always and forever

you say you're no good, but you're good for me / @founderscouncil (jed)

That's a cute way of saying trajectory. Or tragedy. Either or. She doesn't look at him just yet, keeps her hazel eyes firmly trained on the aliens on her screen, but she hears him all the same, having long since turned down the volume of the game as discreetly as possible.

It's not eavesdropping if she's making it more comfortable for him to speak his mind. And he does, telling her that she knocked him onto a different path - that he'd been cruising on asshole asteroid beforehand, but that she changed the entire trajectory of his life. That she did that. She did that.

Game over, flashes on screen, but it doesn't feel that way. Rather, it feels like the game has only just begun for them.

As it stands, Flori does not start a new round just yet. Instead, she turns on her spinny chair and looks at him, the way he'd just been looking at her. She felt his warm gaze, she always does when he looks at her; she just knows.

"Jed Tien," Flori says, and she cannot stop smiling for the (un)life of her as she watches him toss a football up and down just to give his hands something to do. "Are you calling us a dyad in the force? What a mark, what a steal, I'll take it." If only because: "I think it's the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"You know---" She's leaning forward a bit now, but her eyes remain comfortably trained on Jed. "---my mom's side of the family, the Harmans, they all believe in something that they call the Soulmate Principle; every person in the world has another person that just fits them. Or multiple people, plural. Legend has it that said people are connected with a silver cord, heart to heart. Sort of like the red string of fate, I suppose, but with a twist. It's similar to the Star Wars stuff you just mentioned."

And she may not say it aloud, but Flori does think - does know, does believe - they're connected like that. She'd bet her (un)life on it.

"People always say oh, he changed for you, that's so romantic, but I don't think that's quite what happened there. You changed for you. Because you could. Because the capacity was always there. I just gave you a jumping off point."

She turns back to the game over screen that's still flashing and exits the game. Turns off her pc afterwards. And then she swivels around to face him again as her eyes track the football being thrown up into the air and being caught with expert precision.

(Part of her wonders why he's never been drafted for Salvatore's sorry excuse of a football team, but then, if he had, Jed and Kaleb would have been expected to carry the team, and Jed's already carrying the pack, so to speak.)

Up goes the football and Floribeth uses a bit of her vampire speed to leap out of the spinny chair and launch herself across him, landing onto his other side well before he catches the football again. Only the fact that she's calculated it in her head beforehand makes it so that she hasn't gone careening off the other side of her daybed. (Though she likes to think that the swinging chair in the corner would have caught her, somehow, slowing her wild descent towards the floor.)

She giggles, then breathes in deep, inhaling his scent, and tucks herself against his side like she's always belonged there. Like she still does belong there. Presses sweet, secret kisses on every soft bit of exposed skin she can find, murmuring thanks and praise in equal measure because he deserves to be celebrated like that, she thinks, nuzzling against him as she listens to his heartbeat; it's strong and steady, stalwart and true. It's her favorite sound in the world.

And it's as much for him as it is for her, because sometimes she thinks this isn't real; sometimes she thinks she might still be at the detention facility, she thinks that all of this might be a deliberately crafted illusion - she's done it for and to others, so who's to say that they cannot do it to her? After all, it doesn't take much to determine her type: werewolf, person of color, someone who's the complete opposite of her - Jed is every fantasy she's ever had made manifest.

A few minutes later, Flori wrenches herself free from her worries and goes back to listening to his heart again, replaying his lovely words over and over in her mind, until her own heart kicks up a beat. Her scent sweetens and her mouth floods with saliva. They both know what that means.

(It means wantneedhungerlove - she doesn't have the words yet to describe the inexorable voraciousness that lives inside of her, often only sated by him. But she can show him. She can always show him.)

One day soon, when they have enough down-time and there isn't a life-ending crisis to deal with, she'll take her time with him; she'll worship his body the way he deserves, because making him feel good makes her feel good, but until then...

what if the floripire was actually canon? / @founderscouncil

jedibeth gives naley energy which i didn't realize at all until yesterday and i love naley as much as i love jedibeth so i'm damn delighted about it. which is why i went on a naley tiktok deep dive to answer this ask and came to the conclusion that before the music kicks in - are we out of the woods? - i imagine that the viewer gets treated to a few voice over quotes.

and i know that jedibeth as a dynamic sort of kicks off in s2 but i do like to think that maybe she helped him with studying for exams or something as per emma or dorian's request in 1x09 aka what was hope doing in your dreams? so you get this exchange:

jed: hey.

flori: can... i help you?

jed: i hope so, you're my tutor.

and then later - and in my head this would be at the end of season one and sort of in the time between season one and two - when alaric got the boot and bonnie briefly comes back to steer the proverbial ship (that is the salvatore school) as per your canon until caroline comes back from europe and takes over properly.

flori: jed wants me to tutor him, and i said no because, well, because he's kind of a bad guy and... and i've got my own grades to focus on!

bonnie, knowingly: if jed came for tutoring, maybe he's trying to change. might be something in there worth saving.

and then there's a few scenes of flori actually helping jed with school stuff before that transitions into their growing connection. maybe there's a scene where jed notices the scar that ying liu gave flori, the one on her left elbow, and asks if she's all right.

flori: i'm really fine.

jed: you're a little high on yourself, aren't you?

flori: ano ba? as opposed to being high on you?

jed: [gives her a smug look]

flori, softly, more to herself than to him: hay naku.

then there are a few scenes of them talking together about the experience that is being a person of color at the salvatore school and, indeed, in mystic falls as a whole, followed by scenes of them gaming together that, inevitably, lead into their quote-unquote "break up".

this naley tiktok very much has the same energy as jed showing up at flori's bedroom door to apologize and flori letting him in.

and this naley tiktok has the same energy as sebastian talking to flori (either prior to or after his dynamic with lizzie coming to fruition) because i know in my heart of hearts that sebastian would figure out that flori descends from the harman family and is part of the night world, given that there was overlap timeline-wise, because he was running around in the 16th century and the harmans have been around since before then and canonically were around in the 16th century and onward as well.

sebastian: you're a clever one aren't you? it must just burn you up that you don't know, do you, poppet?

flori: know what, gagi?

jed: [does the golden eyed werewolf glare]

Katherine's brow rose playfully as he spoke, she even pouted at the threat of being kicked out.

"Awww come on Matty, I only feed openly when it's a dominance display." The vampire smirked.

"And unlike your merry band of impulsive feeders here, I actually can control myself." She paused, taking a sip of her drink. "So another hour wait is totally fine."

Katherine set her chin in her palm and smirked, wordlessly saying 'your move' after calling his bluff.

Now Matt's never been the smartest kid in class. Witty banter and snappy comments have never been his strong suit, and it shows against an opponent like Katherine. He doesn't know how to counter her blatantly obvious flirtations (or threats?), at least not in the same way quips just seem to roll off of Damon's tongue.

Instead, he grabs a basket of fries from the window to the kitchen and plops it down in front of Katherine. A poor substitute for blood, but it would have to do for now. He takes his own bite and watches the vampire, chewing slowly to give himself time to think. Refusing her could mean a reaction that the Grill might not be able to withstand, but it also seems absurd to walk into the clutches of a literal predator. Still... better him than the rest of the unsuspecting patrons. Matt's not smart, but he's loyal, willing to put his neck on the line, figuratively and literally.

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OOOOOO I get to brag on Arrow! @founderscouncil

The RANGE of characters you play is amazing just to start- secondly Katherine just ADORES your Matt. Idk shes just obsessed with him idk. But honestly what I'm really excited for is your AU Regina??? BRILLIANT. I just can not WAIT for more of her. (Hope is a whole different blog so im not gonna touch on her but just know chefs kiss)

He doesn't question it when Davina suggests there's stuff out there worse than Damon Salvatore and his moodiness. Vampires are hard enough to deal with as is, and their run ins with hybrids weren't exactly any better, so everything else is just gonna have to take a ticket and wait in line. "I bet you know way more about than just the things that make it to Mystic Falls," he says with a chuckle. "Do I even want to ask what the worst you've come across is or is that just going to make me lose even more sleep?" Mostly a joke, if only because he hasn't slept very much ever since learning that his world is inundated with supernatural creatures.

      the answer genuiely surprised diana because she hasn't expected that bonnie's reason for the protection spell was because she pissed off enough powerful people. yes, bonnie was an extraordinarily gifted witch but she also seemed like a sweet person. aside from that, this seems like a small town. how much danger can be hidden in here?

      diana followed the request and sat down in a fluent motion, curious about what the day was going to bring. unfortunately, diana was not often among people, at least not when it went beyond superficial contact. her previous way of life had not made it possible to really get to know someone. a year of life and a hundred years of sleep made this impossible, and many were dead long after waking up the next time. 

      diana’s hands were resting on her lap as she thought about bonnie's question. "siphoning as in ... extracting magic?", she asked because while she had not heard that term before, diana tried to derive its meaning. 

      "it is what some peoples do to preserve the magic of their ancestors. it is usually something quite specific. some type of witches pass their magic to the next generation because they aren't born with the amount of magic they would need to practice. is that what you mean with 'siphoning'?"

She lets Diana work through the question on her own, not wanting to prompt her one way or the other. She's sure that different cultures and covens have called the concept different names but she has to believe that it can be traced to some place beyond the Gemini coven. Witch bloodlines don't just show up fully formed in Portland, Oregon, of all places.

"Kind of," Bonnie hums. It's not exactly what she experienced at Kai's hands, nor is it what the twins can do, but it's a close enough start. "Yes on not being born with innate magic, so they have to siphon or extract or pull out, I guess, the magic from someone or something else." She tries to straddle the line between descriptive enough that it might jog Diana's memory while still being vague to keep the true nature of her query under some mystery.

She is dancing on a fine line and his fingers twitch briefly with the urge to rip out her heart and be done with it. He may have promised Elijah restraint in his dealings with Kisa, but he figures several decades will placate any real annoyance from him. But again, Klaus weighs his options and instead chooses to pointedly ignore the slight. "Well, would you like to give Marcellus a ring, then? Ask if he'd like to join this little hunting expedition or shall we get this show on the road?"

Watching as her family fragments off in to pieces once more and the remainder of the vigil tends to the wake, Freya finally allows her full composure to slip. Whispering a quiet "thank you" to Keelin at the allowance to stay. The witch turns away from her, and away from the boat. Wiping a silent tear from her face Freya couldn't help but feel the heaviness on her heart, and the remainder of the tears that would come, one way or another.

Her thumb silently rubbing over the back of Keelin's hand, the grip keeping her just in the present, turning back to her when the other spoke again. "stay". and then she cleared her throat, pushing some of those tears back down inside of her. "Please stay, I'm not sure I want to be alone tonight". Or any night and with her family separated, Freya needed somebody to be with her. A thousand years spent trying to find her family and as soon as she had them with in arms reach, everything started to go wrong. People started dying all around her.

Keelin stands at the ready, watching also as the flames start to die away. She's ready to be whatever Freya needs, especially in these next few weeks. Technically, there's an assignment waiting for her back halfway across the world and before all of this happened, she thought she may have even convinced Freya to join her in her travels, but now she knows that wouldn't be the case, nor would she dream of asking her given all that's transpired. "Okay, I'll stay," she reaffirms quietly, and she doesn't just mean tonight.

The light from the fire dims considerably, not that it bothers her overly much. She took off her moonlight ring for the occasion, feeling somehow wrong to suppress that side of her, at least tonight. Hayley deserves all of her, and her angst over being a werewolf can resume in the morning.

               But then her expression sobers. “How do you do it?” she asks, voice quieter, as she looks away. Vulnerability is slipping through the cracks in her armor and, though she trusts him completely, it’s hard not to feel ashamed by it. “Relax, I mean. I feel like I am looking for threats everywhere I go, finding them where there are none to be found, creating them if need be.” Her life has been a war for long as she can remember. The last time she felt truly at peace was when she was wrapped in Matthias’s arms, awaiting their son, plotting their escape; but Dahlia ripped that away from her, as she did everything else.

               What does Freya stand to lose if she lets her guard down now? She has more on the line than ever.

The idea of a full week of respite away from their chaotic family sounds like a dream, and he grins at the suggestion, as unlikely as it may be. It's the thought that counts and he hopes that Freya never loses that spark of hope. He fears it's a lost cause for the rest of their siblings, but despite the difficulties that Freya has gone through, he likes to imagine they were less horrific than the monsters the rest of them had been forced to be.

But the mood sobers, and he waits patiently as she finds her words. Her question is one that he's asked himself hundreds or even thousands of times before, but it's not really as though he's ever found a satisfactory answer. Relaxing is nothing more than a mask he puts on when there's nothing else to occupy his time. After a thousand years of living, he's done everything he's ever dreamed of and more, yet the one constant seems to be the violence that follows them around.

He doesn't have to say much, the compliment, even if it was just echoed- was enough to widen her smirk. Delicate fingers took the glass and swirled the amber liquor around.

Matt knows that she's just looking for a reaction out of him, though he's not entirely sure what kind of reaction she's expecting. His ears feel a little warm and he busies himself with wiping down an already clean bar counter.