#here's an attempt of being ominous ehehe

[yonemurishiroku]

I’m not sure if you ever specify what nearly killed Nico in the events prior to “and I befriend the pit in me” but imagine (an au of this au?) where the two are bound when Nico has almost completely faded due to using his powers and when he gets better, he’s brought some of the shadow with him.

that’s all, thanks.

Ohhhhh an ask about my fic, this is exciting!!! I'm so glad you enjoy it that much! xD

So, though it's true that I do not specify what befell Nico in and I befriend the pit in me, I did, in fact, have a background for that. I didn't include it but technically, Nico kind of picked up on Erebus' calls and wandered too far off to a dangerous place and ended up severely injured. He managed to escape with Erebus' help, and what came next, you've already known.

Regarding your AU (of my AU. wow saying it is exciting!!), though, I'm fairly curious as to what you mean by "bring some of the shadows with him."

I've always loved the idea of Nico being adored by all sorts of ominous forces (as if you couldn't tell from all those fanfics of mine lolol), and my interpretation for this is that he earned a shadow friend? Like how I portrayed Erebus in befriend the pit I mean. Nico can have a skeleton pet and a shadow pet. I think it's pretty cool actually.

On the other hand, if we're heading to something darker though, I would say it could have been a bad thing.

Now, bad is a social construct. The shadows can be bad towards the others but not Nico - straightforward favoritism, I mean. Or the shadows favor a little too much and turn out possessive and overwhelming over Nico (which I have dabbled a little in it was almost love pt.II. I'm not sure I've made it clear in here but the shadows in here are crazy over their King lolol).

In a much more dire situation though? It's just bad. Plainly awful, vicious, wicked, all that stuff. Now, I can't make any promises, but I do have a scenario in mind about not the shadows, but Tartarus haunting Nico, which later manifested through his power of darkness.

Basically, it's about the idea of Tartarus using Nico as a... conductor, I think? It's different from how Kronos possessed Luke. This is about Tartarus attempting to open a connection to the overworld through Nico's shadow-traveling and henceforth take over it. This has once been mentioned in one of my if Nico dies scenarios, as I've used this as an excuse to get Nico to kill himself with his sword to cut off the connection (it's bad, I know). I suppose this is the most similar to your suggestion, yeah?

That's everything I have in mind up to now.

All in all, this surely makes my day!! ỜvỚ)/ <3 I'm flattered that my writing inspires you that much ehehe. xD Always happy for more discussion if you want to succumb to my rambles of Nico and darkness. 👀👀👀

[greenorangevioletgrass]

⏳private investigators Tom and Harrison in the 60-70's (these are amazing btw, you're doing gods work 👏)

Omg thank you! And I love this!

It's late, and the whole building-- the whole block is dark, save for one window on the second floor on the corner of the street. A small office. A wooden door with frosted glass window that says "Holland & Osterfield: Private Investigator."

The former, a dashing dark-haired man with his white shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, props his feet up on his desk and lights a cigarette on his mouth. The case file lying open in front of him.

"Ten pounds it's the wife," he challenges his partner, a taller man with blue eyes, his suspenders hanging off of his belt, propping himself up on the desk opposite the other one.

He swirls the glass of whiskey in his hand as he considers. "Ten pounds it's the mistress."

"Come on, it's always the wife!"

"The mistresses are usually more likely to--"

And that is when you open the door and cut off their little banter.

"Can we help you, Madam?" the one with the whiskey straightens up.

"I believe the question is, can I help you," you approach him, handing out a string-tied folder, "gentlemen."

[chockfullofsecrets]

Critical Role: Defiance and Gravity

(Read on AO3)

Rating: Gen

Summary:Veth’s eyes widen. “Oh! Oh, that’s amazing! You figured it out? Reverse engineered it?”

“Well.” Caleb see-saws a hand back and forth. “That is where you come in.”

Veth and Caleb test out some new magic.

Wordcount: 1070

A/N: A short little something to tide me over while I wait on tenterhooks for the next episode - I just want Caleb to have fun with dunamancy 😢

“Veth,” Caleb calls, triumphantly insistent in the way he gets with little else but magic, “come here, let me try something.”

She trots over obligingly and scales the chair he pushes over to her, eyes the unfamiliar symbols spread out over his desk. “That’s not your usual magic, is it?”

“No, it is not - that’s a good eye though, Veth, very good.”

From anyone else, it would be patronizing. She looks away from the complete sincerity of his pleased expression and waves him off before she can think better of it. “I can’t even tell what it does.”

“Few born in the Empire could,” Caleb tells her, cramming some loose strands of hair behind his ear with one hand and gesturing pointedly at inked symbols with the other. “I believe I’ve managed to glean some dunamantic insights from our friend Essek, despite his best attempts.”

“Oh!” She squints. “It’s… about time?”

“Ah, not this one. This has to do with gravity. See this here, it creates a radial force rather than linear-”

“What’s gravity?”

“Hm?” Caleb blinks. “Oh, it’s hard to explain, but it does-” He holds a hand open and makes a crushing motion with it. “The Vollstrucker in the prison, remember?”

Veth’s eyes widen. “Oh! Oh, that’s amazing! You figured it out? Reverse engineered it?”

“Well.” Caleb see-saws a hand back and forth. “That is where you come in.”

The excitement fades quickly, and Veth crosses her arms. “You’re going to do that to me?”

“No!” he exclaims, waving off her indignation. “I’m only testing part of it - the part that exerts a force on a living being, willing or unwilling, and with much less strength.” He eyes her, suddenly uncertain. “Of course, you do not have to - it’s pretty late, maybe you want to rest, or if you think it is too dangerous-”

Veth rolls her eyes, uncrosses her arms. “No, no, Caleb, of course I want to help you. What do I do?”

Caleb’s smile is a small, quiet thing, but Veth is indescribably proud every time she sees it. “Veth the Brave, as always. Just stand on the desk here, come here.”

She slips her boots off and scrambles up, holding her arms wide in expectation. “Okay, hit me.”

Caleb palms a marble off the desk and waves it - dramatically, she thinks - in a circle, muttering something under his breath, and then -

Her back hits the ceiling, her heels thudding against it a moment later, and she gasps for a moment before scrambling to catch a button that tumbles from her pocket. “Hey!”

Caleb, tilting his head back from his safe position on the floor, looks up at her. “Well, it would appear that portion of it works.”

“Of course it does, Caleb, you’re brilliant.” Veth beams at him. “I mean, even without the crushing bit - if I’m on the ceiling I don’t even have to check for traps!”

“You should always check for traps,” Caleb scolds mildly, “but that is a good idea - in that case, we should workshop it a little.” He drags the chair over and stands on it to get closer, batting away one of her braids as it tickles the top of his head. “It’s not too strong, is it? Can you move at all?”

In response, Veth reaches out and flicks him in the forehead. “Psh, of course I can! Could probably shoot from here too.”

Caleb nods. “Alright, then just one more thing - I want to be sure that it works on those who are not willing, so try and get down.”

Veth stretches her legs half-heartedly to the floor and kicks. “Oh no, woe is me, if only I could be a tiny short person on the ground again-”

Caleb tsks. “You’re not trying hard enough.”

“It’s fun up here! Maybe you should do this to Fjord instead, I’m sure he would be crying like a baby-”

If Caleb’s smile is rare, Caleb’s mischievous smile is even rarer. “Here, let me help.”

“How-” Veth says, and then squawks indignantly as Caleb grabs one of her ankles with the fingers of his other hand wriggling ominously in a threat she’s all too familiar with administering. “No! No tickling, Cay, don’t you dare-”

Veth knows she’s never been much of a giggler - still, even she’s surprised at how desperately she shrieks with laughter the moment that Caleb’s fingers zip up the arch of her foot. “Hn - noHOHO! HAH!” She reaches for his face, intent on doing something, but he just ducks out of the way - is this how tall people feel? - and tickles a fingertip right between two of her toes instead. “Eee- heh - EHEHE! Cahahay!”

“Ready to come down, Veth the Brave?” he teases. He’s laughing, she knows he is, and the fact that she can’t see it with his head below her almost frustrates her more than the unbearable feeling dancing its way across her soles. “I’ll stop if you’re on the ground-”

He slows his attack, as if to make sure she doesn’t have anything to say in return, and Veth stops cackling just long enough to tell him to go fuck himself.

That makes him tug her halfway off the ceiling and dig his skinny hands into her belly instead, squishing her like she’s one of Luc’s cloth dolls, and it tickles so badly that she can feel tears leaking from her eyes as she wails with laughter. “Ah - ha - HAH! Okay, oka-hay, I’ll do it-”

Suddenly, the assault stops. “Scheiße, alright, the spell is almost through - let me just -”

Veth blinks the tears from her eyes as Caleb abruptly lets go and she plops back onto the ceiling. “I got it,” she wheezes, and whips a feather out to cast Feather Fall on herself. “I - heh - I think maybe you shouldn’t get feather privileges, you’re worse than Jester.”

She hears Caleb huff sheepishly as she drifts down and sprawls onto the floor, and when she cracks her eyes open again he’s kneeling beside her with a look that’s distinctly amused no matter how hard he’s trying to hide it. “As if you haven’t done worse to me.”

Veth braces her feet against the floor, slipping the feather that she hasn’t bothered to put away into her palm. “Oh, really? Then maybe this won’t be the worst tickling you’ve ever had in your entire life.”

“What - wait -”

She doesn’t even need to sneak attack.

[vannahfanfics]

Skyward

Ao3

Foreword

Ochako’s expression was listless as she stared out of the small round window. Her cheek pressed against the cold glass; the skin had long since gone fuzzy and numb, but she had not the energy to change her position. She just stared miserably through her only connection to the outside world. That thick glass pane separated her from the indigo sky, the glittering stars, and the wispy gray clouds— a beautiful night, by all reckoning. She’d once imagined what it would be like, viewing the endless blue expanse from within a dirigible. Of course, those fantasies never involved her being a prisoner. 

Ochako’s eyes slowly closed, then opened in a lethargic blink. She continued to gaze out the small window, watching the clouds slowly drift by as the dirigible sailed onward like a steamship on the sea. Maybe if she thought hard enough, she could pretend that she was a princess on a journey to a strange foreign land. She closed her eyes, focusing her breaths, and tried to envision a much better scenario than her current one. Try as she might, however, the fear and unease gnawed at her insides, like a caged beast trying its best to escape and unleash full-blown terror within her. 

She opened her eyes again, and then gasped, jerking away from the window. A round, speedy air vessel had burst through one of the clouds, scattering the wisps like pieces of cotton. It surged past the window, speeding alongside the large passenger dirigible, and disappeared around its back end. She gasped, sitting up as hope fluttered in her chest. Had someone learned of her kidnapping and come to rescue her?

Not a few minutes later did her recent captor burst in, scowling and shooting a pistol down the hallway. The sharp pop-pop-pops blended with frightened screams, angry shouts, and more gunfire. The startling sight made Ochako jump out of her chair and huddle against the bed, hands curled up in front of her chest as if they could shield her. 

“Damn sky pirates.” Tomura slammed the door shut and jammed a chair underneath the knob. 

Ochako’s heart plummeted. Pirates? So she was not going to be rescued after all. 

Tomura’s black suit and dark glasses seemed to soak up all the light in the room, making him loom ominously at the front of the room as he turned to her. She flinched, knowing his eyes were dark and callous beyond the barrier of his tinted shades. 

“Ochako, stay out of the way and you won’t get hurt,” he ordered as he stalked across the room to hunch down in a chair and begin tapping away at a Morse code communicator. Ochako watched him nervously, unease coiling in her belly as he feverishly called for reinforcements. 

She edged along the bed, racking her brain for some way to take advantage of the chaos and slip free. The door was jammed shut, however, and pirates lurked beyond. What avenue of escape could she even find? As she continued to shuffle away from him, her toe hit something hollow and glass-sounding. Ochako glanced down to see an empty wine bottle lying on the floor; Tomura and his associate had drunk it with dinner earlier that evening. She peered cautiously at Tomura, who was occupied with the code generator. Slowly, she stooped down to pick up the bottle. Quietly, she crept up behind him and hefted it above her head. Then, she squeezed her eyes shut and slammed it down as hard as she could.

Tomura released a startled gurgling sound as the glass exploded against the crown of his head. The green shards fell to the carpet with small tinkling sounds, scattering droplets of wine across its beige surface. Tomura slumped against the table, knocking the communicator onto the floor as his arm jerked. Ochako dropped the broken edge of the bottle and looked around wildly, frantically searching for a means of escape. 

Just then, the door to the room lurched violently. The chair lodged underneath the doorknob quivered and groaned, straining against the assault of pounding fists. 

“Open up!” called a male voice. “I know you’re in there! Just give us the crystal and we won’t hurt you!” 

Ochako clutched the pendant around her neck, the precious pink stone with her family crest engraved in gold on its concave surface. 

“Ah!” she exclaimed in fright, scrambling away from the door to her only reprieve— the window. Her trembling fingers fumbled with the latch for far too many seconds, making her terror spike in sharp bursts. Come on, come on! she screamed to herself. Finally, she managed to flip the latch and heft up the window. Cold air immediately rushed in, ruffling her brown hair and making Tomura’s papers flutter around the room. She heard a loud snap and whipped around to see the legs of the chair buckling and splintering. Before she could consider how dangerous her attempted escape would be, she squeezed through the window legs-first, finding a foothold on the very slim ledge lining the side of the metal craft. 

Just as she had slipped all the way out, the chair crumpled and the door slammed open. A boy her age with pine-green hair stormed in, his emerald eyes glinting with greed and delight. Behind him she could see several more masculine bodies crowding the hall. 

“Ehehe, looks like she got you good, Tomura!” the boy cackled as he scampered up to the unconscious gray-haired man, nudging his limp form with a toe before looking to the open window. Ochako was frantically edging her way along the outside of the dirigible. 

“Oi, Miss, what are you doing out there? That’s dangerous, you know!” the pirate trilled, running up to the window and leaning as far out as he could to grope at her. Ochako screamed as his fingers snatched at her flapping white dress. 

“Eicchan! Get over here; I can’t reach her!” the green-haired young man snapped impatiently. A large redheaded form crammed its way between the pirate and the edge of the window. Ochako recoiled despite his cheesy grin, shuffling along the side of the airship with renewed vigor. 

“Hey, get back here!” the redhead cried, stretching as far as he could to paw at her dress. Ochako screamed again as he grabbed a fistful of it, yanking it and drawing it tight around her thighs. She clutched the side of the ship as he tugged and pulled, actually having the strength to scoot her closer. 

“No! Let me go!” she cried, slapping at his hand. Her nails caught on the skin, scoring three parallel red lines across his knuckles. The man recoiled with a shout, allowing Ochako to scurry to the next window. Tears beaded on her lashes while she pulled frantically at it, but the window had jammed halfway open. “Please, please!” She was beginning to realize just how terrifying it was being trapped on the outside of the airship. The sky was a chasm below her, whipping with winds that yanked at her dress with the clear desire to wrench her off and send her plummeting into the depths. 

Just as she’d managed to yank down the window, the door to the room inside the airship barged open, startling the couple holding each other. A young man with blond hair and a black lightning strike-shaped streak in his bangs ran in, grinning wildly as he brandished his pistol. 

“Gotcha!” he declared, rushing up to the window to swipe at her. Ochako reflexively jerked back; in doing so, her flats slipped against the sleek metal siding. She screamed as her feet gave out and she fell, her hands uselessly slapping against the dirigible until they met the open air. She could hear the three pirates yelling in dismay, specifically at the loss of her crystal necklace. 

Earthbound she was, falling through the air with the wind rushing through her ears; faster and faster she plummeted until all the breath was stolen from her lungs and she slipped into unconsciousness…

Enjoy this story? Here’s the next chapter! Please consider perusing my Table of Contents.

[lettalady]

hey letta! how are you? what have you been watching/reading lately? (besides the loki series lol) have you gotten into any hobbies or done small enjoyable things recently? I'm super grateful you still use your blog cause i really like following you :) hope you have good week!

Hello nonnie, darling! I'm well, or at least making do. There are good days and bad days and days in between. Hope you're well, and staying safe, also? I've fallen into a few rabbit holes as of late - which isn't the complaint it might sound like/ look like at first glance, I promise. And before I forget, if there ever comes a day that I go missing from here -- or if you just want to say hi on a different social media platform -- I pretty much universally use this ID.

In terms of what I've been watching (in addition to the Loki series, ehehe) it's a mixed bag of rewatching comfort things and seeking out things that are new to me.

* going to put the remainder under a readmore cause I'm going to ramble... it's... yea. It's a given *

One of the recent rewatches has been The Librarian movies -- a delightful series of campy made for tv movies that fully embrace the tropes of the adventure drama. I used to watch them when I was feeling ill and didn't have the energy to seek out Bob Ross painting videos. Also went back and rewatched The Alienist because I couldn't quite remember if I'd seen the second season all the way through. Vastly different in theme, I know. Beyond that it's a mixture of rewatching things (The Dark Knight trilogy, Clue, The Mandalorian, etc), watching things that have come out that sounded interesting (Shadow & Bone) and finally getting around to watching things that have been on my list for awhile (The Hitman's Bodyguard).

I've sort of fallen off the wagon in terms of reading, at least according to my goodreads goals. I've picked up the duology that apparently you're supposed to at least read the first one of before starting the trilogy that is the Shadow & Bones series, though I haven't started them yet. I've also recently acquired the duology by Caleb Carr because I wanted to see how closely the show followed the books. Again, yet to actually crack open the book and start reading. I have four or five books on my bedside table that are in various stages of being read but anything that I've read all the way through? I'm pretty sure that would be the Burn Notice novelizations...

If you broaden that out to fanfiction - bwahaha. One of those rabbit holes I mentioned earlier is the Daniel Brühl fandom and I've been binging my way through various works (and writing a few. whoops. Sorry to everyone waiting for YOJA/ Turn/ Unsettled updates).

In terms of hobbies and small enjoyable things: yes. All the yes. Small crafting things, a few no churn ice cream attempts (peanut butter no churn ice cream is delicious btw)... basically trying to get a few things off the Want To Attempt list.

I'm sure there's stuff I'm forgetting. I hope that sort of answers the questions asked though, and I'm not joking about the other social media platforms. Not just AO3 and Wattpad, but elsewhere... though nothing quite matches the energy of tumblr, does it. ( Hotel California plays ominously in the distance )

Thank you for the ask, nonnie dear. Hope your week is a good one!