#i know its like his old outfit but let me have this alright guys

[sketchydoof]

Had the urge to draw GOTY Chai

[dcdreamblog]

What are your top 5 favorite mystery men costumes?

Oh this one's a breezy little thing to work on over a Saturday evening. Let's see...

#5. Wesley Dodds, AKA the Sandman

(From the Sandman's original official JSA portrait, 1940) This is an entry that writes itself. Wesley Dodds' original Sandman attire is overwrought in just how cool it is. A kind of pulp chic that makes it look like he stepped right off a yellowed detective novel page, the direct line drawn between the shadowy vigilante he once was and the superhero he became. One can only imagine how much thugs and gangsters back in the bootlegging days pissed their pants at the THOUGHT of him, much less the sight of him. I can appreciate his paternal and wholesome reasons for eventually changing said costume but there's a reason even his young ward echoed this look in the modern day.

#4. Greg Saunders AKA Vigilante

(Vigilante's official All Star Squadron portrait, 1941)

Speaking of heroes who look like they jumped right out of the dime novel page, we can't forget the beloved Rider of the Purple Sage. Like a cowboy off the silver screen with the lasso skills, dead eye aim and cozy accent to match. He's the kind of man who can set a whole room at ease with the pluck of a guitar or silence a bar of lowlifes with the click of a hammer. Simplicity here is the name of the game.

#3. Alan Scott AKA Green Lantern.

(A modern portrait of Scott, donated to this very museum)

If you asked me to sit back, close my eyes and ask me to create an image the exudes power, strength and majesty. Hell, ask 100 renowned artists to do it for a week and they wouldn't conjure the imagery in my mind that I associate with this man. There is a reason his contemporaries referred to him simply as "The Big Guy", the closer, the one who made everyone know it was gonna be alright. The billowing cape, the deep brow of the mask, chunky belt and boots that scream old fashioned tough guy. When the battlefield lit up green, the bad guys dove for cover.

#2. Kent Nelson AKA Dr. Fate

(The museum's modern portrait of Nelson) Talking about majesty, you have a character that between his look and his voice convinces you that he's EXACTLY as powerful as he says he is. While the Helmet of Nabu might be a malicious entity in many respects, the ability that Fate's enemies look THEMSELVES in the eye against its polished surface before he blows them away is priceless. And I've never seen a single cape that looks better billowing in the wind. He's an arch mage, and he carries himself like one.

#1. Roy Lincoln AKA The Human Bomb

(A colorized newsreel image of Lincoln, circa 1943) Where my loves of simplicity and majesty collide. The Human Bomb's outfit was almost mundane when he was actually wearing it back in the Golden Age and it gave the whole world one warning, if you're around me, something bad is about to happen. Heavy boots that make a loud thud with every step, a visor that shows glaring eyes from behind a thick, dark glass. He looks like a man who could flatten a block just from taking this many precautions. Roy Lincoln is one of my favorite mystery men period and his outfit is a big part of why.

[ashen-char]

back and forth

ship: max fox (better things) x gender neutral reader, though fem reader or paisley pov implied

warnings: mentions of a minor/adult relationship that was present in the show. fuck arturo!

summary: all max's boyfriends ever do is make her miserable and doubt herself. but you think your best friend is amazing.

word count: 1100+

notes: have some yearning :) inspiration/request is here

Max's boyfriend is an asshole. You've hated all of them, yeah, but this one pisses you off more than even the others did. Well, maybe except for Arturo. That 36 year old creep was the worst. You watched as Max was mesmerised by the man's supposed maturity and the thrill of dating someone so much older but she still 'clicked with'. Every time you saw them together, it infuriated you. You hated hearing Max go on about how he made her feel special when, in reality, he was just manipulating her. He wasn’t interested in who Max truly was. Not like you are.

From your spot on her bed, you watch as she paces back and forth, phone clutched tight in her hand.

Max had invited you over as she got ready for her date, pouring her heart into her makeup's little details, making you pick between her outfit options again and again. She looked beautiful in everything. Obviously. But now, an hour later than when he said he'd show up, he's looking like a no-show.

"Alright, come here," you say, holding your arms out. Max looks way too anxious and he doesn't deserve that. Not a bit of it.

"Wait, let me just-" Max taps out another text - a "where r u? lol" - her bottom lip tucked between her teeth.

You see her hand start to shake, her knuckles whitening. He's left her on read again. The look of frustration and hurt that etches across her pretty face makes your heart ache. You've seen this scenario play out with every boyfriend she's had, but this one infuriates you most. He never seems to appreciate her, always making her feel small and ignored. It's chipped away at the self-esteem and growth that you've watched Max painstakingly earn.

Max finally sits down beside you with a heavy sigh, her shoulders slumped in defeat. “I don’t get it,” she murmurs, eyes fixed on her phone screen. “Why can’t he just reply? Even an excuse would be something. It’s not like I’m asking for much.”

It's like when her dad couldn't be bothered showing up for her graduation. Max was shattered. You hate seeing her ask for less and less when you know she deserves everything. And you resent the men who can't even be bothered giving her the bare minimum. That they don't even know what they have.

Your hand reaches out to grasp hers, stilling its shaking. She's warm. Soft. The touch sends a shiver down your spine. You're half hopeful that she realises you've always been here and half shit-scared that she'll finally figure out how much you care. So you avoid her eyes. You hate seeing her like this.

"I'll break his fingers next time. Give him a real reason not to text back," you say, hoping the bitterness sounds more like a joke.

She laughs. You'd do anything for that laugh.

But then she looks at you, eyes filled with unshed tears, and it breaks your heart. "Maybe I'm just too much," Max whispers. Her honest fear, not just in this relationship but in life. "Too needy, too intense. Maybe he's right to ignore me. I mean, that'd explain the others too."

But you don't let her joke this away. Your hand squeezes hers, a silent showcase that you're here. That you've never ran. That she's not too much, not for you, not for everyone else that loves her. "No." She doesn't know how awesome she is because of shitty guys like Arturo, or Harvey, or her fucking dickhead of a father. "You're fucking amazing, Max. You're passionate. You care so deeply. Everyone who is loved by you is so lucky." 

Max squeezes your hand, offering a small, grateful smile. “Thanks,” she says softly. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

For a blissful moment, you pretend those words mean more than they do. Pretend that she'll finally see you as more than a friend, that she finally gets it. You’ve always been there for her, a constant in the chaos of her relationships and self-doubt. When the moment passes, you swallow that bitter pill that Max doesn’t know how deeply you care. You hate every one of her boyfriends, not just because they’re not good enough for her, but because none of them see her the way you do. They don’t see her strength, her vulnerability, or the way her eyes light up when she talks about something she loves.

You take a deep breath, deciding to take a risk. “Max, you deserve better." Sincerity, for once, rather than a joke so you could more easily brush it off as platonic. "Like, you're incredible." You gulp. These next words, you'd normally hold them back but she needs to hear them. You can see her vulnerability in those big brown eyes of hers. "I hate seeing how he makes you doubt that."

Max looks at you, an unsure, fragile expression crossing her face. Like she's apprehensive to believe it. “Do you really think so?”

“I know so,” you reply, your voice steady. “And one day, you’ll see it too.”

In that moment, Max’s phone buzzes, and her eyes dart to it as a reflex. You see the flash of disappointment as she realises it’s not him. But then she looks back at you, smiles, and throws her phone on the bedside table.

"Yeah, fuck him. I don't need him to have fun." Max's arms go to wrap around you, head nuzzling into your chest. "Thank you."

Her fingers tangle in your hair, playing with the soft strands of it. She's in your arms just like you've always been desperate for her to be. It aches. But it's the best you've ever felt. A niggling worry tells you that she'd hate you for wanting more. For thinking about kissing her right now.

"You're welcome, Maxie," you say. Because this is enough. Being her friend could be enough no matter how desperately, how passionately you burn for her.

Already dressed up, Max drags you along on a day out.

Every smile makes your heart skip. You love how you could always cheer her up, love how much Max brightens up every room she's in. You two walk hand in hand to a nearby park, one of Max’s favourite spots. The sun is shining, and the air is fresh, and you hope it's the perfect pick-me-up to help her. Strolling along the winding paths, the best thing about loving your best friend is that you can talk about anything and everything. You make her laugh with your terrible impressions of people you both know. The sound of her laughter is like music to your ears. You try not to think about how none of those men could treat her like you would.

Maybe, just maybe, she’ll start to understand how much she means to you. And until then, you’ll keep being there for her, hoping that one day she’ll realise you’ve been the one all along. You know you'd never say a word though.

[yandereend]

You are looking for asks? Alright!

What is your take on the guys of MHA? Who do you think would most likely be a yandere? Lets say that they have taken notice of person who likes to draw. When she has a spare moment she doesn't play on her phone but instead likes to draw in a sketch book that she carries with her everywhere. After a few encounters one sided encounters (she doesn't notice their presence) she accidentally leaves her sketch book on a park bench. How would yanderes respond to finding the sketch book? What if the sketch book contained the reader's contact information?

Yandere Dabi x artistic reader

Okay maybe I am a simp but i always pictured dabi as a yandere (also he gives: darling guess whose back from jail, vibes )

TW : yandere stuff, simp behavior, bad English since its not my native language

Let me know which mha character I should write about too💜

———————-

I just always saw Dabi as a yandere, I mean think about it. This guy is traumatized to no end, hes clearly obsessed with revenge and seems laser focused on his goals.

So when he spotted you by yourself in a cafe he was intrigued. Everyone in there was looking at their phones except for you two. To be honest he would look at it if he had one, but lets be honest my man is fucking broke. And you, since you were focused on the paper infront of you.

Your sketch book was filled with drawings of everything you could think of, it showed which shows you watch, what your favorite flowers are, even your personal style could be found in the characters outfits. And he was so fascinated by the way you stopped caring for your surroundings and stared at the page.

He couldn’t help but follow you home. He knew he was messed up but stalking was a new level for him. But he loved watching you so much, he always imagined how things would go if he was there too, sitting on the couch watching you draw while one hand was resting on your thigh.

And then his lucky day came. You forgot your sketchbook while some random thief came into the cafe you were sitting in. Poor baby, he thought, so scared of some thief even though he could show you real power.

But now here he was holding your beloved sketchbook in his scared hands, brushing over the stickers you put on it and finally getting a look inside.

Wtf was that ?!?! Why are you drawing those awful heroes?! They are just good for nothings who wouldn’t even care for your existence!!! They are not hot !! … why is there a sketch of Shoto in it ?

Dont worry darling hes coming to get you. Who cares about your old life, he will give you all the utensils you need. He will show you what a real hero is. And he will be just that.

Your hero.

——————-

I hope you liked it darling 💜 please let me know your opinion and further ideas, this ask showed me how much i love writing for mha 💜

Let me know your opinions and what character should be next 💜

[mooncalf87]

Mastermind live watch ayy

Spoils under cut obv

Andr always calling Stella hot is so weird and off putting. Is that actually your sister or what. What is this.

ALL THE SINS IN ONE ROOM. IM LOSING MY SHIT. is that a note in lucis throne

OZZIE LOOKING AT ANDR WHEN HE CALLS STELLA HOT

VASAGGO I LOVE YOU ALREADY. im positive I spelt his name wrong but its okay

SPANISH BIRDIE YIPPIE

you can see Lucis throne behind Andr in this scene oh my god. It's just a note that says "brb" with a duck of himself and a bunch of spiderwebs I CANT

VASAGOS FULL OUTFIT. diva sighting I fear.

What does Vas watch over for thr family he. He is zesty and has a sexy voice and has a star magic platform. Yeah alright ru paul magic man

THEY DID NOT. BLITZ DID NOTHING

THE SCAR. HE GOT A SCAR. STRIKER GOT A SCAR. IM LOSING IT

Yeah okay fkr I swear. HAND NOTES WHAT.

Blitz ur digging your own gave here baby girl. Stfu

MOXXIE AKJAGSJAGJD

blitz shut up

YES BEE MY QUEEN. YES OZZIE YES DEFEND YOUR COUSINS WEIRD SEX DEAL MAN I love them so much

UGH MAMMON

Ozz and Bee raising their hands without a millisecond of thought. They barley even know blitz but they are standing their gound for him. Hey what if I just (bursts into flames)

Oh Vas is not gotta stand for this is he

Okay what is this weird thing between Levi and Mam. Are they not all siblings like I have been assuming for (checks watch) years

VEROSIKA AND FIZZ OUGH

Ough ought no my babys

This adorable "try some meditation 😩✋" guy. I love him

SATAN CREATED IMPS CANNON LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOO

OH A HELLA NOVELA. THATS STOLASS TV ISNT IT. OH NO

USING LUCIS NAME YES THANK YOU ITS CANNON YES. I'm only 10 minutes in this post is gonna be really long isn't it

Oh stolas you better show up full demon form in thr most dramatic way. Please.

BLITZ JUST. ACCEPTING IT???? stolas pls bbg get your ass in here

YES. YES. YES. YES.

They way I am not okay and have to stop making this post. I will update this later I promise oh man

-

Alright. Okay. Alright.

Someone kill me.

SOOOOO stolas got stripped of his power for 100 years which means his immortality was also taken and his hair has already visibly gone a strip of gray so he will most likely die at the same time as blitz if they go of old age just gotta get that one out of the way

THEY STRIPPED HIM OF HIS POWER. HIS EYES DONT GLOW, HE HAS PUPILS. SOME OF HIS HAIR WENT WHITE. I'm so happy I can't even express this. I'm sad he isn't a powerful prince anymore but OH MAN.

OH. MAN.

them giving him white hair makes up for everything.

I need someone to talk to about this ep before I explode you guys don't understand im dming all my friends

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

Alright, I took a quick nap and Ive decided that I wanna get the UTM reenactment over with as quickly as possible so Im reading chapter 42 and then I'll reward myself with some pain au chocolats and not thinking about this book for the rest of the day and watching the 2002 takarazuka flower troupe production of elisabeth instead. lets go

Chapter 42

here we fucking go with the illyrian wingspan-dicksize correlation, how would Amren even know that isnt she above sex or something. Honestly, I think Cassian would know wayyyyy more about that. on account of all the gay sex hes having i mean. I thought of that joke and then I realized that you could interpret it to mean that he knows about that because hes illyrian and has a dick, but I want to make it very clear that this is a gay sex joke

how come wings are so sensitive that just barely stroking them makes you moan and shudder but you can still fly with them in harsh winds with no issue. My headcanon is that wings arent actually that sensitive, Rhysand and Cassian are just weirdos with a specific kink

This conversation Feyre and Rhys are having about his wings is so weird, its like dirty and yet uncomfortably clinical

oh Rhysand is quicker than death just fucking kill me, im getting so angry again

Syphons are called 'Trichtersteine' ['funnel stones' or 'funnel gems'] in german which is more accurate to how we're actually told they work imo but it sounds pretty lame

Is it just me or is Rhysand being kinda weirdly paranoid rn. I mean granted, they did just get attacked with ash arrows so maybe hes actually doing a good job for once and Im just biased against him

Okay so we finally get some night court fae wearing white, but of course its not for moon symbolism its so they can blend in with the rock of the mountain because this series does nothing but disappoint me

The Hewn City actually sounds really cool, why couldnt this have been the secret city where we spend most of our time, you couldve made it a whole thing about Feyre healing from her trauma UTM through like, exposure therapy or something idk. That wouldve been neat and dramatic, her healing from her UTM trauma in the place that inspired it with the person that inflicted it. I mean, maybe that would be less healthy and even more controversial than Feysand already is but then you could atleast lean into the dark romance of it

I mightve said this already but you knowwww sjm is NOT a painter and consulted ZERO painters because Ive never heard of anyone think about creating art the way feyre does

and Mor is wearing red AGAIN why would you make this a trigger for Feyre just go back and edit it out its not like it matters

God, the description of her outfit is so deeply discomfortingl like it literally is exactly what she wore while she was being drugged assaulted but atleast they left the bodypaint out this time

"[Keir] looked at my face, then my body. I had thought that he would stare and drool greedily but... there was nothing. No emotion. Just ice cold. Shaking internally, - from anger and revulsion - I followed Mor." Im sorry, is she mad that Keir doesnt find her hot????

Theres something uncomfortable about Feyre referring to Rhysand as 'Mor's Lord' especially when we just had a whole paragraph describing her as a proud and empowered queen

"Usually, one Syphon was enough for an Illyrian to to able to steer his urge to kill down the right path." what???

Now shes describing Azriel as dark and beautiful as death and oughhhhhh i knoww im the only who cares about this and its for a pretty stupid reason but I care a lot and it makes me very angry

Feyre referring to a 19 year old Mor as 'barely more than a child' is weirdddddd

of COURSE hes wearing a black tunic for this, I cant believe this is the guy that the fandom has designated the fashion lover when he has two (2) outfits

Feyre describing Rhysand as sooooo powerful and beautiful with a face of nightmares and dreams makes me want to vomit, but more importantly, it makes me yearn to rewatch the 1996 takarazuka star troupe production of Elisabeth with Asaji Saki as Death who unirionically fits all of Feyres descriptors 1000 times better

Not Rhysand using Feyres Cursebreaker title while hes thoroughly humiliating her

Now Feyre is calling him a god, bro youre not gonna be able to have sex if you jack him off this hard hes gonna be all sore

Imagine being a hewn city noble and you all get together because your high lord wants something from you and youre kinda scared because hes the worst, and then you just have to watch him finger some random lady. and you cant leave because then he'll just kill you

I dont like that this is framed as empowering to Feyre, i think its one thing to write a female character who sexualises herself in order to empower herself but the fact that Feyre is doing this at the behest of Rhys automatically renders it non-empowering to me. Like yeah, she obviously consented to this but it wasnt her idea but this was not her idea and this is not something she usually does, the only times shes been sexualized like this is because it was part of some plan that Rhysand came up with

"[Keir] apparently clung to the power. But Rhys was the power." i hate that that sentence made me think of Keir/Rhysand as a ship why am I so goddamn yaoi-brained. And yeah, i know theyre related but according to Rhys himself, he and Mor are only cousins in the most distant sense, so. Man, that would make the IC dynamics so much more fucked up but also so much funnier

Theyre trying so hard to make this hot n sexy but its just so unappealing and dragged out. Granted, sorry if this is TMI, but I did just jerk off so Im all out of horniness for the next little while so maybe I just dont like this because Im not in the mood but idk. theres something so annoying about this, i think its how over-the-top and artificial Rhysands hotness feels, not to mention the fact that he is absolutely not my type

Imagine being Keir rn, just trying to do your job and tell your high lord everything that he needs to know, meanwhile his high lord is sitting in front of him fondling his new sex slave and you just have to keep a straight face. i mean, he sucks ass so i guess he deserves it but man

Presented to you with no further comment: "My breasts became heavy and full, longing, desiring, just like my crotch."

goddamnit, Rhysand just said that he put Feyre on his leash and then Keir made a kinda slutshame-y remark about her clothes and then I thought Rhys was like "maybe I'll put you on a leash too" but it was Feyre who said that. another loss for big gay incest

"He liked this as little as I did" uhhhhh no offense girlie but you actually seem to be having a pretty great time rn

I dont even know what to say about this part where Feyre is like, detaching herself from her thoughts that are calling her a traitor a liar and a whore ?? I think thats whats happening here?? Like, its trying so hard to be sexy but its invoking the imagery of Feyre's (and even Rhysand's) trauma and its just very strange

It took Rhys a fucking eternity to actually touch her pussy

What if Keir developed a voyerism kink because of this. would that be fucked up or what

Its so weird how Feyre thinks about how maybe Rhysand doesnt like sex or being desirable anymore because of amarantha and that certainly sounds like a trauma response he should have but instead it just never matters

"I had been tortured and tormented but my pain was nothing compared to his." YOU DIED

Oh man I cant believe I completely forgot about the absolutely iconic part where Rhysand gets so mad Keir for calling the woman he introduced as a whore a whore that he telepathically breaks his hand about it

what was the point of doing that, Feyre didnt even seem to like it that much

[cupoftaae]

Growing Pains (KTH drabble)

Summary- You and Taehyung discover the struggles of parenthood as you take on the task of raising your 3 month old daughter, Kiyomi.

Warnings- mentions of postpartum struggles and attachment issues

word count- 1.6k

A/N- Hi guys! so after Ladybug got so much love I decided to make a another drabble to continue their storyline, this takes place months after their daughter is born. Hope you enjoy it!

Taehyung woke up to the sounds of crying. He sat up and looked over at his clock, it was 4:32am, and you werent in the bed.

Groaning, he pushed the covers back and began walking down the hall into his daughters room, finding you on the floor with her in your arms.

"Im sorry we woke you, go back to bed" you whisper, noticing the sudden appearance of your husband in the room. "are you guys alright?" he asked, ignoring your previous demand as he walked further in and sat next to you, eyes still sleepy from the abrupt awakening.

You sigh and gently rock the small baby in your arms as she wailed, becoming frustrated yourself. "she wont stop" you exhale, finally looking at taehyung. "maybe shes hungry?" he suggested, moving his hand to wipe away his baby's tears.

"She wont latch...so I dont think she is...I also changed her and put her in a lighter onesie incase she was too hot" you gesture to the new outfit on Kiyomi, of course taehyung smiled at the ladybug printed fabric.

"let me see her" he whispered, gently taking the frail 3 month old out of your arms. "Hi baby, you giving mommy a hard time again?" he kissed all over her face before pulling her against him, her tiny head resting on his shoulder as his hand rubbed her back.

"im so tired" your hands run over the front of your face, knowing you return to work tomorrow afternoon and not only would you be exhausted, you would be missing your baby.

Since Kiyomi was born, youve been home every single day making sure she was taken care of, of course Taehyung has been an excellent help as well, and you probably wouldnt have been able to do this without him, yet at the same time you couldnt express your fears of going back to work after maternity leave....you didnt want to let him down or make him feel like you didnt trust him. It wasnt ever about trust, it was about going hours and hours without being able to make sure your daughter was okay. What happens if she needs mommy? What happens if she starts to cry and he cant differentiate it from a hunger cry, dirty diaper cry, or a tired cry?

"go back to sleep, i'll take care of her" he yawned and stood up, one hand reaching down to help you to your feet.

"I cant sleep" you sigh, walking over to rearrange her crib and the blankets. "cant we just keep her in our room tonight? she can sleep in our bed" you finish.

Taehyung gently rocked her around as he paced the room, the small cries slowing down. "baby I thought we agreed its better for her to be in her own room, she is gonna be too dependant on us.....and why cant you sleep? you just said you were tired-"

"because I have a list of things I need to do Taehyung!" you turn around, "I have to pump because she didnt want to eat, and I need to make sure you have enough milk for tomorrow, plus extra just incase, and then I need to put my work clothes in the washer because I forgot, then dry them, and you know what?" you throw your hands up as you walked over and took your daughter "shes only 3 months old, theres no harm in having her in our bed, who cares! she wont even remember anyways" you scoff and walk out of the room.

You didnt mean to snap on him like that, in fact you felt bad as soon as you left her bedroom. Taehyung is a great dad and an even better husband, but you still found yourself unable to stay calm when the list of things piled on, you didnt know how everything was going to go tomorrow, and you were stressed.

"hey...Im sorry if I said anything to upset you" he whispered as he finally walked into your shared bedroom, his daughter now asleep on the comforter as you sat and tried to pump milk.

sighing, you turn to look at him. "I didnt mean to act like that...you didnt do anything wrong, im just on edge"

He slowly walked over and sat on the bed next to you, careful of the sleeping baby in front of him. "whats going on, sweetheart?"

You didnt respond right away, instead you shrugged and looked down at Kiyomi, feeling those stupid tears resurface to your eyes again. "talk to me angel..." he rubbed your back.

"I dont want to leave her" you spoke in a choked whisper, wiping your cheek quickly. "What do you mean?" he calmly responded.

"Work tomorrow, I dont want to go....I havent been away from her since she was born. Ive had 3 months but im not ready." you take a breath, gathering your thoughts. "I went to the supermarket yesterday to buy dinner by myself, and almost had a panic attack because I realized she wasnt with me"

"my love, its okay to feel like this you know?" he rubbed your back softly, his chest tightening upon hearing your struggles. "sounds like you might be experiencing some separation anxiety,"

"I wanna work from home" you protest, shaking your head. "I cant leave her, and Its not about you not being a good parent- because you are so good, probably better than me" you chuckle lightly, "I just need it for myself....I need to see her. I spent 9 months taking care of her, I knew where she was at all times, and now that shes actually here I get so worried something will happen"

"i know sweetheart, I know" his hand ran through your hair as you spoke, "If you really want to look for a job that allows you to work from home, i'll support you all the way, you know that....but I really think its important to go tomorrow at least, to tell them about whats going on"

You leaned against your husband, glad he was supporting you in such a vulnerable moment. "why cant I just call them tomorrow?" you sniffle

"because I think its good to just go in, the smaller steps you take, even if its just a day, will probably make things easier for you."

"mm....just tomorrow?" you look at him

"Just tomorrow, then you dont ever have to see that place if you dont want to, you can stay home and i'll pamper you both"

You giggled and shook your head, "no, I wanna work....just not outside the house"

"and I support that" he gently lifted your chin so he could kiss you.

You smiled and kissed him back, watching him carefully as you pulled away.

"You are so beautiful, I swear motherhood made you even more attractive than you already were" he grinned

you raised an eyebrow, looking down at yourself before looking at him, "are you kidding me? I have a suction cup attached to my tit right now, and my hair needs to be washed....dont even try to say I look good" you shook your head as you noticed the bottle was full, taking off the pump and pulling your shirt down as you crewed the cap on.

"Ah you dont see yourself how I see you, the fact you go through so much for our baby is what is beautiful to me, and just for the record, you could never shower again and i'd buy all the nose plugs in the world just so I could be near you and call you cute"

"shut uppppp" you whine and lean against the pillow, "thanks though....fatherhood looks good on you"

"now thank you, but we both can tell that its not physically" he laughed and stood, putting his hands on his belly. "sympathy weight" he patted his stomach, making you laugh.

"Hey, I didnt do that to you!" you retort

"Yes! you insisted that I eat with you every time you had a craving, and what did I do?"

"ate with me" you smile

"yeah, except you were eating and it went to the baby" he chuckled, "mine went to my stomach area"

"hey I think dad bods are sexy" you nudge him

he rolled his eyes jokingly and wrapped you in his embrace, both of you looking down at your finally sleeping daughter.

"next kid, you deal with those cravings alone" he teased, hand gently squeezing you closer.

You smiled brightly at his words, you couldnt handle another child right now, especially with your current mental state, but you knew in the next 3 years you would enjoy having a second baby.

"thats not gonna be for a while bubs, relax" you patted his thigh

"what if she gets lonely" he looks at you

"are you serious" you laugh, squishing his face "shes 3 months, plus she has us, and tannie. I promise she will be well entertained until we have another kid"

He huffed and slouched down, making you giggle.

He sat up and grabbed his phone, turning the video on as he began filming his sleeping baby. "I havent recorded anything in a bit, well thats a lie, I recorded her yesterday when I was playing airplane and she ended up puking on me"

Your giggles are heard off camera before he faces it towards you "Oh its funny huh?"

"shh, youre gonna wake her" you quickly cover the camera to hide yourself before he continues to ramble on about your baby. He's been doing this since that day you both found out you were expecting Kiyomi, and it still warms your heart to see a man so in love with his creation of life.

He was your rock, and she was your ladybug, and perhaps you would be okay after all.

[h0ck3yl0v3r]

you belong with me

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

high school au!bb24 x bestfriend!reader

warnings: toxic gf, swearing, kissing, angst -> fluff

growing up in the sunny state of california had it’s ups and downs. thankfully i had my best friend brendan.

we met in kindergarten, i was sitting alone during lunch when he came up to me. he asked if he could sit with me and every day since then he sat with me at lunch. we were now in high school, seniors. we always waited for this day. we had so many dreams. brendan being a hockey star he quickly became popular, i was somewhat well known but never like briss.

our friendship remained strong, but it soon became rocky once high school hockey season took place. hockey being a winter sport, it put us in a rocky spot around the holidays.

see brendan always had a girl wrapped around his fingers. he could have anyone he wanted. he had gotten into a relationship with a girl who did not like me. she made it a big deal and a fight broke out between them. he slowly pushed me away, i knew he didnt want to but his girlfriend didn’t care.

our families became close after me and brendan became best friends. our yearly holiday trip to big bear was here and i sat in my room in the place we always stay at. polaroids and photo booth pictures of me and briss as kids hung on the wall next to the paper made flower bouquet he gave me on the first day of freshman year.

all the memories of every item always makes me emotional. i didn’t realize until Brendan’s mother came into the room and gave me a soft hug and passed me a tissue to wipe my tears. “your guys friendship is truly something beautiful, i noticed you guys haven’t hung out much lately, is everything alright honey?” she said while i sat on my bed and shook my head no before all the tears that didn’t make its way out then all crashing down now. “oh my sweet girl, it’s okay. i got you.” she said coming to me hugging me letting me cry onto her.

after a while i calmed down and she sat next to me. “ever since he got his new girlfriend right now everything’s been different. all his past girlfriends never had a problem with me until now. and it hurts. but what hurts more is knowing he’ll never look at me the way i see him.” i said and she rubbed my back. she knew i liked brendan since freshman year, she saw the way my eyes lit up whenever he got me flowers, or any gift. “trust me honey, my son is very oblivious. me, pat, and your parents all think you guys are destined to be. when the time comes you’ll know it.“ she said placing a kiss to the top of my head as i held onto her. “everyone else should be here soon, ill be downstairs if you need anything else alright?” she said and i nodded.

i decided to shower and change into a different outfit. after i got ready everyone finally got here. i stood at the top of the stairs when my breath got caught in my throat. i had locked eyes with brendans girlfriend. i didnt know she was going to be here.

i went downstairs and greeted everyone hi, but the worst one was greeting brendans girlfriend. she just glared at me the whole time.

“dinner will be ready soon” brendans mom said. “i think i’m actually gonna go explore, visit some old friends.” i said and everyone just hummed in response. i grabbed the keys and i felt someone grab my hand. “be safe alright, roads get a little hard to drive on at night.” he said and i just smiled and nodded before leaving.

truth being told, i didn’t have any friends here. i didn’t want to go exploring. its an excuse I’ve always used to get out of the house. i pulled into an empty park me and briss used to sneak off to all the time.

‘everything has changed’ playing softly in the background as i cried my heart out. we would joke about how this song would be played at our wedding. i wiped my eyes when i heard someone knock on my window, jordan brendans younger brother was there. i rolled down my window and he came up to me. “i had a feeling you’d be here, brendan may be oblivious but i’m not. i brought some of the food mom made, figured you didn’t eat.” he said and you couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh and told him to get in the car.

after eating in silence with only music softly playing in the back, jordan spoke up “my brother’s an idiot. i know you probably wont believe me but hes so hooked onto you. thats why none of his relationships ever last, and i don’t think you’ve ever noticed but all his girlfriends have some sort of resemblance to you. but they’re never you so it never lasts.” he said and i was shocked. “thats silly jordan, he would never.” i said. “trust me on this. and also you aren’t the only one who doesn’t like his current girlfriend. after you left during dinner mom almost lost it. his girlfriend was being super disrespectful and dad had to calm her down. i decided to leave the vibes in that house was not it.” he said and you just shook your head, of course she would cause trouble. “thanks for coming, it means a lot and it’s getting pretty late so we should head back home.” i said before putting my seatbelt on and driving us back home.

the whole trip wasn’t the best but i tried to make the most out of it. i barely hung out with briss, as much as it broke my heart i sucked it up to try and not ruin the trip.

its been a month since the trip. time has been going so fast. brendan was still with his girlfriend but they were extremely off and on. today i had a date, it was someone who played lacrosse. brendan was over at the house and i could feel him staring at me. “i’ll be back later” i announced before leaving.

but of course, i got stood up yet again. he didn’t show up. i decided to not head back home yet and sit at the beach instead. why does this always happen. all i wanted was to feel loved the way i love people. in reality, all i wanted was him. but i couldn’t have him.

after the sunset i decided to head back home, what i didnt know what brendan drove past where i was supposed to meet my date and saw that he never showed up.

as soon as i got home brendan rushed outside. “where have you been, and don’t even try to say on a date because i saw you get stood up.” he said and i felt my words get caught in my throat but i managed to get out a small sentence. “i was at the beach” i said softly and he came up to me and hugged me for the first time in a while. i hugged him back and cried in his arms.

“i broke up with my girlfriend. for good.” he whispered into my hair. “why would you do that?” i said looking up at him, feeling the small drizzles of rain. “she wasn’t you. none of the girls were. i didnt realize it until i saw you walk out that door for a date. that should be me taking you out, holding your hands, and kissing you like this.” he said before kissing me softly in the rain. neither of us caring about wether or not we’d get sick.

just happy that we finally had each other the way we both wanted.

[winxanity-ii]

RIP ME OUT THE PLASTIC

ship: stereotypical ken x fem!popstar barbie!reader warnings: non-explicit word count: 2.4k a/n: Hello~ Welcome to my first writing post on tumblr. i just went to see the new Barbie movie and now I can't seem to get it out of my head; so until that happens, I will be both cross-posting old/new works from my quotev, wattpad, and a03 while making fics/one-shots for Barbie (2023) and other shows/animes I have written on my main-masterlist here. ★·.·´🇧‌🇦‌🇷‌🇧‌🇮‌🇪‌ 🇲‌🇦‌🇸‌🇹‌🇪‌🇷‌🇱‌🇮‌🇸‌🇹‌`·.·★

Under the enchanting night sky of Barbieland, the moon casted its soft glow on the sea, laying out a shimmering path of light on the water.

The waves gently lapped against the shore, their rhythmic sound a soothing backdrop to the distant melody of music and laughter that boomed from the Barbie Dream House.

Inside, the atmosphere buzzed with excitement. All the Barbies and Kens danced to the upbeat music that pulsed through the air, their unique outfits radiating beauty and confidence. Sparkling lights twinkled like stars inside the house, creating a kaleidoscope of colors on the walls.

Laughter and cheers harmonized with the melody, turning the celebration into a magical spectacle that only Barbieland could offer.

But just outside the Dream House, Stereotypical Ken sat alone on the beach, removed from the celebration. Dressed in his signature beach attire—a vibrant Hawaiian shirt and crisp white shorts—he stared out at the sea. His usually bright blue eyes were now glistening with unshed tears, reflecting the moonlight and the turmoil within his heart.

Since Stereotypical Barbie had left for the real world, he had been heartbroken.

He understood why she chose her own path—Barbie was always meant for greater things, her spirit uncontainable.

She loved him as a friend, and he had come to accept that their relationship would never be more than that. Yet, the acceptance didn't ease the ache.

He sighed wistfully, thinking back to when he believed he and Barbie were the perfect couple, destined to be together. He remembered their shared moments—the beach parties, the tandem surf rides, the sunset walks in Barbieland's perfect evenings.

Their laughter echoed in his memory, and the love he felt was a flame that burned brightly within him but one that would never be returned in the way he wished.

"Maybe I was just a supporting role in her story," Ken murmured to himself, picking up a handful of sand and letting it slip through his fingers. "But what does that make me now?"

A few feet away, Ken's best friend Allan stood with concern etched on his face. Clad in a casual outfit that contrasted with the flamboyant party attire, Allan was always the observant one.

Beside him were Diplomat Barbie, elegant in her tailored suit; Doctor Barbie, her lab coat replaced with a chic dress for the evening; and even Tourist Ken, sporting his ever-present camera and a novelty T-shirt from his latest imagined trip.

Allan furrowed his brow as he observed Ken alone on the beach. Leaning closer to the group, he whispered, "Guys, have you noticed how much Stereotypical Ken has changed lately? He's been so down since Stereotypical Barbie left."

Diplomat Barbie nodded. "It's clear he's really struggling with Barbie's departure," she said softly. "We should support him."

Tourist Ken, never missing a chance for a sarcastic remark, quipped, "Well, he's definitely not the life of the party anymore."

Allan shot him a disapproving look. "This isn't time to joke, Tourist Ken," he said firmly. "We all care about Stereotypical Ken. He's going through a rough time."

Doctor Barbie placed a comforting hand on Allan's shoulder. "Exactly. He needs our understanding and a listening ear. It's important we let him know he's not alone."

Tourist Ken sighed, realizing the seriousness of the situation. "Alright, alright, I get it," he grumbled, his tone softening. "I might give him a hard time, but I don't want to see him like this. Honestly, I wouldn't know what to do if my Barbie left me."

Inside the lavish boardroom of Mattel, the CEO paced back and forth, frustration evident in every step.

Stacks of Barbie dolls, each adorned in a myriad of outfits and styles, surrounded the long conference table. Posters of classic Barbie campaigns adorned the walls, serving as constant reminders of the brand's storied legacy.

"Sales are stagnant, and we need a fresh approach!" the CEO exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Barbie needs a rebrand—something that resonates with a wider audience while championing empowerment and self-expression."

The executives around the table exchanged worried glances, fully aware of the gravity of the task at hand. They knew Barbie was more than just a doll; she was a symbol of dreams and aspirations for generations of young people.

Determined, the executives dove into brainstorming, each eager to impress the CEO. One by one, they presented their ideas, only to be met with the CEO's cold dismissals.

"A line of Barbie dolls inspired by famous historical figures?"

"Please, we've done that before," the CEO retorted dismissively.

"How about a collection of online Barbie dolls with augmented reality features?" another executive proposed, his voice wavering slightly.

"Augmented reality? Ha! Kids want something they can touch, not virtual gimmicks!" the CEO scoffed, shaking his head. "C'mon, people! I need something fresh! Something groundbreaking! Next!"

Undeterred, the executives kept pitching ideas—from high-tech Barbie accessories to Barbie-themed amusement parks. Yet every suggestion was met with the CEO's sharp wit and skepticism.

Finally, the tension and frustration reached a boiling point. The CEO let out a dramatic groan, pushing a few boxes off the table and clutching his hair in a comically exaggerated display of exasperation.

"I can't take it anymore!" he shouted, his voice echoing in the silent room.

Just as the CEO was about to indulge in his dramatics further, his assistant barged in, her expression urgent yet professional.

"Sir, excuse the interruption, but there's an important call for you," the assistant said, accustomed to her boss's fits.

The CEO straightened up, smoothing his tie and regaining his composure. "Who's calling?"

"It's the CEO of MGA Entertainment, sir."

A dramatic shift occurred in the CEO's demeanor, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. "MGA Entertainment, you say?" he murmured, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

"Y-Yes, sir," the assistant confirmed, noting the shift in his demeanor

"What's did he want?"

"H-He wants to discuss a potential collaboration."

The already silent room tensed, the executives exchanging curious glances. MGA Entertainment was known for being a competitor, and any talk of collaboration was bound to raise eyebrows.

"Well, isn't... this... interesting." The CEO let out a sarcastic, dry chuckle, his expression unreadable. "MGA Entertainment, the geniuses behind the 'BRATZ' dolls reaching out to collab with little ol' us," he barked with a wry smile. "About time, really, we all know how well that worked out for them, don't we?"

The executives chuckled, recalling the ill-fated attempt by MGA Entertainment to rival Barbie with their 'BRATZ' dolls, which had failed to capture the audience and eventually 'vanished' from the market.

Despite his skepticism, the CEO couldn't ignore the potential upsides. He leaned back in his chair, contemplating the offer. "Well, if they survived the 'BRATZ' fiasco, perhaps a collaboration with Barbie might just be their chance for redemption. Let's see what they've got to offer..."

As time passed, Stereotypical Ken wandered aimlessly through Barbieland, his heart weighed down by unrequited feelings. The once-vibrant atmosphere of the daily Barbie and Ken parties had lost its charm since Barbie's departure.

While the other Kens and Barbies danced and celebrated, Ken stood apart, shoulders slumped, feeling detached from the festivities. His sun-bleached hair, usually styled to perfection, now fell messily over his forehead. The sparkle in his bright blue eyes had dimmed, reflecting the emptiness he felt inside.

Yet, amidst Ken's somber mood, a subtle shift began to ripple through Barbieland.

The air crackled with new energy, an unspoken excitement buzzing like electricity.

He noticed that the other Barbies and Kens were acting differently—their giggles more infectious, their laughter more boisterous. They whispered excitedly to each other, casting glances toward the large Barbie Dream House with anticipation in their eyes.

"What's going on?" Ken asked Allan, who seemed unusually animated.

Allan grinned mischievously and nudged Ken with an elbow. "Oh, haven't you heard? A new Barbie is about to join us! And trust me, she's got everyone talking!"

Confused by the sudden excitement over the arrival of this new doll, Ken wondered what could possibly surpass the allure of his beloved Barbie.

As days went by, the anticipation only grew.

Everywhere Ken went, he overheard hushed conversations, whispers about the doll's distinctive features, and rumors of her unique style. The buzz became infectious, even catching the attention of the previously indifferent Kens.

Curiosity gnawed at him.

Intrigued, Ken found himself drawn to the Barbie Dream House, where preparations for the new doll's arrival were in full swing. The usually bustling home was abuzz with activity as Kens and Barbies worked hard to make everything perfect for the newcomer.

But Ken couldn't bear to be part of the excitement. He felt like an outsider in a sea of happiness he couldn't share.

Instead, he retreated to his favorite spot on the beach, hoping the sound of the crashing waves and the salty breeze might soothe his aching heart.

As he sat on the beach, lost in thought, dark clouds gathered overhead, and a faint rumble of thunder echoed in the distance. Yet, immersed in his own despair, he didn't notice or care about the magical display unfolding above him.

Ken sighed deeply, thoughts swirling like the sand beneath his feet. "Why did Barbie have to leave me?" he pondered aloud, gazing out at the vast ocean.

He reminisced about their time together—the laughter, the adventures, the moments they shared. He had thought they were perfect together, destined to be the ultimate Barbie and Ken duo.

"But I guess it was all in my head," he muttered. "She made it clear she only sees me as a friend, and nothing more."

The memories of their dances, the sparkle in her eyes when they were together, and the tenderness of her touch haunted him. Ken wondered if he had missed some sign, some signal that he wasn't enough for her.

"I should have gone with her to the real world," he mused, heart churning like the approaching storm. "Maybe I could have changed her mind—"

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice breaking through the turmoil. "Hey, you good?"

Ken looked up, breath catching in his throat at the sight before him.

The dark thunderclouds surrounding the beach parted, letting a beam of sunlight shine down, illuminating a new Barbie whose skin glowed warmly under the sun. Her braids cascaded down her back like a mesmerizing waterfall, with delicate pink strands artfully woven throughout.

Her plump, glossy brown lips curved into a welcoming smile, radiating warmth.

Her figure, with elegant curves, held a magnetic charm, drawing Ken's gaze as if she were a vision of beauty.

It was the new Barbie.

For a moment, Ken was speechless. He had seen many Barbies, but there was something uniquely captivating about this newcomer.

Her warm gaze seemed to pierce through the storm of his emotions, reaching a place within him that had been locked away since Stereotypical Barbie's departure. Her presence exuded a sense of confidence and understanding that resonated with him in ways he couldn't explain.

"Hey, you good?" the new Barbie repeated, lips falling into a slight pout as her head tilted slightly, eyes searching his.

Ken's heart skipped a beat.

It was rare for someone—especially a Barbie—to ask him about his feelings and well-being, considering they were in Barbieland where the focus was usually on fun and making Barbies happy.

"I... uh..." Ken stammered, trying to collect his thoughts while his heart raced. "Yes?"

Even a rock could see he was lying, but instead of pressing him, the Barbie just accepted it with a small smile and a nod.

The next few moments were spent in silence, but to Ken, it felt like an eternity. He was hyper-aware of the Barbie's presence beside him; every detail fascinated him, from the way the sun highlighted the pink strands in her braids to the gentle rise and fall of her breath.

The longer she stayed beside him, the more intrigued he became.

Finally, mustering some courage, he spoke, "I'm Stereotypical Ken. And you are?"

She turned to him, her eyes reflecting the sunlight like pools of warmth. "I'm Y/N."

Ken was taken aback. You weren't like any Barbie he had encountered before—hell, by your name alone, you weren't even technically a Barbie. Yet, there was an undeniable allure about you, a glimmer of a connection he hadn't felt in a long time. He blinked, struggling to process the name that wasn't "Barbie."

"Y/N," he repeated, savoring the way it felt on his tongue.

You giggled at his reaction, a playful glint in your eyes. "I know, it's different. I'm a new brand of Barbie called BARBZ—a limited collaboration between Mattel and MGA Entertainment. My message is all about embracing uniqueness and self-expression while promoting empowerment."

Ken's surprise turned into curiosity. He had heard of MGA's 'BRATZ' dolls before, but this was something entirely new.

"So, you're not like the other Barbies?" he asked, trying to grasp the concept.

You shook your head, a soft breeze rustling your hair. "No, I'm not. I'm my own person, with my own story to tell. Just like you are your own person, Ken."

Ken felt a strange sense of reassurance in your words.

For so long, he had been defined by his relationship with Barbie, but here was Y/N, a Barbie who embraced her uniqueness and encouraged him to do the same.

"Y/N, huh?" Ken grinned, his voice still tinged with vulnerability but more confident. "I like it; it suits you."

You beamed, delighted by his response. "I'm glad you do, Ken. And who knows, maybe we can create our own story together."

A part of him still worried that getting close to you might bring more heartache, given his unrequited feelings for Stereotypical Barbie. Yet, there was something about you that felt different, something that made him want to take a leap of faith.

"Yeah..." Ken echoed back in agreement, eyes softening the longer he stared at the new Barbie—no, Y/N's smiling face. "...we can."

And as they sat together, the clouds above fully dispersed, revealing a clear, star-studded sky.

The weight on Ken's shoulders began to lift, replaced by a sense of possibility he hadn't felt in a long time.

A/N: I just wanted to add, I am in no shape or form am advertising BRATZ DOLLZ hate 💀💀 I just thought this was a cool concept. I ALSO want to add that the BARBZ is in reference of Barbie + BRATZ not Nicki Minaj (no hate to the Barbz, but yall be wilding out here, so imma not get in that)

[klbwriting]

Combining Two Worlds

Chapter 12: Truth or Dare

Fandom: DCEU

Pairing: Ormxfemale!Reader

Warnings: some suggestive language

Summary: Orm and Arthur take Ludo out for a bachelor party while Mera and Y/N host Lydia for a girls' night in

Note: it is so hard for me to find good GIFs from the 2nd movie, like yes I love all the shirtless ones but still, I need more!

Hestia and Syfin left for Xebel and it was like Ludo and Lydia were lost.  They sat at the lunch table the next day, quiet, not even looking at each other.  Y/N finally got tired of the silence and the awkward staring and sighed. 

               “Are you excited for the party?” she asked Lydia, smiling at the girl.  Lydia looked at her finally, clearly trying to figure out the game they were all playing.  “Its not going to be fancy or anything, I’m honestly not a fancy person.  I thought maybe we would play a few games, there’s so many Atlantian games I haven’t played.  Maybe I’ll teach you two some of the surface world’s games, we have one called truth or dare, very popular.”  Orm smiled, seeing what she was trying to do.  Arthur clapped a hand on Ludo’s back. 

               “You my friend are in for a night of complete debauchery,” he said.  Orm cocked an eyebrow, looking at his brother.  “O we are going to drink some of that terrible fermented seaweed crap you guys’ drink, play some cards, go find an actual mermaid.”  Ludo looked both intrigued and terrified. 

               “He’s lost his mind,” Mera said, laughing. 

               “How many do I have to tell you, Ariel is not real,” Orm groaned.  Arthur shook his head undeterred. 

               “I don’t know, up until like six years ago Atlantis wasn’t real,” Arthur said.  “I gotta say my chances are good to find her and then well, Mera will have competition.” 

               “O will I now?” she asked.  Arthur smirked and shrugged, moving to his wife, kissing her head. 

               “This is going to be fun.”

               Y/N had requested everyone dress for comfort, but it seemed that Lydia didn’t exactly know what that meant, arriving dressed for an actual party.  Mera had prepared for this, bringing extra clothes for her. 

               “Lydia, you look so good!” Y/N said as the other girl sat down in her new outfit.  “Tell me Lydia, what games do you like?”

               “It’s been a long time since I was asked to play a real game,” she said.  “Normally the games we play are…just to win, not for fun.”  Mera nodded.

               “After Atlanna was exiled that is what Orvax did to Orm and me, we played games of battle, strategy, nothing that was just for enjoyment,” she said.  Y/N shook her head.

               “Both of you, have such screwed up childhoods.  Dear God, ok, then we are just playing some good old-fashioned truth or dare,” Y/N said.  “All fun, all silly, no question is off limits. Of course the dares can’t be dangerous because well, I will throw a trident through someone who tries to make me do something to endanger Velka.”

               “Velka?” Lydia asked.  Y/N smiled and patted her stomach.  “What about the other one?” 

               “Other one?” Y/N asked, confused.  Lydia nodded.  “It’s not…twins?”

               “When we were exiled, we lived in a settlement and I often helped with the midwives when I was old enough and my parents weren’t around,” she said.  “I know when a woman is carrying twins and you, are having twins.”  Y/N let out a breath. 

               “Well then, guess I’ll have to think of another name,” she said, before laughing happily.  Mera was still weary of Lydia, watching every move the woman made, but so far, she didn’t see any malice or deception.  Lydia seemed to be relaxing and genuinely interested in Y/N.  Mera just hoped it wasn’t because she wanted to betray her.   

               “Alright, Mera, truth or dare?” Y/N asked.  Mera had only seen this game played in movies and was worried about either option.  “Come on, I’m nice, I’m not going to embarrass you.”

               “Fine, dare,” she said.  Y/N smiled and looked around, hearing the men’s voices going by the room.

               “I dare you to shoot a water cannon at Arthur when he passes,” she said.  Mera laughed and got up, going to the doorway, and opening it.  They said goodbye to the guys as they walked by and Mera shot a water sprout right at Arthur, sending him toppling for a moment before he turned and smirked at her.

               “Don’t worry baby we’ll get rough in bed tonight!” he called back, making Orm groan and Mera blush. 

               “O, that’s going to be a question for truth later,” Y/N said.  They ladies went back to the room they were in and sat once again.  “Ok Mera, now you get to pick someone to ask.”  Mera looked at Lydia, who started looking very nervous.

               “Y/N,” she said, turning back to her friend.  “Truth or dare?”

               “Truth,” Y/N answered.  Mera thought for a moment.

               “Does Orm have any weird habits?  I never got that close to him when we were betrothed to know,” she asked.  Lydia leaned in, ready to hear something useful. 

               “I mean, he talks in his sleep, a lot,” she said.  “Constantly dreams about being attacked by sea worms.”  Lydia laughed with them this time, seeming to relax more.  “Doesn’t everyone have that one weird dream though?  I used to have a dream about a giant hat that I would get trapped in somehow.” 

               “Mine was always running into a blob fish without warning, in the dark,” Mera said. 

               “My nightmares were always that someone would hurt my brother,” Lydia said.  Y/N and Mera looked at her, looking worried.

               “Who would hurt your brother?” Y/N asked.  Lydia bit her lip.  “Lydia, I know that you don’t like me, but I don’t want to be enemies, at all.”  She sighed and looked so exhausted. 

               “I am so tired of this game,” she said.  “Not…not this game we’re playing, this is fun, but of what my parents’ want.  I don’t want Orm, in fact, after we were released, I met someone that I care about deeply already, she lives in the city, she’s not noble but she’s wonderful.  I’m sorry about everything I’ve done, and I hated every minute of it.”

               “What do your parents want?” Mera asked. 

               “They want to be on the throne, they want revenge against Orm and his family.  Orvax sent us away because they were really trying to kill Atlanna and Orm, they are monsters.  My brother is just like them, I just want out,” she said.  “They want me to marry Orm, get close enough to Arthur and Mera to stage some kind of accident for their family.  Orm will ascend the throne and I will be queen and when I have an heir, I will kill Orm.  That is the entire plot, they have been planning it for years.  In fact, when we arrived and found out about you and then your baby’s, my parents nearly murdered you themselves, but they held back, don’t like to get their hands dirty.  I was supposed to do that, to poison you so you would at least lose the babies, but I fought to just try and seduce Orm away from you.  But he loves you so much, the devotion he has to you is inspiring.  Then it was to get you to leave, which we did, and get rid of the prince.  I’m sorry Mera, Ludo, he knows all these poisons, he listens to the servants, he found your stash of snacks for Tom and well.  I’m sorry” Lydia finished and looked down to her hands.  Y/N moved over and sat beside the woman, wrapping an arm around her.  Mera watched closely, trying to see a lie in Lydia’s words, but couldn’t find any.  She was either a very good liar or she was being honest. 

               “Would Ludo try to hurt Arthur and Orm tonight?” Y/N asked.  Lydia shrugged.

               “I don’t know, he didn’t seem too excited to go to this little party so I don’t think so, unless he could separate them somehow…” she shrugged again, clearly at a loss.  She didn’t understand her brother and his motives, nor why he wanted so badly to be like his parents.

               “We should go, make sure that they are safe,” Mera said.  They were just getting to the garage for a vehicle when Arthur came back, alone.  “Where’s Orm?”

               “There was an explosion at the club, we got separated, he’s not here?” Arthur said.  Y/N shook her head.  “Dammit…”

               “This has Ludo written all over it,” Lydia said.  Y/N looked at her.  “He will hold Orm hostage now, without our parents he doesn’t know how to handle this delicately, only with brute force. He will ask for the throne in exchange for Orm’s life.” 

               “Where would he go?” Arthur asked.  Lydia shrugged; she didn’t know what her brother did when they were released. 

               “He just talked about going to place he knew they wouldn’t like half-breeds or their allies.”

               “Wherever he is, he better be ready,” Y/N said.  “He has fucked with the wrong half-breed.”

[accirax]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 17)

Episode 18, the last episode before the true finale begins (presumably)! As we seemingly walk down memory lane, will the cards play out as expected? Or will we be blindsided yet again?

In case you haven't seen my previous power rankings, the Power Ranking Format is essentially a way of ranking how well each player is doing in the game. So, in essence, this is a long form way of predicting who I think will be eliminated from the competition in the next episode. There will be spoilers for last week's episode (obviously) and its power ranking, so make sure to read that first if you don't want to be spoiled on how I ranked our last boot. If you want more clarification on the rules, that first post will help you out as well. Furthermore, I'm going to be spoiling the preview for next episode, so if you want to go in TOTALLY blind, save this for later. Let's go!

Recap - Grett's Elimination

Current Score: 74 acquired/109 total

(Points versus @venus-is-thinking: 25 acquired/34 total)

Howwww was it not Riya?

Well, at the very least, I seem to have a talent for choosing who Riya's meat shield will be and correctly putting them right behind her in the rankings. But, wait, for the sake of that metaphor, shouldn't they be in front of her? Either way, Riya is causing others to take damage to fuel her success, which was directly portrayed in last week's episode.

Anyways, Grett. Absolutely one of the highlights of the season, even if it became pretty obvious to me that she wouldn't be making it to the absolute endgame. I'd expected it to be Riya in Episode 17, followed by Grett in Episode 18, but it makes enough sense to me that it could be flipped the other way a--

HEY, WAIT!

SPOILERS FOR MY OWN POWER RANKINGS!!!

Trailer Analysis

I don't know how much analyzing the trailer is really going to change my predictions, but there's a lot of interesting stuff in it anyways.

Yooooo, Emily's got the Miles Edgeworth bright red sports car! I assume her and Trevor are going somewhere to further their season-spoiling quest, Trevor likely ditching work while doing it.

So, given Jake's hair, I think we can safely assume that this scene happens after the dialogue scene shown at the end of the trailer. I'm also going to guess (given that it isn't dusk/nighttime) that Jake gets another hair tie at the start of the challenge, given that he's shown with his ponytail there.

I initially assumed that this was part of the challenge, but the challenge takes place in the maze from the s1 face your fears challenge. So, I guess this is just an effort to distract Connor and help him have fun? It's nice to see that Ally can still get along with the guy.

Alright, so the challenge seems to be assembling the outfits of a contestant that you were close to, the items of clothing hidden throughout the maze. Also, there's some sort of mechanic that lets contestants shock each other using the shock collars. Jake is holding Tom's gloves, and Ally Ashley's hat, so that's who they're doing. The other two figures both appear to be men. I have to assume Connor is doing Alec, because, like, who else? But also, who the hell else would Riya do...? Fucked up if they both have to fight for Alec. Possibly more fucked up if Riya has to do Connor while he's still in the competition.

Oh my god, Riya does have to do Connor; those are his glasses right there. Imagine if Riya starts ripping his clothes off to save time. Probably not the reason why Connor would have wanted that to happen.

"Here. It'll keep it from falling." "How's it look, doc?" "It's giving." "Giving? Giving what?"

Ah, more classic Connor old man jokes. I don't really know how a hair tie on top of a bandage would possibly be giving, but, you do you, Jake.

Power Ranking

#1: Jake

Jake is not going to be eliminated. He's the only season 1 character left. If there was a threat of him being sent home by Ally or whoever, I have no doubts that the writers would simply create a challenge that he would win to make him immune from going home. Also, he's going to win the season. Thank you for your time.

#2: Connor

Alright, on to the actual difficult decision of the power ranking. Really, Connor is the one who's manifesting this second place position for me. He's the one who keeps saying that he's going to beat Riya in the war between them. With this much hype leading up to it, that has to mean that he places better than she does, right?

The tricky thing here is that, right now, there are two heroic boys and two villainous girls. No matter how you slice, it you're going to wind up with a final 3 containing two of one and one of the other. However, I do think it's more likely that they'd have two "heroes" in the finale than two "villains." I already think it's obvious that Jake is going to win, but if it's Jake versus Ally and Riya, they should just hand him the $3mil three episodes early. Keeping Connor in the game will leave some level of suspense in the air, as well as keep the whole finale from becoming Jake vs. the Forces of Evil. (DC and SvtFoE must be kept away from each other at all costs. Letting their insane shipping energies combine would create a love triangle so endlessly potent that it could wipe out entire countries.)

Really, Connor's main issues come down to his injury. In this episode with a very active challenge, I have to imagine that it'll keep him from winning immunity. Thus, Riya, and possibly Ally as well, will likely be voting for him. And then, even if he makes it to the finale, we face the problem of "how can Connor be an engaging finalist if his broken ankle basically starts him dead in the water?"

This episode is easy enough to let slide, given that there are plenty of advantageous ways the vote could shake out. Ally could agree to vote for Riya with Connor and Jake, Riya could agree to vote for Ally with Connor and Jake, or Riya and Ally could split their votes (like Riya on Connor and Ally on Jake) leaving Connor and Jake as the majority. And, even if Ally and Riya do vote for Connor, there's always the possibility that he could win a tiebreaker to stay in the competition. Venus came up with that as an idea for how their "war" could end, and I think that could be pretty interesting.

As for the finale, I think it's fine if Connor doesn't have much winner equity as long as him bowing out at 3rd place finalist paves the way for a dynamic final duo to close out the season. However, that part really depends on who's becoming part of that duo with Jake. Speaking of...

#3: Ally

I really, really think that Ally will be in the finale. The finAlly, if you will. However, between her and Connor, I think she would be the more likely one to be eliminated.

Something that Venus reminded me of is that this is the last episode before we check in with the Loser's Motel. Thus, whoever is eliminated here will be a part of that episode, as the most recent move-in. I already said last week that it seems like Connor probably doesn't need to go to the Loser's Motel, as he wrapped things up with Alec when Alec was eliminated. Between the two of them, I think it'd be much more valuable to let Ally finally talk more with Hunter and Tess, as well as seeing the reaction to her on social media, than anything Connor would be doing there. Giving Ally the Loser's Motel episode to finish out her character journey could be helpful, so that she doesn't have to fight for screen time with Jake and the other finalist (lol) in the finale. Ally could serve as the main character of that episode.

I guess I could also see it making sense to have Jake beat Ally now? With a Jake/Connor/Riya finale, maybe the direction they'd take it is that Jake already won his interpersonal battle, so while Riya and Connor fight things out (with Connor beating her to get his spiritual win), Jake gets to focus on his own game to come out on top. Although, that does then make it seem like Jake and Connor would be the final 2, which is a pretty non-hostile conclusion to this overly dramatic show. Also a not-at-all-tense one, when one competitor is almost double the age of the other and hobbling on one foot.

I don't really know why I'm trying to argue so hard that Ally is going home. Perhaps I'm pre-justifying it for when the person right behind Riya in my rankings goes home instead of Riya again. But-- say it with me now-- it HAS to be Riya this time, right?!

#4: Riya

I really don't see how Riya gets out of this episode alive. Like, yes, in-universe, she could probably win immunity again. But, even in-universe, I feel like Jake and Connor would legit rather let Ally win immunity by losing their own chances tackling Riya to the ground to prevent her from winning again. And then what, she winds up in a 2-2 tiebreaker? That she definitely loses to Connor, and almost certainly Jake if she were to fight him as well?

Riya is not a finalist. I refuse to believe that she will be. I really, really don't think that, after everything, they're going to let her into the finals again. It makes so much more sense for her to go down at final 4. With only one chance left, I really hope the writers finally take her out this time.

Alright, well. Not much to say with this one, given that I really don't think that Jake is going home and I really think Riya is. Please let that be right this time. For everyone's sakes.

[dgttwisted]

I hope you have fun with this event!!! ^o^ Remember to take your time with things! Tuna 🐟 and Mitty 🦚 will be in attendance for this cute tea party!!!

Tuna plans to wear some comfy shorts, a marine themed hoodie, and some fluffy cute bear slippers. Since its a fun occasion Tuna even brought Lilith a magical pointed wizard hat! How is it magical? There may be an enchanment for it to emit sparkles off of it (Or maybe Tuna just sprayed too much glitter spray and now its getting everywhere…)

Mitty on the other hand will wear some ouji fashioned clothes! He brings a pink faux feather boa for Lilith to wear. Lilith deserves to look extra fabulous ✨ as the host and what better way then with an over-the-top accessory! Playing dress up is always fun for a tea party! ^o^ I hope Lilith has a blast of a tea party! :3 💖

@tunabesimpin @eternal-servants-of-old

The door of Ramshackle opens as Tuna an Mitty reached the entrance. a hollowing voice beckons them to enter an that 'she' is expecting them. This of course is the ghosts having a bit of fun with the guests that Lilith had invited over to her special tea party.

a familiar voice yells up at them "you guys are late you know Lilith an the ghosts won't let me eat until you get here!" Grim had a small top hat on his bow was smaller an on the front of his neck like a little bowtie. "don't get cocky just cus she invited you I'm still number one around here-"

"Mitty!!! Tuna!" a happy cheer is heard down the hall out comes lil Lilith wearing her favorite pink dress with ribbons. she runs over an hugs Mitty sense they were the closest "ready for the bestest tea party ever!" she holds both of there hands an leads them to a room down the hall of the other guest room which is strangely quite today probably because Lilith was holding the tea party today so asked them not to come unless invited today.

Lilith opens the door to a room decorated head to toe with fuzzy rugs blushes an beanie chairs in the middle of the room is a small wooden round coffee table an brightly colored chairs.

The table already had sweets on it for they knew of there arrival. "have a seat!" she pulled out there small chairs an sat on her pink an sparkly one.

Grim speaks up "Lilith do the thing!" both Grim an Lilith giggled weren't sure if you should feel uneasy or not until Lilith claps her hands a gentlemen enters threw a side door you didn't even know existed.

"master Lilith how may i be of service today?" he speaks with a small smile already forming on his lips he is clearly enjoying himself in his role as 'butler'.

Lilith beamed with joy as she gestured her hand at Mitty an Tuna "these disti-distinnn.....disting!!" Lilith couldn't say the word right

Quinn whispered "it's alright Lilith sound it out"

"dis-ting-uish-ed! guests!!" Lilith said feeling a little happier now "they would like some tea please!"

"very good master Lilith sir Mitty sir Tuna i shall return with your refreshments momentarily" Quinn bowed his head all of them before leaving to heat up a fresh pot of tea as the rest of them chat an wait.

"I love your outfits! i wanted to wear my frog hoodie but Grim said we had to be fancy for tea parties!" she almost looked like she was pouting but she was having a bunch of fun.

"hay i hope you enjoy the sweets Quinn made them for the tea party so they are super speical tea snacks you can only get here heh" she grabbed herself a brownie an sat to eat it happy as can be. Lilith never had friends before coming to NRC so she never even knew what tea parties were intil Riddle an Vil invited her to some so she's more then exctatic being able to share this moment with her silly friends from Pomefiore an Octavinelle.

A short time later Quinn returns with the refreshments with places the tea pot an cups on the table before pouring everyone a cup in teacups that were light blue with little golden flowers on it. "you like the cups? Vil gave it to me on my birthday he said that i had to use them if i owned them so i started this secret tea party club only the best of the best can attend thats you guys by the way!" she said giggling

Quinn hands her a cup with a little milk an two sugars just how she likes it "Thank you Quinn-oops i mean butler!"

(tuna an Mitty's tea set this evening)

[sanriopinterest]

♡The Turmoil of the Beehive♡

◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆♡●⑅⃝◌◌⑅⃝●♡⋆

The floor collasped as my bed fell through. I rubbed my eyes as my pj's continued to slip off of me. "This is who I'm waking up too? Asshole!""I not gonna stop what I was doing so you only have yourself to blame for what you're about to smell, preacher douchebag". The other two girls complained. "Uhm, I was still sleeping dickhead" I deadpanned. "I'm gonna ignore that and keep talking". We sat kn the couch as garter went on with explaining a new mission or something.

   Stocking licking her ice cream so fast, some of it got in my braid and on my skin. Chuck then pulled out a little old man and got to talking about missing students and shit. "Alright you hookers! Go wash your asses in the sink and get to high school before that ghost swindles anymore students!" He screeched.

◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆♡●⑅⃝◌◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆♡

(This is your outfit, in (f/c) of course)

◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆♡●⑅⃝◌◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡

   See through crashed through the wall and a red carpet rolled out in front of us. "Are those celebrities?". Questions made its way through the crowd. "We're angels, dick" Panty said sliding on her glasses. "Uh, you do know what incognito means right? It's the opposite of that". We pranced through the halls as the cameras flashed. I pulled out a honey bun and began to eat. "Alright lets get this over with, where should we go first" I said opening the map of the school. Panty looked ahead and I followed seeing a ginge haired boy run down the hall with a beehive on his head. "What in the fuck? That's not suspicious or anything".

   Panty summoned her gun and shot at the dude, making the bees drop away. He slid across the floor and we looked down in digust. "Was that necessary?" Stocking asked. He looked up at us "Holy Mary Mother". "That all you got" Panty said kicking the beehive back onto his head. We laughed as he tan around in despair. "Oh briefer's darling" someone called out from the top of a huge cheerleader stack. "You're not really running around so carelessly with my precious beehive on your head now are you?" She said with a whole lot of venom in the last few words. "If looks could kill" I said throwing my wrapper. He started whimpering and apologizing to her. "So hey, what the fuck is that?" Panty looked up. "Ew, gross. Is that barbie wanna be I smell" The girl said re crossing her legs. She went on and on about her "I own the school" speech.

"You the janitor?" "Yeah, cause we meant the principal and he's hotter" Panty and Stocking threw to her face.

    "Well damn, she's actually kinda pretty" I said looking at her for a little. Panty and Stocking glared at me."My name's Barbie, you may also refer to me as;Queen Barbie, Her majesty, or Goddess. Allow them to demonstrate". The whole school went wild. Panty yawned"Your working way too"hard here. Did she seriously refer to herself as barbie, like the outdated fetish doll, with like a bazillion occupations""She did, and im allergic to plastic. Lets get out of here before we catch slut face" Panty and Stocking dragged her." Call me" I said throwing her my number as I got dragged away. As we exited Panty stepped on her beehive. All I heard was her ramblings and "The braided one is the most tolerable".

◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆♡●⑅⃝◌◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆♡

   "Check this shit out guys, couldn't you just die? It even moves when you stick a finger up her""Third base panty, collect all four. Your just in this for the uniform" Stocking said not looking up from her sweets magazine."And your point?" Panty said wobbling around her figurine. The teacher then started passing out condoms for some strange reason." Don't put that in your mouth!" I warned Panty as she started eating the condom like it was gum. "Hey what are you girls doing?". Geek boy then whined to us about his 'friends' going missing.

◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆♡●⑅⃝◌◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆

 He took us outside and decided to show us how is 'backpack' thing worked. "So what exactly were we taking when we decided to follow the ginger freak fro show" Stocking stated. "Good point" I said sipping on a slushie. "Sorry it usually works" Panty then suddenly kicked the 'proton pack'. "Proton pack of shit" she screamed. After she kicked it, it started vibrating and then blowed up. "Well isn't this a delight,

   I was afraid I would never see my favorite slut cankles ever again" a voice said from behind.

     Out popped barbie on top of a bunch of robots. "Ugh, aren't you supposed to be in the trash?""Ten inches is way to big for you""You never called me, kinda glad. I see my mistake". We all started a huge argument, in the middle of that empty field. She jumped off her pedestal and turned into a demon"Could this have been any more fucking predictable""Nope she's a queen, she's a bee, she's a queen bee, we fucking get it" Panty and Stocking whispered. We took out our weapons and the fight began. (Im not writing all of that srry).

◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆♡●⑅⃝◌◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆♡

    As the gong sounded we knew she was defeated. A few coins fell from the sky and I got them. "Uh thats it cheap bastard's"

    Panty complained. "Here come the geeks" Stocking sang as they fell from the sky in cocoons.

    The ginger then went on to praise us about being ghost hunters. I snuck behind him and started to untie the geeks from their cocoons. "Hello smoregasm board! Who's fish should I play rocking chair with first""Oh I guess you've earned it""Line up, boys" Panty said sneaking away to the football players. "Hoe." I said kicking a nerd that tried to look up my skirt. "I need some sugar" Stocking said looking up to the sky.

◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆♡●⑅⃝◌◌⑅⃝●♡⋆♡♡⋆

Words: 1061

Wattpad: @Vonlovesbread

-ℙ𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕔 🌊

[megamangxtheadventure]

MAGE CHRIONCLES CHAPTER 25 CIRNO VS POMU SOPRANO

cIRNO waked up in etrini where reisen was there with eiren "are you alright we cured you and removed all the nazi sciance from your body how feel you do" asked doctor eiren and cirno sitted up

"i feel better now but i am sad i used my power to hurt friends" cirno side

reisen took out a high tech weapon case with lunar industries written on it "you need to get the prismatic rain blade to...him" she said and cirno picked up the case.

"i'm the strongest i can do this considering it doned" she said and got moving.

location-illuminati base 5.23pm

arydin izumi had come in and ron Desanta was there too with bill ciper "i see you gassed the base again we are really running out of guys if we keep gassing the high councl" said arydin

rons fingers extended like big sausafge salad fingers as he scooped up pudding with them "they where weak we must remove the weak the illuminati must be strong" said ron as he sucked his fingers to get the pudding

argdin chuckled at Ron "you have learned to mimic humans better skin walker" he smile

"back to baduiness we need to keep control since sunak is gone i have ordered jk rowling to b ecome the new leader of fascist britian as for america putin has plans in mind but we must focus on the gorefield seals and our control over gensokyo and magic" arydin said

shadiversty was eating gravy with his fingers and wearing a crown "i am happy britian is embacing old values but a woman in power that is a step too far, if i had my way afhganstan is the perfect blueprint at least the talban know how to keep the woman folk in there place a perfect model for a christan monarchy america" he laughed

bill ciper floats "we have lost our fairy nazis but i found a new type of fae weaspon using something more ruthless and they will deal with cirno."

It was then the new illuminati man comed in "i am lord goat and our soul eraser program will help us create fae weapons using gangster dna this time insted of nazi"

everyone clapped.

location-peppino spegettis pizza place

Peppino and guastivo where serving customers when bad people comed in "oh no not the god damn mafia again" he sighed but there leader had blonde hair and a blue bow IT WAS POMU RAINPUFF the fae

"wait are you not that a vtuber fae" said brick

she punched brick hard into a wall "i am no longer that weakling they injected me with gangster dna and used the soul eraser program to make me strong I AM POMU SOPRANO NOW! head of the pomu crime family!" SHE SAID and slammed peppinos head against the oven "WHERES MY FUCKING MONEY PEPPINO!!!!!!"

two fakegees where behind her one being WEEGEE WALNUTS and the other bodyguard fakegee "oh a my god you are a working with the weegees too?!" gasped gustivo

Peppino in rage picked up a bench and benched pomu soprano on the head "quickly we must a run for sweet life" and the peppino pizza crew ran with fast

Pomu gotted up and machine gunned at them "WHEN I GET YOU I WILL HAND YOU OVER TO ANDREW TATE AND YOU';LL SUFFER LIKE CATBOY SANS?"

Weegee walnuts dropkicked gustavo and brick "you want to fuck with us then lets get nuts" weegee walnuts said

"i am going to take your fucking head clean off!" pomu shouted and reloaded the machine gun.

but then cirno came down and kicked her in the face and she was wearing her Advent Cirno PLUS outfit with the tusugi sword crystal.

"you?!?!?! YOU DARE HIT A MADE FAE! YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD! I WILL SHIT NUKES DOWN YOUR THROAT CIRNO FUCK YOU!" pomu fired the emtire machine gunned clip at her but cnrino flash stepped and cut the gun in half with tusugi

"i am the strongest fairy don't even weaste your time that soul eraser lord goat gived you is no power its just powered by hate" cirno said with smug

pomu got a crate and takened out a laser gatterling gun and opened fire as peppino and gus took cover "this is madness this is insaneity i cant take it" he said

cirno dodged and fired ice beams at pomu and thinked hard "i need to get the case to...him but i have to deal with pomu first" cirno thinked and spinned the blade

Cirno then focused her ice magic into the blade gutting the gatteling gun in half as it blowed up in pomus face knocking her and the two fakegees back as cirno rushed and got peppino and the others out.

after they escaped they stopped to rest "what is a happening why is pomu running the mob now?" asked peppino.

Cirno put the case down "they used the soul eraser on her and turned her into a ruthless gangster to act as an illuminati gang boss of the area but i have a plan i am to take this weapon case...to him"

peppio thumed up "then we will a help you we have a score to settle with these illuminati a bastard".

location-andrew tates bar and base

inside the base was arcade machines cigarettes alcohal and gambling as lots of kids where where being lured to corruption like the sheredder thing from the 90s turtles movie.

Andrew tate came in wearing a cape and armor "i am your father now and before, you comed to me loners and deprassed but i have gived you purpos as solders in my war as alpha males and now we will cast the weaknass, and fight a new world to build stong world with that i am proud to anouncing our new allies THE TALIBAN" saidandrew tape as men in terrorist armor and aks had come in "CAST ASIDE YOUR WEAKNESS AND PLEDGE YOUR LIVES TO THE TALBAN!" andrew laughed as the young boys bowed.

after the meeting andrew tape went to the top floor of his office looking over the city as he poured some whiskay and smiled "its all going to plan" but then he notced a man in a purple suit had com in "its you what do you want you are meant to be in section d right now" tate said.

"you do not care about the gorefield plan do you tate you only care about what you want you cared nothing for serving the darknass of higher powers but i am a true solder of evil thats why i am taking command of your sector" said william afton.

tate did the face "no no no you can't do this to me i'm an alpha male i'm based in recruited and radmailized these men! i'm based" he shouted

William afton kicked andrew tate and picked him up "no you are not based, I AM BASED!" wILLIAM afton shouted and threw andrew tate off the bulding to his demisse as he screamed " he then took the evil cape and the badge that said boss of the lost boys and put it on going into the bar and arcade

"andrew tate was too weak now i am your father and leader and we are going to gensokyo to put it under taliban rule" william afton laughed as the boys cheered but william had a more darker plan as he did not care for these people.

tb be contiunued

[cosmindart]

Aquafirma: Waters of the clouds

[any excuse to repost my fav old works. Here's an AU story with the AskIsaak cast]

Aquafirma, a world similar to ours centuries ago back when castles and horses were kings, but twice smaller. Here in place of Humans lived the Anacrees.

They looked quite a lot like Humans but that was just on the surface. The main striking difference between a human and an Anacree was the green pearl-like gem emerging through their chest, however there was much more to them. Their longer lifespan, their innate magical disposition, their stronger bones made from the same gem-like material as their pearls.

Their culture was quite unlike ours, they worshiped a different deity and had holidays divergent from ours. For example everyone wore a shawl on their shoulders, each family having their own cut, color and trim combination. In addition special shawls everyone wore for specific celebrations existed as well. Most celebrations centered around the Salmalion god and the water cycle.

This story follows a group of 5 Anacree friends who, one faithful year, vowed to restore their world from the recent calamity.

___________

Chapter 1

   Today was the first day of spring and Lionel was excited. Everybody was but for a different reason. Today was the day of the Salmalion festival, the biggest holiday of the Anacree people. Every winter, the fresh waters of many lakes across the world rise into the sky to form huge water bubbles up in the air with a crystal at their cores leaving only salt oceans until spring where the drinkable water finally rains back down in a 2 day long downpour. Anacrees celebrate right before the rain comes every year with dances and feasts. Lionel however wasn’t excited about this, during the celebration he was going to propose to his childhood friend and soulmate of 3 years.

Lionel was running up and down in his apartment itemizing everything. His celebration outfit for this afternoon was ready laid out on his bed, his hair was brushed, his shawl ironed to perfection, his pearl was polished despite its cracks… Everything was in order.

“Chill out! You’re gonna pop a vessel” exclaimed Kennedy, Lionel’s roommate. “The celebration isn’t happening for another hour you know.”

“I know! I just… I wanna make sure I'm not forgetting anything!”

“I know you’ll nail it and even if you ‘mess up’ I know Isaak will find it funny and just as memorable!” Kennedy patted him on the back to reassure him a little and took off the tan guy’s shawl so he’d put on his celebration one “Let’s go out! Helping out the performers setting up could distract you and stop you from turning into a nervous wreck!”

“Aren’t the pair who are playing the Salmalion new this year?” Lionel asked, his mind successfully distracted”

“Yeah! Micheal is gonna be the head of the beast! He said he had to or his dad would have been sad to have their family tradition broken. I know the second dancer is new too but I heard he didn’t want people to know who he is…” The red head paused then smirked “I will find out! Nothing escapes me!”

“How about you don’t snoop eh! Won’t you be celebrating my engagement after the dance?” He joked “You’d rather weasel your way backstage to expose the guy?”

“Pfft of course I’d celebrate with you!” The two tall guys walked out of their house “That’s why we should help them set up! That way I can snoop now and celebrate later!”

“I agree to help, yeah.” Lionel poked Kennedy’s nose “But I'll make sure you wont get any time to snoop! Leave the man alone alright!”

The two men laughed for a while as they made their way to the grand plaza. Banners were already hung up everywhere, a dozen people were running back and forth setting up more decoration, putting up pillars on which the Salmalion dancers would jump on later during their performance, setting up booth where food and drinks would be served, and more Anacrees just sat and watched the buzzling going.

The duo walked toward the stage with the pillars, ready to lend a hand on Lionel’s side and to pry for info on Kenny’s side. Putting the stage together were two grey-haired dudes in blue stage gear: Pyotr and Shurik. Supervising them wearing green fur covered pants was Micheal. No doubt the pants he was wearing were the front paws part of the Salmalion costume. Kennedy looked around trying to spot someone else wearing matching pants… All he saw around the wooden podium were other crew members in blue. Lionel pulled Kennedy toward the Wojcik brothers and the dancer.

“Do you need help? Kenny and I are at your service if need be!”

“Nah, we about got it done” said Pyotr, the chubbier one of the brothers.

“We were already done setting-up actually” added Micheal “We just ended up shifting the stage slightly but it’s all good now. Thanks anyway.”

“I heard Eliott ask for strong men to help him 10 minutes ago!” mentioned Shurik

“Ah! He just said that because he’s gay and wants eye-candy! He doesn’t actually need help!” joked Kenny “I bet if we go find him he’ll already be done setting up too!... Anyway I was wonder-”

“We’ll go check anyway!” interrupted Lionel pulling on his friend’s sleeve.

“You really weren't joking when you said you wouldn’t let me snoop uh!”

“Leave the mystery man to his secrets!”

“Mystery who?” Asked the lanky brother.

“He probably mean And-”

“Pyotr! We talked about this already, did we not?” scolded the dancer “He’s hiding away for a reason. Don’t ruin this!”

Micheal had interrupted his helpers a little too late. Keno had heard more than enough for him to connect the dots and Lionel could tell just by looking at the smile forming on the trans guy’s face.

“Well, we’ll get going~” the redhead cooed

While Lionel and Kennedy were making their way around the plaza offering their help here and there, their friends on the other side of the city were busy with their own dealings.

Artyom had called Isaak over to help calm down Vadim who was in a panic. Usually he would have called Kennedy but he knew he would probably be helping with Lionel’s proposal set-up and rehearsal today.

“What’s gotten to him?” asked Isaak, Vadim had locked himself into his room, crying and panicking. “Did you have a fight or something?”

“No! He woke up like this! I tried asking him what’s wrong but between all of his sobs I wasn’t able to properly grasp what the problem is.”

“What’s the best you could interpret?”

“I'm not sure? At one point he screamed ‘the water! The water!’ but that’s about all I caught...”

“What? What about the water? Is he scared of this year's downpour or something?”

“I don't know!”

Isaak sighed heavily before knocking on the distressed twin’s bedroom door.

“Vadim… Can you open the door? Can we talk?” Shuffling could be heard behind the door “You said something about the waters... What is this about?”

“The water won’t come down!” Vee screamed back “It’s just not going to! I’ve seen it! I know it!”

“What? This can’t be true! Why wouldn’t they?”

“I dreamed about it. The water isn’t going down today… It’s not going down for a while!”

“You dreamed of it?” Arty asked, confused

“Don’t you think it was just a nightmare?” Asked Isaak

“I doubt it!” Veed tried to recompose himself then put both his hands on Isaak’s shoulders “Look… Isaak. You’re smart right. You gotta believe me. I... I’d had multiple dreams before that turned out to be true. Usually they predict things far in the future, like months or years ahead. This one however, it’s so short notice… but I know this is one of them still!”

“W-wha…?”

“H-how?”

“I saw in my dreams that you’d become a transman… I’ve seen months in advance that Arty would get promoted to be the royal artificer.” He started pacing around. “At first I choked it up to coincidence or just me misremembering old dreams. But after 10 or 12 of them happening I’ve come to recognize the specific energy I feel when I'm having a precognitive dream. I know the water not coming down is an event I foresaw!”

“Wait.. You could see the future and never told us?” Asked Artyom “Why keep it from us?”

“All the dreams I had so far where things I felt were better left unsaid. Would you have liked me ruining the surprise of your promotions month before you even applied and risk you not putting in the effort because you’d think you already had it secured? Should I have personally inserted myself in Isaak’s self discovery years before he realized he was trans and potentially make Isaak feel pushed into being trans and make him steer in the opposite direction?! It’s fucking complicated but one thing I can tell you is that it wasn’t my place to say anything. Things were bound to happen without my input. Me saying anything could have made things worse instead!”

“Please calm down!” Whispered Isaak “Forget about the old dreams for now. Let’s focus on the water dream. What can you tell us about it? How do you know it’s gonna be today and not next year that the water won't come down? Wouldn’t it make more sense since all your other dreams predicted things way far ahead?”

“I.. All I know is that the water won’t come down, and since the reserves we got were only enough to have us last through winter we’ll have a huge problem going through spring a d summer.” Vadim retreated back into his room, the door still open. He sat on his bed. “I know it’s going to be this year because of a key event I know is going to happen today… Arty knows what I'm talking about…”

“Oh.. yeah I know what you mean…”

“What’s the key event?”

“Well.. Er…” Arty tried thinking of something to say that wouldn’t expose Lionel’s romantic plans. “The new dancers! This year we got new dancers. We’re probably going to have a reveal/introduction to the new performers that we won't get next year…”

It wasn’t the best excuse but since it technically was true, Isaak wouldn’t catch him in a lie.

Isaak sat next to Vadim. Everyone stayed silent for what felt like an eternity. Isaak was thinking deep and hard about the upcoming event. The waters weren’t going to come down if what Vee saw was true but then what? Neither of them could do anything. They couldn’t just fly up in the clouds and order the water to come down. Warning the population before the celebration wouldn’t help either. At best they’d be laughed at, at worst it would cause unnecessary panic. Had they know earlier maybe they could have told The Highness to make bigger reserves but it was a one-day notice. Nothing could be done.

“Well.. We should get going…”bluntly said Isaak “The celebration will start soon”

“WHAT?! What about the waters!” Vadim cried

“What do you want me to do? There’s nothing any of us can do! The only thing we can do right now is wait until after the celebration to talk to The Highness about it!” He painfully sighed ‘We don’t need to create chaos or have you branded as the bad omen that caused it all, alright? Let’s go.”

“I guess you’re right…”

The twins swapped their usual shawl for their celebration ones before all three of them made their way out to the plaza, they quickly stopped by Isaak’s place for him to change his shawl before finally arriving at the festival.

After a ten minute walk and another five to find their missing 2 friends the group was finally reunited. Both the blue haired guy and the twin had put on a brave face, fainting happiness even if the fear of what might come upon them today. When he saw Isaak, Lionel’s excitement for his proposal was renewed. He was too blinded by his daydreaming to notice the tenseness coming from his partner. He had his plan playing on repeat in his head: First they would all raise their banners, a swig of Pecha would be drunk, they would watch the Salmalion dance and then, right before the rain would pour down, he’d get down on one knee and ask Isaak for his hand. It would be perfect!

“Arty! Vadim! You won’t believe what I discovered today!” Kennedy said with a smug grin, Lionel shaking his head behind him. “Guess who the new dancers are this year~”

“Micheal? That’s not a secret.” replied Artyom

“Yeah yeah we all know about him. I'm talking about his partner. The butt of the beast!”

“Oh? They changed too?” the other twins attention was caught “I thought only Micheal’s dad retired to pass down the role on him.”

“Weeelllllll… Have you seen your brother today? Isn’t he suspiciously missing in action right now?”

“No way Andrei is performing. That’s just too unlike him!”

“Yeah, he’d be way too embarrassed to do something like this!”

“Why do you think the identity of the new dancer is kept hidden! It’s his shame!” Kennedy made exaggerated dramatic gestures “He can’t bear to have it known. Too bad his best friends accidentally let it slip <3”

“Wouldn’t you two know already?” asked Isaak “Wasn’t that the key event that-”

“We shouldn’t talk about the dream thing!” Shouted Artyom, his hand covering Isaak’s mouth “Y-you said it yourself! We don’t need to create unnecessary chaos!”

Isaak nodded. He planned to tell Lionel and Kennedy but maybe it was best not to, Kenny might go around and spread rumors. Besides now that he thinks about it, it was possible Vadim had only seen Micheal in his dream and not the other dancer. Micheal was kind of a bigger deal, family traditions and all.

After reassuring and distracting the two tall guys away from the dream talk, it was finally time for the festival to start. Every Anacree in town were out in the street laughing and partying. One-handed banners branded with the face of their chimera god were distributed throughout the crowds. Some people waved their banner in the air, others attached them to their back with lockbound magic and more simply held onto theirs. Once everyone had their banners the music started. It wasn’t time for the grand dance yet but there was always some form of party dancing before that. People danced, people drank, they looked at the sky brandishing their flags. Everyone was celebrating, even Isaak and Artyom who had forgotten about their prior talk. Only Vadim remembered and looked up with eye full of worry.

“Hey Vitamin!” He thoughts were interrupted by Kennedy. “The Salmalion is about to make its entrance. Should we cheer by saying Andrei names at the end? Don’t you wanna see his reaction?”

“Uh? N-no. Let’s not… We.. We don’t need to torment him.” Vadim whispered, Kenny’s mood suddenly shifting.

“Are you alright? I know you’ve always been the quiet twin but even by your standards you’ve been awfully silent. What’s the matter?”

“It… Youll see later…”

Kennedy looked around at his friends.

“Er..” He leaned in closed and whispered “It’s not about Lionel’s proposal is it? Did Isaak talk about not wanting to be with Lionel when you were away or something?”

“No, no! It’s fine… Just don’t worry about it for now…”

Not worrying wasn’t gonna be easy. He didn’t know what was bugging Vadim but he knew that tonight was a big night for Lio and he really didn’t want this life milestone to be ruined. There wasn’t anything for him to do for now beside smiling and not letting Lionel catch on any potential tension. He’d make sure he was going to propose and everyone would be happy. Just after this dance it will be time. 

While it was clear it was just two men in a costume, for a brief moment under the projector, it felt like it was a real beast. It jumped effortlessly onto the pillars, standing and bucking as if it was one single living being. It showed how skilled and in prefect synch the two performers were. People probably already forgot these were two newbie performing in front of people for the first time. They weren’t untrained of course, but a first time show in front of so many eye on such an important date was sure to put them under pressure.

Lionel had waited long enough, the show was going to conclude soon and his moment had come. He poked Isaak’s shoulder to get his attention. It was had for the guy to pry his eyes away from the dazzling display. If it really was Andrei under there, he was truly impressed. Seeing that his first attempt was mostly unsuccessful (only getting his 3 other friend’s attention but not Isaak’s), the tan guy nudged his boyfriend a second time. 

“Yeah? What is it?” Isaak said, his eyes still locked on the green creature kneeling and bowing indicating the end of the dance.

“Look” giggled Lionel, his voice coming from much lower than what Isaak was used to

The trans guy looked down toward the source of the voice. Lionel was kneeling down, just like the beast did a moment ago.

“Whe. Wha? Wait. What?!” incoherent questions was all he could mutter

“Will yo-”

“Well yeah?! Of course!”

“You didn't even let me finish!”

“S-Sorry… Go ahead. I won't interrupt this time!”

Lionel stood back up and laughed

“No, no, no really go ahead and do it again! I didn’t mean to cut you off!”

“It’s fine! I can’t deny it didn't go down the way I expected but I think we’ll get to laugh about it for quite some time!”

“At least say it in full! I wanna hear it!”

“Alright! Alright!” Lio paused dramatically, looking straight into his partner’s eye who grew with impatience. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes! Yes I will!”

The blue-haired man hugged his soulmate tightly, a good portion of the crown now looking at them cheering. Proposals were not uncommon on this celebration, to them it was just something more to be happy about and celebrate. To them kissing under the torrential rain of the spring downpour was just so much more romantic… But there was no rain.

Isaak’s mind had been completely focused on the celebration and then the proposal that he had all forgotten about the whole water premonitions. He was only reminded of it when murmurs grew through out the crowds. It should have started raining by now and everyone was talking about it. What was going on? Did they start celebrating a bit too early? Were the new dancers not good enough for the god so he decided not to grant them water? They waited. A few more minutes, then an hour, then two more… The water... It really wasn’t coming down.

Vadim was right.

Panic set in. People started crying, shouting at the sky, banners were thrown, glass shattered. At the middle of it Vadim was frozen. I knew this would happen, and he wasn’t able to stop it. Why didn’t he predict it sooner, before winter back then there was still time? What was the point of him getting his vision right before the fatal event?

Eventually, guards came down to minimize the chaos. Lionel who was a guard currently off duty was asked to join in too and get the population under control. Once the crowd was deemed calm enough The Highness walked onto the stage. Their voice instantly got everyone to look at them. They spoke in the most soothing voice, yet a tinge of coldness could be felt.

“Please. I urge every one of you to stay calm. Surely our dear Salmalion is merely testing us. Showing some slight displeasure at this year’s show perhaps. I'm sure the spring rain will come soon. Please be patient.”

___________

Chapter 2

   It was the next afternoon and the rain still hadn’t started. The entire population was agitated, speculations ran rampant and no matter how many speeches The Highness gave the mass couldn’t be calmed. There was yesterday’s speech, a closed off consort with elites, messengers sent to other towns to estimate the extent of the rain situation, traders deployed to find or exchange money for freshwater supplies, yet another public speech and finally there was today’s consultation with the artificer team.

Artyom was the leader of most of these tinkerers so he knew he had to be on top of his game today. With both Vadim’s info and what he heard from the prior meeting he had already started drafting inventions. He had a number of blueprints tucked under his arms. They were very rough as he had drawn them himself and didn’t ask his artistically skilled twin to clean them up for him. Vadim already had enough on his plate so he let him sleep throughout the night while he stayed up until dawn to work.

“Your Highness, let me start up the meeting with what I have drafted!” he exclaimed, already laying down his papers on the table. “With enough steel and glass we could work out some thermal desalination! We’d need salt water for this. I figured since we can't conjure water out of thin air and we know the oceans don’t rise up during winter we should have no issues with that...”

“Go on” encouraged the royal figure, surprisingly not being bothered by Arty cutting them off.

“My design is for the most part just 3 components. A first container filled with salt water, a heat source placed under the container and finally an empty container linked to the first by a tube.” he explained as he pointed to his scribbles laid down on the table. All the other workers followed in silence. “If everything works the way I think it will, the water will evaporate from the heat then drip down into the second container. The salt being too heavy and not able to turn into gas will remain in the first container!”

Everyone nodded. On paper it sounded logical.

“Have you tried it out on a small scale?” asked the town leader “How fast would the process be? How much heat would we need to generate to turn a large amount of salt water into fresh water?”

“I-I haven’t had the time to test it out on such short notice but I'm very confident in the process!” Artyom stuttered “Um.. Additionally I… Would it be possible to have a private consultation regarding the issue.. My brother wanted to speak with you on the matter and-”

“I don’t have the time at the present. I understand that everyone is worried but I cannot address everyone’s concern individually.”

“Well actually it was a more helpful insight really..”

“Have him consult the elite Majis then. If whatever he has to say is pertinent enough it will get back to me. Now go and get this unsalty thingy test out. If it doesn't work, report back to me with a new idea. Do not fail me, you would fail the people as a whole”

“Of course your Highness. I won’t disappoint.”

The tinkering twin lowered his head. Well at least he tried and so far his machinery plans were accepted. With this approval The Highness dismissed everyone. From this day until the waters were back or a new source of fresh water was found, they would all have to work on Artyom’s desalination plans. Most of them were quite happy with how the meeting went. None of them had to speak or fumble with their half baked ideas. What Arty had displayed here truly showed why he was picked to be the royal artificer and not just another worker.

Isaak was the one to contact then, he though to himself. Isaak wasn’t an elite Maji officially yet but he had been granted a staff last month meaning he was bound to be promoted in the coming weeks. In this world there was 2 types of magic: Lumos and Silvusion. Lumos allowed Maji to turn pure light into solid objects and projectiles while Silvusion-which technically still was a light based spellcraft- was the art of using mirrors to display images. It’s main use was entertainment and every house had a big mirror in their living room that would be used like a television. However it had its tactical use also; all elites and Highness-approved individuals like the royal artificer got to have a smaller pocket-sized mirror they could use like a cellphone of sorts in order to communicate long distance. Artyom pulled his pocket mirror out. Did Isaak also receive his when he got his staff or were they waiting for his official graduation? He thought.

“Should we start working now?” asked one of the other engineers who was following Arty out of the royal quarters along with everyone else.

“Ah… yeah..kind of. Everyone go get your stuff and meet me at the smithing house. I need to fetch a couple things before we get started… maybe get those prints cleaned up too.”

“Artyom. I need to talk to you.”

“Is it urgent? I'm kinda busy right now..” he shook his blueprints “Royal duties and stuff…”

“...Hmmm… I guess not…”

“Is it about the dance? I know the Highness said that maybe it didn’t rain because the performance wasn’t good enough but I personally don’t think so. Yo-...Micheal and his partner did a great job!”

“Ah.. Thanks for your input. I'll be sure to forward it to Micheal.”

It felt immensely weird for him to both see his older brother vulnerable like this and having to console him. He hoped his words were enough for the time being. There was just so much for him to worry about and execute. He wasted no time grabbing his equally sulking twin out of the house and on their way to their half-blind friend. On their way there the double got to talk a bit about what was to come and Vadim brought up an interesting point.

“Do you really have to ask Isaak to get us in touch with the elite Majis? Can’t we go to them directly?”

“We cant because a lot of them are snobs who hates me.”

“What? Since when?”

“Since the beginning pretty much. They don’t like how, unlike the others, I do not consider the use of Lumos in my builds. They all think magic is the most important thing and tech needs to evolve with it. I don’t believe in that and still managed to make it as the royal artificer. It pisses them off.”

“I see… But Isaak… don’t you think he’d rather focus on his engagement with Lionel right now?”

“It’s just gonna be a small favor in order to help everyone! It’s not like I'm going to completely prevent him from designing his new family sash!”

He did agree with Vadim and didn’t really want to involve Isaak, but if he wanted the Majis to listen to him and his brother he needed someone the elites had faith in to speak on their behalf.

He wondered how Lionel was dealing with all of this also. Isaak knew about the rain situation but Lionel didn’t. Did he feel like his proposal was ruined because of it? Did he think that maybe he was somehow responsible for the crisis because the god disapproved of their union? He didn’t get to find out just yet since when they arrived Lionel was nowhere to be seen. He was probably on guard duty today.

“Hey Ziki”

“You know I don’t like it when you call me that!”

“Sorry. You know how I am when I'm nervous, being all sweet and stuff. Using nicknames is part of it.”

“Yeah, yeah. What is it?” the blue haired man asked, lifting his head away from the paper he was drawing on. “How did the royal meeting go?”

“Good for the most part. I have all the machinery planned out. I still need to get Vadim heard by The Highness tho…”

“You didn’t get to mention it during the meeting?”

“I did! It’s just that they said he’d need to ask an elite Maji first…”

“I'm.. I'm still technically a scholar Maji. I didn’t graduate to elite just yet.”

“I know but you can talk with them! They wont listen to me plus I need to go work on the desalination system.” Arty grabbed Isaak's hands “Can you talk to them for us? Bring Vee with you maybe?”

“Fine.” Isaak replied as he looked back at his less than stellar drawing of a shawl. “If Vadim help me with this design we can call it even.”

“Of course! I don’t mind” replied Vadim, finally participating in the conversation. “I can whip up something real quick right now and we can check with the Maji later.”

“Hmm no. Let’s go see the elites first. It’s more important”.

Isaak felt both flattered and nervous at the idea that he was the only one able to help the twins in their situation. He left like a small hero almost. If the elites listened Vadim could be bumped up to a trusted position of sort like ‘the royal medium’ and get access to a pocket mirror he’d use any time he gets an important vision. Perhaps the elites could find a way to more precisely channel his ability and get him to see critical events on command.

The trans guy was honestly just excited about visiting the elite's quarters. As a simple scholar he didn't get to visit the noble district often unlike Artyom who had his smithing house there. The trio made their way through the plaza, up the small incline that led to the inner wall separating the commoner’s zone from the noble district and along the housing street. When they passed by the smithing house Arty split from the group leaving Isaak and Vadim to continue toward the elite’s tower.

Out of all the buildings, the elite’s tower was the prettiest according to Isaak. Sure The Highness’s castle was gorgeous as well but to him the slimmer elegant glass tower was much more pleasing to the eye than the wide golden palace. There was no one guarding the tower today. The water crisis probably had most guards in town keeping everyone calm and stop the most distressed individuals from attacking merchants and stealing any water they could get. Lionel was probably in the thick of it right now.

Inside, the two men made their way up the spiraling stairs. It was Vadim’s first time here and Isaak could tell it was scaring him a little.

“The elites can be a bit snooty but they aren’t outright dickheads. Don’t sweat it too much.”

It didn’t completely reassure the guy but Vee appreciated the gesture nonetheless. He remained silent the entire way up, following the scholar around the place. They eventually stopped in a long hallway, dozens of blue doors lining the sides of the crystal-decorated walls. Isaak pointed at one in particular and gave a little nod to encourage Vadim to enter.

“He-hello?” He shyly muttered, a crowd of staff-wielding men turned toward him “Erm…”

“The Highness told us to consult you regarding a matter we dim of utmost importance” declared Isaak

“More important than the water shortage that we have to deal with?!” barked one of the older Maji

“Well… Kind of?” Isaak braced himself a bit “My friend over here has an ability that could prove useful.”

“Can he create water?”

“Locate a freshwater source?”

“Call the rain on command?”

“N-no he cannot do any of that” Isaak was having a harder time than he expected.

“What is it then”

“He can dream of the future. He actually told me about the rain not coming down hours before it happened.”

“How long did he know about it?”

“Why weren’t we notified”

“Eh. I was gonna ask if he was the cause of it but looking at how pathetic and terrified he is I doubt it!”

“I only dreamed about it the night prior. I had slept in that day so when I woke up it was already too late to do anything! Isaak told me not to tell anyone so as to not cause panic or make me look like a bad omen!” he yelled before taking a deep breath. “While I got this vision only hours before it came true, I usually have most of my visions months or years ahead. If you can find in yourself to trust me I'll be sure to notify the council of any visions deemed important that I get.”

“What other predictions did you get?”

“How often do you get them?”

“How do you tell the difference between a regular dream and a vision?”

“I.. I usually get only 2 or 3 visions per year and they are mostly about my friends..”

“We could potentially weaponize this!” said a very old Maji who had been silent until now. “Let’s say his vision only comes to him if it involves his friends. The water crisis involved everyone so it’s fair to say it still follows the ‘friend parameter’. All we need is to always have one of his friends participating in important events so we can get predictions.”

“Isaak is his friend, we could use him!”

“Yeah!”

“We can’t involve him with everything. We only get 3 predictions a year!”

“You guys are all making plans but we haven’t even got any kind of proof this is true!”

“Hmhmm! Anyone can say ‘I saw it in a dream’ after it has already happened.”

“We could potentially put it to the test using Isaak”

“Do we think? Personally I don’t want to involve anyone not approved in important dealings. Not without the proof Artyom can predict things accurately and within a reasonable time frame.”

“I-I'm Vadim actually... Artyom is my”

“Yeah yeah”

The room of elites was split. On one side some thought using the two young folk was a good idea, on the other were the ones wanting proof first. There was also a smaller pool of ‘wizards’ completely uninterested in the speculated precognitive abilities. In all honesty Isaak was less than thrilled to hear all these people he looked at as peers casually discussing using him as a test subject. Sure, he’d be glad to help with Vadim’s gift but they made it sound like they were going to throw him into dangerous situations just to see what would happen. He was starting to think this was a terrible idea.

“I... Ah…” Isaak hesitated “We’ll let you think about it. Vee and I need to go back to Artyom… Vadim is supposed to help with the blue prints…”

The entire room was too busy debating with each other to reply to the scholar so him and his companion quickly made their exit.

“That’s... That’s not at all how I envisioned this unfold…”

“Yeah… Me neither…”

A bit defeated, they made their way back to the smithing house. Isaak hated that name to be honest. Artyom was the one to name it and he wasn’t the most creative when it came to naming things… well beside giving people nicknames but that wasn’t the same, with nicknames you get a base name to work off.

Inside the tinkering warehouse everyone was huddled around something out of the two friends’s view. They could hear them whispering to each other but couldn’t understand what was said as so many voices spoke simultaneously. A familiar voice drowned them all.

“Alright boys! Time for a taste test!”

Now part of the circle, the scholar watched Artyom take a generous gulp of water out of a beaker. Looking at the guy’s face the water didn’t taste salty. His idea had worked.

“The water temperature aside, it taste decent! I think we’re good to go for the larger scale production!” he declared before spotting his twin in the crowd. “Right on time Vee! Let’s get the schematics polished so we don’t have any mishaps from misreadings! Everyone, while we work on the papers yall can already get the smelters ready. We’ll need a bunch of stuff melted down to make enough stations to generate water for everyone in town!”

Away from the rest of the workers, Isaak leaned in toward the artificer leader.

“Do you think this will generate enough water for everyone?” he asked

“To be honest? No. But it’s better than nothing. It will probably be tightly rationed with only the nobles getting comfortable supplies at best…”

“Yeah I figured also…”

“My first plan was actually to build a pump that reached all the way up there to siphon the water back down to us… But there’s no way we can build that high…”

“What about the river’s source?” chimed Vadim “the water of our lake came from the Nicolas river.. Maybe if we followed it to the source…”

“I heard e scouting team was sent there already” replied the other twin

“Let’s hope we’re the closest to it.” stated Isaak “If the water crisis is worldwide there’s no doubt any nearby town would also check any close-by water sources and if they capture it for themselves before we do it could get dicey…”

“Yeah…”

“Well at the very least we got some hopes with your water-conversion plants!”

Artyom nodded then started walking away, blueprints in hand. As much as he enjoyed the chitchat it was time for him to get to work. The sooner he got his men to build the faster they could start refilling the water reserves.

Arty wasn’t the only one who needed to go back to work, so did Vadim. It wasn’t the same kind of work however. He gently nudged his taller friend.

“Let’s get home and start drafting those shawl designs shall we?”

Proposals and weddings were completely different in Anacree culture. When proposing there weren't any rings needed, they still did the kneeling thing like humans do but that was about the only thing they had in common. After popping the question there was no month or year-long waiting times until the officialization of the union. There weren't any big party celebrations either. Here things were simple: first one partner proposed, then after accepting the other partner was to design the shawl they and their future children would wear until they too get married.

There were many different styles of shawls but only 3 categories of union shawls. First there were the ones which were designed by mixing attributes from both partner’s shawl such as taking the color of one and the trim-cut of the second. Next there was the one who was brand new, taking no cue from the pre-wedding garments and displaying a completely different color and cut. Finally there were the ‘extensions’, in place of making a new shawl the submissive partner would simply start wearing the same shawl as the dominant’s family kind of like humans (and anacrees to an extent) do with last names. This last one was very common amongst nobles.

“What kind of designs were you thinking of?”

“Hmm I'm not sure… I know Lionel doesn't really care about keeping his shawl and while I love mine I feel like adding a touch of color would make him happy. So regardless of if I merge both designs or make something new, I’d go for something that has some bright trim like on his cloth. I do really like having gold bits on the ends though! It gives the shawl some nice weight to it…”

Vee took mental notes of it all. He already had some designs floating through his head but he pushed them aside at first. He was focusing, searching the back of his head. Had he any dreams that hadn’t happened yet where he saw Isaak with a different shawl? He thought. Had he already seen what he knew was the lovers destined union cloth? No. The only prediction that didn’t remember having taken place yet was one with Artyom sitting down on the lake shores, it taking place after the crisis was over no doubt.

___________

Chapter 3

The entire month it took to have these made were a decent distraction for the three people involved. They couldn’t completely ignore the drought however. All 5 friends were very concerned, each having their reasons. Kennedy’s crops were shriveling making his harvest pitiful and leaving him and his clients hungry, Lionel was constantly dealing with thieves and people driven mad from dehydration, Artyom was stressed from the responsibility of running the water conversion plant that didn’t produce nearly enough for everyone, Vadim slept more than usual in a poor attempt at triggering his precognitive dreams in order to find a solutions, and Isaak he just.. He felt the pressure of him needing to do something but compared to the other he felt like he wasn’t in the place to be feeling that way. 

He wasn’t a guard, people didn't rely on him for food or water, he couldn’t predict the future either so why did he feel so responsible somehow? Even after finally being officially promoted to elite Maji rank he wasn’t in any position to do anything. None of the elite Majis were from what he had been briefed. As far as they and The Highness were concerned they were just going to wait for the water to come down by itself once the god decided it was time. He didn’t like this idea at all.

Isaak sat at the window back in the elite's tower looking up at the sunset-red skies and watching the humongous watery orb above. It seems almost reachable from up there.

“You’ve missed another meeting” said Uriel, one of the other elites

“My presence wasn’t needed” replied Isaak “I bet all you did was talk about changing one of the tower room decorations again.”

“It was about changing the roof’s golden pole actually…” The pink haired man leaned on the window ledge. “There’s not much we can do about the water situation so for us life goes on. We just focus on whatever we would as if everything was normal.”

“So we just sit there while everyone else dies?!”

“I don’t like it either, you know.”

They stayed silent for a while, looking up at the life fluid hovering high up above.

“What’s the dark spot at the center of it?” asked the new elite.

“It’s a crystal I think… If I recall correctly Salazar confirmed it was a crystal when he looked at it with his spyglass.”

“We use crystal gems in our staves to focus our magic…”

“Yeah.”

“And we pull said magic out of our own crystalline chest pearl right?”

“Hmhmm. And the crystal up there is surely powered or using magic to keep the waters up all winter.”

“What if we broke it?”

“Uh?!”

“The crystal at the core. If we broke it there wouldn’t be any magic to keep the water up! We’d get our water back and we won’t keep dieing!”

“Isaak! Do you even hear yourself? Do you really want to defy God, break one of his gifts and go against his judgment?!”

“Do YOU have a better idea besides sitting on your ass and doing nothing?!”

“Alright.. Let’s entertain for a minute your idea of destroying the crystal. How are you gonna get up there? Because you nor any of us could cast a luminous projectile that would fly that far.”

Isaak remained quiet for a while, trying to think of something.

“Well… er…building with bricks and steel seems unfeasible… Too many resources needed… would take too long aswell…” He hadn’t thought that far.. He hadn’t really thought at all to be fair. The idea had hit in only a few seconds ago. “We could use Lumos to create a ladder or stairs..”

“So have a full team to go up there? Because you can’t have a group on the ground making the ladder since we can’t conjure magic that far and having only one person go on their own they will tire themselves and eventually be too weak to keep their cast solid.”

“Well I suppose yes…”

“What if one accidentally falls off and the entire focus is lost? Everyone would fall to their doom”

“Fine! I haven’t figured it out yet!” The trans man shouted “I still think it’s the best option!”

“It’s a foolish plan.” Uriel gently put a hand on Isaak’s shoulder. “You’re still young and new to the Maji. Trust me it’s not a good idea.”

The fresh Maji pushed away his senior. He wasn’t going to drop it, not yet. Unless he wasn’t able to come up with any method of going up he would keep this as his main plan. Without wasting any time he sat at his desk, completely ignoring Uriel who was still very much in his room. Isaak opened his notebook and started scribbling away.

He did his best putting down every potential method of getting up with Maji that he could think of. Stairs, ladders, ropes, trampolines of sorts. Each and every plan fell flat for the same reasons: they would all either consume way too much energy for a solo expedition or even if a team was used any loss of focus could unmaterialized the Lumos and get everyone killed. Only the greatest of the elite would be able to pull it off and there was no way they’d agree with this plan if Uriel’s reaction was anything to go by.

“Are you done?” said the unimpressed dark skinned elite who kept watching as Isaak struggled to come up with anything viable. “Are you willing to listen to reason?”

“I am NOT done!” snapped the newbie. “I still have plenty of ideas!”

Isaak stormed out. In truth he didn’t have much left in his head. He knew someone who might however: Artyom. His specialty was to build contraptions that could function without Maji after all. Surely he could come up with something. A sort of huge harpoon launcher that could attach a rope to the crystal that Isaak could climb? A catapult that could safely send him up? A precise canon that could swiftly dispose of the crystal perhaps?

He ran straight toward the water plants. He didn’t stop for a second even if his lungs were burning from the efforts. At the moment it didn’t really care about the dryness in his mouth, the sharp pain in his chest or the dizziness getting to his head. He had hopes.

“Arty! I need a favor from you!”

“U-uh? What?”

“I need you to make a machine that can get me up there! O-Or something that can shoot far enough to penetrate the waters and reach the crystal inside!”

“What?! What are you on about?” The orange-coded twin was completely taken aback and confused. It wasn’t like the guy to talk crazy like this. If anything, cookie plans was his field of expertise, not Isaak. “You want to go up there? To get the water down?”

The former scholar looked around for a moment. Both the artificer Artyom was talking to a minute ago and all the other workers in earshot were looking at him funny.

“I..ah… Let’s talk about it in private okay?”

“Okay?...”

The royal artificer led his friend to a less populated part of the plant.

“So you wanna get up there… What are you gonna do when you’re there? Politely ask the water to come down?”

“I'm gonna shatter the crystal” Isaak stated matter-of-factly

“WHAT?!”

“I'm gonna break it. It’s gonna break the spell that keeps the water up.”

“I-I. Wh.. We-I mean I guess it could work.. But how? Like? What do you want me to build to get you up there? How are you gonna break the crystal?”

“I don’t know how to get up there, that's why I'm asking you. Lumos Maji wouldn’t work as I’d get exhausted before I even reach a tenth of the distance so if Maji won’t work you’d work something out!”

“I'm..flattered you think I could come up with something…” Arty started walking around as he started racking his brain. “Hmmm..perhaps…”

The artificer walked away still in his thoughts, the Maji trailing him closely. Isaak could hear him mumbling as he went along, unable to grasp what was being said. Eventually they reached the twin’s house where Arty shot straight to his bedroom. There he reached for one of the shelves above his desk and brought down a small wooden boat.

“A boat? I'm trying to fly up… not… you know…” Isaak was quite confused.

“I made two of these for Vadim and I to play with. We’d spend entire afternoons on the lake shore to watch our little boats uncontrollably zip by. One day my boat hit a rock but rather than crashing and sinking, it got launched in the air and the sail catching the wind pushed it really far through the air. You know, the same way it can help the boat glide on water but up? Maybe we could do something like this?”

“It does sound a bit crazy…”

“Yeah and so far all my crazy ideas worked out so maybe~”

“I… If you think it can work, I'll put my faith in you.”

“For the take off I’d need a machine that can either catapult the boat or generate a big enough gust of wind.” the brunette said as he started to scribble down ideas. “Once up in the air a steady flow of air could keep you sailing and fall back slowly. The airflow could be maintained with a spinning fan operated with a rotating lever… But then the descent… I don't thin the wind and sail could keep the fall slow and gentle.. Not at this angle at least…” Artyom grabbed his small wooden boat, lifted it up and let it fall to the ground. He gave a small nod before picking it back up, tying up his pillowcase to it and dropping it one more time. This fell noticeably slower this time around. It was still a hard fall for the small toy but it was undeniably slower than before. “Yeah! A bigger horizontal sail could work… It would need to be tucked up or folded during the take off though, otherwise it could prevent the ship from taking off entirely.”

Isaak didn’t understand much of what the tinkerer was saying but it seemed like he had promising plans.

“So here’s what I have so far: we’d need a small boat as a base, anything too big could make the take-off harder but big enough to fit the team.”

“Team?” Isaak asked

“Well yeah, you’d need at least 2 people; one who’ll operate the fan and the other to work the sail… I mean I could potentially see how I could fit things in a way where you’d be able to work the lever with one hand and the sail with the other but then I wouldn’t have any space to put the folded up second sail for the descent.” Artyom scratched his chin. “Come to think of it, depending on how big of a sail it would need to be, I might not have enough space either way… That would need to be tested further first…”

“Yeah and even if I could operate both at once, I would need at least one free hand to cast any spell to get right of the crystal…”

“Oh yeah! That too!”

“A two-man team is inevitable…”

“I mean, would Lionel let you go up there on your own anyway?”

“Ahah! No! No, he wouldn’t!” Isaak paused, realizing he had thought about so many parts of his plan but had yet to even consult with his husband about it. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Take your time with it cause I got a lot to work on if we want this to work.”

Isaak nodded before making his exit. Would Lionel agree to his plan? If he did would he even have the time between his guard duties? If his husband didn't have the time, who would he turn to to be his co-pilot? Arty was still needed at the plant, Vadim would never do anything this dangerous and Kennedy… Maybe Kennedy would agree.

The Maji made his way to the marketplace as it was where Lio was posted most of the time. The market was a shell off itself. Evening was approaching but it should still be active for an hour or two before Lionel would probably patrol around town.Thankfully he arrived on time. He took a good look at the few stands still up around him. The fruits and vegetables were pitifully small compared to previous harvest, the fish booths that would usually pop up this season were nowhere in sight and while the meat stand seemed to still have decent produce it was only a matter of time until all the livestocks that were fattened up during winter would run out.

Isaak stopped in front of a stand for a moment, it was a tea stand. Tea merchants were the only one to still prosper in these times as people would use the dried leaves to flavor the muddy-tasting waters some people were able to dig out of the soil since the desalted water was distributed in such small rations.

“Isaak?” called a familiar voice behind him

“Uh?!” he turned around, now facing his lover.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the tower?”

“Oh, yeah. I was looking for you actually!” the trans man replied, nodding his head to the side to motion Lionel to move away so they could talk in private.

“What’s the matter?”

“I.. Arty and I have started on a plan to get the water back but I’d need your help.”

“Sure?” the tan man was a bit apprehensive. “What do you need me to do?”

“Arty is building a ship to get us up. I’d need you to fly it with me. I can’t operate it on my own.”

“F-Fly?”

“I know it’s a bit of a wild plan but.. I know it’s gonna work!... It has to…”

“Wh… Okay. Have you tested the ship already or…”

“Artyom is still building the schematics for it actually.”

Lionel thought about it for a moment. Flying up sounded crazy, even more so considering they hadn’t even tested whatever machine they wanted to use. He looked up at their end goal.

“What did Vadim say about all this?” he asked.

“Uh? I.. I haven’t talked to him today” Isaak’s confusion didn’t last long. “He didn’t get any visions about it. Not yet as far as I know… If he gets a vision where it ends badly of course I won't go through with it.”

“Hmm..”

“Besides, we can’t really get a prediction any time soon, I think. He said he gets like 3 a year and he already had one last month. The two he has left probably won't happen for a while…”

“Not necessarily.. Even if he used to have visions at regular intervals his last vision was clearly a break in his usually precognitive habits with it being a short term prediction.”

“True…”

He sighed heavily and made his way to the kitchen. On his way he walked by this twin’s room, he seemed hard at work. He hesitated between continuing his route downstairs or inspecting what his brother was doing. Before he could make a decision Artyom noticed him.

“Hey sleepyhead. How is the dream thing going?”

“Still nothing worthwhile… Looks like you got something going?”

“I.. Isaak asked me to build him a fucking flying machine…”

“You sound both excited and terrified at the idea.”

“Fuck yeah I am! On one hand IT’S A FREAKING COOL IDEA! But on the other hand it’s like… He could crash and die, you know?! BUT IT’S STILL A FREAKING COOL IDEA SO IMMA DO IT!”

It was often like this with Artyom, excitement made almost any danger seem trivial in the heat of the moment. Surely later when he’d be testing things on the field he’d be much more cautious. Sure he liked risky fun but not to the point of putting his friends life on the line.

The artificer spent quite a long time explaining in detail what he and Isaak were planning. Vadim soaked it all up. He prepared himself mentally for his upcoming clean-up of Arty’s blueprints. He knew he technically wouldn’t need to since his brother only asked for clean-ups when someone else would need to follow the drawn instructions. Vee didn’t really care if this was going to be a solo build-job for Arty, he really wanted to draw those prints. He wanted to feel useful in these times of crisis. If he couldn’t bring any predictions, this was the only good thing he could provide.

___________

Chapter 4

   It didn’t take long for word about Isaak’s skyward expedition to spread around and reach the rest of the elite team. Even if words hadn’t spread they would have been found out now that testing would start. Artyom had spent weeks on this vessel and was ready to see it fly.

For now, the elites only watched from a distance but at the first sign of promising success they knew they might need to intervene. They couldn’t let Isaak go up and defy the natural course of nature, they could certainly watch the fool crash and set the example for people not to follow in his footsteps.

Arty had set everything outside of the city walls. The entire group of friend was here: The artificer was checking all of his machinery, Isaak was composing himself the best he could to fight off his nervousness, Lionel was already seated in the boat ready to face it all, Vadim stood aside his eyes closed as if he was trying to conjure any last minute vision even Kennedy was here. He had pretty much given up on his crops at this point and had nothing better to do than watch his friend put all their effort into this outlandish plan of theirs. 

The boat-like sky-machine was propped up onto a large wooden structure that had some semblance of a giant crossbow tilted upwards. Artyom was going on about the procedure.

“One last time. First I will pull the lever, it will release the cord and will launch you guys up. Once you reach the apex of the curve: Isaak, deploy the main sail and Lionel, start cranking the fan. At any sign of drop or instability deploy the parachute sail. Do not hesitate! It’s better to deploy early and be safe than too late and dead!”

“Don’t worry. We will follow your protocol.” reassured Isaak

“Just making sure. I won’t be able to remind you once you’re up in the air!”

“What’s your pronostic” asked Kennedy to Vadim

“I don't have any” the shorter man whispered back

“I don’t mean in terms of dream predictions. Just in general what do you think is gonna happen?

“I.. I don’t know…”

“Personally I think it will fly… Probably not upward enough for a first flight but it does look promising!”

Vadim stared at his companions fully getting ready to fly. Surely if it were to end in a death he’d have gotten a vision for it, right? They’d be fine regardless of whether it was going to work or not, right? If anything fatal were to happen and he didn’t warn them it would be his fault wouldn’t it?

“Just don’t sweat it with the visions, okay?” said the red head. “If you ask me; the more you focus on it the less likely you are to get one.”

“Uh?”

“Yeah! It’s like when I lose something. When I look for it I never find it but when I stop looking I suddenly find what I was looking for! Maybe your visions are the same. Just try to not think about it.”

“Are you two ready to see history getting written?” shouted Artyom from atop his contraction, lever in hand. “It’s time to take off. I hope you’re watching!”

Kenny and Vadim’s eyes locked onto the boat-thing. There was no turning back now, it was time. Vee looked at both Lionel and Isaak’s faces. Lionel seemed a bit apprehensive yet still very calm and focused. Isaak however… He didn't look sad or scared. He seemed determined, angry even. Rage and passion flowed through him. There wasn’t anyone else more invested in seeing this work, not even Artyom.

“On the count of 3!” Arty declared. Tension rising.

“One”

The artificer held the lever tight with both his hands. Sweat drops forming on his twin brother’s forehead.

“Two”

The two husbands firmly gripped their respective controls, ready to pilot the vessel around. Kennedy held his breath.

“Three!”

The moment Artyom pulled on the mechanism, Vadim closed his eyes. He wasn’t ready to see this. He didn’t want the disaster that could unfold to be forever etched in his brain. He couldn’t live with himself with their faces haunting him. Kennedy and Artyom didn’t notice Vee wasn’t watching, they were too busy following the flying machine with their eyes. It didn't launch far up but it was flying!

They were soaring. They were a bit shaken up by the force of the launch but they were still set on their objective. Isaak opened up the sail and held it’s bar firmly, Lionel getting at his own task on the same beat. With the current angle their best way of gaining altitude would be to gently ascend in a spiral.

“How are things on your end Lio?”

“All good!”

“Great! This might be a slow climb. Let me know if you get too tired to keep the fan spinning.”

“I can manage. I was able to keep my arms up without resting for a full 6 minutes! This is nothing in comparison.”

Lionel’s strength was his pride. With his pearl cracked he couldn’t use any Maji, not even the very small Lumos spell any commoner could master. With the gem-like material their skeleton and pearl was made of, it was very difficult for Anacree to break a bone. The center pearl was where it was the densest making it even harder to crack. Somehow Lio managed to get his damaged. He didn’t remember when nor how. As far as he knew it was always like this.

The strong man put all his heart into getting that fan spinning and his lover did his best steering the ship upward. They wanted to reach the top but deep down they knew they wouldn’t make it on the first try. Right now it was a matter of seeing how high they could go.

After almost fifteen minutes it felt like they were so high up already, but looking at the water bubble above it was clear they were nowhere near high enough. They didn’t even make it half way there.

“I think we’re starting to lose altitude” Said Lionel

“Already?!”

“It’s kinda hard to judge right now but if we’re not already tipping, we’re about to.”

“Alright, let’s give it a couple more minutes before we initiate the descent.”

“Got it!”

It didn’t take long for them to have confirmation that they were indeed starting to fall. Without wasting any time Isaak folded back the mainsail and Lionel took out the large cloth that would serve as a parachute.

As the huge draping unfolded, part of it wrapped around the center pole of the boat. If it remained tangled it could get the men into serious trouble. Their descent was getting increasingly faster. Panic started to set in as the two started to wrestle with the fabric. They pulled and tugged but they didn’t seem to get anywhere.The tangled sail slapped them with the wind making it even hard for them to focus or do anything. 

“We need to get it off!” cried the younger one.

Both of them were terrified. All their efforts proving unsuccessful, Lionel let his instinct kick in.

“Get down!” He ordered

Isaak obeyed without asking any question. Now that his husband was out of the way, Lio started ramming into the pole with his shoulder. After only three blows the wooden mast splintered away. With the force of the wind, the fabric’s hectic flapping, gravity and momentum of Lionel’s blow, the pole flew up in the air and the sail finally got to open up properly.

The fall wasn’t over however. The delayed sail opening would probably mean they wouldn’t have as much time to slow down enough before impact but it seemed that the pole ripped a small but noticeable hole in the fabric, further impacting the speed of their descent.

Down on the ground Artyom and Kennedy were getting worried. Vadim was completely drowning out the outside world at this point. He hadn’t opened his eyes since the launch, even after Kenny shook him in celebration when he watched the boat glide through the air.

He didn’t move either when his brother called for him to help when the ship crashed nor when Kennedy ordered him to help. Vee was completely disconnected from his surrounding, hiding deep down in his mind bubble to shield himself from the real world and it’s harsh consequences.

Luckily the two pilot didn’t die in the fall. They were badly bruised and a bit concussed but thanks to their stone-like bones paired with the parachute who had still considerably slowed down their fall, they were okay. It took their voice to confirm they were okay and back on the ground safely for Vadim to finally open his eyes again. He was still shaken and speechless, just as much as the two who had just had the biggest fall of their lives.

“Not too bad for a first flight!” Isaak joked, his pain clearly audible in every one of his words.

“Could have gone better” replied Artyom.

“How long will it take you to fix it?” the blue haired man asked, taking pretty much everyone by surprise.

“You already wanna fly again?!” Yelled Kennedy, Lionel slouched on him for support.

“I'm sure Lio and I will have enough time to heal while arty works.”

“Well I can’t just repair it. I’d need to redesign it first.” said the artificer “It’s clear the main pole can cause issue during the parachute deployment…”

“Maybe… Maybe you could put the parachute in a box on top of the poll” Suggested Lionel. “And the top could be opened by pull a rope from below where I’d be sitting?”

“Hmmm… Perhaps… But it might mess up with air flow and aerodynamics… Ill look into it.”

Vadim hated Isaak’s determination right now. He didn’t like how he could be so ready to throw himself into danger like this even if it was to save people. Wasn’t Isaak upset when the Maji considered using him as a test subject by throwing into equally dangerous situations?

 Vee hated this, he hated that they were making good progress, that that would continue, that they would probably reach higher and higher next time, that every tries the chance that they could die with increase along the height… That he couldn’t do anything about any of this. He couldn’t help them nor could he stop them. All he could do was watch and hope they’d survive.

This feeling wouldn’t go away for a long time. As month went by, Lionel and Isaak multiplied the flights. No matter how many time they crashed,got bruised or broke a bone, they got back up and flew again. At that point, Vadim wasn’t the only one with negative feelings about the airship project.

The elite Maji already knew about the entire plan since day one thanks to Uriel, but steady progress of the fliers made it clear it was something serious. Not only was Isaak acting in total defiance of the God by trying to destroy the crystal and force the water back down, but he was dragging with him a good part of the population. The crowds were dying, water supplies kept dwindling as other town started giving less and less of their salt waters instead keeping it for their own conversion, there was little to no fauna left to hunt for meat and crops were suffering from the drought just like everything else. To many, Isaak was their last hope. The Highness wasn’t going to let this slide, an intervention was needed.

Right before their latest flight, the group was greeted by Valliard. Valliard was a tall and strong man just like Lionel and Kennedy. Unlike them however, he was well versed with Maji. He was one of the top 5 elites. Isaak had seen him many times in the meeting but had never heard him spoke before.

“The Highness is displeased with your actions Mr.Lockheart.” his deep voice boomed. “Not just you but also the Alexeev twins.”

“Well I'm displeased with The Highness’s lack of actions! We need water!” shouted Isaak “I'm getting it!”

“This is your first warning. You can try one last time but be assured. If you do damage the crystal or continue to try flying both you and Artyom will lose your ranks. You might be exiled even”.

“Fuck you!” barked Isaak. He was having none of it. “I'm doing what’s necessary! Can’t you fucking see it?!”

“You’re not. You’re rebelling against our guardian.”

“Our guardian is letting his people die in mass all across the lands! And for what? Punish us? What have we done to upset him so bad?”

“Maybe You are the problem! You’re just a massive disappointment!” Valliard declared, shooting daggers at Isaak with his eyes. “We all though you’d grow to become a great Maji like your grandfather Ignacio, but we were wrong… You’re no better than the cracked pearl you married.”

The launcher was prime. Artyom was on post, lever in hand. Isaak jumped in, ready to go. Lionel was still on the ground however, preventing them from taking off.

“Come on, Lio. Let’s show him we’re worth more than his snobby magic tricks” encouraged Isaak.

Lionel couldn’t hide his pain. Yes his pearl was cracked, but he was still a good man, he already showed he was a productive member of society. Many time he was praised for being a great guard in the market place even without using any Lumos to apprehend thieves.

“I can’t do this without you Lio…”

He was right. Isaak couldn’t do it without him. He needed him, the people needed them. The only reason their friend group made it semi-comfortably this far was because Isaak and Artyom’s ranks as Elite Maji and Royal Artificer got them access to a bit more water than the rest that they would share with the friend group.

With their rank on the edge of being striped and they water supplies cut, it might make it harder to rest, heal and fly in the future. He needed to get in there and pilot this ship straight to the top.

“Yeah” he said before taking a deep breath then climbing aboard. “I'm ready”

With everyone at their post, they lifted off. Just like every previous time the initial launch was flawless. Sure they would be shaken a bit or lose their balance but it was nothing they couldn’t easily recover from. This rather short period of time was the easiest and most peaceful.

Isaak looked down bellow as they progressed upward, after so many flights and rough falls he no longer feared heights or experienced vertigo. They could see it all from up there: the empty lake, the streets only populated by corpses people were too tired to move, the palace and tower where the nobles hid and hoarded most of the waters, Artyom’s water-treatment plant that could no longer keep up. It was all sad.

“Reaching the apex in 5!”  stated Lionel

“Alright! Ready to sail!”

By now they were used to the routine. It didn’t matter how much the ship had changed after all the crashes, all the redesigns to make things smoother. On paper it was still the same steps: they launched, they opened the sail once they started losing altitude, they’d power the fan who’d push then higher and then after they got as high as they could -goal reached or not- they open the parachute and make their descent.

“It’s the highest the launcher got us yet!” said Isaak

“Yeah! I think we got almost as high as our first flight after using the fan.”

Now was the hardest part. Isaak needed to keep the boat in line and carefully pilot it upwards while Lionel would have to work his arms off to keep the fan spinning to keep their wind-push steady. Thankfully, Lionel’s task had been made easier. With a few extra gears and loop Lionel’s lever-cracking was made more efficient as it seemed to more or less multiply the amount of spin the fans would do for one of Lio’s input. It was like for one crank the fan would spin like 5 times as opposed to the 1 to 1 they started with.

The two pushed forward. They kept going higher and higher, following a spiral pattern. Ascending like this was a bit slow but so far they hadn't found a better way to do so. It was working so it’s all that mattered for now. Looking up, the water bubble kept getting closer. Give or take 50 minutes they should be able to reach it.

“Do you think You could do both the cranking and steering at once?” Asked Isaak “I might need both my hands to properly aim at the thing once we get close.”

“Yeah don’t worry about that.”

The boat creaked and groaned the further they got up. It sure had been through a lot so far. Most of its plank had been replaced at least once, most of the cracks have been filled with paste or covered with metal plates. For the most part it looked a lot like the initial boat safe from the mast that had been moved a tiny bit further back and the secondary sail on the side of it opposing the main one. By having it on the side of the pole it prevented it from getting tangled up on it once released.

“How close do we need to be for you to shoot? I doubt we were planning on getting anywhere inside the water bubble, were we?”

“I’ll let you know when it’s time.”

They were close indeed, but not close enough, not yet. Isaak’s heart was beating faster than the fan was spinning. Just a few more minute.

“How are we doing regarding height?” He asked “Still going up?”

“Yep! Still going strong” replied Lionel. Gone was the pain he had in his voice when he was still on the ground in front of Valliard. “Seems like we aren't gonna plateau or descend for a good while!”

These minutes felt like slow motion for Isaak. They were so close! How long had they been going up at this point? Almost two hours logically, but it felt like twice that. Couldn’t they make it up already? Finally get this drought over with?!

If he could, Isaak would have been pacing back and forth in a poor attempt to manage his impatience. However he had a sail to operate, he couldn’t slack and risk messing things up when they were about to reach their goal. Despite the frustration and his eagerness to go faster, he remained focused on his task.

Isaak grabbed his staff with his right hand, the left still tight on the sail handle. He pointed it up toward his target, closing his left eye to aim. He didn’t need to close his left eye to focus his sight better since he was already blind from that eye for a few years now, but it was a force of habit.

“Hold on! Let me get the sail.” Lionel said bending forward.

“No need yet. I'm just calculating stuff.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah… I give it at least three more loops.”

By that point, the circle they were making to go up were getting tighter and tighter. Tight enough to ascend as fast as possible while not making the turns to hard to maneuver.

Lionel looked at Isaak as he did his calculations. He’d married a smart man, very bright and resourceful. He didn’t agree with the big elite’s words. Isaak wasn’t a disappointment. Sure he might have not been as powerful as the great Igniacio Lockheart  but he was still a great Maji.

He though back to the many things he heard both Isaak and Artyom say, elite Maji were snobs. They didn’t value people for what they were, only for what they could do that would benefit them. Isaak was worthless to them because he didn’t fall inline with their view of what should and shouldn’t be done to please the god. Artyom was below them because he refused to build machines that would complement their magic. Him, well he was pretty much nothing since he couldn’t cast any spells at all.

“Lionel! It’s time!”

Isaak’s command pulled him out of his thoughts. Without hesitating nor wasting time Lionel reached forward, firmly grasping the sail handle.

“I got it! Fire whenever!”

Isaak aimed straight for it. Lionel did his best to keep the ship steady while his husband charged his bolt. Light beams swirled around them, merging at the tip of Isaak’s staff. Once the ball of light was large enough, he fired.

The lumos bullet whizzed through the air, Isaak getting pushed backward from the recoil. Both men followed the projectile with their eyes. It pierced the water forming an ever growing whirlpool around itself.

The watched on the edge of their seat. The bullet was barely distinguishable at this point. They could see it’s glow but the refraction of the water made it seem like there were many flying in completely different directions.

They felt their ship starting to lose altitude but didn’t move quite yet. They watched a little longer. And a bit more. Now they had completely lost sight of the bullet.

“I missed it.” whispered Isaak

The projectile indeed didn’t connect. Either that or it did without damaging the core. It was better to think it missed because it meant they could try again, shattering it to pieces this time around.

“F-fire again then!”

Isaak aimed his staff up again. Lights swirling around them once more. Then nothing. It just poofed. No bullet, no fanfare, just a whole lot of nothing.

“I can’t! I used all the energy I had! I can’t!” the trans man cried. “I wasted our chance…”

Lionel pulled his husband close to him with his right arm and held him tight to comfort him, pulling the cord of the parachute with his left. They’d try again. At least he hoped they could. With how close they came to success, he worried the elites might take away everything. Right now he had plenty or time to think about what to do next. The descent was going to take a while.

___________

Chapter 5

 It took a full week for Isaak to recover enough energy to make a new attempt. He spent the whole time locked in his house away from the elites and everything else. Lionel filled him in with how the other were holding up everyday, he also took care of him and stayed by his side as much as possible.

From what he had heard, The highness did not officially removed his and Arty’s rank. The ship and launcher hadn’t been confiscated either. There was a rumor that the elites couldn’t enforce their threats because of the masses. The Maji feared a potential uprising and felt like they had no choice but let them fly as to not upset the crowds.

“How are you feeling today” Asked Lionel, gently caressing Isaak’s cheek. “I think we should go out together today, the fresh air would do you some good.”

“We should fly today. I’ve rested enough.”

“Hmm.. I don’t know if Artyom’s available today… They’ve been overworking him a lot lately. I guess it’s their way of preventing us from progressing…”

“The boat is in working conditions is it not? I'm sure Kennedy or Vadim can take Arty’s place. All he does is pulling a lever.”

“Ah… about Vadim…” Lionel hesitated for a moment. “He... He still hasn’t woken up.”

“Uh?”

“Y-yeah.. It’s been two days… He’s still alive and breathing! He’s just.. Asleep…”

“Do you think a vision is holding him back in somehow?”

“I don’t know.. Maybe? Or maybe he’s forcing himself to remain asleep until he gets one…”

“We need to put an end to this. The drought is messing with everyone and he’s the one who probably have been hit the hardest aside from the ones who already died.”

Lionel nodded. He didn’t like how long this water crisis was lasting either. Each day he spent ‘wasting time’ was torture to him. Last time they almost had it, they just needed one more try and they’d make it, he was sure of it. He though about how hard it must have been for Isaak. Missing his shot must have weight on him, so did having to wait until he had charged back up.

“Before we fly... Can I go check on Vadim in person? I doubt Ill wake him up but.. I feel like talking to him wouldn’t be a terrible idea. It’s been a short while since I’ve seen him, you know? It kinda feel like it’s been an eternity…”

“Of course. I'm sure Andrei will appreciate you visiting his brother.”

“He’s not mad at us is he?”

“No. He’s upset about Vadim’s seemingly endless sleep and Artyom being treated as a work-mule, but he got nothing against us.”

“That’s… That’s good.”

“He’s been helping a lot actually! Since Arty is so busy these day, Andrei’s been the one to keep an eye on our equipment.”

“Maybe he could be the one assisting us at launch then?”

“I’d prefer not to.”

“Why not?” Isaak was a bit confused. Lionel had just said Andrei was willing to help so why the hold up?

“If we do get any negative consequences for this any time soon, I’d rather not involve him. He could have a good life with Michael once everything is back to normal. Keeping an eye on our stuff while Arty is away isn’t putting any attention on him so let’s keep it that way.”

“Fair enough.”

The trans man finally got out of bed and starting dressing up. It made him feel a bit better. After spending an entire week inside almost neglecting himself, it was a nice change to actually make himself presentable.

They walked slowly to the Alexeev house. Even if Isaak had fully recovered his casting energy, he was still quite drained emotionally without even taking into account the thirst and hunger brought down from the drought. At least they had it fairly good, Isaak though. Everyone else had it way worse without their privileges.

After a long walk through the empty streets of their hometown the couple eventually reached their destination. The twins -and their older brother’s- residence. This house had seen quite a lot. Artyom had cracked and blew hole quite a few times in the past with his experimental machines. Lionel knocked on the door. By now it had probably been replaced at least 7 times. He vividly remembered that one time Andrei had to kick down the door in a panic after Arty had set something on fire when they were teens.

“Oh. It’s you.” said the eldest Alexeev who opened the door. “Isaak is here too. Good to see you’re still holding up okay.”

“I wanted to check on Vee before we go fly again today.” weakly stated Isaak.

“I have great hopes that we’re going to make it this time” cheerfully added Lionel.

“I hope you do.” the scar-faced guy motioned them inside. “We all do. Even the elites… They may be mad and truly believe breaking the crystal could piss off whoever created said crystals… but they want the water back just as much as everyone else.”

“H-hey… I hope you’re doing okay in there…” Talking to an unconscious friend was much more hard on him than he expected. “I'm.. I'm sorry. I'm both sorry because it all suck and I don’t like seeing you like this and I'm also sorry if any of this is my fault… I know I didn’t cause the drought, I didn’t cause those visions or anything.. But I do feel like my plans to recover the water did stress you out. I know you were terrified we might die the first time we launched. Arty told me you desperately wanted to get vision to stop us from flying if you foresaw things to go wrong and I'm deeply sorry about all this. I never wanted you too feel like you needed to push yourself and your ability to assist us… Maybe I should have said something about it sooner… I mean I did, I think? I probably wasn’t clear enough or worded myself properly to sooth you but… I was just... I was focused on making the plan work, you know?” 

The two taller guys watched silently as Isaak spoke softly. Isaak really did focus too much on the airship mission. Not matter how many time the wooden plants splintered and cut him deep, how covered in bruises he got, how many bones he occasionally broke in the falls. He just got back up and tried flying again the next day.

“Let’s go get Kennedy” said Isaak “Let’s get this over with…”

“You’re not taking Artyom with you this time?” asked the eldest. “I'm sure he’d hate to miss a flight, especially the one that succeed…”

“I totally get that but I really don’t want to waste any time. They barely give him any free time these days, do they?”

“Right…”

“I still have my pocket mirror. Ill be sure to call him so he can watch us from wherever they put him.”

“Alright…Fly safely.”

“Eh. A couple bruises never kept us down for long.” Isaak laughed..he hadn’t done that in ages, he felt.

It warned Lionel’s heart to see his husband smile even if it was half faked. Hopefully he’d be able to see him genuinely smile like he used to very soon.

The two made their way out after waving goodbye. They needed to find Kenny but honestly had no clue where he might be. He wasn’t at his and Lionel’s apartment this morning and probably wouldn’t be at the farm considering how bad it had been these days.

“So… Where are we heading, Lio?”

“Well Kenny told me he’s been spending most of his week checking on people around our place, see if they needed help and all that…”

“So?”

“So we’re gonna go back to my street and scream his name until we find him. Unless you got a better idea.”

“I haven’t seen him in a week! How do you want me to know where he is?”

“Then screaming it is!”

“Urh!” Isaak crossed his arms. “Why cant they give everyone pocket mirrors? It would be so much better! We would be able to talk to anyone at any time of the day no matter where they are!”

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

Isaak didn’t really like the idea of yelling to find Kennedy. Their throats were already dry enough from the lack of water, they didn’t need to make it worse. Going door to door would have probably been smarter but it was undeniable that screaming was much faster. It only took them five minutes to get the red head’s attention.

“What is it? Are you guys okay?!” Said Kenny, panicked. It’s like he expected them to be dying or something.

“We need an extra pair of hands to get the boat flying.” said Lionel

“Oh! I take Arty is still under the elite’s tight grip?”

“Yeah pretty much… I’ll still try to call him once we’re on site so he isn’t completely left out.”

“Okay, Alright. Are we doing this right now or..”

“Yeah.”

“We could wait a little if you’re in the middle of helping someone” contradicted Lio. “We don’t want to force you to bail on anyone.”

“Nah, nah! I'm cool doing it now. There’s no issue on that! Lead the way!”

With Kenny now there, the party was now ready to take off.

The walk to the launchpad was much faster than the one they took to the twins house. Not because it was closer but because Isaak was much more in a rush and the emotional drain weighted less on him despite being still there.

When they arrived there they noticed a few people standing around the machinery. At first they were fearful these were elites or people sent by the elites to sabotage them, but on closer inspection and some conversation it was revealed these were supporting townsfolk. 

Andrei did keep an eye on the equipment in the evening and at night, but during the day this group stayed put. They truly had the whole town supporting them in their endeavor. One of them even said he wanted to fly why Isaak was still resting but had no choice but back down when it was brought up to him that a skilled Maji needed to be on board to shoot down the crystal.

Before any flight could take place, loading the launcher was in order. The boat was already on the machine but the elastic cord that made the launch possible wasn’t pulled back yet. Lionel grabbed the wooden wheel-crank on the back side of the machinery. The more he spun it, the tenser the cord got.

“Are we ready to go?” Asked Kennedy from the top of the wooden platform.

“About to be! Ill give it another spin or two for good measure.” replied Lionel

“Is there anything I nee to do beside pulling the lever? Like, I don’t know… shout commands or something?”

“No. Even if you did, we wouldn’t hear you from so far up. After lift off, Lionel and I will pretty much be on our own but there’s nothing to worry about.”

“We’ve perfected our routine at this point.”

“Figures… To be honest I don't even know why I expected to do more. All the other time you guys went up, Arty just stood still just like I did and just watched…”

“Aw c’mon!” Lio patted his roommate on the back. “Your part is still key to the whole thing! We need all three of us to make it work! You launch us, I provide the airflow for the boat to get to the top and Isaak take down the core!”

“Pff! How much do you want to bet once you two get back down with the water, they will only praise you!”

As the trio joked about who would get the most accolades and who deserved them best, they were interrupted by a familiar face approaching them. It was Uriel. He strutted along as if everything was fine and dandy.

“Lionel, Let’s get in and go. Now” Isaak ordered. The mood had shifted.

“I'm not here to stop you, lecture you or in any way bother you.” Said the black man. “I'm here to wish you luck. As much as I disagree with your action, if this get us out of the hell we’re trapped in then so be it. Fly on.”

“Hand us your staff then!” said one of the townsmen who had been protecting the catapult.

“Yeah give it to us until they are back! That way we’re sure you won’t shoot them down with Maji!”

“There will be no need. Ill be taking my leave shortly. I was just passing by to pass the good word, that’s all.”

Isaak had absolutely no care for Uriel and whatever he had to say. While his superior was busy bickering with the townies, the rebellious Maji jumped aboard the ship. His husband followed suit.

“Kenny!” Isaak called, snapping The beefy guy out of his daydreaming. “On deck! Get ready!”

“Oh! Yeah! Sorry, I was uh… Whatever they can take care of the guy anyway!” Kennedy shook his head. “Alright boys hold on tight! One flying boat coming right up!”

The ascend had nothing new nor exiting to offer him. At this point it was just an unskippable timewaster. He just wanted to be upther, take the darn thing down and save the people.

The fire that burned in him was too strong for him to be antsy or nervous the whole way up. No. He was still as a statue. His hand gripping the sail so firmly his knuckles turned white.  He was gonna shoot it, destroy it. He was gonna blow it to pieces. If he missed one more time, he’d never forgive himself.

Lionel could feel how tense and passionate Isaak was. He didn’t say a word. Not even when they reached the apex, his husband deployed the sail on his own. They both knew to perfection how and when every tasks needed to be perform, no communication needed. Isaak didn’t need to tell Lionel to scoot over and handle both handles either.

He took a deep breath and held his staff against his chest for a brief moment. Aim. Focus. Don’t miss. He raised his golden cane upward, pointing it at the target. Aim. Focus. Don’t miss. He charged his lumos beam, the bullet growing before his eyes. Aim. Focus. Don’t miss. All he needed was to shoot. Don’t Fucking Miss.

As Isaak released his spell, a loud crackle was heard and he was pushed back hard. Lionel momentarily let go of the fan handle to catch him. The were about to descend anyway so cranking it was no longer necessary.

Both of them looked up to see the conclusion to the fruit of their labor and effort. Just like last time they stood speechless as they watch the glowing projectile cut through the water, the ripple and refaction making it look like a multitude of them dispersed through out.

And then. 

BOOM.

The Crystalline core broke into pieces, releasing a shockwave through the air.They had done it. The Crystal was shattered and the water was raining down.

The water was raining down.

Now they just had to parachute back down like they had done many times before. Lionel went and pulled the cord. The cloth unfolded but didn’t deploy properly. The fabric was too soaked and heavy. They were quickly faced by the horror of the situation they were in.

With the torrential rain hammering down on them, the soaked sail was nearly unusable. It wasn’t going to slow their descent nearly enough. 

Unless they did something, they weren’t going to make it.

“I.. Maybe I can cast something!” Isaak said, holding Lionel’s hand tight. “I can try to male a parachute out of Lumos! It won’t be affected by the rain.”

“C-can you? Didn’t you use all of your energy already?”

“Just give me a moment to rest and focus. Trust me... Ill get us out of this!”

The held each others hand and pressed their forehead together, focusing in unisson. The heavy boat fell down much faster than them and since they were no longer holding onto it, they felt it leaving under their feet. Up in the middle of the sky they poured their heart and last bit of energy into this last spell.

“Let’s hope it works…”

___________

Myth and legends are plenty on Aquafirma. One tell the story of a man who brought back the world’s water out from the clutch of a greedy displeased god.

Everyone know this story is rooted in truths but these days you’d be hard pressed to hear what really unfolded. There are as many versions of it as there are stars in the sky. Some say the man flew on a winged whale, brought the water down using a Lumos nets then came back from the cloud to be crowned king. Other will tell you he built a ladder, fought the Salmalion himself and became a new god. There are also tales saying he used his Maji to launch himself up like a living missile, sacrificing his life to destroy the crystal.

To most, it mattered very little how he got the waters back. The water was here to stay and the land flourished. That was the most important thing of all.

[areyoureadyforhell]

“absinthe.”

"Absinthe."

Summary: Conditor ended up getting caught by Alfie after trying to solve some problems for him. Alfie didn't think so.

Character: Alfie Solomons (Peaky Blinders) x Conditor (Original character).

Warning: no proof-read, OOC (for sure), a lot of blood and corpses, dark (dirty) jokes, I'm bad at tagging.

Theme: powfu - death bed

https://youtu.be/bWjcQKErWd8

—

It all started with a small misunderstanding. Good films in the safe zone always had one motif like that.

In Conditor’s condition, however, that cute little problem did not end up really well.

– So, – one of the bastards finally decided to break the silence, – you said you were planning on writing and painting and making artistic shit based on our fucking ridiculous lives?

It took Conditor some time to think about the answer, actually.

– …sort of, I suppose. It’s not working like what you’re thinking, sweeties, but you can look at it like that.

The young girl folded her arms gently, as if the blood draining from her nose did not exist. Her smile made the gangsters’ hair stand on end. It’s not creepy, sure, they had seen corpses, thousands of them, lying in their blood with different kinds of injuries. People in this world die all the time, so wounds and blood should not be a new thing.

Toward this little woman, however, all they could feel was a strange, uneasy feeling.

– Don't fool me, I don’t give a fuck! – Another guy gritted his teeth, and his grip on the baton tightened. – You’ve entered the death fucking hole, little woman. You gotta be responsible for that.

The situation got worse, Conditor noted, and it would reach its worst soon if she couldn’t do something. These gangsters did not have the patience like reporters. They worked with their muscles. 

In fact, dealing with violence was not her cup of tea, but that didn't mean she would talk to them again in peace. 

– Yeah yeah, I know, I know…

All they could hear from her was a small giggle and a harsh smash before their vision became blurry.

"Then let me teach you how to give a fuck, alright?"

–

When Alfie came, the little fight had ended.

– Fucking hell…

Corpses were lying along the road, together with their blood sticking on. The mixed smell of dry blood, wet trash and sweat was uncomfortable enough for someone like Alfie to furrow his eyebrows.

– You were born with Satan on your side, weren’t ya, little woman?

Conditor spent her last two marks of energy replying to his joke.

– …you don’t want to raise someone who will rob you of your throne, eh? Gods and Devils have the same fear, so they made me human.

That reply earned a laugh from the Jews. Conditor tried to take a small breath, then hissed as her injuries were affected. Dry blood covered her already dirty outfit, and that face was barely recognizable both because of blood and wounds. She truly was a devil crawling from the deepest part of hell.

This devil, however, could feel tired.

Alfie walked past the disgusting, bloody corpses, making his way carefully toward the little woman he had found for months. Conditor did not plan to resist: she’s moral enough not to irritate this fucking bear more than she’d already done. Both of them were interested in tricks and mind games, for sure, but considering all the things she had done, Conditor could even foresee her pathetic future funeral. There would be a lot of flowers, noises, and a coffin with no corpse inside because it had already been chopped and served on someone’s plate for dinner.

– Wanna eat bún đậu mắm tôm so bad…

– Sounds fucking terrified. What the hell is that?

Conditor could feel his hand resting quietly on her neck.

– "Cuisine", – she let out a sigh. – did I pronounce that word right? I ate that to feel comfy when I was young.

– When you were young, eh? – He raised his voice, even giggled a little bit. – How fucking old are you?

His grip tightened. Conditor's eyebrows furrowed, her hands unconsciously scratching on his, but Alfie did not move.

– You came here alone, sweetie. Worked with me for a long time, then left. Then came back. What's on your mind, hm?

– They… – Conditor tried to pronounce every word she could say clearly since that was the only way to save herself from the angry brown bear. – they planned to kill you.

– Yeah? – His hand on her neck painfully stayed still. – That's the problem. How on this fucking earth can you know?

This time, Conditor kept her silence. 

Blood had stopped draining from corpses, but the sound of drops touching the ground permanently still echoed all over the small, dirty alley. It made Conditor feel uncomfortable, and the lack of oxygen worsened the uneasy feeling. Stars covered her eyes, tears started forming.

All of a sudden, the hold loosened. 

– Ow! – Conditor hissed painfully as the big bear started touching the wounds on her face. – What the fuck?!

– Fucking ridiculous.

The touch left her face, and truly, it was a relief. Until Conditor could feel his hand tracing down towards one certain point on her waist. She started to resist again, this time with more fierceness.

– This whole time I was wondering how to bury myself inside you perfectly, and suddenly a fucking knife kept one jump ahead.

– That was a bad joke. – Conditor commented.

– Fits you, little Cont.

– That was worse— ouch!

His voice was nothing but a whisper. 

– Quiet. Let's get you outta this, then we can talk, hm?

Although she knew silence would help in this situation, Conditor still couldn't lie. People lied for their benefits all the time, but when would they realize that waiting for them at the end of the road was never a happy ending?

– Regardless of how broken your humor is, you can't do that, Alfie.  – She whispered back. – You know you can't.

– Can I?

Considering his personality, Conditor knew it was a rhetorical question.

– I don't fucking care who threatened you, seduced you, or brainwashed you, or it's just you yourself trying to play a goddamn mind trick…

Being carried in the Jewish's arms, sensing the mixed smell of rum, sweat and papers, Conditor surrendered tenderly as she slowly fell asleep.

– … as long as you are with me, 'right?

The sound of water dropping on the ground faded away.

– Those shitty things could wait.

It all started with a small misunderstanding.