#only thing i know is that she sees... dreams? about dead people xD

[onskepa]

Hello, this is my first request so excuse me if it's misunderstanding

So, I had a dream about neteyam x human reader who is a woman. Reader it's paralyzed from the waist down, like Jake. But the only difference is that she doesn't and won't have an avatar. Usually, she doesn't leave her room so when Neteyam comes over, he has to carry her everywhere so she thinks she's a bother. He assures her that carring her it's not bother and it's rather adorable to see her tiny frame in his big arms.

Thank you<3

Helloooooooooooo darling~!! Quite the dream you have XD

Alrighty! Hopefully this comes out to yours and everyone's satisfactions~! enjoy~!

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Susyang

The story of Jake Sully, the sixth Toruk Makto, the Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya clan, has been share all over pandora. How he arrived in such a weak form but managed to rise and defeat the sky demons.

Susyang, a human girl was born in Pandora. She along with another human named spider. But there is a large difference between them. Spider is very strong, athletic, and can freely move where ever he desires. Susyang? She cant.

When her mother was pregnant, things were fine until during her birth. Things did not go well. During her birth, her mother passed away, and the birthing complications affected her lower half of the body. Was never told what went wrong but susyang's chance of walking was taken before she could even open her eyes.

Forever to never use her legs until her last breath. Strapped in a wheelchair to move around the lab, and forever to be inside. Pandora is already dangerous enough for a human to move around. Susyang hold no chance to last an hour.

But she makes the most of it, reading so many books about pandora, watch the scientists do their daily work. Would even chat and talk about interesting plants or animals they found.

One of her favorite things to talk about are the native people. The na'vi. How she wishes to meet one. Norm did his best with his avatar body, while happy, susyang still sees norm through his blue body. To meet a real one, to interact and play. Wouldn't that be a dream...

"Wait another human kid lives with you?" little kiri asks to spider. Everyone was eating some fruit they collected and enjoying a bright sunny day. Spider nods, "yeah, she is really nice and super smart!". Interested at peak, kiri asks more, "why hasn't she come out with you? is she smaller?". At that, spider's smile falls a bit into a sad expression.

"She cant" he replied. Lo'ak turned, his eyebrows forming down, not understanding. "What do you mean she cant? are there enough masks?" he asks, spider shook his head no. "It is not that, its just....she cant leave so easily like me. Her legs don't work". Lo'ak and kiri immediately know what he meant.

Their father has explained his time as human, how he was limited to his wheelchair because of his dead weighted legs. Sadness and pity took over their emotions, "well what if we come to her instead? We can play with her and so she wont feel lonely" kiri suggests. Spider liked the idea and already the three began to plan things out.

The following day, everything was normal in the lab. Susyang was reading a book when spider came into her room already setting the wheelchair in front of her bed. "Hey, come come!" spider was very energetic and seemed to be in a rush. Raising her eyebrow, susyang looked at spider, "why? is something going on?". Not really answering her, spider carefully lifts susyang from the bed and gently to the chair. Quickly securing her legs, spider wheeled her out of the room in high speeds.

The sudden action startled susyang, making her squeal a bit. "Spider! hey hey! stop it! where are you taking me!?" feeling a bit scared she is under spider's mercy. Spider didn't reply as he strolled her to the entrance of the lab.

Suddenly coming to halt, susyang who was closing her eyes opened after a moment. Spider went in front of her and extended his arms wide with a huge smile. "I want you to meet my friends! this is kiri, lo'ak and neteyam sully!", susyang opened her mouth wide in shock. Her head lifting up to see their massive height. True na'vi! in front of her!

How badly she wanted to say something, but all came out was tiny squeaks and cute noises. The na'vi kids giggled at her noises thus making her blush in embarrassment. "She is so cuuuuuuute~!" kiri coos as she gently squishes susyang cheeks.

Lo'ak played with her hair, getting the feel of her soft texture while neteyam bend down to her level and smiles softly at her. Susyang blushed a bit seeing him. But she had to keep her cool no matter what!

"spider told us a lot about you. We decided to come and play with you" neteyam says. He carefully observed her actions, the tiniest hint can say much about a human. "u-umm th-thank you!" she smiles sweetly, feeling lucky and thankful for spider.

Neteyam got closer, opening his arms, susyang looked at him, "n-neteyam...!"

"Neteyam please I beg of you to not drop me!" 15 year old susyang clung tightly on the back of 15 year old neteyam. The boy chuckled, making sure his friend was holding tightly as he climbs higher on the trees.

Today neteyam planned things out for susyang to enjoy. After meeting each other, they became inseparable. Connected at arms, both neteyam and susyang were just really close to each other.

Despite susyang insecurities, neteyam is always there to cheer her up. Making sure that she belongs in pandora just like spider. Which is why neteyam has a nice surprise for her. With the help of his father and brother, they build a gift susyang would love.

Arriving at the north river, neteyam cleared the way to reveal something to susyang. "No way, is that...?" susyang says, looking at what is in the water.

A boat. A simple boat fitting for na'vi size. But it was beautiful, was decorated with lovely carvings and full of beautiful flowers. "Oh neteyam...this is beautiful!!" susyang says with emotional joy in her voice. With a huge sigh of relief, neteyam relaxed. It was two weeks of hard work to create it, with every carving was dedicated to susyang, in hopes this would be a better travelling method for her.

Carefully and gently, neteyam lays susyang on the boat, where it is softly cushioned with fibers and leaves. Making sure she is secured well, he hops on, and with a paddle, he begins the journey.

Settling in a peaceful silence, susyang takes notice of the small details of the boat, touching it as if it was made of glass. There is clear evidence that it was done by love and care. It made susyang appreciate it all more.

Looking up at neteyam who is steering the boats direction, she smiles in adoration. Her dear friend had spent so much time to make sure she is comfortable and safe while being out in the forest. It made her feel a bit....guilty. Had her legs work, perhaps she would have been as free as spider.

Arriving at their destination, neteyam picks her up bridal style. "How much further is it?" susyang asks, "not far, almost there" neteyam answers. What else is there to show? Susyang knows every corner of the forest after so many years.

Few minutes later, they arrived in a small hut, above the trees but near the river. It was lovely, cushioned softly, and everything was close at arms. The shade was perfect, the view was perfect. All was perfect. "What is this...?" she asks silently, but neteyam heard her. Placing her in the middle of the hut, he gestures to the whole area, "this is is for you. Me and the others worked on this so you can enjoy the forest, way better than being stuck in your room".

Neteyam smiled brightly as he explained, feeling quiet accomplished and proud. Anything to make his dear friend smile. But then he heard sniffles and weeping. Looking down, he sees susyang crying. Quickly bending down to her side, he cradles her in his big arms.

"What's wrong? does it hurt? did I do something wrong?" he asked, worry heavy in his voice. Susyang only cried louder, letting her salty tears fall from her eyes. Now neteyam felt really panicked. Was it not to her liking? Was it too rough the cushions? Not enough space? Was the items too far away? Each second passed and neteyam's inner worries were rising.

"y-you....!! and th-the others.....!! did all this for m-me.....!! I am s-so sorry for making you do this....!!" was all susyang could say without it being a mess of tears. His ears perked up at that, why is she apologizing?

"susyang....no no, there is nothing to be sorry for. Why would you say sorry? You haven't done anything wrong" neteyam says gently. Stroking her back, trying to sooth her. But her tears keep falling without stopping.

"n-no...!! its because of these stupid legs!! I c-cant do anything! I always have to rely on someone and I hate it! I cant even have an avatar of my own! stupid legs! I am weak! pathetic! I am nothing but a burden to you and everyone else!"

This was the first time neteyam heard her confess like that. He understood that not having functioning limbs can be a burden but never to this extent.

Cradling her in his arms, he gently rocks side to side as means to hopefully calm her down. Placing a small kiss on her head, he waits it out for her to cry it all out. Perhaps it was the pent up frustration that needed to be released. Keeping your emotions all bottled up is never a good thing.

"sssshhh....you are not a burden susyang. Not to me, not to anyone. You are everything to me, nothing about you is a burden. I enjoy spending time with you and I enjoy doing these things for you. When I hold you, feeling your tiny body against mine, I feel like I can protect you. From any danger in this world. And I am happy with that. Your happiness means everything to me".

Those words struck susyang right in the feels. Making her stop crying at once. But instead of sadness, her tears were replaces with that of tears of joy.

"w-what? why are you crying again!?" neteyam asked with more worry again. Susyang laughed and put her whole body weight on him. "I am not s-sad silly.....!! I am just happyyyyyyy!!" she cries while smiling. Neteyam always seems to find a way to get to her heart.

As she let her happiness show, neteyam just gives her more kisses and laughs a bit. As long as susyang is happy and comfortable. That is all it matters to him.

Aaaaaaaand that is all for this one! idk if this is a bit too long but who cares! Hope you liked this one! until next time! see ya!

Susyang = fragile

[primojade]

𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, 𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓.

“ your arms are the safest haven in this chaotic world we live in. ”

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 | Different scenarios where he questions, and discovers what love truly was, at long last.

𝐂𝐖 / 𝐓𝐖 | gn!reader x wanderer and albedo (separate); fluff, hurt to reverse comfort; cursing; self-hatred for the boys 😭; scara threatens to end ei in his mind 💦 let me know if I missed anything!

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 | this is a very self indulgent fic I thought of when watching the 3.3 live stream yesterday 😭 I just added albedo because i'm a simp, okay xD otherwise this is supposed to be scara-centric 👀

Masterlist

The Wanderer always knew that his mother viewed him as a failed creation, knew that she never loved him the way she adored her sister. 

He even knew that the Raiden Shogun never loved him. 

His whole life, the puppet never saw true love, never knew what true love looked like, was afraid of the aspects and emotions that caused love. 

What he thought was love was so sick and twisted. What he thought was love was drowned in emotional abuse and abandonment. What he thought was love all ended up so wrong, so absolutely fucked up. How could he possibly let himself trust again?  

The thing meant to do good for the people, only caused more harm in the end. He put his trust in three people once, and nothing good came out of it. 

The Wanderer would—could—never trust again. 

(But he did trust again.)

Despite this, a closed off boy, a nearly broken puppet beyond repair, fell in love deeply. Simply craving the affection his mother never gave him. Craving physical touches and gentle words from the strange person he recently met.

No wonder the puppet feared what he never had, never dreamed of having. Feeling anything beyond pain and suffering and loss was foreign and unnatural. Allowing such feelings when hating his mother and everyone in the world by the second felt selfish and he hated himself, hated himself, absolutely despised himself over it.  

The Wanderer seemed to change by the days that passed, sometimes it felt more like merely an hour, or minutes that passed by. A boy in absolute terror who cried out for his mother in the past, wanting to hug her, to choke her by the neck, to hear her called him her son, wanted her dead, wanted her suffering in the same way he does.

He had suffered since his creation. A case of Nature vs Nurture; where nurture is superior, and the puppet is left completely alone. 

The wandering eccentric persona, his persona as Kunikuzushi, the cruel Balladeer of the Fatui, the persona he showed to the Tsaritsa and her Harbingers, the persona he showed to the Dendro Archon, the persona he showed the rest of the world…the persona he showed to you.

Among them, which one was the real him? 

Scientific theories stated that people have multiple facets, slightly different personalities that are all ours. Personalities that rebounded social cues curated by the situations and people we are around. Our need to fit in, our need for self fulfilling is what makes us have these multiplying and seemingly infinite forms. 

So, why did it feel so wrong?

On the days when missions and commissions cut a bit too close, he wasn’t afraid to die. Nahida would give him another long lecture about not being invincible, and somewhere along, you would reprimand him for being so careless with himself. He hated how much you and the Dendro Archon could see through his tough farce. 

"...Why do you even give a shit about me?"

"I give a shit about you not dying, idiot, about not having the godsdamn Fatui on our asses because you wanted to plot revenge."

"Shut up, [Name]."

Even the Wanderer knew it was a lie. You cared, Nahida cared. Even the Traveller and their annoying talking companion cared too in their own ways.

But could they really blame him? It's inevitable and hard to change, no matter how hard he tried. Worthless, incompetent beings like him were only doomed to suffer should they allow themselves to feel.

It's what he was, all he was, all he should ever be allowed to be. 

"...Wanderer, I love you."

"...A horrible decision. You could have so much better. Why put yourself in so much danger? You should be with someone safe and reliable. I am a cruel man, [Name], you know that. I could kill you if I—"

"...I know you spent your entire life listening to empty promises and hurtful words. I know it’s hard for you to believe me, but it doesn’t make me love you anything less, you know. And I certainly would never leave you for it. Wanderer, I want to be with you. And I’ll show you by staying by your side, by cheering on you, by taking care of you until the end of time.

"...Why I choose you? Because you’re clever, and extremely intelligent. You’re intuitive, you know when something’s wrong with me. When you told me the truth about yourself, I never felt afraid, it made me want to stay by you, stay with you, be with you more. You love so hard, Wanderer, that you don’t realise how much you care and how much you're hurting yourself in return. You pretend to hide it away because you’ve only been hurt time and time again. But I could see it. I see beyond that ruthless persona you painted yourself into was the real you. I see the Wanderer that Nahida sees as a son. I see the Wanderer that the Traveller puts their trust into no matter how many times he had tried to hurt them.

'"...I see the Wanderer that would put his life on the line for someone he loves, who holds me close to him while we sleep at night. The one that nuzzles his head into my neck before waking up to make the best breakfast I’ve ever had. The one who wants to sit and stargaze and take care of flowers and feel the wind, though begrudgingly.

"The one who wants a normal life, a happy and safe life. Who wants a family and warmth and love and protection. I know, I love you because I know. I love you because perhaps some higher power beyond made us destined to be together despite all the hurt and betrayal. But my free will, my own heart won’t let you slip away—even you yourself say otherwise. I love you so much."

"...I…" I love you so much, too. "...A truly horrible decision, really. You will regret sticking your nose with my business, idiot."

"...Call me whatever you like. But I know I will have no regrets being with you. So, come here. Don’t hold back those tears either, I’m here no matter what."

There was so much that the once broken puppet wished he could say, but he held back for the sake of preserving whatever dignity he had left. But he was completely floored once again by you. Left speechless, and teary eyed, crying inwardly into your shoulder as you whispered comforts and soothing affirmations. Holding him close, rubbing his back in a way that made the anxieties slip away.

This wasn’t the end. He was aware that the insecurities and anger and doubts would bubble up again soon. However, you would be there even then, providing the same stability and affection he needed, he wanted. Time will just keeps on going and turning, but surely the pain, little by little, like grains of sand in a hourglass, will fade away.

Whether this unexplainable feeling was happiness, content, love, or entirely something else…perhaps it should not matter anymore.

Because not all that wanders were lost—at least not anymore. And despite lacking a physical heart, the Wanderer felt it, at long last.

Multiple theories stated that a person is either left brained or right brainedーeither drowned in the world of alchemical codes and mathematical and logical equations, or simply buried knee deep in the latest light novels and in their wildest imaginations. Those with a left brain are logical and cynical. Right brains being artistic and emotional. 

Then, why was it that despite the hours spent fretting over alchemical codes, studying numerical equations, drowning x, y and z; Albedo developed a knack for the arts? 

Sure enough, he was good at alchemy, so much that he could be called a genius of the century, they say. He was intellectually capable of impossible memorisation and observation. So, if learning were as easy as a-b-c…

Why was there the want, the need, to indulge himself in loving you? 

The engagement to have the creative liberty and freedom to live his life with you—that wasn’t what he was known for, was it, now? That was not what he was created for. 

Alchemy and calculations tossed to the side in order to succumb to a foreign feeling like a hopeless romantic, yet Albedo should not feel. He had no right to feel. Artificial humansーa homunculusーlike himself were not meant to feel. 

But, what if he fell in love? 

So, what if suddenly he wanted to draw romantic starry sketches about someone he pine for?

Someone that, despite his numerous attempts to gently push away, only pulled him closer? 

If he were to suddenly be inspired by contemporary romance, that was no one’s concern, but his own. 

Does it feel wrong, however.

Enjoying life created deep depths of bitterness and abandonment. All the sketches, his greatest achievements, and glaringly successful alchemy experiments in the world, felt absolutely meaningless when Albedo thought about his place—where he ought to stand in this world. 

Perhaps that in itself became the reason for his artistic endeavors—emotions bottled up for so long they had been forgotten. It was common, he supposed. Forgetting memories was a consequence of heartless indifference after all, whether they are artificial or natural beings.

Albedo was not quite certain what to feel. Was it anger? Disappointment? Maybe self-hatred for his own existence? Did he feel love? Or was it merely compensation for the years upon years of loneliness and abandonment? 

If Albedo developed feelings for you, the strange person who showed him romantic affection, was it really, truly, love? Was that what it really meant to feel this so-called…true love?

He wasn't certain, that one was for sure. The alchemist could solve an array of problems that would give the seven mysteries of Teyvat a run for its money, could pinpoint the exact ingredients for his never ending experiments, but love…

Love remained the greatest unsolved mystery for him. 

Was it fair to you? 

No.

Didn’t it make him feel like a hypocrite to proclaim his love to you when he didn’t even know what love truly was? 

Yes.

The psychological repercussions of overthinking and intelligence becomes, if it comes to this endevours, a daily nightmare for him indeed.

As much as Albedo tried to be loving, it scared him—terrified him that you would one day wake up and leave him. That this whole thing was a mere fickle dream or a heartless trick of his mind to ease his burdens, and then he’d be alone again, abandoned and lost. Left alone in his strange fascination for alchemy and mysteries, pretending like nothing really mattered, an indifferent alchemist. 

It's what he was, all he was, all he should ever be allowed to be.  

"—Hey. Hey! Albedo? Hehe, you finally looked at me! Could you tell me what’s on your mind?"

"...I really should not. It would merely burden you and—"

"...Nope. Don’t start with that, silly. How many times do I have to tell you that bottling up your emotions will do more harm than good? Plus, I’m always here willing to listen to you."

That’s what he loved about you. Always caring for him. Always firm and assertive when you knew you were in the right. You never backed down, especially if the enemies came from his foreign emotions. 

"...I...I'm terrified,"

"...on the inside?"

"Yes. I just—I was wondering…how do I know if I’m...truly in love with you?"

"Hmm. When I do this, what do you feel?"

"Um…well—heh—my heart starts beating faster."

"...Your cheeks are red, too."

"...And I want to kiss you, truly."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not certain. There’s this fascinating magnetic pull inside me that makes me want to hold you close to me, kiss you senseless, and never let you stray away. I want to tease you nearly to tears, then be the person you could rely on. There's this peculiar feeling that cannot wait to give you everything you ever wanted in the world. Its strange, truly strange, but even more strange enough, I felt...very content."

"Do I make you happy, then?"

"Very, very much. You have no idea."

"...Bedo, I think you just figured out what love is on your own."

My. So, he did love you.

He loved Klee, too. Albeit not the same way as you, but the way a big brother loves his little sister should have, the way family was supposed to be. He loved his Master as well in a maternal sense, and all of his friends and comrades. The want to keep them safe, the teasing, the inexplicable happiness he felt around them, it was all love, all along. 

Albedo would say he had you to thank for helping him realise. But he knew you well enough that you would say that maybe you did help, but for you, it was all himself. You just patiently hinted it out to him to figure out on his own.

Albedo loved you rather intensely, he discovered. And being with you is love in and of itself, at long last.

TAGLIST (let me know if you want to be added in my future works!): @samarill , @maehemthemisfit , @chocogi

[travellingwiththedead]

IwtV s2e3 rewatch notes

Because once again everything is happening so much and I need to take notes xD

(spoilers for show and books behind the read more)

So Daniel is allowed to leave the penthouse, didn't seem like it before. Is this a test to see what he'll do?

My man your handwriting is as bad as mine xD

"Where is the coven now(maybe)??? Today? Cell phone, Google, CCTV. SAN FRANCISCO, Polynesean Mary. Playboy Magazine. Alice. They'll come for Lenora and Kate next. nee (use??) Lestat as a doorstop/CLAUDIA!. MARA'S CAB. COKE BETTY GRABLE. THIS TIME I WONT SAVE YOUR LIFE"

so, "Raglan James". Why that character? If it is him. I guess can't have Mr. Superior General running around spying on vampires in Dubai but...this guy? So if it it's really Raglan my guess is he's not really Talamasca any longer and he's spying on vampires because he's looking for one recless enough to do the thing. And he thinks Daniel is his best bet on getting the intel.

"You're not the first to attempt this, Mr. Molloy. I could give you the names of four others who have and they're all dead. Or undead." Yeah, that tends to happen when you lot tangle with the vampires xD

"How many Rashids, Rahid?" I guess poor Real Rashid can be glad Daniel's not calling him Renfield LOL

"They are peaceful beings"....who eat people. My dear Real Rashid, I don't think that word means what you think it means xD

Armand stop making heart eyes at Daniel (actually don't xD)

Blenders mention (also they're not trying to sell them to you, you little gremlin, because you already bought so many xD)

Still very much "Sure, Jan" about Armand's story about how he met Lestat. I mean, he's clearly telling it with the agenda of making himself look better, understandable. But also he's making Nicki out to be some little fling Lestat didn't care about and he hates Gabrielle so much he's not even mentioning her. Sure, Jan xD

But dang every one is acting their hearts out and they're all so fabulously good at it.

You know the one thing really in character for Lestat in Armand's story? Dragging around a whole ass crucifix to make a point xD

Armand's definition of unharmed is as bad as Rashid's definition of peaceful LOL

"You led him there so he could destroy it." Hit the nail right on the head. Armand wants to get rid of the Children of Darkness? Oh look, a vampire who doesn't obey the rules and can help him with that. He wants to get rid of the Theatre de Vampires? Oh, look, a Louis.....

Still so amusing how Lestat's hair in Armand's story is always on point and how it's mostly terrible when Louis hallucinates him xD

I'm guessing these be their laws in Latin, my Latin is rusty and I never was much good at it but

looks like "III. Nullus lamia vampiris debet scibere historiam" for example and google translate says that's "No one should know the history of vampires" so....

I still think the whole sexual assault thing with Claudia is unnecessary. Bad choice to do that, imho.

It's so heart breaking to see how much Claudia wants to belong with the Theatre coven. Vampires are still arseholes and always will be.

When's a door not a door? xD sorry, but that's basically my only thought about Armand's entry there.

Not Louis taking a picture to see if Lestat's actually there or not.

I feel like it's a bad idea to open a chat conversation with Daniel when the vampires can read his mind. Seems like a sure way to be found out....

Louis getting philosophical and Daniel just hammering at buttons because his computer is being taken over is funny, ok? xD

Those Talamaska files are interesting. "PC Members Extinct 1556-1949", "Armand (Arun Amadeo)".

Hm, I feel like talking loud enough for Sartre to be annoyed by it about killing people seems like it's breaking your laws a lot, Armand LOL

Also Dream Lestat is being a right bitch, it's hilarious.

Louis, darling, you're losing it, you need therapy

How about telling Claudia they're all on to you? Would be a good idea before she joins their coven, one would think...

Why is Santiago's last name Windsor? xD like no, he does not look like a Windsor. I thought he was one of the one name gang, like Madonna LOL

And the Talamasca just spoiled Daniel about what will happen to the Theatre, rude xD

Of course Armand would make it out to have been Santiago who demanded he take out Louis. Sure, Jan.

So fucking dramatic to take Louis into the sewers and threaten him and then actually do nothing at all to him.

Louis, you really should not be turned on by people who just said they should kill you, dear xD

Yeah, casting Claudia as the baby is not fucked up, at all....

EDIT: also apparently this Theatre coven doesn't wall people up, they put them in the morgue fridges xD (which usually are one big fridge inside instead of many little ones but I guess they'll not do that here....)

over all, very fun episode, and stellar performances from the whole cast but especially Assad and Jacob.

[jamesunderwater]

CHARLES

james potter for the character list thingy 🫶🏼 love you

@deermessrs CELIA, you sent me this ask SIX MONTHS AGO, but I never forgot it and wanted to go back and finish the answer I'd half-written back then... if you still care to read it, here it is!! 😅

Favorite Thing About Them: I just love this boy who (albeit imperfectly) used his privilege for good - to give to others the love he was so freely given, to defend those more vulnerable than him, to actually risk his life to fight for the people he loved. And yes he saw the world in black and white, yes he had a savior complex, yes he was full of himself. But he's just. He's the kid in elementary school who makes handmade valentine's for the whole class, who is SO friendly to and defensive of the nerdy kid that he doesn’t realize he's actually embarrassing them. He is literally reckless with his own heart. And I just wanna hug him about it.

Least Favorite Thing About Them: Not to be a total simp, but I don't know that there's anything I don't like about him...

Favorite Line: In DH, when Harry asks, "will you stay with me?" And he says, "Until the very end." (I may or may not have the words tattooed on my body.)

BROTP: Sirius Black, his canonical soulmate, imo. The two of them are the definition of "you complete me" and "I found my other half." They love each other so much I think that even when it isn't romantic it is still bigger than any romantic love either of them have. It's obviously close to how deeply James loves Lily, but I think there is a tether between James and Sirius that neither of them have with anyone else.

OTP: Lily Evans, if that wasn't obvious xD They're just…I've shipped them since I was 12, before I knew what shipping was, yknow? They created my bby boy. Even though I ship both of them with other people in different contexts, I never see them ending up with anyone but each other.

NOTP: Snape. Who I only ship with a lifetime of cleaning out toilets.

Random Headcanon: He grew up with Marlene McKinnon. It was her brothers who taught him how to fly. They were each other's first kiss when they were like, 6, even though they never really liked each other that way. It was one of those things where you know each other as children but somehow it doesn't translate when you get older and find other friends - until they were in like 6th year and the war started feeling really real and it brought everyone closer. When he found out she and her whole family were killed, he went to a very dark place.

Unpopular Opinion: Er… I don't know if I have an unpopular opinion on him? It also depends on the part of fandom I'm talking to, lmao. The one thing I can think of is one I know some people share: that James wasn't that bent about The Prank. I think he was frustrated, but I don't think it put a rift between him and Sirius in any way.

Song I Associate With Them: Oh, 100% forever and always A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me by Fall Out Boy!!! "Cause you're just the girl all the boys wanna dance with, and I'm just the boy whose had too many chances… I'm sleeping on your folks' porch again dreaming, "she said, she said, she said, why don't you just drop dead?" // I don't blame you for being you, but you can't blame me for hating it. So say, "what are you waiting for? kiss her, kiss her." I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late." LIKE, PLS.

favorite picture of them: I went through all the fanart I've reblogged and I think I'd have to say this one by @daiziesssart:

[pinkyjulien]

Okay now I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon of the prev ask about Valentin's and Mitch's first meeting 👀 how does his story continue with Takemura (if at all?) Does he track Valentin down, and how, or is what follows immediately after being saved and stable again also diverging from canon? (I just love the image of Goro showing up all dusty and exasperated at the nomad's camp like "There you are!! Fucking finally!" XD)

AAAAAHHH FHF Eating you UwU

They DO meet up properly eventually! 👀 (more old screenshots being used to illustrate here hfhf)

After getting his bullet extracted, Val stayed a couple of days at camp; he couldnt really do much in his state, plus the caldos wouldnt just simply let him go like that

Mitch and Scorp were keepin an eye on him, they were responsible of him after all; if Val turned out to be a danger to the clan, they would've finished the job, succeeding where Dex failed

Val eventually woke up, and he was asked a couple of basic, straight forward question by Mitch; his name, where he's from, and what happened. Val didnt lie, but he also didnt mention the whole -arasaka- thing. He might be a gonk, but he's not dumb; saying that his failed gig was an heist on Arasaka, when every radios and tv stations been blasting about Saburo's death for the path days wouldnt be a smart move fhksjgj

It was all over the news- and Dex probably left Night City too (< at that time he wasnt aware Takemura killed him yet. Dex took Goro to the dump, only to find it completly empty. He got popped before he could swear he left him here hfjd)

Infos and Rumors goes around extremely fast in NC, especially between fixers, so Dexter departure/disappearance and Saburos death wasnt a coincidence at all; so was Jackie's and Valentin's potential death. (Jackie being confirmed dead cause he sent his body to his fam, but people had no idea where Val was)

He had to get back to NC, to Viktor, Misty- his friends, the only people he had left over there

That night at camp, Valentin experienced the Johnny Night TM; of course, he freaked out, screaming and talking "to himself" - Ripper wasnt far, knew the screams where coming from the nursery and quickly gave injected him some tranquilizer

In the morning, not sure whatever happened was a dream or not, he asked Mitch and Scorp (not friends yet, but the only guys he knew around) if someone could drive him back to NC- Dakota was still around and since she had to go back to her Garage soon, he could tag along and she'd get one of her guy to drive him to Vik's

During the drive, he explained to Dakota what happened, from the heist, the relic, Jackie- ans the weird dreams he's been getting (she's like a mother figure to him, a trusted friend)

She didnt liked any of that and pressed him to get checked properly asap, hoping this might be a virus that can get easily wiped out

Once at Vik, everyone was happy and relieved to see him alive "and well", but it quickly changed when Viktor took a closer look, obviously

He also mentioned that a guy, kinda sus looking, came in looking for him the day before. Said he could help him if he ever show up. (Takemura is a resourceful guy, I'm pretty sure he could pin down V's main ripperdoc to ask questions- and Viktor, knowing that Jackie did die, would trust Takemura's story and information since it correlate with what Vik knows)

So they make contact and eventually meet up at Tom's Diner like the canon timeline 👁👄👁

Despite all the years its still a ROUGH MAP AND TIMELINE FHJSJF that I really need to properly put down 💀💀 BUT YEAH FHDJ

Thank you friendo for the ask!! 🤗🧡🧡

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC CHAPTER 161 + 162 + 163

*rises from the dead* what...what year is this...?

Look, the only thing I can say as an opening to these chapters is DAMN

Okay yeah Lorena would say this lmao.

Nahh I'm guessing Prez in her spider form does not know about Whitney apologizing and all? Because she's mainly looking at Whitney, and it looks like she took a moment to recognize who he is.

Man, Whitney really hasn't forgive himself. But at the same time I can't really blame him, y'know? I think I would have a hard time forgiving myself either if I was in his position. But! I do hope he can forgive himself and improve himself more and more. His past may be bad, but I'm sure he's looking up to a better future.

CURTIS TO THE RESCUE!!

Dang that's one way to open a big ahh door lmao XD

OH HECK NAH I HOPE MOLLY WILL BE ALRIGHT. The blood coming out of her mouth is worrying me...

Finally!! The Pastel Princesses are showing their powers! May I say Lorena's weapons are SICK. THE THORNY VINES AROUND COLONEL SNUGGLES?? SUZIE'S SWORD?? LORENA'S UHH... KUSARIGAMA?? I'm not sure what lorena's weapon is, but it reminds me of Michaelangelo's weapon from tmnt 2012.

Maria calling her animal troop HECK YEAH. The animals attacking Leland is so satisfying. Leland is lucky Maria didn't call a tiger or smth.

OH GOODNESS GRACIOUS HECK NO. Ugh I can imagine the cracking sound from Aurelia's leg. Y'know i didn't expect this ship (whether romantic or platonic) was gonna happen, but i'm not unwelcome to it.

Dangg Frederick, you go gymnastic king XD

Hah! His chanting actually made me smile XD yes frederick, you are the tiniest prince....you are the tiniest prin–

YOOOOOOO Leelathae's portrait???? I am really convinced now that Leelathae is in Gwen's dream!! I hope she's going to protect Gwen from Leland somehow, but i'm sure now that she will help realize who Gwen's true love is. Which, I'm fairly sure by now, is Gwen herself. I mean, it fits with the theme of the comic soooo

With the mix of modern and traditional technologies in cpc, i do now wonder why they don't build an elevator inside castles considering the amount of floors there are. I'm thinking...Steampunk styled elevator?

•●•

INTOOOOO LEELATHAE'S BACKSTORY!!

-> Sheesh! Leelathae's reflection is getting worse and worse... Perhaps it's because she doesn't love herself because of herself anymore? Well now that that's in mind, Gwen is kind of repeating history.

I just wanna say I love how Jack is gonna make the wedding fits both his and Leelathae's liking. I know that is an average kindess act for marriage but it's still pretty heartwarming for me.

Ngl I'm curious what Leland and Isolde's wedding was like. I hope we'll get at least a picture!

Aw, this interaction is adorable. Look at how Isolde is smiling! I hope we will get her smiling like this in the present time..

WOAH WOAH WOAH. I mean, I was sure Jack would eventually confront his parents, but dang. Actually, it makes sense how Helena and Jesse starts seeing their reflection wrong too. I think with how much they talk about their beauty, they don't love their inner self (their personality) and instead too focused on their outward beauty. So I'm guessing here that what triggers the reflection problem on people, is personal hurtful words? First with Gwen, Frederick calling her ugly. Leelathae, Helena and Jesse calling her ugly. And now with Helena and Jesse, Jack called them hideous.

But y'know what? I am so glad Jack confronted his parents. It feels SO good. He loves Leelathae so much, it's so heartwarming.

So happy that Helena and Jesse are running away on their own. Let's hope they never come back...

....huh.

I genuinely dunno how to feel about flashback Leland now. Is he being genuine? I don't know. But it's nice that he's at least trying to comfort Jack. Too bad he regrets it now tho lmao XD sucks to be you Leland hahahah.

Since Leland is comforting Jack...Um, Isolde and Leelathae moment? Lambcat? I really wanna see them just having conversation together because last time Isolde thought Leelathae was stealing her food xd

Leelathae's wedding dress!! It matches Gwen's!!! I guess Leland really remembered that lmao. Damn Leland crying and Isolde just stared with concern XD (i would've added Gwen's wedding dress photo but Tumblr's max pictures :( )

Okay can we talk about how majestic Jack's hair is??? Like dang pop off king. Now I know why Maria's hair is so beautiful.

It's sweet how Jack would do anything to Leelathae aww.

Uh, yeah, no, I am not going to talk about that uhh "diagram" the doctor gave to Leelathae. Nope. Nu uh.

•●•

Back to the present let's gooooo!!

A for effort, Miss Agatha. A for effort....

HAHAH GOOD LUCK LELAND GOOD LUCK LMAO. I nearly forgot about the thorns covering Gwen. Honestly I wonder how no one from the Plaid kingdom (beside Frederick, Leopold and iirc Isolde who already knew) questions about the fact that she has not got woken up from a literal war that's happening in her palace.

Hah! I live for Frederick and Aurelia bickering. I especially love how Frederick is being argumentative. Usually he can be pretty uh..pushover? Actually the correct words would be he doesn't have any moment to stand up for himself :')

Yep! Confirmed once again! Leland is the serpent!

YOU GO CURTIS!! HECK YEA!!

Jamie is a mood with that speech. And the fact that he has not only 1, but 2 ultimate flashbang??? DAMN JAMIE.

Ohoho what am I sensing here? What did you write Leopold?? I can hear the Leomie shippers screaming right now lol.

HECK NO??? WTF DO U MEAN YOU'RE GONNA CRUSH HER??? NO NO NO????

LANCE!!! MY BOY!!! I LOVE HIM!!! LANCE!!!

Okay those are ALL of the chapters lmao that was long! Uh, what have I been doing to the point I post 3 chapters late? Ahaha....u see... i actually have not excuse. I apologize.

That's all for now!!

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thought)

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 141 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: mowing the lawn.

JON: “Any better?” BASIRA: [Nauseously] "Not really." As much as I grew to dislike Basira in S4, she has my deepest sympathy here. I'm suffering from severe kinetosis and this shit sucks. Affects me almost everyday. Whenever movement and visual information don't meticulously match up - boom, nauseous! And it takes forever to subside...

JON: "Mikaele Salesa. You used to work on his ship.” SHIPHAND (FLOYD): "I don’t know you." JON: [Archly] "But I know you." Jon does sound quite hungry here... like neglected animal kind of hungry...

"It wasn’t a problem, not really" Not really-counter of S4: 7! (btw. for this I'm only counting the not reallys which emphasize a preceding negating sentence. Not when it’s coming up in a sentence itself or as an answer like Basira’s not really in the first bullet point.)

Seriously, the way Floyd portrays Salesa here makes me want to work for him xD Treating his crew well, doesn't threaten them... I have a soft spot for (criminal) characters who treat others with dignity and respect. That's why I also love Gustavo from Breaking Bad so much.

"My last voyage with him was the one that killed him. Seven years ago; I still have nightmares sometimes. Tried to escape it, but some things follow you no matter where you go." Hmm... What did Gertrude say? "Whatever nightmares your experiences left you with, I’m sure they won’t be bothering you much longer."

"I’ve gone over that memory so many times, trying to think what I might have missed, but even now, whenever I think of it, it just looked like an old camera with a broken lens." Oh, the foreshadowing! When I was on my first listen I remembered the artefact itself when Salesa talked about it in MAG 181. But I absolutely could not remember in which statement it was mentioned then.

"But there was something else. In the light of the flashing storm I could clearly see the waters around the island, and there was something there. A huge shape, a shadow surrounding it on all sides; getting darker, getting closer, coming up from deep, deep below the surface. It must have been huge, so large that the edge of it almost touched the ship, and had we been a few minutes slower I have no doubt whatever awful thing emerged that night, it would have taken us as well." I don't quite understand this bit. Huge creature, lightning, clearly Vast. It always sounded to me like that camera was keeping that thing in check, suppressed, since it only emerged after the camera was taken. But I don't think the camera blocks out all Fears, at least of what we'll hear in MAG 181. Annabelle for example, she's only being kept alive by the Web and yet she is very much not dead. And Salesa says there was once an insect of the Corruption finding its way into his bubble, that also clearly wasn't repelled. So was this manifestation of the Vast the keeper, protector? of the camera and emerged to express its anger or to try to get it back?

"He wasn’t making much sense. We managed to gather the two of them had left early to deliver the artefact, but something had gone wrong. There had been an argument. They had been betrayed. Salesa was dead." If you don't see a character die directly, there's always a chance they didn’t!

JON: "It’s alright, Floyd. You just… need a break." FLOYD: "Yeah… Sure.” So uhhh... The compulsion doesn't not only make people answer questions, whether being simple answers or an entire statement, it also order people to do things?

JON: "He didn’t exactly seem inclined to volunteer the information. Besides, you said I needed to be ready for Ny-Alesund. “Full power” I believe were your words. The statement helped." BASIRA: "And now he’s going to see you in his dreams as he relives that for the rest of his life. Because… because a tape recorder told you to do it?" JON: "Yes, Basira, he is. And I am sorry about that. But we needed it. Anyway you’re the one who wants to be like Gertrude. You think she’d give a damn about a few bad dreams?" BASIRA: "No." Yep Basira, check your priorities... Basira said Gertrude was the only person who got things done, but now that approach doesn’t sit with her either? And Basira said to bring the spooks, so better charge up the spooks.

JON: "No. She got the job done, and didn’t care about the cost." BASIRA: "But I thought you did." She got Jon there, still doesn't change anything about Basira's hypocrisy though.

JON: "I had to know, Basira." BASIRA: "It wasn’t right." JON: "You could have stopped me. … But you wanted to know as well, didn’t you?" Haha, got her right back! Good! Also, another example that Basira is clearly Eye-aligned.

@a-mag-a-day

[nightglider124]

Titans: Season 4 - Ep11 - Thoughts

I have finally watched the episode. My God, my day at work was agonizing; I looked at tumblr and saw gifs and posts and was like screaming cos I wanted to watch it.

Anyway, since I've just freshly finished watching it, I am gonna note down some thoughts!

So... I feel weirdly mixed on this episode? As an episode it was good but as the penultimate episode? Idk... I feel kinda meh about it? I don't wanna come across as negative and the rest of this will mostly be stuff I enjoyed since I actually did enjoy the majority of it and as an episode in itself, it was good but idk... the fact the finale is all that's left, I feel like it's gonna be rushed... or the actual action is gonna be over super quick etc and loose ends won't get tied up... and I hate to say it, but I am kinda now doubting what is in store for dk fans in the finale? I would have thought this episode would have had more than it did, I gotta say. Idk... I just felt I had to say that to begin with.

Sigh, Kory continues to be and will forever be my absolute favourite. Idgaf what haters say and shit, I love Anna as Kory. I really do. She might not be like some of the versions people know Kory from but I think she brings close qualities and if anything makes this version of Kory edgier. Like, I absolutely adore her. Starfire is my absolute favourite DC character. Always has been, always will. I basically support any and all versions of my baby girl since DC doesn't spotlight her as much as they should cos she's fucking amazing.

Kory's dreaming and shit has me nervous for her. Like, we all know by now some bad shit goes down and happens to Kory. I am so dreading it. I know that she's gonna be fine from BTS stuff but like... it's still gonna hurt like a motherfucker.

Mercy was an interesting addition this season, I gotta say. I like the actress a lot since her days on Coronation Street (UK soap opera) and honestly, seeing her get choke slammed by Kory had me grinning but I like in the end she is purely like fuck it, take the documents, whatevs. Gar was also hilarious in that scene like no we don't need them all but I'm taking them ehehehehe. XD

Was... Was I missing something with May?? Like I thought she was dead when he burnt her ass up last episode? I was really confused cos she was just walking about like that didn't happen. Did she die and come back or was she never dead?? What... was that bodybag scene in the last ep real? I thought it was a dream. It was weird. I mean she dead af now and I enjoyed her as Mother Mayhem; she really had the villain oomf. Sebastian is... lacking in comparison.

In addition to that, Sebastian had potential to be scary but honestly, he comes off as a whiney mamas boy like he is grating. XD

Conner... my boy, I am always so left and right with you. I'm glad he is actually team Titans but... idk something in me still isn't trusting his ass XD. Like, I thought the bit with him and Dick in the tunnel was him tricking Dick or something but seems legit. We'll agree to like Conner and trust him... for now. XD

So, I didn't mind the Jason and Tim scenes but fuck me, wrong time. Like, I'm sorry. It felt so badly placed. We are at the penultimate episode and we're now just getting some Tim training as Robin with Jason? Nah, I was annoyed. And, they spent so many scenes on it?? Like miss me with that bs. It felt unnecessary, imo.

Another sour note, I feel like we actually could have had a lot more Kory scenes considering the episode was called Project Starfire. Like, damn. I promise, that's my only really salty thing.

Now, ahem... the dickkory scene on the balcony was cute af. It really nicely reflected the scene in S1 at the motel. But, it was too shorttt! Their sweet scenes are just... always too short for my liking which is disappointing. I'm happy for all and any scenes but jeez.

Gar and Rachel talking about wanting a change and shit, I was like are y'all gonna leave the famjam?? Cos I will not be emotionally okay if that happens. I literally just saw a certain new hero film where this was also a thing like pls CAN YOU NOT. My heart can't.

Lmao, Dick in the chamber thing when they were powering the orb thing was hilarious. Like, boy done fucked up the whole plan bc of his own anxiety for his wife. It was cute and his concern was very obvious.

Also, side note, the bit where Dick, Rachel and Gar appear where Kory is with Mercy made me giggle. Like Dick was so huffy like 'Making new friends?' and it was unusual like in this series its a real rarity that Dick is annoyed at something Kory has done like he has let her get away with literal murder whilst batting eyelashes at her. So, it was like tehe. Ya know? I'm assuming others know what I mean.

ALSO. When in the chamber thing as they got to 98% and before Dick fucked it up, did you guys notice Kory's eyes? That tiny bit where it went a bit slower and her eyes like flickered from glowing to normal? Was that something up with her powers or am I imagining shit?

I think that's mostly my thoughts. I still don't know how to feel on the episode. It didn't blow me away and I feel like with penultimate episode, I should be? I got excited in like the very last minute where he blows the horn and Kory's like 'There's only one way to end this. My way.' like bitch is dead serious and I'm scared for my girl.

I'm hoping the finale is really good buuut... I have also seen screeners really hyping it up and I'm just not trusting it. So, I think I'm gonna try and go into the finale with as less an expectation as possible to avoid crushing disappointment. I'm not gonna have any theories or anything or scenes that I would ideally like bc I think that's how you get set up for disappointment.

I'm gonna enjoy the ride and just see where the finale takes us. Weird that this time next week, Titans will be over. Sad times. :(

One upside, I'm working til 3pm next week so I am gonna try my absolute HARDEST to avoid tumblr and just not look at the tags so I remain blissfully unaware of what happens. Even if it kills me.

Each week when I am at work and a new episode of Titans comes out, I literally refresh the dc titans and dickkory tag like a thousand times to get me through the day.

Anyways! Hope others liked this episode and see y'all for the finale!

[desiresign]

sending you this so you can ramble abt your blorbos so! seiga for the ask thing ~ aesop

THANKYUUU :DD ough

favorite thing about them

seiga my beloved.i love you... i dont know why.. i like when girlies are kind of evil and have little morals and are unliked by everyone else and .. . I LIEK HERRRRRRRR OK (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

least favorite thing about them

normie answer:omg guys, she violates human rights with dead bodies, omg! scandelous!!! TRUE ANSWER: I WANT HER TO HAVE anything anything a MERCH i will take even the generic anime style type idk idk ouuuou uuuu seiga fumo doesnt exist i want it to be real

favorite line

ええ、腐ってて可愛いでしょ？ yeah, shes rotten and cute, isnt she... (talking about yoshika) awwwwww the oober doober

brOTP

i do like to see her hanging out with the taoists, she certainly isnt that close to them (though much moreso to miko) but i think it could be a funny type relation. guy who hangs around your house and you dont want her around but shes chill. you think about how evil she is while enjoying her lovely dinner she made for everyone.

OTP

i dont ship her with anyone really ,NO BITCHES!!! unless... me!???????!!!!! seiga just doesnt get anyone. but i dont think she really cares about romantic relationships. honestly for the best because she would probably have a moochy relationship considering she likes to hang around other people to get something out of them in return... she problematic aromantic lesbian representation (so true)

nOTP

i dont like seiga x yoshika... well simply, i dont... so yeah no matter what it seems like i say or draw of them, i really dont ship them together XD and dont think of it that way at all. i dont have strong feels about the subject i just dont like it..

random headcanon

i think that during the time yoshika was alive seiga and her never even met, but i think yoshika had heard of her in passing and that inspired her to be fascinated by hermits. which makes things ironic in the end, doesnt it!!

regarding jiangshi, this method was one of the first spells that she learned after ascending to hermitdom and was one of the highest points that led to her being cast as a 'wicked hermit.' yoshika is the only one she has kept around for a very long time because she is her favorite, so she is the only one who gets all of seiga's love and anti-decomposition spells. she loves her very much :3 also, since yoshika says that "we" in relations to her guarding the mauseleum, there are definitely more around. jiangshi do not last very long due to decomposition, so they eventually "die" again and are taken out of seiga's control.

i headcanon seiga as being chubby literally because of a dream. i know that sounds funny but heres a fact about me, im kind of a dream obsessed person sometimes, i really like having dreams and thinking about what my brain is doing. but anyways, i had the dream before seiga and yoshika were even really characters on my love radar, i just simply knew them. i dont know what happened in the dream but they were both there, and i think it took place in my house??

seiga with a pokemon: im not sure about more than this, but one thing for sure im really specific about is her having a luxray!! they can see through walls! so as the wall-passing hermit, it would totally make her life easier with a pet who can see whats going on before action XDc sadly though i dont know others she can have.. WAIT yeah ok i dont know the new pokemon very well but houndstone can also be hers. uoppy

also, seiga fursona is cat, its pretty normie and obvious, well if she didnt wanna be called a cat well ZUN shouldve never called her nyanyan... niang niang nyanyan seiga meowwwwwww meeeeowwwwwww OUAAAAH.

unpopular opinion

shes my best friend

song i associate with them

well desire drive and her theme, old yuanxian and um... yeah yeah... necromantic yeah..... (sadly succumbing to fate)

favorite picture of them

can you can you look at seiga in WaHH for me please

^ sittoing

THANK YOU. AND REMEMBER. SEIGA FOREVER

[asoulofatlantis]

Oh great... its in German right now. I need to see if I can do something about it. (BTW... this is a "What happened so far..." that you can watch.

This story is told by Red. But... he only joined Clouds team after they got to save Aerith in Shinra - he said so himself - so how did he even know about the stupid flower story that they absolutly needed to mention? I mean, even if they told Red everything that happened so far, I can not see anyone, not even Aerith beeing like: "Oh and I gave Cloud a Flower that symbolized a reunion and then he gave it to Tife.", when making a summary of what they have been through so far.

Anyway... they just NEEDED that Shipping-Hint-Confusion appearantly.

Well... whatever. I try to figure out if I can change the language of that game.

That should do it.

By the way... it should come to no surprise to anyone but were playing this on EASY.

They call it "Journey into the unknown" but... knowing what I know I'd like to say: "MY ASS!" But, we will see.

You know the drill, this is the only way to get screenshots from this game. Yes I know, you can barely read the text, but there is no other way in this game.

A... uh... Tornado? What Tornado? Oh... because of the Wispers maybe?

Okay Guys, we passed by a picture of that Dog that Shinra uses for commercials or bags of chips or whatever and it is actually the dog from Zacks... uh... timeline(?).

Oh look! Its "I am alive because Fanservice sells and people think I am cool and sexy!" - Uh I I mean, its Zack. Yes, that is what I wanted to say. (I do hardly know the guy, so at the moment, I have nothing against him. I only have something against the fact that SE only bring him back because it is as good as a selling point for most players as Sephirot getting more screentime and lots of BL-Moments with Cloud XD

So... they better make this part of the story VERY good and VERY believable.

They thought this is the best moment to place that logo? In that alternative reality with a barly concius Cloud, a beaten up Zack dragging him along and all that destroyed part of Midgar in the background? WHY?

I would say, for SEs purposes it is highly convinient that all but Cloud, Zack and Aerith are dead in this timeline. BUT Cloud beeing alive doesn't really fit this mess. I mean... I guess they could use him to help the other Cloud with his... uh... memorie issues... but then we still have two Clouds. So... one must die eventually? Why I say that even tho this is a different timeline? You'll get that eventually.

There is something off about that. Why was Aerith with Avalanche to beginn with? And why now? Zacks death caused Cloud to be... who is is now in our timeline and this causes his work with Avalanche and this lead to him meeting Aerith and her kind of joining the team to beginn with. And even if she managed to join them without Cloud, what is with the reactor Bombings? I mean, how long did it take Zack to get to Midgar? This is... I don't get that.

Oh... they weren't dead yet. It showed us Red actually attacking the driver of the helicopter. But that thing crashed now so... who knows ^^'

ANYWAY it seems it Zack-Time.

I don't want to be this kind of person but... this guy just barely survived and attack that had killed him in another timeline, he dragged Cloud all the way to Midgar. He is all beating up and yet he is already fighting Shinra-Troops again? I get that he is an elite soldier and all but... shouldn't even he be exausthed at this point? Then again, adrenaline does work magic sometimes and he just saw his hurt girlfriend falling down with a helicopter so... that... situation gets a pass, I guess.

I am pretty sure that Photo-Mood is a DREAM for the Fangirls screaming his name XD

HOLY SHIT! This guy is strong. Wow.

OBVIOUSLY XD

The materia fell out of Aeriths hair... that... can not be a good sign, can it?

Poor Zack. He survived this timeline just tun run straight into the next freaking mess. (BTW... how does this even fit into the scene with the church from Intermission? O.o)

Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! We skipp from Zack directly into the freaking Flashback? No walking anywere beforehand?

I could be wrong (and obviously, in the original game we didn't have a Zack-Timeline either) but I think in the original we first had to walk into a city or something and we got the Flashback after staying in a hotel or so.

(That aside... that is also not the same car from intermission - just let me take over game sins already XD)

In the original I found most of the overly long flashback immensly boring, but I assume they made it more interesting in this game.

[beardedhandstoadshark]

formal invitation to drop a stupid amount of oc lore, if you’re so inclined! 😳😳

THANK YOU BUT ALSO I’m gonna have to tell you a secret, c’mere

…

I have no idea what I‘m doing with the lore

Ignoring anything related to character traits and such, The short version is:

Red: 23, ex-Hero, quit being one 2y ago, got her current scarf back then, dipped because of expectations she couldn’t/didn’t wanna meet, got a grandpa, still helps out anyone who asks.

Deniz: 20, resident from a small village set on a bunch of super high and windy cliffs, only one with complete (and functioning) family, good at sailing, left because of the sameness of each day becoming unbearable.

Mage: 23, magic merchant man, aka merchant for antiques, relics, and standard rpg shop stuff. Really good at dark magic, went way too far with it once and it tinted his eyes green, emotional attachment to scarf because of missing/probably dead friend, gold thingy in hair helps detect magic, =) is his default face (on purpose).

Yel: 24, not his actual name but a nickname from Mage, couldn’t follow his dream so he became the next best thing aka delivering stuff to hard-to-reach places, only-child with 2 parents, very good at outside stuff and basic medic things, :| is his default face (not on purpose).

Violet: 19, royalty, gifted child syndrome/burnout, really high light magic potential but it tends to be unstable/uncontrolled, was pretty much playing Rapunzel locked in her tower because of that, lots of siblings, has at least one abduction/attempted sacrificing behind her because being op + locked up + other family related stuff = rumors about her being able to bring forth the apocalypse.

And then there’s a bunch of smaller oc‘s I don’t really actively "use“ aside from maybe a drawing here or there.

(If that’s all you wanna know, you can stop reading here)

The WORLD started out as/ is mostly still just "fantasy rpg but the internet is a thing“ feat. Light/Dark based magic. So it’s every fantasy setting ever but they’ve got phone signals and stuff. If it ever comes up, currency will be called El because the implications of the European Union or US or whatever existing here are kinda funny but not something I wanna deal with XD Cent is still Cent tho, that one‘s universal enough to work since it’s just derived from the word for 100. There may or may not also be a corruption infestation thing going on. Jury‘s still out on that one (as in, idk if I wanna go that far with the setting, but it’d at least fit with whatever the heck is going on in Red‘s lore).

For Magic, Light is basically giving energy to the surrounding while Dark is taking it away. So stuff like fire and ice is also part of light and dark. Because of that, light works best in dark/cold places (lots of area to brighten/heat up; you can only see stars during the night) and dark when its well lit/warm (needs light to cast shadows, lots of stuff to absorb). If someone uses too much of it over a short period of time, it can have lasting effects, usually first noticeable by a change of eye color. (Light = cold, light tones, dark = warm, Dark tones)

(YOU CAN STOP READING HERE, REALLY)

But if not…the long version:

it keeps changing. A lot. To the point where, as of right now, they kinda don’t…have any lore? Because I‘ve essentially been throwing everything I had out of the window/got the feeling whatever‘s going on is too cringe/cliche.

Red‘s is currently the most…stable, I guess?

Did the classic "go on an adventure to save the kidnapped princess/world“ thing 2-3 years ago, because of that was knighted and officially recognized as The HeroTM (and given her current green scarf), but went into "hiding" shortly after cuz everyone had these ridiculously high expectations of what/how The Hero should do/act that she couldn’t live up to or started treating her differently, + didn’t feel like only standing there as a real life attraction could help anyone.

So Red essentially quit, and went home helping people and adventuring from there. And then ran into Violet, which happened shortly before where the timeline’s currently at. The two bells on a string acting as a second hair tie have been in her possession since childhood, and act as a good luck charm. Has a grandpa, + I‘m thinking about adding a sibling. (Also may or may not be able to hear music fitting the vibe of whatever place she’s in- still not sure about that one). That original concept still applies more or less. But as for the other oc’s…oof.

Deniz and Yel both don’t have. Much going on?

Yel isn’t his actual name but a nickname he got from Mage because his bag + hair is Yellow and his voice can be incredibly loud if he wants to. Also I just couldn’t find a fitting name. His dream had always been becoming a Ranger, but due to various things including severe shortsightedness and dumb rules, never got to fulfill it. (Outside of some basic training).Therefore became the next-best thing that‘d allow him to still be frequently outside and not be glued in a single place too much to at least sometimes take paths through forests- which was becoming a postman. Specifically for special deliveries and places that can’t be easily reached. So it’s…more of a courier thing, really?

Which is also how he came to know a lot people, including Red for kinda becoming her personal mailman during that whole adventure thing, the usual deliverer for Mage’s shop stuff, and normal post for Deniz. Without knowing it himself, is actually rather well known as the mailman guy. Got a decent grasp on first aid from that basic training. Animal and health nerd. Good at foraging. Got no siblings but 2 very precious parents (I have yet to design in any way, if at all). Ridiculous constitution. Aaaand that’s about it. Probably the most realistic but compared to all the cool oc’s people have on here idk if it’s interesting?

Deniz is even worse. His whole deal is "npc joined the party“. He‘s literally just some guy from a small village built at the top of a bunch of very windy cliffs (hence why Yel delivers stuff to them because it’s kinda hard to reach otherwise). Originally he was just supposed to be concept villager for said place, which was an idea for what a beach village would look like if the ocean didn’t just rise a bit with the tides in daily cycles but like 40m in a year. (Insert funky microclimate reasons here).

It’s still visible in the attempted beach theme in his design and name, as it means ocean (+ it’s the only one not a color pun so that’s nice). Also he‘s good at sailing because it’s the main way of reaching other places during flood. As well as handing ropes. Met Red during her travels, helped out when she needed a ride later, and decided to stick around because of exploring/curiosity/felt trapped in the circle of doing the same things everyday. Got a bunch of family, and the only one who could do a complete "holiday dinner with the whole family at grandma’s“ thing. Most of his stuff is character-based and not background lore things though. Yeaaaaaa.

Then with Mage, his present appearance is pretty clear, but the background isn’t. Merchant for antiques, relics, and standard rpg shop stuff. Really good with dark magic. Like, that one’s solid. Then it gets a bit goofy. Used to have blue eyes, but overusage of magic over a period of time tinted them permanently green now. Originally became a traveling merchant when he was 18 to be able to search for his missing friend (the blue scarf‘s a reminder/glorified friendship bracelet). But then started realizing a) he‘s most likely dead by now, and b) actually genuinely enjoys the whole merchant thing, decided to open up shop permanently. Still can’t quite let go though. Orphan from an orphanage doubling as a school focused on magic, which is how he met said dead friend (called Rhyme because the idea was both having names 1 letter away from being a herb as a parallel.) And like. That’s fiiiine I guess?

But the events between [hanging out together] to [Rhyme goes missing] to [Mage chills here now] are. SO BAD. At one point it was "boarding school is actually super shady because those with high magic potential regularly go missing while they pretend they just graduated/got adopted/decided to go away/etc., and Rhyme was the newest disappearance which makes no sense for his character so Mage went off to find out what’s going on“ to "the same thing but Mage actually found out that whole place is super shady“ spiced with "he‘s now in this country because he‘s actually from across the border so they won’t search for him“ to "the only reason they’re not coming after him is because they think he‘s dead“. And all of these have variations where the whole place burned to the ground after the basement exploded (leading to them thinking he‘s dead). And ALSO that shady business might be connected to whatever the heck is going on with Violet‘s lore. So like. The whole thing is on ice now because idk if this is really anything worth using. Idk.

And then there’s her. As if Mage wasn’t bad enough, Violets lore was…messy. Really messy.

She’s royalty, got a lot of siblings, and what is essentially gifted child burnout. Also aforementioned magic (light in her case) is super high for her but kiiinda uncontrolled, which led to her pretty much exclusively being pushed to learn streamline it, but there’s never really been much progress. This part of the lore still seems ok right now. The problem is the actual backstory that led to "now“. Because as of right now, Violet is hanging out with the others, and therefore very much not where she should be, at all. And that’s where the mess is.

The original reason for her being with the rest of the gang rn was that she was once abducted 2 years ago so she could be sacrificed to bring forth the apocalypse, and met Red during her escape. (Spoiler: there isn’t some ancient god dragon sealed in her blood or whatever probably. Just got unusually high light magic reservoir, which, combined with her always being in the background, let to people believing there’s something going on with her that warrants that secrecy.) Recently, after another attack, decided that her being missing would be better, and broke out to search for Red and hide with her. So despite being. Royalty. She‘s deliberately not going back home as she‘s "more useful" if missing, so everyone is so focused on her that it keeps any trouble away from her family since everyone will be focused on getting to her instead. (It’s totally not also because she feels incredibly trapped and knows her being gone wouldn’t actually chance much for them. Absolutely not. It’s only out of usefulness.)

That one‘s got a variation where she was abducted twice- first time saved by Red, which is when they met, second time was what happened above with her breaking out herself, and directly lead into the whole "staying missing is better“ thing. In another alternative version, that og thing didn’t happen 2 years ago, but recently, so instead of "2y ago + recent event leads to her booking it“ that 2y ago becomes said recent event.

And I‘m also thinking of just throwing everything away and rebuilding it from the ground up, but the only thing I can really come up with rn is the "royalty that definitely shouldn’t be wandering around but their knight/guard/whatever (Red) is there so it’s cool“ trope. Also if I change the lore in that regard I‘d kinda have to redesign her again (or at least clean it up a bit?)

In any case, the only story beats I‘ve kinda got down are "was abducted, kicked ass, met Red during or on the road shortly after escape, [stuff], not going back to the castle because of [reasons], road-trip ensues“.

Also I might do urban fantasy and zombie apocalypse AU‘s. Idk.

As I Said, it’s REALLY long and REALLY bad. You can laugh, point out plotholes and cliches, whatever

And laugh some more. It’s cool, I understand, really XD

(Someone please help set this lore right/make some better ideas)

(Tough, thank you for reading it you actually made it through this? Holy shit?? That’s so much!?? Yea)

[dispatches-from-the-lorecord]

OLDEN storytime with the server oldbies

[February 1 2023]

{Haji:}

Reminds me! You've talked about learning some of the older lore, how much do you know about Bugsy and the Cult of Olden?

{Newbie:}

i know that "OLDEN" was the name of a Ledian during AnniCrys but uhhh that's about it :Kappa:

i'm not entirely sure where "OLDEN" as a name comes from either, tbh

{Haji:}

Picture time XD

{Sol:}

she has not read the sacred texts 

{Newbie:}

teach me :BegWan:

{Haji:}

Well first off here's where the name comes from

{Newbie:}

that does look familiar, actually 🤔

{Haji:}

About a two minutes in you'll see the crash

{Newbie:}

oh and i see it happened in Bugsy's gym-- oh ok things are making sense now

{Haji:}

Y u u u u p

{Krizste:}

a evevent of legends right there

{Newbie:}

Ledian

ok yeah

i get it now

{Haji:}

So this only happened with this particular Trainer iirc which is where the Ledian = Olden thing came up but was solidified later when we named our Ledian (as this is a catch all) Olden as well.

Evan eventually release everything as the countdown to closing was up and we ended the game at the league with only Ledian in the party?

{Newbie:}

Interesting

{Krizste:}

chucking 40 mon the the grinder

(or was that a diffrent event)

{Mitzi:}

possibly you’re thinking of the release-the-whole-box button

of which anicrys had one

we hit a point where we didn’t have enough box space to catch the whole dex. the mass releases started there

evan… he started off as a sweet kid. by the end of the run, his reputation was… different

{Haji:}

I MEAN.... considering how AnniCrys went, could you blame him? He got fucked over by the canon, nevermind what the lore put him through

{Trollkitten:}

Some say Evan was scarred permanently from the sinking of the S.S. Anne. Some say he was never the same... others say that the real Evan went down with the ship and that whatever replaced him... was worse.

{Newbie:}

i see

{Mitzi:}

anicrys! we beat the game, and while we were waiting for pbr to come back or whatever we released half the team

we spent - how much of the plot of anicrys do you know?

the game i mean, not the lore

{Newbie:}

i know that you start in kanto, the ss anne crashes, you go through johto fairly normally, beat the e4 and lance plus your old kanto rival, go back to kanto, and... i believe that's it

{Mitzi:}

aight

{Newbie:}

i know there were also host appearances and such. baba in a dream

also this is the part where timelines got fucky, apparently, cuz it was implied to take place in the same world as annired :Kappa:

{Mitzi:}

devs have been fxxkers for years – anyway

{Newbie:}

lmao

{Mitzi:}

okay, so, we did the ss anne rival fight before the rocket-hijack-boat-sinks bit, so as the run was happening we assumed azure was also on the anne when it sunk

we spent… basically all of johto searching for her. some people thought she’d died

{Newbie:}

yeah i remember reading about that

{Mitzi:}

except she didn’t. she shows up at the e4, triumphant return, everyone is hype. probably she just got off the boat before the rockets got on, she’s smart like that

but evan… he was definitely on the boat when it sank

he definitely spent… some time at sea, before he washed up in cherrygrove

but we just cut from the sinking to the washing

and then, a fair ways into johto, deku edited the rom while drunk and a random trainer totally glitched out

{Newbie:}

oh i remember reading about this. some believed it was azure's ghost--before the reveal and all--yes?

{Mitzi:}

our trainer name got an OLDEN-style text replacement. endlessly repeating, inolinolinol

yep

but then, she wasn’t dead

but then, evan did what he did at the end of the run

the one who died on the anne wasn’t azure

it was evan

… man, that plot beat hit like a truck

anicrys was a trip

just. the slow dawning realisation after the mass releases that there was something Wrong with evan

[But how does Brown tie into all this?]

{Haji:}

To add to Bugsy and the Cult of Olden, for some reason in Brown (the following run) Azalea Town was the only Johto town you could reach after an apparent eruption blocked all the roads to explore further?? So Paul took a VERY long bike ride to deliver the gym a pizza if memory serves me right. No real reason to either, but it was in the post game so part of our quest for "The Mystery Bird~" the Tickets were after? I'm not so familiar with Brown if anyone wants to jump in

{Trollkitten:}

Paul: I expect a REALLY big tip

{Haji:}

I think we got a badge so tip AND bragging rights?

{Mitzi:}

been playing through brown, in vanilla at least you just get the fighting dojo pokemon choice

(brown is. really really obviously kanto cut apart and stitched back together in a different order. all the same events, just in different spots)

{Newbie:}

i know nothing about Brown and Prism

except that Cyan is Lance's daughter

that and Phancero apparently originated in Prism

{Mitzi:}

it got foreshadowed at the end of anicrys and in brown, too

{Haji:}

Yup. The Mystery Bird. After Evan got access to the Tomb of the Voices on Mt Silver, he found the bird sprite at the back of the ruins. It flew off. At the end of Brown, he rescued the bird but it still flew off. We then got some heavy hunting this was all a build up to the release of Prism which we were getting to play opening day

[cuubism]

New thought/question regarding the complex mathematics au: I'm imagining Hob somehow meeting one of Dream's shittier ex's, but the question is would Hob already know about them or would Dream only explain after the fact?

i've been trying to figure out what exact type of dating history dream even has in this, i feel like the actual serious romantic entanglements were probably slim to none, it was mostly hookup sort of things that started hurtling towards something more serious only for the other person to break it off. hob might? be his first long term relationship that's actually gotten to this serious of a point? and def his first relationship that started from such a solid foundation of friendship (or enemyship 😂) and regard. (i'm not sure if calliope exists in this au. maybe that was his one other serious relationship some number of years ago)

so I imagine most of dream's exes in this au aren't necessarily bad people they just... don't really care about dream. because they were never really dating. maybe dream thought they were or thought his feelings were requited when they weren't, i don't know exactly. the worst hob would encounter, i think, is people who are just kind of callous about dream's feelings. or who don't get him at all and misread everything dream was trying to do. or who don't see the value in him that hob sees. which probably WOULD piss hob off to be honest 😂

dream probably... did not mention any of this. he might have said 'my past relationships were troubled' or something really vague like that XD as opposed to 'all my past entanglements crashed and burned for reasons unknown to me' which is closer to the truth, the poor thing is confused he doesn't know what he's doing wrong :/ he's just communicating on a different wavelength and people are not getting it. and to be fair hob doesn't always either he just likes dream enough to figure out how to translate it

and then again, is calliope there? idk 😂 if calliope is there then is eleanor there? who knows! maybe she's also dead along with hob's entire family lmao rip in pieces hob

[cosette141]

Dreamshade (OUAT fanfic) | Additional Ending

Fandom: Once Upon A Time

Author: cosette141

Words: 3k (this chapter) | 16k total

Summary: (s3A, "Good Form" canon divergence) Instead of David getting hit with the poisoned arrow, it's Hook. Now it's up to David to get Hook to Dead Man's Peak before Dreamshade takes Hook's life, and maybe learn, perhaps too late, that Hook is far more than just a pirate. h/c Captain Charming

AO3 (additional ending link) | AO3 (Dreamshade story link from beginning)

Additional Ending: The Cure to Dreamshade (is You) (under the cut!)

a/n: Lol so I had thought this story was over, but I was asked by many people to continue this story so that Hook got safely back to Storybrooke. So, I spent the past 3 hours writing this, which is way less time than I usually spend agonizing over a chapter, so if it's just ehh, that's why lol. But either way, here's your closure xD

The idea for how Hook is saved came from @undercaffinatednightmare and @jonesfandomfanatic, I hope I did it justice!

Okay, NOW here is the last chapter and epilogue of Dreamshade lmao.

~cosette141

They'd saved Henry.

The bloody heroes had defeated Pan, and saved Henry.

It was something Hook still couldn't quite fathom; he had yet to see any of them fail, and had grown to wonder if they ever could.

However, as the lot of them had returned to the ship, all smiles and relief, reunited with the lad, Hook had paused at the foot of the gangplank, unable to convince himself to board.

Because it seemed that he may have just found the one thing these heroes will fail to do.

And that, was to save him.

Ever since the Neverland water had cured him, since his and David's journey to Dead Man's Peak, things had been drastically different among them.

Firstly, and most notably, between himself and David.

Not only had David stopped fighting him on which paths to take and which areas to avoid, David had quite literally shifted leadership directly and solely to Hook.

And though Hook was used to being a leader, being the Captain of his crew, he was respected out of his men's fear.

It's been a very, very long time since he'd led any people by their choice of him.

The last time he'd felt that way, was when Liam was still alive, and for a short time after his death.

He and David were now past having an understanding with each other; they did feel like mates.

It had taken a week after Dead Man's Peak to save Henry, and more than one of those nights, David and Hook had shared a shift watching over the others, and slowly, mostly to pass the time, had started to talk.

The fact that David had willingly wanted to know more about him, not just to keep him awake for fear of him dying like he had that night, was still something that touched and stunned Hook all the same.

The change hadn't stopped with David, however.

The change between himself and Emma was something else entirely.

The bitter edge to Emma had very much eroded.

But Hook knew it wasn't her demeanor that had softened; it was the walls tumbling down one by one.

Ever since their kiss all those nights ago, she'd always seemed to gravitate closer to him. So far, that kiss had been a one-time thing, but mostly due to her fear for her boy taking precedence. And Hook had quite the feeling that, if they were to find a way to save him, they'd certainly have a second time. He and Emma had fought together with every other danger they'd faced, just like they had fought the giant on the Beanstalk, and just like how her parents fought. In sync, in a way of protecting the other.

The nights that Hook's and David's shifts didn't align, his and Emma's did.

And, slowly, she and he began to talk.

Gods, he never once would have believed that he could be more excited about the fact that a woman was talking and opening up to him more than he would be to wake up next to her.

However, that was an excitement all on its own, but now, standing here on the edge of his worst nightmare and his brightest dream…

He knew, with a coldness in his chest, that it would never happen.

Swallowing hard, something terribly painful in Hook's chest as he listened to the joy on deck, of Emma, her boy, and the Lost Boys they were also bringing back to Storybrooke.

Hook shut his eyes, remembering saving Henry.

Hook never would have thought that he'd be relieved to see the Crocodile.

Pan had been moments from taking Henry's heart, Hook and Emma immobilized by the demon's magic, when the Crocodile had reappeared for the first time since he'd left their group when they'd arrived in Neverland.

With some long-winded speech about destroying Pan to save Baelfire's son, as his way of making up for past mistakes, Rumplestiltskin had used one of Pan's own weapons against him:

Dreamshade.

Right through his chest.

Pan had fallen, releasing himself and Emma. Emma had run to her boy, the Crocodile to replace the boy's heart, and Hook found himself watching Pan seconds from death.

"At least I know," gasped Pan, "that you aren't far behind."

Hook's eyes narrowed.

"I know you were poisoned, too," drawled Pan through a tight grimace. "You know as well as I do.. th-that you won't leave here alive." Something dark and inhuman in his eyes, he hissed with his last breath, "There is no cure to Dreamshade. Not for you."

Pan's body shuddered, then disintegrated into black ash that wisped into nothing in the air.

"Hook…"

Hook blinked, finding David on the gangplank, worried eyes on him.

Like he was realizing exactly what Hook had realized.

He wasn't going to live.

Hook smiled, but there was no warmth, no joy. "You saved your grandson. We succeeded."

David didn't smile. "No, we haven't succeeded. Not yet."

"Mate," breathed Hook, that pain in his chest burning so similarly to Dreamshade. "Thank you for… trying, but…" His voice trailed off, his chest hurting worse.

David's expression was tortured.

Footsteps jogged down the gangplank suddenly, revealing Emma. "What are you guys waiting for?" she asked, that smile still on her face. Relief. Happiness. So free.

It only made Hook's chest hurt worse.

She stopped beside him, so close to him, and it made Hook's eyes burn because why did he have to win her heart right before Dreamshade took his?

Emma seemed to sense the tension. Looking between them, her smile faltering, she said, "What?"

David looked at Hook, and Hook shut his eyes.

He hadn't wanted to tell her.

He hadn't bloody wanted to tell her.

Their silence stretched too long, and Emma crossed her arms. "Okay, you two have been… I don't know. There's something you're not telling me and I want to know what it is."

Hook's tortured gaze found Emma's hard one. As much as he didn't want her to know, he didn't want to lie to her.

He couldn't lie to her.

So, he took a heavy breath, and forced the words out to say, "I'm… I was… poisoned." He swallowed hard as Emma's eyes widened. "With… Dreamshade," he whispered.

"Wh—what? When?" she exclaimed, suddenly grabbing at his jacket, as if trying to find the injury, and Hook only felt more pain at how easily she has come to touch him.

Gently, he took her hand from his vest into his own to stop her. "I'm in no immediate danger," he said haltingly.

Emma's eyes snapped to his.

He was stunned to find the amount of panic in them.

"What are you talking about, Hook?" she demanded breathlessly.

Sighing wearily, Hook relented, "Our second night here, I… I was nicked by a Lost Boy's arrow." Emma's eyes widened even more. "I was… fading," he said, unevenly.

Emma's mind seemed to click the pieces together in seconds. "Those… those days you were drunk?"

"Not drunk, love," he whispered hollowly, eyes burning.

"But…" Her eyes found his again. He felt her free hand grab his jacket unconsciously. "But you look fine," she whispered.

"Aye…" Looking at David, who's expression was even more tortured, he looked back at Emma. "Your father… learned of my situation."

"Hook said there was this water that could save him," said David, "so… so that's where we went that night."

Emma's eyes slowly dragged from her father to Hook. Her hand released Hook's jacket in a way that felt like a physical blow. "You lied to me?"

Hook's eyes burned.

"Emma—" began David.

Hook couldn't speak.

"How could you have kept that to yourself?" exclaimed Emma. "You're telling me you were dying and you weren't even going to tell us?"

She said us, but Hook heard me.

"Emma, love, I—" began Hook, eyes burning hotter.

"He did it for you, Emma!"

Emma and Hook both looked at David.

"What?" breathed Emma.

"He did it for you," said David, with a little panicked heat in his voice. "Look, Hook didn't want you to know, but—"

"Mate—" began Hook warningly, but David didn't stop.

"—the arrow that hit Hook was the one that almost hit you." finished David.

Emma froze.

Slowly, she looked at Hook.

"What?" she asked in a tiny voice.

Feeling unbearable emotional pain, Hook said reluctantly, "I wasn't fast enough."

Emma stumbled back a step. "Wait," she breathed. "So," she said hollowly, "you almost died… saving me?"

When Hook couldn't speak, David said, "Yes."

Emma looked at Hook, like the gesture was something she couldn't understand.

It reminded him of how he'd felt when David had saved him.

Seeming to shake herself out of the shock, Emma said, "B-But you're healed now." It was phrased like a very shaky fact.

Which was exactly what it was.

Taking a heavy breath, Hook said, "Not… entirely. The water David used to heal me only works in Neverland."

His unsaid words were painfully loud.

Emma's brows kneaded together in a way that looked lost. "So… if you leave…"

His voice no more than a whisper, Hook confirmed, "I'll die."

The three of them stood in the quietest silence Hook has ever heard.

"What's the hold up?"

Regina's annoyed voice cut through that silence, making the three of them flinch.

But soon, Regina and Snow were approaching.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Snow.

When Emma and Hook were quiet, David said, "Long story short, Hook was poisoned with Dreamshade and healed with water that only heals him in Neverland."

At Regina's surprise and Snow's gasp, David looked at Hook. Determination in his eyes, he said, "I promised we would save you, Hook, and that's what we're going to do." As if just thinking it— "That's it! Where's Gold?"

"Listening to the pirate's sob story."

Everyone snapped around to see the Crocodile leaning boredly against the side of the ship on deck.

David strode up to him, protective anger narrowing his eyes. "There's got to be something we can do to save him."

"As enticing as it would be to save the pirate's pathetic life," drawled the Crocodile, "ever since he poisoned me with Dreamshade, I've done my share of research on the subject."

"And?" demanded David.

"And," he said, eyes narrowing, "there might be a way to save him."

"What is it?" breathed Emma, in a voice Hook had only heard her use when they'd been looking for Henry.

Rolling his eyes, the Crocodile said, "There's a… potion I could concoct that would cure him. But it is back in my shop."

David's head snapped up. "What if we took some of that healing water with us? It could keep him alive until you make the potion?"

"I believe so," mused the Crocodile. "You're lucky, pirate, that I am in a giving mood."

Hook couldn't manage to glare.

There was a chance.

There was a chance.

"Good," said David, a relieved smile at his lips. Smiling at Hook, he said, "Got time for one more trip to Dead Guy Mountain?"

Hook smiled.

-.-.-.

The journey to and from Dead Man's Peak—including Emma this time—took far less time than it had a week ago.

But soon, they were all aboard the Jolly Roger, using Tink's pixie dust to fly back home.

The Neverland Water was now in Hook's flask, close enough to him he could feel its power radiating from it.

He was standing beside Emma and David at the helm as they crossed realms, Storybrooke's shore in the distance.

And it felt so, eerily similar, to when he'd once stood here with Liam.

When he had lost Liam.

Hook felt Emma's fingers in his, which hadn't left the entire night.

He felt David's concerned gaze on him.

Hook released Emma's hand only to take the wheel as the ship slowly descended from the sky to the water.

Everyone on deck stumbled with the landing, and Hook felt Emma's hand grab his forearm.

And Hook felt a paralyzing fear, his head snapping up.

They weren't in Neverland anymore.

Flashes of Liam dying rose sharply.

"Hook?"

Emma and David had spoken his name at once.

Hook swallowed as the ship settled.

Just as his nerves did.

He gave them a shaky smile. "I'm all right."

"You sure?" asked Emma.

"Aye," he said, smiling more at her concern. "Dreamshade took my brother the moment we landed in foreign waters." He breathed in, shutting his eyes with relief, feeling the water working to protect him. "I'm all right," he repeated, looking at her.

David clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Good. Let's make sure you stay that way."

-.-.-.-.

Once they'd docked and everyone dispersed into the cheering Storybrooke crowd, Emma had left Henry with Regina and she and David had practically dragged Hook to the Crocodile's shop, for the demon had disappeared quickly after returning home.

Kicking open the door, David called, "Gold! Is it ready?"

The Crocodile was standing behind the counter of his shop, hands clasped, smiling at them.

David's brows kneaded. "Where's the potion? Aren't you making it?"

The Crocodile smiled more. But it was sinister. "There is no potion to cure Dreamshade."

The three of them froze.

"But you said—" began David.

"I lied." said the Crocodile with another grin.

Hook felt every hope disappear in an instant.

"Gold—" said Emma in a shaky voice that she intended to be strong.

"Why the hell would you lie?" demanded David.

"The question," he said, eyes narrowing, "is more, why would I save him?" The evil in his smile growing, he said, "He took my wife and hurt my Belle. It was simply a serendipitous situation. I can kill him without lifting a finger." He grinned again. "But I can speed it up."

He flicked his wrist, and suddenly—

—Hook's flask appeared in the Crocodile's hand.

The effect was instant.

Hook gasped at the pain in his side, the shock of it buckling his legs.

"Hook!"

He felt Emma catch him before he hit the ground, slowly helping him to the ground.

"Hook," whispered Emma, a tear slipping down her cheek. "Killian," she whispered.

Knees hit the ground on Hook's other side—David. "Hook!"

But Hook's panic suddenly paused.

Because although his side hurt, it didn't burn.

With shaking fingers, he yanked up his shirt.

And there, was the slice from the arrow.

However…

It wasn't black.

"It's not there," breathed David. "The Dreamshade. It's gone!"

"Impossible," whispered Hook, his heart still slamming in his chest.

But there was nothing more than a cut.

No burn.

No Dreamshade.

"No!"

And suddenly the Crocodile was glaring at them, furious.

"There should be no way for you to have survived that," he growled. "The only cure to Dreamshade is trading lives with the candle or True Love! None of which you have!"

The Crocodile stalked toward him, hand lifted as if in attack, but Emma stood quickly, with fury of her own, and her hands suddenly glowed white, and a blast shot from her fingers, crashing the Crocodile into the counter, leaving him unmoving in the broken glass and debris.

"That's my girl," said David with a grin.

Emma stared at her hands, like she hadn't meant to do that.

But also, wasn't too upset about it.

Hook sat up, and Emma knelt next to him. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," he said. "Yet I haven't the faintest idea why."

"Gold…" said David. "What he just said…" He looked between Hook and Emma.

And again.

And smiled.

And suddenly, Hook understood.

"The only thing able to cure Dreamshade is trading lives with the candle or True Love!"

Hook's eyes snapped to Emma's.

"You kissed me," he breathed.

"What?" she said, brows shooting up.

"Emma, after I was healed by the water that night… you kissed me."

That tingle at his lips when she'd kissed him.

That feeling that had felt more euphoric than the water.

It wasn't just chemistry.

It was True Love's Kiss.

"Wait," said Emma suddenly. "You… you mean..?"

"Aye," he said with a grin.

And not a moment later, she was kissing him again.

His eyes shut, that euphoria sent through him once again.

But they pulled away quickly, for David was right beside them, and Hook saw Emma smile.

The three of them stood, giving one more look to the unconscious Crocodile before walking outside.

Emma pulled him into her arms. "Don't scare me like that," she whispered.

David clapped a hand on Hook's shoulder, giving him a little squeeze. "Glad you're okay.

"Mate," said Hook. "David." He smiled. "Thank you. For… everything."

Emma smiled at them. "I still can't believe you saved Hook," she said to her father. "You kinda seemed like the last person to do that when we got to Neverland."

David looked at Hook, letting out a breath, a hint of a smile at his lips. "He saved you. The least I could do was save him."

But he and Hook both knew, that his reasons for saving Hook had only piled up the longer their journey had gone.

"Well, you've developed quite the bromance," joked Emma, tightening her arms around Hook with a grin.

"Bromance?" echoed Hook confusedly.

"I'll explain it to you later," said David with a grin. "I'll go tell Snow everything's all good. Meet us at Granny's later, we'll celebrate many things," he said with another smile.

Emma and he smiled as he left, and she pressed her forehead to Hook's. "You saved me," she whispered.

But he smiled, his hand holding her face gently, like he knew he would for the rest of his days, and he whispered, "And you saved me."

His True Love.

And from the look in her eyes now, she was just as happy about that news as he was.

A trip back to Neverland, that had seemed like a nightmare, had now given him a brother, some sort of a "bromance", and Emma.

It had given him something even more than that.

Something he thought he'd never have again.

Something that made his eyes burn with a good kind of hurt.

It had given him a family.

And it had brought him home.

-.-.-.

the actual end. lol.

tag list: @kmomof4 @justanother-unluckysoul @klynn-stormz @stahlop @ilovemesomekillianjones @hookmecaptain @tiganasummertree @jadehowlettthewolf @jonesfandomfanatic @anmylica @pirateprincessofpizza @stahlop @snowbellewells @eddisfargo @motherkatereloyshipper @killian-whump @deckerstarblanche @cocohook38 @spartanguard

[killmebythebeach]

A bunch of head cannons (Maybe too much). Also in talking about the characters.

I think Dream is that one design where his skin is just the static tv screen. He just constantly emits that fuzzy noise, Sam crafted him the smile mask that he can see through so he doesn't scare people.

George is just kind of the server itself. He's the same species as Hannah, but a mushroom and more powerful. If he stays awake too long, the server just kind of freezes. This is also a reason XD keeps him sleeping, it's his way of talking to George and he thinks the server is like his soap opera of mortals.

Callahan is sort of like the person who makes sure George doesn't get killed or dies while asleep, making sure he's surrounded by mushrooms and such. Deer hybrid <3

Alyssa joined the server because she knew all her friends were idiots and didn't want them to die immediately. But once the elections rolled around, she felt the pressure of choosing sides and ran away to the desert, only keeping contact with Ponk. She actually lives just a couple miles from Foolish's summer home. Her communicator actually died after a couple months and she had no way of charging it, so she lost contact with everyone.

Sapnap is a magma cube hybrid and can jump higher than most, his natural temperature runs hotter, and is fire proof. Bad found him in the nether when he was maybe 10-15 years old.

Sam was actually a normal creeper, but gained player like sentience from being struck by lightning. Instead of becoming charged, he gained intelligence and met the others on the server. Callahan taught him some Redstone, but from there he figured out a lot on his own. He's also a creeper centaur.

Ponk is actually a descendant of a fairy, a lemon tree. Their mask was also a gift from Sam because after the second or third time their tree was burnt, their immune system was weakened a considerable amount. Alyssa also wore her mask for them.

Bad is a size shifting demon from the nether, more specifically soul sand desert. He uses soul fire to gain strength, so because the egg died when near it, he was just a little weaker than normal. Because he's a demon he needs a tie to the overworld to stay there, he tied his soul and lives to Skeppy.

Tommy was grown in a lab to be a hero, project: THESEUS. The lab gave him small enhancements, like slightly stronger and just a bit more resilient, to make the Above Average Boy (TM). He then ran away to meet Wilbur. When Dream asked Wilbur if he wanted to come to the server, he asked if Tommy could go first to see what it was like. He also actually really likes gardening and making up funny songs to Wilbur playing guitar. He also made funny lyrics for his discs, but he's still a bit scared to take them out of his ender chest. Other than bringing attachment, Dream also exiled Tommy to see what his lab enhancements could do.

Tubbo is an adaptive hybrid! His hair was blond, shifting to brown when Wilbur found him, getting blue eyes from Tommy, growing small horns under Schlatt, parts of his skin being static when Dream was "helping" him with his presidency, and parts of his scars tinging black and green from Ranboo and Micheal. Tubbo also helped Wilbur write part of the anthem. He likes living in the snow because the Manberg flag had magma blocks on it, casting a heatwave over the country, and after L'Manburg blew up it got really hot from the exposed stone in direct sun.

Fundy can actually hold his breath for a very long time and swim very well because of Sally teaching him and his salmon genes. The yellow things on his hat are actually shells, and the stripes on his jacket are trans colors. Also with his dreams, he saw Eret was going to betray them but didn't think it was real, or didn't want to. He also saw Wilbur blow up L'Manburg but chose not to believe it, thinking his father could still be saved. He actually saw pretty much everything, but didn't quite understand what they were until after doomsday.

The necklace Punz wears is one of those picture lockets, but he lost the picture and can't remember what it was. The first time Dream paid him was when Dream asked for help and Punz made an off hand joke about getting money, and then Dream thought he was being serious. Him, Dream, and Sapnap were like brothers, and Punz got sadder every time he saw Dream pushing people away and diving deeper into darkness.

Purpled is an aliensent to see if the planet was colonizable, but then crashed and was stranded, all his communications down and his ship barely able to hover fifty feet off the ground. When Quackity blew it up, he essentially got rid of his chance of ever going home. Purpled's species can shapeshift, so he turned himself into the first person he saw, Punz. Eventually before trying to communicate with the native life forms, he edited his form a little so they weren't identical, keeping purple eyes and antennae, changing the colors slightly, and changing the voice up. When he moves away from the main SMP, Ponk makes sure to check up on him and that he has a way to check his communicator.

Wilbur came a month after sending Tommy. His father being a patron of life and his mother the goddess of death, he met in the middle being born as a human. The only reason Ghostbur was as active and present as he was was because he was so connected to both life and death. Since his corpse was decaying for as long as it was, Wilbur is now super weak, his flesh is thin and his eyes are rotted and gone. Much like Ghostbur, Wilbur in limbo saw what people said about him, and Ghostbur could hear that from the back of his head. Now Wilbur can hear what people say about Ghostbur and he hates it, not wanting to be connected to what he thinks like a shell of himself.

Schlatt is a ram (duh) and actually does the fainting goat thing. So when he died of a heart attack, no one knew at first if he was actually dead or not. His alcoholism stems from the revive book, as the possibility of tampering with death made him existential and scared, so to cope he drank. There are also a ton of other stuff other than revival in the book, but it's in galactic.

Skeppy was just a normal human, but after making the pact with Bad, Bad put a spell on him. Parts of him turned into diamond, protecting both his and Bad's lives. He however, is unaware of this. With the egg, he would just sit on it, the diamonds chipping away to make room for the vines.

Eret was cursed by the Wither Cult, giving them white eyes and a slowly deteriorating memory. Not sure what to do, Foolish dropped them off at the SMP. Sometimes they would dream about old memories from before the curse, but it was just glimpses so he could never tell what they meant. Once they were king, they made the Herobrine shrine subconsciously, not really sure what it was after. They also had a strange affinity of beacons and resurrection, some of their memories resurfacing when they tried to help Phil and Ghostbur revive Wilbur after doomsday. The reason people are more scared of their eyes than any other wierd eyes was because he generally looks like a normal human, but the wither along with their Herobrine origins creates an uncanny valley that people are shocked by.

Jack had red and blue irises before crawling out of hell, but after coming back the whites of his eyes also turned red and blue. He always wears 3d glasses so no one noticed, but he just thought no one cared enough to mention it. He also has a bunch of scars and burn marks that no one but him can see, therefore no one asks about them or thinks something is wrong, cementing the idea that no one cares about him.

Niki is a blaze hybrid (stole this from @/420technoblazeit) whose fire hair color changes based on strong emotion, something she bond with Tubbo for as a fellow shifter. A soft yellow in L'Manburg, brighter orange in Manburg, hot pink on Doomsday, a soul fire blue with the syndicate (which Techno hates), and a dead grey when she found out Wilbur was alive. She was also old child hood friends with Ranboo and Eret, leaving Ranboo for the SMP. Ranboo, unfortunatly, doesn't remember much more than her name. She also knows galactic from Ranboo, so she talks about her troubles to Shy the Enderman. She doesn't really know how to talk to Puffy anymore after Doomsday or finding out how she wants to protect Tommy.

Quackity can perfectly replicate someone's voice and, with a lot of effort, can completely change his form to another player. He also has very small yellow wings, too small to fly, so he almost always hides them. He used to constantly change his voice for jokes with Karl, Sapnap, and George, but he doesn't like doing it now in Las Nevadas, as he sees it as unprofessional. However, sometimes he uses when he visits Dream, changing his voice to people like George and Sapnap to make torture more effective.

In the In Between and Other Side, Karl actually looks like his old skin, or his natural state (the big purple one that inspired his sweater). But most of the time in the normal world, he looks human. With effort he can bring out the interdemential being thing, something only Quackity and Sapnap know about. The more he time travels, the easier it becomes to change, and he's even started defaulting to the other form.

HBomb is actually just a normal news reporter, sent to interview and record what's going on in the server, his first big story being the election. Upon Doomsday, the stress of seeing everyone alone, fighting, and disconnected, he ran away from the world, essentially becoming a cat lady. His undercover reporter persona is actually the cat maid. He eventually came back to the server to see how he could help after Doomsday, befriending Niki again and living with her in the underground city.

Techno is a piglin, so he's scared of soul fire. He forgot to tell Phil before he decorated the syndicate room, so he just suffers in silence. He also does better when around a lot of gold, like in the nether, and he feels drained and slightly weaker without it. Instead of just putting gold around the area (it would ruin his property value), he just hibernates. He has an emerald earing, like all of the syndicate, but his is a locket that unfolds into pictures of the syndicate.

Ant always wears a red hoodie, now ruined by the egg, that used to be Red's. On Red's death anniversary, him, Bad, Skeppy, and Sam would make cake and put flowers on his grave. He missed the last one because it was during the egg, but for a brief moment after Puffy killed him he saw Red. Red then promptly and bluntly told him to stop being a pussy (haha, cat) and that he shouldn't do all this just to get him back, one of Ant's motivators to make amends with the people he hurt while with the egg. Ant is also a shapeshifter, but can only turn into a cat.

Phil actually used to work under Foolish as a patron of life but then he had a son with the goddess of death, so his title was removed so he could be with her and he became an Angel of Death. Kristin noticed how sad he was after being released, so she gifted him wings. They were however, destroyed on November 16th. His chat also serves as messenger pigeons, which were used to send letters to Wilbur.

Connor is actually just a hedgehog who somehow befriended Schlatt. Even before the haunted mansion, Karl vented to him about his time travel troubles, not knowing he was a sentient player. As a hedgehog, no one really cares where he goes, so he goes outside the server limits to meet his friends from the haunted mansion.

Puffy is a distant relative of Schlatt, but instead of politics she went into piracy. With her mom, she went travelling the seas. One say, a storm came and wiped out her ship, her crew, her mom, everything but her. The reason she survived was because Foolish saw her and saved her. Unfortunately, Puffy hit hee head in the crash and doesn't remember anything.

Vikkstar is the equivalent of a big time celebrity, so of course his endorsement of POG2020 was a big deal.

Lazarbeam is literally just a ginger bread cookie.

Ranboo has actually met a lot of the smp before actually joining. He's met Niki, Fundy, Eret, Punz, and Dream at least. He also sees the inverted colors Enderman see. His suit was actually a gift from Eret before they forgot how to tailor. He got the crown from Techno after joining the syndicate, claiming he didn't want any syndicate members to look like trash.

Foolish came to the server most recently to check up on Eret, but he couldn't bring himself to leave again. When Puffy adopts him, he can't say no because he remembers saving her. His initial goal was to kill an ender dragon to claim the XD title and become a full god like DreamXD, but after realising someone already killed it he went into his totem if death phase. Upon meeting Eret, he got over it and they went on some silly adventures, Foolish now taking a more peaceful route.

Hannah is essentially a weaker George, as her power is tied to the plants themselves and not the entire server. She however has a lot more physical power because rose dryads like to fight because they have thorns. Since roses can be taken out a lot easier, she is essentially a glass canon. Also when around any plant, she can make it grow faster than normal.

Any guest on the server? Corpse, Pokimane, Lil Nas? They were all Slimecicle. That's how he knows where everyone is from, even outside of Las Nevadas. No one else knows this. He's also ancient, if he met Phil they would probably recognise eachother. There was an actual Charlie Slimecicle who was not a slime, but after being launched into orbit this Slimecicle decided to impersonate him.

Michael Mcchill is a sort of bounty hunter. He came to the server after hearing of all the crime, assuming there'd be a lot of bounties to collect. However, he soon learned that no one really cares if you commit a crime. He then took to reading news articles made by HBomb to see if there were any past open bounties. But after reading for a while about the server's wronguns, mostly Dream, he began to sympathise with them. And he's also a speedrunner, so maybe he could help with some bounties across other servers!

This was a very long post and i apologize, but it was so fun to finally write all these thoughts down! I hope you liked them! I can't even fit all the tags I want.

[sabraeal]

All Pain Will Turn to Medicine, Chapter 7

[Read on AO3]

Written for @fashun-able for my 500 Followers raffle which I ran...nearly four years ago XD The goal now is to finish making good on these promises before I get 1000 Followers, which may be a tight deadline! Back when this was first requested, I had thought this would be 8 chapters total, and this fill would take be right up to the end of this timepoint...but now we’re definitely looking at quite a few more chapters to go. FUNNY HOW TIME CHANGES THINGS

Gen’s illness merely marks the first sleepless night of many. Mira Schuster comes for her after dinner for her father, then Daizo Weber-- one of Gen’s old friends-- causes a ruckus by passing clean out in the middle of the market square. Still, the quarter goes about its day as if it were the same as any other; as if only Shiryuki can feel the undercurrent of panic that eddies beneath it, making them eyeball every dizzy spell and hearty cough with wariness.

“People always worry,” Anda grouses, grinding the koko grass with more feeling than Shirayuki’s certain is needed. “The less they understand it, the more they do, and suddenly you’ve got a whole field full of chickens with heads clean off their shoulders, mucking up the place.”

Her own hands shake where she measures out the milk thistle. “You think they shouldn’t, then? Worry, that is.”

“I didn’t say that.” He grunts, tapping pestle against mortar to knock the leaves loose. “They just need to do it without causing trouble for us. And if I know people-- which I do-- they won’t.”

Frau Koch comes over all dizzy two days after, spilling hot stew all over herself and one of the Kruger’s patrons. That’s the first time she reads of it in the paper-- the guest came from another quarter, one with connections all the way up to the palace, and suddenly the streets seem clearer than they did all summer. The only faces she sees now are the ones she knows as well as her own, and every one of them is grim, eyes pinched with concern-- no, with fear.

It’s Herr Schmitt after than, Frau Weber, the little Fischer girl-- the first child to fall ill, delirious and shivering when her father brings her to Anda’s doorstep. Even still it doesn’t seem real, like some terrible dream brought on but the last dead heat of summer, until, until--

Until it’s Pavo at her door.

Frau Kruger lays on her bed, her usual sheaf of gold hair faded to gray. Her eyes clench when Shirayuki settles at her bedside, but they don’t so much as flutter when she orders the windows opened, nor when someone shatters an ewer downstairs. All she offers is a groan when one of the the stablehands moves her, rolling her up on her side so that Shirayuki can take a glimpse at what’s under the sweat soaked muslin on her back.

Scratches is the answer. Red, angry ones, paired with ones worn white with age. The same kind that crisscross her belly and her chest, tearing up skin so dry it’s like tissue paper beneath her touch. With Herr Bauer, she’d assumed it was simply a side effect of being out in the fields, the logical outcome of seeing so much sun that the skin turned as burnished as a pastry in Shou’s ovens.

But Frau Kruger wasn’t that sort. No, Pavo’s mother might have been born to the quarter, but her aspirations set her sights higher. Rumor had it that she bathes in milk once a fortnight to keep her skin young and supple, and that she bought creams from as far as Wati to wage war against the wrinkles time left on her. Shirayuki had never held much with gossip, much to Oma’s disappointment, but five summers ago, when the whole quarter though her and Pavo were a sure thing, Frau Krugar had pulled her aside to offer her a small bottle, as tall as he finger was high.

It’s a wash, she’d told her, beaming the way Oma would when she served a slice of pie. To help with those pesky freckles.

She’d never used it; Anda caught a glimpse when she opened her satchel after their rounds, and he’d thrown it into straight into the bin. Where the rubbish belongs, he told her, and thought she could never prove he’d spoken to Frau Kruger, that had been the last bit of help she’d ever offered on that front, even if she always looked as if she were on the cusp of it.

It’s a symptom then: itching, not localized. There’s a strange color to it too; not so strange she’d notice at first glance, but the difference between vellum and parchment. Just a hint more hue than she’s used to seeing on Frau Kruger’s carefully kept skin. Swelling too, down by her ankles, though at her age, that could simply be the heat. Shirayuki wipes a wrist across her forehead, grimacing when it comes away not just damp but wet.

“Pavo.” She wipes the sweat on her skirt, even more mortified to find it leaves a stain. “Do you mind opening the other window as well?”

Floorboards creak as he shuffles across the threshold, hovering uncertainly at the door. “Are you sure? Ma always said that sea air would--”

“Please,” she presses, his mother’s pulse thready against her fingers. “If I’m sweating like this now, it can’t be comfortable for her while she’s...” Her mouth works, but there’s no way to sooth the sting, not even for him. “...Ill.”

This should be where she turns to him, where she tells him it’ll all be all right, just like it was with his sister that one winter when she took a chill. Or when his father got bucked from the stallion he’d bought from those scraggly looking mountain men, the ones who said they’d come from just over the border. But instead Shirayuki waits, counting beats, hoping it might tell her something, anything.

His heavy heels clomp across the floor, boots dragging like every step is a marathon. He skirts around the edge of the bed, and when Pavo opens the window, it’s the first time she’s seen him in the sunlight since that day in the barn, not nearly a week ago. Impossible to believe, when it feels like she’s lived an entire lifetime in this room alone.

Sunken eyes stare out it, making his eyes even darker, deeper-set, turning him into a stranger. Only days ago she’d been worried he’d open his mouth, that he’d say something to someone and turn her back into Pavo’s girl once again. That she’d be made into someone who had no future besides what her husband planned of it, all her work, all her reputation rendered useless because of a moment’s decision. It’d been foolish to go to him-- he, the boy so full of love he can’t help but find it in all the wrong places. Stupid to give him the hope that she might be the sort of girl who changed her mind.

But watching him now, his head bowed in the sun’s unrelenting light, shimmering like some gilded statue in Fountain Square, it’s...silly. The worries of a girl so much younger than she is today.

And yet, if Obi hadn’t scared him off all those years ago, maybe she would have been standing by his side instead of sitting here, worried and frustrated both. How would it have been to watch Anda sitting here with his trembling hands, doing all the things she longed to? Doing all the things she knew she could, if only her hands hadn’t been tied to keep her from them?

Ah, but it’s foolish to be thinking of what-ifs, of paths she didn’t take. No need to borrow trouble when she’s got plenty of her own in front of her.

Frau Kruger is a tall woman, broad-shouldered and wide-hipped, but she’s light as a feather when Shirayuki rolls her onto her back, no help from stablehands needed. “Has she been eating?”

He blinks, distress carving new lines into the face she knows as well as her own. “Ma? As well as always. Leastwise, so I think. Nothing I noticed.”

Shirayuki nods, hardly reassured. Pavo was a good boy, brighter than Anda liked to give him credit for, but still-- he didn’t often see past his own nose. Frau Kruger could have been dancing a Port City reel these past few weeks, and he might not notice unless it was his foot she trod on.

“Then we best get down to Herr Anda.” She stands, palms brushing over her skirts. There’s not a speck of dust on them, but it’s something to do, something to keep her from having to look into Pavo’s hopeful eyes. “He should be just about done with talking to your father.”

It’s not Herr Kruger she finds Anda in conversation with when she descends the stairs; no, the innkeep is already busy, telling boys to sweep the floors and clean the tables, even though he knows custom is thin on the ground. Instead she finds him outside, both hands resting on his cane as Suki rubs a handkerchief-- his handkerchief-- over her eyes.

“I don’t understand.” Stifled sobs turn Suki’s steady shores into rough seas. “He’d been fine until a few days ago, nothing like his father. Giving Shirayuki all kinds of guff like he’d never run out! And now...”

Her breath catches, and the cloth comes up over her eyes again.

“I don’t doubt it.” It’s strange to hear him so soft, so comforting. “Young men don’t like to show when things are wrong. Thinks it makes them weak.”

“But if I’d known--”

“Then we’d still be standing here, with just as much worry between us.” Anda reaches out, his ruddy hand gripping her shoulder with a rare gentleness. “Don’t go blaming yourself, girl. I might not look it, but I was as young as your man was once. Take it from me, a little orneriness and no one gives you a second look.”

Suki nods, but that cloth doesn’t budge, not an inch. Her fingers only knot more tightly in it, knuckles blanching white to match. “But what am I going to do, Herr? I’m just...I’m one woman. The farm, the house, the girls...”

His breath whistles through his teeth, the way it always does when Anda’s gnawing on some knotty thoughts, trying to tease on the best course.

“Go call down at the pub,” he says, firm as when he’s giving out his tinctures and teas. “They’re a bit short handed down there of late, but I’m sure Frau Barkellner wouldn’t mind having two girls underfoot in the kitchen. The house down there’s been quiet the past few days, now that Shirayuki can’t be spared.”

“I couldn’t--”

“You could, Suki Bauer, and you’re going to, because I told you to.” Anda draws himself up to his full height, legs straight and shoulders un-stooped. Even with the gray overtaking his wild thatch of hair, he looks younger, more like the man he must have been at court. “We’ve all had a trying few days, and it’ll be a few more before we can have better ones. Give yourself a little relief from being the only one in that house on your feet. And give Frau Barkellner something to do besides worry herself over her granddaughter.”

Finally the cloth falls; one inch, then two, until Suki’s whole red-stained face is revealed, swollen eyes and all. “I guess so.”

“Don’t worry, I know so.” His hand releases her, giving her a firm pat. “Now why don’t you hurry along now, girl. You’ll feel better once you’ve got you and yours settled.”

Purpose straightens Suki’s spine, and she nods. “Thank you, Herr.”

“Don’t mention it.” Anda’s mouth may pull flat, forbidding as he is behind the apothecary’s desk, but Shirayuki can see even from where she lurks that there’s a twitch at the corner. “Really, I’d hate for it to get around that I’ve gone soft in my old age.”

Suki scurries down the path as quick as if he’d put a switch to her, and the moment she’s out of sight, Anda sags, bones going bent like some sway-backed mule. “All right then,” he grouses. “What’s your thoughts, girl?”

Shirayuki blinks, shuffling out from behind the jamb. “You knew I was here?”

“Were you really hiding it?” His nose wrinkles. “All those years with that troublesome stray cat of yours and they haven’t done you a lick of good. Well, let’s have it then. How deep’s the water in this kettle we’re about to boil in?”

“I...I don’t know.” Her fingers knit, knuckles squeeze long bones until the pain steadies her. “It looks just like all the others. Itching, dryness, water about the ankles. A little yellow to the skin, too, just like Herr Bauer. The fatigue, the fitful sleep, it’s all...”

Anda’s eyes clench shut beneath the hand he raises, fingers pressing to his temples. “Not some family ailment then, not unless this quarter is made up of closer cousins than I dared to think. But it’s not the sort of sickness that spreads, not at fast as this. No coughs, no sneezes, just one day they’re walking fine, the next they-- woah now.”

His hand grips her elbow, bracing her where she sways. “Stay on your feet there, girl. You’re a little too old for me to carry home.”

“I’m fine,” she lies, fatigue breaking over her like a wave. She needs to sit, she needs to sleep, but she can’t, not when the whole quarter needs her on her feet, bright and bushy tailed as she’s ever been. “Just...tired. I keep thinking about how if I’d know what Herr Bauer had, if I hadn’t waited--”

That grip on her elbow claws tight, giving her a shake that nearly knocks her from her feet. “None of that, now,” Anda growls, brows knitted tight. “You can’t go around blaming yourself. Listen to me, Shirayuki. You can’t do it.”

There’s a voice too much like Obi’s that says, you’d be surprised how much I can. “But if I’d just paid more attention, maybe--”

“There’s always something that we could have done better once we’ve seen the other side of it.” Anda scowls out toward the street, cane tapping on the cobbles. “But that’s the thing of it. None of us can divine the future, no more than we can change the past. It’s tempting to play these games, trying to figure out what we could have done if we’d only known, but you’ll drive yourself mad doing it.”

“Still--”

“Take the evening off.”

She blinks. “Herr--?”

“Get some rest.” He sighs, squinting toward the market. “You and I both know what this could turn into.”

“But Frau Kruger--”

“I can handle pouring powder into a pouch, girl.” His glare fixes on some point in the distance, harsh enough she wouldn’t want to be on the other end of it. “Go on. Get your time now, when you don’t feel as though you’re stealing it.”

For hours, Shirayuki walks. Not far as the crow flies; whenever she reaches the gates, she turns, heading down another road. She sees the mill pond from both sides, passing by the wainwright and the potter enough to have them call out, asking if she’s gotten herself turned around for once. Each time she smiles, giving the shrug Obi taught her, the one that says, too busy to talk while also saying, but I’d love to stay. They just laugh, waving her off, promising they’ll have a word with her master if he keeps riding her as hard as an apprentice.

She’s careful after that, taking the less used alleys and crossing herself at as few points as possible. There’s no reason for it-- she has plenty of time to catch up, to maybe sit a spell and hear what complaints the quarter has that she isn’t required to fix. And yet, she can’t. Instead her feet move with an urgency, as if she has to see as much of her streets as she can. That she has to see them now, before they can change.

Because she knows they will, the same way she can tell a wound’s about to fester, or that a cold’s taken a turn for the worse. She’s got that touch, just the way Anda hates to admit, and every bit of it is telling her that they’ll be in for a long winter.

The night has settled comfortably in the bakery’s eaves by the time her feet carry her to its door, stretched out like a stay cat. Only the ovens light its windows; a warm glow that has her pressed against the glass despite the heat. If there’s a part of her that longs to go in, there’s a larger part that wants to scurry away, to hide herself beneath her covers before she could possibly be perceived. If Obi were to catch her--

Her shoulders hovering at her ears. It’s not that they’re arguing-- no, after that talk on the bridge, they’d been right as rain, the way they’d always been. And Pavo’s showed no signs of wagging his tongue about what happened at the barn, quelling any concerns from that corner. It’s only...

It’s different now, somehow. Her mind wanders as he kneads the morning’s dough, and instead of tumbling through her mental stockroom, taking notes of herbs and scribbling formulae, she’s in that barn again. Only the sweat tastes sweeter against her tongue, the scent of flour and butter soothing her at the same time it excites, and when she lifts her head--

Well, it doesn’t bear thinking about. Especially not when Obi’s so quick to tease. See anything you like? he might purr. I’ll let you sample anything that catches your fancy, Little Miss. Even now she wants the cobbles to swallow her up, and he’s not even around to witness her shame.

And yet, it’s not away that her feet carry her. Instead it is around the side of the building, following that well-worn path to the back. The door’s propped open, the ovens’ heat radiating out into the yard, and she takes the invitation, slipping through to the flour scattered floor.

It’s only her footprints that mar it; oh there are swirls and swivels, large boots leaving their mark as clean as if it were snow. But they’re old ones, the flour scattered by the draft. If Obi had been in here, it was hours ago, and the room is already cooling from the lack of attention.

Strange, that. Shou likes to keep the shop open until late, handing out the last of his bread to any poor soul who wanders through the door. And it’s Obi who keeps those hours when Seyha’s home, letting husband and wife keep their own company while he sees to the closing up.

Obi might step out with whoever he liked, but he’d never keep the ovens lit without someone in the shop to watch them. That leaves only a few places he could be. Shirayuki furrows her brow, boots scuffing over the floorboards--

“You were talking,” a voice rumbles from the shopfront, deep as a bell and twice as slow. “‘Bout how you wanted to take a trip. Down to the Port City.”

“Before the baby came, yes.” Seyha is so much louder, clear even back where Shirayuki stands. “But that’s before I knew what a hassle it would be to move around with this thing hunkered down in my belly.”

It’s only when he grunts that Shirayuki realizes: it’s Shou. Speaking more words than she’s ever heard him string together all at once. “You should do that. Get out of the city.”

“Now?” Seyha doesn’t shrill with Shou, doesn’t raise her voice, but still that word resounds like a plucked string, filling the shop. “What’s brought this on?”

“Nothing.” She can’t see Shou, not standing here in the hall, but she knows he shrugs by the space his voice leaves. And the way Seyha snorts, unconvinced. “Just though it’d be nice to get out before the baby--”

“Don’t make this about the baby.” It’s that firm tone that reminds that her this is a private conversation between husband and wife, made for only their ears. And Shirayuki-- she’s just standing here not a room away, eavesdropping. “You know I can hardly get out of a chair by myself, let alone sit on a cart with my belly jostling the whole way.”

Shirayuki turns, shuffling a foot towards the door. A serious talk like this is hardly her business, she should really-- “Bring Obi, then.”

Her hands brace against the walls, holding her steady. Shou can’t possibly mean-- “And just how would you run this shop without him?”

“I did before,” Shou grumbles, “could do it again just fine if I had to.”

“Hardly.” Seyha is the only woman who could make a snort sound elegant, and now she makes it eloquent too. “I’ve seen your books. This place has grown twice over since you took my dear boy on. You’d run yourself ragged to keep this place afloat.”

“I can spare him for a few days.” There’s a meaty slap; a hand on Shou’s neck, if she’s not mistaken, rubbing at the red that never quite leaves it. “A week or two, maybe.”

“But you don’t have to.”

“But I can.” There’s a creak, one close enough to the door to send Shirayuki stumbling for the pantry. Her foot nearly catches on a sack, but she rights herself before she gets more than a spray of flour over her skirts. “You keep saying he should see some place other than the city. You could--”

“Shou-hal,” Seyha sighs, so soft. “I know you talked to him today.”

His breath huffs from his nose like a bull’s from its snout, agitated and ready to buck. “Don’t know what you mean.”

“Did Anda tell you do this?” Shou snorts, but Seyha’s quick to cluck at him, disappointed. “Don’t lie to me, anka-ya. We promised we wouldn’t, not about the important things.”

The air is tense with silence, split only by Shou’s sigh. “It’s not safe for you here. Not you and the baby. Not if...the gates...”

Her heart stills in her chest, tied up in what’s left of her breath. The gates. He can’t mean-- Anda couldn’t have said--

“I’m not going to just leave you here.” There’s a soft sound, like a pencil has fallen to the floor, and it’s only when she hears Seyha’s soft sobs that she knows it was her knees. “You are my husband. I can’t just leave you to-- to--”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to me,” he rumbles, so tender. “And if it does...you’ll be taken care of.”

Seyha hardly sounds like herself when she whispers, “Don’t talk that way. Anka-ya, please. I can’t...”

“Don’t think about that,” Shou tells her. “Take Obi. I’ll be here.”

“No, no.” There’s history in the way Seyha pleads, sobs muffled by Shou’s heavy apron. Years that peel away as layers, stories that have never seen the sunlight. Not the way she used to speak of her home, of the city of cities, a riddle within a story within a mystery. “I won’t. I can’t. Don’t make me, not again.”

He sighs, the floorboard creaking as he too comes to kneel beside her. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Seyha stills. “What’s going to change, later?”

This time, Shou stays silent.

It’s impossible to know how long she stays there in the dark, crouched among the sugar and flour. She might have counted by breaths, but each one comes too quick and leaves her with so little relief. Over and over she tries to will herself to stand, to stride to the door and forget, and yet, yet--

She’s still here, eyes squeezed tight to ward off the thoughts that threaten to take her. If she moves more than a muscle, they’ll pull her under, as sure and certain as a riptide tumbles out to sea. And she can’t let that happen, can’t contemplate what might be if all this is true, if all Shou’s fears come to pass. If Obi really and truly has to, to...

Her eyes dare to open, taking in the way the shelves sit crooked against the walls. Shou built them himself, sanded and smoothed from the salvage Obi gathered him his first weeks here, to replace the ones he broke by climbing. It’s old, the big man had said over the wreckage, brushing that scrawny stray off. Make some new ones.

She’d only been there to patch him up-- I don’t treat stupidity, Anda grunted when Shou had rushed over, pale as a sheet, but I have an apprentice who’s made it her specialty-- but even then, when she’d hardly liked him at all, she’d seen the way his eyes went wide, rounding with something close to love. Devotion, she knew now, the way a child couldn’t. If Shou asked, Obi would go. Right now, he might not even look back.

A boot clomps out in the hall, right next to the pantry, and Shirayuki startles. Shou won’t take her to task, not the way Seyha would, but he’ll hang his head, disappointed, and she--

She sees gold eyes instead, winking in the moonlight. “Hey, you get locked in here or something?”

“O-Obi!” She scrambles to her feat, desperate to eat away at his high ground. Oh, she might have feared Shou, but this-- this is infinitely worse. “You’re...here.”

One narrow brow hikes up toward his hairline. “Sure am. You know, Shou changed that lock right? Should've been able to sprint yourself out no problem. Unless it jammed.”

He turns back with a thoughtful frown, settling on his knees in the flour dust. Plumes go up, tiny sand storms wherever he slides, and it’s-- it’s too much to be in here with him like this. He’d been so much smaller then, his shoulders taking up half the space, and even though there’s a room between them, take Obi fills up the air, tumbling around with, don’t do anything with anyone who wouldn’t treat you right, until he-- she--

“I need to go,” she blurts out, fingernails digging crescents into her palms. “Please.”

Obi looks back at her, face all screwed up like she’s some puzzle to solve too. “Miss...?”

He’s on his feet now, closing the space between them with a step, his thumb sweeping over her cheek. “Have you been crying?”

You’re going to leave me, she doesn’t say. And the worst part is I think you should.

“I-- I have to--” her voice catches, nearly choking her as she pushes past--

“Shirayuki--”

He reaches out for her, long fingers wrapping around her wrist, too strong a grip for her to break. Not like this.

“Please,” she breathes, tugging uselessly against him. “Let me go.”

His eyes shine like coins, wide enough for her to see gold stretch from rim to rim, and he-- he--

He does.

Anda is still awake when Shirayuki drags herself through the door, hobbling out of the stockroom as if it were the bell that brought him, not his own concern. As if he weren’t up far past his usual tuck in, hair wilder than when she last left him.

“Shirayuki,” he calls out, too innocent, too eager. Chipper, almost, the way he only is when he’s been watching for her from the windows. “You’re coming in late! You’ll be staying here tonight, I suppose, no point in--”

“Shou is sending Seyha out of the city.”

The words fall between them like pebbles in the mill pond, barely leaving a ripple behind. Anda strolls to a stop in the silence, leaning his cane against the counter.

“Is he now?” he says as if it weren’t any concern of his at all. “Good. I’ve always thought Herr Beck was a smarter man than he looked, but you can never tell which ears will be deaf when sense is being spoken.”

“So it was you.” The room sways, but Shirayuki stands steady, unmoving. “You told him to do it.”

Anda's wild brows draw tight, like a storm brewing over the city’s skyline. “Is that what he told you?”

“No.” There’s no need to explain that she hadn’t been told so much as overheard. Not when that would only muddy the waters, letting this moment slip between her hands. “But he said...he only thought about it after he talked to you. That it wasn’t safe for the baby, if the gates...”

She can’t bring herself to say it, to even think it, but she doesn’t need to.

“You mean if those fools at the palace finally listen to me and close them?” Only the street sits outside their windows, but Anda glares anyway, as if he could see the king and his councilors through wood and stone. “One can only hope. But it could be weeks before they’ll move their over-kissed asses to do anything at my request. Never was much beloved by those puffed-up pricks, let me tell you. Not even when...”

He quiets then, the way he always does when he speaks of the time before he came to the quarter. It would be easy to fall into her usual rhythm, to merely smile and ask, is it because you called them that, perhaps? He would grumble, he would grouse, but he’d hide a smile when he thought she wasn’t looking, and whatever dark thoughts clung to him would dispel like a stain in cold water.

Instead, she barely manages to breathe, “You-- you asked them to...to us?”

Anda’s reputation has always been flinty glares and steely scowls, but the look he gives her now is so much softer, so much more weary. There is regret in the shadows of his eyes, but also resolve, of a man who knows how far he must go to do what must be done. “How could I not, my girl?”

She understands, she does; he’s the one who taught her after all, the one who first explained triage, or why gangrene must be severed at the joint. But it’s different being the limb to be cut, being the patient left to die on the hospital floor. “But if they close us in, they could...”

His breath hisses between his teeth. “You have never see a plague, girl. They spread faster than wildfire and leave more than burning in their wake. I’ve seen armies felled by flux alone, and entire village simply gone because...” His lips purse over the words, eyes distant. “It is not a pretty thing.”

When she closes her eyes, she can see the flare of fire, can see red tile roofs burning in the night. It had happened before, hundreds of years ago, before doctors discovered how such things moved between bodies.

And it could happen again, if fear overtook sense. “Are we a lost cause then? Should they just...lock us in here to die?”

“Of course not,” he grumbles, taking his cane from the counter to hobble out from behind it. “But if we’re going to control the spread, we need fewer people in the quarter. Right now we’re the only ones struggling, and it’s best for everyone if it stays that way.”

He’s right, she knows he is, but that doesn’t make her hate it any less. “But there are plenty here who are healthy.”

“And they’ll stay that way.” His cane taps impatiently on the floor. “Herr Kruger’s insisted that we take the inn. Wants us to use it for the sick. I think he just doesn’t want that wife of his to wake up on some musty warehouse floor and make him hear about it, but I’m not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“A hospital,” she murmurs. “We’ll have a hospital for them.”

Anda nods, brusque. “We can’t make the city close the gates tomorrow, but we can do our part to keep the quarter on its feet. Now I suggest you get back into one of those beds.” His mouth quirks, a dark humor glinting in his eyes. “We’ll have plenty to do when the sun comes up.”