#pal-el

[aquadestinyswriting]

You Never Cared

Summary: Llachlan and Pal-El enter one of the many chambers of the Hall of Heroes, having been told to go to this one in particular by the Hall's guardian. A one-sided argument ensues when the spirt they've been sent to see shows up.

Words: 1,003, a little over, but I can't make it much shorter.

Tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes,@flashfictionfridayofficial, @ashirisu, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch

Warnings: Implied neglect, implied character death, implied ritual sacrifice, all of the angst

Notes: This is set during the current campaign! I have Pal-El's player's permission to use the character here. Based loosely on an actual session, mostly because I don't remember what exactly was said at the time and I'm not allowed to record sessions for this campaign.

Pal-El looked around the chamber he had been directed to by Aurianna. It was beautifully decorated, he thought, recognising the runic text of Moradhir scripture carved into the pillars on either side of him. The ceiling was vaulted and a large statue of Moradin stood at the far end of the chamber, the gaze of the Dwarf Father overlooking a simple shrine at His feet. A large barrel sat to one side of it and the shrine itself was adorned with offerings of various gemstones, various smithing tools and tankards that had once, presumably, been filled with ale and beer.

The warforged paladin turned his attention to the black-haired dwarf that walked alongside him. Llachlan was sullen and shifting uncomfortably, glaring at the statue of the god his people so revered. Pal-El sighed, he understood why the young dwarf was reluctant to be here. Hells, he was nervous, and he’d had a very good relationship with Archlector Bloodvein, all things considered.

Both paladin and forsaken warlock froze as the air in the chamber… shifted. The lights flickered briefly as a slight breeze wound between the two beings. Pal-El looked around as the breeze died down, standing ready just in case anything popped out of the shadows that were cast by the lights. His sensors didn’t pick up any intruders, or much of anything if he was honest with himself. Lachlan frowned as he too looked around the chamber, seeing nothing that seemed untoward. But that didn’t mean that they were alone, he knew all too well that there were ways for his enemies to cloak themselves even from his eldritch sight.

“Hello son.”

Both Llachlan and Pal-El jumped at the sound of the voice coming from behind them, both whirling around to come face to face with the semi-translucent form of a much younger dwarven woman than either of them remembered. The short, stout figure wore the vestments of an Inquisitor of Moradin over a set of heavy plate armour, which was heavily inscribed with scripture. Her beard was a bright auburn with no sign of white in it and only barely reached her stomach. A simple mace hung from her hip on one side while a mythril-bound book of Moradin hung from the other. 

Pal-El immediately bowed his head, his mechanisms clunking and his armour clanking as he immediately fell to one knee, a hand pressed flat across his chest where his Core sat,

“Your Eminence! Truly I am glad to see you face to face once more. You look… well.” he intoned, stumbling over his greeting as he tried to think of the correct words to say in this moment.

Llachlan, as Pal-El kneeled, glowered at the figure standing in front of him, crossing his arms over his chest. He snorted,

“Bit late for the whole ‘son’ thing, don’t you think?” he spat. 

The spirit’s hopeful expression immediately fell at the words. She closed her eyes and slowly shook her head,

“For all that she tried to convince you otherwise, you never stopped being ma wee baby boy, Llachlan.” she sighed, “I know there aren’t any words I can say that –'' She was cut off by Llachlan’s angry snarl,

“Then don’t!” he snapped, “Just – Get on with what you’re here to do, then get lost!”

Pal-El cautiously raised his head, frowning as he took in the hurt and lost expression that crossed his mistress’ face at the words. She said nothing more, nodded and turned her attention to the warforged that was still kneeling at her feet. The spirit smiled sadly at him,

“Pal-El… what’re ye doin’ still kneeling like that? Come on, get up.” she said, obviously trying not to let her voice quaver too much, and failing badly. Pal-El did as he was told and stood once more, towering over the short woman. He looked over to Llachlan,

“I know we’re here more for my sake, but maybe it would be a good idea to hear her out?” he suggested. Llachlan turned his glower to the warforged,

“Why should I?” he asked, “I don’t need, nor want, to hear whatever damned excuses she has!” he snapped. 

“I make no excuses for what I did and said.” The spirit interjected, her voice quiet, despondent, “As much as I cared, still care –”

Llachlan’s twisted into an ugly scowl, his face burning a deep red as he clenched his hands into fists at his side,

“You cared? You. Cared?! Bollocks you did!” he thundered, throwing a hand out to one side, “All you fucking cared about was your own damn self! If you actually cared, then why not tell me about my own damn heritage and where the powers I ended up with came from?! If you cared as much as you say you did, then why the hells was I made to feel like the monster you clearly thought I was?!” Lachlan didn’t bother trying to stop his tears from falling into his beard as he continued his rant, “If you cared as much as you say you did, then why did you let them take me just to kill me?!” he sobbed.

Meredith Gruksdottir shook her head, tears streaking into her own beard,

“Because I was too blind to see what was happening right under my nose.” she replied, her voice tight, “Hate me all you want, Llachlan, but I will not deny the fact that I still love you.” 

Lachlan’s scowl lifted into surprised shock as his mother’s words finally reached him. His heart ached. How could he have allowed himself to be manipulated into believing that the one person who loved him so unconditionally despised his existence? And yet, there was still a part of him that couldn’t bring himself to forgive her. Not yet. Instead, Lachlan settled for a grumble and nodded to Pal-El,

“Well, since ye’re here, ye might as well fix this idiot.” he grumbled. Meredith simply smiled sadly at him, then turned her attention to the warforged that was patiently waiting for her attention.

[somepinkthing]

Something something tim drake who has never been put first by anyone he's ever loved in his life being told he is not only kon's first but also his only robin..... for the only thing that kon cared abt to be the fact that tim felt wanted and treasured and important to someone....., that he didn't give a damn about how other ppl might feel about what he just said....... esp knowing that he literally had his home and title and dad ripped from him in the last year......

[findafight]

Wait. Wait. Kinda part 2 to this post. For the angst of it all. Cw: implied and assumed homophobia

Because sure, after that dinner Joyce relents in not being, y'know, openly confused or frustrated with Steve being around. El obviously adores him and Jim is always glad when he comes around. Joyce can put up with Steve for them. But she's a stubborn woman, and somewhere in her mind, Steve is a Bad Egg. So she's still not 100% on board.

All this rears its head one night after a lot of their world saving group has had a movie night and ended up in a puddle on the floor. Steve is squished between Robin and Eddie, snuggled up all cozy. Joyce sees this when she quietly pads out of her bedroom to just. Check on the kids.

Eddie and Steve are sat up, Robin's face pressed against his hip. They're whispering something, heads leaned close. And they lean in further, silhouetted by the moonlight filtering in, and kiss. It's pretty chaste, though not a peck.

Joyce's blood boils. Steve has a girlfriend, he should not be going around kissing his friends like that, stringing them all along. She feels strangely vindicated, that her assumptions about Steve were right, that he wasn't actually a good guy or had changed at all. She almost yells at him then and there, but holds off. No need to wake everyone up. She can lecture him in the morning.

Once everyone is fed and lounging in the late morning, she pulls Steve out onto the porch.

"I saw you kiss Eddie last night" she says, without preamble. "And I cannot believe you would think behaviour like that is acceptable in my house."

Steve blinks, clenches his jaw. "Jo--Mrs Byers. I--"

"I don't want any of your excuses! It's despicable what you're doing, and I won't have it. For whatever reason, those kids look up to you. What kind of example are you setting for them? For El?" Steve's eyes widen, and if Joyce hadn't been so caught up with her anger she probably would have seen that instead of being ashamed or embarrassed, Steve is scared. "She looks up to you so much, though I can't imagine why. You need to clean yourself up, Steve. For real this time. You can't go around doing whatever you want. It's disgusting and disrespectful. Did you even consider the people you'd hurt? How doing shit like that would affect the lives of people who care about you? They deserve better than that." She shakes her head. Arms crossed. Steve is tense in front of her, but he doesn't say anything. To her, that's as good as confession. "Everyone talks about how you've worked hard to improve yourself, become a better person. But after last night? I just don't believe it. No one who's really changed, really a good person, would do what you did." She sighs. "You should probably leave now."

Steve nods stiffly. "Right. I'll. Uh, I leave. Can you...please, don't tell anyone, ma'am. I'll Grab my bag and I'll get outta your hair, but don't tell. I'm so sorry. Please." She purses her lips. His girlfriend deserves to know, but Joyce has no clue who that is (it might be the Robin girl attached to his hip, but she has no way of knowing). She nods once. Steve's shoulders slump.

Stepping back into the house, Steve quickly and jerkily snags his backpack from the corner it was shoved into before leaning over to whisper something in Robin's ear. The girl nods, looking worried.

He doesn't look at Eddie.

For a while, her house is Steve-free. Joyce breathes easy, hoping their talk was a wake-up call for steve. He is painfully polite when they bump into each other, Robin usually by his side with a strained customer service smile. Small talk is non-existent.

But then Will starts getting quieter. Maybe avoiding her. Certainly does his best to be small and doesn't look in her eyes. She has no idea what's going on, and she's worried.

What if the Upside Down came back? What if there's something wrong with her boy? What if everything they've fought for and sacrificed didn't mean anything and it's never actually over?

She tries to talk to him, but he shrugs her off, says he's fine and not to worry about it. Assures her it is definitely not the Upside Down.

Finally, after two weeks of Will looking absolutely miserable when he talks to her, she gets Jonathan to try. Tension around the house is high, Steve is barely around and always skitters away when he sees her, and in combination with will, it's out everyone on edge.

She doesn't mean to eavesdrop. But she doesn't not mean to either. It's just that they're on the porch, and she was in the kitchen and heard something, and when she went to see, she heard them talking.

"it's not--i want to tell you but it's not my secret to tell."

Jonathan sighs. "Will. I can't help if I don't know what's wrong. Please. Talk to me. I'll love you no matter what, you know that."

Will heaves a breath. "I had a talk with Steve --" and oh, the rage in Joyce's chest when she hears that. What did he say to her boy?? "And...uhg. fuck. Okay, you have to swear, swear! You're not going to tell anyone what I'm going to tell you. If you figure it out, because I don't. It's not mine to tell."

"okay. I swear. I won't go spilling Steve's secrets."

"you have to mean it, Jonathan. It's dangerous!"

There's ruffling fabric. Jonathan's voice is softer. "I promise."

"Steve said he was telling me because he thought we might be...similar. In some ways. And he talked about who he's dating. And that Hopper and El and Robin and Eddie know. And that they're all safe. Y'know? Like you are."

"okay..."

"and I said you were, and he said that was really good, and then emphasized that if I ever wanted like, and actual grown up to talk to, not just another teenager, Hopper was safe. But. The way he said it made it seem like...I don't know, but something was off? And I asked him." There's a pause. "I asked him if Mom knew. And he said yes. But he hadn't... Before that, he hadn't said she was safe. Jonathan..."

Something...wasn't adding up. Joyce was trying to puzzle what she wouldn't be safe to talk to about. She'd been in the tunnels and Upside Down and through it all. Her children, and by extension the children that had helped save them, were always safe in her house. To come to her if they felt unsafe. Why Steve would tell her own son she wasn't --

Will continued. "Steve said that it'd probably be different because I'm her kid, y'know? She--she did all this stuff to get me back and to keep me safe and loves me. So she could. So she'd maybe change her mind. For me."

"Will..." Jonathan's voice sounds pained.

"but what if she's not? What if that's where it ends? Shell save me from a demogorgon but not love me for this. Steve's saved my friends half a dozen times, Jonathan! He got--he got tortured" that is not something Joyce knew. When the hell did that happen? "with Robin to protect Dustin and Erica, Billy beat him half to death when he stepped in to protect Lucas and Max! He's good! I'm not as close to him as the others but he still told me. He trusted me enough with a secret that I can't even say outloud about myself yet! And Mom still-" will hiccups, and Joyce wishes she knew what he was talking about. Wishes he was saying these things to her, so she could comfort him.

Heaving a breath, Will is quieter. "Steve's the reason no one's died. He's El's first brother. And she still called him disgusting for-- for kissing someone he loves."

Ice fills Joyce's veins, a heavy pit balls in her stomach. Because that's not--she didn't--it wasn't like that.

But Steve had begged her not to tell anyone. Had stood still and not tried to justify anything and called her ma'am when he asked her not to tell. Held himself still when she was around and bolted at the first possible opportunity, leaving disappointed people in his wake. Oh, shit. Oh, she's fucked up so badly. Hurt some kid because she was suspicious of him from over three years ago and assumed the worst. Instead of realizing that maybe the reason he and his girlfriend were keeping it quiet was because he didn't have a girlfriend at all, and that the boy he kissed that night was his boyfriend, she had just assumed he was cheating. And then she'd told him he was disappointing and disgusting and a bad influence on the kids. Even after, he still made sure Will knew there were safe people around, that he'd have someone to talk to. And all she'd done was make him scared of her.

"oh, buddy."

Will's voice is muffled, and Jonathan has probably pulled him into a hug. It cracks when he speaks. "how can she say that about Steve but still love me? When so much of this shit's been my fault?"

"none of this is your fault. Don't believe that, will. No one blames you or El for any of it. You know that, right?"

"okay..."

"it's true. And as for mom...I don't know." Jonathan huffs "I'm not sure. I'm sorry, buddy."

Joyce turns then, feeling sick. She shouldn't have eavesdropped on her children, but now she had she was going to make things right. Hopefully.

Ensure everyone, including Steve, knew she was safe.

Part 3

[timothvy]

follow you home, and then some.

[luchitohamilton]

"cómo se dice? 🤌🤌"

[sunshineandlyrics]

📰 Newpaper headlines for Louis after his performance at Tecate Pal Norte last night, 30 March 2024:

"And the King is Louis"

"Louis Tomlinson, former One Direction conquered Pa'l Norte"

(Via @ daleycolfin)

[justlikearat]

Who’s he looking at…? 😊

[ryemiffie]

Some of me and my bro as super sons incorrect quotes:

Damian: So in theory, since this animal hide is the most similar to a human, this is the same texture a human's skin would be if burnt to this extreme extent.

Jon: That's cool. Now you look at my Ninjago cards, this is my lord Garmadon card-

[spookysorrow9]

HAIIAIAIIAIIII :33

I'm new here, uuhh, this is a little introduction :33

ok uhhh, so I like things (by things I like I mean fandoms I'm a part of) and things I'm interested in (by this I mean I'm new to some fandoms)

Uhh ok things I like:

ghost and pals (Qualia automata and more...), Serial Experiments Lain, Lacey's flash games, Skullgirls, candies 'n curses, Hooky and el último tv nauta (the last tv nauta) and I think nothing else

things that i am interested in:

Ultrakill, LuLuYam,Hylics and the perfectos desconocidos (the perfect strangers???)

So thats all (colorss :33)

[aquadestinyswriting]

🎃 Trick or Treat? 🎃

-@forthesanityofstorytellers

Hi anon, thanks for the ask.

I'll go for Treat for this one.

Since I'm on a roll with the Ouroboros of Destiny stuff, let me fill you in on some backstory I worked out for the Warforged Paladin, Paladin Protection Unit Number Eleven (or Pal-El for short). Obviously, this was all sorted out along with the player during character creation and he's happy for me to share this info.

Pal-El was actually the last of his unit to be activated, despite the fact that 15 PPUs were created for the protection of the Archlector. The core he was originally assigned just would not activate despite the engineers' best efforts to get it working. By all rights, it should have worked- there was nothing physically wrong with it- but it just would not turn on.

Eventually the Archlector got involved and decided that this individual unit's soul had an issue with the standard Warforged cores that the dwarves typically created. Now, around the time these PPUs were being created, there was a meteor shower and a reasonably large one had landed near Fangthane and was brought in to be studied. The meteorite in question was discovered to have a significant amount of raw Creation Magic in it, so it was handed to the Church to be placed into a secure vault in the Contemplation Chamber for safe keeping. Deciding that the soul that wanted to inhabit Unit Eleven's body did not want to play nice with the alloys created here on the material plane, Archlector Bloodvein decided to try creating a core out of some of this meteorite instead.

Now, if you've read my post about how Creation Magic works in this setting, you will realise how incredibly risky this manoeuvre was. The most sensible option would have been to contact the Primus on Mechanus and ask for their assistance. However, given that the war with Mechanus had only recently ended... yeah. Luckily, everything went relatively smoothly (Merri was only completely unconscious for about two and half days this time!) and, as soon as this new core was installed, Pal-El immediately came online and functioned perfectly.

Now one thing Pal-El's player doesn't know yet, because neither he, nor the other warforged character has been killed yet, is that his soul won't go to the Primus upon deactivation. His will go to the Waiting Room like all the other squishies in his group. I'll leave the reasons why to your imagination ;)

[plutonicbees]

sometimes i forget that cassie's and kon's dynamic in yj98 is supposed to be a build-up to their eventual romantic relationship

all i see is mlm wlw solidarity.

[palfriendpatine66]

obikin Road to El Dorado au?

Not sure if there’s a loosely based fic on the way (?) but what I DO know is that I am obsessed with Sass Master Obi-Wan Kenobi as Miguel

[louisupdates]

And the king is Louis.

Louis Tomlinson tops the press after his headlining set at Tecate Pa’l Norte Festival. via daleycolfin, lwtstreet

[luchitohamilton]

lewis talking with mariana becker about his relationship with his father during the brazilian gp '23 [x]

i've had to really work to get to a place where we could see eye to eye, and I put boundaries and i'd be like "no Dad, this is how i am" [imitating Anthony] "and why would you do that?" "well, i want to do it my own way and i will make mistakes but you'll see the outcome", and most of the time i ended up being right but not always. i had one of my engineers, like shov or [somebody else], tell me "you're not always right, right?, you just gotta accept you're not always right" and that's one of the things i struggle with. i argue and argue and argue but then i would say "ok, yeah, you were right".

[dailydccomics]

absolutely unhinged Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen vol 2 #2