#like the change in buttons to switch runes

[floweringpopcat]

started totk earlier today and i already have so many thoughts. i'm guessing it takes place 2-5 years (maybe longer with how much purah aged!) after botw considering all of the guardians/sheikah tech is cleared out, plus the zonai stuff has had time to settle a bit. where did all that sheikah tech go/get disposed to? what happened to the sheikah shrines? where did the zonai ruins and shrines come from? i feel like time/dimension shenanigans may be at work

and then there's just the whole sky islands thing and i want to scream. skyward sword with skyloft and moving to the surface and then totk and the islands are back. it's like how earth started with pangaea, is now continents, and will become one supercontinent millions/billions of years in the future. full circle. (though with the royal line totk is portraying, i think it can be safely said that botw/totk are on a separate timeline)

considering botw didn't have bomb flowers, like likes, sundelions, etc., can it be inferred that the seeds and fauna came from the zonai ruins and/or depths and thrived in the new environment? how much has the geography changed?

the little tidbit in the lookout landing emergency shelter where the one guy is looking at texts written in ancient hylian? ugh /pos the majority of the hylians are so research-oriented and i absolutely love it

why does hylia say "go and bring peace to hyrule" in botw, but "go and bring peace to the world" in totk? how much is truly at stake here? i'm excited to find out

[frogonamelon]

I finally checked out Undertale Yellow and it's so good! The music and the animation and the characters and I just can't! As a result, I wanted to take a crack at redesigning the humans!

Design Notes Below!

Before going in, I knew I wanted to make the characters that get confused for each other in their respective games (Frisk and Chara, Clover and the blue souled human) look like each other to some extent. I also wanted Chara and Clove to be a little reminiscent of each other since they both have a shared relationship in Flowey.

Similarities:

Frisk and Chara have a similar silhouette, red in their color palettes, and the same shade of brown for their hair.

Chara and Clover both yellow/gold in their color pallet as well as the same 2 shades of brown

Clover and the blue souled human have the same hair color and blue in their color palettes. If the blue souled human were to let their hair down, it would be about the same length as Clover's

Individual Designs:

Frisk: The only thing I really changed about Frisk's design was their color palette. I wanted there to be more red to bring in their soul color. I also wanted their hair to resemble the Delta Rune's wings.

Chara: By far, Chara's changed the most. I wanted them to look more like a member of the royal family, so I switched the sweater for a tunic and the undershirt they're sometimes depicted with a white undershirt. Their locket is replaced with the red bow/ brooch thing because it fit the fantasy aesthetic more. Like Frisk, their hair resembles the Delta Rune, although more strongly.

Clover: Almost nothing changed about Clover. I rolled up their sleeves and switched out the brown button up for a white and blue stripped out in order to give them some stripes. Because the pattern was so busy up top, I gave them a blank yellow bandana and switched the polka dots to a patch in their pants.

The Blue Souled Human: The biggest things I wanted to do with this design was 1. Keep the silhouette they had in Undertale Yellow and 2. Give them a reason for being in a tutu and ballet shoes. It's winter up top and they're a sugar plum fairy in The Nutcracker. Because of this, I added some purple and white to this design and gave them a sweater that is their soul color.

Kris: I wanted Kris to look kind of miserable to juxtapose with their Dark World self. Their wing like hair (which originally looks a lot more like Frisk's) is drooping and dark and their color palette is monochromatic except for the jacket, which as Asriel's.

The Vessel is a blank slate, glitching kind of character wearing a hospital gown. Their hair is wispy, unformed.

[kazucee]

★CANT BE MORE DOWN BAD THAN I AM ! It's the way a smile could easily coax a heartbeat to race. It's the way that lingering unintentional stares manage to leave one on just teetering the edge of insanity. It's the way that despite everything, at the end of the day you'll both still remain roommates, but then the start of a new day begins and suddenly you're questioning everything all over again.

In which our favourite scribe and architect struggle with feelings and their painfully obvious pining, for the lovers who up till now don't know where they stand in the positive negative line of relationships. Pairings: Alhaitham x Kaveh ! [Wk: 897]

Tall, blonde and gorgeous. Like that stupid french fry meme that has done its fair share of circulation throughout sumeru. It was stupid really that Kaveh had been the first to come to the scribe's mind when Cyno had mentioned it a few days ago during their annual TCG card gathering, it was stupid how Alhaitham can't seem to keep his mind off the architect after that event. It was fresh in his mind, burrowing and making a home in the alcoves of his brain cavity, making its unwanted and pestering presence known throughout the entire day. His entire day. Kaveh. Kaveh. Kaveh. With blonde hair that reminds him of a sunflower. The brunette ends contrasting to his golden honey spun hair making themselves known everyday, every minute, every second of his damn life.

It was an imperfection, unsymmetrical, a product of Kaveh’s laziness—since the architect had stopped bothering to hide his natural hair color with that hideous brunette hair dye that always smelled a little too pungent for Alhaitham’s liking—he couldn't tolerate but found himself staring at for a moment too long. It was bothering him. Kaveh and his stupid blonde hair and the stupid brunette tips at the end. It was a painfully ethereal reminder that the blonde was in fact the object of his desires, the recipient of his pathetic pining and silent adoration.

Even at this moment, with Kaveh sitting innocently enough on that green couch that he claimed was hideous, the scribe thinks—no feels that he must be at the tipping edge of his sanity, grasping at the strings desperately. It's just Kaveh. His roommate. With the stupid blonde hair, the brunette tips and the red clips stuck in different directions driving him to the point of madness as he casually sits there and sketches his latest commision and blabbering about nonsensical things.

Despite showing his complete disinterest towards Kaveh’s complaints about his latest client, the blonde still yammered on. Alhaitham tries, desperately, to find it in himself to switch on that damned noise canceling button and be done with his roommates voice. But he found himself listening, though with disinterest, book in hand, headphones on and hearing every single word, it's like an old record that one resonated with by chance and it won't stop playing it's hypnotizing tune. He needs fresh air. And he'll keep needing fresh air, he thinks that it's the fact that they've been living together and he had gotten a little too used to the others' constant presence.

If Kaveh noticed Alhaithams change in the way he regarded him, more softer, like how your lover would whisper sweet nothings to you at the dead of night, under the lavender scented sheets and away from the world's view. Kaveh had truly mastered the art of ‘if you convince yourself enough, then there's nothing wrong with your roommates sudden change in behavioral patterns.’ The blonde will pretend that waking up to a warm blanket that definitely wasn't there the night before was normal and Alhaitham was probably just making sure he's still alive to pay rent by the end of the month. He'll pretend that he definitely didn't suddenly start picking up on ancient runes just so that he'd have a ground for conversation with that nuisance of a roommate of his. His. Roomate. His nuisance of a roommate that he'd catch looking at him with a pinch of sweetness and warmth, with that smile that he pretends isn't there when Kaveh tells him cheesy jokes or his usual complaints.

It didn't matter that Kaveh wanted all those secret looks and smiles to mean something, at this point he'd take anything from that dense scribe's mind. He didn't know exactly where Alhaitham fit in his scale of friends, he had Tighnari for whenever he has some gossip to spill, Cyno for when he needs someone to carry him home should he ever end up drunk to the point where he can't stand straight, Nilou for when a casual day comes by so they can sit down and have tea together and chat about all the lovely things. But Alhaitham—there is no set definition of where their relationship (no friendship) stands. There's too many variables that come into play whenever he's involved, he's his roomate, his best friend, the person he could see himself spending the rest of his life with��but the latter thought is saved for those nights where he'd indulge in all those variables, where there's no need for a set relationship, where Alhaitham would stop sending him all these signals and still not act upon them.

Denial is not only a river or the act of deluding oneself. Denial is two roommates, polar opposites, with an ever changing and confusing relationship, with mixed signals, imperfections that seem to still appear perfect to the other, thoughts about the future. Their future. When those multiple variables finally reach a derived conclusion. A conclusion that they both wished would desperately happen, but until then they'll keep dancing on that fragile line of best friends, roommates, and maybe in those quiet slow days, lovers.

Small a/n: this drabble was so impulsive and so not proofread haha. See I'm supposed to be asleep right now but my body clock won't allow it for some reason so I thought 'oh I should write about Haikaveh'. College is sucking the life out of me but hey there are times where I get random bursts of 'oh go write this it'll be fun' moments. Anyways for the Haikaveh' enjoyers, it's so hard to come by Haikaveh fics here on Tumblr- or I'm just looking at the wrong places?

The characters are from genshin impact ! Fic by me © All rights reserved.

𐙚 Reblogs, likes, and comments are much appreciated !

[ravioliage]

Incomprehensible post about Veilguard's combat!

Combat wise I think the most fun I've had with a team comp is Emmrich, Davrin, and KnifeSpellMage + Dagger Rune that refreshes cooldowns as if it is set up right it causes the most explosions. But my ultimate ride or die team that I take anywhere where it makes sense is Bellara and Lucanis.

I switch out teams regularly (Bellara always comes with Neve for her missions, Harding and Taash come together, etc.)

For Dragon killing missions I take Taash (equipped with the axes that do extra damage to taunted enemies) and Lucanis Enchanted with appropriate elements. If you press the right buttons those two make the Formless One MELT.

I wouldn't say I'm an Excel Pervert in video games but I love how in DATV it's much easier to change up elements/perks on weapons and armor compared to DAI's weapon crafting system where the only time I enjoyed it was running a Cheat Engine script that gave me infinite materials. I'm not farming for mats for 30 minutes to create a staff with a new element. Fuck you. DAI's rune system was BAD.

I like the Lyrium dagger in theory, but I think it would have been better if either 1) cooldowns were better on runes 2) only allow one rune. Literally I only have enough cooldowns to use one efficiency per combat encounter (I equipped Reset Cooldowns Rune and there is no reason to use anything else). Or make the elemental ones more powerful.

(if you are an Excel Pervert and enjoy some things that were in DAO but got lost along the way, may I recommend POE2---)

Do I love DAO's combat? Yes. Am I going to demand BioWare to return to that? Not really. A ton of ARPGs have come out since DAO that give me the same fix. BG3's and POE2's success will flood the market soon enough.

[confused-bat]

So I finally beat the final boss of Tears of the Kingdom last week and after starting a nuzlock (no it's not going well) and sitting with thoughts I think I can finally give a review.

Annoyingly its 10/10.

Oh hey there are spoilers!

TOTK had a lot to live up to being the follow up to a game that still changes the gaming landscape and did it do that? Yes. Did it do that well? No.

It was really annoying to play as someone with as many thousands of hours as I do in BOTW, a lot because of the little changes. Some to do with places changing or being absent that really (personally) got to me and also to more general gameplay changes. First of all the slight change of the button layout with the way you switch abilities being mapped to L instead of up on the d-pad which i was far more useful. I get why it changed but after getting so used to BOTW its jarring to suddenly change.

Additionally found myself getting bored. I never did with BOTW and not with any other zelda game I have played (I have 100%ed them all). I couldn't say why with any confidence but one reason could be the sheer amount of stuff and just how uninteresting the plot was (get back to that).

The deal with the sheer amount of stuff and why I think that is an issue is that I ended up really overwhelmed. I mentioned in a post from when the game first game out I stopped myself going into the depths after I decided to wander down and I got so overwhelmed I ended up in tears and stopped playing for a week. After I finished all the dungeons I got all the lightroots to help with that but I haven't gone back since. It's rare I get so overwhelmed but it really did put me off and this wasn't the last time it happened.

Back to the plot, it was lacking. The idea was there but the way it was shown was really annoying. One reason was nobody seemed to acknowledge the story as it progressed. I finished the dragons tear quest after only two dungeons and it really frustrated me that no one seemed to care that Zelda was a dragon. Nor was it mentioned. Which seems off as the dragons tear quest was a main quest that usually impacts the story and results, but it just didn't seem too.

Another massive issue is the fact that the dungeons did not cut it. Sure they felt more like traditional dungeons however they where very much till the 'find the terminals and activate it to fight the boss'. What I miss is making your way through a dungeon and finding an item of ability that allows you to explore the rest.

All that being said, Its still a fucking fantastic game.

When I wasn't bored I was running around and getting lost (I somehow lost all ability to navigate the map though i have completed BOTW 100% twice and played it dozens of times) and finding little crevasses to explore, most of which would grant me a reward or a grand view (I'm an artist leave me be). I also loved seeing Hyrule being brought back and just overall be brought back together. I also love the sky.

The sky was what I was most exited about and though there should be way more up there, running around and hopping from island to island was really magical. I felt really free and also the small amount of information we got about the Zonai couldn't have peaked me interest more.

The abilities are also far superior than the runes and really opened up a game based on freedom even more. Plus the return of bomb flowers made me light up way too much when i first saw them.

Though the story disappointed me as a whole i still preferred it, mostly because we where living through it and it felt so much more alive. In BOTW the world felt so lonely as the races just focused on themselves while in TOTK the world is alive and bright with life as new houses are being built and the races are taking the world back for themselves. Also seeing the far past with the sealing of Ganondorf and the whole sideplot with Rauru and Sonia had me gripped.

All of this being said I will replay it for the rest of myself (and BOTW) like we all do with Ocarina of Time. Its a fantastic game that shows the best of the video game world today. I have no idea where Zelda is going next and I'm not sure Nintendo does. I think I will take the 'annoyingly' out of my 10/10 if the DLC helps fix this (when there is DLC) but I can only hope.

[sullina]

As someone who has a switch... there are a handful of games that make ot worth it. Totk, the og BOTW, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (altho base rise is on console too), and Splatoon 3. Some ppl probly like Smash Bros and Animal Crossing and Mario Kart too but those are the main ones I was interested in. Oh and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet and Legends Arceus

I already have botw on the wiiu (don't judge me), that monster hunter sounds interesting, and i did like the smash game for the wii, mainly the story mode.

I got the first splatoon a few years ago and didn't reay like it at all, mario kart isn't really fun unless you play with friends (which i don't have a lot of irl), I'm really a fan of animal crossing and with the pokemon games in recent years, i feel like they're just getting worse and worse :/

I like the older zelda games, because of the puzzles throughout the worlds and because of the unique items you got in each temple that would unlock new secrets and places, and of course the big temples. Botw had pretty much none of these things, and no, 900 korok seeds don't count, because they don't do anything once you maxed out your bag space.

One of the first zelda games i played was twilight princess, which i loved. That reminds me, one of the things that botw also lacked was a companion character, which for me is a pretty big part of the game actually. And there's usually always some kind of central mechanic that the games are more or less built around. In twilight princess, it was the fact that you could turn into a wolf at will (though admittedly a bit later in the game i think), in skyward sword it was the flying and (admittedly very limited) interaction between the surface and sky.

But the central mechanic in botw was just... climbing. Which gets old really fast. Like, sure, you have an open world game, but getting around isn't really fun since you can only climb, walk/ride and glide. And the gliding is kinda fun, but eventually it just gets old, same with climbing. I would've preferred it if instead of giving us 100 outfits, there were items instead to enhance the basic abilities, because items can be taken on and off at will with a single button press without having to go into the menu for every single thing.

I also wasn't a fan of the shrines tbh. I felt the puzzles were too obvious and short most of the time and the reward was always the same, and trading the orbs in for heart or stamina containers was a bit annoying.

Also, this one's just a personl pet peeve, but i don't really like how links typical/default outfit color was changed from green to blue. Don't get me wrong, he looks good in blue, but like... nothing was wrong with green, you know?

One thing i also REALLY didn't like was the fact that you got all your runes at the start of the game and then that was it, there were no new mechanics throughout the entirety of the game. Which may appeal to some people, but for me that just made the whole game feel really same-y, like there were no new things. And I'm including the weapons, because sure there's tons of different weapons, but only three movesets, and the weapons were way too fragile, though i know I'm not alone in this point.

I could keep talking, but it's 3am, so I'll sum up what i wanted to say, which is that while botw wasn't a bad game, it wasn't really much of a zelda game and i didn't like it all that much, not enough to shell out more than 300€ for the sequel that seems to have all the same problems from what I've seen so far. But maybe I'll change my opinion, idk. If you want more of my ramblings on botw, you'll have to wait until tomorrow.

[alderaani]

more than gold

summary:  A lost Jedi Temple, a riddle, some literature, and feelings that Cody isn't ready to speak out loud. | AO3

note: written for @codywanweek and the alt day 5 prompt Sith/Jedi Artefact Shenanigans! sliding in on the last day with one more thing written than expected, so i’m happy with that! i’m pretty ill today so i hope it actually makes some coherent sense 😂 also if the riddle was super obvious, soz, never written one before and turns out it’s really hard.

-

“You know, I could have sworn I told you not to touch that,” Cody says conversationally, from where he’s splayed out on his back.

“Really? I’m sure I didn’t hear you,” Obi-Wan says, cheerful despite being crumpled in a heap. His elbow is in Cody’s gut. Cody glares at him.

The room they’re lying in is circular, stone, carved out of some Forced-damned mountain and according to Obi-wan, practically thrumming with power. The ceiling is high and vaulted, letting in slivers of light where intricate mirror systems catch the sunlight of double suns and project it deep underground. It takes on a slightly blue cast, reflecting off the huge pool of water they were lucky to not fall into. Four walkways at each cardinal point lead to a central platform, and interspersed between them are four waterfalls.

It should be serene. Except now the waterfalls are travelling backwards, and all the doors, including the one they came in by, are blocked. Cody scrambles up onto his elbows, dislodging Obi-Wan with a grunt.

“What did you do?”

Obi-Wan follows his gaze and gasps, delighted. “Now, will you look at that?”

Cody is looking. Frankly, he doesn’t trust this place enough to not keep his eye on it at all times. Obi-Wan keeps saying that this temple was built long ago, by ancient, peaceful Jedi as a place of learning, and that it won’t hurt them. After they got cut off from the rest of their men at the entrance, however, Cody thinks he could be forgiven for having his doubts.

As Obi-Wan himself proves, peace-keeping hardly rules out danger.

“Amazing,” Obi-Wan breathes, hoisting himself to his feet without a second glance, to walk back up to the plinth and stalk round it, examining the incomprehensible runes engraved there.

Cody is left to peel himself off the floor, and instead goes to prod at the barriers now sealing the exits with the end of his blaster. He tries not to look too much at Obi-Wan, at the soft sweep of his hair and the span of his shoulders. Being on their own like this is something he’s avoided, of late - not because he doesn’t enjoy it, but because he’s starting to enjoy it all too much.

He doesn’t trust the way his heart leaps when Obi-Wan smiles, when he asks him to call him ‘Obi-Wan’, when the cycle draws on and they’re up late again, companionably finishing reports and debating strategy. Or, as they had been doing until Cody got cold feet and started finding excuses, debating novels, which Obi-Wan checked out of the Temple archives and read aloud, one chapter at a time, before they turned in for the night.

He doesn’t trust himself not to ruin this by overstepping. There’s something about his general that makes him lose all control of his tongue, and puts him in danger of voicing thoughts that really he should not be having at all.

It’s agony. It’s bliss. It’s stretching him to breaking point, and this is possibly the worst situation they could have ended up in, really.

“These are made out of water,” he says over his shoulder, grunting as he tries to push his blaster through. He is, of course, unsuccessful.

“Ingenious,” Obi-Wan says. “How did they manage that, I wonder?”

Cody cuts a glance back at him, and grins, despite his exasperation.

“You’re not more worried about how we’re going to get out?”

Obi-Wan waves a hand. “I’m sure the path will reveal itself, in time. Oh, look - Cody, I think this is a puzzle!”

Cody bites back a groan. They do not have time for this. They never really had time for it, but Obi-Wan promised it would be a brief detour on their way to the capital for hyperspace lane access negotiations. He’d looked so excited by recon reports of a lost temple that Cody just hadn’t been able to say no. He’s never able to say no to Obi-Wan, even when he isn’t following orders. It’s probably his fatal flaw.

“I don’t suppose there’s an off switch? A back button?” He asks hopelessly. The Force, at least the Jedi sort, very rarely seems to work that way. Obi-Wan is always talking about moving through problems, about seeking balance and adapting to what’s around you, rather than manipulating it. It’s not Cody’s favoured approach; he was trained to leverage his environment to its maximum advantage, and finds he has little patience for anything else.

Obi-Wan snorts. “This is a defensive mechanism, I’m afraid. Judging by the architecture this was built at the height of the Sith Wars. This artefact is designed to trap us here until we understand the mechanism and progress, or until, back when the temple was occupied, someone would come and deal with the intruder.”

“That doesn’t sound very peaceful,” Cody says.

Obi-Wan shoots him an amused look, the warm, soft kind that makes heat rise from the pit of Cody’s belly right up to his ears.

“Even a pacifist may defend himself,” he says, then leans over the pedestal. “Now, how about you stop grousing and come help me with this?”

Cody rolls his eyes, but goes, slinging his blaster across his back and crossing his arms.

“And stop looming,” Obi-Wan laughs, catching one of Cody’s gloved hands and pulling it down to rest at his side. The simple touch makes Cody’s cheeks burn.

“Don’t see what help I can give you, Sir,” he says, frowning down at the characters surrounding the bright blue artefact. “I was never any good at Ithorian.”

Obi-Wan pauses, then tilts his head up. “Ah. Is that what it is?”

“I - I think so?” Cody was never any good at his language flashtraining; he never had the proper patience for it, but he can usually figure out the basics.

“No, no,” Obi-Wan muses, stroking at his beard with his free hand. “You’re quite right. Goodness me, it's been a long time since I last saw this dialect. Let’s see now…”

Cody steps back and waits, keeping his attention firmly split between their blocked exit points while Obi-Wan ponders. The slow upward movement of the waterfalls is eerie - it still makes noise, but none of it is right. Instead of the gentle patter he expects of water joining a larger pool, there’s a faint gurgling as they move further into each grate, travelling somewhere he cannot see.

Obi-Wan finishes his fifth circle round the platform, and the hand at his chin goes still. Cody stands at attention, expectant.

“It’s a riddle,” Obi-Wan says, and if possible, his delight grows. “Yes - the language is coming back to me now. Do you know, I haven’t looked at Ithorian in maybe 12 years?”

“Sir?” Cody says, tilting his head to look at the characters more closely. He doesn’t have even a passing proficiency at modern Ithorian, and presumably it’s changed a bit over the millennia. His training was focused on the basics, and only the useful bits, at that. He thinks he can make out the words for ‘ water ’, and ‘ enemy’ , both of which are either unhelpfully descriptive or frankly discouraging, but that’s about the extent of it.

“My old master - he loved prophecies. When I was a teenager I could never see the point of it, but it meant I spent a lot of time learning the old Ithorian dialects. They’re known as the most peaceful species, did you know?” Obi-Wan shakes his head. “They’ll exile anyone violent, it’s quite remarkable, really. I suppose in some sort of idealistic emulation, a lot of the early Jedi texts are written in their dialect.”

His blue eyes are keen, his laser sharp focus firmly on the podium. It gives Cody a moment to observe his clever fingers, the long line of his neck, the open delight with which he tackles this new problem. It’s a rare thing, to see him so relaxed, and Cody can’t help the fond smile that creeps up on him despite the circumstances. This almost makes it worth it, and on reflection, he’d rather an ancient temple than the last thing that had made Obi-Wan so happy; a wretched, bioluminescent fungus, which had infected half the battalion and given them hives. Their general had studied it for weeks.

Obi-Wan’s lips quirk up. Cody barely trusts himself to speak.

“I didn’t know, Sir,” Cody croaks, then pauses, fishing for something normal to say. “Didn’t we have to defend the governor’s daughter from an Ithorian bounty hunter on Ganaris-IV?”

“Well,” Obi-Wan grins. “Those exiles have to go somewhere, don’t they?”

Cody huffs a laugh and reaches up to scratch his neck at the seam of his bucket.

“Let’s just hope they didn’t all come here. What’s this riddle, then?”

Obi-Wan shifts to the side, then points at a spot on the podium. “As I said, it’s been a long time, but I think it starts here, and goes something like:

A thing to be forged, where water is thicker,

Worth more than gold, unless it’s pyrite that glitters.

An enemy of my enemy, or in hard times, in need,

Sometimes fair-weather, or in high places indeed.

What are you, traveller? ”

All of Cody’s hopes that it would be something nice and obvious, like “lightsaber” or, given what’s going on around them, “gravity”, escape from him like smoke. Jedi and their metaphors. It’s not just a quirk of Obi-Wan’s, clearly.

“Does that mean anything to you, Sir?” he asks, turning the words over in his head once, twice, then frowning when nothing comes immediately.

Obi-Wan’s brow is also furrowed, but in a leisurely, meditative manner.

“...I have some ideas, I think,” he says. “How about you, my friend?”

What does he think? He thinks that there are other sorts of puzzles he is much better suited to. Word play and idioms...what does a clone have to offer that?

Still, Obi-Wan is watching him, expectant and gentle, and he sifts back through the lines, a little more seriously this time.

“Ice, maybe?”

Obi-Wan nods, slowly. “Perhaps. Walk me through it.”

Cody swallows. “Ice is something that can be made, right? It’s not exactly forged, but…”

He trails off in uncertainty.

“Go on,” Obi-Wan says with another one of those soft, devastating smiles. It fractures all the thoughts in Cody’s head, and he has to stop, clear his throat and gather up all the pieces.

“I suppose...it’s just thicker water, isn’t it? On warm planets it’s a valuable commodity, it’s found in high places, and I suppose if you wanted snow, a freeze would be fair weather.”

Obi-Wan is rubbing his beard again, and he’s still smiling. “Fascinating. I would never have thought of that...only, I don’t think it’s quite there. That mention of pyrite is troublesome, and the ‘enemy of my enemy’, where does that fit in?”

Cody shrugs his shoulders, frustrated, and feels a hot flush creep up his neck. “Don’t know why you’re asking me, to be honest, Sir. Kamino hardly covered poetry.”

There’s a slight pause, then Obi-Wan’s hand is on his again, tugging it slowly down from where he’s crossed his arms.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” he says, soft.

“Do what?” Cody’s voice is gruff.

“Dismiss yourself. You do it sometimes when we’re reading together. There is often no right and wrong answer to these things, no secret. There is only perspective, and you see things I never would, if only you would trust yourself.”

Cody looks down and away, back towards the waterfalls and their slow, glacial climb. He isn’t sure that’s true. He enjoys what Obi-Wan shares with him, what other lives he gets to touch in their books, but more than anything they convince him that, beyond war, he knows very little of anything at all. He would like to, someday.

His eyes land on Obi-Wan’s lips briefly, before he tears them away. Particular experiences he would like to know more than others.

There was one book that Obi-Wan had read early on, back when this infatuation was just setting its first tendrils into him, about a forbidden romance at the heart of the old Mandalorian court. Two heirs of rival clans battling to be together against the good approval of their noble relatives. It had been torrid, ridiculous and entirely unexpected when Obi-Wan had suggested they break up their reports with some literature.

But what it had done was give him the words to express the crawling heat in his stomach, the urge he has to reach out, to touch, to soothe, to care for. He’d known what he wanted before that, of course, in a more rudimentary manner, but it had gifted him the language of yearning.

Suddenly, a particular passage springs into his mind and he straightens.

“You don’t think it could mean ally, do you? In Beneath the Armour, Mata threatens Clan Riza by saying he has ‘allies in high places’.”

Obi-Wan pauses, and then a brilliant smile spreads over his face. “Yes, that’s it! Pyrite - Fool’s Gold; a false friend! Brilliant Cody, whatever made you think of that?”

Cody grins, even though Obi-Wan can’t see it, and doesn’t answer.

“Is that really it?”

“I think you’re very close,” Obi-Wan says. “The characters engraved into the platform...yes! Stand close to me, Commander.”

Cody does, watching curiously as Obi-Wan lifts his hands, shuts his eyes, frowns, and pushes . Six blocks that make up the platform lift, the characters on each glowing bright, lurid blue. Under their feet, something scrapes, shifts and clunks, before the platform lurches upwards, spinning gently.

There’s a thunderous gurgling sound, before all of the pool beneath drains away.

“The answer,” Obi-Wan says, slightly breathless, his hair a little out of place. “Was friend.”

“The doorways are still blocked,” Cody notes drily. The plinth with the blue orb that started this whole mess has also risen, and underneath it are a set of very wet, slimy looking steps. “I don’t suppose it’s as simple as just walking down these and getting in?”

“Likely not,” Obi-Wan agrees, then inexplicably shifts a little closer, so that they are sharing space. Cody’s heart skips a beat. “But it’s like I told you, Cody. You are far greater than what you have been given.”

Cody coughs and looks at his feet, at their boots almost toe to toe, pleasure at the praise singing low through his body.

“Now,” Obi-Wan says, too close and not close enough. “How do you feel about another puzzle?”

Cody groans, laughing, and after a moment, follows his General into the dark.

[sleepyowlwrites]

find the word tag CCCXIX

the weather is turning the sky on its side, and I'm on the outskirts, always in denial, the evening is waiting to let in the night, and I'm on the outskirts, a blur in moonlight, the silence is silence but every birdsong, and I'm on the outskirts, still strung along, the moment is heady but passes with rain, and I'm on the outskirts, and I'll fade with the change. @spacetimewraithwrites

keep (dirt in the doing)

“How long have you been on your own?”

“Six years.” Rune turns her face just enough that she’s hiding in his hand somewhat. He lets her, though he knows he’s a poor comfort.

“Do you want to have some people to keep you company?”

“I can’t be part of your gang, not in all the ways the rest of you are.” She finally detaches herself, taking a deep breath. “I’m not as much of a rebel as you are.”

“Nobody’s as much of a rebel as I am.”

That gets a short laugh from her. It sounds genuine. “This is true.”

gold (summon story d0)

Skin grew back in Wryn’s natural shade of dark indigo and Zan was very relieved to no longer be looking at their skeleton. He looked up at Wryn’s face just in time to see their crimson eyes bleed back to a comfortable gold.

Zan wanted to ask if it hurt every time their body reverted back to the damage done that day, but didn’t want to repeat Erin’s mistake. He phrased it not like a question, just to be safe. “If it’s painful to switch control-”

“It is always painful,” Wryn said, a fullness back in their voice that proved the ibsin had settled into a more dormant state. “But it is manageable,” they added when Zan couldn’t hold back a wince of sympathy.

goal (dirt in the doing)

He’s done a lot, or a little, comparatively, in the several years he’s been fighting the backwards system and illegal enterprises with ones of his own, with sabotage, and sometimes arson, which Yarrow had goaded him into. Every time, in the moment, it feels amazing, like this new act of destruction against the winning class will be a game changer. It never is, and even as he plots his newest goal, Jet will wonder if he should give it all up. Be another kind of citizen. He’ll never be respectable, has no desire for it. But he could possibly enact positive change without being a force of destruction first.

Jet always comes back to it, though, because those singular moments are all he has. They’re never quite the same thing as purpose, but they’ve been good enough for now.

For now.

fire (twice caught, twice lost, 2020)

you were a bullet and a bandage and the one to say hello. I sidestepped your appendages and dove into the storm. twice the lightning struck me, twice I drowned in fire. you were a train wreck and a torment and the one to bring me back. I danced around your piercing gaze and fell down a flight of stairs. twice the darkness stung me, twice I bore its blows.

breathe (the sleepy stash)

And I delighted in your countenance, the light from your eyes, glancing onto mine; every second that I lingered in the sunset of your cheeks gave me a better reason to breathe; break all the walls of this prison house and my bones too, let me meld with you

book, button, borrow, being. BONUS: bereft, blushing. @spacetimewraithwrites @uraniumwriting @gwens-fiction @myhusbandsasemni @did-i-do-this-write @zmwrites @sleepy-night-child @pixelw0rds OR ANYBODY

[goji-pilled]

MK-S: Odd, could have sworn I sent it. Must have forgot to hit the button. Glad I asked though, because now I know.

MK-S: Another set of Candeloro journal entries. If I counted correctly, this is journal number 5. And here’s true link to the previous entry, journal number 4.

March 8: It has been a little over 2 weeks (I needed to look back to the date I used for the exterminator entry and ran the date for today through an online date calculator. Date calculations just don’t come easy given how each month has a differing number of days, and I didn’t feel like doing math right now. IRL, been a bit less than a week.) Since last I entered through the Gate. (And I’m starting back up with good habits; calling the entrance “the Gate” does feel so much more natural than “the breach”.) The Gap (Still need a better name for this…I’ll switch to the alternative for this instance.) Space Between Spaces has been different ever since the arrival and departure of Lady Klarissa. Though a fair maiden, she was followed by an unholy presence (no offense Phil, but that line just sounded good.) not of this world. This entity…did something, to the space between spaces. (Hmm…could I shorten this title and call it “The Between”…It could work, but I’m personally not feeling it…”The Unknown”? No, that’s too generic, especially since it could apply to anything else I encounter. I’ll keep thinking about it.) It’s different now. Somehow bigger, in ways that defy even the very nature of that place. And the entity saw fit to leave its signature. Written in an ancient script of our people, in runes that glowed just beyond the doors of the Gate (note to self, make an entry hall type thing that has tiny doors into the wall) it declared itself as “The Screamer in the Void”.

(Well, it seems that Phil found himself a role play name. First thing I saw when I entered into the wall was some faintly glowing burn marks in the form of Witch Language, that roughly said “brought to you” or “presented by” or “gift from” (No idea how a language can do that sort of uncertainty all at the same time. I don’t think this is a Phil thing, I think it may just be a quirk of the witch language.) where was I? Oh yeah, it said “[from] The Screamer in the Void”. Cool title. I like it. Though I hope Phil doesn’t mind if I occasionally shorten it to just “The Screamer”.)

March 9: (Took a break after that last part, so it feels a bit disconnected coming back. One of those times I’ll need to take a bit of creative liberties to help this role play double as a narrative. Basically, I’m going to be exaggerating some details, and how throughly I did some inspections.) I know not The Screamer’s (used that shortening much sooner than I thought I would; hence the aforementioned disconnect.) intent on changing the Space Between Spaces, but I am loathe to admit that it has reinvigorated a spark for discovery that I’d thought would have perished with the fall of the Rat King. That sense of unknown wilds, waiting to be understood, to be mapped, to be tamed. I must admit that I do have a sense of reasonable dread, for I know not if the Screamer in the Void has seen fit to populate this changed realm with creatures and beings from whatever abyss it dwells in. (Dang, that whole section came out really nice! I’m definitely getting back in the groove.) I tediously began the process of remapping the entry area, taking great care to mount signage to areas (notecards with push pins, worked out surprisingly well. Learned that some parts of my ribbons don’t have nerves or something: accidentally pinned myself onto a beam. (Yes Nagisa, I know you’re reading this to read ahead, so go ahead and get your chuckles out now. But seriously, don’t you care about spoiling it for yourself?)) So that I may be able to navigate these areas with more familiarity. (Not looking forward to having to come up with location names; that’s my biggest weakness as a writer. But I guess all things considered, that’s a weakness I’d prefer to have over anything else.) I will not yet explore these new areas; I must first verify that the maps from the prior iteration of the Space Between Spaces remain accurate. But once that is done, and all new pathways have been documented, the true expedition will begin. (Gotta make sure that whatever Phil did didn’t make the regular walls go crazy. Last thing I want is for some shenanigans to punch a hole in the wall only for Cthulhu or some other Eldritch nightmare to pop out. Again, no offense Phil…oh dang, just had a disturbing thought: Eldritch bees/wasps. I shiver at the thought. Well, that’s enough for now. I think Nagisa and Yuma will be happy to hear that the Adventures of Candeloro (I reserve the right to change that title on any whim that I so desire) are going to be getting some new installments!)

MK-S: Hope you enjoyed! Next time we finally get to explore Phil’s handiwork.

LETS GO!!!

[inkweaver22-blr]

Welcome to chapter nine! This one was meant to just be another filler with one of my own AU’s, but Tang just had to be introspective and have a moment of character growth. Hope you enjoy!

EDIT: This chapter has been edited to include some new info dropped on the same day I originally posted this! More info in the End Notes!

AO3 Link

<Previous | First | Next>

Scattered Cicadas - Chapter Nine: Rocks and Roles

Tang knows how to act. That doesn't mean he likes to play every part.

----------

Tang liked to think of himself as a decent actor, at least back in the original timeline. He had been part of the theater class in high school and telling stories required a bit of a dramatic flair if you wanted to keep your audience entertained. Convincing Pigsy he was a popular food critic hadn’t been too hard back then.

The many cycles he had been through had certainly helped polish his skill into a genuine talent. That one time where he and everyone else had been professional actors playing the roles of themselves from the original timeline as part of a show had especially allowed him to hone himself to a greater degree than before.

Being stuck jumping through time had practically made it a necessity.

It wasn’t that Tang enjoyed what was essentially lying to his family. It was more for their protection. He had almost broken the “No Interference” rule a few times when he hadn’t properly reacted to events that, while shocking or upsetting to his family, were simply part of his routine by now. He couldn’t allow the repetitive nature of the cycles to make him slip up and potentially cause more harm by being confronted by his lack of surprise or fear.

So he acted. He gasped at all the right moments or screamed in fear when in danger. Every laugh, every sigh of exasperation, every freak out over something related to Wukong was perfectly performed so as to not to raise suspicion. So long as the proper reaction occurred in response to the correct effect, everything went smoothly.

It wasn’t too hard or taxing as he never needed to fake his enjoyment of being around his family. Luckily for him, he also didn’t have to act exactly as he had been in the original timeline, or he may have gone insane from the monotony of it.

The cycles where his background was entirely rewritten were blessings in disguise, really. They were new. Fresh experiences for Tang to have and not have to work as hard to realistically react to.

He treated them like a method acting exercise. The new memories as part of Tang’s new backstory was the motivation for the ‘character’ he was playing. He didn’t have to fully adhere to them, but they certainly helped him play the role provided to him for the cycle.

He still disliked playing the villain however.

It happened a few times before already. The most notable had been when Zhu Bajie was in the role of Sun Wukong as MK’s mentor.

Tang shuddered at the memory of that timeline.

Saying that version of him had been unhinged was severely downplaying the many atrocities he had performed on both himself and others. Committing suicide to erase his name from the books of the dead, killing demons to absorb their lifeforce, and cutting open his own chest to manually insert the gem holding that lifeforce into himself for power were simply the tamer actions he had committed.

He supposed that heartbreak, jealousy, and internalized insecurities could drive even the most benign people to madness so long as they properly justified their actions to themselves.

It had been the first time in quite a while that Tang seriously considered intentionally breaking the interference rule and just running off to live in solitude for the entire cycle. Getting “redeemed” had been one of the most difficult things he had tried to pull off.

Tang dodged a swipe from the Monkey King’s staff as he was brought back into the present.

He was the villain once again this cycle. Luckily though, he was much less of a threat to his family this time around.

He was replacing Red Son as the demon child of Demon Bull King and Princess Iron Fan.

Tang, Son of the Earth.

He wasn’t the only one who was switched around. Pigsy, who went by Bajie, was a human who had become Wukong’s successor. MK was a boar demon who ran the noodle shop. Red Son was a scientist and engineer who frequented the restaurant.

It was almost an opposite reflection of the cycle he had just been musing about.

“You’ll have to do better than that, noodle boy,” Tang taunted as he swung his arms to pull chunks of stone from the ground, his hands and the Earth he controlled both glowing with a golden-yellow light.

He supposed that it made sense for him to have some sort of elemental power if he was this timeline’s Red Son. Earth fit as he had certainly mellowed out over the course of the cycles, becoming more focused and self assured. His original self would have most certainly been associated with air with how flighty he had been.

Tang made sure to keep his full concentration as he attacked Bajie. Earth may be the element of the sturdy, but it had the potential to be much more volatile than fire. It was easy to let loose and cause a catastrophic earthquake. It took precision to control smaller pieces of rock without causing too much collateral damage.

Bajie batted away the earthen projectiles with ease and rushed into an opening Tang had intentionally left. He had to do his best to not rely on the fighting skills he had from previous cycles and use only what his memories knew when playing a villain. Otherwise he’d easily beat the fledgling hero and that certainly would be treated as interfering.

Tang winced as the staff connected with his ribs and sent him flying. He coughed as he pulled himself up, holding his injured side as he glared at the now smirking Bajie.

“How’s that for better!”

“This isn’t over,” Tang cried out dramatically. He activated his powers, this time summoning a whirlwind of sand to teleport away.

Another scene as the villain successfully played out.

----------

Tang sat in his workshop, calculating the specific size of a rune circle he would need.

It seemed that similarly to how Red Son was a genius that incorporated magic into science, this version of Tang was one who incorporated science into magic. Not a big distinction, but important in how the process worked. It still took an impressive amount of knowledge on both subjects to work them together in the end.

Setting his pen down to take a break, Tang looked around as he stretched. He caught his reflection in a nearby piece of metal machinery he had been fiddling with and examined himself once again.

He didn’t look too different from his human self, his face remaining the same. His hair was now a dark brown with yellow highlights and his glasses were much smaller. The biggest difference were the bull horns sticking out of the side of his head.

He didn’t mind them too much, but having to give up any pull over shirt for button downs was a hassle.

Looking at his horns lead the demon scholar to think about his parents in this timeline.

Demon Bull King and Princess Iron Fan.

Tang frowned as he recalled the less than comforting welcome he had received after returning from his defeat. The disapproving dismissal from his father and scathing taunts from his mother had been demoralizing. It would have hurt more if he hadn't had the years of time jumping behind him.

If this was how Red Son was commonly treated, it was no wonder he worked hard in everything he did just to gain a scrap of approval and praise.

And yet he knew they loved each other. The moments he noticed didn’t happen often, but he could tell that his parents held some affection for him, and he obviously cared for them. He just didn’t understand why they acted so cruelly to one another.

Was it a demon thing? Were they afraid that by showing their love they were showing weakness?

That was certainly possible, but Tang disagreed with the sentiment. He had been through enough cycles to see that love made one stronger. It wasn’t the weakness their enemies thought it was.

Tang was already planning on becoming redeemed in this cycle. It hurt to think his parents would disown him, but what if that didn’t have to happen?

He thought about that one specific cycle and how he had become so twisted. All of it could have been avoided had his past self simply let go of his long held beliefs and went with Bajie.

Now he just had to make two powerful demons do just that.

Tang was an amazing actor.

He also had many years of watching the people around him and knew most of them almost better than they knew themselves.

His current parents were no exception.

He could see the potential for a loving and healthy family, buried just beneath the surface.

It would take some work, but he was sure he could unearth it and polish that potential until it shined.

With renewed energy, Tang pulled out a blank scroll and began planning.

He had a family to save.

----------

Welcome to what I’m calling the Noodle Swap AU! It is named that way because the only change is that the pairs that make up the two most popular noodle ships (SpicyNoodles and FreeNoodles) swap places!

Shout out to @winterpower98 for their amazing Actor AU and Dad Swap AU mentioned in this chapter! Go check them out!

Yes, yes, I know I’ve basically made Tang here Terra from Teen Titans. Most people would give him Air as an element, but 1) we already have an Air user in Princess Iron Fan and 2) Tang has changed quite a bit since the start of this Time Hopping experience, as he states himself in the chapter.

I do genuinely believe there’s a loving family hidden somewhere underneath all the cruelty the DBK crew throw at each other. It’s already been hinted that Red Son will get a redemption arc in the show, but I want one for his parents too.

That’s all for now! See you in the next chapter!

:IMPORTANT EDIT!!!!:

There's been a few paragraphs changed and added to include the new canon lore for Tang in the Dad Swap AU! Go check out @kitkat1003's absolutely ASTOUNDING work, When the Tide Pulls Away and the Earth Sharpens to Steel! It is INCREDIBLE and if it was finished, you'd absolutely know there would be an entire chapter dedicated to it here.

[thirdchairfreshie]

Oh man, I have a few thoughts about Rune Factory 5. People have probably talked it to death but whatever. Minor spoilers??

- Im having a fun time playing it, it looks pretty cool and it feels like RF4

-Im in love with every character. Im only midway through spring and havent met everyone yet, but man i wanna smooch everyone

-I came im thinking id go for reinhard (who i just met and already has 3 hearts lol) but im really loving Martin and Murakumo. Cecil is great too but im having a hard time choosing who ill be going for first 😰 havent met lucas yet

-For the girls, Lucy and Beatrice are def my faves. Fuuka is a cutie. Priscilla is ok, shes nice. Yet to meet Scarlet. Also Misasagi is probably the only milf ill simp for

-RF5 is....really easy on normal mode. Im thinking of changing to hard mode, but maybe its because i just got done with thr second dungeon?

-The game is laggy. Sometimes i accidently destroy something because it didnt register, i clip through stuff, and itll slow down whenever i go from one area to another

-Oh, and there's loading screens for whenever you enter and exit a building or dungeon, but the wait isnt too long

-Maybe its just me, but the 3D messes with my perception, especially during the bean throwing competition:(

-They did include many amazing quality of life changes, like being able to switch between farm tools and weapons with one button

-If you try to catch a fish before it bites, it doesn't leave and you can try again

-Im so glad they show you where you need to go for events so Im not just walking around

-The map is a little big, so they provide places you can warp to via the map

-Have I mentioned how much i love Martin and Beatrice 🥰

[lilikags]

This is a more in-depth summary of the last two previews. Find them here and here. 

Watch the video here. 

Notice: This will be implemented after 5/27

Section 1- Summon Improvements

1. Selective summons:

Guaranteed 5* hero at summons 1, 10, 20, 30

Record function

View hero rating 

Another selective summons for players who beat EP 3

2. Moonlight connections

Connections with Arbiter Vildred, Martial Artist Ken, Dark Corvus, Ruele of Light, Specter Tenebria, and Judge Kise are available

will open after clearing Episode 1, Sanctuary Gate Underground

You can use the hero before finishing the quests, however there is a cap to where you can use them.

3. Connections

Connections will become easier

Most likely an Angelica connection will be added

4. Specialty Change

There’s a bit more, but here’s the important bullet points:

Must be level 30 instead of 50 to specialty change

They’ll give you runes for the tree

Difficulty level for certain quests will be reduced

Section 2- Growth Improvements

1. Penguins

Will just be one element

No longer will take up slots in the hero inventory

2. Penguin Mileage

If there are max level heroes on the team, the exp they gain will be used to create penguins.

3. Potion of Ascension

This potion can instantly ascend a hero to 6*

Limited supply, but you can get one from Adventurer’s Path

If you have already completed Adventurer’s Path, the additional items will be delivered to your in game inbox.

Section 3- Content Improvements

1. Basic Content Improvements

Pets unlocked at Rank 25 instead of 35

Free abyss guides and labyrinth compasses

2. Side Story Improvements

Side stories will be available starting after you finish episode 1 of story.

Tutorial for side stories

Overall difficulty of side stories will increase

Energy needed to obtain x amount of side story materials will be reduced by 25%.

Molagora and goblin challenges in every side story

Friendship items will be added to shop in accordance to the featured hero’s element. If the featured hero is, for example, Senya, who is an earth unit, then the friendship lanterns will be for earth heroes.

Charms will have an increased drop rate and low level equipment will have their drop rate lowered.

Epic + rare catalyst boxes will be added to quest rewards and the amount of gold obtainable will increase.

“Receive All” function

3. Other Quality of Life

3.1: Fail Guide

Can help to make your heroes stronger in order to beat the stage.

3.2: Catalyst Improvements

UI Page for researching catalysts

3.3: AP Shop Improvements

Easily switch between regions of the same continent without clicking multiple buttons.

Cap for amount purchasable doubled

Section 4- Future Updates (After 5/27)

1. New type of side story- Advent

9 heroes total, 3 teams of 3

3 phases, each team will fight one phase

Buffs according to element

Available to those who have cleared a certain part of episode 2

Gives substat modification gems

Hints to gem crafting and gem conversion at a later date

2. Guild PvE- Ancient Inheritance

Explore the region with your guildmates. 

The more guildmates that explore, the faster you’ll get to deeper areas. The quickest guilds to reach the deepest part will earn more rewards.

Will be updated on the third anniversary of the game

Update Schedule

[dragonrajafanfiction]

The Island

Fingel Von Frings took a deep drag of his cigar and exhaled smoke against the glass that allowed him to see into the cryo chamber while the people inside couldn’t see out.

Cassell medical personnel wrapped in thick cloth hazmat suits with protective helmets and visors worked quickly to secure Tom Allman for transport. His thick claws were wrapped in cut proof mittens. HIs arms were twisted tight in a straight jacket. On top of that, thick straps reinforced with kevlar tied his arms together. Finally, a helmet faced with a titanium alloy cage  was fitted over his head.

There was no point in wasting any more serum on this young man. He had passed the point of no return. 

As the Vice Chancellor, he’d only had the responsibility to sign off on his expulsion from Cassell. He didn’t have to be here. But he always made it a point to see off every student who left academy without an official ceremony.

A wheeled metal coffin was rolled in. On the count of three, the medics lifted his body and placed him inside, closing the lid. A pneumatic pump, sealed it with the push of the button and the glass that showed his sleeping face inside was frosted over as liquid nitrogen filled the tubing in the metal casket dropping the temperature inside. At this point, all of his body processes would cease functioning.

Fingel took a deep breath and let it out.

Footsteps approached him. Mr. Baldwin, the head of the executive department came up to him and held out a stack of papers. He stared at it. He was starting to hate those 8 x 10 white sheets as much as he hated doing his classwork.

But after a seconds hesitation, he took it from Baldwin’s hands and started to flip through it. “Runes, in Norton Hall?”

“First I’ve heard of it. Of course, it’s not the strangest thing I’ve heard. We scanned the entire place. No sign of any runes.”

“Have it tested for Longwei.” He pulled a pen from his pocket. It gleamed golden, a diamond at its head. He signed his name and handed the papers back to him.

“Yes, sir.”

“How is she?”

“Emotional.”

Fingel turned to him and stared coldly, his hands in his pockets. “What emotions.”

“Sadness, betrayal, distrust...”

“Has she talked to anyone?”

“She refuses all visitors. She believes Tom is dead. I’m fine with that. No one ever comes back from that island.”

“Does she want to leave?” Fingel began to walk out of the medical ward, still puffing on his cigar.

“She hasn’t said that. She hasn’t called her parents either.”

The chill wind from the rotors of a helicopter tossed Fingel’s golden hair about his face. The coffin was wheeled from the high security facility and into the open cargo bay of the helicopter.

“That’s strange. She talks to them every day...”

“Yes, her father has called the main office several times asking to speak with her. No word from her mother though.” Baldwin said this casually.

Of course, Fingel and Carli - otherwise known as Meixiu - talked frequently and Baldwin knew this. She had to be informed of new patients admitted to the island. “Do you want to know her opinion on the situation?”

“I do actually!” Though he was raising his voice to shout above the roar of the helicopter engine, Fingel could still hear the anger in his voice.

The machine lifted off and gained in altitude before swinging its nose to point towards the northwest and speed out of sight.

Once it was quiet enough to speak normally. “I want to know how long she plans to continue this cruel exercise. It would have been much easier to just expel him and put a bullet in his head. Which is what I suggested from the outset! And what I suggested after he went berserk and almost killed her the first time!” “Well, you went against your own orders the first time...” Fingel was quick to correct him.

“Which... I sincerely regret.”

Fingel turned to face him directly. “Why? What gave you hope the first time that has left you now?”

“There was a theory. I’d say it’s more of a myth than a theory. It stemmed from the report of Akira and Kogure Sakurai. Those two unstable Hybrids were part of the Devil Clan and had dangerous bloodlines. Both of them were held in the black jails run by Hydra until they escaped. Kogure, however, never harmed anyone, and Akira, after running on a spree of rape and murder, suddenly stopped.”

“The common denominator of the two was personal attachments. Kogure was attached to Chimei Gen. It was only after she felt that she had lost him that she finally gave in to her blood. And Akira had given in to his blood until he met a girl on the subway, which was actually an undercover agent for Hydra. He switched from killing every woman he met, to trying to protect her.”

“Ah... the power of love and friendship!” Fingel said without any mocking tone.

“Of course, this has been impossible to study. But when I saw how attached Ru’Yi was, I hoped she could act as a restraint for him. I knew this also posed a danger, so I put her under constant surveillance. But... this only served to put her in danger. The result was the same. She’s in the hospital, and he’s her mother’s guinea pig. The results were the same for Akira and Kogure as well.”

Fingel raised his hand and put it on Baldwin’s shoulder without looking at him. “Science has progressed and will progress. Even if he is a guinea pig, it may be one on the road to a solution.”

“We have a solution... Vice Chancellor.” He shrugged off his hand. “She just doesn’t want to accept it.”

Mr. Baldwin left Fingel to make the slow and long walk back to his office in the drifting snow.

The helicopter traversed the continental United States, briefly stopped for fuel in LA and lifted off again over the endless blue ocean of the Pacific. Eventually, the sun set and the pilot only had the instruments to go by. According to the official maps, there was no island on the coordinates. The helicopter was headed for a deadzone. The pilot turned the navigation to auto and stood up, walking back to the cargo bay.

The pilot removed the heavy flight helmet, revealing falling cascade of ebony hair which she shook out and ran her hands through.

Mai Sakatoku then reached into the onflight fridge for a can of beer which she opened and took a sip. “You make for quiet company.” 

She leaned over to see into the window of the coffin. The young man’s eyes were still closed, frozen in place by tears that couldn’t be shed. She lightly tapped the glass with a delicate fingernail. “You and Miss Chu’s daughter, hm?” 

She leaned against the coffin, her mind going back to the countless so called boyfriends of the past. “I suppose it’s fitting. Her father was also a berserker, before he fell head over heels for a certain dragon. And in the end, that was what saved his life.”

“She never got to tell you the story, because she doesn’t know it. In fact, I think it’s just me, my fellow Nanny and Mingfei Lu that know the end of that story.”

“Let’s hope yours ends a bit differently.”

There was no signal out here. So Mai had to content herself with whatever she had already downloaded on her phone, bingewatching her favorite movies and K-dramas. Meanwhile, she kept a close eye on the casket, making sure the temperature was kept cold enough to keep this guy from waking up.

A sudden alarm shook her from her reverie. She stood and went to the cockpit. Another plane, flying low, almost out of radar range but nearly directly below her. “Ah... we have a curious jet?”

She tried to get a picture of it, but it appeared invisible against the dark waves of the ocean. “Cloaking technology?”

Her eyes narrowed. This was no normal inquiry from a nation-state. Few nations could approach this level of high tech on a plane. Hybrids were higher functioning physically. The technology they surrounded themselves with was likewise ahead of human technology. 

That made this jet fair game. She did not change trajectory. Instead, she reached for a large gun on the back of the the plane. She hoisted to her shoulder with a soft grunt and strapped it to herself. She then hooked herself to the interior of the helicopter and opened the door.

The ferocious wind was enough to tear her away from the helicopter and she grit her teeth and let go. She was like an out of control kite, fluttering precariously in the wind. It was like being on the worst carnival ride. Still her powerful muscles braced themselves and forced the sight to her eyes. It wouldn’t do to have any reports getting out about the island.

She aimed directly for the cockpit of the jet. A tiny target to be sure. She took her time fluttering back and forth. Eventually her mind caught the rhythm of the wind, the speed of the aircraft, and linked it to the knowledge of the speed of the missile. She aimed at a spot far ahead and after a few more seconds, she pulled the trigger.

There was a bright flash of light. She blinked and the target had disappeared. She imagined the pilot getting vaporized instantly, the instrumentation getting blown apart. She turned her head to look, there wasn’t so much as a ripple that could remain in the open ocean.

[faejilly]

1/2) I was wondering what you thought of the Malec sparring scene in 3b. I wanted to like it, thought I would cause I'm really kinda into that sort of thing, but instead it just, I don't know, upset me. I couldn't help but see it as just another instance of the show undermining Alec to makes another character look good and I hate when they do that. Not just because Alec's character is basically tailor made for me to take one look at and go "MINE" at (which it absolutely, 100% is) but also

2/2) it’s just really shitty writing to constantly diminish one character to prop up another. But I see so many people seemed to love it and am I being oversensitive?  

Hey, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it, there’s no oversensitive. AND I HAPPEN TO AGREE WITH YOU, so. There is that. 😅

I dislike the Magnus training scene on about three (four?) different levels, tbqh, and I can headcanon all of them away, but it’s not… it does not, imo, work as is, and if you can enjoy the pretty regardless, that’s fine, but if you can’t… that’s fine too.

First: the scene at the end of the previous episode, where Magnus asks for help, is one of the most beautifully done Malec scenes in the show, imo, because Magnus is bad at asking for help, and here he does, and Alec is so gentle with him, and has one hell of a clunker of a terribly written line but he makes it work anyways because that’s what Alec does and the way Magnus pulls him in by the waist when they’re kissing there in the apothecary (in what is arguably the one place in the world that is most Magnus’, but he wants Alec there too) is just. Sublime.

But the training scene doesn’t follow on that note at all, so even if it was flawless I wouldn’t like it just because it’s ignoring how we got there. Especially since I liked how we got there. It was so lovely! And then. Completely different tone.

SECOND: The stated point of Alec training Magnus was, based on what we saw previously, to help him retrain his instincts. That is, if he’s in trouble, that he would react physically, so there’s not a stutter as he reaches for magic that’s not there, because that delay in reaction time is dangerous. THIS MEANS… that sparring isn’t actually much help for that, not initially. They need to be training the reaction, which is like katas, or a tai chi routine, or the damn heavy bag Alec likes so much. You pick the reaction you need to have and you practice it over and over and over again until your body does it without you having to think about it. (And then you practice fighting to make sure you’ve got it.) That’s what Magnus needs. There’s no argument that he knows how to move, that he probably knows how to fight, how to spar, but he needs to change his instinctive reaction.

Third disconnect! Magnus has spent 400 years learning things, sure, but he doesn’t train and practice and physically fight every single damn day like Alec does, so… there shouldn’t be any question who would win in a purely physical confrontation, even without runes. Sure, when Magnus had his magic it’d be a different story, (but tbqh Shadowhunters are trained how to fight magical creatures so it still shouldn’t be easy) but HE DOESN’T HAVE HIS MAGIC, AND HE SAID HE NEEDED HELP, THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT. LET HIM NEED HELP. LET ALEC HELP HIM.

aCTUALLy, this is 3rd & 4th, because let Magnus ask for help, that’s a very good character note and a very mature thing that he needs to be able to do, and doesn’t make him weak as a person or a character or something, come on show…

and also FOURTH: let Alec be good at the only things you’ve said he’s good at! LET HIM BE PHYSICALLY COMPETENT at fighting AND ALSO EMOTIONALLY/MENTALLY COMPETENT AT TRAINING. Like. This is a thing it is strongly implied he’d be good at? He’s good with kids, he practically raised his siblings, he’s in charge of an Institute and has been half-running things since he was a freaking teenager LET HIM BE GOOD AT KEEPING HIS PEOPLE UP TO SPEED?!?!!!

Now. ERM. Where was I?

Right. The actually training. Showing a guy stabbing a mannequin fifty times is probably not as entertaining as some sparring, I guess, but that’s lazy thinking because, honestly, Alec’s hands all over Magnus adjusting his stance and pushing him to do it over and over ‘til they’re both all sweaty is golden, wtf show, the tension build-up would be glorious, because each time they’d get a little closer to breaking form, but they wouldn’t do it.

Gah.

And then! Then you could have a legitimately fun switch to sparring because they already did the work and you wouldn’t have this jarring disconnect between Alec trying to be serious and Magnus (despite being the one who asked for help!) just playing. They could both be playing! It would actually be them obviously pushing each others buttons! Because what we got was more Magnus giving up after one exchange and then dismissing Alec’s help and then Alec eventually going, ah well, wtf, guess I can’t actually train him, let’s kiss. Which, tbf, he clearly always wants to kiss Magnus, but it’s still a really weird dynamic, because that’s not at all where he seemed to be during the sparring, he really wanted to help and Magnus wouldn’t let him and Alec shouldn’t have been okay with that dismissal. 

So, honestly, wow, my italics abuse is off the charts today, sorry. Um. I don’t like the scene because it undermines Magnus, makes him look petty and disrespectful (ymmv! obviously!) in a way that I feel is out of character, and it also undermines one of the few chances the show gave Alec to be good at what he does. Like, it says he’s good at what he does, but then it only ever shows him failing and that’s… depressing and distressing on a couple different levels.

And it’s especially distressing, because a lot (not all, but a fair bit) of the training and fight scenes they’ve done for other characters/plots have been very in character, so the fact that this isn’t is, much like the other stuff I talked about in 3b earlier, even MORE annoying because they almost got there. They set it up so well, they’ve done emotional compelling choreography before, it should have been better.

NOW. If you ignore the context and are just watching them dance around the training room, yes it’s pretty, but it doesn’t (for me) fit the set-up the previous episode gave it, and it doesn’t do justice to either of the characters.

[save-the-spiral]

Please good sir 😔 spare some serotonin ? 🥺 may I please get a wee-bit of Nolan head-cannons with him and his (s/o) having soft moments 🥺 maybe a little bit of stimming 😔 thank you good sir and blessed be ye’ soul 🥺

Autistic Nolan Stormgate is really just. the best huh. canon, huh. Infodumping,,, chew stimming,,, semiverbalnesssss,,,,, a bit of echolalia,,, hand FLAPPING... we in it now y’all. I’m autistic and writing from mostly experience, but if anyone has any input or questions hit me up.

Content warning for past ableism and past internalized ableism towards the autistic narrator/main character, also some descriptions of uncomfortable textures, like chewing on fabric and pencils.

Nolan infodumps now.

It wasn’t a thing he did before, at least not while fully aware, just excited and able to let all that excitement out in words and explanations and being just! Excited! about something. But before all he knew was after he explained or just spoke for too long, he was being annoying, or condescending, or wasting time, or being distracting, or-

“Nolan?” His partner smiled at him, not looking up from their project, aware that accidentally catching Nolan’s gaze in theirs would be uncomfortable.

“Oh, yeah.” Nolan blinked, looking back down at the extra curricular textbook he had been summarizing excitedly. He had gotten lost in thought, but he does that sometimes, and his partner doesn’t mind. “Yeah! Yeah, Yeah. So, this cool rune array...”

-

Nolan chews on a necklace made for that exact purpose now.

It wasn’t a thing he did before, instead he would absentmindedly chew on the edges of his long sleeves or on the cord of whatever amulet he was wearing at the time. He wouldn’t even realize when he was in the act, only when the awkward, lukewarm wetness of the fabric or cord hit his skin unpleasantly.

His partner noticed, and knowing the texture would later make Nolan have to change his robe or shirt, would remind him to stop. That would result in Nolan instead chewing on the pencils his partner brought from Earth, the soft yielding texture of paint on wood uncomfortable, especially if the yellow coating would chip into his mouth, or the wood splintered.

So his partner gave him something to chew on instead. Nolan brushed it off at first, embarrassed and upset at an idle habit becoming another thing they actually had to address about him. His partner was persistent, almost stubborn (another trait Nolan liked about them, just not when it meant he was being pushed to deal with his own problems).

So they brought him a bag full of gifts, reminiscent of when they had before, when he actually told them he was autistic, that he wasn’t sure exactly what that meant for him and them and that he wasn’t sure about anything after figuring it all out. Just a cloth bag tied with a ribbon, left in his dorm.

The first one had a collection of plastic toys from Earth in it, nothing Nolan was familiar with, having grown up all his life in Wizard City. A rounded rainbow cube with black buttons and switches was the only thing he picked up from the brightly colored collection, just idly examining it. Ink stained fingers tested every button, and he realized he had been sat there for a while, clicking the switch on it back and forth for that small plastic sound to echo around his dorm in regular intervals. His partner had to explain the rest of them to him, things to use so he could focus, so he wouldn’t pick at his nails just to have something to occupy his hands.

This second bag was full of different things, much less as well, but the amount never mattered. The rubber on them was soft, yielding under his nails, not the best texture but still bearable. a few hung from different cords, one appeared to be more of a bracelet. His partner ended up explaining them to him as well.

It was just a different kind of stimming, and well, Nolan enjoyed stimming. So now he chewed on the soft rubber pendant of his necklace, grounding himself while still diving into some task, holed up in his dorm or some obscure corner of the library to do work or research, his hands full but still needing to do something controllable and regular while stressed out.

It was nice, something he only felt comfortable sharing with his partner, but it was a kind of intimacy that was just knowing each other that he relished in, small parts of him only they would know.

-

Nolan doesn’t push himself to talk when asked to, now.

Being semiverbal was one of the more difficult things for him to realize. He had thought that everyone was just pushing through, forcing themselves to talk when they didn’t want to just because it was socially obligated. After his partner’s very confused look at his generalization, it was made evident that this wasn’t the case.

Sometimes Nolan wanted to talk a lot, sometimes he could talk as much as he needed to, and sometimes he just couldn’t, he even physically felt like he just could not talk, not even remembering what it felt like to talk, sometimes in meltdowns he would hysterically wonder if he ever could talk in the first place.

Talking wasn’t always easy. His partner made it clear that if Nolan didn’t want to talk, even if it was just because he was tired or had nothing to say, he didn’t have to. He wasn’t forced to speak, he could just nod or wave or lean against his partner, his head on their shoulder, or grab their hand, or hug them.

Sometimes there wasn’t even a need for words, but he still spoke them, sometimes there was a need, and he didn’t speak. Neither mattered, because they still had ways to say what was needed. They exchanged ‘I love you’s in the interlocking of fingers while holding hands, in Nolan sharing his favorite snacks, in his partner smiling encouragingly.

-

Nolan... Nolan flaps his hands now.

It was something that scared him, in a strange way. Some kind of admittance of defeat, as if he was showing off some weakness, but he knew it was anything but that, logically. It was just... it was something that he wasn’t used to. Something that felt so obviously autistic that if he even dared everyone would immediately know somehow.

Sometimes he did it in private, at first. Just sitting back a bit in his chair and hesitantly moving his hands, wondering why it was something that was mentioned so much.

Once, while excited, in some little corner of the library, he dropped his pencil and shook out his hands, and found himself just continuing to do so, smiling slightly.

It just continued from there, and he didn’t notice until just now that it was just another part of him, another thing he did. He looked up and saw his partner smiling at him, eyes glittering with a mixture of happiness and pride as they looked at his hands, and he moved them quickly, before shoving his textbook to the side and sitting up.

“You’re not gonna believe this, dear! So, so, so, so-” He repeats the word, gathering his thoughts. “ So! this new theory says that...”

And off he goes, infodumping, smiling, and later he’ll be sleepily trying to finish his explanation with his head in his partner’s lap, yawning mid-sentence.

[percabeth4life]

The Ocean

Chapter One || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter || AO3

The event was really cool.

Percy stuck with Triton as he was told to. Listening to them talk and trade carefully worded insults? Though they seemed teasing enough.

He managed to keep his cool, and when they talked to him he responded with polite insults of his own.

He wasn’t as good at it as a lot of them, but he decided he’d get better at it.

Triton had lectured him before about his anger getting the best of him, in the sea hiding your intent was too important to let your anger get the best of you. Unless of course you’re powerful enough to get away with it.

Spoiler: Percy was not.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

The food was yummy, he really liked it.

There were all kinds of fish, he thinks its like sushi, and some strange seaweed dishes. Triton ate everything first, showing him how to hold the utensils when used, and how to eat it by hand when they weren’t.

There weren’t any drinks, but that made sense. They were underwater after all.

Percy hid a grin as he watched Triton tear apart one of the guests that had been too blatantly rude to Percy. Of course, Triton was careful about it, sounding perfectly polite while he insulted the mers everything. From the way his tail curled to the tacky hair pieces in his hair. Nothing escaped Triton’s insults.

Percy thought it was hilarious.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Interacting with the other mers was a fun experience, he got to learn a lot about how the manners worked through actual talking. And he learned that insulting a mers tail gets you a lot of hate.

Only one mer had a tail anywhere near as flowy as Percy’s too.

She was nice, with pale green skin and flowy red hair. She showed off some of her magic, twisting the water around her into a mini current that spun little fishies in a circle around her.

Percy watched delighted, until one of the mer asked him to show his magic.

Triton gave him a nod though so he guessed he could.

He swallowed and considered for a moment, maybe….

He raised his hands, then twisted them and spread them apart, the temperature dropping between his hands until he had a block of ice. He sliced his hands down through the water and willed the ice to shift how he wanted it to.

A moment later and the ice was shaped like a fish.

He focused again. This was a trick he’d played dozens of times on a smaller scale in his glasses of water.

It was hard with a small fish, but a big one was even harder.

He carefully swiped one hand, the tail shifted, moving slowly side to side.

After a long moment the fish started ‘moving’ in the water. The tails and fins moving pretty closely in sync as he willed the water around the ice to guide it.

The other mers murmured to each other.

“That’s a difficult bit of magic there.”

Percy glanced at the speaker, a mermaid with Blue hair and deep green skin. Her tail was sleeker than Tritons, she didn’t have much magic it seemed. But she would probably be very dangerous and fast.

“Oh, I suppose so, I do it for fun when I’m bored in class.”

“What!?” Cried a merman in surprise.

Triton was smirking behind them.

“That’s rather impressive, who was your teacher? Surely you must have a skilled Thermomancer as a teacher to have such skills.”

Percy kept a straight face even as he wondered over the word the mer used, Thermomancer? What was that?

“My teachers name is Katara, she’s very skilled in water and ice.”

He couldn’t risk using the term Thermomancer until he knew what it meant.

The mer hummed, “I haven’t heard of her.”

“She likes her privacy, but she’s fairly well known where I come from.”

He’s not lying, loads know who she is.

They nodded, “What part of-“

“Ah,” Triton interrupted, quickly switching the subject to one of the fishes nearby, apparently it wasn’t common around here.

After that the event seemed to wind down. Percy still wasn’t sure what it was about in the first place, but whatever.

Triton led him back towards the rivers, using his magic to speed it up.

Percy was reluctant to return. He liked being here. He liked being able to use his magic freely without anyone judging him for it. He liked being in the sea.

But he’s only half of the sea. His other half is from the land, and he has to go home. He can’t leave his mom.

So, home he went.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

The rest of the summer passed in a haze of studying the books Triton shoved into his hands and cleaning the river.

The solstice was a brief respite, he gave Triton a carefully formed Ice box.

As in, a box made of ice. He’d very carefully formed the runes on it that should keep it from melting… hopefully.

Triton seemed to think it was good at least. Percy had also put two more sand dollars into it, they were looking good now!

Triton got him a hair piece, it was made of twisted coral and some small pearls.

Percy loved it, it kept his hair out of his face.

Maybe he should invest in a haircut?

But then he wouldn’t be able to use the hairpin… he’d leave his hair long.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Percy’s birthday was the only other break in the summer, as usual he went down to the river to see Triton. He was turning eleven now! He was almost a teenager. That was a big deal you know.

Triton gave him a bag.

You wouldn’t think that was cool, except this was a super cool bag. It was a waterbag, like what Katara had.

Apparently, it’s called a waterskin, but that wasn’t important.

The important thing is that this one is linked to the sea! As long as he has the bag he’ll never run out of water!

It was amazing.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

School starting again was the opposite of fun.

The teachers were rude, the students were judgy, and he was ninety percent sure the classrooms pet hamster was not a hamster.

He just hoped it didn’t try to kill him.

But it was really bugging his senses.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

He talked to Triton about the feeling, Triton was pleased.

He said Percy was sensing magic intent most likely. The hamster was probably not a hamster, but also not willingly in that form.

Percy had gotten very good at making the sand dollars, they even were starting to slowly draw energy to get stronger over time instead of just staying in statis, or worse the energy fading.

His skills with purification could go to more than water, experts at purification were able to remove the worst of curses.

Percy had read that. Purification and siren’s song were the two sea magics he had the most interest in learning more about. But he didn’t realize it would give him a sense for curses around him.

That was cool, and probably helpful.

Triton got him books on it.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Okay so Percy had zero idea how to change the hamster back to… whatever it was before.

On the other hand, he was doing good in class currently.

Triton had gotten him to the current math level, and now Percy could actually work.

English was still horrible, and geography for land stuff sucked.

Why couldn’t they quiz him on sea geography? He had that down!

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Percy baked food for Triton for the fall equinox, lots of cakes and cookies.

All blue of course.

Triton shared with him.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Percy decided something just before the solstice.

He really didn’t like his English teacher at all.

He kept saying Percy was doing stuff he wasn’t! He worked really hard on the English homework and rushed to get to class extra early! He swears the teacher gave him a detention for breathing the other day.

Triton suggested he use his training in ‘princely acting’ to try and out do them.

Percy was pretty sure Triton just wanted an excuse to make him practice it more.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Percy got Triton a stone horse for the Solstice.

He actually found this one instead of making it, but he added some sea runes for protection and safety. He wasn’t sure if it would do much, but maybe it would make Triton’s room a little bit more comfortable.

Triton gifted him with clothes. And while that might sound boring, Percy loved them.

They were clothes in the style of the sea clothes!

Worn by the sea beings that could go on land they were styled the same as the clothes underwater.

Percy had six sets now.

Flowy pants that were super comfortable, made from some kind of silk. Soft shirts in really cool designs that he very much enjoyed, with fun folds and clasps that gave him stuff to fiddle with. They seemed to have a shimmer of scales in them. Triton assured him that it was just to strengthen them.

There were different patterns, and the pants came in black and blue, with one deep red. The shirts had all kinds of colors, a deep purple, a bright red, two blues of different shades, a green, and a black. The buttons were all pearl.

They were probably crazy expensive and definitely the nicest things he owned, they looked so nice and were so soft.

Percy knew he’d treasure them for as long as he could wear them.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Percy worked slowly through the rest of the school year.

He had a lot of detentions, but he took Triton’s advice and put on what he’s taken to calling his princely face.

As perfectly mannered as he could be, with careful insults in his words. He was getting better at them and wearing the nice clothes sometimes certainly didn’t hurt.

He loved those clothes, nothing seemed to damage them.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

He searched high and low for a good gift for the spring equinox. In the end he settled on some cool flowers. He worked carefully with the ice, it was super delicate, frosting it just so, making sure it didn’t wilt.

But in the end, he had a sunflower preserved in a ball of ice.

Just ignore his pile of fails.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Triton seemed delighted. Apparently, he’d never really gotten to see sunflowers before. He’d seen pictures and seen them once a long time again when Persephone had summoned some near the beach, but otherwise sunflowers weren’t really around his realm.

Well, now he could have his own sunflower.

In turn Triton gave him a small orb, he tapped the top an the orb lit up. Percy stared in awe at the stars surrounding him.

“You’ll need to learn the constellations too.”

Percy sighed, of course he did.

He loved the present though.

When the stars turned off, the inside of the orb shone.

It was like a snow globe but with stars!

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Percy got expelled… surprise.

The English teacher finally got him kicked out, despite all he did to fight it.

It probably didn’t help that he’d been the last one around the pet guinea pig, the pet hamster that is now missing… because Percy tried to turn it back human and was now stuck with a pet fish.

At least he could understand it now.

Apparently, Percy should avoid spa’s at all costs.

Percy decided he needed to learn more about purification magic.

He didn’t even know he could do that, and he doubted he could do it again.

Triton agreed to get him more books.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Mysteriously the school flooded, Percy was baffled, it didn’t have a plumbing problem.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Triton was in a good mood.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Summer was in full spring, and he actually had fun. Triton took him to events more often and Percy was starting to make some sorta friends.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

But time passed, and the solstice arrived.

Triton got him more clothes, a different style. Apparently from a different area of the sea.

The old ones still fit, but it was nice to have some variety.

These ones were more drappy, less clasps and stuff. He liked them, he felt like he could spin and look dramatic. Almost like he has wings!

Triton also got him an instrument called an ocarina. It was shaped like a seashell and was a pretty blue. He got Percy some books to learn from and told him it was the first step in learning Siren’s Song magic.

Percy was determined to master it.

Percy made him a geode snow globe. He’d found the stone totally by accident, but it was the same green as Triton’s tail! It sparkled a lot, he thought Triton might like it (to show off, he was horribly vain about his tail Percy had noticed). He worked hard to make the snow globe, but with a little bit of glitter instead of snow stuff.

It sparkled a lot, Triton smiled and thanked Percy.

Percy was glad that he could make Triton happy.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Percy decided to dye his hair.

In hindsight perhaps he should’ve informed his mom first.

But he felt so plain compared to the other merfolk at the events he went to! All of them had such colorful hair! Triton’s hair was even a really dark blue, so dark you could mistake it for black.

That’s what Percy tried to do…

That didn’t quite work.

His hair was a cobalt blue, very clearly blue.

He’d gotten the dye from Samoa (a mermaid with a really pretty white tail that was kinda flowy and pale hair. Pale everything really, he thinks she’s albino or something, but it would be rude to ask.)

Triton thought it was hilarious, hair was all kinds of color under the sea, so it was totally fine for Percy to dye his hair.

His mom did not think it was hilarious…

He was grounded for a week, and she tried using dye remover… It didn’t work.

Triton found that even funnier.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Percy’s twelfth birthday was soon after, Triton got him a super cool bag!

Its enchanted so that other’s can’t take his stuff out of it, and it keeps the inside untouched by anything that happens on the outside. So if the bag gets drenched in water the insides won’t be affected, same if it gets set on fire.

Triton was kind enough to demonstrate.

Percy thought it was brilliant and would definitely help with the bullies.

Percy was so happy to have a friend like Triton.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Percy was not happy.

His mom had put him in a private school. Which wasn’t horrible, he’d been to two before.

What was horrible was the fact that his school was a boarding school.

He wouldn’t be able to visit Triton or go to the river or gossip with the fish or practice his waterbending (no matter what Triton said or the fact that it’s apparently called Thermomancy he would always call it waterbending).

He wasn’t happy at all, though at least Triton was right about them still being able to talk via iris messaging.

He still wasn’t happy.

He reluctantly said goodbye to his many fish friends, Triton took him down to say goodbye to the sorta friends he’d made amongst the merfolk. He told them his teacher had moved to another area for awhile and it would be a few months before he could visit.

They understood.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Percy stared up at the gates, reluctance filling him.

He fiddled with his bracelet, curling his fingers around the sparkling stone that glittered on it.

He could do this. He’s Percy Jackson, son of Oceanus (you know, probably), he’s going to be a master of purification and help clean the seas of all the pollution. He was Triton’s friend.

He could do this.

He stepped through the gates of Yancy Academy to begin the next school year.

Mer Percy Here