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accirax · 1 year

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Eden’s Garden Mastermind Theory Ranking (Least to Most)

Greetings, Eden’s Garden fandom, and happy... uh... two days past the three month anniversary of the prologue release! I know I’m really late to the punch on this, but after thinking it over for a while I have ranked every student in Project: Eden’s Garden based on how likely I think it is that they are the mastermind. Also, I drew them all, because their designs are really cool. So, without further ado:

#16: Grace Madison

Out of all of the characters, I think Grace would be the most bewildering mastermind. This is the girl who screamed “get me out of here” so much that she got shocked, clubbed Tozu until he was writhing on the floor, and nearly got executed for it! She’s been shown to be violent, but not in a particularly manipulative or intellectual way. Yes, you could argue that all of that was an act, but she’s been shown as so honest and blunt that it makes me doubt whether she could really pull that off. I personally believe that Grace may make a deep run in this game (even to the point of being a survivor), but I can’t think of any particularly compelling reasons as to why Grace would be the mastermind.

#15: Jean DeLamer

So… it’s the pirate guy. No, a ship captain! Either way, I think Jean would be a pretty strange mastermind. To me, it feels like a mastermind Jean would have to lean into the sea aesthetic somehow, and given the locale and theming of Eden’s Garden Academy, I can’t see how that would tie in. The way that Jean portrays it, Ultimate Ship Captain is a title built on bringing people together. So, the writers would have a lot of work to do to justify him being someone who would lead his friends to tear each other apart. Overall, this seems pretty unlikely to me.

#14: Damon Maitsu

And here he is, our protagonist boy! While the protagonist being the mastermind certainly isn’t a foreign concept, I personally don’t think it’s what the Eden’s Garden writers were going for here. Protagonists secretly on the evil team, such as Hajime, are typically missing a lot of memories, and Damon doesn’t seem to be missing any more than the average student. It would certainly be bold to have Damon be an active and aware mastermind under the players’ noses for the entire game, but based on how difficult Kodaka has said it was to write just a single case in which the protagonist was a killer, I find it dubious that this is a realistic possibility. Personally, I also didn’t see any thoughts, actions, or dialogue of Damon’s that would indicate that this was the case. If something weird was going to happen to prevent Damon from being the long-term protagonist, I think it would more likely be a shockingly early death as either a victim or killer. However, I think that Damon has a great character arc set up before him, and that he’ll probably survive to the end as our innocent protagonist and POV character.

#13: Jett Dawson

Jett is pretty similar to Jean in that they’re both big, sociable guys with a seemingly killing-game-irrelevant talent. Because of that, it might seem strange that I put Jett above Jean, considering that he’s even sillier and dumber than Jean. However, I think that because of that, it would be more fun for him to have an eleventh hour heel turn and become the mastermind. I also think that him being sillier would allow him to better blend in as a simple comic relief character and believable survivor nearing the end game. And, of course, he’s wearing that mask, the taking off of which could be a fun twist in Trial 6. Despite all of this, however… he’s still 13th overall. And that’s because, overall, I still think it’s pretty implausible for our goofy, Scooby Doo-impersonating Jett to be the mastermind.

#12: Mark Berskii

I’m pretty indifferent on the concept of mastermind Mark overall. His alligator imagery is questionable, given his apparent personality; and having a tech-related talent could be helpful in creating a killing game, somehow…? But, he also seems pretty soft spoken and anxious during introductions, and more of a sarcastic straight man in the Class Trial, neither of which scream “mastermind” to me. Really, the most suspicious thing about him is that Damon specifically points out that Mark is staring at him on the train, and that Mark was sitting in the back of the train near the sleeping gas bag. Currently, I don’t really have anything that can argue him better or worse than 12th place.

#11: Eloise Taulner

Given how much Eloise has already demonstrated how much she cares about her family, I find it hard to believe that she would put herself in danger by placing herself in a killing game. But, on the other hand, maybe her family is her reason for starting the killing game in some twisted way, and her loyalty to them could explain her actions…? I can’t deny that it would be fun to see such a shy and sweet character flip in the final Class Trial to reveal her masterminding ways– sort of reminiscent of Mikan’s character flip, though hopefully on a more solid foundation. Fencing is also a violent talent, one that Eloise specifically pointed out is a calculated mental game more than a physical sport. However, I’m a pretty strong believer in early killer Eloise, so personally, I don’t think that she’ll make it late enough in the game for her being the mastermind to be a real topic of discussion.

#10: Ingrid Grimwall

Being the Ultimate Blacksmith, Ingrid has a weapons-based talent, specifically one that fits in with the old fashioned stylings of Eden’s Garden Academy. She thinks pretty highly of herself and her skills, and is shown to be flippant about safety laws when it comes to cleaning supplies. These traits, in my mind, make her a more viable candidate than Jett or Jean, but I just can’t shake the feeling that Ingrid would be a really random mastermind choice. I don’t know what her being the mastermind would say about her or people like her, or what it would add to the story and world development. Ingrid isn’t a terrible choice, but I think there are far better options to consider.

#9: Kai Monteago

Yes, Kai is incredibly silly, and I probably shouldn’t have even had him this high just due to how much of a meme it would be if he were the mastermind. But, I think that out of the more silly mastermind candidates, Kai stands out for one reason and one reason alone: attention. Kai has already presented himself as someone who wants everyone to know his name, and what better way to do that than slaughtering some of the country’s brightest? The way Kai initially resigned himself to being an observer of the practice Class Trial before jumping in and eventually providing a lot of commentary could speak to him being a fan of killing games or mysteries in a way he couldn’t manage to contain. And, look– I know that his behavior was probably just to communicate that even when he’s underinformed, Kai is still a chatterbox who wants to be the center of attention, alright? I know that he’s probably here primarily as comic relief, especially if he winds up an early death. But at least compared to most of the students ranked below him, I can imagine a point or message that the writers would be trying to convey about social media and fame with him being the mastermind. His other limiting factors prevent him from cracking the top half, but that alone gets him part of the way there in my list.

#8: Wenona

In terms of actual feasibility, Wenona has to be high up there on students who we know could logistically be the mastermind. Cited as a billionaire, I’m sure she has the resources necessary to run a large production such as this killing game, as well as a shrewd, business-oriented mind that could potentially diminish the value of people’s emotions and lives. Plus, depending on what the writers’ collective political leanings are, I could see some kind of message about the evils of capitalism cropping up if she was revealed as the mastermind. Ultimate Entrepreneur is a talent that Damon already respects, so there’s also potential for drama there if she turns out to be evil. So, after all of that, why don’t I have her higher? To be honest, I don’t know. To me, there’s just something about Wenona that makes me think she isn’t the mastermind. It’s not because she’s so sweet or innocent that I couldn’t believe that she could pull it off– to be honest, it’s the opposite. Even if Damon respects her talent, she came off as fairly antagonistic and cold to me in the prologue. If she is the mastermind, I would imagine that she’d keep that attitude throughout the rest of the game. Then, in Chapter 6, we’d be faced with the revelation that, wow, the mildly antagonistic character was actually a really antagonistic character all along! It just doesn’t seem like enough of a dramatic hook to me, I guess? There are a lot of good reasons why Wenona could be the mastermind, but for those reasons, I don’t think she’s it.

#7: Wolfgang Akire

Similar to Wenona, Wolfgang for me is hampered by the fact that he’s already been set up as Damon’s rival. A lot of people are already suspicious of Wolfgang in one way or another, so if he’s revealed to be the mastermind in the end, players might feel vindicated, but not necessarily surprised. That’s why, if Wolfgang is the mastermind, I think the most interesting thing the Eden’s Garden team could do would be to reveal him as such early. I’m talking, like, first Class Trial early. We’d get to see Wolfgang’s calculating mind openly act as the mastermind throughout the killing game, let the other students deal with repercussions of having their trusted leader be the mastermind for a while instead of just in the last chapter (after he may have already done some morally gray things), and explore what people would think about Bargain Bin Damon when they know that Wolfgang is the mastermind. Would they make Damon their new hero, now that they can’t rely on the Ultimate Lawyer anymore? Or would they distrust Damon, potentially thinking he’s working with Wolfgang? Wolfgang being the mastermind also has the benefit of his talent. Given that Damon is so good at Class Trials, I feel like pitting him against, say, the Ultimate Music Producer might be too easy of a fight for him. Lawyer vs Debater is something that would not only be an even match, but has already been set up and, in some ways, executed. For Wolfgang, I think there are a lot of ways that him being the mastermind could go “wrong,” but if the writers play their cards right, Wolfgang could be one of the most interesting and unique masterminds we’ve ever seen in a Danganronpa game, canon or fanon.

#6: Eva Tsunaka

While Eva has a blunt and cold personality, she has the benefit (as compared to Wolfgang or Wenona) of being a character that the player is supposed to feel aligned with. You wake up with her, you investigate with her, she’s the one to agree with Damon when he takes a stand against the common complacency at the end. A lot of people have compared playing as Damon to if we had seen Trigger Happy Havoc through Byakuya’s eyes, and in that case, I think that Eva would have to be our Kyoko. And, although Byakuya and Kyoko had their disagreements, if Byakuya were forced to designate someone as his support character, who could he really trust and intellectually respect enough besides Kyoko to give that title? I think Eva will be our support character of the game, which would only make it more devastating if she betrays us in the end. That would also be a pretty unique road to go down, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fangan in which the support character was actually the mastermind, as opposed to a traitor or garden-variety killer, especially in a situation where the protagonist isn’t evil as well. It would also be brutal to make the player confront the Ultimate Liar really being the untrustworthy mastermind all along, after we presumably come to trust and like her. Given the comparison to Kyoko, I think it’s more likely that Eva will not be evil, and instead have a character arc about opening up and being more vulnerable, potentially dying in a late chapter or surviving. However, I would be super excited to see what would happen if Eva were the mastermind, and especially how Damon would react to it.

#5: Desmond Hall

Desmond is this high on the list because, really, I can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be the mastermind. He’s the Ultimate Marksman, a talent that’s obviously tied to killing and violence, especially when we already have guns at play from the practice Trial and Mara. And, yes, he claims to have never killed anyone himself before, but 1) that could be true and he still could be evil, or 2) he could just be lying. Along with Eva, Grace, Wolfgang, Toshiko, and Eloise, Desmond is one of the characters that you meet before entering the room that contains the other half of the cast, which automatically makes him stand out more as compared to those who were grouped together. He’s shown to have a chill personality, but in a way that (at least to me) could totally be an act. Or, he could even retain that cool attitude as the mastermind, but in a way that just makes him detached from caring about life or death. However, given that we don’t know much about him, I don’t have any particularly damning evidence that he is the mastermind, either. After getting an initial look at him, I really didn’t have any strong inclinations on where his character might go– early death, late death, survivor, what kind of arc he could go through, etc– which is what makes him a more compelling suspect, to me. I plan on keeping a close eye on Desmond to see if there’s any future evidence that swings my opinion of him in one direction or the other.

#4: Toshiko Kayura

Alright, raise your hand if you didn’t think that Toshiko seemed suspicious from the first time you saw her. Given that she’s introduced eavesdropping on your conversation and always conceals half of her face, it’s no wonder that she gave a lot of people bad vibes. While Ultimate Matchmaker might seem like a silly talent to give the mastermind, it could also be a ruse to distract us from the fact that Toshiko has a talent that allows her to read people well and make choices that will impact their lives dramatically. Toshiko obviously stands out from the rest of the cast due to her age, though some people might consider that a reason to avoid suspecting her. However, it’s not like the canon games have strayed away from evil children– in my opinion, Monaca is Danganronpa’s best written villain– and a 14-year-old mastermind could bring up a lot of interesting scenarios which haven’t been popularly explored. Maybe Toshiko has a point to make about child prodigies, and how putting so much pressure on someone to be talented at such a young age is bound to mess them up. Maybe Toshiko grew up in such a terrible, Tragedy-inflicted world that she would be more vulnerable to corruption than her older peers. Maybe killing games are a family business, and traditional Toshiko is being raised to carry on that ritual. On that last note, though, I do think that Toshiko is more likely to be a traitor type than a mastermind, assuming that a role like that exists in this game. I could definitely see her working under the influence of someone a little older and wiser, which is why she’s still only at 4th place. She did seem to have a genuine, screaming reaction when Cara’s fake body appeared, which also points to her not being the manipulator behind it all. Still, I’m wary of Toshiko’s cuteness, and will continue to keep an eye on her and her fan.

#3: Cassidy Amber

Out of all the comic relief-based characters, I think Cassidy has the best shot of being the mastermind. She has Kai’s media and fame angles with the added benefit of being someone who streams games. You know… like killing games! Through that hilarious ladder/stepladder reference, we even know that Cassidy is a fan of Ace Attorney, a trial-based mystery solving game. I think that if Cassidy is the mastermind, a great way to foreshadow it would be to use the games that she references to show the potentially dark subjects she’s into and how she could be blurring the lines between reality and a video game in her head. Similar to Wenona, we know that Cassidy could have the resources to pull off a killing game, even if she usually donates most of her proceeds to various charities. She could also potentially have Wenona’s political angle if the writers wanted to use a killing game to critique communism… somehow? (Personal leanings aside, I genuinely don’t know how a killing game would be a good metaphor for communism in any way. I also feel like Cassidy is a communist mostly for the meme.) An Ultimate Pro Gamer mastermind could also draw on the meta elements showcased in SDR2 and V3, given that Eden’s Garden is, y’know… a video game. While Damon is initially opposed to her after she starts calling him Bargain Bin (stirring up that drama for the viewers), I think it would still be surprising if she was the mastermind because of how hard she reads as a comic relief character. If she made it to the end, I think people would expect more of a Hiro than a Junko. However, that could be just the trick that the writers are trying to set up to make Cassidy a fun and surprising mastermind. But, that’s just a theory… a GAME(r) theory.

#2: Ulysses Wilhelm

I wasn’t all that sold on Ulysses being a good mastermind candidate before I watched Ocean Unknown’s video, Project Eden’s Garden: Who Is the Mastermind?, in which she laid out some really interesting reasons why Ulysses could be it. I’ll summarize her main points here, though, because it’s mostly those I agree with. First of all, Ulysses’ name means “wrathful,” something of note given how uncommon Ulysses is as a name in the modern day. His last name, Wilhelm, means “vehement protector.” While this sounds nice, he could just as easily be protecting his wrath, the legacy of the killing games, or something else evil like that. Secondly, some of the very first words to appear in the original trailer for Eden’s Garden are “HISTORY REPEATS,” which is obviously suspicious for the Ultimate Historian. Ulysses’ symbol is the owl, and while it can symbolize wisdom (befitting an academic like Ulysses), it also means death and bad luck in many cultures. Damon also makes a really interesting comment about one of the paintings in the hallway, a woman with an owl’s face, when you click on it: “Sheesh. Owls always gave me the creeps.” Why would the writers give Damon that character trait, knowing that they have a character symbolized by the owl, unless they were trying to foreshadow something? It could just be a joke about how some owls eat snakes (Damon’s symbol), but… isn’t that kind of suspicious, too? Ocean Unknown also pointed out that we never actually see what Ulysses is taking notes about, meaning that they could be about the killing game in some capacity, although that particular trait of Ulysses’ screams “victim’s unique truth bullet/trial mechanic” to me. Despite all of this, Ulysses isn’t my number one mastermind suspect just because I think he was a little too underdeveloped in the prologue to have a huge role later on. I think it would be really easy for him to fall into a victim role as a relatively unimportant character. However, that lack of focus could just as easily be a front to save Ulysses’ true nature for later on. Don’t sleep on the sleepy boy– he might just be the mastermind behind it all.

#1: Diana Venicia

What a shock: the number one most suspected character in Eden’s Garden is my number one suspect for being the mastermind! Who could have guessed? Although this does feel a little basic, there are just so many things that make Diana suspicious. First of all, she’s the Ultimate Cosmetologist, symbolized by the chameleon. This has obvious parallels to Junko and Tsumugi, two canonical masterminds with fashion-based talents who disguised themselves (Junko via Mukuro, and Tsumugi in chapter 6). The fact that the practice trial featured the hyper realistic mockup body could also be something that Diana did using her talent. Speaking of the body, Diana excused herself from investigating like Toshiko, but wasn’t shown to have the same panicked reaction that Toshiko, Eloise, Jett, or Kai did. That would make her uneasy reaction much easier to fake. Also, is it just me, or does she kind of look like Cara? Secondly, there’s the decal on her shirt that’s oddly reminiscent of the Hope’s Peak Academy logo. It lacks the Monokuma eye that would make it really suspicious, but it’s still notable that she nearly references Hope’s Peak in her core design. Diana has a bubbly and sweet personality that would make her seem innocent, but just like a good foundation, that could be a cover up. It would be a little strange to have the mastermind be, after age revisions, one of only two minors (Diana being 17), but again they could be making some sort of point or connection there. Really, the main thing that holds me back from believing that Diana is the mastermind is just that it seems so obvious that people would suspect her immediately, which takes away from some of the surprise. It almost makes me think that she might be part of the cast as easy mastermind bait as opposed to a true mastermind. But, it’s possible that they could go for something non-standard with her (like an early mastermind reveal, as I talked about with Wolfgang), or they may have hoped that people would get more tripped up by Diana’s cute demeanor and young age. I’d still say that Diana is my #1 mastermind candidate for now, but I’m excited to see whether my prediction is correct or if they’ll go for a different option.

#project eden's garden #eden's garden #damon maitsu #wolfgang akire #fanganronpa #project eden's garden spoilers #eva tsunaka #cassidy amber #desmond hall #diana venicia #eloise taulner #wenona #grace madison #ingrid grimwall #jean delamer #jett dawson #kai monteago #mark berskii #toshiko kayura #ulysses wilhelm #if you made it through that entire post and all these tags thank you so much for reading!#i started writing and drawing all this way closer to when the prologue came out but i've had so much work that i couldn't finish it up #anyways i wanted to add that i didn't rank the possibility of a seventeenth student or no mastermind/tozu just being the mastermind #bc i found it hard to rank that concept versus the more concrete reality of sixteen options #like is damon the mastermind versus is there no mastermind was just hard for me #also i fully acknowledge that i may be totally wrong! i'm half expecting to look back at this once the game is over/closer to over #and laugh at all the misconceptions i had #and if you have any personal theories or evidence... hit me up #fanart #my art

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lord-jen-grey · 10 months

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Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

Thanks @flyinghome-againstthewind for the ask!!

My 5 fave fics that I wrote.

You know I’m a big supporter of self love 😏.

I have to say O Night Divine would have been on this list, but I don’t think of it as a fic anymore because it’s so much more. Because of that, my 5 faves are pretty easy to come up with. Here we goooooo….

5. The Silver of Moonlight from the Sun, Moon, and Truth series

This story was so natural to write. The series might be some of the sexiest stuff I’ve written (for whatever that’s worth). The main reason it’s such a fave for me is because multiple people shared with me how it helped them open their minds about their sexuality and accept proudly who they are. Fucking incredible.

4. A Thousand Ships from the Tales of James Fraser series

I sat with this idea for 6 months before I started writing it. I laughed myself to tears coming up with the idea, and I laughed typing every fucking word. If I’ve done anything brilliant in my life, it execute this concept.

3. Paved With Yellow Stones

I can’t begin to describe the effort that went into this story. The planning of every minute detail. The intricate plot that could not be deviated from once it was started. It was not easy, and it took a few years of learning to plan and execute complex plot to write something like this. So, yeah, I’m proud of this baby.

2. Like Petals Falling

This story was meant to be a quick and simple palate cleanser after writing a few dark, heavy plots in other fics. How did it turn into something so deeply personal? Well, THE POETRY. Poetry is, at its essence, DEEP and MEANINGFUL. I’ve poured so much of myself into this story in a way I had never done so with any fic before. 🥹

1. Journey of a Thousand Kisses and the 1000 Kisses series.

The intention with this story was to combine my favorite things: obsessively in love Frasers, fucking in the Highlands like rabbits, and building a perfect, happy life. I wanted to write a joyful story that did not require a ton of devastation as the main point of the plot. That’s not an easy feat as a writer. It’s beat into our heads that conflict is vital to good storytelling, and I was intentionally removing so much of that conflict, focusing more on the dynamic between them and resolving a mystery that the readers didn’t even know existed until 6/7 of the way through the story! I wanted people to think it was pure fluff, but then be blindsided by so much more. Then I wanted to do it again with 6 more stories in this universe. I love this series the most, and I love its beginning more than anything.

Do you agree with this list? Do you have another thoughts? I’d love to hear them. 🥰

#outlander #claire fraser #jamie fraser #jamie x claire #fanfic #outlander fanfic #like petals falling #anon asks #1000 kisses #journey of a thousand kisses #paved with yellow stones #modern au #a thousand ships #tales of James Fraser #the silver of moonlight #lord john grey #jamie x john x claire #JJC

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absolutebl · 9 months

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Hi there! I've just returned from a two-week holiday (as I'm writing this I'm actually still driving back home, but I want to get on top of it lmao), so I would like to defer to your knowledge:

could you pretty please provide me with an update on what series ended/started while I was away? I have a vague idea, but I don't want to miss out on the things that didn't get as much promo and are therefore not on my mdl.

if you can, my watchlist will be forever thankful!!

July Report: BL that Stopped & Started & Is worth Your time

Ended July 2023

Step By Step

This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one.

This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk. And that authenticity added tension to the narrative and character development (how novel). Now that might be because it has western source material, or it might be because it is actually kind of old-fashioned (it’s been years since I worked as an office grunt). I also really enjoyed the brothers’ relationship, and kinda wished they hadn’t attempted (and failed) to give said brother his own side BL. That one flaw made it a 9/10 for me.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

La Pluie

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL.

By activating + examining the soulmates trope this show is challenging a foundation of romance: the idea that there is one person meant to be your one romantic partner all your life. This means that we, as viewers, spend much of the show worried about it having a happy ending, and that’s the source of both its brilliance and tension: would the narrative have the strength to truly challenge its own romantic core? But, ultimately, all this elevated complexity was executed in a somewhat shaky manner with the narrative derailing into some serious pacing issues and characters manipulated by miscommunication.

However, with good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn a 9/10. I enjoyed it even as it made me think, so despite its flaws:

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Started July 2023 & Looking GOOD

Jun & Jun

Korea Thurs Viki 8 eps

THANK YOU BL GODS. It is so good. Like everything I want in the world. I’m incandescently happy with this show.

It’s office set,

it’s an ex idol,

everyone is pretty as peaches,

and it’s all about remembering somebody’s smell!

I could not be more delighted.

Laws of Attraction

Thai Sat iQIYI 8 eps

(Icky picked it up but they are serving it in a complicated way that may require a VPN.)

Stars the pair from To Sir With Love with the same production team. IT’S SO GOOD. A morally corrupted trickster lawyer with a tragic past, sad eyes, and a beautiful smile that he uses like a weapon. Meets paladin martial arts instructor from other side of the tracks (who is out, at least to his baby sister).

Corrupt police.

Spoiled rich kid evil.

Ambitious politician.

Tragic death.

Terrible subs.*

This show is very like Manner of Death but so far it is a much better/tighter story (there's a Devil Judge aura happening). It’s NOT BL but it is fucking phenomenal. And you should watch it. Not wait to binge it. WATCH IT.

On a global scale this might be the best thing currently airing featuring gay romantic leads. Its really fucking good. It’s Lawless Lawyer but more complex character motivation and gay af. Fuck yes please and thank you. FINALLY.

Triggers for violence, beatings, death & torture depicted on screen. Like MoD they are not holding back.

(* A lot of the familial names they are using are not gendered in Thai but translated as such, like “nephew”. This one is gonna go down a lot easier if you know some Thai.)

ALSO:

Stay By My Side - Taiwan Fri Gaga 10 eps

Hidden Agenda that isn’t hidden - Thailand Sun GMMTV YouTube 12 eps

Low Frequency - Thailand Sat iQIYI 8 eps

Started But You Can Probably Wait IMHO

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI)

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki)

Wedding Plan (Weds YT & iQIYI) it's mame so A trash watch is happening!

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga)

Hope this is what you wanted.

#asked and answered #ABL is your recommendation algorithm #thai bl #taiwanese bl #recommended bl #bl currently airing #step by step series #bl review #recently finished bl #La Pluie #Jun & Jun #Jun and Jun #korean bl #Laws of Attraction #Laws of Attraction series #To Sir With Love #Manner of Death #devil judge #lawless lawyer

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canumoveurseatup-no · 1 year

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It’s Time

summary: it’s hard to accept the truth

pairings : eddie x Sinclair!reader

warnings: angst, grief, in denial about death, breaking down

a/n: I don’t know if anyone did this concept for Eddie already but if they did I’m not trying to copy anyone!🤍

————

“Hey, Y/N are you coming to Steve’s tonight?,” Dustin asked. Everyone has been tiptoeing around you since you all defeated Vecna and you’re not sure why. Sure some lives were lost but you still have Eddie and your little siblings and that’s what matters most.

“Uuuh I don’t think so, I have some studying to do,” you give the freshman a smile, even with you smiling, Dustin looked at you like he had something to say, “I’ll catch you all at lunch though, okay?”

“Yeah!” He gave a weak smile and turned to walk over to his friends, seeing your younger brother.

“How is she able to smile?,”

“I don’t know, but I’ll take it as long as she’s okay. She doesn’t talk about that night,” Lucas shrugged, “Literally the next day she woke up happy as ever asking Erica if they wanted to go on a shopping date,”

“We all wear grief differently,” Max added in, “I drowned myself in music and isolation. At least she’s trying to move forward and remain normal,”

Dustin frowned, knowing the pain you’re avoiding. He knows it’s going to build up and he doesn’t want that for you. Dustin hasn’t been able to sleep well since that night and everyone has just been able to move forward. He knows issues with the upside down have been a reoccurring issue, but something about this time around just stuck with him and no one else understands because they’re in such a rush to move on and live normal lives.

“Avoiding grief isn’t normal,”

———

“Baby why don’t we go spend time with your friends?,” Eddie questioned. Mindlessly strumming his guitar, admiring the little frown you have on your face from focusing, “you’ve been studying super hard with no free time,”

“The only free time I need is with you,” looking up at him and smiling, “I almost lost you that night,”

“You almost lost all of us,” Eddie corrected.

“Yeah but you’re the one I plan on spending the rest of my life with so that night solidified it that I need to be with you more, especially after your name was cleared,”

“Thank God,” he huffed, setting his guitar back on the wall to come over to you, towering over you to give you a kiss on your cheek, “orange isn’t my color and I don’t think I’d be able to survive not being with you all the time,”

“It’s okay, I’d break you out,” you giggle and just stare at him. He looks much more tired than usual, everyone does but Eddie has been through a lot. Being blamed for murder, being in the run being attacked in the Upside Down and having to heal from that.

“Cmon, let’s stop studying for tonight and go be with your friends,” he helped you stand up but you wrapped your arms around him bringing him down for a kiss.

“How about we just stay in and talk about our plans to leave this hellhole,”

Eddie just smiled at you and you both got ready for bed, once you are, you’re wrapped in his arms and feel so safe.

“I’m thinking we should just go to California like you said before,” you started, right before all this Vecna bullshit you Eddie was actually starting to get the attention of record label executives and had many offers, he just couldn’t figure out which deal to go for, then shit hit the fan.

But everything is fine now.

“Why the change of heart?”

“I think we’ll just thrive better there. You have your music, I’ll graduate with my cosmetology license so I don’t have to go to college. We could be big out there, Eddie!” You signed dreamily.

“Eddie and Y/N Munson. We could be big names in a big city,” you added. Eddie squeezed you tighter as you dreamed about your near future together.

“California it is. You sure you’re going to be able to leave this place behind? Your home?”

“Home is wherever you are, Eddie”

———

Eddie had some deals to make and told you he’d meet you at school. When you pull up, Lucas wastes no time jumping out of the car to be with his friends and Erica jumped out walking over to her friends over at the middle school. Nancy pulled up beside you to drop Mike off and waved happily when she saw you. She hasn’t seen you in a few days because you lock yourself away studying and spending time with Eddie.

You quickly get out of your car and get to her. She gets out and gives you a big hug, “I’ve missed you!” She squeals.

“I miss you too! Sorry I’ve been busy studying for my cosmetology license so it’s been time consuming,”

She smiles and nods, happy that you’re at least keeping up with your grades in the midst of grief.

“They’re going to do a moment of silence for Chrissy today,” you let her know. She knows Chrissy was your best friend and she knows what it’s like to lose a best friend, so she empathizes, “It’s been a month since she’s passed”

“I’m glad they’re doing that for her, I’ve seen the vigils for all those who were lost during that time. You let me know if you need anything okay? Any of us, we’re here,”

“I know, Nance and I love you guys for it. I’ll meet up with you guys after school,”

“Sounds good, I’ll see you later,”

You two say your goodbyes and Nancy goes over to meet with Jonathan as you head into school, waving to your brother’s friends who you have adopted as little siblings as well. Will and El are back so it’s good to see them finally have a normal life and school year.

You meet up with Robin as you two have lockers right beside each other. She sees you in your cheerleading uniform, white cardigan with a button that has Chrissy’s face on it. She doesn’t want to bring it up, she knows you’re hurting.

“Hey, how you holding up?,” She asks quietly. While you have been moving through life normally, you still haven’t really been chatting much.

“I’m okay!! How are you?” You question, she looks exhausted, you all are. The school year ends in a few months so it’s crunch time.

“Classes are kicking my ass but I’m hanging in there. We miss you, we’re going to Lover’s Lake after school for a bonfire if you’d like to come,”

You weigh your options, not knowing if you want to stay in with Eddie or go with them. You figured you’d take Eddie’s advice and hang out with your friends, he’d probably just go over Rick’s.

“I know the lake is still a sore spot but we figured we could give it a new history,” she adds.

“Y-yeah,” you send a soft smile, “I’ll be there after I stop by to see Chrissy’s family. We’re having a memorial for her,”

“That’s so sweet,” Robin gives you a hug and takes a deep breath, it seems like she needed this hug more than you did, “Be safe and we’ll see you later okay? We’ll be at the lake at 6:30,”

“I’ll be there,”

———

By the time lunch came you were finally able to see Eddie. You did tell Jonathan in third hour that you were going to sit with them at lunch but you hadn’t seen Eddie since this morning. So, you took your lunch box and walked out to the clearing with the picnic table and he was sitting there, smiling at you.

You’d never forget that smile, nor get sick of it.

“Hey there, handsome,” you say softly as you walk closer.

“Hey, sweets,” his big brown eyes looked at you like you hand painted all the stars in the universe.

“I packed your favorite,” you sat down and opened your lunchbox handing him a bologna sandwich with pickles, mustard and pepper Jack cheese. He thanks you and waits for you to get all of your lunch out before eating, he always waited for you to start eating before he did.

“Chrissy’s memorial is tonight,” you tell him.

“Yeah I heard. I don’t know if I should go. Even though my name is cleared I feel awful,”

“It’s okay, baby. It’s something small so don’t feel pressured, okay?” You reached over to squeeze his hands to comfort him, this entire situation has been traumatizing for everyone but especially Eddie.

“Robin also invited us down to Lover’s Lake if you wanna come but I know you probably have some deals to make, it’s a Friday night,”

“Yeah me and Rick have a party to deal to so it might take a while,”

“Don’t worry if you can’t make it. I don’t think I’m gonna stay long anyway,”

“Yeah I’ll probably get up with Steve and tell him I can’t make it,”

A comfortable silence fell between you two as the both of you ate. You were the first to finish, you hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning because you overslept. Eddie’s arms are just too comfortable, so it’s safe to say you were hungry.

“I love you,” you let him know. Adoring his smile lines, his frizzy hair, his hands, everything about him. You wear your favorite ring of his 24/7. It was the skull one, you always played with his hands and that’s the ring you gravitated to.

“I love you more,” he stared at you with this longing, like he missed you and never wanted to let go.

The two of you sat and talked for the remainder of lunch. Cracking jokes and talking about movies and conspiracy theories. It was always fun like this, until the bell rang.

“Ugh, booooo,” you huff packing up your belongings and trash from lunch.

“It’s okay, we’re done with classes soon so it’s okay,”

“Yeah yeah” you pout. He kisses your poked out lip, pushing it back to its normal position and smiles against your lip.

“You’re just too cute. I’ll see you at the memorial okay?”

“You’re coming?!” You smile brightly. You know Chrissy would want him there.

“Of course. For you and for her,”

———

The memorial was emotional as expected. No one batted an eye that Eddie was there and that was a relief to both of you. You had talked to Chrissy’s mom, even though she wasn’t the best mother, that was still her daughter that is no longer here. Your cheer team performed a routine in Chrissy’s honor and the basketball team was there too. It was a short gathering, you were glad you two went.

You miss Chrissy more than words can describe. You can’t take anymore loss.

“All right, sweets. I gotta go meet Rick okay?,” he helps you get in your car and gives you a soft kiss before whispering “I’ll see ya later. I’ll even bring you a surprise,”

“Well now I can’t wait,” you laughed. You sat and made sure he got in his car okay and then you both went your different ways, honking at each other and waving as you two went opposite directions.

You went home and had dinner with your family. You were quiet, still emotional after the memorial.

“You okay, Y/N? You’ve been very quiet lately,”

“Yeah dad, just… I lost my best friend a month ago today. Still fresh,” you mutter.

Lucas and Erica make eye contact that you don’t notice. Talking without using their mouths, they understood there’s more going on that you’re not talking about and they’re trying to be patient with you.

“We’re having a gathering at Lover’s Lake. I can take the kids to hang with their friends. We’ll be home by 9,”

“9?!” Lucas exasperates

“It’s a Friday, Y/N!,” Erica rolls her eyes.

“Well I’ll be leaving at 8:45. I don’t want to stay out all night,”

“Yeah cause all you’ll do is sulk in your room about-,”

“Lucas!” Your mom reacts, wide eyes and glaring at your brother.

“It’s fine,” you tell her shaking your head. You’re not even hungry anymore, “Be ready by 6:15 if you guys are going,”

———

You couldn’t really enjoy the night without Eddie there. You were hoping he was safe and not getting in any fights or robbed since he’s making deals tonight. You just want him by your side so you know he’s safe.

“Earth to Y/N!” Steve shouts. You’ve been doing that a lot lately and they never mention it, but best believe they notice it. Before all of this went down, you didn’t zone out like that. They know zoning out here and there is normal, but it’s a constant state of mind for you when you’re around them.

“Yeah?” You snap out of it and look to see him across from you. Once you’re brought back to focus, you can feel the heat of the fire on your face, you can hear the wind rustling the leaves, you can hear the water rippling, you can feel them staring at you with concern.

“Have you decided what you’re going to do after we graduate?,”

“Going to California,” you deadpan. There was no doubt in your mind about it.

“California?,” Robin screeches, “When the hell were you going to tell us?”

“I just decided it,” you shrugged, “Eddie always talks about going there and making it big. So I’m going to try and make it big,”

All of their eyes soften at your words and you don’t know why.

“You can make it big here,” Mike adds.

“I’d crash and burn if I stayed here,” you answer. Sulking once again. Thinking about all of those who were unfortunate, unsuspecting victims to the dark secrets of Hawkins. You don’t want to stay here anymore. You need to move out and move on. It’s time.

“But family is here,” Erica said. Sure she was a little brat but she’d miss you if you left, because she knows if you did… you’d never come back.

“Pain.. is here,” you looked to her and take a sip of your drink, getting up and walking to the edge of the lake, staring out at the moonlit water. Your mind flashed to that night. You, Eddie, Nancy, Steve and Robin diving in through the gate, you all fought tooth and nail to get out, fighting against the creatures that lived there, even through the final battle.

A shiver runs down your back at that thought. You all made it out but at what cost? Now you barely sleep, barely eat, barely talk. All of this left a stain on your soul and it won’t come off, it’ll be there forever.

That ache will never leave.

———

For the next few days you avoid the others. You haven’t been wanting to hangout, you’ve been staying at home, locking yourself away from your siblings in your room, making the plans for California with Eddie.

It’s been a week since you’ve talked to any of them. Avoiding them in the halls, at lunch, after school- you haven’t even muttered a word to Lucas or Erica, they were more worried now than ever.

Nancy and Robin always tried to invite you out to the movie or out for milkshakes but you always declined. Dustin always tried to come to you about science things and what not but you’d just tell him you’d catch him later. Max would try to tell you she was there and she understands the pain of losing someone and to not shut yourself away.

You’re not shutting yourself away though, you’re just focusing on yourself and your relationship. Mike and Will always tried to get you to join them at Hellfire Club but you denied them that satisfaction, leaving that to be Eddie’s thing, you never did understand D&D much so you gave up a while ago. El would come to you about girly things but you wouldn’t engage much. Steve and Jonathan always invited you to smoke but you didn’t have time for that- you had plans to make.

So it’s been a week of torture for them. You ignoring them and when they are finally face to face with you it’s like you don’t see them. They even invited you to Max’s tonight for a horror movie marathon but you declined, you’ve had enough jumpscares to last a lifetime.

So instead, said you couldn’t make it and planned a movie night with Eddie at his trailer. Wayne would be at work and you have a spare key, Wayne telling you you’re welcome over at any time. You brought snacks and drinks and his favorite pizza, BBQ chicken.

What you don’t know is that Steve sees your car pull up at Eddie’s trailer.

“What’s Y/N doing?” He asks aloud.

“She’s not here what are you talking about?” Lucas questions.

“Yeah because she’s over at Eddie’s,” the other come join him in the kitchen to watch you through the window struggling with all the items in your hand. They can hear you talking, but… no one is home? They know what Wayne’s truck looks like and he left an hour ago.

“I got your favorites! and I got that new comedy movie you were talking about,”

They don’t know who you were talking to and majority of them got a sinking feeling in their stomach.

On the other side of Eddie’s trailer though, he had his arms wrapped around your waist, smothering you in kisses and muttering I love yous and I miss yous.

“Hahaha okay okay! I’m excited to see you too, handsome,” you kiss him deeply and pull away, just smiling. You were so glad you had someone like him in your life.

You get everything set up and you and Eddie are talking about your day when you hear a knock on the door.

“You expecting anyone?” You ask him as you walk to the door

“Only you, that’s it,”

You open the door and see the others staring at you with questioning eyes and skeptical looks. Looks of pity and looks of concern.

“Hey what are you guys doing here?,” you smile brightly and move aside to let them in.

“We were going to ask you the same thing,” Dustin says.

“Well,” you look around you, smiling at everything put together, “We’re about to have a movie night!”

“We?” Robin looks between all of you, “our movie night is at Max’s,”

“Not us, silly. Me and Eddie,” you say and that’s when the room gets eerily quiet.

“Y/N,” Steve mutters your name as if it’s a warning.

“What?,” you ask, eyes wide as you lick the barbecue sauce off your finger.

You really aren’t acknowledging it.

“You’re serious?” He gives an airy chuckle, this isn’t funny he just doesn’t understand.

“Yes! Eddie wanted to see this movie so we’re watching. Right babe?” You turn to him and he nods, “See?”

“Y/N… Eddie is gone,” Max steps forward but you move around them all to finish setting up. You got the drink and your cups, setting them on the table.

They notice the two plates, two cups, two drinks.

“Why are you talking about him as if he’s not standing right here?!” You snap, “He saved your lives have some respect,”

You never raise your voice at any of them but their attitudes are pissing you off.

“Because he’s not,” Lucas says, “Y/N, you need to snap out of it and realize this is an unhealthy coping mechanism. Eddie died a month ago,”

“Shut up!,” you scoff, you weren’t believing their words not when Eddie was standing right beside you.

“He mattered time too,” Dustin stepped in, getting real close, “What you’re experiencing is called bereavement hallucinations,”

“What are you trying to say? That I’m crazy?!” You’re angry now. How dare they come in here, making space for themselves and hurl these words at you?!

All of them realize your anger is just masking you being in denial.

“No, what I’m saying is you’re grieving and you’re trying to keep yourself together and this is how you’re doing it… but it’s not helping. It’s going to hurt you more in the long run,”

“He’s standing right..,” you look and he’s not there, “Eddie?”

Your voice cracks and you look around to look for him but he’s not there. You run to his bedroom calling his name, “Eddie, where did you go?” You call out, sadness bleeding into your tone.

“He’s here. H-he’s still here. This isn’t funny!,” you shout as you enter the living room again.

“This isn’t some joke,” Lucas says softly. He can see you cracking around the edges. Reality was seeping into the cracks and dripping down into your perception. You were starting to see the truth. “You’re my big sister, Y/N. I can’t stand seeing you like this,”

You close your eyes and use emotional tape to heal those cracks. Then you hear his voice again.

“I’m right here, baby,” he whispers and you calm down again, wiping your tears.

“Can you tell them to leave? They’re ruining our movie night,” you plead, looking over your shoulder.

But there’s no one there. Not for them to see. They were watching you talk to a wall and they didn’t know how to handle it. Their dearest friend was falling apart at the seams and they can’t do anything to make it instantly better.

“Y/N seriously,” Erica softly begs, “you’re scaring me… a-and I’ve seen some freaky shit,”

“Get out!!,” you scream, “Eddie tell them to leave!”

“Y/N… maybe you should listen to them,” Eddie says softly. He’d been wanting to say this. This part of your conscience, has been wanting to say this.

You snap your head to him and your demeanor softens

“N-no! No they’re ruining everything!,”

“Eddie is gone,” Dustin says.

“No,”

“He died in the upside down. You were there. You held him in your arms,” Robin adds. She knows how all of this went. She found you with his lifeless body, you weren’t even crying, you were just talking to him. Holding him.

“No! You’re lying! He made it out, he’s been here the whole time”

“Eddie died shortly after Chrissy did,” Max says sadly, “You stayed there with his body for two days. We thought you were gone too,”

“Why are you guys lying? Why are you doing this to me?”

“Because you’re hurting yourself with these illusions,” Robin comes forwards. There’s so many of them here. Too many and all you want is Eddie.

“No,” you wrap your arms around yourself, the smell of his hoodie engulfing you, “W-we were just talking the other day about moving to California, starting a family a-and… and,”

You turn to Eddie and he’s there but… not fully. It looks like he’s disappearing and you start to dry heave.

“You were there for his funeral. You wouldn’t leave his tombstone,” Nancy speaks up.

They’re all trying to snap you out of it. It may seem harsh but you’re hurting more when you’re doing this to yourself.

“He was just playing guitar for me!” You sob. Hands flying over your ears to shut them up.

“He died saving us all, he died for you,” Mike interjects.

“He wouldn’t leave me,” you shake your head, glaring at Mike, you turn to Eddie and shake your head even harder, “You wouldn’t leave me,”

“It’s okay,” Eddie nods and it makes your chest hurt. You can barely keep yourself up, stumbling backwards.

“He didn’t leave to hurt you, Y/N. He’s a hero. He saved us and I know it hurts but you’re going to be okay,” Steve comes forward and grabs your wrists, but you fall and slip through his grasp, clenching at your chest.

“No! No! Shut up, shut up, SHUT THE FUCK UP!!” Voice hoarse, eyes burning with tears.

Eddie comes over and kneels down to be to your level, lifting your chin up and giving you the softest kiss ever. It was a goodbye kiss.

“It’s time,” he says.

The scream that you let out is one that shakes the trailer. He disappears before your eyes and you’re so lightheaded you feel as though you could pass out.

“Eddiiiiiee!!!,” calling for him wouldn’t work. He wouldn’t answer. You’re hyperventilating and you’re crying out his name.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay!,” Lucas rushes to you and engulfs you in a hug but it doesn’t help, it’s not Eddie’s touch.

“No please! Pl-please. This.. this is some sick joke!” You push him off. He doesn’t take offense though. Your fairytale world is crashing around you and the debris is suffocating you.

“He’s still h-here. He’s st-still here,”

“No, Y/N… he’s gone,” Dustin cries. Dustin is crying because he knows the pain of losing Eddie. The others are crying because they’re seeing their sister and loved one have a completely emotional breakdown and it’s hurting them to not be able to fix it.

“You’re l-lying,” you spit. You’re violently shaking, choking on your own saliva as you cry. Your body is aching as you’re finally allowing grief to consume your body.

“Y/N.” El comes forward to console you even if it wouldn’t 100% help.

“W-we we’re just talking about California… w-were sup-supposed to be Eddie and Y/N Munson…”

You held on tight to your brother as he rocked you, Erica holding your hand.

He’s gone… he’s never coming back.

And it’s time to move forward.

———

You finished packing the last of Eddie’s things that you wanted to bring with you. The last few months have been hard and it’s been even more difficult to keep your head above water but you did it.

You did it for him.

You were heading to California. You made sure to spend as much time with everyone as possible, making up for lost time. You slammed the trunk to your car shut and put your sunglasses on. You double checked everything , making sure you had all the important things. Your money, your cards.

Your license… the new license that had your new name on it. Y/N Munson.

Even if he wasn’t here, he’s still with you.

You pull out of the trailer park driving past the sign. You take one last look in your rear view mirror and see the apparition of Eddie Munson blowing you a kiss and slowly waving. A deep sob escapes your lips as you move your eyes from the mirror, focusing forward.

This is what he would want.

You have to embrace your pain, that is the only place you can truly heal and find growth.

—————

IM CRYIIING I CRIED WRITING THIS OMFG 😭 I probably won’t be doing a tag list for this so please reblog, comment and like!!!

I love you all and will be coming back full force very soon 🤍

tags: @blackreaders-assemble @mbaku-babygirl @babybubastis @honeyjasminetea @warmchick @valentinevirgo @persephones24 @dumbchick @micki-smiles @here-for-your-bullshit @dayasvalkyrie @xye-weirdo @disaster-rose @dumbchickwrites @pastelastronomy24 @baphomet-wears-gucci @buckybarnesplumwhore @valkryienymph @mariahthelioness29 @taylortheeshowpony @alyssaj23 @endlesslymedusa @areubeingserved @9daykrisr @missdforever @bitchacho25 @ijustrepost @suchababie @queenoftheworldisdead @beautiful-loserr @the2daily4scoop @jin0 @smoothy-ve @oh-nohoney @sambucky8 @princess-toshii @sebbyslut @titty-teetee @ilovefanfic86 @topshopwhxre @berrybimbo

#eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x black!reader #sinclair!reader #stranger things angst #stranger things fanfiction

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abeautifulblog · 9 months

Text

Thoughts on the Radovid romance

A couple people have asked about the Radovid/Jaskier relationship, and I thought it was... fine? As fine as anything in this show gets?

I wasn't expecting it to dethrone Geralt/Jaskier, because 20+ years of Jaskier building his life and legacy around Geralt is a lot more compelling than Some Twink He Met Yesterday, but I did go into it with a genuinely open mind. Everyone on tumblr was gushing over their chemistry, and I was like, Yea I'd believe it, given that this is Joey Batey we're talking about. So I was expecting to enjoy it the way I'd enjoyed the Yennskier content in S2, the rare treat of two characters having a real emotional connection.

And then I watched it, and it wasn't bad, but the relationship was a lot more disjointed (and their "chemistry" a lot less compelling) than tumblr had led me to believe. (Lol, mea culpa, I should have known better than to take tumblr's word for it.) Also it’s unclear whether it’s supposed to be a cute romance, or whether it’s two people using each other for their own ends?

But it did brush up against some interesting thoughts I'd had before about Jaskier and his patrons, and got me to thinking about consent and power dynamics again, because I am THEE MOST predictable little beastie in fandom. 🤣

First off, I'm not sure what we're supposed to make of Radovid. Obviously he's ~hiding his true self~ in some way, but I can't tell if we're meant to take at face value the side of himself he shows Jaskier -- that he's more intelligent than he's been letting on, and is actually deeply lonely in the empty-headed partyboy role he's been playing, desperate for genuine connection and for someone to truly see him for who he is -- or whether that is yet more deception, and this is all part of some big ambitious scheme that he'll whip out in a mustache-twirling villain reveal. There are elements that make me think it's the latter, but Hugh Skinner's acting is also just weird (and why are his eyes so wet o_o), and I can't tell whether that's supposed to be deliberate foreshadowing, or if, once again, the people making the show are just clueless about how their creative choices are coming off.

(I assume this will get answered at some point, possibly already has in part 2, but I haven't watched that yet.)

Honestly, the part that caught my interest the most was when Jaskier showed up at Radovid's salon wanting to talk about new intel he had on Rience, and Radovid was blithely uninterested, just wanted Jaskier to sing for them -- and then proceeded to casually, completely disregard Jaskier's No.

gremble: Oho? 👀

That's a red flag! 😊 Jaskier tried to set a boundary, and Radovid brushed right past it. And in any competently-executed piece of media, I would expect that to be deliberately signaling something. It doesn't necessarily mean that Radovid is evil -- could just mean he's a crown prince who doesn't have much experience with people telling him No -- but seeing him blithely override Jaskier's wishes in a low-stakes situation sets a bad precedent, and foreshadows how he might behave later, when the stakes might well be higher.

...Except that this production team is so HILARIOUSLY bad at writing healthy relationships -- for three seasons they've been feeding us the most toxic slop imaginable and telling us that's what love looks like -- that I have no idea whether that was on purpose or not. 😂😂😂

The Radovid storyline does touch on some concepts that I've long found fascinating, about Jaskier's system of patronage and how he trades on his sexuality. How his work is canonically sex work, or at least sex-work adjacent (that's made explicit when he talks about the Countess de Stael, that they were involved sexually while she was supporting him financially), and the balancing act of keeping his patrons happy when they are always, always going to be second in his affections to Geralt -- and how they probably wouldn't be too happy to learn that.

Because for all that S3 tells us Jaskier is developing a crush on Radovid, Joey Batey's acting says something very different. He did not come off as a man in love, to me -- he came off as someone who's acutely aware that when the crown prince of Redania rolls up and tells you he's your biggest fan, you fucking smile for him.

(Why yes, Moulin Rouge is my all-time favorite movie, why do you ask? 🤣)

Jaskier's interactions with Radovid feel very... 'calculated' isn't quite the word for it, but Jaskier is conscious of the power differentials there, and always carefully choosing what he does and says in light of what he knows Radovid wants from him. He's conscious of having to keep Radovid happy, yes but he's also conscious of what he stands to gain from having a crown prince clamoring to win his affections, and what he could leverage out of that. (Like, say, having the entire Redanian army to protect his little found family.)

And the power imbalance isn't entirely one-directional either. Radovid wants Jaskier's affections, something that can't be bought or coerced, and wants his specifically, which means Jaskier has all the power to give or withhold it... while also being aware that toying with a prince's affections is a dangerous game.

........Or maybe I entirely misread that, and Jaskier's feelings for Radovid are meant to be genuine, and the whole thing was supposed to be a cute little romance. The way that Joey & the production team have talked about that relationship makes it sound like that's what they were going for, but what's onscreen is very ambiguous.

It will surprise no one to learn that I think the more interesting option would be the one that complicates Jaskier’s motives. That even if he likes Radovid well enough, he's still deliberately leveraging Radovid's crush on him to get help for Geralt -- and that if he oversteps, he's risking the wrath of a very powerful man. (And that as the perceived rival, Geralt could wind up as the target of Radovid’s retribution.)

Anyway, it's a fascinating situation, and almost identical to a fic premise I've been tossing around for years. It's never quite coalesced enough to get written, but it does compel me.

(Alternately, if you wanted Radovid to be noble and tragic, @coffee-mage-sans-caffeine suggested a situation in which Radovid and Geralt are in peril together, one of them is not going to make it out of this, and Radovid sacrifices himself so Geralt lives -- because he knows which of them Jaskier loves more.)

#witcher shit #radskier #witcher meta #twn season 3

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sevikasleftpussyflap · 2 years

Note

idk about you BUT there's this one song that I got absolutely feral over bc everytime I listen to it, my brain goes 'ugh imagine Sevika saying this or thinking this whenever you're with them' or like, more nsfw: them saying stuff like this as pillow talk🥰 I'm sorry, but this scenario just absolutely knocks the wind out of me😭😅 I wanted to share with the class ig, but if this leads to headcannons I'll be flattered.

Good Little Girl sung by Kade McCuen (here's the link if you're curious, https://youtu.be/yd2pxkK2evs )

I absolutely love your work, bless you. I accidentally started a cult for Sevika a couple of months ago, so tyy for giving us holy scriptures 🧎🏼‍♀️

I want to join the cult!! And ooooo I have so many ideas for this, definitely lines up with the concepts in the multichap I’m working on

Warnings: NSFW, mentions of torture, violence, soft and playful Sev, marking and biting

Love love love the idea of Sevika being with someone considerably more kind and virtuous, where their only misdeed is being Sev’s lover.

I can see Sevika silently pondering the differences between the two of you and how it would strengthen the affection, her feelings, or whatever it was she felt for you.

Sevika carefully washing the blood off of her hands, making sure to get under her nails and the grooves of her claws before coming home to you. She wouldn’t particularly care about scaring you away (not anymore, at least) because despite your innocence, you’re not naive. You know exactly who Sevika is and love every part of her. She just knows if you assume she’s hurt you’ll fret until she’s showed you she’s fine, and that frown will remain until she has to exasperate you with genuine impatience to get you naked and beneath her.

“Honey, I’ve had a hard day. Please take your shirt off?”

You remain nonplussed at her attempts to distract you as the cut on her eyebrow still bleeds. Cool air caresses your skin from where she’s subtly trying to lift the fabric that bars her from the only remedy she needs. A slightly irritated breath hits your face as you halt those hands, staring at her with the sternest expression you can muster.

“I’ll go get the alcohol. For cleaning.”

You are Sevika’s world, so she listens to you in every situation unless there’s a threat against your life and you’re asking her not to commit atrocities to find out who it is. Besides that, your word goes and the most protest she’ll make is a slight attitude in her expression while she offers gentle alternatives. This doesn’t stop her from giving you bedroom eyes as you dress her wounds, your soft hands enough to spark desire in her as she watches you pamper her. You don’t consider basic care as “pampering,” but it still ends with Sev saying “You done? Good.” before pulling you down into her lap, back against her chest as she works her hand into your underwear and gives you her thanks. Firm, grateful kisses pepper your neck and cheeks while she renders you boneless, sagging into her hold with soft sighs and happy whines.

“You always take care of me, don’t you? Let me return the favor.”

Might I put the scenario in your mind of Sev opening a cut on her lip through hungry kisses, trailing blood down your torso, chin, breasts, and thighs until you’re covered in her. With your consent, she leaves bruises in the shape of finger and handprints along your body. Just to give you a taste of how it feels, because you’ll never have to experience being covered in blood and bruises unless it’s with her.

“So pretty.” The collar of purple and blue around your throat smarts under the faint press of her hand. All of this unmarked, pure skin available for her to stake claim to.

Also, her teaching you how to mark her up. Igniting a possessive streak in you that you didn’t know existed. Sev giving you her shoulder, her hand, her arm to bite down on as she grinds against you. Probably the roughest sex ever had between the two of you.

After a day of merciless executions and thorough tortures under Silco’s command, she knows she has you waiting at home for her, ready to jump into her arms like they’re the safest place for you to be. You’ll chirp about the food you attempted to make her, so excited about the freshly imported ingredients she was able to get you. You attempt to make her a plate with her hands pawing at your hips, lips glued to your neck while you scold her about her heinous behavior. It’s a dream of yours to have a docile, relatively normal life.

As a zaunite, you didn’t have that luxury and had to experience a peaceful existence through books and glimpses of paradise through Piltover. Sevika doesn’t share the same dreams. Admittedly, she was made of sterner stuff and adapted to her rough upbringing whereas you were significantly affected in a completely different way. You were not made for a life the Undercity had to offer. You could not thrive in the harsh environment and likely would have withered without Sevika to spoil you.

So she made your dreams a reality, as much as she could. She kept you blind from the brutalities of her job, her nature. Bled enough people to flood a town in your name, to build you the life you wanted.

Sevika, beating an enforcer bloody because they dared to hassle you during one of your rare trips around the Undercity without her. All she needed to see was your tearful eyes and the bruises encircling your wrist to set her on a warpath.

So yes, you’re her good girl. She’ll never fail to tell you that as you fall apart under her fingers, especially if she’s the first and only person to make you do so.

“Oh, that’s it. Look at that sweet face. Feels just right, huh, sweet girl?” Slick fingers retreat back to your thighs, but just for a second. Just to see the flicker of desperation cross your face before you’re overloaded with pleasure once again. She could never deny you anything, even with the burning desire to wring every depraved expression out of you, to see what a job she did on her little angel.

When she awakens that lustful side of you and has you pawing at her in public, begging her to take you home and ruin you, the teasing would be unbearable because that’s not appropriate, is it angel? She must have ruined you if you can’t go a few hours without needing her inside you. Of course you’d refute the claim, shaking your head with burning cheeks as your grip tightens on her sturdy bicep. Her eyes would narrow, seizing up your blatant lie like she does with business owners and enforcers alike on a daily basis. She’ll drag you to the back, a corner, anywhere away from prying eyes so she can unbutton your trousers. Two fingers would dip beneath your underwear, expertly finding the damp circle in the fabric that exposes your pitiful attempt at retaining some dignity. Lying now, too? She must be a bad influence.

So now she needs to take you home, tend to you because she promised she would give you everything you need even if you didn’t know what that was.

#sevika imagine #sevika x reader #arcane sevika x reader

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sunfortune · 8 months

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been thinking about your thoughts on book lovers since ur blog became emily henry discourse night. i’m someone that likes emily henry books but i think the issue is the stories she’s telling are like litfic or women’s fiction stories but then she has to like fit them into a romance novel. so like book lovers is this really tender story about the like trauma of grief and having to raise your younger sibling and like shaping your life and career around that to the point of unhappiness, even years after that shaping became unnecessary, shoved into this little teehee premise of like wouldn’t it be so silly if the heartless big city other woman from the hallmark movie got a small town romance teehee. and i’m not opposed to a romantic subplot OR a flat out romance novel but in book lovers the romance unfolds in these weird almost gimmicky ways around the heart of the story which is the sisters. so then it becomes like hey why are you here. about the romance. in the romance novel. anyway sorry about this i just couldn’t get it out of my head or figure out how to articulate my thoughts about it until now. all love<3

i agree! in both of the books i’ve read of hers (book lovers and happy place) i think she has very compelling main characters. (in happy place i felt genuinely moved by the main characters pov and her problems with her parents. and in book lovers i really had high hopes for the way her character was described before the execution killed it) BUT then the romance doesn’t have the same draw. and isn’t incorporated into the book in a way for the connection OR the tension to land. (happy place was a bit better than book lovers tho) if it was chic lit or the romance was a subplot it would be different. but the issue with emily henry is her books ARE romance novels at the end of the day. so when the romance falls flat…the parts that are admittedly done well can’t really make up for that. -for me at least!

also i think another thing is her main characters are very interesting but No other character truly is. including the love interest. which is what truly hurts any sort of connection. like i have read and watched sooooo much mediocre NONSENSE (i’m self aware) that i have a drive to want better for bc the interpersonal relationships in them just /slap that Hard/. but in emily henry’s books that concept is nonexistent. every relationship you see play out on screen, including the friendships (looking at happy place) do not pack a punch. at all. they never have me on the edge of my seat hoping for a resolution or happily ever after or whatever

which is why these books don’t even make me mad when they’re not good. bc i don’t Care about any relationship to be like i wish this was better </3 they deserved more </33. i’m just perplexed by why these books keep getting lauded as the pinnacle of contemporary romance. when they are Nothing of the sort

#ask #the happy place romance didn’t feel as ridiculous as book lovers #but the friendships in happy place kind of fell flat #i think relationship in practice are just never done well in her books #while the relationships that aren’t on screen (page. whatever) as much are more compelling #for example her sister in book lovers and her relationship with her parents in happy place #books #and i think it’s probably bc they are recalled by the main character and the issues with them are what make the main character compelling #like even in happy place i liked the friendships when she was recalling them! and how they were in college #vs when they were actually together in front of her

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miracles-and-butterflies · 3 months

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So, your reincarnation and protector au gave me thoughts and I came up with this idea -

What if all the dead madrigals, including Luisa, were reincarnated?

Think about it, all of them have reasons to come back, and from the movies I've watched, even bad people can be reincarnated.

Pepa and Julieta never got to watch their children grow up, possibly get married, or possibly have children. Nor did they have enough time to apologize to Mirabel for being a bad mama/Tia.

Bruno - He never got the chance to tell his family that he loves them or tell Mirabel that he's sorry for leaving her on her ceremony day and had everyone blame her for his disappearance.

Alma - Never got the chance to watch her family grow up and expand, never got to apologize for the pressure she put on them, and never got to apologize to Mirabel for how horrible she was to her.

Dolores - Never got to marry the man of her dreams, have children, or at least die of old age, and couldn't protect Mirabel.

Camilo - Never got to grow up, get married, or even consider the possibility of having children. Never got to pursue his theater/acting career, never got the chance to apologize to Mirabel for how horrible of a cousin he was to her.

Luisa - Couldn't protect her hermanita like she wanted to.

They all got reasons to come back.

So, let's say, after Luisa's execution, they all come back with a mission in mind; Apologize to Mirabel/family, protect Mirabel and the remaining living family members, live out their lives, and grow old like they were supposed to....(and to find Luisa and Kill her before she kills anyone else.)

I like to Imagine that Mirabel maybe became a preschool/kindergarten teacher? And the six reincarnated family members are all in her class. By the time they are about five years old they remember everything in their past life and are deadset on being better people for her. They follow her around and cling to her like ducklings.

She finds it sweet but super unnerving that most of them look somewhat close to her dead relatives. All of them have similarities to their former selves and it's somewhat obvious but not that obvious. (You can look at their concept art in the art book to give you design ideas.)

(Luisa happens to not be in her class but she does sometimes see her. And believe me, Luisa makes it her mission to be near Mirabel whenever possible.)

By the time they are in their teens/tweens they start to realize who the other person around Mirabel is. Alma didn't feel like beating around the bush and just asked-

"Were your names Julieta, Pepa, Bruno, Dolores, and Camilo in another life? My name was Alma Madrigal"

Yeah, and that's how they became a small family again. They all talked about how they were sorry for something and what their final moments felt like. Pepa felt so happy that she could see her two kids again.

After all those happy moments, Alma came to a realization that Luisa could have been reincarnated and that all five of them needed to protect Mirabel, Antonio, Isabela, Agustin, and Felix at all costs.

And one thing is for damn sure, they don't feel like dying at the hands of Luisa again. If anyone is going to die, it's her.

As for Luisa, now that she's a teen she gets to go places more often. So, she makes it her business to be around Mirabel as much as she can. Even from the sidelines.

So yeah, Protecter reincarnation Au. You can edit and rewrite whatever you want.

(I sent this twice just in case you didn't get the first submission)

I got both of them, don’t worry! I’m only going to post one though.

It’s very dark for them all to be reincarnated and instantly want to immediately kill Luisa/protect Mirabel from her. They’ve missed the whole point of what went wrong last time, if that’s the case.

Luisa was traumatised by Mirabel’s almost death - which was only made worse by the fact she is meant to be the protector of Encanto. Give it to your sister. It’s her job to help defend her hermanita and she failed. Keeping such heavy emotions (because the family never reached the same point in the film of realising their issues, so all the pressure is still there) to herself eventually reached a breaking point, causing her to commit her first murder.

Which only worsened her mental state. She got worse with each murder; slowly realising how many people had hurt Mirabel, how many people had just let it happen, how Mirabel herself seemed to let it happen. That’s not including everyone else that’s going on. Eventually the insanity took over.

Luisa was, in a sense, a victim as much as anybody else is. When she has her moments of sanity, she expresses regret and sorrow (for most of the victims, some of them genuinely deserved it). It’s only when she feels that Mirabel is being threatened (when Dolores went to retrieve a weapon or when Isabela started pushing the knife against Mirabel’s throat) does she spark back into defensive mode.

Actually getting to the point - not that everyone is dead yet to be reincarnated (Mirabel isn’t dead), but let’s delve into this idea.

I do like the idea that they come back and get to live again, fully growing up in a modern world. That has a lot of potential.

I’m not a fan of them all being in class together, the same age, while Mirabel is much older. (I also can’t see Mirabel wanting to work with children - girl looked so uncomfortable, unless she was talking to Antonio in the film - it sounds like something Camilo would enjoy and have more success at). The age differences just feel weird.

Having different ages also ruins the relationship dynamics and their subsequent apologies. Mirabel would be a fully grown adult listening to a much younger (and unrelated) version of her Abuela explaining why she felt bad. Why would Mirabel even be in contact with people so much younger than her? It just seems inappropriate and unprofessional, especially as she is working with children.

The age thing also links back to the huge hatred against Luisa. Luisa would be reincarnated just the same and made to start over in life (for at least a few years) - her mental health issues would be picked up a lot quicker/easier in a modern world, where she’d also receive support for them. In addition, if she doesn’t have the same attachment to Mirabel or general pressure, she probably wouldn’t get to that point.

I do like the premise though, it’s just quite messily done here and misses the point of Protector AU.

However, it does remind me of one of the scrapped ideas for Reincarnation AU, where the kids are reincarnated (unrelated, not even in the same country, as babies) and after the film comes out, try to essentially complete the same mission as here. If anyone’s interested, I might make that a separate AU.

Update: I have made it - Second Lives.

#encanto #ask me anything #encanto protector au #encanto reincarnation au

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dragons-and-dwarves-are-nice · 1 month

Text

To the Shadows that Cry Witch /// Chapter 21

RAAAAHHHHHHHH WE'RE BACK AND ONLY ONE CHAPTER LEFT AND I CAN FINALLY MOVE ONTO PART 3. The Easter holidays have just started for me so I now have three full weeks to put into the last chapter. This one could be classed as a filler chapter but there's a lot they gain that links to the future so stuff doesn't just appear 'for the plot' - the girls need their hardcore character development before the journey. Enjoy! <3

Summary: Magic was real, but it came at a price. So when two girls end up in the one place they never thought they could reach, strange things began to happen. Good or bad? That's up to them to find out.

Tags: Kili x oc/reader - Fili x oc (POV to be written soon) - Thorin's company × ocs/reader (platonic) - fluff - angst - EXTREME slow burn - crack - Bagginshield

Word Count: 8527

Warnings: Nothing I can think of.

Taglist - comment or message to be added!

Want some background music? Check out my Soundtrack Playlist!

Now available on Wattpad and AO3 (please let me know if links aren't working)

< Chapter 20 // Chapter 21 // Chapter 22 >

Part 2: Chapter 21 -

Interesting Concept. Poor Execution.

Brontide (Definition): The low rumble of distant thunder. (Noun / Origin: Greek /ˈbrän‧ˌtīd)

Bag End, Hobbiton, The Shire – T.A. Monday, 27th March 2940 of the Third Age (Monday, 5th Astron, 1340 in Shire-reckoning)

4 MONTHS LATER

“I’m so happy you allowed me to accompany you three! It’s not every day I’m able to spare time for trip like this.” Gladiola smiled gratefully at the three of us.

After begging Bilbo to let us travel to Bree for a good month, he finally let up, but only agreed if we went in the spring, strongly insisting we wouldn’t survive the night if we had travelled in the deep winter.

“Bree is a hundred and thirty-five mile trip, meaning it would take a minimum of four days to get there. Meaning that we would have to camp in the freezing cold, because the only proper shelters are at least three detours from the path!”

We had instantly agreed, when we had realised the actual distance, deciding to wait until late March when the weather would be warmer.

Aa couple days before we left, Mrs Greenfoot had walked in on us packing when she was dropping off some spare socks she had knitted. After telling her where we were going, she instantly pleaded to let her go with us, saying how she heard Bree had some fabrics that she was dying to get her hands on, and how her husband was going to be at home full time for the next two weeks, so it would be a perfect opportunity for her to go. We said yes after persuading a reluctant Bilbo, and she shot off to pack, which led to now – on our fourth day of walking.

“Oh I really do hope the markets have what I want. I promised Menegilda I would make her a new dress for her birthday.” Gladiola rambled on as she took in the fields and forests ahead of us, her pace picking up with eagerness.

“I’m sure they will.” Replied Kay, grimacing at the feeling of her aching legs. “It’ll ruin the reputation they’ve built of they don’t.”

“Hopefully.” She sighed. “What are you all hoping of finding?”

“Every dangerous object under the sun apparently.” Bilbo spoke up before us. Stuffing his hand into his pocket, he pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it over.

Taking it, Gladiola quickly scanned the list, her face morphing into surprise and shock at the same time. “Swords?? Why would you need swords?” she queried, handing it back.

“To scare off half the town, in my opinion.” Bilbo grumbled, clearly not happy with the reason we had dragged him so far. “If I didn’t want to go for some of that wine they make, I would’ve said no on the spot.”

“Well, we would’ve gone ourselves if that was the case.” I jived back.

“We just want to know that we can protect ourselves if we ever decide to try and find our way home.” Kay explained.

Bilbo slowed his pace for a moment, as something seemed to dawn on him. “Oh.” He said quietly, a tiny quiver of dejection on his face. “Yes, home. I forgot about uh.. that.” Though he quickly shook that mood off, jogging slightly to catch up.

“Plus,” I added in an attempt to alleviate the mood. “we wouldn’t be looking to own one if we didn’t think it looked insanely cool.”

And with that Bilbo sighed, back to his usual exasperated mood.

The wall surrounding Bree stretched high above us as we neared the wooden gate, its intimidating nature emphasised by the two-storey stone turrets that flanked either side like a pair of unmovable sentries.

Gravel and dried mud crunching underfoot, we took the last few steps, before shuffling to a stop in front of one of the towering doors. Taking a couple steps forward, Bilbo reached up and gave the surface a few hard raps, before coming back to stand beside us.

A moment passed, and only the birds and the rustling of leaves from the nearby trees could be heard, when a muffled rattling sounded from behind the door. A small hatch near my eye level swung open, revealing the wrinkled face of a man, who, at the sight of us, morphed it into a sour scowl, a stark contrast compared to the warm sun that was beating down on our backs.

“Who’re you?” he barked, his croaky and adenoidal voice matching his unpleasant demeanour perfectly.

When neither me or Kay began to speak, Bilbo quickly piped up, stretching up on his toes to try and see the gatekeeper. “Um, hello?” he called out.

The gatekeeper, quickly stepped back and slammed the hatch shut, before a creak resounded from further down, opening another hatch that was the perfect level to speak with the hobbit, giving me a very strong sense of déjà vu.

The hobbit stepped forward towards the open hatch. “We’re here to stay at the Prancing Pony, for a week.” He explained politely. “To visit the market.”

“Oh?” croaked the gatekeeper with half a smirk. “And what are you here to buy, exactly?”

Bilbo didn’t hesitate to flap the list in front of the old man’s face. “Whatever we need.” He said sternly, before stuffing the paper back in his pocket. “I have visited before, you know.”

Looking between me and Kay, then at the hobbits, his eyes narrowed. “Two hobbits and a pair of human girls, together. That’s not something you see every day.” He muttered, reminding me a lot of a certain Hogwarts caretaker, and I half-expected to see a dupe of Mrs Norris jump out of nowhere. “Tell me, how do you know each other?”

“They’re his daughters!” A voice called out, and the three of us spun around in surprise to face a nervous looking Mrs Greenfoot. “Adopted, of course. And I’m a family friend.” She added with a sheepish smile.

The gatekeeper took his time to eye us all up slowly, his bloodshot eyes scouring whatever he could. Seemingly unable to spot anything he counted as suspicious, he quickly disappeared again with a grumble, the hatch shutting with a snap. Seconds later there was a loud groan, and the door he used to speak through slowly began to open. When the gap was wide enough, the gatekeeper stepped out from behind it, revealing his mousy grey hair and tattered brown tunic and trousers. Raising a wrinkly hand, he impatiently beckoned us forward, quickly scouring the area outside as we stumbled in, before he pushed the gate shut.

Bilbo diligently led the way as we trekked down the main street, dragging Mrs Greenfoot to walk beside him.

“What in Yavanna’s name are you doing??” The two of us heard him cry in a whisper. “People are going to ask even more questions if we call them my daughters! How am I supposed to come up with a story about that???”

“Well go with the story you already have! Because it’s the one you’re going to have to run with for now, Mr Baggins.” She hissed back with a smirk.

Deciding to pointedly ignore the storm brewing in front of us, I turned to the view of the building in front of us. “Very Tudor-like.” I mentioned, admiring the dark beams that contrasted against the cream walls, along with the jettying of the upper floors that stuck out, and the metal grid panes that decorated the windows all around.

Kay hummed in agreement as she walked beside me, the both of us in awe of the once-fictional town that spanned across our view.

“It’s nice to see it not pouring with rain and caked in mud like the movies.” She whispered. I eagerly agreed, very happy about not having to fight my way through several inches of horse-trodden mud.

Grasping our skirts, we twisted between people and horse-drawn carriages, finally stopping in front of a relatively large building, the carved wooden sign hanging above us revealing itself to be the one and only Prancing Pony, and the two of us craned our necks to look up and admire the famous building Reaching an arm out, Mrs Greenfoot hauled the hefty wooden door open, and the four of us took our first steps into the inn.

Approaching the bar near the door, I watched Bilbo wipe the thunderous look on his face, turning away from where he was scowling at Gladiola to face the bartender approaching us.

“Good afternoon!” The man called, leaning his round body over the counter to take us all in with a hearty smile. “The name’s Mr Butterbur, but you lot can call me Barney. What can I do for the four of you?”

“Two rooms, if you please.” Answered Bilbo, reaching into his pocket for the right amount of coins. “Preferably split one and three.”

“Ah, you got lucky!” said Mr Butterbur, sticking his hand under the counter to bring out two keys. “You came at the right time – travelling’s picking up again now that winter’s over.” He handed the keys to Bilbo. “Rooms 5 and 6. Say, will you lot be coming down for dinner? I have a feeling it’ll be quiet this evening and we’re serving roast beef and potatoes.”

“Yes, that’ll be lovely.” Replied Gladiola with a warm smile.

Thanking the bartender once again, we set off, crossing the sparsely populated room of tables, considering it was only late afternoon, and up the narrow, creaking stairs on the other side. It didn’t take long to walk down the upper hallway to find the matching rooms, Bilbo handing us our key before he unlocked the door of his own room, insisting the separation was basic courtesy.

Evening came round quickly, our time spent downstairs in the tavern. Bilbo, Kay and Gladiola were currently sat at a table by one of the windows, and I was up by the bar, sipping a steaming tankard of tea on a rickety stool as I waited for Mr Butterbur to refill Bilbo’s wine.

“Say, I don’t suppose you know a place that could sell weapons?” I asked.

He was quiet for a moment, only raising a bushy brow as he peered down at me. Slowly, he set the refilled cup of wine down, before taking a rag out to wipe the surface. “Depends, what kind of weapons are you looking for?” he said lowly.

“Oh, nothing too dramatic.” I waved dismissably. “My friend and I are looking to venture out by ourselves at some point, you see. And we’re looking for something that’s durable and efficient, but easy to get used to, that beginners can handle.”

He seemed to lighten up again, throwing the cloth down as he braced both of his arms on the bar, eyes darting around in thought.

“Are you sure you two want to do that?” he asked with a stern but gentle look. “I’ve never been, but I’ve heard the Shire is one of the safest places you can live, the world outside? Not so much. Besides, you wouldn’t want to leave your dad alone, now would you?”

I blinked. “My – ?” I spun on my chair, looking at our table when my eyes made contact with Bilbo’s, who already seemed to be staring over with light concern on his face. “Oh! He’s no – yea, he’s uh, only been our.. ‘dad’ for a few months though.”

“Even more reason to stay!” Mr Butterbur said, reaching over to poke my shoulder slightly. “You don’t want to go breaking his poor heart right after he opened it up to let you both in!”

I turned back towards the bar, a solemn look falling upon my face as I stared at the tankard in my hands. “I know it’s just…” I heaved a long sigh. “I had a family,” My voice quavered as I looked up at him with wide eyes. “No, I have a family. I wasn’t brought here by choice, I –” I pressed my palms over my teary eyes as the events from the last six months hit me all at once. “I don’t know how we got here and I can’t get us back.” I cried.

“Hey, hey,” he murmured gently, laying a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know what the two of you have gone through, but it seems that you’re distressed about the sudden change and you don’t even realise it.”

Blinking through the blur of tears, I looked up at him. “I have a bit. Bilbo’s found me crying at night over it more than once, but I’ve been telling him it’s nightmares of the night he found us.”

“A bad night?” he asked, smiling gently under his moustache.

“Very.” I replied with a wobbly grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that terrified before.”

He looked me up and down concerned, eyeing the large pink scar on my hand as I stared at it. He went to open his mouth, when he was interrupted.

“Oi Barney!” A man called from one of the tables nearby. “Don’t suppose we could get another round of mead?”

“I’ll bring ‘em round in a minute!” he called back, before turning to me once more. “Well you two have certainly had an experience, from what I can put together. But,” he lowered his voice again. “coming from a stranger, the best thing you can do, until you can find a way to get back, is to just carry on, and keep your hobbit dad company. Or, you know, find him a spouse – depends on whether he’s the bachelor type or not.”

I choked on my drink at the last statement, looking over at the hobbit with a grin. “Well whoever manages to charm him is gonna need a very strong metaphorical hammer.” I laughed. “Cuz that hobbit has enough stubbornness and resilience to rival the walls of Helm’s Deep.”

Mr Butterbur let out sharp laugh, almost spilling the tankard of beer he was filling. “Helm’s Deep! Blimey, you two must’ve done something insane to persuade him to take you in.” He chortled as he began lining up mugs of mead. “Anyway, you were asking about weapons, and I know of a guy that has a stall in the market square, name it and he’ll probably sell it.”

I perked up at the new subject. “Okay, what area of the square?”

“North-east corner, the blacksmiths.” He replied. “Ask for a man named Seathan Marshsteel. Tall, burly guy with a long dark beard and wavy hair, normally tied in a bun or something. Could be mistaken for a dwarf if it weren’t for the fact he’s over six foot.” He described with a chortle. “He’ll know what to give you, but best you go in the early hours, so the good stuff doesn’t get snagged first.”

“That’s great, thank you so much!” I exclaimed, finally getting up from the stool. Turning to face him fully, I gave him the sincerest smile I could. “And thanks for the advice, too.”

He waved a large hand in dismissal. “Don’t mention it. I prefer conversations with the emotional sober, than the emotional drunk.”

Giving him a laugh and a wave, I returned to the table with Bilbo’s refilled drink and my own, relaying the information Mr Butterbur had given me to Kay. The rest of that evening was spent in that corner, eating roast beef, potatoes and vegetables along with the rest of the taverns patrons, before retiring to bed for the night, ready for the next morning.

The murmurs of people and trotting of hooves were yet to be heard when I woke the next morning, only the chirping of the early birds, the occasional pair of footsteps scuffling beneath our window along with the crackle and pops of the dying fire across the room could be made out as I blinked the sleep away from my eyes.

I laid there for a while, staring up at the ceiling cast in dark shadows by the glowing embers as Kay and Mrs Greenfoot slept on. It still felt a little strange not having my phone on the bedside table, the calm piano of my alarm floating through my ears. The battery died on the fourth night after arriving at Bilbo’s, and I had cried endlessly, reality setting in as a realised that the only potential way of contacting my family was gone, unless we found a way back. I was mostly terrified of not being able to see their faces, but managed to calm myself slightly when I went through my small collection of polaroids and found a couple family portraits. I had stored them in the envelope stuck on the back page of my grimoire, for safe keeping but also as a way of keeping them near me for good luck. Going back through the polaroids, another stroke of luck hit me as I had found a polaroid of Kay and her mum, along with her dog Barkley, that I had taken on one of her birthdays, the two of them smiling at their dining table next to a cake glowing with candles, and the large dog laid by their feet. I had slid it under her door that night, deciding to give her some time alone with it. She had come to breakfast that next morning not saying much, only quietly thanking me before settling into her meal.

Coming back to the present, I decided it was time for me to get up. I took my clothes to the bathroom, slipping on a set of light briefs and a vest top over my underwear, an extra layer to battle the early spring chill, then sliding on my shift and finally my pale green summer kirtle.

Kay and Gladiola had roused from their sleep by the time I was sat on my bed sliding my socks on. I gave them a quick ‘Good morning’, before lacing up my trusty modern walking boots, and walking out the door to go knock on Bilbo’s.

The hobbit was already up, calling through the door that he would meet us downstairs for breakfast. I returned to my room to wait for the other two, before taking the stairs down.

We got lucky that the tavern served an early breakfast, the four of us able to down the meal and get out the door when there was still only a few people wandering the streets. The sun hadn’t fully risen either, the rays only managing to shine through the gaps of buildings and alleyways, highlighted by the fading mist as the jettying upper floors kept parts of the street within the dark blue shadows of the early hours.

“– well I would like to see if they have any rolls of lace as well.” Chirped Gladiola, chattering away about the fabrics and lace she wants to try and find, and that if she got commissioned to create some more outfits with the new fabrics, she might be able to afford a new sewing desk. “I’ll be refusing any requests from your relative Lobelia, Mr Baggins. You know what she said the other day? Marched right up to poor Melba and asked her why she was wearing dishrags right in front of her friends!” she exclaimed.

“She did what?!?!” Kay shrieked in outrage.

“I know! I’m surprised you Bilbo haven’t done something to sever her from the family tree!” Gladiola said as she turned to him.

“Believe me, it’s the one thing I want.” He grumbled. “I’ve had far too many of my possessions vanish only to appear in her parlour.”

After listening to the two of them slag off Bilbo’s relative, we had finally arrived at the market. People were still sparse, only a few meandering the stalls whilst some sellers were still setting up shop.

Using the east-rising sun as a reference, Kay and I headed towards the north-east corner, with Bilbo hot on our heels. We waved goodbye to Gladiola, who ventured off with her coin purse towards the colourful fabric stalls on the other side. Walking up the path past stalls selling everything from arrays of meat to bed linens, the smells of metallic blood, spices and cloth filled our senses as our eyes set on a grey canopy propped up by wooden posts attached to a building with a blacksmiths sign hanging from it. Underneath was a counter that was part of the wall, the stall actually being part of the building itself. Approaching the counter, we peered into the shop. Weapons of all kinds lined the walls, even more hung on the racks stuck in the middle of the room like aisles, or on the ceiling like stalactites. The fire in the corner was burning bright, along with the torches lining the walls, filling our nostrils with the strong smell of smoke and the warmth of hot steel, so we figured someone was in.

Kay leant over the counter to try and look around, before calling out.

“Hello?”

A bang resonated through the air, followed by a string of hissed curses. It wasn’t long until a figure appeared hunched from behind one of the tables, clutching and rubbing to back of his head as he muttered under his breath. He gave it one last rub, before standing straight and stretching his back. Placing down the small hammer in his hand, he turned to face us with a frown, though it quickly turned to one of slight surprise. He matched the description Mr Butterbur had given me: Quite tall, about 6’3, well built and muscular, with thick wavy almost black hair, half tied up in a loose bun, with a beard reaching halfway down his chest. He was wearing a pair of loose trousers tied with a thick belt and a baggy tunic rolled up at the sleeves, and covered in patches of soot and grime, his time in the forge on clear display.

Eyeing us up and down, he took his time wandering over, using a cloth to wipe his calloused hands down whilst his face held an expression of poorly concealed confusion. The look increased tenfold as Bilbo peeked over the edge, resting his forearms on the wooden surface to prop himself up. Reaching us, he plopped the rag down, bracing his arms on the counter as his pale blue eyes took the three of us in.

“Can I… help you?” he queried, an accent similar to an Irish one strong on his tongue as he squinted at us, looking as if he couldn’t wrap his head around what was in front of him. I tried not to cough when the smell of smoke increased tenfold, rolling off him in waves.

Nodding, I slapped the list I had taken from Bilbo earlier on the counter. “Yes,” I affirmed eagerly. “We were hoping if you had anything on the list in stock.”

Taking a moment to look between me and the piece of paper, he slowly reached out, pulling the list towards him and picking it up, before grasping the spectacles that hung from his neck by some string, and sliding them on.

He spent about twenty seconds flitting his eyes between us and the list, covering it in black fingerprints until he lowered it a looked down at us over his glasses.

“You three aren’t from around here, are you?” he remarked, his deep, throaty voice resonating through the chill, morning air. “I don’t advertise outside the town unless I speak to you personally, so who told you about me?”

Slightly taken aback by the man’s cautious demeanour, I stepped in the explain. “Uh – we were recommended to visit you by Mr Butterbur?” I managed out, gesturing in the direction of the inn. “from the, uh, Pr-”

“- The Prancing Pony, I know. We’re well acquainted.” He said with a small smile though quickly returned to eyeing us up. “Tell me, what do two young girls and a hobbit want within the weapons trade. You don’t look experienced to me.”

“Which is exactly the problem.” I stated firmly. “We aren’t. And therefore we want to learn how.”

He slowly regarded the three of us with a look, and I prepared for the disappointment of his potential refusal. “Ok,” he sighed, tapping his soot-covered fingernails rhythmically on the wood. “How long are you here for?”

At our silent confusion, he raised a brow expectantly.

“Uh?” Kay vocalised, her eyes dazed in confusion. “A week? We’ve got six days left.”

“And why?” I added. “Do you need time to make them?”

He shook his head. “No.” He stated, baffling us further. Sighing, he began explaining. “None of you look like you’ve seen combat during any day of your lives, so, my proposal is in exchange for six days of dinners at the inn, I give you six days’ worth of basic training.”

Surprised, I slowly turned towards Kay, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. She eyed me back, and grins began to slowly grow on our faces. We turned to confirm the deal, when the hobbit I had forgotten was between us spoke up.

“H-hold on!” he cried, pointing a finger to emphasise his point. “You don’t know any of us. How do we know we can trust what you’re saying?”

Seathan rested on his elbows so he could lean over the counter to face the grumpy hobbit. “Do you trust Mr Butterbur?”

“Mr-” Bilbo sputtered. “We barely had one conversation with him!”

“He did seem nice though.” Kay butted in, and Bilbo whipped his head at her in outrage.

“And it’s a fair deal.” I added, watching in amusement as Bilbo comically flips his head between us, shock evident on his face. “I’ll make you Victoria cakes weekly in return.” I quickly added.

Grumbling under his breath, he eventually gave in. “Fine, they,” he emphasised, pointing to the both of us. “trust the bartender.”

“Then you can trust me.” Seathan replied warmly with a deep rumble of a laugh. “You won’t learn quickly on your own – so meet me outside the inn at 7 o'clock each morning and I’ll give you a rundown of everything. We’ll have breaks at lunch, and finish in time for dinner.”

“Woah, are you sure?” Kay held up a hand to slow him down, brows furrowed in confusion. “Why are you offering this to us so quickly? We’ve only just met you.”

Seathan pushed himself up from his elbows with a grunt, towering over us as he stood to his full height. “My daughters.” He revealed bluntly. “My wife’s not big on me sharing this but they asked the same thing you did. I said no, and they were injured in a small goblin ambush during one of our travels.” A sombre look fell over his eyes. “They have since recovered, but that guilt has weighed on me ever since, therefore I’ve wanted to offer training to girls and women when they’ve been given no opportunity to do so before.”

Kay nodded slowly, happy with the explanation. “I’m sorry to hear that – I’m glad they’re ok now. So we’ll meet you tomorrow?”

“Come round sometime after luncheon today if you can.” Seathan requested. “The sooner I can get swords in your hands the better.”

Thanking him, we wandered back into the depths of the market, it’s scents dominating our senses once again as we scanned for our other hobbit companion.

---

That morning whizzed by as fast as we would allow it, our nervous excitement for the afternoon sending a slightly uncomfortable buzz through our stomachs, the thought of what was to come prominent on our minds as we scarfed our ham and lettuce sandwiches down. We had changed outfits as well – I now sat in my cream blouse and baggy brown corduroy dungarees, and Kay in her black tank top with some loose, pale brown trousers that closely resembled cargos, and a knitted cardigan slung on top. Sure, it looked a little modern, but we hoped the earthy colours would keep people’s interest away

When we had finished, we wandered outside, only to find Seathan waiting beside the door, instead of where he said he would be by the blacksmiths. Pushing himself off the wall he slowly strode over, no longer donned in his apron, choosing to only remain in his slightly sooty shirt and dungarees.

“You girls ready?” he questioned as he pulled his curls back to tie them with a piece of cloth. Shifting a little, he looked behind us. “Where’s your hobbit friend?”

Still a bit hesitant about his forwardness, I gave him a simple reply. “He doesn’t want to come – said he had planned this week for relaxing and wine tasting.”

He gave a nod as he chuckled. “Fair enough.” He remarked, and beckoned us along as he began trapsing down the now bustling street, the two of us following not long after.

Leading us down a wide alley just before we hit the market, he led us through some of the residential housing, that slowly turned from the fusty smelling, overhanging town houses that were packed together like sardines, to detached cottages with front gardens lined with crudely woven branches to act as fences, goats, donkeys and the odd cat mulling about the small patches of crops in each one. The town was fully alive now, the sun passing midday as everyone got on with their jobs and chores, voices and shouting echoing from down each passage as we trekked past. We were thankful that the early spring weather had allowed the sun to dry out the large mud patches that would’ve otherwise sucked up our poor shoes, watching the solid cracks and chunks grow in size the closer we got to the more rural neighbourhoods.

Rounding one last cottage, we came face to face with the open countryside, the grass long and swaying in the gentle breeze, with the occasional oak tree sheltering a few livestock from the 12 o’clock sun. Climbing over a rickety fence, Seathan brought us to our destination. A large patch of grass had been shortened – about half the size of a football field, and somewhat recently if the loose grass piles and faint smell of freshly cut grass mixed with the usual stink of livestock said anything. Down one of the edges were several wooden posts that had been hammered into the ground, branches and planks nailed on to make them look like human dummies, covered in chips and gashes where they had been practiced on previously. Down another side were some makeshift archery targets; wooden circles cut from tree trunks with white and red paint hastily slapped on in rings.

Eyeing up the equipment, I blindly followed the sound of Seathan’s footsteps. When they stopped, I turned my head to face him, about to ask what was to happen, only to flail my arms out in an attempt to catch the wooden sword that was flung at my face. Managing to grab it at the very edge of the hilt, I darted my wide eyes to the towering man to watch him chuck another at Kay, who had watched my floundering and was prepared enough to catch it with ease.

Picking up a slightly larger wooden sword, he weighed and swung it around as he approached us. “Ok. We’re going to start out with some wooden swords.” He held up a hand as Kay opened her mouth. “And before you protest, I would much rather you get bruises from these rather than deal with a mutilated limb from an actual sharpened sword.”

Pouting, Kay snapped her jaw shut, and we both trailed after him into the centre of the field.

“Now,” he began, turning to us, signalling for us to place our swords down as he did the same. “I know you two won’t gain the arm strength for swinging swords overnight, so we’ll start with some footwork so you don’t twist the wrong way and fall on your own weapon.”

The next couple hours were spent with us practicing out foot spacing and placement, Seathan reaching down to twist our ankles slightly every once in a while, shouting which way to put our feet when spinning around to face potential enemies as we spun and twisted to each end of the field. It oddly felt like I was back in my ballet classes, learning how to walk on the tip of my toes for the very first time again.

Eventually we were able to pick up the swords, learning how to use our arms alongside our feet as we twisted and turned to block his mock attacks that got stronger and stronger each hour, the man insisting that defence was the first and most important thing to learn when it came to combat.

Sweat was running down both of our backs by the time Seathan had called it a day, the sun now nearing the treeline in the distance as the breeze began to cool the moisture on our skin, sending chills down our backs.

“Ughhhhh I feel so muckyyyy.” Kay groaned as she chucked her sword back in the makeshift chest under one of the nearby trees, holding her arms out in front of her as she tried to pick her cardigan up with the tips of her now mud-stained fingers.

“Tell me about it.” I grumbled, exhausted as I reached down to grab the half-filled water tankard, given to us by a lovely woman who had seen us being worked to death by Seathan, who had actually introduced herself as his aforementioned wife. When she had suspiciously asked what we had used to pay him, she had sighed knowingly when we revealed it was several dinners.

“He only asks for that because I don’t let him.” She had muttered amusedly to us as she refilled one of the animal troughs for us to wash our hands in. “He’d be down there every other night stuffing his face otherwise – says Barney’s steak is a god-send. I told him throwing up on customers after eating it all would have an enormous impact on his business’s reputation.”

After chatting to the friendly woman for a few minutes, we were soon ushered up by Seathan, who had hardly broken a sweat at all that day – ‘the pros of working with a kiln every day, you build a resilience to heat’ he had remarked proudly.

Trudging back through the now-calmer town, we wearily made our way back to the Prancing Pony.

---

“By Yavanna, look at the state of you two!!” Bilbo had cried when we walked in, the hobbit gawping at our less-than acceptable appearances. “Yuv’got – mud. Everywhere!” he sputtered, gesturing at our clothes. “Go change, now.”

Snorting at his antics, the two of us dashed up the stairs of the inn, disappearing before we could watch the seething hobbit turn on our slightly nervous teacher.

When we returned having changed into our original clothes from this morning, we joined the two hobbits and Seathan at the table, who we’re all currently waiting for us to arrive before eating the fresh plates of dinner placed in front of them. We sat down and began eating whilst Seathan was recounting what he had taught us as he scarfed down his well-earned meal.

“– yea, they’re getting the hang of it quite quickly!” he stated with a proud grin. “Could say we’ve got a couple of naturals on our hands.”

I smiled back. “I’m just glad we weren’t thrown under the bus straight away, otherwise I would’ve given up.” I joked, but my joking was immediately stopped at the feeling of my throat jamming up, and I clenched my teeth, digging my nails into my palm as I tried not to make it obvious.

Seathan paused, his fork halfway to his mouth as he glanced at me with a bewildered look. “What’s a bus?”

Staring at him, I remained silent waiting for the invisible hands to stop choking me, and he began frowning as he noticed my cheeks turn a slight pink. I flinched slightly as I felt Kay’s foot kick my shin, and my airway opened once again, and it took me a lot of strength to not heave on the spot. I quickly darted my eyes over to see Kay staring at me, silently staring at me as she realised what was going on. Facing the other three, who were looking at me with curious looks, I racked my brain for an excuse.

“Oh! It’s uh.. just a saying where we’re from.” I laughed nervously, still trying to hide my excessive breathing. “We have different names for transport there. Like, um, a carriage is, obviously, known as a carriage, ha ha, but we have nicknames for it, like bus, or.. or car for short?”

A few moments of silence of passed as they processed my rambling.

“Bus is a strange word to call a carriage.” Muttered Seathan, furrowing his brows. “But, if that’s what your lot have named it, then I won’t be one to judge.” He shrugged before returning to stuffing his mouth with potatoes. Bilbo and Gladiola were already back to eating, used to our strange words and sayings by this point.

I glanced at Kay, only to see her glaring at me with raised eyebrows. I narrowed my own back at her mockingly, raising my tankard of tea to my face. “It’s not my fault we’re stuck with medieval people.” I muttered from behind it.

All I got was mashed potato flicked at my forehead in return.

---

The following five days flew by, Seathan putting us through intense training that was far more gruelling than we thought. I mean, c’mon, doing ten laps around the field is a tad bit excessive, plus, arms wield swords, not legs.

I regrettably voiced those thoughts to our teacher, who then proceeded to have us do push-ups and lifting heavy tools he brought from his shop every hour, much to our frustration. He also asked if there was anything else we wanted to learn the basics in – I had said archery, after enjoying it a few times at festivals and residential trips with school or the girl-guiding groups I was in. Kay had excitedly said she wanted to learn throwing axes. And then proceeded the extra push-ups and benching, Seathan insisting that if we wanted to learn a practice that required a hell of a lot of arm strength, then it will have to be a daily task of exercise for as long as possible before we got to our full strength. I collapsed in protest at that.

By the time Monday rolled around, the two of us could barely pick up a fork to eat, and Gladiola fretted over us as she helped shovel food onto our forks, whilst Bilbo glared daggers over the table at an amused Seathan, muttering under his breath about the ways he was going to set the man’s giant beard on fire.

---

“Oh, you two are going to have to show me what you’ve learnt on the way back!” exclaimed Gladiola as she folded our belongings into our packs, due to our arms and legs still unfortunately incapacitated. “And make sure you give that man the biggest thank you for what he’s done – not just anyone is willing to give up their time for strangers.”

“Yes mum.” Was all Kay groaned, voice muffled from where she was face-planted on her pillow. Slowly rolling over with a prolonged whine, she faced to where I was splayed out like a starfish on the next bed over. “We’re gonna die before we even reach the evening.” She mumbled, face half scrunched by the pillow.

“Now don’t say that.” Lectured Gladiola, whipping Kay’s ankle with a sock as she pattered by with the copious amounts of fabrics and ribbons she had bought, only receiving a short grunt in response. “We’ve got a four-day travel ahead of us, and with that mood, I’ll be forcing you both to carry mine and Bilbo’s packs.”

Slowly pushing herself up, copper strands still stuck to her face, Kay swung her legs over the bed. “Fine.” She mumbled. “We’re up.”

“Good.” Gladiola replied with a smile. “We should have left ten minutes ago, so Kate if you don’t get up we’re leaving you behind.” She half joked as she hauled our packs out the doorway.

“Girlie, c’mon.” Added Kay as she shook my ankle.

Reluctantly, I pushed myself up the best I could, trying to ignore the agonising aches all over my body as I laced up my boots and followed the two out the door.

---

“Now remember, you have to do the exercises I’ve given you at least an hour every day, and memorise the tips I’ve given you for hitting enemy’s weak spots.” Seathan lectured, handing us two sheets of parchment. “I’ve written them down here, and I’ve also thrown in some blunt steel swords so you can upgrade when you both feel ready to.”

Accepting the objects gratefully, we pushed some coins into the man’s hands so he could reward himself with some extra meals, thanked him profusely as we stood by the entrance gate to Bree, trying our best to ignore the lingering stare of the gatekeeper as he peered suspiciously at us.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” said Seathan, marching hurriedly over to a long leather pack that was propped against the wall surrounding the town. Returning to us, he loosened the strings of the pack and pulled the contents out.

“Here’s a set of throwing axes for Kay, and a bow and arrows for you, Kate. I also threw in some polish, oil, and tools for sharpening the blades of the axes and arrows, along with replacement strings for the bow and whatnot.”

“What?!?!” we both said consecutively.

“We can’t accept that –” “It’s too much! – ”

“I paid for it.”

Freezing, the two of us slowly turned until we faced Bilbo, who stared back, before sighing.

“You two can’t be taught all that and expect to leave with hardly anything.” He explained almost nonchalantly, pulling out the crumpled list we had written. “You wouldn’t have gotten anything on your list.”

A beat passed, before I flew down and scooped him up into my arms.

“WHAT THE – ” he sputtered.

“Father.” I said. He froze.

“Father.” Kay repeated, reaching over to continuously pat the curls on his head.

He whipped his head between us with panicked eyes. “WH- I’M NOT YOUR DAD – PUT ME DOWN!”

“Told you he adopted them.” We heard Gladiola mutter to Seathan.

Eventually placing him down, the two of us knelt down to drag him into a hug, despite his grumbling.

“Thank you.” Kay whispered. “For everything.”

With a sigh, he settled, reaching up to wrap his arms around us both. “You’re welcome, but for the love of Yavanna don’t make me regret any of it.”

With matching cheshire grins, we assured him we wouldn’t, before clambering up excitedly to receive the pack of shiny new weapons from Seathan. And within a few minutes, we were waving a hearty farewell to the blacksmith, yelling our goodbyes and thanks until he disappeared behind the closing gate.

Walking through the trees, we chattered away endlessly about the events of the past week, failing to see the two pairs of glowing blue eyes, watching us from the treeline.

---

2 MONTHS LATER

A couple months had passed since we had arrived back in the Shire, and a lot had happened since then.

We had shown Gladiola the techniques we were taught during the evenings when we were on our return trip, and she had pleaded that we taught her kids, saying how they had always wanted to play knights when they were younger. A couple weeks in, Kay and I had stumbled across a clearing on the outskirts of Hobbiton, surrounded by trees and seasonal wildflowers with a scenic view of the town from where it was further up one of the hills. It was a perfect spot; close enough to Bag End where Bilbo could sit on the bench by his front door and watch us, but the trees made it private enough for us to set up targets to practice both our weapons training, along with our magic, without the risk of someone stumbling upon us.

The most exciting part, however, was meeting Bertin Grubb, who owned the pony stables across town. After seeing the lean muscle we had begun to develop on our arms from the training, he had offered us a job assisting him with caring for the ponies, figuring we were tall and strong enough to handle the animals when they were being stubborn. It took a while getting used to, having to bend down excessively to use the small hobbit-sized wheelbarrow, or the rake with a handle too short for two girls at least twice the height of the average hobbit. But he eventually managed to get us some suitable enough, and we thoroughly loved every second, excited to finally be able to pay Bilbo back for everything he had done, especially when doing a job as fun as ours.

Except for shovelling the horse crap.

It stank.

---

Bag End, Hobbiton, The Shire – T.A. Friday, 5th May 2940 of the Third Age (Highday, 15th Thrimidge, 1340 in Shire-reckoning)

The sun was barely rising when Kay and I got up, readying ourselves for an early shift when we received a letter that Bertie had received two new animals and needed the extra hands earlier than normal.

Trudging down the path as the birds sang their morning song, we munched on the poached eggs buns Bilbo had shoved into our hands as we were about to step out the door, before he had promptly marched back to bed for a well-earned lie in.

Blinking away the sleep from my eyes, I mumbled a conversation with Kay as we walked between the hedges lining the path. Soon enough, we neared the stables, only to see a frantic looking Bertie, who seemed to be nervously waiting for us whilst tightly clutching his cap between his short fingers by the wooden archway leading in. When his wide brown eyes landed on us as we rounded the corner, he cried out in relief.

“Oh thank Yavanna you’re here!” he cried, jogging over to us. “A friend of mine found them wandering the outskirts looking all muddy and he begged me to take them cause they were eating his crops but they’re so large I don’t know what to do with them! I –”

“Woah, woah! Hey!” I raised my voice slightly to cut off his rambling. “What do you mean large? What are they?”

“Horses!” he wailed, dragging his hands down his face. “Giant! Horses!”

Kay perked up, trying to look through the archway. “Really? Can we see them?”

Bertie looked up at her with a sweaty forehead and hopeful eyes. “That’s the thing.” He laughed meekly. “I was hoping you two could take charge of them? I’m afraid I might get stepped on if I go near them again.”

Following Bertie into the stables, he led us to the end stalls, to where there were two of possibly the tallest horses I had ever seen in my life.

One was patterned like a cow, black and white patches covering it’s body, the other pitch black, with only small, pure white socks colouring the ends its fluffy hooves, and a singular white star-like stripe running down its head.

Feeling like one of those girls in those magical horse novels, I slowly approached the black one, its features resembling those of a Shire horse – fitting, considering where we were. Kay’s looked like a Clydesdale, and I watched from the corner of my eye as she neared it, wonder glinting in her eyes as she offered her hand. I followed with my own, looking up at the beast that towered over me, the top of my head barely reaching its snout despite my tall height, as it’s black eyes peered back down to meet my own dark brown ones.

“Now you know why I can’t look after them myself.” Bertie half-laughed, flitting his eyes between the two animals, keeping his distance from the two animals as he watched, scuffing his heel against the floor like he wanted to bolt. “They’re girls, so hopefully won’t be territorial or anything that could cause issues with the ponies.”

I snorted. “I’m pretty sure you’ve just given the ponies two empresses to worship – they’ll probably follow them around the pasture like loyal minions whenever they’re together.” I grinned as I faced the poor hobbit, who looked on the verge of trembling.

He took a shaky breath. “Ok, well, you can do what you like with them, just make sure they don’t go mental and destroy half the place. Please.”

“I doubt they’ll do that.” Piped up Kay, who had now managed to start stroking the snout of her horse. “If you managed to get them here without a fuss, then they should remain docile.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “Hopefully.”

After that, Bertie quickly wrapped up the conversation, clearly desperate to get elsewhere so he didn’t have to face the two powerhouses bunking in the stables next to each other. He had mumbled about finding saddles and equipment large enough for them, before quickly scurrying off.

Turning back to face the horse in front of me, I reached up to gently place my hand on its sloping snout. “What’re you naming yours?” I asked, turning to her.

Looking up at the pink snout that was trying to nibble at her hand, she pondered for a moment. “Mmm, something like Calhourn maybe.”

“Nice.” I complimented. “I thought you would’ve gone for something like Moo Moo.”

She snorted. “That’s something you would go for.” She paused. “But it is a strong contender. Perhaps I’ll have it as a nickname.” She turned to me. “What’re you gonna choose?”

“Spleens.”

“No.”

“Ok, how about Felony?”

“Better, cooler, sounds like a name, but maybe choose something more… socially acceptable.”

I grunted in annoyance. “I want a name that disturbs people when they hear it – it’ll be a good conversation starter.”

“It’ll also be a good way to start the conversation of creating Middle Earth’s first mental asylum.” Kay deadpanned. “You can name something like your first pet cat Spleens, but not a horse that you could be riding into battle and potentially have written down in history.”

“But it’ll be the most remembered.” I pouted.

“And the most judged. Now, save the poor horse her dignity and give her a nice name.” she demanded.

“Doo Doo Daggins.”

“I swear to god.”

“Ok! Ok!” I giggled, petting the horse’s snout as she nudged at my hand. “Something fancy then.”

She nodded. “Yea, maybe something that relates to something you do? I don’t know – your witch stuff has a lot of fancy words in it.”

My eyes lit up. “Ohh! What about Hecate!? It links to my practice, and could be some type of dedication to her as a deity!”

Kay raised her brows. “That’s actually not bad. You gonna give her a nickname?”

I pondered for a moment. “Yea. Spleens.”

Kay just sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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