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marleneismydopamine · 5 months

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lily evans and marlene mckinnon

- Ultimate opposites attract

- Lily leaves little notes in Marlenes bag that can just say little things like “I hope you have a nice day” or its a long ass poetic speech on why marlene is the greatest person she has ever met and is so lucky to have her as a friend. When marlene finds those ones she has to leave class to go cry in the bathroom.

- “You had a crush on me?” “Of course I did. Who wouldn’t?” except it goes both ways

- Imagine, head girl lily Evans who gets the highest grades in her year, has like 4 extra curricular activities and has never gotten a detention in her life, is dating stoner girl marlene McKinnon who literally only gives a fuck about 2 of her classes + quidditch and instead of doing her homework she spends all her time delving into whatever hyper fixation that has her in a death grip atm

- Love each other to bits but would rather die than be in a group project together

- Lily is the person who helps dye the back of Marlenes hair if she cant do it herself

- Act like an old married couple even though they insist they aren’t even dating

- Marlene has adhd and struggles with executive dysfunction and so she usually does her assignments in a caffeine fuelled haze at 2am the day before its due when she finally gets the adrenaline kick she needs to start, but she always gets the assignment submitted (maybe a few minutes late but still). And this generally stresses lily even without the added fear of relying on this “method” for her own grade. Which makes her pester marlene and that annoys marlene (and makes her feel really guilty).

- Marlene will rush outside without shoes if she sees it snowing and lilies behind her yelling to remember her coat

- And then lily takes care of marlene when she inevitably gets sick

- Those friends who REALLY blur the lines of platonicness

- Totally make out when theyre drunk and they both have been in love with each other at some point

- When lily is ready to burst into a pile of stress because of the high expectations she puts on herself to get a good grade, marlene is always there to distract her by whisking her away. Whether its just to the kitchens to bake something delicious or to sneak out to hogsmeade for the whole night to wonder the streets, it cheers lily up so much and makes her feel sane again

- They are both super protective of each other

- It took a really long time for them to open up to each other. They were both friends with Mary first which meant they were usually around each other but they never connected because lily hated the marauders in her younger years while marlene grew up with James and Peter so ofc she didnt like that some random girl was talking shit about her friends.

- In 3rd year Marlenes mother got remarried and she suddenly got a new stepsister and was really nervous about it (because she only has an older brother at that point) and asked lily for advice on having a sister. Obviously she soon decided she did not want a relationship like petunia and lilys but did bring marlene and lily closer.

- Lily and marlene have sensory issues and they can tell when the other is overstimulated so they do their best to make sure the other is in an environment that accommodates to their extreme discomfort (but sometimes they dont have control over their environment and it eats them up inside because they know how terrible the other is feeling and they cant help)

- Out of all of lilys friends, marlene was the loudest and most insistent that lily stops being friends with Snape. She knew the affect he had on lily way better than others because marlene was the one who found her sobbing her eyes out after Snape insulted her in front of his new friends for the gazillionth time. She was the one who always listened to her explain whatever bullshit he pulled and hugged lily for hours while she mourned what her friendship with Snape had become. And THEN marlene had to listen to lily justify why she was still friends with him just because he apologised and claims he’s going to do better. She is the one who saw the full extent of snapes impact on lily’s mental and emotional wellbeing and she was aware of how Snape manipulated lily into thinking how he was treating her was ok. She had absolutely no sympathy for him and always supported the marauders when they pranked him (even if they did go a bit too far) and occasionally joined in herself.

- They have matching friendship bracelets that they got in 4th year. Marlene was buried with it on her wrist.

#marlenes adhd is totally not me projecting…#definately not…#ok but these two are actually so adorable #i love them sm #i might start doing more incorrect quotes with just these two #part 2 of my marauders ship headcanons series #sorry it’s kinda late #i have no excuses #life just be like that sometimes #ship name: lilylene/ lilene (i’ve seen both versions before and idk which one is used more)#also seaflower or starflower (because lilies are flowers and marlene means star of the sea)#lily evans #marlene mckinnon #lilylene #lilene #marauders #marauders headcanons #marauders girls #marauders era

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theartsynoodle · 4 years

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Luz is aware of Amity’s behavior

Ok, so I’m definitely sure people have done this before but it’s fun and I want to write about it so here I go.

I definitely think 2 things right now. 1.) Luz likes Amity, but doesn’t quite understand the feelings yet and 2.) Luz is aware of how Amity has been acting, but doesn’t know why she’s acting that way.

I’ll do point 1 first. What makes me thinks Luz likes Amity is that the girl has a tendency to stare, quite a bit I may add. I first noticed it in Enchanting Grom Fright within the first 5 minutes we get this.

On my first watch of this episode this immediately caught my eye. The way her eyes are wide and mouth slightly agape gives me a lost and fixated look. Not to mention that she looks at Amity like this for multiple seconds, while Amity looks only for a second and then at Willow and Gus. At first I thought, “Well she’s just surprised she ran into her.” but then it gets deeper.

In the woods they are close again, Luz’s hands grabbing Amity’s. Once more, Luz holds this wide eyed and longing look, and she looks unsure, confused. This time, Amity holds the look and it is once again, for multiple seconds before it breaks. I think that this is Luz feeling something, but not knowing at all what it is. She can feel it, but it’s very new to her and can’t quite identify it. At this point I was becoming very aware of what was happening, but the next scene really solidified it for me.

People are excited to see Luz’s big “Oh.” moment and I think we’ve actually seen a smaller “Oh.” moment already.

Amity approaches Luz at Grom and begins to say “You look...nice.” This top image is while she is saying “You look...” The below image is when she says “Nice.”

Look at Luz’s face, look at her eyes and body language. Upon Amity complimenting her, she stands up and back a little, wide-eyed again. She looks like this as soon as Amity says “Nice.” and I think this is where she goes “Oh.” a little in her head. She was not prepared to be complimented by Amity, she looks surprised and honestly, a little scared. It’s the stiffening of her back, the wide eyes and raised eyebrows, she feels something and it puts her off. Now this follows immediately by Amity putting her hands on her shoulder.

Once again, she backs up a little and straightens her back, not knowing what to do with her hands as Amity says “Thank you.” She was already uncertain seconds before and now she completely lost. Amity is someone who has done a complete 180 because of Luz, a wake up call. Their road to friendship was rocky and now they’re already close, but Luz feels strangely. I don’t think I remember seeing Luz this stiff before Amity showed up. It’s really evident in Adventures in the Elements.

I don’t have the screenshots, but Luz was acting very differently in that episode. She felt like she had to lie to Edric, Emira, and Amity about knowing powerful spells because she didn’t want to look weak in front of them, something Luz doesn’t usually do. She is also embarrassed when they’re all at the knee and when Eda eats snow in front of them. Luz is usually never embarrassed by Eda and King, but she was in that episode. She also fumbles around Amity when trying to act casual, like how she slides off that rock in the same episode, like in Lost in Language when she is striking poses to seem impressive to Edric and Emira, and how she knocks books over trying to lean in Lost in Language when Amity walks over to her.

Moving on to the actual content of this ramble, Luz’ staring carries on into the next episode, Wing it Like Witches.

When Amity is talking about her time on the Grudgby team, Luz gives her the same look from Enchanting Grom Fright, wide eyes and agape mouth. She is deeply invested in what Amity has to say, and while you could say its just that, look at how close she gets to her.

Luz scooted over and got really in Amity’s face. She was so lost in what she was saying she unknowingly got close and personal. Luz is feeling things again and is starting to put the pieces together, but gets lost in thought and stares without noticing. Another case of Luz staring is one I haven’t see too many people point out, mostly because it goes by so quickly, even I didn’t really notice it at first.

The reason Luz almost gets hit by this axe is because she’s staring behind her at Amity. Amity is distracting her, which is funny because if Amity wasn’t so focused on Luz not getting sliced in half by this damn thing, she would’ve noticed her and become a mess. The fact she doesn’t even notice the axe and is in a high stakes game and is just, getting easily distracted by her friend is really telling to me.

Don’t even get me started on the touching as well. I’m not getting all those screen caps so I’ll just use this one example that everyone has pointed out.

Luz absolutely did not have to pick up Amity. There are so many other possibilities. Call and wait for healers to come so Amity doesn’t have to move, have someone use magic to help float her or guide her to the office, the most likely of these being having Willow help Luz support Amity and walk her to the nurse’s office, but nope, Luz just picks her up. I’m sure this is Luz living up to her “fearless champion” role and wanting to show off her strength to Amity, but I don’t think she wants to actually admit to herself why she is doing it.

So that’s why I think Luz is interested in Amity, now point 2 is going to be a lot shorter and that is Luz is aware of how Amity has been acting, she just doesn’t understand what it is.

Now I have not personally seen anyone use this screenshot before, but I could be wrong. When Amity fumbles on her words Luz is once again giving her this tense and longing stare, holding her hands up again unsure of what to do with them like in Enchanting Grom Fright.

And after Amity stops talking it’s weirdly... tense.

They stare at each other for a second, and look at Luz’s face. Her eyes are squinted, her back straight and her hands laying slack at her side. you can see the “What?” floating inside her head. She see’s it, Amity see’s Luz seeing it, and it is a tense moment. Luz isn’t stupid, she’s actually extremely smart, there’s just been a lot going on in her life and she is seeing in this moment Amity is acting different. Amity never stumbles over her words and rambles, Luz knows she is precise and calculating, so having Amity act like this in front of her confuses the hell out of her.

She doesn’t think that Amity could have a crush on her, in her mind there’s no way anyone could. Luz comes from a world where she has no friends and is deemed weird and bullied by her classmate, so she doesn’t think anyone is capable of liking her. If Luz even had one confidant in her life, we would’ve heard about them by now, but no, the friends she’s made on the Boiling Isles are the first friends she’s ever had.

Last night, I read a post about how Luz may have Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD), something that often comes with ADHD (Which I and majority of the fan base believe her to have.) RSD is as quoted “an intense emotional response caused by the perception that you have disappointed others in your life and that, because of that disappointment, they have withdrawn their love, approval, or respect.” In Understanding Willow, in a moment of feeling weak, Amity snaps at Luz and Luz immediately recoils. Luz is terrified of disappointing people, feeling at fault for all of Agony of a Witch when it was out of her control. Luz doesn’t think that someone could love her like that and it hurts to think about. Luz knows she feels differently about Amity, and notices how Amity acts different around her, but believes that it be narcissistic of her to assume Amity even likes her. It’s the self doubt and years of rejection on Earth that makes it difficult for her to really understand the magnitude of what is going on.

TLDR; 1.) Luz’ has many instances of staring longing at Amity in a confused way that is indicative of her feeling strangely around her.

2.) Because of a screenshot from Wing it Like Witches, Luz’ face tells us she is aware that Amity is acting strange around her, but doesn’t believe it could a crush because of years of bullying on earth and RSD.

#the owl house #fuck god ill shut up now #im gay and analyzing them #luz noceda #amity blight #lumity #.txt #long post #toh analysis #analysis #ig idk im tired and hyperfixating again #sorry to people that follow me for art #also if i got anything wrong about ADHD and RSD lemme know so I can fix it #interact with me cos i will never shut up about them

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animegenork · 3 years

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Fruits Baskets Final Season Episodes 2 & 3

What? No, I didn’t watch these on the Fridays of the weeks they came out. No, I wasn’t dying from school---

Anyway, back to the grind.

Episode 2

I swear the gif search function HATES me and what I’m trying to do---

Anyway.

I would like to make this very clear. Shigure is a little bit evil. A little bit. But it’s mostly from being twisted by the zodiac curse and his strange form of love. So if you wanted to punch him this episode, that’s good. He needs to be punched. A lot. Like a lot. God, he’s so evil. Moving on.

So the episode begins with young Akito asking Shigure if he loves her. This is, as we’ve seen, something that Akito fixates on, mostly due to her father accidentally warping her with the idea of being eternally loved by the zodiac members. He responds with a very earnest love confession that sort of explains why they spend so much time together, but it also confuses things a bit, at least at first. What with the zodiac spirit, it’s unclear how much of Shigure’s love is real and how much isn’t up to him. That may factor in to whatever the hell is up with him now.

Cut to Tohru working on graduation ceremony flowers and nearly asking Shigure about breaking the curse. Of course, she can’t, because it’s hard to bring up, and she’s only seen 2 sides of Shigure at most. Naturally, he already knows what she’s thinking about, because he’s Shigure. He’s just that good.

Tohru continues to struggle even at school, when she realizes that there’s so much she knows that she probably can’t talk about with Momiji or Haru or anyone else. And since the curse is this ever-present thing to them, she’s not even sure if they’ll believe her or how they’ll react. Rin is the exception to this, of course, since she was already looking for information on it.

There are some shenanigans with the Prince Yuki Fan Club, and Tohru and Kyo are left alone (probably on purpose) by Hanajima, Uotani, and company. But I’ll get back to that in a sec.

Yuki tries to help out other classes with things, but they won’t let him because... well, uh, they think he’s too busy... and he... isn’t... I’m sorry, that’s just so funny to me. So anyway, he runs into Machi, who is being all adorable and stubborn because she wanted to say hello and chased him all over the school to do so. It’s cute, because Yuki’s not used to that much effort being put in to something for his sake. I love Machi like that UwU

Back to Tohru and Kyo, they’ve been waiting for HOURS. Tohru decides to tentatively try out her Kureno talking point, but as soon as she brings up the curse maybe being broken, Kyo tells her that hypotheticals like that are pointless (this is implied paraphrase). He does this mostly because he’s in that pit of despair of “I’m never getting out of this” but also because he doesn’t want to give himself a false hope that might never come true. Tohru, however, becomes sad, because of course she wants to save him from having to be locked away like the previous Cat. So there’s a bit of moment where she’s about to cry.

And then Kyo *sniffle* gives her a flower to make her feel better. *sobs*

Technically speaking, this scene should’ve been in the last season or SOMETHING, I honestly thought they WEREN’T going to put my FAVORITE scene in the anime, and then they did. What’s cute about this scene is how torn up Kyo is from hurting Tohru’s feelings, and how almost desperate he is to make her feel better. It’s a sweet moment, if slightly awkwardly animated, but it’s a rare Tohru and Kyo moment where they don’t even say anything and you can SEE everything they want to say. Of course, they’re interrupted, because they always are (HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT LIKE NEVER HAPPENS WHENEVER YUKI AND TOHRU HAVE A MOMENT?), but hey, I got my fluff, I am fed.

There’s brief mention of Rin and how Tohru hasn’t seen her lately, and I hate it because I know where she is.

Anyway, now on to Shigure being Shigure.

He’s torturing his poor editor again, and he walks away from what appears to have been a heated conversation with... HIS PARENTS. THEY EXIST. I dunno what it is with rarely seeing zodiac parents (besides the obvious cases of Kyo and Momiji), but there you have it. We see then that there’s a big Sohma dinner outing with Akito there, so clearly Shigure planned that. His skills of perception and foresight are serious scary, and I really wonder how the hell he developed them.

There’s a flashback to before Tohru and Kureno’s revealing conversation, and we see that Shigure hates Kureno for being so close to Akito. Of course, Kureno makes it clear that Akito doesn’t love him, that she’s always wanted.... well, he doesn’t say, but I think all of us are familiar enough with how this anime works that we know who he means. But Kureno basically wants Shigure to stop being so cold to Akito, and this is because of how much he wants to keep her happy more than any personal feelings about Shigure.

This is where it gets a bit dicey. I’ve actually got a strange fondness for this scene, if only because it sort of but also not really gets to the heart of why Shigure is the way he is.

Shigure appears in Akito’s room, and she’s basically jealous that he was out with another woman. Then she brings up his sexual relationship with his editor (nonexistent), which is rather petty, but then, when was this duo not about pettiness? The implication Akito makes is that he sleeps with every woman he meets (explains a lot). She then mentions that Shigure slept with Ren, Akito’s mother (I’m not going to touch on how screwed up that is), which is why he’s living in a house away from the main estate. Shigure acts all cool and says that was a long time ago, he’s been punished, but Akito points out that he almost wanted to leave. Which... he did, but not for any lack of love on his part. And he says that. He recalls the conversation we see at the beginning, in which he tells her he cares about her more than anyone else. Understandably, she’s frustrated, and she asks why he always tests her.

It’s because she slept with Kureno. Petty, I know.

The phone conversation comes back. Everything you need to understand about Shigure is in one sentence: “I love her so much that sometimes I want to spoil her rotten, and sometimes I want to crush her into a pulp.” This is nearly verbatim of the manga translation I read a long time ago, and it’s always stuck with me. The thing is, Akito was always told she’s special and she can do with the zodiac as she pleases (which she says directly in this episode). It seems a part of Shigure didn’t like that that extended to those that weren’t him (Kureno), and his love for her warped and twisted into this kinda toxic relationship. (Kinda, she says, as if it’s not very.) This makes him want to be kind to her, but at the same time, he wants to be mean to her and show her how much pain she’s put him through, too. It’s pettiness at its extreme, but it’s somehow more believable than other forms of petty jealousy I’ve seen.

Oh yeah, and then they have sex.

Once again, there’s brief mention of Rin, perhaps she’s in the hospital, we don’t really know. But the main part of this all is Shigure remembering that before Akito was born/in his life, he had always been sort of waiting for her, which is mostly the zodiac spirit talking but is also interesting nonetheless. How much of Shigure’s love is influenced by the zodiac curse? How much of it is him? I don’t know if we ever find that out, because frankly, the curse did a lot of things to everyone involved, including him.

I still love Shigure, don’t get me wrong, but this is SUCH an interesting episode.

Episode 3

Precisely the gif I wanted. Hehehe.

IT’S A MACHI EPISODE! AND I LOVE HER, SO THAT’S ALRIGHT!

Still pissed about Kyo’s screentime being so awful lately. ads;fkjsad;fklsda

Some student council shenangians occur as always, and it’s revealed that Nao has a crush on someone, which is why he declared Yuki to be his rival on day one. Also, Kimi is a golddigger.

Some girls come in and gossip about Machi making a mess again with one of her outbursts, and they mention a rumor about her trying to kill her brother, which is why she lives alone. Kakeru looks quite displeased to hear this, and Machi walks in on the conversation and runs away, with Yuki wanting to go after her.

Kakeru tells Yuki later that the rumor is “mostly true”--that is, that’s the story he’s been told as well. Of course, he’s wary to believe it, because while they’re not terribly close, he knows her a little better than the parents do. He then tells a story of seeing Machi making footprints in the snow, almost obsessively, and he’s not quite sure why she did it (but Kakeru has a Shigure streak, so I wonder if maybe he does know?).

So Kakeru decides to pull a sort of jerk move and visit Machi while with Yuki, and she tries to turn them away to no avail. Of course, Yuki isn’t put off by the mess, since he and Shigure used to live that way, so he’s all cheerful about it while Machi is dying in the corner. I will not talk much about the bra incident, but that was honestly the most hilarious few seconds.

Finally left alone, Machi asks why Yuki is there, assuming it’s about the rumor her classmates mentioned. She says she’s done trying to correct everybody, since no one ever seems to believe her anyway. (That is all too relatable, especially in high school.)

But Yuki doesn’t even mind. He asks something else instead: does she hate perfection? And she says yes. TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR.

Wait. My bad.

Anyway, Machi has a flashback to what I believe I’ve mentioned before, which is Machi’s mom forcing her to be perfect so that she could beat Kakeru in the succession war (England?) with her family. When that was called off, her mother would say right in front of her face (jerk) that Machi was boring. Machi asked her why she would say that when she was just trying to do what she was told. Her mother has the gall to be offended by the implication that it’s her fault (IT IS, YOU IDIOT--) and then turns around and says maybe she raised Machi wrong.

Here’s a hint: that’s not what you say to your CHILD.

Poor Machi didn’t know what to do with herself. What is she supposed to do if she’s just a “mistake” her mother made?

Yuki, in his cute way of knowing precisely what she means, tells her she’s worked hard to get where she is, and that he’s glad she’s here. She’s not used to compliments like that, and it’s a very sweet moment. That’s when she admits that she was just trying to take care of her brother, but her parents wrongly and automatically assumed she was jealous and trying to kill him (which says a lot about how god awful they are). And she’s finally able to let it out and cry with Yuki, who offers to go leave footprints in the snow with her.

My heart might’ve burst during that, not gonna lie--

I think my favorite part of the episode is the next day, during a student council meeting. A new, perfect box of chalk is placed in front of Machi, and you can see in her eyes that the perfection is about to make her snap. Yuki, knowing this, calmly reaches over and breaks a piece of chalk, ruining the “perfection” of it. It’s very sweet of him and a very cute moment for both.

Then we cut to Tohru handing Kyo a flower, which is whiplash to the previous episode I’m glad we got.

The next sequence was a bit confusing at first, as I thought we’d sort of covered this already in season one, but we get to see Motoko. She’s called Yuki out in order to tell him that he made her high school days happier, and that she truly loved him. Motoko also hopes that Yuki himself will find happiness, which I think is a nod at her recognizing Tohru’s influence on him. It’s kind of cute, because even Yuki seems to appreciate her words, and we get to cut to a nice graduation song that actually kind of made me cry.

Motoko is still in a classroom when someone finds her. It’s Nao, and it appears that she was the girl he was in love with, which I LOVE. I HOPE HE OR SHE OR THEY ARE HAPPY TOGETHER OR EVEN APART, JUST THAT HE EVENTUALLY GOT TO TELL HER OR SOMETHING AND AHHHHHH. He tells her that goodbye is not the end, and it always leads to “nice to meet you,” which is sweet for both of them, considering her graduation and his being left behind.

Then we get to meet Hiro’s baby sister, Hinata, a true cutie pie. I think I cried here, too, for different reasons.

Finally, we see Kagura having picked up Rin’s diploma (YAY SHE GRADUATED YAYYYY), and wondering where she is despite her mother’s warnings not to investigate. Hatori and Shigure are a bit suspicious, too, and we see Akito with a pair of scissors.... OwO

[I know what happened and I hate it.]

I’m glad I could finally do these, it’s been a couple of weeks of hell, to be honest. Hopefully, Fruits Basket will be back at it again and I’ll have something more to wax poetic about, haha. Thanks for reading!

#fruits basket #furuba #fruits basket final season #kyo and yuki loving hours #also tohru and machi loving hours #all day every day #i like how i highlighted these two couples with the gifs

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lilacmoon83 · 5 years

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Dreaming Out Loud

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 94: Happy Little Bluebirds Fly

The Enchanted Forest

19 Years Before the Dark Curse

Snow fidgeted impatiently, as her mother and step-father led her by her hands to their cottage, which was located in a beautiful meadow near the foot of Mount Olympus. The meadow was filled with just about every breed of flower that existed on Earth and was home to many creatures, for they flocked to it, knowing it was a safe, peaceful place.

"Can I open my eyes yet?" Snow asked anxiously.

"Not yet, snowdrop," Persephone replied.

"Hmm...impatient. Wonder where she gets that from?" Hades teased, glancing at her.

"You just love that joke, don't you," she replied, with an eye roll.

"As much as you love the one where you insist she gets her penchant for mischief from me," he retorted.

"Oh please...you take pride in that. You boast it," she said. He chuckled.

"Yes, I do," he admitted.

"And it's true. No one can find trouble like the two of you," she added and he didn't attempt to refute it.

"Can I open them now?" Snow asked in a huff. He chuckled. Persephone smiled, as she saw the surprise make its way into the meadow.

"Okay Snowdrop...you can open them now," she said. Snow did so and in her line of vision was a beautiful, white Unicorn. The majestic animal galloped gently toward them and bowed its long head to them.

"A unicorn?" Snow asked in awe.

"Well...we're going to teach you to ride and I thought a Princess such as you should have a fitting beast to learn on," Hades replied.

"And it eases my nerves knowing that a Unicorn won't get spooked and throw her like a horse might," Persephone muttered to him. He smiled.

"Relax, my love...this Unicorn has been trained by the best, I assure you. Raised from birth specifically to protect our little Snow," he assured.

"What's his name?" Snow asked, as she pet the Unicorn and he nuzzled her affectionately.

"That is entirely up to you, sweet pea," Hades answered, as he lifted her onto the animal, intending to take her on her first ride around the meadow. And the timing would be good, for they heard the approach of a carriage. A royal carriage and Eli stepped out. Though his guards were extremely leery of leaving the King alone, he insisted and sent the carriage away, though the Knights would not be far away.

"Hi Daddy! Papa Hades got me a Unicorn!" Snow gushed.

"That's wonderful, baby. I need to talk to mommy, but then I want you tell me all about it," he called back. Hades exchanged a glance with his wife, silently agreeing to keep Snow out of earshot.

"Come on, sweet pea, let's take that first ride," he said.

"Can we go fast?" she asked.

"Sure," he answered.

"Hades…" Persephone warned. He winced.

"We'll start with a slow prance," he promised, as they proceeded to venture around the meadow. Eli sighed.

"A Unicorn? He just has to upstage me at every chance he gets, doesn't he?" Eli asked in annoyance.

"That's not what he's doing," Persephone protested and he raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe a little...but I actually insisted on the Unicorn. They don't get spooked and won't throw Snow," she replied.

"That was one nightmare you had," he admonished.

"I don't have nightmares. I have premonitions and I've woken up more than once to the image of our daughter being thrown from a horse. It's a Unicorn or nothing," she insisted. He put his hands up in surrender.

"Fine…" he relented.

"I assume this isn't what you summoned me here about?" he questioned.

"No...but it is about Snow's safety," she replied. He scoffed.

"Not this again...Snow is safe with me, I assure you," he insisted.

"Your wife hates our little girl!" she exclaimed.

"Hate is a strong word," he said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Oh please...she's so jealous that I'm surprised she hasn't turned green yet," she retorted.

"Why would she be jealous of a ten-year-old? That ridiculous," he commented.

"No Eli...it's not. Ravenna sees how much you love Snow and how much you adore her, as a father should. But you don't love her and she knows it," Persephone said.

"Are you really going to go there? You're going to comment on my relationship when you're married to him?" he snapped back.

"This isn't about Hades! He loves Snow...he loves her as if she were his own," she snapped back.

"Don't remind me!" he spat.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to have to watch that man with my daughter and watch her adore him right back?" he exclaimed. Persephone sighed.

"Eli…" she started to say.

"Do you think this is the life I wanted? I hate it...I hate not being with you...I hate not being Snow all the time," he admitted.

"And I'll confess...it's harder, because you're happy in your marriage. You're happy with a man that you once insisted wasn't capable of love," he added. She looked down for a moment and then back up.

"He changed...he saw the error in his ways. And then when Snow was born, that was it. He turned away from all darkness and let love guide him," she told him.

"Yes...I remember. I had to watch Snow being born on your mother's crystal ball, while he got to be there," Eli spat bitterly.

~*~

Persephone's screams echoed through their chambers and could be heard throughout the Underworld. It was a day unlike any other, for the land of the dead never saw life being born. But today was an exception, as Queen Persephone gave birth.

"Her head is crowning, darling. A few more big pushes and it's over," Demeter said, as Hades held her tightly.

"I can't…" Persephone cried.

"You can, my love...you're the strongest woman I know," he encouraged, as she pushed through the pain with more screams, until the cry of an infant rang out. Persephone and Hades became stunned, as their eyes became fixated on the wriggling baby that Demeter now held and proceeded to clean off.

"Look…" Hades said, as they saw snowdrops suddenly sprout from the ground in their chamber. Demeter smiled and placed the baby in her arms and they both were in awe.

~*~

Tears came to Persephone's eyes at the memory. It was the one and only thing the three of them could agree on. It was the best day of their lives.

"We can lament the past all day or we can deal with the present. And that present is that I fear for our daughter's safety in your Kingdom," she pleaded.

"And I'm begging you not to take her away...please, she's all I really have," he begged.

"I don't want to do that, Eli. Snow loves you, so you know I would never want to separate you from her. But you have to put your foot down with your wife and your court," she insisted.

"I will try...but they do not always listen. They know I am not a strong King," he said shamefully. She sighed.

"But you can be. And if you can't do it for yourself, do it for Snow," she pleaded.

"I'll try...just please don't take her away from me," he begged again.

"You know that is the last thing I would ever want to do. Snow loves you and I know how much you love her," Persephone stated.

"I hate this...I hate being married to someone that I not only don't love, but hates my daughter," he confessed.

"Then do something. Ravenna has helped lead to poverty in your Kingdom and she can't produce an heir. I fear what she may try to do to our daughter if she is left unchecked," Persephone said.

"I will try, but you know I have to tread lightly. The Southern Isles has a very large army. If I were to oust her completely, such would be an act of war and that would not protect our daughter," he replied.

"But I'll protect her, Persephone. I promise," he added, as Hades returned with Snow and her new Unicorn.

"Daddy...I'm naming my Unicorn Stardust," Snow told him. He smiled and lifted her off the animal.

"That's a wonderful name," he told her, as he hugged her tightly.

"I love you Snow," he said, feeling the need to tell her that.

"I love you too, Daddy," she replied.

~*~

Rumple observed his new student, as she used her magic on the task he had given her. Zelena was very powerful, with almost unlimited potential. And on the surface, this made her the perfect person to cast his curse. But he needed someone with more than just purely magic to cast it. After watching her over the past few years, he quickly determined that this wicked girl loved absolutely nothing, aside from herself, perhaps. She had learned lessons of coldness and cruelty well from her mother and had developed a reputation for being a bully. Clearly, Cora's raising and Leopold's aloof indifference had nurtured this future monster. He wasn't sure if the King suspected that his daughters were not his or if he just didn't care whether they were or not. But his complete disinterest in his family was hard to ignore. Many surmised that he just didn't love his family, but no one seemed to mind much. Royals weren't required to love anyone. In fact, it was not uncommon for a royal to be as cold and indifferent as the King was. But Rumple knew the real reason for Leopold's aloof indifference.

Cora needed the King as a figurehead until Zelena was ready to ascend to the Throne as Queen. At that point, she was sure that Leopold would meet some seemingly accidental end. Then Zelena would become Queen and Cora Queen mother. Young Princess Regina, who had by some miracle retained some kindness and good nature, would likely be married off to a Prince so Cora could see that both her daughters became Queens. And to achieve the level of indifference that Leopold had made Rumple suspect he was under the influence of Cora's magic. He knew of several spells off the top of his head that would allow Cora to influence his every thought and move.

He might actually feel bad for the King if he did not know what kind of person Leopold truly was. Even under the influence of all of Cora's spells, he had seen the King's eyes wander to young, beautiful maidens more than once. His own daughters had no idea what they were really escaping with him and he wondered if Cora had an inkling. He was under enough of her control that he had not dared to touch one of them. But notably, he had shown quite an interest in King Eli's young daughter, whom he had only met for the first time a few weeks ago at a ball. It was the first moment of clarity he had seen in the King for years. Had Persephone been there to notice it...well, the King would have been sent straight to the Underworld for Hades to deal with. It definitely interested him to see how this would all play out.

But his thoughts returned to the glaring problem at hand. He had the power to cast the curse in Zelena...but this girl did not love. He had two paths he could take now. He could consult his seer powers to see if there was anyone she might actually love or he could find another. On one hand, teaching and cultivating magic in another was a daunting task. But he felt it might be a safer option. He still had time, after all. Snow White was only ten-years-old, and the Savior wouldn't be born for another eighteen years now. He didn't like reaching into the future much. It had proven too risky to gaze upon and what he saw was rarely the whole story. He only got bits and pieces and it was almost too difficult to read. In fact, the only real clear visions he had were that there would be a Savior. And she would be born from a love between Princess Snow White and a charming shepherd named David. But he knew the reason that vision was so clear was because the Goddess Athena had written this love in the stars. It was a true love that would be unprecedented and unlike any other to ever exist. But seeing Zelena's future proved to be trickier.

"Her magic is magnificent...isn't?" Cora asked, as she appeared next to him.

"Truly...but natural aptitude isn't everything," he answered.

"Isn't this what you want, Rumple?" Cora cooed.

"Isn't this what you need?" she added.

"Power is only half the equation, dearie…" he retorted.

"What more could there be than power?" she asked, as she looked at him.

"She loves nothing...except power, perhaps. You've taught her well," he replied.

"Love is weakness," Cora commented. And he offhandedly wondered how a smart woman like Cora could be so short sighted when it came to love. What she said could be true at times. Love could breed weakness in some. But love could be so many more things. He had seen it turn to hatred. He had seen it destroy people and leave them as shadows of their former selves. He had seen it start and end wars. And in the future, he could see one particular love saving the world. People did insane things for love. They committed atrocities for it. They killed for it. And from one particular love...true love's magic would be born. Love was many things, but he believed that weakness was not one of them.

"That's a very narrow view, dearie...and one that might cost you someday," he commented cryptically. She smirked.

"I'll take my chances," she responded.

"At any rate...Zelena will cast your curse and it will be what you need to find your son," she added. But he knew that wasn't true. If Zelena cast his curse, he was becoming more convinced by the minute that he would never find Bae.

"Where is Princess Regina?" he inquired.

"She is at a riding lesson...or pretending to be. She thinks me ignorant to her dalliances with the stable boy," Cora responded. Hmm...now that was interesting. Despite Cora's disdain for love, it would seem that Regina had found it. And he knew what love lost could breed in someone like Regina. Cora would let her have it until she decided it was time to end it and marry her off. It was definitely an opportunity he might be able to explore. For now though, he became quite interested in the scene below.

"Ah...King Eli and his little bastard daughter are visiting. Eli's Kingdom is having financial troubles and I suggested to Leopold that he extend an olive branch," Cora said.

"Of course...once we become involved with the northern Kingdom, hostile takeover will be easy and inevitable," she added.

"Oh, I'd be careful there, dearie. That retch you're referring to is the daughter of Persephone and step-daughter of Hades. If one hair on her head is harmed...their wrath will know no bounds," he warned.

"Hmmm...you're quite right about that," Cora said, noticing how her husband was suddenly doting on the child.

"That girl certainly has a way about her. Many become so enamored by her," Cora commented. Rumple was watching what she was and it even made him uncomfortable. As the Dark One, he was many things and had committed atrocities in his reign, but the type of evil that he was seeing in Leopold's eyes was beyond even him. He would have to monitor that situation. He did not doubt that the young Princess could overcome anything. He had seen glimpses of the fierce woman she would become, but this was not one obstacle that he thought anyone should have to overcome. It was uncharacteristic for him to care about anyone and at the end of the day, his concern was still more about his curse. But she was vital to that success of that curse. Having her innocence stolen at this tender age could jeopardize his design. He didn't doubt that she would find her true love; that was written in the stars and awaken hope in her. But there were already enough obstacles for her to overcome on her path to being a hero. And this was not one that was required or necessary for that matter. If King Eli didn't notice the signs, Persephone would and he knew she often looked in on her daughter from the Underworld. He could only hope she was watching today.

~*~

King Eli held his little girl's tiny hand in his own larger one, as he discussed diplomacy with King Leopold. They had been invited to attend a ball that evening at King Leopold's palace and had come early to discuss matters of state.

"Your Kingdom is in a financial crisis it seems," Leopold mentioned.

"It is. I am afraid that I have a Queen that is not easily pleased," Eli responded.

"Yes...it is not hard to spot the friction between the two of you. I know your Court is demanding a viable heir to the Throne," Leopold stated. Eli glanced at him.

"They are...but if we are being frank, I already have an heir. But getting my narrow minded court to accept my daughter will not be an easy task," Eli replied.

"Take it from an old King...it will not be something they will ever accept. A child born out of wedlock is seen as a disgrace. Your daughter has fared much better simply because people fear her mother and step-father," Leopold advised.

"Snow is everything to me. It should not matter how she came to be. She is my daughter," Eli replied.

"Oh, I am inclined to agree with you. However, the ways of our Kingdoms are steeped in centuries of tradition and change is not easy for some to take. You should take heart though," Leopold mentioned, as Eli glanced at him again.

"She is a lovely little girl and I think she may fair much better than other royal children born out of wedlock," he said, as his eyes locked on Snow. Eli looked down at his little girl, whose attention was occupied by some of the birds and rabbits that scurried about and therefore did not notice the King's predatory stare.

"You should not have difficulty finding suitors for her. She is still of royal blood and Godly blood," he mentioned.

"Oh, I won't be finding a suitor for Snow. There will be no need. There is no much I have been able to promise my precious little girl, but I will promise to let her marry for love," he said wistfully.

"I was unable to and I won't burden her with an arranged marriage. Such would be ill suited to her free spirit," he said, as he watched her kneel down in the dirt, her dress be damned, to play with the animals. Leopold watched the small animals, birds, and even a fawn approach the little girl.

"Extraordinary," Leopold commented. Eli smiled.

"As beautiful and kind and as extraordinary as her mother," the younger King mentioned.

"May I give you some advice?" Leopold questioned.

"Yes, of course," Eli replied.

"Letting Snow marry for love is a romantic notion. But I encourage you to find her a royal that would be able to protect her. I don't think I have to tell you the dangers posed to one such as her," Leopold said.

"Her mother and Hades would never let any harm come to her, nor will I," Eli replied. Leopold was about to continue to press the issue, but was interrupted.

"Snow…" Ravenna snapped, as she entered the garden and the little girl looked up. At her presence, all the creatures scurried away.

"Ravenna…" Eli warned.

"Save it Eli...look at her! She's filthy again! There is a ball tonight and now I have to clean her up! She looks like an urchin," Ravenna growled, as she grabbed Snow's arm.

"Owe!" Snow cried, as the angry Queen began to drag her away.

"Ravenna...stop! Johanna will tend to her," Eli promised. Ravenna let go and huffed, before storming off.

"My, my...are you sure you can protect her? It seems you cannot, even from your own Queen," Leopold mentioned.

"I can and I will. I won't let what Ravenna just did stand," he said, obviously angry at his wife's handling of his daughter.

"And nor will I," Demeter agreed, as she appeared with Artemis.

"Nana!" Snow called, as she rushed to her.

"Aunt Arty!" she called again, as the two woman hugged her tightly.

"Hello my little one...I need to speak to your father and then we'll go have some fun," she promised.

"Then I don't have to go to the ball?" Snow asked hopefully. Eli sighed and smiled at her, as she looked at him.

"No sweet pea...you can spend the evening with your grandmother if you'd rather," he said. Despite the fact that his court did not accept Snow, they were hypocritical enough to demand that she still act like a Princess. But Eli loved her too much to force this life on her.

"Come on, snowdrop. We'll go practice with your bow," Artemis said, as she took her hand and led her into the woods outside the palace.

"Excuse me," Leopold said, as he withered under Demeter's icy glare and left them alone.

"I know what you're going to say," Eli stated.

"I doubt that," Demeter countered, as she swept into the garden.

"I will speak with Ravenna...I won't let this stand. She knows how displeased I am with her treatment of Snow," he defended himself.

"And she does not care. She does not fear you. In fact, the only reason she has not abused my granddaughter further is that she fears me, Persephone, and most of all Hades," Demeter snapped.

"What will you have me do?" Eli asked.

"Oust her! She's ruining your Kingdom. You have cause!" Demeter responded.

"You know that would cause war with the Southern Isles!" Eli argued.

"They have an army twice the size of mine and resources that we do not have," he continued. Demeter sighed. She wished that he was wrong about that, but knew that he wasn't.

"Then you must be firm with your Queen. Unfortunately, she is not the only reason I am here," the Goddess replied.

"What else is there?" he asked.

"King Leopold for starters...I want that man no where near our little Snow," she replied.

"He is a bit set in his ways, but do you really think he is a danger to Snow?" Eli asked.

"He is a bigger danger to her than Ravenna is. You did not see the look in his eyes when he gazed at her," Demeter replied, confusing the King.

"But...she's just a little girl. Surely you can't mean he has those kinds of designs on her," he said in confusion.

"That's exactly what I mean. You must never bring Snow to his castle again and guard her if he comes to yours," she warned. Eli sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"I know you are under a lot of pressure and stress," she offered.

"It doesn't matter...I promise you that Snow is always my first priority," he promised.

"I believe that...and that's why you need to watch your back too. Your Queen is not above putting a knife in it," she warned. He sighed and couldn't deny that. He knew how unhappy Ravenna was.

"I will. But if anything ever happens to me...you'll get Snow out? Can you promise me that?" he asked. Demeter nodded.

"We will all do whatever is necessary to keep her safe," she promised.

~*~

Ravenna huffed, as she stormed into her chambers and let out a yell of frustration.

"It's good to vent your anger. Holding it in only causes more pain," a voice said. The Queen gasped and turned, finding a man on the balcony of the guest chambers that she was residing in.

"Who are you?" she demanded to know.

"My name is Deimos...I am the God of Terror," he introduced himself.

"Are you here to champion that little retch too?" Ravenna questioned, as she slowly backed away from him. He chuckled.

"On the contrary...I'm here to help you make her and her parents pay," he responded. She relaxed slightly and regarded him.

"Zeus is very displeased by the existence of that little parasite and the fact that most of the Gods favor Persephone and Hades over him," Deimos revealed.

"Then why doesn't Zeus do us all a favor and smite the little nuisance?" she questioned.

"Contrary to popular belief, Zeus is not all powerful. Most of the Gods would rise up against him if he made such a bold move upon Persephone's family. But with the right plan, we can all get what we want," he replied.

"You want me to work with you?" she questioned. He chuckled.

"I can make you Queen...eventually," he reasoned.

"I already am Queen," she reminded.

"I mean you could rule without your sad sack of a husband if we do this right," he corrected.

"And just what is it that we would do?" she inquired.

"For now...nothing. But when Snow comes of age, it will cause great turmoil, especially when her father advocates for her to be his rightful heir...or at the very least insist that she be recognized as the Princess of his Kingdom," Deimos stated. She scoffed.

"If Eli thinks this Kingdom will ever bow to his little bastard daughter...he's more a fool than I thought," she hissed.

"We agree on that. But an opportunity will come to make sure Snow is not only ousted from this Kingdom, but that you can see to it that she is hunted. We will stage a crime and she will take the fall. Then you can chase her out of your life and take the Throne," he offered.

"And what of Hades and Persephone?" she queried.

"You leave them to me. Trust me, they will be too busy trying to keep Snow alive than to worry about you. The details on how all this will come to be are sparse for now...but it will come to pass. The question is...are you willing to participate?" he questioned. Ravenna smirked.

"If it means I can see that little urchin burned at the stake...then I am not only willing to participate, I want to light the bonfire," she replied with an evil smile. Deimos smiled back, his own smile as evil as hers.

"Then let's begin,"

#Snowing #SnowxCharming #Charming family #HadesxPersephone #Greek Mythology meets fairy tales #AU #romance #adventure #family #dreaming out loud

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