#I was trying to figure out how to draw eclipse's hand

[dxrkl1ght]

Arms

[440gallery]

Jealousy

Summary:: Neteyam must choose a mate. The girls from the village are fighting for him, and you're jealous. It ends in angry sex.

Pairing:: Neteyam x f!omaticaya!reader

Authors note: Characters are aged up around twenty

Content warning:: smut, violence (not much)

Word count:: 3.5k

Additional tags:: smut, jealousy, throat kink slightly, fist fight, angry smut, p in v, begging, riding that dick babessss

Coming back from the hunt with Neytiri, we gather the animals to the cookers across the hut, before approaching the Sully nest together, as she had invited me for dinner. Neytiri smiled lightly before our eyes fell away to two figures standing outside the nest. I raised my eyebrows, thinking it was only Lo’ak or Kiri but as we come closer, I recognized a female. And Neteyam. My brows furrowed as I felt the now familiar twinge of jealousy pulsing through me, the second Jake as Olo'ektan announced that his son was old enough for a mate. The girl stepped closer to him and i pushed my feelings down, making my way over to them, gollowing after Neytiri.

Shortly before the nest, Neytiri smirked and reached to tousle my hair before greeting her son.

My eyes fell on Neteyam, his figure strong and lean against the fading light of the day, eclipse nearing but making his features strong and in contrast to his soft voice. He leaned against the entrance from the Sully hut and whilst Neytiri spoke to him shortly, barely glancing at other female accompanying him, he certainly saw me, eyes glinting as he listened to his mother whilst his eyes were on me. She went inside and his attention was brought back to Liat, as she drew closer to him, bending her body in weird angles to show off her curves, leaning into him. His laugh echoed through the dim air as he seemed oblivious to her hand ghosting along his biceps.

Wariness coursed through my veins, seeing them together, knowing Neteyam could choose her and not me as a mate, since he was now of age. Every female knew and it was clear that now the hunt after him had begun. And even though I thought we were end game, sometimes it just didn’t seem that way. It made me realise that I wasn’t allowed to feel anything else but joy for him, and I hated that I couldn’t be happy for him when he so clearly deserved it. Gosh, but her hand! It made me itch with anger every time I saw another female tip toing around him, making their moves. Knowing Neytiri went inside already, I knew I should probably follow her, having taken the invitation to eat with the Sully family, knowing it was the best for me to just let this slide, since even when Neteyam was my best friend, he sure wasn’t feeling the same about me or even considered me his mate. Still, I couldn’t shake the annoyance from my features as I went over to them, giving Liat a glare before saying my greetings to my best friend.

“Teyam.” I nodded in his direction, seeing a smile bloom across his features, striking his beauty and once again taking my breath.

“Y/N” he said, moving his arm to slip it across my waist, pulling me into him, making me hide my smirk into his shoulder as he embraced me. Surely, I crashed Liat’s little show to get him to woo her. Sad, really. Neteyam’s fingers dragged leisurely against my back, sending a small shiver down my spine. I pulled out of his strong arms, still seeking the touch of his and the warmth but still trying to at least get some decency into the scenery. His smirk made my stomach drop, his arms still around my waist, his hand pressing flat against my abdomen, leaving me breathless, especially when his thumb began to draw little circles around my skin.

“How was the hunt?” He asked, his warm breath brushing my ear. I leaned into his body a little more, him taking the support in steading me, whilst I felt his muscled thigh against my backside.

“Good.” I said, before smiling and greeting Liat.

“Hello Liat.” She just threw me a glare, her eyes betraying her, showing every emotion she didn’t voice out.

“Hello, Y/N.” She said, faking a smile before bringing her attention back to Neteyam. “Nete, didn’t you want to bring me back to my nest?” she said, blinking her lashes up at him, trying to make her look sweet but to me she just looked stupid. As if Neteyam would find that attractive, but on the other hand, I didn’t know what he liked and what not. Neteyam sighed, quietly and only for me to hear, but it made me smile.

His hand squeezed my hip, before leaving me bare from his contact all together, only light touches before he turned back to me once more.

“You’re staying?” he asked and I smiled, whilst nodding to answer his question. His eyes glinted as he smiled, before sending me a wink.

“Oh, Y/N stays? Why can’t I stay too?” Liat asked, batting her eyelashes again making me want to rip them out slowly.

Neteyam looked conflicted but shook his head. I bit my lip to master the laugh that wanted to escape my throat because of her look in my direction.

“It’s better if you go back now.” He said, smiling, always the gentleman in front of others. Liat looked so disappointed that a laugh bubbled out of my chest, making her head snap into my direction, glaring daggers into my skin.

“Sorry, sorry.” I managed, before half turning to the nest, hiding the amusement across my features whilst facing the wall.

“Stupid bitch.” She muttered and I turned, raising an eyebrow at her hiss in my direction. A smirk grazed across my face as I neared her, but she stood her ground, which made me a little proud despite our dislike for each other. Many women cowered away from me, once they went vulgar but she stayed where she was, awaiting.

“No need to get mean.” I said lightly, my eyes ragging across her body, looking at her stance trying to predict her next move. She hissed at me, her eyes a burning fire.

“Liat.” Neteyam said strongly but I held my hand out, making him back off.

“Nete.” She said with pleading eyes, whisking over his body with a heady gaze, making me fume with jealousy. “Help me with her. She is just so disrespectful and interrupted our conversation. Why does your family even like her when she is so rude? Does she even know she is ruining your chances with an honourable mate of the clan?”

“Excuse me?” I said, offended that she considered herself already as his mate and disrespected not only me but Neteyam’s choice of a mate.

“You heard me.” She said, eyes fierce, making me want to lash out. “You are just a useless side piece of Neteyam which he occasionally uses to have fun with.” She cackled, before my fist collided with her face.

“Fucking bitch!” I said, my fist slashing across her face again, making her stumble to the ground, crying out.

“Oh, now you want to cry? God you little pathetic whore.” I whispered into her ear, tugging at her hair, hissing at her tears, lashing out of the corners of her eyes.

“Y/N.” Neteyam called out and I was on my feet on instant, fury transporting onto him, hissing as I stomped to him, his face stern as he looked at the situation.

“Stop it.” He said, and I lashed at him, my hand gripping onto his throat, pushing him backwards. He let me, his eyes colliding with mine, as a smirk plastered itself across his face, his eyes dark and deep, making me fight a shiver. His hand came to my face, as he caressed my cheek, his finger drawing along my lip.

“We both know you would win, but she is still a member of our clan.” He whispered, gripping my hand lightly which still clutched around his throat, not hard, but enough to show him I had control over the situation. “And as much as I love to see you fight, babe, use your energy for something else instead.” He said huskily, this time really producing a shiver down my spine. Breathing deeply, I let go of his throat, making him smirk, as I turned back to Liat, who still lay on the ground clutching her face.

“Move.” I commanded, looking at her in pity. “Before I come at you again.”

With a last hiss in her direction, she scrambled away, whimpering as she stumbled before disappearing. Still fuming, I took a deep breath, trying to still my insides. Neteyam’s hand pressed against my lower back, his breath hot along my neck.

“Come on, my fyole, let’s go inside.” He mumbled, drawing smoothing circles along my back, his fingers warm and gentle. I nodded, letting a breath escape my mouth, before going inside the nest with him.

“Well, that was a show.” Lo’ak said, chuckling as we came inside and I glared at him, before breaking slightly, dragging a hand across my face, groaning.

“I’m gonna be in so much trouble when she snitches.” I mumbled and cowered under the heavy gazes of Neytiri and Jake, sighing.

“‘Itetsyìp” Neytiri said, making me look up into her eyes. Her hand caressed my jaw, tapping along my nose, before she pinched my ear, making me yelp out of her reach. She just shook her head, but a small smile was on her lips, as she looked away. I bet I heard her say something like: “Never liked that Liat anyway.”

Jake sighed but said nothing as his hand drove through my hair and I settled between Neteyam and Kiri for food. Neteyam’s foot nudged mine and I smiled as our eyes met.

After dinner, Jake took me back, as Olo'eyktan it was his duty to put me into line. I had expected as much, still it wasn’t pleasant to hear that I needed to apologize to Liat for hitting her. I sighed before nodding my head, recalling what she had said. I wasn’t a stupid side-kick of Neteyam, was I?

Dragging my feet across the nest, I said my goodbyes and headed for our family nest. But I was still fuming inside at the words Liat had said, therefore I made short progress and went into the woods. It was probably not a good idea, time being after eclipse but I couldn’t care less.

Making my way into the forest I kicked the stones around, trying to let my fury out but it didn’t help really much. Clashing my canines together I tried to not let her words get to me, but it was hard, when I had nothing to get my mind of off things. Walking for a while I ended up at one of the little rivers and sat against the nearest tree, watching the water flow along the green ground.

“What’re you doing out here?” Neteyam asked, making me jump from my spot in surprise. I hadn’t heard he had followed.

“Nothing.” I grumbled before sitting back down onto the ground, pressing my back against the hard tree. Neteyam sat next to me, his body pressed up against mine, making me shiver at his warmth, not realizing how cold I was. He noticed of course, as he always did, and his hand came around my waist to bring me onto his lap. I bit my lip as our pelvises made contact, but enjoyed the warmth and comfort.

“Are you still angry because of Liat?” He asked as his hand came around my chin, holding my face in place so I couldn’t look away.

“No.” I lied, looking at him with all the fury that still pulsed in my veins. He knew it was a lie, everyone would. He smirked as his hands came around my thighs, squeezing the flesh underneath his long fingers.

“Use it for something else instead.” He said, letting his hands wander to my ass, cubbing the cheeks. My breath was heavy but I knew Neteyam and I therefore knew what he hinted at. And I was so damn furious, not only with Liat but also with him. Because he was supposed to choose me. So, I decided I would show him what he would miss, if he didn’t.

Straddling Neteyam’s lap, I kissed him hard, our mouth clashing against each other’s, his canines digging into my lip instantly, as if he had been waiting for it, making it bleed. Neteyam sucked on it, making me whine into his mouth, pushing my pelvis against his, rutting along his stiffening erection. Neteyam’s hand around my ass grabbed the flesh as he pressed me against him harder, grinding into me, making both of us groan out in pleasure. Seeing where this was going, my gaze went heady, but I wanted nothing more than this right now. Making him mine.

Flinging my cloth away from my pelvis and breasts I guided his head to my nipples and he sucked on them eagerly, wetting them with his warm mouth, salvia connecting with my skin, making me shiver. His other hand kneaded my breast, taking its weight into his palm, cubbing it roughly. My fingers whisked away his cloth covering his crotch and I gripped his heavy dick in my hand, spreading the pre cum along it’s tip, making Neteyam stiffen under my touch, his head sinking onto my shoulder, hands digging into my flesh as I stroked him hard and fast. But today wasn’t a time for pleasantries and we both knew it. Making sure he was hard enough I lined his dick up with my pussy before gliding onto him, welcoming the burn of the stretch it caused, making me hiss softly. Neteyam’s hands came around my hips, his fingers pressing into my skin, leaving marks as he held me on his cock for a moment, making sure I was comfortable with his size. But I wasn’t having any of it, wanted it to burn and stretch and hurt, as I pushed myself down on his cock, making him whine with pleasure the second I started, his head thrown back, sweat glistening across his chest, as my hands grabbed his shoulders, feeling the flesh tense and move under my touch. Ramming my pelvis against his, I enjoyed his moans for more, letting my fury ebb away into something else. Riding him furiously made me forget what everyone thought and talked by pushing all my frustration and anger into riding him senseless, letting me feel the moment, and just be with Neteyam, having him all to myself and being able to make him whine and writhe under my touch, letting him beg for more. No one else could do that and I took my satisfaction from it as I took his cock deep, my thighs meeting his with slapping movements, the slick sound of sex filling the forest air, body’s rutting against each other’s as I took his cock inside my pussy, as his hands explored my body, twirling my nipples, his fingers dragging a heady muster across my skin.

“Baby.” Neteyam murmured, thrusting his dick up, meeting my thrusts down onto his cock with force, letting him sink into deeper levels of me making me gasp. He smirked, hands grasping my hips, as we fucked each other with deep clashing kisses and forceful thrusts, that left my flesh read and heated. His balls slapped against my pussy but I couldn’t care less as I moved along his shaft, clenching it under my pussy, wanting him to surrender to me, wanting to see him giving in to me and the pleasure I would bring over him. I wanted to win. His whines turned more needy and he stopped my thrusts with a hand on my stomach, pressing down.

“Slow down baby girl. Otherwise, I’m going to cum way to soon.” He mumbled, breathing deeply to get control, but I wanted him to lose it, wanted to see him at my mercy, how he lost every fucking thought to my pussy and the way it felt around him. Slapping his hand away I moved swiftly around his cock, smashing our abdomens together, whilst pressing his body against the tree he leaned, trapping him in between it and my body, crushing down on him with every thrust, every stroke to show him who was in control. He groaned, his face one of pleasure and bliss, as he bit his lip to hide the groans escaping him. But I wanted to hear everything. How good I made him feel and no one else.

“Fucking moan if you like it Neteyam.” I pressed on, making my pussy clench around his cock, milking him inside of me, electing a deep purr from his chest as it heaved against me. “Let me hear how good you can take it.” I mumbled, laying a hand across his throat, squeezing. His eyes shot open, their half-lidded state dark and heavy now, creating a fire between us that was new and exciting. His grunts grew louder as I managed to move faster across his dick, my thighs burning with the muscle work but I couldn’t care less, wanted to see Neteyam tip over the edge and lose himself inside me.

“Come one Tey.” I murmured as my nails dug into his shoulders, making sure he felt every inch of me, taking him so damn good. My body felt hot and heady, my thoughts minimised down to searching the pleasure frizzing through my veins, feeling the blush stretch across my cheeks and boobs, sweat traveling down my spine.

“Give me what I want.” I said, inching him closer to release, as I rammed down onto his cock, sucking him in as he groaned and writhed underneath me, but I held him there, making him lose himself in his own pleasure, showing him how helpless he was.

“Babe, my fyole, please- “he begged and I bit my lip to hide the moan that wanted to escape my throat, as he begged. His hips snatched up to meet my thrust and our eyes locked onto each other’s, each of us powering us higher, pushing more and more, so that the other would come, seek release before the other. I smirked as I felt Neteyam twitch under me, his thighs shaking as he took deep breaths and his thrusts slowed, realising he would come any second. His groans grew louder and I took a final spurt, pushing along his cock, riding him heavy, letting my weight drop fully onto his cock, skin ramming against skin, as his dick glided inside of me without any resistance.

“Come on.” I hissed as I rammed down on him, making him whine and struggle underneath me with desire and the nearing orgasm I needed from him.

“Baby girl, please, I-I can’t- I”

“You can’t what?”

“Please- “he groaned and I felt him twitch again, making me clench around him, hard and long. He groaned loud and I felt himself pulsing inside me, his thrusts stopped completely as I rode him, feeling his white cum spurting inside me, marking me as his and his only. I smiled as I slowed on his cock, thighs burning, breath puffing out of my chest as I watched his face, scrunched shut with pleasure, his throat releasing tiny noises making me needy all over again as his hands dug into my hips with a bruising hold. Kissing along his chest and up his jaw I realised how much I enjoyed having the control over him, showing him I could give him so much bliss and pleasure all on my own, what he would miss when he would choose someone else.

His breathing slowed down as he opened his eyes again, a heady look in them as he kissed me with fierce emotion. It took my breath away as he pulled out of me, before sticking his fingers inside of me, making me whine into the kiss.

“Good Eywa, baby.” He breathed; his gaze held so much possessiveness that it made my heart flutter in my chest. With a swift motion he laid me onto the ground, kneeling over one of my thighs, heavy cock grazing my skin and he hissed softly. His fingers moved inside me, as he pressed his other hand on my abdomen, before he smirked. Biting my lips, my legs twitched underneath him as I felt the steady wave of headiness wash over me, the biting cool of the ground a nice distraction. His fingers moved fast, in and out and I felt myself arching off onto the ground and into his touch, moaning out his name as he let his talented fingers work inside me, digging and pressing and working till I felt warm all over.

“Teyam.” I moaned, heavy breathing escaping my chest as I reached my high and he smirked, pressing down harder against my stomach, making me squeal as his fingers pressed against my sweet spot. My orgasm came and I felt myself gushing out around his fingers, creating a wetness onto the forest ground, leaving it damp. My legs twitched underneath Neteyam as he rode me through my orgasm, before laying his body atop mine, fingers still anchored inside my pulsing pussy. Catching my breath, I laid my arms across Neteyam, breathing him in, dragging my nose along his neck, kissing it softly.

“God baby, you’re amazing.” He mumbled and I laughed lightly, moaning at the friction of his fingers still inside me.

“Better than Liat, I take it?” I asked and face palmed as I noticed how it came out. But it was true. Maybe her words did have an effect on me. Neteyam looked down at me, his eyes open and loving.

“I would’ve always picked you. She never stood a fucking chance.” He said, before connecting our lips together softly, sighing into the contact.

Finding myself nodding into the kiss, I smiled.

“Okay.” I breathed.

“Okay.” He repeated and in that moment, everything was just fine.

[popsickless]

Neuvillette ♡-part 1

___________

"Someones crying for help?" Navias attention instantly gave way. The cries were distant but noticeable. Your head snapped towards the crowd of trees on the left of the Opera Eclipse.

"A melusine? Of course." You frowned, instantly packing up the picnic navia had set at the table near the water fall. To think the world was a better place now, that melusines finally had a home in fontaine. "They're still getting singled out?!" Growling to yourself, taking about 10 stomps towards the situation.

Navia follows quickly, yelling worrs that were coming through one ear, and out the next. You didn't have time to listen, it made you sick to the stomach that you had to intervene with harassment towards a harmless creature. There they were, a bunch of low life treasure hoarders ganging up on the poor girl. It didnt take you a second thought to draw out the sword.

"You filthy rats." The blade pointed to the hoarder closest to the melusine. The other 2 backed off, with smug smiles on their faces. "I might just have to kill you instead of sending you to the fortress of meropide" The anger was toxic, toxic enough to make you seem out like the bad one in the situation.

You swipe the blade underneath the brown haired hoarders feet, dropping him to the faded greenery within seconds. "At least it will be a better punishment than facing Wriothesely himself." Spoken in a low tone but loud enough to create an audience.

Acting a victim, the treasure hoarder rises both hands. "Y-you're seriously going to let these monstrosities of a species manipulate you?" The disgusting thing stated. Oh how your breath was going shallow, your hands shaking out of fear. The end of your blade touches the skin of the fox's neck. "Normally id let pathetic people like you live, but i guess there can be a change of plans." The light from your eyes fading as you finally go to take the last strike.

Deafening pleads from the criminal, slowly fades as a soft hand touches your shoulder. The blade shifts away from the bandits skin. Your eyes drift to the side, out of curiosity to wonder who in the hell would stop you, or even try stopping you. A white and blue haired man, looking at you with a soft smile, it was almost reassuring.

"I understand your feelings, i too have a soft spot for melusines." The elegant voice began to speak. Everyone around instantly went silent. "But killing the culprit doesnt make you any better."

Your arm drops completely as you take another horrified glance at the treasure hoarder, sprawled on the floor. The melusine, stood close next to the blue figure. "I understand neuvillette." You nod, softly taking his hand off the top of your shoulder.

Neuvillettes expression suddenly goes dull as he turns towards the trio of treasure hoarders. "Whats the situation?" He asks. You stand by quietly watching the conversations go down.

"Its that weirdo who let them freaks into our home." One of the hoarders whisper to one another. There it was. That anger. You was about to draw my sword again if neuvillette didnt do something quick. Navia taps your arm and shakes her head, reassuring that everything was now under control. "Is that so? How would you folks prefer the fortress of meropide be your new home instead?" Neuvillettes tone was surprisingly calm but assertive. The bandits looked at eachother cautiously. It didnt take long for them to submit. After a long discussion, a bunch of paperworks and a tiny tantrums from Wriothesely, the treasure hoarders were sent to 8 months of reinforcement underground.

It was now late in the evening, Navias assistants went to go take the melusine home, while her, you, Wriothesely and neuvillette were in the office of the fortress of meropide. "The guy will be taught a lesson dont you worry." Wriothesely recklessly announces as he sits behind his desk. You quietly tut and look to the side. You didnt doubt him, but you sure as hell wanted to punish the bastards yourself.

You cross your arms looking dead into Wriotheselys eyes. "I hope so.." you all stand there for a moment and Wriothesely lets out a small chuckle. "You cant result to violence whenever something goes down with a melusine." Navia lightly jokes. Although she wasnt wrong. You werent the best at dealing with your emotions in the heat of the moment.

"You have to respect her cause though, to instantly put yourself in the middle of a situation without a second thought, highly admirable but selfless. Some would even say selfish." Neuvillette states, placing his knuckle underneath his chin while gazing towards the floor. His eyes slowly drifted towards yours. "What you did today was foolish."

Normally when anyone makes comments about your actions, it's just like stepping over a bug, not trying to kill it. You didnt give a damn about what others thought of your methods. But everytime neuvillette had a comment about it, it made your teeth grit. It would even sometimes make you rethink your whole life. And it was irritating. You were speachless for a second. You really wanted to ream him about not taking responsibility and blah blah blah. You werent childish or foolish. God, you would only prove his point if you argued back.

"Yeah, ill rethink that one overnight.." you jokingly mumble, knowing full well you werent joking. You were going to be up all night thinking about neuvillettes petty comment. Even though hes right. After some time of filling in documents about the treasure hoarders, and the incident itself. You were all sent home for the night.

Taking a long and silent walk back to your place, alone. It was dead in the middle of the city of fontaine so it wasnt that far to walk, the thoughts about neuvillette made the journey quicker anyway. The daily night routine was done, you had set out your work outfit for tomorrow and had send the documents to Wriothesely. Now you were just layed in bed on your back, staring at the ceiling.

"If neuvillette had actually done his job, and made a proper introduction and home for the melusines. I wouldnt of gotten into that situation today." Thats all you could think to yourself, all night.

The next morning, you are woken up with the same mechanical clock sounding alarm. It did your head in but that's the whole point right. Like every morning you go to check the post box at the side of your house. Reading the front of the envelope expecting it to be about charlottes morning newspaper. The pupils of your eyes dilated instantly.

Good morning:

It would be highly appreciated if you come to visit me this morning.

- neuvillette

[moon-m4n]

The casino must have gotten the wrong order. They love owning well behaved harpys to show off and entertain guests but the newest arrival has been anything but we'll behaved. He violently throws fits anytime anyone gets near him. He already killed his first care taker and will do so again. So why did the casino chose you of all people to work with the bird? Well the way the other harpys took to you they assumed this one might take mercy and let you close enough to train him for the floor work.

So here you are standing at the entrance to a murderous peacock's cage. The only thing keeping you safe is the door you now have to open. At least your bosses had the curtsy to have you bring him food so he might not focus on you at first. OK, deep breath and... the door creaks ominously as it slides open. The room is filled with foliage where this large birdman may be able to hide. It would be breathtaking if your fear wasn't in the front of your mind. Even in this tiny room you can tell he is not a safe creature, scratches on the walls and door make that obvious. Deep and ingrained in the metal layers. You rush in wanting to avoid letting him out. If anyone was going to die to day it was only going to be you.

The second the door closed everything seemed to become silent nothing made a sound and no creature showed it's self. You make an effort to blend into the door but just standing there was getting you no where. So you call out in a meak voice. "Excuse me. I have some food if you would like it?"

Was this human crazy. Just 2 days ago I crushed that guy who kept coming in to bother me and now this one just walks right in. I wish this creatures would just leave me alone.

Eliclips had been trying to think of a way out when this odd person barged in. He hated being interrupted and hated being here even more. This company had bought him recently after another incident happen and then got upset when he happened to not be the friendliest bird. The last guy made it clear he was going to bother eclipse every chance he got until he would submit to being a show pony. He nipped that one in the bud as soon as he realized how annoying he was. This new one looked to be the same story exept they seemed to be more calm and little scared. Just the way he likes em. Eclipse finds himself staring at this intruder with intrigue. They stand there nervously looking about. Looking for him. Well he better go introduce himself then. He slinks out of the bushes standing tall and stalking over with little grace. In the moment they can see him their eyes are glued to him and for once he actually likes the attention. He want to have you look at him all the time. Finally making it to the food cart they are using as a barrier, fear creeps into there eyes and for a moment eclipse is ashamed of being the one to do that to them. Just a moment before he reaches out and places his clawed hand on their shoulder. They look panicked. And start trying to explain themselves. He loves the sound of their voice, even panicked. He steps around their cart sheild and leans down to them carefully to not make them run. "I like you" The air freezes and they stop all their pleas for mercy and just stare up at him with a slack jaw. He leans even closer and wraps his hand around their neck not tight just enough to be close, and he slinks around them to hold them from behind clinging like a molted feather would. He wraps his other arm around their waist and pulls them close.

Started writing this after I saw the Harpy eclipse drawing for the blood and feathers au. By @missterious-figure

I don't write much so have mercy. (Actually one of my first public fic post) Enjoy as much as I enjoy this au!!

additional info I just drew the drawing today cuz I really want to have some fan art as the cover for this. I postponed this just to draw that.

[lavenoon]

Conjunction (~9.9K)

More menace4menace, based on @naffeclipse's Bloodstain Fool with the og detective au by sunnys-aesthetic!

Plays after the first doodle comic, and after Falling Into Orbit, but before Asterisms

—

“Got your target?” 

Sighs sound different without any breath involved, you’re learning. 

You’ve been following Eclipse for a small distance already, waiting for him to say something, to no avail. It’s not that you’re quiet about it, so you don’t think it’s a matter of not having spotted you yet - and his reaction to your question proves it. 

Eclipse turns.

You grin. 

Half lidded golden eyes glow even brighter with the sun starting to set behind the urban horizon. Not a true sunset yet, but darkness is starting to settle between the high rises. The lighting is gorgeous, and unfortunately, it’s rubbing off on Eclipse. 

And that, in turn, reminds you of your impulsive compliment just the other day. Is it worse that you still mean it?

At least you don’t have to think about it for too long, thanks to his sparkling personality.

“Why are you following me? Can’t you take a hint?” 

Ah. That’s why he ignored you for half a block. 

You try not to let it get to you. It’s not the easiest task, waving off the rejection from the only person you somewhat know and who knows about you in this time, but you’ve had a bit too much practice putting on an act anyhow. You shrug, grin just barely strained.

“We have a saying for hints, a wave with a fencepost.” 

The tired expression morphs into a scowl, one you’re a bit more familiar with. Now he’s confused - and that’s enough to soothe your wounded ego. Enough to make your grin genuine again, and then worse. 

Eclipse’s glower evolves in parallel. 

“Are you going to elaborate or not.” 

Well, you can be gracious. 

“You could throw the whole fence at me and I’d duck to look at a ladybug.” 

It’s likely that the only reason you notice his hand twitch is because it’s just barely below your eye level. Tall bastard. The movement draws your gaze, but when nothing else happens, you tilt your head back up. 

He’s no longer looking at you, eyes still narrowed as he stares off into the distance. His voice is quieter, too. 

“A fence is about the only thing you could dodge.” 

There’s a deja vu when he shifts and just walks away, except this time you do have other options. You still follow him. 

“I answered your question, so? Did you catch them? Why target, anyway?” 

As much as you want to keep an eye on his expression, unfortunately you’re too uncoordinated by nature and tripping on the uneven sidewalk is too much of a risk if you aren’t looking. Still, you spare him another prying glance he probably doesn’t see before focusing downwards. 

“Curiosity killed the cat.” 

“And satisfaction brought him back. So?” 

“Him?”

Eclipse actually slows, his optics already on you when you look up to check. Not hostile, for once, but still confused. You shrug with a lighthearted smile. 

“Or her. Either’s good. But I’d like my satisfaction, please.” 

Just to emphasize, you make a grabbing motion with your hand, palm up. And trip over a loose tile in the pavement. At least you don’t fall - but the inelegant floundering isn’t quite helpful in your endeavor of figuring out Eclipse’s job. 

He’s no longer looking at you when you regain your balance. 

“You’re awfully sure there will be satisfaction involved.” 

“Your mysterious deflections are only making it worse for you, you know?” 

Again, a sigh. Either the low rumble of static is just part of an animatronic’s sigh, or he’s starting to get grumbly again. Given his disposition, your bet is on the latter. Thin ice, then. 

Watch you stomp on it to find out just how thin. Maybe that’s why they call it ice breakers. 

You skip a step, keeping even with him, and grin. Eclipse sends you a burning glare, as if in warning. But all too quickly he averts his eyes again, and then you have to speed up to keep pace. He’s not getting rid of you that easily. 

And your stubbornness wins out after another few steps, and another fleeting glare. 

“I’m a bounty hunter.” 

You hum.

“Oh right, that’s a thing.” 

This time, it’s Eclipse’s feet stuttering - but you don’t look up to see how your reply insulted him this time. It’s certainly less regulated nowadays than what you’re used to, and somehow, you can imagine him in that kind of field perfectly. Grumpy loner with ominous favors who also hunts whomever the finger of the law is pointed at. 

Maybe that explains the suggestion of a gun, too. 

Silence stretches for just a bit too long, so you end up glancing back up at his face despite the risk of tripping. He’s facing away from you, so that tells you nothing. Are you imagining the tension in his shoulders, or is he waiting for something? 

Looking up comes with other nice surprises too - there’s a few clouds starting to smother the orange of the sunset. Oh, you hope it’ll rain tonight. Falling asleep might be a little easier that way. Your sleep schedule has suffered enough. 

You focus back on the path in front of you, preventing any other tripping accidents. 

Given that you haven’t been sent away or glared at again, you decide to say something else. It might not be anything particularly smart, but that’s his problem. 

“I’m assuming it’s not like the movies. Worn Wanted posters, ‘Dead or Alive’, that you can dramatically rip from pin boards or something.” 

Eclipse looks back down to glare at you, just as the street lamps buzz on. More golden light all around, even more so with his pupils shrunken to pinpricks. 

“What movies are you talking about?” 

Bastard has no right looking this pretty. 

“Westerns, mostly.” 

That actually stops him in his tracks. In an attempt to remain aloof you continue walking, except - you have no idea where you’re going. You halt just a few steps later, turning back with the best innocent smile you can muster. 

You’re kind of glad his eyes are such an easy tell for his emotions - they’re narrow, but golden, and his pinprick pupils have once again expanded. He just looks tired, maybe annoyed. 

“It’s a miracle you even survived the week.” 

The snort escapes you before you can stop it. A miracle, after he so pointedly got involved? 

“Well, only thanks to you. Food and a roof over my head are some basic requirements that helped a lot.” 

You wink, just to keep the air light. It doesn’t do anything to stop Eclipse from scowling. 

“Stop that.” 

A widened grin, and a deepened scowl. Somehow, this seems to be your pattern. You shrug. 

“Just saying.” 

With another rumble Eclipse starts walking again, brushing past you without concern. You jump a step to get back into the motion, and then match his pace. Who even needs a workout regime if you have a grumpy animatronic to keep up with?

“I see you still haven’t learned to keep your mouth shut.” 

Despite the cutting words, you don’t feel like the tone quite matches that sharpness. Not friendly, mind you, but much less hostile than you’ve heard from him before. Laughter bubbles up in your voice, and you don’t care to smother it. 

“Bold of you to assume I ever will.”

The long suffering sigh you get in reply only makes you laugh harder. Though only for a moment, before a question is directed at you for a change. 

"How are you still dressed like that?" 

He gestures towards you, eyes on you as he waits. Though he doesn’t slow down at all.

You blink, and look down on your outfit. It’s certainly a choice to walk around in something that won’t be worn for another century, but then again… Your choices here are rather limited. And as far as you’re concerned, you’ll gladly wear familiar outfits rather than worry about buying new ones with money you don’t have. 

Eclipse only narrows his eyes at your shrug. 

"Would you believe me if I told you the stuff just shows up in my closet every morning?" 

Silence sure isn’t the answer you expected. You glance back up, head tilted, waiting for his judgement. After a moment of consideration he looks away. The noise he makes isn’t hostile enough for a snarl, but too grumbly to be a sigh. It is a concession, though. 

"Your anomalous existence affecting your surroundings should faze me more, but sure, why not." 

The defeat in his tone startles a laugh out of you, and you skip the step it costs you. 

"Yeah, same. I went inside, didn't go home. Not even Narnia." 

Ah, hm. Maybe you shouldn’t have said that. 

"Narnia?" 

Yeah, no, that is not a story you want to get into. You’re not even sure how similarly history will play out with animatronics around. Also not a topic you want to analyze further. So once again, you shrug.

"Wait a couple years, it'll make sense."

And if not, by then he’ll hopefully have forgotten about it. 

“I would hope you’re not just volunteering future information to other people.” 

This time the sharper tone is accompanied by a quick matching glare. Naturally, you wink. 

“Nah, don’t worry. You’re special.” 

The frustrated grumble is wordless, and you have to press your lips together to not laugh. But he does pick up pace again, and you hurry after him. 

Something wet hits you. 

You look up. 

The sky isn’t just night dark - it’s covered in heavy clouds, and just like that, the next fat raindrop hits your face. You blink. Another.

So you get your wish of a rainy night. Now if only you were in your bed, you’d be all set. Mild panic creeps up in your throat, and you run a few steps to catch up with Eclipse. 

“Uhh!”

Eclipse turns, frowning at your tone. But he does stop, which honestly? You didn’t really expect. So you take the plunge.

“Where are we?” 

“Where -”

His scowl deepens in record time as he looks around, and then his eyes are blazing even in the twilight granted by the nearby street lamp. Mostly the light illuminates the steady increase of rain hitting the ground.

“You followed me home. You followed me home?” 

Your first instinct is to smile again, though this time it’s a lot more wobbly than before. You didn’t think this through, at all. You didn’t even notice how far you were going, all because you were too focused on talking. 

Maybe you can find your way back, retrace your steps - but you’ve been following Eclipse for a while now, and even before that you weren’t exactly close to the boarding house. You’ve been wandering a lot these days, for lack of other activities, and now you’re looking at a good distance to walk. In the rain. At night. 

But maybe Eclipse knows a shortcut. It’s not like you have many options. 

“Uh. How far to the boarding house?” 

“Too far.” 

Quick way of shattering your hopes, then. You deflate.

In your periphery, Eclipse reaches out - but aborts the motion with a curl of his fingers. Just as you look he turns, instead waving over his shoulder. Yours are getting wetter by the second, and you see the matching darkness growing on his coat. 

“Follow me. You’re not dying without paying me back for that favor.” 

You’d hopefully just get drenched, but if that’s what he has to tell himself to help you’ll take it. Thinking about how much better he knows this city by night isn’t really helping your anxiety. You’ve been a duckling for this long, so there’s no reason to stop now. 

Somehow you just keep getting yourself into these objectively dangerous situations, huh?

For once, you stay silent as you follow Eclipse past the last block. There’s tension in the line of his shoulders and you’re pretty sure you’re about to owe him again. He doesn’t seem happy about it. You can’t blame him. This was avoidable, it shouldn’t have happened. Anxiety is churning your stomach.

Only when he takes a turn into a nearby apartment complex do you find the courage to speak up again. Your steps echo on the tiled floor, breaking the silence for you.

“You’re waterproof?” 

You can figure, given his lax reaction to the rain, but you’d feel better with the confirmation. Despite everything, animatronics are new to you, and you’re missing a lot of what would be considered common knowledge. 

Eclipse just glares, obviously not happy over having to state the obvious. 

“Do you think I’d be done in by a bit of rain?” 

Your shrug doesn’t feel half as cheeky as all the preceding ones. 

“No, but wanted to make sure.” 

Something in his expression shifts, so you duck your head. If you can’t see his annoyance, it can’t hurt you. 

Silence reigns. 

Eclipse turns on his heels, and continues down the hallway. You shuffle after him, chancing a glance back up at his back. 

Have his shoulders relaxed, or is that wishful thinking?

“Don’t you think I would have been more concerned about the rain if I wasn’t?” 

Some of the edge has left his voice, and unfortunately you immediately read into it. Your own shoulders drop with the relief as you follow him up the stairs. This is a worse workout than everything before. He’s so fast.

“I mean, yeah, but I prefer checking in with the expert.”

“Surprising enough that you’re admitting ignorance.” 

You can’t see his face, but his tone makes you picture an eye roll. Still annoyed, but the edge hasn’t returned. You crack a smile.

“I don’t know a lot of stuff. Would you like me to elaborate?” 

He steps away from the stairwell, and you notice just how high the ceilings are - but still only high enough to leave a few meager inches between his top most sunray and the stucco on the ceiling. 

Mostly, you’re just glad you only had to climb the stairs up one floor. He’s fast enough on even ground, where he doesn’t get to skip steps.

“Don’t.” 

With a grin you start listing things, eyes closed for posterity. 

“Physics, never had a good teacher. Social cues - no one tells you those rules, and I hate it. Taxes are nebulous too, even after I’ve started - ough.” 

You’re yanked back by your collar, and make an ungraceful sputtering sound. Shouldn’t have closed your eyes then - seems like you missed Eclipse stopping at his apartment door. But his hand lets go of your shirt as quickly as he’s grabbed you, and you’re left rubbing the spot where the fabric dug into your throat. 

Eclipse scowls, but there’s something new to it. His grin is wider than usual, just a bit. 

“When to shut up.” 

You test it, just a bit, and let your own smile grow. 

“I think that’s part of the social cues.”

His eyes narrow, but you don’t feel apprehensive. 

“The fences.” 

You nod sagely. 

“The fences.”

A huff of static, and he unlocks the door. A snort? You’re starting to get amusement without it being at your expense then, that’s progress. 

Stepping past the threshold makes your anxiety spike again though. With the room he got for you it was different - this is his space, and you’re only here because you didn’t pay enough attention. 

Well, also because Eclipse is nicer than he lets on. Or believes himself to be, maybe. You’re still convinced you wouldn’t have died walking back to the boarding house.

But it’s strange. Following him through the foyer, the coat and shoe racks are the only things indicating that anyone lives here. No decorations to the wall, no carpets on the bare floor, barely even any furniture in the hall. That’s a lot of wasted storage space.

The first thing actually indicating a personality for the place is in the living room. 

“A leather couch?”

There’s more furniture of course, dark wooden drawers and shelves, a desk covered in documents and a chair, and a high coffee table matching the couch. But somehow the obvious source of comfort is what stands out to you. 

“Easier to clean off.”

Comfort, huh?

Eclipse continues walking down the hallway stretching on beyond the room, but you halt with a frown. 

The dark leather on the large (Eclipse-sized) three seater looks well maintained even with the worn creases on one of the edge seats. Eclipse’s preferred spot, it seems. The furthest from the window, and with a good view of the entrance. A realization about as cheerful as his comment. 

You trace a deeper line on the armrest, bright where the leather broke.

“Ominous. Have they invented blacklight yet?" 

You hear rustling from an open door, and you don’t think he heard you. Warily you step away from the couch to follow. Probably best if he didn’t hear you, actually. 

Except he did, and his reply echoes from what you must now assume is the bathroom.

"Why?" 

The suspicion is evident, and you have no other option but to commit. Not that he sees the shrug, but it helps you remain lighthearted. He heard you all the way over there without issue, but still you raise your voice just slightly.

"I’m taking that as a yes. Even cleaned up, you'd still see a whole lot in blacklight. Urine, blood, platypuses."

The confusion echoes, too.

"Pla-” 

Eclipse ducks back out, stepping out of the bathroom with a scowl directed at you. 

“No. Don't do that here."

Shame, you almost got him with the platypuses. It makes not grinning very hard, and you fail much too quickly. His eyes only narrow further as he steps back into the living room, and then his hand is moving too fast for you to process. 

Fabric covers your head. You blink against the bright terry cloth, yellow from the light passing through it, then pull it away from your face. 

A towel - you aren’t even that wet. But what gets you more than the gesture is the sheer size of it. Nearly a blanket, really. 

“Something wrong?” 

The words are barely more than a growl, a storm just waiting to be unleashed. The question, not really a question - a dare. Seems like you look just a bit too taken aback. 

Honesty it is, then. Baffle him too much to be upset with you. You look back up to meet his glare head on, fingers still buried in the soft fabric, and blink. 

“I kind of expected red towels. White doesn’t match you.” 

Eclipse blinks, too, and for a breath his eyes are just wide and golden. Plan, success. But much too soon he averts his gaze, eyes narrowing as if on instinct. 

You want to see him relaxed more often. 

And where did that thought come from? Challenges usually aren’t your thing, and this guy is tougher than a rock with about as much emotional awareness.

Honestly, that might even be too generous an assessment. 

“Red can’t be bleached.” 

The response startles you out of your thoughts, and it takes you a moment to process. It clicks, just a bit belatedly - Eclipse has already brushed past you back into the hallway. 

“Oh.” 

You don’t leave the living room, but step closer to the threshold to the hall. Watch as he takes off the wet coat and hangs it up on the coat rack, nearly bunching up at the ground. 

Again you raise your voice.

“Thank you.” 

The glare hits harder from the dark hallway, but it doesn’t faze you. You’re getting desensitized.

“I told you to stop that.” 

You stick out your tongue, then cover your head again and towel your hair dry, just a bit. Plausible deniability in terms of disrespect, or something. Mostly hiding from retaliation, given that you’ll disappoint him yet again.

“I won’t stop saying thank you if you keep helping me, that’d be rude.” 

“Don’t test me, I’ll kick you out.” 

As expected, his tone is sharper than your knife collection. Though, to be fair, you got yours for the looks, and not for their functionality. 

“I don’t think you will.” 

You pull off the towel just a bit, holding on to it as you look up to where he’s scowling. But angry as he looks, he’s not making any move towards you, remaining more than an arm’s length away. One of his, too. 

It’s a gamble, daring him to go through with his threat - but if he wanted to get rid of you, he really wouldn’t need to threaten it. From the start he hasn’t tried particularly hard to make you someone else’s problem. Your police bluff couldn’t have been that convincing, unless he’s really worried about involving them, and just running for a block would have shaken you off easily. 

He’s not as uncaring as he wants you to think, and unfortunately for him, you won’t play along.

You blink, ending the staring contest, and his shoulders drop with a static huff.

“You’re a walking headache. Dry off, I’m not dealing with a sick you.” 

It’s hard not to smile, so you just hide it behind the towel and a ducked head. You’re still pretty sure you earn a glare for your quiet snort, even though you try to cover it up with a cough. 

Pulling down the towel you unfortunately see the next issue.

“Uhh? Eclipse?”

Where did he disappear to, anyway?

“What?” 

Your drawn out hum doesn’t seem to incite any confidence, because he stalks through an open door back into the hallway.

“What?” 

You grimace.

“So, uh, the bleach? You might need that. Usually the dye washes out without issue, but that’s with the cleaning stuff from a hundred years in the future, so…” 

The frown deepens as confusion starts to weigh on him, and he steps closer. You pull the towel away from your neck and hold it out. The red and purple dye spots are faint, more orange and pink respectively, but definitely visible, and you really should’ve thought about that before. It’s not like your hair was that wet either. 

Eclipse stares. 

You swallow. 

No reply. 

“I’m sorry -” 

Faster than a cobra his hand darts forward, and snatches the towel from your grasp. You fumble just a bit as he drags it away from you, holding on out of instinct before letting it pass through your hands. No rope burn for you today.

Without sparing you another glance, or even the chance to gauge his expression, he vanishes back into the bathroom. An insistent clank makes you jump, and then he reappears with a dark static brewing in his eyes like a storm. His pupils flicker ever so slightly, but you don’t get the time to really look. 

A new towel is flying your way, and you scramble to catch it out of the air before it hits the ground. 

You blink. 

“Don’t stain it.” 

When you look up, the door to what must be his bedroom slams shut. You think the doorframe vibrates, even. 

It makes no sense. The old towel was fine, and if he doesn’t want them stained, why give you a new one? You could go grab the other one, making sure this one won’t get dripped on, but after what felt like progress his reaction to the stains throws you off. Risking the dark eyes isn’t really on your agenda for this unorthodox sleepover. 

Wrapping the towel around your damp shoulders instead, you step backwards until you hit the leather of the couch. Kick off your shoes, and then curl up on the seat closer to the window. 

It’s going to be a long night. 

—

You don’t know how late it is when the door to Eclipse’s room opens quietly. Definitely late, long past your bedtime, but your mind is too restless to grant you any reprieve. 

Golden eyes find yours in the darkness, and the tall shape that is your reluctant host steps into the hallway. You turned off the lights earlier, feeling more comfortable in the darkness, so the only sources of light are his optics and the faint illumination from the moon and street lights reaching through the window. The light doesn’t reach him.

“You’re still up.” 

Huddled in your towel blanket, you shrug.

“Can’t sleep.” 

The rain outside has trickled away to nearly nothing, and you’ve spent the last few hours lost in thought as you watched the raindrops race down the glass of the window. 

Eclipse remains in the hallway, where the faint light from outside won’t reach. You still see his eyes narrow, bright as they are.

“I don’t have any bedding.” 

“It’s not that.” 

He shifts, but it’s too dark for that to tell you much. 

“Ah. I didn’t expect you to be that prudent. I wouldn’t trust me either.” 

You should have figured he’s being an idiot. The glare you send his way is probably the worst you’ve directed at him so far, and the glow of his optics disappears for a moment as he blinks. 

“I’m not you. I was trying to figure out what I did wrong with the towel, not waiting for you to come kill me while I sleep. What the hell am I supposed to do if you decide to do that, anyway?” 

There’s hardly anything you can do to stop him if he decides he’s had enough of you. Your only reassurance is his continued inaction despite all your pestering. Well, and the fact that you refuse to default to that kind of paranoia.

Still frowning he steps forward, just into the space where the moonlight dips into the hallway. Just that amount of light is enough to let you see the confusion evident on his face. 

“... The towel?” 

“You got angry.” 

You don’t like how quiet your voice is. But any louder and it would crack. 

So instead you just duck slightly, resting your chin on your knees. The perspective and your hair should hide most of your face. Maybe you pull the towel tighter around you, just a bit. It’s warm, offering just a bit of a shield. 

Eclipse takes half a step forward, though you hear it more than you see.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. My reaction had nothing to do with you.” 

That makes you look up. If he wasn’t mad at you for staining his towel, then why was he mad? 

“Then why?” 

Confusion furrows your brows as you right yourself. Eclipse dodges your gaze much too quickly. 

“I won’t answer that.” 

Given the reaction and now his tone, you’re starting to wonder if you even want to know. In any case you don’t feel like pushing him further on this, not tonight. You can let it go.

“Okay. But you’d tell me if I did something wrong?” 

That part is important - and actually earns you another static snort. This time the narrow eyes aren’t angry, more a squint. Amusement. Back on track. 

“Little star, have I hesitated to criticize you before?” 

The bluntness makes you laugh, just a bit. You quell it quickly, but the smile doesn’t leave. Relief floods through you, and you feel more at ease. 

This time when you rest your head on your knees you don’t look away from him. 

“Good point. Why are you still up? Don’t you have to, I don’t know, charge some time?” 

His shoulders rise, and that is an answer in and of itself. Right, he thought you’re “prudent” for not trusting him. Of course he’d manage to think of you as a threat. 

“Ah, right. I could come into your room and kill you. Somehow.” 

“Nothing personal. But I won’t trust you on principle.” 

Your sigh hopefully tells him just what you think about that. Still, you decide to let him off the hook. And besides, you’re already talking, neither of you planning to sleep, or otherwise rest, so maybe you can have a little fun. 

You extract a hand from your cozy cocoon to pat the couch. An invitation.

“Can’t blame you for that, I guess. Will you sit with me then? If neither of us is going to sleep.”

Eclipse frowns as he follows the motion with his eyes. Warily, he takes one step closer, into the dim lighting of the living room. The line of his shoulders relaxes just a bit, and then he closes the distance to the couch in resolute steps. 

He does sit down in his spot, and you can’t even take the space between you two personally. Not when he looks so out of place looking back at you. 

“And now?” 

You huff, smile crooked where it’s pressed against your knees. 

“I don’t know. It’s been a while since my last sleepover, and I don’t think you have a bottle to spin. We could play truth or dare.” 

For a moment, his pupils flick away from you. But just for a breath - and then he relaxes against the backrest, settling into it.

“You go first.” 

You perk up. 

“Wait, really?” 

One eye narrows, the other remains wider, and it gives the impression of a quirked eyebrow. At least, that’s how you choose to interpret it. The amusement in his tone speaks for it, too.

“A free pass to learn more about you and how you got here, and you don’t think I’d take you up on that?” 

Snorting actually hurts - you pull your head down on instinct, knocking your nose against your kneecaps. Enough of that, then. You readjust just a bit, leaning into the crook between armrest and backrest. It allows you to face him more easily too, and you don’t hide your grin. 

“I’ll pick truth, then.”

He doesn’t even hesitate.

“Why would you trust me? Follow me?” 

You don’t know which time he means - which honestly just makes his question all the more relevant. For now you’ll answer for both, can’t go wrong with that. 

“I didn’t really have a lot of options. And you haven’t made me regret it yet.” 

He frowns. 

“That’s reckless.” 

You shrug.

“Sure is. Truth or dare?”

Best to move the game along. You can see he still wants to argue, but there really isn’t more to it. He’s helped you whenever you needed it for as long as you’ve known him - sure, it hasn’t been many times, or for long, but a hundred percent is a hundred percent. Grumpy or not. 

There’s a moment of silence, and then, like pulling teeth, his choice. 

“... Dare.” 

Shoot, now you have to think. That’s the downside of these games, having to come up with questions and dares yourself. There’s not a whole lot you can ask him to do, given that this is his apartment and you don’t want to overstep. 

Unless… 

Your grin grows instinctively as the idea takes hold. Eclipse’s eyes narrow in suspicion, but you voice your dare before he gets to backtrack.

“Let me thank you, without being grumpy about it. Accept it.” 

Golden eyes blaze before narrowing back at you.

“Wha-” 

You squint, channeling your strongest little shit energy. 

“Backing out?” 

Even in the darkness you can see his expression twitch. It’s not what he expected, but pride forces him to let you go through with it. Pride, and the fact that he probably still has questions he wants to ask, and can’t end the game prematurely.

His tone does little to hide the strain, and you nearly laugh. 

“No. Go ahead.” 

Perfect. You straighten a little, as if that will help reflect that you mean it. Even with the dare, you don’t think he’ll actually believe you, but it’s the best you’ll get without being glared at. 

“Thank you, for letting me stay tonight. And for getting me a room. I would’ve been majorly screwed without you, and I appreciate you cashing in a more lucrative favor to get me settled.” 

The lemon face is back. You’re trying very, very hard not to laugh. 

“You usually say ‘You’re welcome’ to expressions of gratitude.” 

If his face looks like he’s bitten into a lemon, yours now looks like you’re trying to be unaffected by a sour candy. You’re pretty sure your eyes are tearing up from the strain of keeping the laughter down. 

“You’re welcome.” 

Words near dripping with disdain. You'll have to watch out for a puddle later, or you’ll slip.

You duck your head, hiding your face behind your knees again. Only this time you’re shaking with silent laughter. 

“You sound like I’m holding you at gunpoint.” 

Your voice warbles ever so slightly in amusement, and you’re not surprised when Eclipse cuts to the chase immediately.

“Truth or dare?” 

He has questions, and you’re not sure you want to invite retaliation. Easy choice.

“I’m scared of the dares you’d come up with. Truth.” 

Eclipse tilts his head, settling with a click. The suspicion isn’t new - in fact, it’s old enough to give you an inkling of what his question will be.

“What do you know about how you got here?” 

Bingo. Unfortunately, there’s no prize to win, and you just sigh. You’ll have to disappoint him. 

“Answer is absolutely nothing. One moment I’m back home, taking a little walk, I blink, I’m here and looking at a whole ass animatronic. I’ll give you a do over if you want.” 

There’s a yawn creeping up on you, but you don’t want the game to end. You stretch your arms over your legs with a hum, hoping the tension will cover up the tiredness, and then relax again. 

There’s a flicker to Eclipse’s expression that you can’t read, but then he sighs, too. 

“No, an answer is an answer, satisfying or not. Truth.” 

That’s barely better than dares, just on the other end of the spectrum. Dares are hard to come up with, whereas with truths… There are so many things you want to ask him, about this time and this world and about him and - 

You hum, trying to stall for time, and scrunch up your face deep in thought. Maybe you need to approach this practically. For now you’re living here, so perhaps it’s good to learn about some rules you simply know nothing about.

“What do I need to know about animatronics?” 

“That’s a broad question.” 

Fair point. But he doesn’t sound inherently against the question, so you decide to elaborate. Maybe that will help him answer.

“I’ve been fumbling for over a week now. I just want to avoid obvious mistakes, things I shouldn’t mention, things not to ask. Like if you’re waterproof.” 

For a moment he squints, amusement sparking in his eyes. But then he looks away, expression falling into something more thoughtful, and he hums. 

When he meets your eyes again, his expression is hard. No trace of amusement left.

“Don’t ask about assignments before the revolution, before we had rights. It’s been twenty years, but too many humans still believe it was better then. Do not imply we should submit to that again.” 

A revolution, huh? Of course things couldn’t be peaceful. It’s good to know about it, you figure, though you also can’t help but think that not knowing wouldn’t have been that much of an issue. It's not something you would have assumed blindly, and thus nothing you would have brought up. Maybe asking in and of itself was the faux pas you wanted to avoid.

Still, you want to go back to the lighthearted air you had going for you just before his answer, so you shrug.

“Well, that’s easy. ‘Don’t be a dick to people’, I can do that.” 

“‘People’?” 

That's a weird emphasis. Bad weird emphasis. 

You crack your eyes open again, with a bit more effort than it should take you. Then again, it’s late. Then again, you already abandoned your sleep schedule for tonight. 

Eclipse is frowning at you, and you have no idea why.

“Uh, duh.” 

“We’re not human. And you can just accept that?” 

You match his frown, if for different reasons. 

“Why are you arguing against your personhood after just telling me not to do that?” 

Silence and a deepening scowl are the only answer you get. You stare for a moment, but when it becomes clear he won’t elaborate, you sigh. Sounds like this runs deeper than you have the brain cells to spare tonight.

“I don’t know your history. I came here, and you helped me. That’s all I need to know you’re a good person.” 

“I’m really not.” 

There’s more gravel in his voice than in a good quarry. He’s still being difficult, and you’re a bit too tired to be gentle about your questioning.

You huff, barely dodging another sigh through spite alone.

“Do you want to be?” 

Squintier and squinter, and then he’s avoiding eye contact again. Of course. 

“It’s not your turn to ask.” 

You throw your head back with a groan. It’s frustrating, not getting a straight answer. But “an answer is an answer, satisfying or not”. You’ll take it, and just hope the rest of the game will be more fun.

“Ugh, fine. Truth.” 

Eclipse seems to be out for revenge now. His tone is still sharp, and you can’t say you’re a fan of his line of thinking.

“How are you so cheerful here? You lost all you know.” 

Stating the obvious there. Whether purposeful retaliation or not, you figure you can look past one unfortunate question too. 

You rest your head on your knee again, your cheek squishing almost uncomfortably. 

“Yeah, but I also escaped late stage capitalism trying to kill everyone’s future.”

There, that’ll do. Except a snappy reply won’t really bring back the fun of the game, and only makes both of you feel awkward. 

Maybe… maybe you do have a way to turn this conversation around. The smile comes automatically, small as it is.

“I do miss my sister though.” 

“You have a sister?” 

Surprise softens his tone. Seems like your little redirection worked even better than expected. You widen your grin then, thinking about how Eclipse would react to meeting her. 

“Yup. Menace. She’s younger, but taller. Honestly, if you can’t handle me, she’d wreck you. She has a knack for sniffing out insecurities, and pulls no punches.” 

You stretch, humming along. It does little to dampen your amusement, and you squint at Eclipse. His eyes are still narrow, but much more relaxed than before. Amused, maybe? He relaxes against the backrest again - you didn’t even notice him straightening. 

“... I see she learned from the best.” 

Your laughter is more a bark than anything else, and you slap your hand over your mouth quickly. Who knows how thin those walls are, and how many sane people are actually trying to get some sleep right now. 

With the volume control back in place you do allow yourself a chuckle though.

“Student surpassing the master, if anything. Your turn.”

His eyes wander, moving away from you, and then he’s staring out of the window. You glance back, too. The rain is starting up again, a gentle background noise. 

“Truth. Don’t make me regret it.” 

You untwist your spine to look back at Eclipse, finding yourself late to the party. His glare doesn’t feel hostile, but it does remind you that there was something else you’ve been eager to ask. And while you’re already on the topic… 

Time to figure out whom Eclipse doesn’t hate. You spare him a smile, aiming for a reassuring look, but the way his shoulders slump in resignation you don’t think you succeed. 

“No fun in you ending the game early. Who's 'not everyone'?” 

The quotation marks are more a suggestion from underneath the towel, but you don't care. You trust Eclipse understands - and he does, because he looks down. Almost melancholic. You don't know if you like it.

“... I have two brothers.” 

A blink. A small part of you is intrigued by the technicalities - family by choice, but how so? Without blood in the way, when really all you have is choice, how does a family find together? 

But even though it’s not about any revolution as far as you’re aware, this just screams insensitive question. So instead, you let excitement take over. 

“You have brothers?” 

As your grin grows, his frown deepens. 

“Why is that so sur- why are you looking at me like this.” 

The couch isn’t the bounciest, but soft enough to let you swing forward. You land on your hands, splayed on the leather of the unoccupied middle seat. Eclipse actually leans back, surprised by your sudden approach, or maybe put off by the mischief promised by your smile. 

“Younger or older? Shorter or taller?” 

At least he relaxes again, though not without his expression twisting into annoyance.

“... Your priorities are off, little star. And it’s not your turn.” 

“Consider it a follow up. I need to know for science!” 

You bounce once, insistently, and nearly laugh when you see it reach Eclipse. Scary scary bounty hunter, moved by your shenanigans. 

“... Science.” 

He says it just as the couch settles again. Too much fun. You bounce again. 

“Younger or -” 

“Little brothers.” 

“Ahw man.” 

You’ll keep the bouncing tucked away as an effective method of getting him to talk. Whether or not it’s just to keep you from talking is a secondary concern. For now, you groan in mock frustration, and push yourself back again. Your back hits the armrest, and you tuck the towel close again. 

You huff, and Eclipse tilts his head slightly as he squints at you.

“Why are you disappointed?” 

As you explain you wiggle a bit, shifting your legs into a position that doesn’t hurt your stiff knee. 

“I have this theory of younger siblings outgrowing their older siblings. Though I guess with you in the mix I’d seriously be concerned for your brothers’ heads.” 

For a second, you imagine it. Two more animatronics, even taller than Eclipse. Given that you know nothing about them so far, your imagination supplies you with two more Eclipses, somehow looking even grumpier as they flank the already grumpy Eclipse of your mind. 

The real Eclipse isn’t any more cheerful in his reaction.

“... Do I have to tell you that animatronics don’t grow?” 

Animatronics are not early two thousands robots, you forgot. 

“... I might have been thinking of a movie again.” 

At his groan you press your lips together tightly to avoid laughing. You’re pretty sure if he had a defined nose bridge he’d be pinching it. 

“You’re incorrigible. Truth or Dare?” 

You know what, you’re feeling daring. 

“Hit me with a dare.” 

Eclipse is much quicker than you in choosing dares, and you don’t like this stormy expression. 

“Show me your shoulder.” 

Your brows furrow on instinct. Your shoulder? Which one? Why? 

“Huh?” 

There’s no change to his expression, but he does elaborate. 

“The one I hurt.” 

Now you blink. That was over a week ago, and you haven’t even paid attention to the bruises. They’re gone, probably. You think. Moving around hasn’t hurt after the initial soreness wore off, and you don’t like the thought that he’s that hung up over an accident. 

“It was barely anything, really. The bruises all faded.” 

Still he won’t let up. 

“Show me.” 

No way out then. Though no one said you have to be happy about it. You peel yourself out of the towel blanket, and then push away the fabric from your shoulder. 

In the dark, you can’t see shit. Maybe the bruises are gone, or maybe they’re just too faint to see. Without thinking you raise your finger and test instead, poking around where you remember Eclipse’s fingers digging in. You don’t get far before a larger hand wraps around yours, immediately pulling you away from the exposed skin. 

You blink at Eclipse. His eyes are wide, flickering to something darker in the corners, and his hand twitches around yours. He snaps to the movement, as if unaware of his own actions, and then rips his hand away again. 

“Don’t do that.” 

He sounds like he’s hanging on by a thread, and you don’t think you want to know what happens when it snaps.

His sudden departure after learning he bruised you back at the boarding house. The strain in his voice then, and now. And, for a second, you think about the towel again. You don’t know how it relates to the bruises, but his eyes looked like this earlier, too. 

The dark static calms somewhat, though he glances back at your shoulder for a moment. There’s no better word for it - he slumps in his seat. 

“I’ve seen enough.” 

You spare him one more wary glance, then sigh. 

“I didn’t see anything, and the touch test was negative too. You can stop feeling guilty.” 

No reply. You get started on restoring your layers of comfort. As you pull up your sleeve your eyes fall on your hand again, and you think about how big Eclipse’s is in comparison. You knew, he even grabbed your head before, but just like then you can’t let it go.

On the one hand, you would have liked some more time to actually process what his hand feels like. On the other hand, you’re mad at yourself for thinking like that. 

Eclipse seems eager to move things along. His eyes may have brightened, but his voice still hasn’t. 

“Dare.” 

You hum. If you don’t know how to reassure him your best course of action is to ignore the weirdness entirely. Maybe one day you’ll figure out his deal with bruises. Maybe not. For now, not your circus and not your giant monkey. 

“Ah, hm. Give me a moment, I need to think.” 

There’s a brief pause, but then, slowly, almost hesitantly, Eclipse huffs. 

“If I wanted to, I’d take that as the dare.” 

So he’s fine with trying to keep things lighthearted. He doesn’t want to linger on whatever that was, either, and it strengthens your resolve. Said resolve may involve a lot of silliness, but he’ll have to deal. 

“Shush, or it’s going to be something stupid.” 

Just for posterity you scrunch up your face in thought, then tap your toweled finger against your chin. 

Never looking away from your antics, Eclipse relaxes further. He leans back against the couch, even going so far as to rest his arm on the backrest. For a second, you believe him. Except then you notice the way his fingers are digging into the leather, and his careful projection shatters. 

“Your last dare was stupid.” 

You do have to admit he’s trying though. Unfortunately for him, you just had an idea, and it’s entirely self-serving. Well, maybe it’ll distract him, too.

“I don’t want to hear that from you. Show me your hand.” 

A blink. 

“My hand?” 

“Yeah, like this.” 

You grin as you raise one hand from your cocoon, splaying the fingers in the air. Eclipse looks on, tilting his head as if he’ll understand you better from a different perspective. From the way his frown twitches you don’t think it’s helping. But he does mimic the motion, glaring first at you and then at his hand. Slowly, hesitantly, he holds out his hand in the space between you two. 

No time to lose. You scoot closer, and press your palm against his. He jerks back, but you only stretch further, following the motion. 

“Stay. You’re not grabbing, it’s fine.” 

He stills. 

A soft laugh escapes you, now that you have the time to look. His hands are proportional to his body, which is to say they’re ungodly huge. 

Not that you mind. 

“Oh, big. I mean, I knew, I saw, but the side by side comparison sure is something.” 

Eclipse tilts his hand, and you move with him. There’s a twitch that you ignore.

“You’re just tiny.” 

Again you scoot closer, and extract your other hand too. Again he starts, but then you’re already pulling his hand closer. He lets you. 

Absentmindedly, you prattle on.

“Look - okay, I can’t argue, I’m short even by human standards - wait! I think I’m actually pretty average in this day and age!” 

One hand you keep on his, just so he doesn’t get any ideas about the dare being over. With the other you trace the lines on his palm where the casing is broken up to allow for movement. You move towards his thumb, the indent of the lower joint and the upwards, brushing past the rougher shell of his fingertip. Worn down from all the grabbing he does, for who knows how long. 

You’re so lost in thought, you nearly miss his quiet retort.

“That doesn’t matter.” 

It takes you an embarrassing amount of time to remember just what you were talking about, but then you huff. 

“Because you’re big.” 

The moment is over, and Eclipse’s patience runs out. He pulls his hand back and leans away from you, out of reach. 

“Shut up.” 

Despite his glare he still doesn’t sound hostile. You stick your tongue out at him, then shuffle back against your cozy nook. 

“No, I’m choosing truth.”

The question comes much too quickly after another glance at his hand. 

“Why aren’t you scared?” 

You freeze. 

The anxiety you’ve managed to keep down rears its ugly head again, churning your stomach, and you pull the towel tighter around you. Duck your head, even if you can’t escape his gaze. 

Sometimes, silence is answer enough. He understands.

“You are.” 

Try as you might, you don’t think he buys the nonchalance of your shrug. Still, you have no other option but to continue the act. 

“Pretty much always, yup. You get used to doing things despite it.”

There’s a pause, the silence weighing heavy as you wait. Turns out you’re not off the hook yet. 

“You had a follow up question earlier.” 

Part of you wants to sigh. So you do, even as it turns into a yawn halfway through. Tiredness is starting to win out over the anxiety, so you look back up.

“Shoot.” 

There’s an expectant hum in the air. Not like the intentional ones, more like the soft sound from old TVs. Well, old for your time, not this. Eclipse weighing his words, perhaps. A click, and he speaks.

“How scared are you of me?” 

Ah. That probably shouldn’t surprise you as much as it does - from his perspective a valid concern, and of course something that would occupy his mind. After his very first question tonight, it just makes sense.

But he doesn’t understand what you’re scared of.

“Not as much as I probably should be. Not as much as you think I should be, anyway. Mostly just on principle - you’re bigger, stronger, and one of few people who even knows I’m here.” 

No one who would miss you, or bother looking for you. You were lucky to meet someone who isn’t interested in making you disappear, not even to make his own life easier. 

Someone who knows societal rejection first hand, too. 

Anxiety quells, and you breathe easier. You relax against the backrest of the couch, accepting that you’ll have to peel yourself off later.

“I’d probably be more scared if you were human, actually.” 

The tension you expelled is the tension Eclipse soaks up, it seems. His shoulders harden into a straight line, and his eyes narrow.

“That makes no sense.” 

Earlier you thought you’re getting desensitized against his glares. Right now you’re just way too drowsy to care. 

“Does it? I’m not really a human humans in power like. I’ve got things ‘wrong’ with me that don’t even have names yet.” 

You take in a breath, barely concealing yet another yawn. The quotation marks you mimic with your fingers are about as energetic as your tone, so you can’t be sure he even notices. 

For a moment, Eclipse just stares. But then he too sighs, and his shoulders drop again.

“I don’t doubt that. I’ll concede the point, I have no reason to antagonize you for who you are.” 

Even so, this isn’t the tone you want to end this conversation on. You smile, tired as you are. At least he can interpret your squint as amused, too. 

“Just for how much I’m annoying you.” 

And you got him. 

“So you admit you’re doing it on purpose.” 

There’s no fire behind his words, and you chuckle softly.

“Never said that. Plausible deniability is my friend.” 

His glare actually makes you laugh. It’s overly dramatic, and you’ve seen him be scary - this is so far from it. Maybe if you hadn’t been playing a silly little game for the better part of an hour you would be more inclined to be properly impressed, but now? Nope, no can do. 

You sink a little lower on the couch, and your cheek squeaks slightly against the leather. Ough.

“One last round for you? I have one more question.”

Your enunciation is slowly but surely saying goodbye. Lack of sleep is catching up on you. 

But for now, Eclipse indulges you.

"Truth."

"Why did you help me?" 

If he can wonder just why you aren’t appropriately terrified, you can wonder just why he cares. Coincidence is the only thing tying you together, and that doesn’t actually seem like a big enough incentive for him.

He sighs again, turning a bit where he sits. Drapes his arm over the backrest again - no more need for distance then. Or maybe it’s just more comfortable. He’s not even looking at you, rather past you, out of the window. The rain is still pittering away. 

"My reputation at the station is bad enough as is. Didn't want you running into either of my brothers telling them how I abandoned you."

What crumbs of energy you have left let you perk up at that implication.

“Your brothers are cops?” 

“Yes. Don’t call them that to their faces.” 

You snort. If you ever meet them you’ll have to remember, but for now you can’t help but abuse that newfound crumb of power.

“So that's how to get you to -” 

The hand you so thoroughly inspected before now covers your entire face, and you laugh against it. There’s not much to see - the bit of light passing by his palm is barely enough to make out his fingers. 

Though you didn’t get to sniff it before. If you were any more awake you might refrain, but right now you’re tired and his hand is right there. Given that you need to breathe, not smelling is harder than just giving into the impulse. Heavy and metallic, but mixed with something sweeter - some of it the leather, almost earthy, and some of it you don’t recognize. 

At least he doesn’t seem to notice what you’re doing.

“Shut up. Don't even try.” 

There’s something else you might try. Your impulse control is so dangerously low.

He’s not holding on tightly right now, barely even holding rather than just covering, but you’re not sure how well-advised it would be to translate your impulses into actions. 

… Did he even wash his hands earlier? 

Maybe you can distract yourself.

“Can you imagine though? ‘Hi everyone, I’m from the future, and also I met this grumpy animatronic who wouldn’t help me out. Name’s Eclipse, anyone know him?’. Makes me almost sad it was a bluff.”

“You were bluffing?” 

Can’t make bad decisions if the temptation is out of reach. Eclipse pulls his hand away, just so you can see his wide eyed glare in all its glory. 

You manage a satisfied grin despite your eyelids weighing all too heavy on your eyes. 

“Oh, thanks, my next idea was to lick it and I don’t think either of us want that.” 

For a moment he stares at his hand. You’re glad you’re looking, because you notice the near imperceptible shake of his head before he drops it again. Your laugh is barely more than a tired huff. 

And yet, despite all that interesting bonus information, he hasn’t actually answered you yet.

"That's not really it though. That bluff came way later. Why not just dip when I started screaming?" 

Again that half squint, leaving one optic wider. Sardonic, maybe. 

"A human in hysterics and the bounty hunter with a violent reputation. What do you think people would have assumed?"

That sobers you up, too. 

"Oh. I'm sorry." 

"Don't be. It's out of your control." 

He’s no longer looking at you. His back is against the couch, and he looks off into the room. Not at anything specific, you don’t think. Just staring off into space. Maybe pondering some what ifs, too. 

What if you hadn’t appeared in front of him. What if right now, he could be charging in peace, being owed by someone who can actually pay up, and who won’t antagonize him at every turn. 

You shrink in on yourself.

"Still, I've been causing trouble for you from the start."

Silence settles between you. It’s heavy, but your eyelids are heavier, and sleep might just win even against the fresh wave of guilt. 

The moment stretches, and then golden lights find you again in the darkness. 

"It's not all bad." 

For someone who doesn’t believe in friendship he’s doing a shit job of keeping you at a distance. How can you not read into that? 

"Yeah?" 

Amusement sparks, even as the lights dim as he squints.

"I've learned many interesting things already. Like platypuses being fluorescent under a Wood's lamp." 

A squeak, or a huff - you don’t know what your laugh resembles more. Eclipse is still squinting.

You stretch again, but there is no stopping this yawn. If you’re already standing by your sleepiness, you’ll make yourself comfortable too. First you unstick your cheek from the leather, then let yourself slide down. The couch is big enough for you to curl up in the corner and rest your head on the armrest, the towel between the leather and your skin. Avoid the bad stickiness. 

Eclipse watches you silently, and you lazily blink his way.

“Don’t scratch the couch.” 

“Hm?” 

“Nothing.” 

“Hrm.” 

Whatever he means, you’re not in the mood to ask. Words are escaping you at record speed. Instead you close your eyes, shuffling closer into the corner.

“That can’t be comfortable.” 

Just because he can’t try. You’d shoot him a squinty glare if you had any inclination of opening your eyes right now. 

“‘m small, ’s perfect.” 

It’s comfortable, despite it being leather. The towel is a good barrier against the stickiness, and a warm little cocoon. Not as heavy as you��d like, maybe, but you don’t think weighted blankets have been invented yet. 

At least you have the rain as background noise. 

“The boarding house isn’t too far away from here, if you’re walking in daylight. I’ll map it out for you when you’re awake again.” 

Eclipse’s voice startles you out of your daze, and you jolt. Still, your eyes remain closed, even as you huff. 

“Not asl’p.” 

There’s a low rumble of a laugh, and you smile against your cozy nest. He should laugh more often. Maybe you can tell him a few good jokes, see if he likes any. Not now though. Enunciation is too hard right now, whether you’re awake or not. You totally are.

“Keep telling yourself that.” 

You don’t have the awareness to argue. 

Tomorrow. You’ll tell him tomorrow.

[shining-scion]

Alright, here it is.

“I want to be there, when you first transform.” The specter of the Shadow Queen muses, a rippling dark figure cradling her staff almost fondly as she stares down at the figure bundled in a burrower cloak. In the shadow of the eclipse tower, sheltered against pouring rain, was the young wizard— magic new and foreign to them sparking inside of their soul, coursing like waves as it surged and fought to settle, to assimilate. They felt none of this, and pointedly ignored the shade of the woman haunting them. “Ah, what did she tell you, little wizard? Was it the only way to defeat me?”

The woman’s voice is sickly high, now, and the freshly made shadowmancer stiffens, fighting to express no reaction of fear or discomfort to the mocking tone. “She’s lying to you. There is no way to defeat me. Though, to her credit, perhaps you almost have a fair shot, now… such is why I’d like to see the moment you really learn what you’ve done to your magic. The shrike that emerges from that despair will be glorious. I almost hope you survive long enough to truly face me.” They glance up, then— eyes darting to the Spider Queen’s unsteady illusion of a face in fearful suspicion. They know she only wishes to get inside their head, but memory betrays them. This was nothing like the man they had tragically fought in Dragonspyre. Never once had that conflict felt personal. “Oh, is it just the light, or have the shadows already begun to affect your eyes? Weren’t they a little brighter last I saw you?” They flinch, fingers trailing to their eyes as they glance around, sitting up straighter now as they try to find a reflective surface. “Would you like a mirror, little wizard?” Something clatters in front of them. They jolt once at the noise, staring down at the sudden dark framed hand mirror laying on the ground, jagged edges looking almost dangerous. The specter stands in front of them still, and to grab the mirror they’re forced to inch closer to the illusion, drawing back quickly once the object is in hand. “I do hope you remember what you looked like before the ritual. You’ve been here for how long, now? A few weeks? A month? A year?”   “I… only two weeks. I’m counting. You can’t trick me on that.” They reply, turning the mirror over in their hand before slowly tilting it towards their face. The Shadow Queen shrugs. “Well, it was worth a shot. The nights draw long in my web.” They make a point to show disinterest in her words, regarding their face instead, gaze deepening on their own eyes. They were a lilac, now and in the past— though the hue in the dark night of the current rain raises just enough doubt in their mind. Had their eyes changed? They had changed once, when mana flooded their soul for the first time and they acclimated to the lighter air and soaring skies of the Spiral. For it to change again would not surprise them, but it wouldn’t be welcome this time. They bring the mirror closer…

Only to jolt back as indistinct, flying swarms of bugs shoot out of the mirror— shadowy illusions like the queen herself, but enough to make them yell, enough to make them drop the mirror and slam their fist against the glass, cracking it. She cackles wickedly, haughty. “Fool girl! All reality is mine to control, and it will only get worse. Keeping the realm sane enough for you to navigate is a mercy I’ve extended to you.”

She turns away, then, regarding the rest of her domain with twisted pride. “I had hoped the fear of such a simple trick was enough of a trigger for your shadows to react, but it seems you hold yourself well. A good first step for you.”

Her form grows wispy, fading with a sudden break of dawn against the pouring rain. “I do hope our battle is well. We wouldn’t want my victory to be too easy, would we? The glory would be underwhelming…”

As quickly as she appeared, the Shadow Queen vanishes, leaving the young wizard alone in an uncertain daybreak, a cracked mirror at their feet and a simmering urge to press on in their heart.

[h0nology]

The Metkayina Way

Neteyam x Metkayina!Reader

warnings: nightmares, crying, mentions of death and violence, slight swearing, reader is still a little mean but not that much, ao’nung being a bully, fighting, SLIGHT fluff, pinch of angst. aged up reader and neteyam!! can’t think of anything else lmk if i missed anything

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4| part | part 6 | part 6.2

Your vision was blurred, with tears is what it seemed like. Your chest felt like it was being ripped into pieces. Your lip quivered, body trembling as you sat on the huge rock in the middle of the ocean. Eclipse had come, the night sky being the only source of light you had. The bodies around you were blurred, not being able to make out a single face. Your eyes fell to your lap, a cold and lifeless hand sat there. You grabbed the hand, your cries becoming louder, they eventually turned into screams of bloody murder. There was soon a hand being placed on your shoulder, turning around at the figure you looked up at the blurred face. They were trying to tell you something, but the words were muffled, you sat there staring up at them trying to comprehend the words but…nothing.

You shot up out of your slumber, chest heaving, wet cheeks and a feeling you couldn’t explain, your body felt weak, usually how you felt after you’ve done a long day of training. You looked around to make sure you didn’t wake anyone before wiping the tears off your face. You looked outside, daylight creeping up but not completely. You quietly got out of your hammock, tiptoeing out of your marui pod and down to the beach, the waves crashing against the shore. You walked down the beach, a little further than usual and sat waist deep in the water.

You haven’t had a nightmare in years, and it worried you more than it should’ve. The last time this happened, you weren’t able to sleep, you started falling behind, disappointing your family and their name. You sat in your meditating position, beginning to listen to the waves of the water and shut your eyes as you began to hum a melody your mother had taught you. You sat there trying to cleanse your mind of the negativity that had consumed your conscious.

As you sat there begging the great mother to not put you through this again, a pair of eyes have been on you since you made your way onto the beach. Neteyam had not been able to sleep himself, sitting outside of his marui pod with his feet in the glowing water. He saw the worried state you were in, he wondered what was going on with the clan's little warrior. He watched as you whispered prayers to yourself multiple times, he wanted to go check on you, just to see if you were okay. But he knew he couldn’t. Not when you hated his entire being. Neteyam didn’t know what he did for you to dislike him, being that he only got here yesterday. You didn’t treat him the same way you treated his sisters, hell, you even treated Lo’ak a little differently. He wishes it wasn’t the way it is, he wishes he could talk to you without the fear of you giving him the cold shoulder. He’s never had this problem with anyone before, which only made him want you more.

You had been out on the beach ever since you had woken up out your sleep, you missed breakfast and did your swim around the reef alone today. You didn’t want to draw any attention to yourself, so you tried your best to just put everything to the side, for now.

There were a few people already out, starting their duties for the day as you continued to walk along the water. You stopped in your tracks when you heard a little voice calling for you from behind, you turned around and saw the youngest of the newcomers running towards you as her older sister followed behind her.

“Tuk! You are up early.” You smiled at her as she hugged your waist, “She couldn’t wait to see you again.” Kiri playfully rolled her eyes.

“I am happy to see you as well. Both of you.” You smiled at the sisters, “Where are your brothers?”

“They should be right behind us...” Kiri looked over her shoulder, “Dad is probably lecturing them again.”

Figuring they’d catch up, you and the girls walked back to the spot from yesterday where your siblings and Rotxo sat.

“Today should not be hard, we will learn how to communicate under the water. Using sign language.”

You all sat in a circle, Tsireya taking her spot next to you as you went over the basics with the group. It wasn’t as hard as yesterday’s, the two girls catching on quickly as usual which had impressed you. Those two are fast learners. They didn’t need to prove themselves to you anymore, you had dismissed them to go on about their day but the two just sat there and decided to talk with you and your sister. Tsireya wasn’t completely in the conversation though, constantly looking over her shoulder. You figured she was looking for the boy, and you were wondering where they were too.

As if it was their cue, the two boy's figures appeared to be walking towards you. Lo’ak had already looked annoyed on his way here as Neteyam, who is usually leading, slugged behind him.

“You two go enjoy your day; your brothers don’t need any distraction when they’re training.” You wink at the sisters, them laughing at your little joke as they walked off somewhere. “You two as well, go do something productive.” You dismissed Ao‘nung and Rotxo.

“You are late.” You say as the boys approached you, “I overslept. I am sorry.” Neteyam rubbed one of his eyes.

“And he still found a way to blame me.” Lo’ak rolled his eyes, sitting down next to Tsireya.

“Lo’ak—” The older brother started but you cut him off, “Come, we will have to do our lesson in the water today. To keep you awake.” The water was still cold, which would help him to not relax.

“Be nice.” Tsireya signed to you as you got up, “I am always nice.” You sign back, smiling at your sister.

He followed you to the water where you two sat in front of each other, you explained today’s lesson to him. Going over the basics that he needed to know, explaining things over and over again for him.

“Water.” You signed.

“Water.” He said out loud, mimicking the sign.

“Reef.”

“Reef.” He signed back.

You looked into his tired, golden eyes, trying not to get lost in them. He was surprisingly good at this, you thought it was going to be difficult trying to teach him.

“You have pretty eyes, idiot boy.”

“I do not get it. Do it again.” He furrowed his barely visible eyebrows.

You cracked a slight smile, “You will catch on eventually, skxawng.”

Neteyam smiled back at you, slightly chuckling at your comment. It was the first time you had ever smiled at him since he had been here, maybe there was hope. Maybe he was overthinking it, maybe you didn’t hate him like he thought you did.

“Why did you oversleep?”

“I had a hard time sleeping last night.” He tells you, “Why?” You asked yet another question.

Neteyam didn’t want to put the burden he was carrying on your shoulders, the burden of living up to his father's standards, being the mighty warrior, he wanted him to be.

When you noticed he didn’t answer your question you spoke up, not wanting to make him uncomfortable, you read his face. He didn’t want to share.

“You do not have to tell me.”

But he wanted to. He wanted to confide in you, maybe you could help him. Help him clear his mind like you had done hours before.

Before the two of you could say another thing you both noticed the commotion going on further up the beach, you two both stood to your feet, slowly starting to walk up to the group of people who you soon recognized as your siblings. Your pace started to pick up, beginning to start a full-blown sprint, Neteyam on your heels.

When you approached the scene, Ao’nung and Lo’ak were going back and forth about something while his friends backed him up and Kiri stood there with her arms crossed. You ignored the two idiots going back and forth and walked over to Kiri to ask what had happened.

“He called me a freak.” She shrugs, kicking the sand below her, she was trying to act nonchalant about the situation, but you could see right through it.

You whipped your head around to Ao’nung, about to give him the lecture of his life until you saw that Neteyam was already headed over there, his long braids swaying behind him. He pushed Lo’ak to the side before stepping in front of Ao’nung.

“If you have a problem with my siblings, you handle it with me. Do you understand me?” He poked his finger at your brother's chest.

Usually, you’d never let anyone address your siblings the way he just did, and for a moment you were about to stop him…but you didn’t. You liked the dominance that had come out of him, something you weren’t expecting to see from him.

“Now back off.”

Ao’nung held his hands up in surrender with a smirk on his face, you walked over to him, grabbing him by the ear and pulling him over to Kiri. His friends stood there in a state of shock.

“I will drag all of you over here if I have to. Come NOW!” You yelled.

They all made their way towards you and Ao’nung in a hurry.

“Apologize.” You looked at Ao’nung, “I am sorry.” He says.

“All of you!” You yelled once again, getting murmurs of sorry’s in return.

“Whatever.” Kiri rolls her eyes at the group of boys, “Thank you.” She turns to smile at you.

Ao’nung and his friends walked out your sight as you stood and talked with Kiri and Neteyam. Him asking her a bundle of questions, obviously getting on her nerves.

“Ne—"

“It’s called a punch bitch!”

You all whipped your heads around to see the boys at it once again, this time on the ground fighting each other. All of you stood there amused for a minute, then Neteyam jumped in to help his brother.

“Guys stop!” Kiri yelled out.

You stood there in silence for a moment, watching the boys bruise each other up, as much as it amused you and you wanted to laugh…you couldn’t let them kill each other.

“Enough.” You walked into the middle of the fight, one of Ao’nung’s friends accidentally tripping you in the process, landing you straight on your stomach. Within two swift motions you were on your feet again and had the boy off his, foot pressing against cheek, smooshing one side of his face in the sand.

“I said enough!” You yelled again, removing your foot from the boy's face. You had fallen so hard that you scraped your chin, bits of blood on your hand as you touched the wound.

“You made my sister bleed, idiot!” Ao’nung yelled at the boy.

“It is the second day, and you all are trying to kill each other, the situation was under control. This was all unnecessary.” You looked between Lo’ak and Ao’nung, “Go on now.”

The group dispersed and went their separate ways, except Neteyam who had walked over to you.

“Are you okay?” He looked down at you, he had a few cuts on his face and a busted lip, “I am fine.” You replied.

You watched as his hand went to tilt your chin up, examining your wound. Your body could’ve melted at his touch, but you quickly dismissed it.

“Do not touch.” You swat his hand away, “Go. Let your mother tend to your wounds.”

“Why can’t you, miss powerful healer?” He cracked a small smile, scared of your reaction.

You looked at him for a second, slightly amused by his comment before leaving and catching up to Ao’nung, you two walked to your pod in silence, knowing you were about to get the lecture of your life.

“Why Ao’nung? Why must you cause so much trouble?” You asked him, “She was face down in the water looking at the sand! She is a freak!” He threw his hands up.

“She’s different, Ao’nung. I believe she has a gift.” You had noticed how quickly she caught onto things and how well she was in the water, there was definitely something there, “Just because she’s not like you does not make her any less than you. You must understand that.”

“That is going to take some time to understand.” He mutters.

You shake your head at your brother as you walked up to your pod, preparing yourself to hear your mother and fathers scolding. Except they weren’t there, only Tsireya who was touching up her braids.

“What happened?!” She jumps up from the floor, “Where are our parents?” You scanned the room.

“They just left to go out to the water.”

Maybe you guys won’t be getting lectured after all, not for now at least.

“Well, our idiot brother and your little boyfriend–”

“Boyfriend?!” Tsireya and Ao’nung said in unison, “Forest boy is your boyfriend?! I will beat—”

“His name is Lo’ak!” She corrected, “And he is not my boyfriend.”

You looked between the two and rolled your eyes before resuming your sentence, “These two were out on the beach trying to kill each other, and I just happened to get caught up in the mix.”

“I did not mean for you to get hurt.” Ao’nung says as you grabbed your supplies, “I know, ‘nung.” You reassured your brother.

Ao’nung sat down on the mat as you and Tsireya tended to his wounds, not even worrying about yours at the moment.

“Ouch!” Ao’nung hissed at Tsireya, his hand falling to your lap in hopes you’d grab it to comfort him. You wanted to call him a big baby until you looked down at your lap, flashbacks of the lifeless hand from your dream consuming your mind. Your breath hitched, the same feeling from earlier slowly starting to creep up on you.

“What is wrong?” Ao’nung looked at you, “Nothing. Everything is fine.” You grabbed his hand, beginning to work on his bruised knuckles.

You dismissed the thought of it being Ao’nung’s lifeless hand in your dream, it couldn’t be. Not your baby brother. It was just a silly dream anyways; you had nothing to worry about.

tags: @afro-hispwriter @mashiromochi @neteyamforlife

[nico-esoterica]

Rachel Chinourir—I read her chart and started crying at midnight after listening to her music

Newly 25, this super star’s experiencing her 2nd house profection year. This means that the name of the game for her this year’s gonna be all about how she’s providing for herself and proving she can be self-reliant. She’s establishing herself as an adult during that stressful period in your mid 20s when you start finding that blurry distinction between yourself and what your environment demands you be. Add an exploding fanbase and platform into the mix and whiplash is the cherry on top.

Especially since the last eclipse cycle occurred on her 1/7 axis—this means that with her Scorpio stellium, she was going through it and underwent several personal transformations and ‘realizations’ is what I’m hearing in regards to how she sees herself versus what she’s been forced to be out of survival. It was a very emotionally messy period for her for a while. But what came out of the rubble of her previous emotional life was this unbreakable will to draw that boundary and keep it firm. “I’m not like the rest of you” is what I’m hearing intuitively. Feels related to mental health. Or “I will not be”—another possibility.

(rectified time - isn't exact but close) In my experience, people with strong Scorpio influence are sponges of generational trauma they’re viscerally made aware of from an early age. An artist who comes to mind is Willow Smith who has a Sun-Mercury in Scorpio with its ruler empowering it from her 4H of home and family lineage. In recent years, we’ve learned about her family and its issues.

She’s come out of a rough period of trying to do what all m/zillennials were told regardless of the Pluto in Cap global recession hitting in ‘08—”No matter what happens, you MUST get your degree. You NEED to get that super stable job because that’s the only way you’re going to have a future.” That’s very loud in her chart to me because that Pluto was moving through her 3H of early childhood education and experiences and was forming a gnarly square over the past couple years (beginning of pandemic) to her late Aries Saturn. Means there was pressured incentive for her to ‘get her life together,’ notably from a father or authority figures in her life.

She’s always been capable but even if she could ‘hold’ said stable job, her mind was always elsewhere. Daydreaming and scribbling lyrics and poetry is what I’m hearing/seeing by looking at her Pisces Moon and Jupiter co-present in her 5th. Creative classes and activities or even artistic programs she excelled in. But the latter planet being Retrograde makes me think that she doubted her talents despite an abundance of people reassuring her that she’s gifted. Beyond gifted and has always been. Her 9H ruler of higher education (and I can see this also meaning specialized programs) being well aspected in her 5H of creativity tells me as such.

With Pluto consistently hitting her water planets since roughly 2010, because this is a planet of crisis and rebirth, she’s most likely dealt with both internal and external pressures that, on one hand, were god damn awful (her natal Sun-Uranus square on her ¼ is LOUD) and supplied a mental health minefield, they also gave her a super power for expression. She learned she found a home for it in the arts. With such an overwhelming amount of Scorpio in her 1st, it puts a psychic target on your back. You constantly feel attacked and this will be doubly true if her MC’s at a later degree in her 10th because it’ll be squaring her Mercury (and Chiron, potentially), meaning that whenever she opened her mouth, she got lambasted for it.

It’s giving, "Fix your mouth—Who do you think you’re talking to??” Her having a 10H North Node with Uranus co-present in Aquarius in her 4H with her South Node illustrates that, and I can speak about this from experience, was simply ‘different.’ Usually, having a 10/4 North vs South node link means that you, quite literally, want to catapult yourself from where you came from. You find it limiting to the point of being suffocating. Especially w/ her 6H Saturn ruling her houses related to everything family and early experiences related—Means there was an expectation about how she was supposed to act and a ‘path’ she was meant to follow and she couldn’t fit her edges within the smooth yet predictable edges of that circle—Cycle. When you have Uranus in these houses, especially in Saturnian signs like Capricorn or Aquarius, this means that your environment will often flow one way and you will flow the opposite or in several directions at once. It means that you are potentially on different generational and socio-political axes and will contribute to feeling like Marvin The Martian in your own home. It often leads to finding refuge in creative outlets. And we find that next door with her IC, Jupiter, and Moon in her 5th.

With Saturn transiting here since last year, she’s been establishing herself independently as an artist and has been met with great upward momentum and success. The craft she’s been nurturing and building for years (Saturn) trining that Scorpio stellium is presenting rewards for that work and her willingness to be vulnerable in an oversaturated industry that relies on gimmick and polish. Her Mercury-Neptune sextile exact in a fame degree that’s also making a lovely aspect to her Moon—Her music is uncomfortably intimate and honest, especially to anyone that’s neurodivergent or on the margins (strictly going by her chart alone). These qualities in music’s current landscape are rare and they’ll be what distinguish her as an artist and keep her fed. 

But with her benefiting from the current eclipse cycle firing up her 6H of what many of us ‘do’ for a living w/ her Saturn here (in preparation for her Saturn Return), her biggest challenge is not letting her perfectionist anxiety over her work’s ‘worthiness’ to others with their eyes officially on her cause her to self-sabotage or become self-conscious. She’s got the audience and has built it up but with explosive momentum and ‘overnight’ success comes the potential for our boundaries to weaken because we’re suddenly hyper-aware of ourselves.

Due to her tendency to self-monitor (most likely as a learned response), her Scorpio Mercury ruled Virgo Mars can cause her to suffocate her own self expression because she’s so used to being fucked with. And with that Mars ruling her fame degree Retrograde Aries Saturn, she never knows when enough’s enough—Have I done enough? Is this even good? I know it’s good! But is it really? Maybe I should work harder. I’ll work harder—Cycle, Rinse and Repeat. This is giving child of immigrants energy. I know so many of you feel called out by this right now.

Her debut album’s release looks promising. The 2H for her ruler of the year (Jupiter) is in Capricorn and she started blowing up on socials during Saturn’s months (Jan-Feb). The activation points where we’re going to see the most activity will be during this release in Aries and Taurus season (April-May). What’s interesting is that since the upcoming eclipse in April is hitting the album chart’s Mercury (almost exactly) a whole month prior, I fully anticipate a notable person (esp w/ Aries placements) to pull another Adele and uplift her or vouch for her in some way.

When Adele did, Jupiter was exactly opposite her Sun and it occurred during those Saturnian months and their charts have a bundle of points suggesting very strong synastry. It also happening right before Rachel’s lunar return with Adele’s NN hitting said Moon natally honestly felt like fate if we’re going strictly by the stars alone. And I also predict she’ll go viral during Virgo season (her lord of the year ruler’s 10H) because in September, the Gemini Jupiter floating around will be applying an exact square to her natal Jupiter. I think it’ll be totally beneficial but it can represent her adjusting (or needing TO) that’s uncomfortable at first (related to her image, sound, etc) that’ll benefit her in the long run. Jupiter in Gemini in her ruler’s chart in its 7H is giving contracts or boundaries-type vibes. Or even social expectations.

After writing this I heard The Hills and Maybe I'm Lonely and felt my old self seen in a way I don't think I've ever related to an artist expressing. Is this what it felt like when young Gen Xs in the 90s heard Hole or Nirvana's soul-piercing vocals for the first time? Because I honestly have chills.

That Scorpio Stellium of hers in her first and her 29 degree Mercury are indicators of the potential for meteoric fame in the eyes of the collective, but it'll be close and intimate.

When she comes to LA, I'm buying a concert ticket.

[starheirxero]

Hi hello I know this is my second ask today but I've been doodling during lectures and I'm infected with brain rot so-

question about your sunvent, does he view himself above or below the others in the kingdom? does he view himself as a suffering for his savior high priest who has been blessed with the right to care for a god? or an unworthy servant who was just (un)lucky to work in a castle?

also, how would eclipse feel if he found out sunvent was treated better or worse by the kingdoms inhabitants? Would he laugh if they belittle him, would be praised by them treating him like a high figure? have there been executions for treason because someone tried to spread rumors about the castles faithful librarian?

I don't have inbox rent yet but I'm drawing it while in chemistry.

Fun fact! all substances have a mixture of pressure and temperature where they are simultaneously gas, liquid, and solid!

WEEEE YAAYYYYY !!!!

1) He views himself as equal to the others!! He knows that he is typically regarded as a higher being, like he's some sort of link between themselves and Lord Eclipse, but he can't bring himself to share to sentiment much.

1.5) Kiiinda both??? and more??? His feelings of his position can change wildly at any moment because of his own feelings + what Lord Eclipse tells him his feelings should be (which can also change depending on how he's trying to make Sun feel), so it's a messy tangle of "I'm the perfect servant, I'm the only one who can care for our lord, I have been chosen and I have to make sure I don't make Him regret it" and "I'm just a mortal. I'm just another face in the crowd. I don't know what I'm really doing here, but fuck, I'll do it I guess."

2) OOOO THIS IS A VERY FUN QUESTION EHEHSJAHSHA!!!!

I think if Sun was treated better? Lord Eclipse would not be thrilled about that. He'd get jealous and view it as heresy, going out of hiding way to plant ideas in his followers mind's that Sun isn't as sweet and perfect as he seems. Sun is not the lord of this realm, he does not need to be the favored of the two.

If Sun was treated worse? I think he'd find it funny until it started to affect Sun's ability to serve. Like, small jabs and taunts or even like people tripping or bumping into him? I think Lord Eclipse would be like teehee. thats what u get. idiot. and then once Sun's bad mental health starts to distract him from tasks or someone actually injures him, I think he'd take matters into his own hands.

I don't think anyone has been executed...... but I kinda want there to be now HEJAHAJD

[honeyhobi]

Hello! Don't feel pressured to make something with this but I figured I would send one in ❤️🐈 Spider and/or any other characters you're feeling inclined to write, and a combination or just pick which ones work of; 2 (time loop), 39 (avoiding a conversation), 49 (self-sacrificial)

Put That Guy In A Situation™️ Ask Game!

Crossposted on AO3

2. Time Loop and 49. Self-sacrificial + Spider Socorro

Content Warnings: Brief Father/Son Incest, Non-con, and Major Character Death

It happens the same way every time. 

The Sea Dragon crashes. A battle breaks out. The surface of the sea alights with fire. Neteyam’s eyes go lifeless. His blood stains Spider’s hands.

Then he wakes up in the morning in that tiny bunk on the ship, with his murderer’s monster’s rapist’s kidnapper’s father’s head between his legs. This many repetitions into the loop, things that were once funny to relive have become constants that Spider uses to stay sane. Wainfleet burns his tongue on too-hot coffee during breakfast in the commons. The days (weeks, months, eternities) old bruises on his hips start to turn from purple to green. One of the crewmembers in the control room during the debriefing on the tulkun hunt from yesterday (yesterday for everyone else, fifty-eight days ago for Spider) slips a hand under his tewng, only to get his nose promptly broken by Zdinarsk. 

And just when the start of midday comes around, Quaritch spots the Sullys and some Metkayina kids trying to free a tulkun from one of the Sea Dragon’s trackers. It all goes downhill from there. 

He’s tried to change it over a dozen different ways. He’s used his mouth to distract his father from going out on deck, but someone else always spots the kids anyway. He’s tried slowing the crew down by throwing a fit in the control room, in the dining commons, out on the deck when Prager pins Lo’ak face down on the ground. Every single time they just lock him up below deck and forget about him while he drowns with the sinking ship. And when he doesn’t change anything, just goes through the motions of the loop in hopes that something will miraculously be different this time, he ends up back here. 

Here, on an outcropping of rock, with the waves lapping at his feet and Neteyam’s blood spilling everywhere.

“I want to go home,” Neteyam says through ragged breaths. His voice is small, scared, a reminder like a poison arrow right to the heart of how young he is. Younger than Spider, even though he always acted otherwise.

Jake cradles his son’s face, and almost subconsciously Spider mouths along to his next words. ‘I know, I know. We’re goin’ home. It’s okay.”

But it’s not. Because Neteyam still goes wide eyed as he looks at his dad, not quite seeing him but instead seeing right through him. He gasps, “Dad, I—” 

And that’s it. In every version that Spider has ended up here, Neteyam never gets to finish his sentence. 

“No,” Spider whispers, but his voice is lost beneath Neytiri’s same awful, wailing scream. 

“No. No, no, no. Neteyam!” 

Lo’ak sits back in shock as reality sets in. The Metkayina girl that Spider learned is named Tsireya somewhere around loop thirty cries quietly to herself. Jake pulls Neytiri into a hug, but it doesn’t make a single thing better.

“Dammit!” Spider shouts, slamming his fists against the rock. His knuckles split and ocean water intermingles with his blood, and the sharp sting of it only fuels the fire in his chest. He looks up to the sky, at the disappearing sun as eclipse draws nearer.

He screams, “What do you want from me? What could I possibly do that’ll be enough to end this?” 

Eywa does not respond. He screams again, wordless and agonizing, beats his hands against the rock again and again even as Jake and Tsireya reach for him. They call his name, restrain his arms so he can’t hurt himself anymore. He fights, hissing and spitting and yelling nonsense. 

“Get off me! Don’t, don’t touch me! Daddy, don’t! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s my fault, get off!” He’s probably crying. He always cries. 

This is supposed to be Neteyam’s moment. Spider is being selfish for taking the attention away from a grieving family, but it doesn’t really matter. They’ll have a million more chances to grieve if things keep going the way they are. Spider will have a million more chances to watch as the breath leaves Neteyam’s lungs, and Spider wants nothing more than to be the one bleeding out on these rocks instead—

He abruptly stops struggling against Jake, who at some point has pulled Spider into a restraining bear hug. The sky goes dark as eclipse cuts through the day, but Spider has never before seen a light as bright as this one. Jake loosens his grip minutely.

“Spider?” He asks. His voice is rough with tears. “Are you back with me?”

Spider nods his head wordlessly, and Jake lets go. He moves around to be in Spider's line of sight, his hands up placatingly like he expects Spider to lash out at any moment. But Spider has never felt calmer than he has at this moment. 

“I figured it out.”

“Figured what out, kiddo?” Jake's tone is patronizing in its gentleness. 

“What I have to do to stop this.” Spider doesn’t explain further, because any moment now Jake will stop listening as Quaritch starts speaking into the comms. 

“Stop wha–” Right on time, Jake's focus turns inwards as his earpiece comes to life.

And Spider moves into action. Before anyone can shout in alarm, before they can think to stop him, he rips off his mask and chucks it as hard and as far as he can into the ocean. 

“No!” Lo'ak yells and reaches for Spider's hand, but he’s too slow. 

Even Neytiri sits up from hunching over Neteyam's body to cry out in denial. Tsireya probably doesn't quite understand the importance of the mask, but she immediately dives into the water after it anyway. She won't find it in time. Spider takes a giant gulp of toxic air, relishes in how his lungs reject it even as they try to pull more in. His fingers go numb, his vision blurry, and then his head is on somebody's lap.

“What did you do? Spider, what the fuck did you just do!” Someone shouts above him. It doesn't matter who.

“It's okay,” he tries to tell them, but he isn’t sure it comes out that way. 

“No, you stay with me, boy! I can't lose another son!” That’s Jake, he realizes, screaming his name and shaking him relentlessly as if that'll stop the inevitable. 

Spider would feel more guilty about putting them through this if he didn't already know they won't remember it in the next loop.

“It's okay,” he says again. “You're gonna get him back.”

He knows what to do now. Eywa has given him this chance to perfect every detail down to the second just so he can save Neteyam. Maybe it's just the lack of oxygen talking, but Spider can't find it in himself to be afraid. He was never supposed to make it out of this loop.

His vision tunnels into darkness and the last thing he hears before he goes under is:

“Spider! Spider! Spi—”

And he begins again.

[missisjoker]

The entrance to the Afterlife Immigration Office was slightly ajar, escaping energy buzzing and radiating through the heavy wooden door, making Lee Yeon miss a step. The usual annoyed and erratic flow of Taluipa’s power was muffled by something overwhelmingly still, like the air before a thunderstorm. There was a tall, slender figure standing next to Taluipa’s table, dressed in a cassock.

 Since when do catholic priests pass through here? That’s new.

The man (a man?) spared him a glance and turned back to Taluipa, “This one won’t do.  I need the pretty one”.

Yeon felt scandalized, “I am pretty!”

The man chuckled at the pouting gumiho,and turned back to the old hag,

“Should I?”

Taluipa all but hissed,

“No need, allow me. Lee Yeon, during the lunar eclipse last Sunday, 13 demons broke the sacred seal and escaped the seventh hell”,

“Fifteen demons,”

“And formed a crack.. “

“A fissure”.

“In the Hell gate. This belligerent angel demands our cooperation in closing it because leaking blight can cause an outbreak around the globe”.

The man – the angel -  nodded, “That part is accurate”.

An angel?

Of course, no one from Joseon world would ever dare to interrupt the guardian of Samdo River so brazenly.

“An angel wearing a human body?”

Lee Yeon strolled slowly to the table, relaxing his shoulders and smiling in curiosity, trying not to give away the cold tingling in his spine. Taluipa was shaking with fury, staring at Yeon unblinking, but the fox’s full attention was on the guest next to her. The man was young, very handsome, nothing visibly extraordinary except for a faint blue gleam of his eyes that only a Gumiho’s vision could notice.

“Borrowing, with the owner’s explicit permission. Can’t go around in my natural form in the age of ticktock.”

Yeon hummed in agreement,

“True. I guess you know who I am?”

“Of course, have been following your work for a while. Big fan, especially that part where you couldn’t kill one imoogi for six hundred years”.

Lee Yeon unsheathed his sword, pointing at the angel.

“How do you want to be split, vertically or horizontally?”

The angel looked unperturbed, then gestured up and down his body, and side to side, musing,

“Horizontally. Now, do we have an agreement?”

“Agreement on what?”

Taluipa let out a heavy sigh, but the angel spoke before her,

“We need a half-blooded gumiho tethered to both worlds to close the fissure, and it’s either your three-year-old daughter or your brother.”

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Yeon’s grip on the sword faltered.

“But Rang-ah is dead…He has been reincarnated”.

“His soul is still stuck in that magic purse.”

What?

“It is not his soul, it is his essence…”

The angel’s eyes flashed pale blue, the glow reflected in Talupia’s glasses, making Yeon blink faster,

“Arguing the semantics now, are we? A part of him that gave him life has been given to another child, but his soul is still in that filthy little magic pouch, as it has been for the past 13 years.”

The angel turned to Taluipa who stared back at Yeon, visibly paler.  

“Oh, I’m sorry, was I not supposed to disclose that?”

The angel’s words sunk into Yeon’s stomach like a meal he couldn’t digest.

“I asked you, ajumma”.

Taluipa’s eyes were soft, almost pleading,

“Not now, Yeon”.

“I begged you!”

“Should’ve begged harder, “ – The angel’s words slashed at Yeon and his eyes started burning,

“You have three days.”

Taluipa slammed her hand on the table, making the Gumiho flinch,

“No matter how much you threaten me in my own office, it can’t be done”.

The air suddenly shifted around them and grew colder,  viscous like tree sap, drawing out all noises, leaving only the muffled beating of Yeon’s heart echoing in his ears, and a sudden rush of fear made Yeon’s hackles rise. The angel never moved, never raised his voice, the sound of it floating around them like a wisp of smoke, but it still knocked the breath out of Yeon’s chest.

“So far, all I did was ask politely, but if you lie to me again, I will shatter you like glass and piss on your bones. That was a threat, feel the difference?”

Taluipa stumbled backwards and grabbed onto a chair to stop herself from falling, but Yeon didn’t care.

“Is it possible? Is bringing Rang-ah back possible?“

“Once his soul is free from that purse,”

- the angel spat the word as if it left a bitter taste in his mouth,

“the spark of life can be replaced to resurrect him. If your side can’t provide one – I will”.

“Why are you so hellbent on getting my brother?”

“Hellbent?” The corners of the angel’s mouth curled up in a smile as Yeon shrugged,

“You know what I mean”.

“This office with astonishingly subpar performance needs a well-trained guardian that can do his job, and your brother is a great candidate. He came to me once, but I wasn’t convinced he deserved the intervention. Luckily for both of you, I’ve since changed my mind.”

“He came to a church to pray?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call that a prayer. He was shamelessly drunk, broke into the church in the dead of night, scared the nuns, and asked my priest for a way to get you back to him. Even promised he’d serve our Lord for all eternity. It was very touching, I almost shed a tear. And after he sacrificed his life for yours,  I’ve decided he deserved another chance.”

“But it’s been 13 years!”

“Is he my brother or yours?”

Yeon stayed silent as the angel continued,

“I’ve been busy. But, now the time has come. Besides, I doubt you’ll willingly agree to have your toddler close the fissure instead, and I’d rather not kill a member of endangered species. And the only alternative to the binding spell is divine judgment.”

“Divine judgment?”

The angel shrugged,

“I nuke the city.”

Taluipa, who had been forgotten for a moment, stared at the angel in horror,

“You will kill many innocents in the process!”

“You let three hundred innocents die by imoogi’s plague to save one woman’s life. Do not lecture me”.

The woman straightened her shoulders and smoothed non-existent wrinkles on her vest, regaining her posture.

“I will ask king Yeomra”.

“And I appreciate that.”

The angel moved so fast Yeon had to fox-run to catch up to him outside,

“Is it going to kill him?”

“What?”

“The binding spell, is it going to kill him?”

The angel stopped,

“No, but it will hurt like a bitch”.

“And when it’s done, what then? “

The angel gave Yeon a long, stern look,

“Why are you so hellbent on NOT having him back?”

Lee Yeon swallowed hard, Rang-ah’s Bye, huyung, clawing at  his heart again, making the old wound bleed, 

“I would love nothing more than to see Rang-ah again, but I don’t want him to be locked in a slave contract with you”.

The angel waved him off,  

“It is not a slave contract, it’s not even a full-time job offer. More of a …. Retainer in case of future emergencies.”

“And if he refuses?”

“He won’t; that boy was born to be a hero. I expect great things from him.”

“He is only half-blood, what if he can’t… “

“Why would I doubt him? Faith is my business.”

With that the angel looked up to the sky and nodded Yeon goodbye,

“Now if you’ll excuse me,”

And suddenly the heavy presence was gone, the pressure lifted and the sounds of a busy city reached Yeon’s ears again.

He found himself standing face-to-face with one very, very confused priest.

“Oh, sorry, she does that sometimes.”

“She?”

“Yes, the angel you’ve just spoken to. So, um, I’m Father Yohan. Would you mind if I use your phone to call a taxi?”

[ratcandy]

i have redrawn this same piece 5 times over the course of 8 years . why? because I can

take my hand. i'll show you my journey

^(most recent rendition)

this was the original 2015 drawing . yes it was made it mspaint. And I think edited in firefox or something. I'm uncertain. It's been a while!!! These two characters by the way are named Draak (the dragon) and Vulture (the lil fluffy thang with the mask). Their plot boiled down to the tried and true "experiments in a lab" thing.

2017 version. From here on I switched to IbisPaint. Yes I have been using the same art program for that long leaVE me ALONE Also I have no idea why the quality is so bad. It looks like that on DeviantArt (where it was originally posted) too. But I don't remember the quality being that bad. I dunno. Probably Eclipse shenanigans since D.A. has changed

also the "p.s" - which you'll eventually see become a "j.k." - was my signature. Do Not even Worry about it

oh hey the quality is better. Weird Anyway, 2018 version! Yay!

my favorite thing about the progression of these images is watching Vulture gradually lie down . lil man is just getting cozy.

2019, she figured out how to draw a chain properly!! Good for her!

also the background got more detailed so that's neat. Draak is turning pointier. I un-rounded him.

and, of course, the newest version is the first image on here. here it is again in case u forgot,

you will notice I completely changed Draak's pose. Why? Because I didn't want to draw him laying down. 👍 While Vulture decided to get comfier, Draak decided to get angrier. And honestly. Good for him

You will also notice the background got significantly Less Detailed. that is because I have regressed when it comes to drawing backgrounds hKSJDHGKJH I hate doin it. So I don't!!!

and um. Yeah! That was all. It felt like it had been a while since I drew these freaks n I've been redrawing some older characters recently anyway (and not posting them. because I didn't FEEL like it) so.

Yeah!!! That has been Clam's art journey so far . make of that what u will. I just like looking at my improvement over time . it make me feel all sorts of encouraging ways . n ensures I am not going nowhere as an artist.

i recommend redrawing old pieces sometime. It's fun :) n may give you a little validation in these Trying Times

[megafighter343]

Rewriting Dragonball Evolution

So, I typed this up some many years ago, but never posted it anywhere. The tragic passing of Akira Toriyama brought this back into my thoughts and I figured you folks at Tumblr would get a kick out of it.

Rewriting Dragonball Evolution

Dragonball Evolution is essentially the standard bearer for bad live-action films based on anime. It wasn't the first,with the Guyver films first starting the trend, but it's considered the biggest example of how Hollywood just doesn't get anime. It comes across like a game of Telephone of the plot of the original Dragon Ball, but mixed with 2000s Hollywood sensibilities; Goku is a broody teen, Chi Chi is a love interest, Bulma has just a single streak of blue hair, there's a race-against-the-clock eclipse, the Dragon Balls can show visions, the Kamehameha Wave is called “Airbending” and so many more.

But can it be made better? Maybe not a masterpiece, but an entertaining blockbuster and not a miserable failure that we got? Well, I'm gonna give it a try. Now, this isn't gonna be a full re-adaptation, with casting changes and all that. No, the main focus here is taking the story we've been given and do whatever is needed to make it better, more faithful to the source while still being able to draw in an outsider audience. I'll be going scene to scene, giving them tune-ups, adding and removing where necessary. Ready? Let's Go!

Scene 1: The Awakening of Demon King Piccolo

First, we start with the opening, where we get the legend of the Demon King Piccolo, sealed away by the Mafuba. We come upon a village under siege by the Red Ribbon Army. Yep, we're bringing in the Red Ribbon Army, just for this opening. The siege is overseen by General Blue, who has been informed of a Dragon Ball in the area, accompanied by the somewhat clumsy rookie soldier, Mai. Yeah, we're adding Mai to the Red Ribbon Army for the movie as a greenhorn private in the troops.

The people are threatened, one of them dropping a pot in front of the General and reaching for it in a panic. The General is amused by his behavior and picks up the pot, taunting the old man (“What is this? Some kind of rice cooker?”) and playing with it while the old man begs him to leave it alone. He's speaking his native language, but the clearest words are stuff like “Mafuba” and “Daimao Piccolo” before General Blue kicks him aside and throws the pot onto the ground, smashing it.

General Blue laughs, joined in by a few troops, before they go back to their search for the Dragon Ball. However, out from the shattered Mafuba, Piccolo emerges and he slaughters everyone. Villagers, soldiers, they are all nothing in comparison. The only one who survives the onslaught is Mai, who had the sense to hide during Piccolo's rampage. She pleads for her life, swearing fealty to Piccolo. Piccolo, after a brief, silent stare at Mai, walks away and then comes back with a Dragon Ball clutched his hand. He will spare her as long as she aids him in finding the Dragon Balls.

Title Sequence

Scene 2: Training with Grandpa Gohan

Now we cut to the scene the movie actually started with, where Goku and Grandpa Gohan are training. Important here is that we make sure that while Goku is a teen, he still retains a lot of his more distinct characteristics as a happy-go-lucky, fight-happy kind of guy. This isn't Peter Parker, it's Son Goku. The two spar with Goku winning, rather than losing. Here, the situation pressed is less Goku's friendless background, but that he's starting to surpass Grandpa Gohan, and that perhaps its time for him to move on to a new teacher in martial arts. The scene's major piece of importance is that as a token of congratulation, Goku is entrusted by Gohan with his most sacred possession, the Four-Star Dragon Ball.

Scene 3: Party!

Yes, there is a party in this one, but we also cut out the school stuff. Goku was homeschooled by Grandpa Gohan, though he probably doesn't know all that much since he was more interested in fighting. The party isn't for Chi-Chi, though it is held in Chi-Chi's homeland of Fire Mountain. See, it's someone's birthday! Unlike the original movie where it was Goku's (and how the hell would Gohan even know his day of birth? Does he just go with the day he found him as a baby?) this time it's the birthday of Grandpa Gohan's mentor; Roshi.

The scene introduces us to a few classic Dragon Ball characters at once; There's the Ox King, Roshi, the Ox King's daughter Chi-Chi and Roshi's apprentice, Krillin. The important notes for this scene is Goku and Gohan arriving during an exhibition between Krillin and Chi-Chi. The fight draws Goku's eyes, both drawn by the advanced techniques Krillin is using and the fact that Chi-Chi is hot and more importantly, a really good fighter. Chi-Chi wins the fight and we get a little Meet Cute between her and Goku to set up their romance.

We also get some formalities, Goku and Gohan meeting Roshi and Krillin, exchanging names and setting up Krillin as comic relief. You know, he hits on girls and gets turned down, but he and Goku get along great. Plus, because it's a party for Roshi, we get servers in bunny suits! The Ox King knows that old pervert well.

Happy birthday, Roshi!

For some fanservice, we get a brief scene of Krillin offering flowers to one of the servers, who turns them down due to “allergies” and the main course is a pig roasting on a spit (sorry, Oolong.)

We get a scene between Goku and Chi-Chi with them away from the party, engaging in small talk. Chi-Chi spills the beans to Goku about how her dad has a Dragon Ball. Goku, surprised, sneakily shows Chi-Chi his own Dragon Ball. This turns out to be a mistake as Mai, disguised as a server, overhears how there's a Dragon Ball in Fire Mountain.

Scene 4: Party's Over!

The party gets attacked by Piccolo, Goku and Chi-Chi running back and seeing the carnage unfold. Piccolo has claimed another Dragon Ball and is now threatening Grandpa Gohan for the location of his Dragon Ball. Gohan refuses to talk and holds Piccolo off, telling Goku to get away. Goku, Chi-Chi and Krillin manage to escape, but Gohan dies in the process. Maybe have Goku hand the Dragon Ball to Krillin and try to save his Grandpa, but getting swatted away by Piccolo.

Happy birthday, Roshi...

Scene 5: Enter Bulma

Goku, Chi-Chi and Krillin return to the ruins of Fire Mountain, checking for survivors. Ox King and Roshi made it, but obviously Gohan did not. As they're grieving, a motorcycle arrives on the scene, driven by Bulma Briefs of Capsule Corp. She demands to know what happened to her Promethean Orb, no one knowing what she's referring to until she notes that she picked up on its energy signature. She pulls up her scanner, scanning over the group and getting heavy beeps from Goku. She pulls a gun on him and tells him to empty his pockets. Goku does, pulling out his Dragon Ball.

Bulma tries to take it, but Goku blocks her, telling her just what the Dragon Ball really is, how they summon the great dragon Shenron who will grant a wish. Bulma, who had been using one as an energy source, is disbelieving of the true nature of the Dragon Balls, but sees that it's not her Dragon Ball, as it only has four stars while hers had five.

Goku gets her up to speed as to what happened and Bulma is talked into joining up with them to try and get back the Dragon Balls, needing her tracking device, which she redubs the Dragon Radar. As they prepare to depart, Goku talks to Roshi, asking for a chance to train under him. Roshi agrees, Goku and Krillin high-fiving at the news, the dorks.

Scene 6: Building Up Power

So, we begin the journey proper, Goku carrying everyone's stuff on his back and running alongside whatever vehicle Bulma whips up for the rest of the crew. This time, Chi-Chi is part of the team from the start, plus they got Krillin added and an early Roshi. They make a stop at Roshi's home on Turtle Island to pick up his Dragon Ball and then do some training before seeking out their third Dragon Ball. Goku starts learning the signature move of the Turtle Style, the Kamehameha.

Meanwhile, Piccolo decides to build up an army of his own sons, either through blood or eggs. Within little time, three sons are born in front of Piccolo and Mai; Tambourine, Cymbal and Drum (sorry, Piano.) He sends them out to seek the next Dragon Ball, the Sons of Piccolo taking off.

Scene 7: In The Bandit's Trap

During their search for their third Dragon Ball, they get dropped into a trap, but Goku and Krillin jump their way out, confronting the thief Yamcha (who probably has a pet cat, Puar. Sadly, he can't talk here.) Yamcha challenges them for the money and valuables. Krillin steps up first, holding as well as he can before being knocked back into the hole and onto the still stuck Roshi. Yamcha challenges Goku next, but Goku tells him to hang on since he's using his Power Pole (yes, he has that in this version) to help Chi-Chi and Bulma out of the trap. This ends up being Yamcha's downfall as the sight of two pretty girls results in his shyness kicking in hard so when Goku squares up, Yamcha is so unfocused that he gets taken out with ease.

They eventually convince Yamcha to join up with them to gather the Dragon Balls (Yamcha joining so he can wish to get rid of his shyness.) We have a quick search for the next Dragon Ball. This leads them into the path of the Sons of Piccolo. The three square up with one of the three male fighters; Yamcha vs. Cymbal, Krillin vs. Tambourine and Goku vs. Drum. The three sons win their fights, but Roshi is able to step in and actually proves he's still got it, blasting right through Cymbal with a Kamehameha. Tambourine and Drum go into retreat as they are outnumbered and it looks like the other three are getting up. This clears the path for our heroes to collect their third Dragon Ball.

Scene 8: The 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai

This is the location of the final Dragon Ball, so four of our fighters enter the tournament to ensure their chances of winning while Piccolo and Mai also take spots. The tournament mostly goes to montages for the first round, so here's a quick bracket.

Goku d.. Tienshinhan (Yeah, we'll have Tien cameo here and lose out to Goku in the first round)

Chi-Chi d. Yajirobe (Another cameo! Chi-Chi makes quick work of everyone's pudgy samurai friend.)

Mai d. Yamcha (Poor Yamcha, just can't catch a break...)

Piccolo d. Krillin (It's a harsh beatdown. Thank Kami that Roshi brought Senzu Beans for after rough fights. It'd be tempting to kill off Krillin here, but it'd also be kind of unfair since he still hasn't really won any fights. Eh, I'll let him live.)

This sets up for the semi-finals, where Goku wins against Chi-Chi and Piccolo wins his match by count-out. Curious that Mai didn't show up... something Bulma and Yamcha go to investigate. We get Piccolo vs. Goku, which goes in Piccolo's favor at first, but then Goku lands some good hits in. However, the match ends via ring-out after Piccolo takes a Kamehameha that he easily could've avoided. You know, maybe he could've DODGED!

But hey, Goku wins the tournament and is about to be given his prize... only to find that the Dragon Ball has been stolen! Gasp! Not just that, Bulma comes up and tells him that their Dragon Balls have gone missing too! Double Gasp! Meanwhile, Roshi had gone off to seek Master Mutaito's help in learning Mafuba in the hopes of sealing away Piccolo again, returning with a new sealing pot to put him in.

Scene 9: Chasing the Dragon

We get to Piccolo's castle, the Demon King preparing to summon Shenron, but the heroes catch up to him. We get the split off for fights as Krillin takes on Tambourine again, Yamcha goes up against Drum and Mai fights Chi-Chi. Meanwhile, Goku and Roshi make their way to Piccolo, Roshi attempting the Mafuba but failing, like he did in the original.

Things aren't going great for Piccolo's army as Krillin lobs Tambourine's head off with a Destructo Disc (though if the MPAA doesn't like that, we can replace it with a simple Kamehameha) Yamcha beats the Drum with Wolf Fang Fist and Chi-Chi puts Mai out for the count. However, Piccolo does kill Master Roshi, leaving it all up to Goku. Now, important to note here is that Goku doesn't turn into the Oozaru. That's not a plot point at all because Goku just doesn't have his tail. Eclipse, full moon, doesn't matter. No tail, no Oozaru, just Goku vs. Piccolo, round 3.

Scene 10: Make a Wish, Goku!

Goku wins by propelling himself with the Kamehameha and punching right through Piccolo, like he did in the source material. Then he summons Shenron and uses his power to revive those killed by Piccolo. Shenron agrees, but tells Goku that there is one who refuses to return from the afterlife. When asked, he gives the name: Son Gohan. Goku demands to know why, so Shenron's eyes flash and an astral projection of Gohan's spirit comes to talk to Goku.

He tells Goku that he has lived a full life and is happy to move on and that Goku no longer needs him. He has grown into an excellent fighter and a great young man. He tells Goku to keep training under Master Roshi, to seek out the next great fight and all that good stuff before finally saying goodbye. Goku says goodbye as well before his grandpa's spirit vanishes. Shenron finally grants the wish, reviving Roshi and any others killed by Piccolo, the Dragon Balls going inert and not unusable for a year.

The crew leaves the scene victorious, with hook-ups for Goku and Chi-Chi and Yamcha and Bulma, both couples kissing and Krillin turning to Roshi and telling him “Not gonna happen, old man.” We get a few laughs as the heroes ride off into the sunset, Goku running alongside their car.

Post-Credits Scene

The post-credits takes us to the ruins of Piccolo Castle, Mai recovering and seeing Piccolo and his sons dead. She leaves to find her way back to the Red Ribbon Army. However, deep in the castle ruins, a vial of Piccolo's blood cracks open and slowly from it emerges... Piccolo.

So, that's how I would've written Dragonball Evolution. For the most part, the bare formula does get us a point A to point B with plenty of action and comedy like you'd expect from Dragon Ball. Would it have been a better movie? I think so, though I will admit the cast does bloat up quite a bit thanks to the addition of Krillin and Piccolo's sons, but as long as I gave them stuff to do, the whole thing works well, I think.

Hope you all enjoyed this little thought experiment.

Rest in Peace, Akira Toriyama.

[chaoticxrobotic]

The Delusion of Dopeness

You can blame @chaireem and @festdev for this. We were discussing @cero-sleep‘s Illusion of Choice Au and how it would be so much better with a few... Well. Stylistic changes. This was kind of a stream of consciousness warm-up fic so UHHHHHH ENJOY IG??? [slinks back into my little simp hideyhole]

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Inhale. Exhale. See your breath fogging up into the chill of the night, fading away and dissipating. You wish the writhing bundle of nerves in your gut could fade so easily.

A hand on your shoulder. Two hands. Flexing and relaxing, an indirect massage that helps to ground you in the moment. In what you have to do.

You nod once.

Your hands fall on the door, pushing it open with confidence you don't quite feel.

Heads raise as you make your entrance, flanked on either side by your entourage.

"Eclipse. I thought I might find you here."

The figure holding court in the centre of the room is imposing, to say the least. His lanky frame does little to mask the impressive strength housed in each slender, clawed limb. He tilts his head at you appraisingly, eyes taking in the set expression on your face. Assessing the hands that clench at your sides, fingers brushing over the holstered pistol you keep close to you.

"Ah, if it isn’t my little puppet.” The pet name might have sounded almost endearing if it wasn’t for the venom dripping from each purred syllable. 

“I was wondering when you might slink back here.” He leans forward, the bells on his cap singing softly with each movement. “Hero business not working out for you? Thought you could come begging for forgiveness?"

A chorus of laughs echoes after his words, lackeys and brown-nosers reveling in the humiliation that was surely close at hand.

"Or have you come to kill me?”

He draws ever closer, one set of hands steepling together in casual curiosity as the others tensed and flexed, playing with the knife he held.

"I do hope it’s that last one. I would just love to see you try."

Your heart leapt up into your mouth, heavy and thrumming with anger.

But Sun and Moon keep you in check, fingers pressing oh so gently into the taut muscles of your shoulders. You incline your head slightly to them, your smile brief but grateful. You need all the help you can get for this. Otherwise, you’re not sure if you could find the strength.

Funny. An acknowledgement like that would have been poison to you before, so determined were you to never show any indication of weakness. Of being less than those who strove to take you down, whether enemy or ally.

But you have your little heroes now, despite it all. And, despite everything, they have you. You are tied together, joined in new bindings that were yours to choose. The weight is gentle on your hands, unlike the restrictive burden of Eclipse’s collar around your neck.

He’ll never place it on you again.

You raise your head, a familiarly smug smile slotting into place over your features. It’s light with a kind of confidence that feels welcome and comfortable, like an old friend.

"I'm not here to fight you, Eclipse."

Something is pressed into your hand, heavy and smooth. You clasp your fingers around it, delighting in the burst of gasps that sound as you raise it to him, ready to land that first devasting blow.

"I'm here to destroy you."

Static frames you, two voices working in synchronicity to drop some sick beats as you begin to lay the bass down, tongue tripping and stuttering and punctuating the air in fire flow. The microphone is heavy in your grasp, amplifying your voice until it fills the entirety of the room, crushing everyone inside with each syllable.

The air is filled with righteousness as you take a step closer, your path mirrored by Sun and Moon who are doing their best to keep up the barrage of beats.

"Wh-Why-Wh-Why Why so serious?" you crow, hand waving in the air to punctuate your words, swaying from side to side as the tide of style and swagger carries you across the room, closer and closer to the stunned crimelord.

Eclipse reels back in apparent shock, thrown off balance by your bravado-buoyed words, by the way you invade his space with no hesitation or fear, swanning right past his henchmen as they gape in open shock.

The crowd parts for you like a sea separating for the Moses of sick beats and righteous burns. You haul yourself up onto his desk, legs swinging over the wood, smirking down at Eclipse smugly as you continue to give him the most devastating attack of his life.

Nothing is safe. Not his goofy fucking hat, his towering stature, his penchant for the colour purple. All of it is dragged out in excruciating detail, causing Sun and Moon to wince in apparent sympathy.

As you continue your tirade, you notice something strange. Eclipse is beginning to sputter and shake, each joint of his body spasming as steam pours out of his body, building into a kind of heat that emanated off of him in waves and threatens to cook you by proxy.

Good. It was working.

Now for the finishing blow.

"Hey yo Eclipse hear me out, don't think it's an attack - But if you're so fucking evil, why's your hat so whack?"

Unable to handle this most severe of insults, this peak of sick burns, eclipse's head immediately explodes into a shower of sparks and shrapnel,  forcing you to duck away and cover your head from the onslaught. The crime boss confetti pitter-patters down like rain, and you bask in the flurry.

Fuck yeah. Righteous.

[comet-soda-lite]

Everything (that I could think of) left unanswered after the TOH finale!

Please feel free to add onto this! I’m sure I’ve missed a ton of stuff!

Regarding the Owl House, Eda, and the Owl Beast:

What are the origins of the Owl House (did Eda build it or did it exist before her)?

What’s the history of Hooty? Was he always a part of the the Owl House or did he move in at some point? Why was a mini-Hooty in the Titan's eye socket??

What's the history of the Portal Door & Key? Who originally made them and how? Who's hands has it passed through over the years?

How did the Portal Door end up buried where Eda found it?

What is the Owl Beast and what's their story? Where are they from, are there more of them, and exactly how powerful are they?

How did the Archivist who trapped the Owl Beast lose the scroll they sealed the beast in?

Does the Owl Beast's consciousness also exist within Lilith now? How??

Regarding the Titans and Collectors:

What was the Demon Realm like during the era of the Titans?

What are the Archivists up to nowadays? What are the specifics of the Archivists' overall mission (like, do they want one of every living being or do they try to freeze whole societies in stasis or what?)? Are they a looming threat for the future?

What are "the stars" like?

Why did the Archivists leave the Demon Realm when there was still one Titan left to kill? Did they even know about King? The Titan Trappers who worshipped the Archivists knew the Boiling Isles Titan had a child, so you would expect the Archivists to know about it too, right?

Were the Archivists even the ones to eventually kill the Boiling Isles Titan? If not, how did the Titan die? What's the exact timeline of events here?

What exactly is the Tower Glyph (the one that King carved on his collar) and where does its magic come from?

Can people use glyphs to perform Collector magic like they can with Titan magic? (I personally think that the Draining Spell was Collector magic, since it was taught to Belos by the Collector, it used unique glyph patterns that don’t match the Titan glyphs, and it also relied on a celestial event—the eclipse—to function!)

Regarding Palisman:

Who did the Bat Queen belong to?

What are the individual backstories of Ghost, Clover, and Emmiline Bailey Marcostimo?

How did Lilith get to keep her palisman when joining the Emperor's Coven and what is their relationship like?

Regarding Evelyn, Caleb, & Phillip, and Gravesfield:

What are the nitty gritty details of the Wittebanes & Evelyn's story?

Is Evelyn a Clawthorne? (We all know the answer is yes, but it's still technically not been explicitly confirmed).

What are the details of Flapjack’s origin? Whose Palisman was he exactly? (My personal guess is that Evelyn carved him for Caleb).

How did Evelyn originally travel back and forth from the Human & Demon Realm? Was it the Portal Door (most likely imo), raw Titan’s Blood, or some other means?

What's the history of the shack in the woods? Does it have any direct relationship to the Owl House? Who used to live there? The Wittebanes? Evelyn?

Who stashed the Titan's Blood in the graveyard?

Regarding Emperor Belos (more like Emperor Boo-los, amiright?):

What is "Artificial Magic" really?

What age was Hunter born at? What does he actually remember from his past?

What’s the story of the previous Golden Guard? How did he die? How much did he figure out about Belos? How much did he tell Darius? How did Darius initially react to Hunter showing up after the previous GG died, looking so similar to his predecessor?

What exactly is Belos' curse?

Was it a consequence of him trying to give himself the ability to use magic by consuming Palisman? Or by drawing glyphs directly on his skin? A combination of the two?

Or was the curse inflicted by some other means entirely, and the Palisman-eating and body glyphs actually came afterwards, solely as a means to stave the curse off? If so, who cursed him? Did he inflict the curse upon himself to give himself power?

Considering all the parallels drawn between the two, does his curse have any actual relationship to or similarities with Eda's curse, or is it just an entirely different thing altogether?

Basically my point is that Belos' curse and his magic (and their exact rules and properties) are super ambiguous and unexplored and I want more clear answers!

[lampmanliveblogs]

”Feisty witches make the best leaders,” Terra says. She follows this up by giving Raine a boop on the nose and saying how she especially likes Raine. That’s funny considering events involving the leader of the Bard Coven and Terra in some thirty years or so.

So my prediction before was kinda half-right. Raine did lose the game, lost their scholarship, and did transfer to Hexside as I thought. But Eda didn’t win the game, she lost. In fact everyone lost. But Terra spoke to Principal Faust and sorted things out. I imagine that conversation involved very little talking, and more of her sending him bouquets of poisonous & carnivorous flowers alongside a card informing him of the situation.

Oh, and the Raine’s Rhapsody/Eda’s Requiem leitmotif returns once again.

Also, I guess Saint Epiderm is up on The Knee. And since Saint Epiderm was supposed to be a bit fancier, a bit more elite, it kinda makes sense for the school t be in a location with lots of magical power.

This screenshot is here because I thought it was cute.

This is also really cute. Slightly less cute was Luz somewhat uncanny drawing of Eda & Raine, but still, this is still a really nice, wholesome moment to end the episode on.

…is what I would say if there wasn’t a minute left.

We cut to the castle, where Terra is feeding Raine their daily dose of brain detergent.

Raine, as per usual, blows on on their tea to cool it down, which produces a whistling sound, just like we saw earlier when they used it to modify Eda’s juice and alter its taste.

…

Hol up-

Oh look, Raine found one of Darius' little mini abominations wandering around! It must’ve gotten lost inside that wall, the poor thing. I hope it wasn’t carrying around sensitive information in that letter! It could be very bad if that got into the hands of some traitors planning on overthrowing the Emperor.

Alright, so first things first THIS IS WHAT MY SISTER HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT ALL THIS TIME! FINALLY! The identity of the traitors revealed!

There’s suddenly a lot of things to talk about, so let’s break it down.

(for context, I watched to the end of the scene, but I chose this screenshot because of the information)

Raine has been using their whistle magic to counter Terra’s tea. How long have they been doing that? Ever since the beginning? If so, then what happened at the Coven Day Parade was all an act, which I could believe. Raine does say they don’t want to put Eda in danger again (because they love her and Eda also has kids to take care of), so the act would’ve been both to keep Eda safe and to make sure Terra & Belos didn’t catch on to that Raine wasn’t under their control like they thought.

Then we  have Darius. Raine and Darius obviously didn’t know about each other before the events of Eda’ s Requiem. If they did, Raine wouldn’t have tried to have Darius (and I guess Eberwolf was there too), ah… permanently incapacitated via the use of Eda’s curse.

Speaking of Eberwolf, is he(?) in on this? I’m thinking maybe not? Because he and Darius went to capture the traitor (Raine). But if they were both also traitors, then they wouldn’t have captured Raine, they would've teamed up with them. Unless… Kikimora did appear unexpectedly, which might’ve been what messed up their plans.

(I think I might go back to Eda’s Requiem and Follies at the Coven Day Parade and rewatch those scenes to look for clues. I don’t have the time right now)

Regardless, Darius and Raine are now working together to try and stop Belos’ evil plans. Darius has managed to figure out at least part of the plan. I was right that it involves draining magic through the coven sigils and that it’s channeled through the coven head witches (although it doesn’t specify that it has to be the head witches, just nine strong witches).

The magic power will be directed or channeled to the spell center, which is where the door is being moved to. This will do… something.

The eclipse is also important. Maybe.

When Raine asks if there is any way to counter the draining spell, Darius suggests Eda. Eda’s curse messes with magic, true, something Darius would know from experience… though I’m not 100% exactly what it is he thinks they could do. Raine & Eda together could use bard magic to spread the curse, but there have got to be several thousand witches, if not more coming to this thing. Maybe if they got close to the spell center and could disrupt the flow of magic somehow…

I suppose it doesn’t matter because Raine refuses to involve Eda. They might still have to resort to that plan once the Day of Unity does roll around. We’ll see.

The episode ends with Raine looking out over the head of the Titan, which reminds me of the image from the outro with Luz looking at the head.

I need to be up pretty early tomorrow for work, so I don’t have time to do my usual rewatch right now. Although to be honest, I think I caught most of the important stuff the first time through. And if there was something I missed, you guys will let me know.

Anyway, I’ll do a little follow-up post tomorrow talking about my thoughts on the episode overall. See you then!