#I love the idea of Knives being really uncanny

[autism-crime]

Another headcanon I have of Knives is that he appears more inhuman than Vash.

Mainly because I believe Vash would put more effort into blending in with humans, he wants to get along with them and live beside them but he knows that his more Plant like features are off putting and uncanny, so he hides as many as he can. Humans can still see that something isn’t quite normal about him, but they’ll probably just brush it off and think he’s just a bit weird.

But with Knives, he doesn’t care what humans think about him, and he doesn’t want to seen as one either. Anyone who looks at him immediately knows he’s not human. His eyes are too bright, teeth too sharp, skin too perfect. There’s an aura about him, one that instantly labels him as a threat, as something more. He’s a higher being hidden in a false human camouflage, there’s so much more to his form than just what humans can perceive.

[galactiquest]

Feral for affection uncanny vash or knives.

🌻have a good day

Hi there Sunflower Anon! I'm going to call you that, especially if you come back again with another sunflower. Thanks for the ask!!

I've seen the uncanny Vash and Knives stuff blow up in popularity. I Was there. Though sometimes I feel it's disingenuous to call them uncanny--that's our human interpretation of their forms. Maybe something more along the lines of primal? Well, syntax aside, I think it's a super fun idea to lean more into the alien ideals of Plants. I have plenty of my own headcanons for how the two look and operate, but, let's not focus on that right now. Let's just get affectionate!

Vash and Knives x Reader: Affections (Uncanny ver.)

Content Warnings: General uncanny or possibly unnerving content ahead. Features like multiple eyes/limbs/etc. are discussed, and there may be an implicit body horror to it. No violence, though! Just cuteness aside from all that!

Vash

I think Vash is pretty hesitant at first to show you any sort of uncanny parts of himself. I mean, we already know how he feels about his scars--he really doesn't want to scare you off, especially once you two have become close.

But if you can slowly and gently coax him out of his shell, if you can convince him that yes, you'll love every part of him, no matter how ugly he may think those parts are, he'll eventually relent.

And at first, it's just a few features that pop out. It might be reflective, glowy eyes in the nighttime, or fingers that have grown out just a little too long for the average man, or even a few spiny scutes along his back.

Once he's comfortable, though? He lets it all hang out. Not like that--he just allows his true form to come through. And there's lots of limbs and even some sharp edges to deal with... But if you're patient, you'll find he's maybe even more affectionate like this!

Cuddles end up the best because now instead of two (sometimes one, if he has the prosthetic off) arms around you, it's six (more like five!) and you are ever-so-tightly squeezed against his body. He also has a very comfortable temperature, so you never have to worry about being too hot or too cold. It's just right!

Purring. Yes, I know it's cliché, I know that it's mentioned in every imagine, but come on. It's so cute. I don't think it's like animal purring, though, maybe more like an engine. Or perhaps more akin to a larger cat purring. Less cutesy, more... well, rumbly. Sometimes it makes his whole body vibrate.

With his extra appendages, he loves to tickle you. Prepare to be bombarded with tickles. He's able to dance across your skin so fast that you can barely catch him in time to try and swat him away.

Kisses! He tries to be so careful with kisses since his jaw can unhinge and all that. And lots of teeth get in the way. But if you don't mind that... Or perhaps, if you're into that... Well, you can definitely start experimenting. But he's still as gentle as possible.

Knives

Now this is someone who's not afraid to show you their true self. Knives is going to quickly reveal his primal form to you. If you can't learn to get comfortable with it, he's obviously not for you. (It begs the question as to why he keeps a more humanoid form too--maybe it's just easier to get around in human-sized spaces with?)

No matter your initial reaction, I think he's going to make some kind of comment. You get scared? Typical human. You like it? Disgusting. You act as utterly neutral as possible? Don't lie to yourself. There's seriously no winning with him.

But with whatever charm (or perhaps sheer persistence) you give, the two of you are a pair now. And if there's one word to describe how he acts with you? It's protective.

If you two are ever out and about, he's got a sharp, bright wing curled over and around you, shielding from peering eyes. On the outside, it's all points and blades (and knives?) but on the inside, only for you to see, there's some softer, more downy feathers. Just so you won't rust up the blades, whatever you say, Knives.

His conscious self isn't keen to showing affection, but his subconscious body sure is. Expect a few tingly vines trying to wrap around and hold your hand, or a tail-like appendage that rests on your waist/shoulders, or a wing tickling your cheek. He swears he isn't doing it intentionally.

Unlike his brother, he's not a super affectionate guy, as stated above, so don't expect much in the way of kisses. Unless the two of you are alone, and he's in a better-than-usual mood. Then his cravings might get the better of him, and he might just tackle on top of you to bite a chunk out of you--I mean, get a few sloppy kisses in.

Overall? In front of others, relatively distant. Behind closed doors? You're becoming his. Tight tendrils keep you close at night, teeth nibble at the nape of your neck, the sharp edges of leaves or feathers tease your skin but never come too close. He's too precise to actually ever hurt you.

End Notes: I think their "true" forms are something akin to an insectoid/angelic/plant-like mix, where it's sort of indescribable, archaic, tangled and messy. Maybe I ought to draw them and show you all...~

Also, there REALLY need to be more 1998 Knives gifs, or I'm about to pony up and just make a buttload of my own.

Okay, last note. Sorry this took me a while! I just moved back into college and my first week was busy! (^人^)

[idcfriend]

I'm Back!!!

I absolutely love eldritch protagonist so...i have more eldritch yuu brainrot!🎉

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So at first glance yuu seems normal just a completely normal gender neutral individual but the more time people spend with them the mpre they notice that sometimes their smile is a bit roo wide....their teeth and fingers a bit too sharp....how they sometimes move as if It's not something there used to

On one occasion the idiot trio was being to loud in the morning and Yuu hadn't slept that well or at all really....that's when one of the others noticed how Yuu seemed too quiet...how they seemed stalk towards the unsuspecting trio as if they were prey soon when they were near they rose to their full height (and damn why hadn't any of them ever noticed how tall Yuu is!?) and with what could of mad even the bravest of men cower in a corner in fear....growled with bloodlust and a voice that of something from your worst nightmare( Yuu honestly doesn't know why everyone looked so scared when they after growled in frustration when Ace, Deuce and Grim were being too loud, they didn't think they were that scary...)

Another time Yuu was too tired to care much about anything much at the moment (unaware of the way that an uncanny air of apathy seemed to hang around them, like someone who was looking down on something that was simply lesser and they couldn't find in themselves to care one way or the other and settled on indifference) so the other first years decided to ask Yuu questions to see how much they could get them to answer in their sleep deprived state (jokes on them Yuu is a CHAOTIC MESS and simply bullshits their way through life when they don't sleep enough so their answers were...a little unsettling to some)

First question was from Ace: which was simple enough but-

"So prefect what's your favorite food?"

The others looked at Ace in mild surprise expecting him to ask something embarrassing

Ace looked at them in annoyance "What? Yoh have to build up this kind of stuff"

Yuu simply looked up from their desk and answered (sarcastically mind you it's just that for some reason their very good at acting?)

"the souls of those who have sinned far greater than any mortal and have seen that which should never be seen" and promptly face planted back on to the table

Meanwhile the others are a little unnerved by that answer and by the chorus of voices that seemed to answer with Yuu but only a little because this was THEIR prefect no matter how...not normal they were and they'd fight anyone who even looked at them wrong

Next was Deuce

"Favorite pass time?"

They braced themselves for the answer

"going on relaxing walks-" they looked at Yuu confused because that was such a...normal answer?

"-and putting the fears and horrors of others and the world on paper, eternally etched into a part of my collection" they then...relaxed? Because of course such a hobby would suit their eldritch friend (Yuu simply meant they like to draw horror stuff in one of their many sketch books)

Surprisingly Sebek went next

"how do you deal with those that harm the ones you protect?" he asked mostly to get more ideas on how to protect Malleus

At that they could feel the way the surrounding air around Yuu seemed to go eerily silent as they let out a growl that could of had mistaken for a beast

"You hunt them down one by one making them feel fear like no other, you hunt them like the measly wretched being they are and then I'd make them know pain, that which would be a thousand times that which they inflicted on those who are MINE" throughout all this Yuu's form began to change slightly their fingers becoming claws and gaining a black tinge that covered their entire hand, their teeth becoming as sharp as knives and a few other changes

Then Grim went up to Yuu and hugged them seemingly knowing why Yuu reacted so drastically

"Calm down henchman, no one's going to hurt us we're safe"

That seemed to calm them down as they looked up and chuckled a bit, "Sorry guys i over reacted a bit but-" Yuu said looking- well more like they were scanning them for any sign of harm, "no one's bothering you guys right?"

At that they seemed perk up as they smiled at Yuu

(Yuu was unaware that they had just implied that considered the first year group THEIRS, and they were also confused why everyone except those they knew gave them such a wide berth in the hallways for a while after)

...........................💜.............................

That's all i got for now! I know it doesn't really make much sense but i swear I'll elaborate more in the future! (hopefully) but there's another thing i wanted to add!!!

So I'm a fan of Technoblade and i like the idea of Eldritch Yuu having their own version of Chat! So like they'd give Yuu advice and help them in their chaotic shenanigans (while maybe purposefully making them seem even more like an Eldritch being because they crave misunderstanding content) So Yuu would have these gaggle of voices that would follow them around that every once in a while others can hear too (Yuu honestly isn't even fazed when all of sudden they have a bunch a sentient voices following them around that's how done they are with Crowley's and everyone's else's bullcrap)

So! I was thinking that certain comments and stuff left on the post i do of eldritch Yuu could be taken as Yuu's "chat"

[ohitslen]

Thinking and headcannoning the shit out of angry Stampede! Vash and how Wolfwood deals with that first thing in the morning because i think him getting angry about something and letting down some of his mask in those genuine moments of anger is super awesome

Before we continue I have not read the manga yet so if you read something incredibly obvious or redundant to your experience, well, haha or something OQNENW

This is a VERY LONG Vashwood ramble I have to put SOMEWHERE or I will explode, so feel free to join if you want.

Vash is an overall very expressive person right? very emotional too generally, but the thing is I like drawing people getting angry so that’s what you are getting from me.

And I also often think about the fact that it’s Wolfwood and Knives the ones that have seen him be like that (most often than not towards them).

Wolfwood specifically, I think that he WOULD get scared because when Vash is angry angry, he just seethes and looks like he is three seconds away from being love and peace to hate and war. These are probably the moments in where he carries the most resemblance to Knives, and to anybody that has experienced the man firsthand they know how scary that is because everyone and their moms knows that he does not hesitate to resort to murder if he is upset about something or if it’s inconvenient to him, so it is rightfully terrifying to even think of him getting mad.

Now take the same idea and apply it to Vash, he is so friendly and playful all the time and he gets kicked around all the time too, that it would be almost impossible to imagine him getting angry in a genuine way. That is UNTIL his ideals and morals are being countered or challenged by someone and THAT’S when people are gently reminded that oh yeah he can get mad too, and really fucking mad at that.

The peak of his anger doesn’t last for too long because he tries to level himself quickly, he is aware of how he can look when he gets like that, and it would be showing a little too much about how he is not very human in nature for what he is comfortable with. I think that when he gets mad his expression turns into something very vulnerably honest, to the point in where he unconsciously looks imposing and demanding, paired with his uncanny vibes it really is a treat and anyone at the other end of it would be other than also upset, quite scared. Like Wolfwood.

There is something very obviously other about Vash and he has the privilege of knowing just exactly why that is, and considering that his brother has a record for being a certain way when angry, knowing what he is does not soothe him at all. Then again, Wolfwood cares for him still and he is a stubborn guy himself, so even when most likely scared shitless, he would not move his ground, and the only thing that reassures him that things will be fine, is Vash’s pacific nature and also knowing that he cares deeply for him too, but that is a thing he would not think too much about other than the flash of thought that it is in the moment.

Vash is petty as hell too, he remains silent and gives the cold shoulder to the other person that was involved in the argument, and it is usually, once again, Wolfwood at the end of that stick. Wolfwood is a “mind your business and I mind mine” kind of guy considering he never asks things, but traveling with that idiot and having to be with him 24/7 and being given the silent treatment has to be uncomfortable at best incredibly annoying at worst. So even though he won’t change his opinion most of the times, he still insists on talking to him idly sometimes after they argue, something he would usually not do.

All Vash ever responds with are the necessary answers, at first shrugs or nods, then very short and to the point sentences, he eventually warms up to him again and they talk the way they usually do; and just like that things seems to be at bay for the time being until the next unavoidable argument comes by.

No matter how many times they argue, when things escalate and Vash begins to show his very honest anger, Wolfwood’s instincts would be screaming at him to stop it and to get away, because whatever Vash is feeling is reeking of a danger that no matter how enhanced he might be, he is NOT gonna make it through whatever will happen to him worse comes to worst. But when has he ever actually heard his instincts when it comes to dealing with Vash. So he always replies and stays.

He is somehow one of the very few (almost non existent) people who can deal with Vash when he is like that, one thing is getting mad at Vash and the other is him getting mad at you, and he has bite alright, he will say things that can come across as hurtful and very venomous when he starts to get more visceral, and yeah the whole predator kind of vibe he can give off is there too.

Maybe Wolfwood also knows how hurt Vash would feel if he retreats because of how scared he feels and that’s why he doesn’t back away. It would be reasonable if he did, hell he doesn’t owe him shit for all he knows and he would be in his whole right to run away scared if he wanted, but for one it would be too cowardly, and two Vash would be once again pushed away for being something not human, and that would be a scar he would carry for his whole life and Wolfwood does not want to be a part of that. So that’s another reason to the ever growing list of “why don’t I just let this be”.

There is an odd sense of comfort in seeing Vash get mad, knowing that the man knows his ground, that even he has lines he won’t allow anyone to cross, that he can allow himself to feel something genuine for once and not the fake little things he is always doing. It is the positive side Wolfwood tries to see in those situations and what he has to remind himself over and over again so he doesn’t flinch away. Good thing he has some practice in arguments thanks to his little siblings back at the orphanage, practice he refuses to let go and holds on to dear life because he needs any crumb of reason at those moments.

At some point when hands are involved, when a clench to the shirt and a push to the shoulder escalates to shoving the other to the ground and a punch to the gut, Wolfwood goes full survival mode because no one told him that Vash was THAT strong and THAT heavy and THAT intimidating. He could have guessed after having watched the man fight. He is capable and strong, he usually moves with a certain preciseness and care under the goofy display, he may twirl around and stumble when dodging, but he is dodging and also landing hits.

He knows that Vash is strong and that he is also incredibly careful. But that’s when he is in all his senses with a mostly cool head, so having him hovering over Wolfwood pressing him down rendering him to the ground while very obviously mad and trying to prove his point, he freezes before he can react and fight back.

Those are the times where Vash feels the most guilty after the fight from what Wolfwood can gather and wildly assume. If him not eating (again) for days or even refusing to acknowledge Wolfwood unless necessary is any sign. That behavior can last over a week which is a little too long for Wolfwood’s peace of mind. So he starts poking again because apparently arguing again is the only way to make the bastard answer more. And it usually works, some nudging here and there and putting lemon with salt to the wound seems to do the trick.

It entails more shouting and screaming at each others faces their flaws that they already know like a script, until things start to calm down when Wolfwood reassures him that he is tougher than he looks, and that no matter what he won’t just leave Vash in a ditch, and if they were going to travel together for the future to come they would have to learn how to sort things out. Something he knows neither of them will probably never learn, but it is what it is and that’s what he can resort to at the moment, and it does seem to satisfy Vash a little. So once they are done, and they go their separate ways, never too far from each other, Vash starts to nibble at his food and says or asks little things to Wolfwood, and just like that they are good to go again.

They are both aware that addressing out loud how fucking scary Vash can be at those raw moments of anger, would be like painting a line of ‘I am this and you are that so we shouldn’t be doing this’ that neither of them would actually want to have. So even when yeah it can be horribly scary and surprisingly intimidating to deal with Vash when he is angry, Wolfwood is willing to stay and fight with him if that’s what he wants, if that’s what he needs. Even if it’s starting to take a toll on him. He is getting used to it though so it will be fine.

Probably.

[soulmate-game]

Can you do a prompt of Marinette being the daughter of the Joker and Harley but Harley left him before Marinette was born and when Joker found out about his daughter He decided to kidnap Marinette so she can become like him (Ace chemicals) (Daminette)

Woot, my first ask in a while! Let’s see how I can do this oddly specific ask that reminds me of a fic that might actually exist but tbh I’ve read so many fanfics idk if my brain is remembering right

—*—*—*—*—*

Marinette knew Sabine and Tom weren’t her biological parents. She had known ever since she was eight, when her mother by blood visited her for the first time, sat her down, and explained everything. Including, but not limited to, her disastrously toxic past relationship, her new girlfriend, and her recent success with long term rehab (unofficial rehab that mostly consisted of illegal anti-hero actions, but hey if it worked it worked).

Marinette understood. Well no, she really didn’t since she was only eight, but she understood that her mom— that Harley— was genuine. She had always had a knack for emotions and telling when people were sincere or not. And Harley really was regretful about not being in her life beforehand, and was serious about wanting to be part of her life now that her own was mostly sorted out.

So Marinette was not surprised when Harley really did stick it out. When Harley cooed over Marinette copying her hairstyle to show her support of her biological mom, when Harley never failed to call at least once a week even if she was in jail for punching some asshole or another. Harley never stayed arrested long anymore, she was usually found to be on the right side of the moral scale more and more often so the police didn’t bother keeping her locked up anymore. Through the years, Marinette always looked forward to her mom’s calls. Looked forward to being lulled to sleep by one crazy story or another from her mother’s past. Everything was nice. Perfect, even, for a while.

A thump sounded from her balcony, one late night when Marinette was thirteen. Blinking, the dark haired girl furrowed her brows. Who would be on her balcony? Cautiously walking towards the trap door leading to it, grasping her metal pencil holder as a weapon (she remembered all of her Mom’s stories about break-ins and random attacks back in Gotham), the teen strained her ears. Akuma attacks were only a few months old now, but she had already become in high alert for any sign of Hawkmoth or his victims. As per usual, Marinette’s paranoia began to kick in. Did Hawkmoth already figure her out? Was he here for her earrings? Would she be able to fight him?

She gently pushed up the trap door, catching a glimpse of black leather. Huh? Marinette narrowed her eyes, confused. Was it Chat? He should have been on patrol, on the other side of the city. What was he doing visiting her?

Suddenly the trap door yanked the rest of the way open, making Marinette yelp as the handle for it rugged away from her fingers. And there, backlit by the pure blue-white moonlight, was Not Chat Noir. It was Catwoman, in all her skintight black leather glory, grinning at her before pushing her cat-eye goggles up to the top of her head and crouching down by the trap door’s entrance, balancing only on the pads of her feet.

“Well hello there~” the woman purred. “So you’re the cute little kitten Harley is so secretive about. Nice to finally meet you,” the woman held out a hand, sending Marinette a sweet, if mysterious, smile. For a while, the pigtailed girl only stared before a squeal of excitement left her throat, leaving very little room for any doubt as to her bloodline. A large smile curled over Marinette’s lips, leaving her beaming widely at the catlike woman on her balcony.

“Auntie Selina! Mom’s told me so much about you! Come in, come in, come in! I’ll sneak some macaroons up for you. Or do you prefer croissants? What’s your favorite flavor? Are you really dating Batman? Oh my goodness, that necklace is so lovely! Did you steal it?”

Selina could only chuckle fondly at the word vomit, letting the smaller girl drag her down the trap door and into her very… pink room. Looking around, Selina was once again slapped with just how similar this kid was to her outgoing friend. Marinette clearly had no shame in indulging in the things she liked, such as the color pink and anything regarding fashion. But there were other things amongst the girliness of the room, like the posters of Jagged Stone and the training dummy half-sticking out of her closet door. There were a few ornamental knives hung up behind her computer, seemingly just for decoration although Selina could see that they were definitely battle ready and sharpened. A small mallet, clearly a miniature replica of her mother’s own signature weapon, leaned up against the side of the girl’s laundry basket. But then there was Marinette’s mannequin, which was surrounded by meticulously cut pieces of cloth and had other pieces pinned to it strategically. Marinette clearly had the same professionalism and love for her chosen career that had so completely defined Harley in the Time Before Joker. The same genius intellect hiding in those deceptively cheerful bluebell eyes. And for the first time, though not for the last to be sure, Selina found herself thoroughly relieved that it seemed Marinette had inherited very little from her father.

Except, as she would learn from stories Harley told her later, an apparent affinity for chaos.

“I’m not that picky, kitten. But I’m not that hungry, so don’t go too out of your way,” Selina decided to just react the same way she did with Harley’s rambles, and answer one question at a time. “Also, I am actually dating Bruce Wayne. But, if you promise not to tell anyone—“ she waited for Marinette’s eager nod before continuing casually, “— the two are maybe not as mutually exclusive as many think,” Selina finished with a conspiratorial wink. “No, I actually did not steal this necklace. Bruce has been adamant in trying to curb me of my thieving habit by buying me almost everything I so much as glance at sideways. It’s sweet. Naive, because I like stealing for the fun of it, but sweet.”

Marinette giggled, bouncing in place happily. She loved a bit of innocent gossip like this. “Is Momma Ivy ever gonna visit? I don’t think Mom told her much about me yet, and I still gotta give her the shovel talk!” the fierce look that overcame Marinette’s face made Selina laugh again. Oh yes, definitely her mother’s daughter.

“Pam has been trying to sneak over, but the laws regarding Metahumans in Paris suddenly got much stricter a few months back and have caused some problems. You wouldn’t happen to know what happened, would you?” Selina did not miss when her seemingly innocent question caused her niece to close off almost instantly. Bluebell eyes took on a familiar guardedness, and scanned her with the same soul-searching intensity that Harley had when she was channeling her Psychiatrist side. Selina found herself in a slightly concerning spot though—

Because she couldn’t predict Marinette at all. She was left to simply stand there as Marinette searched for some unidentifiable thing in her eyes, completely unable to read the younger girl’s face and with no idea of what to expect. The side effect of having chaos so thoroughly entwined in both of her biological parents, she supposed.

“Nope, no idea.”

Selina knew that was a lie, but knew equally as well that she would not be getting a better answer anytime soon. So, she let it go and the two of them once again dipped into innocent chatter.

Later that night, when Selina left and the sun threatened to rise at any minute, Tikki flew up from her hiding spot under Marinette’s pillow to land on her holder’s shoulder. Marinette giggled and looked over at her little friend.

“Tikki?”

“Yes, Mari?”

“Why was I chosen to be your holder?” She asked suddenly, flopping back into her bed and staring at her ceiling. The little goddess hummed, smiling knowingly before flying down to cuddle in the crook of Marinette’s neck.

“Because you are born from luck itself. Even when bad things happen, you have the luck and determination to get out just fine, and stronger than before. And despite the destruction and anarchy in your blood, you have the willpower to reign it in and keep control of yourself. That’s all order really is, Marinette. The decision to take all the chaos and madness around us, and make it make sense. Make it do something good. And that’s a large part of who you are, I could feel it in your soul the moment we first met.”

Marinette closed her eyes, biting the inside of her cheek. “What if I lose control?”

“... You’ll just have to get it back. It’ll be hard, but as long as you have people to support you, you will be able to do it. You aren’t evil, Marinette,” the small God seemed to sense the true question her holder was asking, and did her best to soothe the doubt the girl felt. “Just remember the reasons you fight against chaos. Remember everyone you love, and you’ll be okay. And you have me, I’ll always help you.”

“... thank you, Tikki.”

—*—*—*—*—*

“He’s going to find out, Mom.”

“No he won’t, don’t be silly! I’ve been very careful about hiding you from him, Nettie-pie.”

“Mom… I just have a bad feeling. I don’t think we can hide who I am from him. If he sees me, I think he’ll know.”

The phone went silent.

“If he hurts you, I’ll kill him. If I was crazy about him, Sugar, then I’m head over heels for you. Not even he can stop me from caving his skull in if he tries his usual tricks with you.”

“... My plane leaves soon, I’ll talk to you when I land. And mom?”

“Yeah, honeycake?”

“I love you.”

—*—*—*—*—*

It was uncanny just how often Marinette’s hunches were right. Her intuition was something to behold, truly, because it only took three days in Gotham before Joker snatched her right out of her room at Harley and Ivy’s apartment. At least Marinette had sixteen by then, so she had had enough experience as a hero in Paris and with generally unpredictable situations and people who were absolutely nuts for her to not immediately panic. Too much, anyway.

Because there was definitely a little panic there.

See, Marinette knew herself inside out by then. After her own battle with her toxic feelings towards Adrien and doing her best to heal from those before she turned out like her mom, she knew she was by no means mentally indestructible. Mental illness ran the high risk of being inherited, and Marinette was well aware that her own personality was scarily similar to her mother’s at times. She got attached quickly, felt affection and love for others very strongly and, as she found with Adrien, could easily become obsessive if she didn’t watch herself. At least Harley was the perfect person to help with that, and Marinette was serious about helping herself too. She did everything she could to keep an eye on her mental health and keep her behavior in check so she didn’t do anything too unhealthy with her relationships again.

But she knew, she knew she had a soft spot for family. She got attached too easily. And being in the same room as her biological father, despite being tied up by her hands and feet and knowing just how many unforgivable things he had done in his life, Marinette felt vulnerable. She didn’t want to hurt him, despite everything. She still loved him, despite every reason not to, despite her first meeting with him being with him shoving chloroform over her face and hogtying her to a metal chain dangling over a vat of acid.

Geez, she’d need more than just her mom as a therapist after this for sure. Even if her mom had a PH.D, Marinette felt like she’d need several psychiatrists to sort through her emotional turmoil right then and make sense of any of it.

Marinette licked her lips, aware that the only kindness that Joker gave his daughter was sparing her from the discomfort of being gagged.

“Don’t,” Marinette said, surprising herself with the amount of steel she was able to put into her voice. Somehow, she managed to make the single word sound more like an order than a plead. “Joker, put me—“

“Ah-Ah-Ah!” The clown walked over, tutting and waving his finger in the air in almost playful admonishment. He gave her a dramatically fake pout. “Don’t you know it’s disrespectful to refer to your father by his first name?” Neither of them mentioned that Joker was definitely not his real name. They both knew the point was moot. “Say it with me now— ‘Daddy dearest, I am more than willing to be dunked in acid for you,’ go ahead, say it.”

Marinette’s jaw clenched. Familial love or not, she would not tolerate being ridiculed like that. She dealt with enough ridicule when she was fourteen and fifteen during school, before she put Liar Rossi in her place. She had spent the past three years as a hero in charge of the war against Hawkmoth, in charge of protecting all of Paris from an emotional terrorist.

And gee, wasn’t that what Joker was, too? Sure, he was a terrorist in the classic meaning of the word as well, but he was nothing if not a skilled manipulator. He knew the human mind just as well as Harley or any other psychiatrist did, he just used his knowledge for different means. He had emotionally abused Harley for years, he emotionally abused and manipulated people all across gotham on a daily basis. He was just another Hawkmoth, but with more physical violence in place of magic.

With these thoughts strengthening her resolve, Marinette narrowed her eyes at the man who donated half of her DNA. She let her anger boil into her irises, hitting him with one of the few traits she knew she inherited from him.

Her ability to intimidate others on the tip of a hat.

“No,” she growled back at him. She took a deep breath. It had taken her a while, but she refused to be ashamed of who she was regardless of her blood relation. She would have no problem using the very things she inherited from Joker against him. She might have gotten most of Harley’s personality, she might have inherited her mother’s habit of falling in love hard, fast, and obsessively, but she also had Joker’s defiance. His bone-deep inability to be stopped from doing exactly whatever the fuck he wanted.

And then, there were Marinette’s own traits. The ones that were completely her own, developed over her life organically. Like her refusal to bow down to bullies, her creativity, her ability to take even the most chaotic situation and see some sort of balance and sanity in it that she could use to her advantage.

That she WOULD use to her advantage. The shadows she saw move out of the corner of her eye gave her the chance to do exactly that, she just needed to buy a few more seconds. Just a few more seconds.

“Excuse me?” Joker growled right back, his own intimidation, honed over more years than Marinette had been alive and thus much more potent than her own, reading its ugly head as he stalked towards her. His face was pulled down into an ugly snarl, his shoulders tensed and back straight as he glared right at her. From his spot on the metal walkway, he was easily able to reach over the railing and grab her chin in one pale, viciously strong hand. “I think you’re misunderstanding something here, little Marionette. I’m your father. Half of your life came directly from ME. That makes you my puppet. You exist to follow my orders,” his right grip suddenly let go, leaving behind the beginnings of a bruise as his entire demeanor changed from angry to cheerful. He spread his arms as if gesturing to the whole chemical plant victoriously, and an unnaturally large smile curved over his lips and bared yellowing teeth at her. “But that’s okay. I’ll forgive you this time, you haven’t learned any better yet. That’s why we’re here. We need to cleanse you of all those icky bad habits you’ve learned up until now, all you need is a little,” he bounced in place with a wicked smirk to illustrate his next words— “jumpstart. A little acid goes a long way to enlightenment you know, you’ll see my side of things in no time. And with my blood in you, you’ll make a better sidekick than that idiot Harley ever did. I can sense it, you’ve got a real talent for Chaos in you, it’s exciting, Heheeeheheee! Now then, we should probably speed things along before our family reunion is cut short. Hang in there, my little Marionette,” the man actually had the gall to spin in place while humming a tune cheerfully before all but dancing over to the lever that held Marinette’s length of chain in the air over the vat of chemicals below her. “Everything will clear up in that little head of yours in just a second!”

There! Right as Joker pulled the switch to lower her into the bubbling vat underneath her, Marinette was able to finish untying her hands. She couldn’t contain a small yelp as gravity flung her body forward, leaving her upside down on the chain for a brief moment. That was when the chain started lowering rapidly, and Marinette was barely able to rip the rope off of her ankles in time to swing off of it and onto the metal walkway that came up right next to the giant metal container of liquid death and insanity. Joker had barely enough time to shout in rage before the windows near the ceiling shattered, admitting the city’s vigilantes themselves. Batman, Nightwing, Red Robin, Red Hood, Robin, and evening Black Bat all landed on the same metal platform above Marinette’s head that Joker was still on, buying the teen time to start running. But she didn’t go towards the exit right away, instead heading right up the stairs into the thick of the fight. Robin briefly separated from where Joker was managing to hold his own, goons flooding from side doors to inhibit the heroes in their attempt to bring their boss down.

The katana-using vigilante kept one eye on Marinette the whole time, suspicious of why the girl would come back up if not to help her father. But that wasn’t what she did, instead she flipped and kicked and punched her way through the quickly growing sea of Joker thugs until she reached a small pink purse that had been abandoned near the lever that had nearly sent her into liquid insanity. Three thugs surrounded her right as she snatched the purse up and slung it over her shoulder, but Robin barely had the chance to head over before she was heaving the men, who were all easily three times her size, over her shoulder and was slamming elbows into soft spots and the side of her hand into pressure points. By the time Robin got to her side, all three men were unconscious and bound to wake up in utter agony.

Marinette glanced up, getting ready to haul Robin over her shoulder as well before she realized who he was. She let her shoulders relax just a tick, sighing in relief before returning her eyes to scanning their surroundings. She shot him a brief grin.

“Good thing my adoptive mother, Mom, Momma Ivy, and Auntie Selina all made sure I knew how to take down a small army on my own, huh?” She asked rhetorically before they were both unceremoniously dragged back into the giant brawl.

—*—*—*—*—*

“Nettie-pie!”

“Marigold!”

Harley and Pamela Quinzel-Isley shoved down anyone and everyone who dared block their direct path to their daughter. The girl of the hour stood next to the bat clan, a shock blanket held tightly around her shoulders as she did her best to finish her statement to both the vigilantes and Commissioner Gordon.

“You untied yourself… from a ship-grade knot in high quality rope… with a phone charm?” They heard Gordon ask incredulously, to which Marinette could only give a lopsided smile. That was when her mom and stepmom crashed into her, enveloping her in a nearly suffocating hug.

“Gah— mom— momma Ivy—“ Marinette flailed in their arms for a bit before finally getting her head free and continuing her statement as if she didn’t have two of the most dangerous women in the city still giving her a bone crushing hug. “That’s better. Yes, Commissioner. You see, I realized when I was in the car with Joker, while I was pretending to still be unconscious, that one of the charms on my phone had pretty sharp corners that I could use like a serrated edge if I had enough time. So I carefully detached it from my phone, and held it in my palm. It took almost an hour, but once Joker noticed I was awake I kept him talking so that he didn’t notice what I was doing even as he tied me up to that chain. Really, it’s just lucky that I was able to get it worn down in time,” Marinette rubbed the back of her neck with a nervous chuckle. “But regardless, I think Batman and his partners,” she nodded to the listening vigilantes just to the side of her. “Were close enough that I would have been caught anyway, I just wanted to make sure they had less work to do. The sooner I freed myself, the sooner ‘Daddy Dearest,’” she grimaced as she mockingly used the same term Joker had tried to get her to say earlier that night. “Could go back behind bars where he belongs.”

“Oh my little Nettie-cake,” Harley cried, finally pulling back from the hug long enough to wipe her cheeks. It was clear that she had been crying for a while, and her colorful pigtails were mussed and tangled from where she must have been tugging on them in worry. “You were right. I’m so sorry, I never should have let you come to Gotham when I knew he was out of Arkham.”

Marinette was quick to shake her head frantically, pulling her arms out of Ivy’s hold so she could grasp Harley’s shoulders firmly. “No. No, Mom, I’m fine! And besides, we knew I couldn’t stay secret forever. I really like staying with you and Momma Ivy! Everything turned out fine though, and he’s headed back to Arkham. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, Nettle,” Pam argued, distracting herself by running her hands through Marinette’s bangs. She had only known the girl for two years, but that was more than long enough for her to consider the teenager as her own. “He took you right out from under our noses. You were supposed to be safe in our home, and he still got to you. That’s not okay. We weren’t able to protect you like we should have been. Maybe you should go back to Paris early.”

“What?! No way!” Marinette argued, eyes wide. “This is the first time I’ve been able to ever visit you guys in Gotham, I’m not letting some psycho sperm donor keep me from enjoying time with my family! I came here knowing full well that it was dangerous. I’m not gonna just run away after one bad experience.”

Harley snorted, and then devolved into uncontrollable giggles. “Heh— psycho sperm donor. Good one, sugar!”

Marinette smiled and rolled her eyes good naturedly at her mom’s usual immature antics. Seeing as Gordon had walked away muttering to himself a short while ago, Marinette pulled herself the rest of the way away from her moms and turned to the vigilantes. Without a second’s pause, she bowed to them just like her Maman Sabine taught her.

“Thank you for helping save me. I know it’s probably a shock that I’ve been kept secret from you guys all this time, but I hope you don’t lump me in with the likes of the green-haired half of my DNA. I’m staying with my Moms in their apartment, if you guys decide to patrol by our place like I suspect, I’ll leave some baked goods and coffee out for you on our patio. It’s the least I can do for you all after tonight. And don’t be too hard on Auntie Selina. Me and Mom swore her to secrecy, even from you guys.”

Batman jerked a little at the mention of Catwoman’s real name, jaw twitching for a second. Behind his cowl, his eyes narrowed. Marinette laughed, easily reading his body language and expression.

“She never told me who you are, but she didn’t exactly hide it either. It was easy to put the last pieces together on my own. But don’t worry, SHE swore me to secrecy too. I won’t tell anyone.

“How the hell are you related to the Laughing Asswipe from Hell?” Red Hood blurted out, his confusion clear even from behind his hideous helmet. Marinette burst into giggles, and both Pamela and Harley smiled knowingly.

“Mom gave me up for adoption when I was born, so I spent my whole life in Paris up until now,” she admitted. “Mom didn’t visit me for the first time until I was eight, and she and my adoptive parents are so awesome that it must’ve suffocated the worst traits from his DNA before they had a chance to develop,” she guessed out loud with a good natured smile.

Batman grunted. Marinette knew that one run-in wasn’t enough for them to trust her. After all, she was still the biological daughter of their arch enemy. But she didn’t mind, she understood the caution even if she didn’t fully agree with it. They weren’t outright hostile, despite the fact that Robin had never stopped glaring at her since they fought back-to-back against the mob of thugs earlier. She could live with their suspicion, as long as they continued to not be outright rude or mean to her.

At least she could empathize with Adrien now, whenever she figured out how to break it to him that Hawkmoth was definitely Gabriel and couldn’t be anyone else. Hopefully she could help soften the blow for him a little.

Harley and Ivy were starting to herd Marinette towards their car and take her back home, where they could continue to smother her in care and make sure she didn’t have even a scratch on her, when Robin’s voice stopped them all in their tracks.

“You are a surprisingly capable combatant.”

Marinette froze, blinking in surprise for a second before turning to stare at Robin in shock. The rest of the Bat Clam was doing the same, nobody expecting Robin of all people to be the first to directly complement Marinette. He tutted, crossing his arms, but never moved his gaze away from Marinette’s eyes.

“But your form could use some work. Most of your style is incredibly improvised, which I can appreciate since you do it well, but you would benefit from more structure in your fighting. I will set up a time and place for us to spar. We start in two days, if you think you can handle it.”

It took a while for what Robin said to sink in, and another few seconds for Marinette to decipher what his semi-aggressive, order-phrased proposal really meant. And she smiled.

“It’s a date.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Woo! This started off a little rough, but I really like how it ended up! Thank you, Anon!

[palmett-hoes]

what's your take on the foxes mbti?

oh buddy ur never gonna believe this but i wrote a foxes MBTI post YEARS ago

im also not into mbti anymore and haven't been for many years so that post is probably still more accurate and in-depth than what i could give you now. i’m just gonna copy the whole thing but i read it over and it still totally vibes w how i understand the characters, like way more than i was expecting it to. i only made one edit (it’s marked) and it was to add a detail not change anything

i hope you’re really really into mbti otherwise this’ll probably be gobbeldegook

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i used to be obessively into mbti so here’s an analysis based on cognitive functions mostly.

SKIP IF YOU WANT. for anyone with no idea how it works, here’s a quick rundown: cognitive functions are about the way people think, process, and prioritize information, not necessarily how they act, though people who think the same way often act the same. the 8 letters that make up a type represent how people process and prioritize internal and external stimuli. every letter actually has an ‘internal’ and 'external’ form so there’s Thinking (internal(ti) and external(te)), Feeling (internal(fi) and external(fe)), Sensing (internal(si) and external(se)), and iNtuition(internal(ni) and external(ne)) t’s always go with a corresponding and opposite f (like ti and fe always go together), same with s’s and n’s (ex: si and ne always go together). a set of  t, f, s, and n in a specific order makes an mbti type.

neil: intp (ti ne si fe)

neil has incredible analytical ability although it’s very programmed for survival but he’s also a fast thinker and very quick to adapt to new environments. he also approaches things from original angles that other people dont consider, all that sounds like high ti/ne. the lower functions fit well too. in times of stress, he returns to old habits and falls back on what’s familiar, that’s classic low si. his emotions are also very exterior. he’s bad with other people from lack of exposure, but he’s committed to harmony between those close to him and has an impeccable ability to read the emotional states of others while being completely oblivious of his own, and his sense of self is tied to exterior things like exy, friends, keys, and legal documents (lol) that’s fe

andrew: intj (ni te fi se)

ni is really hard to describe but it has to do with being able to draw conclusions from scattered input, which fits with andrew’s uncanny ability to spot lies and obsession with finding out the truth, especially with high te, which is about spatial order and logic, think of how prioritized he is with the physical order of things: who sits where, who wears what, etc. a lot of people want to make andrew infj i bet as like a “subversive reading” but he’s definitely not. i used to be really close to an infj and they have hyper-empathy, as in she would describe not just caring about other people and being able to read their emotional states but literally feeling the things the people around her felt. this is a common result of the ni/fe combo, and the reason why andrew is definitely not infj. tertiary fi fits very well instead because andrew is deeply attuned to his own inner emotional state. he’s self-confident and doesn’t care about other people’s perception of him, but he’s also very concerned with his own feelings and understanding them, even if they’re repressed. he’s also very aware of his physical surroundings, which plays into his deductive ability, although it’s not his focus. that’s low se

kevin: estj (te si ne fi)

kevin is a classic estj. he’s controlling, demanding, and driven. he tries to control the actions of those around him and gets very distressed when things dont run smoothly, as well as having strong feelings about improving efficiency. high te people make great managers. kevin’s whole story arc is about breaking old habits, which is a very si problem. it has to do with trusting and craving memory and familiarity, and explains kevins need for endless repetition. he’s innovative, though, coming up with new strategies and drills (ne), it’s just based on what’s already familiar, and you can see him spiral into creating all possible worst-case scenarios when he’s stressed (low ne stress reaction, they like to be prepared). finally, he’s a dick, but he cares about other people and wants to improve their lives, as well as being very reliant on other people’s perceptions of him to define his own self-image (low fe)

dan: esfj (fe si ne ti)

dan’s top priority, over everything else, is her team. she wants her team to improve, she wants her team to win, she wants her team to work together. it’s all about the collective. we also see that she’s very open with others and makes a lot of effort to both make new ties and maintain old ones, that’s high fe. she’s sentimental and attached to the past too (si)  esp the photo wall, but we also see her very unwilling to let go of the past ie the monsters but eventually willing to change and grow to mend team cohesion (ne). we also see the fight in underlying logic (low ti) with her: she knows the team needs the monsters to cooperate but she cant figure out how to do it

matt: enfj (fe ni se ti)

so enfj’s experience infj hyper-empathy too, but to a slightly lesser extent (primary fe is more group cohesion, secondary fe is more understanding others), and through this we see matt’s easy-going open friendliness and ability to befriend even prickly little neil, because he has an extremely good sense of what other people are feeling and need, it also explains why he doesn’t hold a grudge against the cousins in the same way dan does, because he understands where they were coming from. se is associated with a general boisterousness for life, as it’s about experiencing the world around you, which explains matt’s happy-go-lucky disposition and puppydog behavior. the ti aspects mostly go into supporting fe/ni empathic senses

allison: entj (te ni se fi)

i mean, allison’s controlling, both in that she orders other people around and in that her physical being and space are very planned and organized (her clothes, her hair, her makeup, etc) but at the same time there isn’t much sentimentality to her, like how she doesn’t care when her car was destroyed. she easily replaces things because she cares about the object’s purpose, not its history and that all smacks of high te/ni. and i mean, the se definitely contributes to her love of designer things and killer looks, because she cares about the world immediately around her, and why live if not in luxury? and fi? is there any character more aggressively self-confident than allison reynolds?? going against her parents’ wishes for her takes a really strong, independent sense of self, but we also see the problems that can come from not worrying about other people, in how she starts fights and can be abrasive and catty

renee: infp (fi ne si te)

okay this one was really hard tbh. a list of other considerations: isfp, istp, and infj. it’s very easy to read renee as high fe because she’s kind, but i think it’s a mischaracteration of why she’s kind. it’s not because it comes naturally to her, it’s because it’s a conscious choice that makes her feel better about herself. high fi people often read as fe because they’re so comfortable with themselves and in tune with their own needs that they can then go and provide for others. i associate her religion with ne, because contemplation and acceptance of the divine later in life is a very metaphysical undertaking that undoubtedly requires a lot of abstract thought. renee’s storyline also revolves a lot around using things from her past and putting a conscious effort into leaving things from her past behind (how she still uses the skills she learned from her past in new ways ie sparring with andrew and protecting the upperclassmen v/s how she held on to her knives even when she knew it was detrimental to her moving on) this sounds like si. her protective instincts also feed into the te need for order, but it’s a looser leash than say andrew, as it’s lower on her function stack but still present

nicky: esfp (se fi te ni)

godd nicky is like a prototypical esfp. i mean nicholas “sex, drugs, and parties” hemmick cant be anything but se dominant. nicky is all about living it up and living in the moment. like he’s sporadic and ive seen it lead people to think he could be enfp but he doesn’t think enough about the meaning of things to be ne dominant (like how he makes somewhat predatory jokes and such, he’s all about the here-and-now while ne is about the past and future simultaneously). also he of all characters has incredibly prominent fi, as his whole character is about living unashamedly as himself as a gay man and the immense self-awareness and inner strength it takes not only to come out to unaccepting parents but also to leave and start a new life when they rejected him. however, fi is also indicative of his communication problems with his family, as he’s unable to tell that the cousins are fundamentally different from him in their needs and boundaries, leading him to pushing them, making them uncomfortable, and being unable to help them, because he’s unable to understand them. the rest are much more hidden, but a party boy shopaholic like nicky would probably need some amount of te order in like an organized chaos fashion (and he’s often headcanoned as liking to throw parties) and you do see him become somewhat pushy, even controlling in those scenarios. ni is the hardest but could maybe be seen in how he’s attuned to the cousins reactions for all that he cant predict them/doesn’t do anything on his own part to prevent them (the way he handles andrew is like if someone poked a rattlesnake knowing damn well what it would do and then freaked out when he got bit)

aaron: istj (si te fi ne)

im a little iffy on this one and worry it might be an analysis based on his trauma instead of complimentary to it, but aaron’s arc is about breaking out of his habit of holding on to the past. he refuses to work towards moving on from his mother’s death, refuses to listen to things that contradict his preconceived notions, and refuses to make changes in his life that could improve it. that’s unhealthy si. he’s really a very unhealthy istj, and most of his traits manifest through his unhappiness with his life. take his te. that would imply that he needs control over his surroundings, but aaron is incredibly bitter and unhappy BECAUSE he doesn’t have control of his surroundings. he doesn’t get to make his own choices, he doesn’t get to control his space, and he hates it. his relationship with katelyn is also indicative of being an istj. it’s stable, not a passionate fling, but aaron is mocked for wanting that white picket fence, married with kids in the suburbs kind of life, and his relationship, which is his primary source of happiness, is built on stability, which is a very si thing to do. in terms of fi, it is aaron that ultimately forces change between himself and andrew. he may have been pushed but he ultimately came down to him knowing what made him happy and what made him miserable and acting on that. also, he’s an ornery asshole who clearly doesn’t care what other people think of him. fi. i dont really have anything to say in terms of ne, probably because he’s so unhealthy but also because he’s not too explored. heyy istj’s make great doctors

wymack: isfj (si fe ti ne)

okay this one was genuinely the hardest to decide on but ultimately i came to the conclusion that wymack, much like renee, is such a developed person that he loses many defining traits of the functions, and can be read in many different ways. so: wymack’s primary goal is the safety and betterment of other people (ie his team). he wants to help people overcome their pasts, which is a very atypical approach to si, but is si nonetheless. on a personal level, too, he’s never able to move on from people, and specifically never moved on from kayleigh,  continuing their shared dream of an exy team for abused kids long after her death. as ive said before, fe in a secondary position is about deep understanding of other people, and wymack’s ability to understand what other people are struggling through is legendary. the ti mostly serves as support to the fe, serving as the analytical backup in allowing him to understand others. as for ne: he is most definitely an innovator with unusual ideas, or the foxes wouldn’t exist

riko: estp (se ti fe ni)

riko is basically what happens when an estp goes bad down to the core. he’s obsessed with personal glory and immediate self-fulfillment (se) he has no impulse control or fear of consequences. interestingly, high se is often associated with athleticism, because high se people are intensly focused on their surroundings (exy). his ti is also super unhealthy as he gets obsessed with ideas that dont really work with objective reality, like his obsession with ownership and power dynamics despite them not actually being efficient, even backwards. the tertiary fe he uses to manipulate. he doesn’t empathize with others, but he can tell their emotional state and what’s important to them, and uses it to coerce them and destroy their sense of self, like how he knew he could get neil to the nest by threatening andrew. EDIT: /additionally, fe people especially in the lower half of the function stack tend to derive their sense of self from the perceptions of others around them, which riko very much shows in how he needs to be acknowledged as the best and won’t allow any competition for his title, as well as his desperation for acknowledgement from his family/. finally, that ni allowed him to keep multiple plans in place focused on one ultimate goal: getting kevin back. the sheer amount of schemes he sets up in order to fool and push people the way he wants is honestly kinda impressive, but he’s a toxic shithead and im glad he’s rotting. definitely not representative of all estp’s

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this is honestly SO funny to read back a few years later bc HOOOOO boy was i way too into this stuff. and this was written a couple years after my Peak MBTI Obsession, which was honestly scary

[oloreaa]

Vencuyanir - Prologue

vencuyanir [ven-COO-yah-neer]: sustain, keep alive, preserve

Summary: About to be taken away from Arvala-7, Elana only has two objectives: keeping Bean alive and getting away from the Mandalorian

Words: 2.8k

Notes: This is the first longer series I have attempted in years, and I am so excited for this! Also the entire story is the most self indulgent enemies-to-lovers slow-burn I’ve ever planned and written so hopefully you’ll like it as well! Elana is an OC with Chinese features (+ my personal face claim), but I won’t be physically describing her a lot, so hopefully you could still see this as kinda “reader”

Warnings: canon-typical violence (death, gun violence), (implied) past child abuse, hostages/(implied) slavery

▪ Masterlist ▪ Vencuyanir ▪  Next ▪

……………

"Bean?" Elana called out, looking for the little child. He was currently hidden from her, in some place she could not find. Yet.

The hide-and-seek session she had initiated to stave off the boredom had turned into a nightmare. Elana had no idea where Bean would be, and she did not wanted to go and ask the Niktos outside. They were already barely tolerating her.

After Alderaan was destroyed a few years back she had drifted around the galaxy, and by chance, was approached by a friendly looking woman who told her that there was a well-paying, low maintenance job on a Outer Rim planet called Arvala-7 waiting for her. She took it without hesitation, and not a thought was spared about how such an opportunity was too good to be true.

Well, it definitely was not well-paying.

She barely got any of the money she was promised, which was why she was stuck on Arvala-7, guarded by Niktos that fended off the bounty hunters that appeared every few days.

The reason for her job? A baby. Elana was hired to take care of a small baby, which was not what she had pictured, at all.

But after taking just one look at the small green child with the huge dark eyes and even larger ears, she fell in love. It could be a maternal instinct, or maybe it was her own soft heart that made her fiercely protective of him. There was an instant connection the moment she entered the room he was in, the baby reaching out towards her as soon as he set his eyes on her, babbling incessantly. For lack of better words, there was a bond of sorts between them. Elana could feel, even pinpoint sometimes what the little bean was sensing, and knew that he was the same with her.

A soft coo finally alerted Elana to Bean's position, him giving himself away since he grew bored. She hurried to him, and scooped him up, heart beating fast in her chest.

"There you are, honey," she sighed in relief, tracing his large petal ears with a gentle finger. He cooed at her and patted at her face with his three fingers, claws not yet sharp enough to break skin. He grabbed at the end of her braid and put it in his mouth. Elana carefully took it out again, and quickly snatched a wooden toy he could gnaw on. The child wrapped his claws around it quietly, and started nibbling, big trusting eyes blinking up at her.

Elana tried not to think about it too much because it broke her heart, but all the signs were there. Bean was too quiet. He did not make many noises. And if he did, only when it was absolutely necessary.

He did not ask for food or water. He ate quickly and left no crumbs anywhere. He did not flinch when a blaster shot rang through the air, but did when someone moved too fast near him. She really wished that her suspicions were wrong, but Bean exhibited behaviour that was proof of him being mistreated before she had come along.

Bean cooed softly, nuzzling her arms, and smiled at her. The sight was adorable.

"Let's get you something to eat, all right?" Elana said, bouncing him on her hip, and set off towards the kitchen.

The Niktos have provided them with food and shelter, as well as weapons for defense, like blasters and some knives. Elana did not really know how to use them, beyond how to pull a trigger and stab someone with the pointy end. And that was it. It was not as if any of the Niktos bothered to teach her. She knew maybe a quarter of them by name, the rest by sight, but it was purely a business-like relationship.

Without Bean, she would have been utterly alone on Arvala-7. To be fair, she would not even be there if it was not for Bean, but she would not have it any other way. The little area they were given to live in consisted of a small kitchen, a bath, and a bedroom where the pram for Bean was located. It was not much, but enough.

Enough to survive.

She had no reason to complain, Elana often reasoned with herself, she had a roof over her head, cooling systems for the scorching days and heaters for the cold nights. She was given enough food and clothes to sustain herself and the little one she cared for. Even if Elana had no idea why she was actually there. She knew not the names of those who hired her, she did not know the reason why so many people sought to take Bean, why they were not even close to stopping after months of a constant stream of bounty hunters, all trying their luck.

Shaking those thoughts away, she returned to her original task of going to the kitchen.

The ration packets were stored in a drawer, and she noticed with a frown that the amount was steadily dwindling. It would still be enough for over a week, but it was definitely something that the Niktos should know about. They would get some more on their next supply run off the planet. Grabbing a small packet of rehydratable meat, and adding some water to a small pot, Elana prepared a simple meal for Bean. Then she heated water in another pot and made herself a cup of tea.

Bean sat upright in his stool, and watched her with curious, intelligent eyes. He babbled excitedly when she finished stirring, ears wiggling, making Elana smile.

The little child ate slowly as she fed him, blinking up at her and cooing. She cooed right back, and he smiled brightly, little teeth catching the light.

"You like the food? The consistency is nice, huh?"

He babbled, feet kicking slightly.

Suddenly, there was a shot outside. Elana whipped her head around, promptly positioning herself in front of Bean. More shots followed. Bounty hunters again.

She knew the drill already, so she quickly scooped Bean up and placed him in his pram. The baby was silent, staring up at her with big eyes, and a feeling of fear creeped along their bond. That was when she knew that something was wrong, that something was different from the other times. The shooting was still continuing, going on for longer than usual. There were too many shots for it to be only one bounty hunter, there had to be more than before, a small army?

A Nikto, who she recognized as Heku, ran inside the small quarters, two blasters in his hand.

"You stay here," he told her with his accented Basic, a frown on his face. "These are different hunters."

Elana nodded, eyes wide, and went to the pram, not closing it yet, before nudging it towards the wall, so it would be out of the way.

Heku looked over his shoulder before putting a blaster in her hand. "Doesn't look good," he said, "shoot them if they get in."

With those words, he ran outside again, leaving Elana reeling. If they get in? That had never happened before, not even close. Normally, all two dozen of the Niktos were enough to dispatch any bounty hunters.

The front door, made of sturdy durasteel closed with a screech while the sound of blaster fire rang through the air, the shots now muffled through it. Elana fumbled with the weapon in her hand, heart beating a staccato, shoulders squared.

It was becoming louder outside; they seemed to have set up some kind of blaster gun that was shooting in the direction of the housing camp.

Clenching her jaw tightly, she clutched the blaster in her shaking hands. They were right outside. Elana could hear the blaster shots, the screams of the Niktos who were defending Bean and her, the sounds of a brutal fight going on just a few meters away from them. The pram was right behind her, and Bean was silent, watching with wide eyes.

"It's all right, Bean", Elana heard herself say, doing her best not to panic. "I'll protect you."

Her heart was thumping hard in her chest and she feared that she would become dizzy. The nauseating feeling of helplessness creeped up Elana's throat and she honestly did not know what to do.

Fight them? Laughable. Elana was barely able to shoot straight. Negotiate with them? Probably not even that. Most of the time the hunters were gunned down quickly, and it would have been the only thing worth mentioning on that particular day. But this? They were mowing down the Niktos like it was nothing, and the chance of the Niktos getting them was dwindling with every shot.

Bean and her had to stay together no matter what. Hopefully, they were bounty hunters who would take them alive and she could go with Bean as his caretaker. As long as the both of them were together, they stood a chance.

It was going to be fine. It would be fine.

"No matter what, I'll stay with you," she told Bean, looking at him with desperation. Pulling the tiny child near her, Elana kissed his forehead, eyes scrunched together, trying to keep the tears from escaping.

Bean did not make a sound, but she swore he could understand what was happening.

The shots stopped.

She closed the pram, hands shaking.

One Nikto ran in, blaster in hand. He nodded at her before positioning himself behind one of the pillars. Elana held her breath, heart in her chest. They shot at the door. They actually used blaster bolts to get through the door. When it collapsed inwards, she was surprised that there were only two bounty hunters. An IG-unit bounty droid and- was that a Mandalorian?

Elana froze. Oh no.

If it was a Mandalorian, then her chances of getting out alive were very small indeed.

The Nikto tried to shoot at him but with lightning fast speed and uncanny precision the Mandalorian made short work of him with a single shot.

"Anyone else?" came the wry rhetorical question, crackled through a modulator.

She pulled the trigger.

It actually hit him, glanced off his pauldron with a ping. Elana had no time to celebrate her little victory however, as blaster bolts suddenly rained down on her, and she lunged behind the pillar, seeking shelter, shoulders hunched up. The dust and smoke made it hard to see, but she could make out a blaster bolt was uncomfortably near Bean's pram, and panic welled up in her. "Cease fire! I surrender!" she shouted, squeezing her eyes shut and pressing herself into the pillar some more.

"Cease fire, please!"

They stopped shooting.

Elana closed her eyes, fighting off her tears. This is it. "Don't shoot, I'm coming with you," she said as soon as she swallowed the lump in her throat, "I'm the one you're looking for." Stepping out from behind her pillar, palms raised in surrender, heart beating fast, she blinked up at the two bounty hunters, subtly shielding Bean's pram in the process.

The Mandalorian's tracking fob was pointed at her, through her. Maybe, hopefully she could play it as if she was the bounty. Maybe they could leave Bean in peace. There must have been someone who had survived, right? They could take care of Bean. She would gladly suffer for more than a hundred lifetimes if it meant that Bean would be safe.

Breathing hard, trembling like a leaf, she tried to suppress her tears, scared to death. "Please, don't kill me, I'll go with you," she got out, voice shaky. Please let them think that I am the bounty.

The droid's head whirled around to Elana and she could not help her flinch. The Mandalorian stood rigidly, his helmet tilted down at her menacingly. He stepped closer, the fob trained on her, beeping rapidly.

"Identify yourself. You are not the bounty," the droid commanded.

She gulped, feeling ice cold. "Elana Lissiri," she choked out, throat not properly working. So there went the chance of properly protecting Bean.

"Step aside," the Mandalorian told her, voice low and raspy. She shook her head, vision blurring, trying to stay in the way of them, but the Mandalorian grabbed her wrist efficiently, and turned her around, twisting her arm against her back. Elana grimaced in pain, and struggled against him briefly.

"Step aside or I'll make you," he threatened, and she felt a blaster poking between her shoulder blades.

For a split second, Elana thought about doing something reckless like stomping on his feet or freeing herself somehow, but then let herself go limp. She would not do Bean any favors if she got herself shot, and he was too strong to overpower anyways. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, internally begging for forgiveness.

The tracking fob in the Mandalorian's hand was loud in her ears, every beep made dread curl in her belly and her chest seize up. He shoved her aside roughly when it was clear that she had been shielding the pram. The IG-unit behind him raised its blasters and stalked towards Bean's hiding place. The Mandalorian cuffed her against a pipe sticking out of the wall, securing one wrist so she would not escape.

"Don't hurt him, please, Maker, please don't," Elana begged, sinking to her knees. Trying her best to shield how terrified she was from their bond, she sent out as much warmth as she could to the little child. Both bounty hunters moved closer to Bean, the Mandalorian pressing the button in the centre of the pram.

It opened with a hiss, and she could see how Bean sat up, ears raised and head tilted in interest.

"He is just a baby," Elana whispered, willing the tears to stay at bay, "Just a baby, please don't kill him." Elana couldn't tear her eyes away from the tiny green child, certain that that was it. They would kill them both. She took in the soft petal ears, the big dark eyes, the tiny, adorable button nose for what was probably the last time, and tried not to cry. She loved the little one. She loved him so much.

"Wait. They said fifty years old", she barely registered the Mandalorian speaking, his voice rough like gravel.

"Species age differently", the IG-unit replied. "Perhaps it could live many centuries."

"Please." Breath ragged, she looked up at the bounty hunters. "Please, I'll do anything, but don't kill him."

Bean leaned forward, big eyes curious, pushing down his blanket to get a better view of the newcomers. A questioning feeling ran along their bond. Elana's heart nearly broke in two.

"Sadly, we'll never know." The IG unit raised its blaster, and she tried to get in front of the pram without success, straining against the cuff. The Mandalorian stopped the droid before the blaster was fired, though. It was a cruel, cruel thing, giving her a moment of hope that the child would survive. Breath ragged, she tried to stop the panicked noises rising in her throat.

"No. We'll bring it in alive."

"The commission was quite specific," the IG-unit said, "The asset was to be terminated."

Elana closed her eyes, shaking like a leaf now. Not Bean, she thought, despair rolling off her in waves, please, not my Bean. She tried to get to the pram again, rattling at the cuff with all her strength, not caring when it hurt and cut into her skin.

A shot rang out.

She gave a full body flinch, hunching into herself. But the bond was not broken. Nor did she feel any pain or fear.

The bond was not broken.

They didn't kill Bean.

Elana looked up, eyes wide, head full of questions.

The IG-unit fell to the ground with a thud. Smoke rose from the central processing unit. She stared at it before shifting her gaze to the other bounty hunter.

The Mandalorian seemed to be transfixed by Bean. He reached out a finger hesitantly, and after a second, Bean reached back, letting out a delighted coo.

Elana blinked in confusion. Bean likes him? Something about their interaction struck her deeply, and the bond between Bean and her suddenly swelled, as if something clicked into place.

The Mandalorian's helmet then snapped around to her, and she flinched again. "Are you its caretaker?" he asked gruffly. Elana barely managed to nod, scared out of her wits.

He was quiet for a long time, his presence alone enough to make her hold her breath. Then he walked over, and took off her cuff more gently than she would have expected from a bounty hunter.

She looked up at him, shaking in fear, the visor glaring down menacingly. A low command came from him, causing shivers to run down her back.

"Pack your things."

……………

Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it!

Also a HUGE thank you at my beta @mndalorians, Cass had listened to me ramble so much about this story and helped me with so many scenes and I love her. Pls check out her stories as well, she has beautiful fics!

Tags: @binggrae-banana-milk @b0n-chann @pisss-offf-ghostt @chibi-liz05 @din-damn-djarin @soldade @yourexcellentboiiii @chaotic-noceur @ezrasarm @hdlynn @mndalorians @over300books @agirllovespasta

[inheritorofmemories-archive]

This is my gift for @lilolilyr for the Andromaquynh Secret Santa. You asked for a hurt/comfort fic, and I delivered. Hope you enjoy it, and happy holidays! Ich hoffe, dieses Geschenk findet dich gesund und glücklich <3

I’m putting it under a cut for length purpose and here is the link to the fic on AO3.

~

Lost and found again out there among the paths

The stars are bright, cold and unreachable, hung high in the firmament.

They haven’t changed in all of her centuries gone. The names are different but the same figures look down on her, the gaze of the Ursa and the Swan’s tail, the Crane hidden under the horizon in these parts of the world.

She isn’t ready to see her homelands yet, but this is enough. This is good. The Steppe hasn’t changed either, the same grass covering the earth everywhere she looks, the sun burning her skin as the winds surround her. It all feels so familiar, the sights, the animals, the long days of travel. Andromache, sitting by her side, walking by her side, sleeping by her side. Andromache, Andy, Andreas, Hadriana, Anath and so many other names forgotten by time. And still, she’s here, with her.

They are not riding horses but it doesn’t matter, Quỳnh would crawl to the end of the world with Andromache. They left their jeep three days ago at the entrance of those lands and they’ve been traveling by feet since then. The pace is slow but that’s what they both need. Peace, to be able to feel the grain of time slip through their fingers, not lost in the confusion of the modern world and its obsession with going so fast nothing matters anymore.

They talk as they walk, share memories and new stories, but mostly they walk, side by side, hand brushing and glances shared in the intimacy of the wide and open Steppe. Even the wind taste familiar in these moments. Quỳnh watches a lot, at night when the sun has gone down, she watches Andromache’s profile lightened only by the fire in front of her. Shadows dances in her temples and cheekbones and her pale eyes are drawn to the flames, mirrors bright with life. Quỳnh wishes she could bridge the distance between them as easily as they used to.

~

When the salt finally ate through her bound of iron, when the ocean took mercy on her, when Quỳnh broke out of her prison the first thing she felt after the burn of air in her lungs was an indescribable fury. A mad feeling seething in her heart that she mistook as anger, resentment. But it wasn’t that at all, she now recognizes it. She felt shame, because she knew then, crawling on the rocky beach away from the cold ocean that it happened. She had been broken, after millenniums of riding the world without a care, a handful of lunatics had done it.

She feared she had become nothing but a shell of the woman she was once. An’ always said she was like a sword, sharp edges and unforgiving. She used to joke that no one but her love’s skilled hands could handle her, that it was meant to be the two of them. It felt good, to know she would always have a resting place with Andromache.

She feared she lost herself in the ocean, that despite how hard she kept her faith in Andromache, how hard she clung to life, suffering over and over through the pain of drowning, of burning water suffocating her lungs, she feared she lost it all. That Andromache wouldn’t have that sacred place for her anymore, that she had become monstrous at the eternity spend in a cage.  That despite how bright of a beacon it has been, her love somehow couldn’t be enough to save her. That their love wasn’t enough.

She was mad, furious at what happened to her, but more than anything she was scared. Scared of this new world, of what it had become and what she missed. Scared that she’d never find her family, that she would never have a home with them again.

And now, in a twisted play from fate, she is scared of losing Andromache.

She is so scared, like she has never been. Before seeing that damned iron coffin, nothing frightened her, for she had Andromache. Even the coffin didn’t fill her with as much dread as the sight of those bruises on Andromache’s cheek did when she finally found her again with the spy’s contacts the drunkard gave her. She wondered, has she lost her? Has she lost part of her soul? Did she cause this cruel fate?

~

They left the family a week ago. They needed time alone they said as they were packing their bags. Quỳnh needs time alone with Andromache, to be only with her, like they had been for so long before meeting Yusuf and Nicolò. She missed them, but looking at them doesn’t hurt like it does when she watches Andromache’s face. Andy said she had to leave, to be alone for a while, away from it all. It warmed Quỳnh’s cold chest that she was included in her idea of alone, that alone without Quỳnh means not whole, not complete, lacking.

They took a plane and flew all the way to the Great Steppe. At least it hasn't changed since she was gone, unlike her homelands. There’s still a bitter taste when she sees what happened to her mountains and her coastlines. Andromache says it gets easier after a few years, but she’s not sure she wants this to be more bearable, to get used to it.

They’ve been playing a game lately, “what hasn’t changed” she calls it. It started a few months ago when she finally grew tired of being reminded of everything new she missed the creation of. She looked at Yusuf who had been explaining to her some new gadget she had no interest in learning about that night and challenged him to find five things in the room that she knew of. It’s been easier talking with him since then, almost like before. The rules are simple, list everything that stayed the same through the centuries she wasn’t there for. Nicolò’s uncanny words, Yusuf’s bright eyes. The stars. An’s sweet tooth. The way Quỳnh still wields blades with the same grace; she can still spar with Yusuf in their shared Viet, Greek and Persian tongues.

Her love’s face hasn’t changed yet, despite her new mortality. She still has the same piercing eyes that look like home, that calls for her to come back home, please come back to me she heard Andromache cry out in her sleep.

She hides, hides it well in the day, in front of Yusuf and Nicolò and Nile. She smiles and laughs and moves the same. It’s only when they’re alone that she allows the walls to break down and for Quỳnh to see what’s going on in her head. The guilt in her eyes every time she looks at her, the way she touches her like she’s fragile, like she’s mist that would dissipate with the smallest gust of wind. She was so ready for Quỳnh to hate her when they found each other again, she doesn’t think Andromache’s really let go of this idea, that she doesn’t deserve Quỳnh, that she somehow failed by not letting her life rot by looking after an impossible task.

Quỳnh only needed one look at her pendant around Andromache’s neck, the pain etched in her eyes, the desperation in her voice for all doubt that she had been forgotten to leave her mind. The anger, the bitterness was still there, but how could she ever loathe Andromache, the other half of her soul, the one so unjustly ripped away from her?

At night, that’s when Andy confesses her fears. How scared she is too, of dying, of being gone after so long, of being without her family, without Quỳnh. Of losing that constant in her life, that she knew she would be there to see it happen, whatever was bound to happen.

She tells Quỳnh about her fear of aging, of her hands shaking, her hairs falling grey, her vision turning blurry, her feet uneasy and her mind crazy. Her fear of leaving them behind, the fear of the unknown. After all those years, the unanswered question still bears heavily on her. She wished she had answers like Nicolò and Yusuf do, like Nile does. That assurance that there’s something after for her.

She has nightmares too. When it’s not Quỳnh waking up cold and her chest squeezed by terror, it’s Andy who sweats through the sheet and mumbles names over and over. She dreams about Lykon, the hot blood on her hands. Quỳnh holds her through the night and they cry together, still bearing the grief for their lost brother. They share the burden, and that is all Quỳnh can ask for, wish for.

They share a lot of tears for the years lost to men’s madness, the one they won’t have, their mistakes and misdeeds. They share laughs too, when it’s late and the night is dark and the house quiet. Those real shards of joy that sounds like a thousand carillon, the sweet, soft laughter that heals and mends. They are rare, so, so precious. They talk about their first years together, learning to speak the same tongue, to move as one. They hold each other, close and dearly, with the desperation of a drowning man because Quỳnh refuses to let her go and Andy can’t seem to stop reaching out either, always seeking a touch.

It helps, feeling her hands in hers, her lips against hers, their body pressed together under the covers and standing hips to hips in the house, never apart, always locking eyes and sharing smiles.

~

They’ve set their camp in a nook of rocks just as the sun approached the horizon, near a small freshwater current and protected from the winds. They gathered wood together and Andromache used her metal lighter to start the fire. They unrolled their bedrolls and the thick plastic tarp and they filled their bottle with cool water, washed their hands in the stream like they so often did in time pasts.

They’re preparing their meal, Quỳnh’s cutting the few roots they have and boiling the barley and Andromache is gutting the two rabbits she killed earlier with her bow, her own labrys laid between them as the knives work. She’s wearing jeans and a woolen sweater and yet it still feels familiar, the sound of the blades and the crackling of the fire, the smell of wood and iron pot, the sight of the clear night sky, no clouds to cross the picture.

They chat idly in their own tongue as they work, no English, modern or what Quỳnh remembers, not even the so recent Italian language or the Sabir Yusuf spoke with them at first. No, it’s old, old enough that it’s forgotten by everyone, everything, papers and stones except for two being on this earth. They throw in the occasional olden Greek and Latin when they are in need of too new of a concept but it soothes Quỳnh’s heart to speak what she first learned, to build it again with Andromaque, keep its memory alive. It feels like saving a part of herself.

The comfortable silence is broken by a sudden shout from Andromache followed by a string of cuss and a number of blasphemies to at least three different cultures. Quỳnh turns her head in time to see her throw the half-skinned rabbit and the knife on the ground and clutch her hand to her chest. Her grip on her knife lessen and she wills her worries to quiet down.

“Fucking shit,” Andromache mutters under her breath and Quỳnh can see the blood flowing from the wound she inflicted on herself. She’s pressing on it but it doesn’t stop the blood from dripping down to her wrist. “Cut my hand.”   She says and turns to shrug at Quỳnh, feigning carelessness. “Wasn’t paying attention.”

“You really should let me handle the knives, my love,” Quỳnh says as she sets her own knife down. Andromache has been hurt enough for her to know how to react in situations like this one, the sense of dread has quietened since the first wound she saw on her love’s body. “I would appreciate it if you could bring all your fingers to our couch tonight.” She tries to laugh; Andromache tries to smile. It still hurts too much but she knows it would somehow feel worse to not at least pretend that everything is okay. As wrong as it sounds, that hollow laugh of hers and the tight smile stretched over Andromache’s face feels like a breath of fresh air in the depth of their heavy hearts.

“We talked about this,” Andromache mutters. “I don’t want this to change anything.” This. This. This feels so unjust. How could the world punish them like that, taunt Andromache with eternity and take it all away just as Quỳnh finds her way back to her.

“Letting me use the knife won’t take away your skills my love. Or your honor.” She’s tiring of Andromache’s misplaced guilt, of her own heart betraying her and making her doubt. They have too few years to taint them with such futile thoughts and feelings. It’s at this instant, Andromache still holding on her hand and Quỳnh watching her hair falling in front of her eyes that she decides to push past what is outside of her control and move forward. She’ll keep the pain in her heart but she won’t let it define her, nor will she let Andromache be defined by it.

“Come,” She says and extends her arm toward her. “Give me your hand. Nile showed me how to care for wounds.” They’ll move on, gods help her they will find their path again, she swears it. Andromache holds her gaze for a moment, tilt her head, and it’s the first time since they reunited that Quỳnh gets that feeling. The one deep down that she knows, that they both know, that they are one. That they don’t need words, only a look, a touch to get it, to understand the other. Her throat lumps with relief as Andromache gives her her hand to hold. She’s holding her gaze with a peace she hadn’t see in so long, warm and confident despite the chaos surrounding them. Things will get better her guts murmur, and she believes it.

“It was time you pick up on this century’s medicine my heart, the way things are going I’ll have more scars than a crocodile has teeth before I get my first grey hair.” And this time the joke feels right. It feels like home, like the teasing and ribbing they shared so many times before a battle, on their couch, at a meal, in the busy streets, vast deserts and quiet forests. Quỳnh grins as she takes the small first aid kit in their bag and opens it in front of her, still holding Andromache’s wrist between her fingers.

“I might as well do it, seeing how determined you are at testing Nile’s and Nicolò’s knowledge of medicine. They need someone who isn’t afraid of telling you off before you run faster than modern science can follow.”

“It’s the hair,” Andromache says as if she hadn’t been intimidating kings and emperors with hair as long as a horse’s mane before Quỳnh even met her. Quỳnh smiles, the pain wavering in her heart as the warmth of feeling whole again gains her. Finally, she looks down at Andromache’s hand to judge the extent of the damage on the palm, only to have to double-take what she sees.

The blood isn’t flowing anymore and she knows that knife was sharp enough to dig deep in the flesh. The left hand, the one holding the meaty rabbit and the one victim to the blade’s enthusiasm, the one bearing the wound, doesn’t have any cut to show. Quỳnh’s breath locks as she stares at the hand, now cradled between her own.

“My love.” She says, and when she wipes the blood with her thumb, the skin appears undamaged, no cut, no scars, nothing but the smooth extend of her palm. She does it again, and a third time just to be sure. The flesh and muscles, tendons and bones underneath are unscathed, whole and perfect.

“What?” Andromache asks but keeps her eyes fixed on Quỳnh’s, a frown painting her face with worry. “Is it bad?”

“Your hand.” Quỳnh whispers. “Look at it.” There’s a moment of silence, maybe a minute, maybe an hour, Quỳnh herself isn’t sure. She just knows that she’s filling with euphoria and that Andromache’s right hand is touching the healed skin, slow strokes of wonder.

“It’s gone.” Her voice is hoarse, barely a whisper. She touches the skin, press on it, rub away the blood. It’s her hand that makes Quỳnh look up, and her eyes are filling with misty tears. “It’s gone. Quỳnh, I’ve healed.”

“Your immortality Andromache.” And the same shadow crosses Andromache’s eyes and her own mind.

“Wait.” Quỳnh lets go of her hand as she takes the knife again. They both watch as she brings the blade to the back of her forearm and slowly slices the skin, a hand long wound. It feels like one of those miracles Nicolò always talks about, the way the skin stitches itself close on its own, how the blood stop and the edges meet and the scar fades in a minute.

“It’s back, I’ve got it again.” The words are barely out of her mouth that Quỳnh wraps her arms around her neck and bring her close into an embrace, Andromache’s arms warm and heavy on her back. They’re shaking, laughing, whispering sweet nonsense into their shoulders, and Quỳnh knows tears are flowing from their eyes, she welcomes the liquid joy.

“Our love was enough then.” She can’t help but voice it out loud, needs to hear it to really understand the reality of what’s happening.

“Quỳnh?” Andromache pulls back, plunge her gaze into hers, it feels almost too much, too big.

“Our love was enough.” She feels herself laughing, nervous and bursting with relief, uncontrollable. “It is enough.” ‘I am enough’ she can’t help but think.

“What are you talking about Quỳnh? Of course it is. Always has been enough, more than enough. It has always been everything to me.” Both of her hands come to rest on the side of her face, cradling it with great gentleness.

“I was afraid my faith in you, in us had been wavering in my prison.” She confesses, lets herself feel it, feels the depth of the hurt now that she was proven wrong, that she knows it is untrue. “That you lost this gift of immortality because of me, because of my unreliable heart.”

“Oh Quỳnh.” Her voice breaks then, as does her face. “Have you been thinking this all this time?”

“Do you think me mad? To think that you losing your immortality coinciding with me finding you again broken, mad with fury, was nothing meaningless?” Quỳnh shakes her head then, covers Andromache’s hands with hers.

“Quỳnh, what are you talking about? I never doubted you.” Pain lines Andromache’s voice, desperation. “If you see yourself broken, then what am I? We are not as we were, will never be again. But that had nothing to do with you my heart.” She kisses her with urgency as if she couldn’t use her words to express everything in her heart. Quỳnh closes her eyes and feels the wind dry lips move against her, slides her hands behind her neck and bring her even closer. They part with a pant and Andromache smiles, a genuine, guilt-free smile, small but the seed of something bigger. “Our love was never tainted, in all of our millenniums together, it survived every hardship, every terror, every obstacle. We will survive this too.”

“I knew this, somehow, but you understand better than anyone how the mind is. It’s so easy to be tricked by sorrow when you’re grieving and hurting.”

“I’ll spend this eternity given to me reminding you Quỳnh. We never understood this gift, there’s no point reading meaning where there’s none. The only thing I am sure of is the love that courses through this world, through us.” Andromache fixes her gaze on her, strong, unwavering, and oh how Quỳnh missed seeing it. “I love you like the earth loves the sun, undeterred, constant, in the depth of my being because without I am not alive.”

“Can you believe that I do not hate you then?” Quỳnh prompts and she closes her mouth into a tight line. “That what happened was never your fault? That you couldn’t find me any more than you could save Lykon? My anger is not directed at you, never was, never will be.”

“I hate that I couldn’t save you,” Andromache says with shame in her voice. “I should have been there for you. You lost so much because of me.” This isn’t a new conversation, but it’s only today that Quỳnh realizes what she needs to hear, not a logical argument nor a dismissal of her feelings.

“I forgive you,” She says, and this time it’s Andromache who let go of a tight laugh, wet with tears. “I forgive you, Andromache, of any fault you gave yourself, I absolve any wrong you think you’ve done. You’ve saved me once in that desert where our path crossed for the first time, you saved me again in this century. I do not accuse you of anything, and neither will you. You are free of this burden.”

“Thank you.” Andromache whisper, tears in her eyes. “Thank you, my love.” Healing won’t be easy, but this is a start. They can forgive each other, forgive themselves, move on from there with a clear slate and shoulders relieved from their heavy loads of sorrow. They can do anything; they are not strained by time or Death anymore.

“We have time.” Quỳnh realizes, just as Andromache swipes her thumb along her jaw. “You will live, and we have time.” She pushes back Andromache’s hair, and she allows herself to feel the relief too. “You will live Andromache, spend time with the family, with Nile, Yusuf and Nicolò. You will see Sébastien again.”

“I don’t have to go yet.” She says, and the smile that carves itself on her face is radiant, shining with newfound light. “I don’t have to go.” Her hand slide at the back of her neck and slowly she kisses her, once, light and barely there, she rests her nose on her cheek “I am only grateful to have the gift back, to have the opportunity to spend it for as long as I’ll have it with you, together.”

“Just the two of us,” Quỳnh says through another laugh, press her forehead against Andromache’s, feel the warm skin and her hands over her shoulders. Let herself feels it all.

“Until the end.”

Quỳnh breathes the same air as Andromache, in, out, feel the same pulse as hers under her fingers, beating as one, like it always had. Like it was always meant to be.

~

The stars are bright, old and eternal, hung high in the firmament.

The fire is slowly dying, the last flames licking the wood and giving their valiant effort to burn for a bit longer. The moon lights their step, pale blue and cold on their warm skin. They are dancing together, waltzing under the milky way, hand pressed against hand, feet mirroring feet, circling each other as they did for the very first time ages ago, when the stars had different faces, when Andromache was still called a goddess’s name and Quỳnh’s was a whisper amongst her people’s legend.

Their gaze locked, lost in each other’s eyes, their nose touching and sharing the same breath, it feels like a dream.

“Do you remember my love,” Quỳnh pants as she shifts on her feet and pushes her hand against An’s, raising it high in the sky. “That night in Bābilim?” She grins and twists her hips just so as to press Andromache closer to her chest. She wishes she could crawl into her ribcage, be as close as possible, seize her heart from the inside and never let go again. She settles on sliding a leg between hers and let herself get lost in her scent, drunk from it like a young boy is from his first sip of ale.

“If I remember,” Andromache whispers in her ear. “You looked like wildfire. The most beautiful creature I had ever seen.” There had been music Quỳnh remembers, and wine flowing like rivers from the amphoras. She danced through the night, and Andromache’s gaze upon her was heavy and burning, she felt stripped from everything, baring her soul for the first time in her life. That’s the night their love became more than allyship, more than friend and necessity. That’s when it shifted to become more, to become everything.

“Do you remember what I said?” Andromache asks her, lays her left hand to her chest and she does the same, feel her heartbeat strong under her palm despite their clothing.

“More please!” Quỳnh moans like An’s does and pushes away with her hand only to crash together with the next steps. Andromache grins and indulges her change of rhythm. They had a room that night, a soft bed of feathers and fine silks like they had seldom seen with their own eyes.

“After that. On the balcony.” And Quỳnh remembers fondly that moment. Andromache had draped herself over her back, holding onto each other and murmuring in the quiet night. The moon had been full then too, albeit the desert looked warmer than the Steppe they are dancing in today. They circle each other again, Quỳnh savors the moment with her entire being.

“You will be my deathbed.” She meant it as a joke after the night filled with passion, but they both knew the deeper meaning. It hanged unsaid in the air between them. “Remember what I said?”

“And you mine.” Andromache presses her nose close to her cheek, her breath warm on her skin. They are silent after that, don’t need words anymore, not when they have each other.

They finish their dance when the last of the fire blow away in the night. They press their foreheads together and stand in the middle of the Steppe, alone, together. Whole and one. For the first time in over a year, in over five centuries, her heart finally feels at peace. She’s home, in the embrace of Andromache’s arms, of Andy’s, in the certainty that they won against fate, that they are truly immortal. That they’ll live together again.

The stars are bright and Andromache’s eyes are even brighter, Quỳnh is sure of that.

[jasgirl-creations]

Sister Thief, Sister Warrior (part 1)

Kite sighed as she watched her younger sister grope at the mortified bar waif, wondering if she had also been like this when she first left their ancestral home. Probably more than she'd like to admit. "Lucia..." She paused, swallowing the rest of her wine in a single gulp as she tried to decide how to explain this again. "The outside world isn't dangerous at all!" That was a lie. "It can be a little... challenging... but its full of just.... just so much... so much everything!" She casually waived her arm, motioning around the inn at the variety of people there who would never be seen in their home village. "I've seen so many amazing things, met so many amazing people... tasted and touched and smelled the kinds of things that would never, ever come to our village!" That was all true. The last two years had been one non-stop eye-opening adventure. Kite had never been content in their village, and unlike her younger sister who seemingly got every gift the Mother could bestow, had always felt out of place and bored out of her mind. "Why would I want to go back, sis? I've learned so much. I've DONE so much! I've made a name for myself!" Well, she had made a reputation anyway, and not always a positive one. Only a few towns over her face was plastered on bounty posters. "Everyone loves a... a dashing rogue!" Rogue was the polite name for what Kite had become. Thief or burglar (or prostitute, sometimes) were accurate descriptors as well, although less romantic, and didn't sell just how talented she had become with her little knives or short sword, or quite how fast and silent she could be, or how she could charm nearly any man, woman or monster with her smile (and often a flash of her tits), or her uncanny ability to simply be gone when the wrong people came to find her. She paused as the barmaid brought them another round of drinks and soft, doughy rolls to help sop up the alcohol. God, she was drunker than normal! But having her little sister show up, all grown up in... in all the right places..., had been such a surprise. Kite hadn't let herself think about their village fo over a year. More importantly, she hadn't thought about Lucia... hadn't thought about how much she missed her sister... or her strong, beautiful body, or those enormous breasts that she had always been so jealous of, or fantasizing about her thick, hard... Kite took a deep breath and tried to focus. She had been planning on meeting with a local couple tonight, and had already gotten herself in the mood with one of the special magical toys she kept in her secret bag before her sister had unexpectedly barged back into her life. Now it was hard to focus. 

"Besides... besides... why would I want to go back? What's waiting for me in our village. Pregnancy? A big fat belly? A life of pumping out cute little baby girls? No thanks!" 

She tried to make herself sound as adamant as possible, but there was an obvious quiver in her confident tone. Of course she had left home to avoid a life of breeding and child rearing, but he truth was that the idea of being endlessly plowed by thick amazon cock had its appeal. Especially one cock. For the first time since they had been reunited (well, the third time really) Kite let herself really look at her younger sister and take in developed body. God, she was sexy! "You-you know..." she slurred, "I was always jealous of your tits! But I've done alright for myself. More than alright!" She gave her shoulders a small twist, causing her very ample breasts to wobble in their leather cups. She was only really small compared to her sister, and she was used to often being the bustiest girl in the room.

Of course, she ignored Lucia's question about what her new breasts had cost, and didn't mention the witch, or the curse, or her bag of magical novelties. Instead... 

"Why are YOU in such a hurry to go back? Why not spend some time out here with me? See what the world has to offer? Have an adventure... get in trouble?" 

She smiled her most seductive smile, suddenly realizing exactly what could make her little sister change her mind about returning home. "Why not get in trouble with you big sis?" (excerpt from a fantasy role play)

[cruzrogue]

Back Tracking Time

Summary:

There is no way Felicity and Oliver could just remain in the Paradise dimension and not find a way back home. Oliver’s been waiting for his partner as he believes in her. Like she says their love is bigger than the freaking universe. Now home they find themselves in a time disturbance. Thrown back into the past but not in their original older bodies. They’re kids. Stuck in 2013.

​Back Tracking Time on A03

This story jumps to the episode Dead To Rights 1.16

Synopsis for those who don’t remember that episode clearly:

Oliver and John learn that Deadshot is still alive and his next target is Malcolm Merlyn. Malcolm invites Tommy to attend a benefit honoring Malcolm for his work with Starling City but Tommy refuses to attend. Oliver encourages his friend to mend his relationship with his father while he can. Meanwhile, Oliver struggles to balance his new relationship with McKenna and his duties as the Hood.

Clearly after the grownup versions meet the Olicity young pair things in their past change dramatically.

Chapter:  Dead to Rights

Oliver shaking his head as the reality of the situation dawns on him. He’d think he’d be used to all the craziness his life has endured but nope. He is still stunned at what just happened.

Time disturbance. Not just time travel. Oh no! It couldn’t have been that easy.

His partner, the love of his life is still unconscious beside him. He can tell right at this very second their appearances have altered heavily from what they were mere moments ago.

“Ouch!” A very young feminine voice says beside him. “Um, what just happened?” A second later, “Where is my glasses?”

“We aren’t in Kansas any…”

“What?”

“I mean we aren’t in Star City 2020 anymore.”

“My mind is all fuzzy. I can swear that my eyes are deceiving me.” She’s looking down at her petite fingers. They almost look like kid fingers. Raising her hands, “Do my hands look smaller?”

“Everything about us is smaller.”

“Huh? Oliver, you’re not making…” She stops as Oliver places her glasses in her hands. The moment she has them on she makes a startled cry, “You look like a kid.”

“You’re not fairing much better. Mon petit amour.” He can’t help but smile to her rolling of eyes.

“This can’t be happening. I just got you back.” As happy as Felicity was to find Oliver in the Paradise Dimension, she missed her kids. She wasn’t going to let someone like the Monitor or anyone else keep them from getting their family back.

If Oliver was able to reset some time and space, Felicity was hellbent in setting some wrongs right again.

People who were gifted by how good-hearted Oliver is got to benefit from his kindness. She had to endure his loss. As they old saying goes… Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. No one is angrier than a woman who has been rejected or in her case… Her love was forfeited as the hero had to suffer watching his family from a distance.

“At least our daughter is safe with our moms.”

“Mia! She needs us.” Felicity is up from the ground she recently stood up from. Taking in the interior which looks familiar. “Are we in the bunker?”

“It would seem so. I did some looking around. I didn’t go too far, not while you were unconscious.”

“Why are we here?”

“I don’t know.” He really doesn’t. Being back in Star City just days after crisis happened. Enough to keep the people who Oliver loved from perishing as they were now amongst them. Elapsing time that brought a certain ring to a man he called brother. Things were slightly different as Oliver didn’t waste time with one of the biggest regrets after coming home. Wasting no time in telling the woman now stranded in the past with him as kids in how much she meant to him. “Are you sure you didn’t poke…” Seeing her little figure standing there with uncanny attitude. Hands on hips. Again, he can’t stop himself from laughing.

“Poke. You think I caused this?” She doesn’t give him much time to answer, “Oh no. Whoever messed with us is forever on my shit list.”

He wants to make a joke about poop, that would be something a boy his age would probably point out. He thinks. Well it’s something their son William would mention so he bites his lip. Little Felicity is no joke. Its actually adorable how her glasses kind of overtake her face.

“Honey, something must have happened to trigger this.”

“Oliver, the last thing I was talking about with Lyla was how I entered the team officially after your mother shot you.”

“Oh.”

“What?” she says alarmed.

“My last remark was about William and wondering what it be like to… oh no… did I…” At last he recalls before he met up with Felicity in the kitchen where they were taken from was talking to John and Tommy about being around the age of his son.

“Oliver, spill it!” Felicity can tell Oliver’s is onto something. Even with his boyish features she can still read him.

“Our ages may be on me but you’re the one who has chosen the year we are in. I inadvertently caused us to be kids?”

“That would suggest that we are in the year 2013.”

Oliver doesn’t want to say it hoping he is wrong, but the bunker isn’t up to date. That means Sabastian Blood is still alive. It means a lot of things like… like the undertaking hasn’t happened. He thinks that they are just in the timeline after he was shot by his mom. “We need to get out of here. Make it to the foundry. That will be the safest place for us to come up with a plan.”

With a small pout that just makes her become even more adorable if that is possible and he means to just give her a small smile as he listens to her whiny comment, “The foundry? Oh no… I hope it’s after I updated the internet.” His smile grows as she starts to moan about not having sensible shoes.

Dog barking in the distance.

“Ahh! Ow!” Felicity hits the mat.

“Now the trick is to keep your weight evenly distributed.”

“I thought the trick was to avoid getting into fights.”

“Yeah, well, Starling City's not the kind of place where you can talk your way out of trouble. Besides, if you're going to be working with us, I'll sleep a lot easier knowing that you can handle yourself... At least a little bit.”

Footsteps on stairs.

Diggle asks Oliver, “How'd it go?”

“Badly for him.”

“Who's him?”

“An assassin for hire with an affinity for knives. His name was Guillermo Barrera.”

“Was?” Felicity asks. Oliver is busy going to his book and scratching a name off the list.

John continues, “So, we can't ask him about his intended target?”

“No. Which is why I need you to hack his phone.” Oliver holding up a phone towards Felicity. “Barrera's world class. He kills high profile targets. And whatever job he was hired for isn't finished. We need to figure out who he was here to kill, and fast. They are probably still in danger. Ok? Yeah. I have to meet McKenna.”

John holding a smirk, “Good thing she didn't meet you at the heliport. May not be a good idea to fall for the cop that's hunting you down.”

“Well, it's slim pickings for us vigilantes.”

Two kids heading towards Queen Steel Factory. Kids around these parts are very uncommon especially after dark.

“I know I’m here.” Felicity pointing to her mini. “I miss that car.”

“I barely fit in that tuna can.”

“That is what seems to happen to goliaths.” Giving him a look, “Anyways you’d fit now.”

He huffs, “Seriously Felicity, are you going to continue on small jokes? The whole hike here…”

“Sorry, it was either jokes or me whining because my feet hurt. I’m hungry, and being small means there is a lot more steps to reach a destination.”

“I know. We are about to adventure to were we are both familiar. The Hood isn’t kid friendly.”

“You think you’d arrow a kid. Come on…”

“No, I doubt I’d arrow a child but I know I’d be very moody.”

“And you think the older me would what? Grab our cherry cheeks?” She sways her head no, “Older me has no clue about kids. Other than being one once.”

“Well at least we’ll have John. He’s a lot more mature than us.”

Felicity finally laughs as they reach the side door. “Metaphorically so true.”

“Here we go. Ready?”

“Sure. The look on ours faces will be so worth it.”

Oliver smiles. He isn’t even going to argue against that.

[breadoffoxy]

BTS and their D&D Classes

Jin - Bard 

• Mr. World Wide Handsome!! A face that could seduce anyone. • Technically all the members would be bards since they are performers but I feel Jin is the bardiest of them all. • He’s supportive to all the members and sticks up for them despite the consequences/their uncertainties. • CHAOTIC • I think he would use bardic inspiration on himself haha. • Jin does what he wants when he wants ok. • Who better to cast Vicious Mockery than him? He can be completely savage. • Has the voice of an angel. • He has the self-drive to learn how to play any instrument. • You think you’d have Jin figured out in a fight but then he pulls out Magical Secrets and goes surprise bitch. • Would be a Bard of the College of Lore. • He gets to use cutting words and more magical secrets. • He would get his knowledge from everything, wouldn’t matter if it’s a peasant or a scholarly tome. • His loyalties lie in the pursuit of beauty, truth, his friends, and whatever the hell he wants. • Nobles, deities, organizations can’t control him. • Honest over being political.

Yoongi - Warlock

• Immediate gut reaction is that he is a warlock. It just seems to fit him so well. • Not all things they bind to have to be fiendish but I feel like Yoongis would be just a little bit. • He would think of the darkness as another part of himself but be able to control it and turn it into light. Or if you want to go kingdom hearts style he’d be twilight. • Warklocks have a deep thirst for knowledge and power. He’s a genius who can’t be stopped. • If he had a familiar it would take the form of Holly haha. • Ok more thematic I’d say a raven or cat. • I think Voice of the Chain Master is something he’d use a bit with his familiars. • And use One with Shadows to stay hidden. • You can’t find him unless he wants you to. • As all warlocks do its never-ending eldritch blast. • Once he decides to use up an actual spell slot watch out your done for. • Would learn the spell fly so he wouldn’t have to walk, but he wouldn’t go up very high. • Warlocks are also charisma based. • This man has a way with words.

Hoseok - Rouge • The most dashing of Rouges. • He’s really nimble and light on his feet. • He could be really sneaky sneaky. • He likes to make noises while chasing down his prey to taunt them though. • In nonserious/nonlethal situations would make up his own theme songs. • Knives everywhere! • Just imagine him with his serious gaze when he performs (tear dior yeah) • Now imagine it when he is going in for the kill. • He can still be sweet sunshine when not on a job. • Hobi would have a lot of fun with Thieves’ Cant. • He’s quick and fluid so cunning action would be no problem. • No one would be able to ever hit him. • If they do then Uncanny dodge! • Reliable Talent, he’s a master at what he does. • I love the idea of Assassin Hoseok but I think Swashbuckler fits him better. • Fancy Footwork and Elegant Maneuver. • Plus, Charisma skills. • He is the mood maker come on.

Namjoon - Wizard • Scholarly magic user, enough said. • His intelligence is beyond compare. • Just imagine all of the magical accidents. • Magical God of Destruction! • Would choose the best spells for each situation. • Just make sure he doesn’t loose his spell book please. • People would make him learn the fun utility spells just because they worry about him. • Prestidigitation would be his life saver. • If he makes a mess, he can magically clean it up. • It can magically cook for him too so he doesn’t have to step into the kitchen. • The spell also makes faint musical notes so he would be the most musical wizard there is. • He wouldn’t stick to one school in magic and dabble in everything. • I think he would be most proficient in the new school of Onomancy. • It’s the study into language and the magical significances that weave through names. • He can make his spells stronger if he knows his target’s true name. • Good for both attacking and supportive spells. • I think its also neat with the use of his stage name RM. • How it transformed from Rap Monster to Real Me.

Jimin - Monk • Have you seen this man move!? • Look at all of his amazing gravity defying moves. • Plus, he has a martial arts background. • Monk is perfect for him. • He really trains for mastery and is a perfectionist so he would always strive to have a flawless form. • Who needs armor anyways if you can’t even hit him. • I would say he would study the Way of the Drunken Master but that doesn’t seem to match his elegance. • He does drink a lot though haha. Straight down the hatch! • I think Way of the Kensei fits him the best though. • That way he can be the strongest swordsman! • Just imagine the fluidity of his movements with a sword. • It would be like sword dancing! • It also includes instruction into calligraphy, he’s so talented at that too.

Taehyung – Ranger • Ok so at first I had this idea for Tae that he would be a warrior to protect the wilderness and magical creatures. • If it’s not doing no harm then there’s no need to kill it. • He’d often fight humans and other races to protect creatures others see as monsters. • I can see him being raised in a druid circle actually. • But then I read about the new Fey Wanderer Archetype. • And I’m like that’s it! • He guards the border between the Feywild and the Material Plane while acting as a negotiator between the worlds. • Him having fey magic just seems perfect. • And he’s so beautiful and amazing how come he is not a fey himself yeah. • And your supposed to just pick one Feywild gift but all of them fit him so perfectly. I’m pasting them all from this source https://www.dndbeyond.com/classes/ranger o Illusory butterflies flutter around you while you take a short or long rest. o Fresh, seasonal flowers sprout from your hair each dawn. o You faintly smell of cinnamon, lavender, nutmeg, or another comforting herb or spice. o Your shadow dances while no one is looking directly at it. o Delicate horns or antlers sprout from your head. o Your skin and hair change color to match the season at each dawn. • I want Feywild Tae so bad!!! • Fey are mischievous and there are so many dynamics of light and dark with them. • Tae will do his best to protect both worlds.

Jungkook – Sorcerer • I wanted to give Jungkook a more tankier role like Paladin. • Because he’s a beefy bunny. • Proficient in so many things and can help his friends while attacking. • But I can’t get rid of the On music video vibes and Jungkook’s theories on it. • So, I just have to give him the sorcerer role. • And he can turn into a fucking dragon. • How cool is that! • He’s a descendant of an ancient dragon bloodline and gets tapped with raw magic. • Gold Dragons! The strongest and most majestic of dragons. • They be good dragons too! • And Fire! • His arcane focus would be that conch shell. • He would learn Quickened Spell so he can dish out some serious damage in one turn. • Along with Careful Spell so he can protect his friends if they accidentally are in the crossfire for his spells.

[aion-rsa]

Are You Afraid of the Darkness?: A Hopepunk Explainer

https://ift.tt/2PUZUv7

A brief guide to the hopepunk movement—its origins, and its possibilities.

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This feature originally appeared in Den of Geek's NYCC 2019 print magazine.

When author Alexandra Rowland (A Choir of Lies) first posted to Tumblr in 2017, "The opposite of grimdark is hopepunk. Pass it on," she had no idea how intensely that sentiment would resonate with the platform’s community and beyond.

"Initially, I was just vaguely bemused that anyone was listening to me," Rowland says, "but at the same time, I understood intellectually why hopepunk was resonating with people. Simply put: they were hurting, and hopepunk was a thing that helped comfort the hurt."

What is hopepunk? It depends on who you ask...

Rowland, quoting her essay “One Atom of Justice, One Molecule of Mercy, and the Empire of Unsheathed Knives,” says: “Hopepunk is a subgenre and a philosophy that ‘says kindness and softness don’t equal weakness, and that, in this world of brutal cynicism and nihilism, being kind is a political act. An act of rebellion.’”

To understand hopepunk as a concept it helps to understand what it stands in contrast to. Grimdark is a fantasy subgenre characterized by bleak settings in which humanity is fundamentally cutthroat, and where no individual or community can stop the world’s inevitable decline. Hopepunk, in contrast, believes that the very act of trying has meaning, that fighting for positive change in and of itself has worth—especially if we do it together.

read more: Autuonomous — Robots, Love, and Identity Under Capitalism

“I think it's a reaction against the overwhelmingly nihilistic, dystopian slant to a lot of stories in the world right now,” says author Annalee Newitz (The Future of Another Timeline). For Newitz, hopepunk isn’t a subgenre but rather “a reason to tell stories, a motivation, or maybe a narrative tone.”

“The idea is to tell a story where there are hopeful elements or maybe a hopeful resolution to the characters' struggles,” Newitz says. “I don't mean to suggest it’s all about having a happy ending, because you can have a pretty ambivalent, broody ending that still conveys hope. Hopepunk is really about showing readers that we can make it through even the most difficult situations. Even if your hero dies, hopepunk suggests that someone else will be there to take up her torch and carry on.”

Hopepunk is Curtis blowing up the train at the end of Snowpiercer, or Max and Furiosa deciding to risk everything and go back to the Citadel at the end of Mad Max: Fury Road. It’s Naomi choosing to open the Roci’s door to let in as many desperate Ganymede refugees as possible in The Expanse. It’s believing that humanity may not be inherently good, but we’re not inherently bad either, and that giving people the chance to prove themselves compassionate is a worthwhile choice.

“At Uncanny, we tend to think of this as ‘radical empathy’ or ‘radical kindness’—choosing to do the good, kind thing, even when the system doesn’t encourage that, as an act of courage,” say Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas, the editors of Uncanny Magazine.

read more: City in the Middle of the Night Review

The Thomases contextualize “hopepunk” as a marketing term, one that has gained prominence in the last few years but that has been around much longer: “There have been veins of hope (as opposed to grimdark hopelessness) across literature for hundreds of years, and for decades within the SFF genre.”

If hopepunk, by some definitions, is nothing new, it is a cultural lens seemingly on the rise after a pop culture period ruled by cynical stories, like Breaking Bad and The Dark Knight, and in a real-world environment that has become increasingly distressing.

“We can retreat into paralysis, and pretend that's somehow pragmatic or realistic,” says Newitz. “Or we can say, fine, this is a horrible problem, let's get together with other people and try to solve any small part of it that we can. Those are the two pathways we can take through a narrative, too. We can tell stories about people who try to fix things, rather than rejoicing in their splendid destruction. It’s a way of showing other people that just because things aren’t perfect, doesn’t mean they can’t be better.”

Has the definition of hopepunk changed since Rowland first coined the term?

“The heart of [my original definition] hasn't changed at all, but my efforts to remind people of the angry part of hopepunk definitely have grown,” she says. “The instinct is to make it only about softness and kindness, because those are what we’re most hungry for. We all want to be treated gently. But sometimes the kindest thing you can do for someone is to stand up to a bully on their behalf, and that takes guts and rage.”

read more: How Red, White, and Royal Blue Hopes For a Kinder America

In 2019, hope can feel impossible. If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that the struggle to create a kinder and more just world is one that will never be linear and will never be over. It is bigger than any one of us, and longer than any lifetime. If hopepunk is the stories that keep us trying in the long shadow of that reality, then it is a vital ingredient to the recipe for change.

So what is hopepunk storytelling? It’s whatever you need it to be... as long as what you need it to be is a way forward in the darkness.

“In hindsight,” Rowland says, “I'm just very happy–when so many people find a philosophy like hopepunk meaningful and compelling... it sorta restores a bit of your faith in humanity, doesn’t it? Maybe all is not yet lost if there are enough people around to say, ‘Oh. Yes, this.’”

Hopepunk Reading Guide

Novels

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples Uprooted by Naomi Novik Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal A Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse The Expanse by James S.A. Corey Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

Other

Our Opinions Are Correct Podcast, Episode 22 hosted by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders

Uncanny Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas (recommendations: "Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse" by S.B. Divya, "Sun, Moon, Dust," by Ursula Vernon, and "Packing" by T. Kingfisher)

Hopepunk Author Interviews

Due to the nature of print media, I was unable to include as many of my interviewees' insightful thoughts on hopepunk as I would have liked to. Here is a guide to the full interviews from various speculative fiction authors and editors. I highly recommend clicking through to read them in their entirety.

An Interview with Alexandra Rowland, Author of A Choir of Lies

Excerpt: "By telling hopepunk stories, we necessarily have to be asking questions like, 'How do we care about each other in a world which so aggressively doesn't care about so many of the people in our communities? Who do we consider community, and is that definition too narrow? How do we fight back against the people who want to make us sit down and shut up?'"

An Interview with Annalee Newitz, Author of The Future of Another Timeline

Excerpt: "I think hopepunk is the opposite of apathy. In so many stories these days, characters are (literally or metaphorically) lighting cigarettes and enjoying the end of the world. They may look cool doing it, but it's profoundly anti-social and toxic. As soon as your characters don't give a shit about anything, you're leaving hopepunk behind."

An Interview with Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damien Thomas, Editors of Uncanny Magazine

Excerpt: "We think that the world can always use more radical empathy and radical kindness. Culture is, fundamentally, a mix of people giving in to their most kind and least kind impulses, and much of our storytelling comes from that inherent conflict. We'd rather encourage the former, personally."

An Interview with Ferrett Steinmetz, Author of The Sol Majestic

Excerpt: "I loved it the moment I heard it. I'm an old punk who knocked around some of the Nazis that the Dead Kennedys decried in 'Nazi Punks F**k Off,' so the idea of punk utilized for something other than some Hot Topic-style cynicism flooded me with joy."

Note: The title of this article comes from hopepunk musician Frank Turner's "Blackout."

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature

Culture

Kayti Burt

Nov 7, 2019

Hopepunk

NYCC

NYCC 2019

from Books https://ift.tt/32pEbOv

[wingedscribe]

for the OC questions: tbh pick any OC or OCs you want to yell about (I love them all) and use the letters that spell your first name!

You know, I’m going to alternate a bunch of characters from Godkiller, which is the working title for the story I’m working on. 

C: Comfort: Riyu1. how do they sit in a chair?

Riyu tends to sit very precisely in a chair, straightbacked, perfect posture. If she knows she’s not being watched, she might relax a little. 2. in what position do they sleep?

Curled up in the fetal position. If there is someone else there Riyu curls into them. 3. what is their ideal comfort day?

For Riyu, it’s just being able to wander through a city or area, with enough money to grab some food if they need it, but just wandering and being a fly on the wall, listening. 4. what is their major comfort food? why?

For Riyu, they’re usually comforted by fresh bread. Simple but good. 5. who is the best at comforting them when down?

Yire, her father, is. Yire knows the pressures that Riyu is under better than anyone else and can usually manage to cheer her up. 

A: Aptitude: Hema1. what are your oc’s natural abilities, things they’ve been doing since young?

Hema has the same precise temoral and spatial awareness that Riyu has; while he’s less skilled at peering through time, he can view through space better and also has found a way to use his powers to heal things. 2. what activities have they participated in?

Since childhood, Hema has been raised among Raiders, piratelike airship denizens who exist on the outskirts of the Empire. So extralegal or illegal work is basically his specialty. 3. what abilities do they have that they’ve worked for?

Hema’s strength is largely something he’s worked for, as he had a slight build and had to really work to be physically strong; additionally, he worked through a shy childhood to become a charismatic and outgoing person. 4. what things are they bad at?

Stealth is very bad for Hema; doing things quietly is not his specialty. 5. what is their most impressive talent?

His cheerful charisma. He’s just a happy friendly dude with a knack for getting other people to get along with him. And go along with what he’s saying. 

S: Streets: Sihuri1. are they street-smart?

Very; Sihuri grew up on the streets after slipping away from a Sunsguard patrol that realized they matched the description of an Avatar for Maragi-Na. Given those circumstances, and the fact that their profession (courtesan) is generally unsafe, they know their way around streets very well. 2. would they give money to someone on the streets?

If they had enough to spare (which they usually don’t), yes. 3. have they ever gotten in a fight on the streets?

Absolutely. By the point of the story, though, they are known well enough as an uncanny and dangerous person that most people who know the area don’t mess with them. 4. has anything happened to them on the streets?

Yes, especially when they were younger. Fortunately, their ability to see people’s secrets helped them avoid dangerous people, but they couldn’t get out of every situation. They’ve definitely gotten beaten up a few times, and being both pretty and androgynous caused people to try to prey on them. Unfortunately for everyone who is not Sihuri, they had no idea who they were cornering in a back alley, and few of them survived. 5. are they cautious when out?

To a degree. They don’t do anything openly dangerous, but they know that their reputation has given them a margin of safety on the street, and they have blackmail on most of the authorities who might come after them. 

P: Personality: Ayino1. what is their best personality trait?

Ayino is very self-sacrificing, which is a good trait in moderation. They are willing to die for people and causes they care about. 2. what is their worst personality trait?

Their secrecy. Ayino is a bit of a paranoid bastard and never tells anyone else the full extent of plans he has, expecting them to disapprove or try to stop him, or else to be in trouble if they knew enough to reveal the plan to anyone else. This means very few people trust him. 3. what of their personality do others love?

People tend to love Ayino for his humor and his rather bashful, quiet nature. 4. what of their personality do others envy?

Ayino is incredibly good at tracking, survival in wilderness, and navigating, which can earn them some enemies, especially when others have to rely on them in order to survive. 5. do they hate anything about their personality/about other’s personalities?

Ayino hates people who are cruel for no reason other than to be cruel. 

E: External Personality: Nihemu1. does the way they do things portray their internal personality?

Not really--Nihemu acts much more extravagant and casual than she is. She’s a trained assassin acting as a cheerful socialite. 2. do they do things that conform to the norm?

No. Nihemu is not a conventional woman by any measure of the term, and acts the part of the Raider captain who flaunts her radicalism and cheer. 3. do they follow trends or do their own thing?

Very much does her own thing. 4. are they up-to-date on the internet fads?

The internet does not exist in Daxire. If it did exist, she’d just pick up on trends because Hema would know them and mention them. 5. do they portray their personality intentionally or let people figure it out on their own?

She very much does not portray her personality (which, internally, is a very calculating person) and hopes that others don’t figure it out. 

R: Rules: Yire1. do they follow rules?

In general, yes. Yire was raised in the Hidden Knives and the strict upbringing that involved. 2. would they be a strict or laid-back parent?

One might assume he’s a strict parent, but in fact he’s a completely doting father who is a pushover when his kids want something. HE LOVES HIS KIDS SO MUCH.3. have they ever been consequenced for breaking a rule?

First of all, consequenced is NOT a word. Second of all, yes. He tried to leave the Hidden Knives, and the consequence of getting caught doing that is one of your friends is punished for it, not you, but you have to watch. It was easily one of the worst experiences of Yire’s life. 4. have they broken any rules they now regret breaking?

See the above answer; if they knew Ayino (because it was Ayino who got hurt) would be punished for his actions, he never would have tried to leave. 5. do they find any rules they/others follow absolutely ridiculous?

They find most of the rules around the Hidden Knives needless, cruel, or excessive, but can’t do much about it. 

[jezfletcher]

1000 Albums, 2020: Top Tracks #25-1

Following on from Part 1 of my Top 50 tracks, here are the very top tracks I loved this year. It's been a terrible year, of course, but there has been some truly excellent music released. Read on. />

25. rook&nomie - soft atrocity (hyperpop)

me&you by rook&nomie

Once I fell in love with the music of Ada Rook earlier in the year, I sought out her other work—and being the prolific artist she is, there were several more releases that fell within the ambit of the 2020 music project. This is a beautiful bit of off-kilter pop, complete with synthpop bubblegum riffs and a combination of softly, sweetly sung lyrics and harsh screams. It’s a killer combination.

24. Will Joseph Cook - Something To Feel Good About (indie pop)

Will Joseph Cook has a kind of effortless charm in writing enjoyable pop tracks, and this is the top effort from his (very late) 2020 effort. This is a pleasantly two-gear track, with almost a soft adult-contemporary verse, that somehow ratchets up the energy in the chorus to make you want to groove. It’s a catchy, very agreeable track.

23. Courteeners - Better Man (britpop)

A beautiful piece of oldskool rock n roll, imbued with the melancholy of 90s and 00s indie rock. It makes it feel undeniably modern, despite the fact that all of its influences are at least 20 years old. Courteeners have provided some excellent music this year, but this track is the best. “I’m trying to be a better man/Whatever that is”. Aren’t we all?

22. MOBS - School’s Out (80s pastiche pop)

A really fun bit of pop from Australian outfit MOBS, who are really leaning into the 80s-ness of modern synthpop. This has exactly the synth set you might expect from a 1988 boy band, delivered with a danceable energy that almost makes you visualise the terrible, terrible video clip that would accompany it. But it’s unashamed about what it is—and the energy it brings as a result is great. My only concern with this song (the better of the two MOBS songs on my wider list here) is that unlike Big World, it doesn’t have a horn section. And really, that’s a criminal oversight.

21. Luis Pestana - Sangra (experimental electronica)

Rosa Pano by Luis Pestana

A great, evocative and unnerving piece of music, working through highly edited plainchant, fuzzy noise and a repeated motif of chiming bells. This whole album from Luis Pestana was an outstanding collection of music, but this is the piece of music which first made me realise how momentous it was.

20. Hugo Kant - High Gravity (downtempo nu-jazz)

Far From Home by Hugo Kant

Hugo Kant is an artist that really came from nowhere for me this year (well, not nowhere: I found it on Bandcamp’s weekly “releases you might like” list), but his brim-filled November album was a clear stand-out, and took out my #4 Album of the Year. This is the top song from it, a plunderphonic downtempo soundscape that matches a complex syncopated rhythm to a menacing bassline with jazz flute twiddles over the top. Who doesn’t like that?

19. The Flaming Lips - Mother I’ve Taken LSD (psychedelic rock)

The Flaming Lips’ 2020 album was the best of their music I think I’ve ever heard. This song nicely captures what was so good about it. It has an almost orchestral trajectory to it, evoking a sense of longing and disassociation perfectly for its psychedelic roots. But the overall effect is not mind-opening, but melancholy and introspective. It’s a great piece of music.

18. eleventyseven - Battlecats (synthpop punk)

I really love this track, but it’s undeniably very stupid. As an exercise, it seems to be trying to cram in as many pop culture references as it can. The cynic in me would love to write it off in the way I wrote off Ready Player One, but there’s something undeniably playful and satirical about it. Couple this with a genuine punk energy—filtered through many layers of synths—and you get a song that’s genuinely a huge, huge amount of fun. It’s certainly enough for me to forget that eleventyseven used to be a purely Christian rock band. We all develop over time, don’t we?

17. Igorrr - Lost in Introspection (baroque breakcore)

Igorrr is an absolutely ridiculous artist who in a perfect world would be shunned like a medieval circus freak. But somehow, his bizarre mix of baroque chamber music, thrashing breakcore beats and operatic vocal lines can absolutely take you on a musical journey. Never is this clearer in the jagged, unnerving Lost in Introspection, which pinballs between overdriven guitar, concert piano, tremolo-laden vocals, all with a constantly shifting meter. You can never predict where it’s going. Even as I’ve heard it about 20-30 times this year it still manages to surprise me.

16. Polly Scattergood - In This Moment (spoken word triphop)

There’s something to this track which reminds me a lot of the great Kae Tempest. Scattergood doesn’t spit truth in the same way, but there’s definitely something poetic to her softly delivered spoken word lyrics, while an almost industrial triphop gives a dark synthwave atmosphere underneath. Even better is the way it builds across the track—it gets more urgent, darker, louder, more immediate. Excellent stuff and absolutely the standout from Scattergood’s album.

15. Dent May - Hotel Stationery (indie fuzzpop)

Late Checkout by Dent May

I don’t make up these genres by the way (a lie: I make up a huge number of these genres, but I didn’t make up “fuzzpop”). What is fuzzpop? I still don’t really know, but this is quite a folkish tune, downtempo and melodic, but incorporating some of the more atmospheric ideas of dreampop and folktronica. There’s something hauntingly beautiful about the melody here, coupled with some touchingly banal lines of lyrics (it opens “I’m writing you a note/On hotel stationery/Just to let you know/You’re extraordinary”, which requires some pleasingly acrobatic scansion). It’s definitely one of the melodies of this year’s music project which I get in my head a lot. That’s certainly the kind of thing which can propel a song quite high in this list.

14. Another Sky - Fell In Love With The City (indie prog rock)

A hauntingly beautiful piece of rock, it’s atmospherically created with glissing guitar riff and lead singer Catrin Vincent’s ethereal vocals. She has a beautifully androgynous quality to her voice, jumping between upper tenor and soaring soprano, and it’s mesmerising instrument to put with this captivating piece of music. I love this piece of music and it absolutely elevated the whole album.

13. Lola Marsh - Like In The Movies (Israeli pop rock)

Not the last Lola Marsh we’ll see in this list, which gives you an indication why this album ended up my #5 album of the year. This is a beautifully put together bit of soft, dreamy rock. Underneath everything it has this gently pulsating bass that grooves back and forward, end which eventually leads to a surprisingly exultant climax, perfectly matched with a swell of strings. It’s a great bit of music.

12. Ada Rook - Reverie (JH Ligation Experiment 1) (breakbeat electropop)

There’s a shudder in this track everytime the overdriven bass thumps the first beat of each bar, it absolutely drives the music forward, but captures perfectly the anguish and anger of this song thematically. This is coupled with industrial synths, beautifully edited vocals which showcase both Rook’s vocal delicateness and her heartfelt screams (an absolute trademark of the artist). This was my favourite track from Rook’s 2,020 Knives, my #1 album of the year, and more than anything it encapsulates everything I loved about that extraordinary collection of music.

11. Trixie Mattel - Video Games (country folk cover)

My favourite Drag Race alumna Trixie Mattel had a whole album of music this year, which included the excellent Malibu. But her top track was this surprise cover of Lana Del Rey, done with a wonderfully atmospheric outlaw country vibe. Trixie’s sweetly clear vocals reverberate beautifully over her ubiquitous autoharp, midnight dark whistling, and subtle tympanies drawing out a sense of dark drama from the song. As far as I’m concerned, this is now the canonical version of this song—it has more atmosphere and more emotion than the original.

10. KES - Na let go / (when ah) Jamdong / (with d) Boss Lady (soca)

I’ve spent some amount of effort in the music project trying to find the particular brand of reggae that I like. It’s something that I feel should exist—upbeat, but still chilled, danceable with island rhythms. Dancehall gets a bit closer, but still isn’t quite in the sweet spot. It turns out, what I was looking for all this time was Trinidadian soca. This has calypso rhythms done with a punchy dancehall drive, and a Latin horn section to really exalt the mood. I realised when listening to KES’s album earlier in the year that this style of music is one of the reasons I so like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, musically often the superior of his shows (or at least certainly the more danceable and upbeat). This track is a medley of three tracks which blend really nicely into each other, and which give you a little journey that never loses its energy. It’s 7 minutes of pure fun.

9. Emerson Hart - Lucky One (heartland rock)

If we’re talking anthemic songs, this has to just about take the prize for the year. This has the kind of song you just want to chant at the top of your lungs with your arm slung around the person next to you in the crowd. Of course, 2020 doesn’t allow for opportunities like that, but I’m glad that Emerson Hart is still providing songs for this purpose anyway. The rollicking 6/8 rhythms perfectly switch between a quietly building verse that smashes into an almost octave-higher swoop at the start of the chorus. The Americana-tinged instrumentation gives it an earthiness that grounds it as well. It’s a great bit of songwriting, and one that I’ll continue singing along to exuberantly. Even if that’s just alone in my room.

8. Uncanny Valley - Beautiful the World (AI dance pop)

You’re forgiven if you’ve never heard of this band. This is in fact the Australian entry in this year’s Eurovision-style AI music competition. Melodically and lyrically, this was written by an AI, and this is absolutely and amusingly evident when you listen to it. But there’s something I absolutely love about this as a concept—how an AI parses and reinterprets music gives us fascinating insights into the patterns we find in music written by humans, and while there are moments of this song which are ridiculous, the input from the AI absolutely takes the music in places that it wouldn’t have gone. Of course, to call this a pure AI track is disingenuous, as it’s very much structured with human help, and part of the joy is the oddities nestling in what’s otherwise a very enjoyable bit of upbeat electropop. But so many of the elements just click for me—I certainly don’t think this is the last AI-augmented track that will end up on my end-of-year lists.

7. Villagers - Did You Know? (indie folk)

Villagers are a band who I hold in very high esteem with regards to the music project. They were a band I came across very early in 2016, just as we’d started the very first music project, and they made me realise just what a valuable experience listening to so much music was going to be. Annoyingly, by our official guidelines for the project (which are that it runs from December to December), this is just outside the released dates, as the EP it came from was released in the last week of November 2019, which was the week after we’d stopped last year’s project. So by the rules, it’s ineligible, but by our own actions, there was literally not a year that it fit into. Anyway, I’m including it because it’s obviously a great song, haunting in melody with a pleasant acoustic backing track that still manages to evoke an eerie atmospheric quality. It’s Villagers back in form for sure, and this is an excellent song, well deserving of a high place in this list.

6. Chemtrails - Uncanny Valley (psychedelic garage pop)

The Peculiar Smell of the Inevitable [LP] by Chemtrails

A really fun track, which owes a lot of its schtick to finding more and more outlandish rhymes for “Uncanny Valley” (“we don’t dilly-dally”, "they don't get pally", “dark trash alley”). My favourite line though is “so I fell a few rungs on the social ladder/Things are bad, but they could be badder”, which is *chef’s kiss* to me. It’s beautifully rounded out with a competently driven surf/garage rock riff or two which provide a persistent bounce and almost a pop punk energy. It’s a catchy little tune that just has those little hooks—the humour, the riffs, the rhythmic push—that absolutely elevate it to song of the year status. It constantly puts a smile on my face no matter how many times I’ve heard it this year.

5. Andy Shauf - Try Again (indie pop)

This is such a beautifully simple song. It has a storytelling element, as Shauf recounts a series of lightly amusing anecdotes in his relationship, all prefaced with “somewhere between drunkenness and chivalry/sincerity/honesty/etc…”. But there’s a beautiful light melody driving it forward, pleasantly augmented by a clarinet counterpoint, which also provides part of the iconic riff between chorus and verse (I still haven’t managed to tease out what else is part of that mix). It’s a simple, sweet bit of music which shows that tracks that capture something unique within a straightforward format can absolutely stand apart.

4. Lola Marsh - Echoes (Israeli pop rock)

Here’s the second track from Lola Marsh in this list. These two tracks (this and Like At The Movies) were always high in my mind, and I thought they were likely to drag the album very close to being my Album of the Year. In the end, they stood out individually a bit more than they did in the album as a whole, but a top 5 finish for its top song provides a nice mirroring for the position of the album. This is melodically and harmonically great, and put together with a style that captures some Lana Del Rey style folk pop and a kind of dark country in the guitars. Best is the swirling harmonies of the chorus, which seem to develop modulations into deeper and darker minor tonalities before bursting out into an exultant burst of resolving suspended chords. It gives me shivers. There’s a different version of this track on the album performed as an outro without any percussion, and both versions work so well you can see why they included both.

3. Sea Girls - Do You Really Want To Know? (indie pop rock)

Here’s possibly the best example of chunky, upbeat pop rock of the year. It follows the formula, sure, especially the split between verse and chorus. But there’s moments of truly exaltant fun—subtle steel drums in the chorus, bringing in an off-beat hihat for the chewy rich instrumental section after each chorus, the stomp-and-chant quality of the vocal line. I love it and it constantly provides a mood boost, no matter how many times I’ve heard it this year. It’s a perfectly constructed pop rock track as far as I’m concerned. I also got great joy earlier in the year watching the 4-year-old unabashedly dancing around the living room to this track. I’ll admit that that image promotes this somewhat in my mind.

2. Kishi Bashi - Never Ending Dream (indie pop)

I am a tiny bit conflicted about this track. Because it’s a stunningly awesome bit of chamber pop—it’s a sound that Kishi Bashi has absolutely made his own over the past 5-10 years, and this is honestly probably the best track Kishi Bashi has ever made. That’s saying something for an artist who has made two albums in my top-of-the-year lists in the past 5 years. The conflict comes from the fact that this was written as the theme song for a children’s CG-animated TV show on Apple TV, called Stillwater, about three kids and their friendly neighbour who is an anthropomorphic panda. Obviously, it being a TV theme is not a disqualifier; I mean one of the greatest pieces of music ever written (“Theme to Ducktales”) was a kids’ TV theme. But part of me wants to believe that there’s a purity to the music that transcends the ties to the commercial. I’m probably being naive. And, I am willing to take this song on its own merits, because it has these in abundance. The chorus is exulaltant, filled with Bashi’s trademark pizzicati and delicate falsetto, and the moments of quiet are pierced by fierce percussive moments of syncopated rhythm. Let’s hope that Kishi Bashi is raking in the sweet, sweet TV theme dollars as a result. A song like this deserves it.

1. Dyble Longdon - Obedience (chamber folk)

Between A Breath And A Breath by Dyble Longdon

So we’ve had some instances in the past where I’ve been clearly wrong about a song, or an album, in the week that I’ve heard it. But this is perhaps the most egregious we’ve seen, because this took out neither Track of the Week, nor Runner Up in the week it came out. To some extent, this was because I’d already given Dyble Longdon an album award (I said at the time “I have a feeling that Obedience is actually the best song of the week”)—but it’s still unforgivable that what is now my Song of the Year couldn’t even win its week. This is a sullen song in some parts, with a melody that comes very much from the tradition of English folk music—it evokes thoughts of Scarborough Fair, perhaps—but multi-instrumentalist David Longdon brings an ecstatic crescendo to the music, with a full orchestral swell and complex almost tribal percussion in the second half of the track. It’s a blissful, absolutely thrilling moment when that full sound roars out. In a devastating stroke of cruelty, Julie Dyble, one half of the duo (and formerly of Fairport Convention), died not long before the album was released, meaning this is the one and only collaboration we’re going to have between the two. But let’s celebrate the moment that we get. There you have it. These Top 50 tracks are available as a sorted Spotify playlist if you're so incined. Later this week, when I post the longer list of tracks and albums, I'll post an even more comprehensive playlist of my favourite tracks, including tracks from all of my top albums, and at least my full 100 top tracks. Until then, enjoy your break. Now I have a magnum of Tripel Karmeliet with my name on it waiting for me.

[barbosaasouza]

Destiny 2 - All Exotic Hunter Armor

The Hunter class in Destiny 2 goes from underwhelming to powerhouse all because of the exotic armor available to players. No other class features exotic armor that complements super abilities as much as it does the Hunter. Sure, the Warlock and Titan do have some incredible exotics, but in terms of straight up benefits to the super ability, the Hunter has the most powerful exotic armor in Destiny 2. Here’s a list of every piece that you need to collect, plus the traits and intrinsic perks that come with it.

Young Ahamkara’s Spine

Full Review of Young Ahamkara's Spine

Type: Gauntlets

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Wish-Dragon Teeth - Increases Tripmine Grenade duration and marks enemies damaged by the blast.

Good or Bad: I don’t like calling anything bad because the right player can find a use for this in the right circumstance, but there are almost always better options when it comes to exotic Hunter armor.

Mechaneer’s Tricksleeves

Type: Gauntlets

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Spring-Loaded Mounting - Increases sidearm ready and reload speed.

Good or Bad: If you are a sidearm maniac in Crucible, there could be value here. Otherwise, these are not the exotic arms you’re looking for.

Raiden Flux

Full Review of Raiden Flux

Type: Chest Armor

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Synapse Junctions - Quick successive attacks with Arc Staff increase its damage output and duration.

Good or Bad: Amazing. Pair this with your Arc Staff super ability and you can clear entire rooms of enemies without running out of juice. These can decimate a Royal Beast in the Leviathan raid, or clean out one of the rooms during The Whisper quest for the Whisper of the Worm exotic sniper rifle.

Lucky Raspberry

Type: Chest Armor

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Probability Matrix - Increases the chaining capabilities of Arc Bolt Grenade and has a chance to recharge it each time it deals damage.

Good or Bad: Requires a higher skill level, but these can be good in the right PvE situation. I still feel like there are much better options out there for the Arcstrider, like the Raiden Flux.

The Dragon’s Shadow

Type: Chest Armor

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Wraithmetal Mail - Grants increased movement and weapon handling speed for a short time after dodging.

Good or Bad: Bad, which is a shame. This is one of the cooler looking exotic armor pieces when it comes to Hunters, but the benefit just isn’t there compared to other options. I forget to dodge most of the time as it is, and when I do it's normally just to reload. I'm not doing much sprinting afterwards.

Knucklehead Radar

Full Review of Knucklehead Radar

Type: Helmet

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Upgraded Sensor Pack - Provides radar while aiming.

Good or Bad: Good in PvP if you’re not running the MIDA Multi-Tool. You can ADS (aim down sight) with your weapon and keep your radar active to avoid being flanked. If you run Golden Gun in the Crucible, you might choose this exotic helmet over the Celestial Nighthawk.

Celestial Nighthawk

Full Review of Celestial Nighthawk

Type: Helmet

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Hawkeye Hack - Modifies Golden Gun to fire a single, high-damage (6x) shot. Enemies eliminated by the shot explode.

Good or Bad: Best in the group. You can insane amounts of damage to Calus with this, or chunk a Fallen Walker down to half health. It will obliterate most yellow-bar enemies in Lost Sectors. It’s a monster. Do not wear it in the Crucible. You’re better off having three Golden Gun shots there since they will typically one-shot any PvP Guardian.

Foetracer

Type: Helmet

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Relentless Tracker - Visually marks targeted enemies. Deals more damage to low-health marked enemies.

Good or Bad: I can’t imagine a situation where a player would choose this over one of the big three, those being Celestial Nighthawk, Raiden Flux or Orpheus Rig. Plus, I don’t like the look of it, and Destiny 2 is all about fashion!

Lucky Pants

Type: Leg Armor

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Illegally Modded Holster - Increases hand cannon ready speed and initial accuracy.

Good or Bad: If you love hand cannons and play a lot of Crucible, I could see how this might be appealing. Not likely useful for PvE and, as someone who doesn’t love hand cannons, not my favorite.

Orpheus Rig

Full Review of Orpheus Rig

Type: Leg Armor

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Uncanny Arrows - Provides ability energy for each enemy tethered by Shadowshot anchors.

Good or Bad: Amazing. The more enemies you anchor with your Shadowshot, the faster you get your super ability back. If you anchor an entire group from a Fallen Skiff, you can instantly super again. This is for big PvE mobs, not single enemies or the Crucible.

St0mp-EE5

Full Review of St0mp-EE5

Type: Leg Armor

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Hydraulic Boosters - Increases sprint speed and slide distance. Improves double jump.

Good or Bad: These were buffed recently, and have gone from something I'd never wear to something I might wear in the right scenario. They could be a benefit for almost any jumping puzzle in the game. However, they will never be the Bones of Eao, which gave me a fourth jump when I combined them with triple jump in the origina Destiny. 

Aeon Swift

Type: Gauntlets

Trait: Impact Absorption Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Aeon Energy - Dodging near allies grants grenade energy to Warlocks, barricade energy to Titans, and dodge energy to Hunters.

Good or Bad: It's interesting, but I have a tough time seeing how you could justify this over the big three; Celestial Nighthawk, Raiden Flux or Orpheus Rig. Could be very useful in very specific situations where having a Towering Barricade or Healing Rift is the difference between success and death. Even then, is providing ability energy to your allies really better than hitting Calus with a Golden Gun and Celestial Nighthawk combination? Nah.

Gemini Jester

Full Review of Gemini Jester

Type: Leg Armor

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Misdirection - Dodging disorients nearby enemies and temporarily removes their radars.

Good or Bad: Good for skilled Hunters in the Crucible, especially if they are using the Arcstrider subclass with the Arc Staff super ability. I would even combine this with the Way of the Wind perk tree. You'll take less damage while dodging, and when you dodge you'll remove your opponent's radar and disorient them. This would make Arc Staff especially deadly. Gemini Jester would be almost useless in PvE, though.

Shinobu's Vow

Full Review of Shinobu's Vow

Type: Gauntlets

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: New Tricks - Improves Skip grenade, and you gain an additional Skip grenade charge.

Good or Bad: The Skip grenade falls into the Arcstrider subclass for the Hunter, which obviously has the Arc Staff super ability. I'm not sure how you could choose this over Raiden Flux in PvE. If you're running the Nightfall and Torrent is active as a modifier, recharging your grenade every few seconds, this might make some sense. 

Graviton Forfeit

Type: Helmet

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Vanishing Shadow - Increases the duration of any invisibility effects. Your melee recharges faster while you are invisible.

Good or Bad: Bad. In the original Destiny, where Hunters had more ways to go invisible, this could have been a monster in Crucible, or in specific PvE situations where you needed to remain undetected for a short period of time. In Destiny 2, however, the only place I can see this being useful is when you're clearing out Watchers from the underbelly of the Leviathan.

Ophidia Spathe

Type: Chest Armor

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Scissor Fingers - Grants two knives per charge.

Good or Bad: I really like the idea of having two knives, but this comes off more as a gimmick than anything. You could use it to complete a bounty or task to unlock an ornament, but in an actual fight, what value do you get here?

Wormhusk Crown

Type: Helmet

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Burning Souls - Dodging begins health regeneration. Small bump to health when dodging.

Good or Bad: Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. This is the kind of exotic that makes having five Renown tolerable, or helps you get through a strike where health regeneration is largely restricted. Anything that can help keep you alive in Destiny 2 has some use. Plus, it looks pretty cool.

Sealed Ahamkara Grasps

Type: Gauntlets

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Nightmare Fuel - Dealing melee damage reloads your currently equipped weapon. 

Good or Bad: Cool concept, but I struggle to see the advantage this exotic provides that isn't outdone by something else. When I need to reload I don't think about needing to punch something, and when I punch something and find my gun already reloaded, it catches me off guard, so I probably lose any time I'd save from this perk. Long story short, use something else.

Fr0st-EEF

Type: Leg Armor

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Rapid Cooldown - Increased grenade, melee, and dodge regeneration while sprinting. Dodging increases your sprint speed.

Good or Bad: Good. An exotic piece of armor should provide you a measurable benefit that at least makes you weigh its usefulness against other exotics, and this does that. At its core, this exotic charges my grenade faster, and if I dodge I can sprint faster, which could help me in quite a few time-sensitive scenarios. I don't think I'll use it often, but I'll keep it handy for the right scenario.

You’ll be needing three characters to get the most out of your Destiny 2 life. Once you’ve collected all the exotic Hunter armor, be sure to visit the Shacknews Destiny 2 complete strategy guide for all your Guardian needs.

Destiny 2 - All Exotic Hunter Armor published first on https://superworldrom.tumblr.com/

[barbosaasouza]

Destiny 2 - All Exotic Hunter Armor

The Hunter class in Destiny 2 goes from underwhelming to powerhouse all because of the exotic armor available to players. No other class features exotic armor that complements super abilities as much as it does the Hunter. Sure, the Warlock and Titan do have some incredible exotics, but in terms of straight up benefits to the super ability, the Hunter has the most powerful exotic armor in Destiny 2. Here’s a list of every piece that you need to collect, plus the traits and intrinsic perks that come with it.

Young Ahamkara’s Spine

Full Review of Young Ahamkara's Spine

Type: Gauntlets

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Wish-Dragon Teeth - Increases Tripmine Grenade duration and marks enemies damaged by the blast.

Good or Bad: I don’t like calling anything bad because the right player can find a use for this in the right circumstance, but there are almost always better options when it comes to exotic Hunter armor.

Mechaneer’s Tricksleeves

Type: Gauntlets

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Spring-Loaded Mounting - Increases sidearm ready and reload speed.

Good or Bad: If you are a sidearm maniac in Crucible, there could be value here. Otherwise, these are not the exotic arms you’re looking for.

Raiden Flux

Full Review of Raiden Flux

Type: Chest Armor

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Synapse Junctions - Quick successive attacks with Arc Staff increase its damage output and duration.

Good or Bad: Amazing. Pair this with your Arc Staff super ability and you can clear entire rooms of enemies without running out of juice. These can decimate a Royal Beast in the Leviathan raid, or clean out one of the rooms during The Whisper quest for the Whisper of the Worm exotic sniper rifle.

Lucky Raspberry

Type: Chest Armor

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Probability Matrix - Increases the chaining capabilities of Arc Bolt Grenade and has a chance to recharge it each time it deals damage.

Good or Bad: Requires a higher skill level, but these can be good in the right PvE situation. I still feel like there are much better options out there for the Arcstrider, like the Raiden Flux.

The Dragon’s Shadow

Type: Chest Armor

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Wraithmetal Mail - Grants increased movement and weapon handling speed for a short time after dodging.

Good or Bad: Bad, which is a shame. This is one of the cooler looking exotic armor pieces when it comes to Hunters, but the benefit just isn’t there compared to other options. I forget to dodge most of the time as it is, and when I do it's normally just to reload. I'm not doing much sprinting afterwards.

Knucklehead Radar

Full Review of Knucklehead Radar

Type: Helmet

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Upgraded Sensor Pack - Provides radar while aiming.

Good or Bad: Good in PvP if you’re not running the MIDA Multi-Tool. You can ADS (aim down sight) with your weapon and keep your radar active to avoid being flanked. If you run Golden Gun in the Crucible, you might choose this exotic helmet over the Celestial Nighthawk.

Celestial Nighthawk

Full Review of Celestial Nighthawk

Type: Helmet

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Hawkeye Hack - Modifies Golden Gun to fire a single, high-damage (6x) shot. Enemies eliminated by the shot explode.

Good or Bad: Best in the group. You can insane amounts of damage to Calus with this, or chunk a Fallen Walker down to half health. It will obliterate most yellow-bar enemies in Lost Sectors. It’s a monster. Do not wear it in the Crucible. You’re better off having three Golden Gun shots there since they will typically one-shot any PvP Guardian.

Foetracer

Type: Helmet

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Relentless Tracker - Visually marks targeted enemies. Deals more damage to low-health marked enemies.

Good or Bad: I can’t imagine a situation where a player would choose this over one of the big three, those being Celestial Nighthawk, Raiden Flux or Orpheus Rig. Plus, I don’t like the look of it, and Destiny 2 is all about fashion!

Lucky Pants

Type: Leg Armor

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Illegally Modded Holster - Increases hand cannon ready speed and initial accuracy.

Good or Bad: If you love hand cannons and play a lot of Crucible, I could see how this might be appealing. Not likely useful for PvE and, as someone who doesn’t love hand cannons, not my favorite.

Orpheus Rig

Full Review of Orpheus Rig

Type: Leg Armor

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Uncanny Arrows - Provides ability energy for each enemy tethered by Shadowshot anchors.

Good or Bad: Amazing. The more enemies you anchor with your Shadowshot, the faster you get your super ability back. If you anchor an entire group from a Fallen Skiff, you can instantly super again. This is for big PvE mobs, not single enemies or the Crucible.

St0mp-EE5

Full Review of St0mp-EE5

Type: Leg Armor

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Hydraulic Boosters - Increases sprint speed and slide distance. Improves double jump.

Good or Bad: These were buffed recently, and have gone from something I'd never wear to something I might wear in the right scenario. They could be a benefit for almost any jumping puzzle in the game. However, they will never be the Bones of Eao, which gave me a fourth jump when I combined them with triple jump in the origina Destiny. 

Aeon Swift

Type: Gauntlets

Trait: Impact Absorption Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Aeon Energy - Dodging near allies grants grenade energy to Warlocks, barricade energy to Titans, and dodge energy to Hunters.

Good or Bad: It's interesting, but I have a tough time seeing how you could justify this over the big three; Celestial Nighthawk, Raiden Flux or Orpheus Rig. Could be very useful in very specific situations where having a Towering Barricade or Healing Rift is the difference between success and death. Even then, is providing ability energy to your allies really better than hitting Calus with a Golden Gun and Celestial Nighthawk combination? Nah.

Gemini Jester

Full Review of Gemini Jester

Type: Leg Armor

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Misdirection - Dodging disorients nearby enemies and temporarily removes their radars.

Good or Bad: Good for skilled Hunters in the Crucible, especially if they are using the Arcstrider subclass with the Arc Staff super ability. I would even combine this with the Way of the Wind perk tree. You'll take less damage while dodging, and when you dodge you'll remove your opponent's radar and disorient them. This would make Arc Staff especially deadly. Gemini Jester would be almost useless in PvE, though.

Shinobu's Vow

Full Review of Shinobu's Vow

Type: Gauntlets

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: New Tricks - Improves Skip grenade, and you gain an additional Skip grenade charge.

Good or Bad: The Skip grenade falls into the Arcstrider subclass for the Hunter, which obviously has the Arc Staff super ability. I'm not sure how you could choose this over Raiden Flux in PvE. If you're running the Nightfall and Torrent is active as a modifier, recharging your grenade every few seconds, this might make some sense. 

Graviton Forfeit

Type: Helmet

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Vanishing Shadow - Increases the duration of any invisibility effects. Your melee recharges faster while you are invisible.

Good or Bad: Bad. In the original Destiny, where Hunters had more ways to go invisible, this could have been a monster in Crucible, or in specific PvE situations where you needed to remain undetected for a short period of time. In Destiny 2, however, the only place I can see this being useful is when you're clearing out Watchers from the underbelly of the Leviathan.

Ophidia Spathe

Type: Chest Armor

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Scissor Fingers - Grants two knives per charge.

Good or Bad: I really like the idea of having two knives, but this comes off more as a gimmick than anything. You could use it to complete a bounty or task to unlock an ornament, but in an actual fight, what value do you get here?

Wormhusk Crown

Type: Helmet

Trait: Plasteel Reinforcement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Burning Souls - Dodging begins health regeneration. Small bump to health when dodging.

Good or Bad: Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. This is the kind of exotic that makes having five Renown tolerable, or helps you get through a strike where health regeneration is largely restricted. Anything that can help keep you alive in Destiny 2 has some use. Plus, it looks pretty cool.

Sealed Ahamkara Grasps

Type: Gauntlets

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Nightmare Fuel - Dealing melee damage reloads your currently equipped weapon. 

Good or Bad: Cool concept, but I struggle to see the advantage this exotic provides that isn't outdone by something else. When I need to reload I don't think about needing to punch something, and when I punch something and find my gun already reloaded, it catches me off guard, so I probably lose any time I'd save from this perk. Long story short, use something else.

Fr0st-EEF

Type: Leg Armor

Trait: Mobility Enhancement Mod

Intrinsic Perk: Rapid Cooldown - Increased grenade, melee, and dodge regeneration while sprinting. Dodging increases your sprint speed.

Good or Bad: Good. An exotic piece of armor should provide you a measurable benefit that at least makes you weigh its usefulness against other exotics, and this does that. At its core, this exotic charges my grenade faster, and if I dodge I can sprint faster, which could help me in quite a few time-sensitive scenarios. I don't think I'll use it often, but I'll keep it handy for the right scenario.

You’ll be needing three characters to get the most out of your Destiny 2 life. Once you’ve collected all the exotic Hunter armor, be sure to visit the Shacknews Destiny 2 complete strategy guide for all your Guardian needs.

Destiny 2 - All Exotic Hunter Armor published first on https://superworldrom.tumblr.com/