#Fergus' Funeral

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

ngl fergus’s interlude is actually really funny if you play as the female master

[n14-4cko]

Okay I’m going to ramble hold on right

* Skul loves reading at the local library and one day meets author Gordon edgley, starts reading his books, and later wins a contest because he predicted the ending with the clues given throughout the series or something. Gordon finds him a bit cheeky but daring and clever nonetheless and after skul keeps following him at book meets for more answers and predictions, Gordon invited him over to talk more about detective work and they grew close (uncle/nephew type thing)

* Skul is given the same advice in the funeral and Val gets the house and what not. Not sure how to add beryl, fergus, carol and crystal :(

* Val doesn’t use a wig and sunglasses often, instead uses a bike helmet and is wearing that when the house gets broken into. (later gets the facade)

* Val has the powers she has currently and throws lightning not fire on the guy who broke the door down. (the guy also can use lightning since in the book he was impervious to fire. So now it’s lightning i suppose)

* Skul is at Gordon’s home. He picked the locks after the funeral to try and get closure to feel better, he’s sat reading when the break in happens.

* Doesn’t faint at seeing skeleton Val, but asks lots of questions. THEN faints.

* Val doesn’t have a hat to steal, but she has tire marks to follow. One of skuls brothers is obsessed with bikes so he has minor knowledge and, he somehow figures out where she lives and demands to be brought along with the cool lightning throwing biker skeleton

* wife and child - girlfriend and sister (melitsa and Alice

* Val drives a 1949 Vincent 998cc Black Lightning Series-C. One of only 34 ever made (bike)

* Darquesse and lord vile also swapped places. Though darquesse was/is her anger and alter ego for 5 years and lord vile is the true name, seen by seers and by skulduggery in the book of names.

* Most things and people stay the same (for now lol)

* The first time Val brings Skulduggery on a mission/investigation he puts on his best suit w bow tie and converse. When asked he insists he wants to be practical and taken seriously and to look the part. He’s just a huge doctor who fan. Later meets ghastly and gets a proper suit and shoes. Likes it more.

* Skulduggery is the one who insists at first about finding out about Gordon’s death (he’s vals great great great nephew or something and still writes books)

* Val is openly known to have lots of powers, less than book Val but is stronger and had much more practice focusing on less powers.

* Instead of Solomon giving Val permission to use his cane, skulduggery doesn’t ask and throws spears of darkness. Doesn’t enjoy it but is willing to learn more. Not necessarily from Solomon but will listen to Val and others.

* Val isn’t a detective specifically but is still very good at getting the job done like in the books. Skulduggery quickly becomes the brains and likes to deduce what’s going on and slowly becomes very talented at it.

*im not certain on whether the facade has the random face like skul or if she’ll have her own permenantly. I like the idea of both tbh so she can be herself and blend in inconspicuously if need be.

I’ll either change this or add more (or both) but these are my initial thoughts.

[monochromemoomin]

thinking about all of the times campbell is shown to be somewhat a reflection of fergus. like his future is going the same way as fergus, or at least he thinks it could be.

examples because i have Things To Say:

• when campbell is in the reflection of fergus’ wardrobe mirror. dunno what this quite means yet but it’s there.

• the obvious one is campbell’s reflection in fergus’ casket plate. i’m thinking it could be to show that campbell saw himself in fergus and so is afraid of ending up dead himself.

- also note how campbell is drunk at the funeral. he doesn’t want to confront his actual feelings towards it so he combats that with alcohol and complaining about the service

• not reflection this time but when campbell says “they’re not gonna find me in a heap on the pavement”. our boy is much more afraid of ending up like fergus than he lets on i think. he doesn’t really talk about it much other than that.

i could write an essay about campbell and one day i just might.

[chocolatepot]

The Crow Road and Good Omens

When I watched season two of Good Omens for the first time, I noticed that Crowley throws Muriel a book at random near the end of the finale, but I didn't pay a ton of attention to it, because there was a lot going on. Then I started a second watch where I took notes on things that struck me, references or lines that couldn't just be random but had to merit a closer look. One of these things was the fact that Metatron asks Muriel about their book and they hold it up extremely conspicuously (twice) so that the title, The Crow Road, is very obvious. It seemed impossible to me that it was just a random book, so I ordered a copy from the library and settled in with it.

(The only copy in the system is held in the library my mother runs in another town. Coincidence? OR FATE?)

The Crow Road

The Crow Road is a hard book to sum up. There is a relatively straightforward "present day" plotline from a single character's perspective, but much of the book (particularly in the first half) consists of flashbacks.

I'm going to sum up the family relationships first, for simplicity's sake. Margot and Matthew McHoan are the parents of Hamish (married to Antonia), Kenneth (m. Mary), Fiona (m. Fergus Urvill), Ilsa, and Rory (who has been missing for years). Kenneth and Mary are the parents of Lewis, Prentice, and James. Fiona and Fergus are the parents of Diana and Helen), and Fiona is dead by the start of the book. Fergus's sister, Charlotte, married Steve and had a daughter, Verity. Rory dated Janice, who had a daughter, Marion. There is also an unrelated family, the Watts: Lachlan is in Kenneth's generation; his brother's kids, Ashley, Darren, and Dean, are in Prentice's.

Prentice is the main character, though the other bolded names are important. He's a middle child, jealous of his older brother (a successful comedian) and dismissive of his younger one (who barely turns up on the page anyway); he's in love with the gorgeous and unattainable Verity; he has simultaneous superiority and inferiority complexes that make him moody and self-righteous, sure that he's smarter than everyone else but at the same time terribly insecure. Relatedly, he's estranged from his father because he believes there's an afterlife and his father is a committed atheist.

The main plotline begins at Margot's funeral and cremation in 1989. Prentice leaves the post-funeral gathering (after Margot's body has exploded in the oven as they forgot to remove her pacemaker) for the pub, where he catches up with the Watts - he's at university and not around town. Ashley gives him a piece of the Berlin Wall and tells him that when she was there, she came across some man saying that the McHoan family was being tricked.

He starts to investigate the disappearance of his Uncle Rory, finding Janice and getting some of his papers from her. Weeks(?) later, he catches Verity and Lewis canoodling at the Hogmanay party at Urvill Castle; the next day at another party, he gets blackout drunk and embarrasses everyone by screaming at them. The next morning, told off by his mother and having a terrible, horrible, no-good day, he leaves his bag on the train - including all of those papers, only half of which he'd looked through.

After a dinner with Ashley in the city where she also tells him off for his poor choices (he's also failing at his classes and has gotten caught shoplifting), he gets a call to come home because his father has died: he was struck by lightning while climbing a church. Prentice starts to wonder more seriously about Rory's fate, now, and looks harder for clues. After they bury Kenneth and Lewis and Verity get married, he finds some old floppy disks in his parents' home marked as Rory's. Ashley realizes that the man from Berlin is actually a news correspondent who reports for the BBC around the world, and takes the discs to get investigated by her techie friends.

While he waits, Prentice finds some old diaries of Rory's as well, borderline incomprehensible because they're full of abbreviations. He goes with Ashley to a bar to find that news correspondent, who turns tail as soon as he sees him and mysteriously flees. Finally he gets the info from the discs: it's a narrative about Fergus catching Fiona in bed with Lachlan Watts, telling Rory about it, and then deliberately driving aggressively to cause the car accident where she died. This helps Prentice put together a strong theory that Rory went to Fergus to say he knew what had happened and Fergus killed him, then got the journalist to send then matchbooks from all over the world to make it seem like Rory is still alive. He goes to see Fergus about this, not being completely direct but still ... and that night the house is broken into and he's attacked, the intruder getting away with nothing.

Later, Fergus crashes his Cessna into the Atlantic after presumably having a heart attack in it. Not very far from the crash site, the police soon after come across a motorcycle with a body tied to it that is determined to be Rory, killed with blows to the head. The Bentley Eight Fergus left to Prentice in his will (originally it was to go to Kenneth) has a paperweight in the glove box that exactly matches the description of the murder weapon. Around this time, he completely loses any faith he had in religion.

Now that loose ends are tied up and Prentice is making better life choices, he and Ashley get together, fuck, and admit that they love each other - but she is still leaving for a job in Canada, and she says she'll come back once he's done with university (he's repeating a year) if he still loves her. He also goes back to Urvill Castle, where his cousin reminds him of a time they were all drunk/high up in the observatory and he was going on and on about the wonders of the stars and how they were better than religion, which spurred her to become an astronomer. The younger members of the family go back up there in order to do a determinedly unreligious "christening" ceremony for Lewis and Verity's baby, Kenneth.

Along the way in all this, there are flashbacks to Kenneth's childhood, youth, and young parenthood; to Rory's POV; to Prentice as a teenager - all of these help to build their characterization, and also that of other characters, as well as to drop clues about what Fergus did and what Rory was doing.

What is the Crow Road?

The "crow road" refers to three separate things in the book.

"Away the crow road" is a euphemism of Grandma Margot's to mean "died".

It's a literal road in their town, where Janice lives.

It's the title of the work Rory was building around the whole Fergus-Lachlan-Fiona story before, I assume, he realized that Fergus killed Fiona.

Death and Religion

Death is ... pretty central to the book. It starts with Margot's death, we're made aware of Fiona's at the funeral, we find out that Prentice and Kenneth's estrangement stems from Ashley's brother Darren's death in a motorcycle accident, Kenneth dies, Fergus dies. Prentice also gets to live in the home of an old rich woman who died while her will's being sorted out (a la Jarndyce v. Jarndyce) after his father's death, when he's turning his life around.

That estrangement is generally over religion, but more specifically Prentice's belief in a soul and afterlife. He has to believe that there is something of Darren that will go on, and Kenneth thinks this is utter stupidity. Kenneth has a lot of lines regarding religion/Christianity that, if tweaked to accept the existence of God but rejection of the religion and philosophy around said god, sound quite Crowleyish - religion is used to justify evil, the concept of original sin is inherently unfair, etc. And by the end of the book, when he tosses the paperweight that killed his uncle into the sea, Prentice has come to agree completely with his father.

Hamish, Kenneth and Rory's older brother, has his own spin on Christianity that's charmingly batshit and heretical. He thinks bad people have exactly the things done to them in the afterlife that they did to hurt others, and that there are versions of everyone alive there for the dead to interact with. After Kenneth's death he's completely shaken and briefly goes back to ordinary Christian beliefs before spinning off again. He comes across as deluded the whole time. He also has a line about God being a "strict father" which prompts Prentice to consider God as a child-abuser.

Toward the end, there's a flashback with Rory, who says he briefly had the belief that by humming a particular low note he could affect tv screens, but then he realized that it was vibrating his own head and only affecting his perception of them. The point of the flashback was for him to suggest that Fergus may not have even seen Fiona cheating (he was drunk), just imagined it, but it's not hard to see a critique of religion in this as well.

Love and Sex

Ohhh, is there a lot of these in the book. It's quite horny! Prentice hooks up with Marion as a teenager in an old car in the garage, which they basically destroy by accident; he also fucks her mother, Janice (who then takes up with his roommate so he has to be aware of them fucking all the time); he's constantly burning with lust for Verity - but Ashley is the only one he seems to actually love. Lewis and Verity have sex at the Hogmanay party. Kenneth and Mary have sex in a boat before they get engaged. Rory sees Fergus trying to get Fiona into bed at a wedding before they get together, and of course there's Fiona and Lachlan. Not to speak of the talking/thinking about masturbation present in many of the adolescent flashbacks.

There's also a lot of familial love. Kenneth loves the children (all the children, really, not just his own; he writes stories and creates games for them), Mary loves them, Margot loves the family, Rory and Prentice love each other. The Watt siblings love each other, coming together to destroy the concrete litter bin that killed Darren. Lewis and Verity love each other, and by the end, Lewis and Prentice are loving siblings again as well (nobody cares about James), and they both love baby Kenneth.

War

It doesn't really come up in my summary, but war is a strong part of the setting. The "present" of the book runs through the Gulf War, which is of great importance to the characters - they worry about a draft, they criticize both Saddam Hussein and the US's capitalist motives, at one point they consider it possibly the beginning of World War III. Kenneth's childhood is also during World War II: in one flashback, Lachlan explains to Kenneth and Fergus that his father uses their bread to strain green dye out of petrol to sell on the black market (technically postwar, but still during rationing).

So, How Does This Relate To Good Omens?

Well, all of these things are very much present in the show!

The main characters and the backdrop of Armageddon are of course drawn from the Bible, and it's hardly an uncritical use of a religious source - Heaven is no better than Hell, God is absent, and Crowley and Aziraphale are right for standing together to create their own side; as noted previously, it feels very in line with Kenneth's thoughts on religion as an institution. Death and war certainly come into it, though mostly as something to be averted in season one and presumably in season three again, and love is ... well, love is the point. They love each other, they love Earth - they love the universe, Crowley created all those marvelous stars. The ending of the book specifically lines up with the ending of season two, in that the main characters who love each other are temporarily separated. And of course, the story structure that's chock-a-block with flashbacks is highly reminiscent of season two, with its historical minisodes cut in with the present-day scenes to highlight important character background and parallels.

I don't think anything from the plot of this book is meant to be a clue as to plot developments in season three, although I don't think it's entirely impossible for the way the mystery of Rory and Fiona's deaths is solved through finding an answer in Rory's writing to be a reference to Aziraphale's diaries. But there is so much going on in the book that it's hard to pick out what it could be - working through Rory's papers/files is actually quite a minor part.

If it is supposed to presage something (rather than to be an easter egg so people who know the book can go, "oh, that book really works with this show!"), I think it's more likely to hint that Muriel is going to learn to think for themself and reject Heaven's orthodoxy, or else to more generally refer to Aziraphale realizing that he can't fix it.

[tahopo]

loveee kaleb he’s so interesting and i don't mean to be presumptuous or like step out of line (please tell me if i am,, he is not my oc after all)

but i really would like to understand the circumstances you have built around him and what made him feel so strongly attached to amethyne enough to put her through THE JOINING? because that is frankly unhinged!

does he understand the social influence he, a human noble, has on her, an elven orphan? what even was his relationship with iona? what does fergus think of him (because you said kaleb didn’t want another oren situation?). or anyone in general? sorry, this is so much but after ten years of feeling meh about it, you have opened my eyes to the cousland origin!!

This is such a goldmine ask like I’m so excited…

First off, I have it that the Mac Eanraigs were descendants of reavers whose excessive blood consumption changed their genetic makeup. I have a whole thing about that but it’ll make this too long!! But they mainly drank giant blood. The fact is this: Kaleb is not a stranger to weird blood rituals. Open the door to taboo and you find yourself easily one foot in it.

Secondly, I’m so ！ ！ that you picked up on the whole social imbalance surrounding him. Yes. Yes ! His unorthodoxy or weirdness doesn’t negate fact he’s a very wealthy human man on the favoured side of the social strata. His actions are well-intentioned and noble, but they also come from a place of privilege. He was groomed to be an ambassador; politicking and taking ownership of people’s lives like chess pieces is second nature to him. He has a saviour complex deep down, and he operates on moral masochism— and this informs a lot of his decisions. He has no right to save her. But he has the resources to- why shouldn’t he use them? And if one day she hates him for it, he will devote his existence to that hatred. Better to repent than to regret. This is similar to what he does to Alistair. He loves through self-exile.

As for Iona. The crazy thing is he only spoke to her briefly. He never shared a bed with her, he’s not that kind of guy. That option always made me uncomfortable. ‘Amethyne’ was just a name spoken in passing, but Amethyne is the only tether Kaleb allows himself to from before that horrible night in Castle Cousland. There’s a level of guilt at play because he was so often away from home studying in Orlais, he certainly did not watch Oren grow up! Amethyne was a faint remedy to that: she’s a this-time-around made realised. He never goes back to Highever btw. Ever. Not even for the funeral. Not even for Fergus. He refuses to confront ghosts, but he can dedicate himself to those alive. Or those he forced to stay alive.

He pushes Alistair away from the Battle of Denerim to maximise his safety. He sabotages every chance of death Loghain has to maximise his suffering. He puts Amethyne through the joining and goes on a doomed Grail trail to maximise her life.

What Kaleb does is very wrong and he knows it. His relationship with Fergus suffers. Alistair is compelled to co-sign a death sentence-adoption paper in the middle of a bitter divorce fallout. He watches the horror dawn on Velanna, Sigrun, Nate, Anders’ faces when they discover they are not the Warden Commander’s first fledged.

And Amethyne herself grows up to hold as much resentment as she does deep affection for him. You are not my saviour!!!!! But you are my father. And we all have to live with that.

(and i can sense through the taint when you’re absent and worse when you’re present and still won’t approach. anora looks at me funny. i don’t know what loghain looks at me with, but i hate him. and why do you act different, more fond around kieran and his mother whom you are not even in love with than you do with father, whom you are, and i. and he’s stuck in a castle just like my real mother was and you’re wasting away just like my real father did and and and)

[jknerd]

DISNEY STUDIO AU: Donald Duck

Full Name: Donald Fauntleroy Duck 

Other Names: Don, Donny, Uncle Donald, Lieutenant Donald F. Duck

Schools: Duckburg Private School (graduated), Walt Disney University of Performing Arts (graduated)

Occuaption(s): Sub-vocalist and rapper of The Three Caballeros, Naval officer (rank Lieutenant; retired), actor, entertainer

Residence: Los Angeles, California, USA

Family: Quagmore Duck (father), Hortense McDuck (mother), Della Duck (twin sister), Huey Dewey and Louie (nephews), Scrooge McDuck (uncle), Ludwig Von Drake (distant uncle), Gideon McDuck (uncle), Matilda McDuck (aunt), Daphne Duck (aunt), Gladstone Gander (cousin), Fethry Duck (cousin), Fergus McDuck (maternal grandfather), Downy McDuck (maternal grandmother), Bolivar (pet)

Relationships: Daisy (girlfriend->fiancee->wife), Panchito Pistoles (best friend; fellow member of the Three Caballeros), José Carioca (best friend; fellow member of the Three Caballeros), Mickey (best friend), Goofy (best friend), Minnie (friend), Clarabelle (friend), Horace (friend)

Likes: His music/acting career, boats, hiking, hockey, dancing, singing, spending time with family, dates with Daisy, holidays, camping

Dislikes: Bad luck, his voice damaged, losing his temper, Goofy’s clumsiness, upsetting Daisy, unruly animals, his nephews in danger, his nephew’s chaotic mischiefs, anyone offending Panchito/José, his nephews stressing over grades

Donald Fauntleroy Duck is one of the famous celebrity and entertainer alongside Mickey and Goofy. Originally debuted as “The Three Caballeros” with Panchito and José at the end of his university year, he was once the sub-vocalist and rapper. Afterward, he joined the Naval army and his rank raised up to lieutenant. Later, he become an uncle and single parent of his three nephews; Huey, Dewey, and Louie while working as actor and an entertainer. Eventually, he returned to his singing career “the Three Caballeros”.

Donald was born as twin brother of Della Duck, being a firstborn of Quagmore the pilot of McDuck Airline and Hortense the bank worker of “The Money Bin” Bank. Born in a privileged and wealthy background, Donald was expected to meet the family’s expectation as one of the heirs of McDuck enterprises. The two others were Gladstone Gander and Fethry Duck, but Donald was the one who have been above Scrooge’s expectations as next heir as the rest didn’t for reasons; Gladstone was uncannily lucky, but a very lazy individual who would eventually bring the enterprise to downfall and Fethry didn’t show passion nor interest in the enterprises and has eccentric visions on the world. Nonetheless, Donald had a happy and adventurous life with his twin sister and Uncle Scrooge while his parents were constantly busy. However, things went sour when Donald found love in music and singing as he chose to attend the university majoring performing arts. There, he encountered José by helping him carrying his heavy musical instruments, quickly befriending one another. Then, they met Panchito as they found their band “The Three Caballeros”, active in USA, Central America and South America. 

However, while preparing Europe Tour, he was attacked by stalker—who felt betrayed by him for dating Daisy—and got his neck injured forcing him to leave the group as he couldn’t sing. He was also one of very few to know of Goofy and Gloria having children as he attended Glory B’s funeral, growing furious when the journalists rudely interrupted the eulogy and disrespected Glory B, hence battering several as both self-defense and a warning. This caused him to take therapy sessions dealing with his anger management and decided to join the Navy. Through years, he have gained respect and admiration among the Navy soldiers/officers as they were devastated when he decided to retire to help his sister Della with her pregnancy. Meeting Mickey and Goofy again, he went to acting career and despite several ups and downs in works he starred, he earned much in order to raise his nephews while Della would travel the globe. Donald often receives phone calls from his family and relatives as Scrooge wanted him to move back to prime McDuck residence for him to take job within the family business, but Donald declined as he focused on raising his nephews. At some point, Donald married his fiancee Daisy.

One time, Huey, Dewey and Louie noticed Donald would silently tapping his limbs when listening to Panchito or José’s performances, learned of his past as one of “The Three Caballeros” and the incident that caused him to quit the band. Discovering his wish to perform as singer again, his nephews and Daisy contacted José and Panchito for help in order to collect enough money for his voice recovery surgery. At the end, after the surgery and several cares for his neck, Donald was able to sing again with his two Latin American friends. Due to his years of raspy voice, his vocal have been more husky, which shows a distinct individuality as a member of the Three Caballeros.

[daisymeade]

🌸 🍄!

🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them

Yes, of course! I'll never pass up an opportunity to show off Fergus and Leliana, aka Longboi and ORB. Here they the other day watching Miles leave the room like it was the most interesting thing they'd ever seen.

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favorite ships or pairings

After Heulwen's funeral (when they're old), Zevran drinks poisoned wine to quickly follow her.

[ask game]

[princeloww]

Invading your asks once again to ask you a very important question

What are your thoughts on Campbell and fergus' relationship?? I keep going between kinda romantic or at least there being a little tension and them just being really close and platonic and I was just curious as to your view on it.

Either way I still think that what they have is special no matter what the nature of their relationship is.

Hellooo! I very much enjoy the asks, feel free to keep them coming.

Personally I just see them as very good friends. I think they have a fun dynamic, and I love seeing them together, especially with Fergus being on the quieter side compared to Campbell's extreme energy.

I don't really like shipping them, cos I don't like their age difference (during Fergus' funeral, Campbell corrects the minsister and says Fergus was 27. Campbell is 19, and hasn't finished his education yet). But I think other people can ship them if they want !! Just personally, I think it makes it kinda iffy. Yes, Campbell is technically an adult and above the age of consent, but I just think people of those ages have very different experiences and mindsets, regardless of what they have in common.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE them together in a completely platonic way !! I wish we saw more of their friendship before.... yk. :(

I also quite like an older-brother type dynamic, as I find found family so, so sweet and Takin Over The Asylum already has quite a sweet, found family thing going on.

Just my thoughts though!

[queenofyumcha]

CW// omegaverse, alpha/beta/omega, internal homophobia, self destructive behaviour

✨emhyr/Impera✨ accidental drabble bc Emhyr isn’t like other omegas 💅

Emhyr refuses to acknowledge his own weak, omega nature.

He refuses to take lovers outside of beta women, he takes only cold baths and only keeps thin, decorative, heavily embroidered bedsheets in his chambers. They’re scratchy and uncomfortable, utterly unsuited to nesting and smoothed out by the maids each morning.

That does not matter, because Emhyr is not an omega that needs comfort and coddling. He is disciplined, he can control himself and that of his baser urges.

Emhyr dismisses lovers from his bed the second they’re done, doing everything he can to limit physical contact. He’s perceived as unnaturally cold and aloof for an omega, and that’s exactly what he wants. There is no trait he despises more than weakness. he will root out and destroy all traces of it within himself. Emhyr judges no one as harshly as he does himself.

Heats simply do not happen. Spending a week out of every three months bedridden, out of his mind with lust, debasing himself with the company of men - unthinkable. He takes enough suppressants to leave him with routine bodily aches and pains, flashing lights at the corner of his vision, daily migraines, his healers hesitate with each new dose of medication they hand him, they try to dissuade him with warnings of how this will impact his health-

It does not matter. This is for the good of Nilfgaard. The empire can handle an emperor that needs to take a few minutes a day of silence to fend off the pain of a migraine, to steady himself on his Impera’s arm when a dizzy spell takes hold, to discretely spit blood into an ever present hanker-chief- The empire cannot abide by a weak emperor, too consumed by his lusts for flesh that he would routinely leave his empire leaderless for a week at a time.

Fergus had been a poor leader. Absent more often than not, his days spent wine sodden, lolling in the brothels of the city of golden towers.

His father was weak. Emhyr will be nothing like him.

And yet here he is.

Body shaking so fiercely Emhyr fears he will come apart at the seams, unravel into a cascade of lies, masks, insecurities, half perfected legislation written in a cramped hand, ever shifting border lines, every little thing that makes him whole.

It has been two years since he has slept in his bedchambers in Nilfgaard. Nowadays, where his armies go, he follows. Always a safe distance behind, but close enough to smell the smoke on the air from the funeral pyres.

He had not considered the psychological toll of leaving his nest behind. He had never knowingly associated his chambers with safety, it had only ever been a place to sleep, to dampen his urges with cold, distanced sex whenever his distractions grew too… great. Whenever his eyes lingered too long, too considering, on the silhouettes of his Impera, his most trusted guards.

An ever present temptation. Strong, trusted alphas, proven fighters, sworn and loyal to Emhyr and Emhyr alone. Just one of these traits would have immediately turned any other omega’s head.

Emhyr is stronger than that. He has to be.

His teeth chatter in his head though he is not cold. His body continues to shake, to tremble, to ignore every command his mind issues.

These days he sleeps in a canvas tent in the middle of a Nilfgaardian army base. He is safe, he knows, in the heart of nilfgaardian territory, surrounded by loyal soldiers.

Yet his feeble hindbrain cannot settle, constantly anxious at the presence of thousands of unmated alphas around them, at the continuous movement and sound of the bustling camp. The soldiers sleep in shifts to keep the camp guarded and they patrol all the more enthusiastically when they know they guard their omega emperor as well as their comrades.

He cannot settle, cannot rest properly when he consistently sleeps in a new environment, the near city of tents moving endlessly northwards. His surroundings are always new, unknown. His only constant is the presence of his Impera, standing guard in a circle outside his tent, with two men always on duty just within the tent entrance. Close enough to reach Emhyr in a few steps should they need to, far enough to allow the omega emperor a fantasy of privacy.

The Impera’s comforting presence and feeling of safety they bring is the only thing that allows Emhyr a few hours of sleep a night.

Mererid fusses, as he is wont to do, attempting to usher him to bed earlier, pressing hot cups of heavily doctored milky tea into his hands as though Emhyr cannot detect the scent of healing herbs beneath the sweetness of the honey.

It has no effect. He goes to sleep tired and aching. He wakes up tired and aching.

So, when he wakes up tired and aching once more, body alight with what he believes is a mere fever, why would he think much of it?

It is simply another trace of weakness he must uproot from his body.

He falls asleep at his desk, having worked through the day, knocking back cup after cup of herbal tea, drinking whatever disgusting concoction Mererid brings him.

It is not exactly rare for Emhyr to fall asleep at his desk.

It is unheard of for him to wake up elsewhere.

He stirs, aching body protesting as he forces himself to sit upright. The blankets he is swathed in smell strongly, though not unpleasantly, of alpha. Familiar, strong, safe, alpha.

His eyes struggle to focus, but soft coverings slowly come into view, the off duty clothes of his Impera, the heavy woollens of their winter cloaks, the very pillows from their bunks.

His men have taken everything from their bunks and shed their winter cloaks in the depths of a Nordling winter to ensure Emhyr is comfortable.

Something in his chest lurches at the thought, caught between wild delight at such visible demonstration of their loyalty and crippling fear that this is evidence of their desire for him. To possess him. To use him, not to serve him.

The surface beneath him creaks at his movement, the leather and wood protesting. Standard issue military cots, many of them pressed together to make the equivalent of Emhy’s sprawling four poster bed.

His movement brings fresh pain spreading his body, his muscles convulsing and his body shaking. Emhyr curls in on himself in agony. A gauntleted hand suddenly comes into view and Emhyr flinches back violently.

What was the use of being an omega if his so called heightened senses couldn’t warn him of an unsafe alpha close by?

Alphas, plural, he corrects himself, glancing around the large canvas tent warily as other armoured and off duty impera alike shift uneasily under his gaze. A few sketch out shallow bows, most salute and there are those who do not dare meet Emhyr’s gaze. They do not know what the correct conduct is in this scenario, no more than Emhyr does.

The scents in the air are decidedly tense, neither alphas or omega comfortable. Emhyr does not know if he is relieved or offended that none of them smell of arousal.

He winces a little as fresh pain courses through him. Relieved and grateful, perhaps, that none of his Impera find a pathetic omega’s scent of pain and distress to be arousing.

The Impera kneels with a soft clank of armour, his head bowed in deference and Emhyr swallows bitter bile that wells up in self-disgust.

In his addled mind, he has come crawling into the Impera’s barracks like a half starved mutt begging for scraps. He has disgraced himself, lost control of his own body, wandered through the camp, delirious and wanting to the wellspring of his temptations.

Emhyr whimpers, wracked with pain as what feels like a steel gauntlet wraps around his internal organs and closes its grip, his lower abdomen alight with pain so strong his vision becomes blurry with tears.

The Impera makes another aborted movement to help him, gauntleted hands forming frustrated fists. To touch an omega uninvited is taboo. To touch an emperor uninvited is to risk your neck.

“I shall fetch your healer, your majesty. The others will watch over you, I swear to not leave you undefended in your time of need.”

Emhyr’s hand reaches out desperately from the swathes of blankets, clinging to the Impera’s arm with a strength he did not know he had.

It is logical, for the Impera to leave and return with a healer. Medicine, to stifle this heat.

Every ignored instinct in Emhyr screams at him to not allow this strong, loyal, safe alpha to leave.

He bites back a plea. Weak an omega though he is, he refuses to beg.

“No. No healer. I need… I need you.”

“Whatever you require, we give freely, sire.”

Emhyr smiles shakily. “You can start by shedding that armour, soldier.”

This was written directly into this post so please ignore any typos and grammatical errors ahaha, i’ll tidy it up and pop it onto Ao3 later

[gryfflepuffinthetardis]

Creep (Sweet Jane Part Five) — Campbell Bain x Reader

Sweet Jane Episode One: Hey Jude

Sweet Jane Episode Two: Fly Like an Eagle

Sweet Jane Episode Three: You Always Hurt the One You Love

Sweet Jane Episode Four: Fool on the Hill

Sweet Jane Episode Five: Rainy Day in Georgia (But not Georgia Tennant.)

“You are not the darkness you endured, you are the light that refused to surrender.”

Warning: Mature — Mentions and Descriptions of underaged rape (mid to late teens) and descriptions of stalking. (I’m not sure if this counts as explicit.); Funeral

Fergus’ funeral had finished and the mourners whom none of them had ever seen in their lives were leaving while the loonies—Eddie, Rosalie, Francine, Y/N, and a very, very drunk Campbell—stayed at his grave.

“Some wake, huh?” Campbell asked.

“We can go on back to the house with the others. His da invited us.” Eddie said.

“Did he hell! An invitation is when you say, ‘Would you like to come back to the house for a wee whisky?’ No ‘I s'pose you can come back t'the house if ye want.’ I mean, who were all those folk? Rental mourners? Never saw any ae them come to visit Fergus in hospital.”

“Right enough.” Francine said.

“And that minister! Don't think he'd even met the guy. Talking about "the tragic death of a young man of only thirty years". Fergus was twenty-seven! Getting us up to sing Fergus's favorite hymn! Fergus was a rabid, card-carrying atheist! And that bit about "the terrible illness that eventually killed him". Fergus didnae have cancer, he was a loony!” He started to fail his arms about, drunkenly,  “A bam, crazy, mental, out tae lunch, of another planet...!” He fell against Eddie and Y/N who caught him.

“Babe.” Y/N said, taking the drink from her boyfriend before taking a swig herself.

Campbell snatched it back, “I’ll give this to you when you tell me who that boy you beat was.”

Y/N’s eyes became cold and she shook herself away from him.

“You are pished, my friend.” Eddie said and took the bottle of whiskey from him.

Campbell seemed insulted and affronted and said, his words slurred with alcohol, “That's rich comin fae you.

“Aye, but I'm no an amateur.” Eddie said.

Campbell looked back down at the coffin, “He was a genius. He could have done anything.”

“Aye. So he could.”

Campbell’s face screwed up with pained grief and he made his drunken exit. Y/N didn’t notice her exe, fresh from the hospital after a month of treatments for the injuries she had inflicted upon him limping his way over to Campbell.

“You Campbell Bain?” He asked.

“Who are you?” Campbell asked.

"The real love of your girlfriend's life." Campbell glared as her exe got closer to him, realizing “She will never love you like she loved me and you could never love her like I love her. The harlot.) And then Campbell saw red.

Y/N looked up when she heard a thud and saw Campbell standing over a boy on the ground.

Y/N ran over and stopped her exe from hitting Campbell back but her exe threw a punch aimed at her and Campbell pushed her out of the way… the next thing she knew her exe was being arrested with a bloody nose again.

--

Eddie, Francine, Rosalie, Campbell, and Y/N reentered Saint Jude’s hospital and they approached the radio station where they heard Rainy Night in Georgia playing and they found an electrician in the studio.

“Who the hell are you?” Eddie asked.

“I could ask you the same thing.” The electrician said.

“I'm the guy who owns that record.”

“Some collector. That's an original Brook Benton version fae nineteen-seventy-eight.

“Nineteen-sixty-nine.” Eddie corrected, “How did you get in here? Naebody's supposed to be in here except authorized staff.”

“I'm the electrician.”

Eddie’s glare hardened, “Right, that's it.” And he started to stuff the electrician's tools in his case.

“What? They don't go in like that!”

“They do the night!” Eddie snapped and he grabbed the electrician by his collar and pushed him out.

“What are you on, pal?” The electrician complained.

“Eddie, Eddie!” Isabel yelled, coming up to them.

“Daft bastard!” The electrician cursed.

“What's the problem?” Isabel asked.

“‘What's the problem’?! Why is he no sedated?”

“He's not a patient!”

“Well, he should be!”  The electrician said and then he stormed off.

Isabel turned to Eddie, “It doesn't matter to Fergus now. You're only storing up trouble for yourself!”

“Aye? Well, IT'S EASILY DONE ROUND HERE!”

Y/N took Campbell’s hand and tugged on it, Campbell followed her to her room as she started to take buckled boots off as he awkwardly stood there with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"So… who is he?”

“Electrician that, I wager.” She said, though she knew he wasn’t referring to the electrician.

“Y/N.” Campbell said as Y/N struggled to reach her zipper behind her back. “I get he’s your exe but there’s more to it , isn’t there?”  He gently took her zipper and started to pull it down but then she stepped away, hugging her arms across her chest in a defensive manner to keep them from shaking.

She thought about her transition from the incident, how she stopped talking for nearly a year and after only two months of knowing Campbell she started to talk again, she became more… like her but not like she was before. Campbell was the only person who made her feel like her while EX/N tried to make her into someone else. She knew she could trust him; everyone did tell her how utterly smitten he was with her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She didn’t turn around she just stared her copy of How To Kill a Mockingbird.

(IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE OR DON’T WANT TO READ DESCRIPTION OF UNDERAGED RAPE, SKIP)

"He was my best friend... or more like… he was my only friend. He was nearly four years older than me and for some reason he was my babysitter because my parents didn't trust me. Looking back—I-I should've seen the signs, the red flags. He never knocked even when he knew I would be changing, not even when he would hear me in the shower. He would just stare at me sometimes. He would touch me in inappropriate places but I thought they were innocent. As we got older, it became more sexual, it wasn't just him being a hormonal teenager but him being perverted and actively interested in performing sexual activities with me.”

Campbell dug his nails into his palm with outrage. He had a feeling he knew where this was going and he hated it.

“Then he became obsessed with me when I got into high school and started wearing bras. I was fourteen when he started doing things with me, never over second base but still... I wasn't at the consent age yet. He told me that it was for science and sometimes I woke up to find him... doing things. He pushed my limits, even when I begged him to stop. Sometimes, he brought his friends and whoever they'd invite over, the oldest had to be in his thirties, twice my age and he took pictures of me. He threatened to tell everyone that I had forced myself upon him, if I told anyone. My parents already didn't like me."

"Jesus..." Campbell breathed in horror.

"If I did something he didn't like... he would..." she shuddered, "When he would go too far. He would apologize the next day, and I would always forgive him. Because I was so kind..." She laughed, bitterly with tears in her eyes. "He told me that no one else would ever love me like he did. No one would do things that we did. I hated myself for my compassion but even when I managed to numb myself of my emotions, it was still there."

Campbell both wanted her to stop talking yet keep talking at the same time.

"It wasn't until I was eighteen when he first... on my eighteenth birthday. Coming on a year ago. He promised that things would be different, that he loved me and would show that he loves me. He... he got me drunk but when I still wouldn't consent and fought back, he pretended to sustain and got me some more alcohol, I didn't see him slip in the drug."

Campbell wished he had done something worse than just punch him in the face.

"I was conscious the whole time. He must've cut the pill or something. But I couldn't do anything. I couldn't move. I pleaded for him to stop but he wouldn't, insisting that I wanted it and when I tried to scream for help, he choked me as hard as he could and banged my head against the floor, and I blacked out but I know he continued. When I woke up, I ached so much and there was so much blood. I was so horrified by what he did to me. I stopped talking. Eight months later, they sent me here. That's why I was so scared when you crashed into me when we first me, why I was so scared of you long after, why I scream whenever any man, especially Stuart would get too close to me. And I was so scared because he found me. I thought he was going to do it again." She started to sob and Campbell pulled her into his lap and she sobbed into the crook of his neck.

"No, he won't. I won't let him. I won't let him near you."

(END OF SKIP. THIS WAS THE MOST HORRIBLE THING I HAVE EVER WRITTEN AND I’M DISGUSTED THAT MY MIND CAN GO SO DARK.)

“I don’t think that’s what he wants. He worked with Hollis, he called Fergus’ job and he painted him in a bad light. He drove Fergus to suicide…” She broke into sobs, “What if he goes after Rosalie or Eddie or Francine… or you. I can’t let him hurt you.”

“He won’t. He got arrested for assault. And if you want, you can go and tell the police what he did to you and Fergus and he’ll be in jail, and then I can hire a bodyguard for you when I become a famous  DJ.” He said, gently, “do you… do you think you can do that?”

Y/N pulled back and looked at him, her irises several shades of E/C lighter than usual and she nodded and kissed him gently before saying, “You do look good in a suit. Very James Bond.”

“James Bond?” He laughed and then straightened his tie, “Really?”

--

About a week later, Eddie was sitting rather morosely still as a record spun.

Campbell and Y/N exchanged looks and Campbell grabbed a blindfold  and covered Eddie’s eyes with it.

“Freeze! Don't look. What was the name of that record?

“Dream Lover.” Eddie and Y/N said in unison.

“Which was in the British charts for?”

“Nineteen weeks.” They said.

“In?”

“Nineteen-fifty-nine.”

“See? Told you they could do it. Did I not tell you?

“They’re geniuses, they are.”

“Of course, Y/N is. I’m dating her!” Campbell said and kissed Y/N, grinning into the kiss.

“You're still here?” Eddie asked, turning away from the kissing teens.

“Oh aye. If they want to get rid of me, they'll have to catch me first.” Rosalie as the teens parted with Campbell’s arm around her and her head, resting on his shoulder.

“Rosalie's got us all organized for the pilot tomorrow,” Campbell said, “Eddie; it's gonna be brilliant, and I have just come up with the perfect angle.”

“Which is?”

“We are going to be playing a number one hit fae every year from nineteen-fifty-six to nineteen-seventy, aye?”

“And I've got a list here of every number one hit in every one of those years, Eddie.” Rosalie said.

“So at the end of the hour, we invite our listeners to phone in and,” Campbell put on a cheesy American accent, “pit their wits against the master of hits, Doctor Boogie!”

“Who's Doctor Boogie?” Eddie asked.

“You! That's the angle!” Campbell said, enthusiastically, “So, if they can ask a question about any of the hits we've played that you cannae answer, they win a major prize.”

“He's a genius.” Rosalie said.

“Yeah, he is.” Y/N pecked Campbell on the cheek.

“Campbell, this is a recording we're doing. The only folk who are gonna be listening are Paula and a couple of bored guys on their dinner break.”

“Then we'll get them to phone in.” Campbell said.

“What's the major prize?” Eddie asked.

“We just kid on there's a prize. So it can be anything we want! A trip to Graceland by time machine to meet Elvis.”

“Tardis.” Y/N said.

“Lunch with the Archbishop of Canterbury. I don't have to conform to the vagaries of time and space. I'm a loony, for God's sake! Look, a full moon!” He unwrapped his arm from his girlfriend and leapt to the window and imitated the howl of a wolf.

“Get back in here, Doctor Who.” Y/N said, pulling him back in. “You know you do look Gallifreyan.”

“Thought you wanted to keep quiet about that.” Eddie said, referring to Campbell’s pride on being a loony.

“They're no gonnae do to me what they did to Fergus, Eddie. Nobody's gonna find me in a heap on the pavement. I'm gonna flaunt it. I'm gonna exploit it for all it's worth. Because we are loonies and we are proud!”

He started to chant as he exited with Rosalie and Y/N following and chanting along with him, “We are loonies and we are proud! We are loonies and we are proud!”

Then Y/N spotted Rosalie’s social worker down the hall through the doors, “Rosalie, get back in!” Y/N said, backtracking so fast her boots squeaked against the floor. Social worker! Quick! Social worker!”

The three of them ran back into the radio station and helped hide Rosalie in the cupboard, taking the boxes out.

“I shouldn't have tidied the boxes!” Rosalie stressed before they got the boxes out and Rosalie crawled inside the cupboard and Campbell and Y/N closed the doors.

“Act casual!” Y/N said and then Campbell pulled her into his chest and kissed her slowly, gently, and passionately.

Eddie rolled his eyes, though this was accurate with Campbell being outgoing and deeply affectionate to the antisocial and detached Y/N. They some how helped each other. Campbell helped Y/N heal, be more social, and begin to trust again and Y/N helped calm Campbell down and helped him focus on being in the moment… as long as that moment was him being with her and looking at her like she was his whole universe.

Isabel then entered with Stuart and the social worker.

“Ahem.” Isabel said, politely as Campbell made no move to part from Y/N.

“Break it up, you two.” Stuart said, harshly and was about to physically break them apart when Isabel stopped him and wisely Y/N broke the kiss.

Campbell, licking his lips slightly as Y/N fidgeted with her semicolon open bracelet that Campbell had given her a few days ago for their three-month anniversary.

“Have you seen Rosalie? The social worker's here.” Isabel asked.

Campbell briefly puckered his lips out in an innocent fashion as he shook his head, “She's no been in tonight.”

“Haven’t seen her.” Y/N lied, looking at them.

“She came in at half past seven; I saw her.” Stuart said, sharply.

“Well, she's not here now.” Campbell said pointedly.

“Did you not notice?” Y/N snarked, innocently, looking around the rather small space and giving Stuart a pitying look.

“Are you calling me a liar?” Stuart challenged.

“No, Stuart, I'm calling you stupid!” Campbell shot back.

“That’s an understatement.” Y/N said.

“Eddie, what are those boxes doing out?” Isabel asked, referring to the boxes they had taken out.

“Ehm,” Eddie said, hesitantly, “Campbell, Y/N, and I have been doing some organizing.”  Campbell and Y/N nodded.

“Well, could you put them back in the cupboard now? They could be a fire hazard.” Isabel asked.

“Uh... we're still working with them.

“Nurse said tae put them back in the cupboard!” Stuart demanded.

“It's all right, Stuart.” Isabel tried to push him back but he moved forth towards the boxes.

But Campbell moved in front of Stuart and defiantly said, “But we're still working with them. How low an IQ do you need for your job?” He pushed Stuart in the chest

Stuart then seized Campbell, shouting, “I'll break you like a matchstick—!”

Isabel, Eddie, and Y/N tried to wrestle them apart until Y/N voice thundered above the rest.

“DON’T FUCKING TOUCH HIM!” Y/N roared, grabbing Stuart’s arm and then kneeing him in the stomach, kung fu-style.

“OOF!” He stumbled back as Isabel pushed him back as Eddie pulled Y/N back before she committed her third act of physical assault.

“All right! No one's going to break anyone else like a match!” Isabel said and then went to the cupboard where Rosalie was hiding and knocked, “Rosalie? Do you want to come out now before we end up with blood all over the floor?

Rosalie conceded and emerged from the cupboard as Campbell took Y/N from Eddie, glaring at Stuart.

“Rosalie, this is Linda Foster, the psychiatric social worker; she'd like to have a word.” Isabel introduced.

Rosalie nodded without enthusiasm and left with the social worker, Isabel, and Stuart.

--

At night, Campbell was on Y/n's bed and was strumming his guitar before stopping as he noticed Y/N starting to get tired.

“Hey, come here.” He pulled her into his chest and pulled the blanket over the both of them. It was quiet as he pondered something, ““Where’d you learn to do that? What you did to Stuart?”

“After EX/N, I took some classes.” She mumbled and he pulled her closer against him.

“Come with me to Radio Scotland. I want you there. Please.”

Y/N looked up at him and nodded before snuggling into his neck. “Mmm-hmm.”

Soon he felt her breathing get deeper and slower.

“Y/N? Y/N?” He said, softly but nothing. “I love you.” He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes to sleep.

--

Y/N stood with Campbell stacking a box of Uncle Ben's rice, an alarm clock, a box of beans, and a fire extinguisher on the mixing desk while Eddie was in the bathroom.

Then Eddie came back and Y/N turned to Campbell, “Good luck.” She smiled and kissed his cheek before turning but Campbell pulled her back for a loving and soft kiss. He broke the kiss and she turned to leave, entering the control room with Paula as Paula’s assistant handed her a cup of hot chocolate like she asked.

“Thank you, um, what was it?”

“Um, River.” He said in an American accent.

“River, thank you.” She said and sat next to Paula.

Paula pushed the button and spoke into the microphone to them, “You ready, boys?”

Campbell looked at her and nodded, grinning before his eyes going to River, making his smile falter and his eyes narrow but he forced himself to brush it off.

“Is it me or does Eddie look like he died ten minutes ago?” Y/N asked in a rather sardonic tone.

“Eddie, you okay?”

Eddie turned to look at them, “Aye, yeah.”

“Then let's do it. Four, three, two, one, go.” Paula said.

Campbell started the intro in a confident voice, “This is Campbell Bain and this is my alarm clock. It's also a clue. Doctor Boogie has just ten seconds to guess our first number one hit. The year is nineteen-fifty-six.”  He set off the alarm clock.

--

When they got back to Saint Jude’s hospital, Campbell and Eddie sang loudly as they entered.

“WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! BECAUSE WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! ‘CAUSE WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!” They passed Francine and Rosalie, “OF THE WORLD!”

“You got on okay, I take it?”  Francine asked.

“Okay?! We practically set fire to the place!” Campbell exclaimed.

“Which explains the fire extinguisher.”

“And you'll never believe what happened.”

“They sectioned the both of youse.” Rosalie teased and laughed.

“Sectioned? You don't section a genius! You say,” Then he imitated Paula, ‘You did really well.’ You say, ‘Come see me on Thursday, Eddie.’ Because you know what I learned today? That the only difference between lunacy and genius is timing! Set off a fire extinguisher in a shrink's office and he'll have you locked up. Do it in front of an audience and it's high farce!” He grabbed Rosalie’s notebook. “It's time to start making lists full of the great things you're going to do, Rosalie. Instead of, ‘twelve bottles of disinfectant spray’, put” He punched his fist in the air, ‘climb the highest mountain’! Instead of ‘large box of scourers’, put ‘cross the deepest ocean’! Instead of ‘one case of Dettol’.” He had kept looking down to read what she had written before pausing to ask in an incredulous tone, “—what the hell are you planning here, Rosalie?”

“It's just my discharge.” Rosalie said.

Campbell’s smile faded and he exchanged looks with Eddie, Y/N, and Francine.

“When?” Eddie asked.

“Friday. They've found me a place in a bed and breakfast.” Rosalie said with false brightness.

“What about the supported accommodation?” Francine asked.

“I'm still on the waiting list.” Rosalie said and then she got a reminiscing look in her eyes.“There used to be this bed and breakfast in Bundoran, where Jim and me used to take Robbie every summer. It was all whitewashed, with wee brass ornaments in the hallway. I don't suppose this place'll be like that, though.”

“You'll still be station manager. You know that.” Eddie told her.

“Aye. It's nice to belong somewhere.” Rosalie said, trying not to cry. and then she looked at Y/N, “Oh, and Y/N, Isabel said there was someone here for you.”

“Oh. O-okay.” Y/N stuttered and she looked at Campbell who nodded at the door like, go. We got this.

Y/N walked down the hall before Stuart grabbed her arm, “You, loony. Come with me.” He jerked her along with him and pushed her into Isabel’s office.

“Ah, Y/N. I would like to speak to you about your section.”

--

On Thursday, Campbell was badgering Eddie so he turned to him and said, “I told you, I'm just going to go and find out what they thought of the pilot.”

“But what if they make us an offer on the spot?” Campbell asked.

“Then I'll take it on the spot!”

“On what terms? We've gotta be clear on this!”

“Aye, I've written it all down for you, so I have.” Rosalie agreed.

“I've got to go!” Eddie exclaimed and walked down the hall with them following, Y/N staying silent.

“Number one: what exactly is our offer? Number two: will there be a trial period?” Rosalie said.

“I'm telling you, Campbell, there's no gonna be an offer at this meeting.” Eddie sighed.

“Number three, if so, for how long?” Rosalie continued.

“And do you have to wear that jacket?” Campbell complained.

“What's wrong with it?” Eddie asked.

“Number four, if there is a trial period, will the contract be non-exclusive during that time?

“It makes you look like a double-glazing salesman!” Campbell answered.

"Number five, what will the format of the show be?”

“This is gonna be it, Eddie—"

“Look, is nobody listening to me? I took the trouble to make this list and I don't want you going out of here without it, all right?” Rosalie complained.

Eddie then grabbed the list out of Rosalie’s hands, “I'll treasure it always.” He kissed the paper, “See you tonight.” Then he left.

Campbell smiled, he looked at Rosalie and then Y/N, raking a hand through his hair before seeing the blank look on Y/N’s face.

“You alright? You’ve been quiet all morning.”

“I have to make a phone call.” She said and turned around towards the phones but Isabel stopped her.

“Y/N, it’s time for your appointment.”

--

“Y/N L/N.” A man’s voice called thirty minutes later.

Y/N got up and walked towards the voice, “Hello, I’m Doctor Cairns.” He held out his hand to shake her and she hesitantly did so before going to sit down as he went to the other side of the desk.

“How long have you been with us? Fifteen weeks?”

“About so yes.”

“And until about two weeks ago, you finally told the therapists why you went silent. Because your ex-boyfriend…”

“Boyfriend��s a bit of a reach. More I was constantly taken advantage of and blackmailed into being silent.” She said, bluntly.

“Y-yes. But you’ve been talking for over two months now and I hear you’ve been dating another patient, the manic depressive, Campbell Bain in that time.”

“Yes."

"And your... your ex was recently imprisoned and he’s being sent back to (H/T/N) to be tried.”

“Yes, that is correct.” She nodded, staring determinedly at her semicolon bracelet.

“We’ve decided that you’re ready to go back in the outside world.” Y/N didn’t react, her heart just jumped into her throat. “Unfortunately, your parents… they don’t want you to move back in with them.”

“Because their daughter was raped by a family friend’s son who they let babysit her and they had publically defended him?” Y/N smiled with sardonicism. “Yeah, I expected that.”

“Something along those lines. But we can set up living accommodations with you somewhere else.” Cairns said. “Perhaps one in Glasgow.

“I have some family money that I became eligible to use when I turned eighteen. Maybe I could buy a house.”

“The thing is, I would prefer you to live with someone else in case there’s an incident.”

“An incident in which I punch someone.”

“You hospitalized two people.”

“Doctor Hollis killed Fergus!” She snapped and leaned back into her chair. “I have some cousins living in Edinburgh, one of them knew what had happened, I could ask her.”

--

“Babe, are you okay? You’ve been quiet all day.” Campbell asked that night. “Is it because Rosalie’s being discharged tomorrow.”

“I’m being discharged.” She said, quietly and prepared to watch his reactions but they were anything but subtle.

He dropped his guitar with a series of discord notes as his jaw dropped too.

“You’re… you’re leaving? Back to H/T/N?” He sounded heartbroken.

“Yes. Um… this week. They decided since I had started talking and because EX/N was sent back to H/T/N, so there’s no reason for me to be scared anymore. Because I’m better. You made me better, Campbell.”

“But I don’t want you to go…” His voice trembled.

“Here’s the thing. Sit down.” She patted her bed but he didn’t move. “My parents don’t want me back in H/T/N. They don’t want to be judged as the parents who let their friend’s son rape and blackmail their daughter.” He furrowed his eyebrows out of judgement for her parents and confusion and wonder for where she was going with this as he sat down on the bed next to her. “And when I turned eighteen, I was eligible to some family money and I called my cousin and she agreed to come down and transfer to Glasgow University and we could share a house. So I could be close to you… and-and the radio station.”

“You-you’d do that for me?” He asked, uncharacteristically shyly.

“Yeah. I mean, I know it’s only been two months but I like you. Unless you don’t… if you think that’s too much…”

He quieted her with a kiss, “I’d love it. I don’t want to lose you. We have passes tomorrow, we can go look at houses together after Rosalie leaves.”

She smiled and he kissed her sweetly, “Just don’t leave me.” He said, pulling back, “Before you… no girl would even look at me twice, and barely once. But then I met this impossibly shy and beautifully broken girl. And I knew she was just the kindest soul because I would talk constantly and she would listen. Not hear me, but actually listen. And it was the best day of my life. Because that girl was you.”

--

The next morning, Campbell and Y/N were helping Rosalie make sure she had everything, reading off her list.

“Dettol.” Campbell read.

“Check.” Y/N confirmed.

“Scourers.”

“Check.”

“Toilet bleach.”

“What does toilet bleach look like?” Y/N asked.

Campbell reached for pick it up from beside the suitcase when Rosalie appeared and snapped sternly, “Don't touch it! I'll get it. Check.”

“Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, and hairbrush.” Campbell finished.

“Check, check, check, check.” She started to close the suitcase as Campbell tossed the notebook into the case, “Well. Suppose this is cheerio.”

Then she held out her hand to Francine who then shook it, then she did the same to Campbell, Y/N, and Eddie.

“Good luck, huh?” Eddie asked.

“Now, I want youse to notice that I shook hands with you lot without the use of major tranquilizers, which just goes to show how well I am these days.”

“Come on. I'm going tae work. I'll give you a lift in.” Eddie said and he left with Rosalie.

Isabel came in and said, “Y/N, your cousin’s here.”

“Great, let’s go!” Campbell grabbed Y/N’s hand and pulled her along.

--

“Well. That place was depressing.” C/N declared, driving away from the place the obvious drug dealer had up for rent.

“I liked that first house. The blue one with the two rooms.” Campbell said, “It was only like a fifteen-minute drive from the hospital.”

“Yeah, I did too but could we stop at the first spot on the list.”

“Oh, Y/N even with our family money, that’s a bit pricey.”

“I-I know but it might be within our price limit someday.”

C/N drove them to a house—well, it was more of a mansion. A rather quirky mansion.

“This cannot be within your price limit.” Campbell shook his head, “Unless are you rich?”

“I, uh, actually found this house while I was researching real estate a few weeks into our relationship. For when you become a famous DJ and if we make it.”

Campbell looked at her, “We? As in you and me as a couple?”

“I know that’s freaky as we’ve been dating two months and I’ve hospitalized two people and my ex harassed you. And I’m probably messing it up now but…”

“Hey.” Campbell said, taking her hand, “I love it. I mean you’ve met me right, I’m a total loon. I bugged you for a month and a half until you talked to me.”

--

Eddie entered the studio later where he had been heatedly discussing something with Y/N when he spotted Eddie approaching the studio and pushed him into the studio,  “Eddie! Jesus! Where have you been?”

“Working. What's up?”

“How did you no tell me about this? How'd you not warn me?” Campbell demanded.

“About what?”

“Paula has been on the phone to me today.”

“Oh.” Eddie said,

Campbell started to pace back and forth, while gesturing, “She seemed to think I knew all about it. ‘Aye,’ I said, ‘He told me all about your meeting.’ But it seems there was a few wee details you left out.” He put his hands on his hips.

“I'm sorry. I—” Eddie stammered.

“I know what you thought. You thought, I'd just get agitated. I'm a manic-depressive, so how no?”

“That's not what I thought.” Eddie defended himself.

“But did you never stop to consider that one day a fish bone might get stuck in the throat of history, and that we'd be standing here, like we are now, at the door of destiny, and totally unprepared for it?

“What are you talking about?” Eddie asked.

“The fish bone? The one that got stuck in David Thompson's throat?” Campbell clarified.

“Who?”

“Their Sunday afternoon DJ! He got a fish bone stuck in his throat last night, was rushed to Casualty, and they've asked us to take his Gold Show! Today!” Campbell said, excitedly.

Eddie swallowed nervously, “...I'm no ready.”

“Well neither am I, but we're gonna have to go for it!” Campbell said, his voice squeaking with excitement.

“No, no, I'm really no ready!” Eddie refused.

“Paula said we could use David's running order, but if we leave now, we can choose some stuff ourselves.” Campbell said.

“I'm no ready.

“She said she'll be there to take us through everything. And you don't have to worry about here; Francine's gonna taking our show straight off the air. Y/N’s coming with us, of course.”

“I'm no ready, Campbell!”

“Eddie, you've been waiting for this moment most of your life. When exactly did you think you'd be ready? Now let's go!” Campbell exclaimed and grabbed his jacket and then Y/N’s hand and they rushed out of the station.

Campbell left Y/N to thrust records into Eddie’s arms.

“Eddie! Come on!” Campbell complained.

--

Campbell looked up at Y/N through the glass, seeing her give her an encouraging smile that melted his insides.

He pushed the fader up and spoke with his usual insane enthusiasm, “Kicking off the Gold Show and standing in for David Thompson is me, Campbell Bain, and Doctor Boogie, professor of pop, soul, and rock and roll! In today's competition we invite you to pit your wits against the master of hits himself!

"If you can ask me any verifiable question on any of the titles that we play today that I cannae answer, you win... the grand prize!" Eddie said.

"What is the grand prize, you ask? I am holding in my hand a rare copy of 'Mandolins in the Moonlight' by Perry Como, from nineteen-fifty -eight. And unless you can stump Doctor Boogie,” Then he imitated a scary gravelly voice, “we're actually going to play it! How about it, Gold-Diggers? Just phone 041-357-9719 to try and stop me!”

He put on Don’t Play That Song For Me (You Lied) by Aretha Franklin and started the challenge.

“Uh, no, caller, I'm afraid Jim Morrison couldnae have written Bright Side of the Road—” Eddie told the caller.

“Because he was dead at the time, right, Doctor Boogie?” Campbell finished.

“Aye, a definite liability, but it did give Van Morrison a chance to write it instead.” Eddie added.

At another caller called with something and Campbell responded with,“Well, unless you can prove that Wilson Pickett had a boa constrictor called Hugo, I'm gonna have to disqualify that!”

Another caller asked about an Elvis song and Eddie said, “And it's become one of the most covered songs in rock 'n' roll since Elvis' death.” Eddie said and apparently the caller questioned Elvis’ death because Eddie then said as Paula laughed while on the phone and Y/N laughed along with her, “Aye! 1977! It was in all the papers!”

He looked at Campbell who made an incredulous face to both Eddie and Y/N.

At some point, Eddie looked at the clock and said, “And it's 3:47—

“Still thirteen minutes left to try and stump Doctor Boogie,” Campbell declared and put on the gravely voice again, “if you cannn!”

Y/N looked at Paula who seemed to be making quite a few phone calls and she turned to tugged on River’s vest and said something to him while nodding at Campbell and Eddie and then to Paula.

Thirteen minutes later in which both River and Y/N spoke to Paula which Eddie kept glancing nervously at, before Paula gave Campbell and Eddie a cut-off signal.

--

They had Eddie drive them back as Campbell kept eyeing Y/N suspiciously after seeing how she was with River and couldn’t help but be jealous.

“So, Y/N… getting cozy with the cute assistant.”

She looked at him as he preteneded not to care.

“River?”

“Oh, he has a name?” He grumbled.

“I’m just meeting him for lunch tomorrow…”

Campbell turned to her, now getting a bit agitated and definitely jealous, “You’re going on a date with him.”

“No. We’re going to talk about you two. They wanted an opinion by someone that wasn’t either of you but close enough to you two to get the full scoop.” Y/N said, “Besides he has a girlfriend. She’s planning on being true crime radio dramatist. She’s going to have her own station where she talks about true crimes.”

“Oh.” Campbell seemed a lot happier by now as Eddie turned up the radio to drown them out.

It was awkward before Campbell said loudly, “So, Y/N’s being discharged this week!”

The brakes screeched as Eddie stopped the car in shock.

--

Once they reentered Saint Jude’s, they were greeted with applause and cheers.

“Friends, loonies: as Neil Armstrong said on that fateful day when he first put his foot on the moon...” He announced and then shouted, “WE ARE LOONIES, AND WE ARE PROUD!”

The crowd and Y/N chanted along with Campbell, “We are loonies, and we are proud!”

Y/N spotted Stuart who didn’t try to restrain anyone and that’s when she realized something was wrong. Stuart wasn’t being violent towards innocent mental health patients.

The door opened and a Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (or SSPCA) officer entered. Y/N’s smile fell.

Francine’s kittens.

Francine spotted it too and cried out, “NOOO!”

She tried to stop him but Stuart restrained her as she screamed and the chanting stopped.

“NO! LEAVE THEM ALONE! STOP! YOU CAN’T TAKE THEM! NO! YOU CANNAE TAKE THEM!” Francine screamed while Y/N picked the lock to Stuart’s office.

Eddie tried to help her but some of the patients held him back, “Easy, easy!”

The SSPCA officer carried the kittens out in a cage as Y/N emerged from Stuart’s office with a belt—one for particularly violent patients that he hasn’t used as much as he thought he would. Not even close.

Y/N whipped Stuart’s back, making him shout in pain and release Francine as Campbell grabbed Y/N’s hand and pulled her away from Stuart before he realized what it was her who had done it as she dropped the belt.

Francine didn’t get far before Stuart grabbed her again.

"Let her go, will ya!” Eddie shouted, “Let her go!”

Campbell’s pride and happiness had faded into terrified worry.

Eddie managed to push Stuart off of Francine and onto the ground, but then he got up and grabbed Eddie by the lapels and snarled out, “I've waited ages to do this!” Then he headbutted Eddie in the face, cracking his nose, Eddie collapsed, smearing blood on the doorframe as Francine kept screaming.

Y/N was by Eddie’s side as Isabel was the only other person to show sympathy, asking gently, “Do you want me to do something for that?”

“Do you no realize what you've done?” Eddie demanded before shouting, “DOES NAEBODY REALIZE WHAT THEY'VE DONE?!”

“What are you going to do about that, princess?” Stuart sneered at Y/N as she calmly examined Eddie and the patients drifted away.

She looked at him. He wanted her to be violent so her section would be renewed so he could torture her longer. But she didn’t.

She stood up with fury in her eyes, it was hard to tell whether it was more ice-cold or fiery hot.

“You’re pathetic. You’re not helping, you don’t try to help. All you do and every ‘sane’ person does is crush our hopes and dreams by destroying the very things that help us heal. You give us no chance to show that we’ve gotten better and declare us as violent when you’re the violent one. I only hurt people who hurt people I love. Hollis only saw Fergus as a guinea pig and he fucking died because of it. You took those kittens from Francine because they made her happy. They started to heal what was broken unlike you because you will never be able to heal what has been broken in you. Because you don’t care. You don’t care for the patients and you ignore our needs and feelings and are completely and utterly blind to our skills.”

“Skills?” Stuart scoffed like it was the most ludicrous thing he had ever heard, “What skills?”

“Remember Campbell’s first broadcast? You doubted that Fergus could fix the mixer. What was it you said? ‘He couldn’t get his brain going again’? And it turns out he had a master’s degree and was a genius. Because he was a loony, you assumed he was stupid. But he wasn’t you’re the one who can’t get his brain working. You shouldn’t be restraining loonies, you should be locked up in your own solitary room in a straightjacket.”

[detective-inspector-her]

explain the Tanith Route AU, i dont think ive heard of it yet

So a while back I mentioned how funny it is that Valkyrie can end up completely different based on who gets her involved in magic. This was triggered by this ask @bizzarefixations got.

The idea of Tanith being at Gordon's funeral and having contact with Stephanie/Valkyrie from the beginning was funny to me and it evolved to, 'what if they just kept missing Skulduggery by like, a minute?'

Here's a bit: The woman laughs and Stephanie blushes in embarrassment. The lady reassures her that she wasn't laughing at her to be mean, just that it seemed like the sort of thing she wished she'd been able to do in her childhood carefree. Stephanie smiles and says that's sorry she didn't get to, the woman smiles back and says that she's sorry she's left without an awesome uncle and has to deal with Fergus instead. Stephanie laughs and her eye catches a man in a tan overcoat with a scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face and wild and frizzy hair escaping from the wide-brimmed hat low over his gigantic sunglasses leaving the house.

Of course, this is just an outline so I know what to write in detail and the general conversation, but yeah. Missing Skulduggery is just a joke in the background lol.

I haven't thought about it as much as others but it pops into my head every few days and reminds me that it exists.

[identity-library]

Disability (Films)

A:

A Christmas Prince (2017)

Emily Charlton (Spina Bifida, Wheelchair User)

All Together Now (2020)

Chad (Wheelchair User)

Ricky (Autistic)

A Quiet Place (2018)

Regan Abbott (Deaf)

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Kashekim Nedakh (Blind)

Avengers: Civil War (2016)

James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

B:

Big Hero 6 (2014)

The Ringleader (Partially Blind)

Brave (2012)

King Fergus (Amputee)

C:

Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)

Lola (Autistic)

Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Sarah Norman (Deaf)

Christmas Ever After (2020)

Izzi Simmons (Wheelchair User)

CODA (2021)

Frank Rossi (Deaf)

Jackie Rossi (Deaf)

Leo Rossi (Deaf)

Cyrano (2021)

Cyrano de Bergerac (Dwarfism)

D:

Dumbo (2019)

Holt Farrier (Amputee)

E:

Eastrail 177 (Trilogy)

Elijah Price/Dr. Glass (Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Cane/Wheelchair User)

Elio (2025)

Elio Solis (Partially Blind)

Eternals (2021)

Makkari (Deaf)

F:

Feel the Beat (2020)

Zuzu (Deaf)

Finding Dory (2016)

Destiny (Low Vision)

Dory (Short-Term Memory Loss)

Sheldon (Allergies)

Finding Nemo (2003)

Dory (Short-Term Memory Loss)

Nemo (Underdeveloped Fin)

Sheldon (Allergies)

Forgive Us Our Trespasses (2022)

Paul (Limb Difference)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Daniel Taylor (Amputee)

Forrest Gump (Unspecified Intellectual Disability)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

David (Deaf)

Fullmetal Alchemist (2017)

Edward Elric (Amputee)

G:

H:

Home on the Range (2004)

Lucky Jack (Amputee)

How to Train Your Dragon (Franchise)

Gobber the Belch (Amputee)

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock ||| (Amputee)

Toothless (Amputee)

I:

Inside I'm Dancing (2004)

Michael Connolly (Cerebral Palsy, Wheelchair User)

Rory O'Shea (Muscular Dystrophy, Wheelchair User)

Inspector Gadget (Franchise)

Sanford "Dr. Claw" Scolex (Amputee)

J:

James and the Giant Peach (1996)

Earthworm (Blind)

Glowworm (Partially Deaf)

K:

Keep the Change (2017)

David Cohen (Autistic)

Sarah Silverstein (Autistic)

L:

Lemonade Mouth (2011)

Alex (Unspecified Disability, Wheelchair User)

Love & Other Drugs (2010)

Maggie Murdock (Parkinson's Disease)

Luca (2021)

Massimo Marcovaldo (One Arm)

M:

Margarita with a Straw (2014)

Laila Kapoor (Cerebral Palsy, Wheelchair User)

Marvel (Franchise)

James "Bucky" Barnes (Amputee)

Nebula (Amputee)

Nick Fury (Partially Blind)

Odin Borson (Partially Blind)

Phil Coulson (Amputee)

Stephen Strange (Nerve Damage)

Thor (Amputee, Partially Blind)

Maya and the Three (2021)

Zatz (Partially Blind)

Muppet Treasure Island (1996)

Blind Pew (Blind)

Long John Silver (Amputee)

N:

Newsies (1992)

Crutchy (Limited Mobility, Crutch User)

Nimona (2023)

Ballister Boldheart (Amputee, Prosthetic User)

O:

P:

Peter Pan (1953)

Captain Hook (Amputee)

Pinocchio (1940)

Gideon (Mute)

Pinocchio (2022)

Fabiana (Limp)

Pirates of the Caribbean (Franchise)

Mistress Ching (Blind)

Q:

Quest for Camelot (1998)

Garrett (Blind)

R:

Resident Evil (Franchise)

Charles Ashford (Unspecified Disability, Wheelchair User)

Rogue One (2016)

Chirrut Îmwe (Blind)

Run (2020)

Chloe Sherman (Asthma, Diabetes, Heart Condition, Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

S:

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Razor Fist (Amputee)

Sharp Stick (2022)

Zach (Down Syndrome)

Shazam! (2019)

Frederick "Freddy" Freeman (Limited Mobility)

Ship of Fools (1965)

Carl Glocken (Dwarfism)

Sound of Metal (2019)

Joe (Deafened)

Ruben Stone (Hard of Hearing)

Spies in Disguise (2019)

Killian (Amputee)

Star Wars (Franchise)

Darth Maul (Multi-Limb Amputee)

Luke Skywalker (Amputee)

Strange World (2022)

Legend (Amputee)

T:

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Homer Parish (Multi-Limb Amputee)

The Evil Dead (1981)

Ashley "Ash" Williams (Amputee)

The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)

Trevor (Muscular Dystrophy)

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Fidget the Bat (Amputee)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Quasimodo (Hunchback)

The Lone Ranger (2013)

Red Harrington (Amputee)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Dr. Finkelstein (Unspecified Disability, Wheelchair User)

The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)

Zak (Down Syndrome)

The Princess and the Frog (2009)

Mama Odie (Blind)

The Secret of the Jade Medallion (2013)

Cornelia (Amputee)

The Three Musketeers (1993)

Captain Rochefort (Partially Blind)

The Village (2004)

Ivy Walker (Blind)

Noah Percy (Unspecified Developmental Disability)

Tinkerbell (Franchise)

Lord Milori (Amputee, Limited Mobility)

Rani (Amputee, Limited Mobility)

Treasure Island (1950)

Long John Silver (Amputee, Crutch User)

Treasure Planet (2002)

John Silver (Multi-Limb Amputee)

U:

V:

W:

Wish (2023)

Dahlia (Unspecified Disability, Crutch User)

Wonder (2017)

Auggie Pullman (Facial Difference)

X:

Y:

Z:

#:

101 Dalmatians (1996)

Mr. Skinner (Mute)

[aaaaamorphous-entity]

Thank you! For blorbo bingo I will return the same- any Cu of your choice!

I can't help but pick Lancer Cu too, haha. Hope that's alright!

Going over the points left to right, top to bottom

= Pale crush <> (the medium/concept of moirallegiance just jives with me and I'm too gay for women to thirst over him carnally but boy howdy can I do it emotionally)

= 'Most' is too strong of a phrase, but I do think that sometimes people soft-ball Cu. Like you said in yours on him, he's silly, serious, ferocious, clever, and plenty more. But it can feel like people at times cherry pick or ignore certain aspects in favor of others. He can be all of the above - he's a very multi-faceted person, which is a mark of a good character!

= Cu as a character from Fate is one I wouldn't mind hanging out with. From legend I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole (much less be close enough TO touch him with one in the first place). That said I do admire how even in intolerable circumstances, he can grit his teeth and keep going, even if it's putting him in a depression. His loyalty is a double-edged sword as well. It means if you're at the top of his priority list, it's 'til death makes him quit. If someone who has command over him sics him on you...well we saw how that went for Ferdiad. It'll be a closed-casket funeral or cremation if you're a good enough fighter.

= I hinted at this in point two, but Cu has the Standard Messed Up Traits most heroes in old legends had, if you're going by the Tain. Misogyny, non-con, and a temper typical of the half-divine to name a few. Even in the more palatable Fate version, he's still got a lot of blood on his hands

= Exposing myself a bit with the projection haha. But this blends sort of with the free space wherein I definitely see Cu as having ADHD. Sure there's the energetic aspect, but that's the easy pickings. I think there's a good chance he has RSD (though you have to look more at original legend than Fate text for this), that fun flash temper some can have amidst a few other emotional disregulation, etc. And calling back to that 'can keep on trudging with his head down even if he's getting depressed' point, I am fortunate enough to not be in that place presently, but do identify with it.

= Making him worse is easy. You need two cups stress, one cup loss, a dash of antagonism, and-

= Won't go over this one too much. I've listed some of Cu's faults above, but he's pretty and that's a good blinder lol. This is pretty standard for most Fate characters.

= I do think about him pretty regularly haha. Mostly in the context of YariYumi or roleplay or fic.

= Feel like this point is pretty much explained by the points touching on his good and bad qualities above

= Two points up lol

= This is again mostly in YariYumi context, but because Cu and Emiya exemplify one another's life choices and the consequences thereof so well. Cu is a person who gave up a lot for a big dream, and maybe it wasn't worth it in the end. Maybe what he had to live for outweighed the fame he died for, in his mind. Maybe it was what it was and he's at peace with it. But Cu has lost a lot of people in his quest for fame - both by killing them (Ferdiad, Connla), losing them due to politics (Fergus, Lugaid), dragging them along into danger (Laeg, his horse) or by dying (Emer, his little-known daughter Finscoth). He may keep his head up and accept his choices, but that is a lot of loss for one person to bear, and all within a purportedly short lifetime.

= Those points aside....it is an absolute crying SHAME that Fate has not given us a proper Cu Berserker yet, or at least shown us a riastrad. It's a shame they don't explore the losses he's experienced as much. It's a shame that they don't let us see beyond the mask of cheer or ferociousness, because there's a lot to explore.

= All that being said, let this man rest!! Goddamn!! He's been through so much alive and dead and he needs a break! Outside of particular circumstances, I will not be giving him a break

[a-mad-scientists-writing]

A New Era (3)

Chapter 3: The Sceptre of the Spirits

AO3 1 2 3 4 5 6

P1 P2 P3 P4

Apart from a luxury boat, a journal full of scribbles, and a villa in Ba Sing Se, every single one of deceased horror-fiction writer Gordon Edgley’s possessions pass to his youngest niece, Valkyrie Cain. This causes a lot of chaos, namely:

Carol and Crystal Edgley couldn’t care less about the shoddy notebook of their uncle’s thoughts they find themselves in possession of, and enter into a screaming contest right in the solicitor’s office as soon as the shock wears off. Their parents do little to temper this, as…

Fergus and Beryl Edgley are too busy fighting over the boat neither of them want. Valkyrie wouldn’t go so far as to say that she deserves the fortune Gordon left her, but in seeing the way Fergus and Beryl act, she can’t say she’s sorry they missed out.

There is, however, a rather pressing problem that no one as yet knows about, which is...

3. The identity of Nefarian Serpine’s next target.

The next day, Melissa Edgley and her daughter decide to make the trek from their village to Gordon’s mansion, a secluded place hidden in the woods by the Cave of Two Lovers. The Edgleys’ village is called Léi, and the name suits the place as far as Valkyrie is concerned. Yes, it is her home, and yes, she does love the feeling of the sun on her skin, and the way the river dashes through the Kolau Mountains, and the soothing breeze that plays with her hair… but all it does lately is serve to remind her how much else she hasn’t seen.

While Desmond is overseeing a construction project in Omashu, a neighbour takes them the bulk of the journey on a cart, and then leaves them near the river crossing. Valkyrie and Melissa talk idly as they walk the final stretch along the dirt path through the trees. They’ve made this journey many times, and considering they own the dwelling at the end of it now, expect to make it many more. The roar of the river draws ever closer.

A sturdy bridge crosses the vast expanse. Recent storms have raised the water level, but not to a dangerous degree. They break for lunch upon reaching the white-water rush, and Valkyrie eagerly heads on over the bridge as Melissa finishes gathering up their things.

The river is wide. The bridge is long. Over the great flurry, it is difficult to hear any other noise. The flash flood takes them not only by surprise, but force.

Valkyrie reaches the other side before the bridge is destroyed. Melissa’s scream reaches her over the roaring rapids, and she almost panics, but her mother is fine, just calling out to make sure she is alright too. Via gestures and yelling, the message gets across that her mother is urging her on towards Gordon’s place.

The shock of the situation wearing off, Valkyrie makes a half-hearted effort not to feel the excitement of going on an adventure alone, and continues on.

֍

Melissa doesn’t like this one bit; the journey to Gordon’s suddenly seems much longer, more serious, and more dangerous now that her twelve-year-old daughter is undertaking it alone, right after a flash flood. The river is too wild and filled with rocks to swim across, however. She heads upriver and further inland into the mountains, where the water will either eventually taper into a traversable crossing, or will enable her to pass straight on to Omashu to collect her husband and some sort of transport.

The flash flood has raised the water level too much to cross even at its narrowest part. Still, there is an extremely rickety old bridge spanning one section that, despite the clear danger, Melissa would have risked crossing- had she not seen Skulduggery Pleasant making his way along the opposite bank.

(He’s not a skeleton here. Tried to make it work. Couldn’t.)

It takes her only a split second to decide. Whatever Desmond’s reservations, he was a friend of Gordon’s, close enough to be invited to the will reading and the funeral, and is a high-ranking member of the Fire Nation. The Fire Lord’s court is well-known for being of good standing and trustworthiness these days. Mostly though, she’s more scared for her daughter than she is of a stranger. Melissa gets his attention through the simple expedient of hollering until he notices her.

He sends over a messenger hawk so they don’t have to yell, and once she relays the situation Skulduggery agrees to help. Apparently he was already heading in that direction, so going to Gordon’s place to make sure Valkyrie is safe is no trouble for him. Meanwhile, Melissa will take the long way around to Omashu.

֍

Hours after reaching Gordon’s mansion, located in a small hidden valley with a wondrous view of the surrounding forest and a river that gleams under the moon, Valkyrie is warm, dry, only a little hungry, and having a blast reading Gordon’s last work. Rather eager to keep the adventure going, she decides to spend the night, and then head on for Omashu in the morning. Valkyrie is happy, self-assured, and feels safe as anything. Until a firebender obsessed with some sort of map comes through the window and tries to kill her, of course.

Not to worry though. Skulduggery Pleasant breaks down the door and saves her life.

֍

The man’s hand is tight around her throat. Valkyrie kicks at his legs and scratches at his hands to no avail. Her vision, already blurred by tears and fear, is tunnelling. She gasps and chokes and all her attention is suddenly drawn to the fistful of flames in front of her eyes, igniting with a whoomph, close enough to singe the skin of her cheek.

“Now tell me,” hisses the man. “Where is the map?”

The front door is blasted off its hinges and slams into the opposite wall, in pieces and smoking. The hands around Valkyrie’s throat disappear. She’s on her knees on the floor and the room is on fire, ears ringing and the air singing with bursts of flame and wisecracks from the new man- the new firebender- who has just come into play.

֍

Once she wakes up from her bout of unconsciousness, Valkyrie’s more than a little curious as to what a high-ranking member of the Fire Nation is doing in the Earth Kingdom, and as it keeps her calm and was more than a little his fault she was in danger anyway (re: bait), Skulduggery sits with her for a while and talks. The answer to her question is, he’s keeping an eye on someone.

When Valkyrie starts asking about him personally, Skulduggery tells her that he wasn’t born or raised in the Fire Nation actually, but he is a firebender, and he was in the Capital when it fell, and stayed there for a while after, so they just went ahead and made him an official citizen.

Valkyrie then asks why he’s a firebender if he wasn’t born in the Fire Nation. Skulduggery airily replies that he has family from all over the world, and Fire Nation must be in there somewhere. His mother was an earthbender, his father a waterbender, and he had all sorts of bending and non-bending siblings. He helped a lot during the war, so the Fire Lord made him a special envoy, and the other nations accepted him as an arbiter with jurisdiction throughout the world. He splits his time between Ba Sing Se for his envoy duties and travelling the world for his arbiter ones. At the moment he’s on his way back to Ba Sing Se, to talk to King Eachan about his case. Valkyrie is fascinated.

‘But first,’ he tells her as he stands, ‘I have to take you back to your parents in Omashu.’

 Not exactly looking forward to a trek through the mountains in the dark, Valkyrie tries to make him wait with her in the mansion, but he is convinced they should get moving. Wary, but trusting that this man can handle things if they go wrong, she agrees.

On the journey from Gordon’s place to Omashu, things go wrong.

Half of the Kolau Mountains, the half where Gordon’s mansion and Léi reside, are covered in lush woodland. The terrain they now head through in the dark is on the rockier side which rarely sees rain and whose usual dusty underfoot has turned treacherous with mud. It is not difficult for their attacker to set off a small landslide that separates Valkyrie from Skulduggery.

During the chase, she jumps into a basin of roaring waterfalls in a desperate attempt to escape, and, miraculously, survives. The waters close over her head and she’s tossed around a fair bit, but ultimately borne safely back to shore. The most injuries she has are the bruises from particularly large rocks in the rapids that the water didn’t manage to swirl- in an almost protective fashion- away from her.

The firebender was not so lucky. Despite entering the water in the same place as Valkyrie, he was drowned or dashed mercilessly against rocks in the cascade. As previously said: miraculous.

Once Valkyrie pulls herself out of the river, Skulduggery’s there to help her up again, and they make it to Omashu just as dawn breaks the horizon.

֍

Hypothetically, an attack on a child by a member of a covert magical community would incite a very different response from a magical detective than an attack on a child by a member of an overt magical community. As such, the matter of being assaulted by a fireball-throwing maniac is not beyond all understanding.

Valkyrie tells her parents about it. Skulduggery does not stop her.

There’s no (hypothetical) experience of hundreds of years of living in the shadows that might make him inclined to hide things from Desmond and Melissa. As they sit in the chambers Desmond inhabits while overseeing the Omashu earthbenders’ construction work, Valkyrie wrapped in blankets on the couch, her parents on either side of her facing Skulduggery, he tells them what he suspects: that the people trying to hurt Valkyrie are connected to Gordon’s death. More attacks are likely until whatever map these people are looking for is found.

Skulduggery doesn’t think Desmond and Melissa themselves are in any danger; by heading for Omashu they seem to have thrown off anyone on their scent, if anyone ever was. Besides, it was Valkyrie who inherited Gordon’s possessions, not her parents.  

To Desmond and Melissa it seems pretty clear that all three of them need to stay in Omashu until Skulduggery can sort this out. To Valkyrie, it seems pretty clear that her brief taste of adventure is going to slip through her fingers unless she does something. So, she insists on going to Ba Sing Se with Skulduggery.

There are protests. Many of them. She argues that it’s the sensible thing to do: if people are after her, then it won’t take them long to find her in Omashu; it’s right next door to Uncle Gordon’s place, after all, and then that would put her parents in danger, not to mention anyone else nearby. So the best (she carefully avoids using the word safest) thing to do is stay with Skulduggery, who has already proven adept at getting them out of life-threatening situations. Besides, if Gordon was murdered, she wants to make those responsible pay for it.

The argument about the (implied) safest option for their daughter is most effective on Desmond and Melissa. Both of them are scared at the notion of Valkyrie being in danger, and rightly so. Desmond’s mind is already on track to wondering if his family’s Air Nomad blood has somehow been discovered by the remnants of Mevolent’s fanatics; Skulduggery mentioned that he believes Nefarian Serpine, Mevolent’s former governor of Ba Sing Se, to be the culprit. While neither Desmond nor Melissa are entirely at ease leaving their daughter’s safety to a firebender, Skulduggery has made a far better impression than he would have during, say, a highly tense conversation a few years down the road in which they discover he’s been working with Valkyrie in secret.

Skulduggery- taking into account the determined glares Valkyrie keeps shooting him which quite plainly state that she will be tagging along on this, as a stowaway if need be- admits that she has definitely proven herself capable of keeping up with him and handling herself if necessary. If Desmond and Melissa agree to it, he’ll acquiesce to taking her with him to Ba Sing Se, the most fortified city in the world.

It is amazing the favours having a face will do for him. Desmond and Melissa Edgley say yes to their twelve-year-old being taken on a murder investigation joyride.

֍

How do they get from Omashu to Ba Sing Se within a reasonable time frame? Well, they have a dragon on loan, of course.

That night, Skulduggery calls (messenger hawks) in a favour from some friends of his, only referred to as the Sun Warriors. Valkyrie rolls her eyes at his mysteriousness, but on the inside she can’t stop beaming. She goes to sleep that night and dreams of the movement of firebenders in the sun.

The next morning, a great friendly black reptile arrives and waits for them across the great stone bridge to Omashu. Sleek coal-like scales adorn the creature’s serpentine body, and wings of the night itself protrude from his back. Golden tresses of hair sprout from his face and elbows, and line his back in a ridge. Shining tendrils like a moustache curl and shift like tentacles on his snout. The gold snatches of fur only serve to accentuate the dragon’s fierce yellow eyes- not slit-pupilled, but quite human really.

He’s called Ben. Short for Bentley. Yes, Skulduggery does give Valkyrie an enthusiastic Bentley-speech. His apparent command of (or at least buddyship with) such a creature further cements Desmond and Melissa’s ever-positive view of him.

‘This is the first dragon of the Eastern Isles to be born in over a hundred years, one of the last dragons alive in the world today. He has an eighty-foot wingspan, razor-sharp talons, eyes that can pinpoint a black hawk in flight at night, and intelligence advanced enough that he can understand most of human speech. He is the hope of an almost-extinct species, a fierce friend, a bit of a rascal, exquisitely stylish, and can flame a target from a hundred and fifty feet. We can cover half the continent in less than a day on his back, and the Earth Kingdom shouldn’t even shoot us down this time. I think they know me by now.’

Some of the awe taken out of the moment, Valkyrie would have been happy with, ‘It’s a dragon.’

֍

By midnight, they are safely landing in the midst of the multitude of twinkling lights making up Ba Sing Se’s Middle Ring. Valkyrie can hardly contain her excitement: she can feel the thrum of millions of people around her, so many more, so much closer together, than in Omashu, and even at this hour the Impenetrable City is not quiet. Also unlike Omashu, the streets are all on the same level and far more cramped, the cobbles older and less maintained, and mysterious men in green robes, dark armour and wide hats pulled low over their faces lurk on the edge of vision: the Dai Li.

From school Valkyrie knows Ba Sing Se’s Inner City is divided into three walled rings, with the Earth King’s palace lying at the centre. Despite the city’s many glowing lights, appearing from above almost like a second golden-starred sky, the darkness obscured where exactly in the city they landed. Leaving Bentley to frolic in a park, Skulduggery takes Valkyrie to see some people…

֍

China is entrancing, while Ghastly is wary. Valkyrie is dumbstruck: she’s met plenty of former soldiers with scars from fighting, but none like this man. He quite reasonably questions the decision to bring a twelve-year-old onto the case, and he knows Skulduggery much better than Valkyrie’s parents do. The phrases ‘out of danger’ and ‘Skulduggery Pleasant’ do not belong together.

The visit to Ghastly’s shop is to stop by, say hi, and commission some protective clothing for Valkyrie. She is initially reluctant: it sounds as though they want her to walk around in some sort of armour, and Valkyrie prefers clothes that are light and breathe well. Even winter oilskins make her hesitate, though she can’t explain why. Ghastly assures her that that won’t be a problem.

It isn’t. The clothes he makes for her are the best she’s ever worn. Despite Ghastly’s clear reservations, she can see he genuinely cares about her well-being; the bruises around her throat may or may not be sending his response into overdrive.

China’s library is an elegant wrought-metal monument to the limits of delicate smithery: Valkyrie has never seen such intricate shaping before- although in Léi such artwork isn’t exactly common. Shining metal adorns every surface, even weaving through the shelves and covers of books. The stunning woman they find in the midst of it all is no less exempt from the beautiful finery, wearing it on her arms, her clothes, her sculpted shoes, and even in her hair and ears. She greets them both with poise, grace, and welcoming familiarity, which Skulduggery ignores in favour of cutting abruptly to the chase. This amuses China, and Valkyrie can’t help but like her; she does however catch something in the woman’s eyes that is sharp like flint.

China tells them the rumours she has heard about Serpine’s target: the Sceptre of the Spirit World. According to legend the artefact was imbued with a vast amount of spiritual energy, energy harnessed to be used against humans, and which was incapable of harming beings from the Spirit World. Skulduggery and China are both certain it’s only a myth. Skulduggery decides to find out some more about it anyway.

֍

They retire for the night, planning to turn to the Earth King for more information in the morning.

Skulduggery’s house is, surprisingly, not in the Upper Ring, where all the nobles tend to reside. Valkyrie assumed that as the Fire Nation’s Special Envoy, and the Arbiter of All Nations to boot, he would have a reasonably cushy station, but she supposes that his humbler Middle Ring abode makes it easier to blend in; subterfuge must be a part of being an arbiter. Although, it’s hard to see how good Skulduggery is at this when a dragon sleeps curled around his house.

By the morning’s light, it is astonishing to see how packed Ba Sing Se really is. Greeted by the cacophony of the bright, clamouring, bustling, busy morning, it’s quite the contrast to be permitted entry through the vast golden gates into the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace. By comparison to the streets outside, this area is deserted.

It’s as if the entire city has been starved of the spaciousness and serenity used in constructing these grounds. Miles of flat light stone pave an endless expanse populated by the occasional squadron of attentive soldiers before Valkyrie and Skulduggery reach the massive steps leading up to the palace. At the top of these is the gargantuan building. Perched on the seismically scaled red walls swoop the sharp curves of tiered golden roofs, and the massive green and gold stone seals of the national emblem adorn the outside. There is no mistaking this dwelling for belonging to anyone other than a king.

While the sight from outside is breathtakingly grand, Valkyrie becomes sour at the reception. No one sees the Earth King according to their own schedule. After being kept waiting in an antechamber for more than an hour, they are admitted to a secretary. After another hour, they are ushered into a waiting room, to wait. Skulduggery is impressed at the lightning pace today.

Finally, Earth King Eachan Meritorious and his retinue enter: Sagacious Tome, the pompous Grand Secretariat, and Morwenna Crow, the commanding Head of the Dai Li. They are all unhelpful and refuse to believe Skulduggery about Serpine ordering maniacs to attack Valkyrie.

Valkyrie knows Serpine’s name from history, as she does Meritorious’. She can neither see why King Eachan doesn’t think Serpine, the man who was governor of Ba Sing Se during Mevolent’s reign, would be up to some bad business, nor why the famed Earth King who was present at the siege and fall of his own kingdom won’t take a possible situation like this seriously. The discussion becomes heated, and ends with a fuming Skulduggery storming out of the palace, no further enlightened. His anger seems to be more than what the encounter deserved.

‘Are you okay?’ Valkyrie asks, a little hesitantly.

At this, Skulduggery seems to catch himself. His frustrated pacing on the palace steps slows to a halt, his stance loosening much quicker than she would have expected. Valkyrie gets the distinct impression that he’s reigning himself in, drawing himself back from a line.

‘Yes,’ Skulduggery answers, in a very calm voice. Slightly more normally, he confides that Meritorious never believes him when he brings up Serpine’s activities.

‘He doesn’t? That doesn’t seem very responsible. Or kingly.’

‘Yes, well. He thinks I’m biased.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I am, I suppose.’

Into the silence, Valkyrie says, ‘Well, I believe you.’

He tilts his head in mild surprise and smiles with more warmth than he’s shown so far. ‘Thank you.’

Valkyrie’s increasingly low opinion of the Earth King is reinforced in the next minute.

Yes, it has been iterated over and over in school that the Dai Li’s betrayal of Morwenna Crow during the war was not the king’s fault; it was a product of the whole system’s failure. The palace spent too much effort examining the war and not enough thinking about what was happening with its own people, a mistake which has been studiously corrected. This is stressed over and over in schools around the Earth Kingdom. But in the more distant southerly regions people have more leeway to hang on to such failures.

In Omashu and the surrounding principalities, they have their own king, who is trusted a great deal more than Meritorious.

Mr Bliss is the most powerful earthbender in the world, and Omashu was happy to elect him as their king after the war, even if it was Meritorious who volunteered him. Valkyrie never expected to see the living legend walking up the steps towards her, but then again she never expected to stand in front of the Earth King or the leader of the secret police either. She finds him just as scary as the stories say.

He and Skulduggery talk like they know each other well. Old war… well, if not friends, at least colleagues. Mr Bliss doesn’t seem like he has friends. He tells Skulduggery that he is right about Serpine, and that the Earth King is becoming too focused again: he is narrowing his gaze on affairs of state, revelling in peace. That is why Bliss is here, to convince King Eachan of the situation brewing. Mevolent’s old forces are on the move. Bliss is gathering his own allies in preparation.

Never let it be said that Mr Bliss doesn’t take an active role in his subjects’ well-being. He is, after all, referred to as ‘Mr’ rather than ‘King.’

֍

If the palace too was a dead end, then where can they find information about the Sceptre of the Spirit World? Skulduggery has an idea. A place buried out in the Si Wong desert: the Spirit Library.

‘You’ve been there before?’

‘No, but I’ve seen it, albeit from a distance. Ghastly, a few others and I got lost in that desert once and came across it. We didn’t go inside, of course. We weren’t stupid.’

‘Why would it have been stupid to go in?’

‘Apparently there’s a great big owl spirit inside who’s not very nice to visitors.’

‘Not very nice like the Earth King, or not very nice like the guy who tried to kill me?’

‘Second option, I’m afraid. There’s a reason people have left it buried.’

‘Oh great. Ohhh great. That really fills me with confidence, that does. It bodes so well. Spirits are never good news.’

‘You don’t have to worry. It’s a library! The books are made for reading.’

(In the end, they are chased by a giant owl. It is not fun.)

֍

Bentley flies them, guided by Skulduggery’s fairly rusty directions. He was lost when he found the place, after all. Valkyrie feels the wind that they surf on and knows she’ll never get tired of it.

The great buried library is silent, creepily so. They enter through a rope lowered down into the only part of the library that isn’t buried in the vast sands: the topmost tower. Valkyrie is told to wait on the window ledge outside in the heat. Reluctantly she does, staring down into the depths as Skulduggery takes their rope and lowers himself to the bridge, below which level upon level of the place descends into darkness, all packed with corridors full of bookshelves. It’s quite the sight. Quite vertigo-inducing.

Skulduggery touches down. He takes a few steps forward and almost immediately an owl five times as tall as he is with black feathers and a booming, ancient voice swoops up out of the depths, landing between him and the rope in a clear, threatening message. Wan Shi Tong, the spirit of the library, has revealed himself, and is, to say the least, uninclined to allow any humans to peruse his shelves, lest they try and use what they learn for violent purposes like all too many have.

‘Violent? Me?’ says Skulduggery.

‘If you’re going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it,’ Wan Shi Tong responds, swiftly extending an inscrutable avian face on a lengthy neck down to Skulduggery. He doesn’t back away.

Taking this as her cue to enter, Valkyrie drops down the rope, landing behind the owl. She gets a brief glimpse of white feathers like a second set of eyes on the back of Wan Shi Tong’s head before it swivels one hundred and eighty degrees towards her and fixes her with a stomach-dropping stare. Skulduggery quickly darts around the spirit to stand slightly in front of her, a hand closing over her forearm from behind his back. The owl examines them both.

‘We come in the spirit of peace,’ Skulduggery tries again. ‘Of… bridging the gap between worlds. You have my word we won’t abuse your library.’

The owl’s fathomless eyes peer at him. ‘Hmmm.’

Something significant appears to be passing between the two of them, but whatever it is, Wan Shi Tong does not seem convinced. Skulduggery’s hand tightens on her arm.

Valkyrie offers a trade of information. She tells Wan Shi Tong one of her family legends: that a dark spirit possessed her great-grandfather for years during the Hundred Year War, enabling him to train the Avatar better and fight back against the Fire Nation all the more fiercely. Her bloodline was supposedly forever tainted with the power he wielded.

Wan Shi Tong is dismissive of the legend, as any reasonable person knows that spirits have not possessed people in millennia. It is an unfounded prejudice which is still held up in the way humans continue to take new names to ward spirits away. Put out, Valkyrie doubles down on their claim of peaceful intentions, then adds that if during their search he becomes suspicious of them, he can always just kill them. It’s not like they have much of a chance against him, after all.

‘True,’ he agrees, and allows them entrance.

֍

A fox guides them to the books on spirits. They read about the Sceptre: it is only able to change owners through death; it ‘sings’ in the presence of enemies; it cannot be wielded against spirits; and it is most assuredly real. It has been used throughout history to take power, to harm people- and Serpine will add his name to those ranks unless they find it first.

Unfortunately, Wan Shi Tong hears this, completely fails to understand that they want to stop people from getting hurt, and the aforesaid owl-chase begins.

They leave the library unscathed, if a little sooty. Wan Shi Tong deemed saving his books from destruction by a wildfire more important than chasing them. Valkyrie would feel disapproval of Skulduggery’s tactic there, if it were not for the fact that they were both alive because of it. As they fly away on Bentley, the enraged screeches of Wan Shi Tong are accompanied by a great rumbling, and the Spirit Library sinks fully into the sand.

֍

Skulduggery shares with Valkyrie his theory: the map Serpine is intent on finding must be the map to the Sceptre, and a map must be necessary because the Sceptre must be hidden in the best hiding spot Gordon had access to: the Cave of Two Lovers. They decide to go snoop around Gordon’s mansion for the map. Going into the caves without it is sure to be a death sentence.

On the way, Skulduggery asks Valkyrie more about her family legends, since he never heard Gordon speak about them. Obligingly, Valkyrie unloads all of them onto him. Her family has always been very leery of letting anyone know about their airbender heritage, but Skulduggery has made quite an impression. She laments that she’s not a bender despite being of a ‘varied background’ like Skulduggery. Skulduggery tells her about not knowing he was a bender until he was her age, despite having grown up in a family full of them who all found out when they were much younger. This brightens her up a bit: there’s still a faint chance she could be one.

֍

They search Gordon’s mansion to no avail. His study is full of many things, but a map of the Lovers’ Cave is not one of them. Dismayed, Valkyrie heads back outside, to find, when she opens the front door, a man.

He has dark hair and darker green eyes. She notices red fern-like scars on one of his hands, visible between the gap of his expensive sleeve and glove.

There’s a rush of Skulduggery’s footsteps behind her, and suddenly she’s in the middle of a firefight at her uncle’s house for the second time in as many days.

Serpine has had the same idea as them: to search Gordon’s place for the map, and he brought much more back up than they did. They are cornered on her uncle’s porch, surrounded on all sides by firebenders, things are moving too quickly, and then lightning flickers from Serpine’s fingers, fierce and unstoppable and blinding in the dark night. Skulduggery shoves Valkyrie to the floor before being blasted off his feet.

As her hearing comes back, Valkyrie hears Bentley roar from the midst of a contingent of Serpine’s followers. She sees Serpine sedately go to collect Skulduggery’s unmoving form. There’s a large mechanical locomotor nearby that they must have used as transport. Serpine uses Skulduggery as a shield so Ben can’t charbroil him as they board. Ben isn’t exactly trying however, having his claws full protecting Valkyrie from all the firebenders Serpine brought along.

֍

After the attack, Valkyrie is left alone in the mountains, far from home, with no one to call for help. Whatever will she do?

HAH. She has a freaking dragon. First step, sending a message via said dragon to Ghastly Bespoke, Ba Sing Se, that Nefarian Serpine has captured Skulduggery Pleasant. Step two: follow the locomotive.

It’s achieving this second step that immediately becomes the difficulty. Valkyrie’s just sent her locomotive-chasing steed away to Ba Sing Se. Skulduggery told her that Bentley knows Ghastly, so she’s confident that he will reach him. She, however, is stuck with no way besides her own two feet to follow the machine. With no other options, she takes off on foot, following the tracks north-west. Even in the dark, the deep ruts are not difficult to distinguish.

Funny story: a certain someone is on her way to Omashu at Mr Bliss’s request and runs right into Valkyrie- almost literally, had it not been for the quick reflexes of her ostrich-horse.

The woman who almost trampled Valkyrie is young, with blonde hair cut sensibly short, a serious set to her face and an even more serious set to the sword she carries. She’s dressed in green robes that are tied at the front with a cord, and despite a certain hardness to her eyes that shouldn’t belong on someone barely into their twenties, she smiles easily and has a readiness for action that Valkyrie admires. She introduces herself as, of course, Tanith Low.

They get on that locomotive.

They get off that locomotive plus one (very surprised, lightly charred) Skulduggery, enemy firebenders none the wiser.

֍

Valkyrie catches her breath, heart racing and unable to keep a broad grin off her face as she stares at the dwindling dark mass of the all-terrain locomotive chugging away into the distance. She actually did it.

Beside her, the strong woman with the sword on her hip, Tanith, nudges her. ‘Nice work,’ she praises.

‘Well, I did my best,’ Skulduggery answers from Tanith’s other side, where she is supporting him.

‘Not you,’ says Valkyrie.

‘Ah, you’re right. Tanith, your ostrich horse is most impressive for keeping up the way it did. Good boy,’ Skulduggery corrects himself, stroking the tired, panting creature fondly, before flashing a grin back at Valkyrie. She huffs and holds the ostrich horse still while Tanith helps Skulduggery off its saddle to sit on the ground. She hears him give a sharp hiss and her faux grumpiness vanishes.

‘Are you okay?’ she asks worriedly, seeing Tanith go still for a moment.

‘Well, I’d rather not try to walk any more than I have to for the next few hours, but on the whole, I’ve been shot with worse lightning,’ Skulduggery tells her lightly.

By what light she can, Tanith examines him beneath the charred remains of his shirt. Underneath Valkyrie catches sight of many burns, almost glowing red in the moonlight. What makes her pause though is the large, star-shaped scar at the centre of Skulduggery’s chest. It looks old, and like it didn’t heal easily.

Tanith is frowning as she checks his burns. ‘The worst of it missed your heart, which is the important thing.’

‘That is pretty important,’ Skulduggery agrees.

‘But that doesn’t mean you got off easy. Hold on, I’ve got some bandages- but I’m assuming you’re more versed in treating burns than me?’

Skulduggery nods. ‘Thank you. There’s not much to be done right now, but if you have any water I’d appreciate it. Lightning strikes tend to dry me out.’

Tanith and Skulduggery’s calm and pragmatic attitudes are off-putting in a way Valkyrie can’t explain even to herself. She just feels jittery and sick, and it must have shown on her face.

‘He’ll be okay,’ Tanith reassures her with a smile that seems only a little forced, unrolling a length of clean white cloth. ‘The damage is only skin deep, nothing major.’

‘We don’t have any medical supplies…’ Valkyrie starts.

Skulduggery shakes his head, brushing it off. ‘I don’t need any. Some water, some rest, and I’ll be fit as a firecracker in no time, just wait and see.’

‘Skulduggery, you were struck by lightning.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘But-’

‘Tanith, tell her I’m fine.’

‘I’m with Valkyrie,’ Tanith mutters, grimacing as she begins to wrap his middle. Skulduggery gives her a look. She brightly adds, ‘But you will be fine, yes.’

Unconvinced, Valkyrie takes the waterskin out of one of Tanith’s saddlebags and passes it up to Skulduggery, only to catch him looking at her with a strange expression on his face.

‘What? What is it?’

‘Nothing. I really am fine, thank you. And thank you for coming to save me. I can honestly say that I did not expect that. It was very brave of you.’

Valkyrie feels her mouth twitch into a grin. ‘When have I ever done something you expected?’

He laughs.

After a few hours of thinking and riding, Skulduggery works out where the map is.

֍

Fergus and Beryl are not pleased to be woken at such an early hour. Valkyrie can’t say that she’s all that happy to be seeing them either after an entire night of alternately walking and riding an ostrich-horse, but the excitement of finding the map, scrawled in Gordon’s field journal, bequeathed to the Toxic Twins, tossed carelessly in a corner of Carol’s room, stolen by Valkyrie, quickly infects her. She, Tanith and Skulduggery head for Omashu, reinvigorated.

֍

They meet Mr Bliss in the mountains. He betrays them. The subtle clue is in when he tries to bury Tanith in a rockslide, and pushes Skulduggery off a cliff.

The rumbling ceases. Valkyrie stares in shock as Mr Bliss turns to her. When she starts to run, there is a great boom behind her as the earth launches Mr Bliss into the air to land right in her path. She skids and lands on her backside, and Mr Bliss simply takes the map from her. The shock gives way to outrage, and she demands to know why he’s doing this. She receives the depressing answer that he wants to be on the winning side: Serpine’s side.

When he has rumbled away on a hill of earth, Valkyrie scrambles to the avalanche site only for Tanith to push her way out the top before she can help, dusty and bruised but otherwise unharmed.

They turn to the cliff. Fortunately, there’s a fjord at the bottom. Skulduggery is soggy and angry by the time Valkyrie and Tanith find him.

Valkyrie’s hopes of having a rest are dashed. With no other choice, they head towards the Cave of Two Lovers. Fortunately, it’s within riding distance.

‘Let me get this straight. We want to navigate through the Cave of Two Lovers, find Serpine and all his firebenders, stop him from taking the Sceptre, and find our way back out again, all without the map?’ Tanith asks in disbelief.

Skulduggery considers. ‘Yes,’ he decides. ‘Yes, I think so. Does that sound right?’

‘Sounds right to me,’ Valkyrie shrugs with a grin.

֍

Tanith turns to Valkyrie outside the cave, keeping her eyes on the entrance. It gapes wide and dark, and although the paved road inside is flat and smooth, its forbidding nature is not dispelled in the least. ‘You were reading Gordon’s journal on the way to Omashu. Did it have any advice on how to navigate through?’

‘It said something about letting love light the way,’ Valkyrie responds, also watching the dark. ‘The legend said that the two lovers who first found their way through would extinguish all their lights and trust in their hearts to guide them to each other.’

‘A knack that would be handy if Serpine was at all lovable,’ Skulduggery comments. ‘As it is…’ Fire flares in his hand. ‘…we’ll have to see how far our tracking abilities can take us.’

There are no dangers in the Cave of Two Lovers besides the natural hazards of the dark. At the present time, this includes firebenders.

They catch up with Serpine just as he finds the Sceptre. It is hidden in a magnificent tomb, where Oma and Shu were left to rest side by side. Grand staircases lead down to the lovers’ coffins, on which engravings detail their story, and the walls depict it in images.

Now, the quiet dark is thrown into unwelcome firelight as Serpine’s followers swarm all over the place, standing guard while the man himself reverently raises the Sceptre of the Spirit World from its resting place atop one of the stone coffins.

Tanith and Skulduggery instruct Valkyrie to stay back while they take on Serpine’s forces, and, predictably, she does not. She skirts sneakily around the edges of the melee instead, eyes fixed on Serpine as Skulduggery closes in. Fire flashes, lighting up the dark sporadically. During the fight, the Sceptre briefly falls within her reach, and remains silent; for some curious reason, it doesn’t warn Serpine of her presence.

Valkyrie cannons into Serpine as he scoops the Sceptre back up and aims it at Skulduggery. The dark crystal, so deeply purple as to be almost black, unleashes a powerful lance of violet energy which goes wide, striking the cavern wall. There’s a momentary pause.

Serpine has claimed the Sceptre, and his forces outnumber them. Skulduggery, Valkyrie and Tanith retreat, running in darkness because any light would make them an easy target. Sprinting headlong into pitch black that may or may not conceal a cave wall takes a lot of nerve, and Valkyrie’s the only one who feels something change- the breeze maybe- as a blocked tunnel looms out of nowhere. She grabs Skulduggery and Tanith before they run face-first into it, and they try and find another way out: any way will do at this point, Serpine can’t be far behind… but he is far enough behind such that the firebenders’ light is extinct. Above them, a glow glimmers: phosphorescence shows them the way.

Valkyrie’s jaw drops. ‘But the notes said they trusted in love!’

‘I don’t know about you, but right now I love those crystals,’ Tanith says, taking off again.

They reach daylight just ahead of their pursuers. For the second time, Skulduggery hauls Valkyrie out of the way of a lightning blast and sets to work blocking incoming bursts of fire. Serpine and his forces close in… and are driven back by a wave of rolling earth.

Bentley lands before the uprooted grass and rocks, Ghastly and China on his back.

‘Get on!’

As China calls out the order, she leaps off the dragon and puts her back to Skulduggery’s. They both cover Valkyrie and Tanith, China pulling a wall of earth out of the ground to shield them while Skulduggery takes over offense. Valkyrie catches Ghastly’s hand and feels Tanith give her feet a boost, and once they’re both aboard Bentley, Skulduggery whirls in a circle.

China follows his movements like they’ve done this a million times before, lifting the rock wall and knocking it back at their attackers while Skulduggery sweeps his leg around and sends a clean wash of fire across the ground below it. The firebenders are all forced backwards. Skulduggery shouts for them to take off as he jumps for Bentley, catching China’s hand and hauling her up after him.

‘You haven’t lost your touch,’ compliments China, catching her breath. Her eyes are alight.

Skulduggery brushes soot and dirt off his charred clothes. ‘My touch for fighting or escaping?’

‘For angering dangerous enemies.’

‘You say that like you expected otherwise,’ Skulduggery says with a wry grin.

֍

It is only once they are in the air that Valkyrie notices the dragon’s beautiful black scales are covered- all over- in hideous yellow dust. It smells like curry. Apparently by the time Ben made it to Ba Sing Se, Ghastly wasn’t at his shop, and the dragon subsequently tore through the downtown market stalls in the attempt to track his whereabouts: he found China instead.

Normally, China would have been happy once finding Ghastly to send him on his way alone, but he called in… an old debt she owed him. Neither say what it was, but it was apparently enough to convince her to lend her help. Valkyrie, not having any reason to think otherwise, finds herself liking China even more, regardless of everyone else’s reservations.

‘And so the market stalls are how he got spices all over him?’ she asks, trying valiantly to rub the awful yellow stuff off the sleek glossiness underneath. She can accept that excuse. It was only an accident.

‘Oh no,’ Ghastly says dryly. ‘As we left, he saw the spice carts coming into the city and decided, despite the urgency of the situation, to beat his wings and fly through the ensuing cloud.’

Valkyrie then notices that China and Ghastly also have traces of yellow on their clothes and skin, but they, being sensible people of good taste, have done their best to remove it. At Valkyrie’s dismayed expression, Skulduggery nods and pats Bentley’s hide ruefully.

‘He likes being colourful,’ he explained. Bentley wiggles happily in mid-air.

֍

The Earth King is not pleased, but he somehow manages to avoid admitting that it was his mistake to disregard Skulduggery’s suspicions. Kings don’t apologise. They move on, and expect everyone to follow in their wake.

It isn’t clear why the Sceptre never reacted to Valkyrie’s presence. After their visit to the Spirit Library in which Wan Shi Tong disabused Valkyrie of any fanciful notions of ‘tainted blood’ causing the Sceptre to overlook her, Valkyrie has no explanation to offer either. Regardless, Meritorious considers her a valuable asset to have, despite the pompous reservations voiced by Sagacious Tome. Valkyrie is not only permitted to continue being part of the affair, but practically enlisted.

China, considering her debt to Ghastly settled even in the face of Ghastly’s clear disagreement, heads back to her library to begin organising her affairs in preparation for a war. Valkyrie is more than a little surprised and disappointed at this action, but China is not swayed. Skulduggery takes the opportunity to instil in her the lesson that China Sorrows cannot ever be trusted she is only ever self-serving never put your life in her hands she will betray you nod if you understand Valkyrie.

Reluctantly, Valkyrie does.

֍

That last encounter with Pleasant was too close a call for Serpine to allow again. He needs to distract the arbiter. Fortunately, Serpine is well-versed in how to do that. As a bonus, that niece of Edgley’s was getting on his nerves anyway.

֍

After the Earth King and his war council has made their preparations and given Skulduggery, Ghastly, and Tanith assignments, the four of them make their way through the palace, heading for the exit and listening to Skulduggery as he thinks aloud about what Serpine’s next move will be. He has the Sceptre, but what does he want it for? Mevolent’s goal was to spread the influence of the Fire Nation across the whole world, but Serpine doesn’t have the Fire Nation to use as a starting point. The only thing he’s ever ruled in fact is… Ba Sing Se.

A blank-faced man in white robes under dark armour is waiting for them in an anteroom. There are no guards in sight, and they can’t remember passing any in the hall for a while either. The assassin carries a scythe. Under the low-pulled hat, his focus is fixed on Valkyrie.

The others attack, but the man has a surprising trick: he gets a jab into Skulduggery’s inner shoulder, and the flame he was summoning extinguishes immediately. Skulduggery grimaces and tucks the arm in close until he can regain use of it. His and Ghastly’s stances grow a little warier.

‘Chi blocker,’ Valkyrie hears Tanith mutter.

Despite apparently having no bending of his own, the man is more than a match for Skulduggery, Ghastly, and Tanith. His scythe meets Tanith’s sword at every turn, and his durable armour is more than capable of withstanding not only Ghastly’s punches but the lumps of stone he bends his way- although it is rare that the assassin cannot cleave, dodge, flip, or somersault away from them. His feet are as sure as ever even when the ground underneath him tilts or becomes awash with flame. Skulduggery continues with hand-to-hand attacks, getting in so close that using any firebending would be almost suicidal, but he still has his work cut out stopping any more of his limbs from being deadened or severed.

When Skulduggery shouts at Valkyrie to run, she does, but the fight follows her.

The White Cleaver almost reaches Valkyrie. It takes Ghastly collapsing the roof of the chamber to shake his attention. Chunks of brick rain down around them. Without her coat, Valkyrie would have been hurt far more than the mild bruising she sustained. She, Skulduggery and Tanith make it out just in time.

Ghastly doesn’t.

His eyes are closed and Valkyrie keeps shaking him, but he won’t wake up. He’s bleeding- in a lot of places- but still breathing. There’s rubble strewn everywhere. Skulduggery is hauling Ghastly onto his shoulder and Tanith is urging them to move. The White Cleaver emerges from the dust-filled ruins of the room behind them.

֍

Meritorious, walking with Morwenna Crow, hears fighting in the halls of his palace. Serpine is inside. The coup is taking place now. Before the Earth King can summon the Dai Li to his aid, a blast of purple energy vaporises him.

֍

Several halls away, the palace administrator makes it to the mews and scrawls a frantic note for the nearest bird he can reach before he too is killed. The iguana parrot takes off.

֍

Serpine’s plan is a simple one: massacre everyone. The power of the Sceptre is incredible, and allows him easy destruction of anyone he wants. Should there be a powerful object that would allow him control over all the people in the city, its hypothetical equivalent in this world is the throne of Ba Sing Se.

Using loyalist forces leftover from Mevolent’s Fire Nation, who have been in hiding for almost thirteen years, awaiting their chance to strike, Serpine leads them into the palace via a secret entrance revealed to him by Sagacious Tome. Tome’s eagerness to lay his hands on some real power goes wasted, Serpine killing him right after the Earth King and Morwenna. He has no further need of the advisor.

The next step is to eliminate the counterforces that will inevitably be deployed. All the loyal palace guards have been decimated, and the not-so-loyal ones in the pocket of Sagacious Tome now answer to Serpine.

Once the palace has been cleared, Serpine sends out the majority of his soldiers to manage the guards on the Outer and Inner Walls. The remaining Earth Kingdom soldiers will assume places outside the palace, deterring anyone from entering.

֍

The halls of the palace are chillingly silent. Valkyrie runs through them with Tanith and Skulduggery, her breathing seeming too loud, her footsteps too heady. Ghastly’s limp hand sways with Skulduggery’s motion. Bodies are abundant throughout the corridors. The coup was swift and merciless.

Ghastly shouldn’t be moved, but he shouldn’t be left alone either. They find a room with a lockable door and lay him gently on a pristine sofa that is quickly dirtied by the dust and blood. Valkyrie kneels by his side. He’s still breathing- faintly.

Skulduggery is dead set on killing Serpine ASAP, while Tanith wants to contact reinforcements. She is a seasoned fighter, but out of her depth; she is too young to have been a soldier in the Hundred Year War, and has never dealt with situations like this. Frustrated at Skulduggery’s iron refusal to compromise or listen, she hisses some things. Things that reference the war. Valkyrie doesn’t understand some of it, but she can piece together what ‘maybe you want to join your family’ in this context means. She feels the blood drain from her face and isn’t sure if she’d prefer Skulduggery to shout over the stillness he’s now adopted.

They both catch their breath. Tanith doesn’t agree that either of them are at all prepared to face Serpine when he has the Sceptre, but the only other feasible option is splitting up, which is undoubtedly worse. As it is, they don’t know the full extent of the coup, or what is happening in the city. Reinforcements may not be available.

With a much cooler head, Tanith can see that Skulduggery’s plan is as good as any they have. It’s a concession he’s lucky to have under the circumstances, so he accepts it. She also points out that Valkyrie is the only one who can sneak up on Serpine, so leaving her with Ghastly isn’t an option either. Skulduggery reluctantly agrees. After barricading Ghastly in the room as best they can, they head out.

Valkyrie feels a shift in the air over her shoulder. She rolls out of the way of the White Cleaver’s absolutely silent approach, Tanith draws her sword, and suddenly splitting up is the only option. The chi blocker settles into his stance. Fortunately, Tanith has no bending he can take away.

֍

Serpine is in the throne room, standing at ease in the middle as he contemplates the gold-plated seat atop the stairs. The Sceptre is held loosely in one hand- easy for her to take. Valkyrie’s palms start to sweat. Whatever Skulduggery has told her to do if things go south, she knows the only way she is leaving this room is with him.

Valkyrie Cain, it has been an absolute pleasure knowing you.

Her shoes aren’t sturdy boots, as favoured by so many. She doesn’t like heavy clothes. Her shoes are soft, and light. Sometimes she scares her parents by unintentionally being too stealthy when she walks into a room. They’ll turn around and there she is…

Serpine turns around. The Sceptre lights up. Valkyrie dives, rolls, spins and brings up a hand-

The Sceptre flies out of Serpine’s grip, skidding across the room, borne on a gust of wind.

Well.

Isn’t that a surprise.

Skulduggery crashes into Serpine with elbows and fists before he can react. The two firebenders fight, and it’s instantly clear who is the better combatant. Valkyrie thinks it’ll be over easily, when-

The floor spirals open beneath Skulduggery. He falls through, and it slams shut over him just as quickly.

Mr Bliss walks into the room. Before Valkyrie can process what happened (is he dead, is he dead, did Bliss kill Skulduggery), or that she’s now very alone, a known airbender with one of Mevolent’s generals, Serpine is ordering the King of Omashu to kill her.

‘Where’ve you been?’ Serpine snaps, wiping blood from his face.

‘I was delayed.’

‘I’m sure. Well, if you want to reap any rewards after tonight, you’ll have to display some of that “legendary” strength. There’s one more adversary to deal with.’

‘You want me to kill an unarmed child?’

‘I want you to kill an unarmed airbender.’

Valkyrie stares into Bliss’s cold blue eyes and waits for the floor to open up and swallow her whole, just like it did to Skulduggery. Instead, a ton of ceiling slams down towards Serpine… who is already rolling out of the way, coming up onto one knee, two fingers pointing at Bliss, lightning exploding into the space between them. Bliss is thrown off his feet and doesn’t get up.

Serpine, whose movement took him to the Sceptre, stands with it in hand. He turns to Valkyrie, a cruel smile on his face, taunting her as he closes in.

Then the floor cracks open again and Skulduggery wrenches himself out. Serpine snarls a curse at Bliss’s unmoving form, and the fight begins anew. Skulduggery refuses to give Serpine even a second to bring the Sceptre to bear, driving him backwards. He doesn’t firebend, and doesn’t need to, working only with his fists and knees and elbows. This seems to infuriate Serpine further. Skulduggery slams him against a pillar, and places him under arrest. Serpine laughs, inexplicably, viciously, head shaking and eyes burning.

‘I will always find a way to make you suffer!’

The hand holding the Sceptre is pinned out of the way so it can’t be angled at Skulduggery, but Serpine isn’t looking at Skulduggery. He twists his wrist, and Valkyrie feels her blood turn to ice as she looks into a purple glow.

The beam never comes. The crystal shines like a firefly and refuses to let loose. Serpine screams his rage, and Skulduggery wrests the Sceptre from his grip, half-turning to toss it behind him. Valkyrie shivers, and operating on instinct, makes a move that sends a strong breeze spinning the weapon further away. She looks up to find Serpine white with fury. In the instant before Skulduggery pins his free hand back in place, Serpine shoves him off and time slows down.

Crackling blue-white light is summoned out of thin air. Its tendrils are drawn to a point and extend along the line set by Serpine’s fingers, pointed straight at her. But the view is eclipsed. Skulduggery was already in motion. His feet are sure as he throws himself in the line of fire, his stance as confident as if he’s done this time and time again. The arcing, sparking, icy fire snakes from the tip of Serpine’s fingers and meets Skulduggery’s… and then blossoms around him in a flashing cloud of electricity, booming back along Skulduggery’s other hand, straight at Serpine.

Valkyrie blinks the searing afterimages out of her vision just in time to see Serpine’s body slump to the ground.

Skulduggery turns around and asks if she’s alright. She stares at him. His clothes are smoking faintly.

Running footsteps from the corridor herald the arrival of a flood of Dai Li.

‘Just in time,’ Skulduggery sighs.

They assess the situation efficiently and effectively, helping Mr Bliss up and checking Serpine is dead. China Sorrows enters the room. She smiles and folds her arms.

‘You’re not dead. Well done,’ she praises.

‘Not for a lack of trying,’ Skulduggery murmurs. He seems a little shocked (no pun intended) to Valkyrie.

֍

It transpires that a message was sent out to Mr Bliss during the coup. China’s people, who were monitoring Bliss’s residence in Ba Sing Se for any sign of his return, intercepted the distinctive iguana parrot and alerted her to what was happening. She raised the alarm to the Dai Li agents in the city and the soldiers on the walls, who were ready for Serpine’s forces when they made their move. She did this not, China assures them, out of the goodness of her heart, but in order to avoid a total collapse of the resources and influence she has amassed since the end of the Hundred Year War, a fate which would surely have befallen her had Serpine come to power so soon. Whatever her excuses, Valkyrie grins broadly; without China, two of her friends would be dead, and many more people besides. Even Skulduggery doesn’t try to distance himself from her that night, although he does seem rather preoccupied with his own thoughts.

Other notable occurrences of the night’s events: Tanith and the White Cleaver half killed each other during their duel. The White Cleaver went missing in action before China and the Dai Li arrived, but Tanith, along with Ghastly and Bliss, was hurried to healers as soon as she was found. While Tanith and Bliss are expected to make full recoveries, Ghastly’s injuries were incredibly extensive; he remains in a coma, and is fortunate to be breathing. Skulduggery says he’s survived worse though, so Valkyrie tries to keep her hopes up.

The most important take-away from all this is that Valkyrie is an airbender. This is incredible news to everyone around. As soon as Bliss is well again, a flurry of action rises up around her. Valkyrie was confirmed as a non-bender as a child, but as Skulduggery vouches, those tests aren’t right one hundred per cent of the time. Bliss decides that she must be trained, and once the next in line for the Earth Kingdom’s throne is crowned- a cousin of Meritorious named Thurid Guild- this matter is one of the first brought to his attention.

Waiting, strained, in Omashu, Desmond and Melissa Edgley receive word that their daughter is safe and sound, the crisis is over, and that they are invited by the Earth King himself to attend the celebratory welcoming of a thought-to-be-extinct race of benders back into the world: otherwise known as the official presentation of Valkyrie Cain, the First Airbender, to the nations.

Well, that’s the years of the Edgleys hiding their heritage over. Desmond can’t say he’s entirely sorry, not when his daughter is so excited and happy and protected.

Despite knowing that King Thurid is mainly doing this for the good PR value, which shows that Ba Sing Se has quickly recovered from the mishap and is looking forward to leading the world in a new era of recovery brought on by her own self, Valkyrie is indeed overjoyed. She loves airbending. It comes easily and naturally to her, something that she’s felt has been part of her life for so long which has now unfolded to reveal its potential.

The trouble is, there’s no one to teach her. The Edgleys lost their cultural records of the Air Nomad practices, customs, and teachings long ago, while hiding and on the run. China has nothing, nor does the palace, and the Spirit Library is not even to be thought of after Skulduggery’s actions the last time they were there.

There is good news, however. Skulduggery’s background means that not only is he well-versed in all kinds of bending, but he is also one of the only self-taught benders in the world. There weren’t many firebenders willing to teach the enemy their tricks during the war, so he had to figure it out himself. He knows how to start from scratch in these matters. Furthermore, as an Arbiter of All Nations it’s his job-

(‘Technically?’ Valkyrie asks.

‘Literally,’ he replies.)

-to act on behalf of and in the interests of all nations. All the nations want Valkyrie trained. If she’ll have him, he offers himself as her airbending master.

To Valkyrie’s utter delight, he’s got the job. Not only because there’s suddenly a talented young airbender who no one else knows what to do with, but because no one is going to tell Skulduggery Pleasant what his specific duties entail.

Valkyrie notices, in the days after the coup, that people, old friends apparently, often come to talk to Skulduggery. Their conversations are quiet, and she usually only catches bits and pieces. There’s the general impression that they’re checking in on him, making sure he’s alright. She supposes she hasn’t really known him long enough or well enough to make judgements of her own, but their presence does encourage her to notice some of the silences he retreats into on occasion. Eventually, she asks him if he’s alright, to which he replies, with some consideration, that yes, he is. He’s killed the man who murdered his family and tortured him. Skulduggery is feeling a certain satisfaction, it has to be said. He says he’s looking forward to new things now. Valkyrie is too. Together they sit under the stars.

As the parents of the First Airbender, the Resurrector of the Air Nomads, officials fall over themselves to offer Desmond and Melissa housing in Ba Sing Se’s Inner Ring, in addition to places at official functions, etc. The attention is overwhelming, something they have never desired or imagined happening to them. Initially, they are reluctant to accept any of the offers, but, being sensible and practical people, they think it over and realise that Ba Sing Se offers the best resources for Valkyrie’s training and protection, and so relocating to the big city would be in their daughter’s interests. They politely decline the grand offers of titles and seats at functions, and move into Gordon’s villa rather than the grand housing of lords and nobles offered. They do, however, request positions in the city where they can continue their careers and remain somewhat independent, preferring to accept the vast amounts of assistance from the palace only as a last resort. They are not necessarily anti-monarchist, but they are also not blind to the realities of corruption within the Earth Kingdom’s government, and this latest fiasco has not helped any.

Skulduggery’s duties as arbiter do not generally allow him to remain fixed in one place for too long. It’s time for him to head out again, and at queries from King Thurid about what this means for Valkyrie’s instruction, Skulduggery answers that he’ll just take her with him, of course. They’ll head for the Air Temples, and see if they can find any surviving records of airbending.

Guild doesn’t seem entirely happy with that. Valkyrie gets the impression that while he obviously doesn’t want Skulduggery around, he’d rather someone from his own palace was teaching her so that she would remain his PR heaven-send and claim to fame throughout the world in perpetuity: the Earth King overseeing the First Airbender. But, as Skulduggery reminds Guild, he doesn’t have any right to keep her under his jurisdiction. She is not a threat who must be kept under watch, and there is no standing legislature to restrict the movements of airbenders.

Unless they’re the Avatar. Which she’s not. The next Avatar is an Earth Avatar, not an Air Avatar.

So Valkyrie and Skulduggery set off on their journey. Promising her parents she won’t be gone long and that she’ll write often, Valkyrie looks eagerly forward to more adventure. In a matter of days her life has completely turned around- for the better, she believes.

The wind tosses her hair around and caresses her skin, Skulduggery starts joking for the first time in days as they leave Ba Sing Se, and she knows she’s ready for so much more.

[butchtwelfthdoctor]

for some reason the start of lover you should have come over, the 'looking through the door / i see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners / parading in the wake of sad relations as their shoes fill up with water' make me think of fergus's funeral every time.

his family wasn't there (or maybe they were but campbell says, if they cared why didn't they come visit him?). but eddie and campbell and francine and rosalie were there. in the rain. and when the song starts playing the end of that scene i always think it's the slow version of 'forever young' but it's not

fergus was a great character and deserved so much better than he was given, in the end. anskhasnahsk it's just really sad

[sutherlnd]

ELETHEA SUTHERLAND.

NAME. Elethea Moira Sutherland NICKNAME. Thea, Ella, Ellie GENDER. Cis Woman (she/her) AGE. Thirty DATE OF BIRTH. September 20, 1993 PLACE OF BIRTH. Edinburgh, Scotland. RESIDENCE. London, England. ORIENTATION. Pansexual, Demiromantic. OCCUPATION. Socialite. Model, Singer/Songwriter (Discography TBA)

MOTHER. Eleanor Sutherland ✝ FATHER. Bryce Sutherland ✝ SIBLINGS. Fergus Sutherland (Older brother), Balfour Sutherland (Twin brother)CHILDREN. William Hewitt (Son, with Darren)OTHER. Darren Hewitt (Husband) ✝, Oriana Sutherland (Sister-in-law) ✝, Ryan Sutherland (Nephew) ✝ PETS. Arthur (Cane Corso), Phaedra (Siamese Cat)

HAIR. Dark, honey blonde, wavy/gently curly in texture. Frequently changes hair lengths, always in sleek classic styles. EYES. Pale blue. HEIGHT. 5'0" BUILD. Slim. SCARS. Surgical scars on her back and stomach, a large long scar on her right bicep. OTHER. Her right leg is amputated below the knee, she wears an expensive chrome-plated prosthetic. MARKINGS. Dense freckles across her nose and cheeks. FACE. Willa Fitzgerald

history. tw: car accidents, family death, ptsd, amputation, pregnancy

Elethea is the youngest child and only daughter of the powerful Sutherland family. Her parents, Eleanor and Bryce are well known, beloved public figures.

She starts off her career in modelling when she's sixteen, she's a commercial/glamour model for most of her career as she's too short for runway.

When she's eighteen she breaks into the music industry. Very much a nepo baby riding on the coattails of her parents' wealth and fame. Not that she isn't talented - she's a great singer and musician, but her success is most definitely due to her family's connections.

She has a squeaky-clean public image that she meticulously maintains. She has a frankly unhealthy obsession with perfection in both her public and private life. This obsession with her image leads her to rush into marriage when she's twenty. She marries close family friend Darren Hewitt; heir to his father's business and fortune. Their lavish wedding is heavily publicized. A year later she gives birth to their son William. It's all very picturesque and perfect.

A year after that, the family gets into a fatal car crash that kills her parents, husband, sister in law, and nephew and severely injures Elethea. She suffers a herniated disc, internal bleeding, and has to have her right leg amputated.

Just like most of the private, intimate moments in her life, the tragedy is heavily publicized. The British media becomes obsessed with them, images from the worst days of her life scattered across every magazine, newspaper, blog article, and news network. The crash, her being wheeled out of the hospital, her family's funeral.

Understandably, following this, Elethea withdraws from public life. Taking refuge in their family home in Edinburgh with her son for a year and a half.

She emerges from her period of mourning with a new album very clearly written about her grief, it's a deviation from her typical pop sound, but is immensely successful. She goes on tour, throwing herself back into public life far too early. She's the poster child for "strong women" and there are multiple photoshoots centering on her prosthetic and is invited to give speeches at various events.

She's holding it together (Barely) for the family she has left, trying to ignore her grief for the most part.