again reminded me that I never did.”

“That’s-” You laugh joyously, “I feel the same way about you. You’ve been on my mind for years. I-I came out here tonight because I realized that I love you, and with you being in a relationship… I thought I didn’t have a chance.”

“I left her for you… I’d really like to take you out on a date.” Vi smiles, “And hopefully you don’t run away from me before I can do that.” She jokes, making you giggle. You look up at the sky and realize that it's around two in the morning. ‘I should be getting back to bed… but I don’t have to go alone.’ You peek at Vi in the corner of your eye. You stand up and hold your hand out to her, Vi taking it and letting you help her up.

“It’s late. My apartment is nearby if you want to spend the night.” You offer, “I don’t want you to fall off a rooftop from exhaustion.” You say teasingly.

“Lead the way.” Vi grins, making you smile.

The moment you close your apartment door, Vi’s lips are on yours and you have to blindly feel for the lock. You kiss with your back pressed to the door, before you break it to push her towards your bedroom. Not wanting to lay in bed dirty, you invite her to take a shower with you. Vi’s eyebrows shoot up, but she joins you in the shower where you end up against the cold tile. Slow, unhurried kisses are exchanged that increase the intimacy.

Vi surprises you by gently toweling you off, leaving soft kisses along your body as she does. Her care of your body has a warmth rising between your legs. You return the favor, drying her off and letting your fingertips caress her body, especially her back. There’s an unspoken agreement between you two as you watch Vi put her strap on, laying down on the bed for her.

Not a word is spoken as she settles between your legs. You were almost afraid to speak, not wanting to break whatever spell you two were under. All you know is that you want her, so you spread your legs and Vi takes the cue. The soft groan that leaves your lips as she slowly slides into you is what breaks the spell.

“I want to worship your body.” Vi whispers, fingertips pressing into your hips, “Is it okay if I go slow?”

“That’s okay with me.” You whisper back, relaxing in her arms. Vi’s careful with you. Touching your body as if you’ll break underneath her if she’s rough with you. Her thrusts are slow and methodical, making you gasp every time her hips meet yours. You’re holding her to you, legs wrapped around her waist as moan into her ear. Just because you were taking it slow didn’t mean that you weren’t desperate for each other.

“I’ve thought about this.” You breathe out, letting your eyes slip shut as you enjoy it, “You touching me like this.”

“I have too.” Vi mutters, kissing your temple, “My guiltiest pleasure has always been you.” Her thrusts are consistent and it feels as though she’s caressing you from the inside. It doesn’t take long for your orgasm to teeter on the edge, and when it happens you’re holding her closer in a tender embrace.

Vi takes off the strap and lays with you, snuggling under the covers as you bask in the bliss she brought you. This was the intimacy you craved. The intimacy you couldn’t obtain from anyone else because of your love for this woman.

“I genuinely thought I’d never see you again.” The words come out of your mouth before you can stop them, “I was heartbroken that I lost you.” Vi kisses your cheek, pulling your body closer to hers.

“You’ll never lose me. My heart has been yours from the day I met you, and it always will be.” She leans in and kisses you deeply, chasing away all of the doubts of your youth. Vi was right, after all. You were hers forever and always.

#vi x reader #vi x you #vi x y/n #vi arcane #vi smut #arcane fic

[jennycalendar]

oh yes you said it so well! you have a very good way with words which i shouldn't be surprised with but still consistently am lmao. the jenny/her past and giles/his past with the watcher comparison is soooo on the nose i had to stop for a second and stare like yeah. YEAH! i'd love to hear more of your thoughts about jenny and her past/her family and the way she carries herself in regards to that, whether they are headcanons or not!

but back to jennyangel. you bringing up your vamp!jenny fic made me think about the situation of vamp!jenny but angel, not angelus, because i (like the typical angel blogger in this fandom) am obsessed with guilt and the question of forgiveness and redemption and how those things coencide and whatnot. i'm pretty sure you've already talked about this before but if you haven't! any thoughts!!! please send them my way.

in regards more to the classic jennyangel... i agree with you 100%. i do think there's something to be said about hate escaping those little corners jenny hasn't really managed to tape shut. not because she can't, but because somewhere, subconsciously, she needs that air. jennyangel are soooo appealing to me because of this especially: jenny is trying to convince herself she has forgiven angel, over and over again, because she wants to be Brand New, and angel is so focused on trying to convince himself that this forgiveness is enough, in some way, that in some way it will take some weight off his shoulders, but even in the act of being with jenny, more guilt is placed on his shoulders. and he ALSO wants to be Brand New. they all want to be Brand New but they never can................. sorry i'm really quite crazy about them. to me souled angel and human jenny operate as some weird 1940s great depression married couple. if that puts it into words.

i love the Trying To Be Brand New couple. buffy has quite a lot of them but perhaps that's just me as an angst lover. if spike survived post s7... spuffy falls into this trope for me.

sorry went quite off topic there. i apologize! thanks for indulging my asks <3

this ask made me light up! again! aaaaaaaah!!!!! my reply will be long so i'm putting it under a cut!

so first of all -- my very very very convoluted backstory for jenny involves her mother's side of the family being the one that's all tied up in the angelus stuff, so it's very much a trauma that's passed down through the women (and janna is in fact the name of the matriarch that pushed the resouling ritual forward at the beginning of everything, which, if one wants to get into jenny's mom's decision to name her daughter janna, one COULD, but all i will say now is "read the what you make sequel when it comes out.") and a lot of that desire for retribution got lost along the way bc enyos was the one who had to pick up the mantle For Reasons that had a lot to do with how much of a Problem jenny's mom was. not that any of this was ever communicated to jenny. so she feels a sense of obligation as the only surviving member of the angelus-destroyed line, save enyos, and there's also a lot of weird shit going on with her dad's side of the family where she's convinced none of them want her around (ALSO A VERY LONG STORY) which means that there is this part of her that really, really likes having this thing that ties her to something bigger than Just Janna. in my heart of hearts, i think jenny is a very lonely person who really wants a safe place to land but refuses to admit it, and that manifests in a lot of giles-related weirdness because giles is so open about wanting to be that safe place for her & she has no idea what to do with it. the mortifying and infuriating realization that you can have everything you want if you ask for it.

as for vamp!jenny and angel...i actually have Plans For That, but i am a little superstitious, and if i'm super serious about writing something, i do not generally talk in any real detail about it on this here blog. IF you wanna come off anon or smth i will absolutely share all of the details with you in messages, but if you're more comfortable keeping those excellent glasses on (also super valid) pls just know there will be a fic coming out at some point that you will probably really enjoy :)

I UNDERSTAND YOUR ENERGY ENTIRELY. for me it's always been that i don't actually want jenny and angel to get together, i just want their latent mutual desire for each other to eat them both alive while they both refuse to acknowledge it ever being a thing because to love this person would be to fully stare into the face of the most horrific traumatic life-shaping event ever and come to terms with the person that they became because of this person in front of them, and Neither Of Them Want To Do That, Ever. so i do absolutely agree that a situation where they DO actually consummate their connection and try to work out a relationship would sorta be Level Two of this determined avoidance, wherein they're both so aggressively going "we'll never have problems again!" a la the crazy ex girlfriend soundtrack and mutually refusing to admit that jenny wants to rip angel's spine out and strangle him with it + angel thinks he deserves it and would happily let her. gothic horror couple of my heart.

#THESE ARE GOOD ASKS AND I WILL INDULGE THEM ALWAYS #asks #miscellany #jenny and angel

[petrikaira]

The Maid

A Name pg 3 (Previous) (First)

Rating: G for General Audiences

Nele hurried to their kitchen table, placing her bag by the legs of her chair. Mama bustled across the room to get out another bowl and some spoons. “I can’t believe knowing about chickens-”

“I told you, it’s not just that,” Braam shot back. “Not even back a day and you’re up here getting on my nerves-”

“It’s what sisters do,” Nele retorted, but she grinned as her Mama put her bowl down with a clink.

“Don’t tease your brother,” Mama said. “Now, eat up, it’s still warm-”

Nele laughed, taking her spoon to the fire soup with its curls of fluffy white fish. In truth, Rene had always been kind, quiet and serious, the sort of person she did think complimented her brother well. She wondered if that meant Janna was going to take over the Grocer’s when her dad got too old to do it, too.

“So, how’d it happen?” She asked. 

“Well…after you left,” Braam said. “I realized that my little sister was upstaging me. You were out there, taking the next steps to make your life work- and where was I? Mooning at Rene through the Grocer’s windows. So, decided I had better up and see. So, asked her, asked her dad- asked our parents, not in that order- now we’re here.”

“You really have a way of taking all of the romance out of it,” Nele said with a laugh. 

“Well! You know-” Braam said. “I’m good at romance in my own way.”

“Sure you are,” Micah said. “You’re just lucky Rene likes it.”

Nele laughed. There was a warmth to listening to her family talk, the banter. Listening to Mama and Papa talk about Rene’s grocer parents, about how the chicken farm had been doing well. Even Henny seemed to be doing better, though Orsey had gotten bit by some flies recently so Mama was in the process of making him a horse blanket, as someone had let their old one blow away in the wind (The someone ended up being Micah, who had been distracted by the new handsome post man). It was nice telling Mama about her coworkers, though she kept the fact none of them were human secret. It was nice explaining the duties of the castle, telling about the queen’s frequent headaches-

“Oh the poor dear,” Mama said. “Tell her to eat some garlic. That will clear those right up.”

Nele settled in her seat. She knew garlic wasn’t going to work with her majesty. “Mama,” She said. “I don’t get to talk to their majesties all that much. I’m the lowest maid in the palace.”

“Well! You said you have monthly reviews, at the next one bring it up,” Mama said. “She might reward you for being so helpful.”

“I’m sure she’s tried it, Mama,” Nele replied. “Maybe it just didn’t work-”

“No, sweetie, tell her anyways,” Mama said. “You never know. Maybe she never has.”

Nele sighed. Her mother always had to be right. She hadn’t missed that. “Alright, Mama, I’ll tell her.”

There were other stories- Micah had apparently been courted by the McCarthy boy and found him lacking. Not only that, but they had let the goats go into their farm again, and Mama’s newly sprouted flowers were suffering. 

“That’s the last time I’ll ever let him court me,” Micah said, her arms crossed over her now empty bowl of soup. 

Nele laughed, leaning into her hands. “Not the last time you’ll have to get their goats out of Mama’s flowers, though.”

“Ohhh! I hope not! Those goats are so nasty-” Micah said.

#the maid #fantasy #slice of life #writing #writeblr

[siredtome1864]

Delena life story: part four

After all the pushing, and screaming comes a beautiful baby girl, and a handsome baby boy named Jenna Lillian Salvatore & Grayson Jeremiah Salvatore. Jenna, and Grayson were born on September 1, 2012. Jenna, and Grayson were born with brown hair & blue eyes. Nine years later a lovely baby girl was born named Stefanie Rose Salvatore. Jenna, Grayson, Stefanie Salvatore are all part of many groups like the Salvatore Family, the Gilbert Family, the Claire Family, and the Petrova Family. They also have ties to the Saltzman Family and the Mikaelson Family through her mother. They are by birthright members of the Travelers and the Eternity Coven. Gryson & Jenna Salvatore live in New York, New York, and Stefanie Salvatore lives in Mystic Falls. She goes to high school, Mystic Falls High School. Stephanie is a cheerleader, one of the main cheerleaders other than Joliet Saltzman, and Hope Mikealson. Elena is a surgeon at Mystic Falls hospital, and Damon manages the Mystic Grill. Jenna, and Grayson are noobie vampires. Turned by Kol Mikealson. Now Jenna, and Grayson are Hybrids, Vampire/Which. Grayson, and Jenna go’s home to their parents & their little sister, Stefanie for the winter. As Damon, and Elena came back to their true selves as vampires they can tentacle if someone can break into their house, and they did. It was one week before Christmas and they felt someone in the house. Damon, and Elena with their super speed, pinned their children against the wall of the first living room out of five. ‘Geez, mom it’s me.,’ Jenna said. ‘Ya, it’s just us, and one friend.,’ Grayson said as well. Elena smiled ‘I’m sorry, hun. We have been having break-ins around there. I’m glad you two are here.,’ Elena said with an excited smile on her smiling face. ‘Since when did you two turn.,’ Damon said. ‘Hush, we got a friend outside,’ Jenna said. Damon, and Elena released, and walked to the front door as Stefanie walked down the satire seeing her sibling. ‘Oh, Jenna, and Grayson, hey.,’ Stefanie said. ‘Geez, stefanie. You haven't seen us for two freaking years.,’ Jenna said. ‘I know. I just am not in the mood right now.,’ Stefanie said. ‘I’m sorry if I'm a nusses, but Jenna invited me.,’ Janna, and Grayson's friend from their college in New York, New York. ‘Mom, Dad, this is Isaac. he is one of our friends that has no family so we decided to invite him to our Christmas feast. He is also a vampire.,’ Jenna said. ‘Welcome, Isaac. I’m Elena, Jenna, Grayson, and Stefanie’s mother.,’ Elena said. ‘Hello, I'm Damon, the father of the kids.,’ Damon said. ‘Are you going to introduce yourself, Stefanie?,’ Elena said. ‘Oh, hi. I’m Stefanie. I’m sorry, my friends are texting me.,’ Stefanie said with a smile while wearing an outfit that her mother, Elena would wear when she was a teen before she met the Salvatore brothers, but a mix with her fathers kind of style. Stefanie was wearing a brown spaghetti strap shirt with a black waist length leather jacket, and dark gray ripped jeans to the knee to the ankle while wearing her brownish/blackish wavy hair down. Izic couldn’t stop looking at Stefanie, he felt something he never felt before. ‘I’m sorry, you just look like an ex of mine. You’re just beautiful.,’ Isaac said. ‘Oh, thank you.,’ Stefanie said. ‘Quick flirting with my sister, Isaac.,’ Jenna said. ‘He’s not, Jen.,’ Stefanie said. ‘He is two years older than you.,’ Jenna said. ‘I don’t want him dating you.,’ Grayson said. ‘HEY, I GET TO CHOOSE WHO SHE DATES, GOT IT?,’ Damon said. ‘Yes, dad.,’ Jenna said. ‘Yes, sir.,’ Grayson said. ‘Now, what’s your background, Isaac.,’ Damon said. ‘DAD, mom he is doing it again.,’ Stefanie said. ‘Honey, stop it. She has a boyfriend.,’ Elena said. ‘Oh, ya. Sorry,’ Damon said. ‘Boyfriend?,’ ‘I'm going to go to my room?,’ ‘oh ya, come with me, sorry for my attitude.,’ Damon said. ‘Hey, don’t worry. My family used to be like that.,’ Isaac said. ‘Mind if i ask how your family died?,’ Damon asked.

[omggiogiothings]

Summer

Sorry it's like, 3 years late. But this was requested from @genderbenduniverse which is Fem Robin and Bruce in the pool. After writing this I realize it was actually a Fem Bruce so I'm sorry, I'll see if I can do something for fem Bruce next time. For now, this ties in with my last post here. Thanks!

and thanks to @theladieauthor who wrote changing tim's name. I couldn't come up with good names for them soo,,, Tiffany ended up being a good idea.

---

The funny thing was, Bruce followed Dixie on instagram. Every blue moon he would open the app (squinty eyed, in a way that Tif said made him look like a meme) and see her photos. They were usually promoting some sort of charity or something of her on a new trip. She was active on it, as much as she could be and it helped keep her secret identity.

Of course, he hadn't been happy when she first got it at the age of 16. He didn't want his underage daughter going around posting photos of herself where any creep can see it. But it had helped solidify her identity and she was at that age where she could tell him to take his concern and stick it where the sun didn't shine.

She also posted a lot of athletic videos and was always careful of things she couldn't post in case it got back to her alter ego. She was responsible.

But he still hated it.

(Janna had a page but it wasn't for her civilian identity. Bruce had thought about following it but the PR nightmare of following the Red Hood would be terrible. It didn't stop the Red Hood from leaving passive aggressive comments on Bruce Wayne's meger photos.

Bruce liked every single one because he knew Janna loathed it.)

So when he went outside to find Tif and ask about the latest meeting notes for a meeting he had in like, 15 minutes, he was not happy to find Dixie by the pool, Tif crouched to the side with a camera.

He didn't like the two piece bikini she wore that took him back to discowing days and the way it barely covered any parts of her body

"Hi B." She greeted, holding a beach ball over her head and striking a pose. "What's up?"

Tif looks up after getting a shot. "Is it the meeting? Want me to prep with you?"

Bruce is actually caught off guard. He has two papers in his hands and a lot of things trying to come out of his mouth and he knows if he says anything it would be a jumbled confusing mess.

He's torn between demanding an answer, reprimanding his 26 year old daughter for doing what she is technically allowed to do with her body, and just walking back inside and pretending he didn't see anything.

"Absolutely not." Comes out, sounding strangled enough that both girls look startled. Without even considering it, he is dropping the papers and shrugging out of his jacket. Alfred raised him as a gentleman after all. "You are not taking pictures to post in that."

"Oh my god, B." Dixie says, blue eyes wide in astonishment. "You are not giving me your jacket."

He holds it out as Dixie stares, miffed. Bruce knows without a doubt that if Dixie was a few years younger she'd have flipped him off and scoffed. Now, she almost seemed amused, which he was glad for. Dixie's anger was still legendary, but she knew how to pick her battles and how to speak her mind in a way that truly hurt and wasn't just covered with teenage hormones.

He hopes his look reads he wasn't budging on this. There is a cold second where Dixie stares (again, choosing her battles) and he thinks she is going to refuse and make a point.

But her lips quirk and she takes it, dropping the beach ball to her feet and shuffling it on.

She is swimming in the jacket, looking at the long sleeves with a calculated look in her eyes. It reminds him of the time she was twelve, leaving a school dance and had shivered until he gave her his jacket. They had gone out for ice cream afterwards while she griped about girls being mean and so classist. It had been one of his suit jackets because in those years Alfred was heavy on his business suits. He remembers when he got it back and found crumpled flowers in the pockets and a nickel that confused him because he had given her his credit card not hard cash.

"I don't care what you do." He says, needing to iterate this and not just leave their conversation as a mess. "But not this."

Tif has been silent, looking at everything with raised eyebrows. He knows Tif's also received his jacket before. Actually, all of them have.

Dixie grins, a grin that instantly puts him on edge because she shoots forward and links their arms together. Dixie has always been affectionate, a contrast to Janna, Tif, and Danielle. While she hadn't initiated a lot of touch between them lately, she always passed touches and gentle nudges when she thought necessary.

Tif takes the photo as Dixie jerks him towards the camera unprepared. He hates photos, always has but Dixie laughs, bright and cheerful in a way he misses. It's been awhile since he heard her laugh that way.

He is still blinded by the laugh that when Dixie takes one more step he is biting at a curse at the rush of gravity as she drags him into the pool with an iron grip around his arm.

Later, when he sees the photos she'd posted he still hates the small two piece suit she's wearing but her caption has him tagged. He finds himself taking the file from Tif's laptop and saving it as it becomes one of his favorites.

-

@ Dixie_G Photo set: The first photo is Dixie in a two piece bikini, a beach ball under her arm and with a sunhat on. She is winking to the camera, hair loose and wild while she is kneeled on a towel, the beginnings of the pool can be seen behind her.

The second photo is of Dixie and Bruce, their arms linked and a suit jacket that obviously belongs to Bruce on her that covers most of her body. She is grinning while Bruce wears a scowl, seemingly not expecting the photos.

The third photo is Dixie in the water of the pool, hair wet and head thrown back in laughter. The jacket she wears is soaked and sticking plastered to her. Bruce is on the other side, soaked and giving her a firm look but there is a crook to his lips that gives away his amusement.

Caption:

@ Dixie_G : Ready for Gotham’s summer this year with a friend’s newest bikini set! Check it out in the link in my bio! Pictures taken by Tiffany Drake-Wayne @ Its_Tiff_D It might not meet Bruce’s dad stamp of approval, but all the proceeds go to a good cause! Check it out!

#Genderbent #genderbending #fem robins #dick grayson #tim drake #bruce wayne #Summer drabble #fake social media accounts #I took someones suggestion for Tim's female name #but here is the second installment ayyyyy #femrobins #Genderbent dick grayson #genderbent tim drake #writing #giogiothings #dc #batfam

[ghosttotheparty]

while the world ends around us (make believe with me)

6. I can’t even leave my room so I keep pouring AO3

And I've been looking for someone to put up with my bullshit I can't even leave my bedroom so I keep pouring And I ain't seen a light of day since, well, that's not important It's been long - Feeling Whitney // Post Malone

Lucas actually wakes up this morning.

It’s nice. Much better than laying against his wall all through the night, his eyes stuck on his laptop, watching Netflix or Youtube, or on his sketchbook, watching his pencil or pen or paint trailing across the page, leaving lines and smudges in its wake. And then looking up blearily when he realises he can see across his dark room because the sun is peeking through his blinds.

Today he wakes up when his phone starts buzzing and chiming next to his head, half under his pillow. It startles him, and he gasps as his eyes fly open, sitting up and muttering, “Jesus…” as he shuts off his alarm and tosses it to the floor next to him. It clatters against the wood and he winces, looking up at his door and running a hand through his hair.

He grabs food from the kitchen and eats it during his first class, scribbling the homework on a piece of paper he finds on the floor and doodling flowers and eyes as he forgets to pay attention. The teacher's voice turns into white noise.

- - -

He drifts off again in another class, and wakes up to a chorus of voices saying “Thank you,” and “Goodbye.” He doesn’t bother joining them, instead just clicking the hang up button and dropping his head to his arm, sighing and closing his eyes for a second before pushing himself up and groaning.

It’s the third red button he’s pressed just today.

He thinks about how many he presses a day.

Five classes, five red buttons.

Five days a week.

For weeks and weeks.

And weeks.

Christ.

Lucas huffs and pushes himself to sit cross-legged in front of the computer. He pushes it out of his mind, the remembrance that this is… it. All he has. This and a few texts from Kes and Jayden, usually about school or other kids from school, often complaining. Usually complaining. Sometimes he gets texts from Isa, silly selfies or pictures of birds. She knows he likes birds. Sometimes he gets texts from Noah, pictures of his art, drawings and paintings and doodles, or texts from Janna, which are never expected but always make him laugh. Sometimes Liv texts him just to check in.

It.

Homework and classes and red buttons and once-in-a-while texts from people he doesn’t see anymore.

And Jens, he remembers as his phone buzzes. And he smiles, but he really shouldn’t, so he pushes it away as he reaches to the floor and grabs the phone, reading.

guess what i’m making… 🥚🍳👨🏻🍳

He lets the smile push its way back onto his face (there’s no one to see anyway) as he shakes his head.

you didn’t give me time to guess, dummy

He lays on his back and holds his phone above his head, sighing as the bubble appears on his screen.

i’m impatient

Lucas scoffs, shaking his head again.

anyway good morning 😌, Jens texts a few seconds later.

good morning 🌞, Lucas responds even though it’s not really that sunny out. how are you today

well i woke up to my sisters arm hitting me in the face and i just burned an egg so that’s just kind of how it’s going so far you?

Lucas smiles again.

pretty dry so far but who knows

Like it’s a trigger, Lucas’s door swings open loudly and he tilts his head back, looking at his father upside down.

“...Yes?”

“You have to do the dishes, yeah?” he says flatly.

“But I did them last night,” Lucas says, still holding his phone above his head. He doesn’t look at it, even as it gives a short buzz with Jens’s response.

“And I brought dinner for you.”

“You brought chicken home and I cooked it.”

It’s true. Lucas had to Google how to do it, and it was the blandest, driest chicken he’s ever had, but it sufficed. There was nothing else in the kitchen he could have made. Back home, there’s usually things in the cupboard to micwave.

“Lucas—” His dad pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes, huffing. Exasperated, like Lucas is the issue here. “Just do it.”

“Fine, whatever,” Lucas mutters, looking at his phone, but he doesn’t get to read the message before his dad snaps at him.

“Don’t whatever me,” he says sharply.

“Fine,” Lucas says, stopping him. “Yes. I will.”

He leaves without shutting Lucas’s door.

Lucas takes a second, huffing at the open hallway. He hates him. And he knows he Shouldn’t, because He’s His Father, but he can’t not. It’s his face. Even before Lucas knew about how much of a dick he is, his face told Lucas everything. Always angry, disappointed. Always bitter, like he tried to sue the universe and lost. His eyes always look pinched. Especially when he looks at Lucas.

He doesn’t know why, honestly. It’s not like he even really knows Lucas. Anything about Lucas that’s actually important. Not that Lucas would tell him anything important.

(He has a list of things he doesn’t ever plan on telling him. His being gay is the top one. He’s never heard his father talk about queer people, but he doesn’t have to to know that he’s probably a bigot. His art is another thing. He doesn’t want to listen to his father talk about how it’s not a Viable Career Option, or how it’s a Waste of Time.)

He looks at his phone after a second.

😔 boring days suck wanna call later and do hw together?

Lucas exhales, trying to sigh away his frustration.

yes ofc you said you can do math right?

He shuts the door (quietly) while he waits for Jens’s answer.

i’m a math genius call me fuckin newton

Lucas scoffs, shaking his head as he sits back on his mattress, leaning back so his head falls off the edge, upside down.

great so that means you’ll do my hw for me

Lucas bites his lip, trying to suppress the smile that appears in anticipation as Jens types.

hmmmm what’s in it for me?🤔

uhhhhh moral support

Lucas grins as you amaze me appears on his screen, followed by oh i can teach you math, which promptly makes him roll his eyes and reply with an exaggerated uuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhhh.

Jens replies with oop i gotta go, and then, as Lucas prepares to send the eye-rolling emoji, see you after school🙃.

Lucas sends the emoji anyway, along with you’re the worst.

A few seconds later, his phone buzzes with love you too <3 , and his lingering smile falters. He sits up, swallowing and setting the phone down.

Because the pause in him, the skipped beat of his heart, the way the words tug at him even as he reads and rereads and rereads them, even as his brain knows the irony, the playfulness, the mindlessness in Jens’s saying it, can only mean one thing, and he hates himself for it.

Lucas is fucked.

- - -

So he ignores it, of course. It can’t be happening. It can’t. He’s known Jens for a few days. There’s no reason for his stomach to flutter the way it does when he gets a text from him, or when his name lights up his computer screen on Google Meets.

“He-ey,” Jens sings when Lucas answers, and a smile flickers across Lucas’s face involuntarily.

“Hey.”

“How you doing?”

“Fine,” Lucas answers, neglecting to mention the rest of his day, which was absolutely not fine. The door slams are still ringing in his head. “You?”

“Eh.”

“Hm,” Lucas chuckles. “Hey, who's your maths teacher?”

“Clark,” Jens says, looking at Lucas with his pixelated eyes. Even glitchy and blurry, Lucas can see that he’s beautiful.

“Great,” he says, ignoring it. “Have you done homework for lesson seven?”

“I absolutely have not,” Jens chirps. “I can do it and show you how to solve the problems.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Mhmm.” Jens puckers his lips, nodding and furrowing his brows. “Mhmm, mhmm. Well. I could do it and send you the answers.”

“That sounds great,” Lucas says, sarcastically sweet.

Jens snickers, reaching past his laptop, and Lucas watches as the collar of his shirt falls, a section of his skin exposed before he sits back, pulling a messy notebook, loose papers hanging out of it, and calculator with him.

“Wanna read while I work?” Jens asks, oblivious to the heat in Lucas's chest.

“Oh, yeah, I can do that.”

Lucas barely even processes the words he reads to Jens, his brain somehow paying more attention to the quiet, hushed murmurs of numbers coming from Jens.

He hears Jens mutter, “Divide by six…” and click his tongue in thought a few times just as Lucas reads, “‘...like moths against the whispering and the champagne and the stars.’”

He listens to Jens intently, even though half (or maybe just a quarter) of his mind is on the book, and even though he only catches every few words. Some words, sixty, sixteen, seventy seven, are sharp and cut right through their connection. His murmurs are nearly completely unintelligible, but Lucas listens like he’s actually trying to learn something.

It’s not until Jens says, “Lu?” softly, that Lucas realises he’s stopped reading completely, the book fallen shut in his lap with his index finger holding the page loosely, and he startles, looking directly into Jens’s eyes. His face burns up at the nickname, and at the fact that he had been so enraptured by Jens muttering maths to himself that he had forgotten completely to read.

“I— Yeah, sorry,” he says, looking away and opening the book, hoping Jens can’t see how hot his face is.

“Why’d you stop?” A smile is spread across Jens’s face. Like he knows.

“I—” Lucas stutters again. “You seemed to focussed, I didn’t wanna distract you.”

“Aw.” Jens tilts his head. “That’s sweet.” There’s a pause, and he looks down, flipping a paper that’s out of Lucases sight, before he says, “I’m almost done, I can send you pictures after so do this one.”

“Yeah,” Lucas says, trying not to let out another stammer. His face burns again. He hadn’t realised how long he’d been listening.

Jens clicks his tongue as he thinks again, and Lucas hears the clicking of his calculator and the scratch of his pencil on paper.

“Add on both sides,” he says quietly, and then, “Oh, that’s not right,” flipping his pencil over to erase it.

Lucas snickers.

“Don’t you laugh at me,” Jens says, a smile playing at his lips. “You know you can’t do better.”

“You’re not wrong.”

When Jens finally finishes the problem (he has to try again two more times; he’d skipped the problem to leave it for the end when he’d started) he texts pictures of it to Lucas, and Lucas closes the book, folding the corner of the page.

He can feel Jens watching him as he copies down the answers.

“Number four is seventy three?” he says, zooming in on the photo.

“Thirteen,” Jens says, his voice softer than Lucas expected.

“Oh, that makes more sense.” Lucas writes it. “Why the hell do your ones look like sevens?”

“I don’t know,” Jen says defensively, making a face. “It’s never been a problem before.”

“It’s weird.” He’s met with silence. “If you’re making a face at me, I can’t see it.”

Jens lets out a laugh, and Lucas grins. If sunshine made a sound, it would be Jens’s laughter.

“How do you know me so well?” Jens asks, still laughing.

Lucas giggles, snorting and shaking his head as he looks up to see Jens’s face brightening even more.

“That was so cute,” Jens says lightly, and Lucas feels like he’s on fire.

“Shut up. What’s number seven? It’s cut off in the picture.”

“Oh, shit, sorry. That’s…” Jens’s brows furrow. “Six, four… one—”

“You thought it was a seven, didn’t you?”

“Shut up. One point three two.”

“Thank you-u-u.”

Jens is quiet as Lucas copies the rest of the answers. He shakes his head at how messy Jens’s work is, shocked and honestly impressed with how his brian works, numbers and lines scattered across the page, the answers in neat, little boxes.

“Do any new drawings?” Jens asks abruptly as Lucas copies the last one.

“Huh?”

“Have you drawn anything new?”

“Uh..” Lucas finishes writing the final answer and boxing it like Jens’s. “Yes?”

“Oh?” When he looks up, Jens is resting his chin on his hands, smiling. “Tell me.”

Lucas pauses, biting his lip. He’s only done one, and it’s ripped and crumpled and shredded in the corner of his room in a plastic bin.

“I did one, but it was shit, so it’s in the trash—”

“What was it?”

“Uh, that’s not important.”

“...Okay.” He says it softly. Lucas is grateful. “Can you show me a drawing? Or like a sketch, or…”

Lucas smiles. Jens is clearly out of his element. But he’s trying.

“I might have a picture,” he says, moving the maths homework away. “Most of my sketchbooks are still in boxes.”

“You haven’t unpacked yet?” Jens asks as Lucas scrolls though his camera roll, photos of Utrecht mainly, with a few of homework and screenshots of messages from the guys scattered in there.

“No,” he says simply.

“Why?”

“Eh.” Lucas finds one of a drawing and looks at it, contemplating. It’s a sketch of Noah that he did a little after moving. He’d meant to send it to him, even considered mailing it with a little letter and some Antwerp souvenirs like a post card or something, but he never did. He sends it to Jens. “I don’t really plan on staying here that long, just until this summer.”

“Oh. Oh, woah.”

Lucas beams without wanting to, watching Jens’s head duck as he looks at his phone.

“That’s so good, Lucas.”

“Thank you,” Lucas responds, his voice small. He shifts in his seat on the mattress, fidgeting as Jens looks up at him.

“That’s so good.”

“Who is it?” Jens looks back down, moving his fingers across the screen, and Lucas can tell he’s zooming in on the photo.

“My friend from Utrecht, he’s an artist too.”

“Oh!” Jens looks up again. “Speaking of artists. I have a friend I think you’ll like.”

“You think I’ll like him because he’s an artist?”

Jens drops his phone.

“I think you’ll like him because he’s a cool guy, and you already have something in common.”

“Okay, that’s fair.”

“You wanna meet him?” Jens asks, almost excitedly.

Lucas stares at him, tilting his head.

“Not in person,” Jens says. “Obviously.” He makes a face. “Sometimes we have, like, a group Zoom call with the guys, do you wanna join sometime?”

Lucas pauses, hoping Jens can see the despair in his face.

The guys.

“Uh— Yeah, why not?”

Jens beams.

It makes the screen glow brighter.

#hes in looooooove #:') #remember to drink water yall #and eat something #and take your meds #stretch your wrists and neck #i love you #<3 #wtfock #skam nl #wtfock fic #skam nl fic #jens stoffels #lucas van der heijden #vds #van der stoffels #while the world ends around us

[incorrectstarcoquotes]

Incorrect Recap - S2

Alright @seddm​, Round 2 it is! My first round and his first round. Let’s get it on!

My New Wand - Star learns wandless magic in order to prevent starco from being canon early because why would we want that? It’s just the only thing everyone wants.

Ludo In The Wild - A nature documentary is the best way to show what Ludo has been up to.

Mr. Candle Cares - Tom does something wrong again and everyone still spends four years trying to convince me that he didn’t, and even if he did, it’s okay.

Red Belt - A Marco-centric story is the best way to catch up on some character development. Also, the Diaz’s are afraid of the store?

Star On Wheels - A car chase through a southern California freeway is the best way to show Star and Marco’s trust deepening.

Fetch - A dog from another dimension tries to fry its own brain to catch a break. I’m sorry, what?

Star Vs Echo Creek - Star runs away from accepting responsibility from a crime she committed and Marco spends all day and all night trying to look for her (but we don’t see that part).

Wand To Wand - Wand to wand, man to man, hand to hand. Both Star and Ludo learn to use their half of the wand.

Starstruck - Star learns the same lesson we all do, never meet your heroes.

Camping Trip - River travels dimensions through sheer force of will to be a third wheel to Star and Marco’s camping trip.

Starsitting - Babysitting is the best way to show how Star and Marco’s dynamic would be married with children.

On The Job - Buff Frog does as any good single dad would do and goes out to try to bring home the bacon...er, corn.

Goblin Dogs - The show beats down the Marco money joke until we’re introduced to a character I slowly start to hate.

By The Book - Glossaryck uses his omniscience to fuck with Star, and we learn that Ludo does know Marco’s name.

Game of Flags - Star makes her own team of two with Marco at a family reunion as they a play a game that everyone is a little too into. It’s like playing football at Thanksgiving in Texas. Even the people who don’t like football are suddenly experts.

Girls’ Day Out - Star and Janna totally become friends as Marco gets a reminder of that Jackie body. I mean, DAMN.

Sleepover - A magic box voiced by Goku forces the characters to develop.

Gift of the Card - Star and Marco act more like a canon couple than most canon couples and my favorite character name is introduced.

Friendenemies - Tom and Marco actually bond over boy bands and karate movies. I’d actually buy into this if Tom fans hadn’t been talking shit to me this whole time.

Is Mystery - Buff Frog goes up the ranks of everyone’s favorite character list by furthering the main plot.

Hungry Larry - An interdimensional terror is the best way to teach Rafael that adult fear is legitimate fear.

Spider with a Top Hat - My eight year old niece turns to me and asks, “Are we still watching Star vs?” because neither one of use could believe the crap we were looking at.

Into the Wand - We learn that Toffee is corrupting the wand and the magic but Star doesn’t figure it out until much later.

Pizza Thing - Pony Head makes everything worse for Marco because she’s Pony Head. It’s kind of her thing.

Page Turner - Star proves that she’s a Gen Z-er by believing that ancient dark voodoo whatever isn’t a big deal.

Naysaya - Tom does something wrong again and again everyone tries to tell me that he didn’t, and even if he did, it’s okay.

Bonbon The Birthday Clown - Star vs pulls a hard Toradora by having Star realize that more Jarco time does mean less Starco time. Ludo steals the book and changes the game for the characters and the plot.

Raid the Cave - Star and Marco pull a Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Star’s parents do what all leaders do and try to downplay the severity of the crisis.

Trickstar - "Weird” Al Yankovic sucks the joy out of people which is the opposite of what he does IRL.

Baby - A cute little cat thing gives Star a reality check.

Running with Scissors - A crazy episode about Marco getting his own dimensional scissors has so many terrible ramifications through the fandom. Like my God I fucking hate all you dumb motherfuckers “He’s 30. He’s 30.” THINK FOR FIVE FUCKING SECONDS YOU PIECES OF SHIT. DID NO ONE THINK WHILE MAKING OR WATCHING THIS EPISODE? AARKDAKL;SDF

I’m sorry. I lost my head for a while there.

Mathmagic - Star almost destroys the multiverse because she’s not good at math.

The Bounce Lounge - Star tries to save her favorite hangout and...that’s really it.

Crystal Clear - There are few things worse than watching a dumbass try to be smart, as Star learns.

The Hard Way - Ludo learns a spell. One spell. Singular. Toffee shows himself again.

Heinous - Marco’s parents will believe anything.

All Belts Are Off - Marco tries to get the approval of someone who really isn’t worth it, and turns out, Star really is a bug.

Collateral Damage - Star learns how crazy the people of Echo Creek actually are and Marco becomes an odd number because he literally can’t even in this episode.

Just Friends - The show pulls a Toradora for the second time but far worse.

Face the Music - Patrick Stump figures out what took everyone else two seasons to learn that STAR BUTTERFLY IS IN LOVE WITH HER BEST FRIEND...and his name is Marco Diaz. Star’s parents face political blowback because they’re just the worst.

Starcrushed - All of my worst hopes and fears come true until that last minute.

#star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #starco

[jess-the-vampire]

Sky And The Forces Of The Multiverse, Chapter 44

Previous / Next

-

What.

That was all that was running through her head in that moment.

What.

They caught her? How? Why? When?

As sky was sitting here, planning what to do next, they had already caught the culprit?

There was no way, there was just no way they could've done that. Not when it had been so hard before, not when they had done everything in their power to avoid being caught before this point, this all seemed too weird. Judging from the boy's reaction, they were having very similar thoughts. Instead of being joyous over the capture of a tormenter and criminal they were skeptic and confused.

No one moved except for the queen, rushing down the halls and away from the kids towards the prisons.

Sky turned to jude, whose eyes followed the queen before heading off after her, still rather confused but ready for anything nonetheless. Judas wasn't even running but he was walking rather fast, sky and landon rushing to catch up with him as he had been given a head start at this point. Though no one really knew what to expect at all from any of this, or who they expected to find in the prison.

Would it really be someone they knew?

Or was it someone worse then they could imagine?

There were so many questions being raised and they all could feel their heartbeats get faster and faster with every step forward, even though they weren't in any danger right now they still felt as if they were, they were still scared. The small group passing through crowds of people who were also eager to see what was actually going on in the butterfly prisons.

People protestors, royals, guards, you name it.

They were all there, shouting and screaming.

But Kelly and Katrina wouldn't let them in, pushing them all back before star stepped in, pushing them back further with magic, her wife almost running into her on her way out of the room as she stepped in. Janna's presence immediately scared the crowd, who backed up and away from her. Honestly it was rather amusing that janna just standing there was considered way scarier then star's magic to these people.

Though if sky herself had to chose between the two, she'd rather deal with the magic as well.

But at least the crowd backing up allowed room for the kids to squeeze through, janna spotting them in the crowd, and ushering them towards her. Frankly she outta push the kids away and not let them get involved in this right now with all these people, but at the same time this was janna and she tended to not care about most of that kinda stuff like she probably should.

She actually looked way too happy for sky's taste.

Sky stopped in her tracks right in front of her mom with a worried and puzzled expression.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?", judas and landon were also stopped in their tracks next to the princess. The three shared puzzled expressions and janna smirked harder, "Well, we caught someone alright, but not entirely sure if we can call wo we caught and the guy who wrecked us last night the same person. Unless we've all been even dumber then we thought we were, which...i dunno".

Now sky was MORE confused.

"But...w-what?".

That's when Jackie popped her head through, scaring sky half to death.

Wasn't she supposed to be-?

Jackie ushered the kids inside the prison, janna helping keep guard as the kids headed over to the obviously crowded cell just to see what was going on over here. And sure enough, in a musty and dusty old cell was a figure in a dark dress, mask on their lap and chained hands behind their back. Their hood was clearly peeled back to see their face.

And Sky was dumbfounded at seeing light blonde hair and blue eyes.

"L-luna?".

Luna looked dazed, something strange to how she normally was, usually sky would expect Luna to either be sneering at them or sitting patiently as if she hadn't done anything wrong at all. But she looked weakened and tired and everyone around her was constantly asking her questions and exchanging confused glances between them all. No one is sure how to react to this exactly.

Luna was clearly being set up, she had to be.

Sky had seen her in the same place as the figure before, when they attacked angel.

So it couldn't have been her, no way.

Granted, that was the only time and she never knew the extent of luna's abilities but...still, there was no way luna was behind all of this. Just like there was no way she had been mind controlled into doing anything herself, something else had to be going on entirely. Sky walking up to the bars, looking at her dazed sister, it had to have been mind control.

and Judas looked stunned.

His hands suddenly reaching out to his neck all of a sudden without hesitation on his part.

The charm, luna had used it to repel being controlled or cursed and had given it to him when he told her about his dreams, she had only given it to him just the day before and without it they might of never found bernard how they did. Judas had been hesitant for good reason, because who knew what could happen if she gave it up and handed it over to him.

Had they gotten to her?

Landon of course was not happy to see her, considering their encounters before this point had been nothing but unpleasant to deal with, he felt himself sink back against the wall, he did not want to talk to luna, at all. He much rather would stay out of this whole situation if he could, crossing his arms and avoiding luna's gaze as he tried not to get himself worked up.

But they weren't finished, sky was quick to go up to her mother and question her. She had too many questions, questions her mom may or may not have answers to right now but she had to ask someone right now anyway. How long had luna been like this? Been captured? Where had she been captured? Who was the one to bring her in? Jackie? The spy who had been following her?

And wait a second-

But Star quickly tried to quiet her down, clearly in the midst of processing a lot herself right now.

Everyone was talking rapidly between themselves, no one really did seem to believe luna was responsible exactly, but at the same time luna left when they discovered who she was, and how much did they really know about her and what she was doing? With luna leaving the group for all they knew she was working with someone and manipulating everyone behind their backs.

Sky shaking her head, not even wanting to consider that.

Luna wasn't a great person, but she'd never well...go THIS far.

Right?

Judas quickly passed by Sky, pressing up and against the bars, staring at luna in disbelief and worry. Ignoring all the discussion around him about what was going on, the boy looking over luna to make sure she wasn't hurt, or if there were any signs she had been attacked or controlled by anything. His face full of regret in taking her magic charm before shaking his head.

She gave it to him, it helped save bernard, he shouldn't regret that..

But Luna...

His face however, seemed to be the thing that snapped luna out of whatever state she was currently under, the girl shaking her head rather fiercely and waking herself up, realizing just in what state she had been left in. She blinked her shiny blue eyes to get the sleep out, pulling on her bound hands, and she quickly was turning back into the luna everyone knew and tolerated.

"What...what's going on!?".

Her speaking finally got everyone's attention from their arguing to see luna snarling at all of them, confused and angry. She looked like if given enough time, she could break out of her situation with her fists alone, and no one would be shocked if she did. But her scary expression wasn't doing herself any favors and the argument if she was evil and out to get everyone secretly or not.

If anything all of this seemed to make her look so much worse right now.

But judas seemed delighted and relieved, so different from how he saw her the day before, and luna actually seemed almost happy to see him.

So much for her goodbyes of yesterday.

Guess being here was better then most situations she could've gotten herself into. The blonde actually rather sad in her tone as she spoke up properly for the first time since she got here, "Hey judas...sky". For once she seemed actually rather defeated, there was nothing she could do in this situation to make anything any better. Break out and she was screwed, say anything encrypting and well...her other mom was right there, stay here and who knows what would happen to her at this point.

"Luna...what...what happened?", Judas wanted to take this as slowly as possible, get as much out of luna as he could. Though her expression wasn't exactly reassuring, luna responding with more of a shrug and a look of puzzlement, "I...I don't know...I went to sleep last night and...oh...oh no...". She looked right at judas, and the two knew where this was going.

The charm.

"How could...i was trying to be so careful and...judas what happened since i saw you last?". There was a lot to actually say but they were currently in no condition to talk about it with so many people around, all the demon prince could do was try and reassure her. "We're going to figure this out...just hang tight right now and we'll try and get this...sorted out.".

"They took over my brain...didn't they?", the way she asked it gave him chills.

"I...maybe...yeah".

Star was quick to ask for some privacy from some of the adults in the room, Katrina and Jackie leaving to work on the crowd outside and getting them out of the area in general. Obviously whatever Luna wanted to talk about, it was going to have to remain private, lest information got out that no one wanted to get past the castle gates to cause more damage.

But Landon also made his way towards to door, his older brother stopping him, worried. "Landon? Hey, you don't have to leave so soon, don't you want to-", but landon cut him off, "I'm going to tell mom and dad what happened and you can't make it to your arm thing right now, they'll reschedule, I-I don't want to be here...with her". He nodded towards the blonde teenager, "We'll talk alter...you can let me know...what you find out...". And judas could do nothing more as landon headed out after the other adults, judas sighing but letting him go.

Guess he couldn't blame him after how luna acted to him, Celeste was pissed about it just as much.

But they'd have to focus on luna for now and deal with it later, and judas went back to focusing on the princess, who watched landon leave with a face of mixed emotions, whether she may of had regrets, judas couldn't say for now.

"Luna...you first...what happened after i saw you last?".

Luna seemed to be struggling to remember, eyes closing and lip quivering, "I-I...I left and...I made my way back to my camp that night...I-I was keeping an eye out to make sure those after me hadn't caught up and i put charms around my area for protection...and next thing i know...i'm here...oh no, i hope my stuff's ok...I don't want all my evidence stolen..".

"Evidence?", star asked, startled.

"On who was after us...and how to get home", she muttered, "I...I might've found some crucial stuff and...ugh...". She seemed about ready to punch a wall, only for star to try and hush her down, her distress only making everyone more stressed. "We'll find it...the ones tracking you...i'll send them out to your camp and see what they can find...you...still have...it...right?".

Luna scoffed, still not happy her sorta mother was talking to her, it had been so long sky and judas nearly forgot how...tense luna got around star.

"It?", she asked rather rudely.

"Your wand".

The mention of it seemed to freak luna out, struggling to make her hands to desperately feel it.

Breathing a sigh of relief, "Oh...no...it's still safe...they must not have noticed it...".

Thank god.

And thank god for luna knowing how to hide her wand so well, or they'd be in deep trouble. Everyone else seemed to be just as relieved, though their reaction seemed to make luna curious. At the very least the wand was ok, though with luna in a costume no doubt she didn't put herself in there had to have been a reason for it other then looking for a wand.

"Check her for bruises", sky sputtered out randomly, everyone staring at her.

"Sky?".

"The masked figure that attacked us last night, we attacked them...we need to make sure if it was actually them-".

"-Or luna..", judas finished.

Luna looked at them all, rather puzzled before muttering, "Ok, but...get me out of this cell first...we're not checking my body with all of you staring at me in a cold jail cell.". Star opening the door to escort the girl as sky let out another question that she couldn't help but have in the back of her mind throughout this situation. "Mom...hey uh...luna was being followed by a spy wasn't she? Where...are they?", it might've been a weird time to ask, but if jackie was here Katrina's partner had to be as well.

Perhaps they could ask them some questions.

"Oh well...I think they're with eclipsa in the gardens right now".

"Eclipsa...why with her?".

"Well-", star started only for janna to walk in and cut the mood, "Hey star, we kicked all of those people out, so if you wanna move little trouble over here better do it now before they start climbing the walls...oh and uh...maybe put the mask back on...luna might not want people to see her face if they find out she was the one we actually caught".

Luna could agree to that alright.

And in an instant, luna was rushed out in her costume, judas looking back at her as she left, only dragged away by sky, who needed to go find eclipsa. For once she actually wanted to find eclipsa and find out what was going on. Maybe the spy saw something? They were following luna after all, they could figure out how this all happened, when luna got her mind taken over...anything they needed.

It was a better lead then nothing.

Though judas still seemed worried about luna.

Would she end up like how angel did? On trail?

There was no way they could defend her the same way they defended him, angel was only a boy who didn't know what he was getting into and didn't commit the crimes himself, luna on the other hand...if this was what it looked like...she was going to be in way worse trouble. Though at least her kingdom was in another reality and she wouldn't be surrounded by an angry mod anytime soon.

Angel was still dealing with the risk of that last part.

And he barely left the castle.

His mind was so lost in thinking about luna he had to be snapped out of his state by sky to notice they had moved to the outside of eclipsa's tower, everyone had seemed to have left. Angel, nora, sunny, melaine...all of them, off somewhere else. Melaine was home obviously, angel might've went for lunch with nora and then back to see his mom, and sunny...well sunny was probably with lexi if anywhere.

Sky hung out with them so much now she could practically guess what they were up to at any point in time.

Guess everyone had to get back to life as per usual for awhile, besides...outside was a good place to get ambushed.

But she was happy they weren't here, she didn't want them involved in this just in case things got a little...rough, they didn't know what they were in for if they were going to ask the spy some questions and who they would see on the other side obviously. Though it didn't take long for someone to answer, and sky had to take a step back. Because though this was eclipsa's tower and home when she was staying by the castle, she wasn't who was standing in the doorway.

And sky was speechless and...baffled.

She had knocked, trying not to be rude, and before she could back herself out of this whole deal, they had to be inside and hopefully eclipsa wouldn't mind them joining to ask some questions of their own. Though the moment the door had been opened, sky almost felt the color drain from her face, and she and judas had gone stiff as a board as their stomachs turned.

Because instead of a green haired mewman standing at the door.

In front of her was a woman who was much younger, and much less mewman if the horns and tail were any indication. She had striking red eyes but the thing that clearly got the both of their attention was the plain clover cheekmarks on her face. Even though they had never seen this woman in person since the day they were made, they both knew who stood before them.

For the first time in their lives, Meteora stood before them.

The monster who almost destroyed mewni.

The original princess to take the throne before sky.

The monster who got a second chance to live.

The sight of her alone was enough to stop the two in their place unable to say a word to her, just gapping at her and their minds going full blank. They never knew what they'd do if they met meteora in person since they found out she was really well...not dead. Now that they were actually seeing her for the first time they had nothing to say, looking as though they were staring off into space.

Meteora however, seemed to know them rather well.

"The prince of the underworld and princess of mewni...hey".

They still didn't say anything, how much did meteroa know about them? About what was happening? Was she happy to see them or was she just as freaked out as they were?

It took all of his strength for judas to rely like he wasn't freaking out on the inside.

"H-hey".

It was a start.

Of course meteora was the spy following luna, of course.

Why didn't sky think about this before? Who else would go to see eclipsa but her own daughter?

And that meant, Katrina and Meteora were working together all this time, all this time they had been closer to meeting the former princess then they thought they were. It was only an ask away. They must've looked pretty silly gawking at her like that, because meteora was staring back at them as if they had grown a head between the two of them, confused and worried.

"Uh...hi?".

"Meteora, dear...what's going-", Eclipsa paused at seeing the teenagers at her door, but quickly smiled and invited them inside, "C'mon in, have some tea, meteora was just telling me how work has been going". She pulled her daughter aside to let the teens enter, judas and sky recovering from their frozen state, but still having a hard time not looking at meteora as they entered.

Man, now meteora must've thought they were weirdos, looking at her as if she was some sort of ghost.

Great start, they just seemed to have a way with making first meetings really uncomfortable.

And indeed as they were welcomed in and to take a seat the monster girl watched them curiously, reminded them this was again, her first time really meeting them either. She'd probably hear many stories about them from her mom, some probably fun and some sky really hoped would never ever be mentioned ever again if they could help it.

Eclipsa and her might not have had the closest relationship, but that never stopped eclipsa from knowing too much for comfort.

Regardless, now neither sky or judas was sure how to go about this, they barely knew meteora, would she really answer any of the questions they had for her? Or would she not say a work, considering the spy business was purely confidential. Maybe meteora was stingy about that info and they'd have to pry it out of her, good cop and bad cop style?

Actually, no, that'd be stupid.

Truth potion?

Oh right, with what happened yesterday sky basically forgot they lost it to Judas's grandfather.

Well today was full of inconveniences now wasn't it? Leaving Sky more anxious then she probably would've been otherwise.

But she might've been just panicking, she didn't know meteora, and she didn't know for sure she wouldn't easily help them or not. Maybe this would go a lot better then she was thinking it would. Though meteora's looks weren't exactly reassuring her a ton, as the former princess seemed to be trying to read the two royals herself, as any good spy probably would.

Did they look suspicious? Or just weird?

Sky wished she could read meteora's mind, wondering what eclipsa had told her about all of this if

anything.

There was no way meteora didn't at least have some questions considering she was tailing luna, someone she DEFINITELY didn't know.

And if she had ever spotted Luna doing magic….yeah.

Sky just had to pull herself together and maybe if she was lucky this would go rather well and maybe eclipsa would even help her out?

"Any flavor you'd like?" , Eclipsa asked sweetly, sipping her own cup as meteroa drank from her own.

"Oh uh….it doesn't matter…" Sky answered awkwardly. Eclipsa just shrugging and walking to her teapot. Guess she didn't feel as weird since Sky and Judas already knew Meteora was alive, but that wasn't shared among the others.

She really shouldn't be acting so peachy to Sky, especially since she knew how unusual this was for everyone.

But the 3 said nothing between them, just sharing awkward glances at each other as they heard the teapot boil nearby. Eclipsa humming to herself as she did so, acting as if this was all somehow just extremely normal and nothing odd was happening at all right about now.

They couldn't even bring themselves to ask about her thoughts on Luna with Meteora there. It was nothing but dead silence and odd tension that Meteora probably didn't fully understand herself.

Eclipsa handed them their cups before taking a seat next to her daughter. She bumped the monster's shoulder, eyeing the kids, "Meteora, this is Princess Skyler, and Prince Judas. Two of the lovely royals I've told you about".

Meteora coughed into her fist, trying to almost reset the whole meeting as she held out her hand.

"Hello".

They better take it, otherwise enter another awkward staring contest between the three of them.

Judas shook first, meteora and him both seeming to note just how strong the other appeared to be.

Sky felt the grip next, and she was sure her hand had been uncomfortably sweaty throughout the whole thing.

At least meteora didn't seem to be too focused on that last bit, trying to strike up a conversation herself to ease the tension. "So um...you've been...taught by my mom? She keeps raving about how you and this dorky spider prince studied under her for some reason?". Well, this was not really where sky expected this to star but it was something it seemed.

"Oh yeah...angel, he's the prince of the-".

"Arachfords, yeah, i've been to that kingdom...kinda a bit of a dump".

Well that was one way to start a conversation, though sky was sure if angel had heard he wouldn't have disagreed with her. Guess it figured at one point or another meteora would've spied there, probably as part of the investigation into all the strange masked person activity when angel was still working for Her. Perhaps Meteora had been more involved with this conflict then sky thought she had.

"How is it there these days?", the demon prince was quick to ask, curious about how it's been since angel was on trial. Meteora simply shrugging, "Eh...still a dump, though at least people aren't overunning the castle anymore. Should've seen the king, dude couldn't even leave his own castle with all those monsters out there yelling at him for one reason or another...guess it comes with the job".

Fun.

"Oh yes, i told angel earlier, his father is coming over here for a bit while globby takes care in his place. So if you have questions you'll be able to ask him in person rather soon if you'd like...though maybe give him and angel some space, they clearly have some serious catching up to do with how long they haven't seen each other. Downside to him not letting angel have a compact.".

"Yeah...angel probably should have one...", judas gritted his teeth, "Hard to contact him without it...".

"Old fashioned type kingdom?", meteora asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Actually more like they didn't trust angel to just have one".

That actually seemed to make meteora laugh, "Man, dude must have some issues then...must be fun parties".

"Well he was kicked out of most of them...".

Actually out of context it almost sounded like angel was some sort of badboy who got in trouble a lot rather then what actually was going on. But they didn't need to go into that with meteora right now, they had more important matters to get into. Though meteora seemed to find the fact he was kicked out of royal parties to actually be kinda interesting.

However, meteora was quickly onto them, scanning their faces closely, "You're here to ask about the girl i just caught aren't you? Don't try to deny it, i can tell from your body language you both wanted to ask something in particular and were hesitant about it". Judas and Sky immediately felt embarrassed, she caught on quick, that's for sure but she didn't seem to mind.

"Ask away, i don't have an issue...I kinda figured you'd have questions, the news was bound to spread fast...", she sounded actually rather cool about it, ushering them to get out what they wanted to ask while she was still here. Judas and Sky gapping and looking at each other as sky cleared her throat, guess if meteora was really cool with it they better hurry up before she wasn't.

"So uh...were you uh...following..-".

"Was i following the blonde girl with a resting face in the cell? Yeah, mom called me in to follow her since she apparently ran away or something. She spent the whole time trying to shake me off, it was insane. I've never had someone try so hard to make sure they weren't being followed, i'm not exactly sure how she did it...but she had to be an expert on it...and only culprits go out of their way to hide so much".

So meteora didn't know about the magic luna could do then.

But she thought luna was suspicious.

As she would if luna was going so far to keep herself from being tracked, of course that would look suspicious. She didn't know why luna left and why she didn't want to be followed. Luna was kinda a suspicious person even when she was an ally, going off and doing her own thing and keeping secrets from the others, all of this would be even worse coming from someone who never met her.

The kids exchanged glances, meteora still talking, not really paying attention to the kids or her mom, who all seemed to mutually send glances, knowing the truth behind luna's weird actions and unsure what to respond with after that statement. "Honestly i can see why mom wanted me to follow her, she's tricky...no normal guard could handle something like that...did your mom see her already?", she asked sky.

"Uh...yeah...yeah she did.".

"When's the trial then?".

"Oh...uh...", so meteora was also expecting luna to be put on trial after all this too? Did she have any evidence to get her convicted? She had to have right? Though sky'as silence seemed to tell luna enough about the situation, "Alright then, i guess we'll see when she wants to take care of it...y'know i thought she was weird before, but i never expected to find out she was a criminal".

But thankfully, eclipsa chimed in.

"Oh dear, you don't know that, innocent till proven guilty after all, give it some time", meteora didn't seem so sure about that fact but it didn't seem she was deadset on not agreeing with her mom either, false accusations was a sore spot in their family and meteora herself couldn't go around claiming her mom was wrong when that part of their family history was still fresh.

"She's still really suspicious though", she grumbled, leaning on the couch and drinking more of her tea.

They could all agree to that, even when luna was helping them she was suspicious, she tended to have a vibe to her.

"Did you...what was she doing...when you guys got her?", sky asked, trying not to sound suspicious as she brought the topic up, meteora simply shrugging to herself and drinking her tea with a sigh. "She was just...strolling through the woods, pretty unlike her all things considered since she seemed obsessed with trying to stop me from watching her...but there she was...out in the open, might as well have just turned herself in and saved me the trouble".

"Just...walking?".

"Pretty much, tired too by the looks of it".

So luna wasn't caught doing anything that seemed scary or dangerous at least, though meteora seemed to help make it more obvious luna wasn't in control of her own body at the time. Luna would never have put herself out in the open like that, they knew that well enough. She had to have been under control and got caught while being so, honestly it just seemed like they gave up using her when they finished what they needed.

At least luna seemed mostly intact instead of being heavily injured during this whole thing, being out of control of what happens to your own body is scary, luna was lucky nothing worse happened to her when someone else took the steering wheel. Not to mention be attacked by anyone who had really though they had caught the big bad enemy that had terrified all of mewni.

She got lucky this time around, that was for sure.

"But i've caught some real scary folks in my time, usually i hang out in that sweet dig in the underworld to get new jobs, place has great smoothies...and music...as long as those demons don't pick any fights". The royals exchanged looks knowingly, guess for certain they could confirm the cloaked figure fae had seen there, meteora might've seen landon there a few times if she went regularly.

"How long have you been a spy?".

"Eh...maybe about...four years?", she said, still a little unsure, "I mean, if not that then five, but it's not much more then that...katrina started earlier then me, since she ages differently and got a bigger head start...but it is what it is, she's cool though, best partner i could have. She talked about you guys all the time, like your weird big sister...she gave you that pendent thing right?".

She pointed to sky.

"Yeah...she did...".

"Did she tell you you had to wear it on your hat before she did it?".

Sky shook her head, meteora snorted.

"Sounds like her".

Eclipsa smiled into her teacup, "Meteora is wonderful as a spy, sneaky and smart...i tend to get her help a lot when teenagers get a little rough around the castle and they need to be taught them a nice lesson." Meteora also seemed to share a smile about that, leaving their company to wonder just exactly what eclipsa did when they weren't paying attention to her.

"Eh...it works, but it's nice to take a break...come over...where's dad anyway?".

"Busy, he'll come over soon though".

Meteora sagged her shoulders, "He better get here before i have to go back into work, hard to get in contact with him when he's spending his "retirement" cleaning up other people's messes". Her attention went back to the royals, "So yeahh...hopefully that takes care of your little masky problem, and well, that blonde girl in general, hopefully you both stay safe from now on".

"What do you mean by that?".

"I mean...you were nearly killed a few times right?", she said knowingly, "If you die, well lucitor has brothers, but well...in sky's case...who knows where the throne might go without you there to run it. Mewmans are just work in general, their a mess without their queen, you leave them alone for too long and they can barely feed themselves, so better not let anyone stupid get a chance to take over".

Honestly sky only felt more awkward knowing meteora almost had this position herself years ago, would meteora have been a better queen then sky? It's possible, meteora ight also have been just as hated if not more then sky but at the very least she had to be far more powerful then her and maybe more accustomed to dealing with all of this then sky.

Or maybe sky was just doubting herself again.

"Yeah well...i guess we'll just have to see for ourselves about that...things kinda seem to happen to our family a lot", she was joking, but she wasn't wrong, her mom nearly died multiple times, in fact she had claimed to have actually come back from the dead during one of those occasions. Their family seemed to have poor luck in avoiding ending up in serious life-threating peril.

"Hey, all queens deal with it, just blast anyone who tried in the face, works every time".

At least Meteora was enjoying this.

Judas coughed, knowing they needed to get back on topic about luna before they left with little info, there had to be ore they could push on. So far what they asked seemed mostly fine and not that odd, probably because it was stuff meteora had no reason to hide anything about, but there could be more they were missing and would have to go further to get.

Eclipsa seemed to know their next move, continuing the conversation with her daughter as normal, "Well meteora, i really hope staking out wasn't too bad this time around, though i'm sure the girl didn't make it easy for you...it's hard to sleep if you have to keep finding the person over and over...but at least you can rest here if you need to, i kn0ow it's tiring".

"Jeez...no kidding, she had camps, but kept wandering off, only reason i found her again was she went back to her campsites...otherwise i might've lost her".

Guess at least that meant luna did go off and do the hunting for clues she promised, she wasn't fibbing when she told them in her cell, she had stuff at her camp, waiting for her and everyone else to see.

But it also meant she looked more suspicious cause no one but her could claim what she did when she wandered off right now.

Cause for all they had known, luna could've been out doing terrible things when she went out of meteora's view. But they'd have to ask luna herself, only she could really say what went down. And if what she did was bad or not, even judas was up in the air about what she had down since they parted, and he knew luna would not be against doing some shady things.

They needed to talk more about her absence when they could.

"You...you really think it's her?", he said it in such a sad way, he couldn't help her, he really honestly didn't want to doubt luna but he couldn't help but be worried about all of this. How much did he really know about luna? What if she really was just as bad as meteora seemed to think and all of them had been tricked? His mind felt fuzzy just thinking about all of this.

Meteora seemed to take note of his tone, hers immediately shifting. She actually seemed rather

worried that she upset the boy, feeling rather embarrassed all of a sudden. "Oh um...were you and

her...friends or something? I'm sorry I didn't mean to imply-".

"It's fine….", he said, so quickly that it only emphasized how upset he actually was. "I'm sorry….its just….I don't believe luna did this….or at least I hope she didn't ".

His own voice seemed to betray him, because he, to an extent, wasn't sure about luna. He couldn't betray a friend either, and luna was a friend no matter how mixed things currently were right now. Eclipsa seemed to be admiring his loyalty, despite how luna kinda was to everyone around her. She was lucky anyone was standing up for her with how things had been.

"Well, I guess we'll see for ourselves once we do some kind've investigation on her and everything. So Let's just hope for both our sakes this capture isn't a complete waste of our time", the monster girl put down her teacup and took out her compact, "So enough questions for me...time for me to question the two of you". Her compact now aimed at the two teenagers.

"What….?".

"You both are part of this whole deal and I need to hear what you know so I can further do my job.", her words seemed to strike some worry into the kids, how much did meteora know if she knew they "Were part of this whole deal"? Judas quickly trying to relax himself, especially since meteora could read their body language and might get suspicious if they kept freaking out.

The former princess looked them both over and tried to explain more clearly, she then said simply, "So since we're here together I better do it now and hear what you both have to say. Especially since you both know the girl I captured on a personal level".

They both felt their hearts drop, Eclipsa sending them a shrug.

Guess they had no choice but to answer meteora's questions and just hope they didn't say anything that might make them look weird.

"So how do you know this girl?", she pressed record on her compact, keeping eye contact the entire time with the teens, the two struggling just to answer the first question. They couldn't outright say who she ACTUALLY was to Meteora right now, they barely knew her, they'd kinda have to lie….if even a small lie for now. They were just going to have to be careful of their words, though even just thinking what to say too long might make them seem suspicious.

"Uh she wanted to be in our guards".

It was technically the truth so hopefully it worked, though in their minds they both just really hoped that meteroa wasn't an expert lie detector, because if she was they were doomed.

"Is that how you met? She came to you looking to be apart of the guards"

"Well no, we met a bit before b-"

"How long ago did you meet and how close were you? You didn't tell her anything you shouldn't have did you? Was she interested in anything she shouldn't have been?", geez sky hadn't expected meteora to be so….intense. She really seemed to take her job seriously, like VERY seriously. Sky was nervous just trying to answer her first question, much less all the others.

It was overwhelming, they barely could process all the questions she was even asking them, catching them more off-guard.

Sky especially.

"Well I uh-".

"Luna came down wanting to be a guard and we met her in town, so we hung out and asked for her to stay in the castle since she left home to be a knight ", judas to the rescue of course, a significantly better person to handle this then sky. At least he was staying consistent to the story they gave luna as best he could.

"Where's she from?"

"She's from….a very far part of mewni, she traveled through scissors to get here, she didn't wanna say because it was personal information".

This seemed to make meteora suspicious, whether of them or luna they couldn't tell for sure but she didn't seem entirely satisfied with that answer. This only seemed to make the demon more nervous, but meteroa didn't push further on the matter, moving onto the next question she had.

"Why'd you help her become a knight?"

"Because we're...nice people?"

She made a face in response to that one and judas kept his mouth shut once again just to avoid sounding more like an idiot in front of the master spy. But really he didn't have a better answer then that, he wasn't exactly sure what meteora had expected to hear honestly.

"How much do you really know her? She seems to have been vague about all the important things a friend would share normally?".

Eclipsa must've sensed how nervous the teens were trying to figure out their next set of words.

Quickly getting her daughter's attention with a tap on the shoulder, "I've spoken to Luna quite a few times and seen them with her quite a bit since she's been here, I can say for sure luna has quite the relationship with both of them….judas and luna even hung out with me, sky, and angel before ".

Well if meteora didn't know whether to trust the royals for sure, there was at least a decent chance she might trust her own mother's word on the matter. The girl biting at her lip and moving onto the next question she had about the matter. Judas and sky becoming extremely relieved about that one, trying to talk about luna without mentioning her whole deal was...tricky.

"I've already spoken to some of her comrades , she was dangerous….like she had training way before she even came here...can both of you confirm this?".

They nodded.

"So she was well trained before she entered the knights ? I'm gonna guess she never explained why she was so well trained right?".

"She trained herself ", sky said, "she wanted to be the best".

It was the most in character thing luna would do if this was her actual backstory.

They couldn't deny any of luna's skills, that was for sure, nothing about her read as "Incompetent".

They were waiting for meteora to ask anything else but she stopped her recording, "I'll probably get back to you later...but i have others to talk to about this as well...anyways, thanks for helping me with this for the time being". They simply nodded, still anxious about being bombarded with questions they couldn't be entirely truthful about.

At least it was over, they didn't know for how much longer they could've kept that up before they said something more stupid that gave them away. They had enough mixed emotions about meteora, they didn't need her hogging down their backs on top of that, and even now they were still processing the fact they were in her presence. Looking at her now she didn't seem the type to attack an entire kingdom like she did.

She seemed...well normal.

Focused on her work, talking to her mom, hanging out with her friends.

Would she still be like this if her mind hadn't been wiped how it was?

"So...wait...are you going to be part of this whole deal?", sky asked all of a sudden, meteora blinking at her in confusion, "Uh...if you mean am i apart of this whole masked person stuff...i kinda have to be now, my target was caught with the costume on...when she is on trial i'm going to be a witness to everything...also honestly if my mom is investigating...i might as well join in".

She grabbed her things, fixing up her hair and checking on her tail, "I'm going to find Katrina real quick mom, to share some notes...i'll meet up with you and dad later...give you updates, you tell me when you find anything out..." Then she looked to the teens, holding out her hands for them to shake, "And i'll see the two of you...later...don't spend too much time with my mom...the longer you do the more she starts talking about weirder things".

She headed out the door, eclipsa laughing to herself as her daughter left, her attention on her guests.

"So how was-?".

"METEORA IS A SPY?! And you said NOTHING?!"

Sky said it so loud it even scared judas, but she couldn't help it, she had so many thoughts running through her head and she could barely process most of them. But Eclipsa just seemed amused, sipping her tea to herself and nodding, "Sky c'mon, i couldn't tell you anything about that, it's meant to be a secret...and besides, it's not relevant to everything else...meteora's life is her life, nothing to do with you all anymore".

She was right about it, sky didn't need to know what meteora did, but she was still shocked.

"But like...she...and we...", sky couldn't even come up with a defense, she was so defeated, and so was judas too by the looks of it. The dark queen put down her cup, patting their shoulders gently, "Kids...it's ok, honestly you just seem shocked all this time meteora was right nearby and you missed her for so long, it's alright...i'm sure anyone would be just as shocked.".

"Wait...but meteora...she's going to go out there...won't people recognize her?", it suddenly came to sky, meteora might not be who she was but the people of mewni would NEVER forget her, a surge of panic wave through her as eclipsa quickly answered her question without a worry on her face.

"They will".

So she knew just as much, but-

"But she doesn't know what she did...what if-?".

"It's no matter, I told her".

The two sat there, stunned.

"When?".

"Just now, before you showed up, i told her everything...well...everything about her life before...nothing about the whole "Sister from other timelines" thing", she was sitting there, so casually about it too, like this wasn't a big deal. She kept meteora from the throne and erased her mind of destroying mewni, and meteora had no reaction to it? At all?

"I considered it for awhile...and thought it was time...better she learn about it from me...then anyone else.".

"But she didn't...she-".

The queen smiled sadly at them, her eyes facing away and towards the wall, "She's an adult, and i'm sure this is going to be a lot to process for her, but i think she'll be ok...eventually...but of course she wasn't going to freak out, she's rather fine with what she's doing now...never had much interest in ruling, finds the mewmans annoying to try and manage.".

"So when we came in just now and she was talking about me being queen and that without me who knows who it might go to...", sky started, "She...she was aware that it might go to her...". Well, that suddenly made that conversation even more awkward then it needed to me, maybe that was why meteora was so silent after they came in, she was just as uncomfortable as they were.

"Yeah you came at...very awkward timing for her".

Judas suddenly felt very sick, his stomach sinking, "We...we had no idea i'm so sorry about that...it was a big deal and we must've walked in while she was still processing everything and we didn't mean to make everything more weird then it had to be". But she hushed him, relaxing back into her seat, "It's alright, you had no reason to know about any of that, you don't have to say sorry for anything in relation to this...it's between me and meteora.".

That finally seemed to silence the nervous teens, who tried to settle themselves against the couch beneath them, the former queen handing them chocolate bars that had been hidden in her drawer nearby. " Today seems to be a day of confession, so i think it's good to get all of this out of our system...even if it hurts, but it's better let out and consumed inside...", they took the candy and unwrapped it, taking bites.

"Do you think...she hates us?".

"Doubtful, she barely knows you...and it's not your fault".

They fell silent, nearly forgetting why they even came here in the first place, to look for answers and clues. Now back into their guilty modes, getting themselves off track and their minds unfocused. The older woman snapping in front of their faces to get their attention, encouraging them to eat their chocolate before she took it back from both of them, and knowing her, she would.

"You both need to stop blaming yourselves, what happened was in the past...you have a new future ahead to make things right. Meteora has a lot to process on her mind but...i think by how she left is enough to indicate she'd be happy to be friends with you both. Trust me, when meteroa hates something...it sticks...probably why she still flinches instinctively over queen lucitor".

She looked deep into their eyes, "Enough wallowing in sadness, you'll never get things done if you keep feeling sorry about things you shouldn't be sorry for, i made my choice and i'll deal with the consequences. Me and star have made some...well...questionable choices in the past, bit we were the ones to make those choices, not you...you could never have known what we'd do and we could never have guessed how this would affect all of you...including meteora. We can't change our past but we can work on bettering our future, you know as well sky...".

"Huh?".

"You said it yourself, to Angel".

She was right, sky had said something similar to him before.

Told him to stop thinking in the past, and work to the future, for the betterment of everyone.

Guess sometimes she needed to be reminded of her own advice.

"I'm sorry, i didn't meant to get all upset and whatever...sometimes i just feel i don't deserve the throne and i feel bad i might've...stolen it away from someone who deserved it more...", she took another bite of chocolate, "Eclipsa, the wand broke cause it went to me, the girls might not even have been here if i didn't have it...i just feel like...giving it to me only made things worse...".

"Oh hush now, meteora is happy to not have the pressure you do, and you don't have anything to feel sorry for, your mom's broken the wand plenty as well and done her own fair share of stupid things, my grandmother erased gravity once...what you've done is fairly tame in comparison. As far as I'm concerned, you'll be a good queen...but perhaps...instead of hearing it from us...maybe you need to hear it from yourself.".

Sky was about to question what she meant but eclipsa was way ahead of her, "We can only do so much, for you and judas both, we can encourage you, help you, cheer you on...but getting over these fears and doubts you have...we can only do so much on our own, you both need to learn to love yourselves and trust yourselves as well, otherwise you may never fully get over this sinking feeling".

She was right.

They did keep falling into this, because even if everyone else felt one way, they still kept doubting themselves.

If they didn't believe it, they were never going to overcome these issues.

"Do you know how we can try?", judas asked, his shoulders hunched and his eyes mostly staring at his hands rather then eclipsa, "I...want to...i want to get better, i want to fully stop...even if it takes time...i know it's not my fault and i know what i do is to help...but...i want to know how i can prevent myself from falling back into...bad thoughts...if there's a way to do so".

This really seemed to peak eclipsa's attention, caught off guard by judas's sudden question, leaving her in thought for a moment. "Well, it's a step by step process...but...start by recognizing things you like about yourselves...things you're proud of...and start doing nice things for yourself...it'll take some time to get over years of self doubt...but...you need to fully have faith in yourselves if either of you are to get passed this...".

"Angel asked me out..."Sky started noticing eclipsa smile before giving her a face, "As friends...he asked us to hang out to make up a bit for...what happened. Maybe i'll take him up on his offer...soon...in between plans and dealing with the mission. At least...it might be a good start into truly feeling more confident, he's confident in my magic it seems".

"And judas?".

He looked at his arm, clutching it.

"I'm going to learn to control it".

Luna being in prison was quick to spread to everyone in the group, everyone reacting with a similar face of shock and confusion. Though celeste reacted more with "Whatever", probably still mad with luna just like landon was. She didn't exactly have the best time with her yesterday when the blonde pointed her wand at her and nearly got into a fight with her.

The only plus side to this all was because they saw luna yesterday they knew the timeslot they had for luna to have been cursed, making it easier to determine when everything might've went down and if luna was at the lucitor castle or somewhere entirely different. No one seemed to really believe at the end of the day that luna was actually their enemy, as mad as some of them were at her.

It all did make the dinner they were all at very awkward however, as they went in expecting to plan stuff in the morning and now the talk was entirely around luna herself, of course next to queen moon and meteora. Star was already panicking and stuffing her face at just the mention of her mom, having no ability to shun her away this time was driving her nuts and the only reason she wasn't here already was because River was getting into a fight at their retirement cabin with a bear.

Next to Janna, who honestly was actually way too calm about the whole situation, maybe at this point she was numb to every dumb big event that happened seemingly each week. Which of course didn't apply to anyone else, The lucitors were here after all and they were already trying to figure out what happened to luna and coming up with theories of what was actually going on.

Luna of course, was not eating with them, but at least she wasn't in prison either.

Oh no no, they locked her in her room, surrounded by guards, with Jackie watching over her in case she tried to escape. Not that Luna would try it knowing how much worse it would make her look, but it was better to be safe then sorry when it came to luna, she had a knack for being unexpected. It was just unfortunate she couldn't be here to well...defend herself.

But on the plus side, she wasn't here to start arguments over those who were fussing about her right now either.

"But let's say she WAS being used as a distraction, for what purpose? They didn't use the opportunity to do anything, was it just to frame someone?", the Queen of demons was pondering, their partner presenting his own theory to the group, "Maybe they gave up and ditched their clothes, realizing now that we're close to catching them they needed to get out as fast as possible and us catching luna would make a good distraction..".

"Would they really just give up after all this? They've gone this far...even considered murder...".

"Maybe i'm just wishful thinking marco, but i guess that would just mean they'd be someone else's problem".

"Well, i um...i'm not sure what the reason was either", angel's voice was a little quiet, trying to speak over the others who were talking loudly around him, "But they well...it wouldn't surprise me if they wanted to just frame her...luna is well...she's kinda the perfect candidate to frame, she wasn't around during the sleepover incident, she's highly skilled...luna would be smart enough to do this kinda stuff...and she's been missing awhile".

"But luna is still an ally to us, she has no reason to run around in a dress and mask to do the things that thief did unless she had ulterior motives we aren't aware of, and even so...eclipsa's been in her mind, she would've seen something if luna had been up to anything outside of helping us, like one of us would've caught on, like this whole framing idea just doesn't work...", judas explained, trying to not eat with his mouth open.

"Well, to us, sure, but to everyone who doesn't know about your little...secret...they wouldn't know that...and we can't admit to any of it in court either.", Marco was rubbing their head, pulling at their hair as tom interjected, "Yeah, whatever they intended or not this is kinda a problem, the only way we can defend luna is by revealing what's happening and well-".

"You know what could happen if we do that".

"But what can we do? We can't let her be frozen either...if we fake evidence that's only going to look worse on our part, and we can't just let luna go free without any explanations either...we'll just look more suspicious...", they were all in a rut, all because of this luna situation. Keeping this a secret was important for many reasons, but how were they to keep it a secret and keep luna innocent at the same time?

They couldn't, they couldn't get themselves out of this one that easily.

"We're just going to have to get risky...", marco admitted, "There's no other way...maybe if we catch the person whose really behind this, we can clear luna's name entirely...and then we might not even have to worry about trying to defend her, at the very least it's a plan that could work...but that's if we use a truth potion and even then that's risky if they well...know who luna is".

"Are you sure about trapping them...at your coronation judas?", his father looked worried, barely touching his food, "It's an important part of your life and well...it's dangerous to do something like this". But judas shook his head, "Sky's right, it's the best thing we have to make into a trap, we can't lure them somewhere they know will be dangerous and we can't do something so out of character they'll know something is up".

"But...they can't hide with that mask on, won't be much of a trap otherwise...".

"Not if...we're all...wearing masks".

This seemed to get everyone's attention, their heads drawing towards the boy.

"Judas?".

"Scrap the original plans...let's make my coronation, a masquerade ball...".

There was silence after the idea left his lips, everyone looking among each other in question as judas explained, "If everyone's wearing a mask, they'll show up in one too, they'll feel safer...it'll help them feel like they're blending in...then we wouldn't have to worry about them bursting in on a rampage, they'd just sneak around...and we could lure them".

"But how-? They won't trust us...especially not to lure them anywhere, they could be anywhere during the party, we might lose them in all of the guests".

"Simple, they want something others don't, they'll be the only ones to take the bait, making it easier for us all to figure out who we're attacking", there was murmurs among the dinner group, it was a good start to a plan, and it might actually work. If they could figure out how to set the trap, and make sure that it would work, they'd be golden, though there were still doubts.

"What if it's not enough?".

They all turned to face none other then the former King Lucitor, the mewman listening in to all their ideas and plans but he didn't seem as confident as some of them were. "You're counting on them to come in for the wand, maybe even something else entirely...but what if they don't, what if this is all for nothing? Then we'd have wasted time and effort into a plan that doesn't work...", he sighed, "I have faith in you kids, but I have to admit, after this break in, after this kidnapping...I don't want us to be fooled again...not in our castle".

"Dad...".

"You know what i mean thomas...", he said, looking over the others, "I've never seen the kingdom so...scared before, they came running out of our castle, if we're to form some kind of plan...i just want it to be something we can be sure will work, because if we don't make this work the first time...we might never fool them the next...this idea needs to be foolproof".

"Then make sure i'm in the lead...", angel spoke up, "If they don't come for the wand, they'll come for me...make a show of it...that i'll reveal who they are or something, they'll have to show up then...they can't miss that kinda opportunity". He seemed unsure of this decision himself and sky and judas were quick to try and protest before he stopped them with his legs.

"I have to face it eventually after what i did, and it'll make sure they show up...i'm...i'll be bait, for this".

"Then i'll guard you...", angel turned to sky, who looked at him fiercely, "With or without my wand, i won't leave your side the entire night, just to make sure no one sneaks up on you". Angel seemed rather touched, though he wasn't sure the adults would agree with this arrangement, considering someone more powerful was probably better to guard him.

But it was sweet anyways.

"Well...we can't stop you if you do so...", marco sighed, "We don't like the idea...but...you're right...it would work...but let's not put it as our first option, i just want to consider other options first...". Angel felt sky touch his shoulder comfortingly, and judas pat his other as he went back to silence. The plans going over and being discussed over and over again.

and that's when Sunny coughed, standing in her seat.

"How about we go out and investigate? If we can't be sure of this then the best thing we should do is gather more information!", and sky knew where this was heading, after all, sunny's costume idea was still an option that could be used. The plan was still viable but if they were to find out more details they were more likely to avoid running into more issues, after all, meteora and eclipsa still were investigating.

And this seemed to be something at least all the adults seemed comfortable with...for the most part, them all sharing nods.

Maybe they were better left with more time to plan then over the span of a single dinner when it comes to the most feared criminal in mewni right now. Otherwise they might as well be going in with no plan at all. Though the lingering problem of luna was still in their minds, and in the minds of landon and celeste, who had avoided most of the discussion about her as best they could.

That's when it hit sky, standing up and almost slamming the table.

"Eclipsa's investigating that lair thing right? No dna evidence to luna means they can't like her directly to the kidnapping or maybe even to her directly...we can use that! That way we can keep luna from being in trouble and we might find out some more evidence to use for our plan!". That wouldn't of course stop false evidence or anything but it was a good start to fixing this whole mess if they could.

"Alright, we'll wait until eclipsa gives us a report and perhaps we'll do a little private investigating on the side then...", Marco said with a sigh, and a rub to their face, "God, nothing can be easy around here...but at least having some idea of what we're doing is better then nothing at all.". They seemed tired, from lack of sleep, and that seemed to go for everyone at the table.

No one could sleep, fearing they'd wake up to see a pale white face in front of them to take them away.

Maybe that was another reason they weren't thinking straight when coming up with plans, they were all almost about to fall asleep into their own meals. Everything had happened so fast and crazy it had been nearly impossible to get any proper rest around here. Especially with all their minds wandering and constantly keeping them awake all the time.

They were all tired, but they didn't want to leave the table either, not when they couldn't be sure of their safety.

"Where should we investigate...", marco mumbled, "I hate to ask...but...do you know anywhere from your own investigations we can look into at the very least?".

And that's when landon finally spoke, arms crossed and clearly knowing what he'd have to do, his eyes still away from everyone but still spilling the beans regardless. "I...have a place...fae went there, it's a good place to catch gossip or whatever...it's at least something you could go to to hear out from other people of mewni for more information...i'm not going to promise anything though".

Was landon really going to give up his safe spot for this mission?

Celeste nor Sunny made him either, Landon spilt it himself, even if he didn't actually originally want to.

"Landon?".

"No...meteora goes there...", Judas added on, "It might be a good place to check, if you went in dressed as well...anyone other then yourself...you might have a decent chance of finding out some important information". If meteora went there to help her out then it had to of been something worth looking into, meteora was on the case after all.

And the adults seemed in mutual agreement.

"Then i think we have a plan".

Everyone had to be escorted to their room, and when they meant room, they meant single room.

New orders meant they were all going to be spending the night in the butterfly's private safe room, like they once did with the lucitors. Their belongings already down there waiting for them and everything set out for them, those who had been living in lucitor castle were mostly staying in the butterfly guest rooms and the safe room was the biggest place they could keep all of the kids and adults of this group under supervision.

The room was nice, it was fancy, it didn't have as much activities as the lucitor one but it was for the sole purpose of sleeping right now, so it didn't matter anyway, fitted with sleeping bags everywhere for everyone, star having enhanced it to the best of her ability. The queen falling on the nearest couch, immediately asleep upon reaching the fluffy cushions under her.

People were spacing out and sky went to find her pjs and change, seeing judas stare at his sleeping bag.

He was clearly thinking about luna, sleeping alone and unsure of her future.

And sky saw angel wandering off, worried what would happen if angel really was to put himself in the line of fire. He looked like he couldn't even believe himself that he had said that, the girl reaching out for him. "Hey...that...was brave of you back there...stupid...but brave", the boy turning to face her and nodding, "Thanks...I'm...I'm sorry to hear about...luna".

"Well, we're not finished yet...at least they didn't burn all the evidence we could use...".

He nodded.

"Hey uh...if you wanna hang out...at some point...let me know...when we can at least...".

He simply send her a small smile before heading off to get ready for bed, making himself comfortable in the safe room.

Everyone set up to try and get some sleep, safe and sound.

Meanwhile in another room, not too far away, a girl laid next to the window, unable to rest, touching her ring carefully, knowing full well she could escape but knowing what would happen if she did. Luna was lost in thought, unable to sleep, debating whether her leaving had been a good idea at all. But there was nothing she could do now, her fate seemed to be out of her hands.

And she could only trust in her friends to get her out of it.

She could only hope that she didn't screw up with them too bad.

Because she was doomed without them,

#star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #svstfoe #tomco bby #starco bby #tomstar bby #starkie bby #ostar bby #janstar bby #eclipsa butterfly #star butterfly #tom the demon #marco #marco diaz #tom lucitor #Meteora #fanfiction #fanfic #my art

[theheelerbooklifereads]

TITLE: Misfit in Love (Saints and Misfits, #2)

AUTHOR: S.K. Ali

PUBLISHER: Salaam Reads

RELEASE DATE: May 25th, 2021

GENRE(S): YOUNG ADULT FICTION--Contemporary, Romance

BUY LINK: https://bookshop.org/a/11727/9781534442757

TOUR: Turn the Pages

SYNOPSIS:

In this fun and fresh sequel to Saints and Misfits, Janna hopes her brother’s wedding will be the perfect start to her own summer of love, but attractive new arrivals have her more confused than ever.

Janna Yusuf is so excited for the weekend: her brother Muhammad’s getting married, and she’s reuniting with her mom, whom she’s missed the whole summer.

And Nuah’s arriving for the weekend too.

Sweet, constant Nuah.

The last time she saw him, Janna wasn’t ready to reciprocate his feelings for her. But things are different now. She’s finished high school, ready for college…and ready for Nuah.

It’s time for Janna’s (carefully planned) summer of love to begin—starting right at the wedding.

But it wouldn’t be a wedding if everything went according to plan. Muhammad’s party choices aren’t in line with his fiancée’s taste at all, Janna’s dad is acting strange, and her mom is spending more time with an old friend (and maybe love interest?) than Janna.

And Nuah’s treating her differently.

Just when things couldn’t get more complicated, two newcomers—the dreamy Haytham and brooding Layth—have Janna more confused than ever about what her misfit heart really wants.

Janna’s summer of love is turning out to be super crowded and painfully unpredictable.

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

S. K. Ali is the author of Saints and Misfits, winner of the 2018 APALA Honor award, the 2017 Middle East Book Honor Award, and a 2018 William C. Morris Award finalist. Her second novel, LOVE FROM A TO Z, a story about finding love in the time of Islamophobia, was an Entertainment Weekly Top Ten Young Adult Book of 2019. She also has a picture book co-authored with Team USA Olympic Medalist, Ibtihaj Muhammad, THE PROUDEST BLUE, which debuted on the New York Times bestseller list. Releasing on May 5, 2020 is ONCE UPON AN EID, an anthology of joyful stories by 15 Muslim creatives, edited by S. K. Ali and Aisha Saeed. She lives in Toronto with her family, which includes a very vocal cat named Yeti. Find her on twitter at https://twitter.com/SajidahWrites, on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/skalibooks/ and on her website at https://skalibooks.com/.

REVIEW:

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Janna’s brother is getting married! She has been with her dad’s house with her siblings. She cannot wait for Nuah to come. He likes someone and she believes he likes her. She’s ready to let her intentions of liking him back he known.

This was definitely a fast read for me. I enjoyed this series so far. I did like Saints & Misfits better, but this was still good. I loved the family aspect of this book and how Janna interacts with them. I did find Janna to be annoying at times. But, her growth has come along way since book two.

[ngame989]

“Drive” - TGG SVTFOE Fanfic Collection Ch. 8

Writing: @ngame989​

Art: @toxicpsychox​

Editing: @ubercelloczar​​, @toxicpsychox​, @seddm​

Alternate fic links - FFnet, AO3

Summary: It's back to school for Marco, and Star is left to face the specter of real world responsibility once more - with a bit of help from the adorable antics of Mariposa.

Comic Page

Masterpost

Finally, a new chapter! This one took a long time to put together in a way I was satisfied with, so sorry as always for the delay. Writing is a bit of a secondary hobby for me, and while I absolutely love Starco and love making this series, the actual act of putting words to a page is rather draining for me. I'd love to promise more or faster updates, and if the right creative inspirations strike that is still what I'd love to happen, but it's gonna come at whatever pace it comes at. If that means I'm here for years to come, so be it. See below for the text, hope you enjoy!

“Alright, next up is Wilhelm… Wund? Want? Wouldn’t? Marco, this name is weird.” Star waved the flash card around in the air.

“Wundt, but the Ws both sound like Vs. It’s German.”

“German… that’s the place where that guy who was basically mustache Mina came from, right?” Marco froze in his tracks as his eyes widened in complete incredulity. Star uncurled from the ball she was in on their bed and sat up, hair and nightgown all astray as she tilted her head to the side in befuddlement. “What, did I say something wrong?”

“No, that’s- it’s just- that’s one way to put it. Don’t worry about it.” No way he was touching that subject with a mile-long pole.

She crossed her arms proudly. “See, I did remember something from school, then! OK, so Wundt, what’d he do?”

“What didn’t he do? He basically invented psychology! Before him, everyone just kind of thought about thinking, but he was the first one to really study it with any sort of scientific method.” The first week of school had been going fairly well, Marco thought, but it was certainly busy. Maybe it was the fact that this was his first classroom education in two whole years, but it was way faster paced than anything he remembered. All the reading he’d done to prepare before the school year started helped, sure, but it was a sizable effort to keep on top of everything.

“Mhmm, I see.” Star tentatively raised her hand, nodding thoughtfully to his every word. “Tell me about his glasses.”

“What?”

“The glasses? For seeing someone’s problems really clearly? Come on, Marco, it wasn’t that hard to figure out. I bet they were ginormous.”

A few giggles escaped his lips and Star puffed her cheeks up in indignation. “No, Star, that’s not how glasses work. They just sorta- they make you look smarter, I guess?”

Star stuck her tongue out and pinched her fingers together to form two circles, aiming her hands carefully to position them over Marco’s eyes. “Nope, you seem just as smart without them. Anyway, let’s see here, next up is Pavlov.”

“Oh, you’ll love him. He studied stuff with his dogs.”

As if on cue, some of the laser puppies scrambled out from under the bed, jumping into Star and Marco’s arms. Star’s shout of “PUPPIES!” sounded like background noise behind the licking and panting invading his personal space, but it was a welcome change. With how big their yard was now, their pets were often gone for so long at a time that Marco felt like he barely saw them anymore, but they had a way of showing up randomly at oddly convenient times. Despite being laserless since magic had been destroyed, whatever dog breed the wand had concocted seemed to stay just as small and cute forever. Barko Diaz stayed in Marco’s arms while Star cuddled the rest and cooed over them one by one. “Anyway, his dogs drooled whenever food was placed in their mouths; that’s just the natural response. But Pavlov noticed that if he just held the food in front of them before feeding it to them, after a while they’d start to drool whenever they saw the food. That’s how he invented the name conditional reflex.”

“I, Star Butterfly, officially vote for puppy guy as the best- Sajak, hahaha, stop it!” The dogs pounced on her face and she fell backwards onto the sheets. “Marco, help! I’m being swallowed by a fur-ocious tidal wave! Get your jammies on and join the fun!”

Marco rolled his eyes as he pulled off his shirt and pants. Top drawer… nothing. Middle? Nope. Still only in his underwear, he quickly rummaged through both their sets of drawers in search of his usual blue pajamas to no avail. A frustrated groan rumbled in his throat as he bent over to check underneath the drawers.

“That’s it, mama like,” he could hear Star murmuring. He quickly glanced behind him to find… Star sitting up, his pajamas in hand. “Staaaaar,” his voice and brain both exasperatedly grumbled. Though he’d figured out that his own sense of sexuality was grounded in emotional intimacy more than anything, they’d still become quite comfortable with each other and themselves physically; normally he wouldn’t complain in the slightest about the attention, but he still had a job to do.

“Ooooone more second,” she drawled out while her half-lidded baby blues roamed his body.

“Alright, Star, let’s just pick one more card, OK? I need to make sure I’m ready for tomorrow.”

“Fiiiiine. The last one is… Freud. I’m probably saying that wrong, too. Wait a second, Janna talked about him once, after I told her about that psychology stuff we did years ago. She said he’d be really good at figuring out my mom issu-”

“Not the same thing. Come on, Janna…” Marco grumbled. Leave it to Janna to give the worst possible introduction to academic psychology. “Alright, that’s enough of that,” he stated decisively and snatched all the index cards out from under paws and tails before crawling onto the edge of the bed.

“Yay! Now scooty that booty, you cutie patootie!” Star gently cleared the space between them and the puppies all left the room except for Marco Jr. It wasn’t the best dog name, but it was at least better than it would’ve been for his sibling.

He propped himself up on his elbow and fluffed his pillow. “I’m honored to do my duty.”

“Hehe, you said doodie.” Before he’d even fully settled into his usual spot, Star had already climbed halfway on top of him and settled her head on his chest, prompting him to embrace her. Marco smiled and planted a soft, lingering kiss on her neck. Sometimes it was too warm, too cramped, and she’d strangle his limbs hard enough that it took him 10 extra minutes to stand up in the morning; despite all that, he couldn’t be happier to snuggle every night away.

“I-I know it’s been crazy this past week, so thanks for helping with this, even though you hate school.”

“Hey, I don’t hate it. I just don’t like classes, tests, homework, and having to ask to use the bathroom...” She paused and blinked a few times. “OK, maybe I do hate school.”

“If it makes you feel any better, in college you can just go whenever you need to.”

“You know, that actually kinda does. Anyway, learning can be fun, and you’re a good teacher. Keep it up and in a few years maybe I’ll have a secondhand degree,” she snickered. Her fingers started to fidget with his hands while her toes tangled themselves up in his pant legs. “Sorry I was so distracted. I guess it’s finally sinking in that you’re gonna be doing this for years and years and now I’m the one with no clue what I want to do. Sucks a little bit to think about.”

“Doesn’t mean we’re not still gonna be a team, but it- yeah, that kinda does suck. Maybe we can try looking through some more options, if you want? I know you didn’t like any programs at the college, but I’m sure there’s all kinds of jobs or volunteer work around town. We could-”

She squirmed in his grasp, tilting her head downwards and away from his. “Marco… I don’t know, I just really don’t think I’m even in a place where I can just point at something and say, ‘yep, that sounds like a great job to sign up for!’ Maybe I’m just not ready for that yet.”

It always saddened him when she had this little faith in herself because he knew firsthand how capable she was of the most amazing things. Whatever he could do to help get her self-confidence back and live up to her potential, he would. He brought his hand closer to her face, stroking her cheek gently - though not before clumsily misjudging distance and poking her in the mouth, which elicited a snort of laughter. “OK, whatever feels right. Besides, it’s not like I know what I want to do with my entire life right now either. We’ll figure it out whenever you’re ready. In the meantime, there’s a new season of Dude’s Food Feuds and a plate of nachos with our names on it this weekend! “Plus, I heard Mom and Dad say they might spend part of this weekend at Eclipsa’s…” he trailed off, nuzzling into her neck and pulling her closer.

She twisted herself to look at him as best as she could. “Oh yeah?” Her eyebrows wiggled  suggestively.

“Yeaaaaaaahn.” His attempt to continue being flirty was foiled by a giant yawn, indicating once and for all that it was time to sleep, and her laugh at his expense was stifled by her own yawn indicating she was in the same position. “Let’s get some shuteye, I’ve got another early morning tomorrow. Night, Star.”

“Night, Marco.” After a good-night peck Star turned herself around and they resumed their embrace. Less than a minute later, slumber claimed him.

***

“Dangit, Tom, again? You’ve gotta be free to chill at some point!” Angie folded the corner of the poetry collection she was perusing and looked up at Star who had her phone sprawled across their couch. “But I wouldn’t even mind doing kingdom junk. It’s better than another day on the couch by myself!” With her free hand, Star absentmindedly dangled around a spare doll of Marco in the princess outfit, which a starry-eyed Mariposa was stumbling around on the floor trying to catch. “So I’m not ‘physically capable of sticking my arms into lava tar’, I don’t see what that has to do with-” Even from the other end of the phone, Angie could still pick up on the mounting frustration in the demon prince’s tone. Star suddenly sharply inhaled and took a moment before responding. “Sure, maaaaybe it would have something to do with clearing a toxic hellgae infestation from the depths of the lava tar pits. Ugh, fine, you’re right. Can I at least see you next week, then?” Only a split second went by before Star sat up suddenly. “JANNA? Hello? Dangit,” she groaned while tossing her phone to the other end of the couch.

“Is everything alright, Star?”

Star crossed her arms and huffed. “Tom’s super busy with Underworld stuff, and I guess Janna’s there too for some reason even though humans really shouldn’t be able to handle any of it. Ponyhead has some kinda interview with some production company or something, Eclipsa and my parents are on vacation, and even Ferguson and Alfonzo are too busy to hang out!” She flopped facedown into one of the cushions; her final cry of “stupid school” was barely intelligible.

Mariposa giggled and yanked the doll from Star’s now-limp hand. “Mago! Mago!” Mariposa babbled while waddling around. Her little foot got caught on the fabric of the doll’s dress, and like a tiny giant she slowly toppled to the ground. Angie moved to help her daughter, who let go of the doll to grasp for her mother’s hand. “Mama!” It had been only a few weeks since Mariposa began to put together words with any regularity, and she’d already taken a fierce liking to calling for her parents and brother.

“Mariposa, I’m trying to be grumpy here and that’s really hard when the cutest thing in the universe is talking about the other cutest thing in the universe, and that includes the entire Puppybunny Dimension!”

Suddenly, an idea came to Angie. “Why don’t you come with me to the community college and help watch Mariposa? I’ve missed spending time with her this week but I couldn’t take care of her all day, plus it’d be good to get her out of the house.”

“Marco said he was really busy today, though,” Star pouted.

“Well, then I guess it’ll just have to be a girls’ day. What do you say, Mariposa? Do you want to go with mommy and Star to school?”

She clapped her hands cheerfully. “Gool!”

“Who am I kidding, I can’t say no to you,” Star cooed, pinching the toddler’s cheeks. “So when are we going?”

“I have office hours in an hour, so the sooner the better. Come out to the car whenever you’re ready.”

“Just gotta get my purse!” Star bounded across the living room and up the stairs quickly enough that her voice trailed off even at full volume. Angie smirked as she went about gathering her usual toddler travel supplies. While all the reasons she’d given for their trip today were true, she had an ulterior motive. It was pretty obvious that Star was in a funk from life catching up to them, and a change of pace never hurt. Well, that, and Star drives everyone a bit crazy with nothing to do at home. Seriously, who knew one girl could spill so many gallons of pancake batter all over the counter in a day?

Once she had everything, she headed out to the faithful family minivan and strapped Mariposa into her carseat, tossing in her small satchel for work and the much larger bag of baby supplies. Right as she finished, she heard the front door shut and lock behind her as Star made her way to the car. “Can I take Mariposa around the college today? Marco’s baby carrier fits like a glove.” Star quickly strapped it on, tightened it, and did a little twirl before taking it back off and climbing into the backseat.

While Angie was driving, she barely had any ability to check how the girls were doing in the backseat - there’d been so much construction on the Earthni road system that she could never trust the routes she was used to - but there were little glimpses of Mariposa being enthralled with Star’s playful antics. Star’s classic yellow smiling star purse swung like a pendulum for Mariposa to catch and they both cheered when she finally succeeded. Before she even knew it, they arrived at the Echo Creek Commewnity College, which had expanded dramatically in both size and architectural diversity as a result of the Cleaving. Most places in town (and throughout the world, so she’d heard) had merged in ways that left individual communities intact, but for whatever reason the college campus had become completely intertwined with a Mewman campground. It was certainly more of a spectacle than the once-modest town college and did wonders for getting both halves of the Earthni community involved.

Star marveled at the seamlessly blended hybrid buildings and scenery while Mariposa did much the same with her own thumbs. Nondescript brick buildings mingled with medieval wood and stone and the occasional ornate decorations, which is why the quad had a marble dragon standing proud among the trees. “Woah, is that a cornball and football field at the same time?”

“That’s a good question. Honestly, I’m still not used to all the changes myself,” Angie laughed. “A few months ago I tried to use the swamp water machine for my coffee. I had lily pads in my teeth for days.” While they were walking, Mariposa had become noticeably fixated on Star. Her dress, her hair, her hands, anything that was available to gawk at and grasp was fair game.

“She’s such a wonderful little tot, isn’t she?” Angie asked as they stepped into the cool air of Bonner Hall. She walked slowly towards her office while Star flitted around poking at every plant in the hallway.

“Yeah. So much calmer than Meteora. Remember the birthday incident?” Angie lightly chuckled in response; how could anyone not remember that? It wasn’t every day that a one year old just spontaneously grew a full head of hair and then got her tail hopelessly caught in it at another one year old’s birthday party.

Once they’d arrived at her office, she pulled out her key and opened the door to invite Star in. “Bienvenue! I’m teaching Intro to French Literature this semester, so I’ve got this whole theme going on.” Quotes and pictures of authors hung all around the room alongside some images of major landmarks and a little French flag sat on her desk next to a miniature statue of the Eiffel Tower. Angie helped Star unstrap Mariposa and set her down on the floor where she began waddling and crawling around.

Star sat on the edge of Angie’s desk kicking her feet back and forth, careful to avoid the toddler. “Soooooooo… what’s the plan for today?”

“You’re more than welcome to stick around but if office hours get too hectic it may get pretty cramped in here.” She’d have liked to do more with a larger space, but given how infrequently other community college faculty even got offices to themselves it was a blessing to even have this. “Although I have to teach later so you won’t be able to get back into this room if you leave after that.”

“Marco’s not free until, like, 6, so…” She trailed off dejectedly. The vibrant enthusiasm that Star normally exuded was still lacking. Hmm, this might be more serious than I thought.

Angie gently laid a hand on Star’s shoulder until those big blue eyes finally met her own. “Star, honey, it’ll be fine. I know it can be hard not being able to spend all your time with someone anymore.”

The headband on Star’s head shifted and almost fell off from how hard she was tugging and frazzling her own hair absentmindedly, “It’s not that… well, it’s not just that. Everyone else is starting their big life dreams now, you know? Marco wants to be a psycho therapist or something, Tom’s actually kinda happy about being a prince for once, and even Janna seems like she’s figuring it out in her weird Jannaniganish way! I have no idea what I want to do! Even went through a big ole’ list of ideas with Marco and they all just seemed blegh.” Star threw her hands up in frustration before curling back into herself more than before. “And I want to find something too, you know? Ugh, where’s Mr. Candle when you need him...”

The words resonated very strongly with Angie but it was difficult to put into words. She backed away from Star, her gaze darting around the room until she had a realization. “Have I ever told you the story about my summer in France?”

“Don’t think so.”

“When I was about your age, I wanted to get away for a while, so I packed up all my things and went to France for a whole summer. The food, the music, the history… everything was better there. For months after I came home I tried desperately to hold on to all of that after it was over, and I still cherish that experience, but it was just a fun handful of weeks that I spent someplace else and it was better that I just dealt with the fact that it was over. But,” she forcefully interjected when Star raised an eyebrow in protest at the seemingly antithetical point being made, “I know now that it’s not a universally ideal handling of such events. All the excitement of the last few years made me think about that… people might sort these things out for themselves in very different ways.”

“Like how Jackie literally spent a summer in France too, but she and Chlóe are still together long distance.”

“Mhmm, I could see that.”

“Or how Ponyhead started wearing a prosthetic tail for a while after staying with Seahorse’s family.”

“Hang on, what-”

“Don’t ask.” Never a dull moment.

“Or what about when-”

Alright, I’ll just have to get to the point myself. “I was mainly thinking about Marco, Star. I told him this same story before he left for Mewni, and honestly, I didn’t know how important it was to him. But he grew into such a confident and capable young man there and I couldn’t be prouder.” Angie softly took both of Star’s cheeks into her hands. “Star, you’re a wonderful, caring, smart young woman. So what if you’re not following every step at the same time as your friends? Everyone goes through these sorts of crises at some point or another, but what’s important is that you take the time to make the decision that’s right for you.” Star’s gaze sunk to the ground while the gears in her mind were so obviously turning that they might as well have been visible and Angie gave her some space in turn. “So, with all that said, what are you thinking now?”

Star crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. “Even if I’m not rushing to figure everything out, I don’t want to just do nothing until I magically find my lifelong dream. And I know Marco and I aren’t gonna literally live the same lives; heck, I don’t want to do all his school junk anyway, but… whatever I end up doing, I still want it to be together. That’s why I left for Earth,” she finished with her voice dropping to a solemn whisper.

“Didn’t he do the exact same thing? You don’t need me to tell you that you two are something absolutely special. I may not know what all is going through his head, what mother of a teenage boy does, but I know he’d do anything for you, Star.”

Nodding more to herself than to Angie, Star took a deep breath before speaking. “Thanks, Mrs. Diaz.”

“You can call me Angie, if you’d like. Or Angelica, or maybe ‘The Coolest Mom in Town.’ I’m not picky,” she said with a smirk.

After a short pause, Star hopped off the desk and wrapped Angie in a bear hug so deceptively strong that it knocked the wind out of her, but she still managed to reciprocate. “Thanks… Angie.” A rumbling sound interrupted the moment. “Heh, well, seems like I’m also thinking about lunch.”

“That’s an excellent idea. Why don’t we-” The digital clock on the desk caught her attention. “Dammit, office hours already started a few minutes ago. Don’t think I’ll have time for a while. But there’s plenty of places around here to eat, and a few of them are actually good!” she chuckled. Just as she mentally ran through some places in the student union, a thought struck her. “Say, Star… there’s a lot of clubs and events and such that are open to non-students too. Maybe it’d be worth looking into some of them? It’d be something to do, you and Marco would be closer, and I could even drive you some days if you needed. Why don’t you take Mariposa with you and explore for a while? She seems pretty restless today.”

Taking a few deep breaths to center herself, Star nodded her head. “Yeah, that’s a good idea! Heck, it’d be good just to know my way around for any time I visit Marco anyway.” She bent down and beckoned for Mariposa, who’d been ogling a bronze baguette for some time now. Once the carrier was locked and loaded with a docile toddler and some of her supplies once more, Star skipped out of the office. Angie’s time alone, however, was cut short when a student skidded in and immediately started nervously rambling about homework questions and grading policies and the works of François Villon. Back to teacher mode. Angie afforded herself one last glance through the door at her young daughter gleefully riding along with the girl who might as well be her other daughter. Rafael had mentioned to Angie on more than a few occasions that Star and Marco reminded him of themselves in their youth, and Angie had agreed at the time but now she wasn’t so sure. Her teenage - and even young adult - years with Rafael, while wonderful, had been filled with many bouts of uncertainty and it’d taken them many, many years to get it right once and for all.

But Star and Marco? As far as she was concerned, they already had.

***

Boring classroom… Boring classroom… Boring restroom… Hey, wait a minute, is that a cornshake machine? A few minutes, a few dollars, and one cornshake (plus a sippy kid size) later, Star found herself not much better than she’d been when she set off an hour ago, but the surprisingly high quality of the vended drink did bolster her spirits. She resisted the urge to call Marco because it’d be waaaay more fun to surprise him later. And also because he might still be in class, that too. A tall rock creature walked in front of her, interrupting her thoughts, and she saw a nervous expression on his face as he feebly tried not to disrupt foot traffic too much. Looking around, she was a bit surprised to see just how much the cultures of her own world had been brought to the forefront and blended in despite humans comprising the majority of people she’d seen on campus. Some people who she guessed were Mewmans by their dress glanced back for a bit longer than most but otherwise went about their day without a fuss. Two guys, one human and one Septarian, were laughing and holding hands on a bench. All in all the atmosphere reminded her of high school, but was freer in a way that didn’t discomfort her as much as she’d anticipated.

A few of the passersby looked her way as she wandered, and one or two even said hi to her - not that uncommon, given that it was public knowledge that she and Marco were responsible for the Cleaving, though Eclipsa had tactfully phrased it as a consequence of the two working together to destroy magic - but it was just as likely that Mariposa was the one attracting attention for a multitude of reasons. She knew she shouldn’t have expected it, but part of her was disappointed that after going through four whole bustling buildings she hadn’t run into Marco, or even anyone she knew. Glum and tired, she was about to abandon her pursuits when a huge bulletin board around the corner caught her eye. As she jogged over to it, her hopes came true: it was a giant wall advertising all the clubs and events on campus for the start of the year.

Her eyes roved the board up and down, left and right scanning for anything that seemed interesting or had some sort of meeting today. There were some fliers that Star dismissed right away, including a woodworking workshop series, a community choir, a sketchy-looking “how to date a demon” seminar. The last one might have at least been good for a laugh, but it had a note scribbled on it that attendance was maxed out already. She noted some sort of upcoming school dance for all local teens, but it was months away and the poster was uninspiring since the theme was still listed as TBD. It made sense that most extracurricular activities didn’t happen in the middle of a school day, but she still frowned at how few options seemed available and potentially interesting. Once she’d perused the entire wall and selected those that were, she set out on her mission to find her purpose.

“You ready, Mariposa?”

“Gool!”

Chess Club

“Rook to G3.” Star’s opponent, whose nametag said Fred, positioned the black castle piece ahead of most of his pack.

“King to-” Her tongue stuck out as she concentrated on the board layout instructions, trying to find her place. “King to E3!”

“Um, first of all, the king piece is not allowed to move more than one square at a time. Second, since it is the most important piece, the singular goal of the game is to keep yours alive while defeating the enemy’s. Therefore it is ludicrously ill-advised to position your king into such immediate danger, and in most cases would automatically lose you the match” Star’s opponent responded matter-of-factly.

Star scratched her head in puzzlement, replacing the piece. “Why is the king so slow? My dad was literally a king and he can run at highway speeds.”

“Perhaps the Mewman traditions are different, but the Earthly ways of the monarchy are enshrined in a-

“Alright, whatever. Then I have my Queen ride the horse into combat! No, wait, can it be a warnicorn instead?” She ripped off a corner of the scoring sheet and deftly curled it into a cone before placing it on the top of the plastic figure with a satisfied grin.

“Although an intriguing concept, there is no precedent in the ancient tradition of the sport for-” Mariposa interrupted her tirade by kicking the edge of the table, which knocked over Fred’s black king. See, now this was the sort of thing she could see herself getting into!

“Checkmate!” Star shouted with a wide grin, one decidedly not mirrored by her opponent or any of the onlookers.

Cornball Tryouts

“Well, Mariposa, that was a bust. But cornball is a Mewni thing, so I’m gonna super nail it this time!” Star set Mariposa down and removed her from the baby carrier. “Stay right here, you little angel,” she cooed before jogging over to the group of hopefuls discussing strategy. “Hiya everyone!”

One of the girls who resembled a fox waved in welcome. “Sup, I’m Bleck, I was the Monster Cornball League’s ace stickler for a few years.”

“And I’m Jason, I was Mewni Cornball Alliance’s forward maizeman.”

Star shook both their hands. Did something seem familiar about them? “I’m-”

“Star Butterfly, we know,” Bleck responded. “You set up that integrated game on Mewni. Sorry about that, by the way. We were the captains and it, um, kinda got out of hand.” Ah, so that’s why Star recognized them.

“Yeah, that was our bad.” Jason rubbed the back of his neck shamefully with one hand with his other on Bleck’s shoulder. “I’ll be honest, this whole ‘monsters and Mewmans and Earth Mewmans all together’ thing is still new to me, but don’t wanna let some petty grudges get in the way of some good old fashioned cornball. These Earthers are crazy competitive, we’ll need the best team we can to have a chance of even making regionals.

“Speaking of which,” another Mewman spoke up warily. “Does anyone know anything about that new teenage husker that already made captain? CB Nation says she’s already poised to be hotter than Jispy Jenkins.”

“I heard she’s the reason the Cassidy bros quit moat guarding.”

“Well I heard she averaged 50 shucks per game in her rookie season.”

A hush fell over the group; as much as Star loved the sport she never really followed it, but it was still clear just how good this mystery player was.

“I think that’s her…” one of the monsters said, pointing at a shadow emerging from the clubhouse. “Oh corn, hold me!” He fainted on the spot.

“Star? Star!!!!!!!!” It was hard to make out details against the glaring sunlight, but there was a webbed hand waving at her. Wait, was that-

“KATRINA!” Star dashed as fast as her legs could carry her to meet her friend who was doing the same. Katrina scooped her up in a big slimy hug. “You’re so big now!” The girl was now taller than Star, with a stocky build, but her big sparkly eyes still had every bit of youthful wonder that she remembered. Given how much of a powerhouse Buff Frog was, Star could only imagine the athletic potential his kids could have.

“Yeah, I’m starting ECCC this year! I got a full ride scholarship as team captain! Sorry I haven’t been talking to you as much lately… I’ve been so busy working towards this, it’s a dream come true!” Katrina set her down and glanced over towards the sidelines. “Is that Mariposa over there! Hi, baby! Wow, humans age really slowly. You and Marco better not take too long getting your own kid, Auntie Katrina still wants to still be spry enough to play with ‘em.”

Star’s face heated up. “I- Katrina, you- We aren’t-” She stammered incoherently. This was going to take some getting used to.

“C’mon, Star, I’m kiddiiiiiing. I’m already four, I’m not a kid anymore. Anyway, are you here for the team? That’s so cool! You’re always so great at everything, you’ll definitely make the team.” She finally turned to the rest of the attendees to begin the session. “Alright, welcome to the ECCC cornball tryouts, I’m really happy you’re all here! Let’s go over some logistics. Practice is five days a week in the evenings until the league begins on Dartuk 30. That’s the 26th of September for all the Earth people here. We’ll have two regular matches each week and will be travelling most weekends. If we want to show who the real cornballers are, I’m going to need your complete dedication to this squad! School’s important too, but otherwise this will be your life while you’re on my team, so let’s talk drills-”

With each passing sentence, Star’s anxiously fidgeted more and more. It was… intense, more than she’d ever expected. She was ecstatic that Katrina was finding so much success and joy doing this and felt her heart swell with pride as the crowd hooted and hollered in support, but was this really what she wanted most for herself? While Star was zoned out, Katrina had apparently wrapped up her speech and everyone else had already dispersed. Katrina took Star’s hands and shook them up and down excitedly. “Are you as pumped as I am?”

“Yeeeeeeaaaaaah…” Star hesitantly cheered, casting a nervous glance back at Mariposa who now was booping Star’s purse repeatedly with her nose. “About that…”

Driver’s Ed

Maybe I should just learn to drive so I can visit Marco myself, Star pouted. “I could get us a pair of matching cool car driver sunglasses, so we can be rad Earth style,” Star whispered to Mariposa while Miss Skullnick (who was apparently working at the college now, and was human again) finished going over her slides.

“And that’s the introduction for this seminar series on automobile safety. Any questions?”

Star raised her hand and Skullnick sighed heavily before calling on her. “Is there a way I can start driving next week?”

“Get out!”

***

“Today sucked,” Star gloomily groaned. She was curled up sideways on a bench in one of the open quads while Mariposa was using her stomach as a pillow for her late afternoon nap, tuckered out after a recent diaper change. “I mean, it was so cool to see Katrina again, and in a weird way I almost missed Skullzy too, but I’m still completely stuck. But hey, at least I got to spend a day with you.” Star gently stroked Mariposa’s soft brown hair. Now that she thought about it, getting to spend hours a day with the adorable tot was one of the only consistently rewarding parts of the past week, it seemed. Even Meteora’s shenanigans were heartwarming in their own way, namely one that involved way more property damage. Her eyelids drooped shut, heavy with the weight of everything on her mind.

She couldn’t have been out for more than a minute when a child’s voice startled her. “Hello? Are you sleeping?” Was that Mariposa? No, it couldn’t have been, her mind concluded as she exited her half-conscious delirium. A small monster child, no older than the human equivalent of four or five with some features of an elephant, tugged on the sleeve of her dress with tears in his eyes. “I’m scared.”

Star rubbed her eyes and gathered everything into one corner of the bench so she could make room for the child. “What’s wrong, little guy? I’m Star.”

“My- my name’s Trevor but Mom and Dad call me Trev. I was playing on the slides but then everyone was gone,” Trevor began sobbing pitifully.

“OK, it’s OK. Let’s take a deeeeeeep breath, OK? Like this.” She inhaled as much air as she could, puffing up her cheeks and chest before blowing all of it out with an exaggerated flair. The boy nodded and took a small breath. “Again!” Star repeated, and he followed, back and forth until he had calmed down and was grinning at her absurdly over-the-top routine. “Feeling better?”

“A little.”

“How about we play a game? I’ll say one word, and you say whatever word comes to your mind. Ready?” He sniffled once, but nodded.

“Candy.”

“Tasty.”

“Dancing.”

“Fun.”

“Snuffleupagus.”

He cracked up a bit at that and she grinned back at him. “Silly.”

“School.”

“Sad.”

“Why does that make you sad?”

“My brother’s busy at school here all day now, so he has daycare watch me instead. My group was at the playground and Felipe bet I couldn’t go on the big slide so I did but I got stuck and when I got out, everyone was gone.”

“You poor thing,” Star responded. “I know how you feel. Tell ya what, let’s go try to find them together!”

“Can- can we stay here?” Her heart broke at how obviously terrified he was of the situation and the prospect of any more unfamiliarity wasn’t something he was ready to deal with at all.

“For a little bit, but then we really should get you back to the daycare.”

“OK,” he said somberly. “Who’s that?” He pointed at Mariposa who was crawling in circles around the bench.

“Oh, this is Mariposa! She’s my boyfriend’s sister.”

“What’s a boyfriend?”

Of all the conversations Star thought she might have today, this was far from one of them. “It’s like… boyfriend and girlfriend are like what a mom and dad are before they become a mom and dad.”

“My Uncle Matt is Mom’s brother but Dad calls him brother too. Does that mean she’s your sister too?”

Star met Mariposa’s eyes for a moment. It was weird to think about, but… was Trevor even wrong? She’d been living with the Diazes for almost all of Mariposa’s life, after all. There wasn’t a clear definitive answer in Star’s mind, but she needed one to sate the boy’s unending curiosity. “Yeah, I guess she is.”

“Cool! My big brother’s awesome. I miss when we used to play all the time. You’re really cool, too.”

“Thanks. I know change can be scary, but I’m sure your brother misses you a lot too. Sometimes big kids and grown-ups have to do grown-up things for a while, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still love being your brother.”

A few voices echoed in the distance; once they were close enough for Star to make out the words, she realized they were calling Trevor’s name. “Over here!” she shouted back in their general direction. A large elephant monster with ripped jeans and ear piercings ran as fast as he could and gave Trevor a tight hug. “Hey, Trev, buddy, where’d you go? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“It’s OK, Star took care of me.” It came out muffled from how his face was still buried in his brother’s arms.

“Woah, wait- Star? Like, the Rebel Princess Star Butterfly?”

“That’s me. Or was me,” she shrugged.

“I was your biggest fan for years! Remember the cave hideout? Don’t think I introduced myself then, I’m Geoff.”

“Oooooh yeah, you were with the ‘alternative monsters’! How have you been?”

“Pretty dope. Once that wicked Cleaving thing happened, we found a bunch of humans just like us! Being alternative is just, like, normal now. They even sell clothes with all the holes in them already so you don’t have to do any work! It’s nice to just get to be myself now, and I don’t think I’d ever get to do that without everything you did. You’re the best, Star. And thanks for taking care of lil’ Trev here. C’mon, buddy, let’s get you home.”

Trevor hopped up on his brother’s shoulders for a piggy back ride and waved. “Bye, Star! Bye Mariposa!”

“You must be a miracle worker with the kids,” the human man who had run up with Geoff finally spoke up. He had a thick beard and glasses and wore a red flannel shirt and jeans. “I’m Antonio, by the way, I run the ECCC Child Care Center. We just call it the Six Cs.”

“Nice to meet you,” Star responded. “I just did what anyone would, really.”

“No, you definitely made Trevor’s week. He just joined on Monday and he cries almost all the time from missing his family. We see that a lot, but it’s definitely hitting him harder than most, going from being at home all the time to being with a bunch of strangers for hours a day.”

Star unconsciously turned away and rubbed her arm. “Yeah, I… I know the feeling.” She shook it off and turned back towards him. “So, what happened with Trevor?”

“One of the girls got a splinter on the playground. Everyone was busy trying to keep her calm when we left the playground that we skipped headcount. I called Geoff right away, he was very understanding. It’s no excuse, but we’re way too short on people right now with all the new students.” His attention suddenly pivoted to Mariposa who was reaching up to grab at the fabric of his shirt. “This is Angie Diaz’s kid, no? May I?”

“Yeah,” Star dumbfoundedly responded after a moment’s hesitation. “You know her?”

Antonio hefted Mariposa up like she weighed nothing and gently rocked Mariposa back and forth in his burly arms. “Her older son, Marco, used to come here every now and then. Heard through the grapevine not too long ago that she had another kid, I asked if she’d be coming to the Six Cs but she said she already had someone at home. I take it I’m talking to her?”

Star’s eyes widened. Angie had said that? She was the only one who didn’t have plans most days, so… it had to be her. “Marco’s my boyfriend. I was their foreign exchange student for a year, then he came to live with me on Mewni for a year, and then… well, you’ve probably heard about how the Cleaving happened.”

“Afraid not, I don’t keep up with the news much these days. I just try to take care of all the kiddos as best I can, doesn’t much matter to me what goes on with the world. So what brings you to this humble campus?”

“Well, Marco’s going to school here now and I don’t have much else to do, so... yeah.”

“Ah.” His deep voice was laden with sympathy, and with that one word Star felt like he immediately understood her turmoil. “Well, if you’re ever looking for something to do, we could use someone like you on the team.”

“Really?”

“You’ve clearly got a big heart and a keen eye for how to take care of the younguns, that’s more than enough in my eyes. This one’s been staring at you almost since we started talking, she clearly trusts you more than you may know.” Huh, he was right; even while being rocked gently into slumber, Mariposa’s warm brown gaze remained firmly on Star’s face. “Well, I should get back to the staff. No rush if you’re unsure, but you can come with me to meet the crew before they leave for the night if you want.” He set Mariposa back down on the bench while Star reassembled the baby carrier and got Mariposa settled back in.

Star couldn’t say she was any clearer now on a life goal, but maybe that wasn’t what she needed right now. Looking back on the day and week thus far, even the most exceptionally crummy day in recent memory could be salvaged by Mariposa alone, so why should she be worried about more of that? Though she hadn’t really thought of herself as Mariposa’s caretaker until just a few minutes ago, her breath hitched with pride at the notion.

When she finally answered Antonio’s question, it was the least unsure she’d felt in a while.

***

Done. Finally. Marco swiftly stuffed his assignments into the binder in his backpack and hustled out the door of the student union. Cramming all his homework into one day had drained him, but it was worth it so he and Star could have the whole weekend to themselves. He liked all the things about school that Star hated, sure, but his life had changed so much and so many times that he worried he wasn’t even cut out for it anymore. ‘B’ on the pop quiz, really Diaz? The rational part of his brain knew it was fine, but the Marco of old was disappointed. He’d aced the questions he’d studied with Star, at least, so maybe the Marco of old wasn’t the one to follow.

Nachos, ever the talented dragoncycle, had founded a part-time rideshare service in the town and was busy tonight, so Marco navigated his way to his mom’s office for a ride home. “Hey Mom, hey Star, h- wait, Star?”

“Marcomarcomarcomarcomarco!” Star excitedly leapt into his arms with a barrage of cheek kisses and a crushing embrace.

“Missed you too, Star,” he chuckled, kissing her on the forehead in return before backing away to take off his backpack and slump into a chair. “What are you doing here?”

She sat sideways in his lap, hooking her arms around his neck. “Surprising you, goofhead!”

He closed his eyes for a moment and drank in her affection, letting it wash away his fatigue. “Well, color me surprised. Really glad you’re here.”

“Long day? Did you defeat the quizzards?”

“Yeah, and for the third time, it was just a regular quiz and not evil mystical quizzards giving me riddles. Besides, don’t they have a game show now?”

“Totally, totally, totally… I knew that.”

“I just kinda miss you, Star. It hasn’t been the same going all day without seeing you. I guess the last few years have made me realize I don’t want to be wherever you aren’t.”

“So cheesy,” Star cooed while pinching his cheek. His mom and Star exchanged excited glances. “But don’t worry about that anymore, Diaz, because I’ll be here now too!”

“Hubbawha?” Marco blurted out.

“Star’s going to volunteer for the Six Cs and take care of Mariposa there.”

She stood up and walked over to Mariposa, poking her nose just as she came out of a nap. “Yep, and they said I can make a schedule around yours so we can dragonpool to school and have lunch together or whatever! Plus I get to spend time with my other favorite person in the whole wide world.”

Mariposa fully opened her eyes and stared vacantly at Star for a second before smiling wide. “Ta.”

Star stopped in her tracks. “Wait, is she saying-”

“Tar. Tar. Tar!” Mariposa bobbed up and down on the desk, clearly as overjoyed about her words as everyone else was. Tears welled up in Star’s sapphire eyes as she leaned down to gently snuggle Mariposa. Marco walked over to join her and caught his mom absolutely beaming with as much pride as he’d ever seen her have. The wholesome moment was interrupted as his little sister, not content to stop, kept rambling on. “Tar! Mago! Tago! Tago!”

“Not you too!” Star sputtered out, still choked with emotion, and Marco couldn’t help but laugh.

And later that evening, after the four had gotten dinner and piled into the Diaz van for the trip home, Marco looked over to see that Star had fallen asleep on the other side of Mariposa’s carseat. He took her hand in his, yawning as he realized a nap wasn’t such a bad idea. Just before succumbing to the day, he swore he heard a soft, squeaky murmuring from the toddler next to him.

“Sihtah.”

#starco #svtfoe #star vs the forces of evil #fanfic #tgg svtfoe

[coleroz]

Everything I loved about The Rise of Skywalker

Everything I loved about The Rise of Skywalker now that I’ve finally watched it. Okay, so I usually don’t do this kind of thing, and let me make it clear that TROS is FAR from my favorite SW film, but I try to stay positive, and there is stuff I genuinely loved, so here we go. (I’m sorry if I left out anything or if I don’t get the quotes exactly right, I’ve only seen it once. Also, I’m trying to put it all in order but… some might be off a bit. It’s a long movie and like I said, only seen it once.)

-The terrifying atmosphere when Palpatine is first revealed. O-O

-Leia being a wise and patient mentor to Rey!! :3

-Rey having an actual character arc and character growth. -_-

-“Don’t be afraid of who you are.” AAAAAAAAAAHHH-DAUGHTER OF VADER!!!! DAUGHTER OF VADER- OOOOOOOOHH!! OoO

-Poe, Finn and Rey shenanigans!! I don’t even know where to start with all of these! I adored every moment of these three being dorks so I’ll just clump it all together. XD

-LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! XO

-“You think we were ready? Han, Luke, Leia and I?” MY CHILDREN. X;;C

-“She’s a survivor.” HECK YEAH SHE IS. O7O

-Rose being helpful, rather than… not. -_-

-“My mother was the daughter of Vader. Your father was the son of Palpatine.” 0.0

-Finn and Janna bonding! :3

-Janna talking about all the stormtroopers refusing to kill innocents, showing Finn wasn’t fluke, and no matter who you are, where you come from and how you were raised, you can choose the right thing. X;)

-The remains of the second death star. Dang. Just DANG. This gave me serious feels I was NOT expecting! The nostalgia just from seeing where it went down thirty years after the fact. OoO

-That lightsaber battle. With the waves and rain, the new generation fighting on the remnants of a fallen empire. Fully awesome. 0o0

-“Goodbye dear princess.” HELP MY HEART OH SWEET… LEIA… OH GEEZ DON’T LOOK AT ME. I KNEW SHE HAD TO DIE IN THIS MOVIE BUT UGH. GOSH DANG OH IT HURTS- BUT NOW SHE CAN BE WITH HER BROTHER AND FATHER AT LAST. GUH. X;;;;;;;C

-“Hey Kid.” Okay, my heart actually tried to kill me here. Just… I’m already sobbing and it’s not even the climax, this is not fair. X;C

-Han having one last conversation with his son, even if it’s via a (Force?)memory. X;C

-Ben calling Han ‘Dad’. I can’t breathe make it stop. X;;0

-”I know.” HAN YOU SON OF A-

-”It’s too late. She’s gone.” MAKE IT STOP I SAID. X;;;;;V

-Han being the one to tell Ben he’s strong enough. The bond of a father and son has always been such a key theme in SW and I can’t express how happy it makes me to see that carried over into the sequels so beautifully. :D

-Rey’s struggles with the dark side and her identity mirroring what Luke went through, but also having a uniqueness of their own. :0

-Luke and Leia mentoring Rey as the two people who can relate to her the most! O7O

-Luke catching his saber as Rey throws it away. HECK YES!! That’s the sassmaster I know! X3

-“What are you doing?” SO much packed into that one question! O-O

-FLASHBACK TO YOUNG SPACE TWINS TRAINING TOGETHER!!!!!! EASILY MY FAVORITE SCENE IN THE WHOLE FILM. The atmosphere and the music in that scene, just AGH, my heart!!! It was just the two of them together, brother and sister, training, and Luke getting knocked to the ground by his little sister, lol, with such sweet music (which... if I’m not mistaken was Luke and Leia by John Williams...? I could be wrong.) JUST- UGH MY HEART!! MY BABIES!!! I CAN’T-!!! I CANNOT EVEN EXPRESS MY LOVE FOR THEM IN WORDS. DON’T LOOK AT ME!! *sobs in a corner X;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;O

-Luke lifting his x-wing out of the water for Rey as Yoda once did for him, giving us another glimpse of just how far our boy has come. o0o

-Ben wielding the SKYWALKER LIGHTSABER. As Ben, not as Kylo! As a Jedi, and a Skywalker, not as a Sith or a Knight of Ren! :D

-“Thus dies the last Skywalker.” Palps trying to kill Ben basically the same way Anakin killed him in ROTJ. Well played Palps, well played. *slow claps* o0o

-All of the tons of ordinary ships being flown by ordinary people signifying how it is the people of the galaxy who will not stand to be terrorized any longer. While a resistance is a spearpoint, they are the shaft, and it’s up to them what the fate of the galaxy will be. X[]

-THE GHOOOOOOOST!!! Imagine if it was Hera Syndulla, and/or Jacen Syndulla in there!!!! OwO

-LANDO. FLYING. THE. FALCON!!! XD

-WEDGE!!! WAS THAT WEDGE??? OMIGOSH WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGGEE!!!!!! O7O

-Ahsoka Tano and Kanan Jarrus being included in the voices of the Jedi past, connecting all the canon and validating all the endless love I have poured into these characters. X;O

-Tatooine!! ...LUKE’S OLD HOME!!!! GAH! IT’S BEEN SO LONG YOU GUYS!!! It ends where it all began... with that twin sunset... *SOBS* X;;;C

-SPACE TWINS TOGETHER AGAIN IN THE FORCE!!!! THEY CAN LOOK AFTER THEIR DAUGHTER FOREVER!!! X;;D

-“Rey Skywalker….” You… are not a Skywalker… but… I can see why you wouldn’t want to go around with the SW equivalent of ‘Rey Hitler’ as your name, so, okay I guess… But… yes, you are their daughter now I guess. :/ :)

#Star Wars #The Rise of Skywalker #Star Wars Episode VIIII #Luke Skywalker #Rey Skywalker? #Rey Palpatine #TROS spoilers #leia organa #Han Solo #kylo ren #ben skywalker #yoda #Skywalker family #poe dameron #finn #emperor palpatine #darth sidious #rose tico #Ahsoka Tano #kanan jarrus #Anakin Skywalker #Lando Calrissian #wedge antilles #SPACE TWINS

[dailyaudiobible]

02/06/2021 DAB Transcript

Exodus 23:14-25:40, Matthew 24:29-51, Psalms 30:1-12, Proverbs 7:24-27

Today is the 6th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is a joy to be here with you today as we approach the end of another one of our weeks together. And when we conclude our reading for today, we will have completed nearly…nearly a full week of the month of February. So, it is exciting to be on this journey and take the next step forward, which will lead us back into the book of Exodus. And if we remember we are at the mountain of God. We are with the children of Israel surrounding Mount Sinai. God is speaking and beginning to lay out some of the principles and rituals and laws that He is integrating as He weaves together the tapestry of the Hebrew people. So, we’re reading from the Voice Translation this week, which is today. Exodus chapter 23 verse 14 to 25 verse 40.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word. We thank You for another week and it. They’re just kind of…well. They’re moving by day by day step-by-step they’re moving by as they should but we’re recognizing that we’re moved into this new year. This is our year to live and You are instructing us. And we thank You for the word over this year, to “Mend”. This is this year of mending. And, so, we hear what was written in the Psalms today, the 30th chapter - “Eternal one, my true God, I cried out to You for help. You mended the shattered pieces of my life.” That is our prayer God. Some of us came into this new year unrecognizable completely shattered into a billion pieces and some of us feel that way right now. But this isn’t a matter of degree. It’s not like we’re trying to measure up to see whose more shattered here. We’re all broken, and we've all got shattered pieces in our lives, we have shattered pieces in our hearts. Life has dealt us some blows. It does this to everyone. And we are instructed to love You with our whole heart, and we confess that there are broken pieces of our hearts. Come as is in the Psalms. We cry out to You for help. You mend the shattered pieces of our lives. So, as we release this week as it becomes a part of our history, we look forward into the future for You to mend the shattered pieces of our lives. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com that is home base, that is where you find out what's going on around here. And an alternative to that would be the Daily Audio Bible app, which you can also find out what’s going on around here. So, stay…stay connected.

Be aware of the Community section, be aware of the Prayer Wall. Visit the Prayer Wall. Be aware of the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible I…I can't thank you enough. I Can't thank you enough. We wouldn't be here if we were not in this together. I…I say that often say that often because it's the truth. So, thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage. If you're using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you've a prayer request or encouragement hit the Hotline button in the app. No matter where you are on this planet hit the Hotline button in the app and you can share from there or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Renzo from Maryland. I just wanna pray for the girl on the other line. This is February 1st. I just want to pray for the other girl on the other line that said her mom was a drug addict and she was 13 years old. I just want to say that's amazing that you’re on here reading the gospel at 13 years old. Keep keep…doing that. That's amazing. And I just pray for your mom right now. Father God I just thank You for everything that You do for us and I just please pray God that her mom just recovers from this addiction God. I believe You can heal anybody's addiction God. You’ve healed mine. You’ve healed my addiction to porn God, and I thank You that You healed that for me, and I've been clean for almost two years now and I thank You God that You did that. And, so, please just help her to just get closer to You God and just forgive her of what she did. Sometimes it’s so hard for us to forgive and that's how it was for me God. I just thank You for You for everything that You do for us God and we love You in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. God bless you have a good rest of your day.

Hi this is Tiffany at first time caller from Cleveland OH. I've been listening every day this year and I pray with you daily. I feel so close to the DAB family and I thank you Brian for your love. Today I ask for prayer for my husband Tony and I. February 24th will be seven years since our daughter Janna's death. Our grief is difficult through this month as we remember our girl gone too soon. Grief also affects my ability to focus. Please pray for me to love my husband, to feel, to focus, and to be a good mom to my living children. Thank you in advance.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible this is Emily from Minnesota and actually this is my first year doing DAB. I started January 1st and I found it to be such a blessing. I have been hit with a bit of suffering the past couple of years period. It started with my son who died by suicide his freshman year of College in his dorm. And my family really wants…doesn't want to go to God for this. So, I am just simply embracing Jesus to carry me through. And then also my parents and my two brothers they've all been hit pretty hard. My mom was placed in memory care last year upstate when Covid hit in March and my dad is living independently but is showing strong signs of dementia and isn’t really willing to accept a lot of help. My younger brother lost his wife to cancer November 30th with a young family of four. And I have an older brother who appears to be struggling with addiction and homelessness. I just want to ask you all to lift up my family. I just do the best I can and rely on Jesus to carry me through each day each step. It's rough some days. And I know He has a plan and I know…I know God knows and I would just to ask for your support in my journey. Thank you.

Hey, my supportive DAB family this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel. Family, support is absolutely what I need right now. The short of it is I received a call from my ex-wife which is a miracle all by itself. She was very distraught and informed me that our son Daniel the 2nd, basically snapped and was admitted into a psych ward. And I guess they were trying to prescribe some meds to him, and he refused. But at any rate after several attempts to reach him I finally got a chance to talk with him and he did not sound like my son, did not sound like my son at all and I just need your prayers. I’m believing God to rescue my boy from this place that he's in. And, so, I'm asking if my family would come around Daniel Christopher young the 2nd? My ex-wife also informed me several years later that my…my youngest Hannah was assaulted twice. Why she chose not to tell me until eight years later I don't know but needless to say Hannah is in a bad place as well. My oldest Bianca is confused with her identity sexually. And, so, family will you please pray for my children. Bianca, and Daniel, and Hannah.

[singing starts] Oh, my Savior I am so grateful I'm Yours. Oh, my Savior I am so grateful I'm Yours. With every new sun that rises Your mercy it meets me there. Your faithfulness is unchangeable. You always love me and care. Oh, my Savior I am so grateful I'm Yours. Oh, my savior I am so grateful I'm yours. [singing stops] I lift this offering up to you Jesus and I ask Lord that you would cover the Daily Audio Bible family with your blood, that you would fill them to full and overflowing with your Holy Spirit, that you would protect them, keep them safe, bless them. And father God let us enter deeper into your presence. Great is your faithfulness. We love you so much. In Jesus’ name we ask these things. What a miracle. I love you Treasured Possession.

Well, hello everybody and congratulations you finished your first month listening to the DAB. Job well done. That is awesome. So, welcome all new listeners and of course us long time listeners this is Lori music the transplant from Chicago down to beautiful Hebrew Springs Arkansas. Lord I'm just coming to You and we’re thanking You for the people that do call in and share their stories and prayer requests and many of them just break my heart Father God, but I pray immediately for You all. But I'm calling today to come before the Lord with the unspoken prayer requests, the ones that people are too shy or timid to call in and request. So, Father You know these unspoken prayers Father God. You know our hearts You know our needs You know our wants and our desires Father. So, I'm asking a special blessing on those people that haven't called in yet and that You answer their prayers Father God. And Lord You know I've been out of a job since November, but I know that Your timing is perfect Father. So, every day when I wake up, I will say this is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it. Oh wow, so, I'm starting my 11th year on DAB and my second year on Chronological. I pray for Brian and Jill and China, give them special blessing father. We love you all. Have a blessed day.

[jennycalendar]

not posting this to ao3 bc the convoluted context only exists on tumblr, but here’s a mini thing i wrote today from that au where oz is dating giles and jenny’s daughter. also giles and jenny were in a band together pre-canon for a little while and have a very convoluted love story that i swear will eventually be a fic. fun times.

other things pre-fic that are fun:

ripper and jenny spent like a decade in la co-running a music store together while also raising their kids. jenny handled the actual business, ripper taught guitar classes on the side. janna is very musically gifted but teddy can’t carry a tune to save her life.

theoretically this is a version of canon where janna and buffy are the same age, and someday i will also write the fic where janna appoints herself buffy’s watcher, kicks wesley in the knees, and screams at every member of the council that comes near buffy. she’s heard enough horror stories from her dad.

“Are you nervous?”

The question took Oz by surprise. “Should I be?”

Janna didn’t answer. When he turned to look at her, he saw that she was looking out the window at what he assumed was their final destination: a relatively ordinary-looking house with the beginnings of a vegetable garden on the front lawn. “The last time I brought a guy home to meet my parents, he was super nervous,” she said. “Like, all spacey and weird. My dad was extra nice to him to compensate, but my mom kinda antagonized him a little ‘cause she thought it was funny. She probably won’t do that to you, though. I bet she’ll like you. I mean, she likes pretty much all my friends that I actually care about, and last time I brought a guy home I didn’t actually like him. Mostly it was just to show up Teddy ‘cause she’s always giving me grief about—”

Abruptly, Oz understood. Without a word, he gently tugged Janna’s clenched fists into his own hands, untangling the tightly coiled fingers to lace them with his own.

Janna exhaled. Shakily, she said, “I just really want them to like you.”

“I know,” said Oz.

“I mean really. Usually I don’t care a whole bunch, but you’re different.”

“I know,” said Oz.

“And sometimes my mom can be a little mean. Not like mean-mean, she’s just like that, it’s her way of being nice—”

Oz tugged on Janna’s hands, pulling her into a careful hug. Janna let out a nervous laugh and pressed a clumsy kiss just under his jaw. “I’m a pretty easy guy to like,” he said. “Unless your parents are the kind that don’t like it when a guy is in a band.”

“That would be totally hypocritical,” said Janna. “They were in a band.”

Processing this, Oz felt a slow smile sneak across his face. “So it’s genetic?”

Janna blinked, then smiled too. “Kinda, yeah! They ran a music store in LA till we moved. My dad’s the one who taught me how to play guitar and sing and stuff. He’s not classically trained or anything, but he takes it super seriously.”

“Your dad sounds pretty cool,” said Oz.

“He is pretty cool,” said Janna, her smile growing.

Gently, Oz tugged on Janna’s hand, then let go to open his door and get out of the car. He crossed around to open the door for her too, extending a hand to help her out. She laughed, letting him pull her out of the car, and tripped very purposefully to fall for a moment against his chest; he nudged the car door shut behind her and tugged her into a hug. “We got this, Jay,” he said, smoothing down her hair.

Though she was still very clearly nervous, Janna nodded, tucking her arm into his as they walked up the driveway. Oz rang the doorbell.

Thudding footsteps came from inside the house. Janna groaned. “Oh, no,” she muttered under her breath.

“Is this the boyfriend?” demanded a voice as the door was wrenched open. Looking down, Oz saw a small girl of about twelve surveying the two of them with interest. “I thought he’d be taller. How come he’s shorter than you? Why—”

“I am gonna punt you into next Tuesday, Teddy,” Janna threatened.

“Oh, this is Theodora?” said Oz with interest. “Pleasure.”

“At least someone has manners,” said Teddy with great dignity, turning on her heel and striding down the hall.

“Aren’t you gonna invite us in?” Janna yelled after her.

“Nope!” Teddy yelled back. “You’re probably vampires!”

“Someday I’m gonna kick her like a soccer ball and no one will ever see her again,” Janna was muttering as she yanked Oz over the threshold, roughly divesting him of his coat to hang it on a nearby coat tree. “I used to play soccer in middle school and I think I still know how to do it. Maybe I can get Buffy to do it. I bet if I kicked her really hard—”

“No kicking your sister,” came a very familiar voice.

If Oz was the kind of person whose jaw dropped, he thought it might have right then. Standing in the kitchen doorway was none other than Jenny Calendar, the original drummer for the Spitfires—the one who had toured with the band for two years before she and the lead guitarist dropped out to raise a kid. Jenny Calendar was looking between the two of them with an intrigued grin. Oz had a record with this lady’s face on it. “Uh,” he said. “What?”

“What?” said Janna, as though this was just a normal meeting between Oz and his girlfriend’s mom. “Anyway, mom, this is Oz. Oz, this is my mom, she—”

“I know who she is,” said Oz.

“Well, duh, I just told you,” said Janna. “Where’s Dad? Is he upstairs dissecting bug things for Buffy again?”

“Yeah, that was one time and I told them both they’re never doing that again. That’s my job in this house.” Jenny ruffled Janna’s hair. “Glad nothing ate you on your way here.”

“If it does, you gotta make a necklace out of my bones or something metal like that,” said Janna very seriously.

“God, you’re just like your dad,” said Jenny.

“Oh, yeah, it’s me she gets it from,” quipped Ripper, rounding the corner with Teddy on his shoulders. “Not like anyone else in this house was violent and terrifying at fifteen.”

“Okay, one, shut up. Two, no one needs to hear any of those stories. Three, shut up.” Jenny punched Ripper’s shoulder, careful to avoid jostling Teddy.

Oz was thankfully a little bit more prepared for Ripper’s entrance. If the Spitfires’ drummer was Janna’s mom, the lead guitarist pretty much had to be her dad. “Uh, hey, Janna,” he said, tugging at his girlfriend’s sleeve, “can we—talk outside for a sec?”

Janna looked a little puzzled, but acquiesced without much argument.

Shutting the door behind them, Oz said, “Your parents are Jenny and Ripper.”

“Huh?” said Janna, then, “Oh,” and then her face split open in a huge smile. “I didn’t know you knew about them! Pretty much nobody does! They left the Spitfires before the band got big, so it’s not like I bring it up a lot—”

“Okay, this makes so much sense,” said Oz.

Janna blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Your whole,” Oz waved a hand, “cool thing. It’s not just you, it’s genetic.” He grinned. “I don’t think I stood a chance.”

Janna went very pink, her smile impossibly bright. “You totally have to tell them you like their stuff,” she said. “Dad’s kinda mellow about it, but Mom has these insane stories from the years before she and Dad hooked up and she loves telling people about them.”

“Well, I’d love to hear your mom’s cool band stories,” said Oz, squeezing Janna’s hand. “Probably have a few of our own to share, right?”

“I mean, I’ve told them most of my good ones,” said Janna. “Remember that one time I broke a guitar over Devon’s head?”

“Fondly,” said Oz.

Janna snickered. “Dad’s done worse,” she said. “He was in Wretched for a little while. It was more of a Brit thing so you probably haven’t heard of it, but we have a demo album that they made and it’s soooo bad—”

“Mom wants to know when you’re coming in for dinner!” Teddy yelled from inside the house.

“IN A MINUTE!” Janna yelled back.

“We could go in now,” Oz suggested, “if you—”

Draping her arms around his neck, Janna said, “Give me a minute, Daniel.”

 ~~~

“Oh my god, I love him,” said Jenny delightedly. “Rupert, he knows our stuff! Does anyone ever know our stuff?”

“Janna’s last one didn’t,” said Ripper, attempting to take a forkful of casserole off his wife’s plate. Jenny whacked his fork with her knife. “Though I do think our darling Teddy psychologically broke the poor chap halfway through dessert.”

“If he was weak enough to be broken by a fifth-grader, he deserved to start crying,” said Teddy mildly. “It’s just facts.”

“She gets the mean streak from me,” said Jenny affectionately, looking at Teddy with adoring pride. “Mama’s girl.”

“They both get the mean streak from you,” said Ripper. Jenny started throwing wadded-up paper towels at him. “See?” he said, catching one of them and lobbing it back in his wife’s direction. “This. This is what I mean.”

“Your family is cool,” said Oz. “My mom’s gonna have a lot to measure up to.”

“Oh god I have to meet your mom?” squeaked Janna. “No one’s ever wanted me to meet their mom! Oh my god, you didn’t—why would I—”

“You know she’s never been this nervous about anyone she’s dated?” said Teddy conspiratorially to Oz. “I think she really likes you. Plus she writes your names together all the time on the fogged-up mirror in the bathroom and she made you a mixtape but she’s too scared to give it—”

“I’m gonna throw you out a goddamn window,” Janna hissed in Teddy’s direction. “You better believe I will.”

“Oz, you’re in a band, yeah?” said Ripper, giving Oz a little grin. “Might be nice to play sometime together, if you’d like.”

“Yeah, I would,” said Oz, and smiled back.

#fic #janna au #calendiles #ISH but they're married #(they got spontaneously married in vegas so that it would be easier to co-run a business) #anyway: yes. pls enjoy this snip. i am writing again now but it's all stuff that will take a while to see the light of day.

[dappercritter]

Star vs. the Forces of Evil for the ask meme!

(Based on this meme.)

The first character I first fell in love with: Marco Diaz. Although Star was a pretty fun protagonist from the get-go, Marco impressed me in the first episode with both his plucky attitude and intensely responsible, protective nature. He had everything to be a great friend to Star and, by extent, a deuteragonist. He knew karate and basic psychology, he could help Star with both her personal problems and on her exciting adventures, but he also had his own story to navigate with and without Star. He had his own family, a friend group, a crush, a rival, and a fighting style he trained in—all of which were a joy to watch him interact with! (Well, maybe not his other friends.) What’s more, I have tons of things in common with him; namely, his desire to be seen as cool in spite of his intensely safe nature, said intensely safe and responsible nature, body image issues, being awkward around my crushes, and so on.

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Toffee (of Septarsis). I mean, as a lover of cool villains, reptiles, and bespoke fashion, I liked Toffee the minute I laid eyes on him—as many of us did—but I never expected to be as attached to him as I ended up being. Besides being the most competent, menacing villain in the show, Toffee’s character was a mystery that both added to his allure and opened up the possibilities to a more significant backstory that we sadly never got to see. All we ever knew is that he had a passionate hatred of magic and the Butterfly family, a single-minded determination to destroy them, and a plan which almost succeeded perfectly. What we don’t know is whether or not he was a tragic anti-villain who wanted to free monsters from the terror of magic but whose motivation became clouded by vengeance, or if he was just a petty warmonger who only made things personal when he was humiliated. Either way, it’s Toffee’s combined sense of mystery, menace, and sophistication that kept him a permanent personal favourite of mine.

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: Glossaryck, but that might be a bit of a stretch. Mostly because I don’t know how many people liked him to begin with. Most people like to think of him as a weird deadbeat dad who did the bare minimum to take care of the universe, the MHC/his kids, and his students, the queens of Mewni until he finally gave up. As you can guess, that’s exactly what I think of him. But there are people who think his antics are funny and who sympathize with his weariness—not surprising given who he’s had to work with—but his inconsistent characterization throughout the series, and just his general uncooperative teaching style, I just can’t find it in me to like the little blue man.

The character I love that everyone else hates: Janna Ordonia. Don’t get me wrong, I know she does some sketchy stuff like harassing Marco in some shockingly intrusive and insensitive ways. But in spite of that, I like Janna for her troublemaking antics, her love of the weird, and especially her friendship with Star. She felt like a good friend for Star, Marco, Jackie, and Tom because her fondness for the strange and getting into trouble put together with her nonchalant attitude and street smarts, made her a good bridge between the two different worlds of the show (i.e. Earth and the larger multiverse).

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: Hekapoo. I’ll be honest with you guys: I was fascinated with Hekapoo since she first showed up onscreen, and after we got to know her in Running with Scissors, I… I had a crush on her. There, I said it. She was my type, alright? Sassy, adventurous, mischievous, but also ferocious and duty-bound. Everything I could want in a woman! But then we found out that she’s actually kind of a creeper, and she’s a self-righteous corrupt official who supported conspiracy, kidnapping, and genocide and didn’t apologize or try to make amends for it until the last possible moment. And even then she only did it of what appeared to be feelings of obligation to Marco and Moon, nor did she seem to be sorry about all the stuff she did. She vanished from existence with the rest of the MHC along with (most of) all their other magical problems, and frankly, I think that’s how I like it.

The character I would totally smooch: Well, uh, if that Septarian girl in the hat from Meteora’s Lesson is still around, I’d like to get to know her. Maybe take her out for a nice dinner. Go for long walks in the woods. Then wrap it all up with a nice smooch. I mean, if she’s interested of course.

The character I’d want to be like: Tom Lucitor. At first, I didn’t like Tom that much. I just assumed he was going to be a petty rival for Star’s affections that Marco would have to fight. But once we got to know him better and he began his journey of character development, I empathized with him to the point where I saw myself in his struggle to overcome his anger and grow as a person. I may not have made some of the terrible decisions he made early on, but I can be volatile myself, and I am always trying to change for the better as a person. I feel that Tom’s attempt to improve his anger management skills, make amends with the people he hurt, manage failed romantic relationships with maturity, and be a better friend and boyfriend in general make him a decent role model in my eyes.

The character I’d slap: Pony Head. This accursed disembodied unicorn head hasn’t done anything good since maybe Season 1. I used to tolerate her as an intentionally bad parody of valley girl friend archetypes, but after “Bam Ui Pati,” I lost all patience with her. Pony Head, I got two words for you: Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up. Shut up! SHUT! UP! SHUT UP!!!

A pairing that I love: Jantom. Starco used to be my main but since that drained me of all my lifeforce and slapped me in the face, my enthusiasm for these two dorks has diminished—significantly, at that. Jantom (or at least the concept of it) on the other hand, was a breath of fresh air. I believe these two feel like they have an even greater right to be together than Starco. I mean, think about it: Janna likes occult stuff, Tom is the prince of the Underworld. Tom likes troublemakers, Janna is all about trouble. And even if Tom is a bit more mature than Janna, we know Janna is capable of selflessness and compassion (one of the few good things we saw from Cleaved), and I like to think that Tom might share some of the life lessons he learned from his journey to maturity with her. …When they weren’t taking turns bugging Marco, of course.

A pairing that I despise: Marclipsa. NO. Hard no. Marco is just a teenager. Eclipsa is a married adult woman. I don’t care how funny you think the whole “Marco’s a harem protagonist” joke is, that is just gross.

#critter asks #critter questions #critter answers #afriendlyirin #svtfoe #star vs the forces of evil #ramblings of the critter

[ayellowcurtain]

SKAM NL S3 EP1 - Lucas Van Der Heijden

-

Lucas loves to party. It gets his mind off of his shitty life. Now it’s even easier, he’s living with Jayden and Ralph, the party animals.

He was trying to be better, to get out of a situation that was clearly not healthy with his mom. Lucas doesn’t care about his dad anymore, he didn’t have the right to leave like he did so fuck him.

“Here…” Kes gives him the joint back and he takes a long hit, letting it fill his lungs slowly, laughing when he sees Kes just staring at him, raising his eyebrows. “We’re sharing, you know…” He says and Jayden gets the joint of his fingers, smoking too.

“What? I can only smoke for half a second?” Kes nods his head, pinching his cheek.

“Yes, you’re too young and too skinny to smoke this much.” Lucas rolls his eyes, turning to look at the city while the other two continue to smoke. They have an amazing view from here. He can see all the lights still on, inside some apartments across the street you can see another party happening, but you can’t hear anything apart from muffled loud music coming from inside their own apartment. It feels like the city is sleeping at ease. Lucas wishes he could be at ease like that too.

“Shit…” Jayden is pulling him by his jacket to turn to them again, shoving his bag of weed inside one of Lucas’ pockets. “The cops are downstairs.” He taps the pocket and opens the door for them to get inside again.

“Wha-Why the fuck I’m the one that’s keeping it?” He opens his arms and follows the other two inside. The bag is not too big, you can’t see it, hiding inside his pocket, but he doesn’t want to get caught by the fucking police.

“Your baby face will help you, they won’t look for it in you.” Lucas looks at his best friend, waiting for any help, but Kes just shrugs and taps his shoulder, walking past the drunk dancing people, into the kitchen, just waiting for the police to ring their bell.

If it was up to him, they would have gone somewhere else, maybe Kes’ place. He kissed someone earlier, but he couldn’t care less about the girl, he did it because his friends were nagging him about it. Lucas is not even sure about her name anymore. He can see her staring at him while dancing with her friends, but he just ignores it, trying to act cool while he’s waiting for the cops to come and end the party and hopefully not inspect the left pocket of his jacket.

-

This room is way too fucking hot.

Lucas moves his legs until they managed to push the sheets away from his body, just keeping his feet underneath it. He blinks a few times, the sun is burning his improvised bed. It’s his luck that the only place they could fit a mattress in Jayden’s room was where the sun shines bright all day long. Most of the time is good, he likes the feeling of warmth, but today is just not the day.

Jayden forgot to close the curtains again and it’s too hot. He moves to his side, Jayden’s bed is empty, Lucas can’t remember what happened, but apparently Jayden didn’t sleep here today. He’ll have a taste of what’s privacy again. He looks at the door to check again: it’s closed, so he can close his eyes, trying to think of something...interesting while slowly pushing his hand down his body, pulling his briefs away from his skin.

“Good morning!” Lucas pulls his sheets back up to his shoulders while Ralph bursts into his bedroom, pushing Jayden in front of him. Jayden lies down on his bed and fully covers himself and Ralph comes to Lucas’ bed, looking at his phone, putting his head on Lucas’ chest, still looking at his phone.

“Ralph...knock on the fucking door, fuck!” He complains, suddenly feeling tired again, trying to move away from Ralph.

“Sorry, baby. But Liv is here! Say hi!” Lucas pulls his sheets to be fully covered as well, closing his eyes.

“Hi, Liv!” Jayden says in unison with him from under their respective sheets. The sun is not bothering him anymore, Ralph is, but the warmth starts relaxing him into his sleep again, Ralph and Liv are just background noise now, even the weight of Ralph’s head against his chest is soothing.

-

“Man, I knew I shouldn’t have left it with him, Kes!” Jayden is still whining and the day has barely even started.

“What the fuck are you talking about? It was your idea!” Kes laughs, shaking his head and he’s right. Lucas definitely didn’t ask to be the one to hide the weed. It’s not his fault that he lost it at some point when the police came in. If Jayden was so worried he should have kept it close to him.

“That costs money, bro!” Kes rolls his eyes, looking at Lucas, silently saying don’t worry. And he’s not really worried. He can’t remember half of what happened that night, he doesn’t even know how he got to his bed and how he slept only wearing his briefs. Ralph said he helped Lucas get to bed and Lucas took his own clothes off.

He has nothing to say so his eyes just wander around his surroundings. Deep down, Lucas is so sick of this. The same people every day, the same subjects, the same problems. Lucas has a heart and feelings and of course he loves his friends, it’s just that-

Finally, a new face. A good looking face.

Again, his friends are just background noise as his entire brain seem to focus on one person.

It’s hard to miss him, really. With a purple windbreaker with a neon-yellow line crossing his chest. His skin looks like honey when the sun hits at just the right angle. His hair is very short and bleached, apparently his mouth is constantly pouting just a little with soft, thick lips. He’s far away, but Lucas can tell he has piercing bright brown eyes that are staring back at Lucas now. Fuck.

“I’m still hungover and you’re talking about another party.” Kes’ voice slowly starts to come in the foreground just in time as Engel stops right in front of their table, blocking the way to the new guy.

“Hi!” She says happily and Lucas can’t relate to that mood this early in the morning.

-

Lucas shouldn’t be able to remember the guy’s features so perfectly. And he shouldn’t still be thinking about him either. Maybe he’s just a pretty face. Or maybe he just has style and long legs that go on for days. He’s probably just another guy that’s full of himself.

He’s interrupted again by Esra coming inside his bedroom without knocking on the door first. She comes with a soft smile that seems to be her thing, and sits on his bed, looking at him.

“I’ve got your weed.”

Maybe he’s in trouble. She’s always in a good mood and she’s the nicest person he’s ever met, but maybe he doesn’t know her that well. They don’t really talk.

“Ok…” With that smile on her face, he can’t read what she’s expecting him to do or say, so he waits.

“You want it?” She raises her thick eyebrows and her tone is still chill and soft. Lucas really looks at her and sits on his bed. Esra is holding something but he can’t see, she has one hand on top of the other.

“You’re going to give it to me without a lecture of why weed is bad for you?” It’s a push-and-pull kind of conversation that’s unexpected. She was the last person he could think that would have his weed. And if she did had it, he would never imagine her being so calm about it.

She finally moves just enough to turn her hand and offer him the little plastic bag filled with weed. Maybe he’s missing something here, but he slowly reaches and she lets him grab the bag.

“Thank you...?” Esra happily nods her head and like a ballerina with soft and perfect movements, she gets up, but she’s still looking at him.

“From now on, please clean your room, it stinks.” He’s still confused, but he nods his head. She’s not wrong and she just spared him of a lecture and having to deal with Jayden’s complaints, he can try to clean his part of the room.

-

This is the best part of summer. Having parties every day, you can even choose which one you wanna go because there are plenty of options. Still, Kes choose the worst one for them to go. Engel’s party are so fucking boring! It’s always just them and the girls. Everyone else doesn’t care enough about her to spend their Friday nights at her party. Kes and Isa keep stealing glances and Lucas can’t deal with that drama anymore. So the best thing he can do is get drunk.

“Does anyone want anything?” He taps on the table to get their attention. Kes just shakes his head, too busy looking at Isa to properly answer and Jayden just looks at him and shows his empty bottle. Two beers then.

The fridge is old, it doesn’t hold the temperature too well. As soon as he grabs the bottles inside, he knows they’re not cold enough. Lucas opens both at the edge of the counter and takes a big sip, not wanting to wait for the beer to get even warmer.

Looking from afar it’s even worse. The small apartment feels big. Jayden and Kes outside on the balcony and the girls sitting on the couch, watching Ralph and Esra trying to sing and dance to the music they choose in the karaoke. Jayden turns his body and puts his head inside the living room.

“Is anyone else coming?” Janna looks down and quietly looks at Engel and shrugs. Nobody is coming. Jayden seems to get that too, grabbing his phone again, probably looking for other parties to go to.

Lucas takes a deep breath, ready to go back to the sad party when someone opens the door, blocking the kitchen’s entry. The guy from the other day. He looks behind the door, straight into Lucas’ eyes.

“Sorry. Hi.” He can’t think of what to say, the guy just talked to him. He has a deep and calming voice that matches perfectly with his looks. And he’s just as tall and Lucas imagined.

The new guy finally closes the door behind him, still looking at Lucas while he does so and then he goes to say hi to the others. Lucas is still in shook and the others are singing too loud so he can’t hear when the guy introduces himself to the girls and then goes to shake Kes and Jayden’s hands.

There’s no way he can just go back to talk to his friends now. He is there, smiling and talking to Kes, of all people. Lucas leaves one of the bottles on the counter and quietly goes out of the apartment, closing the door behind him.

Janna’s building is a small one so he takes the stairs instead of the old elevator. The more time he has alone, the better. When he finally gets to the ground floor, his beer is also done and he leaves the empty bottle on the floor, walking out of the building. The streets are empty and Lucas has some time to himself.

He looks for his phone, but it’s not in his pockets, he forgot at Janna’s place. So he has nothing to distract himself from his feelings and his thoughts. Whoever he is, his name and where he comes from, he’s Lucas type. If Lucas could ever create someone made for him, that guy would be it.

The quiet night is interrupted by an old door opening and closing. Lucas looks inside the building just to see him again, the elevator door closing behind him, he’s looking around, stopping when he finds Lucas outside. He smiles and comes out too. Why does he smile so much?

“Hi.” He stops by Lucas’ side, grabbing a cigarette and lighting it in between his perfect pouty lips. He’s looking at Lucas, probably waiting for a response this time.  

“Hey…” Lucas manages to say, looking around to see if someone is seeing this.

“What’s your name?” He turns his body a little so he’s actually looking at Lucas, he is being very obvious that he wants to continue the conversation, not just be polite to a stranger.

“Hm, Lucas. And yours?” Lucas puts his hands deep inside his pockets, pushing his thumbs against his palms, trying to ground himself. He takes one step back so he can see the guy without having to turn his body.

“Milan.” He offers his hand and they shake hands a second later. His hand is big and mostly soft, just not so soft where his fingers start. They definitely shake hands for too long. Lucas is the one to pull his hand away, shoving it inside his pocket again, trying to engrave in his memory how Milan’s touch feels.

The awkward silence turns even worse after the weird handshake. It’s heavy and filled with unknown feelings. And he can feel that Milan is still looking at him and smiling. Lucas bites the inside of his cheek, looking everywhere else but in Milan’s direction.

He hears some voices in the distance and it gets closer and closer. Lucas looks up to see a group of girls. He sort of recognizes some of them, but he can’t remember from where.

“Lucas!” One of them says way too loud and happily and he’s sure he should know her name, but he doesn’t.

Emma? Eva?

Whoever she is, she comes close enough and hugs him tightly. All he can think about is Milan’s eyes that are still on him and on the girl as well.

“Engel invited me and I thought you would be here so...I came! And brought some friends, hope it’s ok…” He didn’t ask, but she keeps talking like he did. Lucas is trying to think on what to say, maybe lie and say that he’s leaving, but then Milan would be left behind too. He opens and closes his mouth and the girl already moved on, saying hi to Milan too.

“I don’t think we’ve met...I’m Emma.” She shakes his hand and he fake smiles to her, shaking her hand too.

“Milan.”

#skam nl #skam netherlands #lucas van der heijden #NL S3

[lixiepeach]

Heart of the Sea, Part 6

Pairing: Arthur Curry x OC

Summary: Marina Allen has dedicated her life to conserving wildlife but when she stumbles upon the truth about the company she’s working for she decides to take a stand. A stand that leads her to nearly being killed and meeting her soulmate by chance. It seems like fate is intent upon repeating history but Arthur Curry has other ideas.

Warnings: None

MASTERLIST

Arthur and Marina lay out in the sand, both of them damp again after washing themselves off in the waves. Arthur had donned his pants again, Marina having gotten her shirt and panties on before Arthur had pulled her against his side. It had been hard fighting the drive between their souls to complete the bond. Most soulmates did it right away, not wanting to struggle against the need to fulfill the bond between them. Now there was a peacefulness in both of their souls, like a cord had been loosened and they could finally breathe. 

“Why didn’t we do that sooner?” Arthur asks, his fingers tracing patterns on her arm. 

“Because we had other things to worry about. We still have things to worry about.” 

“I feel better now though. It feels...complete now.” 

Marina smiles, lacing her fingers with his. “I know.” She nuzzles her face against his chest, taking in his naturally briny smell. “Who was your first?” 

He gives her an insulted look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

She leans up on her arm, giving him a look back. “No one’s that good their first time.” 

He laughs, pulling her back down against his chest. “It was my highschool graduation party. Back of my dad’s truck in the middle of the woods. Her name was Janna Evans. I’d known her since kindergarten. She was on the basketball team. She got a scholarship to Gonzaga and moved across the country. Haven’t seen her since. You?” 

“Senior prom. Back of his mom’s car. His name was Roger Matthews. First chair cello in the school’s orchestra. I don’t know what happened to him. First and only.” 

“Mine too. Just...didn’t feel right.” 

Marina nods, listening to Arthur’s heartbeat. “It didn’t. But that...what just happened...was amazing.” 

Arthur smiles, pulling her up for a kiss. “It was pretty awesome.” 

He kisses her for a few moments, both of them relishing in the newly strengthened bond between them. Marina’s stomach growling breaks the silence, causing her to pull away from his lips with a laugh. 

“We should probably get back. The tide’s coming in anyways.” Arthur steals another kiss before sitting up, finding the rest of their clothes. 

He takes them back to his parent’s house, using the towels his mother had set out that morning to dry off as much as they can. They slip inside, feeling like naughty teenagers as they make their way up to Arthur’s room, both of them changing into dry clothes. 

*******

Atlanna can tell as she watches Arthur and Marina during lunch. They way they move around each other, Arthur’s inability to stop touching her: her hand, her hair, her arm. Any chance he gets his hand is somewhere on her. Only one thing can bring about that kind of desperation for intimacy and Atlanna knows. 

“So you two finally, what’s the human phrase? ‘Took it to the next level?’” 

Marina’s cheeks heat up, practically blushing to her toes. “We...I...we… you can tell?” 

Atlanna nods. “You have the look. That, and Arthur can’t keep his hands to himself.” 

Marina blushes again. “It just...feels so different now.” 

“I was wondering when it would happen. I’m surprised you made it that long.” 

“Well...we didn’t want to...in the house…” 

Atlanna squeezes her shoulder gently. “We wouldn’t have cared. It’s a natural process in a relationship.” 

Marina feels like her entire body is going to burst into flames, unable to form words in her embarrassment. 

“So, when should I be expecting grandkids?” 

Marina stutters for a moment, nearly spitting out her drink. She hadn’t even thought about the repercussions of her and Arthur’s moment on the beach and the possibility, well, guarantee of more moments like that one. She was willing to bet Atlantean reproduction was different and would therefore render her birth control most likely ineffective. She didn’t even know if Arthur wanted children. They hadn’t quite gotten to that talk yet with everything else going on. And what had happened between them had just happened so suddenly, there was no real time to discuss things of that nature. 

 “I...well...probably not for a while. But if it did happen unexpectedly, I wouldn’t be upset.” 

******

Marina stares out Arthur’s bedroom window at the ocean. The sun had set a while ago and the ocean was nothing but a dark endless void in the distance. Marina hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her conversation with Atlanna earlier. She had taken the final plunge with Arthur without even thinking about what would come after. She was only human but Arthur wasn’t. Sure he was half-human, but he seemed more and more like an Atlantean the more she came to understand him. Not only that, but he was the King of Atlantis too. He had a lot of responsibility on his plate, responsibility that he had been pushing aside for her. What would happen if she did get pregnant? She couldn’t live with him in Atlantis, and the likelihood of their child being able too as well would be small. Their child would only be a quarter Atlantean. Would that be enough? Arthur had told her how long it took the Atlanteans to accept him as a half-Atlantean. Their children would be mostly human. Would they suffer a worse fate than their father? What would the repercussions be for Arthur if his children were unable to become his heirs? 

Warm arms wrapping around her draw Marina out of her thoughts. She hadn’t even heard Arthur approach her. He could be silent when he wanted to, for such a large being. 

“You’re thinking too much.” He buries his face in her hair, his breath warm against her scalp.

“Sorry. Just...got a lot on my mind.” 

She can feel him smile, starting to move her backwards towards the bed. “Care to share?” 

Marina is silent for a moment, Arthur lifting her onto the bed before settling down with her. She turns to face him, making out his features in the dark room, her fingers going to his bare chest and the smooth skin there. “Arthur...what would happen if...if we had...kids?” 

Arthur leans up on his elbow, looking down at her with a smile. “Then I would be the happiest man in the world.” 

Marina smiles but she can’t keep it on her face. “I know, but...they’d be mostly human.” 

“And I would love them just the same.” Arthur cups her face, his thumb brushing her cheek. “What’s got you thinking about children?” 

“Your mother knows that we...consummated our bond.” 

Arthur laughs, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her on top of him. “Don’t worry. She’s not trying to pressure you. We don’t have to have kids until we’re ready.” 

“Yeah, but...I don’t think my birth control extends to Atlantean extremes.” 

“Don’t worry about that either. I have an implant.” 

“You...what?” 

Arthur grins at her. “Atlantean technology is very advanced and in their culture, men are the ones who get birth control. I got the implant not long after I met you and I’ll keep it until we’re both ready.” 

Marina smiles, resting her head against his chest. “I think you’re the greatest man I’ve ever met.” 

“Aww, thanks darlin.” He kisses her forehead. “Now stop worrying about kids and get some sleep.” 

Part 7

#heart of the sea #arthur curry #arthur curry x oc #aquaman #arthur curry x reader #dc #dceu #jason momoa #soulmate #soulmate au #post aquaman