#it just ended up that way idk

[poisonedfate]

I love 2 pls drabble me 😊

okay. hi. hello. it took me SO long (too long, one might say) to write this, but i started thinking about young s1 merthur and ended up writing 1.9k words - very much not just a drabble. hope you don't mind. here it is, under the cut or on ao3:

2. “Hey, hey, calm down. They can’t hurt you anymore.” (merthur)

ao3

The first time it happened, Merlin had only been Arthur's servant for a handful of days. He was still getting used to the pace of the day and the customs of all that was now his responsibility - and all that wasn't. There's a lot to figure out once you've been thrown into a situation such as this without much warning, which is how Merlin ended up in Arthur's chambers after the prince himself had already gone to sleep. 

It wasn't exactly unusual, after all, he was the one waking Arthur up in the mornings, however, the darkness, the quiet hum of Arthur's breathing, audible, but not at all visible, the stillness of the chambers and the world outside, and the knowledge that Arthur will continue sleeping after he has left the room - that made it different. It was slightly unnerving back then, doing it for the first time, all of it new and yet unlearnt. He had forgotten to take something or put something back - he doesn't quite remember it anymore. Merlin never really strived to be the perfect servant and he figured out fairly quickly that Arthur never truly minded it either, even if he often acted as if the opposite were true. 

Nonetheless, back then he had time to worry about more mundane things, so he had snuck into Arthur's chambers, never intending for the other to find out. Perhaps if he had just been a couple of steps quicker it would've all gone to plan, or perhaps he simply would've come to know of it later, but just as his fingertips had almost reached the door on his way out, Arthur began stirring, freezing Merlin in his tracks. 

He should've kept walking, he would later think, though at the time it seemed as if any slight movement of his would be the thing that gave him away if the prince was to rouse for just a split moment. However, Arthur had been very much asleep then, the very edges of his nightmares seeping through, piercing the silence. His stirs grew more uneasy, whisperspoured from his lips and turned into louder gasps and yells. Merlin knew he had been there for too long, if not by the knots in his stomach, then by his vision adjusting, suddenly colouring Arthur's features just enough so that he could make them out from where he was standing. Arthur's voice continued to grow sharper, but just as it had finally ripped Merlin from his frozen state, the same had surely happened to Arthur's nightmare. They stared at each other for a moment, the prince's eye finding his immediately, gaze weighing him down and marking Merlin still for just one more breath before he could finally move, making his escape. 

Neither of them mentioned it, not the morning after, not the evening that followed, not in the days that kept moving relentlessly. All of it felt helplessly real regardless - Merlin making sure to never enter Arthur's chambers in the cloak of such darkness again, Arthur refusing to so much as rest his eyes when Merlin was still completing his last tasks of the day. For a while, each morning that came Merlin would be met with an already half-woken Arthur. It concerned him, made him restless all on its own, though eventually, much to Merlin's relief, it regressed into a mere memory. 

The other new ways of being seemed less willing to go, but soon Arthur had become so used to Merlin's presence that his refusal to sleep around him, especially after a long day, proved to be more difficult. And so the second time it happened, Merlin had failed to even notice Arthur falling asleep until the others' unsteady breaths prompted him to turn around. He stepped closer, not sure what to do, before realising he should probably leave instead if his previous experience was anything to go by. There must've been some hesitation in his movement, clearly not having learnt his lesson to its full extent, giving Arthur the opportunity to grab at his wrist. Merlin almost jumped out of his skin at that, his fight or flight kicking in at full speed, but the breaking point never came, he stayed where he was, how he was. Arthur's eyes didn't shoot open like he expected them to either, there was no pull and no push, only a slight tightening of Arthur's fingers around his wrist. Merlin had been ready to swear he saw the prince open his eyes just so, as he stared at his twisted features, not that it would've mattered, he had already decided to stay until Arthur's grasp on him weakened and the furrow of his brow moulded into something peaceful once more. And so he had. 

From that point on, it became somewhat routine for them - Arthur would fall asleep (or pretend to, Merlin never was quite sure) and he would move closer, just within reach, a wordless offer trapped between them. It wouldn't happen every day, Arthur accepting said offer, but often enough that Merlin expected it, even grew to know the different intensities of the other's nightmares, when they were tame and when they were less so - though none of them entirely as bad as that very first one. 

He never gave much thought as to if it would ever change and perhaps it would've been a waste of time to do so, the two of them not yet fully settled, not yet known and familiar in full, still shifting and changing. A rainy day had come then, some time later, and Merlin knew the nightmares would be on the worse side of things, so much so that he had hung around for longer than needed after Arthur's expression had already settled. Clearly, it hadn't been enough, though, the hold on his wrist tightening once more as he bid Arthur a final good night, his fingers of the same hand Arthur held grazing the prince's, something he had mindlessly begun doing right before leaving, something Arthur had perhaps noticed. 

"Stay," Arthur whispered, quiet and barely there and only for the two of them, not even reaching all corners of his chambers. 

Merlin had been unsure of what more he could do besides offer up his wrist, standing there, letting time pass slower, letting himself simply remain there for longer until his legs grew as heavy as his eyelids. A pull on his wrist, not quite strong enough to move him anywhere, gave him a clue, and he placed himself on the edge of the bed. Arthur moved to rest his forehead against his leg and Merlin could only judge by his breathing then, whether or not he had escaped the worst of it, whether he had finally fallen asleep. Good thing it was a part of Arthur he knew almost better than all else. 

A lot changed and a lot stayed the same thereafter, but Merlin could never keep from wondering, could never stop the imaginings of what happens after he leaves. He did his best to give Arthur back his rest, too familiar with his own haunted nights, ones that seemed to lessen, too, since their little version of existing through them had changed. But what then? One does not simply expel all ghosts just by being lulled to sleep. As with all else, Merlin could feel certain shifts, could swear on certain truths being as real as the look he and Arthur had exchanged that first night. The feelings were rare and few, even more so than the moments spent with Arthur at the shore of long nights, but the phantom fingers round his wrist felt heavy even from his own corner of promised solitude. And he just knew it had to be bad, that some nights were filled with bad dreams, no matter how long Merlin had stayed. 

The sense of it nagged at him more and more, until it had him waking from his own dreams, sitting up between the mess of his sheets, Arthur's cries echoing through his head. Merlin decided it was enough, that they had moved way past the "do not enter his chambers in the middle of the night again" thing by now. 

There was no number or count he could assign to this particular night, he thought, so many of them had come and gone,he lost track. But although he couldn't pinpoint the time, it didn't really matter, as it felt more like that first encounter rather than all the rest. As soon as he entered Arthur's chambers memories came flooding in - it was worse, it was louder, it was darker. They never talked of the dreams and so Merlin never knew what chased Arthur once his eyes fell shut and what clawed at his insides once his body grew still. He didn't know, yet he knew enough. 

Merlin didn't freeze this time, heading straight for Arthur. The prince had curled into himself on the right side of his bed, so Merlin sat on the left, crosslegged and facing the other. He usually let Arthur do as he pleased - he had quickly learnt that the blond avoided anything that could be seen as more personal or emotional if he could help it, all except their quiet late-night agreements. Merlin wasn't as bothered himself and so he let Arthur choose the way it would go, but now it was his turn - Arthur wasn't going to latch on to him, saving himself for deep waters, he was already drowning, Merlin needed to pull him out. 

In the interest of caution, he placed his hand softly on Arthur's shoulder first, shaking him slightly once there was no reaction, though nothing came of it regardless. The sweat-sticky hair on Arthur's forehead distracted him for one breath in and one breath out. Merlin's eyes felt foggy, with not a trace of tears, somewhat scarlet, too far, too close. He grabbed atArthur's shoulder more forcefully, rolling him over so that his head was in Merlin's lap. The hope was to wake him before the nightmare could do it, but the flutter of his eyelids was accompanied by staggering gasps anyway. Arthur's eyes rounded the room twice before landing on Merlin, unmoving, still, and as dark as he could imagine them getting. For a moment, it didn't even seem as if he was breathing anymore.

"You're here."

"I am."

"You," Arthur tried, chocked and not at all like him, "they-,"

“Hey, hey, calm down. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

The other closed his eyes, squeezing them so tight it almost made Merlin flinch. He didn't dare to move once they were open again, searching for something in Merlin's features, unsure if Arthur was hoping to find something or rather dreading it. He calmed then, gaze no longer as feverish, before muttering a soundless my...

"You don't have to tell me," Merlin interrupted in a whisper. Arthur only nodded. 

Although the other's body had stilled, his breathing had yet to settle so Merlin leaned down, placing his forehead against Arthur's, hoping he would follow his inhales and exhales. 

Eventually, they mirrored each other enough, reflecting the ease and shield of nights rather than their darkness. Merlin moved and Arthur did, too, lying down and facing each other. 

"Thank you."

"Any time."

Neither could convince themselves to let their eyes wander away from the other's gaze even as the tiredness laid its heavy hand on them. Merlin was the first to break away from it, giving a small nod, just one. Arthur blinked at him before giving a nod of his own, both of them closing their eyes at once, tangled in the warmth, safe. 

[starry-bi-sky]

don't you want to be a cult leader? - danyal al ghul au

this is mostly a joke post but i thought it was funny and had to share so--

his first mistake was, obviously, inheriting his father's inability to see an injustice and stand still. -- actually, danyal's first mistake was his lair being so big. a mountainous island with a large temple in the center resembling his old home in Nanda Parbat? With sprawling foliage and rivers and streams and waterfalls galore? What was he going to do with all that space? Let it go to waste? He had plants there! Native trees of the ghost zone growing from the soil! He couldn't let it all be left unchecked!

So naturally after helping a fellow teenage assassin ghost -- who he later learns is named Akihiko, -- from Walker of all people, he sent them over to hang low at his lair until it was safe enough for them to wander around the Zone. Walker couldn't get through Danyal's astrofield if his life depended on it, and trust him -- he's tried. Danny was clearing out debris from his stupid transport vans for weeks.

Honestly it wasn't so bad, he and Aki really quickly became fast friends and Danny loves having a sparring partner close to his level again -- he hasn't had this much fun fighting since he left the League. Aki was very dedicated and levelheaded, the both of them clicked really well because of it.

Nonono, the real trouble began after Danyal met some long-passed League members and allowed them to come join his island as well. Apparently they had made a few enemies of the zone, and maybe Danyal still felt some loyalty to the League. He couldn't just let them be left to rot. Their zealotry could be overlooked so long as they kept it contained and helped him take care of his island.

And it.. snowballs from there? He meets a teen squire aptly calling himself Ambroise -- whether that was his living name or not is yet to be seen -- who died during feudal france, who is just about as dramatic and passionate as every french stereotype makes them out to be. He calls Danyal "my moon and great muse" -- which is both flattering and little uncomfortable, but Danyal's grown up in the League as the Grandson of the Demon Head, he is used to mild worship. he passes it off as nothing more, nothing less. -- and while his energy is overwhelming on the worst of days, he helps Danny draw out of his shell more in ways that Sam and Tucker still struggle with.

Him and Aki butt heads a lot, but the two seem to hold the other in at least some positive regard, so Danny doesn't worry too much about them fighting while he's gone. It only becomes a mild issue when Aki also begins calling Danny "my moon". It's a little sweet, so Danyal brushes it off.

Then he takes in a troupe of ghosts some time after he defeats Pariah Dark and they begin calling him "great one" just as the yetis do in the far frozen. This is where he meets the twins -- a pair of sibling ghosts who call themselves Trixie and Missy (short for Trick and Mislead) -- who aren't quite as passionate as Ambroise but more energetic than Aki. Eventually they also start calling Danyal "my moon" and attach themselves to his hip, even within the living. They like to hide in his shadow and cause trouble for the rest of the students. He makes sure they don't hurt anyone.

He's pretty sure Aki is jealous, same with Ambroise, but he can't be too certain other than the fact that they become much more lingering (re: clingy) whenever he visits the island.. Something he's trying to do much more often these days due to the increasing amount of people living there now. Since when did he become so popular?

Then there's Pēnelópeia from the Greater Athens, who ran away from home and joined his Island after he ran into her while she was being chased by Skulker -- and he's pretty sure the reason was because of her chimeric appearance. Her strange eyes and mismatched wings and lion's tail and talons. She assimilates into his friend group very easily, she gets along well with Ambroise and Trixie and Danny usually finds the three of them climbing the trees to pluck the most fruit from the top. They can fly and he knows it, but they prefer to climb.

Then finally there's silent poet Akkara who comes from ancient mesopotamia, who gets along most with Aki -- which is no surprise there considering their similar personality dispositions. he watches Aki and Danyal fight each other and leaves comments on this or that that he notices. He writes Danyal poems on clay tablets and leaves them by his room.

They're one big mismatched group of outcasts, and Danny's got the other ghosts on his island to tend to, because they're living on his island and he wants to be hospitable even if he struggles with that. But he spends the most of his time with them.

Sam and Tucker are making fun of him. Tucker jokingly tells him 'careful Danny, at this rate you're gonna start a cult'. Danny really wishes he had taken that joke more seriously.

He just. keeps. collecting people. Wayward souls lost in the zone, looking for shelter or refuge from something or other -- whether that be another hostile ghost, or a past afterlife, or just a purpose. Danyal finds them, he takes them in, offers them a place on his island until they are ready to leave. Many seldom do. He's not complaining -- he has the space, and it feels like it's only ever growing.

His close friends, his "inner circle" as he's heard the others call them, keep insistently calling him "my moon". He starts calling them his stars, because then it only feels fair. They're his stars, this is his constellation. It becomes a thing; little star halos begin forming behind their heads, picking them out from the rest. He loves them so much, it's hard to place. Sam and Tucker are also his stars, but they reside in the living realm, they're his tie to Life. Meanwhile, his friends here know what it's like to be dead, and sometimes its nice to relate.

Those living on his island keep calling him "Great One" and he's beginning to notice zealotry in their care for his island. He really, deeply appreciates it. His close friends gain nicknames -- as his stars, it's only natural for him to pick them out from the cluster in the skies. Akihiko, his Sirius and bright star. Trix and Missy, Castor and Pollux, the twins and troublemakers. Ambroise, his zealous Antares and close friend. Penelopeia, chimeric and loyal Vega. And Akkara, his Arcturus and strength.

It's ridiculous how long it takes for him to notice; he is, of course, a deadly trained assassin. He is meant to be observant -- and normally he is! But somehow this becomes a blind spot. One that becomes too big to be dealt with by the time he realizes it.

He should've noticed when Aki, his Sirius, stood beside him one day while Danyal looked over his island and saw the sprawling spirits carrying on about their afterlife and bowing to him as they saw him, and said: "I looked down into the depths when I met you; I couldn't measure it." They aren't one for flowing prose, it took him so off guard he was silent for over a minute before he finally spoke.

Danyal should've recognized devotion for what it is, and yet he didn't. He should've recognized it when Antares began spouting praises about him, crowing about his radiance and resplendence to the heavens. He just brushed it off as Ambroise being Ambroise. He should've recognized it when Trix and Missy nearly broke Dash's leg after he knocked Danyal's books out of his hands, he excused it as them being protective. Of them coming from times where such violence may have been customary -- after all, that's what he used to be like. What he was still like, sometimes, when his emotions nearly got the better of him.

He should've noticed it when the people living on his island followed his word like gospel, looked at him like he hung the stars in the sky. When his friends gifted him a shawl with the moon phases delicately embroidered into it, with silver, shimmering thread and moving stars lovingly stitched into it. Their constellations seen clear as day in the dark fabric. When he found small shrines dedicated to him -- but they lacked any image of him beyond stones carved to look like moons, so he ignored it. When the religious imagery began popping up.

He really, really should've noticed it when a bunch of cultists accidentally summoned Antares, and Antares had turned to him when he arrived and called them heretics. But he was so centered on the fact that they had kidnapped one of his stars, that he hadn't paid much attention to what Ambroise had said.

Sages say that faith is blind, they should also say faith in you is even blinder.

It really only hits him one afternoon while he's sitting in Sam's room studying with Tucker, Missy and Trixie lounging at his feet, Aki sat on his right, Penelopeia braiding his hair, Ambroise draped against him, and Akkara lurking over him. Its one of the rare few times they're all in one room together.

It hits him like a bolt of lightning. He looks up from his textbook. "Oh Ancients," he says in no amounting shock. Everyone looks up to him.

"I've become my grandfather."

[humans-are-tasty]

[blackbatest]

wayne family adventures + text posts: batman edition

its my bisexual right to make superbat and batcat jokes in the same post. btw.

(batkids edition)

+bonus alfred (tw suicide joke)

[meamiiikiii]

silly comic based on a time i struggled to read live on stream :thumbsup:

context clip compilation below ASDASDFASA

(cw for brief mention of hospitals/strokes)

[bookalicent]

yeah so this was insane

[halflifebutawesome]

I am a good person. I am a powerful person, I don't believe in evil. I think that evil is an idea created by others to avoid dealing with their own nature. I understand my own nature, good and evil have nothing to do with it.

[rystiel]

i feel like poolverine easily could’ve been one of those “they’re flirty but it’s mostly unserious” situations, and for most of the movie yeah they were extremely gay, but wade’s been like that with other guys and it was never treated as a serious type of relationship before. they’re willing to die for each other, but even then the romantic aspect of their relationship could be glossed over because it’s a superhero movie, that’s just what they do, and they’re working together to save a whole timeline—it’s not just about them. but then the movie doesn’t end with them saving the day and moving on. i think this’s really the part that sells poolverine as a genuine relationship to me… logan’s leaving, and wade calls for him. he can’t stand to let him go. then he introduces him to his family, and logan stays. he doesn’t really need to stay, but they’ve both decided they’re better off with one another than without

[0fps]

In the wake of war, the populace suffer. A leader must unite for serenity to reign. Hsi, tread with caution, and join our sacred duty. To defend the city and its folk with honor and fervency.

[forgettable-au]

Does Flowey exist in this au?

Yes, he does.

Everything's pretty much the same when it comes to the regular story in this AU. It's just the past, especifically Papyrus' past (wich we don't know much about to begin with) that changes

Actually Flowey is one of the main characters in the story! (the main story of this au is divided between the past before the game and a post-pacifist timeline:D)

He and Papyrus will have a fun dynamic

-some thought I had in tags behind the keep reading

Srry for the spelling mistakes in here but I can't go and fix tags because I would end up erasing everything😭tumblr struggles

[lazylittledragon]

ok i swear i'm not going to talk about my breakup forever but the thing that just keeps bothering me:

i know that not getting what you need in a relationship is a COMPLETELY valid reason to end it but also. i feel like having a very vulnerable moment where i opened up about my struggles with intimacy and being relieved that i didn't have to keep doing things i wasn't comfortable with, then being dumped a YEAR later because of my lack of intimacy. is something i should be allowed to be very hurt by???

[rebeccapearson]

 l want to do something big and something important. You know, George, l feel that, in a small way, we're doing something important, satisfying a fundamental urge. lt's deep in the race for a man to want his own roof and walls and fireplace. And we're helping him get those things. [...] Pop, you want a shock? l think you're a great guy.

[willowser]

touya is halfway through his workday, grease up to his elbows, little jumpsuit half undone down to his waist, when iguchi comes in to tell him "someone's askin' for you out here".

he's not sure who it could be, but there's no telling, so he just decides to take a smoke break and wander out of the automotive garage, maybe imagining one of siblings out on the pavement.

but the minute he sees you, he stops. nearly drops his cigarette on a rough, "oh shit."

it's been a while since he's seen you, a year or two, and the packet of paper in your hand can only mean one, bullshit thing.

"nah, nah, nah, i ain't signing any papers," is how he greets you, shaking his head the minute you start up the path with a big, determined frown. touya doesn't run, but he sure twists on his heel and starts back up the path, too, as you start calling out his name.

practically all of his coworkers are watching when he comes back into view, not bothering to hide how nosy they're being. their audience makes you falter just a tad and touya clings onto it; anything to stop you.

"never a good sign when your wife comes to find you at work."

there's a long silence, from everyone. when he looks back at you—at your manilla folder and carefully stapled documents, your petition for divorce—your eyes are heavy and wet, almost the same way they were when the two of you stood in a courtroom, lying about your age in order to pledge until death do you part.

almost. now they're just sad.

from somewhere in the garage, toga calls out a bewildered, "you have a wife?" that makes him feel a way he can't understand, both amused and devastated all at once.

your wedding ring isn't on your finger, but if he stares long enough, he can maybe see the difference in color of your skin, a former tan-line that's begun to fade.

he sold his for stuff he shouldn't have been buying, stuff that ruined him and you and your marriage, a long time ago.

but touya only smiles, and calls back, "yeah, i do."

[insert-cephalopod-joke]

Bro really visited her friend

Bonus!

[turtleblogatlast]

Mikey and Leo episode centered around Mikey wanting to push Leo and Draxum together since Leo’s the most reluctant to give Draxum any grace (for good reason!) But, thinking on the spot, Leo says he’s gotta go do something for Hueso and “just can’t hang out right now 😔” (yes, he says the emoji out loud.)

Mikey calls his bluff and now the three of them (Mikey having grabbed a weary Draxum along) go to Hueso’s to find that yes, he actually does have a job for him. Said job asks for Leo to go with Hueso to deliver multiple pizzas to this giant yokai quite a distance away, and Hueso figured it would probably go better with Leo’s help (emphasis on probably.)

Well, Mikey decides that this would be a great bonding opportunity for them and basically invites he and Draxum along. Unfortunately for Leo, Hueso doesn’t care enough to wave away more help, though he does side-eye the wanted criminal Baron Draxum coming with them. But who is he to judge? (This choice has consequences.)

The journey goes about as terribly as you’d expect, but at least the pizzas get delivered on time.

[proxycrit]

What if I redesigned some horses to fit MY favorite narrative trope: fallen gods and forgotten myths of old? Anyways.

Twilight’s mentor is a strange one. In a world of twilit planes forever shrouded in mystery, the older unicorn Lest and her adopted student Twilight are one in many common travelers, migrating the pitted wastelands and eeking survival within settlements that spring up around the glowing meteor shards. Despite living with Lest for the last four years, Twilight can’t help but seek answers to where her brother has gone— and in the process, perhaps dig a bit too deeply into the complexities of gods far older and dangerous then she can truly fathom.

On the otherhand, Celestia “Lest” Sol is having a terrible millenium. Her sister is no longer her sister, her student teleported herself halfway across the continent, and she got herself kidnapped by an old rival trying to attune with the elements of harmony to overthrow the current ruler of Equestria.

At least she gets a toxic yuri moment.

Meanwhile, Chrysalis is having a great time. She’s got kingdoms to conquer and people to feed and a waning god to taunt.

(The Selene Grace hates the sun monarch they deposed five centuries ago as they stay chained to their post, keeping the lunar and solar bodies from crashing into each other. Luna misses her sister, and the easier world where they haven’t hurt each other beyond reparation. Nightmare Moon misses their monstrosity, trapped in a host who’s grief has poisoned them with empathy.

Things are bound to tip. The celestial bodies are not bodies, but prisons, and the amalgamations we call alicorns the key. And something desperately wants to be freed…)

Anyways:

My mane 6 redesign here!

And my luna and celestia redesigns here!