#Would this make my knight fight better or worse? Probably

[strappedsword]

Going down on a knight before battle, when I’m supposed to be putting on their armor. Just when they’re about to cum I stop abruptly and begin the process like nothing happened, leaving them to stand there frustrated and pent up as I dress them.

[smiley-babe]

princess of daydreams

knight!megumi x princess!reader

Warning: heavy pining, masturbation, corruption kink, implied virginity loss, implied unprotected sex (pull out method used).

An: this was only supposed to be a drabble ._. got carried away.

minors do not interact/ 18+ only

He’s always been stoic. A true rule follower to his core. He luckily hasn’t had to go out and risk his life for a pointless war that brings nothing but death for months only for the two kingdoms to come to a stupid truce. That’s the one thing he doesn’t see himself doing. Fighting to keep up with a king’s inflated ego. That’s why he was happy to be assigned under the royal guard. But that wasn’t the only reason he was content with his position.

Sapphire orbs drink up layers of ribbon and silks every time he sees you. He hated those huge puffy dresses on you, obscuring him from seeing your true frame. Makes him feel perverted when he thinks any of those thoughts and they’re so often. He sits up straighter every time you pass him. When your eyes meet he feels his throat dry and his hands clam up. Then there’s that sweet smile you always greet him with.

That moment always feels like sunshine beaming on his face. Like the air was sucked from his lungs and he has to take a gulp of fresh air. It gets to him so bad. That smile replays in his daydreams when his mind isn’t occupied with anything else. It’s even worse at night when his imagination really takes over.

Alone in his own chambers, he imagines what you look like in your night clothes or maybe even nothing at all. He feels so ashamed when he becomes aroused from the thought. Megumi always imagines what you would whisper to him if he had you here with him. He wonders if you would be hesitant in the case of keeping your innocence because of your status.

He thinks about corrupting you, convincing you to give him your first time under the idea that he’s helping you, showing you how to please your future husband. And you, so sweet and naive, give it to him willingly so you can be a good future wife.

Megumi shudders thinking about your pretty lips wrapped around his cock, instructing you not to use your teeth. Your mouth would be so warm and he wants to cum in it so bad and tell you to swallow it. He feels sick for thinking about kissing you afterwards.

Then he gets you under him, preps you so sweetly since it’s your first time and you need lubrication. Instead he just wanted to taste you. He thinks about how good you probably taste and how you would squirm from his tongue. He would make sure you finish on his mouth before trying out his fingers. He starts with one and soothes you when you cry, kissing away your tears. He would admire your beauty here and silently wish you were his. Then the second finger. By then you’re moving your hips in tandem with his fingers and you come undone again.

It’s so warm, with your bodies pressed together and nothing but the moonlight illuminating your guys’ features. With a couple sloppy kisses shared Megumi lines himself up with your purity. This is the part of the imagination where Megumi starts to touch himself.

Rough, calloused hands, used to holding a sword, grasps his hard cock. He sighs out, jaw slacking a bit and sapphire eyes closing. He smears the pre dribbling from his slit onto his cock. His hips rock to fuck up into his fist and he moans softly from the slight relief. He knows you would feel so much better wrapped around him.

His imagination runs wild with the thought of finally easing himself into you. He would shush you when you cry out to him that it hurts. “You want to be a noble wife, right? Then we can’t get caught. Quiet my lady.” He gets halfway before pulling out and pushing back in even farther. It starts to get easier for you to take him, your cunt opening up for him with every slight push of his hips.

Your nails dig into his strong forearms as you whine and keen for him. His lips mold with yours to shush you and he changes the position slightly to spread you even more open for him. The back of your knees rest in the crooks of his elbows and the pain returns again as he digs himself deeper into you. He wants to curse aloud and moan out your name so you know what you do to him.

“S- sir it’s deep,” you whisper to him as he keeps his pace slow.

“That’s the point,” he speaks in the dark. “Your husband is going to want to impregnate you the first night of your marriage. He needs to be close to your womb. Therefore this position is very common.” You don’t even question him because Megumi makes you feel safe. He’s supposed to. He’s a knight of the royal guard.

His hand speeds up and a hiss sounds from his lips as he imagines his balls clapping against against your ass every time he thrusts back in. He thinks about how well you would take it despite being a sweet little virgin. And all because you want to please your future husband, whoever he shall be. But in that moment you’re Megumi’s and Megumi’s alone.

You two try to stay quiet but it feels too good. Each other’s names whispered against your lips as you shared sweet kisses. A groan and a curse from Megumi and a shaky moan and whimpers from you. The bed creaks a bit from all the movement and Megumi can feel himself getting close. “I’m almost there,” he moans softly. You pull him in for another kiss, this one a bit messier and needier than the others.

It has him flinging to the edge and it disappoints him that he has to pull out. But he does, stroking his pretty cock over your body, cumming with a low, “fuck”.

He spills into his hand, some of it getting onto his lower abdomen. In his daydream though, he finishes on your bosom that he still wishes he could see with his own eyes.

Here comes the shame that approaches with these nightly thoughts. He shouldn’t be thinking about even doing that to you. But he always wonders if you would take him up on the offer if he ever asked. With a sigh he cleans himself up and takes himself back to bed, absolutely angry at himself for wanting to corrupt the princess.

Meanwhile he doesn’t know that you think of him, the pretty knight that fights with the fierceness of fire, when playing in your pretty cunt. Your nightly routine also included a made up scenario of him accompanying you to his chamber and filling you to the brim. Maybe one day you’ll order him to your room so you can enact your fantasy. But for now you two rely on your imagination to get you through these lonely nights.

______

tags: @luxekeyah @chosovixen @noritopia

[yanderes-galore]

Rhaenyra vs Aegon from (ASOIAF) rivalry concept?? What better way to make the sibling's fight worse than to add a Darling into the mix, am I right?

Whole CIVIL WAR happens and these two are upset they like the same person-

Rhaenyra Concept

Aegon II Concept

❗️Potential Spoilers for Fire & Blood/HOTD Season 2❗️

Yandere! Rhaenyra vs Aegon II

(Team Black vs Team Green)

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Possessive/Protective behavior, Jealousy, Violence, Kidnapping, Death mention, Manipulation, Imprisonment, Stalking, Dubious companionship/relationship.

There's so many different ways to tackle something like this.

You could really be anyone.

A sibling, a favorite servant, a knight, anyone.

No matter who you are, you're stuck in this realm-wide tug-of-war game.

These two are not only fighting for succession now... but you.

One's the queen of Dragonstone, the other the king of King's Landing.

Honestly... you are in such a bad position no matter where you go or who you are.

You're caught in the middle of a war where both sides have dragons.

I bet that if they both like someone, said person's going to have the entirety of Team Black/Green breathing down their neck.

After all Rhaenyra leads The Blacks, Aegon leads The Greens.

With one order, you could be abducted for either side.

That's probably the scariest part of their rivalry.

You have no power in this situation, they do.

Which means just about anything can happen.

That's also the reason there's just... so much potential for this idea that I'm not even sure if I can cover it all.

Considering what both royals go through, they can both get unhinged.

They have both lost children to each other and they're only going to stop fighting when one of them is dead.

When I think of the obsession for this idea, my mind goes to a sibling or knight.

That way you'd still have somewhat of a connection with both sides.

Perhaps you're a sibling of either Rhaenyra and Aegon that gets caught up in the civil war... only to realize both royals want you for one reason or another.

Or maybe you're a knight (regardless of gender, they had both) who served Viserys.

Then when the war begins, you're torn between Rhaenyra and Aegon, both royals offering you the position of their personal protector (Kingsguard/Queensguard).

You most likely knew them before the civil war happened.

Then it develops into some sort of custody battle for the rivalry.

The alternative is you go with one side willingly and the other takes you hostage.

Then during your time as a hostage, the leader of the side who took you becomes obsessive until your side takes you back.

That's another way you can get them both to like you.

Now, in terms of yandere behavior?

Aegon is naturally hedonistic and would lean more towards romantic tendencies.

He can be both intimidating yet also pathetic with his obsession, often clinging to them and not afraid of executing those who get too close.

You're never far from his sight as his obsession, the king thrives off your care.

As king, Aegon feels he should get what he wants and be smothered in affection, he should always get what he wants.

He's only vulnerable with you... he needs you.

He needs a connection with you.

Rhaenyra is protective and more calculating than her half-brother.

For the most part she can keep her cool and her obsession can go either platonic or romantic.

For the first portion of the war she's calm, yet would fear people are trying to steal or kill her beloved as the war goes on due to trust issues and assassination attempts.

Although they both deal with such a thing.

Rhaenyra's used to the world being against her since she was young.

With her obsession, she feels she can at least trust someone.

She values loyalty between her and her obsession, making them sacrifice everything to dedicate themselves to her in the end.

Both royals utilize psychological and emotional manipulation to try and garner your loyalty.

Aegon lays the charm on thick... Rhaenyra often promises protection for your dedication.

The two have loyal members on their side that would listen to their every order.

I can actually see them both imprisoning their obsession if you're already with a side.

Rhaenyra no doubt sends Daemon to recruit/take you in for The Blacks on top of Caraxes.

Aegon may be less willing if you were already a Green supporter, but if you're with The Blacks he'll order Aemond to hunt you down and imprison you.

You'll get a cozy chambers with both of them, even if it is your prison.

This is another rivalry where I feel one of them is going to die in the end.

Whoever wins this Civil War also gets to have you.

There's no running, after all, how can you?

There's nowhere to go.

You could probably even go to the North and still have someone rat you out.

The two sides brew in tension as they take each other out.

Many common folk whisper rumors about the fact both sides are fighting over one person.

They mutter about your importance, both out of pity and bitterness.

Meanwhile, as you watch the carnage play out and are often tossed from cell to cell, you want nothing to do with any Targaryen.

Get used to dragon back, you're going to be on dragon back a lot.

You know blood is being spilled primarily for control, that this is a battle about succession.

Yet you also fear lives are being lost because you're involved, even if you don't want to be.

When you're with The Greens, Aegon often is seen with an arm around your waist.

In private he wants to trust you, to get affection he couldn't get from even the brothels.

When you're with The Blacks, Rhaenyra keeps you close yet under watch.

She provides hospitality and her affection is welcoming with friendly touches.

She respects you as long as you respect her, similar to Aegon, yet she fears you'll turn on her the longer you're with The Greens.

Aemond and Daemon are definitely doing the dirty work for their king/queen respectively.

They're the ones primarily spilling blood and sending spies to keep an eye on you.

However... Aegon and Rhaenyra wouldn't mind personally dealing with threats, Aegon especially, despite Aemond's protests.

Would things get gorey? Yeah.

Both sides would mount heads on pikes just to get a message across.

Their fight over you and succession would continue until near the end of the war.

By this point, most of their relatives are gone.

Rhaenyra just has her son, and Aegon's nearly alone.

The conclusion of the war is (un)fortunately also the conclusion of your own fate.

With wounded dragons, the two are prepared to end things.

The amount of blood doesn't matter to them.

They don't even care if the blood of their enemy gets on you.

All that matters is you.

The end of the war may mean you're no longer tugged between two royals...

But it certainly does not grant you any sort of freedom either.

[fuumiku]

Day 2 : Role Swap

Ok I have thoughts for this one bear with me. He’s a mage with a half-foot guild still but his activism is especially targeted towards half-foot mages specifically since they’re rare and so looked down upon (and the two are correlated).

Marcille scouts out places all Tomb Raiser style for lost treasures and knowledge, keeps maps and written info etc in her book. She’s still much of a scholar but more in an archeologist sense, she wants to discover the truth of dungeons and see if it could revolutionize the world. She’s a buildings and engineering nerd instead of magic nerd. She hypes herself up as a passionate cool rogue adventurer like in books✨ Chil thinks it’s a silly and unstable profession. All her um, grace and agility when doing headstands and dancing are coming through with this new role of hers.

Chil does need to borrow mana and so they hold hands a lot. I am so taking advantage of the mana transfer thing. "I’m out of mana, you’re an elf and you never use magic, give some to me! You have so much, don’t be selfish!!" -inparty fight breaks out as he chases after her and she runs away- I imagine that’s just kinda how he and half-foot mages roll? Dunmeshi-typical worldbuilding monologue that explains how "Most people don’t even use their mana, they don’t even learn magic. If you give me your mana I’ll be able to do more magic, win-win, no harm done." I imagine you have to be magic-savvy to be able to transfer mana to someone but it’s fine he can just steal it methinks 🌟 So he gets to be the one who’s very casual about physical touch. He does NOT want to be a healer it stresses him out but ah shit there Falin goes.

More AU details under cut

You’ve heard of onion knight now get ready for onion mage Y’know the saddest part of mage Chilchuck is that he wouldn’t use explosion spells

You know how Marcille uses her staff to grab people by the neck or head sometimes… Chilchuck would have a free choking stick he can use to make people listen to him. He can REACH THEIR NECKS. It doubles as a walking stick for his old man back… /j And a weapon, sort of. I think staff more than lance, but long weapons like that suit him I think. Holding the monster at bay with a 4 feet long stick like "Stay BACK!! Go for my party members shoo shoo!!!!"

From my observations, staffs for magic all have a ‘hole’ at one end, oh size, shape, material and form varying. For example both Marcille and Rin have a similar hoop, but Falin’s is a lantern which imo the metal frame of it and the glass form this hole I’m speaking of. Maybe it’s like, the staff condenses the magic inside the hole and helps channel it and give it form? What I’m saying here is I didn’t decide what it was made out of but I like to think it’s carved wood so it can be homemade but unique to him.

Marcille and Chil both fight in battles, but he stays where it’s safer and does long distance spells only. Marcile uses daggers probably… But yeah her role’s more being a scout rather than a fighter, while Chil’s role is being a magical fighter and his expertise on magical creatures and such.

I think he’d be self-taught, where it’s his own magic system… I think he likes theory more than vibes and working at the whims of creatures, so maybe elven with an half-foot script? He doesn’t seem like the type to get buddy-buddy with spirits much A bit like his cowl it’s like he always has a part of home with him a bit with his half-foot magic… He’d have sucked at the beginning, it’s pretty experimental magic, but he made it work and tbh he’s a Big Deal for it. Learning on the field ofc ofc he’s no honor student

I think the racial prejudices tension would be worse, because he’d be nervous of the whole ‘half-foots who get too curious about dark magic get taken away’, and I think as a half-elf who doesn’t do magic it might be uncomfortable for her to deal with how the half-foot is better at it than her and how her mana would have had better use with him instead of her? Idk brainstorming. I def think she’d habe more of a complex about being a half-elf… Still with existential dread and still Hopes to find a cure to death, but she goes about it through artefacts etc rather than magic. I’m unsure how her career would turn out that wqy exactly because job stability and academia are important to her, but yeah I think she went to school on an agricultural and history level and focused her research on that front? And then she could become that adventurer scholar who explores to pierce secrets of the world and ancient civilizations trope yeah I think that’s the angle.

Maybe his plans for the future after quitting being a dungeon diver would be teacher/mentor instead of shopkeeper 🤔 One one hand oh god have mercy on his blood pressure, on the other he likes contributing to his community and would want to encourage half-foot mages and pass down his knowledge and expertise I think. Empty nest syndrome where…- OHHH mage Meijack……. I was thinking becayse Meijack followed in his footsteps in canon but it could suit Puckpatti and Flertom too��� Their dad would have shown them some magic tricks hehe. They can be a magical girl trio in my heart, Powerpuff Girls energy…

A rogue has gotta be able to make intricate af braids and updos with their fingers (ignore how in canon Chil is just barely decent at them nvm). I was thinking maybe one of Marcille’s lockpicks is Ambrosia-shaped… Or maybe it’s an hairpin. Maybe she keeps her lockpicks as pins in her hair but they’re easy to grab… Getting more gimmicky by the second but my heart yearns for it I cannot lie. I ended up doing something close to canon for Marcille’s outfits but at first I imagined she’d wear stuff more akin elven fashion, short dress with pants, light material, though also with a leather armor breastblate. She has long gloves like the ones that look fancy, maybe even up her upper arm rather than just forearm ooh… Also her little pouch, which actually contains stuff this time around (lockpicks). They still have matching pouches yay

In that last doodle Chilchuck weaved her a little familiar with twigs… So it is magical but it’s hers, and it’s a second stand-in for Ambrosia. Maybe a golem… It’s very silly and prob not real in the au but the thought of it is really cute. Someone on the discord said Fantastical Beasts Pickett which yesss lmao, it’s like a pokemon for "(lock)pick it!" I love arts and crafts Chilchuck so much. Sew clothes. Weave twigs. Woodcarve. Necromance a frankenstein. He can make himself a new wife (/J I AM SO /J)

— Also for Izutsumi: I think the reverse of a ninja is a bard. Take that as you will. Angry bard who grew up in a troupe……

[sarafinamk]

Fallen Angel (Smiling Critters Space Riders AU Reader Insert) Part 3

Summary: Without the red smoke to help you through rehab, you begin to experience thoughts and feelings that you never had before. It gets worse before it gets better, but don't worry. It DOES slowly get better.

Check out the other parts here. Also, check out Part 2 to my Incorrect Quotes if you haven't already. The Smiling Critters Space Riders AU belongs to @onyxonline. Enjoy!

TW: Mentions of Blood, Mentions of Injury, Imprisonment, Trauma, Death mentions, Mentions of murder, Religious Trauma, Religious Imagery and Symbolism, Religious Cults, Drug Withdrawal, Drug Addiction, Mentions of Self harm, Mention of Suicide Attempt, Mental Health Issues, Slight cursing, LOTS of negative thoughts, Implied Abuse, Conditioning

----------

You weren’t sure how long you’ve been imprisoned at the heretics’ main space station for. Based on the lines scribbled in your journal, and what those healers and heretics told you, the closest timeline you could estimate was a month and a half…

Could be more…

In your defense, being in and out of consciousness because of not only healing from your wounds but dealing with your hellish headspace gave you no chance of keeping track. You weren’t sure if you TRULY wanted to know how long it’s been though…

Some of your wounds, at least, have healed. If you weren’t wearing those power mufflers, all your wounds would have disappeared a long time ago. But, no.

Those heretics just HAD to insist you heal the hard way. It is bad enough that those healers and their knights were watching your every move on the cameras. There was no nook or cranny in your accommodation that wasn’t under constant surveillance. They didn’t even try to be discreet about them. What’s worse is that now you had your whole body, head, and face exposed, especially to the people hellbent on killing you. They didn’t even deserve to have a face to associate with the Archangel. It was for your own good, they said. All that did was leave you with voices in your head screaming at you to get out, run, and hide from those prying eyes.

So what if there were a few instances where you tried to scratch yourself until you were satisfied with the red on you? You just needed a way to stop yourself from feeling these weird feelings. It’s leaving you weak. What would the Prototype say if he saw you showing such weakness when you were raised better than this? The scratching never went as far as it did the first time, though and it would never be like that ever again. Not on the heretics’ watch. They would always intervene before the first sign of red.

You spent a lot of time thinking about the perfect escape plan. You would get those power mufflers off, destroy those cameras the first chance you get, create a void, (maybe kill a few heretics along the way to send a message), and make an easy escape back to the prototype. It’s just… you could never muster any energy to go through with your ideas. You hated that you grew so lazy and weak when no prison was able to keep you contained in the past.

What happened to you?

Where was your energy to fight back, to make those heretics pay for what they’ve done to you…?

But…

Why save you?

Probably to interrogate you, torture you for ALL the intel concerning your God, and once they get everything, kill you. They can sure as hell try, but you’d rather die than betray your God and family like this!

You groan, cradling your pounding head with one hand. You slide down against the wall. Even though you've been clean for some time now, but you're still trying to get used to this red smoke free headspace of yours. Now you're just left sitting with thoughts and feelings you never had to sit with before, and you hated how much it consumes you. You wished you had the red smoke to help you through this, to make you forget these feelings, to go back to normal. But the Prototype never came back for you… no rescue parties were made for you as far as you know.

A few healers and knights argued that if he really wanted you back, he would’ve come get you by now, but he didn’t, and none of your “friends or family” did either, so you might as well get used to being here. You reminded them every single time that you don’t have “friends” nor are you selfish enough to need any. The Prototype was all anybody needed. You had that argument about 26 times before you stopped. There was no point in continuing this fight if they just refused to see any sense.

You hated to admit it, but...

Maybe they're right.

Not once, in the entire time since you’ve been separated from the Prototype was he there when you needed him the most. Your chest and the back of your eyes burn. Your vision goes blurry. You clench your blanket draped around your shoulders and take a few deep breaths until the burning sensation is smothered, and your vision clears up. You are NOT going to let weakness consume you.

Not now.

Not ever.

Not as long as you’re at the mercy of the heretics.

----------

Here you are, three months deep into your rehab program, sitting on the floor, and studying another one of Bubba’s “philosophy books” as he called them. He gave you some so that "you weren’t left pacing back and forth in a cell or being stuck with your thoughts all day." Granted you do try to do a few exercises to build your strength back. You discovered it was the best way to distract your mind from the mere thought of desiring red smoke. At least the books give you more to do in your cell.

To you, it was all heretic propaganda to stray the weak-minded away from the divine truth. It was still intriguing to study about, all the same. Besides, if you're going to be staying with the heretics, then now is a good time to start learning about their world and culture. As much as you hate to admit it, you're beginning to understand why many heretics find these kinds of teachings appealing. Not only does it go against everything the Prototype preaches, but there were so many teachings to choose from. How do the heretics even know which teachings are true? How do they know which teachings they should follow for the rest of their lives?

It was all so strange.

Back home, there is only one absolute truth: everything that happens in the galaxy is thanks to the Prototype. He’s the eternal source of happiness, of wisdom, of strength, of a second chance at life. He is in control of all. He gives his people his gifts, and in turn, they serve him. They devote their lives to him. To not believe in this truth would mean certain death.

In the heretic world, it seems it is up to the individual to shape the world in their image. Apparently, to discover the truth, you have to be willing to question everything. But how do these heretics expect to survive if they're expected to find their own happiness? How can they be trusted to take control of their lives when they don't fully know whether they made the right decision or not? How are they able to peacefully co-exist despite their differing beliefs?

Perhaps it's something you can clarify with the Space Riders when they come in for yet another visit. They've visited you quite frequently, but it was all so strange. They never asked you anything about the Prototype or the cult. In fact, the topic of conversation was always about… you. They would ask what you have been doing in “rehab” as they call it, how you are managing your red smoke cravings, what you have learned, how are the books (in Bubba’s case), and possible arrangements that are to be made once you are back in their custody. When they exhausted those topics, then they would make conversation with you...

Er...

...More like they would TRY to make conversation with you and you would give short answers. Sometimes, you wouldn't say anything at all. They never forced you to speak, nor did they ever punish you for being insubordinate. Instead, they just moved on to a different topic. This was something you never understood, but maybe they just want you to let your guard down long enough before punishing you.

The echoing of footsteps gets louder and closer to your cell, pulling you away from your thoughts. The seven Space Riders greet you, make themselves comfortable in front of your cell, and begin with the usual questions about you. You bite the bullet and decide you might as well entertain them.

[wortsandall]

Thinking about the moon knight system once again and how both Steven and Jake are protectors, but they go about it in wildly different ways.

Jake is a physical protector. He comes out when they're in physical danger, and that includes danger from themselves. with my fic, I have taken Marc's aggression in episode 5, where he's hitting himself, and used it as a basis. Marc tends to carry on like he's fine until he can't or it's out of his control and I imagine that means that Jake has had to take control in moments like that. If his goal is to keep them safe and alive, then he'd have to intervene if Marc's struggling. We've seen Marc in two moments like that. When he met Khonshu in his temple and then episode 5. I've already written something like that, where Marc does something stupid in order to force Jake out. There will be a similar moment like that in the next chapter of my fic.

My point being that Jake has probably had to front in moments other than in fights in order to keep Marc, and their body safe.

And I know that some people think that would be Steven's job, because he's an emotional protector. Steven has been shown in the show to be helpful but only to a certain extent. Like in Episode 5, he ends up pushing Marc past that point (on accident) but once it's over and done with, he's able to have a more productive and helpful conversation. Once Marc is in that headspace, I don't think there's much Steven can do.

Part of that is me thinking about when they were young. When Marc's cowering from his mom, and Steven takes over, he immediately starts cleaning up as if his mom isn't threatening him on the other side of the door. Steven doesn't have any memory of their mom being abusive either. To me, that comes across as Steven being a distraction or way to hide emotionally. Which in the long run, is more maladaptive than helpful, but as children it's needed. They didn't need nice conversation or comfort until after the threat was gone. So Steven protects Marc emotionally, by diverting attention from it.

As adults, I do think Steven is better suited for calming Marc before he even gets to a panicked state. But I do think that's something that would have to be actively worked towards. While Steven is nice, I don't see the effortlessly nurturing side that everyone else does. He was great in episode 5, but the 4 episodes before that (and even the beginning of 5 really) is him bickering with Marc, being kind of insensitive and making things worse. I know he didn't really know what was going on, so I'm not blaming him. But it's still true. I don't think he's good at dealing with the before, but is better at the aftermath.

Once Jake has them safe, he always disappears letting them figure out what to do next from that point on. So I think that applies here. Jake doesn't do the comfort, that's Steven's job. Jake gets the threat gone and maybe deals with any really bad injuries (before getting the Moon Knight suit anyway). Steven is a distraction or barrier from any stressors in the moment (like when Marc couldn't go to their mother's Shiva). And Marc just gets left with the memory later on, when he's no longer in that heightened state.

Now I'm going to go into the specifics for my fics and au, so those who don't care can stop reading now.

This dynamic is strain on Jake as he's both a physical protector and gatekeeper.

He likes to make sure that they're safe, but with the suit it's needed less. Meaning most of the times he's had to be that role is when Marc is harming himself. I did write Marc stepping off the roof of the Avengers compound as a joke, because the circumstances for that were funny. To Marc, it's not an attempt but a way to force Jake to front and also show how serious they are about wanting answers. He knew they'd be fine.

For Jake though? It's not funny. Like he understands what Marc is trying to do. But considering their track record, he doesn't appreciate Marc doing that purposely, just to get Jake to front. There might be some trauma there that he doesn't want to acknowledge with Marc's previous real attempts or other self-destructive behavior. I do think that's one thing Jake takes very seriously.

This is going to be handled in more depth, but he can't properly do his job if he's always worried about Marc. Or if they're purposely doing things that get in the way of him being a gatekeeper as well. Which is why he didn't front often and had no real interest in it. Fronting was never fun for Jake, so he does prefer just staying internal and keeping track of everything that way. Rather than fighting or fronting when they're in pain, though he'll never admit it.

And as things progress in illusion, Marc is going to be upset that Jake doesn't trust him as Marc is working on his behavior. Marc doesn't like to hear that Jake still sees him as that struggling teenager when he's a full adult who (mostly) has a handle on things. At the same time, Marc does feel that he understands where Jake is coming from and he can't be mad at Jake for seeing him that way. He understands how traumatic it was for Jake to have to deal with the aftermath of any attempts especially being a child himself at the time.

I do think Steven, Jake, and Mark all age with the body at the same rate. So a lot of their really bad years were teenagers trying their best to help teenagers.

Steven also is upset that he's not as useful in situations like this, especially considering the conversation that he and Marc already had. Though, I think he's also kind of glad that his stuff isn't as heavy, even if he does feel guilty for feeling like that. He's not as involved in this specific issue, but he does know that Marc cares how other people see him and that this would be a blow. Most likely, Steven will be a big part of mending Marc and Jake's relationship.

It's a tough line to walk where Steven and Jake deserve their independence and their own lives separate from Marc, but that doesn't mean that they don't care or don't want to help. Considering how serious they take their jobs, I think it actually shows just how much they care about Marc. But all of them do need to let go a little bit. Especially, Steven and Marc.

[xerith-42]

The second turning point

@cinnamontoastcroonch I hope you're happy.

I've been taking a critical eye to every episode of Minecraft Diaries as I rewatch it. And I mean writing upwards of entire essays about single episodes. As you saw with episode 65. Part of why I've been doing this is to see where things truly went wrong with this show. The early episodes were better than I remembered, but I know for a fact there was an entire falling apart that happened between the utter quality that is an episode like say episode 58, and well... Season 3.

Obviously episode 65 was the turning point, but that was just the inciting incident. All the problems in MCD ultimately come down to the love triangle and how poorly it was handled. And the next major step was in episode 77. Episode 77 is an episode that is mostly spent on minimal character interactions at the wolf tribe after the gang finally gets back there with Logan and everyone else. Aphmau spends most of the episode building a boat, and then getting distracted from building her boat.

Until she decides to go check on the Nether Portal. It's broken, like when she last saw it, but Laurance is standing in front of it. I need to emphasize something. Up until this point, we've gotten very few conversations where Laurance brings up being a Shadow Knight. He usually diverts these conversations, or they get diverted by others, so we've gotten very few personal insights into a Shadow Knights existence. This is one of the first real times that we get a deeper look at how this condition has effected Laurance.

And y'know what? I'm just gonna give you a quote from my video essay on this. A nice little teaser. As a treat :)

His mind has sort of been rewired to put himself before others, even if he’s naturally a very selfless person. Which is a real slap in the face when you remember most Shadow Knights are guards, who are encouraged to be selfless. His heart still loves dearly and he is still the same selfless fool who threw his life away to save Aphmau, but his mind is telling him to be more selfish, take what he wants without regard for others. Laurance is actively fighting these thoughts all the time, but he worries that one day he might give in and… He says he never wants his heart to forget Aphmau, even if his mind tells him otherwise.

This. This hurts me. It's quality Laurance content. It's a great moment of Laurance proving one of his greatest strengths and weaknesses. How emotionally vulnerable he is. It makes him easy to hurt. It means he'll actually express it. He's struggled to talk about being a Shadow Knight, but now he's able to.

Imagine if episode 65 let him see the fear of killing Aphmau before this.

And just as Laurance says that absolutely heartbreaking line, GUESS WHO HAS TO MOSEY HIS SORRY ASS INTO THE ROOM?! Garroth just waltzs in there and interrupts this incredibly private conversation that he just happened to be listening to. Now, I will say, there is a way to justify this that I will accept, but I know without a doubt the writers didn't intend this.

The only way this works is if Garroth is listening to this conversation because he's scared of leaving Aph and Laurance alone in case Laurance decides to just... Kill her. But then he feels bad. But that would probably make him walk away out of guilt.

So yeah this doesn't make sense. For Garroth. At all. Why is he so scared of Laurance and Aphmau literally having one conversation? Well, it's the answer it always is. The love triangle. They've shown before that they are willing to disregard basic logic, only to prove that they know the details of this logic in a later episode. In Episode 65 they disregard Garroth's fears around his family, and then center an entire conversation around it in Episode 68.

But wait, it gets worse. Because Garroth knows for a fact that Aphmau and Laurance having an emotional conversation won't likely lead to any romance.

BECAUSE HE SAW LAURANCE CONFESS TO APHMAU 24 EPISODES AGO AND SAW HER REJECT HIM!!

There were seven weeks in between these episodes!! Idk how long it takes to make an episode of MCD, but I imagine episodes are written in major arcs at a time. How did they forget what happened IN THE LAST MAJOR ARC OF THE SHOW?! Because. Love triangle. Because Jesson don't care about the characters they previously wrote, they care about these characters fulfilling an already existing trope they liked in something before. They don't care how this dynamic might change because of their own characters, just that they go through the motions.

So Garroth interrupts this conversation. Laurance gets snippy and tells Garroth to fess up or else he might "sweep her off her feet first." And that's a red flag for Laurance. Good job writers. And let's be clear, I don't disagree with characters maybe being shitty, as long as it doesn't contradict previous characterization. Like this does.

The writers forgot that Garroth saw Laurance's confession. They forgot that Laurance took rejection on the chin. They forgot that Laurance literally said "I'm just happy to be in your life." Did they forget about Laurance's entire confession?! Do the writers think that went away when he stopped being blind?!

...

Oh fuck... Did... Did Laurance only accept rejection because he didn't think he was good enough to be with her when he was blind? Is that what they're trying to say? I... I really hope that isn't. And yet I wouldn't be surprised. Just completely and utterly disappointed.

That took a turn I didnt like. I don't know how to end this now.

[thebladeblaster]

I don’t know if I ever talked about this but Aichi is a total gigachad for this

This dude was literally dying from the reverse and still went on to beat Kourin, Takuto, and Kai in an epic boss rush. Meanwhile he’s like “pfft I’m fine” while in agonizing pain. Remember Aichi is currently facing this excruciating pain all while focusing on cardfighting. Like…I can barely even do anything when I have a headache. Aichi’s being torn apart from the inside by an alien force and he still has enough concentration to win against Kourin and Takuto. Imagine how much better he would have done if he wasn’t distracted by being in excruciating pain? What a freaking legend. He wasn’t actively dying against Kai but realistically that pain probably didn’t disappear it just stopped getting worse 😅.

So this is why Aichi is a gigachad and Link Joker wanted his bod🤣. Like think about it Takuto said a cardfight would kill him but he cardfights two people and Reverse Takuto tries to outright murder him and he’s STILL somehow still alive. Aichi is more durable than you’d think 😅.

Considering we learn just how much attack power he has in If that’s not TOO shocking. Basically when it comes to attack power you have to at least have some ability to endure what you dish out. So If kinda explains how Aichi isn’t FREAKING DEAD.

Once again is it ANY wonder why Link Joker wanted this guy?

I think Aichi has a high tolerance for pain because of his backstory AKA him getting the crap beat out of him for his whole childhood. Though, I don’t really know much about that kind of stuff personally. That’s just my guess as for why his pain tolerance is so high.

Let’s not forget Kai went on to shove him in this state though I don’t think he knew Aichi was dying (I would have to rewatch to remember).

Honestly this scene still sets me off. This is like kicking a puppy. What the heck Kai?! Despite how much this scene makes me want to strangle Kai with his scarf I’ll just assume that he didn’t know or it was more of the void then him then.

Also Aichi’s behavior in completely ignoring his friends telling him to chill out, acting on his own and sacrificing his well being to protect his friends…sound familiar?

Now, I definitely don’t think Legion Mate was that planned out especially after the rewatch I did but it was a funny consistency I noticed. For context I don’t think the seed was planned at all because the Quatre Knights act like cartoon villains in their first appearance and Reverse Takuto tries to drag Aichi into the gate…when he HAS the Link Joker seed.

One thing I really appreciate about Legion Mate Aichi over If Aichi is that he feels much more consistent with his previous characterization. I don’t remember who said it but I remember hearing a saying that turning a character into an antagonist doesn’t involve removing their old traits. Instead that it involves recontextualizing them. That is definitely done here. When you think about it Aichi’s behavior here with going to continue fighting despite literally dying was a massive red flag for what he would do on season 4. At Aichi’s core he hasn’t changed that much really in between seasons. I just think he has a different perspective after the Link Joker events and definitely at least a bit of Link Joker influence 😅. Aichi has not changed much but the situation has due to the seed. I think that’s the only real difference between Link Joker and Legion Mate Aichi.

[tgrailwar-zero]

*moves the chairs and tables to arrange a makeshift stage, grabs whatever food can be used as props, and begins reading Chaotic Heroic to the best of their ability*

Considering that simple tasks were slightly disorienting, one of you trying to perform would be something else entirely. And yet, you tried, and did it, and perhaps in some ways this would enhance the quality of the experience.

As stated by one of you, Act 1 wasn't much of a page-turner, and probably wouldn't be that better even if performed competently.

Act 2 was... well, whether it was better or worse seemed like a matter of opinion.

For the sake of recapping LUCIUS' personal work of art, Act 1 was centered around 'Augustina'- a blonde wealthy-and-beautiful-yet-troubled-and-wistful young noblewoman who, despite wanting to be an artist, was trapped into the life of strict nobility and politics. After a drastic move on her part, she finds herself bandaged and tended to on the riverbank by an average-yet-attractive-and-humble-yet-talented peasant named 'Xavier'. They got together and… that was about it. A very short act to a play, frankly.

Regardless, Xavier and Augustina begin traveling together, and reach a large city, where a special event is taking place.

The 'Tourney for the Divine Chalice', a special event to win a mystical artifact that could grant anyone's dreams. Augustina, now realizing that this is her grand chance to fulfill her dream of becoming an artist, convinces Xavier to join her-- despite neither of them knowing much about fighting.

Interested, yet lacking in the proper tools, Xavier and Augustina find a foul-tempered yet kind-hearted blacksmith and his companion, who deny helping the duo at first before being persuaded (as in Augustina asks really nicely once and is so beautiful that it works).

'BLACKSMITH': 'Me and my partner will assist you in your endeavors, if you promise not to forget us when you are victorious. And also because of Lady Augustina's supreme beauty.'

Sure.

So, the Blacksmith makes Augustina a beautiful sword made from metal beyond the stars and armor that is also somehow functionally similar to a gown, and they set off.

As they reach the town in which the tourney resides, you found yourself hit rapid-fire with several characters.

Such as a rich foreign king and his foul-mouthed money-grubbing vassal that kept harassing poor Xavier, saying things like--

'RICH KING': "Hmph, despite being of poor stock, you both have an amusing way about you. Perhaps crushing you will bring me the entertainment I desire, as the Chalice is mine by right."

'CAPITALIST BITCH': "But we're going to help you anyways! Not because we like you or anything! God! It's just common courtesy here, in the Lunar Lands in which we all live together! Of course, you should know this because you're also from here! What are you, stupid or something! Gosh!"

Mhm.

Adding to the rapid-fire introductions, there was also a girl from a far-off organization protected by a massive metal warrior that kept saying cryptic things, and a young prince protected by a stalwart knight that really worried Xavier, and a pair of cold-blooded assassins, and a knight and his protege with a penchant for poisons, and an arrogant twerp surrounded by a heathen woman who kept her overcoat constantly unbuttoned, which Augustina was fine with, sure, but not when it took attention away from her and--

--In some ways, it felt like the frantic writing of someone trying to recall what happened in a dream. Regardless, as these warriors were introduced, the tourney began…

And Act 2 was over. Just like that.

As the act concludes, you realize that there are literally no lions present in this section of the play. You also realize that despite being 'Act 2', this could have been easily combined with 'Act 1', which added the further question of… just how long was this play?

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - “Harder, Daddy”. “Son?!?” “🤨” Cont.

@bubblegumbeech @library-of-cronos @ghostboidanny @ecto-mochi @miss-nov @thegayonthemoon

Chap.5 Show Me To My Wonderland

It’s been a few days now and Danhy’s pretty sure Maddie and Jack and the school have more or less accepted shit, at least he wasn’t getting bombarded with questions anymore and Maddie and Jack had more or less settled into just acting like nothings changed. He doesn’t get called ‘son’ anymore and they still make little faces over the ‘aunty’ ‘uncle’ thing but otherwise no change. Meaning they’re not really okay with it but going along with it anyways. Because it’s easier? Because they don’t want to make things worse? Because they don’t care? Hard to say and he legit barely cares. They’re still being ‘family’ and Jazz seems pleased so it’s good.

Even if they definitely didn’t think Danhy would actually get himself a ride to his actual parents. The fucking chariot was goddamn overkill, the royalty thing was still wild. Maddie more than Jack were definitely upset since she’d been all ‘are you really going?’, and both of them had been stiff and weird when he got back; they also thought the ‘king’ and ‘god’ thing was bullshit Danhy was being fed to ‘impress’ him and make him like his parents more. He was pretty settled on spending most weekends at the Keep, hadn’t dragged Sam and Tuck along yet but eh. Sue him if he, and his parents, wanted some ‘just them’ bonding time, Jazz was entirely in favour of that, same with Sam and Tuck; Jack and Maddie didn’t get a say especially since he knew what their opinion was already.

… He won’t be too surprised if they kick him out at eighteen, that or they’ll get way better and get over their bigotry. One was waaaaay more likely.

Especially because the lack of a seal thing was definitely doing shit, the strength he was absolutely right on, but now he’s growling and shit at anything that annoyed him. Oh, he also literally felt more ego-y, proud; it was weird when he was used to, like, basically almost the opposite. Which probably actually kept said ego in check? His dad had an ego bigger than he physically was after all. Pops was more self assured and confident rather than ego and pride; the ghost literally knew everything so figures.

And Danhy absolutely can sense when ghosts show up in Amity even when he’s in the Infinite Realm! It feels different, as if the pull and sensation is in the distance rather than right there with him; still useful and chilled out his protectiveness though.

The Phantom PR on the other hand? Oof, exactly as he expected. There was a lot of ‘is Phantom turning evil!’ and ‘is ghost puberty a thing?’ And ‘It’s showing its true colours!’. Then someone actually had the smart idea to ask Danhy, aka the guy who is the kid of the fucking ghost king, you know, the guy Phantom flew off into the sky to fight? Danhy spun some bullshit about how Pariah found out that Phantom, by protecting the town, had effectively been protecting his son as well, and as a result knighted the ghost for his services. So as such Phantom’s physical change was one part power boost -meaning he could protect the town better. Which most folks were in favour of these days. Jack and Maddie were not impressed- and one part the effect of getting an official title from basically the most powerful ghost ever; that led into Danhy vaguely explaining that ‘yes ghosts have titles and roles’ and ‘yes ghosts have a hierarchy system’, which led to ‘yes ghosts have governments’ and ‘yes ghosts have laws’. Jack and Maddie thought he was being foolish for believing the ‘lies’ his actual parents were telling him, even though Danhy was able to actually see that shit in action in person repeatedly. Either way Amity actually seemed to view the ghosts a little more positively now, and one of the popular girls attempted to teach Phantom how to brush fire hair; Ember got involved, he now knew how to do a pretty solid pony tail. It looked weirdly good on him and he was heavily encouraged to grow his hair out some; which he was actually debating on doing.

Oh! And a dude who apparently served in the military had some words to say about Phantom actually having armour now and how stupid it was that he hadn’t already been wearing that kind of thing. That had been soooo awkward, him having to basically shout about ghost clothing and how only weird ghosts usually added to it. Then Red showed up shouting about him being a weird ghost himself, which was absolutely right, and started shooting at him.

She seemed super annoyed Phantom was more durable now. He laughed at her. She shot at him more aggressively. He teased her all the more. She eventually wore herself out and just outright asked him to keep an eye on ‘Danny’ for his safety because she trusted Phantom more than ‘that psycho and who ever’s crazy enough to get with said psycho’. Was it weird he was a little touched by that? Probably.

Regardless, apparently a week-ish of time was considered ‘enough’ to let him adjust and get to know them before dropping the ‘THE REIGN OF DARK HAS AN HEIR” shit on the Infinite Realm. Meaning now Danhy has to get publicly introduced and made official and shit. When he asked if his fraid, Jazz included, could come he’d been given a very firm ‘this is your place as a ghost, this is meant only for ghosts’ and a ‘they’ll be part of this realm in time, like many others, they can be part of this with you then’. Danhy was still a little miffed they couldn’t be around what was basically a literal crowning and Lion King style child show off.

Danhy groaning as the dressers basically drag him around, they couldn’t speak and Danhy didn’t ask why, but they could be very aggressive about shoving him in random clothing that was so much more excessive than his standard shit. Meaning now he’s got on a silly, in his opinion, kilt and set of freaking Loki-style horns over his standard ghost clothing. The random neck gear jewelry, skull cape clasps, and bracelets were ridiculous too, ditto with the Norse time and family runes? face paint; dagaz, jera, thurisaz, and kenaz; if he’s remembering names right. Gebo and Wunjo on the back of his hands, marking him as a ‘gift that brings them joy’; that was impossible not blush over. Talk about embarrassing, ugh. Also! His ears are pierced now! Or hole punched really! Stupidly more painful than he expected, and he was going to fiddle with it so much. One of the plugs had a valknut on it and the others got a gear cog; nice and very cool looking. Sam’s parents were gonna flip and Sam’s gonna love every second of it.

Danhy huffing a little as the dressers push him out of the dressing room and right into ol’ Frighty. The ghost seems pleased, “you look more theirs”.

“We’ll excuse me if I’m not going to start wearing face paint and jewelry all the time, ear things are awesome though”. The kilt thing he might adopt, during summer and all that; one part heritage, one part comfort (Danhy did, in fact, start wearing a kilt during summer. He actually got compliments on it too! Even Maddie and Jack thought it suited him). Either way he follows after the knight ghost, eventually hearing all the chatter.

“-has returned to us! Regardless of certain one’s feelings of displeasure over his existence!”.

Danhy mentally laughs at that.

“Our high kings mad wrath quelled as his young kin’s grown fiercely and become battle hardened far more than you fools! And these lands will be his as well in time! Let any dead before him tremble in his own strain of darkness and might! The dying to pay their tolls in blood and servitude, should it be desired!”.

Danhy does not want people’s blood, ew. Though fighting did kinda spill blood and stuff.

“You all exist within his high royal highnesses darkness and know that he is what all good and evil fear! Be blessed that you’re allowed to bask in further darkness! A Phantom of darkness!”.

Oh cool, the FrightKnight is now walk/floating Danhy out to the crowd of ghosts, some who are probably gods and shit. Danhy’s totally not nervous! Not at all! Not one little bit!

… Sweet Zone, was that ever a lie.

“Presenting! Danhy Phantom! Ling of the High Ghost Sovereign, God of Death, Pariah Dark! And of the Ancient Guardian God of Time, ClockWork!”.

The FrightKnight standing off to the side and behind as Danhy comes to stand in between his dad and pops; his dad standing further forward than his pops who’s floating. That made sense since this was a royal -holy shit he’s royalty, that still hasn’t quite set in- event.

“A being granted life to know death all the better! A being well thrived in light and darkness! To know both better!”.

All the servants or squires or whatever begin chanting:

“Darkness of youth!”

“Darkness of old!”

“Darkness that bind!”

“Darkness that hold!”

“A Flame in dark!”

“A Flame in light!”

“A Flame by thee!” 

“A Flame raised right!” 

“Darkness of truths!”

“Darkness of lies!”

“Darkness that sleeps!”

“Darkness that flies!” 

“A Flame in war!”

“A Flame in might!”

“A Flame by thee!”

“A Flame known by sight!”.

Pariah stabs his sword on the ground, “SILENCE!”; which obviously shuts everyone up. Gesturing a hand aggressively at Danhy, “YOU ARE BUT PUPPETS FOR WE! FOR OUR SOCIETY AT LARGE! OF MIGHT! YOU ARE BUT DISPENSABLE TOOLS! AND SO LONG AS WE REMAIN NOT AN ENEMY OF YOURS WE WILL BE ENEMIES OF ALL OTHERS! THOSE WHO OPPOSE OUR REIGN OR SEEK OUR END! WHETHER WE STALK TOWARDS THEM! A LOOMING DEATH! NOW OR FROM THE SHADOWS IN TIME’S FUTURE!”.

“HAIL!”.

Pariah turns to Danhy, who’s trying to not look wide-eyed. His poor fucking ghost ears. “FOR YOUR ARRIVAL I SAT AND WAIT, I NEED YOU NOT! NOR DO I NEED YOUR ACTIONS TO REACH MY GOALS! YOU! YOUNG ONE! ARE NO PLAYER IN MY GAME! YOU MAY CHOOSE TO MAKE ALL YOUR ENEMY OR NONE! IT MOVES ME NOT! BUT A BLESSING YOU REMAIN UPON ALL! AND FOR THAT BLESSING UPON MY DARKNESS I DESIRE YOU TO WATCH NOT YOUR OWN FINAL GRAVE BE DUG BUT DIG OTHERS THEIR OWN! SO PRESENT YOURSELF FOR ALL! YOUNG ONE! AND KNOW THAT I AND ALL OTHERS ARE PLEASED AND HORRIFIED TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE!”. A tiny crown forms in the ghosts massive hands, Danhy eyeing it as his dad puts it on his head; he can feel its connection to him immediately. New power flowing from it and into him, it was strange but the feeling settles nicely as if it was always meant to be there.

Then his dad steps back, nodding at watching Danhy’s ecto-field flare and settle properly, now letting Danhy effectively take the stage and say his piece.

Danhy’s not about to scream or bellow or whatever at everyone, the ecto in the air carrying his voice easily and there’s a pressure to his voice that has some kind of command to it, “I don’t present myself for your approval. And I’ll only laugh if you try and kill me; and then I’ll annoy you so much that you regret everything. I’ll use my claws on those who hurt me or mine. Otherwise-”, waving the crowd off to seem more chill about this shit, “-I’ll leave you to your bullshit and vices, which in the end may end or beat you as well. But then I had no part in that. But if you cross me I will make sure to be the last face you see, I can promise that. I’ll fight for fun or not. I’ll match that energy. So play nice or square up”.

He actually gets some laughs, cool. Go him. And a bunch of yeti’s yell, “PRAISED BE THE GREAT ONE! OH SAVIOUR!”. Much to Danhy’s great confusion.

The announcer dude or whatever shouting, “you have seen and been beholden! Now BEGONE!”. Does everyone leave instantly? Yup! Well… almost everyone. Danhy’d bet money that the ones that remain are god ghosts.

ClockWork floating closer to Danhy, practically winding around him and grinning, “well, go on, say hello to your fellow gods, even though you are more Demi-god than god in truth”.

Why is this Danhy’s bullshit to deal with? Also, how is he actually a god at all? And of what? Zone fuck this shit. It’s kinda funny though ‘cause almost none of the ones he can see -there’s a fucking lot- have legs. Danhy going over with ClockWork in tow, Pariah sticking a little bit further back even though he was technically a god too; a god by conquested position or whatever.

Danhy gives a little wave, “hiyya, if you all wanna fight me now I’m gonna be so annoyed”. That gets him some snickers, laughs, eye rolls, huffs, and pouts.

“Hmmmm. We’ll see”.

“In time perhaps”.

“Now is hardly what I’d call appropriate”.

“That depends on your opinion on dogs”.

“I’d be annoyed fighting you too, pass”.

“Ha!”.

“You fool around with those living weeds, I’ll put you in your place eventually”.

“I doubt you care for the blade”.

“I’d rather just play!”.

“If only you were a girl…”.

“Meow”.

Honestly half of the responses, from the ones that even bothered, get drowned out by each other. The strange floating eyeball with skinny ass green arms, sneering, “you should not even exist, abomination”; is hard to miss though.

His dad snarling, “Observant”, and looming down over Danhy, glaring at the eyeball ghost all the while. Ah okay, so this asshole is the, or one of, the ghosts trying to fully off his tiny baby ass. Danhy immediately sticks out his tongue and flips off the ghost with both hands getting in on the action, “well I do, so piss on each others heads or whatever other weird thing y’all are into”. The ghost is very clearly scandalised, actually pulling their head back in offence. Ha! Suck on that. Jerk. Maybe try not being a baby murdering dumbass next time?

ClockWork frowns at the Observant, “you beings should beg for times forgiveness, rather than harassing that which you’ve done wrong by”.

“You’ve made a terrible thing, ClockWork, and with him of all ghosts”, the Observant feels like it’s glaring but who knows with something that doesn’t have freaking eyelids, “as he’s clearly proven himself more a monster that needs to be put down, more than anything else”.

Pariah snarls, “retaliation for harming my young is hardly unbecoming behaviour. You’re the foolish things here, my actions were earned and deserved, and I will tear you lot apart”.

Danhy huffing and kinda sticking his face out at the ghost, banter he could do, banter was his bread and motherfucking butter, “I guess you could say I’m a warning not to step on my parents toes, a terrible threat that’s for sure. I am a threat to you and if you choose to not fear me then you’ll fucking regret. Zone, you already should”, gesturing at the ghost lazily, “I mean, you totally forgot about me, right? but guess who came the fuck back? Bitch. You laid the bricks for me and this new age, dontcha know that when you gamble the house always wins”, and open mouth grins at the ghost. Is Danhy stealing lines from Vlad? Absolutely. Is Danhy trying to sound like he knows what he’s talking about and is more dangerous than he thinks he is? Definitely. Does Danhy want these eyeball assholes to either leave him alone or deeply regret just how much they’ve fucked with him even without him knowing they had? YES. Danhy could do without floating eyeballs making a thing out of trying to assassinate him or something all the time; he got enough of that with Skulker’s poaching/skinning attempts.

And hey! The eyeball ghost does actually float back away from him slightly, leery. ‘Eyeing’ or ‘staring’ at him then ‘glaring’ at Pariah, “your chaos and harm to the realm has weakened our sight”, ‘glaring’ at ClockWork, “we can not see him, correct this immediately”.

But a ghost that looks like a starry blanket with a horned mask laughs softly and meanly, “his so called harm has given us a ghost who sleeps, I see no issue with his actions”.

Pariah glaring down at the Observant, “I’ve done no wrong, you lost any right to watch him long ago. Remember this and begone, I can litter the realm with your bodies if it’s what I want”.

Danhy nodding and smirking at the eyeball thing, “even if all I’ve got is the Dark and Time to fill my heart, you’ll wish I never knew y’all tried to off me. ‘Cause know I sure as shit know it’s better to reign in the dark the serve you lot”.

But the eyeball looks to ClockWork, sounding chastising, “ClockWork, fix. This”. Oh that sounds like an order? Is there like some kind of hierarchy thing with time seers or whatever? But there’s no way in hell that the literal GOD OF TIME isn’t at the top of that right? RIGHT?

Danhy is still convincing himself he’s right as ClockWork leans over Danhy’s shoulder to put their face in the Observants, “you. Do not own me. You have misjudged your own place in the world and this realm, your self inflated sense of self a corruption all its own. There is nothing to correct as it is your actions that would have needed correction had they not already been”.

And then the Observant actually grabs ClockWork’s cloak and pulls them at him. Danhy snarling and ripping the things hand off his pops, “do that again and I’ll fucking break you, use your eyeball shaped dumbass heads as a goddamn soup cup; it’ll be on sight”.

ClockWork narrows their eyes, “do not mistake my calm demeanour for gentleness, time maybe be a slow and forever winding thing but it destroys everything in time”. And then ClockWork smashes the ghost in the chest with their staff, sending them indenting into a gnarled thick tree, “and you’re all out of time”, teleporting over to them and smashing their head into the ground. But with a twist of the staff the Observants back to being imbedded in the tree; ClockWork smashes their head down again. And again. And again. And again.

All the other god ghosts are smiling, smirking, laughing, or jeering; but they don’t get involved. Danny’s guessing there’s some kind of ‘non interference’ rule or some shit.

“Abandon you false rationality”, ClockWork smacks the eyeball in the cheek to the side this time. The Observant floats themselves up right ‘glaring’, “how dare you raise your powers against us”.

But ClockWork simply teleports right in front of the ghost in an instant, their face right in the Observants, “I was always meant to bathe in your hatred, as you were always meant to fall by the way side”. One of their time mirror screen things appearing behind the eyeball ghost, ClockWork seemingly pushing the ghost back through it easily.

? It’s possible to go through those things? That practically screams ‘time travel shenanigans! Do it Danhy!’. Danhy’s going to do something stupid with those things one day and everyone’s going to regret him doing it, mostly him of course ‘cause his luck’s just like that.

More of the time screen things pop up and the Observant just seemingly gets flung from one to another by… other ClockWork’s??? Okay Danhy’s not going to try and make sense of that one, since he’s pretty damn positive these aren’t duplicates. Danhy tilting his head and humming innocently, “watcha doin’?”.

ClockWork humming back, “giving them a taste of times far worse possibilities”.

“Neat. Can you hurl me through time screen thingies? It looks fun, like a really weird amusement park ride”.

The look his pops gives him is very judgemental. But a fishy looking maybe shark with too many legs laughs, poking Danhy with something similar to the trident from the Little Mermaid, “I like this one”. Danhy grins widely back, all teeth.

Another ClockWork drops the Observant at this ClockWork’s ‘feet’, or tail tip really, ClockWork grabbing their cape and hauling them up in the air. The Observant shakes as ClockWork speaks, “run. Away. I’m a fight you can not win. Learn humility, I’m the one who counts time down and on; you are but observers and nothing more”.

Pariah stomping over to loom down over ClockWork and more so the beaten Observant, “and I’m no toy for you. I. Am. Death’s. Bringer. I. Am Life’s. Pariah”.

Pariah simply watching as ClockWork tosses the Observant away, then taping their staff, “time up”, and the ghost seems to rip themselves apart from the inside and outside at the same time; being torn apart into nothing.

Okay. Check on the murdery thing. Danhy did not expect or want to see one of his parents fucking obliterate someone. Damn. Muttering, “I’m so not adding to this murder train”. One of the other god ghosts scoffing, “as if the existence of other beings matter”. Okay is pro-murder just a gods thing in general? Again, is he gonna have to watch himself for murderiness?

Another sneering, “especially the existences of lesser mortal things”.

Danhy rolls his eyes at the multi-winged harpy-looking ghost, “I’m at least somewhat mortal so piss off”; while ClockWork just sort of appears next to him, ruffling his flames.

“I hardly expect you to”.

It’s a little weird when it seems like a lot of the ghosts stiffen when the weird three-eyed cat hops in front of Danhy, even ClockWork feels to be watching them cautiously as the cat slinks around Danhy, purring. “A mIsssssPLAceDthINg, nO MATter wheRE hE beeeeeEeE. PecULiARimpeeEeeeeeerfECt tHIng. yeeeeeEEeeeEeeeEssS”, and hums, eyes squinted before slinking off to nowhere. Like, legit, the cat just pops away in an instant.

The other ghost gods kinda look at him leerily before up and leaving en masse. Leaving Danhy blinking and looking to his pops, “what the fuck?”. Even his dad looks a little bothered and leery.

ClockWork frowns, ominous, “most avoid any who get Remi’s attention, she’s one of the chaos gods. Ancient god of misplacement; while I can bend and pick preferred reality, she’s one who alters it entirely. Her interest in you does make sense so I wouldn’t worry much”.

Pariah crossing his arms a scowling, “not much, but still watch for her. I do not want my son being misplaced again”. Oh yeah dad was always going to be mad about that. ClockWork rolling their wrist, “of course, she may be harder to watch but I see all”.

Danhy grumbling, “well if she ‘misplaces’ all my good spoons I’mma be mad”; that gets him some fond looks at least. He will absolutely be mad though, nothings ever stopped him from throwing hands. and godhood, or whatever, wasn’t going to start stopping him and his hands.

More than a few verifiable gods looked into and chuckled to themselves about the young god and prince. Curious about him and his little domain. This… could be very interesting and many of them were very bored. Course they wouldn’t be too mean, crossing the time god or death lord was hardly a wise choice for any; crossing their ling was likely just as foolish.

Some wishing to make his little domain more proper in their minds. Others wishing to see what his dreams could make. Others wanting to see if he really was a ‘fight first’ type. Others instead noticing those around him, from a wonderfully orange-haired child, to a reincarnated pharaoh unaware of himself, to a gardens caretaker that could be so much more, to another half thing almost as misplaced and far more foolish, to a raged fuel child one day to be so close to being more machine than human.

Oh they weren't going to be bored for the foreseeable future for a very long time.

Whelp, at least all of that was over, now Danhy can just chill in the Keep, lounging over a stupidly massive couch that was mildly swallowing him up. His dad was still going through tablets, and his pops was observing the Observants reactions to Danhy’s existence… and to ClockWork obliterating one of them. Hint: the Observants weren’t happy. Hint: the Observants were fully planing to try and assassinate him again. Hint: Danhy fucking hated them. And so did Pariah. And so did ClockWork.

Well whatever, Danhy’s bored and he’s calling his friends, because he is so telling them this shit.

“Have your parents pissed you off yet?”.

Danhy rolls his eyes at Sam’s tone, “not everyone has parent issues, Sam. And the Fenton’s and me being weird doesn’t count ‘cause they’re not my parents”. Danhy can see dad’s smirk from here.

“So what’s up, Danny man?”.

Danhy shrugs to himself, “eh not much, I just got crowned and shit. Met some gods, meaning I, and Amity, might get harassed by some gods. Pops somewhat randomly murdered one of the gods that went attempted murder happy on baby me after they were being a major dick to us. Got called ‘saviour’ by some very loud yetis, not sure why”.

Pops interrupting him without so much as looking at him, “you’ll find out in a year or so”.

Danhy pouting, “that’s not as comforting as you think, pops”, shaking his head and ignoring his pops smirk, “anyway, I pretty much offered to fight anyone who annoys me, which I guess might not have been the best choice of words”.

Tuck laughs, “man! You like fighting so I’m not even surprised. Definitely dumb though”.

“Ugh, now we’re going to have more newer ghosts, damn it Danny”.

Danhy shrugs to himself, “I make no apologies. Fuck sorry, ‘cause I ain’t”, rubbing his neck, “I just don’t want the regulars, the ones who are halfway decent, to think I’m going to smite them or something”.

Sam snorting, “yeah wouldn’t want your go to misplaced aggression to get cold feet”.

“Sam, we’re dead, our feet are always cold”. Danny snickers to himself over her groan, “anything on your end?”.

Danhy can hear the shrug in Tuck’s voice, “outside of the fact that we’re still miffed we haven’t met your parents yet, come on man, Lancer wants to know if there’s ghost history books he can use for a ‘ghost history’ lesson while Mr. Shanell is stuck in the hospital”.

Danhy lifts his head up and stares at his dad, speaking into the phone, “sorry guys, you know things have been crazy but…”. When Pariah picks up on the staring and raises an eyebrow at his son, Danhy speaks back up, “wanna met my fraid? Like, properly?”, tilting his head back to look at his pops, “you too, Clockpops”.

Pariah eyes his tablet, “this is hardly amusing”, and puts it down; stomping over to Danhy and picking him up by the cape.

Danhy speaking into the phone as he’s lifted through the air, “whelp guess I’m fixing that right now, in coming guys”. They laugh meanly at him as they all hang up.

ClockWork sending away their screens and joining Danhy up on the giants shoulder, “it is rather about time”; Danhy snorts at that. Very funny. Changing back human since anyone seeing Phantom with Danhy ‘Dark’s’ parents was so not a great idea, at least so soon anyway.

…

Tuck shrieks, Sam putting a hand to her chest, when a massive portal pops open right next to them. Pariah, aka the guy who terrified the entire town not too long ago, stomps out; their goofy dumbass friend and another ghost they’ve never seen before on the giant ghosts shoulder.

Danhy basically sliding down his dad’s arm, jumping off at his hand, Pariah looked amused. “Hey guys! Presenting-”, gesturing at his parents, “-parental figures that don’t suck!”. ClockWork floats down and smacks him lightly over the head for that; Danhy pouting at him.

Sam instantly points up at Pariah, stomping forward some herself, “you better not try abducting the town again. Or hurt Danny. Or convince him to commit murder”.

While Tuck laughs to himself, Pariah raises an eyebrow at the goth, “I hardly have any reason to”, scowling, “if my son desires or not to kill then that is his prerogative. I have no interest in restricting him either way”.

Danhy doing jazz hands, “hooray for freedom of choice”, holding up a finger, “I’m not pro-murder though”. Pariah simply shrugs at that.

Tuck elbowing Sam, “ah come on, Sam, live a little. Enslave people! Establish your might!”. Danhy flicks Tuck in the head, “bad, Tuck, bad”.

ClockWork floats around the two teens, “know that we’ve met plenty, you were simply unawares”, holding up a fingers, “just because I left my charge in your and the Fenton’s care, does not mean I left him unattended”.

Tuck blinks, “huh. A ghost has been watching me sleep. Kin-”; ClockWork doesn’t even let Tuck finish before smacking him with the staff too. Tuck covering his head, “hey! Ow! Meanie!”. Sam smacks the part of his head that wasn’t covered for good measure. Tuck pouting at her before sticking a hand out at ClockWork and Pariah, “ow. Anyways, I’m Tucker Foley, that’s TF for Too Fine”.

Sam scowling at the boy, “you disgust me”. Her looking to the ghosts, one hand on her hip and sighing, “and I’m Sam Manson, even if someone already knows everything”. Tuck blinking and facepalming, “right. That”. ClockWork’s faint smirk is mean.

Pariah eyeing Danhy, “a bit foolish, eh?”.

Danhy waving his dad off, “hey, they’re dumbasses, totally different”.

Sam poking Danhy, “as if you’re not also a dumbass, Mr. Breaks You Own Hand With A Locker Door To Get Out Of Gym Class”.

Tuck pointing, “or sets a bathroom on fire for a cover story”.

“Or stores your thermos in your chest just because you can”

“Or fist fought a lamp because you said it looked at you funny”

“Or intentionally buys disgusting milkshakes just to see people’s reactions”.

“Or back flips to transform publicly”.

“Or has a crush on someone definitely trying to kill you”.

Danhy puts up his hands in surrender, “okay okay, I get, geez. No need to run a ‘dumb shit Danhy’s done’ lecture by my folks”. They laugh at him meanly. He loves his friends but they absolutely do know every embarrassing or bad thing he’s ever done; they could go on like this for a while.

Pariah grins wolfishly, putting his hand on Danny’s entire head, “good, a prince is meant for chaos”. Eyeing the two teens, “I doubt I require an introduction, regardless, I am Pariah Dark, overlord of the Infinite Realm, death god, and Danhy’s secondary progenitor”.

ClockWork gesturing to themselves leisurely, “and I his primary. ClockWork, ancient god of time”.

Danhy eyeballing his dad’s hand that’s still on his head, “I have questions about that”. Sure he hadn’t ever directly asked how the zone ghosts had kids, especially with his pops being genderless, but he’d decidedly not asked.

Tuck putting up his hands, “I’m cool with not having those questions answered. Ew”.

Pariah crossing his arms, “I could hardly carry him while dealing with wars and skirmishes. Further, of the two of us, ClockWork is far more durable, immortal as they are”, and gives ClockWork a bit of a fond look.

Danhy makes a face, “well alrighty then”, he is so not pressing for more.

Pariah scowls, “considering their actions, I do regret that ever so slightly”. ClockWork still doesn’t look the least bit apologetic about everything.

Sam points at the large ghost, Danhy gets the feeling that she impressing him at least a little, “well I, we, totally do not regret it”. Tuck punching Danhy in the arm, “yeah, Danny-dude’s great and we like having our friend”.

“Yeah I couldn’t stand your blood mouth crap without him”.

“Oh like your grass mouth is any better”.

“At least I don’t eat dead things!”.

“Well my foods actually worth eating!”.

Then Sam has her boot in hand at record sped, Danhy snagging it while Tuck makes slightly fearful ‘do it Bitch’ motions. Danhy laughing at their antics, ah the comforts of the meat vs veggies argument, “and ecto’s the best of both worlds. Dead but also sometimes never alive or sentient”. They both make faces at him.

His dad has opinions about that while Danhy plays keep away with Sam’s boot, “you eat ghosts? I did not take you for minor cannibalism”.

And Danhy has never thought of it that way, wow. “I mean, I guess? Just like general ecto, you know, not whole ass ghosts flying around”.

Tuck chuckles when Sam tackles Danhy, absolutely getting back her boot. “Oh I’m sure the blob ghosts wouldn’t object”.

“Do not encourage him!”.

Pariah laughs loudly, “I’m sure threats of cannibalism would discourage any uprisings! A unique way to keep the masses in line! Ha! Your own brand of darkness indeed”. ClockWork smirking themselves, “I’m sure the Observants would be horrified”.

Danhy’s opinion on cannibalism do a one eighty right then and there, “in that case, I’m down. Fuck those guys”.

Sam blinks before nodding, “okay even I can’t object to threatening to eat the jerks that tried to murder baby you”.

Tuck humming, “thats more revenge than ‘Danhy’s just a cannibal’ though”, holding up a finger, “and I’m pretty sure ecto-wienies don’t count as just general ecto, man”.

ClockWork’s tone is mean, “they are not, they’re about as sentient as a typical whisp or blob or bleb”, poking Danhy in the check, “cannibalism indeed”.

Danhy play snapping his teeth at the finger, then eyeing them, “which you technically could have stopped but didn’t”; apparently his parents were just cool with Danhy damn near being a legit ghost cannibal.

“I get bored quite easily, why would I stop something with so many interesting kinds of possibilities and outcomes?”, ClockWork waving a hand lazily, “so long as you don’t cannibalise yourself, as you did in one times future”.

Sam and Tuck give Danhy disgusted and horrified looks, “DANNY! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!”. At the same time as Danhy mutters, “why would I do that?!?”, him then looking to his friends, “why am I getting in trouble for something that hasn’t actually happen!”.

“Because your pops is a time god!”.

“Because how could you even think about doing that in any timeline! What the Hell!”.

Pariah smacking him chastisingly on the back, which does make him jerk and wobble some, the guys hand was as big as Danhy’s entire body was! And there was the ghost strength at play. “Do not consume yourself”.

“I’m not going to! Oh my zone!”.

When did this meet n’ greet turn into Danhy scolding time?!? Yes he’s done a lot of weird and fucked up and dumb and reckless shit but seriously!

He gets a round of ‘good’s’ and a smirking clockpops in response. Jerks.

And then, bless Danhy’s luck, Vlad shows up. Takes in the three teens and two very powerful ghosts, one being the guy Vlad tried stealing from, and turns to walk away immediately with a, “oh butter biscuits”.

Danhy grinning ferally and basically giving chase, “where you going, Vladdie!? Dontcha wanna meet my real parents!?”.

“I was looking for the one who should be my knight! Not you!”.

“Frighty’s my dog! Get a cat!”.

The two teens and two ghosts watching Danhy ecto-blast Vlad’s shoelaces to nothingness, which of course results in Vlad blasting him into a wall. That of course turns into a transformed Phantom and Plasmius duking it out in the sky, Plasmius looking very miffed about Phantom being able to easily hold his own now.

Pariah letting his son have fun for a bit before snarling, “YOU!”, and launching himself after Plasmius, slamming the startled ghost into a wall with an axe.

ClockWork shaking their head before appearing next to Danhy, poking the boy’s crown, “perhaps you should not have that out while in your mortal lair? No?”.

Danhy blushing, “oh uh, right”, and absorbing the crown into his body. Oops.

“YOU ARE A FOOL WHO SHALL SUFFER! INSOLENT CREATURE!”.

“Aurgh!”.

Sam and Tucker shrug at each other before giving chase as well, weapons drawn and happily shooting at the vampire-themed half ghost.

…

Is anyone surprised when Pariah ends up pinning the ghost? No, of course not. Putting his far larger face looming over the half ghost, “know that it is only by my child’s request that I do not end your puny existence. You are lucky I have no interest in doing away with my son’s plaything”.

Vlad sputtering, “I. Am not. A plaything”.

Danhy pushing his head between them, inches from Vlad’s face and grinning mockingly, “you sure about that one, Vladdie. I’d call this play fighting, and you’re definitely not my friend or family”, then frowning and snarling, letting his green red eyes flash dangerously and with more power than they ever used to hold, “never cross my family again, Vlad”; exerting some of that ecto-pressure on the other halfa that Danhy could do now thanks to being princey.

Vlad chuckles awkwardly and nervously, “message received, Daniel”. Pariah squeezes him tighter with a growl, Vlad squeaking out, “Danhy. I mean, Danhy”.

All of them watching the injured half ghost fly away with his tail between his legs. Danhy is very smug, today has been a very good day. Sam and Tuck give him high fives.

Tuck laughing, “wicked crown, by the way dude”.

“I know! Right! And it somehow doesn’t look weird with the fire hair!”.

“I wish it did, you deserve it”.

“Sam! That’s just mean!”.

“Wait! Do you have ear plugs!?! Wicked!”

All three teens laugh, partly at Danny’s expense but mostly just because they can laugh together.

ClockWork settles on Pariah’s shoulder, humming, “it’s nice, is it not? A good outcome, I would say”.

Pariah almost sighing, “I will still mourn that I could not raise him, though his fraid is acceptable”.

“He remains young, there is still raise yet left to do; and the raising that’s been done is of lesser quality”.

Pariah merely huffs in response.

End.

[sapphickittykatherine]

i just wanna talk for a sec about arthur. disclaimer: i adore him. he's my blorbo boy. however, he definitely does get prince privilege with regards to both the narrative voice of the show and the fandom. i'd like to point to this post as a jumping-off point:

if you're anything like me, you might need cw: lancelot slander

ofc my bias towards lancelot has affected my view of this in absolutely no way whatsoever lmao

i understand that arthur was raised by a power-hungry tyrant - although, one who was said to care for his kingdom even before his own son... - and that being brought up with privilege goes to someone's head. this is why i excuse his dickishness in early seasons. he's going to grow! that's what merlin is there for! by season 5, however, when he has not only not grown but actually gotten worse, you have to question why everyone - including merlin - still praises him so much. he still oppresses magic. he still upholds the inequality of the monarchy. (another disclaimer: i adore fictional stories about monarchs and royalty etc. nothing wrong with liking them!) yet still, people praise him for the absolute barest of minimums. this man will be like, "yeah i don't think we should leave our citizens to die actually :)" and everyone will act like this is some incredibly brave moral stance. "we shouldn't tax our citizens to the point that they starve, or execute innocent people without a fair trial. probably." and the crowd goes wild!

basically every character who isn't a stuck-up noble with their head in the stratosphere thinks this. yet arthur is the one who gets praised for it. why? because he has the power to actually do something about it? the guy actually fights alongside his knights rather than hiding in his castle, which makes him better than the other knights. bc logic. "he's such a great guy!" he's bordering on a mediocre guy with bare-minimum moral stances. and that's okay! he's allowed to be a stuck-up royal prat! he's a medieval prince with a tyrant father, for goodness' sake! but this worship of him - not just by characters, but also members of the fandom - is weird tbh.

how the aforementioned post ties in to all this exactly: lancelot. there is a reason, dear pinterest user, that lancelot is the bravest and most noble of them all, rather than arthur. arthur fights to defend his kingdom, first and foremost. he is the crown prince, and later the kin. if not for the seemingly infinite supply of knights and citizens of camelot, thanks to this being a show, he would have no kingdom to rule if he let everyone die and all structures be destroyed! he wants peace among the kingdoms - great. again, a highly bare-minimum stance, though. you remember when uther signed a peace treaty with a bunch of other kingdoms, even though another king was mad he couldn't get rich off war if that happened? uther the pure-hearted. on the other hand, people like lancelot are just commoners. he wants to risk his life not because he's defending the kingdom over which he presides, but because he doesn't want a bunch of people who, honestly, have very little to do with him, suffer or die like he saw happen to the people in his village. "arthur risks his life for his friends!" the guy has, like, three. i should hope so. not to mention lancelot does the same 💀 for arthur (1x05), for gwen (2x04), for merlin (4x02).

lancelot is literally just one example. if you don't want to, it's chill - it's literally just a work of fiction lol - but maybe try to assess arthur sans privilege. even once. do i think that arthur is better than uther and other tyrants? obviously! do i think that's a particularly high bar? ...

he's a dick with a heart of... bronze. maybe. good for him.

[siriannatan]

Flower Husbands Fantasy Thing

Inspired by these beautiful designs by @applestruda on Tumblr. Go see all their pretty art.

I might have based a lot of Martyn on the old sheriff

Being the winner of the tournament to decide who was worthy of challenging the demon king was never on Scott's life plan but here he was. Couple of weeks away from the capital and the Grand Oracle who said the whole thing about the tournament. Searching for a very specific smith. A smith who - according to the Oracle and the King - was capable of forging a demon-slaying sword strong enough to kill the Demon King. At least they knew more or less where said Smith lived. And after some asking in the nearby town - the local Vigil church folk were no use but a certain tavern owner knew the man Scott was looking for.

So after couple more hours of fighting with the forest, Scott has finally reached a small house with a smithy next to it nested in the woods. "Hello? Anyone there? I'm a knight from the capital?!" Scott called out after tying his horse to a low fence. She had no issue and just started nibbling at the clovers the whole clearing seemed to be covered with. "Smith Martyn?"

"I hear you, ya' whippersnapper!" an angry blonde man with a cane grumbled and mumbled as he came from the back. "What do the capital idiots want from ol' me, huh?" he asked as he completely ignored Scott and sat by the door to the house and pulled out a pipe.

"Apparently I'm supposed to kill the demon-king, at least according to..."

"Not with that toothpick you ain't," Martyn huffed. "JIMMY!" he yelled into the house what had someone drop something metal and yelp in pain - maybe it landed on their feet?

"They did tell me to..."

"Of course, they told you to find me I'm the best. Too bad for you I ain't going on any adventures. Lucky for you I know more or less where you can find the proper stuff to make the sword you want, and I'm willing to give you my apprentice. Wait here a second," he said and went inside. "Hurry up you slow-poke, grab all your important things, we're leaving...!"

With nothing better to do with himself, Scott stood there and tried to ignore even more yelling coming from inside. Was this really who he was looking for? The swords displayed in the smithy did look to be very good quality so he didn't think he was in the wrong place.

Jimmy had no idea why Martyn was telling him to pack. And the damned old man, as always, refused to explain himself so he just packed - light as he was told and left the house. What he would love to be warned about was the handsome knight currently waiting outside, one had on his sword. Dressed in silvery armour Jimmy recognised as mythrill - not a cheap material, with a white tunic with a red pattern at the low edge with a cyan overcoat. No helmet, but that made Jimmy's problem worse. He could see his handsome, flawless face, soft, fluffy cyan hair, and bluish-cyan eyes.

And he was staring at all the swords Martyn had Jimmy make for his training. And he didn't have that dumb look most of their visitors had when looking at them. And while his sword was clearly of a good make Jimmy was tempted to maybe get him to switch it for one of his. Just because Martyn always said the two of them were the best smiths out there. A knight in mythrill armour should have the best sword, right?

"Move it, Jim," Martyn's cane smacking his head had Jimmy move out of the way with a disgruntled expression. 

"Mister knight here needs you to forge him a sword to kill the demon king, so here," Martyn passed him a journal Jimmy has never seen before, "is my journal, should tell you two where to find the right tools, materials and the workshop."

"But..." Jimmy was about to protest. Forge a sword to kill the demon king? Could he really do it?

"You can do it, you learned from me boy," it was probably the softest he ever saw Martyn. "Grab Wednesday, she's faster and a sword. You too knight-boy, if you two hurry you should be in town before sunset. Trust your instinct and nothing else. And if you let my apprentice get hurt demon king will be the least of your worries," Martyn huffed and Jimmy just then noticed he had a bag of his own.

"What about you?" the knight asked what Jimmy was about to ask.

"I'll be off to the capital after I set this thing burning. Gods know these fools will need me. Stay safe. Stay vigilant. May the gods keep you safe," he explained and turned away, obviously already done with them. He would not question why Martyn wanted to burn the smithy. Demon King was involved and possibly had his cronies already looking for Martyn... The old man could take care of himself. At least Jimmy hoped he did.

Jimmy just sighed and started doing as told. Sword first. "If you feel like you don't need one I'll be not offended," he told the knight.

"You made these?" he asked, already looking over one of Jimmy's most recent creations.

"Yeah, the boss doesn't really smith anymore so I had to learn pretty much from his words alone," Jimmy sighed and picked out a random sword. It wasn't like he even knew how to properly use one. "My training did not include how to swing one effectively," he quickly clarified. "Um... I'm Jimmy just... I don't..."

"I'm Scott, technically it's sir Scott, the Flower Knight but I'd rather you don't call me that if we're to travel together," the knight said with a frankly too-perfect smile. "These are all really good swords," he praised and Jimmy felt himself blush a bit. "I can teach you how to defend yourself if you'd like," he offered and grabbed two swords. One a bit longer than the other. Jimmy didn't question it as he packed a few tools and maybe a couple of daggers. Just in case.

Scott was kind of glad he got the pretty avian apprentice and not the grumpy old smith if he had to go on a quest collecting all the stuff they'd need to make the sword. And how hard can keeping one smith alive be? Especially if they are cute and hard to miss with their pretty golden wings and hair. And tall. Dear gods, Scott liked tall men too much for his own good. And to make it worse Jimmy wore baggy clothes, and was a smith, meaning who knew what was hiding under his turtleneck shirt, wrap-up sweater and blue vest. No matter what was under there Scott was pretty sure Jimmy could pick him up. Mythrill was known for being durable, strong and light.

"I'll get my horse ready..." Scott smiled after picking out the swords. He might need an extra sword before they get the special one made. And these were made by Jimmy, making them even more special. Even with just a short peruse, he knew the sword he picked would work perfectly for him. And that the sword Jimmy picked would not work well with how tall and lanky he was. Why he grabbed a second, longer sword?

Poppy, his horse, helped herself to the clovers at the edge of the clearing. She did straighten up as Scott approached, shortly followed by Jimmy and a calm chestnut horse. Wednesday he assumed from what the old smith said. Speaking of, the old man was still moving shockingly quickly around the place. "Will mister Martyn be okay?" he asked but mounted Poppy as Jimmy mounted his horse. She did not look too happy to carry the young smith.

"Martyn's damn hard to kill and much more skilled with a sword than I am... How far is the capital anyway?" Jimmy almost seemed to shrug.

"Like four days at a moderate pace... depending on the weather and the route," Scott gave a rather generous estimate. "And how many and how long breaks you'd take," he quickly added.

"Oh... He'll be fine with Blitz, he's a fast one," Jimmy nodded. He didn't look too convinced but Scott nodded along. No need to scare him too much. They were likely to encounter worse things along the road.

"From what I saw a dragon would not take him down," Scott grinned. "Shall we? The road down the mountain's quite rough."

Jimmy took one more look at the smithy and nodded. With a heavy heart, Scott nodded and led the way to town. This would be one heck of an adventure but he would do all he could to keep the young smith safe. Luckily Scott was more than just a tournament knight.

[succubaby]

Could I pretty please request jealousy HCs for the LA Noire boys?? You write them so well 💯💯💯

Jealousy

Summary: How do the L.A. Noire guys act when jealous?

Warnings: some nsfw, brief mentions of sexual assault but no details or descriptions

Author's Note: Thanks for sending in this request anon! I've been looking forward to writing more for this fandom because barely anyone writes LAN fanfic. My requests are open if anyone else has any ideas!

Cole Phelps

Cole is a 6/10 on the jealousy scale. He doesn't get jealous often, but when he does, it's a deal. He's not possessive in an "I own you" way, more of an "I hate when other guys look at you" way. He trusts and respects you enough to know that you're not going anywhere, but when he sees other men indecently staring at you, he gets really pissed.

The kind of man who will make a public display when he catches guys looking at you. He'll grab your waist and trail kisses down your neck while making direct eye contact with anyone gawking at you. If he notices you conversing with someone and you seem uncomfortable, Good Guy Phelps is there to save you. He'll grab your hand to let you know he's there and glare daggers at the scum who dares to make his beloved uncomfortable. In this situation, the offender usually gets the hint and excuses themselves from the conversation, but if they don't, Cole is prepared to go all out. He will deadass start making out with you in the middle of the jazz club while staring down the other guy, he gives zero fucks.

Now if the guy were to start making predatory comments, that's a whole other story. Cole can and will fight someone for speaking to you in such a way, and he has on several occasions. It's probably best for the both of you if you grab him by the arm and lead him to the exit. He believes in justice wholeheartedly and will play judge, jury, and executioner when he sees fit.

It gets worse the more physical the offense is. Someone tried to force themselves on you? He'll say he's "going for a walk" when really he's going to beat the shit out of that person, regardless of if he gets in trouble. You're his angel and he takes any harassment or violence toward you very personally.

I honestly see him as someone who would kill for you if the situation permitted it. He can get really lost in his anger, but the second you grab his face with your hands and make him look into your eyes he calms back down. As much as he wants to break that guy's nose, he'll stop if you ask him to. Give him the puppy dog eyes and he'll do anything you ask.

The second you get home, he's latching onto you like a dog in heat. Seeing other guys desire you makes him want to remind you that he's the only one that can make you feel as good as he does. He's your knight in shining armor, not some pig who dared to ogle you like you were a piece of meat. His grip is gentle yet firm, and he's not letting go of you any time soon.

On nights after he's been jealous, he's rougher than usual. Not enough to hurt you or anything, but he feels like he has something to prove, that he's better than any other guys out there. He's honestly more trying to prove it to himself rather than you, but either way, it makes for an eventful night.

He's def gonna eat you out until you cry from overstimulation, and then pound into you as if it were the last time he'd get the chance. Bro has a major breeding kink and it comes out even worse when he's jealous, all he wants is to make you full of him, of his child even though he already has two daughters. He won't do it without your permission though as consent is key. If you do say yes, get ready to be railed into oblivion for the rest of the night. He won't stop until he's too tired to continue, and then he will wrap you up in his arms and fall asleep with you on his chest.

Stefan Bekowsky

Stefan is a 2/10 on the jealousy scale. He really doesn't get jealous because he trusts you and knows that you'll never leave him. Every once in a while though, some idiot will push his buttons enough to make him mad. They'd have to be flirting with you or showing their interest in an obvious way for him to do something about it. He'll come up behind you and put his hands on your waist while smiling at the other man, but trust me, it's not a warm smile. Usually, they get the hint and leave you two alone.

Like I said before, he trusts you with his whole heart so even when he is jealous, it's not because he thinks you're going to leave him. He just hates to see men making you uncomfortable and that's when he steps in to make it clear that you're uninterested. If they try to grab you though, his "nice guy" demeanor goes out the window. He'll grab their hand with a vice grip and threaten them that should they try again, they'll be getting a fist to the jaw.

If they try to assault you in any way, he's getting dirty. Your honor means the world to him, and he'll beat as many men unconscious as it takes to defend it. He's not going to kill them, but he will make them regret ever laying a finger on you. Unlike Cole, he knows when to reel it in and when enough is enough, so you don't have to worry about him killing anyone unless he were to find out that someone succeeded in assaulting you. That's when he would go off the rails and punish that person in any way he sees fit.

Although he doesn't get jealous very often, he LOVES seeing your jealousy and what you do about it. Watching you get possessive of him turns him on like nothing other. Sometimes he lets women flirt with him just because he knows that it means you'll remind him who he belongs to later. His heart swells with pride when you step into any conversation to remind the other person that he's your man.

He'll flirt with women to rile you up as long as it doesn't actually bother you. He's extremely loyal and would never even think about cheating on you, but if you have past experiences with partners being unfaithful, he won't flirt with anyone or let them flirt with him. Yes, it's fun to watch you get jealous, but he loves you dearly and would never want to genuinely upset you.

But if you do let him flirt with others, oh boy, he's going to lay it on strong. He has no interest in these women and you know that, but he loves watching you get protective over him and claim him as your own. As soon as the two of you get home, you make sure to put him in his place. He'll gladly submit to you and prove that he's yours.

These are the nights when pegging comes into play (if you're into that). If you have a mommy kink, that'll come out too. You'll have him begging for more and promising that he'll be good in the future, even though you both know he loves when you get dominant. He just wants to feel loved and desired and he'll get what he wants if he's a good boy.

Roy Earle

Roy is a 10/10 on the jealousy scale. A man could breathe in your direction and he'll get pissy. It's not because he doesn't trust you, it's because deep down he worries that one day you'll leave him for a man who's more of an upstanding citizen. He knows he's attractive and treats you right, but he is a dirty cop and there's a certain level of risk that comes with being with him.

He definitely looks into things too much because you could be having a normal conversation with a man and he'll see it as flirting. When this happens he'll walk over to you and wrap his arms around your waist and glare at the other guy until he gets uncomfortable and walks away. It can be frustrating when the conversation was anything but flirty, but give Roy some reassurance that you're his and he'll ease up.

Now if the guy was actually flirting with you, that's when he'll get mad. He has no problem grabbing your arm and pulling you away from the perpetrator without even saying a word. If he's feeling extra feisty, he'll start sucking on your neck and running his hands up and down your waist to send the message that you're taken. If the guy doesn't get the hint he'll start getting aggressive and making comments like, "Keep eye fucking my woman and you won't live to see tomorrow." For both of your sakes, let's hope the other man gets the hint.

If someone tries to assault you, he's breaking their arm if not their whole face. He'll beat the guy until they're unconscious and will keep going if you don't stop him. If he later finds out that you were assaulted, he's going to kill the person who did it. You can try to talk him out of it, but he's not letting up. They defiled you, and that is a crime that cannot go unpunished in his mind. Since he's got some friends in sketchy places, he won't get caught, so you don't have to worry about him going to jail or anything. He'll make their death slow and painful, a warning to anyone who even thinks about putting their hands on you.

On nights after he's been jealous, he'll be extra rough in bed. He's already pretty rough as it is, but jealousy adds a whole other level to it. He'll spank you if he thinks you weren't clear enough in telling to the person that you're taken. His thrusts will be fast and deep, and he'll keep asking you who you belong to. Tell him you love him and only him and he'll go a little slower. All of this is just a front for his insecurity, so treat him gently and everything will be okay.

Jack Kelso

I'd say Jack is a 1/10 on the jealousy scale. He's confident in your relationship and knows that you're not going to leave him for someone else. He doesn't enjoy watching others fawn over you, but as long as you're okay with it, he's not going to intervene. That being said, if he notices you're uncomfortable he'll step in right away. One hand will grab yours and the other will sit on your waist as he kindly asks the guy to back off.

He takes a different approach than the other men in the sense that he's nice but firm until he feels the need to act otherwise. He'll remind the other person that you are in a relationship and not interested in their advances. He only gets aggressive when the guy gets pushy or refuses to leave. He'll gladly punch someone in the face for you, but he would only do it if he felt they crossed a line.

The only time he really gets jealous is when another man puts his hands on you. That's when the 'mr nice guy' act goes bye-bye. He'll grab their hand/arm firmly and remind them that you are his. Because of his time in the military, he knows how to win a fight pretty easily. One time the opposing man started swinging at him, but Jack got him in a headlock pretty quickly. He's not going to go overboard in beating up the guy, but he makes it known that he is your man and he won't tolerate that kind of behavior towards you.

If someone were to assault you, he would comfort you and let you know that he's there for you no matter what. He won't worry about going after the guy until he knows that you are okay. He's not a very vengeful person, but in this case, he's going to defend you by going after your assailant. He won't kill him, but he'll make it very clear to them that laying a hand on you was a mistake that would cost them everything should they try it again.

Like Stefan, he enjoys watching you get jealous over him. He's not going to flirt with other women to ignite that possessive flame, but he gets a kick out of watching you put women in their place when they make eyes at your man. His heart flutters when you hold on to him and claim him as yours. He's not very possessive because he respects you as an individual, but he feels loved when you tell others off for flirting with him.

Sex after jealousy is usually pretty soft and gentle. He reminds you that you are loved and will melt if you do the same for him. He kisses all over your body, giving extra attention to the places you don't like. He'll say "I love you" over and over until he's out of breath. You are the most precious thing in his life and he would rather die than let you forget it.

©️ succubaby, 2023

Please do not copy/repost

[lorei-writes]

HC: Baker!Chevalier

I've had this chat with @venulus the other day about how the circumstances are partially what makes Chev appear so ruthless... And since then Baker!Chev has been living in my head, so let me shoo him out real quick.

Content Warnings: none

Baker!Chevalier:

Mmm, bread.

The switched out variable in case of this HC is social standing -- Chevalier would not be any less of analytical genius than he is. However, he'd face different challenges than assassins, at least initially.

For one thing, the path for his intellectual growth would be a more treacherous one. Having been born to a family of bakers, Chevalier would not have had access to nearly a fraction of books available to a prince, not to even mention tutors.

However, books are hardly the only source of knowledge. Stories exchanged by townsfolk for generations, gossipy conversations, people just taking care of their lives -- the world around is an endless source of information for as long as one is willing to strain their ears and eyes.

That being said, I do think it would be likely for Chev to get in good graces of the bookshop owner sometime in his early teenage years. I'd expect it to be a mutually beneficial relationship -- and perhaps the beginning of Chevalier straying from the path chosen to him by his parents.

Listen, he'd make some really, really good bread. Wonderful even. But... In the original story, even his own mother feared him. I personally think it would be even worse if he was born a commoner.

Others wouldn't understand him. There would be little direct use for his talents as well. With how arrogant he can be... I'd expect little Chev to be a bright child, although an outcast.

Chevalier would receive no military training at an early age. As such, I don't think it would be unrealistic to say he'd get himself into fights that he'd lose... at least initially. Data is data, however it may be obtained, and he'd be sure to improve with time, eventually being able to hold his own even against those older and stronger than him. (Because, of course, he wouldn't lower his head).

Eventually, he'd earn himself a name for this.

And now we backtrack to the bookshop owner: I think they'd take Chevalier's prowess into consideration, and offer him a job. Given the access to books that came with it, Chevalier would be sure to accept it. It'd start his rapid growth period.

Chevalier would destroy anything that would dare stand in his way. Social classes? So. Be. It.

Now, now, I don't suppose it would be guided by some higher values, or "people like me deserve better". But I can't imagine Chevalier being fine with being restricted in any way.

Chevalier would join military as soon as possible. At this point, he'd probably have little to no contact with his family of origins. >> I think it'd be likely for him to start as an ordinary soldier, to later be knighted, and perhaps even granted some land and title.

I think his strategic mind would be appreciated there. However, his insubordination to noblemen, and open refusal to execute orders he deemed as ridiculous? That, that would earn Chevalier many enemies. (And so, assassination attempts would follow).

Now, the thing is, Chevalier doesn't undertake actions that do not bring him closer to the accomplishment of his goals. However, in the original story he is a prince, the legitimate son of the late king. He stands above others; the law is in his favour. In the original story, Chevalier does not need to be considerate of others in any way, as it is not crucial for anything that he may want to achieve. (Essentially, he's their superior whether they like it or not -- go against him? They're going against the royalty. Given the name he has earned for himself, the benefits that come with his social standing, and his talents? He's able to deal with their insubordination before it fully blooms).

Now, what IF it was crucial for him to obtain the support of others?

Chevalier in this scenario would be at the disadvantage due to his social status. He wouldn't have any benefits that come with being a prince. I am not saying he'd turn into Leon and suddenly value of human life like him, no. But I do think he'd be less inclined to dispose of pawns he still could have a use for. (Partially because of how limited their numbers would be initially).

One of the guidelines for his actions in the original story is the well-being of Rhodolite. I do suppose it'd remain the same. However, to even be in a position to have any influence over the course the country may take, he would first need to deal with those who may oppose him.

Depending on who was a king, I wouldn't completely exclude the possibility of an uprising. I can't imagine Chevalier would care much for the title itself for as long as he had enough power in his hands.

And you know what? Although Chevalier would still be very much Chevalier, I do think the public eye's perception of him could change. I think he would be seen as arrogant, but also as an inspirational figure.

Assuming he'd have to allow for his family of origins to be killed, so that the groups of his supporters would not be harmed -- even that could potentially be framed as a sacrifice for the sake of the country.

Of course, another change could occur once he'd get into power.

--

Tag List: @violettduchess @pathogenic @fang-and-feather @cilokgoang

[corals-corner]

Gimme your thoughts on how you think Spade King's gonna turn out by the end of Deltarune! For example:

Will Spade King have a redemption arc? Why or why not?

How will Spade King's relationships with other characters change? Will they get better or worse? Examples can include Lancer, Queen, Susie, etc.

Do you think any knowledge of Spade King's life before Deltarune will be given? If so, how much, and what?

What role do you think Spade King will have by the end of the game? Will he be a/the king again, a regular citizen, or something else?

What about personality/behavior? Will Spade King change in this regard? If he will, how would he change?

Those are just hypotheticals ofc lol, you can think of more questions if you want :)!

Wooo okay :DDD

1. Yes and no. I think a redemption arc will be started, but we won't see much of it. Since deltarune (likely) takes place over the course of at most 7 days, I feel like a week is too little time to really give him the development he deserves. I do really hope we see him slowly and subtlety begin to change though

2. Overall, I think it can get better over time with everyone. Once he learns about the roaring and how it affects darkners, I think it could help him change his view. Of course, if he listens to what's being told. I do want his relationship with Lancer to improve greatly and I really wanna see their father-son relationship. And I really wanna see his and Queen's relationship develop because I want to know more about them,how their relationship even was, and their past

3. I think the most we'll explicitly see will be either how he met the Knight, or some time right before the lightners left. I don't think we'll be given much story about him or even his childhood as much as i'd love to see it. He'll, we might not even see anything other than just memories told to us but not shown because he's such a disliked and minor sidecharacte, atleast at the moment. I do hope he gets a bigger role at the end and he either stands up to the Knight or we see him directly fighting with them as a sorta final boss battle thing

4. Something I think would fit is him working for Ralsei as a sort of advisor. Since he has experience ruling a kingdom, I think he could help Ralsei out a lot in ruling Castle Town. Of course only if they do talk it out at one point and if King no longer wants to kill him. I don't think the other darkners would want to see him as their king again, or that the lightners would give him the opportunity. But one of my personal thoughts that's probably unrealistic but makes me happy to think about is that he'd have a bakery or a kitchen bc I hc that he likes to cook and bake.

5. I want to imagine he'll stay the same for the most part. He'll still be grumpy and prideful and keep his high sense of justice. I do however think that he'll be calmer and more open to listening to others opinions. Doesn't mean he'll agree with them, but he won't be dismissive or aggressive towards the person. I feel like his personality he has rn is a key part of him so changing it would make him feel like he's a different character

Also, good to see you active again :D

[forgedroyalseal]

You’re Not Alone

A/N This takes place soon after My Reputation’s Never Been Worse, but can probably be read as a stand alone.

TW: Non-graphic suicide attempt

Horace refused to believe it was luck that woke him. That drew him out to the castle’s walls. That lead him to Will. Because if it was a simple matter of luck, that would mean Will could have succeeded, could have fallen. Jumped. That Horace could have risen with the sun as usual only to find his closet friend lifeless and shattered on the hard earth. But for whatever blessed reason, Horace had woken and had been driven out to the castles walls.

Cold rain fell in angry glass shards, soaking Horace to the bone. But he knew better than to blame the tremble in his hands on the chill.

“Will,” his voice more desperate than it had ever been. “Please. Step away from the edge. Don’t do this.”

“Go back to bed Horace.” Will’s words were so soft that they were nearly stolen by the roaring wind.

“I’m not leaving you. Not now, not ever.” Horace carefully edged closer to Will, moving as if he was approaching a skittish animal.

“I can’t do this. I can’t live like this anymore.”

Horace knew what he meant. Will hadn’t slept for longer than an hour straight in weeks. Barbaric nightmares plagued him, torturing his nights and haunting his days. Deep purple bruises painted themselves under his empty eyes and his hands had a constant shake to them now. Horace himself had barely slept, but he knew his fatigue was nowhere near Will’s. Will moved through his life like a ghost. He jumped at every shadow, flinched at every sudden movement. The past two months had been exhaustive hell, and as much as it sickened Horace, he couldn’t find it within himself to be surprised to find Will balancing precariously on top of the castles looming walls.

“We’ll figure something out, I promise Will. This won’t be the rest of your life. We can write to Malcolm, ask for a sleeping draft. We’ll ask Rodney for help. He’s cared for prisoners of war and battle shocked knights, he’ll think of something to help you cope. Will, you don’t need to focus on getting through the rest of your life like this. You just need to get through tonight.”

As Horace spoke, he maneuvered even closer to Will, before finally, finally, he was within arms reach of his friend. With a single swift motion Horace reach out and grabbed Will around the waist, yanking him into his chest. The momentum pushed them back, causing Horace to fall onto his back, Will tumbling down with him, still clutched tightly to Horace.

“Let me go. Please Horace. Don’t make me live like this any longer.” Will sobbed, fighting weakly against Horace. His resistance did nothing though, the lack of rest and proper food robbing Will of the needed strength to escape Horace’s arms.

“I’m never letting you go Will. I lost you once, and I swear to god, I’m never losing you again.”

“I just want to sleep.” Will whimpers.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Horace sat them up and leaned against the wall behind him. He cradled Will, rocking gently as sobs rattled his body. Carding his hand through Will hair, Horace began to hum a song that he has hazy memories of Lady Sandra sing to them in the ward. He couldn’t quite remember the words and he was certain he was off key but he hoped the peace and safety the song brought in their childhood would still resonate with Will. Above, the black sky still poured down on them. Their tunics and trousers were long past soaked and a deep chill had burrowed into their chests.

Silently, Horace adjusted Will in his arms and stood to his feet. He walked them back into the inside, taking the empty service passage to reach his rooms on the other side of the castle. He gently rested Will on the bed then pushed at his shoulders until he laid back.

“Try to rest brother.”

“The terrors will just come back.” Will whispered, eyes already heavy with sleep.

“I know. But I’ll be here the entire night. You are not alone in this fight Will. I promise, you are not alone.”