#his human body was born at least a decade before he died

[billford-dump]

Bill brought back as a human, not remembering who he was and living out a relatively normal human life. He grows up, meets and befriends the younger set of twins in college, and since he's SUPER interested in the paranormal they eventually invite him to Gravity Falls for the summer.

He meets Ford and immediately blurts out the first thing that comes to mind:

"Oh wow you're really hot."

[zarvasace]

1931 Vampire AU!

For those unaware, I wrote a bit of a neat Linked Universe setting AU last year that I haven't done much with, but I really like it and want to share a bit more about it! Links to the existing fics where relevant.

The series on AO3 is here!

(It would also be fun to develop this AU a little more, and I'd like to draw some stuff for it, so if you send in an ask about it, I might answer with a doodle. ;) )

AU basics: a hidden magic world in America, the year 1931 after WWI. None of the boys are human (except Twilight, at least at first), but they all think they're hiding magic from everyone else, at least for a time. :) There are a lot of magical peoples in this world, organized in their own ways, e.g. merfolk kingdoms, fae courts, the vampire councils, entire hidden cults, and hunter organizations. Ganon exists, but he's a hidden threat that they've all faced in one way or another.

Character summaries!

Wind: the focus of this AU. (The original fic was an excuse to make him very cool.) He was born 1696 in Florida ish, at the height of the golden age of piracy. He was turned into a vampire by Tetra in about 1710 and is eternally physically 14. He sailed with her crew (all pirates) for a few decades. She was invited to the western vampire council in Spain in 1750 as the vampire pirate queen, but... stuff went down. (fic: Body and Soul Marooned) She and her whole crew died, along with a lot of vampires. Wind survived, getting a nice angsty scene in there where they said wedding vows as she died, and went on to try and warn other councils about the upcoming massacres. Because most vampires died during that time, Wind is one of the oldest vampires still alive, and most who survived that time owe their lives to him.

Warriors: the secondary focus of this AU. He was a legitimate soldier during WWI, proper age and everything. When Wind enlisted, Wars took it upon himself to guide this seemingly young kid, and got killed doing so. Wind turned him into a vampire, not wanting him to die. (fic: In the Chill of Battle) He has a fun relationship with Wind, both of them taking the big-brother role in turns. Wars is a younger vampire, but his brain and body was able to mature more, so. Before Wars knew Wind, he was also captain of a division with Time, not that Time remembers that right off. Wars acts the responsible adult, so he gets them both hired as part of Time's team.

Time: he's Twilight and Wild's uncle. When he was a kid, he was whisked away to Faerie and replaced by a changeling for a few years. He fought his way back to find that time had passed differently for him, so he's mentally older than he appears. He didn't get out without being touched by the fae, and is beholden to some of their rules. He's the only one old enough to have enlisted in the military at a legal age, and used his status as a veteran to get a job at a local police station as a sort of detective. That's how he collects all the boys. :)

Wild: half-vampire. He's aging slowly, but still aging. He's close to Twilight, but always felt like he didn't exactly belong. Vampires as an organization don't believe there are many dhampirs out there, and don't like them, but a few underground cells have been organizing. Wild had a few run-ins with them. He's aware of a lot more magic than people think he is, having networked out to several kinds of magical peoples. The Yiga are a cult of shapeshifters that are out for his blood. (fic: Caged) He joined the team when the existing members came to save him and Twilight from them, later in the "story." Wild is one of those in the group willing to do Mad Science. :)

Twilight: is human. He dealt with Wild his whole life, so he's aware of vampires, but not much else. Over the course of the "story," he gets turned into a werewolf, so all of the boys get to deal with that.

Sky: he's a lynchpin of the team! Without Sky, not everyone would be there. He's an air elemental by birth, fairly important in those familial circles but mostly separated from them these days. His natural form is not exactly... physical. He knows Time from the war (he enlisted at too young an age near the end, and didn't see much combat, but made connections), Legend from some of what Legend did (aka everything, but specifically some merchant connections in this case), and found Four on his own. Sky doesn't count as fae at all, but he's in-tune with the environment and flow of magic around him. (He's not happy about the dust bowl.) He is pretty oblivious to the others being magical, though.

Four: he's rather disconnected from the others, in terms of backstory. To understand him, you have to know that there are six courts of the fae: one for each season in the wheel, with a light and a dark in the center and outside. Four grew up in the Light Court, full fae. One of the princess's Minish advisors betrayed the Light Court and gave power to the Dark (hi Vaati), and Four helped to restore balance. In the process, he had to change. The courts didnt generally trust each other, so Four split into four fae with the help of magic, one for each seasonal court. More magic and betrayal happened, and Four is semi-stuck as a Dark fae now. He can become a shadow and hide in other shadows, but he's vulnerable to light in general. When he left Faerie for the mortal world, he found Sky, who pretty much adopted him as a little brother. He's very protective of Sky.

Legend: is a prince of one of the merfolk kingdoms. He saved each of the underwater kingdoms at least once, then ventured to the surface to find more wrongs that needed righting. He isn't obvious about it, but he has a good heart. He's kind of sort of employed as a spy and informant, but he focuses on supernatural issues. He's more of a special ops agent than anything, though he does like to find people who'll pay him for doing what he wants to do anyway. He's been practically everywhere and done practically everything. He definitely heard of Wind, but didn't connect the dots right off. Merfolk aren't considered fae, but his particular family line made contracts with fae long ago, and he has some of their geases in a lightened form. He figured out pretty quickly that everyone was magic and trying to hide it.

Hyrule: is full fae, like Four, but of the Spring Court. He lived in the human world his whole life, a street kid who had to keep his fae nature tightly under wraps, which could get difficult around the promises and names and iron of daily life. He moved around a lot. He was captured for a year or two by unscrupulous scientists and rescued by Legend, who took him to Sky and Time. (fic: EPISODE SEVEN: Lost and Found) He's the resident healer and mad scientist.

Other Fics

More Than You Can Chew: the beginning of the "story." Starts with Wars confessing he's a vampire, and then they go rescue Wind, who's been captured by wannabe hunters.

Council: sort-of ongoing fic about Wind taking the rest of the Chain to the latest vampire council meeting. >:)

[yourlilkaiju]

"Don't let the redemptioners see this." 🥺.....🙄 Please...

I could care less.

I could care less about whether or not someone hates Sephiroth or feels that he is better off being a compelling villain. I don't think that he should stay a villain. I think the villain should be Jenova. Should Sephiroth be considered for a normal life if not maybe somewhere along the lines of maybe an anti-hero? Perhaps. Maybe going up against injustices that affect people, which will eventually affect him. (A war veteran knows this shit.) And this will thus impact the normal life he'd so been hoping for. I honestly feel that there should somehow be a development in treatments as to how to separate Jenova cells from the body safely and effectively, which would thus lead to a gradual change in Sephiroth's appearance.

The key term here is gradual. As in expect at least a couple of decades before he is completely human again, if someone decides to break him out of the Mako crystal.

There are many things I feel on this topic. And frankly I could go on about it. But the issue remains that if I do, I would get nowhere in regards to the original intention of this post.

The fact that Sephiroth fans who believe in his redemption, are called redemptioners is kind of a step. Namely because this comes from a place of ignorance. For one, Sephiroth was a victim of circumstance. Two, the files in the underground library were not only kept in the Shinra mansion. But they were in Nibelheim, not too far off from a reactor that contained human experiments that disobeyed the laws of ethics and Jenova. All of this was run by Research and Development. Which was run by Hojo himself. The department that assigned the mission for Nibelheim was research and development. It was only to observe and report. Read that again.

So to be clear, the mission set for Nibelheim which was not intended for the neutralization and erasure of a town, but the observation and report of a Shinra reactor should have been completely harmless. And this observe and report mission, was coming from Hojo himself. Hojo knew that Jenova was in the reactor. The unlocked doors were too convenient. The access to the library and the classified files were too well placed. And what's more is that only one first class soldier was sent along with him. There weren't any others to train or attempt to bring into the fray. Sephiroth was intended to be the perfect soldier. He was frequently experimented on trained without kindness or reprieve. The only kindness he observed as far as we know was when he was fourteen, when he entered SOLDIER. Beyond that, everything he grew into could not be helped. He tried to be human. He tried to make the best of himself. In the end, the pressure became too much and the Jenova cells took to his brain like a parasite and soon, Jenova was in his head. Thinking for him, breathing for him- controlling his every waking thought and telling him that she's his mother. Even though his mother died shortly after he was born.

Many people are fans of Sephiroth because he is easy to relate to. Many want to see him live a normal life after so many years of adversity and sadness. Because he deserves to walk away from the misery. And usually, folks who don't like Sephiroth fans just like to grind their teeth at anything that doesn't worship the good guys that commit the same genocide that the good guys do for the sake of bringing down Shinra. (If they're reading this, sorry. You brought this truth upon yourselves. Now wallow in it.)

I understand that we all may have our stances and opinions about the one winged baddie. I get that he is one wicked babe. He's not for everyone and sometimes, for a lot of people, they just can't handle that much leather and sass. I get it. Not everyone is kinky or genuinely flirty with the black wingy feather boi. (Yes, I know there are some versions of him that are aro/ace. You can still be flirty with aro/ace so long as it isn't physical and doesn't actually go anywhere....also it must be enthusiastically reciprocated and CONSENSUAL. SSC, darlings.)

But I digress.

As a dominatrix towards people I don't know who ask for my...impactful consultations and integrative queries, Sephiroth is by far an inspirational being who very much represents abuse victims everywhere. And I don't think anti-Sephies understand that. Rather I don't know if they have the emotional maturity that's necessary to do so. Sephiroth has had his boundaries breached on numerous occasions and had been put into a situation where entropy was his life's motto. And when he was finally ready to leave Shinra, he did so. Just....not in the way he hoped.

Overall, it's okay for one to dislike a character. But don't make fun of others for wanting the devs to create a redemption arc for said character. With numerous pathways, please? We don't make fun of you for liking genocidal eco terrorists. No matter how you look at it, that's exactly what they did.

Hypocrites.

[biconickyoshi]

Hello! I wanted to ask, in The Avatar and the Fire Prince AU, how does reincarnation (The Avatar Cycle) works? In Canon, the Avatar is a human soul (Wan) who after death reincarnates on Earth in a new body to live a new life with the Spirit of Peace (Raava) bounded to it. But how about in your AU? I'm asking because I want to know whether or not we're going to have a scene with Aang having an existential crisis over the fact that in his previous life he was Zuko's great-grandfather.

Hello anon! :) Yes, I do my best to ensure that my AU is as canon compliant as possible when it comes to lore (including all known lore from Legend of Korra, the comics, the TTRPG, and the Chronicles of the Avatar novels), so the Avatar Cycle does indeed work the exact same.

I honestly haven't given a ton of thought to Aang and Zuko's reaction of who Roku was (though it will definitely still be revealed at some point just like in the show). While I think they would both maybe find it a little weird of a coincidence at first, I don't think it would cause either of them to freak out or anything lol.

We've definitely seen weird coincidences/connections like this before with other Avatars - for example, Kuruk and Hei-Ran were past lovers (before he met Ummi), and then he was reincarnated as Kyoshi, who fell in love with Hei-Ran's daughter Rangi. Then we have Korra, who was taught waterbending by someone who is basically a grandmother figure to her (Katara), and who was also technically "her" wife in her past life. She was also taught airbending by someone who is a father/uncle figure to her (Tenzin), who was also technically "her" son in her past life.

In general, there seems to be an understanding amongst everyone in the world of AtLA that each Avatar is very much their own distinct person, each with different lives, memories, and personalities. Sometimes more spiritual people - like Toph for example - can see that the Avatar has the same spirit/soul, but again, even Toph knows Korra is her own person and not just Aang with none of his memories lol.

Of course, if Aang had a problem like Yangchen did in which he was constantly having flashbacks to memories from his previous lives, then I'd say that yeah lol, he'd be much more likely to have an existential crisis. But as far as we know, Aang does not have any "memories" of living as Roku or any other previous Avatar - he only views previous Avatars' life events from an outside perspective. And even if he did have the ability to "remember" living as Roku, at least he wouldn't be able to "remember" actively being a grandfather to Zuko, since Zuko and even Ursa were born decades after Roku's death. That would definitely be awkward if that wasn't the case lol.

All of this has actually got me thinking about the theory where an Avatar could possibly reincarnate as their own child/grandchild/relative, especially with mixed-ethnicity/nation families becoming more common in the time of Korra. Like, say an Earth Avatar dies right as their child with someone of Fire Nation descent (or their grandchild, or sibling, or cousin, etc.) is born. As long as they have the right DNA, a relative of the Avatar could theoretically be the next Avatar in this scenario. The closest thing I could compare this to is like a Steven Universe situation (where he kind of both is and isn't his own mom - it's hard to explain if you haven't seen that show lmao).

Anywayyyy sorry for the long ass response anon lol. I just love talking about AtLA lore! :)

[frankyweeny]

I was listening to Part of the Madness earlier and it occurred to me just how much Finn and Simon have in common.

Simon grew up in the late 20th century and lived through an apocalypse. He is the only human who survived from before the bomb, everyone else either died on impact, from apocalypse-related circumstances, or simply old age. And he was completely out of it for the next thousand years and was then suddenly plopped into the magical, futuristic land of Ooo without warning. He can't relate to the people of Ooo because they're all magic and they've lived in Ooo for a long while. He can't relate to the humans from the island because they're from the future, and in that same vein he can't relate to Finn because he's both: he's lived in Ooo as long as he can remember and was born 1000 years after Simon was.

For over a decade, Finn thought he was the only human in Ooo. I mean he literally ate a soy substitute of a human body because his brother's gf's species apparently eats humans, that's gotta be disturbing at the very least. And the humans he did meet were either from the past or from the island and didn't know what it was like to be a human in Ooo. Hell, even his own parents didn't understand him. He can't relate to the people of Ooo, he can't relate to the humans from the island, and he can't relate to Simon.

Except he can. Both Finn and Simon know what it's like to be a non-magical being in a world full of magic and how isolating that feels. And the tragic part is they never talk about this with each other because there's just some sort of block preventing them from ever opening up. Finn's way of coping is ignoring the problem, Simon's is letting it fester, and because of this they won't understand each other even though they CAN and they SHOULD

[clu-ven]

Can you do the bad batch with chubby Togruta reader

this is my very first request so thank you anon for entrusting me with this!

1.4k words ! tw: mentions of weight throughout ! everything I got about the Togruta is from the Wookiepedia page !

quick note: these kinda lean in on the reader being a potential s/o for each batcher or at least somewhat romantically involved with them (apologies anon, I'm projecting)

HUNTER

Honestly, Hunter hasn’t given much thought to your physical appearance – both size and species wise. You’re you and to Hunter, that’s all that matters.

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t considerate. Even though you’ve never really mentioned it to him, Hunter’s very protective of your unique attributes such as your head tails. He knows people can be overbearing, especially on Ord Mantell and so whenever he thinks someone is getting too close to you or about to touch your head tails (usually without asking you for permission), Hunter is quick to intervene.

And Maker help anyone who ever comments on your size. Hunter can let a lot of things slide, it’s something he’s grown up with thanks to the constant teasing from the Regs on Kamino but people teasing you?

Now that he can’t let slide.

He’s super protective and will always be there to comfort you on days you feel a little insecure. You, Omega and his brothers are the most important people in Hunter’s life and he will do everything in his power to make sure you’re safe and happy.

One of his favourite things to do after a stressful mission is hug you. Usually, Hunter isn’t too keen on affection after a tough mission, his senses being completely overworked but with you, it’s a rare comfort he genuinely enjoys. 

He loves to wrap his arms around you, to assure himself that you’re still here as you snuggle in by his chest and Hunter delicately places his head between your head tails. Whenever he does this, a relaxed smile automatically spreads across his face.

TECH

Before you both became close, Tech spent a lot of time researching Togruta culture. At the time, he wasn’t sure why but he wanted to impress you by knowing little niche things you’ve presumably grown up with. And damn did he do a lot of research, even mentioning traditions that died off decades before you were born and leaving you somewhat confused.

Your weight is something that has never concerned Tech. He knows you’re healthy and that’s all that matters to him in regards to weight. 

Besides, your thighs? You could smother him with them and he would die a happy man.

If you’re ever feeling insecure about your size, he’ll sit down with you and come up with some logistical solutions, laced with reassurance that you’re perfect the way you are and that you shouldn’t change your appearance unless it’s something you want.

While Tech knows he can’t study the complete ins and outs of how you feel about your body, he never hesitates to remind you that he loves you for you and that you shouldn’t feel the need to change for him or any other person.

Tech is very cautious when it comes to you joining them on any missions, your safety being a big concern of his. But don’t worry, he has a solution… and no, he’s not going to start banning you from coming on missions. Tech knows that you can decide whether you want to go on a mission by yourself and frankly, he would feel weird in banning you from joining them.

Instead, he takes some of his old helmets and repurposes them as a personalised helmet for you. Tech takes extra special care in cutting out holes big enough for your head tails to comfortably fit through. He knows this isn’t a perfect solution but for now, it’s a prototype.

WRECKER

While Wrecker is certainly muscular, his stature isn’t exactly the ‘norm’ among both clones and humans. And so he knows how it feels to be extra self-aware of your physical appearance, even if no one else is actually paying attention to it.  

Wrecker is a softie through and through so any deep conversations you want to have about your weight or species, he’ll be there to listen… he may not know what to say or any advice to give but he’ll always listen.

But just because Wrecker is a softie doesn’t mean he won’t become your sworn protector if anyone ever makes a comment about you. He can switch from a fun loving guy munching on some mantell mix to an intimidating menace in the matter of seconds.

He isn’t sure if it’s proper to say and for ages he never mentioned it out of fear of offending you but once you both become close, he just has to tell you how cool he thinks your brightly coloured skin and head tails are. Wrecker is a sucker for anything colourful, so you’re basically an angel to him.

Seriously, he’s pretty sure he heard a choir singing the first time he saw you.

You should’ve seen the look on Wrecker’s face when he heard the homeplanet to most Togruta, Shili, was pretty popular for making some of the galaxy's best (and most cheesiest) melodramatic holovids.

Binge-watching some of these holovids quickly becomes one of Wrecker’s favourite hobbies, adoring the idea of cuddling with you and getting invested in each holovid. Sometimes, Omega will even join you both, each of you making commentary on how obvious a plot twist is or how bad some of the acting is.

ECHO

You’re not the first Togruta Echo has come across and yet he knows very little about the Togruta culture. Ahsoka was taken to join the Jedi Order at a very early age so she never got to fully experience the Togruta lifestyle and consequently, Echo doesn’t know much about it. 

He’s very eager to learn, to appreciate your culture and see how your people live. He will spend hours sitting with you and listening intently to each and every detail you mention, as if there’ll be a quiz at the end. 

But if you don’t know much about your culture either, Echo doesn’t mind. The way he sees it, who is he to judge? If learning more about the Togruta culture is something you’re interested in then Echo is more than happy to learn with you and be there every step of the way, whether that be cooking customary foods or going hunting in the traditional Togruta way. 

As someone who wants to put on some more weight, Echo has never batted an eye to your chubbiness. Your weight is never something Echo has thought much about but he has to admit, he does adore how soft you are. He isn’t sure if that’s because of your weight or if it’s just you in general but cuddling with you is the single most relaxing thing he has ever experienced.

Seriously, you’ve made this man a cuddle monster and he isn’t complaining about it.

Ever since the Citadel, cuddling is something Echo never thought he would enjoy, mainly because of his hard equipment (no, not that, keep ya mind out of the gutter) but with you? It’s impossible not to adore it and let his insecurities melt away with your gentle touch.

When you’re both cuddling, his favourite thing to do is trace your face markings with his finger, giving you a surprise kiss on one of them just to make you giggle. After everything he’s been through, you give Echo the one thing he didn’t think he could attain; utter happiness.

CROSSHAIR

Crosshair knows you’re capable. You can defend, attack and patch up an injury pretty good so he doesn’t care about your size. As long as you’re capable then he’s content.

If you ever feel insecure, Crosshair gives you a look of utter confusion (which is damn adorable). You might as well be speaking Tusken to him. Crosshair thinks you’re attractive, he has always thought you’re attractive, so flaws? Where? He sees none.

Crosshair is usually an expert on keeping his emotions to himself but damn whenever you wear something skin tight that really shows off your curves, this man goes F E R A L. 

This is possibly the only time he could miss a target purely because he’s too distracted by you to properly focus his aim (but let’s be real, he’ll probably make sure to hit the target just to impress you).

Crosshair is a reserved guy but he takes note of a lot. He’s memorised how many stripes are on your head tails and how many markings you have on your face. This isn’t something he’s done intentionally but he spends so much time looking at you, he’s memorised it over time.

One thing Crosshair really appreciates is the Togruta culture's strong sense of unity and how important being together is (something he thinks his brother’s need to brush up on).

Your common values make him feel secure when you’re around and helps him open up to you. Crosshair always views the two of you as a team, a package deal where one will never leave the other behind.

[ovyy-pvcure]

Ok well nobody asked but I'm bored so wild transmigration Naruro au borne of madness go.

So first things first Kishimoto made one gigantic mistake and that was making and naming a bit character that's easy to do the whole 'dead modern human pops into the body of a canon character' thing.

^ That's Tobio who shows up exactly once in the entire series at the start to accidentally knock Naruto off balance and kick off literal decades of shipping. This convinent oc stand in blank canvas is the turning point of the au that means when he accidentally dies as a result of that one off-canon event the universe* steps in and sticks a random schmuck in place to keep things basically on plan. There's, like, prophesies to fullfill (and cosmic schemes going on). Which is why and how a late age teenager finds themselves stuck in a 12 year old's body ("it matches your emotional age") after an unfortuante accident with nothing but the basi s of chakra and history downloaded to their brain and no psrsonal memories of the new body to call on. Oh, and a cheery "good luck" before getting dropped into basicially the start of the plot just before team allocation. Where, as the top student in the "espionage and subterfuge" class he's assigned as the final member of team 7.

To give the basic skeleton of what's taken shape in my head already the first arc would follow tobio as he tries to wrangle the cats known to the public as Sasuke and Naruto without actually letting anyone know he has literally no memory of anything that's happened to him before a couple months ago. Oh and surviving the grueling change of lifestyle inherent in becoming a Child Soldier. He's doing Great this arc. Not stressed At All as he tries to juggle managing his teammates' egos with getting stronger because he has none allies or parents or connections to fall back on if he stumbles.

Well he thinks so anyway he's Kakshi's favorite adorable little student because he's the one who keeps pulling NaruSasu apart and making them actually, you know, cooperate. Naruto likes him because tobio treats him like a person and Sasuke at least appreciates that he doesn't have a fangirl in his squad and he's even focused on getting better so no deadweight. Also Mizuki's hovering around asking how he's progressing and if he feels ready which is odd since wasn't Mizuki beaten to an inch of life for all that treason he was up to? Well, not tobio's problem.

If you're curious how tobio died so is he! He can't remember; he was just told in the void of space time that he had an accident, died and now he's getting shipped off to 12 year old boot camp. What he does know is his own sarcastic rebellious wit has nothing on the universe's* considering it called him a quote "sarcastic bitch" as it did the whole transmigiration thing.

Blah blah blah team building, lunch at ichiraku's using future knowledge to climb trees early the usual oc stuff up until Wave. Things even go kind of normal up until the city is reached where kakshi's chakra lesson gets more than a little derailed by tobio already knowing how to do the whole shebang. Instead of being sent off to guard the bridge he suggests Naruto do so with clones since he's been thinking of a way to make use of his specialized training and making this mission truly worth Konoha's time.

A reoccurring element of the first arc is that the people around him not really knowing the OG Tobio that well is a boon his training in espionage is also guiding tobio to keeping his own secrets under wraps. tobio wants to infiltrate Gato's orginization and siphon money directly into The Leaf's coffers as recompense for making it impossible for the village to get properly paid from the outset. Besides Zabuza's gonna kill Gato so it's fine. Kakshi is against it but can't deny the logic and concedes but insists tobio's top priority is his contiuned survival.

Due to all the miscellaneous ne'er do wells romping about it's easy for a trained Ninja to slip in and start liberating ryo for Konoha (and maybe some for Wave while he's at it). Things contiune apace until The Bridge Showdown where in the confusion tobio once again slips into the waiting horde of Goons. Right next to Gato. Kyubi chakra comes with a weird feeling alongside the terrifying bloodlust from Naruto himself and tobio seizes the opportunity to take out Gato himself before the order to fire on Zabuza can be given.

In the temporary silence we have a dying Haku, a dead Gato and a disguised tobio skipping out of the goon squad cheerfully announcing Gato's plan to shoot everyone left on the bridge dead before his interference and daring anyone to contradict him. They can't mostly because the small child with blood dripping off their knives has scared them silent, and instead of fighting they flee with a furious Zabuza in pursuit. Haku doesn't survive but Z does to contiune his bloodly plans for revolution but now without his restraining bolt. This will cause problems for our heroes later. But for now Wave is a success and only one of the children has killed anyone in cold blood. Only Kakashi is worried about this. Oh and all the builders who are now wary around the killer kid who mocked and psychologically attacked his victims first. Victory all around!

Kakashi can not get the privacy needed to properly talk to his genin about the thing he did until they're back in Konoha where he overhears Mizuki grilling his student for details on the mission and dropping info he really shouldn't be re: the kyubi, and implying Tobio was meant to somehow harm Naruto. Which is the conversation that tips tobio off to the divigerence which is that oops Tobio was doing himself a Treason. Thankfully tobio is a fully trained fluent liar who reports to Mizuki that he never had a chance to harm Naruto and that, no, there was no hint of the Kyubi both of which are lies the eavesdropping Kakashi catches but isn't sure what to make of. tobio himself is basicially flying by the seat of his pants as he describes Sasuke's growth and personality even as he internally starts to panic as he realizes just how epically Screwed he is since he also doesn't know Kakashi is there, and now Mizuki and Tobio's treason is his problem. Crap.

A sweep of his apartment has tobio finding a journal of his days in the academy where one day Tobio reports Mizuki pulling him aside and pointing out he'll be lucky go get a proper jonin teacher and get out of the genin corps if he continues on the normal path but Mizuki has a solution since he feels so bad for another orphan of the Kyubei attack. His new plan is to join the E&S course the so called "kunoichi class" and with Mizuki's help-all helpfully noted down by Tobio and utterly obviously manipulative to tobio-he can ace that and get put on a star team with a good future. With Sasuke he means so someone can keep an eye on the Uchiha for Orochimaru. The journal also veers off into a hateful anti-Konoha rant at the revealation of Tobio's parents killer's continued existence and favortism from the Third via Naruto. However misguided a start by the time of graduation testing Tobio had been perfectly groomed into Mizuki's personal spy who had a sneering relief that he could leave Konoha and a dead Naruto behind after they secured the scroll for their actual master.

Well, to be forewarned is to be forearmed as they say, and no one else in the village has as much foreknowledge as tobio who thinks it's high time he got serious and picked put a proper name for himself: Otogiri Tobio sounds perfect.

Otogiri doesn't know Kakashi knows even half of this but luckily neither does anyone else yet. While the poor scarecrow man tries to figure out just what is happening without directly confronting a possible traitor in his own squad even as political pressure mounts to prove one of Konoha's founding clans has a strong future by putting Sasuke (and his squad they guess. Whatever.) into the chuunin exam. With an effective A rank under their belt and Otogiri's proliferation of funds Kakashi would need a pretty sound reason not to bend to the council's "suggestion" and he doesn't want to leave the boys alone with a possible traitor but he also doesn't want T&E descending on his student for maybe nothing. So in they go causing the domino effect that ends with the K9 (sans sakura plus Otogiri) all enrolled in the annual deathmatch.

Ignorant of all this back door politicking going on Otogiri's already gearing up for the Invasion. Chuunin exams? Sure he's signed up the squad's in. Whatever. He's got bigger problems including Mizuki dropping in and telling him to meet up and assist the incoming Sound kids. No one notices the dog watching this play out not that Mizuki's sloppy enough to say anything outright but Otogiri catches the subtext, but also sees a chance to start turning the tables on that creep. After all Orochimaru already wants Sasuke, and Naruto's becoming pretty strong himself maybe they should pull everyone in?

So on the prophesied day squad 7 is coincidentally in place to welcome and show around the teens from the newly founded village of Sound. Otogiri is a little concered but the thing about Naruto is that yes he's loud and arrogant and annoying and has to be physically wrestled into bathing regularly but he's charismatic enough for all that to be liked anyway. And Zaku? Is loud and arrogant and definitely had to be wrestled into a bath at least 5 times so he likes the kid, and their friendly little mole's hinting that he's not been treated great by the Leaf so why not get along and lead the kid astray? Could be fun.

Kin has a headache. She's met louder blonde Zaku and she wants to Die about it. She and Sasuke bond over it as they have to quiet the duo down.

Dosu is amused by Kin's discomfort and Zaku's weirdly instant attachment, but as long as they serve their duty he's fine with it. They're the best the Sound has to offer that could pass as genin. The mole worries him a little, he's a little too quick witted and sharp to feel like he's really their ally and he never says anything to give him a hint of where he lies beyond the veiled code phrase he introduced himself with to mark him as the Tobio they were supposed to meet. The blonde's infectious energy and loudness doesn't leave him exposing weaknesses in the village, and The Uchia clearly looks down on their little village. Well he'd change his mind about that once the rest of his squad turned on him or Dosu would have the personal pleasure of wiping the smug off his face.

Otogiri is not having a great time he has a little over a month to get Dosu to trust him so he can derail Orochimaru's chess style pawn sacrifice strategy for his own shogi inspired pawn theft strategy. Some people might claim using alternate universe future knowledge is cheating. Otogiri would claim that he's trying to outwit someone who even with his ages combined has 20 years minimum on him so really he needs every advantage he can get. Especially because Dosu is so damn distrusting that getting an in to try and make the older boy waver on his desire to gain glory is harder than making Sasunaru work together back in the first arc.

Blah blah blah chuunin exam stuff test speech forest of death. Where Otogiri realizes there was a fight with Rock Lee but no declaration of lust from him without Sakura. And he has no connection to Ino beyond her sort of hating him for stealing what she thinks should be her place. No it doesn't matter Sakura outranked her, Otogiri's on the wrong end of Ino's many grudges and eventually despite his best efforts he winds up with an unconscious chakra dampened Naruto and a freshly Cursed Sasuke. No allies forthcoming and probably 3 teens expecting an easy kill on their way. To be killed to make Sauske stronger.

Otogiri must once again consider that actually The Universe* is just screwing with him. With a bit of deception, luck, and just plain knowing more than he should Otogiri convinces the trio when they show up they're not really meant to try and kill Sasuke it's all a test of how wisely they can act on a mission. He bluffs that Mizuki told him what The Master could do and how he marked Sasuke betting on Dosu at least managing to link Curse Seals and their Effects on the mark on Sasuke.

Sound trio on side Naruto and then Sasuke wake up groggy and foggy as hell but hey safe! With their new cool allies! Naruto's devious nature surfaces and he makes a plan to net both teams all the scrolls they'll need with his prankster past . While he has the time Otogiri pulls Zaku aside and warns him to watch his tubing around the Aburame since their bugs follow and eat chakra which is a huge vulnerability for specifically him. Sorry Shino it just ain't your time-line.

Successful plan put into motion everyone moves onto The Tournament where things play out basicially as they do with the exception of Shino getting outplayed by Otogiri's timely warning. Naruto does a little better and wins less with a stroke of luck and more by being just enough better at chakra control the seal doesn't completely stop him. And of course Ino tries to vent when she gets paired up with her new Fated Rival (that random boy who was better in class than her and hasn't given her a second thought all story) but Otogiri is tired stressed and over it so he forces a grapple pins her hand with a kunai and presses his advantage until he knocks her out because Ino is Not A Quitter. By any sane metric Ino does fine but Otogiri's got his sights aimed way higher and has been training accordingly. Sorry, Ino just ain't your timeline either.

Seconds into the fight he gets even more stressed out as he realizes all at once the various things even a brief jaunt into his soul/mind would reveal. Making him fight way more aggressivly and mercilessly which the other K9 minus s7 don't like. Zaku and Kin do but boo on them.

Easy part over Otogiri has to rededicate himself to several things all at once: untangling the invasion's plans without drawing too much attention to himself. Keeping the sound trio alive and out of Orochimaru's hands to keep him from going full Necromancer on the Third. Keeping Naruto and Sasuke safe from the wretched hands moving on them. Again not drawing aggro himself from Danzo and ROOT. Or Jiraya. Noted spymaster. Old teammate of his new archnemesis. Naruto's newest teacher. Whooo.

Meanwhile in the mountains Kakashi is training Sasuke because he got paired up against a serial killer jinjuriki. Which is one more gray hair on his head along with all the other stuff including Otogiri seeking him out in private and explaining the attack, the seals and who he suspects was the attacker. Which. Kakashi is smart, he now probably knows who Mizuki sold Konoha out to and how and why Otogiri would know who he is but he still has no idea what angle the kid is working. Or if approaching him about it is smart. Kids are hard and Kakashi has been avoiding this for years. Obito please come back and help him you were always basicially a kid you'd know what was going on.

Otogiri has come to the conclusion it's officially time to call Gondor for aid and seeing as there's maybe 3 people who could be discrete enough to trail the trio and play off if they got caught. One was on a mountain one is him and one is...capable of self replication. Welp time to put a hand over Naruto's gross mouth and explain the bullet points.

A pinned Naruto with two hands over his mouth later gives more context to the Mizuki mysteries; he confirms it was Mizuki who told him of the special pass requirement and that he never showed that night. Iruka found him and he remembers an odd smell but has no memory beyond a very verbal lashing. Neither boy knows how Mizuki got away with it, but Otogiri spells out the "truth" to Naruto about Mizuki's plans to steal the scroll and leave Naruto to rot for it. In return for the tiny lie Otogiri tells Naruto he knows about the Kyubei and has decided that Naruto's too kind and simple to be a demon fox so he's cool with him.

Before even a single sappy sentiment can be shared Otogiri launches into his suspicions about how valuable Orochimaru finds their new "friends'" lives and Naruto is all about protecting them (believe it!). Together with a little "totally unknowing" help from a certain Toad Sage they figure out Kabuto's ninja info cards have summoning seals on them and before Dosu can go and get himself killed the new duo gush about how excited they are to see Zaku and Dosu kick butt in the stadium which is enough to mollify Dosu's increasing need to go out and prove himself. Barely.

Zaku's feeling right offended they were given "information cards" as if they needed the help to kick a bunch of kids' asses in a straight fight. Otogiri could kiss that lanky moron because he just handed him the answer and he makes a big show of agreeing and saying they should prove it by getting rid of those useless cards and giving them to him and Naruto who could use the help. Dosu's suspicion gauge raises another tick but the trio do and those cards find themselves in Jiraya's hands lightning quick.

Surprise surprise the cards have summoning sutras on them to send the holders to a preset location. Jiraya with the subtly of a trained deceiver who's lead a spy ring for decades pries a lot of information from Otogiri very skillfully and concludes what Otogiri already knew regarding the intentions of summoning cards the holders didn't know about. So, the sound trio receive a friendly visit from a friendly toad man who gleefully shows them the trap on the cards and notes whoever gave them these might not be as trustworthy as they thought. The trio say nothing, cutting contact with OtoNaru.

Come the tournament a lot of the usual beats play out; late Sauske, Naruto's still heated about Nehi being the ultimate Heel wrestler, Shikamaru proves he can make wise tactical decisions and before the oragnizers have to awkwardly side step there's one too many contestants Sauske dramatic entrances in and the fight begins. A fight Naruto Otogiri and Shikamaru miss because Dosu and company have given it some thought and are going to just full Bail but they know what's about to start and at least want the duo (and shikamaru they guess) to be awake and away when the fighting starts.

Naruto Talks at them and tries to fire them up agaisnt ol copperhead as everything Pops Off including a pall of mist that descends over the arena. Zabuza's found a fellow revolutionary it seems. Sasuke takes off after Gaara with Naruto hot on his heels with a shove from Otogiri seeing as their the "same".

Otogiri rounds on the trio and decides to use his own version of Talk pointing out that they owe one person one thing and that's revenge on Orochimaru. He tried to sacrifice them multiple times hasn't been in contact with them, and was gonna do who knows what with their bodies without consent. They can flee in the middle if they want but don't they want to pop him in the metaphorical face first? Zaku does. Kin does. Dosu doesn't anymore but his almost-friends (all 4 of them) aren't budging so he figures he might as well prove how non disposable they are by messing up snakey's plans.

Shikamaru is thoroughly disgruntled because Naruto dragged him along to the Gaara mess which is going basicially like canon. Shino's even here his bugs having devoured the genjutsu and wanting to back up his non insane classmate. An exhausted Shikamaru can barely hold back a desperate Temari until the timely ringing of bells saves him. Kin's strings may not have much shadow but they are a direct path to a disoriented Temari who has to watch her little brother actually struggle and bleed before she gets introduced to a tree the same way Kin was to a wall. Naruto summons a giant frog.

Meanwhile Kakashi is meeting back up with Zabuza, his ninken already have the swordsmaster's scent and this time they do need to settle the score. Zabuza's both mad at Kakashi for reasons he knows aren't sound and persuing his goal since Orochimaru will eventually tear down Wave and he says will leave it to Zabuza while he goes after the rest. He has to make Haku's sacrifice count so Leaf has to die on the vine just in case this time the promise is real. No points for guessing who wins in this confusing melee. Final tally: 3-0 kakashi:zabuza it was close though.

Meanwhile again Mizuki's poised to take some sweet justice against Iruka for, frankly, being a better instructor ninja and person than him wheb Otogiri shows up playing it like he wants the honor. No dice, Mizuki's wanted this for awhile and the kid's nowhere close enough to be subtle and he just has to drop the genjutsu on Mizuki to make him miss and engage his manipulator in a direct confrontation to end this whole twisted mess. Good thing Mizuki doesn't have that filler arc power up because Otogiri's fighting an uphill battle on this one.

But first Hayate Gekko's girlfriend the ANBU member Cat is engaging his canonical killer Baki the sand jonin her swordsmanship sharp enough to leave Baki's attempts to entangle her blade useless. And him open to said jonin's surprise strike taking out the sandman. Oh how the turntables. Is what someone who knows the alternate timeline would say since that confrontation didn't happen in this one since Dosu wasn't trailed and Hayate killed for Knowing Too Much.

Speaking of Dosu he and Zaku have run into Kabuto who's cover is very blown because Konoha's Spymaster got a peek at his Trap Cards and no one is happy with anyone here. Dosu and Zaku aren't exactly jonin level even combined but in a chaotic melee large windbursts and balance altering soundwaves make up for a lot when your speciality is up close precision scapel attacks. Kabuto would win ordinarily but he's a wanted man and there's an angry snake lady willing to take out her misplaced sense of displacement on a willing medical collabteour. Kabuto gets away in the end but Anko takes one look at the trio once everyone's round up in the end and asks "is anyone gonna claim these kids?" And not wait for an answer.

Back to Otogiri who lacks the element of surprise of numbers to overwhelm Mizuki and is going pretty even but for all the cheap kill shots he has to prevent from taking out a defenseless wounded Iruka who himself got taken down protecting the academy kids not named nepotism. Mizuki isn't his usual sneering jackass self here because he's pissed that the kid he'd been grooming slipped out of his control and had taken to playing him for a fool. Otogiri bullshits back that after seeing how Orochimaru treated his soldiers he made the choice to back out before he was sacrificed for a madman's goals stubbronly ignorning the Danzo in the room for now.

Injured, humiliated and generally unpleasant Mizuki lunges for Otogiri and gets his hands around the boy's throat. Any plan of escape is cut off by a torrent of rage and red as Otogiri loses it after all of Mizuki's crap and he simply rips the man's hands off him and before the former instructor can process the impossible thing he just witnessed he's driven into the side of the academy and has a kunai driven through his neck. Good thing Iruka passed out from his wounds and no impressionable children saw that. Oh hi Konohamaru don't wanna come out of hiding in that closet and say hi to Naruto nii chan's friend? No? Suit yourself he's gotta hurry Iruka to a healer anyway no time to stop and ask questions like "how" or "what the fuck?"

The final results of the invasion are far from pretty. Konoha's numbers are still pretty cut down as are Sand's who are still totally playing that "Orochimaru killed our kage and was giving orders so us invading you is totes not our fault" card they did in canon. It's accepted for the same reason as in canon: the sharks are already circling with blood in the water no need to churn the tide when a perfectly good excuse is offered up.

Third watch: without two other kages backing him in a restricted space and not enough time to restructure the plan to get Mandra in on the action sun wukong and The Professor taught a hard lesson in getting absolutely whomped. Orochimaru got away alive sans a working leg, but old man bodies aren't really still made for pitched life or death combat and his body's heavily protesting the return to combat. The can can be kicked a little further down the road safely but they need a qualified non Danzo candidate and soon.

Sound Trio: the corps aren't totally happy about it but they need manpower and they've got friends on the inside and a grudge against orochimaru so...probation working with Anko. She already adopted them they can't say no. And by adopted i do mean carted them away in a net to get lodgings and food. And a good medic to look at Zaku's arms.

Otogiri: in so much trouble you have no idea. His various schemes finally came out around someone without the good sense to lie about it so T&I would like a word with him. And Kakashi? Who is now claiming before anyone can even threaten pain or a jaunt through his head that they were in already working against the threat to Konoha since Wave. Kakashi?

His claim is the money stolen from Gato to insulate Wave and brought back to Konoha was in preparation for the coming storm. Obviously deep internal agents like Mizuki and Kabuto left Kakashi little choice but to keep Otogiri in deep cover to root out the problem without drawing suspicion by having contact with known figures like The Third. Kakashi had total control of the situation the whole time. Honest.

Otogiri's just kind of nodding along because he is just getting windmall slammed by haymaker after haymaker in a pretty short window of time. Ibuki is Not Buying This but the kid's actions prove his loyalty at the end of the day and if Hatake wants to take the lumps for his kid? Well, more power to him. Ibuki reminds Kakashi there are 'proper verified channels' for internal operations and he should remember to use them in the future. He expects a full concise report regarding everything from both of them and sends the teacher-student pair off with a glare.

This is where all that Kakashi stuff from earlier gets revealed to the audience as he goes over how and when he caught Otogiri mid treason and how close an eye he's actually been keeping on the boy. It is as terrifying as Kakashi's tone is light. Otogiri's just so incredibly thankful he declares his undying loyalty to his sensei for looking out for him and following his own principals so closely. Yes, Otogiri is crying at this point why do you ask?

This is the peaceful denouement of part 1 as Otogiri goes around catching up with who he can he is left to ponder why he has Kyubei chakra. How did Tobio even die anyway? And why is Jiraya here inviting him on a trip with Naruto? Does he wanna be a spymaster? Wasn't fixing Tobio's mistake the end of the story why is there more? Help!

Miscellaneous character notes on Otogiri:

-> is fairly meta and aware of transmigration novels and some of their rules. Is wrong about as often as he is right

-> has a fairly solid grasp on the character's motives but can't predict moments of wild humanity

-> has a hard time grasping his own mortality despite or rather because he has already died once. Will blank out at the idea of dying as bad as if not worse than Sakura when intent is aimed at him. Refuses to dwell on his first death or Tobio's

-> sarcastic and frequently argumentative. He likes to pick fights when he's feeling safe with someone.

-> was a bit of an edgelord in life and has a twisted sense of morality. His interference doesn't cost Shino his life but it could have and he ignores that for his own goals.

-> early on is mildly obssessed with finding the divervent point of import thinking if he can solve The Problem he'll fade into an epilogue or something. Is in Denial.

-> connecting events in his present with his past unlocks memories of both Tobio's life and his own. Facing his own death is the only way for him to Understand.

[eldritch-hall-asylum]

I’ve been thinking about a vampire AU, so here are my current ideas/notes about it. Let me know what you think. (Thsi may be multiple parts, so apologies if it turns out to be.)

General vampirism rules in the EHA universe: (a) Vampires can age, however age very very slowly. A born-vampire, or youth-turned, will age normally until age 21, then begin the very slowed aging process (eg. A 50 yr old will look around 30, or so). (b) Vampires are not too common, but they also aren’t rare. Those that are vampires have to keep their state-of-being under wraps, as not to alert scientists, who tend to get grabby and very experimental. (c) Vampires are very tough beings. They can go through a lot, and not a single scratch will appear on their body. Octavian used to take advantage of this a lot and jump off high buildings (late at night) for the adrenaline, especially during manic episodes.

The (biological/born) Windroe family are vampires. They are generational vampires, with the vampirism going down decades/centuries, and the general tradition was for two vampires to marry, and have kids.

When Elspeth wanted to marry River, a human; it follows normal EHA canon and she is forced to marry Richard, a vampire, from a very wealthy family.

Elspeth and Richard then had four kids, Zephyr, Octavian, Ciero, and Favio, made only to prolong the vampirism in the Windroe family line.

Richard died from an unknown assailant shooting him with a silver bullet. To this day, his murderer is unknown.

Those married into the Windroe family, who are not vampires, are a very new development, and only one (so far) has been changed into a vampire since.

Patrick was turned when Ciero found him after his attempt. He was almost certainly going to die unless he got medical treatment immediately, and since that was not available, Ciero did what she thought was the next best thing, and changed him into a vampire.

Everyone found out what Ciero did as Patrick started going through the initial “feral” stages of turning. She got into quite a lot of trouble because of it.

Jack G is not a vampire, his sister, Jill, is, though (she got turned when they both lived in London, they were both 18 and close to their departure date to go to America). Zephyr has taken a very strong liking to Jack, and has actively talked about turning him.

Frankie is not a vampire, and isn’t too sure if he believes Elspeth when she says she is one. He’s unsure if he wants to get turned, though.

I’m not too sure if Mira would be, I don’t think so, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.

—

Jack K was born a half-vampire; his mother was a vampire and his father was a human. Jack was fully-turned by his mother a year before his enucleation, it’s unclear why she did it, but his turning did save him from almost dying. He really enjoys hunting, it’s oddly calming for him.

Olly is a half-human half-vampire, like Natalie. She knows what she is and has no current plans to fully turn.

Bentley is a vampire, both of his parents were vampires. He knows what he is, and is… okay with the fact. He can’t really change it now, can he? At least he can talk to Jane about it and get some tips for better dealing with it.

Jane is a born vampire to two, now dead, vampire parents. She isn’t too sure whether to like or hate her state of being, but at least her new parents have some good tips!

Natalie is a dhampir; a half-human, half-vampire. She isn’t aware of this, however. If she were to become aware of it, I think she’d want to stay as she is, not too sure, though. Any thoughts you have are appreciated.

Toby and Cody are probably vampires? They may’ve been turned after the car crash? I genuinely have no idea.

Jay is a vampire. He was forcefully turned against his will. It was one of the most painful and traumatic moment of his life. He hates being a vampire, and has tried to starve himself multiple times. It’s also really sucky because it means he can’t practice Islam with Naveedah (spelling?).

Brian is a vampire. He uses his immortality for evil, he loves setting fire to shit and walking out mainly unharmed. He also very much enjoys the hunt.

Doby might be human? Again, I don’t know. Kate smells like a human, but it’s hard to definitively tell.

And, everyone else is human.

Ooh, Mira would probably be some kind of lycanthrope, I feel...

I also feel like Natalie would be a werewolf too, however... purely bc her uncle James is very werewolf coded to me.

I love this idea, anon. And I'm actually half convinced to start a blog with this concept tbh...

[tragedyslayer]

Neteyam x female reader! Part 1

In a universe where Spider has an older sister who happens to be on the wrong side.

Neteyam x female reader

Part 2

Characters are both 18

Warning I will use as vague descriptions as I can, however I expect throughout this fic there will be some specific mentions of hair length, body type, height, etc.

I'm new to writing fanfiction so I hope I don't write this horribly. Spider having a sister completely throws off the original plot of the movie so FYI I intend on straying pretty far from the movie as far as the story line goes. If anyone has recommendations for things to include in this fic I would absolutely love to hear them. This will be a slowwwww burn, or at least thats how i'm planning it. I hope at least one person can enjoy this lol, so enjoy!

It was time, The day I would return to the planet I was born on. The day I would return to my brother, my father, my planet. Only it was not a day to celebrate, because I was only returning to destroy it all. 

The inside of my cheek was raw, all I could do was gnaw on my own flesh as I waited for my father to be reborn into his new body. I wish I could say I missed him, but it was quite the opposite. He was the last person in the galaxy I wished would have the opportunity to live twice. He died when I was young, I grew into my own without his help. It was a weird feeling to suddenly have a father again. I wanted something to go wrong, maybe who he was before would be lost and he could start fresh. Perhaps our ship would depressurize and we would all die instantly, unfortunately all the hoping and wishing in the world could not prevent the inevitable.

I raised my head at the commotion taking place in the room behind me. He was awake, freaking out at the sudden transition from not existing in any form to now being an avatar. I sighed, glancing backwards, and sure enough, it was my father.

Two days had gone by since we landed back on Pandora, my father was spending his time catching up on everything he had missed over the past 15 years. While I spent my time doing less productive things. My entire life I was trained to be a soldier, to follow in my fathers footsteps. Though I always felt like I was fighting a war that wasn't mine.

 I was fortunate enough to also receive my very own avatar, however I wasnt willing to commit suicide in order to be Na’vi permanently. Besides, I always believed that it isn't right to claim a race that isnt my own. The Na’vi people were spiritual, sacred. I may not be able to stop the human race from colonizing their culture, but I could at least not take part. Well not any more than I was forced to.

My thoughts were cut short by a commanding voice through my door.

“Soldier, it's time.” I thought it was funny that my father refused to call me anything but soldier since he's been back. I suppose he missed out on too much to still recognize me as his little girl. I didn't feel a need to respond as I got off my bed, if you could even call it that, opening the door. “Yes sir”

I followed my dad and his team through the forest of Pandora. I had been in my avatar before, countless times actually. It was good for me to train in the same body as the enemy, so I could have even a chance to best them. But nothing could have ever prepared me for the feeling of being Na’vi in the thick of Pandora. In my avatar from all my senses were heightened, and all my physical abilities were multiplied, but getting to use this body in the environment it was originally adapted for is like nothing else I've ever experienced. 

I watched from a distance as my squad poked and prodded at my dads final resting place. Funnily enough I remember coming here as a kid, Grace and Jake, I was so young. Now I was meant to kill my childhood companions on sight if given the opportunity. I truly can't understand my dads thirst for murdering Jake Sully and everything he loves. You would think he'd learn to let things go after two decades, but I never knew him to be the forgiving type.

A twig snapped. It was far, but not out of reach for my heightened blue ears. Something about the sound forbade me to let it go. It was so slight and quick that it could have been a hundred different things. Though my heart was telling me something far different.

While the rest of my squad was still distracted, and my father was still caught up examining his own corpse I slipped through the tree line. I was thankful for my experience with the avatar, navigating quickly, and silently through the foliage was much easier for me than any of the other avatars team human still had.

I stopped as soon as I saw them. It was a group of kids, besides one that seemed to be closer to my age, and a human boy. My throat dried as I watched them. My baby brother, it had to be him. “Miles” I whispered to myself. Next my eyes focused on a toddler she looked to be no more than 7. These kids had no idea what the hell they were getting themselves into. How naive could they be, a pit in my stomach grew at the thought of my father finding them.

The anxiety I felt for my brother and his friends swelled in my chest as I looked back over to the abandoned shuttle to see if anyone had noticed my disappearance. I let out a shaky breath in relief seeing that none of their positions had changed. I turned my head towards the Na’vi children, seeing that the eldest had disappeared from the group. My ears lifted as I raised my guard. It could have been in my head, but I didn't feel unseen anymore.

“Take the bow off your back and throw it to the ground.”

My head shot in the direction of the voice. It was the older Na’vi boy. I almost wanted to smile, no one has ever been able to sneak up on me before. These warriors were nothing like American soldiers, the reality of that has only just set in. I raised my hands in submission looking the man in the eyes. I examined his body, he was holding a knife out to me but he wasn't in striking distance. 

“I don't want to hurt anybody.”

 I admitted reaching for the bow on my back. The boy narrowed his eyes at me, obviously not having it. I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment, realizing that no one in their right mind would want to hear out a human.

 “Listen, if I wanted to I could draw an arrow before you would even realize I'm doing it, but I'm not.”

 I whispered slowly, taking the bow off my back. My reasoning only seemed to agitate the boy as he gripped his knife harder. I internally scolded myself for not being better with words, even when pleading for my life I seemed arrogant. 

Both of our attention was drawn away from the stand off at hand. My squad was currently capturing my brother's friends. The boy took no time to dart towards their direction, I grabbed him by the arm, pushing him behind a tree out of any wandering eye's line of sight. He glared at me, opening his mouth in protest and confusion. I muffled him with the palm of my hand, looking into his eyes. I gave him a pleading look, wordlessly begging him to trust me a second longer. His hard gaze softened and for a moment I felt a mutual understanding with him.

“I can help you”

 My voice was almost silent as I pulled my hand down from his mouth. I glanced over his shoulder to find my squad walking the Na’vi group towards the abandoned ruins. 

“Follow me”

 I picked up my bow off the ground and dashed toward the two groups. My stride came to an abrupt stop as my arm was tugged. I glared at the culprit, 

“what the hell are you-” 

“Listen”

The boy cut me off and I closed my mouth. I heard bird-like sounds in the distance, they were almost indistinguishable to the natural noises of the forest. I doubt I would have noticed them if they had not been pointed out.

I gave the boy a questioning look, hoping for some kind of explanation.

“We have to go”

He urged, turning to the other direction. I was still confused, and wanted to ask this boy a million questions, but I settled on following him blindly. Some feeling deep in my gut possessed me to stay close behind him. It may have gone against all the training I've ever done, but I trusted this Na’vi boy more than I trusted my father. I turned my head backward as we fled, wanting another look at both my father and brother together. I heard the whistle of an arrow cut through the air before it shot a man from my squad in the heart. The precision and distance was bone chilling, I was thankful the boy allowed me to come with him or else I could have suffered a similar fate.

After a short while of running through the forest we came to a clearing and he slowed, I stopped behind him. I took a moment to take in our surroundings. The forest canopy opened above us allowing gabs of sunlight through the clearing. I had never seen anything so breathtaking. Everything was so still, but I could feel the surge of life all around me. I looked back to the boy who was already staring back at me. 

“Why did you save me”

I questioned, If I was in his position I can't say I would have done the same. 

“You said you would help.”

I pressed my lips together, sliding my bow behind my back. 

“I meant I would help you and your friends not get killed, but it seems you didn't need my help.”

The boy shook his head, taking a step closer to me. He had a confident presence, but it didn't feel threatening.

“We do need your help.”

My face contorted in skepticism. Why would he want my help, why would he trust me so easily. Everything about the situation I found myself in was hard to wrap my head around.

“How could I possibly help you?”

He took in a frustrated breath, running his hand over his braided hair.

“You're a sky person mm? But you offered to help me. To help us. You aren't like them.”

I shook my head,

“You shouldn't assume things”

He continued,”I am not assuming. I know.” 

I mumbled in response “Skxawng (stupid)” 

His eyebrows raised in surprise after hearing a foreigner speak his native tongue. I didn't know what to do, it was unrealistic for me to agree to help him, before long they would figure out where I was and who I was with. It would be Jake Sully's betrayal all over again. And yet I found myself wanting to agree.

I gasped looking back from the direction we came from. 

“Miles” I whispered looking back to the Na’vi man, continuing before he could question what I was saying.

“The boy, the human boy. Who is he?” 

I urged, to think he had been here all this time. Living amongst the enemy, all he knew was this foreign world.

“Spider? He's our friend, our brother.”

I shook my head, impatiently continuing my interrogation. 

“But where did he come from?”

The boy looked at me with furrowed brows, making a shrugging gesture as he spoke,

“He is the old military commander's son, when he died Spider had nowhere else to go.”

I covered my mouth in shock. I was so sure it was him but hearing it confirmed, it made it so real.I really saw my brother, and he really lived a happy life here on Pandora. He really had a family, and I really wasn't a part of it.

[curhartwrites]

Hollis, a short story by Linden Curhart

[This is a piece of original Queer erotic fiction, intended for adult readers only. No major trigger warnings apply. Casual death mention. A trans man who can see ghosts has a one night stand with one in a quiet cabin during a snowstorm.]

Having the ability to see ghosts was not exactly something Jesse had asked for. He wasn’t born with the “gift” like most people; instead, he just woke up one day to a world that was much noisier than the day before. At twenty six, he had just begun to feel like he might be getting his life together. He had a house with a few roommates who were sort of okay, and a job he didn’t hate. He was a year past his top surgery, and was starting to feel more confident about his body and his appearance. He felt stronger. The pieces of his life were starting to fall into place one by one, but all of it was shattered by the sudden appearance of a bunch of dead people he didn’t know. 

They were everywhere. It was astounding just how many of his friends and neighbors didn’t know that they were being followed around by their dead relatives. The older buildings in his neighborhood were densely populated with the echoes of human beings who had died decades or sometimes even centuries ago. Their voices were everywhere, and their presence in a room sent chills through his body. It was inescapable.

In retrospect, that first year was the hardest. He moved into a smaller apartment where he could stay on his own, away from the ghosts who followed his unwitting roommates around every day, desperately trying to attract their attention. It was in that apartment, which was the size of a walk-in closet and painted a horribly depressing “landlord white,” that he tried to come to grips with the fact that he was never going to feel alone ever again. This was actually happening to him. It was real. He spoke to friends, a woman with purple hair who worked in a crystal shop, a priest, and his mom. No one had any advice for him regarding how he might be able to get rid of his new second sight - at least, not anything that worked. When the people around him started to look at him with pity and suggest that maybe his issue was more psychological than spiritual, the sting of not being believed was more painful than the burden of his new sight. He decided that the best thing to do was go away for a while. 

Late in the evening, he picked up his key and a bundle of firewood from a shack at the edge of the camp property, and then drove down a winding dirt path through fir trees that were already leaning and shuddering in the wind. He eventually found the dimly lit path up to cabin number seven. The one room cabin sat underneath the spread of a large oak, whose leafless winter branches resembled black, long-fingered hands scratching at the flat grey sky. Jesse parked close to the cabin and carried his necessary belongings inside: a sleeping bag and rolled up blanket, a few camping essentials in a backpack, and a cardboard box of non-perishable food stuffs. Standing on the narrow front porch and looking out through the gathering blue dark, he could smell the sharpness of coming snow in the air. Out beyond the evening silhouettes of the trees, the half frozen lake gleamed.

Now, three years later, he was beginning to make peace with his gift a little at a time. He traveled from place to place doing odd jobs and repairs for people who wouldn’t remember his name when he was gone. The less they spoke to him, the better, as far as he was concerned. He never stayed in one place for very long, since doing so would invite too many questions about where he had come from and why he had left. On occasion, a particularly communicative spirit might ask him for help in passing on a message to someone who was still alive. He did his best, but never made any promises. Many factors made it difficult to live like this, but the one that he struggled with the most was the loneliness. Before gaining his ability to see ghosts, he had been a very social person. He had close friends and lovers, people he thought would stick by him no matter what. Now, he made few connections, and none that lasted very long.

Quietly, Christmas came and went. January arrived while he was on the road, between temporary waystations, and the new year passed without fanfare. He listened to the happy racket of other people cheering and spinning noise makers somewhere else, on the radio in his car. It was a few days later that he found himself looking for a place to stay to wait out an impending snowstorm. He was far from any kind of major city or town where he could get a hotel room, so he would have to consider other options. Asking around led him to a campsite that offered cabin rentals. It was inexpensive this time of year, and there would be almost no one else around. It wouldn’t exactly be the height of luxury, but Jesse reasoned that he might actually prefer it to staying at a roadside motel, since those places tended to be full of unhappy spirits. 

The inside of the cabin was dusty and cold. It was an old structure made of lumber and stone, with a low bed with a rubber camping mattress, a table and two chairs, and a small wood burning stove. A rectangular mirror with a plastic frame leaned against one wall, between a gingham curtained window and an ovular wood-burning of an eagle. The straw rug in front of the door read “Gone Fishing.” There was a water pump around back, with a red handle, but he reasoned that the pipes were probably already frozen. Jesse set down his belongings on top of the round wooden table. He looked around for a moment, then ran his hand over one of the wooden bedposts. Over who knew how many summers, people had carved names, initials, and inside jokes into the wood with pens and pocket knives. He could feel the indentations of those marks now, underneath his fingertips. Katie Loves Ash. Brendan was here. E&H. MG & DD forever. From ancient caves to rental cabins, it seemed that human beings shared a timeless need to leave some kind of evidence that they had existed in a certain place - a plea to be remembered. Jesse resisted the urge to pull his multi-tool from his pocket.

It was too early to sleep, but without electric lights, it quickly became dark inside his quiet shelter. The low orange light from the fire threw black shapes on the walls that danced and swayed, their forms indistinguishable except for the occasional stark claw of a tree branch. Outside, the firs and cedars made a low groaning sound as they bent under the force of a frigid wind. Lying with the sleeping bag pulled all the way up to his nose, Jesse wondered if it had started snowing yet. He reached one arm out from his cocoon of warmth and felt around inside his backpack for a flashlight and a book. Three pages into his paperback werewolf romance, he fell asleep. 

After lighting a fire in the stove and rolling up a towel underneath the door to trap some warmth inside the drafty cabin, Jesse had a dinner of peanut butter crackers, baby carrots, and blue gatorade before getting ready for bed. As cold as he was, his jeans and flannel both got tossed to the foot of the bed, and he climbed into his sleeping bag in just his boxers so he would warm up faster. 

Without much thought, Jesse knew that he was dreaming. He was still in bed, but instead of being bundled inside a winter-weight sleeping bag, he was lying underneath layers of soft blankets, and draped over his waist was the pleasant weight of someone else’s arm. He kept his eyes closed and ran his hand over that arm, feeling soft skin and a scatter of hair. A broad, strong chest pressed against his naked back, and in his ear was the rhythmic sound of someone else’s breathing. 

Underneath the cover of their shared blankets, the man curled up behind him slid his hand slowly up Jesse’s body to gently frame the front of his throat, and then back down again. Callused fingertips skated over the iridescent scar tissue that framed the shape of his chest. The slow drag of that hand over his soft stomach sent a shiver rippling up his spine and elicited a soft anticipatory gasp. He didn’t speak. He couldn’t find any information in his dreaming mind about who this man was, but he didn’t feel afraid. He knew that he was in the same cabin where he had fallen asleep. He stretched one leg back and slid his calf up between the legs of the stranger sharing his bed, encouraging closeness. It was a simple touch, a slide of warm skin, but its relaxed slowness held an unspoken invitation. Arousal pooled with a pleasant and unhurried tension between Jesse’s hips and at the base of his spine. 

The stranger’s hand slipped just underneath the elastic waistband of Jesse’s boxers to brush teasingly through coarse dark curls and then lower. His fingertips bypassed Jesse’s small, sensitive dick for now to instead tease at his wet hole. The sound he made as he opened his thighs was soft and needy. He could feel the pressing thickness of the stranger’s cock against the curve of his ass. He rolled his hips back. The man’s index finger slid inside him and he tipped his head back, lips opening around another gasp. The moment they were in felt fragile, as if loud sounds or coherent speech might break whatever spell they were under together. He knew somehow, with the instinctive wisdom that is sometimes made available in dreams, that if he opened his eyes and tried to look at the stranger, it would all come apart. He trailed his own hand down his body to toy with his dick as one finger inside him became two, and then three. Sweat dampened his forehead and the back of his neck. They were breathing together now. The languid tension in his body coiled tighter and became something more urgent. 

The stranger’s mouth brushed over the curve of his throat. He felt the rough drag of facial hair and the warmth of an exhale. The ember burning at the center of his body broke open and scattered into sparks that traveled all the way to the ends of his limbs and he came without breathing. 

His body hummed. The stranger withdrew his fingers and instead reached between the close press of their bodies to steady the base of his dick. Jesse arched his lower back into a curve. Around them, the edges of his dream wavered like a heat mirage. 

“Please.” The wind buffeted the cabin window with a rattling sound. The storm had not yet arrived, but it was well on its way. No wintering cardinals broke through the morning hush with their music. The woods held their breath, bracing for impact. Jesse woke up alone. 

He felt overheated inside the confines of his winter sleeping bag, and fevered with arousal. He stuck one arm out of his sleeping bag to get a little cool air moving on his skin. When he pressed his thighs together, he found that his boxers were wet. 

The fire had died overnight, so the cabin was cold again. It didn’t take long for that overheated feeling to wear off, and Jesse got dressed quickly in the dim, colorless morning light. A peek through the curtains revealed light windblown snowfall. It had only just started to stick to the ground, so he would still have a little time to prepare. 

As he dressed in warm layers and made his way back to the welcome shack at the edge of the property, he noticed that, unlike most dreams, this most recent one stuck with him even once he felt fully awake. It lingered in glimpses as he picked up some jugs of drinking water and extra firewood to bring back to the cabin. The memory of rough hands on his body occupied his thoughts as he made instant coffee over the cabin stove. The dream had felt too real, and he remembered it too vividly. Sitting in one of the chairs under the window with his chipped Snoopy coffee mug held between both hands, he shook his head as if to clear it of cobwebs. It was still just a dream. 

As the day passed in solitude, the wind picked up speed. The snow fell thicker through the dark trees, collecting in drifts, and the cabin door creaked in its frame. The storm covered over the flat, cold sky so that by nightfall, the woods had already been dark for several hours. Jesse pulled the light rubber mattress off of the wooden bed frame and laid it on the floor in front of the fire, then curled up inside his sleeping bag with his blanket folded underneath his head to pillow it. He would wait out the storm in his quiet nest of accumulated comforts, surrounded by the low voices of leaning trees.

Here in the winter gloom, Jesse felt his solitude more keenly. It was a hollow ache in his chest. Most of the time, the work involved in traveling from place to place distracted him from his own loneliness and from thoughts of home. But last night’s dream had brought his isolation to the forefront of his mind. When, he wondered, was the last time he had been touched by another person?

He was half conscious, drifting in the timeless space between wakefulness and sleep, when a figure appeared in the chair beside the fireplace. He materialized slowly, gossamer-thin and with edges poorly defined in the flickering red light. He was tall and broad shouldered, with a dark beard and deep brown eyes. He sat in the wooden chair without really touching it, as if he were sitting in another chair that had occupied the same place in another time. Jesse sat up slowly. 

“Who are you?” he asked, and the usual surprise followed. 

“You can see me?” The ghost’s voice was as deep and warm now as it had been in Jesse’s dream. It mimicked the sound of the windblown pines. 

“Yes. And I remember you,” Jesse confessed without blushing.  “You were in my dream last night.”

A slow grin softened the ghost’s careworn features. He had the ruddy face of a man who spent most of his time outdoors, and though it was difficult to see now in the firelight, Jesse had the impression that in life, his eyes had been blue.

“My name is Hollis.”

“I’m Jesse.”

Hollis stood, only to kneel on the floor beside Jesse’s bed. There was red clay streaked on the knees of his jeans. 

“Are you angry with me for showing up in your dream, Jesse?”

He considered the question for a moment. Again, it came back to him - the warm, secure feeling of Hollis’ broad chest against his back, the sweet ache of need that swept in a wave through his body. Thinking about it now made his heart pound. 

“No. I’m not angry.” Jesse reached out a hand toward Hollis’ face, but stopped just short of his jaw, knowing that if he reached out any further, he would find nothing but cold air. He dropped his hand to his lap. 

“Are you going to ask me how I died? Isn’t that how this is supposed to go?” Hollis asked him, and he smiled. 

“You can tell me if you want to. But you don’t owe me your story.”

“You don’t seem very scared.”

“I’m not. I just wish you could touch me.”

Hollis shifted closer. In the firelit warmth of the cabin, the diaphanous image of him emitted a tangible chill that sent a faint shiver through Jesse’s body. 

“So do I.” His dark eyes drifted over Jesse’s face, over his throat, and down the slope of his shoulders. “But you could touch yourself. Be my hands and let me guide you.”

Jesse did flush this time, but he didn’t look away or shy from the invitation to a novel form of intimacy. He shimmied up out of his sleeping bag. Like the previous night, he was stripped down to his boxers, baring a body that was lean from labor, but with a layer of softness over capable muscle. 

“I like that idea.”

His hands slid down his body, slow and teasing, to slip fingers underneath the elastic of his boxers and push them down, but Hollis’ voice stopped him in his tracks. 

“Not yet.” The words were stern, and Jesse froze instantly. “Leave those on. I want all of you, and I want to take my time.”

All at once, Jesse felt more exposed and vulnerable than he had before. Not knowing what to expect left him vibrating with anticipatory tension. 

“Touch your lips for me,” Hollis went on, “gently, with just your fingertips.”

He watched as Jesse trailed his fingers over the plush softness of his mouth. The unwavering intensity of Hollis’ gaze made him feel as if he were pinned in place, like a moth under glass. 

“Good. I wish I could kiss you, feel how soft you are.” Hollis’ voice pitched a little deeper, a little rougher. Jesse wondered what arousal felt like to him, without a body to experience it with. Maybe it was more like a memory. But it didn’t seem like the right time to ask. “I want you to trace your hands over your body,” Hollis instructed, “and go slow. Focus on the way your hands feel against your skin.”

As Jesse’s hands skimmed down his arms, along his sides, and over the soft give of his stomach, desire thrummed in his blood. This was not at all how he usually went about touching himself. It was usually a quick, goal oriented pursuit involving very little thought, and he didn’t treat himself to much foreplay. It was strange to treat his own body with such gentle, patient consideration now, to touch himself like a lover. His palms skated over the scatter of dark hair over the tops of his thighs, and then the softer skin on the inside, and he watched Hollis’ eyes follow the path of his hands. 

“Very good, Jesse,” Hollis said, dripping sweetness, and the praise made Jesse’s ears and throat feel hot. “Your legs look so strong.”

As if following the pull of the ghost’s thoughts, Jesse paused to knead at the firm muscle in his thighs, and then down his calves - muscle he had built through hard work. He was proud of this body, which he had made his own a little at a time with injections and surgery, with exercise, with the choices he made and the way that he carried himself, with patience and love. That pride suffused his touch now, and his arousal became colored by a kind of reverence for his own flesh and the ways it had changed with him. 

“You can take them off, now.”

Pulled up from his thoughts, Jesse nodded and slid his boxers down his legs and kicked them off of his ankle. He was struck with the sharply masculine scent of his own sex as he ran his hands over the insides of his thighs again. His need to be touched (for Hollis to touch him through the instrument of his own hands) was a hot pulse in his body. 

“Slowly,” Hollis reminded him in that firm, commanding tone which left no room for argument, “touch just your outer folds. I want you to tease yourself a little. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah,” Jesse breathed, nodding, even though what he wanted to do was slide his fingers inside himself to satisfy that needy ache. The simple touch of his own light fingertips over the soft shape of his cunt raised his need to a fever pitch and he swallowed hard. The way that Hollis instructed him, taking time to truly feel everything, required him to be fully present with his own body - something he rarely did these days. He breathed deeply and noticed each sensation as it occurred - the warm flush in his skin, the low teasing pleasure, the heat from the fireplace and the strange contrast of coldness that radiated from Hollis’ form. 

“Please,” he breathed, and watched as the corner of Hollis’ mouth lifted into a smirk. “Hollis, please, you’re killing me here.”

The ghost’s laughter carried in it an echo of warmth from another life, something playful and easy. The gauzy edges of his image floated around Jesse like tendrils of cold smoke. He nodded.

“Okay, sweetheart.”

The unexpected endearment drew a pleased sigh from Jesse’s lips. His eyes were half lidded and hazy as he slid the soft pad of his index finger between his inner labia and over his hole to gather his own wetness, then back up to rub at his dick. It was bigger now than it had been before he started taking testosterone, but it was still small and sensitive in his fingers. As he slowly stroked himself, taking care not to overstimulate, a quiet moan left him. Here he found another novelty. When he masturbated alone, he was always silent except for the rapid rhythm of his breath. Now, even though it was still only his own hands on his body, he made sounds as if Hollis were really touching him. 

Slow strokes turned into a clumsier rubbing up and down over his dick, and he pulled at his lower lip with his teeth, but again Hollis’ voice held him in its sway. 

“Jesse. Slow down. You don’t need to rush to finish,” Hollis assured him. Jesse looked up to find his eyes. “Slow down, and keep your legs open nice and wide for me so I can see you.” 

Despite the strong urge to just hurry up and make himself cum after so much teasing, Jesse obeyed. Just like in his dream, he had the sense that what they were sharing now was fragile and precarious, like rushing things might shatter the moment. He spread his thighs wider. 

“Good boy.”

The praise elicited another moan, louder this time. The muscles along the insides of his thighs and in his lower abdomen trembled. He leaned back on one hand, stretching his body long, and tipped his head back as he teased his dick with slow, gentle strokes. He closed his eyes, eyebrows knitting closer together in focus and frustration. He would never be able to cum like this. 

“There you go, sweetheart.” Suddenly Hollis’ voice was right next to his ear, and the ghost’s closeness made him shudder with sudden biting cold. “That’s perfect. I knew you could be patient. You look so beautiful like this.”

Jesse was truly surprised to feel the tight coil of pleasure which signaled impending climax gathering again at the base of his spine. That familiar singing tension sped his breath and his pulse. It came at him, not all at once, but in a slow wave that seemed to build and build forever, towering over him, until it finally crested and dragged him under, helplessly gasping. 

In the wake of his unraveling, Jesse lay naked in front of the fire, feeling sated and boneless. Hollis came to lie beside him, his floating figure not quite touching the mattress on the floor. The silence they shared was weightless and companionable. Eventually, Hollis spoke. 

“Thank you,” he said, “for helping me feel alive for a little while.”

Jesse regarded him for a moment, studying the complex feelings which surfaced in his rich brown eyes. 

“I’m only staying here until the storm dies down, and then I have to keep moving. Will you be okay?”

Hollis smiled at him again. “Don’t worry about me. When I died here, nobody knew where I was, and nobody really cared. I left this world without a single soul to remember me when I was gone. But you… you’ll remember me now.”

Jesse traced his fingers through the air around the shape of Hollis’ face again, as if he could offer him physical comfort, as if he could lend him some of his warmth. 

That afternoon, once the road out of the campground had been cleared, he packed up to leave again. He hauled the mattress up onto the bed frame where it belonged, swept the floor, and stacked his unused firewood next to the stove. His last act inside the enclosed warmth of the cabin, where the remnant of sex hung faintly in the air, was an act of remembrance. He pulled his camping knife from the pocket of his jeans, and into the much-loved wood of the bed frame, he carved in neat square letters the name “Hollis.”

“How could I forget?”

The following day, sunlight broke through the treetops in thin pillars and gleamed like white gold on the undisturbed snow. Jesse stepped out onto the cabin’s narrow front porch with his cup of coffee and watched a flock of starlings wing across the bright sky. Their small black bodies moved in perfect synchrony. The worst was over. 

Once the car was packed, he stood in the open doorway and looked in on the sun-dappled interior. “Rest easy,” he said aloud into the midday silence, before shutting the door. 

[randomanimeandmangablog]

Okay, so a long time ago, France was terrorized by what were most likely multiple "beasts" that looked different from the wolves the peasants normally saw (but not like the Vanitas version).

This builds off that with the idea of the Beast of Gevaudan returning.

A long time ago, even before Ruthven was born, a young human girl, Chloe D'Apchier became a vampire. Her father hid her away and became obsessed with fining a cure. This was just after Babel, so it's likely he had no idea what was going on.

When he died, he made surviving family members promise to continue his search. This led to the family learning how to alter the World Formula.

Chloe went on, mostly isolated. Subsequent generations didn't keep her inside like her father; they just assumed she didn't want to go out. While she assumed she needed to stay inside like her father had ordered.

At some point, Chloe met a much younger Ruthven, and they became friends. So much so that when he and some pupils of his had to travel, he asked her to watch after his pupils' daughter, Jeanne.

Jeanne was quite young, and she saw Chloe as a big sister. Chloe, in turn, was grateful to Jeanne for encouraging her to leave the castle. Eventually, Jeanne left with Ruthven.

Later, Ruthven would be betrayed. Allegedly, Jeanne's parents betrayed him, too, and Jeanne was forced to become a Bourreau.

Ruthven went to Chloe, a scarred and changed man, and tried to force her to give him the world formula device. She resisted, and this interaction ended their friendship.

Later, Chloe met Jean-Jacques, a young vampire whose human family abused him. They became friends.

The church started to kill innocent people in its quest to exterminate vampires, but to cover it up, they blamed it on a fictitious "Beast of Gevaudan."

Vampires and humans alike believed Chloe to be the beast.

To protect Chloe, Jean-Jacques gave Naenia his true name. He became the Beast.

Jean-Jacques' father tries to kill him for being the beast, and Jeanne is sent to kill Chloe, too. Chloe fights off the father. Jeanne tries to kill Chloe, but hesitates, and Chloe jumps with Jean-Jacques.

Naenia saves them.

Chloe gave Naenia her true name "for revenge." Naenia thought Chloe meant revenge on the people, but Chloe was bidding her time until she could take her revenge on Naenia for tainting Jean-Jacques.

Naenia/Chloe tainted by Naenia formed a time bubble that sealed them in a kinda time loop.

In Vanitas' time, I think at least decades to centuries later, there are sightings of the beast. Vanitas and Noe go to investigate, and Jeanne goes to kill Chloe (believing her to be a curse bearer).

There's a lot of interactions between the different characters I'll skip, but feel free to ask if you want more.

Chloe manages to get the World Formula Device to make Naenia corporeal so she can torture and kill her. She starts to succeed, but things go to hell. Turns out, Naenia is Faustina, queen of the vampires. But something goes wrong, and she never fully regains a body.

Chloe lets Vanitas heal her. He heals Jean-Jacques, too. The time bubble ends, and Chloe and Jean-Jacques go off together. Jeanne chooses not to kill Chloe, disobeying orders.

Then there's the stuff with Misha, but that's more straightforward.

Alright ok I want to ask this to VNC fans since this has been bothering me since I started the series, but like, I'm on my THIRD attempt to finish the 2nd season and I'm still struggling to put the pieces of what's happening together.

Is it an anime issue? Since BONES does that... of butchering important shit like they did with BSD and Noragami.

It sucks cus I love the animation and aesthetic and REALLY want to be more invested in the story and characters but I'm just not following even if I replay episodes and shit.

[the-spooky-children]

Little theory ramble here idk lol:

There are quite a lot of theorising videos and posts for SM floating around and I feel that some of them are so close but are looking in the wrong places. Like, lots focus on Pump's eyes being blue but the actual thing going on is that, after witnessing Eyes, everyone reacts in the same way that he did except for Skid. Skid is the outlier here, not Pump. Some people dismiss this as "oh there's netting on his mask which blocks it" but I feel that's a lazy excuse and the real reason is much more interesting and reveals what the cult's intentions are (at least a little bit).

Obviously I can't claim that I know everything because I am not one of the people working on the show, but quite a lot of the things I've thought have already been confirmed (Skid's dad is dead or at least was dead at one point, the giant spider will be a villain in the future, the cult is sacrificing children to Eyes, Skid's dad will come back in the future, etc) and I feel like things are really starting to come together.

So, the cult are probably paying Frank large sums of money to kidnap children so he can give them to them to feed to Eyes. This could be so that they get powers, oute of fear and desperation so that Eyes doesn't kill them, both (most likely), or something else. I also don't think that Skid's dad is a normal human, and whatever makes him different was probably passed on to Skid. I think that something that the dad was born with, was cursed with, that he did to himself, whatever, made it so that he was immune to Eyes' influence and maybe also gained powers(idk), and that Skid was born also having this ability.

(The next thing is a MatPat-level dive with almost no paragraph breaks I'm just getting my ideas down quick now ok lol)

I think that what happened, at least right now, is that Lila and the Dad met as both being members of the cult, and that after falling in love and having a child, they tried to escape but were followed by the cult and were forced to move (Lila and toddler Skid are shown with moving boxes in one of the pictures on the wall in SM 4, picture taken by Jaune showing they've known eachother for a long time). They lived in the town for a few years (some people think they haven't been there for that long, but the amount of stuff, dust and cobwebs in the attic makes this unlikely) before the cult found them and murdered the Dad in his own home, leaving his corpse to decompose in the attic stairway. This led to Lila having an emotional meltdown about it, which made her rip up or scribble over all photos that reminded her of her husband, which may also be the reason for why his body was not moved. A little side theory that I have is that the Dad's ghost haunts the mannequin in the attic, which would make sense if he died right outside of it, but that isn't that important right now.

The cult were unable to get to Lila and Skid for some reason, but set up camp in the town in the house on the hill. This house is one that happened to have been build on top of the burrow of some sort of Lovecraftian god-like creature called The Eyes of The Universe. This is a creature that they had been worshipping for decades, and now that it is within their reach (its home being revealed after it creates a hole in the floor to rescue Skid and Pump from Roy's creepy uncle, who was probably apart of the cult too), they can begin to get to business again. Mr Clown was probably the leader before he was killed by Jack shooting him, and Skid is probably who they want to be their leader eventually. (Also, you know they said "we will take all and get everything, everything will give us more than is all"? I think that, in this situation, Skid is Everything and Pump is All).

Eyes hypnotised Pump, the Hatzgang, maybe Kevin and some random people on the street, with Skid seemingly immune to this. After this, Eyes is visible in the sky from now on, which makes me think Skid and Pump may have woke it from a very long hibernation and it is now on watch of the town. Skid and Pump are threatened by a demonically possed Dexter the Exterminator, which alerts Eyes. It takes over Pump's body to help them get out of the situation, which is lucky because Skid would be so dead if Pump wasn't there. Dexter's ghost immediately possesses a Happy Fella doll which seems to have been designed to capture the souls of children like some FNAF animatronic shit (sorry for bringing that up I'm listening to the new Living Tombstone FNAF SB song on loop while writing this) and Moloch is seemingly dead. When Lila, Skid and Pump are hiding from Dexter in the attic the mannequin falls on Dexter, stunning him (which is what led to my haunted mannequin theory), as a massive spider is seen on the ceiling as an explanation for the ridiculous amount of webs covering the room. The Happy Fellas are destroyed (incoudisng the one Jaune brought), which probably means that Dexter is hanging around their house now. Bob Velseb, who is obviously the demon guy from the first episode, is then revealed to have escaped from prison and is running around, beginning to kill and eat people, which will likely be the plot of SM 5. The photo Pelo posted on Twitter of the next episode hints that a game of hide and seek will be played and that we will get a very disturbingly detailed look at the murderous and cannibalistic tendencies of this killer.

Also, side note, something I really hope happens in SM 5 that probably won't is that Bob tries to chop down a door with an axe with Lila on the other side screaming with some sort of reference to The Shining

We get lime, Sans Undertale, anime girls (Touhou maybe?), some actors that I don't know and blue e-boy, also rainbow beads which I hope to got aren't anal beads

And, I know what you're thinking, yes I do think that Jack and John are gay lovers and I really hope they kiss after tracking down Bob and apprehending him at the end of the episode

This ended up being so long I'm so sorry lmao

[darkfalcon-z]

ok. few facts about Li Nezha. I do not intend to go into shipping discussions, because I find shipping largely very boring and it’s also not my place to say who can/should and who can’t/shouldn’t ship what. There are people with more relevant opinions of appropriateness or inappropriateness of Nezha ships than me.

It’s just about the question of his age that have been flowing around.

I have fairly recently read Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Yanyi). English version is over 1000 pages long and it’s not as well written as Journey to the West (that I’m also familiar with). Aside from that I’ve seen multiple Journey to the West adaptations and several Nezha movies (I’m also familiar with Hoshin Engi anime, which is retelling of Fengshen Yanyi, based on the manga by the same title, so a bit different tradition).

So far I haven’t seen a posts from anyone who is actually familiar with the version on Nezha’s story from the Fenshen Yanyi novel (16th century). Obviously many people are familiar with Fengshen Yanyi story in general - it’s a part of living storytelling tradition and living religion, especially in China and other East Asian countries, as well in diaspora in the “West,” where the story carries significant cultural relevance. The story is a myth or a legend and as such by the definition there is no canon. Hence I don’t think the novel is a “better” or “truer” version that the stories told by parents to children. I don’t have ethnographical data on the different variants of Nezha’s story is in oral retellings. Other people know the story from popular media and I don’t think that’s necessarily any less “true” (with the caveat that multiple popular media made departure from widely recognized story on purpose and therefore should not be treated the same as the versions that attempt to be faithful to the tradition).

We do however have a time frame, because both Fengshen Yanyi and JttW are fantastic retellings of real events. Fengshen Yanyi took place in 11th century B. C. E. and JttW in 7th century C. E.

Sun Wukong was born roughly 1000 years before the main plot takes place (there are different estimates on the exact number, but this is the magnitude we operate here).

According to Fenshen Yanyi novel Li Nezha died at the age of seven and after some time (at least half a year) his he was incarnated in the body made of lotus roots. At this point he gained the appearance of a young man,16 feet tall (everyone in this book is about this tall, also Naza was already 6 feet tall as a seven year old). At this point he’s a spirit of a child piloting artificial body with outwards appearance of a youth. Nezha’s body does not act as a normal human body and can’t be subjected to the same kinds of magic as normal people. He never experienced growing up.

Further time-frame is that apparently about 26 years passed between Nezha’s lotus incarnation and the conclusion of Fenshen Yanyi (at leats I think it’s the case based on the prophecy in chapter 15 that specifies the time frame of events). During that time Nezha cultivated himself under the tutelage of a Daoist master Taiyi Zhenren (Fairy Primordial). Afterwards he goes to cultivate for some more and then he presumably goes with the rest of his family to live in Heaven.

Funny story, time passes differently in Heaven according to JttW. A year on earth only last a day in Heaven. So the six-seven centuries that passed between Li Nezha’s ascension to the birth of Sun Wukong only lasted for about two years from the former’s point of view.

Sun Wukong is well over 300 years old (over 342 years old according the the records of the Underworld) when he is first invited into Heaven and subsequently meets Li Nezha for the first time. Again about a year had passed for Li Nezha, while Sun Wukong actually lived all those years on Earth. So Li Nezha is chronologically much older, bur he only experience living for about 40 years. So, anyway Li Nezha’s life experience can be counted in decades, while Sun Wukong’s life experience is in centuries. And in a show like Lego Monkie Kid, Heaven dwelling Li Nezha’s life experience is still counted in decades, while Sun Wukong’s life in Earthly Realm lasted millennia.

Technically Li Nezha is a adult (18+ and an adult body), but in JttW there are immortal boys over 1000 years old living and cultivating on Earth. 30-40 years is pretty negligible for an Immortal. So my interpretation (of portrayal in the novel) is that despite technically being older he’s still a seven year old piloting artificial body of an adult.

Both Li Nezha and Sun Wukong are extremely young by Heavenly standards. Comparatively Jade Emperor have cultivated himself for  “one thousand seven hundred and fifty kalpas, with each kalpa lasting a hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years.”(JttW, Chapter 7 - that’s 226 800 000 years, even if you divide it by 365 to adjust for Heavenly time flow it’s over 621 369 years).

In most other versions I’m familiar with Nezha is portrayed as a child ranging from toddler(ish) to a pre teen, so instances when he’s portrayed as adult (in appearance)  departure from the dominant trend.

In Traditional Chinese Opera he’s portrayed as wawasheng (a child role). Of course he’s normally played by and adult actor. 

Some examples from popular media (illustrations below):

The legend of Nezha (2003-2004). I remember seeing advertisement of this show on RTL II (German TV station) but I wasn’t able to watch it then (I think I need to hunt German dub for this one somehow).

Nezha Conquers the Dragon King (1979)

NeZha. Birth of the Devil Child (2019). He’s technically three years old, but he grows fast.

that’s Nezha fighting Sun Wukong in Havock in Heaven (1961,1964)

actor playing Nezha in 2010 version of Journey to the West

Sure there are versions with teenager or adult Nezha

Nezha from Monkey King. Quest for Sutra (2001)

Nataku from Hosin Engi (1999)

Lego Monkie Kid (2020-present)

there is also (unfortunately) Nezha from Fate series. Who is (unfortunately) sexy anime girl (yet somehow no one argues that Nezha is a female, because there in some versions he is one. For that matter no one argues Sun Wukong is human, even though many human versions of him exist in pop culture. Funny that).

It’s not that Li Nezha is universally portrayed as a child. There are many versions of the story that depict him as an adult (at least in appearance), but being a child is as relevant as for the cultural understanding who this character is as being a monkey is for Sun Wukong.

[randomanimeandmangablog]

Here's a theory (and I don't know if it's been thought of before): The Undertaker is Vincent's grandfather, not father.

Some points, none of which proves the theory or means the Undertaker isn't Vincent's father, but which I do find worth noting:

Othello said Undertaker left 70 years ago, which would be 27 years before Vincent was born. Vincent was only a little older than Ciel at the time Cloudia died, so her death isn't what made him break with the Dispatch. Yet the age does mean he conceivably could have been the previous watchdog when human.

The Undertaker's scars. We've seen that shinigamis' bodies can take a lot without scarring or breaking. This makes me thinks he got the scars when he was human. But they're not normal scars. I can't imagine where they came from. They're scars that look like they came from wounds that would be fatal to a human. Yet they also don't look self-inflicted, and Reapers all committed suicide. If the Undertaker was a Watchdog, he'd be put in increasingly dangerous and bizarre situations that could lead to being injured in a way that would cause those scars. Maybe he intentionally faced some threat, knowing he would die, and it counted as suicide.

The Undertaker being Cedric, is a problematic theory because it would be difficult to hide Death surrounds the Watchdogs, and the husband of Lady Phantomhive couldn't hide in the shadows. The Reapers would have noticed if any relationship between him and Cloudia was too public. If The Undertaker was Vincent's father, he was likely having a secret affair with her. Still very possible, especially for someone with Cloudia's wealth and power, but it would make things more difficult given Victoria's values. She once shamed a maid because she thought she got public out of wedlock, but the maid turned out to have a tumor. Cloudia would have had to be very adept at hiding the affair.

The Undertaker remembers Francis's birth, but Vincent didn't meet the Undertaker until Vincent was at least a teenager. Even Francis says the Undertaker hasn't changed in 4 years, not that he hasn't changed in decades, which could mean she either didn't know him or didn't know him well until her brother started associating with him. Now it's certainly possible Cloudia wouldn't want to invite her lover to the mansion in fear of being caught, but I'd think Undertaker would want to see his kid(s). She could have had him over now and then, as long as she was able to frame it as watchdog business, maybe inviting others with him so that he could see the kids without being singled out. So for Vincent to not know him at all when young seems like Cloudia was being even more cautious than need be.

However, say Undertaker was a former Earl. In that case, Cloudia wouldn't want anyone to see his face. She would still have to socialize with people who had known her father. If someone could identify the Undertaker as her father, they'd need to engage in a massive coverup. People would question how he's still alive. They'd need to explain why Cloudia inherited the estate and the Watchdog title, and frankly, it's unusual that a woman was allowed to fill that role anyway. It points to the previous earl dying with no eligible male relatives, and the reemergence of the previous earl might be enough for people to wonder whether Cloudia should have the position. However, by Vincent's time, many of the old Earl's closest friends and family would have died. Those still alive would have been old enough to question whether this was really the old earl or whether their eyes were playing tricks on them and their memory faulty. Plus the Undertaker's eyes and youthful appearance would be enough that he could show his face and not be called out.

[aurumacadicus]

PLEASE!!!!!!!! TRUST ME!!!!!!!!! This story doesn’t end here I’m just still inflicting it upon my dear friend writing it up! There are pov changes but I did that on purpose this time. It’s 4.5K so look out for under the cut.

--

The group decides to hobble along to Asgard. Not only is Tony injured, but Steve's been voted defacto leader of their group and neither he nor those he's closest to know how the Wakandans feel about... anyone outside their country. They're kind of impressed that anyone is willing to try them. They have to take turns carrying the humans, especially Tony, because even having his wound seen to, he's still fading in and out, and as his noise earlier had promised, he throws up the moment they press a mashed berry into his mouth.

Some of the non-humans grumble about it—humans were the ones who caused this, after all. Just because some were in the slums with them out of some foolish pride didn't make them the same. (Steve cows them with a simple roar and bared teeth. Now isn't the time to be picking at that wound, especially when they're going to Asgard for help. Thor and his family are humans. They can't afford to offend them.)

Eventually they arrive. The gates to the capital city open for them, and a few guards direct them toward the castle. "The harpies said you were coming," they're told, and Natasha immediately skitters off to go find them. She needs to speak with Fury.

Steve carries Tony. He doesn't trust anyone else to, except Natasha and Bucky—maybe Hulk, if Hulk hadn't looked so unsurely at his big hands before drawing back. Maybe Peter, too, except Peter is focused on his aunt May. Anyone else, he's worried they'd take the chance to get rid of Tony for good.

He's still angry, of course. Down to his bones, he's still furious about Tony's lies and the way he turned on non-humans. But Tony is hurt. Maybe dying. Steve doesn't understand how human bodies work. But if Tony dies, he wants him to be held, knowing he's safe. So he shrugs off Bucky's offers and doesn't ask Natasha when she comes back, bracing Tony's wounded head against his shoulder as they finally make their way into the castle.

Tony quickly gets shuffled off for medical attention, which puts Steve on edge because Tony is out of his sight for the first time since they've escaped the Stark Kingdom, but Tony still hasn't stayed awake for longer than twenty minutes, and he hasn't eaten anything since that one mashed berry (which, to be honest, wasn't really even eaten). He needs to have his wound seen to. Thor brings them all into the banquet hall, and everyone falls on the tables of food, ravenous. Steve doesn't even realize he's hungry until he's blindly crunched through the bones of a roast, juices dripping from his wolfish mouth.

Thor says nothing, but Loki turns faintly green for reasons other than magic before he schools his expression.

Finally, though, Steve remembers where he is. Why he's there. Why they're all there. Suddenly the weight on his shoulders feels insurmountable. He fought for his country for decades. He was born, raised, and trained there, and it was his home after battle. Now he can never go back.

"The harpies brought word of what happened in the Stark Kingdom," Thor tells him gently when he finally sinks into a seat. "They told us to prepare for an influx of refugees. The Valkyries have gone to guide the straggling groups before any Stark men might find them."

"We started a war," Steve says, staring down at the rest of the roast in his claws.

"The Stark Kingdom threw down the gauntlet," Thor answers. "You simply replied."

"I fought for my country, and now I must fight against it." His fur is covered in grease up to his elbows. Everything else is covered in dirt. He doesn't feel like the highly decorated soldier he once was. He feels like a monster. Like the Stark Kingdom told him he was.

Thor clasps his shoulder like he always had in the past—firmly, the hold of a friend. Of a human not intimidated by him in the least. "You have always fought for what is right. I trust you."

Steve finally manages to glance up at him, frowning. "Even with all the tensions we had with humans?"

"The tension the humans of your country forced upon you," Thor corrects sharply, and Steve feels the load on his shoulders lighten a little.

The few that Thor has fought with side-by-side are shown rooms in the castle. The others are led to inns and homes with rooms for rent, told that their lodging has been paid for until they can start earning their own money, whenever that may be. They can work, if they're jittery and need the normalcy, or—some may simply stay in their havens for as long as necessary to decide what to do next. If they're hungry, they're always welcome at the castle’s dining hall, and those injured are urged to seek out the infirmary.

Steve remembers the way the skin around Tony's eye had been torn up by the sword hilt that struck him, once Natasha had dabbed the blood away, and he rushes up to the infirmary to check on him.

"He isn't here," Queen Frigga says calmly when Steve starts checking the beds for him.

Steve slants her a sharp stare out of the corner of his eye, biting back a growl. "He's healed," he surmises.

"As much as he can be," she agrees.

Steve stares her down, but she says nothing, so finally, he asks, "Where is he then?"

"Prince Anthony Stark is a prisoner of war," Queen Frigga states, as if it should have been obvious. "His country committed inhumane crimes against its people."

Thor thinks that seeing Tony would be a terrible idea, but Steve is like a dog with a bone. Then Bucky and Natasha find out Tony's now a prisoner of war, and they get really pushy about seeing him too. "You are all so fucking annoying," Thor mutters, and Loki pats him on the back a bit too cheerfully.

Prisoners of war are kept in the dungeon. Steve had never realized the Asgardians had a dungeon.

It's nice, as far as cells go, they figure. Spacious. A separate bathroom. A nice bed. (Nicer than they'd had in the slums.) A tray of food that Tony hasn't touched. There's even a window, though the kindness is marred with thin bars crisscrossing over it.

"Tony," Steve says, grabbing the door to yank it open. It doesn't move. He slants a glare at Thor.

"It won't open unless I or my parents have given the order for it to," Thor explains, and then, "Obviously, Loki cannot be trusted."

"I can't," Loki adds helpfully.

"Why are you here," Bucky growls, and Loki shrugs.

Natasha snaps her mandibles at him. Loki holds his hands up.

"Tony," Steve calls out. Tony doesn't answer. Steve calls out for him again, but Tony still doesn't respond. He turns and looks at Thor, feeling helpless.

"Prince Anthony has chosen not to speak beyond his explanation of events," Thor says solemnly.

"...What does that mean?" Bucky asks when Steve and Natasha only stare, confused.

Thor takes a deep breath and lets it back out in a slow sigh. "It means he's not going to help his kingdom in this war," Loki finally explains when Thor just shakes his head. "But he's not going to help ours, either."

--

The non-humans of the Stark Kingdom were right when they knew immediately that they'd started a war. Prince Anthony is wanted for treason against the crown, and Obadiah has managed to take the throne as his own. He and his lackeys want revenge for the damage to the city (and the automatons) ((and also will take any excuse to be able to take as many non-humans out as they can)). Obadiah is fine with his crimes against the non-humans and quite frankly, he doesn't care about the humans either, so he's absolutely willing to twist things so that his army believes it's doing the right thing, marching upon Asgard.

Tony knows, as he explains to Thor exactly how he allowed his country's control to be twisted from his hands, that he will no longer have a kingdom to rule after the war is over. Knows that Thor knows it too, even as Thor says he'll ask for leniency from the counsel once it's all over, says he'll remind them that Tony was young, and he trusted someone he thought was supposed to have his best interest in mind. Tony doesn't know how that will sway anyone, when he made a tool of genocide with just a little suggestion.

Steve and Bucky join Thor's army. They'd planned to all along, but it sits a little heavy in their chests. Werewolves were big on the concept of home. The Stark Kingdom had been that for them. Now they can never go back. They'll make a new home, it will be forged in their hearts in battle, protecting Asgard, but there's always going to be an ache for the place they were reared.

Steve throws himself into training, because Tony still won't talk to him, and the concern and dismay has turned back to rage. This is his problem with Tony—he never fucking talks. He just makes decisions, ones that affect everyone around him, and he might care about the fallout, but he apparently doesn't care about learning from his mistakes since he keeps making those same stupid decisions.No one confronts him about it, though Thor and Bucky do sometimes try to ease him into sharing his feelings. Unfortunately, Steve is great at internalizing his hurt and disappointment, so the only feelings he has to share for them are anger and confusion.

Natasha feels helpless about it. Steve is left in the wind, adrift, without even the comfort of knowing why. He doesn't have to understand, he just needs to know. Why did Tony keep the fact he was Prince Anthony a secret? Why did he turn his back on the non-humans? Why did he then come to them for help, knowing that Steve might kill him in a blind rage? Tony doesn't speak. Only with Thor, or Queen Frigga. Loki, once, she'd seen, but neither of them had gotten their usual satisfaction from it. Odin doesn't deign to speak with Tony, but Natasha doubts he'd have anything to say to him, eyebrows twisting with the same disdain that mentions of Howard had caused.

She worries about Tony, too. There had been something in his eyes at their little house in the slums. The way they'd softened when he'd seen them, even though he didn't know if they'd kill him where he stood. It's not good, she thinks, for a man to be rudderless. And it seems like Tony has had no place to call home even longer than they have.

So Natasha does what she does best—she sneaks, and she scuttles, and she waits until the guards are gone before she squeezes between the bars of Tony's cell, because she's got a sneaking suspicion, but she needs it confirmed with her own eyes. Tony hasn't turned to face anyone at the cell door, and he barely responds to Thor and Queen Frigga when they're inside with him. She crawls along the wall so that he can't notice her and hide away.

The Asgardians have done their best healing for him, Natasha has to admit. The lump where he was struck is gone, and the torn skin around his eye has been stitched back together, though there are raised pink scars where they had been. She peers closer, mandibles clicking, then shrinks back in horror.

It's just as she suspected. The eye that had been glanced is clouded over. The hit from the sword had blinded him in his right eye. That’s why he wouldn’t turn to face them. He doesn’t want them to see.

--

The Stark armies begin advancing toward Asgard. Literally everyone in Asgard is stunned by his decision. Asgard has held its borders for centuries. They have magic on their side.

But the Stark army has Tony's automatons, and as it turns out, Tony may not wield magic to the same standards Asgard does, but he has made his creations pretty impervious to magic. There's a reason Steve called for Hulk's brute force to crush the automatons at the slums—Hulk is one of the few who can dispatch many of them quickly, and what he didn't outright destroy, the others could manage to finish off. Even Loki and Frigga's expertly wielded magic will simply bounce off the automatons' stone exoskeletons.

The Asgardians would be impressed by this if they weren't so fucking horrified that not only were these automatons impervious to their magic, but also that that was the entire point of their creation.

(That's a lie, Frigga and Odin are incredibly impressed. They would have liked to pick Tony's brain about it, simply to see how it could help in the advancement of magic as a whole. But Odin has no interest in talking to Tony in general, and beyond a terse "Only I know how to make them entirely," Frigga gets no statement on them, so she defers to Tony's wish to keep it secret. She can understand why he doesn't want information on them to fall into the wrong hands.)

So Asgard prepares for battle. Thor sends a handful of Asgardian ministers to speak with King T'Challa in Wakanda. Sends some more groups of refugees to stay there, when he sees them cowering at the idea of fighting the automatons. Thor tries to get information out of Tony about his human forces, but only gets terse replies of, "I wasn't in charge of our armies," and, "Steve and Bucky would know better." It occurs to Thor that the automatons were really the only extent of his military that he knew anything about, and Steve and Bucky only confirm it for him when they explain sure, the royals could declare war, but only after going through parliament. If the people of the Stark Kingdom were going to fight and die, they sure as hell wanted the option to argue why they shouldn't, after all.

Thor thinks, privately, that of course Tony was in this mess. His parents had died when he was young, and he'd been adrift without anyone to teach him the finer points of ruling a country. Ostensibly, Obadiah was meant to, but instead he'd used the opportunity to wrest control for himself, and he'd twisted Tony's conscience at every turn to do so, to the point that Tony really believed all of this was his fault. Thor could see now, with some distance and probing, that Obadiah had manipulated him exactly where he wanted him, so that Tony had no choice but to concede. And he thought it was very interesting that Bruce's involvement had seemed to fall by the wayside once it came out that Prince Anthony had been the main inventor of the automatons. Did he get a pass simply because he was not totally human? Thor wasn't foolish enough to ask, but he privately thought either both of them deserved to be in the dungeon, or neither of them.

The Stark armies are approaching, long lines of automatons marching ahead of squadrons of human soldiers. The Stark refugees can't help but marvel at the sheer amount of them. It seemed like they'd destroyed dozens of the automatons at the slums, but now it looked as if that had only been a drop in the bucket. How had Obadiah been able to make so many of them? So quickly? Were there always that many and they just hadn't been able to see the sheer extent of the patrols, or were they being held back, stored until they were needed?

Thor has been in deep strategy meetings with his parents to decide how to respond to attack. Tony had told them all he would about the automatons, how they moved and thought and reacted. Their weak points, of which there were few. "Fail safes," Tony had called them, as if it didn't occur to him that admitting they had weak spots was an admittance that he didn't quite trust them (or Obadiah?) himself. They'd eventually decided that it would be best to approach the Stark army instead of letting it approach their stronghold; they required close quarters to strike, and a great deal of power besides. It would be dangerous to be trapped in the close quarters of their walls. Besides, Hulk would almost certainly lead the charge in his rage at the Stark Kingdom, so it would be better to follow his lead instead of having a giant hole in the walls protecting them.

"Are you with me?" Steve asks quietly as they wait for Thor's command.

"Til the end of the line," Bucky agrees, flexing his claws.

Natasha remains unimpressed. "Neither of you die or I will be very upset."

"Yeah, it wouldn't really do us any good either," Steve deadpans, and the laugh Bucky lets out in response edges on hysterical.

Thor lifts his hammer with a mighty roar and soars out onto the battlefield, and the rest of the Asgardian forces rush to follow him with battle cries of their own. Bruce had explained the weak spots of the automatons as well, and had grimly added that any human soldiers they fought should be secondary; the Stark armies had few magic wielders, and the automatons were capable of honing a single ray of magic like fire, hot and condensed enough to cut someone clean in half. It was likely the human soldiers would suffer friendly fire at some point in the battle, automatons not taking the time to differentiate between human and non in the heat of battle.

--

Tony can hear the armies approaching. He remembers falling asleep to the sound of military training as a kid. He'd know the cadence of his army's marching anywhere. He supposes it helps that the footfalls are now accompanied by the heavy thud of the automatons' feet, firm and steady and shaking the earth so much he can feel the vibrations through his stool legs. He tastes bile in the back of his throat. He's brought war to the Asgardians, who have only ever been the Starks' allies.

He supposes he shouldn't feel too bad about that. He'd brought war to his own country, too.

Tony takes a deep breath, then turns, scanning the hall for guards. They're gone, like he expected--they're the last line of defense for the castle, he'd heard someone say. There are magic wards that will alarm if anyone tries to escape, even without them, but it likely wouldn't register in the heat of battle, and he figures any other prisoners are less than willing to step out of the safety of their cells to stumble out and blunder blindly into an opposing army. His hands shake as he stands up, carefully pulling his belt free of his belt loops. He bends the buckle frame away from the prong and grasps it so that the prong stands out, reaching through the bars to press it into the lock.

The Asgardians are proud of their magic. Tony thinks it makes sense. They should be. If he could do half the things that they could, he'd be proud of it, too.

They're too proud of it, maybe, he thinks, as he hears the lock's tumblers fall into place in a few quick twists. The door swings forward a couple inches after the final twist without so much as a creak of hinges. Tony wonders if he should feel insulted, that he was left here with so little to keep him locked up. Then again, he figures, lifting a shaking hand to cover the eye he can no longer see out of. What could he do even now, free and unattended.

He takes a moment to feel endlessly sorry for himself, then sucks in a deep breath and leaves his cell, sliding his belt back on. With his luck recently, he'd probably have lost his pants on the trek otherwise.

He sticks to the shadows, to the edges of rooms. No one pays him much attention. He gets some curious glances, but he figures all of the Asgardians have the same opinion of him as Thor and his parents--he's not a threat. He has no magic, no weapons, and he's recently blinded. If they wanted to stop him, he'd be powerless to resist. If he were running, he wouldn't get far—in fact, them catching up to him might be a mercy, with how many non-humans he hurt with his actions and the humans he hurt with his inactions. One of them even takes a very deliberate step to the left so he can take a peek out a window with his good eye. He doesn't know if it's a punishment or a mercy, breath bursting out of him in a shuddering exhale as he watches his country's army advance toward the line of Asgardians.

Tony wonders, for a moment, if Steve is out there. Sort of hopes he isn't. Scolds himself immediately for thinking it. He doesn't have any right to worry about his former friends when he's the one who put them smack in the middle of all this trouble. He knows they would fight and die for their freedom rather than have the equivalent of a leash being put on them again, if Obadiah even took prisoners of war.

The Asgardian army surges forward, and Tony lets out a punched-out noise again, gripping the drapes in one hand tight enough that his knuckles go white.

He leaves the guard at the window, skulking around to find the exit to the castle. Wonders if he'll make it in time. Wonders if he even knows what he hopes to be in time for. He has an idea, he just... isn't sure how well it's going to work out. He's blind, and while he's practiced walking and grabbing things in the safety of his cell to make up for his partially missing vision, that wasn't the same as out on the battlefield, when he was at risk of both sides killing him.

I might die, a small part of him dares to whisper. I don't want to die. But he'd probably deserve it if he did, Tony reminds himself. And at least this way, he might get at least a little redemption for all of his past mistakes.

The small part of him dares to whisper that he might even regain Steve's respect. He ignores it. Steve, well. He has a chance to make a happy life with someone else now. Someone who won't lie to him from the very beginning, pretend to be someone they're not.

Tony isn't exactly sure how he makes it onto the battlefield from the castle. He just knows it takes a lot of time and effort, ducking between buildings to avoid guards patrolling the streets in case, by some miracle, an enemy snuck around the battle to slither in and defeat Asgard from the inside out while also ducking to avoid the chance of civilians cowering in their homes looking out the window and seeing him. The battlefield is unlike anything he could have imagined—dirty, and hot from the glaring sun, and bloody, but also not, somehow. Perhaps because the automatons have no blood, he thinks. Or maybe because the blood is soaked up in the dirt. He tries not to think about it too hard. He manages to find shelter under a hollowed automaton. He takes a few minutes to look, understand the scope of things with his one good eye.

It looks like the Asgardians are managing to hold the line. Whoever isn't taken up beating back the human army is busy facing off with the automatons. Some of them are obviously weaker, drawing the automatons' attention from others until one of the harder hitters can come and put them out of commission. It's working, for now. But Tony knows the Asgardians will eventually tire, whereas the automatons would not, and that was the biggest reason they were so dangerous. Automatons did not feel exhaustion, or hunger, or pain. They simply existed, and their one drive was to follow orders, and Tony would bet the clothes on his back that Obadiah's orders were to destroy the Asgardians at all costs. Their kingdom was the most powerful one they knew. It would be imperative that they be quashed if Obadiah was going to take over the rest of the world.

He just needs one automaton that isn't destroyed, just incapacitated, he thinks. He just doesn't know how he'll get close enough. All of the Asgardians are doing battle with them, and he'd either get them killed by getting in their way, or die himself in the crossfire. The automatons were built exactly to Obadiah's specifications, and Obadiah had told him there was no sense in repairing an automaton, just replacing it, so he'd designed them to be indestructible--until their hulls failed, and then they were supposed to fold like a bad hand of cards, to open up space for a new automaton. Even if he got to one right after it had been damaged, it would fall apart before he could do what he needed to. Even the one he'd taken refuge in hadn't been twitching when he'd finally found it.

He jumps when he hears something banging on the hull of the automaton he's hiding in, clapping his hands over his mouth to muffle a scream, although he does wonder if he'd even be heard over the clashing weapons and people shouting. He waits a moment, trying to hear over the blood pounding in his ears, before he realizes he recognizes the sound, sort of. Knows where it's coming from, at least. Whatever it is, it's trying to get at the magic core that works as the power source of all the automatons. He didn't even know that anybody else knew about the cores. Even Bruce didn't know about them--only that Tony had created a power source. Tony can't help but swallow thickly. The cores should be dead, should have died as soon as the hulls were damaged beyond repair. There's no reason to collect the dead stones. No one but Tony knows how to charge them, anyway.

Tony takes a deep breath, then peeks outside of the automaton's hull, ready to duck back inside in case he’s seen by the perpetrator. The sob that escapes him is terrible even to his own ears as he realizes what, exactly, is cheerfully banging away at the automaton's dented breast plate. "Dummy."

I wrote more of Much Angst Fantasy Age of Ultron Rewrite (first part found here) but YOU GUYS HAVE TO REALLY PROMISE TO TRUST ME!!!!!!!! About WHERE IT’S GOING TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!

[volturiwolf]

The Volturi Princess - A Felix Volturi x fem!Reader Story (part 1)

A/N: This is the first Volturi- and Twilight-related story I ever started writing and it is quite long and elaborated/complex, as I tend to overanalyze in many parts. I have wrote a few parts until now and I'll be uploading them in the future. I have been quite emotional throughout writing it, trying to understand the reader's point of view.

A/N 2: I'm sorry if something doesn't make sense. English is not my first language. I also include Italian through the story, with translation, but I'm not a native or a speaker, so I'd like to apologize in advance to those who speak Italian. Enjoy :)

A/N 3: According to "The Amagi" on Youtube, Felix was born in 250 BC (their thumbnail), so I used that in my story.

No of Words: about 5347

Mentions of: Abandonment, Abortion, Anxiety, Blood, Bruises, Coma/Comatosed State, Death Emotional Abuse, Emotional and Physical Pain, Gaslighting, Greece/Greek Language - with translation, Heartbreak, Italian Language - with translation, Manipulation, Murder, Pain, Panic Attacks, Pregnancy, Suffering, Suicide/Suicidal Thoughts, Swear Language, Throwing Up/Puking, Witches/Wizards/Witchcraft

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My heart felt heavy. I may have just escaped the cruelest vampire of all, but I also ran away from the love of my life, my mate, the only person who could fully understand me in this world. I asked him to run away with me, but, although our bond was strong, he felt obliged to stay loyal to his master, his creator. I drove as fast as I could, away from the sunny Volterra, and away from him.

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(Y/N) grew up quite privileged, in Vampire terms. Being born into the Volturi coven was something many vampires could only dream about. (Y/N) was abandoned by her parents when she was a baby, but Aro, one of the three Volturi leaders, took her under his protection, and offered her more things than she could ever have imagined. After all, she was his only biological granddaughter, the “Volturi princess”, an heiress to the throne; her mother lost that “privilege” when she met and fell in love with a wizard.

(Y/N)’s mother soon got pregnant with her, and then later turned her husband into a vampire to help her with her pregnancy, and stay together forever. However, (Y/N)’s parents couldn’t raise her because they wanted to run free and careless, not commit to anything permanent, so Aro took over and raised his granddaughter with the highest honors and privileges, “as a princess should be raised”.

(Y/N) was a mix of Vampire, Witch and Human, due to the grandmother, Sulpicia, being human when Aro found her; Sulpicia later fell pregnant with (Y/N)’s mother, and Aro transformed her to vampire, as he had planned all along. Aro raised (Y/N) according to his own rules and morals, teaching her how to kill humans to feed from, how to attack and slip away from her opponents, how to lead other vampires, and most importantly, how to keep her identity and existence a secret, not only to humans, but other non-Volturi vampires as well. No one could know that there was a possibility of a vampire having a child with a human, and that the child could be effectively controlled and raised as a regular vampire.

As (Y/N) grew older and older, reaching the human age of 25 within 7 years of her birth, Aro would spend more and more time with her, examining and studying her possibilities and her potential powers’ development. (Y/N) grew up to be extremely strong and fast, an excellent tracker with great intelligence and understanding of the world around her. However, Aro could not risk sending her to “Volturi duties”. She was his hope for a stronger coven; with (Y/N) in the throne, Aro felt like he could conquer the vampire world with ease.

That’s why he was always searching for the best guards he could find, to protect the coven and do his work instead of himself, Caius, or (Y/N). He couldn’t rely on Marcus, as he proved to be too emotional since Didyme died, but was still valuable for his plan. Caius, on the other hand, although powerless, was far more sadistic and “diligent” in following vampire rules, and (Y/N)... (Y/N) was just too obedient, following every order Aro gave her - a strong asset for the Volturi.

Aro was changing guards and trackers quite easily, disposing them when they were no longer needed or when he found better ones. He needed talented and strong vampires to serve the coven and do their work.

Chelsea was the very first vampire Aro created solely to serve the Volturi, after recognizing her potential when she was human. Chelsea’s gift of relationship manipulation was truly useful in bringing new vampires into the coven and was used thousands of times during Volturi's reign. It could also easily dispose of them, making their bonds with other vampires break at will; those vampires were isolated by the other vampires and then killed - Aro couldn’t risk letting them get away knowing the Volturi’s secrets and life.

About 100 years later, Corin joined the Volturi, just a couple decades after (Y/N)’s birth. Corin’s gift of addictive contentment was the one which kept Marcus in the Volturi after Didyme’s death - along with Chelsea’s to make him committed to Aro’s greater plans, and was also used on Sulpicia, Athenadora and any other vampire in the Volturi guard to keep them satisfied being in the Volturi. Under Aro’s instructions, Corin was keeping Chelsea content with being in the Volturi, and Chelsea was keeping Corin loyal to them, each of them using their gifts against each other, without their knowledge.

Sometime between 230 and 220 BC, while travelling in Rome, searching for additional vampires to add to the coven, Aro supposedly met a young, strong and ambitious fighter, who wished to become a gladiator one day, named Felix. Felix did not only look, but also was physically capable of fighting even with beasts, during his short time as a fighter, way before the Colosseum was built. Born into a poor family, his strength was his only way of making money, and becoming a gladiator was his only way out of poverty, a way to provide for both his family and himself.

When his family was almost imprisoned by Roman army officers for outstanding debts, Felix was forced to make a deal with them to fight, in whatever they ordered him to. Fighting turned out to be the only way for Felix to deal with his emotions and rage towards people in power. When Aro approached Felix, he was promised a good life, where he wouldn’t have to worry about surviving another day. Felix did not seem willing enough, not being fond of the idea of serving people in power, who he so despised.

Luckily for Aro, Chelsea was the one who “convinced” Felix to join the Volturi guard, with Aro changing him afterwards. Unlike previous guards, Felix showed impeccable strength, speed and talent towards both dodging and initiating attacks, eventually making him a permanent member in the Volturi Guard, along with Chelsea and Corin.

Felix was assigned as the leading guard for the three kings’ protection, this role extending to the protection of their two wives and (Y/N); though Aro knew that, if it came to anyone attacking his granddaughter, she would be able to handle it by herself. However, he still wanted to make sure that she was safe and that Aro would do anything to protect her.

For about a couple millennias, (Y/N) was content with her situation, being the “Volturi princess” and all that. Besides, having Felix in the Volturi was another reason to stay in the coven, apart from staying loyal and true to Aro for taking her in, when she was abandoned.

Every time Felix looked into her eyes, she felt her whole body burn - though, it wasn’t a feeling of suffering, rather a feeling of longing, waiting for something to happen so badly that her body couldn’t control itself. Although she was partially a vampire, (Y/N) would feel like she couldn’t breathe, like her legs were ready to give up on her, like she wanted to grab Felix and never let go.

Felix, although not admitting it even to himself, would feel the same way, but he knew that his position would not allow him to approach (Y/N) in such a way. He was just a guard - although he was the strongest of them all, and she was the Volturi princess, one of his masters, whom he was only allowed to approach in order to protect. He didn’t want Aro to know he saw his granddaughter like that; it could cost him his position in the guard, or even his life. So, he kept these feelings deep within him, not allowing them to resurface, or act upon them.

However, every time these two existed at the same place, the invisible sparks between them would fly left and right. And only one vampire was able to see them. One who hadn’t felt these sparks in centuries.

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(Y/N)’s POV:

I yawned loudly as I woke from a long, much needed sleep. I was the only vampire around who was able to sleep, mostly due to my non-vampire natures. I didn't really need to sleep on a regular basis, but when I did, I could literally sleep 3 days straight and nobody would be able to wake me up. “For my own protection”, as Aro said, I would always have at least two guards outside of my room’s door, in case anything happened while I was sleeping. Like what could even happen? My room was at the furthest side of this huge castle. I’m pretty sure that if there ever was an attack against the Volturi, it would most probably have been dealt with immediately, and the attacker wouldn’t make it anywhere near my room.

I felt the warm sun on my skin, slightly glowing and sparkling beautifully. My eyes, mostly (Y/E/C) with a golden ring around the pupil, could easily adjust to the light. Unlike the other vampires, I could easily live among humans; I could sleep, eat human food, my skin not being as sparkly as others, and I could control my thirst far better than others.

Since Jane and Alec joined the coven, Aro would show an immense interest in them and their skills, helping them train daily and develop their powers further, eventually forgetting about me. I would spend more and more days away from the castle, “protected” by my anonymity, getting to know humans more and more. The longer I was observing them, the more they would trigger my interest in them. They could feel true emotions, real pain, real hurt, real love. They had their families, they received an unconditional love that I could never have.

Unbeknownst to Aro or anyone else for that matter, I have started developing new powers, similar to the other vampires in the Volturi coven or anyone else outside of it. I have also started noticing that I may have an immunity towards others’ talents, feeling that neither Corin’s addictive contentment made me satisfied with being in the Volturi, nor Chelsea’s relationship manipulation could keep me loyal to Aro anymore. If it weren’t for Felix, or Demetri and the Twins, who have all become my best friends by now, I would have probably left.

A vampire named Carlisle Cullen had visited the Volturi and stayed with us for a while, about 100 years ago. He saw the way the Volturi treated humans like they were nothing, and how they were as cruel as to kill other vampires, with the excuse that they were exposing our kind with the way they lived. Entire covens had been wiped out due to such excuses, a way to eliminate potential enemies from becoming too powerful and find as many talented vampires as possible and force them to join the Volturi.

Carlisle was talking about a new way of life, where vampires wouldn’t have to kill humans to survive, a life where vampires and humans could live in peace, without harming each other. He was insisting that vampires could survive on animal blood just as efficiently as with human blood; that animal blood would not make them weaker, and that it would be a much more ethical and sustainable way to feed.

Of course, Aro and Caius were the first ones to mock his proposition, clearly not caring about humans’ feelings and pain. Marcus did not budge at all, his heartache making him indifferent to anything around him. But I was growing more and more interested in this alternative way of life; I was, after all, feeding on human food already, so that I was feeding on human blood as little as I could.

It was a few years after Carlisle left Volterra that Eleazar joined the Volturi. Aro forced him to join after finding out he could detect if someone had any special ability. Aro considered his gift useful in identifying if any of his enemies had any special power when in battles, or when he sent Eleazar around the world to recruit talented vampires.

Eleazar was clearly not liking the way the Volturi forced their ways and wants on others, and how they could take advantage of others for their own benefit. I could just sense that he was displeased and was forcing himself to stay in the coven, one, due to Corin’s and Chelsea’s gifts, and two, out of fear of what could happen to him and his mate, Carmen.

Carmen, a vampire from Spain, like Eleazar, met with Eleazar while he was a guard here, they fell in love, and eventually, Eleazar decided to leave the Volturi and run away with Carmen. Aro decided that he did not care about him and his gift as much as others’, so he let him go unharmed, “blessing” them for safe travels.

Just a few days before he left, I consulted him on my own powers. Though a lower member of the guard, Eleazar had his own room, a decent place to stay, and spend his endless hours in. I knocked slightly on the door.

“Come in”, a calm voice was heard. I opened the door and came into his room. Carmen was sitting on the edge of their bed and Eleazar was reading a book on his desk. They both smiled sweetly. I just felt and knew they were too nice to fit anywhere in here, among the cruel and strict Volturi.

“(Y/N)! So nice to see you!”Carmen exclaimed and stood to hug me. The second we hugged I started seeing parts of her life in Spain, the calm waters of Catalunya, the vast vineyards where she would spend the early years of her life… I quickly detached myself from her embrace. I just couldn’t invade her privacy like that. She and Eleazar both looked at me worried, as if I had offended them.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t let you “show” me your whole life like that!” I looked at Carmen apologetically.

“(Y/N), you saw Carmen’s life?” Eleazar continued, intrigued by my words.

“That’s why I came to talk to you. I..I feel like I’ve been developing a gift, or a few gifts, to be completely honest. And I feel like.. like I have a specific power one day, and another power the next!” I stated frantically.

It was the first time I have openly talked about my powers to anyone, and I was shaking just by the words that came out of my mouth. Eleazar did not say anything, he just stood there for a few minutes, I supposed “examining” me, as if a doctor checking on a patient.

“Remarkable.” He said calmly. He looked at his mate with excitement, as if he just discovered a lost treasure. “(Y/N) has one of the most remarkable gifts I have ever seen.” He then turned to me. “You, (Y/N), are able to copy anyone else’s gifts and keep them as your own. You don’t even have to be in contact with them. Just by meeting someone, you can obtain their powers. I have never met anyone like that. You also seem to have obtained immunity to others’ powers, kind of like a shield. I have met such vampires before. From the stories Aro has been telling, your mother was like that. It is likely that you copied that gift for her. Such vampires are extremely useful to themselves or even others, in battles. Like themselves, you can use your gift to protect others from others’ powers, beside yourself.”

That came too sudden to my ears. I have assumed that I may have at least one power, but I didn’t realise I could copy others’ powers. That is why I was showing signs of Aro’s power!

“How can I train my powers? Eleazar! Carmen! You have to help me!”

“As you know, we will be leaving soon. I don’t know if there will be enough time to train you.”

“It’s okay. We will train as much as you want. Please, Eleazar! Please, Carmen!” I started begging them. As if they were hypnotized, they quickly looked at each other and agreed to help me.

The next few days, before Eleazar and Carmen’s departure, included intense training, far away from Volterra, deep in the woods, where no human could interrupt us. I couldn’t say the same for vampires, but I hoped nobody would cross paths with us. Eleazar and Carmen helped me develop my self-control and self-awareness, concentrating through the deepest parts of my mind, resurfacing my shield and expanding it beyond my existence. I started to have control over it, as if it was an actual solid substance, a veil floating around me towards any direction I ordered it to go.

After Eleazar and Carmen left, I started travelling the world more, trying to copy as many powers as I could come across with, while also training my shield. My excitement for the endless possibilities was what kept me going - kind of when Aro would add another talented vampire to his Guard. His Guard. Felix. I wonder how he was. I hadn’t seen him in a while. I wondered if he thought of me like I thought of him.

After travelling pretty much anywhere I could reach, I eventually went back to where it all started: I went to Greece. Aro met Sulpicia here, apparently my mom met my dad here. Maybe I could find out, understand why they left me. I have never met them, but I felt as if my tracking skills could detect them through my own existence.

I started travelling through the country, hoping that they stayed here or, at least, that they’re alive. I spent about 2 or 3 years in Greece, trying to take in every different place, while also avoiding the battles that seemed to take place in every other corner. I was feeding off animals mainly, mostly when I couldn’t find any other human food. I was washing myself in rivers, streams, whatever I could find.

I was stopping by any village that seemed to be still standing, asking about the current situation. The Greek Revolution, which started a few years ago, seemed to still be going on. The Ottomans, who had been occupying Greece for almost 400 years, could not allow Greeks to turn against them and start claiming their rights within the Ottoman Empire.

Many Greeks I met and talked to, admitted that some of the Ottomans were actually being nice to them; it was only the Ottoman government ordering their armies to execute massive massacres against Greeks, and after all this time, a few Greeks started gathering up and planning a revolution, away from Greece, in fear of being caught. They started getting organized and finding possible allies to help them with the Revolution; they just couldn’t risk getting caught within the country that they were hoping the independent Greece could become. The battles were becoming more and more intense, both on the mainland, as well as on the islands.

I started looking for answers, anything that could suggest that my parents were still alive and somewhere in Greece. To my surprise, I crossed paths with many Greek nomad vampires all over the country. They were also fighting against either Ottoman vampires or each other for territorial claims; however, they all talked me out of travelling north, towards Macedonia. The region had started being reclaimed back by Greek humans, but vampires were also seeing the potential for the area and they fought against each other for the land.

All of the nomads I encountered were talking about some of the most vicious vampires claiming the land, their enemies being literally slaughtered and burned to set an example for other vampires to back off their territory. I was intrigued, and I knew that, most probably, I would be able to deal with them or flee before they got to me.

So, I started travelling north, through the woods and mountains, in order to avoid any possible battle between humans, though many of them seemed to hide in the mountains, preparing for their battles. Macedonia was a quite big and vast region, so I had to travel quite a few days and search every possible corner.

I know I shouldn’t have done this, but I was feeling exhausted from all the searching. I haven’t fed in quite some time, and my throat was burning by the familiar need for blood. I haven’t seen any animals all these days, and I was wondering if they were gone or hiding.

Sadly, I came across a human. He seemed to be wounded, probably during a battle, his blood gushing out of his body. I couldn’t help myself, when I breathed in the smell, the burning sensation becoming unbearable. I thought of approaching him slowly, so as not to scare him, offering to help him, but deep down I just wanted to feed off of him.

“Γειά! Συγνώμη αν σε τρόμαξα. Σε είδα από μακριά. Μπορώ να σε βοηθήσω με κάποιο τρόπο; (Hey! Sorry if I scared you. I saw you from afar. Can I help you in any way?)” I offered calmly.

The man was trying to suppress his growls. I could sense his pain. I tried to help him stand on his feet, and then I saw all of his memories. He was in the army, fighting alongside Greeks against the Ottomans, in Macedonia, just outside of Thessaloniki. I didn’t even know I was so close to a city, let alone Thessaloniki.

He was trying to pass through the woods, when he came across what seemed to be two red-eyed vampires, one male and one female. They tried to attack him, but someone else managed to shoot him first, forcing the two vampires to run away. I don’t know how or why, these two felt familiar to me, I could feel that through his memories.

“Γειά! Μπορείς.. Μπορείς να πας στο κοντινότερο χωριό; Νομίζω.. Νομίζω ότι είδα κάτι στο δάσος, δε νομίζω ότι ήταν κάτι φυσιολογικό! Πρέπει.. Πρέπει να προειδοποιήσω τους άλλους! (Hey! Can.. Can you get me to the nearest village? I think.. I think I saw something in the woods, I don’t think it was something normal! I have.. I have to warn the others!)” He mumbled in between sharp shoots of pain.

“Με συγχωρείς πολύ! (I’m really sorry!)” I plead with guilty eyes. I put my hand in his wound, searching for the bullet, while he was consumed by pain. I took the bullet out of the wound, and quickly attached my lips on his skin, sucking the blood as fast as I could, biting deeply unintentionally. His screams were becoming louder and louder, so I covered his mouth with my hand, while trying to shut him up or break his jaw. A few seconds later, he stopped screaming, and I let his lifeless body fall, completely numb and drained out of blood.

I felt renewed, his blood travelling to every part of my body and giving me a new kind of strength that I haven’t felt in a while. I still felt guilty for killing him, but he was already wounded and I couldn’t risk him exposing our kind to others. I assumed that whoever found him - if anyone found him - would also assume that he died of blood loss, so I tried to position him in a realistic pose for that purpose, as best as I could. I left him there, and continued the search for my parents.

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I was running through the woods, trying to locate the two vampires from the guy’s memories. My mind was chaotic, I wasn’t thinking about something specific. I stopped in my tracks. What Aro taught me, and what I understood from Demetri’s tracking skills, is that you have to stop, take a breath and realize your position in the world. Then, you would be able to realize everything around you and find your targets. I have successfully found other vampires like that before, vampires who I have either met in person or smelled their scent, but I didn’t know if I could find someone through someone else’s memories of them.

I took a deep breath and tried to concentrate as best as I could, focusing on the smaller details of the guy’s memories of these vampires. I felt two vampires running on my west, about 10 kilometers away, and I ran after them. They were running fast, but I was way faster. Within a minute or two, I was running right behind their tracks. They must have realized that a stranger was following them, but, instead of running, they suddenly stopped. I stopped as well, and we were now facing each other.

The female had long, brunette, curly hair, and the male short, dark brown, straight hair; both of their hair looked shiny, healthy, and rich. They were of average height and their eyes were piercing red, as if they also fed quite recently. The female was exceptionally beautiful and enchanting; I could only compare her to Heidi’s exceptional beauty. The male looked quite stoic and austere, though still beautiful.

Both of them on defensive positions, waiting for me to attack. I wasn’t planning to move any further from my position; I was only waiting for their own reactions. I felt that kind of a burning sensation within me again, like a feeling buried deep inside me, trying to find an escape.

Suddenly, the male growled at me, flames springing out of his hands, and being thrown at me. I felt my heart fall out of my chest, fearing that this would be my end. As if my body reacted on its own, I felt my own shield extending out of my body, building a wall around me and protecting me from the male’s attack. My hands started burning and flames came out, ready to counterattack the male. The male looked at the female, dumbfounded by what he witnessed, still in a defensive position, but ready to attack again.

“I’M NOT HERE TO FIGHT YOU!” I shouted at both of them. “I’M JUST SEARCHING FOR SOMEONE!”

The male shrinked back, the female following close by. “Who are you looking for? We haven’t seen you around. Who are you? Why are you here?” The male requested. His voice serious, but smooth at the same time; a voice I could only describe as the warm earth below their bare feet.

“No, I’m not. I come from Italy, though I think I was born around here. My name is (Y/N), I’m looking for my parents. I don’t quite remember what they look like, but I’m pretty sure that they lived around here. They abandoned me when I was a baby.”

“This has been our territory for almost 3 millennials! We would have known if any humans abandoned their offspring around here!” The female exclaimed, as if she didn’t believe a word I said. I didn’t want to tell them the whole story, but I had to show them that I didn’t mean to fight in any way.

“I never said they were humans. My mother was actually sort of a vampire, like you.”

The female started letting her guards down. “What do you mean sort of? I’ve never heard of a “sort of vampire” before!” She continued doubtfully.

“Believe me or don’t, my mother was born half vampire, half human. My dad wasn’t even a vampire before she met him. He wasn’t even human to be honest.” My eyes started stinging slightly. I could have had a good, happy life if they didn’t abandon me. I wouldn’t have to grow up with Aro.

“You said you were from Italy.” I nodded at the male, as he continued. “You never said where exactly.”

I wasn’t sure if I should tell them my real origin; I wouldn’t like them to know I was a Volturi, but I knew I needed help to find my parents. If they were actually here as long as they say, they might have known or met my parents at some point.

“Volterra. I was born here, in Greece, like my mother, but grew up in Volterra with my grandparents.” I looked down, kind of scared, kind of anxious, waiting for their next move.

The female gasped. “Are you a Volturi?!” I looked at her, straight in the eyes, swallowed, and nodded. “I know the Volturi. Who are your grandparents?”

“Aro and Sulpicia.” I answered so quietly that, if they weren’t vampires, they wouldn’t have heard me, my voice trembling slightly.

The female suddenly fell on her knees, the male wrapping his arms around her, comforting her. I didn’t know what was going on. Did I say something wrong? Were they scared? The sheer mention of the Volturi would scare a lot of vampires, but I thought that maybe these two seemed strong enough to deal with them.

The female started sobbing, no tears coming out of her red eyes, her body shaking. I felt something within me break. I felt that I didn’t want to upset them, that’s why I was hesitant in telling them who I really was. The male looked at me, pain in his eyes. I saw a familiar look. I saw me in his eyes, what I looked at in my mirror anytime I was thinking about my parents, or, sometimes, when I thought of Felix.

“Are you a half witch?” The male asked quietly. Something snapped in me. How would he know that?

“I swear, I didn’t do anything to your mate! I DIDN’T!” I shouted at the male. I didn’t want him to think that I would hurt his mate, or himself.

“I know you wouldn’t. It’s just..” He looked at his mate who had stopped sobbing, but was still down on her knees, unable to stand up. “..my mate is Aro and Sulpicia Volturi’s only daughter.”

My body tensed and shivered. If that woman is the only daughter Aro and Sulpicia ever had...could that mean..?

I took a few steps back. “AM I YOUR DAUGHTER? ARE YOU MY PARENTS?” I looked at them in disbelief.

Those were the people who abandoned me! That let me grow parentless, under Aro’s rules and directions! I was breathing heavily, in between sobs. I didn’t even realize that I set my whole body ablaze, until both vampires looked at me shocked. I didn’t feel any pain, but I couldn’t stop the flames licking my body, and in my frantic state, I started panicking even more.

The male started approaching me slowly, trying to not scare me away. “Shush, shush. You’re okay. You’re doing okay. I know how it feels at first. You’re experiencing some aspects of the life as a witch. It’s okay. Close your eyes and picture the flames in your head.” I closed my eyes and tried concentrating on the flames. “Now, imagine them burning out, becoming smaller and weaker.” I focused on the flames, imagining them weakening. After a few minutes, I felt them getting smaller and smaller, and finally disappearing. I opened my eyes slowly.

The female was standing next to the male, watching me carefully. In a quick motion, she pulled me and embraced me, stroking my hair lightly. I breathed in her scent, a mix of mountain flowers and the saltiness of the sea. Her touch was soft, and filled me up with what felt like a thousand different emotions.

But, I mostly felt safe. It was the first time in my life that I actually felt this safe. And whole. I felt like I actually belonged somewhere. I hugged her back. Tears started spilling from my eyes. That was my mom! That was actually my mom! After all this time, we were finally together. I felt the male, my dad, hugging both of us, and in that moment, I felt my legs giving up on me, and I finally fell into a long sleep.