#What if trope

[villainsimpqueen]

Blood of the Barren

A what if story,

Basically what would Spiders life be like if he was raised in the Barren Lands.

The Idea had excited me, so i wrote "Blood of the Barren." which is roughly 9 google doc pages long of how Spiders life would've been if he was Raised by A Barren Lands Na'vi woman in the Barren Lands.

Some notes- His mother is an Oc i made for this story.

He seeing this as an alternative universe is not named "Spider." But still named after a venomous insect.

Enjoy!

------

One's first moments of life should be brought in love, excitement and with a little exhaustion.

It was the way many were born, with higher spirits and surrounded with unconditional love.

Yet the screaming and wailing of one so freshly born, and the sounds of the helicopter that was to get them away from the war the young ones Father was hell bent on causing got hit and starting to fail and swerve over among the pandorian landscape.

The little one did not get such luck, I'm his mothers failing consciousness and panic. She clung to his small form in hopes to shield him from pain as the pilots and other escapees of war screamed and shouted.

“We're going down! we're goin down! Brace for impact!”

How the noise was entirely deafening and so very stressful for one just freshly intaking air so young. Not even comfortably wrapped in a blanket and still stained from fresh blood and ambanic fluids from his mothers womb.

Air only thing staying clean as the Ecopact filtered poisonous air that would have killed him slowly by suffocation and from the smoke of the crashing. He could only wail and scream for his non moving mother, his wails and cries ignored as growing winds started to transform the air just outside of the crash site. Wind and sand swirling around the damaged shelter that only halfway protected him, and his wails drowned out by the storm oddly concealing his wayward cries from teeth and claws that may have found him.

No this boy was not born in a room filled with love, no room for excitement, his mere first hours born was filled with panic, fear and death around him.

Such a tragic beginning for one so small.

His wails slowly starting to die out, his fresh throat finally growing raw and exhaustion filled him as the nights freezing air had take place in solidifying parts of his little limbs, the warmth of his deceased mothers body long gone, and by the time a great warmth started to roll over in the next day dawning, the small newborn could only let out the tiniest and raspy of sounds as the heat started to surrender a warm blanket of inescapable exhaustion seemingly going unheard.

And yet at all odds,

She had heard him when passing through the crash site in curiosity. The site being new and completely alien from her otherwise sand filled lands, the destroyed alien machine blowing out smoke from burnt and collapsed engines stained the normally clear skies bringing attention to nearby travelers.

She had approached after watching the smoking site after an hour when she approached it early in the morning. The precaution to make sure it too was truly empty and no other may deliver an attack should she approach was strong. It seemed to be a high reward to her as the strange foreign thing had many other things she could use, scattered among the crash site. Her long ears twitched as every so often a wheezing noise sounded making her eyes dart to the nearing dunes in looking for an approach, eyes finding none making her more alert when that faint wheezing sound called again, her head turned sharply to a half buried helicopter cabin. Her steps were filled with caution as she neared easily jumping up on its tipped side and peering down.

Bodies were not what she expected, even ounces of such strange nature, creatures she had never seen before all laying and dangling at unnatural bent ways, blood that had dripped stuck in place on unnaturally pale and gray skin. There seemed to be nothing but death, and left her questioning what were the strange creatures.

Her ears flicking as she went to leave until a they flicker at another raspy faint wheeze causing her to turn eyes falling one of the dead creatures, hair curled and dark brown, a strange thing around the creatures face but its arms curled around something where once again a noise sounded once again.

She moved crouching over the cabin's entrance reaching in her arms pulling the creature's arms apart and finding an even smaller creature.

As if her moments seemed to force life into him a desperate and yet pathetic wail cracked from it, making her pause, a sound she hadn't heard in many years of her life, not since she had left her own parents nearly a decade ago. Yet muscle memory took over her, from the few years she would aid with her Father and Mother with younger siblings her hands found way gently over the little one, picking him up with a smaller strange thing around his face.

The small thing barely moved in her giant hands, another pathetic wail weakly leaving paling lips as its small.face scrunched up.

A creature child.

She should leave it.

Yet her eyes found gazing down on the many other dead creatures, showing that despite everything this small little thing had survived, and judging by how weak it seemed, Even the Great Mother had deemed it able to be strong enough to survive. She was confused, She momentarily questioned the great mother. Why had the Mother led her to a strange child before a mate?

Yet the pitiful rasps from the small thing encaptured her attention. It was so small, ugly looking and yet, as her larger eyes took in the little thing in her hands, it was undoubtedly cute.

She did not know why the Great mother decided to make her a mother before a wife, but if she deemed her to have a strong child of some strange creature rather than a possibly weak mate, she would accept the child.

And in many ways the child had also accepted her. Almost immediately the child had taken to her as if he had come from her, and she found herself struggling with being indifferent for each time she suspected the child to be frail, he had shown strength.

It was a mere week with the child bringing him small bowl foods of fleshed, killed blood to keep him from drying out in the sun until she could quickly make way to the nearest pool of crystalline waters. A dangerous task for she saw how the child was nearly always reliant on the strange thing on his face. She saw it as a hindrance to him and went out of her way to travel to find things to make an offering to the great mother.

“You bring this child on my path, If you wish for me to raise him Great Mother, then you will make him breathe as me, See like me, hear like me, you will make him be as if my own blood. For Now he will have it in him as well.”

She had made her offer and demands as she left it on the highest dune she could find and slit her finger for her little son to suck on before his face would turn colors and she slipped off the mask, a task she would start daily from now on out. She started to take the mask off of her tiny son, introducing him to the air and to feed him.

She tended to keeping his pale skin shielded entirely under her cloak, leather wrapped to make a pouch to keep him near her chest when the little one seemed to try to start latching onto her, the small action is needed for nutrition and his small now much rarer cries had pushed her body into accepting him as one she had birth. Rich and thick milk had taken place, bringing her a moment of confusion before relief as her body had allowed her this small blessing to be able to provide the new son a rich and nutritional meal that would speed his small state to a larger one. She still had to make haste to the cooling pools, for her body could only provide so much before it will cut off the child's supply, her body would put her own needs above his, but some inkling told her that she would need to keep producing her milk longer for this small child than she would have for her own.

While against her nature Lizara had made a den within a rock structure in the oasis, it was purely out of the new forming mothering instincts that had enraptured her to stay somewhere where she could easily eat and drink, packing on more and more body weight for her body to burn while still providing her small son. And yes while that brought many invaders, for no one could make true claim to an oasis, She showed no mercy in protecting the little den she had made home for the little son.

As time went on the more her little son would grow, seeming as her offering and demand were granted for each day she removed her son's mask from his face, he would be able to go longer without it seeming to breathe more and more air. His strange pointy nose came flatter and flatter akin to her own, strange patterns started to appear on his pale skin and the more quicker he seemed to grow, It was hard for her instincts to differentiate him from one from her own womb.

Her favorite growth was his hair, as golden as the sands around them, and how his hair would curl and wave like the rare clouds that took to the sky.

She loved playing with her tiny son's hair, twisting it and braiding it, only whispering nothing but best fourchants in each twist of her hands.

Then came his first steps, bringing a sense of pride in her eyes as he learned to walk on the sandy lands, slowly his feet became thick with padding allowing her little son to to run across the hot sands without burning them.

She had mended a cloak for her little son, allowing him to explore around at a small distance from her, as she worked on building her sons independence away from her for she could not keep him coddled despite him being a different species, she would not, She would treat him as always her own and she needed him to continue to prove to the lands he was meant for them.

Toddler years had gone quickly, soon she had a young adventurous boy, no longer wearing the mask from wherever he had originally come from, for he no longer needed it.

She spent these years showing him the ways that her mother before her had shown her, she had her challenges, like the extra finger on his hands, how to show him the correct way to read the stars to find the oasiss that were scattered in the lands. The sun seemed to do very well on her son, his pale complexion from birth vanishing deepening to match the sands around them, the strange patterns he had lightened and with the aid of his cloak he blended into the surroundings which was an Eywa's blessing for the increase of running into ambushers had grown.

Each day Lizara grew more concerned that an ambusher would spit and attack her small son, and so she taught her son how to protect himself with a blade he could keep at his hip.

By his sixth year it was time for his join along hunt, where she would focus on teaching him how to hunt and provide for himself and perhaps his future family, whenever that may occur.

Her son had been eager, for he had watched his mother for years to hunt and now his opportunity had come he felt well prepared, crouching low to not be spotted by the prey animals, sneaking up while listening, hearing their calls before his mothers echoed above the animals calls.

He prepared eyes watching the animals intently watching as the boar like creatures scattered running, he took took off managing to slam himself into one like how he saw his mother do before so many time and drag his blade into the beasts stomach, a weak point and easy, something his mother had advise before hand that may be more successful for someone his size.

His mother had looked at him with pride and taught him how to skin the animal and prepare his first offering to the great mother and watched her son hike up the tallest sand dune they could find to leave it for the great mother before returning back to her.

They found their temporary shelter where she allowed him to make the night's fire on his own and prepare supper with the boys killed. They enjoyed the meat raw and seasoned with the spices and herbs gathered from oasis.

Both enjoyed their meal and his mother would tell him the story of how she had found him a creature far from the people and now he was one of the barren lands.

It would be a few days after that hunt before she found a name that fitted him for in the morning Lizara had woken up to find her son missing from their temporary den had made her rush out of the den.

She had found him, playing near some uncovered rocks, in his hands small creatures that would cause a harsh and poisonous sting.

She had watched her boy hold these creatures and despite their stingers stabbing into his fingers the boy did little to react, moving busy picking them up and moving around.

Almost entirely immune to the small creatures' venom.

Kali'weya

The boy was named Kali'weya after the scorpion creatures he seemed so fascinated with playing. And like the small creatures who became ferocious and cunning hunters, Kali'weya had become one himself, Lizara found her sons eagerness to hunt bringing down beasts larger than his size and make new cloaks for them both or pouches, her son seeming to live mending together wrappings and necessities for them both, amd she took pride in knowing she had taught him well at being self sufficient.

Her favorite moments with her son were when she would fix his hair, untangling and reweaving the strands, fixing each strand before taking a strand that framed his face, her boy looked at her curiously before hope and eagerness filled them as she pulled out his first carved bead fixating it on the strand.

“This will be the strand where you will mark every important thing on.” she had whispered to him, watching how her boy would smile showing off his sharper k-9 teeth, his eyes seemed to shine brighter than the stars and suns.

It would be later in his teenage years still staying by his mother's side, while now mostly caring for himself, the boy saw no need to leave his mother just yet.

Traveling along still learning whatever lessons his mother would share, he enjoyed the days. While mostly predictable they brought him peace it was the same that his mother had on her face with each breaking down to falling dust.

Kali'weya would be the one to spot a new occurrence, the sounds of beating wings hitting his ears and his mothers. They both would share a look before creeping amongst sand dunes hearing sounds of voice echo as they peer down.

The new occurrence made the young adult's eyes widen, animals that he never saw in the deserts before landed, on them were outsiders of the lands, two of his mothers age and a group of them his age and younger it seemed.

They all seemed exhausted and hot, Weariness in them that seemed to make it to their teeth.

The noise they all made, had hurt his ears and he heard his mother snort a sound before sliding down the dunes.

“Best to leave, they'll draw in only trouble.” His mother had spoken and yet as he followed his mothers lead he had paused.

“Shouldn't we help them?” He had asked his mother, watching as she turned to look at him.

“We do not speak to outsiders Kali'weya.” She had said promptly but her boy's face had turned as he looked back at the sand dunes.

Perhaps it was that he was truly not of this world for her son always had this sense of need to help others.

“Would it not bring us good chances later on a hunt?” He asked her, looking back at his mother with a softness in his eyes.

Her son was good. sometimes too good nature and she worried that would be used against him one day, but she would not crush his nature.

Lizara had relented and led her teenager around sand dunes making herself and her son known to the outsiders.

The first meeting had not gone well, but it was the older man that had stopped his mate from acting out too rashly to them. He brought attention to her son, which had made the woman pause and stare along with their children.

“What demon blood is that child from?” The woman had hissed causing his mother to snarl standing in front of Kali'weya protective.

“He is of these lands, He is of mine. Ewya gave him to me and that is all that matters. You will not bare fangs at him again if you wish to have your head on your throat.” A promise was What Lizara had made before her mate Jake Sully he had called himself had intervened.

“I apologize for my mate, she is hot and wearily.”

“Do not apologize for me.”

“We have found ourselves lost, trying to find the sea, please, we have gone in circles, any aid is appreciated.” He continued.

Lizara had every right to refuse such a thing.

But her son had stepped from behind her nearling the sully children who were soaked in sweat and were using the animals wings for shade.

“You have to dig in sand in the shade of a dune to cool.” He had spoken up towards them before waving a hand.

“Come.” He spoke much like his mother had done when he was a tot heading around the dunes, the sully children following after approval of their parents, as they seemed to stay behind with their strange animals and speaking to his mother.

Kali'weya had showed them to dig in the first layers of sand and lay in the pocket exposing their burning skin to cool sand.

“I am Neteyam..These are my younger siblings Kiri, Lo'ak and Tuk.” The oldest of the sully's had been introduced as he layed in a fresh exposed pocket he had dug.

Kiri, in the example one Kali'weya had dug out for them.

Kali'weya had stood up moving to a dune and started digging, preparing a den, somewhere where the sully's could take shelter from the high standing son, he let out a grunt near and here.

“I am Kali'weya.” He had spoken before starting to crawl into the dunes kicking out the sand hollowing it out.

There was a brief silence and the boy poked his head out making sure they were okay as the sully kids stared at him.

“Like the bug!?” The smallest sully Tuk had exclaimed as she smiled at him, her ears perked up, it had brought a smile to his own features and he nodded.

“Yes. My mother had found me playing with them after I had proved myself strong for the lands, my first hunt. Their stings do not bring me pain for she chose them to be my name. Mother says they are my family because I act much like them.”

“Who are your real parents? You know the Sky demons. You came from them. How'd you end up here? And how do you look..that..” The third youngest, Lo'ak had questioned earning a slap against the back from his older brother.

“You are a prick.” Kiri had hissed and scolded their brother.

Kali'weya had rose his brow, His mother had told him about she had found him, knowing he came from some other kind of creatures, but with Eywas accepted offering he had became like his mother.

“My mother had found some strange rocks held in the arms of a dead strange woman and by corpses of others. My mother had taken me as her own, and raised me on her own.” He told them leaning onto his hands from the opening of the den to the dune he was working on.

“Eywa had changed me to be one of my mothers own. As far as I care I am from these lands, and I am from my mother. No other blood.” He had told them watching their faces change in many emotions.

“You said you're one of these lands..does that mean you had done all your trails?” Neteyam had asked, Causing Kali'weya to tilt his head.

“I do not understand you entirely…to be one of these lands you must prove that you are not weak starting at birth until you can hunt entirely on your own then leave your parents entirely. I have done all of this, but I have not left my mother. I worry she will grow lonely, The great mother had never led a mate to her to guide. If I leave she has no body.” Kali'weya had explained yet their earlier words had made him look more so at his hands.

“Some of you have hands like mine…Even your father ... .You said Sky demons.” He had looked the sully kids in their eyes.

“Are we of another great mothers blood?”

The sully kids explained what they could about the sky demons, but when the adults had finally come and joined them it prompted Lizara to side eye the one named Jake Sully and it led to him explaining everything, and why they are fleeing.

“You have the face of the one who brought death to many many people.” Jake had spoken to the boy, “I believe he is your father.”

It had caused Lizara to tense and caused the boy to freeze.

“The one you run with your tails in your legs from? You dare filth my son's name with such an accusation.” Lizara had snapped.

which caused Jakes to make Neytiri snarl back.

“A face never betrays one's blood.” Neytiri barked out, ignoring what pai. might have been sent back.

The sully kids eat slicked back as they watch the New friend of theirs face fall.

He moved a hand to his mothers arms bringing Lizara attention to him.

“I wish to find myself.” He had softly spoken watching the emotions form through his mothers eyes.

“But I wish you to be there as I find it and learn what I once may have been.”

He made sure his mother Knew he would not leave her, for he was not ready and that the call to find his origins still called him.

his mother grasped his hand holding it tightly.

“I will aid you as I always have my son.” She whispered.

That night they had joined the sully's in their flight out of the Barren Lands which was his home, aiding in rerouting them over the golden sands over the small mountains to the lands of red sands, past and far far above the death forest and swamps where he took in the sights of lust rich and bright green forests.

The sully's had told Kali'weya that this was their home, and they flew over it not stopping as they tasted salt in the air.

Kali'weya would later meet the one that had sired him in another life, found washed up on another side of the island after the destruction and death he had brought to the sully's once again.

While he had anger and hatred for the man that showed him what monstrous origins that were in his veins, the nature his mother had kept in him still held true as he dragged the man out of the sea and onto the sands of beaches.

He would make this man tell him of his other mother, where she was and for him to see if she too was truly a demon like his blooded father.

But his blood was thicker with the one that raised him, than the ones that sired and birthed him.

And should this demon ever raise a blade against the ones Kali'weya loved, he would strike him down like the very thing he was named.

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

guy who's stuck in a timeloop for so long he stops wanting to leave it. guy who started out trying to escape but slowly grew used to and became comforted by the familiarity of the repeating day. guy who is no longer who he was before the timeloop. guy who is offered a way out and violently refuses it because he can't leave, doesn't want to leave. guy who escapes the timeloop by chance or force or accident and doesn't know how to live anymore. guy who keeps going through motions that don't match the situation and keeps having conversations that aren't actually occurring. guy who panics every time he realizes he can't predict the next instant. guy who left the timeloop but still lives with it.

[bamsara]

The Time Travel Trope aka each side of the ship travel back in time somehow to the counterpart's past self but in TROD AU

I wrote a mini-draft for this idea that might turn into an actual one-shot but just these for now. Second half is more shitpost than serious cause I really think Narinder would have to navigate a distrustful Lamb very carefully, and Lamb would mess with Bishop Narinder

[ramblesamongstardust]

I understand the "I will die for you" ship dynamic, but what about the "I will not let you die, I will not let myself die- we will, at any cost, survive" kind of couple?

[valtsv]

are we still doing this because i have a late submission

[let-them-fight]

can we stop doing this trope

[evadingreallife]

(By trope-specific i mean for example all the slash fics hosting websites, or the nsfw-only ones, etc)

[bezuss]

when will they learn that it never works

[daigah]

We lose everytime a girl in fiction who is on the masc side and happy with it becomes very feminine as a supposed sign of maturity

[lotus-pear]

charm stat at debonair ‼️‼️

[cashmoneyyysstuff]

ring pop proposal ♡

fem reader, pure fluff, childhood friends to lovers lemme alone do not perceive me yk the drill by now, lil self indulgent fic cus i love childhood friends to lovers and puppy crushes, polar opposite’s trope, this reeks of my oc x canon katsu ship sooooo shh shh do not perceive.

the first person who realizes katsuki has a crush on you is his mom because when she comes to pick him up one day from kindergarten he suddenly mentions you. it’s an innocent little interaction he had with you that mitsuki doesn’t think much about at first, simply surprised her son managed to befriend someone outside of his little group of friends until he starts mentioning you more and more.

soon you’re the only thing he talks about and katsuki even starts begging her to have you come over to play. mitsuki is extremely curious to know what kind of person you are to have been able to enchant her son the way you have, she says it’s fine as long as your parents agree.

you’re a sweet little thing, almost the complete opposite of her little devil’s spawn. you’re polite and a little shy when you ask “ is it okay if i come to play at katsu’s house, please miss katsuki’s mom ?” and how could she say no to you ? she pulls at your cheek lovingly and her son almost snarls at her.

“no touchin’ !” he snarks, pulling you against him like you were his teddy bear.

mitsuki was the first to realize her son had a crush on you when you were always around. when he found something cool during a class trip you were there and whenever he was upset it was always because you had argued about something irrelevant that seemed so much bigger in the eyes of a child.

she realized because katsuki had, and in some ways, will always be rowdy. he’s rough and temperamental and moody—basically, he can be quite the brat. (she wonders where he gets that from a lot) but he’s different with you.

he’ll always be a little rough around the edges but it’s the thought that counts. he drags you around a little too hard but it's to show you something he knows you'd like and you repay him by being patient with him and letting him drag you around to his hearts content. he let’s you use the crayons he’d just denied another classmate seconds ago and when it’s really early in the morning and you’re still sleepy unlike your more energetic friend, he waits for you. sitting with you in the reading corner quietly commenting on a little bit of everything in the book you’re sharing until you’re awake enough to start the day because katsuki wanted you to be together through anything no matter what, starting the day without you was simply unimaginable.

you offer him your kindness and he repays you with his loyalty. acting like your guard dog, protecting you from everything and everyone he considers a threat to you. he goes a bit overboard but it’s the thought that counts and he’s definitely got the right intentions.

“ i’m g’nna marry yn when i grow up !” katsuki proclaims from the backseat of the car after mitsuki had come to pick him up. she looks at him through the rear view mirror only to see he’s not even looking at her, looking out the window somewhat longingly, watching as his school fades away from his sight, further and further and further away from you. she smiles to herself.

“yeah ?” she asks “yeah !” he responds proudly, crossing his arms “ i asked yn if she wanted to be my wife an’ she said yeah, so we’re gettin’ married !”

“huh. how’d you propose ? you don’t have a ring.” she jests.

katsuki responds immediately and exclaims he does have one, shuffling around to reach for something in his pocket. he pulls out a plastic ring pop holder, the candy on top is missing and mitsuki can imagine what happened to it.

“gave her one of these !”

“so that’s why you had me buy those from the store last time,” she hums. “ you ate it, though.”

katsuki tries to roll his eyes but just ends up looking up and to the side, mitsuki recognizes it as him trying to mimic what she does a lot and she snorts.

“well duh, we both did ! ‘f i kept it in my pocket it woulda gotten gross !” he defends. mitsuki simply responds with a hum, smile on her face growing larger as she hears her son happily chatting about the rest of his day with you.

she knows her katsuki is hard to handle. extremely so. but when she sees the way you both interact she can tell something is there. you don’t ‘handle’ him. you like being around him. you like playing and talking with him, she sees how happy you make him whenever you come over for playdates. he holds your hand when you get scared and you hug him tight and beam when you see him again after he’s gotten over a nasty cold.

she can tell you make her son happy and he does the same for you in the way children do with pinky promises and shy cheek kisses, kisses over tiny wounds and refusing to be separated whenever the rowdier one of you both gets his recess time taken away for being naughty.

mitsuki hopes this crush, this love you have for her son can grow along with you. she hopes you’ll stick around as katsuki grows up more and potentially more rowdy and rougher around the edges but even more enamored with you. and with the way her son is squirming around in his seat and tugging at his seatbelt, giddy about you accepting his ring pop proposal, she has a funny feeling you’ll be sticking around for a long time.

[froopa-coopa]

love a canon (?) coffee shop AU

[starry-bi-sky]

don't you want to be a cult leader? - danyal al ghul au

this is mostly a joke post but i thought it was funny and had to share so--

his first mistake was, obviously, inheriting his father's inability to see an injustice and stand still. -- actually, danyal's first mistake was his lair being so big. a mountainous island with a large temple in the center resembling his old home in Nanda Parbat? With sprawling foliage and rivers and streams and waterfalls galore? What was he going to do with all that space? Let it go to waste? He had plants there! Native trees of the ghost zone growing from the soil! He couldn't let it all be left unchecked!

So naturally after helping a fellow teenage assassin ghost -- who he later learns is named Akihiko, -- from Walker of all people, he sent them over to hang low at his lair until it was safe enough for them to wander around the Zone. Walker couldn't get through Danyal's astrofield if his life depended on it, and trust him -- he's tried. Danny was clearing out debris from his stupid transport vans for weeks.

Honestly it wasn't so bad, he and Aki really quickly became fast friends and Danny loves having a sparring partner close to his level again -- he hasn't had this much fun fighting since he left the League. Aki was very dedicated and levelheaded, the both of them clicked really well because of it.

Nonono, the real trouble began after Danyal met some long-passed League members and allowed them to come join his island as well. Apparently they had made a few enemies of the zone, and maybe Danyal still felt some loyalty to the League. He couldn't just let them be left to rot. Their zealotry could be overlooked so long as they kept it contained and helped him take care of his island.

And it.. snowballs from there? He meets a teen squire aptly calling himself Ambroise -- whether that was his living name or not is yet to be seen -- who died during feudal france, who is just about as dramatic and passionate as every french stereotype makes them out to be. He calls Danyal "my moon and great muse" -- which is both flattering and little uncomfortable, but Danyal's grown up in the League as the Grandson of the Demon Head, he is used to mild worship. he passes it off as nothing more, nothing less. -- and while his energy is overwhelming on the worst of days, he helps Danny draw out of his shell more in ways that Sam and Tucker still struggle with.

Him and Aki butt heads a lot, but the two seem to hold the other in at least some positive regard, so Danny doesn't worry too much about them fighting while he's gone. It only becomes a mild issue when Aki also begins calling Danny "my moon". It's a little sweet, so Danyal brushes it off.

Then he takes in a troupe of ghosts some time after he defeats Pariah Dark and they begin calling him "great one" just as the yetis do in the far frozen. This is where he meets the twins -- a pair of sibling ghosts who call themselves Trixie and Missy (short for Trick and Mislead) -- who aren't quite as passionate as Ambroise but more energetic than Aki. Eventually they also start calling Danyal "my moon" and attach themselves to his hip, even within the living. They like to hide in his shadow and cause trouble for the rest of the students. He makes sure they don't hurt anyone.

He's pretty sure Aki is jealous, same with Ambroise, but he can't be too certain other than the fact that they become much more lingering (re: clingy) whenever he visits the island.. Something he's trying to do much more often these days due to the increasing amount of people living there now. Since when did he become so popular?

Then there's Pēnelópeia from the Greater Athens, who ran away from home and joined his Island after he ran into her while she was being chased by Skulker -- and he's pretty sure the reason was because of her chimeric appearance. Her strange eyes and mismatched wings and lion's tail and talons. She assimilates into his friend group very easily, she gets along well with Ambroise and Trixie and Danny usually finds the three of them climbing the trees to pluck the most fruit from the top. They can fly and he knows it, but they prefer to climb.

Then finally there's silent poet Akkara who comes from ancient mesopotamia, who gets along most with Aki -- which is no surprise there considering their similar personality dispositions. he watches Aki and Danyal fight each other and leaves comments on this or that that he notices. He writes Danyal poems on clay tablets and leaves them by his room.

They're one big mismatched group of outcasts, and Danny's got the other ghosts on his island to tend to, because they're living on his island and he wants to be hospitable even if he struggles with that. But he spends the most of his time with them.

Sam and Tucker are making fun of him. Tucker jokingly tells him 'careful Danny, at this rate you're gonna start a cult'. Danny really wishes he had taken that joke more seriously.

He just. keeps. collecting people. Wayward souls lost in the zone, looking for shelter or refuge from something or other -- whether that be another hostile ghost, or a past afterlife, or just a purpose. Danyal finds them, he takes them in, offers them a place on his island until they are ready to leave. Many seldom do. He's not complaining -- he has the space, and it feels like it's only ever growing.

His close friends, his "inner circle" as he's heard the others call them, keep insistently calling him "my moon". He starts calling them his stars, because then it only feels fair. They're his stars, this is his constellation. It becomes a thing; little star halos begin forming behind their heads, picking them out from the rest. He loves them so much, it's hard to place. Sam and Tucker are also his stars, but they reside in the living realm, they're his tie to Life. Meanwhile, his friends here know what it's like to be dead, and sometimes its nice to relate.

Those living on his island keep calling him "Great One" and he's beginning to notice zealotry in their care for his island. He really, deeply appreciates it. His close friends gain nicknames -- as his stars, it's only natural for him to pick them out from the cluster in the skies. Akihiko, his Sirius and bright star. Trix and Missy, Castor and Pollux, the twins and troublemakers. Ambroise, his zealous Antares and close friend. Penelopeia, chimeric and loyal Vega. And Akkara, his Arcturus and strength.

It's ridiculous how long it takes for him to notice; he is, of course, a deadly trained assassin. He is meant to be observant -- and normally he is! But somehow this becomes a blind spot. One that becomes too big to be dealt with by the time he realizes it.

He should've noticed when Aki, his Sirius, stood beside him one day while Danyal looked over his island and saw the sprawling spirits carrying on about their afterlife and bowing to him as they saw him, and said: "I looked down into the depths when I met you; I couldn't measure it." They aren't one for flowing prose, it took him so off guard he was silent for over a minute before he finally spoke.

Danyal should've recognized devotion for what it is, and yet he didn't. He should've recognized it when Antares began spouting praises about him, crowing about his radiance and resplendence to the heavens. He just brushed it off as Ambroise being Ambroise. He should've recognized it when Trix and Missy nearly broke Dash's leg after he knocked Danyal's books out of his hands, he excused it as them being protective. Of them coming from times where such violence may have been customary -- after all, that's what he used to be like. What he was still like, sometimes, when his emotions nearly got the better of him.

He should've noticed it when the people living on his island followed his word like gospel, looked at him like he hung the stars in the sky. When his friends gifted him a shawl with the moon phases delicately embroidered into it, with silver, shimmering thread and moving stars lovingly stitched into it. Their constellations seen clear as day in the dark fabric. When he found small shrines dedicated to him -- but they lacked any image of him beyond stones carved to look like moons, so he ignored it. When the religious imagery began popping up.

He really, really should've noticed it when a bunch of cultists accidentally summoned Antares, and Antares had turned to him when he arrived and called them heretics. But he was so centered on the fact that they had kidnapped one of his stars, that he hadn't paid much attention to what Ambroise had said.

Sages say that faith is blind, they should also say faith in you is even blinder.

It really only hits him one afternoon while he's sitting in Sam's room studying with Tucker, Missy and Trixie lounging at his feet, Aki sat on his right, Penelopeia braiding his hair, Ambroise draped against him, and Akkara lurking over him. Its one of the rare few times they're all in one room together.

It hits him like a bolt of lightning. He looks up from his textbook. "Oh Ancients," he says in no amounting shock. Everyone looks up to him.

"I've become my grandfather."

[knightofleo]

Angela Orosco Silent Hill 2

[sreppub]

joker killed batman instead of jason

[steddielations]

Steve acts on instinct.

There’s this guy in all black walking in front of him, he’s too busy looking down at his phone to notice, but Steve doesn’t trust that lamppost. He’s been going for daily runs, he likes to keep it simple during the off-season, and that post has been getting more rickety every day. Now it’s swaying dangerously in the wind and he knows it’s about to tumble.

There’s no time to call out to the guy, so Steve just plows forward and tackles him out of the way.

They fall in a messy heap and Steve unfortunately lands heavily on top.

“Holy shit! What the— ugh!” The guy heaves in pain and Steve hurries to scramble off of him.

“Sorry, that post was about to fall on you, man. You alright?”

Pieces of grass stick to the guy’s long hair as he takes stock of Steve and what happened. With a labored breath, he surprisingly jokes, “Guess I’m lucky the best football tackler alive happened to be right behind me.”

It’s sarcastic as shit but Steve smiles with a tug of amusement as he offers his hand. “Baseball, actually.”

“You’re in the wrong league, man,” he lets Steve pull him to his feet and groans on the way up. “Well, nice to meet you, Baseball, you pack a hell of a first impression. I’m Eddie.”

Steve would appreciate his ability to joke so soon after taking a hit, but people are starting to gather around. There’s already phones pointed at them that probably caught the whole thing on camera. Steve’s used to public attention by now, knows the press is going to have a field day with this and he hates causing a scene, but he wants to make sure Eddie is okay.

“Just Steve is good. You wanna…? This way,” he gestures toward the sidewalk and thankfully, Eddie seems just as eager to get out of there too, shuffling next to Steve as they round the corner.

He’s wearing so much metal jewelry, it’s like a costume, the jingle jangle of his every step accentuating how shaken up he seems. They get far enough behind a building and Steve stops to have a real look at him and… well he’s interesting to look at.

It’s like he hopped off the album cover of an 80s rock band, or one of Steve’s Bon Jovi posters that he hid under his bed in high school. Way too much leather and way too much hair for the California sun, all disheveled with grass and dirt.

“You sure you’re okay? Here, you got a little…” Steve’s hand hovers until Eddie nods that it’s okay from him to pluck the grass from his hair and lightly brush the dust from his shoulders. Eddie watches him the whole time, his eyes big and dark, an intensity in them that Steve can’t quite read but he can feel. “Didn’t hit your head or anything, did you?”

Steve lowers his hands, stepping back a little when he realizes how close they are. Eddie’s eyes follow him, a slight quirk to his lips that makes Steve feel the heat of the sun a little warmer on his face.

“I’m touched by your concern, sweetheart, but my brain has been through worse damage than a little bump.”

Steve frowns at the ladder, but the first bit definitely makes him feel the heat. He’s admittedly a bit out of practice but he can still recognize a come on. One that he definitely invited with all the touching and indulgent looks.

Then Eddie starts profusely thanking him for the whole ordeal, asking to treat him somewhere nearby for lunch. It’s not that Steve doesn’t want to, he’s very interested actually, and thankful that out of all the jewelry Eddie’s sporting, there’s no wedding ring. That’s why he’s reluctant because he’s all sweaty at the moment. Not to mention, he didn’t finish his run yet.

“Surely saving my life was enough cardio,” Eddie jokes lightly and Steve snorts.

“I saved you from a minor concussion, maybe,” and okay he’s gotta accept now.

The place is small and unassuming, burgers and sodas type joint. Steve’s likely to be recognized there, which he doesn’t mind meeting fans in public just preferably not now, it might be jarring for Eddie.

He heads for the booth tucked in the back corner, the most private looking spot that Steve had his eyes on too. They get a round of sodas from the waitress and right away, Eddie starts thanking him again.

“I noticed that lamppost wobbling days ago,” Steve sparks a conversation instead of accepting any more thanks, “I was planning to let it fall on me so I could sue the shit out of the city.”

He’s pleasantly startled by the big cackle that gets out of Eddie, “Any chance to stick it to the man. I admire that.”

“‘Course I would’ve really stuck it to ‘em and donated it back to the community,” Steve adds.

“Giving the people’s money back to the people, imagine Big Brother’s horror. Noble guy.”

Eddie seems to bubble with contagious delight that doesn’t match his whole leather and chains thing at all, but it fits into the somewhat magic of him. It's a wonder to Steve.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” Eddie ventures, a glint of recognition in his eyes that Steve’s seen a thousand times. He doesn’t ping Eddie as much of a sports guy and he’s not vain enough to assume everyone knows who he is. Eddie’s probably seen him while flipping the channel past ESPN or something. Or maybe an ad for that Netflix thing he did documenting last year’s season.

“I think I’d definitely remember you.”

Steve didn’t mean it as a come-on, just that Eddie’s appearance really isn’t forgettable, but he can tell by the wicked little grin Eddie sports that it was taken as one. Steve likes that even better.

“Have you ever modeled, or anything? You’ve got the looks for it.”

Biting back a smile of his own, Steve shakes his head. “I bet you say that to everyone who saves your life.”

“None of them were half as good looking." That sounds concerning but Steve’s distracted by Eddie swirling his straw in his drink, regarding him with a long look. “Really though, I just feel like I’ve seen you before.”

Steve’s done a few covers of Sports Illustrated, but he doubts Eddie has ever picked up a copy of that, so he shrugs. “Must’ve been in your dreams.”

Eddie laughs softer this time. “You trying to sweep me off my feet or something?”

“Already did.” Steve leans back, enjoying the way Eddie’s eyes follow him.

Conversation sparks and it never really dies out. Eddie just grabs topics out of thin air, talking about the city and what they like to do and movies and his amazement that Steve knows all about D&D because he’s a nerd magnet. Eddie’s personality spills through everything he says like it can’t be contained. He’s talkative in a good way, not to a point where Steve can’t get a word in. He listens intently, has a way of putting all his attention onto Steve like he’s the most interesting person he’s ever spoken to.

It’s surprisingly easy to relax. Not because Eddie has a super calming presence or anything, his energy is just all-encompassing, it’s hard for Steve not to get sucked in and hang on to every word he says. It’s one of the rare times in public that he’s not hyper-aware of everyone around him and too paranoid of having a photo snapped and taken out of context to even enjoy himself.

That happens a lot, being one of the only professional athletes who’s open about his sexuality. The media is extremely invasive with his private life. If he’s seen with any guy friend, there’s a whole press storm about Steve Harrington’s “secret beau” within the hour. It’s ridiculous and he tries so hard to keep his lovelife under wraps that maybe he’s been neglecting it entirely, at least that’s what Robin says.

Of course, that’s when his phone lights up with a message from her. His heart sinks a little when he sees the title of the article she sent to him. He quickly shoots her a text and locks his phone without reading it.

“Everything alright?” Eddie notices the shift in Steve’s mood right away.

“Yeah just,” he sighs, bracing for the inevitable part when Eddie realizes Steve isn’t worth the hassle of all this, “Someone filmed us earlier and now it’s all over the press. I’m really sorry, I totally get it if—”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I figured that would happen,” Eddie brushes it off, but Steve shakes his head.

“I don’t think you understand, it’s—”

“Wanna bet?” Eddie smirks for some reason, “I’m fine with it, I promise.”

He tosses a chip into his mouth and picks right back up with the story he was telling.

Steve is stunned for a moment, wary that maybe Eddie doesn’t fully grasp how deep this goes. But he stays there with Steve, seemingly thrilled to keep talking with him even when a family comes in and keeps staring their way, obviously building up the courage to come over and ask for a picture. Eddie’s acting like Steve’s the only person in the room and that’s enough to assure Steve that he’s really fine with it.

He’s so locked into Eddie, he barely registers when the older son from the family’s table finally wanders over and asks for a picture.

Steve is in the middle of wiping his face with a napkin, about to greet him when suddenly, Eddie pops up and asks Steve to excuse him for a minute.

“C’mon little man, let’s do it,” he says and much to Steve’s confusion, the teen excitedly goes with Eddie to his family’s table.

Steve watches, utterly baffled, as they start snapping photos and expressing what big fans they are and Eddie takes it with such bravado, laughing and chatting like he’s with a group of friends.

What the— Steve grabs his phone, opening the article Robin sent him at lightning speed.

At first, he wonders how the press was able to find out Eddie’s full name so quickly, then he sees the words "troubled rockstar" and "recovering star" so many times, it becomes abundantly clear.

Oh.

He’s not so worried about the troubled part, everyone has their shit and he doesn’t read into any of it. Those are Eddie’s stories to tell Steve if he chooses, not some tabloid. But the rockstar part connects a lot of dots that have come up in the last couple of hours since meeting Eddie and—

Yeah, just. Oh.

Part 2