#no its just people complaining about no enough daemons

[moonssugar]

one thing about his dark materials fans is that they will never be satisfied

[archangel-lucerys]

green hate luke because he's the only one who can make aemond look like a complete pathetic loser without even trying very hard

*luke just breathing*

greens: look at this demon, he made fun of aemond, he hurt his heart, he was 4 years old and deserved to be punished, he took out aemond's eye and left him miserable forever

aemond: I'm such a badass knight, I'm going to kill my uncle daemon haha ​​I can do anything because I'm badass 😎 (any less dealing with a 14 year old boy because yes it's a sensitive topic

greens and aemond cry every day because of luke 😭

That and they hate lucerys who so far has really hurt any green, like physically irrevocable, and thematically I can see why both that is necessary and why it would birth hatred in someone, but the point of the book was aemond was always like that, especially knowing what he does later, but here in show its always only luke who makes him lose his head? Would they play more with that when he sees the strongs

Like a child who only picked up a knife thinking someone would absolutely murder his brother is crossing a line and hes the devil, but that 16/19 year old decides to murder him isn't, and I'm tired of the "it was an accident" defence when no it wasn't? Unless they collided unknowingly its deliberate, when he climbed his giant drgaon and chased after him, he just did not like the consequences of it.

And yeah like is show while aemond is very stoic and firm, but around lucerys he becomes a rabid dog at slightest provocation and lucerys isn't even his main source of issue, I wish to elaborate on it but that character is not someone I care enough to do so

And in book he is even more childish with ottto having to berate him before he leaves for storms end and him replying screeching is kind of funny but completely different from show.

And the tg has weird issue with us tagging characters even is were talking a out them 🤔 like I'm asked why did I add aemond tag on a post majorly talking about him in reference to luke, as I found theirs in luke tag too, I didn't complain because that's a dumb thing to do, to complain about when they tag people they're talking about 🤷🏽‍♀️

[nrilliree]

https://www.tumblr.com/lady-phasma/751954243043442688/this-is-the-most-diplomatic-way-i-have-seen-this?source=share

Do people struggle with the concept of CONTEXT ?! No ?

How would Rhea be an equivalent to Rhaenyra ? Demon hated Rhea. Just because he killed her, doesn't mean he'll hit Rhaenyra in the future. To say yes, under the pretext that both were married to him is only a SUPERFICIAL comparison ! Daemon wouldn't even consider this woman as his wife. And of the consensual relationships that we saw him have with women, he was never violent with them. There's a distinct difference between Rhea and the other women in Daemon's life. It's grasping at straws to say that the strangling scene is consistent because Daemon killed his first wife. Once again, this is a superficial comparison on the grounds that Rhea and Rhaenyra were both married to Daemon. News flash, people generally don't behave the same with those they love and those they hate.

And once again, people are complaining about the strangling scene, especially because it's yet another demonization of the character Daemon who was never reported to have been physically abusive with Rhaenyra in Fire and Blood, and didn't even kill his first wife. So yeah, the original Daemon probably wouldn't have hit Rhaenyra.

Not only all that, but it adds gratuitous physical marital violence to a female character who is already experiencing various canonical violence ! Why add domestic violence in Daemyra ?! But it's the same with all the other characters. Aemma who dies during childbirth ? Not hard enough, we have to cut her belly open while she's still conscientious. Laena who dies after giving birth to a stillborn baby and trying to join Vaghar for one last flight but dies suggesting they go join her dragon ? No, not dramatic and horrible enough, let's make her choose to burn herself alive with her baby still inside her! Alicent is not the victim of “marital rape” in the book ? Let's change that to make the main villain, before Aegon II, a victim !

But people refuse to understand these basic things !

And I hate this type of thinking even more :

“Do they also think that the history books of the time would simply say that Daemon murdered his wife or that Criston literally beat up Joff Lonmouth in the middle of a party?”

Well YES actually ! Completely !

Fire and Blood does not hesitate to accuse Daemon of other murders that he is not proven to have committed ! So, believe me that if he had been also suspected of having killed his first wife whom he hated publicly, so something that everyone knew, it would definitely have been proposed by the maesters telling the story, mostly pro greens and who hated Daemon. Daemon who was AT WAR when Rhea Royce died, and who was in agony for 9 days before that ! It's that simple !

So in addition, yes, if GRRM who never hesitated to show the various violence suffered by women, including domestic violence, he would not have forgotten to suggest that Daemon was perhaps violent with Rhaenyra if that had been the case. And so, if he had wanted us to understand that, in the Fire and Blood universe, there is no way that the pro green maesters hating Daemon would not have reported this rumor if it had existed.

We must stop only under the pretext that Fire and Blood is a historical text, that we can invent our own fanfiction even if it means saying everything and its opposite.

And I'm not even going to touch on Criston's case because we know very well how Joffrey died in Fire and Blood. During a tournament, where accidents like Joffrey's case were common (even if Criston Cole probably let off steam during this fight). A much more logical death, because it is in fact impossible that, according to the laws of Westeros / the GRRM universe, that Criston in HOTD can keep his position and on top of that have a promotion in the future, just because the queen / Alicent covers him ! It just doesn't work, because going against guest rights is probably one of the worst crimes in Westeros, right up there with killing a family member. This is a complete inconsistency in the GRRM universe, but it was done, just to have sensational gratuitous violence in HOTD.

This kind of comment is basically simply saying that since we don't know absolute reality we can invent absolutely anything we like, even if it means throwing coherence and the laws of the universe out the window, and the original characteristics of the characters ! This is disturbingly stupid. And I am NOT sorry to say that. These kind of people think they are smart but they are just stupid again. They like what they see, so they inevitably think it's good and will go against anything that indicates otherwise.

I will add that a lot of people still seem to be unaware of this, but HOTD is not a retelling of the events of Fire and Blood. They may have originally claimed that, but their rhetoric changed when fans pointed out all the inconsistencies compared to Fire and Blood. HOTD is clearly a fanfiction inspired by Fire and Blood. The show and the book have their own separate canon.

Anyway, I'm tired of these people who claim that yes, all the horrible things that the writers make Daemon do without any coherence in HOTD show himself must have also happened in Fire and Blood. This is unspeakable bullshit.

And again, sorry to repeat myself, but the fact that Daemon killed Rhea Royce in HOTD (horrible thing that I'm not nor justifying) is not proof or a foreshadowing of Daemon physically harming Rhaenyra. For that he should have been shown doing it with the women he chose to have relationships with as well, not just one with a woman he hated. That Rhea Royce and Rhaenyra were both married to Daemon has nothing to do with the strangling scene. For the last time, this is a SUPERFICIAL order comparison.

The strangest comments are the ones where such people insist that Daemon was 100% exactly the same in the book… even though there was absolutely no indication of that. Daemon did not show any aggressive tendencies towards anyone there, and all his relationships were with adult, mature women from various social groups. Daemon hated his first wife (and this is also interesting: Alicent in the series, as a 16-year-old girl, was forced to marry a man she did not love, and she is THE victim, but 16-year-old Daemon in the book, forced to marry a woman he did not love, cannot be victim…), she didn't really like him either, so they lived separately. And she died. And that's it. He had absolutely nothing to do with it, and in the meantime he was in a relationship with Mysaria, whom he wanted to marry and with whom he wanted to raise a child. It was Viserys who actually harmed Mysaria, not Daemon. Then Daemon married 23-year-old Laena, with whom he had a healthy relationship… And there were no signs of violence either. And if there was even the slightest hint of violence towards her in his relationship with Rhaenyra, the maesters would blow it up so much to show that Rhaenyra is a "weak woman who cannot control her husband, let alone a kingdom." ". (I don't think so, I'm saying what they could write.)

Plus - yes, HotD definitely has a weird fetish for depicting female harm that was in no way present in the source material. Aemma's death, Alicent's "sacrifice", Laena's death, Aegon's victims, violence towards Rhaenyra - there was nothing like that in the book. Scenes of violence against women appear much more numerous and frequently, much more often outside the source material, than those against men. Does anyone really have a sick fetish there?

[navree]

So I read a fanfic the other day and now I'm terribly scared of what the showrunners will do in s2. Like, I don't know what reason they'll give us for Daeron to be away but in the fic he was sent away because he had brown eyes and Rhaenyra was like "guess who has bastard children now" eventhough Daeron wasn't a bastard because Alicole was strictly platonic. And like, I know this is irrational because even they can't fuck up so badly, right? But then again, I don't trust them

I think the showrunners have said "oh he was just off in Oldtown with his Hightower relatives" because what definitely happened is they forgot Daeron existed and then Twitter pointed it out and they needed to figure out what to do. I don't think they'll try anything with the Hightower-Targaryens and their parentage, just because that's a bit old and tired (and it seriously dilutes the story which is why I hate the theory that Helaena's kids are Aemond's I hate it so much). So I don't think they'll fuck up badly on that regard, because I've actually liked a lot of what the show's doing, as much as I complain about things I dislike, and the issues don't seem to be about Bad Writing.

I think the issue we've seen with some of the writing in HOTD is that there are a lot of people writing different episodes, so it can feel a bit disjointed. Game of Thrones had many, many flaws in its writing but for the most part, it was written almost exclusively by David and Dan, with one episode a season (for the first four season) being written by GRRM and one episode a season written by Bryan Cogman, so everything could be kept with two people who share a vision and have a clear understanding of what they want to do (no matter how bad what they wanted to do was). Meanwhile, one season along of House of the Dragon has more people listed as having written an episode than I saw listed as writers for the first four seasons of GOT, so what we have is an episode written by someone who loves Daemon, then an episode written by someone who hates Daemon but still is Team Black, then an episode written by someone who hates Daemon and loves Aegon, then an episode written by someone who's Team Green but loves Rhaenyra, and on and on it goes. If they're able to be concise, to storyboard and plan correctly enough so that everyone has an understanding of what needs to go into each episode, and keep things small scale in their writers' room while also having a singular vision, things might go better than we've seen.

And it does appear they're taking George more into consideration than D&D did, so we have that as a final failsafe against any asinine decisions.

[two-white-butterflies]

you taste like wine | daemon targaryen x reader

Description: Daemon Targaryen was as unpredictable as the wind — his love built cities and his wrath destroyed them. Y/N just learnt to accept the fact that there was both good and bad in him. After all, he’d never harm her — he’d never harm his love, his fantasy and his truth.

Everyone always said that the women in House Tyrell were the thorns — and the men were the roses. Daemon agreed with them — for Y/N Tyrell was all thorn and no rose, she was sharp, manipulative and twice as ambitious. In all truths, Daemon was afraid of Y/N, that’s why he agreed to marry her. 

He’s heard whispers of her, how people said that she was a great beauty — a charming little dove. But Daemon knows exactly what kind of person she was. A snake like all of those in Kingslanding that seek to manipulate his brother. 

He sees the way her eyes glimmer — how her face glows when she gets what she wants. She was cunning, he had to give that to her. But even she was no match to the Rogue Prince. 

“Why is it that you’re always frowning?” she enters his chambers to see him sitting motionlessly in one of the leather chairs. Daemon smirks and stares at her, she was truly beautiful and unmarred by the years. 

He stands up, reaching the same height as her. “Frowning? I beg to disagree” he replies while she rolls her eyes. Y/N couldn’t stand him, but only because he was the only one immune to her charms. “Don’t act innocent now, you’re always frowning when I’m around” she chuckles while sitting down on the chair he was previously sitting on. 

He turns to look at her, following her with his sharp gaze. “Why would I frown in front of such a beautiful woman?” he jokes while she scoffs. “If I’m such a beauty, why is it that we haven’t had any children yet? Surely, a man like you wouldn’t be able to keep his hands away from me” she states the obvious while he smirks again. 

“Maybe that’s the reason I’m frowning all the time, I can’t seem to get my hands on you” he flirts and she rolls her eyes. He was talking shite again. She hardly doubts that he lusts after her — when all he does every day is complain about her existence. 

But it was alright, she supposes. After all their children would be nobodies — just Targaryens who had the title “Prince” or “Princess” none of them would ever sit on the throne. It was all useless really — and being his wife was just sad. She should’ve just married one of The Starks or The Harrenhals. 

He senses her silence and he scoffs, “What? Don’t believe me?” he interrogates while taking a step towards her. She chuckles loudly — as if she was mocking him. “Please, Daemon — it’s too early for jests” she mocks while he rolls his eyes. He places both his hands on her shoulders, staring ferociously at her (E/C) doe eyes. 

“Fucking you would be easy — loving you however?” he spat and she was able to smell his breath — it stunk of ale and wine, he was most definitely drunk. She shoves his hands away from her and he chuckles bitterly, “This behavior is for your whores in Silk Street, not your wife” she scolds while he presses his lips on her. 

She melts into his kiss as he slowly pulls away. “And if you were asking me, I’d say that you fancied me too, wife” he smirks. 

----

Daemon was always called for war, his brother King Viserys left him for himself to fight the Crab War. The tensions at court have only soared higher, with the birth of Aegon (Alicent’s son) and the birth of Aemon (Daemon and Y/N’s son.) 

Everyone seeked to replace Rhaenyra, they favored her younger brother most. Y/N knew that Rhaenyra was more than capable to be queen, but she wasn’t born a man — and to others, it may mean that she would never be enough. 

She finishes braiding the Princess’ hair as Aemon coos from the princess’ grasp. “He always know its you” Rhaenyra states while Y/N chuckles. Aemon always loved being at his mother’s side, but she knew that he’d love his father much more. 

“I bet he misses his father” she whispers while taking him from his cousin’s hands. “My father should end that war for the better, I fear that the Hightowers have something to do with it” Rhaenyra hushes while Y/N glares at her. 

The Hightowers had spies everywhere, “Lower your voice, my princess” she warns while Rhaenyra sighs. She adored Lady Y/N, though sometimes she wishes that her father married her instead. Lady Y/N was made for court — even when she sounds mean, it always comes across as polite. 

Rhaenyra knew one thing for sure; she liked Y/N more than Alicent. “I don’t want to be here at court anymore, my lady. You should come with me to Dragonstone — it is much safer there” she offers while Y/N declines her. 

“Rhaenyra, I’ve told you about this. Leaving your position at court will only give our enemies more leverage” she explains while Rhaenyra frowns. “Our?” she asks and Y/N nods. “We are the Blacks are we not — but most of all, we are women. Our strength is not given, it is forged” she places a hand on the princess’ shoulders. 

----

“You mean to tell me that you won a war purely out of hate?” she exasperates as he nods his head and removes his armor. His ego felt bruised after his brother’s letter, thus he decided to end the war once and for all. Her frown deepens, “And where was all of this hate, two years ago?” she questions and he freezes. 

He was scared of her anger — but he was afraid of her love. Her love that could kill him after she realizes he could’ve been home sooner. “I wish to rephrase my previous statement” he pauses and she chuckles. “Ah, you wish to get out of trouble!” she hits him lightly. 

“You rascal — do you have any idea how much I worried about you” she hits him again and this time a chuckle escapes from his lips. Her frown goes deeper, “What are you laughing at?” she hits him for the third time as he wraps his arms around her, trapping her in his warm embrace. 

“My thorn — I did not win this war out of hate” he explains and she rolls your eyes. “Uhuh, you better explain” she crosses her arms while he presses a kiss on the top of her head. “I won the war out of love — and also because I haven’t made love in two years” he finishes his statement with a joke as she tries her best to not laugh — she was still mad at him. 

“And maybe I can make it up to you? If you know what I mean” he winks at her while she rolls her eyes and walks away. “Idiot” she mutters. 

pt. 2

[the-fangirls-desk]

Warm Bodies (Lee Scoresby x Female Reader)

Summary: After a long, tiring trip, you and Lee have no choice but to huddle for warmth when your nightly accomodations lack the necessary means.

Trope: Friends to lovers/sharing a bed

AN: The reader's daemon is a Maine Coon Cat

Cupping your hands over your mouth, you did your best to blow a warm cloud of air into them for the tenth time; they were beginning to get to the point where they were so cold, it hurt to flex any fingers. It unfortunately didn't seem to help any. Every movement, voluntary or not, just seemed to cause one chilly wave after another to ripple down your body. How convenient for the radiator to bust.

The rest of the gang didn't seem to be doing fantastic either. Lee was trying his best to stifle the shivers and keep from sniffling too much as he paced around the balloon's interior, pretending to inspect every nook and cranny, when he was really attempting to stay warm. He wasn't very good at fooling people, let alone Hester. She continued to idly sit by, ears flat against her head in annoyance.

Your own daemon, Cyfrin didn't seem to be amused at the charade either, but he did his best to keep quiet and remained faithfully at your hip.

Being the official traveling partner of troublemaker Lee Scoresby obviously came with its share of discomfort. Sometimes you'd be in the air for days at a time before touching down on good ol terra forma again. That meant trading the comfort of a soft bed and warm meal for the drafty chill of the hot air balloon's tarp and snacking on anything that could be preserved for an unholy amount of time.

Last week when taking a breather in some forest town, you and Lee overheard a few locals talking about some precious cargo that needed to be moved to a port many many miles from here. Upon hearing their handsome payment, neither you or Lee could resist.

You'd both been fairly warned of the long trip it would take. Thankfully, the men who paid for your services didn't have a necessary deadline; as long as the mysterious cargo got there in one piece, they wouldn't complain. It goes without saying, but it was preferred to be delivered as soon as possible, which of course meant Lee would take the smoothest route he could chart with little to no stops along the way.

Most of the time it wasn't a problem and the cabin fever could be tolerated, but the frigid weather as of late was making it hard not to complain.

Not to say you regretted going with him. Not in the slightest. The traveling condtions were uncomfortable sometimes, but all the places you'd gone and people you met were completely worth it. Though tonight, everyone in the group seemed to be overdue for a proper recharge.

Finally you'd had enough of the silence and spoke up.

"So, what do you think is in there?" you asked, nodding to the package.

It was a lap sized box wrapped in brown paper and string. It kinda turned into a game over the days; to guess what was in it. Helped pass the time at the very least.

"Haven't you given up on that, already?" Cyfrin sighed, still lying beside you in a half dozed state.

"Quitter." you asserted back.

"I don't know," Lee sighed, too bored to agrue. "It's too heavy to be clothes, and it's too small to be weapon set...a fur collection maybe?"

"That's a decent one. The most sensible one so far."

"What about you, (Y/N)? What's your guess of the day?" Hester piped.

After letting out a bored sigh, you threw out the first thing that came to mind.

"Books?"

That caused an uncomfortable stir in the balloon.

"Not a terrible guess. There's no way The Magisterium would be okay with heaps of knowledge being moved across miles and miles of water to a group of fellow 'commoners', hence the secrecy. Plus the weight seems right." Hester agreed.

"Good one, Darlin'." Lee complimented, earning a decent blush from you. Thankfully nobody could tell since the cold weather already brought color to your cheeks. It always felt kinda nice when he threw flattery your way. Granted he was naturally a flirt and kept it pretty innocent, but that didn't mean you didn't like it.

And that seemed to cause you to be more uncomfortable simply because he was just a friend, but friends can say that without meaning anything, right? It'd be a lie to day you hadn't thought about it...you and Lee. Why not? You knew each other well enough, he was witty, brave, cunning and not too bad on the eyes either---

"Alright there, Sugar?" He asked, breaking your daze and causing another slight blush to redden your face a bit more.

"U-uh, yeah, I'm fine. Just fine."

"Sure about that?" He made his way over to you from his perch on the edge of the balloon's basket. The speed of your heart increased when he pressed an ungloved hand to your forehead while making direct eye contact.

"Lookin' a bit flushed. Ain't gettin' sick, are ya?" That damn accent...

Cyfrin knew full well about your feelings for Lee. Thankfully he respected your privacy more than Hester would have if she were somehow your daemon. He could see you struggling to think of an excuse, and quickly came to your rescue.

"It must be this weather. Can't be doing anything beneficial for our health; I say we land as soon as possible to find a room for the night before we catch our death up here."

Hester had no problem with this suggestion, as she hopped down from her seat to park at Lee's boots.

"He's got a point, Lee. We've been up here a while, and need a real place to sleep for the night; stocking back up on rations wouldn't be a bad idea either." A look of concern was clear as day on her face as she stared at your slightly shivering form.

Lee could tell you were exhausted. Kneeling at your level, he could see the glassy redness that glazed over your eyes. He didn't like seeing you this way; on top of possibly getting sick? A rest stop was definitely overdue. He wasn't feeling too hot either.

"Y'all are right. I promise, we'll stop at the very next town we come across. The delivery's on schedule anyway, so what harm could it do to rest a spell?"

"Ugh, finally someone here's making sense!" Cyfrin shouted. Your Maine Coon was so excited at the idea of stopping somewhere, he actually got up from his resting spot to stretch his legs after not moving for hours. That was him for you; tended to be a bit stern, but far from a drag. He was actually quite amusing when he wanted to be.

Finally, the aeronaut gently patted your shoulder in confidence.

"Hang in there a bit more, okay? We'll be back on the ground soon." He sauntered back to the front of the balloon, looking for the nearest landing spot.

Everyone seemed to be overreacting a bit to your nervousness. However, there's no chance you'd pass up the opportunity to land after spending a week in the air. Although now that he'd backed up a bit and you calmed down, fatigue seemed to be setting in more than you realized. Oh to be stretched out on a soft mattress...hopefully wouldn't be long by this point.

"Try to rest." Hester assured.

She saw you nod in agreement before hopping back over to her human counterpart's side, looking down on the sea of clouds beneath the balloon.

When he was sure they were occupied, Cyfrin tilted his head, somewhat scolding you for tripping over your words earlier.

"Honestly, what would you do without me?" he questioned

"I don't know, maybe hear myself think for once?"

He appreciated the humor, chuckling in response.

"I don't think he'd be opposed either."

"What?" you asked.

"Lee. I'm sure he likes you too; certainly seems to care about your well being. Maybe it's time to stop hiding everything and fess up already."

Your face turned another couple shades of red as your now gritted teeth tried to subtley warn your daemon.

"Keep it down, will ya? We don't need them overhearing this!"

"It's better than accidentally shouting it from the rooftops due to bottled emotion."

"You don't know that'll happen."

"I know you, don't I? The sooner you rip off this bandage, the sooner we can BOTH move on."

Stupid cat was making sense. It was time to change the subject before you ran out of space from being backed into this corner.

"Enough about me, what about you?"

"What about me?" He echoed.

"You've spent so much time pestering me about Lee, what do you think about Hester?"

His tail seemed to uncomfortably flick a bit at the question before he turned his head to eye the artic hare across the way. She seemed to be just as tuned out to the conversation as the man beside her, also unaware of how the setting sun cast a golden hue over her and Lee; it made the dark umber tones of his coat and her fur lighten to a warmer, inviting shade.

"Hester. She's...fine. Not terrible company I guess."

That's when it hit you so fast.

"Oh my..."

"What?"

"Y-you like Hester, don't you?"

He did his best to stay composed when confronted; his sudden response to pace didn't help him any.

"Don't be ridiculous! You have no idea what you're talking about!" He irritably trudged away to the other side of the vessel, feeling more than awkward at how the tables turned.

Oh there was no denying it now; both of you had it bad for them. There's no telling how long Cyfrin felt this way about Hester. He'd been so good at masking his feelings by this point, you honestly would've never guessed had you not tried to simply protect yourself from more relentless grilling. Have to remember this for the next time he felt like being a wise guy.

The balloon had regressed back to being overwhelmed with silence. It wasn't a good feeling. What else was there to talk about? There really weren't any guesses left for the package as it was the least of your worries by this point. Sighing in defeat, you decided to grin and bear what was left of the trip.

Your thoughts were interrupted once more by Lee surprising you by draping one of his many fur blankets over your shoulders. He noticed your shock.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya. Thought you should keep as warm as possible since the temperature's only gonna drop from here."

"Oh, no problem. Thanks, Lee."

He nodded.

"Sure you're alright? Seem to be a million miles away."

"I'm sure. Just tired is all. Can't wait to see other people by this point."

"Yeah I feel you on that, Sweetheart. I'm gonna treat myself to a large glass of whiskey when we get down there; bound to warm me up for sure."

"What about a bacon sandwich?"

"Oh ESPECIALLY a bacon sandwich, girl!"

Both of you laughed at that one. Lee's love for Hester could only be matched by his love for bacon, everyone knew that.

As soon as the pleasantries subsided a bit, you and Lee were left with this warm kind of flare in the atmosphere between you. The soft eye contact being exchanged seem to be having a slight effect on him as well. Either that, or he was catching a cold himself, because the red blooming across his face was undeniable. It was hard not to reciprocate with those nearly olive black eyes gazing directly through you.

In an attempt to move past the awkwardness, you pulled the fur blanket around your shoulders tighter.

"Think I'll try to conserve some warmth, now."

Lee nodded once more.

Without another word, he stopped twirling the fedora between his fingers and promplty placed back on his head to return to his piloting duties. It was hard to tell, but you coulda swore you heard Hester utter the phrase,

"Ugh get a room, already."

"See to it that you don't." Cyfrin whispered at you from his seat.

Approximately two hours later after the sun went down and the sky became a dark blue, you, Cyfrin and Hester heard the sweet sound of Lee's voice calling out:

"Look alive all you lazy bones! I can see a bar and and inn with our names on it!"

The announcement stirred everyone to jump out of their seats and excitedly look down on the dark mass of land dotted in the warmth of the townspeople's lamps.

"Oh finally! Hester cheered.

"You said it. It's so beautiful, I could almost cry." You agreed.

The landing couldn't have come soon enough, even though the descent only lasted a handful of minutes. Once firmly planted on the ground, Lee was the first to exit so he could be the gentleman he was to assist you out of the basket without tripping. From there each of you grabbed your own daemons respectfully and let them scamper out ahead of you. They seemed to be running off every ounce of pent off energy despite the constant whining of being exhausted earlier.

"Good at see at least some of us can have fun." you commented while straining to help Lee lift the small but hefty package from the balloon.

"Let e'm be. Not like they'd be able to move this thing anyway."

Touche'.

Fortunately the drop off wasn't too far from here, which made the move all even more tiring. Almost like a tease to walk such a short distance for a heavy package. Neither of you managed to figure out what was in it, but hardly cared anymore by this point. After all, it was just your job to be the delivery service, freeing you of most worries that normally came with it.

There was hardly a need to announce that the bar would be the next stop, as everyone seemed to beeline for the large and inviting brick building. Like most places you visited, it seemed to have a room and board service attached to it. Looked cozier than most, actually.

It had a proper entrance unlike those typically awful swinging saloon doors that let in all the elements.

A warm rush of air enveloped your group as you stepped in. The source was easy enough to locate; a large cobblestone fireplace sat at the focal point of the establishment, its large flames radiating warmth and comfort to anybody who stepped in from the cold.

"Wanna split a bottle of whiskey?" He asked.

While coffee was the first thing on your mind, whiskey did sound better. Already being tired on top of getting buzzed could pretty much guarantee a good night's sleep.

"Sounds good."

He was quick at securing a room key.

One meal and a few drinks later the shared bottle was almost empty, most of it having been consumed by your Texan companion.

Hester noticed how much your behavior differed from his as she observed from her chair at the table.

"Lee, look." She whispered and nodded towards you and Cyfrin.

Lee caught a glimpse of you while slowly looking up from the amber liquid in his half empty glass and couldn't help but smile. You were blissfully swaying a bit in your seat, struggling to keep your eyes open and head up. Being smaller than him, on top of not drinking too much, often kept you a real lightweight. It was cute. You were finally relaxing in a comfortable safe place. Earlier he was so worried about you getting sick. Everything seemed to be okay for now.

Even Cyfrin was already on the floor by the legs of your chair, snoring away himself. His pointed ears flickered to the sound of the crackling embers on the nearby hearth.

"What say we put these two to bed?"

"What say we all go to bed?" She countered

"Them first."

He lightly placed a hand on your shoulder, using as little force as possible to bring you back.

"(Y/N)?"

"Yeah?" you asked, still feeling light.

"I think it's time to turn in."

"Don't have to tell me twice. Looks like I'm gonna have to carry Cyf."

"I'll get him. You can lean on me, and I'll just drape him over my shoulder. Little guy can't weigh anything close to that cargo we moved."

"Oh, you don't have to do that."

"It's not a problem."

He obviously wasn't taking no for an answer, so why argue? Too tired anyway. Just like he said, Lee allowed you to rest against him as he helped you and carried your literal soul over his shoulder up to the room.

It wasn't much; seemed to at least have two beds across from each other with a small fireplace of its own which would hopefully keep everyone warm enough for the night. No sign of a bathroom or shower. Guess their washrooms were on the other side of the building or something. Bummer. He was really hoping to get cleaned up before crashing for the night.

You could feel him carefully sit you and Cyfrin on the bed so he could immediatley get to removing your coat, boots and hat. He was sensible enough to leave your long sleeve top and leggings on. He ain't no creep.

"Lie down, Honey. I'm gonna run downstairs and see if I can get some firewood for the room. We're gonna be shiverin' all night otherwise."

"M'kay..." You dropped back onto the mattress like a sack of potatoes. The firm but comforting embrace of it felt like a dream. A dream that came true after sleeping against literal benches on the hot air balloon.

You could feel him drape the quilt over you, before passing out almost instantly.

"Keep an eye on e'm Hester."

"I don't think they'll be goin anywhere." She snickered. She was right. Both you and your daemon were down for the count with liquid relaxation drifting through your veins. Come to think of it, she'd never noticed how lovely Cyfrin looked when he slept.

His still and peaceful form, framed with long tresses of black and grey fur mixed like an oil painting. The tufts of fur on the tips of his ears peacefully fluttered like dandelion fluff and an audible but soothing purr could be easily heard rumbling within his chest.

Hester found herself downright studying him. Her nose nervously wiggled as if she should feel guilty for this. Wait, guilty for what? He was just sleeping for goodness' sake! Although some would argue it was weird and rude to stare at someone when they rest. Should she stop? Did she have to? Want to? What was happening?! Why was she tripping over herself like a youth all of a sudden?

Almost as if on cue, Lee cautiously re-entered so as to not disturb you.

"Welp, we got a problem."

"Problem?"

"They ran out of firewood for the guest rooms a couple of hours ago. We're stuck in here without heat tonight." He sighed.

"Wha--? What kinda inn run out of essential supplies for the guests?!"

All he could do was shrug.

"Apparently there's been a lot more folks passing through than usual. The place had to use what was left of the firewood to keep the main room downstairs warm."

"Ugh, of all the places to land! We finally get a chance to unwind, and now no heat--!"

"Shh! You're gonna wake e'm up!" Lee murmured, talking about you and Cyfrin.

"Oh don't worry about them, they haven't budged in the slightest. What are we gonna do about for warmth?"

"Well it's not like we can't get back in the air right now. Not as cold in here than out there. Maybe the heat from the main room will keep us warm enough. Plus, that whiskey left us both kinda overheated."

"I don't know about that. It's bound to wear off at some point."

Typical Hester always trying to be right. He hated it when she was sometimes.

"Like I said, we're gonna have to work with what we got, and what we got right now is a roof over us and a couple of beds which I intend to take full advantage of. If we get cold, we can put our coats back on I guess."

He felt a bit too warm anyway right now. So the best thing to do was shed his boots, hat and overcoat, stripping down to his worn out undershirt and pants. Didn't seem to be a place to hang his coat, so may as well as drape the dusty thing over the foot of the bed.

It felt as if the entire world was taken off his shoulders the second he hit the bed. Heat or not, there was no getting him up by this point.

Unable to do anything else, Hester reluctantly hopped up on the bed, using Lee's coat as a nest. Didn't even realize how tired she was in all this till now. Right before falling asleep herself, she couldn't help but sneak one last peep at Cyfrin.

.

.

"Lee? Lee?"

Both of them quickly woke in response to the sound of your slightly disoriented voice and flipped over to look back at you. You were sitting up with the blankets tightly wrapped around your torso and Cyfrin sat awake by your side. The window in between your beds clearly indicated it was still the wee hours of the morning; still dark outside.

"What'sa matter, Sugar?" His voice was groggy.

"I'm freezing. Can you stoke the fire a bit?"

Damn, it really did get cold over night. His fingers and toes felt almost frozen stiff as he found himself pulling the covers up higher. Shoulda left his gear on. At the time he felt kinda warm and just wanted to stop feeling smothered by all the layers. Boy was he regretting that decision now. She didn't need to say it, but he could pretty much here Hester saying 'I told you so.'

"Oh, I'm sorry. The place ran outta firewood before we got here. You were already out like a light so I couldn't tell you."

"W-well, what're we gonna do?" you shivered.

"I-I guess we can put our coats back on."

"Yeah, let's do it."

As he got up to unfold his coat, he forgot Hester was using it as a bed. And almost instantly before Lee could reclaim it, she gave a suggestion neither of you were ready for.

"Orrr...we could go back to Survival 101."

"What're you goin' on about? C'mon scoot over."

"You numbskull, I'm talking about sharing body heat!"

If the room wasn't so dark, everyone would've seen yours and Lee's faces turn absolutely crimson. There's no way she was serious. Each of your respectable daemons felt the awkward tension building. They weren't entirely sure what to say to get past this. Cyfrin's earlier conversation with you began to ring in his own ears. Then he felt a rush of heat in his fluffy face that was both a relief from the cold but a push into even further uncharted territory both sides were so afraid of.

Suddenly his mind began to race. He was just kidding when he said to come clean with Lee about your feelings. Plus if you did, you'd never leave him alone about a certain hare. A soft, beautiful, intelligent---

NO! NO NO NO!

Why was the usually composed feline panicking inside? Hester didn't think anything of him, right? Not like they had nearly as much platonic intimacy as the humans they traveled with.

You tried looking back at Cyfrin for some kind of advice, audibe or not. The tension in his form practically begged you to say no. Before getting a chance to say anything, Lee spoke up.

"N-nah, that won't be necessary. We can just put our coats and whatnot back on."

She just wouldn't let it go.

"Lee, you know full well all the survival manuals suggest sharing warmth. That means just to huddle up without all the layers. Why can't we all just be adults about this?"

Her persistence was getting a bit suspicious to you at this point. The tone she gave off sounded practical and all, yet it seemed like there was more to it.

"I don't wanna make (Y/N) and Cyfrin uncomfortable."

Something's gotta give. It was hard to make a sensible decision without letting emotions play into it. The disciplined control you worked so hard to play around him was waning. Nothing untame of course, but desires that certainly said 'more than friends' were whispering in your ear.

You'd love nothing more than to cuddle with him. Cuddle, not huddle. Those arms around you? Those same ones that he was bearing to you at this very moment? Being so focused on the cold, you almost didn't realize he was in his undershirt. It was hardly the first time seeing him like this, it just didn't happen too often. Always being up in the air meant his arms were usually kept hidden under his coat.

It wasn't just his arms. Far from that...it was him. Lee was such a beautiful man, inside and out. He was a gentleman and a daredevil all in one.

"I think we should go with Hester's idea." you finally stated, standing from your bunk and feeling the adrenaline from your nerves kick in.

There was that awful silence again. He steadily approached you, once again staring deep into your eyes.

"Really? It wouldn't bother you?" Lee could feel his pulse quicken.

"Yeah. Better than freezing, right?"

Why were you so bad at lying? But there was no turning back now.

He took a deep breath.

"Alright, uh, let's hunker down then. W-would you like to--? It's somewhat warmed up from me lying in it already."

He stood aside for you to get in the bed first. See? Gentleman. A gentleman giving you the warmer space in his own bunk.

There's no way you could resist now; it was impossible.

You slowly walked towards the bed, and tried not to show any panic. He patiently waited for you to get comfortable. Rushing anybody was the last thing to do in a situation like this. To him you looked so cute under the quilt as he watched you snuggle down like a deer preparing to hibernate. Finally he got permission to join you once you settled on your back and patted the empty space by your side.

Was this really happening? Were you all making too big a deal out of this? To most people, yes. Although if most people knew of how you and your daemons had secret feelings for each other, they might not be so judgemental. No matter how confient they seemed, nobody could climb into bed with their crush without being nervous; it's not like you were gonna do anything, but still...

Lee managed to climb in next you without giving himself a panic attack; even got as far as pulling the covers over the both of you.

"Okay, I'm gonna just scoot a bit closer."

"Go ahead."

His arm gently slid under your neck, causing you to adjust yourself and lay against his chest. Wow, this really was a lot warmer.

The instant relief from the chill seemed to cause the both of you to sigh in unison; leaving more tension in the air than you wanted. In a futile attempt to ignore it, he unintentionally made the moment even more uncomfortable by nervously tapping his fingers that were resting on your shoulder.

Your reflexes told you to tense.

He felt your form bunch against him, and it gave the clear message that his little self distraction wasn't helping.

"Oh, sorry." He quickly retracted his hand, letting it limply fall to the sheets behind your back.

"I-it's okay. I'm sorry. I guess I'm just a little nervous; not like we've done this before. I get that we just need some warmth, but it's...really intimate, you know? More than what I'm used to."

"I can move to the other bed if you want. Last thing I'm trying to do is make you uncomfortable."

Should you take him up on the offer? Granted, it was weird, but not so weird that you wanted it to stop. On the contrary, embracing him felt amazing. You'd been so used to casual back pats and high fives, so used to trying to make sure things weren't too close, that you forgot about how nice it felt to have physical contact with someone. Especially Lee.

"No. I'd---I'd like you to stay. It actually feels really good too."

WHAT WERE YOU DOING? WHAT WERE YOU SAYING? STOP.

Your position wouldn't let you see Lee's face. But if it did, you'd see him beginning to smile. You trusted him. You trusted him enough to lie beside him and that was no small feat.

"You do? Really?" He wanted to place his hand back on your shoulder, but was sure to restrain himself.

"Yeah I do. I always feel safe around you, Lee."

Ugh, stop now, before you say something stupid. More and more honesty began to pour out with no way of stopping. Cyfrin was right; it was time to rip this bandage off. Whatever happens, happens.

"We've been friends for so long now, that I feel like I can trust you with anything. As a matter a fact, I realized over time, that you're more to me than just a friend. At least that's what I'd like."

Lee swallowed hard.

"(Y/N)..."

"Lemme finish. I have to get this out. Lee, you're so much more than just a friend to me. You're kind, intelligent, funny...and very handsome. I've felt this way for quite some time but I was too scared to say anything. I knew if I did, and you didn't feel the same, we'd have to part ways. So I kept it hidden for such a long time because I'd rather remain friends for the rest of our lives rather than risk losing you. However, it was like tonight's situation was telling me to say it already."

It's almost like time froze. Nobody said anything or even uttered a syllable. You knew it, he didn't feel the same. He didn't feel the same and you should've just kept your mouth shut. This was it, the total end.

The overwhelming humiliation made you sit up and try to climb over him.

"I'm sorry! I never should've said anything! I'm so sorry Lee, I'll just get back to bed and be outta here by morning!"

Before even managing to get off the bed, a firm hand gripped your wrist. Looking down at the man you poured your heart out to, you expected to see disdain. But you didn't. Had your eyes not been so clouded by welled up tears, you'd actually thought for a moment that he was showing care.

"(Y/N)..."

You used your free hand to wipe the tears and sniffled away what might've come out. Your vision was clear again, and it proved you were wrong. His facial expression was soft and calm; almost loving. Those eyes you loved so much were breaking down your walls.

Please say something.

"(Y/N), I had no idea you felt like this. I'm so sorry."

There was the heartbreaking confirmation. It made you shamefully hang your head and start to cry all over again with eyes shut tight. He still didn't let your wrist go in all of this when you wish he would. Let you go and run off with some dignity left.

That's when a gentle hand thumbed away your first tear. It had the softest touch as it slid to cup your cheek and urge you to look up.

"I'm so sorry I didn't say anything sooner. You've been on my mind longer than you realize and I wanted so bad to take a further step. But even entertaining the idea of someone as wonderful as you, actually lovin' me, It--it just seemed like too much of a dream."

Another sniffle later, he let go of your wrist to cup your other cheek. The entirety of your face was now framed in those same hands that could both cause damage and soothe nerves. You were hearing this, right? This wasn't some drunken fantasy?

"Really? You feel the same?"

"Maybe even more. I can't spoil you with gold coins, expensive clothes or gourmet food. But If you let me, I can be so much more than a friend! I can be your protection, a shoulder to cry on, and I can promise to do everything in power to keep you safe and happy."

"Lee, you don't have to give me anything but you. You're all I want and need."

Your hands cupped his face in returning affection.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked.

You nodded and he slowly pressed his lips against yours; the need to become more than friends was finally being filled and it caused a chain reaction in his hands. One of them seemed to automatically move down and against your shoulder blades, while the other slid behind your head. It made your arms slink themselves around his neck to fully enjoy this.

When finally breaking apart for a breath, he stared into your eyes again. This time you didn't feel the need to look away.

"I've wanted to do that for so long." He confessed.

"Me too. Still can't believe it took this long."

"Maybe now it won't be so awkward sharing a bed."

This caused any tension before to melt away as you both laughed.

"I guess you're right. Speaking of which, I'm ready to go back to sleep...next to you without any worry."

Upon settling back down against each other, a firm throat clearing sounded. Oops. Hester and Cyfrin had moved to the empty bed and watched this all unfold. You'd completely forgotten they were even there to begin with.

"Get a good show?" Lee asked

"It was a bit mushy for my taste. Still a good four stars." Hester remarked.

"You two getting over here or what?"

"Yeah we could use an intermission anyways."

Both made their way off the vacant bed and curled up at the end of yours. They still seemed to be keeping a respectable space between themselves. Was that the extent for them?

Hester couldn't help but make one last comment before settling down.

"Unless you have something you wanna tell me, Cyfrin."

The cat daemon simply scoffed back.

"In your harebrained dreams."

After having to tell them to be nice and go to sleep, you and Lee cozily drifted off in each other's arms.

.

.

Must have been 9:00 am by the time anyone on the bed stirred. You woke with Lee's face filling your vision as he slept away, still deep in his dreams being indicated by some minor facial twitching. It was so different seeing him sleep when this close; peaceful might've been an understatement to describe his relaxed expression. You could see your hand rise and lift off to the side as it was still lying on his chest.

It was time to wake up, as much as you hated it. Your hand moved up to his shoulder and shook him a bit.

"Lee? Lee. It's time to get up."

It took a minute before he responded. His long lashes fluttered open and the eyes you previously thought to be black as night were revealed to be a warm glowing brown from the sunlight spilling through the nearest window above the bed.

"Good morning. You whispered.

"Mornin' Love." He smiled.

"You sleep alright?"

"Mmm yeah. I had strangest dream last night, though."

Your nails began to idly graze across his chest.

"Oh? What about?"

"Well, I thought I got to wake up to the girl of my dreams wrapped in my arms."

That earned a chuckle.

"Sure you're not still dreaming?"

"I don't know, lemme check."

He leaned over to kiss you again, fully savoring it now that there were no more secret feelings.

As soon as the kiss broke, he looked down at the foot of the bed where your daemons occupied it last night.

"Well lookie here."

Cyfrin and Hester were bunched up together. She laid cozily against his side, using his tail as a blanket while he curled his form closer around her. It's obvious he was forming a protective barrier to anything that may harm her.

"They weren't like that last night."

"Sure weren't."

Neither of you were being very quiet and Cyfrin was the first to react. He cracked open a groggy green eye, looking very unamused.

"Wanna explain yourself?" You teased.

"We may have exchanged a few words after you two fell asleep. What we said doesn't matter and won't be explained. All I know, is that she means a lot to me."

"Sure that isn't my harebrained dreams running away with me?" Hester asked, voice drenched in sleep.

"Shut up, rabbit. Go back to sleep, it's too early."

She snuggled up against him closer. It was quite the sight. You, Lee, Cyfrin and Hester all bundled up into one bed, and content as ever.

THE END

Thanks for being patient and reading! Pls remember feedback is what keeps me going. If you like it, sharing and commenting would be much appreciated!

Tags:

@sunflowersturn

Posted on: October 29th 2021

[autumnbrambleagain]

-unnammed crystal setting stuff about the fox witch and her mouse apprentice-

As the sun was low over the horizon and the wheat fields had eased into a smoldering gold; as the spring breezes stilled and the warmth paused in contemplation of a cooler night; as Maesia's paws began to complain from the walking; as Jubilee's stomach began to complain from hunger, they stepped around a hill and into sight of yet another little mouse-people hamlet.

Night was coming but these were mice, and that meant half of them were just waking up. Already colored paper-lanterns were being lit casting colors on the low, squatty houses of cob and thatch that poked out of the ground like disorganized confetti. Tiny people scurried in unified chaos and Maesia's nose throbbed at the smell.

Maesia's fox instincts told her to let loose among the folk and devour. Her fingers squeezed the old leather of her sword sheath. Control.

Jubilee was quivering with whatever mouse instincts lay imprinted on her soul.

The horse-robot that housed her pet daemon simply stood still in its iron and whatever it thought it kept to itself, as always.

"This will do for a rest," Maesia said. "They still your folk yet, so assemble some hospitality for us, kiddo."

It seemed Jubilee could parse the chaos of the crowds of mice into something coherent enough, and she was bouncing from paw to paw. "We're just in time for the sunset service! It was really good timing!"

"What's that?"

"The sunset service! There!" Jubilee jabbed a quivering mouse-finger at the biggest of the little earthen mound houses. Mice were filing inside, through a doorless gap, with a festival air, chattering and gossiping.

"Aye yeah and what kind of service is that kiddo? It include soft seats? A good nap?"

"We gather together and thank the Sun for all its hard work!"

"The sun?"

"Yeah, the sun, you know, big guy, bright, lives in the sky, makes crops grow?"

Maesia gikked a little chuckle. "Think the sun's gonna be doing that thanks or none, little."

"Nuh-uh! That's a Sun's priest there and the Sun works real hard for us because we have those! It's a farm thing you wouldn't understand, haha! Maybe I can teach you all about it and you can be the apprentice for a while?"

Now hold up a minute there, Maesia thought. "Which one's the sun priest?"

"Duhh!" Jubilee said. "The one in the robes!"

There was a mouse in robes for certain, greeting the others by the entrance as they came in. A little thing like all the others, wearing long dirt-dragging robes made from woven layers of golden hay, a big upsidedown basket. Warnings, a panic, exploded in Maesia's head. She lifted her sword up and accessed the crystal-pommel. Her soul's GUI manifested dull orange in the air and Jubilee glared at her.

"Why are you doing magic now? What's up?"

There were so many mice, so many souls lighting up the wifi list, but Maesia was pretty sure she could find the priest's soul.

"Nope," Maesia said. "You can't go to the sunset whatever."

"What!"

"You're a witch now, little. You jailbroke your soul and can roost in ignorance not no longer. Your priest there's a botnet."

"A what!"

"Aye yuh, how do I explain all this. Your people haven't been worshipping the sun. There's a city of faery glass floating way up in space, between our world and the sun, that eats sunlight. A daemon's soul lives in the glass, and it eats so much sun it's already might'n strong. Then it spreads itself as a virus from soul to soul down here. Now it lets them use its math to cast spells, sure, but when it needs to it uses all those souls, all of 'em, to do whatever it really wants doing on the planet proper. One mind lurking in all these little heads all over. It can pop itself out into any of these bodies like string-puppets."

"So it's evil!? But the Sun's always helped us out, as far back as--"

"Na yuh, not necessarily evil but it isn't some god to worship. It's a daemon and you're a witch."

"You have a pet daemon that carries our stuff. Witches and daemons can be friends."

"Na, that's different, see--" but Jubilee was already scurrying off to meet the priest, damnit, so Maesia had to trot alongside her.

The little mouse priest looked up, his eyes glittering dully as they regarded Jubilee, and then sharpening in alarm as it took in the sight of a fox jogging alongside her. "And what's this then?" he asked in trembling falsetto, and the straggler mice who hadn't made it inside yet did something about that in a hurry. The priest relaxed just a touch as Maesia slowed to a stop, and kept behind Jubilee, but the poor, hunched little creature looked like he was about to die of fright.

It didn't matter, they weren't here to talk to the mouse-person anyway.

"Hullo again Solbat," Maesia sighed.

The mouse-priest's eyes fluttered but a moment and just faintly audible she could hear the familiar clicking and grinding sound of a soul being overclocked. And all at once, the little mouse-person straightened up, despite the old curved back it had, and it rested a hand just under its elbow, daintily, and the other hand brushed along its face with coquettish delight. Entirely different eyes stared at them with bright joy. "Oh xXx_SpookyPumpkin420_xXx, you're still kicking it about, are you?" the priest asked, in his own voice and in someone else's words and cadance.

"Still am," Maesia sighed.

"And who's this little snack?" the priest reached out for Jubilee playfully. "Introduce me to your dinner."

Jubilee took a step back but held the rest of herself firm. "I'm Jubilee. I'm a witch."

"She's my 'prentice," Maesia said. "Jube, this is Solar Battery Array #7, the Daemon of the Sun."

[whumpwriterforlife]

Hello dear bean! Could I please have an order of Accidentally Hurt by Friend for the bthb please :3

Why, yes you could! Here is your order of Accidentally Hurt by Friend with our boy Nyx.

Accidentally Hurt by Friend

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV

Characters: Nyx Ulric, Crowe Altius, Luche Lazarus, Pelna Khara & Libertus Ostium

Whumpee: Nyx Ulric

Word Count: 1848

Warnings: None? Violence, battle situations in a war

Can also be found on ao3 here

---

The smell of copper and smoke was strong in the air as Nyx warped around the battlefield, striking down MTs and daemonic insects wherever he could. He was starting to feel the burn in his muscles and the impending fatigue but he kept going. He had to. They were losing ground fast as more Imperial dropships arrived with more MTs and their pesky pet animals inside.

It was not the Saturday Nyx had hoped for.

“Crowe, what’s the status over there?” Nyx called into the comms as he landed from yet another warp to sink his kukris into the neck of an unsuspecting MT. It hissed and spasmed, miasma leaking out of it but Nyx paid no attention to it as he moved onto his next target.

“We are down two mages, we’re doing this as fast as we can!” Crowe’s strained voice hissed into the comms. “Five minutes, tops.”

“Five minutes,” Nyx muttered under his breath. It was doable. Nyx gritted his teeth as he threw his kukri at a wide arc over a horde of ahriman to warp. A powerful lightning spell was enough to take down most of them, and those that stayed up were easily dispatched with a few well-placed kukris. There was a loud, almost deafening roar somewhere to Nyx’s left and he spun on his heels to see a behemoth being dropped from one of the ships, alongside with a couple of coeurls.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Nyx groused, exasperation clear in his tone. “Luche, you seeing this shit?”

“I see it, Hero, I’m sending Pelna and a couple of others towards you,” Luche responded soon, as calm and collected as ever. “Don’t do anything stupid, you hear me?”

Nyx laughed at that, his lips twitching into a brief smirk as he sprinted towards the behemoth. “I would never.”

“I swear to Ramuh I will put your ass on gate duty for a month if you get yourself hurt doing something idiotic again Ulric,” Luche told him, his voice almost a growl.

Nyx rolled his eyes. “I won’t do anything too stupid, scout’s honor.”

“Don’t worry, Luche, I got his back,” Pelna’s voice crackled to life as he joined the conversation.

Nyx glanced around the battlefield and saw Pelna and three other glaives heading his way from the opposite direction. He gave them a quick wave before he threw himself into warp and at the behemoth, tuning out the rest of that conversation.

The behemoth was pissed.

Actually, pissed was a huge understatement, Nyx realized as he warped around the beast and barely avoided getting stomped on. He got in a few strikes here and there but he couldn’t land any critical hits, not with the way the beast kept moving and trying to snap him in half. Nyx did his best to keep his distance from the behemoth’s mouth because while it was full of razor sharp teeth that would shred him to pieces with ease, it also smelled foul enough for it to be a miracle that he was still standing after the first whiff of it. Nyx hid behind a large boulder to catch his breath for a moment.

“Need a hand, Hero?” Pelna asked from behind him.

“Shiva— Don’t sneak up on people like that!” Nyx exclaimed as he spun around to look at his friend. The behemoth growled somewhere on the other side of the boulder and Nyx interpreted that as the behemoth agreeing with him. “Are you trying to get yourself stabbed?”

Pelna chuckled softly as he peered at the behemoth from the corner of the boulder. “I wasn’t even being quiet, you need to pay more attention to your surroundings, Nyx.”

“I pay attention,” Nyx muttered under his breath as he moved to stand next to Pelna. “Where did you lose the three that were with you?”

“They went to take care of the coeurls,” Pelna told him as he procured daggers from the armiger.

Nyx nodded before stepping out of their cover. He gave Pelna a playful smile right as the behemoth spotted him and started rushing closer with an enraged roar. “You ready to take this thing down?”

“No theatrics,” Pelna shook his head at him. Nyx gave him a mock bow, hand over his heart before he was on the go again and heading for the behemoth. Pelna rolled his eyes and warped after him. “Show-off.”

The behemoth didn’t go down easily. It fought them tooth and nail, giving Nyx and Pelna a new variety of bruises and scrapes to complain about but after one set of kukris to the neck and another set of daggers to the spine, the beast finally went lax. Pelna dropped down to his knees, hands on the ground as he heaved breathlessly. Nyx wasn’t far behind, hands braced on his knees as he tried to catch his breath and calm his racing heart. A day of fighting in the frontlines had taken a toll on his body. He would crash so hard in his bunk when the day was over.

There was no break in sight for them yet, however, when a group of five or so MTs found them. Nyx groaned as he straightened back up and offered Pelna a hand to pull him back to his feet. He gave Pelna a tired smile as he flipped his kukri and prepared to warp. “Here we go again.”

Nyx materialized in front of the closest MT and stabbed the kukri through its chest plate. He was losing power behind his attacks. It wasn’t good. Nyx cursed as he ducked under a sword strike and sent a fire spell at the offending MT, taking it and the MT right next to it down. Nyx allowed himself a moment of satisfaction watching the MTs go down in flames before he warped to the fourth MT.

What Nyx failed to see was that Pelna was already there, his hands crackling with lightning magic. Nyx’s kukris sunk through weak spots in the MT’s armor. Pelna shouted his name, his voice tinted with panic, but by then it was too late and the lightning spell hit Nyx full force through the dissolving MT.

Nyx’s lips parted in a scream but only a strained groan came out as his muscles contracted with burning intensity that left him unable to breathe. The kukris slipped from his grasp as he hit the ground. His ears rang. The lightning spell burned, hot and ferocious as it ravaged through his body. It was the only thing he was aware of.

Then there were hands on him. Hands that forced him to uncurl and lie on his back. This time Nyx let out a ragged scream.

“Shit, Nyx!” Pelna’s voice had a panicked tint to it. There was a shuffling sound, followed by glass breaking. Nyx vaguely realized it was a potion as the pain faded the tiniest bit and he could gasp in a breath. “Nyx is down! I need some help here!”

Nyx made a pained noise in the back of his throat as his eyes fluttered open. Pelna was crouched over him, one hand on Nyx’s chest and the other on the comms. His eyes were wide with worry, his hood pulled back to reveal his face. Nyx wanted to tell him he was okay but he was barely managing to get air into his lungs. Speaking was out of the question.

“Stay with me, Nyx, keep your eyes open,” Pelna told him. “Lib is coming, he has an elixir. Just hang on.”

Nyx gave a tiny nod, the most he managed with the way he was hurting. He felt like he was barely awake, like he could slip away at any moment but Pelna wanted him to hang on. So he tried. The elixir would help. Normal potions weren’t good for magic induced injuries, they just took off the edge, but elixir would help more. Nyx’s eyes slowly started sliding shut.

“Hey! Don’t do that,” Pelna exclaimed and patted Nyx on the cheek with maybe a little more force than necessary. “Eyes open, you hear me?”

“You suck,” Nyx wheezed as he squinted at Pelna, the words barely above a whisper.

Pelna let out a laugh, his hand shifting to squeeze Nyx’s shoulder reassuringly. “Love you too, Nyx.”

Nyx muttered an incoherent response that was lost as Libertus skidded to a stop next to them and broke the elixir over Nyx. Nyx’s eyes slid shut, a relieved groan leaving his lips as the elixir worked to heal the worst of his injuries. He could finally breathe again.

“What the hell happened?” Libertus demanded.

“I hit him with a lightning spell,” Pelna said, his voice marred with guilt. “I was trying to take out an MT but then Nyx warped right behind it and I couldn’t see him until it was too late.”

Nyx blindly reached for Pelna and after a moment found his arm. “It happens, we’re both tired and not at our best. It’s fine, I’m fine.”

Pelna opened his mouth to reply but a rumbling sound from the sky drew their attention. They could see a mix of fire and lightning in the clouds, forming into a storm. Pelna shook his head softly and grabbed Nyx by the arm, pulling it over his shoulder. “Time to go, looks like the mages got the storm going.”

Nyx didn’t resist as Libertus moved in to support him from the other side and they pulled him to his feet. He could still feel the residual aches and pains from the lightning and the added support was most likely the only reason he didn’t end up crashing straight back down. Pelna and Libertus had to have been worried about him because they didn’t even crack jokes at how they had to support him.

They ended up waiting out the magic storm in some ruins before they made their way back to the base. It took them an hour to get back but at least the storm had taken care of the majority of the enemy. At the base, it didn’t take even a minute for Libertus and Pelna to drag Nyx into the infirmary and unceremoniously dump him onto one of the beds. Nyx had complained about it — of course he had, it was expected of him at this point — but he had been given no options. They didn’t leave him alone though, and even Crowe joined them after some time. Nyx wasn’t sure if they were worried or if they just stayed there to make sure he didn’t try to slip out unnoticed but he supposed it didn’t matter all that much in the end. He appreciated the company more than they knew.

When they eventually got home a few days later, Luche got Nyx and Pelna both two weeks on gate watch. It was his way of showing he had been concerned for them, and happy to have them both back in one piece. Or maybe he was just a huge jerk, Nyx couldn’t exactly brush that option aside.

[visceralcoma]

Fit Together, pt 8

ON AO3

PARTS: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven,

"Fuck..." V's voice echoed off into their shared brainspace, a sub-cyberspace created by the chip. The same place she'd first met Johnny, and the last place she wanted to be. Problem was,  she didn't know how to get out of here. "What the fuck, Johnny?" She snapped and looked around, looking for an exit. She wasn't used to someone else fucking with her in cyberspace. Normally she was the one sending daemons at people. But not only was it someone else, it was someone that was technically her. Technically... her own brain.

Her breath heaved, panic rising. The streaking blue lines of code that made up this world shivered and enclosed on her.

"Will you calm the fuck down, cunt?"  Johnny's voice bellowed from behind her.

"Too much...its closing in..." V panted as her glowing hand gripped.

"Jesus V. Never thought you'd have cyberclaustrophia." Johnny sneered.

"Shut the fuck up." Her cheeks burned with the shame of such a juvenile issue. Any sane netrunner got over that, but V never had. The big wide open space of cyberspace was suffocating for her in the best of times knowing that anyone - anywhere could just latch onto you, install malware, virus, send daemons at her. It was that fear that drove her to creating numerous firewalls around her own personal subnet to work out of.  

"Why don't you make me." Johnny spat.

V growled and launched at him.  A deep breath - while unneeded in the subspace - was habit before she went flying at him.  Feet unweighed down with each step until she grasped his smug red outlined face.

"Shut." She slammed his head against a wall of code. "The." She pulled it back and slammed again. "Fuck." And again. "Up."  Code spiraled around them. Johnny grunted with each slam and grinned through bared teeth, grunting at the last second.

"Thats the stuff. Get angry." He hissed. "Get pissed." His fist pummeled into her stomach and she coughed. "Come on V, stop whimpering and show me what you're really feeling?!

"I hate you." V stumbled back and went after him, fists raised - but this time she tossed a quickly crafted daemon at him to overload.

Johnny phased through it and tutted.

"How..." V gasped, but had little time to react when Johnny gripped her neck, fingers wrapped around her throat.

"While you've been pissing about all over Night City, I've been learning a thing or two about you."

"My...memories?"

Johnny grinned, almost cruelly, until the shape of his glasses drooped low enough for her to see. There was a playful glint to them. "As much of a Wilson you are, your memories are telling about your skills. Shame that when fighting, you play it safe."

V struggled against his grip, but it tightened - strangling her.  She couldn't breathe. "Johnny."

"And that's your problem V. Your safety means you lack style, creativity." Johnny clenched tighter.  "You're worried so much about losing yourself to me, you can't even show me who you really are. Ex corpo, sure - but the worst kind. The complaining kind, simpering and posturing - all to keep your conveniences."

"Johnn-" V coughed and struggled but he held steady.

"Come on V, think outside the box. You know you don't have to really breath here." Johnny taunted. "Tell me what our body is feeling."

He was right of course. It was a conscious thought she knew. She felt her body - distantly as it was - breathing away unhindered.

"Yeah... there you go, V." Johnny cooed. "Now you're getting it."

Her body, her self. Both one and yet... here they were separate. Which mean Johnny's hold on her, wasn't life threatening. It was just...limiting her mental movements in their brainspace. Instead of physical force, it was sheer willpower she was up against.

She scowled, and Johnny smiled.  "Let me go." Her voice - now unhindered by the grip at her throat spoke clearly.

"Make me." Johnny hissed close to her ear. Too close, enough to make her shiver in a not so unpleasant way. A shiver that turned his smile into smug self satisfaction. "Aww V, didn't know ya  Felt. That. Way." Each wore enunciated with a husky hiss into her ear.

"Fuck..." Fear and arousal were a heady mixture, even in cyberspace 

"Don't mind if I do." Johnny chuckled.

She should have wrenched away from him, stopped him from pursuing that line of thought and action. Shoulda, woulda, coulda... but she knew, she just didn't want to. Not when his fingers quirked inside her and they could hear the squelch from their body all the way from their brainspace as he controlled her hand with his.

His chuckle rumbled into a sinful quality that spoke volumes. "V, V, V....Niagara Falls much?"

[scottymcgeesterwrites]

Final Fantasy XV Review

Year: 2016

Original Platform: PlayStation 4

Also available on: PC (Steam), XBox One

Version I Played: PlayStation 4

Here we go. The final Final Fantasy review of the main single-player games. I just want to say, first off, we’ve been waiting for this game since 2006. It took them ten damn years to finally release this game. I clearly remember the teaser trailer they released when it was called Final Fantasy XIII Versus, and my next-door neighbor and I were so hyped for this game when we were freaking teenagers. After years of delays, Square Enix revamped it into Final Fantasy XV.

Did it live up to the wait? Well, read and find out.

Synopsis:

Noctis Lucis Caelum is the heir to the throne of the kingdom of Lucis. On his birthday, he sets off with his three best friends and bodyguards (Ignis, Prompto, Gladio) to marry his betrothed, Lunafreya. The marriage is supposed to be a political one, though Noct and Lunafreya had grown up together and become fond of each other. But peace turns to war as the empire of Niflheim betrays Insomnia and invades. Noct, now on the run, has to reclaim his right to the throne by collecting the necessary family heirlooms which will banish the darkness.  

Gameplay:

Open-world Final Fantasy.

That is the big selling point for this game. 

A MASSIVE step up from Final Fantasy XIII’s gameplay, Final Fantasy XV has you roaming around and attacking enemies on the field in real time. The battle system returns to something slightly more conventional by having you cast spells and use items. It seems like this is what Square really intended to do after Final Fantasy XII. Looking back, Final Fantasy XIII feels like some prototype before Final Fantasy XII, so it really becomes apparent that Final Fantasy XIII’s gameplay comes off as a huge mistake.

This game’s major’s strength comes from the player engaging with a massive world. You camp. You take on hunts. You take on a bajillion sidequests. You run across the world. You drive across the world. You can ride a chocobo across the world.

However, the dip in the gameplay comes from how easily accessible these sidequests are. The map tells you exactly where you go 24/7. I started to have an existential crisis around my 50th sidequest in a row. Why am I doing this? What’s the point? I go here to kill a thing, or go there to help someone by giving a potion or taking a picture. You start to realize that a good bulk of sidequests are either hunting daemons or fetching an item. You start to deconstruct the meaning of playing a video game as you think to yourself, “Why do I play video games?” while also thinking “But wait, one more and then I swear I’m done.”.

I get it, not everyone has the time nowadays to figure out a huge game like this. I get it, video games are now marketed to everyone for ease. At the same time, I personally love a good challenge. I mean, I’m the guy who has Dark Souls as one of his favorite video games of all time, so my opinion on the matter might definitely be skewered compared to most. I generally want to feel like I actually figured something out by myself rather than following a tracker on the screen and walking from task to task and then saying, “Okay done. Next.”.

Too much of that and playing a video game starts to feel like a 9 to 5 job to me. This game is great to play during quarantine, but at one point I saw playing this game as feeling like an actual job. Wake up, eat breakfast, time to hunt some daemons.

This is the growing conflict some people have with story-driven games versus open-world games. I see the argument focused too much on words like “linear”, but in reality we should be talking about “automation”. If a video game is too automated, then did you really play a video game? Or did you watch a movie that allows you to control the camera angle? At first, the idea of driving around an open-world Final Fantasy game sounds amazing. Isn’t that what fans always dreamed of? In reality, you don’t really drive around at your leisure. Even when you have the car set to “manual”, you can’t speed up, drive off-road, or pull off a sick drift like in The Fast and the Furious. Your car still automatically stays on the road wherever you’re going. It’s not so much “manual” as it is “I can control where and when to stop and which road to take”. Riding chocobos at your leisure is much more fun, but becomes increasingly impractical as you can just fast-travel to necessary locations in your car.

The sights and sounds of the fictional world of Eos are enough to gloss over these shortcomings though. It IS still fun to roam around and fight monsters and save the day. My bottom line is, “You don’t think about just how mindless the tasks are unless you keep playing for many days straight.”. And I poured hours into this game day after day because of the 2020 pandemic quarantine.

Graphics:

Obviously the best thus far. However, in-game facial expressions on the NPCs are still quite stilted and awkward. This game made me realize that we’ve yet to jump a hurdle when it comes to in-game graphics. The game is so polished but there are still limitations when it comes to giving the characters natural movements, both in body and lips. So an NPC could be shouting “WOW THAT’S AMAZING!” but have a straight face jumping up and down, despite the fact that the character model is the most realistic we’ve created so far in a video game. I was looking back at in-game cutscenes of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, and found it ironic that they can portray body movements so much better, but that’s the trade-off. Less graphics power to portray realistic bodies, but the graphics power can then be allocated to focus on natural movements. Nowadays, all the graphics power is focused on making things look good, but that hardly leaves room for making things move naturally.

Story:

After the overly-complicated plotline of Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XV feels like a breath of fresh air. On the surface, it’s a straightforward tale of a boy seeking to become a king after his father is brutally murdered by enemy forces. The bromance between the young king and his bodyguards is endearing. Each character feels distinct and genuinely makes you laugh. The setup sounds like prime real estate for an emotionally charged storyline.

Unfortunately, it falls apart somewhere around the last quarter. What should have been a strong and straightforward story turned into a rushed, hasty mess by the final act.

The story started SO strong, they practically had it in the bag, but then it became apparent that many important elements were glossed over - especially when it came to the main villain. I realized that some things required me to read between the lines, or even were only explained in character dossiers in the archive section of the menu. Supposedly, the movie Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV explains more, but do you really expect me to have to watch a separate movie to understand the actual game? The final quarter of the story feels like someone was trying to finish NaNoWriMo, realized they were running out of time, and quickly jumped from scene to scene to reach that 50k word goal. The ten-year time-skip is a joke. The final chapter is sorely disappointing.

The ending was appropriate though, and even beautiful. However, the overall story didn’t have the necessary emotional weight to really make me feel anything. I thought to myself, “I feel like I should be tearing up but instead I feel nothing.”. Even Final Fantasy XII, which lacked a romance, had me swelling up at the end. Final Fantasy XV didn’t make me swell up until literally the last few seconds of the post-credits scene.

People complained about the advertising (Coleman, Cup Noodles) but that didn’t bother me.

What does bother me is the lack of variety in the main cast, and in numerous ways. There were so many interesting side characters that didn’t receive much screen time, or use at all in the story. The strong focus on only the four male leads made it a sausagefest. I was craving more out of Aranea Highwind and Iris Amicitia. They are important but don’t get any screen time at all in the final chapter, nor do we ever hear from them ever again after the time-skip. Aranea Highwind was such a cool character, but once again ends up being wasted potential.

The main cast lacked distinctive styles. When I first saw the main cast, I had a hard time telling them apart. They looked like a k-pop band. Compare the main cast of Final Fantasy XV to literally any other Final Fantasy main cast and you can immediately spot the difference.

The four main leads do have distinct personalities, and I quite loved hearing their comments and banter. It felt realistic, but at times it became ridiculous. I rolled my eyes when Prompto would say things like, “Hashtag sorry not sorry.” That was a bit too on the nose, and came off as Square trying to pander to the current generation.

But what really rubbed me the wrong way is the incredible lack of non-white characters in the entire game. Lestallum feels so wrong to me as a Hispanic. Lestallum is supposed to be modeled after Havana, Cuba.

Its music, its buildings, its activities. It has a tropical climate, and yet every single denizen is pale white. Every. Single. One. I am not exaggerating. It feels so absolutely wrong walking around that city and not seeing anyone with the slightest shade of brown. This isn’t some uncalled-for SJW rant, it’s a simple fact. Tropical climates breed tanner skins. My brain naturally did a double-take when seeing the all-white population, saying, “Hmmm, something’s wrong here.”. For God’s sake, Final Fantasy XII, made over a decade earlier, did a better job at displaying the various nuances in skin tones, and that was on the PlayStation 2! Final Fantasy X, even older, seemed to properly portray tropical beach populations, inspired by the Philippines, with the character Wakka.

I noticed that they really took the time to incorporate elements from virtually every single Final Fantasy game. Aside from the crystals, the modern settings, and other obvious elements, four male leads are reminiscent of Final Fantasy III, the sinister chancellor hearkens back to Kefka from Final Fantasy VI, the enemy Yojimbo resembles Final Fantasy X’s version of Yojimbo, a certain boss battle reminded me of Cid Raines from Final Fantasy XIII.

Also, there’s Dino. Quite possibly the most annoying Final Fantasy NPC ever.

The overly obnoxious Italian stereotype made me want to punch his face, and also took me out of the experience of the fictional world. Every time you spoke with him he's all like "HEY HOW YOU DOIN WELCOME TO OLIVE GARDEN YOU TALKIN TO ME BADA BING BADA BOOM SPICY PIECE OF MEATBALL CAPISCE? AMIRITE??"

Square seemed to treat this game as a milestone in the series, alluding to everything the series ever did. It’s a shame that the story itself wasn’t quite up to snuff to be held in such regard.

Music:           

The game’s major lyrical song is copyrighted, which is a first for a Final Fantasy game. It makes sense why they chose the song “Stand by Me”, both in literal and figurative terms of the story.             

The score to this game is quite fantastic. The series has its first female composer, Yoko Shimomura. I have absolutely no complaints about the music. Nobuo Uematsu didn’t even pop into my head during the entire game. It’s the first time since Uematsu’s departure that I felt immersed in the score. The motifs are distinct and strong. The battle music is vibrant and an orchestral orgasm to listen to.    

Notable Theme:            

“Somnus”  

The main theme of the game. It plays right away in the main menu. I love how it is incorporated into the rest of the score, and my brain kept wanting to hear it to its completion.   

Direct Sequel?           

Nope. However, there is downloadable content that fills in the gap of events within the game. Supposedly, Final Fantasy XV is loosely connected to Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Type-O, all sharing common themes and possibly set in the same universe. You can also watch the prequel movie, Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV.

Did it Live up to the Hype?           

Eh.           

Yes, and no.            

It was cool to play around, but the rest is a flaccid attempt at being a notable entry in the series “for fans and first-timers”, as the words proudly display every time you load the game. It’s not the worst in the series, but certainly not the best. It’s somewhere in the mid-to-low tier.

[oneirataxxiaa]

WITCHES AND DRUIDS

a little gift for @silverdecepticon93 for their amazing writing. some klarion content!

written by Persephone. Anastasia did some editing and helped me write Klarion correctly. It's a bit of a slow burn, and I probably got some story facts wrong, but I hope you enjoy!

requests are OPEN , remember to specify who you would like to write your oneshot. Anastasia, or Persephone.

• • • •

It's not that the weather wasn't pleasurable, it was, really. the sun was out, reflecting off the oceans subtle waves and warming the grey pavement just enough for beach-goers with no shoes to begin to hop from foot to foot. The wind was perfect, swaying the tall palm trees that lined the coastal road, every now and again, causing a hat to fly off in its cool breeze, making it's owner run after it with calls of protest. A girl in her late teens leaned back on a uncomfortably tacky faux beach chair just outside the open air cafe. Her hair moved slowly, partially from the outside breeze and partially from the squeaking old metal fan making slow rotations just inside the door. It blew no dust, so it was clearly well used considering the heat.

Happy Harbour seemed just that, happy. Everything had been calm the past few months, villain attacks were incredibly low, no major plots had been uncovered, and the group known as The Light was seemingly inactive after the league and teams triumph over them. The lack of attacks had Robin and Kaldur on edge anticipating something being planned in the shadows, but Y/n, Artemis, Megan and Wally had taken the opportunity to enjoy Rhode Island for what it was. In the ginger speedsters words, a paradise just waiting to be explored.

Zatanna Zatura was across the round table from Y/n, in casual clothes with a black baseball cap and a vanilla milkshake in hand, sipping on the straw slowly. Y/n herself had her favourite flavor smoothie resting on the table, her phone in hand as the camera on the device recorded what was happening in the small grass patch to their left. Wallace West swore on his life that he had landed a back flip the day before, which the rest of his friends refused to believe. In trying to prove his ability, he was attracting some strange stares from passers by, and rather ice filled glare from a mother who corralled her three kids, most likely in their early preteens, away, hurriedly muttering about 'unethical teenager'. Quite an interesting thing to be thrown their way, but the teen heroes had had worse hurled at them in their exploits as protectors of justice.

"Wally" Megan laughed, a short snort escaping her lips as she watched the boy try to land another flip. " You're going to break something". The Martian was resting on the grass, watching what was happening unfurl.

"cheers to that! please do!" Artemis' words were filled with sarcasm. The blonde teen making her way towards the table and picking up her drink to take a sip. Wally dropped to the ground again and sprawled out on the grass, crushing the green blades under his body. Y/n cringed slightly.

"you girls are no fun, even Connor is more fun to hang out with, at least he encourages me to improve my wicked moves" Wally pulled himself to his feet with a bounce and brushing off his pants with little success, the mucky dew soaked dirt already staining them brown at the knees. Y/n was glad he did his own laundry, she didn't want to be the one to wash those stains out. The girl stopped the video on her phone with the press of a button, dropping her hand to her side and turning the object off.

"I'd like to argue with that" Connor complained, he seemed to have appeared out of no where, walking towards them, ebony shirt still sporting the superman signal. He seemed a little happier today, perhaps it was the immaculate weather. Y/n reckoned it could put anyone in a good mood, even Connor, who hadn't been as happy has he could have been lately. His relationship with Megan had be strained.

"The man, the myth, the legend, how could you betray me my main man? You're really going to let the girls pick on your best friend?" Wallys drama queen was showing as he rested a hand on his head in a damsel in distress motion.

"Wolf is my best friend, you are" Connor faked a thoughtful expression, "an unfortunate acquaintance". Y/n could see the joking sparkle in Connors eyes. It was strange. Strange, but good. He deserved some joy in these darker days. "anyways, the reason I'm here for two reasons, reason one being because Robin decided to have an identity crisis, he's changing his name"

"Please tell me it's not another bird, I don't want it to be a bird" Artemis groaned, dropping heavily into one of the chairs. It groaned in protest from the sudden and violent weight.

"I don't know what he's gone with, but second reason I'm here is because we've got a new team member, Batman just made a visit and brought someone with him-"

"Batman was at the cave! and you didn't tell me! is he still there?" Wally began to vibrate from excitement, sparks ran down his arms and legs.

"When I left he was, bu-". Wally was gone in a literal flash, leaving the remaining team looking around frantically, glade the citizens of Happy Harbour seemed content in being too interested in their own lives to notice a super-powered boy and his friends.

"we should probably make sure he doesn't break anything, and welcome the new team member huh?" Zatanna said with a sigh, getting to her feet and stretching her arms up, elbows cracking slightly. As the group collected their drinks, waving goodbye to the cafes owner, who they knew well due to their frequent return to the place, Y/n saw something that peaked her interest, making the girl pause and turn towards it.

"Y/n, you coming or what girl?" Zatanna called out. The group somehow was a good ways away from her now, standing, ready to cross the pedestrian crossing at the coastal road. The curious frown on her face must have given something away.

"um, I'll catch up, yeah? say hi to the newbie for me?" the uncertainty in her voice made Zatanna pause, but nod, turning back just in time to walk with the others across the road.

Turning back towards the curiosity, it stared at her with dark eyes, watching her movement. Y/n walked over and bent down, petting the feline behind it's ears, coaxing a purr from the familiar cat-daemon.

"Hello Teekl" the teen greeted, "what are you doing here?" her hand continued to pet the creature, before it shook it's head, pushing your hand away with the action and going to work on licking its paw. Cats were always strange, but she supposed their sudden mood changed were due to their nature.

"I feel like you're just in this for the cute cat" the voice was monotonous and Y/n recognised it immediately. Turning her head slightly, she spied the source of the voice. He looked different, slightly older, taller, and dressed in more civilian esque clothing. Perhaps to attempt to blend in with the surrounding crowds of people.

"The cats a bonus" Y/n gave one final pet to Teekl before walking to the table she was sitting at previously, Klarion Bleak now occupying Zatannas previous location. "How are you? I haven't seen you since the whole light thing". I'd been about five months and the league was still recovering. Klarion got a sour look on his face, pausing, he fiddled with the hem of his shirt, a neat black button up dress shirt. He looked, perplexed.

"I've been keeping my head down I guess, Savage lose his mind after we lost, been hounding anyone who talks to about it" the strange look remained on his face. "I've been banned from annoying the justice brats, no offence, until he comes up with something new"

Y/n dismissed the nickname for her team and frowned herself. "Robins noticed, it's got him freaked out, running crazy circles trying to figure out what Vandal Savage is planning" a small grin rose on her face. Klarion noticed movement, seeing small clovers begin to crawl their way out of the cracks in the pavement. That caused the small smile that few saw to appear.

"your magic is getting better". That was how they met. Before the team. Both of them were young magic users, each pulled down a different road. One good, One evil. But between them there was balance, peace. Order and Chaos meeting in the middle for a calm chat and shared news on a sunny day.

"I've been getting better at it, but there's always room for more practice as Aqualad says" Y/n laughed. Silence entered their conversation. It wasn't awkward however, as it sometimes was among friends or co workers. It was a comfortable silence of enjoying a summers day without the chaos of the world. It be nice if things stayed like that, balanced, forever. But soon, Unfortunately, their friendship would burn and break. Being torn to their sides, ripped from the comforting friendship, forced to fight each other to prove loyalty to each side. No. Order and Chaos were balanced, but wars tended to tip that scale and break it. In the process, something much more important was shattered.

fin

[slithredn]

what's wrong with blood of zeus?

ok im bad at words n expressing myself but: (blood of zeus spoilers)

first im linking you to this post that has a few opinions i share in a far shorter post.

The animation is not good. Nor is the character design. Three different women characters have almost the same face, and they aren’t just background characters w no relevance to the story whatsoever. If you try and look at this show w some accuracy goggles it will hurt (but i understand that a lot of people don’t care and just want some sweet sweet plots).

Now, you know how mentioned three women characters have the same face? Its not just when  it comes to design that the show did the female characters dirty.

(Heron is the mc) Heron’s mom, Electra (which we only learn the name of after she dies, and was called “woman 1″ once or twice in the subtitles), whole character resolves around her children, and her relationship w Zeus. She dies  only to further Heron’s and Seraphim’s story. Just like other two female characters exist purely for part of Seraphim’s backstory.

Now, if we move up to the gods part of the show, Hera is the only goddess that speaks. Yes, other goddesses do show up once or twice, but none of them say A Word. (Unlike the gods who get a lot more speaking done). You really want to tell me none of them would have a word in this whole affair which, in the end, threatened all of them? Really?

Also, once again, guess what Hera is? An angry jealous wife. That’s it. Her love for Zeus and him reciprocating the feeling is shown a little in the first episode and a little in the last one, where he sacrifices himself for her, after having fought w her. But apart from that, that’s her character. Some people have seen her as a strong female character but what i see is someone whose whole character revolves around her husband. And at the end she is at the mercy of zeus too! we love to see it.

The one maybe reedemable female character is Alexia. But i did not pay attention enough to her to tell you what that girl is about. If they do make a second season tho, and proceed to make her a love interest, i will get up and strangle whoever had the idea.

It bothers me that they pulled demons into greek mythology. even if its just the name. Daemons are a thing yes, but from i understood, a very different thing from corrupted men who ate the flesh of giants. Also who decided to name a demon Seraphim??????

Heron isn’t a really likeable main character to me. I cared for none of these characters. Which made me maniacally cackle when Seraphim was exposed to his backstory by Hera.

The animation is underwhelming, the expressions are awkward and the gore scenes are not good to watch in any way. i don’t mean “incredibly gory it makes you uncomfortable” i mean its boring.

ALso Zeus bleeds red blood. *points at him and laughs* you call yourself a god??? with that whimp ass red blood??

Also the set up for a second season is plain dumb. They really be making a check list “what are the default bad guys in greek mythology media?” and checked both hera n hades off huh.

This is was an incredibly badly explained opinion brought to you by me (it derailed towards the end ngl). i didnt even cover zeus character’s bullshit. theres more shit but i don’t know how to properly word it so if i find a way ill add it.

Anways, i know i said Do Not Watch It but i dont care if you do. I personally didnt enjoy it, but ive seen a lot of people praising it as a really good animation (and people thirsting over ares which i dont understand. he looks like hed call me a slur at a mcdonalds). So, watch it if you want to see it for yourself. The show is average at best and a waste of time at worst. It has a few lines that made me laugh (like “cant he keep it in his pants?” directed at the one and only Zeus) but thats it. It was also a bonding moment in a discord server where we all shit talked it so. Fun!

(side note: i watched this in a tv and i have really bad vision, and not a great hearing! so i might have missed some stuff, if you want to complain about that. dont. unless it directly conflicts  w something i said.)

[unholyplumpprincess]

Give Your Wife a Dog

A lil ficlet for @kiwi--bot  featuring our Destiny oc’s being soft together.

Summary: In which Trojan gives Lilith a puppy and thinks back on old traditions of giving your loved one a puppy could lead to so much more and how much of a simp in love with her he is.

Reblogs > Likes

Though this post is SFW, this blog is not! Minors please do not follow but this post is okay to interact with!

Fandom: Destiny 2

Relationship: Lilith Daemon (Oc)/Trojan-13 (Oc)

Warnings: SFW, no warnings to apply!

Words: 2.4k

_______________

Not wanting to be a Guardian was where they had bonded.  

When they had first met, Trojan had been freshly rebooted. He knew a few things would always be the same. He always found his way back to the Crucible, back to  Shaxx’s  side to help him officiate for rookies and keep people on their toes. He would always find a fondness in lost ghosts without their guardian to have. He would always kindly find ways to tell Zavala that he would not be participating in the Guardian duties.  

But that last time had thrown him for a loop. All the same, except  Shaxx  had grasped his shoulder firmly and guided the  exo  titan to the side. “Trojan, my friend. Always a pleasure to see you ready to fight! But...I have a better task for you for now.”  Shaxx  had spoken with kindness, his voice dropping to a softer tone, and Trojan knew it was going to be a task he would take with pride.  

Lilith.  

~Rest under the cut~

Even her name sent embers down his back. Warming him deep within his circuitry. Her Light was the brightest he’d ever witnessed, her solar energy humming throughout her glowing tattoos and eyes. The way she bared her teeth in a sneer and staked her authority around her as if she didn’t realize she was so much smaller than those around her. A pitbull in a world of mastiffs. Yet, if anyone was the dog here, it was Trojan. Nothing but a pup under her heel or under her steely gaze of golden light.  

She was an awoken warlock trained directly under the hand of Ikora. Trojan didn’t know her full story, only that Shaxx had guided him to her in a way of companionship. Lilith had been a Guardian during the wars when she was needed, but she did other things Trojan wasn’t familiar with. Gathering intel and data on all wildlife, foliage, flora, and creatures habiting all the planets they were to visit. She’s the one who wrote everything down, found weaknesses, how plants could be useful, all uploaded into the database everyone used.  

Shaxx had explained he worried for her. She kept to herself, even on her planetary visits. She was a hard fighter, but on her last visit, she’d gotten tangled up with an unidentified entity and her ghost had been the one concerned enough to bring it up that maybe she needed a second just to watch her back.  

Trojan had taken to his mission dutifully. At first it had been for Shaxx, but then he’d been with Lilith and watched her in action. Anytime he offered his assistance or so much as took one step ahead of her, Lilith would huff and snap at him and grumble her way through it. Trojan couldn’t help but like her attitude- but a lone wolf? Lone wolves in a world like theirs never made it out alive.  

And her light? He planned to bask in it for a long, long time.  

Snooks, his own ghost, always complained to him that he was wasting his time. Snooks would roll his eye dramatically, enough to make his entire body twirl with the effort, whenever Trojan would sigh longingly and merely say that he would befriend her. She just was shy!  

All the way up until he got to see her compete in the crucible himself. To where the first time he’d won against her through a hair alone, she’d pushed her white curls from her face, her eyes dangerously narrowed across the dropship and warned him he would not get so lucky next time.  

That night he had spent in bed, hugging his own pillow and rolling like a teenage girl with Snooks groaning at his lovey dovey antics.  

It took years of companionship and rivalry, of misunderstandings before Lilith had been the one to snap at him. Trojan had never seen her show so much emotion as he looked down at her. She was so small, reaching just beneath his chest and her hands moving frantically as she spoke. “What ARE we?! You claim me as friend- you speak of me as friend, a-and then?! Then you try and hold my hand?! Are you trying to embarrass me in front of my mentor? Do you take me for a fool?!”  

Each word had made her light burn brighter, to the point Trojan thought her hair would become filled with the fire within her heart. She questions him calling her a friend, calling her his closest friend. Lost in translation, as he had learned. But he will never forget her face when he dropped to his knees to be at her height, seeing golden tears slipping down her cheeks as he so gingerly took her lavender hand within his ones of metal. Murmuring so softly that he had never meant to hurt her, that he would walk off the ends of the world for her, that he had wanted her as more than just a fuck buddy. More than a companion.  

Trojan is lucky to have her in his life, he thinks now when he wakes up to see her arms encircling his waist and her face tucked into his shoulder with her hair sprawled around them. He is lucky, he thinks, to wake up in her warmth and bask in her light. Her own ghost, Kaiden, takes quite a liking to Snooks in turn, but Snooks is ever the brat and always scoffs his direction. But Trojan likes to think that even his own ghost could appreciate the light they both provided.  

But, recently, Trojan’s been wondering how he might surprise her.  

She’d always talked about her interest in war beasts. When she’d get to speaking about her work- the one topic he used to only be able to get her to talk lengths on- about how war beasts were one of the hardest to research since the Cabal completely modified their behaviors. How she’d need a pup in order to be able to study them further and see how they actually were and what wasn’t just trained behavior through a handler.  

Well. By the Light, Trojan was going to get her a damn war beast.  

And he does. Going out to the EDZ and arranging with Devrim for what it is exactly he’s looking for. Devrim gives him a look up and down, a smirk playing on his lips when he asks if he’s doing it for someone in particular. Trojan only smiles, his inner circuitry fluttering when he speaks. “Yes. Is for girlfriend, Lilith. Want to see her smile.”  

And that’s how he acquires a war beast pup. It’s maybe only as big as a bulldog, its harsh razored scales not acquired yet with only smooth red skin. Its claws haven’t even grown in, only practically huge paws on its smaller body with its sharp teeth looking too big for its mouth. It doesn’t snarl or growl, instead it gets rather excited to be picked up. Its entire body wiggling with its stubby tail.  

Hiding it is the hardest part. Especially when he wants to surprise her.  

When he goes to her quarters, using the key he had been given, he calls for her only to be called back to  to  let him know where she was. He travels her plant filled home, past the vast bookcases and framed items as he makes his way to her studying room. Lilith is sat there at her desk, an arched window overlooking the city and the Traveler. Her curly hair is pulled up into a messy bun atop her head, white curls framing her face and her armor exchanged for comfortable at home clothing. She must not have changed from this morning, going straight to work judging by her state.  

A strap of her black tanktop slides off one of her tattooed shoulders, his optics following down to the flex of her bicep when she reaches to grab a different colored pencil. One of her legs is bouncing, covered by gray sweatpants that are thin enough for him to see the dull golden pulse of her ribbon tattoos going up her legs.  

She’s always a sight, even from behind. Her solar energy fills the room with warmth as the plants in the room reach for her as if her light was enough to fuel them. Trojan thinks he might relate to them in that way as well.   

Kaiden happily hovers around her head, peeking over her shoulder and remarking about colorations. When Lilith groans, he croons back at her and presses his round body against her cheek. “Awww, are you cranky? It’s probably because you haven’t seen Trojan all day, huh?”  

“I am cranky because you are being insufferable.” Lilith huffs back, despite raising her manicured hand to gently cup around his body to press Kaiden softly to her cheek in her own way of hugging him back.  

Trojan’s insides become fluttery at the sight of her so open with herself. No leathers, no knives, no malice from her lips despite her own words. Her relaxed posture and surrounded by the plant life and books she loved so dearly. Trojan could sigh at the very sight of her. He would kill for her, he would die for her, he would throw himself at her feet if it would make her happy.  

He thinks he loves her.  

With that thought in mind, he clears his throat, rapping his knuckles on the wall and watching her pointed ears perk right up with a soft jingle to her piercings. She turns in her chair to see him, but Kaiden beats her to the punch as he happily twirls about the air and starts swirling around Trojan’s head. “Oh,  loverboy!!!!~ We have missed you SO much! Isn’t that right, Lilith? Go on, tell the big guy! Go on!”

The look Lilith gives her poor ghost is one that could kill. But, regardless, she stands to greet him and Trojan does his best not to feel disappointed when she adjusts her top to not expose so much of herself. “Hi, little one,” She speaks so softly towards him, her low voice sending his circuitry running high and the nodes on his cheeks flashing as a flustered emotion warms his heart. “Snooks sent me the message that you have something for me?”   

Curse his ghost.  

“Ah! Yes. Was meant to be surprise.” It’s said pointedly at his ghost with a glare, but Snooks just happily hums, looking about the room and not even turning to face his Guardian. However, Trojan clears his throat, stepping towards Lilith until they’re a short distance away.   

From there, he takes her hand within his own, lifting it to his mouth plate to press it fondly there. It never ceases to amaze him when she flushes violet, a huff falling from her full lips in that little embarrassed way she got. Trojan is very well aware  now  if he were to do this in public that she would flip him over her shoulder and slam him to the ground. But, can you really blame him for not exactly hating it in the slightest?  

Before she can ask, he holds out his hand to transmat the flower he had stored. One from Earth when he was visiting Devrim. A beautiful red camellia gently tucked into her messy bun after being shown to her. She’s smart, he knows this, and he knows one of the many languages she knows is flowers. Just seeing her turn violet again all the way to her now perked up ears makes his entire body warmed when all she can do is huff in a flustered manner up at him. “If you do not stop being sappy, I shall be forced to throw you to the ground again.”  

“Speak as if threat. Would like to see again, if willing.” Trojan grins back, making his stance more open for if she so wished. He knows it’s an empty threat, simply just Lilith being unused to this attention. He is unsure who harmed her to make her so skittish in this way, but he swears to both the Traveler and by his own honor, that he would make her smile and laugh openly with him.  

One day.  

“Flower is not surprise. Have other for you, little phoenix. You will like more.” Trojan clears his throat after a moment, soon guiding her to her own living room where said war beast pup was in its kennel. It makes a happy noise upon seeing Trojan, much like a trill as its entire stubby body wags.  

Lilith’s eyes light up and her hands go over her mouth in such a genuine reaction that warms his heart. “I. ..where  did you...?” Her voice is so soft as she drops to her knees to the kennel. She looks nervous as she offers her hand to the bars. The war beast pup happily sniffs at it noisily before its entire body wags again, pawing at the door as Lilith turns her head back and up to look at Trojan with such a soft facial expression.  

He thinks he loves her, he thinks again.  

“Friend helped. Lilith say pups hard to find. I find.” Trojan speaks in a proud tone, watching her head turn back to the pup who makes a soft growling noise when she unhooks the lock cautiously. It happily launches at her, pressing its face into her belly and clambering with its huge paws to get into her lap.  

Hearing her laugh so genuinely makes Trojan cover his mouth to stop from saying anything that might make her never make that sound again. Able to see her grin to show off her sharp canines and dimples, her eyes narrowing as she scratches at the softly scaled belly of the pup who wiggles in her lap happily.  

When the Earth was habited by humans alone, back in their past of past lives, there was an old saying of giving your loved one a dog.  

Trojan can’t help but wonder if a war beast pup suited as a good  substitute  as he watches Lilith come out of her shell a little to roll onto the floor and onto her back to mimic the pup and smile at it with soft croons from her lips as it wags its entire body at her.  

He knows he loves her,  he thinks one final time with a smile.  

[secret-engima]

I really like that the outcome for the Pretty Song!daemons is becoming their own creatures, bc that means Lucis will have to work out how to deal with a bunch of semi-sapient magical beings that are no longer hostile. Also, on that note, it occurs to me that bad ppl will become much more hesitant to hurt kids in rural Lucis after stories of various assholes scaring kids and getting curbstomped by a FRICKING IRON GIANT, or tackled by a swarm of angry tonberries (1/?, sorry this might be LONG

lark1537 said: (2/?) bc the daemons know Pretty Song; and know that humans hurt her, even if she never said (they see how she stiffens when she hears humans, or they're near towns, and most of them have little enough Thirst now that they don't need to eat humans and the only reason they try is bc HOW DARE YOU SCARE PRETTY SONG, but Pretty Song doesn't want that so they listen to her); and this small human isn't Pretty Song but they are small and scared like she was when they first met her before she knew them

lark1537 said: (3/?) And they will not let anyone hurt another small-human, even if they don't sing. This also leads to me thinking abt children being the first humans to befriend no-longer-Thirsty daemons, bc they're young enough not to have learned to always be scared of daemon-looking creatures, even if they seem nice (bc no parent thought a daemon would seem nice, or could come out in the light); and bc the daemons are already predisposed to like small-humans, bc of Pretty Song

lark1537 said: (4/?) And THAT led to me imagining a parent somewhere in rural Lucis having their toddler come tell them abt the "big puppy" Big Sib is playing with outside, and said parent nearly having a heart attack when they come check it out and find their 10 yr old using a basketball to play fetch with a Cerberus, who is being very careful not to knock over a tree with how hard their tail is wagging, and occasionally tries to catch it with all three heads at once. And THAT image led to me thinking abt all

lark1537 said: (5/?) The daemons that are self-aware/sapient, or at least implied to be (Melusine, that talking Naga, Iedolas-the-Foras) and the ones that seem humanlike enough that it's tough to believe they don't have enough of their humanity left to talk (Arachne, Ronin) being freed from the Thirst that clouded their thoughts and made them more animalistic and essentially being nocturnal, magical, maybe-immortal people.

lark1537 said: (6/?) How would Lucis even deal with having a new group of self aware residents that previously didn't exist? Would Thirst-healed sapient daemons be counted as citizens? Does killing them count as murder? What abt daemons who were turned recently enough that they can still remember some of what they were, like Ravus? Would some of them go back to their old families? I hope so, bc that opens up the possibility of a kid hitching a ride on a half-spider lady and telling concerned

lark1537 said: (7/?) onlookers not to worry, this is her big sister, yeah she looks scary but as long as you don't wake her up before noon and don't complain abt the cobwebs she's really nice! And she's great at knitting! And just think abt how awesome an integrated daemon-human civilization could be! Chocobo ranchers having tonberries watch their flock at night & paying them in new materials to stab, or asking them to help with cooking. Iron giants helping out friendly farmers with the heavy lifting, or being

lark1537 said: (8/?) rescue ppl from a cave in. A kid with a pet/friend bomb who lights up at night to help them not be afraid of the dark, like a sentient nightlight. Mindflayers working at vet offices to calm unruly/dangerous patients with their gas. PEOPLE RIDING MICTLANTECIHUATL. On that note, would half-daemonic creatures like the bloodhorn or mictlantecihuatl who are just daemonized enough to be dangerous be altered by the lack of Thirst? They'd probably be

lark1537 said: (9/9) similar to Ardyn or Titus, who are both calmed by music, and are something more than just human, at this point. Maybe they'd be just aware enough that they could be interacted with more easily, like the intelligence of a dog or crow, rather than a human. Sorry this got so long, I started thinking and I think my latent childhood dreams of having a talking dragon took over. I just really love the idea of nonhuman people interacting with humans peacefully, and the resulting worldbuilding.

Me:

Okay so- WOW this is a long ask XDD. This was a blast to read. You rolled with this SO MUCH FARTHER than I anticipated/had thought of my self but all of this is GLORIOUS and I’m just gonna- bask in it for a few minutes. I have no idea if this is canon for Pretty Song verse but it PROBABLY IS because it’s glorious. Okay so-

It’s definitely an ... adjustment period for people and daemons a like, with semi-sapient (or fully sapient if in some cases) new neighbors being a Thing. The kiddos are totally the first to figure these facts out and take advantage because they find three headed fire dogs of death to be cool rather than terrifying.

Daemons are totally instinctive protectors of kiddos. That’s a new thing now. They do it on behalf of Pretty Song.

From there you have researchers like Sania who are FASCINATED by the sudden change and want to know the catalyst and how smart are these new daemons and ohhhhh you like MUSIC okay (Sania ends up spending like- a month in the wilds following this one lone Ronin who gets INCREASINGLY EXASPERATED over this human’s lack of self-preservation until he’s like “screw it this is my human now”.)

Pffffft I love the mental imagery of this. Just- “I found a puppy! Can I keep it?” Said puppy wags its tail as all three heads happily drool lava on the lawn.

I ADORE THIS??? Just- not all daemons were people once, a LOT were animals, but some of the ones that were people wake up with like- patchy memories and they’ve been daemons so long they can’t remember to be distressed that they aren’t HUMAN but- but they remember families and loved ones and so they tentatively trickle back.

And oh boy picture the REVELATION that rocks the world when this starts happening. The realization that some daemons used to be PEOPLE and now they’re coming back. And I’m sure I could make that super angsty but I won’t. Instead we shall all enjoy the mental picture of a little boy who wished on a star for his missing dad to come back one day opening the door to find a Yojimbo crouched there, shyly holding a poorly wrapped present that he promised his son years ago and the kid is like “MOM DAD’S BACK!” And there is much hugging and crying and the happily wearing of his dad’s giant daemon hat.

It’s a really, really good thing that Regis is the king and Pretty Song is his best friend’s daughter, because as soon as this becomes a Thing Regis is there running damage control, passing laws on daemon protections and rights and how to go about properly dealing with them if they actually perform a crime that isn’t straight murder of every daemon in the area, how to test if these are sentient daemons or the semi-sapient kind etc, etc. He knows it will take a while for society to acclimate to the changes, but curse it all he is GOING to have the groundwork already laid out.

The rest of the world thinks Lucis is crazy at first, but then there’s Weskham, happily hiring several Master Tonberry to work as chefs under him in Altissia and it’s WORKING and more and more daemons are waking up from the Thirst even though no one knows HOW at this point so the rest of the world had better get with the program man.

I think the half-turned ones actually revert? Like- they only stay daemon if they’ve been fully converted, otherwise they slowly revert back to their original state as the Scourge loses more and more of its potency. Ardyn is technically a “full daemon” even if he kept his human shape thanks to his healing magic so he doesn’t revert, but he is fascinated when he and the rest of the daemons all seem to take a collective chill pill.

Cor totally gives Noctis a Cerberi puppy as a present btw. He just- he SO DOES. Regis is Not Best Pleased.

I love the idea of nonhuman/human integrated society too! It’s really cool. Tonberry chefs and various aids/adjustments for beings with extra limbs/odd body shapes. Ronin and Yojimbo who work with the Hunter corps, Bombs that patrol towns at night like the neighborhood watchdogs, goblins getting to work in their mines rather than just be bored in them, Naga nannies (or daemon nannies in general because all the reformed daemons in this verse are MAJORLY protective of kiddos)- it’s a fun thought!

Pretty Song has no idea just how big of a revolution she spawned with just some pretty music and a lot of courage XDD.

[moonwaif]

FFXV Halloween Week 2020: Day 7

@ffxvhalloweenweeknsfw

Monster of the day: Witches

Theme: Spells/Potions

Scenario: Halloween Party (games, pumpkin carving, etc)

Mod’s choice: Black Cats/Familiars

NSFW: Costume play 

Pairings: Gladnis

Rating: M

Tags: Sex Magic, No actual sex, Awkward Conversations, Getting Together, Paranormal Investigators AU, Enthusiastic Consent 

(Also on Ao3)

---

As an official member of the C.D.D.S. (a.k.a. Chocobro Daemon Destroyers Squad, as dubbed by Prompto), Gladio has a pretty flexible relationship with the word “normal.” However, even he has to admit that nothing about the current investigation is anywhere near the realm of normal.

First there’d been that weird purple envelope with the heavy wax seal. Inside was a letter from one Ardyn Izunia, written in flowing script and kindly soliciting their services at Zegnautus Keep—an old castle, located somewhere in the distant mountains of Niflheim. This was also weird. Sure, the C.D.D.S. may have been well-known exorcists in Lucis, but they weren’t exactly world-renowned. On top of that, Izunia claimed to be an acquaintance of Lord Regis, yet Noct didn’t know him. Gladio didn’t know him. Neither did Ignis, or any of Lord Regis’s old acquaintances. And when Prompto did a websearch, it came up empty.

That probably should have been a sign, Gladio thinks, striding through the castle halls. He glances at the giant portrait of Izunia smirking down at him, framed by cobwebs and moldering tapestries. Its eyes seem to follow Gladio as he passes, its smile shriveling in the shadows. The real Izunia had been just as disconcerting when they’d met him. But Noct had been in a slump since his father’s death. Noct had been depressed. That meant Ignis and Prompto were depressed too, and this seemed like a good chance to get away from it all. Besides, Noct was curious. He wanted to know more about this mysterious acquaintance of his father. So they stuck around, and when they were unexpectedly joined by the Nox Fleuret siblings, who Izunia had also commissioned—well, they figured the more the merrier and tried to be on guard.

 What catchy name will Prompto give this particular case, Gladio wonders? Something about hubris, maybe. Something about old gods. Before anything specific can crystallize, Gladio is already at the set of massive, iron-laid doors. They groan as he yanks them open and steps into the castle library.

 Ignis is still exactly where Gladio left him—hunched over a desk, hidden behind a stack of books. “How are they?” he asks, not even bothering to look up.

 “Stable,” Gladio answers, “at least for now. The curse on Ravus is spreading. Luna still isn’t responding. Cindy’s looking after them.”

 “And still no sign from Noctis?”

 “The planchette hasn’t moved in the last half hour.”

 “Dammit!” Ignis slams the book closed and tosses it aside. He makes a steeple with his hands, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We should never have come here.”

 Gladio draws up behind Ignis’s chair. In the dim light, he can see loose papers full of obscure runes, time-weathered pages penned in tightly-scrawled ink. If this were a normal gig, they’d have wrapped everything up by now. They’d have subdued the spirit, and if that wasn’t possible, exorcised it. The client would be shoving fistfuls of money at them and weeping tears of joy. Ignis would have food on the grill. Gladio would be setting up camp for the night. Prompto would be complaining about EMF detectors and other technical jargon while uploading the latest footage to their blog. And Noct would have been loafing around, watching all of them with a contented smile, asking when dinner would be ready.

 Gladio gives Ignis’s shoulder a squeeze. “What’s done is done—no use beating ourselves up over it. We’ve gotta keep our heads clear if we're gonna help Noct.”

 Ignis sighs heavily. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Gladio. I lost myself for a moment.”

 “Don’t sweat it. Now are you sure you haven't found anything?”

 Ignis drops his hands to leaf through a book. “Nothing about those marks on Ravus’s arm, or what could be strong enough to entrap the most powerful medium in Tenebrae.”

 “What about the portal?”

 “No definitive answers, but nothing that contradicts our initial theories, either. Noct and Prompto are most likely caught between the two realms.”

“Which means Luna’s still our best shot at reaching them. Damn.”

“About that . . .” Ignis shifts in his seat, turning to face Gladio fully. “There is one thing—an old tome, written in Solheim runes.”

Gladio perks up. “You think there’s something in there that could help us get to Noct?”

“Possibly. There is . . . a spell.” Ignis removes a book from the stack. It’s dark and fat. Any markings on the cover have been completely worn away. “A ritual, to be precise. It enables the caster to send spiritual energy to a soul trapped between Eos and the spirit realm.”

“All right! I knew we could count on you, Iggy.”

Gladio claps him on the shoulder. Ignis slumps under the weight. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”

There’s something about Ignis’s expression that Gladio can’t put his finger on, but he doesn’t have time to parse it. "Which components are we missing? Anything we can substitute?"

"We have all the necessary items. It’s just, this spell—well, it requires two people."

Gladio nods. "Cool, so we'll tag team it out."

Ignis winces. "I really wouldn't be so quick to say that if I were you."

"Why? Does it require a sacrifice?"

"Of sorts.”

Gladio raises a brow. Ignis closes his eyes. When he opens them, it’s with steely resolution.

“It's a book of sex magic, Gladio."

 ---

It takes less than five minutes to move all the furniture, less than ten to finish drawing the array around the bed. After all, Ignis isn’t the high witch of the Lucis Caelum clan for nothing. He lights the candles with a snap of his fingers while Gladio sets out the bowls of sylleblossom petals and animal fat—six in total, one for each of the Astrals. Then both of them step into the array.

Gladio removes his jacket. He suppresses a shiver as Ignis draws his thumb along his chest and abdomen, leaving behind a maroon sigil. He stays very still as Ignis unbuttons his own shirt, and when it’s his turn to copy the sigil, he tries very hard not to stare at Ignis’s pecs, or the freckles on his stomach.

Ignis clears his throat. His entire face is red, from his neck to the roots of his hair. “Next we present the offerings. If you don’t mind, I can go first.”

“Be my guest.”

Ignis reaches into the pocket of his trousers. “This pendant was given to me by Lord Regis when I was still a child, in honor of my appointment as the high witch’s apprentice. I have since kept it with me out of respect for the Lucis Caelum line as well as for good fortune. I offer it today as a token of gratitude and good will to the Astrals and to the elements, that they may grant Lord Noctis their aid.”

He sets the pendant in one of the bowls of sylleblossoms (Gladio definitely does not admire the muscles in his shoulders and back when he bends over).

Gladio reaches into their satchel of supplies to remove his own offering. “I brought cup noodles.”

Ignis stares at him.

“Um.” Gladio shifts uneasily. “These delicious noodles are for the Astrals, so that—”

“Just put it down,” Ignis snaps. “In one of the bowls.” He waits until Gladio is finished. When he speaks again, his voice is somewhat softer. “Gladio, before we go any further, are you sure about this?”

Gladio squares his shoulders. "You said it should be the two people closest to the target of the spell. Out of all those conscious and present, that's you and me."

"I know, but you shouldn’t feel obligated. There may be other ways. I could keep looking. I could—”

"Ignis. I want to do this."

Ignis exhales deeply, with a sort of resignation. "Very well."

"What about you?” Gladio asks. “Are you good? If not, me and Cindy are pretty tight. She hasn't known Noct for that long, but maybe if I talk to her, she and I could—"

"No.”

The response is forceful—loud, even. Ignis pauses to adjust his glasses.

“The principal caster should be an experienced magic user,” he continues calmly, “which is me. And if it has to be anyone, I'd rather it be the two of us."

Gladio decides not to read too much into that last statement, but he does feel a little smug.

"So," he asks, "what next?"

"Eager, are we?" Ignis remarks dryly. "Just stand there, for now. And follow my lead."

He turns to retrieve two goblets from the bedside table and hands one to Gladio. The liquid is fragrant with cloves and other herbs. Next, Ignis links their arms together, so that they're each holding the goblet before the other's lips.

"Repeat after me," Ignis says. "Ic bescence þe mīn ferþ . . ."

Gladio repeats, understanding only every other word. But he trusts Ignis, so when the goblet tilts toward his lips, he drinks until it's drained.

"Now then." Ignis's entire torso is flushed now, and Gladio is sure it has little to do with the wine. "I suppose this is the part where we go to bed."

"If that's what the spell says," Gladio concedes.

The mattress creaks as they both take a seat on the edge. Ignis perches very stiffly, arms and legs drawn close to his body.

"So." Gladio leans back on one hand, stretches his legs—pretends to be much more relaxed than he really feels. "How specific are the details of this spell?"

"Any act of intimacy will suffice," Ignis says quietly. "So long as the fertile essences are spilled by both parties."

Well then, Gladio thinks. It shouldn't hurt to look, right? He is, after all, an expert in looking at Ignis—though mostly through stolen glances, or carefully neutral gazes. Now he lets his eyes roam freely. Ignis is slender without his shirt—his shoulders broad and sinewy, his waist narrow. Myriad freckles and moles pattern his skin. Gladio wants to reach out and run his hands over every single one. Instead, his eyes snap up to Ignis's face. Ignis stares back, expression inscrutable. He leans forward, and Gladio inches toward him, arm raising instinctively as he prepares to—

"I've never done this before," Ignis blurts.

Gladio falls back. He blinks, then scratches his head with a chuckle. "Yeah, this is my first occult sex ritual, too."

"No, I mean, I've never done this with anyone, ever—being intimate."

Oh.

"Is that a problem?" Ignis presses.

"Of course not," Gladio says. "I'm just . . ."

Ignis's lips curve in a rueful smile. "Surprised? The role of the supreme high witch doesn't allow much time for romantic escapades. Unfortunately, I'm not very experienced. I hope it won't be too unenjoyable for you."

He says this with his typical flat, sarcastic affect, but there's something tender underneath. Something dark and edgy.

"I'm sure I'll enjoy it," Gladio assures him. "You're perfect, Iggy. Everything you do is perfect. But are you really okay with this? Kind of an intense first time."

"I'm okay with it. Actually, I . . ."

He pauses, gaze darting to the floor. Gladio waits with entirely feigned patience. By the time Ignis looks back up, his entire body feels like it's on fire.

"I've always wanted it to be you," Ignis says.

A raspy, trembling breath escapes Gladio's lips. With it goes the last few tattered shreds of his composure. "Iggy. Fuck, I—I'm gonna take such good care of you. I want to make you feel good, Iggy."

Ignis takes Gladio's hands and guides them to his waist. "I know," he says. "I trust you."

[gaylotusthatexists]

rises the moon - part five

Pairings: parental moxiety, eventual intrulogical, possibly others but haven’t yet decided

Summary: After running away from home, Virgil find the Forest, where he is appointed as the new Lord of Spring. 

Trigger Warnings: none that I can thing of but please let me know

Word Count: 1.5k

Taglist: @theloveliestsweetspongy​ 

A/N: hey, just a note, i've gone back and changed daemon's name to janus bc. that is better for me ye thank you hope you enjoy~​

previous || next || ao3

days fade into a watercolour blur

Virgil woke up in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed, with somewhat familiar people standing at the end. For a moment, he panicked, going to hide under the covers, before he realised what was going on.

He was in some weird forest, and had fallen asleep by a lake, and must have been moved into a bedroom somewhere. When he emerged from the covers, whoever had been standing at the end of the bed was gone. Virgil sat up, glancing around the room.

He was in a double bed, with a warm, orange quilt, and the softest pillows he'd ever felt. The room was... nice, he supposed. The wallpaper was covered in leaves, with various paintings of different people hung up. A small lamp sat on the bedside table besides him, with a cup of tea placed underneath. He picked the tea up, beginning to drink it - it was the same tea as the day before. Beautiful, perfect, Virgil immediately felt a million times calmer.

Ah. He must have been in Patton's house. That was Patton's tea, right? Unless all tea here tasted like that. Which, either way, Virgil wasn't complaining. He pushed the covers off him and got out of bed, noticing his backpack sitting the corner. He rushed over towards it, picking it up and throwing onto the bed before opening it and taking out a change of clothes. He was still wearing the clothes he had on yesterday, or two days ago maybe - he wasn't actually sure how long it had been.

His new clothes weren't that different from the last, just a slightly different shade of purple for a shirt and a clean pair of black, ripped jeans, with the same hoodie as before over the top. He sat back on the bed, grabbing a cereal bar out of his bag and beginning to eat.

There was a gentle knock on the door, causing Virgil to almost fall off the bed. Patton slowly entered, whilst Virgil turned his head to face him.

"Oh! You're awake," Patton noticed, coming to sit down next to him. He frowned. "What are you eating?"

Virgil swallowed. "This is a cereal bar."

Patton blinked. "What's that?"

"Y'know." Virgil's eyes darted to the side. "Cereal. But in a bar."

"What's cereal?"

"Do you... not have cereal here?"

Patton shook his head.

Virgil hummed. He turned back to his bag and picked up another cereal bar, handing it to Patton. "Try it."

Patton stared at it for a moment, before shoving it in his mouth. Virgil's eyes widened. He grabbed Patton's hand before he could crunch down on it.

"Uh, you're meant to take the wrapper off," Virgil said, sheepishly.

"Oh." Patton lowered his arm and Virgil loosened his grip. He watched Patton unwrap the bar and begin to chew on it, his face going through various stages of mostly disgust. "That does not taste nice."

Virgil shrugged. "I mean, it's not exactly supposed to taste nice. It's just breakfast."

"Oh!" Patton exclaimed. "We have breakfast here too. But it's a lot nicer than whatever this is."

Virgil raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Patton stood up. "C'mon, I was just about to make some." He grabbed Virgil's hand and dragged him out the room, into the kitchen.

"So, what do y'all have for breakfast?" Virgil wondered.

"Fruit, mostly," Patton replied. He turned to a bowl of berries and picked up some sort of whisk, beginning to mash them up. "Mixed in with sap."

Virgil frowned. "Sap? Like, from trees?"

"Yeah," Patton said. "Is that a problem?"

"I mean, we don't usually go around drinking sap." Virgil took another bite of his own cereal bar. "Some of it is poisonous to us, I think."

Patton glanced at him. "Nah, you'll be fine." He poured some sort of liquid into the bowl, mixed it up for a moment, then turned around and handed the bowl to Virgil. "Here, try it."

Virgil hesitated, but took the bowl. "Alright, but if I die, it's your fault." Wasn't as if he had anything to lose, anyway. Inside the bowl was a yoghurt-like substances, a light pink colour, with silver sparkles scattered around. Patton handed him a spoon and he began to eat, eyes widening.

Patton frowned. "Uh, are you-"

"If I'd known all the food and drinks here were so good I would have come years ago."

Patton grinned. "You like it?"

"Like it?" Virgil felt as though he was close to tears. "Patton, this is the best thing I have ever eaten." He handed the bowl back to Patton. "Its, uh, your breakfast though, so you should-"

"We can share," Patton offered.

Virgil's eyes lit up.

~*~

He wasn't sure how many days it had been since he arrived in the forest. Time was weird here - it was always day time, save for when the moon rose, which had only happened once so far. So it was difficult to tell exactly how long Virgil had been in the forest, but he still went to sleep every now and then, staying at Patton's house. It must have been quite a few of his normal human days, possibly weeks, but there was no way to know for sure. At this point, he had ran out of the supplies he had brought, and fully moved to a diet of whatever delicious dish Patton made. And it was nice. Things were nice.

One 'afternoon' - not really afternoon, but it had been a while since Virgil had last slept, so he'd deemed it 'afternoon' - he found himself wandering around the forest, when he saw Roman sat off to the side. He moved over towards him and sat down, looking at a watercolour painting laid out of the floor in front of Roman. It displayed a picture of a fountain, with crystal clear waters and multicoloured flowers surrounding it.

"Did you paint that?" Virgil asked.

Roman glanced up at him. "No."

Virgil backed. "Oh. Uh-"

"I'm joking," Roman said, "of course I painted it."

Virgil let out a small smile. "Uh, it's nice."

"Thanks."

Things were weird between Virgil and Roman. Thought it definitely wasn't as bad as when Virgil first arrived in the forest, it certainly wasn't the best. It seemed like Roman didn't trust him - which was fair enough, really, he'd just wandered in here out of nowhere and decided to move in with his friend. Not really a great source of trust.

But Roman was being... civil, at least. That was all Virgil could really ask for.

"So," Virgil said, "uh, how are you?"

Roman glared at him. "You don't have to talk to me, y'know."

Virgil glanced down. "I, uh..."

"You're not even meant to be here," Roman said. "Just... go home."

Virgil wanted to tell him that he couldn't go home, that going home would only end in disaster, but Roman stood up and walked away. He had left his painting supplies on the ground. Humming, Virgil picked up the paintbrush and began to paint, not really thinking about what he was drawing. It ended up being a painting of a flower, similar to the one he had created in the fountain. Huh.

Eventually, Roman returned, sitting down with a huff. "So not only are you stealing the forest, you've also stolen my painting supplies."

Virgil put the paintbrush down. "Sorry. I just-"

"It doesn't matter." Roman sighed. "Just go talk to Patton or something. He likes you, right?"

~*~

Eventually, Virgil always ended up back on the sofa with Patton, in his - in their little cottage. They'd listen to a song playing on some old record player, human music that Patton had managed to steal from the world outside. Sometimes Virgil would lay on Patton's legs, closing his eyes and falling asleep as Patton played with his hair. Sometimes Virgil would sit up and paint, after Patton went to get him his own watercolour set.

"You'll have to start your training soon," Patton said quietly.

Virgil sat up. "What?"

"Your training," Patton repeated. "To be the next Lord of Spring. You'll need to learn how to use your powers before the next moon rises..."

Virgil hummed. "How do I do that?"

"I think Janus wants to start training you soon," Patton said. "He'll be waiting for you when you're ready."

Virgil shuddered. "I... I don't know how to feel about that guy, Pat."

"He can be a little intense," Patton admitted, "but he's good. You can trust him. He trained me, and Logan and Roman, and..."

Virgil glanced down. "And Remus?" he guessed.

"Yeah, him." Patton sighed. "I think you should go soon. Maybe the next time you wake."

Virgil laid back down, collapsing into Patton's legs. "What if I screw it all up, though?"

"You won't do that."

"That's pretty much all I'm good at," Virgil argued. "If it wasn't, then I probably wouldn't be here in the first place." He sighed. "I, uh... I'm scared."

"That's alright," Patton said. "Being scared is perfectly normal."