#secret third option: abandon them

[gardenoflupins]

Y’all i need your help. What do I do with my unfinished fics. I said that I’d only publish my finished fics but I have 6473837473 wips marinating in my docs.

[wolfjackle-creates]

Bring Me Home, Chapter 2 Part 1

First, Previous

Story Summary: Tim Drake and Danny Fenton meet online as precocious preteens with far too much internet freedom due to parents who are far too interested in their work to monitor what their kids are getting up to. They bond and don't bother keeping secrets from each other about their vigilante lives.

This chapter wasn't supposed to exist. I was supposed to end the first chapter with the last segment I shared then jump ahead to the point where Tim helps Danny escape. But I couldn't get the idea of Tim and the Young Justice team ending up in Amity. I mentioned the idea to @britcision who asked if I really couldn't find a way to fit it in. And that was followed up by a night of insomnia due to bad life decisions regarding caffeine. And thus I figured out how to make it work.

This is going to be a longer segment! I've been wanting to share something a bit longer for a week or two and then I hit the 250 follower mark, so now I have an excuse to do so! (I totally would've shared regardless of a notable follower milestone.)

Word Count: 4.8k

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Tim was in the pilot seat of the plane, but had it set with autopilot and was facing the back where Conner and Bart were arguing over what to have for dinner. He and Cassie exchanged grins and he pulled out his phone to text her and ask if she was up for sushi just to throw a third option out there and make the argument worse when the computers all started beeping as the plane wobbled.

Dropping his phone, he turned back to the controls. The computers had failed and the plane was losing altitude fast. Tim pulled up on the steering, trying to keep the plane from nosediving into the ground.

“What’s going on?” shouted Conner.

“I don’t know!” Tim grit his teeth. “Plane failure, we’re going down!” he warned. Examining the landscape before them—mostly open plains thankfully—he held the steering steady as he aimed for land empty of buildings and roads.

“I’ll break the door,” called Conner.

“Superboy, lock the steering in this position!” ordered Tim.

“Done!”

Tim abandoned his seat and ran to the door, reaching it just as Conner tore it open. Without hesitation, Tim jumped out, Conner’s arms around him a moment later holding him in the air.

Next to them, Cassie had hold of Bart who was grinning as he showed off the bags he’d rescued before their escape.

From their place in the air, they watched as the plane crashed in a fiery disaster.

“Do we check it out or do we run in the opposite direction?” asked Cassie.

Tim wanted to run without leaving any trace of who’d been flying the plane. But… “We have to make sure the fire doesn’t spread. And make sure there’s nothing incriminating in the crash. But I want you or Wonder Girl on recon and we’re out of there as soon as first responders get close.”

“You’ve got it,” said Conner in his ear.

And a few moments later, they were on the ground facing the wreckage that was their plane.

“You know,” said Bart, “We probably didn’t have to steal the plane when we left. Had anyone tried to use it to escape, they wouldn’t have gotten very far.” He tossed one of the bags their way and Conner caught it. “But look at what I saved!”

Tim leaned over to see as Conner opened the bag. Right on top was the cellphone he’d dropped when the plane started to fail. He laughed and grabbed it. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t turn on for some reason. Deciding to deal with it later, he looked at what else was in the bag: his and Conner’s civvies. “You’re the best, Impulse!”

Bart held out a second bag to him. “And this is as much of the evidence I could get to. The last bag has mine and Wonder Girl’s belongings.”

Tim pulled him into a hug. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.” Letting him go, he turned to the burning plane. “Now, let’s take care of this.”

Over the next hour, they managed to contain the wreckage and put out any fires. No local authorities ever came out to investigate the site.

“Where the hell even are we if there’s no one around?” asked Conner. “Even back at Ma and Pa’s someone would’ve been here in, like, ten minutes.”

Tim just shrugged. “I’ve no idea. Somewhere in Illinois. But I don’t like this. Let’s see if we can find the nearest town. Make sure everything’s okay. Wasn’t there a highway just south of here? Impulse, mind checking it out and seeing if you can see any signs pointing us to a local town or city?”

“You’ve got it, Rob!” said Bart with a salute before disappearing.

Tim had barely opened the last bag to see what else Bart had saved before he was back.

“You’re right about Illinois! Saw a sign. A town called Elmerton is east of us and a town called Amity Park west.”

Tim froze. “Amity?” he asked. His mind already spinning away. Danny had mentioned tech sometimes went wonky near Amity due to the interference of ectoplasm. Could that be what had happened to the plane? And Danny had mentioned their town was so small they didn’t have much of a police force. A large explosion would probably be assumed to be a ghost and be left to Phantom or the Fentons…

“Yeah. Do you know it?”

Tim laughed. “Yep! I’m friends with the local hero. He knows both of my identities. Let’s go pay him a visit. Civvies will be best. I’ve told him more about you as my friends than my teammates.”

The others exchanged hesitant glances. Cassie was the one to speak. “You talk about us to him? Why haven’t you mentioned him?”

Tim shrugged. “He and I don’t really keep secrets from each other. And I’m sure I’ve mentioned him. Remember when we were trying to settle on a movie last week? I suggested the reboot Star Trek movies because Danny had been going on about them for ages and I wanted to see what had him so worked up.”

“Okay, what the fuck, Rob,” said Conner. “You need to be more obvious with these things. We thought you meant someone from your school or something. Not a fellow hero!”

Bart nodded his agreement. “Also, won’t he be mad you’re just telling us his identity?”

“Danny’s an idiot,” Tim stated. “He’s worse at keeping a secret identity than Kon.”

“Hey!” protested Conner.

“Rob’s got a point,” said Cassie as she elbowed Conner with a grin. “But, Robin, if we’re going as civilians, how will we explain the lack of transportation?”

“Easy. According to Danny, tech acts weird around Amity. Probably why the plane went down and our phones don’t work. So we’ll just say our car broke down and ask if Danny can fix it. He’s good with machinery.”

“Why haven’t you brought him into the League if the two of you are such good friends?” asked Conner, arms crossed.

Tim just shrugged. “He doesn’t want to join. The local threats he takes care of are constant enough that he can’t leave for more than a day or two. Besides, his parents don’t know and he can’t explain absences that are longer than a single night where he pretends to be at one of his friends’ places.”

“His parents don’t know?” Cassie shook her head. “I couldn’t imagine doing this without Mom’s support.”

Tim nodded. “Yeah. I’m honestly kinda worried about his living situation. So the chance to go check on him in person is something I can’t bring myself to give up. You guys don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but Danny and I’ve known each other for four years and things have been rough for him this past year since he’s gotten his powers. I need to make sure he’s okay.”

“Wait, four years?” asked Conner.

“He predates Robin?” Bart’s mouth was all but hanging open.

“I did exist before the suit, you know.” Tim stood a little taller. Usually he liked being Robin more than Tim, but he did have a life outside of the suit.

Cassie rolled her eyes. “That’s not what he meant and you know it. It’s just… You don’t talk about your pre-Robin life very often.” She grinned and Tim suddenly felt uneasy. “We are so asking him all sorts of questions about what you were like.”

“I mean… I wasn’t all that different to the current me.”

“Oh, we’ll be the judge of that,” she promised with a wicked gleam in her eye. This was going to be a disaster, wasn’t it?

“So what’s got you so worried about Danny?” asked Bart.

Tim sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “So, the deal with Amity Park is that his parents built a portal to the Ghost Zone in his basement. In the process of getting it to work, there was a lab accident and Danny got ghost powers. Don’t ask him or his friends about it. Now ghosts come through and try to attack the town and Danny stops them. Bad enough, right? But the reason his parents were building the portal is because they’re ghost hunters. They see a ghost, they pull a weapon on it and try to, and I quote, ‘tear it apart molecule by molecule.’ I don’t like the idea of Danny living there when he has ghost powers but he’s refusing to leave and I don’t have any way of kidnapping him and keeping him away.”

“You know that’s a spot on your ‘how close is Robin to going supervillain on us’ bingo card, right?” asked Cassie.

Conner elbowed her. “Not the point right now, Wonder Girl.” Then, in a whisper just loud enough for Tim to hear, he added, “Though this gets me close!” Back in his normal voice, he said, “Robin we’ll absolutely go check on your friend with you. Is there anything else we need to know?”

Tim tilted his head but decided not to address the teasing. “Don’t eat any food cooked in his house or stored in the main fridge. And try to avoid mentioning the word ‘ghost’ around his parents. They apparently will take that as an excuse to literally talk for multiple hours on the topic. It should go without saying, but his hero identity must be kept secret from his parents at all costs. His best friends and sister are the only humans who know. Though all the other ghosts know.”

“So…” start Bart, “You’re telling us that his rogues all know his identity but his parents don’t. That’s a bit of a role reversal.”

Tim laughed. “Yeah. Weirded me out when he told me, too. But he’s not concerned about the ghosts knowing. Just human ghost hunters.”

“Like his parents,” Cassie said.

“Like his parents,” Tim confirmed.

“Well fuck.” As always, Conner knew how to sum up everyone’s thoughts.

“So, do you know his address?” asked Bart.

“Nope,” Tim said, popping the P. “But we won’t need it. His house is obvious from a mile away based on what Danny’s said.”

Cassie shook her head. “Every word out of your mouth makes me more concerned and more curious.”

Tim laughed. “That about sums him up. He’s got some stories that could rival ours for ridiculous and crazy. Now, Wonder Girl, Superboy, what do you say about flying us closer to town? Then we can change and walk the rest of the way in.”

“You’ve got it Boss-man!” Conner shouldered the bag of their belongings and hugged Tim close before launching them in the air.

Cassie did the same with Bart who pointed in the direction of Amity. It wasn’t long before they could see the town.

The group landed in a small grove of trees to change out of uniform before walking along the side of the highway towards Amity.

As they were walking, Bart asked, “So why shouldn’t we eat any of the food at Danny’s? I’m hungry.”

“We’ll go and get far too many burgers and snacks on B’s dime. The food at Danny’s house isn’t safe to eat or even be around, just trust me.”

“Hey, Tim,” said Conner, “What the fuck does that mean?”

Tim just shrugged. “Look, his parents would fit in at Arkham. The rest… well, we’ll see when we get there. I only have second hand information myself and I don’t know if I fully believe what Danny says.”

“You didn’t crash the plane on purpose, did you?” asked Bart who was now walking backwards in front of him.

“Yeah, Tim,” agreed Cassie, “Sounds like you’ve been wanting to come here for a while. Convenient, isn’t it? You could’ve just asked us if we were interested in a road trip!”

Tim flushed. “Are you guys seriously accusing me of deliberately destroying evidence in a plane crash? Me?”

“Don’t worry, Tim!” Conner slung an arm around his shoulders and leaned into him. “I believe you. If you wanted to concoct an excuse to get us here, it’d be much more subtle.”

Cassie and Bart laughed as Tim grumbled about traitorous friends. Louder, he said, “Oi, watch what you say. We’re in everyday clothes.”

“Of course. And you’re not just saying that because we’re right.” Bart stuck his tongue out at him.

Tim ducked under Conner’s arm and threw a punch which Bart easily dodged. “Remember I know where you sleep!” he called out.

“Right back atcha!” replied Bart. Cassie and Conner laughed at them.

It only took them about twenty minutes to come to the outermost buildings of the town and within forty, they were in the town proper.

“Now, seriously, Tim, where’re we going?” asked Cassie looking around.

The people who were around kept giving them odd looks and Tim had no idea what they were doing to stick out so obviously.

As if echoing his thoughts, Cassie muttered under her breath, “Is it just me or are we being stared at?”

Conner replied just as quietly. “I can hear them whisper; they know we’re outsiders. What sort of town is this, Tim?”

“Amity’s been through a lot the past few months. It might be a more active hot spot than Gotham, actually. I don’t think they trust strangers right now.”

“Worse than Gotham?” asked Cassie. “Timmy, bestie, you are totally keeping secrets from us again! Not cool.”

“I’m not!” Tim protested. “Look, we just need to find Danny’s house and hope there isn’t a ghost attack before we do.”

“How often do these ghost attacks happen?” asked Bart.

“From what Danny says, something usually happens most days. But they’re generally small. Big attacks… maybe once a week? But those can take a few days to fully resolve.”

“Dude, that is worse than Gotham,” said Bart, awe in his voice. “And the local hero just takes care of it all himself?”

“Yeah. Danny Phantom seems to be pretty competent. At least against ghosts.”

Cassie let out a low whistle but decided to change the subject. “So, if your friend’s house is so distinct, what are we looking for?”

Before Tim could reply, the roar of an engine drowned him out and a giant silver-and-green monstrosity turned the corner so fast only two wheels remained on the ground. A woman in a blue jumpsuit leaned out the window holding a gun bigger than herself as she screamed about ghosts.

Around them, people took one look and ran into any door they could, slamming them shut. Conner, Cassie, and Bart fell into defensive stances.

Tim just grinned and relaxed as he watched to see what street the GAV turned down. It really was as ridiculous as Danny had said.

As soon as the noise of the Fenton’s illegal tank died down, Tim answered Cassie’s question. “We go down the same street as that vehicle. Those were Danny’s parents.”

“Are we going to the lair of super villains?” asked Conner.

“Nah, just mad scientists.”

“Tim, is this really the best idea?” Cassie had pulled out her phone and was uselessly trying to turn it on.

“We’ll need to if you want your phone fixed.”

Around them, people were starting to cautiously open doors and look out to make sure it was safe. Tim pretended not to notice the looks his friends were exchanging.

“Come on, what happened to grilling Danny about what I was like before Bruce took me in?” He really hoped the potential for embarrassing stories, of which there obviously weren’t any, would get them to stop second guessing him.

Cassie did hum consideringly. “Well, it’s not like we haven’t faced weirder. And we can hold our own against mad scientists if needed. Even without any form of communication device. Which… Tim, on a scale of an elephant noticing an ant to about to start world war three, how likely is it that your family has noticed something happened and how totally normal will their reaction be?”

Tim groaned. “Look, I’ll see if Danny can fix my phone first before we get dinner. If it doesn’t take too long, it won’t be an issue. We probably have a few hours before B does anything irreversible.”

“I have no idea how you put up with someone always in your business like that,” commented Conner.

Tim shrugged as he finally got the others to start moving in the direction the tank took. “I mean, I keep track of you guys about as closely as Bruce follows me.”

Bart laughed. “Whelp, that’s another box checked on the ‘Tim is going to grow up to be a supervillain’ bingo card!

Tim stuck his tongue out at his friends and sped up so he was walking a few feet ahead of them. Around them, pedestrian traffic started picking up again as people decided it was safe to come out again.

Bart ran up until he was walking backwards in front of Tim. “Do you really think you can outrun me?”

“I’m not trying to out run you. Just walk ahead of you. I’m the one who knows what I’m looking for.” They reached the turn and Bart kept walking straight so Tim grabbed his arm. “Like, for example, the fact that we need to turn down this road.”

A quick glance down the street proved this had to be the right place. The giant Fenton Works sign hung off one of the buildings and the monstrosity Danny referred to as the Ops Center sat precariously on the roof.

“In fact, that building that’s probably breaking every building code ever imagined is our destination. Come on! The sooner we get there, the sooner Danny can fix my phone, and the sooner we can eat.”

“He’s totally taking us to the lair of some evil mad scientists, isn’t he?” Cassie muttered.

Tim pretended he couldn’t hear her. Or Conner’s reply of “Oh, definitely. One more square and I’ve got bingo.”

“I think we need to change the rules of the game. We have winners too often. First person to a full card wins, not the first person to connect a line.”

“I hate you guys. You’re fired as my best friends. It’ll just be me and Danny from now on. I’ll run away and move here and hide in his attic and never talk to any of you ever again.”

Bart hooked their arms together. “Then we’ll just come and drag you back. Evil scientists and ghosts and creepy town or not.”

Conner walked up until he could bump his shoulder against Tim’s and Cassie ruffled his hair.

“Yep. You’re stuck with us for life at this point. No firing allowed,” she said.

Tim hid a smile as they walked the last half block to Danny’s house. And then the group just stared at the building for a minute.

“You know, after seeing this place, I don’t think I needed the warning about the food,” commented Cassie. “I’m not going to trust a single thing they try to give us.”

“If it comes from Danny or his sister, it’ll be fine. From their parents? Decline.” Tim took a breath and walked up the steps and rang the doorbell.

Voices could be heard from inside and a moment later, the door opened to reveal the largest human Tim had ever seen. And the orange jumpsuit he was wearing was so bright even Tim, used as he was to Robin colors, had to hold back a wince. Jack Fenton was smiling broadly at them.

“Welcome to Fenton Works! Who might you lot be? Would you like some fudge?” And even though his hands had been empty a moment before, he managed to pull a tray of fudge from…somewhere.

Before Tim could reply, Maddie Fenton was there, too. “Jack, let the kids speak! Welcome. Are you here for Jazz or Danny?”

Tim put on his gala-smile. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. I’m Tim, Danny’s penpal from Gotham and these are some of my friends. We are on a road trip and were passing by and I decided I wanted to stop by to see Danny. Is he home?”

The words were barely out of Tim’s mouth before Jack was shouting with a voice loud enough to shake the windows. “Dan-o! Your friends are here!”

Maddie’s reaction was more interesting. Her brow furrowed and she seemed to mumble to herself, “Penpal? Has Danny mentioned a penpal before?” Louder, she said, “Please come on in. Danny will be right down.”

As his friends shuffled past him, they each poked or prodded Tim in some way to let him know how crazy they found the situation. Maddie shut the door behind them and the click of the door had no right to sound as ominous as a lock turning in a cell in a supervillain’s lair.

True to Maddie’s predictions, footsteps echoed on the floor above them and then down the stairs. Danny froze on the steps, though, as soon as he saw exactly who was in his living room.

Tim raised a hand and grinned. “Hey, Danny! Surprise?”

“Tim? What the—” Danny cut off the phrase with a glance at his parents. “Secrets! We’ve talked about surprises like this! What are you doing here?” And then he was running the rest of the way down the stairs and hugging Tim tightly.

Tim’s surprise lasted just a moment before he was hugging Danny back. “I don’t actually think we have had a conversation about the proper way for me to show up at your place when I ended up stranded in the area by accident with a non-working phone. I blame you, by the way.”

They pulled apart, but Danny stayed close enough that their arms brushed against each other at the slighted movement. “I can fix that for you. It’ll take about twenty minutes.” He glanced at Tim’s friends. “Each, I’m afraid.”

Cassie waved off his apology. “Fix Tim’s first. His family is the one that’ll freak out if he’s out of communication too long. It’s nice to meet you Danny, I’m—“

But Danny cut her off. “Cassie, right? Tim’s told me a lot about you. It’s great to finally meetcha! And you two must be Conner and Bart!” As he said their names, he correctly pointed at each boy.

“You’ve got it in one,” agreed Conner. “Though I’d like to open by saying anything Tim said is probably a lie.”

Danny laughed. “Even the part where he called you the coolest person he knows after Dick? Because I got that message just—”

Tim slammed his hand over Danny’s mouth. “No need to go into that right now.” He ignored the way he felt his face heating.

To his relief, Danny’s dad butted into the conversation. “Well we’re thrilled to have you kids here! Will you stay for dinner? My snoockums will be making the best chicken you’ve ever had!”

“Actually, Mr. Fenton,” said Tim before anyone else could, “Danny and I have this ongoing debate over which is better: Batburger or Nasty Burger. It’s been going on for years and I need to try Nasty Burger so he can’t use the excuse that I don’t know what I’m talking about when I insist Batburger is better.”

“Oh you are so going to eat your words,” Danny said shrugging out from under Tim’s arm. Looking to his friends, Danny asked, “Have all of you had batburger?”

Bart grinned. “Sure have! We’ll be sure to give our unbiased opinions!”

Danny laughed. “Great, because Tim sure won’t. He’ll refuse to admit how he’s completely wrong and Nasty Burger is the absolute best ever.”

Cassie shook her head. “Is it really called Nasty Burger? Why would they do that?”

“Oh someone vandalized the sign years ago and the restaurant decided to lean into it. Now, come on, I’ll fix Tim’s phone and then we can get dinner.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to eat here?” asked Maddie again.

“Yeah, mom, we’re sure.”

“How long’ll you kids be in town for?” asked Jack. “Do you have a place to stay?”

Tim shrugged. “My foster dad gave me a credit card for us to use for lodgings, food, and gas on the trip. We were just gonna find a hotel or something in town.”

“Now that just won’t do!” Maddie even covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide in disbelief. “Neither the hotel nor the motel has any ghost shields to speak of. What if there’s an attack? No. You must stay here. Our house is the safest place in town, dontcha know.”

“Exactly!” boomed Jack. “In fact, let me show you!” He reached over and flipped what looked like a light switch, but instead of a light turning on, a siren sounded and glowing-green metal slammed over the windows. At least five hidden compartments on every wall opened revealing lasers and guns. Each of which made their own noises.

Danny tensed next to him as about a third of the weapons pointed to him and a robotic voice said, “Ghost threat detected.”

Then a girl appeared on the stairs shouting at the adults. “I’m trying to study!” It was amazing how she was able to shout over the noise of the alarm systems. “Who activated the home defense system?” And that’s when she noticed Tim and his friends.

As soon as her daughter appeared, Maddie flipped the switch back off and the weapons disappeared back into the walls, the metal retreated from the windows, and the alarms fell quiet leaving behind a normal-looking living room once again.

Behind him, Tim heard Cassie mutter, “What the fuck?”

“Who are you?” Jazz asked as soon as it was quiet.

Jack answered for everyone. “These are Danny’s friends! Tim and… sorry, I don’t think I caught the rest of your names.”

“Dad!” Danny shook his head. “Come on down, Jazz. I’ve mentioned Tim a ton. He’s my online penpal Secrets. And these are his friends: Cassie, Bart, and Conner.”

“Oh! Secrets!” She ran the rest of the way down the stairs. “It’s so great to meet you. Danny didn’t mention you coming to visit.” She shook Tim’s hand with a friendly smile.

Tim couldn’t help but smile back. “Glad to meet you, too. Danny talks about you all the time.”

And his friends were done being quiet because Bart decided to take over explanations. “Our visit was unscheduled. We were in the area and our transport and phones stopped working. Saw the sign for Amity and Tim brought us here.”

Jazz nodded in understanding. “Yeah, that happens around here. But Danny can fix your phones and car so you won’t be stranded long.”

“Yep! That’s just what I was about to do. Fix Tim’s phone then take them to Nasty Burger. I’ll take care of everyone else’s after we eat.”

Jazz nodded. “Bring me back a milkshake? I have a bit more studying to do. But, Tim! I want to get to know you better. After all, you’ve been such a large part of Danny’s life these past few years. So I’ll pull out some board and card games and we can just hang out for a bit while Danny fixes your phones.”

Tim felt his face flush again. Did Danny really talk about him that much? “Uh, yeah. Sure. That sounds great.”

“Oh. My. God. Jazz! You’re not allowed to interrogate my friends.” Danny took Tim’s hand and dragged him towards the stairs. “Come on, let’s go up to my room where I can work on your phones.”

Tim heard snickering from at least one of his friends as they followed them. But really, most of his focus was on how Danny’s hand felt cool but solid in his own.

Jazz just rolled her eyes. “It’s not interrogating, Danny. It’s getting to know someone. That involves questions!”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Conner. “No one is worse at interrogation than Tim’s dad.”

“Not my dad!” protested Tim automatically.

“Foster Dad, whatever! You know who I mean.”

Danny didn’t let go of his hand until they were in his bedroom. And once everyone, except Jazz, was in the room, he shut the door.

“Great, now that we have some privacy, let’s have proper introductions! Glad to meet you all. Do you want anything? Jazz and I have water bottles and pop cans hidden up here that are safe. And I’ve got, like, seven flavors of pringles.”

“What flavors of pop?” asked Conner.

“Coke, ginger ale, sprite, and fanta,” replied Danny.

“Can I have a sprite?”

“I’ll take a coke if it’s okay,” said Cassie.

“Fanta for me!” called Bart.

“You guys got it. Tim?”

“I’ll just have water for now.”

Danny nodded. “Give me just a sec. The fridge is hidden in Jazz’s room.”

And then the Young Justice team was left alone.

Cassie hissed, “What the fuck, Tim!”

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Next

And there you have it! Tim and Danny's first in-person meeting. And the Young Justice's introduction to Amity and the Fentons.

If anyone has any fics, meta analyses, or whatever that focuses on the Young Justice characters, I'd love some recommendations! I've read less on them than the bats and they're shaping up to have a big part in this fic.

Tag List:

@gremlin-bot, @bonebrokebuddy, @britcision, @lady-time-lord-, @welcometosasakiworld, @akikkobara, @phoenixdemonqueen, @dolfay, @skulld3mort-1fan, @we-ezer, @markus209, @sjrose1216, @onyxlightdragon, @dragonsrequiem, @jesus-camp-the-sequel, @spidey29phangirl, @kyrianclawraith, @evilminji, @introvert-even-on-the-internet, @emergentpanda-blog, @lexdamo, @v-inari, @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit, @longlivethefallen, @undead-essence, @xye-chan, @liandrin, @seraphinedemort, @kisatamao, @schalensitzbucket, @caelestisdreamer, @runfromthemedic, @nutcase8691

[zentriii]

i was thinking about tobirama's death [as one does] in the first war compared to how hiruzen led konoha during the third war and had to sit with the cultural change in warfare in which clan leaders [during the warring clans]/kages take a backseat to lead their men. and i was like okay well tobirama grew up and spent his life on the battlefield of course he dies in war. and with hiruzen only being selected right before he dies, clearly it wasn't a smooth transition to power, likely leading hiruzen to not fight in the next wars, knowing just how turbulent a change in power in the middle of the war can be [which adds to more reasons beyond age and increased manpower in the war for why he holds onto the hat until the end of the third war. it seems to be a choice the other kages either choose not to follow or can't by the time of the fourth war but anyways–].

tobirama. dying in the war. back to that.

hey why the fuck is the hokage even running missions during the war with only his escort unit anyways?? Clearly it must be something important, right?? i mean u got the leader of a whole ass village during the first ever war since peace was made, tobirama's presence had to be vital. yes you could explain increased risk taking behaviour coupled with apathy towards his life by grief but he's not kakashi. fun parallel but i think circumstances are different enough to explore the route that no one else could have taken this sort of mission. as in top secret. as in hush hush.

while i think the idea of a leak is great fuel for danzo's seal [beyond the obvious reasons], i think it's just standard shinobi luck that eventually got them. apologies for the brief powerscaling but i do NOT think tobirama couldn't have taken out the kinkaku unit by himself if he was in peak condition. like yea there were at least 20 of them, two of which were like. mini jinchurikis. so it wouldn't have been an easy, decisive win, but at no point do any of them suggest taking them head on. which i think is interesting because your options are that konoha's presence cannot be known due to the delicacy of the mission or something OR they're injured and know there's no chance of victory. i mean come on, it's 7:20, not the greatest odds but not impossible either, especially with a hokage in the mix. which given the plan they went with, it can't be a complete secrecy thing.

so yea. you got a weakened squad of seven, likely on their way back from a mission since there's no line about abandoning it after running something of importance. and like. not to pin everything on danzo [whom i find interesting and complex and want to squash like a bug], but building on the fanon that he played a role in the destruction of uzushio? i think running an errand or message or wtv to them of great importance bc of konoha's alliance with them but then losing their hokage for it?? oh it would be so easy for him to look the other way, to not quite consider sending help as an urgent matter. according to this analysis, konoha already had its hands full of their own matters anyways.

if danzo learns how easy it is to look away, mayb even how beneficial it is to konoha in the long run without powerful yet unreliable allies, well. the uchiha massacre is just another domino in this series of events, isn't it? [danzo my beloved unreliable narrator ur descent into madness captivates me babygirl]

[i referenced this timeline when my memory was a bit spotty bc kishimoto's timeline is a horrendous mess btw but i might have missed a few things. if you'll excuse me i have to go scream into a pillow or something]

[fairypaw]

YEAHH TREE TIME EVRERYNYANN

me babbling abt tree under the ✂️

in my humble and objectively correct opinion tree is THE most interesting cat especially with his impact in the books both narratively and the impacts he has for the worldbuilding. Tree is a care free almost lazy, and weird but he makes up for it by being charismatic, highly intelligent, and hes??? so funny?? he met four cats and he makes up a DIFFERENT fake backstory everytime, he's a chronic nonsensical nonchalant nonbinary i love him.

He was born in a unique origin so to say, although putting aside the criticism around The Sisters, Tree or back then Earth, gives us an outsider pov for once and its genuinely so refreshing! i loved Tree's roots and seeing what hardships he went through to be moulded as the clever, witty yet untrustful cat he's become

He overcomes trauma from his origin and his fleeting attachment issues stems from a constant back and forth lesson and events that led him to be disclosed yet painfully longs for a place to set foot.

From the very start, all he ever wanted was just to have something, somewhere, someone to rely on. but from the death of his best friend, to the Sisters "banishment", to his dad's death and every other harsh lesson the world gives that he was better off alone. He slowly comes to unlearn it, by squirrelflight's hope, a quote from him really speaks about how far he's come and how he finally finds grounding and a home, a *family* in the clans

“Her kits deserve to have a

mother, even if only for a short while.”

“They’ll have the Sisters.”

“I guess.” “But Rootkit and Needlekit will have a father and a mother

for as long as they need them, and if they’re in trouble, they’ll always have a Clan to turn to.” PUNCHES A WALL. I LOVE YOU TREE TIMES A GAZILLION !!

Tree knows the bitter lifestyle he had to endure in his childhood, he was so young when everyone around him expected the world, to be larger than life. he would never want that for his shrub babies..

And Tree also embodies the *middle option* that choices and roles arent put into objective boxes, he questions the roles of toms and she cats in the sisters, the way he struggled in his role as a tom, the way he abandons his name, the torment between always wanting a home but constantly taught either by tongue or harsh events that the solitary life, the way he couldnt choose between being a warrior and a medicine cat, to the way he becomes the secret third thing every choice his given.

As a queer person specifically i relate to him but also just in general <3 Tree is a cat who represents healing from past trauma to move forward, who serves justice and sees common ground in every situation, someone who is everything he chooses to be and also he makes awesome horrendous jokes.

[moibakadesu]

I have been rotating one of Haruka's lines from the earphone collab in my brain for a while now, because it stood out to me as very important.

And that would be the line in which he apologizes to Amane in a very distressed and tearful voice.

So, Yamanaka had mentioned that these lines are important to canon or "critical to uncover the secrets of the prisoners", which is also why I think they made sure that they are not hidden behind a paywall, you can read up on all of them on the website of the collab.

And I think this line gives us hints for things to come in t3.

//cw for the topics of suicide and Milgram-typical violence

Alright, so let's assume that the restrictions of the guilty prisoners don't work the way we imagine. For context, I always assumed that they are not physically bound (after all they still have to eat, use the bathroom etc), but it's more of a emotional barrier that keeps them from inflicting violence or defending themselves. But we never got a confirmation on that, this is just what I combined by observation, but it might as well just be that they consider the longer straps (and in some cases sleeves) as restriction, which is ... well, that is not something that is stopping someone with the intent to kill, that is for sure.

So I would say we are all terribly aware about Haruka's threat of suicide. But I think his plan might have changed a bit, he had a long time to ruminate about it after all. And he clearly does not want to die (AKAA even has the lyrics "I don't want to die" translated as "Don't wipe me out", but we are all aware how scuffed the translation for that song is). His conversation with Kotoko on her birthday already made me rise an eyebrow. My first assumption was that he is planning a murder-suicide with Muu, in a way to safe her both from being scared in Milgram and from being alone when he is gone.

But what if he came up with a third option? An option that would show he is serious without destroying the time with his mother. (I still think Muu won't want to hang out with him anymore in t3, but that is beside the question here.) Our blue boy once stated that "he can kill anything that is smaller and weaker than him", and who fits that description the most in the prison and also has a bit of an overlap with his presumed victim? Amane.

An important detail is, that Amane is a prisoner that Haruka had no interaction with whatsoever. He does mention her, in his t1 VD explaining that he is not good with children of her age and in the t2 VD that he apparently does not have problems with her anymore. Still, he seemed to (understandably) always keep his distance from her.

So why of all things does he get a line in this collab addressing her directly? It doesn't feel like a "sorry I'm not interacting with you" kinda line, it's very pained, you can feel the tears in his voice there.

And this lead me to think that Haruka will attempt to attack Amane, which ... oh boy, it will be all kinds of messy. We know Amane is armed, even with the overwhelming strength disadvantage she could easily stab him with her scissors in a death-struggle. Not to mention the conflicts that will bring among the prisoners (I don't even want to think about how that could sour how Fuuta thinks about Haruka tremendously).

And it would be a very interesting turn story wise, instead of going the way too obvious and telegraphed path of Haruka attempting to kill himself and Amane planning an attack on Shidou etc.

It would also be a very mean and ironic way to repeat Haruka's misery (I am crying), getting abandoned by Es/us and very possible his second mother Muu and trying to change things by taking the life of a young girl.

[theamityelf]

You mentioned the potential for despair disease in the Naehinahara killing game and all I coyld think about was Makoto with despair disease (again) with Hajime/Hajizuru and Shuichi trying to keep him safe. Do you think the despair disease would be a lot more serious since there are more people that could catch it?

This is very fun. The fun thing about this is that the killing game is clearly meant to mess with the three protags specifically, so the choices for who gets the disease would be calculated for what outcome would be the most stressful.

(I'm going to say Despair Disease is still a chapter 3 thing; it belongs in a third chapter. Also, despite saying before that DD could only be a factor if this killing game is a simulation, I'm going to say that the killing game is still happening in real life. Someone just found a way to make Despair Disease real.)

Here are our options:

Makoto and Hajime get it and Shuichi doesn't. The third person, in this case, would be someone from Shuichi's group; I'll say Kaito, assuming I haven't killed him by this point in the story. (My heart says he's a Chapter 1-er, but my brain says Chapter 1 is probably a revealed-secrets motive in this AU, to drive up paranoia, so Syo and Maki are probably in the most danger there. For a disease motive, Kaito is of more use to the mastermind as an infected than as an uninfected.)

This serves to put Shuichi in a position where the ones he looked up to at the start of the killing game now rely on him. Specifically, Chapter 1 would have been a loss for Shuichi and maybe also Makoto (supposing Maki and someone from THH dies; let's say Maki and Hiro), and then Chapter 2 is Makoto losing Hina and another THH character (I really do think this is a Syo or Toko kill). This means Shuichi has been made to see Makoto's humanity through his grief and has learned the grim side of Hajime's hypercompetency through the fact that Hajime's friends are surviving at everyone else's expense.

With Despair Disease, Makoto is suddenly as unhelpful, obstructive, and problematic as possible and Hajime is suddenly at levels of apathy surpassing even Izuru Kamukura.

This is already a problem, but more so because deliberately-counterproductive Makoto will definitely be saying things he shouldn't.

The protags have been doing their best to keep the memory situation under wraps, to avoid unintended reactions from the others, but Diseased Makoto is another story. The morning he wakes up with the disease, he skips breakfast and goes straight to wherever Byakuya's isolating himself to and chatting with reckless abandon about secrets Byakuya hasn't told him yet.

Just plops into a seat across from him like, "Do you think maybe we'd have been freed by now if your million siblings hadn't been excommunicated from your family?"

Byakuya looks at him sharply. "I beg your pardon?"

"I mean, your siblings lost the competition, but they were still contenders, so I'm sure if you were on good terms with all of them, they'd probably be really helpful. Instead, we have to wait for the cops to save us. Or whoever is acting in the role of cops these days; who knows how much time we've lost. I think I'm still the same size I was last time I checked, but you must have noticed a difference, right?"

"How do you know these things?"

"I'm a corporate spy." And then he falls off the chair sideways because he's very ill.

Meanwhile Hajime is just in bed 24/7, sweating profusely and not bothering to move or do anything. When Shuichi talks to him, he's mockingly dismissive. Saying things like, "You again. Still wasting your chance to protect your friends, while I'm indisposed."

Shuichi has to keep Makoto out of trouble, make sure Hajime is eating and drinking water and generally surviving, and...well, he'll try to handle Kaito, but I think Kaito's going to slip through the cracks, since he's someone any of the others can care for, whereas Hajime and Makoto have to be Shuichi's job, and he has to tend to them separately because they make each other worse.

This is going to lead to drama, because while Shuichi never blames Makoto for anything, he does hold Hajime's actions against him. Makoto is going to come to Hajime's defense when this all comes to a head, after the disease has passed. Ultimately, it'll make their bonds stronger, but Shuichi does need to go through some anger at Hajime so he can come to terms with the fact that he's just a person doing his best instead of a superhuman being selfish. And Shuichi will ultimately realize that some of his disappointment comes from how much he respects and admires Hajime.

Or, all three infected are Hajime's friends. This hearkens to their past as Remnants of Despair AND brings Hajime's preference for protecting his friends sharply into focus, after Trial 2 and his conversation with Shuichi. He's probably introduced himself to the group as the Ultimate Medic anyway, since that's the most useful talent to fess up to, so he's protecting and caring for three of his friends while trusting Makoto and Shuichi to look out for the others.

Or, all three protags get infected and it's just up to everyone else to keep them in order. No one knows to stop Makoto from spouting out things he knows, so he's talking to everyone. Crying at Kyoko like, "You and Hina were best friends. Don't you feel it?!" until Fuyuhiko and Himiko drag him to bed. Shuichi gets symptoms that make him super accusatory. Not in the way Nagito was under Despair Disease; he's not just making random wild accusations. His accusations are calculated for maximum distress. Telling everyone Kokichi is the mastermind, telling Byakuya the mastermind is one of his brothers, etc. Fortunately, Akane and Kaito pretty much tune it all out as sick talk and make sure he's taken care of. Kaito might catch the disease from him, though; I feel like he's extra sensitive to it.

Man, imagine having a cast so packed that I don't take the opportunity to give Kokichi truth disease.

(Whatever the case, this chapter could be first time one of Hajime's friends die.)

[horizon-verizon]

I've thought about this again because I saw some posts that spoke in favor of Elia, against Rhaegar/Lyanna and many mix the two canons. I personally think they were in love and I've always been curious how Martin would handle it when we had the "ultimate truth" and I have been indifferent to whether Elia knew/agreed/there was bigamy/a secret third option.

I like Rhaegar from the books quite a bit, but among the mountain of horrible things S8 did was make me really dislike the character and fans of Rhaegar and Jon. And I can't blame Elia or Anti Rhaegar fans when they use the show's canon (but I do wish they would acknowledge that that's unlikely what happened in the books).

Every time I remember that show!Rhaegar unilaterally and without notifying anyone ANNULLED the marriage with Elia, transformed his children into bastards and named his new son AEGON I want to strangle him and kill him. According to the show's backstory, Elia died and was held hostage for an engagement that was already void. Rhaenys and Aegon lost their rights, were abandoned and died because of a shitty father (When I have to assume it was relatively good in the books because Rhaenys goes to hide in his room, his daughter associates him with safety). I have no words for how absolutely disgusting it is to throw away a child and give that same name to the 2.0 model.

And all of this was done with the intention of legitimizing poor, innocent Jon Snow and giving him a "stronger"* claim to the throne over his aunt who was going "mad" and "power-hungry when the throne "always" was Jon's "rightful" birthright.

I pray that neither of the two things (Rhaegar annulled his marriage and and Jon's Targ name is Aegon) whatever it ends up on paper because literally any fan theory over the years has been better and it wouldn't feel like the character assassination that I felt that creative decision was.

I have a post explaining why I do not think Rhaegar was THE devil with how he handled stuff w/Lyanna and Elia HERE AND why Lyanna is and never was his "war prize" HERE. And in it, I also make it clear how/why Rhaegar actually did not canonically (bk) abandon his kids...but it was more that he couldn't be at 3 places at once.

*EDIT 1/12/2025* Overall, Rhaegar failed bc he was way too idealistic that he let ideas of heroism carry him away from observing issues with is own acrions or how e implemented a lot of them. So he was both irresponsible in one sense and was obsessed w/fufilling an ultimate level of "responsibility" through a prophecy I think he took as way to justify/redeem te corruption around him. Yes, he wanted to be "authentic", but went about it unfairly & disastrously under that inevitable weight. *END OF EDIT*

🤗. Thank you, anon, another take I agree with! I can't totally blame those Elia stans either for how they feel abt Rhaegar of either book or show when yes his affair with Lyanna--even if he had never loved Elia that way--is an social affront to Elia, and the show made it worse with Rhaegar somehow deciding to fuck over his own kids Henry VIII style in the way you describe (idw to repeat myself or you). And for some reason, I haven't really ever come to the realization that he'd be "giving" his leg son's name to his ileg son in the context of his having emotionally/politically affronted Elia. If it is just about the "sanctity" of marriage and a misunderstanding of what marriage is, I lean towards @faintingheroine's (deactivated) reblog:

I think people also simply emotionally understand cheating more than they understand actual physical violence. Cheating is something people can relate to their own lives. Whereas violence of this kind is something that most of us will hopefully never have to deal with. But it is a very flawed and myopic way to look at high-stake stories like this one of course.

I def understand some's arguments for why Elia WAS totally against Rhaegar for his liasion w/Lyanna both for her own sake and their kids. Aside from just not wantin that shame or to share a spouse. But the show's explanation for Rhaegar and Lyanna being for Jon having legitimacy is not for Elia but for Daenerys and the show's attempt to mitigate her role for said Jon Snow. Because the narrative is about the misinterpretations of the kind of heroism as in who we should love but who is using their power for a "greater good". Rhaegar was trying to balance the immediate political landscapes with future possible events that he likely thought had to be addressed as soon as possible, but it also didn't mean he didn't also make more personal self concerned choices but even this doesn't mean that he was always selfish when we see clearly canon evidence of the reverse.

I do "blame" those who think Rhaegar abandoned Elia and his kids to his abusive father for Lyanna or that he legitimized/tried to legitimize his child by Lyanna BY CANON. That shit's annoying. Neglect for te sake of te prophecy, yeah sure but leave beind to Aerys, no.

I suppose the reason why people like you and I have been "indifferent" to whether Elia knew abt the affair and how she'd take it and whether or not she "agreed" is that:

a) we simply don't know yet/GRRM has only ever said it was a "complex" relationship b/t her and Rhaegar...whatever that means

b) GRRM's handling of age gap relationships IN WORLD reflects both strange medieval-ish ideas of youth and sexuality AND how he's not really "in the know of" how such relationships work, thus they don't really materialize "realistically" in the book as they would other than with Dany and Drogo (Dany and Drogo is a slave-master situation...Lyanna chose Rhaegar under no compulsion from him)...so IN WORLD, it's far more likely that Rhaegar didn't actually seek prey in Lyanna for her youth/vulnerability (as Robert, Craster, some slave masters, Walder Frey, etc. do) nor "hated" Elia. But that he just really fell for Lyanna AND wanted to make sure the prince that was promised prophecy come to fruition at the same time. That he felt torn between these two--

(not that he used Lyanna for the prophecy, but that these two things AS WELL AS HIS KIDS, likely came at odds in terms of "what can I do to make these two things happen without compromising the other"...perhaps, after a life of performing "duty" towards his family, dynasty, the "world", Lyanna is the "love" that NARRATIVELY becomes his "weakness" in a long career of putting "duty" first [when he also has been emotionally distant and set against by his own father's paranoia and abuse for years by this point] bc he finally gets to perform something not intertwined with a sense of this great pressure of "duty". Even though I def headcanon he was attracted to Lyanna for how she views/acts out justice and all that --THIS DOESN'T MAKE HIS ACTIONS NOT "STUPID" OR HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH LYANNA ANY LESS EXRAMARITAL. I'M PROVIDING CONTEXT PEOPLE MAY NOT BE INVESTIGATING IN THEIR ASSESSMENTS AND ANSWERING THE QUESTION THEY MAY HAVE FOR WHY HE WOULD SUCH A THING, FILLING IN BLANKS HERE, PEOPLE AND SAYING THAT THE TRAGEDY HERE IS THAT THE LOVE COULDN'T BE BECASUE OF POLITICAL ARRANGEMENTS)--

bc I think he left Dragonstone with some of his crew to explore some secrets for said prophecy AND to possibly meet up with Lyanna, maybe partly to keep her safe from his own father and/or Robert, and while there are many fans who have cited he was "obsessed" with prophecies and not enough on his own family, I think they forget that the entire series is devoted to what and how one transforms their own privilege or suffering into "duty" towards those needing protection on a wider scale, and the prophecy is critical towards that--to "save the world" has been Rhaegar's most enduring goal. Perhaps there are those affronted by the idea that he was more "torn" abt the prophecy vs Lyanna versus the prophecy/world-saving versus Elia, or as they interpreted was happening

c) even if Rhaegar had stayed with his part of the family, he'd been called to arms for his father and if he didn't that's treason/endangers his part of the family...this is in answer to those arguing how Rhaegar's infidelity puts Elia's and their kids' lives in danger

The prophecy is about saving the world, yes? It's also very possible Rhaegar was "melancholy" all his life bc:

from his birth--connected to Summerhall & the continued Targ search to reconnect with their dragonflame origins and possibly use it to bring about some changes (necessary or not) in the world where they straddle the line between Other and exceptional--he's lived with a continued sense of isolation

he wanted to be a person responsible for "renewing" the world from Targaryen & other Westerosi destructive actions from the past centuries nearly similar to how Dany is now using Dragons to reverse the effects of Valyrian slavery in Essos's current slave system...which is destroying the entire slave system. For Rhaegar, that was bringing about the Prince that was Promised; the specifics, we simply do not know and that's the part of the mystery to be "solved" in WoW.

[manygeese]

@lost-trio-week day 4: godly parent swap

~*~

Lightning cracked like a whip, splitting the night sky in fractured halves.

That was when Leo knew he was in for an interesting evening.

The deck, once blissfully dry, was suddenly pelted with a relentless rain. Leo’s hair was flattened to his head in an instant. Hazel had abandoned the son of Aphrodite as soon as the ominous clouds had started closing in on the sun, which he couldn’t blame her for. It was every demigod for themselves when it came to storms, whether they be natural, caused by venti, or from a not so secret third option: Piper.

Like the thunder itself, Piper’s frustrated cry rose from the lower decks of the Argo II, telling him all he needed to know about what sinister force was behind the sudden hurricane. With a sigh and an executive decision to leave Coach Hedge by himself for night watch, Leo slid down the stairway banister and found himself in the darkest depths of the hold. When one of them had problems, all of them had problems, so he had decided to go get Jason first.

A warm, familiar glow came from the end of the hallway. The engine room’s double doors were slightly open, letting the light from the forge escape its metal prison, if only from a skinny sliver between wall and door.

Something was afoot- Jason never left the door to the engine room open. Even when he wasn’t in it. Leo theorized that it was because the son of Vulcan liked it stuffy in his work places. He could just never seem to get warm enough.

Creeping up to the gap in the darkness, Leo peered into the engine room like a four year old trying to catch Santa in the act of laying presents under the Christmas tree.

Usually, he would have seen Jason hammering away at one pet project or another, or sticking his torso completely into the activated engine to fix something, which never failed to make Leo yelp and attempt to pull him out. He swore Jason did it on purpose. Piper could also be found there. Right behind the daughter of Zeus’ own cabin or the upper deck, she spent the most time doodling in the engine room or trying to help with repairs.

But that night, Leo found Jason all alone, head in hands, no Piper in sight.

Yup. Something was definitely afoot.

“Jason, do you mind telling me why the door was open?” Leo asked, stepping into the abnormally hot room and shutting the door behind him. He slipped a little charmspeak into his voice, since Jason usually couldn’t resist the stuff.

But Jason’s mouth just warbled and released a truly pathetic whimper along with a puff of steam. No eagerness to explain, like the Roman golden child was prone to show, or even his signature big dumb puppy eyes.

“Jason,” Leo admonished, feeling distinctly like he had come home to a ripped up sofa and a guilty-looking dog.

Jason screwed his eyes shut and shook his head. Flames licked around his hands, which were covering his face.

“Okay, dude,” the charmspeaker scoffed, turning around to leave, “be that way. If you don’t want to talk, I guess I’ll just head over to Piper’s…”

“Wait! Don’t leave!” Came the desperate, but not unexpected response.

Jason had played right into his hands, as usual. “If you want me to stay, you have to tell me why you’re moping and if it has anything to do with Piper’s stress-storming.”

The other boy broke out his signature big dumb puppy eyes. Honestly, Leo would have been more worried if he hadn’t.

“Wuh oh, looks like I’m leaving the room… I wonder if there’s anything a certain blond mechanic could do about it…”

“Okay, okay, you win,” Jason relented, pushing himself back up to his feet and approaching Leo like a wild animal, hands raised in surrender and apprehension.

“Earlier today, me and Piper had deck duty, right?” Jason started, hand reaching back to itch his neck. “And she brought up the prophecy.”

Leo sucked in a breath through his teeth. Discussing the prophecy was huge no no. After the fight with Khione on the way to Epirus, Leo had put it on the List of Banned Topics, 1984 style. It was right up there with the best ice cream flavor (controversial, Piper said it was neapolitan when it was clearly moose tracks) and what they were going to do after the war (better not to jinx it).

“She was talking about one of us dying again. She wanted to make me pinky promise that I would let her do it.”

There was a tense silence. “Did you?”

“No.”

Leo heaved a relieved sigh. “Good.”

“Instead, I tried to make her pinky promise that she’d let me do it.”

“Oh, come on, man.” Leo plugged his ears and tried to forget what he just heard.

The prophecy made him feel helpless. His two best friends were the key players, storm and fire themselves, and he was just Leo. A scrawny, weak demigod whose only use was his pretty voice. Half the time, he was just the damsel in distress, and the other half, he was the mediator. And sure, Annabeth had told him that “peacekeeper is an important job, it’s crucial that you get it right, blah blah blah responsibility, blah blah blah use your empathy,” but it was hard to believe that whoever was essentially just a let’s-all-get-along-and-make-friendship-bracelets hippie was as important as the slayer of Gaea.

The slayer of Gaea who would wind up getting themselves killed.

The fact of the matter was: one of his best friends would die saving the world, and there was nothing Leo could do about it.

“Hey, don’t cry, Leo, it wasn’t like she actually did it or anything,” Jason reasoned, reaching for the other boy’s hand. Leo clutched at it before it could even brush his fingers.

“That doesn’t make me feel any better, dumbass.” Leo squeezed Jason’s hand in his to a rhythm that didn’t really matter, it just felt right. “I made a pinky promise with you and Piper that we’d never talk about the prophecy again, and yet, here we are. They aren’t exactly sworn on the Styx.”

Jason pursed his lips and moved his other hand to pat him on the back. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words died on his tongue.

After a minute of thoughtful silence, Leo couldn’t take it anymore. “You’re coming with me,” he demanded. The charmspeak wasn’t even a secret.

If he was going to be the mediator, he was going to be the best damn mediator in the history of ever. It was the least he could do.

One forceful knock on the door labeled “PIPER ONLY, NO BOYS OR EQUINES ALLOWED” (complete with stick figure drawings of who appeared to be Percy and Blackjack. There had been an Accident, and the less said about it, the better) later, Leo and Jason had marched their way right up to Piper’s desk.

Leo poked her in the shoulder. “Piper.”

“Leo,” she grumbled, rubbing her temples as she sat up, “I’m really not feeling well right now, so if you could be quiet, that’d be-”

“I know that you two have been talking about the prophecy. Without me.”

Piper blanched and directed her gaze to Jason as a peal of thunder rang out in the distance. “I thought we agreed to not tell him about it.”

Jason fiddled with the strap of his goggles. “Well, I thought it was a little unfair for him to not be in the loop.”

“He was never supposed to know!”

“Listen, it’s not like I was going to let you commit suic-”

Leo groaned. “Stop. Talking. Or I swear to the Gods, I will feed you to Gaea myself.”

That shut them up pretty quick.

“Piper, you were willing to pull that shit. Why?” Leo huffed, crossing his arms and hoping he cut an intimidating figure.

“I- I…” she stammered, fidgeting with her sweatshirt sleeves, which were popping with static electricity, “I wanted to keep you safe.”

Leo scoffed. “And how, pray tell, would your death keep me safe?”

Piper fell silent for a second. The quiet fell over the room like a sheet of glass balancing on the tip of a finger- unstable, ready to fall at any moment, sharp, pointed, and shaky.

She broke it first with an involuntary cry. “You love Jason more than me,” she managed. “If (I) died, you’d both be happier than if… if he died.”

Leo’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. His hands went up to his face to cover his gaping mouth because he knew it wasn’t going to shut on its own, and his godly mother had once told him that it wasn’t attractive to look like a dehydrated fish. He wished that hadn’t been the one thing that stuck with him from his brief encounter with Aphrodite. “What?”

“You know it’s true,” Piper insisted, averting her eyes. Crack, said the thunder.

“When- why? What? Huh? Who told you this?”

“Just a hunch.” She shrugged, as if she was just telling him she wasn’t sure what she wanted for dinner.

“Well, your hunch couldn’t be more fucking wrong, you goddamn idiot. I love the hell out of you, in case you haven’t noticed already,” he exclaimed, shaking her by the shoulders. He let out a sigh and pulled her into a hug when she started to frown like a baby about to cry. “Get in here, Jason. Contrary to what’s apparently popular belief, I don’t want either of you to die and I intend on showing you that once and for all.”

There was another type of silence, now. One that could take over a space like the draping of a blanket accompanied by the wish of sweet dreams. A quiet that would reign once a head with drooping eyes met a soft pillow after a long day.

The lack of sound was lifted when Leo spoke in the most delicate of whispers. “What are the chances I can convince Annabeth to lend us her laptop to watch movies on?”

Piper chuckled. “I’d never bet against you, Leo.”

[kyluxtrashpit]

Transferring this post from twitter, with some edits and additions, because the mess that was the development of the sequel trilogy fascinates me on an extremely deep level

Okay so. You’re probably aware that Adam Driver gave an interview a few weeks ago where he said that the original plan for Kylo in the sequel trilogy was to get progressively eviler throughout. Which I’m not here for redemption vs corruption arc discourse, that’s not what this post is (because I prefer a secret third option), and what I want to dig into here is what makes this an incredibly curious statement

Because this is the first time anyone involved with the ST has mentioned there ever being a plan. So, let’s explore that for a second because why is he saying something that’s completely at odds with every other piece of information we have?

(behind a cut for length, as I went and pulled a bunch of interview quotes and other materials and then analyzed them, you can scroll to the very bottom for my conclusions if you like)

So first, I went and found this, which I purchased many many years ago in 2017

In it, an interview with RJ himself confirms what the story has been for a long time: there was no plan, there was no required plot points, no endgame to lead to, just absolute freedom (I recall reading this then and feeling a spark of confusion and concern - what do you mean there was no plan?) 

I also found this, and while I don’t have the TLJ art book to verify it, another person on twitter confirmed it and also advised that RJ was even in the know regarding the Aftermath series (confirmed by him and Chuck Wendig at a convention) - so he knew a lot. And this plus the above shows that if there was a plan, it was abandoned before TFA was even released, likely even before it finished filming

And then we have the rather well known moment when JJ himself pretty much confirmed that the ST should have had a plan (question asked was about sw, even if JJ didn’t say it himself). Could this be shade at abandoning a plan instead of never having one? Maybe. But it’s unclear 

And as our last piece of evidence, we have confirmation from RJ that he asked JJ to change the ending of TFA. Which once again shows TFA was not finished when RJ, who explicitly said he was given no plan to follow, was writing TLJ

And that was the story all along, confirmed multiple times over. We can say for sure that as of the writing for TLJ being started, which was before TFA was even finished, let alone released, there was no plan. So it is certain that if there ever was a plan, that plan was abandoned at the very latest in early 2015, but I suspect 2014 is more likely

So why would AD say there ever was one? He has no reason to lie and I don’t think he is, he has nothing to gain and everything to lose by doing so. But with so many other pieces of evidence directly contradicting what he’s saying, I think we can also say that RJ is telling the truth too. But how can both be true?

Well, knowing the mess that is d/lf and also how disney treats actors I think it’s one of two possibilities:

Option 1: there was indeed a plan, likely pitched by JJ himself, and that d/lf agreed to that plan with no intention of ever following it through. They sold the actors on the plan, telling them it was a capital P Plan, but then didn’t ever tell them it had stopped being the plan, so that’s also why we saw the actors becoming increasingly frustrated throughout the series. They were told there was a plan, what the plan was, and then watched none of that come to fruition because it had secretly been abandoned long ago without their knowledge. It’s extremely scummy, but I could see disney doing it

Option 2: the plan was never a firm capital P Plan but rather was just the initial concept JJ had. No one ever committed to it, but since the actors couldn’t see the script, JJ’s initial vision was used as a “here’s my concept” kind of thing to sell the actors on without it being a firm plan. Just a concept that was used at the time but later discarded, as I’m sure a good number of concepts were. But it would be easy for that to get misinterpreted by the actors, and this gives us the less scummy option on the mouse’s part because it’s more about miscommunication than anything else

And if it is option 2, it’s also possible that the actors did know it wasn’t an confirmed plan, just a concept, but clung to those concepts since they were all they had. Which I can understand, given that not knowing the eventual story makes their jobs harder. I can totally see AD sticking with that initial concept even if he knew it wasn’t a “plan” per se, because he had literally nothing else to go on and he needed something to play the role. And once again, given how increasingly frustrated the cast got over the course of the trilogy, I suspect this experience would have been shared among the whole cast

Overall, I lean towards option 2 on this, because even though I do think disney is pretty fucking evil, option 1 might actually be a contract violation or at least open up the possibility of one. And plus, the entire story group would have had to be in on it, and if they did straight up knowingly lie to the entire cast and JJ, I just feel like that would be something which that many people can’t keep secret (plus wouldn’t RJ have accidentally spilled the beans when talking to JJ? Or was he in on it too? Too many players imo). I know it’s disney, but still, things leak all the time (as those of us who followed the tfa or tros leaks know lmao). Plus, I do agree with the adage of assuming stupidity over overt malice when in doubt, so I’m going to stick with that here

So ultimately, my suspicion is this was never a true, capital P, confirmed Plan, but rather the initial concept they used in place of a real plan (which they never made) because d/lf had nothing else to use to sell the actors on it and the actors had nothing else to cling to when actually playing the characters, so they used it where they needed gaps filled. And with it being more likely just a vague concept that was never committed to and was abandoned in 2014 than anything else, well, no matter how good or bad it might have been, I don’t even think it’s worth considering as something we ever would have gotten. It clearly wasn’t in the stars (ha) from very early on and thus belongs in the pile with the rest of the surely very numerous concepts that never came to fruition

And this, kids, is why trilogies need to be fucking planned lmfao

[undertale-fic-librarby]

Do you have any recs for good isekai/transmigration stories? Especially the "reader is a sans" type of isekai. Thank you in advance!

Howdy, thanks for asking! Here are some fics that might fit what you're looking for!

Kiss Me, Kill Me (And a Secret Third Option) by Embrace_the_Deep (Teen And Up, Incomplete)

What had Ink tried calling him again? Someone named Killer? As fitting as that name would have been for the previous owner of his body, he clearly remembered that he had been referred to as 'Sans' in the blurred bits of memories. Maybe he was being mistaken for someone else. He hopes he never meets this actual 'Killer', but even if they were some sort of shady person- skeleton- thing, that doesn't excuse kidnapping a stranger and chaining them to the floor of your home after nearly killing them! With the most unimpressed expression he could muster, Quill forced the aching phalanges of his right hand into a wrist-up fist, and extended his middle finger. i.e. A self-indulgent crack-treated-seriously fic featuring isekai!Killer vs. the Multiverse. Enjoy!

Reincarnated as an Ink! by LalaAnAbsolute (Not Rated, Incomplete)

A person is reincarnated as an Ink sans and has no clue on what's going on. I don't claim any characters or Aus.

Beautiful Blue Strings by AyoNaze (Not Rated, Incomplete)

What if you woke up as Error Sans today. What would you do? Panic? Grieve for the and people things you left behind? Yeah, most people would react that way, but not them. They didn't have much to leave behind anyway. They were perfectly fine being the Destroyer of AUs himself. They would rather sit back, watch the Multiverse burn as they break the records of being the most apathetic Error Sans in existence, coming out of the Anti-Void when needed. It was a pretty nice gig, just relaxing like this. Was. Since when did people start calling them God? Even better, since when did people think it was a good idea to worship them?? Gods, when will the misunderstandings stop pilling up?!

Monochrome by ChainedCanary (Teen And Up, Incomplete)

You didn’t want to disappear as a nobody. You wanted to be someone. Heh. You should really be careful what you wish for.

Reincarnated and Soulless, Yet I Create by GhostinthePepper (Teen And Up, Incomplete)

You don't need a soul to reincarnate. If a certain powerful deity wanted to she could rip your consciousness from your soul and attach it to another body. It is truly tragic then that Fate wanted a soulless god of creation, taking the soul from a recently dead creator who wanted to keep creating. I was that unfortunate creator. I had never finished any of the AUs I had made, desperately wanting more than anything to finish what I started rather than abandon my creations to die. Well, be careful what you wish for. [On indefinite hiatus]

[stromuprisahat]

Siege and Storm- Chapter 13 (Leigh Bardugo)

I can interpret show!Zoya's change of alliance easily. She was present on the skiff, she saw Aleksander move the Fold, she was jealous he's no longer interested in her, so she switched sides for the one that served ~her~. Fuck the army and the guy, who doesn't favour me anymore,- let's save MY aunt (and thwart a strategic move I don't care about even though I'm familiar with its purpose) and get rid of the dick, who humiliated me by replacing me by another.

Selfish? Yes.

Short-sighted? Absolutely.

Yet it DOES make sense.

But book!Zoya?!

There are rumours Novokribirsk is Darkling's fault, but no survivors. All Grisha are blamed (and hunted) also, hell, even the capital wasn't safe for them! Her aunt's dead (due to her own idiocy)- sad. How does any of that translate into "Let's kiss the ass of the girl I've hated since the day one (and who stole Daddy's attention and made him take my amplifier)"?!

Is it because she got let down by the Darkling- "her" spot on the sun (Pun intended.) given to another, who never did anything for it, her amplifier (She TOOK from others.) confiscated, and even if Darkles weren't to blame for the Fold and pogroms after, he FAILED TO PREVENT IT?!

Is it because Alina's in the Crown's favour now, so she's the safe option?!

Is it the math of The Fold made by a Darkling expands = another Darkling's fault => join the opposite force?!

All I can come up with is either selfish, childish or both.

Her distaste towards Alina's caused by Darkles too, isn't it? If HE didn't want Zoya to adore him, she wouldn't mind the undeserving girl, who got everything with zero effort... even this aspect of her enmity is discredited by her actions. While I can understand hating you're working hard for less appreciation, than someone, who has everything falling into their lap, abandoning the blind leadership FOR the undeserving rival's beyond me.

Why doesn't Zoya aim for leading position herself, if she believes herself to be SO good?

Why doesn't she cooperate with Sergei (Oh yeah, he's Corporalnik and she haven't left the world of high school cliques yet.)?

Why does she switch someone she doesn't idolize anymore for someone she despises, instead of looking for a secret third thing?!

How does her tragic loss translate into "I'll back up the incompetent girl I hate"?!

Sure, Alina's THE Sun Summoner, but Zoya's not a religious person, and Sergei's points about Alina being unfit to lead the Second Army are justified.

[sincerely-sofie]

omg wAIT this question’s been in my brain for a while - if grovyle’s name is clover, and celebi’s name is skye, what would dusknoir’s name be? would he ever reveal it to the rest of the future trio? to twig? dID TWIG GET ENOUGH REST AND STAY HYDRATED TODAY

Dusknoir has had multiple names throughout his life, given to him by multiple people. It's hard not to describe those names without describing his backstory as well... So let's get into the meat and potatoes!

The first name he received was after he reached his second birthday. The group of ghost, dark, and steel-types he was hatched into didn't name their children before they'd survived to that point. This was a tradition rooted in how infant survival rates were so low, and waiting to name a child helped the group avoid getting attached "too early" in their eyes. As was tradition in the group, he was initially named after a recent misfortune that faced the group— Famine, in his case— to keep the memory of the struggle fresh in their minds, and to keep them mindful of future struggles.

After growing into adulthood, he was given another name: Solace. The group gifted virtue names to their young adults to give them something to build their new lives around— to provide them a sort of direction, a goal. Solace eventually left the group he grew up in and set off in search of his namesake, having gone through a strange period of sorrow that had no apparent cause and which persisted for several months, stretching out into the start of his journey.

He returned not long after, as the sorrow had come and gone with little fanfare— one day he woke up and didn't feel hopeless and mournful immediately upon doing so— and found the group struggling to survive. Something about them had caught Primal Dialga's attention, and that attention came with it explosive anger and immeasurable violence. Solace came up with a plan to turn Dialga's hatred elsewhere by feeding him false information about a secret rebellion against him forming in the valley over thataway. Unfortunately, Dialga decided his group were the only people he could trust amidst the imagined rebellion threatening to overthrow him. A number of the adults in the group were picked to be Dialga's trusted servants, with Solace numbered among them.

Unluckily for them, it turned out there was a conspiracy against Dialga— a legend called Celebi was enlisting the assistance of mortals to travel back in time and prevent the Future they lived in from ever occurring. None of them stayed committed to her plot for long after entering the Past, and they always chose to live out their days in the era of calm before the storm, but she didn't show any sign of giving up on her plan.

During this period of time, Solace rescued a set of sextuplets from a cave-in that had orphaned them, and had taken on the task of raising these children left adrift in the wake of tragedy. He dedicated most of his time to their upbringings, and Dialga made his displeasure at him neglecting his duties clear— Solace was forced to choose between abandoning the young sableyes that he'd taken in, an action that would likely lead to their eventual deaths, and refusing the command of a Legend, an act that guaranteed it. He chose a third option— he told Dialga that he was training up the sableye to become new additions to his throng of servants. Dialga bought the lie, but expected them to be viable additions sooner rather than later, and Solace had to work hard to train these poor kids to fight viciously enough that they wouldn't be gutted the second Dialga demanded their service in stomping out the rebellion that Celebi was still eagerly stirring up.

The sableye started calling him Obsidian after a time, apparently either after some folk hero or storybook character he'd never heard of. The name swiftly devolved into him being called Obbi as well when in private, safely out of the sight of Dialga, when they could forget the roles of master and servant and resume the odd family atmosphere that formed about them.

Flash forward to after TPiaG. A little girl— an infant so small she fits comfortably in the palm of one hand, and so delicate she feels likely to blow away with a single breath— looks him in the face and calls him Grandpa.

All of that backstory aside: Dusknoir is very private, and doesn't speak of his past much. He wouldn't plan to give any of his names to the members of their motley crew, but when Grovyle laments missing Twig calling him Clover toward the beginning of the Future Trio living together, he'd share his own homesickness for being called Solace, or even the nostalgia of being addressed as Famine.

Grovyle wouldn't address him as either name after this— Dusknoir doesn't really like people using the names in conversation unless they're one of the people who gave him them, like the sableye calling him Obsidian or the nicknames they derived from it— but Dusknoir feels a lot better knowing that he's now not the only person who knows him by those names.

Celebi has a similar interaction with Dusknoir, but reversed— she comforts him when he briefly, dismissively mentions the longing he has associated with his old names, and tells him that he's lived up to his virtue name very well.

Twig probably wouldn't ever learn the names she wasn't around to hear be first given, and wouldn't use them as a result. However, she's always used his species name as if it belonged only to him— and has gone on detailed rants about how strange it was to have another Dusknoir introduce herself as such. She gave him a name of her own, in a way, strange as it was.

Also: It was an unseasonably hot day in Verdant Village and Twig was chugging water and juice all day to cope. She took a nap to catch up on sleep after a bad night for insomnia. It wasn't a very successful nap, thanks to a squirmy little Opal demanding she be included despite refusing to settle down and actually sleep, but she got some good bonding time with her baby— so she'd count that as a win.

[tea-cat-arts]

Disclaimer: this is 3am rambling. Whether or not this rant ends up being a cohesive thought is between me and God. Also, I'll be switching around what pronouns I use for Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan every paragraph

"Shi Qingxuan should've chosen He Xuan! Shi Qingxuan would never chose anyone other than his brother-" man, if choosing He Xuan was one of the options he was given, I honestly do think Shi Qingxuan would've taken it.

Cuz here's the thing: Shi Qingxuan was thoroughly sick of their brothers bs. They wanted to go their own way, they wanted to break out of the house, they wanted to handle their demons on their own, they wanted to choose their own gender expression without getting told to "put that thing away", they disagreed with their brothers actions and what he did to turn them into a god... they wanted to get away from their brother, but they never got the chance to unpack or deal with any of that because both of their lives were constantly being put in danger (so they were kinda distracted).

And I don't even know where to start with how Shi Wudu had been breaking down their self esteem, getting them to second guess all their wants/desires/choices, and pulling the "big brother knows best" card on them for god knows how long. I know it came from a place of love, but it still had to have done something to Shi Qingxuan's brain chemistry

Shi Qingxuan options were never "He Xuan or her Brother," it was "chose to abandon your luck for both your lives, or chose yourself and become a murderer" so ya, of course she's gonna go with the first option because she's not a terrible person. Shi Qingxuan probably would’ve chosen He Xuan (who was her best friend, who'd been going along with her antics for centuries, who remembered which resturant she wanted to go to even after the breakup), but that wasn't a card they put in her hands, and even if it was, its not a real card if she had to kill her brother to get it. At that point, giving up revenge and finding love again wasn't an option He Xuan had even considered yet, and it'd be unreasonable to suggest Shi Qingxuan should've come up with a secret third option off the top of her head given she only knew the full story for like what? A minute before she was forced to make a choice? And even though she tried choosing the option that would hurt the least amount of people, Shi Wudu could not for the life of him respect her choices. Kinda makes me think Shi Qingxuan never really was given any choices to make in the first place 😒

Anyways, I'm choosing to believe at some point, He Xuan realizes this, spends the rest of her life trying to make amends, they get some time being a ghost couple together, and then they eventually find peace and disappear into the afterlife

[nachosforfree]

you're correct!! it's Henry!!

this is. gonna require explaining Henry's weird ass family tree, so bear with me a minute.

to start off: Henry's biracial. he, effectively, has three dads - his birth father (died before he was born), his "dad" (Jen's father), and his stepdad (where he and Jen get the last name "Emily" from).

to give a brief rundown:

Henry's mom didn't like her husband (he sucked, trust me) and left him for Henry's bio dad.

Henry's bio dad, unfortunately, died a couple of months before he was born, leaving his mom without a lot of options but to return to her old husband.

Henry and Jen grow up around him for around twelve years before the guy gets arrested for almost killing someone in a bar fight.

enter their stepdad, and the rest is history.

Henry's mom and Jen both have red hair, and Jen has green eyes. both Jen and Henry have freckles.

now onto my attempt to describe Henry, or at least the parts that are relevant to this (i cannot describe appearances through words to save my life, so if something's worded weird, then that's why):

Henry skin is a lighter shade than Charlie or Sammy, but like. he's still Visibly a POC, if that makes sense.

Henry's hair is a really dark brown, but it has a very slight red tint to it that's practically unnoticeable unless the light hits it right.

as you can probably guess, He's Transmasc.

now, onto what happened:

Will and Henry slept together one night in mid-1974. i don't exactly know what William thought was going to happen, but maybe he was cocky enough to think "well, what are the odds anything's gonna happen? i'm sure it'll be fine"

fast forward a little while later and Surprise Surprise, Henry's Pregnant, And William's The Father.

after a little bit of panic and trying to figure out what to do, Henry comes up with a plan: whichever parent the baby visibly takes after more, that's who gets them.

Genetics Fucks Them Over - Elizabeth is born (Feb. 16th, 1975) and. she's white. there ain't no way in hell Henry could pass Liz off as his and Annabeth's child, no way in hell. so, who gets the baby? William.

Will just comes up with a story that oh, he just found her abandoned somewhere and took her in as his daughter. Claire, Henry, and Anna just help him keep up the lie (because it's that or Henry gets outed as a trans man, and guess what William's not gonna do). it hurt Henry, to some degree, to have to act like Liz wasn't also his baby, that he was just a family friend, but...well, he doesn't really have another Option that isn't significantly worse for him than this one.

now...why does William specifically say that Liz is adopted and not that she's his and Claire's biological child? two reasons! 1) Claire obviously hadn't been pregnant before this, so William couldn't have lied about that in the first place, and 2) Claire was a black woman. so in two different ways, William couldn't just say Liz was a child that he'd had with Claire; that lie would've fallen apart at the seams immediately.

and it works...for a few years. specifically, up until late 1979, when Liz is four.

Genetics Fucks Them Over 2: Electric Boogaloo - Liz gets older, and starts to Much More Obviously take after William. like, enough so to the point that William's "She's Adopted" lie starts to fall apart quick. William only has two real options: either out Henry, or keep his mouth shut and wait for things to blow over.

what he doesn't expect is someone coming in with the steel chair and giving him a secret third option.

enter Tammy Schmidt. she worked at the Diner, she had ginger hair, and her eyes were...more hazel than green, but it still worked. she even had some freckles! she claimed that she was Liz's mom, and...well, William just went with it. Henry was a lot less fine with having to go with it, for obvious reasons, but...well, he also didn't want to get outed. so his hands were kinda tied here.

so why'd she do this? well...there were some employees at the Diner who were Aware of things between Henry and Will, and some even knew Henry was trans, but they didn't really care enough to out either of them (and some really didn't want to, either). Tammy was one of them. she just told her bosses, after the wave of questions and backlash started coming to her, that they both owed her Big Time for this.

so yeah! it's...a long story, but there isn't really a Short way of explaining all that.

to summarize: Genetics Fucked William And Henry Over Really Bad, And It May Or May Not Have Been One Of The Plot Points That Would End Up Causing Things To Happen.

OHHHH VERY NEAT

I love when people have really fleshed out family trees and dynamics for the aftons and emilys❤️❤️

[the-bluepoet]

I’ll bite the bait

What’s the au? Is it like the characters in ponyo or a different plot ? Or is it like a third secret option ??

ily sm <3

ok so! I’d probably describe it as I have them set as the characters and a rough plot… all of the above really (it’s early I’m so sorry)

lemme just- long post WOOO

so scar is ponyo! look at him look at my lil babey in fish form

and grian as you might have figured is sosuke!

plot wise I do have it planned out roughly the same way ponyo is set, with the overall scar wants to be a human(?) like grian.

same as in the movie he kinda just *takes* [ooo spoiler]’s magic to have legs just like grian! and a tail and silly ears! he wants to be like grian! he wants to run around and play!

now Jimmy and Tango are loosely set as grian’s (sosuke’s) parents! y’all can decide who’s Lisa and who’s Koichi. I however refuse to separate them <3 they found grian as an abandoned egg and decided to raise him

now as for who’s gonna be fujimoto and granmamare, well :3 wait and see

I hope I covered everything waa

[vandal-flower]

Chapter 4 - So This Is Love

Blue Roses With Gold Lining

The day has ended and you recall Madam Gertrude's wise words. Wake up to a morning to a new routine and most importantly, a courtroom meeting held by the prince.

MALE LEAD: Michael Kaiser

W.C.: 2.2 words

WARNINGS:

Mentions of children, child abuse & neglect, reader takes a bathe, 'prostitute' is used x3, fatherless behavior from Michael.

I.¹ - ll.² - lll.³ - V.⁵ - VI⁶

"To the very point of having his child."

These eight words rung in your head while resting on your bed in your personal chambers. It reminds you like how your mother would reprimand you to not gag about hearing of how the ministers got their 'connections' in high places. Disgusting.

Having a child is sacred. The whole act of trying to have a child is sacred, it is supposed to show the bond between a woman and a man. It is supposed to show the love between these two people.

It's all in the name of love.

A sick and twisted version of it.

These women participating in this competition would have the prince's child to show how he 'loves' them so much, how they 'love' him so much. But in the end would neglect their own child, abuse their own child, once the prince abandons them.

And she knows this. The queen knows this. She has to.

There is a possibility that she is experienced in this. Why else would she give birth to Michael. Out of love? That's a foolish mindset to have.

It was to win.

To win the little game they play. The gamble which they bet their life on. Throw the dice and pray to whichever deity you pray to in order to win, or take it in your own hands. What's even worse is that the child's gender adds more tension.

A girl to sell off.

A boy to achieve greatness.

An heir to keep the royal bloodline flowing. To make a name in history.

To make a name in history...

History...

His story...

You wouldn't lie to yourself and say you never wanted your name to be written down in some book, but just your name. Having your good deeds written down as well would be great, but you can't be greedy now.

But the only thing keeping these shenanigans going is greed.

Focus (Name), you need to focus.

You can stress and think about the things at the back of your mind later, you have to focus on what you need to do. Remember what Madam Gertrude told you.

First, keep to yourself, but listen to the conversations of others that could be of benefit to you.

You could learn the secrets of others and their plans. You need to be one step ahead.

Second, don't raise your voice unless you want to look like a fool.

You could draw unwanted attention and could let others poke around you to make you look like a fool even more. Don't shout, but be loud enough to be heard.

Third, don't boast about your achievements. Even if you achieve something greater than the rest, that doesn't mean you are an inch away from death. Be proud of what you have done, but don't let it get into your head.

Fourth, act cautiously and carefully. You need to be aware of your surroundings and make sure your plans are planned cautiously and carefully. The last thing you want is for someone to know what you're doing.

Fifth, become allies to people who vow not to betray you. Finding people who's trust could be an asset to you can get you places. Befriending them could at least lead you to an advantage.

Sixth and finally, win the loyalty of the prince, not his heart. Even if a king says he loves you, he still has his concubines. His loyalty can last for years and is of great power and a weapon to slaughter your enemies.

Madam Gertrude must of had strong faith of you to tell you this. Your main goal is to survive, as well as Michael's little task for you.

You yawn and rub your eyes. It's the end of the day, of course you would be tired, especially from the events that happened today. You change into a night gown to sleep. It's a good thing your head servant packed the one you wanted instead of your parents' option. You'll thank her when you see her.

Before drifting off to sleep, you take one last look at the blue roses outside the window.

You wonder if you could take a closer look at them.

You wake up to one of the servants gently patting you on the back. Had it not been for this damn competition, you would've ignored and gone back to sleep. Even though you clearly need it, you can't let your intrusive thoughts gain power over you and win. You are in this mess because of it. You recall smacking away Michael's hand when he was touching you yesterday.

Definitely intrusive thoughts.

You sit up straight and look at the servant, she avoids eye contact by look down at the floor. You assume she is timid since all the servants you have at home look directly at you, but you remember how looking at people of great royalty can be considered a crime.

You must not forget that this place has the most prideful people to ever exist. One look at them and they turn it into a court case meant for first degree murder. People who act like that are sensitive, you think.

"Your grace, the prince has called for all the women participating in the competition to meet at the courtroom. He advices to be swift and to not be late.", she tells you, still looking at the floor.

"Thank you for informing me, you are dismissed.", you tell her, getting up from the bed and stretching before entering the bathroom.

"Um, your grace, I apologize for stopping you from what you are doing but...", she stammers through her words, but manages to catch your attention.

"Yes?"

"Servants are supposed to bathe you, not yourself. It is a must for all servants to treat the people staying in the palace to be treated with our utmost care."

Pardon.

You look at her wide-eyed. What do mean servants are supposed to bathe you? How was this normal? How can such rule cease to exist? You might as well abandon the logic you brought from home, because it honestly sounds ridiculous!

You take a deep breath and look at her. "Thank you for informing me once again, may you please prepare the bath for me."

"Of course your grace."

You enter the bathroom with her following you behind. She made sure the water was not too hot or too cold, just right. You undressed while she did so, removing your night gown and folding it to put it on top of the counter.

"Your bath is ready your grace.", she alerts you.

As you slowly entered the bathtub, she grabbed soap and a sponge to wash you.

If you could describe the overall experience in one word, it would be uncomfortable.

The silence was louder than anything you have ever heard in your life. You would rather hear bees buzzing, birds chirping, dogs barking, cats meowing for five minutes everyday, than go through this experience once everyday.

When she was done bathing you, she dressed you up and applied some make-up to you as well. The last thing she did was combing your hair. She made sure to get rid of the knots without hurting you.

A miracle worker you think.

One could argue that the servants are trained to give the best treatment to their guests, but you don't care. You rather have her do your hair for the rest of your life than anyone else.

By the time she was done with everything, she smiles to herself, proud of her work. "Your grace, why don't you go to the mirror to see how you look, I hope it is to your liking."

When you saw yourself, you were astonished.

The common phrase, 'Pain is Beauty, and Beauty is Pain.', somehow threw itself out of the window. Sure it is true to an extent, but at the end of the day it really depends how far you'll go in order to reach such beauty.

"Beautiful, thank you miss."

"My pleasure your grace. You should be at the courtroom right now, you should not be late."

Oh right. The meeting the prince held in the courtroom.

"Thank you for reminding me, have a good day!"

And like that you speed walked to the courtroom, making sure not to trip and fall on the way. Now that you think about it, telling a servant to have a good day isn't normal, but in they are still human and are forced to endure the scumbags in the palace, not to voice any complaint for the whole day. Why not give them a little kindness to start their day.

You enter the courtroom to see a ten women, Maria and Berdine being the two women you saw first. Seems not all of them have arrived despite being told to be swift.

Maria, who was standing with Berdine, waved her hands at you to grab your attention when she noticed you.

"(Name) you look absolutely stunning!"

"Oh, thank you. You look beautiful as well, you too Berdine.

"Why thank you!"

"Thank you (Name), though I am quite concerned. "

You and Maria turn to Berdine. "The others were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago, what's taking them so long?", she said to herself agitated.

"What if they just woke up, or are busy doing their make-up, or just busy doing something.", Maria said, smiling about her sudden assumptions. "I mean, after yesterday, who would want to be insult by the prince."

Or taken to his chambers to make a deal with him only to be sealed with a kiss. On the lips.

You recall the kiss from yesterday and how it felt. He has a terrible personality, comparable to garbage, but he is handsome. Surely you can let it slide just once...

No! Focus (Name)! You can't let some snotty prince's good looking self get into your head.

Your face becomes flushed and feels hot, catching the attention from the two women beside you.

"(Name), you are burning up are you sick, should we take you to your chambers?", Maria asked, her eyes large like jewels staring at you. "No need to be worried about me Marie, you too Berdine.", you look at her worried face. "I'm just embarrassed about yesterday that's all."

Berdine looks at you with an assuring look,"I'm sure you will be alright, I mean it's already the second day."

Before the three of you could continue talking, you were interrupted by three more women entering the courtroom, one of them being Morrigan. Two of the other women were whispering to her, attempting to calm her down.

"Calm down Morrigan."

"He's just playing with her, no need to mind her."

"But that bloody wench was clinging onto him like some prostitute, how the hell can I accept that?!"

Her face was red in anger as she tightly clenched her hands, her nails long enough that it could've cut her palms. Berdine stood forward and asked what had happened. The two women looked at each other worryingly before looking at her.

"One of the women who is also participating in the competition was found talking to the prince."

"And clinging onto his arm, like a prostitute, she was even bad mouthing us, all of us, saying she is better and how she'll win-"

"ENOUGH!"

Morrigan yelled, she then straightened her posture. "I, Morrigan Ernaline, will make sure that wench, little pest will be the first to die by my hand." Some women were unsettled of how she smiled at the thought of killing the suspected woman.

The doors suddenly opened to the prince and the woman herself. She clinged onto his arm, her breasts nearly falling out of her dress. No wonder they called her a prostitute. She nearly looked like one. Her pink hair and eyes don't help her situation at all, she may seem innocent, but her actions could tell a different story. The prince however...

Looked as if he was disappointed.

"You may get off me now.", he said with a disinterested tone. You almost feel hurt by how he sounds. "Oh, forgive me your majesty, you are just so handsome and strong that I could not help myself." She lets go off him, before kissing him on the cheek and walking off.

All of you are stunned.

Who does this woman think she is?!

Her actions towards the prince won't leave him guessing, but make him want to be away from her. Such act is probably to show she is better than us. Michael doesn't bother to wipe off the remains of the kiss, instead sighs to himself and smiles to himself.

"At least one of you are making a move on me, as aspected." "I called all of you here to explain how some of you are lacking."

Lacking?

"Some of you lack confidence, some have to learn their place, deflate your ego, and most importantly, abandon your old logic.", he said, his tone was condescending that some women flinched.

"Don't cry over spilled milk now, I won't make me any softer towards you, instead, show your affections or become someone of great use to me."

"It's your choice, princesses."

Some women just looked at the prince with shock, some smiled to themselves, others remained silent, but you couldn't care less. In order to gain his loyalty, you have to be of use to him. But you don't want him to use you, no. You want him to be of use to you.

This is how you will show him your affections.

How you want to show Michael Kaiser your affections and gain his loyalty.

Tagging:

@lightoftheamethyst

@kimura-uzuri

@kascar-chronicle

I apologize for taking so long, I was extremely busy and exams are coming up. My inbox is still open and just ask to be tagged in later chapters.