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caffinedragon · 1 year ago

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Nobody Cares, but won't hold your hand.

Plot: Astarion is given permission by R'yleh(Durge) to use his "Journal" to speak with his mother, The Great Old One known as Noone. They ask to speak with him in person during a long rest at camp, where Astarion learns that not all gods act like gods.

Context: No one/Nobody is a home brew deity from an old Pathfinder Campaign of mine who looks after the invisible, the oppressed, the vulnerable, and those who hide in the shadows. Operates less like a god and more like an underground mob boss or invisible hand. LN-CG depending on how you look at her.

Heavily motivated by spite and petty, caring but pragmatic, values observation, investigation, insight, and the ability to think quickly on your feet. A deity that most often works behind the scenes but if dealt with directly will point you in the right direction but expects you to do the rest yourself.

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"I am surprised you came after what you have been through, kiddo."

Astarion jumped as the Deity's liquid honey voice carried through the dark from behind him.

When he turned around, he expected some great horror, or a enchantingly beautiful woman with tendrils coming out of her back or any number of over the top and dramatic options but...

That wasn't what he found.

She was good looking, that was for certain. She was definitely where R'yleh had gotten his looks from but other than that...

She just looked like one of the members of the many Thieves guilds that populated the seedier sections of Balder's Gate.

No extra eyes or appendages or moving shadows just...a pale skinned Drow woman in black leather armor with way more blades than average and a long black cloak to hide them under.

It was...strangely comforting.

"You look a little surprised, Kiddo." Her tone was amused to say the least. Her solid black eyes lighting up with mirth despite the dark. "Expecting something a but more dramatic?"

"Well..." He chuckled nervously, "Compared to the 'gods' I have met recently you seem practically normal."

She smiled, a soft warm thing that relaxed him even more, "Well...it is easier to get things done when no one suspects who you are."

"I suppose that's true." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at his feet.

When he looked back up, he jumped again, seeing she had closed the distance form twenty feet away to five in a matter of seconds.

"Ah!" He partially turned away from her on instinct but she didn't seem to mind as she searched his eyes like she was peering into his very soul. "What are you-"

A sad but understanding expression crossed her face. "My son wasn't kidding. You are afraid. But I don't blame you."

"I am not-"

The void black of her eyes reflected his own lies back at him.

The words died in his throat.

"You are afraid." She repeated gently but knowingly, "Your afraid in the same way many of those under my power are. It is fear i am quite familiar with. It is wielded like a weapon by gods and powerful mortals so that they can keep the status quo that lets them stay in control. The same fear, that perpetuates itself and just creates more of the same. Fear that breeds the need for control, that brings abuse, that brings fear, that breeds the need for control...and on and on it goes." She then gently placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him plenty of time to step away.

He didn't.

Something about her alowwed him to let h is guard down.

He knew deep down that somehow, she was different. That she understood.

That, despite being a so called god, she knew what it was like.

"But, you know that already. Don't you kiddo?"

Her words hit harder than he expected but only as hard as he needed.

He did know. It was why Cazador did what he did. It was why Vlaakith wanted to be obeyed. It was why every tyrant, noble, and religious zealot did what they did to others like him.

It was the same fear that made him lure all those people to their doom. That made him want to manipulate R'yleh into protecting him.

And with this being being his mother, he could see why he had seen through it as easily as he had.

But here with her, just as with R'yleh, he felt seen and understood.

And safe.

Like a child in the arms of his mother.

He felt the burn of tears in his eyes.

"Come here." She sighed as she gathered him in her arms, his face easily able to bury itself in her shoulder as she wrapped him in a gentle hug. "It will be all right. Your not alone. Were all victims to this shit. All we can do is find a way to survive, while trying not to become like the monsters that hurt us."

"Even you?" He mumbled into her armor.

"Yeah. Even me."

He was now beginning to understand where R'yleh's loyalty to this being came from, outside of the obvious.

Astarion pulled back to look at her face and rub his eyes, "Are you sure your a god?"

She chuckled, "There have been some days i wonder. Especially when i get more done in a week than most of the other gods have done in 50 years."

He laughed, "I can see that, honestly."

She smiled another wamr smile. "I mean, It's amazing what you can get done when you stop grandstanding and just get to work. If you knew how much reach i have gained in the last century alone because I got my hands dirty just as often as my followers, it would blow your mind."

He smiled genuinely, "If only more gods were like you."

"If only... But, at least i am not alone. Bahamut and I are on the same page when it comes to spending most of our time amongst mortals. So, if you see an old man just wandering around who always seems to have exactly seven birds surrounding him or following him wherever he goes, that's him."

"Does he do this often?"

"All the time. It is his favorite thing to do. He just always seems to attract some ass hole that wants to mess with him for some reason. it's real funny to watch him kick their ass."

"I will make sure to keep an eye out then."

"Oh definitely. And always accept when he asks you to join him for tea. He knows a lot of things about a lot of things and is really good about delivering a verbal kick to the ass when needed. Also he is just a really nice guy to hace a chat with and-"

A sudden look of confusion crossed her face that he was very familiar with.

"Wait...what were we talking about?"

Astarion couldn't help the undignified guffaw that erupted from deep in his stomach.

"What? What's so funny?"

Once he calmed down, "Oh gods...you are definitely his mother."

"What do you mean?"

"R'yleh, he...will start talking about something that will bleed into an unhinged ramble and then suddenly mid sentence he will just stop like you just did and ask that same question."

She started to laugh with him, "Like Mother like Son."

"Exactly. Too bad his father is such a monster."

He regretted saying it the second the last syllable was out of his mouth.

He saw sadness and guilt fill her eyes, "Yeah. A hard lesson learned in not to let your darker nature take hold."

"How did that happen, if you don't mind me asking?"

She exhaled nervously, "Bhaal and his cultists found one of my sanctuary's. It was A haven for unwed mothers and those escaping abusive husbands, old pimps etc. They raided the place doing horrible and unspeakable things to those inside and when i found out... I wanted to get back at him."

"How?"

"Made myself into a target he couldn't resist. I had planned on raising the child to take him down. He killed children and innocents in my care, what better irony right?"

He saw disgust at herself cross her face.

"But?"

"When R'yleh was born, I took one look into my son's eyes and realized what I had done." The disgust turned to anger as she crossed her amrs and looked down at the ground. "I realized what Bhaal's blood would make him do. I had done what every other god I hated did. What I swore never to do...and i did it to my own flesh and blood."

He could see the pain in her eyes as she spoke. The look of a mother who knew they had wronged their child in a way they couldn't fix.

It marveled him that a god could openly be so mortal. So willingly to admit when they were wrong.

It was no wonder how she had gotten so much traction in so little time.

"R'yleh said that it was the reason you formed the pact with him. To help mitigate his father's influence."

"Yeah. It was all i could really do. Thankfully, he inherited my mind so he could sort of compartmentalize the urges in his head and keep them under control. Or at least, until the tadpole anyway. Which is why i wanted to speak to you in person."

"Oh?"

"I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"For being there for him. For not being afraid of what he is even while your so afraid of everything else. My son has felt alone for a very long time and you...have changed that. To see my little boy smiling and bouncing and laughing like he used to before Bhaal ripped him away from me I...fuck."

She turned away from him as tears of her own began to fall.

He repeated the gesture she had given him without a moments hesitation.

He had no idea what to say to comfort a god but the hug seemed to be enough.

She wiped her eyes as she pulled away, "Sorry...I..."

"No need. He has helped me just as much if not more than i have helped him. I swear that i will continue to do so for as long as he lets me."

She smiled, relieved. "I know you will. And I know my son. He is too attached to let go now. So, if you will allow, i would like to give you something."

"Of course. I am not one to refuse a god, especially my Darling's mother."

He watched as she reached into her cloak and pulled out the same, obsidian crystal, compass, and journal that R'yleh had. The only difference being that the journal had a bat on it instead of a kraken.

"Does this mean I am a warlock now?" He teased.

"No." She chuckled, "Only my son has that honor. But all of my Shadows-My 'Chosen' for lack of a better term, have these. You will be part of the family. This way, wherever you go, if you see my symbol, you will have a place to stay no questions asked. Just show them the compass and they will know."

Astarion took the items from her with a hint of suspicion.

"Does this mean i will be at your beck and call? Like Wyll?"

"No. Right now you and my sons priority is to save yourselves from the tadpoles in your heads. After that, if you feel the need to want to help, you can activate the compass and it will point you where your needed. It's strictly voluntary unless it is an emergency and in that case i usually show up in person."

He looked down at the items, his mind picturing R'yleh as he used them. How he got so much of his information from her but was rarely wrong or lead astray. A part of him wasn't sure after what he endured with Cazador but another part of him liked the idea of being part of this sort of shadowy but ultimately good organization that helped people like him.

"As i said before, it is voluntary and you are more than welcome to make the decision after the stuff with the tadpoles is finished."

Astarion nodded, clutching the items to his chest. "What do i do if i want to accept?"

"Have R'yleh show you how to attune them to you. And if you decide you don't, just give the items to him and he will give them back to me."

She then turned towards the shadows of the tree behind her as if listening to a hidden voice.

"Ah. It seems I am needed once again. Some more trouble in Baldur's Gate I have to attend too." She then gently patted his cheek, "It was good to meet you Astarion. Know that no matter what you decide, my shadows will always be listening for you."

"Thank you."

"Try not to get into any trouble you cant get back out of, yeah?"

"We will do our best."

With a warm smile he watched as she stepped into the shadow of a nearby oak tree and dissapeared.

"So? How did it go?" R'yleh's curious voice asked form out of nowhere.

"Ah!" He jumped, nearly dropping the gifts she had given him. "Gods! What is it with the both of you scaring me half to death!"

He had that cheeky grin on his face again, "We are naturally stealthy people. So?"

With a sigh he showed R'yleh what he was given.

He watched his eyes light up right before he quietly squealed and did his little happy feet dance Astarion found adorable.

"So? Are you going to accept or are ya still thinking about it?"

"I am still thinking on it. After being in servitude to Cazador-"

"Your leery about pledging yourself to someone else." His tone was understanding as he nodded. "That is perfectly valid and fair."

"Thank you."

"So, want me to hang on to them until you make the decision or..."

"No!" That came out more desperate then he wanted. "No. I will...hang on to them."

He could feel the knowing smirk now spreading across R'yleh's face.

"All right." He then began walking back to camp but not before saying, "Just let me know when you want me to teach you how to attune to them. The spell can be a little tricky for those that aint used to magic."

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#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion #baldurs gate 3 #durge #bg3 durge #mom approved #welcome to the family #we need more down to earth gods #dnd homebrew

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random-iz-stuff · 2 years ago

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Hey!

Ok so I was thinking what does the irken empire do when a soldier ends up loosing their sight partially or completely?

the same with a deaf irken what would they do????

Ah shit i completely missed this ask…

Irkens heal extremely quickly, so there’s not much that can really get an Irken to have to leave things like military service.

Irken eyes and antennae grow back even faster than the rest of the body as well, so things like blindness and deafness never really last long.

If an Irken eye is extremely damaged (like for example Zim’s contacts melt while he’s wearing them and fuse with his eyes like in Walk Of Doom), the eye could heal in a matter of hours, maybe a day at most. If an eye is dislodged like we see in Planet Jackers, it can be shoved back in with little pain and keep work. If an eye is completely removed to the point where it is completely disconnected from the Irken’s head, a new one can completely grow back in a few weeks.

So for eye injuries, most Irken soldiers go to a medic station to get themselves fixed up and rejoin the fight a few hours to a day later. If a soldier has their eye completely removed and cut out of its socket, then they’ll be taken away from the battlefield to a proper hospital, where they’ll heal in a few weeks and then be shipped off again once they’ve recovered.

Irkens basically can’t have natural eye problems because their eyes heal too fast and too thoroughly for that sort of thing to happen. There are some exceptions (for example, Irkens can be colourblind), but generally the eyes heal so fast and are structured so differently compared to humans that things like cataracts, eyes being shortsighted or longsighted to the point of needing glasses, eyes getting weaker with age, and naturally caused blindness are biologically impossible, and that’s without mentioning Irken medical technology in this subject.

(Fun Fact: Due to how Irken eyes heal, some Irken eye surgeries just involve safely and painlessly removing the eye and waiting, as nine times out of ten the problem is gone when the new eye grows in.)

Hearing is similar, but also slightly different. Irkens can hear in two ways, an inner ear, which are the main way of hearing things, and their antennae, which can pick up sounds but not quite as well as the inner ear. The antennae can heal from basically any injury. The inner ear cannot.

So in Irken society, it’s basically impossible to go completely deaf from an injury or loud noise. The inner ear can completely lose its ability to hear things and that would be permanent, but the antennae can’t and grow back extremely quickly. If an Irken soldier goes deaf in their inner ear, they still have the antennae, even though it IS less effective and can’t hear things as well. They basically only become partially deaf.

Deaf irkens that were born deaf or can’t hear using their antennae for whatever reason are usually given special devices that attach to the base of the antennae and let the deaf Irken hear through the antennae.

If an Irken soldier loses their inner ear AND their antennae are damaged or destroyed in some way, they’d be taken to a medical station (still near or on the battlefield) and they’d be back in combat in just a few days, as the antennae grow back even faster than the eyes.

(Also this I just a bonus headcanon but Zim is partially deaf and only uses his antennae for hearing, having lost the use of his inner ear in a lab accident.)

Even limbs being removed can’t keep you out of the Irken army forever. If a soldier loses a limb, they’ll be removed from combat and taken to a proper medical facility, where they are given a robotic limb and some time to learn how to use it, usually returning to the battlefield a few weeks to a month later.

Broken bones also won’t stop anything. As seen with Zim, irkens can heal bones quickly and can even heal broken spines in a matter of hours.

Also bonus headcanon: Out of all Irken bones, the spine and spinal area is the toughest. It heals the fastest and is the hardest to damage. This is because the PAK and more importantly Spinal Implants are located there, meaning that Irken spines not only have a large metal plate protecting them from damage, the spinal implants assist in the healing process and make the process way faster.

#invader zim #asks #headcanons #tw medical #tw eye trauma #because I mention Irken eyes being removed and all that

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nasuversekinkmeme · 2 years ago

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Weekly roundup: prompts

Kara no Kyoukai

Shiki Ryougi using the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception for mundane purposes.

Tsukihime

incest tw, ntr, Shiki/Kohaku explicitly framed as them cucking Hisui and Akiha

Kohaku and Hisui taking drugs together to deal with the Difficulties.

Hisui makes a horrifying discovery about the true nature of the "robots" that are named after her and look suspiciously like her. But on the bright side, it looks like Hisui #47 has more sisters than she thought.

Worried about Shiki's health after he's been bedridden for a couple of days, Akiha is told by Kohaku that Shiki'd contracted a terminal case of sugondeese. Akiha doesn't get the joke and goes around trying to find anyone who can help in complete earnestness.

Fate/Stay Night

smut, EMIYA gets fingerblasted by Artoria while getting his fat slutty tits milked for weeks on end.

Emiya "Ah yes I choose to go by no name instead of my actual name because I hate my name I MEAN FOR TACTICAL REASONS TACTICAL ONES" Shirou has her egg forcibly cracked.

ntr, Saber/Issei framed as both of them cucking Shirou.

EMIYA getting brainwashed and forcefemmed, becomes clingy and dependent to the perpetrator (maybe a master with bigger physique, any gender is fine) AAAHHH i really want to fill this myself but just typing this makes me really embarassed

smut, Fourth Holy Grail War Servant Orgy expressly framed as cucking the Masters and the Holy Grail War itself.

smut, All the Cus show up and consensually gangbang Shirou to death.

smut, guro, Sakura cuts off Shirou's legs, slices his belly open, smashes his testicles before rebuilding them with magic and then proceeds to clone herself so that she could have an ero-guro gangbang with the one she loves more than anything else.

smut, Cock worship feat. Saber's micropenis. Doesn't matter who the worshipper(s) is.

smut, Mordred fucking Guinevere with her giant cock while Artoria watches it while she is tied to the wall, crying with her pathetic micro penis exposed while her wife screams in pleasure

Merlin gives Artoria a micro penis.

We need more of that EMIYA Archer/Saber Artoria goodness, no preference on if its fgo/fsn/fha or fluff or smut as long as Saber loves him for the man he is rather than the boy he was.

smut, Might I ask for Saber and Rin having what starts out as slow tender wedding night lovemaking, and what ends up being Saber breeding Rin hard and fast, because however much they love each other, Rin is impatient, and Saber is needy.

Fate/Zero

a prompt about Iri, Saber and Kiritsugu expressly framed as cucking but nobody can figure out WHOS GETTING CUCKED. (its none of them, theyre all just morons)

I would like some fluff with Iri and Saber as married with Illya and Shirou as their children. Kiritusugu still visits and he stays with the kids during weekends and half of summer vacations, any further details is up to the author

Prisma Illya Kaleid Liner

vamp illya biting miyu, sfw.

Fate/Apocrypha

Sieg is literally cardboard. No questions asked.

smut, Problem: Thanks to the legends about his prowess, Astolfo's dick is big enough that he can't actually get it fully hard without passing out under normal circumstances; he fucks like a champion when possible, but the energy needed is too much for most to provide. Solution: Well, Sieg was made to be a magical energy battery, after all...

Fate/Extra

Hakuno and Rin in any context where they're not doomed by the narrative.

smut, Via some magecraft fuckery Nero's body temporarily changes into that of her evil alternate universe counterpart (mobile 3rd ascension draco) and her wives Hakunon and Tamamo try very hard not to spontaneously combust from lust on the spot

smut, Tamamo no Mae takes advantage of her shapeshift skill, grows a dick, and knots her Master.

Fate/Grand Order

the last scene of Lord Melloi II Case Files where Waver talks with Iskandar in his dream, except its Gudako and Romani

Guda + his partner where they are doomed by the narrative, angst

Olga in her last moments after defeating ORT looks at Ritsuka, she remembered, she remembered everything, she finally realized who she was, before becoming a beast, but its too late, again she is about to disappear and lose everything she worked so hard for

Since all hope is lost for Sita this time around I would like someone to find Rama collapsed (either drunk or just out of depression) and lead him back to his room. Some reminiscing on his wife if possible

Smut, Draco seeing Hakunon after so long shows affection the only way the beast of depravity could, by making Hakunon unleash her load inside her until her maestro's ball are empty

Medb and Emiya are sent to scout a new small singularity together, Emiya keeps getting annoyed at Medb complaining and Medb thinks Emiya is just a boring old man. Through their scouting mission they end up talking about their times alive, getting in trouble and getting to know each other. The girl who desired to be saved by a hero turned into a tyrant, and the boy that wanted to save others and become a hero, now nothing more than a machine. I think they compliment each other so well

medea is on her way back from picking up more craft material for her figure making hobby when she runs into mandricardo, she looks at this teenaged 30 year old man quivering with anxiety and decides hes cute in a mildly pathetic way and decides to take the sopping wet kitten of a man home, maybe its just her having a slight thing for stupid pathetic men but maybe she can help him with that

[baobhan sith voice] mash kyrielight did you fuck my mother

Gudako/Gorgon with some awesome size difference going on (or even edging into macro/micro) Gudako having her large and (terrifyingly) beautiful snirlfriend worshipping her tiny little Master :3

a more vore based version of SERAPH? Meltryllis having to watch as Kiara swallows Guda right in front of her, before being stuffed down the Beast's throat shortly after...

Smut, Ishtar getting her dick sucked by Gudako (or any other girl) and not paying attention to the time. Right when she hits her climax, the sun dips below the horizon, leaving Ereshkigal the one in charge of the body mid-orgasm.

Gorgon voring Robin Hood... Maybe Robin trying to shoot his shot romantically, and Gorgon deciding he's better off as a snack than a date.

Cleopatra/Caesar, preferably some smut with how Caesar historically loved to bottom

After finally ending the lostbelt saga all of chaldea and the servants make a celebration party that goes out of control.

Ritsuka and Cupid Caren being shippers hiding in trashcans to watch dates and matching up servant couples during valentine

Mash and Romani father daughter time! Maybe have him showing her his favorite movies

Tepeu gets DRUGGED

FGO again but tumblr has a character limit for bullet points and I can't trim the prompts any further so I'm splitting it in half

Gudako finally gets sick of Mandricardo’s constant whining and admits she thinks he’s worthless compared to most servants, and that she’s sick of hearing a middle aged man wallow in self pity

smut, boudica turning Nero into her cockslut

Modern AU, Gudako convices Draco to go on a date with her, draco being a cool rock musician

smut, Milf battle. Raikou and Tiamat fighting over Ritsuka. Wrestling, fight fucking, mommy kink.

Vinci Rider is kept awake at night by Vinci Caster loudly fucking Gudao (thinking they’re just wrestling or jumping on the bed)

Slight change of the rules of Chaldea is made so that rather than Arturia Lancer being her own person summoned separately, she's just Saber's mind in a different class container due to experimental magics. She also runs from the labs to Ishtar's room and tells her to put Rin in the driver's seat because Damn Rin, look how much my alter-ego was compressing into her breastplate. Breastplay/envy from both Rin and Ishtar follow, Arturia enjoys being taller and so on.

Tepeu and Kijyo become dinosaur friends

smut, guro, I want Medea to fuck Yan Qing, kill him, cut off his dick and walk around with his dick in her coochie for a week before she brings him back to life and tries to escalate from there.

I want Ritsuka to see Goetia using Romani body and going ballistic, punching the fucker until someone stops her because they know she is kill gonna him given the chance

AU where Flauros somehow got amnesia right after taking over Lev Lainur, causing the demon pillar to believe he's the human he's possessing

smut, how tf could Xiang Yu get pegged by his wife ?

It is Mother's day in Chaldea, and Ritsuka has now to make a party for all of their mom, wich are Da Vinci, Sheba, Raikou, Emiya, Tiamat, Dodrinya, Katou Danzo, Iri, Europa, Helena and Goredolf

smut, ntr, Ntr plot with Yu Mei Ren but the entire time she just complains about how Xiang Yu has a better cock and is nicer in bed, with an annoyed tone of voice.

Ok so in Pokemon, Ninetails (kitsune pokemon with, well, nine tails) has a pokedex entry that states that touching their tails leads to a curse. Anyway we take that, apply to Tamamo, ritsuka doesnt know the legend, and starts brushing her tail one day and unfortunately its curse of being horny. Tl;dr: touch tail get smashed by fox wife. Ritsuka wakes up dehydrated and exhausted the next day.

The GUDAGUDA Gang at Walmart, causing so much chaos. From arguments, fights, to even trying to get snacks on the highest shelf and causing the damn thing to fall-

Despite her best efforts, Barghest feels her instincts to devour her Master beginning to overpower her. The last thing she sees before she loses control is her Master pinned to a wall, looking up at her with a worried expression. When she wakes up the next day, she immediately despairs over what she did, only for her Master to pop up next to her. He comforts her and reassures her that she didn't hurt him, and he won't allow her to hurt him.

Blackbeard, Musashi, and Hokusai face punishment for being creeps towards children

U-olga getting summoned in Olympus rewritten to not just be a joke scene about how short and incompetent Olga is

smut, One of the lancer Artorias going for a horseback ride with Gudako. Except also Gudako is riding her huge dragon dick the whole way.

Guda being lovey dovey with Beast Nero and tiamat cockblocking them at every opportunity

smut, mozart being dommed by salieri and marie antoinette uwu

Castoria's dreams about Saber framed as cucking Knocknarea.

Guda gets to go Postal. Let them have an insane day. Attack people. Probably not any Chaldean staff but I think the servants can take it. Have an incredibly violent psychotic break in a singularity/lostbelt even. Use a badger as a weapon.

Dark Young Ritsuka is big and fluffy and a horrible abomination against nature whose mind is on the edge of sanity. How does everyone else react?

Guda secretly uses a command spell Nemo forcing him to take them to the imaginary numbers space where he suspects a certain someone is. Now knowing it is possible for him to make a contract with a Beast he plans on finding Olga, becoming her master and bringing her back to Chaldea, even if it means becoming an enemy of the human Order. Sadly for them, Alaya does not take this betrayal well and despite all their effort, it ends with Guda and Olga both dying fighting an army countless of servants in each other's arms

Wakchan/U-Olgamarie. Fluff or smut, I just want my dinoman to make the director happy.

Would It be possible to get Yu Mei Ren teaching Gudako to pole dance? (Yu's summer variant very much seems to confirm she knows how, based on her animations). Not intended to be Gudako/Yu, not a fan of NTR in the first place, but if the writer wants to make it some kind of Erotic that's up to them.

Crossover

Led by a transmission in the immediate aftermath of the Earth's bleaching, the remnants of Chaldea reach Baldanders, and are greeted by Sion Eltnam Sokaris, the last remaining member of the Atlas Institute and adoptive daughter of its director... alongside her wife, Riesbyfe Stridberg, a former captain of Knights of the Holy Church.

Crossover fic! Raikou FGO and Raikou Nioh 2 fuck!

Satsuki Yumizuka/Yu Mei-ren as a ship! preferably SFW

I just think heaven's hole demonic bodhisattva kiara sessyoin(fate go/extra) should meet with 'Throughout Heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one' satoru gojo(jujutsu kaisen). they should talk. they should fight. they should have hate sex. i want to see kiara tear through this man with her words and hands. maybe her demonic pillars as well

Mikya, Shirou, Shiki and Hakuno have a nice chat about their apocalyptically strong wives. Meanwhile Ryougi, Sakura, Arcueid and Beast Nero are having a small scale war to see who among them has the best husband

Guda and Beast Nero go on a double date with Hakuno and Normal Nero

smut, With new developments of FGO, Nero Beast has revealed her adult form and that who guided her to us was Hakuno. So after all that suffering she endured or girl deserve to be smashed by both Hakuno and Guda to relieve her stress!

Tepeu just hanging out in Tohno mansion in general, being a good guest to the household, still a dinosaur.

lumine & gudako should get together and have a few beers while they bitch about their brother/ male counterpart keeps hogging the spotlight.

Someone please make a Umineko/Fate crossover

Any fandom

Need more tentacles! Preferably with Gudako! Or Eresh! Or Mash! Or Shuten! Or any of the female cast!

Regardless of the paths they take, of the sacrifices they make, they always find comfort in each other. [Hurt/Comfort] (Shirou variants/Saber variants) No harem, but could reuse characters if doing them at a separate instances of time. Technically asking for a series of different Shirou/Saber pairings, but can also just be one pairing because that's a tall order. Would prefer to see at least Salter/Demiya (Or Edgemiya, whichever naming you prefer) because there's a lack of content for them.

Heartwarming Body Horror. I want a character's inhuman condition to be described, how much they're a monster in the shell of human form, really playing up the unnatural traits. Then I want another character to see all that and go "I love you." and give 'em a hug and kisses and maybe lewds. Shoot me in the feels.

Characters of your choice getting stuck in a cabin together with a storm outside

Pancakes lmao

#weekly roundup

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chauraha · 3 months ago

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"**The End of Hogswarth: A Chaotic Comedy of Errors**

*With Bumblee as the Antihero, Discworld’s Finest as the Bumbling Cast, Three Witches, and a Crowd Gone Mad*

Once upon a time, in the enchanted kingdom of Hogswarth, where nothing ever made much sense, a great disruption descended upon its hallowed halls. The kingdom was built on bird-song, enchanted scrolls, and an endless river of cats doing unmentionably cute things. The wizards, witches, and technical sorcerers of Hogswarth moved in delicate chaos, working on things no one understood, and talking about things that didn’t really matter.

But then, *He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named*—the one they called *Bumblee*—entered the kingdom. And when Bumblee arrived, Hogswarth’s delicate equilibrium shattered like an ill-cast spell.

---

### Chapter 1: **Bumblee Arrives, and Everything Immediately Goes Wrong**

It began with a loud clang as the doors of Hogswarth burst open, and Bumblee strode in with the confidence of a wizard who had once seen a spell work by accident. His eyes gleamed with excitement—or was it madness?—and he looked around at the bustling crowd of wizards and witches who were, at that very moment, desperately trying to look useful.

"Right!" Bumblee announced, cracking his knuckles in the most *un*wizard-like manner. "Time for some... change."

And that was when the panic began.

At the first sign of Bumblee's gaze landing on someone, the crowd erupted into chaos. Wizards who had spent their careers quietly mumbling incantations in dark corners suddenly began running about, summoning spells no one had asked for. One wizard conjured a flock of enchanted owls, hoping to prove his usefulness by showing off his "avian messaging system." The owls, however, had other plans, and immediately began dive-bombing the nearest enchanted espresso machine.

"You!" Bumblee shouted, pointing to a jittery man standing by the now-collapsing espresso machine. "What do you do?"

The man gulped, sweat pouring down his face. "I—I manage the Glitter and Sparkle Division! We ensure that every spell is... um... visually pleasing?"

"Fired!" Bumblee declared, waving him off. "We don't need sparkle. We need... action!"

Pandemonium erupted. Wizards began tossing out random spells and enchantments in the hopes of proving their worth. A puff of pink smoke filled the hall as a particularly desperate sorceress tried to enchant her own resume into Bumblee’s hands. Instead, it turned into a frog, which promptly hopped onto his foot.

"I don't have time for frogs!" Bumblee bellowed, kicking the poor amphibian into a corner.

A chorus of gasps echoed through the hall as a voice from the shadows murmured, “Ah, yes. The chaos begins.”

It was Lord Vetinari, perched on a high balcony, watching the scene unfold with his usual calm detachment. “Interesting. He’s either going to burn this place down or… no, just burn it down.”

---

### Chapter 2: **Rincewind and the Maddening Orb of Doom**

Down in the depths of the castle, Rincewind, Hogswarth's most nervous wizard, was frantically trying to manage the Orb of Continuity, the magical artifact that kept the entire kingdom's enchantments from imploding. The orb was glowing an ominous red, pulsing with each new catastrophic decision Bumblee made.

"Oh no," Rincewind muttered, pacing in tight circles. "Oh no no no no no..."

The crowd upstairs had begun to stampede in a rush to avoid being the next one sacked, their magical outbursts causing tremors that reverberated down to Rincewind’s lab. A particularly loud *thud* from the floor above caused a puff of dust to rain down, making Rincewind jump.

His hands trembled as he poked the orb with his wand. The red glow intensified, and a loud, echoing hum filled the chamber.

*Boom!* Another explosion from upstairs. This time, it was a crystal ball full of angry tweets from wizards who’d just been fired. Rincewind jumped again, nearly losing his hat.

"HELP!" Rincewind yelled, not really expecting help to arrive.

Sure enough, the Librarian, Hogswarth’s stoic orangutan and IT savior, appeared silently at his side. Without a word, the Librarian thumped the orb with his massive, hairy fist. The glow dimmed, and the hum faded.

"Oook," the Librarian grunted, rolling his eyes at Rincewind.

"Thanks," Rincewind wheezed. "You know, one of these days, I’m just going to pack up and run."

"Oook," replied the Librarian, which Rincewind took to mean *You’ve been saying that for years.*

---

### Chapter 3: **Moist von Lipwig Spins the Chaos**

Meanwhile, in the Grand Hall of Deception—also known as the PR Department—Moist von Lipwig was in his element. Watching the panic and madness unfold around him, Moist knew one thing for certain: if ever there was a time to spin a disaster into a glorious success, this was it.

"People of Hogswarth!" Moist bellowed, addressing the magical floating mirrors that broadcast his face across the kingdom. "Fear not! This is not chaos—it’s *progress!* Bumblee is leading us into a bold new era!"

Behind him, Bumblee could be seen clambering atop a stack of magical scrolls, waving a rusty sword like an overly enthusiastic squire who’d just been handed his first piece of armor. Sparks flew from a severed orb cable, and several wizards fled from the scene in sheer terror.

Moist smiled through gritted teeth. "As you can see, everything is perfectly under control."

A particularly loud crash from Bumblee’s direction caused Moist’s eye to twitch.

"Just a minor... adjustment!"

Vetinari, watching from his perch, raised an eyebrow. "Dishonest honesty. He does it well."

---

### Chapter 4: **The Witches and Their Prophecy**

Far above the castle, atop a tower where no sane wizard would dare venture, three witches stood around a cauldron, cackling madly. Their wild hair whipped about in the wind as they peered into the swirling depths of the brew.

"When shall we three meet again?" asked the first witch, her voice full of glee.

"When Bumblee’s plans fall apart, and Hogswarth doth strain!" replied the second, grinning a wicked grin.

The third witch, who had a bit more sense than the other two, squinted into the cauldron. "I see chaos… and cats. Lots of cats. And… ooh, sherry! We’ll need sherry for this."

Their cackles echoed across the night sky, mingling with the sounds of Hogswarth’s desperate employees scrambling for their jobs.

---

### Chapter 5: **Bumblee’s Sword of Disaster**

Down in the depths of Hogswarth, Bumblee had gotten his hands on a rusty sword (where he found it, no one knew, nor dared to ask). He was now using it to "fix" things. Specifically, he was using it to prod at the kingdom’s magical orbs that powered *everything.*

"How hard can it be?" Bumblee muttered, jabbing the sword into a particularly important-looking orb. "I’ve done bigger stuff than this."

With each poke, sparks flew, and the orb groaned ominously. Bumblee took this as a good sign and kept jabbing.

In the background, wizards fled as columns of smoke began to rise. The few who hadn’t yet been fired were frantically throwing spells at random objects, trying to prove their worth.

"Look, I can summon a pigeon!" one wizard cried, as a flock of angry birds erupted from his wand.

Another wizard, who had somehow conjured a rain of sausages, looked in confusion at his wand. "That’s not supposed to happen..."

---

### Chapter 6: **Nanny Ogg Tweets the Kingdom into Madness**

While all this unfolded, Nanny Ogg had taken control of the kingdom’s enchanted messaging system. From her perch in the Great Hall, she tapped furiously at the magical interface, sending out absurd messages to the kingdom at large.

> “Aye, me lovelies! If yer spells are a bit wonky, just give ’em a good smack! #HedgehogsRule #Bumblee’sMuckingThingsUp #JustAddSherry”

Her bizarre and rambling messages quickly spread across Hogswarth, and before long, the entire kingdom was buzzing with confused excitement. Everyone was retweeting her nonsense, despite not understanding a single word of it.

"Good fun, this," Nanny said with a wink, taking a swig of sherry. "Chaos keeps things interesting!"

---

### Chapter 7: **The Glorious Collapse (But Hogswarth Still Stands?)**

In the heart of the chaos, Bumblee stood triumphantly atop a pile of magical scrolls, his rusty sword in hand, surveying the wreckage. Smoke rose from broken orbs, wizards fled in every direction, and yet... Hogswarth still stood.

Vetinari appeared beside him, as he always did, calm and unbothered. "Curious, isn’t it?" Vetinari mused.

"What?" Bumblee asked, still jabbing at things with his sword.

"That Hogswarth hasn’t collapsed."

“Exactly!" Bumblee said, misinterpreting completely. "All part of the plan."

Vetinari raised an eyebrow so high it almost reached his hairline. "Yes. I imagine *everything* going wrong was precisely what you intended."

Bumblee, oblivious to the sarcasm, nodded vigorously. "Sometimes, you have to break things to make progress! Tear it all down and rebuild stronger!" He gave the orb another poke with the sword for good measure. Sparks flew, but the orb, stubborn like the rest of Hogswarth, simply sputtered and kept glowing.

"See?" Bumblee grinned. "Still standing."

Rincewind, who had finally managed to untangle himself from a particularly stubborn set of scrolls, stumbled into the room, wild-eyed and panting. "It’s still running!" he gasped. "I don’t know how, but it is!"

The Librarian, standing beside a smoldering heap of what was once a server cabinet, gave a resigned "Oook" and calmly thumped another malfunctioning orb back into working order. If anyone noticed the fur starting to smolder on his arm, they were smart enough not to mention it.

---

### Chapter 8: **The Crowd Goes Wild (Literally)**

Meanwhile, the remaining wizards and witches, still in a blind panic over being the next to lose their jobs, had descended into a full-blown magical riot. One wizard, in his desperation to appear useful, had summoned a small army of rabbits, which now flooded the hallways in a stampede of fluffy chaos.

"I’m essential!" he shouted, his robes billowing dramatically as he tried to chase down the stampede of bunnies. "You need me!"

Another witch, eyes wide with terror, stood in the center of the Grand Atrium waving her wand wildly. "I can do anything! Potions, spells, transformations! I’ll turn this place into a tea cozy if I have to!"

The crowd surged around her, dodging the flying potions and accidentally transforming bits of furniture into alarmingly large teacups. Someone in the back yelled, "I’ll handle marketing! Look! I can sell anything!" and promptly enchanted a broomstick to sing its own praises in rhyme. The broomstick, unimpressed by its newfound sales pitch, promptly swept him into a corner.

Moist von Lipwig, somehow managing to stay on top of it all, was busy spinning the mayhem into something vaguely resembling order. "This is exactly what Hogswarth needed!" Moist called out, grinning as enchantments crashed down around him. "Bumblee’s shaking things up! Fresh ideas, fresh spells—it's all part of the transformation!"

"That," said Vetinari, who had strolled up beside Moist, "is the most creative use of the word 'transformation' I have ever heard. Truly, you are wasted here."

Moist flashed a grin, one eye twitching. "Survival, my lord. It’s all about survival."

---

### Chapter 9: **The Witches' Final Prophecy**

Far above, on the tower where no sane person ventured, the three witches watched the chaos unfold below with gleeful cackles.

"Look at them down there!" cackled the first witch. "Like a cauldron that’s just about to boil over!"

The second witch squinted down at the scene. "Aye, and boil over it shall. I see frogs, rabbits, flying teacups, and... ooh, what's that? Is that a broom trying to sell itself?"

The third witch, who was by far the most practical of the trio, swirled her hand over the cauldron again. "Aye, but still Hogswarth doth stand. Against all odds, against all chaos, the castle remains. They may stumble, they may crumble, but they’ll always bumble." She smiled. "It's written in the stars—or in the magical contract."

The first witch cackled, throwing her hands up to the sky. "What’s next, then? Shall we cackle some more? Or perhaps brew a potion for luck!"

The second witch grinned. "Nay, sister. I think Bumblee needs no help with luck. Chaos, it seems, is his friend."

---

### Chapter 10: **The Aftermath**

As the chaos began to settle (or, more accurately, burn itself out), Bumblee stood victorious atop the heap of enchanted scrolls, a wild grin on his face. Smoke wafted from several corners of the castle, but the orb continued to hum along, refusing to collapse, as though Hogswarth itself knew that no matter how many mistakes Bumblee made, it would survive.

"See?" Bumblee said, wiping soot from his brow. "I told you. Sometimes you’ve got to break a few spells to make progress."

Rincewind, still shaking, stumbled up to Bumblee. "But you broke *everything!*"

"Exactly!" Bumblee said, clapping him on the shoulder, causing Rincewind to jump about five feet into the air. "And yet, here we are! Hogswarth lives on!"

From the shadows, Vetinari watched, smiling his thin, calculating smile. "It appears, against all reason and logic, you’ve managed to not destroy the kingdom." He turned to leave, his robes swirling behind him. "A remarkable feat of incompetence that has somehow achieved... survival."

As Bumblee watched Vetinari disappear into the smoky halls, he puffed out his chest and raised his rusty sword high into the air. "Hogswarth shall rise again!"

In the distance, the faint sound of the witches’ cackles echoed through the night, as Nanny Ogg tweeted out her final message of the day:

> “Well, me lovelies, that’s that! Chaos begets chaos, and chaos keeps us going! #BumbleeBumbledIt #StillStanding #JustAddSherry”

And so, Hogswarth remained. Not exactly *thriving,* but certainly still standing. Through flying teacups, enchanted brooms, bunnies, frogs, and magical scrolls, it endured. Bumblee, having made more mistakes than anyone thought possible, somehow kept the castle together — if only because the castle was too stubborn to collapse under its own chaos.

---

### Epilogue: **Hogswarth: The Eternal Bumbling Kingdom**

In the end, Hogswarth didn’t crumble. It didn’t soar to new heights, either. Instead, it bumbled on, just as it always had, a magical kingdom defined by its glorious, incomprehensible madness.

And Bumblee? Well, he remained a hero in his own mind, convinced that breaking everything was just part of the master plan. After all, sometimes chaos isn’t a disaster. Sometimes, it’s just... Hogswarth.

And in Hogswarth, chaos was the only thing holding it all together.

The End. (Or, as the witches would say, "Not yet. There’s always more chaos to come.")

#twitter #end story #staff firing #elon musk

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armenelols · 3 years ago

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There isn't enough appreciation for Elrond's and Isildur's friendship.

I think much of this comes from the movies, where our only image of Isildur is his 'no' and Elrond yelling 'Isildur!', and then we see him die because he dives into the river while running away from a battle because the One Ring falls from his finger. Sure, there is some scroll Gandalf reads, but it only makes Isildur seem even more obsessed with the Ring than he already seemed. Add to that Aragorn's rambling about how he and Isildur share blood and weakness and you've got the perfect receipt for evil Isildur and 'cast it into the fire' memes.

Movie!Elrond's 'men are weak' really isn't helping.

So to start with, I think it is necessary to say that I am talking about book!Elrond and book!Isildur here, and while I don't recall either of them calling the other friend, it's a headcanon I have and it is to some extent supported by the books.

In the chapter The Disaster of the Gladden Fields in Unfinished Tales, Isildur shares a few exchanges with his son, Elendur, that I would like to show here.

Elendur went to his father, who was standing dark and alone, as if lost in thought. 'Atarinya,' he said, 'what of the power that would cow these foul creatures and command them to obey you? Is it then of no avail?'

'Alas, it is not, senya. I can not use it. I dread the pain of touching it. And I have not yet found the strength to bend it to my will. It needs one greater than I know myself to be. My pride has fallen. It should go to the Keepers of the Three.'

And later in the chapter:

'My king,' said Elendur, 'Ciryon is dead and Aratan is dying. Your last counsellor must advise, nay command you, as you commanded Ohtar. Go! Take your burden, and at all cost bring it to the Keepers: even at the cost of abandoning your men and me!'

'King's son,' said Isildur, 'I knew that I must do so; but I feared the pain. Nor could I go without your leave. Forgive me, and my pride that has brought you to this doom.'

Earlier in the chapter, we also get this passage talking about Isildur:

When he at last felt free to return to his own realm he was in haste, and he wished to go first to Imladris; for he had left his wife and youngest son there, and he had moreover and urgent need for the counsel of Elrond.

Nearer to the end of the chapter, when talking about Isildur's death, Tolkien writes this:

There suddenly he knew that the Ring had gone. By chance, or chance well used, it had left his hand and gone where he could never hope to find it again. At first so overwhelming was his sense of loss that he struggled no more, and would have sunk and drowned. But swift as it had come the mood passed. The pain had left him. A great burden had been taken away. There he rose up out of the water: only a mortal man, a small creature lost and abandoned in the wilds of Middle-Earth. But to the night-eyed Orcs that lurked there on the watch he loomed up, a monstrous shadow of fear, with a piercing eye like a star. They loosed their poisoned arrows at it, and fled.

And last from this chapter, this bit about the Ring itself:

It was little more than two years since it had left his [Sauron's] hand, and though it was swiftly cooling it was still heavy with his evil will, and seeking all means to return to its lord.

So what does this tell us? And in addition, where was I coming to with Elrond & Isildur friendship?

1. For all of Isildur's refusal to give up the Ring after the war ended here:

'Alas! yes,' said Elrond. 'Isildur took it, as should not have been. It should have been cast then into Orodruin's fire nigh at hand where it was made. But few marked what Isildur did. He alone stood by his father in that last mortal contest; and by Gil-galad only Círdan stood, and I. But Isildur would not listen to our counsel.

' "This I will have as weregild for my father, and my brother," he said; and therefore whether we would or no, he took it to treasure it.

- The Council of Elrond, Fellowship of the Ring

Isildur realized he was wrong. The Ring was still at its most evil, and it wanted to corrupt him, it wanted to go back to Sauron, yet Isildur resisted enough to be able to almost give up the Ring willingly or at least consider it.

When he was slain, he was already taking the Ring to Elrond. Whether he would have the strength to do it later, he resisted the Ring enough to at least consider it. How many would be able to do so? Of course, there was the factor of the very touch of the Ring paining him, but compared with the Ring's will, that's hardly enough to convince a man to give it up.

And at last, when the Ring slipped from his finger, he did not dive after it. He gave it up, and swam away; and even as the orcs killed him, they killed him a free man.

2. He was bringing the Ring to Elrond. At the very beginning I said this post is about Elrond's and Isildur's friendship, and finally, I am talking about it.

It should go to the Keepers of the Three, Isildur says of the Ring - and for that, he would have to know who the Keepers are, or at least know of someone who knows. And it is said repeatedly that he seeks Elrond's counsel, that he goes to Imladris; did he know Elrond has Vilya?

The location of the Three is one of the greatest secrets kept from Sauron, and it is said many times that almost no one knew of it. Did Isildur know, suspect? In addition to this, Elendur seems to have the same knowledge, which, as he is repeatedly called Isildur's greatest confidant, isn't much of a wonder.

All in all, Isildur either connected the dots well enough to realize that out of all high elven lords, it is Elrond bears a ring of power (and Isildur is clever, this is a possibility); or Elrond was not careful enough and Isildur figured it out from his missteps (which, considering Elrond's experience with cursed jewellery isn't very likely); or Elrond gave him hints on purpose; or he just. Straight up told him.

The last two options seem to be most likely to me, which brings me to Elrond trusting Isildur enough to reveal such a secret to him, which leads me to my Elrond and Isildur are friends agenda.

Should the first option be true, props to Isildur for figuring it out by himself without any clues from Elrond other than him being important. Should Isildur be bringing the Ring to Elrond in hopes that Elrond knows who the Keepers of the Three are, without knowing Elrond is one of them, it still shows Isildur trusted Elrond enough to bring him the Ring even for temporary keeping.

(there is also the matter of whether Isildur knows the other Keepers of the Three, as he mentions them a few times, but never enough to indicate if he knows who they are)

3. Parallels. It is said that Elendil and Gil-galad, the two high kings of their people are friends. Is it really so unlikely that Elrond, Gil-galad's herald (and possibly heir, even though he took no crown), and most trusted advisor besides Círdan; and Isildur, the heir of Elendil the Tall and his second in command, would strike a friendship?

The Isildur we are presented with is both bold and wise - he saves the fruit of the White Tree of Númenor alone because it needs to be done, and then he does it again, and he does it because it's the best for his people. He takes the Ring, and tries to make it listen to him, and realizes he made a mistake; he tries to fix it, and wants to bring it to Elrond.

The Isildur we are presented with has courage, and wisdom, and hope.

Do you know what does this remind me of?

Edain. Their ideals. The reasons why they got the gift of Númenor, greater wisdom, longer lives.

They resisted the evil, no matter how strong; they were loyal, true to their beliefs, brave and courageous.

Elros was chosen as the king of the Edain and really, I highly doubt Edain would choose him as a king just because of his heritage, or because someone told them to do so. Sure, someone could have pointed out Elros to them and say 'hey, look at this dude, he could be a nice king, what do you think?' but in the end, while they might start following Elros because someone else told them, I doubt they would let themselves be led by someone who wasn't the best representation of them. In Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth, Andreth does not shy away from telling Finrod her beliefs, the beliefs of her people. And I don't think that changed with time.

What am I trying to say? I think Elros and Isildur were both similar in many ways, in ways that made them the leaders they were - and that in a way, Elrond saw Elros in Isildur, as well as himself; for Elrond still connected strongly with his mortal kin, and as I mentioned earlier, their political positions were similar.

And while Isildur was his own person and had done things neither Elros or Elrond would have done, and had his own good and bad qualities, it doesn't erase the similarities.

4. Aragorn was raised in Rivendell, by his mother and Elrond and his people. Of all the people there, it is easy to see which ones would influence him the most: Gilraen, Elrond, Elladan, Elrohir. It is repeatedly shown how close he was to them. To some extent we may include Glorfindel, for they were friends, but not as much as the above mentioned four.

Now, as Estel, he wasn't aware of his heritage. He is shown to be proud of his heritage, of his descend from Isildur; and yes, this could be a simple pride in one's ancestors. It could have been that he simply liked Isildur as a historical legendary figure and it became greater after he learnt of his descend from him. Or it could have been that he was told many tales of Isildur, of his deeds and personality, and his family, and decided I want to be like him, and like Elendil, even without knowing he was in any way related to them.

And really, when it comes to the above-mentioned people, who would be the most likely to tell him stories of Isildur? Gilraen who only knew him from stories, or Glorfindel who was never mentioned around Isildur in the books, or Elladan and Elrohir, born after Isildur's death, who could have any number of first-hand stories about hundreds of Aragorn's cool ancestors but not Isildur himself?

All I am saying is there is a potential for Elrond to be telling stories of his old friend Isildur and Elendil and Gil-galad to Estel, and Estel loving them.

There is also the fact that in the chapter The Disaster of the Gladden Fields, Elendur, Isildur's son, is said to be very similar to Aragorn. And I love the idea of Elrond's and Isildur's sons paralleling each other, in a strange way, thousands of years apart.

5. In the books themselves, we do no see Elrond speaking about Isildur much. (I checked almost every mention of Isildur in most of my Tolkien books. So yeah.) On the Council of Elrond, Elrond talks about Isildur the most, but it is mainly in historical manner and 'the Ring should have been destroyed that day' manner, as you can see in the passage from the book I mentioned above in point 1.

This doesn't tell us much about their relationship, much less their friendship - and thus as a source for my image of them as friends, I give the place to The Disaster of the Gladden Fields, thinking they would make a good duo, and the potential of how Isildur's death may have had affected Elrond.

Isildur's death was unexpected. No one expected the road not to be safe - there is a reason why Isildur and his men were unprepared for a battle. They were simply journeying on a familiar road, to Rivendell and then Arnor. Not even the Orcs that ambushed them knew of the Ring. In Rivendell, they learnt of what happened only thanks to Ohtar, Isildur's squire who survived; and even then, the specific circumstances of his death were not revealed until Aragorn found Elendilmir and the chain which bore the Ring among Saruman's things.

In all honesty, I don't think even Elrond knew Isildur planned on giving him the Ring. I do not doubt he expected him, for his wife and youngest son were in Imladris - but I found no reason as to why he might know of Isildur's plans with the Ring.

That could give him a reason to speak ill of Isildur, couldn't it? Yet when he speaks of him, he only speaks of facts and what should have been done - he doesn't call Isildur too weak to give up the ring, or power-hungry, or proud - and by the latter, Isildur calls himself several times (as can be seen here, in the passages I used above)

It needs one greater than I know myself to be. My pride has fallen.

And here:

Forgive me, and my pride that has brought you to this doom.

And yes, it was a formal Council - Elrond had no reason to speak of his personal feelings towards Isildur. Yet I think the little he said reflects his thoughts well. He might have felt some bitterness towards him, especially as he later learnt what the Ring's nature truly was; and especially as he had no knowledge of Isildur being willing to give the Ring to him, for better or worse, whether he would find the strength to do so or not.

Still, once Elrond learnt of the Ring's Nature, I think he might have understood Isildur better - especially as he himself did not dare to even touch the Ring.

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kuroopaisen · 4 years ago

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tiny love || iv

➵ as tooru’s younger sister, falling in love with iwaizumi hajime was easy. iwaizumi ultimately decided to rebuff you. but that was a year ago - things are different now. and you have other things to worry about.

warnings: f!reader

wc: 2.6k

m.list | ch. 3 ↞ ch. 4↠ ch. 5

“Are you sure you’d be okay with that, Tooru?” You asked, trying to keep your voice as normal as possible.

Your heart stuttered in your chest. You were sat on the edge of your bed, phone pressed to your ear and fist twisted up in your sheets. There was a chill in the air that wouldn’t have bothered you under normal circumstances.

But after those words had left your brother’s mouth, something about the room felt sharp.

“I’m the one who suggested it, aren’t I?” Tooru chuckled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

You bit the inside of your cheek, pain blossoming through the muscle. “I don’t know,” you mumbled. “I just didn’t think you’d be comfortable with me living with one of your friends.”

“Iwa’s a good guy,” he said. You could hear the smile in his voice. “Besides, you guys have known each other for ages. He’ll look after you, I’m sure of it.”

You chewed on your lip for a moment, at a total loss of what to say.

“It’s not like he’s going to try and get in your pants or anything,” Tooru snorted.

Godzilla. The couch in your family’s entertainment room. The warmth of his lips on yours.

But you couldn’t tell Tooru about any of that. Although, the moment he’d suggested you move in with Iwaizumi almost made you crack.

By some stroke of bad luck – or perhaps as the set-up for some cosmic joke – you’d gotten into the same university as the boy you’d been so enamoured with as a seventeen-year-old. And you’d genuinely had no idea.

But it was too late to change your plans. You’d already gotten a scholarship, and you were sure you parents wouldn’t forgive you if you pulled out now. Even if your instincts were telling you to do just that.

“Have you spoken to him about this?” You asked. Perhaps this was your out. If Iwaizumi wasn’t all for it, then there was absolutely no reason for you to agree with it. Right?

“Yeah,” Tooru said. “He’s all for it.”

You frowned. Iwaizumi? Okay with this? Even though he was the one who’d decided that you needed to distance yourselves from each other?

But… it’s been a year. And he’s been a university student living in another country. A lot had probably changed for him.

A lot had changed for you.

And as much as you wanted to deny it, there were benefits to living with Iwaizumi, at least for one semester.

Moving to America is scarier than you’re willing to admit. The thought of living with an unknown roommate in a country you’d never stepped foot in before had kept you up at night a few times.

What if you hated each other? What if something went horribly, terribly wrong and you were left stranded? What if they were a creep?

At least Iwaizumi was a known quantity. One that you hadn’t necessarily left it on terrible terms one; just awkward ones.

“You still there?” Tooru’s voice shocked you back to the present moment.

“Oh, yeah,” you cleared your throat, “is his LINE still the same?”

“Sure is!”

Your throat felt dry. “I’ll call him later.”

You twisted your fists in your bedsheets, a weird knot forming in your stomach.

“Good,” Tooru hummed. “I think it’ll be good for you. You don’t need to be completely alone when you first move over there.”

Guilt twisted in your chest. You knew why he was saying that. He’d told you just how lonely those first few months in Argentina had been.

He didn’t want that for you. That’s why he’d suggested this damn roommates idea.

If only he knew.

“That’d be good,” you said. It wasn’t a lie.

Another thought sat at the back of your throat, forcing its way out.

“Tooru, I… I don’t know if I’m ready for it.”

Your voice was painfully quiet as you finally breathed life into the one fear you didn’t want to admit. You hadn’t even mentioned this to Amaya. But you knew you could trust Tooru with this – perhaps, he might even be able to say something useful.

“You’ll be fine,” he said, his tone as gentle as he could muster. “I didn’t think I was ready, either.”

“I figured,” you grinned. For all his bravado at the airport, a few dozen follow-up phone calls had really sowed that idea in your mind.

Tooru scoffed. “Here I am, trying to be a good older brother—”

“Sorry, sorry,” you laughed. “I appreciate the attempt.”

“You know, you’d think that me moving half way across the world would be enough to get you to finally be nice to me,” Tooru sighed, and you don’t need to see him to know that he was running a hand through his hair dramatically. “But alas… I’m doomed to be mistreated by my very own sister.”

“Have you considered being less dramatic?” You teased. “Then maybe I’d take you a bit more seriously.”

You held the phone away from your ear as Tooru started his tirade,

“If I’m being completely honest,” he said, his tone now much heavier than before, “I thought I was making a big mistake for a second there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Two weeks in and I wanted to run back home. I wondered if I could really do this.”

A part of your brain told you to be surprised. Another part told you that of course he’d be frightened.

Tooru is just a human, not some superhuman who’s above mortal concerns – no matter how much he tried to hide that fact.

“Turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.”

A gentle, relieved silence settled between the two of you, the only sound the distant din of traffic from Tooru’s end of the phone.

“I’m glad to hear it,” you murmured. Sincerity was rare between the two of you, but you weren’t about to pretend to be anything but relieved.

“Trust me, it’s going to be fine,” Tooru sighed. “And if it doesn’t end up working out, you’ve still got time. You’re young. And you’ve got a home to go back to.”

You searched for the comfort in those words as best you could. But you couldn’t find any. He hadn’t intended it, but within those words was a little reminder that you might fail. That you might not even come close to the brilliance that is Oikawa Tooru.

“Thanks, Tooru,” if all you could say. He’s just trying to be helpful.

“Besides, if it all goes to shit, you can join me in Argentina!” His voice was a tad more gleeful than you would’ve liked.

“I don’t think I’ll be doing that,” you chuckled.

“Aw,” he whined, “why not?”

“You’d be such a helicopter parent.”

Tooru gasped, the sound piercing over the phone line. “I would not!”

“You would!” You laughed. “You’d meddle in everything?”

“And?” He scoffed. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“Yes!” You protested. “I’m not a child anymore.”

“Ah, well you see,” Tooru tutted. “That’s where you’re wrong. You’ll always be a child to me.”

You rolled your eyes, a comfortable feeling of familiarity settling in your chest. Suddenly, your room doesn’t feel so cold. “I didn’t answer your call just to be coddled.”

“You should be used to it by now.”

“You know, whenever I start to miss you, I’m going to remind myself of this.”

“You are so mean to me!” Tooru wailed.

The bickering went on, an endless cycle of well-worn insults and epithets. But the conversation had to come to an end. You knew you couldn’t put off contacting him any longer.

Eventually you ended the call, holding the phone to your ear for a couple of moments after it was over.

You sighed, letting it drop onto the bed. You flopped back in tandem, staring up at your roof.

Life really was just one big joke, huh?

Although, you wished you understood what the punchline was.

✧ ✧ ✧

You stared at Iwaizumi’s LINE profile a little longer than you should’ve.

It’d been a couple of hours since you’d ended your call with Tooru, and you’d only just worked up the courage.

In your defence, you hadn’t been planning on this. You’d expected to have a very different phone call with a complete stranger, deciding from a handful of phone conversations as to whether or not they were trustworthy enough to live with.

But there you were, about to call The Iwaizumi Hajime.

It’d be fine, right? That little heartbreak had happened well over a year ago now. It’s irrelevant. And you’re well and truly over it.

Not that the thought of calling him didn’t make you feel like you were about to throw up from nerves.

God, why did it feel like you were about to sit an exam?

No, you weren’t going to let your anxiety get the better of you. Not when your education was – sort of – at stake.

With a heavy sigh, you clicked the little call icon and held the phone up to your ear.

The ringing sounded like a death march.

“Hello?” Iwaizumi’s unmistakable voice crackled through your speaker.

Yeah, you definitely felt like you were about to throw up. “Hello.”

The line fell silent.

You bit your lip. Maybe you shouldn’t have done this. Maybe you should’ve just lied and told Tooru that you’d already worked out lodgings. Sure, there’d be a last-minute scramble to get something in place before your parents caught wind of your little lie and—

“How are you?” The words were a little gruff, a little awkward.

This was going to be a very long conversation. You could feel it in your bones.

“I’m alright,” you said, trying to keep your voice as level as possible. “How about you?”

“I’m doing pretty good,” he said. There’s something different about his voice. Maybe it was a little deeper than when you’d last spoken? Or maybe you were imagining it.

Truth be told, you can’t really remember what he sounded like.

“That’s… good to hear,” you said, a paltry attempt at an implied olive branch.

“Yeah, uh…” He cleared his throat. He was probably scratching the back of his neck as he spoke. You hated yourself for even assuming. “Things have been going well.”

A long silence followed. A very painful silence.

A silence, you realised, that you had to break.

“What are you studying?” You asked. A nice, neutral question.

“Exercise science.” The response was immediate. Was that… relief in his voice?

“Oh, really?” You blinked.

“Yeah,” he said. “You sound surprised.”

Your mouth hung open for a moment, searching for a response. But nothing felt adequate enough. Did you really sound surprised? Why did you feel the need to defend yourself?

“I mean I…” You bit your lip, frowning. “I don’t know, I just… wouldn’t have picked that for you.”

Did he just chuckle? You could’ve sworn you heard a chuckle.

“What would you have picked for me, then?” He asked.

“I…” You racked your brain, trying to stitch together all the knowledge you had of the boy – no, the man on the other end of the phone. “I have no idea, actually.”

He distinctively chuckled that time. Damn the swell of pride in your chest.

“Why exercise science?” You asked, genuinely curious.

“It’s the only chance I have of beating Oikawa.”

It’s so instantaneous and ludicrous that you laughed.

“That… doesn’t make much sense, but okay,” you smiled. You were well-aware of the competitive edge that ran through their friendship. Good to see that hadn’t faded, at least.

“You’ll see,” he promised. “Just you wait.”

You chuckled in response as another silence settled over the two of you.

What was there to say? What did you want to say? It’d been so long that you weren’t even sure.

“So…” Iwaizumi said, voice unusually tentative. “Oikawa told me you’re coming out here.”

“Yeah,” you nodded. That’s right. That’s the whole reason you were calling him.

“That’s a big move,” he marvelled, as if he hadn’t done the exact thing he was talking about.

“I know,” you murmured. “I’m kind of scared.”

“What of?”

“I don’t know,” you admitted. Perhaps your lips were looser than they should’ve been. “I just… I’ll be in a whole new country. Alone.”

“I see.” There’s something comforting about his voice. Something stable. He’d always been a good listener, hadn’t he?

“And… it gets more daunting the closer it gets.”

“Mhm.”

“And I’m scared I’ll regret it.” There it was. The one fear that you hadn’t admitted to anyone else – not Amaya, not your parents, not Tooru.

“Why?” Iwaizumi asked.

“I don’t know, I…” You bit your lip, a frown settling on your face.

Now you’d given that fear a voice, you understood it less. Wasn’t the opposite supposed to happen?

“Do you regret moving so far away from home?” You asked.

Iwaizumi wasn’t Tooru. He wasn’t driven by the same insatiability. He had his ambitions, yes, but he didn’t break his back trying to reach for them. Maybe, just maybe, that meant he’d be easier to understand.

“Sometimes,” he admitted.

“Ah.” Not quite the answer you wanted to hear.

“But…” he sighed, “it’s been a good experience.”

“So… a net positive?”

“I’d say so,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of experiences I’m grateful for.”

“Right,” you nodded.

“I heard you got a scholarship,” he said.

“Did Tooru brag about that?” You groaned, running a hand down your face and bending over your knees.

“Sure did,” Iwaizumi chuckled. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” you sighed, biting back the urge to say, ‘it’s not a big deal.’ The last time you’d said that, Amaya had shot you quite the glare.

You swallowed roughly, looking down at your feet.

One deep breath, and it would be time.

“So…” you started, the back of your neck prickling. “Tooru said he’d spoken to you about me… potentially moving in with you?”

“Yeah, he did.”

Ah. Nice and blunt.

“Would you… be alright with that?” You asked, hands a little clammier than before. “I wouldn’t want to impose…”

“Well, I don’t like the idea of just dropping you in America with nowhere to go, so… the offer’s open.”

He sounded honest, at least. Not that you had reason to believe he would be anything but.

“Right,” you nodded. “Thanks.” You licked your lips, trying to stop your nerves from getting the better of you. “I appreciate it,” you added, unsure of how strange that might be to say.

“Not a problem.”

You couldn’t tell if he was lying or not.

“I can send you the information over email,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“The lease and stuff like that. Also, the address so you can actually see where it is.”

“Oh, right…” you swallowed. “Yeah, that’d be useful.”

“Alright, I’ll get that ready for you.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled. “I need to discuss this with my parents, so I’ve got to go…”

“All good,” Iwaizumi said. “Talk to you later.”

“Yeah,” you sighed, lowering the phone from your ear and tapping the red ‘END CALL’ icon.

You tossed your phone at your pillow, watching it land with a muffled ‘thump’. It pinged with a notification – probably Iwaizumi asking for your email, you realised.

Fuck. Shit. Fuck.

You groaned as you flopped back onto your bed for the second time that evening.

What was going on? How had you ended up in this situation? Which cosmic force had it in for you?

Everything was so confusing.

One thing was for certain, though.

Amaya’s going to kill you.

✧ ✧ ✧

a/n: hhhhhh thank you for your kind words about the last chapter! this one is also unbeta’d but Oh Well

#iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi hajime x reader #iwaizumi x you #iwaizumi hajime x you #iwaizumi hajime #haikyuu x reader #tiny love

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purplerose244 · 4 years ago

Text

My thoughts on Seabound!!! 🌊🌊🌊 (2/4)

SPOILERS ALERT!!!

For now, nothing to complain about! We got Nya, we got MAYA AND RAY, we got GILES PANTON BACK A LEGO SHOW!!! 😍😍😍

Of course now I'm definitely curious about what the story is really about, like I'm guessing Wojira will wake up at some point so... Great Devourer all over again maybe? 😅 Idk, for now I just wanna enjoy Nya having her moment 🥳

Alright, here we go!

GENERAL THOUGHTS

New alert for reader, during the Nexo Knights period I was and still am the hugest Clay fan. Now that his voice is in this season I might scream more than necessary... keep that in mind 😅

I love the humor in this, all random but still kinda clever 😂😂 Maybe I'm biased because I love Jay but still 🤷‍♀️

I really like the design of the marine world, very cool!! 🌊🌊🌊

I guess I'm not really seeing any big plot twist moment for now? Ninjago seasons have history of basing seasons on a "we need to prevent this event from happening but it will happen anyway", so I can see Wojira waking up no matter what 🤷‍♀️

I wonder if that will be shocking? Usually when this situation happen, someone makes a major sacrifice (Zane with the Overlord, sensei Garmaron with Chen, again sensei G with the Preeminent...). Maybe Maya? I DON'T WANT THAT 😭 But I am curious, everything is going nicely and I'm not sure what it will bring! 🤩 I'M EXCITED SO LET'S GO!!!

THE WRATH OF KALMAAR

So this is the name of Clay's new incarnation, neat! 👍

Okay really, for having a season lately the main character just can't help but be trapped by the villain: kinda Zane in the ICE Chapter, Jay in Prime Empire, Cole in Master of the Mountain... we can call it a tradition at this point 🤷‍♀️

Giant serpent, yadda yadda, I wonder if we're gonna address the Great Devourer at some point? Not mandatory, but the reference would be very cool 🤩

Clay's new incarnation is a prince I- *hyperventilates in awe*

Nya playing dumb lol, I don't know if that's personal experience as she used to get kidnapped a lot in the past or she just have too many idiots in her life 😂

ALSO ANOTHER BEST GIRL'S SMIRK

NYA YOU'RE TOO MUCH ILY ❤💙❤💙

Jay I love that you're so worried about Nya but maybe try NOT TO DIE? YOU'RE WITH LLOYD AND ZANE YET YOU'RE THE ONE GOING FOR THE SACRIFICE WTH?? 😱 But he's worried about his cool GF I kinda get it, also he didn't do it so good...

WHAT. THE. HECK.

WHO ARE YOU OH MY FIRST SPINJITZU MASTER YOU'RE ADORABLE I WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU YOU ABSOLUTE CUTIE 🤩🤩🤩

So Giles is doomed to voice LEGO characters with daddy issues 😂 That being not having a dad at all or having one that is... a good guy? Idk he seems chill with the surface at first glance, I wonder what's the story of this family

Maya reminds of my mom, she also mentions her work a lot and I study the same thing. But she doesn't want to brag, it gets annoying but she just wants to give me advice. It's nice to see actually 👍 Also Ray reference NEAT ❤❤❤

Wow, if any child-parent couple of this show was doomed at going semi Emperor's New Groove style, I would've bet on Ed and Jay honestly 😅

Oh HECK yes I knew that with my water girls things were BOUND to get cool 😎 ... yeah I know where the door is *goes away*

JAY NO WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT TRYING TO DIE STOP DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!! 😱😱😱

My GOSH that scared the crap out of me 😅 Jay honey we have too many deaths in this team, you're not helping... BUT YOU POWERED AN ENTIRE SHIP BECAUSE YOU LOVE NYA AND YOU DIDN'T DIE AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH BLUEBELL 💙💙💙

They were all so worried, I love this ninja family so freaking much 💜💜💜 Also better not tell this one to his GF 😂

And Bluebell?

Welcome to the "change eye color because of elemental power" team! WE GOT ANOTHER ONE I LOVE WHEN IT HAPPENS!!! 😍😍😍

Awww, Zane letting Jay be the captain, that was so cute of him 💕

Another great episode! Doing great so far but I still wonder if we got into the main story. Feels like there should be more, well we got time! Next one! 😊

LONG LIVE THE KING

Sooooo... that's one very telling title 😅 If we're going full Lion King on this one, I think I know where this is going 😵

Maya: Don't they know that metal taste terrible?!? (Again feels like Kai could say something like this 😂)

FINALLY NYA USING FREAKING WATER POWERS UNDER THE SEA!!! Thank you Maya for saying out loud what we were all thinking 👌👌

NINJA TO THE RESCUE!!!

Pff, okay, the fact that Kalmaar is all evil and cruel and then he gets startled like that, it's kind or adorable! 💕 Honestly Giles got such a deep voice, with Clay it was firm warm and reassuring, here we got plain devious and I ADORE it 😍😍😍

Maya come on don't doubt your daughter 😅 But I like her, and if she knew Nya they way we all do she wouldn't doubt that she could make it every time 😎

Yeah I was right, the king seems chill... oww I fear what's coming then 😳

Okay, so Kalmaar thinks that the world should go back to be lead by them like in the past, while the king just wants peace with the surface. And as we know, no drama no season so...

Yep, saw the death coming 😅

WHOA DID NOT SEE THAT LITTLE BLAME ACT COMING KALMAAR IS SO EVIL!!!... with a glorious voice but still (Rose focus on something that is not that godlike voice, you can do it 💪💪)

THE OLD ONE TWO I LOVE THIS SO MUCH COMBO ATTACK!!! 🌊❄🌊❄

Awww Benthomaar is actually really cute, he's so worried about his father 😢 And he's adopted apparently? I wanna know the story!!! 🤩🤩

Yep, there's the reason why Zane got a mask even though he doesn't need one, it completes his attire 😂😂😂 My gosh how I love this nindroid ❄

Did... did Jay just say phooey? Dude Ducktales ended a while ago but I'm still not over it 😭

I said it once before I'll say it again, Ninjago is really REALLY good at making death scenes. Like, omg, I genuinely felt sorry for them 😢😢 I also really liked that the king didn't ask to be avenged, he still wanted peace and he asked his son to protect the ninja and he cried actual tears...

MY HEART WTH 😭😭😭 So we're adding this to the real tears moments of the show, with Jay crying over pie, Zane with the flashback of his dad, Jay crying over Nya and Lloyd thinking the ninja are gone... my world this show is angsty 🙂

Third startle for prince Kalmaar, I love the gag 😂 Oh wait, king Kalmaar 🤷‍♀️

Okay, we got a coup, the ninja running away because they got framed, Benthomaar is most likely going to join them or at least help them, I guess Wojira will come out at some point while... Kai, Ray and Cole are still playing videogames? 😅

THIS IS GETTING COOL I WONDER WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT AAAAHHH HECK YES THERE IS THE HYPE!!! 😍😍😍

Although I hope we get more stuff with Nya and Maya, that's what I like 🤩

ESCAPE FROM MERLOPIA

I'm good at English and I can follow most of it, but the fantasy names are tricky so I didn't get before that this was the name of the place 😅 It's nice, at least it's not another Atlantis 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

LLOYD I SWEAR TO YOUR GRANDPA IF YOU TRY TO DIE AGAIN 😱

NYA YOU ARE NOT A GOOD SUBSTITUTE NONE OF YOU ARE OMG 😱😱

Ah, there he is, my new son Benthomaar 💙 He is so lovable already, I know nearly nothing about him and I like his character already a lot! He could relate with all of the ninja really, but maybe with Jay the most? They were both adopted after all 🤔🤔

*scribble note for a fanfic for later if this doesn't come up in the season*

Alright moving on 😗

I am so happy Nya gets a season, Kelly got a great emotional range that doesn't come out often in my opinion, but with a full introspection of water goddess we are all blessed by her voice acting 😍

Gotta say, admitting that Bentho didn't have to help them to answer the usual 'Can we trust him' question is pretty reasonable, like, better than other stupid answers 😅

Also don't mind me

Just screenshotting by ship 💙❤💙❤

Somehow lately we are letting Jay do the talking and I both hate and LOVE the fact 😂😂 Plain Bluebell nonsense, heck yes that's my jam👌👌

MAYA IS SO COOL OMG 🤩🤩

I literally can't not laugh at the startle gag with Kalmaar 😂

LLOYD WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOUT SELF SACRIFICING!! PLEASE IT'S NOT EVEN YOUR SEASON!! 😱😱😱😱

Aww Jay is still the Captain, nice! Wonder if it's giving him Skybound flashbacks... I hope not considering all he went through that time, poor Sparky 😅😅

ARE THOSE LITTLE WU ROCKETS?? 🤯

Can we skip a season and hang out with Pixal one time? I really wanna know how she organizes her free time to create these things 😍😍😍

THANK YOU LLOYD FOR NOT DYING ONCE AGAIN, MUCH APPRECIATED!!! 💚💚💚 My green bean needs a vacation... they all do 😅

THEY ARE

SO BEAUTIFUL 💙🌊💙🌊

Alright, back to the island hoping Kalmaar will not track us and follow us so he can get to the place and discover the amulet 🙂

Are we not calling the others? I miss my flame babe and Rocky ❤🖤❤🖤 Also RAY WATCHA DOIN I WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING 🤩🤩

THE TALE OF BENTHOMAAR

Wait what? Shark boy backstory? SHARK BOY BACKSTORY?!? 👀👀👀

Wow, I see that Kalmaar didn't change a thing growing up, still the same gonna-be-a-villain 😂 Of course his voice got a lot deeper and cool and okay you know I love his voice moving on

I find it kinda funny that Kalmaar is so focused on royal blood and superiority, while Clay was basically a farm boy who worked his way up. Giles knows how to get the character no matter what 😍

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

BABY BENTHOMAAR AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

The king seems like such a good pers- fish- creature 😅 Now I'm double sad that he died, my world, why do I always care so fast, it's not healthy in this show where everyone could die 😰😰

I'M SORRY IS THAT KAI'S HAIR??? 😂😂😂 I LITERALLY CAN'T LOOK AWAY WTH I DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS

Literally every frame of Benthomaar makes me love him even more 😢

Interesting that we got an academic villain, he kinda reminds me of Clouse in a way, maybe even Harumi since she studied her way to her plan as well? I like that we got a bit of personality too!

Using your little bro for your own purpose... it's very evil but kinda also brotherly like 😂

Benthomaar really gives me that very PRECIOUS vibe, kinda the perfect son but also a naive and unaware BABY 💙

LEGO HUG 🤩🤩 Not exactly reciprocated but still 😅

Ooohhh, so this is how he found the temple! I like this, it shows that Bentho is most likely physically stronger than Kalmaar, while evil brother is focused on brain and studies. They are planned differently, I like it! 😚😚

Ouch, peer pressure... sibling pressure? Eh you get what I mean 😂

POOR BENTHO 😭😭😭 YOU GOT THE NINJA NOW DON'T WORRY WE'RE NEVER GONNA LEAVE YOU ALONE YOU PRECIOUS SHARK BABY!! 🦈🦈🦈

Bentho: will I really fit in with you guys? Do you really understand how I feel?

Lloyd: Jay was adopted, Nya's parents were gone most of her life, Zane lost his father while mine turned evil

Bentho(tearing up): yeah that can work

Okaaaaayyyyy, I like that we got a bit of backstory for Bentho too! We didn't get much for Vanya in Master of the Mountain, which is the only thing I was sad about (very little detail, AMAZING season 🖤🖤🖤), nice to see it here!!

But I really want more Nya and Maya interactions, I hope we'll soon get to them again!! 😍😍😍

Alright, getting somewhere here! I'm very curious about what's next 🤩🤩

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five-rivers · 4 years ago

Text

Adoption (part 2)

A gift for @a-flower-lover! This wound up being more along the lines of vignettes... Little snapshots into Danny’s life after being adopted by Clockwork. I hope that’s ok! (PART 1)

Mr. Lancer had met Charles Worth before, albeit briefly. The man had fostered a number of Casper High students and with that responsibility came parent-teacher conferences. He had struck Mr. Lancer as being steady and reliable, if, perhaps, impersonal, despite his predilection for clocks and ominous announcements. A decent foster parent, if not... ideal.

Mr. Worth just didn't seem to connect with his fosters, although he certainly didn't neglect them. Then, too, were the persistent rumors that his home was haunted.

Alright. So, Mr. Lancer didn't think Charles Worth was really a children person. Oh, he was a good person! It took one to do well as a foster parent, but... yeah.

Which was why the scene in front of him surprised him so much. Not the who of it, but the what.

The who was Daniel Fenton and Charles Worth waiting outside the office. The what was smiling and having a conversation. True, Mr. Fenton's smile looked like it was pasted on over several layers of anxiety, but it was genuine.

"Mr. Worth, Mr. Fenton?" he said, tamping down his surprise. "Come on in."

"Hi," said Mr. Fenton, his voice hoarse.

Mr. Worth smiled and nodded, pushing him up with his cane.

But Mr. Fenton must have noticed the curious look Mr. Lancer was giving him. "I knew Cl- Uh. Mr. Worth before this." He winced and smiled widely to cover it up. "So, uh, make up work? Since I missed the past week?"

"Yes, well, circumstances being what they are," aka his parents trying to murder him in public, in broad daylight (and didn't that give Mr. Lancer a chill?), "your teachers have put together a few packets for you to look over this weekend. They should get you more or less up to speed with where your classes are. I'm also willing to stay after school, to help you with anything you've missed in my classes."

Jazz knocked on the door of the Worth house. She had been made aware, via various supernatural (she did not particularly appreciate writing suddenly appearing on her fogged-up bathroom mirror) and mundane (Danny did have her phone number) means, that the man known as Charles Worth was actually the ghost known as Clockwork.

How this had occurred was not entirely clear to her. She assumed ghost powers, specifically time travel, were involved somehow.

But, to be honest, that didn't really matter to her. It was secondary, less than.

What was important here was that she hadn't been legally allowed to see her little brother in over a month. To keep her parents from contacting him. To keep her from letting her parents near him. Because they were legally barred from seeing him.

Because they had tried to kill him.

Jazz planned on never seeing her parents again, as soon as she got all of her and Danny's things from their house.

But now that prohibition had been lifted, because Clockwork had forced through what had to be the speediest adoption in the history of adoptions, and Danny was now legally his son. In the eyes of both humans and ghosts. Which was... Well. Danny seemed to be excited about it, anyway. He'd looked up to Clockwork for a while, from what he told Jazz.

Internally, Jazz had more than a bit of trepidation. She didn't know what adoption meant to ghosts, didn't have any context for it. And ghosts, even the good ones, even Danny, tended to be... obsessive. Extreme. She wasn't sure how that would translate when it came to interpersonal relationships.

The door creaked open, ever so slowly, the squeak it made grating on her eardrums. At first, it appeared to have opened on its own, then a hand gripped the edge of the door, and Clockwork, in human guise, leaned out from behind it.

Jazz raised an eyebrow.

Clockwork raised one right back. "This house is haunted, you know," he said.

Okay, never mind. The only thing she had to worry about was the fact that her brother and his mentor both had terrible senses of humor.

"Hi, Jazz!"

Being used to having a half-ghost brother, Jazz only yelped a little bit at his unexpected appearance behind her. Then she sighed and ruffled his hair. He hugged her and then bounced over the lintel into the house.

"Come on! I want to show you my room! It's so cool!" His voice became fainter as he went farther into the house, until his last exclamation was an eerie whisper.

Jazz looked at Clockwork as she stepped inside. "Is he doing that on purpose?"

Clockwork smiled blandly. "I am very fond of the acoustics in this house."

She looked at her surroundings with a skeptical eye. "It seems... dark in here."

"We are ghosts," said Clockwork. "Daniel is very excited to show you his room, by the way."

"He's human, too, don't forget," said Jazz.

"I won't."

The house was creepy.

Really creepy.

This was coming from someone who had spent most of her life living under the same roof as two ghost-obsessed mad scientists.

But Danny seemed to enjoy it, and he was the one living here. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with the house. Or anything in the house. It was just... off.

Danny was half-ghost, however, so maybe this was something he needed. Perhaps not all of his peppiness could be attributed to being the heck away from his murderous former parents.

Even so. Jazz had a duty, both as a big sister and an aspiring psychologist.

"I already read it," said Clockwork, setting a cup of tea down in front of her.

"What?"

"The book you were about to give me. I've already read it. And a number of others. I am not the kind of person who goes into things unprepared."

Danny rolled into the kitchen on the ceiling. This was easy to ignore. After her life, an Exorcist reference made by her over-excited younger brother, was, well. Underwhelming.

(Okay, she was a little distracted, but only by his glee.)

"Well," she said. "That's good."

"I know this house is out of the way," said Clockwork, craning his neck to look up at his coworker, "but you are rather conspicuous."

"Hm. Am I?" asked Pandora, craning her neck down to look at her comparatively tiny colleague.

"Yes. At that size, humans with average eyesight will be able to see you from town."

Pandora looked out over the trees. "Interesting," she said, mildly. "Do you think the ghost hunters will come?"

"You've spoken to Daniel."

"Yes. He stopped by earlier today, on his way to visit Mattingly. Although, I suppose you knew that already."

"Indeed I did. May I ask, is it your intention to lure the ghost hunters here, fight them, defeat them, and then leave them just close enough to here to constitute a breach of their terms of bail and the restraining order against them?"

"I am not terribly well-versed in human law," said Pandora, "but, why, yes. That is exactly what I'm doing. Best to get it done while Daniel is visiting friends, isn't it?"

"Yes. If you had done this while he was here, I would be significantly more annoyed." Clockwork smiled the sanguine smile of a parental figure who would commit murder if their child was upset.

Pandora returned a matching grin, one that promised retribution against persons who had harmed said child in the past. "Please, Clockwork. You know me better than that. I wouldn't subject him to being in the presence of those fools."

"Good," said Clockwork, eyes glinting.

"Hey, Clockwork? Do you know why there were police cars driving down the- Oh. Hello?" He stopped at the sight of an unfamiliar woman sitting at the dinning room table, next to Clockwork. He blinked and tilted his head to the side. "Wait. Pandora?"

"Perceptive," said the superficially human olive-skinned woman. "You seemed so happy when you stopped by, earlier. I thought I would come check in on you."

"You didn't have to," said Danny, beaming.

"Pandora has been trying to convince me to set her up as one of my relatives," said Clockwork, rolling his eyes. "Would you care for a cup of tea, Daniel?"

"Umm," said Danny, dubiously. "I'll try one, I guess. Does that mean you'll be my aunt?"

Pandora smiled. "Why, yes, it does."

Clockwork groaned theatrically.

"Ah," said Mr. Lancer, at the next parent-teacher conference. "Are you Mr. Worth's wife?"

"No," said Pandora, grinning. "I'm his sister."

Mr. Lancer looked back and forth between the two very different-looking entities. "I... see."

"We're adopted," said Clockwork.

"Oh! Alright then. Now, about Daniel..."

It was a bit strange to see Danny with so much energy, Sam reflected. Strange, but good.

It just went to show how drained he had become over time, how much the constant ghost attacks and worry, all the lies and stress and impossible expectations had worn away at him over time. She hadn't seen her friend this happy since freshman year. If that.

On the other hand...

"Dude," said Tucker. "Your house is spooky. And this is coming from someone who's been inside a literal mad science lab."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Mad science labs are campy, not spooky. Besides, you knew coming in that this house was haunted." He draped himself over the back of the couch, rolling until he was 'sitting' upside-down. "Anyway, what kind of movie do you want to watch? We've got a bunch, because Clockwork apparently collects media from doomed timelines."

"He's got a hobby?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, three," said Danny. "Gardening- you should talk to him about that, by the way, I think he'd like it- baking, and alternate timeline movies. And some books, too, I think. He's got a huge library back in Long Now. I've read like. Two books from it."

Clockwork's voice floated in from the other room. "You've read significantly more than that, Daniel."

"I guess," said Danny, doubtfully. He flopped off the couch, picked himself up, and started prodding at a shelf of movies. "This is from a timeline where the Earth got beaned by a massive asteroid. It's, like, a romcom, but it was made when everyone knew the asteroid was coming. This one is, uh, this is actually a dramatization of real events, apparently, but their timeline split from ours in like the fifties, so the events are pretty wild." He waved the DVD at them. "It's surreal?"

"How'd they die?" asked Tucker.

"Wacky superscience. No, really. Irradiated the entire planet."

"How do you know?" asked Sam.

"Oh, Clockwork puts notes on the boxes. He thinks it's interesting. And there does seem to be some correlation between how cursed the movies are and how bad the timeline was. Which maybe shouldn't surprise me? I mean, if they were bad timelines..." He shrugged. "Oh, this is a CGI Lion King. I can tell you: very cursed. Absolutely soulless. And this is from a timeline where copyright laws weren't changed, so Mickey Mouse and a bunch of other stuff was in the public domain."

"Isn't that a good timeline?" joked Sam.

"You'd think so," agreed Danny. "But apartheid in South Africa apparently never stopped, and they got a nuclear bomb, and, well... World War Three."

"Is that like, a domino effect, or...?"

"I'm not sure... Anyway. Uh. Genre?" He clapped his hands together.

Tucker leaned forward. "I want the wildest version of the Matrix you have."

"Ooh, good choice. There are, like, six with Will Smith. I haven't watched them all yet, but I think the one where they've got another sequel and Zion is also a- Wait, I shouldn't spoil it."

"After that, can you see if there's a non-crappy version of Dracula?" asked Sam.

"Sure. I haven't seen one yet, but I will look."

"I have popcorn," said Clockwork, entering the room, "and various baked goods. No dairy."

"You're the best."

Clockwork selected a thick blanket from the chest, then teleported himself to the living room to drape it over the three teenagers passed out on the couch. Overall, he found pretending to be human oddly enjoyable, but it could be trying at times. Tedious. All the finicky little motions humans had to go through to do the simplest of things added up over the day.

So, Clockwork tended to ease off of them when no one was watching. It made life easier.

Heh. Life.

(He would say that Daniel's puns were rubbing off on him, but in truth Clockwork's sense of humor had been like that for, well. Eons.)

He put the kitchen in order with an absent wave of his hand, and double-checked the stove out of habit. It wasn't nearly as good as his actual oven, back in Long Now, but it was serviceable.

One of Daniel's friends mumbled in their sleep, and Clockwork looked in on them. Still peaceful. It was good for Daniel to have them here. Beneficial for both his human and ghost halves.

He hummed to himself and patted Daniel's head as he thought about their plans for the weekend. He had arranged for some truly aggravating evangelical missionaries to darken their doorstep. It would do Daniel good to inspire a touch of terror. In an entirely controlled and risk-free way, of course. No matter how unpleasant the people coming were, Clockwork had no intention of harming them, or suggesting anything of the sort.

But, well. They were ghosts. Being feared was soothing.

(Clockwork knew this wasn't what Jasmine meant when she suggested Clockwork engage in family bonding activities with Daniel. But what she didn't know...)

"I think my teeth are getting sharper," said Danny, pulling a face at the mirror. "Is that normal?" The last was shouted, to get Clockwork's attention. Intellectually, Danny knew he didn't need to do that, but a lifetime of habit was hard to shake.

"It is difficult to say what is normal for someone like you, but many ghosts do have fangs," said Clockwork. "Including myself."

"Hm," said Danny. "This isn't, like, a ghost puberty thing, is it? Because I already used up most of my evil puberty jokes."

"Oh, only most?" Clockwork slid behind him and started rubbing the tension out of his shoulders.

Danny shrugged. "Eh, give or take. But, seriously."

"No, it isn't a ghost puberty thing."

"Oh, good. Because dealing with one puberty is more than enough."

Clockwork was silent. Danny looked up and met troubled eyes in the mirror.

"Clockwork?"

"Daniel," started Clockwork, before giving Danny an uneasy smile. "Speaking of puberty..."

Danny blanched. "No."

"What?"

"No. Nope. Not doing the talk today, no sir. I got that at school."

"Daniel, as strange as Casper High may be at times, I highly doubt they taught you anything about immortality."

"What."

"It's why ghosts put so much forethought into relationships like this," explained Clockwork, careful not to look directly at Daniel's hiding place. "They might last forever. I certainly hope this one does."

"But I don't want to be a teenager forever!" wailed Danny. He had mastered the art of making his voice sound like it was coming from a completely different direction than it actually was.

Clockwork was older than human civilization and had been worshiped as a god by several civilizations. He did not wince at the heartbreak in his child's voice.

"Your shapeshifting abilities should come in after a few years," said Clockwork. "You'll be able to pass as older."

Daniel answered with a moan.

"I must confess, I'm not sure why you are so upset about this. I can see that you are, but could you explain why for me?"

"I don't knoooooowww..."

"I don't want everyone to die and leave me alone," admitted Danny, hunched over a carton of ice cream. "I don't want to see my- my people die." He sniffled.

"We don't have to stay in Amity Park if you don't want to," said Clockwork.

Danny shook his head. "No! That's worse," he said, hating how his voice tilted into a whine. "That's- I can't abandon them! I can't- can't miss their time. I just..." He let out a huff of air. "It's hard."

Clockwork wrapped an arm around Daniel's shoulders. "It may not help much," he said, "but people in Amity Park have a much higher chance of becoming ghosts. It's the ectoplasm in the air."

"Promise?" asked Danny.

"Promise. Although, who, exactly, becomes a ghost is outside of my control. All I can tell you is that the people here have a better chance."

Danny leaned against Clockwork. "Thanks," he mumbled. "Clockwork?"

"Yes?"

"You don't think I'm a freak, do you?"

"Of course not."

Mr. Lancer squinted down at Daniel Fenton's latest assignment with a mix of appreciation, disbelief, and shame. This was easily the best work he had ever received from Daniel. In fact, it rivaled papers he had received from Jasmine.

It made him wonder- How long had Daniel been suffering? What had Daniel been suffering? He was no expert when it came to abuse, but all teachers had some training, and he knew that abusers tended to escalate, starting with something relatively innocuous and ending with a travesty. For things to progress to attempted murder... What had it started as? When had it begun?

(Could Mr. Lancer have stopped it?)

(That question would haunt him more than any ghost.)

Well, there was a silver lining to this, Mr. Lancer supposed. He had rarely seen two people who got along as well as Daniel and Charles Worth. It was good, he thought, for the man to have someone in his life on a more permanent basis, rather than the revolving door of temporary foster children.

How rapidly the adoption went through was a little odd, but... Mr. Lancer shrugged. Undoubtedly, Mr. Worth had taken the time over his years as a foster parent to familiarize himself with the system, and with Daniel's former parents unfit to be anywhere near children...

He shrugged again and stamped Daniel's paper with an A+.

#danny phantom #gift #prize #winner #fic #phanfiction

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reptile-ruler · 3 years ago

Text

The Great Assigning

Rapr week day 6: ROLESWAP.

Invaders Red and Purple are assigned their first mission by the delusional Almighty Tallest Zim.

Read on AO3.

The murmuring of the crowd sent flutters through Invader Red’s entire body. From the stage of the main hall on Conventia, the audience looked like a writhing ocean of swarming Irken soldiers. Thousands upon thousands of eyes watching them… and why? This event had come so suddenly, and he, among with his fellow Invader trainees, found themselves about to receive their first mission months before they even graduated.

It wasn’t his place to ask questions. The Almighty Tallest worked in mysterious ways.

“Did you see the curly fries they had at the cafeteria?” Purple leaned in to ask, “I hope the Assigning goes fast because those fries smelled delicious.”

Maybe all the attention from the bustling crowd had dampened his appetite, or maybe it was just the nerves, but he couldn’t imagine wanting curly fries right at this moment. “We’re about to be assigned the mission of our lifetime, and you’re thinking about food?”

“Every moment without fries in my mouth is a moment lost, Red!”

He didn’t get much of a chance to argue, because at that moment the Announcer announced the arrival of the Almighty Tallest. They both straightened back into attention. All Invaders, and the crowd behind them, wiggled their antennae as pillars of flame exploded upwards, reaching the high ceiling, the heat feeling like a punch to Red’s cheeks.

A loud, grating laughter filled the hall long before he caught a glimpse of the Tallest. It originated from a platform descending from the ceiling and there he was. His armor was the same shade of pink as the Invader uniform (a signal of the empire he dreamed to build, perhaps, or maybe it just matched his eyes?) and both arms raised, his face split by the eye-crinkling grin that he carried.

“I think the flamethrowers are a bit much”, Purple whispered.

The Almighty Tallest overall was... a bit much. But they didn’t get to have an opinion about that. “Shush!”

“Just sayin’.”

Red shushed again, more violently, just as the platform reached the ground. The Tallest, of course, didn’t, floating in place high above his subjects. As he should, being the All-knowing and All-powerful, Almighty Tallest.

“My Invaders!” he spoke. “We finally meet. Be amazed by my tallness!”

They stood taught under his gaze as it wandered between them. Being the Elite of the Elite was one thing, but none of them were as superior as the Almighty Tallest. Not even Purple or he, who towered over their peers and were the Best of the Elite of the Elite. The Tallest wore a satisfied smirk, as though what he saw was to his liking. Red really hoped so–he’d worked his entire life to get here!

“As you may know you’re all here to be assigned your first enemy planet”, the Tallest said. That much was obvious. They were Invaders, it was their job! Or… should be, if they had finished training. “This shall mark the first step of Operation Impending Doom Two! My most brilliant plan yet! HAHAHAHA-”

Impending Doom… Two? Red had never heard of an Impending Doom One.

Purple must have had the same thought, because he couldn’t stop himself from blurting, “What happened to the first one?”

“Oh, I had to cancel Operation Impending Doom One”, the Tallest waved his hand around. “The Invaders weren’t good enough. Bunch of old squeedgers to the blarbsnortch, yup. Lame. They died from just one stomp with my Megadoomer.”

“What?” Red said, and immediately realized his mistake.

“I had to stomp ‘em!” his Tallest said, looking more annoyed than anything. “Not good enough! But you… yes, you will not disappoint your Tallest Zim, will you?” A grin, one which made Red feel like he was prey being stared at by a predator, spread across his Tallest’s face. “No, you will not. I won’t allow it!”

Red glanced to his side to see how his co-Invaders reacted to this. He saw Purple’s throat bob as he swallowed, but even he seemed threatened enough to keep his big mouth shut. Of course, it wasn’t their place to question the Almighty Tallest, but…

He’d decided to personally kill the previous batch of Invaders. The world spun as Red searched his mind for reasons that they could have been dispatched. They couldn’t have been that much worse than the class currently standing on the stage of the Main Hall. In fact, those guys had actually graduated!

While Red’s entire class had suddenly been rushed out of school to attend this Assigning… filling up the vacant slots. It all started to make sense now.

The screen behind the Tallest lit up into a map, showing all known constellations and planets which were inhabitable or inhabited. Red recognized it immediately–he’d studied it every resting cycle for weeks to try to memorize which planets were marked for conquest and which ones weren’t. That was a test he was happy to not have to take.

“THIS is how the Assigning is going to work!” the Tallest exclaimed. A table rose from the floor, and he picked up a small object from it. “I am going to throw this dart on the map, and wherever it hits, one of you is sent to conquer. Ingenious, right? Yes, it is, because your brilliant Almighty Tallest came up with it!”

No one argued, but Red could feel the desperation spreading across his classmates. This was ridiculous.

Purple cleared this throat.

“My Tallest”, he began, head low and voice respectfully quiet, “I don’t mean to disrespect you, but can I ask why?”

A short beat of silence. It was enough for Red's brain to roar up with worst-case scenarios. The kinds of punishments Purple might endure for speaking up. What would he do if the only person he cared for got thrown into the depth of space?

“Because I think it’ll be neat!” the Tallest grinned.

Purple didn’t press further. The Almighty Tallest’s smile softened for a bit, satisfied at getting his point across.

“Step forward Invader Larb!”

And so Red watched the Invaders get assigned to enemy planets. Larb could barely hold back tears when he was assigned to Meekrob, despite having studied specifically the skills necessary to Invade Blorch or Vort. Skoodge was assigned to a sun, and when he pointed out that suns couldn’t really be invaded, the Tallest kicked him off the stage and laughed. Invader Tenn took it in stride when the dart landed on a planet that they actually had a peace treaty with.

“Invader Purple!”

“Hoo boy”, Purple sighed as he stepped forward, leaving Red alone as the last unassigned Invader.

The Tallest picked up a fittingly purple colored dart and inspected it, as though the dart itself held all the knowledge of the universe. Then he looked down at Purple and ficked it away. Not even looking at the map.

The dart hit the furthermost corner of the screen. Nothing existed even in the vicinity of that area. Purple stared at it.

“There’s nothing there, my Tallest”, he said.

“Hm?” Zim looked over. “Oh, right. Well! Go there and conquer the nothing!”

“... How, sir?”

“Eh? Not my problem!”

Red felt nothing but sympathy as Purple nodded and stepped back. So it was his turn. His Tallest called for him and he stepped forward. Up close the height difference felt much more pronounced. He craned his neck upwards to salute, and forced himself to not avert his eyes as his Tallest judged him, looked him up and down like a megadonut on display at Plumpin’ Donuts on Foodcourtia.

The Tallest reached for the table, but paused. “What? Where is my last dart?”

The table was empty, all darts apparently used, wedged into the digital map and no doubt ruining the screen.

“Hey! Who planned this?” The Tallest looked around as though one of them were to blame. “Someone miscalculated how many darts I would need!”

The Invaders all shuffled. No one dared to answer, and, of course, none of them had been involved in counting enough darts anyway.

The Almighty Tallest huffed. “Ugh. Useless. No matter! You!” He pointed at Red. ”Just go with the previous guy. Duo-mission. Yes. Crisis solved. By ZIM!”

Red blinked. Oh. He’d get to go with Purple. “Yes, my Tallest.” Before this Assigning, that would have felt wrong, but all things considered… it could have been worse.

He could have been told to conquer a sun.

His gaze wandered to the purple dart, placed right in a spot of dead space, with nothing for lightyears around it. At least he wouldn’t be alone.

The Almighty Tallest concluded the Assigning with a few inspirational (or maybe delusional) words to the Invaders, and then to the soldiers in the audience. They were dismissed, and Red hurried up to Purple’s side as they walked straight to the curly fries stand.

“What a shipwreck!” Purple said. For once Red didn’t scold him for the borderline critique of their Tallest’s decisions. He just hummed.

Faced with the prospect of having to travel to the corner of known space, allegedly to ‘conquer’ it, while not having had the chance to even properly graduate… Red didn’t want to think about it. Hopefully the guy who sold fries sold drinks too, because he was going to need it, by Irk.

Purple’s gloved fingers brushed past him, and he looked up. Ah yeah. That was the only upside, wasn’t it?

He’d have someone by his side.

@almightytallestevents

#invader zim #raprweek2021 #my writing #I wanted to make this scene for months!! and suddenly i was prompted to do so yayyy

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yolkyeomie · 4 years ago

Text

Lost Zephyrs | Bang Chan

summary — you’ve got the worst luck in the history of the world, but it seems as though a miracle has finally been bestowed upon you

word count — 2.4k words

pairing — chan x gender neutral!reader

genre — genshin impact au, fluff, reader is not the smartest person in the world

disclaimer — !! Small mentions of death/injuries !! I’ve been obsessed with genshin impact for the entire week and it stopped me writing. so I decided do make an au out of it to get me out of the slump, please enjoy !! (I explain most of the genshin content for readers who aren’t players :D !!)

tags — @fluffyskzclub

You knew you had the worst luck of them all. You've been constantly reminded of the fact that things didn't go your way no matter how hard you tried, so you think you would have learned your lesson by now right?

Somehow, you were wrong. Excruciatingly wrong in fact. It didn't matter who you told you— your friends, strangers, anyone —you always seem to think that maybe one day something would go your way. If it never did then you'd simply force the world to bend to your knees and allow you to proceed on with life like any other normal person. Most of the time that didn't happen and today was one of those days.

You should have known that traveling across the nations of Teyvat would be a dangerous journey, alone at that. So many monsters, so many evil people, would be out to cause trouble to anyone whose fate crossed their path. But you thought you were fine! After easily skipping across the land of Mondstadt without any help from strangers, slinking past monsters, and quietly napping any interesting treasures along the way, you had gotten too cocky.

Eventually, along your travels you had gotten your map of the world completely blown away in the middle of terrible weather after entering the nation of Liyue, finding yourself somewhere near Wuwang Hill. Then just when you had saved yourself from monsters near the bridge to Wangshu Inn, your sword completely snapped in half. The blade getting cut clean off after a Cryo slime froze it and broke it.

You were lucky enough that you had been able to rush into Wangshu Inn but now you were stuck without a weapon and a map of the landscape ahead of you.

Any sane person would stop their journey to stock back up on everything they've lost, but you didn't want to. You were a rather restless person and desperately wanted to reach the capitol, Liyue Harbor, as quickly as you could so you set off anyways, severely underestimated the distance between Wangshu Inn and the capitol.

That's how you ended up where you are, desperately running in the storming weather as fast as your legs would take you away from the hilichurl camp you had accidentally stumbled upon. It was never easy seeing those masked, primitive creatures armed with clubs and bows and ready for the attack but usually you were unphased. You were a traveler! You saw them all the time in Mondstadt and they are a common monster found throughout Teyvet.

But right now you were an unarmed, feeble traveler with no map and no strength to fight them off. They'd pounce on you the moment you stopped running.

"Why won't they give up!" You yell over the pounding rain, nearly tumbling over your own two feet with a strike of lightning hit the ground somewhere not too far off. You didn't even bother trying to check and see where the lightning was with the thunder roaring across the land and the hilichurl's arrows being aimlessly shot at you. It would be a death sentence trying to take a moment to look at your surroundings at this point.

You would have tried to use your elemental powers to fight back but you couldn't. You spent all that time trying to perfect the element of Ameno back in Mondstadt since it was known as the city of freedom and for its god of the winds, Barbatos, but you had used up all your energy trying to fight to save your life after you lost your sword. Truly, you were in the worst situation and it didn't feel like your luck was going to get any better from here.

Once you finally had a moment to rest, even for a second, you might be able to muster up the strength and energy to send a blast of wind toward the hilichurls. One little gust of your Anemo would send them flying and you'd finally be safe.

Rest, rest. You needed rest, but where? Where could you possibly find rest out away from the rain and hilichurls in this long stretch of land?

"You know what," you told yourself, still struggling to hear yourself as another lightning bolt strikes the ground and thunder rumbles through the air. "I should just try, if I ran fast enough they'll be long behind me and it'll give me enough time to regain my strength and blast them away."

You had to psych yourself up for it, not confident in your strength and not confident in your odds against the world, but you had to try. If the world decided you had enough karma now, maybe you'd be okay by the end of it.

Though it seemed like it wasn't enough, as you were quickly approaching an awfully large cliff that cut off your path to safety. You could climb but in this condition? In this weather? You'd probably fall straight to your doom.

With nowhere else to run, you forced yourself to pick up the page before turning on your heel and facing your opponents. Your eyes grew wide and a scream threatened to fly out your mouth at the sight of the hilichurls running towards you, their clubs swinging wildly through the air and their bows pointing straight at your chest. You were lucky that not a singular mitachurl was following you though, you would have been dead long ago.

"Here goes nothing," you mumble as you hold out your hand, desperately summoning the wind around you to be focused into the palm of your hand. Just when your body felt like it was going to collapse, a blast of wind exploded from your hands and slammed straight into the hilichurls that followed you. The rain was sucked up into your wind vertex and splattered against the already drenched hilichurls, sending them flying through the air defenseless.

You wanted to cheer for your small victory, but there was no chance to do it when the hilichurls that hadn't been blown away were still standing. "Oh, come on!" You yelped, falling to your knees from the strain you had placed on your body, unable to fight against the crossbows that were pointed at you. You shielded yourself as best as you could to save yourself from the oncoming attacks, opting that you'd rather go out seeing nothing and hearing everything instead of the opposite.

Yet inside of hearing the screeching arrows being shot and stung into your flesh, instead of hearing the hilichurls growl and cackle at their victory over another frail traveler, you hear something different. Their yelps of pain echoed through the air as the rain began to let up, their bows crashing to the ground and their cackles going panicked at their sudden change of plans.

Curious over the turn of events, you peered around your arms to catch a glimpse of the fairytale-like scene before you. A boy stood in the middle of the hilichurls with a victorious dimpled smile, soaking wet in the now light rain and swinging a large red and black greatsword like it was the lightest object in the world. His movements were messy and slow but his sword dealt enough damage to frighten the hilichurls into a tactical retreat.

The boy tried to get in an extra hit by taunting the monsters for their cowardice before he slammed his greatsword into the ground, rocks flying away from the heavy sword's collision. After a moment to himself, laughing at whatever words that had come out of his mouth, he turned to you. His brown eyes flashed from fiery excitement to immediate worry at your condition, quickly giving you a one over before rushing to your side.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a soft voice, falling to his knees and grabbing your hands. Around his wrist jingled a bracelet of some sort, charmed with different and unique trinkets. Though the most notable one being the large, glowing yellow crystal hanging in the center of the trinkets, a swirling symbol of earth inside of the crystal. You knew exactly what that symbol was, the symbol of Geo, the earth element famously found throughout Liyue. "I couldn't help but barge in, it seemed like you needed help."

"I am," you quickly tell him, awkwardly snatching your hands away from him after realizing he was checking to see if you suffered any wounds. "I mean, I'm fine. I definitely needed help though, thank you for saving me."

"No problem," he nodded, his smile stretching across his face and his dimples growing even deeper. "I saw you from over there after you sent that gust of wind toward the hilichurls. Had you not done that, I wouldn't even have noticed you through that thick downpour." The boy told you, pointing across the way towards the cliffs not too far from you.

He must have climbed down from there to reach you, but that would have been a rather tedious process. Maybe he jumped instead?

"Ah, you saw that?" You quietly asked, embarrassed to be caught weak and defenseless by what seemed to be a fellow traveler. When he innocently nodded his head, you let your head fall to your hands. "Gosh... that's so embarrassing... that means you saw me running away from those hilichurl and everything didn't you?"

The boy shrugged, "as I said, I didn't see you until the gust of wind." He explained.

"Did I just out myself on running away?" You cringed, mentally slamming your head with one of the hilichurl clubs. You were just letting anything fall out of your mouth now, huh? And to a total stranger at that! "This is even more embarrassing! I'm sorry, forget I ever said that, erase that from your memory."

He laughed at your words, slicking back his drenched purple hair as the rain finally stopped. "Don't worry! It's like that sometimes, even I've run away from a hilichurl or two once in my life. Especially those samachurls, creepy little things they are, especially with the fact that they can control elements."

"You too?" You gasped, jumping up to attention at your shared fears. "I hate those devils! Hydro samachurls that heal the other hilichurls, they make everything else so... so difficult."

"So you have fought hilichurls before," he teased, tapping the glowing light teal crystal that dangled down your neck in a pendant. Like the boy, you too had a symbol that displayed the element you had been gifted, giving away the fact that you could control Anemo as if the gust of wind from your hands wasn't enough of a dead giveaway. "With the way your knees buckled from sending one meek blast at them, I would have thought this was your first time seeing them."

"It is not!" You defended, jumping up to your feet and feeling energy course through your body once more. All you needed was one quick rest and you were back to your normal self. "I'm a full blown traveler! I had just been running from those hilichurls for a while now, I didn't have enough strength to create a whole tornado or something to save myself."

"What full blown traveler walks across Liyue without a weapon in tow?" The boy pointed out, gesturing toward your empty scabbards hanging around your waist. "Liyue, while very beautiful, is a very dangerous place to go on your own, especially without a weapon or two to project yourself."

You bit your lip, fidgeting with the pendant around your neck as you tried to sugarcoat your situation. "Well... I did have a sword when I first came here from Mondstadt but things... happened... and by the time I reached Wangshu Inn I had no sword."

"Wangshu Inn?" He gasped, "but that's so far away from here, how'd you even make it this far?"

"Barbatos was on my side, I guess," you shrugged, not knowing the answer to his question. It's a literal miracle that you hadn't died. "I was going to try and make my way as close to Liyue Harbor as possible since that was my original destination but I lost my map before I even got into the nation so... I'm kinda... all over the place right now."

"You sure are, you're nowhere near Liyue Harbor right now. In fact, I'd say you're closer to Wangshu Inn than the city." The boy explained, completely catching you off guard. Not even close to your destination? You spent all this time running and fighting through the terrain of Liyue and ended up almost exactly where you started."

"What? But I thought I had been following a clear path before the hilichurls attacked. So if I'm not near Liyue...," you began, twisting and turning in every direction as you tried to make sense of your location. "Then where am I?"

"If you climbed up the cliffs? You'd be standing in Jueyun Kurst, and mere mortals can't just walk into Jueyun Kurst." The boy explained, pointing to a path you could have taken had you not been chased by monsters. "It's going to take a while for you to even reach Guili Plains now, this place only gets more secluded the deeper you head into the mountains."

Had you survived the attack from the hilichurls, you would have gotten lost within Jueyun Kurst. Your luck was absolutely horrendous at the moment, the mere fact that the Geo boy had come and saved you was a miracle.

"If you want, I can take you to Liyue?" He offered, both of you catching each other's eyes almost immediately. After a moment of pure silence, he let out a nervous laugh and anxiously ran his hands through his hair. "I mean, I have friends who live in Liyue! They can help you get a new sword and a map... and I'm also sorta heading towards Liyue Harbor in a sense? So I think it'll just benefit the both of us! Yeah..."

You couldn't help but giggle at his actions, taking note of the evident flushing of his cheek that even the boy didn't seem to notice. "I'd like that very much. I feel a lot safer running around Liyue with a partner instead of on my own. Thank you...?"

"Chan," he informed you, his smile shining as he finally properly introduced himself. "I'm Bang Chan, but usually I just get called Chan... it doesn't matter which one you use though. I'm fine with anything."

"Chan," you repeated, making sure his name and face were permanently engraved in your mind. "I'm Y/N. Thank you, Chan, for being my guide around Liyue. Now shall we get going? It was raining a few minutes ago and we're soaking wet, don't want to catch a cold while we're on the road, do we?"

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darker-soft-starker · 4 years ago

Photo

Starker High School AU, Pt. 2 (Pt. 1, Pt. 3, Pt. 4, Pt. 5)

-----

Peter will admit that during he took an extended moment during his journey home to grieve the loss of his free afternoon, and indeed the impending headaches.

And the rest of his future, if he was honest.

Not that Peter was prone to melancholy by any means, but with this assignment his fate was officially sealed, there was no misunderstanding. He was going to fail this assignment. He was going to, for the first time in his academic career, be forced to submit garbage of a caliber worthy of Tony Stark. It will forever be a black mark on his academic record.

No respectable college is going to accept him after this. In fact, he might as well drop out of school now and hit up Mr Delmar for a job. All of his prep for his MIT application is as good as useless after this. Extracurriculars? Goodbye.

Because it’s confirmed.

He’s doomed.

Swaying with the motions of the train, Peter types a text to Ned, the only person who might provide him with some much needed sympathy.

> I’m doomed > paired w/stark for an assignment lollllllllll. > help

Maybe Peter could trade with Ned. Maybe he could plead with their teacher, for honest fear of his life and scholastic integrity. He wasn’t even exaggerating. In no known iteration of this universe could Peter amicably work with Tony Stark. It would be like Harry Potter sitting down for tea with Voldemort, or Frodo and Sauron chilling with a pint and a pipe in Bag End.

It was unthinkable. Implausible. Laughable.

And Peter would laugh, were it anyone but him in this situation.

The feeling is unusual. Never had he found reason in his life to truly dislike anybody before, everyone could be redeemed or given the opportunity for penance. Natasha has said more than once that Peter would offer the devil himself a sandwich if he appeared.

Tony Stark on the other hand? No sandwich for him.

Well, maybe a slice of bread. A stale one.

While he waits for Ned to responds he catches sight of his injured reflection in the train window, which is admittedly pretty gnarly. Even with his hood drawn up, there was a noticeable berth allocated to him in the busy carriage between himself and the other passengers.

< sux. can I have ur lego hogwarts if u die?

> dude :( pity me.

< lol. so, can i?

Peter sighs.

> sure. Look after May for me, bro. delete my internet history.

< deal. godspeed

Pocketing his phone, Peter wonders if it’s too late to take up praying.

---

By the time he’s back in his apartment his mood has managed to swing back up.

Tony Stark is not going to be the arbiter of Peter’s fate. Hell no. He’s smart, he’s creative and hardworking - it isn’t up to anybody but Peter to determine his outcomes. If he has to do the assignment with Stark then he will. And he will work his hardest.

If he has to do it sharing the credit with Stark, well, Peter knows a concession when he sees one.

No matter how reluctant he is.

But he powers through it, like ripping off a bandaid. It’s fine! He’s a Parker and he’s come this far in life already against ill, Parker-like odds. What was being paired for one assignment with someone who escaped the nearest hellmouth?

It’ll be fine.

Probably.

Not letting himself linger on his fears, Peter clears out his previous plans of going on a YouTube spiral and eating sour gummies until his teeth stick, instead utilising the time to get his foot in and and begins prepping for the assignment. Cursory, preliminary research at first, before the inevitable deep dive begins.

Neanderthal, Peter scoffs, mad all over again. Who is Stark to call Peter a neanderthal? He’s second in his class. He’s a straight A student. He likes school.

And as much as he is moderately skilled in, and enjoys JV, it’s not like he received his scholarship to study at Midtown based on his physical prowess.

The graze on his cheek that stings every time he yawns is proof of that.

Stark can eat his entire ass and choke on it, he thinks darkly, as he continues his research. He doesn’t know the first thing about Peter.

The data is sobering as he delves into job listings and statistics of his projected salary in a three year margin. This is really what his teachers earn? Wow. Depressing.

The contrast of expected salary versus the forecast of steep student loans is disheartening further still.

Teaching quietly slips from second to third on his list of ideal occupations.

Turning on a playlist on his phone, Peter continues to compile notes, amassing a truly gargantuan amount of tabs on his browser. His computer, old enough to be on its’ last teeth, whirrs loudly in protest.

It’s not until his room goes dark that he thinks to check the time.

Ah, shit. It’s nearly six.

Peter pauses. Should he tidy up the apartment?

...Nah, no point in breaking a sweat for Stark.

He continues typing. Then he hesitates, fingers suspended in mid-air.

But what if Stark sees his unfolded laundry out on the dining table and publicly shames him for his old-but-comfortable Bulbasaur themed boxer shorts?

Goddamnit.

---

A quick, cursory clean ensues and leaves a relatively orderly Parker apartment. No freshly laundered underwear is in sight.

Peter wraps up just a few minutes before six. Right on time.

Taking a seat at the now clear dining table Peter drums his fingers on the surface and waits.

And waits.

---

He knows when Tony finally arrives when he hears the sound of a car pulling up outside his apartment block. The riffs of a Roxette remix can be heard playing loudly from the ground to the seventh floor of his apartment, the bass so thunderous it reverberates the windows all the way up to his floor.

Drumming his fingers on the kitchen table, Peter checks the wall clock again. It’s nearly seven.

Tony’s late.

Not that Peter is particularly affected with surprise that Tony is incapable of following basic instructions, but still. Really? Really?

By the time there is a knock on his door, Peter is already before it, his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. Every second between Tony pulling up and his ascent to Peter’s floor has him positively fuming. He can’t believe how this day played out. It started with such promise. He had such innocuous, but high hopes.

Clearly, he miscalculated.

Feeling a touch petty, he waits to answer, listening to Stark knock a second and then a third, more insistent time before he rouses enough calm to open the door.

He instantly regrets it when he does.

Tony’s expression is curious one as he breezes right passed Peter without waiting for further invitation. There’s a smudge of something dark on his brow, his otherwise white undershirt smeared in dark stains.

Peter watches incredulously as the other boy drops his backpack by the door with a thump.

“You’re late.”

He closes the door behind Tony and scowls at the other boys easy posture, hands shoved into his pockets, eyes taking in the apartment.

“I didn’t realise you lived all the way out in fucking Queens. Do you have any idea how bad traffic is at this time of day? Also, your elevator doesn’t work. I just climbed seven flights of stairs, where’s the hospitality?”

“Try earning it.”

The other boy rolls his eyes. “Like it’s worth my time.” He breezes past Peter and slides his leather jacket off his arms, tossing it atop of his backpack in the corner. “Look, I’m here now. Okay? You can unclench now. So, do I get a tour or what?”

“Or what. This wouldn’t have been an issue if we had just started straight after class like I said.”

“Oh I’m sorry,” Tony clutches his hands to his heart before gesturing to the room. “I didn’t realise I was interrupting your busy Friday night, Parker. You got a keg and the rest of the meatheads stashed away somewhere?”

Without waiting for a response, Tony wanders around the living room like a curious child in a new play room. His gaze inspects everything all at once, from peering at up close at the wall mounted photos and hovering his grubby hands over the oddments and knick-knacks speckled throughout the space.

Apprehensive, Peter can’t help but shadow him, afraid he just let loose a hurricane in a china shop.

Without asking, Tony picks up May’s old Magic 8-Ball and gives it a good shake. Peter’s fingers itch to reach over and stop him, but stops himself because then that would require actually making direct skin contact the other boy.

Not worth it.

“Cannot predict now. Huh,” Tony says to himself before placing the ball back in the wrong spot.

They both watch silently as it rolls precariously close to the edge.

“Anyways,” Tony helps himself to an armchair, lounging back and spreading his legs wide. “I know your long-term memory is probably as defective as the rest of you, so don’t strain yourself recalling that I had other priorities.”

“Like what?”

“Like literally anything that isn’t being around you,” the other boy grins. “Now, are we doing this thing, or did you invite me over so you could bitch at me?”

“I didn’t invite you,” Peter grumbles, swiping his notebook from the dining table before sitting on the sofa, as far away from Stark as possible. Shifting, he takes his phone from his pocket and opens the notes he’d taken earlier.

“So, I cross referenced some websites and current job listings,” Peter scrolls through his research, adjusting his glasses as they slip down his nose. “Assuming you have no savings, we’re looking at an average of sixty-thousand per annum based on my salary alone. The average rent in --”

“-- Uh, why are we assuming I have no savings?”

"Because... we’re being realistic?”

Tony springs to his feet and paces across the living room.

“Well,” he says, gesturing to Peter, “if we’re being realistic, does having no savings also that mean I have no debt -- or are you paying off two student loans on your salary?”

“I don’t --”

“Do we have car loans? Health insurance?”

“Wait, slow your roll, Stark. I haven’t yet --”

“-- Of course you haven’t. I mean really, Parker, do you ever think ahead? You should try it, we do have a baby on the way, you know.” Tony clicks his fingers and points at Peter. “Oh, names! I want to call it Molly.”

“As in the drug?”

“No, as in Ringwald. Anyhoo, seeing as only one of us has the intellectual capacity to construct a budget,” Tony gestures to himself, “that would be me, consider maybe that I spent my savings paying off my student loans and bought a car for me and Miss Molly, leaving you with just your own stagnant debt. Happy?”

“Thrilled,” he says through clenched teeth, feeling utterly steamrolled. “But we’re not calling the baby Molly.”

“Yes, we are. Think of all the great nicknames. Hey wait,” Tony pauses in his pacing, “are your parents going to be home soon?”

It was in that moment Peters world narrows down to one, botched cosmic joke.

Turning his gaze heavenwards, Peter prays silently for mercy. What did he do to deserve this. This is all his bad karma come at once. This is the bad place.

“Ah, no,” he replies, eyes widening. “No, my parents are not going to be home soon.”

“Cool. Lucky you.”

Oblivious to Peter’s existential turmoil, Tony resumes his patrol through the living room, picking up a frame on the mantle. It houses an old photo of Ben, May and a young, bespectacled Peter.

It is one of the more embarrassing immortalisations of his younger self, eleven-years old and grinning widely, bearing his silver braces to the camera as he holds up a science fair trophy, curls wild and untamed.

Oh god. That was exactly what Peter needed on this unholy day - Tony Stark in his living room, witnessing Peter in his prepubescent glory.

Quick, create a diversion.

“So, as I was saying,” he says loudly, “rent is reasonably affordable with a sixty-thousand budget in --”

“Who’s the babe?” Tony points to a younger Aunt May in the photo.

Peter gets to his feet and removes the frame from Tony’s grasp. He glowers as he places it back on the mantle.

“No one you would have a chance with. Can you stay focused? Like, are you physically capable of it?”

“Okay, calm down,” Tony holds his hands up in surrender. “You’ve got a lot of anger for someone so vertically challenged, you know that, shortstack?”

“Focus, dumbass.”

“I’m focused! Let’s see, we’ve established that I am excellent at managing my money. You have a shitty job and a shitty salary, and apparently my imaginary future self has terrible taste in men. So. Have I got that right? Where are we living?”

“Queens. LIC has some one bed, one baths that could be affordable.”

“Uh, rewind. Going to have to eighty-six that - I am not living in Queens.”

Peter stares at him.

Tony rubs his hands over his face and sighs. “Fine, whatever. But I want a Pontiac Firebird in this imaginary life if I have to deal with you.”

“For someone so keen on getting away you’re doing your best to prolong this experience. It’s literally painful.”

“Well, I just like to see you get all riled up, Princess,” Tony grins, leaning back against the mantle and folding his arms over his chest. “You have this vein that bulges on your forehead when you’re mad. Makes you look like a pitbull.”

Peter swallows the particularly acidic retort sitting on his tongue and tries not to let Tony’s words sting. Be the bigger man, Ben used to say. As difficult as it is to channel even a modicum of the mans’ eternal patience, Peter takes a deep breath and reminds himself to stay focused. The less he gets sidetracked by Tony’s fuckery, the sooner it’s over.

He mentions the next part with unease.

“...Miss Ahn said that we need references and should do field research. Speak to realtors. Ask people who have a similar lifestyle and budget.”

The look that comes over the other boys face is one of unequivocal revulsion. Peter can relate. The thought of having to spend more time with this guy makes his stomach turn.

“Well, Parker, any bright ideas who we can ask?”

The hinges of the front door squeaks before Peter can respond.

Moments after, Aunt May walks into the living room, placing her bag down on the dining table. She looks between the two boys curiously.

“Hey, Pete,” she comes to his side to squeezes his shoulder. “Who do we have here?”

Tony rushes over with his hand outstretched, an eager grin on his face.

“Tony Stark, ma’am. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh, ah, okay, well,” May laughs as he enthusiastically shakes her hand. Her eyes are soft as Tony smiles brightly at her. “Nice to meet you too, Tony. I’m May, Peter’s aunt. Are you... friends with Peter?”

Peter snorts.

“Definitely not. We just have an assignment --”

“-- Great friends, actually,” Tony talks over him, taking a seat beside Peter on the sofa. To Peter’s utter disgust, the other boy puts an arm around his shoulders, squeezing his bicep encouragingly. “Aren’t we, Pete? Hmm? Best buds. We go way back.”

Peter freezes, feeling the line of heat from Tony’s against his side, the weight of his arm on his body.

Eyes widening, he feels his skin crawl.

“That’s sweet,” May smiles, putting her hair up in a loose, messy bun. “Well, I don’t know about you boys, but I’m starving. I’m ordering pizza, Friday special. You should stay for dinner, Tony.”

Tony places his free hand on his chest.

“I would be honoured.”

May looks at Tony strangely before retreating to the kitchen to retrieve the menus.

As soon as she’s out of sight Tony takes his arm off Peter and quickly shifts away from him like he’s been burned.

“Dude,” Peter whispers, bewildered. “What the fuck?”

“Oh my god,” Tony whispers, shuddering as his face scrunches up in disgust. “I’m going to have to pour scalding hot water on all the places your skin just touched me. Ugh, I feel like I just touched toe fungus.”

Peter slaps his arm.

“What is wrong with you?”

Tony backhands Peter’s arm in retaliation and then shudders all over again.

“Your aunt is crazy hot, okay, I couldn’t help myself. It was an instinctual reaction. Is she taken? C’mon. Vindicate me.”

“I’ll eviscerate you --”

“-- I mean, clearly she married into the family, she doesn’t share your unfortunate phenotype, but I didn’t see a ring on her finger. So? Yes or no?”

“You’re unbelievable,” Peter hisses as his aunt comes back in. “She’s not available to you. Not now, not ever.”

“But she is available?”

“Don’t even, Stark. You’re like, sixteen. Don’t you have any shame?”

Tony smiles, as she nears. “Not a shred.”

“So,” May waves a menu at them. “You boys happy with pepperoni?”

Closing his eyes, Peter wishes for death.

As fate would have it, he gets pepperoni instead.

-----

If you had ever told Peter that he would be sitting down for dinner with his Aunt and a dirt-streaked Tony Stark, he would have laughed.

And if Peter were outside himself he would probably find the sharing of pizza and soda over their plastic, chequered table-cloth comical -- in that uncanny, Dogs Playing Poker kind of way. But in reality there was nothing funny about the discomfort of having Tony in his personal space or the heavy, suffocating tension that has removed the air from the room.

The entire time Tony has been hamming it up, cracking jokes with his aunt, complimenting her on the decor, asking what she does for work. Peter doesn’t know if he’s being sweet to May for the purpose of buttering her up, or, given the wealth of his family in contrast to the Parkers, if he’s being cruelly facetious.

Nonetheless, Peter has felt on edge. It’s disconcerting, is what it is. Every single movement Tony makes, every time he opens his mouth -- frequently to sweet-talk his aunt -- has Peter’s anxiety standing at attention, hyperaware of everything the other boy does.

He’s beginning to feel like a meerkat whose den has been invaded by a lion.

Through the course of a single meal Peter’s attention moves from the sky to the floor. There is no grace or higher power that is coming to save him from this profound, unusual torture.

So he focuses his hopes to the south, seeing through their tiny, cramped, dinner table, past bargaining. He’s willing to trade his soul to end it all. Surely some wayward being from hell would come to his rescue.

May has Peter’s chin between her fingers. She turns it this way and that, inspecting his injuries.

“What happened this time, bubby?” She frowns, brow furrowing. “You look like you got beat up.”

Peter, very aware of Tony’s amused gaze on them, gently pulls away from her grasp. He smiles placatingly and picks at his pizza slice. God he’s never going to live this down.

“Training accident. It’s okay, I feel fine. ‘Tis but a scratch,” he brings himself to joke.

“You sure?”

“Yep.”

She leans in to kiss his cheek, carefully avoiding the fresh scabs and injured flesh. “God, you bruise like a peach. Be careful, baby, you’re our money maker,” she laughs. “What about you Tony, do you play football?”

Tony, who is mid way through chewing on a mouthful of pizza, momentarily chokes, beating his chest with his fist to swallow down the obstruction.

“Uh, no,” Tony gulps, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Nope. No recreational sports for me. Can’t.” He gestures to his chest and sighs heavily. “Asthma.”

Peter sips his coke and rolls his eyes, knowing full well there’s a half-empty pack of Marlboro Light’s in the pocket of Tony’s jeans. Asthma. What a schmuck.

“That’s a shame. Do you boys have classes together?”

Unfortunately, Peter thinks.

The other boy seems to have the same thought, as he glares at Peter from over the table. When he picks up his can of coke, he gives Peter the finger outside of May’s eye-line.

“That’s why Tony’s here,” Peter twists his napkin in his grip. “We have an econ assignment together on microeconomics. Teach says Tony’s destined to be on welfare.”

Tony leans in, chin rested on his hand. He addresses May but his stare, dark and odious, rests on Peter.

“Not accurate. Stay-at-home parent, actually. One might say that is the most important job of all. Wouldn’t you agree, May?”

She raises her Coke.

“Hear, hear.”

Tony grins roguishly, the same grin he gave the girls at the lockers earlier. “Petey here was just saying that we should ask you about your experience running a household on a single salary. We’d love to have you as a reference.”

“Was I saying that?” Peter narrows his eyes. “I can’t remember.”

Tony kicks him under the table. The hit lands right in his knee cap.

Wincing, Peter kicks back, satisfied when the other boy bites his lip to hold back a pained groan.

“Yeah, well, not surprising,” Tony says airily, waving his hand. “Hit your head today, didn’t you? Maybe you should get all that damage looked into.”

The napkin rips in Peter’s grasp.

“Maybe you should go f--”

“I’d be more than happy to help with your assignment, boys,” May cuts in.

Whatever snide reply he has in his mouth instantly wilts when he looks over to his Aunt. She looks...pleased. Delighted, almost. Her eyes under the dull, yellow kitchen light seem to get warmer, and her smile is small but softens around the edges.

Instantly, Peter feels like the worst person in the world. Of course May would be the best person to ask. She does so much for him, the least he can do is set his pride aside for one moment to make her feel good about how hard she works for their life.

He reaches over to squeeze her hand, smiling as gratitude swells unexpectedly in his chest.

“Thanks, May. That would be great.”

Across the table, a smug Tony looks like the cat who got the cream.

Without warning, Peter’s chest goes hot with contempt, his fingernails dig into his palm. He’s not sure he’s ever met anyone he couldn’t like, until now.

I hate you, Peter mouths while May busies herself with rounding up the pizza boxes.

Kiss my ass, Tony mouths back.

In an instant his expression flips from contemptuous to angelic when he stands and offers to help May clean up.

Peter stands too, sparing a disdainful glance to the floor. Turns out not even the devil was willing to give him a hand.

Natasha was right. It’s going to end in murder.

---

Peter walks Tony to the door after dinner to say goodbye to his ‘friend’. Following him into the hall, Peter closes the door behind them.

“What do you want, Parker?” Tony asks wearily, retrieving a cigarette from his pocket. “I’m trying to make a getaway here.”

Peter crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t do that with my aunt. I’m not joking, asshole. It’s not cool.”

“Relax, princess,” Tony rolls his eyes, fishing for his lighter in his backpack. “I’m not actually interested. Just trying to get under your skin. Worked, see? You’re easy like that. Hey, why do you live with your aunt anyways?”

“None of your business,” he frowns as Tony holds one hand up in surrender and lights his cigarette with the other. “Dude, you can’t smoke in here.”

“Can’t, shouldn’t, gonna. By the way, you’ve got sauce on your chin, it’s very distracting.”

Peter wipes at it without thinking. When he pulls it away there is indeed a smear of red sauce on his hand.

Tony walks backwards down the hall and exhales a cloud of smoke, waving in a sardonic imitation of a farewell.

“See you Monday, bubby.”

Peter doesn’t bother with a response, too tired from the week, exhausted by this whole darn day, and it’s not like the other boy cares what he has to say anyway. He takes a moment to swallow his anger before he heads back inside, sighing.

Well, at least he has an entire weekend free of Stark to look forward to.

May looks at him curiously when he reemerges, but says nothing. He considers for a moment about heading to his bedroom and playing a video game to disassociate - but then, suddenly, remembers her smile earlier, and how alone she looks now. A surge of affection hits him right beneath his breastbone.

He checks his watch and then catches her eye. Tilting his head towards the living room, he says, “Hey. You wanna eat some ice cream and watch some Colbert before bed?”

She smiles just like she did earlier and kisses his cheek. “Sounds nice, Pete.”

Maybe the whole day wasn’t lost.

As May heads to the sofa and switches the TV on, Peter catches sight of the Magic 8-Ball from the corner of his eye. He walks over and gives it a shake.

Outlook good.

----

tagging: @bylerboyfriends @ravens-starker-stuff, @starker-rays, @ironspiderstarker, @notfor-temporaryuse, @tabbycat1220, @sugarfreecult, @rebel13lion39, @muse-of-gods

#starker #ironspider #high school au #enemies to lovers

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keanureevesisbae · 4 years ago

Text

eunoia - prologue

Summary: Sam is trying to adjust to a life post-Steve Rogers.

Sam Wilson x Quinn (Asian ofc)

Warnings: Some spoilers for Civil War, Inifinity War, Endgame and TFATWS

Wordcount: 2.2k

A/N: Did I just abandon my other wips to work on this one? Maybe. This story follows around 50% of TFATWS storyline, but it’s not identical. I honestly don’t know whether or not people are gonna like it, but if you do, please let me know 🥺Our boy Sam deserves all the fics 🥰

Masterlist // eunoia masterlist //

Not a day goes by that Sam doesn’t think about Quinn. It was at the Joint Terrorist Centre’s headquarters in Berlin when he first saw her on security camera’s. While Bucky was being interviewed, a different set of cameras showed another interrogation room. It was nearly identical to Bucky’s room, though the difference was that there a woman was strapped in a similar containment cell. They had found her earlier that day and according to some intel she was part of another Hydra program, though there was not much known about her yet.

With the reactivated Winter Soldier Program, Sam tried to capture Zemo, before the fugitive disappeared into the crowd. Together with Steve, they took Bucky into an abandoned building. While Bucky slowly regained consciousness and both Steve and Sam being distracted, no one noticed someone sneaking up behind them.

In a twinkling of an eye, both Steve and Sam were tied up with one rope, despite the two of them being on opposite sides of the room. With a certain focus, the petite woman marched up to Bucky, ready to do whatever was her task. As her fingers wrapped around his neck, tips digging in his neck, Bucky seemed to recognize her. A soft ‘hey’ from the Winter Soldier was enough to snap her out of it.

The rope stopped cutting into Sam’s skin, as the woman looked around her. She dropped the rope and she ran her hands through her long black locks. There was something about her that intrigued him. Her eyes darted from one side to the other, before they landed on him.

Sam didn’t know her that long, but he could see that there were a lot of undisclosed feelings. She was confused, maybe even a bit scared.

She introduced herself as Quinn, though adding the fact that she had no idea what her real name was and Quinn seemed fitting.

Just like Bucky, Quinn was also a target of Zero’s spree. She remembers Zemo breaking her out of the secret and deserted Hydra facility back in Munich, where she was put into cryogenic stasis. Zemo released her into the world, only for her to be caught within a few hours. She had no idea if that was Zemo’s intention, her getting caught that soon.

‘Just a few hours ago,’ Quinn explained, ‘there was this guy with black hair, questionable facial hair, who told me to catch a guy. It was a picture of you.’ She gestured towards Bucky, who tilted his head as his gaze softened.

‘You remember me?’ Bucky asked her.

She shrugs. ‘I don’t know,’ she whimpers. ‘I didn’t when he showed me the picture, but… There is something I sort of remember of you. You walked into the room, dressed in all black, looking visibly exhausted. You were in this other cell and looked at me and told me that it was all gonna be okay.’ Quinn let out a soft—yet meaningless—chuckle. ‘That’s not quite working out.’

Without any more painful questions, Steve suggested she came along and Sam and her actually fought alongside the rest on the airport, making sure Bucky and Steve were on that flight and just like the rest who stayed behind, they were imprisoned in the Raft.

Sam watched her, day in, day out. She was yet again strapped inside a containment cell within her cell, another counter measurement to make sure she was unable to escape. Sam saw how she kicked an entire van to the side on the airport, without breaking a sweat. It made him question whether or not she was just cooperating or if the restraints were really working.

Her petite frame was perfect for her to blend in the crowd, in contrast to Bucky, however strength wise, they were around the same level.

Speed wise, it was Quinn who had the upper hand there.

She simply sat in the cell, staring ahead of her. Sam wondered what happened inside her head, but when they made eye contact, all he could see was sadness and hopelessness.

At night, when the lights were dim and everyone was asleep, he told her that it was all gonna be okay.

‘How do you know?’

‘I just do,’ he said.

For the first time, she smiled at him. ‘And I just have to trust you on that one?’

‘It’s the wisest thing to do. Besides, what have you got to lose?’

After Steve freed them from the Raft, he did not know what to expect from her. Deep down, Sam kinda hoped she would join him. On the airport, it was obvious how well they worked together, but just like Clint, Scott and Wanda, she decided to live her own life.

And just like that, she disappeared.

Sam never thought he’d see her again, but when they all met in the New Avengers Facility, when they learned about Thanos’ plan to capture all the Infinity Stones, she walked in as if she never left. She stayed close to either him or Steve, not once speaking up about what she did in the meantime and Sam never felt like he could ask.

When they landed in Wakanda, Quinn took him aside and asked: ‘You got my back?’

He smiled at her, realizing that his efforts in gaining her trust back at the Raft and the Facility had helped. ‘Always,’ he promised.

But he didn’t keep his promise. He didn’t have her back like he promised.

Quinn was the last person Sam saw, before he disintegrated into ashes, together with half of the world population. Her hand on his cheek, as her eyes darted from side to side, slightly confused of what was happening, but also realizing that he couldn’t have her back anymore.

While Sam was aware that she was right there on the battlefield after they were all brought back, the first time he saw her was on Tony’s funeral. After Steve told him, Banner, Bucky and Quinn he was going to return the Infinity Stones and Mjølnir—looking back on it—it was obvious she knew what Steve decided to do. Sam can still hear the words that left her lips then: ‘Are you sure you want that to be your future?’

Sam did not know what it meant then, but he sure does now. After he received the shield minutes later of a much older Steve, Quinn did what she always does: disappear.

He never knew where she went, what she was doing and while he respects her decision, he still thinks about her. Every single day. His hope of seeing her again, hasn’t faded away and sometimes it frustrates him. He barely knew her, why is he so hung up on her then?

Sam lets out a sigh, as he drives his truck over the roads to his destination. It has been a rough couple of weeks. He is working closely together with the United States Air Force and after a few missions, he made his decision whether or not to give up the shield.

Without Steve, the shield is nothing.

He desperately needs a break from all of this and there is no place like Delacroix Louisiana to wind down from the hectic of an after Blip world. He had been there two times, but both times ended abruptly as the Air Force needed him.

Now, he has the time. All the time in the world to relax and forget about an Avenger like life.

Sam parks his car on the dock and his nephews AJ and Cass are the first to notice him. ‘Uncle Sam, uncle Sam,’ they exclaim.

‘Ah, there you two are,’ he says, hugging the two boys tightly.

‘How long are you gonna stay this time?’ Cass asks.

‘Awhile,’ is the answer he is giving his nephews, but that is mostly because he wants to keep them in suspense a little.

AJ scoffs. ‘That’s not an answer.’

‘Okay, okay, gotta give you that,’ he chuckles. ‘How about: at least two weeks?’

The two boys high five each other. His sister Sarah loudly places a crate on the ground. ‘Finally,’ she says, ‘took you long enough.’

‘Nice to see you too,’ he retorts with a smile, before giving her a hug. ‘Missed you.’

‘Of course you did,’ she says. ‘We missed you too, just like almost everyone here. Almost got me thinking that you’re the favorite Wilson sibling.’

‘That’s because I am.’ He carries the crate to where Sarah wants it and he smiles when his eyes land on the family boat. ‘She sure is a beauty.’

‘A broken beauty,’ Sarah says, ‘that is costing me a fortune.’ She places her hands on her hips as she says: ‘With both the house and the boat needing some fixing up, every penny I got to spare is going to the house.’

‘Is this about you wanting to sell it again?’

‘Yes, since I’m not willing to sell a working organ on the black market in order to afford its repairs.’

‘I told you I would fix it,’ Sam says.

Sarah rolls her eyes. ‘Yeah, you told me that months ago, but the boat still isn’t working. You know the situation, Sam, the thing’s gotta go.’

‘Sarah, you’re kidding. We grew up on this thing.’

She scoffs. ‘Yeah, I know, I was there. It’s just that I cannot afford it anymore.’

Sam sure loves his sister, but there are moments where he—just like back in the days—he’d want to put her behind the wallpaper, making her shut up. It’s always this doom thinking. Everything or nothing at all, there is no in between. ‘You know I can help with this.’

‘Yeah, big help you’ve been.’

Sam clenches his jaw. ‘Well, I’m sorry I was taken away by the blip.’

‘It’s not about you being gone for the blip,’ Sarah says. ‘It’s about the fact that there is too much for me to do here. I need to keep the house, so it’s either keeping the boat or the business and since the business is my income, it’s only logical that the boat has got to go.’

Great, he has been back for a few minutes and he is already having this conversation with his sister. ‘I’ve got this, Sarah, I promise.’

She doesn’t believe him, he can see it in her eyes, but decides to drop the matter. Maybe she realizes too that this is no conversation for them to have after he got back for only a few minutes.

The two of them step back on the dock, where his nephews are stretching out their necks, almost like they are searching for something. ‘Whatcha looking at?’ Sam asks. ‘See a pretty lady?’

‘Is that,’ Cass starts, only for AJ to exclaim: ‘Auntie Quinn!’

The two boys drop their stuff and rush over the dock to the woman Sam never thought he’d see again, let alone right here. Quinn holds out her arms and despite the boys being nearly the same height as her, she still manages to catch them both as they jump in her arms. They must’ve known about her enhanced strength, Sam thinks to himself, otherwise they wouldn’t have jumped right in her arms.

But that raises another question: how could they’ve known?

‘Auntie Quinn?’ he asks Sarah.

Sarah nods. ‘Auntie Quinn,’ she confirms.

She’s gonna leave it at that? ‘Care to explain?’

‘I think it was two weeks after you were blipped away. It was chaos here, like literal chaos. People were missing, I hadn’t heard anything from you. She walked up the dock and offered her help. I thought for at least a month she was an angel send from the heavens. She told me she saw you right before you were blipped away and that she went to your place back in DC. She found out about us and decided to see how it all went down here. Thankfully she did, because I desperately needed her help. She assisted with the business, helped raising the boys.’

To say he is confused, would be an understatement. ‘She stayed here?’ he asks. ‘During the entire blip?’

‘Oh yeah,’ Sarah says, holding up her hand to Quinn. ‘I think all in all, she stayed here for four years. Sometimes she went away for a few weeks, but she always returned. Near the end, she called me and told me that Steve needed her. It’s actually the first time I’ve seen her in a while.’

Sam can’t stop looking at the big smiles and chuckles being exchanged between AJ, Cass and Quinn. She hugs his nephews tightly and even from a distance he can tell she is scolding them for growing taller.

‘I think that without her,’ Sarah continues, ‘I barely would’ve made it. She was slightly clueless though. Had issues with the simplest tasks, like cooking and day to day stuff, but she’s a fast learner.’

It shouldn’t warm his heart like it does, but Sam can’t help but smile as he realizes that Quinn went on the look out to care for his family.

‘She told me she had no memories of growing up. Poor thing,’ Sarah says, shaking her head as she as well looks at the trio. ‘She tried so hard to remember, but in all those years she spend here, no luck. I wonder if she does now.’

She doesn’t. Sam doesn’t need to ask her, because he simply knows.

Quinn still doesn’t remember her past.

#sam wilson #sam wilson fanfiction #sam wilson fanfic #sam wilson x oc #sam wilson x ofc #sam wilson x asian ofc #sam wilson x woc ofc #sam wilson x quinn #quinn #asian ofc #woc ofc #anthony mackie #anthony mackie fanfiction #anthony mackie fandom #anthony mackie x ofc #anthony mackie x oc #anthony mackie x asian ofc #anthony mackie x woc ofc #eunoia

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seventfics · 3 years ago

Photo

Blind Owl

Written for @witcher-rarepair-summer-bingo

Prompt: Temporary or permanent blindness Relationships: Triss Merigold/Philippa Eilhart Rating: M Content Warnings: None (Mild Gore, Blood and Injury) Summary: It's hard, but Triss finds a way to help Philippa.

Read on AO3

* * *

“Philippa.”

At the mention of her name the sorceress turns, her head held high. Too high, Triss notes, to be facing her directly.

The edges of the blindfold over Philippa’s eyes are stained red.

“Triss. I must say, of all the things that have happened today? I didn’t expect to meet you.”

Triss quirks a smile at her. “Disappointed?”

“No, never,” she says with a graceful wave of her dirtied hand. “Surprised. I overheard that all the mages had dipped from Novigrad. I should have known you would stay behind.”

“I wasn’t going to, to be honest. Geralt convinced me.”

“Yes, he’s good at that, isn’t he?”

Triss’ portal had taken them from Sigi Reuven’s bathhouse to her small room at the Rosemary and Thyme. It’s not her room, really, but a kindness of Geralt’s friends, and one she immediately took up. Better than the Bits, where she lived in tight quarters on a lopsided building. Now she has actual furniture she picked herself, a full bed that can support her weight without sinking, and a lock on her door. It is much more to her liking.

Philippa would hate her decor, if she could see it. They’ve always had different taste in furniture.

“Circumstances aside…I’m glad you’re with us, Phil.”

Philippa hums. She walks the room carefully, a hand tense with magic held forward to sense for objects. “And what are the circumstances, exactly?”

From her pocket, Triss brings out an agate.

“Geralt stumbled upon this, some time ago.” The stone glimmers from old traces of Philippa’s magic. “You want the Lodge back together. Well, so do we.”

“Ah. Our interests align.”

Though she is blind, Philippa props herself neatly on the lone bed’s edge as Triss explains the looming threat of the Wild Hunt. In all things she is flawless artistry. Her hands cross over a hip, as she lifts her legs to lounge over Triss’ bed—and oh, how familiar, the sight of her like that. It distracts her mid-speech more than once.

“In my state,” she drawls, gesturing to her blindfold, “I am not much help.”

Triss is less artful, but just as coquette with her lilting voice. “You are, Philippa,” and more seriously, she adds, “You were the best of us.”

“Quite. You understand that this is a matter most crucial for the survival of magic.”

After a moment’s pause, Philippa sits upright against the half a dozen pillows Triss hoards at the back. She presses a hand to her temples, sighing as if displeased by something.

It is the closest sign she’s going to give to her exhaustion. Her pain.

Triss’ heart aches to help. But Philippa is proud. She is strong on her own, and protective of that right. She would not accept an ounce of pity nor mercy, no matter how well-intended.

Years of her acquaintance have taught Triss how to work around that.

“We need you at your best. Phil,” she says, sitting by the weary sorceress to take one of her hands between her own.

Philippa tilts her head up then. Again, too high, and slightly left of Triss’ ear.

“Tell me what I can do.”

* * *

The wet stones under her fingertips harbor the cells of Philippa’s experiment. It’s grotesque, she knows. Some sections have grown beyond control, eye-masses with mutated pupils, multiple irises, some even larger than a megascope’s crystal. But as Philippa does her best rebuilding the Lodge, reforming allyships, and planning the Wild Hunt’s defeat, Triss must do this unpleasant work. For Philippa.

She nearly slips and falls down to her doom twice. The stones are at such a precarious altitude, at a precise distance from the cavern waterfall to promote cell growth without washing off the results. What was Philippa thinking? Growing eyes in such a dangerous place?

But here she is, carefully extracting the cells from the stone with her magic. She suspends them in a sterile magic seal, to store in her purse. For some reason, that makes her laugh, a sound that echoes back to her ears three times. She has Philippa’s eyes in her bag. Philippa’s beautiful eyes that had been gouged out by an angry and paranoid king. The amber of them is now indistinguishable from moss.

There is no time to rest between quests, and yet, once she is finished gathering the most that she can, Triss climbs to safer ground on shaky hands and knees, needing a second to breathe. Just a second. She cannot spare more than that to mourn, or cry, or remember how Phil used to tease her with just a stare and a raised brow.

It will be fine.

She will have new eyes. They won’t be the same, but Philippa won’t care. It’s just Triss who needs a second.

Back when they were a powerful Lodge of Sorceresses, and not the tattered survivors of imprisonment and war, Triss had mooned over the proud advisor to the crown of Redania. She didn’t make her attention obvious, but nothing goes under Philippa’s notice. The woman had made herself friends among spies and, like in all things, absorbed some of their skills.

They spent many nights in each other’s company. Sometimes, it was just to forget the cruelty of war, the greedy men who broke what they could not claim. Triss was lucky to be considered important. A sorceress has more worth as a power to be wielded than a woman to be abused.

And after the Battle on Sodden Hill, Triss had little trust in men.

Maybe that’s why she started this...liaison. And maybe it had been a shallow, poor excuse at first, but. Somewhere between disillusionment and distraction, her heart stole away in the owl’s nest of Philippa’s making.

“Do you think one day we could be happy?”

With a single candle to illuminate the room, Triss braves the words. This world is not made for them to find happiness, but they are powerful. They could make it so.

Philippa doesn’t move from her limp, careless spread over silk red sheets. The dim firelight paints her skin bronze. Nothing covers her, and it is beautiful.

“Happiness has never been my dream,” she says, her back to Triss. “My vision remains on the future of the Northern Kingdoms and the conservation of magic. A sorceress’ dream.”

That is Philippa. Sturdy. Focused. Her hedonist streak is a sparse creature, easily ignored.

Still, Triss hopes. That is who she is.

A long pause ebbs the nervousness buried in Triss’ chest. No one disturbs them, which is rare. No megascope call. No xenovox. No letter from either of the kings they serve.

Triss nearly dozes off, warm and content with things, when she hears a quiet, “Do you see me, in your dream of peace and leisure?”

“I do.”

She opens her eyes to the jostle of movement. Philippa has finally turned around to stare at her, her dark hair a wild fan over her shoulders and breast.

“Perhaps,” she says as she brings up fingers to play with the loose fire-red strands over Triss’ ear, “perhaps one of us should keep that possibility in our mind.”

* * *

“Ah, you’ve returned.”

The surprise lilt in Philippa’s voice tells her that she did not expect Triss so soon. She understood the hard undertaking of retrieving her growing eye cells from the deepest caves of her most secret hideout.

But where Philippa is clever, Triss is eager. Of course she would go as quickly as possible. The Wild Hunt does not wait. The witch hunters of Novigrad will not cease their chase. There is no time to be dallying.

“Well darling, hand them here," Philippa starts, her palms opened to receive Triss' hard-earned work, "so I can get to the matter of fusing them in.”

“Let me.”

She pauses at the plea. If she had eyes, Triss imagines she would have blinked.

But it’s only a short lapse in time, her mind running through a million scenarios.

Eventually, she nods, deeming the offer acceptable. “If you insist. But do not take too long, I hear our brave witcher is to return soon with our esteemed Cirilla, and I have much to talk with her about the future of our Lodge.”

Slowly, Philippa undoes her blindfold, unknowingly as Triss goes to kneel in front of her.

She does flinch at the sight. It is a nasty healing wound, dark and sunken where eyes should be. The skin around the sockets is black. But her own chest, glamored to hide snarled skin, bares worse scars from battle.

The cells take time to transfer from her purse, and they are not yet fully nurtured. They will have to grow into place. With Philippa’s magic to amplify sight, it would be enough to maneuver buildings and streets on her own. It is not by any means a perfect resolve.

Triss puts great care in choosing the healthiest cells. She tries not to cause too much discomfort—any sort of magical procedure that modifies the body would be painful, at the very least uncomfortable—but if it is unbearable, Philippa bears it.

When the last sliver of magic dissipates, Philippa voices a tense but honest, “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me.”

There, still knelt between pale thighs and gazing up at the newly-healed flesh around mossy eyes, Philippa kisses her.

A wound Triss did not know she still had in her heart opens. Fresh blood pounds through her body like a blaze set free on a forest. It burns, the kiss like a match against her lips, and the world narrows down to them, now, together after everything. Her arms cannot hold onto Phil any harder as she kisses back with all her being. All her fire and pain and love that never waned.

When they separate, Phil whispers, “Do you still see me in your dream of the future?” like a secret that should not be named in fear of shattering it.

“I do.” They don’t have time to second-guess their dreams or the choices that got them closer to achieving them. Just a second is all they can spare, to doubt.

One day, Triss hopes they can finally stop running, stop fighting, scheming, surviving, and simply be.

It will be fine.

They stay in each other’s arms, breathing each other’s air. Philippa’s fingertip lingers above Triss’ lip, almost playful in its upwards tug. This time, when Triss stands up and Phil raises her head, it feels like she is looking at her.

“Well, then we better stop this world-ending business first.”

Triss gives her a smile through her eyes.

One day.

#merihart #triss x philippa #rarepair summer bingo #myfics #tt

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phoenix-downer · 3 years ago

Text

The Princess of Light Chapter 5: A Grieving Prince

~1840 words. Angst, Romance, Fluff, Fairy Tales. For SoKai Week 2021, Day 5.

Summary: Princess Kairi is cursed to be without love when she is a baby. She grows up cold and without a heart to help her understand other people’s feelings, no matter how hard her parents try to help her. One day, however, she meets a mysterious prince from a faraway world, and he just might hold the key to breaking her curse.

Fairies age much more slowly than humans, so when the king and queen met with the Violet Fairy about what was happening, she hardly looked a day older than she had at Princess Kairi’s christening. They were in her little house at the edge of the castle town, which was surrounded by the prettiest violets and forget-me-nots you’d ever seen. Most fairies preferred seclusion, but the Violet Fairy liked living near people and letting children play in her garden.

Right now, however, the garden was full of royal guards. The Violet Fairy set dainty tea cups containing her famous violet tea out for her royal guests. Nothing helps a difficult conversation like some nice, warm tea, a principle the fairy lived and swore by. Once the king and queen were sipping their tea and the guards also each had a cup, she sat down to discuss why they had come.

“To answer your question, Your Majesties,” she began, “I suspect the light is draining from the pool because the Heart of the World has been injured.”

This news alarmed the king. If the Heart of the World was injured, the very world itself might die, and as its guardian and ruler, he had to do something about it.

“But how?” the queen asked. “The Heart is buried deep underground and has a series of enchantments protecting it from harm.”

“That may be,” the Violet Fairy said, “but the very strongest, wickedest types of dark magic might have found a way around those protections. Otherwise the pool wouldn’t be draining.” At this she turned to the king. “Fairies are forbidden from learning such magic because it would corrupt us like it has corrupted your sister, so I cannot say what has happened exactly, but that is my best guess.”

“Maleficent,” the king spat. “Of course. This has to be her doing. She despises Kairi and always has.”

The queen nodded. “We think she’s jealous of Kairi because Kairi will be queen someday. No matter how far we banish Maleficent, she keeps tormenting us.”

“My advice to you would be to find the Heart of the World as soon as possible,” the Violet Fairy said. “See if it is indeed wounded. If so, then you must search for some way to save it, or the very world will die, along with your daughter.”

The king and queen sent a group of soldiers to check on the Heart of the World in its cavern underground. When they reached it, the Violet Fairy’s hunch proved to be true: the Heart of the World was indeed smaller and less vibrant than it had been before, and that only happens if it has been wounded. So the king and queen ordered for every inch of Radiant Garden to be searched for a way to restore it. In the end a group of children found the answer, as it had washed up on the shore of Radiant Garden’s only sea. It was a small lucky charm, and it was made up of five thalassa shells. A curious sight indeed, for thalassa shells were native to Destiny Islands, not Radiant Garden.

On the lucky charm was engraved the following:

Should the Heart of the World beat slow

And the light of the earth cease to flow

There is only one way to make things right

A young man must pour out his light

Pour and pour till his heart beats no more

Only then will light flow from river to shore

The words of the lucky charm made the king and queen very sad. They didn’t want to ask anyone to die, but the world was doomed if they did not, and Kairi would surely die as well. The king wanted to offer himself up, but he didn’t fit the description, and neither did the queen.

So it was with heavy hearts they made the announcement and sent the proclamation throughout Radiant Garden. A day went by, and not a single person volunteered. Two days, and Kairi’s condition took a turn for the worse. On the third day, the king retreated to the woods where the royal family owned a cottage to think about what to do.

Now, Prince Sora had gone home to speak to his parents about how to help Princess Kairi. He was shocked to return to Radiant Garden to find the entire world in a state of mourning as the light pool shrank to a puddle while the hole in Kairi’s chest grew bigger and bigger and her skin colder and colder.

He went to the inn where he’d stayed the first time, and on the door he saw the proclamation from the king and queen. With trembling hands he pulled it down and wandered into his room as if in a daze. No matter how many times he read the proclamation, his mind still spun and his heart pounded in his chest.

“I can’t let her die. If she dies, life is hardly worth living. But if I die,” at this Sora’s voice cracked a little, for he saw no way out of it; till his heart beats no more seemed rather clear, “she, along with the rest of the people of this world, will be saved.” His hand curled around the proclamation. “I’ve made up my mind, then. I’ll talk to her parents about being the sacrifice.”

This was how Sora ended up at the king’s cottage in the woods after the sun had set. The autumn breeze made him shiver after experiencing the warmth of his home world, but he steeled his nerves and knocked on the wooden door.

“Who goes there?” the king asked, rather irritably, for anything that wasn’t helping him solve his daughter’s dire state was a nuisance at best.

When he opened the door, he was quite surprised to see a young man waiting just outside. Sora bowed low, as was proper when greeting a king. In fact he bowed as low as a servant would bow. He lowered himself to his hands and knees and bent his head, for he wanted to show how serious he was about saving Princess Kairi.

“Your Majesty, my name is Sora, and I have an offer to make.”

At this, Sora fell silent, and a few agonizing moments ticked by till the king groaned. “Stop being cryptic and come out with it,” he said at last, pulling Sora to his feet. “My daughter is dying, the world’s in danger, and I haven’t got all day.”

“Your dying daughter is why I’m here,” Sora said quietly. “I heard you need someone to restore the Heart of the World.”

“Are you offering?” the king asked, raising an eyebrow.

“On one condition.”

The king nearly lost his temper completely, for he couldn’t understand why Sora wouldn’t just put out all of his terms at once when the circumstances were so dire. “Out with it, boy!”

“I’d like Princess Kairi to keep me company as I give up my light.”

The king’s eyes widened; this was not the sort of request he’d been expecting. Bold of the boy to ask, but his voice was unwavering, and he refused to look away.

“And if it’s not too much to ask,” Sora continued, his voice growing stronger with every word, “I’d like her to tend to me when I’m hungry and thirsty. I want to make sure I… survive long enough to complete the ritual.”

Restoring the Heart of the World sounded like it would be a very grueling task, because Sora knew the Heart must be much larger than his own. Would his light be enough, or would he fail? There was only one way to find out, and he wanted to make sure he made enough preparations to see this through.

“That can be arranged,” the king said, for he was not about to turn away his one shot at saving his daughter and his kingdom. “We can send food and drink down into the cavern where the Heart of the World is. After you begin the ritual, Kairi will feel better, and she can tend to you as you’ve requested. I doubt she’ll have any objections.”

“Oh, I think she’d rather be in her light pool,” Sora said with a rueful smile. “But if you ask her to keep me company, I think she’ll say yes. She thinks very highly of you and of her mother the queen.”

Now, you mustn’t fault Sora for despairing a little, as it is a bitter thing indeed to die for someone you know doesn’t love you back. Sora was ready and willing to do so, but a part of him still wished Kairi would return his affection. Could return his affection. He remembered that night he tried to explain to her what love was, how she seemed so curious and eager to understand, how she just couldn’t grasp it.

“I know it’s because of her curse,” Sora said, his voice low and his heart heavy, “but I wish… ah, nevermind. I’d die without her, but she’ll live happily without me. That’s just… how things are.”

The king thought he saw tears shining in Sora’s eyes, though he couldn’t say for sure. He’d been silent up till now because he was beginning to grasp why Sora would be willing to do this when no one else would, and the thought of sending this poor young man to die…

Then he thought of Kairi’s cold, stiff form as his sister’s curse ate away at her. Thought about leaving her to die to spare this young man. Sora himself had said he’d rather die than let that happen, so the king could hardly stop him. Nor did he want to if it meant Sora’s sacrifice would save his daughter.

“Thank you for doing this for her,” he said to Sora. “For all of us.”

Sora nodded. “I’ll go to the cavern tomorrow morning.”

The king returned to his wife and daughter and explained that someone had volunteered to save Kairi. She perked up for the first time in days when she heard that the light would be returned to her pool. She was so sick that she didn’t register that it would be due to another person giving up his light; all she could think about was feeling better. The king and queen were relieved too, relieved that their daughter would be spared and the world saved.

Sora felt the opposite of relieved and slept very poorly, but he was driven by a quiet determination to see this through. He awoke the next morning and put on his best clothes, clothes befitting a prince, for if he was going to die, he wanted to die like a king.

With that, he set out for the cave where the Heart of the World was located. When he reached it, he took one last look at the world around him. One last look at the sun and clouds and sky. Then he took a deep breath and lowered himself into the cavern.

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