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watcheraurora · 19 days ago

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Man from the Stars/Cod King

Fully, 100% inspired by This (<-Link) Cod King/Codfather Jimmy design by @goatedgreen (sorry to bother with my sort-of-shipping nonsense but I wanted to give credit) that I was physically incapable about being normal about, apparently. Like I literally dropped everything I was doing to slap this one down and get the brainrot out of my head 2.3k words

—

Tango scrambled through the swamp, barely able to find any purchase on the slick, muddy ground. His heavy boots sunk into the mud. He splashed through some deeper water. Panic and exertion made his breathing heavy. The veritable horde of zombies chasing him groaned, reaching toward him to strike. They didn't seem at all fazed by the environment that Tango was struggling so hard to navigate.

He only managed a quick glimpse behind him to gauge the distance he had between himself and the horde.

Too close. They were too close.

And this damn swamp had fully put his fire out. He couldn't conjure any when he was so soaked. It just fizzled out before it properly sparked to life.

He whipped back around and kept running. His boots were heavy, soaked in mud and waterlogged. He could barely lift his feet. They made disgusting sucking noises as he hauled them out of the mud.

His foot slipped, sending him spilling down into the mud.

"Wah-gak!" he exclaimed.

His hands slid and flailed as he tried to get back to his feet. His boots kicked through mud, gouging it out and flinging it everywhere. But didn't help him get upright again in order to run away.

The zombies groaned and snarled, bearing down. Getting closer. Passing through the water as if there was nothing in their way.

Tango made a noise that he was sure was manly and brave—who was he kidding—and tried again to get out of the mud.

The first zombie reached him, grabbing his ankle.

He shrieked.

"Look out!" a voice shouted. Almost inhumanly loud—and that was in Tango's opinion.

There was a flash of light and what sounded like thunder as a dark shape shot over Tango's head.

Multiple zombies went down in a single bolt of lightning. A trident spun in a pair of strong, tanned hands.

The newcomer destroyed the zombies with the teeth of the trident and more lightning, defeating the last one with a slash that sent him into stillness.

By the light above.

The newcomer was well over six-feet tall and one of the most muscular people Tango had ever seen. Barefoot in the mud wearing brown trousers that ended just below his knees to reveal there were fins on the sides of his calves. He had on a sleeveless, green jerkin of some sort to leave his muscled arms and fins on his forearms all exposed. There was a simple sash of frayed greenish fabric and fishing net around his waist, acting like a belt.

A strange, fish-shaped hat sat on his head, the tail of it dangling down his spine. Tango had eaten plenty enough cod to recognize its fin shape. Green fins for ears and dark gold hair poked out from beneath the hat, just long enough to brush his shoulders. The trident in his hand slowly lowered from its attack position.

The man turned around, spinning the trident into a holster along his back. "You okay?" he asked, reaching out to offer a hand.

Tango reached to take it—but stopped. "I'm covered in mud," he said.

The newcomer laughed, sucking in sharp breaths as he did so. "I live in the swamp. You think that bothers me? C'mon."

Tango took the hand.

The newcomer hauled him to his feet with ease. "You okay?"

"Well, I wasn't when I was being chased, but I am now. Thank you. I would have been cooked if you hadn't come along." Tango's gaze traveled up, up, up—this guy had to be a foot taller than him. At the very least. Tango's eyes barely came up to this guy's sternum. This guy would have to lean down to put his chin on the top of Tango's head.

Yikes he was tall.

"Oh it's no problem. I protect and rule over these swamps. So. Y'know. Gotta keep the mobs down." He had a bright, nice smile below the cod hat. Which fully covered his eyes.

There were also green scales on his shoulders and gills on his neck.

"What's your name?" the newcomer asked.

Tango blinked, straining his neck a little to look up at him. "Tango."

The newcomer's smile widened. He pulled the hat off. "Nice to meet you, Tango. I'm the Cod King. But you can call me Jimmy."

Be still Tango's beating heart. The Cod King was gorgeous under that hat.

Warm hazel-brown eyes glittered off the stars as he smiled. He had a strong jaw, defining nose, and thick hair.

"Let's get you back to my place. Get you cleaned up and safe before anything else spawns." The Cod King pulled his trident back out and looked around before gesturing toward a lit patch of land in the distance.

He kept vigilant watch as Tango stumbled through the swamp, though the Cod King seemed not to notice how difficult the terrain was to navigate. He just marched over it like he wasn't sinking in the mud or slowed by the water.

Tango slipped again—the Cod King caught him around the chest with one powerful arm. "Whoa there! Watch your step!"

"How are you barefoot?" Tango asked.

The Cod King shrugged. "Too much mud for shoes."

He waved with his trident as they passed through a patch of clearer water, soaking Tango down and rinsing off most of the mud. He began to shiver as steam rose from his head. "Warn a guy next time, maybe?" He screwed his eyes shut and began to stoke his internal fire, trying to warm himself back up. "Some of us can't be spontaneously soaked! We're not all fish, Your Majesty!"

The Cod King gagged. "Please don't call me that. That's horrendous. It's just Jimmy." He cleared his throat. "And I'm sorry."

Tango kept shaking as they continued moving. "It's fine," he muttered.

Eventually, they made it back to a house on stilts in the swamp.

"King, huh?"

"Not all kings want castles. Not all kings know how to build them. Nor live in an environment with a stable enough foundation for a structure like that. You should see my sister's palace," Jimmy remarked, mounting the steps and helping Tango up them. He set his trident against one wall just inside the doorway. "Let's get you warmed up and fed, yeah?"

"P-p-p-p-please," Tango said around his shivering.

Within moments, a fire crackled in the hearth and a pot was put over it to cook something. "Soup?"

"Great."

"So. Tango. How did you come across my lands?"

"I... don't know. I don't remember... anything from before this. I was falling for a long time through darkness. And then I crashed into the mud. I don't remember anything before that. Just my name, my Blaze blood, and my fire. Oh. And redstone. I'd never forget how to do that." He chuckled. "Well. Not the basics. After a warmup."

Jimmy smiled even as his eyes narrowed like he had no idea what Tango meant. "Alright, man from the stars. Well. I'm glad I ran into you. I don't get to host guests often, but better for me to find you than leave you at the mercy of the swamp at night. If those zombies had turned into Drowned, you could have ended up getting skewered if one shifted with a trident." He nodded toward his weapon next to the door as he scooped up a blanket and draped it over Tango's shoulders. "Huddle close to the fire. You said you were Blaze blood, right?"

"Yep."

"Should make you feel better, right? The heat?"

"Should." Tango didn't need to be invited twice. He crouched next to the hearth and plunged his hands directly into the flames.

"Whoa! Hey! Don't—"

"What? Burn myself?" Tango smiled slyly, looking at the Cod King over one shoulder. "I can't burn."

"Oh. Er... right." Jimmy cleared his throat. He waved a hand and the pot suspended over the fire filled with water. He went into a small kitchen and rooted through some barrels on shelves near the ceiling before returning and dumping some vegetables into the water, along with a cooked chicken that chopped itself as it fell in.

"You're very good at magic," Tango said.

Jimmy blushed. "Not really," he said. "It's just instinct for me. Force of will."

"Still good."

He shook his head. "Nah." He went back to the kitchen pulled out bowls. "I, er... I just seem like a natural at magic like that because... never mind."

Tango twisted to watch him as he hung up the cod hat on a hook and started wiping down the counter. "What?" Tango prompted gently. "What were you going to say?"

"Doesn't matter," Jimmy muttered.

"I get it. I'm a stranger. We don't know each other. Keep your secrets." Tango nodded and turned back to the fire. "Y'know, if you used a soul campfire instead of a regular one, you'd cook faster. And keep this place warmer." He shuddered, but he was warming up, with his hands directly in the flames.

"What do you mean?"

"Soul campfires give off less light, but more heat."

"Really?"

Fire finally sparked back to life in Tango's hair, licking up through his messy, gold-blond waves. "I know my way around fire pretty... intimately. Comes with Blaze blood," he replied with an easy shrug.

Jimmy hummed.

He came over with the bowls and some spoons—including a large one to stir the soup in his pot.

Tango fell into silence as he just watched Jimmy stir. For a while at least.

"You're very tall," he said after a bit.

"Six-eight," Jimmy said distractedly, gaze focused on the soup.

Tango whistled. "You got a whole foot on me."

"Have I? Huh."

"Yep. I'm five-eight."

"Huh. Comes with... the rest of it, I guess. Everything else I am. You should see my sister. She's ten-feet tall."

"Wow. Is it... a fish thing?"

"Sure. We can say that."

Tango raised one hand out of the flames, scooping some of the fire up with them. "Let me help." He set his palm on the bottom of the pot.

It grew warm.

"Thanks."

"Only magic I have is fire. Might as well make good use of it to help when I can, right?" Tango smiled.

"S'pose so."

They lapsed back into silence for a bit.

Jimmy cleared his throat. "You're welcome to stay the night here. You're welcome to stay more than one night, if you need to, after that ordeal. Get some rest. I don't have any magic that could restore your memories, but I have a friend I can reach out to. She's a wizard. She might have... something."

"I appreciate it, but one thing at a time, yeah?"

"Right, yeah."

Tango focused on keeping the fire around his hands burning. Barely noticing that Jimmy kept stealing glances at him.

Finally, the soup finished cooking. Jimmy ladled it into the bowls and passed one, with a spoon, to Tango. "Thank you," Tango said, drawing it close to let its warmth seep into him.

Jimmy sat on the floor opposite him. "I, er... I'm technically a god," he admitted quietly. "That's why I'm so tall. That's why magic seems so easy for me. I'm very much a lesser god. But I am still, technically, a god."

Tango looked up at him, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "... Huh," he said.

"Don't worry! You're not in danger. I was raised... mostly like a mortal. I'm not... I'm not wrathful or anything. I'm not like... that kind of ocean god. I don't even have that kind of power. I'm... basically just the patron of cod, really. That's kind of it."

"Still impressive," Tango said, slurping a bit on his soup. Not bothering to blow on it to cool it off as Jimmy was doing. He couldn't burn.

"You'd... be the first to think that. The others... mostly think I'm pathetic."

"Have the 'others' seen you take out a whole horde of zombies with just a trident?"

Jimmy blinked several times. In the firelight, Tango realized he had slightly oblong pupils. Fish eyes. "Er... well... no," he admitted. "I don't... show off."

"Well, there you have it." Tango slurped more soup.

Jimmy ate his soup fast, not replying and obviously trying to hide a bit of a blush. Once his bowl was empty, he stood. "I'll... grab a spare bed," he said, shuffling off and disappearing through an archway. After a moment, Tango heard chests opening and shutting.

By the time Jimmy returned, Tango had finished his soup and was putting both bowls in the cauldron that seemed to be doubling as the kitchen sink.

Jimmy brought in a bed and set it down near the fire. "This okay?"

"It's perfect, thank you."

Jimmy waved his hand. The lingering mud and dirt melted off Tango's clothes and boots. "Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

"Thank you." Tango smiled.

"I'm gonna... go to... bed."

"You do that."

Jimmy retreated.

Tango took off his boots and climbed into the bed, snuggling down next to the fire to try and keep warm.

—

Jimmy flopped onto his bed on his back, staring up at the ceiling with one hand resting on his torso, the other behind his head.

Familiar? Was this Tango, Blaze blood guy... familiar? Had they met before? A brief encounter so long ago that Jimmy couldn't remember where or when, and neither could Tango?

No, whispered the ichor in his veins. Not really.

Jimmy scrunched his brows. Then what is it about him? he thought back at his divine blood.

He will be familiar to you. In the future. He will be as familiar to you as your own name. Bound. To your very soul.

Jimmy's hand moved up to rest over his heart, like he was already searching for the tie that would wrap around his soul.

Before he could figure out where that feeling came from or what it could possibly mean, he dropped into sleep.

#tangotek #jimmy solidarity #trafficshipping #i'm gonna tag this as trafficshipping just in case i guess?#Team Rancher #Rancher Duo #Team Ranchers #Aurora Writes #Tango Tek #Solidaritek #this is kinda just a meet-messy. not really properly romantic #but anyway i'm not okay #yes I'm aware Emp S1 Jimmy is canonically 6'5 i said no. I wanted him to be a little taller #i didn't include this one in my WIP game yesterday because it wasn't a WIP XD It was done and ready to be posted lol

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kerosene-in-a-blender · 17 days ago

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Others have talked, very rightly, about Bells Hells having an extremely Us vs. Them style of morality and one thing I find interesting about all that is many of their most virulent (read: actively nasty towards other fans) defenders are also taking this stance. The party line has become that the segments of the fandom that are disappointed with how this campaign shook out have never been happy with anything Bells Hells did from the beginning and have been actively hating on people who do like it for just as long. Us, the beleaguered Campaign 3 lovers versus Them, the mean c3 haters (who are often characterized as being hung up on the Mighty Nein and simply mad Bells Hells aren't the Nein again).

What's been quite funny for me personally is that I have seen vague posts clearly targeted at myself giving me the above detailed characterization of the c3 hater when I: have never seen Campaign 2 (though I did watch Campaign 1 back in 2019), started watching live with the first EXU, got into the fandom (as a lurker) at the start of Campaign 3, didn't make any of my own posts about it until late 2022 and didn't start really posting in earnest until mid 2023. Practically none of the characteristics applied to the archetypal c3 hater certain fans have created actually apply to me, other than of course thinking Campaign 3 actually isn't very good. So it's been interesting to watch people draw lines in the sand and create an Us vs. Them narrative that I know isn't true based on existing as myself.

#just the complete inability to comprehend someone who started with c3 joining the war against the haters on the side of the haters #because unfortunately the campaign isn't well done #another interesting thing is that one of the reasons i got into writing meta in the first place #was i saw the harassment being targeted at people whose opinions i liked to read and who i often found myself agreeing with #to the point some just stopped writing certain meta #and i decided that i would try my hand at the topics they got harassed over (read: imogen meta and laudna meta)#because i thought laura and marisha as creators deserved to have their work analyzed as their peers do #and i figured that because i was new and had no name in fandom #i wouldn't see the same level of harassment because it wasn't about the takes so much as it was being jealous #that other people had audiences that liked what they had to say (and what was being said disagreed with them openly)#and i was RIGHT about that latter point too #almost two years on and while i have been vagued as said above #and gotten the odd weird anon #it's been NOWHERE near the levels of outright harassment others have gotten #for opinions i share and have very openly expressed #there's just this very real thread of jealousy that's existed in certain corners of this fandom for years #of people who came up in the fandom (as it were) during c2 #and have maintained audiences through c3 #cr discourse

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zylphiacrowley · 27 days ago

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Origenics

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV #Dawntrail spoilers #Erenvahl #Erenville #X'vahl Tia #wolship #This is the one I was talking about #when I said I was taking gpose shots in shifts #the amount of times I had to go back into this dungeon #because of maintenance or just the timer threatening to run down in the middle of posing #and then I decided I wasn't happy with several shots so I went back in to completely retake them #but it was for the best because I think this version is leagues better than the first takes #I feel like Erenville would be just so full of anxiety at this point #since he knows about his mom #and is struggling with coming to terms with that #and also he's upset with himself that he didn't tell X'vahl what was actually going on #since he sort of fell back on withdrawing himself to deal with his personal issues instead of bringing them up #and of course he's worried for all of them #He's just got *so much* on his mind at this moment #and it's just eating him up inside #I knew I wanted to do this part during my very first run through MSQ #*solely* because of Erenville's 'well done' after that boss #anyway X'vahl coming to terms with learning something about himself here too.#or rather continuing to learn and accept something about himself that he first learned during that bit with the escaped punutiy...#Erenville: *having a personal crisis* X'vahl: Yay he said I did good. :3c #Cahciua: Oh okay yeah he's got it bad for my son.

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dirtytransmasc · 1 year ago

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atwow hot take:

if jake had said his "son for a son" shit out loud and spider had heard him, he would have been so beyond pissed, he would be seeing red.

spider loved his little siblings so much, neteyam included, even after they grew apart. he loved them like they were his own blood and protected them like they were too (we see a lot more of them together in the comics, where spider is the big brother without a doubt). neteyam's death most certainly rocked him hard, even if he hasn't really been able to show it (how could he? he's already going through all the shit with his dad and the RDA and their nonsense, he can't grieve around neytiri, he's just so tired after it all. he doesn't have the room or the energy to grieve yet)

so if jake had the audacity to say that to/around spider not even a few hours after he watched his little brother get shot after coming to save him, after he stared at the bullet hole in his back, after he watched him take his last breaths, after he watched the light leave his eyes, after he watched his little brother die for him; if he said that while his little brother's body lay in a pool of his own blood not even ten feet away, not even cold yet, blood still clinging to his chest, the scent of it still filling the air: he would have lost his shit.

because the disrespect for his brother is wild.

jake was an active player in spider's neglect and abuse for the last 16 years, he let it happen, he helped it happen. he tried to send spider with the humans, tried to take him away from his siblings, from the forests, from eywa to live with his foster family that didn't love him (not to mention Nash was an asswipe of epic proportions) and the RDA of all people. he had referred to spider as a stray animal since he was little. he was the reason spiders life was hell.

and after all that, years and years of putting him in shit positions and allowing him to suffer the fate of being forever unloved and uncared for (by an adult authority figure, cause I love the kids, but they don't make up for the gap left by a parent), this is what it took for jake to care about him? his little brother had to die in front of him first? he had to be traded out to fill the space of a corpse, to fill in the gap left by his little brother's death?

in canon, spider was in deep in shock with nothing to break him from it, he wasn't in the place to really think about any of it, and I'm sure we're gonna see this anger in the coming movies, but if jake had said it out loud, that would have been enough to snap spider right out of it, and he would have given jake a piece of his mind, I just know it.

#he loves neteyam too much to let jake do that. to say that. he'd never allow it.#spider is such a good big brother. he loves his siblings too much.#if jake had said that to his face there would have been hell to pay. regardless of how out of it spider was with shock/grief/pure exhaustio #spider doesn't even care about the disrespect being done to him by that statement. he just cares about neteyam.#cause how could a father say that? how could he just move on. fill the gap with a ��stray” as he puts it. take him in after all he'd done to #him? it wasn't fair #it wasn't fair to him and it most certainly wasn't fair to neteyam #I love spider. he deserves a family that loves him and wants him. he wants it. but this is not what either of us asked for.#that line has always rubbed me wrong. and it would have rubbed spi wrong too. I just know it.#I really hope we see spider express his rightful anger/disgust to this whole thing next movie #though I worry he will be too busy feeling guilty over everything and feeling like he just has to be grateful. but one can hope.#he deserves to be angry #and his dynamic with neteyam deserves to be explored. cause its a crime that it was ignored in the movie.#avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #spider socorro #miles spider socorro #miles socorro #neteyam #neteyam sully #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #jake sully #I wanna punch that man so hard istg. I can't with him. I won't say I hate him. but lord have mercy I can't with him.#my baby boys deserved better #spider was neteyam's big brother. that's my agenda #we need to talk about them more

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