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yannowhatigiveup · 3 years

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My One And Only - Chapter 12

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We’re finally onto the long chapters! Yay! We’re also catching up to where I currently am spin the story so frequent updates will be a thing of the past, sorry. Oh and before you read this chapter I gotta say something,

|| TW: This chapter does cover some topics that may be sensitive to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised ||

Rose was probably the one who gave Lila Marinette’s phone number since Lila asked sOo NicELy and Rose was too kind. So kind that she’s oblivious to the fact her kindness is hurting others.

•~•

Marinette then looked for something to put in her hair. She decided to put her hair into a ponytail tied with a long, dark red, silk ribbon. She finished her outfit and she realised she had plenty of time left before school started. Marinette noticed a notification for a message, rolling her eyes as she saw who it was from, Lila. Marinette took a deep breath before going to read it. 'It can't be that bad, right?'

Wrong.

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Lie-la: I said that I would take everything from you and i am a woman of my word but...I'm kinda bored. This is taking far too long. You should go kill yourself, it's not like anyone would care anyway. Go to the top of News tower and jump, no one will care. I surely won't. You don't deserve happiness. Just cross to the other side. Jump. No one will care. No one ever did. They're all fake, I'm just doing a favour for you. Jump. Kill yourself. No one loves you, no one cares. Jump, jump and fall to your miserable death. On News tower at 6:30, jump. You'll be able to get a good view of the world before you die. Not like I care. Jump. Kill yourself. You're a burden, everyone hates you. Just jump, die. Bleed, bleed out and die. Jump. Die. Kill yourself. Don't forget to leave a note. HAH! Who am I kidding? No one will read it anyway. Just kill yourself already.

Marinette only needed to read it once. She had a blank expression on her face, she wasn't going to give in to emotion, even though she wanted to. Tikki, noticing the change in emotion, flew over to Marinette. She caught a glimpse of her owner's screen before gasping and going to hug her.

"Thanks, I really needed that Tikki" Marinette sniffed before gathering herself. "Come on, I don't wanna be late!" She exclaimed, plastering a smile on her face. Tikki was unsure but went in Marinette's bag anyway. Marinette ran down the stairs, grabbing a croissant and said bye to her parents. She then sprinted to school, ignoring all the 'hello's on the way to the locker room. Alya, realised this and easily became suspicious.

"Hey Girl!" She said as Marinette approached. "You feeling good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine"

Alya and Nino looked at each other, confused, then Alya looked to Chloe who only shrugged her shoulders. Obviously there was something wrong. Then Alya got an idea. She pulled her phone out and texted the only person she knew Marinette would open up to. Damian.

Me: Hey can you check on Mari today?

Damian-boi: Why? Is something wrong?

Me: I think so but she isn't opening up

Damian-boi: I'll invite her over

Then, when Alya was putting her phone away, she saw Mari look at her phone and smile. 'He'll find out what's wrong'. Nino and Chloe also noticed that Marinette had smiled for the first time that day, she only had a blank expression, tired even.

"Did you send her a message or?" Chloe asked confused.

Alya shook her head. "I didn't but I'm sure Mari now has something to look forward to later"

Chloe looked at Nino, wanting answers. He shrugged his shoulders. Either way, they were glad that their friend had a burst of happiness. But she deserved so much more.

~~~

Damian was sitting on a seat by one of his hotel room's window, reading a book from the bookshelf provided. Though, it was merely a distraction. He sighed while putting the book down, he wanted to ask Marinette on a date he just couldn't figure out how. 'Why is this so difficult?' Then a message popped up on his phone.

Césaire: Hey can you check up on Mari today?

'Is Angel ok?'

Me: Why? Is there something wrong?

Césaire: I think so but she isn't opening up

'I'll talk to her later'

Me: I'll invite her over

He sent a message to Marinette then he put his phone down, to say he was slightly concerned would be an understatement. True he had only known Marinette for a few days, but he was willing to do anything to make sure she was happy and safe. Damian knew Marinette would do the same. He wanted to come up with a plan to make her happy. And that's what he did. But he did look up the Parisian heroes first, eying Ladybug closely. 'She looks very similar to Angel, wait a damn minute...'

~~~

The bell went and Marinette headed towards Miss Bustier's classroom with Alya, Chloe and Nino not far behind. Since Marinette was quite far ahead of them, Lila managed to sneak a comment in without Marinette's friends hearing.

"I spoke the truth earlier, you are better off dead" Lie-la sneered.

Marinette flinched slightly, Lila saw this and was convinced the Marinette had heard her. She put a clueless and innocent expression on her face but on the inside, she felt victorious. Marinette on the other hand, felt horrible and absolutely gutted on the inside but had a blank expression on her face. She wanted to break down and cry right there, but she couldn't. If she would, Hawkmoth would akumatize her and there would be no stopping the villain she would become. As she thought down, she remembered that she would be going to Damian's later which was something to look forward too.

Alya had noticed that Marinette seemed even more down than when she first came in school. "Girl, you ok?"

Marinette shot as sad smile at Alya. "Just Lila being Lila" Mari muttered to her best friend. Alya had a mix of sadness and anger towards that liar, she obviously said something to make her best friends sad. Alya still had time before Miss Bustier arrived so she shuffled to get up, only to sit back down again after Marinette had shook her head. "It's nothing serious, I don't want more backlash"

Alya sighed. "Fine but after school I will confront her". Marinette knew there was no way to get convince her best friend otherwise. 'I just have to last till the end of the day' Marinette thought to herself.

Her thought was easier said than done, Lila had managed to say some hurtful comments every time Marinette was in view without any of her friends noticing. The school day went slower than a garden snail, much to the bluenette's dismay. She wanted to get out of there, away from Lila and just break down. Lila had never managed to get this far into her skin, she swore she could feel the words stabbing her heart. It hurt. Just as the school bell went, indicating that school was over, Marinette got up and tired to leave the classroom as fast as possible. She was so close to the school doors, she thought she would be able to leave without seeing Lila. That thought was interrupted by something cold, incredibly cold, running down her back.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry Marinette!" The liar apologized though, Marinette knew that Lila had done this on purpose. 'It's 4°C, why else would she have an ice cold drink?'

"Lila what the hell!" Alya shouted gaining many, including Lila's, attention.

"I-I didn't m-mean I-it" she stammered, crocodile tears forming in her eyes.

"Alya stop shouting at Lila! It was an accident!" Rose's stern voice echoed.

Marinette ignored the conversation, or argument, that followed. She was ice cold and needed to change. Right now, the only place she wanted to be at was Damian's. She reached her parents bakery, ran up the stairs and grabbed anything that had long sleeves. She wore a rosewood over sized, turtleneck jumper with over the knee boots. By now she was warmer but not as warm as she needed to be, though she really didn't care. Lila knows where the bakery is so Marinette didn't feel safe at that moment. The bluenette then rushed downstairs, her parents weren't around 'Probably packing for their flight tonight'. Her sprinting had slowed to a casual walk as she approached the hotel doors, her face blank and expressionless. Marinette got in the lift, pressed a button and got out when she reached his floor. She stopped in front of his hotel door and took a deep breath before knocking.

~~~

Damian closed his laptop. He had done some research on the Parisian superheroes, Ladybug specifically. He made a mental note about how similar both Angel and Ladybug were before he heard a knock at the door. 'Angel probably'. He went over and opened the door to see a frail looking Marinette, she never looked like that. That made Damian suspicious and worried. "Come in Habibti" He gestured for her to sit on the settee in his room and instead of replying, she gave him a sad smile and walked in. 'Whoever hurt her, be prepared to face my wrath'. As she sat on the couch, Damian locked the door and sat next to her. He noticed how she was avoiding eye contact so he placed his hand under her cheek, turning her head to face himself so she couldn't break eye contact. A pink blush lightly dusted her cheeks. "Angel" he began. "I am no good with emotions, I'm sure you know that by now. But that does not mean I can't tell when you're hurting. Please, tell me what is wrong"

The worried tone in his voice and the true concern in his eyes made the walls in her mind crumble. She began to speak up in a shaky voice. "W-well...today Lila kept saying things and this morning she..." her voice trailed off as she reached for her phone, opening the conversation which had that message and handed it to Damian. The hand used to reach for the phone was the hand that was cupping Marinette's cheek, she inwardly frowned but she watched as Damian read the message.

Damian face was neutral when Marinette first gave him her phone but it quickly changed. She watched as his face went from expressionless to visible anger, though, it looked like he was holding back from revealing anymore emotion. So she looked at his eyes, the eyes were the key to every soul and in his eyes she saw his true emotions. He was absolutely livid. His eyes were pools of rage. "I'll skin that fucking harlot alive" Damian snarled.

He widened his eyes in realisation to what he said and gently put the phone on the coffee table. He turned to Marinette and opened his arms for her. She needed much more than a hug in Damian's opinion, but in Marinette's, Damian was all she needed. She jumped into his arms straight away, burying her face in his chest while letting her tears flow. Seeing her so miserable made his heart break. One of his hands rubbed circles on her back while the other stroked through her hair, he also murmured comforting words into her ear. He'd deal with Rossi another time, right now he needed to focus on Marinette but he'd be damned he'd let Lila get away with hurting her.

Soon, the bluenette's tears turned into quiet, steady breathing. Marinette felt a lot better now, each comforting word from Damian had erased the meaning of each snarky comment from Lila. Anything and everything Lila had sad meant nothing to Marinette anymore, being in Damian's arms was the only thing that mattered.

"Thank you" she whispered, her face still buried in his chest.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat, Habibti" Marinette hid her blush. Damian hummed to himself, as if he were thinking if something.

"What is it?" She asked, pulling away from the hug.

"Why don't you and I go for a walk? Just the two of us" The bluenette didn't hesitate.

"I'd like that"

~~~

The walk was like a breath of fresh air. Damian took her to a nearby cafe to get some hot cocoa for takeaway and they strolled the streets of Paris. Their saunter lead them passed the Louvre, passed the Seine and ended on the Eiffel Tower, on the highest floor a civilian could go. The two looked over Paris, leaning forward on the banister, the sun setting beautifully. Damian looked at Marinette, she was still staring at the city's silhouette in awe. Without thinking, Damian's hand reached for the ribbon in Marinette's hair, tugging at it slightly to let her hair down. The bluenette squeaked in surprise, the red ribbon once in hair hair was now wrapped around Damian's finger.

Damian didn't think that Marinette could get even more beautiful than she already is but he stood corrected while watching Marinette's hair flow beautifully in the wind. Not only that but the way the sunset's light landed on her, how it reflected in her eyes, made her so bewitching, so captivating. 'God...you can't turn back now Wayne' He collected every piece of confidence he had in him and spoke up. "Angel, can I ask you a question?"

"Well you just did, didn't you?" She giggled as he playfully rolled his eyes at her. "Sure what do you want to ask?" Marinette looked at him, her bluebell eyes seeming more spellbinding then he had ever seen them. He couldn't trust his voice, he would only mess up. He stared at her intensely, his right hand moved to hold her cheek. She didn't pull away, she leaned into his touch while blushing ever so slightly.

'May I kiss you?'

Marinette's eyes widened in surprise, her blush now being much more visible. She looked as if she had heard the question pass through his lips though he hadn't said anything at all. It's almost as if they communicated, telepathically. Marinette nodded, answering the unasked question. Damian slowly pulled her face closer to his, they both closed their eyes as Damian pressed his lips against Marinette's. They were just as soft as he suspected. The bluenette wrapped her arms around Damian's neck, the one on her face was now in her hair and the other was wrapped around Marinette's waist, pulling her closer to his body. The kiss wasn't passionate. It was soft, tranquil and tender. And Marinette liked it. She liked him. No, scratch that. She loved him. And he loved her back.

The two only pulled away when their need for oxygen became greater than the desire for each other. When they did they make eye contact, their eyes both reflected each other's feelings. Love. Marinette stepped closer and snuggled her face into Damian's muscular chest, like how she did earlier but this one felt much more heartfelt, filled with more affection. She hummed, closing her eyes with her arms still wrapped around his neck while his were wrapped around her waist.

"So I guess this is where I ask you on a second date or-" he paused hoping that Marinette would choose the option he was about to give her. "I ask to court you"

She giggled. "I wasn't aware that this is a date but I'm not complaining". She then looked up at his face and smiled. "And I would be much more than happy to court you"

He smiled back. 'Damn her smile is contagious' "So do I have the privilege of being your boyfriend now?" Damian smirked at her.

"Well If that's the case, then I have the honor of being your girlfriend" she hummed.

Hearing that made him feel guilty. He hadn't told her his last name, and she respected that. "Damian Wayne" he mumbled.

She looked slightly confused and tilted her head.

"I don't want to keep secrets from you so I am telling you now" he breathed in. "My name is Damian Wayne. I apologize, I should've told you sooner I-"

Her eyes widened in surprise and understanding. "No need to apologize I understand"

"So this doesn't change anything between us?"

She giggled while she put her head back on his chest. "Why would it?"

Damian let out a sigh of relief. He would've leaned in to kiss her again if he didn't notice an object heading straight for her at incredible speed. His left hand went out to grab it, which he did with ease. Marinette pulled away from the hug to see what Damian had caught. It looked like something from an akumatized villain. He sighed. "I guess it would be best to get out of the villain's way"

She looked at the object in his hand, then back at him. Without thinking, she blurted out "Remember would you said about secrets?"

"What about it?"

She stepped back and muttered a few words then there was a blinding red light, he had to close his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he was face to face with the spotted hero herself. The hair once flowing in the air was now back in the pigtails the hero is seen with all the time. 'Angel is Ladybug, I was right' Though he did have his suspicions, it still surprised him nonetheless. She smiled at him.

"Y-"

She cut him off with a chaste kiss on the lips which lasted longer than she anticipated, though she had to go on her tip toes which Damian found amusing. She also managed to take the object out of his hand. "I promise to explain everything later. I'll meet you back at the hotel when I'm finished, alright?"

"God, you really are an Angel". The blush on her face was very noticeable. She smiled at him before using her yo-yo to bring her to the akumatized victim. He watched as her silhouette jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Once she was out of sight, Damian looked back at the sunset. He chuckled to himself. "I guess when you bumped into me the other day, you gave me some of your Lady Luck".

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar, @miracleofadisaster, @frieddonutsweets, @jjmjjktth, @genderfluidmoma, @starlit-dreaming, @icerosecrystal, @lolieg, @kashlyn, @mochegato, @eggadoodle, @walkingthroughonautopilot

#daminette #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #maribat #maridami #damianette #mlb x dc #ml x dc #lila did a bad

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ae0nx · 3 years

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FRUITS BASKET S3 EPISODE 8 RECAP AKA THE KYORU CHRONICLES PART 2 (plus a quick recap of eps 3-7)

aaaaaaAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! I gotta get it out of me otherwise I won't be able to concentrate on work and I will be scrolling through the tag till the day I die. Everything from episode 3 of Season 3 literally hit me like an avalanche - literally cos I marathoned 3-7 over the weekend which I wouldn't advise unless you want an accelerated heartbeat - and I'm starting to realise... maybe I just wasn't ready for season 3. Despite asking for it, haha. Not gonna put as many screencaps for this one cos tumblr editing bay be trippin and I just don't have time nor emotional energy to be fighting with the picture uploads, sorry lol

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Episodes 3 - 7

I spoke before about how (despite my feelings about the characters) the English dub VAs for Akito and Shigure pair up really well audibly. And I think I feel the same way about both Yuki and Machi's English VAs! They both have the same soft spoken yet scratchy element to their voices almost like they are holding slightly back. Although, I'd argue that Yuki has been losing the element of slightly holding back as the anime has gone on which I wonder if the same would be included for Machi's performance?

I really like the presentation of Machi's trauma through her family's expectations to be perfect and how physical it is? How Yuki kind of encourages her to let it out in a healthy way? (Btw the whole chalk breaking scene in the meeting was SO FUCKING SMOOTH. YUKI IS A NERD BUT HE IS SO EFFORTLESSLY COOL A LOT OF THE TIME)

The age gap between Isuzu and Haru for sure isn't the worst age gap in this anime/manga but it's still a bit... hmm...

Episode 4:

In all seriousness, I know Akito deserves some sympathy but it doesn't change the fact that I still see her as a villain. Hurt people hurt people but it doesn't mean they should get away with it, I was honestly pleased Haru got that big confrontation with Akito to tell her WHAT'S WHAT but it was also somewhat... merciful?

Hiro's growth has been so beautiful to see, him realising there are bigger things than him from the event with Rin to his relationship with Kisa to then the birth of his little sister.

Kureno choosing to get his hands a little dirtier and paying the ultimate price for it (as far as we know so far in the anime lol) was great, he is the moon side of Tohru's sunshine.

Shigure... I still don't really get him and Akito's relationship. It's clear he's waiting for Akito to grow the fuck up but at the same time he's not creating an environment for her to grow and develop. He's decided to go with the 'tough love' route which I'm still deciding whether I like it or not tbh. Sometimes it feels necessary, at other times it feels shitty. I respect that he knows he's a scumbag and I don't deny that there are people out there who take revelry in the fact that they are awful but at the same time, him remaining unchanging despite everything feels... unrealistic. But considering throughout this story he doesn't seem affected by trauma, it's understandable, I guess?

Also... that scene where Shigure ponders about whether he should've been with Tohru is THE creepiest creeper shit he's EVER done in this series. No. 🙅🏾‍♀️

Momiji is best bunny boi regardless of how tall and 'manly' he becomes. 🐰His scene with Akito was so authentically him and he really did that shit. We love him. <3

I love the way that the curse breaking should (on surface) be a happy event considering all the trauma the zodiac went through because of it but it's presented mostly as loss as well as happiness. It's the realness of getting out of a bad relationship

Shigure basically laying it out to Tohru how Kyo means nothing in a very taunting way was an excellently painful scene and I choose violence. It was heartbreaking seeing how worthless they all saw Kyo compared to how Tohru saw him but... by this point I was just living in the pain so 🤷🏾‍♀️

The story visually showing how Isuzu is more willing to be soft after her whole ordeal through her fashion choices (e.g. the pastels, the cardigans) was really nice. And Haru being happy about Isuzu making friends with Tohru was cute!

It was nice we saw that Kazuma was still wary about whether Tohru loved Kyo for the right reasons, you'd assume after everything Kazuma would love Tohru as a match for Kyo but he's so emotionally intelligent and also just a protective Dad! Yay, good parenting!

Tohru's confession to loving Kyo was amazing however I still adore Kyo's confession a little bit more. Just a bit. Lol. However, if you add the moment later in episode 8 it trumps it completely. Ethereal goddess.

Kyo and Tohru's grandfather having a scene together was great and nice

Now that I think about it, I wish there was more a visual link in the story between Tohru adapting her speech to imitate her Dad and Momiji adopting his Mum's German accent. Albeit for slightly different reasons, it just adds to the unique connection Tohru and Momiji have. In short, I'm seeing this ship with my third eye now. I get it lol

I don't wanna screencap the scene where Kyo is haunted by both his deceased mother and deceased Kyoko and potentially deceased Tohru because it's the stuff of nightmares. But, it was a wonderfully done scene. You definitely understand fully and clearly why Kyo buried all of that trauma under his hatred for Yuki (I CAN'T WAIT FOR EPISODE 9, YOU GUISE!)

If Akito is a villain, Ren is the final boss. Although, with her type of villainy... I feel like I can kind of enjoy a bit more. She reminds me of a Greek God in the ways she master manipulates people and her desperation for control and power (I just read 'Mythos' by Stephen Fry, it's a great read lol)

It lowkey feels like every female character who's comfortable in expressing their sexuality in this story is punished in some way for it... this is an incomplete thought

Shigure as a child feeling like they should all be pitied is so... mature... I feel like I need more of an explanation for why Shigure is the way he is

Akito's ego death with Kureno? Amazing. I loved that she was at least aware enough to realise how Kureno had been coddling her all this time but again... doesn't excuse her crimes

But anyways...

EPISODE 8

Honestly? I really don't have much to say about this episode besides 3-5 points I wanna get out of my head. It's not a bad thing at all, it's just that there's still a lot left to play out from this 'arc' and this season in general that I wanna complete my thoughts on.

But I'll start with this:

Lol, isn't it funny?! Isn't it heart-wrenchingly funny how the relationship between Kyo and Tohru has kinda reverted back to how they were at the start of the series? The coldness of Kyo at the beginning of this episode (and throughout) was a bit of a gut punch considering all the light and fluffy moments that we've gotten between the two since the True Form arc.

Talking about the True Form arc, I feel like this episode is somewhat a repeat of the same emotions, same trials of the True Form arc. Kyo still 'runs away like he always has' but this time we get him being the most honest and confrontational with his own emotions and trauma than he ever has been during the course of this whole story. While trusting someone (Tohru specifically) for the first time with the whole truth of his story! He always seems to move one step forward and then three steps backwards and while it's a tad bit frustrating, it feels very... real. I'll probably complete my feelings how this arc reflects the True Form arc when we finish this section of the story in future episode(s).

Considering the fact that 80% of this episode is Jerry Jewell monologuing as Kyo and I never got bored really just sells his performance. Kyo was being incredibly cold this episode and yet the range of emotions through his performance made it feel understandable enough for you to empathise with it.

BrattyKid!Kyo to lighten the mood 😹I still wish he and Hiro had more of a relationship, I feel like they could have taught each other a lot. Well... mostly Kyo teaching Hiro tbh

Kyo rejecting Kyoka for her honesty and kindness and then later rejecting Tohru? Oh... kid...

Wow, I felt so good about that whole episode of Kid!Yuki helping Kid!Tohru get home and then it's slightly soured knowing KID!KYO was running about the streets alllll night into the morning?!?! I really did feel Kyo's frustration at not getting that win to actually do something right. And the irony of that being linked to him being unable to save Kyoka from the oncoming car?

Honestly, I don't know what my feelings are on Kyo being unable to save Kyoka. I don't even know what my feelings are on Tohru pretty much pushing that aside in favour of her feelings for Kyo. It's... complicated and I've been mulling it over in my head for the last 10+ years hahah However, if I was in Tohru's position I think I'd eventually come to a point where it feels like it's too late to really do anything about how bad I'd feel about it. Kyo's intentions weren't horrid, if anything he was just being a scared kid and he's allowed to be that. I just wish Tohru had a bit more time to evaluate it but considering she knew her mother well and assumes that wouldn't have been the full scope of what she had said, I don't have much of a problem with it in general

Lol, I love when Tohru gets a 'FUCK YOU, I LOVE YOU' moment with Kyo. 😂Another reflected scene from the True Form arc... only thing is that this time... it doesn't quite work. 😕

(Again, I love how all of these reflections are resolved in later occurences in response to the duality but I'll get to it next week when it shows hopefully)

Laura Bailey only had a few sentences in this episode but she killed it as always. Comparing her performance in 2001 to now is just... growth!

Ok, so Yuki automatically gets Best Boi in this episode for meddling and chasing after KYO of all people. Showing how he's personally done with hating Kyo. Realising Kyo is pretty much the only person who'll make his mother happy. I think he also lowkey wants to understand Kyo? But, we'll get to that next week.

....Oh yeah, Akito is there.

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In total, I liked this episode even though it has me anxious for the next one. We finally get the full picture of why Kyo is the way he is! Ahhhh - a weight off all our chests, I'm sure. I kinda don't like that they put the ending theme at the end of these episodes - the joyfulness doesn't really match up with the intense theme? But, that's just a minor gripe. And hey, maybe they just want the audience to know... it's all gonna be okay :)

See you next week!!!

#fruits basket #furuba #fruits basket season 3 #fruits basket 2021

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pluviophile-bookworm · 3 years

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HSMTMTS 2x9: so dreaded, so exciting, 'Sword!' (yeah, I went there, I've been thinking about this scene - you know the one - since yesterday for some reason)

After two computer malfunctions and a very tough, very sleepless night, here I am with a third attempt to write this post. The universe is against me today. Is Mercury in retrograde or something? Ugh, I just want to get this over with already. And I haven't even managed to see half the episode yet. You better like this cursed post because it's taken me two hours at this point, and will probably take another to finish - and that is if nothing goes wrong this time. Please bear with me. This is my reaction to HSMTMTS 2x9, take 3. Let's hope and pray it's the last one.

I'm normally [unpopular opinion alert] a very spoiler-positive person (it's the combination of anxiety and ADHD and a bunch of other stuff, I suppose), but for this one I've been refraining from looking at the tag all morning, so by now I'm simply bursting with impatience. But before we dive in, I need to get some stuff off my chest.

Some pre-watch thoughts and feelings (let's see how well they will have aged by the end of the episode):

Seriously, what is with whoever writes this show? I know it's impossible, but I feel like they've been toying with my emotions specifically all season. Like:

Ah, so you were a Rini shipper last season? Great, now we'll make them obnoxious and borderline toxic to the point where you actually want them to break up, but then their old chemistry will be back just for the breakup scene so that you can cry your eyes out over the one couple you couldn't stand - even though you can't seem to relate to a single song from Sour, we'll make you feel like you do for a hot second. At least it will remind you that you loved Ricky.

So you say Redlyn own your heart and soul? Great, we'll make you dread something going wrong with them for a week straight, and mess up your sleep schedule beyond repair over it. You're welcome!

We heard you said Rodfini give you life? Perfect, how about a big Seblos fight? And would you like a side of questioning your choice to stan Carlos with that? Because what is life without a little anxiety, a bit of doubt of your ability to read people, and a pinch of existential dread, right?

Ah, so you claimed not to ship Portwell romantically, is that right? Brilliant, we'll make you ship them and then we'll use that to torture you, too.

You've been excited about ABF and Asher Angel guest-starring ever since they were announced? Magnificent! We'll make you hate ABF's character to the point where you can't even look at him, and we'll make you call him names you thought yourself incapable of uttering. And as for Asher, you'll be left waiting for him until the last third of the season, and then you'll dread the possibility of hating his character, too. Do you love us yet?

Oof! Right then, I've got that out of my system. Time to dive in.

Miss Jenn playing around with the backgrounds is, like, 90% of the people who had online school this year, and honestly, I love that for her.

Wait, why is Nini first on this call? Are they going through with the Rose thing? Cos like, the song is nice and all (and, might I add, much more to my taste than nearly all of Sour, don't @ me), but if they use it, it will get them disqualified. They’ve been told that! Gosh, please let me be wrong about this.

We get it, Carlito, rich and fancy and over-the-top is kind of your thing, but have you stopped for a second to think about how others will feel about this? Especially Seb, whom you claim to care about. Seriously, though, I love Carlos and would not hesitate to die for him, but I’m getting the feeling that, unlike my other favourite (you know the one), he wouldn’t do the same for me. Oh well, he’ll figure it out. He’s just a kid. Give him time.

Wait, Milky White? Is that an Into the Woods reference I smell? Cool! If I had a cow, I’d totally name her Milky White (or Gertrude, but don’t ask me why). I just hope they don’t have to, like, take her to the market and exchange her for magic beans, if you catch my drift.

Ahhhhh, Caswell cousins content! We love to see it!

‘You guys are watching, like, old old movies’ WTH, Nini (or is it Nina)? Scary Movie is literally younger than me. But what do you know about it, you 21st-century baby! Ugh, I don’t know why I’m being so hostile today... must be the lack of sleep. Hope it doesn’t influence my reactions to the episode so dramatically as to make me forget how much I love this series. Because I do.

Yay! Big Red is here! I can finally smile. And did Ash just say they’re soulmates? Because yes they are! Ahhh my heart is going to explode.

‘Nini, have you heard from [Ricky]?’ Yikes, awkward... but of course, Big Red can be counted on to save the day here, too.

Ok, so that was a cool cold open. Time for some nice in-person scenes, though. I did not spend all of three semesters doing online school just to have the characters of my favourite series do the same.

Wow, Gina is really embracing that French accent thing! And I really don’t want to think about, erm, ‘Napoleon over here’ right now, but I really think the fact that she’s doing it better than him will be another piece of evidence towards my theory of fake-French!Antoine... ugh, I said his name. Oh well. Back to Gina. Too bad the French thing didn’t work out for her.

Ahhhh, Portwell with Ash in the background! And Ash is going to paint EJ’s nails! I feel like he’s going to end up loving that, despite what he says right now. But seriously, I just love how comfortable these two are with each other. Can you blame me now for shipping them as friends? Well, I mean, it’s obvious they will be more than friends, and somehow, despite the amatonormativity of it all, I’m here for it.

Wait, was that Asher? That was Asher, I’m 100% sure of it. And Gina said ‘a sign’ and then looked at him, even from the back... what am I supposed to think and feel here? I’m confused. Moving on.

Ahh, poor Ricky being a burrito... good thing that breakup scene last time reminded me that I love him, because the entirety of the season before that was very good at making me forget that.

Wait, did she say ‘the Bean’? As in, that Bean? The infamous Bean? LOL.

‘So the only time you two talk to each other is to gossip about me’ Boy, did I feel that. I once got my hands on my dad’s mobile and I... kind of went through his texts with mum. Yep, all about me and my brother. At this point I feel like they’re only together because of us. But this is getting too personal. I’m here about the episode, not to rant about my family. Moving on.

Yikes, looks like Nini’s got writer’s block all over again. Am I supposed to feel sorry for her? Because I kind of don’t. I mean, no hate towards her, none at all, but that entire scene just felt awkward and unnecessary. And not just because it’s her first time going live. That I can understand. What I don’t understand is why the writers can’t seem to do anything creative and interesting with Nini. Olivia is being wasted there. Idk, that’s just how I feel. Again, no hate.

Ahhhhh it’s Asher! And well, he’s not Jonah, but I kind of really like him as Jack. I wonder if that will last.

So is it just me, or is anyone else not quite sure how to feel about Ricky’s mum? I mean, their interactions seem kind of awkward and strained, but that’s how it’s supposed to be given their recent history, and yet something just doesn’t sit quite right with me.

‘You there, Muse? It’s me, Nini!’ Ah, so it’s Nini again? I didn’t get the memo. Gosh, this episode is kind of really underwhelming. The most exciting thing so far (but not nearly as exciting in practice as it was in theory) – Asher and Sofia’s on-screen reunion. The second most exciting thing? The thought of Ash painting EJ’s nails. Everything else? Kind of ‘whatever’. Is this what I tossed and turned about all night? Totally not worth it. This episode better get, like, 300% better right this instant. It’s just not worth all the frustration and excitement and dread so far.

Looks like my prayers from just now have been heard! That improv scene was hilarious! Guess it was lucky that Miss Jenn had them do improv before this moment. But I need to know more of Jack’s backstory now.

Ok, so that was awkward! So Kourtney is talking to Howie again, I guess. And I guess I know now what Carlos did that was all public and no subtle. Still, what’s wrong with posting photos from your holiday? Guess I don’t exactly know yet what Carlos did to piss the others off so much.

Great, now I’m tempted to google butterfly faces. Good thing I’m not eating anymore. *** Ughhhhh this was a mistake! Please don’t ever look a butterfly in the face if you want to stay sane. Don’t be like me.

Ahhh the Duke sweater! ‘Is that your boyfriend’s?’ Well, not quite yet, it’s not... *screams in Portwell*

Oh, now we’re talking! But seriously, Ricky? The ‘my friends think’ card? Why don’t you just say ‘I think’? It’s clearly something you’ve thought about a lot. I feel like I’m going to love this scene or cry over it or both.

Ooh, therapy. It’s not just... basically the entire fandom... who says it now. Please tell me that means Ricky will be going to therapy at some point. Says the girl who is currently firmly refusing to go to therapy in favour of hyperfixating on HSMTMTS and getting back into the good old practice of having imaginary friends... yeah, I’m one to talk.

My, my, my! Seb has really had it now. I mean, it was about time, but... not quite like this. My heart is starting to do some weird stuff, I can feel it. I might need to lie down.

Ok, so as much as I envy North High for getting to see so many shows on BWay – basically living out my dream – stalking East High on Instagram and being shady about them taking a well-deserved break... just goes beyond all limits. I mean, if you’re so into Broadway shows, you should know as well as I do what happened the last time a certain founding father did not take a break. Maybe you’re the ones in need of a break here.

Nini on the call with the Caswell cousins, though... ‘I’m obsessed with both of you’ – first relatable thing she’s said or done all season. And EJ playing with old toys is pure gold.

Oh, so Jack’s dad is a pilot. Makes sense, I guess. I’m kind of intrigued by this guy. Just as long as he doesn’t try to come between Portwell before they’ve had the chance to happen, you know...

Ashlyn might need to stop swooning over Nini’s songwriting or Big Red might get jealous... I mean, I would not have pinned him as the jealous type before 2x7, but ever since then... I guess insecure + dating a girl like Ash = the jealous type. And although that looks good on him, I’d bet anything it doesn’t feel particularly pleasant on his side. So... wait, why am I talking about Big Red? He hasn’t even got anything to do with the scene at hand. But then again, there’s been so little Big Red content in this episode that I seem to be trying to make up for it. Still. Stay focused.

Ooh, so Big Red did edit that video! Is there anything my boy can’t do? Ok, now I feel like he’s even more criminally underappreciated than he was before. But let’s look at the video. I’m curious to see the whole thing because that sneak peek from yesterday simply hasn’t been enough.

That was... really, really cool! I love how they took the ‘when they go low, we go high’ line from last time and run with it. Now if only they were putting as much effort into BATB... North High wouldn’t know what hit them.

Hmmmm... I guess Gina and Jack could be what I originally wanted Portwell to be... really cool friends. Unless it’s one of those ‘airport magic’ things. Oh well. It probably is. Was that all we’re seeing of Asher here? I did not wait 2/3 of the season for this. Though it was nice.

Ooh, Ricky’s solo song... why is there more Rini chemistry in this song than there was in all the season? Not counting the breakup scene, of course. Also, I feel like it’s just as much about him and his mum as it is about Nini. Some say music is the best therapy. I think they might be right. And no, I’m not crying. You are.

The granola bar, though... this episode might have been very underwhelming in the first half, but... it delivered in the Portwell front, and the music was *chef’s kiss*, so I’m willing to let it slide that the advertised Seblos ‘big fight’ was not touched upon nearly enough. Maybe next week...

Ok, now that we’re done watching the episode, let’s see how my feelings from the beginning have aged:

The Rini breakup: apparently, along with reminding me that I love Ricky, it has rendered me unable to look at Nini. What’s up with that? If this is some sort of tactic along the lines of ‘Olivia might be leaving the show so we’re making you hate her character so that you won’t miss her’, it’s not really working. Because I don’t want to hate Nini. Believe me, I don’t.

Redlyn: ok, so there’s nothing wrong with them whatsoever - we even got a ‘soulmates’, which I loved - but first they’re being swept under the rug, and then the antis come at us with that ‘their relationship is underdeveloped’ nonsense. Individually, though, I liked them in this episode (even if there was a significant shortage of Big Red), and Ashlyn collaborating with Nini again was cool, but... what I really wanted to see was her painting EJ’s nails. Did she even get the chance to actually do it? Maybe next week.

Seblos: I’m still failing to understand exactly what Seb thinks Carlos did wrong (please enlighten me if you did catch that, I’m kind of slow), but he (Seb) does have reasons to be mad at him (Carlos)... and at other people, too. Still, if you want to have a fight between two people in a relationship, you could do much better than whatever this episode was. Maybe next week. I notice I’m saying that a lot. Guess I’m putting a lot of hopes on 2x10. I just pray it doesn’t disappoint.

Portwell: boy, am I happy that my frustration on this front did not age well! What I mean is, apparently they’ve decided to bless us, not torture us for once. Even a rather disappointing episode like this one had to have some sort of silver lining. And Portwell is it.

Asher as Jack: well, luckily I didn’t hate him, but... it’s kind of the opposite problem. I loved him and now they’re taking him away from me. Guess I just can’t win here. Oh well. At least he didn’t have the screen time to get in between Portwell...

All in all: 2x10, my hopes and prayers are with you!

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tsarisfanfiction · 3 years

Text

Long Way From Home: Chapter 6

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Family/Friendship Characters: Scott, Tracy Family

There’s a lot in this chapter - more compare and contrast, yay! - but the bit I want to mention specifically is one of the major society differences between TOS and TAG, which stems entirely from the 50 years between writing - sexism. I’ve noticed that a lot of TOS-based fics tend to shift away from or gloss over that, because that’s just how it was in the 60s when TOS was written and there’s no need to honour it (past the Alan/Tin-Tin spats) in modern fanfic.

Normally, I’d agree, but as already mentioned, I’m playing compare and contrast, and quite frankly the sexism was too tempting to pass up. Now, that does not mean we’ll have City of Fire-esque “crazy woman driver” in the fic because that was writer-sexism, not in-universe, and I’m not about that. Perceptions of women as delicate flowers who are supposed to be seen and not heard by the male [TOS] cast, though? We are definitely playing with that, so consider this a warning. I could go into an entire essay on this, but you’re not here for that, you’re here to see it all through TAG!Scott’s eyes, so let’s let him tell the tale, shall we?

<<<Chapter 5

Scott was on the slippery slope towards a fourth loss – with no wins – when the house trembled slightly. The unmistakable roar of a jet engine in close proximity told him what the cause of it was, and he didn’t need Other-Gordon to confirm it as Thunderbird One. She might not be his Thunderbird One, and her engine might make a different noise, no doubt due to different technology, but Scott had always had an ear for plane engines. Having already heard it once, the cry of this universe’s Thunderbird One was instantly recognisable.

“Do you want to finish up first or call it here?” Other-Gordon asked, either correctly assuming that Scott had every intention of seeing his counterpart now he was back, or simply wanting to attend the debrief himself.

“How long do post-flight checks take here?” he replied, eyeing the board with a brain only half concentrating on the game now and trying to work out if he could do anything other than be defeated before Other-Scott finished said checks and emerged from the hangar.

“Scott’ll be out in five minutes, assuming nothing went wrong on the mission,” Other-Gordon told him, glancing down at his watch. “They weren’t gone long, so it probably all went smoothly.”

“Well I’m not going to get this turned around in five minutes,” he sighed, gesturing at the board, “so we might as well call it.” Other-Gordon laughed.

“You’re right about that,” he agreed. “You’re only two moves away from defeat anyway.” Scott could see that, and knocked his King over to save himself the bother. Other-Gordon laughed again, and swept the pieces up, packing them away before standing. “Let’s see what my brothers had to deal with this time,” he commented, with barely a hint of bitterness to betray the fact he’d have liked to be on it rather than stuck at home waiting. Scott pulled himself up out of the comfortable chair he’d got used to sitting in for the past couple of hours.

“Lead the way.”

They got as far as the door before Other-Gordon stopped, looking up at him with a serious expression he hadn’t seen on his face since before they started playing chess.

“Before we do,” he started; Scott instinctively straightened at the tone. “Knowing you – well, Scott, and assuming it’s something else you two share – you’re no doubt going to be analysing and second-guessing everything the fellas did out on the rescue. Do me a favour and keep it to yourself.”

Scott blinked. “What?”

Other-Gordon didn’t budge, arms crossed. “Your universe and ours have different technology; we’ve all realised that. It’s likely that means you’d make different calls to us, based on what you’d have at your disposal if you were with your own International Rescue. John and Brains, hell maybe Scott and Virgil, too, will be curious at the differences, but save it until you’re asked. The debrief isn’t a place for hypotheticals based on other-universe technology and I doubt you’d appreciate it if roles were reversed and it was our Scott butting in on your debriefs.”

Scott sighed. “You have a point,” he admitted. Keeping his mouth shut when he had an opinion was not something he was particularly well-practiced in, but Other-Gordon was right. He’d be fuming if someone who knew nothing about International Rescue’s capabilities interrupted his own debriefs. The idea that he didn’t know International Rescue’s capabilities rankled, but he remembered Other-John’s rundown of the situation earlier and how many terms had been unfamiliar to him. Hell, they even had different names for something as fundamental as Thunderbird Two’s modules. He sighed again, running a hand down his face, to a raised eyebrow from Other-Gordon.

“Everything alright?” the other man asked, and he shrugged.

“You do realise I’m not used to not being in charge?” he asked rhetorically, prompting a laugh from the ginger.

“I had noticed,” he commented dryly. “Dad’s still going to have a fit if you walk in looking like that, and Scott’s going to want to know what you think you’re doing with his shirt.”

“I’m wearing it,” Scott shrugged.

“Badly,” Other-Gordon retorted, turning away and opening the door, leading the way back towards the lounge – and Not-Dad. Scott tried not to think about the fact he’d soon be in the older man’s presence again.

“It’s more comfortable this way,” he bit back instead, determined to get the last word.

“It looks sloppy.” Other-Gordon clearly didn’t feel like letting him have it.

“Maybe I don’t like looking like a pampered son of a billionaire.” Two could play at that game.

“That’s what you are, so own it.”

“Actually, I’m the billionaire,” Scott pointed out, the one result of Dad’s crash he’d finally found himself comfortable with, if only through necessity and the fact that it was how International Rescue could still operate. “I can look how I want.”

Other-Gordon froze for a fraction of a second before continuing the walk through the villa, a barely-there stumble that told Scott he hadn’t realised that aspect.

“Touché,” he conceded after a moment. “But I don’t think that’ll wash with either of them.” Scott shrugged.

“I stopped caring what other people thought a long time ago,” he pointed out. It was only half a lie – he cared about the opinions of his brothers and closest friends. He didn’t care about the rest of the world’s opinions.

Or another universe’s.

Other-Gordon chuckled again, jogging up the stairs with Scott hot on his heels before heading for the lounge. Scott paused as they crossed the threshold, seeing Tin-Tin already there, but he refused to baulk. Not-Dad was sat behind the desk, looking every inch the man in charge, and he dragged his feet into the room, finding a seat on the edge of the depressed circle and sprawling out on it as though he was at home.

As it happened, his entrance was timed perfectly. Just as Not-Dad caught sight of him, face drawing into a look of disapproval and mouth opening to dish it out in what would no doubt be a tongue lashing, the section of wall housing the two lamps swung around, revealing Other-Scott.

“I’m back, Dad,” he greeted, a split second before he, too, caught sight of Scott and his new attire. “Hey, what are you wearing?”

“Unless you’re in the habit of keeping anyone else’s clothes in your closet, your clothes,” Scott shrugged, eyeing what the other man was wearing. Blue rollneck, checkered blue cardigan and dark brown slacks.

Fashion was definitely different in this universe.

“You look disgraceful,” Not-Dad cut in, but he didn’t look over at him. Their voices were different, so as long as he didn’t look at him, the scolding didn’t hurt so much. “Do up that shirt properly.” Scott ignored him, and Other-Gordon’s sing-song I told you so.

Other-Scott was less ignorable, striding up to him and yanking sharply on the sleeve cuffs to unroll them.

“Don’t wreck my clothes,” he complained. “You’ll stretch the sleeves doing that.” Scott rolled his eyes and tugged his arms back. “Dad, someone needs to get him some new clothes; he can’t keep wearing mine.”

“Or the same underpants because he refuses to wear yours,” Other-Gordon cut in.

“Gordon, Tin-Tin’s present!” Not-Dad snapped, although the young woman was tittering quietly and didn’t seem at all mortified. “We’ll deal with the clothing situation once debrief is over. In the meantime, wear my son’s clothes properly, young man.”

Scott tugged at the sleeves, smoothing them out again at Other-Scott’s request but not doing up any buttons.

“Are you always this insolent?” Not-Dad demanded when he realised Scott wasn’t obeying him. “What does it take to get some respect in my own house?”

Hiding his reluctance, Scott turned his head to meet his eyes. Not-Dad’s eyes were still a hard steely grey; both Other-John and Other-Gordon had mentioned that the two of them clashing was inevitable, and Scott could tell that they were right. He should defer to the other man – it was his home, and he was the one in charge of the people that could get him home – but even considering doing so made his heart rebel violently.

He hadn’t protected his family and his father’s legacy for the past eight years by backing down, and he wasn’t about to start now.

“I respect people who earn it,” he said pointedly. “You don’t get a free pass just because you’re rich and powerful; I’ve rescued too many rich and powerful people from their own stupidity for that.” Francois Lemaire came to mind. The reasoning behind birthday parties in the Mariana Trench and flying into a comet’s coma still boggled him.

Not-Dad looked taken aback, as though the idea of earning respect was foreign to him. Or maybe it was the fact that he admittedly looked just like the man’s eldest son, so maybe hearing that from him was a shock to the system.

“What about International Rescue?” the man asked, and Scott shrugged.

“What about it?”

“Does that not get your respect?”

“I can respect what an organisation does without respecting the man behind it,” he pointed out, coolly. “The fact that you’re International Rescue tells me that you’ll do everything you can to get me home, and I respect that.”

“So you don’t respect us,” Not-Dad said flatly, a hint of anger in his tone, and Scott shrugged.

“I don’t know you,” he reminded the room at large. “You’re an alternate universe version of my family, and I’m still working out what that means. I trust you to help me, but respect? I don’t know you well enough for that.”

“He’s got a point, Dad,” Other-Scott said, perching on the arm of the neighbouring chair. The support was unexpected, but welcome. “Just because he looks like me doesn’t mean he is me.”

“You’re pretty similar,” Other-Gordon piped up, and Scott rolled his eyes.

“That’s not what you said earlier,” he reminded him. Other-Gordon simply shrugged.

“I’m working with more information now.”

“What information?” Not-Dad demanded, and Scott sent the ginger a glare, realising too late that the younger man had never agreed not to share their conversation in the hangar. Other-Gordon was too sharp for his liking. Was his Gordon going to end up that difficult to wrangle in four years, or was it just because despite appearances he wasn’t Other-Gordon’s brother?

“I spent the last three hours playing chess against him,” Other-Gordon informed the room. To his surprise, Other-Scott laughed.

“You couldn’t beat him either? Gordon’s a demon when it comes to chess.”

“I can’t say I expected to win,” Scott admitted. “That’s a fact in both universes.” Other-Gordon preened, and Not-Dad sat back in his desk chair, clearly deciding to let them talk without his intervention.

That act felt a little bit more like Dad, and Scott looked away, the never-healed hole in his heart throbbing painfully. Other-Gordon sent him a sharp look, but said nothing. Other-Scott watched the silent exchange with confusion; Scott didn’t plan on enlightening him, even if he was probably drawing his own conclusions.

Scott looked around as Other-Gordon carried the conversation, talking a mile a minute about chess with – or rather, at – his eldest brother, who slumped off of the arm of the chair he was perching on to sit in it properly. Scott could relate to the post-mission exhaustion, and felt a stab of jealousy that as soon as debrief was over, Other-Scott didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Not-Dad would take it all from there.

No wonder he wasn’t going grey yet.

The photos on the wall had changed. Gone were the five relaxing young men, lounging around in their civvies. Instead, there were photos of the same five young men all wearing IR blue and coloured sashes, posed just like their own portraits at home. He couldn’t believe they still wore those damn hats, then again, that was something he’d scrapped after Dad’s crash. Not-Dad clearly liked the things enough to still keep them, although he wondered if they really wore them all the time.

Their baldrics, although they looked more like sashes than baldrics, matched the colours Other-Scott had rattled off earlier – lilac for Other-John, yellow for Other-Virgil, orange for Other-Gordon and white for Other-Alan. Other-Scott himself had blue, and Scott wondered how much of a say they’d had in their colours. At home, they matched their Thunderbirds, but Thunderbird One here was still the same colour scheme.

“Operation Cover-Up was in effect last time you were in here,” Other-Gordon commented. “If you’re wondering why the pictures are different.” He turned back to look at him and discovered the room was staring at him. Of course they were.

“Operation Cover-Up?” he asked, frowning. “What’s that?”

Other-Scott narrowed his eyes, but it was Not-Dad that replied, frowning back at him in return.

“Surely you have one of your own?” he inquired. “The identity of International Rescue must be kept secret, after all.”

Scott had almost forgotten about that; the first one of Dad’s rules to fly out of the window, not that he’d been able to do anything about it.

“I wish,” he muttered. While having their identities was useful at times, being dogged and recognised at a glance whenever they were out in public – and unable to let visitors onto the island without extensive background checks because otherwise they’d go snooping – was beyond tiring. Even their location wasn’t as hidden as he’d like, especially not now the GDF knew it – Colonel Casey promised it was a high level clearance secret, but that didn’t change the fact there were people in the GDF that knew.

“Are you saying it’s not a secret in your universe?” Not-Dad demanded, and Scott shrugged.

“The world’s not stupid.” He slumped back in his chair, hyper aware that everyone in the room was watching him with varying levels of interest and disbelief. “Billionaire ex-Astronaut Jeff Tracy goes missing the exact same time the Commander of IR does. Two and two makes four. Not even John and Lady P could cover that up.” Especially not with the Hood leaking the information left, right and centre before going underground, as though killing his Dad wasn’t enough damage. “Best we’ve got is that most of the world don’t know where we live.”

“How are you still operating?” Other-Scott asked, beating his father to it by barely a second, judging by Not-Dad’s opened mouth. “Aren’t people trying to steal the technology?”

Scott groaned. “All the damn time. Island’s on permanent lockdown – no-one’s allowed on or off without our security’s approval. The GDF-” Other-John hadn’t known what that was “-the world military suffers us because we’re better at saving people than them and they know it. Our godmother being a Colonel helps a lot.” He ran a hand over his face again, feeling drained just thinking about the mess he had to deal with daily to keep IR running.

How would they manage without him? Would the GDF force them to shut down, or would John or Virgil step up? How far did Colonel Casey’s reach go; could she still keep them out of trouble with the GDF?

“Scott?” It was Other-Gordon that spoke, but when he pulled his hand away from his face it was Not-Dad he looked at.

“It’s possible to operate when the world knows who you are, but it’s a damn headache.”

“Language!” the man barked. “There are women present.” Scott rolled his eyes, under no illusions that Tin-Tin and Mrs Tracy hadn’t heard worse.

“Gee, so that’s why you’re going grey,” Other-Gordon chipped in, and Scott glowered at him half-heartedly. “And here I was thinking I was going to need to see if Scott was hiding some dye somewhere.”

“Gordon,” Other-Scott growled. The ginger put his hands up.

“Just saying; it seemed suspicious that he’s going grey and you’re not.”

“Why would I be going grey already?” Other-Scott demanded. “I’m thirty.”

“And he’s twenty-seven, so that argument doesn’t hold any water, old chap,” Other-Gordon retorted.

“Wait, what?” All eyes fell on Scott again, and he sent another withering glance Other-Gordon’s way. The ginger wasn’t saying anything he’d explicitly wanted not said, but he was definitely skirting around dangerously close to the edge. “It’s not twenty-sixty-five where you’re from?” Other-Scott continued, and Scott froze.

“Twenty-what?” he asked. That… didn’t make sense. That didn’t make sense at all. He’d be thirty-two in 2065, not thirty. Then again, the age gaps between Virgil, Gordon and Alan were also different between the two universes, so maybe he shouldn’t be surprised.

“I take it that’s a no?” Other-Scott replied, and he shrugged.

“Twenty-sixty.”

“That’s weird.”

“Tell me about it,” Scott groaned. “I need to tell your Brains this stuff but apparently I’m not allowed to disturb him.”

“What ‘stuff’?” Tin-Tin asked, inserting herself in the conversation. “Have you worked anything out?”

“Scott and I were playing spot the difference earlier,” Other-Gordon chipped in. “Seems there’s a few more differences than we thought.”

“Like different dates of birth,” Other-Scott noted. “I was twenty-five in twenty-sixty, not twenty-seven. Is your birthday April fourth?”

Scott nodded, relieved that at least one thing was the same.

“Different age gaps, too,” Other-Gordon pointed out.

“Your brothers are closer in age?” Not-Dad asked. “It can’t be the opposite, or you’d be too young to operate.” Scott winced; the topic was getting too close to areas he didn’t want it, and unlike Other-Gordon, Not-Dad and probably Other-Scott wouldn’t let the matter of Alan’s age drop. “They’re not?” Not-Dad sounded startled, and he realised the wince had given him away. “But-”

He stood up suddenly.

“Let me know when you’re debriefing,” he said, and walked out. Dammit all; he’d said he wouldn’t run away, and he knew he couldn’t keep Alan’s age from Not-Dad and Other-Scott forever, but he wasn’t ready to see the disapproval on Not-Dad’s face. Not when it was so like Dad’s.

“Scott!” It was a woman’s voice – Tin-Tin’s, to be precise, and he reluctantly turned to see the younger woman following him hurriedly. With the topic of ages on his mind, he realised she was probably a similar age to Kayo, not older like the Tracy family seemed to be. Something else that made no sense.

“What is it?” he asked her as she came to a stop in front of her. No-one else emerged from the lounge; whether they were talking about him, or had decided to entrust him to Tin-Tin, he didn’t know.

“I want to hear about these differences,” she said firmly. “Brains is busy with the data he already has, but I’m not.” She put a hand on his arm and directed him towards the stairs.

“What do you mean?” he asked, following her with the reminder that she was this universe’s Kayo stuck in his mind. Just because she didn’t look as dangerous, didn’t mean she wasn’t.

“You recognised my father’s name, but not mine,” she observed. “Let’s start at the beginning; good day, it’s very nice to meet you. My name is Tin-Tin Kyrano and my primary role on the island is as Brains’ assistant.”

That was different, but the words ‘Brains’ assistant’ stuck out like a lifeline. He smiled at her and stuck out his hand. “Good day, and it’s very nice to meet you. The name’s Scott Tracy and in my universe I’m the commander of International Rescue.” She looked at his hand for a moment before grasping it. Her grip was light but firm and he knew his initial impressions had been correct – she was not a woman to be crossed.

If she could help get him home, he had no intentions of crossing her.

“Well, now that we’re introduced,” she smiled, guiding him back towards the infirmary but stopping in front of a different door, pushing it open to reveal a homely sitting area, “perhaps we should talk about those differences Brains needs to know about. Come in; we still have fifteen minutes before Thunderbird Two gets back, and the boys won’t be ready for debrief for another fifteen after that.”

It was only after he entered that he saw the king-sized bed, surrounded with drapes, in an alcove of the room and realised it must be her bedroom.

“Take a seat,” she invited, gesturing to a plush loveseat. “Would you like something to drink?”

“If you have coffee that would be amazing,” he admitted, and she laughed.

“I think the American men on this island would all stop functioning if we didn’t have coffee,” she smiled, heading for a coffee press in the corner of the room. Scott wondered why that was there when the kitchen was just down the hall. “How do you take it?”

“However I can get it,” Scott admitted. “But ideally a splash of milk and a sugar.”

“Just like our Scott,” she commented. “How you men live off so much caffeine, I will never understand. Your blood must be more coffee than blood at this rate.”

Scott smiled dryly. “Something like that.”

“I must confess I’m curious – what am I like in your universe?” she asked as she set the water to boil. “You don’t look at me like you do the boys.”

“Kayo – Tanusha, but we call her Kayo after she put me down in a sparring session – is… different to you,” Scott admitted. “She’s a tomboy, our head of security after Kyrano… left. Grew up with us as a sister, jumps into a fight first chance she gets. I have to hold her back more than all of my brothers combined.”

Kayo would be going ballistic that he vanished right under her nose, even though she hadn’t been on the island at the time. He hoped she wouldn’t follow in Kyrano’s footsteps and vanish after ‘failing’ him. His brothers still needed her, whatever else happened.

Tin-Tin made a noise of surprise. “I assumed she must have been different, but that is very different,” she observed. The kettle whistled, steam pouring out of it, and she decanted the contents into the coffee press. “She gets into fights? Whatever do people think of that?”

“Kayo doesn’t care,” Scott shrugged. “She usually wins them, anyway.”

“That’s not particularly ladylike,” Tin-Tin observed, although she didn’t sound particularly scandalised about it. “Is that common in your universe? You mentioned your godmother’s a Colonel in the military..?”

Scott thought to how Not-Dad had been so strict on language in front of her, and frowned.

“Are women generally treated like they’re made of glass here, or is that just him?” he asked. “Grandma, Kayo and Lady P would have all had something to say if someone specifically cleaned up their language in front of them because they’re female.”

“As a general rule they think we’re delicate flowers, yes,” Tin-Tin confirmed, carrying a tray with two cups on it over to the table. One was clearly his coffee, while the other looked like another herbal tea. “Your attitude is quite refreshing, although when Mr Tracy isn’t around the boys lose the gentlemanly airs a little.”

“When you live with a sister who can kick your ass seven ways to Sunday and a Grandma with a sharp tongue you learn women aren’t made of glass pretty damn quick,” Scott shrugged.

“I suppose you would,” she agreed, pulling out a notebook and pencil. “That seems like quite the incentive, but while you’re here, at least try to pretend you think we’re made of glass.” She winked. “It somewhat ruins the deception if a man sees through it.”

That was a very Lady Penelope response, and Scott made a mental note of that.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he agreed, before looking pointedly at the notebook. “You had questions?”

“Those differences Gordon alluded to,” she confirmed. “I’ll write them down and give them to Brains to look at once he’s finished with the information he currently has.” Scott nodded his head and began to talk about the differences he and Other-Gordon had realised earlier.

The different age gaps – Tin-Tin let out a small gasp when she found out Alan was only fifteen, but didn’t comment, much to his relief – and the different years of birth had already been somewhat covered in the lounge, but he also mentioned the differences in appearance, describing them as best he could and failing utterly at anything past “John’s hair is ginger, Virgil’s is black, Gordon’s is blond, and they’re all kinda younger-looking”. His observation of different fashions, their earlier discussion on perception of women, and even an attempt into the technological differences also made their way into Tin-Tin’s rapidly filling notebook. At some point they heard the sound of a rumbling engine, deeper than Thunderbird One’s, and he recognised it as this universe’s Thunderbird Two. Tin-Tin barely reacted, only mentioning off-handedly that they had about fifteen minutes left before continuing their conversation.

She steered clear of asking any questions about what had happened to his Dad, which he appreciated. That wound had been rubbed raw more than enough for one day, what with his initial outburst, Other-John’s quiet probing and Other-Gordon’s outright interrogation. She did, however, manage to steer the conversation towards his grandmother, and almost fell out of her chair when she discovered Sally Tracy couldn’t cook.

“However do you boys keep yourselves fed?” she demanded. “If it’s not Mrs Tracy, my father, or Kayo?”

Scott shrugged. “Take-out or snatching time to cook between missions,” he admitted. “One good thing about the world knowing we’re IR is that if I use Thunderbird One, take-out’s still hot by the time I get it back.” She laughed at that for a moment before turning serious again.

“But you boys must have a balanced diet,” she worried. “There’s no way you can keep up with the physical demands of International Rescue without one.”

“We manage,” he assured her. “When John’s home we lock him in the kitchen; he’s by far the best cook out of the five of us.” That elicited another laugh, although she looked halfway cross with herself for it. “We can all cook at least enough to survive.” She didn’t look entirely convinced, but with an entire universe between them, there wasn’t much she could do about it and the topic reluctantly got dropped.

“This is a lot of differences,” she said instead, looking down at her pages and pages of small, scrawling handwriting. Scott could barely read it, but it had also been a long time since he’d had to read anything handwritten that wasn’t his own writing – and even that was unusual. Why handwrite when you had computers to do that for you? “Most of them are small enough to work around while you’re here, but the differing years suggest your universe is five years younger than ours, and I’m not sure if there’s any significance about the different years of birth. That’s something Brains or John might understand better.”

He nodded his understanding, his chest feeling lighter now he felt like they were getting somewhere. Baby steps to be sure, and Other-John’s gentle reminder that it could take years still rang in his ears, but progress was progress.

“Now, it’s about time for the debrief to start,” she said, checking her own watch. Scott did the same, but the analogue dial taunted him, reminding him that he needed to learn to read it sooner rather than later – although that meant finding someone to teach him. “Alan and Virgil should be all cleaned up by now.”

Scott drained the remains of his coffee and stood up, empty cup in hand.

“Oh, leave the cup on the table,” Tin-Tin told him. “I’ll clean it up later.”

“If you’re sure,” he said dubiously – Grandma would have his hide for leaving dirty crockery anywhere that wasn’t the kitchen, and even then it was expected to be cleaned immediately. Rescues were the only permissible excuse to do otherwise.

“Perfectly,” she assured him, hand once again on his arm. “Come on, let’s go hear about what the boys did today.” With one last glance at the cup, and noticing that Tin-Tin had picked up her notebook, he let the young woman nudge him out of the room and headed for the stairs up to the lounge again.

Chapter 7>>>

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds are go fanfiction #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #tsari writes fanfiction #scott tracy #long way from home #gordon tracy #jeff tracy #tin-tin kyrano

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encounterthepast · 4 years

Text

If you enjoy this please follow @RussInCheshire on twitter for his regular threads on UK politics.

As it’s the weekend, let’s start #TheWeekInTory with a frivolous and jolly story about our own govt deliberately starving hundreds of thousands of children...

1. In May, Boris Johnson promised “nobody will go hungry as a result of Coronavirus”

2. He then denied school meals to the 600,000 poorest children

3. So Marcus Rashford ran a campaign to get the govt to feed children, which - just think about that: he had to *campaign* for it

4. Then Boris Johnson congratulated Rashford on his campaign to overturn the cruel policies of, erm, Boris Johnson

5. And then 3 days later, Boris Johnson refused to feed those kids during school holidays

6. So this week Labour organised a parliamentary vote about it

7. And 322 Tories voted against feeding hungry children

8. Vicky Ford, the Children’s Minister (who you’ll be surprised to hear neither looks nor sounds like a ludicrous Dickensian villain) went ahead and voted against feeding children

9. Tory MP Jo Gideon voted against feeding children. Jo Gideon, in case you didn't think things could get any more unbelievable, is also the chair of "Feeding Britain", a charity that campaigns to end food poverty and hunger in the UK.

10. Tory MP Paul Scully waved away the grumbling parents of kids with grumbling tummies, and said “children have been going hungry under Labour for years”, seemingly forgetting Tories have been in power for a decade

11. Tory MP Ben Bradley, who once had to apologise for suggesting sterilising the poor, said feeding children will simply “increase their dependency”. On food. Yeah, wean the little bastards off it. It’ll do them good in the end, which will be around 3 agonising weeks.

12. At this point, pause to consider that MPs get their food and drink subsidised. A £31 meal in a parliamentary restaurant costs MPs £3.45. In 2018 this subsidy cost the taxpayer £4.4m. I can’t find any record of Tories like Ben Bradley voting against this.

13. Pressing on: Ben Bradley also said “Some parents prioritise other things ahead of their kids. Small minority, yes... but some do”. Yes, and a small minority of Tory MPs have been arrested for rape. Should we send them all to prison?

14. Also, Mark Francois voted (by proxy) to keep kids hungry. Not related to the previous item. Why would you think that?

15. Tory MP Nicky Morgan said the govt voted to starve 600,000 children cos a Labour MP called a Tory MP scum. And that’s not a scummy thing to do at all.

16. Tory MP David Simmonds said Marcus Rashford’s experience of poverty in secondary school “took place entirely under a Labour government”. Rashford was 11 when Tories came into power, making David Simmonds are rare example of an ad hominem attack on yourself

17. Simmonds then said Labour’s parliamentary vote was “all about currying favour with wealth and power and celebrity status”. He might be right – the govt managed to unify Gary Linaker and Nigel Farage in condemnation of their denial of food to kids

18. Brandan Clark-Smith (who voted to starve kids) demanded “more action to tackle the real causes of child poverty”

19. So at once, the govt cut minimum wage for furloughed people. They now get 2/3 of the money the govt says is the absolute minimum it is possible to survive on

20. And then it was revealed that low-paid workers who have to isolate due to Covid can claim £500. Yay!

21. But if they’re told to isolate by the govt’s contact tracing app, they can’t claim anything. Un-yay.

22. Long story short: the govt cannot spend £120m feeding children. But it can spend £522 on the Eat Out Scheme, which its own report said contributed “negligible amounts” to the hospitality economy, and Boris Johnson admitted drove up infection rates – especially in the North

23. Those infection rates caused the govt to move Manchester into Tier 3

24. So the Mayor of Manchester asked for a £90m support package (1/6th of the money the govt spent causing the problem in the first place)

25. The govt said no, £60m

26. The Mayor said, how about £65m?

27. The govt said no, £60m

28. The Mayor said ok, fine, we’ll take the £60m

29. And then govt offered Manchester £22m, and then went to the press and said the Mayor was "being unreasonable"

30. The negotiations were led by Robert Jenrick, who recently set up a fund for the poorest 101 towns, then awarded his town £25m even though it is the 270th poorest, and therefore not even eligible

31. £25m is £237 per person

32. Manchester gets £7.85 per person

33. Robert Jenrick gave Manchester (2.8 million people) £22m

34. Robert Jenrick gave Richard Desmond (1 person) £45m

35. The talks broke down when the govt wouldn’t spend an extra £5m

36. The govt plans to spend £7m vitally rebranding "Highways England" to "National Highways"

37. Manchester Young Conservatives tweeted “Boris has lied about helping us in the North. It’s time for him to go". Don't look - they deleted it. Suspect somebody had a word.

38. Meanwhile the govt said Manchester will get the £60m after all, and chaos continue to reign supreme

39. But that £60m is brief reprieve for the Tories of Manchester, as a govt report said Tory seats in the North of England (the so-called "Red Wall" seats) can expect to lose at least 4000 jobs *each* as a result of Brexit, even if we do get a deal. More if we don't.

40. The govt rushed to begin its first airport Coronavirus testing, a mere 211 days after mandatory airport testing was begun in South Korea

41. South Korea has had 8 deaths per million

42. The UK has had 665 deaths per million

43. More airport news, as the govt finally accepted Brexit will cause “up to 8-hour delays at passport checks” and asked the EU to allow UK citizens to queue at EU-only lanes. Like we did when we were in the EU. But we aren’t now. So tough.

44. A senior diplomat said, “Having grown up in Brussels, Boris Johnson values the ability to travel freely to the continent”. You’d think Boris Johnson would foresee this problem when he led the campaign to stop that freedom.

45. The independent reviewer of Terrorism Legislation said the UK “will be increasingly unable to cope” after Brexit, as we lose access to EU data-sharing agreements

46. And a No-Deal end to UK/EU scientific collaboration will leave London with a £3bn annual deficit

47. In the space of 38 days, the govt announced the £100bn "Operation Moonshot" to solve Covid; then cancelled it; and then re-launched it again after it was found they’d accidentally continued to pay over 200 private consultants up to £7000 a day to work on it.

48. So this week, Boris Johnson said Moonshot would continue, but it’s goals “would take time”, which is the literal opposite of what he said it would do when it first announced it, and makes the entire thing absolutely pointless

49. And now it’s been admitted that Operation Moonshot would be quietly folded into the existing £12bn Test and Trace programme, and the £100bn has vanished. Apart from the bits the Serco consultants took for doing… nothing.

50. But Boris Johnson said the Test and Trace programme was “helping a bit”, and “a bit” is the least you’d expect if you’d spent £12bn

51. And then the £12bn Test and Trace programme fell to its lowest success rate so far, identifying only 60% of at-risk people

52. Local councils, with no additional funding, are tracing 98% of cases

53. A quick sweep though other epic successes you may have missed (or deliberately blocked out): Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch declared that it should be illegal to teach about inequality

54. The Cabinet Secretary said the report into “vicious and orchestrated” bullying by Home Secretary and Dementor Priti Patel “may never see the light of day”, cos if you have a report that vindicates you, you definitely sit on it as long as possible

55. And the appeals court unanimously overturned Priti Patel’s policy of removing people from the UK without giving them access to legal process or justice because – and I’m paraphrasing the judges here – what the fuck, Patel? What the actual fuck?

56. Undeterred, she announced plans to make rough-sleeping “grounds for removal of permission to be in the UK” and "denial of legal aid". So if you’re too poor to have a home, you must pay for a lawyer or she’ll shove you in the sea

57. After an unnamed Tory MP said it “looks bad to be handing top jobs to your friend and old boss”, Charles Moore, Boris Johnson’s friend and old boss, withdrew as next BBC chair.

58. The new favourite is Richard Sharp, the - yep - friend and old boss of Rishi Sunak

59. You’ll be amazed to hear this: Richard Sharp is a major donor to the Tory party. These little coincidences keep on happening

60. The govt decided to prevent EU citizens from having physical proof of their right to live in their own home

61. Grant Shapps threatened to “seize control of Transport for London” to save it from financial ruin at the hands of Sadiq Khan, who – the bastard - achieved a mere 71% reduction in the debts caused by his noble predecessor, Boris Johnson

62. Matt Hancock, facts at his fingertips, told MPs from Yorkshire their constituents could go on holiday abroad

63. But not in the UK

64. And then that they CAN go on holiday in the UK

65. But can't leave Yorkshire

66. He then said “I'll get back to you” about the details

67. A cross-party report found “the UK’s foreign policy is adrift”, that it lacks “clarity, confidence and vision” and that Britain is “absent from the world stage”. All of which is very soothing, as we move into the govt's proclaimed goal of a post-Brexit Global Britain.

68. And we can all relax: the govt is finally supporting culture in the UK, specifically the Nevill Holt Opera, which performs private operas, and is owned by Boris Johnson’s friend (and - jaw on floor! - Tory donor) David Ross, who is worth £700m so really needs the money.

69. The Nevill Holt Opera only functions in the summer, so thank god it has been prioritised with £85,000 to “maintain operations” in October.

And now, in honour of the opera, the fat lady can sing, cos I’m off to drink myself into oblivion. Join me.

We live in interesting times.

#tory scum #tory britain #uk news #uk this week #free school meals #andy burnham #marcus rashford

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narcissasdaffodil · 4 years

Text

Flufftober 2020

Day 2: First Meeting

This is another AU fic. I wanted to do something a little different instead of taking from my fic, so this is another coffee shop AU, so enjoy this!

Alecto’s thoughts disappear from her head as she hears the sound of footsteps approaching her. She was aware she would likely need to give up some space,deciding to check through one of Abby’s essays in a coffee shop was a good idea when she first thought of it, but now the heavens have opened outside, she’s slightly regretting her decision as the coffee shop fills up with people sheltering from the rain, along with the noise that accompanied them.

Wow! She’s gorgeous.

When footsteps stop beside her table, she looks up to see a pretty girl standing there. She had long loose ombre hair and glasses and was likely not much taller than her. She found herself staring, mesmerised by the beauty standing there. The noise of the rest of the coffee shop fell away, leaving only the two of them in silence. It feels different to usual, the silence warm and inviting. She hears the other girl clear her throat, and her cheeks flush as she realised she entirely missed what the other girl said, lost in her own fantasies.

“S...sorry. Could you repeat, please? It’s slightly loud in here so I didn’t catch that.” Her voice is soft as she looks up at the other girl, she hopes she’s loud enough to be heard. She does frequently miss stuff, her hearing isn’t the best and she does have to focus a lot to hear people sometimes.

“Could I sit here? This is the only free seat. I’ve got stuff to do anyway, so I won’t bother you.” Alecto nodded at the other girl, her words appeared to have entirely dried up in her throat. She took a sip of the drink in front of her.

She heard the chair slide out in response, the other girl sitting down. She tried to focus on the essay before her, but kept losing track mid sentence. Abby was amazing and all, but her essays were so in-depth that she regularly lost track. Why does Abby even ask you to read her stuff, anyway? You’re doing medicine, not criminology like her, and she’s so talented that she doesn’t technically need a second opinion.

The pretty girl sitting across from her definitely wasn’t helping her focus in the slightest. She hoped this wasn’t just another ‘Alecto crush’ as Abby termed them. A crush would easily consume her and she never would act on it, but Abby was hardly any better herself, she definitely had some variety of the weird crush thing. She had had a crush on her best friend for 3 and something years now, and was too scared to ruin what she had with Abby. They had met during sixth form, and the friendship only grew. She had needed another person there after the disastrous events of the years before that, and being trapped in a very toxic friendship group.

“I’m...I’m Alecto by the way. I know this is a weird ask, but would you mind reading over something for me? My best friend asked me to read an essay for her so she could have a second opinion and I’m struggling to process it, mainly as it’s not my speciality. It’s okay if the answer’s no, I’ll figure it out eventually, I think.” She asked, looking over her laptop at the girl across from her. Why do you keep stuttering? That’s supposed to have been in the past years ago! Alecto fiddled with her hair, curling a chunk of it around her fingers.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Marisol. I’d be fine with checking over it for you, that doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I was only planning to read a book, anyway, so there’s nothing urgent for me to complete.” Marisol smiled at her, resting her hand on the table. How lucky! Yay. That’s such a pretty name.

She scrolled back up to the top of the essay then handed her laptop over to Marisol.

“That’s such a pretty name! I hope you have more luck with it than I did, maybe as I’m doing medicine myself, Abby’s essays are more difficult for me to get my head around as I’m not as familiar with the course content as she is. I’m not sure why she doesn’t just get her course mates to check through it for her, but I don’t mind that much.” She explained. You’re talking so much! Wow. What’s gotten into you?

Marisol nodded, and tapped her chin with a finger as she scanned the essay. Alecto retrieved a book from her bag to pass the time, but she kept spacing out as she was reading. Uh oh. This is definitely another ‘Alecto crush’. Yet this one is more difficult to explain, how has it happened this quickly? It did do that with Abby too, but that’s only twice in a realm of crushes.

She was finding it difficult to keep her hands still, she caught hold of her bracelet and started gently spinning it. She didn’t want to be irritating, so it was important to keep herself from fiddling or doing anything that made too much noise. Using her phone did cross her mind, but she didn’t want to appear rude.

“I think I got it. It’s exploring some of the different ways that the criminal justice system needs improvement and suggestions on how to do that. The writing itself isn’t overly accessible to people who aren’t studying something related to the criminal justice system though. I’m studying law myself, which definitely helped in understanding it, there’s definitely specific terminology which probably comes across like code to those unfamiliar with it. It’s a good essay though, people familiar with criminology or law would definitely find it accessible.” Marisol explained. “You’d think she might have helped you out a little terminology wise or at least sent you over some notes of hers. Are all of her essays slightly difficult for you to access?” In her focus, her brow was furrowed, and she was looking over her glasses at Alecto. She had a notebook open next to her with a series of neat and organised notes about the essay.

“Yes, you’re right there. It’s always confused me slightly how she asks me to read over stuff for her instead of her course mates or something, but I don’t mind that much. It does give me a good puzzle. I’ve always struggled more with feedback for her, but she’s always good with testing me if I need it, so I do it as a favour to her.” She explained. It gives you an excuse to spend time with her too. She’s your best friend, after all. Even if you’re doing completely different courses and aren’t even living in the same halls. You’re scared of losing her as you do care about her a lot.

“I also wrote a set of notes on it for you to go from in terms of feedback. You can rewrite them if you like, but I wanted to give you an extra hand. You’re a good person, though, it’s nice of you to do that for your friend. I don’t mind helping you further in the future, either.” She handed the laptop back to Alecto, placing her notebook next to it. Alecto scanned the notes, opening a separate document and typing them up. Wait. She wants to spend more time with you? But why? You’re not the most interesting person.

“R...really? You want to help me more? Thank you, though. You...you actually want to spend more time with me? I’m not used to people saying that, usually I do scare people off, not deliberately either.” She was more than a little bit flustered, feeling herself blush again. She wasn’t usually this much of a mess, but crushes caused her to lose all usual sensibilities. She didn’t make eye contact with Marisol, hoping desperately the other girl wasn’t playing a prank on her.

“I mean it. I’ve seen you a couple of times around campus and for some reason I feel drawn to you. That, and I want to learn how to take good photos and Abby told me you’re very talented. She gushes about you all the time. We’re on the same floor in halls, so we became quite close. I appear to have ended up with a group of flatmates from my worst nightmares, apart from Abby, so we’ve just bonded through that.” Marisol explained. To Alecto’s surprise, she seemed serious, and was actually blushing. How can being around you of all people make someone blush? She knows Abby, so that’s something positive, Abby doesn’t tend to be friends with just anyone.

Marisol reached over the table and took Alecto’s hand in hers, rubbing the back of her hand in a circle. She felt herself relax, aware that she was likely blushing even more. She felt a warm feeling that was more than a little bit unfamiliar to her.

“Okay. I’ll teach you then. We probably need to exchange numbers or something, maybe social media?” She retrieved her phone from her bag, feeling Marisol let go of her other hand. She clicked onto her Instagram account, handing her phone over to Marisol. When she was done, she took her phone back, feeling it buzz with a message. She checked it, finding herself unable to concentrate fully and having to reread it multiple times. Her mind was consumed by a strange warm feeling that was unfamiliar to her.

#litg #litg marisol #litg fanfic #love island the game #litgs2 #flufftober 2020 #bubblelaureno

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daisylincs · 4 years

Note

Hear me out, 15+69 for staticquake. Could be interesting.

15 = Criminal AU, 69 = Flirting Under Fire

You're right, this could definitely be interesting! And quite a lot of fun, too, especially after I added a fakeout makeout (I couldn't resist.) As always, thanks for the great prompt, Grace 🤗

Daisy is a lieutenant in the local police force, and part of a crack police team known in the station as the Shield. Their team, specifically, is famous for handling those cases most other teams would crash and burn in. (Shield never crashes and burns - except maybe Hunter's one-liners. Those should be treated with a fire extinguisher and a ten-foot pole.)

Anyway, today's case is a fairly standard one. Daisy's done this kind of thing a thousand times before - she's pretty sure she can do it with her eyes closed. After all, what's so hard about finding and arresting someone when you know exactly what they look like? Especially if it's just one guy.

So, no, she's not worried. Which is of course why this case blows up in her face.

It starts out well enough. She goes to the location an anonymous tip-off alerted them to, and finds her guy pretty quickly.

And, God, it's almost insulting how easy this is. Here her guy is, going through his bag of stolen goods in broad daylight, in the alley behind a Walmart, of all places.

"Hands in the air," she tells him, drawing her gun. "And please step away from that bag. Your amateurishness is hurting my professional pride."

He turns around slowly, raising his hands, and she does a kind of appreciative double take. CCTV feeds really don't do him justice.

Too bad he's a criminal, she reflects, shaking her head at her own rotten luck. Why is it that all the cute guys I meet are criminals?

"Ma'am," the guy says, jolting her from her thoughts. "This isn't what it looks like, I promise."

"So you're saying you didn't just steal that stuff from Lai Shi Labs?" Daisy asks with blinding sarcasm.

He winces, ducking his head. "Okay, yeah, this looks bad," he admits.

Daisy is already getting out her handcuffs. "Yes, yes it does."

"I did steal this monoalkenicterrigenoethynol from the lab," he confesses, and Daisy takes a step back just because of that word. Damn. Jemma would be impressed.

"But," the guy says, and something in his sincere blue eyes stops her from handcuffing him immediately, "I'm not a thief."

Daisy has to shake her head at the sheer ridiculousness of that excuse. During her time as a cop, she's heard a few wild ones, but she's pretty sure this one beats them all. He admits he stole the… unpronounceable science thing, but now he's saying he's not a thief? Really?

"Dude," she says, "you're kind of insulting me here. How dumb do you think I am? Most thieves I go after at least try to fight me, not explain to me why they're not thieves."

"I don't think you're dumb," he says earnestly.

"Then why," she asks, channeling her best May-like deadpan stare, "are you trying to convince me you're not a thief while holding a bag of stolen goods in your hands?"

He winces again. "Okay, I can see how this looks really bad. But you haven't arrested me yet, so that's a plus, right?"

"That's just because I've been too caught up in despairing over how bad a thief you are," she says. (Oh, snap. Hunter should really take notes.)

"Ma'am, listen," he says, and there's some urgent layer in his voice that makes her pause. "This stuff I stole - I helped invent it. You're not really a thief if you're stealing your own product, right?"

He doesn't wait for her to reply. "But the point is, I helped make this. I know what it does."

"Okay, I’ll play,” Daisy says, putting her hands on her hips. She can always arrest him later. “What does it do?"

The guy hesitates, then starts to explain in a rush. "It's monoalkenicterrigenoethynol. It alters the biomolecular structure of the host's DNA, causing a total change in the macromolecule arrangement of the -"

His eyes go wide half-way through his last sentence (which is fine, Daisy was understanding, like, nothing that came out of his mouth, other than the word the.) "Shit," he breathes, looking at something over her shoulder.

Daisy whirls around and sees a red SUV with the words Lai Shi Labs emblazoned across the side pulling up next to the Walmart.

Okay, just how long has he been wasting her time if the owners are already showing up? She glances down at her watch and yelps. "Shit, okay. I don't care how cute you are, I really have to arrest you now."

"No," he says, grabbing her arm. "You need to run."

"Are you crazy?" she exclaims, yanking her arm away with an incredulous glance. "I'm arresting -"

But she's cut off by a shower of bullets hitting the ground just inches from where she's standing.

She turns to the thief-not-thief guy with wide eyes. "Okay, running sounds good right about now," she says, following him around the corner and into the next alley.

And because she's not stupid, she radios for backup on the way.

But she knows it'll be a while before they can get to her.

Which means she's currently stuck huddled behind a dumpster with a guy and his bag of stolen goods. Yay.

Oh, and did she mention the part where they're getting shot at? Double yay!

"Do you believe me now?" the guy yells at her through the rain of bullets.

Daisy snorts an incredulous laugh. "Believe you? Uh, no!"

"Why not?" he yells back.

She rolls her eyes. "Because, genius, you stole their stuff. Of course they're mad."

But she can't deny that a reaction like this is a little… extreme.

Okay, a lot extreme.

Fine, he has a point.

"So, what's your name?" he calls once there's a momentary lull in the rattle of bullets against the dumpster.

"Daisy," she says distractedly, trying to peer around the dumpster without, you know, getting her head blown off.

"Pretty," he says, and she can just hear the smile in his voice. "Like you."

She turns around to give him an incredulous look. "Are you really flirting with me while we're being shot at?"

He grins at her, and she thinks it's quite unfair how attractive it makes him look. "Why not?"

"I don't know… oh, yeah, bullets? Impending death? That ring any bells?" she asks, trying to get back to her assessment of the situation.

But this guy doesn't give up. "You haven't asked me for my name yet."

"Maybe that’s because we are about to die.”

He gives her a heart-meltingly warm smile. "Isn't that the perfect time to flirt, then?"

“Uh, no,” she says, as though it should be obvious. (It should.) “The perfect time to flirt would be after we’ve gotten out of here, in a nice little coffee shop.”

She can practically hear the grin in his voice as he replies, “oh, so you’re saying you would flirt with me at another time?”

Daisy splutters. “I didn’t say that!”

“You kind of did,” he argues, blue eyes sparkling playfully.

“You’re delusional,” she scoffs, peering around the dumpster again (and though she would never admit it, it’s partially to hide the blush creeping across her cheeks. He’s cute, okay?)

“And you’re pretty,” he says to her back.

She turns around to give him a deadpan stare. “Are you ever going to quit with the flirting?”

“As soon as you ask me for my name,” he answers cheerfully.

She shakes her head, but there’s a grin tugging at her lips despite her best efforts. “You know what? Fine. If it’ll shut you up… what’s your name, guy who is totally a thief despite not thinking he is?”

“I’m not a thief,” he protests for the two-hundred-and-fortieth time. “I helped create the monoalkenicterrigenoethynol, and it’s my call to say it shouldn’t be released into the public.”

“Right, so you’re a hero,” she says, the amount of sarcasm in her voice enough to knock out a full-grown elephant. “Forgive me if I don’t fall at your feet in worship.”

“I’d rather we go out on a few dates first,” he says, and oh my God, he did not just say that.

“Do you know my friend Hunter?” she asks him. “Because that really sounds like something he’d say.”

“I’m afraid I don’t,” he says, then adds probably just to spite her, “Daisy.”

“I’m going to regret giving you my name, aren’t I?” she asks with a long-suffering groan.

He grins cheerfully at her. “Oh, yes.”

“At least tell me yours so I can return the favour,” she says, because come on, fair’s fair. (She can just see Jemma’s smirk at this point, and she mentally tells her no, Jemma, I’m not flirting back, don’t be dumb, it’s just to shut him up.)

The guy seems to think differently, if the way his eyes light up in amusement is any indication. “I’m Lincoln,” he says. “Really pleased to meet you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she says, rolling her eyes and directing her full attention to ignoring the little pleased glow she gets in her stomach.

He looks like he’s about to say something else, but luckily for Daisy’s sanity, the dumpster chooses that exact moment to blow apart, a bullet whizzing between them and narrowly missing both of their heads.

“Okay, time to go,” she says, taking charge instinctively and dashing down the alley. Dead end. Crap.

“Through here,” Lincoln says, grabbing her hand and tugging her towards the rusted steel gate she missed in the shadows.

She takes the lead again, keeping a hold of his hand for practical purposes. (Oh my god, stop smirking, mind-Jemma.) Maybe they can lose the Lai Shi guys in the mess of alleys behind the mall.

They almost succeed. They're right about to come out into the main road when they see the red SUV pull up.

Now, Daisy is a police officer, trained in one of the best teams in the business. She specializes in taking stock of a situation and acting on what she assesses, fast.

That's exactly what she does. She sees the SUV, sees the corner of the alley as a potential barrier between them, sees how it can trick their enemies into passing right by if they just add a little distraction.

The first thing that pops into her mind is a stupid, cliché idea that has absolutely nothing to do with how she and Lincoln have been flirting-not-flirting, and even less to do how she thinks he's really cute. All there is to it is that she's a good officer, and she saw an opportunity for a good distraction. That's all. Definitely.

But as she pushes him against the wall and kisses him, deliberately positioning it so that her hair blocks his face, she's really not complaining about this particular distraction.

They keep kissing even when they hear the SUV take off again - just to be sure they’re safe, of course. That’s why.

Just as they have to pull apart, out of breath, Daisy’s walkie-talkie crackles. “I’m here, Dais,” her partner Mack says, with just a hint of amusement in his voice.

Daisy turns around, and sure enough, there’s the familiar police car. She can feel her cheeks burning as she steps away from Lincoln, even though she knows she has nothing to be embarrassed about. It was just a distraction, after all.

"Need a ride?" Mack asks, rolling down the window and shooting her a shit-eating grin. Oh, wonderful. Distraction or no, the teasing about this is never going to stop.

“Come on,” she grumbles, tugging Lincoln into the car by the hand and ignoring the way Mack hides a grin. “Let’s go.”

The ride back is one of the most awkward of her life - she and Lincoln have no idea what to say to each other after, well, that, and it doesn’t help that Mack keeps smirking at them in the mirror. Daisy’s almost glad when they get to the base.

Coulson is waiting for them inside. “Oh, good, you got the criminal,” he says when he sees Lincoln step out.

Daisy coughs, not wanting to meet Lincoln’s gaze. “Actually, sir… it’s a little bit more complicated than that.”

“Oh?” Coulson’s eyebrows fly up.

Daisy coughs again. “Yeah… he says he kind of had to steal it, to prevent it from being released into the public.”

“That would be a disaster, sir,” Lincoln supplies helpfully.

“Well, Fitzsimmons will be able to tell us soon enough,” Coulson says, reluctantly motioning for Lincoln to come inside.

Daisy would never admit it, but she’s tense as she waits for Jemma’s results. (Judging by Mack’s knowing look, though, she’s not fooling anybody.)

When Fitzsimmons have finished working their magic, Daisy almost melts with relief when their faces are serious.

“Sir, this is one incredibly dangerous substance,” Fitz says, his blue eyes serious.

“It’s actually really, really lucky you stole these vials when you did, Lincoln,” Jemma tells them seriously. “If this stuff had been released into the public, well… let’s just say it’s better not to think about it.”

Coulson’s face is wry as he turns to Lincoln. “I hate to say it, but Mr Campbell is... not a criminal.” He gives Lincoln a grudging nod, and Daisy has to bite back a grin at just how grudging it is. “It seems you’ve done us all a favour.”

Lincoln nods, keeping his face serious for Coulson’s benefit. “Thank you, sir.”

But as soon as everyone else is out of the room, he turns to Daisy with a fully I-told-you-so smirk. “That’s a date you owe me.”

She folds her arms. “And how did you come to that conclusion?”

“Well, you said you wouldn’t worship me as a hero until we’d gone on a few dates,” he reminds her.

She keeps up her unimpressed facade. “Pretty sure you said that.”

He ignores her and takes a step closer. “Well, now that I actually am a hero…”

She rolls her eyes, but she’s biting back a grin. “Alright, alright, hotshot. We’ll go on a date.”

“Really?” he asks, and the simultaneously surprised and shyly delighted look in his eyes is so sweet it completely melts the glare off her face.

She reaches for his hand. “Really.”

(The rest of the base can tease her all she likes - Daisy’s finally found a cute guy who’s not, you know, a criminal. Though they do have a very funny story to tell all their friends about that…

It’s not the happy ending Daisy expected. But it’s a good one.)

#tropes mashup #criminal au #flirting under fire #fakeout makeout #staticquake #bullet-point fic

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tracybirds · 4 years

Text

oof okay I know I said I would title fics from now on but it wasn’t a pinky swear and it’s quarter to tomorrow so I will worry about that later. I’m done poking this thing and I’m pretty satisfied in the end so yay :D

Basically from when the rewatch ep was Runaway 2 weeks ago I got (justifiably) annoyed at Scott and decided that No, Brains wasn’t gonna let that slide, we need to have a ~~conversation~~

Huge thanks to @gumnut-logic for putting up with my grumbles and brainstorming me out of “stuck in the middle”-itis

Much love, hope you enjoy <3

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Brains said very little as they stood on the train platform, waiting for John to send Thunderbird One back to pick them up. Scott wasn’t sure why it was taking him so long – if he had been in closer range to his ‘bird and able to bring her back to him himself, they’d be halfway to Tracy Island by now. Forced patience lead to forced conversation, but the stilted answers from his friend soon killed his enthusiasm. Scott had never felt so awkward following a rescue before.

“You did great, Brains,” said Scott. He was trying for an encouraging tone, but the words felt limp in his mouth. “I liked how you…”

His voice trailed away at the unimpressed look Brains levelled at him.

“P-please don’t Scott. I would like to go home.”

The deafening roar of Thunderbird One’s engines drowned out Scott’s small “okay”.

He gave a tight smile as the train engineer clapped him on the shoulder and wished him well, before quickly following Brains into the heart of his ship. Lady Penelope might scold him later if the brush-off reached her ears, but he had larger concerns for the moment than reputation.

Brains was already strapped in.

“You ready?”

“Yes, thank you Scott.”

Scott narrowed his eyes as he looked back at Brains. The frostiness was starting to get to him but as long as the engineer didn’t want to talk about it, Scott knew he wouldn’t. He shrugged and turned back to the controls, pulling up a commlink to his brother.

“How’s my flight path looking, John?”

“You’re cleared for flight, Thunderbird One. Veer south by south east once you’re over the Pacific, there’s a nice little weather system heading for the Japanese coast line.”

“How bad is it?” asked Scott. “Should we stay?”

“I’ve spoken to the authorities already, they’ve assured me that their own civil defence will handle it. Besides, I want Brains to have a look over this computer programme. Alan recognised it was using game theory – except I know the type of coding that goes into a game theory operation and this isn’t it.”

“Could you forward me a c-copy, John?”

“I could Brains, but I’d rather not. Something seems off about this virus, but I can’t put my finger on it. Until I know what it is, we should keep it contained.”

“FAB, John.”

“See you at home.”

The holo died and Scott chanced one more look back at Brains before he eased the throttle forwards.

“You okay, Brains?”

“Fine,” came the terse reply. “Perhaps you’ll take m-my request for a lower velocity m-more seriously this time?”

Scott squirmed guiltily in his seat.

“Sure thing. I’m sorry about earlier.”

“N-not as sorry as I was.”

He couldn’t argue with that. The silence stretched into the long seconds. At her top speed, Thunderbird One could be home in twenty minutes. At this subsonic crawl, it would take nearly seven hours.

“Do you want some music or something?”

“No. Thank you.”

He heard a deep breath from behind him.

“Scott, I need to speak with you.”

His shoulders tensed at the words. Whatever had been eating Brains, Scott was about to find out.

He checked the flight plan one last time before setting the controls to autopilot. It was with a plastered smile that he spun his chair around to face Brains.

“What’s up, Brains? I know something’s been eating you.”

“I want to ask if you res..sp-respect me.”

Scott’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean? Of course I do.”

“I d-don’t think you do. Not after today.”

Scott was still processing that comment when Brains sighed.

“You shouldn’t have brought m..me. It was a bad c-call.”

“You did great,” protested Scott. “We couldn’t have done it without you there.”

“Yes, you could have,” said Brains firmly. “For all that you thought you needed me, in the end John found a way around the p-problem.”

“There was no guarantee he would, or even could.” Scott crossed his arms across his chest, leaning forward in his seat. “You were our best chance at success. It wasn’t a spur of the moment decision, I thought it through.”

“I’m not s..saying that you didn’t–”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Brains pulled himself upright, looking him directly in the eye.

“You d-didn’t let me finish.”

Scott blinked.

“Sorry, Brains, I just–”

“N-no, Scott, listen to me. I’ve read the reports, I know how you operate. You sat in that seat and you fell back on solely reacting to the s..situation. You needed to adapt your approach and you d-didn’t.”

Scott felt a flare of anger, the heat rising to his cheeks as quick as the vicious defence that scorched his tongue. He bit back his hasty arguments, trying to focus on the man in front of him.

“What d’you mean I didn’t?” he demanded. “What’s wrong with my approach anyway? We saved the guy, didn’t we?”

“You wouldn’t listen to m..me when I asked you to slow d-down.”

“People were in danger!”

“You shoved m-me out of Thunderbird One,” said Brains loudly, acting as though he hadn’t heard him. “I was scared out of m..my mind, and you were too busy laughing to notice nearly crashing into a m...m-mountain.”

“I wasn’t laughing, I–”

“You were rash, Scott, you c-couldn’t take two seconds to find another way of d-doing it.”

“I had to take charge, there wasn’t any time.”

“No time?” Brains levelled him with a glare that pinned Scott to his seat. “N-no time to listen to the expert you chose to bring with you?”

“You know it’s not like that Brains, come on.”

“I’m not like you Scott, I can’t jump out of planes. I was an untrained operative in the field, and you c-couldn’t show m..me enough respect to trust my knowledge in m..my own abilities.”

“If you’d had just trusted me–”

“Trusted you?” Bitter laughter echoed around the cockpit. “You made it clear you d-didn’t trust me, why should I have done the same?”

“Brains, we’re on the same team.”

“What you d-did, Scott, was not teamwork. You thought ahead as far as needing me there, and no m..more than that.”

“When you’re in a rescue situation, nothing matters except the people we’re saving. Nothing. We couldn’t afford to wait for you to get your head in the game.”

Brains shook his head.

“You’re wrong, Scott. Your team has to c-c-come first. Your brothers trust you with their lives. I trusted you with m..mine. I shouldn’t have been thinking I m-made a miss-m..mistake to do that.”

Scott froze, the implication of that statement sinking into his skin. He knew the value of a team that had your back, had had it drilled into him when he was still green and barely out of high school. Basic training had stripped his individuality in favour of a cohesive unit that lived and died by the trust and faith they placed in each other. He knew better than all his brothers, except perhaps Gordon, how important trust in his teammates was.

He knew how closely trust and respect were tied together. Brains had been right. And he had been wrong.

He’d been wrong before. The memory constricted around his heart, the last time his arrogance and dismissal had cost him floating through his mind.

“I’m sorry,” said Scott. “I really am.”

The words were quiet and hidden beneath Brains’ own voice.

“I don’t know where you got the idea that we d-do this regardless of c-cost. I know it’s hard to accept that when your father–”

“Dad has nothing to do with this.”

Scott spun his chair around, pretending to check over his instrumentation. He knew Brains would know exactly how unnecessary his actions were, but they covered the sudden wateriness in his eyes.

“I don’t want to lose them. I don’t want to fail again.”

The truth tumbled from his lips, a quiet admission that he knew would sound like a concession.

He wasn’t talking about his brothers.

There was a long silence, before Scott heard the distinctive click of the seatbelt. He looked up as Brains walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You need to trust m..me and my judgement, just like you d-do yours. Your father did.”

“I know,” said Scott, staring determinedly down at the ocean beneath his feet. “Brains, I’m sorry. We needed you and I let you down.” He snorted, the image of Brains dangling from underneath his ‘bird brought back to mind. “Literally, and in the worst possible way.”

Brains chuckled as he sat next to Scott on the floor, dangling his legs over the dizzying view of the sea below him.

“Thank you, Scott,” he said quietly. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked down.

“Uh, Brains?” asked Scott. “Is that a good idea? Being scared of heights and all?”

Brains glanced up in surprise.

“I’m not s..sc-scared of heights. And even if I were, I know everything about Thunderbird One. You’d have to do something intensely stupid for m..me to be scared in here.”

Scott laughed, the sound loud and full and easing some of the tension in the cockpit.

Brains watched him with a bemused expression on his face.

“International Rescue has a p-problem.”

“We do?”

“Of course we do. Now that I’ve done it once, I’m never going on a rescue I haven’t volunteered for again.”

“What? But what if we need your expertise?”

“I’ll be on the c-comms, of course. But that is exactly the problem.”

“You have that virtual system hooked up to MAX, don’t you?”

“That will be fine for the short term, if MAX is able to go. I need to do some R&D when we get back.”

“For what?”

“Creating new hardware that will allow me address MAX’s limitations of size … without restricting his capabilities. I’ll need to read up on the latest literature, run some preliminary tests.”

Scott’s eyes glazed over as he listened to Brains muttering away to himself, the specifics of quantum technology escaping him, but he couldn’t help the fond smile that escaped him.

“Brains?”

“Hmm?”

“We couldn’t do it without you.”

“I know.”

“You’ll tell me if I do it again, right?”

“Of c-course.”

The silence that fell between them was comfortable and amiable, and Scott found he didn’t want to be the one the break it. His attention was drifting as the ship slowly cut across the sky. He chanced a look across at the engineer, now immersed in a number of texts on his data-tablet.

“Hey, Brains?”

“What is it, Scott?”

“Can I up the speed here?”

Brains blinked and stood carefully.

“As long as you remember you’re out of sick bags. And I won’t be helping you clean up.”

“Okay then.” Scott perked up in his seat, relieved that the easy friendship he enjoyed with Brains had returned. “We’ll be home in two hours.”

#scott tracy #brains #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #sometimes i fic #TAGrewatch #boom done :D now to play with something else #(kidding i'm going to sleep)#((be well!!))#I think tomorrow I'll have time to finish catching up my ao3 archiving too mwahaha #no more ridiculous number of updates ahaha #I'll be able to update one at a time like a regular human bean lol #rambles = tired so bye *waves*

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copias-thighs · 4 years

Text

Ignore me, I’m just complaining again as always. For the past month and a half I’ve been pressured into painting a wall for my sister in law and I mentioned before I don’t want to do this at all. Well anything artistic in general for her since she and her younger brother can be rude about it all some times. When she first found out I was artistic, she asked me to do a jungle mural on her wall for her daughter (who was 5 months about at the time) in her house she lived in during that time. Sure, no biggie. I didn’t mind. I was being paid for it, it would be done in time for Christmas, and was being given everything I needed for it, best of all I had no specific date to have it done by. She told me to do what I want, as long as I had 4 monkeys and a tree from the photos she sent me. That being said, I did what she asked and proceeded to draw on the wall she wanted on. Mind you, it’s the first time I’ve EVER painted a whole piece on a wall. I wanted it to be perfect and wanted to take make sure I drew it all correctly. She has a younger brother who was about 13 at the time and he is very, extremely vulgar and rude. He won’t care who you are, he’ll verbally harass you and feel no guilt. Even if you haven’t done anything wrong to him or anyone else. When I started drawing, he yelled, “So this masterpiece of yours is going to be a year long ordeal? Great.” Rolled his eyes and left. I knew what was going to happen, so I started showing up at her house with my noise cancelling headphones to tune him out while I finally started painting. A month passed as I was close to finishing the wall. I was tired, sore, I had a headache, and I had a lot of stress on me because I had so many personal issues eating away at me during that time. I just wanted to finish. My playlist started to buffer a little as I was finishing up painting what needed to be green. Grass, leaves, flower stems, that kind of stuff. I heard my sister in law go “Shhh! Cut it out! She’ll hear you!” Confused, I paused my music and tuned in out of curiosity. So much for noise cancelling, am I right? Her brother begins to get louder screaming, “I don’t fucking care. I don’t see why you’re paying that girl to fuck up your wall! She flat out ruined it! Hell- if you wanted to ruin your wall, I could’ve spread my ass cheeks open and shit all over your walls! You can pay me for it too!” I wanted to hide in a hole and cry. Have I really messed her wall? Was my first time painting something this huge a major fail? I felt horrible. I gathered up what was mine and ran out of there. My fiancé had to be the one to finish it. I got paid for it though, but for what? I didn’t want the money anymore, I wanted an apology that I never received to this day.

A couple of months later, her daughter’s first birthday began to approach. She was born in the summer and my sister in law had a set theme for it. A water theme to be more clear. She had a fancy camera and decided to have a special feature at the party. A backdrop with props. Which seemed pretty cool. She asked me for ideas and I told her some. Making fish using their handprints and glueing a fishnet on the backdrop, things like that. Well she replies with, “Oh cool, I didn’t know you knew how to make those! You’re doing the backdrop for me, right?” Well she never asked me, she just threw it at me.. so I said sure Ig... she told me that she needed the fish and all the backdrop stuff done before the 2nd of June. It was early May so I had plenty of time. Nope. Out of nowhere she calls saying that she needed them within the next few days, and I was nowhere NEAR done. She still demanded it and I scrambled to get it all done. I had to put the wall up on my own and it was barely the middle of May at that point, with the party still set for the 2nd of June. Didnt get paid for it and I literally had no money to buy what I needed since I didn’t have a job. I had to scrimp up about $5 for what you see that she couldn’t spare. At least she kept the decorations. She claimed her 1 year old daughter was upset that there was only ONE dolphin, even though that’s my sister in law’s favourite animal, and was she and her little brother were upset there wasn’t much done for the backdrop.

A year later, summer was rolling back in again and her daughter was turning two. Cute, happy, yay, happy feels. I was at my sister in law’s for a little get together, and she comes up to me, with me feeling dread as I knew what was going to happen. “Ohhh, I cant wait until she turns two! I have such a cute idea! I’m going to have a Mickey Mouse Club House theme with a backdrop saying “I’m TWOdles! Isn’t that cute?!” I uncomfortably smiled and nodded giving a weak “yeah” as a silent anxiety attack started kicking in. She stood there for a good few minutes as if she was waiting for me to ask to help her, which I obviously didn’t, getting flashbacks from how she demanded things to be done last second last time. So she huffed and said, “I need life size cut outs of Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, and Toodles. Do you think you can do that?” I really didn’t know how to, I honestly didn’t. I told her just that, but she didn’t let it go. She ended up telling me to make her just their heads and the words “I’m TWOdles” and how she needed them by June. This time I had a whole month. I wasn’t as anxious, I had time to figure out how to get it done. Well two weeks later she calls demanding it to be done before the day after. I panicked, seeing that I was having trouble colouring the heads nicely without being judged on how you you can see marker lines and such. And when I showed her what I had done, she was upset because it wasn’t enough to cover up the wall. She wanted more things to fill it up. So I hesitantly said large balloon flowers. She can make those on her own, while I finished the heads. NOPE! I had to be the one to do that too. I’ve never worked with balloons, I’m afraid of the sounds they make, I can’t stand them unless they’re the foil ones. I have a huge ass phobia about them and nearly cried as I made the balloon flowers. I flinched, winced, and the threw the balloons with each nasty rubber rubbing sound it made. My fiancé had to literally fucking hold me each freak out I had with those damn things. Well I had to get it all done because it’s my fault for suggesting balloon flowers to begin with. which I did. The day of the party, her family was wowed by it. Her little brother however, was angry I was getting compliments. So he began shouting that he did it all, and he worked really hard on it all. My sister in law was mad too that I didn’t get her daughter a present. Ig the wall wasn’t a good gift.

Now here I am currently, stressing over a wall plus more. My sister in law moved to a new home recently, and needed help painting walls. I painted all 3 rooms. I thought that was the end of that. WELL BUCKLE UP because she said some, “Oooo, guess what! My daughter has been asking for you to paint her walls! She really wants monkeys, lions, and elephants on her wall!” At this point I had enough. I asked, “SHE wants the animals? Or YOU want them?” She went quiet and said, “no, she’s been asking for you!” Pretty damn specific for a 3 year old to want, considering she can barely say anything. She can’t even say her own name. Here I am, sketching on the wall, with my sister in law coming right up to me telling me that she wants fish to be painted on the walls of the toy room after I’m done with the jungle crap. I got really annoyed and said she can easily use the fish stuff from her 1st birthday. She ignored that. After I drew all the crap on the wall in pencil, she stops me in the hall and adds, “Hey! So my hallway looks so bland! Any ideas on how to make it prettier? Like a tree with squares for photos?” I told her she can buy a tree decal on Amazon for cheap, but she cuts me right off screaming “Checked already, they’re $200.” I practically live on Amazon and told her no, they aren’t that expensive. Only to be cut off by her screeching “They’re $200, I don’t have $200! Give me ideas!”

Wow, ok.

So I said to do this: Put a large photo of her and her kids with neatly organised smaller photos of family moments around it. Like this:

Nope, she told me that it was “too messy and too thrown together.” Agitated, I told her it’s getting late and that I had to leave. She then started following me around when I gathered all my pencils and erasers, asking when I was coming back over to paint and if I could bring my own paint. I kept calm and said I didn’t have much money to spend to buy paint (I quit my job around November the year before) and that I’ll come over the next time she’s off work. Which turned out to be Mother’s Day. I told her I’m not coming in because I wanted to spend time with my own mom and she tried telling me all these “gifts” her 3 year old daughter was eyeing for her. Joke or not, I got annoyed because I stated multiple times that I have no job and little money to be spending on paint. I have to take care of my mom and siblings back home, buying food and house supplies with what I have. Well my dumbass absentmindedly said “This- This wall is your Mother’s Day present.” She gave me a face and said “I didn’t ask for this! This isn’t for me, my daughter wanted this!” With and eye twitch, I said that this is something SHE asked for and how HER DAUGHTER can barely speak. She can’t even say a full sentence, her name, my name, and if it’s hER DAUGHTER wanting this, what was requested for the wall was oddly specific for her to want. I told her bye and tried to leave as quick as I could to avoid any new “favours” she might have for me. As I start heading to the door, she yells after me, “come up with more ideas for the hallway for me! We’ll talk later!”

Another fun bit is that now she has a son. And for his first birthday photo shoot, she’s going to dress him up as a dinosaur, breaking out of an egg. Problem is, she doesn’t have a huge egg. She comes up to me and says, “So I need I giant egg, you can figure out how to do that, right?” I couldn’t even say no because her family was watching me, waiting for me to say “yes” even though I wanted to say no because I don’t know how to. Hell, I still don’t! I’m beyond scared to make it! When she decided for me that I was going to make her a giant dinosaur egg regardless, mother fucker adds in “Oh! I also need a life size Forky, Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head, Slinky, etc for my daughter’s birthday!” I WANT TO FUCKING CRY SHE NEEDS THE TOY STORY CRAP NEXT MONTH AND I DONT HAVE ANYTHING THAT BIG TO DRAW ON FOR IT AND I KNOW HER ASS IS GOING TO BITCH FOR IT THIS MONTH AND I KNOW IM NOT GETTING PAID FOR ANY OF THIS FUCKING SHIT FUCK ME

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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

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Quick Thoughts on TRH Book 1, Chapter 3

• I'm hoping that if I have this chapter out early enough (doubtful, because compiling and organizing my screenshots takes time, and my drafts often don't save which means there are times I will have to replicate whole paragraphs from scratch. But fingers crossed!), I might try and do revisits of the first book. I did four of those chapters last year, and I think now - when we're looking at some of the stories told to us in Book 1 from a new lens - is a good time to explore that first book again.

• I hope the read more issue is resolved by now. It made posting quite hard the last time. In the meantime these are the tags you can block: #long post, #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs.

• Thanks a lot to @pixieferry for her Hana playthrough, @thefirstcourtesan for her Drake playthrough screenshots and the Abhirio YouTube channel for the Maxwell playthrough screenshots. Not much of those are up, because of lack of space to put up the pictures and the fact that this particular chapter wasn't specifically LI centric.

• Title: Your Kingdom Awaits.

Alternative Title: Tell Me What's Gestating in My Womb Today, Cordonia! A Cordonian Ruby? An Autumn Glory? A Granny Smith?

• Three chapters in and I'm getting more and more baffled by this story by the day. There's stuff I like. Some of the characters I still love. I have fun looking at the little hints, the bits of symbolism, the callbacks. I love theorizing what we'll be doing next! But all of this needs to be glued together by a coherent storyline and this just isn't it.

• Even if we push aside the gross inequalities in balance (re: character development), there's still so much that just doesn't make sense. Why is there so much rush. Why is everyone in this country (and outside) so invasive and entitled over this one noble's child? Why are we doing such insane scales of prep over a process that is in itself is so unpredictable? Why am I learning about Cordonia's allies/potential enemies in such a vague and shoddy fashion? And most of all what kind of bullshit Royal Council is this???

• But I'll elaborate on all those questions later. For now let's move on to the chapter!

• If you didn't buy the corgi in Book 2, they ask you if you'd like to buy it now at the beginning of the chapter. Possibly that may affect the entry of the second corgi in some way? Idk.

• Esther, the Queen of Cordonia is also still the queen of winging it. You'd think they'd have planned a look for her (esp given the amount of time they could spend on the train) and gotten her ready by the time they reached there, not scrambled around for an outfit the minute they reached Valtoria.

• The LI tells the MC that they're fixed an appointment with the best obstetrician they could find, and we will be going there to ask our preliminary questions plus get a check up. I was wondering if in Hana's case they would be going to a fertility specialist instead.

• In any case, Bertrand volunteers to help us with an outfit for the last time in a short while, because he's traveling to Texas to prepare for their wedding. (we're going there too, but later. I'm not looking forward to another round of Savannah-worship - possibly with an added side of Bianca-worship - no thank you).

• Bianca's ranch is called the Walker Ranch, after Jackson's last name. Why Jackson's?

• Our OOTD!

Electric blue with a gold belt and a black and white border on the neckline, accessorized with a necklace (I think it's pearls set in gold?) and a brooch pin in the shape of a crown.

I kinda like this one and knowing the way this team operates when it comes to outfits most of the time, I'm pretty sure the colour scheme was chosen on purpose. With this outfit, the MC is presenting herself in the national colours, with a tiny signifier of what her future role might be. Either as Queen or as mother of the future heir to the Crown. This is an outfit that would send a message during Liam's announcement, whether she is (symbolically) wearing that crown or not.

• I'm obviously not very comfortable with the implications that would go with that outfit (esp if she is not the Queen), but I can't deny it does its job.

• The MC can opt to go for either being poised, acting like a diva or being very casual in her approach. Whatever she does the crowd pretty much worships her.

•

So everyone except Liam has someone (media, a fan, common people) approaching them as a way of showing how famous and revered the entire group has become in Cordonia. Liam doesn't need one coz he's anyway getting his moment with his big speech in front of the Valtoria manor.

Drake - Donnie Brine from the CBC speaks to Drake, positioning him as a man of the masses, the person that the Cordonian people see as their representative. Drake is woefully unprepared and freezes, blurting out that "things are great" which probably might end up becoming a meme on Cordonian internet later. Random Cordonian Woman from Applewood saves him by confirming this statement even though her trees have yet to grow and the tax problems are pretty much making her life "not great".

Maxwell - Where are Jiro and Camellia from Applewood? I like little Marco and Valerie but I hope they're not the only kids PB is going to be showing every time they need to show children. Marco approaches Maxwell and the MC both to sign his copy of Maxwell's book, and Maxwell takes care to do a dramatic signature that will not "obscure the picture of his face". I'm giggling at that image.

Hana - Valerie approaches Hana with a handmade flower necklace, presumably with a pattern made from "the Lee family crest". Now either Lorelai's family in Cordonia have the same surname as Xinghai, or Xinghai got himself a house crest for some reason. Either way, to toss out a detail like that so casually (a family crest is something that passes down through generations, esp in noble families) without even thinking of the logistics of it...(when an entire book of yours has been dedicated to sigils and crests) is pretty lazy.

BUT. In good news this means that my longtime speculation that Hana's mother's house had flowers as part of their court of arms is correct! (I was also right about a couple other things, like Maxwell's ancestors and Liam's mother being alive when Olivia was brought to the palace. YAY! 😁)

• We now move on to Liam's public announcement. Which sounds kinda weird whichever way you look at it. A married Liam announces that he and his wife are on a mission to enjoy babymaking and a single Liam announces this:

(Screenshots from a Hana playthrough by @pixieferry)

I will translate what both Liams are saying into Cordonian:

Married Liam: We don't have an apple cinnamon bun in the oven yet, but we're definitely having fun kneading that dough nudge nudge wink wink.

Single Liam: I'm neither making apple buns nor kneading dough. I'll leave that to my friends the bun-making experts here. I'm just gonna park my butt outside the oven door along with the rest of Cordonia.

Sounds weird? You're welcome. It was meant to sound weird.

• Esther finally reunites with her corgi Joy! I wonder if at some point she'll meet up with her horse Celestia and red pandas Hansel and Gretel too xD

• Mara tells me safety checks have been done, but...it's Mara saying that, so I'm not sure I'm quite convinced. The alternative is Bastien, so...we're kinda screwed I guess.

• The group then discusses the future foetus, and Liam takes this opportunity to hint at their childhood history. You know what that means? DIAMOND SCENE!!

•

(Screenshots for Asian Liam from my playthrough, Black Liam from @pixieferry and White Liam from @thefirstcourtesan)

LOOK AT THE WEE LITTLE KIDDIES AND LIAM'S MOM OMG AAAAAA.

As far as I can tell, among the kids the sprites for all three Liams and Drake are very much new, and the rest come from variations and changes to different faces. Maxwell's face is a copy of Simon from THoBM (only the mouth is slightly different), Hana's has a lot of similarities to young Kenna in TCaTF, but with pigtails instead of tiny buns. Olivia's is a little harder to place but I think there are plenty similarities between hers and RoE Camellia's face. For Queen Eleanor they used Young Mary's (MC's mother) sprite from D&D in accordance to whichever Liam you chose. Perhaps the only Mary sprite not used here would be the brown/Indian one, because Liam's ethnicities mainly feature White, Black and Asian. She even wears Mary's opera outfit (that incidentally Mary also ended up wearing to her wedding lol).

• Somehow they forgot that Maxwell was supposed to be a cute chubby little hippo who was loved by his mother.

• I'd like for Black Liam to grow more hair on his head because the curls on his younger self are lovely 😍

• Since most of the childhood tales revolve around the experience of growing up in the palace, this build up to the diamond scene begins with the MC asking questions about each of the boys (Liam, Drake, Maxwell).

- Little Liam and His Crown: Liam claims he only wore those during state occasions, but Maxwell (who admittedly didn't see Liam as much as Drake did but saw him often nonetheless) saw him practically sleep in the thing, and Drake has pictures to prove it lol.

- Grumpy Drake: Maxwell and Liam agree on Drake becoming grumpier as he grew older, but disagree on what metaphors to use to describe it. Maxwell favours "scratchy bark on a secretly loveable tree", and Liam claims he is "whiskey maturing in its barrell". ("oh", I want to ask Drake, "so that's what they call 'old grain mash' these days?" 🤣 This is my revenge for him referring to wine as old grape juice back in Book 2). No prizes for guessing which metaphor Drake liked better.

- Banning Maxwell from Palace Rooms: Maxwell's lucky he has a king for a friend because apparently before Liam jokingly and unwisely decided to give the man a royal pardon Maxwell was banned from all the good rooms 😅

• Hana clearly hasn't lost her touch when it comes to epic savagery. "I imagined you guys like the Three Musketeers, only...less French". 😅😅

• This diamond scene is split into three parts. You have the fun 'adventures' of the little boys (and later Olivia) at the palace, split in between by a slightly more sombre tale of little Hana's loneliness. The narrative voice in all three is very much that of a child, and focuses on Liam's and Hana's imaginations, so as to make their childhood stories more real to us while still providing us background information about the country's recent history (the "recent history" bit doesn't apply to Hana, though, since she is in China at the time).

- Pirate Adventures at The Palace Courtyard: Liam, Drake and Maxwell pretend to be pirate kings, battling rivals on the palace courtyard. After rescuing Maxwell from being stuck on the branches of a tree, the trio decide to continue their adventures on the gardens that are his mother's brainchild, but are stopped by a palace guard. Liam is briefly saddened by this, but is comforted by Drake and Maxwell. The boys then decide to continue playing in the palace kitchens. This scene begins by focusing on the antics of the little ones, but is really about the changed atmosphere in the palace that the boys themselves were too young to notice at the time.

(We also find out which place in TCaTF the Beaumonts originated from, since young Maxwell refers to himself as a pirate from Panrion in both scenes that he is in *cue Lizzy looking very very smug because I've been saying the Beaumonts were from Panrion/someplace in Ebrimel since way back in Book 2*)

The MC has options to respond to this tale (either about whether they were always this naughty, or about the increased security in the palace). In response to her question about the three of them, the boys tell us that Liam was known for being a free spirit and would skip many diplomacy meetings before he even met the other two (again, Constantine, Liam was A CHILD). If you ask the question they want you to be asking, however, about the increased security in the palace, Drake and Maxwell will tell you the security wasn't as strict earlier, and Liam will explain that the royal family had recently received threats at the time, and his parents were a lot more tense and on-edge than usual. Either way, you either get to know a bit about the political atmosphere at the time, or realize that little Liam wasn't the heavily burdened one we met on that first night in New York.

- Pretend-Teatime with a Young Hana: Hana continues on this thread of conversation by focusing on the bond between the boys, commenting on how she never grew up with that kind of experience. To which Drake and Maxwell have these reactions:

@Drake, pls fall on a cactus.

@Maxwell. Honey. She said this to you yesterday. She's probably said this more than once. You've seen her parents!! Wtf kind of friend are you if you can't even take what she said seriously the first time?

@Hana pls get yourself better friends 😭

Like @callmetippytumbles said in her response to this scene, I have no patience for this kind of selective stupidity.

So Hana's scene is technically a call-back to something she once told the MC back in Book 1 Chapter 6, when they were on their way to the post-Derby tea party with Queen Regina. At the time, Hana spoke of her parents not allowing her toys because they thought them frivolous, and how she had to make do with whatever was lying around instead. We actually see this happen in reality here. We see her PoV of what her inanimate objects do, we see her practicing court etiquette on these objects with her tea set, and we see her leave space for her asshole mother even though Lorelai doesn't deserve that much respect or consideration. There is a lot to unpack in this scene and I want to do that in my General Thoughts section later on...but for now I'll just say that it broke my heart, and not just in an "oh poor Hana" way.

- The Attack from Lythikos: I love this sequence too, not only because it shows us Olivia, a younger Constantine and Liam's mother Eleanor, but because the narrative framing in itself alludes to what happened between Lythikos and the Capitol earlier through the pirate story. Liam and Olivia still speak in the language of their story, but the sequence actually plays out what happens in their real lives. Olivia attacks the pirates, but is left desolate, sword broken, at the end of it (just like her parents tried to, and died in the process - leaving an innocent Olivia alone without support). Liam offers her terms that would give her safety and protection, and in return, she asks to be Pirate Queen and for Drake's sword - which he reluctantly gives.

Constantine mistrusts Olivia and attempts to limit her natural abilities and instincts, but it is Liam's empathy, support and validation of her pain, that eventually makes her the steadfast ally that she becomes as an adult - not Constantine's paranoia. Had Liam followed Constantine's lead, the chances of Olivia falling into the trap of subscribing to her aunt's beliefs would have been much much higher, and Constantine would have found himself at the receiving end of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The narrative may also be implying how deep Eleanor's own impact on her son must be, long after her death, since the narrative frames him as adopting her way of dealing with situations often.

In any case the narrative allows us to see the children as they were before their individual tragedies changed them (except in Olivia's and Hana's cases - where they were still struggling to survive the situations they were in), and allows us to see what shaped them into the adults they are today.

The MC then gets to ask one of two questions: either why Constantine treated Olivia so badly, or about the arguments his parents were having. We learn from these that this incident was shortly after Liam became friends with her and his parents brought her to the palace (this references both Liam's conversation about Olivia to the MC in Book 1 Chapter 7, and Lucretia's complaints about Constantine "keeping Olivia hostage" in her diamond scene in Book 3).

• Possibly this may not be the only scene of its kind we will see. Possibly the next few may be Drake-centric, since we may actually meet Bianca in a few chapters. But these scenes may definitely have an impact on dialogue later, just like how learning of the assassination attempt in Drake's Italian Restaurant Scene and Eleanor's death in Liam's Fydelia Balcony Scene in Book 2 are referred to later (if bought) in the hospital scene with Constantine.

• In any case, we leave the past in the past (for now), and move towards Valtoria's throne room. Where we meet Penelope, just back from her first canine fashion show, Kiara who tells us she has everything kept under control (you always do boo 😍) and Madeleine who is all up our uterus.

• She mentions King Bradshaw from Auvernal and his "impossible to control" wife, then mentions a Queen Amalas immediately after without bothering to tell us where this person is from. WTF? At least tell me the name of her goddamn country if she's another person!! You'd just have to say Queen Amalas of ChickenFeetonia and I would understand.

• ...you're telling me the Queen of this country (in my playthrough) has barely looked at a map of the place she's ruling or checked out who rules what?? You're telling me that the Royal Communications Director is STILL going to give her a gazillion flash cards to read something that she could sum up in five minutes, at the very last minute? Bitch what have you been doing this entire time? Touching up your manicure??

•

@Penelope: No you're not.

@Kiara: STOP ENABLING HER, KIKI, AND GET YOURSELF BETTER FRIENDS.

@Madeleine: Pls fall on a cactus.

• Madeleine hasn't been here for even five minutes and already I've had enough of her entitled ass. "Little apple gestating in your womb"...just...I can't. Ugh. Get your nosy nose out of my oven!!

• Remember how I told you guys about how apple analogies may be used to denote fertility? (mostly because RoE spoke of this apple cutting ceremony and it was a very obvious indicator towards apple metaphors being used to describe pregnancy and childbirth).

• I facepalmed when Kiara agreed with her but she's also probably thinking "well see this is why they call me the smart courtier. I don't have to deal with this shit anymore and now you do" (she isn't wrong).

• WELL HELLO OLIVIA.

• She informs us that we're expected at the solarium. I have a solarium?

• Apparently it was Mara's honeymoon gift to us. More like her "sorry Bastien and I screwed up last book" gift, I'd say.

• So wait where was this roster Liam was speaking about in the last book's epilogue? I see one Cordonian noble and one Englishman who until my wedding wanted to have nothing to do with Cordonia, and who's now bleating "our country, our kingdom, we're under attack" like a panicking patriotic nanny goat.

• Why can I not see Emmeline here, who is clearly the expert on her duchy? (I mean like. Landon is nice, but I'd really like to see more women in this Council too). Also does Kiara's inclusion into the Council cancel out the presence of her father Hakim, who is a seasoned diplomat and might possibly have some really good suggestions for dealing with these foreign powers (and seriously he'd be a better option than Godfrey anyway).

• Now Esther has a suggestion! Let's see what it is...

• A royal ball, apparently. Which...given the company, I'm sure it probably would be appropriate but I'm pretty sure we'll need to have more than that in place. I'm pretty sure the people in this council should either be finding out whether the person making these suggestions knows anything about these issues or whether she is simply talking out of her ass. This was a problem last book as well. The MC rarely feels the need on her own to explore these situations more, is okay with just learning things last minute and rolling with it and has the same solution to everything. It's either tours or balls but very little actual exploration of the situation. (I mean there is even a point where she barely shows any empathy at Portavira - even though they're still reeling from a bunch of natural calamities - and thinks it's appropriate to tell them to come for her wedding anyway. No wonder Liam panicked and started giving her diplomacy lessons, stat!) I'd actually take the MC seriously if she were doing her research and her suggestions weren't so shallow and one-note.

• Hana is grinning and giving justifications like this suggestion makes sense. STOP. ENABLING. HER. HANA.

• I especially want to know what Liam's experiences with these dignitaries have been. Both last chapter and this one, I'm seeing him in a position where he is defiant and digging his heels into whatever ideas he is having, but I don't know the context yet and would like to make sense of that. From whatever I've read so far...Liam took the year following Leo's abdication to familiarize himself with taking the front seat in negotiations, and probably may have been familiar with this kind of situation and the kind of people involved even before he became Crown Prince. It makes me wonder how difficult negotiating with them has been, and I want to see why Liam is so done with these people, so fed up. We're missing some context here and I think learning at least a little more than these scraps would have been better for everyone.

• I like that they remember Kiara as the only one outside of the charmed six to get a seat in this council (Kiki deserves the best). I also liked how succintly she summed up Drake and Hana's points about what the heightened taxes are doing to the people as "a reminder that we're not just here for ourselves".

• I find the entire idea of Drake Walker being the sole commoner representative in the Council laughable, especially in a narrative where every other commoner barely has a face, hardly has a name, and almost never has a voice. A man who has spent a huge chunk of his life in a palace, and who I've hardly seen even interacting with a commoner in the story...I'm expected to believe he will have great insights on commoner issues?? Even in this meeting, it's Hana who does a better job explaining this situation (she's the one highlighting the tax issues) than he does. Then again this Council also somehow gave a seat to Duke Karlington - a man who literally never had Cordonia's best interests in mind last book, and who only ended up attending our wedding because we had to be brought in as family counselors to settle HIS family disputes (I mean lol Godfrey how can you call this wedding a disaster when it caused you to magically become so "patriotic"!)

For God's sake, I want to see other commoners on this council. I want people who are actually living these experiences highlighting their issues. This is an issue I have with the MC too. She started out a commoner herself a waitress who wouldn't even flinch at the sight of rats in a dumpster. For someone of that background and who has possibly lived under the worse circumstances than some Cordinians themselves, you'd think that she'd have questions and show interest in how the people who aren't owning lands and are regular individuals on the street live their lives, and whether things are okay for them. But she's so immersed in the world of nobility that she rarely ever even tries to come out.

• Before Liam takes into account everyone's points and comes to a conclusion, the MC has the opportunity to give them her opinion. She can either say that we can't trust anyone, which Godfrey agrees with, or that an alliance would be good for Cordonia, which Godfrey views as naive, OR (and I didn't expect to like this response but I actually do) that she's a waitress from the States, and wouldn't know all that much about this situation. To which there isn't much of a reaction as such, but that's kind of what seems different about this book compared to the others.

• Once the meeting is wrapped up, our LI and Maxwell/Hana whisper in a corner about a surprise they have in store, and take us upstairs to show us what it is. If you're marrying any of the other three, Maxwell is the one who has arranged and picked out themes and colour schemes for the nursery. If you're married to Maxwell, Hana takes over this role.

• Ooooh. New (I think!) baby music! Nice. Very lullaby-like.

• Every design has these basic components:

a crib with a pillow (which I think will be updated later)

a couch nearby, likely for comfort when the mother wants to breastfeed (the updated versions seem to have a footrest)

a table with a lamp

three empty frames (also to be updated. I'm guessing for one of those "my first hand/foot impression" kind of thing and maybe even photoshoots etc)

a ceiling lamp/chandelier

a hook, also on the ceiling.

The two updated versions have footrests, updated lamps and ceiling decorations, additional carpet and customized designs (except for the crib and the pictures and the hook, which I think will be updated later). The Royal Glam theme is all reds and golds, very luxurious and very Valtoria. The Fairytale Forest theme has more whimsy, with bears, foxes, leaves, flowers and apples on the wallpaper, wood paneling, a beautiful golden lamp. Very pretty. Both seem to reference the MC's journey in TRR: her being either a Royal and the closest thing to one, and her journey being very fairytale-like (remember, the same logic was used for Hana's "something blue" gift for the MC's - where she views her as Cinderella).

• Only problem is...who exactly buys a nursery before they have a baby! Especially considering how unpredictable pregnancy and childbirth can be.

• We now meet Dr Ramirez for an appointment. I'm not sure about her suggestion that prenatal vitamins etc they will deal with after she has conceived. I know a number of people who did pre-pregnancy appointments and vitamins and folic acid were on the top of the list of things they'd start a routine with.

• As expected, all the appointments go roughly the same, with the usual answers to the usual questions (one about sushi, another about morning sickness and a last one about potential complications). The MC and LI are in the clear, and can start preparing - but apparently shouldn't stress. LMAO. Thank you doctor, I'm sure that will be easy to do in this country 😂

• Hana's goes differently, and it's clear this doctor's visit was primarily written to address her situation with the MC. The tests go differently, the suggestions given to them are different, the questions the MC asks (one about choosing donors, when they should start, and who should carry the child). The bombshell that immediately follows this is:

Wow. Seriously. Wow. You couldn't find a more temporary reason for why the MC has to be the one conceiving? It has to be something that would make her overall ability to conceive almost impossible?? (and this we find after one test? No follow ups?) I recall someone putting up/reblogging these screenshots with a caption about how the narrative pretty much took Hana's entire ability to conceive from her, and it's so true - and so disturbing when you place it in the context of how they've dealt with her issues so far (more on this later).

• In Hana's playthrough, she struggles with implications of this news, but constantly tries to veer the focus back to "well at least one of us can is able to have this baby". Twice, she is shown moving away from her pain to ask about the other possibilities for the MC.

• Anyway...we now move to the next morning, when the couple wake up to bad news - and it's concerning the pictures taken during their honeymoon. Given that Maxwell/Hana is holding a magazine when they tell the MC they found out who was responsible...I wonder if it's one of our news outlets. Or whether it's a foreign media rep.

• So I guess this complicates things at our Ball, since we're already on thin ice and this news would have spread to those other dignitaries as well. So we're going to have to deal with whatever implications come with those pictures (perhaps a spin on the royal gang having fun while Cordonia is in a national crisis? Who knows. It would be hypocritical of Cordonians and people from other neighbouring countries to judge the couple over the babymaking that they themselves were enforcing on these two!)

• In any case...royal ball this week. And in the universe of PB's stories that usually means some shit will go down.

General Thoughts and Observations:

• The funny thing about the MC's responses now is that her heightened position now seems to allow her to get away with a lot more than she used to. Now if she gives a joke response, the media and people laugh with her rather than at her. If she is a diva, the crowd will lap it up. I'm guessing what the book is trying to imply is that these are the people she has won over and doesn't exactly need to worry about, and now the ones she will have to convince are from other, more powerful countries - ready to back Cordonia into a corner anytime.

• As you can tell by now, I absolutely loved the childhood sequences. They sounded like children, most of the narrative lines up with what was already said in the previous series, and there were some interesting narrative devices used here.

• I think the third sequence especially drives home the point about what Liam did right, even as a young boy, and what Constantine refusing to look past Olivia's lineage to see her as an individual could have cost him. Constantine's ruthlessness and lack of genuine care for his bonds/friendships (eg. Hakim) had him in a position where he was unable to relate to anyone beyond his own tiny bubble (even his own wife Regina was taking countermeasures to make the best of his horrid plan), and had him make decisions that did more harm than good. For instance, take what he did to the MC, for no fault of her own other than that he didn't think she'd be a good Queen. Not only was what he did utterly disgusting, but it also would have made his own family a subject of shame in the country (which is why Constantine practically begs her never to expose him, because then Liam would be paying the price). Imagine what would have happened if Constantine didn't agree with Liam and perhaps Eleanor, never brought Olivia to the palace, and Liam had never shown her his constant support. Liam's genuine empathy in this case pretty much ensured the safety of his own line.

• I also love the implications of that sequence. Constantine is so wrapped up in his fear that he tries to break what Olivia considers most precious (Zenobia the sword in this case, but this could allude to her parents' deaths and later, her possible marriage to Liam at his Coronation). Liam attempts to fill that gap by taking her in, caring for her, and giving her the tools to continue being the Lythikos fighter she has always been.

• There are a few TCaTF references in the palace scenes: Maxwell mentions Panrion twice, and Olivia calls her sword "Zenobia" in honour of her historical hero (she still speaks of Zenobia with something akin to worship during the Winter Festival in Lythikos).

• Olivia's dress is also modelled on Zenobia's, with the same colour and bodice embroidery. In fact most of the clothes are very similar to their adult garments: Drake still wears denim, Maxwell favours dark colours (still should have been chubby though), Liam's clothes are similar to his casual wear minus the ascot, and Hana wears pink, with flower designs on the skirt.

• What I like most are the narrative voices for both Liam and Hana, who are the ones narrating these stories, and how rooted in their imaginations the scenes themselves sound. But there are significant, heartbreaking differences in how we see their imaginations play out:

Here are a few samples of narration I've managed to save from Liam's PoV. Notice how Liam and his friends are so into their little game that they find adventure in everything? Notice the language they use to describe themselves and what they are doing? Once-defiant topiaries shaking in fear at their antics. "Liberating" chocolate tarts. "Conquering" the upper floors. These boys are playing out their dreams and showing us the kind of men they would want to be. The heroes. The victors. The ones everyone looks at with awe and reverence.

This is also not a story Liam is creating alone. Drake and Maxwell happily join in, sink into their characters and display their heroics alongside him. Olivia also joins in and holds her own, and when Liam's father tries to break her spirit, Olivia shows Liam her trust and faith in him by using the language of the game.

On the other hand, here is what the narration technique in Hana's tea scene looks like:

There is a lot to unpack here. A lot. There is perhaps more in this one scene of Hana's than there is in all of Book 3, where she was pretty much pushed to the sidelines.

We were told in Book 1 that Hana had to get creative because she wasn't allowed toys. This was told to us in a rather matter-of-fact way, by a person who was normalized in this way of life and who hadn't yet realized just wrong her upbringing was or how damaged her self of self was. It's perhaps easy to forget this bit of dialogue if you were reading it for the first time because at the end of the day it's spoken of without much gravity.

It's when you see it play out in front of you, in little Hana's voice, from an adult Hana who will now view this entire sequence very, very differently, that the tragedy of it all really hits you. At such a young age she is forced to make do with the little she has: the little she has in terms of things to play with, the little she has in terms of relationships. What the MC says after that sequence is half-right, it's sweet how Hana used her imagination in spite of her parents' rules and strict lifestyle. But what that misses is the burden experiences like that would place on a child in her earliest, more formative years. What stand out to me the most in this sequence are these:

- The most obvious: the use of a 'tea party' to teach herself etiquette and diplomacy. In the present, Hana tells the group that "a lot of what I learned about courtly negotiations, I learned from the tea table". This is the level Hana chooses to focus on after telling her tale, to soften the blow of the story itself.

- The fact that despite her mother's treatment of her, Hana still leaves space for Lorelai. Still wants to believe the best of her, still wants her involved in her life. Lorelai denies her her support and comfort, which is the initial layer to her injustices against Hana. In a lot of ways, even now - Hana is still leaving space for Lorelai, giving her chances to improve, trying to educate her on respecting her boundaries better. It's a long, exhausting process, and Lorelai doesn't deserve the many chances Hana keeps giving her, but Hana is also a person who struggles to completely cut off from the people in her life, controlling and emotionally abusive though they may be.

- At the end of the day, the objects she is giving a life and a personality to, are inanimate objects used for other purposes. Not toys, not real friends. Every last one of them. Miss Doily is kind and caring, Princess Sinckerdoodle is jealous and gives a damn about etiquette (I like how you can see allusions there to Olivia and the MC in the Bakery Ball dialogue!). But they're essentially all objects that cannot move the way her narration describes them as moving. Even dolls and toys, inanimate though they are, are made for the express purpose of allowing a child to participate in pretend play. They can be given a voice, their limbs can be moved, the child can easily turn such a space into an active space with the use of her toys. The doily, the napkin, the sock...these are things Hana will have very little actual control over. They will not be able to move the way she wants them to, do the things she wants them to. Everything has to be happening in her head and there is very little outlet for her other than the few things she has at hand (a similar example of of Hana using scraps we will also find in Book 2, where she draws whiskers on a rock to replicate a toy mouse).

Look again, at the differences in the way Liam narrates his tale and how Hana narrates hers. Liam's is also a fantasy, also uses inanimate objects. But supporting him in building this imaginary universe are his friends, and the parents who both don't stop him from immersing himself in this imaginary world, and have a safe normal (for now) life to return to when those "adventures" are over. On the other hand, Hana has to do the heavy work...in every way. She has to imagine not only the background of what is happening, but also what the objects in front of her are like, what they will do, how they will interact with her, how they will interact with each other.

If I had to replicate such a scene into film, the loneliness of this sequence would perhaps hit harder. A large, empty room. A tiny girl. A tea set and several strange items - and none of them actually move. She is sitting alone, in the dim light, in the silence, talking to these objects that will never respond so she pretends they do, just to chase away that yawning, aching feeling of not having a single friend. All she gets in return is silence. All she finds in front of her is space, and more space. The kind of space that could swallow a child in its emptiness.

And in the center, is a seat left empty. For a mother who doesn't believe her daughter is worth the time.

I think there will be very few who will appreciate the strength it takes to survive a lifetime of that, and that's sad.

• The little Hana sequence reminds me of the animated film Cinderella, particularly in how the main character uses dreams and imagination as an escape from her life of drudgery and the abuse she faces daily. Particularly the song "Sing Sweet Nightingale", where Cinderella's dull world bursts into vivid colour through the soap bubbles that emerge from the washing bucket.

It's a beautiful, soft, almost surreal little sequence...but when you strip it all down to its basics, what you're essentially seeing is a woman so abused by her family and so trapped in this life she does not deserve, that she has to grasp at straws to find joy. Or in this case, soap bubbles.

What Hana faces in her home is perhaps a little more similar to Rapunzel's situation in Tangled than Cinderella's, but there are definite similarities in the way both characters use their imaginations to soothe and comfort themselves. She is forced into a situation where her imagination - and these things that can't respond to her - are all she has, and the only ways she can keep herself safe and happy. That's way too big a burden for a child so young to bear.

• I wonder if there will be more than the memories. Perhaps documents, news clippings, research material that the MC can use to dig further into what's going on in this country. It's possible, but it's also possible that memories will entirely be how we unravel this mess. I was speaking to @thefirstcourtesan the other day and she mentioned that Bianca and Bastien would both be pretty good sources for finding out more - Bastien, after all, had a lot of respect for the second queen and was close to Jackson, and Bianca would have heard certain things from her husband or witnessed something at the very least (and if they were friends, that angle too). I probably would add Lucretia and maybe Anton (if we see them and if they cooperate), Bertrand or someone new who knew Bartamely (if we can find out more about the Beaumont house that would be lovely!), the Lees, and...Francesco? (I still haven't forgotten that Bertrand mentioned him as being a friend of Liam's mother). I also want to see what new information Olivia got from the last time she did her research on any hidden deals or laws that could endanger the kingdom. There are quite a few possibilities in terms of what we could find and how it can be presented, so I'm looking forward to that. This scene was a good start.

• Having said that, this was something they should have been addressing the previous book. If they hadn't spent so much of their focus on all the wrong things, we wouldn't have as much ground to cover as we do now. And I'm not sure they've learned their lesson enough that we will not see the same mistakes repeated this time.

• Why is the system in place to inform and update the MC on what's happening so poor this time. At least earlier, we'd have a fairly good idea of what would be happening next, even if some important stuff was done last minute. Now the explanations themselves are poorly formed and done without proper thought on whether the MC/readers might understand what's going on or not. It doesn't look good on the story, nor does it look good on those characters esp the MC. This is stuff she could have maybe gotten away with as a suitor. But now she is Duchess/Queen, and an influential figure. What looked good in her days as a suitor won't look so good on her now.

• The Royal Council could be a way forward - for the nobility and royalty-heavy narrative to something that shows us more perspectives from the people who really form the backbone of this country - the commoners who actually populate Cordonia's lands and duchies, whose hard work likely keeps the economy running. Just one Drake isn't adequate for that kind of representation - not when he very rarely addresses their issues in the first place. Please tell me there will be more in that Council because the Council as it stands is in no way an improvement on the status quo.

• I've said more than enough about how bizarre and downright OOC Liam sounds, but I do think we should not ignore the context - the fact that every single individual involved is making these demands of the MC and expecting her to save their country through her child without really checking if she has basic knowledge or other resources in place (such as information about the rulers she is meeting). That includes the LIs. It's very easy to make just a character or two a convenient scapegoat, but let's not forget that there isn't a single person in this entire narrative that is bothering to examine the implications. Not a single.

• What really got me angry...was the Hana doctor sequence. Maybe two books ago it would have just hurt - but more on the level of "it hurts to see Hana like this but I have hope for her". Hope that she would have the space to grieve something she had lost before she could ever even have it, hope that the narrative would validate her pain and encourage her healing. But I can't even hope for that anymore.

This is a very very painful, complicated situation to put a person in. And yes, sometimes those are things you want to talk about and finding out you can't have children when you've always wanted to have them is a very real, very difficult situation - and there is a lot you can explore in terms of how a person with these conditions would feel. But the thing is...Hana has already been on the receiving end of multiple tragic storylines. I have already seen enough and more of her in pain. What I'm not seeing is a good - or even adequate - payoff that validates her painful journey and allows for a release of those emotions. I'm constantly seeing more tragedy, less triumph. I'm not seeing enough satisfactory resolution to those many many issues, and I've spent three books just watching her hurt be brushed aside both by the people who bully her AND the people who are supposed to be her friends (let's be real, they're doing it even now). And now is supposed to be a good time to pile up another difficult situation on her???

• Whenever Hana has been forced into situations that hurt her, her emotions and thoughts have always been pushed to the sidelines - unless and until it was to elevate the MC to a pedestal in Hana's eyes. Hana has rarely - if ever - been given the space to speak out against injustices done to her, has rarely been allowed to have an opinion on people who have harmed her.

When the narrative should have been validating what Madeleine put Hana through, they opted to create sympathy for Madeleine instead...and had her completely minimize what she did to Hana ("I'm sure Hana will be willing to let bygones be bygones").

When the narrative should have been allowing her to discover what her sexuality was, they opted not to talk about it at all. They opted to make her MC-sexual instead. Even with the "alternative LI" they planned for her (*pukes*), they focused more on Madeleine's feelings than Hana's.

When the narrative should have allowed her the space to explore what her parents did wrong and arm her against their faulty arguments about her being the "delicate flower" who cannot survive without them, the writers opted to push her into a 'solution' that was still centered around her usefulness, not her emotional state. Her 'happy ending' with her parents involves constantly educating them on how to treat her with respect, a suffocating, draining process for a child with her background.

When the narrative should have - at least - given her a good wedding, after showing us what dreams she had for it, a wedding where she was treated like a bride, not a bridesmaid, her writers did exactly the opposite. She is more skilled than the MC yet it is the MC that gets the duchy. She is the creative one who comes up with the polo moves yet it is the MC that gets the credit. She is the one that didn't have a chance to fully plan her own wedding the way she wanted earlier, yet the same MC still treats her like her wedding planner rather than a bride. In not one of these situations is she ever allowed to vent about or even speak of what this is doing to her.

Maybe they will give her a chance to explore this difficult journey, maybe they won't. But how dare they push another tragic, difficult (to her) truth such as this, when they have barely allowed her to voice discontent or pain on a host of other issues!

Piling more pain on top of the pain a character already has, isn't going to make your character better developed. Allowing them the space to feel and show those feelings to others will. Thinking of worthy resolutions to those issues, will. If you want to be fair to Hana, center her in her story. Expand on her origins. Focus on story not skills. And validate her pain goddammit!!

• Sigh. Until next time, folks.

#long post #the royal heir #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #king liam #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #drake walker #olivia nevrakis #trr kiara #trr penelope #trr madeleine #bertrand beaumont

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theshatteredrose · 4 years

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Turquoise Lotus Father (Treasure Seekers Saga 2) - Chapter 9 - Etrian Odyssey 5

AN: Late night update, yay. A shorter chapter compared to previous ones. I mean, it’s ten pages. My attempt to keep chapters short didn’t last very long :’D Anyway, hope you enjoy reading~

Ao3 | Wattpad | FFNet

Chapter 9:

It was with a sense of defeat that Drayce led his party back to the Crescentia. He kept Faelen close to his side, however, to remind himself that things could have gotten a lot worse. He held no regrets about handing over that token. It was an easy exchange.

No treasure was worth someone’s life or safety.

He still felt a sense of guilt, though. He knew he really shouldn’t. How was he to know that those two were bandits? They didn’t look or act like the bandits they had encountered before. Which was likely the reason why they had been sent to follow them.

There was no doubt in Drayce’s mind that Keane was involved.

As they stepped into the foyer of their guildhouse, and before Drayce could announce their return, they were greeted by the sound of hurried footsteps from upstairs. For a fraction of a moment Drayce felt a sense of panic rise in his chest. But that was soon pushed aside when Caelem suddenly appeared.

And he appeared quite excited as he all but bounded down the stairs. "There you are!"

Drayce was honestly startled by their unconventional welcome. Yet, he was hopeful, too. "Hm? Cal? Something happened?"

Caelem nodded his head as he eagerly explained, "The map seemed to have activated for a moment before it faded out again. It pointed to an area a few steps away from a symbol that looked like a set of stairs."

It took Drayce a few seconds for the information to filter in. "It did?" he asked before a thought occurred to him and he quickly pulled out the partial map of the second floor. He quickly located the area approximately where they had discovered that lotus engraved token. And he showed the spot to Caelem.

"Wait, hang on, look at this map, Cal. Was it about here on the parchment?"

Caelem immediately nodded his head. " Y-yes, that’s right!"

So that piece of parchment was a map.

Kamali glanced at the map before he turned his eyes toward Drayce questioningly. "Did that token…?" he murmured.

Caelem tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Token?"

Drayce rolled up the map and quickly placed into the pocket of his coat. He then shrugged off his armour. "Let’s head into the library."

The others followed suit, choosing the comfort of removing their armour. It was also an indication to them that they weren't to return to the labyrinth again that day. Those bandits may or may not be there, but it didn't matter right now. They may have lost that mysterious silver token, but they weren't out of the game yet.

Making their way to the library, Drayce decided to go first with his discoveries from the labyrinth. Caelem had given him the quick rundown of what had occurred anyway, and what Drayce had discovered would help shed some light on what had happened in the library.

As Drayce told the rest of his guild what happened, he could sense some of his guilt rising from the pit of his stomach. He also sensed some guilt from Faelen, which was unjustified. While the bristle of protectiveness from Ashton was utterly justified.

"Bandits, huh?" Ashton murmured.

He wasn't the only one outwardly bristling, though.

"What? They hurt Faelen?" Caelem practically hissed as his tail physically bristled before concern made its way to his features. He immediately turned to give Faelen a quick once over with his gaze. No doubt searching for any possible injuries.

Faelen flushed lightly at the worry and genuine protectiveness directed at him. "He didn’t hurt me. Just…scared me."

Caelem wasn't entirely convinced, however. "But that’s the same thing, isn’t it?"

"It is in my books," Drayce immediately responded.

Upon seeing that Faelen was indeed unharmed, and was a tad flustered at the attention, Shashi folded an arm across his chest as he took on a musing pose. "So, you found a small silver token, like that of a coin, with an engraving of a lotus?" he asked, getting back to the mystery at hand.

"That’s right," Drayce replied. "And if I am to assume anything, there’s more. And those bandits are after it, too."

Shashi tapped his cheek a few times before a semi dark expression appeared on his face. "If so, then they are likely after the map as well."

That was definitely a high possibility. There was also a possibility that those bandits don't know they have it. Though, he couldn't safely rule out that they did. He would have to be careful not to talk about outside of the Crescentia.

"You said that it activated for a second. Has that happened before?" Drayce asked.

Shashi dropped his arms limply to his sides and shook his head. "No. What happened today was the first time."

Ashton roughly folded his arms across his chest as he restlessly shifted from foot to the other. "So, once again making assumptions here, those bandits have only one token. The one you found."

"More likely than not," Drayce responded simply.

"It appears as if these tokens are needed to activate the map," Zohar commented. "Further still, perhaps the map needed to be discovered before the tokens were to be active."

Drayce took a second to let that mull around in his head. "Sounds reasonable. Let’s assume that there are at least four of them. One for each corner."

Shashi immediately agreed to that notion. "That seems plausible from what I have seen of the map. Fortunately, if they do find another we will know."

Not the most favourable of circumstances, but it would have to do.

"That’s something," Drayce sighed.

Kamali turned to Drayce and gave a softly concerned look. "What would you like to do now?"

Drayce didn't need to think too hard on the response. "Now? I’d like everyone to stay within the Crescentia. Especially you, Faelen."

"Ok," Faelen returned softly, giving the slight indication that he was nervous in returning to the labyrinth.

“I’ll have Theodore inspect the boundaries,” Zohar offered as an extra protective measure.

Drayce gave Zohar a grateful smile. “Please, do. Everyone else, let’s relax for the rest of the day.”

He got some thinking to do, honestly. About how he was going to deal with those bandits and what it was exactly they were hoping to achieve. But more importantly, how he was going to ensure the safety of his guildmates. That was his number one priority.

Everyone began to file out of the library in order to remove their explorer garbs and get comfortable, and more likely than not, check the premises. As Drayce himself moved to follow, Ashton grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him aside to where he and Shashi stood. He waited until everyone else was out of hearing range before he turned to regard Drayce.

“Drayce. Shashi and I would like to have a couple of words with you in private,” he said quickly, with his voice low. “Let’s speak in your office.”

Ashton had said all that in a hushed tone, being mindful not to draw the attention or curiosity of the others. That was both curious and worrying. That could mean one of two things; they had something unsettling to inform him of. Or something important they didn't want the rest of the guild to know.

“Sure,” Drayce replied simply.

The three of them soon left the library and headed to the office that appeared to be the official room to discuss sensitive matters with him. Of course, that made total sense. And Drayce couldn’t help but wonder briefly if his grandpa used his office for the same reason and what kind of stories were discussed in that very room.

“Is there something wrong?” Drayce asked the moment the three of them entered his office and securely closed the door behind them.

“I spoke with Zohar last night and have been doing some research on this other lotus blade,” Shashi replied in his usual straight forward manner. “And from what I have discovered, what Zohar has informed me is accurate.”

So, there is another lotus blade?

"It also appears that the Turquoise Lotus Father did indeed have a brother," Shashi continued. "And he was the one that wielded this other blade."

Drayce furrowed his brow in worry. "Really? So, he fought alongside the Despot, too?"

Shashi nodded his head as he reached into one of his pockets within his coat and pulled out a small but often used notebook. "Yes, but from what we have discovered, it wasn’t willingly. The blade is said to possess whoever tries to wield it. Which is what we believed to have happened to the brother."

Drayce sat on the edge of his desk and loosely folded his arms across his chest. "So, the Turquoise Lotus Father became a masurao to save him?"

"That’s what we believe, yes," Ashton answered.

"The Turquoise Lotus Father was named as such due to his caring nature," Shashi added as he flipped through his notebook. "He had no intention of being a warrior, until the war happened and his younger brother was enslaved. At this point, this is all we know."

Still, that was a lot of information discovered in just a couple of days!

"We’ve told Caelem of the Turquoise Lotus Father, but not of the brother as of yet," Ashton stated, explaining the, well, secrecy of their conversation.

Totally made sense, though. The information of another far more dangerous blade being out there somewhere would be alarming to anyone. They also needed to make sure that the map they had was leading to the Shining Lotus rather than that darker blade.

He couldn't help but briefly wonder if those bandits new of the legends. And of the lotuses blades.

"Yeah, that seems the best thing to do for now.," Drayce commented idly. "Just until we can find more information."

Ashton nodded his head. "We could discover more if we knew the Blade Brothers’ actual names." He sounded a little exasperated when he said that.

Names would indeed be helpful. However...

"Though, it appears that this Turquoise Lotus Father is better known for that name specifically."

Ashton had to agree to that. "Probably true. In any case, we'll keep looking. That's the safest thing to do now."

Yeah, safest. They should be safe within the walls of the Crescentia.

After a few utterances of taking it easy, Ashton and Shashi left the room. And left Drayce to his thoughts. Pushing away from the desk, Drayce instead walked around it to take a seat upon the chair. He leaned back into it as he swivelled around to gaze idly out the window.

So...the Turquoise Lotus Father had a brother. A younger sibling perhaps. Or even a twin.

As that thought entered his mind, a sharp pain appeared simultaneously in his head and from his temple. It was a sudden and sharp pain that prompted a small yelp of pain and for him to clutch his head.

Again? Why did the word brother cause him such pain? And why was it always followed by that empty feeling of lost? As if he was missing something. Or rather, someone.

Drayce gritted his teeth as he endured the pain and discomfort. It thankfully subsided soon after and he was left with a very mild headache. It wasn't exactly a headache. Just a low ache.

He soon found a distraction when the door to the office opened and Blayke stepped inside. He walked over to the desk and stood before him. However, a furrow appeared upon his brow as Drayce swivelled the chair to face him.

"You ok?" he asked simply as he gave him a suspicious and inspecting look.

Drayce managed to plaster a reassuring smile upon his face and nodded. "Yeah, just a small headache from using the old grey matter. What's up?"

Blayke didn't look one hundred percent convinced, which wasn’t much of a surprise. It wasn’t easy to convince at the best of times. He soon folded his arms across his chest however, indicating that he was willing to drop the subject this time. But Drayce had better not test him again.

Drayce knew that look well!

"I think we need to speak with Ramus about this," he stated.

Drayce sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah, I think so, too. He might be able to help us out like last time. If Turquoise Lotus Father fought within the Legendary War, there might be something about him in the council’s archives. Hopefully, at least."

Blayke shrugged. "Only one way to find out. I also want him to know about those bandits. That’s honestly my first concern." His expression then went dark. A purely protective kind of darkness. Something that Drayce had only seen Blayke and Ashton do.

Seeing the two of them together with that same expression was rather frightening!

"I knew that brat rubbed me the wrong way for a reason…" Blayke muttered under his breath.

Drayce uttered a small sigh. He was obviously talking about Keita. The kid tricked them all.

But he just had to give his best friend a smile in return. Those bandits may have gotten the drop on them once by using their willingness to help another in trouble to their advantage, but it would not happen again.

Not if Blayke had something to say about it!

"Anyway, I'm going to pace the boundaries of the property like some caged tiger," Blayke stated as he turned on his heel and headed for the door. "We'll visit Ramus tomorrow, yeah?"

"Sounds good," Drayce returned. "And you be careful. Especially if you use Blazing Link. We can't afford to have the back garden ablaze."

Blayke snorted in response, but made no attempt to dispute it. And, needless to say, if he happened to stumble across a bandit, to won't be happy.

That did cause Drayce some worry, though he could do little to stop Blayke's restless pacing. It was understandable, really. He was feeling angry and frustrated and needed an outlet. The best thing Drayce could was to check in on him occasionally.

Speaking of checking in on someone, he had better see how Faelen was doing. What happened today was unnerving. And was sure to leave the rover feeling rattled.

Setting aside his research for the time being, Drayce pushed back his chair and took to his feet. Faelen had headed to his room after they all departed from the library and was likely still there. Nashoba was likely to be with him, too. Hopefully. Blayke would have taken the white wolf with him on his pacing, but it was obvious that he didn’t want to keep him away from Faelen.

As Drayce headed to the second floor, the sound of the front door opening and someone cheerfully announcing their arrival caused him to travel halfway down the second set of stairs. In the foyer was Tokala and Salim. Back from their wanderings around the city.

“Oh, good, you guys are back,” Drayce greeted, inwardly relieved that they hadn’t encountered any trouble during their outing.

“How was your exploration of Iorys?” Kamali asked politely as he approached them in the foyer.

Tokala smiled brightly. “It’s so much bigger than I thought! And the market district had so much interesting stuff!”

“Sounds like you had fun,” Drayce said with a smile. “That’s good.”

It was best that they didn’t tell the two about what had occurred in the labyrinth that day just yet. Maybe after dinner. Just so they’d, too, be cautious about any possibly (and likely) future meetings with those bandits.

Ashton appeared from the back of the guildhouse. It was more than highly likely that he had been inspecting the boundaries, too. Or just inspecting the windows and doors.

Upon seeing that their guests had returned, Ashton placed a smile to his lips and motioned toward Tokala. “Good, just in time to help me with dinner.”

“Got it!” Tokala answered readily and once again cheerfully before he hurried to follow Ashton to the kitchen.

“Hey, Salim, why not do some fishing? We’ll need that for dinner tonight,” Drayce suggested. Both wanting the pugilist to be doing something as he knew his need to keep moving. And for him to be outside should Blayke need a hand or two.

Salim seemed grateful for the suggest. “Yeah, alright. Anything for food.”

It was honestly good to see that they were settling in well within the Crescentia.

With everyone back under the same roof, Drayce felt a sense of relief wash over him. He turned on his heel and headed back up the stairs and made a beeline to Faelen’s room. The door wasn’t closed the entirely way, indicating that the young therian inside wanted some quiet time to himself, but did not want to be locked away from the rest of his guildmates entirely.

“Fae?” Drayce called out before he slowly pushed opened the door.

Faelen at on the end of his bed with Nashoba’s head resting on his lap. It appeared that he had been stroking the wolf’s fur, likely to help calm himself. Or out of absentmindedness as he mused about the day’s events.

“Are you all right?” Drayce asked as he stepped into the room, allowing the door to remain ajar behind him.

Faelen perked his head up at the sound of his voice and immediately turned toward him. “Um, yeah. I’m ok.”

Drayce sat down on the bed next to him. “You sure?”

Faelen’s flatten slightly against his head and he returned to running his fingers through Nashoba’s fur. “I’m sorry about the token,” he said, guilt in his voice as he turned his eyes toward his wolf companion.

“Don’t be silly,” Drayce immediately returned. “It’s that bandit’s fault.”

“But that token was useful, right?” Faelen asked softly as he rubbed Nashoba’s ear.

“Perhaps,” Drayce answered honestly. “We don’t know for sure. But, hey, there’s likely other tokens out there, too. And we have the map.”

Faelen nodded his head idly. But Drayce could still see and feel his guilt. Which was unfair. Faelen shouldn’t feel guilt for something that wasn’t his fault. “You gave it up pretty quick.”

“Of course, I did.” Drayce slipped an arm around Faelen’s shoulders and pulled him toward him so that he leaned up against him, his head on his shoulder. “You’re far more precious than any treasure.”

Faelen stilled for a moment before he rested against him fully and comfortably. “...That makes me happy,” he whispered to himself. He then tilted his head back to look up at him. “Drayce?”

“Hm?”

“That also wasn’t your fault, you know?” Faelen said firmly as he looked into his eyes.

That startled Drayce for a moment. Though, guilt was probably coming off of him in waves. He was the guild leader, after all. It was his job, his purpose to keep others safe. Though, if he asked anyone if what happened was his fault, they would all tell him that it wasn’t. Still...

Faelen suddenly frowned as he turned to look upon Nashoba once more. “Keita…didn’t seem that bad at the start. He was kinda funny.”

Yeah, there wasn’t anything really to indicate that the kid was a bandit. Still, there was something about him that made Drayce believe that he wasn’t a hundred percent truthful in his actions or words.

Blayke, on the other hand, was downright suspicious of him.

That, strangely enough, brought a small smile to Drayce’s lips. “…Blayke didn’t like him.” And Nashoba made a soft whining sound, as if agreeing with him.

Faelen gave a soft half chuckle. “Blayke was kinda funny, too.”

“Hm.” Drayce made a noise of agreement as he ruffled Faelen’s hair. He was glad that he was feeling better. “He’s wonderfully snappy. You should see him when he’s tired and annoyed.”

Faelen giggled before he fell into a contemplative silence. “…I don’t think he would have hurt me.”

Maybe so, but there was still a possibility that he would have. “I wasn’t going to chance it.”

Faelen nodded his head. “Drayce?”

“Hm?”

Faelen suddenly pivoted in his spot and hugged him around the waist, burying his head into his chest. “You really are like a brother to me, you know?” he murmured against the fabric of his shirt. “I’m glad I met you.”

Drayce immediately wrapped his arms around the younger rover and rested his chin atop his head. “You’re like a brother to me, too.”

And that meant he wasn’t going to allow anyone to hurt his guildmates. He didn’t care what happened to him personally. But no one was allowed to threaten or attempt to harm anyone from his guild.

Ever.

#Etrian Odyssey #etrian odyssey 5 #fanfiction #turquoise lotus father #the treasure seeker #Angelward Guild

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shipmistress9 · 5 years

Text

FTLOAP - 37: Falling Too Fast To Prepare For This

Fandom: HTTYD

Theme: Hiccstrid - Medieval-style AU - Romance - Angst/Hurt/Comfort

Summary: Reduced to little more than a stable boy, Hiccup, despite his noble birth, has few prospects for more in life. But when he meets a girl who came to look at the horses, being a stable boy might not be enough anymore. Together, they have tough choices to make and great risks to navigate if they want to survive and be together.

Rating: Explicit

FF-net - AO3 -

Discord-server for discussions and questions

Part 1: Prologue; Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11;

Part 2: Chapter 12; Chapter 13; Chapter 14; Interlude 1; Chapter 15; Chapter 16; Chapter 17; Chapter 18; Chapter 19; Chapter 20; Chapter 21; Chapter 22; Chapter 23; Chapter 24; Chapter 25; Chapter 26; Interlude 2; Chapter 27: Chapter 28 ; Chapter 29 ; Chapter 30; Chapter 31; Chapter 32; Interlude 3; Bonus 1; Chapter 33

Part 3: Chapter 34; Chapter 35; Chapter 36; Interlude 4

Alpha/Co-author: @athingofvikings

. – * – _ . o O o . _ – * – .

Yay, only one week of waiting! Wasn't sure whether I could make it but it worked 😃

Be prepared to wait longer from now on though! We're officially switching to a two-weeks-schedule from now on.

This came up a few times in the comments, and although I answered commented on it on the Shoutouts, I also wanted to address this topic once for everyone because it probably won't come up in the story. The swan roast. In general, swan meat was considered to be one of the highest delicacies of the medieval world. And more specifically, the swan is the heraldic animal of House Hofferson. With both these reasons, it was a matter of House Pride to serve swan roast at such an important evening. It had nothing to do with the King being heartless or cruel as he didn't even know Astrid had a fondness for those swans. If he'd known, he certainly would have spared them. And it had nothing to do with Thuggory somehow influencing it to get to Astrid, either.

This chapter... I'll be honest and warn you, I cried buckets writing it; and that was after having the scene in my head for months, regularly crying over it already. So... yeah... feelz ahead, hopefully.

This week's title, Falling Too Fast To Prepare For This, again come from 'Whatever It Takes' by Imagine Dragons. Have I mentioned that I like their music and this song in particular? And in this case... it's incredibly fitting I'd say... 😬

. o O o .

Astrid’s first reaction was surprise and disbelief. She was to marry? But it was too early! She’d just only turned eighteen; there were still two more years before she could marry. But when the news sank in into everyone’s awareness and hushed voices filled the hall, she remembered that this wasn’t a law. Legally, she could have been married for two years already. But why had her father changed the plan away from custom?

A heartbeat later, fragile joy sparked up in her chest. Had her father learned about her and Hiccup? Was this his gift to her, that she could marry him now instead of waiting for two more years? It seemed too good to be true, but there wasn’t another explanation, was there? She would marry Hiccup, that was the fate the Gods had designed for them, and if she was to marry in two months… With a racing heart, she stared up at her father, hope and anticipation ruling her every thought. Maybe this day wasn’t such a disaster after all...

But when the King continued, all her hopes were shattered into finer and finer pieces with each word.

“You will be wondering who’s going to have the honour of tying the knot with my daughter,” he called over the general noise of the whispering crowd. “But as of now, not even I know the answer to this question. This is why I invited you and your sons here today. During the coming moon, all eligible noblemen in this hall will get the chance to compete for the Princess’s favour. There will be tournaments for you to show your strength and skills, hunts to impress her with your courage and acuteness, and other occasions where you can present yourself to her however you wish. In two weeks, there will be a grand ball for all of us to enjoy, and in four weeks from now, she will announce her choice.”

The King went on explaining the plan for the following weeks, the time of preparation for the wedding and the other planned events afterwards, but Astrid wasn’t listening anymore. All she could do was stare in shock, unseeing eyes still resting on her father. This couldn’t be… No! No, this wasn’t possible! There was a mistake! She couldn’t marry one of the assembled men here! It wasn’t... wasn’t right!

A part of her wanted to object, to thoughtlessly blurt out that she would only ever marry Hiccup and no-one else. But one look at the crowd before them instantly silenced her. For the entire evening, nearly all eyes had been on her, but now, after her father’s announcement, everything felt differently. Where before, all their looks had only been annoying or unsettling at the worst, she now felt like a cut of beef thrown in front of a pack of hunting dogs. It seemed like everyone was looking at her as if she already belonged to them, measuring and evaluating her worth. It made her sick.

Feeling detached from her body, she struggled to get up on shaky legs. “Excuse me,” she whispered, long-instilled reflexes making her speak when her mind was a complete mess. “I-I’m not feeling well, and…” she trailed off, staggering away from the table, away from the crowd and their leering eyes, away from her father. Away from everything.

She had no idea for how long she was left to walk alone... Well, not really alone. A servant in formal livery was following behind her, she saw, but she ignored him. Part of her wanted to break into a run to get away from him, but the dress she was in wouldn’t let her take more than small steps and she wasn’t trusting in her legs’ strength right now anyway. Eventually, she managed to find a door to a sitting room and stumble inside, numb. Thankfully, the servant didn’t follow her.

She just sat there, unmoving, hearing her father’s voice repeat those horrible words over and over.

And then the door opened.

“Astrid?”

She nearly sobbed. She didn’t want to talk to her father, not now. But she also didn’t have the presence of mind to try to keep running, and to where. The fate of her swans had been a hard enough blow. But this...

This was the coup de grace, and there was a little voice in the back of her mind gibbering that she had to wake up, she was dreaming, this was a nightmare...

But if it was a nightmare, she had yet to wake up.

She rose from her seat, numbly, and started towards the other door out of the chamber.

“Astrid, wait!” her father ordered, and she found herself unable to disobey him. She stopped, but didn’t turn around. “What is this behaviour supposed to mean? Why are you leaving your party and your guest so gracelessly? That is unbecoming of your position.”

Hysterical laughter bubbled up inside her. “Why I’m…” she began, hardly able to believe what she heard. How could he even ask that? Anger boiled up inside her, and she turned to face him after all. “Why I’m leaving?” she hissed. “What do you think? Those aren’t my guests, they are yours. And it’s not my party either. You invited all these people and provided them with a topic worth talking about. Leave me out of this.” She wanted to turn away, but her father’s stern look kept her from moving even one muscle.

“Don’t be ridiculous, child. Of course, this is your party, to your honour.”

“Don’t call me a child,” she retorted in a quivering voice. Tears were forming in her eyes, but whether of anger or of sorrow she couldn’t say. She wasn’t a child anymore. She was a grown-up woman, knew what she wanted.

“Then stop behaving like a child,” he said firmly, “And why are you acting with such hysterics? Because of the wedding announcement? I’m actually doing you a favour there! So stop acting like a child and come back with me.”

“A favour?” Astrid repeated, dumbfound, not certain if she’d heard him correctly. “How is proclaiming my marriage to one of those lordlings a favour? If you believe I’d marry one of them then you–”

“Of course you will marry one of them,” he interrupted her sternly. “All these men, or their fathers in their places, have sent official proposals for your hand over the years, that is part of why I invited them. You would have married one of them regardless, how is doing so two years earlier such a problem? And you even get to choose for yourself instead of me picking someone for you or simply putting your hand out as prize of the tournament. These are good man, Astrid. Don’t act like a fool by affronting them like this.”

Astrid snorted harshly. “‘Good men’? Do you mean men like Duke Thuggory?” He’d known, she realised. Thuggory had known of this announcement. That’s what his leering words had meant. Again, she felt bile rise in her throat. Did her father really believe she would ever marry scum like Thuggory?

However, mentioning this name had a strange effect on the King. His face turned stony for a moment, his jaw clenched. But then he sighed, and his features softened. “No, I don’t mean Thuggory and his ilk. But with his high rank, I had no choice but to invite him. You certainly don’t have to choose him though. In fact…” he sighed again, then continued in a lower voice. “At your birth, I made contracts with the Grand Dukes that you were to marry one of their heirs. Circumstances demanded for us to renounce these contracts, and I meant what I said, you are free to choose whoever of these men you want to marry. But… but for the sake of stability, I ask you to still choose one of my friend’s sons.”

Disbelievingly, Astrid stared at her father. Was he serious? Oh, she’d heard about these contracts, and they’d all laughed about the idea. Eret, Dagur, Snotlout – they were her brothers, and always would be. Marrying one of them – that was insane!

“What circumstances?” she asked after a pause, trying to think of something else. She would never agree to this ridiculousness, but maybe it helped her form better arguments if she at least understood the reasons. “Why was this change of plan needed, and why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Certainly, it hadn’t been necessary to spring all this on her like that, right?

Her father threw an apprehensive look around, and slightly shook his head. “I can’t tell you why this was necessary. All you need to know for now is that the Kingdom is at a breaking point, and this marriage and everything around it is necessary to keep the stability. Your wedding was always meant to strengthen the Kingdom and the Crown’s alliances; now, it has become even more important. And why I didn’t tell you before… well, I knew this news would unsettle you. And you always were so happy on the days you spent with young Eret and Dagur, carefree. I didn’t want to ruin that for you.”

A tiny voice in the back of Astrid’s mind was trying to reason with her that her father was right; her sudden betrothal wasn’t much different from what she’d been prepared for... once. Except that, with Hiccup coming into her life, everything had changed.

A memory rose to her mind, of another conversation she’d had with her father not so long ago. Back then, she’d mused about how for the Astrid of a few months before – the one that had known and accepted that she was destined for a politically advantageous and likely loveless match – Markor and the small gasp of freedom he provided had been the best gift she could have dreamed of.

But even back then, that Astrid already had been gone. Now, she expected more from life, more than a politically arranged marriage and more freedom than just a couple of hours on horseback. If this change in her had just been because of a flimsy idea then she might have been able to push it aside and become who her father thought she was once more.

But it wasn’t just a flimsy idea. Her hand wandered to her chest, feeling for Hiccup’s soul glowing in her chest. This was more, the Gods’ will. And she knew that she could never return to her former self.

However, thinking about that conversation with her father from all those months ago brought another memory to her mind, and her mood immediately brightened. “I have a wish,” she announced, looking up to meet her father’s eyes directly. “I want you to cancel this plan. You promised me a royal boon and said I only have to name my wish. This is it. I don’t want to marry now and certainly not one of these men.”

For a moment, she contemplated mentioning Hiccup, but held back for the same reasons she’d had earlier. Her father wouldn’t allow her to marry a titleless squire, not until Hiccup’s plan was fulfilled and he’d regained his title. It would only put an assassin’s target on Hiccup’s back – now more than ever, with all those predatory men in the grand hall. But if she could at least ward off this stupid plan…

“That’s not possible,” the King replied in a stern voice.

Disbelievingly, Astrid stared at him. “But… but you promised–”

“–that I would do my best to fulfil your wish as long as it is within my power, yes,” he interrupted her, and his voice turned soft. “But this is not within my power. Astrid, I can’t go back on my word and renounce a public announcement like this. If I did that, after all these people travelled here on my invitation, it would undermine the credibility of the Crown. It would throw the Kingdom into chaos, and we’d likely find ourselves in the middle of a civil war within half a year.” He sighed and even managed to look apologetic. “You have to believe me that going this route wasn’t an easy decision. But it is the only way.”

. o O o .

As Astrid followed her father back into the dining hall, she felt numb all over. Her usual mask had turned into something more, something like a solid wall around her mind, shielding her from everything around her and at the same time letting nobody see how she was inside.

Because inside, she was a mess. Her father’s words still rang through her mind, and a part of her, the part that had been taught to become the responsible Princess of the Kingdom for all her life, understood the logic in those words. It was her duty to serve the Kingdom by marrying for an alliance, being allowed to choose her husband herself certainly was better than simply accepting the decisions others made for her, and the two years didn’t really make a difference either.

However, it was the other part of her that struggled with this revelation, the one Hiccup had awoken and strengthened in her. This part had always been inside her; the independent girl who ran through the forest, who loved to listen to stories of distant places, and who was able to compete with even the best archers. The woman who enjoyed horse-riding and learning about healing plants and practices more than gossiping with other noble ladies over a cup of tea. But during the past months with Hiccup, that part had become stronger and stronger, had taken over. And Astrid refused to go back to being just the royal figurehead; not when the Gods were on her side and nobody would even tell her why.

With slow distracted steps, she walked back into the dining room. It was loud, everyone talking above everyone else, but she didn’t pay the gathered guests any mind. She was prepared to spend the rest of the night in silence, not looking at anyone, waiting until she could sneak back into Hiccup’s reassuring arms. She would need his confidence tonight, needed him to ground her mind again. She needed to talk to him, to mock the ridiculousness of her father’s plan. Because she wouldn’t go through with it, no matter what her father expected.

But before she even reached her seat, she caught sight of her brothers standing a bit to the side, talking, and of Eret in particular who’d spotted her and was waving her over. Her father’s wish about her marrying one of them shot through her mind, but she smothered it directly. The thought was too bizarre; as if anyone of them would ever go for this option!

“Hey,” Eret greeted her when she reached them, his voice subdued. “How are you?”

Astrid suppressed a burst of hysterical laughter. How she was? What did he think how she was? But he meant well, she reminded herself. From all the assembled people in this room, Eret, Dagur, and Snot were the only ones she was still sure of that. “I’m… I don’t know. I don’t think I can wrap my head around it yet,” she murmured, shaking her head.

Eret placed a reassuring hand on her back, soothingly rubbing up and down. It was such a normal and familiar gesture, something he’d done on many occasions before, but now, it felt different. Again, she remembered her father’s words, and thinking about how Eret touching her would look – to him and to everyone else in the room – made her shudder. She knew that Eret didn’t mean it like that, wasn’t laying claim on her. However, that didn’t change that him touching her didn’t feel as it used to. She made a small step away from him and threw him an apologetic look when she caught his grimace.

In that moment, sudden hatred for her father flared up inside her, hatred for taking even this form of comfort from her after everything else he’d done tonight.

Oblivious to the short interaction, Dagur nodded at her words. “Yeah,” he said in a low voice that missed his usual cheerfulness. “That was quite a shock, to all of us. I can’t believe our fathers kept this from us. ‘Not wanting to spoil our fun’ is a stupid reason.”

Eret nodded. “Especially with all the preparations that are going to waste now and how much we’ll have to do tomorrow instead.”

Astrid cocked her head. She wasn’t interested in whatever the Grand Dukes had come up, not really. Her mind was still too numb to care about anything. But Eret’s words still made her wonder, if only as a small distraction.

“I’ll have to help Lavo and his men,” Eret explained, grimacing. “Advice them on how to best divide the herd to get all the horses safely back to Eastervale. I mean, Lavo knows the horses well enough, but he’s never before been in charge of them all on his own for such a long journey.” And upon Astrid’s confused frown, he added, “It looks like at least one of your wishes is coming true after all, Swanja. We’ll all be staying here, for the next two months at least.”

All Astrid could do was nod mutely. Right now, nothing could affect her. It even made sense, she mused, detached. If it was their fathers’ hope that she would choose one of her brothers as her betrothed then they had to stay here with the rest of her suitors. But deep within her, a tiny part was laughing hysterically as they were called back to their seats when dessert was served. Eret was right, she’d wished for just any way for her brothers – and subsequently Hiccup – to stay a little bit longer. But this certainly hadn’t been on her list of options.

“Daniel must have known,” she overheard Eret mutter next to her. “That’s why he can’t stay in Westhill as long as he’d originally planned.”

“True. He’s probably going to be back for the wedding, if not sooner,” came Snotlout’s subdued reply, and Astrid realised that they had to be right.

“It also explains all the weird comments he sometimes made,” Dagur added. “About how he couldn’t tell us what bothered him, but how we would learn about it soon enough.”

Eret nodded. “And why we would see each other again before the summer campaigning. And do you remember the conversation we had on that last night in the tavern? About Ester’s wedding and whether–” he broke off with a sudden grunt. A moment later, his fist hit the table with a low thud!, making them all jump. “Oh, damn, Daniel you utter arsehole!” he suddenly cursed, unashamedly. It made the other two men question, but Eret wouldn’t say what was bothering him all of a sudden, and after a minute or three, Astrid lost all interest in listening to them.

She couldn’t turn their words down, however. Daniel had known about this plan, there was no doubt about that. But why had he kept it from her? Because Dagur had been right, simply not wanting to ruin her time was a stupid reason. But then… it was very much how her life always had been, wasn’t it? Keeping her sheltered and protected, not telling her about things she didn’t have to know. Keeping her ignorant while the men plotted and planned.

The longer she thought about all this, the more sense this explanation made and the more disturbed and distressed she became.

. o O o .

Without knowing what it was, Hiccup could tell that something was wrong. The sensation wasn’t as strong as with her nightmare two months ago or Harold’s execution on the day after, but it was still the same sense of anxiety that flared through their bond and that made it impossible for him to calm down.

Not that he’d been able to do so before. All day, he’d been agitated up to the point where he just kept walking up and down the stables until his twinging leg protested too much, his thoughts running in circles.

Last night had been amazing. He still had his worries whether actually trying anal sex wasn’t going too far after all. However, he couldn’t deny that watching her take his fingers and feeling her so hot and tight had been incredibly arousing, their closeness afterwards more intense than he could explain. So he was looking forward to the night with a mix of apprehension and anticipation, only fueled by how much he already missed her. Which only made the anguish about the coming weeks of separation worse.

But all that faded in comparison to what he felt now. For a while, he stood at the stables’ entrance, watching the castle in the distance and with his heart racing as he pondered what might have caused this distress. But the dark shape didn’t hold any answers for him, and he knew that he couldn’t do anything but wait for Astrid to come to him anyway, so he tried to distract himself with the books she’d brought. It was a futile attempt, his mind barely able to understand a single word. But it was still better than the pacing and the staring at the distance from before.

When she finally arrived, however, it didn’t look as if he would get his answers anytime soon. He’d barely managed to utter her name in greeting before she was on him, her mouth sealing his and her hands clinging to him with a desperate strength that instantly worried him. He was used to her being fierce when she came here at night, but today, there was something different about her.

At first, he gave in to her though. Kissing and touching, desperate searching and clutching. He could feel that she was upset, but it was also clear that she needed their closeness to cope, and he certainly wouldn’t deprive her of that. When her occasional gasps turned into sobs, however, he wasn’t able to go along anymore.

Gently but firmly, he pulled back, holding Astrid by her shoulders. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked in a soft tone. He didn’t want to upset her further.

But Astrid didn’t answer. She just whimpered and shook her head, and Hiccup could see that she was crying. Her face was wet with tears, her eyes swollen and red. “Not now,” she begged, her voice quivering, before she leaned forward again, searching his lips once more.

Hiccup let her, but only for a second before he pushed them apart again, his gaze on her pained but firm. “Astrid, what happened? Please, tell me. Talk to me.”

She wailed, her eyes closing in defeat, and when she leaned forward again, it wasn’t to resume kissing him this time, but to bury her face against his neck. He let her, wrapped his arms around her trembling body and soothingly rubbed her back until she calmed down again.

But when she finally spoke, he wished she’d said anything else as her words threatened to shatter his entire world once again.

. o O o .

Astrid still hoped to wake up from this nightmare at any moment now. All of this was too weird, too surreal to be the truth.

The party had dragged on endlessly, with her being unable to participate in any conversation. Her father had thankfully given her the space she’d needed and hadn’t tried to talk to her again. Eret had tried a few times, but had given up quickly when she wouldn’t even react with a grunt or a nod.

In her mind, everything was a mess. Her father’s wish for her to marry one of the men gathered there, the realisation that Daniel had been in on this plan, the betrayal she felt from both men, how Thuggory and many of the other guests must have known about this plan – it was all more than she could bear.

It seemed to take forever until she was allowed to retreat to her rooms, and even longer still until the twins went to bed too, until she could risk sneaking to Hiccup. She felt as if she’d been lying in her bed for hours, waiting, turning more desperate with every passing second.

She knew that her father had been deadly serious. He wanted her to marry, preferably even Eret, Dagur, or Snot. But she also knew just as clearly, that she would never go for any of these options – not her brothers and not one of the other silly lordlings that had come to court her. She wasn’t sure how to circumvent her father’s wishes, but she would. She had to!

By the time she was wrapped in Hiccup’s arms, trembling and crying, this was the only thought that still gave her strength. That she wouldn’t do what her father wanted, that she would marry Hiccup and nobody else, that he couldn’t make her choose one of them.

“My father wants me to marry,” she eventually found the strength to mumble in reply to Hiccup’s urgent question. “In two months.” Saying it out loud made it even worse, and she pressed herself harder against him, seeking more of his comfort.

His disbelieving reaction to her words was pretty much exactly what she’d expected. “What?”

Snivelling and clutching at his tunic for something to hold on to, she explained, “He made the announcement during dinner. Surprise, you’re all going to stay here after all. Because he wants me to choose one of the noblemen he’d invited, wants me to marry one of them in two months from today.”

Hiccup’s arms around her tightened. “But… why?” he gasped, still sounding incredulous.

She gasped out a short and harsh laugh. “I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me. And why would he? It’s been my fate to marry for the benefit of the Kingdom anyway, so to him, nothing even changed. All he said was that ‘the Kingdom is at a breaking point’ and that my marriage is necessary to keep the stability. But this won’t happen. It doesn’t make any sense. I’ll talk to him again,” she promised, not sure whether to reassure him or herself, and clutched even tighter to him, hot tears seeping into his tunic. “I already did, but today was just chaos. I’ll talk to him tomorrow, explain that I don’t want this, beg him to take it all back. He cares for me, doesn’t he? Deep down? I-I’m sure he’ll…” she trailed off, her voice cut off by the growing lump in her throat.

How was she to convince her father without telling him why? Because she didn’t dare to mention Hiccup, now even less than before. After today, she was afraid of what the King might do to Hiccup, to the one reason that kept her from doing what he wanted her to.

For several minutes, they were quiet except for her low sobs, both caught up in their thoughts and just clinging tightly at each other. Even without looking at him, she could feel how Hiccup’s mind worked through the little she’d said. She’d been thinking about this for hours now, but hadn’t been able to come up with a solution. She trusted in him though, in his quick mind. He would find a way.

“But he can’t take it back,” he mumbled eventually, breaking the silence with his voice sounding hollow and weak.

This wasn’t the response she’d expected at all! With a start, she sat up, looking at him in confusion. “What?”

”I wasn’t there but I know enough about politics in general and about the problems Eret and Daniel talked about. A proclamation like this and with what he said about the Kingdom... “ Hiccup looked pale, his face nearly expressionless, and his eyes were frighteningly empty. “He can’t take it back. You won’t have a choice.”

“What? No!” she insisted, her fingers digging into the fabric over his chest. “I won’t do it! He can’t force me to choose. He can’t!”

A weak and sad smile crossed his face for a heartbeat. “Maybe not. But you still won’t have a choice on this matter,” he repeated in the same low and empty voice. “If you don’t pick a betrothed, your father will do so for you.” His breathing quickened a little and he averted his face, and for once, Astrid was almost glad to not have to look into his hollow eyes.

“But… but he can’t,” she stammered. “He can’t make me do this, can’t make me marry. He–”

“Of course, he can,” Hiccup interrupted her in a weak whisper. “He’s your father. He has every right to decide for you.”

Biting her lip, she dropped her gaze as well. Yes, Hiccup was right, but… but… That didn’t change anything, did it? None of this made sense and all she knew was that they would find a way out of this. They had to, even though right now, everything was just too overwhelming, too much for her, for them both to think.

“But it’s ridiculous,” she eventually mumbled, trying to turn this into the joke it had to be. “If it were up to my father, I’d marry one of the ducal heirs. But that’s insane! H-how could I ever marry one of them? No… There has to be another way. Hiccup, please, look at me. Tell me there’s another way. None of this makes sense, not with what the Gods want. There has to be a way out.” She pressed her hand to his chest, over his heart, to their bond. But in the next moment, she wished she hadn’t.

As if in a trance, Hiccup lifted his head again, gazing at her with an expression that positively scared her. His eyes were still eerily hollow, but there was also something else in them, a deep-reaching pain that she hadn’t ever seen there before. Slowly, he shook his head, and reached for her hand, pulling it away from his chest. “Unless we were wrong,” he whispered, nearly inaudible. He squeezed her hand for the briefest of moments, then let go of it. “Astrid, I... “ he gulped, a strange sound somewhere between a gasp and a suppressed sob escaping him. “This changes everything! A-and I’m not sure there’s a way to… He’s the King! Neither of us can stand against him.”

“But this doesn’t make sense!” she insisted. “You said it yourself; the Gods want us to be together. ‘We can’t fail’. Those were your words. Please, Hiccup, there–”

“Unless we were wrong!” he repeated, the urgency and pain in his voice momentarily silencing her. He swallowed, hard, his hand wandering up to his chest, to where her hand had lain only moments before. “Maybe we were wrong after all. Maybe those visions... they were just wishful thinking, and this bond nothing but our imagination. I-I don’t know. But this… I can’t think of a way around this, not against your father’s explicit wish. There just isn’t enough time.” He shook his head, his eyes falling shut and his hand dropping to his side again.

Astrid couldn’t believe what she heard. He couldn’t be serious, could he? The visions, their connection, their feelings – all this had to be real! Feverishly, she forced herself to think harder, to come up with a reason why he had to be wrong, with a solution, just anything.

“What if we ran away?” she whispered after a minute of heavy silence. “We could leave right now. We get our horses ready and will be gone long before anyone notices anything.” Her heartbeat quickened at that idea. It was bold, but maybe, just maybe, this was the way they had to choose.

However, Hiccup just reacted with a sad look. “I would never ask you to do that,” he whispered, sounding incredibly tired. “It might sound like a good idea now, but…” he paused, swallowing hard. “But it wouldn’t work. We have two fast horses. They have two hundred. Markor and Cassie would need to rest eventually, and they would send out search parties and find us within hours, a day or two at most. Then they’d cut off my head for kidnapping the Princess and drag you back here anyway.”

She paled at his word. “But… but what can we do?” There had to be something. Anything. There had to be.

But Hiccup’s answer did nothing to reassure her. On the contrary, it served to shatter her completely.

“You should go back,” he said in a detached, almost emotionless voice. He didn’t even look at her as he reached to lift her off his lap. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Hiccup?”

“Astrid... it’s over.”

. o O o .

Astrid’s mind was in chaos.

There were no other words to say it. On her way back to the castle, she was only able to find her way because she knew it by heart. She couldn’t see the path through her tears and afterwards, she couldn’t remember how she’d made it back either. It certainly was only pure luck that nobody spotted her as she sneaked through the sleeping castle and as she slipped into her rooms again. With her last strength, she fought against sobbing too loudly as she blindly tore of the simple dress again and somehow managed to get her nightgown back on.

She barely found any sleep that night, smothering her crying into her cushions and clutching at Hiccup’s tunic. She didn’t even remember taking it out of her new treasure box, but was unable to even think of putting it back either.

He can’t be serious, she thought over and over, hiding her face in the rough fabric that only held the smallest memory of his scent by now. It wasn’t possible. She knew where their future lay! It lay in that small house with the barking dog and the excited boy, with him returning to her, to their home. That vision hadn’t been just wishful thinking, it had been real!

Hadn’t it?

On and on, she mulled over the same thoughts again and again, unable to find rest or comfort in anything. Without a doubt, this birthday had been the worst of her life, the worst day altogether. It couldn’t be real, it couldn’t be real, it couldn’t be real…

“Let me wake up,” she begged into the night. “Let this nightmare end, please, let me wake up. I can’t stand it anymore.”

But the nightmare wouldn’t end, and deep down, she knew why. And when she did wake up, to bright sunlight and both her maidservant and her warder looking down at her with concerned expressions, she understood that it wouldn’t end at all.

Her hand in his tunic, clearly visible on top of her blanket, tightened. There was no way she could hide it again. But neither Ruff or Tuff reacted as she’d expected. No shock, no confusion, no demanding where the suspicious piece of clothing was coming from. No questions about her tears and her shattered state either. The twins only shared a quick glance and a nod, then Ruff reached to tug at a strand of her hair.

“So… Is there something you want to tell us?” she asked in a strangely off-handed tone, as if she didn’t even need an answer to her question. And when she pulled her hand back, Astrid realised why.

In her hand, Ruff held a stray bit of straw.

. o O o .

Aaaand I'm back to hiding under rocks.

*jumps out of reach of any missiles*

Next Chapter

#😭#I'm sorry #For The Love Of A Princess #FTLOAP #hiccstrid #hiccstrid fanfiction #hiccstrid angst #Hiccup and Astrid #Hiccstrid Medieval AU #medieval au #Royalty AU #hiccstrid royal au #httyd #fanfiction

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atopearth · 5 years

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Liar! Uncover the Truth Part 5 - Scheming Socialites Spin-Off

I guess the ritual is that the story always starts off with a cheating boyfriend lol! Heroine in this one and I guess the rest of her friends are all rich though. Rich people problems now? Well, that was creative… Using a planner to keep track of when he’s meeting what girls and then him actually having a twin to swap places with all the time on dates etc, and they’re using the heroine as the mould for an android girl they want to build? Yep, she sure found a wonderful cheating boyfriend. And so for the sake of the future of her family company, she’s gotta marry a rich guy they can do business with and her time limit is by graduation to find one that’s suitable for her, otherwise she’ll have to marry this cheating boyfriend that has a twin, I can feel how desperate she must be feeling already…

1st Liar HAHAHA, what is a professional virgin??? Textbook knowledge with no experience I guess?? Maan, they stole her bra? There’s an underwear thief going around? Yeah… That’s not fun. Btw, I dislike the heroine’s hair being down in the accusation portions, it doesn’t look nice… I’m sure they could have kept her bun hair and still make it look nice from the side somehow…😣 It makes her look so plain too :( LOL Hayato is such a pervert to steal her bra and bury his face in it just so he can visualise her breasts😥 Although, I have to say, I feel like it was unnecessary to put that virgin part in this liar bit, the story makes it seem like all virgins are like this and would do something like this and it makes it sound like such a bad thing to be a virgin, which is pretty slack tbh, especially since the main problem is that he’s a pervert lol. And nope, don’t feel sorry for him nor will I understand him in any way.

2nd Liar Damn, how awkward would it be to go to a mixer and meet your ex there lol, and regardless it sounds like a shitfest since the other girls are like your best friends so whoever goes for the ex is not gonna be in for a good relationship lol. Anyway, Nagi seems like a nice guy, lolll when he joked to the heroine to feed him. Hahahaha the king game is the best, it’s a common game you see in Japanese media where everyone has a numbered stick except one person who has the king stick and they can order whatever number to do something to another number or to the king e.g. when the heroine asked Shunya (number whatever) to flick the forehead of Anko (number whatever). You don’t know who is what number so it can be pretty romantic or cute, or funny such as when Koh (Yu) asked number two to kiss him on the cheek (since he’s king) thinking that it’s one of the girls but it’s actually Shunya hahaha.

Omggg when Shunya said ‘I love you’ to the heroine as part of the game but then privately messages her and says that he was serious when he said that, and then even looks away blushing after she looks at him once she’s read it. Such a flirt lol. I was wondering what the problem would be this time around, guess there’s someone in the group that likes to upload videos, and they uploaded the whole mixer party online and even had shots of the heroine’s panties when she stumbled because she was a bit drunk🤨 This person is very…🤨 But lol, oh yeah, Shunya was the one that always knows what’s on the tests, yeah I remember thinking he was dodgy for sure because of that, didn’t think he would hack the security camera to get this footage to upload though lol. And his “reasons” for starting to do all this was silly zzz.

3rd Liar Hmmmm, so this one is kinda about which rumour about which person is actually true? Not really buying the one about the gay guy, but I’m pretty sceptical about Akari after she gave the heroine the wrong time for the shoot and took her spot, it was the heroine’s fault for not having her planner and not knowing the time but stilllll, she does seem to hang with guys a lot and act suspiciously. Sounds like a long stretch for Mio to be having an affair, seems more like she’s buying stuff for her dad that she doesn’t see much or something.

Yay I’m right! Like, seriously, who bothers to type 15:00, totally a liar, totally meant the 5:00 so that the heroine would be late. But wow, she’s been stealing boyfriends, stealing jobs and sleeping with all these guys in the entertainment circle making it seem as if she’s their girlfriend but she’s really not😶 and now it’s biting back at her because the guys she’s been playing with are friends that regularly hang out together! This is why you shouldn’t play around with guys so close to you and could be friends lol. I guess reading the True end is better than the secret end for SS?🤔 Akari sleeps with so many men because she seeks the validation she can’t get from her father from them since her dad will never praise her and will always disapprove of her modelling and her appearance when she should be working hard like her capable brother that’s in the police force, but really, even though she works hard, her dad doesn’t see it or really care, so it’s pretty saddening. Doesn’t give her the right to play with the guys like she’s serious though, she should be open with the fact that she’s playing lol. Anywho, her problem, her life, still despicable to steal jobs, especially from friends, like wth, don’t buy or care about her story.

4th Liar Lol at the heroine meeting all the guys coincidentally and they’re all interning at Media Act (the setting in Office Deception). Right now tbh, Shotaro and Kaname are pretty unappealing so I don’t really have anything to say about them. Nagi seems cool but that’s all too. Tbh, I’m kinda hoping all the guys are a dud, she gets a best friend at the end and then marries her butler Haru🤣 I feel like he’s the only one she has a genuine bond with, the rest are so superficial lol. Hmmmm maybe Haru is secretly a rich boy! That would be nice, they were so cute eating the birthday cake together and talking about her internship. She needs to dump all those other guys and get with himmmm!

How scary for the heroine though. Accidentally stumbling upon illegal deals for guns at a party that you thought was just some fun😶 I find it so hard to take any of the guys seriously when they just all randomly confess like that though lol. Anddd it’s Kaname! Tbh, I don’t remember anything about this guy besides him being in the same club as the heroine lol. His True End on how he initially traded things his explorer brother brought back and then it becoming a big thing with him eventually going deeper and holding parties and then letting them get out of control because he thinks he’s “helping people out” by doing these people favours for them to trade there. Yeah, no. I have no idea how the son of a top attorney could be so silly and think so naively when it comes to illegal stuff that probably ends up killing people. It’s ridiculous. Outrageous. No sympathy, do not care, would call police on their parties but too scared that I’d get killed lmao.

5th Liar Hmmmm I think that a big problem that I have with this story is that for each liar, I don’t really know what the story is going along to and what is the problem with the “liar” until like the last two chapters before the accusation part where the heroine suddenly finds out some random problem, and right when she discovers the problem, she discovers the culprit too! It’s just so…bad in terms of how the story flows imo. Anyway, the story isn’t particularly interesting either too, since as usual, another guy confesses, she travels around Kyoto and then they realise someone has been posting her photos and details of her and her trip on a blog as if it’s her blogging.

After looking at the blog posts, it’s obvious that it’s Senri, he’s the only one that knows that the handkerchief is a Chinese peony specifically and not a tree peony. Sigh, I liked him the most out of the three personally. Well, Anko is cute I guess lol, but sigh, Senri, why are you a disappointment? Yeah that was creepy, Senri, your true ending just made me even more uhhh wth lol. I thought these true endings were supposed to make me sympathise with them but it just makes me even more disgusted with them lol. So creepy of of him to make a blog about her and all the things she does “out of love”, like dude, that ain’t love, you’re just obsessed and infatuated with her, you don’t even know her, you haven’t even talked to her since she was 8 like whaaaat. Not gonna feel sorry for you even if you cry, Senri. Totally disappointed in him. Anyway, at this rate, I don’t like any of the guys so I hope one of the girls is the one lol.

6th Liar Toru and Azusa are brothers?? Well, he sounds dodgy already. Uhhh Nagi knew that the water bottle had lotion without opening it? Can all the good looking ones stop disappointing meeeee!? I don’t like Sosuke or Shotaro either but I thought Nagi looked pretty good, sighhhhh. Why be a kinky fetishist and kidnap the heroine for, sighhhhh. Lol, I honestly feel like these stories and reasons are getting even more shallow as the story goes on, it’s just so…basic? Like, Nagi just found out he’s a masochist when his girlfriend slapped him when she wanted to break up, and then now he’s like this, it’s like uhh okay? What did the heroine do to make him so into her? Okaaay. Well, I guess it’s good that the heroine is open to reporter jobs as well, wasn’t sure why she was so keen on the magazine editor job specifically when her reasons for wanting it weren’t something only that job provided, but whatever.

7th Liar Right now, I don’t think I’ll be surprised at whoever is the traitor friend. I feel like it’s Anko just because she feels so fake? She’s way too sweet and nice that it’s impossible for her to be real! Mio’s cool so I want her to be the best friend🤣 Honestly not sure how safe it is for the heroine and them to pick mushrooms in the forest when they’re complete newbies relying on the web to see if these mushrooms are edible or not like hmmmm… That doesn’t sound very safe at all!

Hahahah, I’m sorry Anko, you were the genuine good friend LOL. I’m pretty sure Mio cut her finger on purpose just to interrupt the heroine’s conversation with Shotaro. Aaaand she did, no idea why Mio is like this but geez~ Lol, awesome, she loves the heroine and is obsessed with her to the point that she is willing to die together with her, yay, what a wonderful best friend. I don’t get why if the one she likes is the heroine, why would she get the heroine lost in the mountains by herself in the snow and force her to take cover in a cave???? Like, what if she slipped or got so lost she couldn’t find it and died? I am so confused and weirded out. As expected, Mio is so obsessed with her because she was the first person she met that didn’t act fake and genuinely wanted to be friends with her and liked hanging with her, she’s still weirdly obsessed for no reason though.

8th Liar Rental boyfriend?! Aren’t they all rich?? Why do they need to be a rental boyfriend??? I guess they might be disowned or something? Shotaro seems so suspicious though lol, with all the women’s clothing, earrings and credit card bills etc in his “house”, hard to not doubt him tbh. Although Sosuke with two toothbrushes in one cup is kinda hmmmm… I feel like it has to be Sosuke, he probably bought all that food he said he cooked (like why was it so expensive when she paid for half?!), and having perfume and toothbrushes just seems way too dodgy. Well, my gut feeling was right even if my reasons to choose him were not hahaha! So, he’s poor and ridden with debt from his father, and his mother got sick from raising him and his siblings, so even though her condition is better now, he hopes to get a good job or marry into money so his family won’t need to suffer anymore. That’s logical. I don’t blame Sosuke for trying to lie his way through to get the heroine for that reason, doesn’t change the fact that it’s something he shouldn’t have done since he’s blatantly lying to get her money, but it just shows how desperate he is I guess, considering how tough it must be to take care of siblings, work and feed everyone :( But yeah, anyway, still don’t like Shotaro and still think he’s dodgy and hope he is, so that the heroine can go with Haruki!🤣

9th Liar Uh, what? The heroine is going to be betrayed by someone she trusts and even though there should only be two liars left to pick from, they decided to add another two, with one being Haruki? Zzzz. I don’t know but I don’t like this format, it’s like suddenly introducing another two characters that I should be suddenly considering as a part of the liar story. It’s like dude, I barely remember this Professor Mori, why is she suddenly a liar candidate, at this point in the story, I’m not gonna feel anything even if she betrays the heroine😪 Only Haru is the one that consistently appears enough in the background for you to care if he actually betrays the heroine tbh, just because I feel like Shotaro and Anko are such superficial characters that lack personality, and I much prefer and enjoy the little things the heroine and Haru share every now and then with them talking so unreservedly with each other etc.

Well, considering the suspicious calls Haruki has made throughout the story and the only one you’d care about betraying the heroine at this point, it’s most likely him. I really want it to be Shotaro, but if we take the fortune teller guy’s words to be the truth with Anko being her best friend and Shotaro being the guy she’s destined with, then really it only leaves Haru and the professor. And yeah, the professor is such a side character that I doubt it’s her. Sigh, Haru, it’s like one disappointment after another for me throughout this story lol. Reading the true ending for Haru was tough, he’s had a pretty unfortunate childhood. He initially had a nice family with a younger sister and they all loved his piano playing, but then his parents passed away, he got shafted to relatives that used his piano skills to earn money, his sister fell ill and passed away too, and then he somehow got picked up by the heroine’s dad to take care of the heroine, and by staying beside her, he got to experience all those emotions he had lost. So it’s pretty saddening that they made him one of the “liars”.

I’m quite dissatisfied with Scheming Socialites tbh, the story, the reasons for lying, the personalities for the characters, everything felt rather forced and done in quite a mundane way. Also doesn’t help that Shotaro has such a cookie cutter personality that they try to make redeeming in the end by having the same interest as the heroine, but really, it’s so superficial. I honestly only really liked Liar Uncover the Truth. Office Deception and Scheming Socialites just didn’t have the same spark and didn’t have particularly interesting liars, and their reasons were so uncreative compared to the first, oh and I totally didn’t care for them at all, at least for the first series, I felt some sort of emotions towards each liar but for the latter series, I just seriously couldn’t care for them and just felt that they were ridiculous instead. I’m not even mad at any of the liars because I feel nothing for them, yeah it’s that terrible lol. So yeah, I would only recommend playing the first series and Itaru’s Lovers Route to feel complete haha.

#liar! uncover the truth #liar uncover the truth #liar! scheming socialites

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