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biaswreckingfics · 3 years ago

Text

Liminal: Part 1

Pairing: EXO x Female Reader

Genre: Witch!AU

Word Count: 4.5k

Warnings: Some strong language

Summary: Magic. Murder. Mystery. You don't know when this became your life, but your choice in the matter is long gone. Someone is after you, someone is killing witches, and when a coven approaches you and tells you you're one of them? You're sure they're crazy. What's so magical about a girl stuck working in a greenhouse?

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Junmyeon swipes up the newspaper that Chanyeol had thrown down on the table with a sigh. Kyungsoo watches the anger take over his face as he reads the article they have all already had the displeasure of seeing.

Another senseless murder.

Another witch dead.

Everyone in the room shares the same frustration. The same anger and helplessness that is fleeting across Junmyeon's face at this very second, and they have no idea how to stop it.

This is the sixth body that has shown up in the past two months. The police think it’s a serial killer, but they have no real idea of what's happening. All they keep managing to do is get in the way of the people who actually have a chance of solving the murders - and they needed to be solved quickly before anyone else is killed.

None of the covens or elders can figure out why this is happening. What would someone gain from killing witches? Even worse, what would someone gain from killing witches that didn’t practice magic?

That is part of what shocked Kyungsoo. Not only were witches being slaughtered, but there were entire lines of witches hidden from the covens. Sure, he had heard of people going into hiding after the war centuries ago, but he hadn’t realized how many there were or that they were still in hiding after a couple hundred years.

Did those who were killed even know they were magical or was that knowledge lost to them a long time ago?

It was a surprise to the elders too. When the first few deaths occurred, none of them realized it was witches being killed off. The only reason anyone figured it out is because an Elder works on the police force. Kyungsoo didn’t know if it was his instincts or something about the way they were murdered that caused red flags to go off in the Elder’s head, but if it wasn’t for him, they still wouldn’t know. He raised concern, and others began tracing back the deceased familial lines, ultimately discovering it’s their own being murdered.

“What should we do?” Seoyeon quietly asks.

“You carry on with what you’ve been doing.” The High Priestess says as she sweeps into the room. “You keep perfecting your skills, and let the Elders keep tracing family lines.”

Jongdae watches her from across the room, already shaking his head as she speaks. “That’s not enough. We need to find these other hidden witches before whoever is killing them does.”

“How do you suppose you’re going to find someone you don’t even know exists?” She asks calmly, clasping her hands in front of her as she comes to a stop next to Junmyeon. When nobody offers her an answer, she continues. “Running around like a bunch of blind mice isn’t going to solve anything. Obviously, report it if you see any suspicious activity. Otherwise, let the Elders handle this for now.”

Her words frustrate some of the members, but they leave no room for argument. Besides, only fools would argue with their High Priestess. Though, something about her words sends a thought through Kyungsoo’s brain.

He has noticed suspicious activity lately at a place that he frequents quite often. At first, he thought it was just paranoia because of the murders, but now he thinks it’d be stupid to ignore. Especially when someone’s life could be at stake.

“The greenhouse,” his deep voice rumbles, causing everyone to look at him. “I’ve noticed odd people hanging around there, and they only started coming once the murders began. I thought it was in my head, but now I’m not so sure.”

He ignores the way his cousin’s eyebrows furrow and focuses solely on the High Priestess, who nods at his words.

“I’ll check into the employees that work there. For now, continue going there to keep an eye on things.”

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You hum to yourself as you bend down and check the sage plants for any bugs. There’s only about an hour left of work, and you figure this is the quickest way to pass the time. Plus, you didn’t mind this part of the job. It’s mindless and lets you escape into your fantasy world that is always quietly calling your name.

“Did you know that some people use sage to ward off evil?”

You jump when you first hear the deep voice next to you, but a smile quickly grows on your face. Kyungsoo. One of the greenhouse’s most consistent customers and definitely one of your more favorite customers. His monotone voice would make you think he’s bored, but you could always hear the passion in it when he talked about plants.

You straighten up to meet his stare. “Is that why I get the random terrified customer that comes in asking for it?”

The smile immediately falls from his face as he processes your words. “What?”

“I’m joking, Kyungsoo,” you tell him as you hold back a laugh. “Besides, aren’t there specialty shops for that?”

“Probably.” He shrugs his shoulders before a curious gaze takes over. “So, do you believe in things like that?”

“In evil spirits?” A small laugh escapes from you. “No, not really. Ghosts, demons, magic… I don’t believe in any of it, but if someone comes in here looking for sage to protect themselves, I’m definitely not going to stop them.”

Kyungsoo nods at your words, but you can tell his mind is elsewhere. Either lost in a world of magic and evil or just in a daze. You glance past him to make sure everything else in the greenhouse is going okay and notice another customer watching you.

Changmin. Someone who only recently started coming to the greenhouse but wasted no time in trying to get to know you.

“Do you need any help Changmin?” you ask, causing Kyungsoo to look over at him.

The two make eye contact for a moment, and you curiously take in the sight. Did they know each other? Because the vibes you’re getting aren’t exactly friendly.

“I do, actually.” Changmin finally says, ripping his gaze away from Kyungsoo to look at you.

“Okay. One second.” You tell him, focusing back on the man in front of you. “Did you need anything else, Kyungsoo?”

He eyes Changmin a little longer before turning back toward you. “I’m good. Thanks. I’ll see you around, though.”

You nod and watch him walk away before making your way over to Changmin. His brown eyes still watch Kyungsoo until he’s out of the store, causing you to furrow your brows in confusion.

“What’s up?” You ask in an attempt to get his attention.

“How long have you known him?” He asks, leveling you with a stare.

You jerk in surprise at the unexpected question. There’s no obligation to answer him, but you can’t deny you’re curious why someone you barely know would ask that.

“He’s been shopping here for a couple years. Why?”

Changmin slowly nods before looking back in the direction Kyungsoo had left in. You study his side profile, taking in the locked jaw and intense stare. They had to know each other, and not in a good way.

“Changmin?”

He studies you for a moment before saying, “I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.”

Your mouth parts slightly as you try to take in his words. Who just says something like that, and why did he think he could say it to you?

A smile grows on his lips as he takes in your expression. “Just some friendly advice.”

“…Right.” You finally find your voice, though a weird feeling fills you. Something about this entire thing feels off, and you don’t want to be dragged into it.

“Well, thanks for the help.” He winks at you and heads toward the entrance.

A minute passes before you find your bearings again. That entire encounter was awkward, and what’s more, you never even helped Changmin, so you didn’t know what exactly he was thanking you for.

Pushing the last five minutes from your mind, you pick up a nearby watering can and start giving some of the drier plants a little bit of water. You follow the same monotonous routine as you normally do and sigh. You’re so bored… and not just here but in general.

Working at the greenhouse is fun, and it’s refreshing to be surrounded by nature and warmth every single day, but it isn’t enough. You crave excitement and adventure. You want to travel the world and experience all that life has to offer, and you know you won’t find that here in the greenhouse.

You want more.

As your night wraps up, you turn off the lights and begin to head out, turning to lock up the greenhouse before you go. It’s the same routine that you always have, but something about tonight feels different. Something in the air feels different.

Brushing off the odd feeling, you throw the greenhouse keys in your bag and begin the journey home. It’s nights like these that you’re grateful you only live a couple blocks away. You get to tune into your thoughts and let your mind wander in the peace and quiet of the night, but tonight, that odd feeling remains.

You glance over your shoulder to glimpse the empty streets. Vehicles parked along the road for the night and a few trees scattered along the sidewalk greet you, but that’s all. No other human being catches your attention; however, you still can’t shake the feeling growing inside of you. The feeling that you’re being followed.

Quickening your pace, you try to remain calm and clearheaded. The odds that you’re being followed aren’t very high, but the recent string of murders in the city has you feeling on edge anyway. You debate if you should continue going home or if you should go somewhere else, but there’s no public place between the greenhouse and your apartment, so you continue on your path.

It’s probably just paranoia, especially since it’s nearly all the city can talk about. The news, the papers, social media… it’s everywhere, and that’s why you assume the odd feelings are just in your head. You’re psyching yourself out… but that still doesn’t stop you from feeling a sense of relief the second you get into your apartment.

Locking the door immediately behind you, you take a deep breath before letting out a breathy laugh at your actions. They were warranted, but you still felt a little silly. You turn on the lights and move to drop your bag on the table near the door. Before you can take any further steps into the apartment, your phone rings and you phish it out of your pocket, barely glancing at the caller ID because you already know who it is.

“Hey, mom,” you greet her.

“Did you make it home okay?” The worry is clear in her voice, so you avoid any sassy responses and move to sit on your couch.

“Yep! Safe and sound.”

You’ve grown used to the nightly phone calls you’ve been getting from your parents over the past couple of weeks. Ever since the news broke the first couple of murder stories, your parents have been worried sick about you, even more than usual. You’ve been trying to keep them calm and not become frustrated by their actions because you understand. You’re their only child, and you live alone in a dangerous city, but sometimes you really want to forget about the horrors that exist on the other side of your apartment door.

“Good! Make sure your door is locked!”

“It is mom.”

You hear her sigh on the other end of the phone. “You know we just want you safe, sweetie.”

“I know, and I love you for it.”

“Love you too, baby. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

You let out a soft laugh as you hang up the phone and drop it on the couch. Turning your head towards the window, you take in the city lights and listen to the soft sounds of the still bustling city that slip through the glass. Your mind can’t help but think about the odd feeling you had when you left work. The feeling that you were being followed. Was it paranoia as you suspected, or something more sinister?

The following days prove to be just as boring as usual, and after your spooky walk home a few days ago, you welcome it. For once in your life, you welcome the quiet, boring life you lead. The only difference you’ve noticed over the past few days is the more frequent visits of Kyungsoo and Changmin. It’s like every time you turn around, one of them is there. It’s almost eerie how they manage to do it.

Kyungsoo is a welcome distraction. He often talks about the plants you have in the greenhouse and similar ones he thinks you should talk your superiors into growing. He often makes comments about magical herbs or ones that’d be used in rituals, and you have to laugh. It’s funny to you how into magic he is, but you can tell he’s passionate about it, so you let him continue telling his stories.

Changmin, on the other hand, seems more concerned about Kyungsoo than you or the greenhouse. You often catch him watching Kyungsoo from a distance, and you know Kyungsoo can feel it because he has caught him several times himself. It’s odd how Changmin doesn’t even bother trying to hide it, and things take a really weird turn when Changmin approaches you about him directly.

‘Didn’t I warn you not to trust that guy?”

The small shovel you’re holding in your hand drops back into the pot as you stand up to greet Changmin. “Hello to you, too.”

His eyebrow quirks up as you ignore his previous sentence. “Hi. Did you not hear what I just said to you?”

“I heard you just fine. What I’m not hearing is an explanation.” He gives you a confused look, so you elaborate. “This is the second time you’ve told me not to trust Kyungsoo, but you’ve yet to give me a reason. Kyungsoo has been nothing but nice to me while you, on the other hand, keep sending him death glares across the greenhouse and telling me not to trust him.”

He studies your expression for a moment before nodding. “I just thought I’d help you out. You’re a nice girl. Maybe a little too nice. Didn’t your parents ever teach you that looks can be deceiving?”

Confusion causes your brows to furrow as you try to figure out how on earth you should even respond to that. This man that you barely knew, not only is telling you not to trust someone but is calling you naïve directly to your face. Who does stuff like this?

“I’m just saying,” he shrugs his shoulders, “maybe watch who you befriend.”

You meet his stare for a moment before saying, “Yeah… I’ll do that.”

For the rest of your shift, all you can think about is how relieved you are that Changmin is gone. The man is starting to creep you out and why he felt like he could tell you who you could and couldn’t trust really bugged you. The two of you are friendly but not friends. You barely know him, so why does he think he can come up to you and say things like that?

“Don’t forget to turn out the lights!” Your coworker reminds you as she breezes past towards the door.

“I got it, don’t worry. See you tomorrow!”

She throws you a smile as she exits the greenhouse, and you try to focus on the last-minute things you need to do, but your mind is elsewhere. Sighing, you toss your work gloves into a bin by the counter and move to grab your purse. You’ll deal with the rest tomorrow.

As you walk out of the greenhouse and turn to lock up, you get an eerie sense of déjà vu. You lift your head up and look at the area around you. The sight that greets you causes a bad feeling to work its way up your spine.

People are scattered all over the place. On the sidewalk on each side of the greenhouse and across the street. They stay half-hidden in the shadows. Not enough to show their faces, but enough that you can tell they’re there.

You take a deep breath and try to keep calm while you watch the shadows. There had to be 10 to 15 people around you, and that’s enough to set off your alarm bells because you’d usually only see maybe four people maximum when you closed.

The way they all stand still as they watch you causes your heart rate to spike. You stare at the wooden door in front of you and debate on running back into the greenhouse since the key is still in the lock, but you know that’s not going to stop them from whatever it is they plan on doing. Something tells you they’re here for you and that they won’t stop until they get what they want. You don’t know why, but your body is screaming it at you.

You needed to find a place with people, or at least, a busy street, and there wasn’t any toward your apartment, so you pull the key out of the lock and head in the opposite direction. Your steps are slow as you come close to one of the people leaning against the building next to you. The girl doesn’t move as you pass her, and though you try to find her eyes, it’s like she leans back deeper into the shadows, making it even harder to see her.

Once you pass her, you pick up your pace and almost swear when you hear footsteps behind you. You knew this was going to happen. Now, you just have to be quicker than the rest of them.

Quickening your pace to a jog, you force yourself not to look behind you. Every time the person looks behind themselves in a movie, they fall and bust their ass. That would not be you. However, something else tries to force its way inside your head…

What if these people had something to do with those murders?

You force yourself into a jog, noting the wind has noticeably picked up. Good. Maybe they’ll get tired of going against the wind to follow you. You smile at the thought until you feel the wind push against you even harder.

You stumble a little at the force of it but try to keep going. You ignore the harsh whip of it against your face, but it stings enough that you question where the heck this wind even came from. Was it even supposed to storm today? You could’ve sworn the forecast said sun all day when you woke up.

An even harder gust of wind slams against you, and you find it nearly impossible to move your body. Chancing a glance behind you, you see the people that are following you having an even tougher time. It’s like they’re somehow getting even more wind than you are.

What the hell is going on? You’ve never experienced wind like this. It’s almost… unnatural.

Lightning arcs across the sky, being immediately followed by thunder, and all you can think is “great, a freak storm, that’s exactly what you need right now”. You look up at the sky and feel your face scrunch in confusion. There aren’t any visible clouds, so you’re not entirely sure where this storm is coming from.

More bolts of lightning streak across the sky, lighting up the road around you until suddenly one of the bolts hits a streetlight behind you. The thunder that accompanies the bolt is monstrous, startling you into turning around and searching for damage.

Smoke comes off the light that had just been struck, but before you can process it, another bolt hits the light across from it, sending two of your followers stumbling. You jump back as more bolts begin hitting the road, and that’s when you realize the lightning isn’t following any basic laws of science. Tall buildings, other streetlights, plenty of metal objects surround you, and instead, the lightning hits the ground, bypassing everything. Even odder, the bolts only hit the ground around the people behind you, none of them near you.

Momentarily stunned by the odd storm, you realize this is the perfect distraction to get away. You turn back around and begin to fight against the wind to move. At first, it feels like you’re cemented to the ground, but ever so slightly, it becomes easier to move. You push harder, fearing that if it’s easier for you, it’ll be easier for your followers to move as well.

Wetness suddenly hits your face, distracting you and causing you to look back up at the sky. Rain too? Of course, it makes sense, but there weren’t even any clouds thirty seconds ago. The sky opens up moments later, dropping so much rain on you that you’re drenched instantly. It pelts against you almost painfully, like thousands of needles being jabbed in your skin, and you cry out before you can stop yourself.

Turning your head towards the buildings alongside you, you search for a place to hide out. You can’t stay in this rain any longer, and when you glance behind you, you notice most of the creepy people fleeing the storm, making your sense of urgency dwindle. What you need to do now is find shelter, then as soon as the storm lets up, you can go get help.

Taking a step towards the buildings on your side, you notice a shape approaching you and you immediately tense up. The creepy people didn’t leave like you thought. They just went around to trap you instead. You quickly back away as the figure moves closer to you and notice it’s not as hard to move as it was. The wind is starting to let up as is the rain, allowing you to see the person approaching you.

You blink a few times as you take in his sudden appearance.

“Kyungsoo?”

“Come with me,” he urgently tells you, holding his hand out for you to grab.

You look between his hand and his face as you try to push past the startling confusion you’re feeling. What the hell is he suddenly doing here, and why does he want you to go with him?

“Please! We don’t have a lot of time!”

The urgency in his voice has you looking over your shoulder. You didn’t have a lot of time? Is he talking about those people? How would he know about anything that’s going on?

“Where?” You turn back to him and shout to be heard over the rain.

“Please, just trust me!” He yells, looking behind you.

You send one more peek over your shoulder before glancing down at his hand. Changmin’s words telling you not to trust Kyungsoo work their way into your mind, but you squash them. You barely know Changmin, and a part of you feels like you can trust Kyungsoo. He, at least, feels safer than being out on these streets alone at night.

Taking a deep breath, you place your hand in his and allow him to pull you back in the direction he came from. The two of you run toward the end of the block, and then he pulls you around the corner, where you see a black car already running and waiting for you.

He opens the backdoor, and without question, you jump in. You look up as you find your seat and come face to face with another man. Your movements halt, but Kyungsoo jumps in after you, blocking your only exit. You look up to the front of the car and see two more unfamiliar men in the driver and passenger seats.

Oh. You fucked up. There’s no possible way jumping in an unfamiliar vehicle with three strangers and someone you barely know isn’t a fuck up.

“What the hell, Kyungsoo?” You turn and hiss at him.

“Calm down. Everything’s going to be okay.” He tells you as he places his hand on your arm.

You immediately move away from him, not wanting him to touch you. “Like hell it is!”

Tearing your gaze from Kyungsoo, you look at the other men in the car, and that’s when it hits you. Not a single one of them is paying any attention to you. They’re all concentrating on something behind you, outside of the vehicle. You take a moment to study them as they focus on whatever it is they’re doing.

Next to you is a thin man with brushed-back hair. You see his eyes focusing on the trees as they almost violently sway, and you assume he’s as curious about the wind as you. In the driver seat is a shorter, muscular man. He stares out at the rain like he’s almost in a daze, and an unnerving feeling begins to prod at your skin. Lastly, in the passenger seat is another man, but his face is turned away from you. All you can tell is that he’s looking up at the sky like it holds all the answers.

Slowly, you turn to face Kyungsoo, who’s looking out the back of the car in the direction you came from. He must feel your eyes on him because he quickly turns to face you. You try to find your voice to speak, but the most that comes out is a whisper.

“What the fuck is happening?”

Before he can answer you, you feel movement from your side, and you immediately snap your head in that direction. You meet the cautious stare of the man next to you, the one who was watching the trees, and blink a few times before you realize how quiet it has gotten.

Reluctantly, you pull your gaze away from the man and look out the window, noticing the storm had disappeared as quickly as it came. The night is now silent and eerie. The trees no longer sway, the rain no longer drops, and the lightning is long gone. You sit frozen as you try to figure out how any of this is logically possible until you realize that it’s not just the man next to you that is focused on you. The two men in the front are as well.

You turn to look at Kyungsoo, the only one you know. “You have about five seconds to tell me what the hell is going on.”

He searches your face a moment before nodding. “You’re in danger.”

You quickly open your mouth to argue with how absurd that sounds, but he holds his hand up to quiet you.

“Those people are after you, and they’re not going to stop until you’re dead.”

Tagging: @haveanotherkpopblog @iibonniee @making-me-blush @monbabyzshoebill @jay-scenarios @svmmi-viv @quaaacky @lunaselenamoon98 @moonlightcandy00 @kpop---scenarios @baekhyunsdangerouswoman @bellapinkrose @sanaxking

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zafirosreverie · 4 years ago

Note

What about a Liv fic where after the collider is destroyed Reader is scared Liv is dead. But Liv is just injured and hiding for a few days until things cool down and she finally goes to see Reader at her apartment. Reader is crying and angry, but mostly because she'd been so scared she'd lost Liv? Thank you for all the work you do!

Here it is! I’m sorry it took me so long, but i hope you like it!

The ghost on my door (Olivia x Reader)

You sobbed as you hugged yourself, clinging to an old lab coat like your life depended on it. You had been in that same position for the last few days, only getting out of bed to eat something once a day and take a bath, then you went back to your room.

You desperately wanted to wake up, for everything to be a horrible nightmare and for your girlfriend to be there when you opened your eyes, ready to make your fears disappear with kisses and caresses.

But no. It didn't matter how many times you woke up, expecting to see Liv by your side, she was never there.

You had seen the news: Spiderman dead, a new Spiderman taking his place, Alchemax destroyed, death toll still unconfirmed.

Dr. Olivia Octavius: Missing, presumed deceased.

Your heart had stopped when you saw your girlfriend's picture with that header. You refused to believe it was true. Liv had promised you that she would be careful, that she would return to you no matter what. In that moment you had believed her, because she had always kept her promises. Maybe it was your mistake for letting her go through with the collider.

You knew your girlfriend wasn't exactly a good person, but you've never tried to change her, or take her away from science. It was part of her and you loved her like that. You hadn't even complained about her alter ego, on the contrary, in fact you had fallen as much in love with Doc Ock as you already were with Olivia Octavius.

Your mistake.

You knew Doc Ock might one day be the end of Olivia, but she had looked at you with such excitement the first time she managed to get her tentacles to work, that you had allowed her to continue.

But how much was too much?

You had waited patiently for her to contact you, for her to show up at your door or at least give you some sign that she was okay. But it had been days and nothing. You still refused to accept that she might not be here anymore, but your heart was already crying for her.

__________

Olivia sighed as she finished taking her suit apart. It hurt her soul to have to undo all her hard work and bury the pieces deep in the forest. She couldn't even keep a tentacle.

But she knew it was necessary to keep you safe, she would have time to build a new suit. The important thing now was to get to you as quickly as possible, without attracting attention to herself.

Days had passed since Alchemax was destroyed by the collider, and the news were already reporting her disappearance, some even giving her up for dead.

She felt guilty for not calling you, or at least giving you a sign that she was still alive, but she didn't want to risk Spider-Man or someone more dangerous tracking you down. She had to be the first to get to you, and the only way to do that was to disappear for a while, until things calmed down a bit.

However, she didn't count on how much she would miss you or how worried she was that you were okay, so after a few days of hiding, she decided to take a chance and try to come to you. Things were still relatively recent, the police were still looking for possible survivors and it was dangerous for her to be seen out there, they would ask questions that she was not sure she could answer and they could discover her alter ego. But it didn't matter, she needed to see you.

Liv walked through the shadows, circling as much as she could all human activity. She was thankful that your home wasn't that far from where Alchemax used to be, even though it was still a long walk.

By the time she got to town, it had already gotten dark. But the need to see you was greater than exhaustion, so she didn't stop for a single moment.

As she got closer to your house, her steps slowed. Fear and worry grew in her chest as her treacherous mind began to create terrible scenarios. What if you were mad at her? What if you didn't want her anymore? What if you decided you didn't want her to be Doc Ock again? And worst of all: What if you believed the news and thought she was dead?

What if you weren't waiting for her anymore?

That thought chilled her blood, but she tried to convince herself that you would always wait for her. You promised.

“You promised to return that day too” Said her treacherous mind.

Shaking her head, she walked the last few meters to your house. She had to be honest with you, you had to know that she was alive. If you didn't want to see her after that, well ... it would break her heart, but she would respect your decision.

___________

You jumped when you heard the knock on the door. Who the hell could be at this hour? It better not be another one of your friends trying to cheer you up.

There were few people who knew about your relationship with Liv, but they were close enough to come visit you to make sure you were okay when the news of the scientist's disappearance came out. You were grateful for the gesture, but you didn't have the energy to deal with it, not at the time.

"Guys, really, you are very nice but I don't want to go out for dinner" you said before opening the door.

Time stopped when you saw who was standing in front of you. You were dreaming, of that you were sure. Either that or there was a fucking ghost in front of you because there was no way she-

"Y/N" Liv whispered, not wanting to scare you.

"No" you shook your head "No, no. You're not here" you said, feeling your breathing quicken.

Liv looked at you hurted, her heart clenching as she realized that indeed you weren't expecting her anymore.

"Y/N" she whispered again, approaching you carefully

"No!" you hissed, tears already running down your face "No, you can't do this to me ... I waited for you for days, I cried for whole nights. You can't ..."

But she did. There she was, in front of you, alive and safe, just one step away from you. You looked at her chest, rising and falling calmly, showing you that she was still breathing, her cheeks were flushed, showing that there was still blood in her.

You took her by surprise when you pulled her suddenly, shoving her into the house and closing the door behind her. Liv gasped when her back hit the wall hard, but she didn't have time to complain when your lips slammed against hers.

You were angry, a lot, and you let her know in that kiss. You demanded everything from her, you wanted her lips to turn red from the pressure you exerted, you wanted to snatch her air as you had lost it after crying so much. You wanted to feel her.

"I hate you" you whispered against her mouth before kissing her again "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you" you said quickly.

Liv wrapped her arms around you, drawing you even closer. Your tears kept falling, but anger quickly turned to relief.

"I hate you" you said again, looking into her eyes

"I know" she smiled sadly at you "I deserve it" she accepted "but I come to ask for an opportunity to make you love me again"

You laughed waterily, kissing her again.

"You have little time to do it" you said

"How much?" she asked

"From here until I die, more or less" you smiled, looking into her eyes.

Liv laughed and your heart leapt at the view of the little lines in her eyes. God how you had missed every part of her.

"I can work with that" she said, pulling you in for another kiss.

________________

A few weeks later, the world woke up to the news that Dr. Olivia Octavius was alive. The newspapers were filled with images of the two holding hands and the headline:

Dr. Olivia Octavius, engaged to Dr. Y/N Y/L/N.

#x reader #reader insert #imagine #olivia octavius imagine #olivia octavius x reader #olivia octavius #doc ock x reader #doc ock #doc ock imagine #into the spider verse #request

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thoughtfullyyoungduck · 4 years ago

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Scars

Summary: could you do a losers club x reader where she has scars or maybe she’s having a panic attack and basically she just hides it and then the losers find out and comfort her and they find out it’s henry so they all go and confront him

Warning: mentions of scars and low self-esteem because of it

A/N: I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think

‘Hey guys, the clubhouse is the other way, or did you forget?’

‘Oh did we not tell you?’ Richie smirks, leaving you to instantly prepare for the worst. ‘Change of plans, we’re going to the quarry.’

For every time the losers go swimming, there’s an excuse to weasel out of it. The first few times the losers wanted to go to the quarry, you simply claimed you couldn’t swim, that the water terrified you with its unpredictable waves that could kill you at any moment if you weren’t considered enough. That excuse lasted for a while, until Richie scoured through your photo albums and found a photo of you as a little girl grinning from ear to ear in the sea near where your old home was. Then the losers started getting suspicious and called you out on it.

You were forced to admit, under rosy cheeks and a heart full of guilt, that you lied to them about not being able to swim, and you were just joking to see how long I would last before they caught on. The reasoning was flimsy at best, and Stan, never one to take bullshit from anyone, saw straight through you but remained silent.

The next time the quarry was brought up, you agreed to go, but canceled with the justification that you were sick. The time after that you were grounded, and after that you had more chores to do then you anticipated and couldn’t finish them in time to join.

You knew time was running out, and that sooner or later the losers would notice that you always and only didn’t show up whenever the activity was swimming. You didn’t back down for anything else, ranging from going to the movies or helping Eddie sneak out of his house at night, you’d be there and you’d do it. And in reality, swimming really didn’t faze you at all. Sure, it was unpredictable and could be potentially dangerous, but you thrived under that. You like the way danger adds a bit of spice to the boring and normal life you would otherwise be forced to live in a small town like Derry.

The water isn’t the problem for you, it doesn’t frighten you the way you claimed, what frightens you is the idea of your friends seeing the remnants of what Henry Bowers has done to you.

The day you moved to Derry, way before Beverly approached you and offered you a spot in the losers club, Henry cornered you outside of Keens pharmacy. You’d picked up some Tylenol to stash in your medicine cabinet at home when Henry, who you had no idea at was an actually psychopath at the time, asked you for your name.

His goons were hidden somewhere you couldn’t see, and fresh with the nervousness of being the new kid in a small town, you had been grateful someone was willing to be friendly and get acquainted with you. The sick grin playing on his features was a cruel taunt towards you having to much faith in your fellow peers. He surprised you with a knife gash to the arm, a probable single for the others to come help him by holding you back by the arms, while Henry quote; ‘Do to this bitch what I couldn’t do the fat boy.’

The name Henry now starkly proclaims what he perpetrated, and it’s the cutting is obvious every time you take your shirt off. It’s a disgusting claim Henry tried to force on you, and you won’t allow it to be seen by anyone, including your friends. And if that meant lying to them about a triviality, then so be it.

The sun glistens on the quarry water as the group arrives, and in a moment of undisclosed frustration, you glare at the water that has given you such a hard time over the past few months. In retaliation, the light reflection hits you straight in the eyes, effectively blinding you for a second.

‘Okay Y/N, time to make a decision, wanna jump from the cliff and get it over with or start slow by walking in? If it makes the choice easier, Eddie’s mom always rolls in.’ Richie says to you, grinning as a furious Eddie throws insults at him.

There’s not a lot of excuses that can be called up at the last moment, but you try to think of one anyway.

‘Actually I don’t feel so good, I think I’m going to sit this one out, but you guys go ahead and have fun.’

‘No, we’re going to help you overcome your fear of swimming today, no more putting it off.’

‘What?’

‘Your fear of swimming. Don’t think we haven’t noticed.’ Bev explains, already well on her way of throwing her clothes in a heap, leaving her in her swimwear. You gulp loudly and hope no one noticed it.

‘Don’t be embarrassed. All of us are scared of something, but that’s what we’re here for, we help each other, so now we’re going to help you with this.’ Mike’s a sweetheart, all of your friends are, but this issue is for beyond what they think they know.

Richie and Eddie, ever the two amok makers, are in the water up to their waist shoving each other forward without waiting on the rest of the losers. It seems fun, and you really want to join in. You heard all about the water games they play when you’re too busy avoiding getting undressed and admittedly, it always stings. But it doesn’t sting enough for you to get over the weariness of showing the losers what Henry did to you.

‘We can stay on the side if you prefer that? We won’t go any further than we can stand, I promise.’ The earnestly of the statement is what makes it so hard to decline.

‘Hey guys,’ Ben speaks up after regarding you with peeked curiosity. ‘What if we do something more fun today? We could swim with our clothes on.’

‘Ben I don’t think-‘

‘Actually, that’s a great idea. I’d really like that.’ Getting to keep your shirt on means that your scar won’t be visible, and because Ben suggested it, no one will be suspicious of you.

‘With clothes in the water? Are you crazy? Swimming with clothes increases the percentage of dying by, I don’t even know how much but like 90%.’ Eddie’s hurriedly rushing back to shore, trying to get on dry land as fast as possible. He doesn’t think twice about running over the tiny rocks that he usually carefully avoids, convinced that they carry some kind of decease with them, not when he has a whole lot of information to share. His frantic behavior causes you to chuckle.

‘Eddie-‘ Bev hisses in warning. With her eyes she tries to send a silent message, trying to get Eddie to stop talking.’

‘No it’s okay. Like Bill said, I’ll just stay on the side.’ You smile gratefully towards Ben, who reciprocates almost inconspicuously.

‘Well if your highnesses are finally done chattering our afternoon away, can we now please get on with it? I have an eight o’clock appointment with Eddie’s mom.’

‘Beep beep Richie’, the whole group chants.

As it turns out, you missed out on a lot more than just taking a dip. You forewent hours of playing chicken and sitting on the shoulders of your friends in a battle to push the losers on someone else shoulder off, and dunking Richie underwater once his bravery took over his mouth. You missed out on karaoke from the water, listening to a song on the radio that Mike brought with him from the farm house.

To protect yourself from disappointment, you’d imagined these trips to be the same boring routine all the time, but you had been proven wrong. Now you finally understood why the losers were always so eager to go to the quarry again. It’s probably even better without wet clothes sticking to your skin and the fear that in a play fight your shirt would crawl a little too high to reveal Henry’s signature, but the day you had was perfect none the less.

All the activity has worn you out, especially with the extra weight of wet clothes to drag you down, so you decide to rest up on land, sitting in the direction of your friends who are still going at it. Richie scoop his hands full of water and aims it at Eddie, who screeches and dips him under water for his efforts while the rest of the group shakes their head fondly. A typical day with the losers.

‘I don’t like taking off my shirt either.’ Ben says, spooking you with how close he’s standing suddenly. You hadn’t even heard him coming.

‘Oh, why?’ Ben having very little to no self-esteem isn’t a secret, and you’d overheard enough things at school to figure out why, but you didn’t think that was an issue with the losers, where everyone had their own little quirks and oddities and nobody was made fun of for it.

‘My weight for one,’ he laughs but it’s not bitter, it’s more a self-deprecating laugh, like the idea that he isn’t repulsive is too funny to consider. ‘And the Henry thing.’

‘What Henry thing?’

‘You didn’t know?’ He lifts up the edges of shirt, exhibiting the large letter H carved into the soft skin of his stomach. It’s nauseating, not because it’s ugly, but the fact that anyone, psychopath or not, could do something that cruel to sweet Ben. A realization dawns on you.

‘Henry didn’t like me very much, I think he was trying to do his full name and scare me off but he didn’t get the chance. Anyway it’s fine, I’ve got you guys to make me feel better. I just wanted to tell you so you’d know you aren’t alone.’ He stands up and prepares to dive back into the water, but his braveness has created a path for yours.

‘Ben wait’, you call out, dashing over to his side. ‘He did it to me too’, you say in one breath, afraid that if you think about it to much you’ll back down. ‘Look.’ Your fingers trace over the scare tissue as you raise your shirt just enough so the bottom of the lines are visible. ‘I guess he had more time with me then with you.’

‘Y/N’, Ben exhales shocked. His hand hovers over shirt, unsure if he’s allowed to touch. ‘I’m so sorry that happened to you.’

‘It’s fine, there’s nothing that can be done about it now anyway. I was just embarrassed about it I guess. But when you showed me yours, I finally understood there was nothing to be ashamed of.’

‘Hey shitheads, are you coming back in or what?’ Richie voice cuts through the atmosphere hanging around Ben and you. It breaks you out of your shared world of past grievances and hurt, and back into the new era full of love and a friendship that will never abandon either of you.

‘We’re coming’, you yell to Richie, then look back to Ben. Let’s take our shirts off’, you suggest, waiting on Ben’s conformation or denial. ‘There’s nothing for either of us to be ashamed of, so let’s just do it. Fuck Henry.’

Ben laughs, then nods determinately. ‘Yeah, fuck Henry indeed.’

The both of you run into the water wearing nothing but your swimsuits.

A few days later you walk past the school entrance with new found confidence. Of course the losers had question, but you answered them as best as you could, and it feels like a part of you, a part you didn’t want, has been left in the past while you’ve moved forward.

As you walk past the girls bathroom, you happen to pick up on two girls gossiping to the other, all hushed as if they’re sharing the biggest secret anyone could imagine.

‘Didn’t you hear? Apparently those kids that call themselves the losers club ambushed him last night. They say that Henry never stood a change and that he cried like a baby.’

‘Shoot, I would have payed money to see that.’

You roll your eyes, already thinking of ways to simultaneously kill and thank your friends.

#my writing #request #x reader #young losers #the losers x reader #the losers club imagines #it imagines #richie tozier imagine #eddie kaspbrak imagine #ben hanscom x reader #bill denbrough x reader #beverly march x reader #mike hanlon x reader

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unpopularly-opinionated · 3 years ago

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Watched The 355 which interestingly had a 25% critic score on RT and an 85% audience score. Normally, when there’s this kind of a disconnect, I suspect that it’s either going to be a really good movie, or a really bad movie, but I was sort of surprised when it turned out to be...only kind of a bad movie.

Without spoiling things, my two biggest criticisms with the movie revolve around the characters and the movie’s lack of focus. There’s five characters, one who is obviously intended as the film’s ‘main character’, and four supporting characters, but the movie suffers from what a lot of team up movies suffer from which is that it has a main character, but it tries to make everyone else a main character too, with no time to actually develop them as main characters.

My other issue revolves around one particular character who...doesn’t fit. Or at least they could fit if the movie changed one small detail about their character, and I know why they didn’t do this, but at the same time knowing that doesn’t solve the issue.

Anyways, I’d say it’s maybe a 5/10, maybe 5.5 if I’m being generous. It’s not a bad movie at all, like I kind of wanted to like it, but the issues I had with it (namely with that one character) persist throughout the entire movie which detracted from the overall viewing.

Spoilers below...

Okay so Penelope Cruz’s character did not fit in the movie at all. This movie wasn’t intended to be comedic, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of her character remaining in the film beyond her initial scene.

She’s a therapist who treats special agents for the agency she works for, I don’t recall if they ever said a name but I assume it’s some Columbian agency since that’s where she’s from in the movie. She’s just a therapist and these three special agents from various government agencies effectively kidnap her and force her to help them against her will.

She states several times that she’s not an agent, this isn’t her life, she’s just a therapist and a wife and mom to two kids at home, etc. She actively tries to get out of this situation several times, and at no point do they let her leave.

The reason they keep her there is because their one method of tracking the hard drive they’re after is via a phone one of her now-deceased patients gave her after he transferred the fingerprint lock to her, meaning she’s the only one who can access the phone. Okay, sure, fine. Even that seems like an absurd reason to keep a civilian in the line of fire, but whatever.

They drag her from Paris to Morocco, drag her through the streets full of bad guys who literally just kill-boxed the guy they were trailing, and after some shenanigans, they get the drive and they take it to the CIA. Yay, the day is saved, this poor civilian woman can go back home to her family now, right?

Nope, instead she gets a beer to celebrate a job well done with the girls, only to find out that oh no the drive has been used to crash several planes, so they gotta go back to the CIA to find out the guy they gave it to is dead and the drive is gone again. Well, that sucks, but this poor civilian woman has yet again expressed her desire to go home so that’s where she will go, right?

It’s important to note here that as soon as they found the CIA guy dead, more CIA agents storm the building, and setting aside this ridiculous, completely random, and plot-convenient plot thread about how the CIA is investigating the main character because they think she’s defecting and trying to take the drive, so they try to arrest everyone in the room. One of them does a fancy trick with the lights, guns start firing, and the agents beat the shit out of the CIA guys, all while this poor civilian woman is huddled in the corner, screaming and crying as gunshots are flying all around her, traumatized.

So after the characters just took out the CIA and traumatized this innocent civilian who at this point has no further reason to be stay with her kidnappers, she tells them she wants to leave, and their response is “more CIA guys are going to burst into this room, and you don’t want to be on this side of the door when they do”.

Yup, they’ve just implicated this poor civilian woman (from another country I might add) in a federal crime and are yet again forcing her to come with them. Except this makes even less sense because, at least to them, she would provide absolutely nothing to their situation. She’s just a fucking therapist, and by this point they’ve gotten rid of the whole “her phone tracks the drive” bit because they said that whoever took the drive disabled the tracker. So this woman literally has no reason to be going along with any of this, nor do these women have any reason at all to bring her along with them.

And all of this leads to her shooting a man. He doesn’t die, of course, but that hardly matters. This poor innocent civilian has been dragged from country to country, implicated in numerous federal and international offenses, and to top it all off, she shot a guy. Like what the fuck, these are the good guys how exactly?

And the sad thing is that all of this could’ve been resolved with one little line about how she’s an ex-special agent who is now a therapist for other special agents. That’s literally all it would’ve taken to make this make sense. But the reason why they didn’t do that is because they already gave that role to Lupita Nyong’o’s character who was an ex-MI6 agent turned teacher, and for some reason you can’t have two retired field agents I guess.

So stupid.

#random rant #movies #review #The 355

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blackhakumen · 4 years ago

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Mini Fanfic #793: After the Confrontation (Super Smash Bros Ultimate)

4:25 p.m. at the Smash Mansion's Living Room.......

Ren: Well.......That all happened.

Makoto: I had no idea that confrontation has gotten so intense....

Pit: Yeahhhh.....Our moms can be pretty scary when they want to be....

Kirby: (Nodded in Agreement) Poyo Poyo.

Morgana: I'm just surprised they've actually managed to bring that Kazuya guy down on his knees.

Ren: (Starts Snickering a Little) I know, right? Who would've the the big and bad devil man would get himself whipped that easily?

Makoto: ('Sigh') I'm sure he has a reason for acting the way he did, Ren...... Speaking of which.....(Turns to Futuba and Lavenza, Who Are Still Looking at Kazuya From the Distance) What his he doing now, girls?

Futuba: He's still on his knees!

Lavenza: And I believe he is apologizing his deceased mother in tears and agony!

Ryuji: (Immediately Realizes Something) Ooooooooh! That's right. His mom, Kazumi!

Shiho: You know, I almost kinda forgotten about her entirely to be honest.....

Ann: (Raised an Eyebrow in Confusion) What about his mom exactly?

Ryuji: (Turns to Ann) Okay so, back when Kazuya was a little kid, Heihachi killed her while they were fighting, with an iron fist.

Ann: (Eyes Immediately Starts to Widened in Shock) WHAT!? Why!?

Shiho: Well, in her prospective, she thought that Heihachi and Kazuya would go down a dark path in future. That and she was kinda, sort of destined to kill her husband by the Hachijo Clan.

Ryuji: So before she asked Akuma, of all people, to try and kill Kazuya and Heihachi when the time comes, she decided to deal with her husband herself. Needless to say, it..... really didn't work out for her in the end.

Shiho: Yeah. And the crazy thing about all of this is that her death caused all the other crazy events that happened afterwards. Like how Heihachi overthrown his father of CEO of Mishima Zaibatsu and then throwing Kazuya off a cliff afterwards when he was five or six at time.

Ryuji: Which also caused Kazuya to throw him off a cliff after he won the first Tekken tournament. Buuuuuut Heihachi dropped him down on an active volcano in the second tournament..

Shiho: And then when he starts training his son, Jin, at the time, he betrayed him by having himself and his army shoot at him. Only to get knocked out of a wall thanks to the Devil Gene Jin has when I think he was younger at the time?

Ryuji: Doesn't really help the fact that when the guy beaten Jinpachi in fifth tournament years later and became the new head the corporation, he SOMEHOW caused a literal worldwide war in the process. And I don't even think he knows why he caused it either at this point.other than avenging his ma or whatever.

Ann: (Couldn't Believe What She's Hearing Right Now) ....................What the hell is wrong with these people!?

Shiho: (Simply Shrugs) Being apart of the Mishima Bloodline can do a lot of crazy things for the most part.

Ryuji: No kidding. Can't imagine being apart of a mess up family like that one....

Pit: (Sighs as He Slouches Down on the Floor) Honestly......I'm just glad that this whole Kazuya fiasco is finally done and over with now..... I'm beat.

Kirby: (Slouches Down on the Floor as Well) Poyo....

Peach: Pit. Kirby. (Walks in the Living With All the Other Certified Moms and Ganondorf Following Behind her) We need to talk, sweethearts.

Pit: (Turns to See Palutena is Still in Tears) Mom? Are you okay?

Palutena: (Tries Calming Herself Down While Wiping the Tears Away) Yeah....('Sniff') I'm okay. I-I'm just....('Sniff') So happy....and blessed... that you're finally home and safe!! (Immediately Rushes Over to the Duo and Hugs him Lovingly) Why did you two had go out there alone at night? ('Sniff') Why didn't you tell anyone of US about it beforehand!? We could've helped too....

Pit: I-It's not like we didn't want you guys to come or anything! We just thought you guys and everyone already has headed to bed. So Kirby and I decided to head out and find Ganondorf. To see if he's okay and stuff.

Ganondorf: (Looks Down at Pit and Kirby) While I appreciate the care and concern, I'd be more happy if you two stayed home instead. (Starts Gritting his Teeth a Bit in Anger) Especially after what the devil breed bastard did to the three of us-

Daisy: (Glares at Ganondorf While Smacking Him on the Shoulder) Ganon. Language. Children!

Ganondorf: Ah. Right. ('Clears Throat') My mistake. (Starts Crossing his Arms) But regardless, my point still stands. (Turns Back to Pit and Kirby) You didn't have to go looking me out in the streets alone at night.

Pit: (Lowers his Head Down in Shame) I know..... We're sorry.....

Kirby: (Lowers his Head Down as Well) Poyo Poyo........

Bayonetta: Oh darlings.....(Make her Way to the Trio and Join in on Their Group Hug) We're not mad at either at you for what happened. Nor are we ever going to punish you for it. We're just worried about your safety is all.

Peach: That's right. (Tears Starts Coming Out From her Eyes) ('Sniff') Our hearts would be broken in pieces if anything terrible would've happen to you two. So please don't ever scare us like that again, okay?

Pit: (Quickly Nodded his Head Along With Kirby) Yes, ma'am. We promise to be more careful next time too!

Palutena: And Pit.

Pit: (Turns Back to Palutena) Yes, mom?

Palutena: (Turns to Pit With a Teary Yet Motherly Look on her Face) I don't ever want you think that you're "Pathetic" or "worthless" from this day forward. Because you're neither of those things. (Place Two of Her Hands on to Both of Pit's Cheeks You've worked very hard be the angel you are today and I couldn't be anymore proud.

Pit: You..... really mean that?

Palutena: (Smiles Softly While Tears Starts Falling Down Again) Of course I do, sweetie....('Sniff') You're my baby boy and I love you so much. ('Sniff') Always and forever more.....

Pit: M-Mom, I.....I......('Sniff') I-I-I.....

And with that, Pit finally begins to burst out in tears in two of his mothers arms. All while being blessed and thankful that he and Kirby are still alive and that they are back home with the group of people they love and cherish for the rest of their lives.

@keyenuta

@princekirijo

@caleb13frede

@cyber-wildcat

@26shann

@albion-93

@ma-lemons

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meabd · 4 years ago

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Tricks of the Trade

Chapter 2: A Complicated Dance

It was nearly five o’clock when you approached the Heyu Teahouse. As you neared the entrance you caught sight of the slender form of the Eleventh Harbinger as he leaned against the side of the building, arms crossed, a look of concentration on his face. He startled as you stepped into view, his expression morphing into one of surprised pleasure.

“[Y/n], you look ravishing ,” he winked, offering you his elbow. You bowed instead, ignoring the gesture.

“Thank you, Tartaglia ,” he rolled his eyes at the use of his code name.

“None of that now. Call me Childe,” it was your turn to roll your eyes as he ushered you through the front door, one hand at the small of your back to direct you. The hostess was deferential to the young man, guiding you quickly to a private chamber on the second floor. The view over the harbor was breathtaking, and you found yourself distracted by it as Childe ordered for you both.

“You know, if we’re being honest I didn’t think you’d actually show up,” his comment broke you away from your thoughts, though you did not turn to acknowledge it.

“It’s funny,” you mused, eyes trained on the setting sun, “for as long as I have lived here I still haven’t gotten used to the beauty of it all,” he hummed in reply. Finally you turn to look at him, your gaze flickering over his formal Snezhnyan suit. He had no business looking as good as he did. “Why did you really ask me out this evening?” He cocked his head, his lips quirking into a bemused grin.

“Because you’re a beautiful woman with impressive connections with the highest powers operating out of Liyue Harbor,” his voice was matter of fact. The waitress returned with the bottle of wine he’d requested, pouring two glasses and bustling away.

“I’m not an idiot, you know,” you murmured, swirling the wine in your glass as you waited for him to taste it first.

“And I never said you were,” he countered, taking a healthy gulp of his own wine. “So who do you work for?” You took a small sip from your glass before answering.

“Lady Keqing oversees my work for—”

“I would appreciate it if you did not insult my intelligence,” he cut you off.

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you sniffed primly. The charming smile had not slipped from his face, but there was a newfound tension around his eyes.

“Come on Miss [y/n], whatever it is you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in it’s nothing the Fatui can’t handle. I’m sure we can, what is it you said? ‘Come to an equitable agreement’?” His smile was soft and comforting—and entirely false.

“Just what is it you’re implying, Master Childe?” You weren’t sure exactly what it was he thought you were, but you were glad to hear he wasn’t either.

“[Y/n], hails from Wuwang Hill, father deceased, mother deceased, brother jailed for petty crimes in Fontaine—is that who it is? Your brother is being held hostage and Fontaine's struck a deal with you?” Your mouth hung open, an expression of sincere shock. Childe leaned back, hands behind his head to enjoy the fruits of his detective work.

Little did he know, your shock was not because he was right, but rather that he actually bought your Cover. Sure, [y/n] was your real name, but it was also the name of a little girl who’d gone missing during the Wuwang Hill landslide. A little bureaucratic magic was all it took to assume her identity.

“It’s okay,” his expression softened as he leaned forward again, laying one hand atop your own, “I know what it is to care for family. You would do terrible things to keep them safe…” his voice trailed off as if he were remembering his own misdeeds. “I want to help you,” his voice was earnest. He was a damn good actor.

“I… appreciate the offer,” you gulped, attempting to tug your hand away to no avail.

“...But?” he pressed you.

“But they’d kill me,” and that part wasn’t a lie.

“Snezhnya is a formidable country. We have ways of helping… people like you,” he squeezed your hand in what you assumed was supposed to be a comforting gesture. It felt claustrophobic.

“I don’t know,” you bit your lip, dropping your chin a scant inch so you could look up at him through your mascara thickened lashes. “I couldn’t possibly give you an answer right now,” he nodded, withdrawing his hand.

“I understand, of course. Take some time to think about it. The Tsaritsa is a strong Archon, you would be safe within our ranks,” you pursed your lips, hoping the tension in your face read as nervousness and not amusement. A silence fell between the two of you, though not one as uncomfortable as before. When the server arrived with your food, all seriousness bled away from Childe’s face as he thanked the young woman before refilled your wine glass.

The conversation shifted as the two enjoyed your meal. You weren’t completely at ease, but that was nothing special; you never were. Childe, having gotten his ‘proposal’ out of the way was a regular chatterbox. It was really quite impressive how much he said without revealing anything of substance.

He was a charming man, that was doubtless; his conversation skills were remarkable, he was an active listener, and his flirtations (though inappropriate, in your opinion) managed to steer clear of any touchy territory. He was beautiful, to say the least, with striking eyes and a well formed figure that would send any woman’s heart aflutter. He was the perfect Honey Trap.

But then again… so were you.

“This has been lovely, thank you,” you smiled at him with a bit more honesty than was advisable.

“Why does that sound like a goodbye?” He stepped closer into your space, his fingers grazing the delicate bone of your wrist.

“Because it is? I have to go to Master Shizhuong’s,” you backed away from him.

“We’ve got plenty of time,” he cajoled, “come take a walk with me, we could revisit that tree,” his eyebrows twitched up at the suggestive remark.

“No, thank you. Perhaps next time. I’m going to be late as it is,” you turned to leave but were halted by a hand on your elbow.

“When I asked you out tonight I didn’t just mean to dinner, [y/n].”

“That’s all well and good Master Childe, but I do have work to do. Now if you’ll excuse me—” he yanked you forward, pressing his body against yours. His lips brushed the shell of your ear and you shuddered to feel his warm breath against it.

“You don’t honestly think I’d let you out of my sight now , do you? That banquet doesn’t start for another hour at least,” there was a threat in those words, no matter how soft the tone was. You pulled back from him, shifting your features into what you hoped was a neutral expression.

“...I’m the dance coordinator. There’s a Yayue performance before the feast, I have to be there for the arrangement.” Childe’s smile was contrite and his grip on you loosened.

“Sorry, sorry, just being cautious you know,” he laughed. You huffed an incredulous sigh.

“Come on, ‘you don’t honestly think’ I’d run off to wreak havoc at a banquet immediately after your oh so considerate offer,” you tossed his turn of phrase back at him and he frowned.

“I would certainly hope not,” he brushed a stray curl out of your eyes. “See you there, then? That is if you have time for me,” he winked. Despite your better judgement you nodded your assent before making your way to the estate.

As you approached the back entrance to the mansion you let your fingers trace over the wood of the exterior until you found the right panel. As quickly and discreetly as you could manage you lifted it off its hinges and swapped the bottle that was inside with the note you’d had strapped to your upper thigh. You took a moment to lean against the building, one hand pressed against your chest. You took several deep breaths before straightening your qipao and heading inside. To any wayward onlooker it would seem as if you were merely collecting yourself. If who you thought was tailing you actually was, then you’d just solidified your cover as an indecisive and reluctant operative.

Inside the mansion you passed the dancer’s dressing room to enter Master Shizhuong’s private chambers. You removed the bottle from your bodice, dripping its contents onto the bottom edge of an ornately framed painting. Behind it lay the Master’s safe, containing valuable and important documents. Documents that you had on good authority were to be stolen by a Fontainèse spy that very evening.

You re-corked the bottle and returned to the dressing area, satisfied with your work. Launching into your Cover role you helped apply traditional makeup, tied ribbons, tightened bodices and arranged hair as the dancers gossiped amongst themselves. Ming, one of the youngest dancers of your ranks, sat quietly in the corner. You approached her, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Are you alright there?” You inquired. Her large doe eyes met yours and you could see the fear in them. She nodded.

“Are you… will you still help me tonight?”

Ming had come to you the week before with a sob story about needing money to help her sick mother. She shared with you her (rather convoluted) plan to bed Master Shizhuong, then blackmail him into providing her with the necessary funds. She’d asked for your help, imploring you to distract the middle-aged politician long enough for her to ‘prepare herself’ in his chambers.

You had, of course, readily agreed. You would never turn down a chance to take out an enemy operative. You almost felt bad—almost because, frankly she just wasn’t very good at her job. Her Cover was flimsy at best and her true intention—stealing classified documents from your host—was laughably easy to suss out. You smiled gently at the girl, a warm and comforting expression.

“Of course Ming. Anything for you. Please be safe,” you hugged the younger woman and felt her tears on your neck.

“No crying now,” you murmured, wiping a tear off of her cheek. “You’ll smear your makeup. Be strong; think of your mother and be strong ,” Ming’s smile was watery, but she nodded.

This is entirely too easy .

The entertainment had gone off without a hitch (because of course it had, you were damned good at your job) and you were engaging the Master of the house in a spirited discussion on the merits of the use of Cor Lapis in the production of chopsticks. You noticed your host’s eyes drifting over to the clock and you ran your finger down the seam of his sleeve, a coy gesture. Just as you were about to switch topics you felt a hand on your back.

“If I may be so bold, I believe Noctilucous Jade to be the superior material,” Zhongli’s smooth voice cut in and you inwardly groaned.

“Yes, yes, right as always Master Zhongli,” Shizhuong nodded with enthusiasm. “But—ah, excuse me please, I’m afraid I have an urgent matter to attend to,” he bowed before beating a hasty retreat. You hoped you stalled him for long enough for the poison to take effect. You’d be very disappointed if Ming lived long enough to get any of it on your host. You actually quite liked him.

“Hello Uncle,” you smiled pleasantly, using the honorific you reserved for when he was getting on your nerves. Zhongli’s head cocked to the side.

“My my, you’re in a mood, aren’t you? I take it your sortie with our resident Harbinger was not to your liking?” You blanched.

“I—you—he told you?” Zhongli chuckled.

“Bragged about it is more like it,” Childe’s voice came from behind you as an arm snaked its way around your waist. You fought hard against your instinct to flinch away. Zhongli inclined his head in greeting and Childe returned the gesture. “And I thought we had a lot of fun, didn’t we [y/n]?” You knew you were blushing but didn’t bother to fight it.

“Yes, ah, it was quite enjoyable,” your voice wavered just the slightest. Enough so that Childe’s grip on your waist tightened a bit.

“I must admit, I did not see this particular turn of events,” Zhongli remarked, his golden eyes lingering on the fingers tapping against your hip bone. “[Y/n] has never been out with a man, not once in the five years I’ve known her.”

“Maybe I was waiting for the right one,” you grit out from your teeth clenching smile.

“ Ming !” Master Shizhuong’s startled cry was muffled, but audible. The three of you turned in unison to stare at the hallway leading to the dressing rooms.

“Ming… no ,” you gasped, attempting to break away from Childe.

“Hold on—” he started but you pushed him away.

“Ming is one of my girls, I have to— I—” you shook your head before running towards the sound of the shout. You flung open the dressing room door, stopping only for a moment. You knew Zhongli and Childe were following you and you had to make a show of searching.

“Ming!” You screamed, continuing down the hall, throwing doors open as you went. Finally you made it to the master bedroom, your hands flying up to cover your mouth as a strangled sob escaped. You sagged against the door frame, making sure to hold your position until your companions had caught up. In the bedroom Ming laid slumped against the wall, dressed in nothing but her undergarments. The picture frame had been moved and the wall safe was clearly visible. Master Shizhuong sat on the bed, head in his hands.

“Oh no, no what did they do to you?” You stumbled into the room, dropping to your knees in front of her body. You reached out, hands shaking, as if to touch her, but felt yourself being yanked away.

“Don’t,” Childe’s voice was tight. “She may have been poisoned. Don’t touch anything ,” he barked. You felt your breath hitch as tears came to your eyes. These, at least, were more genuine than the one’s Childe had previously called you on. You liked Ming, you really did—she reminded you of yourself when you first started out.

You let that kernel of truth slip through your mask as you sobbed in Childe’s arms. He ran a soothing hand through your hair, pressing your face into the crook of his neck so you couldn’t look at her corpse.

“Shh. It’s okay,” he whispered. “Zhongli, can you handle this?” He must have nodded since you found yourself being tugged to your feet.

“No. I have to—I have to help her,” you protested softly. Childe shushed you again and led you from the room. “That could have been me,” you whispered, your voice hollow.

“It could have,” your companion agreed, though not unkindly. You allowed yourself to be dragged into the adjoining study. Gentle hands prodded you into an overstuffed chair and Childe knelt on the ground in front of you.

“I’m sorry [y/n], but I have to ask—did you have anything to do with this?” You tried to breathe in but the air stuck in your throat. Wordlessly you shook your head, tears still streaming down your face. You were certain your makeup was a disaster and you regretted your choice in mascara.

“Alright. Okay. Stay here. Zhongli and I will handle the rest,” he soothed, moving to stand.

“No,” you choked out, standing as well. “No, I have twenty nine other girls out there that need me,” you sniffled, wiping away the moisture on your cheeks. Childe stared at you, his face unreadable.

“Fine. But wait for me. You’ll need an escort home tonight,” you didn‘t argue. He turned to leave and you reached out without thinking. He stilled, looking down at your joined hands.

“I’m sorry. I… thank you,” you startled at the soft brush of lips against your forehead. He said nothing in reply, sweeping out of the room in a hurry.

Report;

Things have progressed well with Agent Pisces. Target believes me to be operating under duress and has made overtures to turn me. Agent Swan has been eliminated, Millelith on high alert. Will proceed with caution.

Dead Drop at Blue House compromised, Sanitized documents have been left there, please convey a new rendez-vous point ASAP.

Operation Blowback Intercept on hold until further notice.

I await further instructions.

Swallow

#my fic #my wriing #series #tricks of the trade #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact head cannons #childe #tartaglia #flirty childe #reader insert #fan fiction #espionage #spy games #chapter two #childe x reader

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i-dream-of-twilight-sparkle · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter 21: Life is Magic, Part 1

Just moments after Spike’s birth mother Jennesis’s spirit was sent back. Twilight got set to create another gum portal to get between the palace and the cave faster.

Malakhar: Mind if I come with? I’ll help getting Kubuya here

Twilight: Sure thing. Just follow me as soon as I’ve made the portal

Malakhar nods, then Twilight makes a portal back inside the palace. They then head over to where Malakhar and Kubuya’s shared room was. They open the door quietly in case Kubuya is still sleeping, and indeed she is. Malakhar leans in closer to Twilight’s ears to whisper.

Malakhar: I’ll go wake her, Be right back.

Twilight nods and Malakhar approaches the bed quietly. Malakhar gets to the side of the bed and lightly shakes his to-be wife in two days. Kubuya starts waking up but still a little groggy, she looks over and sees Malakhar there and smiles.

Kubuya: Oops, did I oversleep a bit, honey?

Malakhar chuckles

Malakhar: Kind of! But it was a long, fun night yesterday. So it’s understandable

Kubuya sits up, stretches her front hooves and yawns.

Kubuya: So what’s the plan for today, we’re still two days away from our wedding...

Malakhar: Believe it or not, Twilight’s just outside our room and she needs you to help out with something important.

Kubuya: Huh? Why does Twilight need me? What can I do that’d be so important?

Malakhar: You’ll see in a moment, just trust me and her that it’ll be something special.

Kubuya: Well… ok... if you and her truly think I can help with whatever it is. But I’m not sure I can think of anything else other then knowing how the city library organizes the books *giggles*

Kubuya follows Malakhar out of the room and as Malakhar states Kubuya finds Twilight waiting for her.

Twilight: Good morni… or well I guess... it’s already close to noon at this point. But regardless... hello Kubuya. Hope you had a good rest.

Kubuya: Same to you, Twilight.

Twilight: Now we just need to get Somnambula for what we’re doing next.

On Twilight’s suggestion once Starswirl spread the word to them, the Pillars of Equestria attended the ball and had their own fun if lowkey time together at their table. Most of the pillars choose to go back once it was all over, however Somnambula happened to be the only one to decide to stay a little while longer. Either through more affinity for Saddle Arabia, or perhaps as some respect for her friendship with Jinn to see the wedding of her friend’s descendent.

Twilight, Malakhar, and Kubuya eventually find Somnambula who is talking with Princess Luna.

Malakhar: Hm, I wonder what Princess Luna’s doing here.

Twilight: I’m not sure, but I wonder if we should have her along as well. You told me she saw Jinn before right?

Malakhar: I’m not sure she’ll be able to help summon Jinn, as I’m not sure meeting her once as a filly is criteria for the friendship requirements to summon Jinn from Spike’s dragon tear. But it couldn’t hurt to have her see it as well, she’ll probably go if she knows her sister is there too.

Twilight: Yeah, sounds like it’s at least a good idea for her to see our discovery too.

They approach closer and call out to the two.

Twilight: Hey Somnambula! Princess Luna!

They turn towards the voice and see Twilight walking along with the soon to be married Malakhar and Kubuya

Luna: Ah, Princess Twilight, Malakhar, and Kubuya. Hope you all had a good night at both the ball and a nice rest.

Twilight: We certainly did, but we need you and Somnambula to come with us. We have something you absolutely must see, I promise it will be worth going. Princess Luna, your sister is there too.

Somnambula: Oh you found something I might be interested in seeing?

Twilight: Very, you could say… I found a great source of hope.

Somnambula smiles

Somnambula: Well, I’m alway up to see something that can provide hope! Sure, I’ll come along.

Luna: I will come along, too. I trust you and my sister have found something of great interest.

With that Twilight, Malakhar, and Kubuya are now accompanied by Somnambula and Princess Luna back to the portal Twilight left originally, and they’re all soon back in the cave.

((Story continues after the break))

Somnambula and Luna look around, Somnambula in particula thinking that they were going to see the very thing that Twilight was hinting at once they got past the portal looks a little confused.

Somnambula: Um, Princess Twilight. I’m not sure a huge dragon skeleton in the middle of the desert is really a source of hope…

Twilight: That’s not it, well technically it’s related to a little earlier. But look, I need both you and Kubuya to touch the dragon tear on Spike’s necklace.

Kubuya and Somnambula look at each other before shrugging and then heading in front of Spike to touch the Dragon’s Tear

Twilight: Now I need you both to think about Jinn. Imagine that inside your head, you’re talking to her, even if it sounds silly. If you could send a mentally-sent message to Jinn, what would it be?

Somnambula goes wide-eyed

Somnambula: Wait, are you saying you found a way to contact the deceased?!

Twilight: You... could say that…

Kubuya: Twilight… if this is true… this is the most amazing discovery in perhaps tens of thousands of years! In other words, one of those too good to be true kind of stuff…

Twilight: Just trust me on this, Kubuya. I wouldn’t have gone through the effort of finding you and Somnambula if I hadn’t seen how this works firsthoof. Even if you find it hard to believe, speak to the Dragon’s Tear through your mind, as if you got a chance to speak with Jinn. Of those I know personally, only you two can do this.

Both Kubuya and Somnambula think for a moment then about what they would say. They still have one of their the hooves on Spike’s necklace, they close their eyes, and in their heads say what they want to say.

Somnambula: (Jinn? If you can actually hear me… this is your friend Somnambula. I just want to say I miss you, and would do anything… to somehow see you again… I was in limbo for a very long time, and I never got to say goodbye… so I’d very much appreciate that, if it’s possible…)

Kubuya: (Erm… hello… Jinn? My name is Kubuya, i’m… a descendent of yours. I don’t know where you are, or if this even works. But supposedly, I can contact you like this… I have always been curious at what you were like. And I would love to see you for the first time… you mean so much to my family history and all of Saddle Arabia itself… it’d be an enlightening experience just to even see you, let alone being able to speak to you…)

Spike then puts his own hand over the Dragon’s Tear to activate it. The process can work with just pony thoughts, but it still needs a Dragon to sort of be a conduit to use the Dragon’s Tear and send whatever thoughts or desires a pony has. Soon the tear gem starts glowing just as it did when Spike unknowingly summoned his mother. Twilight smiles.

Twilight: Looks like it’s working!

Kubuya and Somnambula still rather confused about all this, just either keeps an eye on Spike’s glowing tear or looks around the cave for whatever this was supposed to do. Soon, another white energy comet comes down from the sky towards the inside of the cave. This time much smaller then the one of Jennesis’. Mostly because this is a pony spirit, it’s just naturally a smaller size. Once again it becomes a sphere that floats in front of the group. Somnambula, Kubuya, and Luna all awestruck at the sight. Luna looking at her sister as it appears, noticing Celestia has a smile watching what’s happening. Meaning obviously Celestia saw this already a little earlier.

The sphere soon shifts into the form of a pony, the clear shape of hooves, mane, and tail. The silhouette then makes way for some color and specific details, just like with Genesis the spirit is outlined by a white glow. Jinn herself is also white but thanks to the transparency of her spirit, it is dull enough to make out despite the white glow, her mane is round and very light blue, both the mane and tail end in a hook of a mane that sort of resemble the end of a genie tail on it’s own. Her actual pony tail also light blue and decently long, She even has her genie attire on. Her eyes are closed as she fades in, but once everything has settled. She opens her eyes to reveal the light purple shade of her eyes. She tilts her head and smiles in front of the group.

Somnambula can’t believe her eyes, Jinn was truly in front of her. Her tears welling up with joy, and despite the transparent look of Jinn’s body she couldn’t resist and decides to try to hug Jinn’s spirit.

Twilight: Wait! Somnambula you’ll just fall thro-

But to Twilight’s surprise, Somnambula actually does manage to get a hoof around Jinn’s neck to hug and sob joyful tears into Jinn’s shoulder. Her tears fall through Jinn’s spirit, but otherwise Somnambula is actually physically touching a spirit. Giving the rest of the group even if they were here when Jennesis was first summoned, a bit of another surprise. Meanwhile, Somnambula’s just having a joyous reunion.

Somnambula: Oh Jinn! I missed you so much! I can’t believe you’re actually here! As a spirit, but here nonetheless!

Jinn: It’s good to see you too, Namby!

Twilight: Whoa… you’re actually touching the spirit! I was so sure you were going to fall through…

Kubuya taps her hooves together a bit, and asks Jinn something.

Kubuya: May I… give Jinn a hug, too? We are family after all…

Somnambula lets go of Jinn and lets Kubuya give Jinn her own hug. Kubuya also manages to give her ancestor a hug. Twilight is kinda curious herself and sees if she can give a hug as well.

Twilight: So uh… can I give you a hug from one genie to another?

Jinn slightly giggles as if she knows something, but she outstretches her hooves as if to call Twilight to do so. Twilight approaches, and she decides to try a jump hug in confidence after seeing two previous hugs work. But instead of jumping into Jinn’s hooves… she falls through and faceplants on the floor.

Jinn laughs, having known that was likely going to happen. Twilight a bit dazed but she gets back up.

Twilight: Hey… Why couldn’t I hug you, when Somnambula and Kubuya could?

Jinn: Hehe, sorry. Only those who are capable of summoning the spirit are actually able to physically touch them. Looks like we’re not related, and we never met when I was alive so…

Twilight: You knew that? Then why did you outstretch your hooves to anticipate a hug?!

Jinn: Just a little prank on my end *giggles*

Twilight: From the stories I hear about you, I never imagined you were the pranking type... I thought you were simply a benevolent genie that sort of responded in a sage-like way to everything.

Jinn: I may have tried to be a bit of a fuddy-duddy so I could be responsible with my wishes at first. But I eventually relaxed and allowed me to be myself what with some of the silly things we genies could do *Jinn spins her eyes* Some reason no history writers ever wanted to write about my sense of humor, my own book explaining about Genies I even had to tone the comedy down, unfortunately. *Jinn spits her tongue out*

Malakhar and Sultan Theandri suddenly get a little closer and just sort of kneel before Jinn.

Malakhar: Jinn… it is such an honor to meet you. Much of Saddle Arabia still reveres you greatly.

Sultan Theandri: Even as a Sultan, I feel to be unworthy in your presence Jinn. You are not just a legend here… you are THE legend here…

Jinn shakes her head and laughs a little

Jinn: Oh come now, yes, I’m the first genie. But you don’t have to kneel to me or say you’re unworthy in my presence as if I created the entire world. If there’s one thing that Anti-Genie regime was actually right about, we genies are ponies just like you. We were fellow friends, powerful friends with crazy amount of magical power yes, but friends nonetheless.

Both Malakhar and the Sultan sort of surprised at the adherence to modesty. Like Twilight they’ve always been led to believe some rather exaggerated view of Jinn as more omniscient and/or quite a level above everypony. Perhaps they just read too many books that sort of depicted her as some god.

Jinn: Guess, that’s just some sort of air about me I may have to keep dispelling, if I’m summoned here more in the future.

Princess Luna suddenly approaches.

Luna: I… remember you… I was a filly… lost in a forest… but after giving me 3 wishes… I ended up back home…

Jinn squints a bit given Luna is so large she is probably decently different from how she looked as a filly.

Jinn: Ah yes, you are the filly I helped out that one time aren’t you? You’ve sure gotten so much bigger!

Luna: I actually thought the time we met was only a dream. But I guess I was really lost?

Jinn: You were a pretty scared little filly, I sort of set things up to make you thought it was all a dream to sort of comfort you. Your sister didn’t even know you were gone for too long.

Celestia: If that is the case, thanks for helping out my sister when she got lost.

Jinn just smiles at the Alicorn sisters. Then Twilight finally starts speaking again to Jinn.

Twilight: So… Jinn… we spoke with the dragon Jennesis before you were summoned…

Jinn: So this is where she went from where we were, huh?

Jinn looks behind her.

Jinn: Wonder if that was a little awkward for her to be spawned where her skeleton is…

Twilight: Huh? Where you and Jennesis were?

Jinn: Yes, where we go when our souls have left our bodies AKA when we died.

Twilight: Well… I guess that works into getting into what my first question was going to be. Summoning you and Jennesis has proven without a doubt, some kind of afterlife exists in our world. Are you willing to tell us, what happens to the souls of the deceased?

Jinn’s general happy demeanor suddenly reaches a more serious expression that stares at Twilight. She said that she’s a pony that likes to have a little humor, but even she understands that there are times to give a serious look, given the stuff she’s about to say.

Jinn: Before I directly answer this question, I need to tell you some facts about the way our world works. Twilight, have you ever wondered why we ponies need to move the sun and moon every day?

Twilight: Huh? Well… I guess in my younger years I was curious. But I’ve just generally accepted that’s just the way it is. No specific reason why, it just is.

Jinn: There in fact is a reason for that, and not even the sun and moon princesses themselves know why.

Celestia and Luna go wide-eyed that Jinn is claiming there’s something about the Sun and Moon they don’t know.

Twilight: What?! How can Celestia and Luna not know everything about the sun and moon?!

Jinn: Simple! Nopony, not even the Alicorn sisters have been far enough up in space to see!

Twilight: Wait, that’s not true. Luna was sent to the moon!

Jinn: Ah, moon banishment… (Things must of really got serious between the two at one point to resort to that… looks like thankfully they’ve made up) That however doesn’t send a pony to the outside of the moon, they’re sent INSIDE the moon.

Twilight: …I guess that does make sense… the tale was Mare IN the moon… not ON the moon. But what exactly is up in space that we haven’t discovered? Don’t tell me that like… those crazy ponies who think the world is flat are actually right or something?

Even though Jinn has been serious, she can’t even stifle her laughter at the thought of Flat-Equestrians.

Jinn: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahaha. Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t help myself. That was just funny. No, those flat-equestrians have never been correct. There was a lot more of them during my early time as a genie, but even as far back as then most knew our world was round from as simple as Pegasi going pretty high up in the air in all corners of the world, and seeing the same round shape wherever we go

Twilight: Hehe, yeah. At this point they’re like a fringe group of less then a dozen ponies, mainly cutoff from much of the country.

Jinn: Hehehehehe, I guess I should actually back to explaining things, but just to say it. Yes, our world is round and has always been round.

Jinn tries to get back to her serious explanation but still kinda breaks composure every so often to laugh again.

Jinn: Alright then… as much as I laugh about the flat-equestrians, ahahaha. There is perhaps one thing in their theories ahehehe, that is just about near on-the-money. And thats the way our Sun and Moon act are quite strange.

Going back to what I said, we ponies for some reason have to move them whether it’s a whole group of unicorns like the old days, or currently the Alicorn sisters. But do you know what would happen if Celestia and Luna just decided to like… not move the Sun or Moon for a full day? A week? Months? Or even years?

Twilight ponders for a moment in a scenario where Celestia and Luna just decided not to raise the sun and moon each day.

Twilight: I imagine our planet still rotates? But maybe a lot slower? In other words, day and night cycles would last several days or even weeks?

Jinn: Nope… the Sun and Moon would just never move at all!

Twilight goes wide-eyed with her mouth agape

Twilight: WHAT?!

Jinn: Yes, without our magic. Our Sun and Moon would just stay where they are on the sky. And what’s more, our planet does not rotate at all. This is also why Pegasi control the weather in most places without rotation… Clouds can’t quite get there by themselves without a rotating world.

And if the Sun and Moon does not move, nor does the planet rotate. It would result in half the world becoming a frozen wasteland. While the other side becomes a large desert if left like that for long enough. The only solid habitable areas would be the areas just between the two sides that would be under an eternal Twilight or Sunset essentially.

Twilight muses to herself for a moment

Twilight: Well, I guess I know what would be the result if I went with my own “Eternal” time of the day like Nightmare Moon did. *giggles* Though Jinn, if you spirits go up in space. Are you able to see if other planets in our universe are like this?

Jinn: We don’t know if it’s like this in other potential planets with life in our vast universe. This could be very well normal in the universe, or we could even be some strange anomaly. But either way, us spirits can plainly see our world where we go to.

Twilight: Then I suppose this is a good time as any to finally explain where the deceased go?

Jinn: Ok… so anyone who has ever lived on our planet that had an average, normal life or better all end up as where we are. All kinds of life: ponies, dragons, wild animals, and even the souls of plants end up there.

Jinn winks and leans in closer to Twilight

Jinn: However, the plant spirits aren’t exactly very talkative. *giggles*

But ahem… when someone... or something in the case of the plants… the spirit inhibiting the body out of our planet and stops and joins all the other spirits encircling our little space in the universe,we spirits flow around our planet and the Moon. We are entirely invisible to the living. But we are all there, most creatures and plants that have ever lived on the planet… Has been around us the entire time. Just invisible, and way, way, way, up in space that no pony alive has ever reached before.

Twilight: Fascinating… but does this shield made by the streams of life in all our history, have a purpose?

Jinn: Yes, we spirits protect our planet from the most dangerous objects in space reaching us. Whether that’s large meteorites, or stray solar flares that might heat up our planet, melting the ice caps, and flooding the planet.

Twilight: I see… now… I noticed you said MOST life that dies ends up up their in the soul shield up there… are there exceptions?

Jinn: Yeah… anyone who was evil or otherwise generally unhappy doesn’t go up there. Instead, their spirits become some sort of dark magic that cause havoc on the planet. And in some cases, damage our shield up there temporarily. An example of said dark magic… are the Windigoes. They’re actually formerly a type of extinct prehistoric horse closely related to our own prehistoric descendants but instead of working together and making up the core values that would later become our world’s friendship. The horses that would become the windigoes depended on hate, rage, and violence in a world ravaged by ice and snow.

In fact, you know when I said what would happen to the planet if the Sun and Moon never moved for a longtime? That was actually once the norm for our planet. And our prehistoric ancestors were at tribal war with these horses for their very survival in some of the deepest parts of the planet where only the moon shined. Our own land of Saddle Arabia, actually started because a few tribes that befriended each other decided to try move in to the warmer part of the planet to escape those prehistoric horses. Those horses had lots of fur and tougher-built bodies that gave them an advantage in a world of ice an snow, but it becomes a weakness when they tried to attack in the warmer areas of the planet. The side where the sun only shined came with it’s own dangers as well, but for many of the first settlers in the land that would become Saddle Arabia. It felt much safer, then the moon’s side of the planet.

The Windigoes are the most well-known example of the dark magic that came after the death of those who were evil. Though they may certainly be other examples even if it’s perhaps unknown what exactly was the evil that died that contributed to such areas, the Everfree forest for example may be such an area. The dark magic collected there may be why it’s one of the few places where clouds move on their own and often are bad news, such as uncontrolled thunderstorms.

While I’m not sure if many civilizations understood why, executing and/or otherwise killing threats ended up biting the land in the flank later. That’s actually why… perhaps subconsciously… our society tries to instead turn enemies into friends… or failing that, trapping them in a sort of permanent state of still technically living, but unable to die, such as being turned to stone or otherwise trapping them in places they’ll never return from.

But regardless, the more evil a threat was. The more consequences there were, if they died. Granted, with a dead villain of the magnitude that reforming isn’t an option. It was still better to contend with the consequences of killing them of it compared to what they were trying to do when they were alive. But the result of killing threats just got to a point it wasn’t advisable. As aside from their death unleashing consequential dark magic to fight, but often killing only made them martyrs if they had any followers and/or others that would be inspired by villainous acts. Some taking the acts of dark magic, as the result of the death of such villains as righteous retribution and a sign that the forces of nature was on their side.

The good news however, is the opposite is also true when it comes to the good. The more someone was a good and powerful hero, the more strength they provide our shield up there. And often said force of good inspires their own friends and family still living, to be strong forces of good that leaves the living prepared against the wreckage of dark magic. Size also matters as our shield would not nearly be as strong as it is now without dragons like Jennesis. The reason why she couldn’t be the one to explain what I’m telling you now even though she would be quite capable, is it’s actually somewhat of a risk for her to be down here, because when she came down it leaves a hole in the shield that even with all the life up there, we have to work overtime to try to make sure nothing dangerous comes through the hole. When you summon me, even if I’m a pretty strong force of good myself. It’s a much easier patch up, then a full grown dragon that lived a full life and found friendship.

Twilight just sits there trying to digest all this new information in her mind. She’s close to an epiphany, of what this all means.

Twilight: This is all amazing information… so villains that have died wreck havoc on the world in different ways… and those who are good or at least had normal lives patch up a shield that protects our planet. The good are actually rewarded for their service by continuing to protect our planet… and now we know Dragon Tears can allow us to contact the dead. Or at least, the dead that are personal friends, lovers, or family… I feel like I’m close to realizing something… but I think I may need to ask one more question before I really say it for absolute certain…

Jinn: Anything, shoot me with whatever ya got.

Twilight: What… exactly is a Dragon’s Tear? Why is it so powerful?

Jinn: Very good question, Twilight. I’m glad you asked that. As you’ve heard, the Dragon Tear’s often only come from dying dragons. Though not all dragons who died left one, it takes a dragon having found friendship within their lives to make it more likely they leave one. And also as I’ve told you, dragons who found friendship absolutely offer the most support up in the shield. But if they’ve left a tear, it meant they had so much excess soul magic, that some of it had to be left on the planet.

Twilight: I actually have a bit of an addendum about this… you see… Spike cried a Dragon’s tear. However, he’s still living because he managed to use it to save himself and my friends. Is there an explanation for that?

Jinn: …Oh wow, Spike had to been through a real emotional scene to have done that…

Yes… it’s technically possible for a dragon to drop a Dragon’s Tear and live. But… it has to be basically a near-death experience and the dragon has to have fast reflexes and amount of love for those he wishes to protect to just manage to use their own Dragon’s Tear to save others.

Twilight: And that’s basically what happened… I can give the details about what happened a little later… you may continue answering my Dragon’s Tear question.

Jinn: Right, but basically all I have left to say… is that the Dragon’s Tear contains excess soul magic of the Dragon that passed. Most of the soul magic is what makes up the Dragon’s spirit that heads up in the shield. But a Dragon’s Tear contains within it the power of a Dragon Spirit that can either be used to protect with powerful magic shields around the living and/or contact deceased spirits when used by a dragon

Twilight gasps, knowing that’s the reason why the main use of the tear was a shield that protected her friends and Spike himself from the blasts that Zathir made Twilight while hypnotized blast at them. Though she is also affixed on Jinn saying soul magic.

Twilight: Jinn… you mentioned soul magic… multiple times now in fact… Is every single spirit in the shield up there made of this same soul magic?

Jinn nods vertically to indicate a Yes

Twilight: Then… are our souls… magic?

Jinn: You are sooooo close to getting it! Think a little more broadly then souls…

Twilight: More… broadly… then souls…

Twilight suddenly perhaps expresses a gasp so loud it echoes throughout the cave.

Twilight: Magic is not just friendship and love, or even just our emotions whether good or bad… Magic also isn’t just the spells we cast… nor is it just the many magical artifacts and items that exist in our world… it’s... life…

Life itself… is… Magic too!

UP NEXT: Chapter 22 - Life is Magic, Part 2

#Secrets Of The Dragon's Tear #Malakhar #Malakhar Manat #Twilight Sparkle #Genie #Kubuya Atka #Kubuya #Somnambula #Princess Luna #Jinn #Spirit Summoning #Princess Celestia #Luna #Celestia #Sultan Theandri

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echoes-of-the-clockwork · 4 years ago

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Book Four: War (Gladiolus x Reader) Chapter Twenty

It wasn't long before Noctis was separated from Gladio and Ignis due to the wrecked train on the tracks. It also only took Ardyn a few minutes to begin taunting him. He gripped (Y/n)'s sword tightly as he insulted the chancellor before continuing to proceed forward. He reaches another wrecked train car when daemons began swarming him. He sliced down a few and created an opening for him to run.

Noctis manages to make it into a now derelict building where he stops to catch his breath. After a moment, he drops to one knee, reaches into his pocket, and pulls out something clenched in his fist. He slowly opens his palm to reveal the Ring of Lucii. His hands begin to shake as he stares at it and he grunts rapidly, as though wracked with pain. He unsteadily slides the ring onto his finger, roaring in pain and his eyes briefly glowing red as he succeeds in this struggle. Catching his breath once again, Noctis stares at the ring of his ancestors, flexes his hand, and rises from his knees. "The time has come."

Switching between the Ring and War's sword, Noctis destroyed any daemons that targeted him. He made his way towards Zegnautus Keep. He eventually found the elevator leading to the Keep. However, daemons poured out of the lift when the doors opened.

Once killing the enemies, Noctis boarded the elevator and rides it up to Zegnautus Keep. When he stepped off the elevator, he heard Ardyn taunting him again. He tried his best to ignore the chancellor as he walked the halls of the Keep.

When rounding one corner, he spots Ardyn at the other end of the hall walking away from a downed magitek trooper. He quickly hid once seeing the lifeless machine stand, taking a zombie-like posture. He sneaks by the rogue axeman, only to stumble into more further down the hallway.

After some time, Noctis starts to see and hear Prompto. Every time he tried to help his best friend, he was greeted by a lifeless magitek. The prince realized Ardyn was playing more tricks on him and he was becoming frustrated.

Using the keycard he recently upgraded, Noctis takes the elevator to an upper level and proceeds across a bridge leading to the central lift. He carefully made his way across a catwalk towards a control panel for the central elevator. He tried to use his upgraded keycard, but it didn't work. "Gotta find a way to make it move."

"Try this."

Noctis was startled by the voice and spun around, coming face to face with Death. He stared into her golden eyes for a few seconds before looking down at what she was offering him. It was another keycard. "Well, uh...thanks." Using the generator keycard, he was able to activate the control panel and give power to the elevator.

The two begin to make their way back across the catwalk towards the central elevator. They didn't make it far before a gargantua daemon suddenly lands on the platform just beyond the end of the catwalk. "The hell?" Noctis glared at the enemy.

Death went to summon her scythe the moment the gargantua raises its sword. She went to attack the daemon, but the daemon brings its sword down and shatters the catwalk. The Horseman and Noctis fall into the depths of Zegnautus Keep.

As they fell, Noctis gripped (Y/n)'s blade tightly. He focused on what she taught him and wrapped an arm around Death's waist before tossing the blade. He warped the moment the sword embedded into the wall, taking the girl with him. They both looked up to see how far they fell. "Damn..." Noctis cursed.

Death looked down. "There's still quite a fall left."

The boy also looked down and grimaced at the sight. He thought for a few seconds until he steeled himself and prepared to warp a second time. "Hold on," he told the girl before yanked the blade out of the wall. Adjusting their position, he tossed the blade downward. It lodged itself into the ground and the familiar sensation of warping filled his being.

Warping to the bottom of the central shaft, Noctis sighed in relief and released Death. "You okay?"

"I'm fine all thanks to you." She looked around, noticing the large pile of debris and the bodies of imperial troopers. When seeing a familiar figure among the dead, she frowned. "Oh, no..."

Noctis followed her gaze and spotted the body of Ravus. What else caught his attention was the deceased man's severed mechanical arm still clinging to the haft of the late King Regis' sword. The blade stands impaled in the floor beside Ravus' corpse. Noctis gazes at the dead high commander in silent sadness.

After a moment, he reaches out toward the haft of his father's sword. At his touch, Ravus' severed arm falls to land on the first son of Tenebrae's chest. Noctis pulls his hand back from the weapon, taking a moment to first kneel beside Ravus and look upon his face a final time. Finally, the prince stands and grasps his father's royal arm, pulling it free.

Death walked over to War's blade and did the same. She gazed sorrowfully at the black and crimson weapon. Noctis peered over at her before making his way over. "We'll get (Y/n) back."

She smiled at him. "I know we will." She switched out her scythe, deciding to use her sister's sword. "Let's get moving. We have to find your friends."

Joining forces, Noctis and Death make their way through Zegnautus Keep. They continued to listen to Ardyn taunt them both over the loudspeaker. At one point, the sable-haired girl summoned War's blade and impaled the loudspeaker, silencing the man for a short while. She sighed contently. "Finally, some peace and quiet."

"Until we come across another loudspeaker," Noctis said.

"Then I'll destroy that one, too."

He smirked at her reply before returning his focus to searching for the others.

Deeper into Zegnautus Keep, they were soon being stalked by the foras daemon. The duo kept on their toes while proceeding forward. They fell into a few of Ardyn's traps, but there was one they walked right into that proved to be difficult to escape. Translucent, electrified doors close at either end of the hallway and begin closing in on Noctis and Death. The magitek troopers on the floor rose and set their sights on the duo.

"Didn't see that coming!" Noctis snarled.

"A little pain never hurt anyone. On you go. Hurry. While you dawdle, people are dying," Ardyn said.

"We've really gone and done it now."

Death summoned (Y/n)'s blade and killed the magiteks. "We're not giving up."

Ignis' voice suddenly calls out from the other end of the hallway in the direction Noctis and Death had been going. "Noct? Is that you?"

"Hey! Noct! Can you hear us?" Gladio asked.

"Ignis, Gladio!" The prince shouted.

"Where are you?" The tactician inquired.

Gladio is able to see through the doors at the other end of the hallway. He takes notice of Noctis' and Death's situation. The doors have almost finished closing in on them. He went to search for a way to save the two, but he stopped when seeing the Horseman create a hole in one of the doors. She gritted her teeth when feeling the electricity course through her body, but she fought through the pain and absorbed it. Weakly, she lowers the blade as Noctis leaps through the hole she created. She followed him, crumpling on the floor beside him. She breathed heavily, her body healing itself.

Noctis places a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for the save."

She managed a small smile. "Consider it payback for saving me from that fall earlier."

He stood up, helping the Horseman to her feet. He then looked over at Ignis and Gladio. "How'd you guys get here?"

"After we were separated, we received "help" from the usual suspect," Ignis stated.

"That bastard's playing with us. But at least we're together," Gladio said.

"All but two of us."

Just then, Ardyn's voice rung out from the loudspeaker. "Reunited with your retainers at last. How very touching. Must be a fine feeling, having friends. Look how happy you are! I pray you find your dear Prompto soon. And you mustn't forget the lovely (Y/n). It's impolite to keep a lady waiting."

Gladio glared at the loudspeaker at hearing the chancellor mention the girl. "Damn bastard."

"Once we find Prompto, we'll search for War. She doesn't have much time left," Death said.

"Then let's hurry."

She smirked at the trio. "I've a feeling someone else is going to find him before us."

"What?" Noctis asked.

"Famine," Ignis answered.

"Speaking of her..." Death's voice trailed off when she could sense her sister's location. "Follow me."

Noctis, Ignis, and Gladio followed the girl through the hallways of the Keep. They followed her to an elevator, where they headed up to the cell block. There, they found Famine helping Prompto out of a cell. The three boys make their over to the sharpshooter.

"Hey, you alright?" Gladio asked.

"Are you hurt? Do you need help?" Ignis inquired.

"I'm fine," Prompto said as Famine released him. He stumble towards them and almost tripped, but Noctis caught him. "Thank you, Noct. Tell me. Were you worried about me?"

"Of course I was. What kind of question is that?" Noctis retorts.

Prompto managed to steady himself with his best friend's help. "Of course. That's why you came, like I believed you would."

"Prompto..."

"That's why I told myself I couldn't die. Not until I could see you and hear you tell me I'm not a fake—that I'm the real me."

"I'm sorry," Noctis muttered melancholically.

Prompto shook his head. "Don't be. Everything's alright now."

Once the two boys separated, Famine provided healing for the blonde. Seeing the minor cuts and bruises heal, she smiled at him. "There, all better."

Prompto smiled back at her. "Thank you."

"Well then, now that we're all together, our next move should be finding War," Death said.

"About that..." Noctis trailed off.

"We don't have weapons," Gladio said.

The sable-haired girl blinked in surprise. That's when she remembers Noctis only had her sister's sword with him earlier. "That is a problem..."

"I propose we search the area," Ignis suggested.

"It couldn't hurt," Famine said.

"Then let's look around," Noctis stated.

The group make their way back toward the central area of this level of Zegnautus Keep after rescuing Prompto. It wasn't long before Ignis stopped them. "Noct, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Noctis asked, looking toward his advisor.

"I've heard this sound before—on the train, just before your weapons failed you. It's nearby, and it may hold the key to restoring your power." The six of them make their way across the catwalk leading to the central area of this level of the Keep. They come to a halt in front of a room sealed with large metal doors. "It's here," Ignis said.

Noctis approaches the metal doors in the center of the enormous room. "This thing?" He places his hand against one of the doors and tried to open it, but both were tightly sealed. "Door's locked."

"It's coming from within. Is there no way through?" Ignis questioned.

"There's a way," Prompto solemnly said. All eyes were on him as he hesitantly steps up to the door's scanner and raises the back of his right wrist to it. As the doors slide open, he resumes speaking while staring off into the room, unable to make eye contact with the others. "So, MTs... They've got those codeprints...just like I do."

"Do they? Never looked," Noctis said, unfazed.

"Yeah... So, as it turns out...I'm one of them. Not exactly something I could tell people growing up in Lucis." Prompto is fighting back tears, but continues speaking. "Still... You guys are like...the only friends I've ever known. I just hope that things can stay the way they were."

"Whatever. Who cares where you were born?"

"I don't see you turning against us. Not now, or ever," Ignis stated.

"Thanks, guys. Still...I can't change where I came from. What I am," Prompto mumbled.

"Since when does where you come from matter to you?" Noctis asked. "You never once treated me as a prince." He playfully punches Prompto's shoulder.

"He's got you there," Gladio chimed in.

"Never so much as a "Highness"," Ignis added.

"We're done here. C'mon, crown citizen," Noctis said.

Gladio steps over to Ignis to help guide him into the room. He gives Prompto's shoulder a friendly smack as they walk past. "You're one of us, right?"

Ignis stops and turns back towards the marksman. "Unless you'd rather not be."

Prompto smiles with a nod. Before following them, Famine walked up to him. She playfully nudges him in the side. "I bet that's a weight off your shoulders."

"I do feel a lot better," he confessed.

He and Famine follow the others into the room. Inside it, they find the emperor's abandoned clothing laying upon the throne. They also find a large bank of computers, which are the cause of Noctis' lost powers. Without hesitating, the raven-haired boy rams his father's sword through the machines.

"So...did it work?" Prompto asked.

"With the device down and out, Noct's power should be up and running," Ignis answered.

"Go on, try it," Gladio told Noctis.

"Alright. Moment of truth." Noctis holds out his hand and conjures a sword. Prompto claps in celebration.

"We're back, baby," Gladio smirked. "Now we can hunt down that damned monster."

Noctis nodded in agreement. "Let's roll."

The moment the group left the emperor's throne room, the gargantua daemon that caused Noctis and Death to fall earlier lands on the platform in front of them. It's quickly joined by other daemons, who begin manifesting. "Not you again," Noctis groaned.

"New friend?" Prompto inquired.

"You really need to pick 'em better," Gladio chuckled.

Before the boys could even summon their weapons, Famine casted a powerful lightning spell. Myriads of lightning bolts manifested from thin air and struck the daemons. Many of the weaker ones perished from the spell while the fewer strong ones remained. The golden-haired girl stepped forward in front of the group as the remaining enemies recovered from the spell. "I'll handle these guys. You all need to find War. She's running out of time."

"But..." Prompto began.

She sent a smile his way. "I'll be fine."

Gladio lowered his hand. "Where do we even begin?"

"The last I saw the dullahan it was wandering around the lower levels of the Keep. Start there. I'll meet up with you all once I've dealt with these guys."

"Be careful," the sharpshooter said.

"Let's go." Noctis led everyone but Famine out of the enormous room. They returned to the elevator and immediately ride it to the lower levels of Zegnautus Keep.

As the lift carried them down, Gladio felt an intense burning sensation in his pocket. He winced from the extreme heat and quickly took out what the cause was. It was the summoning orb. The shield was unable to hold it any longer and accidentally dropped it. "Damn..." He tried to pick it up, but Death stopped him.

"Wait," she held up her hand. Squatting down, she watched the orb closely as it began rolling around.

Prompto lifted his foot to allow the orb to roll by. "What's going on?"

"It's going crazy," Noctis commented when the orb picked up speed.

"It's never done that before," Gladio said.

The closer the elevator got to the lower levels, the faster the orb rolled around. Death promptly caught it as the lift door slid open. She wasn't bothered by the burning sensation, her minor injuries healing within seconds. "War's using what strength she has left to call upon the orb." She stepped off, the light the scarlet orb was emitting growing brighter. "We're on the right track."

"Does this mean we're gonna use it like a tracking device?" Prompto questioned.

Death smirked. "Exactly. Follow me, everyone."

Noctis, Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis followed Death through the halls of the lower level of Zegnautus Keep. She held up the orb, watching it closely whenever they turned a corner or passed a room. Whenever they stumbled across splitting paths, she would hold the orb up higher. She walked a little ways down each path to see the orb's reaction. The path she always chose was the one where the orb's light would intensify.

Eventually, Death led them into a large hangar-like room. She quickly pushed everyone behind a large pile of wooden crates when she smelt a foul odor. She noticed the orb's light vanished, it no longer being hot to the touch. She handed it back to Gladio, who put it back into his pocket.

Peering out from behind the crates, Death scanned the hangar. Her golden eyes bounced around until she saw a black puddle materialize in the middle of the hangar. Her eyes narrowed when the dullahan emerged from the inky substance. Its body was much larger and the armor it once adorned now was gone.

Gladio has also been peeking out from their hiding spot. He glared daggers at the grotesque monster. Raising his hand, he went to summon his greatsword. Death saw this and promptly stopped him. "Don't even think about it," she whispered.

"Why?" The brute growled. "We're here to kill it, aren't we? It's got its damn head with it. It'll be easy."

"I know you want to get War back, but running out there and attacking blindly is careless. You won't be risking not only our lives, but War's as well. She's inside that thing. If you swing wildly, you risk hurting her. In her current weakened state, heavy injuries to her body won't heal and she will die."

Prompto swallowed the lump in his throat. "(Y/n)'s inside that thing...?"

Gladio lowered his hand. He desperately wanted (Y/n) back safe and sound. "Fine. What's your plan?"

She was grateful he listened to her. "All right. Listen closely..."

#ffxv #ffxv x reader #final fantasy xv #final fantasy xv x reader #gladiolus amicitia #gladiolus x reader #gladio x reader

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salmonid-ink · 4 years ago

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OKAY. So... Thoughts on the interview (thanks for your interest)!

I’m fine with the idea that Salmonids want to be eaten after death, and that they find it honorable. I headcanon that they’re by and large a “waste not want not” society, even to the point where they’ll find use for bones and other bits of material and waste that most others would simply throw away these days. In the same way, they’d want their bodies to be used after they deceased, so they can continue the cycle of life and eliminate more waste. This includes being used as fertilizer for gardens, which is a common Salmonid funeral outside of battle.

I’ve talked about this before, but I think that if a Salmonid were to be killed in battle, most of them would want whomever killed them to cook them up and serve them as a meal. It’s considered honorable, as they would continue the circle of life by fueling the powerful fighter, and their body would also not go to waste.

However, despite them not fearing death, I do not think that Salmonids actively want to be eaten. I don’t think they purposefully serve themselves up to opponents to be eaten, either. I feel like that’s counter-intuitive to their drive for survival, especially since they can live upwards to 70 years, now. If their life spans were short like the salmon of today, I feel like this sentiment would make some sense--if they’re migrating to lay their nests, they’re going to die anyway, so they may as well go out with a bang and be a super delicious meal for whomever does them in.

But, we have some evidence that Salmonids live much longer than that, and don’t necessarily die after migrating to lay their nests. The migration takes place every 70 years, and they have traditions and heirlooms that they pass from generation to generation. Chances are pretty high that any Salmonids that survive dealing with Grizzco raids and other outside attacks will go on to raise and care for their offspring. This also ties in with my idea that they don’t just breed every 70 years, hence why there are so many battle-ready Smallfry.

In regards to Grillers, I don’t necessarily think that whomever is in the Griller to pilot it is going to die. Generally speaking, my headcanons are such:

* Grillers are expensive to run because they need to be filled with lots of food, require a lot of metal and materials to craft and repair, and they’re absolutely exhausting to pilot, even for a group. Anyone who pilots a Griller must be allowed to rest for a week before piloting it again.

* The food content of the Griller is actually meant for the Salmonids piloting it. This keeps them fueled and energized to keep the machine moving. If someone else, like the Inklings, wind up eating it, then so be it! They’d better find it tasty and leave a good review, though!

* Due to the nature of the Griller, should it be taken down, the expectation is for the enemy to consume the contents of the Griller. Don’t be surprised if the fish inside don’t die and bite back, though!

* The contents tend to get hot, due to the grilled food, and the energy expelled by the Salmonids piloting it. They both have to produce their “ink,” which is a combination of oil and saliva, and keep the Griller moving, all while targeting specific individuals. Despite it being really hot however, it’s not scalding, which allows the Smallfry to ride alongside it safely. It’s more like... An extra warm sauna, or extra toasty hot tub.

* Smallfry love to tag along with Grillers because they can easily sneak on board, get a free snack along the way, and they can help defend their future siblings!

That’s all I’ve got for now. Thanks for letting me ramble, and thank you for reading!

#Salmonid #Salmon Run #Splatoon #Other Headcanons #Mod Stinky

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smallmediumproblems · 5 years ago

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Summary: The Magnus Institute budget waits for no eldritch entity, and there are only two archival staff with enough patience left to answer Elias' questions.

Note: I missed the deadline to submit this to a contest ages ago, and kinda forgot about it...? but, it’s finished now, so, here y’go! Takes place sometime mid-season-3.

. . .

BASIRA: Do you think he's going to notice?

MARTIN (tense): I think there's not a whole lot we can do if he does. Not much he can do to us, either. I mean, who else is willing to put up with paperwork for him?

BASIRA: I'm a little surprised he still trusts you. With anything.

MARTIN (more tense, looking for an excuse to lash out): It's almost like I try to be helpful and cooperative all the time so people know they can rely on me.

BASIRA (not sure about the method, but approves of the results): Huh. Sneaky.

MARTIN (has snapped): Nothing about this is sneaky! We're literally asking him to finance his own-

MARTIN (CONT'D, lowers his voice, reminds himself that they’re not supposed to talk about Secret Plans): You know.

BASIRA: Fun, right?

MARTIN: You're totally sure we got everything on the list?

BASIRA: I checked with Daisy just this morning. She’s not happy about it, but she was very thorough. Melanie's, erm, needs , are pretty straightforward. Tim is being actively unhelpful.

MARTIN: He seemed pretty enthusiastic.

BASIRA: Doesn’t make him helpful. Anyway, you said it yourself. It’s too late to worry about it now. What’s the worst he’s gonna do to us for a little light subterfuge?

[Cut to several minutes later. BASIRA and MARTIN are sitting in ELIAS' office. BASIRA has her game face on, and her confidence is infectious. MARTIN has calmed down a bit. But only a bit.]

ELIAS: First and foremost, I’d like to thank you for meeting with me today. I know that our working relationship is a bit… strained, at the moment, and I appreciate the degree of professionalism this demonstrates in both of you.

MARTIN: That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me.

BASIRA: I just didn't want to leave him alone with you.

ELIAS: I believe you two were in charge of drafting the archive’s most recent budget request, is that correct?

BASIRA: That’s right.

ELIAS: I had some concerns to discuss with you before I filed everything.

BASIRA (somewhat defensive): This is the pared down version. We had to make some hard choices for what to cut.

ELIAS: I would be interested to hear what you decided to forego in favor of…

[Very brief beat as ELIAS flips through the budget, which he has printed out for the express purpose of quoting at them disapprovingly]

ELIAS (CONT’D): ...four dozen assorted hunting knives.

MARTIN: Mostly, it was just more knives.

BASIRA: Daisy goes through them pretty quickly these days. We figured it might be good to have a few stashed around the archive. For safety.

ELIAS: I hardly feel safe giving you easy access to weaponry, considering Melanie’s new hobby. Not to mention your collective history of emotional outbursts.

BASIRA (trying to pretend that she cares, not trying very hard): Oh, your safety. Yeah, that makes sense.

ELIAS: On the subject of safety, I see that you've opted to restock with what I can only call an excess of fire extinguishers. Hardly necessary now that Jane Prentiss is deceased, but I understand your concern.

MARTIN (eagerly): No, you’d think that, but they’re really good for a lot of things. I mean, we ARE dealing with a fire cult. The archive’s enough of a hazard already. Loose paper, old electrical sockets...

BASIRA (supportive): They’re great for self-defense.

ELIAS: I suppose it is a better alternative to knives.

ELIAS (CONT’D, continuing to flip through papers): Speaking of excess, you appear to have ordered twice as many supplies as you normally need for the breakroom. Would you care to explain why?

MARTIN: We’re not the ones who hired a bunch more people. We barely had enough for four of us, and now we've got five! Six if you count Daisy. She’s mostly in and out, but I’m not going to tell her she can’t have a cup of tea while she’s waiting for Basira.

ELIAS: You’re certain it has nothing to do with stocking a second meeting space that you’ve decided to assemble at without my knowledge?

MARTIN (carefully): ...no?

BASIRA (more casually; no plans here, Vader, just a diplomatic mission to Alderaan): Sounds kind of far-fetched.

MARTIN (deciding to roll with it): Should we do that? It could be a good team-builder.

ELIAS: My main concern is that you’ve listed a frozen margarita machine among the requested furnishings.

MARTIN (oh! that’s all it was): Oh-

BASIRA (to Martin, confused but not upset): I thought you took that out.

MARTIN (annoyed): Tim must have snuck it back in. That- that’s an honest mistake, we didn’t mean to submit that.

ELIAS: Then we’re in agreement that it doesn’t constitute a reasonable business expense?

[MARTIN makes a doubtful noise.]

BASIRA (also doubtful): I mean...

MARTIN: I wouldn't say that.

BASIRA: Have you talked to Tim lately?

ELIAS: Hmm. Point taken. Still, I can't spend Institute funds on it in good conscience.

[ELIAS scratches out the line item and continues to page through the budget intermittently as he talks.]

ELIAS (CONT'D): Let's move on to some of the miscellanea. Cassette tapes are entirely understandable, but are you certain you need this many?

BASIRA: The tape recorders follow Jon around, yeah? I figure, if he doesn’t come back, they’re going to stop showing up on their own. We need to plan ahead.

MARTIN (angrily; clearly they have argued about this before.): That is not why.

BASIRA (conceding, more amused than apologetic): And it makes more sense for each of us to have our own supply instead of ransacking Jon's office whenever we run out. That’s what Martin keeps telling me.

MARTIN: She won't stop stealing his pens!

BASIRA (frustrated. This is also something they've argued about before.): I need them. You never gave me any office supplies.

MARTIN: You were supposed to put that in with the budget.

BASIRA: Hard choices, Martin. This was one of them.

ELIAS: Is that why you’ve ordered nearly a gross of glow sticks?

BASIRA: Oh, no. That’s for research.

[Beat as ELIAS waits for BASIRA to elaborate. She does not.]

ELIAS (forcing a patient tone): What kind of research?

BASIRA (condescending, as if this should be obvious): Spooky research.

BASIRA (CONT’D): I’m not convinced the People’s Church is as dormant as we thought. I’m toying around with defensive strategies- redundant light sources, stuff like that.

MARTIN: It’s been very festive!

ELIAS: Would that also explain the assorted sports equipment?

BASIRA (it would not): Research.

ELIAS: The smart-home device and speaker system.

BASIRA (definitely not research): Research.

ELIAS: And is this a miniature zeppelin?

MARTIN (pleased with himself for contributing): Ooh, that one's me. Er, yeah. Research.

ELIAS: Is it meant to resemble a shark?

MARTIN (yes, it is): I… hadn't noticed.

ELIAS: What about the petrol?

BASIRA (Smugly. She knows that ELIAS knows exactly what she wants to use petrol for.): Definitely research.

ELIAS: I think not. I already cannot trust you with sharp objects. I don’t see how accelerants are a possibility.

MARTIN: We did also ask for a lot of fire extinguishers. You've got to look at the whole thing in context. There's a system here.

ELIAS (crossing out several lines): Regardless. That will also not be making the final list. One other item in particular drew my attention simply because of the price. What do you need a GPS tracker for?

BASIRA (immediately): Jon.

MARTIN (disappointed): Yeah.

ELIAS: Out of the question.

MARTIN: What if he goes missing again?

ELIAS: A tracker is an optimistic but unfeasible solution. The things that have an interest in Jon are likely to take him somewhere he cannot be tracked.

BASIRA: Plan A was to give him a bunch of knives, but you shot that one down.

ELIAS: In any case, the only way this would work is if he wore it every minute he was outside the Institute. Don’t you think that’s a bit invasive of his privacy?

[MARTIN begins trying not to laugh, and is quite unable to do anything else for a few seconds as the conversation continues.]

ELIAS (icy): Something you'd like to share with us?

MARTIN: I’m sorry, I- I can’t tell if you’re being serious.

BASIRA (trying to ignore him): We did talk to Jon about it. It’s not like we were going to stalk him.

MARTIN (would be sarcastic if he wasn’t still laughing): Who would do such a thing?

ELIAS: Do we need to postpone this?

MARTIN (managing to calm down): Nope, yep. I’m good. Hmmmmmkay. Where- where were we?

ELIAS: I believe we were at the start of a very serious human resources inquiry.

MARTIN (feigning interest): Ohh! Whose is that?

BASIRA (tired): GPS unit is a no, that’s fine. I’ll get him one of those kid-leashes out of pocket. Elias, was there anything else?

ELIAS: The rest of the budget looks to be in order. If I could discuss one other issue with you, I have some similar concerns with your reimbursement requests. I take it this list is similarly ‘pared down’?

BASIRA: Yeah, I didn’t do that.

MARTIN (alarmed): What?!

BASIRA (unmoved): Yep. Just put everything in a list and printed it out.

MARTIN (rapidly cycling through the five stages of grief): Why??

BASIRA: Because we all have massively more important things to do.

ELIAS: Perhaps if you had taken the time to edit the list, this meeting would have been much shorter.

BASIRA (smug that she’s managed to make this ELIAS’ problem, not hers): Misery loves company.

ELIAS: Indeed. You mentioned Tim’s instability earlier. He’s put down several months of a gym membership and listed the explanation as ‘vengeance’.

MARTIN (uncomfortable, unhappy about TIM’s state in general but unwilling to show it here, of all places): Yeah, that’s… been a thing.

ELIAS (dismissive): I don’t suppose he’s intending to punch the Unknowing out of existence?

BASIRA: We haven’t actually sorted out who he’s planning vengeance against. Could be Jon. I don’t think he’d punch you, but I don’t know him too well.

MARTIN: Honestly, it’s been a good way to keep him busy. I won’t say it puts him in a better mood, exactly? He’s not less angry, just, erm, distracted. I think it helps. He thinks it helps, that’s what matters.

ELIAS: It is at least easier to rationalize than the margarita machine.

ELIAS (CONT'D, flips a couple more pages): One last thing… Ah. I also wanted to discuss some of Jon's travel expenses.

BASIRA: Is this from when you framed him for murder?

ELIAS: I think you’ll find that my involvement led to him being found innocent, but yes. This would be his absence during your investigation with Officer Tonner.

BASIRA (resigned): Alright. What’d he do, now?

[ELIAS slides a piece of paper across the table.]

ELIAS: Is this a typographical error, or did he really try to request this much compensation for ‘emotional damages’?

[BASIRA makes an interested noise as she reads the figure.]

BASIRA: Sounds about right.

ELIAS (stern, disapproving): We have an entirely separate form for that. It hardly counts as a travel expense.

MARTIN (did not know this. stunned, distant, half to himself): We have a whole form for emotional damages…

BASIRA: I think he just wanted to pay back his friend. Rent, groceries- I think Orsinov did some property damage, even?

ELIAS: Ahh. I see. We should be able to provide for that, if he can acquire some itemized receipts.

MARTIN (muttering to himself): What else do we have forms for?

ELIAS (darkly): A great many things, Mr Blackwood. Let us hope that you never find yourself in a position to discover them.

MARTIN (refuses to be disturbed by whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean): So, like, a sabbatical program? Have we got educational incentives?

ELIAS (perhaps a bit annoyed that Martin isn’t playing along): Don’t you already have a degree?

MARTIN (defensively): Maybe I want another one.

ELIAS: Then I suggest we have that discussion in a separate meeting. I doubt that Basira needs to know the details of your plans for personal growth.

BASIRA: Depends on the kind. Daisy might be in the market for a new gym partner.

MARTIN (terrified, dead sure that’s a euphemism for something violent): Oh wow! That’s. Great, Basira!

ELIAS: If you two are quite finished, I have other things I need to accomplish today.

BASIRA (sarcastically): Good luck with that!

BASIRA (CONT'D): I’m heading out, see you two on Monday.

MARTIN: Basira, it’s not even lunchtime. On Wednesday.

BASIRA (referring to Elias): What, is he gonna fire me?

[beat]

ELIAS (disgruntled): Enjoy your weekend, detective.

[Door opens and closes as BASIRA leaves.]

ELIAS (ominous): ...while you still can.

MARTIN: Do you do that every time someone leaves the room?

ELIAS (oh for- what now , MARTIN): Do what?

MARTIN: Say ominous stuff while no one's listening.

ELIAS (chuckles. If there was a camera, he'd be grinning directly at it): I can assure you, Martin, someone is always listening.

#the magnus archives #tma spoilers #fanfiction #smallsays

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chillax-kass-w · 5 years ago

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After All | RM5

[Reiner Braun/Reader]

Happiness seems impossible for Reiner, but he may get there after all.

Read on AO3

[As a note, the format of this story is as follows: chapters actually titled “Chapter _” are current to the Marley Arc, chapters titled “M_” are Reiner’s memories in succession, and chapters titled “RM_” are the Reader’s memories in succession]

Sitting in her new home, (f/n) found herself surveying the stone walls in wonder. She couldn’t believe the Survey Corps headquarters were a castle. Was that some sort of weird irony, or what? The outcast of the King’s honchos, living in a castle. Either way, she was amazed to have such a nice room to call her own, even more amazed to have one on the second floor. The view was phenomenal. A wide expanse of field lay outside, and just beyond that was a gorgeous forest. She couldn’t wait to have time to explore it. The thought brought back memories of her childhood, learning about the flora and fauna near her house, her father and mother leading her through the woods near Wall Maria and setting up picnics. She hoped they’d have some time off in the coming month so she could take her friends on adventures.

If only to forget the impending expedition for a moment.

With a sigh, she left her room and made her way to the mess hall. It was their first lunch as Scouts; she wouldn’t miss it for the world. When she entered, though, she found not many people within, which was surprising. Perhaps they were still getting settled into their new abode. Perhaps they were dealing with their anxiety. Either way, she grabbed a bowl of porridge and a small loaf of bread and sat at the nearest table. A woman was diagonally across from her. She felt like she recognized her.

“Hello.” The woman turned at her greeting, and a grin etched its way into her cheeks.

“Hi there! You’re one of the new recruits, right?!” Her excitement was unmatched. (f/n) grinned in response. She took a liking to the enthusiasm; it was a welcome distraction.

“Yeah, I’m (f/n) (l/n).”

“(f/n), (f/n), where have I heard that name…?” The woman held a hand to her chin. Then, she slapped her hand on the table. “Oh, that’s right! You’re the one that surprised everybody!”

“Huh?”

“Everyone expected Cadet Ackerman to have a high kill and assist count in the aftermath of Trost, but yours was the second highest despite you ranking sixth! I have to say, I’m impressed!” The woman made eye contact with her again, that ever present grin reaching her eyes. “Oh, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Squad Leader Hange Zoe. Nice to meet you!”

At that, (f/n)’s eyes widened, as did her smile. “You’re the one who was researching the Titans!”

“That would be me! Are you interested in my research?!”

“Of course I am! Are you allowed to talk about it?”

At that question, Hange squealed. “Oh am I ever! Tell me what you know about the Titans, and we can go from there. The last time I spoke to someone about this I rambled on about the basics and didn’t even get to the good stuff! I’m not going to let that happen again.”

“Well, I know what most soldiers know. They have a weak spot at the nape, they have no digestive system, their only goal is to eat humans... Though I disagree with that last one. They seem to only want to destroy, not really eat…”

Sarah...

“Yes, yes, I agree with that statement. But thanks to the Titans we’ve captured over the years, we know much more! First, we always try to communicate, but Sonny and Bean, who I still mourn, showed that meaningful communication is impossible. We deprived them of sunlight, as they become less active at night, to test the hypothesis that they derive energy from the sun. Sonny become lethargic after just one hour, but Bean stayed energetic for three hours!”

(f/n) gasped. “So individual Titans have different levels of endurance, just like humans!”

With a nod, Hange raised her mug to her lips. Then, her expression turned pained. “Next we tested their pain tolerance. It was tough for me to carry out,” she looked at the table, a forlorn furrow of her brows displaying her dislike of the experiment. “I needed to see if Titans have other weak points. Bean screamed and thrashed about, but Sonny barely reacted at all.”

“Which furthers the idea the Titans are individualized more than their appearance…Have you looked inside?”

“Yes, but there was nothing in the nape… What really bothers me is that… their bodies are very light…”

“Light?”

“Yes, we have severed the limbs of many Titans, yet these limbs don’t weigh nearly what they should for their size. Then, we find out that Eren’s Titan body materializes out of nothing… I theorize that what we can see and the true nature of what actually exists are totally different things…”

(f/n) laughed, and Hange’s eyes widened in response. She backtracked. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just, from what you’re saying the Titans sound more like plants than animals. They look like humans, but they get their energy from light, don’t eat anything else, and their appearance is much larger than their weight…It sounds so outlandish…”

“Well, that sounds more tame than some of my more outlandish theories.” The Squad Leader readjusted her glasses.

“Tell me!”

Hange laughed. “You know, I like your enthusiasm! Maybe I can get Erwin to put you on my squad in the future.”

The girl grinned at the idea. Hange’s squad was considered elite within their ranks. “It’d be an honor.”

“Well, we’ll see about it. First let me tell you about Ilse Langnar. She was a member of the Survey Corps who was considered deceased after the 34th Expedition. Later on, we found her armband and a book that she had filled with her final moments. It appeared that she had come into contact with an Abnormal Titan who bowed when it cornered her, saying, ‘A subject of Ymir’ and ‘Lady Ymir… Well met.’”

“It spoke?” (f/n)’s mind reeled. A Titan communicating? “Lady Ymir…” What are the odds that the name the Titan speaks is that of a friend? Could it be connected in some way?

Doubtful.

“Yes. I have yet to find a significance for the ‘Lady Ymir’ bit though. However, this proves that at least some Titans have the capability of speech. Then again, Ilse could have been hallucinating, but the writing still stands. She also stated that the Titan began tearing at its own face when she questioned it about eating humans. I can’t help but wonder… Do they truly understand what they are doing?”

They sat in silence for a while, a fact (f/n) didn’t take lightly. Hange seemed so excitable. A pregnant pause such as this seemed out of character. Her last question begged for silence, though. The suggestion that the Titans have some sort of consciousness, some sort of intelligent capabilities, brought many moralistic questions to mind. What’s more, it also begged the question of them being able to communicate with the more intelligent Titans and possibly ending the war. Wishful thinking, but still a thought nonetheless.

“Squad Leader Hange, Erwin has summoned you.”

The woman sighed. “Very well. We’ll finish this conversation later!”

As she followed her superior’s retreating form with her eyes, (f/n) could only think one thing.

What if the Armored and Colossal Titans are intelligent too?

#reiner braun #reiner braun x reader #reiner braun/reader #aot #snk #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #hange zoe

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osleyakomwonkru · 6 years ago

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5+1 Character Classes in The 100 and Why They Matter

So I’m spinning off a bit from @loganmarshallrps‘ excellent post “Why Killing Octavia Could Kill The 100″ because I really started thinking on all of the character roles and this is the result of that.

I’ve identified five character classes (classes being a term from Dungeons & Dragons, referring to a character’s key capabilities, strengths and weaknesses) that are elemental to The 100 universe. I use the term “class” instead of archetype, because this is more about their jobs in the narrative rather than their particular personalities, because sometimes they do have to function outside of their best class, and when that happens, the narrative usually suffers.

So these five character classes are: The Diplomat, The Leader, The Fixer, The Scientist and The Soldier. Then our +1 is the rarer Multi-Class Master - characters who are masters in two or more of the aforementioned classes (in contrast to the cases I mention in the previous paragraph where characters have to function outside of their best class, and therefore aren’t masters). The Diplomat, Leader and Fixer roles are the most vital to the narrative (and the ones that our main trio belong to), while the Scientist and Soldier are by their nature supporting roles.

I’ve classified our living members of Earthkru into these categories, with special mentions to some deceased characters as well.

The Diplomat

The Diplomat is a role that people may often pin as The Leader, but as you’ll see below in that section, they have different jobs. The Diplomat is also a leader of sorts, but their role is focused externally - they are the ones who represent their people to the other groups that are encountered throughout the narrative, who engage with them, and make deals for the benefit of their people. How successful they are at this is always up for debate, but they try.

As we’d expect, this is the category where we find our ambassadors Clarke and Kane. Back on Earth, the Commanders, like Lexa, would also fit this role, since they have to keep all of the clans somewhat happy. Had he survived past the first three episodes, Wells would have probably also been a Diplomat.

The Leader

While the Diplomat focuses outward into the wider world, the Leader is the one tasked with keeping order at home. Their primary concern is the well-being of their people in the here and now, rather than worrying about what might happen in the future (that’s the job of the Diplomat). This means they’re more involved in the day to day activities and storylines of the secondary characters, since out of the three lead roles (Diplomat, Leader, Fixer) they will be the ones who are around them more, since the narrative requires the Diplomat and the Fixer to be more mobile.

This is the most important narrative role for Bellamy, as well as Madi. While past Commanders would have been Diplomats, representing for all clans, since now we’ve just got Earthkru, the Commander moves more into a Leader role (assuming the adults don’t keep restricting her). This was also generally the main narrative role for Jaha, even with the City of Light plotline, because as Kane and Abby played Grounder politics games in season 2 and 3, Jaha was still focused on Skaikru (until he was chipped, and even then, he returned to Skaikru first). Roan would be another leader, though he did also try his hand at diplomacy to mixed success.

The Fixer

The Fixer is perhaps the most vital role in a narrative such as The 100 - they’re the ones who make first contact with new people, places and ideas; they connect different and sometimes conflicting parts of the narrative together, and so on.

They are the most mobile pieces on the narrative chessboard, since they’re often characterized by weak and/or divided loyalties to the different groups in play, thus outsiders either by circumstance or by choice, and that means they’re able to move between them as needed (though often still with some sort of personal sacrifices). This also means that they spend a large amount of each season away from the rest of Adventure Squad, bringing the pieces together in the final act of the season.

Fixers can also be categorized into three different types - Active (they seek out these connections on purpose), Reactive (they make connections based on moves others have made and provide course correction) and Passive (these connections happen upon them by accident).

Of our three living Fixers, we’ve got one of each type -

Octavia is the Active type of Fixer, and you can read @loganmarshallrps‘ linked post above to see more details on her vital role in the narrative.

Niylah is the Reactive type of Fixer. Some examples: She puts a human face on Farm Station’s grounder army massacre, setting Bellamy back on the right path; gives Jaha the knowledge he needs to find the Second Dawn bunker; releases Clarke from Wonkru custody so she can try to stop the ascension; wakes Octavia from cryosleep against Abby’s orders.

Murphy is the Passive type of Fixer. Generally speaking, his entire character arc has been about trying to avoid the narrative entirely, but he always keeps getting pulled back in, and this is why - he always happens across some sort of information that ends up being vital. This starts in season 1, when he’s cast out but then returns to the delinquent camp with the sickness, but is most apparent in season 3, when he figures out the Becca/Polaris connection to the Commanders before anyone else does, as well as the information about ALIE. In season 6, he seems to be back in this role again as Josephine taps him to be her way into Earthkru’s secrets.

As to our dead Fixers, there are two main ones - Lincoln and Finn.

The Scientist

The Scientist is the character (or characters, rather, since there’s quite a few of them) that is the keeper of knowledge. While the Diplomat and Leader are ideas-oriented, the Scientist is results-oriented. Their role in the main narrative is to take the pieces of information fed to them by the Fixer and turn it into something that the Leader and the Diplomat can put to use, as well as keep people alive through whatever day-to-day shenanigans are going on.

This is the class where we of course see our tech master Raven, but also the medical professionals Abby and Jackson, as well as Flamekeeper Gaia. Our list of deceased Scientists is long, but Sinclair and Monty are the biggest names.

The Soldier

As the name implies, the Soldier is the one who carries out the orders of the Leader and/or Diplomat. They may sometimes take on some minor Fixer roles, if the person they answer to is the Leader or if the main Fixers aren’t around at the time, but they don’t generally have the same connections or narrative reach. If the person in charge that they answer to is a Diplomat, however, they may also take on some minor Leader roles.

We don’t have many remaining living named characters who fall into this class, since they’re generally the most disposable of the five and would be the default classification for all minor characters. But with us still we do have Miller (who has worked as a Fixer under both Bellamy and Octavia when they’re Leaders), Indra (who has worked as a Leader under Diplomat Lexa) and Brell. Then we can take a moment for all of our deceased Soldiers, chief among them Harper, David Miller, Jasper, Monroe and the rest of the Delinquents.

Multi-Class Master

This is a special category, with three special ladies and (perhaps) one special guy.

Diyoza is the master Jack of All Trades, as it were - as long as she’s not trying to do everything all at once. Trying to do that is when she ends up failing at all of them. But we’ve seen her excel at both Diplomat and Leader, she’s been a Soldier in the past, and it wouldn’t be surprising if she also had some Scientist skills from her time as a terrorist leader. And now in season 6, she’s joined Octavia on the Fixer journey that she’s usually off on by herself.

Echo, as a trained spy, specializes in both the Fixer and Soldier classes. She has the Fixer skillset, but only utilizes it as a Soldier due to the intense loyalty she exhibits to her Leader, and thus doesn’t have the same mobility or flexibility that a regular Fixer would have.

Emori started out in the Fixer category, but her six years on the Ring have also given her a complementary Scientist skillset, and she uses this one more often now than she does her Fixer skills.

Jordan is still something of a question mark - his parents were a Scientist and a Soldier, and while Jordan certainly does have a Scientist skillset, since he’s been in Sanctum he’s been playing both Diplomat and Fixer roles instead. As the story progresses, we’ll see if he fits one category better than the others.

Now, for the story to flow well and for our protagonists to “win” (however winning is defined in the story arc), three things are necessary:

The three leads - Clarke, Bellamy, Octavia - must play the narrative roles they’re best at - Diplomat, Leader, Fixer, respectively

They must all be on the same side

They must be communicating with each other as much as possible

The first half of season 3 is the first time we have discord here - while the three of them are in their best narrative roles, they’re not communicating effectively, and not on the same side after Bellamy sides with Pike. The Pike problem is dealt with in Clarke’s absence by Kane stepping into the primary Diplomat role in Clarke’s stead, and then Clarke returns and the narrative goes on as it should for the rest of the season.

Season 5 is when everything is turned on its head. The trio had all switched roles, and this is why they end up having to flee Earth. Well, McCreary is the reason they had to flee Earth, but really the success or failure of our protagonists generally rests on the the Fixer, and in this case the Fixer was Clarke. Who shouldn’t fix anything, ever. Octavia was tied down by her Leader role, and Bellamy failed at being the Diplomat. Result? Earth go boom.

Thankfully, in season 6 everyone has returned to their usual roles, but we’re back in the same problem as at the beginning of season 3 - while Clarke is the Diplomat, Bellamy is the Leader and Octavia is the Fixer, they’re separated by distance, enmity and brain occupation, meaning that unless the three of them can unite again, we’re currently headed into the shitstorm that was the middle of season 3.

Will they be able to solve their inner discord to be able to tackle the greater storyline? Which we may not even know yet? Will one of the supporting characters have to step into one or more of the roles that usually belong to the leading trio? Could they do so successfully?

I guess we’ll see.

#the 100 meta #the 100 #clarke griffin #bellamy blake #octavia blake #character classes #leader #diplomat #fixer #scientist #soldier #multi-classing

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in-tua-deep · 5 years ago

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Pride and prejudice AU. I’m so sad thinking about little Five who feels neglected by his family and along comes this woman who seems kind and genuinely interested in him which he isn’t used to. And then suddenly everything is twisted and the nice woman who said she cared is trying to take him from his siblings and she is revealing her true self and she is just as awful as his dad and not afraid to threaten him as long as she gets what she wants! 😭

(for more p&p au check here or yeet yourself into my whole p&p au tag ;3c)

sdafgFGSHD mood tbh though in this au five is ?? actually a child and much younger than his siblings so he’s just. the odd man out for a lot of things - especially because the majority of his siblings are Official Adults and even though he considers himself, personally, to be more mature than most of them put together he’s still a minor so one of them gets legal control over his life until he’s of age

and for an angry, independent, generally ignored kid that’s a big old change - especially if you consider his siblings haven’t lived at home since he was small and visit infrequently, because they disliked reginald more than they cared about keeping in contact with Five

(Ben and Vanya are the only ones who write regular letters to him, Luther was around the most until he got ‘banished’ to take care of Reginald’s other property in the middle of nowhere that i’m calling the Lunar Manor because it’s a pride and prejudice version of the moon)

so Five is this,, really lonely and isolated kid with way too much free time on his hands but he had Dolores - and back then he didn’t

back in the days of the Handler’s original plot, Five could see the writing on the wall. Maybe Ben was already disowned, Klaus was making noise about following after Ben, Diego was looking shifty, Allison was courting with Patrick with the expectation of a proposal imminent, and Vanya had auditioned for some pretentious music school. And none of his siblings were particularly prepared for or happy to deal with a seven-or-eight year old getting about underfoot

Five was feeling abandoned by the people he had grown to rely on, he probably asked one of his siblings to take him with them and they denied him, he was feeling ignored and lonely and he had exactly no friends or anybody really to speak with. And that’s when the Handler swooped in, when he was at his most vulnerable

everyone else was so wrapped up in their own drama and preparations that no one noticed Reginald’s ex-business partner taking the time out of her day to visit an old friend and have long and in depth conversations with this young and very vulnerable child

and she listens to him! she doesn’t scold him about being underfoot. her eyes don’t glaze over when he enthuses about his equations or other things he’s learned. she treats him exactly as he’s always wanted to be treated, as all children want to be treated, like he’s an equal with worthy things to say.

no brush offs. no yelling at him to get out of their rooms. no million other casual ways his family made him feel like he wasn’t important to them (after all, half of them were leaving. Leaving him).

so it’s honestly not a surprise that when the Handler invited Five to go with her, he thought about the fact that soon enough the house would be empty except for Luther (who always told on him anyway) and hey, if all his siblings got to leave then why couldn’t he? Anyway, the Handler already said his dad had approved and really she was much nicer than his dad anyway, so.

(there’s a part of him that is a little pleased to beat all his siblings to the punch in leaving the house - except for Ben of course but that doesn’t count because it was involuntary. part of him thinks about how he’s going to cheerfully write his siblings and inquire after their plans whilst out of reginald’s house and then regaling them with his own adventures out on his own like a proper grown-up)

except he gets cold feet, because he loves his family really. Not Reginald, but his siblings and grace and some of the other staff. but in the carriage, he asks questions and starts hearing answers he doesn’t like. for the first time, he disagrees with the handler and gets absolutely shut down by her and suddenly it’s like being trapped in a carriage with reginald who could never allow anyone but himself to have the last word, or even an opinion. she says something wrong, and Five suddenly wants out

and he gets out. he shimmies his way out of a carriage window, drops onto the road and narrowly avoids getting run over by a carriage wheel and before the Handler can yell for the driver to stop he’s already haring across the field and into some woods

but he meets Dolores, which honestly makes everything almost worth it

after that, Five is different. His siblings want to help, but they get busy. The preparations they were making aren’t exactly things that can be put on hold. They are moving out, and all the traumatized baby brother in the world can’t make them stay. It doesn’t help that Five continually insists that he’s fine and that he won’t make such a stupid mistake again

They don’t know how to help him, they aren’t really in a position to help him either, and so for the most part they just. don’t. they worry about him, sure, but they still leave. one by one, until with Luther being all but banished from the grounds, Five is the last little soldier left standing

it’s fortunate then that Five no longer gives a single fuck what Reginald think of him and goes off to play with Dolores, who becomes his rock in this world of isolation he’s been plunged into (and there are days upon end that go by with him only talking to her, weeks where he doesn’t murmur a word aloud and his hands do all the talking for him until he almost forgets how to speak when his father barks orders at him)

it’s even more fortunate that Five is a little escape artist, because Reginald is nothing if not controlling and Five sneaking out to play isn’t exactly on the approved list of activities. On the bright side, his dad never did find out about the stolen acid that may or may not have been used on the base of the bars of his window, just enough to shift and few bars to allow him to squirm through before popping them back into place. He also never found Five’s backup lockpicks. Or the helpful copy of the front door key that had had to be replaced the previous year for going mysterious “missing”

and it helps that Dolores is lonely, too. Her brother has gone off to be a soldier, and though he writes to her with great frequency and visits when he can, she can’t help but worry about him.

when his siblings return it’s to a familiar face but not much else. Five has grown in their absence, become more unruly and more independent with a wild streak that not even Reginald could stamp out. With none of his siblings around to use as leverage against him, Five just sort of did whatever he pleased. Reginald could do whatever he wished to Five, of course. Five could take whatever punishments his father dreamed up, because he had a light at the end of the tunnel: Dolores

Five mutters to himself with his hands, flicking through signs as quickly as his mind flashes through ideas. He doesn’t stop and ask for permission. He sneaks around. He had bars on his bedroom window now, which is certainly a development since they left. The first rule about Friends Club is you don’t talk about Friends Club or else you arm your father with ammunition against you, so even with Reginald dead Five is still pretty shifty about exactly where he spends his time and who Dolores is - admittedly more out of habit than anything else

and then, to pile on top of all this

the Handler comes back

and with Reginald dead, his siblings displaying their inability to take care of a goldfish let along an actual human child, and with the Handler getting Eudora on her side - well. With the Handler being such a dear friend of good old Reggie and wanting what was best for his young son and oh goodness, she’s just not sure his siblings will be able to handle him as he’s clearly acting out in his grief.

Eudora doesn’t know, his siblings want to keep the matter in-family, Dolores suspects, and Five keeping his mouth firmly shut since he’s not exactly fond of parading about his biggest mistakes, and it all adds up to. well. a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication

which is what pride and prejudice is all about wheyyy

Diego sees Patch teaming up with Enemy Number One, Patch sees a concerned friend of the deceased worrying after the little brother that the rest of the family doesn’t seem to know what to do with, Dolores sees her friend behaving weirdly and not wanting to be in the same mile radius of this woman, Five sees his nightmare come to drag him away from everything he cares about, and no one fucking talks to each other oh my god

until of course, one untimely marriage proposal that is rejected and the response letter rebuffing several of the accusations made against one party up to and including detailing the Hargreeves issues with the Handler in a reasonable amount of detail

(because Diego would keep his mouth shut on pain of death if anybody tried to force it out of him, but is more than willing to spill his guts to prove someone wrong)

(and then Dolores manages to get her hands on the letter, reads about what was done, and finally figures out why her best friend in the world looks like he’s seen a ghost every time the Handler is even vaguely alluded to in conversation. And hey, if this inspires Dolors to go on an ass kicking mission that worries her entire family and ends up making Diego look brilliant in the eyes of Patch when all is said and done - well hey, running off to get married Lydia Bennett style was never going to go down the same way was it)

Pride and Prejudice is a delightful comedy of errors, missteps, and miscommunication all rolled up into one delightful story made brilliant by the fact that the male character actually took criticisms to heart and worked to prove himself better, not by advertising his efforts in front of the person he wishes to admire him but instead working anonymously and endeavoring to be the sort of person worthy of her respect and love in the end of things while she is willing to concede that she, too, made errors in her own leaps of judgement and learns that not everything is always quite how it appears to be at first glance

look

i went through an entire pride and prejudice phase in highschool and y’all can pry this au out of my cold dead hands

#ask me #anonymous #pride and prejudice au #tua au #the umbrella academy #tua #five hargreeves #number five #the handler #i mentioned like everyone #i'm too lazy to tag all of it though tbh #far tua long #just be rambling about this au #five is a lonely kid in the p&p au #but he has dolores #who is deaf and teaches him sign #though admittedly she can practically read his mind #it's a talent #eudora patch #she means well but uh #let's just say the handler can be manipulative #honestly poor dave and klaus just wanting to be gay in the background while everyone schemes #admittedly it probably ends with five declaring he doesn't want any of his idiot siblings to have custody of him #and instead dave can have custody of him as the only vaguely sensible one for miles #of course dave also likes klaus but we can't all be winners here #as five would say #while five finds dave's romantic choices questionable af he IS dolores's brother and she vouches for him #and also this would guarantee him visits with Dolores #so there u have it #i like that this is literally a pride and prejudice au with diego and patch at the center

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audiogrizzly · 5 years ago

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Top 5 Games of 2019

It was a little tricky to construct a top 5 for this year, though there have been a couple of surprises. I wasn’t expecting the year to be a bit crap as we are no w on the cusp once more of a new generation. But 2012 wasn’t all that bad of a year (PS4 and Xbox One would release in 2013) and at the moment, everyone is doing alright. PS4 has sold through over 100 million systems, Nintendo are definitely on an “on” generation with Switch, Xbox has been able to get back into peoples good books with things like Game Pass (on both Console and PC, their PC side they seem to really be turning around), there’s even interesting things happening in the mobile space with Apple Arcade.

This won’t be the last year where my top 5 games are full of current gen titles, I am expecting the new systems to drop in around November, last time it was hard to find a top 5 specific to PS4 (as I listed each platform separately back then). It IS however, another list of mostly AAA tier games. If you want to know what smaller more “interesting” games I have been playing, check out my honourable mentions at the end.

Also, follow me on Melee. It’s this new image blogging service from Imgur which you can download now on the IOS App Store (its just on iPhone at the moment) and it has seemingly been built to help people share gaming related clips and images off of places like Twitter and Instagram (and err, here on Tumblr). I posted a couple of daft clips of me failing in Modern Warfare and Destiny 2 and it didn’t take long for them to amass a few likes and comments.

That sounded like a sponsored advert but ain’t nobody paying me for this. Let’s get into my top 5

5. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order

I was about to select Gears 5 to be my number 5 until I saw sense and cast my memory back to when I started playing Jedi (all the way back in November. I was impressed by its intense action, impressive visuals and great characters. I especially enjoyed the 4 armed pilot who always complains. I did feel that towards the end I got sick of managing large groups of enemies so I dropped the difficulty to get through it, but I still haven’t achieved 100% of activities on all planets so I can still go back to it one day.

4. Borderlands 3

We all knew this was coming but not even I had any idea that we would have been actually playing it in 2019 way back at the start of the year. For me, I look at the game. I don’t care about weird magicians or their insane sounding legal woes, all I’m interested in is the work of a team who deserved better for their last title, but am still glad returned to what they do best, looting and shooting. I enjoyed rejoining these characters I have followed over the last 10 years, all the referenced to older games, cameos from characters from Tales From the Borderlands and The Pre Sequel and was sad to see some people go. I still have about a year of extra content to go through and I really appreciate the efforts they have made to make the game last longer than just one playthrough through in the Proving Grounds, Circle of Slaughter and Mayhem modes. Though I have always tended to stick to Borderlands games and create builds for each and every vault hunter, so I will be doing that.

3. Mortal Kombat 11

It’s been a while since I last put a fighting game into my end of year round up. And I HAVE fallen off MK11 a little bit, but this entry reminded me of how impressive it is for Nether Realms to pack their fighting games with some many things to do and keep people playing outside of just going into matchmaking and fighting others. The Vault this year is basically another little adventure full of exploration and puzzle solving and the Towers of Time give you plenty of challenge and direction of many months to come. You also have to give the developer credit for never backing down on the brutality of the game, they must have all got their heads together after DC Universe vs. and vowed never again to make watered down versions of Fatalities. It is a game that keeps getting better and better.

2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare

I was debating whether or not to include this years CoD. I always get the same type of enjoyment out of it each year, people complain that it never changes but I’m glad it sticks to a formula. Of course they are not identikit games, there are new maps, new modes, new ways of building your loadout and new touches, like how in this year you can snap to edges to stay in cover while you shoot, there’s the new special equipment system where you can drop ammo or reduce your footstep noise. Having doors you can either peek through or smash open adds another level of strategy, there have been times where I have been able to escape being under fire by closing a door, re-positioning and then wasting whoever just wanders in.

The campaign this year, good to see it back, but whatever, the co-op mode is Spec Ops again, like it was back in MW2 and 3 but on a much larger scale, I have yet to complete one of these btw. But as always, it’s the multiplayer that does it for me and Modern Warfare deserves credit for being what must be the first AAA game to feature cross platform play, not just launch with it. I know that games like Fortnite are popular, but I don’t see that as a AAA title, it doesn’t have the full package, it’s just a mode and it started off small. Call of Duty is expected to be big each year, has a lot riding on it and allowing for cross play is a big step. I especially appreciate being able to play with a keyboard and mouse on PS4 and being able to matchmake only with people playing with controllers on PC, in fact, I have never really given the game much of a shot on PC before as I know people just fall of it, there has often been low player numbers reported on the PC versions of CoD and it looks like it won’t have that problem this time round due to cross play.

Modern Warfare still has to contend with Destiny 2 and Overwatch for my time as my main multiplayer game but it’s still as fun as ever.

1. Control

Put this down as my main “surprise” game of 2019. A game which was not on my watch list, though I was aware of it as you can’t ignore a game from the makers of Max Payne (I did skip Alan Wake and didn’t care much for Quantum break though). Bought it at the last minute before its release, downloaded it and was wowed by the sinister nature of the environment you run around in. This weird fictitious US government agency which looks into paranormal activity which you seem to have become in charge of because you picked up a mysterious weapon from the deceased Director while searching for your brother. What then follows is about 12 hours of wacky powers and odd video clips as you unearth what has been going on in this strange ever morphing building.

I especially loved how the game never holds your hand too much, the map of each floor is vague enough that you also have to rely on in-game signposting to move around, as well as a bit of memory work. There is also great humour involved too in some of the PSA posters on a lot of the walls, the antics of the caretaker and the videos you find of Dr. Darling throughout the game.

I did have a few weird technical issues with the game throughout playing, but still found it to be visually pleasing, there was this weird hitch that used to appear after coming out of the pause screen that always threw me, it would be followed by a few moments of low performance before getting back into the smooth action. But this didn’t stop me from having a great time with Control. Perhaps the game that will be the most prominent in my head when I think of 2019.

So there you have it, control is my best game of 2019. But let’s look at the other new games I played throughout the year in my honourable mentions:

Gears 5

The Outer Worlds

Days Gone

Apex Legends

Far Cry New Dawn

Trover Saves the Universe

Concrete Genie

Devil May Cry 5

Tom Clancy's The Division 2

And also a special mention to these old games that were rereleased/remastered/repackaged etc in 2019:

Borderlands Game of the Year Edition Remastered

Halo Reach

And now, a look at the games I have on my watchlist for 2020:

Cyberpunk 2077

Last of Us Part 2

Ghost of Tsushima

Halo: Infinite

Watch Dogs Legion

Phantasy Star Online 2

Gods & Monsters

Doom Eternal

Overwatch 2

Diablo IV

Minecraft dungeons

Marvel's Avengers

Carrion

Streets of Rage 4

Will they all even come out? Let’s find out, happy new year!

#mortal kombat #modern warfare #control #star wars #melee #borderlands

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