#why is no one talking about the unicorn slippers

[taiblogcomics]

We're Off to See the Wizard

Hey there, disqualifications. All right, I'm on the final thing in our stack! And we're gonna end the same way we started: with a FiM alt universe fic.

Here's the cover:

Yeah, remember way back when we did "Little Fillies" #1? And I was wondering if they'd do other Classics Reimagined titles? Well, here's one for you! And at least this time, I'm roughly familiar with The Wizard of Oz. Like, I've never read the original books, but I've at least seen the 1939 film a couple times. I know the basic plot from parody and reference and pop culture. I know enough to know the ruby slippers are movie only, and they were silver in the book! Anyways, a pretty nice cover for this. Same artstyle as the "Little Fillies" story as well. This one might grab a few more eyes, at least~

I think we'll do the same thing I did in the Little Fillies review, where I name the character as the original work, then parenthetically refer to the MLP character playing them. So obviously, our depressed farmgirl is Dorothy Gale (Applejack). She lives with Uncle Henry (Big Macintosh) and Auntie Em (initially Rarity, but when she's way into playing Big Mac's wife, they swap her for Granny Smith. They also change the role from wife to mother). While they're making changes, Dorothy demands to be switched into overalls. So much for the iconic gingham~

So, before long, a tornado comes a-spinnin' into the story. Auntie Em! It's a twister! Starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton! She chases her dog, Toto (Winona), into the bedroom. This keeps her from enterting the storm cellar instead. And she's gonna wish she'd been in there, because the tornado doesn't just destroy the house, it lifts the whole thing spinning and spinning into another dimension! One with brighter colours! The main comic so far has been in muted, sepia-like colours (not outright monochrome), but springs to "full" colour at this point.

When everything's stopped spinning, Dorothy (just assume this is followed by "and Toto" every time, unless I specify) takes a peek out into this wide new world. She's greeted, not by munchkins, but by Breezies, which is one of the only times they've ever appeared in comics. They're super-enthused to meet a new princess, Dorothy having crushed the previous one. Dorothy tells them that both these facts are wrong, only to be swiftly corrected with the shot of Nightmare Moon's legs sticking out from under the house, silver horseshoes in the air.

Who should enter now but the Good Princess of the North (Celestia). Dorothy objects to the lazy find-replace of "witch" for "princess", but Glinda or Celestia or whoever plows on ahead anyway. She introduces the concepts of one princess per cardinal direction, two good and two wicked, and the Unicorn of Odd (title drop!) who might be even more powerful. Dorothy is about to make a feminist comment, but is interrupted by Nightmare Moon's dissolving. The silver horseshoes are now relinquished, and Celestia forces them on Dorothy to keep the plot moving.

This version does mention the Deadly Desert surrounding the Land of Odd on all sides, which is why she can't immediately go home to Kansas. It's a bit distressing, but Celestia suggests heading east to the Emerald City where the Unicorn lives. And of course, the easiest way to get there? Follow the yellow brick road, of course. The Breezies agree to accompany her to the edge of their territory, and to Dorothy's relief, only the book is in the public domain. Thus, they don't have the rights to use any of the songs~

Finally, just as Dorothy is beginning to tire of the fawning reverence of the Breezies, they reach the end of their lands and part ways. They soon come all up ons a cornfield, and Toto begins to bark. Dorothy's worried for a minute, but it turns out to be just a scarecrow. To her shock, though, the Scarecrow (Pinkie Pie) begins to talk. She's very glad to have somepony new to talk to, since it's all been birds beore now. She's just terrible at scaring the crows, to her utter shame. She's just too good at making friends! See how she's made a new one just today~!

Dorothy uses her farm-found applebucking skills to knock the Scarecrow off her perch, freeing the straw-stuffed mare to move around and travel. And travel she does! She decides to accompany Dorothy on her journey, in the hopes of getting a brain from the Unicorn. She's happy enough with a head stuffed with straw, but what she really wants is to plan parties. Can't do that without a brain! And the comic ends as the pair set off, with Scarecrow also needing to be reminded they don't have the rights to the songs. But it's a comic book, so they won't be able to tell if she hums it instead~

Well, this seems like a lot of fun so far. Let's be honest, The Wizard of Oz is a lot more of an exciting and interesting story than Little Women. I'm sorry, but it's true. It'll appeal to your demographic a lot more, too. The roles seem pretty tailor-made for this, and Applejack is a natural snarker. So the asides and fourth wall breaks (there's a whole page of Celestia and Luna I left out to keep up the flow and to allow you to find the jokes on your own as you read) fit more naturally here. They got better at it here, with "Little Fillies" being their testing ground. I look forward to more of this, but alas, this is the only issue I have so far! Just like last time, we'll have to wait until I get a new shipment to finish the series~

Next week, though... Well, I have a few ideas I wanna explore. They'll tide us over in the meantime~

#comics #reviews #My Little Pony Classics Reimagined #My Little Pony Classics Reimagines: The Unicorn of Odd #The Wizard of Oz #Taiblog

[turtleboyz]

So, what did I think of season 1?

Well, I like it! This being my 3rd time watch the first season. That being said, most of the jokes didn’t make me laugh. But rewatching the season you can definitely pick up the foreshadowing and hints. As for the show, I love the background and the neon lights!

So far season 1 is good! Personal I like that the first half was just the boys messing around and have fun. Then the second half was actually plot. I also really like that the touches on being yourself and that person and/or tradition doesn’t need to define you. This theme being taught more than once.

That being said, Game time!!!!

Mikey Abuse: in season 1 I counted 12 times Mikey was abuse. 6 being done by Donnie, 3 being done by Splinter, 1 time being Raphael , and the last 2 by Draxum.

Donnie- use Shelldon to fire lasers him. Called him (and the rest of the brothers) “dum-dum”, rewrites his brain and make him into a version of Donnie, darts him, and his gift made Mikey think “does Donnie really think I’m a crazy kangaroo who needs to wear a padded suit so I don’t hurt myself?”

Raph-hit him with a door

Splinter-the first half of season 1 splinter was a neglected/emotional distance father. Lies a couple of times (also to the others) Also hits him a couple of times (both in training and having to fight one on one)

Draxum- constantly fighting him and the others, called the boys losers and morons, try to kill him and the others.

Yes. I know most of these aren’t really abuse, but I’m playing it safe and writing down anything I see that could be abuse. I want to get accurate data! That being said, if I miss or did anything wrong let me know.

How many time does Raph call himself in the 3rd person. 12 times! More or less. I noticed that Raph does it more off when his scared or angry.

You’re a kid, not a parent: 6 times! I thought there would be more time with Raph or one of the others would have to parent the others? Though 6 still is a big number. 5 of time it’s Raph, the last being Donnie.

Donnie does this to Splinter, yelling at him and saying that he’s going to change the tv channel to education shows. This apparently happen before.

Raph; all most of these, he talk in a baby voice.

To Mikey; “hey Buddy, uh, just checking in, making sure you’re uh, okay. Everything okay? You’re okay right?”

To Mikey: “of course you are-in seven to ten years. Right now, it’s just to dangerous.”

To Donnie; “ooh, hey Buddy. Hey, um really loving the gifts you got us. We-we know how long it took you to make ‘‘em and it was so thoughtful”

About Donnie: “yeah I know but he’s got such a softshell.”

To Franken-Foot “someone needs Raphy’s help?”

Last game, it’s a long one. Why do they do that? It’s just me finding characters details and some ooc things.

Leo can portal water

Leo can moves his portals with or without his wepond

Raph talk in third person

Raph eats the wet salami

Donnie can write in cursive

Donnie dosnt like bees or beach balls

Donnie like “cute but mean” types

Raph ruined a woman’s 95th birthday

Mikey + Raph like to wear the hippo costume

Raph catchphrase “jumping Jack flash” and “like a boss”

Mikey catchphrase “cowabunga”

Mikey + Donnie can build

Mikey + Leo know how to cook

Leo can code

Leo + Mikey likes unicorns

Splinter can get rat flu

Splinter writes self insert fanfiction

Splinter wears fish shoes (shoes that are see through and has a alive fish in them)

Donnie keeps said fish in the tank

Splinter eats stuff off the bottom of his slippers

The gang have movie nights

Raph is allergic to peanuts

Mikey can DJ and can play the mandolin

The boys can sing and dance

Raph collets and names teddy bears

Mikey maybe has diabetes??

Donnie can read lips

Donnie does/sings to musical numbers

Mikey took rodeo classes

Mikey also used raph toothbrush

Raph is scars of puppets (or dolls or bunnies, it hard to say witch is it)

Raph crys when scared

Donnie has a titanium bust of himself

Donnie made a self cleaning toothpick

All the boys talk to themselves

Splinter can sing opera

Leo drinks tea

Mikey + Donnie believe in cryptic, Leo doesn’t

Donnie has pictures of their previous incarnations

Raphael has a social account

Donnie tech bo runs on batteries

April doesn’t have any human friends

April has a curse birthday

Donnie won “national library competition” 3 years in a row

Donnie can play guitar

Donnie is a fan of experiential learning

Things I found OOC (out of character)

Mikey and Leo fighting during the waiting episode

Leo and Raph fighting first meeting big mama

The boys think that Donnie doesn’t like them, that Leo think Donnie sees him as “broken”, and raph think the helmet is “condescending”

Next up! Character analysis!



#long post #Sebastian watches rise #live blogging #rottmnt #season 1 review #picture

[violettierre]

Oh wait ykw this whole barbie movie talk makes me remember the barbie centered stuff in my life hold up i gotta rant this.

Honestly i think all my peers or whoever grew up between early 2000s or late 90s knows the absolute power of barbie toys in that era, personally i had a wild history with em when i was like still in elementary school and my parents get me a barbie doll i just feel like a high class coolest kid in town and yet i also had this weird urge where within 24h that barbie or gonna be stripped and cut with scissors all limps cut to cubes and beheaded and i just take her head and clothes and throw the rest near my parents' mirror desk and that place around that time is where you find the gruesome crime scenes i commit on barbie dolls and then have to beg my parents to get me another one but i get yelled at for the wasted money and then cry and rant about the cruel world in my fairy notebook, but then once again wgen we go out and i see barbie dolls i have to male an entire speech and promise to my mom that i won't practice my serial killer career on it and she gets me one and again within 24h the remaining of another victim is found nesr their mirror desk beheaded and stripped and cut into pieces, and repeat the process, but you may wonder, what was i doing with the head and clothes ? First i cut her hair and then diy my very own aesthetic pencils from 2000s if anyone remembers those colorful pebcils with something on top of it like a heart ir a unicorn while i put barbie heads on regular pencils to act cool infront of my classmates who were too weirded out to make a remark and so did the teachers, meanwhile the clothes i collect i just cut them from different colors into cubes that were messy and out of line and then like glue each one into a string yk like these carnival decorations but very ugly and short and cheap version and hang them on top of my bed, cuz i thought i did something, but my childhood room was like really plain it had nothing colourful or toys in it just like a desk with school items and messy clothes and these normie stuff so back then when i added shit like that i thought i just decorated the coolest room you've ever been into, until my mom ripped it off cuz it was ugly and i had a mental breakdown and felt as if she just ruined my very own special career that i had just came up with and was like "YOU'RE JEALOUS OF ME" bit then i got a good beating with the special arab mom silicone slippers for talking back to my mom, so yah then the creativity dyi era was over. Psycho barbie fan era never was tho, cuz in the 2000s if you didn't have barbie or hello kitty or these merchandise stuff on in my school you're a loser and i didn't want anyone else to find out im a loser so i beg my mom once again to buy me any pink shit i see and after begging and crying and getting beaten with slippers for being noisy i just show up at lunch breaks in outdoors time as if im a celebrity trying to impress the crowd with my latest pink hair clip that costed me my dignity infront of my mom, my little brother, and the seller while no one gave a fuck so i got angry and punched my neighbor in the nose for ignoring me showing off my hairclip so she told her mom, and her mom told my mom, and i got another goid beaten.

You'd think i stopped as i got a little older but nooooooo, when i was pre-teen i was more babyish than before about these stuff, why ? Cuz they got a little sister more barbie toys than me cuz she never pull a dr. Frankenstein on them (what a loser) so like the older and more mature child i fool her to watch tv or something so i can play silently with her barbies, and in that time they got her the dreamhouse and all these extra mini barbie stuff that i never got for being such a good kid so i get jealous and lock her out if her room to play with them, then take a doll hostage to threaten her if she tries to snitch on me, like the good older sister i am <3 (she still snitched btw and i deserved the beating that time)

#i love my childhood #but i also hate it #ahhhh memories #very nostalgic <3 #story time #barbie movie

[smallfrenchcar28]

GUYS THEY RETWEETED ME

#brooklyn 99 #nbc brooklyn 99 #raymond holt #jake peralta #andre braugher #andy samberg #valloweaster #it's heist time #no spoilers #but look at their slippers #unicorn slippers #why is no one talking about the unicorn slippers #also cheddar is adorable #i love them #what a wild ride

[angelhummel]

Honestly Brittany is underhated in my opinion lmao. Like I was literally waiting for ages for someone to make a negative thread about I am unicorn on reddit so I could hate on her. Last time someone made a thread about that episode said "Kurt was an asshole to yell at Brittany. He could have kindly explained to her to remove the posters" like he did? But Brittany went to ahead and hung the posters anyway. :/

Oh hey we just watched that ep! And I hated it! I don't know if I'd call it the worse episode, but it made me more uncomfortable than Asian F and Pot o Gold, which we watched right after. Like I've never had that bad a reaction to that ep before but wow

KURT: Look, I don’t just want to be know has Kurt Hummel: Homo.

BRITTANY: What’s wrong with that? Look - 99% of the kids at school are either freaks or closet freaks. The captain of the football squad - he gets the job, but he doesn’t represent the people. That’s why we need a unicorn.

My sister asked me if I agreed with that sentiment (being sure to say "If it wasn't Brittany saying it, how would you feel?" bc that makes a difference lol) and my response was "What did she say? I just tune her out now"

I mean obviously the sentiment isn't wrong. How often do we say that almost any one of the glee clubbers would be a better leader or representative than flop hudson. I just feel like Brittany is feeding into a larger problem that I have with season 3 in regards to Kurt

Which is just how they make so many jokes about Kurt being more flamboyant and girly than he actually is. Rachel saying she wants to see Kurt in a bridesmaid’s dress. Finn saying "What's with the sparkly jacket i thought you were kurt" but then he also has a comment in s2 about "sequined riding pants". but when has kurt ever wore sequins or sparkles outside of mercedes's dreamgirls fantasy number?? and having actual adults talk about how he isn't sexy enough (call the police) and laughing him out of an audition bc he's sooo fucking gay ha ha. i kinda talk about it here if you wanna read more unrelated angry rambling

Anyway all that to say. Kurt is not straight passing! He doesn’t need to be! He’s bold, theatrical, he loves fashion, he loves Broadway, and that’s great! But the pink sparkly unicorn stuff is something Brittany tried to force on him.

Kurt loves Judy Garland. He wanted to pay tribute to her with his campaign posters, hearkening back to her Blackglama fur coat ad. Something that references a beloved icon of the queer community, and fashion history at the same time. Two things that are very Kurt

But with Brittany, all nuance and clever reference is gone. She puts ruby slippers in the goody bag, just because they’re sparkly and flamboyant. They reference Judy in the most cliche and obvious way possible. Even if someone wants to claim it was her own version of a clever reference, she still has more pointless stuff in there as well. Unicorns, a teletubby, hair bands?? What does any of this have to do with Kurt or what he likes or represents?

And obviously there is nothing wrong with being the most flamboyant gay person you want to be. Pink and sparkles and rainbows obviously aren’t bad on their own. Not trying to sound like the shitty old “Gay people I respect vs gay people I don’t respect” meme. It’s just. Every gay person is more than their sexuality. No matter how flamboyant they are, how they dress, how many rainbows they wanna slap on everything. That’s still a whole person. Just bc all YOU see is a giant rainbow flag, that doesn’t mean that’s all they are

Brittany thinks being gay is nothing but pink unicorns and rainbow glitter. How is that any different from the shit Karofsky or Azimio or any other bully says about Kurt?? At the end of the day it’s just someone trying to cram him in a tiny little box that he is far too big, too bold, too nuanced to fit into 

I mean god fucking forbid, but imagine if Brittany was “helping” Mercedes run for president like this. Telling her that being black should be her main personality trait, and filling a goody bag with items that are Brittany’s idea of what being “black” means to HER 💀💀 (I mean anybody with common sense could see it was insane, but her stans would react the same way and make Mercedes the bad guy when she reacted poorly bc what else is new lol)

And all her dumbass unicorn talk literally made Kurt start to dislike that part of himself! Like he’s always been bullied for it but he was still unapologetically himself. But Brittany’s campaign idea contributed to Kurt thinking he needed to change himself, and saying he was tired of being a unicorn. And in s3 he starts wearing more drab colors and all these sweaters and capes and he’s bundling himself up like he’s protecting himself and it makes me sad. And they bring in a completely new character that looks like Kurt just to call Kurt ugly and a girl and make fun of him. It drives me up a fucking wall! Season 3 is so awful to Kurt i literally can’t stand it. And it all starts with Brittany :) Thanks for that. Girl power!

And after dealing with the pain and humiliation of literally being laughed out of an audition BY MEMBERS OF THE FACULTY for being “too gay” Kurt is faced with the bright pink unicorn posters with his face on him that say “This is your box! This is all you will ever be!” and wow i can’t imagine why he’d be upset with Brittany for that!! Who’da thunk??? Brittany was a selfish idiot for hanging them up. Kurt had every right to be upset. And Santana was an idiot for invalidating Kurt’s feelings and just boosting Brittany up when she was obviously in the wrong. But that’s Br*ttana for you :)

I’m not even happy about Kurt “accepting” the posters and hanging them up himself and making that his campaign theme. That’s the version of Kurt that someone else made up in their head. That’s not him. He is so much more than Brittany’s tiny little brain could ever even comprehend lol. So yeah. I hate her :)

#glee #kurt hummel #season 3 #asks #answered #my thoughts #anti brittany pierce #lol brittany pierce #ghostpavarotti #long post #anti brittana #lol brittana

[delimeful]

taking the fall (2)

warnings: fear, injury, mild blood

-

It was Roman’s love of the arts that did him in.

He was loath to admit it, but Virgil had been right. He’d always been enchanted by the musical productions he’d seen on human teevees, always finding a spare moment to perch on a dusty shelf and take in as much as he could.

So, when he overheard a musical chorus while scavenging for extra paper from the apartment with the newly-moved-in tenant, there was simply nothing else he could do except to investigate further!

One trek and several hiding spots later, he’d found the perfect angle to eavesdrop on the human’s computer. Even better, once he was unpacked, the human was consistent. There were schedules and calendars and sticky notes all over his desk, and he adhered to them strictly, making his apartment the perfect place for Roman to borrow for their little community.

And if he happened to make a return trip and perch himself on the shelf above the human’s rolling chair at the perfect time to see whatever stage production the man was watching this time? That was nobody’s business but his own.

He certainly wasn’t about to tell Virgil, who seemed to get secondhand stress from Roman’s accounts of past riskier borrowing trips. The outie was more than accustomed to the dangers of living outside, but ‘human beans’ were a whole different story.

No, Hot Topic would never get the odd almost-longing that Roman sometimes felt when he saw the amazing things that humans could do. On the tiny laptop display, he could almost pretend those wonderful theatrical productions were actually done by people his size, that they could perform without worry of discovery or capture.

It was a combination of indulging such thoughts and knowing the human’s schedule back-to-front that made him so bold.

When Logan came home with an armful of art supplies, Roman was immediately intrigued, though he justified it as checking for useful materials to borrow. He spent that afternoon watching as Logan methodically glued, hammered, and painted wood into the shape of a miniature house-- no, a set!

It looked just like the stage for the most recent musical Logan had (unknowingly) played for him. Roman was enchanted, coming back every day between borrowing trips to see how more tiny furniture and stairwells had been carefully crafted with the help of a magnifying glass and precise tools. The set came together piece by piece, until it was as complete as any Broadway production.

And then, the downfall. It was during one of these little visits that he overheard Logan on the phone, reassuring whoever was on the other end that the ‘scale model’ was finished and ready to be brought in tomorrow afternoon. Roman had felt a tightening in his chest, and after probably too little time spent deliberating, he was settled.

He was going to stand on that stage, at least once.

It took some doing to cover his tracks-- Mari had been oddly antsy lately, and it had been making everyone else jittery as a result. He’d been playing up his own glittery-ness in order to  reduce the tension, and had volunteered to take another shift borrowing at 2B, the apartment with the snakes and the human that had been eerily perceptive lately.

It wasn’t lying, really. He would go borrow from there, just… after he’d made a quick stop to fulfill his newfound dream!

Logan always slept heavily until his alarm went off, so Roman felt no fear sliding down to the floor at the early hours of the morning. He remained alert, of course, throughout his entire trek over to the table that the human had spent so many hours hunched over, but as he predicted, there were no unusual sounds from the human’s bedroom.

From there, it was only a swift climb up with the help of his hook, and he left it nestled there in the wood, just in case he needed a swift getaway.

Finally, he was before it.

The strangest part about it all was the way that everything seemed to fit just about right for someone his size. He was used to cobbling together chairs and beds out of whatever material was at hand, repurposing anything and everything that came customized for humans.

These chairs were like real ones, human ones that fit together and had all their pieces, and Logan had been so meticulous about making sure everything was to scale that there wasn’t any awkwardness to sitting down on it. Overcome, he nearly sprinted up the model’s stairs to the bedroom terrace above it, flinging himself onto the bed-- perfectly matched up linen, pillows and pillowcases, just like a real bed-- and muffling his delighted squeak into his hands.

The instruments on the dresser were light and easy to grab, though Roman was disappointed to find that the ornate hand mirror didn’t have very high quality glass and was a bit hazy. The hairbrush seemed to be handcrafted, however, and Roman ran it through his own hair once, twice, immersing himself in an imaginary scene.

He had the dialogue mostly right after Logan’s obsessive rewatching of scenes-- pausing often to jot down set reference-- and he wasted no time in pacing around the room and ranting in a whisper, detailing an imaginary conflict in an aside to the audience. He mocked slamming the hairbrush down on the dresser, and turning, the anger drained from him, to walk to the terrace and look out longingly.

He hesitated.

In the scene, the character would be staring up at a night sky. In a play, the actor would be looking out over an audience hanging off their every word.

In reality, he was staring out at a world that was and always would be too big for him.

His soliloquy trailed off to bitter silence, and Roman backed up, shaking his head. He hadn’t a clue why he’d thought this would help him, rather than just rub his nose in what he couldn’t ever have.

Carefully, steps silent, he readjusted the bedding, removed a stray hair from the hairbrush, placed everything neat and right where he’d left it. He would leave no evidence of his presence, just like always.

When he turned around, he met the gaze of a human, standing only a few feet away bedecked in a bathrobe and fluffy unicorn slippers.

It was like Roman had been suddenly drenched by an icy downpour, his whole body going cold with shock. His muscles locked up, and even when the human took a step closer, he couldn’t seem to wrench himself free of the mental paralysis.

Talk about stage fright.

Normally a boon, his imagination was working against him now, spinning elaborate visions of what was to come. He’d been seen, and now not only would he be doomed to die by a human’s whims, but he’d also put every borrower in and around the building in danger. All borrowerkind, even, if this human was bad at keeping secrets.

“So, how are the proportions?” the human in question asked, leaning forward slightly with an excited glint in his eyes.

Roman blinked, befuddled.

“Are they to scale? You seem to be able to manipulate them easily, which bodes well, but I’m not sure the dining room chairs have short enough legs to make sitting at the table feasible…,” Logan trailed off, looking between Roman and the lower level of the model as though measuring him mentally. “Would you mind sitting in one?”

He reached out for something on the set, and Roman’s instincts seemed to kick back into high gear, sending him skittering back across the scaled-down room, grabbing his bag as he went. He remembered seeing a window cut into the backing of the room adjacent, there—!

Heart racing in his ears, he barely registered the human’s voice raised in alarm as he swung himself over the miniature window ledge. The landing jarred his bones, but he was still all in one piece, and that was good enough for him!

There were only moments before the human leaned around to see where he’d gone, so he wasted no time in sprinting to where the desk met the wall. Logan’s laptop charger trailed down in the small gap behind the desk, the closest thing he’d get to a rope down with his real hook on the other side of the table next to the human.

Logan seemed to be a bit slower than usual, since Roman managed to slide down out of sight before the human could move to even catch a glimpse of where he’d gone.

His hands stung slightly as he descended much faster than advisable, already trying to come up with his next step. All his entrances were higher up, but if he could get under nearby furniture, he could cut into the fabric and hide in the hollow underbelly until the coast was clear--!

The only warning he got was a barely audible click from above, and then his ‘rope’ gave out and he was in gut-churning freefall.

Roman fell for three fluttering heartbeats, just enough time to realize what was happening, and he hit the ground feet-first.

His right leg gave out with a dull crack, and the pain-- impossibly overwhelming-- reached him only an instant later. He bit down on his arm to muffle his cry, tears forming as the slightest shift of his leg sent ripples of agony through him.

Well. No longer in one piece, then.

He struggled to come up with a course of action as his head swam. His entire body had gone cold and sweaty, his vision darkening despite his best efforts to stay alert.

An enormous shadow fell over him, and his one last attempt to move was enough to finally make him succumb.

---

Logan allowed himself one very heartfelt swear, watching as the tiny person under his desk slumped over, limp and boneless.

This was not what he had expected when he’d shuffled into his living room to go make some celebratory coffee for managing to finish both the last touches on his latest set model and his ridiculously elaborate statistics midterm all in one night.

Perhaps he could have handled the situation better, but to be fair to him, upon spotting the miniature person, Logan had honestly assumed that he’d either started hallucinating, or had fallen asleep after all. He figured that if he was going to imagine such things, he might as well try to soothe his own concerns about any imperfections in the scaling.

The spike of fear and guilt that he felt hearing that tiny, muffled cry of pain meant that there was no way he was heading to bed anytime soon. He sent a few texts to Patton, informing him that he wouldn’t be able to bring the model to the theatre today and asking him to smooth over any ruffled feathers.

He was well aware that this was completely unprofessional-- he would surely be getting an interrogation from his friend later-- but for the moment, he needed to focus on more important matters.

From the injury he was sporting, the tiny person hadn’t landed on his back, so it would be alright to move him as long as he acted with care. Logan carefully slid a plastic folder under the stranger, muttering apologies when that tiny face crinkled up slightly even in unconsciousness. He lifted the folder up slowly and moved to the kitchen, where the first aid kit was stored under his sink.

From there, he quickly assessed the injuries he could see.

The leg was expected, and it seemed to be swelling rather severely. Unexpectedly, there seemed to be bleeding along the arm, and Logan had to retrieve his magnifying glass to see the injury in detail.

Upon closer inspection, the wound was in the shape of a tiny bite mark, indicating that the stranger had bitten down on himself to avoid screaming. Logan felt his heart sink a little further at the continued confirmation of the terror he’d seen in the stranger’s face before he fled. He’d really frightened the poor creature by moving so thoughtlessly.

He took a deep breath and pushed the feelings aside, flipping the lid of the first aid kit open. He could worry about potential reactions to his presence after he made sure the tiny stranger would at least wake up with less pain than before.

It was his fault this had happened, after all, and so he would do his utmost to fix all that he could.

#sanders sides #g/t #ts roman #ts logan #ttf #borrowers #writing #My writing #taking the fall #bthb #injury tw

[fjoresterthoughts]

It calls me

@fjoresterweek 2021 - Day 4: Modern AU

[AO3]

Jester wakes up to her shoulder being shaken, and all she wants to do is push her face further into the pillow. She can feel the cooler air outside of her warm blankets, and the thought of leaving the cozy warmth is incredibly unappealing.

“Jessie, wake up.” she hears Beau whisper, and Jester finally opens her eyes. The room is surprisingly light, and for a minute she worries she overslept - but the clock beside her bed says it's still very early. 

“What’s up?” she mumbles in response, still incredibly sleepy.

“School’s cancelled. They called a snow day.” Beau says, and Jester shoots up.

“Really??” She exclaims as she runs to the window of their shared bedroom, and sure enough, the snow that started last night had continued heavily all through last night, and had no sign of stopping. The sun wasn’t quite up, but the white of the snow gave everything a soft brightness, including their room. 

Beau grins. “Yeah, I was really hoping they would. I do not want to go to my morning classes in this.”

“Beau, you never want to go to your morning classes.” Jester says, and checks her phone for the cancellation confirmation emails from her professors. 

“True.” Beau confirms as she searches her side of the room for a pair of socks.

Jester pulls her pair of unicorn slippers from underneath her bed. “Let’s go tell Fjord!”

“Shouldn’t we let him just sleep in?”

Jester shakes her head, already heading to the door. “No, he’ll freak out and think he missed his class. Besides, I’m too excited and I wanna tell him.”

Beau and Jester step out the door of their shared room, and walk down the hallway of their apartment to Fjord’s room. They had gotten a two bedroom apartment near campus at the start of the school year, and it had been the best. The three of them met during orientation and had stuck close together ever since. 

Jester knocked gently and pushed the door open to Fjord’s room, who was still fast asleep in bed. His room is much smaller - barely any room for his twin sized bed, his little desk, and a dresser. With Beau and Jester sharing a room and needing space for two beds, they had taken the larger one.

“He looks like a supermodel even when he sleeps, it’s not fair.” Jester whispers to Beau, who just laughs.

This makes Fjord stir, and as he’s slowly opening his eyes, Jester practically jumps on his bed, with Beau following.

“It’s a snow day!! It’s a snow day!!” Jester cheers, and Fjord groans and flops back down after the initial shock.

“For real?”

Beau holds her phone up to Fjord’s face. “Yeah, check it out!”

Fjord looks, and then smirks. “Oh, nice. Also a text from Yasha came down when you were showing me the email.”

Beau pulls her phone back quickly and Jester screeches, trying to wrestle the phone to see.

“Ooooh, what did she say, Beau?”

Beau jumps off the bed. “Fuck off!”

“Fjord! You saw it! What did it say?” Jester asks, still sitting on Fjord’s bed but watching Beau with intent.

Beau turns and walks out of the room. “Fuck you guys, I’m making coffee!”

“Can you make me some too?” Fjord calls out to her, and she affirms but grumbles something about him not deserving it.

Fjord gives a knowing smile to Jester. “I have a feeling that Beau’s not going to spend her snow day with us.”

She grins and wiggles her eyebrows. “She’s gonna spend it with Yasha?”

Fjord makes the same expression back at her, and then starts to get out of his bed. “I’m gonna go use the bathroom before Beau claims it.”

-

Beau does in fact, eagerly take up Yasha’s offer to spend their snow day together, leaving Fjord and Jester in the apartment by themselves with nowhere to be. Jester makes a suggestive joke about her and Yasha staying warm, and when Beau throws one back at her and Fjord, she blushes and is incredibly grateful Fjord is out of earshot.

Jester insists that her and Fjord start their day off by making snow angels and playing in the snow. With them both being west coast kids, neither of them got to do this as children very often. After Jester’s fourth snow angel, she reaches her hands up to ask Fjord to help her up, but instead purposely pulls him down into the snow and their snowfight commences. It mostly consists of snowballs, but tackling is fair game and Jester eventually wins when she makes a running jump onto Fjord’s back, knocking them both to the ground and he falls face first into a snowdrift. Shivering, and with their fair share of snow down their shirts and backs, they finally decide it’s time to go inside and change into warm and dry clothes. 

Breakfast comes next, and it’s the perfect day for pancakes and hot chocolate. Jester would argue that every day is good for pancakes and hot chocolate, but there is something special about a gigantic stack of decked out pancakes and extra marshmallows in your mug on a snow day. 

“Fjord,” Jester starts, biting into the very last of her pancakes, “Do you want to watch a movie?”

“Sure. Can I take a shower first though? I’m still kinda cold from the snow you put down my shirt.” He replies, and takes their dishes and puts them in the sink.

“Of course! I might take one too, I think my hair is a little frozen.”

Fjord interrupts her before she can continue. “Dibs on having a shower first! I don’t want you to steal all the hot water.”

Jester laughs and calls out to him as he walks down the hall. “Think about what movie you want to watch!”

-

After they both have their showers, Jester pulls the duvet from her bed onto the couch and grabs herself a bowl of caramel popcorn, much to Fjord’s dismay.

“Aren’t you still full from breakfast?”

Jester shrugs. “I mean, kinda, but I really wanted popcorn.” She tosses some into her mouth. “I’m assuming you don’t want any, then?”

Fjord shakes his head, and settles onto the couch under the blanket. “Nope! Besides, I wouldn’t have caramel. The original salt and butter is the way to go!” 

“Suit yourself! You’re missing out.”

Fjord turns to her and turns the TV on. “So, what movie do you want to watch?”

“Oh, I’m good with anything. You?”

“Is it weird if I say I want to watch something that takes place somewhere warm?”

Jester laughs. “Of course not!”

Fjord looks a little sheepish. “I just got warm again. I’m not as good against the cold as you.”

“Want to watch Moana?” Jester suggests with a smile. She knows it’s secretly one of Fjord’s favourite movies. 

He grins. “Always.”

They’ve both seen this movie a million times. They sing along to every song, Jester a bit louder than Fjord, and they quote the lines along. Fjord does end up stealing some of Jester’s popcorn, and Jester knows when in the movie to subtly pass tissues over to him because he always ends up getting choked up.

What Fjord doesn’t expect, is that Jester has slowly been inching closer to him. He’s not sure if she is doing it subconsciously or not, but he selfishly likes it. He knows he’s had a crush on Jester for ages, and isn’t entirely sure if she likes him back. Beau has called him out on it, getting tired of the underlying romantic tension, but he’s terrified that if she doesn’t like him back, he’ll ruin the entire house dynamic. He knows he needs to tell her. He’ll tell her at the end of this semester - that way if she doesn’t like him back, she has an easy out if she wants.  

“Fjord?” Jester quietly says, and Fjord forces his attention back to her and the movie.

“Yeah?”

She snuggles in closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I bet it would be fun to go wayfinding. Or even just sailing.”

Fjord raises an eyebrow at her. “Oh yeah?”

Jester hums. “I think it’d be fun. Maybe one day we could go.”

“Well, maybe eventually I can buy or rent a boat and we can sail our cares away. I’ve got some experience, I can show you the ropes.” He replies softly, almost wistfully.

He feels Jester smile against his shoulder. “I hope so. I’d really like that.”

She then pulls herself even closer by casually draping her legs across Fjord’s under the blanket, almost sitting in his lap. He pauses for just a moment before wrapping an arm around her, gently tucking her into his side and she happily melts right into him. His heart is fluttering about in his chest, and any thought of the outside cold is far, far away from his mind.

--

It’s much later in the afternoon when they’re working on their papers and readings in their respective rooms, and Fjord hears Jester bounding down the hallway, calling his name repeatedly and incessantly. Before he can even ask what’s up, she appears in his doorway.

“Fjord! You’re not doing anything for reading week, right?” She asks, almost breathlessly.

“Uhh, no? Probably just ending up being an awkward third wheel to Beau and Yasha when I’m not working, why?”

Jester is practically bouncing. “Wanna fly back home for the week? To the coast?”

“What?!” He says in absolute shock. “What do you mean, I don’t think I can afford-”

Jester interrupts him. “No, no! I was just talking to my dad, and…” She takes a breath. “So, after watching Moana I kinda missed home a bit? Like being by the ocean and beach? I mean this snow has been super fun and I love it, but I kinda miss home a bit, too, you know? So I’m on the phone with my dad and I told him I was maybe wondering about coming home for reading week in a month, and he offered to pay for my ticket! And THEN said I could bring a friend too if I wanted.”

Fjord’s shock has only grown. “That’s expensive! We can’t accept-” 

Jester cuts him off again, trying to calm him down. “It’s ok, it’s ok! One of the tickets is through his like, flying points! And he has to make up for all the birthdays and holidays he missed when he wasn’t around. Do you want to come? We’ll stay with my mom so we don’t have to worry about a place to stay.”

Fjord is truly stunned, still processing. “I mean, if he’s sure… that’s very generous of him.”

Jester jumps up, and throws her arms around his neck, giving him a little kiss on the cheek. “Wonderful! I’ll go let him know!”

Fjord blushes. “Thank you. For inviting me, and tell your dad I sincerely thank him.”

Jester beams, and starts singing “You're welcome!” as she walks down the hall back to her room. 

Fjord leans against his desk and places his head on his hands, still making sense of what just happened and what’s ahead of them. Jester’s (potentially) mob boss father just paid for their plane tickets to go home and they’ll be staying at Jester’s famous actress mother. But more importantly...

He’s going, with his crush, on a week’s trip back home with just the two of them. Who just gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

Surely everything will go just fine.

#i wish tumblr formatting would let me make actual spaces between sections #anyways let me know if you like it (and agree that fjord would love moana) #fjoresterweek #fjorester #critical role #critical role fanfiction #fjorester thoughts

[arcturusreads]

Hi do you accept prompts? If you do, here’s one: Hayes taking care of Meredith at home when she gets a stomach bug

Soup and Sickness - Merhayes

I'm most definitely accepting prompts right now so thank you so much for this one! I hope you enjoy x

Meredith Grey did not cope well with being ill. She hated it. She worked in a hospital; her immune system was stronger than most as a result. So, when Meredith did get ill, all hell broke loose because doctors made the worst patients.

Amelia, Maggie and Meredith had gone out for dinner the previous night, a chance to catch up as sisters without any men or kids involved. Apparently, the seafood pasta was not a good idea because Meredith had been throwing up since they’d gotten home. She cursed herself for even deciding to order it. Usually she was a steak person but the one time that she decided that seafood was a good idea she ended up with food poisoning. That would teach her.

After a restless night, Meredith was determined to try and make it into work but after throwing up twice in the space of half an hour, Maggie had called Bailey telling her that Meredith wasn’t coming into work today. So, once the kids had left for school and Maggie, Amelia, Link and Winston had gone to work, Meredith was left moping on her sofa, half dosing off as she yelled at the daytime tv talk show.

“Of course, you shouldn’t marry him! Why would you marry a man that hates your dog!”

Meredith was stopped from throwing the remote at the sceen when the doorbell rang. Groaning, she pulled herself upright and to her feet. She wrapped the Ellis’ unicorn fleece blanket around her shoulders, slipped her feet into her slipper and shuffled over to the door. The constant throwing up had made her feel exhausted and even though the nausea had begun to pass, she still felt awful.

Pulling open the door, Meredith was ready to yell at whoever was bothering her argument with the tv until she saw who was on the other side.

“Were you ever going to tell me that you were unwell?” The thick Irish accent was like music to her ears.

Stood there in dark wash jeans, a grey shirt, holding Tupperware, Cormac Hayes did not look best impressed.

Rolling her eyes, Meredith shuffled her way back to the sofa. “Close the door on your way in!” She called over her shoulder.

She was just getting comfy laying on the sofa again when Cormac came in, placed some Tupperware on the table and lifted Meredith legs so he could sit before resting them back on his lap.

“Grey, you know as your boyfriend some might say that I’m privy to some information about you. You know, like when you’re feeling unwell and calling in sick.”

Meredith twisted her body so that she could see Cormac properly. She could tell from the look on his face that he wasn’t joking around. Worry etched across his expression making Meredith feel bad for not saying anything earlier.

“Sorry, it’s just been a while since I’ve had to let someone else know about this kind of stuff.” Shuffling, Meredith sat upright. “I didn’t think it was a big deal, just some food poisoning, I didn’t think there was any point bothering you with.”

Cormac gave Meredith’s legs a squeeze, his features softening as he took in his girlfriend’s state. “Meredith, I’m always going to want to know about these sorts of things. You’re not bothering me by telling me.”

“I’m sorry,” she reached over and grabbed one of his hands.

Cormac broke into a small smile, “You don’t need to be sorry, Grey, just know you’re not doing these things on your own. We’ve got each other.”

“Always.”

The two of them couldn’t help but stare each other for a while. Even with Meredith running on three hours of sleep, in a worn-out hoodie and hair flying everywhere, Cormac still thought she was gorgeous.

“I bought that Tuscan orzo soup you like if you’re feeling any better.”

Cormac had invited Meredith down for dinner one night when the boys had a sleepover and she had fallen in love with the soup. He’d offered on multiple occasions to show her how to make it but Meredith stood by the fact that she would probably ruin the recipe and never be able to eat it again.

“I feel less nauseous, but I just want to sleep. I’m too tired to eat right now.”

She fell back onto the pillows and closed her eyes, relishing in the quiet of Cormac’s company. Suddenly, she felt her legs being lifted and placed back onto the sofa. Frowning, she opened on eye and found Cormac looming over her.

“Get up,” he demanded, shrugging his jacket off and placing it on the arm of the sofa.

“What do you want?” Meredith couldn’t help but be a bit whiney as Cormac took her hand and pulled her up to sit. Why didn’t this man understand that all she wanted to do was sleep.

Cormac took her seat beside her, kicked off his shoes and laid down on his side, pulling Meredith back to lie down again and wrapped his arms around her torso. He kissed her cheek before pulling some of her hair out face. Meredith drew herself closer into his cocoon, savouring the warmth that Cormac provided her.

Before her eyes fluttered shut, she turned her head around to face Cormac who quickly kissed her before she could say anything and couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him. She wouldn’t admit to Cormac how much she loved the affectionate side of him, he already teased her about way too much.

“You know you’re going to have to leave before everyone comes back, right?”

“I know, Grey. I checked everyone’s schedules before I came over.”

Meredith murmured in response, getting herself comfortable again.

“You know, I’m pretty sure they think we’re dating anyway.”

Yawning, Meredith replied, “I promise we’ll tell them soon.”

Not waiting to hear if he responded, Meredith fell into the best sleep she’d had in a while.

#merhayes #cormac hayes #meredith grey #mcwidow #mcwidows #cormac x meredith #meredith x cormac #excuse me whilst i rearrange the alphabet

[spacebird-diaries]

Sisters

Bailey turned over in bed, her brain too full of noise to sleep.  She peered at the alarm clock on the nightstand – 11:30.  At this rate, she’d never get enough sleep for school tomorrow. And trying to fake sick for the third time in two weeks would only get her into trouble.

Sighing heavily, Bailey pushed her stuffed unicorn aside and reached for her slippers.  Phoebe was across the room, dead asleep in her own bed.  Bailey couldn’t turn the lamp on, but there was just enough moonlight coming through the window that she could sort of see.

Bailey opened and shut the door as quietly as she could, slipping down the hall with hardly a sound.  All she needed was a drink, and maybe a snack.  Just something to distract herself with.  She was almost to the kitchen when she heard voices in the living room.

“I just don’t know where I went wrong with that girl,” her mother was saying.  “Why she’s turning out like this.”

“Sweetheart…”  Bailey’s father’s voice was tired, heavy with something Bailey couldn’t quite grasp.  “You know how often she and Portia would get into fights.  It’s not your fault.  It’s just… In her nature.  She’s short-tempered and volatile, and she gets that from me.”

Bailey froze, pressing against the wall.  Were they talking about her?  Or Phoebe?

“I had my share of scraps with my brother too,” Mom countered.  “But she’s getting so violent, Sam.  And she’s only twelve!  I’m worried! I mean, listen to this: ‘I’m so full of rage.  The kids at school won’t quit bugging me, and I know there’s some kind of joke I’m not in on. That I’m some kind of joke to them.  I want to hurt them.  I don’t like that about myself.’”

Bailey’s eyes widened and she pressed a hand to her mouth.  They were talking about her.  Worse, they were reading her diary!  That was supposed to be private!

“She’s clearly not getting along with the other kids at school,” Bailey’s mother continued.  “We might have to pull her out if this keeps up, homeschool her.  I keep getting called into the office because she threatened to bite someone’s face off or something!  She punched Amy Baker’s little boy the other day!”

“Isn’t he the boy that tried to invite her to the church social because he was worried about her going to hell or something?”

“That’s the one.  I know, I’d probably have bopped him too at her age, but that doesn’t make it right!  Besides, she broke his nose.”

He deserved it, Bailey thought to herself, crossing her arms and balling her fists up.  Stupid jerk said I was gonna burn in hell just because I didn’t go to church and read vampire books instead.

“Ava, honey, I really don’t think it’s as bad as you’re afraid.  It’s not like she wants to hurt the other kids, after all.”

“It is exactly as bad as I’m afraid!” Mom’s voice was rising despite her best efforts.  “That girl is trouble.  Something’s wrong with her and I don’t know how to fix it!”

Bailey bit down on a sob, hating the way she flinched at that.  Something was… Wrong with her.  She was broken.  She’d known it, but hearing her mother echo it unprompted…  It hurt.

Bailey pushed away from the wall, teeth clenched to keep herself from crying, and snuck back up towards her room.  She didn’t feel like getting that snack anymore.  The bedroom door slammed behind her, and Bailey winced, curling away from it.

“…Bales?”  Phoebe sat up in bed and turned her lamp on, the shade casting light around in moon-and-star shaped cutouts.  “What’s goin’ on?”

Bailey sniffled, hot, angry tears finally welling up in her eyes.  “I – She – It’s –”  Her words fell apart faster than she could form them, punctuated by wet, gasping sobs.

“Oh, shit.  Uh, c’mere.”  Phee opened up her arms.  “I know Ed’s hugs are better, but let me try.”

Bailey threw herself across the room, scrambling into her big sister’s bed and trying to fold herself into Phoebe’s smaller frame.

They sat like that for a while, Bailey muffling her sobs and Phoebe tucking the blankets around her little sister’s shoulders. A knock sounded at the door.

“Girls?”  It was their dad.  “We heard the door slam.  Everything alright?”

“It’s fine,” Phoebe called, protective arms pulling Bailey close.   “Just a nightmare.  We’ve got it handled.”

 “…Alright then.”  He clearly didn’t believe Phoebe, but he didn’t argue.  “I hope you sleep better.  I’ll see you in the morning; I love you.”

Phoebe sighed.  “Love you too, Dad.”

Bailey pulled back, peering at her sister with red-rimmed eyes.  “I’m sorry.”

“Shush.”  Phoebe booped Bailey’s nose.  “This is what big sisters are for, after all.  Not just stealing your shirts and embarrassing you in front of cute boys.”

Bailey giggled, rubbing the back of her hand over her eyes.  “I keep telling you, I don’t like-like Gavin.  He’s just a friend.”

“Suuuure.  And you’re totally playing knights-and-wizards in the woods every Sunday as friends.”

“…Sometimes we pretend we’re enemies?”

Phee sighed and shook her head.  “Whatever.  Now go on – I have band practice in the morning, and didn’t you say you had a test first-hour?  We both need sleep.”

Bailey stuck her tongue out at her sister, but slid off the mattress and crossed to her own side of the room.  “Fii-iiine.  But you gotta wake me up when you get up.  I need to cram for that test.”

“I’ll try, but you sleep like a log.  Don’t blame me if you get a bad grade.”

Bailey smiled and snuggled down into her blankets, dragging her stuffed unicorn close.  “…Hey, Phee?”

“What’s up, buttercup?”

“I love you.  A lot.”

“…I love you too, Bailey-bean.  Now get some sleep, okay?”

“’Kay.”

#for reference bailey is twelve here and phoebe is sixteen #Bailey Adler (oc) #Phoebe Adler (oc) #i just made gavin up so he doesn't have a last name yet #debating crossposting this one to ao3 despite the fact that it has literally nothing to do with superheroes #and can fit into any modern au that bales and phee are both in #ficlets #bailey's relationships

[autistic--cryptid]

weird mlp things i think about sometimes:

murder is canon

france is canon

there is a single tree that prevents the entire country from being eaten by some vines and plants and it can’t do that without a few rocks

when starlight stops the rainboom we know this prevents the mane 6 from meeting and thus harnessing the elements to defeat nightmare moon, discord, chrysalis, sombra, etc. but then in the first future we see sombra took over meaning something still managed to defeat nightmare moon, discord, and chrysalis without the mane 6 and that is never explained

also the castle is in ruins in the actual future. when the mane 6 reach it in s1 ep2 it is completely destroyed, meaning it broke even more during the 1000 years between nightmare moon’s banishment and return. nightmare moon returned and then just rebuilt the whole fucking thing between whenever she got back and whenever twilight got there

when twilight arrives in the future we never see that future’s twilight. does she just not exist? did she die upon princess twilight’s arrival? she’s still a unicorn and bc she didn’t get into celestia’s school she’s probably in canterlot so do we just not see her bc she’s there? then what about when canterlots taken over like by the changelings? what happened to her?

pinkie pie’s parents looked at her and went “well fuck, this one’s pink, we’ll just name her pinkie i guess”

the sun and moon have to be raised by celestia and luna and yet there’s still episodes where we see the sun raising on its own (the royal problem, school raze, etc.)

we know unicorns have magic, and pegasi have magic via flight (twilight’s kingdom explains this), and were led to believe earth ponies have magic relating to the earth and crops but we also see tons of pegasi and unicorns working with plants (strawberry sunrise, twilight when she picks all of the apples at once in applebuck season, the students in celestia’s magic school that make plants with potions) so what do earth ponies do

each unicorn has a specific set of spells they use relating to their special talent (rarity’s gem spell) but other unicorns can just recreate it so ???

the fandom is canon

cosplay of the is canon

landlords exist and paying jobs exist but not everyone with a house has a paying job but some ponies without paying jobs need to get jobs to get houses. we don’t see fluttershy get paid ever but she has a house but then zephyr breeze needs to get a job to get a house

celestia and luna sleep with their shoes, crowns, and necklaces on but luna also has slippers beside her bed. does she take her shoes off to put her slippers on or does she put her slippers on over her shoes. we’ve seen both of them without their royal attire before why don’t they just take them off to sleep

ponies and horses and seperate beings and only one has cutiemarks

starlight is repeatedly shown to have magic that can affect cutiemarks

cutiemark magic is different nearly every episode it appears in so what’s actually going on there

alicorns can be pegasi that earn their horns or unicorns that earn their wings but we’ve never seen an earth pony earn wings and a horn

war is canon

russia is kind of canon

we know ponies control the weather as shown in hurricane fluttershy, winter wrap up, the fall weather friends, etc. but also we rarely see these things happen in the show so like how do they control the weather

weather is controlled by pegasus emotions but also not

dnd is canon

villains in mlp range from a couple of con-men to literal murderous dictators

the cmc and starlight have similar talents but no one acknowledges that in the show

anthropomorphic cats exist but also regular cats exist and regular cats are pets but anthropomorphic cats are like people

g1 characters are canon in g4 so does that mean humans once existed in equestria or is it only some characters. did ponies and humans roam freely through the mirror and then something happened that turned you into a pony or human upon crossing through it. what happened there

also what’s up with the mirror in general

pinkie clones just exist and no one in equestria questions it

the beatles are canon but with pinkie as ringo

the map and the way ponies talk about different cities don’t really connect all the time and it’s super weird

#peyton says things #special interest #feel free to add on #long post #tw// murder #tw// death

[binniedeactivated]

𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐨 𝐔𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭. || k.th

─▸🖤 ❝ @[@𝐛𝐮𝐠𝐬𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠.. ]

✎𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐭𝐚𝐞𝐡𝐲𝐮𝐧 𝐱 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧!𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥

✎ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞

✎ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭; 4k

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬; 𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒; 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

“daddy! can you read us a bedtime story?”. 

“yes daddy pretty pretty pleease with a cherry on top?”.

both of the girls jeered while slipping into their pink princess themed beds. taehyun always admired how cute his daughters were. they were twins so of course they had the same face. their father’s eyes, small bottom nose, pudgy little lips and sugar brown skin. even their hair was the same, big bushy and curly spiraling down their mid back. their identical features often gave their friends and teachers a hard time but it was something they all thought was pretty funny. 

“it’s almost 11pm. way passed your bedtime. if you guys go to bed earlier tomorrow night daddy will read you a bedtime story okay?”. taehyun promises, squatting down to each of their bed frames to plant a soft kiss on the both of their foreheads. 

taylor huffs her breath and rolls her eyes. taehyun always found her spurts to be amusing. only because she inherited the same attitude as her father. 

“why can’t you read it now? we’ve been good!”. 

“taylor? do you not remember when daddy told you both to clean your mess in the kitchen and you both walked away?”. taehyun responds. she crosses her arms.

“the maid can clean it”. 

“taylor mommy says even though we have a maid we’re still responsible for our own mess making”. taelyn mutters softly. she of course inherited her mother’s traits. very independent and has a mind of her own. 

“exactly. thank you taelyn”. 

taylor huffs her breath again and crosses her arms. taehyun chuckles. 

“I love you both. alright? tomorrow I promise. get some rest”. he strolls to the light switch and waits for them to turn over and clutch their unicorn plushies like they always did. and once that happened he switched off their light and closed the door softly. 

he walks down the dark upstairs hallways towards his bedroom. well not totally dark. the room just before his bedroom was dimly lit. it was the surrogate’s room. by request from his wife she wanted the surrogate to stay with them so they could take good care of her during the pregnancy. and even though she was sound asleep when taehyun walked passed her open room door he felt disturbed. 

she always gave him a weird aura. he tried to brush it off for the sake of his wife but it was a gut feeling he couldn’t deny anymore. he enters his bedroom to see his wife turned over in bed reading some book she’d been trying to finish this past week. taehyun thought she always looked so cute and nerdy when it was time to go to bed. she always put her curly afro in a top puff and she wore reading glasses to help her see better. he enjoyed this look more than any expensive makeup or outfits she wore daily. yeah he knew she looked good in both. but this was his favorite. 

he takes off his slippers and slides in bed beside her and bends his arm, laying his head on his hand. he reaches his other arm over and pulls her closer to him.

“sweetheart? can we talk about something?”. 

“hm? what is it baby?”. she asks with her eyes still skimming over the book. 

taehyun sighs. “you sure about this?”. 

“sure about what tyunnie?”. 

“like, the surrogate stuff”.

she closes her book and turns her head towards him, their faces now only centimeters apart. he peers down at her with serious eyes. 

“why wouldn’t I be sure about it? what other choice do we have? I can’t have kids anymore and I’m sorry about that”. 

he intertwines his fingers with hers. “no you don’t have to apologize about that. I love you and I’m grateful for the beautiful twins you gave me. it’s just--the surrogate she gives me this bad feeling melanie. I don’t know what it is but something is off about her”. 

“bad feeling like what? I think she’s fine. she’s beautiful, sweet, and most importantly she’s black so I feel like I have a connection with her and I can trust her more”.

“I know baby but you don’t ever get a bad vibe around her? at least sometimes? I even walked passed her room just now and felt disturbed”. 

melanie immediately starts chuckling, ghosting her lips over taehyun’s. “aww? my little tyunnie can’t handle anyone else in this house being pregnant but me?”.

taehyun being the sucker for his wife as always couldn’t help but smile back at her even if that wasn’t the case. she was just so pretty and he admired her beauty in every aspect he could. 

“that’s not even it”. he tries to defend himself, but was interrupted by her cooing and constant pecks on his lips. once she was finished she cupped his cheek with her hand and let her thumb brush over his lips.  

“i’ll talk to her tomorrow okay? like a heart to heart talk to get to know her a bit more. maybe we’ll go out for coffee. i’m sure she’s just a normal woman seeking to help out a family iike ours. that’s what she said in the interview at least”.

“we can’t always trust interview answers”. 

she laughs and playfully hit him on his shoulder. she turns over and continues reading her book. “get some sleep baby okay? she’s fine. we’ll be fine”. 

and the sincerity in her tone was enough to make taehyun believe her. well at least believe her enough for him to get some sleep. but it definitely wasn’t enough for when he woke up in the middle of the night. all he could hear was glasses clinking downstairs. he knew the maid was always sent home earlier in the day so that couldn’t be her. he looked beside him to see melanie sleeping soundly. 

“sweetheart”. taehyun whispered hoping it was enough to wake her up. he even taps her a little. but she was a heavy sleeper and there was no way she was getting up especially at this time of night. figuring he’d have to figure it out on his own he grabs his robe and slips into his slippers. 

he walks down the hallway to the girl’s room and opens the door. they were sleeping too. and the last time he checked, the surrogate’s room door was closed. he couldn’t tell if there was an intruder or what, but tyun make sure he grabbed something to hit them with just in case. 

he clutches the metal baseball bat while going down the stairs. his heart pumped as he heard the glass clinking getting louder and louder. he noticed the living room was dimly lit. he made his way there letting the darkness of the hallway swallow him whole until he reached his destination. he stopped in his tracks at the sight. 

the surrogate, peyton. sitting on the couch in lingerie with nothing but candles decorating the coffee table. she glares up and smirks when she’s sees taehyun. she cross her legs and drinks the wine she was pouring into her wine glass. 

“oh hey. I was expecting you”. she slowly rubbed the small pudge in her belly reminding tyun that she was 4 months pregnant with him and melanie’s first baby boy. his heart sank. 

he knew he was right about her. 

“what the hell are you doing?”. he harshly whispered, his angry face shown brightly above the candlelight. she puckers her bottom lip. “oh? did I make taehyun angry?”. she smirks. she sits the glass down, sashaying her way over to him seductively. she ropes her arms around his neck and taehyun swore if she wasn’t a woman he’d hit her upside the head with the bat by now. 

“I don’t mean to make you angry. I don’t want to stress you at all since you’re the father of our child”. 

he pushes her away from him with fire in his eyes. “that’s not our baby. that’s me and melanie’s son you’re carrying. and if you ever cause yourself wearing my wife’s clothes and trying to seduce me again so help me god--”. 

“what? what the fuck are you going to do taehyun? you can’t do anything I’m pregnant”. she licks her lips. “and soon we’ll have this big house to ourselves. all of this money to ourselves. and I’ll finally have a husband of my own”. 

taehyun reaches his hand over and clutches the flap of her robe tightly with a clenched jaw. the rage in him overpowered any other emotion he held. 

“if you touch my wife and kids words can’t explain the shit i’ll do to you”. 

she grins and clutches the pocket knife she kept. she circles the tip of it along taehyun’s neck gently. “you won’t do anything because your stupid ass wife loves me. but soon she’ll be gone. and those little girls you have? will be nothing but ashes. what you don’t understand is that when I want something I get it, kang taehyun. and i want you. and there isn’t anything you can do about it”.

taehyun clenches his jaw once more at the thought of it all. 

“I will kill you”. 

she backs up from him, giving him a small hmph before cleaning up the mess she made. she places the wine glasses in the sink. she grabs the candles and blew them out, tossing them into the trash one by one. 

she then walks back towards taehyun and grabs the bat, hitting herself in the face with it. her cries of agony was loud enough to wake up the whole house. 

in nothing but anger taehyun grabs her like before. “what the fuck is wrong with you?!”. 

“help! help me please!”. she shrieked and she got just what she wanted. melanie rushing downstairs toward the living room trying to figure out what the hell was going on. all she saw was taehyun clutching her clothes with a tight grip and peyton looking absolutely helpless. 

“tyun? peyton? what the hell is going on down here?”. 

peyton starts shaking for good measure, touching the growing bruise on her face. “he h-hit me”. 

“he did what?!”. melanie yelled. 

“baby I did not lay a finger on her she’s a liar!”. 

“why is her faced bruised up then tyun? and why the fuck are you gripping her like that?! she’s a woman and on top of that she’s pregnant! have you lost your damn mind?! I can’t believe you’d even do something like this”. melanie rushes to peyton’s aid, touching her face and her belly making sure everything was still okay. 

“you alright girl? what happened?”. 

“h-he doesn’t want me to have your baby. he doesn’t like me. I came down here to get something to eat and he just let his anger out on me i don’t know why”.

“that doesn’t even fucking make sense! melanie why would you believe her and not your own husband?”. taehyun defends. melanie waves him off. 

“just go upstairs I don’t even want to talk to your ass right now. I’ll deal with you later”. 

and taehyun swore, he swore once he finally got to walking away he saw the smirk flickering at peyton’s lips. 

he didn’t want a baby anymore. 

he wanted to kill her.

#tomorrow by together #kang taehyun #taehyun #taehyun imagines #taehyun drabble #romantic suspense

[shintorikhazumi]

I Have Two Sisters?! Chapter 3: Three Sisters, Many Scars, and A Day Out

A/N: Warning! Long? Longer than usual? Chapter? I already split it into 2, mind you. Wasn’t able to hold back. Haha. Sorry bout that. Sorry if this took too long as well. Some of you may have seen my crazy activity in LWA recently. I also have college starting up again so… really, many apologies.

I like to think Claudine is very sweet and gentle with Diana, but very cheeky with Weiss. And Weiss is soft and awkward with Diana, and is almost always fondly annoyed with Claudine. And Diana just loves them both because her younger sisters are so pretty and nice to her and they make her breakfast, and they aren’t anything like the cold, abusive people her old family was like.

I don’t drink coffee so I had to google, “coffee maker parts” for this chapter, though I doubt I used that knowledge lmao.

Their house kind of has a kitchen connected to the living room. Kind of like… the Starlight dorm’s? Wait I don’t remember.

This also got  delayed coz my dog died a while ago during the time I wrote this, and I felt like shit. So. Yep. But it’s alright now!

Also, I know I said love interests maybe at chapter 3, but this was getting too long so I had to move it to the next chapter which is already half done and will be up shortly after this one! Maybe by tomorrow or within next week, hopefully, because a storm is coming to our area. Might have no power. But for sure the three silly (in their own way) brunettes will be there. Definitely!

NOT BETA’D AS ALWAYS! :> I’m… I’m shy about asking for betas.

Enjoy?

~Shintori Khazumi

School.

Right. That was a thing.

And it was going to start in about two to barely three weeks from now. It was enrollment season for many, and that did not exclude the university Claudine and Weiss were to attend soon. They had been discussing this in the kitchen as they prepared breakfast, Diana still deep in slumber. The girl seemed to sleep in often these days, but well… that was mostly the fault of the two younger sisters.

During one of their chats, they had learned that Diana had always been overworked as a child (just like a certain someone Claudine knew), and had rarely had the chance to rest. They took this opportunity of freedom to give her just that. Even if that freedom basically spelled out how little their father cared about them. So long as they were still alive, he’d have many cases lay off his back. Well, they didn’t care for him either, so it was more advantageous for them to have little to worry about with many things provided for them without strings attached. Being able to do what they wanted was a perk they were willing to make the most out of.

Still, it was nearing school time and they had realized that they were yet to hear of Diana’s plans in terms of studying. Weiss and Claudine had already been enrolled by their father in the aforementioned university which specialized in the arts; the man had done his research on Claudine, it seemed. But as for Diana, the pair had no clue of her status in terms of going to school again, nor could they recall her mentioning any course she was interested in- other than their limited knowledge of her relationship with medicine from articles they’d seen, and stories they’d heard from the girl herself. But was that still an option at this point? What did Diana want to do; she hadn’t mentioned any plans to continue pursuing it, had she?

Huh. That was odd. Considering all the talking they had done these past few days, attempts at getting to know each other better, it seems they had yet to know enough about their housemates.

As if summoned by their silent inquiries, Diana appeared on the threshold to the connected living room and kitchen, rubbing drowsiness away from her tired-looking eyes. On an odd sense of instinct, Claudine walked over to the sleep-addled woman still stuck by the doorway, blinking in confusion, as if wondering about where she was, what she was doing, and why there were two ladies cooking what looked to be breakfast for her.

“That’s because we are cooking breakfast for you. And for us too.” Claudine giggled softly at Diana speaking her thoughts out loud; taking the latter’s hand, she patted a few difficult strands of curly hair down with the other, and began righting Diana’s appearance- her shirt and cardigan slipping off her shoulder while her slippers were on the wrong feet- and the former heiress quite liked that, being pampered. She never really was despite having so many maids in her previous home. She also liked this person who was guiding her to take a seat at this nice wooden table, and this equally nice person had given her a cup of some very nice coffee. “I hope this will wake you up some. You truly are an odd child.”

Diana nodded her thanks, taking a sip from the mug that had her name on it (she really liked that) and a regal picture of a unicorn because Diana Cavendish was not that childish. It was a little sweet, and she liked that too. Very unlike all the bitterness she’d forced down her throat as she toiled nights away for the sake of her family. This was a nice change.

But who were these ladies?

“You know, you’ve asked us the same question almost every morning when you wake up.” Weiss sighed fondly, already accustomed to Diana’s odd habit of speaking her mind, as well as being so lost to the world in the mornings. The first time it had happened, Claudine and Weiss had thought that Diana was talking to them. Apparently, that was not the case. “At this point, we’ll have lived together for twenty or so years and you’d probably still ask.” The silver-haired girl made her way to the table, placing down some pancakes as Claudine followed suit with some eggs and bacon.

“Maybe there’s nothing quite memorable about you, then.” The golden-blonde teased, biting back a hiss as Weiss smacked her shoulder. “Brutal…”

“You’re brutal.” Weiss flipped her hair over her shoulder, before taking one of Diana and Claudine’s hands in each of her own. “The other day-”

“That was one time! And that man was committing theft. Were we supposed to let him run away?” Claudine defended, slightly offended.

“Well, I didn’t expect you to be capable of smashing through concrete-“ Weiss was cut off by the soft, sleepy voice that was Diana, along with a grumbling stomach from the now-blushing girl.

“G-grace…” She reminded, and the two halted their bickering, smiling at Diana while rolling their eyes at one another playfully.

After saying grace for their meal, they dug in, the younger sisters secretly enjoying the many emotions that passed through Diana’s face every meal. It reminded them of when they had gotten burgers for the first time. Weiss admitted she was the same before Winter had snuck in some of the world’s greatest (and unhealthiest) fast-food delicacies, but did she really look like this at the time? Diana never having tasted cheap bacon was preposterous!

But they reminded themselves not to go overboard with junk food and cheap meats. They had health to consider after all, as pleasant as it was to spoil their older sister.

The meal went on as it always did in this household, a few chats here and there, some random inquiries, Diana booting up her awareness as the sleepiness slowly faded away, remembering that she now had two siblings to live her life with each day until who knows when. A wonderful affair as always.

Finishing her breakfast first, Diana stood up to take her plate to the sink for washing. Still feeling slightly out of it, she spotted the coffee maker still half-full with coffee and thought it would probably do her some good to have another cup.

Placing her dishes in the sink, she reached over to grab the carafe, overhearing her sisters’ chatter and turning around to watch them as she poured the liquid into her mug, she felt familiar tremors in her right hand, a warning siren going off in her head as the pain that immediately shot through it caused her to hiss and drop both her mug and the glass jug containing relatively hot coffee, both items crashing into pieces against the kitchen isle floor. Such a loud racket alerted her siblings who rushed to her side in a split second.

“DIANA?!”

“Are you okay? What happened?”

Diana felt her whole body shake along with her hands, but mostly out of fear than anything else. She’d messed up again. She’d broken something that wasn’t hers, she’d made a mess on the floor, and she’d ruined the adorable pony slippers Claudine had been nice enough to secretly get her after she stared at them for nearly twenty minutes on a department store shelf. They were probably mad. Claudine and Weiss. They would no longer be kind to her after her mistake. And after a mistake… a punishment. That’s what was next. Always. Diana knew this in her very soul.

“S-s-sorry…” Stuttering out an apology, she bent down to pick up the broken shards, ready to clean up before she was beaten; maybe if she fixed her own messes and prostrate before them, she’d receive their mercy-

“DON’T TOUCH IT, YOU IDIOT!” She saw the hand come quick, her eyes bracing themselves shut, waiting for the hit to come…

…but it never did. Weiss held her hand up carefully, pulling her out of her slightly crouched position she had subconsciously gotten into.

“Claudine, could you like, take her to the sofa before she gets hurt even more? I’ll do the clearing.”

“Can a princess do something like that?” The youngest still teased, but worry was interlaced into her tone. Weiss scoffed at that.

“If you have time to entertain me with your jokes, make sure Diana is fine instead.” Weiss playfully kicked Claudine’s butt, getting her to move along, pushing Diana in front of her with careful guidance.

Once the trembling girl had been situated on their couch, Claudine began checking for any visible injuries on her elder sister’s hands and feet, sighing in relief when she had found none. “Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere? Burns? Cuts?” She asked for good measure. Seeing Diana shake her head no, Claudine gave a sigh of relief, turning around to tell Weiss that all was well, and that she’d be going to draw a bath for Diana and get her a change of clothes and wash the soiled garments and slippers.

Before she could leave, a hand caught the edge of her shirt, still quivering lightly. Her heart clenched at the quiet, broken voice, and equally broken question. “You’re not going to hurt me?”

It looked like Weiss had heard the question too considering the sounds of running tap water from the kitchen suddenly stopped.

A frown came over the actress’ features, and that seemed to have scared Diana even more. Claudine immediately noticed, switching to a softer but still worried question as she crouched down in front of the sad girl, hands rubbing gently over her knees before taking shaky hands in hers.

“Why would we?” She asked in a whisper. Weiss may not have been able to hear them, but she continued to watch the exchange, leaning back against the sink, arms crossed, brows furrowed. If anything were to happen or she was needed, she’d rush right over. For now, she’d let her younger sibling deal with it as she seemed to be better at these things.

“Because… I made a mistake… I broke things… and the slippers…” Tears welled up in Diana’s eyes, and two hearts clenched in painful sympathy.

“No, no, no. Sweetheart. That was an accident, that wasn’t your fault.” Claudine frantically wiped away the running tears, signaling to Weiss for some tissues. “Okay? Okay? You can keep crying if it makes you feel better, but we’d rather you calm down and take a bath now so that you can relax and not have to think about any bad things, okay?”

The younger girls did not know what the hell Diana’s family had put her through, but they’d wreak havoc and bring that hell right back to them if they had to. This was outright abuse! For such a lovely lady like Diana to be scarred this deeply, both physically and psychologically, it was just so wrong in many ways.

Keeping their fury reigned in, they gently coaxed Diana into taking the much-needed bath, closing the door with a reminder to call for either one of them should anything come up. With the assurance that Diana could take care of herself for a few minutes, they made their way back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up.

“I swear, I’ll be put in prison for murder one of these days.” Weiss muttered, squeezing the sponge a bit too tightly, froth covering her hand.

“If you’re going to kill someone for Diana’s sake, at least don’t get caught.” Claudine shot back, though the nails digging into her palm spoke a lot about how much she agreed with Weiss’ sentiments.

With everything in place, and the accident laid to rest, the pair plopped on to the couch, sighing out their internal tension.

“I wonder… about what else happened with Diana… Now that I think about it, we never really got to know much about her.” Weiss mused, referring to the incident many nights ago, on their first day together, when Diana had that nightmare. “Cavendish…” Weiss recalled to the time when they had checked the woman’s identification after she’d fainted at their door. Really. All her first memories with Diana weren’t the greatest. Though she could probably say that it was the same for all of them towards one another.

“I did some research on that.” Claudine shared, pulling out her phone and showing it to the silver-haired woman. “Cavendish Medical. Diana did say that her family was of the elite type.” A short groan escaped before the woman continued. “But one of the largest medical chains internationally at that, somehow I can now see why Diana ended up like that. I also somehow get why her face isn’t so well-known despite this fact.”

Weiss moaned out her frustrated pain as well, understanding where this was getting at. “It’s that shitty old man, isn’t it? Because she’s an illegitimate child and all that jazz?” Slapping her knee, she stood up in irritation. “Couldn’t they have just, like, adopted her or something then? And she isn’t completely Unrelated to them. What the hell.”

“I can see that the two of you have certainly been through that. ‘Heiress’ stuff and all.” Claudine made a random circular motion in the air. “Schnee Digital Corporation.”

“Can we not talk about this?”

“Sure.”

“…”

“How rare of you not to continue your taunts.”

“I know how stressed one can get in the presence of an infuriating woman.”

Weiss laughed at that, not really getting it, but she felt like she would in the near future. It never hurt to ask anyway, though. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I know how to shut up when I have to.” Claudine laughed along, shaking her thoughts clear of a certain regular intruder in her mind.

As the two slumped against their couch in comfortable silence, they heard the muffled sound of a voice from behind a door interrupting their hush. “I… I think my hair got s-stuck.” And that was enough reason for them to get up and walk over to the bathroom, only to see Diana struggling with the shower head, hair tangled about it while she sat in the tub. How that happened, they had no clue.

“Just what are you up to?” Weiss muttered under her breath, moving towards Diana anyway, gently detaching light-green curls from metal.

“I’m sorry…”

With an affectionate sigh, Claudine sat herself on a stool by the tub, taking the showerhead from Weiss. “Come on, let us help you finish. We don’t want any more mishaps.”

“I- I can… bathe myself.”

“We know you can. But we want to help.”

“B-but!” And they felt the girl in their hands tense, curling into herself just as she did many times before, as if to hide herself. And as their sight registered why, with clarity, their hearts bled.

They hadn’t noticed it as clearly before, but now there was nothing to cover the many scars that littered over the surface of ivory skin. There were a few bruises that were beginning to heal, and they couldn’t help but wonder if those were inflicted right before Diana escaped to the peace they now lived in. With clenched teeth, Weiss grabbed a bottle of conditioner, channeling her anger to her fingers as she squeezed the bottles contents into her hand and tenderly ran her fingers through curled locks.

Diana’s hair smelled of the scent of the shampoo they bought from a local mart, but her hair, as nice as it was, didn’t have that certain slippery-smooth feel. So Weiss believed this was the next step the girl was about to do.

Claudine reached for the shower setting knob, spraying her hand with water as she adjusted the temperature to the perfect degree of comfort before rinsing the soap off her older sister’s back. She grimaced at the sight of more scars. They were a vast variety. Long, short, wide, thin… it made her sick to know that people truly could lack the heart to be able to inflict so much pain on an individual.

They worked in careful silence, the younger sisters working their hands gently and efficiently. Diana would occasionally jolt, wince, or whimper, and the pair would have to force their frowns away as to not cause the eldest further anxiety.

As the last drop of water fell into the tub, they stood Diana up and helped her dry off, covering her body with a bathrobe as they moved to the girl’s bedroom to get her hair dried completely, and get her changed into comfortable wear.

Diana was grateful for their help. Really she was, but as she changed, she could feel the two worried gazes scanning nearly every patch of skin visible to their eyes as she slowly covered it up with her attire for the day. It unnerved her, it felt like she was back to being strictly monitored.

They must have realized her discomfort as they eased off, Weiss picking a brush up by the vanity, and Claudine sitting her down in front of it. “How about we fix you up? We have plans to go out for today, so maybe you could join us?” The latter proposed as both grinned, Weiss looking up hairstyles that would suit Diana’s choice of clothing for today.

“I- um... okay.” At first hesitant, but eventually relenting, the white-haired heiress got to work, trying her best to mimic the guide on her phone.

It was a silent affair, almost torturous for the eldest as she dared not look into the mirror lest she meet Claudine’s eyes, ever observant and watching over her. Soon enough, however, the ticking of the clock and the feel of the brush smoothing over her waves soothed Diana little-by-little, her breathing slowing as if she were being lulled to sleep.

And then that silence broke.

“Diana… “ It was soft, nearly a whisper, but not quite that. It was a shy call, something rare from the ever-confident Claudine that Diana had come to know. Then again, this was also the incredibly tender blonde she’s lived with the past few days. In that sense, she was very familiar.

“Y-yes?”

Kneeling down next to her vanity’s stool, Diana held a hand, still looking at Diana through the mirror. There was a secret twitch of nervousness on her hand, then a barely audible deep breath, as if the youngest was preparing her heart for a deep confession. Diana felt herself tense. “Diana... Could you tell us about your family? About you?” A shaky breath. “...a-about... your scars.”

She must’ve reacted in a worrisome way, as there was an immediate follow-up to that.

“Oh! You don’t have to force yourself if you don’t want to! If it hurts to talk about it then we can drop this.” Claudine frantically spat out, the touch of her skin feeling a bit warmer. “You don’t have to do it against your will. We were just worried and... those kinds of.. marks are definitely not normal- oh but we’d understand if they are too traumatizing that you’d rather not even recall them, much less speak of them-” She rambled on.

They were kind. So kind. Weiss hadn’t said anything yet, but Diana just knew she was the same. It was warm. Maybe she could trust them. If it were them... surely...

“Diana?”

Shaking her head to ease their anxieties, she flipped her hand over, palm meeting Claudine’s as she clasped her hand tighter than she planned.

“It’s... I... I want to. I want to tell you... because maybe... maybe you can... assist me.”

Two heads nodded, indicating that they were all ears. Feeling their sincerity, a smile grew on Diana’s face. With a deep intake of air, she began her story.

She had been borne healthy and full of potential, an intelligent baby, it seemed. However, potential or talent did not matter. Not to a family as traditional and tight-laced as the renown Cavendish House. A pregnancy out of wedlock was shame to the family, regardless of who the opposite party was, how rich, or how powerfully influential they were.

Why would such large figures care about money and frivolous social stances when they had their own more-than-fair share? Not to mention, Jacques Schnee was infamous despite all accolades. He was never a pleasing prospect to their great family.

And then one day, he pulled away, severing all ties to Diana and her mother. This had complicated their relationship to the main family even more, and hence they were sent to the branch house in Japan, living the rest of their days there. Until now.

“Do you... know how your parents met?” Weiss asked. Diana shook her head, no. She had never had the chance to really ask her mother as she had died when she was quite young, young enough to not have sense of the world yet; too young to comprehend her unfavorable situation.

Claudine couldn’t imagine how Diana felt. Though on the brink of losing her, she still had her mother, and had had the pleasure of being raised by the wonderful woman that she was; nurtured into what she was today. But Diana... Oh, Diana.

“After my mother passed, my aunt and cousins moved into the same house. My aunt claimed that she had been sent by the main family to... ‘rear’ me into the Cavendish I was expected to become.” A flash of fear passed blue irises, the speaker’s breath hastening noticeably. “Then the... scars. Their story. She...”

Unable to handle it any longer, Claudine lunged forward, wrapping the trembling girl in her arms, shushing her and soothing her, telling her it was enough. That she could stop if it hurt too much. Still, Diana wanted to carry on. She had finally found her voice to speak. She did not want to lose this chance. She wanted these people, ones she’d known less than her own similar-named kin, to understand. Because she knew that they would. That they would try. She wanted to try as well.

“When I turned fourteen, I had a grown slightly aware of my situation. I overheard maids gossip that my aunt, she had loathed my mother for years as the latter was more favored as the next matriarchal head. When the whole fiasco happened, she jumped at the chance to attain her most desired wish. Unfortunately for her, she still was not deemed good enough. And I... I was.”

A pause.

“...She took it all out on me. She defended that it was simply discipline. She claimed that she was refining me through the harshest challenges so I would be prepared for how the world truly worked. But all of that was clearly masked-”

“Abuse.” The pair responded, hearts heavy.

“Yes. But I was so deep in submission and mindless obedience that I could do nothing.” Then her eyes went steely cold. “One night, she had gotten herself intoxicated. She had apparently gone back to the main manor to ask for their reconsideration, but was vehemently rejected. I had taken an important mock exam that day, but had one single mistake... She said it wasn’t good enough. She went mad. She said... she’d teach me that perfection-it was the only way I’d ever attain what I wanted the most.”

Diana frowned.

“I now know that she actually meant, what she wanted the most. I’d rather have no part in it. But it was too late.” Squeezing her eyes shut, Diana saw the vivid flames of the fireplace, the dark room; she could smell the awful stench of cheap wine and burning papers. Worst of all, she could almost feel it again. “The metal whip she would constantly beat me with... on that night, she had heated it in the coals... she was deeply lost. Dreadfully so. She took my hand and said...

‘I hope this mark haunts you ‘til the day you die. That you’ll never be what you were destined to be.’”

Diana’s eyes fluttered open, cold as they were when they closed, face hardened and emotionless. She was now numb. There was no longer any pain to hold her back from divulging her deep darkness within.

“Father...” The word was so distasteful, they all cringed deep down. So unfamiliar and... wrong. “He knew about my... condition.” Two pairs of eyes saw that scarred hand go knuckles-white with their grip. “He said so in the letter, and he told me that... there wasn’t much use in re-enrolling me in a medical school  if my own family threw me away after finding out.”

“Finding out?”

“As you saw earlier, my hands have the tendency to suddenly shake, and my right...” Diana stared into her open palm in depression, clenching it into a fist frustratedly. “-the doctors said that my aunt had destroyed nerves needed for the finer motor functions of my hand. The tremors are no good. My family wanted me to become a surgeon for whatever field. I... can’t do that.” She smiled through a grimace.

“Diana...”

“So he told me to do whatever I wanted. The money was... there and all.”

Weiss grit her teeth, fury stirring up within her at the man’s utter lack of delicacy and consideration. It was cruel, how he threw Diana’s pains right at her face, thinking it could be solved with money and she’d feel chipper about it right away. He was always like that.

It wasn’t because their father ever cared about Diana’s background or family affairs that he gave her the freedom of choice; so probably by hearing rumors about Diana and her hand, he couldn’t be bothered to even help her out, leaving her to decide in her lost, unknowing state. How could everyone leave her to choose for herself after controlling her every action, thought, and future? And all of a sudden, as she became useless to them, drop her like a rag doll to do what she wanted. She no longer even knew what she wanted, much less know how to desire something, most likely!

“That’s it.” Weiss bit. “That’s enough, Diana.” She placed the brush down with a light thud. The sound must have scared the poor girl as she apologized profusely right away.

“S-sorry! You must not have liked my story; it must have been burdensome to hear something as depressing as that. I won’t speak a word of it ever again!”

“Diana.” Claudine called, cradling scarred hands in her own. “I don’t believe Weiss meant that in any mean way towards you. She just can’t bear to hear how hurt you are anymore, not right now. But we promise, we will continue to listen to you if you want to open up.” She ran her thumbs gently over fading lines, studying them intensely, before looking up to meet Diana’s eyes. “But right now, we think you need a break. Some fresh air.”

Diana nodded, finally noticing the sweat trickling down her brow, how her breathing was a little labored, and how flushed she felt.

“You’re shaking. Diana.” Claudine said sadly, reaching up to brush stray strands of hair away from Diana’s forehead. “Let’s have a change of pace.” Claudine smiled. “Weiss?”

They heard an audible huff come from the girl, before she nodded. “Fifteen minutes, then we can go.”

Claudine nodded back in agreement, rising up and pulling Diana along with her, getting ready to lead her to the hall. “We’ll go get our shoes on.”

“Great, you do that while I call for a car.” Weiss responded with a wave of her hand, phone already to her ear.

“…”

“...car?”

//-//-//-//-//

Impressive. Weiss’ car was.

Diana wasn’t one to be interested in such things, but staring at the pristine silvery white with royal to dark blue accents, she would say it was beautiful. Did people call cars beautiful? Or was Diana just odd, as she always was?

She heard Claudine whistle appreciatively. Maybe it was normal.

“How did you even get this here?”

“Had a worker bring it over.”

“From where??? So fast?!”

“Look, I don’t know the details, but this is just another way our… dude… squanders his money. He wants his children to, at least, look the part of being supported publicly. Stupid, but I’m grateful I have a car. Not to him, but to the universe or whatever.”

Claudine chuckled. “You really hate him, don’t you.”

“Absolutely.”

“Same.”

They shared a grin, before the French guided the eldest into the back seat, closing the car door securely before riding shotgun next to a Weiss tinkering with the stereo. Just as she clicked the seatbelt lock in place, Weiss chose her song and the car revved to life.

“This one goes to that bastard old man!” She yelled out her window. “FUCK YOU!”

“Th-there was an existing song with a title such as that?” Diana muttered from the back.

“Is that an appropriate song in this context?” Claudine laughed harder, amused by how crazy a driver Weiss was.

“Who cares? I just wanna flip him off.”

“Totally understandable.”

And they were off.

//-//-//-//-//

Claudine and Weiss knew they were supposed to head off to school right away to finalize some enrollment details, and pick up a few things besides their uniforms, but with the topic floating around earlier, and with Diana not knowing what direction to take academic-wise, they decided they could spend a little bit of time at the mall to divert her attention from all the bad things, then maybe over lunch, attempt a more pleasant discussion regarding school plans.

Also, something had been bothering the pair after they’d gone through Diana’s closet earlier in search of her outfit for the day. While she certainly wasn’t lacking wardrobe, the variety of clothes she had left much to be desired.

They were mostly formal clothes- gowns and dresses, some sleeping wear, a few blouses and dress shirts that didn’t seem like they’d be very breathable on a regular day out,  and a few slacks and pants. A few meaning… two pairs each.

It was almost as if Diana only ever got dressed to meet important people, and to attend lavish events. Probably not too far from the truth. Thus, she might not have needed anything akin to ‘party’ or ‘casual’, or even ‘sporty’ wear. They had found a few jogging pants in the far back, but they seemed worse for wear and only to be used for exercising and/or sleeping.

They were lucky enough to get her dressed in a loose-fitting pale blue button up, sleeves rolled up, because, “No Diana, you will not be buttoning up your cuffs and choking yourself with a damn thick tie, and you don’t need to wear a suit everywhere you go. You’re not going out for an interview.” , paired with one of her two pairs of jeans- a dark denim.

That would have to do. To top it- or bottom? Or round it all off, They had her wear some open-toed shoes, sandals with a little wedged heel at the back.

She was pretty. It worked. Even a sack of rice would have worked for someone as beautiful as Diana.

They would never make her try that though.

So after Weiss had dragged a completely bewildered Diana through all twelve of her favorite shops, they were now sat in a small cafe on the second floor, enjoying their slightly-late lunch.

Diana sipped on her tea like the little miss that she was, delicately placing the cup back down before cutting into her meal with all the grace and poise of some great medieval aristocrat that probably ate up all the etiquette books. Her back was ramrod straight, but somehow managing to look relaxed. She was this picture of elegance, and Claudine had already ran out of fingers to count how many people had stopped and done a double-take as they passed by their group’s table.

Weiss, as fiery and at times uncouth as she was with her language, and some mannerisms, proved to have some semblance of the same type of upbringing. And while Claudine grew up learning all these manners as well, the knowledge of them important for events at Seishou, she could not deny how stifling it all felt.

Should she have ordered something more… ‘graceful’  than her tuna panini?

“Um…” Immediately, she caught both girl’s attention, their eyes focused on her. “So…”

“So?” Weiss parroted, placing her fork down.

‘Huh? Wait a second, Claudine Saijou, what were you supposed to be doing, again?’  What had she wanted to say again? Or did she not really want to say anything, and simply wanted to escape this awkward atmosphere? Why were they in this situation? Why were they having lunch at the mall? Why were they outside? Why…

“Ah-”

“Ah.” Diana repeated this time. “Ah?”

School. They were supposed to be out today to attend to matters for school. School that was starting very soon.

“School.”

“School.” The pair mimicked.

“School!” Claudine raised her hands up, fork still in one of them and dropping a portion of her pastry on the table.

Weiss was about to scold her, before her eyes widened in realization. “SCHOOL!”

“School?” Diana was still confused, but seeing her sisters hurriedly finish their lunch pressured her to do the same, even if she didn’t have much to finish.

“Oh my god, I got too carried away. What time is it, Claudine?” Weiss mumbled, polishing off her plate, and still dabbing her face with a napkin like the true lady she was.

Claudine took a peek at her wristwatch. “Eh, uh.. umm, huh? Wait… it’s almost three?! Weiss! Office hours end soon! And we still have to get to the school!”

“We’ll get there!” Weiss replied, calling for the check, and rummaging through her bag for her wallet. Placing just enough bills to cover their expenses and leaving the change as a tip, the three girls rushed to the car-or well, two girls rushed to a car, dragging a third, clueless one behind them.

Weiss got her engine roaring to life and speeding down the highway (at an acceptable pace, because they were in a rush, not criminals), and managed to get to their school supposedly twenty minutes away, in under fifteen.

Claudine thought she would die with how Weiss drove in their mad run to make it to the university.

“We… we-” She wheezed, hand clutching at her chest. “We could have… I thought I died.” She knelt on the ground, as if praying. “Devil driver.”

“Shut it! You try chasing after time while in that kind of traffic.”

Claudine just waved her off with a hand, breathing still labored. “N-Never again. Never get distracted again.”

“Agreed.” Weiss huffed, locking the car with a click.

Diana stood there, hair slightly frazzled, but still looking the picture of dignity and grace. Weiss had a few wrinkles in her blouse, but otherwise was sparkling perfect. Claudine wondered how the hell they managed that after such a wild ride, at the same time hoping she didn’t look like the mess she felt she was in comparison to the two’s appearances. Really, what was it with heiresses and their impossible-to-ruin looks.

“Okay, children, chop-chop. It’s just about three-fifteen, and we can only guess what kind of terrible lines enrollment season summons. I do not want to find myself standing for an hour amongst seas of people.”

“Chil-” Claudine was about to protest, but decided against wasting more time, getting up and grabbing Diana by the hand and leading her behind Weiss.

This day wasn’t turning out quite as they had planned. Or didn’t plan.

//-//-//-//-//

So they had forgotten one little detail. Well, not little. More like… universal.

“Sorry, li’l ladies; but offices are closed for today. It’s Sunday, my dears.” The old gatekeeper chuckled at the surprised faces of girls who looked like they were just told that all their efforts of rushing had been in vain because… all their efforts of rushing had been in vain. “I wouldn’t blame you, however. Y’all look like you aren’t from around here, fancy-looking hair colors and all. I don’t know if it works different from where you come from, but over here, we don’t usually come to the office on a Sunday.”

Claudine just panted, making an incoherent sound of surprise. Was there really such a thing? She’d always walked into Seishou any day of the week, without rest- ah. Maybe she was just a crazy workaholic, then.

“Well, some schools prob’ly allow students to pick things up, but as for transactions and in-person meet-ups, I don’t think you little ladies have much luck. The headmaster of this school, at least, made sure that workers get Sundays with their families. Policy thing and all. It’s on somethin’ called a ‘webpage’? My granddaughter showed me yesterday, most bizarre thing I’ve seen.”

“Ah, yes. Of course.” Weiss, ever the spokeswoman of the group, nodded, taking note to look up said school’s webpage. They should have done so sooner.

“Sorry, girls.”

“O-oh, no, not at all. We don’t mind. We were… we actually- we were supposed to know this, yes.” Weiss stammered out. “We simply forgot is all.”

“Haha! Well, that’s all right, happens. You’re free to come back tomorrow, though. Although I advise you to come at a time waaay earlier than right now.” He winked.

“Thank you. We’ll remember that.” Weiss replied with a professional smile in place to end the conversation, just like she’d been taught in interaction. It may have seemed a little cold, but that was just something she was used to doing. She did enjoy the man’s quirky sweetness, though she’d never let it show.

The three made their slow walk back to car, no longer rushing for anything in particular. It was the low one experienced after the adrenaline rush. Well, it was time to head home anyway. They could afford to be a little relaxed.

“Weiss?” Claudine called as the car beeped unlock.

“Hmm?”

“Can you drive better this time?”

“…”

“Now listen here-”

//-//-//-//-//

Home.

They were finally home.

Right away, Weiss had sunk into the welcoming softness of their couch, subsequently switching on the television once she’d found the remote. Laying on her back, with legs hanging over one of the armrests, she listened to- more than watched- the steady drone of some random channel while hearing Claudine chopping away in the kitchen in the background.

Diana had gone straight to the bedroom to drop off her ‘spoils of war’, as Weiss had put it. For a rich girl, she was good at talking down prices to a bargain. It was truly a horrific war that reoccurred in each shop they visited, Diana’s feet sore and tired, and all she’d done was walk after Weiss.

For a few hours.

Returning to the common room, Diana spotted Claudine stirring what appeared to be a soup. It smelled amazing, and Diana felt her mouth water. She’d never really been excited for food back at her old home- er… houses, regardless of how extravagant every meal was. Here, however, the simplest grilled cheese had her taste buds squealing in delight, pleasured by the flavors and sensations of even the simplest dish.

Dishes made with tenderness, love, and care.

While waiting, Diana decided to take a seat on the sofa, joining Weiss in her... staring at the TV. They weren’t viewing anything in particular, not really paying attention. Weiss had begun to flip through the channels, Diana listening to the audible clicks of remote buttons. Boring shows, corny jokes, generated laughter were presented in entertainment and comedy channels. They both jolted in their spots as Weiss had jumped to an action channel that had just had some loud explosion go off, the volume up high enough to feel that sound blast through their entire body.

A few more button clicks, many more channels browsed; Weiss and Diana were growing more and more bored. Was Claudine done with dinner yet? Nothing interesting was showing anymore-

[“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”]

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

“A-A-AAAAHHHH!”

Three ear-shattering screeches filled the room in succession, making Claudine drop her ladel, whipping her head to check if all was alright. “Diana?! Weiss?!” She called, walking around the isle towards the couch. Then she saw two figures glued to one another in tight embrace, crouching into each other. That did not look comfortable. Turning her eyes to the TV playing some generic horror music of violin murder to accompany the scene of a bloodied, toothless woman, and it all clicked.

And she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pfft-” She attempted to cover her mouth, but to no avail. “AHA-pfff- I- I know I shouldn’t laugh, but-ha...ha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, what are you two doing?!” Claudine wiped a tear from her eye, walking the last few steps to stand behind the couch, patting two shivering heads. “Got scared?” She grinned, voice teasing while waiting for that spiteful response from one Weiss Schnee.

“S-scared?! No! N-no, I’m not s-scared! Says who? Huh? Come fight me!”

She got exactly what she desired, giggling in amusement as she stared back in challenge, right into glaring icy blues that could cut. She was beginning to ask herself if this was how a certain partner of hers always felt when messing with her. It made a little more sense. Wasn’t any less infuriating, though.

They held their gazes for a time, before Weiss sighed, backing off as she felt the trembling bundle still in her arms. Claudine also turned her attention there, worried. She picked up the remote from its fallen spot on the floor, switching to a shopping channel with elevator music. Great. The most boring of all channels. Hopefully it would be calming and uneventful enough. They had had enough surprises for one night.

“I’ll get back to cooking. You got her?” Claudine asked softly. Weiss nodded in response, and the youngest went off to finish her task; hopefully dinner would shift their gears for the night.

While she did that, Weiss had settled her back against the couch, Diana still quivering in her hold. She opted to rub comforting circles onto the poor girl’s back, hoping she’d feel better soon.

“You okay?”

A nod.

“You sure?”

Another nod.

“Don’t deal well with horror?”

“...It’s not that.” Diana separated herself from Weiss, now leaning against the backrest as well, staring blankly at the glowing screen. Weiss took note of how Diana’s hand was tucked safely in hers, and felt her lips tip up in a smile. “There was just so much blood.”

“Hmm… but weren’t you going to be a surgeon?” Weiss regretted the reminder as she felt the hand in hers flinch, along with the next words that left Diana’s lips.

“The blood just… reminded me of my own…”

They could hear something metallic dropping on the floor from the kitchen, along with a soft mumbled apology.

Weiss didn’t want to dwell on this topic any longer, not wanting Diana to remember more hurtful memories, simply humming and ending that particular conversation right there. The pair ended up watching a salesman trying to convince them that brooms weren’t made for sweeping, only flying, and since no one could fly, brooms were irrelevant, thus one should buy a vacuum cleaner instead for the home.

“That logic is stupid!” Claudine yelled from the kitchen, revealing that she had been casually listening to all that was going on in the living room. It was her way of looking out for the two in case something happened. While she trusted them that they were no longer going to enter any screaming sessions, one could never be too careful.

Silence reigned over them once more as more products were revealed in the show. The occasional scoff would be heard from Weiss or Claudine about ridiculous prices, or fake specs, but other than those sounds there wasn’t much.

Eventually, Diana had taken control over the remote and flipped to a children’s cartoon; some low-budget show, maybe? ‘Shiny Chariot and The Mystical Bear’, the episode’s title flashed across the screen. Weiss was about to comment on how bad the show might turn out to be, but sealed her mouth shut as she noticed Diana’s eyes glued to the screen, almost sparkling. Did she like things like this?

Hmm…

Time ticked past bit by bit, the occasional flash from the television would throw splashes of the shows vibrant colors onto parts of the room, then fade. Each time, Diana would gasp, and her hands would move, almost as if she were about to clap. It was adorable, Weiss thought. But she was also thinking of something else. A thought that had never left her mind for even a single moment that day.

“Hey, Diana?”

“Yes?” The girl responded, eyes never leaving the screen.

“What about you?”

Diana stole her attention away from the blaring display, turning down the volume with the remote in her good hand, tilting her head to the side in confusion at the question. “What about me?”

“Well,” Weiss exchanged a glance with Claudine who was ever aware, and all-ears on this conversation. They had to ask eventually, right? Hopefully it wasn’t a bad time, nor a sensitive topic.

“Weiss?”

With a slow intake of air, Weiss met similar-colored eyes, trying to look as gentle as possible, voice equally soft. “School. Studies. What do you want to do about it?” Weiss asked. She didn’t know if it was something Diana wanted to be talking about, or if the topic would bring her hurt, trauma and all. Claudine and Weiss really wanted to be careful.

But they just wanted, needed to know. “We’re not pressuring or forcing you to attend school or anything, if you don’t want to.” Weiss clarified. “It’s just that… we don’t feel comfortable leaving you here on your own in the day, coming home at who knows what time at night. I think Claudine and I both agree that we’d feel a little more secure knowing that we can see you around during the daytime, and possibly be together when we can.”

It was almost as if they were talking about watching over a child, not that Diana was one in any way. There was just this sense of desire to protect her from any more agony than she’d already experienced. Everything the younger pair had learned about Diana so far was so sad and painful, it made them the slightest bit anxious that something may happen to add to that, and they wouldn’t be around to be able to help.

“It’s not that we don’t trust you or anything, by the way.” Claudine added, closing the lid on the pot, finally done with the soup. “We’re…” She looked to the side, searching for the right words to pull out of thin air, before meeting Diana’s eyes. “We’re just worried, is all.”

Weiss bit her lip in concern. Were they being too overbearing? Towards someone they’d only been housemates with for a few weeks, and not having known one another before then; were they too intrusive into Diana’s private life? There was a chance Diana would be scared off, but it felt... necessary. To be able to lay this out on the table. After all, weren’t they family now?

Contrary to Claudine and Weiss’s troubles, Diana had found herself speechlessly touched. She’d never really had anyone show her concern, not after her mother passed. Her own direct bloodline rejected her with so much disdain and contempt, she truly felt unworthy of any love for something she didn’t even do. But this... It made her feel all warm, and her heart light to know that such kind people were now a part of her family. A real one, this time around.

That brought a small smile to her lips, thinking of where they would go from now. Despite knowing them  for as short a time as she did, Diana admired and cherished her two new sisters with all heart. She vowed she’d do anything to do better for them, to help them up as much as they did for her, and more.

Her mind continued treading happy thoughts, completely forgetting about the conversation they were having, and unknowingly increasing the anxiety of her waiting companions.

“D-Diana? Um…”

Right. Weiss and Claudine. They asked her something, and were still anticipating her reply. What had they been talking about? Ah, school.

School… huh.

Diana turned back to the TV, leaning against the couch. Enrolling. School. Studying. Diana had been prepared to study medicine all her life, but now that she couldn’t become the surgeon her mother’s family wanted her to be, she didn’t…. quite know what to do.

Of course, there were other options in the medical field, but she didn’t fancy said options at the moment because it only served to feed her now-recognized trauma. Medicine, it reminded her. Reminded her of so many things, both pleasant and… not. She still liked growing herbs and medicinal plants in their little garden that Claudine had helped her set up. It reminded her of her mother. That thought was both a joy, and sadness in and of itself. She had enough medical knowledge to possibly become a different kind of doctor, not necessarily a surgeon; but the history behind how she accumulated all of it was not the best experience.

She realized now that maybe, just maybe, she wanted to take a rest from it. What her whole life had been built to be.

Regardless, this didn’t make her thoughts any clearer, or give her a definite direction for a decision. She sighed, finally easing the growing tension that had settled in the air from all the silence and waiting, the only thing breaking the stillness first being the padding of Claudine’s feet as she made her way to the sitting area, taking her place at the other end of the couch, opposite Weiss.

“I never thought of this until now.” Diana confessed after long moments of ponder, finally speaking her mind.

Weiss and Claudine listened with all attentiveness.

“My life had been planned out for me; from beginning to end. What I would do, where I would go, when I would do this, how I’d do that. I’ve never…” She closed her eyes, picturing herself back then, a simple puppet, stringed along to the will of her handler. “-I haven’t really thought of wanting to do much else than obey and survive… and hopefully gain the love of my family.” She lifted her knees onto the couch, hugging them close to her chest. “A foolish wish on my part.”

“It’s not foolish.” Claudine interjected quickly. “Wanting to be loved isn’t foolish. It’s natural. Everyone wants to be cherished, and supported, and seen as they are. Understood. It’s not foolish.” She move closer to Diana’s side, taking a hand. “Never think that it is.” She squeezed. “Okay?”

Diana felt tears welling up in her eyes; not trusting in her verbal ability to reply, she opted to just nod. Claudine noticed the emotion leaking from her eyes, wiping them away ever gently, as gentle as she always was.

Weiss watched over the interaction fondly, before eventually sighing. Diana’s reply was welcome and all, but it didn’t answer much of their original question of what she planned to do now.

“Diana, do you still want to study medicine?” Weiss asked the important question directly, gaining the attention of the pair beside her. She received a shake of the head, no. “Well, um… do you have any other options? Or something else you wished you could’ve done before you were told that you had to be a doctor?”

Another shake of the head.

“Hmm…” This only drew more of a blank than anything. “Ah.” Suddenly she had a thought.

“Weiss? Did you come up with anything?”

“Sort of.” She shrugged. “Well, what are your thoughts on a change of pace?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Claudine and I go to the same school.” She pointed out, matter-of-factly. “If the worry was not being able to see Diana during the day, then wouldn’t it make sense to just… go to school together? All of us?” She directed the question more to Claudine.

“Weiss… we go to an arts school.” Claudine replied, confused. “That’s like… the furthest Diana could be from being a doctor.” As far as she knew her, Weiss wasn’t one for suggestions that were so left field, usually quite realistic, but maybe she was onto something.

“And? As someone who grew up in an environment quite like Diana’s, heiress things and all that,” She explained with a twirl of a finger through the air, “I can say that by experience, you’re made to learn all the most useless showy things.”

Claudine laughed at that. Well, maybe that was a valid point.

“I’ve known enough people to know that you have something like that up your sleeve.” She turned to Diana. “I’m sure you’ve had other interests besides studying medicine, right? Nothing like a job, or anything. A hobby?”

Diana thought long and hard. As she came into her last two years of high school, she had been made to focus completely on preparing to get into a good medicine-related program, and dropped anything unrelated to that goal. But before that, what had she been doing?

“Ah.”

“See? There is something.” Weiss smiled.

“Well… I remember my guardians signing me up to do painting and photography just as I entered my teen years. They even hired tutors and all.” Diana fished through her vague memories of the past, actually wondering if her camera from back then was alive and well. “It...was a hobby I actually grew to love. Possibly the first from all the other skills that had been pushed onto me.”

Diana continued to explain that as she was immersed deeper into the medium, the more she enjoyed. The Cavendish’s hadn’t minded it at the time as it brought some sort of prestige to their family. She also mentioned having played the piano since childhood to entertain guests in the event that she was invited by the main house to show off their genius charge, despite not finding use for her outside such functions.

“They had me stop eventually, however, as they weren’t the skills a doctor needed.”

Talk about tossing something away once it held no use or value anymore. It was really frustrating to know just how sad Diana’s background was before they’d met.

Weiss shook her head. This wasn’t the time for this. No more. They would be building a new present for Diana, and for themselves. Together. She wasn’t sure why she was so comfortable with the prospect of supporting one another with these people. Truly, it hadn’t been long since they’d met; and yet there was this sense of camaraderie and familiarity that they had possibly always wanted from a family that they’d found in each other. Maybe it was that.

Possibly the thought of starting with someone on a blank slate, with no preconceived expectations and assumptions despite knowing the terrors of their pasts. Or maybe it was because of that that they got along so well. Who knows.

What she did know was that she had the back of these people with her in this room, at this time, and she trusted that they’d have hers. They were family like that. Solving problems together. And speaking of problems, they just found out how to deal with their latest.

“Sounds like we can get you in.” Weiss nodded in assessment, taking in the latest information Diana had shared. This could work.

“Weiss,” Claudine turned to her, sighing. “Even so, this school is quite demanding. I’m not doubting our older sister’s abilities and-or experience, but…” As far as she knew, this was a special institute with students from all over the globe, coming to perfect years-worth of craft. Although their father had been the one to enroll them, Claudine knew from the letters and documents she’d received from him that her recommendations from high school played a huge roll in getting into a school that didn’t accept just anyone.

“Then we get a recommendation from her previous schools.” So Weiss could read minds now, apparently.

“That still isn’t a guarantee…” Claudine sighed again, but was slowly beginning to accept this inevitable plan of action. It seemed as though a motivated Weiss was an unstoppable Weiss. She should’ve taken the hint from the shopping and driving.

“Come on, Miss Actress. Where’s your thirst for flair? For adventure and beating the odds? Where’s the passion? On the stage? The world is your stage and all that jazz.” Weiss exclaimed dramatically, so unlike her. Almost as if she was playing a role.

Claudine rolled her eyes, smiling nonetheless. “This actress just got a reality check, thank you very much. And so many odds. I have enough to beat already.” She chuckled, thinking on everything that had occurred over the course of such a short time. Finding out who her true father was, hearing about her mother’s illness, discovering she shared the same blood in her veins as two equally unfortunate- or really, more unfortunate souls. “But I suppose, there’s always room for some excitement and a challenge.” She’d never let one bring her down. She always did love a good challenge.

“Perfect! So your on board.” Weiss cheered, turning to the most important piece of their plan. “And what about you Diana?” She asked, softer, kinder. “Do you want to maybe try this out? With us? We know we might not seem all that trustworthy, and you haven’t known us lo-”

“I trust you more than you know.” Diana cut her off with a smile. “Thank you. For all you’ve been doing for me. You truly have yet to understand the depth of my gratefulness towards you both. Thank you.”

Her sincerity pierced through their hearts, melting them as Diana always did. Weiss actually thought she’d cry. A time and place for everything, though.

“Well!” She exclaimed, getting up from the couch. With a shrug, she commented offhandedly, “If all else fails, guess old moneybags might just be good for something.”

“WEISS!” Claudine gasped. “Are you suggesting we bribe the school? This honorable institution?!” Despite her words, she was smiling, almost laughing. Whether Weiss was serious or joking, it was absurd… and incredibly plausible.

“I know they might not accept Cash, okay. Calm down.” Weiss flipped her hair over her shoulder. “That’s why I said, ‘if all else fails’.” She spoke with air quotes. “I’d rather not do it either, y’know? Dirty our hands like that old man. Though I would love to drag him through the mud with rumors since we will indeed use his oh-so-good name,” Diana actually giggled at that one. “I’d rather we not get the same backlash.”

Claudine folded her arms in front of her, processing it all. It sounded so unrealistic. School was going to begin in just about two weeks, need she remind them! Would they have enough time to get everything ready? But then, this was the same Weiss who had a luxury car delivered to their door in a mere fifteen minutes.

“Oh Claudine, Dear Claudine, why do you fret?” Weiss laughed, putting on an obnoxious facade in Claudine’s very honest opinion, like one of those irritating rich girls back in France. “Trust in me and the power of connections.”

“Thought you hated those connections.”

“They’re useful.” Weiss shrugged, confident in their plan. There was also Diana’s family name to consider. From what they’d known so far, they were quite famous and surely had a pull of power somehow. She was sure that it would be of value as well.

“Scary. You people are scary. Heiresses are scary.” Claudine muttered, resigning to this decision. “Whatever. I’ll help out with what I can.”

“Perfect!” Weiss clapped, hand already typing away on her phone.

“Guess this means we won’t be meeting that old man tomorrow, huh? Claudine mused, thinking back to the gatekeeper they’d met earlier in the day. After all, they needed to prepare for Diana’s enrollment. Their business was simple enough and could wait until the same day. “I wonder if he’ll actually remember us and wait for the three foolish little girls to come back earlier.” Claudine looked to her sisters for their thoughts.

Diana simply shrugged.

Weiss actually thought about it for a moment, pausing her actions, a finger tapping against her cheek.

“Nah.”

A/N: As always, I welcome any and all feedback! It really helps with the motivation and like… my personal growth. Thank you for reading and til next time!

~Shintori Khazumi

#rwby x lwa x starira #Little Witch Academia #shoujo kageki revue starlight #revue starlight #rwby #saijou claudine #weiss schnee #diana cavendish #I Have Two Sisters?! #fanfic #crossover

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 42: Talon's and Tea Leaves

"I thought you could only see Dementors if you saw someone die?"

"They're not thesterals you dumbass!"

James groaned as he struggled to open his eyes this time. For a moment he thought he hadn't accomplished it at all, before he realized they were in a very dimly lit room, but at least it was quite warm. Sitting up slowly with still shaking hands, he found himself in a very pleasant cushion, a roaring fireplace behind a teacher's desk only a few feet away.

Sirius and Regulus were already up and aware, bickering with each other, and the others were getting more unsteadily to their feet and glancing all about them to make sure there was truly nothing more about to pop out at them. Where they were exactly though was a bit of a mystery.

One quick glance out the nearest window showed him to be looking north, and as high up as they were and in a circular room no less, he was positive they must be in a tower. It was odd though, as the North Tower wasn't used in his time, so he really hadn't a clue what the tea set up all around was for, nor the plentiful cushions instead of seats like a class would normally have. In front of him was a steaming blue teacup just waiting to be drunk.

There were two books in front of him, one he vaguely recognized as Harry collecting while he was in Diagon Alley, and the dark purple book leading them around this madness. He'd never cared about Divination a single moment in his life before now, but he continued putting the obvious together rather than dwelling on anything else. "I think we're in Harry's new Divination class."

"Figure that out all on your own did you?" Frank rolled his eyes as he looked through the teachers desk curiously. James was beginning to think he'd actually like this guy if he weren't such a prick, he had a natural curiosity about him that clearly, without anyone around to enforce them, he was all to willing to indulge. As of now, he wasn't taking the accusations thrown at Sirius any more lightly from some Ravenclaw who didn't know a damned thing about his best-friend.

"Well get to reading, would you Prongs," Remus prompted, sitting on a poof so forceful beside him, he felt compelled to see if anything had come out.

"Eager to get to your classes?" Wormtail chuckled as he came over and helped himself to some tea.

"Urgh, I still can't imagine it. Moony, at the front of the class!" Sirius snickered as he sat down on his other side and began nudging James' foot. James kicked him in the shins before he began.

James still didn't continue right away. He really wanted a chance to talk to his friends, really have a conversation about this future and all that seemed to have happened to them. This was extremely private though, and not just because of Moony or even Padfoot. He just wanted some time with his friends again, back in their dorm. He'd always loved being the center of attention; nicking students textbooks to juggle them, telling raucous jokes, chasing the Snitch about, but always at the end he'd crept off to his dorms and have a late night conversation just the four of them before bed.

Judging by their expressions, the others felt the same, but there was nothing to be done for it except power on. "Talons and Tea Leaves."

"Well, we got the second part," Peter smacked his lips in appreciation as he'd finished his glass in record time.

"I swear you've scalded all your taste-buds off," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"It's good," he defended, reaching for a clean cup to pour more. "Much better than bags."

"Must be bitter, I've not seen any sugar," Remus looked genuinely hurt for this misfortune, it was likely all that was stopping him from making his own cup.

"The one time I don't have any honey on me," Sirius smirked.

"Bloody hell, they won't shut up about the damned chapter title." Evans grouched from the opposite side of the room. "We're never getting out of this blistering hot room."

James watched her for an even longer time than usual, but for once couldn't think of anything to say to her. He'd always been endeared by her, the ferocity in her every step, how intense she was over every subject, especially him. He fancied himself the hero who was going to rescue her from Snivellus the useless idiot. She'd spurned him, but never enough the thought had ever crossed his mind she wouldn't see what he was doing eventually. Now though, if she really thought so little of Sirius? Surely she didn't mean it, thinking him a murderer? The flare wasn't truly gone, but he looked away lest something he would actually regret passed his lips towards her.

Malfoy was a pleasant distraction, the git.

"Somehow I doubt that boy's as funny as he thinks he is," Lily scowled in Potter's direction, then her brow furrowed when he glanced up at her and looked away remarkably quickly. "Not that this is a new development for boys." She finished pointedly. He made no reaction, and her feelings quickly rose to true bafflement. She twisted a strand of her hair around her fingers in curiosity for a moment, before she decided she didn't care and turned away.

None of them were paying Hermione's little conundrum any real interest. So the girl was taking some extra classes and worked them into her schedule, however she and McGonagall had pulled it off likely wasn't interesting in the least.

Regulus muttered to himself when Hagrid announced boasting about his coming class. He'd tried striking up a conversation with Sirius, to try and talk to him and see if he couldn't find out what had spooked him around that Dementor. He'd never imagined a look like that could appear on his face, and he truly just wanted to help. Instead he'd been insulted and the prat had walked away to be with his friends once again after his ignorant comment, now he was left by a trapdoor in the floor as the kids in the book struggled to find the tower they'd been dumped into.

"Well she's going to be a character!" Alice burst out laughing for the description of this Trelawney professor.

"She already sounds like a fraud to me," Frank muttered without interest as he finished shuffling through her papers with nothing interesting to note. He plopped down in her high-backed chair and surveyed his surroundings, admittedly enjoying the atmosphere provided.

"Why's that?" Lily asked in surprise, as she continued looking through Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky. None of it was really any more fantastical to her than turning a rabbit into a pair of slippers.

"Well it's all a load of tripe, obviously," Frank looked surprised at her. "None of this stuff is real," he waved vaguely around the room, where a crystal case of glass-balls could be seen, there were some medallions of unrecognizable symbols on a few patches of carpet, and the ceiling above had smoke imprints that may have more significance than Lily had guessed.

"Why's that?" She repeated even more curiously.

"Yes, do enlighten us Longbottom," Sirius sneered from his poof. It was hardly an intimidating posture, crossing his arms while sunk into a giant purple cushion, but he still somehow thought he managed it. "Continue telling us what is and isn't true from your wild experience."

Frank scowled a bit without looking over, continuing to address her as if there had been no interruption, almost. "Me mum's always been very clear about this load of tosh. You can't predict the future, even magic has limitations and that's one of them. Certainly no such thing as Seer's, prophecies, and signs from the beyond."

"We use unicorn horns as potion ingredients," Lily still sounded more polity argumentative for Frank's position on this than anything. "How is that more outlandish than applying astrology in practice?"

"What's that?" Frank blinked in confusion.

"Oh, I know this one!" Potter's hand suddenly shot up as if he really were in some class again, the eager look back upon his face speaking around her now present again. "Muggle's use it to define things about their birth based on the stars! Evan's is an Aquarius, that symbol that looks like a mouth."* He looked quite proud of himself until she turned incredulous eyes on him. He looked unabashed for several more moments before he actually realized she was just staring at him with that expression again, the one she'd had on her face since the train. He quickly turned back away, unwilling to diagnosis what this new feeling she was directing towards him was so long as she was still holding to not acknowledging Sirius' innocence.

"I see you've actually been paying attention in your Muggle Studies class," Pettigrew finally broke the silence when Potter hadn't continued right away, just kept staring at the book again like he was waiting for something. "Professor Burbage would probably give you ten points if she were here for that."

"I thought we were supposed to be doing that assignment over our own astrological symbol?" Sirius accused.

"She suggested it," he shrugged without remorse, before finally continuing on.

The class continued in mostly uninterested silence. Frank and Lily did not pick up on their conversation again, and James kept reading absentmindedly through Trelawney's chatter as he tried, for once, not to think of her. He finally got a reprieve when all four of them burst out laughing at Harry receiving a Grim in his cup.

"Oh that's brilliant," Sirius chortled hardest of all, now eagerly grabbing for his own cup and pouring himself a glass. "Think I'll get a stag?"

"I doubt the point of the exercise was to get your favorite animal," Alice rolled her eyes at them, but was ignored as they continued with this game.

"Nope!" Peter popped the p for emphasis as he looked gleefully into his cup. "I got a bloody rose! Maybe I'll find true love," he snorted, setting his cup down with an eye roll.

"According to this," Remus was flipping curiously through pages while still sipping his own, "it means deep emotion, friendship, infidelity, and betrayal."

His friends continued another round of snickering, while Remus repeated the process on his own cup he'd just finished. "Ooh, I got a lightning bolt. Wonder if I'll be the next Boy Who Lived."

"Merlin I hope not, it would be awkward as hell to be related to you," Sirius smirked.

Remus ignored him and pointed at what he'd found, "apparently it means 'you will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.' Merlin, are all of these just depressing?"

"I got something that looks like a set of wings, or maybe a bird?" Sirius was squinting and tipping his head from side to side to try and get some kind of visual.

"That could either mean peaceful, or an enemy." Moony snorted.

"I'm genuinely disappointed it wasn't a Grim," James snickered, refusing to admit the plummeting feeling in his gut as he eyed his own cup and swore he saw the same. He hung around with a 'grim,' once a month and wasn't going to let a cup spook him now. Before his friends could ask about his, he kept going on with Harry's time.

The situation was made even funnier when they reached McGonagall's class and his own son ignored the lesson on animagus'. It took everything in him not to laugh at that.

"McGonagall's a breath of fresh air to those kids," Frank snorted, hoping to instigate Lily into talking again, but she was swirling the dregs of her own tea around and just looked forlorn now. He stood up from the desk and circled around so she couldn't miss his apologetic smile in the shadows. "Sorry, if err, I offended you. Over the whole-"

"Oh, no," she quickly said, placing the chipped blue cup back down and giving him her whole attention. "Just, distracted," she casually flipped the book shut as if it had suddenly bored her.

"Right, yeah," he awkwardly rubbed at his neck and left her to it, more disappointed than he thought he'd be Potter had quickly burnt through the next lesson over something in Transfiguration. The change of topic would have been nice.

Lily smiled distractedly again until he turned away, trying to convince herself surely it was a coincidence she'd seen a snake...

Regulus was growing a little jealous of the meal the trio of kids were enjoying, even if they were still bickering over it, so was happy enough when the subject was changed. He was still avoiding his own teacup, he didn't want to tempt fate like Aunt Misapinoa was always going on about. If anyone was a real Seer, it was that woman, and he couldn't understand why Sirius was laughing all this off. Still, he knew his brother had a liking for magical creatures, and this one should be easy enough to engage him in. "I've a friend who's taking Care of Magical Creatures, and he hasn't mentioned anything about Hippogriffs."

"Not all teachers follow the same plan," it was Lupin who looked up and explained polity enough, his tone surprisingly gentle and calm for never having directly spoken to him before. "This is a bit advance, we didn't do these until our fourth year, but Hagrid may be showing off a bit."

"You didn't take Care of Magical Creatures?" Sirius didn't look up, but instead snorted crudely into his cup. "Let me guess then, Arithmancy and Study of Ancient Ruins."

"The two you didn't look twice at, too difficult for you," he snapped, quickly growing tired of his resistant brothers constantly fluctuating ability to look at him. The idiot truly seemed incapable of making up his mind if he wanted to talk to him or not! It seemed impossible he could come to any decision ever, let alone one so monumental as murdering people!

His mental tirade came up short in surprise at the thought, and he sucked on the inside of his cheek for a moment trying to analyze further if he had anything else to back this thought up as Potter continued.

Hagrid was doing quite well. The lesson was truly enjoyable, until Malfoy got involved. The git.

"I wish that hippogriff had ripped his whole bloody arm off, the insolent brat!" Sirius snarled in frustration.

"You know, it may be Padfoot, that comments like that make them think you're capable of such violence," Peter offered helpfully, even pointing his thumb to the three unimpressed faces.

Sirius grumbled for a moment before turning purposefully his seat. "I'm not going to defend myself from a bunch of idiots who don't know how to take a joke!" Then he turned back and looked quite pleased with himself for it.

James let out a little huff of breath that none of them could decide if it was suppressed laughter or annoyance at his best mate egging them on. They certainly all grasped what the following expression was as he read out Harry's reminder of Sirius Black supposedly being out there stopping his son from going to see a friend! He muttered tersely under his breath until his heart melted in sympathy for Hagrid. Then he wanted to dump his head in the water-trough again for suggesting any child of his shouldn't be wandering around school. He instead warned the chapter was near completion, and they all did whatever they could to brace themselves for the next skip.

*The symbol is actually supposed to be water, or waves or something, but that's what I thought it was at first until I read it.

#reading the books #fanfiction #Harry Potter #Marauders #Wolfstar #Jilly #Remus Lupin #Peter Pettigrew #James Potter #Sirius Black #Regulus Black #Lily Evans #Frank Longbottom #Alice Smith

[starshineskyandthepowerofrock]

Stuff You Wouldn't Think To Find

Part 23 of Starshine, Sky, and the Power of Rock

The portal kinda feels like how sparkling water tastes, if that makes sense. I meet Sky on the other side to find her shaking magical shimmers out of her hair.

"They really like sparkles over here, don't they?" she says.

I wiggle and watch the glittery particles fall from my pajamas. There's Sky's pencil next to my slippers! I pick it up. "Hey, look!"

Sky smiles and puts the pencil behind her ear for safe keeping. She looks around. "Any idea where we are?"

I shrug. It's super dark in here. The portal glows pink next to us and Sky's eyes glow blue so I can see just around me. But everything else? I haven't got a clue. "Do you know a light spell?"

"I know a 'make lights brighter' spell. It's a duet."

I don't see any lights to make bright in here except... hm... I put my hand through the portal again and swoosh it around a little. I pull back out with a handful of magical sparkles. Sky sings each part once for me, then I sing the melody while she sings the harmony. The sparkles glow brighter until we can see everything within two feet of us.

"Oooooh!" I say.

The walls and ceiling are a whole lot closer to us than I'd expected. We're in a super tight hallway, it looks like. No windows, no doors, nothing but what looks like an endless corridor. My heart's going again. I wonder what's down there! I've never explored a palace before, especially not an enchanted one!

Sky and I creep down the hall, our footsteps muted by our slippers. "Do you think that portal's always been there?" I ask.

"No clue," she says. "I feel like we would've noticed. Can't imagine why they'd put a secret passageway in a common room. Must be some kinda... magical glitch."

"Do you think your piano playing opened it? Like, on accident?"

Sky chuckles. "C'mon, you think I could do that? With a normal piano?"

I shrug. "I dunno. I've seen you do other cool stuff."

"Like what?"

"Like when you beat that guy in a guitar battle? That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!"

Sky doesn't look amused anymore. "Thanks," she says.

"Oh, um, sorry, i-is that a sore poi-"

"It's okay," she says a little too loud. She softens up a bit. "Thanks -- uh -- really, I'd forgotten I'd done that."

"See? So, you are cool!"

"You're pretty cool yourself," she says. "I wouldn't think you'd be up for something like this."

"Like what?"

"Ya'know. Sneaking around. Doesn't seem your speed."

I giggle. "I snuck around all the time back on the moon!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really! My friends and I used to sneak each other out of our bedroom windows and go hang out after curfew," I giggle. "They'd love you."

"Huh, maybe I'd love them too, then. You'll have to introduce us if that can happen."

"I sure hope so," I say, only to notice that feeling in my chest come back. Hmm. Time to change the subject. "Where do you think this leads?"

Sky scrunches her eyebrows a bit. She's quiet for longer than I'd expect. "I've got a theory but I'm not sure it's a good one."

"At least you've got one, right? Lemme hear, lemme hear!"

She takes a glance at me but turns back. "Let's see first before I say anything."

She keeps answering in ways I'm not ready for, huh. "Oh... Okay, then?"

The floor has been slowly inclining as we go. It was only a bit at first but it's getting so steep I wonder if we'll slip. I'm very thankful for the little sticky things on the bottom of my slippers-

"Ah!" Sky yelps. I catch her by the arm right before she hits the ground. "Thanks," she says. Then she furrows her brow. "Wait." She kneels back down again, more careful now, and puts her ear to the floor. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It's... It's like... Uh. A hum? No, not a- Huh." She stands back up. "But you hear it, right?"

I shake my head. "What are you talking about?"

"It's, uh. A sound? Or..." She tries clearing her ears, rubs her temples. "No, not a sound. It's, it's not in my ears, it's..." She's starting to breathe, oh no!

"Are you okay? Maybe we should turn back-"

She hits the side of her head. "What the hell is happening? You don't feel it?" She grits her teeth, squeezes her eyes shut. Then she puts her hands over her head and ducks as if shielding herself from... I don't even know what. She reminds me of...

"Do you have anxiety, Sky?"

She doesn't seem to hear me, she just keeps whispering "What the hell, what the hell, what the hell?"

Ohhhh gosh, what did my mom do? Would it work with her? I've gotta try!

"Sky? Sky, look at me, okay? Name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things-"

She says a word I don't feel comfy repeating. Okay then, what else do I do to ground myself? Uhhhh. I start flapping my hands. I've gotta be the calm one now. Okay, okay. I take a big breath and let it out. "Can you try doing that, Sky?"

Her eyes land on me. I do it again. She tries a shaky breath of her own. I take another deep breath. Then she does. We breathe together few more times until she takes her trembling hands away from her head. She looks away, gulps, and says, "Uh, thanks. You're right. Maybe we should turn back."

🌙🌙🌙

We both sleep in the next day. It's 12:30 when we've just started rubbing the clouds out of our eyes over a game of cards, only for Star to come into our dorm saying, "You two are still in your PJs? Was there a no-sleep slumber party that I missed?

Sky swirls the coffee in her mug and says, "Eh, I guess we're just both night owls, right, Crescent?"

I smile, realizing Star probably isn't the best person to tell about sneaking around secret palace corridors past curfew. "Yep!"

"Well, while you guys slept in, Citrus and I checked out the local marketplace. Sugarsweet has some great shops I think you two would like! Oh, and I asked around, Sky, and the music store wouldn't mind you coming in! We could go CD shopping!"

Sky's eyes light up. "Woah, really? That's great! Wanna go, Crescent?"

"Sure! Maybe we can skate, too! I hear the ice rinks here are made of frozen rock candy!"

🌙🌙🌙

Wow, Sugarsweet really lives up to its name! Star says it's the capital of Dulcet Falls, a province I still can't believe exists! Oh my gosh, I'm so so happy we're here for the week! We stick out our tongues and let blue sour-sweet snowflakes land in our mouths.

"The precipitation is a different flavor in each city. Here, it's blue raspberry!" Star tells us.

"How'd that even happen?" I ask.

"Oh, I haven't a clue. Scientists have been studying the phenomena of this province for years and still aren't sure why."

"Well, I'm not complaining!" Sky says. "Hey, your tongues are blue!" She smiles, revealing her fangs are stained blue, too.

We giggle together and head towards the music shop. Just as Star promised, Sky steps right through the doorway without a problem. The aisles of CDs each end with a touch screen with attached earbuds so you can listen to a sample from any album on sale in the store.

We of course make a beeline for the rock section and browse CD after CD. Sky and I still don't really know a lot of the artists in the Land of Light, so we listen to tons of samples. Star is so excited to show us band after band, singer after singer. She's also got a lottt of allowance money that she has no trouble spending on us.

Sky is drawn to the secondhand section, maybe because she doesn't wanna have Star spend more on brand new CDs, or maybe because she's interested in that retro sound. The older stuff sounds cool, too! But there isn't a ton of hip hop over in this section, probably because the Land of Light's history with that is only as recent as moon rabbits coming down here and sharing our music with them. The Land of Light's hip hop has an interesting pop bent to it, one I don't hate at all and actually find kinda fun! But it does make me wish I could hear some beats that sound closer to the kind you hear back home...

Hm.

I ask Star and Sky if they can catch up with me at the skate rink. I can pay for my stuff, I assure Star.

🌙🌙🌙

I'm no better at skating then I was yesterday, but if it gets my mind off things then I'll take it. After a few more very wobbly tries at not letting gravity get the better of me, I finally decide to sit on a bench until Star and Sky catch up.

Okay. What are 5 things I can see? I see the pale blue skate rink. I see shop buildings with peppermint pillars supporting gingerbread walls and roofs covered in frosting. I see fairies and unicorns and elves and cat people who all skate way better than I do- uh uh, stop that! They're all doing their best, just like me! What's the point of a grounding technique if I'm gonna put myself down during it? Now, let's see. I see I girl who's... what is she doing? She's touching the edge of a chocolate road sign. Is she... She's broken off a piece!

I do my best to unlace my skates and get back in my boots as fast as I can and try to go get a better look. "Excuse me!" I say.

The girl's head snaps in my direction. Her eyes widen -- Her red eyes! She runs off.

"H-hey!" I say a whole lot of "excuse me"s and stumble a few times going at this speed but I've gotta catch up! "Wait up!"

The girl only stops to scoop up handful of snow and lob it in my direction. It whizzes past me. "That's not very nice!" I shout, still after her. "People have gotta use that sign, you can't just-"

"Buzz off, loser!" she shouts past the scarf covering her mouth. She's scrambling into the woods now.

I gasp. "No!" I pounce on her back and we both tumble into the flavored snow.

She shoves me off of her and coughs up a mouthful of snow, revealing a set of fangs I'm not much surprised to see. She looks up, eyes wide with worry. "What are you gonna do, report me? It'll be the last thing you-"

"You can't go running into the woods like that, silly! The Band of Darkness could snatch you up like that!" I try to snap to make my point but it's a little hard to make a sound with this wooly mitten on.

She blinks. "What?"

"When I first came to the Land of Light, I had to learn a lot about safety since the Band of Darkness likes to lurk around a lot. And the biggest rule was don't go in the woods! One of my friends is a vampire, too, so I know they won't go easy on you! Be careful, okay!"

She stares at me, not sure what to say. "I'll, um. I'll take that into account." She takes a bite out of the chocolate chunk in her hand.

Wow. I'm not sure what else to even say. I've got so many questions but none of them are coming out!

"Well then," she says, standing and brushing the snow off herself. "I have to go. You didn't see me, okay?"

"Huh? Yes I did!"

"I mean if anyone asks, you didn't meet me, okay? We didn't meet. Got it?"

"Uh. Um..."

"Got it?" she asks, more intense this time.

I nod. "I-I've got it!"

"Good. Now, aren't your friends wondering where you are?"

#waxing crescent #skylar acdalur #princess starshine #princess faylen

[gallickingun]

reality-is-often-disappointing x denki || gallickingun matchups

@reality-is-often-disappointing : I, have shamelessly came here on note for a first tier matchup. MHA, my hobbies are a wild variety that includes mainly singing -as i have an ' amazing' alto voice- writing, drawing -in pencil mainly but also acrylics on canvas- I'm good at cooking -better thank baku if I do say so myself- reading fanfics obv, fangirling/gushing over hot guys with the girls yk? my dress code is ultimate modesty as i dont like showing skin, yet it's classy chic, very picky while shopping yes. my favorite colors are blank and vintage pink. aesthetic is more cutsie unicorn colors -my rooms main colors- but i actually only ever like wearing black. i do know how to swim but cant because *da-dun* i have dry eyes/also wear glasses. my favorite food is dark chocolate w/ those bits of cherries or oranges. as a first date i'm open to anything from a movie in or out, to walks on the beach or even just the arcade. i'm a she/her, and currently feeling like i'm going for a guy as a match triggers: only degradation or backtalking, it makes me anxious, a paranoid mess and i'll most definitely end up crying without even noticing. 165cm or 5'5 dark natural black hair (the 80s lion cut up to collarbone & a fringe) eye color, theyre black/brown when in sunlight. im white with a med and warmish olive undertones, natrually rosy cheeks -holy dark circles- full brows and what i've been called as "doll-like-eyes" or "cat-eyes" since theyre big and long naturally curled lashes. My birthday is on 31st of october, scorpio, INFP personality to cut short for you! I'm a child-free spirited but also am like-mature at maximum effort. I either sleep 3 or 16 hours there is no inbetween (once slept for 24 hrs but I'm not going to talk about how that freaked everyone out) I've been singing since I was three or since I've remembered. Secretly wanted to go on those x-factor shows but bleh, no. Fame is not really for me. Anywho, love you! Have fun with this and drink water! 🎵

Thank you so much for sending in the request for this! You’re such a gem, I really appreciate every time I get the pleasure of interacting with you, darling 🧡

― Denki would love the fact that you sing! He thinks you have a beautiful voice, and even if you’re across the house, if he hears you start to pick up a tune, he’ll join in! ― I think the two of you would pull all nighters together some nights, and other days sleep until you’ve passed the whole weekend by without doing much of anything. Denki can stay up until the sunrise, or he can sleep until noon, whatever you want to do! ― He loves your free spirit, it makes it easy to take you on adventures and experience the world with you. 

⁂ Denki will randomly offer to pick you up from work, and the two of you will drive a couple of hours to the countryside or the beach - windows down, music blaring, singing until your throats are numb - and you’ll spend a night or a weekend away from the world, just wrapped up in each other. 

⁂ He’s a horrible cook, absolutely terrible. Kaminari loves that you cook dinner most nights, because not only does he get to eat your delicious food, he also gets to praise the heck out of you for preparing a wonderful meal. He really adores it when you make too much and he gets to take the leftovers to work the next day. Of course he brags about you to all of the other heroes, and he really loves the note you leave on top of the tupperware. 

⁂ Even if the two of you aren’t actively together, you’ll still stay up late. Sometimes you watch Kaminari while he plays video games, laying on the couch with your legs over his lap while he mashes the controller buttons and speaks to whoever is on the other side of the headset. In between each match or round, he’ll slip the headphones off his ears and run his palm along your calf, massaging your leg, “Whatcha doin’, babe?” And he’ll listen to you drone on about whatever YouTube video you were watching, whatever thing you’re reading, or whatever social media event has gotten your attention. 

⁂ He learns how to harmonize in order to compliment your voice better. He shows it off one night when you’re singing along while cooking dinner - Denki sidles up behind you, arms around your waist, and starts to harmonize in your ear along with the song you’ve been captivated by for the last few weeks. You feel warm at the sound of his voice, and even more so due to the effort he’s put in to prove to you that your interests are his interests. And boy, is he interested in you. 

⁂ Kaminari will be down to try all kinds of fruit chocolates with you - you guys even play a roulette style game where you have to guess what kind of fruit is hidden within the chocolate. You win, mostly, because Denki just wants to stuff his face with sugar so fast that he doesn’t recognize the fruit chunks. But he still plays and is in awe of you getting every single one right because you never fail to amaze him. 

Denki slips in through the doorway, sliding off his shoes in favor of his house slippers as quietly as possible. He notices that the television is still flickering on and off, images bouncing off the glass of the window panes scattered throughout the living room walls. A chuckle parts his lips when he sees you curled up in one of his old hero merch designs - a hoodie that is too large for you, so big that it would seem it has swallowed you whole. Your legs are curled into your chest and your head rests on the arm of the couch, gentle snores making your nostrils shudder.

He tries to pick you up, slipping his arms carefully beneath your frame. But somehow you stir, your eyes peeling open lazily as you smack your lips, slowly sinking away from the realm of slumber. A gentle smile tugs on your lips and you frame his face with your hands, “Another late night?”

“Duty calls,” his voice does not sound as excited as it once did to get those midnight rings from the agency. Now, he just aches to be at home with you at the decent hours of the night, where he can hold you and fall asleep with you and remember why he fell in love with you all over again, every time he gets the faintest of whiffs of your perfume or your shampoo. 

“Dinner is in the oven,” you are murmuring, your head lolling against his chest as he settles you into his hold, “I waited for you to start the next season.”

Kaminari is laughing, but the sound of it sobers you up and you grab him by the collar of his jacket with the one arm that is listening to you tell it how to move, the other pinned between your bodies, “H-Hey, don’t laugh at me! I waited for you to start it, now we’re gonna start it.”

Somehow you’re settled back into the couch, hands desperate for him as you search his torso for somewhere to find purchase. Kaminari leans down and kisses your forehead and then the tip of your nose, his lips hovering just above the bow of your mouth as he whispers, “Whatever you want, honey.”

Matchups Original Post | Ko-Fi | Patreon | Commissions | AO3 | Writing Tag

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#kaminari denki #bnha #mha #my hero academia #bnha matchup #mha matchup #kaminari matchup #kaminari denki matchup #morgan does matchups #reality-is-often-disappointing #🎵 matchup

[fantasticstoryteller]

New Dynasty Chapter 65

Hel watched the child across the table. The girl was still looking around, wide eyed, and rambling. Rambling about how she’d heard all about Hel from Loki.

It had been decades, centuries even, since Hel had banished her father from her realm. She found it difficult to believe the child when she said that, even now, the god spoke about her with fondness and described her realm. And yet—and yet there was something about the child, an innocence, that spoke of her telling nothing but the truth. There was no slyness to her indicate lying.

And Hel wasn’t certain of how to react to it. Glamrun, that traitor, had left the child here. Here, in the realm of the dead that Hel was lord and master over. A living child.

“Okay, so, note to self,” said Baldr as she came into the room, “sequins on the inside of a dress are a bad idea if the person is going to sit down.” The woman stopped and stared at the child at the table.

The child, who then waved. “Hi Coraline!” said the girl happily.

“I see.” Hel turned to the other god. “And is this your doing?” she asked quietly.

Baldr—known as Coraline in the surface world—grinned as she wandered in. “Nope,” she said cheerfully. “But it’s a small universe. I know her dads.”

“And Wade says the mermaid slippers were a crime against nature,” said the child cheerfully.

Baldr sighed. “It would appear that most people agree with him,” she told the child.

“I thought you hated mermaids,” said Hel, confused as Baldr gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“I do. I hate unicorns too, and those slippers are insanely popular. Hello Arachne, how did you get here?” she asked the child.

Hel listened with smugness as the child spun a wild tale—or what would have been a wild tale, if Hel hadn’t known that she was telling the absolute truth. She noticed the odd look on Baldr’s face as the wings on the child’s back lazily flapped again. “What is it?”

“Arachne,” asked Baldr, “where did those wings of yours come from? You were wearing fairy wings last time we met.”

“They got ripped when the school got attacked,” Arachne explained, “and these came from Glamrun.”

“The dwarf?”

“Yes. Is that bad?” asked Arachne as she tilted her head to the side, eyes narrowed in thought and concentration.

“Not at all. It’s just that sometimes there are—side effects to using dwarf forged items that they don’t necessarily mention,” Baldr explained.

Arachne got up from the table, took a few steps back, and then began flapping her wings as hard as she could. She managed to just lift herself from the ground before she collapsed and sat there panting. “I have—to get—used to—them,” she panted.

“That might be it,” said Baldr. “So, if I understand right, Thor took you to visit Loki and Glamrun brought you here.”

“Yes,” said Arachne happily. She climbed back into her seat at the table, wings rustling. Each time she used them the movements seemed to become more fluid; more natural. “I wanted to meet Loki’s daughter Hel, and she’s just as pretty as he said she was!”

Baldr grinned. “Your father thinks you’re pretty,” she said to Hel.

“He also said you made a garden with stones in every color of the universe and your throne looks like a rainbow,” Arachne added. Her wings rustled with the last few words and the two gods looked at her. The child frowned. “He also said that the two of you haven’t spoken in a long time and that you won’t let him visit and because he can’t visit he can’t apologize.”

“That is true,” Hel said. “I banished him for something he did.”

The child’s brows screwed up in thought. “Can’t you meet somewhere else?” she asked, with curiosity and puzzlement. “Somewhere that isn’t here?”

Hel sighed. “Child,” she said wearily. “I cannot leave this realm.”

“Why not?” asked the girl, clearly puzzled.

“For the same reason I can’t.” They turned to see a boy, a few years older than the girl, walking towards them. He had dark blond hair and sad blue eyes.

The girl, to Hel’s surprise, lit up. “36-CA!” she said as she ran to him and gave him a hug.

Hel froze at the boy’s former designation. The fact that she used, and used it so casually, had to mean that she was from the same place as the boy. Hel and Baldr exchanged a dark look. They knew about his past, of course, and they were the ones that gave him his new name.

The boy grinned as he hugged Arachne back. “It’s Carl now,” he told her. “And I heard that you’re Arachne.”

The girl grinned. “It means ‘spider’,” she told him. He laughed. He rubbed her hair and then hugged her again. “Come on, Arachne,” he said. “Let my moms talk.”

“I have two dads now,” the girl said cheerfully as he led her away.

Hel leaned back in her chair, unable to stop a bone-deep tremor that hit her. Baldr was right there, holding her as realized just who the child had to be. “It’s all right,” Baldr said soothingly. “It’s all right. Weren’t you listening? She’s happy now. I bet they all are.”

Covering her face Hel began to sob. She remembered the boy when he arrived in her realm, half dead—as she had once been half dead. But no matter how horrible she had felt, she had had two loving parents willing to go through almost anything to help her. These children—they’d had none of that. Her tears ate at the ground around her, but Baldr didn’t leave. Baldr never did.

After a while Hel stopped crying and leaned against Baldr. “Do you know where that child lives?” she asked. “She needs to go home.”

“She does,” agreed Baldr. “And she needs her fathers.” Baldr hugged her gently. “And you need yours,” she said.

“I don’t know,” said Hel clutching Baldr, the person she was closest to. “I don’t know if I can forgive him.”

“What did he do?” asked a clear voice. The two gods looked up to see that the children had returned. Arachne watched with wide, clear eyes that almost glowed a dull amber as she looked at the two of them.

“He’s the reason I’m here,” Baldr explained.

Arachne looked more confused than ever. “You can’t forgive your father because he got you a roommate?” she asked, clearly puzzled. The three people in the room stared at her for a moment before Baldr burst out laughing. The golden god laughed so hard she had to grip the table to keep from falling over.

Carl shook his head. “Only you,” he muttered.

Hel sighed and looked at those around her. Her lips twitched; the child had a point. She held out a hand and the scepter magically formed in her grip. She brought it sharply down on the rock—and Loki, barefoot very surprised, appeared in the middle of the cavern. Hel pointed firmly to the child. “Take that,” she said grimly, “to its home.” Loki walked over to the child and put a hand on her shoulder. “And Father?” Hel asked. She met her father’s eyes. “You may return. I would—I would like to speak with you, about all these years apart.”

A broad smile crossed Loki’s face. “Of course,” he said warmly. He picked up the little girl. “Up you go,” he said. The two of them vanished.

Baldr hugged Hel. “This is a good thing.”

“It is,” agreed Hel. “A daughter needs her father.”

“Yes, she does.”

#Spider-Man #Deadpool #Spideypool #interlude