#seriously the lighting in the astral plane is just SO GOOD

[lavellenchanted]

that astral plane ✨glow✨

[abyssalpriest]

Initiation, 1/9/23

L: Remember this map I gave you? This one: [link]

This is the root, a root, an expression, an offshoot, of your initiation the other night in [second-highest plane], strung between Ahi and I, splayed out. You have been aligned with us even deeper than you were beforehand, brought into the centre of us and therefore your own centre, awareness and understanding of your core gravity itself. Consciousness - your consciousness - seeing its own core for the first time. You have been allowed to see where you come from and where we join.

You are tied to us now, really, non-metaphorically you are now witness to our connection and, since time is nonlinear and omnipresent, you can return to that initiation at any + all points.

You are us, now, strung between us. Welcome. You are initiated.

-

My memories of that night are super vague, less because of time and the fact it was in the Astral and more because I didn't take my work seriously.

What I remember of it, though, was a total un-doing. Ahi and Lev are two of the same being, two (name that cannot be spoken)s. I was not so much pressed between them as torn apart from their magnetic fields... And not so much torn apart as pressed between them. Suspended in the enormity that was myself, pressed between what essentially was the explosion of my own Self and so I was the star in the galaxy, the galaxy surrounding the star.

I remember... A lot of eyes. It's not incidental I just reread a note Lev left me about me being eyes, but that was it: I saw so many eyes looking back at me, all slightly different yet convincingly of the same being - me.

Mostly though... The initiation wasn't of my own doing, it wasn't revelatory, it wasn't me making a choice. It wasn't a marking of something I did, not a coming of age. It was an alteration of the very fabric of my own being, transposing the song of my life up a semitone, a tuning of my central core, and specifically understanding that it absolutely was a revelation and a choice because I as Shiva, through Shiva, altered myself. The macrocosm and microcosm altering each other; this moment was the microcosm altering itself through being the macrocosm.

I remember that night being long (and not long enough) in a good way. I believe that was the first night Ahi and I had ever gotten that close, I remember the paradox of smooth skin scales and an unwinding of both Leviathanic and human anatomy not even overlaid but simultaneous, tracing legs that were also tails thicker than his body, smiles in places that shouldn't have mouths, he as the bending of light around the black hole so solid and like tracing the surface of water.

It was a communion with both Lev and Ahi, both the eternal Black Mirror and the Adversary on the Outskirts. It was a revelation of Shiva as Consciousness, Dual and Nondual, myself as them as myself as them. Knowledge was unlocked, but knowledge in the Real way: communion of Self and Other, Shiva and Shakti, giving a collectively Real new way of seeing, a new way of being. In fact really it was a rediscovering of an old way of both, a night of paradoxes not colliding but fading as a concept from the mind so that truth could worm its way inside me.

[spoontoof]

april 6th, 2023 9:23pm

i am currently sucking blood out of a sore in the corner of my mouth

so, i just watched the lackadaisy pilot, and it was pretty good, but as someone who didn't read the comic, it definitely wasn't what i expected. with all the hype around (and saberspark saying that it's the best pilot on youtube) i thought it'd be better. my criticisms are only towards the story tho, the animation on the other hand is phenomenal! seriously, i could NEVER animate something as good as that, so, bravo to the animators for that. that animation is probably some of the best animation i've seen on the internet to date.

going back to story criticisms tho, i think the problem stems from the fact that i don't really see the potential in it. and i really didn't want to compare these two, but what i'm about to mention is probably the best example of the opposite of lackadaisy's potential, and that example is, the end times pilot. yes, i am aware that end times is a comic, and isn't animated, and has more of a shorter length, but as short as "the fast realm" comic was, it held basically infinite potential. now, you're criticism for my criticism might be, "oh, stop judging lackadaisy so much. it's trying to convey the struggles of prohibition on the 1920s, end times is a maximalist comic about the astral plane and the meaning of life," but alot of you might forget that my FAVORITE movie is probably the most minimalistic film of all time, and that movie is don hertzfeldt's, "it's such a beautiful day." for those that don't know, the film is about a man named bill who suffers from an unknown neurological condition and is facing the possible end too his life. the characters in the film are also stick figures, so i don't think you could get more minimalistic than that. and i know that stuff like end times and everything everywhere all at once is about "the bigger picture" while stuff like lackadaisy is about "the smaller picture" but people fail to realize that end times and EEAAO's "bigger picture" is about "the smaller picture." they just use maximalist story techniques to put the smaller things, such a appreciating the little things in life, and a bigger light. pixar's soul does a good job at this. and i do still recommend lackadaisy to people, because most people would probably LOVE this pilot. this review is just me being nitpicky. 8.7/10.

i like to rub my thumb across the ticket stuck onto the back of my stuffed animal

sauces . /'

[utilitycaster]

D’you have any favorite Unearthed Arcana ideas that you wish had seen the official light of day?

Yes - I haven't kept up that much with UA lately because I just cannot be bothered with new character races - like I'll read the official materials and use them if I like them but I am, as always, not terribly invested, and I haven't actually looked at official Strixhaven stuff so while I liked certain aspects of Strixhaven I can't answer to what got implemented, but I did use a decent amount of UA stuff as a player and I have a few subclasses I really liked from the past several years:

The Feats for Skills was a great idea and they should implement it. I played a character with the Arcanist feat. I think the more flexible skill system of Pathfinder (and therefore, I assume at least, 3.5e) is one of the major benefits of that system and while I respect streamlining things in 5e, feats are a great way to allow for that kind of customization within the 5e system. The abilities they gave with these feats were great too - using intimidation to demoralize enemies, for example? Incredible.

Similarly, the optional spell versatility rules were really helpful to me as a bard in a campaign where I was, for a long time, the only full caster. It is definitely a little OP but it was also really nice to have. Maybe don't make this super official, or provide some more DM guidance, but perhaps specify it as an option the way customization was provided in Tasha's.

Subclasses that should have been made official:

Needs work but the concept was cool:

College of Satire was seriously underpowered but the idea behind it was great; perhaps leaning a little more into the physical skills and providing a guaranteed minimum roll on insight or something might have been better.

City Cleric is incredible. It needs some slight reworking to work in a more "classic" D&D setting but it's such a good idea.

I do like the idea of Theurgist but the execution wasn't great and at this time I think multiclassing wizard and cleric is the way to go...but I'd be interested in a revisit. I don't know what it would look like, but I would look at it.

Should have been made official and WOTC fucked up on this one:

Seeker Warlock was also super cool and leaned into the lore of warlock as, well, a seeker of knowledge, AND astral plane bullshit my beloved. I think a lot of the mechanics of this got gutted and used for Genie, which is really a step down and a poor choice.

Just saw this bc of this question and now I want it:

Lunar magic (sorcerer subclass) which per the UA page was SUPER POPULAR and they are officially developing it! Hell yes!

[dailyadventureprompts]

Planescape: Raiding Inspiration from Kaldheim

I’ve been on a planear kick lately, and with the new MTG set coming out soon, I figure it’d be a great Idea to dip over and pillage some ideas from their vaults. 

The results were.... less substantial than I originally thought, as several of their Norse derrived realms lacked any real, substantive lore and/or could be brushed off as “That’s just the feywild”. Still, this expedition wasn’t entirely fruitless, and we DMs can always use more inspiration, so here are the spoils of my plunder laid out for you  to pick over as you see fit. 

The Cosmos

Listen, LISTEN. Your humble author here is always a slut for the world tree,  and throw in some aurora based aesthetics and I’m simply done.   The Cosmos is Kaldheim’s take on the “world between worlds” astral sea type realm, and I think it’s an absolute win from a flavor perspective: The space between the branches of the worldtree filled with an aurora like light that’s impossible to move through unless you yourself are a creature of cosmos. This already fit with my “ Psychedelic Nebula” interpritation of the astral sea, and I’m immediately including the branches of an impossibly vast tree among all the usual scenery of dream palaces and fossilized gods.  I particularly like the idea of giant trees ( whether innocuous or not) or sections of roots growing up throughout the landscape ( often in places they should not be, such as underground) as a sign of the worldtree’s presence. 

Kaldheim’s multi-realm setup is also great fodder for spicing up your portals: 

Omengates are weakspots through which a person may move from one realm to another, but tend to occur in out of the way places, and require a specific set of actions to prime. This can be anything from singing a certain song while walking through an old stone arch, taking the wrong path in a forest at the certain time of day, or opening a door with a particular key made in another realm. While you likely need some lore to open such a portal, powerful mages can FORCE such gates open or seal them closed for good.   

Doomskars are violent collisions between the realms, accompanied by a seizmic disaster and a large, physical rift formed from one world into the next. They occur rarely on their own or can be caused by a mage recklessly forcing open a omengate, and are generally highly unstable. 

The material of the worldtree can grant safe and stable passage between realms, with charms made out of amber, elixirs made of sap, or ships made out of its timber allowing one to freely pass through the cosmos without being disoriented. Doors and other structures constructed of its wood can also provide safe passage, with some offshoots of the worldtree actually having gates carved directly into them. 

Axgard, Home of the Dwarves

I wasn’t particularly impressed with Kaldheim’s version of dwarves, as on the surface they seemed to be your classic “ axes and ale” archetype we’ve seen a million times before (Seriously, the name of the dwarf plane is AXGARD?) . That said, there were a few very interesting worldbuilding flourishes that I’d love to spin into something. 

The City of Eight Doors is said to be the greatest hall of the dwarvenkind, with moria style entrances that are impossible to get through hidden throughout the realm. Gilded with a seemingly endless gold and resounding with the sound of mighty tales being told (Dwarves in this setting are prolific scalds). If I were to use this, I wouldn’t make the city of Eight doors a static settlement, but a near mythic, valhalla like place that all dwarves aspire to get to. The hall itself resides hidden in the feywild, with the eight doors scattered around the multiverse in hidden or well secured places, and are capable of being moved if they are discovered/breached in order to protect the city.  All good things of dwarvendom dwell in the manifold halls, and it is said that if one’s story is spoken aloud within the halls your spirit will reside there forever.   I also ran the name through a dwarven translator or two and came up with the far more wieldy name of  Ker’Otteigurr

The Gold of Ker’Otteigurr is so plentiful that it’s worthless for the dwarves to use as money, who prefer to trade in practical iron ingots instead. This gold eminates from an endless molten lake in the depths of their fortress, and is prophesized to one day attract a titan who will destroy the city and devour all the gold. 

Dwarven Smiths spend their first hundred years of life perfecting their craft and making a weapon or piece of armor, which they inscribe with runes and keep on them as a sign of their mastery. They take on last names addressed to this item, and are seen as dishonored among crafters if it is lost or stolen. 

Immerstrum- The Sea of Fire

A hell dimension that takes the form of an archipeligo surrounded by a sea of oil and bubbling pitch, lit by no sun but the eternal thunderstorm in the sky. Demons sail burning longships to raid one another’s enclaves in an endless cycle of violence and carnage.  METAL. AS. FUCK. \m/. 

in all seriousness, Immerstrum is a great non-Abrahamic vision of hell that actually improves upon the whole “eternal blood war” thing that d&d’s been married to for years. The Demons here are infact imprisoned by barriers the gods put up around this dimension and are so terribly bored that they litterally have nothing else to do but kill eachother for eternity and rehash the pecking order all the time. There’s a lot of really interesting junk in this deathmetal feverdream: 

The gods who put up the barrier around the Immerstrum were in fact OUSTED by the current pantheon in their rise to power, and they took whatever artifact/ritual/process they used with them. The barrier is failing, and the demons are slipping through, nessessitating a search through all the cosmos to find a way to repair the barrier before the demons escape and begin to rampage across the realms once again. 

The Blodcrag is a massive volcano, filled with boiling blood rather than lava ( again, metal AF) that is revered by the demons of the immerstrum. Every drop of mortal blood they shed ( or is shed in their name) causes the blood within the mountian to rise by a proportional amount, and when it boils over, it transforms into new demons. Centuires of imprisonment have ensured the ranks of demons grow no larger, but if they were to be unleashed upon the multiverse it’s no doubt that there would be new legions pouring over the rim all the time. 

The Vaults of Hellir: where these demon-vikings stored all their loot, in a labrynth of chambers beneath the boiling sea. Caring nothing for the value of their treasure beyond what pain they can inflict by taking it, the demons have heaped these halls with all manner of artifact, riches, and tome of secrets. 

Karfell- The Wornaway World

A dead realm, with everything not yet swallowed by ice already starting to erode under lashing wave and biting storm. Karfell was once your classic fantasy kingdom until its ruler made a deal with a dark god to save his wealth and holdings from the spoils of war, cursing his realm and dooming his citizens to an eternity of undeath as drauger. 

Still driven by greed, the “last king” of Karfell searches his realm over for omengates, looking for places he can rip holes in reality with no regard for the damage he causes on either side. Through these Doomskars he  sends his drauger raiding, piling up their stone longships with loot before retreating back. 

Even before it fell to calamity, Karfell was known to be fabulously wealthy, its reputation spread through its habit of interplanar trading and raiding. Those most hardy treasurehunters seek out its frozen vaults to this day, clashing against the native undead and the astral-pirates who come to trade plunder and slaves with the glacial courts. 

Not all undead are created equal, as the curse that besets the people of Karfell slowly whittles them away till nothing is left but greed and obedience to their liege, becoming little better than frostbitten automota. The nobles of Karfell desperately seek to avoid this fate of drudgery, either by sleeping for years at a time in their glacial palaces or seeking out magic cures to fight the curse. Those that displease their rightful rulers are imprisoned in the ice and exposed to the howling wind, which quickly deprives them of their lives and eventual sentience. 

Skemfar- the Cosmic Rootbed

As I said before, one too many of Kaldheim’s planes ended up being too thematically thin to inspire much in me. To solve this issue, I combined a few of them and I think the result is actually pretty neat. 

The roots of the worldtree drift down through the omnipresent mist of Skemfar, finding their home among primeval forest and ancient battlefields half swallowed by bog. This is an eternal, dreamlike place, lit only by what little of the flickering cosmic auroralight can make it through the dense cloudcover. Traces of forgotten wars and lost civilizations are preserved here among the mire, remnants of eons past swallowed up by the origin of all existence. 

Colossal trees, transmuted from the bodies of defeated gods grow out of the mire. Though no comparison in size to the worldtree itself, these massive plants are large enough to host villages among their roots and boughs, populated by elves and stranger beings to revere these lost deities that now serve as their homes. Each tree retains an echo of the god imprisoned within it, so the fruit of a god associated with healing might make potent medicine, while the timber of a warrior god might be unbreakable save for blades blessed in their name. 

The shades of those cast adrift in the astral plane come to rest in Skemfar, retaining their knowledge of past lives but stripped of all passion, or desire even to be. They detachedly drift from place to place in small throngs, or hold quiet vigil over a particularly still stretch of wilderness. Oaths or powerful magic can compell these remnants into action, and one must be cautious that a lingering spirit is not infact a guardian simply awaiting the wrong trigger. 

Runes appear etched all over Skemfar, in the bark of trees, on the hidden side of cairn stones, on relics dredged from the mire. One could spend a lifetime studying these emergent scriptures, and many have, reporting their findings to be alternatingly esoteric and prophetic. 

Art 2

Art 3

Art 4

Art 5

[eastofthemoon]

A Paladin in the Fire Nation

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Rating: PG

Series: Voltron Legendary Defender/Avatar the Last Airbender

Summary: After the fight with Zarkon, Shiro accidentally gets tossed into another reality where humans have the ability to bend the elements. His best shot at returning home is with someone called the Avatar, while he waits he might as well take on the job of being the Firelord’s bodyguard.

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

Zuko was silent as Shiro told them his story. He tried to keep an open mind these days and being close friends with the Avatar had caused Zuko to experience very strange things.

However, Zuko did have limits and Shiro’s tale was pushing them to the extreme.

“So you’re from another universe,” Sokka said slowly. “Where you go into space inside ships in the shape of lions, who are sentient and can become on a giant ship shaped like a person called Voltron, and fight an empire run by beings called Garlic.”

“Galra,” Shiro had corrected as Iroh poured himself another cup of tea, “but yes.”

“And you got here because your lion accidentally sent you here while you were fighting the emperor,” Toph added.

“Correct,” Shiro confirmed.

Toph and Sokka turned their faces to Zuko, likely waiting for his reaction. Zuko took a deep breath. “That is an..interesting tale.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow as Zuko stood and tucked his hands into his robes. “Toph, Sokka, may I speak with you in private for a moment?”

“You can use my bedroom and shut the door,” his uncle offered and by the sound of his tone had been expecting it.

“Thank you, Uncle, we’ll just be a moment,” Zuko said briskly.

Toph and Sokka followed close behind while Zuko was being very careful to not say a word until they were all inside and he shut the door.

“I’ll be the first to say it,” Zuko said as he turned to his friends, “he is insane, right?”

Much to his shock, neither of them instantly agreed. Instead, Toph was silent and Sokka waved a hand back and forth.

“Ehhhh, maybe but my gut is telling me no,” Sokka replied.

“You’re kidding,” Zuko said in disbelief. “Did you hear what he said? There’s no way for it to be true.”

“But that’s the thing,” Sokka said as he paced. “Look, a real criminal would probably try to come up with a reasonable explanation. Why would Shiro tell us that story unless it is the truth?”

“You’re saying it’s so crazy it has to be true?” Zuko asked.

“Exactly,” Sokka said with a nod. “Why even bother with telling us about giant lion ships if he assumed we wouldn’t believe it.”

“I’m with Sokka,” Toph said. “I monitored the guy’s heart during the whole time he talked, he’s not lying.”

“He could be good at lying,” Zuko argued. “You told me Azula is able to pass it.”

Sokka raised an eyebrow. “You honestly believe that Shiro guy is at Azula level of lying?”

Zuko opened and shut his mouth. He hadn’t even known Shiro for a day, but he had seemed confused by the interrogation earlier. It was possible the man was a very good actor, but still…

“It would also explain why his armor is so odd,” Sokka added, “and his arm too. Not even Teo and his dad have designs that advanced.”

“Plus, Iroh is taking him seriously,” Toph added. “That should say something too.”

Sokka touched Zuko’s shoulder. “Be honest, what do you feel in your gut about Shiro?”

Zuko shut his eyes. “My common sense is saying he’s delusional,” he sighed, “but my gut says he’s telling the truth.”

“So we are all in agreement then,” said Toph with a shrug. “Now what?”

“How about we start by telling Shiro we believe him?” Sokka offered.

Zuko nodded as he turned around and led them back. Iroh was pouring another cup of tea while Shiro watched them come back with concern in his eyes.

“We believe you,” Zuko stated and sighed. “Although a large part of me is calling me crazy for doing so.”

“I don’t blame you,” Shiro said with a nervous chuckle. “I would have a hard time in your position.”

“So then spaceman,” Toph said as she sat next to him, “how do you think you can get back home?”

“Yeah, if this Black Lion sent you here by accident can she just take care of it,” Sokka said as he and Zuko took their seats.

“I wish it were that easy,” Shiro said, “but I’m too far away for her to help even though I can still hear her.”

Zuko froze as he tilted his head. “You can..hear her?”

“In my head,” Shiro said as he tapped forehead. “We paladins form a connection with our lions and it allows us to communicate them with our minds.”

“I see,” Zuko said, trying to keep his voice calm while he felt his common sense glaring at him. What have I gotten myself into?

“Right, okay,” said Sokka who also sounded unsure as he crossed his arms. “Only person I can think of to help you is Aang.”

“That is what I was suggesting when you three entered,” Iroh said as he sipped his tea. “Since it sounds like at least some form of the Spirit World is parly how you came to be here.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call the Astral Plane a spirit world,” Shiro replied as he rubbed his neck, “but I can’t deny it isn’t that either.”

It certainly felt like a place where spirits could dwell.

Toph sucked the air between her teeth. “Yeah, well, you’re going to have to wait awhile since Aang is dealing with settling some disputes over in the Earth Kingdom.”

Zuko sighed but nodded. Some of the towns had been former Fire Nation colonies that had been given back, but the previous Lord it had belonged to had died and so his twin sons were currently arguing on who the towns now belonged to.

“He is supposed to come straight here when he’s finished,” Zuko replied firmly, “but it’s hard to tell how long as it takes.”

“I see,” Shiro said with a sigh. “If you can recommend where I can stay I would greatly appreciate it.” His frown tightened. “Also possibly where I can make some money since I have nothing to pay-”

“No need for either since you’ll stay here as our guest,” Iroh said.

Zuko choked slightly as he shot his uncle a look. We barely know him and you want him to stay in the palace?

Iroh slightly glanced at Zuko before sipping his tea. “Given your circumstance, I’m sure our GENEROUS Firelord would be more than happy to accommodate you until we can figure out how to get you home.”

Zuko twitched an eye and wanted to argue, but Sokka grabbed his shoulder and whispered into his ear.

“I get your concern, but it’s probably better if he stays here since I doubt we want a ton of people finding out we got a person from another world just dropped into our laps,” Sokka muttered.

Zuko frowned, but gave a slow nod. A lot of people would dismiss it, but there were a few that would probably try to use it to their advantage and there were a few former FIre Nation nobles he rather kept that information away from.

“Alright,” Zuko said as he tucked his hands into his sleeves, “although we’ll have to think of an explanation as to why I’m suddenly treating the intruder as a guest.”

“Just say it was a prank I pulled that went wrong,” Toph said with a shrug.

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “You expect the guards to believe that a mysterious intruder was all just a prank pulled by you?”

Zuko narrowed his eyes before sighing and massaging his forehead. “After the Badgermole and Groundpecker incident, they would.”

Shiro blinked. “The what?”

Sokka sighed. “Don’t ask, trust me.”

Zuko nodded in agreement.

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

Once Zuko had announced Shiro was a guest, he and Sokka escorted Shiro to a guest chamber. It wasn’t nearly as big as Iroh’s room, but Shiro was just grateful to not have to return to his cell.

The rest of the day passed by rather quickly. Iroh told Shiro he would get him some more clothes in the meantime, and Zuko had his armour returned to Shiro. He assumed it was a lost cause, but Shiro attempted to see if he could contact the paladins through his helmet. Much to his chagrin, all he heard was static.

It was killing Shiro to not be there with his team. They were probably all worried if he was dead, Keith especially. Shiro hated that he was putting him through this again, but it wasn’t as if he had a choice.

He briefly wondered if the Black Lion could just send a message that he was still alive, but Keith’s connection with the Black Lion wasn’t deep enough for that yet. Which meant, all Shiro could do was wait and hope this Avatar would be able to get him home.

Shiro tried not to dwell on this as he ate dinner. Zuko and Iroh had other duties to attend to, but Sokka and Toph joined him. They were energetic, but they seemed to be good kids. Truth be told, Sokka reminded him a lot of Lance, and he wasn’t sure if the two met if they would get along or butt heads as a result.

Shiro didn’t stay with them long. He was exhausted both from the day, and it hadn’t even been a full 24 hours since his life or death battle with Zarkon. So, Shiro went to bed early.

It hadn’t taken long for him to sleep, and it would have been restful if not for the nightmare.

Shiro was back at the Castle of Lion. He wasn’t sure how, but it was wrong.

The lights were off and everywhere there was nothing except darkness.

And no sign of any of his friends.

Shiro ran through the halls. “KEITH! PIDGE! ALLURA!”

He called out but no one responded.

“HUNK! LANCE! CORAN!” Shiro ran through the endless hall. “ SOMEONE ANSWER ME!”

He reached the control room and barged inside.

Shiro froze.

Allura, Coran, and all of the paladins lay motionless on the ground.

The only one who was standing was Zarkon as he wiped the blood off his sword.

“You took too long to come home, Paladin,” Zarkon scoffed as he slowly approached.

Shiro told his feet to run, but they remained planted. His body wouldn’t move.

“Your friends are dead because of you,” Zarkon continued as he raised his sword. “Now you shall share their fate.”

The sword lowered for his head.

Shiro gasped for air as he sprang up in his bed. Sweat dripped off his forehead as Shiro felt his heart pounding in his chest.

“Just a dream,” he muttered to himself. “Just a dream. They’re alright.”

For now, he thought darkly. But they could get killed tomorrow while you're stuck here all nice and safe.

Shiro grip tight on his bed sheets. Once he felt his heart calm down, he scrubbed his hand over his face.

“No way I’m going back to sleep,” he muttered.

If he was back at the castle, he would do some reading or go to the training room for practice. Shiro sighed as he tossed off the sheets.

I’ll go for a walk, Shiro thought. Maybe I can find a quiet place to do some training exercises.

He threw on some clothes and went out into the hall. Shiro headed towards the gardens. Iroh had said he would be free to go there and it seemed the most likely place where Shiro could be alone. He couldn’t see anyone being there this early.

The sun was just starting to rise as Shiro ventured outside. He didn’t see anyone in the garden, except for the ducks in the pond.

At least Shiro thought they were ducks.

The creatures certainly had heads and bodies of ducks, but upon closer inspection they seemed to have turtle shells on their backs.

“Turtle ducks?” Shiro muttered as he kneeled.

A small turtle duck glanced up curiously at him and quacked.

“You are actually not the weirdest creature I’ve ever seen,” Shiro admitted.

The turtle duck tilted it’s head, and then quacked once more before swimming away.

“I didn’t mean it as an insult,” Shiro said with a grin.

“What are you doing here?”

Shiro jumped slightly, and rose back up as he turned around to see Zuko.

He looked different. Zuko’s hair was loose and not as neatly tied up like earlier, and he seemed to be wearing more casual robes.

“Oh, uh, sorry,” Shiro said as he rubbed his neck. “I couldn’t get back to sleep and was looking for a place to train.” He then gave a frown. “Why are you up so early?”

Zuko’s eyes narrowed. “I am a firebender, and thus the optimal time to train is when the sun rises.”

“QUACK!”

Zuko froze.

Shiro glanced downward.

A small turtle duck quacked again before using its beak to tug on Zuko’s pant leg. It was only then Shiro noticed a small piece of bread in the Firelord’s hand.

Zuko sighed as he kneeled and tore off a piece of the bread.  

“It..is also the best time to feed the turtle ducks,” Zuko muttered while blushing.

Another quack was heard when the turtle duck snatched the bread, gobbled it up and spirited towards the pond.

“I see,” Shiro said as he did his best to repress a smile, but couldn’t resist a small chuckle.

Zuko glared. “You find this funny do you?”

Shiro shook. “No, no, sorry,” he said quickly. “It’s just you look like my friend Keith when I caught him feeding some squirrels.”

He thought back to it. It had been Keith’s birthday, and Shiro had taken him into town to celebrate. They had ended up wandering into a park. Shiro had gone to get them some ice cream, only to discover Keith had been tossing some peanuts towards a squirrel.

Shiro may have quietly taken a photo on his phone before Keith realized he had been caught and blushed bright red.

Zuko frowned in response. “You mean rabbit squirrels?”

Shiro’s chuckles paused as he tilted his head. “Um..no squirrels.”

Zuko raised an eyebrow as the turtle duck finished the rest of the bread. “Your world must be very weird.”

Shiro held up his hands. “Look, I didn’t mean to invade your privacy. I’ll just leave.”

Zuko tossed the rest of the bread to a nearby duck and dusted the crumbs off his hands.

“It’s fine,” Zuko said as he stood. “I was about to leave anyway. There’s paperwork I wanted to get taken care of. You can use the garden if you like.”

“Um, thank you,” Shiro said, “and not just for the garden, but for also letting me stay here.”

“I’m not the one you should be thanking,” Zuko said as he crossed his arms. “That should go towards Uncle, Sokka and Toph for convincing me.”

“But it was still your decision in the end,” Shiro replied. “I realize it can’t be easy letting a stranger into your home.”

“It’s not,” Zuko said as he crossed his arms. “Frankly, I’m still suspicious of you.”

Shiro suddenly thought of Keith, who he knew would have had the same response as Zuko.

“Why are you smiling?” Zuko asked.

“Sorry,” Shiro replied. “You just remind me a lot of my friend Keith. He would have agreed with you.”

He couldn’t resist wondering if the two would get along.

“Then your friend is smart,” Zuko said as he turned his back to Shiro. “I’ll send a servant to fetch you when it’s time for breakfast.”

“You don’t have to-” Shiro began, but paused.

There was a metallic glint shone in the bushes. Why would there be-

Adrenaline and panic struck as Shiro dashed forward. “GET DOWN!”

He shoved Zuko to the ground and remained on top of him as an arrow flew over their heads.

“You okay?” Shiro asked as he and Zuko scrambled back to their feet.

“Ask our attackers that,” Zuko snapped and launched a ball of flame at the bushes.

There was a yelp and two men with scorched clothing tumbled out, one of them holding a bow.

“I don’t know who you are,” Zuko declared, “but surrender now and I promise you’ll be treated fairly.”

The archer snarled and prepared to launch another arrow.

“Oh no you don’t,” Zuko said as he charged and with fire burning in both his fists. The archer dropped the bow and pulled out a sword.

Shiro could only assume Zuko could handle it as the other attacker decided to rush at Shiro with a dagger.  He dodged, grabbed the dagger with his cybernetic arm and twisted it out of the man’s hand before kicking him away.

The man stumbled, but quickly regained his balance. He glared at Shiro, and then stomped his foot to the ground. Instantly, spikes popped from the ground and headed straight towards him.

Shiro jumped and rolled on the ground just barely avoiding the spikes. He panted as he leaned on his knees.

“Wild guess, but I take it you’re an earth bender?” he shouted.

“Oh gee, aren’t you smart,” the man sneered as he raised his arm.

A small spike rose out of the dirt, only for it to harden as the man reached for it and snapped it off the ground.

The earth bender charged again.

Shiro sprang to his feet in time to block and flip the man, but not before he felt the spike cut at his normal arm.

He hissed as blood dripped slightly.

Really wish I had my armor on right now, Shiro grumbled.

Flashes came from fighting hand to hand. Having to ignore every cut, every broken bone and keep fighting.

No, no, not now, Shiro thought as he shook his head at the memories. It wasn’t the time.

Shiro looked up. The man had crashed against a tree, but was already getting back up. A battle cry caused Shiro to look over to Zuko. The young Firelord was holding his own, but the archer wasn’t slowing down with each swipe of the sword.

“Do the world a favor and die with your father!” the archer snapped as he tried to slice at Zuko’s head, but missed as the boy ducked.

Shiro heard movement and managed to block the earth bender by gripping his wrists stopping the spike just inches away towards his face.

Shiro grunted and realized Zuko was closer to him now as an idea came.

“Zuko,” Shiro called out, “I think these two should face each other instead!”

Zuko abruptly turned, frowned and gave a nod signaling he got the meaning. Swiftly, Zuko yanked the archer’s arm, and tossed him over just as Shiro did the same with the earth bender.

It was satisfying watching the pair collide into each other and fall into the pond.

Shiro dashed to Zuko’s side. “You alright?”

Zuko brushed the hair from his eyes and gestured to Shiro’s arm. “I should be asking you that.”

Shiro glanced at his arm and gripped the wound. “I’ve had worse.”

Zuko looked ready to say something, until the attackers climbed out of the pond. Both of them were dripping wet and eyes full of fury.

Shiro and Zuko got into fighting position, but suddenly mounds of earth sprang up and trapped the attackers with only their heads poking out.

Shiro blinked, but saw Zuko glanced over and spotted Toph who was now retracting her hand.

“You guys got into a fight and didn’t invite me?” she shouted.

“It was hardly planned,” Zuko snapped.

“Whatever,” Toph muttered as she walked over to them. “Everyone okay?”

“Shiro’s injured,” Zuko replied and sighed, “and he also saved me from getting an arrow through my head.” He slowly looked up and rubbed his neck. “Thanks for that.”

“Welcome,” Shiro said as he gripped his arm, “and it’s not that bad.”

“I think a doctor will be a better judge of that,” Toph replied as she crossed her arms.

Shiro opened his mouth but was cut off by a yawn.

“Okay,” Sokka muttered as he stumbled out, “why was there such a ruckus-”

He spotted the trapped angry men, blinked and then looked to the group. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing good,” Zuko muttered grimly.

Shiro nodded. He might not be in a war, but he had landed right in the middle of a lot of trouble.

[naivesilver]

now IS the time. get ready for these. Starting off with the same guy, as always. The man, the myth, the legend: Eugene. Frankenstein (OC ask) and closet monsters and curses (fear ask)

💖💖💖💖💖 tbh by now I'm kind of...ready for the onslaught of asks, but every time you manage to bowl me over like a bloody tsunami all the same. Thank you, don't ever think I take it for granted because I DO NOT and I appreciate it immensely.

Now, Eugene, Eugene...LMAOOOO what a star.

OC Asks

Frankenstein: How does your OC sleep at night?

Not well, but then again, that's true for pretty much every kid in the Court. He doesn't have nearly as many nightmares as some of the others, but he is an incredibly light sleeper and prone to mumbling and talking in his sleep. Daria would slap him until he rolled over when they were small and sharing a room, back in the Enchanted Forest, but Fabian sleeps like a log and doesn't notice.

He's also one of those people who look like the world has personally offended them when they're asleep. You know when sleeping babies have their face all scrunched up and their hands balled into fists? Add a couple inches and lots of hair and you've got Eugene.

Fear-themed Headcanons

Closet Monsters: Does your muse hide any aspects of their personality/life from others?

Aside from the huge, Pleasure-Island shaped skeleton in his closet, he has a tendency of downplaying the symptoms of his various ailments around people he doesn't trust, so they won't think him weak or a whiny baby. His friends by now know pretty well what ticks him off, and can predict an outburst by reading the signs in advance, but strangers? They're not getting the full show, no siree.

Curses: Does your muse believe in good/bad luck? How about karma?

He does believe in luck - specifically, he believes that someone on an higher astral plane must be out to get him, because he would really like things to just settle down a bit, for crying out loud. (That's only when he is in a complaining mood, of course. Seriously speaking, he knows he's pretty privileged compared to many others.)

He also believes in karma, also rebranded as "poetic justice". Also also rebranded as "if the world won't kick your ass for being a shitty person, I WILL". In an another universe, he would have made numbers as a vigilante, but alas, it would be hard for a superhero to brood on top of a skyscraper in a place like Storybrooke.

[words-writ-in-starlight]

Untamed TAZ Balance AU? Don't have to write anything, just consider that (is Wen Ning Lucretia in this or is he too nice for that)

NHS IS LUCRETIA, NHS IS ABSOLUTELY LUCRETIA, I HAVE THOUGHTS, my girlfriend yelled at me for these thoughts.  Hell this got long, I’ve literally been saving it in my drafts until Tumblr fixed the Read More issue.

WWX is Taako, JC is Magnus, WQ is Merle, JYL is in the umbrella (became a lich to keep her brother from doing it), WN is the Red Robe (became a lich because he thought it seemed reasonable), NHS is Lucretia, XXC is Davenport, LWJ and LXC are mutually Kravitz (LXC sets his bro up with the death criminal wizard), Wen Zhuliu is John Vore, LSZ is Angus but also a baby Reaper

ONE

So Wei Wuxian isn’t really a wizard, is the thing.  Like, he does the wizard magic, and apparently he has strong Wizard Vibes because wherever he travels, people ask him if he can solve their magical bullshit problems, but he’s, like, barely a wizard.  He’s an inventor, technically, except that a few years back some stuff went explosively awry while he worked with this traveling show and–yeah.  So he’s working as a wizard because, hey, he can cast Magic Missile and he needs to eat and he’s an Evocation specialist, anyway, so it’s not like he’s out here making food from rocks.  He’s hired on with a couple other random jackasses, a fighter who took a dislike to Wei Wuxian right off the bat and a cleric with a bad temper and an itchy Sacred Flame finger, and they’re doing a job for some dwarf, or whatever.  The dwarf has a guy hired on as muscle, but he doesn’t look like much, all wide eyes and baby face.  He calls himself Qionglin, no last name, and stares at Wen Qing like he’s never seen a cleric before, and Jiang Cheng spends the entire trip to Phandolin messing with his whip, which is the stupidest weapon Wei Wuxian has ever seen.

Well, then everything immediately goes horribly wrong, though, and turns out that Jiang Cheng is pretty okay with that whip.  Qionglin (Wei Wuxian spoke to the man all of one time, but he was sweet, if a little awkward) gets himself kidnapped by a bunch of goblins, and their employer is gods-know-where with whatever a Black Spider is, and suddenly this very boring escort mission is a very not boring rescue mission.

There’s a skeleton in the cave.  Wei Wuxian takes an umbrella from it, and it crumbles into dust beneath its red robe.  There’s a very annoyed man with a sword who calls himself Song Lan and speaks in static, and he’s somehow not the weirdest part of this whole day.

Phandolin doesn’t survive its brush with the Zidian Gauntlet, and neither does Qionglin.  Wen Qing screams when he dies, and Wei Wuxian grabs her under the arms with Jiang Cheng and books it for the empty well in Song Lan’s wake, and they just hide.  

And then they go to the goddamn moon, apparently.

TWO

The goddamn moon is run by an older man with hair still a glossy black, toying with a beautifully painted white fan in his hand.  He calls himself the Director and–after some testing–hires them more or less on the spot.  Something flickers over his face when Wen Qing, bemused by her own upset, makes an offhand mention of a man named Qionglin who died when the Gauntlet brought down so much lightning that it turned Phandolin into black glass.  But it’s not Wei Wuxian’s problem, so he doesn’t worry himself over it too much.  He takes the payment offered to him by the Director’s aide, a blindfolded, stunningly handsome man in Bureau blue and white who rests his hand on his own chest and says “Xiao Xingchen” and not another word.

The Bureau is–weird.  They’ve got a giant jellyfish and a store run by–something Wei Wuxian Does Not Trust and a dorm.  Wei Wuxian laughs and kicks Jiang Cheng cheerfully in the ankle and says “Just like college, huh?” and Jiang Cheng gives him a dark look and snaps “I never went to college.”

“Yeah,” Wei Wuxian says, blinking.  “Me neither.”

Whatever.  They go on a train adventure and there’s a kid, a kid who blinks and stares at Wei Wuxian like he’s seen a goddamn ghost and immediately walks up to introduce himself as Lan Sizhui, boy detective.

Wei Wuxian fucking loves this kid.  He’s not sure why this wide-eyed fifteen-year-old latched onto him so hard, but he’s smart, funny, loyal, and extremely easy to pick on.  13/10 child rating, in Wei Wuxian’s book.

(Sizhui, for his part, more or less kicks down the door to his father’s offices in the Astral Plane the second the Reclaimers are gone and shouts “I HAVE A LEAD ON WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WORLD.”)

(His father, Lan Wangji, the Grim Reaper, is very interested to hear all about it–especially when his son casually name-drops three of the biggest bounties that the Raven King, his adoptive elder brother, has ever sent him after, with the exception of that absolutely insufferably sweet-tempered lich Wen Ning.)

THREE

So…the Crystal Kingdom.

Is it Wei Wuxian’s finest hour, shouting obscure tentacle-related threats at the second crystal construct they’ve seen in the past twenty minutes?  No, probably not.  But it’s been a stressful day, they’re already down one Regulator and Song Lan is fuck-knows-where with Mianmian and, again, this is the second menacing crystal construct they’ve seen in twenty minutes.  Or maybe it’s the same one? 

Whatever, doesn’t matter.  They’re here to hunt down Meng Yao, a scientist who’s been dicking around with some seriously ill-advised necromancy and also the Philosopher’s Stone, and a crystal construct or two isn’t going to stop them.

Wei Wuxian actually physically cannot help himself, though, when the Reapers appear in the mirror, a matched set of beautiful men, and he grins broadly at the one glaring at him most viciously.  They get let go on a technicality, along with a conduit still containing Meng Shi’s memory of a vision beyond the cosmos, and Meng Yao leaves with his life and not much more.

Later, Lan Wangji is absolutely betrayed by the realization that his brother willfully set him up to be the primary go-between for the completely breathtaking deeply irritating wizard-by-way-of-death-criminal.  And that’s before the whole lich revelation.  (He does get a kiss, though, after he watches his brother pulled under by the Hunger.  That’s nice.  He hopes Wei Wuxian will mitigate the death crimes now that they’re dating.)

FOUR

The seven Relics are as follows:

The Zidian Gauntlet, which can generate a lightning blast so powerful that it can obliterate an entire city.  (Jiang Cheng–he watched the others try to lay in protections, try to make their Relics harmless, and he knew it wouldn’t work.  All the Gauntlet does is damage.  It can melt a city down to black glass, but it can’t be twisted, it can’t be made into any more of a nightmare than it already is.  He’s a fighter.  He knows all about damage, knew all about what he was making.  That doesn’t mean it didn’t kill him by inches to watch it leave a path of destruction–so much that his beloved jiejie tried to seal it away.)

The Oculus, which can make any construct real.  (Xiao Xingchen–Nie Huaisang didn’t take everything.  He doesn’t remember the mission, or his own past.  Something strange got confused in the process, and he lost most of his speech.  But he remembers how to fight, handles his sword as cleanly and effectively as ever, and he remembers that he doesn’t think much of Nie Huaisang’s combat skills.  Or maybe it’s just really obvious that Nie Huaisang isn’t much of a fighter.  Regardless, Xiao Xingchen insisted on accompanying him, before–before.  Then they went into the Felicity Wilds, and…Xue Yang is honestly delighted.  He’s never managed to ruin someone so badly on the way into Wonderland before.  It’s just a shame that Nie Huaisang sent Xiao Xingchen away before they reached the doors.)

The Healer’s Sash, which can manipulate natural forces like the wind, the tides, and tectonic plates just as easily as it can manipulate a heartbeat or a pair of lungs.  (Wen Qing–she prays to Pelor, the Dawnfather, the healer and Lord of Light, but she’s long since lost her faith in him as anything but a contracted boss.  It’s a shock to everyone including her when she’s granted a right arm made of glass and magic after losing it.  She was so determined to make a Relic that could be used for good, but–well.  She supposes she should have known better.)

The Philosopher’s Stone, which can more or less transform anything into anything.  (Jiang Yanli–she’s a Transmutation wizard, she’s been feeding the crew of the Starblaster for a hundred years on whatever she can pull together.  If the right person found the Stone, it would have ended world hunger.  The wrong person found the stone.  Jiang Yanli tried her damnedest to hunt it down, but she found the Gauntlet first, and, well–she already became a lich to stop one younger brother from doing it.  It’s not a struggle to decide that she’s going to take responsibility for saving Jiang Cheng from his own guilt.  Then things go horribly wrong, and she spends the next twelve years in an umbrella.)

The Temporal Chalice, which offers complete control over time.  (Wen Ning–he was a strict scholar until his sister was contacted about the IPRE’s creation, but he always did want to travel, and his theories about bonds were too good for Xiao Xingchen to pass up having on his crew.  Everything he’s done since they lost their home system has been about trying not to leave his family, about trying for second chances, he became a lich for them, he’s done everything to stay with them, of course his Relic is a second chance generator.)

The Animus Flute, which offers control over the spirits of the dead and, in the hands of a sufficiently competent expert, the living.  (Wei Wuxian–he’s watched his brother, his sister, his friends, die so many times.  He’s terrified of immortality, but he’s most terrified of being alone.  He meant to make something that could keep the dead present, so that they would never have to fear being left behind again.  Watching it rip Jiang Cheng’s soul clean out of his body in Xue Yang’s hands is the worst thing Wei Wuxian can remember, even after everything is over.)

The Bulwark, which Nie Huaisang never did explain to anyone, but took the shape of a hand-painted fan.  (Nie Huaisang lost the only person who mattered to him when the Hunger ate their home, and then as he slowly, painstakingly, rebuilt something like a family, he had to watch them suffer and die for a hundred years.  And then he watched them win, and grieve like dying all over again for the winning.  He’s sorry they suffered for his actions.  He’s not sorry for what he did.)

FIVE

Wen Zhuliu didn’t mean to make his whole plane give up.  But he had spent his whole life being used, and it all just seemed so pointless.  It all just seemed so pointless.  There was always someone stronger, always something bigger, always a rule he couldn’t break, always something, and he started talking, started telling people as much, and--

Wen Qing is about the farthest thing in the fucking world from a peacemaker by nature, if you ask her, but she’s a healer first, last, and most of all.  And, she thinks as she watches the sun sink with a very tired man crumbling away at her side, she might be the only person in the worlds who ever noticed that Wen Zhuliu needed a healer.

(They aren’t from the same plane, but--some of the others have found distant family, on their new home.  It’s an unanswerable question, if they might have been family, a few dimensions removed.  Wen Ning still thinks about it.)

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 11: Archduke Silly Bot

I built a new Mess Hall and Accessory Shop, but before I could play with them, my castle was attacked! By spooky ghost men from the Astral Plane I mean, I summoned them, but still, the castle is in danger. Fifteen enemies showed up to try and seize the fort. Lilith was supposed to help me fight, but just stayed in her pond and did nothing. Dumb fish.

The invaders were tough, but focused more on smashing stuff than killing my Units. Unfortunately, there was a casualty. Kenshi, our valiant POW who we force to serve as cannon fodder, was slain in battle. I mean, not really, because I’m playing Casual mode. Still, I renamed the castle Fort Kenshi in his honor.

The invasion gave me the points needed to build two new structures: the Rod Shop and the Smithy. The Mess Hall can be used to slightly boost unit stats for one battle. The Rod Shop can be used to buy various consumable items. Smithy can be used to reforge Weapons; for instance, I gave Kenshi a new bronze club called Kenshi’s Whacker. The Accessory shop can be used to buy and equip fun accessories, like the bath towel that is all Kenshi is allowed to wear.

Support: Jakob/Mozu

C: Jakob finds Mozu crying, because she had a nightmare about the death of her family, and comforts her.

B: Jakob tells Mozu that she is fortunate to have had something to lose; he explains his abusive childhood that ended with him being sold into servitude of the royal family and tells Mozu to hold onto her memories of her village.

A: Mozu begins training so she can be strong enough to protect everyone and thanks Jakob for looking out for her.

S: Jakob proposes to Mozu, asking her to help him create memories worth cherishing.

Review: This one was short, but good. It could have very easily just been a throwaway conversation about Jakob’s fanciness contrasting Mozu’s lack of sophistication. Instead, it was a genuinely touching conversation that expanded both characters and made me love Jakob even more.

Support: Orochi/Saizo

C: Orochi tells Saizo to stop being mean, because it’s ruining his reputation with the ladies, and threatens to take matters into her own hands.

B: Orochi reveals that when they first met, when Saizo was a child and she was...whatever age she was, she predicted misfortune in his future, which scared Saizo so much he wet his pants. She then reveals that she’s told everyone. Saizo runs away to salvage his reputation.

A: Saizo comes back, furious. Apparently, Orochi lied about telling everyone and Saizo, in his attempts to explain that he only peed his pants because he was a child, ended up spreading the story for her.

S: Saizo has turned over a new leaf and is trying to be nicer thanks to Orochi’s mind games. Orochi confesses that, when she fortolled misfortune in Saizo’s future, she must have actually been talking about his father. Because, as we all know, Saizo has not suffered any misfortune in his life. Also they get married.

Review: This one was decent. Saizo ignoring Orochi’s threats at first then ruining everything in his struggle to fix things is amusing, and the duo have better chemistry than most couples in this game.

Support: Azura/Corrin (Birthright)

Notice the Birthright parenthetical. Corrin and Azura, the main duo, actually have different conversations in different routes, which is neat.

C: Corrin and Azura take a walk together. Azura compares the nice day to Castle Shirasagi. She then apologizes for bringing up her childhood, which she feels belonged to Corrin.

B: Azura asks Corrin about her childhood and Corrin explains both the forced isolation and the constant companionship from Elise and the servants. Corrin actually says she misses the Northern Fortress.

A: Corrin and Azura reflect on their different opinions of Nohr: Azura’s feelings of it being the evil she escaped and Corrin’s of it being a home she misses. They discuss the fact that no place is truly good or bad, something the game’s writers needed to be reminded of, and vow to bring peace.

S: Corrin states that his good memories of Nohr all stem from kind people and vows to be that kind of person for her. The duo exchange some insanely on the nose promises about being fine in a dark pit if they’re together and their fates being intertwined. Now, this may feel like incest because they share parents and siblings, but I actually think this one is okay? As long as there isn’t some late game twist that makes them cousins or something, this seems good.

Review: Overall, a fairly good conversation. Corrin’s feelings on Nohr are more nuanced than this game normally is and the idea that Nohr isn’t evil because of the people is a good sentiment.

Support: Setsuna/Subaki

C: Subaki and Setsuna are assigned to train new recruits together. The new recruit is Kenshi, I have decided. Subaki, worried that Setsuna will be Setsuna and mess everything up, does everything himself.

B: Setsuna just wanders off in the middle of training new recruits and Subaki tries to help her be a better leader.

A: Setsuna attempts to resign from teaching, but Subaki tells her that her wandering off actually helped the recruits because she’s observant, I guess. Setsuna does not retire from teaching.

S: Setsuna tells Subaki that she likes him then wanders off because she’s done talking. Subaki chases after her and proposes.

Review: This one was mediocre. Setsuna is always fun, but this support conversation lacked a good conflict and was resolved in a dumb way. Setsuna wandering off in the middle of a confession is fun, but the relationship wasn’t built up at all.

Birthright Chapter 9: Land of Gods

The gang head to Izumo, a neutral kingdom south of Hoshido. The guards, recognizing Azura, let the party in. Corrin asks about the missing princes and is told no battle happened near Izumo. No war in Ba Sing Se and all that jazz. Archduke Izana approaches them, looking like a wise and calm leader. Then he talks and they realize that he’s a silly boy.

They ask him about the battle on the border of Izumo and he tells them he knows nothing about it. Izana invites the gang to rest and be treated by his healers. He also invites Corrin and Sakura to go to some special spa healing in his deep relaxation chamber which is absolutely not suspicious.

The deep relaxation chamber is an execution chamber. Nohrian soldiers march in to kill Corrin and Izana reveals that he is actually a Nohrian mage named Zola. His voice sounds like Gollum and he has this weird jester hat. I cannot wait for the part of the game where we kill him.

Right before Corrin is executed, half of the Nohrian soldiers attack the other half. It’s revealed the soldiers are actually our soldiers in disguise. Where they got the Nohrian costumes, I do not know. Maybe they looted them from some corpses? Also, how did they know this was happening? And how did they seamlessly blend into the Nohrian army? I have many questions.

Hinoka explains that she knew Zola wasn’t the real Izana because no royal would ever act like such a silly boy, because she has never read any history textbook. The battle begins.

Something I haven’t mentioned yet that I want to mention: if an enemy has a super effective weapon, a red balloon with an exclamation mark appears above them as you move your unit. Nice touch.

On turn two, two new characters march into battle: a Samurai named Hinata and a Spear Fighter named Oboro. The two of them are looking for Takumi. The two bicker. Hinata is an idiot and is thirsty for Takumi. Oboro fantasizes about killing all of the Nohrian scum and Hinata tells her to chill out. These two idiots are Takumi’s retainers. Corrin goes up to the duo and recruits them.

Hinata

A samurai and one of Takumi’s retainers. His personal skill, Triple Threat, hurts enemies who lower him below half health. His design is fine, I guess. I think they’re going for a meathead thing from his introduction and his scars and muscles, but he looks way too young. Personality wise, he seems to be kinda dumb, but not enough to be funny.

Oboro

A spear fighter who is really goddamn thirsty for Takumi and is also really racist. Her unit description is: Loves fashion, hates Nohr. Her personal skill makes her do extra damage to Nohrians, which is useful because we are at war with Nohr. Fates has a bad tendency of reducing characters to a single character trait and we’ve already been shown three traits for Oboro, which I assume will dominate every line she ever says. Seriously, we’ve known her for a minute and she’s said Nohrian Scum a dozen times.

This map was good. It was a standard fighting enemies in a castle map; nothing special, but then again it didn’t need to be special. After the battle, Zola says that he’d rather die than tell Corrin anything. He then throws a smokescreen and runs away, only to be attacked by Leo.

Leo says he’s going to kill Zola for being a disgrace to Nohr and Corrin says, no, don’t do that, don’t hurt another Nohrian. Except, Corrin has killed dozens of Nohrians at this point. Leo yells at Corrin for being a traitor and gives her Zola to keep as a pet. Corrin reflects on how Leo has gotten stronger, but also become more cruel, since her betrayal of Nohr.

The gang meets the real Izana. Yeah he’s every bit as weird and wacky as Zola was. He tells the gang about hearing that the princes were near the bottomless canyon and reads Corrin’s fortune. He sings the next verse of Ocean’s Grey Waves, implying that this song is genuinely a prophecy about this game.

In the white light, a hand reaches through

A double-edged blade cuts your heart in two

Waking dreams fade away,

Embrace the brand-new day

So, let’s see. First off, a lot of imagery about light, which is Hoshido’s aesthetic. Not sure what verse one means, but verse two is some heavy foreshadowing for Chapter 26. I’ll talk about it more then. Verses three and four are about Corrin leaving the fake life in Nohr and returning to Hoshido. Probably.

Azana also predicts that the princes are both alright, so the gang heads off to find them. That night, Azura talks to Corrin about the prophecy, saying that it is the lyrics to a song she was taught as a child that now seems to be about Corrin.

[lidoshka]

Some supernatural stuff! some human generated horror! mysteries and ghosts! A little bit of everything for this Halloween month!

Meet Your Maker by GriffinRose “Guys, I’ve got blood over here,” Keith said. “No idea what caused it or where whoever was bleeding went.” It wasn’t really a lot of blood, so the person could have walked off and gotten help, or been evacuated with the rest of the missing crew. Why the crew would need to evacuate an otherwise perfectly functioning ship was a question Keith didn’t particularly want the answer to. AKA Keith is mauled by a creepy monster (Words:2851)

Replay by TheLittleSongbird The first clone dies on the slab. Shiro knows because he remembers. When Shiro gets his memories back, he gets the memories of every clone before as well

Where the Light Doesn't Reach by rosegardenlake Football Captain Takashi Shirogane always looked like he had a charmed life. A full ride scholarship to a top university, worshipping fans wherever he turned, never wanting for a single thing. Keith’s never needed to have anything to do with him. Keith has his own problems, his own friends, his art. They’re from two different worlds. But one day, Shiro doesn’t come home. One day, there’s blood all over the streets but no body. And it’s Keith, and only Keith, who can see Shiro, shirt splattered with blood, panicking through a hallway of people who ignore and pass right through him. It’s only Keith who can see his ghost. And it’s only Keith who can help him find who did it.

hound by story_monger Keith has a lot of practice being alone; you might almost say he's good at it. When he finds himself seriously injured and stranded on an unknown planet, he knows he's not alone there. And here's the worst part: even after rescue and after things return to normal, Keith gets the distinct sense that whatever was on that planet has followed him. He doesn't have proof. But he knows it's there. He knows it's not going to stop until it gets what it wants. (Words:47,561)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by ADyingFlower Keith woke up with a headache. (There’s something wrong with his friends. He’s starting to be scared of them. But that’s silly, right?)

The Faeries' Midwife by zjofierose the line between dream and nightmare, between asleep and awake, has always been a hazy one for Keith. Voltron makes it all that much worse.

go alone, and never speak of this again by arahir The ghost of what Shiro's lost haunts him. Keith tries to find a way home. “Shiro?” someone asks, and later he won’t remember who, but he’ll remember his own stillness, like maybe if he didn’t breathe or speak or move, time would stop moving against him. He imagines it: the cruiser’s scattered pieces pulling in, piecing itself back together, the net of purple light coalescing, and the Galra fighter there, intact and safe. Keith— “Shiro?” someone asks again.

Riftwood by  Neyasochi In the year since Takashi Shirogane went missing on the trail, national park ranger Keith has spent all the time he can spare searching the rugged terrain for his boyfriend. But Shiro’s sudden return one summer night brings as much uncertainty as it does relief— amid dark discoveries deep in the woods, Keith finds himself questioning just how deeply Shiro changed during his lost year.

asleep under my bed by vantas There is a faceless man staring at him from across the room. This is normal, he thinks. (Or: Keith believes himself to be an average college student, up until reality starts tearing itself apart at the seams.)

Collapse by Wolfsan11 A scream wants to roll its way up Keith's throat but he bites down on it, presses viciously on the panic bubbling in him. This can’t be right, it can’t be. His lungs threaten to cave in as he takes a shallow breath, stretches a crooked smile across his face and turns away from the team. He focuses on the glow of the holograph rising from his console, clamps a hand over his mouth as fear inches through his bones. There’s nothing to describe what he feels, only that he’s a hundred percent sure of it. Whoever this person is, it isn’t Shiro.

paranoia by simplecaelum Shiro's been different since his disappearance. Keith just wished someone would believe him.

He Was A Lonely Ghost by zjofierose "He was a lonely ghost, uttering a truth that nobody would ever hear. But so long as he uttered it, in some obscure way the continuity was not broken. It was not by making yourself heard but by staying sane that that you carried on the human heritage." - Orwell Shiro is trapped in the astral plane.

Bewitched by chiapslock Keith has a house out of the village, way too many cats to count, a huge crush on Shiro and no magical powers to speak of—it doesn't matter how much the town insists he does.

...and if you happen to know more halloween-worthy stories please add them in the comments!!

ヾ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ

[randomnameless]

To that anon who sent that Julia characterisation ask in FEH - sorry i deleted your post :’(

Fallen!Julia doesn’t really brings anything to the table, but with other 2? Oh naga. 

hey i can re-use the screenshots 

Regular!Julia first

My brother Julius, once very kind, turned into a twisted devil... Then by that devil's hands, my mother...and my father... Oh, it's beyond anything!

Friendly reminder that “that devil” might have killed your mom and turned your dad in puppet ruler, but the one who killed Arvis wasn’t Julius-Loptyr :

Julia resents Loptyr for what happened to Deedee and to Julius, but not for what happened to Arvis because, hey, Julius isn’t the brother who killed Arvis :)

My brother Julius and I both inherited a special power through our lineage. I...gained the ability to use the Book of Naga. My brother...could take hold of a book of terrible darkness, and it turned him into a devil of a man. Both of our fates were made merely because of lineage.

And this is what I’m most miffed with.

Here, it’s as if Julia is saying that whatever happened Julius would have been possessed by Loptyr and she would have had to kill him. But that’s forgetting her first lines, where Julius was a regular good boy before being Loptyfied. Does having Major Loptyr blood fates you to become a “devil of a man”? FE4... somehow asserts this. OTOH, it is made very clear in FE4 that Manfroy is the trigger who Loptyfied Julius. Without Manfroy and his evil book of doom, Julius would have remained Julia’s kind bro.

Putting Manfroy’s machinations, desperation and 30 years of dedicated work under the “it was fate!” rug feels wrong. Humans do the shitty stuff in Jugdral, there’s no “sorry, Fate said so!” joke card.

Also, the bolded part is odd, what fate is Julia talking about? Taking her HW or fighting against her brother? Because for the second part, since FE4 was Seliph’s fest, it is actually possible to end Julius with Seliph without using Julia or the Book of Naga, hell developer’s oversight or not, she can even die in the final map!

FE4 Julia thinks her fate is to fight, and she won’t run away. From her earlier lines during this chapter, she knows Loptyr isn’t her brother anymore, Julius died when Manfroy gave him the book. So, in this chapter at least, there’s no angst with “why must i fight my bro :’(” but determination to get rid of Loptyr.

What if I could succumb to what took hold of my brother—become your worst enemy against my will?

You succumbed to Manfroy who plot-warped to plot-kidnap you when you had the stats to blow him away, and your dad plot-forgot to burn him to a crisp to save you and only gave you a circlet for your protection

Loptyr can’t take hold of you, you’re not the compatible vessel! But apparently, Manfroy can, with the power of a berserk staff or whatever odd magic he used.

L!Julia, the Crusader of Light - wait isn’t she sharing her bro’s epithet??

Ah, I was just admiring the flowers... When we were young, my brother and I would play in the flower beds...

I’m pretty sure this line was added in a mirror to Julius’s line about crushing flowers

In the past, I've resented the crusader blood flowing through my veins... Yet, it gives me the strength to fight fate.

Okay where does this come from because it isn’t in FE4 nor in FE5. Seriously?

Julia lashed out not at her “crusader blood” flowing in her veins, but at Loptyr itself.

Also the “Crusader blood flowing through her veins” is her parent’s blood? It’s a part of their identity (Arvis takes great pride in being Vala’s descendant and Deedee becomes the plot coupon of the game/Princess of Granvalle and her children save the world thanks to her Naga blood).

Now I understand. In order to face the great malice that threatens the world, this strength is necessary.

Hm, this sounds like Lissa in Edel’s FB - with this power (Naga) Julia wants to protect the world. I mean, why not? If only her base game gave her that role afterwards instead of turning her into a potted plant in the epilogue...

So yes, I think Julia’s characterisation falls on the “meh” spectrum in FEH, but I can understand, they only had 15 lines to work with in FE4 since Julia’s such a non-entity and no one gives a crap about her.

Still, the “i hated my crusader blood” and “it was fate i had to fight julius” feels especially wrong, given how Julia made it clear and is the ONLY ONE in the game to call Loptyr out - Julius is dead, the person she’s talking to is not Julius. Maybe I want to cling to a smallest thread of hope in Jugdral (lel) where if Manfroy died chocking in a pretzel, Julius would never have become possessed and lived his life happily as an imperial brat without Loptyr shenanigans.

Julia is the one to debunk the “Julius was fated to become a host of Loptyr” myth, she is the one to explain how the possession happened :

Manfroy gave the book to Julius, Loptyr took control of his host. FE5 tries to bring more nuances like gradual possession or something like that, but as I understand it, FE8′s Lyon’s situation is call-back, even if Lyon was still in the meatsuit, the Demon King was here and was going to become the only driving force in the meatsuit with time.

Still, the Loptyr possession was the endgoal of Manfroy’s many machinations in the First Gen and the karmic retribution awaiting Arvis after his own machinations in the 1st gen.

So blaming it as “Fate ! He had major Loptyr, it was bound to happen :)” feels really wrong.

now i’m not saying L!Julia lines were influenced by 3H, but she was released in late august 2019 so maybe... someone tried to connect two dotes on different astral planes?

[padfootagain]

Balaenoptera Bonaerensis (I)

Chapter 1: Security Measures

 This is the first chapter for my fic with a Bodyguard AU for our dear Cap! Thank you so much to @marvelcapsicle, who is hosting the writing challenge this fic is made for.

I hope you like this fanfic, please, read the author's note on the masterlist for this series concerning any link with real events!

I did, however, spent more than 8 hours researching different elements for that story so far, and have no doubt it's just the beginning… being a writer is hard…

Word Count: 3400

"Have I ever told any of you how much I hate our job?"

"Just… twenty times today. And hundreds more if you count all the times we had to wake up early to get on a plane."

"Taking a flight at 4 am doesn't make you 'get up early', it makes you not sleep at all!"

"I'm sorry you couldn't get your baby sleep, Bucky. But there were no better flights available on such a short notice."

"Did we really have to take that job?"

By Natasha's side, on the two seats before Steve and Bucky, Sam snorted, waving the newspaper he was reading to make his point.

"In these days, you should consider yourself lucky to have a job at all," Sam replied, shaking his head. "Seven months since that mess happened in Wall Street, and it's not getting any better."

By the window, Steve took a look at the clouds they flew across, cotton-like forms drifting slowly against the blue sky. He didn't react at all as the plane shook with turbulences, too used to flying by now to even truly notice. And if his blue eyes rested on the white puffs of water outside, his mind was set on work already. The file where he had gathered the information he had found - in the little time he had had to prepare their new job - was set open on his laps. He had stopped listening to his colleagues somewhere above the Pacific Ocean. Now that they were en route towards Townsville, having changed their flight in Darwin, he had stopped to act like he was listening altogether. Maybe others would have taken it badly, but his three partners were too used to his working routine to think anything of his behaviour. And as they flew across a cloud, the world turning solely into shades of white and light grey, Steve wondered who could have sent the threats that had pushed the editor of the Townsville Bulletin to hire Steve and his team to protect one of his journalist and three scientists they worked with. Apparently, it had something to do with the scientists' study of whales, although Steve couldn’t possibly imagine why someone would want to kill anyone about a study of the population of whales in Antarctica. That was beyond him.

But the threats were real, and at the thought, his eyes travelled back to the printed letters that were sent in an attempt to stop the research, and he had no doubt that it was a threat to take seriously. The message was, after all, quite explicit. Besides, they were paying for his services, so even if the threat wasn't real, it didn't exactly matter. He wouldn't complain about an easy job for once.

However, he wasn't sure to find who could have sent the threat. In the week he had been given to prepare his departure, he couldn't really find any lead. He reckoned that talking with the people involved would help clarify the situation, or at least, he hoped so.

He went through the file again, memorizing the names and faces of the people he would have to protect for the coming months.

Sofia Longbrook – PhD student

Dr. Rosa Alvarez Santiago – Postdoctoral researcher

Dr. Y/N Y/L/N – Researcher

Luke Savoy – Journalist

Lucy McGreed – Lawyer

Joshua Alexander – Lawyer

If the threats had been pointed towards only the journalist and the research team, chances were that the two lawyers involved in this whale study might get threatened as well soon.

At least three locations for their professions were to be secured, even without taking into account the lawyers for now. Plus each of their homes. And having some of them working on a major campus that held thousands of students would be a challenge to say the least. Adding to that limited resources, So much work to be done…

The voice of the flight attendant cut Steve's thoughts, forcing him back to reality. They would soon be landing. While he folded his papers and fastened his seatbelt, the plane slowly descending under the clouds, he checked the address of the hotel he had booked one more time. After dropping by the hotel, they would meet with the people who had hired them to discuss how the security could be handled, and more importantly, what kind of threats they were truly facing.

In the seats before ad next to him, Sam and Bucky were bickering, as usual, and he chose to ignore them for now.

All he hoped for was a smooth, calm mission for a change.

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

 "This whole ordeal is absolutely ridiculous, Mark."

"Look, for the last time, Y/N: you've received threats. I will not sit down and wait to see if they were serious or not. You don't want to stop your research, and for some unknown reason, my reporter also refuses to drop the story, so all we are left with as alternative is to hire professionals who will keep you safe."

You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms before your chest.

"Look, we're talking about a trade. About something that involves money," Mark continued to argue. "And just like everything else that involves money, it is not so surprising to find people ready to go to extreme ways to deal with whatever goes in the way of their profit."

"I know, but…"

"No 'but'. By the way, Richard, I could use some help."

The director of your lab turned to you, but could only shrug.

"Honestly, I don't know what to say."

"You don't agree that it was the right decision to hire professional security?" the editor of Townsville newspaper asked with a frown.

"No, no, I think you were right to propose that," Richard replied, shaking his large moustache as he spoke. "All I'm saying is that Y/N is so stubborn, I really don't know what you want me to say."

You rolled your eyes again, but the ghost of a smile appeared on your lips this time.

"I just think that we're overreacting. Opinion with which you disagree, so I have to follow your and Richard's lead anyway."

"Exactly! Thank you!"

"I have to admit that I'll feel safer with a bodyguard around," Sofia, your PhD student, added. "Plus, if the one in charge of us at the lab could be a very sexy American wearing a tuxedo and dark sunglasses, that would be even better."

"They've hired bodyguards, Sofia," you replied. "Not Agent J."

"Aren't bodyguards supposed to dress up like that all the time? Kevin Costner was all dressed up too in that movie with the singer!"

"I don't know, honestly. I have to admit that I have never asked myself that question."

"I feel like the conversation has drifted…" Mark tried to bring your attention to the matter at hand, but he had already lost you and your colleagues.

"You have to admit that it's a rather good question!" Richard jumped in.

"Maybe they'll even have this kind of earpiece, you know, with the wire and everything," Sofia went on, a dreamy expression on her face as she tried to picture in her mind how her bodyguard would look like.

"They've hired only four of them," you replied. "I don't think they'll need any earpiece."

"Which, by the way, doesn't sound like much security," Joshua added. "I mean, shouldn't we all have one personal bodyguard?"

"There were no threats against you and Lucy, so…" Mark replied with a shrug.

"Of course, let the lawyers defenceless, as usual."

"What do you mean 'as usual'?"

"Ha… nevermind. I guess it's just my fate to die like this. You know, according to my astral theme I'm supposed to die a violent death."

"If you mention astrology again today, I can guarantee that you will die a violent death," you replied, pinching the sides of your nose.

"Sorry, but I'm nervous. And I always ask the stars when I'm nervous."

"Are they more talkative than Jesus? Or is the line busy for them as well?" Richard mocked, earning a kick from under the table.

Mark let himself fall down on a chair, heaving a dramatically tired sigh.

"You know, working with you guys, who are supposed to have brilliant minds and all that, kind of brought down my expectations on life."

None of you bothered to reply to his comment, too busy discussing the bodyguards who would soon arrive.

Indeed, you waited now for their arrival, all of you gathered in a meeting room in your lab. The Marine and Aquaculture labs at the James Cook University formed a large ensemble of buildings, from the tanks used for experiments and research to the offices where you were now. The buildings were often referred as MARFU for Marine and Aquaculture Research Facilities Units. They were not the most impressive buildings of the campus, and yet their research was among the most advanced in the world in terms of understanding marine life. The studied topics were vast, and your own little team was but a fraction of the people devoting their lives to understand and protect sea life.

On the north-east coast of Australia, Townsville held one of the four campuses of the James Cook University, one of the main institutions in the country. Hidden behind the large medical centre, on the south tip of the town, the university stretched to the edge of the wilder areas of Mount Stuart, the town stuck between its slope and the ocean. The white buildings for Marine Sciences research were all gathered on the eastern part of the campus, in an ensemble of about 20 separate buildings.

You were for now waiting in one of the meeting rooms on the first floor of the main building for Marine and Aquaculture, looking around you at the blank white walls and wooden tables and chairs. A poster for the defence of sharks was hung on one wall, the light of the sun falling partially on its dark blue shades, causing the colours to wane after years of exposure to the too bright rays of the Australian sun. In the corner of the room, up to the ceiling, a spider had threaded its web, but it was only a little one, and none of you could be bothered chasing the arachnid away.

While your colleagues kept on bickering, your own mind wandered off, drifting back towards the element that had caused all this to happen.

You remembered getting the letter at your office, opening it without worry, thinking it was merely linked to your research. You were expecting some documents for a field trip with your students after all.

Instead, you found a letter reading that if you didn't stop your surveys on whales, you would pay for the consequences of your actions. If the word 'killing' was not explicit, the meaning hiding behind their phrasing was evident, and whoever had sent you this letter was ready to use violent ends to shush your voice.

Clearly, whoever they were, they had never met you in person, or they would have known that threats would be far from enough to make you back down.

Nevertheless, Mark and Richard had decided that it was best to call professionals. Apparently, Richard had a friend in the security business, who had recommended the team he and Mark had hired. Why did they have to go to all the trouble to hire Americans, that was another mystery in this crazy story, but you simply accepted whoever they chose, as your complaints were dismissed.

You doubted heavily that anything would actually happen. You were a researcher, and none of your work was secret. If it had turned into a political stance over the past few years, it was still not a secret. All your colleagues in the lab knew about your research. You had asked for help from the press and a law firm when you realized that your research might have more impact that you had thought of on an international scale; yet, here again, you were not trying to keep any secret. What were they going to do? Destroy the entire university? If whaling held a lot of potential money, it was still no reason to make so much damage, at least, not in your mind.

When you started to investigate the migrations of whales in Antarctica, nothing could have made you think that you would come to discover that a Japanese research program was misused. If your accusation that it was merely a cover story for killing whales and selling their meat had always been denied by the Japanese authority, over the course of the past years, it had become your crusade to shut down the whole program. One could not, after all, excuse the killing of hundreds of animals and call it 'science', not in our day and age, at least.

You knew you had made enemies by taking a stand. You had never tried to hide your purpose. It didn't seem to you that it was a game people would play with death and threats. Maybe you were wrong, though.

And now you were up to get a bodyguard follow you everywhere. That was probably the most ridiculous position you had ever found yourself into.

Who would be your guardian angel though? Your mind started to play a game, trying to picture features and hair and clothes, and you found it funny to imagine a rather large sixty-year-old bald man wearing a cowboy hat and a heavy Texan accent as your protector for the coming weeks.

Just as you settled on an image, Richard was called by the reception as the four bodyguards had arrived. And when the four of them stepped into the room minutes later, Sofia gave you a look that meant I told you so.

And indeed, they were all wearing suits, which you imagined was not that comfortable considering it was a warm 27°C outside and quite humid after the strong rains of the day before.

And well, they were all pretty… attractive people, you guessed. As you introduced yourself to each of them, you kept on thinking about how much your two female colleagues would make your life annoying for the whole duration of this nonsense, gushing about their bodyguards.

Everyone took place around the circle of tables at the centre of the room. A little bit of small talk went on for a moment while they were all served coffee, about their flight, and their accommodation here in Townsville, but the man in charge, Steve, soon became more serious.

"We've started to research suspects, but for now I have to admit that we couldn't pinpoint any individual as being a threat in your direct acquaintances."

"To be completely honest, we highly doubt that it's coming from anyone we are close to," Richard answered.

"Not any colleagues, or a rival from another paper?"

"No, no one comes to mind. The only suspects for us would be someone linked to the whaling industry, as Dr. Y/L/N's research could have negative impact on their business, if we manage to give it a proper exposure."

"No one else is working on this project, you're all here?" Natasha asked, and you nodded.

"On the research side we are three active scientists on the project, plus our boss Richard. Luke here is our link with the press, and Mark his editor. Lucy and Joshua are advising us on legal issues."

"Why? Does your research break the law?" Bucky asked, lifting his eyes from the notebook where he had been taking notes.

"No, of course not. On the contrary, we think someone else is breaking the law."

"Our final goal is to bring the situation to an international court," Lucy added. "That's why we're helping them."

"And the two of you didn't receive any threat?"

"No, none."

"What about the police?" Sam inquired.

"They have no lead. They asked for the University to strengthen their security," Mark answered. "The investigation is still on-going, but for now they have nothing. And a simple letter is not enough for them to dispatch officers, which is why we called you."

"As we have discussed before, we have made arrangements to stay here for three months. We'll assess the situation again in a few weeks, to see if you would like to extend your contract or not."

Mark and Richard nodded in silent agreement.

"We're going to need to make an inspection of the facilities to determine which areas are the most dangerous. Same for your personal homes. We'll spend a couple of days adjusting to the situation. Do you all work in different buildings at the University?"

"No, all three of us share the same lab, and Sofia and Rosa have the same office, mine is next door to theirs," you answered. "But I teach, and the classes take place on the other side of the campus for the most part."

"Alright," Steve nodded, and he seemed to be thinking hard. "We're going to take a look around, and one of us will be assigned to each of you who has received direct threats. If you want, we can take a look at your workplace tomorrow as well, and give you a few advices on how to lower the risks," he added to the two lawyers, before focusing on the rest of the group again. "Ms. Romanov will be in charge of Mr. Savoy, Mr. Barnes and Wilson will protect Ms. Longbrook and Dr. Alvarez Santiago, and I'll be protecting you, Dr. Y/L/N. We're going to take a look at all the areas where you go here, in these facilities, and tonight we'll check your homes. We'll continue our investigation as well to find who has threatened you. Depending on how large the areas we have to cover are, we might have to use cameras as well."

"We'll show you around, if you want," Richard offered, and you were all soon leaving the meeting room.

Steve had already studied the map of the building, but he did find some interesting details that were worth writing down. Some areas difficult to see from afar, and other hidden corners. He would have thought that the lab would be a challenge, but it was tidy and ended up not being a problem at all. You showed him your office while Natasha was leaving for the newspaper headquarters, and Bucky and Sam were taking a look at your colleagues' office. Steve walked around, checked the windows and what was outside, looking for an angle from which a shooter could fire.

"It would be safer to move your desk a little closer to the door," he advised. "That way, there's no chance anyone outside can see you by the window."

"Okay," you nodded, hiding your annoyance, and helping him move your stuff around the room.

Luckily, none of the piles of files on your desk fell, and in a matter of minutes, Steve seemed satisfied.

You checked the time. It was quite late already, but you still had a couple of things to finish tonight, you hoped to keep on working at the office for a little longer.

Steve exited the room to talk with his colleagues for a moment, and when he came back, he asked you if you could stay at the office for a while, which matched your plans perfectly.

"I need to talk to the security on site, and take a look at the building where you give your classes. Please, don't go home without me, ma'am."

You gave him a smile.

"I was going to ask you if I could have more time before going home, I have still some work to do. And, please, call me Y/N. Anyway, you would have to call me doctor, not madam," you joked. "Let's keep it simple though."

Steve gave you a little, pinched smile, but shook his head.

"It wouldn't be very professional of me, doctor. I'll be back soon. Mr. Barnes will stay in the corridor, if you need anything."

"Alright, thank you then, sir."

He gave you a nod and exited the room, closing the door halfway behind him, probably so that his colleagues could keep an eye on you from the corridor.

You heaved a sigh and unlocked your laptop.

Of course, you had to fall on Mr. Serious out of all people, huh?

These were long, long three months awaiting you…

**********************************************************

 Tag list : @ponycake27 @horsesreign @xinyourdreamsx @jbluevelvet @notkeppeki @daynigt-dreamer-stuff @fudgeflyss @stuckupstucky @snek-shit @suchatinyinfinity @i-padfootblack-things  @buckybsarmy @heyohheyitsgabi@jigsawlover10 @emyyjemyy @addictedtofictionalcharacters @staringmoony

@rishlo @theshortegg @madamrogers​

 @luckyvee​

@marvelcapsicle​

[eddiesfaerie]

OKAY SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG BUT LONG SLEEVES REALLY WIPED ME OUT. it was so good. seriously, this bit was a fucking beast. your writing is so full of nuance, despite the "cliche" relationship dynamic between reader and charlie. i adore your characterization. this was quite a bit of information to write into 8+k but you did it beautifully and consisely! 

like, the narrative has this wonderful dance flowing in and out of internal monologue and action. i just LOVE what you've done with this!

their introduction is so soft, that shit has me FEELING things!!! AND BABYSITTING HENRY! that shit was so cute!!!!!!!! that literally captured like the most typical evening babysitting niños 😭💖 so fucking cute dude.

okay but then THIS aljshdfkjh "his opposite hand to the one below where you were holding reached forward and grabbed onto your own forearm, lurching you forward, into his chest. you gasped but kept it hush," “charlie,” you whispered, trying to bring him back to earth. bitch you did NOT just do this i'mmmmm--

okay and the first kiss at the park?? i literally gasped, you really are just going to play with my feelings like that. when he's gonna fuckin leave and he's already like going through that. okay haha cool you're doing that. and he's not even really going to call us, haha rude okay.

like the longing in this?? tears me apart and i love it lol especially when we get the text. again. i gasped. i this was a fucking ride. 

"'i just needed to see you' you make it okay. you make me okay." aksjdhflkajsdhf stop iiiitttt!!!! aahahahuhaughuhg im sad and hornyyyy 

"tell me you've needed me like i've needed you" KJHFALKSJDHFLKAJSDHF OKAY I NEED YOU AKSDJHFKLAJHDF and THE HAND ON HER THROAT AKJDSHFLKAJHSDF oooh haha okay cool we're gonna fuck like right now, hahah hahaha okayyy haha cool we're doing that now, i get to see charlie's dong and we're gonna fuck like mutually on the verge of tears 

"your eyelids flutter, your hand around his wrist clutching tightly as you fight to stay present in this moment and not ascend to some astral plane," bitch watch me ascend and remain omnipresent i wanna have sex with charlie in space. 

AND "the moan charlie lets out is... is earth shattering, awakening, gutteral, beautiful," you're damn right it is. fucking right it is. and this back and forth, like, he is so sweet and gentle and we're like "more" and he just fucking UHHHH "he would give you everything" aksjdfhlakjshdf yeeees!!!! this interaction is everything and i am so happy he fucked reader's lights out

this piece is so fucking good, dude. it's beautiful. it's hot. it's angsty. the breakthrough here is incredible. so proud of you, cowboy. <3 keep up the wonderful work. so excited to read part 2. talented ass beautiful ass nice and kind and sweet ass bitch 😔😌😌💞���💕⭐️✨💦👁👄👁💝💟💟💕✨🦋💓🍃⭐️✨👑💕✨💞

[sugarstarlights]

14 22. 39 50 57 68

100 Random Character Development Questions

Detail one secret shame your character feels. 

Dozens of times, in varying situations, Madison’s upset his friends in the normal way, that friends do, when just by being themselves they rub the wrong way with someone who isn’t exactly like them. The problem is that he takes these mistakes extremely seriously, blames himself for not knowing exactly what they wanted and acting accordingly, and feels a need to fix himself in order to never upset the given person again in the future. Whether his friends are actually upset and about what is a grey area that he’s constantly drawing assumptions from, and said friends might disagree with his assessment, but in every instance, willing to do anything to keep them all from giving up on him or hurting him to make him go away, as he believes he deserves, Madison promises to do and be better in the future.In his own eyes, he’s broken this promise dozens of times over. All the things he promises to change or stop are neutral elements of his personality and mental illness twisted into unforgivable flaws inside his own head, or inherent urges written into his angel programming that he blames himself for not being good enough to bypass. The fact that he repeatedly makes these “horrible mistakes” and then is incapable of successfully changing or erasing the part of himself that “caused the problem” is seen as a huge flaw in its own right, inherently selfish that he “refuses” to alter his thought processes to make someone he cares about happier. His friends like him the way he is, of course, and rarely seem to take that promise seriously, but Madison knows that he lied to everyone at some point, and the self-hatred and shame from being built of flaws that he seemingly doesn’t care enough to get rid of, even when they hurt those he loves, has eaten him for a long time. The unkeepable promises just add to that; though he’d never remind anyone he made them.

What is the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen?

Mads hasn’t seen a lot of things, and would call a few different unrelated events equally “the most beautiful thing”, including his first sunset, his wife, his ward’s birth, the storm he flew into, most of his friends and their neat abilities, he thinks lots of things are beautiful, stuff like that. But one thing always stuck with him, and though he wouldn’t admit it since it seems self-absorbed and arrogant, witnessing his soul’s healing ability activate for the first time, in the context it did, would rank at the top. He didn’t know it existed at all before the power was urgently needed to save Seculus, but the clouds of colorful buzzing light that surrounded them, combined with Sec’s visible improvement and the knowledge that Madison was the one doing this, that he was finally capable of helping his friend (and finally good for something); that stuck with him. Though, he would say that Sec’s look of joy and relief was the most beautiful thing in this situation.

What do they think is the worst thing that can be done to a person?

Oof! Oof!! In Madison’s professional opinion, robbing a person of their free will and ability to choose is bad enough, but the worst thing is going further, taking their memories, and identity, planting desired patterns of thought and mental blocks and traps to keep them from so much as thinking about specific inconvenient things without pain, conditioning them to have certain feelings toward certain things or maybe none at all, punishing them with temporary nonexistence and reinforcement of this programming for every hint of rebellion, pressing and shaping them into the preferred shape until they’re incapable of functioning whatsoever without being controlled and directed. Until they’re something completely different, empty but conscious, molded into a subhuman tool by whoever thought they had the right. Essentially, the worst thing he believes can be done to a person is to make them not a person anymore, without killing them. He gets very strong feelings whenever he sees a situation resembling this, and if it sounds familiar, it should; it’s a thorough description of brainwashing, and word for word what happened, and is still happening, to Madison himself. Of course, he doesn’t see this as ‘the worst thing’ in his own case; he’s not a person, after all! (The depressing irony is lost on him.)

How does your character feel about their own mortality?

Now this is an interesting one, because technically, Madison can’t die again; voices don’t age or get sick, and Madison’s healing ability prevents him from being killed violently unless every spark of his soul were destroyed at once. Even when voices do die, their soul lingers without form as a highly functional but extremely lonely ghost, for the eternity they would’ve had otherwise. However, a recent discovery revealed that if a voice goes for a little longer than a month without visiting the astral plane, they begin to disappear entirely, without the energy of their home plane to sustain them. Without intervention they’ll simply vanish like they were never there. Madison’s been thinking about this latter scenario a lot. The concept of forever, potentially spent alone, scares him, especially with the knowledge that his family is in an afterlife he’ll never have access to, and with each wave of overwhelming hopelessness, the idea of doing absolutely nothing until he completely disappears has tempted him more and more. The hateful growth taking up residence in his head until recently has made matters much worse. He used to have an intense fear of anyone choosing to kill him at any time, and though that was irrational in the first place for several reasons, that anxiety’s gone now. If Madison were mortal, he’d have probably left a long time ago; he’s died before, what does he have to fear from doing it again?

Has your character ever killed anyone?

No he hasn’t! Not even on accident. Madison’s had a pacifistic mindset since he was with his ward, it’s one of his core principles to never resort to violence when angered or upset, even in small amounts. That said, he’s not exactly capable of murder even if he wanted to, with his poor fighting abilities and anxiety around blood, not that he’s had a chance or desire in the past. Even now that he’s learning to use a proper weapon, he’s intent on only using it in defense of himself and others, and though he’s wished death on several people’s abusers at this point, there’s been no need for it yet. Mads believes that it’s his fault directly that the people in his place of work when he died were killed along with him, however, though there isn’t solid proof of that, and if there were, it would have been unintentional and impossible to predict the outcome when it happened.

How strong is your character’s sense of responsibility? What kinds of things trigger it?

Stronger than any other sense he has, that’s for sure; too strong, in fact. Between what he was built to do as an angel in supporting and helping a person with his whole being, his own intense instincts as a parent and friend, and the extremely high standards he holds himself to, Madison takes responsibility for everyone else’s problems and then some. It’s a consistent, unshakable mindset that when he sees someone struggling, he has to help in whatever way he can, or sometimes ways he can’t, which he then puts responsibility on himself for not being capable of. 

Madison when first introduced to the world was wildly inconsiderate of anyone’s wants, feelings, or concerns outside of his ward; he learned how to care about people from Seculus, another angel with a really bad self-sacrifice problem, and he saw her as such a kind person that aer unhealthy tendencies were taken as law. It took so much effort to get to the level of decency Mads has reached now that any sort of dismissal of others’ pain is interpreted as a huge step backwards into the cruel person he was before, that he needs to immediately make up for. His feelings may differ, but whether it’s familial, romantic, ward-esque or empathetic, he offers up everything when someone has a problem of any sort, especially emotional, and if there’s no fixing it, takes responsibility for its very existence, taking on their pain like this makes anything better. This in itself is ironically self-absorbed, though at the same time the only responsibility he takes for his own issues is to claim that he doesn’t matter enough for them to be a concern to himself or others. It’s irresponsible to worry others with his own problems, when they can’t easily be solved and don’t directly impact those besides himself. Obviously this gets frustrating sometimes.

There is also a gripping need to protect others, especially those he cares about. Witnessing someone in danger sets off his angel dad instincts, the first of which is to throw himself between them and the threat, either figuratively or literally. When they won’t let him, he gets panicked, as it feels like he’s forced to stand there and just watch; there are only a couple of people he trusts enough to let them protect him in return. Putting others in harm’s way for his own sake seems irresponsible. (Also ironic!) This is most of the reason he’s learning swordplay, so that he’s more effective in defending others, as opposed to just being a fragile obstacle.

On a lighter note, he feels the same intense responsibility for most living things, and having a pet in his life has helped his own self-care routines somewhat. His dog is relying on him for food, care, and shelter, and if he allows himself to stop functioning entirely or disappear, Madison will be causing him to suffer; thus, he continues to exist, on his worst days, just so Bo won’t have to be in pain. Being told by people, as well, the pain this would cause them, also forces Madison to stick around, but it’s out of guilt, not reassurance at being cared for.

[rosesisupposes]

Dark Side of Hope

Part 9 of Another Goddamn Hero Story

read on ao3

Chapter Relationships: eventual LAMP, emphasis on Analogical, Royality, & Moxiety; Background OC pairing

Chapter Warnings: Graphic imagery, nightmares, hospitals, comas, self-hatred, discussion of the possibility of major character death, lashing out, injury of a sibling (past), 

Word Count:  5,887

Taglist: @residentanchor @royally-anxious@bewarethegrammarpolice   @jemthebookworm@arandompasserby  @sparkly-rainbow-salt @astral-eclipse@thelowlysatsuma @monsterinatophat @turtally-pawsome @um-yes-hi-hello @idkaurl @potestessemagishomosexualitatis@hawthornshadow

(huge, loving thank you to @potestessemagishomosexualitatis for beta-ing <3)

~~~~~~~~~~

Fire. All was fire. Bricks and mortar fell around him, debris scattered in every direction.

The building was collapsing, but he walked through untouched. He heard yells, screams, and terrible silences punctuated by the churn and roar of the inferno surrounding him. Crashes rang out, and the flame was replaced by clouds of dust. The grey mass swirled in close, a claustrophobic column surrounding him. One by one, faces began to appear, profiles carved in debris that stared at him as he moved through the wreckage. He wanted to stop, but knew he didn’t have time. He needed to get to the center.

Voices drifted around him, echoing off fallen, shattered walls.

“Save me!”

“Don’t leave us!”

“Why aren’t you helping?”

He began to run, his destination near. The dust suddenly fell to the ground, the devastation no longer obscured or hidden as he stumbled over piles of what he told himself were just stone and bricks, nothing more. He neared the center, the pull that had urged him on easing at last.

A face in the wreckage. A hand, bruised, reaching out to him. A clear voice, speaking through vocal chords that should have been scratched and rough.

“You let me die.”

Patton awoke in darkness. Once, these nightmares had left him breathless and gasping through choked sobs. Once, he’d suffered from insomnia from the mere thought of encountering those images once again. But he’d since learned he only dreamed once a night. He shifted position, trying to find a comfortable spot in his blankets to fall back asleep.

He gazed up into the night sky. It was late enough tonight and their home far away enough from downtown that he could even see a star or two, along with the brighter planets. The white-and-red lights of a plane blinked silently across the sky, too far away to hear.

Patton took a deep breath, absorbing the night sounds and sights. It seemed all so vivid tonight, more than most. When had he last seen the stars look like this?

When was the last time he had seen the stars at all?

Patton sat up suddenly, pushing his blanket off. He was on the hard ground itself, only stolen pillows and blankets where his bed normally lay. The concrete around him was littered with food in a sad heap, knick-knacks in haphazard piles, and the few electronics they owned. Their home was gone, vanished into air.

Patton grabbed his costume from where the foot of his bed should have been, and dug out the scanner from a small pile of belongings. There was only one thing this could mean. And only two people he could think of that could offer any real help.

~~~~~~

Virgil was very, very tired of being jolted awake by the H.A.T.C.H. beacon. Particularly because he was a light sleeper and set his alarm accordingly at a reasonable volume. Logan, who was blinking but barely awake, could sleep through marching bands (and in fact had once back in school, in an incident involving a bet, the library, and a very well-executed surprise party). The nerd’s blaring alarm had Virgil’s heart racing from the split second it had started, and he woke up properly when his face made contact with the hard floor of Logan’s apartment.

“Lo, get up!” he snapped.

“Five more minutes,” his partner muttered sleepily.

“I’m drinking all the coffee,” Virgil threatened.

An arm shot out of the messed-up sheets, levering the short form up to sitting. “How dare-”

“Good, you’re up,” Virgil called from the closet, tossing Logan’s costume at his head. “It’s HATCH, so let’s get-” He stopped mid-sentence as he looked at his watch. “It’s- the villains calling, actually.”

Logan grabbed his goggles from the bedside table, suddenly much more alert. “That doesn’t bode well.”

“Let’s go.”

They’d barely made it out of the fire escape when the painfully-rushing air around them made it clear that Gale Force was approaching. The villain’s costume was wrinkled and askew, his red curls unevenly fluffy and matted around his head as he landed unceremoniously right between them.

“They got him. They got Ro,” he gasped out, eyes flashing.

“The Marauder? Who’s got him? How do you know?” Logan asked.

“Our home is gone. It’s his construct. His oldest one. Whatever happened, it’s bad, and I’m going to kill whatever piece of shit did this the minute you help me find them,” Patton snapped.

Virgil scowled. “If they killed him, I’ll help you do it.”

“No killing,” Logan interjected disapprovingly. He met the gazes of the two supers and amended, “Not yet. Let’s try to find the Marau- let’s find Roman first. When did they get him?”

Patton frowned, resenting the delay, and opened his mouth to snap at the speedster. Virgil caught his eye and jerked his head lightly. The air manipulator sighed and relented. “He was in a frenzy, flying off into the clouds, so I went home by myself and woke up to realize the house was gone. But it was there when I fell asleep so whatever happened was after dark.”

“A frenzy - was it a manic phase?” Logan said.

“Probably. He has highs and lows, but they don’t normally come on or fade this fast. But that means I have no idea when he would have come down again.”

“And the house missing - this has never happened before?” Virgil asked, his forehead knitting together in worry.

“Never. He’s been knocked out in fights or dead asleep for days at a time an it’s never wavered. Once his constructs are around long enough, they stay that way.”

“So this means that he’s…” Logan began, then stopped himself. “This means he needs our help. Let’s split up to search faster. Gale Force, you know your neighborhood best. Search all your hiding spots and meeting places, sticking to Sycamore Heights and southwest. Reflex, you take northwest. I’ll search the east. We’ll meet back at the statue in forty-five minutes if we don’t find anything, and send a message if we do. Gale, take this, for convenience.” He offered an extra HATCH band. Patton’s face was unreadable as he accepted it and strapped it to his wrist.

“We’ll find him,” Virgil said softly, and squeezed Patton’s shoulder firmly. Then he was off, soaring into the air.

“Forty-five minutes to rendezvous, or send us a ping,” Logan repeated, then he was off too, running to search half the city for a man he’d helped arrest just four days prior after fighting for weeks on end.

The small man was truly a blur today, zipping through the streets, noting oddities and things out of place. He looked for broken entrances, or remnants of crimson light, or anything indicating super activity. The civilians throughout the city seemed to be clips from a movie, slowed to a crawl. It was a strange pantomime of daily life in slow-motion, one that Logan hardly noticed as he ducked in and out of streets.

Zip.

He was in at the harbor, checking around the docks as seagulls moved like uncertain marionnettes through the air above him. A toddler, skipping along with her dad, would have run straight into him had she been moving at full speed.

Whoosh.

He was near the University, checking the labs, taking only a moment to watch his dad move glacially around his instruments. Ooh, is that two different methods of single-cell RNA sequencing being done in tandem? I wonder if he’s getting different results from PCR and IVT, he thought, intrigued, before pulling himself back to task. Roman was still missing. He could indulge in science later.

Fwip.

He was in a small park in the financial district, looking in the gazebo and bushes as he dodged around a dog-walker out with six charges whose floppy ears and tongues were caught in mid-bounce.

Zip.

He was running down streets, checking in and out of alleys and dumpsters. His adrenaline was pumping, far more than normal for this amount of exercise. He felt like he was about to strike a blow against a villain, or dodge an attack. He paused for just a moment, to catch his breath and let himself feel the normal progression of time. Leaning against a smokestack on a roof, his fingers started to tap unconsciously to the beat of the pulsing thoughts in his brain.

Where is he?

Is he okay?

Will we find him?

What do we do if we don’t?

Suddenly, his phone buzzed, and he picked up to Virgil’s low, familiar voice.

“Lo, I found him.”

“Where?”

“Sugarland.”

“Is he…?”

“He’s alive.”

Logan deflated, tension he hadn’t even realized he was carrying melting away, muscles loosening, the tide of thoughts receding back to their normal surf.

“What happened to him?”

“I don’t know, Lo. He’s… unconscious. Pat- Gale Force and I just got him to the hospital. He just went inside with Roman while I called you.”

Logan straightened, adjusting his goggles. “Roman is in a coma?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be there in a second, Vee.”

And he was. Blurring through the city, Logan arrived at Virgil’s side in a moment. The tall man was still hanging up his phone and putting it in his pocket when Logan wrapped his arms around his partner’s waist and squeezed tight.

“Are you alright?”

“I have to be.”

“But are you?” Logan asked seriously. Virgil was about to respond, but paused, and took a deep breath.

“I’ll feel better once we talk to the doctors.”

“Let’s go then. I’ll follow you. And we should probably change out of our costumes.”

Virgil nodded. Both heroes stepped around in the alley and changed into civilian wear. Virgil walked back into the direct sun, firmly ensconced back in his familiar hoodie, and took another stabilizing breath. “I’ll be okay, Lo.”

“I’ll be here for you even if you’re not, Vee. I love you.”

Virgil turned and cupped Logan’s face with one hand. He smiled into his partner’s eyes, affection and gratitude mixing with his palpable nervousness. Then he turned and walked through the hospital doors, still walking like Reflex in his intensity and speed. Logan paused and typed out a quick message on his phone before following.

~~~~~~

Virgil glanced at his phone, tapped his watch, and turned sharply towards the elevator bay. He strode through the halls, barely glancing at the signs, only checking his surroundings. Elevator. Button. Doors close. Wait. Doors open. Walk out. Left. Down two intersections. Right. Down to the windows. Turn.

He paused at the ward door until he saw movement beyond the door, familiar ginger curls pulling a second chair over to the bed. He knocked, gently, and Patton looked up and nodded.

He felt Patton’s eyes on him as he entered. His cheeks flared with heat. Of course - the villain had never seen him without his mask. Even though he knew he was far more covered in his long sleeves and loose jeans, he suddenly felt indecently exposed.

He cleared his throat. “Have the doctors seen him yet?”

Patton, dressed down in a polo and a cardigan, nodded. “They just went back to consult.”

“Has he …?”

“No,” the ginger man responded, eyes swiveling back to the man lying motionless beside him.

Virgil sat in the extra chair carefully. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until he saw Roman’s chest rise and fall and felt his own respond in imitation. The villain appeared to be sleeping, except for a certain stiffness in his posture. That, and the lack of response to even Patton’s desperate shaking when Virgil had called him to the alley where he’d found the unconscious man. The sterile sheets, bluish-grey and stiff, were a stark contrast to Roman’s tan skin, but only managed to make him look washed out and fragile. Virgil couldn’t help but realize he also hadn’t seen the construct-maker unmasked before, either. His unobscured handsomeness was no surprise, and certainly not one of Virgil’s current priorities. Especially not when the mask had been replaced with a neck brace and cannula.

The doctor came in with Logan in tow, and Virgil was on his feet immediately.

“Hello, good morning, I’m his… the one who found him.”

The doctor nodded. “Good morning, I’m Dr. Ahmad. I’ll be Roman’s primary attendant until he’s out of this ward. I’ve already met Mr. Sanders,” she added with a nod to Patton. “Can I have your names as well?”

Logan and Virgil made eye contact, both assessing until Logan spoke. “I’m Logan Lancaster.”

“And I’m Virgil Skylar.”

“Skylar?” Dr. Ahmad asked with an eyebrow raised. “That sounds familiar. But let me tell you all how our patient is doing.”

The three supers moved together to Roman’s bedside, eyes glued to the doctor. Her teal hijab matched the scrubs under her labcoat perfectly, and as she tapped a finger on her clipboard, Virgil noticed her nails matched, too.

“Roman is currently in a state of unresponsiveness. We are not yet able to determine if he is fully in a comatose state. What that means is we’re not sure if he is aware of his surroundings, but he does not appear able to respond to any stimuli.”

“Do you know how he ended up like this?” Virgil asked. “Any trauma, any internal bleeding?”

“We’ve found no trauma, no bruising, no internal bleeding. From preliminary scans, there’s nothing inside the skull, either. Besides being underfed, he’s in remarkably good health. Except, of course, for the lack of consciousness. Do any of you know of his medical history?”

Logan scratched the back of his neck. “I believe he may have untreated and undiagnosed bipolar disorder. But I’m not a professional, and haven’t conducted an assessment regardless. As far as family history…” he looked over at Patton, who was rubbing small circles on Roman’s thigh.

“There’s no other family to contact,” the ginger-haired man replied shortly. “And he’s never been to a doctor before.”

Dr. Ahmad nodded. “Understood. Unfortunately, because we can’t tell what induced the current state, we can’t make a prognosis at the current time.”

“Does this hospital have specialists in recognizing and treating illness induced by enhanced abilities?” Logan asked.

The doctor turned to him, then looked over the other visitors. “Ah,” she said quietly. “You’re those four. Yes, we do. They’re not in yet today, but we’ll send for them as soon as possible. Hopefully they’ll get us some more definite answers. Until then, all we can do is make Roman comfortable and hope he wakes on his own.”

“We can stay with him, right?” Patton asked, not looking up from where his eyes were fixed on Roman’s unconscious face.

“Visiting hours end at eight pm…” she began, but Virgil made eye contact with an eyebrow raised. “Visiting hours officially end at eight,” she amended. “And in my official capacity, I must of course advise you to leave by then. But we do have a tendency to, ah, miss certain wards in the nightly rounds.”

Patton squeezed Roman’s hand, steadfastly refusing to look away from his partner’s face. “What does that mean? I can’t… I don’t have anywhere else I could possibly be, not now.”

Virgil placed a careful hand on the villain’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “It means you can stay, Patton. No one is going to make you leave him alone.”

“I’ll be back later for further tests and any updates,” the doctor said. “The call button is here, and there’s a nurse stand down the hall to the left if you need anyone or anything.” She scribbled a note on Roman’s chart, nodded to them all, and departed.

Patton scooted his chair closer and brushed Roman’s hair out of his face. “Rospberry, I’m so sorry,” he whispered to the unconscious man. “I should have stayed with you. I should have kept you safe.”

Logan stood at the foot of the bed, reading the chart, but looked up at Patton’s quiet remark. “You cannot blame yourself for this, Gale- Patton. Whoever put him in this state is the one who owns all of the responsibility. Roman’s a good fighter - to still be caught means he must have been taken entirely by surprise.”

Patton looked back at Logan, a strange expression on his face. “I- thank you, Doc. Logan, was it?”

“Yes. Logan Lancaster.”

“Sorry, what was that, I think your volume’s too low-”

“I said-”

“-gan!”

Logan inhaled sharply, closing his eyes. “God, not even my dad’s come up with that one yet, and he gave me that name.”

“What can I say, Doc, I really got that Pat-ernal spirit!”

“...I might scream.”

“Dr. Ahmad will yell at you if you do,” Virgil put in, watching the exchange with amusement.

“She cannot do anything further to hurt me, not when I’m subjected to these puns no matter where I go.”

“You don’t find them humorous?” Patton asked, eyes dancing. Virgil smirked, but didn’t stop Logan as he replied.

“No, I do not.”

“Well it’s a good thing we’re in the hospital, you’ve clearly lost your funny bone!”

Logan stood up straight and walked over to the wall, where he made a show of slowly beating his head against it.

Virgil snorted and sat by Roman’s side once more. He hesitated, then reached out to hold the unconscious man’s hand. It felt off, somehow. He glanced down, and his eyebrows shot up.

“Lo, c’mere for a sec.”

Logan came up behind Virgil, resting his hands on his partner’s shoulders. “What is it?”

“Look at this - doesn’t this look like a deliberate fist?”

“You’re right, it does. Do you think he did it on purpose as he was going unconscious?”

“Maybe- can you check the other hand?”

Logan crossed, and carefully moved the sheets to reveal Roman’s right hand. “It’s a three, look! Fist and three - was he attacked by three people at once?”

Virgil was on his feet, pacing. “What trios do we know who are operating right now? Probably need to look at both heroes and villains and maybe even neutrals, they all could have some objection to what the Crimson Marauder’s been doing. Or he could have been in civilian wear, which pushes slightly more to villain or neutral.”

“There’s the copycat Fang Patrol attempting to form in the Heights, they’d be a likely enemy, right?” Logan mused. “I think the records I’ve seen indicate Roman was involved in defeating the original Patrol. Or the Triceras might be back in town.”

“Boys,” Patton said.

“I think Orion is operating again too, all three of them. We should call Talyn, they’d be able to help us narrow this down-”

“Boys,” Patton repeated, interrupting the back-and-forth. “Roman already told us exactly who attacked him.”

Both heroes turned, Virgil surprised, Logan skeptical. “How so?”

“Look at his hands. This isn’t just a fist. It’s a fist with the thumb on the side. That with the three fingers? He’s spelling in ASL. It’s ‘A’ and ‘W.’”

“Oh,” Virgil said, both heroes blushing slightly.

“Agent Whisper again,” Logan muttered. “I’d suspected, but hoped not.”

“This is all our fault,” Virgil said in a low voice, sitting down heavily. “We left him unprotected, knowing this fucker was out there.”

“Virge-” Logan began, but Virgil just shook his head miserably and took Roman’s hand in his again. Patton shifted his chair so he could mirror Virgil’s position on the other side, rubbing the back of Roman’s motionless hand with his thumb. Virgil looked up at the movement, and met Patton’s gaze. Both sets of eyes burned with the fire of revenge tempered by a stormcloud of guilt. Logan paused, unsure of how to help, but settled with resting his hands on Virgil’s shoulders and giving what he hoped was a comforting squeeze.

~~~~~~

Doctors and nurses came in sporadically over the course of the day, taking Roman’s pulse, drawing blood for additional tests, and checking all indicators of responsiveness. The three supers shifted around the room to give them space, never straying too far. The clock’s almost-imperceptible ticking swelled into a cacophony as Patton got quieter and quieter, his mouth settling into a grim line.

“I can’t take this anymore!” he finally burst out. “Roman might be dying and there’s nothing I can do! I can’t stand to see this, I can’t bear to lose him!”

He was halfway to the door where Virgil sped to stop him, hands braced against his shoulders and eyes blazing. “You can’t give up hope, Patton. You can’t leave him now, I know you can’t, because not knowing would be even worse than seeing him like this.” He talked low but quickly, trying to cram as many words as he could into Patton’s hearing before the villain stormed past him, literally. “I know this is painful, feeling helpless and guilty all at once. But Roman wouldn’t want you to be racing off, not when it means you could end up in your own bed next to him or worse. If you really need to get out of this room, at least take one of us with you, okay? Stay safe.” He saw Patton ready to spit out a biting response and preempted it. “Don’t do this for me. Do it for him.”

Patton looked ready to blast Virgil through a wall, blue eyes stony and cold. He stared hard at the tall hero for a long, tense moment, then finally deflated.

“I’m just so…” he trailed off.

“Worried? Scared?” Virgil suggested. “It’s okay. We’ll get through this. The doctors will help, and if Roman can hear us, even the tiniest bit, we’ll let him know we’re here for him, okay?”

Patton sagged further, and leaned forward into Virgil’s chest. Virgil’s eyes widened, but he moved automatically in response nonetheless, carefully wrapping his arms around the shorter man’s shoulders.

A knock on the door surprised them all, and Patton sprang out of Virgil’s grip. They all assumed it was another round of medical staff, and Logan was the first to call out, “Come in!”

In came two women, wearing neither scrubs nor lab coats. But their appearance caused Virgil to gasp in delight.

“Mum! Mama! What’re you doing here?!” Without waiting for an answer, he crossed the room and seized both women in a single tight hug, lifting them slightly off the ground as he did so.

“Lolo texted us,” the taller responded as Virgil put them both back on their feet. “He knew you’d need family.” She pushed back the red hairs that were falling out of her ponytail, smiling up at her son. They shared a similar build and jawline, but Virgil maintained he’d not inherited nearly the full level of dorkiness that either of his moms possessed. She waved at Logan at the back of the room, and turned to Patton. “Hello, I’m Celeste Skylar, Virgil’s Mum.”

“And I’m Tatiana, his Mama,” her wife said, extending a hand to shake. Patton took it carefully and shook it, seeming uncertain. Tatiana smiled wide, teeth flashing bright against her dark skin. “I’m sorry to have to meet a friend of Virgey’s in such a difficult context, but all I’m thinking right now is how much I love your curls!”

Patton hesitantly smiled back. “Hi, I’m Patton Sanders. I’m, uh. Virgil’s coworker?” he asked, glancing at the hero.

“Oh, we know about the whole thing,” Celeste said breezily, twiddling a hand to somehow indicate superpowers. “Are you one of the lovingly-frustrating villains?”

Virgil flushed. “Mum, that is not how I described them.”

“Yes, dear, but I can read between the lines. Or, listen, in this case. Logan, come here, it’s been too long.”

Logan obediently accepted enthusiastic hugs from both women, Tatiana planting a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for texting me, sweetie. This is why we trust you with our boy. Now. How’s our patient?”

Virgil nodded to Patton, who led the moms over to the bed. “This is Roman. We found him early this morning, and think he’s been unconscious for over twelve hours now.”

Tatiana’s lips tightened for a moment as she gazed at Roman’s sleeping form. But she looked up again at Patton with a warmer expression. “And he’s your partner?”

“In all senses of the word, yes.” He looked down and smoothed Roman’s hair. “He’s my sunlight.”

“Then this is hard, like nothing you’ve done before,” Celeste said, her voice soft. “Because it’s nothing you can fight or fix, you just have to wait.”

Patton nodded, still on edge.

“That’s why we’re here. We’ll help get you set up to make the waiting easier,” Tatiana explained warmly. “I can’t tell you it won’t keep being hard, because I know it will. But the logistics don’t have to be what makes it hard. Now, let’s get you set up.”

Virgil and his moms immediately started moving. Virgil went to the waiting room around the corner and came back easily carrying two large, cushioned chairs. Celeste opened a nondescript cupboard to reveal a case of warm blankets. Tatiana sent Logan down to the nurse station to get extra pillows, while she produced bags and bags of snacks from her purse. Together they assembled a makeshift bed, right next to Roman’s.

Patton watched all this unfold, staring. He sat on the edge of the newly-formed bed and looked up at the wives. Tatiana was leaning against Celeste’s shoulder and their hands were interlocked as they both looked down at Roman.

“Why are you being so helpful?” he asked, brow furrowed. “You don’t know me, or Ro, and your son only stopped fighting us about four days ago…”

“Because we can,” Tatiana replied. “Because no matter who you are, you deserve to get the full mom treatment.”

Patton’s throat formed a lump, and he looked down at his lap. A hand lifted his chin until he was staring into Celeste’s bright blue eyes. She spread her arms. “You look like you could use a hug, honey.”

Patton stood and threw his arms around her waist as tears suddenly began to fall for the first time all day. He felt another set of arms circle behind him as he cried into Celeste’s pink denim jacket, and he felt Tatiana start stroking his hair.

“This okay, sweetie?”

All he could do was nod.

Eventually, his sobs subsided, and he sat back into his makeshift bed. Celeste sat with him, rubbing circles in his lower back. He felt the tears threatening to return as he remembered Miss Parsons doing the same, once upon a time. Tatiana brought him water and pushed a packet of fruit gummies into his hands.

“Thank you.”

“It’s the least we can do, sweetie. I don’t know if Virgil’s told you, but he has siblings about your age. 22 and 20 now, bless them.”

“Speaking of our other children, Tati, we do need to get home to them soon,” Celeste said regretfully.

“I-” Patton started, then hesitated.

“Hm?”

“How do I do this?” Patton whispered. “How do I just wait and watch and worry and not explode?”

Tatiana and Celeste both reached out at the same moment, their hands joining like puzzle pieces. Tati looked down, thinking, then met Patton’s gaze. “I won’t tell you it’s easy, because it’s not. Nothing about it is easy. It’s draining, emotionally and physically. But you keep going, you power through, because you love him. Because you want to be there the minute something changes. Because there’s a slight, slight chance that he can hear you and you want him to know that he’s never alone.”

“Be kind to yourself, dear,” Celeste added. “Remember to eat. Let yourself rest. Let yourself feel. And don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

Patton nodded in wordless thanks, unable to speak. The women stood and hugged both Virgil and Logan thoroughly before departing with a last wave.

~~~~~~

In the silence that followed, Virgil sat in one of the other chairs, near to Patton without crowding, and Logan sat down on his other side. All three supers paused to watch Roman’s chest rise and fall in time with the sounds of the oxygen machine and the blips of the heart rate machine as accompaniment.

“You had family here in the hospital,” Patton said to Virgil after a pause. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes. My little sister. Sandry.”

“...can I ask?”

Logan grimaced and reached over for Virgil’s hand, giving a comforting squeeze. Virgil smiled weakly at him before responding. “I mean, yeah, at this point, you might as well know.” He took a deep breath. “It’s not pretty, though.”

Patton chuckled humorlessly. “What about any of this is?” He took Roman’s hand in his and settled in to listen.

Virgil’s gaze remained fixed on the speckled floor tiles as he spoke.

“We knew I had powers early. Flight and strength are both pretty flashy. But they weren’t disruptive or anything. And Mum and Mama didn’t want to take me out of school, so I just stayed in my public school out in the suburbs. They hadn’t heard of any alternatives. And for the most part it was… normal, I guess. No one suspected that I hated gym because I’d be too good at it, they all just thought I was an awkward emo nightmare. Which, to be fair, was true. But in middle school, things started to change. I accidentally hovered sometimes, or sat too heavily and broke chairs, or slammed doors open and cracked the walls. People started making fun of me, thought I was just a terrible klutz. I wasn’t super confident to start with, between being mixed and caught between those two worlds and having two moms. When I first realized that people made it a thing that Mum is a trans woman, or that Jacques and Alex are enbys, I stopped talking about my family. But as my powers kept bursting out of me, I started trying to hide in plain sight all the time, tried to appear smaller, and I learned to be afraid. Afraid of what people would say and were saying. Afraid that they’d target my siblings or moms. Afraid that my next mistake would be super noticeable. Afraid that everyone would find out about my powers and I’d never be anything other than Virgil the Freak.

“It just got worse. The more I thought and worried about hiding my powers, the more they broke away with me. I was constantly on edge, hiding in my hoodie in the back of the classroom, hoping no one would look at me or notice me or even think about me. And then one day, when I was fifteen, I accidentally picked up an entire wall of lockers to get an assignment that had fallen under a crack. I thought no one saw me but… I was in my yard that night, scrolling on my phone, when I started getting text after text of these dumb memes and messages making fun of me. Then I got a call. Six of my classmates, all on speaker, all together at someone’s house, laughing at me. I hung up on them, but I’d already started crying. It felt like all my fears were coming true, and I was panicking. I couldn’t breathe or think straight, and the world felt like it was moving way too fast and also frozen at the same time. Sandry heard and came out to comfort me, to try to talk me down, literally, because I’d started hovering again, all curled up in a tiny ball.”

Virgil paused, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. Logan squeezed his hand and started rubbing his back in small, comforting circles. Patton watched solemnly, not interrupting.

“All I can say is I didn’t realize it was her,” he continued, his voice hollow. “All I could hear was their laughter, all I could see was the taunts I’d been receiving, and when she touched my arm… I exploded. I screamed at her to get away, and it triggered the power I didn’t yet know about. I blasted her into the big old oak tree in our yard and she hit it full force, frozen in the middle of reaching out for me. The crack as she connected…” he shuddered. “I’ll never forget it. It’s the worst sound I’ll ever hear. But it was enough to break through, for me to come back to myself, to see what I’d done. I started sobbing and yelling for Mum and Mama and Jacques and Liv and Alex and they all came running out. They were horrified, and terrified. Of me.

“We broke every single speed limit on the way to the hospital - to here. I was almost fully mute with shock but we were able to tell them it had been a super accident. Sandry was bruised all over and non-responsive. We didn’t know for a full day if she was still frozen from my power or the injuries, but we found out she was in a fully comatose state. My little sister, Sandra Skylar, was eleven years old and in a coma, the doctors had no idea when or if she’d wake up, and I’d put her there. It was my fault. And if she died, brain-dead, never waking again, that would have been my fault too,” Virgil finished, voice cracking.

Logan shifted to hug his boyfriend around the shoulders, shushing softly. “It’s okay, Virge. She recovered, and your family still loves you, and that’s when you got the help you needed.” Turning to Patton, he explained, “It lasted a week, and in that time, the hospital staff learned that Virgil wasn’t enrolled at HEARTS, the super school. His moms hadn’t heard of it, but the minute they did, they got him transferred, so he could get instruction on how to manage his powers and get support for the ups and downs of using them. And that’s where we met. It’s where he became a hero.”

Virgil leaned into Logan for a moment and brushed away his tears. “Only half-right, Lo. That was where we met, but here is where I became a hero. Or resolved to be one.” He gazed over at Roman’s still form. “Spending days and nights on end, seeing her in that bed, hoping desperately that she would be okay… I promised anyone who was listening that if she survived, I’d never let it happen again. That I’d learn control, and that I’d keep her and everyone like her safe. I wish I could say it was because it was the right thing to do, but so much of it was just knowing what that pain felt like, knowing what I’d done.”

“Wait, really?” Patton asked. “Heroes are allowed to be doing it for something other than Truth, Justice, and the American WayTM?”

Logan was frowning. “Well, not ideally, but-”

“We all want to, but most of us don’t,” Virgil interrupted. “Or maybe we did when we were young and now it’s just a job, a specialized skill we have. Not all of us can be as pure as the Doc over here.”

Patton hesitated, then reached out and took Virgil’s hand. “Thank you for trusting me with your story.”

Virgil shot him a small smile. “Thanks for listening.”

“But, Virgil?”

“Yeah?”

“Next time you use that force wave power, it better be against the bastard who put Ro here.”

“You’ve got yourself a fucking deal.”

~~~~~~

a/n: Backstory! Moms! Momming!

(I love Virgil's moms very much, I know far too much about them for characters who haven't appeared until chapter 9. Please ask me about them. i love them)

[goodwriterwithbadhabits]

Phantom Lover

Master List

This is a doozy! I got so carried away. You wanted angst? I give you Detective Yixing x College Reader. 

And I am so sorry about this one, it seems both too long and also so rushed at the same time.

Warnings: Certifiably fucked up. Torture, death, blood violence, cops, swearing

Enjoy

~~

When Detective Yixing woke up, he was not expecting the first thing he saw to be a woman standing in his bedroom, but there you were. Your was face covered in scrapes and bruises, your clothes torn and bloodied and your fingertips dripping blood onto his bedroom floor.

Of course he did the logical thing, the thing any police detective would have done at that sight at 9:30 in the morning.

He screamed. Loudly. 

You took a step back, shocked at his outburst, and stumbled back further when his bedroom door burst open and his roommate burst through the door. Suho looked around wildly, brandishing a baseball bat.

“What the fuck, Lay?” He huffed, “Scaring the shit out of me this fucking early.” Yixing looked at him incredulously.

“Do you not see the girl? The bloody woman standing right there?” He gestured to where you stood but Suho seemed to look right through you.

“Lay, there's no one there, you're just overworking yourself, dude.”

“No, she's right there!” He practically shouted. Suho sighed in annoyance and walked over to you, and then through you.

“No one here, Lay. Seriously, its the missing persons case, its got you going crazy.” Suho sighed, patting his friend on the shoulder and leaving the room. “Maybe you should ask for someone to take over.” He offered from across the house.

“Yeah maybe.” Lay breathed, still staring at you. “Are you real?” You looked down at yourself, examining the blood on your fingers before looking back at him and saying something he couldn't here. “What? I can't hear you.” You spoke again, clearly attempting to enunciate every word but there was still no sound. “You can hear me, but I can't hear you, right?” You huffed, shrugging.

“Lay! Come eat, you're gonna be late!.” Suho called.

“Could you, um, could you turn around? I need to get dressed.” He asked, tugging the duvet closer to himself. Your cheeks went red and you pointed to the door. He nodded and you practically ran out of the room.

You were aware of everything, your name, the dull throbbing pain that coursed through your body. Even what had happened right before you found yourself seemingly astral projected in some stranger's house. You didn't feel dead, you could feel your pulse when you checked it, but you couldn't touch anything. Your hand just went right through it, which made making your way through the house so much easier.

You wandered his house, waiting for him, for a few minutes. It was fancy, two stories, a nice view, a huge pool in the back, very art deco meets log cabin vibes. Lay's roommates, Suho and Sehun, a friend of your roommate's, were sitting in the spacious kitchen, discussing Lay when you got there.

“I think we should talk to Xiumin, it's not healthy for Lay to be working so much.” The other one said.

“Maybe, but he seemed really sure about there being someone there. I went to college with him, I've seen what he's like when he's hallucinating.”

“When was he-”

“I'm not telling you that story, Sehun. Don't you have class?” Suho immediately cut off the younger man.

“Not for another hour, but if you're sure he isn't hallucinating, have him talk to Professor Do.” Sehun shrugged.

“The creepy occult professor?” Suho questioned, setting a thermos next to a lunch pail on the counter.

“Yeah, but he knows a lot about ghost stuff. It's a long shot, but maybe he can help him out.”

“Whose gonna help who out?” Lay inquired as he entered the kitchen, now clad in crisp slacks and a cream-colored button-down with black suspenders standing stark from the cloth.

He looked good, like every detective from the movies and TV shows you had grown up watching and knowing that he couldn't hear you, you told him so. 

“Professor Do, he's an occult expert and he might be able to help out with the girl your seeing.” Sehun explained. Lay nodded, picking up the lunch box and thermos. “I'll check him out after work. See you later guys.” He waved to his roommates as he jogged out to his car. Once outside he glanced behind him to see you following. “Do you recognize any of the buildings in the area?” He asked you, to which you shook your head. He opened the driver's side door and rested his head on the roof of his car. You, in some half-assed attempt at existing in the corporeal plane, grabbed at the handle of the passenger side door and shockingly, were able to open it.

“Holy shit.” He breathed, “Well, climb in, you can come with me to the precinct and we can see if we can't find out what's happening.” He instructed, and you both climbed into the car.

Back inside the house, Suho and Sehun slowly turned towards each other as Lay pulled away, both having seen, not only the car door opening on its own but also the reflection of a beaten-up woman in the window of the car.

“Did you see?” Suho asked the younger boy.

“So he's not crazy.” Sehun admitted.

“And he's not hallucinating.”

“But who the hell is she?”

~~

“We just received another missing person's report.” Police Captain Xiumin announced to the group of detectives gathered around the report board. “A young woman L/n, Y/n. She went to work four days ago and never came home. Her roommate, Kim Jongin, says he thought she might have gone to her mothers and forgot to tell him but when he called this morning her mother said she wasn't there.” The captain tacked a picture to the board and Lay had to hold back his gasp, there you were, staring back at him from what looked like a school ID. “Zhang, do you have anything on this case?”

“I think so, we've noticed a pattern.” Lay started, loading a presentation on the projector. You were sat at his desk next to him, staring at your own picture on the wall. Had it really been four days? “Whoever is doing this only seems to be taking college women, that was obvious. We didn't see any possible connection until last night. None of them are in the same major, they don't look alike, but they all have one thing in common. They have all modeled for an art class on campus. The class meets at 2 on Thursdays. Lee Sora, two days before she was taken, Yang Hyunjoo, three days prior, Kim Sunmi, one day prior.” CCTV images of girls you vaguely knew popped up on the screen, all posing some sort of way on the dais in the middle of the room. “Hwang River and Boo Hana were both the day they modeled, I'm almost certain if we check, Miss Y/n will be on the list of their models.” A few of Lay's colleagues gave him looks of awe while others stared at him like he was their archenemy.

“Do that. Who would have this list of models, who would know?” Xiumin inquired.

“Only the teacher, whose been at class nearly every time one of them was taken, and the students in the class.”

“I want the names of every kid in that class, I want them brought in and questioned and I want this figured out yesterday. And who the hell is that?” Xiumin nearly shouted as a shadow fell in front of the projector screen, you had stepped in front, pointing to the photo of yourself.

“There's no one standing there.” Someone noted, “Just their shadow.”

“Zhang? Is this part of the presentation?” Lay smirked, making eye contact with you.

“No sir.”

“Then who is that? And why can't we see them?”

“Sir, I believe that is Miss Y/n.” You nodded, which made everyone gasp. “ I think she's going to be able to help us out.”

“Alright.” Xiumin mused, still staring at your shadow. “Everyone get to work. Yang, I want you on the list of students, round up who you need to. Zhang, meet me in my office, and bring the girl.” The lights came back on, and the projector turned off, rendering you invisible once again. Xiumin walked to his office as Lay set his things back on his desk. You made your way over to the report wall, seeing the faces of the other girls.

“Recognize anyone?” He asked you. You nodded, pointing to Lee Sora, a girl you had met in the cafeteria during a study group. “Just her?” You gestured to the others and made the motion of kinda with your hand.

“So you can see her then?” Homicide Detective Lu Han asked, looking towards the report board where Lay was looking. “How come?”

“No idea. She showed up in my room this morning. Suho walked right through her but she managed to open my car door.” Lay explained.

“Hmm, maybe it's just your things she can touch.” He offered, “Y/n! He called, lobbing his badge towards you. You tried to catch it only to have it fall right through you.

“What was that going to accomplish?” Lay asked.

“Give me your badge.” Lay complied and Lu tossed it in your direction and to his shock, you caught it. “Hey, I was right.” He grinned. “If she holds on to it, we'll be able to see her too.” He shrugged. “Either way, you need to go see the boss.” You walked over to Lay's desk trying to hand him back his badge.

“Hold onto it.” He ordered, before leading you towards the boss's office.

~~

“Care to explain whatever this is?” Xiumin asked, leaning on his desk and staring at the floating police badge in front of him.

“I don't know how to, sir. She was in my room this morning, no one else can see her.” Lay explained. “It seems she can only touch my things, I was shocked she even cast a shadow.”

“But she's L/n Y/n?”

“It would seem so. The problem is, I can't hear her when she talks, and I don't understand sign language.” 

“We need to know what she knows.”

“I was going to stop by Professor Do, the occult studies professor, see if he might be able to help.”

“We'll go now. Take her in your car, I'll meet you there.” Xiumin ordered. Lay nodded and the two of you left the office.

“At least someone believes me, and I know you're not just a product of my hallucinations.” Lay laughed, gathering his folders on his desk. You plopped in his chair, hand immediately going to pick up his letter opener, spinning it in your bloody fingers, effectively smearing your blood across it. “Hopefully Professor Do will be able to help.” He sighed, “Let's go then.”

~~

Xiumin met the two of you in front of the administrations building of the university.

“Hello, can I help you?” The receptionist inquired. The young man, whose name tag read Jongdae, smiled at the two men, not noticing the floating police badge that was now attached to a chain around your neck.

“Captain Minseok, Busan PD, this is Detective Zhang, we need a few things from you.” Lay pulled out your picture from his files.

“Recognize this student?” Jongdae nodded, smiling. “What can you tell us about her?”

“She's a wonder. Investigative Journalism major, though she hasn't been to class in a few days.”

“Since when?”

“Well, she came in for her Friday morning photojournalism lecture but hasn't been to class for the last two days. I'm getting kinda worried.” He confessed. You smiled, thankful that one of your friends cared.

“Thank you, we may have more questions for you. What’s the best way to get hold of you?” Xiumin asked, Jongdae immediately grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled his number on it.

“Here, call or text me. For any reason.” He winked at the captain, who wasn't sure how to respond. You burst out laughing, thankful that no one could hear you.

“We, we need to know if Professor Do is in today.” Xiumin stuttered, tucking the paper into his breast pocket.

“The occult studies professor?”

“Yes.”

“Let me call.” He picked up the phone, while Lay and Xiumin took a few steps back.

“I'm going to stay down here, I want to ask this guy if he knows anything about the other missing girls. Take her up to the professor and call me if anything comes up.” Xiumin decided.

“Yes sir.”

“Excuse me.” All three of you looked to Jongdae. “The professor is in his office. It's in the human sciences building, I can give you a map.” Lay looked to you who pointed to yourself, telling him you knew the way.

“That's alright, I know the way. Thank you.” Lay turned back to his superior and nudged his shoulder. “Don't have too much fun Captain.”

“Shut up Zhang.”

~~

Walking through campus was strange, you saw people you knew, but they couldn't see you. At one point you walked right by your friend group and heard them asking Jongin about you.

“I don't know. She didn't come home Friday. I filed a missing persons report this morning.” He explained.

“Why'd you wait?” Sehun asked, “I've got some friends at the police department, I could have asked them to look into it.”

“Sehun.” Lay chastised, as he walked by. “Don't go getting any ideas, you'll end up owing me favors.”

“Lay, what are you doing here? Is it about-” Lay cut the younger man off.

“I'm just here to speak to Professor Do. Although.” Lay pondered for a moment. “Have any of you attended the live model art class?”

“I have.” Your friend Tao, raised his hand. “The one on Thursday right?”

“Anything you can tell me about it?” Lay asked, pulling his notepad out of his pocket. “Anything that's changed in the past few months?”

“Well, the class only started a few weeks ago, but it's been losing its intrigue. Only a few of us still attend the class. Most have dropped it.” Tao explained.

“Would you be willing to come down to the station and answer some questions, Mister...?”

“Huang Zitao. And yeah, that's no problem.” You smiled, watching Lay and one of your closest friends talk. You couldn't pretend not to like Lay, he was smart, kind, and hard working. There must have been some sort of connection between you two, it was the only explanation for why you showed up in his bedroom.

“Thank you, when you can, go to the station and ask for Yang. He's the one who gonna want to ask you some questions.” Lay bowed to the group who bowed back before walking off.

“Detective. Are you gonna find our friend?” Jongin called. Lay stopped, locking eyes with you as you both smiled, slowly turning back to the group.

“Yes.”

Lay continued pouring over his notes as you made your way to Professor Do's office. A few students seemed to notice you, or at least the floating badge, and do double-takes, but most were scurrying between classes. You paused in front of the classroom as the professor said goodbye to the students, waiting for him to be finished speaking to the last of the stragglers.

“Excuse me, professor Do?” Lay interrupted, “Detective Zhang, I need to speak to you.”

“Of course, I'll see you next week Hyunjin, and I hope you find your friend.” He told the student, turning his attention to Lay and the floating badge as the student ran off. “Come in you two.”

The inside of his classroom was surprisingly normal-looking, a few dead animals in formaldehyde and some ancient texts hanging on the walls, but his office was another story. Giant bookshelves full of decaying texts, charms, and crystals on the walls and strange devices on shelves across the room. “I suspect you're not here about the missing girls.” He started, motioning for Lay to take a seat. “You here about that.” He pointed to you and the badge. “Your ghost friend.”

“Actually, it's a bit of both professor, this is L/n Y/n-”

“One of the missing students. Is she dead?” You had spoken to the professor before, but the way he was staring at you was freaking you out.

“I don't think so. She looks pretty alive.”

“You can see her? Tell me everything, feel free to have a seat Y/n.” He sat on the other side of his desk, eyes never leaving you as Lay explained everything.

“So others could see her, and she can't touch what isn't yours?” He mused once Lay had finished.

“That seems to be the case professor.”

“Call me Kyungsoo. I think I've seen something like this before.” Both of you perked up at this.

“You have?”

“Its a very rare soulmate bond. The ability to astral project to the other if the need arises. Eventually, you'll be able to do it whenever you want.” Kyungsoo explained, moving to one of his bookshelves.

“Hold on, did you say soulmates?” Lay asked.

“Yes.” Kyungsoo's blunt reply made you both look at the other, and you felt your cheeks heat up. “It says here that we may be able to see her using a mirror.” He read, setting the book down he grabbed the large mirror from the corner and set it in the middle of the room. “Y/n, come stand in front of this please.” You did as you were told and were shocked when you finally got to see yourself.

You looked like shit.

Your hair was ratty and greasy, you were covered in cuts and bruises and the shirt you were wearing was cut in places and covered in blood, likely from your own hands which had finally stopped bleeding.

“Well hello again, how are you feeling?” You shrugged, not really sure, everything felt kinda fuzzy and yet damp, like your actual body was somewhere wet. “Alright, try speaking, tell us your name.” You did and once again, no sound. “Well, do you know sign language?” You nodded, thankful to finally be able to communicate. “Alright, well tell us your story, slowly, and I can translate.” He glanced at Lay, who was fishing out his notebook again. When Lay gave you a thumbs up, you began.

“I was leaving work, walking through the park. It was late at night and I hear someone behind me. Then someone put their hand over my mouth, I smelled something awful and I woke up in the dark. I could see a door of some kind, there was light around it, I went to it, but it was locked and the stairs leading to it were wet. I banged on the door and tried to pry it open with my hands but someone hit it from the other side. I got scared and hurried down the stairs. I don't know how long I was there, but sometimes a tray of food, usually a sandwich and a glass of water was shoved in a hole in the door. I found what felt like a window but it didn't let in any light. I had been trying to pry open the door again when someone hit the door and I fell backward, I think I fell down the stairs, but when I opened my eyes again, I was laying on your floor, you woke up a moment later.” Kyungsoo glanced at the detective who was still frantically writing notes.

“What do you recall of the room you were in? Did you get a feel for the size?” He was kinda hot when he went full detective mode.

“She says it felt small, and it was possibly underground.”

“Was there anyone else in the room?”

“I don't think so. I never heard anyone else, and you say I've been gone for days.” You paused, frantically trying to remember something else. When it hit you you frantically waved your hands before carefully signing what you had to say. Kyungsoo's eyes went wide and he hesitated. “Are you sure?” You signed it again, slower.

“What? What is she saying?”

“She says, I heard screaming like someone was being hurt, not very far away.”

~~ Back at the precinct, you and Lay stood in the interrogation viewing room as people were interviewed by Yang Jeongin and Lu. Most of them said the same things, they only knew you from the class, never spoke to you afterward and never thought there was anyone who might get mad at you for anything.

Then Tao came in. You were practically pressed to the viewing glass, wanting to walk through it and comfort your friend who looked a little scared.

“Huang Zitao, martial arts expert, fashion and design major, what are you doing in an art class?”

“Honestly, there's a guy I have a thing for who was in the class for a while before he moved back home to China. Then it was too late to quit and the people there are pretty nice.”

“Did you know any of the models in the class?” Jeongin asked, to which Tao nodded.

“I know Boo Hana, she's in my interior design class and L/n Y/n is a close friend of mine.”

“Was there anyone in the class that might have had it out for any of the girls?” Tao hesitated, nervously looking around. You quickly pulled off the badge and walked through the wall, moving to stand behind Tao and set your hand as close to on his shoulder as you could.

“Zitao, we need you to be honest with us if there was anyone that gave you even a bad vibe, we need to know, we won't be able to find your friend unless you tell us.”

“There was one guy...”

~~

“We can't just run in, it could get somebody killed. We need evidence Zhang, you know that.” Xiumin was trying to remain calm as Lay pleaded with him.

“But Captain, this guy is our only real lead-”

“If you think he could have something to do with this, get some more evidence and give me a reason to put out a warrant.”

“But Captain-” “Enough, need I remind you what happened last time your went rushing in to danger?”

“No sir.” Lay sighed.

“Go home, Lay, you have until the end of the day tomorrow to bring me something substantial, or I'm taking you off the case.”

“Minseok,” The older boy looked Lay in the face, being as professional as possible.

“You've become too emotionally invested, get your head clear and find something in the morning. I have faith in you, you're my best detective.”

“Thank you sir. I'll see you in the morning.”

~~

“None of this makes any sense,” Lay groaned, tugging at his hair. It was nearing 3 in the morning and Lay was still pouring over his notes and files. You were sat next to him on his couch, wishing you could help him more. You weren't even sure if you could touch him to calm him down, you hadn't tried. “Tao said he was the one, but he's a straight-A student, captain of the debate team, even in choir. He's like a damn angel, and if he is the one and I can't find him, something might happen to all of you and you could get hurt or worse. I can't have that on my conscience-” You stopped his ramblings by setting your hands on his cheeks, turning his head to face you. You looked at him sternly, making him sigh and press his cheek further into your hand. “You're right, I'm way too stressed about this, and freaking out won't help.” He chuckled, “You aren't even speaking to me and you're already putting me in my place, maybe we are soulmates.” You chuckled as well, the smile on your face making his broader. “I don't know what to do.” He finally sighed. You had an idea and slowly trailed your arms down his neck and to his shoulders. “Woah, darling, I don't plan on having sex with a ghost.” You smacked his chest, grabbing the notebook from beside his leg.

“Why don't you google his name, ya nasty.” You wrote on the notepad.

“Darling you're a genius.” He declared, grabbing your cheeks and planting a chaste kiss on your forehead. “Why didn't I think of that? Don't answer that.” He pulled his laptop closer to himself and pulled up the browser. “What's his name?” You flipped through the notebook, scooting closer to him in order to show him his own notes. “What would I do without you?”

~~ “Captain! Captain, I have something.” Lay nearly shouted as the two of you entered the precinct.

“Good, because I couldn't get the art teacher to cancel tomorrow's class.” Lu added, joining Lay as he walked towards the captain's office. “Most of the student's have been accounted for, and they have some pretty solid alibis.”

“Zhang, Han, tell me you have something, preferably something we can act on before tomorrow afternoon?” Xiumin greeted, opening the door of his office for them to enter.

“Actually yes, sir.” Lay practically grinned. “I looked him up last night, he's a recent transfer student, the last town he came from had a string of serial kidnappings and subsequent murders right before he came here. He lives in some big farmhouse looking thing on the very outskirts of town.”

“That's not enough to get a warrant.” Xiu sighed.

“Maybe not, but combined with the character reports from the interrogations yesterday, it's enough for us to be able to go talk to him. And if we see something, we can act.” Lu explained, setting a stack of transcripts from the previous days down on the captain's desk. Xiumin looked at the papers in front of him, then to the two men.

“Go together, I'll have everyone here on standby, if anything sets you off, I want you to radio backup, unless someone is dying, you are not to go in by yourselves. Understand me?” Both men stood straight, saluting their captain.

“Yes sir.” He saluted them back.

“Go find our girls.”

~~

Lay in full tactical gear was hot, you weren't even gonna lie. The bulletproof vest, the boots, had you been one of the weirdos on the internet you would have asked him to step on you.

“It looks like an old bunker, a barn built on top, and a farmhouse.” Lu explained from the passenger seat. You were sat in the middle of the backseat, that way Lay could continue to keep an eye on you. As you got closer to the farm, your arm started to burn. Not like the building was on fire, but more like someone was stabbing you with a hot poker.

“I'll check the barn, you knock on the front door.” Lay decided. “Y/n, are you okay?” He asked, seeing your pained expression in the rearview. You shook your head frantically, clutching the burning spot on your arm. “We're almost there, we'll get you out of there.” He assured you, but when he glanced back at you, the backseat was empty. “Shit.” He growled, stomping on the gas and turning on his sirens.

“Lay, what the hell?”

“She's gone. Something's happened.”

~~ When you opened your eyes, you were laying on a cold metal, something, possibly a surgical table. Your arms were strapped down and you could still feel the burning in your arm. You frantically looked around the dimly lit room, seeing a figure with purple hair slumped against a far wall.

“Ah, there you are.” A man's voice said. “I was wondering when you'd come to.”

“What did you do to her?” You asked, voice hoarse. He chuckled darkly.

“Sora? She's still alive if that's what you're wondering. I'm not going to kill any of you yet.”

“Why are you doing this?” He slammed his hands on either side of your head, leaning above you.

“Because you and your little whore friends deserve it. Parading around in practically nothing while pretending to study, then having the audacity to be a nude model.” He growled you could feel the tears leaking from your eyes, into your hair. “I'm going to make you hate this body, then, I'm going to kill you.”

“What are you gonna do to me?” Your voice was quiet and squeaky, not something you'd ever want someone to hear.

“I'll do exactly what I did to Sora, I'm going to make your skin so horrifying you'd never let it be seen, then I'm going to do the same to your face. Then I'm going to kill you.” He moved around you, standing between you and Sora, but not enough to entirely block your view of her. “I can't do it all at once though, too much pain and the body shuts down, but as long as you don't pull a Sora, you'll be fine. For now.” He raised a small scalpel and from the corner of your eye, you saw Sora shift.

~~

It was beginning to be too much. Your voice was shot from screaming, and your arms were burning from the missing skin. He was flaying you, piece by piece. He paused finally, setting down his tools to check his phone, and you looked behind him, shocked to find Sora missing. The sound of tires outside made you both look towards the doors of the barn you were in.

“Help!” You cried, voice much quieter than you'd prefer. “In here!”

“Shut up!” He whisper-yelled, “You stupid-” He was suddenly cut off and you turned your head to find Sora holding a large piece of rock above her head as he fell to the ground.

“Oh my god, Sora!” You gasped. “Outside.”

“I heard, let's untie you.” You would have been startled by how calm she seemed, despite missing chunks of skin on her arms, but all you could think about was how much you wanted out of there. She started working on the knots on your arms as you continued shouting. Something must have been blocking the doors because it was obvious someone was pushing on them from the outside.

“Lu! Lay!” You called, your head beginning to swim from blood loss and exertion.

“Y/n? Is there anyone else with you?” Lu called thought the doors.

“I'm here, Lee Sora.”

“I need to get my partner, will you be alright?”

“He's unconscious right now. Just hurry back please.” Sora called, finally freeing your arm. “Don't sit up, you'll probably pass out.” She instructed you.

A moment later the barn doors exploded inwards as Lay drove the car into them.

“We need back up and at least one ambulance here ASAP.” Lu ordered into the radio as Lay jumped out of the car.

“The others, do you know where they are?” He asked Sora, eyes still trained on you.

“Down in some sort of sub-basement.” Sora explained, “There's a trap door over there.”

“Hey you.” He finally greeted you. You smiled up at him weakly, trying to lift your arm to grab his hand.

“Hey you.” You whispered back, as he found your hand with his.

“It's nice to hear your voice.” Your eyes shut as you chuckled weakly, and the last thing you heard was him calling your name faintly.

~~

When you finally woke up, someone was holding your hand, and someone else was having a quiet conversation somewhere else in the room. As your vision cleared, you could figure out you were in a hospital room, Jongin sitting in the chair beside you, holding your hand as he scrolled on his phone.

“Kai?” Your voice made him jump and drop his phone as his face erupted in a smile.

“Oh my god, you're awake.” He jumped to his feet, hugging you tightly. “I was getting so worried.”

“I'm okay. How are the others?”

“Hana, Hyunjoo and Sunmi were discharged this morning. River is filling her discharge paperwork out now and-”

“And I'm right here.” You turned your head to find Sora in the bed next to you, with one of her friends sitting next to her. “I wasn't going to leave until I knew you were okay.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at you, but her attention was brought to the doctor that had just walked in.

“Good afternoon, miss Y/n. How do you feel?”

“A little weary, and like I rolled down a street in my swimsuit.”

“Well, your arms are a little worse for wear but we have pain medication and an ointment for you to apply once you're discharged. You should be alright in a few weeks.”

“Awesome. When can I leave?” You laughed, hating hospitals.

“Lets check your vitals and we could have you out of here in an hour.”

Down in the waiting room, where you and Sora were wheeled by your respective best friends, stood a cluster of people. Two men in crisp suits helped Sora out of her wheelchair and pulled her into a tight hug, one that seemed more intimate than brothers. Another man in a suit was talking to Xiumin and from the look on the captain's face he didn't like the guy.

“I am so ready to go home.” You groaned, standing up and popping your back.

“I bet you are, but I'm going out to lunch with Kyungsoo.” Jongin told you, handing you your keys.

“Oh, how am I getting home?” You asked, earning a shrug from him.

“I'm taking you. I'm also taking you out to lunch.” Lay made his way through the crowd, stopping right in front of you. “I think its time we got to know each other, right?”