#all the younglings we don't even know the names of

[byfulcrums]

"we thought he was here to help us" why don't i just kill myself

[evilminji]

Back on my: Holotuber Jedi Youngling - OC Thoughts >.>

Prev <-

You think folks debate at first? Shtick or Real Thing? Like? No... no WAY could that be one of those Mysterious Mystic Space Cult Kids. No WAY. They would NEVER let their kid be unsupervised on the Net.

But like... (and since I'm a She, gonna use She, but realistically could be any pronouns here) she LOOKS like she's recording from a...? Is that a closet? This one looks like a vent. THIS video is definitely some sort of maintenance area. So she's definitely sneaking...

Ooooh! Thaaaat's a Jedi! REAL FUCKING JEDI. Just dropped down silently behind her. Arms crossed. Mouse droids be snitching. BUSTED.

:T

"Uuuuuuh, h-heeey, Master Uvalii. Fancy seeing YOU here!"

"Yes. Quite interesting isn't it? Since you should not be able to access this area at all, much less to achieve holonet access. Of which we are both aware you are expressly Forbidden To DO unsupervised."

".........I can explain?"

"Please. Do."

*feed ends, chat goes fucking NUTS*

Like? Oh SHIT. Baby Jedi in troooouble. But also? Oh no! What's gonna happen?! Are they gonna be okay?! S-should they TELL somebody? What do Jedi do to kids who disobey them? Does anyone actually KNOW? What DO any of us know about them!? Someone find their Com Code! MA! MA, I need you to yell at space monks! An adorable CHILD MIGHT BE AT STAKE!!! D:>

Even coming BACK on? For a supervised feed? Going "no, I'm just in trouble. Have to right paragraphs and meditate on 'why I felt the need to do this' (even though I KNOW why, not that they'll LISTEN. They just hope I'll meditate until I come to an answer they LIKE)" under the offscreen supervision of a teacher or Creche master?

Whole ass Net gonna be like "youngling! Blink Twice if they're holding you hostage! We can afford bounty hunters! We got a group pot thing going already!!! Aaaaaaaa-!"

Like? *waves at the camera and chat* she TOLD you. They don't believe you. This is part of WHY she wants to do what she's doing. Palpatine's and his Master's machinations have been building for a while. Eroding trust. The Jedi have become strange, dangerous, semi-mythical cryptids with magic powers we must HOPE are benevolent.

Not people.

Why would they expect some unfeeling, magical, sword-wielding space legend to be patient or kind to children? To even have the capacity? We are said to kidnap children and be unfeeling. Can not reach enough people to show otherwise. To reveal the mundanity of our lives. The traditions. The norms.

Food, children, laughter.

The Common Good.

And like? She obviously isn't gonna name Sith-ly NAMES. Not on CAMERA. But her lil "why I wanna play the tooka game and chat about lunch" speech? Convincing. Calms chat down. Still in trouble, mind you. But... provided it's SUPERVISED? And they work out some sort of effective moderation? Alright.

It's a matter of SAFETY, youngling. And no matter HOW much good you wish to do? They will NOT be sacrificing children to achieve it. That is NOT the Jedi way. There are plenty of old masters who would live nothing more then to ramble all day into cameras, if only to here themselves talk. (Oh? Good to know. Guest speakers pog?)

Like? Imagine making a game. Have a "mystical sage" character you TOTALLY BASED of Jedi in it. And your feed gets? Flooded with XD reactions in response to some smol bby streamer playing it? You go to check it out. Cause you're kinda a big deal on your planet. And?

Oh No™

That tiny streamer? Is a tiny JEDI streamer. Who is sitting there, in the stills, going O.o like "Wut." And the next still? Her lil friends are pulled in. The next? A teenager. The NEXT. An adult. The one after THAT. A few adults looking over her shoulder. Then a CROWD. All deeply, deeply confused looking.

The comments are DYING. Howling with laughter. The Jedi were so earnest. Trying to identify which Era you must be referencing. Which sect. But the head dress... cultural, maybe? It doesn't fit with the features though. Could be adopted. A hint at, I believe the term was, "lore"? No, no, those are DEFINITELY padawan beads! But so MANY? In THAT order?

They aren't even connected to a braid! And he's supposed to be a Master, right? But, wait. Perhaps it's meant to suggest he is a Padawan of the Force itself? A student of life? No, that wouldn't make sense! Stolen? It could suggest he has TAKEN the beads? Is regurgitating stolen texts without true understanding? Much like wearing bead he did not EARN?

They keep going and going. Ripping your character design to SHREDS. Picking it apart. Not even meanly! They are genuinely confused. AND IT ONLY MAKES THE CHAT LAUGH HARDER. Because it devolves into a MARATHON, after the game has been paused, of chat spamming different character names? For the Jedi to go "???" Over.

T...that's not? What? How does he even EAT in those robes? And those ones don't seem very non-humanoid friendly. Is he FLOATING HIS SWORD WITH THE FORCE? WHY!? Just keep it on your belt!!!

And? Now every game developer in the galaxy is PARANOID AF. Either make their mystics Very Obviously NOT Jedi rip offs... or shoot a "if I pay you $20 will you consult on something real quick" email. It's just... just easier man. Last guy got laughed into oblivion. Oof.

They can bill it as "Realism" or something. See guys? WE do or reasearch! Give us your credits!

Oh YEAH? Says the growing fan base of this Funky Lil Monk Child. Then put you game where your communication organs are. Send her the game, you cowards.

Do It.

Cut to "oh no, guys! The sorta-jedi died! What? Next objective? No. No we gotta give him a funeral! Oh good, we ca-BURY HIM?! What!? No!!! I could understand if he was from a race that held beliefs that bodies must be returned to the soil from whence they came, but this guy is a SORTA-JEDI! Absolutely NOT!"

"Let's cut down some trees. WE are building him a PYRE. Never ran one of these, but I can look it up. Gimme a moment. Okay. Draaaaag, him on to it. Where's his weapon. There! Thanks chat! On it goes too. Okay. Looking it up..... got it. Ahem...!"

*hold funeral for the sage character by burning his body*

*mods are IMMEDIATELY created to change the "burial" scene to a "Funeral pyre" with somber music*

Just? I can not let go? Of how the subtle shift would spread? Not in shining senatorial halls, but in class rooms and living rooms, dingy pubs and long hyperdrive flights? Anywhere boredom might be found and "hey check this out" might spread? Where someone else, might overhear and get curious?

Lik?? Imagine being the bounty hunter, who fuckin HATES Jedi, thinks they're sanctimonious BASTARDS, hearing someone snort laugh. Just... just fucking CHOKE on their cheep beer. Oh? Now everyone's interested. What's funny?

It's a teeny, tiny, lil jedi youngling. Playing that new Bounty 5 game. Unrealistic as hell. But they are going "I am a MASTER of stealth. A LEGEND of the hunt. You will not see me. I am sneaky. So, so, sneeeeakyyyyy!" As they concentrate on sneaking through back alleys.

Only for their character to fall RIGHT of a ledge, bounce against three buildings, smash into a parked Speeder, and roll right into a cut scene. Where they are call the "greatest bounty hunter of all time".

They look so incredulous.

"Are you SURE? Cause I'm fairly certain that phrase alone is banned for the trouble it causes, near most Bounty outposts. Could be the concussion talking though!"

They are? A sarcastic lil SHIT. Roast EVERYTHING. Know a surprising number of them. Given that they gave the Duros support character a modded in hat. Named him Definitely-Not-Cad. The fake look mustache REALLY sells it. Yeah, Bane. Clearly not you. YOU don't have a mustaches. *watches as she unleashes the Not Cad Bane like a highly tactical meat thresher on legs* brutal lil shit. They like her.

Granted, it's only BECAUSE it's not real she does so.

But I just? Have so many ideas? Spam the Galaxy with "this is who we are. We are people. Develop bonds with us. Care about us. KNOW us." Because the Sith can not possibly kill us all. Can not stop truth, so widely spread. Light dies, when you smother it in closed hands, hidden away in dark and long forgotten places. When you let fear dictate your actions.

It thrives in the open. With people. With the chance to SPREAD. Grow. Bloom.

It's about talking and caring. Being heard. What better place? Then on the screen in their pocket?

@babbling-babull @hypewinter @hdgnj @legitimatesatanspawn @spidori @spidori

[genshin-impact-updates]

Gemstone Wrought of Tears and Mettle

"Not long after we first met, I saw Kachina crying, and tried to hand her a handkerchief. But smiling back, she said to me, 'Don't worry, I'll wipe my own tears away.' That was a moment I'll always remember. So don't you worry about her either — the girl's made of strong stuff. Just make sure you give her all the encouragement she needs."

— Mualani

◆ Name: Kachina

◆ Title: Mottled Gold Yet Unsmelted

◆ Nanatzcayan Young Braveheart

◆ Vision: Geo

◆ Constellation: Ochotona Princeps

Just like other younglings of the Children of Echoes, Kachina grew up surrounded by adorable Tepetlisaurs, shiny gems dug up from the depths, and heroic stories passed down by tribal elders. She came to know the mountain paths like the back of her hand, developing a great instinct and skill for searching out the treasures of the earth. In her leisure time, she and her friends would often visit the recording studios where musicians made their music, where they would dance freely to the pulsing rhythms. Growing up in such an environment, the occasional bump or scratch was unavoidable, and when she hurt herself, Kachina would cry out in pain just like any other child. But long before others had recovered from their pain, she would have wiped away her tears and stood back up again.

Of course, she understands why the adults might see her as a good kid — yet she struggles to comprehend why she, of all people, was given the name of "Uthabiti." For as the ancient poem goes:

"The one that dares stand firm as a mountain, their bones like battlements, and hold the sun's gaze — it is they that shall be given unto eternity."

"Fear itself should instead fear me, for my body is like a roaring blaze; destined to melt down all that is mean and lowly, then cast it once more as an epitaph."

What part of her lives up to the lofty spirit embodied by this great name? The young Kachina has yet to figure this out. But having been granted this great honor, she is determined never to give up, no matter how many of her bids at the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame end in vain. Even if it means being ostracized and reproached by her peers, or feeling disappointed, inferior, and at times nearly overwhelmed by landslides of negativity... In the end, she'll wipe it all away along with her tears. Because one thing is for certain — that "Uthabiti" Kachina will never be defeated by her tears.

[dealingdreams]

Qimir's motivations might be a little uncertain. Like all we really know for sure is what he's told us. He wants freedom, freedom to be allowed to practice his power as he sees fit, he wants an acolyte, and he wants the power of two. That said, here just my thoughts.

I think when Mae was asking Qimir about his master aka him, he was actually answering her with some truths about his actual master Plagueis. "He collects people...i owe him" etc...best lies have some truths. Which i have concerns cause we know Palps ends up being Plagie's apprentice and later murderer. Plags did go thru some folks before he found the perfect fit for his world domination plan.

Qimir just doesn't really strike me as someone who is power hungry tbh. i know we techically dont know him well enough yet...but i mean the dude really only attacks when he's threatend. he seems more wounded animal than sith mastermind. so why the power of two...why an acolyte? i think his speech about an acolyte killing the dream...is in relation to how the Jedi at this point in time are the authority on teaching younglings how the force works. they say how and if that power can be used, even going so far as to say that without their teachings, your connection to the force weakens. so having someone showing force capabilites without being a Jedi is kinda a slap in the face to that teaching. Especially if that person can kill a Jedi without the use of a weapon. Like damn..the Jedi aren't that powerful after all yaknow. I think it's just a big fuck you to the Jedi tbh.

He's just wants to be a hot philosophy professor guys

As for the power of two, that is basically the Sith end all be all. He's not a Sith Lord yet...he hasn't taken/been given a name. I really think the only reason he would want the power of two is for his safetly...again he reads as wounded and lost to me...not power hungry. A lot of his choices seem to be made with whatever happened with Vernestra in mind. His shoto blade, which is similar to a saber Luke had in the comics(?) i think...was built to block lightsaber whips. His helmet blocks a Jedi's ability to read his mind or sense him fully. Add in the genuine fear on his face when he sensed Vern...something happened there and it left him so wrecked it's still effecting him all these years later.

Now here is where i think he's fucked.

I do think that he cared about Mae. In fact i think he wanted Mae to succeed and had she not betrayed him I do think he would have continued to train with her. I do also think that he was interested in Osha from the jump, but i dont think at any point he would have tossed Mae to the side for Osha. I think this for the same reason I dont think Qimir was trying to replace Mae with Osha. I think he sees the twins as very different people and has a very different dynamic with them. I think he seized the opportunity with maybe pulling Osha to his side...weither he would have done that had Mae remained his pupil who knows.

Qimir and Mae's dynamic is basically In-Laws lol.

I joke but no i think there was a distance between Qimir and Mae. There was a power imbalance between them. Simply master and pupil. Why he never showed her his face we could only guess. Personally I think it was a combination of him not trusting Mae fully and in case she got caught and a Jedi like Sol or Vernestra went into her Mind. He was simply protecting himself once again. Still he created the persona of Qimir to be a companion to Mae. He still taught her, still assisted her, but did it in an unitimitating way. So yeah I think he cares about Mae. Also just fyi, no I don't think he would have killed her when he found her and Osha at the tree in the aftermath of Sol's death.

So back tho to how he's fucked...Osha...hopefully literally fucked by Osha in the future but also like...he's fucked lol. He never had the choice with showing Osha his face, but he did have a choice on how vulnerable he was with her. We know from literally everyone confirming it that he wasn't manipulating her. He felt a connection to her, felt like she would understand him and he could understand her. That they were the same. I dont for one second see a power imbalance playing out between them. I think many of his actions prove that he views her as his equal. So thats one of the many ways he's fucked. the rule of two doesnt like that very much so i think Plagie might have some issues with that.

I think i could see them like playing master and pupil cause it's safer that way...but honestly they are fucked truly.

anyways ending the rant kinda abruptly lol :P

[deceasedream69]

A Love Story

This is a little series I want to make, I hope y'all enjoy.

Summary: you have scarlet witch powers. It all started when you moved to a different country, obviously always so curious, discovering new places around your new home, how can you ignore a museum? it was less obvious than a bank.

A/n: my first language is not English so I have no idea how English people really talk, so Steven's probably going to be more American than English, but I'll try my best. (Feedback would be appreciated)

___________________________________________

Steven's pov

It was a boring day, selling bloody gummies again. Gummies, in a museum, absolutely absurd, but who am I to go against my boss?

Until I see a kid sticking something to a statue. Off course, scolding a kid in a museum it's just going to create a bad impression about museums in the youngling's mind, a history lesson so they appreciate the statue must be a much better idea.

I got scolded regardless, and went back to my spot. As I had nothing to do I used to just look around and see if anyone did anything interesting.

Until I saw a girl using her cellphone in the museum, how absurd! why come to the museum then?

- You know, it's far more interesting if you look around.

She laughed and showed me her phone.

- Not from around here, I was trying to read the history of every statue off the plaques they have on the sides but... I don't understand some words, so I was using my translator.

- Oh, my bad, already scolded you for trying to understand history, how foolish of me!

She laughed again. She had a very light up smile.

- I understand, don't worry. I would've done the same anyway. It's just, there are some very old... interesting and weird words, I wouldn't know how to classify them.

- What's your first language?

- Spanish

- Oh, I can't really dominate that, think I've never met anyone who speaks spanish either.

- Well, hola, pleasure to be the first person you meet that speaks spanish, my name is y/n

- Hola, ¿cómo estás?, that's all I know - I laughed - my name is Steven, with a v.

- gusto conocerte, Steven. That means nice to meet you.

- how was it?

- gusto... conocerte...

I repeated just as she taught me, although I think I lacked the pronunciation, but it was far more interesting than just looking at people looking at statues.

We stayed there speaking for about half an hour, I explained the history of the statues to her, trying to avoid all the fancy words. She even bought me like 5 bags of gummies and I gave her another 5 for free. We exchanged phone numbers and I just think I got myself a new friend.

-

Y/n's pov

The guard, easy peasy. I don't think anyone else is supposed to be here at this time, maybe another guard. I'll have to be focused.

I entered and saw the gummies stand again. I didn't want to be that mean, he gave me free gummies, but I also saw some very valuable things around.

I tipped toe my way until I reached the pieces Steven told me were the most valuable, but also easy to take. I was looking at some necklaces when I heard some movement in the back. I quickly hid behind Steven's stand and peaked my head up to see if it was another guard.

- AAAAAAAAAA

Steven came across the room running and screaming, a wolf following him.

- Steven?!

He stopped and turned to look at me as he was hiding behind a column. The wolf turned to look at me, then he noticed where I was looking at and instantly knew Steven was there. Before he could reach him I threw him to the other side of the room and ran towards Steven,

- what is going on?!

- I don't know! quick!

He took my hand and we started to run. Steven tripped and the wolf got his leg, I pushed the wolf away, again, and pulled Steven from his arm.

- Omg, Steven, we need a place where I can heal you!

He turned and we got into a bathroom. He locked the door and sat on the counter. I took his leg and pulled the pants up, revealing a very nasty and bloody cut, with a shape of a claw. He twisted in pain. I started to use my powers on his leg. The wolf outside the door, banging and banging.

I finished healing his leg and he got up.

- all good?

- what are you doing here?

- what are you doing here so late?!

- you were stealing! that's why you asked me what was the most valuable this afternoon.

I just turned to look somewhere else, he was a nice person, didn't want to show this side to him. I looked up to reply when I noticed the door almost over Steven. I pushed him with my arm but before I could use my powers I took the impact.

Marc's pov

We weren't gonna make it alive if we only trusted in this thief, I got to act for Steven and me. So I had to get out and suit up.

and so I did.

-

My head was pounding, but I needed to help Steven... if he was still alive. I got out of the bathroom and I followed the trace of broken artifacts. Stumbling a little I heard some noise and went there.

- Steven...! I clung from a door frame.

Steven wasn't anywhere in sight. Just the wolf and a man in a white suit. They both turned to look at me after I spoke, I was still trying to focus my vision.

- Go awa - the wolf took the man from a leg, threw him to the air and just as he was about to catch him with his mouth I used my power to keep the man in the air and push the wolf away. I tried getting him down slowly but I didn't have that much energy left, still he landed on his feet and turned to look at me.

- Let's get out of here - he said as he helped me taking me from my arm.

We got out of the museum and he took his mask off. It was Steven's face but it definitely wasn't his voice, accent or personality. He pushed me against a wall and started to speak.

- I'm not Steven, I'm Marc. We have two personalities, it's none of your business but I don't need you asking questions I need you going away and never coming back - he got really close to my face - specially near Steven.

He let go of me and put his mask back on.

[lalalian]

dr interviews: aeris lucresha greze

date: november 2, 2024

Aeris is my drself in my dragon rider academy dr (aethergarde academy dr)! this is essentially what would happen if I had to be interviewed for a newspaper-- oh, you should be prepared for that, by the way. Videos are a thing, they'll just be on newspapers, and the words from both me and the interviewer will be transcribed somewhere below the moving image.

My drself is honestly just me, but like idk, fancified? Maybe not, idk, I don’t really like to change my personality.

anyway, let's get on to the interview!

WAIT FIRST I LOOKED BACK AT THE POLL AND REALIZED I HAD MY NAME DOWN AS 'ERIS', I KEPT FLIP FLOPPING BETWEEN ERIS AND AERIS, WENT WITH ERIS FOR A WHILE, THEN SWITCHED TO AERIS... I'M AERIS NOT ERIS LMAO

I’ll explain why my last name isn’t Kashmir here in another post!

The Serpentine Record is one of most well-known newspaper outlets in aenaroth!

kalina: "By the skies, it's so exciting to see you! My name is Kalina Idreyss-- I'll be interviewing you today for The Serpentine Record, how have you been doing lately?-- I'm sure the academy's been working you and Kairos to the bone!"

aeris: "Yeah it kinda sucks. Kinda is an understatement honestly."

kalina: "*laugh* We all know how rigorous Aethergarde Academy can be, but, Cadet Greze, would you say it's harsher than your previous life before the academy?"

aeris: "Yes. I could at least sleep in peace at home, but now... oh by the six-- there he goes again."

The building trembles slightly, large gusts of wind force the slightly ajar windows open. A young black dragon roars loudly, Aeris sighs, perhaps this was a rather common occurrence.

aeris: "I told you to go play with the others. I'll be done soon, I promise."

She stands from the plush chair, her feet mourned the loss of comfort as she walked towards the dragon. Kalina stifled a giggle as she watched the scene.

aeris: "No? I can't just leave now. Kai, you have to be on your own sometimes, I can't be here all the time--"

The dragon roars loudly, snapping it's jaws and forcing its head through the window. Aeris pats his head. Suddenly, the slight eye bags below her lower lashes were more noticeable to Kalina.

kalina: "Aww, he's absolutely adorable~! He seems to be quite clingy, I heard gildeds aren't the cuddly type-- I suppose he's in good hands, yeah? Kairos, would--"

The dragon snaps his jaws irritably in Kalina's direction. Aeris swats at his nose, reprimanding the youngling.

aeris: "Sorry, he can be a bit rude towards strangers. Ah, and he's definitely not cuddly, he's clingy. I suppose coddling him like crazy from birth made him this way."

Aeris looks back to the dragon sternly; her eyes narrow-- a clear sign that the rider was speaking sternly to her dragon. The dragon chuffs, smoke puffing out of it's mouth before backing out of the window, and flying on another tower close to their location. Aeris closes the window and locks it, dearly hoping the glass frame was unscathed.

kalina: "Isn't he sweet?" Kalina remarks lightheartedly.

aeris: "He's so sweet. I love it when I find my lunch rotting in his nest. He doesn't even eat any of it... he could've at least eaten it-- why waste food just to annoy me??"

Kalina laughs again, enjoying the dynamic between the two.

kalina: "Oh, can you explain why you chose to name your dragon Kairos? It's a rather unique name."

aeris: "Well, to me, he represented opportunity. He came to me at a critical time in my life, and... I wanted his name to emulate that. I found his name in an old book back at home; I believe Kairos was the word for a critical moment in time in an ancient language, in the book, the word was Romanized into English. I don't know where that book went, but that word just stuck with me ever since I saw it"

Kalina nodded, she wasn't sure what language the name was from, but it held an air of prestige that suited the cadet's dragon.

kalina: "Kairos suits him well, Cadet Greze. I think your dragon is grateful to have a rider who's good with names. Ah-- could you expand on your life here at Aethergarde Academy? Is it what you expected it to be? Did you think you'd end up becoming an S-tier rider?"

aeris: "My life here consists of pure hard work. To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect, but at the same time, I did... I'm not sure how to explain it. I know this academy quite well, but it's not like I knew I'd end up here. Being a rider in general was out of the question for me, I never thought I’d actually be one. I grew up admiring dragons, but I always felt distant— like it was something unattainable."

kalina: "I definitely relate to that distant kind of feeling. I grew up thinking that way too, but now, the two of us are on our way to do great things, aren't we?”

Kalina gives the cadet an encouraging smile, “Cadet Greze, can I ask how you came to know of Aethergarde Academy? Some of the students Serpentine Record interviewed in the past didn't even know much about riders until they became cadets. Did you hear about riders from your parents-- maybe your friends?"

Aeris opened her mouth to speak, but decided against it. She cleared her mouth and smiled, Kalina thought her smile seemed a little mischevious, as if she knew something others did not.

aeris: "Yeah I heard about it from whatever books I could get my hands on. I used newspapers to build my vocabulary so... I... I would use them to practice writing."

kalina: "My, you must've been a smart kid! Did your parents think you'd end up here?"

aeris: "Definitely not, honestly. It's complicated."

Kalina nods, wanting to ask more questions, but it seemed Aeris wanted to keep her humble beginnings to herself.

kalina: "Alright then, Cadet Greze, is it okay if I ask about your classmates? How's your relationship with them? Is there anyone that you're interested in?"

Aeris' face sours as the interviewer asked her about any students she was 'interested in'.

aeris: "Uh, sure, go for it. I really like Miaene; she's really fun to talk to and she's in a lot of my classes. I'm honestly glad that I even met her-- without her, I'm not sure I'd make it to my other classes in time... the hallways can be confusing. I'm a bit wary of Cadet Lancaster, mostly because he's always discreetly in my business... if that makes sense. Luckily he's only in one of my classes... ah, but it's unfortunate that he's in my throwing knife class. Straus is fine; I try not to talk to him much because-- Uh... I mean, he's great. I prefer Miaene's company."

kalina: "Cadet Lumynstrov? I'm glad you're getting along with some of your classmates; not many people predicted that you'd get along so well with her. Ah-- is there anyone you're interested in?"

aeris: "I'm very platonically interested in all my classmates."

Kalina laughs, but continues to prod.

kalina: "Are you sure? What about the Lancaster Cadets? Cadet Whit?"

aeris: "The Lancaster Cadets are... very..."

kalina: "Very...?"

aeris: "...Irritating. Slightly perturbing. Occasionally bothersome."

kalina: "Callisto seems to be quite interested in you, perhaps the two of you would--"

aeris: "absolutely not, miss idreyss."

Aeris shivers in disgust. The idea of Callisto was like drinking dragon piss, perhaps even worse than that.

Kalina laughs and gives the cadet a cheeky look.

kalina: "Aw, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to explore that path, no?"

aeris: "No. Miss. Idreyss. It would."

kalina: "*laugh* Well, I would like to inform you that many people like the idea of the two of you together-- based on a few photos in some recent papers, Callisto often sneaks out to see you--"

Aeris, horrified, abruptly interrupts Kalina.

aeris: "He what??? I need to get a restraining order-- cause WHAT."

kalina: "A… restraining order...?"

aeris: "It's nothing. I just--" Aeris gags.

Kalina tries to hold in a laugh behind her fist, and takes out a few newspapers from her bag.

kalina: "Many are speculating that these students are Cadet Lancaster--"

She points to a familiar white haired boy in each photograph, with each photo, Aeris grows more aghast.

aeris: "Th-that is him...!"

kalina: "Other than personal interest, do you know why he'd be so inclined to follow you around?"

aeris: “He's GROSS, that's why."

kalina: "I'm sure if the two of you got to know each other, he'd try to meet you on your own terms!"

Kalina held back another laugh with a smile. Aeris could only respond with disgust at the prospect.

aeris: "Just... Next question please..."

kalina: "Alright, hm, oh-- What classes are you most interested in this year, and what do you plan to take later on?"

aeris: "A-As I mentioned earlier, I'm taking a beginner throwing knife classes, if Callisto wasn't in that class too, it'd be more fun. Because of him, I think my favorite class in general is my scythe training class. I'd say my favorite non-fighting class would be Magical Creatures I. I really would like to take a few Merspeak classes in the future."

kalina: "You chose to use a scythe? Most riders choose to fight with swords-- what made you choose the scythe?"

aeris: "Honestly, it just felt right. It's not like I was unhappy learning how to use a sword-- it just didn't feel like it suited me."

kalina: "Oh wow, I heard that the scythe has a pretty steep learning curve-- did class go well on your first day?"

aeris: "It went as well as it could've been. Our teacher is tough on us, we aren't allowed to leave until we've mastered the skill to a certain degree. Luckily, it seems that I've got some sort of natural skill for scything."

kalina: "That's great, I think the scythe really suits you. It's rare to see a student choose that kind of weapon."

aeris: "Yeah... I don't blame them."

kalina: "Alright then, that's all the questions I've got for today, do you want to say anything else?"

aeris: "Mm... Don't treat Kairos harshly. Yes, he's a gilded dragon, but it's not like he chose to be that way. He's powerful, but under all those scales, he's emotionally weak. I won't stop him from lashing out if someone decides to spit on him purely because of his breed-- I mean, I'll rein him in if he tries to hurt anyone, but I think people need to face the consequences of their actions. Kairos isn't the kind of dragon to take things lightly, neither am I. I refuse to have people experiment on him or examine him like he's some sort of object. Thank you for today's interview, Miss Idreyss."

wanna know more about my aethergarde academy dr? here's a masterlist with everything I've posted about it!

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I'm not too great at writing, so if it seems blocky or unrealistic, yeahhhh that's my bad 😭😭

[small-sinclair]

Only Louisiana Knows

@sketchy-rosewitch, here ya go! Let me know if you want a part 2!

A/B/O Sinclair Brothers x child!reader (platonic)

Contains: reader is not a wolf, mentions child abuse (not by brothers), kidnapper is a Hunter, injured reader, gore, blood, murder, not proofread

Lester was the one to notice something was wrong with you while driving towards Ambrose. He could smell it.

Though, out loud, it sounds odd and not good at all, but it’s true. He knew that the man sitting with you wasn’t the best man or the best father. He knew something was wrong when he saw bruises too big for your little body, and there’s not child-like wonder glowing in your eyes when he started talking to you about the swamp creatures. Lester didn’t like the way the man always eyeing your every move and how he glared at you whenever you answered a question. Lester didn’t like it one bit, and he knew his brothers wouldn’t, too.

He pulled up to the station and parked the truck. “I’ll let Bo know yer here.” He hops out of the truck and headed inside. It’ll be fast, he promises himself. He doesn’t want to leave you alone for long.

“Bo?” He called as he entered the front. “Ya here?”

“Yeah!” Bo answered. He was laying under a car with a light on. The radio on the bench was playing 80s rock. “Jus’ a sec!” He pushed himself out front underneath and stands, wiping his hands on his pants, turning the radio off. “Yes, Les?”

“We gotta ourselves a child beater,” Lester answered, stepping in the garage so you and your father don’t hear. In the corner, Vincent closes his sketch book and stands off his stool. He tilted his head a little and nodded Lester to go on. "He has a kid wit'im... a youngling."

Bo stiffened as he crossed his arms. "Did you see anything on the child?"

"Bo, you can smell it."

Bo lifted a brow then looked at Vincent, who shrugged, then back at Lester. "Le’me meet him. I bet I could figure him out." As soon as he finished saying those words, the bell to the door open and closed. The smell of burnt leaves and cedar filled the air, but the sweet scent of cherry and vanilla followed. "I'll be righ' there!" Bo shouted as he tossed the rag to the side. "Vince, head to the basement and listen close if I need ya."

He gets a nod from the other alpha and slips away towards the tunnels underground. He spares a glance before leaving, clicking the door behind him softly.

Lester led the way out as Bo followed, fixing his hat as he walked. Standing by the front door, Bo saw the man and tried to to recoil at the smell. Lester was right: it didn't smell right nor look good. He didn't like how the man kept the child close, and he didn't like how the kid didn't look at anything or tried to talk. What is the kid? Four or something? When he was that age, you could never shut him up! Still, Bo gave a nod at man along with a welcoming grin. If he could figure the man out and get him far away from the kid, that'll be the best for both him and the town. He doesn't want a child beater part of his mother's dream, her waxed pack.

"Apologies for the wait," Bo said. "What can I do for ya?"

"Car blew a flat," the man said. Shit, even the way he talks and the smell of his breath made Bo want to throw-up. "Me and my kid need to get going soon."

"Of course," Bo nodded. "Les? Get the keys to the tow and bring the car. I can see what I can do." He turned to the side and opened his arm. "I have some tires back here if ya wanna see 'em? Easier for you to pick, ya know?"

Lester takes the keys off the hook and looks back at Bo with a concerned look. Bo waved him off shyly, giving him the reassurance that everything will be okay. Bo wasn't going to do anything to the kid, to you.

You stood still as you hugged your stuffed gray wolf closer to your chest. The mechanic held out his hand towards your father and said, "Name's Bo."

"Harry," he shook Bo's hand. "Look, I don't mean to come off as a bother but--"

"No bother at all, sir," Bo flashed an award-winning smile. "Was just fixin' t'breaklines on a car." Then he turned his attention towards you. "Does jounir wanna sucker? I got som' lollies."

He seemed to be asking you and not your father, but you know better than to talk. As much as you want to say yes, you saw the glare form your father and shook your head. You didn't want to be more in trouble than you have to be.

"Okay, kiddo," Bo said, turning on his heels. "The kid c'n stay up here. Shop's too messy for a kid to be walkin' around." Then Bo turned to you and nodded at a chair. Gladly, you took your seat. After climbing up, sat your stuffed wolf, named Wolfie, next to you. Bo smiled slightly then turned back to your father. "Come 'is way."

As Bo and your father left, your legs dangled over the chair, so you started kicking in the air and hugged Wolfie.

He's not really your father, Harry. You know he's not because you were taken from your real parents as payment for something. But he turned around and burned them alive for drinking out of people's necks. You don't do that, but Harry doesn't believe that. He's been referred to as a "hunter", but he doesn't hunt deer or animals... well, he does hunt wolves and people that drink from necks.

It's confusing and hard to follow what he does, so you don't ask. In fact, you don't talk unless he tells you to. Maybe he's scared you'll tell people about the cross-bow in the trunk of his car or about the packets of wolf's bane hidden under the seat? Who's to say, really.

You made Wolfie dance over your knees when you heard your father yelling and something falling to the ground. You hugged Wolfie close to your chest as you slowly slipped off the chair and looked into the doorway. You saw harry with a wrench trying to hurt Bo while Bo...

Bo didn't look the same.

His shirt was ripped as fur stuck out. His blue eyes were brighter and burned in flames of anger. His face was getting longer and larger like his hands and fingers. You watched as his nails grew into claws like a bear as wolf ears poked out of his hair. He pushed Harry back with a long, black and brown tail. You heard his clothing tear and rip until there was nothing left. Bo wasn't a human. He stood tall and proud as a wolf... a werewolf.

You and your stuffie turned, and you bolted out the door as you heard his howl and an echo of a growl, but you didn't go far. You forgot to tie your shoes and tripped on the laces. You fell on face forward and tried to scramble to get away, but you felt a shadow creep over you. Looking up, you saw another werewolf with black thick fur, but it was miss half its face and ear. It looked down at you then leapt over your trembling body through the glass door window. You let out a scream and covered your head.

It's just a dream It's just a bad dream!

Then you heard Harry's cry of agony and death. You heard snarls and growls ripping through Harry’s skin. Then his gun fired, hitting one of them.

Before you knew it, you were scooped up by a large claw and carried away to the other side of the road. The one with one eye and ear placed you down and stood on all fours protectively, it’s fur standing.

Barking loudly, Vincent snarled as it glared forward. How fucking dare he come to his home, to his town, and threaten his family with a gun! It dared to harm you? Hurt you just for being there!? No. Not on his watch. He growled as Harry limped out of the station. He glared at you and the wolf and raised his gun—

“No!” You pushed through the other wolf and opened your arms. “Stop—!”

Stupid child.

****************

Lester bright the broken car home, but he was speeding the whole way through. He heard the gun shot clear as day and felt his heart tear apart. He pressed on the gas and drove until he couldn’t no more. He parked the car and leapt out of the driver’s seat. The transformation is normal painful, but he found through the pain and was running the rest of the way. He didn’t stop until he saw the child laying behind Vincent as Bo attacked the hunter from behind.

Lester could smell blood as soon as he raced down the gravel road. He watched as Vincent lunged at the man’s chest while Bo aimed for his throat. He heard the cracking of bones and skin ripping, but he didn’t see you move. He grit his teeth as he narrowed in on the hunter and jumped high enough to land on top of his arm.

You heard his body being torn apart violent until there was nothing left of him. You curled up into a ball and clinched Wolfie tighter as you started crying in the fur, flinching at their victory howls over the killed hunter, over Harry.

Lester pushed the body away and rushed towards the curled up child. His pants were ripped as changed back to normal. “Bo! First-aid, now!” He shouted as he slid on his knees next to you. “Kid? Kiddo!?” He glanced over his shoulder then back at you. Letting out a frustrated yell, he picked you up and ran into the station.

***********

The first thing you felt when you woke up was something soft and warm like fur. Looking up, you found the full-face wolf under you, sleeping soundly with its tail wrapped around you protectively. Panic surged through your body as you pushed yourself up for the wolf, waking it up in the process.

You fell on your back as burning pain from your leg grew like weeds in the summer. It shot up through your little body as you scrambled away from it. You put your arms around your head as you curled into a ball.

“Don’t hurt me! Please!” Fat tears fell from your eyes as you cried out, “Mama! Mama! Papa!” You knew your parents weren’t there anymore. Harry wasn’t there anymore. You were alone. Truly and forever alone. “Wolfe! Where’s-where’s Wolfie!?” Then you peeled through your hands and saw the half-faced wolf inching closer to you. “Papa! Papa, help!”

Bo’s ears lowered as a high-pitched whine escaped. He doesn’t whine. He never does. But hearing you call out for someone that’s gone… what did that hunter do to you? He didn’t like this one bit, but he knew what had to be done. You are a child, a kid… his kid. Vincent’s kid. Lester’s kid. Their child.

You heard nails tapping on the ground and pattering of paws coming closer to you. Then your arm was nudged by a nose. A dog's nose. you opened your eyes and met the brightest blue eyes and blackest fur you've ever seen. The werewolf lowered himself down onto his stomach and whimpered softly as he nudged your arm again. He digs his nose under your arm until your arm was resting on his neck. His blue eyes were hurt and sorry as if he felt your pain.

From behind, the other joined as well. The wolf lowered himself on the floor next to you and curled around you like like a dragon protecting its hoard, its tail covering you like a blanket. It whimpered like the other did as it came closer to you. It’s burning blue and green eye focused on you and your fears. How Vincent wished to take away your pain.

Lester’s feet hurried over the wooden steps but slowed when he saw his brothers and you together. He softened as he came towards the little pile, but slowed when Bo glared at him as if he did something wrong. So he knelt besides Vincent and offered a friendly smile. “Heya, sweetness,” his voice was so light and careful. “How ya feelin’?”

All he got from you was a chocked out sob and a cry.

“Yeah, I reckon much,” he sighed sadly. “But, hey, listen,” he made sure to move so you’re right in eye sight of him. “I patched up your stuffy an’ washed it good.”

“Wolfie?” You murmured hopefully.

He nods. “Yes. Wolfie is okay. Jus’ hang dryin’.” He looked between his brothers and back at you. “Do ya wanna sleep somewhere more comfortable? Made a bed for ya.”

“Wolfie?”

“Yes, little bit,” he chuckles. “Wolfie will be there.”

Bo nudged his head against yours as if he’s reassuring you. What else can you do? Nodding, you allowed Lester to pick you up. He was gentle enough so your leg doesn’t start bleeding.

Bo and Vincent followed Lester but stopped at the bottom of the steps. Mama never liked it when they went upstairs with dirty paws. Hold habits die hard with the Sinclairs. Vincent laid on his paws and watched as his little brother and you disappeared. Tonight was on him, and he’ll never forget it.

As the night went on, Lester didn’t leave your side. He slept at the old writing desk in the broken chair he knew throw out. Vincent stayed at the bottom of the steps and slowly came back to human with ripped clothing and torn shoes, maskless. The two stayed at the house with you while Bo took care of Harry.

He took his body and filled his ripped stomach with stones until it sank in the swamp with the gators. Before he did that, he took his hunter’s ring and notebook in his back pocket. The little black box was filled with names and addresses of other hunters, and that made Bo smile wide. He stood over the torn body and took a few photos to send to the hunter cove as a warning to stay away from Ambrose, but he hoped they came. He wanted blood for what he did to that child. He wanted their hearts in his jaw. Bo wanted to make them fear him—

Then he thought of you and how you curled closed to him. He thought about how small you were and how light and shy your eyes are. Bo sighs to himself and shakes his head. He’ll be a father a true father to you, but he’ll be damned if anyone came close to you. He sunk the body into the water and rowed back to shore. He stepped out and dragged the boat on land. He knelt down and washed the blood off his hands in the blessed swamp waters.

No one will find him. It’ll be between him, the swamp, and the other spirits that haunt these waters.

Only Louisiana and her ruby fields will ever know.

[equallyshaw]

nova scotia princess | nico Hischier

nico hischier x oc marchand

warnings: swearing, mostly fluff and some sweet moments between her and her siblings.

word count: 4.3k

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marie celine marchand had been in new york for the past year, much to brad's dismay. he hadn't seen her since christmas, and was shocked to see her at his doorstep up north. it was now july during the off season, and marie had decided to head on up to nova scotia, for her birthday no less.

◦

the youngest of the five, she could not have been more different from the rest. she never engaged in hockey (i know! a sin!) never took any inkling towards skating or snow sports, but instead towards soccer, her first love. she was enamored with it and it took her to faraway places with team canada and for her college years at the university of stanford. she had a very hard time leaving california but knew it was best to start fresh, and it just so happened that she loved new york. at the time, it was only a 40 minute drive to her long time childhood friend, ryan graves before he was traded to the pittsburgh penguins. the day he was traded, he gave her a phone call and she was completely gutted. yet she understood the business side of the league, though brad had gotten the better part of it his entire career. after he was traded, she hadn't thought about the new jersey devils as the season rolled around. she no longer had something tying her to them, so she moved on and supported her friend's ryan and sidney on the pens from afar. it wasn't until she found her self in upper manhattan meeting up with some girls from work at a little known and upscale restaurant, that she had saw some of the people she'd grown close to over ryan's stint with the team. she walked past them towards her table, most certainly garnering some looks once they heard the familiar name of marie celine from the group of girls. she got a text from a few of them night, restarting the snapchat groupchat she had had with some of the younglings. most notably, hughes', nico and dawson. she rolled her eyes as messages flowed in that evening as the girls took some wine back to the girl's apartment.

that evening all of the caught up with one another, and then she received a text from nico askin if they wanted to get some coffee for old times sake. what did she have to lose? and so it began than, secret dates and then group dates with the team, spending weekends at a time with nico at his place getting up to whatever came about. throughout all of it, she kept it a secret from everybody besides her older sister rebecca; nobody needed to know. at least not yet.

◦

marie walked up to the front door of brad's lake house and she mentally prepared herself for the all the pestering and bombarding that would happen once she'd set a foot in the house. she pulled out the key he had given her the year he finished building it, and she quickly made work with the lock and pushed open the tall door. "brad! im home!!" she called out, smirking to herself as she heard dogs running towards her and footsteps. she looked up to see brad with wide eyes and then his famous smile. she took her hand off of her small suitcase, and met him halfway for a hug. "who's here?" "who's that?" "if its jr im gonna cry" and that made marine giggle, already knowing it was ryan. "you good?" brad questioned pulling away just a bit and she nodded, "yep! are you? you forgot to invite me for my birthday!" she said faking a pout. "kat!" he called for his wife and marie slapped his arm, "don't go blaming it on your wife you hooligan!" marie said as katrina walked in and she squeled. "i thought you were going to sw-" and then katrina cut herself off. brad looked at his wife then to marie and then they were both gone and off towards the kitchen. "we have a surprise guest!" katrina called out towards the open back door and a group of heads turned towards her. she saw her siblings, ryan, sid, nate, patrice b, pasta, their partners, a few childhood friends of the siblings and a few aunts/uncles. "damn got the whole fam i see..." she whispered to kat who giggled. "uh yeah you could say that." she said looking down at the girl as some of the guys came to say hi. "hi guys." she said looking at some of the nova scotia greats as ryan rested his arm on the brunettes head. she looked up giving him a playful dirty glare, "ah hem." she said garnering a few laughs. "well if you'll excuse me-" she paused pushing ryan's arm off of her head, "ill be down soon, i need to do a few things." she said smiling at everybody before she was off towards a guest room that was designated hers.

she sat down on the edge of the bed as she put her head in her hands, cursing the world. her phone buzzing like no tomorrow with texts from nico, the hughes brothers and dawson. she had been dodging their texts and calls after (what she thought) was nico cheating on her. they were on facetime a week ago and she could have sworn she heard somebody in the background as she heard a muffled voice and nico look in front of him one night. so when she didn't show up to the airport in switzerland the day before, nico was freaking out. which in turn freaked the other boys out. she heard a soft knock on her door, and she looked up to see ryan. she sniffled, wiping her tears as he stepped in and shut the door behind him.

she broke down even more, and ryan quickly sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. he had no idea why his best friend was hurting, yet he kept quiet until her sobs became softer. "mc....whats going on?" he asked as he pulled back just a bit to look at her, her cheeks stained with redness and moisture. she sniffled, "he-he's cheating on me." she said and ryan knew exactly who she as referring to, besides her sister she ofcourse told him. they were two peas in a pod, through thick and thin. ryan sighed, growing heated with anger. "and they wont stop texting me...they are worried as to why i didn't make it to switzerland but i don't wanna talk to them." she said pushing her head into his chest. ryan kissed her head, trying to calm himself. she needed her best friend, he'd take care of nico later.

◦

the next morning ryan left the marchand house early to get some coffee for him and marie. the two hadn't left her room all day. she was too much in state of disbelief, shock, and grief as she explained to nico what had happened. as soon as he was turning onto the main strip her called nico up, ready to tear him a new one. nico picked up on the fourth ring unsure as to why he was calling, "wanna fucking explain to me hischier why the fuck you cheated on the very best thing that has ever happened to you and our universe huh? why you decided to hurt the very brightest light? you are so in for it hischier, you have no idea. you have a whole league about to give you hell." ryan spat breathing rapidly. nico was at a loss for words over in switzerland. "what?" he croaked in confusion and exhaustion. since marie hadn't been responding to anybody's calls or messages, he hadn't slept. too sick with fear and anxiety. "she caught you with a girl nico, on facetime. are you seriously that daft?" ryan growled. nico thought back to their last facetime and he went through the events of it. he'd been sitting up in bed shirtless, around 11:30 his time, he was just about to go to bed after finishing his sleep tea and he then realized. she had heard his sister in the background, as she had come to visit him and the two had just gotten done playing a round of Mario kart. "christ- didn't cheat. promise." he said standing up now and looking at flights to new york. "who was it then nico?" ryan questioned, "my sister. can get flight to new york today." he said and ryan chuckled, "yeah no she ain't there." ryan said turning into the drive through, " if you're gonna make things right, you gotta come to scotia." ryan stated.

_

ryan walked back into the house with his, brad's, kat's and marie's coffee with a few breakfast sandwiches. "wanna tell me why marie is crying on the dock?" sidney said as soon as ryan walked into the kitchen. "wait what?" ryan asked setting everything down before looking towards the dock, and now seeing nate making his way down it. ryan sighed, "misunderstanding." he simply stated taking the coffees out of the tray. "misunderstanding, huh? is that why you two were locked in her room all evening?" sidney asked sipping his hot coffee. ryan sighed again, "she thought her boy-boyfriend cheated on her." was all ryan stated sipping some coffee. "boyfriend?" sidney questioned, eyes going wide. "does brad know?" he questioned, and ryan scoffed. "like he need to know every little thing in her life." and sidney wouldn't buy it. "no no, you have to tell him! or at least get her too." sidney said with authority, and ryan rolled his eyes. "sid, she doesn't want him to know at least not yet." ryan said watching nate and marie interact. nate had his arm around the brunette, as she sobbed into his shoulder. "you know we all look at her like a sister, please do the right thing. we only want the best for her and that only happens if brad knows, and you know that." sidney said before taking his cup of coffee and heading out to nate and marie. ryan groaned as kat walked in with the young kiddos. "ou! mommy juice, thankyou ry." kat said thanking the defenceman. she saw the look in his eyes, and then she look towards the crowded dock. "oh no." kat said, "oh no? whats up?" brad said walking in rubbing his eye. he paused as he saw the three of them outside, huddled together, "whats going on?" brad asked now walking in front of ryan. "uh-" "spit it out graves." brad demanded and ryan hummed. "she thought her- her boyfriend cheated on her. but it was a misunderstanding." he stated and brad was angry. "boyfriend?! what do you mean misunderstanding graves? spill it!" he said as kat took the kids outside. "she thought her boyfriend of 10 months cheated on her but it was only his sister that she heard. i just got off the phone with the dude so its been all cleared away, i just hadn't had the chance to tell her." and then he said softer, "and tell you he's coming here." ryan said not meeting his best friends eye sight. "here? are you mad ryan! who is this so i can knock some sense into him?" brad demanded and ryan was in for it. he was cornered, there was no getting out of this. "i cant say brad, only marie can." ryan said defeatedly and brad rolled his eyes. "so you're saying that you really arent her boyfriend?" and ryan now met his eye sight in shock. "you're telling me that you two haven't been together at least at some point?" he said and ryan laughed. "oh god no, shes my sister brad. you know she hates me half the time, for good reasons but no. i couldn't ever go down that path and there has never been a moment ever for me to. ew gross." ryan said and brad sighed. "always thought it was you two against the world... man i gotta pay up." he said amusedly. "pay up?" ryan said cocking an eyebrow. "a long running bet with patrice." and now it was ryans turn to laugh. the nova scotia princess was never his and would never be.

_

on the dock, marie thanked nate for listening to her ramble and cry into his shoulder before sidney sat down. nate rubbed her upper back, trying to comfort the girl. sidney sat down and offered her some kind words, and she thanked him. "i just don't know what was not good enough for him? what did i do wrong?" she said looking off into the clear lake. sid and nate looked at one another, silently trying to get the other speak up. "nothing sunshine, nothing. its all him." sid said trying to reassure the young girl he'd seen as a little sister since the day she was born. him and brad had been in practice together when they got the call from brad's dad, urging the boys to head down to the hospital with sid's dad. the moment he had seen the young girl was how he felt when his sister was born, he'd protect and be there for her through everything. "how about a boat day?" nate offered up and marie smiled. she could never and would never pass up a boat day.

◦

it was around 10:30 pm and the original group that had been there when she'd shown up was back at the house, with all the kids passed out as they sat around talking, drinking and now making smores. ryan had been looking a this phone for the past two hours waiting to heard from nico, but nothing had come in since he had landed and was about to go through customs. marie had been having a great evening, her favorite people all in one place once again. celebrating her birthday that evening, and now talking like old times. ryan and marie sat with one another, cuddling up to stay warm now that a chill had set in. "dude, put your phone down for the princess' birthday." brad said annoyed that ryan and been on his phone for the better half of two hours. marie glared at brad, "its alright brad. no harm done." she sighed. she had a love hate relationship with the nickname, but most importantly when it was said out loud by brad. it made her cringe somewhat. "hows new york, mc?" nate asked and marie smiled then frowned softly before her smile reappeared. "its going great! work is going well and stuff. i even joined a soccer league for fun, it'll start up in august." she said swirling her drink. "we'll have to catch a game before we head to training camp." sid offered and the others agreed. she smiled softly, before ryan untangled himself from her after he got a text message. nico had arrived. brad eyed ryan as he got up and walked into the house. kat smiled softly knowing what was going to happen and nudged brad in the side a bit. "its fine, let them be." kat whispered and brad rolled his eyes.

marie shut her eyes softly, just basking in this moment, this evening and few days she had taken off of work to be here. it had been far too long since the last time she'd been home, always using her summers to train in san diego before returning to school. she hadn't been home in 6 years and promised herself that she'd make it up here more, now that she lived in new york. "oh princess!" she heard ryan call from the house and she sighed, standing up and throwing the blanket onto the seat before heading inside. "yes grumpy prince?" she asked giggling before she froze, seeing nico. he had a hopeful yet loving gaze on his face as she looked at him with tears beginning to form. what was he doing here? she turned towards ryan who had begun to make his way out, and she pulled him back inside as he was already through the threshold. "wanna tell me why he's here ryan?!" she asked upset. "ask him-" and she cut him off, "no, you tell me!" she screamed now alerting some of the guys outside. nico stood on the other side of the kitchen, with a defeated look on his face with guilt and regret spreading throughout his body. "he cheated on me and you're going to invite him here, ryan? tell me why that was a good idea, huh?" she pestered as brad walked in. "no fucking way." he muttered staring down nico, and nico took a step back. "answer me!" she yelled at ryan who held his hands up in innocence. "marie-" she cut off her brother, "you knew?!" she said stepping back away from the two. "let him explain himself." ryan said as she looked at the two people she thought she could trust in this world. thankfully, so far nate and sid hadn't given her any reason to distrust them. "let him explain, please. if you still don't believe him or want him gone- ill-we'll get rid of him." brad said pleading to his baby sister and she sighed, arms crossing over her chest. she turned slowly towards nico who had a pleading look, and her heart twinged just a bit. "fine." she said and the two smiled widely, backing out into the back and brad shut the doors.

"follow me." she said walking past him and they began their dissent up the stairs. she opened the door and let him walk past her into the room, and she shut it behind them. she then went to the window and shut the blinds, but not before flipping the group off. she heard groans and a few 'fuck' as they all wanted to hear and see the drama unfold. "i didn't cheat, schatzi. i promise." he began and she shook her head, "alright bud." she said rubbing her eyes. "i didn't baby, you have to believe me." he began again and she shook her head again. "who was it, huh? somebody like your ex? was it somebody better than me? what did i do wrong, ni. what did i do to hurt you?" she questioned through a strained voice. nico shook his head, "you've never hurt me, you've never done a thing wrong. promise. the girl-"he chuckled pulling her hands into his, inching closer to her. "the girl was my sister, nina." he said a bit amused now. his eyes crinkled as he smiled, his dimples on full display as he looked into the eyes of the girl, he loved. "wait what?" marie asked in disbelief. "your sister?" she asked and he nodded. she looked down and nico quickly diffused her guilt, "schatzi its ok, i promise!" he said pulling her chin up to look at him. she shook her head, "i - i mis read things and i feel like an idiot." she hummed tearing her chin away. "misunderstanding." he hummed and she frowned. "im sorry." she said with tears beginning to form, "im an idiot. oh my god." she said and he pulled her info a hug. he kissed her head, rubbing her back softly. "im a fool, im a utter fool how could i be so daft?" she rambled in french and nico chuckled, "you two have thing for the word daft?" and marie cursed the universe for him knowing french. "wait, two? who?" she questioned pulling back to look up at him. "nico yelled at me yesterday." he said laughing now and marie had a concerned look on her face, "how bad?" and that made nico laugh even louder. whenever she needed back up, he was there to give it. she looked up at nico as his laughs subsided and she stood on her tip toes to kiss him. he pulled her in closer, leaning down a bit so her feet could be flat. they pulled apart, resting their foreheads on each others. "so, how much trouble am i with the guys outside?" he questioned softly and now it was her turn to laugh.

◦

it was the next morning now and marie woke up to an empty bed, groaning before getting out of bed. she made her way over to the blinds and opened the blinds to see kat, patrices and david's girlfriend, and the kids on the patio eating breakfast while all the guys are missing. she squinted over towards the lake and she did a double take before seeing her brother's boat. it was a crowded boat, with all of them sitting facing one another. she spotted nico and prayed that the guys weren't going too hard on him. after the two spoke last night, they made there way downstairs for a bit before nico was on the verge of passing out due to the time difference. she quickly changed into a white t-shirt and linen pants, before heading down he stairs. "ti!" she heard rue screamed as she walked outside, and quickly made her way over towards the older girl. she wrapped her arms around the girl's legs before rue pulled her up for a hug. "good morning my girl." she said speaking in french as the two shared a small moment in the morning sun. "hows my favorite god daughter?" she hummed and kat laughed, "your only god daughter." she mused. marie giggled, "that's why she's my favorite." she said setting her back down in her height chair, and sat down on the bench with noah , patrice's son. "ouu cinnamon rolls!" the girl overly gushed, garnering some giggles from the kids. "ever the oldest child." kat teased and marie winked, "i take my role very seriously." she hummed.

the boat was on its way back now after a very stern talk with nico, unfortunately. basically threatening his very existence if he were to ever step out of line. the usual. oh, and that there was somebody or two on every team who would not hesitate to teach him a lesson. nico and the guys all got off onto the dock, with ryan running in front to get some cinnamon rolls- steal is more like it. "hey! that's for us." marie said swatting his hand away as he came up behind her, "i swear to god grumps, im gonna cut off your hand." she said quirking an eyebrow between the two's showdown. "good morning princess!" brad said placing a kiss on the girl's head before stealing a cinnamon roll himself. "hey, not fair!" ryan said and marie mimicked him, earning a chorus laugh from the kids. "im the one that brought them." brad said shrugging, "no i did." sid said and patrice shook his head, "you brought the original one's, i was told to pick up another dozen." patrice said picking up his youngest, felix. "yall are too much in the morning." she mumbled in french, standing up and walking inside to get some coffee. nico followed her into the kitchen to get a refill on his, to which she happily poured him some. "how bad was it?" she questioned, peering around him quickly and then looked back at him. he shrugged, "theyre just as scary in life as on ice." he said and she giggled. "yeah...they have no filter." she said pushing a strand of hair behind his ear. "tell me about 'nova scotia princess'." and she rolled her eyes, "the fairest of them all." he added with a grin and she growled loudly. "you inconceivable fools!" she yelled out, making her way outside. "im going to kill you all!!!!" she said looking at sid, nate, ryan and brad. she did a fake start towards brad before going after nate, "come here nathaniel!" she screamed running after the man, who was, unfortunately, being outrun by a 5'4 semi-retired defenceman. "somebody help me here!" nate called out and sid began his dissent, but she was too quick and made her way after him. "you are so getting in that water!" she screamed, referring to a tradition the 5 of them had. a surprise morning swim in the cold water. "its cold!" one of the kids screamed and marie laughed. "perfect!" she grinned. ryan tapped nico, "lets get our girl." ryan said nodding towards the brunette and nico smiled. "lets get her." and the two made their way towards the water where she was running after the two. "no!" she screamed as ryan almost grabbed the girl. "don't you dare!" she said jumping a few feet away from him. thankfully with sid and nate being neighbors, she freely began her way towards their places with the group following her. nico was the one closest to and almost grabbed her as well but she took a step to her right and was out of reach, "alright i gotta do it myself!" brad announced jogging over and marie knew it was game over. "not the old man!" she gasped, earning a few chuckles.

it was not brad who got the girl but nico, who was immediately instructed to drop her off the dock and into the lake. she screamed, cried, and kicked but unsuccessfully as she felt water hit her back. as she came up, everybody else decided it would be a great idea to also jump in. she covered her head momentarily before splashing water in all directions, "you! you traitor!" she said with astonishment as nico tried to get closer. ryan dunked her before she could say anything else, and nico laughed with the rest of them. she came back up and pushed ryan, "rude!" "the princess of nova scotia is officially home!" brad said as he made his way towards her, ready to splash her as well.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

hope you all enjoyed!! pls like and reblog if you did!

random tags: @hischiershoe @nicohischierz @cuttergauthier @skatesnstuff @fallinallincurls

[lem0nshark-writes]

"No Holding Back Anymore"

Darth Vader x Male Reader

Type: smut

Word count: 2102

Warnings: smut, pre-suit Vader, reader's a bottom, inappropriate use of the Force, reader's a Jedi, choking

Summary: You and Anakin were best friends and padawans training under Obi-Wan and you were practically inseparable ever since you met. In known unfortunate turn of events Anakin turns to the dark side and afterwards goes to find you, knowing how you both have felt for a long time and, well, acting on it.

Request: for the lovely @/dead_noodel on wattpad !💕

A/N: This took an unnecessarily long time to edit I'm sorry D: writer's blocks are a binch D: enjoy this little smut ;)  also I'm about to work on and post some of my own fic ideas (before I spontaneously combust for not writing them) before moving to finishing off the remaining requests 👀

Once Anakin, now lord Vader, strode down the empty halls of his former home, eyes gleaming with fire and hatred and a long dark hood covering his head, the sound of his confident and determined steps echoing against the walls.

Before all that went down a couple of days ago the two of you were best friends, padawans trained under Obi-Wan and practically inseparable ever since you met each other. Training, eating, resting and even sleeping together on some nights. You were very close. Sometimes even too close judging by the Jedi code.

You both had feelings for eachother and it was well known to both of you, having read each other's minds in accidental slip-ups, but you've never acted on it trying to live as Jedi should. But Anakin was no longer Anakin, he was no longer a Jedi and none of their codes mattered to him anymore.

After a couple of minutes of walking he found himself in front of your bedroom's door, using the Force to unlock and creak the door open, yellow-red eyes staring ahead.

Hearing the lock and the door open caught your attention, sneaking to the open door you peaked at it to see who the unannounced intruder was.

Seeing Vader standing at the doorway you sighed in relief, "Oh Ani it's you, come on in," you smiled, word of his turning to the Dark Side having had not reached you yet, "I haven't seen you in a few days, where have you been?" you stepped closer to him, worried if something had happened, as he used the Force to close the door again, you coming to a halt when you heard him locking the door.

You didn't think much of it though, thinking he didn't want Obi-Wan or curious younglings barging in out of nowhere, so you shrugged it off and reached up pulling his hood off, his eyes glued to the floor to his side.

"Is everything alright Ani?" you asked seeing his unusually serious and stern face.

"That's not my name anymore," he looked up at you, eyes shining red and yellow, seething with such intensity and power unfamiliar to you.

Air caught in your lungs before you gasped, "…What have you done?" you reached up to cup his cheeks, wide eyes staring at his new ones.

"Don't worry about it," he took your hands in his, lowering them down from his face and holding onto them for a little while, "I've seen the truth, but lets not worry about it now, we don't have to hold back anymore," he placed his hands on your hips, pulling you closer to himself.

"Ani.." you looked up at him, heat spreading across your cheeks at his proposal.

"Shhh… I know you want it too, I've seen it, you're thinking about it now too.." he spoke softly, face just inches from yours, your lips almost touching, his eyes roaming across your face, searching your emotions.

"I-I.." you went to say something, anything to get you both to stop but you know you couldn't, you know you didn't want to stop. Before you could think any longer he crashed his lips against yours into a heated kiss, his lips feeling like fire against yours, dripping with yearning and desire.

Your wrapped your arms around his neck, bodies against each other as he wrapped his around your waist and pulled you even closer, one of his hands finding its way to your cheek, cupping it and pulling you closer to deepen the kiss.

You moaned into it. You've dreamt about this moment, imagined it so many times, and in none of those has it ever felt as good as it does right now.

He slipped his tongue in your mouth as he used the Force to rid you off your top robe, sliding it off your shoulders and tossing it on the side as he slowly moved you both towards your bed. You were already starting to get hard, head racing with all the things he could do to you.

He felt your clothed hard on rubbing against him and he smirked a little, and seconds after you could feel hand-like sensation rubbing and groping against your member, as both of Vader's hands roamed other parts of your body. He was using the Force to pleasure you and honestly that turned you on even more, making your cock twitch against his Force-touch.

You bit your lower lip as his kisses now moved to your neck, leaving soft bites and hickeys all over it, tongue tracing your soft skin, and his Force-touch moving now beyond your clothes, touching you bare now. It made you gasp and moan even more in his ear, precum already starting to leak from the tip of your hard-on.

You started to slowly buck your hips towards him, desparate for more friction on which he smirked and tightened the Force-grip on your cock.

You gasped nearly cumming then and there but as soon as he felt you nearing he'd slow down, sweetly torturing you as his tongue worked your neck and chest, and his hands touching and squeezing your ass. The extra pressure and increased speed both by him and you had you nearing your edge again fast and cumming all over the inside of your pants, some getting over him as well, ecstatic pants and moans echoing through his ears as you pressed even more against him, riding out your orgasm.

He smirked and moved slightly from you, his skilled hands undoing your waist belt as you still tried to calm your breath, cheeks still burning with heat and your legs already a tad bit shaky. Afterwards, he proceeded to remove all of your upper layers using the Force again, followed by your pants and boots, all of it so slow it was almost painful. After he was done, removing his clothes too.

You gawked at his body, having had already seen it somewhat but in this context it was a whole different story.

"I've been wanting to do this for so long.." he spoke softly as he pulled you close again, kissing your lips, now with much more love in it rather than pure lust, though the lust was still there.

"Me too," you nearly whispered, almost as if scared to admit the truth.

He smiled and kissed you again, this time with his tongue as one of his hands moved to your ass, fingers slipping in-between and slowly moving against your hole rubbing across it as his other hand stayed to cup your cheek, thumb rubbing against the corner of your lips, tongue devouring your own.

The friction against your hole had you getting hard again in no time, your new erection rubbing against his own.

He slipped his thumb into your mouth as he still kissed you before pulling away and moving to your neck again before whispering into your ear softly, "Suck baby."

You did as he said, sucking and licking against his thumb between moans caused by his other hand and his lips against your neck.

After a couple of moments he pulled his thumb out of your mouth and used the warm saliva to get his fingers wet before sliding his hand to your butt and replacing his previous fingers with his wet ones, this time pressing harder against your tight butthole getting it all wet and slick with your own saliva.

He slid his other hand to your cocks, grabbing both of them in it and rubbing them up and down slowly as he slowly started pushing one of his fingers into you, earning a loud moan of pain and pleasure from your mouth, once it was all in he started moving it in and out at a slow pace causing such sparks of pleasure rush through you like you've never felt before, not even as you touched yourself while thinking of him. Soon enough his one finger was followed by another, and then another again, before you were all stretched out good and nice and a moaning mess in his hands.

"Ready baby?" he asked, trailing kisses across your jaw, pulling his fingers out of you as you desperately tried to buck yourself further on them, him pushing you onto the bed softly and climbing onto it in-between your legs.

"Yes, yes Ani please-" you moaned out, hole empty and aching for him and any type of friction and pleasure. You felt pressure-like pain creep onto your neck, choking out your pleas in a type of pain bordering with pleasure that turned you on even more. He was using his Force to choke you.

"Call me Vader," he smirked, yellow eyes hungry with lust as he took you in sprawled underneath him, cock hard and twitching and leaking with cum, same cum spilled all over your stomach and hot wet hole closing against nothing, e/c eyes looking up with such a need he's never seen before, it made his cock twitch and harden even more if that was possible. He was mesmerized.

"Master Vader, p-please f-fuck me, p-please-" you begged, unable to hold your need for him anymore.

The title you graced him with through your hazed pleas and your words made his eyes sparkle with devouring lust as he smirked, positioning the tip of his huge throbbing cock against your dripping hole, his gloved hand grabing your cock as he came down to kiss you, slowly starting to push his length into you.

You moaned out so loudly, his thick cock filling you up to the brim like you've never imagined before, once completely inside you sending pleasure-induced tingles all over your body.

He groaned on how tight you were, squeezing against him, he tried so hard not to start fucking your brains out then and there and waited for you to adjust.

And once you gave him the signal he started off slow, both pumping into you and pumping your cock against his cum-smeared gloved hand.

You moaned out pleas and curses incomprehensibly as you wrapped your legs against his waist, pulling him even close to yourself.

He kissed you, tongue slipping into your mouth as he used the Force to once again apply gentle pressure to your soft neck.

"Ahh lord Vader please, ahh f-fuck me.. faster-ahh!!" you moaned out, half choking on the Force and half on his cock plunging deep inside you.

He smirked, loving the way his new name rolled off your tongue, "Moan for me baby," he started ramming into you faster and deeper, pressing down with his free hand onto your stomach having you feel just how deeply he's dicking you down.

You arched your back, precum dripping off the tip of your dick, down your length and onto his gloved hand, your walls squeezing against him.

You started moaning his name in his ear, as loud as you possibly could without getting heard, along with a lot of gasps and moans before spilling all over your stomach and his hand, riding out your orgasm as he still fucked into you hard, nearing his edge as well.

With a couple more strong thrusts he came spilling deep into you, slowing down through his orgasm to slow sloppy thrusts, panting and letting out quiet curses in low whisper-like voice, pulling out once he was all emptied out into you, afterwards flopping down besides you, part-way on top of you. Propping himself on his elbows he moved a couple of sweat-dampened stray hairs out of your face before kissing you deeply.

You gladly returned, holding onto his hands that creeped up to cup your face as he kissed you, kissing you again before pulling away to let you both breathe a little, having not yet calmed from all the action.

"That was-" you started, still trying to catch your breath a bit, him now laying back halfway on top of you, yellow gaze staring up at you lovingly, a fond expression on his face.

"Better than I could ever imagine, it was" he smiled, reading your thoughts and answering them.

"Yeah," you chuckled a little, smiling softly at him.

The two of you rested like that peacefully for quite some time, hand in hand and his head on your chest, listening to your heartbeat sync with his, the war and the wrath could wait, all that mattered at that moment was the two of you wrapped in each other's embrace, in love and together at last.

[godihatethiswebsite]

Desert Oasis

✽ Johnny "Soap" Mactavish x f!reader (The Mummy AU)

Main Masterlist ✽ Ao3

✽ Part 9 - A meeting with ghosts

This is my longest one yet folks (don't ask, I have a problem). Was going to chop it up and make it into two, but then reasons...

Also it always bothered me that the only bits of Hamunaptra we ever got to see were the couple pillars up top and a handful of creepy caverns below. It's the fucking City of the Dead - resting place for royalty. Forgive me if I fix that oversight.

Some of this I had to look up. Some of this I'm just a nerd ^^;

The first four years of your life were spent in the fields of Buckinghamshire. 

It was an easy existence given your age, only knowing the worries of a toddler, ignorant to anything outside the little sphere your parents raised you in - until your father’s business partners convinced him to take up stakes in northern Africa. With the big archaeological boom in the early 1900’s, it made sense to cash in on the amount of trade flowing in and out of the country. 

If you thought back about it hard enough you could faintly recall the frayed edges of a memory where your father argued with your mother behind closed doors about the change, her not wanting to leave society behind and especially not wanting you to grow up away from all that in the ‘wild, bandit-infested gutters’ of lower Egypt (an awful sentiment she eventually got over after experiencing the bountiful culture firsthand).

You know from the following years that some sort of arrangement had been made that the family would travel back and forth to England often enough that would allow you a ‘proper education’ and keep your name in good standing for your eventual launch into the matching market as a teenager.

You’d been a bit too young at the time to truly understand the move, only knowing that one day everything went from mild and rainy to suddenly everything was far too sweltering and uncomfortable. Your mother plied you with all sorts of cold sweet treats at first until you inevitably adjusted to the foreign climate. But besides leaving your newly beloved cousin behind, it hadn’t really affected you in any sort of considerably extensive way. 

You longed for the meadows of your cousin’s backyard, but found beauty in the tropical fauna that now grew in your estate. There were new rules to abide by - different boundaries and regulations your parents put in place for your safety in unfamiliar territory - but once you’d learned that goats replaced pigs and that you began conversations with 'As-salaam ‘alykum' instead of 'Hello' it had been a smooth transition.

The biggest change came in the form of the towering architecture that was visible in the distance even in the middle of the city. Once you’d taken an interest as a youngling, your father allowed you to venture with him outside the walls of Cairo to see the massive monuments in person.

It was a normal occurrence to glance outside and gaze upon the remnants of Ancient Egypt. Locals hardly batted an eye at the things that dazzled the imaginations of foreign tourists - not unfeeling towards their history, merely conditioned to register it as background noise. All you had to do was travel minutes outside of Cairo proper to come face to face with the marvels that were the colossal pyramids of old. In some areas of the country you couldn’t even walk five feet without stumbling over some ancient piece of civilization or another. Sometimes they were integrated into the newly built infrastructure, others torn down and cataloged to make way for industrial progress.

This was different. These weren’t just any old dusty ruins. 

This was Hamunaptra.

Riding into the courtyard of the long forgotten city, you felt the air get pulled from your lungs as if some higher force desired this to be your final resting place.

Patting the camel’s neck in appreciation of its well fought efforts, your eyes bursting with wonderment couldn’t take the sights in fast enough to really process them. For as ancient and run down as it was, the majority of structures still standing were in impressive condition - the result of millennia hidden from the prying eyes of thieves and foreign kingdoms. The secrets of the New Kingdom were here - preserved intact - and ripe for exploration.

Replacing the pyramids of old, Hamunaptra was a sacred place where only the dead and those who kept them may enter. By all rights and customs, your head would be promptly removed from your shoulders for even daring to set foot on holy ground.

How many figures of vast importance were lying in rest less than ten meters under the topsoil? 

Ahmose I? Amenhotep I, Tuthmose II, Ramesses VII? Nefertiti?

Long have they remained hidden. Countless expeditions with thousands of pounds invested and archaeologists were still no closer to unlocking the secrets of their whereabouts than they were since we’d first learned their names.

You were yanked out of your inner musings by the clopping feet of a large animal that heralded another's arrival, adjusting in your saddle to peer over your shoulder towards the entrance and the figure that crossed over the threshold.

Johnny hadn’t even brought his mount to a full halt before he was suddenly vaulting off his camel, hardly wincing at what must’ve been a jarring impact for his knees as he quickly crossed the distance between and came up next to yours. 

Windswept hair and wardrobe; tanned skin flushed and glistening even under the newly born sun. Ocean blue orbs dazzling with mirth as he reached up with outstretched arms, fingers wiggling seductively beckoning you into his hold.

What was it that was stealing your breath again…?

Swinging a leg over the saddle, you allowed yourself to start sliding far enough down for him to securely grasp onto your waist with meaty well-worked hands, your own landing on his shoulders for a bit of balance. You wrongly assumed he’d place you back on your feet - a blind mistake, caught up in the logistics of getting down and missing the obvious moment his wide grin turned puckish. 

The two of you twirled as he kept you lifted high above his head, squealing in surprise before your own sounds of crowing delight mirrored Johnnys in both volume and excitement.

“Brilliant, lass! Pure brilliant! Left ‘em all in the dust, ye did! Thatta girl!” 

It was hard to tell if the ensuing lightheadedness was the outcome of all the spinning he had you locked into or if it was the result of something else entirely, lowering you down with powerful biceps as he planted an obnoxious kisser right on the side of your face. He was over the top with his fawning, playful in his affection in a way that felt oddly comfortable and left you in girlish giggles. “Gonna be hackin’ that outta their lungs fer weeks and spend even longer nursin’ their bruised egos. Christ, hen, ye should’ve seen yerself go.”

You pulled back from him just enough to give yourself some more breathing room, head tilted up as you responded to his praise with an insinuating remark. “Might’ve had something to do with the sudden bout of speed my camel caught on the back half. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you Johnny?”

“Eh, poor thing was jus’ as excited tae reach the city as ye were is all.” The way he shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head with a devil may care grin couldn’t disguise the way he spoke with all the innocence of a sweet toothed toddler in a cookie jar.

“Causin’ trouble over there, MacTavish?!” Came the teasing call of your cousin as Kyle rounded the corner of the ruins and brought his camel up to graze alongside where the others stood in the shadow of a crumbled wall, getting down with far less hurry than the two of you had. “Gonna give poor dolly there a conniption if you keep that up.”

“Och! Haud yer wheesht, Garrick! Or ah’ll gie ye a skelpit lug fer yer troubles!” 

That may not have been the King’s English, but you’re fairly confident you understood the sentiment just the same. 

It also hadn’t passed your notice that Johnny’s arm was still firmly snaked around your waist, holding you to him with an iron grip you had no care in the world to escape.

Part of you was almost disappointed when your cousin tugged you away from him, afraid for a moment that Johnny wouldn't relinquish his claim and feeling the possessive strength in his arm up until the last possible second when he finally turned you over to Kyle. 

Swept into your cousin’s arms this time and far more delicately than his predecessor, Kyle raised an eyebrow at his friend, head perched on top of yours. “Laying it on a bit thick there, dontcha think?”

Johnny shrugged, making eye contact at where you were glancing over your shoulder at him and offering you a little wink in return. “Jus’ givin’ our girl here some well earned praise s’all.”

That shouldn’t have pleased you as much as it did. His words sent a shiver of something sinful down your spine, distracting you from the hug your cousin had you currently encased in and forcing the blood in your face to travel southward.

You missed the look Kyle gave him in response, gone and replaced with one of concern as he held you at arm’s length and gave you a thorough once over in order to better ascertain your condition. “And you, dolly? Came out unharmed?”

They had witnessed Graves lashing out at you a few minutes ago, your outcry shocking them into action that toppled him off his horse and sent him rolling hard along the packed earth. Thankfully you hadn’t been the intended target. 

You weren’t sure they’d have let him walk away without a red stain in his gut if that had been the case.

“No, he didn’t get me. The only thing he wounded was his pride.”

As if summoned by your thoughts, the man in question slunk his way along the perimeter of the city, giving your posse a wide berth as the three of you simply watched Graves meander along past with a wobble to his gait. 

Still… he kept his head held high with all the arrogance of a man too stubborn to know when he had been humbled. Grasping the reins of his horse and leaning against the animal in a weak attempt to mask his minor limp, he avoided eye contact with your group except to briefly cast you all a scathing glower tinted with defiance. There was a bite to it aimed especially at your Scottish companion, something that held the promise of things to come that Johnny gladly returned until Graves finally averted his gaze and kept on trudging.

You kept tabs on him until he wandered too far out of view, a gentle hand on your back prompting you to start walking as the rest of the rival entourage slowly trailed into the courtyard.

As the sun climbed ever higher in the early morning sky, the atmosphere amongst the gathered crowd steadied. Now that coin was no longer on the table and the winnings had been begrudgingly handed out (though not without a few snarky comments that simmered under a powder keg of explosive personalities) it was all back to business and barking out orders. 

It was clear the Americans had well funded their endeavors. The amount of workers they’d secured to excavate the site was a bit much in your opinion, but considering the mostly empty saddlebags left hanging from their mounts you imagined they hadn’t felt like dallying around longer than necessary. No, these were the types to come in and seize as much as they could with as much haste as possible in a shoddy get rich quick scheme before telling their associates back home how to make out like bandits with their own weight in gold.

The only one who seemed to actually give a damn about where they were was the older gentleman in a well tailored suit whose image didn't quite seem to gel with the scraggly unkempt mess of salt n pepper hair - their scholar, Klaus Fisker. Danish by the accent; voice as gruff as gravel. You weren’t surprised to see the chain of cigarettes attached to his lips, dropping butts on the ground and lighting another as if he hadn’t had the last one in ages. 

He felt out of place even in his own skin, but you could at least appreciate his attention to detail as he spit out commands in abrasive Arabic from behind an impressive beard, unwilling to let the hired hands do things that could jeopardize the items they were tasked with handling. 

They might be trying to rob this place blind, but at least you were assured their plunder would all make it to the auction blocks in one piece.

They’d set to sprawling out on the north side of the courtyard whilst your group took up camp in the south - enough distance between you lot that the thirty or so of you could play nice for the duration of your visit.

Johnny had moseyed off a few minutes back after assisting your cousin with the task of setting up camp - a luxury you hadn’t previously been afforded in an effort to arrive at your destination before the others. You saw to the camels' needs during that time, making sure they were well fed for their labors and removing their saddles to give them a chance to more comfortably lounge in the shade. 

Once that was done, you took to unpacking the scant items the two of them had previously procured for you, your cousin perched nearby after you’d smacked his hands away from your things to do it yourself.

“Soooo… this is the fabled city, huh?” Kyle leaned against one of the tent posts with his arms crossed, taking stock of all the hired hands clattering about doing this and that. It was obvious the Americans were wasting no time roaming around the site in search of shiny things to pawn back home.

You paid them no mind as you tended to your belongings, already mentally cataloging major structures of importance to explore and document later.

“Well, it’s called a city when in fact it’s actually a large necropolis - a burial site for the pharaohs of the New Kingdom as well as all their worldly treasures. The only living people who were allowed entry were the high priests, their acolytes, and the soldiers tasked with guarding them. Even the slaves they brought in to dig grave sites and haul antiquities were promptly beheaded upon completion so as to be sure the exact location of Hamunaptra was kept an absolute secret. Walk about two hundred paces westward outside the city walls and I’m sure you’ll find an unmarked mass grave where all their remains were dumped.”

“Sounds charming,” came the dry response as he uncorked his waterskin and took a few needed gulps, splashing some on his face for a quick reprieve from the heat, the droplets rolling down his neck to disappear under his linen shirt.

“Well, be glad you’re coming here three thousand years in the future then instead of me digging up your own grave from the past.”

“You’d miss me being your cousin too much, dolly.”

“Perhaps then the Lord could’ve instead seen fit to bless me with one a bit less reprehensible.”

“Oi!”

You couldn’t help your little grin at your own quick wit and his indignation. Unfortunately for him he didn’t get a chance to fire one back, the small banter interrupted by the return of your other companion as he sauntered his way over to stand next to Kyle.

“‘Right.” Johnny clapped his hands together, motioning over his shoulder towards a group of six workers who were starting to haul some equipment further north. “Looks like they’ve started in on clearin’ out the rubble blockin’ that great pylon o’er there. Any idea where ye’ll be wantin’ tae start, lass?”

It caught you off guard to hear yourself being the one addressed, turning your head to find the both of them staring at you expectantly as the voice of leadership. At this point you were so accustomed to them being the ones taking control and calling all the shots that you completely forgot it was you and not them who was the technical expert in this part of the operation. 

They were the ones out of their depths.

It was a realization that was equal parts terrifying and incredibly satisfying after so many days feeling like a chicken strutting around without its head.

You put yourself back in the familiar headspace needed for something like this, standing up and brushing the dirt off your palms as you briefly cased the surrounding points of interest. “I wanna take a look around on the surface first before venturing into the catacombs below. Let’s focus on getting a brief overview of the layout that we can then narrow down for later. Most of these temples and buildings should be untouched and I want to get a glimpse of them first before our ‘friends’ start ransacking everything.”

“Yer the boss, hen.” 

It was said so matter of factly and without any sort of veiled ribbing in his words. This time you were the one in control. And damn if that didn’t make you feel ten feet tall.

It felt good to finally be back in your element after days spent floundering for something sturdy to grasp onto. While you’d been growing ever more comfortable in the situations foisted upon your trio simply through trial by fire, you were finally in a happy medium between the covers of your books and the world beyond. 

It was nice not having to share the space as you made your way deeper into the city with your two self proclaimed bodyguards, unencumbered by gleaning eyes only interested in how much profit they could obtain from pocketable treasures rather than the breadth of history ripe to be storied. You could walk the worn limestone at your leisure, piecing together clues from the golden age of architecture and art. 

The perceived idiocy of it wasn’t entirely lost on you. Here you were in the grandest monument to the wealthiest peoples of both upper and lower Egypt - a discovery that could grant you as much worldly renown and untold riches as was possessed by the very kings concealed below your feet… and all you wanted to do was step through time into a piece of ancient history for the chance to waltz with the ghosts who haunt these hallowed halls.

It wasn’t some giant leap to surmise whose temple stood tall next to the towering height of the statue of Horus, not much alike in its design to the one located miles away in Edfu. Of course that one was built in the Ptolemaic Empire between ten to twelve hundred years beyond this one. Nevertheless, the structure of buildings hadn’t changed much in the ensuing millennia and you’d done enough research on both periods to be able to navigate a temple without much fuss.

You’d needed the boys' assistance to scale up the side of a toppled pillar blocking the entrance, getting a much needed boost from Kyle at the bottom as Johnny hauled you up over the top with a firm grip and steadying hand on your waist. The buildup of drifted sands on the opposite side kept you from needing any further help from them, sliding down the small slope and hesitating at the bottom in front of the main entrance. 

Gods, this was a moment to take in. 

You were almost afraid to look inward; to take that next step into untouched territory that felt more sacred than the importance you had allotted it. The first to do so since it was lost to the shifting desert hidden within a mirage. Everything was so real now there was no mistaking the gravity drawing you in - the weight of all your decisions until now leading you to the steps you weren't sure you were brave enough to take.

But remembering the tales recently come to light of a secret courage you’d discovered you’d always possessed, you allowed curiosity to lead you forward through the doorway of the temple.

…or was that the steadfast hand ghosting over the small of your back? The heat of a corporeal body stood close behind, the soft whisper of ‘go on, m'eudail…’ breathed so delicately against your ear you’d barely heard it murmured?

Who was the last man to walk through this same threshold you found yourself now stepping over? Be he priest or slave? Medjai or king? Perhaps a close relative come to pay homage to Horus before they bid a final farewell before the forever stilled body of their dearest loved one glimpsed its last at the shimmering veil of starlight above.

Your hand was shaking as you brought it to your gaping mouth, enraptured eyes pulled in every direction as you gluttoned yourself on the near perfectly preserved views. The amazed utterances of ‘steamin’ jesus’ and ‘bloody hell’ of the men were mere wisps on the wind compared to the pounding of your heart in your ears.

In your opinion one of the worst misconceptions about the Romans and the Egyptians was that they avoided the usage of color like the plague. Just because time had eroded the polished white marble and beige sandstone did not mean they hadn’t once been just as full of life as the vibrant cultures who created them. It was unfortunate that the elements washed away their former grandeur and such an important part of society's understanding of their craftsmanship.

There was no mistaking as you entered through the courtyard and into the hypostyle hall, surrounded by rows and rows of wide stone columns of staggered heights that supported the sloped roof and allowed the hall to be lit by clerestory windows. Every inch is elaborately decorated with colorful displays of pharaohs and gods and ceremonies for worship and life and funeral arrangements. They were reminiscent of the ones famously carved at the Temple of Karnak, but upon seeing how detailed and dynamic these were up close you realized just how lacking you thought the former truly was.

You weaved between pillars raking your gaze up and down, some motifs familiar while others spoke of things you hadn’t learned in your books. Perhaps they were rituals held only within this necropolis, or maybe the other outside temples had them at one point, but were lost to erosion and vandalism…

All paths lead further into the inner sanctuary - the heart of the temple and what had at the time been considered the home of the gods.

The room was deep and narrow, a beautifully preserved statue of Horus with his sacred boat placed at the end of the hall. The walls were decorated with mythology, weaving the tales of his birth from Isis and Osiris. The murder of his father by his uncle Seth and the ensuing battle between the two gods. His triumph and aftermath of their bloody escapades. The healing of his left eye by Thoth. 

If you closed your eyes you could almost smell the incense left burning at the altar, threadbare tapestry fluttering with the draft held in place by instruments of worship. There would have been chanting as high priests read from sacred texts, prayers for the dead and celebrations for their deity. 

“You wanna tell us what the hell we’re lookin’ at here, dolly?” There wasn’t any mocking in Kyle’s tone, just pure inquisitiveness at the unique carvings on all sides of the chamber.

“I could spend a very long time educating you on the importance of where we are, but I don’t think you’d appreciate it enough to spare the proper breath.” Your eyes hadn’t strayed from the intricate bas reliefs on the wall for a moment as you addressed his remark, the awe of the sight prominent in the breathiness of your vibrato. “What I will tell you is that we are in a place of great importance and that you will never find a more perfect specimen of what life looked like three thousand years ago than you are right now.”

Johnny was oddly quiet as he observed your surroundings, scrutinizing them with an eye that suggested he was giving them far more attention than someone like your cousin afforded them. Curious for a soldier and treasure hunter to take such an interest in the ancient world considering it wasn’t anything of monetary value. 

Kyle was the one who eventually spoke up about moving onto the next site, lingering back in the doorway to the chambers as you stopped in front of the falcon at the end of the sanctuary. Clasping your hands in front of your chest, you bowed your head in reverent respect for the god of the sun and prayed to him for safe passage and good fortune, thanking him for letting you all enter into his domain and promising to do no damage or harm.

Once you’d finished with your silent parting, you were surprised to lift your head and see Johnny doing the same to the right of you, eyes still closed for a few moments longer than yours until he straightened up and glanced your way, a gentle hand on your shoulder turning you towards the exit where your cousin patiently awaited.

You could’ve sworn you felt someone’s eyes on your back, watching as you made your way from the chambers and back out into the heat of the city.

Horus was not the only one you visited. There were temples of worship to most of the major gods; Anubis, Osiris and his wife Isis, Amun-Ra, Hathor, Thoth. You’d even located Ptah amongst the structures despite him having no relation to anything regarding the Egyptian life cycle as the others did. As the god of construction and craftsmanship, perhaps he had been placed there to honor the vast array of noble architecture. Or maybe the occupants of whatever nearby temporary housing complex was erected somewhere outside the city walls created it first to honor their patron deity and bring them good fortune in their hard labors. 

Whatever the reason, you’d stopped inside and paid your respects just the same.

Empty boat pits lined up alongside the major temples. Whether for the gods themselves or the ones buried beneath you couldn't say. You hadn’t expected to find one still intact unless they were buried somewhere. There were surprisingly still traces of their remains at least, Johnny lowering you down gently into the depths as you gathered small fragmented pieces of wood so brittle most of them fell apart as soon as they met the warmth of your hands.

With each new place visited the more overtaken you were with each new find. There were long stretches where you were stuck silent in reverence and others you couldn’t stop going on and on with enthusiastic exuberance, pointing out important symbols and phrasing on the walls, the significance of an animal statue or the items left discarded by the last priests to visit centuries ago.

Truthfully you were glad to have been so lost in the moment that you were incapable of giving even half a care to the well meaning snickering of your cousin as he watched you halt every few paces to gawk at the glory of a bygone civilization laid out in front of you like an open banquet. But really who was he to judge when you’d seen him turn stupid at the sight of a tall glass of expensive amber brandy?

Your infatuation was far more dignified than his liquor cabinet full of rare imported inebriation juice.

But it was all in good fun, carrying on for the majority of the morning bleeding into mid afternoon until your tired legs humbly requested a small reprieve. The boys continued to entertain your chirpings long after returning to camp, smiling at you over their cooked portions of lunch, completely enamored by the way your eyes lit up to match your grin now that you were free to be unabashedly passionate to your heart's content.

The city itself was comparable to an iceberg; for how much there was on top to explore, the real meat of Hamunaptra was underground in the vast unexplored catacombs winding miles long and spanning the full breadth of the walled area above. 

It was by mere happenstance that you stumbled upon a way down into the area beneath - quite literally. You’d felt your foot slip with a rather ungraceful startled squawk of surprise, your stomach dropping as a piece of the stone path crumbled out from under you and tried to drag you down along with it. It was only due to the quick reaction of Kyle’s hand latching onto your bicep and dragging you backwards to hold securely against his chest that you hadn’t had an untimely discovery of just how far down that rabbit hole goes.

Once you’d calmed your racing heart from the unexpected fright, you’d been ushered back away from the opening as the two of them prodded the entrance for any more structural weaknesses that might cause it to further collapse. Besides a small chunk that had already looked iffy, they deemed it safe enough to stand near as Johnny got on his hands and knees to peer into the blackness.

“Jus’ a blank void. Cannae see shite down there.” He rolled back onto the balls of his feet, resting his forearms on his knees as he turned his gaze upwards again to where you and your cousin stood. “Dunnae think this is the place tae go down, Garrick. Might have tae try somewhere further south.”

The problem was that the actual entrance to the catacombs was currently occupied by the Americans. They’d hadn’t been unwelcoming so far, but none of you necessarily wanted to test that considering the real prizes were waiting down there. And even though you were fairly confident your boys could take on more than you thought they could, you didn’t want to press your luck or ruffle any feathers - especially when said birds were equipped with firearms.

But for all you knew, there was only one way in.

The two of them debated in the background as you took a gander around the area, trying to put together why that hole was even there in the first place. The structural integrity up until now had been solid, having walked a decent chunk of the grounds in the past few hours since you’d arrived. For there to be a sinkhole when it was so impor–

Something catching at the corner of your eye had you swiveling your head, a sparkle in the sands pulling your feet in its direction while your companions remained oblivious. Tucking your skirts under your legs as you kneeled, you wiped away the sand to reveal what looked like polished hammered metal, silver glinting in the sunlight as you brushed away more and more from its surface. 

You started to gather you had a pretty good idea what this thing was doing over here.

A large round disk - heavy too as you tugged at the newly revealed edge in an attempt to tip it upright with little success. Too stubborn to ask for help, it was only once you got back onto your feet that you were able to haul it up into a position it could be balanced on its own. 

You chortled quietly to yourself as you figured out exactly how it was you were going to accomplish your task, feeling good in your cleverness and turning to see your companions still at odds with each other on the direction you all should take next. The discussion appeared to be getting rather heated from what you could tell, the two of them standing toe to toe as arms gradually became more and more animated.

It entertained you just how unaware they were of anything outside their own minor argument, watching in growing amusement as they failed to notice you and your find that would ultimately put an end to their incessant babble if they only stopped to pay attention. 

But you were burning the daylight required for this and frankly you didn't have the patience to wait for them to finish.

“Oh booooys…” You called over with a sing songy lilt, watching as they came to the sudden realization you were no longer next to them and mildly panicking before their eyes fell upon you a few meters away, leaning the large mirrored object against your legs and knocking your foot against the winged falcon at the bottom. “Would you be ever so kind enough to cease your incessant yapping and come give me a hand with this?”

While Kyle got to work securing a hefty length of rope to a nearby obelisk, you’d located another one of those mirrors a few feet away, dragging it over to position it opposite the first and tilting it in a way that the sunlight would catch on the other as well. Thankfully you had made this discovery with a few hours of daylight left to spare. Otherwise your ancient party trick would’ve had to wait until tomorrow to be shown.

Once again Johnny had wandered off unannounced, leaving you and your cousin standing around waiting for minutes longer than you would've liked only to reappear holding a pack of smokes in one hand and a bundle of cloth in the other.

Hands perched on your hips, you found yourself mildly annoyed at his little disappearing act when he was supposed to be helping out here. These mirrors hadn’t exactly been light. “That’s the second time today you’ve trotted off to nowhere without prior warning.”

Tossing the cigarettes to your cousin who gave a grateful nod, Johnny stopped a few feet away to watch you clean the dirt off the reflective surface. “Apologies, lass. Had tae take a leak.”

Ugh. Men.

You scrunched your nose up at the vulgar thought. “I did not need to know that, thank you very much.” 

Johnny shrugged, unbothered. “Ye asked.” 

The slight offense was forgotten as he held the bundle out to you, your ruffled expression dropping to one of doe eyed curiosity. 

“What’s this?” You asked even as you took it from his hands and started unravelling the cloth.

“Didnae jus’ empty mah bladder while ah was away. Took a stroll o’er tae see our American friends fer a wee chat. Bartered fer Garrick’s cigs and ah…” Johnny rubbed at the back of his neck, gesturing with his free hand at the parcel. “Ah dinnae ken how helpful it’ll be, but ah thought it couldnae hurt tae ‘ave ye be well prepped jus’ in case.”

By the time he finished speaking, you’d been staring at the items in your hands for a few seconds, dumbstruck at the professional quality of the archaeological tools you’d unwrapped. You’d had a set with you in your original belongings, but it had been old, worn down, and incomplete. Now they were mere toys for the fishies at the bottom of the Nile.

Blinking up at him, your tongue felt like it was stuck to the roof of your mouth, keeping you from speaking until you forced yourself to swallow. “Thank you… truly.”

He didn’t say anything in response, just a subtle nod and a quirk of his lips before he turned and strode over to Kyle to finish helping sort things out. You watched his back and shoulder muscles untense, a swagger in his step that gave you the impression of a man content with his own workings. You couldn’t help but bite your lip with a small smile, a giggle under your breath as you examined the gift again before rolling it back up and securing it with the provided buckle.

Kyle went ahead underground, rappelling down the rope and leaving you and Johnny on the surface to eventually follow behind once it was deemed safe enough. The shadows swallowed your cousin like a hungry maw, quickly out of sight from your spot peering down despite the light being bounced into the chasmic pit. It was a few moments before he reached the bottom, the sudden jostled thudding of his boots the only indication he’d landed roughly on the ground.

“It’s bloody dark down here!” You snorted at Kyle’s muffled proclamation, Johnny joining in with his own chuckle a heartbeat later.

“Ye’ll be alright, lad! We’ll come rescue ya from the boogeyman in a jiff!”

Your cousin muttered something too faint for you to hear from above, but you had a pretty good idea as to the contents of it.

Once he got the green light from Kyle, Johnny gave the rope a quick tug to confirm it was no longer attached and began reeling the length back up so that you could go next, Johnny following up at the rear.

“Ye certainly seem tae ‘ave found yer footin’.” Having recovered from the earlier lapse in his usual personality, he was back to sounding his normal self.

You felt good about the compliment, far more at ease than you had been given the past few days. It was nice to have your countenance acknowledged as something positive for a change. 

“That’s what happens when you take a fish out of a river and toss it up a tree. It starts gasping for air and questioning its worth until it returns to its home in the water.” Stepping away from the pillar you were leaning against, you met him halfway as he approached you with the length of rope. “Survivability and exploration are part of your repertoire. This is mine.”

Johnny stepped in front of you, taking up far more of your space than was proper or necessary for him to secure the slip knot around your hips. Fronts barely brushing up against each other, round buds hardening at the teased contact. Eyes kept locked in place by the enchantment only he seemed to wield over you. Deft hands worked to tie the rope, taking special care for your safety as he gave them a harsh tug to ensure they stayed put while the two of you shared the same breath. The unexpected movement sent you stumbling into his chest, face warming at the contact mirroring the spike of heat in his eyes.

“Good tae finally see ya, m'eudail...” Fervid pools of oceanic blue scorched your insides raw until you were sure white hot flames were licking up your throat and parching your mouth dry. The twinkle in his eyes telling you he knew exactly the effect he held over you.

You’d barely managed to eke out, “...thank you for seeing me.”

There was a sort of pleased rumble in his chest before he took a step back, smothering the pyre he’d lit in your bones and tilting you off access to the point of almost stumbling forward without his presence to keep you standing. He laughed at your reaction, motioning with his hand towards the gaping pit at your feet.

“Go on then, lass. Let’s see wha’ the desert’s been hidin’.”

It wasn’t the most graceful entrance you’d ever made in your life, but eventually once you’d lessened the death grip you held on the rope and allowed gravity to assist in your descent it hadn’t taken much to get you at the bottom. Kyle had been there to keep you from landing in a haphazard heap, unlatching you from the knots so that Johnny could have a turn. 

You’d halted him from moving as you peered into the shadows, hardly able to make out anything beyond vague shapes and blindly reaching out in the very dim light. Damn thing had to be nearb–

Hands met polished metal just as expected, brushing away the cobwebs and tilting the mirrored surface to catch on the beam filtered down from up top. You smiled over at your cousin, positioning it just - “And then there was…”

Suddenly the entire chamber was awash in stolen sunlight, illuminating the room without the need for candle or torch and leaving you with a smug satisfaction at the impressed look on his face. “...light.”

“Well I’ll be… MacTavish! Get your ass down here and have a look!”

Johnny wasted no time in jumping off the edge at the urging. It had startled you to see him drop so quickly, his prior experience in the act evident with the casual confidence he rappelled down the line. Practically puffed up like a peacock once he’d straightened and saw you gawking at him, tossing you a wink that had Kyle rolling his eyes and giving you a small shove onward as the three of you began to explore your new surroundings.

“Well this is certainly what we signed up for, wasn't it?”

“A whole surface full of colorful architecture and you’re most thrilled by an embalming room?” You shot over your shoulder at him from where you examined the small animal heads on a few nearby jars.

“Embalming?” Came the quizzical response from your cousin, retracting his hand from whatever container he’d been poking at on one of the nearby shelves.

It hadn’t taken much sleuthing on your part to deduct that conclusion. The tables arranged in rows throughout the chamber, large earthen pots along the walls smelling of faint rot, rolls of fragile linen stacked on shelves. The scent of palm wine and salt masked under all the muskiness.

“For the afterlife, dearest cousin.” There was a small smile on your face as you spoke to him with mild patronization. “This was the preparation room.” 

Pointing over at one of the stone tables closest towards him, you could almost make out the dark splotches of bloodstain hidden under the thick layer of dust.

“If you’d have died three thousand years ago and were wealthy enough to afford it, a chief embalmer wearing a mask of Anubis would have laid your corpse atop that table, gutted you like a pig, scooped out your insides, scrambled your brain with a hot poker, and then placed your internal organs inside one of these,” you held up an empty canopic jar you’d been inspecting that would’ve held a liver, “before smothering you in natron for forty days until you were a dried out husk of a man ready to be wrapped up in linen and packed away in a pretty colored box.”

“Mummies, Garrick.” Johnny gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder, softening the sting with a gentler one as he brushed past. “Good ol’ mummies.”

“It’s a wonder your mum ever let you study this shit in the first place...” Kyle remarked as he glanced down at the same spot you’d been looking, sidestepping the table as if there was fresh viscera still dampening the stone.

“I won’t tell her what was in those books if you don’t,” you added with a little dark humor before placing the container back where you’d found it, gaze raking over the rest of it as you moved through the room and out into the hallways beyond. 

Away from the clever structure of the mirrors there was at last a need for torchfire, your two companions holding one alight each as they took up the front and rear of your little group, sandwiching you between with Kyle taking up the lead. The air was stale down here, a constant itch at the back of your throat that travelled into your lungs with every breath. The corridors were sloped at the sides, thick cobwebs dangling like vines covering almost every inch of their surface. You made sure to keep your footsteps in the middle of the path, not wanting to accidentally back up into one and getting them all over your skin.

It impressed you how the pair of them communicated, speaking reminiscent how they might’ve clearing a battlefield rather than exploring ancient caverns. They parroted directions back and forth to each other, somehow keeping track of where you were long after you’d been able to keep up with the twisting path ahead. You passed by small antechambers filled with various supplies, assuming wherever you’d popped in was less a part of the tombs themselves and more the storage areas for the priests.

Eventually the walls started looking a little less run down and a little more smooth, empty metal brackets for holding wooden torches poking out of the stone. Whoever put this place together seemed to have taken a little more care in this section.

You found yourself pausing in front of another entryway, staring down a dark corridor with sconces lining either side. For all intents and purposes it wasn't anything remarkable; it didn’t stand out really from any of the others you’d passed by this point. It was just the first to look like someone had taken more care with the cut of the stone.

“Spy somethin’, lass?” 

You were vaguely aware of Kyle halting up ahead, backtracking as you reached out for Johnny’s torch that he willingly passed over.

“I just want to take a quick look down this one…” Your feet were already moving even as you spoke, lighting the sconces you passed with the weight of something in your chest tugging you forward. The walls were bare save for the oil lamps, but there was a subtle slope to the floor that led you downward and piqued something in the back of your mind.

About fifteen or so meters later, you found yourself standing inside an antechamber that was sparsely lined around the perimeter with only a few tables full of valuable artifacts. 

“More storage?” asked Johnny, skimming over the objects laid out on a table shaped like a…

…wait.

That wasn’t a table. It was a curved bed frame made up of the elongated bodies of two lionesses. 

Suddenly, everything clicked. 

You scrutinized the objects more closely, the cogs turning rapidly in your head as your eyes widened further with every new find. A painted wooden chest. A stool overflowing with sandals. Shabti dolls tossed haphazardly onto a thin lumpy mattress.

You bolted through the open doorway to your right, the other two shouting after you as you came to a halt inside the next room, torch clattering to the floor at the sight you took in. 

It wasn’t as grand as the pictures you’d seen of others like it elsewhere - certainly not possessing the same majesty or opulence as that of King Tut or Ramses IV. The room itself was small by comparison, not surprising considering the size of the annex you just exited and its meager furnishings. There hadn't been as much thought or care in the scenery depicted on the walls. But there was still a subtle elegance to its design that hinted at someone more important and incorporated all the way down to the large stone sarcophagus in the middle of the room.

“Fuckin’ hell!” Johnny might as well have not said anything for all the good it did reaching your ears, drowned out as white noise as all your attention was pinpoint fixated on the large box in the center.

You couldn't believe it. You could not believe it. Forget every moment that ever came before this because there was no way in hell it could ever live up to the overwhelming well of emotions bubbling up to the surface threatening to overflow from your tear ducts.

Was this how Howard Carter felt the first time he laid eyes on the burial chamber of Tutankhamun? Did he have to remind himself to manually breathe so as not to pass out? Did he yell and rejoice or just stand there in abject shock the way you did now? Was this figure nobility or just of high station? 

Whose golden death mask laid in wait inside the coffin housing it?

On newborn foal limbs you slowly approached the stone sarcophagus, ignoring the babble going on between the others and the questions being lobbed your way. Your vision was blurry enough from unshed tears that you were having a hard time making heads or tails of the hieroglyphics adorning the box, eyes frantic for the cartouche that would reveal everything.

You at last found the oval, tracing over every symbol until your brain supplied you with the accurate translation.

“Hatshepsut.”

This was Hatshepsut.

Wife of Thutmose II. Fifth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Egypt's second queen regent.

Six inches in front of you.

Johnny stepped up beside you, making his own assessments from the various artwork sprawled across every corner of the room. “Gonna take a gander that’s someone important?”

That was a massive understatement. “Ruler of Egypt for twenty two years, one of the most prolific builders in all of history, responsible for the Temples at Karnak, Pakhet, and the masterpiece that is the Djeser-Djeseru. Peace and prosperity flourished under her rule and she was lauded for re-establishing vital trade routes previously lost to war and conflict.”

It was the first time since entering the chamber that you looked somewhere other than the coffin, meeting his gaze with the still wide eyed one of your own. “Yes, Johnny. She’s important.”

“But we already found her husband, yeah? So why wasn’t she buried with him in the Valley of the Kings?” Honestly you were going to have to give your cousin more credit for all the things he picked up on through the sheer osmosis of growing up in your vicinity.

“There were rumors that her stepson Thutmose III held resentment for her after the two of them became co-regent towards the end of his father’s reign. Politically he would have been afraid of being seen as the lesser candidate to succeed his father’s throne considering his young age. There’s documentation of how he tried to belittle Hatshepsut’s accomplishments throughout his life and many believe he was the one to deface and try to destroy most records of her from the history books.” 

The destruction of her statues, the erasure of her name from chiseled walls; there was a great deal of work that went into trying to keep her from being remembered. “He must've honored her enough as a ruler to bury her with dignity, but not enough to place her somewhere she would be found.”

Here amongst the other hidden kings of old.

“Makes you wonder who else is buried down here…” Kyle motioned over to another doorway on the eastern wall of the chamber, already inching towards it in curiosity. “Think we’ll find another one through here?”

“Unless there was a sudden fashion for corpses getting dipped in pure gold a few millennia back I doubt you’ll come upon one in the treasury room.” 

“No.” The way his eyes lit up was positively cartoonish, shaking his head with a cautious hurry to his steps almost as if he suspected you were pulling his leg, only to pause in the doorway not unlike you had when you’d first entered the burial chamber. The moan that left his lips was practically lewd as he supported his weight against the frame, taking in whatever he’d discovered out of view that had him practically buckling at the knees. “Christ, I'm about to be rich…”

Johnny rolled his eyes in exaggerated exasperation, the jovial smirk on his face betraying his fake ire at your cousin's inflated antics.

“Pump yer cock tae the trove some other time. Best be crackin’ on if we wanna keep makin’ progress before sundown.” Softer to you he added, “We’ll come back again, lass. There’s still plenty more explorin’ tae be had down ‘ere, aye?”

You knew you couldn’t linger here forever. And whether you’d return to this place or not she would have plenty of visitors soon enough. Now that you’d proven Hamunaptra’s existence there'd be historians and archaeologists flooding to the site in droves to get a glimpse of this lost piece of history and those inside it.

She wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

Resting your forehead against the cold stone lid of the sarcophagus, you imagined the person lying reposed within; the life she would have lived and the people who’d come to care for her even long past expiration. Closing your eyes, you allowed yourself to connect with the spirit on the other side, whispering words of gratitude and comfort to the soul at rest. “We didn’t forget. The world still knows your name, and we are all the more better for you having existed. May you forever find peace in the Field of Reeds, Pharaoh.”

It was only then that you allowed yourself to be led out of the room, casting one last glance over your shoulder to the figure sleeping peacefully in a tomb fit for a queen.

It was hard to shake off the emotions of witnessing the final resting place of such a great and powerful woman, constantly straying back to it as the three of you continued forward with your current venture. At this point you weren’t sure what discovery could possibly be better than rediscovering the body of a three thousand year old pharaoh, but far be it for you to call it a day when the other pair seemed so eager to continue.

Heads whipped upwards and the three of you froze, the sudden sound of dozens of chittering things scurrying overhead, torches raised to illuminate the ceiling in search of the source only to come up empty. You couldn't tell if that was a relief or if that only added to your paranoia.

“Must be movin’ inside the walls...” Johnny’s murmurings didn't do much to ease your nerves, not exactly a fan of creepy things with multiple tiny legs crawling around where you couldn't see. Hair stood on end and goosebumps ran the length of your spine, scooting just a tad bit closer to the Scotsman as you carried on with your journey.

The tunnels narrowed to an almost claustrophobic size, the lot of you having to duck your heads to avoid hitting them on the carved rock. Cobwebs dangled in front of your face, having to constantly bat them away to keep from accidentally inhaling them into your mouths. The passage went on and on without any sign of any other rooms, apparently having taken a wrong turn somewhere further back that led away from the royal wing and onto wherever the hell you’d ended up now.

“Maybe we should turn back?” You suggested at one point, only to be shot down by the others.

“Don’t worry, dolly.” Kyle placed a placating hand on your arm, a warm smile helping to ease the worries of your mind. “We’re not gonna get lost. Got the way out right up here.” He tapped on the side of his head for emphasis, apparently confident in his abilities to get you back to the embalming room safely.

“And when he inevitably screws it all up then ye have me who actually remembers.” The cough you spluttered wasn’t enough to hide the chuckle from Johnny’s words, laughing in earnest as your cousin walked up to him and tried to wrestle him into an easy headlock. It warmed your heart to see them so spirited and boyish with one another, a gentle reminder that there were still kind souls within that hadn’t been completely hardened by a life of brutality.

It took a few more turns until you finally arrived at an area big enough for you all to stand in at your full height. It was a bit surprising when you realized the carved bottom half of a human was completely obstructing the way forward, a thick stone platform embedded in the floor from where the statue must’ve fallen through from the world above.

Kyle recognized it the same time you did, bringing his torch up to inspect the dark coloration of the stone that matched the upper portion in the courtyard. “Huh. The legs of Anubis. Well it looks like we’ve found where the rest of the statue went.”

“Was wondering why the Bembridge scholars said it was a full body sculpture...” You were fully aware of the contents supposedly held inside the base, recalling the conversation you’d had with Johnny on the boat a few days back when he’d wrongfully accused you of only being out here for the money. 

“Well, here you go, mister treasure hunter.” The hem of your skirt flared out as you turned on your heels to face Johnny, one hand on your hip with the other pointing behind and a grin on your tilted head. “You wanted something for your troubles? Here’s your chance - the Book of Amun-Ra. Should be a secret compartment somewhere in there if you want to take a whack at it.”

He flashed his canines at you, a sweaty arm brushing up against yours as he walked up to the base and started reaching for the bag slung over his shoulder. “Dunnae mind if ah do.”

The droning of garbled voices from somewhere nearby gave you all pause, already on edge from the mysterious bug encounter earlier and the overall eerie quality of the catacombs. The atmosphere in the group shifted as Kyle motioned for you to press up against the statue. Handing over his torch the same time Johnny set his on the ground, both reached into their respective holsters and withdrew their firearms, hammers pulled back and pistols at the ready.

The droning grew louder and louder, breaths steadying in anticipation of whatevers approach. Johnny giving Kyle a quick nod of unspoken agreement as the two darted out from behind the statue–

Ten loaded pistols aimed right at each other's faces from both sides as the two groups found themselves engaged in a standoff. The hired workers squirmed antsily behind the American’s, you holding out your own torch as if it would do anything against a loaded gun.

Roze was the first to cut the tension, a wobbly frustration to her voice. “Sweet Jesus, you tryin’ to turn us into mummies too, gents?”

Guns lowered slowly to their owner's sides as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, all of you apparently on the same wavelength that this place was starting to mess with your heads.

“Maybe don’t make a habit of sneakin’ up on people and you won't get shot,” Kyle snarked back with a quiet huff.

A greasy pit dropped in the middle of your stomach upon noticing Graves amongst their team, mood turning sour as he opened his mouth with that stupid patronizing tone of his. “Well maybe if you boys learned to keep your noses out of where they don't belong you too might find yourselves living a little longer.”

“Hey,” came the confused voice of Hutch from the back, stepping forward from the group as he gestured towards the bundle of tools wrapped in your arms, “hey, that’s my toolkit!”

Johnny didn’t let him any closer than that, raising his pistols again which immediately prompted the other trigger happy morons to do the same. “Think yer mistaken there, lad. That there’s hers.”

Hutch was smart enough to retreat back to his spot, taking one look at your Scottish friend and rethinking his life choices. “Must be... my mistake...”

“Enough of this!” shouted one of the others, Oz motioning with his head to move out of their way. “This here’s our territory. Go run along and look somewhere else.”

“Claimed it first, mate.” The toothy smile on your cousin’s face was a mask for the slithering creature under his skin preparing to strike, given away only by the deadness in his eyes. “Might want to reconsider your next move if you don’t want to join these poor sods here in the afterlife.”

Graves was more than happy to take the bait, a mocking sneer hidden behind an amused chuckle. “Would ya look at that. Pretty boy Garrick here thinks he still has the guts to go toe to toe even after high tailing it away from that fight in Turkey.”

“Ye shut yer mouth, Graves!” Johnny barked straight venom, raising his voice as the muscle in Kyle’s jaw jumped, grip only tightening on his loaded firearm. 

“Woah there!” Graves continued to antagonize from behind spiked teeth. “Down, boy! Someone outta put a leash around your neck and remind you of your place.”

The tension in the room was growing exponentially at a rate you weren’t sure could be interrupted anymore, mind scrambling for anything to diffuse the situation before someone pulled a trigger that couldn’t be undone. Twenty five of them against three– two of you. Those weren’t odds you were willing to chance.

It was by sheer luck you heard the shifting of sand under your feet, daring a glance down at the floor to watch a pebble disappear through a crack and revealing a chamber below. If the statue of Anubis was wedged deep into the floor… then maybe…

The next thing you did was possibly the stupidest move of your entire life.

You walked out in front of ten loaded guns.

“Gentlemen, gentlemen. Please.” One by one you began lowering the barrels, the shaking in your hand the only thing giving away the nerves underneath so eloquently masked by the English charm of your disarming smile, the perfect picture of ladylike decency in a room full of missing manners.

Ignoring the heated looks your companions sent your way in favor of focusing on the unruly Americans, even Roze seemed to fluster from such a rapid change in atmosphere. “There’s no need for such excitement. You’re all men of intellect here. Surely you wouldn’t let yourselves be overcome by a bit of schoolyard slander.” 

They all glanced between each other in conflicted confusion, not sure what was happening but unable to summon the emotional intelligence to deal with the situation. The secret to breaking a man - fluffing their egos while simultaneously giving them a dressing down. 

“Now,” you continued, satisfied when their postures relaxed and their weapons were no longer facing each other, “since we all learned how to share when we were younger, I don’t see anything wrong with letting you fine folk get to work on this statue here.” You finally met the stern gazes of your companions, secretly pleading with your eyes for them to go along with what it was you were saying. “There are other places to dig…”

A few tense moments passed before Johnny lowered his pistols and offered you his hand, sending one more scathing look at the others before leading you from the room with Kyle at the rear.

“Happy digging! And best of luck!” You shouted with a good natured wave to the other group, flashing them one more smile before being tugged out of view around the next corner. It wasn't until you were far enough out of earshot that he relented his tight grip.

Your back met the wall behind you, startling a gasp from your lips as Johnny suddenly crowded you against it with a simmering expression and a finger in your face. “Donnae ever do that again, lass! Do ye have any idea what would’ve happened if one of those triggers slipped?!”

His anger had never been directed your way before, just as intense as every other emotion he’d always expressed. Johnny didn’t know how to do things by halves and that was evident in the way he processed feelings as well. It tore at your chest, the rage in his eyes burning holes in your heart that left you aching and blind to see it for what it really was. 

The cool confidence you’d pretended to exude earlier fell away under his harsh judgment, the girl underneath who’d been terrified for her friend's safety and only wanted to help revealed underneath. You tried to shrink back from his gaze as far as the space would allow - which in reality was practically nothing. The stinging behind your eyes, the flood of emotions rising to the surface from the earlier threat of confrontation combined with this unanticipated lambasting left you shaking.

You tried to explain. “T-There’s a chamber underneath that room. If we can find a way down then we can try to bust our way up from the bottom. W-We can steal the treasure right out from under their noses.”

“I dunnae care what yer reasonin’! That was naive and foolhardy and ye know damn well better than tae put yerself in harm’s way like that! Ye could’ve been shot! You could’ve–!” He cut himself off with an infuriated growl, hands slamming into the wall beside your head as his own bowed forward. For a moment you thought Johnny would continue with his admonishing tirade, huffing out a breath like an enraged bull as fingers dug into the stone.

You held as still as you could, unable to turn away from the penetrative orbs searching through your soul. Something must’ve shone in your watery eyes that brought him out of the ‘what ifs’ and back into the here and now, stare softening into weariness as he leaned the last bit forward to rest his head on top of yours with lidded eyes.

You didn’t know what to make of it as you stood trapped between him and the wall, listening to his soothing baritone as he began murmuring something soft in his native tongue. You weren’t sure if he was speaking to himself or to you, but it had the effect either way of settling most of your nerves like you would a frightened animal. Gentle lips pressed a kiss to the top of your head, pulling back to look you in the eyes with a grounding weight before quietly uttering, “C'mon, lass. Let’s go find ye that room.”

Where Johnny was a flintlock, Kyle was a smoldering ember.

He said nothing as Johnny led you all through twisting catacombs, following some unknown path he’d mapped out in his head that he assured should lead you all to the level below. The silence from your cousin was deafening, hurting just as much as Johnny’s earlier explosion but cutting far deeper. The fact that he hadn’t spoken up when you were being manhandled only confirmed to you how pissed he must be.

Keeping your voice low despite the close quarters ensuring the conversation wouldn't be private anyways, you finally summoned enough courage to address the man following behind you.

“Are you just going to keep being mad at me?”

“I’m not mad.”

The breath you exhaled was loud as you halted your movement, forcing Kyle to come to a quick stop so as not to run into your back. “You could at least have the decency not to lie to me.”

“Not lying. We need to keep moving…” It wasn’t ‘dolly’ he said at the end there. It was your real name.

That’s how you knew you fucked up.

Turning on your heel, you instantly hated the unphased expression he wore, wishing he would just snap at you the way Johnny did so that you could get it over with already. But no. That wasn’t Kyle’s style. He let his anger fester under his skin and rot away at his internal organs until you could see the decay in his eyes.

You were gonna have to push him. 

Thankfully your other companion had sensed the impending conflict and kept moving farther down the hall to grant the two of you a bit of space. “Over two decades of hanging around each other and you think I don’t know just how much you want to throttle me for what I did back there?”

“You’re a grown woman who can make her own decisions.”

“And as we’ve already established it was a stupid one and I deserve to get a scolding.”

“Johnny did just fine with his version.”

“You’re not Johnny.”

“The accent give that away?” 

Damn it, this was getting you nowhere.  “What gave it away was that he has enough emotional intelligence to get his rage out instead of letting it systematically destroy him.”

A vein twitched in Kyle's forehead, the only tell you’d hit a nerve. Perfect.

“If I had a problem I’d say something about it.”

“If that was the case then you wouldn’t have spent all these years burying your problems at the bottom of a bottle!”

That hadn’t at all been the sentence you'd meant to say, immediately regretting the spewed out words as soon as they left your lips. Kyle's eyes narrowed down to slits, his jaw clenching and muscles bulging in his arms where hands formed into tight fists. God, this was not the time nor place for this conversation.

“How I choose to spend my time is none of your business!”

Hurt mixed with outrage as you took a step toward him and shouted right back in his face, rare tempers flying on both sides. “It is when I have to sit and watch my cousin waste away every night in a bar because he refuses to open up to the only family he has left!”

His scoff was mean, but the red bleeding into his dark brown eyes wasn't from anger. “You think I'm gonna subject the person I love most to every terrible thing I've ever done? The horrors I've had to witness? You think I'm gonna willingly tell you just how much of a fucking monster your cousin has become?!”

“Yes, you asshole! Because I fucking forgive you!”

There was stillness in the corridor. Chests heaved with shallow breaths; words hung suspended between you. Droplets fell to the parched earth beneath your feet as you shed tears enough for the both of you.

Too long had you watched your cousin suffer under the weight of his own choices. 

No more��

“Just because I didn't have to fight in it doesn’t mean I went untouched by the war! None of us did!” Arms spread wide as you bore your own grieving soul in hopes he’d finally let you see his. 

“We were the ones keeping things afloat while the men in our lives left to serve king and country. We were the ones bent over the toilet violently shaking and throwing up every time the postman came, never knowing if the next letter we received was going to begin with the words ‘we deeply regret to inform you’. We were the ones who had to deal with the aftermath of our soldiers returning home from distant fields - changed, violent, distant men. I saw the boys I danced with take their own lives because they couldn’t stand the nightmares that plagued them even years later and hundreds of miles away from the trenches!” 

You would never know what it looked like to see a man with his intestines pouring out of his gut or a decapitated body from where a canon blew it clean off. You would never have to look a man in his eyes as you became responsible for the way the light slowly left them. But that did not mean you didn't know suffering in your own valid way.

“So I don’t care what you had to do over there to come back home to me. I don’t care that there’s blood on your hands that will never wash away. Tell me you strangled a man with those bare hands. Tell me you relished in committing heinous acts of torture. Tell me you stayed in the military far past your original enlistment date just because you realized you found something you were both good at and fucking enjoyed. I don’t fucking care! It was war, Kyle! And whatever it was you had to do was done in order to stop the other monsters - the real ones who didn’t feel remorse for the countless lives they've destroyed - from reaching our shores and doing far worse to people like me than you did to them. You think you don’t deserve to be here for what you’ve done? You think you’re beyond forgiveness? Well guess what? I forgive you! Be a monster for all I care! Just fucking let me in!”

It was the first time your cousin cried since the death of your parents, standing there like a marble statue as it poured over his face like rivers. You could tell he grappled with the vulnerability of your words - the permission being granted to share his pain and trauma with an understanding soul.

You reached out for Kyle the same time he did, crashing together in an embrace that left you even more raw and torn open than before. His iron grip on the back of your head and banded around your waist kept you locked against him, hair dampening with tears matching the ones you were leaving on his shirt, face buried in his chest with your arms clamped around his broad torso.

You’d tried to have this talk with him in the years prior, but each attempt ended in failure either with him shutting you out from the start or you were just too scared to dredge up feelings in the first place. You promised yourself never again would you stand by while the people most important to you suffered - whether by their own actions or any outside force, including you.

“Supposed to be brave for you, dolly…” The strained voice came muffled against your scalp.

“And I was a stupid little girl who didn’t want to see her two favorite people in the whole world end up with bullet holes in their heads. We’ve both made mistakes. No more pushing me away because of them, got it?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He squeezed you extra tight, pressing a firm kiss to the side of your head before finally relinquishing his grip to smooth away the tear tracks from your cheeks. You returned the favor in kind, your fingers lacing with his as the two of you turned to glimpse the last of your trio waiting patiently at the opposite end of the hallway.

Johnny hadn’t said anything the entire time the two of you were duking it out. He merely stood watch as a silent sentinel, his added presence a not uncomfortable witness to the long overdue confession. His gaze lifted from the floor at your approach, heavy with understanding and weighted with something glistening of his own. It wasn’t until you got close enough that it was replaced by a familiar sparkle that spoke well before his mouth did, pushing off from the wall he’d been leaning against and coming to stand directly in your way.

“So… ah’m one of yer favorites now, eh?”

The loud groan of annoyance from Kyle was echoed by the exasperated sigh from you. The playful shove you gave him had you grateful for his constant ability to so easily lighten a heavy mood, feeling like everything would eventually - in time - be alright again.

“Shut up, Johnny.”

Something you hadn’t anticipated in your ‘brilliant plan’ was the fact that the ceiling above would be so damn high, the tools the boys brought with just barely out of reach even for their six foot something statures. The idea was briefly put on hold as they went off to search any nearby rooms for something that could support their weight, returning a short while later dragging a couple decorative jackal statues on small platforms. 

You didn’t want to know whose tomb they’d raided for those, hoping you weren’t offending the dead too terribly badly.

“The statue of Anubis should only be a few feet above us now. So long as we’ve landed in the right area we should come up right between his legs.”

Dirt rained down on the group, the loud clunk of mining tools a steady beat chipping away at the sand and stone above. It was a real effort to keep your eyes on the ceiling so as not to be constantly admiring the flexing of a certain Scotsman’s beefy biceps and corded hairy forearms every time he swung his heavy hammer.

Johnny paused in his endeavors for a quick breather, glancing in your direction and accidentally catching you in one of your rare moments of weakness. Tossing you a quick wink with a knowing smirk, he rolled out the stiffness in his joints from craning his neck before resuming the task at hand. 

Meanwhile you had to act like you weren’t ready to spontaneously combust from the mortification of having been found practically drooling.

“Ye sure we’re gonna find this secret compartment this way?” Johnny coughed as a dusting of sand accidentally fell into his mouth.

To be honest: you weren’t. But at the very least it gave you a chance rather than letting the others be the only ones having a go at snatching it.

“Don’t worry, MacTavish,” chimed in your cousin, grunting with the exertion of swinging his pickaxe. “We’ll get to it before those beastly Americans do and then we’ll have even more riches to rub in Grave’s ugly mug.”

The pair took out their aggressions for the next few minutes, pausing only briefly here and there, driven by the need to reach the golden book before the team up top. The item in question hadn’t been the reason you’d started this expedition - that honor still belonged to the discoveries you’d made thus far - but you couldn’t deny there was a certain allure to it now, whether because of the knowledge it might contain or some sense of competition evoked in you by the two men banging away at the ceiling. 

A loud rumbling drew your eyes upward, the boys halting their movements with quizzical brows as they glanced between each other and the spot they’d been carving away at, hesitant to take another swing. The noise went on for a few moments longer, sounding far bigger than it had any reason to before disappearing a few seconds later.

Even still, everyone remained on edge. “The whole thing isn’t gonna collapse down on top of us… right?”

“Nah. Ah’m sure it’s jus’–”

Johnny didn’t get to finish that sentence before the sound came back with a thundering vengeance, clamorous enough to make you flinch back and reverse your steps in the opposite direction of the now growing crack opening up in the ceiling.

Kyle’s eyes were the size of dinner plates, violently smacking his friend’s arm as dirt rained down on top of them and something started to violently burst through. “Back up, back up!”

They dove off their platforms just in the nick of time, barely avoiding a deadly catastrophe while you stood stunned pressed against the far wall of the chamber as an enormous stone box broke through with a resounding CRACK and crashed to the floor in a heap, taking up almost the full width of the room.

“Steamin’ Jesus…” Johnny groaned out from the dirt, bringing himself to his feet and assisting Kyle in doing the same from where the two of them had rolled out of the way to keep from being pancaked.

Once the dust kicked up had settled, you slowly approached the box, recognizing it for what it was and glancing up at the sizeable hole from where it’d fallen through. “A sarcophagus… buried at the feet of Anubis…”

“The hell they do something like that for?” Kyle was still gawking at the exposed stone on the ceiling, partially to check if anything else was about to topple down with it.

You could only imagine the reasoning behind doing something like this. After all, the ancient Egyptians weren’t exactly known for this kind of unorthodox burial. 

“I honestly don’t know. I can only assume that this person was either someone of great importance, or alternatively…” and you were really banking on it being the former, “they did something entirely unforgivable.”

The whole thing was covered in a thick layer of dust and sand, settled after millennia of being buried and obscuring any and all writings. Using your hands only seemed to smear it, forcing you to pull out your new archaeological equipment as you began brushing away the film coating every inch of its surface, searching for any kind of markings that could be used as an identifier for the figure inside. 

But there was nothing written along the sides as one might see on the tombs of pharaohs and high priests. Why give a man the honor of resting at the feet of a god for all eternity only to tell us nothing about him?

Whistling for your attention, Johnny pointed to a small section he cleared away at the top of the box with his hands, visible indents still obscured by tiny grains of sand. You moved your brush over the area, sweeping away the dirt gathered in the cracks keeping you from reading any of the rather roughly carved hieroglyphics. You’d expected to find a cartouche at the very least, but this… this was not that.

“He… that shall not be named.”

But… but that didn’t make any sense. If they weren’t going to tell us who he was then why even bother giving him a title in the first place? Who was this man to be hated so much that the high priests reduced his very existence down to unspeakability?

Something wasn’t right here.

Your arm bumped against a raised texture just below the symbols, glinting metal embedded in the sarcophagus that once cleaned out revealed an eight pointed star with a scarab at the center.

Kyle ran his fingers over the serrated edges, glancing over at Johnny as the two of them tried to work the problem. “Feels sturdy; built into the container, not just slapped on top. Some sort of locking mechanism?”

“Could be. The hell kinda key looks like that, though?”

An enraged voice shouts from the recesses of your mind, flashes of glinting metal threatening your neck and impatient eyes belonging to a man you encountered not three days past: "THE KEY!"

That's when it hit you. The robed men, the attack on the boat, the key, the eight sided container burning a hole in your mind.

The box.

You scrambled for the bag you carried with you, digging around in one of the exterior pouches before emerging with the little metal box that started this whole adventure in the first place.

“Thought that’s empty.” Kyle looked at it with a tilted head and a raised brow, wondering if you’ve by chance gone off your rocker in your current frenzied state.

“It is,” you confirmed, flipping the item around in search of that tiny pressure plate, “but that’s not the point, dear cousin. The point is… Aha!”

The box sprung open with a click, the top unfurling into a recognizable shape as your two companions eyes flashed in understanding.

“...that I have a better memory than you.” You gave him a cheeky grin overflowing with smugness as you tipped the box upside down, placing it against the symbol where it slotted in perfectly into the eight pointed star. 

Johnny squeezed you against his side in a one armed hug, an enthusiastic kiss to your temple that had you giggling. “Lookit our clever lass, aye Garrick.”

Kyle didn’t get a chance to respond. 

Agonized screaming filled the air, blood curdling and twisted and gripping into your very core. It was a primal sound of torture, cutting into your soul and filling you with abyssal dread that left you feeling white as a ghost. 

The boys made haste in rushing out the open doorway, you trailing along behind them as Kyle held an arm out to block you from potential danger. You weren’t prepared for the sight of a man you didn’t recognize flailing about and crashing down the corridor, nails clawing into his bald scalp leaving rivulets of blood soaking his skin. 

His brutal screams of everlasting torture rang out like a cathedral bell as he ran headlong past you, unseeing or uncaring as he flailed violently, repeatedly bashing his head against the wall and leaving a red gory mess in his wake. 

Johnny almost moved to stop him until the stranger suddenly collapsed in a heap on the floor, back cracking and arching off the ground in an almost inhuman way as his fingernails dug deep scratches into the earth. Eyes bugging out of his head, mouth open in a garbled choked off scream, limbs twitching and spasming until - eventually - they moved no more.

You were getting far too used to seeing corpses…

No one fought Johnny when he made the executive decision of being done for the day, the sweet taste of discovery turned to rot in your mouth at the unexpected turn the evening had taken. 

You'd seen men struck down right in front of you that night on the ferry, blood staining the carpet of your stay rooms and the polished wood of the upper deck. But they had been bad men doing horrible things and deserved not one ounce of pity for their fates. This however had been on the other end of the spectrum. That man hadn’t suffered for any crimes he’d committed - he'd merely suffered. And that to you was more disturbing than watching the man who tried to cause you harm take a bullet between the eyes.

Your trio emerged from the darkness of the catacombs up into star speckled nightfall. Kyle stayed behind to fill the other team in on the details of what just transpired with one of their workers while Johnny escorted you back to the opposite side of the courtyard. 

He sat you down on the laid out rugs in front of the blackened firewood, striking the kindling with a match as the dry pieces of timber quickly set ablaze. Digging into one of the nearby bags, Johnny carefully draped a blanket over your shoulders before quietly taking a spot at your side.

“Thank you...” The voice that came out from your lips was smaller than you might’ve liked, very telling of your current delicate psychological condition. Even with the added heat it wasn’t enough to take the chill off your bones.

It took you a few breaths to bring up the question you didn’t really want to know the answer to. “What do you suppose killed him?”

The arm that had been around you earlier for your cleverness returned now for your comfort. “Dunnae ken, lass. Must’ve been somethin’ with his head the way he was holdin’ it screamin’ like that. Seizure maybe?”

It was at that point that Kyle rounded the other side of the tents, an unlit cigarette already wedged between his teeth as he struck a match and raised it to the tip, tossing it somewhere in the sand before joining the two of you on the rugs.

“Got confirmation that the man was indeed one of theirs. Going back to retrieve the body now. Poor buggers just can’t seem to catch a break.” Kyle muttered with a tired groan as he sunk into the blankets next to you, leaning back on his elbow and exhaling a billow of smoke skyward.

Seemed like there was an awful lot of that going around since this whole trip started. “More bad news?”

“Only if you were one of the blokes that went and got himself melted today.”

Johnny scoffed, tossing another piece of kindling on the flames. “Yer bum’s oot the windae.”

“Swear to god, mate. It’s true. You can go ask them yourself.” He motioned over to the north where the other party had taken up camp. “Lost three of their workers opening up that compartment we almost had our own hands in. Soon as the lid was popped, poof!”

You flinched away from his animated arm gestures miming an explosion, the mental image that brought to mind combined with the screams of the deceased man from earlier making you shrink inward on yourself and pull the woven blanket tighter around you as if the thin barrier would protect you from the outside world.

“Hydrochloride then,” your Scottish companion muttered, a soothing hand beginning to rub large circles on your back at your obviously perturbed expression. It helped even if only a little bit.

Your cousin made a small hum in agreement at Johnny's conclusion before taking another drag. It was painfully obvious you were out of the loop concerning that information, wondering what it was they apparently knew regarding the matter that you didn’t.

“I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that term…” You trailed off, looking between the two of them for some sort of explanation.

Kyle piped up with the answer. “Salt acid, dolly. Pressurized salt acid. Would’ve dissolved the flesh right off their bones. Bit old fashioned, but we’ve seen it used before.”

Part of you wasn’t surprised - either at their familiarity with the substance or the fact that the statue of Anubis had apparently been booby trapped. It made sense that the guardians of the city would’ve had a host of implemented deterrents they used to ward off plunderers. The fact that you hadn’t considered that as a possibility earlier weighed heavy on your heart with guilt.

Christ, if either of them had been the ones to pry open the compartment instead…

Your depressing ruminations were interrupted by the horses whinnying in the background, the boys turning their heads towards the sound with focused eyes as if sensing something that you weren’t. 

You almost made fun of them for being so antsy. After all, it was only a bunch of animals talking amongst themselves. Just as you were about to open your mouth with a quick remark, you heard the disturbance again - only to realize the shuffling of hooves was coming from the opposite direction of where the other team's horses were currently grazing along the hillside. 

So then who…?

Movement pulled your gaze back to your companions, furrowing your own brows as the boys began grabbing for their nearby rifles in a hurry. “Wha–?”

“Stay here, lass.” Came the harshly barked order, wasting no more breath on you as they turned in tandem and sprinted off in the direction of the commotion, expecting you to remain obedient.

You weren’t an idiot. You knew if they were headed into something guns blazing then you stood no chance against whatever it was they might face. You trusted your boys enough to stay right where you were, scooting backwards on your butt to further conceal yourself in the shadows of one of the tents. Curling your legs up to your chest, you could only sit and wait for whatever outcome might befall.

The first echoing gunshots rang out in the courtyard, multiplying quickly as gunsmoke drifted upwards into view from your position. Distant screams and grunts and foreign battle cries told you everything you needed to know about the situation your friends now found themselves in; flashbacks to the only other fight you’d ever witnessed as your imagination supplied you with pictures of damp crimson earth and bullet ridden corpses. You’d have covered your ears to muffle the cacophonous sounds if you weren’t trying to remain on alert in case the fighting veered any closer.

The camels grew restless and frightened by the loud echoing bangs, yanking on their ropes in blind panic as their distressed bleats joined the horses whinnying. You tried in vain to calm the spooked animals without moving towards them, but they were all but deaf to the gentle hushes and calming words sent their way. It wasn’t until the one tugged hard enough with a reverberating snap to free itself from its confines that you bolted upright from your hiding spot with a sharp curse, following along after the panicked beast as it started to run in the wrong direction of safety.

It was easily outrunning you, charging away at speeds your tiny human legs could not compete with until you were forced to abandon your mission of bringing it back. Its path led you right towards the fighting, something you realized far too late until you had to dodge out of the way of a horse galloping past, nearly tripping over yourself to turn back in the direction you just came from. It was your turn to panic as you were finally met with the sight of your aggressors - men in familiar black robes directly blocked your intended path back to the far end of the courtyard, frantically searching for another way through when a gunshot rang out in your vicinity, startling a high pitched shout from your lips as you cowered away in terror.

It gripped you with the force of a thick iron chain, wrapping around your torso and snaking its way up around your delicate neck. Your airflow was constricted, the metal slipping inside between shocked parted lips to paralyze your windpipe and slither down to form a dense weight deep in your gut. 

It was pure pandemonium as lit torches were tossed onto thin linen canopies, men who’d been hiding within running out shrieking in pain as fire licked across their blistering skin. Those closest to the exit tried to flee in alarm only to be halted by reinforcements trampling through the gates and turning them away. Those who could defend themselves were doing so, casualties on both sides as the Americans fought back against the foreign adversaries, cheering as each shot knocked an enemy clean off its saddle. But there were too few of you in comparison to the number of intruders spilling down into the city.

All around you, faces of the men you’d encountered throughout the day contorted in agony as they were cut down like rotted trees, blood coating the blades of their enemies and bubbling up from the gruesome gaping wounds in their chests. You heard their cries to mothers and wives they would never see again; their prayers to gods that would not arrive to save them. It broke your heart to turn away from outstretched hands, looking to you as if you were their savior when in reality you’d never felt more useless in your entire life.

It took someone nearly bowling you over for your brain to finally drag itself out of freeze mode, the deep rooted need for survival powering your legs to seek cover elsewhere. 

In all the chaos you could not find either of your boys, hoping they were not amongst the bodies you rushed past as you swerved between tents towards a crumbled obelisk, hefting yourself over the side to crouch down hopefully out of view. Your hands trembled and your head felt dizzy, breaths shallow and ragged as you fought back nausea from the taste of copper soaking the air. 

Clenching your eyes shut, you begged whatever higher power might be listening to please… please not let this be the end for you. Please let Kyle and Johnny make it out of this alive and unscathed. Please don’t take away your chance at living now that you just discovered what it felt like to live.

A deep gravelly call to halt came from somewhere to your left, first in Arabic and then again in English as the clattering of swords stilled and the shouting quieted. Risking a glance, you raised up onto your knees to peek over the stone structure for whatever seemed to bring the fighting to a temporary pause.

It wasn’t hard to pinpoint what had captured everyone’s attention.

Dark clothing intermixed with light, everyone turning to face the same area awash with burning firelight highlighting two figures amongst the chaos.

And there in the middle of it all stood a man in black faced in a tense standoff opposite the familiar form of Johnny, a lit stick of dynamite the only thing keeping him and his forces at bay.

The stranger didn’t cower from the sight in front of him, keen eyes taking in the situation with careful calculations that told you he was weighing all outcomes - well aware of the destruction in Johnny’s hands and the promise in his gaze that dared them to call his bluff.

The man in black straightened to an imposing height, a deceptively bored stance with a calm aggression sparking in his gaze. He didn’t flinch away from the harsh glare of your friend, meeting it head on with one of confident arrogance. It was hard to tell his full expression, a black cloth covering the bottom half of his face that he had yet to lower. His sword swung limply at his side - dripping dark blood onto the sand below - but the muscles in his arms tensed as if they were prepared to strike at any moment.

You weren’t sure you’d ever met a more dangerous man.

“We’ve spilt enough blood tonight.” The rough bass in his voice rumbled through your bones even at a distance, the surprisingly silky timbre cutting through the undertone of lethality. “This is the only warnin’ I’ll give you so best listen carefully.”

He took a step forward as if unbothered by the sparkling wick counting down in front of him, eyes narrowing down to slits above the black fabric of his mask. 

“Leave.” The singular word sent an ominous chill down your spine. “Leave this place, or else we'll be sendin’ you to meet your heathen god.”

You didn’t doubt it, not for one minute. It briefly flashed across your mind that this might just be some elaborate trick to lower your guards, but you somehow trusted the man to keep his word. You were only grateful the killing had ended for the time being, glad to be given the opportunity to leave with your heads still intact. 

One of his men came up beside him, holding out the reins of his horse for him to take, head dipped in a reverent bow.

“Shabah.” Ghost.

The stranger's gaze swept over his surroundings as he made to turn away, halting his movement as he picked you out amongst the sea of faces. Dark brown eyes pierced yours as he came to a sudden stop, something brewing within that once again pulled at the back of your mind the same as it did that night on the ferry. There was something staring you right in the face and you were too blind or traumatized to see it.

He held you captive a moment longer, a hidden message within those orbs that he granted you no time to decipher. Breaking eye contact to mount his steed, he turned his harsh glare back to the others present, yelling out again in English for everyone to hear. “You have one day!”

Calling out to his men, they all took to their steeds and scattered with the wind back the way they came, funneling out through the city gates to disappear out into the darkness of the night. They may have gone, but their chilling warning remained.

You hoped that would be the last you ever saw of him.

<< ✿ Previous ✿ << ✽ >> ✿ Next ✿ >>

[thehollowprince]

We're a few days away from the premiere of The Acolyte, and this showed up on my Google Recommendations. Against my better judgment, because it's Screenrant, I opened it anyway, and I'm a little torn.

Like, on the one hand, I've never viewed the Jedi as gods, literal or otherwise, but I fully admit there has been a kind of deification of characters like Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Qui-Gon Jinn, and more recently with newer characters like Rey and Ahsoka. Even Anakin, though, to a lesser extent. There have been quite a number of people who have looked at these characters and said

"This is what a Jedi is supposed to be and nothing else."

Of course, it's been that exact sentiment that has led to a lot of negativity toward other Jedi, namely Mace Windu, but also Yoda and Luminara and Ki-Adi-Mundi.

But since there are no legacy characters in this show (with the possible exception of a Yoda cameo), I'm hoping this show will look at the Jedi as what they are, warrior monks doing the best they can to keep the peace in an ever more chaotic galaxy.

Charlie Barnett (Yord Fandar) said this

I want to talk specifically about the first half of this quote.

"It's like that moment when you realize that your parents aren't gods, do you know what I'm saying? That kind of mysticism plays out., and I think Yord is stuck in and committed to being in the 'Jedi are gods' sentiment. He is a Jedi Knight, and he's fairly new to the position too, so he is very excited to do it right...

I am all for exploring the "flaws" of the Jedi (such as they are) by showing a character that grew up with this expectation of what a Jedi was supposed to be (basically the galaxy's version of superheroes) only to find out that it's not all like it was in the holos.

The only downside I have with this is the fact that Yord would have grown up in the Temple and realized that the Jedi aren't these superbeings. Sure, he could have idolized his teachers and masters, but not to the extent that he'd be blind to the realities of the position.

And then we have this.

I remember reading the interview with Dafne Keen in Empire where she talks about her character (Jecki Lon) and how, even though she's just a Padawan, she's a better Jedi than Yord.

That rubs me the wrong way. Not every Jedi is obviously equal in all talents. Anakin, for example, was one of the best lightsaber duelests of the Order, even when he was just a padawan, but he lacked focus and control, something Obi-Wan had in spades. Same with Ahsoka later, with her being an exceptionally talented padawan but letting her anger get the better of her sometimes, as well as her pride. Yoda was the wisest member of the Order, but Mace was the Order's best duelist.

You get what I'm saying?

Even Obi-Wan had an answer pointed out to him by a youngling in Attack of the Clones. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, and they compensate by working as a whole.

So, while I don't have a problem with Jecki being a better duelist or being stronger in the Force than Yord, it's irritating when it's labeled as her just being a better Jedi. Another thing I remember specifically from her interview was her saying that the only reason Yord became a Jedi Knight was because he was older, and I didn't like that, because that's not how the Order works!

Who knows, maybe I'm reading to much into this, because I've been pretty vocal about how most of what's been said about this show behind-the-scenes has been pretty anti Jedi and this just feels like a continuation of that train of thought. I have no problem with Yord being proud or angry or even falling to the Dark Side and becoming this acolyte. I'm just nervous about how they're framing it all.

[anavi-vrg]

Undead Unluck Cinderella!AU: The Masterpost

Hi :3 it's been a while, but i had been non-stop drawing to bring you all the Cinderella!AU cast with UU characters, i will write the basics of the story later bc i'm incapable of writing long paragraphs.

The drawing that made me start this AU

Let's start with our protagonist, Fuuko as Cinderella:

But our dear protagonist needs her mice friends:

We got our mains first: Haruka, Top, Gina, Sean and Chikara, taking the places of Jaq and Gus

I remember that there were mice kids/children, the younglings!

Phil, Bunny, Tatiana, Lucy and Betty (almost forgot her)

Mice! Veronica and Tella are here to take care of them/protect them from the evil cats

With how many chores have to be done everyday around the house, there have to be some specialised mice:

In the kitchen, Billy works with the sweets, Enjin helps with the almost everything (he's too passionate for this job) and Rip cuts the veggies. Yusai can´t be let near the drinks alone, but she always knows the best one for the occasion.

There's so many clothes that need mending and cleaning, the Sewing Team: Latla, Kurusu and Leila, are the right mice to do the job.

(ps. i bet Kurusu and Gina smugled that book to make cute dresses for Fuuko)

Sooo many books to keep clean and organised in this house, good thing Mice Anno Un and Akira are doing their damn best to keep the house library in peak condition, they even have the time to dramatise Fuuko's favorite romance books for everyone

Mouse Feng does everything around the house, why? because he wants to be better than Fuuko in everything

Miscellaneous Mice bcs i don't know in what role do they fit: Grandpa Isshin, Creed, Mei, Shen, Mui, Mui's little brother (do we even know his name?), Ms. Hawkins and Void.

And we can't forget our dear doggo Burn, taking dog Bruno's place

This Au is not complete without some villains

Human! Luna as Lady Tremaine, BUT she's not Fuuko's stepmother, Lady Luna is a distant relative, grandfather's niece and further kinda deal

Lady Luna has three kids:

Big Brother Soul, the kind of person to say "BuT wE aRe FaMiLy" when he does something bad to Fuuko but would absolutely not tolerate any of Fuuko's mistakes

Middle Brother Apocalypse, evil? no, no, no, he's a tsundere, the kind to say "i'm not washing the clothes because i want to help you or anything! it's just that you are too clumsy". Fuuko sees right through his bullshit and thanks him eveytime she can to Apocchy's embarrassment

And Little Bother/Sister Ruin (i'm more inclined to fem!Ruin), she's considerably more aggressive to Fuuko than the rest, her aggressiveness spurred on by her mom Luna and big brother Soul. Apocalypse has tried to help her to no avail.

THE CAT! Why should we limit ourselves to one evil cat, when we can have FOUR?

Shadow hides in the dark corners and stairs, waiting for an unsuspecting victim, putting themselves in the middle of the path to make them trip

Blood wakes up and craves violence, he scratches the furniture, the curtains and people... Fuuko stays the fuck away from this evil cat

Spoil can't be let alone with the food, he steals it but he doesn't eat it, no, he enjoys watching it spoil and the faces of disgust from the people that find his masterpiece, fortunately dogo Burn is always guarding the kitchen.

Seal enjoys watching the desperation in peoples' faces as he slowly pushes the fine glassware from the top drawer to the cold hard floor, unfortunately for Seal, Mouse Feng is always watching

Do you remember the Gran Duke? the poor man was so close to die, but for this AU, we have the Grand Duke and Duchess, Nico and Ichico (Which one is who is up to you)

We got our King! King Juiz, KING JUIZ, KING JUIZ!!!

If you saw the third animated Cinderella movie, you would remember the Queen's paintings, and i decided that we need a Queen (an alive one), salute our dear Queen: Queen Victor!! (do you forgive me for putting him on a dress? 🥺)

At last, we need our prince for this AU, but why have only one?!

Crown Prince Andy and Second Prince(ss) Julia

We need our Fairy Godmother to bring some miracles to life! And i couldn't pick anyone else for this role than my beloved, Spring 🌸

Let him have some fun!!

This is the real last one, but although it wasn't a sentient character, it would be unforgivable not casting Clothy as Fuuko's dress

(Can you imagine what Andy would do to Clothy once he discovers that he's Fuuko's dress? 💀)

That's all the character designs for this AU, and now i can start drawing some scenes for this AU.

Enjoy this AU compiled timelapse for all the designs in the meantime!

[marymary-diva17]

Hi! Could I possibly request a Star Wars story where reader is Anakin's sister and she is a caretaker and instructor for the temple younglings! In the story say Anakin, Obi-wan, and Ahsoka are all at the temple for a like a family day. Ahsoka, along with several younglings all keep interrupting Anakin, oniwan, and reader from spending time together because they all want to spend time with their surrogate mom. Anakin gets pouty and teased for acting like a youngling. Reader and Anakin exchange gifts and have a day to themselves where Obi-wan gets to watch the younglings and it's like that chaotic scene from hotel transylvania 2 in the daycare where the kids essentially reign chaos upon everything and everyone.

Even due the Jedi order had forbidden and looked down on attachments, when it came to relationships there was times when that rule had been pushed aside. There had been many relationships formed within the Jedi order that were beneficial in the end. Sometime there was relationships that are very special and important to everyone around.

y/n " ......" you are walking down the halls of temple where the youngling of Jedi order are raised and care for as well. That was your job as care taker for the Jedi order youngling to padawans. As you did have the same abilities like your brother, but Quin gon jinn and Yoda could sense there was something special about you. It will be good for you and anakin to still be each other lives after all that happened.

????? " y/n" you soon heard your name getting called as you passed the entrance leading to the courtyard, you had spotted the youngling and padawans. You soon made your way into the courtyard and looked at them.

y/n " hello everyone how are you doing on this wonderful day" today was a day to have time to have a good time or relax, it sometime matter on the Jedi who wish to spend this day.

padwan " we are doing well we have been spending most of the day out here"

youngling 2 " yeah the older kids have been showing us some cool moves as well"

y/n " that sound wonderful I hope you are all being safe about it, we don't need anyone getting hurt"

kids " yes y/n"

y/n " good"

padawan 3 " y/n will you join us out here today if you don't, have any duties that need to be attend to"

y/n " yes I can join you kids as I don't have that much duties it attend to for today"

kids " yeah" you had started helping the kids with their skills holding their lightsabers, along with starting games for them to play as well. The younglings and padawans always love spending time with you and as group, but to them you are like a mom to them. Taking care of them and being there for them when they need advice, along with teach them how to use their lightsabers at time and understand the force.

???? " y/n" you had soon looked and saw Ashoka she soon hugged you, when she reached you.

y/n " hello ashoka you are looking wonderful and I'm happy to see you here"

ashoka " it good to see you as well and were were flying past this planet, and we came to see you"

????? " well I was coming to see you but she tagged along and so did obi wan"

y/n " hello big brother" a

anakin " hello baby sister it seems like caretaker life is going well for you" you soon hugged anakin as he had hugged you back, the two of you had a strong sibling bond. That still stayed the same even after the two of you had become adults and went down different paths in life.

y/n " it this and being a Jedi knight is looking well on you, I have been hearing reports and stories about you"

Obi wan " yes and he still getting in trouble after all these years, I'm surprised that you are the youngest and not him"

y/n " hello obi wan" you soon hugged obi wan and he gives you a hug as well, you were not looking at the trio.

y/n " I'm happy to see you three are looking well I have heard of your, lastly missions for the order and the republic I was worried"

anakain " sorry about that sis but you know it hard to communicate when your on duty"

y/n " I understand"

ashoka " I'm so happy you are still a care taker here"

y/n " yes I love my work and duty here helping the children here, have been good and it good to see them grown and form their own paths in life"

obi wan " the council has been notice the children in your care have been doing well, even if they become knights like us or different paths"

y/n " I always make sure to help them in the path they wish to take"

ashoka " hey I was shocked to see sky guy here is your older brother, you are so not like him"

anakin " watch it snips I still can;t believe my sister was one care taker for you and your friends"

y/n " I see master yoda was right about you two become a pair"

anakain " wait you knew"

y/n " he told me after ashoka had left and he is always right, now that you three are here why don't you join us on this wonderful day we are having"

ashoka " yes" ashoka had smiled brightly she enjoyed spending time with you. She and the children had beens spending a good amount of time with you, making your brother jealous as he now had to share you attention and time with more people.

obi wan " hey children why don't I show you some nice moves with the help of ashoka"

ashoka " really master"

obi wan " yes"

children " can we care taker y/n"

y/n " yes it good to learn from a master like obi wan and padawan like ashoka" the kids had ran off towards obi wan and ashoka, you soon spotted anakin standing alone on balcony. You soon walked towards him.

y/n " it has been so long since we had been those kids living on tatoonie"

anakin " yes it has we have been through alot in life"

y/n " yes and I think our mom will be happy and proud of us, we have been able to live our lives and no longer trapped in the same place for the rest of our lives"

anakin " you are think baby sister and I'm happy you are still in my life"

y/n " I will always be here for you no matter what happens" anakin soon smiled and brought you into a hug as the two siblings, look out on planet.

[ltleflrt]

The new Eminem music and the controversy over it is really interesting. We've got the younglings clutching their pearls over the offensiveness of the lyrics, and we've got the GenX and Millenials bonding over how Slim Shady is actually going easy in this song, compared to his old stuff. It's very funny really.

See, as a Xennial, I clearly remember how in the late 90s and early 00s, deliberately offensive comedy was en vogue. There was Eminem, Daniel Tosh, Bloodhound Gang, just to name a few of my personal faves. It was an elaborate game of "your mama" jokes, and trying to one up each other. No one actually hates each other's mama; it was just a framing device for creative insults that don't actually hurt anyone's feelings. There was an understanding that they knew they were being offensive and seeing how hard they could make their audience groan. The "ugh that's AWFUL" experience was funny. Like groaning at a stupid pun. We knew it was bad, and we weren't laughing because we agreed, we were laughing because "bro, you don't SAY shit like that!" It was satire, and we all recognized it.

Except, we didn't all recognize it for satire, did we? Suddenly there was an influx of comedians who were making offensive jokes about things they genuinely believed. And the joke changed from "this is funny because we all know it's bad" to "this is funny because we all know it's true", and that was a huge problem.

For the most part, people recognized that it was starting to go wrong, and there was a backlash against offensive humor. Justifiably. And the good comedians took that feedback and either changed their routines, or they faded into the background. Even Eminem went away. The comedians that pushed back against the backlash started to actually seem to mean the offensive jokes, and they're people we now frown on. Ricky Gervaise comes to mind. Still doing offensive comedy, but now I think he's just an asshole.

I do think Eminem believed some, if not most, of what he was saying and it wasn't entirely satire, but I think he still took the feedback gracefully and stopped making music for a while. And now he's back, and he's being mildly offensive, but we've cultivated new generations who don't get the joke. I'm not sure whether that's good because we're like "being mean isn't funny", or if it's bad because younger generations have lost the ability to understand and appreciate satire. A little of both, maybe.

[roseaesynstylae]

Star Wars: Republic Commando: Hard Contact, Chapters 5 & 6

Chapter 5

Best piece of kit is the eyeball. It was the first piece of advice Skirata had ever given him.

On one hand, that is legitimately good advice. On the other, every time I see the name Skirata, I feel an automatic urge to start ranting.

"'You're a di'kut,' Hokan said.

[...]

'A di'kut, sir.'

'You've made me look like a di'kut, too. I don't like that.'"

Di'kut Count: 6

Chapter 6

"There could never be home for her. No loves, no attachments, no commitments except the Force."

That wasn't for Etain, that's all for Karen Traviss.

JEDI ARE NOT FORBIDDEN FROM LOVE!!! Here is a post that explains that, and here is another, and here is another.

Oh, look at that phrasing. Loves. I don't know about you, but the word loves, at least in this context, means romantic partners to me. It's the first thing mentioned in that little litany. This going to get a count in future books, but I'll say it here as well: The fact that the women in these books really only exist as cause for men's conflict and/or living fleshlights makes me want to strangle a bitch. Already, we're getting hints of this attitude; in the middle of a very dangerous, emotionally draining situation, she's thinking about how she'll never get a boyfriend. And I do mean boyfriend, because the idea that Etain might like women or just not be interested in romance and/or sex is never even considered.

ATTACHMENT IS NOT A GOOD THING IN STAR WARS!!!! AND ATTACHMENT IS NOT THE SAME THING AS LOVE!!! CHRIST!!! DO WE NEED A GODDAMN FLASHING SIGN IN EVERY STAR WARS WRITER'S WORKPLACE EXPLAINING THAT??!!

Jedi-Bashing: 10 (one for each idiotic listing)

"Etain couldn't actually remember a grandmother, or any of her biological family, of course. Family wasn't familiar or soothing because she had grown up in a commune of Jedi novices, educated and raised and cared for by her own kind, and by that she never meant human."

Again, aimed directly at Traviss.

There is ample canon evidence that the Jedi love and care for each other like family. Look at Ahsoka! Plo Koon is like her father/uncle, Anakin is her older brother, and Obi-Wan is like her uncle. Of course, that's applying traditional familial labels to their order, but it gets the idea across.

Why is Etain thinking like this? Like that above passage says, she was raised in the Jedi Order. She shouldn't be thinking like this, considering that all depictions of younglings show them being very happy with their lives. If I were in her shoes, I'd be thinking about how nice the Jedi Temple is and how much I miss my crechemates.

Oh, I know exactly why.

Even at this early point, Traviss can't hold back her disdain for the Jedi Order. Even though Etain shouldn't be thinking like this, she is so Traviss can bash the Jedi through her POV. In other words:

Jedi-Bashing: 12

Jedi-Bashing: 12

Di'kut Count: 6

Main Post

[chipthekeeper]

so. instead of typing out my reactions as the show played, i recorded a voice memo of my own personal commentary. some highlights lots of nonsense under the cut

episode 1

- As excited as I am for this……I wish it was Andor

- Please be good

- Immediate alien. All of the Andor criticisms out the window. We're back

- Why did she pay that guy? This is like the main place. He barely pointed. She was very easy to find

- It's hitting me that this is High Republic shit and that's just fucking beautiful. I might cry. Oh my god, spinning noodles

- Backup knifes. Oh god….She sliced your backup knifes

- oh [splutters] a backup backup knife!!!

- She's got another backup knife?!

- Man, that was so fast. Like. I mean, I knew, we all knew. But damn

- Come on, he's just a noodle guy. Leave him alone

- IN THE COLD OPEN! She dies in the cold open. Fucking hell. God

- Okay, so she has different hair. So maybe it's not Moon Knight

- Oh fuck, I love this ship. I'm going to be obsessed with this

- [gasps] Pip!!! [pathetic whining] he’s a babyyyy [voice breaking] Oh my god. I would die for him

- [just fully unintelligible noises for Pip]

- [chuckling] aha! Trade feds, neimoidians. heh. It's all coming together….

- They have better accents this time

- Yeah, Pip. Come on, buddy. He's like a multi-tool. This is hilarious. [wheezing laughter]

- Oh, what's this? [gasps] A VECTOR!!! Holy fucking shit. [laughs in satisfied THR fan]

- YORD!!! TIME FOR THE YORD HORDE HERE WE GOOOOO

- Yord. You’re such a prick– ohhh n….Mind touch. Or not. Ugh, I don't like that. Yorddd. You're a prick. Your padawan is cool though.

- Oh my god, they're buddies!

- “Your mothers, your sister” (truly the most ugly and horrifying sound you’ve ever heard came from my mouth here)

- What's HAPPENING?

- Yord. Come on, buddy

- Iron Man?

- Yeah, we know it's Coruscant. Looks like it's made out of Legos. That's great

- *Sol telling the younglings the force is an ocean or whatever* [adorable whining] Elzar Mann coded!!

- “Master Vernestra” [another very ugly noise] Oh god, what a thing to hear. Oh fuck

- “i remember when you were that small” [giggling] fuck

- [delighted laughter] They become chairs, that's amazingggggg

- Wheeeeeeee! Oh shit

- Piiiiiip! Pip, wake up. D-does he have legs? Can he move? I-I don't know if he can move on his own

- Oh, oh–oh n-no…. (tbh don’t even remember what was happening here)

- Now you gotta land this thing. Oh, it's on..fire ahhh that’s a problem. Girl, good luck

- You better hold..your little droid. Hold him!

- [delighted gasp] Jecki!!

- “it is highly unlikely she survived” Oh, it was a very lucky crash, don't worry about it

- ....I think we should give Vernestra some hair back

- Okay, I'm out on Moon Knight theory again, which is great because I like..the other way better

- Well……..No, no, I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. Not gonna suck me back in again……….Oh god but it would be interesting if she thinks—ah fuck!

- *scary horror movie twin thing* [terrified] Ah, what the!! Who the fuck is that? [whispering] what the fuck…..oh. Uh-uh. Mmhm. oh. Horrifying. Scary. I don't like this at all. Wwwwhat was that? [incredulous noises] What the fuck?

- [delighted] Yord!!!

- [gasps] Selkath! Name That Alien, babeeyyyy!

- Yorddd! He’s ripped!!

- Just. Put your shirt on, bud……I can't wait for that to be gifs

- Back to this terrifying shit

- Oh, it's baby you………..Oh there's some Force shit happeninggggg

- uhhhhhh?

- “i saw her die” did you though???

- Yord put your lightsaber away, dickhead….it’s pretty though, don’t put it away :)

- Yord! Chill!

- Okay. Capital A Acolyte, so….

- Is each of the episode titles going to be for both of them?

- Nina Gold casting! the goat. un-de-feat-ed

- I'm sure I don't need to sit here and watch all the credits.......[gasps] Neal Scanlan! ah see, I would've missed that

episode 2

- *watching previously on, "mothers" mentioned* Show me motherrrrr!

- [stressed out sigh] I'm confused. I hope to be less confused by the end of this episode. But if not, we'll talk about it…..I say as if I'm speaking to someone besides myself

- Jedi outpost! When are we?

- Not cool Mae

- Is she going to kill somebody in the cold open of every episode? because that's going to really..start to hurt

- WOW, you guys are so unaware. How are you Jedi?

- “attack me, with all your strength” just–nobody wants to do that, do they?

- [delighted giggling throughout Mae/Torbin “fight”]

- Oh, Tommen. Why are his feet weird? Is he….not human? He’s gotta be human

- *osha talking about being flexible* Oh. Flirting? No, that's inappropriate………..There's flirting. It’s happening

- “let’s say this twin theory holds true” [ironic cackling]

- So Yord's a cop, which is unfortunate. As a founding member of the Yord Horde

- *Mae picks up a cup while Qimir is sleeping* Throw it at him. *she throws it at him* [satisfied cackle] I'm always right

- It'd be so funny if he's not the guy

- Hmmmmmm……So he can also be an Acolyte?

- I need this drink shaker

- So I like it much better if he's not the guy and he's just….helpin’

- So you're cheating at your Jedi killing homework and you don't want your boy to narc. That's hilarious

- [snorting] Your dad never likes when you get a tattoo

- [theorizing mumbles] They came to recruit…and the girl started the fire….They took her afterward….Fuck

- [whispering] I don't know what to do with my arms

- It's pretty theeeere. I'm going to be obsessed with this planet

- “i know why you took the Barash Vow” [most delighted scream/gasp yet] BARASH VOW MENTIONED!!! [confused mumbling] Okay, but he's there–why is…Did he come out of it?.......Oh, it's a different variant of the vow?

- [cackling in Tommen Baratheon] He sounds like a full grown man. Ohhh my god. Was not ready for that

- *kitten squeaks in background, not relevant to commentary but had to mention*

- Well, that's not good–girl, get out of there! Don't touch the evidence! Oh my God. You’re not helping yourself here, kid

- Go, escape, flee

- Atta boy, Yord

- Ohh that guy better be a descendant of Ram Jomaram

- You go, Jecki. Oh she’s so proud of herself [chuckling]

- Why do I have a feeling this isn’t gonna work?.......You’re very bad at this

- “Maybe supply us with the truth” Ooh! Get him, Yord!

- “I have a bad feeling about this” YEEEEAAHHHHHHH

- “You are not my master. I do not need you anymore.” ouch

- [groaning] I'm with Yord, I have a bad feeling about this

- Ope, all your backup knifes is gooone….

- Wheeee! [chuckles] Yord.

- [extremely high pitched] ooooohhhh thebackupknifehedidn’tfind!!!!

- BWAH SMOKESCREEN!!

- Are they gonna run together? I would like that to happen. Run and go back to Mom

- Go, go with her……Missed. Missed on purpose!

- Kind of hurts me to see what Vernestra becomes

- Man, if she kills Kelnacca, I'm gonna be so mad

- *episode ends* DAmmit!! Ugh. God. Fuck! [grumbling] This is gonna be a long ass week

so clearly i'm very normal about all this !