#pyrokinetic reader

[runawrites-blog]

Shipping (Charles Xavier x Reader)

Summary: You're a teacher at Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters and you're quite close to Charles -- so close that a few of the students have started speculating whether or not you two are actually a couple. (Female Reader) Word Count: 3,646 Warnings: Very Minor Suggestive Themes. Light Angst. No Y/N. Reader has a last name that goes with her powers but it's only mentioned once or twice. A/N: As mentioned, the reader has a last name that correlates with her powers/mutation. Her name is Brandt (inspired by the German word Brand for fire) since she has pyrokinetic powers. But it's only mentioned once or twice by the students.

“You two are being ridiculous.”

“We’re not being ridiculous!” Jubilee defended herself, leaning over the back of the couch to throw Jean a joking glare. “Look at how cute they’re being!”

Jean gave Jubilee one more annoyed look before turning to where the other girl was pointing, her eyes falling on you and Charles at the other side of the large sitting room. She took the two of you in for a second; how Charles was looking back at you periodically with a bright smile on his face and how you were leaning over the back of his chair, a hand firmly planted on his shoulder as you looked at the files he was currently going over. She turned turned back to Jubilee and Ororo.

“See?” Ororo grinned a little and leaned back in the armchair. “Miss Brandt and the Professor are totally banging.”

“Ororo!” Jubilee exclaimed in disgust. “I wanted to prove to Jean that Miss Brandt and Professor Xavier are in love, not that they are sleeping with each other. As a matter of fact, I don’t want to hear anything about that!”

That’s when Scott piped up, raising an eyebrow at Jubilee. “To be fair, if they were dating, don’t you think they’d be sleeping with each other?”

“You two don’t have to make this gross.”

Jean quickly nodded at that. “I agree with Jubilee.”

“Really?”

“Not about the dating, but about Scott and Ororo being gross.” Jean leaned back on the couch, closing her book in her lap. “Just because they’re friendly doesn’t mean they’re dating, Jubilee. They’re probably just good friends.”

That’s when Kurt spoke up, a smile on his lips. “I think the idea of them being a couple is sweet. They seem like they would make a nice couple.”

“You too, Kurt?”

“I’m not entirely sure, though!” He quickly defended himself. “I just said it would be cute if they were together.”

Scott nodded. “I agree with that. They’d be a good couple but I agree with Jean on this one, I think. Just because they’re nice to each other, doesn’t mean they’re a couple.”

Jean nodded quickly and picked her book back up. “Now can you let me do my reading for Miss Brandt’s class? I don’t want to mess up on the test.”

“What test?”

“The test we’re traking next week about the Napoleonic Wars.” Jean explained off-handedly. “I’m currently reading the chapter in my History book and I would love for all of you to let me study.”

Kurt nodded at that. “I read the chapter yesterday and trust me, you should all start soon, as well. It’s a pretty long chapter. I could help you study if you want me to.”

“Thanks. I can’t really start now because lunch break is almost over, but I’ll take you up on that offer another time.” Scott said to Kurt before rising to his feet. “What class do we have now? Literature or Physics?”

“Literature.” Jubilee commented and grabbed her bag from the couch. “With none other than Miss Brandt, so maybe we can get some clues on her relationship with the Professor now!”

“You just want to find it out to prove you’re right, don’t you?”

“Exactly!”

All of them stopped when the clock struck two and everyone started to slowly leave the sitting room to get to class. Jubilee grinned a little as she watched Charles turn to you with a soft smile before placing his hand on top of yours for a few seconds. He gave it a short squeeze before he wheeled himself out from behind the desk and toward the door. Most days, the desks were used by students but Hank had asked Charles to review a file he had typed up and the telepath had asked you to look over it with him during lunch break.

You gave him one last smile before slinging your bag over your shoulder and grabbing the two boxes of books you were going to use for your class. Jean watched from the doors, waiting for her friends to get her belongings, as you struggled to carry both of the boxes. But before she could offer her help Charles called out your name, making you look up from the boxes to face him. He was looking back at you with his arms outstretched, smiling softly.

“Let me help you, Darling.”

“Thank you.” You smiled and handed one of the boxes to him, watching as he placed it on his lap before he made his way to the door. “We’re starting with a new book today.”

“I can see that.” Charles laughed and leaned his head back to look at you. “Didn’t you once mention that you loved Mary Shelley’s writing? What a lovely concidence that one of her books is on the curriculum, isn’t it?”

A smile appeared on your face as you stopped in your tracks. “Did you put it on there? You get to decide between three books for each new chapter of the curriculum, don’t you? I think you’ve mentioned that once.”

“I might have.”

“You’re the sweetest, Charles.”

“For you, always.”

Not wanting to intrude, Jean quickly followed her friends out the sitting room and to her class, though now she was actually contemplating on how much truth there was to Jubilee’s suspiciouns about your relationship with Charles.

---

As the days passed, Jean started to believe in Jubilee’s suspicions more and more as she watched how you and Charles interacted. She had never really paid much attention to it but now she was questioning how she’d never before noticed your gentle smiles, sweet nicknames, casual touches and quiet conversations. But what really got Jean hooked on the idea of finding out about whether or not the rumours were true, was what happened one rainy Friday evening.

It was late and some of the younger students were already asleep while Jean was studying with Jubilee and Ororo. There was a slight drizzle going outside as they hunched over their History books and notes from class. They were pretty engulfed in their studying when the earthquake started, making everything in the room rattle and shake. Jubilee nearly fell off the bed but Jean caught her and Ororo clung to the headboard.

But fortunately, the earthquake quickly stopped and the three of them got off the bed to venture to the hallway to see what had happened -- though Jean was pretty sure it was the new student with geokenesis that must have accidentally started the erathquake. Just as they stepped into the hallway, along with a few others students, you and Charles did the same. And the three girls froze when they realised that both of you had come from his room.

Jubilee turned to give Jean a grin but she wasn’t even looking at her, too caught up in watching you hurry after Charles, smoothing out your hair while you made your way to the young boy’s room. Before you could even knock he opened the door and upon seeing Charles, grabbed onto the armrests of his chair, beginning to apologise profusely. Charles reacted in his usual gentle and comforting manner, calming the boy down and checking whether or not he was injured.

It took a few minutes to calm him down but eventually Charles had convinced him that everyone was fine and there was no need for him to feel guilty. And after a few checkups on the other students, Charles proclaimed that they should all get back to their rooms. Jean ushered Ororo and Jubilee back into her room. But once inside Ororo stopped her from closing the door, pointing at you and Charles in the hallway. Jubilee and Jean looked at each other for a second before leaning over to see what their friend was talking about.

“Are you alright?” Charles asked once the last door had closed, giving you a worried once over and reaching out to take your hand into his. “I saw you hit your head on the nigthstand when you fell off my bed. Are you hurt, Darling?”

“I’m fine.” You gave him a reassuring smile before gently cradling his hand in both of yours. “Shall we get back to your room?”

Charles shook his head, bringing his other hand up to cup yours. “May I check? I promise you I will only check if you’re alright. I wouldn’t want to overlook a possible concussion. You did hit the nightstand pretty hard.”

With a relenting smile you nodded and gave his hand a small squeeze. “If it makes you feel better you can.”

While Charles placed his fingers on his temple and you held his hand tightly, Jubilee gave Jean one more triumpanth smirk. Ororo was still staring at you and Charles, completely amazed by the fact that her and Jubilee had apparently been right. And Jean crossed her arms over her chest, still not fully convinced.

“I mean, I worry about my friends, too.” The rehead reasoned softly. “That time you got hurt during dodgeball, I checked you for a concussion, too.”

“They’re literally holding hands.”

Ororo turned and placed a finger over her lips as you and Charles began to move down the hallway back to his room, now that he had confirmed you were uninjured. The three girls watched as you two arrived at Charles’ door and you glanced down the hallway once more, checking if everyone was in their rooms. Then Charles used the controls of his wheelchair to back into his room while grabbing your hand and pulling you along. You gave a surprised laugh at that and Charles smirked charmingly. And then the two of you were gone and the door to his room once more closed.

“How is that not obviously them going to do something nasty now? He literally pulled her into his room.”

“You really overuse that word.”

“What word?”

“’Literally’.” Jean answered. “Maybe they’re going over something from class.”

“You just don’t want to be in the wrong.” Ororo laughed quietly as she looked up at Jean. “They both came from the Professor’s room, looking disheveled and in their nightwear. Just now he said she’d been on his bed with him when the quake started. And she went back to his room.”

“You’re right. That kind of proves you two right.”

“Kind of?”

---

Now that Jean agreed with Ororo and Jubilee, the girls had made it their mission to find out whether or not they were right. Scott was still not convinced and Kurt kept telling them that while you and Charles would make a sweet couple it was invasive to talk about their teachers like that. His complaints did not stop his friends.

As the next few days days went on, they kept looking for clues. Jubilee kept going on about how much you and Charles were casually touching while Ororo’s main focus was the fact that he kept calling you petnames to which Scott shut her down by telling her that their professor called everyone petnames – they had to agree with him on that one.

Then Thanksgiving break rolled along and most of the students left to visit home. That year Jean, Jubilee, Ororo, Kurt and Scott had all decided to stay behind at the mansion along with a handful of other students. And due to this decreased amount of students at the school, most teachers were leaving over the holidays, as well – safe for Hank, Charles and you. It was really the perfect time for the friends to find out if they were right with their suspicions.

It was on a cold autumn day that Ororo had decided they needed to keep an eye on you and Charles, mostly because she had noticed that you were most definitely wearing one of his favourite cardigans to ward off the chill. That gave them enough incentive to use the rest of the day to try to decide which of them was right once and for all. Eventually, evening rolled along and you and Charles hadn’t acted any different around each other than usual, so the friends gave up and headed back to their rooms. That was until a storm rolled in only an hour later, bringing with it cold winds and chilly rain, prompting the friends to go to the sitting room and warm up by the fire.

“I can’t believe you still don’t believe us.” Jean commented as she walked down the hallway toward the stairs so they could go down to the sitting area. “And would you hurry up so we can warm up by the fire? It’s so cold today.”

Scott shrugged at that. “I can’t believe they managed to convince you.”

“You didn’t see the way they interacted after the earthquake.” Ororo scoffed as she hurried after them. “She was literally coming out of his room, looking dishevelled and he talked about how she’d been in his bed. And then he kept calling her ‘darling’ and fussing over her before literally pulling her back into his room.”

“You use the word ‘literally’ too much.”

Jean chuckled at Scott’s comment. “I told her that, too.”

Jubilee shrugged a little. “That doesn’t mean she’s not right. She’s been wearing his cardian all day.”

“It’s cold.”

Kurt perked up at that. “Actually, I’m pretty sure Miss Brandt has been wearing the Professor’s cardigans for the whole week now.”

“You too, Kurt?”

“As I said, I think they might make a sweet couple.” Kurt commented before frowning a little. “But should we really be this invasive?”

“We should if it proves us right.” Ororo smirked.

“I just worry that this much snooping around will make them angry at us.” Kurt mumbled before looking at his telekenetic friend. “Also, Jean, why are we going to the sitting room? I’m pretty sure the fire went out hours ago.”

“I can fire it back up.”

Scott was the first to start and decent the stairs. But as soon as he got halfay down – and with that in eyesight of the sitting room – he stopped dead in his tracks, making Ororo collide with his back. She reared up to confront him about stopping but Scott put a finger to his lips and pointed at the open doors. Kurt leaned past Scott and quieted down immediately while Jubilee smacked her hand in front of her mouth to keep from making any sounds. Jean leaned forward and her mouth fell open.

At the end of the sitting room, by the fireplace sat none other than you and Charles, cuddled up on the sofa under a blanket. And the two of you were kissing. He was cupping your face, his fingers gently and lovingly stroking your face while yours were buried in his hair, tenderly raking over his scalp. Ororo turned to Scott and pointed a victorious finger at him but he was too busy watching as you leaned back against the arm of the sofa and Charles followed quickly to deepen the kiss, not wanting to part from it just yet.

Eventually, the two of you parted and Charles leaned his forehead against yours, earning himself a small smile and a chaste peck on his lips as you looked back at him. Your hands wandered down to the side of his face where you began to stroke his skin, making a smile appear on his face. He leaned into your touch, turning his head to kiss the palm of your hand.

“Feeling a bit warmer now, my love?” Charles said softly, a bright smile appearing on his lips as you nodded in agreement. “I did promise to warm you up.”

“And you did a wonderful job at that, sweetheart.” You said in amusement, hand sliding down his neck to rest on his shoulder. “I feel very warm and very loved thanks to you.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Charles whispered, his smile faltering a little. “I do hate to see you cold and anxious about your memories, my darling. I know you’ve told me about your past many times but the thought of you being left out in the snow in an attempt to cure your pyrokinesis still upsets me terribly and makes me angry.”

“Don’t be, please.” You replied, leaning your forhead against his. “I’m here now and I’m safe. You make me feel safe, Sweetheart. Safe and warm.”

“That’s good.”

“You’re not cold either, are you?” You inquired in concern. “I know that you get cold easily and I also want to help you stay warm, especially since I pretty much stole all your cardigans.”

Charles laughed softly, obviously touched by your concern before pressing another quick kiss to your lips. “I’m fine, my love. It’s very warm in here and besides, I have you next to me to warm me up.”

“We could go upstairs and I could properly warm you up.”

“Later.” Charles promised before sitting back and stretching out his arm in invitation. “Stay by the fire with me a little longer, would you?”

“I’d love nothing more than that.”

With that, you leaned up to capture his lips in a kiss again but this time Charles didn’t reciprocate, instead pulling back and furrowing his brows. That got you to look up at him in concern, the hand you had placed on his shoulder tightening as you frowned.

“What’s wrong, Charles? Did I do something wrong?”

“You did nothing wrong, love.” Charles said softly before his voice took on an amused tone. “But we’re not alone anymore.”

With that, he turned toward the door and subsequently the staircase, making you follow his gaze. The students froze where they were standing. While Kurt worried about you two being angry, Jean flushed at being spotted and Ororo gave a small wave. Scott looked away awkwardly and a wide grin spread across Jubilee’s face. But regardless of their reactions, all of them slowly made their way into the sitting room. By the time they were close by, you and Charles were sitting up straight again, turned so you could properly face the students. Charles looked pretty amused and you couldn’t stop yourself from laughing at the situation.

“Now, my dears, how long have you been watching us?”

“We haven’t been watching you!” Kurt defended himself but quickly faltered as he realised that that wasn’t entirely true. “I mean, we sort of did but only for a few minutes.”

“We wanted to come into the sitting room to warm up and you two were sort of smooching on the sofa.” Ororo explained, waving at you and Charles on the couch.

“Smooching.” Scott snorted before shaking his head. “But they’re right. We’ve only been standing there for a minute or two.”

You shook your head in amusement, unable to keep a small laugh from escaping you as she watched their concerned faces. “Don’t worry now. You’re not in any trouble if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“That’s a relief.” Jean said with a small smile. “We worried about that.”

“You two are such a sweet couple, Miss Brandt!” Jubilee suddenly exclaimed, smiling brightly at you and Charles. “And you look really happy together. It’s so good you’re finally together.”

“We are happy.” Charles confirmed, reaching out to take your hand into his. “But we have been in a relationship for a long time. Honestly, I was under the impression that it was fairly obvious.”

“At least we haven’t been keeping it a secret.” You threw in before shrugging. “But then again, we aren’t overly affectionate in the presence of our students. That would hardly be professional.”

“So you’ve been dating for a while now?”

“Yes, we’ve kept it professional but we haven’t been trying to keep it a secret.” Charles explained before nodding toward the fire. “Now, if you still want to warm up, you can find yourself a place to sit. The fire is shrinking now but I’m sure my lovely darling can stoke the flames a bit.”

At his words, you stood from the couch before walking over to the huge fireplace and using your powers to stoke the flames. Then you returned to your place next to Charles and leaned back against his side.

“So tell me, what have you kids been up to all day? I barely saw any students out and about today.” You mused as you looked around. “Where you in town or in your rooms?”

“We were in our rooms.” Scott explained, pulling his legs up onto the armchair. “We thought of going into town but--”

“But we got distracted arguing about whether or not you two were dating.” Jubilee joked, looking up at you from her spot on the carpet. “We were about to start a betting pool at this point.”

“A betting pool?” Charles laughed and shook his head. “Were you really that interested in whether or not we were a couple?”

“A lot of the other students were speculating, too.” Jean defended herself but relaxed when she saw you and Charles laughing at the situation. “The pool was Jubilee’s idea.”

Jubilee nodded in agreement before her eyes widened and she laughed. “You’re like the school’s parents now. X-Mom and X-Dad.”

“Interesting superhero names, for sure.” You chuckled and looked at Charles. “You can bet I will call you X-Dad from now on whenever you act parental.”

“Thank you for that, Jubilee.” Charles said in amusement, his arm pulling you closer as he looked back at you. “But while I don’t think you were being too invasive, I’d like to ask you all to respect our privacy. We want to keep everything professional.”

“Of course.” Jean nodded. “I’m sorry that we were so nosy and invasive.”

“There is no harm done, Jean. Everything’s alright.”

“I can’t believe you were right.” Scott joked. “I guess I was just oblivious.”

Ororo nodded and looked at Jean. “And you called us ridiculous.”

“I guess I got proven wrong.”

[caplanbuckybarnes]

Tell Me Baby (Tony Stark)

Summary: tony finds out you've been hiding a secret from the team.

Warnigns: none? mild fire burning? pyrokinetic! reader

WC: 947

Read on ao3!

--

You had been Tony Stark’s assistant for just over three months now. It wasn’t the easiest job, but it came with its perks: a salary that would make most people’s heads spin, the chance to work with some of the brightest minds in the world, and, of course, the luxury of being in Stark Tower every day.

You were good at your job—no, you were great at it. From managing Tony’s schedule to getting him his morning coffee (which, to be honest, was half the job), you knew the drill. But no one on the team knew the real reason Tony had insisted on hiring you.

It wasn’t because you were the best at organizing. It wasn’t because you were the best at being his personal assistant. No, Tony had hired you because there was something else about you—a secret that you kept hidden from everyone, even the team.

You were a pyrokinetic.

You could control fire, summon it from the tips of your fingers, make it dance at your command. You could hold it in your palm and make it flicker like a candle, or release it in a torrent of flames that could scorch anything in its path.

No one knew.

Tony was the only one who had any idea about your strange ability, though he didn’t know the extent of it. When he had first hired you, he had been intrigued by your calm demeanor, your ability to solve problems quickly. But over time, he’d noticed little things—a spark in your eyes when you were frustrated, the faint warmth that emanated from you when you were stressed. He’d chalked it up to a weird quirk, never pushing the issue.

That was, until today.

You were standing in the conference room, going over the new schematics for one of Tony’s latest inventions, when an unexpected emergency interrupted the team’s meeting.

The alarms blared, and chaos erupted in an instant. Tony was on his feet, barking orders, as the others gathered in the hall to rush into action. You were about to follow when you heard a crash—a loud, bone-rattling noise that came from the stairwell.

Before you could even think, your powers surged.

The flames burst to life from your fingertips, roaring and crackling as you reacted to the danger, a natural instinct born from years of keeping this power hidden.

You turned to face the hallway, your body reacting before your mind had even processed the situation. Fire shot from your hands, wrapping around you like an extension of your own body. In an instant, the hallway was engulfed, flames licking the walls and flickering from your fingertips, a dazzling display of raw power.

You barely heard Tony’s voice over the roar of the fire.

“Stop!” he shouted.

But you were too far gone—your instincts driving you, pushing the flames higher as you cut through the debris blocking your path.

Suddenly, you felt a hand grip your wrist, pulling you back.

“What the hell, Y/N?” Tony’s voice was filled with a mix of disbelief and anger. “You’re burning the whole place down!”

You froze.

In that moment, the fire flickered and dissipated, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. You felt your pulse racing, your breath ragged.

“Tony,” you gasped, eyes wide. “I—I didn’t mean to—”

But he wasn’t listening. He was staring at you, eyes narrowed, taking in the slight sheen of heat still rising from your fingertips, the faint smell of smoke in the air.

“You’ve been hiding this from me?” His voice was colder now, a sharp edge to it. “You’ve been hiding this from everyone?”

You lowered your head, guilt flooding you.

“I didn’t want to bring attention to it. I didn’t want to cause trouble. It’s… it’s dangerous, Tony. I—”

He cut you off with a raised hand. “Dangerous? You think I don’t know what dangerous is? Do you have any idea how much trouble you could’ve caused?”

You flinched, the weight of his words sinking in.

“I didn’t mean to,” you whispered, your voice barely audible. “I just reacted. I don’t know how to control it sometimes…”

Tony’s expression softened slightly, though the tension in his jaw was still visible. He let out a long breath and stepped closer, his hand resting on your shoulder.

“Look,” he said, his voice quieter now. “You’re not the first person with powers to work with me. Hell, I have powers.” He glanced at his own suit, his words more measured. “But you’re going to need to learn how to control it. I can’t have you burning down my tower every time someone looks at you the wrong way.”

You nodded quickly, relief flooding you at his words. “I’ll get better. I promise.”

“Good,” Tony said, the faintest hint of a smile playing on his lips. “We’ve got a training room, and I’ve got some new tech. We can figure this out, okay?”

“Okay,” you whispered, your heart still pounding in your chest.

“Just… next time,” he said, his lips twitching upward in that mischievous way you were so familiar with, “maybe don’t set the whole building on fire.”

You couldn’t help but laugh softly, nodding. “I’ll try my best.”

Tony’s eyes softened, and he gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I know you will. Now, go get some air. We’ll figure this out.”

You walked away, feeling a weight lift from your chest. But you knew this wasn’t over. You and Tony both had a lot to learn, and the next few weeks were going to be interesting.

And you couldn’t wait to see what would come of this new chapter in your life.

--

this is your kind reminder to reblog!

[poppitron360]

Nobody ever talks about how Leo didn’t use his powers AT ALL during the time between his mother’s death and coming to Camp Half-Blood. And what the implications of that are.

Like the moment it’s revealed to the reader is the first time in SEVEN YEARS that he’s tried to keep a sustained burn going. That kid was so afraid of his powers, that even when he was being bullied and abused in the foster homes, he didn’t try and stop them, even though he knew he had the power to, he couldn’t. He suppressed his powers for most of his childhood, and still only uses them in life or death, to help his friends.

I’m reading BoO rn, and we’ve just had a scene where Leo, Frank, Hazel, and Percy are fighting the Nikettes, and Leo only uses his fire as a last resort to save Hazel, even though the flames melted their enemy’s face off so easily. He tried everything in his power to stop them some other way until he was absolutely certain that it was the only thing he could do.

Imagine how powerful he would’ve been if he hadn’t tried to suppress them, and instead had had proper training and practice in wielding them. He is the first pyrokinetic demigod in nearly four centuries! Y’all say Percy is the most powerful demigod, and I agree, but imagine what Leo COULD’VE been if he wasn’t so afraid of what he’d become.

[lowkeyrobin]

Heyyyy, could you write a Morgie (Descendants) x villain reader that’s platonic? Something like the two of them pulling pranks or just being a mischievous duo, thank you <3

YESYESYESYESSSSSSS ; genuinley thank you for this omgomgomg literally so excited rn ; thank you for requesting!! hope you enjoy and I hope I did this justice!! ; also I rlly hope we see more of him in pt2/they release that shit quick because we did not see enough of the younger villains..

MORGIE LE FAY ; tricksters

summary ; you and morgie love to pull pranks on the AK's because you're villains, what else would you be doing? baking cupcakes?

warnings ; language, slight fictional violence, slight bullying

word count ; 262

masterlist

you LOVE playing pranks and being a little mischievous and chaotic with morgie

he's just that guy to do it with

plus he finds it funny, you do too

a lot of times, he'll scare people with his serpentine powers

he'll threaten to send snakes upon them, or spit at them considering his venom causes hallucinations and delusions

think the one girl from the sparrow academy in the umbrella academy iykyk

we don't know much about his powers so I'm making shit up if it wasn't obvious

if you have any powers, you're the same way, actually summoning them most the time if they're simple

anything like telekinesis, pyrokinetics, teleportation, etc, something that's at your fingertips

bringing out the big guns for a prank isn't fun

a lot of times you end up actually hurting people

minor injuries included!

but most the time it's actually an accident cause yall suck at communicating, mostly hurting each other

lots of buckets to the head and hallucinations given

you'll often sneak into the student kitchens to steal magical ingredients and sneak them into innocent people's food and drinks

entertaining show!

to say you saw ulinana turning into a flamingo beforehand was an understatement

you both decided to let it be cause you weren't gonna talk her out of it, plus it was funny as fuck

"morgie, grab the glitter!"

"which color??"

"whatever you want bridget to be covered in. no silver, white or pink. she can make it look good"

"okay. do you want the glue too?"

"yup"

dumping slime and glitter on people is funny trust

[newtthetranswriter]

Hello! Could I request some fluff for captain Obi please?

I was thinking about something that his crush does that makes him stop working? Like something cute he just exe.stopped working.

Thank you!

Word Count:753

Pairing: Captain Obi x Gn!Reader

A/n: Hello, thank you so much for requesting. Fire force is one of my favorites and there’s not enough content out there so thank you for this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and as always remember to Hydrate or Diedrate.

   Akitaru Obi is the kind of guy who speaks his mind no matter what, that’s what makes him a great captain. Only problem is there is one member of Company 8 that can render Obi speechless, Y/n. When they joined Company 8 everyone was just glad to have another crew member to help lighten the load on the small unit. No one ever expected that the nerdy 3rd generation would be able to break the great Captain Obi.

   It started out with small things, like Y/n offering to help out with cleaning up Obi’s office so his workout equipment wouldn’t get in the way of meetings, or Y/n offering to make dinner when everyone was exhausted from a hard day of dealing with infernals. Obi admired how much Y/n was willing to do in order to help everyone out, and that’s all he thought it was. What both Obi and Y/n failed to notice, but was quickly picked up by the less dense members of Company 8, was how there was a slight hint of favoritism aimed at the Pyrokinetic from the Captain.

  Obi had unintentionally started to put Y/n above the rest of the Squad. Not in large ways but more so checking in on them repeatedly after they took a hit during a call, or giving them extra breaks from paperwork when they make a comment about being bored. Maki and Hinawa had both noticed and tried to ask him about it, but Obi just brushed them off saying he was like that with everyone.

   This all went on for a few months, Obi being softer on Y/n and the others trying to get him to see it, hell even Arthur picked up on it. Eventually, It was ultimately Y/n who made him realize he had in fact been nicer to them and that he has a crush on them. It had been a quiet day, no calls to deal with Infernals and luckily the crew had managed to complete the mountain of paperwork that usually occupied the office space. After about an hour of Shinra and Arthur pestering the Lieutenant, Hinawa finally agreed to let everyone take the day to relax as long as they stayed alert for any potential calls.

   Taking advantage of the somewhat free day, Y/n decided to bake some cookies for the crew as a treat for all the hard work they had been doing. Y/n spent the first part of the day straightening the kitchen and making sure everything was ready for their day of baking. With everything clean they turned on the small radio, got the ingredients out and started baking. Lost in their own little world dancing around the kitchen while mixing the cookie dough, they failed to notice that the Captain had come into the room. Obi’s original plan was to get a quick snack and glass of water, he was not expecting to see Y/n dancing around the kitchen mixing bowl in hand while a song he recognized as being from before the Great Cataclysm played from the radio. The sight caused Obi to freeze in the doorway, completely entranced. 

    Having finished mixing the dough, Y/n turned to set the bowl on the counter, only to be startled by the sight of their Captain standing frozen in the doorway. Being slightly startled, but also concerned, Y/n spoke up. “Is there anything I can do for you, Captain?” They asked. 

    It took Obi a few seconds to process that Y/n had spoken to him, but as he was about to respond and dash away like nothing happened, the alarm sounded followed by the Lieutenant rushing by saying there was a call. Obi watched as Y/n sighed before quickly placing the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge turning to get ready for the call. Obi was still slightly frozen having realized watching Y/n be carefree was one of his new favorite things, and he only moved to respond to the call when Y/n moved to exit the kitchen and had brushed past him trying to get out.

   Obi shook his head, focusing on the job at hand, but not before deciding he was going to talk to them after this call and admit his feelings. Sure, he just figured them out himself, but with the way the world was any day could be they’re last so why not spend it with the ones you love.

[yanderes-galore]

Ooh since request are open can I please request yandere Hibana please from fire force who’s fallen for reader ( female or gn is fine with me ) hcs please and thank u 💗

I swear they made her entire character being a Tsundere which is a bit upsetting but... I'll try my best.

Yandere! Hibana Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Jealousy, Possessive/Protective behavior, Stalking, Violence, Threats, Sadism, Clingy behavior, Delusional behavior, Touchy behavior, Forced relationship.

I personally wish more was done for Hibana's character.

Upon her debut she was deceptive and sadistic, often showing arrogance towards those around her.

She even called herself a 'Princess'.

She's described as a cynic, often domineering and controlling towards those she deems under her.

She tends to focus on revenge as a goal and over time is shown to be protective of those she cares about.

Shinra helps Hibana become a better person, which makes her more friendly.

She tends to cover up the nice things she does and when it comes to romantic attraction... can be rather lewd?

Most of her character was dedicated to fawning over Shinra from what I've read.

So safe to say... being a yandere might not change much.

She's naturally worse before she meets Shinra... but I'd also say she's a handful afterwards too.

Before Shinra she's sadistic, deceptive, and more than willing to use her power to immobilize her obsession.

Afterwards she's mostly just persistent and clingy, often hating to leave your side.

She isn't the strongest pyrokinetic out there... yet she's got strength.

She often uses her beauty to charm others and may even be frustrated when it doesn't work on you.

You may not even want anything to do with her due to her personality and behavior.

She can be cruel.

Sometimes she even takes joy in the violence she inflicts.

Her most dangerous trait is her violence and persistence.

Hibana is entitled at times, often not giving up until she gets what she wants.

If we look at her debut personality, Hibana has no issues when it comes to kidnapping or even murder.

In fact, she'd love the control she has over her obsession.

To her, it's less about romance, and more about the fact she has you all to herself in her debut personality.

She loves to force you to your knees, completely powerless against her.

Would she harm you? Not with her flames.

She can be rough with you but doesn't intend to burn you.

She probably doesn't even need to use ropes or chains to keep you in place... but if she does, she'll keep you in her room.

She treats her obsession as a pet of sorts.

She praises you, smothers you in affection if you're good...

She doesn't hesitate to incinerate the gravel that dares to touch you.

You belong to only her.

You're worthy to only her.

She makes sure to prove that by burning those too close.

She's insistent with her kisses and praise, telling you that as long as you pay attention to her...

You'll be a good pet.

Her behavior calms down later on post Shinra battle.

Yet she's now clingy and lacks boundaries.

There's times her previous sadism will show up, but for the most part she tries to behave.

In the public eye, that is.

When she isn't being a violent domineering captain... she's still smothering.

She gives gifts, she hangs around you as you work...

Others tell her to leave, she never does.

She may even be one to stalk her obsession, always wanting to keep tabs on them.

Does she have work to do? Yes.

But you're so much more entertaining.

I can also see Hibana threatening those she feels are too close to you.

She's an infamous captain and many know what she's capable of.

Just because she's playing nice for you doesn't mean she's completely changed.

She only really cares about you, Shinra, and Iris.

Anyone else she doesn't mind threatening to burn.

She may try to play it off as subtle...

But knowing her, she probably means all of her threats.

She's intimidating to everyone around her.

Even her obsession at times due to how insistent she is.

She may even be delusional, choosing to nor view what she does as wrong.

Keeping you as a pet? Well it should be an honor.

She's pretty and cares for you!

Stop fighting her feelings!

Hibana's affection can also get rather... touchy.

She likes you in her lap and often holds you around the waist.

She tends to flirt with you in an attempt to make you fall for her....

Yet... of course... you only seem scared.

You're always going to be scared of her.

Hibana at first saw herself as a demon... It was how she had to survive in this world.

Even when she tries to change, she'll always be seen as a demon by you.

After all, she's willing to kidnap and kill for her love...

What's more demonic than that?

[awkward-walking-potato]

So about the gambit requests.

How about pyrokinetic!reader who when she feels strong emotions HEATS up, and obviously there's some strong emotions directed at Remy. So someway or another she always leaves after only being around him for a little while and he thinks she hates his guts. Big emotional breakthrough and she reveals the truth to him. They're like cuddling or something 😏 and she starts HEATING UP (not enough to like actually hurt someone but she always gets nervous that it will) so she tries to pull away, but he pulls her back and is all comforting and reassuring that she'd NEVER hurt him and it's all cute.

Sorry it's so long, I've never made a request before.

Thank you for if you decide to write it :).

Too hot to handle

The X-Mansion was quiet, the evening calm after a long day of training and missions. You and Remy had been spending more time together recently, much to your own surprise. The connection between you was undeniable, but there was one small problem: whenever you were around him, your emotions seemed to intensify, and with them, your pyrokinetic powers. It was like your body betrayed you, and you found yourself radiating heat every time your feelings for him grew stronger.

Tonight, you were curled up on the couch in the common room, trying to relax. Remy had joined you, sitting close but not too close, his casual demeanor masking his curiosity. You had been working hard to keep your emotions in check, but it was a constant struggle. You liked being near him, but the warmth that spread through you whenever he was around was becoming increasingly difficult to manage.

Remy looked over at you, his eyes softening with concern. “You alright, chérie? You look like you’re tryin’ to keep somethin’ under control.”

You forced a smile, trying to keep your emotions at bay. “Yeah, just a little tired. It’s been a long day.”

He reached out, his hand gently brushing against yours. The simple touch sent a jolt of warmth through your body, and you could feel the heat rising, despite your best efforts. You shifted slightly, trying to create some distance, but he seemed to sense your discomfort.

“You sure? You seem a bit—”

Before he could finish, you pulled away, standing up quickly. “I think I need to go. It’s been a long day, like I said.”

Remy’s brow furrowed as he watched you. “Hey, what’s goin’ on? You’ve been doin’ this a lot lately, pullin’ away and disappearin’.”

You paused, looking down, not meeting his gaze. You were afraid to reveal the truth. The last thing you wanted was for him to think you were rejecting him personally. But the fear of accidentally hurting him with your powers made it difficult to stay close.

“I just... I don’t want to be a bother,” you said quietly, the words coming out almost like a confession. “It’s not you. It’s me. I just... I get so overwhelmed, and I don’t want to risk...”

Remy stood up, closing the distance between you, his expression a mix of concern and frustration. “Don’t want to risk what?”

You took a deep breath, struggling to find the right words. “I heat up when I’m around you. When I get emotional, my powers flare up, and I’m afraid I might hurt someone, even accidentally.”

Remy’s eyes widened slightly as he processed what you were saying. “You think you’d hurt me?”

You nodded, unable to meet his gaze. “I’ve tried to keep my distance because I don’t want to hurt you.”

He stepped closer, gently placing his hands on your shoulders, his touch warm and reassuring. “Listen to me, chérie. I’d never let you hurt me. You don’t have to push me away. I can handle it.”

You looked up at him, the vulnerability in his eyes comforting. “But what if I can’t control it? What if—”

He interrupted you with a soft, firm shake of his head. “I trust you. I know you’d never hurt me. You’re always in control, even when you don’t feel like it. And if you get hot, we’ll deal with it together.”

He pulled you into a gentle embrace, his arms wrapping around you with a comforting warmth. You tensed slightly as the heat within you began to rise, but he held you close, his presence grounding and calming.

“It’s okay,” he whispered, his voice soothing. “Let it out. I’m here.”

You took a deep breath, feeling the warmth radiate from your body, but also feeling his steadying presence. It was as if his confidence in you was enough to help you control the heat, keeping it from becoming overwhelming.

“I’m sorry for all the times I’ve pulled away,” you murmured against his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to push you away.”

Remy’s grip tightened slightly, his fingers gently stroking your back. “Ain’t no need to apologize. I’m just glad you’re here now. And if you need to heat up, that’s just a part of you I can handle.”

You smiled, the warmth between you feeling less like a threat and more like a shared connection. As you relaxed into his embrace, the heat gradually subsided, leaving you with a comforting sense of calm.

“I guess I just needed to hear that,” you admitted softly. “That you’re okay with it. With me.”

Remy’s voice was gentle, yet firm. “Of course, chérie. You’re a part of me now. All of you, even the hot parts.”

You both laughed softly, the tension melting away. In that moment, you felt a deep sense of relief, knowing that you didn’t have to hide your true self from him. As you cuddled together, you knew that whatever challenges lay ahead, you would face them together, with trust and understanding.

And as the night grew quieter, the heat between you transformed into something more soothing—a warmth that came from knowing you were loved and accepted just as you were.

[selencgraphy]

— 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐒

PAIRING: platonic!loki laufeyson x f!reader x platonic!bucky barnes

TAGS: fluff, prank war, mutant!reader, canon divergent, he/him pronouns for loki

A/N: one more lost selencgraphy fic that i came back and edited a bit :) just a little silly goofy fic with favs! happy reading <3

WORD COUNT: ~2k

masterlist || request box <3

You were growing tired of the repetitiveness of how the tower looked. Of course you were grateful for Tony providing you a place to live, but the interior design could use some touch-ups. However, when you ran the idea by the man himself you didn’t expect him to start on it immediately. “I know I told you I wanted to make some changes but maybe a little heads up next time?”

“If I remember the conversation correctly, I remember you said you wanted—no, needed this to happen, so I’m just doing what you asked me to,” he shrugged.

“I- Ugh, can you at least tell these guys to clear out for just a couple minutes, so I can grab some of my stuff,” you groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose in annoyance.

Tony quickly waved for the crew he hired to clear out for you. Entering your room, you grabbed some clothes, your laptop, a pillow and blanket and stuffed them into a small backpack. After making sure you had everything that you needed to get through the day while they worked, you headed out back past Tony into the main area of the floor. As you walked out, Loki was stepping out of the elevator. “What is this?”

“I talked to Tony about some things that I wanted to change about my side of the floor, and he decided to not procrastinate for the first time in his life,” you retorted, raising your voice slightly at the end of your sentence for Tony to hear. “Meaning that I gotta crash out here for the week, or until they’re done.”

He hummed in response and suddenly waved his hands. To your right, green light flashed over the couches as Loki conjured some of his stuff, some more pillows and blankets, and a movie projector. “Sleepover?!” you gasped.

“Sleepover,” Loki confirmed, a grin growing on both of your faces.

“I gotta invite, Bucky,” you say as you go to grab your phone, but he stops you.

“Already done, darling.”

Unfortunately, the sleepover couldn’t start until later that evening because it was still Friday meaning everyone still had work to do.

You, Loki, Bucky, and Wanda all were given second chances with your places on the team. Like Bucky, HYDRA had controlled you for decades, using your abilities to further push their agenda. They’d managed to get their hands on other mutants, but you were the only one with your kind of powers that HYDRA was able to get their hands on. A pyrokinetic.

To them, you were their purifier. The one who would “bring their goals to light.” Despite your differing abilities, the two of you were partners. Then you and the Winter Soldier were sent on a mission to take down Captain America and his associates.

Everything was going smoothly until your masks fell off mid-fight. Steve had recognized the both of you. Old friends from a time you were all taken from. Despite the brainwashing, Steve had triggered something in your brains that caused you both to become disoriented. When you regrouped with HYDRA, vague memories of your old life filled your mind. Despite their efforts to keep you under their control, you and the Soldier- Bucky were able to break free. Eventually you and Bucky found yourselves back with Steve and worked with the Avengers to try and atone for all the suffering HYDRA had made you cause. After months of work with the Dora Milaje, the Russian trigger words could no longer bring forth the Winter Soldier and Pyro.

A few years later, Thor returned to Earth along with his brother, Bruce, and a few thousand Asgardians in search of a new home. Thor had ensured the rest of the team that Loki was no longer the man they had met initially and that Thanos had compelled him to do all those things.

Like the ones before him, he was given a chance to atone for his previous actions with a place on the team. Eventually, you all were able to become comfortable amongst the rest of the Avengers. Steve had been one of your closest friends before HYDRA had taken you and Bucky so you tried to reconnect. Rebuilding that friendship after all these years was hard, but you all made it work. It took the rest of them a while before they warmed up to the new additions but soon enough, everyone came around. Living in one place helped with that a lot. Routines were built and stuck to. The Avengers had become a true family.

Of course, some were closer than others. You, Bucky, and Loki were the closest. The three of you became inseparable at some point. Tony was willing to let you and Loki live on the same floor in the tower, but called for at least a little separation. Bucky took the floor beneath yours and shared it with Steve. With the renovations to your part of the floor, the chaos that erupted when the three of you were together was about to get much worse.

A secluded sleepover with only the three of you was the least of the rest of the team’s worries. Most of the time, the separation between the three of you kept things pretty calm in the tower. Putting the God of Mischief, pyrokinetic, and super soldier together sounded like an amazing idea for missions, but in a normal setting? Utter mayhem.

At first, the pranks were contained between the three of you but later you learned that you all worked better together. 

Growing up with you both, Steve already had a taste of what you were capable of in terms of pranks. He also was very familiar with that look on your face when you were about to prank someone.

Finishing up your tasks for the week, you walked into the kitchen to grab a quick snack before brewing your devious plans. Walking in, Steve was busy at work making dinner. Looking up he noticed you enter and greeted you. As he looked at you, something worried him but decided to pay no mind to it at first. His first mistake.

“So what’s cooking, Stevie?’

Turning away from the stove, he turned to answer you as you took a seat across the counter island. “I,” he started, “am making spaghetti. Do not eat too much before dinner.”

You both let out a chuckle as he returned back to his pot. “So any plans for the weekend, Mr. America?”

“Hmm, nothing much. Probably gonna do the usual, you know. Hit the gym, maybe sketch a little.”

Finishing up the noodles and sauce, he placed them on the counter to let them sit before he called for dinner. You still hadn’t moved from your spot surprisingly. But instead of snacking on some fruit, you were now leaning back in your seat, eyes closed. Studying your face once again, a subtle look on your face caused worry to fill him once again, he just couldn’t pinpoint why. Unfortunately for him, you had been planning some pranks for the weekend. Noticing the lack of noise from the cook, you opened your eyes and were met with the blonde man staring at you. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just been a while since we’ve just been like this. Just us two hanging out.”

“Yeah…”

“You remember when Bucky had to go stay with his sisters for the day, leaving us stuck at my house.”

You hummed. “You cooked us spaghetti that day too.”

A silence fell between you two as you felt the nostalgia.

“Alrighty, we don’t want the food to get cold, why don’t you let the team know dinner’s ready?”

—

Not long after you left the kitchen to alert the team, you realized that going through the tower and letting everyone know one by one was going to take forever. “F.R.I.D.A.Y?” you called out.

“Yes, Y/N”

“Could you let everyone know that Steve is done cooking?”

“Of course.”

Before returning to the dining room, you decided to go back to your floor. As you exited the elevator Loki was exiting his room to meet with the rest of the team. “Darling,” he greeted.

A smile grew on your face. “Good, you’re still here. I got some ideas that I want to run by you.”

The two of you finally joined the rest of the team in the dining room a few minutes later. Unfortunately for you, Bucky had already begun eating. You tried to catch Bucky’s attention, but he was too busy trying to stuff his mouth. Luckily for you, your trio consisted of a god who could read minds and communicate telepathically. Turning to Loki, you subtly pointed to your head to signal him to read your mind. He quickly caught on and his voice appeared in your head.

What is it, darling?

I wanted to tell Buck the plan, but he’s already eating... Could you do it for me?

Loki’s abilities always came in handy whenever you wanted to do something like this. Unbeknownst to everyone else, you could have full blown scheming sessions or just conversations. He lightly nodded as you both continued to grab your food. The three of you have done this so many times that Loki randomly popping into your heads didn’t startle you anymore. After a minute, you noticed a faint smile on Bucky’s face. Suddenly Loki’s voice popped into your head again.

He told me to tell you, and I quote, “You are a fucking genius, doll.”

You slightly smirked as you ate. The rest of the team has no idea what’s about to hit them in the next few days.

—

“WHAT IN THE FUCK?”

The weekend had already begun and everyone was doing their own thing. Steve, of course, was doing his normal routines as usual. Luckily for you, you knew that schedule by heart and so did Bucky. You both snuck into the gym just before he got in and set everything up. Hearing Steve’s shout signaled that your plans were more than successful. Everyone who was still in the tower ran over to the gym to see what was going on, Tony arriving first. “Woahhh Cap, what’s with the lang- HOLY SHIT-”

As everyone piled into the gym, they were all met with Steve drenched in water and covered in flour. No one could keep themselves from laughing. Tony looked up to the ceiling where two buckets were placed, both tilted over after releasing their contents. “Looks like someone set you up, Cap,” he said through broken chuckles.

Steve thought for a moment before slowly turning his gaze to two people in the room. You and Bucky. “You two-”

“What?” you asked, raising your hands to emphasize your innocence.

“Don’t ‘What?’ me, Y/L/N. I knew you were up to something.”

You turned to Bucky, a face of guilt and slight fear on both of your faces to Steve’s rage. “Run?” he whispered.

“Run,” you confirmed. As the two of you bolted out of the gym, Steve chased quickly behind you. “I fucking hate you two!”

As you both rounded the corner to the kitchen, you passed Loki who hid behind the wall of the open door. Once you two cleared the doorway he quickly poured oil onto the floor. Suddenly, Steve came flying into the room. Literally. As the rest of the Avengers caught up with you all at the sound of Steve crashing, Tony couldn’t help but double over and die of laughter. “Oh my god!! F.R.I.D.A.Y?”

“Yes, sir?”

“The security cameras got that, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“PERFECT!”

As Steve gathered himself, he let out a groan. “Why do I always have to end up at the other end of your pranks?”

“Because that’s how it’s always been, Stevie,” you remarked as you patted his shoulder and left the room.

Before Bucky left the room behind you, he whispered to Tony, “Please send me that footage.”

Steve, with his super hearing, still caught it though. “DO NOT SEND HIM THAT FOOTAGE!”

[bookwyrminspiration]

Transcript of The Trade, the Marella KOTLC short story (Including the author introduction)

Note: OG pictures taken by Kenna!, provided by @fintan-pyren. Some words are obscured and the transcript may contain errors. Neverless, I hope this is useful to anyone who may need/want it :)

Hello, wonderful Keeper readers! Some of you might already know that I love to sneak a little something extra into the paperback versions of my books whenever I can (since I don't think hardcover readers should get to be the only ones who sometimes find fun bonuses). For those who didn't know that: surprise! :)

I knew I wanted to include a story from Marella's POV this time. Not only is she on the cover (looking fierce and fabulous!) and a fan-favorite character, but she also had some key scenes in Stellarlune that we only got to "hear" about. The Keeper books are limited to Sophie's POV, so I can only include moments where Sophie is present--and since Sophie didn't go with Marella to her meetings with Fintan, we only learn what Marella tells Sophie later. But what if there was something Marella didn't share?

Over the next few pages, you can watch one of Marella's conversations with Fintan play out in real time and hear all Marella's thoughts and reactions to what's happening. I've called this story "The Trade"--and I've worked in lots of fun little extra details (some of which might even turn out to be important later...*wink*).

For those wondering, this story is based a [sic] scene in chapter 31 of Stellarlune--and if you haven't read Stellarlune yet: SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! Reading this first will probably be confusing and will also give away a few tidbits too early. You'll be much happier if you start by reading Stellarlune and then come back here for all the Marella fun once you're done!

Happy reading! [shannon's signature]

~

"Ugh, I hate this place," Marella muttered, shaking the freshly fallen snowflakes out of her gilded blond hair much harder than necessary and yanking her thick velvet cape tighter around her narrow shoulders.

She said the same thing every time she had to trudge through the knee-high snowdrifts and found herself staring at the icicle-crusted entrance to the now familiar cave.

Didn't matter how many times she'd gone there--or how important her visits were. She was never not going to dread making the long, slippery trek down to Fintan's frozen cell.

The cave looked like some sort of open-mouthed snow beast waiting to devour everything in its path--which was probably intentional, since the prison was designed to be as miserable as possible.

Especially for someone like her.

The goblin guards even gave her pitying stares as they moved aside to reveal the endless icy path that wound down and down--and down a whole lot more--to a place where the tiniest glimmer of heat had long since been swallowed up by the suffocating cold.

No amount of clothing could keep Marella warm in the heart of the prison She'd actually tried wearing so many layers that she'd looked like an overstuffed gulon--and she still couldn't stop shivering. And the whole "body temperature regulation" thing wasn't exactly possible when she had to use so much concentration to make sense of Fintan's ranting.

it wasn't fair.

Everyone else got to train their special abilities in fancy rooms at Foxfire, with Mentors who weren't creepy, unstable murderers.

But they weren't Pyrokinetics.

Marella was lucky the Council was letting her use her ability at all.

They could just as easily label her Talentless, kick her out of their snobby academy, and ban her from ever sparking another flame.

Or they could decide she was too dangerous and lock her away.

in fact, Marella wouldn't have been surprised at all if the Council was already building an icy cage just for her--but the thought still made her shiver and wish she could've manifested as...

Nope.

She stopped herself from finishing that sentence.

If life had taught her anything, it was that there's no point wanting things that were never going to happen.

Instead, she focused on the thin beams of sunlight streaking through a gap in the gloomy gray clouds. The light was far from warm, but if she really concentrated, she could feel a hint of lingering heat tangled among the brightness.

She called the warmth closer and soaked it in--let it pool under her skin, pounding with her pulse, swelling with every heartbeat. Growing hotter and hotter and hotter until...

Snap!

A flick of her fingers sent a small tangle of flames sparking to life above her left palm.

"Feel better?" Linh asked as Marella let out a long, slow sigh.

Marella nodded--though she definitely could've done without the whispered that were now hissing around her head.

The flames had a soft, crackly voice. And they always made the same plea.

Feed me.

Feed me.

Feed me.

Fire craved fuel--constantly wanting more, more, more--and it would've been so easy for Marella to let the fire swell bigger and bigger and bigger.

But that was the kind of thing that would lead to a lifetime of shivering in an underground ice cube, so she forced her gaze to shift to Linh, who stood in a small, snowless circle surrounded by a halo of hovering snowflakes---none daring to touch her long silver-tipped hair or shimmery purple cape.

Marella knew how hard Linh had fought to achieve that level of control, and how tentative Linh's hold over her ability still was. But the fact Linh could stand in a sea of frozen water and do nothing except keep the falling snow from settling on her flushed pink cheeks was very...

Annoying.

Then again, everyone annoyed Marella a little.

Her dad used to call her "fiery" long before he realized how accurate that description truly was.

But it wasn't Marella's fault!

People tended to be annoying.

Especially a Hydrokinetic who was currently looking all peaceful and pretty and perfect while making snowflakes flutter and spin in intricate patterns.

That didn't mean Marella wasn't also grateful that Linh was willing to tag along to her Pyrokinetic lessons. it was nice to see a friendly face after hours of Fintan's rambling. Plus, it seemed like a good idea to have someone with water powers around while she practiced setting things on fire.

They were even finding some pretty cool ways to work together. Fire and water might be opposites--but that didn't mean they couldn't be combined. Marella had actually figured out a way to ignite Linh's rain, and she couldn't wait to use that little trick on the Neverseen--assuming those black-cloaked losers ever showed up again.

For a fearsome, unstoppable rebellion, they sure spend a lot of time hiding.

"Are you going to start by asking him about the cache or do the lesson first?" Linh asked, reminding Marella why they were there.

Marella shrugged. "Depends on Fintan's mood."

Sometimes he was already babbling about some fancy new fire trick when she arrived, as if he'd started the lesson without bothering to wait for her. Other times she couldn't get anywhere with him until she'd let him go on and on and on about how foolish the Council was, or how badly he'd been wronged, or how much he missed the feel of a flickering flame--and she didn't necessarily blame him for the last one.

Part of her wanted to hold on to her fireball forever.

Make it her smoky little pet.

Instead, she curled her fingers into a fist and snuffed it out--but she didn't let all the heat dissipate. She called a single tingling glint deeper, letting it sear through her veins and settle into her heart.

She knew it was a risky move, even with all the defenses she wrapped around it. But she couldn't bear the cold emptiness of Fintan's prison without a least a tiny fleck of warmth tucked away.

A secret spark whispering, I'm here. You're not alone.

"Okay," she said, weaving a few strands of her hair together to clam her twitchy fingers. She'd picked up the nervous habit years ago--after her mom's accident--and the tiny braids were kind of her trademark now. "i guess I should stop stalling and head down to deal with Sir Creepysparks, huh?"

Linh smiled. "Probably. Unless you want to rehearse what you're going to say."

"Nah. I'm just going to offer him an ugly flower--that doesn't exactly need a big speech. Oh, but that reminds me..."

She reached into her cape pocket and pulled out the spiky dark blue Noxflare--which looked more like a dying weed than a super-rare flower--and held it up to the guards. "Mr. Forkle already checked this before I brought it here, to make sure it's safe for me to offer to Fintan. but I figured you'd want to check it too."

"We do," they agreed in unison as one of the biggest, deadliest-looking guards took the Noxflare from Marella and brought it over to the other goblins.

A lot of mumbling about potential kindling and fire hazards followed.

Eventually, the guards decided to quick-freeze the Noxflare into a block of ice in case there was any heat stored inside.

"Whoa," Marella said when the scary guard returned with the flower-filled ice cube--which had turned out as big as her head. "How heavy is that thing?"

The guard studied Marella's skinny arms. "I can carry it for you if you'd like."

"That's probably be smart." Marella was pretty sure she'd drop it, or her fingers would freeze off during the long walk--and using telekinesis would drain her mental energy. "But can you stay out of sight? I was planning to tell Fintan he can only see his weird flower thing if he gives me access to his memories, and that's kinda ruined if there's a giant goblin holding it right next to me.

Not that it made the plan any less pointless.

Fintan was obviously going to turn her down.

He's already made it super clear that the only trade he was interested in was for his freedom--which was never going to happen.

Marella doubted a dying flower frozen in ice was suddenly going to make him be like, You know what? Who needs out of this horrible prison when I can have that!

But she was out of other ideas.

And Sophie wanted her to try the Noxflare thing, so...

Whatever.

Marella didn't care about Sophie's current power trip the way Stina did.

As long as she didn't have to be the one coming up with all the plans--or almost dying all the time--Marella was fine following orders. Especially if she got to say I told you so when they turned out to be a huge waste of time.

"Sure you don't want me to come with you?" Linh asked as Marella pulled thick gloves onto her hands. "Fintan likes me."

Marella wasn't sure if "like" was the right word, since Fintan didn't seem to like anybody. But he'd definitely been impressed with Linh.

He'd demanded to speak with "the Hydrokinetic" after Marella mentioned she practiced her pyrokinesis with Linh, so Marella had convinced the goblin guards to let Linh down into the prison. And when Fintan asked for a demonstration of Linh's ability to ensure she wouldn't "hinder his training," Linh had stirred up all the ice shards on his floor and made them rain around him like he was trapped inside a snow globe--which actually made him applaud.

Apparently, most Hydrokinetics struggled to manipulate water in its solid form, and were limited to liquid water or water vapor.

But not Linh.

Of course.

Marella was pretty sure that Linh was more powerful than any of her other friends.

"Well, if you need me, you know where to find me," Linh said as Marella forced her feet to carry her into the cave. "I'll just be here, making another snow menagerie." She flicker her wrist and wove the hovering snowflakes into a soaring alenon.

"Ugh, at least make some ugly creatures this time," Marella called over her shoulder. "I want to see a row of snow ghouls when I get back here. Or a giant Princess Purryfins!"

Linh gasped. "Princess Purryfins is not ugly! I'm going to tell her you said that!"

Marella laughed. "I'm sure you will."

She would've teased Linh more about her ridiculous obsession with her pet murcat, but the frigid air from the prison hit Marella hard, and she had to lock her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering.

As least she didn't have to make the journey by herself this time.

Marella could hear the scary goblin guard keeping pace several steps behind her as her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim blue light cast by a series of glowing spheres dangling from the ceiling. The downward slope grew steeper with each winding curve, and Marella was always tempted to try sliding down the icy floor instead of walking--but she'd probably end up crashing into one of the weird ice thrones outside Fintan's cell. And she knew better than anyone that injuries couldn't always be healed.

Plus, the trudge gave her a chance to add extra defenses to the heat she'd tucked away in her chest.

She often wondered if Fintan had hidden a few sparks of his own when he was arrested. After all, he had to know the Council would put him on ice for the rest of eternity. Wouldn't he try to preserve what little heat he could?

But Marella had stretched out her senses a zillion different ways and never felt the slightest tingle of warmth when she was around him. So either there was nothing to find or Fintan was that good.

She had a horrible feeling it was the latter, and he was waiting for just the right moment to reveal his grand plan--but that wasn't the kind of thing she should be thinking about before having to face him.

Still, she spent the next few turn trying to figure out what she'd do if she were right.

Her feet turned numb while she plotted, and her bones were officially aching by the time the path widened-- the only warning that they were getting close to Fintan's cell.

A few curves later, his cage came into view: a stark, icy bubble in the center of a circular cavern.

The round wall was reflective on the inside, so even though Marella could see Fintan pacing along the edge of his frozen barricade, he wouldn't be able to see her until she triggered the sensor by sitting in one of the freezing thrones positioned at the only point Fintan could peer through.

He looked extra tired that day--his sky blue eyes sunken by more shadows than usual, and he kept muttering under his breath about incompetence as he tucked his messy blond hair behind his pointy ears with a bit more force than necessary.

Marella glanced back at the scary guard, making sure he'd ducked into the shadows near the back of the cell before she made her big appearance. Then she took a deep breath and pressed her hand against her heart, reaching for her secret spark of warmth one last time before plopping into the closest ice throne.

"Awwwww, looks like you missed me," she said, tossing back her hair and flashing her brightest smile.

She liked to start her visits by showing Fintan she wasn't afraid of him--even if she totally was.

But Fintan didn't glance her way.

"I'm not in the mood for games," he warned as he continued his slow march around his cell.

"Neither am I" Marella assured him, deciding that was her cue to start with the cache. She sat up taller, trying to look extra confident as she added, "But I do have an awesome trade to offer you!"

Fintan sighed. "If this is about my cache, I already told you what I'm willing to accept. Unless you're here to grant me a day of freedom--"

"I'm definitely not. But! I found something you should like even better." She paused, hoping the extra bit of anticipation would somehow make her offer should more exiting when she told him. "Noxflares!"

Fintan scrunched his slender nose. "What are Noxflares, and why would I care about them?"

Marella tilted her head, trying to tell if he was faking.

She hadn't expected him to jump around or applaud or anything--but she had expected him to at least know what Noxflares were.

Then again, his mind had been shattered and pieced back together so many times, his memories had to be in shambles--and Ancient minds tended to be a total mess anyway, since they were crammed with thousands of years of information and the past and present blurred together.

"Would it help if I told you I stopped by your old estate on my way here?" she asked, "Your garden could use some gnomish help, by the way. All the plants have turned into a giant dying tangle. But I dug around and managed to find this scraggly vine with dark pointy flowers--and I hear that plant is special to you, so I picked a few and--"

"You picked my Noxflares?" Fintan snapped, rushing to the wall of his cell and pressing his palms against the ice. "You must let me see them!"

Marella's lips curled into a huge smirk. "I thought you didn't know what they were."

Fintan gritted his teeth so hard, it sounded like cracking ice.

"Hey, I'm not saying I won't share. Buuuuuuuuuuut it'll cost you--and I'm pretty sure you can already guess what I want." She paused for another beat before she added, "Just so we're clear: I'll show you one of your Noxflares if you open your cache and show me what's inside."

Fintan's jaw tightened even more and his hands curled into fists.

But he didn't say no.

He didn't say anything--which was definitely new.

Marella had already offered him a long list of trade suggestions that she, Linh, Maruca, and Stina had all come up with--some really cool ones! And Fintan had shot down each one down before she could even finish the offer.

She couldn't believe he looked so tempted by an ugly flower.

but as the silence dragged on, Marella started to wonder if she'd misread the situation.

maybe she'd pushed him too hard--taunted him too much--and now Fintan was letting her sit there in the cold, knowing the icy throne was turning her butt and legs numb.

She was trying to decide if she could make standing up look like a power move when Fintan told her, "Fine. You have a deal--but since you're only offering one Noxflare, I'll only show you one memory."

Marella barely stopped herself from blurting out, SERIOUSLY?

"Orrrrrrrrrrrrrr," she said instead, wanting to kick herself for not bringing more Noxflares with her. The whole thing had just seemed so silly--and the first few she'd picked had crumbled to dust. But the vine had lots more flowers, so she could fix the mistake super easily. "How about I go back, grab eight more Noxflares, and then you show me all nine memories?"

Fintan grinned. "Tempting. But one Noxflare is really all I need."

Need?

Marella wasn't a fan of that wording.

But before she could ask him what he needed it for, he added, "My offer expires in ten seconds," and started counting down.

By "six" she decided that one memory was better than nothing.

"Fine," she said, pulling the cache from her pocket and holding the marble-size orb up to the light. "But you go first. How do I open this thing?"

No way was she going to risk letting him back out--especially since he probably wasn't going to be happy when he saw his precious flower was stuck in the middle of a giant ice cube.

Fintan held out his hand. "Give me the cache, and I'll open it."

Marella laughed. "Hard pass."

"Ah, but you don't have a choice. I'm the only one who can access the memories. And I need to make physical contact with the cache in order to do so."

Marella squinted at the tiny gadget.

She didn't know much about caches--aside from the fact that only Councillors used them and that each colorful inner crystal held a single Forgotten Secret. But she did know that Dex had already tried everything he could think of to open the cache and failed--and he was one of the best Technopaths ever.

"Do I need to start counting down again?" Fintan asked. "I believe we'd gotten to five..."

Marella chewed her lip. "Uh, how do I know you're not going to destroy the cache or try to hold it for ransom or something?"

Fintan's smile was colder than his cell. "You'll just have to trust me."

"Yeah, I don't see that happening."

Fintan shrugged. "Then our deal is off."

Marella rolled her eyes. "Come on. Even if I wanted to, it's not like I can open your cell door and hand the cache to you."

She wasn't even sure if his cell had a door. The wall looked like one big solid piece of ice.

"You've proven to be very resourceful during our lessons," Fintan reminded her.

"Yeah, but--"

"It's your call," he interrupted. "If you want a memory, you'll have to trust me."

She snort-laughed--but before she could get another word out, he repeated, "You'll just have to trust me." And she could tell that was the only response he was going to give.

She turned to the scary guard, who had started pacing in the shadows. "Is there a way to pass Fintan a small item?"

"Ah, you have a hidden goblin escort--I knew you were resourceful!" Fintan clapped his hands. "And yes, there is a way to pass me my cache, otherwise I wouldn't have suggested it. Any guard can open the disgraceful tube they pass my horrid, frozen bits of food through. The cache should fit nicely."

The guard gripped his sword. "I cannot allow any unauthorized item to enter his cell."

Fintan clicked his tongue. "Clearly you're not considering the fact that I've already had plenty of chances to make this trade--and turned them all down. Do you think I would do that if the cache was even remotely useful to me?"

The goblin couldn't argue with that logic.

Neither could Marella.

And when Fintan went back to counting down, she told the guard, "The Black Swan knows I've been trying to make this trade--and they're working with the Council now. No one would let me do this if they thought the cache was dangerous."

Then again, they'd never discussed the possibility of handing the cache over to Fintan--but surely someone must've considered that during all their endless talking and obsessive overplanning...right?

Besides, if anything went wrong, she could always remind them that this was Sophie's idea.

"I don't like this," the scary guard growled. But Marella gave him her I-totally-know-what-I'm-doing glare until he set the frozen Noxflare down with a particularly dramatic thud, snatched the cache, and spent an eternity squinting at the tiny crystal, spinning it all different ways. "If anything happens, my priority will be subduing the prisoner--not protecting you. Are you certain you want to take that risk?"

Marella absolutely wasn't.

But...this might be their only shot at seeing one of Fintan's Forgotten Secrets.

Plus, she had her tiny little spark buddy she could call on if she needed. Surely she could use that to...

To what?

Take down a superpowerful, much more experienced Pyrokinetic with a history of murdering poeple?

But...did she really want to wimp out?

Sophie wouldn't.

And yeah, Sophie had, like, a permanent bed in the Healing Center. But Marella was pretty sure their whole group would vote "DO IT!"

There were also a dozen other armed goblins who would rush down as backup.

And Linh could attack Fintan with her cutesy snow animals.

It'd almost be worth it to watch Fintan get swallowed up by an ice wave shaped like Princess Purryfins.

"I can handle myself," she decided, using a tone that hopefully sounded intimidating.

Fintan's gleeful laughter echoed of the ice.

The scary guard muttered something about the arrogance of elves as he reached toward the top of Fintan's frozen cell and felt around for a specific spot. A faint clicking sound followed, and a tiny round door slid open--far out of Fintan's reach.

"I can neutralize you within seconds," the guard reminded him as he held the cache up to the opening. "By numerous means. Some far more painful than others."

"Yes, I'm well aware of the absurd lengths the Council has taken to keep me contained," Fintan assured him. "But I don't plan on giving you a reason to use any of them. Not today, at least."

The guard bared his supersharp pointy teeth, and Marella wanted to shout NEVER MIND, JUST KIDDING! But she let the guard shove the cache through the tiny opening--and then it was too late to change her mind.

All she could do was watch the glass orb make its slow descent, rolling around and around and around--down some sort of invisible path etched into the wall of the cell.

Her stomach backflipped with each rotation, and she felt more than a little vomit-y when the cache dropped low enough for Fintan to catch it. But he simply held it up and studied it.

Then he coughed on it.

And sneezed on it.

"Ewwwwwww," Marella groaned when he followed that up by drooling on it. "You know, there are better ways to give it your DNA."

"Yes, I'm aware." Fintan cleared his throat and launched a slimy blob of spit at the cache. "I also know your little Technopath friend is going to ask you how I accessed the memories, so feel free to give him a detailed list." He wiped the cache dry with his fingers and then ran it through his greasy hair before sneezing and coughing on it again. "Some of these methods are vital. Some are distractions. None can be re-created without me--but it'll be fun if he tries, don't you think?"

He laughed so hard, it brought tears to his eyes, and he smeared them across the cache before sneezing and spitting on it again--making Marella very glad she had gloves to keep her hands clean once he returned the cache.

Assuming she actually got it back...

She tried to make out what he was saying when he started mumbling a bunch of stuff into the crystal, but the words were all mushed together. He also tapped the cache in so many different places that she doubted even Sophie and Keefe with their fancy photographic memories would be able to re-create the patterns. And he looked so smug as he did it all that Marella decided to look as bored as possible--which was why she was barely paying attention when the cache flared to life, projecting a small hologram of Fintan standing alone in a wide, empty field.

"Huh," Marella mumbled. "Gotta admit, I was expecting something a little more exciting than a tiny glowing Fintan in the middle of nowhere doing...nothing."

"Then you should learn to be more observant." Fintan pointed to the swaying grass around the hologram's feet, and after a few seconds, Marella realized there was a vine of blooming Noxflares. "I figured I'd show you what Noxflares can do, since you're so generously bringing one back into my life."

Marella squinted at the tiny flowers, waiting for something to happen.

And waiting.

And waiting.

"So...they...blow in the wind?" she asked.

Fintan sighed. "No, they do this."

The hologram of Fintan waved his arms, and all the Noxflares erupted with searing white flames.

"Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaah, still not seeing why this needed to be a super-hush-hush Forgotten Secret," Marella grumbled as the Fintan hologram flicked his wrist and added purple fire to the white.

Sure, the flames were pretty--but all flames were beautiful.

"Try thinking like a Pyrokinetic!" Fintan snapped. "Tell me, are there any other flowers that could remain intact under such an inferno?"

Marella couldn't think of any.

And the Noxflares still didn't burn when the Fintan hologram added yellow flames to the fiery mix.

but other than clearly being fire-resistant, Marella didn't see the Noxflares actually doing anything--and the hologram of Fintan must've been equally unimpressed.

He frowned at the flaming petals and dragged a hand down his face, mumbling "something's missing."

"Still not seeing the point of this," Marella noted. "I mean..."

Her voice trailed off as the tiny Fintan waved his arms again and blasted the Noxflares with pink flames--which made the flowers spray sparks in every direction.

The effect was breathtaking.

Kind of like the sky during the Celestial Festival.

But that still didn't necessarily scream, THIS MEMORY IS IMPORTANT.

"How come the grass isn't catching fire?" she asked, grasping for anything that might be significant. "Do the Noxflares protect it or something?"

"No, I was protecting it. A pyrokinetic should always be in control of their flames."

He sounded so smug Marella was tempted to remind him that he let five Pyrokinetics die when he tried to teach them how to call down Everblaze and they all lost control--but that would probably make him throw one of his tantrums and send her away.

She needed the cache back first--and to hopefully find something useful in this boring memory. But sadly, all Fintan's hologram did was stare blankly at the stars and mumble "something's missing" again before the image flashed away.

"That's it?" the scary guard demanded, beating Marella to the complaint.

"Yeah, so...you put on a little fire show all by yourself with some spark-shooting flowers," she added, trying to sum up what she'd seen. "You were clearly disappointed by that little show. And then you must've remembered you needed to..."

She waved her hands, cuing Fintan to fill in the blank with whatever was "missing."

But he just stood there, staring at the cache with the same glazed look he always got whenever he started rambling about the beauty of fire--and Marella wished Linh had come with her after all.

Linh could pelt him with snowballs or something to snap him out of it.

But then she realized...

"You never figured out what was missing--did you?"

Fintan blinked and met her gaze. "Noxflares are full of possibility. But they need to burn."

"That doesn't answer my question," Marella noted.

Fintan shrugged. "Context was not part of our bargain."

"yeah, because I figured when I saw the memory, it would be obvious why it's this big Forgotten Secret. How does you setting some flowers on fire and then realizing you did it wrong matter to anyone?"

"I did nothing wrong," Fintan assured her, with a particularly haughty smile--butt Marella wasn't buying it.

There was a tightness around his eyes that was way too familiar.

Her dad had that same tightness every time her mom was having one of her "bad days," and she knew exactly what it meant.

Disappointment.

Frustration.

A hint of helplessness.

So she marched over to the guard and grabbed the frozen Noxflare from the floor--too irritated to even notice how heavy the ice must've been as she hauled it back.

She plopped it in front of Fintan's cell. "Ta-da! One ugly flower, as promised--and I'm sure you're not surprised that I had to freeze it before i brought it down here."

"I'm not." Fintan dropped to his knees and gazed at the Noxflare like he was seeing a long-lost friend.

He pressed his hand against his cell, trying to get as close as he could. "Such power. Such...promise."

"Uh-huh," Marella agreed, letting his stare and stare, hoping it would help him let his guard down.

When his eyes turned a little teary, she went in for the kill.

"But there is something still missing, isn't there? That's why you saved this memory--to remind yourself to keep looking."

A whole lot of painful silence passed before Fintan slowly nodded.

Marella wanted to feel triumphant.

But all she'd done was prove the entire trade had been pointless.

There was no game-changing clue.

No dirty little secret about the past.

Certainly nothing to help them stop their enemies.

And she had a pretty strong hunch the other eight memories in the cache would be just as ridiculous.

"The answer is out there," Fintan murmured. "I can feel it. I just can't grasp it. Perhaps..."

"Perhaps?" Marella prompted when his eyes locked with hers.

Fintan stepped closer to the ice, keeping his voice low, like he didn't want the guard to hear him. "Perhaps a different Pyrokinetic is meant to find the truth. One who's already convinced the Council to trust her."

Marella laughed. "The Council doesn't trust me."

"The fact that you're here for a pyrokinesis lesson says otherwise--particularly since the lesson is with me." He started circling his cell again, mumbling under his breath and nodding. The only words Marella caught were "possible," "improvising," and "best option."

After three more times around the cell, he stopped in front of Marella again, leaning even closer to the icy wall as he whispered, "I believe it's time for me to offer a trade of my own."

"A trade," Marella repeated, not missing the way the scary guard gripped his sword.

Fintan glared at him. "This conversation is between me and my prodigy. She stands here of her own free will, shielded by who knows how many different kinds of protections--and she can leave anytime she pleases. Your presence is no longer needed."

"You still have her gadget," the guard argued.

"I suppose I do. but that can be easily remedied." Fintan set the cache on whatever invisible ledge it had slid down in the first place and gave it a good shove, sending it spinning up the path toward the top of the cell.

The guard had to scramble to catch it when it launched out of the ice bubble.

"See?" Fintan said, shifting his gaze back to Marella. "I can be trusted."

"Pretty sure the only thing I can trust is that you'll do what's best for you," Marella countered.

"As long as you get what you want, why would you care? After all, no matter what, I'm still stuck in here, aren't I?" He waved his arms around his little ice bubble, which suddenly looked way less secure than it had during her other visits. "Oh, relax--all I'm asking for is a little information."

Marella crossed her arms. "Right--and information has never gotten anyone hurt or killed."

"It's not that kind of secret. It's..." He frowned. "Honestly, I don't know what it is--and for someone my age, with my connections, that says something, doesn't it? I doubt any of the Vackers even know the full truth."

"Then how am I supposed to find it?" Marella demanded.

"As I said, you've proven to be quite resourceful. Particularly when you team up with your little friends." He scowled at the guard again before motioning her to step closer--until her ear was practically pressed up against the ice.

A voice in the back of her head kept screaming, WHY ARE YOU LISTENING TO HIM?

But...she was curious.

And there was nothing wrong with hearing his offer, was there?

Fintan's breath fogged the ice, obscuring his face as he whispered, "All I ask is that if you ever find out what's missing from the Noxflares, you share it with me."

"Why?" Marella glanced at the frozen flower, wishing she could see something more than just ugly shriveled petals.

"Because I want to know," Fintan said simply. "And because I can give you what you want in return."

"The rest of the memories in your cache," Marella clarified.

Fintan nodded. Then his lips curled into a smile. "And one other--something you've long wondered about, even though you probably don't admit it to yourself."

Marella raised one eyebrow, refusing to show any more interest than that.

Fintan cupped his hands around his mouth and pressed them to the ice before he whispered, "I know what happened to your mother."

Marella sucked in a breath.

"Yes," Fintan added. "I'm talking about her 'accident'--if we can really call it that. I know why she fell. And why her injuries were so incurable."

Marella stumbled back, collapsing into the nearest throne and hugging herself to stop her body from shaking with tremors that had nothing to do with the cold.

A tiny, terrified part of her had always thought the story she'd been told about her mom's fall hadn't totally made sense.

But everyone--everyone--was convinced it had been an accident.

Even her father.

And if it wasn't...

She leaned toward Fintan. "I don't need your games."

"Oh, this definitely isn't a game. But it's the only way you'll ever know the truth, and before you start overthinking everything, consider this: You have all the power here. Make the trade, don't make the trade--it's totally your call. You also don't have to make a decision right away. I'm trapped in this prison. I'll never find the answer on my own--and I'll never know if you find the answer unless you decide to tell me. So there's zero pressure. No one even knows we've had this conversation--and don't worry about the guard. See how frustrated he looks? That's because I made sure he only heard what I wanted him to hear. The rest is our little secret."

Our little secret.

Fintan was probably the last person she should have a secret with.

And yet...he had a point.

No one knew he'd made her this offer--and it wasn't like she'd come to any decision.

She didn't even have the information Fintan wanted anyway!

And with the way their investigations always seemed to go, she'd probably only find a whole lot more questions.

So there was really no point in telling anyone about this.

She could tell them whens he needed to.

If she needed to.

That wouldn't be wrong...would it?

It didn't feel wrong--or it wouldn't have if Fintan's smile wasn't so creepy.

"I'm not agreeing to anything," she said, wanting to make that very clear.

"You're not," Fintan assured her. "So how about we put this out of our minds and get started with our lesson? I'm sure your Hydrokinetic friend is wondering why you haven't come up to practice yet."

Linh was probably starting to worry.

She'd probably also built enough snow animals to make a frozen Sanctuary.

"Fine," Marella said, standing up and dusting ice off her cape. "What do you want me to work on today?"

"How about I teach you how to make those colored flames you saw in the memory," Fintan suggested. "You know, in case that ever comes in handy."

He winked, and the guard groaned and held out the cache to Marella. "Sound like I'm no longer needed."

"You aren't" Fintan agreed.

The guard growled--looking scarier than ever--and turned to march away. But he spun back after a few steps. "He's right that I don't know what he offered you. But I can tell you're tempted. And I hope you're smart enough to reject it. Never make a deal with someone who has nothing to lose."

"I'm not," Marella promised.

And she wasn't.

She hadn't made any decisions--except to keep this to herself. But that didn't mean anything.

She was just trying to avoid a ton of drama and arguing and having people give her advice she didn't need.

Plus, everyone has secrets.

Shoot--the great Sophie Foster had more secrets than anyone.

So it was fine.

Everything was fine.

Nothing had changed.

Time to focus on controlling her fire.

And yet, for the rest of the lesson, the tiny spark in her heart burned hotter and hotter and hotter. Whispering a new plea.

Trust me.

Trust me.

Trust me.

[toournextadventure]

Beyond love your writing, you’ve honestly made my crush on Wednesday grown 10x worse.

I love the winged reader you write about, but after reading trouble maker I gotta get something about Wednesday with a reader who has pyrokinetic abilities. Plus some slight anger issues too. 👀 Please and thank you.

Did you say angry trouble-making pyro reader? 👀

damn pyro

The walk down to the police station was silent, as usual. Wednesday was thankful it wasn’t raining this time, it gave her the opportunity to walk the 25 minutes to Jericho. In return, those 25 minutes gave her enough time to plan, in excruciating detail, how she was going to kill you and hide the body.

In your defense, there had been a few times that you had been called to pick her up from the Sheriff's office. For miniscule things, of course, nothing that truly mattered. But she supposed this made you even, did it not? Although in her defense, this also was not the first time she had been called to pick you up from the Sheriff’s office.

The lady at the front desk - Wednesday had learned a few trips ago that her name was Angie - didn’t even look up before waving Wednesday further into the office. Everyone gave her polite waves as she expertly made her way to the holding cells where, lo and behold, there you were. Right where you looked the most natural.

Long ago, the officers of Jericho had learned that you being cell-bound was only a formality. Truly if you had wanted to, you would’ve found a way out by now. And as you lay on the singular bench, playing with the fire in your hands, Wednesday let out a sigh at her own realisation.

Her picking you up was also nothing but a formality.

You turned your head quickly when Wednesday cleared her throat. The fireball you had been tossing into the air fell right back into your hand and faded out, replaced only by the brightness of your smile. Now that you were facing her, she could see the beginnings of a black eye and crusted blood around your nose.

Not an ounce of pity made its home in her heart.

“Who was it this time?” She asked as you sat up and faced her.

“Some punk tourist,” you said with a shrug.  “Looked at me wrong.”

Typical, Wednesday thought as you refused to show any sort of remorse for your actions. If she had to admit it, it wasn’t the most ridiculous reason you had started a fight. You were kind, almost disgustingly so, but your temper was nothing to scoff at. A temper, Wednesday had realised after Parents’ Weekend, that you had stolen from your father.

“Welcome back, Addams.”

With the slightest turn of her head, Wednesday watched Sheriff Galpin step closer until he stood beside her, looking at you through the cell bars. He looked tired and not the least bit surprised. Good. He was starting to catch on.

“May we go?” Wednesday asked.

“Just get back to Nevermore,” Sheriff Galpin sighed, already digging for the cell key on the keyring.

You passed Galpin a ridiculous smile - Wednesday could see the split on your bottom lip - before letting Wednesday guide you out of the Sheriff’s office. He called something after you that sounded suspiciously like “please try to behave.” Judging by the little chuckle you let out, you weren’t going to abide by his wishes.

The whole walk back to Nevermore was quiet, just as the walk into Jericho had been. You lit fire after fire between your fingers, occasionally throwing a little fireball into the air and watching with a grin as it faded into nothing. Wednesday half expected you to catch the forest on fire, but you were careful. This time.

“Sit down,” Wednesday demanded once you had made it back to your own dorm. Your roommate had probably noticed your absence by now and realised the cause; she was smart enough to stay out.

“You act like this is the first time,” you huffed, but you dutifully sat on your bed as commanded.

“One day, Galpin won’t let you out.” Her fingers carded through everything in your little freezer until grabbing the ice pack, throwing it in your direction. She heard your “oof” as it connected with its target.

“He’ll always let me out.” Your smile could be heard even without her turning away from the first aid kit. It was maddening. “He likes me too much.”

But she didn’t grace you with an answer, instead just moving to sit in front of you and roughly cleaning the dark, dried blood from around your nose. You winced and tried to pull away but with a grip of your chin, Wednesday forced you to remain still. Even through all of your grunts and groans and senseless protests, she continued until not a speck could be found.

“How does the tourist look?” Wednesday asked as she forcefully pressed the ice pack to your eye. She ignored that noise as well.

“Hell of a lot worse than me,” you said with a humourless grin that Wednesday had come to learn meant trouble.

She happened to love that smile.

“Good,” she said. With only a moment of thought, she leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips; she could taste the faint trace of blood from the split of your bottom lip.

“Do I get this treatment after every fight?” You asked after she pulled back.

“Only if you win,” she answered.

Your smile turned sadistic as your gaze drifted to her lips.

“I can work with that.”

[fictional-love-is-my-life]

hello everything is fine? if you are taking requests i would like to know if you can do idw or bayverse megatron with a female autobot he falls in love with? Is the reader a former gladiator who called herself Darkblade in Cybertron and has the power of pyrokinetic?

I wrote this with Bayverse Megatron, because I don't feel 100% comfortable writing IDW Megs yet. I need to finish reading a few more comics to get his character down, then I will start properly writing for him.

Anyway, here you go! Thanks for the request, I hope you enjoy.

Warnings: None.

Megatron x femme Autobot reader

~~~~~

Most of the time, if he needed something trivial done, Megatron would send his soldiers to do the job. He was usually busy with more important tasks. But occasionally he went into the fight himself. Whether it was because his soldiers failed, or it was an important job, he would want to be there himself.

One of his seekers called over comms, letting him know they spotted Optimus fighting nearby. Megatron will always take the opportunity to take down Optimus, so he transformed and began driving to Prime’s last seen location.

Megatron got to the location of the battle. A few of his Decepticons were scattered around fighting Autobots. He searched around, trying to find Optimus. Megatron scanned the area but could not find Prime. He tried to shoot at a few of the other Autobots, thinking if he was there, he might as well take out some of the enemy. Then he saw her. A familiar bot from a long time ago.

Darkblade.

A gladiator who used to fight for entertainment on Cybertron. Megatron stared at her, watching the way she fought with such grace and fierce control. Her servos were ablaze, yet she controlled the flames with ease, directing the fire to attack the cons surrounding her. Megatron scanned over her frame and saw the Autobot insignia stuck to it.

Megatron growled, unable to control his disdain. Why was such a powerful warrior, such a skilled fighter, on the side of the Autobots? Megatron stalked over to the femme. A spike of eagerness rushing through him.

~

You fought with ease. The Decepticons trying to fight against you were sloppy and nowhere near as skilled as you were. But they were determined to take you down.

“Decepticons. Leave her.” Megatron ordered. Two cons who were fighting you left, leaving Megatron alone with you. You looked at Megatron and recognized him immediately. You had fought together by his side, and had fought against him back in the arena. Before the war you had a mutual respect for each other, but now he was the enemy.

You got into a fighting stance, your servos swirling with fire. Megatron stood close, but he did not prepare to attack. He just smirked.

“Darkblade. The great warrior.” He uttered.

“That’s not who I am anymore.” You snarled.

“That will always be who you are. The fight will always be in your spark.” Megatron took a step closer, causing you to step back.

“Why did you do this to yourself?” Megatron pointed at your Autobot insignia. “You’re better than them.”

“No, I’m not. They are good, they are right. They protect life not take it away meaninglessly. Unlike you.” You spat.

“They are weak.”

“If they are so weak, how come you have not finished them off?” You countered. “They are strong and that is why you can not defeat them.” Megatron paused for a second, thinking of a reply.

“I will agree that there are many that are strong. But their skills are being wasted for the wrong cause. You should join me, put your strength to a better cause, fight for the future of Cybertron.”

“I’m already fighting for Cybertron, and for a better reason than you have. I’ll never join you, so you either fight me, or run away.” You braced for an attack. You knew you shouldn’t give him the option, but your history with Megatron was making you pause. Somewhere deep inside, you still had respect for him.

“I’ve fought you before. I know your strength. So, I won’t fight you again, at least not this time. But my offer will remain open. I await you decision and your turn to my side.” Megatron calmly spoke, then walked away leaving you confused.

~

Megatron could not stop thinking about you. You plagued his mind and he was unsure how to feel about it.  You were brilliant, you were strong and powerful. Megatron wouldn’t deny the fact that he thought you were incredible.  But you were also an Autobot and that made you the enemy. He wanted to hate you, but he couldn’t. He wanted you on his side, he wanted you fighting beside him and for him. He wanted you.

His spark hummed happily at the thought of you. He assumed it was just from respect for you, and nothing else. He needed you on his side, only because you were a great fighter.

Megatron began going on more missions, even ones he didn’t need to. He was hoping to see you and to convince you to join his side. Anytime he saw you he spoke with you, not attacking, just standing peacefully and talking to you.

~

At first you didn’t trust it, you kept your guard up the whole time. But after a few interactions you realized, he was never going to hurt you. In fact, you started expecting to meet Megatron every time there was a Decepticon attack. Each time he tried to convince you to join him, and each time you declined. But sometimes he stuck around to have a more, civil and meaningful conversation. Like he just wanted your company.

You heard the alert over your comms, a Decepticon group was attacking near your location. You were the first to respond and arrived to the scene in record time. You immediately jumped into attack. The first few cons were easy and you were able to take them down. But one remained. A large brute of a bot, you could tell he was much stronger than you, but you hoped you were smarter than him.

You fought for a while, each of you landing a fair number of punches. You thought you might be able to withstand his attacks and make a surprise attack on him. Unfortunately, he caught on and was able to catch you before you hit him. He grabbed you, throwing you to the ground. The con crouched over you, crushing you into the ground. For the first time in decades, you were worried.

Then the con was pulled off your frame, and thrown to the side. You glanced up, seeing Megatron standing over his own.

“She’s mine. Leave, now.” Megatron ordered. Your heart fluttered at the sight of Megatron. He had become a regular sight, and a bit of a comfort. He knew who you were and what you were capable of, and he liked that about you.

Many of the other Autobots had judged you or given you the cold shoulder because of your gladiator background. But Megatron, he was the one who really knew you and liked who you were.

You knew who he was and what he had done. But he seemed so, calm around you.

“Are you hurt?” Megatron asked, his optics scanning over your frame.

“I’m fine.” You replied. “Thank you.”

“You do not need to thank me. I’m sure you had it handled.”

You chuckled, appreciating his belief in your strength. For a second you both stood in silence. Then Megatron faced you.

“You confuse me.” Megatron stated. You raised an optic ridge and stared back at him.

“How so?”

“You claim to be an Autobot, and being so means I am your greatest enemy. Yet you do not attack me, you stay and talk.”

“Well, I’m an Autobot and you don’t attack me. Why?” You asked.

“Because I want you.” Megatron stated blatantly. Your spark skipped, was this excitement? Were you happy to hear that? Then Megatron continued talking, forcing you to calm yourself. “I want you on my side, because your skills and strength are almost unmatched by others. I know I could get far with you by my side.”

“But I’ll never join you. I just can’t.” You uttered, looking away briefly. Megatron took a step closer, but you didn’t move, you allowed him to get close. You spark heating up as he did.

“It pains me to hear that, because I know what you are capable of. I want to help you grow your strength and skills. But I can not force you, I want you to come to me by your own choice. You also confuse me, because you make me feel…” Megatron paused.

It didn’t take him long to realize what he was feeling. His spark yearned for you. He thought of you every moment, and he knew he wanted to be by your side. Every time he stayed by your side he risked getting seen and attacked by other Autobots. But he stayed, knowing it was worth the risk just to be by your side for as long as he can.

“You make my spark burn, only for you. It needs to be with you, I need to be with you. And I can wait as long as you need. But I will have you by my side.” Megatron brushed a digit down your faceplate. You couldn’t stop your reflexes, your helm instinctively leaning into his touch. Your spark a flutter because of his words.

You couldn’t deny the fact you felt the same, you were eager for his presence. You looked forward to going out because you knew you would see him. There was something about Megatron that attracted you, his confidence, his power, the way he wanted you.

But you were torn. You did think about going off with Megatron, but you couldn’t stop being an Autobot, they needed you.

Megatron stepped forward closing the gap between you, he placed he helm gently against yours.

“I need you.” Megatron faltered, thinking of his next words. “It’s never something I thought of before, it was never something I wanted, but you made me think of it.” You were confused wondering what he was talking about. “I’ve never needed, nor wanted love. But now, I am in desperate need of yours. After all this time, all our encounters I know that I can’t get by without it. I want to stay with you, so that you could love me. Because the longer I stay by your side, I know I will fall in love with you more and more each day.”

Megatron pulled away, your servo reached out wanting to stop him and pull him back to you. But you stopped yourself. Megatron continued to step back, his optics staring deep into yours as he walked away.

Your processor was split, unsure what to do. But your spark only had one desire, and this once your spark was going to take the lead and make the decision.

Megatron continued to walk away, you assumed about to head to his home base. You stepped forward, following after him. You spark chasing after his, not wanting to leave him.

Megatron was happy, thrilled because now he had you. He was going to enjoy your time, your company, and with you by his side he would surely be unstoppable.

[kotlc-deleted-scenes]

Stellarlune Paperback Edition Marella Short Story

Hello, wonderful Keeper readers! Some of you might already know that I love to sneak a little something extra into the paperback versions of my books whenever I can (since I don't think hardcover readers should get to be the only ones who sometimes find fun bonuses). For those who didn't know that: surprise! ☺

I knew I wanted to include a story from Marella's POV this time. Not only is she on the cover (looking fierce and fabulous!) and a fan-favorite character, but she also had some key scenes in Stellarlune that we only got to "hear" about. The Keeper books are limited to Sophie's POV, so I can only include moments where Sophie is present—and since Sophie didn't go with Marella to her meetings with Fintan, we only learn what Marella tells Sophie later. But what if there was something Marella didn't share?

Over the next few pages, you can watch one of Marella's conversations with Fintan play out in real time and hear all Marella's thoughts and reactions to what's happening. I've called this story "The Trade"—and I've worked in lots of fun little extra details (some of which might even turn out to be important later…*wink*). For those wondering, this story is based on a scene in chapter 31 of Stellarlune—and if you haven't read Stellarlune yet: SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! Reading this first will probably be confusing and will also give away a few tidbits too early. You'll be much happier if you start by reading Stellarlune and then come back here for all the Marella fun once you're done.

Happy reading!

—Shannon Messenger

THE TRADE 

Marella

“Ugh, I hate this place,” Marella muttered, shaking the freshly fallen snowflakes out of her gilded blond hair much harder than necessary and yanking her thick velvet cape tighter around her narrow shoulders. 

She said the same thing every time she had to trudge through the knee-high snowdrifts and found herself staring at the icicle-crusted entrance to the now familiar cave. Didn't matter how many times she'd gone there—or how important her visits were. 

She was never not going to dread making the long, slippery trek down to Fintan's frozen cell. The cave looked like some sort of open-mouthed snow beast Mating to devour everything in its path—which was probably intentional, since the prison was designed to be as miserable as possible. 

Especially for someone like her. 

The goblin guards even gave her pitying stares as they moved aside to reveal the endless icy path that wound down and down and down a whole lot more to a place where the tiniest glimmer of heat had long since been swallowed up by the suffocating cold. 

No amount of clothing could keep Marella warm in the heart of the prison. She'd actually tried wearing so many layers that she'd looked like an overstuffed gulon and she still couldn't stop shivering. And the whole "body temperature regulation" thing wasn't exactly possible when she had to use so much concentration to make sense of Fintan's ranting. 

It wasn't fair. 

Everyone else got to train their special abilities in fancy rooms at Foxfire, with Mentors who weren't creepy, unstable murderers. 

But they weren't Pyrokinetics. 

Marella was lucky the Council was letting her use her ability at all. 

They could just as easily label her Talentless, kick her out of their snobby academy, and ban her from ever sparking another flame. 

Or they could decide she was too dangerous and lock her away. 

In fact, Marella wouldn't have been surprised at all if the Council was already building an icy cage just for her—but the thought still made her shiver and she wished she could have manifested as…

Nope.

She stopped herself from finishing that sentence. 

If life had taught her anything, it was that there's no point wanting things that were never going to happen. 

Instead, she focused on the thin beams of sunlight streaking through a gap in the gloomy gray clouds. The light was far from warm, but if she really concentrated, she could feel a hint of lingering heat tangled among the brightness. 

She called the warmth closer and soaked it in—let it pool under her skin, pounding with her pulse, swelling with every heartbeat. Growing hotter and hotter and hotter until…

Snap! 

A flick of her fingers sent a small tangle of flames sparking to life above her left palm. 

"Feel better?" Linh asked as Marella let out a long, slow sigh. 

Marella nodded—though she definitely could've done without the whispers that were now hissing around her head. 

The flames had a soft, crackly voice. And they always made the same plea. 

Feed me. 

Feed me. 

Feed me. 

Fire craved fuel—constantly wanting more, more, more—and it would've been so easy for Marella to let the fire swell bigger and bigger and bigger.

But that was the kind of thing that would lead to a lifetime of shivering in an underground ice cube, so she forced her gaze to shift to Linh, who stood in a small, snowless circle surrounded by a halo of hovering snowflakes—-none daring to touch her long silver-tipped hair or shimmery purple cape.

Marella knew how hard Linh had fought to achieve that level of control, and how tentative Linh's hold over her ability still was. But the fact Linh could stand in a sea of frozen water and do nothing except keep the falling snow from settling on her flushed pink cheeks was very…

Annoying.

Then again, everyone annoyed Marella a little.

Her dad used to call her "fiery" long before he realized how accurate that description truly was.

But it wasn't Marella's fault!

People tended to be annoying.

Especially a Hydrokinetic who was currently looking all peaceful and pretty and perfect while making snowflakes flutter and spin in intricate patterns.

That didn't mean Marella wasn't also grateful that Linh was willing to tag along to her Pyrokinetic lessons. it was nice to see a friendly face after hours of Fintan's rambling. Plus, it seemed like a good idea to have someone with water powers around while she practiced setting things on fire.

They were even finding some pretty cool ways to work together. Fire and water might be opposites—but that didn't mean they couldn't be combined. Marella had actually figured out a way to ignite Linh's rain, and she couldn't wait to use that little trick on the Neverseen—assuming those black-cloaked losers ever showed up again.

For a fearsome, unstoppable rebellion, they sure spend a lot of time hiding.

"Are you going to start by asking him about the cache or do the lesson first?" Linh asked, reminding Marella why they were there.

Marella shrugged. "Depends on Fintan's mood."

Sometimes he was already babbling about some fancy new fire trick when she arrived, as if he'd started the lesson without bothering to wait for her. Other times she couldn't get anywhere with him until she'd let him go on and on and on about how foolish the Council was, or how badly he'd been wronged, or how much he missed the feel of a flickering flame—and she didn't necessarily blame him for the last one.

Part of her wanted to hold on to her fireball forever.

Make it her smoky little pet.

Instead, she curled her fingers into a fist and snuffed it out—but she didn't let all the heat dissipate. She called a single tingling glint deeper, letting it sear through her veins and settle into her heart.

She knew it was a risky move, even with all the defenses she wrapped around it. But she couldn't bear the cold emptiness of Fintan's prison without a least a tiny fleck of warmth tucked away.

A secret spark whispering, I'm here. You're not alone.

"Okay," she said, weaving a few strands of her hair together to clam her twitchy fingers. She'd picked up the nervous habit years ago—after her mom's accident—and the tiny braids were kind of her trademark now. "i guess I should stop stalling and head down to deal with Sir Creepysparks, huh?"

Linh smiled. "Probably. Unless you want to rehearse what you're going to say."

"Nah. I'm just going to offer him an ugly flower—that doesn't exactly need a big speech. Oh, but that reminds me…"

She reached into her cape pocket and pulled out the spiky dark blue Noxflare—which looked more like a dying weed than a super-rare flower—and held it up to the guards. "Mr. Forkle already checked this before I brought it here, to make sure it's safe for me to offer to Fintan. but I figured you'd want to check it too."

"We do," they agreed in unison as one of the biggest, deadliest-looking guards took the Noxflare from Marella and brought it over to the other goblins.

A lot of mumbling about potential kindling and fire hazards followed.

Eventually, the guards decided to quick-freeze the Noxflare into a block of ice in case there was any heat stored inside.

"Whoa," Marella said when the scary guard returned with the flower-filled ice cube—which had turned out as big as her head. "How heavy is that thing?"

The guard studied Marella's skinny arms. "I can carry it for you if you'd like."

"That'd probably be smart." Marella was pretty sure she'd drop it, or her fingers would freeze off during the long walk—and using telekinesis would drain her mental energy. "But can you stay out of sight? I was planning to tell Fintan he can only see his weird flower thing if he gives me access to his memories, and that's kinda ruined if there's a giant goblin holding it right next to me.

Not that it made the plan any less pointless.

Fintan was obviously going to turn her down.

He's already made it super clear that the only trade he was interested in was for his freedom—which was never going to happen.

Marella doubted a dying flower frozen in ice was suddenly going to make him be like, You know what? Who needs out of this horrible prison when I can have that!

But she was out of other ideas.

And Sophie wanted her to try the Noxflare thing, so…

Whatever.

Marella didn't care about Sophie's current power trip the way Stina did.

As long as she didn't have to be the one coming up with all the plans—or almost dying all the time—Marella was fine following orders. Especially if she got to say I told you so when they turned out to be a huge waste of time.

"Sure you don't want me to come with you?" Linh asked as Marella pulled thick gloves onto her hands. "Fintan likes me."

Marella wasn't sure if "like" was the right word, since Fintan didn't seem to like anybody. But he'd definitely been impressed with Linh.

He'd demanded to speak with "the Hydrokinetic" after Marella mentioned she practiced her pyrokinesis with Linh, so Marella had convinced the goblin guards to let Linh down into the prison. And when Fintan asked for a demonstration of Linh's ability to ensure she wouldn't "hinder his training," Linh had stirred up all the ice shards on his floor and made them rain around him like he was trapped inside a snow globe—which actually made him applaud.

Apparently, most Hydrokinetics struggled to manipulate water in its solid form, and were limited to liquid water or water vapor.

But not Linh.

Of course.

Marella was pretty sure that Linh was more powerful than any of her other friends.

"Well, if you need me, you know where to find me," Linh said as Marella forced her feet to carry her into the cave. "I'll just be here, making another snow menagerie." She flicked her wrist and wove the hovering snowflakes into a soaring alenon.

"Ugh, at least make some ugly creatures this time," Marella called over her shoulder. "I want to see a row of snow ghouls when I get back here. Or a giant Princess Purryfins!"

Linh gasped. "Princess Purryfins is not ugly! I'm going to tell her you said that!"

Marella laughed. "I'm sure you will."

She would've teased Linh more about her ridiculous obsession with her pet murcat, but the frigid air from the prison hit Marella hard, and she had to lock her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering.

At least she didn't have to make the journey by herself this time.

Marella could hear the scary goblin guard keeping pace several steps behind her as her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim blue light cast by a series of glowing spheres dangling from the ceiling. The downward slope grew steeper with each winding curve, and Marella was always tempted to try sliding down the icy floor instead of walking—but she'd probably end up crashing into one of the weird ice thrones outside Fintan's cell. And she knew better than anyone that injuries couldn't always be healed.

Plus, the trudge gave her a chance to add extra defenses to the heat she'd tucked away in her chest.

She often wondered if Fintan had hidden a few sparks of his own when he was arrested. After all, he had to know the Council would put him on ice for the rest of eternity. Wouldn't he try to preserve what little heat he could?

But Marella had stretched out her senses a zillion different ways and never felt the slightest tingle of warmth when she was around him. So either there was nothing to find or Fintan was that good.

She had a horrible feeling it was the latter, and he was waiting for just the right moment to reveal his grand plan—but that wasn't the kind of thing she should be thinking about before having to face him.

Still, she spent the next few turns trying to figure out what she'd do if she were right.

Her feet turned numb while she plotted, and her bones were officially aching by the time the path widened— the only warning that they were getting close to Fintan's cell.

A few curves later, his cage came into view: a stark, icy bubble in the center of a circular cavern.

The round wall was reflective on the inside, so even though Marella could see Fintan pacing along the edge of his frozen barricade, he wouldn't be able to see her until she triggered the sensor by sitting in one of the freezing thrones positioned at the only point Fintan could peer through.

He looked extra tired that day—his sky blue eyes sunken by more shadows than usual, and he kept muttering under his breath about incompetence as he tucked his messy blond hair behind his pointy ears with a bit more force than necessary.

Marella glanced back at the scary guard, making sure he'd ducked into the shadows near the back of the cell before she made her big appearance. Then she took a deep breath and pressed her hand against her heart, reaching for her secret spark of warmth one last time before plopping into the closest ice throne.

"Awwwww, looks like you missed me," she said, tossing back her hair and flashing her brightest smile.

She liked to start her visits by showing Fintan she wasn't afraid of him—even if she totally was.

But Fintan didn't glance her way.

"I'm not in the mood for games," he warned as he continued his slow march around his cell.

"Neither am I" Marella assured him, deciding that was her cue to start with the cache. She sat up taller, trying to look extra confident as she added, "But I do have an awesome trade to offer you!"

Fintan sighed. "If this is about my cache, I already told you what I'm willing to accept. Unless you're here to grant me a day of freedom—"

"I'm definitely not. But! I found something you should like even better." She paused, hoping the extra bit of anticipation would somehow make her offer sound more exciting when she told him. "Noxflares!"

Fintan scrunched his slender nose. "What are Noxflares, and why would I care about them?"

Marella tilted her head, trying to tell if he was faking.

She hadn't expected him to jump around or applaud or anything—but she had expected him to at least know what Noxflares were.

Then again, his mind had been shattered and pieced back together so many times, his memories had to be in shambles—and Ancient minds tended to be a total mess anyway, since they were crammed with thousands of years of information and the past and present blurred together.

"Would it help if I told you I stopped by your old estate on my way here?" she asked, "Your garden could use some gnomish help, by the way. All the plants have turned into a giant dying tangle. But I dug around and managed to find this scraggly vine with dark pointy flowers—and I hear that plant is special to you, so I picked a few and—"

"You picked my Noxflares?" Fintan snapped, rushing to the wall of his cell and pressing his palms against the ice. "You must let me see them!"

Marella's lips curled into a huge smirk. "I thought you didn't know what they were."

Fintan gritted his teeth so hard, it sounded like cracking ice.

"Hey, I'm not saying I won't share. Buuuuuuuuuuut it'll cost you—and I'm pretty sure you can already guess what I want." She paused for another beat before she added, "Just so we're clear: I'll show you one of your Noxflares if you open your cache and show me what's inside."

Fintan's jaw tightened even more and his hands curled into fists.

But he didn't say no.

He didn't say anything—which was definitely new.

Marella had already offered him a long list of trade suggestions that she, Linh, Maruca, and Stina had all come up with—some really cool ones! And Fintan had shot each one down before she could even finish the offer.

She couldn't believe he looked so tempted by an ugly flower.

but as the silence dragged on, Marella started to wonder if she'd misread the situation.

maybe she'd pushed him too hard—taunted him too much—and now Fintan was letting her sit there in the cold, knowing the icy throne was turning her butt and legs numb.

She was trying to decide if she could make standing up look like a power move when Fintan told her, "Fine. You have a deal—but since you're only offering one Noxflare, I'll only show you one memory."

Marella barely stopped herself from blurting out, SERIOUSLY?

"Orrrrrrrrrrrrrr," she said instead, wanting to kick herself for not bringing more Noxflares with her. The whole thing had just seemed so silly—and the first few she'd picked had crumbled to dust. But the vine had lots more flowers, so she could fix the mistake super easily. "How about I go back, grab eight more Noxflares, and then you show me all nine memories?"

Fintan grinned. "Tempting. But one Noxflare is really all I need."

Need?

Marella wasn't a fan of that wording.

But before she could ask him what he needed it for, he added, "My offer expires in ten seconds," and started counting down.

By "six" she decided that one memory was better than nothing.

"Fine," she said, pulling the cache from her pocket and holding the marble-size orb up to the light. "But you go first. How do I open this thing?"

No way was she going to risk letting him back out—especially since he probably wasn't going to be happy when he saw his precious flower was stuck in the middle of a giant ice cube.

Fintan held out his hand. "Give me the cache, and I'll open it."

Marella laughed. "Hard pass."

"Ah, but you don't have a choice. I'm the only one who can access the memories. And I need to make physical contact with the cache in order to do so."

Marella squinted at the tiny gadget.

She didn't know much about caches—aside from the fact that only Councillors used them and that each colorful inner crystal held a single Forgotten Secret. But she did know that Dex had already tried everything he could think of to open the cache and failed—and he was one of the best Technopaths ever.

"Do I need to start counting down again?" Fintan asked. "I believe we'd gotten to five…"

Marella chewed her lip. "Uh, how do I know you're not going to destroy the cache or try to hold it for ransom or something?"

Fintan's smile was colder than his cell. "You'll just have to trust me."

"Yeah, I don't see that happening."

Fintan shrugged. "Then our deal is off."

Marella rolled her eyes. "Come on. Even if I wanted to, it's not like I can open your cell door and hand the cache to you."

She wasn't even sure if his cell had a door. The wall looked like one big solid piece of ice.

"You've proven to be very resourceful during our lessons," Fintan reminded her.

"Yeah, but—"

"It's your call," he interrupted. "If you want a memory, you'll have to trust me."

She snort-laughed—but before she could get another word out, he repeated, "You'll just have to trust me." And she could tell that was the only response he was going to give.

She turned to the scary guard, who had started pacing in the shadows. "Is there a way to pass Fintan a small item?"

"Ah, you have a hidden goblin escort—I knew you were resourceful!" Fintan clapped his hands. "And yes, there is a way to pass me my cache, otherwise I wouldn't have suggested it. Any guard can open the disgraceful tube they pass my horrid, frozen bits of food through. The cache should fit nicely."

The guard gripped his sword. "I cannot allow any unauthorized item to enter his cell."

Fintan clicked his tongue. "Clearly you're not considering the fact that I've already had plenty of chances to make this trade—and turned them all down. Do you think I would do that if the cache was even remotely useful to me?"

The goblin couldn't argue with that logic.

Neither could Marella.

And when Fintan went back to counting down, she told the guard, "The Black Swan knows I've been trying to make this trade—and they're working with the Council now. No one would let me do this if they thought the cache was dangerous."

Then again, they'd never discussed the possibility of handing the cache over to Fintan—but surely someone must've considered that during all their endless talking and obsessive overplanning…right?

Besides, if anything went wrong, she could always remind them that this was Sophie's idea.

"I don't like this," the scary guard growled. But Marella gave him her I-totally-know-what-I'm-doing glare until he set the frozen Noxflare down with a particularly dramatic thud, snatched the cache, and spent an eternity squinting at the tiny crystal, spinning it all different ways. "If anything happens, my priority will be subduing the prisoner—not protecting you. Are you certain you want to take that risk?"

Marella absolutely wasn't.

But…this might be their only shot at seeing one of Fintan's Forgotten Secrets.

Plus, she had her tiny little spark buddy she could call on if she needed. Surely she could use that to…

To what?

Take down a superpowerful, much more experienced Pyrokinetic with a history of murdering poeple?

But…did she really want to wimp out?

Sophie wouldn't.

And yeah, Sophie had, like, a permanent bed in the Healing Center. But Marella was pretty sure their whole group would vote "DO IT!"

There were also a dozen other armed goblins who would rush down as backup.

And Linh could attack Fintan with her cutesy snow animals.

It'd almost be worth it to watch Fintan get swallowed up by an ice wave shaped like Princess Purryfins.

"I can handle myself," she decided, using a tone that hopefully sounded intimidating.

Fintan's gleeful laughter echoed off the ice.

The scary guard muttered something about the arrogance of elves as he reached toward the top of Fintan's frozen cell and felt around for a specific spot. A faint clicking sound followed, and a tiny round door slid open—far out of Fintan's reach.

"I can neutralize you within seconds," the guard reminded him as he held the cache up to the opening. "By numerous means. Some far more painful than others."

"Yes, I'm well aware of the absurd lengths the Council has taken to keep me contained," Fintan assured him. "But I don't plan on giving you a reason to use any of them. Not today, at least."

The guard bared his supersharp pointy teeth, and Marella wanted to shout NEVER MIND, JUST KIDDING! But she let the guard shove the cache through the tiny opening—and then it was too late to change her mind.

All she could do was watch the glass orb make its slow descent, rolling around and around and around—down some sort of invisible path etched into the wall of the cell.

Her stomach backflipped with each rotation, and she felt more than a little vomit-y when the cache dropped low enough for Fintan to catch it. But he simply held it up and studied it.

Then he coughed on it.

And sneezed on it.

"Ewwwwwww," Marella groaned when he followed that up by drooling on it. "You know, there are better ways to give it your DNA."

"Yes, I'm aware." Fintan cleared his throat and launched a slimy blob of spit at the cache. "I also know your little Technopath friend is going to ask you how I accessed the memories, so feel free to give him a detailed list." He wiped the cache dry with his fingers and then ran it through his greasy hair before sneezing and coughing on it again. "Some of these methods are vital. Some are distractions. None can be re-created without me—but it'll be fun if he tries, don't you think?"

He laughed so hard, it brought tears to his eyes, and he smeared them across the cache before sneezing and spitting on it again—making Marella very glad she had gloves to keep her hands clean once he returned the cache.

Assuming she actually got it back…

She tried to make out what he was saying when he started mumbling a bunch of stuff into the crystal, but the words were all mushed together. He also tapped the cache in so many different places that she doubted even Sophie and Keefe with their fancy photographic memories would be able to re-create the patterns. And he looked so smug as he did it all that Marella decided to look as bored as possible—which was why she was barely paying attention when the cache flared to life, projecting a small hologram of Fintan standing alone in a wide, empty field.

"Huh," Marella mumbled. "Gotta admit, I was expecting something a little more exciting than a tiny glowing Fintan in the middle of nowhere doing…nothing."

"Then you should learn to be more observant." Fintan pointed to the swaying grass around the hologram's feet, and after a few seconds, Marella realized there was a vine of blooming Noxflares. "I figured I'd show you what Noxflares can do, since you're so generously bringing one back into my life."

Marella squinted at the tiny flowers, waiting for something to happen.

And waiting.

And waiting.

"So…they…blow in the wind?" she asked.

Fintan sighed. "No, they do this."

The hologram of Fintan waved his arms, and all the Noxflares erupted with searing white flames.

"Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaah, still not seeing why this needed to be a super-hush-hush Forgotten Secret," Marella grumbled as the Fintan hologram flicked his wrist and added purple fire to the white.

Sure, the flames were pretty—but all flames were beautiful.

"Try thinking like a Pyrokinetic!" Fintan snapped. "Tell me, are there any other flowers that could remain intact under such an inferno?"

Marella couldn't think of any.

And the Noxflares still didn't burn when the Fintan hologram added yellow flames to the fiery mix.

but other than clearly being fire-resistant, Marella didn't see the Noxflares actually doing anything—and the hologram of Fintan must've been equally unimpressed.

He frowned at the flaming petals and dragged a hand down his face, mumbling "something's missing."

"Still not seeing the point of this," Marella noted. "I mean…"

Her voice trailed off as the tiny Fintan waved his arms again and blasted the Noxflares with pink flames—which made the flowers spray sparks in every direction.

The effect was breathtaking.

Kind of like the sky during the Celestial Festival.

But that still didn't necessarily scream, THIS MEMORY IS IMPORTANT.

"How come the grass isn't catching fire?" she asked, grasping for anything that might be significant. "Do the Noxflares protect it or something?"

"No, I was protecting it. A pyrokinetic should always be in control of their flames."

He sounded so smug Marella was tempted to remind him that he let five Pyrokinetics die when he tried to teach them how to call down Everblaze and they all lost control—but that would probably make him throw one of his tantrums and send her away.

She needed the cache back first—and to hopefully find something useful in this boring memory. But sadly, all Fintan's hologram did was stare blankly at the stars and mumble "something's missing" again before the image flashed away.

"That's it?" the scary guard demanded, beating Marella to the complaint.

"Yeah, so…you put on a little fire show all by yourself with some spark-shooting flowers," she added, trying to sum up what she'd seen. "You were clearly disappointed by that little show. And then you must've remembered you needed to…"

She waved her hands, cuing Fintan to fill in the blank with whatever was "missing."

But he just stood there, staring at the cache with the same glazed look he always got whenever he started rambling about the beauty of fire—and Marella wished Linh had come with her after all.

Linh could pelt him with snowballs or something to snap him out of it.

But then she realized…

"You never figured out what was missing—did you?"

Fintan blinked and met her gaze. "Noxflares are full of possibility. But they need to burn."

"That doesn't answer my question," Marella noted.

Fintan shrugged. "Context was not part of our bargain."

"yeah, because I figured when I saw the memory, it would be obvious why it's this big Forgotten Secret. How does you setting some flowers on fire and then realizing you did it wrong matter to anyone?"

"I did nothing wrong," Fintan assured her, with a particularly haughty smile—but Marella wasn't buying it.

There was a tightness around his eyes that was way too familiar.

Her dad had that same tightness every time her mom was having one of her "bad days," and she knew exactly what it meant.

Disappointment.

Frustration.

A hint of helplessness.

So she marched over to the guard and grabbed the frozen Noxflare from the floor—too irritated to even notice how heavy the ice must've been as she hauled it back.

She plopped it in front of Fintan's cell. "Ta-da! One ugly flower, as promised—and I'm sure you're not surprised that I had to freeze it before I brought it down here."

"I'm not." Fintan dropped to his knees and gazed at the Noxflare like he was seeing a long-lost friend.

He pressed his hand against his cell, trying to get as close as he could. "Such power. Such…promise."

"Uh-huh," Marella agreed, letting his stare and stare, hoping it would help him let his guard down.

When his eyes turned a little teary, she went in for the kill.

"But there is something still missing, isn't there? That's why you saved this memory—to remind yourself to keep looking."

A whole lot of painful silence passed before Fintan slowly nodded.

Marella wanted to feel triumphant.

But all she'd done was prove the entire trade had been pointless.

There was no game-changing clue.

No dirty little secret about the past.

Certainly nothing to help them stop their enemies.

And she had a pretty strong hunch the other eight memories in the cache would be just as ridiculous.

"The answer is out there," Fintan murmured. "I can feel it. I just can't grasp it. Perhaps…"

"Perhaps?" Marella prompted when his eyes locked with hers.

Fintan stepped closer to the ice, keeping his voice low, like he didn't want the guard to hear him. "Perhaps a different Pyrokinetic is meant to find the truth. One who's already convinced the Council to trust her."

Marella laughed. "The Council doesn't trust me."

"The fact that you're here for a pyrokinesis lesson says otherwise—particularly since the lesson is with me." He started circling his cell again, mumbling under his breath and nodding. The only words Marella caught were "possible," "improvising," and "best option."

After three more times around the cell, he stopped in front of Marella again, leaning even closer to the icy wall as he whispered, "I believe it's time for me to offer a trade of my own."

"A trade," Marella repeated, not missing the way the scary guard gripped his sword.

Fintan glared at him. "This conversation is between me and my prodigy. She stands here of her own free will, shielded by who knows how many different kinds of protections—and she can leave anytime she pleases. Your presence is no longer needed."

"You still have her gadget," the guard argued.

"I suppose I do. but that can be easily remedied." Fintan set the cache on whatever invisible ledge it had slid down in the first place and gave it a good shove, sending it spinning up the path toward the top of the cell.

The guard had to scramble to catch it when it launched out of the ice bubble.

"See?" Fintan said, shifting his gaze back to Marella. "I can be trusted."

"Pretty sure the only thing I can trust is that you'll do what's best for you," Marella countered.

"As long as you get what you want, why would you care? After all, no matter what, I'm still stuck in here, aren't I?" He waved his arms around his little ice bubble, which suddenly looked way less secure than it had during her other visits. "Oh, relax—all I'm asking for is a little information."

Marella crossed her arms. "Right—and information has never gotten anyone hurt or killed."

"It's not that kind of secret. It's…" He frowned. "Honestly, I don't know what it is—and for someone my age, with my connections, that says something, doesn't it? I doubt any of the Vackers even know the full truth."

"Then how am I supposed to find it?" Marella demanded.

"As I said, you've proven to be quite resourceful. Particularly when you team up with your little friends." He scowled at the guard again before motioning her to step closer—until her ear was practically pressed up against the ice.

A voice in the back of her head kept screaming, WHY ARE YOU LISTENING TO HIM?

But…she was curious.

And there was nothing wrong with hearing his offer, was there?

Fintan's breath fogged the ice, obscuring his face as he whispered, "All I ask is that if you ever find out what's missing from the Noxflares, you share it with me."

"Why?" Marella glanced at the frozen flower, wishing she could see something more than just ugly shriveled petals.

"Because I want to know," Fintan said simply. "And because I can give you what you want in return."

"The rest of the memories in your cache," Marella clarified.

Fintan nodded. Then his lips curled into a smile. "And one other—something you've long wondered about, even though you probably don't admit it to yourself."

Marella raised one eyebrow, refusing to show any more interest than that.

Fintan cupped his hands around his mouth and pressed them to the ice before he whispered, "I know what happened to your mother."

Marella sucked in a breath.

"Yes," Fintan added. "I'm talking about her 'accident'—if we can really call it that. I know why she fell. And why her injuries were so incurable."

Marella stumbled back, collapsing into the nearest throne and hugging herself to stop her body from shaking with tremors that had nothing to do with the cold.

A tiny, terrified part of her had always thought the story she'd been told about her mom's fall hadn't totally made sense.

But everyone—everyone—was convinced it had been an accident.

Even her father.

And if it wasn't…

She leaned toward Fintan. "I don't need your games."

"Oh, this definitely isn't a game. But it's the only way you'll ever know the truth, and before you start overthinking everything, consider this: You have all the power here. Make the trade, don't make the trade—it's totally your call. You also don't have to make a decision right away. I'm trapped in this prison. I'll never find the answer on my own—and I'll never know if you find the answer unless you decide to tell me. So there's zero pressure. No one even knows we've had this conversation—and don't worry about the guard. See how frustrated he looks? That's because I made sure he only heard what I wanted him to hear. The rest is our little secret."

Our little secret.

Fintan was probably the last person she should have a secret with.

And yet…he had a point.

No one knew he'd made her this offer—and it wasn't like she'd come to any decision.

She didn't even have the information Fintan wanted anyway!

And with the way their investigations always seemed to go, she'd probably only find a whole lot more questions.

So there was really no point in telling anyone about this.

She could tell them whens he needed to.

If she needed to.

That wouldn't be wrong…would it?

It didn't feel wrong—or it wouldn't have if Fintan's smile wasn't so creepy.

"I'm not agreeing to anything," she said, wanting to make that very clear.

"You're not," Fintan assured her. "So how about we put this out of our minds and get started with our lesson? I'm sure your Hydrokinetic friend is wondering why you haven't come up to practice yet."

Linh was probably starting to worry.

She'd probably also built enough snow animals to make a frozen Sanctuary.

"Fine," Marella said, standing up and dusting ice off her cape. "What do you want me to work on today?"

"How about I teach you how to make those colored flames you saw in the memory," Fintan suggested. "You know, in case that ever comes in handy."

He winked, and the guard groaned and held out the cache to Marella. "Sounds like I'm no longer needed."

"You aren't," Fintan agreed.

The guard growled—looking scarier than ever—and turned to march away. But he spun back after a few steps. "He's right that I don't know what he offered you. But I can tell you're tempted. And I hope you're smart enough to reject it. Never make a deal with someone who has nothing to lose."

"I'm not," Marella promised.

And she wasn't.

She hadn't made any decisions—except to keep this to herself. But that didn't mean anything.

She was just trying to avoid a ton of drama and arguing and having people give her advice she didn't need.

Plus, everyone has secrets.

Shoot—the great Sophie Foster had more secrets than anyone.

So it was fine.

Everything was fine.

Nothing had changed.

Time to focus on controlling her fire.

And yet, for the rest of the lesson, the tiny spark in her heart burned hotter and hotter and hotter. Whispering a new plea.

Trust me.

Trust me.

Trust me.

Note: Thank you to @bookwyrminspiration for doing the bulk of this transcription!

[runabout-river]

The Mechanisms of Gojo's Defeat

It's been over a week since the formerly Strongest sorcerer got cut in two but how exactly did that happen? The fight Gojo vs Sukuna had been full of technicalities and showcased JJK's power system in all its glory but it wasn't exactly easy to understand even if you paid good attention while reading the manga.

First, Sukuna's vast knowledge of Jujutsu and cursed techniques. He correctly deduced that Yorozu would fall back on her constructed metal to perform an ultimate attack because her CE consumption is unbelievably high. Still, with one month of preparation and Kenjaku on his side, Sukuna was not able to think of an effective way to deal with Infinity.

He fell back on: the sure-hit of a Domain Expansion, the cool-down period of CTs after an expansion and Domain Amplification. The sure-hit was cancelled by Gojo's sure-hit, the cool-down period was drastically shortened with brain destruction, and DA, while effective in nullifying Infinity, did not leave room for aggressive attacks.

With all of this considered, Sukuna put his fight plan against Gojo on 1) winning a Domain Battle 2) Mahoraga 3) learning an effective attack against Gojo from Mahoraga. In the end, he needed this 3-fold plan to win but from what we know, he could've chosen a different path as well.

Mahoraga's adaptation works by starting after an enemy hit. When the wheel turns, the adaptation is in so much complete that Maho can now nullify or become immune to the enemy's CT. The process of the adaptation never truly stops though, as long as the enemy isn't defeated.

Mahoraga finds more and more ways to circumvent the CT it adapted to by evolving the adaptation. This process gets sped up the more it gets in contact with that same CT. At the end, Maho used 2 different ways to deal with Infinity.

By changing the properties of its Cursed Energy. This adaptation is not something that Sukuna can emulate

By evolving Sukuna's long-range attack. Instead of infusing that attack with the changed CE, Mahoraga expanded the target of the attack.

The second adaptation was the one that Sukuna - barely - was able to learn and use on his own.

(For the last half year, I've been writing a jjk/fire force crossover and of course I've thought about FF characters fighting against Gojo and if they could win. My conclusion: both Shinra and Sho Kusakabe can circumvent Infinity with their 4th generation pyrokinetic ignition ability. Sho by stopping time and Shinra by reforming his molecules at the point of impact with Gojo's body)

In addition to learning this evolved technique, Sukuna also made a positive miscalculation in chapter 234. There, he said that another Hollow Purple attack will be the end of him. This tidbit fooled the readers into thinking that at the end of ch235, Gojo truly won.

But actually, Sukuna made an error in his assessment that we could've caught before the release of ch236.

The first HP that Sukuna survived was at 200% power. Sukuna however thought that it was at 120%. In other words, he overestimated Gojo's power and wrongfully thought that he won't survive a second one of that. That was why he was so panicked when Gojo shot Red at Blue.

In numbers: let's say that Gojo's base HP attack is 100 points. His assisted attack by Gramps and Utahime was 200p. Sukuna thought that the 200p were 120% of Gojo's power, so his base HP attack would've been an overestimated 167p. Sukuna expected the next HP to have 200p again but it was only 120p, 67% weaker.

We could've actually caught this disparity when Sukuna made his miscalculation. I remember thinking how Sukuna hadn't realised that Gojo had help in the beginning but I didn't put more thought into it because I didn't think that there would be more. Huge mistake there.

The very last part in Gojo's defeat is about Gojo not reinforcing his body.

We had already seen Gojo survive Sukuna's slashing attacks, either by normal CE reinforcement (with moderate damage that he had to heal constantly) or with Falling Blossom Emotion that reduced the damage to a minimum.

With Infinity active, Mahoraga dead and Sukuna looking like he was defeated, Gojo didn't bother with reinforcing his body at that point. What did he have to fear without Mahoraga? He probably even saw Sukuna's attack and maybe he would've dodged or activated FBE if the cut had been aimed at his throat.

He didn't do anything and now his guts have made a painting on the ground.

Still, with the way Gojo was characterized in ch236 and how ch237 has omitted any reaction others should've had on Gojo's supposed death, I'm still of the opinion that our favorite teacher will come back.

[searchingforbucky]

Hi darling! I was looking for a bit of an older Bucky c reader story where the reader could control fire? And it was like an enemies to lovers and they fought a whole lot and she like set something on fire? That ended up getting together and it was hot, it was multiple parts I think.

Hellloooooo! Sounds like it could be “Stuck Wit U” by @slyyywriting :)

[shnebrght]

☠ What does someone have to do for an instant unfollow from you?

♥ What's the WORST thing that has happened to you rp wise?

☀ What's your rp pet peeve?

❥ Has someone ever ruined an FC or character for you?

@squaletta | salty af mun meme

☠ What does someone have to do for an instant unfollow from you?

There are numerous ways. But the most surefire is calling out my friends, or being generally disrespectful and mean. I've seen it before, we've all seen it before. It's not acceptable on my turf. I don't even care what the reason is; if someone's being unpleasant, I don't want them around. I'm too old to deal with RP drama.

♥ What's the WORST thing that has happened to you rp wise?

I know this is not a subject too widely accepted, but I also refuse to diminish from the weight it held on me even if it goes against the perceived wider opinion. It's no secret that Tumblr is home to many LGBTQ+ writers and users. I don't happen to be in that group, although I do very much support anyone doing whatever they want. I, am a straight, white man. And much like the reverse can happen, I've suffered Heterophobia and the cancellation of its very concept before. To me, if you can't admit that this is a thing, especially because I've been on its receiving end, you're ignoring a real problem to justify some glorified, flawed ideal. It's blatantly disrespectful, since if it was Homophobia or Transphobia, all hell would break loose.

Again, niche. But still an issue that I went through.

☀ What's your rp pet peeve?

Roleplaying in second person POV. I don't even mind first person POV, and the widely-accepted third person POV I'm obviously cool with. But second person POV RP just makes me cringe and, I can't even write with that. It's that bad. xD

❥ Has someone ever ruined an FC or character for you?

Not so much 'someone' as much as 'everyone' did.

I cannot, for the life of me, look at any Hirunaka no Ryuusei and/or Horimiya FCs and not just get disheartened.

Look, I get it. The art is beautiful and the characters are too, on top of holding good emotional weight with the franchise's readers. But for the love of god -- those faces and appearances have to be the most basic-looking manga people I have ever seen. Ever.

In the context of super-powered fantasy series, I just... Can't really accept that this nobody-looking bunch is supposed to be on the same level as, or higher than, a majority of the canon cast. They just look so... Bland. Like "I'm sorry but I've seen that face at least a million times now." Suspension of disbelief only goes so far -- and I can no longer accept that Daiki Mamura, is a pyrokinetic, expert assassin that's 6'4" in the world of One Piece. Like... That's just unexceptional in the context of the world.

It doesn't mean I won't RP with OCs with those faceclaims, of course. I'm just, really biased and starting off as uninterested, at this point.

[cosmichorrorsarestillnicerthanme]

I just read over the ask you answered from the "Fanfiction Writing Asks" list and now I am deathly curious.

What are some of the ideas you had but never did or never got around to?

A small handful of them are as follows

A HSR x reader fic where the reader utilizes a suite of laser weaponry in a similar way to Bonedrewed from Made In Abyss.

A Reader with the ability to warp and twist space for both offense and defense.

A reader with immense pyrokinetic power.

A gunslinger reader.

A reader with superhuman strength despite their average appearance.

A reader who is a master when it comes to mechanic work.

A reader who, despite their intimidating appearance, is extremely introverted, likes to read, and is a massive fan of physical affection.

A reader who, despite their innocent appearance, is a bit of a sadistic monster.

A reader who is an scarily good detective.

A reader who is a expert sniper.

A reader who has extremely powerful telekinesis.

These are just a few of the less crazy ones