#once i have all the chapters so i can put em in order

[ckret2]

Chapter 21 of honestly everyone's just sorta used to Bill being the shack's prisoner now (title tbd): Stan & Ford have a birthday party! Bill is not invited. He still manages to find a way to be fiendishly evil.

Also featuring: Wendy deciding what she thinks about "Goldie," the shack's mysterious secret "guest."

####

Mabel slid a piece of paper across the gas station front counter, listing a dozen scratch card serial numbers spread across three different games. "I'd like these numbers in these cards, please!"

The cashier gave the paper a dubious look, then looked at Wendy. "We're not supposed to sell the scratch cards outta order."

"Please?" Wendy asked. "Just a little exception? For us?"

"We really wanna play our lucky numbers," Mabel said. "Plus, I had a vision. In my sleep."

She and Wendy gave him their best big-eyed hopeful pouty looks.

The cashier shrank back. "Well..." He averted his gaze from the adorableness that was Mabel, and sighed. "Just this once. But I don't want to see you two in here with your nonsense again." He started unrolling one of the spools of scratch cards, inspecting the numbers. "These'll be over a hundred dollars."

Wendy winced. "Ooh. Mabel?"

Mabel offered three dollars and a quarter. "That's fine! Can we start with 177 from the beach cards?"

She received the card, depicting a pastel beachy scene next to five miniature bingo boards. She confidently scratched off the card to reveal its winning numbers, pointed at the fourth bingo board where she'd just gotten bingo, and said, "That's $200! Our payout, please."

The cashier took the card, inspected the numbers, and stared at Mabel in amazement. She grinned at him. Wordlessly, he opened his cash register, pulled out several twenties, and offered them over.

"Thank you!" Mabel accepted the money and pointed at the paper. "The rest of our cards, please?"

As they left with eleven scratch cards, Mabel handed Wendy three twenties—"Here! For helping!"—and stuck the rest of the change in her pocket.

"Dude. That was awesome. You were so cool in there, like—" Wendy put on her coolest, most unruffled expression. "'Our payout, please.'"

"That's just the kind of rock star I am." Mabel put the scratch cards in her bike's basket. "Thanks for the help, Wendy!"

"Sure, any time." Especially if she got a surprise $60 out of it. "Heading back to the shack?"

"Yeah! I've gotta finish decorating for the party!"  Mabel waved as she took off down the road. "See you then!"

"See you." She guessed that meant she wasn't invited to hang until the party started. Given the touchy situation inside the shack, no surprises there.

She wondered what Goldie had to do with Mabel's interesting trick with the scratch cards. She was sure there was something.

####

Bill leaned into the kitchen. "Hey! How's that cake coming along?"

Mabel stopped arranging dozens of candles in the frosting to point at the door. "Out, Bill! Nobody's getting cake until the party!"

Dipper said, "You don't even deserve a slice."

"Agree to disagree!" Bill said. "But if you don't give me one anyway, I'll annoy you about it for weeks."

"He can have a slice at the party," Mabel said. "The cake's big enough." A couple of overcrowded candles spilled off the edge of the cake. Mabel picked them up and carefully stuck them back in.

Bill fought back a laugh. "Are you sure about all those candles? If you light 'em all up at once, you'll burn off everyone's eyebrows," he said. "But unfortunately, you'd also melt the frosting."

"The frosting's already a mess," Mabel said, peering at the barely-visible HAPPY BIRTHDAY STAN & FORD hidden beneath the forest of candles. "But Soos doesn't have any of those number-shaped candles, so..." 

"Roman numerals," Bill said.

"Oooh." Mabel looked at the cake thoughtfully, and started pulling out candles. "How do you make 62?"

"LXII. Fifty-ten-one-one," Bill said, then shot a grin at Dipper—who was glaring at Bill for answering before he could. "Isn't that right, smart guy?"

"Yeah," Dipper grumbled.

"You kids take the credit if they ask about the candles," Bill said. "They'll just get grumpy if they know I had any influence on the decorations."

Mabel carefully tilted the bottom leg of the L just enough to keep the tip out of the frosting, and started smoothing out the rest of the candle-pockmarked surface. "Now I've got enough empty frosting to add some decorations!" Mabel said. "I don't have enough time to draw something complicated. Maybe rainbows?"

Dipper shook his head. "I don't think either of them would be into that."

"Draw gold bars," Bill said.

Mabel blew a raspberry. "That's what you'd want on a cake!"

"No, I'd want me on a cake. Stanley likes gold! Stanford should like gold more, you could help him develop a taste for it."

"No."

Dipper suggested, "Maybe you could draw gambling stuff on Stan's side of the cake? Since they couldn't have their birthday party in Vegas like he wanted." Dipper shot a sideways glance at the reason they had to stay in Gravity Falls. (Bill shrugged. It wasn't like he'd asked the Stan twins to stay in town.) "You could do poker chips or playing cards or—"

"Dice!" Mabel said. "Dipper that's perfect, they both like dice! We can put normal dice on Grunkle Stan's side and nerdy dice on Grunkle Ford's—"

"Oh, that's great! I've got my DD&MD dice bag in the attic!"

"I'll look in the board game closet!"

Dipper and Mabel took off. 

Bill waited until he was sure they were gone.

He checked out the kitchen window for witnesses, then picked up a dozen abandoned birthday candles, licked off the frosting, and hid the candles in his hoodie's hood. Too bad they hadn't left a matchbook out, but Bill knew a fun little trick with an empty aluminum can and a tube of toothpaste that would work just fine.

When the kids returned and Mabel stuffed the remaining forty-odd candles back in their box, they never noticed any were missing.

####

Mabel had put herself in charge of the guest list. Which explained why, along with Stan and Ford's actual friends, all Mabel's friends had been invited; as well as—among other people—the mayor ("he's like the Mystery Shack's best customer, Grunkle Stan!"), Shmebulock ("Jeff said Shmebulock stole the Journal 4 you started last fall, I was hoping he might gift it back"), and the Hand Witch and her boyfriend. ("Whaaat, Grunkle Ford you met her TOO?! What a coincidence! Dipper, did you know he met—oh, you did. I didn't read those pages!") It would have been a lot more awkward if not for the fact that the birthday boys were awed and humbled that so many people had attended knowing they were coming to a birthday party for Stan and Ford Pines, and none of the guests had even been bribed.

When Soos and Melody helped Mabel carry out the birthday cake, Ford laughed at the sight of it. "Did you make Roman numerals out of candles? How clever! Stanley, do you know what Roman—"

"Yeah, yeah. I watch the Football Bowl, you know," Stan said. "Honestly, I was expecting this thing to be covered in candles."

"I almost went that route," Mabel said. "But I thought I'd save that kind of firepower for the Fourth of July."

"Hah! That's my girl."

"Happy Birthday" was sung, candles were blown out, and the party lined up to get their cake. Mabel cut a slice, loaded it on a paper plate, then glanced toward the attic window. "I'll be right back! I've gotta use the bathroom. Don't open my presents until I'm back!"

She trotted into the house, taking the cake, a napkin, and a plastic spoon with her.

####

Bill met Mabel at the top of the stairs and scooped the cake out of her hands. "You're my hero, star girl." He carried it halfway back to his window seat, stopped mid-step, and asked, "You got a piece with my name on it?"

"I got the slice with the 'Birt' and took off the extra frosting!"

"Oh," Bill said. "Heh. That's—cute." And he looked so much like he was trying to pretend he wasn't genuinely touched by the gesture, that Mabel didn't have the heart to tell him she'd only thought of it halfway up the stairs.

He flopped back in his usual window seat post—where, Mabel couldn't help but notice, he had a perfect view of the party happening outside without him. She grimaced. "I'm sorry you can't come to the party," she said. "But you did torture and try to murder the birthday boys... and most of the party guests... and left half of them with lingering trauma..."

"Speaking of, how's your therapist doing?"

"Oh, good, she's good. I think she's gonna write a paper about Mabeland."

Bill fell silent, staring out the window. Mabel almost went downstairs—when he said, "You know, I was the only person who gave Stanford a gift on his thirtieth birthday."

Mabel turned back around so fast she almost tripped on the top step. It wasn't often she got a double dose of Bill lore and Grunkle lore. "You were?"

"He didn't make new friends in Oregon and he didn't keep up with his old friends from college. His parents mailed him a gift, but it got here a week late. So I taught him a couple spells to see the stars during the day and keep rain from landing on him, and told him where to be in Portland that afternoon if he wanted to pick up a free cake from a fancy bakery."

"Aww. That was... nice of you." But Mabel had to hesitate before saying it, automatically wondering what Bill's motives had been for giving the gifts and what his motive now was for sharing this. 

Bill waved a hand dismissively. "Ahh, they were parlor tricks. They're easy, flashy cantrips that impress humans but don't do any harm," he said. "Not much harm, anyway. That night he told me all about how he was the only human to see his zodiac constellation on his birthday. The genius spent all day staring at the sun so he could see the stars!" He laughed.

But it quickly petered out. "And now I'm personally banned from his birthday party. Funny, huh?"

Maybe Bill was trying to get Mabel to pity him; but she kinda thought he was just pitying himself. She patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Losing friends is tough," she said. She paused. "And that's why we should be nice to them."

Bill cracked up so loudly Mabel half expected the party outside to hear him. "Okay, Glory Unicorn! I've learned today's moral about friendship. Get outta here. See if I ever tell you anything again." But he was grinning as he shooed her off.

####

When Mabel came back cakeless, Dipper gave her a dark look, but said nothing.

"Are we opening gifts yet?" Mabel picked up a box and flung an arm around Dipper's shoulder. "You've gotta open this one first! It's from both of us to both of you!" She waved it at Stan and Ford until they took it together.

Ford pointed at the card that said, "To our Grunkles, from your gniece and gnephew!" "That isn't how you spell niece and nephew?" Stan elbowed him.

"Nope!" Mabel said. "But it's how you abbreviate great-niece and great-nephew."

"Ah, I see! Very creative."

"Nice recovery," Stan muttered. Ford elbowed him back. Together they tore off the wrapping paper and opened their box.

Inside were two more boxes, each small enough to hold in one hand—a square one labeled "Stan" and a long narrow one labeled "Ford."

Stan opened his box and pulled out a thick gold chain with a coin dangling from it. Engraved on the coin in sloppy text were the words "#1 Grunkle."

Soos held up a hand. "I did the engraving! First try."

Mabel pointed at the coin. "We made it out of pirate treasure that we have for reasons that we can't talk about! There's a skull on the back!"

They'd hung it from his favorite gold chain. He'd been missing it for a week—and he'd never even suspected the kids. How about that. Choked up, Stan said, "It's—it's great." He took off the chain he was currently wearing, chucked it into the bushes, and put on his gift. "C'mere, you two." He wrapped his arms around Dipper and Mabel.

Soos held his arms out hopefully. Stan rolled his eyes, but waved him over for a hug too.

Ford opened his box. "A pen?"

Dipper said, "It has an ergonomic grip, can take standard ink refills, writes super smoothly—I tested it out myself—makes a very satisfying click, and it's red with gold trim to match your journals."

Mabel said, "I helped pick out the design!"

"... And that's why it's also sparkly."

"I didn't do the engraving on that one," Soos said. "We had a lotta spare pirate coins but only one pen, so. They got it done at the mall."

Ford rotated the pen in his hand until he spotted the (more professional-looking) engraving on the barrel, filled in with gold. "Mine says #1 Grunkle too?"

Dipper said, "C'mon, we're not gonna choose between you two."

Stan said, "Oh, I see how it is! Trying to butter us both up, are you?" He reached under Dipper's hat to ruffle his hair. Smiling, Ford carefully slid his gift into his coat's breast pocket next to his usual pen.

####

When Bill saw that Mabel was back outside, he got up, left the rest of his cake on the window seat, scooted aside a storage box sitting forgotten in a corner of the attic, and pried a loose board from the wall.

He took his stolen candles out of his hood, wrapped them in the party napkin Mabel had given him, and stashed them in a plastic sandwich bag where he'd already stowed a crushed cider can, its edges torn and sharp.

Then he re-hid the bag, fixed the wall, replaced the storage box, gently brushed some cobwebs over the floor to hide the trail in the dust where he'd scooted the box, and turned away from his hiding spot.

To see a gnome wearing a journal like a backpack.

They stared at each other.

"You didn't see anything," said Bill.

"Shmebulock," said Shmebulock.

Bill eyed Shmebulock, the staircase, the window—and then dropped into a crouch, knees and feet spread apart like a sumo wrestler, teeth bared.

Shmebulock cracked his knuckles.

Five minutes later, Bill added Journal 4 to his hiding spot, with a mental note to find a new hiding spot the gnomes didn't know about later.

Unfortunately, Shmebulock escaped with Bill's cake.

####

Wendy squinted up at the blonde shape in the attic window. "You know—all this last week, I kept thinking I saw someone up there. I just assumed it was my imagination," she said. "Guess Goldie didn't get invited to the birthday party, huh?"

"Nope," Dipper said. "And for good reason."

Wendy laughed. "Yeah, sounds it."

Dipper glanced toward his grunkles. At the moment, Ford was opening a cheap set of watercolor paints and giving Mabel an exasperated look. ("I thought we could try them out together! And hate them together!" "All right, that might be fun.") He lowered his voice and picked at his cake. "So. You found out the big secret, huh?"

"Yup," Wendy said. She lightly punched Dipper's shoulder. "Hey—don't look so glum, man. I'm not mad you didn't tell me. There's some kind of family drama and a missing person case involved. I get it—you don't talk about that kind of stuff outside the family."

"Yeah, hah. Right," Dipper said. "So, what do you think of... Goldie?"

Wendy glanced up at the figure in the window. "We didn't talk a whole bunch before Goldie and Stan started arguing about plagiarism," she said, "but I got that she's some kind of wildcard paranormal investigator who gives off insane grifter energy. And seems really mentally messed up from being trapped in another dimension, but like, the kind of messed up that probably makes you fun at parties?" She was already mentally playing Goldie off of her friend group, trying to figure out how well she'd mesh with them. She seemed like the kind of person who'd be into some harmless trespassing and recreational vandalism. "How old is Goldie? She was working on a Ph.D., so that's what, mid-20s? Mid-20s but actually mid-50s after not aging for thirty years? Honestly, if I just met her on the street I would've thought she was like, 15. She does not look her age." Maybe it was the lack of makeup?

Under his breath, Dipper muttered, "You have no idea." He glanced away from Wendy, stuffed a large forkful of cake in his mouth, and mumbled to himself, "How much should I say? Sharing too much could be dangerous, but if I don't say anything..." Mumble, mumble.

Wendy would never tell Dipper how funny it was that he monologued to himself and hoped nobody would notice. Usually she'd politely ignore him, but if there was something dangerous... She lightly elbowed him. "Dipper. Come on," she said. "I can tell something's eating you. You can trust me."

"Ugh, I know, but..." Dipper glanced again at the rest of the birthday party—just far enough to be out of earshot, currently entranced by some thingamajig Fiddleford had gifted the Stans—and let out a heavy sigh. Voice low, he said, "Okay, Wendy, listen. For your own safety, you need to know that Goldie is way worse than whatever you heard about him last night. And I can't tell you why, because of reasons I also can't tell you—believe me, I wish I could tell you, but—don't trust him, okay?" Dipper gave her an earnest, pleading look. "Just don't. He's dangerous. That's all I can say."

It figured that even after Wendy learned the big secret, she'd just find another, smaller secret hidden underneath. Like a matryoshka doll. (She quietly made note of the "he" and wondered if Goldie had been part of the queer scene in the 80s, or if he'd only figured himself out while he was in ghost land.) "I'm assuming he's dangerous for Weird Spooky Paranormal reasons?"

"Yeah," Dipper said, teeth grit. "Yeah, basically."

He wanted to tell her more, she wanted to know more, and she was ready to play 20 questions on Goldie's backstory. Picking through what she'd learned last night for clues, Wendy asked, "Is it connected to Ford's research? All the weird magic stuff he got into?"

"Um." Dipper shrugged uncertainly. "Y...yeah? But... bigger than that?"

"Is it portal stuff." What was the most dangerous thing she knew of that was connected to the portal. "Is it Bill stuff."

Dipper let out an anguished groan, pulled off his hat, and buried his face in it. "I can't tell you more than I already have!"

"Oh my god it's Bill stuff."

Dipper eloquently said, "MRRGHF."

"Okay got it, so Goldie was some kind of Bill groupie or discovered how to summon him or something. Something like that. I don't need to know the details! But he's totally Bill-adjacent."

"Yeah. Yeah. Yep." Dipper nodded emphatically. "Bill-adjacent is... the best way to describe Goldie."

"But Bill's gone, right? So Goldie's like a cultist without a cult leader. Doesn't that mean he's harmless now?" Wendy asked. "Or do you think he's gonna try to cause the apocalypse in honor of his boss or whatever."

Dipper tugged his hat back on his head and straightened it out. "I'm sure he'd try to end the world again if he could, but... we're all still trying to figure out what he can do."

"So, domestic terrorism risk. Cool," Wendy said. "Y'know, I sorta expected to run into a guy like that in the shack eventually, but I always thought they'd be here because of Stan, not Ford." She rolled her eyes. "I'll warn you if he starts talking about ending the world or anything."

"Thanks, Wendy." Dipper glanced uneasily toward the birthday party. (They were still distracted, currently trying to douse the flamethrower on Fiddleford's birthday gift. It was trying to eliminate the competitor gifts.) "Just... don't tell anybody else, okay? If the town finds out that Goldie is—you know—Bill-adjacent..."

"Relax." She pantomimed zipping her mouth. "I'm not gonna organize an angry mob."

She glanced up at the attic window. Goldie was still up there, staring down at the party. He noticed Wendy staring and made a face at her.

She made the same face back, and saw him silently laughing. Okay, he had bad taste in friends, obviously; but Goldie seemed kinda cool in an unhinged way. From what Wendy had gathered, Bill had conned and then betrayed half the people she knew—and if the Pines had only just managed to get Goldie back on this plane of reality, months after Weirdmageddon, that meant Bill hadn't bothered to rescue him when he could, so Goldie was just another victim. Maybe he just needed to be reintegrated into society.

Dipper said, "Hey, Stan just poured punch on the robot and it made the fire worse. Do you think we should help?"

Wendy looked at the fire—and looked up at the fire. She was moving before she spoke. "Yeah, let's do something about that."

They rejoined the rest of the party, and Wendy put Goldie out of her mind.

####

Ford stared at the ring on his left sixth finger.

Welcome back, the Hand Witch had said.

Thirty years ago, he'd met her at a carnival. She'd told him that he'd chosen the wrong allies and would doom himself for it. She'd given him a ring with a blue cabochon and told him that if it ever turned black, there was no hope for him.

He'd dismissed her as a phony palm reader; and, the night he'd decided Bill was right about Fiddleford not being bold enough to follow through with the portal project, the ring had turned black, and he'd thrown it in the lake.

Now here it was on his finger again.

He didn't think her a phony now. Everything she'd told him had been true. And anyway, it was hard to doubt she had real magic when she spent half the party trying to stop two small disembodied hands from escaping her pockets to visit Mabel. 

"Why are you giving this back to me?"

"It's your birthday! And I thought it might be useful."

"For what? Am I in danger?"

"I don't know, I'd have to give you another reading to see." She had pulled a cartomancy deck from her pocket. "Do you want me to?" The card on the bottom of the deck had been a triangle with a snake slithering through its eye socket.

Ford hadn't wanted a reading. He knew now that what he'd called superstition back at that carnival might be a legitimate form of prophecy he simply didn't understand; but he was tired of living his life by signs and portends.

All the same, it was comforting to see that his ring was blue.

Ford's view of the ring was blocked by Stan shoving over the "Get Out Of One Misdemeanor Free" coupon Mayor Cutebiker had given as his birthday gift. "Hey, do you think I'd get in trouble if I made a buncha copies of this?"

Ford took the coupon and inspected it thoughtfully. "If you do get in trouble... a coupon counterfeiting charge couldn't possibly be worse than a misdemeanor, could it?"

"That's what I like to hear!"

It had been a surprisingly long day—and, by far, the best birthday either of them had had in well over forty years. (Was it really that long?) Now they were retired to the parlor Soos and Abuelita had converted into a double guest room, sitting on their beds facing each other as they got ready for sleep.

There was a knock at the door. Ford stood. "Coming—" He opened the door to see Bill's grinning face, a foot from his own. "Oh. You." Ford resisted the urge to step back, in case Bill interpreted as an invitation to come in.

"Hiya, birthday boy!" Bill's gaze immediately drifted down to Ford's coat pocket. "Hey—new pen? I like the sparkle, adds a little pizazz."

"What do you want, Cipher."

"Just to hand this over." Bill pressed a couple of envelopes into Ford's chest, and kept them pinned there with a fingertip until Ford reluctantly took them. "I knew you'd hate getting something from me at your party, so just for you I waited until all the festivities were over. You're welcome."

Ford studied the envelopes. They were two pieces of yellow construction paper that had been folded into envelope shape, and written on each one, in lurching crayon text that drifted up and down, was "Stanford" and "Stanley". "You made cards?"

"You're flattered."

"I most certainly am not."

"'The lady doth protest too much, methinks.'" Bill shrugged. "Hey, they're your birthday gifts. Toss them in the fire if that makes you happiest. You just might wanna open them first—you know, to make sure I didn't write a fire-activated explosion spell on the inside."

Stan grabbed his envelope out of Ford's hand and eyed it in deep suspicion. "And why did you make these?"

"Because it's your birthday. Come on! Why am I explaining this, it's your species's ritual."

"I mean why are you doing it? We all hate each other. We're planning your execution, here," Stan said. "So what's your angle?"

"What do you need my measurements for, you pervert."

"ALL right—" Stan stepped toward Bill, cracking his knuckles, and was only stopped by Ford's hand across his chest.

Bill leaned back against the hallway's opposite wall. "Whoa! Consider this a peace offering! You know—'no hard feelings for all the murder, attempted or planned'! I can be a polite house guest, even if I'm not a voluntary one." Bill smiled wryly, "I'm trapped on an alien planet where I know less than a dozen people and all of them hate me. It gets boring." He looked directly in Ford's eyes. "And we've got history. Is it so hard to believe I might want to be friends again?"

This time, Stan had to put a hand across Ford's chest.

Ford said, "You're up to something."

"Is that a statement or a question?"

"Statement."

"Then you don't want an answer. Enjoy your gifts! Or don't, I'm not your boss." Bill waved, and slunk around the corner back toward the living room.

Ford shut the door. He sat on his bed, examined the envelope, and glanced at Stan, who was sitting on his bed doing the same thing.

They grimaced at each other.

"Okay," Stan said. "Is this more dangerous if we do open it or don't open it?" He hefted his envelope in his hand. "This thing's pretty heavy for just a card."

"Is it?" Ford's wasn't very heavy. He turned on a lamp on a bedside table and held the envelope up in front of it, trying to see through the construction paper. "I think he's counting on us to open these. I doubt he set a trap that will activate if we leave it closed—it's not his style."

"So, what do we think. Some kinda hypnotic mind-control magic that's activated by reading it? Or is he just trying to bribe us into liking him better?"

"He probably doesn't have hypnotic mind-control magic. If he did, why would he have spent so long trying to manipulate humans into doing his bidding?"

"I dunno, maybe he's stupid."

Testily, Ford said, "He's not stupid."

"No—listen, I've been thinking about this for months," Stan said. "You spent thirty years hopping between a zillion different dimension, right? If there's already safe portals out there, why'd he spend so long tricking someone into building a crummy one that'd destroy the universe, instead of using one of those? He's gotta be stupid!"

"I've... wondered the same thing about the portal," Ford admitted grudgingly. "But, no—I've seen him use so many roundabout tricks to manipulate minds that if he were capable of overt mind control, I'm sure he'd have used it by now."

"Fine, so mind control's off the table. But we're probably safer if we leave these alone. If we open them, they might be an annoying attempt to kiss up to us, or they might be dangerous." Stan waved his envelope like a fan. "And, we're gonna open them anyway, because not knowing will kill us, right?"

In his youth, Ford had arrogantly looked down on Pandora. "Of course we're going to open them."

They opened their envelopes.

They both contained a sheet of type paper folded in half with nothing on the front and messages written inside. Ford's read, "Stanford– I'd tell you to go to hell, but you'd barely be there long enough for it to be worth the trip. Happy birthday! –Δέος" Charming. Particularly out of the heel who'd just claimed he wanted to be friends.

"Hey, what is this?" Stan held his letter out for Ford to see: "Stanley– You were only the accomplice. I won't hold a grudge. Happy birthday! –Δέος" Stan pointed at the last word, "Is this some kind of curse?"

"A signature. Bill's real name isn't 'Bill Cipher'—it's just one of many nicknames he uses when communicating with humans. And, when writing to people who know him well, he prefers to sign with that nickname. It's pronounced déos." It meant awe—whether manifested in the form of fear or reverence. And it probably was no coincidence that Bill had picked a word that, to the untrained ear, sounded so much like the Latin deus—god.

Once, long ago, waking up to find his own hand had written a letter signed by "Awe" in a foreign alphabet had filled Ford with awe. Now... well, now it looked a little try-hard, didn't it. "Between you and me, I think Bill likes that signature best because it starts with a triangle." In Bill's handwriting, the delta looked unusually equilateral.

"Really fond of his own face, isn't he," Stan said, digging in the envelope for the rest of his "gift"—and he pulled out a handful of scratch cards. "What the...?"

How the heck had Bill gotten his hands on those? Ford checked to see if his envelope had the same—and came out with five pieces of notebook paper instead, still tattered on the edge from being torn out of a spiral notebook, covered front and back with writing—multiple languages, some inhuman, with a smattering of complex sigils and symbols. The first line on the first page read "Spell to Resurrect Fowl (chicken, turkey, duck, etc.—funny at dinner parties!)" Ford slapped the pages face down on his nightstand without reading the next line.

"What is it?" Stan asked.

"Magic," Ford said, voice flat with irritation.

"A trap—?"

"No. Magic for me. Spells I don't know. The kind of knowledge I'd—document in my journals."

Stan processed that. He tossed his scratch cards down on his own nightstand. "Lemme get this straight," he said. "Less than two weeks since he tried to kill us, with no access to the outside world and no resources at his disposal but his stupid wits—without even getting his hands on a freaking envelope—he somehow managed to get us both thoughtful, considerate gifts that are deeply relevant to our personal interests and passions! Is that about right?"

"It seems to be, yes."

"That jerk! I oughta wring his neck!"

Ford nodded in agreement. "I didn't know you're into scratch cards." He tamped down the urge to lecture Stan on the statistical improbability of making a profit.

"See, if even you didn't know, now I'm even madder that he does!" Stan groaned in frustration. "I kicked the habit. Still like playing 'em if I get them as a gift."

"Hmm." That was all right, then. Couldn't lose money on scratch cards if somebody else had spent the money.

They glared together at their thoughtful, relevant, deeply unwanted gifts, trying to decide what to do about them. Stan was the first to let out a resigned sigh and snatch his up. "What the heck. They're already paid for, I'm not gonna throw away potential free money just because it came from him." He fished around in his discarded pants pockets for a quarter. "But I'm not gonna enjoy myself!" He flipped through the cards, noting they were each labeled in a corner from 1/11 to 11/11, and muttered, "Why'd he draw triangles on some of the numbers?"

Well, if Stan had caved into his curiosity... Back into the box, Pandora, and perhaps we'll find hope at the bottom.

"Mabel must've helped him get these," Stan said. "It's the only way. And these cards have glitter and unicorns all over them." He scratched off his first card, and said, "Hey, three bunny faces—how 'bout that? I made thirty bucks already."

"At least it's not a total waste," Ford muttered, skimming the pages before him.

It was a treasure trove.

A spell to uncook food. The cipher to decrypt the Voynich manuscript. A potion to change eye color. A river stone submerged not five miles away that, when dry, hovered. A ritual involving five hours of meditation and a lot of mushrooms that opened up psychic communication with Earth's nearest alien neighbors. An illusion to make the floor look like lava. ("Good for games if you're very bored and oppressed by gravity.") The names of five hitherto-unknown demon nobles, the sigils to summon and bind them, the fields of knowledge and political influence in which they were most helpful, and a few personal tips on how to best to twist their arms into doing a favor. A complicated way to grind glasses that let one see, depending on prescription strength, anywhere from several seconds to several minutes into the future. And on and on.

And Bill didn't just toss down a few mystical-sounding words and move on: in a few terse sentences after each spell, he hinted at the principles that made them work (freely mixing magic, physics, and metaphysics), the people who'd created or discovered the trick (whether human, inhuman, unearthly, or transdimensional), where Ford could go digging to independently verify the information if he didn't want to take Bill's word for it—and what other, greater things someone might use these tricks to do, if only they fully understood how they worked, if only they had the right teacher. Bill had filled the margins, scribbled extra info in red pen in between the rows of black to double the amount of text he could cram on each line. Ford could fill an entire journal just by copying, disentangling, and expanding on everything Bill had packed into this dense five-page grimoire.

Bill had given Ford more in this letter than he had in all the years he'd been posing as Ford's friend—excluding those accursed portal blueprints. He'd shared the kinds of things Ford had always dreamed his Muse might show him. He gave it away like a free sample to entice a new customer. Five pages of deep secrets meant nothing to Bill and his infinite knowledge. He could have done this all along. He only did it now to try to bribe Ford into sparing his life: see what you could miss out on?

As Ford read the pages, his hands trembled in rage.

"—two hundred dollars, two hundred fifty dollars," Stan muttered. "Those are the biggest yet." He waved the scratch cards at Ford. "I don't understand it! That's eight winners in a row! I've made almost a thousand bucks just by scratching these off—that's not luck! How's he do it? What kinda weird alien magic gives you scratch card telepathy?"

"I don't know. I had no idea he could identify winning scratch cards," Ford said. "But I'm not surprised."

Stan shook his head in amazement, and scratched the next card.

Ford crushed the notepaper pages into a ball.

And he smoothed them back out. Bill was a monster, but this knowledge was precious. 

He looked at the Hand Witch's ring like it might tell him the correct course; but no matter which way his thoughts swayed, the gem remained a steady blue.

"This card's a thousand bucks all by itself," Stan said. "I've never won a thousand in my life. There's no way..." He scratched furiously at the last card, revealing symbols patterned after an array of gems and jewelry. "Five hundred!" Scratch scratch scratch— "Times five?! That's—!" He seized up all his cards and quickly tallied his winnings. "That's a total of nearly five thousand dollars!" He let out a disbelieving laugh. "Who needs Vegas? This monster's been better to me than she ever has!"

"Stanley, that's exactly what he wants you to think," Ford snapped. "He's giving us everything we want so we'll be more reluctant to kill him. This is less than chump change to him! Don't forget that his goal—"

"I know! I'm not stupid, I know what he's doing. Lotto numbers aren't worth the safety of the universe. But sh—shoot, Stanford, he handed me five grand for free and I'm keeping it."

"Fine," Ford said. "Fine. I suppose there's no point in throwing it away on principle."

"Darn straight!"

Ford glowered down at his underhanded "gift"—this little glimpse behind the veil into the mysteries of the universe. His whole chest bubbled and burned with rage; but beneath it—twinkling like a lonely star, twinkling like hope at the bottom of Pandora's box—was something he hadn't felt since Bill betrayed him.

Awe.

It was like waking up to a letter from his Muse.

This was who Bill could be—gift-giver, wish-granter, teacher, guide, friend—and he chose not to be. Why?! When this was so easy for him—why did he have to be what he was instead?

This charitable act only made the true Bill look even worse by contrast.

Ford re-smoothed the pages, carefully folded them in half, and stored them back in their construction paper envelope. He'd leave them there until he'd independently researched every one of these spells and ensured they did what Bill said they did and that there weren't any hidden side-effects.

And then he'd see about adding this information to his current journal.

No point throwing it away on principle.

####

(Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, I'd deeply appreciate hearing your thoughts! Thanks!)

[altrodent]

Cycle

Part I: Vessels Vixen

Pairing: (Poly!) Sleep Token x (F!)Reader

Genre/Warnings: This chapter is mainly Vessel x Reader for lore build up!! Fluff, a made up character for plot is womanizing, flirtatious Vessel, decent amount of cursing

Summary: After kicking out a bunch of jerks at your work place, you become the savior of a certain masked man

(A/N): I’ve tried rewriting a story involving Sleep Token at least a dozen times now, and this is my last attempt for the first part and probably the best, so I hope you enjoy! 🥲🩷

It’s very common to find me working for extremely long hours as well as doing all the chores while blasting my ears off with an old pair of headphones. I do work in a record shop anyways, so what else would I be doing? Once I moved out and on my own I’ve had nothing to do, so I help this elderly couple maintain their shop so they can enjoy their- what should be- retirement.

The town we live in is decently small, but still big enough to include fascists and douche bags of every variety. More specifically, a group of men called the ‘Southwind Snakes’ by the men and just plain ‘perverts’ by the women- me included. Almost every day they end up either trying to wreck the shop, wrecking the shop, or trying to fight with other customers- which those fights usually end up leading to the shops wreckage. Today wasn’t any different.

As the climate got colder, the rain got heavier, and when the weather is shitty, so is the amount of patrons. The elderly couple were packing their bags, ready to go home before asking me“Are you sure you don’t want to just close up early, sweetie? The storm’s looking pretty bad.” Shaking my head, I respond “It’s alright, I’ll hold down the fort. Have a good day you guys.” I wave them off as they head out into the curtains of rain, just as they’re about to pull out I hear one of the worst sounds in the world; the ‘Southwind Snakes’ shit mobile. It’s the ugliest pick up truck I’ve ever seen, and of course it’s sitting front and center in the swamping parking lot. Josh and his goons enter the store and make a beeline straight for my counter. I groan, putting my headphones aside “How can I help you?” He puts one of his greasy hands on the counter “You can help me in more than one ways, doll” he smirks cockily, moving his one hand out to the side so one of his accomplices can five him. “If it doesn’t include helping you find something, or jamming a stick up your ass, then I can’t help you.” I blink blankly at him, his face turning into one of offense “Whatever, prude. Do you have the CD’s we ordered?” I roll my eyes, walking to the back wall, and bending over to grab a box from the lower shelf. All I hear is inappropriate giggles from the childish men, I frustratingly clench my teeth before walking back and handing him the box of CD’s. “Here you go. Need anything else?” He takes the box, “I could always use your number, if you’ll give it to me this time” he winks sloppily “Yeah, no. If you don’t need anything else from the store then have a good day.” He huffs loudly, exiting as his goons follow.

As I was returning to my work, I hear him yelling outside, “Jesus Christ, what now…” I run to the window, to see him berating a person who must’ve run into him. I usually don’t want to get involved in that douche’s antics, but when he starts hurting people verbally or physically I’m usually keen to stepping in. I walk outside in the frigid rain, by the time I get outside, Josh has already turned it from a verbal altercation into a physical one. “Get the hell out of here Josh, leave ‘em alone!” He seethes at me before hopping in his fuck truck. “Hate that fucking guy… are you okay?” I turn to the person, and offer them a hand. Through the thick sheets of rain I see the person look up at me, wearing what appears to be some sort of white facial covering. Looking down I see their hand, painted in some sort of black material snail into mine, obviously shaken by the situation. I help them up, “come on inside, I’ll get you warmed up.” They nod as I lead them into the store, the sudden warmth enveloping our now freezing and soaked skin. I wipe the rain off my face, “I’m sorry you got caught by Josh, he’s so damn rude all the time.” The person takes the cloak like garment off their shoulders, revealing a set of well toned shoulders. “You shouldn’t apologize for something that isn’t your fault, I should actually be thanking you.” He turns to me, I advert my eyes as best as I can, but it’s not helping that there’s now a shirtless man in my store, dripping with the aftermath of the storm. I get a decent look at his intricately beautiful yet grotesque mask, and catch myself before I end up staring for too long “I- uh I think we have some extra towels in the back, stay right here, I’ll be back!” He nods, giving me a comfortable smile, I quickly turn on my heel and head to the back.

Is there really towels in the back? Probably not, but I needed to get out of there before my face explodes from all the heat. But, lo and behold, the owners do keep some decently clean towels in the supply closet, so I grab one for each of us. I take one more heavy breath before heading back into the stores floor. Almost immediately as I enter, he asks “Is this you?” My brows hitch before I hand him a towel, “what do you mean?” His splotchy arm points toward a picture of me and the owners a few years back hosting a huge metal concert. It was like our states Coachella, or Sick New World. “Yeah that’s me, in all my… goth glory.” I giggle softly, I had done mine and the couples makeup in a goth style. “They love matching with me, and they always thought my makeup was ‘pretty’” I smile softly, his eyes gently weaving into my distracted appearance “I think you look ethereal” Blinking obliviously at how naturally he complimented me, “I’m sorry, what-?” He turns to me, still entirely topless “I’m sorry, that was inappropriate of me to l say wasn’t i-“ “No! No-“ i interrupt, flustered “Sorry- no, you’re fine! I’m just honestly not used to compliments…” he tilts his head “‘Not used to compliments’? Do you not get complimented often?” With hands on my hips, my cheeks puff slightly as I exhale “In this town? Not really.” He take a step forward “Well, maybe that’ll change…” his black painted mouth smirks cheekily, one of my brows raise in confusion “Me and my friends just moved into town, if they like you as much as I do, they’ll be all over you.”

I blink rapidly, obviously confused, my face heating with blush still trying to figure out what he means by ‘like me as much as he does’ and ‘all over me’. I stand still, overcome with confusion, he laughs brightly, stepping ever so closer “You’re very cute, I don’t know how people here don’t tell you more…” our faces become extremely close, all my senses disappear, the only thing being processed is the extreme volume of my hearts rapid beating. He leans in slowly- oh my god, it’s really happening. I only met him today, but I mean hey- *Honkk* we both snap out of our trance. He laughs softly “That must be them.” I back away, embarrassed “I’ll see you again, right?” I nod warmly “Good” he quickly kisses my cheek, my hands go numb at the surge of romantic energy coursing through my system. He pulls back smiling, some of the paint on his lips now transferred to my cheek, making him chuckle. He turns to leave, putting his cloak on when I speak, “(Y/N)…” his head turns slightly “I know you didn’t ask, but that’s my name…” I smile awkwardly, what if he didn’t know your name- “Beautiful…” he whispers under his breath “I’m Vessel.” He walks out to the parking lot, leaving me alone. I think I’m in love.

[lordgrimoire]

The Goonion would Like a Word, Chapter 3

[Goonion Headquarters, Gotham, New Jersey]

“ORDER! ORDER I SAY!” The warehouse, once a hideout for a minor gang operating out of The Narrows, fell into a hush as the hundreds of gangsters shuffled back into their seats or places of observation, keeping their hands occupied with papers, phones, tablets, as long as they were out in the open and away from their weapons, that was good. “Alright.” The haggard voice of Bill, the local head of The Goonion, echoed across the room. 

“The Ghost Investigation Ward, or the Guys in White as some call them, have been confirmed by the Red Hood Gang to be encroaching upon Gotham, Bludhaven, and Metropolis.” The crowd murmured at that, distress and frustration in their stances. “Yeah yeah, I know, It’s a crappy situations, specially since they want to do some unethical experimentation on the whole lot of us, Crane may actually be better than that now a days but the Joker is at The GIW’s level of things, on a good day, at worse they may be WORSE than the Joker’s “Experiments”. So keep your eyes peeled and if you see em grabbing any of ours, that includes your local Vigilantes, then make a call and get involved, the Bats may steal our bones and make our work difficult but at least they have rules. unlike these petty punks. QUESTIONS! DO YOU HAVE ‘EM?” 

The room became a shouting match for a moment before settling into several people bullying their way into the center of the warehouse, at the base of the pile of crates that Bill was using for his podium. After some muttering a short man stepped up onto one of the lower crates. “We recognize the leader of the Goonion members serving under The Red Hood, go ahead Mister Kincaid.” Kincaid nodded.

“What are the rules of engagement? Or are we suspending those since these White Suited Bastards seem to look at the Geneva Conventions and the Laws of the Alley as more of a checklist than a warning?” Bill looked around before straightening.

“I’ve spoken with the Reps from as far East as Boston to as far West as Anchorage, until the Anti-Ecto Acts and GIW are suspended and disbanded the rules of Engagement will be To The Hilt, expect No Mercy, if they catch you, they will torture you, so give back as good as you can, unless you have your bosses or your local Cape nearby. Make Noise in that case, try to get the Bat’s attention, he likes them less than we do.” The room rippled with laughter as Kincaid surrendered his stand to a well dressed woman in a three piece suit and top hat, one of Penguins Goons. “We recognize the Icebergs head of security Miss Eliza Smith.”

“What do we do with anything we take from them? Their, Ecto-Blasters? They use Bazooka’s for Pete's sake!” Bill scratched his jaw as he looked around at the amassed Goons.

“Alright, we can keep those guns stashed away, until we know what they do you keep them as secured as possible, Remember we DO have a warehouse for such things.” The crowd murmured, if the GIW was packing THIS much heat then some plans had to be made. As Miss Smith stepped back down back into the swarm of other Penguin Goons another man stepped forward, wearing a bomber jacket with a question mark stitched on the breast pocket. “We Recognize Jonathan O’Brien of The Riddler’s crew.”

“Why are the GIW here? I read the brief but I’m not all that sure what “Ectoplasm” is.” Agreements were uttered by others in the crowd as Bill reached into the backpack by his feet and drawing out a sheaf of papers.

“Gotham,” He began, “Is on a thin patch of reality, the other side? The Afterlife? That’s on the other side, the only other thin patch in the US is a place called Amity Park and that place has been under siege for YEARS by the GIW, but there's the possibility of a portal opening here in Gotham, so the GIW is planning to put us to the same type of siege, few in, few out. Ectoplasm is the equivalent to matter, to molecules and the like, in the realms of the dead, it’s radioactive to a degree, with people exposed to it for long amounts of time becoming “Liminals”, living beings who gain some abilities, usually becoming more durable and observant, blending more with their environment, hell I think the bats and birds are liminal to some degree, and some of our bosses, some of US, and some of our common civvie friends who live in Gotham are Liminals, Jason Todd-Wayne, the primary rep for The Red Hood Gang, was dead for a while, and came back somehow, current assumption is that he’s a Liminal of a higher order of magnitude. If you have friends or family members who have experienced something similar, please show them the documents regarding Liminals that were with the brief, that answer your question O’Brien?” O’Brien nodded and stepped down, no one else stepped forward. “Alright then, all leaders stick around for information packets, everyone else, go home, keep an eye on things, and try not to walk on any graves. I call this meeting of the Goonion to a close.” With that Bill slammed his foot on the crate and the crowd began flowing out of the Warehouse, mostly in small groups and pairs, but no one left alone.

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In a small town called Spittoon in Arkansas a small family of four waited, watching from a tree line as darkness filled the sky, drowning the last of the sunlight as instead the sky filled with specks of light, the stars coming into visibility as The Sun’s rays dimmed.

“Your sure you have everything?” Jazz looked over at her Aunt, still hovering near, still armed with a rifle that could probably take someone’s head off.

“Yep, just waiting on Extract.” Her Aunt nodded, patting her shoulder before ruffling Ellie’s hair and walking over to Danny. He had taken their parents alleged deaths the hardest, after they had begun accepting his Ghostly half and trying to understand more. Unfortunately when they presented their “New Research” to the GIW, they were deemed compromised. Once they had found that out they had enacted contingencies, locking the portal from the Living side, ensuring the only blueprints were with their children for ANY of their designs, and then taking the GIW on a goose chase as far in the opposite direction of where Jazz, Danny, and Ellie had fled as possible.

They made it to Olympia in Washington State, where the Ops Center had finally been forced to ground. Danny hadn’t felt anything but the reports that the “Mad Doctors Fenton” had been killed in a standoff had dealt a blow to him. 

“Danny?” The boy looked up at his Aunt Alicia, “You’ll make it through, Maddie has always been built of sturdy stuff, and Jack is just the same.” The boy nodded, seemingly dragged from whatever thoughts were clouding his mind. The wind picked up an hour later as the four of them sat in the grass, no one had pulled out flashlights but the descending aircraft turned a single floodlight on, bathing the clearing in light before the hatch opened, and out stepped Red Hood. 

Alicia turns her attention to her younger Nephew and Niece, allowing Jazz and Hood [one Jason Todd, apparently] and checked them over one last time before hearing a cleared throat behind her. When she looked over she saw the giant of a man who had taken an interest in her niece and suffice to say, he was not as tall as Jazz had made him sound. “He’s shorter than I thought he’d be.” Danny and Ellie cackled behind her as they began lugging their bags over to Jazz, Hood’s helmet not giving away his expression as he slumped slightly.

“Really?” Alicia smiled and patted his shoulder. 

“Your not the biggest person I’ve met, these pipsqueaks will take after their Father more than likely, a little collection of giants if you will.” She could hear the poor bastard rolling his eyes. “Anyways, everything set up for them?” She crossed her arms, watching as Red Hood straightened out more. 

“Yes, Jazz’s college credits have been transferred, their identities have been hidden and new ones have been confirmed, by the way I still want to know who made those, their good. And I think I’ve found a school for Danny and Ellie.” The Groans that sounded from the two youngest was like music to her ears, she nodded in approval. “I also told some of my extended family about, well, all the stuff going on, so they’ll have people looking out for them who are in the good end of the law.” Alicia raised a brow.

“Like the Bat?” Hood seemed to still and turn slightly. “It’s not hard to figure out if you have some of the pieces, Jazz didn’t even tell me, you were the Second Robin I take it?” Hood stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Alright, good to have that theory confirmed, we’re all a little too curious for our own good, us Walkers always have been, you take care of them, got it?” Hood nodded again, seeming far more sure of himself now, good, she’d hate to spook him too badly. “Good, now,” She unslung her rifle, unloaded the old bolt action, and handed it handle first to Hood, “A little something, that thing’s been in my family for years, This was my Grand Uncle’s first, then my Pop’s, then mine when Maddie didn’t want to have a “Live Firearm” in the house, I know the GIW will come snooping, but I’ve got my own plans for them, if they work out, expect me or a letter within six months.” She turned to her Nieces and Nephews who had come up behind Red Hood. “Be good, be safe, and don’t let them take you quietly, I love you all.” She stepped past Hood, embraced each of her Sister’s children one last time and stepped back, nodding to them before retreating to the edge of the clearing. When she turned around to watch as her the floodlight shut off and the plane rose into the sky, she knew she’d see them again, it may just take longer. She stayed in that clearing for a time after they were well out of eyesight, a fistful of rifle rounds in her pocket, a bowie knife in her boot, and plans, ever churning, in her mind. Alicia Walker had work to do.

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[BEGIN TRANSMISSION, PENTAGON TO JL STATION:WATCHTOWER]

PENT: Prepare for Information Packet.

PENT: [FOLDER.FEDGOV.GIW.A-EA]

JLWATCH: Pentagon whose authority is this coming from.

PENT: Negative, Good Luck. Check on Captain Marvel.

JLWATCH: Pentagon?

JLWATCH: Pentagon Respond.

-SESSION TERMINATED-

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: Batman, Superman, WanderWoman

From: Comms Officer Sam Thule

Subject: The Anti-Ecto Acts and Ghost Investigation Ward

Boss, the Pentagon just sent us some stuff, I think you need to see this. If you can get Captain Marvel up here too we’ll need him here soon.

[SEE ATTACHMENTS]

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Tag Section

@cass-brightwood @justwannabecat @luckykittens198 @vythika96 @ultimatebluff @amercurio @tkiesai @escelia @jaggedheart11 @lexdamo @ascetic-orange @botwadtict @nutcase8691  @delicioushologramperson @sailor-goddess @meira-3919 @icedbluesoul ALRIGHTY TAGGED FOLKS! IF YOU WANT TO CHECK ON THIS SERIES I WILL BE UPDATING THE LIST BELOW WHENEVER I UPDATE! SO USE THAT! [I may or may not link this chapter or further ones in a similar way, my brain is like, non operable at the moment.] 

Links to other Chapters

Chapter 1 

Chapter 2

[astrologanize]

june 2024 sun sign horoscope

aries sun: hmph, it seems that there may be some careless decisions that catch up with you this month but you will also be realizing where you've been wasting energy and what risks are worth taking vs not. risk will be taking on a practical meaning for you as this month presents you with very little choice but to change your routine. emotional baggage will be surfacing as the universe pops a few of your balloons and you're gonna have to sit (helplessly) in those feels & endure - it will be okay

taurus sun: it's a month for y'all to show lessons learned so you will be placed in situations that grant you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to find proper resolve & acceptance. do you want to stay stuck in a situation/cycle? let's hope not. try to set aside your pride and insecure reactions and actually allow for genuine understanding/rapport

gemini sun: you're definitely going to be considering the longevity/trajectory of certain parts of your life throughout june. overall your month will be one thing after another happening, i'm not seeing too much interference, but in the back of your mind you will be in a processing mode. this year there has been a lot about what you're holding onto/what you need to release and with jupiter's ingress into gemini you're going to start finding your freedom. now isn't quite the time to make decisions but it is the time to get motivated with assurance in your capabilities

cancer sun: what truly fulfills you? what do you definitively feel and what emotions are running amuck? this month you're going to have moments of regressing, you may behave brash at times, and it's really you trying your hardest to deflect & put a cap on your emotions because you're having a difficult time maneuvering proper self-care for yourself. there are in fact things that you need to work on this month and in order to do so you need to stop trying to have control and walling people off. no sticking your fingers in your ears and singing 'lalala i don't care i don't wanna deal with this'

leo sun: oh goodness...i am 57439753% seeing a theme of unexpressed feelings, resentment, bitterness, and emotional hurts that you are not over yet. let's try not to go overboard with speaking our minds about these things because although it is terribly important that you do finally express your grievances, let's not snowball a situation & make it worse or unnecessarily burn bridges. you will be feeling quite formidable this month and ready to take on challenges, which does involve you doing things out of your comfort zone. just remember to keep your dignity, keep things cute and know that the energy you put out comes back to you - maybe you can even correct some wrongs that you played a part in

virgo sun: 'decode' by sabrina carpenter, 'landslide' by fleetwood mac, there's this theme of coming to terms with a chapter being over and the aftermath of that, and/or with you realizing that this is what something is - this situation/person isn't changing/it's settled and you have your answer(s). so this month is a month for you to tend gently to this process of maturation with this current reality, you may not be feeling inspired at all and you may be feeling like you have no clue about anything right now but things are unfolding as they shall - remember to be kind to yourself

libra sun: welp, somehow once again (same as in april) you will be having opportunities to show lessons learned. this time around there is deeper introspection and any illusions that have yet to be revealed will be revealed/any falsities will find truth. other people will have a lot to say this month, you will have a lot to say this month, and some shit talking is bound to happen - it seems that softening/having kindness will be highlighted though so perhaps you'll choose to kill 'em with kindness or you'll be reflecting on times where you extended too much grace to someone. regardless, try to be the bigger person and take the high road

scorpio sun: i guess whenever a sign is in need of a change the song "something has to change" by the japanese house comes through because that's exactly what came to mind. you're going to be considering what in your life has actually been productive & conducive for you, what has brought you unhappiness, where you have gone too far, and throughout june there will be plenty of moving parts as your sense of stability is rearranged. plans will fall through, your routine is having to change, and ultimately you will be having to adjust like crazy. the world is not necessarily your oyster this month, try to recognize behaviors/situations that have gotten out of hand and contain yourself

sagittarius sun: this month you're going to be meditating on reaching your potential, whatever that means to you, and in the process you will be thinking about what has come to pass and what you have yet to figure out. there may be past connections that you're in your feelings about this month, there may be issues within a connection that you're not dealing with yet, there is just something in your life that is leaving you feeling unfulfilled and you are not addressing it - perhaps you don't know how. there will be distractions throughout june, things that interfere with productivity/work and this may involve actual changes when it comes to your work/job. now is a time for you to embrace some growing pains so try to lessen your expectations and demonstrate restraint

capricorn sun: there is an overarching sense that something is thrown off for you, it's almost giving stir crazy...like feeling stuck and unhinged. throughout june you're going to be trying your darnedest to maintain objectivity and sensibility as you persist through a lack of assurance...like yeap i am choosing to be cool calm & collected, am i actually confident at all in what i am doing? nope. try to remember to breathe deeply this month and avoid being overly reactive - some solutions may be simpler than you think

aquarius sun: the girls are fighting!!! lol. something is not going to go your way this month and you are noootttt going to be happy about it, my goodness. if you have plans in mind for june then they may not happen or they may not happen the way you want, you may reach a dead-end with something/someone, whatever it is...you're like...this is not acceptable and i want to fight about it. how about instead you practice your ability to be an aquarius that knows how to work with others and work through things with others, try to be reasonable rather than manic

pisces sun: this month there is an overarching theme of honing in your energy and maturing but not in a way that is going to be experienced as heavy. throughout june you will be feeling pretty good about yourself and in light spirits, you will be socializing and adapting and being confident amongst others. there may be some gossip this month, maybe a lil petty drama, whether it's you involved in it or spreading it or just being adjacent to it. your best advice at this time is to be assured in your standards/moral, hold yourself in a healthy regard - not in a judgmental/nitpicky one, and be direct. try not to baby anyone this month and be overly attentive/accommodating either (i suppose that is a part of holding yourself in healthy regard)

[madaqueue]

Dripping in Gold | Chapter 3

synopsis: finding a job was never easy, and why even bother trying after you meet satoru gojo, a man with mysterious and exorbitant wealth, who wants nothing more than to spoil you with it? the only caveat to your little arrangement is that it can never, ever, become personal.

pairing: satoru gojo x f!reader

themes/content: non-curse modern au, sugar daddy gojo. language, fluff, smut. kissing, brief fingering (f receiving), car sex. 18+, MDNI

word count: 2.3k

a/n: the way i've given up proofreading this lmao lemme know if y'all find any errors bc i'm simply not looking for em anymore! anyways eat up :)

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What the hell did I get myself into?

The question repeats in your mind while the cool air in Gojo’s car blasts against your skin, still hot from earlier, as his hand returns to its natural place along your thigh.

After your little encounter, he promised to take you to one of his favorite places for lunch. He also promised to wash your soiled panties for you as he shoved them into his pocket with a smirk, citing how “gentlemanly” he is.

The events of less than an hour prior replay in your mind as you remember how his touch felt, how his lips pressed against yours, how badly you wanted him to bend you over and fuck you then and there. But instead, he just picked up all the dresses you had tried on and marched them out of the changing room to the front of the store, setting them down and paying without a second thought. “Oh, and we’ll take the yellow one she’s wearing, too,” he chirps to the attendant as she rings up an amount you can’t even fathom.

You get pulled out of your thoughts as the car stops, your door opening suddenly as Gojo once again holds his hand out to you. He has brought you to an adorable restaurant you’ve never even seen before, with yellow flowers lining the walkways and windowsills of the old building, perfectly complementing the new outfit you have on.

Once again, the date is actually really lovely. He orders you both champagne and tells you to get whatever else you want from the menu, and conversation flows naturally between you two, almost like old friends. Wanting to learn more about him, you direct the discussion to his past, probing to understand more about his background. While he often acts like an open book, you find that there are three things he will absolutely not talk about: his family, his home, or his money. Whenever one of these topics comes up he maneuvers the conversation elsewhere, often deflecting back to you.

That said, holy shit does this man love to talk - you bet that if you put him in an empty room he’d speak just to hear his own voice. He seems to know something about everything, and he wants to make sure you know it, too.

“Do you ever shut up?” you tease after his fourth time interjecting a random, unwarranted piece of information into a story you were telling him.

“Hmm,” he thinks, bringing a hand up to ruffle through his hair. “Nope, I don’t think so,” a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

While the time you spend with him is nice, his inability to be forthcoming does put you slightly on edge. You can’t help but find yourself wondering, in a tiny corner of the back of your mind, what’s the catch? Why is someone who seems so perfect possibly interested in you?

You push the feelings of unease down as you continue your meal. Eventually you look up and see his eyes locked on yours, taking in your every move. The cerulean pierces through you like a cold wind, and you can’t quite place the feeling it sends through you until you feel his fingertips brush against your knee from under the table.

Desire.

“You know,” you say, a grin slowly forming on your face, “I love this dress, but I almost feel like it’s getting a bit uncomfortable.”

“Oh yeah?” he tilts his head, knowingly playing into your little game. “Well, that’s a shame.” He sighs dramatically. “I guess you could take it off, if you really need to.”

“Mhm,” you hum, “I might need your help with that, though.”

Leaning forward slightly, his words come out airy, “Anything for you, princess.”

He stands up and holds his hand out again, your fingers intertwining with his as his free hand pulls out his wallet and drops a few hundred dollar bills on the table, more than enough to cover your meal. Leading you back to his car, you feel your heart start to race in anticipation.

Pulling open the back door, you hop in first and get comfortable against the seat before he joins you inside. You hadn’t noticed how spacious the back of his car is but you’re grateful that it at least won’t be uncomfortable; you expected him to take you back to his place or yours, but this will do just fine for now, as your need for him was increasing with every second he wasn’t inside you.

Immediately upon closing the door his lips crash into yours, soft and warm against the lingering cool air inside the vehicle. As you sit in his lap his arms reach around your body to undo the zipper of your dress before sliding it over your head, tossing it somewhere into the depths of the car.

Since your panties were already stuffed into his pocket and you hadn’t worn a bra, you were now fully bare in front of him. He pulls away from the kiss for a moment, allowing his eyes to slowly cover every inch of your body, taking you in as a smile curls at the corners of his lips.

Gojo lays down with his back against the seats so you can straddle him, legs around his waist as you start to undo the buttons of his white dress shirt. With your eyes closed and hands shaking slightly in excitement, you take longer than the man would like as he sighs against your lips and simply rips his shirt open, muttering “I’ll buy a new one,” as it slides off his shoulders.

Your eyes open for a moment to take in his body beneath you - his firm chest, abs surrounded by a v-line that dipped below the waist of his pants, practically begging you to trace along it with your fingers. As you do, you hear Gojo’s breath hitch momentarily at your touch.

“Aw, are you nervous?” you tease against him as your fingertips brush along his waistband, slowly fumbling against the buckle of his belt.

He smirks at you through the kiss. “Just impatient.”

Before you can quip back, he has undone his belt and zipper, allowing you to pull his black slacks down to his ankles, sitting up slightly to let him kick them off. Your hands find the top of his black boxers before his hands wrap around your wrists.

Pulling his mouth away from yours for a moment, his eyes open to meet your gaze. “Are you sure?” he asks through a breathy sigh.

You nod eagerly, starting to lean back down before a hand reaches up to stop you.

“Say it,” he commands, voice suddenly low and raspy.

“I want to fuck you, Satoru,” the words barely leaving your mouth before your lips crash back into his, a new greediness between both of you as your tongues glide against each other’s.

Your attention turns back to undressing him as you pull his boxers down, revealing his fully erect cock. The tip flushed, needy, drawing your hands to it as you use your thumb to drag the leaking precum around his tip before sliding your hand loosely down his length. Satoru sighs into your open mouth at the feeling, reaching his own hand down between your legs.

As soon as he touches you, you feel electricity shoot through your body, his fingers barely brushing against your clit. Maybe you were still horny from earlier, maybe you just needed him that badly, but something in you couldn’t wait any longer.

Your hips move so you’re hovering above him, using your hand around his base to align him with your entrance. His tip slowly enters you, the feeling already threatening to send you over the edge as you envelop him in your warmth.

He moans your name softly as you drop your hips to take all of him inside of you. His cock stretches at your walls, the mix of pleasure and pain better than anything you’ve felt before. You fit him perfectly as he fills up every last inch of you, your wetness allowing him to glide in and out with ease.

“Wanted you so bad,” he murmurs against your lips as you grind your hips in circles up and down his length, “needed you.” One of his hands grips at your waist while the other snakes behind you to grab the thick flesh of your ass.

You continue your movements, using one hand on his chest to stabilize yourself, his cock pressing into every last part of you. “S’good, you feel s’good,” he babbles, a never-ending stream of consciousness leaving his mouth as your body moves against his.

Damn, he really can’t shut up, can he? you think to yourself with a grin.

You don’t mind though, the silky lightness of his voice only adding to your pleasure. As you feel yourself approaching your release, your pussy clenches around him, eliciting another moan from the man underneath you.

His grip tightens on your waist as he suddenly begins thrusting his hips up into you, adding to the pace. You open your eyes slightly as he reaches even deeper into you, glancing down to see the veins in his arms as his fingers dig into your skin.

“F-fuck, I’m close,” he whines, desperation dripping from his voice as he continues pumping into you.

“Me too, ‘Toru,” the words leaving your throat in a hoarse whisper.

You don’t even process the nickname, something simply spoken out of ease as sounds struggled to escape your lips through moans of pleasure, but it sends butterflies through Satoru’s body as he is suddenly pushed into his climax. You follow almost immediately, your body racked with pleasure as your legs shake and cunt flutters around his cock as he finishes inside of you.

The humidity of the car finally hits you as you try to slow your breathing, realizing both you and Satoru are covered in a thin layer of sweat as you peel yourself off of him to sit up.

“Wow,” he pants, reaching a hand up to brush white hair off of his slightly damp forehead, “that was amazing.”

“I know,” you reply slyly, leaning down to place a peck against his lips.

He chuckles, “So cocky already? And here I thought we could have a sweet post-fuck cuddle or something.”

You can’t stop yourself from giggling. “Oh yeah, in the comfort of the back seat of your car?”

“Aw, are you saying you don’t like my car?” he fakes a pout. “Guess you can just walk home then.”

You roll your eyes at his teasing. “You and I both know damn well I’m not walking home, and we aren’t going anywhere until you find my dress.”

“As you wish, sweetheart,” he smirks, sitting up and wrapping his arms tightly around you, placing a wet kiss on your cheek as you laugh and squirm in his lap.

–

For a while, things with Satoru are easy. You find yourself slipping into a rhythm with him: he calls you, he takes you out somewhere, you fuck, and he pays you. It feels nice to finally be able to afford to live again and not stress about your job hunt, and you start to genuinely enjoy the time you spend with him, looking forward to your weekly dates.

Between the times you see him, you also find yourselves communicating more often. He starts sending you pictures of himself trying on clothes in that all-too-familiar dressing room, asking for your opinions on what he should get so he can match you whenever you go out somewhere. You start video calling each other too, getting to see that stupid grin on his face whenever you pick up. Usually you just talk about your days or what shows you're watching, but you slowly start bringing him more into your life, telling him about your family and whatever gossip you hear about from your friends. A few times you’ve even invited him to come out with your group, but he always declines with a vague excuse. A part of you wants more, to have him in your life fully, but you also know that it would bring with it the complicated explanation of how you met and how your relationship first started.

You also begin to notice that you never hook up in your apartment or his - it’s always in restaurant bathrooms, his car, or the few times he’s gotten you a hotel room to stay with him overnight. You don’t particularly mind, since your apartment is still not the cleanest, although it’s certainly gotten better with your newfound free time, but it does seem odd to you. Whenever you try to bring it up, he just shrugs or brushes it off with a wave of his hand. “It’s too personal,” he always reasons, and you decide that you either have to drop it and accept how things are or push it and risk losing him.

Around six months after your first date, something changes. He drops you off at home after an amazing dinner at a new steakhouse and even better sex, this time in the private lounge of the restaurant. Inside your apartment you shower and head straight to bed. When you awake the next morning, you see two notifications on your phone: one from your bank informing you of a deposit of $6,000, and one from Gojo.

Gojo: Sorry about not paying you right away last night, I must have been a little distracted after our dinner and dessert 🥰 (the dessert was us having sex). I sent you a bit extra as compensation for any emotional damages I may have caused <3

You roll your eyes, a smile involuntarily forming on your lips as you read his message. Suddenly, it hits you: you didn’t even notice that he didn’t pay you. For months, that had been the routine, the expectation you both had set and agreed to. But last night, you didn’t notice. And maybe, you didn’t care?

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[judesmoonbeauty]

Fairytale Keeper's Final Assessment SE:

Jude Jazza's POV Chapter 1 ཐིཋྀ

Fan translation only. Not 100% accurate. Please expect grammatical errors. Cybird owns everything. Feel free to re-blog, but please do NOT post my translations elsewhere. Translation notes are marked with *** Alternate translation is marked with/// Hour Glass Banners Credit: @/natimiles ཐིཋྀ

(The Crown forced a woman who just happened to witness an assassination into an unfair contract.)

(And that Bitch, her Majesty the Queen keeps ordering her to accompany us on missions.)

(And this woman herself, who is so stubborn that she will follow you no matter how many times she gets herself in trouble.)

(I too, tried to test her guts at some point.)

Everything about it is disgusting.

(So I'll end it right here and now.)

Victor: You will spend the day with her. Then sign here at the end of the day.

Victor: What happens if you don't agree?

Victor: At that point, we’ll say goodbye to Kate. Oh, and please keep all of this a secret from Kate.

(I wondered what the hell he was doing calling people out this early in the morning.)

(Fairytale Keeper Continuation Agreement. Ha….stupid.)

Why are you doing this now, don't force this kind of thing on people.

Even if I open my mouth I could be subjected to a number of criticisms though.

I thought to myself as I stared at this shitty consent form.

(Maybe this will put an end to our relationship with that woman.) 

Jude: I kind of know whatcha wanna do.

Jude: But the last condition is unacceptable.

Victor: You mean the part about keeping the existence of this consent form a secret from her?

Jude: I don't like sneaking around behind peoples backs without lettin’ ‘em know that they're involved.

Jude: Hey, Victor. I gave ya information and helped Crown once, right?

Jude: Ya haven't paid my information fee yet.

Victor: No way! I gave exactly what you asked for, because you're scary.

Jude: I'm still owed for the interest. But that's all right, we'll call it even.

Victor: Eh.

Jude: I’ll tell Kate everything. Then I’ll kick her out and that’ll be the end of it.

Victor: Hmm. I thought you'd say that since you're a hot-blooded person.

As I turn my back on Victor, who is grumbling, and start to walk away, a voice comes flying in.

Victor: Jude! Spend a day with Kate and assess her. You must comply with this.

(Ridiculous…..）

I headed to the common room and found Isla and Ellis frolicking in front of the arsenal of weapons that that freak was collecting.

Kate: Ellis, this pistol is shaped so that bullets can’t be inserted into it.

Ellis: It's not a real gun, it's a replica.

Ellis: It used by replacing this gun with the opponent's gun or pretending it is a real gun.

Kate: I see.….It looks like it can be used in many ways!

(What are you talking about?)

Kate: Oh, Jude!

Ellis: Oh, Jude. Welcome home.

Ellis: You were called by Her Majesty and Victor. What were you talking about?

As I tossed down the fairy tale keeper continuation agreement, Kate's eyes followed the text, and then her eyes widened.

Jude: To spend the day with and assess ya.

Kate: You’re the one to sign this consent form, Jude?

Kate: So, as long as you sign the consent form, I can continue, right Jude?

Jude: If ya look at the text, you’ll understand.

Ellis: Why Jude? I guess because he’s the most difficult.

Jude: I don't know. If ya have any complaints, tell that Queen's freak aide.

Kate: Do you want to continue as a Fairytale Keeper? Or quit here and leave Crown?

Ellis: What do you want, Kate?

Kate looks up and says in a clear voice.

Kate: I want to continue being a fairy tale keeper.

Kate: I think there is still a lot I can do with Crown.

(An immediate answer).

When she finished speaking, Kate turned her annoying eyes on me.

Kate: Jude, please sign the agreement for me to continue as a Fairytale Keeper!

Jude: If they had asked for my permission and I had said yes, then I wouldn’t have confronted ya in the first place.

Jude: I'm against your continuing as Fairytale Keeper, and I'm against your staying here.

Kate: I thought you’d say that Jude…..

Kate: But I'll never give up. I'll keep fighting until the end, until I get your signature.

Jude: Really? Do as ya please.

Jude: You’re leaving today anyway. Your playing with gifts of the underworld.***

Ellis: If you're happy to continue as a fairytale keeper, I'll help you.

Kate: Thank you, Ellis!

(Shit…..everyone is siding with Kate.)

Ellis: What would make you want to sign it Jude?

Jude: Think for yourself.

Kate: I think it's important that I'm not a distraction to you and that I'm useful to you Jude.

Ellis: Ah, then.

She took us out into the garden and suggested that we have a sparring match.

I guess she wants to prove that she won't be a hindrance even if she accompanies us on a mission, and that she can fight satisfactorily.

(Pointless…..)

I have no reason or time to look at something like this.

But going out with them is just a way to buy time until the end of this useless day called today.

Ellis: Isla, I’ll be your partner.

Kate: Yes, please don’t hesitate.

Kate: Jude, please watch properly.

Kate and Ellis begin to spar, as expected, it looked like a fixed match, like a cat playing with something.

Jude: What are ya showing me? Ellis, if you're going to go easy on her, don't.

Ellis: But…

Kate: It’s my fault for asking Ellis, who is so kind to me.

Kate: Jude, would you spar against me?

Jude: What, I'm just gonna letcha die, and that'll be the end of it?

Kate: Yep. 

Jude: Hmmm, let's do it then.

Facing Kate, we made eye contact.

Kate randomly threw some punches and tried to land some light kicks, but I dodged them.

Kate: I thought you’d come in with a kicking technique, Jude.

Jude: Eh, is that what you’re watching? But your back is open. 

I go behind Kate and tighten my arms around her. 

Kate: Ah…..***

Instantly, Kate bent down and slipped out of my arms.

(You did it…..)

(But you’re getting too carried away.)

I grabbed Kate’s arm and swept her legs, pinning her to the ground.

Kate: Ah…..***

I glared at Kate at a distance where the tips of our noses touched.

(Ha…….Really, not good.)

(Her eyes.)

[Next] [Master List]

***I'm 99.9% sure this second sentence is incorrect. I have no idea what he meant by this, and I spent forever researching this line. But I assume he meant since she's leaving, so is her playtime with the gifts from the underworld AKA the Crown members. It doesn't have a huge bearing on the story, so take it with a grain of salt.

***When they are sparring, Kate uses 'tsu' つ, (not to be confused with the little っ 'tsu', which is silent.). I changed to this to 'Ah', since I wasn't sure how to translate the noise she was making as Jude was grabbing her both times, and it would look weird with 'tsu' written.

[the-grey-hunt]

Hidden Whispers: Green Text In Ghost Trick

(grabs you and shakes you by the shoulders) WHAT DOES IT MEAN. COME WITH ME ON THIS JOURNEY

So last night I was playing ghost trick, as you do, but more importantly, I was playing it myself for the first time and paying a lot more attention to the words as a result. And something kind of...odd...happened in the submarine.

That green text isn’t Lynne, or it would be a continuation of her black text with her sprite visible, instead of her text breaking off with an em dash. It explicitly isn’t Sissel, who wonders if he’s hearing things. So…who, or what, is it?

Let’s examine our evidence. First: Where does green text already appear in Ghost Trick?

(screenshots taken from my switch and from this playthrough)

In chapter 6, Detective Rindge speaks in green over the radio:

And later, in Rindge's four minutes before death, we see that from his perspective, he's in black text and the Chief (over the radio) responds to him in green:

(above screenshot taken from Secret Sleepover Society's playthrough because I didn't get to see this text in Lacry's)

In chapter 7, the conversation Rindge hears through the "ladybug" is also green...

...including in the "new present", when he hears the chef instead:

This tells us that one use of green text is to indicate that we are hearing someone who is out of Sissel's normal range. (We know that Sissel can't be too far away from humans if he wants to hear what they're saying, such as in the restaurant when Beauty and Dandy leave the trunk behind.)

But these aren't the only instances of green text. There are two others:

In chapter 14, the text of the meteorite monument is written in green. This means that green text can also indicate the written word, information that is being conveyed to Sissel (maybe read aloud to him?) from a format he isn't able to access.

This is also supported by the second example I mentioned:

In the Final Chapter, when Yomiel repeats Fiansissel's note, the text of the note is in green. It's the written word, something Sissel can't "hear", being transmitted to Sissel in a way he can understand.

And there's one more example of green text...

When Yomiel has a flashback to what Lynne said to him in the destroyed Yonoa, her text is in green. Again, it is something Sissel is hearing when he wouldn't normally be able to hear it (after all, Lynne isn't there! This is in the park, after he leaves Lynne and Kamila behind).

So if green text indicates Sissel hearing/understanding something he shouldn't be able to...

...what IS he hearing in that clip? He knows he's hearing something; he's surprised by it; it's something he thinks he could dismiss as his imagination.

The answer is both obvious and so convoluted it's taken me this long to even realize there was a question:

Yes. That's right. It's Ray. (also yes, that's right. I'm putting the 'keep reading' cut HERE.)

Q: BUT HOW?!?!?!?!?!

A: Not only COULD it be Ray, it HAS to be Ray. The green text in that clip is a reference to an "unstoppable (M/m)issile"!

Not only that, in order for Ray to catch Sissel like this in the ghost world at the very end, he had to have been in the park to speak with Sissel in the ghost world.

As we've seen, ghosts require proximity to be able to speak to each other. Sissel can't talk to a ghost (powered or unpowered) unless they're close enough for him to reach; he doesn't speak to Missile once Missile-leaf has blown away until he physically encounters the leaf again.

Ray had to be in the park when the "new future" was made in order to talk to Sissel here. In order to reach the park, he had to be brought back with the others when they rewound to Yomiel's death. In order to do that, he had to have been on the submarine to journey with them to the control room.

(It was a crowded torpedo, is what I'm saying).

Q: It could be regular Missile speaking. After all, his ghost was there.

A: If present Missile and not Ray was speaking, it would be black text—his ghost is close enough for Sissel to hear, as he's still right there with Kamila!

Q: But Ray was in the junkyard—

A: Was he? Ray stops responding to Sissel as the night goes on, if you keep visiting the junkyard. If you try to talk to him before going to Lynne in Temsik Park (around midnight/1 AM), there's only "...".

Ray had made it to the submarine before in his timeline; he knew how to get there. Was he losing strength and "unable" to talk, or was he not there at all to speak to Sissel? Did he leave hours beforehand to make sure he would get to the Yonoa in time?

Q: Wouldn't Sissel have noticed Ray was gone?

A: Is there *any* point in the game where Ray's "spiritual flame" self is visible in the lamp? There would be no visible difference.

Q: Wouldn't they have noticed him on the torpedo?

A: They didn't notice Yomiel.

Q: How does that even work? With not being able to see the flame, or not realizing another ghost is there, and wouldn't Sissel have seen Yomiel's flame in his body in the very first scene—

A: Listen this post is already long enough.

And there's one more piece of evidence I've been holding out on:

Ray-timeline Sissel, quoted by Ray to Sissel, speaks in green text. A piece of speech Sissel wouldn't normally have been able to hear, but is hearing through another.

And...why green, anyway? Isn't it interesting that there are multiple colors of text in this game? Besides the "normal" black text, there's green, there's red, and there's...blue.

Red text, Sissel's color, is used to denote clues, parts of dialogue or narration that are important to Sissel's quest and help guide him along the path towards the truth behind "the mystery of me".

Blue text, the color of Yomiel's ghost world, indicates 'private thoughts' that, nonetheless, affect the people Sissel interacts with. Something "secret" reaching out and ending up in other characters' heads anyway (because after all, it's not speech but 'thought' beamed directly into a mind...)

And then green text. Text that reveals important knowledge that, despite all the obstacles in the way, is conveyed to Sissel anyway. The color, essentially, of lore-drops, tutorials, and the "hidden truth" revealed.

Of COURSE the green text in that one mysterious moment is Missile. *It's his color.*

[hodari-pavels-good-boy]

Espresso Chapter 2:

Heat Stroke

Ch1 Ch2 Ch3

Pairing: Hodari Pavel x Reader Word Count: 5.6k Chapter: 2/? Rating: E

Tags: Angst, Angst with a happy ending, miscommunication, fluff, eventual smut

A/N: This is a multi chapter Hodari x y/n story! Gender is not specified so everyone can enjoy it (though I did originally start writing it with the intention of it being a male reader lol). Tags will be updated as the fic goes. Cross-posted Here on Ao3. Fic below the cut! Enjoy :)

Hodari POV

The sun beats heavily off the stones, heat rising from the ground and into his boots as Hodari makes his way down the well-traveled path that connects the bay to the village. Raising his hand to his brow to shield his eyes from the brutal light, he debates going to the inn first before ultimately deciding to finish his work as quickly as possible to get it done and over with. 

His first stop is, as always, to the town's resident blacksmith. “Hodari!” she calls from inside, raising her hand in greeting when she sees him approach. She lays her hammer down and wipes the sweat from her face as he enters the forge with her order of iron in tow. “It’s a scorcher out here today isn’t it?” she laughs as she takes the metal from him and he hums his assent. He watches as she takes it to her backroom and out of the way before turning back to him. “Oh! I’m not going to be needing my order tomorrow, so don’t worry about making the trip into town for me.” 

He nods in acknowledgement, ‘saves me a trip tomorrow then’ he thinks before Sifuu starts speaking again. “That human that's decided to stick around, y/n, brought me some extra this morning and I won’t be able to fit anymore back there between their drop off and your delivery today. I’m all full up!” She laughs, reaching for her hammer to continue working. 

“It’s no problem then. Frees up a mornin’ for me. Maybe I’ll sleep in for once.” and they both share a chuckle at how unlikely they both know that to be before Hodari says his good-byes. 

Just as he’s about to head out Sifuu calls from behind her anvil, “You still coming to the inn this weekend? We are all planning on grabbing some lunch and taking a much needed break. It’s supposed to be even hotter, but that ain’t nothing a little ale and some good company can’t beat!” She laughs. “You can bring your girl to the tailor’s. Word down the vine is Jel’s been working on something for her as a little surprise since the last time she came into town to visit him and Tish, it’ll be good for the two of you to get out and socialize a bit. The mine’s can stay empty for half a day.” She says the last half just a little more serious and Hodari wonders how long she’s been holding it in as she’s not exactly known for her subtlety. 

Hodari thinks about it seriously for a moment before nodding his head. She’s right, it’ll be good for Najuma to get away from the shop and have some actual social interaction every once in a while. “I’ll be there, don’t worry. It’ll be good catchin’ up while we all complain about how old we’re gettin’.” he chuckles before finally taking his leave to the sound of Sifuu’s booming laughter behind him. 

His next stop is the Daiya’s farm to drop off a bit of iron Badruu had requested from him for some ‘repairs I can’t put off any more.’ Heading over the bridge and down the path a ways, he waves as the farmer comes into sight. 

“Well howdy!” Badruu greets him as he walks up to the gate. “Got something for little ol’ me there?” He asks as he removes his hat to fan himself with it. 

“Hot out here today, huh?” he comments, taking the metal Hodari hands over to him. 

“That seems to be the general consensus.” Hodari agrees. “Crops are lookin’ good. See ya got some new ones sewn out the back there. Zeki finally lower his prices?” the miner huffs.

“Oh no,” the farmer rolls his eyes, “sky high as ever. But y/n brought some late last week as a thank you for the jam Delaila sent them home with. Awfully nice of ‘em don’t you think? They seem to be settling in here quite well. Have you had a chance to really talk with them yet?”

Hodari just hums but shakes his head, he hasn’t spoken to you at all since that night in the mines. You never stop to talk while he’s in town so he’s a little surprised at this new information. “Nah. ‘m not one for chattin’ much anyways. See 'em comin’ and goin’ from the mines at all kinds of unholy hours though. Sometimes they're still down there when I get there the next mornin’”  ‘At least they’re making an effort to fit in’ he thinks as he remembers your little conversation about feeling out of place before he decides to change the topic. “How is Delaila doin’ anyways? Haven’t seen her or your boys recently, we’ve all been so busy.”

The famer laughs, “Tell me about it.” Before launching into what his family has been up to. He’s a family man at heart and Hodari has always respected that about him, it’s no secret the man gave up his dream path to settle down here to create what he has now. While he always knew he was going to be a miner, he understands the hard choices and sometimes sacrifices one makes for their loved ones. Looking at the farmer beam as he talks about how proud he is of his boys though, Hodari finds it hard to believe the man would have it any other way if given another chance. It makes his chest ache a bit as his friend talks about how he plans to surprise his wife with a nice date he’s been setting money aside for. She’ll love it he's sure, Delaila’s a hardworking woman and a spitfire in her own right, always keeping them on their toes. She deserves something nice. 

After a few more minutes of catching up, the two men say their good-byes as they head off to continue their respective work, Hodari is sure to pass on that he’ll be at the inn this weekend so they can catch up a bit later before he starts heading back into the village. With no more orders to make, he heads straight for the inn for some lunch and to get out of the heat. He almost crashes into Auni as the kid rushes past, giant backpack too big for his small frame bouncing behind him, eager to get to his daily game of cards with Hassian behind the building. “Sorry Mr. Pavel!” he calls over his shoulder, not slowing down in the slightest and Hodari huffs out an amused breath. Najuma always seems to be in a rush too, no time to slow down for these kids. 

Entering the inn has Hodari internally sighing as he gets out of the searing heat. Reth is behind the kitchen counter, already prepping his usual. He gives the kid a nod in greeting before walking over to greet Ashura who seems to be engrossed by something behind his own counter. As he gets closer, he can see the slice of pie the innkeeper is holding. 

“Got yourself somethin’ sweet there?” Hodari asks as he watches the larger man go to take a bite. Ashura turns around laughing to greet the man as he sets the plate down. 

“Can’t say no to a good slice of pie.” the older man rumbled. “Y/n baked it and dropped a fresh slice in for me and Reth. They really seem to be finding their place here after all these months. Can’t say I’m too upset with all the baked goods they’ve been dropping off in various attempts at cooking, especially recently. They’ve been catching on to how things work around here pretty quick.”

“So I've heard. Both Sifuu and Badruu were singing their praise when I stopped by. I’m-” Hodari stops when he hears Reth set his food out on the counter. He grabs his food and both men go take a seat, conversation about the new local human set aside. 

Hodari starts eating his lunch and after awhile of enjoying one another's company in silence, Ashura asks how Najuma is doing. He sighs as he sets his fork down, leaning back in his chair. “I don’t know. She seems madder’n not these days and I don’t know what to do.” Ashura nods sympathetically as he talks. “It’s been harder to talk to her lately and you know I ain't exactly a beacon of open conversation myself. Just tryin’ to figure it out as I go along, I guess.” 

Ashura shares in his worries over lunch and offers some advice from one father to another about angry teengers and the frustrations of parenting in general. By the time he’s leaving to head home, he feels a little lighter. He stayed longer than usual to avoid the sun's brutal attack at the peak of the day but as he faces the long trek home, he realizes that just means another long night in the mines and he has to bite back a groan. At least he doest have to make the trip out here for Sifuu tomorrow. 

As he walks through town, he plays the conversations he’s had today over in his mind. So many things have changed since he first moved here, young and leaving behind his family to start his own. He passes the Daiya’s eldest son and raises his hand in greeting, ‘That kid has grown up so fast.’ he thinks. ‘They all have.’ When he moved out here with Leta all those years ago, he never quite pictured this would be his life now and wonders how she would feel about all the changes that have happened, especially recently with humans appearing out of thin air. Probably handle it a whole lot better than him, he’s never been one for change if he can help it. He wonders how she’d feel about the human that’s stuck around, everyone else seems to enjoy your company. She’d probably tell him to be nice and welcome you like everyone else has and he smiles at the thought of her standing there arms crossed calling him a grump and telling him to get over himself. A bit of a reminder that even as the world changes, some things would absolutely stay the same.

Soon enough, his wandering thoughts have led him to the gate that connects to the bay. The sun still shines bright and he figures he should probably make sure his daughter is staying cool and drinking water. He makes his way towards the pond, getting ready to call her over but stops when he realizes she isn’t there. A look up the hill shows that she’s not in the workshop either. Taking a sigh, he turns and heads towards the house. ‘She better not be in those damn mines again’ he thinks as he's pushing open the door to grab what he’ll need to go after her. 

As soon as he opens the door though, he spots his daughter sitting on the couch with a whole blueberry pie in hand, getting ready to dig into it. 

“Najuma, just what in the hell are you doing?” He asks, fumbling in his thoughts. He was sure she was causing trouble and trying to put him in an early grave with worry. Now he’s just confused where she got a pie. He knows he didn't pick one up and she hasn't shown any interest in baking, much less ventured all the way into town to get any of what she’d need for it.

Najuma freezes, caught red handed as she holds the forkfull of pie halfway to her mouth. “I wasn't gonna eat it all at once!” She immediately tries to defend herself. 

“No. I-” He stops, collecting his thoughts, “One, where’d you get that? And two, why did you not put it on a plate?” He says grabbing the pie from her and walking into the kitchen to cut it. She follows behind him, eager for the treat before she gets back to work and she answers him as he reaches into the cupboard for a plate. 

“Oh y/n brought it by! They said that I’ve been working so hard I deserve a snack!” She smiles as she takes the plate from him and sits down at the table this time, already taking a bite.

He shakes his head, leaning against the counter as he watches how she devours the slice of pie in front of him and feels a little pang as he realizes how much bigger she's gotten. Despite her small size, she's growing up so fast and he wishes he could freeze time for just a little bit. She’s already in her teens now and his back aches more at the thought. Soon she’ll be all grown up. For now, they're just a bit of a mess as they try to figure it out. He finds himself wishing again that Leta were here to help him and resigns himself to the fact it’s just going to be one of those days full of wanting and nostalgia. ‘Want in one hand’ and all that..

Pushing off from the counter he walks over and ruffles his daughter's hair, giving her a quick kiss on the top of her fiery head as he goes. “Daaaad.” She complains as he walks towards the door, chuckling. He reminds her only the one piece before dinner so she doesn't spoil her appetite before he’s out the door and heading towards the mines. During his walk he thinks about Najuma telling him you had been the one to bring the pie by. He’s confused why you would be coming all the way out here to talk to his daughter when he hardly sees you himself, much less have any sort of regular conversation with you. It makes a flare of protectiveness rise in his gut, he’s not sure he wants Najuma around a stranger. He decides he should think it over a bit more before deciding anything right now, you seem nice enough and while your only real conversation had been a bit awkward, no harm was done. Wanting to clear his mind of it for now, he heads into the mines, determined to make up for the bit of lost time today.

The next morning while making breakfast, he realizes he forgot to stop by the general store yesterday before coming home. ‘So much for not headin’ into town.’ he thinks bitterly as he sets the food between him and his daughter, letting her know he forgot some things yesterday and asking if she needed anything while he was there. He writes down what she needs and lets her know he won’t be staying in town today. After they finish breakfast he heads right out, itching to get there and get home.

Wasting no time, he heads straight to Zeki’s as soon as he enters the village. He grabs the things he needs for the house and Najuma before he heads over to the register, greeting the owner of the shop. After a bit of small talk, Hodari decides he should ask the other man what he thinks about the human. 

“Ain’t too close to them, to be honest but they seem decent enough.” he shrugs. “Rest of the town seems to like them, even Eshe seems to be warming up to them, albeit begrudgingly” he laughs. Hodari nods along as he is given the information to process. “You know me though,” the other continues, “I don’t make it a habit of trustin’ people, especially people I don’t know. It’s a crazy world out there. Their gold spends as good as anyone else’s though!” he finishes with a wink and Hodari just shakes his head as he pays for his goods. They say their good-byes and Hodari promises to pass along a hello to Najuma for him before he takes his leave. 

As he’s walking out of the store he spots you leaving the inn and waving a good-bye to the cook from the doorway. He watches for a moment as you smile and greet the youngest Daiya boy and Elouisa on your way back to your home plot. He wonders briefly what it looks like now since he’s last seen it the first day you appeared here. As you round the corner and out of his sight, he starts on his own way home.

He takes the opportunity on the walk back to mull over the things Zeki told him while the conversation is still fresh in his mind. He thinks the grimilkin may be right, you’re basically a stranger and he doesn't know you very well. You seem nice enough, and clearly your presence is enjoyed and welcomed by many in the village, but he's gotta keep his family in mind and Najuma’s wellbeing takes precedence. It doesn’t help that he’s still uncomfortable with the idea that a human has been around his daughter alone and presumably in his house and he’s been none the wiser to it. Friendly or not, the two of you haven’t even spoken since the night he stayed late in the mines so it would probably be best if he put a stop to whatever is going on, at least while he’s not around. Just for now. It wouldn’t hurt Najuma to socialize more, but he’s not sure this is how he wants that to happen. 

After getting home he puts away the items and goes to hunt Najuma down in the workshop, letting her know the things she wanted were waiting for her on the kitchen table whenever she needed them.

“It’s gonna be a late night for me t’night. Don’t wait for me for dinner, there’s leftovers in the icebox for ya. Don’t forget to eat, ya hear me?” He calls from outside the shop. Once he hears a quiet muttering of ‘yeah yeah’ in acknowledgement he turns and starts his walk to the mines. He figures tonight is as good a night as any to talk to you when you make your way down. ‘Doesn’t need to be a big deal’, he reasons with himself, ‘place a few boundaries. No harm no foul.’  

Without Hodari realizing it, hours have passed since he’s been down here and he picks up his things to head closer to the entrance of the mines to wait for you. A brief look outside tells him that the sun has long since finished its march across the sky, Luna and Ignis have risen, and he can hear the crickets begin their nightly songs. As he watches the lantern bugs flit about amongst the grass and trees he starts to worry you won’t actually show tonight and he’s stayed out this late for no reason. But like clockwork, the tell tale sound of the crunching gravel beneath shoes moves towards the mine entrance and he knows it can’t possibly be anyone else but you coming down here so late.

You wave to him, offering a quick ‘hello!’ as soon as you see him standing at the entrance. He raises his hand in greeting back, taking a deep breath. You’re already smiling in front of him and he finds himself inexplicably worried he might hurt your feelings. You don’t look like you mean any harm but he can’t trust you, not yet. 

“Another late night? You’re not usually down here still at this time, shouldn’t you be home having dinner with Najuma?” You ask, curious. He watches as you pull your pack off to get your own supplies out.

“Yeah about that. Got something I wanna talk t’ya about.”  He begins. You hum in acknowledgement of the statement while you continue to sort through your pack.

“Yeah? What’s up?” You ask and Hodari finds himself fumbling a bit at the relaxed ease in your tone, talking to him as though you were friends or at the very least friendly acquaintances and not practically strangers. 

“It’s about Najuma. I-” 

“Is she okay?” you cut him off, sounding concerned and he feels a flare of annoyance. It’s not your job to be concerned. 

“Well if ya let me finish,” he starts again a bit more gruff, “She’s fine. What I want to talk about is how much you’ve been hangin’ around her. I know ya don’t mean any harm, but I don’t see much of a reason for you to be headin’ all the way out here just to talk to her. Especially when I’m not around, it just don’t sit right with me.” He watches as the words sink in, and your face changes from concerned to confused, and finally to hurt. 

“I-” you begin but he holds out his hand to stop you. 

“It’s nothing personal. But we- I don’t know you and if anything happened to her… well it doesn't bear thinkin’ about. I just can’t take that chance, ya understand?” He waits until you nod in agreement before continuing, “Good. Glad we’re on the same page then.” He reaches down and grabs his pick off the ground before resting his hand on your shoulder. “Okay then, you have a good rest of your night.” 

He hears a quiet ‘you too’ as he starts to walk away, a lighter step in his gait. That went surprisingly well all things considered. He faltered at the thought of the hurt in your eyes but you’ll get over it, it's for the best to leave things as they are for now. As he walks away he doesn’t notice the sounds of mining dont carry up the hills as they normally do.  

A few days have passed and the weekend draws near. At breakfast Najuma is quietly picking at her food and Hodari lets her know they'll both be going into town tomorrow. Instead of the incoming complaints he was expecting she seemed to perk up at the news. 

“Do you think we’ll see y/n in town?” she rushes out, her eyes wide as she looks at him. It takes him aback at her intensity. 

“I.. don’t know.” he answers slowly. “Why?” 

She sits back in her chair a little dejected. “I haven’t seen them around lately. It’s been a few days and..” her voice drops down to almost a whisper. “..I miss them.” She looks back up at him, “Have you seen them around?”

“No, I haven't.” He answers honestly, but carefully. He doesn’t plan on telling her he spoke to you about not coming around if he’s not here too. But truth be told, he hasn’t seen you at all. Not in town this week or down by the mines.

Najuma resumes poking at her breakfast and Hodari has to bite back the comment of not playing with her food, recognizing that if he says anything now it would most likely spawn another argument and he’d much rather have a tension free day when he can help it. Not looking up from her plate she mumbles “What if they left too? Like all the other humans? What if they didn't say goodbye?” his daughter looks almost on the verge of tears at the thought and his chest tightens. He hadn't realized she felt so attached to the human already. 

He thinks for a moment wondering if that may have happened but no, you couldn’t have moved on. He had just heard both Sifuu and Reth talking about how helpful you’ve been just yesterday while he was in town. He tells Najuma as such and it seems like some of the weight has been lifted from her tiny shoulders. “I hope so.. Y/n is the only one who talks to me like an actual person! They even started to bring me iron from the mine for my projects after they found out you won't let me in there!” She huffs a tad indignant at the self reminder that he won’t let her in the mines with him. 

Hodari feels a bit of guilt listening to Najuma talk about missing you. He hadn’t realized that his daughter had apparently grown so fond of you so quickly. Taking an appeasing route, “Maybe they’re just busy. Remember y/n had to start everythin’ from scratch and that takes time.” Najuma just hums, unsatisfied in the answer. “When did you two start becomin’ close anyway Juma? I didn’t even know they were visiting until a few days ago.” He says finally taking a bite of his own food hoping to encourage his daughter to do the same.

His daughter looks at him like he just sprouted another head. Not raising to the bait, he raises an eyebrow waiting for her to answer. Still looking at him confused she begins, “A few months ago, Dad. Y/n got lost looking for Hassian’s grove and ended up here. They saw me and asked for directions, remember? You were in the workshop.” Hodari sets his fork down to focus on what his daughter is saying because, in fact, he doesn’t remember that. She continues without missing a beat, speaking a mile a minute now as she recounts the day she first met you. “I gave them the directions so they wouldn’t bother you and went back to working on my sketch as I waited for them to leave but they didn’t. They asked me what I was working on and said it looked cool! None of the humans had said that to me before!” She was smiling and excited now as she talks. “Then they told me I must be ‘One hell of an inventor’ because I ‘sure have a knack for it’ because they couldn't understand any of it but said it looked ‘awesome’! I told them I couldn't finish it because you wouldn’t let me in the mines and-”

“I would have brought you some iron if you had just asked me Juma..” Hodari interrupts her, already tired from knowing where this road could lead.

“It’s not the same! Anyway you were really busy with that huge order for Bahari City so I couldn’t ask you even if I wanted to, I knew you didn’t have the time. But you’ll never believe it! They said you were right! And that the mines are dangerous and I shouldn’t go in them!” She throws her hands up dramatically and Hodari has to fight down the smile at the action. “Then later in the afternoon when we were both in the workshop they dropped off some iron for both of us, remember? Y/n told me they couldn’t wait to see it all finished and were happy to be a “patron of the arts” whatever that means.”

Najuma is looking at him expectantly and he wracks his brain trying to remember any of that. He remembers the Bahari City order, took him days to complete. Honestly he doesn’t remember much else, he wasn't sleepin’ too much during it. Eventually he nods his head, “yeah yeah I kinda remember that.” Najuma looks at him skeptically, like she doesn't believe a word of it but he ignores it as he takes another bite of his food.

“Yeah well, that’s pretty much it. Y/n would come into the bay to forage and mine and when they started home they would ask me if you or I needed anything they had picked up. Which was a little awkward at first, and kinda overwhelming but they were just trying to be nice! Eventually y/n just started stopping by the house to ask what we needed and would go out and get it while they got the things they needed, it was super helpful!”

Hodari sits there and listens as Najuma goes on to tell him how cool it was to have an adult think that she was cool and smart. He wanted to interrupt her and tell her he thinks she's cool and smart but the words catch in his throat as she continues filling him in on all he’s missed. How annoying it was that you had agreed with him but then told her she was so smart that she’ll invent a way to make mining safer in no time and that you believed in her. He feels his stomach drop the longer she talks, you had been keeping his daughter safe and giving her all the confidence in herself he’d been trying so hard to instill in her. He’s still a little concerned he didn’t know it was happening and tries to find a way to say it without coming across as the bad guy. ‘A little late for that’ his mind unhelpfully supplies.

But Najuma always has been smart as a whip and catches on quick. “I’m not surprised you didn’t notice, Dad. You’re always so busy you don’t notice a lot of things even when they’re happening right in front of you. We didn't want to bug you so we just tried to stay out of your way when we were all in the shop.” Hodari almost wants to feel insulted as goes to say he isn’t that oblivious while he’s working when she suddenly goes very serious across the table from him.

“Wait.. If you didn’t notice how often y/n was here, even when you were in the same room with us, have you not thanked them for all the gifts they’ve been bringing us since the beginning? Not even the ones they’ve brought just for you?” She asks, horrified. The sinking feeling in his stomach turns to solid lead at the question. “Really Dad? None of the extra ores? Or all the fresh meat? Not even the ugly antlers you’d been wanting? I didn’t even mean to tell them about those but as soon as I mentioned them, they brought them with the meat that evening!” She says exasperated. 

Truth be told he didn't notice the extra ores were a gift, he thought he was the one who placed them there and forgot or assumed Najuma had been messing with them late at night and really hadn't thought too much of it past that. The meat and antlers though.. “I thought Sifuu’s boy had been bringing them by.” He answered honestly, a little rattled.

Najuma shakes her head unaware of her father's internal struggle, finally shoveling another bite in her mouth and opens her mouth to start talking again. This time Hodari did interrupt her to tell her to not speak with her mouth full. She swallows before starting again. “Nope!” She says popping the ‘P’ at the end. “Y/n has been dropping off fresh meat and even whole meals for us sometimes. They said something about how they know you're always busy in the mines and I'm a growing girl. They also told me they always make too much and have extra and giving it to us is a win-win for all of us because it won't go bad and that it's one less thing we have to worry about too.” She says it very matter of factly but Hodari knows that's not how it works. You don't just make “extra” enough to feed 3 people a whole meal. You had been going out of your way to cook for them so Najuma had lunch he didn’t have to make for her and he never even noticed.

“But dad, don't tell them I said this” she whispers conspiratorially, grabbing his attention again. “I think they go hunting just to bring us fresh meat when they're out here.” She stops to eat her breakfast before it gets completely cold while Hodari thinks about just how bad he’s just fucked up. 

She shovels the last of her food in her mouth before turning her gaze to her dad, “Y/n’s really nice, you should probably thank them when you see them next so they don't get the wrong idea and think we don’t want them here.” And wasn't that just salt in a wound that’s already festering. Meanwhile Najuma carries on, no idea what her father had told you a few days ago. “Maybe that's why they stopped coming by, it's really rude to not say thank you and they'd been doing it for months.”  She looks out the window and sighs, “I don't want them to think we don't like them and not come back, Dad. I want to show them my new ideas!” 

She turns back to her father, “I know you haven’t seen them but if you do when we are in town tomorrow can you tell them I want to show them my newest idea if they have time to come by. Oh! And you can ask if they want to have dinner with us! They haven't tasted your cooking yet, we can have corn! Please?”

His throat is dry as he tells her “Sure, Juma.” before sending her to go wash up before she inevitably finds her way outside to dirty herself up all over again. As soon as she’s out of sight he puts his head in his hands. He didn’t know any of that was happening and that his daughter had grown so close to you. Much less that you had been going so far out of your way to be so kind to his little family. The look of hurt in your eyes flashes through his mind as he called you a stranger and said he couldn't trust you around Najuma and he drags a hand down his face in hopes to wipe the image out of his mind’s eye. 

How in the hell was he gonna fix this?

[Dividers by the-aesthetic-shop]

[its-jaytothemee]

Until I Met You - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: The Battle of Moonrise

Pairings: Halsin x Tav

Word count: 5,295

Rating: Currently M, will be Explicit in later chapters.

Chapter 1

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Summary: Tav and the others fight their way to the top of Moonrise Towers, hoping to put an end to Ketheric Thorm once and for all. Part 43 of the slow burn fic. Tav and Halsin POVs.

Tags: Slow burn, mutual pining, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual love confessions, eventual smut, angst, implied past rape/non-con and abuse, graphic description of injuries, brief suicidal thoughts.

A/N: Enjoy a very combat-focused chapter! Only four more chapters in act 2!

Tav took a deep breath as she looked over the carnage of their first battle. Their own troops held out well, only losing one Flaming Fist and one Harper in total. But two more Harpers were injured severely enough that she insisted they not continue to the next fight.

High above them, they could see Aylin streaking across the sky, raining holy fire down on their enemies around the tower.

“That beacon of angelic wrath will be taking the fight to Ketheric on the rooftop. The first line of defense are dead, and he’s on the back foot for the first time since he returned from the grave.” Jaheira stood next to her, taking stock of the battlefield.

Tav nodded in agreement as she stared at the doors to Moonrise. Their fight hadn’t exactly been quiet. The others inside would have likely amassed their strength to meet them.

She squatted down a little as Jaheira’s quartermaster, Talli, came up to shove more arrows into her quiver. Standard arrows on the right, magical arrows on the left.

“The arrows with the thickest shafts are the ones that explode, ma’am. Use ‘em with care.”

She reached behind her head to get a feel for the arrows, Talli giving her a thumbs up when she wrapped her hand around the explosive ones.

“You’ve brought us this far, Tav,” Jaheira put a hand on her shoulder. “How shall we proceed?”

She closed her eyes for a moment, recalling as much of the tower’s layout as she could in her mind.

“We go in quick and precise, wipe out the ground level troops so we can clear a path to Ketheric.”

“Very well,” she nodded back at Tav. “Once it is done, the Flaming Fists will scout the prisons and barracks to make sure you are not taken by surprise. My Harpers and I will cut off any means of escape – the noose that tightens around Ketheric’s neck while you go in for the kill.”

Tav thought about the plan. “Actually, I was hoping you’d join us, Jaheira.”

“Touching, but I’m already spoken for.” She turned to look at her nearby squad of Harpers.

“Come on,” Tav prodded her, “I know you’re dying to see this through to the end.”

Jaheira spared a glance at the rest of their adventuring party, a fond smile on her face.

“You’ve convinced me, little ranger. By your side I’ll stand as we rip Ketheric away from yet another god.”

Shouts of approval came from her companions at the decision.

“Happy to have you, High Harper.” Tav clasped her forearm.

“Same marching order as before, soldier?” Karlach stomped up and slung an arm around her shoulders.

“Almost,” Tav turned to face the others. “Once we’re inside, I need someone to get one of the True Souls talking. Z’rell, most likely.”

“And why can’t you do it, General Tav?” Astarion made a face at her as he finished flicking the blood from his daggers.

“Because Astarion, I’m going to get up high on one of the beams and blow them into the nine hells with one of these new explosive arrows before they know what hit them,” she shot back with a sweet smile.

He sucked a bit of air through gritted teeth. “I suppose that’s one reason.”

“Worry not, my friend,” Gale spoke up, “I shall keep her preoccupied until we receive your signal.”

“That’s all fine and good, but how exactly do you plan to get up there? There’s not really a lot of cover in that room,” Karlach pointed out.

“Which is why I need them distracted. Keep them talking as long as possible just so I can get close enough to teleport up there.”

“Here,” Shadowheart dug into her bag, “this should help get you closer.”

Tav reached out to take the rolled-up parchment from her hands. It was the Invisibility scroll she had given her for her first trial in the Gauntlet.

“Kept this tucked away then, did you?” Tav teased.

Shadowheart shrugged, “I assumed it was a gift.”

“That it was. Thank you, Shadowheart.”

“Do be careful,” Halsin, having returned to his elf form, placed a hand on her shoulder. “Try not to throw yourself into the thick of things before we can come to your aid?”

“I’ll do my best.” She leaned into his touch.

Everyone fell into line. Tav walked behind Halsin and Karlach, trying to conceal herself for as long as possible before she needed to cast the spell. It would also give her a chance to catch a glance of the room before she decided where to attack.

They swung the large doors open, allowing their company to march forward.

“You…” Z’rell’s hateful sneer echoed off the walls.

“Yes, Disciple Z’rell, we have returned.” Gale started, just barely keeping the unease out of his tone.

Tav unfurled the scroll and mumbled the incantation as quietly as possible. The world around her shifted, a pearlescent sheen coating everything she saw – like she was looking through a soap bubble.

“Where’s that pretty little leader of yours?” Z’rell made a show of looking around the group.

“I’m afraid our friend fell to an orthon in the Thorm mausoleum. A mausoleum you sent us to…”

Tav crept forward as Gale started a monologue; she almost felt bad for Z’rell.

She let her eyes dart around the room to get a count of how many cultists stood in their way.

There were no less than five True Souls in the main chamber. The others seemed to be simple followers of the Absolute. Up above, she saw three archers on the beams where she was headed.

I’ll have to knock those guys off too.

At least fifteen enemies stood between them and the stairway that would lead to the rooftop.

And that was assuming there were no others waiting for them at the top.

Once she reached the bottom of the main stairs, she could see her ideal spot up on the rafters. Quickly and quietly, she cast her Misty Step, trying not to disturb the invisibility spell hiding her from the horde of cultists.

She found herself up on the central beam spanning the length of the room. From this vantage point she could see everyone, including the last few zealots waiting in the room beyond.

I’ll have to warn the others about them.

Tav could feel the invisibility spell waning along with Z’rell’s patience. She reached behind to pull one of the thick-shafted arrows from her quiver, carefully resting it on her bowstring as the cultists’ attention below remained fixed on her companions.

Deep breath…

She could see others gathering around Z’rell. She needed to hit as many targets as possible with this attack.

Just a little closer…

Tav felt the comforting brush of the arrow’s fletching resting against her cheek as a large cluster of cultists circled around their leader.

Aim…

Gale’s words started to ramble more the longer the conversation went on. She saw the nervous eyes of her allies dart upwards, unable to see where she knelt perched above them.

A small tickle in the back of her mind told her they were awaiting her signal. She paused only another moment before giving the order.

“Whizbangs.”

***

Halsin braced himself just as a large explosion rocked the room. Z’rell and the other cultists were sent flying off in different directions by the blast.

Tav had appeared on one of the beams above, bow held in front of her from firing the bomb-tipped arrow.

The sudden attack left the cultists befuddled, and their company took full advantage. Harpers immediately began a barrage of arrows, allowing the Flaming Fist to run forward for the first attack behind Karlach and Lae’zel.

“Tav says there’s more cultists waiting in the next room,” Gale called out as he conjured a wall of flames in front of the door across from them. “That should deter them for a bit.”

Right…tadpoles.

Halsin didn’t think he’d ever get used to the silent conversations around him. The others able to communicate their moves in battle without giving a hint away to their opponents. He and Jaheira were left to rely on their own senses and intuition.

Luckily, that was getting easier with every day he spent in their company. When he heard that growling scream from Lae’zel, he knew to give her a wide berth to charge forward at their enemies. When Astarion twirled the weapon held in his left hand, he knew swift, rapid-fire attacks would follow, leaving the target unaware of its source as he made a hasty retreat. Halsin could recognize the sharp gasp Wyll sucked in just before casting a spell and would stay clear of his line of sight.

But when Tav and Karlach started plotting aloud, he never knew exactly where their minds would lead.

“Karlach!” Tav yelled from overhead. “Sending you a present!”

A body landed off to his right with a horrible crack. Tav stood above them, still hunched over from driving her shoulder into the archer to steal his spot on the beam.

Karlach ran over and drove her sword into the man’s chest, striking the killing blow.

Cultists ran at them from all sides of the room. Three gnolls started stalking toward them from one side.

Halsin turned his attention to them, muttering under his breath as he found footing in the largest one’s mind.

Fight for me.

The gnoll stopped in its tracks and turned to attack the others behind it. With his newly charmed companion taking the attention of that corner of the room, Halsin turned to support the Harpers and Fists around him.

But a flash of movement from above caught his eye.

***

Tav knocked the second archer from the beams with an arrow to the chest. Not enough to kill him, but enough to make him lose his balance and fall to the floor – right on top of a True Soul.

She spun to take a shot at the last archer behind her but saw him holding a small bomb in his hand.

Ah fuck, not again.

Before he could light it, a thorny vine wrapped around his waist from below and yanked him down to the floor. Halsin gave her a quick nod before turning his attention back to the battle raging beneath her.

“Oh, fuck yes!” Karlach hollered. “Free bomb!”

Just a moment later Tav saw a small explosion off to her left, no doubt from Karlach chucking the unexpected artillery.

With the last archer thrown from the beams, she was able to move around freely, keeping her eyes dancing across the fight raging below as she tried to track her allies. It was easier said than done. The scene beneath her was chaos as cultists rushed to fight off the intruders.

Tav kept scanning the room, desperately trying to pick Z’rell out in the commotion. She spotted her pulling herself up to her feet after the massive explosion, her concentration fixed on a small group of Harpers and Flaming Fists close to the stairs.

***

Halsin called down strike after strike of lightning to deter the cultists. Whenever they would cluster near his allies, a cascade of electricity would fall over them.

He had just readied another attack, when he was jerked backwards toward the stairs, landing hard on his back. A large black hole had appeared at their base, dragging him and several Flaming Fist toward it.

Z’rell was concentrating on them, her face a burnt, bloody mess after the explosion. One of her tusks had chipped, leaving a jagged stump in its place.

When he got back to his feet, he found that he could hardly move. His feet felt like they were trapped in a river of molasses, its current running the opposite direction of where he needed to go.

An arrow came whirring into Z’rell’s shoulder causing her to look away from his small group. Tav was raining a storm of arrows down on the fight from above, spinning and hopping between the beams to pull attention from cultists where she could.

He saw a snarl twitch at Z’rell’s lips as her focus shifted. The incantation she started to mutter was not familiar to him but was most certainly aimed at Tav.

Halsin forced his feet to keep moving forward, desperate to get in range before she could finish whatever spell was aimed at her.

The magic gathering at his fingertips felt acrid and vile, necrotic energy simmering just below the skin waiting to be unleashed. Rare were the times that he let himself draw on such magic.

Just a couple more steps…

His heart pounded; the rush of his blood could be heard in his ears as he begged himself to keep moving before Z’rell could finish her attack.

***

Tav didn’t notice Z’rell’s shift in attention until it was almost too late. She could feel a strange pull in the air as if gravity itself was being warped around her.

Panic took over as she recalled the strange black hole she had conjured on the floor below.

But suddenly, Z’rell’s skin started to decay and wither before her eyes. She fell with a scream as her body deteriorated into an ashy corpse.

Halsin stood a short distance away, his hand stretched out toward the body.

With Z’rell out of the fight, that left only a few cultists. However, two of them had been ruthless in their attacks. Powerful blows and smites were aimed at their front-line attackers.

Karlach had just taken a nasty cut to her flank as Tav was releasing an arrow into her attacker. The zealot let out a loud curse as they clutched at their wound. Wyll followed her strike with a spell, killing the cultist.

The other troublesome enemy had cornered Jaheira. In her snarling panther form, she lunged and swiped at the cultist but was struggling to hold out against those fierce swings of his halberd.

Tav fired a couple of arrows at her attacker, trying to draw his attention away from Jaheira. He stayed locked on target, holding the weapon high above his head. But the others caught wind of the confrontation and rushed to surround him.

Shadowheart and Lae’zel reached him first, interrupting his attack and giving Jaheira a chance to recover. As they distracted him, Karlach came barreling over after downing a health potion. Within seconds the cultist was pummeled to the ground beneath a circle of very angry women.

One last cultist remained. Surrounded and outnumbered, she tried to flee. A series of glowing missiles fired from Gale caught up with her and caused her lifeless body to fall to the floor.

Tav let out a deep breath, nearly losing her balance on the wooden beam. She made her way to a nearby ladder to rejoin her companions.

Shadowheart was already working on healing the gash in Karlach’s side while Halsin sent out a smaller wave to catch everyone else’s minor injuries. To her relief, Tav noticed that they hadn’t lost a single person during the fight. A few Fists and Harpers looked ragged and bloodied, but they were alive.

They started the grim task of gathering materials from the bodies scattered along the ground. Arrows, potions, shields, weapons…they had their pick of new equipment if needed.

Karlach let out a long whistle as she plucked a sleek halberd from one body.

“Oh, dibs!” She dropped her current sword to the ground as she strapped the new weapon to her back.

Jaheira glanced at her nearby squad of Harpers. “I’ll need a few moments before we continue. I want to be sure the others can hold the ground level as we make our way further up the tower.”

Tav nodded before joining her friends at the other edge of the room. Halsin had already shifted back into a bear and had his snout stuck in the air, sniffing.

“Anything good?” she asked.

“There are no good smells in this entire place from what I can tell,” he responded, his grumbling bear tone a stark contrast from his usual smooth voice.

Tav made a show of smelling under her arms. “That bad, huh?”

He chuckled, the sound low and gravelly. “Perhaps with one exception, then.”

Halsin dropped his haunches to the floor to scratch at his shoulder with a back paw. The way he seemed to adopt bear mannerisms whenever he was shaped in its form brought a smile to her face. Without being able to speak with him, she would have a hard time knowing this bear was actually an elf.

“Jaheira needs some time to settle the plan with the Harpers and Fists, then we’ll continue onward.”

“Very well.” He laid down on the floor, his head resting on his paws. Tav walked over to his side, taking a seat next to him.

“May I?” she asked, starting to lean toward him.

“Of course.”

She fell back against the thick pelt, letting her head rest on his shoulder. A soft, happy growl rumbled beneath her when she set her hand on top of his head. He curled around her further, his head nuzzling into her side.

“You’re quite comfy in this shape,” she murmured.

“Happy to be of service, my friend.”

“Room for one more?”

Tav looked up to find Astarion looming over them.

“By all means,” Halsin chuckled.

“No need to growl at me, druid. Gods, I was just–”

“He said it’s fine, Astarion,” Tav laughed and scooted over while Halsin straightened himself out to allow Astarion to sit with them.

He settled in next to her, one leg stretched out in front of him as he leaned back on Halsin’s side with a quiet groan.

“Why are we sleeping on the hard ground when we could be lying on Halsin as a pillow, instead?” Astarion sighed.

“Perhaps having seven full grown adults laying on top of you isn’t the best way to sleep,” she teased back.

“I didn’t mean everyone. Just us very close friends.”

“Very close, are we?” Tav nudged him with her elbow.

“Why, of course, my dear!” He threw a hand over his chest, offended. “We elves have to stick together, you see.”

“I don’t know, so long as someone is not opposed to sleeping at the rear end of a bear, I don’t see why we couldn’t have a sleepover with me in the center.”

Tav let out a loud cackle.

“What?” Astarion shot up. “What did he say?”

“He said you smell weird,” she lied.

“Oh, and your bear form is a veritable patch of daisies, is it?” She saw Astarion shove his elbow into Halsin.

“Must you?” Halsin bumped her arm with his snout, a playful undertone to his grumble.

“Can’t resist, love.”

A shadow blocked out the dim light above them.

“Nap time is over, my friends.” Jaheira held a hand out to Tav to help her up.

She reluctantly left her comfortable resting place to gather the others. Everyone was stretching and loosening up their limbs for the next fight after a brief rest.

“Okay then,” Tav started with a deep breath. “We push through the rest of the tower. And we don’t stop until we find Thorm.”

***

Halsin spit out the femur bone he held in his jaws as the last skeleton fell.

A small force had been waiting for them at the top of the stairs. Only one cultist and a few reanimated skeletons.

“This is all the resistance he could muster?” Astarion kicked at a nearby pile of bones. “So much for the fearsome general.”

“Immortality will cause even the most seasoned of soldiers to grow complacent.” Jaheira studied the large, iron doors that would lead to the rooftop. They still hummed with dark magic. “He had no fear of death, so why should he waste resources on protection?”

“Key.” Tav held up a small ring in her fingers before letting her eyes flash toward the door. “The roof is through those doors, and likely Ketheric Thorm as well.”

“You ready, sis?” Karlach stood next to her, hand on her shoulder.

Halsin padded up next to her, nudging her in the side. She reached down to rest a hand on his neck.

“I’m ready…let’s finish this.”

Tav took a deep breath as she unlocked the doors. The quiet hissing of the magic being dispelled put a strange pit in his stomach.

Halsin returned to his elf form. If this was to be the final fight with Ketheric, he wanted to look him in the eyes as they rid the world of him for good.

***

Just like the ground below, the rooftop was littered with patches of holy fire. Aylin soared around the tower, the glow surrounding her a blinding contrast to the shadows.

In the center of the rooftop stood Ketheric Thorm. His scowl followed Aylin as she continued to smite all along her flight path. He held a hand to his side, trying to staunch a bleeding wound beneath his armor. A wound that hadn’t even tried to heal it would seem.

Ketheric spun around to address them.

“You!” he bellowed, wincing. “What have you done?!”

“You’ve done this to yourself, Thorm,” Tav spat back. “You’re mortal again, no longer feeding off the Nightsong.”

“Impossible,” he gasped, looking her up and down, “you’re a thrall – a slave!”

Tav felt her lips curl into a snarl at his words.

“You serve the Absolute. You serve ME!” He reached out toward her. “Bow, you dog. Bow!”

A wave of unseen energy slammed into Tav’s gut, launching her backward with a yelp. Halsin caught her and kept her from falling to the ground. When she stood back up, the Astral Prism came whirring into her hands, pushing away the strange force.

Ketheric’s eyes landed on the artefact, another hateful glare twisting his face.

“You…you’ve had the Prism the entire time?” He stared back at her in disbelief. “You will bow before me, True Soul. And if you will not bow, then you will break.”

Before he could take another step, a flash of radiant light came beaming down in front of Tav. When the glow dispersed, Dame Aylin stood between them, her sword held high and ready to strike.

“How good it is to see you again, Ketheric,” she hissed.

“Aylin. The thief,” he snapped back.

“I’m not the one who locked another soul away to feed off them, oathbreaker.”

“You may as well have. You stole Isobel from me, and I’ll see this world burn before you take my life in the bargain.”

Isobel…

The tomb. Tav thought back to the empty tomb in the Thorm mausoleum. The paintings depicting Ketheric’s grief. The rumors of his fall from Selûne after the loss of his daughter…

But what did Aylin have to do with her?

“You would evoke her, before me?!” Aylin cried back. “After your crimes innumerable, you would dare to speak of her?”

“Enough!” Ketheric waved her off. “This ends here and now.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Tav snarled before snatching her bow from her back and firing an arrow toward him.

“Yes!” Aylin cried with her sword raised high. “He will crumble at the power of your touch – give him all you have!”

She dove at Ketheric, the loud clang of their armor ringing in the air before she called down a shining column of moonlight to surround her.

The others sprang into action, most following after Aylin, the others spreading out to dispel his minions.

Tav kept her focus on Ketheric, trying to find the weak spots where her arrows could do the most harm. Shot after shot whistled through the air, many of them bouncing off his armor and clattering pitifully to the floor. But one such shot grazed his cheek and ear, leaving a little notch that oozed black ichor down the side of his neck.

Another found the space between his breastplate and pauldron, interrupting his attack.

Ketheric whipped around to glare at Tav before pointing his warhammer in her direction.

“Focus your attacks, soldiers!”

That’s not good.

She started to run, trying to keep herself a difficult target to hit. Regardless, the sting of necrotic magic kept catching her as every other enemy on the rooftop directed their attacks toward Tav and Tav only.

***

Halsin let out a growl as he watched the remaining undead focus their spells on Tav. She was running and dodging as best as she could, but he could still see her recoil every few attacks.

“Gale!” he yelled across the roof. The wizard was already trying to counter any spells hurled her way while also working to dispose of the others.

He didn’t seem to hear as he narrowly avoided a bite from the strange dog accompanying Ketheric.

Panic took over as yet another spell caused a cry of pain from Tav. Halsin was too close to Ketheric to chance running to her aid. Despite being surrounded by multiple people, he was parrying their attacks with alarming accuracy. The armor he wore kept him well protected between the brutal swings of his hammer.

Shadowheart however, seemed to catch the worry in his voice as she directed her attention toward Tav. A quick ray of light shot from her hands to envelop their companion, causing the other enemies to divert their attacks elsewhere.

He spared a grateful glance over his shoulder to Shadowheart as they focused their attacks back on Thorm.

***

The unending bombardment of attacks caused Tav to stop concentrating on Ketheric. She had to kneel for a moment to shake off the rapid series of painful strikes. Luckily, whatever spell Shadowheart had cast on her seemed to keep their opponents from targeting her.

As she quickly cast a healing spell to put some of the spring back in her step, she saw Gale launch the three remaining skeletons off the roof with a crack of thunder.

No longer winded from the barrage of spells, she brought her attention back to the center of the rooftop.

She had to take extra caution with her aim since many of her companions now surrounded Thorm. They all moved so swiftly; one miscalculation could spell disaster.

Just as she was ready to let another arrow loose, Ketheric spun from her sight again. He had a look of animalistic desperation in his eyes as he tracked each of his attackers. The remainder of his allies now laid dead, leaving him alone to fight them off.

A vicious, growling scream rang from his throat as he kept his scowl aimed at Tav. It was cut off abruptly by a heavy strike in his gut from Karlach.

Still, the cry Ketheric had let out left Tav frozen in place.

Gods, I can’t catch a fucking break.

She couldn’t even turn to get a proper angle with her bow. No matter how she compelled her legs to move, they wouldn’t respond. She wasn’t actually paralyzed, just stricken with a strange, overwhelming fear that kept her legs from moving forward.

Another blow landed against Ketheric, loud enough that Tav could hear the crack from where she stood. The strike caused him to unleash another pulse of energy, pushing away all of his attackers.

“Enough,” Ketheric panted, still holding his warhammer in a tight grip, “my lord beckons me home.”

Aylin hovered high in the air above them, her righteous scowl obvious even from far away. She snapped her wings to her back once more and dove toward him, sword gleaming with radiant Selûnite magic.

“And you!” Ketheric bellowed, pointing his weapon up toward the aasimar. “You must return to your cage, and my daughter must be reclaimed!”

“Your daughter?” Aylin stopped her dive bomb midflight, wings shooting out to her sides to stop her rapid descent.

Ketheric held his hammer high above his head, swirling it around in the air.

“Isobel?” Aylin had a look of pure disbelief on her face.

A deafening crack echoed in the air around them.

From one of the towers, a huge, monstrous tentacle erupted in a spray of mortar and stone.

Tav remained immobilized – whatever curse Thorm had used on her prevented her from taking another step even as a large chunk of debris headed straight for her. She felt her heart stop as she braced for the impact.

At the last second, she was tackled away from the stone slab. Halsin had her pressed against his chest to keep her head from smacking against the ground as they fell together.

They watched, helpless, as the tentacle came careening down in time with Ketheric’s movements, slamming into Aylin and knocking her unconscious. The aasimar landed with a hard thud in the center of the rooftop.

As the taloned tip of the strange appendage touched her, she was whisked away with magic, much like Tav had been when she was abducted by the nautiloid. It retreated back down the tower once Aylin had disappeared.

Without another word, Ketheric Thorm fled down the same tower as the tentacle.

***

Halsin held Tav against him until he was sure she could move again. Once she could, she went charging toward the center of the tower where Aylin had been struck down.

She looked around frantically, like she was trying to find any piece of her leftover that they could save.

“That thing was illithid,” Jaheira said once she had dismissed her wild shape. “Where in the hells did it come from?”

“No…no…” Tav sputtered as she looked around them. “We had him, we had him right here.”

“Tav?” Halsin called out softly.

She didn’t respond, she just picked up a nearby piece of rubble and threw it toward the broken tower with a scream.

“Get back out here and fight you fucking coward!” Tav shouted into the air.

A slew of Elvish curses followed. Each obscenity came with another rock or piece of debris hurled away into the darkness. He usually loved hearing her speak their native tongue. But tonight, it just broke his heart hearing how desperate she sounded.

“Dhaerow!”

Traitor.

“Savalir!”

Murderer.

“Lorkh!” she spat with an extra dose of rancor.

Butcher. Not just a butcher, a being who had forsaken their elven nature by such terrible acts. A particularly nasty insult not thrown out without due reason.

“Motherfucker!” She screamed the final curse as she kicked one of the nearby skulls off the tower.

“Hells below, Tav, you kiss Halsin with that mouth?” Astarion said the words as a tease, but Halsin could hear a small streak of concern in his voice. He shot Astarion a warning look as he walked up next to her, Jaheira following close behind.

“Easy Tav,” Jaheira said calmly, “you have him on the run. The General will call it a tactical retreat, but I think you rattled him.”

“It’s not over yet,” Halsin assured her. “If he felt the need to retreat, he must be truly threatened for the first time in a very long while. We need to find him before he’s able to subdue Aylin again.”

“We still have the advantage, for you have put the fear of death in the mind of an immortal man once more.” Jaheira nodded her head toward the tower where Ketheric had disappeared.

“You’ll come with us?” Tav asked, her voice hopeful.

“If you can find room in your company for an old Harper, yes I’d be honored to join you.”

“Hells yeah!” Karlach shouted from the back of the group, both fists thrown up in the air.

Halsin followed Tav as she walked up to the edge of the broken tower, peering past the fleshy strands that lined it.

“Let’s take a chance to resupply and catch our breath.” She spun around to face everyone.

“Then we’re following Thorm.”

[weekend-whip]

This is a writing question more than an ask but how do you handle lore dumps???? Your AU is so full of em and you handle them so gracefully. I’m here stuck on a chapter because my MC really really needs to have Information in order to Progress, but having Character B explain it to him is so tedious??? It reads like a rant!! I want the information to flow smoothly for readers, but it needs to be given all at once because it’s Plot Relevant. Any advice is a godsend 🙏

Well, 90% of my "lore dumping" is done via conversation to some degree—whether it be one character happening to be knowledgeable during a particular situation, two characters sharing a personal discussion with each other, or round-robin getting a whole group up to speed on a subject. It just never reads as a "lore dump" because a) there's also character dynamics being dispersed amongst the information, and b) there's more to the scene than just the information itself, even if the information is still the most important part. And that's still true even if dialogue isn't your go-to method for info deliverance!

All right, here we go, spit-balling rambles here!

You can still have Character B outright explain things to the MC, but to avoid it being "ranty", the easiest thing to do would be to have the MC react to what's being said to break up the monotony with how they're feeling about it, or even questions about what's being told to them. And having the MC asking questions has the added bonus of allow different ways for Character B to offer information, instead of going through the points like a check list. Character B could respond to points the MC brings up, questions the MC had the Character B hadn't even considered, the MC mentioning something that jogs something else to mind for Character B to bring up—anything that isn't just "MC, you must know this: [word words words words]". Make sure there's a push and pull, give and take with the information, rather than, well, all push or all give—THAT is what will ultimately help with your flow.

(...though I dunno if the characters are in, like a "time crunch"/urgent situation at this point in time, hence why Character B would be divulging everything at once in a bombshell rant—but if that is the case, at least you'd have the excuse for doing so! That being said, you'd have to counterbalance this by limiting the amount of info that's being given, because otherwise that's going to make the "ranting" even more obvious and harder for a reader to get invested in gfdsgfd)

And also, assumedly, your audience is learning this information just the same as your MC is—think about the questions your audience might consider about the lore too, and use the MC as a way to add those extra clarifications as well! I tend to use Kai for this a lot haha

Or, if you don't want to go the "direct" route via conversation/dialogue and want to switch it up, you could have a mention of the MC learning the info from Character B offscreen, then jump right to them either mulling over everything they've learned to themselves or someone else (flavored up by their own personal thoughts about it) or by them already putting the info into practice with some reflection throughout. This is probably a little less effective strategy for a written story than something like a movie or tv show, but if your first way isn't working out, try restructuring it like this anyway! If nothing else, you can reverse engineer what the most important bits of the info you really want the MC to take away in this instance in time (or at least what's most relevant for the moment/situation at hand), thus shortening the amount of time Character B has to spend "ranting" in the first place. Or, maybe it'll give you another idea of how to frame the information!

Also, try to give a reason for why this information is suddenly being shared right now (again, if this isn't some kind of "MC I have to tell you all this NOW before it's too laaaaate!" kind of scenario. Sure, there's always "you'll need this to progress on your quest" or the overall whatever else may be going on, but think on a smaller scale—what in the moment causes the topic to come up now?

For example –using my own story here because I wrote it and I know my own thought process lmao– Lloyd starts explaining about the Moon's Triad holiday in B2Ch41 because Acidicus comes to him with concerns for how the associated traditions are affecting the Serpentine's plans going forward. Miranda discusses how the Aftershock Ability functions to Jesse in B2Ch45 because Jesse's been trying to figure out why it happened to begin with. And Wu and Garmadon's whole discussion in B2Ch36 is mostly stuff that they both mutually know for the most part —yet is shared regardless for the audience's benefit—but to avoid falling into an "As you know" back-and-forth trap, it's also framed by Wu trying to catch up Garmadon on things he's missed, with their mutual information being used as anchoring context for Garmadon, so it's there for a character purpose as well. Basically killing two birds with a stone there.

Yet when the lore dump is large enough to warrant, like, half a chapter's worth of dedication *eyes B2Ch31*, sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and go all-in with an outright dump for utmost clarity—but that doesn't meant you can't dress it up or have fun with it! Like, for the Elemental Compass explanation, I literally have Jesse pull out a whiteboard and marker and make everyone sit in a circle to learn sjhgffd–I make fun of the fact that I know this is going to be a big chunk of info to take in for everybody, and using some of the techniques mentioned above, I'm able to break down all my main points I want delivered all while preventing Jesse from just throwing out text blocks in an unnatural, not-fun-to-read fashion. So, that could be an approach for you too!

Ah, how to phrase this...as long as there's dynamism in the deliverance of the information, that'll save it from reading as stale. Even if at the end of the day it really is just two people standing around talking at each other (or one at the other)—if there's action and reactions, emotions, an established point of it all to begin with (as opposed to sudden information for information's sake), and that push/pull + give/take as discussed, you should be able to get your point across in a way that's entertaining for reader's just fine~

Anyway, I hope at least even a sentence of this made sense and was even minutely helpful! Good luck breaking through your block; I'm rooting for you! ^-^)/

[thedepthsoffandomminds]

Maze runner chapter twenty

Previous chapter

Masterlist

"Hello, Thomas. I'm glad you're safe.” Ava Paige walked out of the burg in her signature white coat. Teresa walked behind her.

“What the hell?

Teresa?

“Wait, what's going on?” Newt asked.

“She's with them.” Thomas sighed.

“Since when?”

“Teresa always had an evolved appreciation of the greater good. Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time.” Janson explained with a triumphant grin.

“Where's y/n?” Newt asked.

“She's safe, don't worry.” Ava smiled, but it did little to reassure Newt, his heart felt like.it might burst from his chest.

“I'm sorry. I had no choice. This is the only way. We have to find a cure.” Teresa said. Newt fought against his restraints but one of the soldiers forced him back to the floor and held a gun to his back.

“She's right. This is all just a means to an end.You used to understand that, Thomas. No matter what you think of me, I am not a monster. I'm a doctor. I swore an oath to find a cure! No matter the cost. I just need more time.”

“More blood.” The doc walked through the crowd.

“Hello, Mary. I hoped we'd meet again. I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances.” Ava said.

“I'm sorry about a lot of things, too But not this. At least my conscience is clear.” The Doc said.

“So is mine.” Ava smiled. Janson fired his pistol, hitting Mary in her chest.

“Mary? Mary?” Vince grabbed her as she dropped.

It was as if the world stopped for a moment as the doctor took her last breaths.

“Come on, Janson. Don't forget the tiger.” Ava turned and walked on to the burg, guiding Teresa alongside her, “Load them up. Let's go. All these people. Get rid of them.” Janson started shouting orders to the soldiers.

“Let go of me!” Vince huffed.

“Sonya! Aris!”

“Let's go!” Too many Voices spoke at once.

“Get back!” Thomas jumped to his feet, pulling Jorge's bomb from his coat. “Everyone, stand back! Stand back!” He shouted, flicking open the detonator.

“Hold your fire!” Janson called out.

“Stand back. Let 'em go.” Thomas demanded.

“Thomas, put it down.” Janson warned.

“Let 'em all go!”

“You know I can't do that!” Ava says to him.

“Thomas, please stop. I made a deal with them. They promised we'd be safe. All of us.” Teresa comes back down the ramp on the Burg.

“And I'm supposed to trust you now?” Thomas growls.

“It's true. It was her only condition.” Ava says.

“Shut up!”

“Everything can go back to the way it was. Thomas, do you really want all of them to die? For y/n to die?” Ava stepped closer to him.

“Listen to her, Thomas.” Teresa begged. “Think about what you're doing.” Ava implores him.

“We're with you, Thomas.” Newt, stands at Thomas's back.

“Do it, Thomas.” Minho says.

“We're ready.” Frypan agrees.

“We're not going back there.” Thomas shakes his head.

“Thomas?” They see the fear in Ava’s eyes.

“It's the only way.” Thomas closes his eyes and braces himself

In that exact moment a car horn blares through the silence.

Jorge sped in through the crowd

The distraction gives Vince and the other adults of the right arm a chance to get back to their weapons.

“Get her out of here!” Ava shouts shoving Teresa back toward the burg.

“Get out of here! Go!” Janson shouts at his.men. They grab as many of the immune children as they can and retreat to their ships.

In the chaos, they don't notice Minho being shot by the taser rounds. He falls to the ground as electricity surges through his body. The soldiers drag him back with them.

“Minho! Minho!” Thomas sees him but it is too late. The burgers take off. Newt runs out below them, he can't think what to do, his best friend and girlfriend were taken, out of his reach.

Mai Mai l, who had now awoken leapt out in front of him, knocking him back so a stray bullet narrowly misses them both.

“No, no.” The tiger shoves her whole body against him. In her way she tries to comfort him as Newt cries.

“Come on, come on, Newt. Get up” Frypan pulls his friend up his shoulder and drags him away with the others.

Newt wanted to wallow in his sadness but there was too much to do. Bodies were laid flat and fires put out. Equipment was checked through and all around people salvaged what they could. What was once a peaceful place now was tainted with despair. Thomas filled his backpack with tinned food.

“What do we do now?” Frypan asks, he sat close to Newt and Mai Mai, neither of you had moved for sometime.

“Well, we pick up what's left of us. We stick to the plan. We get you kids to the safe haven. Then we start over, I guess.” Vince explained.

“I'm not going with you.” Thomas said.

“What?” Vince narrowed his eyes on the dark haired boy.

“I made a promise to Minho. I wouldn't leave him or y/n behind. I have to go after them.”

“Hey, kid, look around you. All right? WICKED just kicked our ass.You think about where you're headed.” Vince tried to argue.

“I'm not asking anyone to come with me.” Thomas continued.

“Thomas, listen to me. I've known Minho and y/n for Well, as long as I can remember. So, if there was any way that we could help him, trust me, I would be up there standing next to you. This, what you're talking about, is impossible. More like suicide.” Newt said, a tear dropping from his eye. The tiger let out a low growl deep from within her chest. She shoved her shoulder into Newt's hip and stepped over to Thomas.

“Maybe, but I know what I'm supposed to do now. It's not just about Minho or y/n. It's about all of us. It's about everyone WICKED's ever taken, everyone they will take. They'll never stop. They'll never stop,

so I'm gonna stop them. I'm gonna kill Ava Paige.” Thomas said with sheer determination radiating from him, beside him Mai Mai stamped her foot and huffed out a breath through her nose, her eyes locked on Newt's. He nods to her.

“Yeah, yeah you're right. Let's do it.” He agreed.

“I have to admit,” Harriet agreed, “I'd like some revenge.

Well, that's a good speech, kid. So what's your plan?”

You wake in a bed, a white room surrounded you with bright yellow.lights blurring your vision. There is a low beeping of machines close by and you can hear people talking.

“Do you think this is enough?” Teresa says, you turn your head towards her and see her with Ava. The older woman holds up a tray filled with vials of blood.

“For now, we can start testing these straight away.”

A doctor approaches your other side and you feel him touching your arm. You lash out at him knocking him to the ground and you throw your legs off the bed.

“Y/n!” Teresa shouts.

“Y/n, stop. Just listen to us! You're about to save the world.” Ava implores you to calm down but you yanked the needles from your arms and stumbled away from them. Ava darted across the room, hitting a large green button on the wall. A soldier came running in and instantly hit you with the buy of his gun. You fall to the floor and he grabs you, restraining your arms behind your back with cuffs.

“Take her to the others. We have enough for now.” Ava orders him.

Next chapter

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[yohohonabottle]

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Chapter 2 - Crisis

‘‘hmmh…’’ Pear-like eyes blink open with bleary vision, a grimace on the alabaster visage of groggy discomfort. My head…. Ugh.. Nighttime? Hazy visions of memories vague and carrying a not very distant sense filter back to the mind’s eye – Called down, the contract. A man’s words resurface, of stipulations and a goal. You will not tell a soul about our contract. Nobody can know you're not Merlin, and that I'm at my Mystical House. You will protect Chippy and Hammie, my two familiars, no matter what. I want to see those two hamsters strictly alive and well.

...Protect..Esperia, help the people.. Yes, I remember. That’s my duty.

Limbs throb dully as if from a fall, willing the body to move and sit up on the finely-dusted beach. It’s still so loud and -Wait a second where’s that ginger hamster? Wasn’t Chippy right on the left while Hammie on the right like their owner told them to? ...When did that mage tell them to flank me…? Focus. You have a job to do. Find that chubby-cheek squeak-toy first or Merlin will flip. Scanning the area with a squint whilst padding with careful steps, the sand crunching and rustling softly under his soles – No sight of either familiar. The young man freezes up in his tracks, ruby-colored eyes abruptly filled with dread and fixated ahead, chill striking down his spine. Instantly memories surge, from depths of subconscious to aware conscious in an acrid torrential stream. Smoke- Barking of hounds, running, gnashing of swords, axes, knives, that horrid loud gnashing never stops, never stops, so loud and harsh, everywhere- Smoke--

«Where’s dad!?» «Keep running Iyan! Keep running! Go!» «Mam!» «Мамо! (Mamma!)» «Vladimir! Take Iyan and Kallina!» «Got it!» Wailing of a young child, an angered roaring cry bellows amidst the clashing of weapons and calls of men. “Get ‘em!” “Fire the nets! Don’t let the rats get away!” “Aargh! Help!” The harsh galloping of hooves and neighs of horses, smoke and putrid stench of rot, a blur of brown darting to join the fray. Some of the hunters fall, thrown off their mounts, some get snatched and flung. The rattling of bones and ghastly shrieks blends into the chaotic cacophony – Maya, standing on her hind legs with jaws wide open, lower seeming dislocated almost and dangling and her wings flared to full span. “Don’t let that vermin’s bluff intimidate you boys!” “Gaah- My arm! My arm!” A stray lightning flashes through the carnage, leaving more huntsmen fallen in her wake, her firm yet urgent voice carrying on the air.

More hunters fall, mangled and thrown viciously as dad charges through the bloodbath. The soil generously drenched in the blood spilled like wine by both Crusaders and night nymphs. As bodies litter everywhere.. Calls of anguish, of coordinating and communication, of fury, of rallying, of terror both human and nymph. Smoke everywhere, stifling, suffocating. As the genocide, war, slaughter raged in its gruesome chorus. As more and more fall, collapse lifeless corpses… Sons, daughters, mother, fathers, brothers and sisters of both kin… Forever lost with no return.

Desolation.

Decimation… Death and Loss, singing their mournful lullabies for them all, solemnly taking them all into their arms. «МАМО! (MOM!) MAYA! DAD!» A large blur of brown, coarse fur matted with war-paint and enemy blood darts, snagging him by the scruff and flashing through the carnage after the pale lightning calls again. A low, quietly thrilling hum resonating in a light, rumbling voice - «Stay here. Don’t come out.» Hidden deep in the branching roots of a tree-stump, the roots thick and densely entwined like a barrier, a series of chocked chirps from the young bat. Don’t go- A call near-drowned by jeers, barks and clashing--

—“Look over there! The Heroic Order came to put out the fire!” A blink, tremors wracking the lean silhouette standing paralyzed and deathly silent. For once grateful to the damn grating, high-pitched voice of the spoilt-rotten Acorn knight. Breaking through the solid fog or past, yanking and anchoring to the current.

“Fire Elementals are attacking them! Magister, let’s go help them!” Taking deeply shuddering breaths, the mage closes his eyes shut as he tunes out the whirling world. Focus. The contract. No time. Opening his eyes, Merlin Ioan charges ahead with gaze steeled to cold and dutiful void as the water splashes under his feet. Yet not once looses balance while running over the rocks forming a flimsy bridge between the shallow river’s shores, the smoke plumes rising high into the night—A memory gets immediately shot down and shoved away before it could unfold. Up ahead stand a group of men, troops and their General at the helm, faced with the fiends that have them surrounded on all sides. Horned skulls for faces and a ball of flames for body—

Two elder siblings, mother and father, and a young child caught and bound tight into a bloodied battered heap by nets—

Rage. It roars in the magus’ very veins, narrowly tearing out his throat in primitive cry of war, speeding up and charging at the scene unfolding. While two faithful, startled hamsters hurriedly pad after him, struggling to catch up. What’s gotten to him?! On one hand it’s wonderful for Merlin’s substitute holds such similar spirit, readiness to aid.. But never thought he’d be this revved up and daring!

—“Magister!” —“Magister wait!” -Two alarmed and shocked voices ring out at a loss for breath, unnoticed by the blond young sorcerer whose mind and gaze lay firmly fixated. A needle-like sword of crystalline flame shoots without warning, stabbing through one of the Fire Elementals ruthlessly like arrow hitting true. A chorus of ‘Look out! General stand back, the swords are stray!’ erupting in a wave through the troops, holding their weapons tighter as they watch the blade pierce the other enemies, connecting them all with a thin shimmering cord.

A sewing needle and thread, laced with paralyzing toxin or venom. In a swift move the beings are yanked and thrown back into the river nearby, slammed into the waters in remorseless execution. Like whips grasping, the threaded needles lash out at incoming foes, catching in vicious crushing grip and slamming them into the river with ferocity… Until the last few of the onslaught fall defeated, ghastly shrieks fading to silence of pelting rain.. as a figure stalks forth into view in measured march, poised.

—“Magister!” “Magister! Huh.. w-wait! You’re.. Too fast! Chippyh..Chippy almost dropped his sword.. Phew!” The little hamsters at last trot over, coming to flank the mage. Yet even before coming into his line of sight, the heavy-armored man wore a smile of welcoming fondness. Or respect, wistfully nostalgic and proud as he had watched the Elementals be seized and flung with seemingly no effort. Hazel eyes rest on the muted younger man now standing before him and his stunned men, meeting rosy-red coldly stern gaze without a hint of fear. Rather, with joy. A silent rejoice of the greatest triumph. It’s been so long, yet even after all these many years, they still fight shoulder-to-shoulder. Just like the good times. Nothing has changed.

—“I wouldn’t have recognized you if it weren’t for Chippy tagging along.” A mirthful chuckle, eyes sparkling with held back tears. Holding up his arm in victory, hand curled into fist. Not put-off by the lack of response in return to his words or the wary glimmer in those irises. Merlin was never one for chatter at first meeting, reserved and cautious with new faces. Some have claimed the magus is cold even, devoid of emotions.. However quickly find out Merlin’s side of hearty warmth and impish mischief, once he warms up and relaxes. ..It seems he’s forgotten yet again.

“How about you dispel your disguise so I can see my old friend again?” A silly, joking jab. That rascal, always loved, loves taking on disguises of all manners and shapes. Always taking off and putting on new identities like masks and costumes in a play for whimsical amusement in his pranks. Still haven’t forgotten the time you disguised as an old lady.

The blank question simply confirms the veteran’s suspicions. Indeed another episode of amnesia. —“...Old friend..?”

They’ve always seemed to mercilessly plague him.

The solders behind the bulky, tall middle-aged man eye the magister in puzzled wariness. Is this really the great Merlin? ...General Hogan would always recognize his brother-in-arms. However something in particular catches their attention, an ever so subtle shift in the soulless leer of ice: Sorrow. Conflict. As though Merlin wishes to tell a truth to his old-time comrade, desperately so, but cannot do so for some unknown reason. Pain, for having to likely carry yet another mask, shoulder the brunt in silence. Or perhaps… something much more deeper.

Is it...truly amnesia? Or did this mage never knew the General in earnest? Is this what constricts his throat so terribly, strangling the younger man like a noose? Hogan’s troops exchange looks amidst themselves in grave silence as the rain keeps pouring down, collectively agreeing on one:

Something is off for certain.

Question is what.

—“Oh, I really do hope this is the last time I hear this question from you.” Disheartened. But doesn’t linger on the pain, bouncing back into joy of victory. Of renewed hope. One that feels oddly far more akin to desperate naivete to the solders standing at guarded attention, and the legendary wizard. “But no matter how many times you lose your memory, I’m happy to reintroduce myself to you.” …Blatant lie if I’ve heard any.

“I am Hogan, the former leader of the Heroic Order of the Lightbearer Empire and the current magistrate of Holistone.” That one checks out about right. ...Right. Stay in-character, the solders are already eyeing me funny. I can’t slip up again.

So with unease, the spirit dives into the invisible mask thrusted onto his face. Locking himself away and letting his character take front center stage. Because he’s Merlin. Always was. An ember of relief colors the brown-haired magistrate’s voice at catching the faintest trace of dawning recognition, light up as though in a jolt of surprise.

Like how his eyes would when having come to breakthrough realization or recall a crucial memory, detail he’s overlooked. When it finally clicks into place, and mind whirs into rapid-fire analysis, planning on solutions. Map out the strategy to the smallest details. Before jumping out of his seat and bolting.

“We’ve been friends for decades, and our friendship will never fade, no matter how muddled your memory gets.” You’d be devastated to know the truth. That your old friend is no longer here.. with no return. And I’m an impostor in his stead to keep the world from falling. Vague words swim up, of wanly nostalgic. A confession- I’m eroding… and I’ll spiral as time goes… A familiar rather tanned face of a ‘Mauler’, vivacious auburn eyes looking down at him with pride. Before a wing pulls him into a tight side-hug without a warning and a wide toothy grin sets onto her face with a laugh booming. Clapping the shy ghost on the back, nearly sending him falling face-first if it wasn’t for the hug.

—“Whatcha so glum ‘bout, ay? It’ll be fine you little sparrow! We’re always gonna be friends, ya know!” So confident and radiating courage bordering on bullheaded recklessness at times. Brazen, short fuse and fiery spirit, loud and crass-sounding… But her heart was always true, always held the name, lives, safety of those around her first. Sunny… and scorching. A terror on the battlefield, like her clanmates both when wielding her axe and when in hand-to-hand. A ‘hellhound’. Sister and brother in arms -- duo of ferocious, devilish jaws and muscle, and a frightened specter scrambling to heal and coordinate. A lookout, yelling for enemies too close on either side.

The Hellhound and the Sparrow.

—“But there is no time for small talk, Pirin. Look at these fire elementals.” - A pensive, troubled scowl sets onto the hazel-eyed man’s weathered face. And the rosy-colored irises turn slowly to glance back at the ‘corpses’ in the river’s shallow waters. The skull-faces.. Then flit back to the towering figure, creasing his own brows into a mystified light scowl. “They don’t belong in Ryeham. How could they just appear out of nowhere?” ….I don’t know. You tell me. What falls out his mouth instead is a very hesitant, tentative gander:

—“The...fire brings them here…” - A statement that rings out as far more of a question to even his own ears, that sounds logical enough.. Probably. Then again, who’s to say some mage didn’t summon them? I don’t know how those things popped out! I just came over and extinguished them!

And yet.. the General doesn’t even bother to question his answer, this wild guess, simply going along. Much to the mage’s bafflement and disbelief.

—“Then, our most pressing concern is to put out the fire.” What?! Sorry but- Huh?! ...Oh right, they’re old friends, go way far back. Of course Hogan would go along with whatever Merlin says. Why would he be skeptical of his claims? “Please give me a hand, Pirin. Let’s put this fire out together!” What the sorcerer offers back, is a dumbfounded slow blink. The dissonance is far too great to simply meld with the ‘mask’. And the hazy images surge forth once again, snapping into sharp focus. That brunet cocky man, is the real Merlin and he’s only a decoy double as per the contract. This is simply too absurd! Internally heaving a huff of an exasperated sigh with a miffed scoff and a shake of the head, ‘Merlin’ only makes a hum of agreement outwardly.

As soon this is done, I’m out.

Keeping to the hulking man’s side with purposeful, hurried and unwavering strides nearly breaking into a jog, the village of Ryeham and Wheatshire easily comes into sight. Already the plumes of thick smoke are assaulting his nose and eyes, mouth, almost making him sputter and recoil physically whilst only allowing a flinch on the inside. There’s work to be done, a mission to carry. ..The sight of the rising flames does no help if not worsening the anxiety creeping and pulsating like a hare’s heartbeat, teetering on a hummingbird's wings. Keep going. Just.. keep going. Don’t think.

Winds howl, more elementals present, feeding into the other elementals’ might and a sudden cold stab pierces through the young wizard’s heart. Freezes up like turned to stone, eyes fixated onto the flames as high as the heavens with nothing...but pure, blind, irrational, primal terror and agony. Breathing shallow, rapid rasps chocked half by the smoke and half by the lack of air, the constricting of chest and throat… The urge to bolt, to flee, escape screeches in his ears, drowning out all else. The worried gaze and voice of the General calling his name, the solders’ mutters and words, the hamsters’ squawks. …As tears prick at the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision, flowing down his cheeks. Duty, survival. Deathly silent, can’t look away from the fires laughing and raging. The screams of people—Both human and of own kin as they’re hunted and slaughtered, the barking of hounds and neighs of horses. Of villagers in peril running, crying for help, for aid to their trapped loved ones and the missing.

As the voices of most beloved rise above the fires’ sneer, the cacophony, the thundering heartbeats, a collective song with cheerfully tender and loving tone.. rueful. A reassurance, solace, a promise, the stench of melted and burnt flesh and hair, fabrics and bones. The magics rise in colorful swirls, blessings and wishes, hopes along with them… As their spirits lift from the vessels. Guiding the magics converging into one river of shimmer, that flows softly towards him. And settles within the cords of the intricately woven tapestry hanging around his neck. (Pirin! Magister Merlin! He’s not responding! General, the magister isn’t responding!) No. No. Not again. Not this again-

“Mama!” - The desperate, frightened cry of a girl nearby snaps his attention. Without a word, the rosy-eyed blond mage lunges—A lightning, blur of color, the squad leaping back out of the way. Flee – Help. Survive – Protect, so no family would suffer the same – Save, protect. Protect. Standing back stunned in shocked silence, Chippy and Hammie blink at the low chirps and shrill whines of distress, of agony echoing. As the blur of snowy white flashes, bounces across the village in a frenzy.

Caught under debris and coughing, the child struggles feebly to crawl out...But it’s too heavy, listening to her distraught mother’s calls in exhaustion.. Vision blurring.. A stray lightning darts with a huff and cry—In an instant it rams into the pile of rubble with force, sending the grids flying off and tumbling far. Blinking her hazy vision, Marina only glimpses a collar of thick, fluffy white fur and near-black red eyes.. a bat. It whines in pure terrified pain, head bowed, then teeth clamp onto the scruff of her dress… Careful. So very careful.

...Like a mamma picking up kittens.. Pretty kit..ty... The sonorous thrill-like humming pulls at the kid’s slipping conscious, curious and calming. In a blink, the fires and debris are far away.

—“Marina!” -Looking around frantically, Penelope coughs. No sight. No sight.. A quiet, melodious hum of a warbler grips at the woman’s attention, head whirling in the direction. And a horrified gasp falls out her lips, gaping at the large male bat stalking towards her.. In its jaws, her precious little girl. A Rat. A Night nymph—Alive, in the flesh. But something is off. It...hasn’t stolen Mari away, nor mauled her. No, it looks like it’s coming closer and holding her by the scruff…

Wary, hasty steps to meet the creature, the vermin halfway. The mother’s brows furrow in confusion, and relief, in fear at what meets her eyes in that demonic gaze—Sorrow, fright and devastation matching hers, the clashing desire to flee and protect warring without relent. Almost….human. A low whine, one of pain, as if wounded terribly. Carefully taking her daughter into her arms and cradling her tightly, Penelope Smith meets the bat’s gaze. Gratitude through streaming tears, respect. ...Perhaps the Temple is wrong about this one. —“..Thank you..” -Shaky, choked voice weighted by emotions, a weak smile. But before any more expressions of thanks could be uttered, it presses its forehead against her shoulder, and pushes her. Careful, firm and urgent yet no intent to harm, more like telling her ‘Go.’ Pushing and steering her away from the heart of the inferno, to fresher air more easy to breathe. So that neither she nor her daughter may suffocate from the smoke, and with that—The nymph vanishes in a blink. His haunting cries, chirps, thrills and whistles carrying on the winds as he flashes through the village of Northville. Soon more and more villagers—Young, elderly, children and adults, all find themselves out of the fire’s reaching grasp. Each brought or led, guided by the stray lightning. None of them able to express their bewildered, awed gratitude for being rescued from peril, for being able to reunite with their loved ones… As the phantom darts in a different direction much too quickly right away.

But the threat of danger was far from over with, even as the needle-like blades treaded fire elementals and threw them into the river far from the village. Even as they were chased, shepherded in that direction, hurled into the waters, paved way for the General and his troops to enforce order… The chaos was not near its end, for opportunistic rapscallions had made their move.

Having breached into Northville, they surrounded a group of farmers. And the flash struck out in retaliation, in protectiveness and panicked haze, unintentionally lending the solders aid.

—“They’re too many! We’re outnumbered!” “Not even the stray lightning can bring their numbers down!”

In the anarchy, no one notices the blur of white melt in the living circle’s heart and the young man’s return. Or how woozy, out of breath he is, fighting to stay upright and alert in spite of his light-headedness, exhaustion. ...A bandit lunges from his spot in ambush, only to collapse lifeless with a thud.. and a new face to take the center stage, joining their little circle.

Navy-blue gambeson with golden accents and bird-motif waist-belt, slightly wavy and messy light auburn hair, devious, cunning violet eyes with a daring gleam of opportunistic interest… Vivacious, cheeky ringing tenor.

—“General, they disturbed my beauty sleep. This’ll cost you extra.” A.. mercenary? And a vain one it seems. But the adrenaline screeching in his blood, the race of heart pounding in his ears and the insistent crush of tiredness doesn’t let the Magister speak. Only stay tunnel-vision fixated on the current onset of problems. ..Well, at least Hogan appears to convey his thoughts decently enough.

—“Valen! You’re just getting here now? Were you deep in your cups again?” And a drunkard to boot?? Ooh great, juust lovely. Can this get any worse from here? Wait, shouldn’t be asking that, of course it can. That’s what it’s been doing all along tonight! Glancing over at the knightly-dressed mercenary, there’s not a lick of amusement on the warlock’s pale haggard face. Half-tuning out the young man’s indignant protests and whining with a roll of his ruby eyes.

—“That’s not fair...I ran into a bunch of fire elementals on the way here. Those guys were really annoying.” Still not an excuse for being this late. “Anyways, looks pretty grim here...I didn’t expect the fire to get this big. This is not normal, General.” Uh-Huh, no kidding Sherlock. Golly gee, we sure didn’t already know that! The surly deadpan etched onto Merlin’s features sours more at the little talking hamster’s grating voice butting in to slap on some rushed conclusions. ..And Pirin slaps a palm to his forehead.

—“That’s right! We think it’s arson! The culprit is likely a mage!” Who are ‘we’ again? Eh, chubby-cheeks? I sure don’t see myself in this definition, thank you very much.

—“Whoa...A talking hamster. You’re a familiar, aren’t you?” That incredulous pout does little to assuage the substitute’s increasingly foul mood. Is this the most important matter to you now?! Or is it the, ah, I don’t know—The literal fires going on, Valen? Pirin bites his lip with a very low and quiet hum of annoyance, hands balled to fists and being screaming for action. No dallying around and making small talk like louts! “In that case, this gentleman with the general must be a mage. I gotta say, picking a hamster as your familiar is rather… unique.”

“….….”

By this point the leer in the rosy-red eyes has gone murderous from the boiling rage of ire. The atmosphere feels oddly… cold. As though Winter has come. A small shiver runs down the knight’s spine, feeling the glare drilling into his skull, and an ominous aura emanating from the mage. Chippy slightly shrinks in on himself, slowly inching to duck behind Hammie. The gaze slowly drifts up to Hogan when he takes the turn to reprimand.

—“I’d normally overlook your banter, Valen. But in front of this magister, you’d better watch your words.” All of you have no hint of common sense I see.

—“It’s rare to command such respect from the general.” The grave, chilling silence persists like heavy, suffocating veil. Unnerving, as the magus observes them three with that same leer, so deathly muted. Not a peep. One glance at the troops reveals the solders to have very discreetly back away from the still ‘statue’ with withering gaze. Their blood ran cold and eyeing him with the dreadful anticipation of a fierce storm to suddenly be unleashed.

….Oor maybe it shouldn’t be as surprising. Geez! This guy can freeze over an entire room with just one look! I’m feeling rather chilled myself!

—“Well, Magister, I am Valen of the Heroic Order. How would you like me to address you?” —“……”

Slowly, the magister stalks towards him, Chippy and Hogan. And the air around him feels thick, charged with tension, the promise of potential death. The rose-colored eyes locked onto his handsome boyish face, an inferno of cold-blooded fury swirling in the depths. The steps are light and agile, yet feel like heavy march. Valen swallows, paralyzed by both unease and… the awed inklings of desire that he hurries to shoo off. Handsome, a sight for sore eyes sure—What with that lean form, smooth fair skin and deadly grace lurking beneath the beauty. But damn those eyes are haunting. Face to face with the general’s respected, it feels more akin to staring Death itself square in the eye and its ghoulish horrors.

Angry. That much is palpable. Hell! Even the boys seem ready to run for the hills, and general Hogan uneasy. Unsettled by that silence and glare. Barely manages to suppress a shudder when the esteemed Magister opens his mouth to speak at long last.. and out comes a lovely baritone voice, sweet as mead yet freezing as a ghost’s hum. Clipped, neutral, void of any inflection, hint of any emotion.

—“Pirin, or Stranja -Whichever you prefer.” ..And a very deadly calm. Still, pushing down his nerves, the Solitaires’ captain keeps playing it cool and suave. As if nothing is amiss, or his heart hammering.

—“..Hm, an interesting name. I will remember it.”

—“Good..” ...Assuming I don’t loose my head within the next few seconds.. The figure steadily withdraws, strides a rather stoic and dutiful march in the village’s direction. Intent of leaving them all to resume investigating the fires on his own and solve the predicament. Swiftly and efficiently. Ohkay, not one for pleasantries or distractions, noted. I can see why he and the general are old pals..

—“Forgive my rudeness earlier. I’ll be sure to make it up to you once this fire has been dealt with.” ...But the retreating form has already gone ahead, sharp-needle like blades floating back to him, assuming or resuming their place around his head and waist like rings of halos.. Jittery, spikey, much sharper than seconds ago, and wobbling in places. Yup.. Definitely not one for dallying. Exchanging a brief look with his senior colleague and the mage’s familiar, the brunet’s gaze flits back to the retreating back. Stiff, like the string of a bow drawn taut.

—“A-Hey wait! Magister wait up!” -No dice, it’s like the man has gone deaf. Running off after the mage, Chippy soon snaps out of his stupor and bounds after him. While general Hogan remains to linger for a second, watching the blond sorcerer with a deeply pensive solemn gaze. Merlin is… rather tense, has been the entire time. Normally he’d relax or warm up a little by now, in the company of good people. ..Not this time. Earlier, when he froze up in terror at the sight of the fires—Merlin wouldn’t be like this. Wouldn’t be so deeply shaken, nor can he vanish in a blink. Those cries, whistles, chirps and calls of an animal in extreme distress starting immediately after his disappearance are no coincidence either. Nor the stray lightning that saved Ryeham’s people from doom….

Something is not right.

The dull metallic ‘thunk.’ of General Hogan’s bulky armor softly echoes in the drizzling rain and hisses of vaporizing embers, following after the three. The metal thumps of armor an chainmail soon trickles in as the troops slowly march after his broad back. Up ahead the Magister with pale dusty blond hair carries on with his poised strides, deaf to the chaos and hasty foot-falls of his two new companions, seemingly. Whilst a tempest and harrowing war rages deep within, between past and current, duties. The shadows of memories linger and lurk, roam, old restless ghosts refusing to ever quiet their shrieks nor move on from their host. Lapsing and melding into the present with their bloody shambles and hollow pits..

...As they flash across the wizard’s sight, like they have always done day in-day out without fail with their eerie melody once most consoling. No sign of tears mark his porcelain face, heartbeat a hummingbird's as the epicenter of the inferno comes closer and closer—A buzz most incessant burbles on his right side, empty static of a boyish voice sputtering white noise. Magister this, Magister that, all drowned out in rain’s lullaby and chill.

Mercifully, the noise finally halts, the boy figuring breaking the proverbial ice is not in cards at the moment. Good. Looks like the head on those shoulders isn’t entire full of beetles.

Soon a new scent slaps him in the face, drawing out a grimace of distaste that stiffly mellows to usual mask of neutrality at the chorus of discontent voices. Singed wood, soot, smoke and a pungent sweetness. Cloying, rich, deep, dense with warmly buttery tones that very narrowly cause nausea from how… sugary it is. Pirin merely wrinkles his nose, letting out a small huff, as if to evict the stench however to no avail. The woodsy, leathery, faint tang of sweat from the knight on his right is not helping matters any, mashing with the red-haired woman’s perfume just as the ginger hamster’s.

Stars above… I’m getting light-headed. And sure enough, my head’s throbbing.

A tired huff of a sigh whistles out the mage’s lips, mask eroded to an expression of tiredness. A warm, slightly weathered but soft hand taps onto the blond’s shoulder and strained ruby-like irises meet concerned lilac peering down at him. The hand resting atop his shoulder with light but firm grip halts and keeps him in-place.

—“Hey, are you alright? You seem miserable, I mean I don’t blame you really-I get it. The situation’s pretty grim and looks ugly.. But you look like you’re about to keel over any second!” If not practically screaming ‘Please end my miseries!’…Huh. He’s seen some things, hasn’t he…? I might as well be looking at a fellow colleague or a senior veteran.. A few lines of thought that the charming Solitaire inwardly scowls at, and puts a pin on for later investigation. Somehow they feel rather plausible, as if a clue and tail-end of a mystery much greater. And oh so very tantalizing with the sheer temptation to unravel it. Can’t help it! ..Something to ruminate on after the immediate crisis is dealt with. That gleam sure is intriguing, practically a thrown gauntlet. ‘Stay away and don’t pry, or you’ll get burnt.’- That’s what the haggard, cold eyes of ruby say in a lick of fiery spirit lurking silently underneath the ice of hardened stoicism. And when was Valen for warnings?

—“...I’m fine, thanks. The smoke’s getting to me slightly, it’ll be fine. The sooner this is over, the sooner everyone can breathe easy again.” What a deadpan. Still, a small snort of mild amusement weaseled itself out of the brunet foot-solder, mouth quirking into a grin. Ho?

—“Pun both intended and not, I assume? Didn’t think you’re one with a sense of humor, Stranja, albeit this snappy and dry sarcasm. Color me impressed! Wonder what else you’re hiding, Magister..?” A slight, quick wink with a devious, cheeky glimmer that’s met with a raise of a pale-blond brow. Absolutely not impressed. No dice? Okay. Interesting fellow, this one. For the briefest of seconds the idea of accompanying this cranky mage, in on itself a curious little thing. Which the suave captain with daring gaze and silver tongue brushes off with a figurative wave of hand, dispelling it.

Magister Stranja, on his turn, simply gives a shake of his head and continues on sauntering closer to the commotion. Leaving the poor brunet to stare at his back once again.

Really now! What’s with turning his back to him all the time since meeting?? That’s a nice back, but maybe a show of face and eyes bit more won’t hurt, just saying. Whining out a bemused -“What??”- after the mage’s back, Valen trots to catch up. Sharp gales howl in withering hiss of a whistle, pushing the trio back. A whirlwind, rising with spiraling moves akin to a tornado in inception that rises in might much too swiftly. Right as Hogan and the squadron catch up fully.

Shielding his face with an arm and digging his heels into the ground, Pirin stares at the crescendo twice or trice grown in size… And for the first time he’s at a loss. Fire and wind, as demonstrated by the elementals earlier, are a combination guaranteeing destruction. Night nymphs, as spirits, are flames in very core of nature—Some matching it also in temperaments. This thing has to be eliminated. How…?

Visions flow in the mind’s eye- of loss grave and slaughter at human hands.

Of grueling battles against opponents far too strong in an arena, creation and torment borne of humanity’s hands as well.

Of exploitation, violation, deceit, boundless cruelty with no end. The vaporous plumes of horror spark, slowly turn ablaze – not outright fury, no. Of frost.

Resentment, bitter wrath brought forth from immense grief and agony, venomous, plain hatred.

“Magister! The wind elemental is too strong!” - A voice on the right rings in alarm. “It will become a firenado! Ryeham will be rendered to ashes! Magister, we must stop it, quickly or the village would be up in the skies!” -A squeaky squall yelps in panic, startled at the display of disaster. Barking of orders by a warm, honeyed baritone now sharp. Scrambling in desperation to maintain order, ensure safety, and seek ways to quell the threat.

The magister stands before the hurricane silently, not a flicker of emotion gracing his face- Not fear, not worry, not remorse, mercy, not guilt, tension… Nothing. Watching the winds twist in their ghastly and dizzyingly fast dance.

Why should I?

When humanity has been nothing, but a plague?

When humans took everything I ever held dear away? Destroyed and sullied?

‘Because they, too, hold many dear to their hearts.’ Rosy-hued eyes narrow in bitterly angered bafflement. That voice… Merlin. A warm, kindly sweet and patient smile on a sun-kissed fair skin. Eyes of honeyed, almost amber-hued hazel, so full with tenderness and deep compassion, of affectionate vivacious calm. The scene in front of his vision morphs, focusing on the villagers of Northville—On a mother cradling her daughter with her husband. Penelope, Marina and William Smith; On a grandfather, hugging a young boy close to shield him, his grandson – The chief of the village, a look of sorrowful acceptance and desperate hope etched on the man’s wrinkled brow.

The thread moves to follow a young couple, yet to be wed, calling for each other.. And their frightened, joyful relief at finding one another, the woman weeping on her partner’s shoulder as he embraces her tightly in offering solace. Promising his bride-to-be that everything will be okay, and a brighter future. Vowing, in earnest, to follow her into fiery death if worst comes to pass, forever in love… An older brother, searching high and low for his brothers, ducking under to avoid falling debris the ghoulish gales hurl in their rage..

‘Humanity, has brought and brings much destruction.. But humanity, also, has brought and brings beautiful marvels of creation. Humankind, also knows to bring and foster deeply awing compassion- As much as devastating desolation.’

A wife, widowed single mother, carrying new life to arrive in due time.

‘Don’t let your ghosts blind you to the miracles of all around you, and the equilibrium. Ioan.’

Magic, foreign trickles and hums in loving lullaby, it melds into the blades of shimmering fire around his waist and head, tip outward. It gathers at his palms, eyes turning a golden glow. The goddess… Dura.. ‘Call forth from the skies,’ A hand raises up, robes and mantle, hair swaying lightly as the power thrums. Tongue both sonorous and enlightened utters in a tone firm, commanding of authority.

“ᛌᛁᛐᛐᛚᛁ, ᚴᛆᛌᛁ ᛁᚭᚢᚱ ᚱᛆᛙᛓᛆᚴᛁ. ᚱᛖᛏᚢᚱᚾ ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᚹᚺᛖᚱᛖ ᛁᛟᚢ ᚲᚨᛗᛖ!”

(Settle, cease your rampage. Return from where you came!)

The needle-like spines lunge at the raging elemental force, a ray shooting down from the stormy clouds swirled above that imbues the blades. In a blink the spears pierce the fiend and ensnare it with threads, diving deep into its very epicenter, eye and heart. The whirling tornado halts in an instant, falling quelled to quiet of the night… As the threads branch off down, descend onto the flames lingering and grip them- Extinguished. Chippy, Valen and General Hogan gape in awed amazement at the display—At the flicker of the blond sorcerer’s form, in a blink, a bird- wyvern- of colorful and shimmering flames or vapors. Heard his heavenly melodious voice boom like the clap of thunder’s roar…

.. And it vanishes, the mage crashing onto the ground.

[walkingintheheartbreaksatellite]

God Only Knows

(Niall Horan x Oc)

A side Chapter to Flicker. (Will have important bits that will be important to the future of Niall and Emily.)

Summary: The one where Niall turns 30 and Harry can’t handle it.

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SWEET BABY IRISH BEAN!!!

Emily’s pov

September 12, 2023🎈

Things have been a bit crazy for us lately. I’m officially unpacked and living with Niall has been a dream- well, when he’s home. With his birthday coming up, I have planned a small party as to not overwhelm him with how busy he’s been.

But lately, it’s been difficult doing much, especially when it involves food. I know what’s going on… I’m just hoping Niall will be happy.

Niall walks throw the door, leaving his suitcase at the door as he struts over to me and picks me up, twirling me me around as he hugs me tight.

“Someone missed me!”

He pecks my lips and sighs, lowering me down before he sets my feet back on the ground.”

“Ya know I did, Em. I know ya had to work… but I wish you could’ve come with me.”

He hugs me tight, his head on my shoulder and he sighs.

“I know. But it’ll be fine! Now shoo! I’ve got to finish some last minute stuff for your party and I think you need some sleep. I’ll make you some lunch in a bit and bring it upstairs. Leave your bags down here. I’ll wash your clothes and you can put the rest away later.”

He sighs and lifts his head up, pecking my forehead before trudging his way up the stairs. I start the laundry and then start on his lunch when Harry comes in through the front door, carrying a box. I turn down the heat on the stove and rush over to help him.

“Did you get everything?”

He puts the box down and nods.

“Everything you ordered. Decorations, plates and all that. Balloons were ordered and I’ll pick ‘em up tomorrow.”

I smile and nod.

“Thanks Harry, I really appreciate this. I’ll get the balloons though. Why don’t you join Niall and Lewis tomorrow morning? Niall wants to teach him to golf. I’m sure it’ll be comedic.”

“Are you sure? That’s an awful lot to do on your own. I know it’s a small party but still- at least call one of your friends to help if not myself.”

“I got it! I’ve planned many a party in my day. My old roommates are coming and they’re helping set up, but everyone else is out of town. They sent presents though. Which I still have to wrap. But it’ll be fine!”

He sighs and nods. He gives me a side hug, patting my head before leaving.

September 13th, 2023🎈

Niall was out the door early with a small peck to my lips, leaving me with plenty of time to prepare.

I put on some music and get to work, cleaning the house and decorating. Zach, Aleks and Jenny arrived at about 10, with the party at 3 and we all got down to work. By the time we finished, cake and food set, my mom and Pedro had arrived, Kelly following behind them.

Kelly gives me a big smile and a hug as she comes through the door.

“Girly! Look at you! Damn! And everything looks great! Niall is gonna love it.”

I give her an anxious smile and bite my lip.

“I hope so. He should be here in just a minute. Oh shit- the presents! I forgot to wrap them!”

I give her a small hug and with Jenny behind me, I race up the stairs to wrap all his presents, including his special present. By the time I come back down, Niall is standing in the den with Harry and Lewis by his side. He sees me from across the room and gives me his signature smile that always gives me butterflies.

“There’s m’ girl! Come gimmie a kiss!”

I laugh and make my way over to him, hugging him and pecking his lips, noting the obvious smell of alcohol on him, Guinness as per usual.

“Well it seems like you had fun. Let’s get you some water. I think all three of you could use it.”

He chuckles and keeps an arm wrapped around my waist as we make our way to the kitchen. Once Niall, Harry and Lewis have some water in their system, we start the festivities.

“Alright birthday boy. Make a wish.”

“Petal, I’m 30. I’m not a boy… I’m a man.”

I snort and shake my head before pecking his cheek.

“Oh, a very manly man. Now blow out your candles before wax melts all over the pretty cake I made you.”

He laughs and nods and takes a deep breath, ready to blow out his candles. Before he can, we hear a sniffle to the right of us. I turn my head and see Harry, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Harry… are you crying?”

“It’s not fair! Why do we have to turn 30?! First Niall… and I’m next! ‘Ts not fair, Em!”

We all laugh and I shake my head. I walk over to him and give him a side hug.

“It’s okay, Harry. Just the way the world works.”

"But the universe and I had a deal.."

He pouts and I can’t help but snort. Aleks lays a hand on his shoulder, attempting to hold back his laughter.

“Harry, what are you complaining for, dude? You're at the freaking peak of your career!"

Harry frown and shakes his head.

“It’s all up hill until someone trips and falls flat on their face…”

I sigh and give him another hug, patting his back.

“Okay… I think you had a bit too much to drink. How about we get these candles blown out so you can have some of that cake? Sober you up? It’s sugar free…”

He chuckles and nods. Niall blows out his candles and squeezes my hand with a small smile. I serve up some cake and ice cream and I finally sit down next to Niall, who pecks my cheek.

“Thanks for this, Petal. You really didn’t have to…”

I peck his lips and smile.

“I know I didn’t. I wanted to. You made mine the most memorable I’ve ever had… I wanted to do something for you. I know you weren’t especially excited about this one… But I’m so, so happy you decided to celebrate. I want to celebrate you. I’m thankful for you, Ni. Everyday with you. Happy birthday, babe.”

He smiles and plants a passionate kiss to my lips. We all talk and laugh as we eat, until it’s time for presents. Niall laughs as he opens each present slowly, until he gets to the last present. He opens the box and he’s quiet for a minute before he looks at me.

“Em… You’re serious? Y-You’re—.”

I remain silent, only nodding as I nervously wait for his reaction. He stands up and takes me, hugging me tight. I sigh in relief, hugging him back, letting the tears fall down my cheeks. He pulls away slightly and kisses me, tears slowly falling down his cheeks as mine continue to fall.

He pulls away and wipes his tears, before turning to everyone who stand there with confused expressions. Niall takes my hand, a smile on his face.

“We’re pregnant!”

Gasps and claps echo through the room, my mom bursting into tears. Niall hugs me tight and smiles as he caresses my cheek.

“Not that I’m not happy Em, I promise I am… but how? You’re on the shot, right?”

I sit down and Niall takes a seat next to me.

“I was. But I noticed I wasn’t feeling well and I was late. So… I went just in case. Apparently… the batch I got a couple months ago was part of a batch that wasn’t fully developed. So it didn’t work all the way. And well… now we’re here. I know we’ve only talked a few times and neither of us wanted kids this soon-.”

He pecks my lips to silence me before he shakes his head.

“It’s perfect. I promise. No matter what… Our baby will be so loved… And honestly… I’ve never loved you more…”

I tear up, cuddling into his side as he holds me close. He rests a hand on my stomach, rubbing it as we sit quietly in our bliss, awaiting the times ahead.

>>>————————->

Enjoy the Flicker crumbs lovelies! Chapter six is in the drafts but hopefully they’ll be back soon!

Tag list

@be-with-me-so-happily @swiftmendeshoran @babyiamperfectforyou @freedomfireflies @kaminokatie @harrysmimi @violetsandfluff @fruitmans @fruitmansrecs @harringtons-honey @rafaaoli @kimmi-kat @erggggggggg @cayleyhannha-blog @acesofspadess @that-mcu-fan @styles-barnes-bitch @purple9950 @itslottiehere

[tactical-mode]

Back in syndicated TV days, the third episode had to be good, and it had to also catch new viewers up - you had to account for people not hearing about your show for the first few weeks. To that end, this was my favorite episode to make so far. 

I’m using the EC version of the score here. It’s 87 bpm, so while editing I grooved out to the likes of Coincidence by Sabrina Carpenter, La Bamba by Los Lobos, and Better Than by Lake Street Dive.

[Chapter 01] Scene 18:  Into the Mako Reactor

The biggest scene of the episode - a monologue with 6 cuts becomes a short dialogue with 18. In both this and the other big scene Barret is fully mo-capped, while only Cloud’s head is tracked, his body moves in a stilted way and at several point he’s, like, T-posing just below the frame haha. It presented an unexpected obstacle to filming, but luckily my storyboards are rough doodles easily scrapped, and I managed to get some good shots in and masked a lot of dialogue that wasn’t actually there. 

As for the scene’s script, here are the lines of interest:

Barret: Yo! This your first time in a reactor? (PS1/PC)

Barret: Yo. You’ve been in a reactor before, right? (Beacause/EC)

Barret: Hey. This your first time in a reactor? (Rogers A)

Barret: Here we are in a reactor, which I'm sure is a familiar sight to you. (Rogers B)

and

Barret: It's the life blood of this planet. But Shinra keeps suckin' the blood out with these weird machines. (PS1/PC)

Barret: All right, I’ll tell ya… Mako’s the lifeblood of our planet, but Shin-Ra’s usin’ all this weird crap around here to suck it dry! (Beacause)

Barret: They're bleedin' the planet dry! Shinra'd take every last drop of mako from the planet if they could. And this pile o' scrap they call a mako reactor is what let's 'em. (EC)

Scene 19-25: Codes and Doors

Multiple sequences were merged as I decided against including the combat in this room. First of all, I ONLY want to put combats at the end of episodes, so that viewers who don’t like it can just skip ahead once the slow-mo Matrix crap starts lol.

Anyway, I took some footage of Biggs and Jessie running from door to door. Getting these shots without boxes or bodies strewn all over the floor was actually pretty tough! Ha ha ha! I implemented a cross-fade sequence here to imply time passing. Not my favorite cinematic trick, but we got through it, and I even managed to include Biggs’ optional dialogue here.

Scene 23 was cut entirely, it’s a flashback FMV. Sc. 25 also jumps away, this time to our villains cackling in a tower. Snip snip. I transported a clip of Barret from a later scene and color corrected it to match, and boom! We’re in the elevator without the random encounter, or opening that chest. Just like my first playthrough!

Scene 26: The Elevator

I wanted a more muted score here so I changed from the EC track to 7R’s more orchestral arrangement by Shima. I had to speed it up and change its pitch in order for it to match Uematsu’s track.

Cloud: It's not my problem. (PS1/PC)

Cloud: Sorry, but I’m not interested. (Beacause/Rogers)

Cloud: Why should I care? (EC)

I went with Rogers here.

Scene 27-29: Mako Reactor Dungeon and Encounters

All right, the Matrix shit has kicked off, so give your brain a break and enjoy the fireworks. After some scenery porn (god this game is beautiful) we introduce Barret to battle!

Here we have the first proper 7R score variation: Shotaro Shima’s Mako Reactor - Battle Edit. Purists be damned! Additionally, Barret is outfitted with a Restore materia, when in the OG you don't find it until the next screen and can't use it until the next dungeon. This is one of only a few slight alterations made to adapt to the medium, and it has the upside of Barret not sounding like a moron later during the materia tutorial.

Folks who stick through to the end of the fight get a treat.

Final Thoughts

So I’m hoping fans of the OG are liking the vids, but they’re not my primary audience. I’m making this for people who have no idea what Final Fantasy is. I want to invite them through the story in a way that looks and sounds better than on PS1. How am I doing in that regard? In a way, this entire series could serve as a prologue to Remake, so I’m hoping 7R fans can also see this series’ value.

[aeoki]

Swing Night - The Two, Divided: Chapter 2

Characters: Adonis, Kouga, Kaoru & Rei

Kouga: No, wait a minute. Why are you under the impression that I won’t be able to answer when I’m asked about my first love?

Obviously, it’s something I can do.

Rei & Kaoru: What!?

Kaoru: Y–You’re kidding, right? Kouga-kun, you always thought girls were intimidating, so what brought this on!?

Rei: Kouga, a bloody fistfight is not considered a first love, alright?

Kouga: Do you two really wanna drown in a sea of blood!?

Adonis: Oogami’s first love…

We’ve spent a long time together, but this is the first time I’ve heard of it. I’m interested. Please tell us more.

Kouga: Huh? Seriously? I didn’t think it’d garner this much attention.

Alright, fine. Well, it’s nothin’ I gotta hide, so I’ll tell you guys since Adonis really wants to hear it.

It wasn’t romantic love or anythin’ of that fickle sort, alright?

I just really admired her… If there’s someone who’s really good at something, then you’d think they’re really cool as a kid, right?

There was this really strong player at the card shop I used to frequent back then.

They had tables just for card battles there and everyone would battle each other.

The shop even posted the results of the battles on the wall too. It was a tiny shop –  just something that happened in a tiny world.

I really admired the people at the top of that battle ranking.

All the top rankers used aliases too. For example, if their deck centred on dragons, then they’d be called “Dragon Knight”.

Adonis: Hmm. The shop owner must have wanted the customers to be more competitive by doing that.

I don’t know much about card games, though.

You told me before that in order to get into the ranking, you’d have to get stronger, win more matches and buy newer cards, right?

You said that was necessary in order to come up with more tactics.

Kouga: Yeah. I’m surprised you remember.

Still, I was real poor back then, so I couldn’t buy a lot of cards. I strengthened my deck by gettin’ them from bets I won by battlin’.

I collected cards, did my best to put together a good deck and…

I was so happy and excited when I made it on the rankin’!

Rei: Hm? Were we talking about card battles? I thought we were talking about first loves.

Kouga: Just listen until the end.

Anyway, I wanted to tell the entire world that I’d made it – I wanted to get ‘em to remember me, “The Full-Moon Howling Wolf User Kou-chan”.

Kaoru: That’s a cute name and your reaction was pretty cute too.

Kouga: I–I ain’t cute. It’s supposed to sound cool!

Anyway, there was this one person who was always at the top.

I always cared about my rank, so I remembered her and started to look for her naturally.

Well, anyone would wanna meet someone like that, right? I’m already so strong, but who’s the one that’s runnin’ ahead of me?

But I never got to meet her ‘cause I never found her. 

I’d always visit the shop at night, but one day, I went to the shop a little earlier than usual and…

She was right there!

She was probably just a lil’ bit older than me, but she was unparalleled.

Once I knew what time she showed up, I started going to the shop at that time too. I’d challenge her and lose over and over.

I’d still ask for a rematch even when she drove me away. I’d lose and that would repeat.

Rei: I’m getting a sense of deja vu… You’re too persistent in your approach, Kouga. It’d do you well to increase your options, you know?

Kouga: Shut up~! It’s fine. This is just who I am!

Kaoru: Hmm? So your first love was an older girl that stood out at the card shop?

Kouga: It’s not like that – I just admired her. She was really frickin’ strong. I challenged her over and over, but I never stood a chance against her.

But after a while, she stopped comin’ to the shop.

And I started losin’ interest since she wasn’t on the rankings anymore.

After that, I’d sometimes show up when I felt like it and started battlin’ again.

I sure wiped the floor with my “Infinity Multiplying Wolf Deck”...♪

But I couldn’t fill the hole in my heart no matter how many times I won. There wasn’t any point since the champion wasn’t around.

I might’ve graduated from playin’ card games, but I’d love to get revenge against “The Underworld Slaughterer”.

Kaoru: That’s not a name you’d imagine a pretty older girl to have.

Kouga: Honestly, I don’t even remember what she looked like. I do think she was pretty, but maybe she had a lotta makeup on?

But I had a time where I lost so much to the point I’d be so frustrated and all I’d be thinkin’ about was her. She’d even appear in my dreams, but I was always super nervous when we talked.

I was just happy to have met and talked with her.

I dunno much about romantic love, but that sounds like the sorta feelin’ you’d hear about in romance movies, right?

So thinkin’ back, maybe… she was my first love.

Adonis: That’s a nice story. It’s very fitting for you, Oogami.

Kouga: Is it? I don’t really know what to think of it right now, though.

But that’s what it’s like when you’re a kid – you dunno if it was admiration, romantic love or respect.

It’s the same now, though. I can’t state my feelings clearly like they do in fiction.

Kaoru: Yeah. Hehe, but I’m glad to hear you had those sorts of experiences too, Kouga-kun.

I wouldn’t know what I’d do if you said something like, “I fell in love at first sight when I saw Sakuma-senpai at the live house – that was my first love.”

Kouga: Say what now!?

Rei: Oh my, oh my. So that’s why you’d look at me with such passionate eyes, Kouga…!

Adonis: He did that? I didn’t notice.

Kouga: I’mma frickin’ kill ya! T–That ain’t true at all!

Huh? Look, the movie’s over ‘cause we were chattin’ away.

Rei: Oh, it seems we were all too focused on your story.

It’s fine, we’ll just make sure we watch the next one until the end.

Kouga: We’re gonna watch more!? Ugh, seriously, no more…!

Rei: This is all for Adonis-kun’s sake. It’s too late to throw in the towel now…♪

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[silliestcowpoke]

[F4A] [Long term Rp] [Pirate/Western/Medieval Fantasy] [Romance]

Hello all, I hope you are doing well!! My name is Em, and I’m on a long term partner search today!! First things first, let me introduce myself with some information about me!

A little about myself:

-I’m 23

-I use she/her pronouns

-I have 8+ years of experience roleplaying

-I’m literate to novella. Sometimes I write book chapters, it really depends on what's going on!! :)

-I adore OOC chatter!! :) I’m a very talkative, friendly person!! Love love to yap.

-I work full time. I may only be able to respond once a day sometimes. Or sometimes I need a break (usually just a day or two). But usually I’m able to reply at least once a day, at most 3+ times.

-I’m a big fan of romance, fantasy, and just doing creative roleplays that we can build off of

-My favorite color is pink!!

What I’m looking for roleplay wise:

Disclaimer: I’m looking for someone to play the male character for these roleplays. I would also like to do romance based plots

Also also, I love love love, gruff characters, that have a hard/tough exterior, but a softer interior. Just in case you have any of those characters for these plots

Pirate

-Your character, a pirate, takes over an enemy ship/ransacks a local territory only to discover that they took a woman prisoner. Your character takes her aboard your ship, she keeps to herself, and doesn’t reveal much. Your character discovers that she is a princess on the run with a fairly large bounty over her head from the king if she is safely returned. Your character tries to return her to her kingdom in order to get the bounty but comes across many challenges along the way, including others who try to capture her to have the bounty instead, and the challenge of letting her go after slowly falling in love with her

what could be added: My character reveals she was on the run in hopes to gather allies in order to prevent a war between her kingdom and neighboring kingdom. She tries to negotiate with your pirate character, and tells him if he gives her safe passage to a couple more places to gain allies, then she will let him take her back to the kingdom, and double the bounty.

-My character, an elven woman, is not from your pirates realm, and is desperately trying to get home. After months of trying different ways to persuade someone to give her safe passage to a far away island that holds the key to open a portal to lead her back home, she finally tricks your pirate character into giving her safe passage. Little does she know, she’s not the only person who accidentally got sent through the portal to this realm. And it wasn’t on accident…

Medieval Fantasy

-Elves were thought to be long gone after the took there final stand alongside the humans in order to rid the world of the dark forces that threatened to take over. No one knows exactly why, they just know they disappeared shortly after the war, never to be seen again. Then one day, an elf ventures out of there kingdom, which has been hidden for long under a magical barrier they put up. She wanders in hopes to find a companion that will help her on her journey to help rid the darkness once more.

Western

-A group of marauders has been going around from town to town burning towns to the ground, and taking everything the people have. Your characters town is nearly next on the list, and he aims to put an end to it all. While seeking for help on his quest to get rid of the band marauders, he receives a letter from a well recommend mercenary for hire, saying that they will help. Days later the mercenary arrives into town, and your character discovers it’s not the mercenary he thought it to be. Rather it is a beautiful young lady from down south. But he soon discovers she’s much more than that, she’s actually all the help his town needs.

Fandom Based

Looking for someone to play Wolverine/Logan Howlett, Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange, or Obi Wan Kenobi !!

-I don’t have a particular plot idea for this one, so I would love to create something we’re both passionate about. Additionally, I’m willing to double up and play another character of your choosing from the MCU for you. Just let me know which character.

Code word for post: All for one, and one for all.

What I’m looking for in a rp partner:

-Must play the male character

-Must be 20+ and up in age

-Must be semi literate, literate, or novella. I’m looking for 3+ paragraphs for response

-Must be friendly. Must be willing to talk ooc in order to talk about plot, characters, ect. Must be willing to continue to talk about these things in order to keep the ball rolling per say

-Must be willing to do romance based plots

With all that being said, if you’ve made it this far. Thank you for reading through my entire post.

If you are interested please send me a well developed introduction of yourself, how many years of experience you have in rp, what the length of your replies are, the code word, which plot you are interested in, and what is your preferred platform to roleplay on. I will not answer your message unless it has these details.

Thank you all, I look forward to hearing from you all soon!! :)